#Olivia Green

[weirdcursedvaultkid]

good things come in threes!

[carewyncromwell]

"In my life I feel like a prisoner, in a light...

Are you feeling me?

'Cause the way you make my

Break my, shake my walls around,

I feel like I'm breaking out!

Show me your colors --

Show me your colors --

'Cause without you, I'm blue..."

~"Hurry Up and Save Me" by Tiffany Giardina

x~x~x~x

~Inspired by a concept by @ag907 💜~

In the story of Jacob and Carewyn Cromwell, the two siblings had to face a lot of tragedy in their lives. One of the single largest was the loss of Duncan Ashe, Jacob's first friend and love. But what if Duncan hadn't died prior to Jacob's expulsion? What if Duncan had been with Jacob, Peter Pettigrew, and Patricia Rakepick on that ill-fated jaunt to the Portrait Vault that resulted in Jacob's imprisonment? What if, after Rakepick's supposed "betrayal," he decided he'd force the Gringotts Cursebreaker to help him save Jacob from the Portrait Vault and R, by any means necessary? And what if Lane Cromwell and little nine-year-old Carewyn caught wind that the last person known to have been with Jacob before his disappearance was his now-graduated Slytherin classmate, Duncan Ashe?

x~x~x~x

The end of Duncan's Hogwarts career had been very turbulent. However he'd imagined ending his time at school, it certainly wouldn't have involved him becoming an Apprentice Cursebreaker at Gringotts under the tutelage of a R stooge he was currently blackmailing to keep from fleeing the country. It also hadn't included being alone at his graduation ceremony -- sure, he hadn't expected anything more than detached applause from his father and stepmother...but he'd always imagined Olivia and Jacob on either side of him, when he finally accepted his graduation scroll from Dumbledore. And he'd certainly not expected to exchange such a piercing look with the Headmaster while doing it.

"If I'm to help Jacob, then I need to know everything you know about the organization he joined, Duncan."

"I already told you, Jacob and I know next to nothing about R! Even those people who've joined it don't seem to know much about it, and they've done that on bloody purpose. I don't need your help, Professor -- I just need access to Hogwarts. Once I find the enchanted portrait again and break all the Vaults' curses in the proper order, I can save Jacob. I will save him and Olivia, damn whatever R might do."

"You might feel that way, Duncan...but as Hogwarts' Headmaster, I must care about what R might do. I won't hinder you from visiting Hogwarts, should you reach out to me -- but if you are to have free reign, you will have to convince both me and the Minister of Magic that you will not likewise give the Dark Wizards Jacob has aligned himself with access to my school and the students I protect. And you mustn't forget -- Jacob himself now poses a threat, with his own forced allegiance to R."

"...So you don't want Jacob to be free..if it means R could use him to hurt people?! Jacob would NEVER want to be with R -- he would fight them with everything in him, if he could! Whatever dark magic is in that mark they put on him, he'd be doing it against his will! Jacob would never -- !"

"I know. Truly, I do. But until R is rounded up and brought to justice, it sounds as though Jacob will still be a weapon they can use against others, whether he likes it or not. And Jacob is powerful and talented enough that he would be a very valuable weapon for such people. I don't like the situation, Duncan...but until the people holding Jacob's chains are dealt with...it may be safest for himself and others if he -- at least for the interim -- remains contained.”

His last conversation with the Hogwarts Headmaster played over Duncan's head off and on the last month, flooding the Slytherin alum with resentment and rage. It seemed to crop up most whenever he and Rakepick headed to work -- perhaps because just about every time they collided in the Leaky Cauldron, Rakepick would be shooting furtive looks over her shoulder, monitoring their surroundings.

"Take a chill pill," Duncan remarked once dryly as he walked through the brick wall into Diagon Alley, not even looking at her. "Are you expecting some knobhead in a red cloak to pop up in broad daylight?"

"Don't be a fool," Rakepick hissed back coldly.

The twenty-six-year old witch took another critical glance around as they walked side by side down the street.

"R is always watching, Duncan Ashe. Neither of us know the extent of their numbers -- even I can't assess who is a member and who isn't without touching them."

"Let 'em watch -- I don't care," scoffed Duncan. "They only really have the ability to threaten and coerce, to get their way. R has nothing I want, and what little family I do have they can threaten all they want."

Something darker passed over his face.

"I've already lost the two most important people in my life, thanks to them," he muttered. "They've lost all power they could have over me."

Rakepick's lips knit together grimly. She looked away.

"Don't underestimate just how much the wolves of R can take from you, Duncan Ashe," she said lowly. "They feed on far more than just physical flesh."

Duncan didn't answer. Instead he adjusted the collar of his dark green robes and started up the stairs of Gringotts bank.

"Did you track down the portrait yet?" he asked.

Rakepick scowled. "I checked Pettigrew's old flat, but it hasn't been touched since Black supposedly killed him, so it's not there. I frankly don't know where else he might've hidden it -- it's not like he has any friends left in the world, with him having to play dead. It's frankly a miracle I was able to pressure him to help us with the Vault in the first place..."

"If by 'help,' you mean leave us for dragon chow," Duncan said scornfully.

"Beggars can't be choosers, Mr. Ashe," Rakepick shot back coolly. "We needed at least four people if we were to fight a dragon. And I don't believe you, Jacob, or I were about to ask any of the Hogwarts faculty to help."

Duncan scowled, but otherwise dropped the issue.

"We'll have to keep looking, then. Even if we break the other Vaults' curses again in the proper order, it won't mean a thing, if we can't get back to the Portrait Vault..."

"Pettigrew and his little Hogwarts buddies had plenty of old hiding places back on the Hogwarts grounds," said Rakepick, and her lips actually quirked up with a cool smirk. "But I daresay Dumbledore will want a proper explanation for why my Apprentice Cursebreaker would want such unfettered access to the school and would demand proper oversight. The Minister and our Head Cursebreaker, as well."

Duncan shot her a glare.

"I may have been assigned to study under you, but don't forget my terms, Rakepick. I won't tell Dumbledore or anyone else about what you did to Jacob, but you need to help me set him free. Therefore I'm the one calling the shots -- don't you forget it."

"And don't you forget," Rakepick shot back just as coldly, "that you made those terms out of desperation, since the only other great wizard offering you help is more interested in dealing with R, not the Vaults. Without me, you'll never save Jacob."

Almost as soon as the two entered the bank, they were flagged down by Griphook. Rather than give them an assignment as they expected, however, the goblin looked rather critical as he handed a sealed envelope to Duncan.

"A 'Lane Cromwell' sent this to the bank very early this morning for you," he said irritably. "She did not have your current address, so she followed up here instead."

Both Duncan and Rakepick stiffened sharply at the sound of the name.

"Cromwell..." murmured Rakepick.

"I initially thought to dispose of it -- after all, I am no owl, and if the woman had any friendship with you, I would think she'd already know you've been renting a bed at the Leaky Cauldron for the last two months," Griphook said stiffly as he handed the letter to Duncan and then crossed his arms. "But thinking it could be business-related, I thought best to let you deal with the initial letter, and then only burn any subsequent ones she might try to send through me."

He was tapping his long-nailed fingers beside his forearm, seemingly awaiting an explanation. Duncan looked from the letter to up at Griphook and tried to compose himself.

"Sorry. Yes, I...I'll deal with it at once. Thank you."

Griphook gave a sniff and then trudged back toward his desk.

Duncan looked back down at the envelope warily. Written in very neat, but slightly shaky handwriting in dark blue ink were the words:

Duncan Ashe

Gringotts Bank

Diagon Alley, London

The envelope was not the sturdy, wizarding parchment variety, closed with a wax seal. Instead it was very thin and made of simple white paper: a standard Muggle-produced envelope.

Just like Jacob used to use...

Duncan could feel Rakepick watching him. Stubbornly ignoring her, he ripped the envelope open and read the note inside.

Flat 13, 43 Harrison Way

Liverpool

Dear Mr. Ashe,

We have never met, but I'm Jacob Cromwell's mother. I understand you and my son knew each other at school.

At your earliest convenience, I should dearly like to know about your last interactions with Jacob, prior to his disappearance. If a private in-person meeting could be arranged, I am available on weekends. You will need to use the Knight Bus or careful Apparition, however, as my home is in a Muggle district and my fireplace is not connected to the Floo Network. If you'd prefer to simply give me a written account, I'm willing to accommodate, but please expect follow-up questions by Owl Post, preferably at your home address. Slytherin's new Head of House Severus Snape didn't have anything on file for you aside from your family's address, but he signaled you were unlikely to still be there after your graduation.

Hope this finds you well.

Lane Cromwell

"Well?" said Rakepick.

Duncan read the letter a few more times, considering the words carefully as he swallowed.

He hadn't reached out to Jacob's mother at all after what happened. How could he? He felt guilty enough about what happened, and he didn't know the woman at all -- how could he even begin to explain everything he, Jacob, and Olivia had kept under wraps so long? It had been their secret, their goal -- even now that everything had gone so out-of-control, it was hard to reach out for help with it. Especially when Dumbledore flat-out admitted he thought it'd be too dangerous to set Jacob free as long as R still existed and had power over him...

That, and...Duncan knew how much Jacob loved his mother. Not just her, but his little sister, Carewyn. Jacob's love for his sister overwhelmed just about everything else. It had been Carewyn's life being threatened that had scared Jacob so much. It had been Rakepick saving Carewyn that had coaxed Jacob to trust her, only for Rakepick to end up being part of R too. It was Carewyn, and to a lesser extent his mother, that made Jacob do as R said...made him not just run away and change his name and start a new life in freedom far away from R and their threats, the way Duncan had thought they could...

It was Carewyn -- and Lane -- that Duncan knew Jacob would always choose. Over his own safety, over his own life...over any kind of future with Duncan.

Resentment twinged in his mouth as he bit the inside of his cheek.

Rakepick said Jacob's grandfather has links to R, he thought. Anything I might write could get intercepted...knowing them, they probably have Jacob's flat under surveillance, so they'd know if I visited too...

He reread Lane's letter one more time.

Her "L's" had the exact same swirling flourish that Jacob's did.

His eyes narrowed as he finally lowered the letter.

"We're going to meet her," he said brusquely.

Rakepick was taken aback. "What?"

"Jacob's mother wants to meet me to talk about Jacob. You're coming with me."

Rakepick gave something of an shocked, offended cough.

"Have you lost your senses completely?" she demanded. "R explicitly instructed me not to go anywhere near Jacob's family! If you or I made any contact with them, then R would retaliate against both us and them -- "

"'Beggars can't be choosers,' isn't that what you said?" Duncan recurred very dryly.

He folded up Lane's letter and put it into his robes. Rakepick's eyes flashed.

"R already tried to hurt Carewyn Cromwell once," she hissed at him. "I know -- I was there -- "

"Good," Duncan shot back. "Then you can Apparate me cleanly over to their Muggle neighborhood without us being seen."

"If I hadn't turned against my companions that day, then Jacob's sister would've been crippled or worse!" said Rakepick, and her cold, angry voice betrayed the very slightest strain. "She and her mother have already been emotionally destroyed by his disappearance. Do you truly think that Jacob would want you putting his sister in R's cross-hairs again by doing this? Do you have no moral compunctions, putting the most important people in Jacob’s life -- one of them a nine-year-old child -- on the front lines?"

Duncan met her glare head-on.

"'They've already been destroyed by Jacob's disappearance?'" he repeated accusingly. "Then you've already seen them."

Rakepick flinched. Then her eyes narrowed.

"Only Carewyn," she murmured. "And only from afar."

"Well, I’m not such a coward," said Duncan. His own voice was sharper now, more confrontational. “If you want to talk about moral compunctions, how do you justify refusing to face the family of the bloke you got trapped in a portrait?”

Rakepick’s face was almost forcibly stoic, but she could offer no verbal response. Duncan turned his back on her.

“I need a way back into Hogwarts and into the Cursed Vaults. Maybe some angry mother yanking at his beard will make Dumbledore reconsider his stance.”

[avidrawsthings]

The 70s trio as First Years.

As they started schooling in 1979, the First Wizarding War was still in full swing. Although a rather terrifying time, they stuck together. Ricardo is a Half-Blood raised in the Muggle world, Olivia is Muggleborn and Duncan is Pure-Blood. They started getting involved with the Cursed Vaults in their second year after the Ice Curse began to spread. R only ever communicated with them through letters, and convinced the trio to pursue the vaults in order to stop Voldemort's reign at the time.

Ricardo De Los Santos

Inherited his Metamorphmagus abilities from his late father Daniel, who was an American Auror.

Was raised by his older half-sister Rel after Daniel sacrificed his life to save them both.

Once he began to heal, Ricardo would use his powers to make his hair black and yellow to honor his dad.

Following Rel's death just before he started school, Ricardo was emotionally distant for the next two years. His friends stuck by him, regardless.

Only ever rode the Hogwarts Express once. As he had no home to go back to, Dumbledore arranged a place for him to stay in Hogsmeade during the holidays. He would come to view Madam Rosmerta as an aunt figure.

R had promised him a family to call his own.

Olivia Green

Youngest of 5 children and the only Witch in her family. As her parents highly prioritized appearances, they didn't like anything outside of the norm. They only wanted 4 children, and Olivia was an accident.

Parents and siblings often mistreated her most of her life. They often insulted her looks the most, causing her to have very low self-esteem.

Although she was highly intelligent to the point she was moved several grades ahead, her accomplishments were never acknowledged.

On the other hand, her other relatives absolutely adored her. All of her best memories are associated with them.

It was her grandparents that saw her off at King's Cross.

She found her schoolwork at Hogwarts to be incredibly easy and wanted more of a challenge.

R promised her knowledge beyond what Hogwarts would provide.

Duncan Ashe

Second youngest of 7 children. The Ashe family are part of the Sacred 28 and most of them are Death Eaters.

Duncan knew from a very young age that his family's love was conditional. Those that stepped out of line were never seen again. Despite this, it only inspired him to take more risks.

While he initially befriended Ricardo and Olivia out of spite, he grew to deeply care for them almost immediately. They would tell him about the Muggle world, while he in return told them about the Wizarding World, the current war against Voldemort, and how it ties into blood purists as the root cause.

Duncan's real passions were in Potioneering and reverse engineering whatever he could get his hands on. He expressed interest in being a Curse-Breaker after getting involved with the vaults.

He was aware his family was keeping a close watch on him, but he didn't care.

R promised him the life he's always wanted.

[immagrosscandy]

Olivia Green as the unstoppable annoying nerdy friend

look at me in the eye and tell me she didn't have a classic nerd look when she was younger

YOU TELL ME WITH A STRAIGHT FACE-

i shall stick to the same headcanons i wrote about her last year:

> naturally curious of the world around her, and wants to know it all

> as long as she gets what she wants, the risks are the least thing she's concerned of

> difficulty in making friends due to her lack of respect for privacy and euphoric personality

> smart and a fast learner. great at charms and can sneak over anywhere she wants

> quite hated in her year, but doesn't upsets her

> people used of make fun of her looks, and she'd always pull a prank against them

> doesn't give up easily. if someone's hiding something she'll find out what it is

> wanted to meet jacob's family, but never got the chance

> her whereabouts were unknown until year 7 it seems

> still a nerd deep down even if she doesn't admit it

[missnight0wl]

Hii Marta 👋👋👋

First off, happy (very) belated birthday! I hope you're resting up and you're getting better :)

Then, I just wanted to ask if you're caught up on the latest HPHM chapter... I don't like where they're going with this, and it feels really cheap. The only way they could save this is, in my opinion, by showing how the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but I really don't think that's gonna happen. What are your thoughts about it?

Either way, I hope you have a nice rest of your day, and stay well ^-^

Well, first of all, thank you so much! 💖 I really appreciate it! I hope you're doing well, too!

As for HPHM, I’m actually not caught up. I still haven’t started Chapter 9, and to be completely honest, I don’t feel the need to catch up. I don’t want to say I’m quitting the game and I’m actually still opening the app pretty much every day just to collect my energy, but at the same, it’s just... eh. The whole “Beyond Hogwarts” often feels like the battle with R from the end of Y7: the characters seem to believe that whatever they’re doing makes sense, but it really doesn’t. Also, there’s basically nothing left in the game anymore from the things that made me love it all those years ago.

On top of all of that, I’m just not having the best time of my life – as you know. It’s nothing bad in particular, really, it’s just… life, I guess. And the main thing is that I just have a hard time finding motivation, so the quality of HPHM dropping down so much doesn’t help.

(Also, I just want to mention in this place: dear Anon who sent me the ask about Flump, if you see it, I swear I’m not ignoring you. I just have a lot to say about this character, and as I mentioned, I have no willpower to write my thoughts down. It’s gonna be a long rant, though. In short: I fucking hate Flump.)

Now, as for the events from the recent chapter you’re referring to… I assume it’s about Jacob and Olivia? Please, correct me if it’s something else because I didn’t check the whole chapter, but if that’s what we’re talking about: I absolutely hate everything about it. EVERYTHING. It actually might be a deal breaker for me. Like, I still don’t want to say “I quit”, but after I learnt about it, my motivation to come back dropped from low to barely existing. I’m still super bitter about that “too dry chicken”, and it’s beyond me how anyone could think it’s a good way to introduce this plot to the story. You know how it could’ve gone? Olivia could’ve said something like: “I was thinking the whole day about messing up the chicken yesterday, EVEN THOUGH JACOB SAID IT WAS FINE”. But no, the writers for once decided to be consistent about something and portrayed Fugly Slut as an absolute jerk.

I think that the only way to save this is to kill Fugly Slut. Olivia deserves so much better. And of course we’re simply ignoring Olivia’s past feelings for Duncan.

[redhairedgryffindor]

Did Jacob give a reason for running off and not telling me?

Ask him yourself

He's in love with you

[maleliddell]

🏳️‍🌈?

These three are a gold mine in memes and I plan to take advantage of it 🤙🏻

[mina1007]

Aaaah accident, I accidentally deleted it! xc I want to add detail that does not tell me to delete it

Narumi knows about Noah's feelings for the girl named Janeth Bennet [by - @yoselin-uyu ], but he never admits it to confess his feelings, due to how proud he is (Slytherin )

And how Narumi takes advantage to bother him and ask what she wants and if she doesn't, she is able to say it

[usernoneexistent]

School's out for Summer (August entry for @hp-12monthsofmagic)

Guess this will be the first in a new one shot series with stories behind photos and polaroids.

Warnings: Some spoilers about the cursed vaults

Hogwarts has recently finished the year, and students have returned home for the Summer. Jacob was frustrated that he had only managed to open one of the cursed vaults when, ideally, he would instead do more, though a thing called OWLs was in the way. He already got an earful from his father about his recent increase in detention and a lecture on what happens when he doesn't focus on his studies.

However, the sleepwalking curse had caused many issues: students in the hospital wing, including one who never woke up. He wasn't sure how he felt about it or if he felt anything at all.

Jacob had welcomed his friends Olivia and Duncan to use his house as their meeting point during the holidays. He had a practical attic bedroom and an excellent storage place for their research during the holidays.

Olivia and Duncan came; the younger Slytherin took the knight bus while Olivia used the train to reach his house. Luckily, his father was away hiding at work, and his mother would be fine with his friend over as she had to look after Juniper anyway.

"Did you add all our research to the box? "Olivia inquired, flopping onto Jacob's soft white duvet.

"Aye, Ma and Pa cannae open it, "Jacob assured.

Duncan crouched down to peer at the locked brown box and lifted it to shake. He tried opening it himself but to no avail. The dark wood was chipped and damaged by dropping onto the ground and by age. His family possessed the box for generations passed on by his grandfather. The attic was perfect for hiding research in plain sight. His mother was too busy with his little sister to notice, and his father couldn't care less to rummage through his room.

"Wow, this is sealed tight. "Duncan tried to flick the lock open. He winced as he accidentally scratched his finger on the metal lock. "So no one can access it? "

"Unless they have legilimency. "Jacob stated.

They heard the creeks of the wooden stairs as Duncan hurriedly shoved the box behind him.

"Jacob dear, sorry to disturb you," his mother reluctantly pulled the privacy curtain. It separated the attic by his bed and the rest of the stuff they stored on the other side. "I just wanted to ken if you and your friends want any snacks? Apple juice? Pumpkin pastry?"

"Yeah, do you guys want anything to eat? Ma makes the best pumpkin pie."Jacob asked Duncan and Olivia.

"The pumpkin is freshly grown in our garden." His mum added eagerly.

"Yes please, Ms Moss. "Duncan cheerily answered. Olivia simply nodded. They waited for her to leave.

"Do you think she heard anything? "Olivia lowered her voice.

"No, besides, Juniper is usually very noisy when she plays especially today, "Jacob assured. Downstairs was the muffled babbling of his six-year-old year sister. She was in a huff when Jacob told her to leave him alone when his friends came over, so she was determined to make herself heard as she read anything she could, though most of the stories were made up.

"You can hear her now," Olivia chuckled.

"Aye, she might be mad at me for not letting her hang out with us," Jacob rubbed his hands together.

"She's going to be a handful when she starts Hogwarts." Duncan mischievously grinned. Jacob feared that Duncan would likely teach her and give her prank ideas.

His mum came back with the promised pumpkin pastry and apple juice. She also came along with a camera. His mum has been obsessed with photographing and making photo album scrapbooks for years. She insisted on taking a photo since there were so few of Jacob with his friends. They politely smiled at the picture before leaving the teenagers alone.

"Nice that she gave us copies." Duncan mused at the Polaroid. The smooth picture fiddled between his fingers. He got up, no longer needing to guard the box and looked around Jacob's shelves.

"And mine will end up in some scrapbook." Jacob dryly commented. He placed it on the desk next to the bed.

"But it's still sweet of her to do it. We hardly have any photos of the three of us as it is." Olivia pointed out. The Polaroid was more carefully held in her hands, truly treasuring it.

Duncan pulled something out of his shelves. Rattles followed Duncan's moves as he held a slightly torn cardboard box. "I didn't know you had snakes and ladders?"

"What if I told you I enchanted it to move," Jacob added. Olivia and Duncan gawked at him.

Snakes and ladders was a muggle board game that he found in a flea market nearby. Jacob loved collecting muggle nick-nacks. His grandpa had shown him how to move paintings and objects, bringing them to life.

"Now we have to play it. Budge up!" Duncan squeezed himself between the older Ravenclaws. He sets out the board and counters on the bouncy bed.

"I fully agree." Olivia chimed in.

"Okay then." Jacob half-heartedly chuckled. The cursed vaults can wait another day. However, none of them didn't know that this Summer would be one of the last peaceful days they would have.

[tiny-chiro]

I introduce to you Jacob Crowen

[eternalchaoschocolaterain]

Gross

[the-al-chemist]

Artemis Hexley and the Return to the Riddles

Chapter 13: The Department of Mysteries

A/N: Artemis and Charlie go on an undercover mission at the Ministry of Magic. Warnings: Mentions of death, a little spooky.

The plan was this: the following Wednesday evening, as Charlie finished his shift at the Three Broomsticks, Artemis would sneak out of the castle to meet him. From there, they would Apparate to Whitehall and enter the Ministry of Magic by the visitors’ entrance they had used for the duration of their work experience placement. 

“Are you sure you’re okay about this?” Artemis asked, frowning at the tense look on Charlie’s face. He gritted his teeth and nodded, but still seemed doubtful. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” he told her, holding out his left arm. “I’ve just not done side-along Apparition before, and I’m not great at Apparating at the best of times. I just don’t want either of us to get splinched, that’s all.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Artemis, taking hold of Charlie’s proffered arm. “Just concentrate on getting us to the right place, and try not to land us on top of any grannies while you’re at it.”

She grinned mischievously, and Charlie gave her a withering look before turning on the spot, gripping her arm with his fingers as he did so, as if he were afraid that he might leave her behind. But he did not leave her behind, for as he turned, Artemis felt the now all-too-familiar sensation of Apparition, and moments later, found herself standing beside him on the streetlight-lit pavement of a London street, beside a bright red telephone box.

“See?” she said, nudging his side with her elbow as she unlinked her arm. “You did it.”

“Yeah, I guess I did,” Charlie half-smiled. “And you’re alright? One nose, two ears, ten fingers?”

“Of course. And look - no grannies harmed, either. Good job.”

Charlie made a rude hand gesture as Artemis stuck her tongue out at him, and they both climbed into the phone box. Charlie used his left forefinger to dial five numbers, and Artemis picked up the receiver as a cool, clipped voice filled the telephone box.

“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business.”

“My name is Artemis Hexley, this is Charlie Weasley. We’re going to the Department of Mysteries.”

There was a short pause before the voice spoke again, as emotionless and formal as before.

“Unfortunately, it is not possible to grant your request at this time,” it said. Artemis turned to Charlie, whose red eyebrows were furrowed deeply. “Unauthorised persons are not permitted to enter the Department of Mysteries. If you wish to visit the Department of Mysteries, you must first submit a request to the Department. The Ministry of Magic apologises for any inconvenience. Have a nice evening.”

“Wait,” said Charlie quickly, as the doors of the phone box swung open. “We’ve actually already submitted a request, and it’s been answered. We’re here to go to… a meeting.”

He shrugged at Artemis and crossed his fingers as they waited for the voice to answer him. Eventually, it did.

“Please state the name of the Department of Mysteries employee who authorised this request.”

“Olivia Green,” Artemis lied. “She’s an Oracler, we’re meeting her to talk about prophecies for our Divination homework.”

“Thank you,” said the voice. “Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes.”

Charlie and Artemis exchanged relieved looks as the metal chute beneath the receiver began to rattle. Two badges landed at the bottom of it, and Charlie took them both, handing one out to Artemis, which read:

ARTEMIS HEXLEY, PROPHETIC MEETING ATTENDEE

She pinned the badge to her jacket as the phone box descended below the ground. Charlie exhaled loudly as he did the same.

“Can’t believe that worked,” he whispered. “Is Olivia Green even a real person?”

“Yeah, she was a friend of my brother.”

“Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium,” said the voice, before Artemis could explain further. The doors of the phone box opened to reveal the polished floors and walls of the atrium. “The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening.”

Not wanting to waste time or be caught, Artemis and Charlie hurried out into the atrium, which was far less crowded late in the evening than it was in the day. As always, the gleaming gold fountain in the centre caught Artemis’ eye, and for a moment she had the sudden urge to go over to it, to wade into the pool at the bottom and find the small package her mother had given her back in August, the one she had discarded into the fountain’s clear waters. But she shook her head and continued to follow Charlie across to the elevators. After all, she had far more important things to attend to tonight. 

The Department of Mysteries was only one floor below the atrium, and so it was not long at all before she and Charlie found themselves in the dark corridor that led to the single black door, the one that had made Artemis feel so strange the first time she laid eyes on it, a sensation that had not yet faded.

“You alright?” asked Charlie, as he placed his hand on the door to open it. 

“Yeah,” replied Artemis. “There’s just something about that door that makes me feel sort of weird, I guess.”

“I get that,” Charlie said. “Believe me, this place… Well, it’s about to get a whole lot weirder, let me tell you.” He raised his eyebrows and uttered one final word: “Ready?”

“Always.”

With a nod of Artemis’ head, Charlie opened the door, and gestured for her to go through it. Beyond the door was a single circular room, the walls of which were lined with a number of doors, all identical to the one they had just come through, which Charlie was now fiddling with.

“What are you doing?” Artemis asked him, as he pulled a school notebook from his satchel, ripped a blank page out of it, and cast a spell wordlessly to fix it to the door.

“Trust me,” he said, with a shrug. “You’ll want to know which is the way out in a minute.”

Artemis wasn’t entirely sure what Charlie meant, but she was willing to take his word for it. She turned away from him to look more closely at the room they were in. Including the door they had come through, there were twelve doors, all spaced evenly around the black walls, which were illuminated by blue-flamed candles. The floor was also black, and so well polished it looked almost as if there were a thin layer of water overlying it. Artemis shuddered; the darkness and illusion of standing in water reminded her of the Sunken Vault, and the loop of her own worst memories and nightmares she had seen whilst she was inside.

“Come on,” she said, not wanting to be inside the room of doors any longer. “Let’s work quickly. Which is the prophecy room?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? But you said-”

“Look at them, they’re identical. That’s why I’ve had to mark this one,” Charlie said, looking around at all the other doors. “We will just have to try all of them until we find the one we’re looking for.”

This was not something that Artemis had accounted for, but it didn’t seem like they had any choice but to do what Charlie suggested, so she nodded.

“Which one do you want to try first?”

Charlie walked across to a door, stared at it for several moments, then shook his head and pointed to the one next to it. 

“This one.”

The door Charlie picked led into a room as dark as the one outside, with several orbs of various sizes floating in mid-air. As Artemis looked closer, she could see that they were not orbs at all, but planets.

“It’s like we are in space,” she mused, looking around herself and ducking as Saturn passed over her head.

“Yeah. This was where the Niffler started floating around,” Charlie told her. “Let’s try another one. Watch out for Uranus.”

“Excuse me?”

Laughing, Charlie pointed to something behind Artemis, who jumped to the side, just as another planet floated by her.

“Thanks for the warning,” she said, a grin playing on her own face. “Death by Uranus would be an awful way to go.”

Still laughing, they made their way back out into the room outside, and Charlie marked the door the way he had the first. Before he closed it, he screwed his eyes shut. Artemis was about to ask him why, but the moment the door clicked into the doorframe, the world began to spin around her, the identical black doors rotating around the walls so fast that she couldn’t keep track of them.

“Sorry,” said Charlie, opening his eyes as the doors stopped spinning. “It made me feel really sick and dizzy last time.”

Artemis nodded her head wordlessly. She felt dizzy too, and a little sick, but it wasn’t because of the revolving doors. Or rather, it was, but not because of the spinning sensation. What made her feel lightheaded was the sense of déjà vu that she had since she arrived in the room of doors, and now had more than ever. The blue flames seemed to become blurry at their edges, and the dark shine of the walls and floors seemed to dull. It took her a few moments to realise that beside her, Charlie was calling her name.

“Artemis? Artie, what’s wrong?”

Before she spoke, she blinked hard, allowing her vision to refocus. 

“I’m sorry, I…” she shook her head. “I just realised that I’ve been here before.”

“You have? When?”

“Lots of times, but also never. I’ve dreamed about it, and I saw it in my visions inside the Sunken Vault.”

Charlie frowned. “Are you sure?”

“Certain,” Artemis nodded, looking around herself again. “I thought it looked a bit familiar at first, but then, when the doors started to spin… It’s these doors I’ve dreamt about.”

“How can you dream about a place you’ve never been?”

“I dunno,” said Artemis, shrugging her shoulders. “But maybe we’ll find out whilst we are here.” She pointed to the next door over. “Let’s try this one.”

She pushed the door, but it wouldn’t open. She pushed harder, using the weight of her whole body, but it still wouldn’t budge.

“It’s locked. Alohamora!” 

But the unlocking charm did nothing, even after three attempts at casting it. Artemis found herself growing impatient and frustrated, so when she pointed her wand at the door again, she did not attempt to unlock it at all.

“Bombarda!” she shouted, and though there was a loud bang as her spell hit the door, the door itself remained intact. “Bombarda maxima!”

Still nothing. Confused, Artemis stared at the door, and as she did, she thought that she could smell a slight aroma coming from it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in though her nose, and suddenly felt less frustrated and more calm. 

It was as if she were no longer in the strange dark room deep underground at all, but on a beach, a sea breeze on her face, soft leather under her fingers, the taste of Firewhiskey on her lips, and the sound  of a bonfire crackling in her ears, the smell of toasted marshmallows wafting through the air. She felt free, and safe, and warm, and…

“I don’t think we should open that door, Artemis.”

The sound of Charlie’s voice cut into her daydream, and she opened her eyes to find herself back in the room of doors. She turned around to see him standing several feet away from her; a slightly greater distance than she had thought. He was staring at the locked door with a peculiar mixture of emotions etched into his face, the most obvious one of which was fear. Reluctantly, Artemis nodded and stepped away, though her fingertips were itching and her heart aching to try again.

“No,” she said, shaking her head and steeling herself. “No, you’re probably right. You can choose next.”

Charlie went to the door nearest him, and Artemis made her way across the room towards him, casting one last look over her shoulder at the locked door as she did. In the corner of her eye, she saw Charlie’s gaze also drift back towards it.

“What do you think was in there?” she asked him, and he immediately stopped looking.

“I dunno,” he replied, opening the next door. “But whatever it was, it… I think it was dangerous. Really dangerous.”

“Because they keep it locked away?”

“Well, yeah. And because it smelt like it was about to blow up.”

As they stepped into the next room, Artemis began to feel as uneasy as Charlie looked. The door Charlie had chosen led to a large rectangular chamber, with a tiered stone floor forming steps or benches like an ancient amphitheatre, descending down to a deep pit almost twenty feet below where Artemis and Charlie stood. In the centre, there was a raised stone daïs, on top of which stood an archway. 

The structure was clearly unfathomably old, with deep cracks and crumbling edges to its stones, which looked as if they might fall down at any second. Yet somehow, the arch remained standing, a tattered black veil hanging from it and fluttering gently in the nonexistent breeze. Once again, Artemis got the feeling that the room, and the arch in particular, were distantly familiar, and once again, she was reminded of the visions that had plagued her inside the Sunken Vault. 

“I don’t like this,” whispered Charlie. “I don’t like this at all.”

“You said that about the locked door, too,” Artemis said, pushing away her niggling doubts to descend the steps. “I want to get a better look.”

“Be careful.”

“Obviously.” Artemis rolled her eyes and continued traversing downwards, closer to the stone arch. The closer she got, the colder and stiller the air felt, but the veil continued to move as if someone were on the other side of it, tugging it with their fingers and lifting it with their breath. She could almost hear them whispering quietly to her. She strained to listen, breaking her concentration to ask Charlie, “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“That. The whispering.”

“I don’t hear anything.”

“Come closer then,” said Artemis, and somewhat hesitantly, Charlie inched his way down the stone stairs towards her. “Now can you hear it? I think it’s coming from the other side of the veil.”

Charlie frowned. “What veil?”

“The one inside the arch.”

“What do you mean? The arch is empty.”

But Charlie was wrong, or perhaps he just couldn’t see what Artemis could see or hear what she could hear, because the veil was still swaying and the voices behind it still whispering. Maybe if she were to pull back the veil, just a little, she might….

“Don’t touch that!”

A sharp, high-pitched voice rang out from far above and behind her, and Artemis immediately withdrew her hand. She turned around to see a cloaked witch standing in the doorway of the room, her face half obscured by her hood.

“Don’t get any closer,” said the witch. “In fact, come back. You aren’t meant to be here, either of you.”

The game was up. Artemis and Charlie shared looks of resignation before climbing the stone steps back towards the door, and the witch who stood in front of it. As they reached her, she lowered the hood of her cloak, and revealed her young looking face, brown curly hair, and thick-rimmed spectacles. 

“Olivia Green,” said Artemis.

“Artemis Hexley,” said Olivia Green. “I was just sent a message telling me that you were here for our meeting about your Divination homework.” She sighed, and seemed to become less bristly and more weary. “Do you want to tell me why you’re really here?”

Artemis bit her lip as she thought of an excuse. “Um, well… It’s about my dad.”

“Your dad?”

“Yeah. He used to work here,” she said, nodding her head definitely. “My mum’s moved to America, and Jacob’s in Azkaban, and so… I wanted to feel closer to him, so I came to see where he used to work.”

Olivia Green’s eyes flicked between Artemis and the stone arch.

“So,” she murmured, “that’s why you wanted to look at the arch.”

“The arch?” Artemis looked back over her shoulder at the structure, the veil still whispering and waving within it. Her eyes widened with recognition. “The other side…” she whispered. “That’s where they found him, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Is it true? That if you go under the arch and through the veil, you die?”

Olivia Green fixed Artemis with a knowing look.

“Why do you think I told you not to touch it?” she asked. “You shouldn’t have come here. There’s a reason people aren’t allowed in these rooms. The work we do, the things we study, they’re dangerous.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” said Artemis, trying her hardest to look ashamed. “I just needed to see where he’d been, that’s all. I should have sent a proper request, but I thought it would be denied. I thought that you all probably wouldn’t care, and would think that it’s stupid, needing to know more about something like that.”

“Yes, as people who dedicate their lives to studying the greatest mysteries known to mankind, we could never understand why someone might want to know more about something,” Olivia Green muttered. She sighed again. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but come on. I’ll show you the room where your dad did his research, and then you can go home.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but you cannot tell anyone that I let you do this, okay?”

“No. Of course not. Thank you,” Artemis said breathlessly. Olivia Green turned away, and she grinned at Charlie behind her back. Charlie raised his hand to scratch his arm, giving her a quick thumbs up as he did so. 

“Follow me, then.”

Olivia Green held the black door open for them, and as she stepped through it and out of the room, Artemis took one last look back at the stone archway.

“How long has it been there?” she asked Olivia. “The archway, I mean.”

“A long time,” was Olivia’s answer. She shut the door behind her and the walls began to spin. “No one knows for certain. It’s been here since the beginning, when the first Unspeakables discovered this place and used it to study.”

“What, they just discovered that thing beneath the Ministry of Magic?”

“No. The Department of Mysteries predates the Ministry of Magic by a few centuries. The older areas of the Department were there before that. It’s thought that they were the work of a witch or wizard from long ago.”

“What, like Merlin?”

“Possibly even earlier. The Ministry built their headquarters above the research unit in order to better regulate and monitor the Unspeakables’ activity,” Olivia Green gave a wry chuckle. “Not that it ever worked, of course.”

The walls had stopped spinning, and she walked straight across to one of the other identical black doors, apparently not at all disorientated. Artemis frowned as Olivia opened the door with ease.

“What’s behind the locked door?” she asked. “The one that won’t open?”

“Wow, you really have been making yourselves at home,” Olivia muttered. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.”

“Because it’s a really big secret?”

Olivia nodded. “I don’t even know myself. It’s never been unlocked, not since I got here.”

“So what-”

“Did you want to see where your dad used to work or not?” 

“Yeah, sorry,” Artemis said quickly, and she and Charlie followed Olivia through the open door into yet another peculiar room. 

The room was lighter than the others, illuminated by several low-hanging lamps that shone light onto the desks around the room. The desks surrounded a large tank in the centre, which was filled with a green liquid. Several items were floating in the liquid, and Artemis squinted to see what they were. Beside her, Charlie’s nose was wrinkled in an expression of disgust.

“Are those…”

“Brains,” said Olivia Green, leaning back on on of the desks, a disinterested look on her face. “Your father was studying matters of the mind and consciousness. He was specifically interested in the concept of Legilimency.”

“Probably because Jacob and I are both Legilimenses,” Artemis said before she could stop herself. Olivia raised her eyebrows.

“Possibly. He published a groundbreaking paper on the subject in the sixties. He went all the way over to America to study as part of his research.”

Artemis nodded, and pretended to look closely at one of the brains whilst thinking of a way to get to the prophecies without Olivia realising that she was up to anything.

“Can we see where you work, too?” she asked, feigning mild curiosity. “You keep records of prophecies, right? That sounds really interesting, I’d love to see that.”

Clearly, she had not been subtle enough in her request, because Olivia immediately stiffened and narrowed her green eyes at her in suspicion.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “What’s really going on here?”

Artemis widened her eyes and shrugged her shoulders, not sure what she could say to convince Olivia Green of her innocence. Apparently, saying nothing had the opposite effect, because Olivia stood up straight, and told her:

“If you two don’t tell me now what you’re really doing down here, I’ll have no choice but to report you.”

“No, you can’t. No one can know we’re here.”

“Why not? Aside from the fact that your being here is breaking around seventeen laws, obviously.”

“Because…” Artemis bit her lip and glanced at Charlie, who shrugged his shoulders. She was going to have to tell Olivia the truth. “Fine. We came here to find a prophecy.”

“A prophecy? What prophecy?”

“One about the Cursed Vaults,” said Artemis, and Olivia Green’s eyes widened. “We think it’s important - reallyimportant - and so we need to find out about it. The Aurors can’t get it because there’s someone passing information to R from inside their office, so we thought that we could come here and get it without anyone knowing. I’m not lying this time, I swear!”

Olivia stared at Artemis in silence for almost a full minute before telling her, “I believe you.” 

“You do?”

“Yes, your performance earlier was terrible, honestly,” Olivia adjusted her glasses. “I think I know which prophecy you mean. Why do you think it’s so important?”

“We aren’t sure, but we think it’s going to give us a clue about how to open them, and how Jacob and R are all connected with everything.”

“So, you want to access the prophecy record?”

“We do. Can you get  it for us?”

Olivia Green sighed.

“No,” she said simply.

“Oh,” Artemis couldn’t even be bothered to hide her disappointment. “Well, that’s okay. I guess we’ve gotten you to break enough rules and laws for one evening.”

“That’s not why I can’t get it for you,” Olivia half-smirked. “Prophecy records can only be accessed by the person the prophecy is about.”

“So, only Jacob can get the prophecy?”

“Precisely.”

Artemis’ heart sank. Their whole venture had been doomed from the beginning. She was never going to find out why R was so interested in Jacob after all.

But maybe she would, because Olivia Green tilted her head to one side and said, “Unless…”

“Unless?”

“Come with me. I have an idea.”

Olivia Green strode out of the room without another word, leaving a mystified Charlie and Artemis to follow behind her. She led them back out into the room of doors, and as soon as the spinning stopped, strode straight across to the other side of the room and through one of them.

On the other side of the door was a room larger and colder than any of the previous ones, with a ceiling as high as that of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. The room was filled with toweringly high shelves, all holding what looked like small crystal balls, which glittered  in the blue candlelight.

“This is the Hall of Prophecy,” Olivia informed them, not even turning back to look at them as she strode through the central aisle. “It’s where I work, recording prophecies and storing them. The prophecy records are all in these orbs. If I’m correct, the prophecy you’re after should be… Ah, here. Row 49, somewhere on that shelf.”

She pointed to a shelf above Artemis’ head and just out of her reach, and Artemis craned her neck as she struggled to see the prophecies. 

“Here,” said Charlie, also squinting as he pointed to one of them. “It’s this one.”

“How do you know?”

“Because they’re labelled,” he said. “And that one says ‘Hexley’ on it.”

“That’s what I thought,” Olivia’s voice called out from the central aisle. “If it doesn’t specify Jacob Hexley, it might be that you can take it off the shelf after all.”

It was worth a try, and so Artemis carefully placed one foot onto the bottom shelf, and climbed upwards until she could reach the prophecy. Now that she was high enough to see it properly, she could clearly read the label.

M.L.F., Date Unknown. The Vaults of Truth (Cursed Vaults) and ? Hexley.

Artemis reached out and placed her hand over the little orb, which was far warmer to the touch than she had anticipated, and glowed with a white wispy appearance within. Slowly, she raised her hand, and lifted the ball from its perch before climbing back down to the ground. In her palm, the white substance began to swirl, and a voice began to speak from within. The voice was a woman’s, but the words were completely unintelligible.

“What is that? French?” Artemis asked Charlie, frowning. Charlie shrugged and nodded. “Do you understand it?”

“No. You?”

Artemis shook her head. “No, I don’t speak French. But Penny does, she might be able to translate it if we take it back to her.” She turned to Olivia Green and asked her, “I can take it with me, right?”

“Wrong,” said Olivia Green. 

“But it’s got my name on it! It belongs to me!”

“No, it’s about you,” Olivia glared at her. “It belongs to - and in - the Department of Mysteries.”

“But-”

“We record these prophecies religiously and in utmost secrecy. If you take that prophecy record, then the heads of the Department will know that I let you in here. I don’t mind helping you, but I’m not going to risk my job for you.”

There was a hardened look in Olivia’s eyes that made Artemis relent. She sighed, and put one foot back in the lowest shelf to climb back up and replace the prophecy record.

“Here,” said Charlie, holding out his hands. “Let me put it back for you.”

Artemis handed him the orb and made her way back to the central aisle where Olivia was standing. Olivia led her and Charlie towards a side door that was opposite Row 53. This door opened to reveal another room, filled with dancing lights and clocks. Artemis tilted her head as she watched the lights sparkle. 

“Time?”

“Time for you to leave,” said Olivia, with a pointed look at Artemis. 

She continued walking out of the sparkling room and across the room of spinning doors, right out into the corridor outside.

“Thanks again for helping us,” Artemis said dutifully. 

“Don’t mention it. Really, not to anyone,” Olivia told her. “It was good to meet you at last, Artemis.”

With that, Olivia disappeared back into the Department of Mysteries, the door closing behind her with a gentle click. 

“Well, there’s never a dull moment with you around,” said Charlie. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

They climbed into the elevator, and once they were one floor up, Charlie made his way back through the atrium at such a brisk pace that Artemis had to jog to keep up with him. 

“Sorry,” Charlie muttered, as soon as they reached the the city street above the Ministry. “I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.”

“Were you really that creeped out by it?”

“Not quite. I just didn’t want to get caught with this.”

Charlie grinned sheepishly and opened his satchel a fraction, revealing a small, glowing glass orb. Artemis’ jaw dropped slightly, hardly able to believe it.

“Is that-”

“Yeah, it is.”

A small but proud smile played on Charlie’s face as he held out his arm, and Artemis giggled as she took it. There was a loud crack, and then the London street was as empty as if they had never been there at all.

[carewyncromwell]

Masterpost: HPHM/Haunted Mansion AU (starring Duncan Ashe and Jacob Cromwell)

Summary: In an alternative universe set in upstate New York in the year 2005, New-Orleans-born paranormal investigator Duncan Ashe travels to the sleepy town of Liberty Square to investigate the mysterious "Headless Man" haunting the local graveyards and his murky connection to the abandoned Cromwell Manor. In the process, he's roped into an almost-200-year-old mystery involving murder, possession, and 999 happy haunts, and Duncan must team up with the aforementioned "Headless Man" and a mysterious figure known by Liberty Square as "the Wanderer" to restrain the malevolent presence threatening the Cromwell Manor and its supernatural occupants.

Introducing Our Players

The Family Who Lived (and Died) in the Manor

Barbara Allen

Crossroads

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

The Phantom of the Opera

Bring Me to Life

The Manor's New Master

Epilogue: A Scene Covered in Ghostly White Snow

~Additional Materials ~

Art: My Initial Concept for Ghost-Bride!Carewyn

Art: Ghost-Bride!Carewyn, Take Two

Moodboard: Original Story Concept

Moodboard: Duncan, Jacob, Carewyn, and Orion

Moodboard: Bill, Olivia, Rowan, and the Phantom

Art: Our Main Six Players

Aesthetic: The Bride and the Wanderer

Art/Fanfiction: The Ghost Host's Promise

Art: The Phantom and the Beating-Heart Bride

Art: The Bride Pushes Orion Away

Art/Fanfiction: The Wanderer Comes to Grip with His "After-Life"

Art/Fanfiction: The Bride Sings

Art: The Bride and the Headless Man are Reunited

Art (unfinished): I So Need to Try to Redraw This but MAN

Art: Kiss of Death Redux

Art: The Performer and the Bride (featuring additional art by @ag907!)

Fanfiction: A Hotel Scene with Duncan and Jacob

Fanfiction: Duncan, Jacob, and Olivia Visit Sleepy Hollow

~Other People's Content~

Art: The Performer (Gwen Dunmoore) by @ag907

Moodboard: The Arcane Maiden (Alvina Arcane-Zheng) by @oneirataxia-girl

Moodboard: Kumiho (Ywa Hana) by @oneirataxia-girl

Art: The Child Spirit (Sarahi Silvers) by @dat-silvers-girl

Moodboard: The Will O' the Wisp (Kai Williams) by @nightmaresart

Moodboard: The Witte Wieven (Brooke Atkinson) by @nightmaresart

[lonelymoonbeams]

silly professor green who knows what else you've forgotten *shrug smile*

[missnight0wl]

Let’s talk about Elton Elderberry – and why he’s a total bitch

First of all, I want to thank @thedoodlecat because a lot of the ideas I’ll discuss were formed during our conversations. So, credit where credit's due!

Secondly, I want to make it clear from the start that it’s not quite a theory, meaning: I personally don’t believe Jam City might take the story in this direction. However, I believe that a lot of it might be a leftover of what’s the story supposed to be. And yes, it can also be explained by the writers having no idea what they’re doing, but on the other hand, it ties in with many interesting details from the past, mostly from Y5. And I still believe that year was super important for the narrative.

Now, without further ado, let’s move on to Elton. Spoilers up to Y7Ch56.

Ok, so the first thing that really bothers me about Elton Elderberry is that he was well aware of the Crown of Mneme, how dangerous it can be, and he had to at least suspect that it might be in the Sunken Vault – and for all those years, he did absolutely fucking nothing.

And it’s quite problematic because there’s no way he just… didn’t know about MC and the Cursed Vaults. At the beginning of Y3, MC told us that pretty much everyone could learn about it from the Daily Prophet. And we know that the Ministry was especially aware of it. Even if we ignore Moody’s involvement starting from Y6, first with Rakepick and then with Peregrine, we also had the Ministry sending Tofty to spy on MC during our O.W.L.s because of the Cursed Vaults. And honestly, I just don’t buy the explanation that Elton somehow… just didn’t hear about it. So, like, what the hell?

Now, I can hear you saying: “Oh, but of course Elton didn’t do anything because he wasn’t a character yet and Jam City probably just created him now!”. And you know what? That’s a totally valid remark and quite probable explanation. Still, I kept thinking about it anyway, and I quickly noticed another problem with Elton: how we actually learnt that he was directly involved in Ryusaki’s death. I mean, look at those scenes:

And then after our visit to the Archives:

(I just have to point out that he’s fucking grinning here…)

… and then:

Do you see the problem here??

Imagine this. You meet Steve. Steve tells you about the mother who died in a car accident with her two children. Sadly, she was the one who caused the accident because she was under the influence. Later you learn on your own that the said mother was a model parent, always there for her children despite having two jobs, actually sober during the accident, rarely drunk at all, and in fact, it was Steve who caused the crash. When confronted, Steve admits to everything and says he feels terrible about it and it haunts him every day. Would you believe Steve that he’s so sorry? BECAUSE I DEFINITELY WOULDN’T. In fact, I’d do everything to stay away from Steve.

Now, again, I’m aware that it might be simply JC’s incompetence in making a connection between the Crown of Mneme and Dai Ryusaki – even though it could’ve been easily done without Elton actively portraying Ryusaki as a bad guy. For example:

Elton: I advise you to avoid the Crown at all costs. MC: I wonder if it has anything to do with the Dark Scroll… Elton: You don’t mean Dai Ryusaki’s Dark Scroll, do you? MC: That dark wizard? Yes, I do. Why? Do you know anything about it too? Elton: *not answering right away and looking very ashamed instead, showing already that he doesn’t want to reveal the truth because of his loyalty to the Ministry, but also showing his guilt*

And yes, I know it wouldn’t be the first time JC didn’t see the simplest solutions in their writing. But as I was thinking about it more, I realised that if we assume that Elton indeed knew about MC and the Cursed Vaults all that time and did nothing on purpose, it’s both surprising and fascinating how many things start to add up. In this scenario, Elton would also want to portray Ryusaki as a bad guy. I know it doesn’t fully work currently because, in the end, it was Elton who let us go to the Archives, but I guess it’s possible that originally, we were supposed to learn the truth about Ryusaki in some different way. And either way, I have to point out that there’s something very off in this part of the story no matter what. I mean, let me ask you one question:

Why exactly Dai Ryusaki was killed?

Because if you think about it, it was never really explained… properly. Like, we keep using words like “miscommunication” or “misunderstanding”.

But… how the fuck can you kill somebody because of misunderstanding? I guess we’re supposed to interpret it as: “The International Confederation of Wizards thought Dai wanted to use his invention to do bad things while he was actually trying to destroy his invention once he realised it’s dangerous”. However, this interpretation doesn’t really make sense. Why? Look at Ryusaki’s notes we found in the Archives.

Ryusaki seems absolutely certain that once he destroys what he was about to destroy, it’s done. He accepted that his work would be no more after that. And that makes me believe that nobody else (or almost nobody) knew about his work. Because otherwise, he’d have to realise that someone might try to replicate his work, right? Or even force him to simply repeat it? Yet he’s not worried about it. And the thing is that Ryusaki was a very intelligent, reasonable, and conscious man. So… how the hell the International Confederation of Wizards knew anything to misinterpret Ryusaki’s intentions?

Well, what if there was someone other than Ryusaki who knew about his work after all? But Dai completely trusted that person, so that’s why he was so sure the whole thing would remain secret? What if that person happened to work at the British Ministry of Magic? What if this person was…

Elton “The Bitch” Elderberry?

Ok, so I know that everything I said so far is a big assumption, but I swear it does make sense, so please, bear with me. And I’ll actually start by summarising what I believe how it all began and then I’ll elaborate on each element because it’s gonna be easier for me that way.

So, I believe that Dai Ryusaki and Elton Elderberry were once good friends. They were both quite talented wizards, and while they had different goals in life, they realised at some point that the treasure from the Cursed Vaults might help them achieve that. Together, they created a group that we know as R. Unfortunately for Elton, Dai realised eventually that both his own invention and the Cursed Vaults themselves are dangerous, so he decided to quit. Elton didn’t like it, and he was afraid that Dai would try to stop him as well, so he decided to be proactive about it. Using his position as a Hit Wizard at the Ministry, he sold Dai out, claiming he’s a dangerous dark wizard. Elton kept R alive ever since, and he was waiting for MC to be born because MC is necessary to open the final Cursed Vault.

Of course, I assume that the original plans for the final Cursed Vault were different than what we saw in Y6. Also, from that point, I’ll keep calling Elton “Brelton” because:

BITCH + R + ELTON = BRELTON

… and I just think this distinction might be useful because, as I said, I don’t think it might still be true, yet it seems that Elton Elderberry will stay in the story anyway. Ok, but let’s talk about some details.

Dai’s and Brelton’s goals

As for Dai’s goal, it’s pretty straightforward. It’s basically said directly in the game: he wanted to help people with traumatic memories. What would be Brelton’s goal then? Well, let me remind you one note from R we found in Y5:

The interesting thing about it is that for the longest time, it was the only case where it was mentioned that R had any interest in immortality. As soon as the Dark Scroll was introduced, we only talked about R wanting knowledge. I even talked with my friend about how weird it is that the writers totally abandoned the immortality aspect (Bee, I’m not tagging you because I don’t want you to feel obliged to read this long-ass post, but if you’re reading it anyway: Hi! I’m talking about you!). In fact, I’m pretty sure that the word “immortality” wasn’t even used in the main story after that note from R – until our conversation with Elton in Y7Ch49:

And you know what? I don’t think it’s just a coincidence. Because it’s not even true! Every time we talked about Ryusaki’s potion, it was about mind-enhancing potion.

So… what if it’s the leftover of the original plans for Elton’s character? What if it’s Brelton who was all about immortality? And now, JC just looked at the notes made by Matt London and his team and simply put the immortality potion in there without thinking if it made sense. I realise it feels like another stretch, but I have to point out that Elton’s old age is a little sus – and they stress all the time how old he is. I mean, wizards do live longer than Muggles, but most of them don’t live over 300 years. (There’s actually the HP wiki page about it.)

And the thing is that from the story point of view, it wasn’t even necessary to make Elton this old. Sure, it adds some flavour with the reveal that he was actually there when Dai was killed, but on the other hand, he mentions every now and then that his memory is not the best anymore etc. So, wouldn’t it be better if MC met Elton's son or grandson, for example? Personally, I think it would, and that’s why I’m gonna assume for the rest of this analysis that R was always about “enlightenment and immortality”, and that Dai Ryusaki represented the first element while Elton Elderberry the second one.

Why they needed the Cursed Vaults?

Ok, so now that we know what they wanted in general, let’s try to figure out why they went after the Cursed Vaults – and as I mentioned already, I assume that the original treasure was actually… well, a thing. I admit that I wasn’t able to figure out what exactly it could’ve been, but I have some ideas about what properties the Treasure could have, based on Dai’s and Brelton’s goals.

This time, let’s start with Brelton because it’s a bit easier. Basically, I believe that Brelton managed to invent something that grants semi-immortality, but it’s not the perfect invention. Sure, he’s still alive and his mind is not in the worst condition, but still. So, I think that he believes that the Treasure could improve his invention by granting actual immortality and/or eternal youth.

It’s a bit more complicated with Dai because we have to consider multiple elements. First of all, we have the mind-enhancing potion. The recipe for it was hidden on the Dark Scroll which was confirmed by the notes found by MC in the Archives. But earlier, MC also mentioned “a device”, and then they read: “I can’t bear to destroy my life’s work, but I know that I must. The scroll has already been hidden”. So… what exactly was he about to destroy? If we want to stick to the legend told by Corey, it might’ve been about the already-prepared potion. He might’ve also been referring to his research in general and his notes or something. But then we have the Crown of Mneme… And that’s quite interesting because we actually know that it’s something he found in Greece – which, by the way, confirms that the Crown was not something placed in the Cursed Vaults originally (I’ll return to it in a moment).

Either way, to simplify it a little bit, I’m gonna assume that Dai’s invention was about the Crown and the potion - and that together was considered his “device”. What about the Treasure then? I see a couple of options.

Perhaps the Treasure would give more control over the Crown or allow to exchange of thoughts both ways. I mean, what we saw in the game looked like the wearer could only send their thoughts, but if Dai wanted to treat patients with traumatic memories, he probably wanted to extract those memories.

Perhaps the Treasure could permanently remove/destroy traumatic memories. Because I don’t think you can actually do it with Obliviate, for example. I might be wrong, but I feel that there is always a small chance that the memory would come back or simply leave some mark behind it.

How the Crown of Mneme ended in the Sunken Vault?

So… If Dai was so certain that his invention was gone and to be forgotten, and on top of that I claim that he didn’t want to have anything to do with the Cursed Vaults, then how the hell the Crown of Mneme ended in the Sunken Vault? Well, I guess I won’t surprise anyone at this point by saying that it was Brelton who was behind it. And the best thing is that we actually know that R was in the Sunken Vault in the past – and that’s thanks to the note found in the Weird Sisters TLSQ:

So, this is what I propose. Brelton got the Crown of Mneme before Dai’s death somehow. I don’t think that Dai would just give it to him because I assume they already fell apart at that point. Or perhaps Brelton lied to Dai and offered that he’d destroy the Crown? Either way, he probably wasn’t planning to destroy it (as it might be useful for him), and he continued his search for the Cursed Vaults. Unfortunately for him, once he got to the Sunken Vault, he realised he couldn’t do anything without the key. And now, the key might be the Gillyweed/Coral Key Rakepick took from us in Y4, or maybe it’s about the siblings – or it’s both (like in my version of the story). Anyway, the Treasure was unachievable, so Brelton used this opportunity to hide the Crown of Mneme and just left.

Ryusaki and the creation of the Cabal

Ok, but why I assume that Dai Ryusaki even knew about the Cursed Vaults, to begin with? I just explained how it was probably Brelton who put the Crown in the Sunken Vault, and we don’t really have anything to prove that Dai needed the Treasure to improve his invention. Well, yeah. But we have something else. Something that I find very exciting. See, during our first trip to Knockturn Alley, we visited also Flourish and Blotts where we found a Black Quill containing this message:

And for the longest time, I was just… absolutely stumped by it. I couldn’t come up with any decent theory as to who left that note. But now, I do strongly believe that it was left by Dai Ryusaki. Brelton was too greedy to get his immortality and too afraid of his own mortality to leave the Cursed Vaults and refused to listen to his friend that it’s too dangerous. The note also talks about “them”, so maybe R had some more members at that point already (but only Dai and Elton knew everything). And you know what makes it even more fascinating? We found this Black Quill in the book by Maerwynn Montfort who’s a totally original author mentioned only in this specific scene in HPHM. Interestingly, Maerwynn is a feminine name that is of Welsh origin that means “joy”. And coincidently, Dai is a Welsh masculine given name (which means “beloved”), a hypocorism of Dafydd or David, as well as a masculine Japanese given name. Like…

Are you kidding me??

I mean, ok, sure. It might be just a coincidence. But you have to admit that it’s a pretty damn odd coincidence. Maybe Maerwynn was someone from Dai’s Welsh part of the family or just a friend whom he met there? Or maybe it’s just a pseudonym or something. But either way, it might be hinting at some (“Welsh”) connection. And that’s why they were exchanging secret information!

Still, that’s not even all I finally realised about the note. Because I also believe that it confirms that the Cabal from Jacob’s notebook is a different group than R – and I think that it was Dai Ryusaki who started that group.

Ok, so I explained the whole idea in this post. It’s one of my shorter analyses so I recommend checking it out. But to put it even shorter, my problem with the note from Y5Ch15 was always that Jacob was confused about why the Cabal wanted to kill him.

But R was very open about threatening Jacob and especially his family, so… it shouldn’t be surprising at all. He might’ve been confused if he was doing everything R told him to do – but then it doesn’t make sense that R would want to kill Jacob and MC. I mean, after Duncan’s death, they clearly told him to continue his search.

So, I always interpreted the Cabal as a separate group who wanted to protect the Cursed Vaults by killing the siblings because the siblings are necessary to get to the Treasure. And if we join it with the note from Flourish and Blotts, it totally adds up. Dai realised that the Cursed Vaults were dangerous and wanted to stop R. Brelton wouldn’t listen, so Dai wanted to destroy the vault portrait which, assumingly, would make it impossible to get to the Portrait Vault. On top of that, he started the group that was supposed to make sure that nobody would ever get hurt by the Vaults by killing the siblings (who can get the Treasure). It was about the creation of the Cabal this whole time!

Brelton as the true leader of R

In general, I have to say that Brelton being the true leader of R just makes more sense. In this scenario, it’d also mean that Peregrine is just… a current face of the organisation. A puppet. And yes, I keep saying that I don’t believe that Perry was always planned to be a part of the story, so why do I even mention him? Well, to be completely honest, I’m willing to accept that Perry was planned along with Dai and Brelton’s story – just not as MC’s father. Because it makes sense that Brelton would want to keep his position at the Ministry, and if so, he’d probably need someone to (occasionally) represent R. And that could be Peregrine. In fact, we saw some moments when the leader of R was treated weirdly ambiguous. The first case is our conversation with Rakepick in Azkaban. And yes, I know that we didn’t know about Peregrine then yet, so it kind of makes sense to leave it more ambiguous, but I want to point out a specific thing Rakepick said.

Honestly, I was always confused by it because “the one behind it all” sounds like someone who also created R, at least in my opinion. On the other hand, we had hints in the past that R is a rather older organisation. Not to mention that Perry claimed that he joined R, meaning that R was R before the current leader joined them. Of course, it is possible that Perry lies. It is also possible that the title of R is simply given to each leader. But… I don’t know. Rakepick’s words sound to me like she is talking about only one person. However, if that one person is actually Brelton, it makes sense that he’s both the current true leader and the one responsible for creating the organisation.

My other issue is with Olivia’s memories. Because Rakepick is very clearly talking to someone from R in those scenes, but for whatever reason we never learn who it was.

So, what if it was actually supposed to be Brelton? And speaking of that, ever since we learnt that Olivia was working at the Ministry, I thought it was pretty suspicious, and I fully expected that R was controlling that. And what a coincidence that Elton became Olivia’s mentor for all those years…

Hell, it’d even make more sense why Verucca is so damn worried about Perry being cursed by Ryusaki’s amulet. Because if Brellton indeed betrayed Dai, then it could mean that it’s Brelton who’s the real target of that whole revenge plan. The curse might be simply generalising it because, well, it’s just a spirit that’s basically the essence of Ryusaki’s anger. But if Verucca knows about everything as a high-ranking member of R, then yeah, she’d try to stop Perry from hurting their dear leader Brelton.

And… that’s it!

Once again, like I said, I do not expect the game to confirm any of the things I discussed above. But that being said, I feel very confident about pretty much everything I said. And even though it took me months to finally write it all down, I have to say that putting it together was really fun and exciting. Who knows, maybe it’s the last time I feel like that about HPHM theory, at least when it comes to relatively new content. But even if so, I’m kind of glad that I got some semi-closure to the things that were bothering me.

[redhairedgryffindor]

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