Even though I knew Alex was jesting about this being my secret chest, he wasn't far off. I did have some strange and...dark things in there. But somehow, I didn't think he of all people would turn me in.

"See, that's not far off actually," I said, taking my wand out of my boot (great place to hide it). I held the tip of it up to the lock and drew a small, complicated, series of patterns that would unlock it. I opened the lid and looked at Alex.

"I'm not joking around with the things in here," I said, a serious tone to my voice. "I told you that I was interested in my own...pursuits. You can walk away and tell, if you want." The taunt was mostly because I somehow KNEW he wouldn't tell. But, hopefully it imposed the seriousness of what I was showing him.

I slid over and sat on the arm of his chair, pausing for a moment, suddenly hyper-aware of the proximity I had created. I shook my head at the thought, and moved the chest over in front of the two of us.

Inside, you could see a neatly sectioned compartment, larger than you might think. Books were shrunk to about the size of a thumbnail and stacked in sections on small bookshelves inside of the chest. You could also see small bins of objects I'd collected. Looking down into it, you could tell, just by the 500+ books that I hadn't been messing around. You could also tell that there were...a lot of dark books and objects in it.

In one section of the chest there were a bunch of old scrolls and parchments, along with some newer ones filled with notes and ideas of my own.

I looked at Alex. "So...go ahead and rifle around if you want, here's a magnifying glass so you can see the titles on the books...I'll just be finishing the last bit of my essays."

I slid back to my own chair and pulled out my work and my favorite quill, an eagle feather, setting my inkwell out in front of me. I bent my head over the first of them and scanned it over so I could write the final paragraphs. My mind wasn't fully in it, however. I was wondering what Alex would think.