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The Disillusionment charm felt like being wrapped up in a cold blanket, and Lance watched in wonder as he brought his hand up in front of him. Where it should have been, there was the faintest, silvery gleam, only noticeable if you were looking for it.
“This is amazing,” Lance whispered, finally tearing his gaze away from his invisible hand to look at Keith Kogane. He'd met him during his class; Care for Magical Beasts with Slytherin house. They’d been… semi-friends for nearly a month now, and he’d revealed a little of what truly happened after his carriage to Hogwarts was attacked by a dragon. A little of what he could do and why he needed his help.
It had taken some time, working up the renowned courage his house was known for to stamp down his pride and ask in the first place. Keith was a prodigy among his peers in Hogwarts, and if Lance was going to have any hope of figuring out his connection to ancient magic, he would need him on his team.
While they had met in said class, he also shared other classes with him, like charms. He didn’t think their knowledge of magical beasts might help him sneak into the restricted section of the library at night, but he did glean his cunning and habit to apparently learn spells and sneak around the castle when he wasn’t supposed to be. He had been right on the mark, considering he’d agreed readily to assist him in sneaking into the library and teaching him a spell to ensure their chances of getting caught were far less.
That was, after he’d practically forced Lance to admit that he was asking for his help. That maybe Keith wasn’t so bad. And maybe, just maybe, that little rivalry he’d conjured up in his head was… well. In his head. Ever since he arrived at Hogwarts for the very first time for his 5th year. Maybe he really shouldn’t have let his peers and the other Slytherins get in his head ever since he’d beat Keith somehow, someway, during Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Keith was, after all, supposed to be the best duelist in all of Hogwarts. Or so said their little not-so-secret-secret club. Although, the next time he dueled Keith… he lost.
Their little rivalry went on for a while, despite Keith being the one to show him around and invite him to their Duelist Club. Lance was at least aware enough now to realize that Keith wasn’t the one causing most of their bickering when it did occur. It was Lance.
(And maybe the way Keith was readily eager to help Lance break the school rules should’ve knocked that into his head sooner.)
((Keith just wanted to be friends. Was that so hard to get across to this idiot?))
At least now, they were finally on the same page. Or at least reading the same book. And if Lance was being honest? It was pretty damn exciting.
Keith quickly explained the invisibility spell with a hushed whisper. “We learned it during our third year, even I had a bit of trouble learning it. But it seems you have a knack for learning new spells.” Keith grinned before casting the disillusionment charm on himself with a whisper and graceful flick of his wand. Lance watched, his mouth slightly hung open as his body shimmered, warped, and eventually disappeared. He wasn't sure he’d ever get used to the wonders of the magical world.
Lance strained to find the silver gleam in the air as Keith whispered, “Ready?”
“Ready.”
Together, quietly they entered the library. Keith cast a quick spell, Alohamora; an unlocking charm.
The library was vast and grand. Enormous, tall bookshelves with enchanted books flying around and resorting themselves everywhere. Hanging chandeliers with candles lit up the space in a warm glow, with desks, tables, and smaller bookshelves half the size of a grown man helping to hide them as they crouched and snuck around. The library, like the rest of the castle, clearly reeked of magic.
“What is it you’re looking for, anyway?” Keith whispered as they snuck passed the librarian. “I know it has to do with Zarkon, but what is it really?”
Zarkon was the purple, furry goblin causing the rising tension all around the wizarding world. He had camps of poachers– thanks to his son, Lotor, and his goblin followers stationed all around the area, especially in the forbidden forest. Their headmaster, Professor Iverson, and the Ministry of Magic have yet to think him too big of a threat to put any action and concern into. With Lance’s connection to ancient magic, it only felt natural that he use what he learned to clear them out himself, dangerous as the task was.
Lance whispered, “Revelio,” a spell that revealed special things around him. Whether they were enchanted chests or even what he might classify as an enemy. His wand simply knew what he needed to see, and revealed it to him with the simple spell. Using it, they slipped past a wandering ghost, down several flights of stairs and deeper into the library.
“Well,” Lance huffed when he deemed it safe enough to speak again. “A book.”
“Wow.” Keith deadpanned after a moment. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Lance could’ve sworn he could feel Keith roll his eyes, even if he couldn’t see him. Lance fought back a snort.
“It’s not really a book,” Lance said, a smile obvious in his voice at Keith’s irritation. “They’re pages from one that I already have. Apparently, they were ripped out and stored deep in the restricted section in the library. Professor Shiro–”
“Professor Shiro?!” Keith blurted before immediately slapping his hand over his mouth as Lance cringed at his outburst. They waited a long, long minute. Once they were sure the librarian wasn’t charging their way to catch them, they both let out a breath they’d been holding.
“Sorry,” Keith whispered as they went on. Usually, he was quite well at keeping quiet and sneaking around. But before Lance McClain had come along, a new student starting out as a fifth year, well, things had gotten much more interesting. It was beginning to break whatever quiet space that Keith usually watched from. “Continue.”
“...Professor Shiro and I were supposed to come here together, but Headmaster Iverson came into his office and whisked him away before we could. I figured I could find the pages myself tonight,” Lance shrugged, before stilling suddenly. Keith bumped into him. They were on the very last floor at this point, just passing a set of bookhelves.
Keith cursed quietly behind his, but Lance wasn’t listening. His wand warmed in his hand, the tip glowing a faint indigo-blue. Something was nearby and his wand knew it.
“Revelio.”
Lance gasped, his heart racing as his eyes were drawn to the bookhelf right beside them. His magic made the tall shelves glow an iridescent blue, but only to his eyes.
“What? What is it?” Keith asked.
“Here. There’s some sort of contraption in this shelf that’s hiding something. Perhaps a doorway? Or a hidden passage?”
Lance drew himself closer, his hand reaching out to the bookhelf to touch it. As if, if he did, it might reveal the secret to opening it somehow.
Like the shelves themselves heard his thoughts, the bookhelves began to warp and shimmer like a whirlpool of silvery light, deep purples and blues. Keith gasped behind him as the familiar symbol began to shine faintly in the middle of it.
“Ancient Magic,” Lance whispered.
“Ancient what?”
Uncloaking himself with a quick swish of his wand, he told Keith to stand back. Bringing his wand, still glowing blue at the tip, only brighter now, the closer that he brought it toward the ancient magic. He touched his wand to the swirling pool, pulling it away in a graceful movement that had the magic following his wand around at its tip like a string.
His body moved on its own, following the movement that came to his limbs naturally as he swirled the magic around before touching it to the floor just in front of him. Then, he whoohed the magic up over his head, creating an arc with the ancient magic before it shattered, scattering all around the room. The shelves instantly clicked, separating down the middle to reveal a stone wall. The bricks began turning, separating much like the shelves before giving way to a large archway that led down, down, down into darkness.
They stood there before the archway for several seconds, breathing heavily together. Keith uncloaked himself before whispering, “Merlin's Beard…”
Lance said nothing before hurriedly going down the stairs, whispering Lumos, a bright light illuminating from the tip of his wand as he went. Keith cursed before heading right down after him. It was lucky that he’d cast that charm, for as soon as Keith followed, the wall began to close with a whirl of turning bricks before encasing them with no other known way out.
The further down they went, the more uneasy the pair became. The stairwell seemed to go on forever. But at least, they had nothing but time for Keith to finally ask, “What the hell was that back there? Ancient magic, you said?”
Lance bit his lip, quickly debating if he could find a way to lie, as per Professor Shiro’s requests, but the thought quickly died. If he was going to learn all he could about what lay in store for him, he wasn’t going to be able to do it alone. He would need friends. And Keith was his first. He needed to be honest.
“Remember when I told you about the key that we got just before George died when the dragon attacked? And it being a portkey to some old ruins?”
“Yeah, and then you somehow got to Gringott’s bank even though it had taken you all the way to the irish isles. Does your ancient magic have to do with that?”
“Yes. The same thing that happened back there, happened to a wall I’d found. I touched it and it took us to a hidden section of Gringott’s where we were taken to Vault 12. There, I used my ancient magic to find a passageway into this large, dark chamber full of pillars. The floor was almost like glass– but anyway. Professor Shiro and I had to fight these large, enchanted stone knights. Then he disappeared and I had to fight them again but alone.
“When I defeated them, I was taken to another chamber. There was a pensieve– a small fountain that contains someone's memories, apparently. There, I learned that what I could do and what I could see when others couldn’t, were traces of ancient magic.”
Keith cocked his head to the side, like a cat of prey observing diligently. Lance fought the urge to stare. “Why can only you see it?”
Lance forced himself to focus when he slipped on a stair, swallowing. “I don’t quite know yet. What I do know is that there are trials waiting for me, challenges the further I go on. We might very well be walking into one right now. I just don’t know. But Zarkon broke in, killed the goblin banker that had brought us to Vault 12 and demanded we hand over whatever we found. Him and Professor Shiro fought, and this giant, looming knight rose from the floor where the pensieve and the area around it melted like it was nothing! We barely escaped through another wall reflection that held more of that ancient magic. It took us here, to Hogwarts.”
It was a long while before Keith spoke again. “So… what? Are you destined to fight Zarkon and his rebellion? Isn’t that a bit dangerous for a sixteen year old?”
Lance opened his mouth, but he quickly closed it when he saw a light at what looked to be the bottom of the stairs. Keith and Lance looked at each other before hurrying down, almost tripping over one another as they stumbled out and into a room.
Similar to the chambers, it was regal and magical in every way with silver pillars and shimmering blue floors. Between each pillar, sat a knight. At the end of the room, down a royal blue carpet with golden lining, up a small flight of stairs, sat a chest.
“That has to be it. It must have the papers I need!” Lance said, his voice echoing around the room.
“Then let’s go.” Keith began to start forward, but Lance felt a sudden wash of unease go down his body like a bucket of cold water. Goosebumps raised along his arms, his neck, all the way down to his toes.
By the time he caught up to Keith, yelling, “Wait–!” It was too late. The second Keith set one foot past the first set of pillars, the first set of knights awoke. Then the next. And the next.
“Shit.” Both Lance and Keith said as they watched the knights raise their heads, stood from their kneeling positions, and started toward them with swords held high.
Lance was already calling upon his magic, knocking the first giant sword away with Protego, a shielding spell. For a moment, Keith stood there unnaturally. Like for the first time in his life, magic had found a way to surprise him, watching until he was knocked out of his trance with a yell of pain from Lance. Lance’s magic was strong, and he was talented for a wizard beginning so late. But magic was still an extension of oneself, and the exhaustion of using spell after spell could quickly turn into physical pain. He couldn’t do this alone. Not anymore, at least.
Keith charged forward, his Slytherin cloak whooshing behind him as he joined his, fighting by his side.
It might’ve been a few minutes, an hour, two hours. It was a blur. Neither let themselves think anything more than what spell to use next and the movements of their wands, dodging and rolling to escape hits that would shatter their shields in an instant. Spell after spell after spell echoed in the chamber.
Incendio, Bombarda; fire spells. Levioso, usually used to suspend a target midair, only stunned the knights for a moment. Protego, then stupefy to stun them again. Protego. Glacius, to freeze them only for the knights to break the ice a second later as it shattered to the floor. Dodge. Levioso. Incendio. Accio, to bring the knights– if they had been lighter– closer to them, but again. Just another stun to the giant beasts. Dodge. Protego.
Just as the last knight stalked forward, and their bodies and magic were exhausted and pushed to the brink, Lance’s wand began to warm again, warmer, warmer, until it was hot in his hands. Like before, like the ancient magic, the tip glowed a magnificent blue-purple.
“What is that?” Keith breathed, his heaving, ragged, and dark hair plastered to his skin with shining sweat. Lance didn’t think he looked much better.
He didn’t hesitate, knowing full well what it was. He didn't quite know the spell he cast with the ancient magic shimmering from his wand, but he knew the movements. He swirled his wand, gathering what magic he had left– imbued with the ancient magic, raised it all the way to the ceiling they couldn’t see, and brought it down just as an arc of blue lightning came crashing down onto the knight. It exploded into stone pieces, some of the debris nearly hitting them as they threw themselves to the ground.
The chamber was quiet once the echoing stopped. Lance looked at Keith, quietly assessing the other for any major injuries before hauling themselves up and dusting their cloaks off.
“I don’t think I’ve ever cast so many spells at once,” Keith said, his voice wiry and shaky with overuse.
“You’ll get used to it,” Lance reassured, his own voice breaking.
“I will?” Keith smiled, not a grin, but a real, genuine smile. A sort of relief filled his bones and muscles with new energy, with the promise that this wasn’t temporary, whatever this was. They were friends, and Lance wasn’t going to go through this journey alone, however long it took.
Keith wasn’t dumb. He knew they’d still bicker and fight and grate on each other’s last nerve, but it didn’t have to be with words aimed to cut. To cause blood. It could be said with a playful punch to the shoulder or tugging the other under their arm to ruffle their hair. Keith never quite had a relationship like that with anyone, not even Shiro. And he stared and stared at Lance for confirmation. That he could have this. They could have this.
Lance nodded, smiling back.
Together, they walked down the hall, climbed up the stairs, and opened the waiting chest. Inside were gold coins that they split between them (“We can go get sick on sweets from Honeydukes for days with all of this,” Lance promised, telling him with a grin about a secret passage he found into Honeydukes' cellar), and as expected, the missing pages from the book Lance, Professor Shiro, and now Keith were studying.
“I can’t believe we went through all of that for some book pages,” Keith huffed, but his pockets jingled with coins as if they were offended to have been forgotten, even jokingly.
“Yeah,” Lance stretched his sore arms high above his head. “Let’s get out of here.”
As if the chamber had one more reward for them after almost ending their lives, the wall behind the chest shimmered and warped to reveal the library entrance. Lance grinned, gesturing Keith along.
“Remember that wall I was telling you about that took us to Gringotts?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, now you get to experience it firsthand. Let’s go.”
Together, as Lance touched the wall and the magic responded to him, they walked through, snuck out of the library, and promised to meet each other at Hogsmeade the next day after classes.
Lance turned away after saying his goodbyes to Keith, eager to shower and get to bed when he whisper-yelled, “Wait!”
Lance turned, quirking an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“Uh, tomorrow. Do you, uh, want to go down to Hogsmeade with me?” Keith blurted, nervously twining his hands together in the dark of the stone halls. It was awkward, and so unlike the Keith that Lance thought he knew. “Maybe we head to Honeydukes, like you said. And just… hang… out?”
Lance blinked, then smiled. It was warm and genuine, and Lance was thoughtfully surprised that it was being aimed at Keith of all people. But it looked like he had a lot to learn about the Slytherin boy. What better way to get started than a hangout at Hogsmeade?
“Sounds good, Mullet,” Lance winked, not waiting to see Keith’s reaction, but he grinned at the scoff he heard, laughing as he walked down the hall.
Lance only needed to turn a corner to come face to face with the large portrait of the Fat Lady that took up the entire wall, the entrance to the Gryffindor common rooms. Lance whispered the password, avoiding eye contact with the Fat Lady as she side-eyed him for waking her up, and she slowly swung open to allow Lance inside.
—
If Keith was cornered by the librarian and accused of sneaking into the restricted section the night before, that was Keith’s business. If Keith took the blame and claimed he went all on his own, that was his business.
If Lance was the very first person that Keith took the fall for in all his years at Hogwarts, well. Word travels fast at Hogwarts, and it was only a matter of time before Lance found out.