Disclaimer: Characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I offered her my life and soul in exchange for them, but she refused :(

Author's Note: THIS IS A SEQUEL! So, yeah, if you want to read the first one, be my guest. If not, don't worry about it. Also, thumbs up to Taylor for kicking my butt into gear on writing this, haha. XD


CHAPTER ONE
ONE SIMPLE IDEA


MORTIMER CARADOC:

Inspired or Insane?

Many would say that Professor Mortimer Caradoc, celebrated Arthurian Scholar, spent too much of his time chasing ideas than sticking with facts. Some could say he's obsessed with the enthralling idea of Camelot, the legendary kingdom of King Arthur and all who were in his court, including the iconic warlock Merlin. Even last year alone, Caradoc set off with a team of wizards in search of the mythical sunken city of Atlantis—an expedition that was kept relatively quiet after only Caradoc and one other member of his team came back from the oversea trip. From then on, Caradoc declined drastically in popularity, particularly after the only remaining survivor—apart from Caradoc—spoke out about his nightmarish trek with the Professor through the Atlantic Ocean.

"I shan't say much," Trevor Gavin, a short yet formidable wizard, tells reporters the night of his return, where he was visited in his home by the Daily Prophet. The wizarding community was quite keen on knowing just why the team of seven well practiced wizards had mysteriously vanished on the voyage, excluding Caradoc and Gavin. "I've been told to keep quiet, you see," Gavin continues, looking dark. "Mortimer doesn't want it spread around…says he has a reputation to keep up."

Gold is to be suspected in keeping Gavin quiet on what exactly happened on the disastrous voyage, though Gavin did hint strongly on Caradoc's actions during the course of the expedition. "An idea, once planted, is almost impossible to control," says Gavin. "The idea of Atlantis was so firmly rooted into Professor Caradoc's mind that he'd think of little else. As the weeks stretched on endlessly, he became more and more impatient. All in all, he had a terrible temper."

Caradoc, naturally, said very little on what happened during the months he was at sea. He did, however, have this to say, "I regret more than anyone that my team was lost, and I take full responsibility. As for what outside sources may be suggesting, it was not I who caused their disappearance, and I am offended that any of my colleagues would even consider believing such downgrading accusations."

Though both Caradoc and Gavin were questioned by respected Ministry officials, nothing was learned of the fate of the missing members of Caradoc's expedition team. No more inquiries were made and the case was closed.

Now, a little over a year later, Caradoc is once more a well-respected figure among various Arthurian Scholars, and again has many witches and wizards wagging their heads. Last Sunday Caradoc announced to the public that he believed he has found the legendary Camelot. This announcement was met not only with excitement, but outrage and disbelief.

"I'm furious," Gavin told reporters upon being asked his opinion on Caradoc's latest claim, "and I pity the idiots thick enough to believe he's found Camelot."

Despite the negativity he's facing, Caradoc is still raising the necessary funds for an expedition. "All I need is a team," he says, "and then I'm off."

For more on Caradoc and his expedition, turn to page four.


Rose set her copy of the Daily Prophet aside, her brow creased as she thought, absentmindedly buttering a piece of toast. The idea of someone finding Camelot was quite appealing to her, as she had always found herself rather fond of Arthurian Legend. It was this Professor Caradoc that troubled her, naturally. It wasn't easy to brush off the fact that his last expedition had gone wrong, that more than half of his team had gone missing, and no one knew why…

"What's that your reading, Rosie?" Albus asked curiously, leaning across the Gryffindor table to snatch up her discarded paper. He snorted upon seeing the front cover. "Ah, Caradoc. Dad told me about him. He gave the Aurors a bit of trouble with that Atlantis rubbish…" he scanned the article with no interest before throwing it back onto the table in front of her. "You done with that?" he then asked, indicating the bacon lying untouched on her plate. She silently handed her plate over to him, still looking thoughtful.

"Al…" she said slowly, studying him curiously, "what are you planning on doing this summer?"

"Jessica and I are going on a world tour," he told her, his voice casual, though his cheeks were a bit pink. "You know…a graduation kind of thing, before we start work…"

Rose didn't look impressed. "That's what everyone does, though," she said irritably, absentmindedly gazing over at the Slytherin table, where Scorpius sat eating with Jim Hawkins and a few others. He looked up and winked at her. Rose rolled her eyes but smiled, then looked back at her cousin, who looked a bit disgruntled.

"What else is there to do?" he asked. "Besides, seeing the world? What's wrong with that?"

Rose once more studied the front cover of the Prophet. Caradoc was depicted there, a tall and thin aging wizard with streaks of gray in his black hair. Flashes illuminated him as photos were taken by eager reporters: Caradoc seemed to be addressing a crowd, and was looking exuberant and lively as he talked.

Albus followed her gaze down to the paper, and let out a laugh. "What? You can't honestly be thinking of joining some crackpot's expedition searching for Camelot, are you?"

"So what if I am?" Rose shot back. "And he's not a crackpot, he's a genius!"

"He lost his team in the Atlantic Ocean, Rose!" said Albus, looking grim. "He's mad."

"There was no proof it was his fault, only that Gavin man's shifty hints," Rose pointed out. "And if you ask me, he sounds pretty suspicious, discrediting Caradoc's name like that—it's rude."

"Rude? Can you blame him?" demanded Albus, looking angry. "Rose, something happened on that voyage—"

"I can read, thanks," said Rose coolly. "And I don't deny that, but you can't just going pointing fingers…there's no proof it was either of them, for all we know they could've been attacked by something else entirely."

"And doesn't that make searching for Camelot all the more interesting!" said Albus hotly.

"What's interesting?"

Both of them looked up at Jessica Poe, who had just entered the Great Hall and was looking between the two cousins curiously.

"Rose has the sudden urge to search for mythical Arthurian kingdoms," Albus told her, thrusting the paper into her hands.

Jessica took the Prophet and sat down, her eyes already fixed on the article about Caradoc.

Rose was once again glaring daggers at Albus. "It's not mythical—"

"Oh, yeah? Then why hasn't anyone found it until now? It's supposed to have existed for centuries, hasn't it?"

"I dunno! Maybe everyone's just been looking in the wrong place!"

"You can't just hide an entire kingdom, Rose—"

"Maybe it's Unplottable, dill-wad! Like countless of other magical sites—Hogwarts being one of them!"

Albus opened his mouth furiously to retaliate, but Jessica shushed him and set aside the paper. "Rose, you do realize this Caradoc guy's team went—"

"—missing! Yes I know! I read the article, too!"

"Then what in the name of Merlin's dirty laundry would you want to go on one of his expeditions for?" asked Jessica.

"Thank you!" said Albus loudly, slamming his palm down on the table and causing several heads to turn in alarm.

"Because," Rose stressed, ignoring Albus, "I want to do something other than travel the world after graduation. Come on," she groaned, "everyone's going to be doing that! In fact, Alicia has already told me she's doing the same thing, with Victoria and a bunch of others in our year!"

Jessica still looked unsatisfied, "But, Rose, they went missing…and Caradoc's already been suspected—"

"He didn't do it," said Rose stubbornly.

"How do you know?" Jessica asked kindly, as if speaking to a most stubborn child.

"Because there's no proof," said Rose.

Albus snorted. "Yeah, there's no proof! It doesn't mean he didn't do it."

"It doesn't mean he did do it, either!" snapped Rose.

Albus rolled his eyes. "I'm not arguing with you, Rose. We're not even graduating for another three weeks, so there's no use in worrying about summer holidays anyway."

"Where are you going?" Jessica asked as he stood up.

"To study," he grumbled with a pained expression on his face. "N.E.W.T.s start next week, and if I want to get enough for Auror training, well…" he trailed off hopelessly, shrugged, and followed Jackson Shephard and Tori MacMillan out of the Great Hall.

"Shouldn't you study too?" Rose asked Jessica.

She raised an eyebrow. "I could ask you the same thing."

"…good point," said Rose, standing up herself. "To the library!"

"Yay…" said Jessica, hardly enthusiastic.

As they walked, Rose couldn't help but mull once more over Caradoc and his claims to have found Camelot. Even if it all were a load of bullocks, what would be the harm in searching for the lost kingdom? She was more interested in the adventure of it, not necessarily in finding it (though that would be spanking, if they did, since it was Camelot, after all).

They were half way up the Grand Staircase when a voice stopped them.

"Oi! Weaslebee!"

Jessica, who had a smirk on her face, said, "I'll wait in the library, Rose," and then continued on up the stairs, sneering. Rose scowled after her, then turned and walked back down the stairs and towards Scorpius who had a grin on his face.

"What's up with you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked indifferently.

He continued grinning cheekily, and leaned closer to her. "You haven't given me a kiss good morning!"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Scorp, must I kiss you every morning?"

"You must," he said with a nod. "Otherwise, I would start to believe you've lost interest in me."

Rose rolled her eyes again, but complied more than happily. "I'm off to study," she then said, much to his disappointment, "and you'd be wise to do the same," she added sternly.

"I don't need to study," he muttered, "I'm bloody brilliant."

Rose merely smiled and hurried to catch up with Jessica.

"So…did you get your—" Jessica struck a dramatic pose, "—daily dose of vitamin Slytherin?"

"As a matter of fact I did," Rose said without any trace of embarrassment. It would appear that saving the wizarding world from an evil Voldemort wannabe tended to take care of trivial things such as blushing.

Giggling, the two girls entered the library and found a quiet table to sit down at and torture themselves with studying, while trying to ignore the evident sounds of younger N.E.W.T-free students enjoying themselves outside on the sunlit grounds.

"I utterly despise Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests," Rose sighed after an hour of cramming her brain with so much information it felt as though it were nothing but mush.

"You think you're the only one?" Jessica demanded bitterly, her eyes red from glaring for an hour at nearly seven years' worth of Charms notes.

"Well, no, definitely not," said Rose, remembering quite vividly Chelsea Corner bursting into tears during last Thursday's Transfiguration lesson when she transfigured a black mustache onto her partner instead of a blonde one.

Jessica seemed to be thinking along the same lines as her, and promptly hid her grin behind her Potions book, because Chelsea happened to walk by at that very moment, looking distraught and carrying an armful of books.

"Honestly, I don't see how anyone can be that worked up about N.E.W.T.s," Rose whispered as Chelsea walked away.

"You know how those Ravenclaws are," Jessica muttered with a roll of her eyes, "they have to get 'Outstanding' in everything, or they'll consider their life a complete waste and attempt suicide—"

Rose looked alarmed. "Surely not!"

Jessica's expression was dark. "Rosie, the mustache was the wrong color and she acted as though her mother had died. That's not normal."

"Well, no, but suicide?"

Jessica merely gave her a pointed look and then returned her attention to her notes, glaring at the large pile of parchment as if it had greatly offended her.

Rose, who felt physically sick at the thought of more studying, turned in her chair and absentmindedly stared out the window, where she had a clear view of the Quidditch Pitch. Someone—Scorpius, perhaps?—was out flying, expertly dodging Bludgers.

Jessica looked up from her notes and caught her gazing longingly at the Pitch.

"No, not until after lunch," she told her friend sternly.

"Oh, please, it's nice out—"

"No," Jessica snapped, "Rose, ever since you joined the team you've been completely anti-study! You used to be, well, the biggest nerd!" Her voice dropped to a dramatic whisper, "You were worse than Chelsea Corner is!"

Rose immediately became rather defensive. "I was not! Not that bad!"

"Okay, maybe you didn't cry all the time, but you cared about your grades—"

"I care about my grades!"

"Then study!"

Glaring at Jessica, who was now openly gloating, Rose yanked her book back towards her, and for good measure turned her seat away from the window so she wasn't tempted to jump out of it in a vain bid for freedom.

They fell back into suffocating silence, glaring evilly and "shhh-ing" anybody who dared to be too loud in the library, something the painfully ancient librarian Madam Pince seemed to greatly appreciate.

"We must never do Madam Pince a kindness again," said Jessica once she and Rose were on their way to lunch a few hours later. "Telling those little snotrags to shove it seems to have made her want to snog us or something."

Rose gagged. "Jess—no…"

Jessica laughed, leading the way into the Great Hall. Albus was already at the Gryffindor table and was, inexplicably, beaming.

"Salad?" he grinned, offering the bowl to Rose and Jessica before they had even taken their seats.

"What're you so happy about?" Jessica demanded as she plopped down in a seat looking haughty. "You have no reason to be happy!" she continued, snatching the bowl out of his hands. "If I can't be happy, no one can be happy!"

As she continued muttering angrily to her plate, Rose looked at Albus. "Why are you happy?"

"Oh, no reason," he said airily, spooning some mashed potatoes into his mouth and looking as if he hadn't a care in the world. In fact, once he had finished eating, he practically pirouetted from the room, unnaturally graceful.

"Erm…okay…" said Rose, shaking her head and wondering if the stress of the exams were finally getting to Albus as well. Maybe it started out that way for Chelsea Corner. Perhaps she became unnaturally cheerful and pranced everywhere.

Jessica, who had been stabbing her food with barely suppressed rage, didn't notice Albus make his dramatic departure.

"What's got your panties all bundled up?" Rose inquired, wondering briefly if Jess had just gone mad as well.

The question seemed to snap Jessica out of whatever trance she had been in, for she seemed quite surprised to see her mutilated meat.

"I don't even know," she admitted after a minute. For the rest of lunch, she was quite cheerful.

Rose could hardly wait for the N.E.W.T.s to be over with. It appeared she was the only sane one at the moment.


Dear Rose,

Frankly, I'm not surprised in the slightest that you've become so interested in the likes of Mortimer Caradoc and his…ah…proclamation. Nor am I surprised that you contacted me first. Yes, I have a fairly high chance of getting a few words about you to Caradoc. However, I strongly advise you against having any sort of contact with the man. Surely you know all about his disastrous voyage across the Atlantic?

Besides, I'm sorry to say my physical well-being is much more important to me than any sort of graduation adventure you'd fancy to take part of. Yes, even now Uncle Ron scares me. He'd have a stroke if you suggested he allow you to go on some expedition for Camelot.

Good luck on your N.E.W.T.s!

Teddy


"Ha!" said Albus, who had read the letter over her shoulder at breakfast the morning of their first exam. "Even Ted agrees with us!"

Rose's lips remained pursed as she set the scroll of parchment down next to her oatmeal.

"Why is everyone so against Caradoc?" she demanded.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "For the millionth time, Rose, his team went missing! Imagine how everyone would feel if that was you!"

"I can take care of myself, thanks. Does no one remember how I handled everything that happened last summer-?"

"You weren't all alone, though," Albus pointed out. "You had those Avenger blokes, and then that Greyback guy."

"How is Octavius anyway?" asked Jessica.

Rose glared at the two of them. "Don't change the subject! And I was alone for part of all that stuff!"

"Whatever, Rose," Albus shook his head, looking agitated. "I'm off for some last minute studying before the Charms N.E.W.T. Try not to bother me with your Camelot rubbish, okay?"

Rose watched him stalk off and then turned on Jessica, who looked as if she'd much rather be studying too then listening to Rose.

"Rosie, yes, I think it would be a wonderful adventure," she said softly, "but not with this Caradoc fellow. I don't like the idea of him…"

"I want to find Camelot!" she hissed.

Jessica sighed. "Lovely, brilliant, whatever you'd like. Just not with Mortimer Caradoc. His team went missing!"

"Stop telling me that, I know! And if he's already got the funds and everything for an expedition, why would I bother starting my own? There's no sense in that!"

"There's no sense in you wanting to go!" Jessica snapped, standing up from the table.

"It's a simple idea!" Rose insisted, standing up too. "I just want to go along, really! Just for the sake of going! Even if the whole thing is a big waste of time, I just want to do something!"

Jessica only shook her head and walked out of the Great Hall, leaving Rose fuming.

Scorpius walked over from the Slytherin table, obnoxiously cheerful. "Why's everyone so upset?" he asked, beaming at all the stressed and worn faces of his fellow seventh years, Rose in particular. "It's a lovely day—"

Rose rounded on him. "Have you and Albus overdosed on Cheering Charms again?"

"What? No, no, been there done that," he grinned. "Al nearly took off my head for letting him do ballet during Potions—" When she continued glaring, he frowned. "Seriously, what's your problem? You've been grouchy an awful lot lately. It can't just be stress from the exams—"

"Did you ever read that article in the Prophet about the Arthurian Scholar?"

"Yep," said Scorpius, nodding.

"I want to go on his expedition."

"Brilliant," he said.

Rose blinked. "Brilliant?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, brilliant."

"Why brilliant? Everyone else thinks I'm barking."

"Well, you are barking, for one thing," said Scorpius, "but the idea is brilliant. Dad's actually helping fund Caradoc's expedition to Wiltshire."

"Wiltshire?" Rose repeated, looking surprised.

"Yeah, apparently that's where Caradoc says Camelot is," he shrugged, looking bored as he watched Leia Smith practice levitating spells on her fork and spoon. "Caradoc's been pining for Dad to go on the expedition, but he's not well enough to travel."

"Your dad knows Caradoc?"

"Yeah, Dad donates money to Caradoc's department or something," said Scorpius, now itching his nose and avoiding her eye. "Look, Rose, I know what you're about to ask, and the answer is a big fat N-O."

"But you just said the idea is brilliant!"

"I didn't say I think Caradoc's brilliant—"

Rose sighed explosively. "Not you too! Would everyone just stop falsely accusing him?"

"How do you know it's falsely?" asked Scorpius, irritatingly patient.

Seeing herself getting nowhere with her current tactics, Rose suddenly smiled coyly at him. "Hey, Scorpius?"

Blinking at the sudden change in attitude, Scorpius watched her twirl her hair around her finger warily. "What…?"


"I can't believe you talked me into this," Scorpius grumbled.

"Can't you?" asked Rose with some amusement. "Honestly, I really didn't know I had it in me…I guess female persuasion really does work…"

Scorpius glared at her. "Of course it works! It's cruel, toying with me like that."

"I'm sorry," she said, adopting a wide-eyed innocent expression.

"Stop that!" he snapped, returning his attention to the letter he was supposed to be writing.

Rose grinned, and distracted herself by walking around the length of the Owlery, listening to the sounds of Scorpius's quill scratching quickly across the parchment.

"There, done, send it before I change my mind."

Rose turned away from the window, where she had been standing stroking the feathers of one of the school's owl. She took the note from Scorpius and secured it to the owl's leg.

"I can't promise you anything," Scorpius told her as she carried the owl back to the window.

"I know," said Rose, watching the owl take off across the sky. She turned to beam at Scorpius. "It's the thought that counts, right?"

He snorted. "I suppose."

Still smiling, she said softly, "Thank you."

His cool demeanor quickly dissolved as he smiled back. "You're welcome."

Leading the way back down the winding steps of the tower, Rose laughed and said, "You're hopeless, Scorpius."

"I blame you."


End Note: First chapters always kick my butt :/