A Few Days Later:

  I've been too scared to use the Sivril. The Sivril Seekers are continuing our treasure hunts, and I have not told them about it. I feel terrible keeping such a big secret from them, but I also have a sense of foreboding about that Sivril...

  If it's dangerous, I don't want to bring them into it.

  In other news, there have been more protests in class from members of our House. Always in D.A.D.A when Professor Livia makes any unreasonable remarks. They also put in lots of complaints about her teaching methods. It's not exactly making them popular with the teachers... (not that they were popular with the teachers to begin with).

  Depending on what sort of mood she's in, Professor Livia has started to keep her lessons more to the point and professional. Though sometimes, when she's in a bad mood, I think she just wants to watch the world burn.

  A Few More Days Later:

  Antonius and I were studying in the library, when Silas walked in, saw us, and walked over to us.

  "I suppose you thought you'd seen the last of me,"he said, with a smirk,"I'm starting to see I made a grave error putting you in charge of the Slytherin situation,"he was looking at Antonius when he said this,"Dominic Carrow is doing a fine job all by himself."

  Antonius hid his face in a book, he was feeling, understandably, very unsettled in the presence of someone who he had thought to be his friend for the majority of his duration at Hogwarts; who, just last summer, tried to kill him in a cruel ritual without a second thought.

  "Even if you were to strike me dead right now,"Silas went on,"I've achieved what I meant to achieve. Now we just have to watch the dominoes fall."

  Then he walked off. I hate how he just confirmed the worries I've been having. There's no doubt about it now, he does have a plan, a long-laid plan that has already been put into action, and is playing out well for him.

  Dominic, Regulus and their followers will not listen to reason, they will not listen to me, Antonius or anyone who disagrees with them. APS are just as bad.

  But I do have the Green Sivril now. Maybe I could find a way to change that? To reverse the effects of Silas' plans.

  I looked at Antonius, he was looking pale and unhappy. I wondered if I should tell him about the Green Sivril. Would it be giving away Anita's secret just by telling him about the Sivril that I found? Even if not, would it be wise? I was keeping it secret from my own siblings for their own safety, after all.

  Then I noticed an old friend of mine, Sheila Hunter, a Ravenclaw 7th Year, approaching the small table we were sat at.

  "Catherine,"she greeted me, before sitting at our table.

  I was surprised.

  "Hello, Sheila,"I answered, somewhat awkwardly.

  "I heard what Warren said to you,"Sheila said.

  "You did?"I responded.

  "I've always known there's something wrong about him,"she went on,"especially recently. There's something I have to tell you."

  Antonius put down his book.

  "I've become an apprentice to the school librarian,"she began,"she's retiring in a few years, and I'm going to take her place when she leaves."

  "Oh, congratulations!"I said, not sure what this had to do with Silas Warren.

  "Thank you,"Sheila replied, hastily,"but what I need to tell you is this; you know how Silas says he has been away for months, ill?"

  "Yes?"I answered, curiously.

  "Well,"Sheila continued,"as part of my work helping the school librarian and learning on the job, I had to go down to the Restricted Section to organise some things. It has been taking a lot of work, organising things, and though I was supervised at first, I've started to go alone."

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  "And?"I asked.

  "I'm not sure if you know, but there are more rooms and chambers below, that can only be accessed from the Restricted Section,"Sheila continued to explain,"they're just old storage rooms, there's nothing strange about them, apart from the lowest room."

  "What about it?"I asked

  "It looks like someone has been living down there,"Sheila said,"and there's a table, it has candles on it, like a shrine or a memorial, and on the table is a picture of what appears to be Silas and his parents."

  "You think Silas was living down there?"I said.

  "I do,"Sheila said,"I think I should show you. It's late now, and I'm going to be in charge of the library for the closing up. No one will notice."

  "What about our trace bracelets?"I asked.

  "Oh, never mind them,"Sheila said,"the teachers are hardly going to be examining your location all hours of the day."

  "What if it alerts them the moment we step into an out-of-bounds location?"I suggested.

  "Well, I suppose we'll just have to find out,"Sheila responded,"I feel like you need to see the place for yourselves."

  "Why didn't you tell the Librarian?"I asked Sheila, as she lead us over to the Restricted Section and unlocked it, leading us through.

  "I'm not sure how she'd take it,"Sheila answered,"also I'm not sure she'd believe it, she'd probably assume there's some rational explanation."

  I wondered how such a thing could be considered 'rational'.

  "Do you know what he did in the summer?"I asked, as we descended some steps.

  "I only know what you're supposed to have done,"she answered,"but I always suspected he must have had something to do with Kenneth Brass' disappearance. The Ministry of Magic don't clear people of suspicion in these cases lightly."

  "And what did I do?"I asked, as we descended into the dark storage rooms below.

  "You and Antonius ran off into the Forbidden Forest, Brass did as well,"Sheila said,"only he never came back."

  "Kenneth and Silas chased me into the Forbidden Forest,"I said,"they were going to put me on Trial. Do you know about the Trials?"

  "I do,"Sheila answered,"I suspected it might have had something to do with that. Do you know what happened to Brass?"

  "I know,"I said,"but I don't know how to tell you. Silas has been modifying and erasing people's memories. By the sounds of it, you included."

  "Nothing a Memory Restoration Potion won't fix,"Sheila said.

  "I'm brewing some,"I said, excitedly,"to make one for you, I'd need one of your memories though."

  "You're brewing a Memory Restoration Potion?"Sheila said, surprised,"no offence, but Potions never was your strong point!"

  "Well, I did really need it,"I answered,"also I got Priscilla Bulstrode to help."

  "Well, feel free to give me the recipe,"Sheila replied,"again, no offence, but for all I know, you could be making me a Memory Alteration Potion."

  "I can understand that,"I responded, feeling slightly hurt, but I remembered I have let her down in the past, and I'm glad she's looking out for herself. We are in a time of great deception, after all.

  I went on,"you could ask Priscilla for the recipe."

  "I think I will,"Sheila said.

  Then she showed us into the room she'd been talking about. There certainly were signs that someone had been living there recently. There was a bed made from crates, cushions and curtains; there was a cauldron over the remains of a fire, the contents residing at the bottom resembled food more than more than potion.

  Then I saw the 'shrine' Sheila had mentioned. It was a picture of Silas with a man and a woman. They must be his real parents. In the picture he was around seven or eight years old. As with most magical photographs, it was moving, and out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed something.

  Wanting to look closer, I took the picture out of the frame. It had been folded to fit into the frame, but the fold seemed deliberate, to conceal part of the picture. When I unfolded it, it revealed what I'd thought I'd seen. His mother was holding a baby.

  Did Silas Warren have a baby brother? By the looks of it, if that baby in the picture was his brother, then they'd be about six or seven years apart in age - the same age gap between him and Llywellyn Davies! What if Llywellyn is Silas' younger brother?

  "Now you've shown me this,"I said to Sheila,"there's something I'm going to tell you."

  Sheila raised her eyebrows.

  "You know that new Muggleborn student, Llywellyn,"I went on.

  "Yes?"Sheila answered.

  "Well, he's not Muggleborn,"I told her,"and I think he could be Silas Warren's younger brother."

  "How do you know he's not Muggleborn?"she asked.

  "We performed Sanguis Identitatis,"Antonius explained.

  Sheila looked startled. He had been quiet this whole time, and both of us had forgotten he was with us.

  "Why?"Sheila asked, suspiciously.

  "Because he looks so much like Silas!"I said,"I'm not sure if you've noticed. Anyway, we performed the test because we suspected he might be Silas disguised as a First Year."

  "Why ever would he want to do that?"Sheila asked.

  "You don't know Silas like we do,"I answered,"anyway, it turns out Llywellyn is actually Pureblood."

  "Well, that's ironic,"Sheila responded, with a short laugh,"by the looks of it, you haven't informed your fellow Slytherin's. You probably should. Maybe they won't bully him so much."

  "I don't know,"I said, rolling my eyes,"they might bully him worse! They wouldn't like the humiliation of finding out he's been Pureblood all along."

  "Do you think he could be related to Silas?"Antonius asked Sheila.

  "I think..."said Sheila, taking the picture from me and examining it,"...that it could be possible, but isn't Warren half-blood?"

  "He tells everyone he is,"I said,"but we don't know for sure. Besides, even if he is, he could be his half-brother."

  We put everything back as it had been left/discovered and departed from the Restricted Section, which is, as I've often imagined, stuffed full of books; lots of which used to line the bookshelves of the Library before Wells took on the role of Headmistress.

  I also couldn't help wondering if there could be another Sivril hidden down there somewhere.