#20 - A Key For A Lock

The key didn't seem to be bothered by any door she walked by. MJ frowned at this, "Can't you help me out?"

She sighed and shrugged, seemed like she was stuck trying some doors and hoping one of them would open. MJ stopped by the next door, putting the key into the lock but it wouldn't budge. She removed it again, moving on.

The second and third doors didn't work either. In the fourth door, it seemed like the key was going to get stuck and that panicked MJ for a second. She didn't want to make a mistake and somehow lose the key.

MJ continued up the Spiral Tower, trying each door along the way which definitely slowed down her progress. She was beginning to feel like this wasn't the answer at all and she had made a mistake.

Part of her wanted to give up and head back down the tower but part of her felt she had come this far already, she might as well stick to it.

Moving along, she started to hum a song to herself as she continued testing each door she walked by.

"Ah!" MJ winced as the key glowed suddenly, turning hot in her hand. But when she checked, there was no mark left behind and before her was an open door. It didn't look any different to any other door in the tower.

She walked into the room, glancing around cautiously for any kind of creature that might appear. There was a window that gave an impressive view of the lake and a podium by itself in the middle of the room.

On it sat a large book, an inkwell and a quill. For a moment, MJ wondered if this was the quill she had been tasked to find until she stepped closer to the book and saw the names written there.

Some of them she had no idea about but the recent few piqued her interest. Dumbledore... She had heard that name mentioned before and quickly remembered he had been the headmaster before she came to this school.

And of course Grace! Her classmate! MJ didn't know the Gryffindor well but seeing her name made her gasp, "Does this mean she has done this task before me?"

This whole quest was growing ever more interesting as MJ moved along.

She read the next name and it took a moment for her to realize - Slytherin's keeper from their match that day. She had been a red-headed girl who spoke with a thick, Scottish accent. MJ looked at the quill and knew she had to write her own name there.

Carefully, she dipped the quill into the ink and wrote in her neat script, MJ Birdwhistle.