The pulse in Iris’s staff spills into a thin silver line, threading through the dark stone toward Hogwarts’s east foundation. Professor Loen leads, while Yuffie, Lyla, Desdemona, and Tessa follow close behind.
Tessa Vale
That pressure is the same magic that carried the student voice. It is beneath us again, but this time it feels awake.
The line slips beneath the first landing and vanishes into a seam no map has marked. Desdemona’s ward remains around Tessa, and Professor Loen signals that everyone should halt.
Professor Loen
No one touches the foundation until we know whether the passage is receiving magic or producing it. Iris, the trail responds most strongly to your staff.
At the edge of the landing, the stone folds inward without grinding or cracking. A concealed doorway forms below the steps, revealing a narrow passage threaded with dim silver light.
Desdemona Blackwood
The threshold is hidden beneath the staircase, not behind it. A clever concealment, and one designed to open only after the signal reached its intended key.
Tessa Vale
The voice came through a passage like this. I remember the stone pressing inward around it. If we enter, it may know we are here.
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep Tessa from being claimed by the awakened passage
“I enter the passage beside Tessa and everyone else.”
SUCCESS (Good Agility, rolled +1)
Iris enters the concealed passage beside Tessa, keeping pace with Professor Loen, Yuffie, Lyla, and Desdemona. The threshold closes softly behind them, leaving the landing beyond.
Dim silver light runs through the passage walls in branching lines. Tessa remains within Desdemona’s ward, while the others arrange themselves close around Iris and the path ahead.
Tessa Vale
The pressure is stronger here, but it is not inside me anymore. It is listening from farther ahead.
Professor Loen
Good. We have crossed together, and Tessa remains protected. Iris, lead us toward the active magic.
Iris advances beneath the silver-lit ceiling. The passage slopes gently downward, and the concealed magic responds to her presence by brightening in orderly pulses.
Desdemona Blackwood
The ward has crossed with us intact. Whatever waits ahead will find Tessa guarded, not isolated.
“I lead everyone toward the active magic”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled -1)
Iris follows the brightest silver branch downward, guiding Professor Loen, Yuffie, Lyla, Desdemona, and Tessa through the sloping passage. The pulses settle into a steady rhythm beneath her attention.
Yuffie
There, the left branch is brighter. Hmph. I saw it too, so don’t look unbearably proud, Iris.
The passage opens into a round chamber where silver currents converge around a suspended black stone. Its surface carries the same triple-turn cadence as the cracked transmission disc.
Professor Loen
You found the active focus. The currents are feeding the interference directly, and the stone is still receiving a command.
Tessa Vale
That pulse is familiar. It is the same presence that pressed against my circle, but clearer now. I can tell where it is listening.
Tessa points toward a narrow silver thread descending from the black stone into the floor. Desdemona’s ward remains sealed around her, while Lyla watches the currents and Professor Loen raises her wand.
Desdemona Blackwood
You have led us to the source channel, Iris. Tessa is protected, and the interference can no longer hide its direction.
Quest Complete
Keep Tessa from being claimed by the awakened passage
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Good→Great