Startled, the two teens leaped to their feet and stared at the armchair, surprised to see Harry Ashworth, or rather, Harry Black, smiling at them over steepled hands.
"Sorry," Harry said. "I couldn't resist the temptation."
"Merlin!" Leo exclaimed. "Are you actually here or are you using that spell?"
"The spell, of course," Harry said.
"But you don't appear ghost-like," Leo said.
"The spell is quite flexible," Harry said, raising his hand and causing it to become transparent for a moment.
"Maybe you could teach it to me sometime," Leo said enviously.
"Maybe I will," Harry said. "But for now, perhaps you could tell me what you've discovered."
"Of course," Leo said, glancing at Rose who was in the process of studying Harry intently. "Rose?"
Rose cleared her throat. "Professor Ashworth-Black-," she began.
"Please, just call me Harry," Harry directed, interrupting her as politely as he could.
"Very well, Harry," Rose conceded. "We believe that one of Voldemort's magical objects is inside of Hogwarts."
"Of course," Harry said slowly. "He always viewed Hogwarts as his home. It is only logical that he would hide one here. After all, the castle's defenses are formidable."
"Bellatrix didn't seem to think we would find one in the castle," Leo pointed out and impliedly asking for an explanation as to the differing opinions.
"Bellatrix does not know Mr. Riddle as well as I do," Harry said, brushing Leo's confusion aside. "Where is this magical object?"
"We are not entirely sure," Rose confessed.
Detecting a slightly annoyed expression on Harry's face, Leo piped in. "But we do know that it is hidden inside a room full of lots of junk."
"Junk?" Harry asked.
"Yes, junk," Rose said. "Furniture, books, sculptures, that sort of thing. There are acres and acres of piles and piles of this junk all inside of a room in Hogwarts."
"But we can't find the room," Leo cut in. "We've spent days searching for it. We're beginning to wonder if the room actually is in the castle, but we are very sure that an object belonging to Voldemort is in that room, wherever it is."
"How did you discover the location of this object without seeing the room in person?" Harry asked, sounding a little bit confused.
"That is something you do not need to know," Rose said coolly, apparently not willing to inform Harry about her seer abilities.
Harry leveled his gaze at her, focusing the green orbs that were his eyes on Rose's own eyes. "Very well," Harry said. "I thank you for your efforts. I would appreciate it if you would continue to gather any information you can regarding Mr. Riddle."
"Wait," Leo said, "we're not done yet, are we? Do you know where this room is?"
"I do know where the room is located," Harry admitted.
"Is it in Hogwarts?" Leo asked.
"Yes," Harry said, turning his head to watch the flames in the fireplace. It seemed he was prepared to reward reticence for reticence.
"Harry," Rose said, "it would appear that you fail to realize that we are your best option to retrieve this object. Obviously, you cannot enter Hogwarts, but we are already here. You should tell us where this room is."
Harry continued to look into flames. Eventually, he smiled. "I think you underestimate my abilities, Miss Potter. Besides, even if I could trust you to give me the object rather than handing it over to Professor Dumbledore, I fear that Mr. Riddle will have placed unique defenses around the magical object in question. In that room, his options are, I think, endless. Though, I will concede that there is a small chance that Mr. Riddle never realized the sheer power that the room seems to possess."
It took Rose a few moments to muster a reply. "Is not handing over the object to Professor Dumbledore the best option? If you truly are fighting Voldemort, you should be more willing to contribute to the cause."
Harry looked again at Rose, focusing his emerald eyes on her. "Miss Potter, I have contributed more to the cause than you can possibly know.
"Then what is a little bit more?" Rose said boldly.
"I was not implying that I do not wish to contribute more to the cause," Harry said evenly. "I was implying that at this moment, it is I who is best situated to decide what ought to be done to effectively combat V… Mr. Riddle. When I am ready, I shall personally access the room you have seen and retrieve Mr. Riddle's magical object. And then, at an appropriate moment, I will involve Professor Dumbledore in my plans."
"Right," Leo said, jumping in and trying to douse any further sparks between Harry and Rose. "In the meantime, we'll continue to research Voldemort and let you know if we find anything important."
"Excellent," Harry said, smiling at Leo. He then, without any further comment, faded away.
Rose and Leo stared at the empty chair for several moments.
"I really want to learn that spell," Leo said.
"I really want to learn more about Harry Ashworth-Black," Rose said quietly. "In case you did not notice, he just told us that he thinks he knows better than Dumbledore."
Leo grinned at Rose teasingly. "Or was he really saying that he knows better than you ?"
"There is nothing he knows that I cannot know, and endless things I can know that he cannot," Rose said sulkily.
"If you could really see that far, you would be able to find the room in question," Leo pointed out gently. "And then, we must remember that knowledge is not necessarily wisdom."