The next morning, over breakfast, Godric asked, ” What do you want to do today? We can go for a boat ride on the river.”
“Could you show me London?” asked Rowena. Godric looked to his mother for approval.
“That sounds fine,” said Gabrielle. “Make sure that you’re back here by 6:00. That’s when Salazar is expected to arrive.”
“Okay, mother,” said Godric. “Come on!” he said, tugging Rowena’s elbow. “Let’s go!”
***
Rowena and Godric left the house with light hearts and several galleons in their pockets. “First, we’re going to the wizard market,” said Godric. “That will take most of the morning. It’s a long walk and there are a lot of shops.”
“That sounds like fun,” said Rowena. They walked through the streets until they reached a brick wall.
“Why are we stopping?” asked Rowena. Godric pulled out his wand and tapped the wall three times.
“You might want to stand back,” he warned Rowena. The bricks were disappearing one by one. The bricks that were left had formed and arch and Rowena could see people milling about behind it.
“Where do you want to go first?” asked Godric. “There’s an apothecary that has potion ingredients and a broomstick shop.”
“Is there a bookstore?” asked Rowena.
“Yeah. Do you want to go there?”
“Yes. I need a book on advanced charms. It’s for a project I’m working on.”
“What are you working on?” asked Godric as they set off.
“I would like to make an object that enhances intelligence. It will be challenging. I want it to be something to wear, like a pair of gloves or a hat. Each piece will have to have the correct charm or enchantment put upon it.”
“What’s the correct charm?”
“That’s the problem! I don’t know!” exclaimed Rowena with increasing frustration.
“So that’s why you want the book?”
“Yes.” The two friends walked slowly through the streets until they found the bookstore. It was a small, shabby-looking shop, but it looked like it might have what Rowena wanted. They went inside and Rowena headed straight for the charms section, while Godric wandered off to look at Quidditch books.
“I can’t believe it!” said Rowena angrily, several minutes later. “It’s not there! There aren’t any books on advanced charms.”
“Excuse me, miss,” said the shopkeeper. “What seems to be the problem?”
“You don’t have any books on advanced charms!”
“I’m very sorry, miss. We don’t carry any of those. You’ll have to go to another shop for that.”
“Fine,” said Rowena, walking toward the door. “You won’t be seeing me in your shop again.” She stormed out of the store and slammed the door behind her.
Several minutes later, Godric caught up with Rowena. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Why did you storm out of there like that?”
“They don’t have any advanced charms books!” replied Rowena. “ What kind of bookstore doesn’t have advanced charms books?”
“There’s another bookstore, but it’s pretty far from here. If you’d rather go home…”
“Yeah lets go home. I don’t think I have enough patience for another bookstore today. I might curse somebody.”
The corners of Godric’s mouth twitched, but he managed to keep a straight face. “Okay, we’ll go home. We can go to the other bookstore another day.”
***
An hour later, Godric and Rowena sat in the parlor, wondering what to do. “We can explore inside,” said Godric. “There are lots of hidden doors and secret passages in this house.”
“Yes, let’s do that,” agreed Rowena. “It sounds like fun.”
Godric showed Rowena all of the secret rooms and passages that he had discovered. Rowena was amazed. There seemed to be a hidden door behind every tapestry and a secret staircase in every cupboard.
“Do you want to go up to the tallest tower?” asked Godric. “There’s a secret passage there, but I don’t know where it leads.”
“Yes, let’s,” agreed Rowena.
***
Godric and Rowena stood in the tallest tower of the mansion. Godric had used his wand to move one of the stones out of the floor. They were now looking at a hole with a spiral staircase stretching as far down as they could possibly see.
“Well, are you ready?” asked Godric.
“You go first,” said Rowena. “I don’t like the look of that staircase.”
“It’s a bit of a drop to the first step, but I think I can reach it.” Godric slowly lowered himself into the hole. “It’s okay, Rowena,” he said. “Come on!”
“I’m shorter than you are,” said Rowena, doubtfully “I’ll fall.”
“Just jump! I’ll catch you.”
“But…I…okay.” Rowena sat on the edge of the hole. The seven-foot drop seemed like miles. Godric, however, was already down there and he was going to explore- with or without Rowena.
Rowena closed her eyes and jumped. There was a split second of terror, but then she was safe in Godric’s arms. Godric held her close for a moment and set her lightly on the ground. Rowena wished that he had held her longer. She felt so safe when she was in Godric’s arms.
“Are you okay?” asked Godric.
Rowena nodded. “I’m fine,” she said.
“Come on. Let’s go.” Rowena and Godric began their descent. The staircase was so long that Rowena thought it would never end. On and on they went, never stopping until Godric said, “It’s a door.”
“Godric slowly turned the knob. He opened the door to find-
“Boats?” said Rowena. “Why would someone bother putting boats down here?”
“There’s a river further on,” said Godric. “Can’t you hear it?” Rowena listened and sure enough, there was the faint sound of water.
“But why would there be a secret entrance to the river? Why have an entrance at all?” she asked
“I don’t know,” admitted Godric. “The people who built the house a long time ago did a lot of strange things. There’s a room that fills up with crabs at 9:00 every morning. They stay for ten minutes and disappear.”
“That’s very strange. Do you want to go look at the river?”
“Yeah. Be careful, though. The current’s strong.” Godric and Rowena carefully approached the river. The riverbank was steep and slippery, but Rowena moved closer to the river while Godric hung back. “Be careful, Rowena. You’re really close to the-“
Godric’s warning came to late; Rowena had fallen in the river. “Help!” screamed Rowena. “Help, Godric, help!” Godric ran toward the river; he knelt down by the edge of the river and held out his hand.
“Grab my hand, Rowena!” he called. Rowena tried, but she slipped. There was nothing else to do. Godric pulled off his shoes and plunged in to the river.
A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I couldn’t find a good place to end the chapter. Trust me, It would have been more of a cliff hanger if I had kept the original chapter ending. Please review!!
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