Snooping

[Bellatrix Black]

Ever since Lucius had given her the vague information on Claudia Morley, Bellatrix had been plotting, amongst other things, how to get into Claudia's school files for more information. She had done a little light interrogating with the Hogwarts staff, trying to figure out where the student files were kept. She had determined that the information she had wanted would be in Professor Dumbledore's office. But now how to get to it?

It took almost a week before she realized her great great great (and possibly a few more greats) grandfather had been Headmaster many many years ago. Phineas Nigellus. And she knew from her single trip to see Professor Dumbledore in her third year, that a portrait of every previous Headmaster was hanging on the office walls. She then took another day to figure out how to get him to assist her, without letting Dumbledore know what was going on. She had found an old picture of him in her father's house, in one of the many offices. She had spoken with him there, and he had assured her that he could keep the other Headmaster's silent, for the sake of purifying the school and keeping the wizarding world in a similar one that he had lived in. She was happy with this, and the next day she snuck up to the sixth floor.

She met the stone gargoyle that hid Dumbledore's office, and whispered the password which Phineas had given her. She did have to promise to only use it the once. Bellatrix was convincing in her compliance with his rule. A quick glance over each shoulder told her she was alone and she hurried up the stairs to the office.

The pictures seemed to be empty. Only old fashioned chairs and scenic backgrounds were framed in the assortment of pictures hanging on the walls. Phineas had kept his end of the bargin. Now she just had to find what she needed quickly, before anyone found her.

[Bellatrix Black]

There seemed to be a lot of useless items scattered around the room; Dumbleore's personal collection of crap. She ignored all these things, looking around the room for a filing cabinet of some sort. She could only hope the old coot would be same enough to keep the student files in a filing cabinet. By the look of the room, he might store them in a candy dish.

Finally she spotted a small cabinet under the large oak desk. It was the size of a muggle record, almost invisible amongst the clutter of the room. She bent down and pulled her wand from her robe pocket. "Allohamora," she muttered quietly with a wiggle of her wand. There was a clicking noise and the drawer popped open an inch. She pulled the handle to open the drawer more. It seemed endless, the files it contained organized by years. She moved through the files, not knowing when exactly Claudia attended. She was nearly thirty, Bellatrix knew that much. So she had a rough estimate of the year she was searching for.

It took almost an hour, and Bellatrix was certain she would be caught. But finally she came upon a thick file with the label Morley, Claudia. "Finally!" There wasn't any time to look it over now. Who knew what Phineas was doing to keep the other portrait occupants away, and Professor Dumbledore would probably be in need of his office soon. She muttered an incantation to create a copy of the file, stuffed her own copy into her pocket, and shoved the original back into its place in the tiny filing cabinet. She checked quickly to be sure everything was in the same position it was when she entered and then rushed from the room, down the spiral staircase and into the second floor corridor.

She had no need to rush now, she was allowed to be in the castle without questionings. But she would need to look over the file somewhere private, and the castle had too many secrets to be sure she would not be seen. Headmaster Phineas couldn't control the entire castle. She would need to return home, and look over the contents of the file.