Part Two: Love Tri-Angle

“I’m telling you, something is faulty with the intelligence-enhancement charm you put on me!” Arden said as she hurried alongside Thomas to their destination. The pile of books and papers stacked high in her arms threatened to topple if she wasn’t careful, so she had to work hard to maintain its balance as she walked. “It doesn’t make me all-knowing after all.”

“And, as I’ve said, that’s impossible,” Thomas replied with a dismissive wave of his arm that nearly sent papers from the stack flying everywhere. “Quick—what’s a portkey?”

The words tumbled out of her mouth instantly: “A portkey is an enchanted object that when touched will transport the one or ones who touch it to anywhere on the globe decided upon by the enchanter. It can be any sort of seemingly harmless object, like a football or a dolphin.”

“See?” Thomas smiled smugly. “I told you. The charm is working perfectly.”

Arden huffed. “I *thought* it was, too. But then I realized it was glitching out.”

His eyes narrowed at that. “Glitching out how?”

“I’m supposed to know everything. And I usually do—*but*, whenever I try to think of how your last name is spelled, it always comes up differently. Sometimes I think it starts with an E, sometimes I think it has weird accent marks, sometimes…”

“Oh, that,” he laughed. “Yes, that’s on purpose.”

“*What*? Why would that be on purpose?!”

“I deliberately made my last name ever-changing. That way, my identity and whereabouts can be a mystery if anyone ever tries to track me down.”

She blinked. “Oh. Uh… okay.”

Arden had learned by now that Thomas was extremely strange. That was just how he was. She’d gotten used to just shrugging off his odd or unnerving comments and not arguing about them any further.

So, she just shrugged, and they kept walking.

Finally, they arrived at their destination. It appeared to anyone else like an empty hallway, but Thomas strode confidently toward one of the walls and stared at it. Within moments, the stones began to change, and a new door materialized on the wall where nothing had been before.

This was the Room of Requirement. Arden’s enhanced intelligence allowed her to know all sorts of secrets about the castle, so she had told Thomas about this room when he expressed the wish for his own private office space. (She also now knew that the Chamber of Secrets was located under the school, and had an entrance in the second-floor girl’s bathroom. But, she wasn’t crazy enough to tell Thomas about that one.)

Thomas reached out and opened the newly-revealed door. As he did so, a small cat ran out.

“Oh, curses,” Thomas grumbled as the cat scampered off. “I hate when they get out.”

“It’s all right,” Arden assured him back. “Usually they just run to my dormitory anyway.”

It was true. In her time with Thomas, they had collected various students—usually people Arden had seen bullying other children—to try out the prototypes of a special test Thomas was working on. Unfortunately, the students kept failing. In order to keep them quiet about what they’d seen, drastic measures had to be taken.

Thomas originally planned to just perform memory charms on them, but then he heard Arden mention that she’d always wanted cats. So, he began flexing his Transfiguration skills. The result was that, so far, Arden had sixteen cats. And the increasing number showed no signs of slowing down. It was a miracle no one had gotten suspicious yet.

They stepped through the door to the Room of Requirement and Thomas closed it behind them. “You can set those down on my desk,” he instructed.

Arden nodded, and plopped on the chair after she’d put the books and papers down. “So, what do you want to work on today?”

“Well, I figured we should—”

Just then, a thumping sounded on the door. Thomas and Arden stared at each other in confusion. “What is that sound?” he asked.

“It’s… it’s a person knocking,” Arden replied, almost unable to believe it even though her magical intelligence asserted it to be true.

“I thought no one could see the entrance to the Room of Requirement if it was already in use!”

The knock sounded again, more loudly this time.

“Well, they usually can’t,” Arden said quickly, nerves building. “They’d only be able to see it if they required the same thing that the room was currently being used for.”

Suddenly, the knob turned. Arden jumped up, wand at the ready, as it opened and someone stepped through.

“Aha! I knew it!” shouted the intruder.

It was a girl. She wore a Ravenclaw tie and a determined expression. Arden’s magical intelligence informed her that the girl’s name was Sofia.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” demanded Thomas.

“I’m Sofia, and I’m a Ravenclaw prefect,” she declared proudly. “I’ve been noticing all sorts of suspicious activity around here recently. Students going missing… unattended cats I’ve never seen before, roaming the halls and disappearing into the Slytherin dormitory…. I know the Headmaster and teachers won’t bother investigating such occurrences, but that never stopped me.”

“Well, what makes you think we had anything to do with it?” Arden challenged.

“Why, magic, of course.”

“Magic?” asked Thomas. His eyes glinted in a way Arden knew meant she should be apprehensive.

“Yes. I am a Divination prodigy. I consulted my various Divination materials, and determined that the perpetrators were using a hidden room within this hallway to carry out their illicit deeds.”

“Really!” Thomas looked positively thrilled now. He sat down on the desk chair, as though he were not in danger in the slightest. “Tell me more.”

“Well, I am a master of tarot, and I—hey, wait!” Sofia evidently sensed that she was getting distracted, and she schooled her face into a stern expression once more. “*I’ll* be the one asking questions here. What are you two up to?”

“Nothing at all,” Thomas lied smoothly. While the two were occupied, Arden subtly swept some papers underneath others, to hide more incriminating evidence from view.

“I know that’s not true,” snapped Sofia. “You can’t lie to me. I told you: I am a Divination prodigy. You are guilty, so I demand you explain yourself.”

“You sound extremely talented,” Thomas said. “I’d love to hear more about your impressive abilities.”

Sofia rolled her eyes. “Save it. I’m not falling for your tricks. If you won’t tell me, it doesn’t even matter—I am going to report you to the Headmaster immediately.”

This made Thomas drop his casual veneer. He sat up straight, eyes wild. “No, you can’t. This is my life’s work. You can’t sabotage it.”

“I don’t owe you anything,” said Sofia. “You are a rule-breaker. You are wreaking havoc on our school, and I am going to save everyone from the likes of you.”

She looked poised to turn and leave. At this, Thomas jumped up, and shouted, “Wait!”

Sofia paused, and looked at him expectantly.

“I could use someone like you on my team,” said Thomas. “You are so skilled, and such a hard-worker. You would be an amazing asset in my various projects.”

Sofia quirked an eyebrow and folded her arms. “I’m listening.”

“You see, I specialize in magical inventions. I am working on various projects wherein I examine little-explored areas of magic.” Thomas eased into the comfort and confidence he always possessed when he talked about his work. “I could use someone like you, Sofia. Someone with such talent in Divination, and such attention to detail. Why, to notice what you have around the school? That takes a special set of abilities that your peers clearly lack.”

Sofia preened at this. “Well, I can’t argue with you on that.”

“Indeed. So, what do you think? Do you want to join my cause, as my new assistant?”

“Wait, new assistant?” Arden asked, shocked. “What about me? *I’m* your assistant.”

“Of course, of course. No one could replace you,” he assured her. “Sofia, this is Arden. She’s my A.I.”

“A.I.?” Sofia echoed.

“Yes. Her intelligence has been magically enhanced. I can offer you enhanced abilities as well, if you wish.”

Sofia looked at Arden closely, debating with herself. “Is being an A.I. also why Arden is covered in magical glitter?”

“Yes,” Thomas said, at the same time as Arden protested, “No, I’m covered in magical glitter because I like glitter.”

“Regardless,” Thomas went on, “Sofia, I can offer you not only special abilities, but also the chance to work on cutting-edge new magical projects. We can make history together. What do you say?”

Sofia considered this for a moment. “If I did join you, what would you have me do?”

“You would help me run my projects.” He paused in thought. Then he looked back at her, eyes glinting in that dangerous way again. “And, because you have such a keen ability to navigate the world around you, envision important details that elude others, and find your way in mysterious circumstances, I will cast an enchantment on you that will highlight such skills to a magical degree.”

Sofia’s eyes shone brightly at this idea. “Really? You can do that?”

“Really.”

“It’s true,” Arden put in. “I didn’t believe he had those kinds of powers at first, but he really can do it.”

That seemed to decide it. “All right,” said Sofia, stowing her wand in her robes. “I’m in.”

Thomas raised his own wand to cast the spell. However, as he opened his mouth, Sofia interrupted him with a shout. “Wait!”

He stopped. “Yes?”

“In addition to what you just promised me…” she said, a smile spreading over her face, “I also want to have the glitter.”

Thomas beamed. “Done.”

Arden had to admit, she was beginning to like Sofia.

With that, Thomas raised his arm again, and Sofia did not stop him this time. He cast the spell, and—after Sofia yelled at him for giving her a splitting headache—the magic settled around them.

Sofia stood up straighter, and looked around the room. “Wow,” she gasped. “I can see everything so much more clearly now. And—oh, the Chamber of Secrets is—”

“Hold on!” Arden shouted, deliberately cutting her off before she could reveal the rest. “Um, Sofia… where is your glitter?”

“Oh, you’re right.” The Ravenclaw furrowed her eyebrows at this. Then, she raised her arm, and a mirror Arden hadn’t even realized was in the room flew into Sofia’s hand. Sofia took a moment to look excited and impressed at her new ability, but then she returned her focus to the matter in question.

She raised the mirror up so she had a clear visual of her own face. Then, she closed her eyes in concentration. Arden gasped. Suddenly, glitter appeared, and covered Sofia’s face in a multicolor glow.

Sofia opened her eyes and examined her reflection, elated. “Awesome!” she declared. “I look forward to working with you both.” With that, she tossed the mirror up, and it floated back away to its hidden home once more. “Although, I have one more stipulation.”

“Really? What is it?” asked Thomas.

“Transforming students into cats is unethical. I have to ask that you stop that at once.”

Arden bit her lip. She hadn’t said any of this before, of course, but now that Sofia was let into their confidence, she had to explain the situation. Arden admitted awkwardly, “Uh, if you have a problem with ethics, you’re not going to like a lot of the projects Thomas is working on. Like, he has a habit of testing traumatizing and potentially deadly ideas on people, and…”

“Oh, I don’t care about that,” said Sofia. “So many of these jerks have it coming to them. I just don’t want anyone to be cruel to animals.”

Arden grinned at this. She couldn’t agree more. “Deal!” she declared. She stuck out her hand, and Sofia shook it.

The three of them were going to get along great.