Book 1 - James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing

and weeds. James followed and saw that there was a low barn hidden among the growth. It was ramshackle,
bowed and buried in vines.
“Alohomora,” Ted said, pointing his wand at the large rusted padlock hanging on the door. There
was a flash of yellow light. It bloomed out of the lock, and then resolved into the shape of a glowing, ghostly
arm that snaked from the padlock’s keyhole. The arm ended in a fist with the index finger pointed in the air.
It waggled the finger back and forth reprovingly for a few seconds, and then vanished.
“Protective charm’s still in place, then,” Ted announced happily. He turned to Petra, who came
forward, pulling something out of her jeans pocket. James saw it was a rusted skeleton key.
“That was Gennifer’s idea,” Horace, the second Ravenclaw, said proudly. “Although I had wanted it
to be a different gesture.”
“Would’ve been a nice touch,” Zane agreed.
“We figured any magical types that tried to break in here wouldn’t think to try anything as boring as
a key,” Noah explained. “We put up Disillusionment Charms to keep the Muggles away, but they don’t
come out here anyway. It’s abandoned.”
Petra turned the key and pulled away the padlock. The doors of the old barn swung open with
surprising silence. “Creaky doors are for novices,” Damien said smugly, tapping the side of his pug nose.
James peered inside. There was something large in the shadows, its bulk blotting out the rear of the
barn. He could just barely make out the shape of it. More than anything, it looked like somebody’s very
antiquated idea of a flying saucer.
“Cool!” Zane cried happily, understanding dawning on him. “Raise the Wocket! You’re right, James.
There was nothing like this in The Wizard of Oz.”
“The Wizard of what?” Ted said to James out of the corner of his mouth.
“It’s a Muggle thing,” James replied. “We wouldn’t understand.”
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