*******Author's Notes*******

Sorry it's been awhile since my last update. School, homework, midterms, finals, life, 'nuff said. I will try to do one more update before school starts in January, but I can't promise anything.

And, Katie was born in America, though her father came from a href= wiki/CroatiaCroatia,/a hence the last name. My theory is that whatever Witchcraft and Wizarding school in Salem might not be the best school, given that from what I know, it would be harder to hide from the Muggle world, so some Wizarding parents are sending their children abroad for their education. (If anybody is from that part of the country, feel free to share your knowledge about that area. I always like learning new things.)

Pretty soon, we'll find out what Mozenrath is looking for, if you aren't able to guess.

*******End Author's Notes*******

Several students rushed to see what the scream was all about. In all the commotion, Xerxes quickly flew off, seemingly unnoticed.

"What was that?" several students were asking.

"Do you think it was Peeves again?" somebody else in the crowd wanted to know.

"No, I saw him writing dirty poems in the lavatory," her friend replied.

"Who could've caused—" somebody else began.

"Alright! That'll be enough milling about the Forbidden section!" A ghost who was Irma Pince during her life commanded. Ms. Pince had passed away just five years before, but refused to move on, for fear that nobody else could protect the library books as well as she.

"But Miss Pince," said a Hufflepuff girl named Ashlee. "Something was in the Forbidden section!"

"I am aware of that," Ms. Pince said, "and I will deal with it. Now everybody, move along!"

The group dispersed with many questions about the disturbance.

"Should we tell her what we saw?" Lily was asking Elizabeth.

"Maybe later," Elizabeth said. "She looked pretty mad."

"Ok, but if we're asked…" Lily said.

Mozenrath had been passing the library when he'd heard a piercing scream from the library. Next, several students had rushed in through the door as Xerxes rushed out, unnoticed by all the chaos.

"Mozenr—" Mozenrath clamped a hand over Xerxes' mouth and hurried off with him.

"What did you find?" he demanded, once the two were in his office.

"Screaming book," Xerxes answered. "Girls saw me."

"Which girls?" Mozenrath shook his sidekick.

"Friends of mouthy girl," Xerxes said. He couldn't remember names yet.

Mozenrath wasn't sure which "mouthy girl" Xerxes was referring to—he'd dealt with a couple throughout the day, and all of them had a friend or two. It was usually the way things like that worked. The leader of such groups would say something cocky or clever while the rest of the group would either laugh or encourage their fearless leader to back off a bit. "Was it just her friends?" Mozenrath asked. Xerxes nodded. "And did you happen to see the book that caused the commotion?" Xerxes shook his head. "No doubt the book had a special charm against intruders," Mozenrath mused. "Books like that usually hold valuable spells." Mozenrath grinned as he let his sidekick go. Maybe he'd have more help finding what he needed than he'd originally anticipated.

"You mean Xerxes started all that commotion?" Katie was asking.

"We didn't say that," Elizabeth said, "we just said that we saw him before we heard that scream."

"It had to have been him," Katie said. A smile spread across her face.

"Katie," Elizabeth gave her friend a warning look, but Katie wasn't paying attention. She was busy searching for something in her trunk, where she pulled out something long and flesh-coloured.

"Hey your dad said you couldn't buy those!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"Extendable ears!" Lily recognized the item right away.

"Let's spy on Mozenrath!" Katie was still grinning.

"No!" Elizabeth said. "And it's Professor Shamash."

"C'mon, Lizzie," Katie begged.

"We'll get caught," Elizabeth argued.

"Not unless we have a cloak of invisibility," Lily grinned.

"Lily, do you have one?" Katie wanted to know.

"No, but my brother does," Lily said.

"Will he let us borrow it," Katie said, unsure that James would.

"I'll ask him," Lily said.

"So, are you in, Lizzie?" Katie asked. "I won't make you do something you don't want to do, but you need more adventure in your life."

"I'll think about it," Elizabeth said. "If Lily can get that cloak, then maybe."

Katie couldn't believe her ears. "Are you serious?" she asked, excited.

"No, Katie," Elizabeth said sarcastically. "I just thought I'd take up lying to see how fun it is."

Later, Lily approached her brother, who was sitting with Eric Fisher. Both were talking in low whispers, but jumped up, grabbing books and pretended they were reading when they saw her approaching.

"James," Lily asked, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," James said, "what's up, Little Sister?" he asked.

"Alone," Lily said pointedly, looking at Eric.

"Hey, anything you can say in front of me, you can say in front of Eric," James grinned at his little sister.

"This is a family thing," Lily said. She wasn't fond of Eric so far.

"Fine, I can take a hint," Eric said, getting up and heading out of the room.

"So what's the big secret?" James asked once Eric was out of earshot.

"My friends and I need to borrow something from you," Lily said.

"And what might that be?" James wanted to know.

"You have Dad's invisibility Cloak, right?" Lily asked. "I know you do—Albus told me about the time when you two—"

"That whole thing was Scorpius' idea!" James said defensively.

"Relax," Lily said, "I haven't told anybody."

"You just keep it that way," James said, crossing his arms.

"Anyway, can we borrow it?"

"By 'we' who do you mean?" James asked, though he knew perfectly well who Lily was referring to.

"Me, Elizabeth and Katie," Lily said.

"The Cloak of Invisibility is not for spying on the boys you fancy," James said.

"We're not going to spy on boys," Lily said, exasperated.

"Then what else would you need it for?"

"I don't think I can tell you."

"Then I don't think I can let you borrow it." James got up and started to walk out of the room.

"Hey!" Lily followed after him. "Do you swear not to tell anyone?"

"Lily, you should know me better than that! I may be a troublemaker, but I'm not a tattletale."

"Lizzie and I were right near the Forbidden section of the library just before the commotion," Lily explained. "We saw Xerxes flying in and out of book cases rather suspiciously—"

"So you plan on spying on Professor Shamash to see what he's up to," James finished for her.

Lily nodded.

"I must say," James said, grinning, "I am proud of you. Getting into mischief just like your big brother."

"We're not—" Lily started to protest.

"Going against Hogwarts rules, sneaking about. Well, I guess you are a Potter."

A half an hour later, Lily returned with the Invisibility Cloak, and a worn-out-looking scroll that her brother had also given her.

"Is that instructions on how to use the cloak?" Katie wanted to know. She'd thought a cloak-of-anything would be pretty simple to use.

"No, it's even better than that," Lily smiled. "James was all for our plan, and gave me this." She held out the piece of paper.

"The Marauder's Map?" Elizabeth read.

"With this, we'll know where Professor Shamash is at all times. It also shows secret passages."

"Ooo! Let me see that!" Katie reached for the map and looked at it, impressed. "Looks like it shows everybody's names and—" she gasped in shock. "What the hell is my sister's name doing so close to Jeremiah Miller's? I can't stand him!"

"So?" Elizabeth asked. "Your sister's allowed to have her own friends."

"Yeah," Katie said, "but someone might think it's me talking to him. Two professors called me Jessica today, and I don't appreciate—"

"The issue at hand?" Lily interrupted.

"Right." Katie said, looking at the map again. "Looks like Moz—I mean, Professor Shamash is in his office right now. I'm guessing, from the way that Xerxes' name just flew across that space, either the dumb eel likes flying into things, or Professor 'Shamash is pretty ticked."

"Let's go!" Lily said, and the three huddled together so that they could fit under the cloak.

Back in his office, Mozenrath was going over the list of his students. "James Serius Potter," he read. "He was quite the comic relief during class." He put a check next to his name. "Lily Luna Potter?" He thought for a minute. No doubt she was related to this James Serius, but he couldn't recall any trouble from her. Still, if she was related to one of the troublemakers, then she would be useful. "I've spent years collecting magic, Xerxes," he told his sidekick. "I became the most powerful sorcerer of our own time. But it seems the artifacts that contain the most magic are found in this world. Once I find what I'm looking for, I'll rule the Seven Deserts and not even that streetrat and his prissy princess or his pathetic sidekicks will be able to stop me."

"Mozenrath win," Xerxes said, hovering close by.

"That's right, Xerxes," he said, "and I have my pick of wizards in training to help me."

Xerxes made another lap around the room, but stopped when he noticed something sticking out from under the door. "Mozenrath!" he called, pulling at the flesh-coloured thread.

"What is it, Xerxes?" Mozenrath asked, rushing to the door. "Well well well," It looks like we have company," he said, yanking at the extendable ear.