A/N Happy Halloween, Everyone! After a hellacious summer and an even busier fall, I am back for some recreational writing. I thought it appropriate to put up this first chapter on Halloween, not only because of the title, but because in many ways this book is about several different ghosts at Hogwarts. Because of that, you may notice that they never leave the boundaries of Hogwarts in this book (the boundaries now including the Muggle Farm as well) since ghosts cannot travel past that. This is a bit of a transitional book as Severus begins to truly settle into his role as Headmaster, beginning a tone change that will continue in later books should I return to the series. It is somewhat low in action but full of intrigues, character development, bits of humor, and foreshadowing. That said, I hope you like it. The series has really helped me hone some of my skills over time, and I'm glad to have written it, but hope some of you are enjoying it as much as I have bringing these characters to life in the Harry Potter world. For those of you who haven't read my JC books, it starts with Jennifer Craw and the Phoenix Wand, simplistic in comparison, and a quick read, but without which I wouldn't have gotten this far. To everyone else, thanks for coming back and all of the support! Talk to you again soon. ~ JCWriter. (edited 1-14)
Jennifer Craw and the Hallowed Halls
Chapter One
Castle Bound
Noah Dolan woke up to an empty Ravenclaw dormitory, frowning at the bright sunlight streaming into his room. It wasn't as if he had to sleep being a ghost, but over the last school year it had gotten to be routine. His girlfriend, Myrtle, thought it was a very nasty habit that took too much of his time, but she tolerated it because at night she preferred to haunt the pipes and bathrooms and Noah's aversion to water kept him well away from that sort of exercise.
He floated out of the bed and over to the window, glumly looking out at the lake. The water sparkled in the sunlight, making the reflection of Hogwarts appear more like a shining fairy castle than a school for wizardry. It was likely to be the first place his best friend would go to once he got back from summer vacation. How he hated the lake! How he had every reason!
He glanced at the calendar on the wall. It wasn't that long ago when time had no meaning for him. Years past without anyone even speaking to him or remembering that there was a ghost in the boathouse. Now the old boathouse was gone; replaced with something newer and admittedly more rain proof. He had no desire to go there anymore. All he wanted to do was go back to class, but the summer seemed endless and it wasn't even half over yet. Letting out a silent sigh, Noah gathered up his books and floated down to the library, so melancholy that at first he didn't realize he was being followed until he felt a presence at his side.
"Is that you, Myrtle?" Noah asked.
"Who else would it be?" her voice replied before she materialized beside him, holding onto his arm. "You aren't seeing anyone else, are you?" she asked seriously.
"You would know if I tried. You know everything that goes on around here these days," Noah said.
"That is true," Myrtle said with a rather disturbing smile that rather fascinated Noah. "In fact, I found out quite a bit on my rounds through the pipes last night. Aren't you curious?"
"Yes, a little," Noah admitted. "But I was on the way to the library to do my summer homework, you see."
"What is the point of that? You're a ghost, silly, you don't have to do homework," Myrtle tittered.
"I do if I want to do well in my studies next year…"
"Noah, you are dead. There's no going back; you either ascend, fade away, or go on forever just as you are," Myrtle reminded him.
"I know that, Myrtle," Noah said testily. "I'm doing it because I want to, just like you explore the pipes because you want to. It gets boring just hovering about day after day, lamenting over our deaths. I'm just trying to find something amusing to do just like you are."
"It really doesn't sound very amusing to me," Myrtle admitted.
"No, I suppose it wouldn't to you, we are complete opposites, after all. That's probably why we get on so well together. Opposites attract, you know," Noah explained.
"Do you really feel that way?" Myrtle asked, suddenly sounding shy.
"Of course. If I didn't, I wouldn't consider you my girlfriend," Noah said.
"But then why don't you want to kiss me?" Myrtle asked.
"Weren't you going to tell me something? About what you found out?" Noah prompted.
"Oh, that's right. You see, I was hanging out in Professor Andrew's shower last night…"
"Really, must you spy on him when he's in the shower like that?" Noah protested.
"You're jealous!" Myrtle accused him, and then laughed. Noah's blue skin looked strangely purple. "You don't have anything to worry about, Noah. At least, as long as he's still alive," she added wickedly.
"Well, I do put up with a lot, really, but having to deal with the fact that you are a voyeur is a bit much," Noah said.
"You aren't even letting me finish! I was just about to say that the Headmaster is on his way to Hogwarts," Myrtle declared. "In fact, he's due back this very morning."
"Really? But Leu just wrote me that they were in the Adriatic Sea!" Noah exclaimed, turning around and floating towards the front of the castle.
"Since when does the Headmaster ever finish a vacation?" Myrtle giggled at him. Noah distractedly went through a wall, forgetting that the books he was carrying wouldn't go through with him. Deciding there was no harm in leaving them there for a minute, he and Myrtle dematerialized and traveled to the front gates. A lot of other ghosts were lingering about the front of the castle as well, most of them hidden like they were. Apparently he wasn't the only one who was bored with summer break already, Noah thought to himself. All of them seemed to be waiting for something interesting to happen.
Andrew stepped out of the castle and walked to the gates just as Severus stepped through them, greeting his father with a thin smile.
"Good morning. How was your trip?" Andrew asked.
"Fair enough, although Quintin had the audacity to become more mobile while we were in Greece; he learned to walk on the boat, at that. How are things here? I have received no messages past Hermione's last report," Severus said as they walked towards the castle.
"It's been pretty quiet here," Andrew agreed.
"No sign of Bagman?" Severus asked.
"No, but nobody was really expecting a sign. In fact, Grandfather believes he's probably out of the country and it'll be years before we see him again. He's more concerned about those who might still be helping him at this point, so he, Harry and Rel have been busy trying to root out all of his supporters," Andrew explained. "It hasn't been easy, considering that some are missing part if not all of their memory of helping the Horsemen."
"What of Peter? I doubt that Ludo would have had his own son's memories erased," Severus pointed out.
"No, but Peter also didn't know that much about the Horsemen. He did know that his father was setting up meetings with former Equinox members, but not specifically who was meeting up with whom," Andrew said. "Apparently Bagman used advertisements in the Oracle and Daily Prophets to get information and relay orders. He would read the paper looking for certain key words and catch phrases and then using subtle hints during 'business' discussions, then Peter would put in advertisements according to his father's instructions. They have Alex scouring through papers now, although from what she's told me, most of it is old information now. Although it would lend to a case, there isn't enough to prosecute anyone since all it is are meeting dates with no clues as to what they discussed or why. She and Rel have been trying to follow up on the contacts, of course, but either they don't remember anything or they only know a very specific piece of the puzzle. No one seems to have any idea what the whole picture looks like."
"No one except Bagman," Severus brooded.
"Alex is doing what she can to put it together, but it could take years to sort it all out, even with her talents," Andrew said. "By the way, she has been asking about when you were due back. I think she's looking for your input as far as them getting a house."
"I'm sure she doesn't want input so much as a cosigner. I rather got the impression from what Sirius has told me that the 'fixing up' of that 'fixer-upper' the two of them are looking at will probably cost more than the house itself, which is why they don't want to be strapped for funds on the initial purchase," Severus said.
"Sounds as if she was intentionally going out of her way to find a property in bad shape, not that I'd put it past her," Andrew chuckled.
"I wondered about that as well. It is obvious that part of the reason they want to get their own house this summer is to try and bandage what's left of their marriage. Perhaps the extra elbow grease they'll need to get this house of theirs livable is a conscious attempt at forcing each other to work towards a common goal," Severus mused.
"That said, I'm still surprised they'd need a cosigner as much as they've saved over the years," Andrew said.
"From what Sirius has told me, there was a bit of land involved as well, which is part of the expense," Severus said.
"Where is it?" Andrew asked.
"Not certain, we didn't talk much past his initial warning. I only dropped in to get the final repair bills on the Popcorn Farm so that I could account for them in the budget this year," Severus explained, glancing with a frown at the scroll he was still carrying.
"That reminds me, I sent the repairs for the greenhouse to your study as well," Andrew said. "Although from what Taylor told me, the co-op is thinking of suing Longbottom to pay for that one, since he did admit his part in that badgimera business in open court."
"Perish the thought that he might be held accountable for his actions," Severus said acidly. "Anything else?"
"No, not really. John Carnegie says he'll be back in a week. He wants to make sure he has enough time to finish repairing the greenhouse irrigation system so that they'll be finished in time for the new school year. You won't be alone for long," Andrew said.
"Not that he's ever in the way, but I actually appreciate what little time I get alone, thank you, especially considering the repairs and other improvements I want to get done before the start of the year. I will be quite busy," Severus said.
"The new secret passage?" Andrew ventured.
"Among other things, yes," Severus said.
"Good, because that old one to Honeydukes has been getting a lot of wear and tear in recent years," Andrew chuckled. "I had better finish packing. I still have quite a few books to pack before the lease runs out of the end of the month."
"Fine, send an Owl once you've moved back into our house. You have a key still, correct?"
"Yes, all covered," Andrew said, showing the key to him as proof. "See you in a few weeks."
"Goodbye. See that your mother stays out of trouble," Severus said. Laughing that one off, Andrew strode out of the castle while Severus turned towards the stairwell.
Noah followed curiously as the Headmaster took his time walking up the stairs. Severus paused now and again pausing as if listening to something, despite the fact that the most of the paintings had fallen asleep from sheer boredom. As he got to the eighth floor, he heard soft singing from several floor below… Peeves, it seemed, who was half humming, half mumbling a nonsensical tune while reciting words from "tack" to "lack" to "hack", apparently in the middle of trying to come up with a new rhyme to harass his best friend with. Snorting softly, Severus continued up, nodding to a ghost that was slowly hovering down the stairs in the other direction.
"Good morning, Headmaster. Good day for a ride, isn't it?" Sir Nicholas said.
"I suppose it would be. All's well, I take it?" Severus said.
"That'll depend on whether they finally let me join the hunt this year," Sir Nicholas decided, before floating further down the stairwell.
Severus rolled his eyes, wondering if he was going to have to Owl for Zacchius Black early that year as he climbed up to the fifteenth floor and into the corridor that lead to his study. The dragon gargoyle brought its head back out from under its wing as if waking from a nap, striking its normal pose as Severus got closer.
"Asp Sword," he said, opening up the passage to the spiral stair. He stood there thoughtfully for a moment. "Asp Sword replace with: 'These are the times that try men's souls, so make sure you have a second pair of shoes,'" he said. The gargoyle seemed to almost blink at that, but Severus didn't give it a second thought, wandering up the spiral stairs and opening the doors wide, unlatching the Doorlift on his way in and opening the shades over the windows in the observatory with the flick of a wand.
"Welcome back, Headmaster," the portrait of Dippet said cordially.
"Armando," Severus acknowledged. He opened his appointment diary, unsurprised that it was empty until a week and a half later when Jennifer had an appointment for dinner. On the other side of the table, stacks of post were there to be gone through as well as several scrolls and folders left by Hermione for him to check. He glanced over at the folders and decided they were the lesser of the two evils, pulling one of them to the center of his desk before stepping in his sitting room.
Half of his sitting room looked quite cluttered after he had tried to pile shelves and bookshelves practically one on top of each other at some point during the year before, while the other half of the room was starkly bare and empty. Frowning as he tossed his cloak on the hook, he then went into the Headmaster's Study, surveying the room critically before his eyes fell on another starkly bare area.
"I believe I want to start by recalibrating the rooms in the castle first. It'd be pointless for me to try unpacking anything until I get that task done," Severus decided, going through the drawer and pulling out the map thoughtfully. "Any suggestions on where a vacant room is that I might borrow?"
"Seventh floor near the Astrology Tower?" Armando suggested.
"Isn't that Lady Charlotte's room? I'd rather it be a room that isn't ghost inhabited, actually," Severus said.
"Ah, that would narrow it down. Storage room on the fourth floor?"
"No, that room doesn't have any windows," Severus mused, folding the map around a different way. "I suppose I'll take a walk and look around. I'll be back in a few minutes," he said, striding out the door with the map still in hand.
"You don't suppose he'd want to take my bathroom?" Myrtle's voice whispered worriedly.
"No, I'm sure not. He did say he wanted something uninhabited," Noah's voice whispered back.
"Oh, well that's silly," Myrtle said with a soft giggle. "Practically every room in the castle is inhabited by a ghost at some point or another."
"I think he means one that no one has died in or is attached to," Noah explained.
"Isn't there something else you two ought to be doing besides spying on the Headmaster?" asked the voice of Icarus Ravenclaw.
"No, of course not," Myrtle giggled.
"I'd better go finish my summer homework," Noah decided quickly, sinking through the floor.
"But we're dead! It doesn't matter what we do!" Myrtle shouted after him, but he had already descended several floors down.
"Then it shouldn't matter if he wants to do his homework," Icarus reasoned.
"But that means he wants to do homework instead of spend time with me!" Myrtle whined and then began to bawl, fading out in the other direction.
"I suppose that would be depressing, if I was in the mood to get depressed," Icarus decided, wondering why he wasn't. Thinking it over, he dropped through the floor himself so he could see what Severus was up to.
Severus had made his way to Andrew's office, critically inspecting the large model of Hogwarts and examining different rooms. He spotted a corner room near the Ravenclaw Tower that interested him, peering inside the model thoughtfully before double-checking it on the map. He then turned across the hall and up the stairs, taking the long way so that he could study where the secret passages and other security measures were in the area.
He came to a door with simple lock and opened it, gazing in. A few desk chairs, a desk, and a sofa chair had been placed inside along with a bin full of blue quilted comforters, revealing that the room was being used as overflow from the Ravenclaw Tower's storage room. He made his way to the other end of the room, clearing the dust with his wand and murmuring several charms to dispel the locks on the heavy shutters. He opened them to reveal large glass doors leading to an open balcony, framed in stained glass that depicted a rainbow over the lake. Opening a second door revealed the actual Ravenclaw storeroom, and through the storeroom was a third room. Because of the way they opened into one another, Severus deduced that at one time it had been used as living quarters.
He went back into the first room and inspected the three paintings that were hanging inside. One of them was Dame Rachel, apparently painted when she was much younger than the one in the library. The second one was of the castle itself, but obviously one several centuries old considering that several wings were missing and there was no Quidditch Pitch. Then he gazed at the last painting, and decided to take it off the wall for a closer look. It was the portrait of Icarus Ravenclaw's family, which had been one of the first that had been infected the year the Leanne had attacked the paintings.
"Are you going to be moving that?" a voice asked from all around him. Severus wasn't the least bit surprised that his actions had drawn the ghost's interest, even if he hadn't been aware that Icarus had already been following him.
"Would it bother you if I did?" Severus asked without turning around, dusting the frame carefully.
"I suppose it would depend on where you were thinking of putting it," Ick said.
"I was thinking of moving the Dame Rachel portrait to one of the Ravenclaw dorm rooms and this one to the main stairwell," Severus replied.
"I wouldn't mind that," Icarus admitted.
"Do you know if any ghosts are attached to this room?" Severus asked, glancing over to where Icarus had materialized.
"I suppose it depends on what you mean by that," Icarus said. "This was my nursery when I was a child, and my children's nursery after that."
"Oh, these were your rooms?" Severus asked with interest.
"Not exactly, this tower was a part of the ladies quarter. These were once Dame Rachel's rooms, and they were also once Cynuise's rooms. My rooms were just up from the dungeons near the back stair… one of the rooms you had to fill in to secure the lab. That isn't important, really. It did have to be done. But to answer your true question, no one has died in these rooms. If it's haunted by anything, it is fond memories, perhaps laced with a few old regrets," Icarus said. "Pity that it's just a store room now. It really did make a fine nursery, and it had been intended as one from the very beginning of the castle's history. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some hidden protections on it that might mother might have had woven in from the start."
Severus pondered that a moment.
"Perhaps I had better go to the library to double check on those then, thank you," Severus said distractedly, taking the painting with him. It wasn't until he had reached the stairwell that it occurred to him how unusually sane Icarus had been for that time of year. Perhaps it was because he guessed why Severus wanted use of the room, he mused, glancing over the portrait thoughtfully. Frowning, he glanced over at the wall to see what portraits were awake.
"Filius, could you send word to the Pythers to see if one of them would be interested in cleaning some paintings over the summer? At least three but probably several more," Severus said.
"Right away, Severus," Filius said cheerfully. Severus wandered down another flight, finally finding a likely spot to put the painting at and wrote himself a quick notation on what floor it was on before continuing downstairs towards the library.
Noah looked up curiously from his books as the Headmaster strode into the library, the lights growing brighter as he passed through and into the back room. It was only a few minutes later that Severus came back out with two large tomes under his arm, but his gait was slower and he took the time to glance around. That was when he noticed the books and papers left out on one of the tables without an apparent owner. He leaned over, putting an arm directly through where Noah was sitting as he picked up a page and glanced at it, setting it back down again when he realized what it was and whose it must belong to.
"I would review your potion book's chapter on basic balms, if I were you. That mistake in your formula on line fourteen will likely come back to haunt you," Severus advised, striding back out the door. Sheepishly, Noah materialized long enough turn the book back a few pages and get a fresh sheet of paper, fading out again not long after he began to rewrite his homework.
It was a week later that Noah looked up from the desk; his homework long finished but unable to think of anything better to do but sit there. He had heard an odd sound… not humming, exactly, but it did sound like a tune… coming from the hallway. He peered outside, and although he didn't see anyone, he realized the sounds were as if someone was making trumpet noises without an instrument. The sound faded for a while, but then Noah heard an odd, muffled humming noise.
A few minutes passed, and Mr. Carnegie appeared out of the side corridor leading to the kitchens with a roll in his mouth. The caretaker was carrying a toolbox in one gloved hand and several pieces of pipe over the shoulder. Noah followed close behind as Carnegie walked towards the back grounds, skirting the strangely disturbed turf around the Elf Willow and over to the main greenhouse.
The framework had been repaired or replaced, although the only glass that had been replaces so far was on the roof. The small wooden classroom building adjacent to the greenhouse had a fresh coat of paint on the exterior, but when Noah stuck his head in, he saw that the interior was empty except for a shelf of potted seedlings and new wood flooring with drains set into it. In the greenhouse proper there was no floor at all; large ditches crisscrossed the area. In the center of the building hovered Myrtle, inspecting the work as if she were personally supervising the entire operation.
"Are there any more clogged pipes, Mr. Carnegie?" Myrtle asked wistfully when she saw John put down the pipes and grab the sandwich out of his mouth.
"Thank you, no, Miss Myrtle, I'm through with that part entirely. Perhaps you can come back later to make sure I've all the joints and elbows sealed once I've turned the water on," John suggested.
"Oh, I'll do anything to help you, Mr. Carnegie," Myrtle said with such a lilt in her voice that Noah rolled his eyes. Just then, John turned around, and Noah realized that he had materialized without meaning to.
"Ah, Mr. Noah. Looking for your girlfriend, I'm sure… I'll need to be setting these irrigation pipes and having my lunch, so feel free t' run along for now, Miss Myrtle," Carnegie said.
"All right, I'll be back later then," Myrtle promised, joining Noah who then floated back inside. "Have you finally finished your homework?"
"Yes, I finished it a little while ago. Myrtle, you do know he was just being nice, right? He doesn't really want your help, you know," Noah said.
"What? Oh, you're just being jealous!" Myrtle scolded him.
"No, I'm not, and there really isn't anything to be jealous about, is there?" Noah said. "After all, just as you said about Andrew, he's alive and you're not."
"Well, he's also good looking and not blue in the face," Myrtle said primly.
"If you're trying to get me to insult you back, Myrtle, I won't," Noah said firmly.
"How dare you suggest that I was trying to insult you! Or is it that am I not good enough to insult? Perhaps you simply don't care enough about me to insult me? But I thought you liked me!" Myrtle wailed.
"What? I don't see what that has to do with anything, it's just not nice," Noah said.
"I see how it is! You're just humoring me, which means you don't like me at all! Fine, be that way. I'm going back to my bathroom and I'm not coming back out again until you know how to show that you care!" she screamed and went moaning back to her bathroom.
"If you expect me to come after you, you've got another thing coming! There's too much water in there!" Noah shouted.
He floated aimlessly for a day or two, contemplating the situation but making sure to stay away from the hallway near the girls bathroom that Myrtle had succeeded in flooding. Finally he wandered into the Great Hall, floated over to the Ravenclaw table, and sat down.
Every day or two Carnegie would come through the hall to inspect the fireplaces, tables, floors, or other some other random detail of the room. Sometimes he noticed the ghost sitting there but never said a word, although he did hum or whistle at times as he worked. One day Sirius Black came through the room; apparently thinking that cutting through the Great Hall would save him time. After that, it grew quiet again and stayed that way until the day that Carnegie came through with a bucket and mop, unusually glum and not humming much of anything.
It was on that very same day that the Headmaster himself decided to peer inside the room, although he didn't seem to be just passing through or inspecting anything. Instead, he looked straight over at Noah, who simply folded his hands and sat up straight.
"Mr. Dolan, why are you sitting in the Great Hall?" Severus asked flatly.
"I'm waiting for school to start, sir," Noah said evenly.
"It is still July," Severus said with exasperation. "We still have nearly three weeks before the regular staff shows up, let alone students. Are you going to sit there the entire time?"
"It isn't that long to me," Noah said defensively. "It's not like I'm alive or anything. Besides, I want to talk to Leu."
"Why don't you write him a letter?" Severus suggested.
"The dead aren't supposed to write letters to people. It makes them turn crackers," Noah explained.
"Yes, well, I seriously doubt Llewellyn would think much of it, rules or no rules. Perhaps you could tell me what you need to speak with him about," Severus said.
"Oh. Girls," Noah admitted.
"If that's the case, I rather think you're going to the wrong place for advice on that topic, considering Llewellyn probably knows less about that subject than you do. Does this have something to do with why Myrtle is flooding my halls?" Severus asked.
"She's angry at me because I wouldn't insult her," Noah said gloomily. Severus stared at him. "She's been bothering Professor Andrew and Mr. Carnegie to try to get me jealous lately, and when I didn't react the way she wanted, she insulted me to try to pick a fight. And when I wouldn't insult her back, she got angry with me and said I didn't care enough to insult her. But I think if I'd have insulted her, she would have been even angrier."
"Come to think of it, that does sound like typical girl behavior," Severus decided.
"If that's typical, I rather don't think I'll ever understand women," Noah said.
"Yes, well, that's neither here nor there. What I really want is for Myrtle to stop flooding the corridors and you to stop lurking about the Great Hall. What she means is she wants attention and doesn't feel like you were giving her enough of it. So apologize for that and go find somewhere more productive to haunt," Severus said.
"I'm not going over there. There's too much water! She's going to have to come out first. If it troubles you that I'm here, I'll not materialize any more," Noah decided and faded out. Severus frowned and stood there thoughtfully before finally striding down the hallway towards the girls' bathroom.
Several charmed mops were busy trying to keep one step ahead of the water, while John stood in the doorway after taking the entire door itself off. He had a wand in hand, but as Severus peered in, it was obvious that all the faucets were running.
"Did you try the valve for this wing?" Severus asked.
"Aye, and the main valve as well. She turns them on as fast as I can turn them off," John said. "Any luck with the ghost lad?"
"He isn't likely to cooperate when she's playing with the water, is he? She'll have to calm down first," Severus said.
"Perhaps I should be building an ark, then?" John suggested.
"Why don't you see if you can get a hold of Zacchius Black?" Severus advised.
"Yes, Professor Snape, I'll be right off. He's probably already on standby, really, since we normally send him an Owl by this time o' year," John said. "Although 'tis normally for the Professor."
"I don't know what is going on with that either, but let's not look a gift horse in the mouth. Where is Sirius?" Severus asked.
"Down with the dwarves, I believe, although I think he brought that special glass with him for the greenhouses as well," John said.
"Good, I wanted to double check on that," Severus said.
"Also Mr. Pyther has arrived to clean the paintings. I believe he chose t' start with the ones in the stairwell first," John said.
"Thank you, I'll check on him later," Severus decided then wandered down the back hall.
It was faster to turn past the kitchens and slip into the secret passages that connected to the ones surrounding the Slytherin rooms; a strange collage of memories spanning several generations entered his mind as he wandered through.
The passages on the lower levels had changed a great deal since he was in school. Some of them had changed when Dumbledore streamlined the passages, some after the flooding caused by Ciardoth, some from having to rebuild the lab, and some were improvements he himself had put in over the years. Because of all of those changes, several of the passages that led out of the castle (such as the one beneath the old willow) had long been cut off or sealed over time. That had added to the wear and tear on the tunnel behind the One Eyed Witch… not to mention to occasional joking remarks by Mr. Flume and his daughter that their basement was quickly turning into the resemblance of a train station. Yes, well, not that Severus wanted to encourage the sort of student behavior that prompted such remarks, but he himself knew he was guilty of looking the other way on occasion when a student had a legitimate reason for going to town; Dirk Atchison quickly came to the forefront of his mind.
That acknowledged, Severus still didn't feel comfortable with how few emergency exits there were leading out of the school. He decided that it was high time he added a couple of new ones: a short passage from behind a painted wall panel near the Muggle Studies rooms that lead to the Popcorn Farm across the tracks, and a much longer one starting from the dead-end passage that used to lead to the Potion Master office to the cold cellar below Willowby's Wands and Weeds.
Not only would it make life easier for the school any time that Jennifer ran out of something and needed a last minute run for supplies, but Severus also knew that Corey would be able to note every person that happened to discover that route to town and how frequently they were using it. At the same time, nobody would question a large amount of people coming in and out of that shop from the school any more than they would question any of them coming out of Honeydukes. Corey quickly agreed to the proposal, although it had prompted him to make some security changes of his own to his basement and regular stockrooms. They began work on the project almost immediately after the students went home, knowing it would be better to get the school side of the tunnel completely finished before school began again in the fall. The one to the Popcorn Farm was already well on pace to being done before then, being the shorter route and one that needed no more security added than what was already in place. The repairs to the Honeydukes tunnel were nearly completed; but the new one to Corey's was bound to take time, especially considering the specifics that Severus had asked for in security wards and semantics.
"Whoever heard of adding windows to an underground secret passage?" one of the dwarves complained just after Severus hung the poker on the wall and pushed back the heavy brick door leading into the new passageway. "Ventilation I can understand… but windows?"
"Place them fifteen to twenty feet apart, so that you can easily see the next window while standing underneath one and place them all along the length of the tunnel," Sirius said.
"I trust that means you found a way to add them without compromising security?" Severus asked, having silently come up behind them. But Sirius had felt a prickle on his neck and had long gotten used to his brother-in-law's tendency to slink up on people that way.
"Security windows," Sirius said, picking up one of the small rectangular frames and knocking on the glass. "They can be opened, although really any breeze would be through the ventilation system rather than where the light is coming from, and the glass is made from the exact same glass I ordered for the greenhouse. It's the strongest I can find, practically liquid metal. Shatter proof, magic proof, blast proof, really… I doubt a crater would scratch it."
"Even if one of Jennifer's comets were aimed directly at them?" Severus challenged him.
"Well, no, probably not, but if she was attacking the castle, I think you would have bigger problems," Sirius said with a chuckle.
"In more ways than one, yes," Severus agreed, then nodded at the window and handed it to the foreman. "Put them in, please."
"I hope it helps her feel more comfortable with using it," Sirius said as they stepped away.
"Knowing Jennifer, she will not comment about the fact that they are there, but will be very quick to comment about how small they are," Severus said.
"I believe you," Sirius grinned. "Do you want to see what I put in for the greenhouse?"
"Yes, but let's drop by my study first. I found the list of charms and the blueprints of that room I told you about," Severus explained.
"I take it that means what was originally put in for security isn't paranoid enough to suit you," Sirius taunted. "Have you told Jennifer about it yet?"
"No, I thought I'd surprise her on this one," Severus admitted.
"Good, perhaps that'll distract her away from the one her father is keeping from her,"
"Oh?"
"Yes, a property Alexandria and I happened to run into when we were going through magical house listings," Sirius said, flipping through his folder before finally finding a page and taking it out for Severus to inspect. He glanced at it only a second before looking back up at Sirius in surprise.
"This is where the old Craw manor used to sit, isn't it?" Severus said.
"Apparently Nelson owned it," Sirius said, watching his expression change. "He bought it from Amadeus, who inherited it from Lucius."
"Who had it since the Craws fled," Severus said with a grim nod.
"Alexandria was pretty set on buying it, actually. There's nothing left of the house except for part of the basement and the foundation, but she used her connections to get all the original plans and permits for the building in hopes of rebuilding it…"
"Don't tell me this is what Andrew was trying to warn me about? Although I understand Alex's desire in this, even assuming they have saved enough funds to even start a project of this size, there is no way she could have the time involved for such an undertaking, not to mention needing a place to stay in the interim since she already decided to move them out…"
"I know, Severus, I said the exact same thing to her myself and suggested she talk to her grandfather about it. Originally, she wanted to keep it a secret from both Thomas and Jennifer."
"It is impossible to keep a secret from Thomas Craw about anything, especially something of this magnitude," Severus snorted. "What were his thoughts on this?"
"He bought the lot immediately," Sirius said. "But he himself admits it will take a full family effort to rebuild it… well… almost a full family effort," he added with amusement.
"I see," Severus said expressionlessly, turning into his office without any other comment. He did pause long enough to check his appointment book, unsurprised when he found an entry for "lunch with Thomas" the day before Jennifer was due back. Turning it to the current page, he glanced at a notation in his own handwriting before finding the folder they had gone in there to fetch and handed it to Sirius. "You should be able to find everything in there, but if you need more specifics on the castle plans feel free to ask for more. I have an appointment for lunch but afterwards I'll come down to the greenhouses."
"In that case, I'll go raid the kitchen and look these over while I'm eating. I'd rather not be stuck in this castle all summer if I can help it," Sirius said.
"Yes, I'd rather you weren't either," Severus agreed, straightening his desk. Sirius simply smirked at him before heading out through the Doorlift.