Chapter 8
The match began!
The teams started by shaking hands with each other; and some of Hellibore's boys froze at being expected to shake hands with a goblin.
Victor had warned Arbrek to act as though nothing was wrong and to look as though he did not take issue with any reluctance but to thrust out his hand cheerfully and firmly.
Arbrek had nodded at this wise advice; any suggestion that he felt there was any reason for them not to shake hands was to give them reason. He smiled with hearty and English-style cheerfulness and hid the internal seething at the rather tentative and hurried shakes some performed.
"Are you so short of good players that you must play HIM?" asked Hellibore's coach.
Ron looked surprised.
"Our seeker? Why it is not unknown that a young seeker is played if he is particularly talented; Harry Potter played for his house in Hogwarts from the first year; as did Draco Malfoy. Arbek is in the second, and has more experience than our talented first year as well as having talent himself. He's better than Jade Snape, whom you might recall, if not so experienced of course; but that comes with playing matches. I shouldn't be surprised to see Arbrek capped by his country one day. His youth is immaterial you know; we are not concerned by it, so you do not need to be."
This neatly whipped the rug from under the games' master's feet that Ron pretended that he must have been objecting on grounds of age; to make an outright racist comment was NOT politic. Ron had honestly forgotten that his friend Draco did not make the team until the second year, on the bribery of brooms from Lucius to overcome what had then been a Slytherin custom as it remained in Ravenclaw.
"I see you're not playing Cenric Grant" said the visiting games' master.
"No; he didn't make the first team" said Ron, who would not have asked the youth to split his loyalties in any case. The casual comment had the desired effect; and the visitors actually shifted uncomfortably. David Fraser blew his whistle for the players to mount up and take position; then the game was underway!
Hellibore's boys were competent players; but they did not have the competition that Prince Peak did, not having a second let alone a third team. It had never occurred to them. The school team played knockabout matches against volunteers.
Prince Peak DID have an advantage of having an international quidditch referee ready to help out the school coach; and the advantage that both Ron and David were enthusiasts who had bought themselves enough animated quidditch figures to play through different tactics on the tabletop, to the heavy sighs of both Hermione and Ellie.
That the staff would also put together a team to test the first team also helped; and Severus had fielded such for a scratch match after the victory over the second team. With Ron as keeper, David and Percy as beaters, Krait, Dione and Anett as chasers and Severus as seeker the first team had received a severe hammering. That all the staff were also blood group had helped, perhaps; but the idea was to stop the first team getting too cocky. Half the staff team too HAD played against Bulgaria's national team once in a friendly; and they had also played – for more serious stakes – against the fey.
Victor had considered it a valuable lesson; and as head of games had explained to his team what a privilege it had been to be beaten six hundred and fifty to three hundred by such accomplished players.
His team agreed; and if the school had thought Professor Snape cool before, his performance as seeker had raised their feelings to definite hero worship.
If Fred had not clipped Severus on the funny bone with a bludger, he might not have been inspired to quite such dashing play; but any man with a clipped funny bone is going to want to retaliate in some measure. And Arbrek was fooled by the Wronski feint pulled closer than any of the spectators had seen it pulled by any save Viktor Krumm himself or the great Harry Potter; and the snitch was won by the staff.
And Victor and his team reflected on that game and were glad that the staff had held nothing back to give them that practice; and prepared to take on Hellibore's as though they were flying again against the likes of the staff team.
It may be said that the boys of Hellibore's did not know what had hit them. Fred and Peter and Victor denied points; Kate, Angelica and Seagh racked points up. For Angelica it was another chance of sweet revenge for her grandfather's failures to her that she should be fit; and indeed fitter and better than the boys she played against. Every one of the first team belonged to the MSHG and ran daily; or in inclement weather either did extra dancing or kung fu.
In a time out – one of Hellibore's chasers had been caught and knocked from his broom by a bludger – the captain asked Victor,
"Hey, your types are cheering for a kid named Grant – you're not playing Cenric, who's that?"
"His kid sister; she's in the third so she's had almost three years to learn how to play quidditch properly" said Victor coolly; the captain having been one who had drawn back from Arbrek.
The Hellibore captain was saved from having to make reply as the whistle went to resume play; but he was simmering!
Miles Grant was playing for his school; and was amazed at how good his little sister was, better than Emily, a couple of years older even! Why, Kate had every chance of playing professionally at this rate! He had shaken hands heartily with Arbrek without even noticing that some of his fellows had held back, and wished him luck; and hoped, as a beater, he would not be responsible for causing any lasting harm to so slight a child if his bludger contacted. It did not stop him playing up however! As he needed to do; the Prince Peak chasers flew like demons! Frantically Miles tried to stop the goals being scored. It would help if his counterpart played as a partner to him instead of treating the game like a competition between the both of them. That was the difference, he reflected; the Prince Peak kids were a team, one unit; not one of them trying to look good but all of them working together to achieve, the chasers passing smoothly, generally passing to the boy Seaghsron Snape who Miles found an enigmatic character; as he seemed capable to getting the quaffle through the hoops from impossible looking angles left handed or right. Angelica Hellibore was a very steady passer; and good at jinking out of the way of bludgers too. And Kate! Good grief she wasn't going to – she WAS! She was standing up on her broom casually tossing the quaffle through again for yet another score, and then dropping flat onto her broom to avoid the bludger he HAD to aim at her, sister or no; not that Kate would thank him if he had held back. That was another time out; the Hellibore seeker down now. Miles had noted that the beaters for the Prince Peak team put effort into protecting their seeker; leaving more work for the keeper, but he seemed quite capable, flying the lazy eight defence, and ready to drop with seeming ease into that defensive posture known as the starfish and stick; indeed at one point Victor hung from his broom by the ankles to field a quaffle, swinging straight up again with a strength only possible with the rigorous physical training the MSHG now took for granted. And then he was broom-surfing too! Miles was not to know that the Malfoy twins had put Victor through some rigorous broomnastics over Yule in case Prince Peak got a fixture against Hellibore's; but Victor had loved every minute of it!
Arbrek was enjoying himself if feeling a little frustrated that he had not yet had a chance to get the snitch. It had buzzed by quite close to him but the Hellibore Seeker – the supercilious captain – had at that moment been hit by a bludger and there had been a time out. Arbrek did not grudge that; the opposing seeker had obviously seen the snitch too and was a little closer; and Fred – or Peter, he could not tell in the heat of the game – had also seen the snitch and had decided to help out by stopping either of them getting it. They were certainly alert; with eyes it seemed everywhere, and a bludger from one of them had knocked aside another bludger aimed at him. Peter – he was sure it was Peter who had the slightly higher voice, Fred's having broken – had yelled to Arbrek to go it;
"You worry about the snitch, Luke WE'LL worry about the fighters!" he said.
It was a joke about the film they had seen in the MSHG that the twins were always quoting; Arbrek had never come across Science Fiction before but he liked the lightsabres; and it illustrated how muggles WANTED to believe in magic, even though they made it into some kind of mental power supposedly explainable by their science that just hadn't been discovered yet. It was the fact that many muggles wanted to believe that had given Odessa so much ascendancy over a muggle organisation of the same name; but on the whole, Arbrek thought it was nice that a lot of muggles DID want to believe.
"Hey red five, there's a bandit on your tail!" called Fred.
Red Five was Luke; that was him! Arbrek did a neat broomover; and there was the snitch crossing from left to right below him. Height is speed, speed is distance, Arbek reminded himself of the mantra Viktor Krumm had made him learn. Was it enough height? The other Seeker was on a parallel path….. Arbrek accelerated, taking a risky path that would take him right past the snitch if he missed it. He held onto his broom with his left hand letting his right clench and unclench a couple of times. The snatch en passant; he had practised it over and over, the tactic Viktor had taught, that would fool the opposition into not realising what you were doing if you seemed to be aiming further ahead; would take them further away from the snitch even than you if you missed….. and then his long goblin fingers were closing on the whirring fluttering wings of the golden snitch, holding it up; and David Fraser was blowing the final whistle!
"That's a shot in a million kid, let's blow this thing and go home!" called Peter.
"The Force will be with you – always!" called Fred.
Arbrek grinned and made his broom rock like the visual representation of the Force being with Luke.
"Yer a' a bunch o' nutters" said Seagh "Ah am the master!"
"Only a master of weevils, Snape" chuckled Peter.
The Hellibores were NOT laughing.
They had lost by an ignominious seven hundred and seventy to two hundred and ninety. Arbrek pulled a rueful face when the score was announced.
"You mean I could have just gone to sleep and let him catch it and it would have made no difference?" he said in disgust.
"Oh it makes a difference" said Professor Ron quietly "It's a moral victory; and it squashes that ruddy stuck up racist of a seeker of theirs and good, the git!"
Arberk realised that Professor Ron was truly angry about the attitude of the visitors – some of them any way – to actually lapse into language he would never usually use if he knew his pupils were listening!
"Some of them are decent, sir" he said.
"Yeah; the Grant boy and the keeper" said Ron. "Well, let's smile sweetly and make like we ain't gloating as we shake hands. Nice play; good teamwork. Don't get cocky."
The Prince Peak team were magnanimous in victory, thanking the visitors for a good game and hoping that they enjoyed it; Angelica managing to pull out the line about it being the taking part that was more important than victory. Her grandfather did NOT appreciate the sentiments but had to act as though he did. Angelica beamed with angelic sanctimony as she knew his heart filled with gall and wormwood.
It had been already fairly filled, since Severus had politely applauded every good move made by the players of either team – mostly Miles and the keeper for the opponents– and had remarked how well Mr Grant and the keeper had managed to play together and what a shame it was that Professor Hellibore had had to substitute his other beater recently who seemed less capable of teamwork.
As the other beater had played exactly as long as Miles, being like him in the upper sixth and picked at the same age, Hellibore seethed gently.
"Jolly fun game Professor Hellibore!" said Ron heartily "Perhaps another time your second team might play ours; we only have a scratch third team as yet, but early days for the school still of course! Our second team isn't bad, lost by a very narrow margin to the first last week, but we've been playing the older but more erratic seeker with the second team; on a good day she can fly almost as well as Arbrek, but you know how it goes!"
"We don't have a second team" said Hellibore through gritted teeth.
"I say! I do apologise!" said Ron "Then congratulations for getting together a team from so small a school; we're quite big now, we've around eighty pupils, we're growing all the time!"
Hellibore gritted his teeth again. They had three teams with eighty pupils; he had one with fifty five. And HIS numbers were dropping. He forced a smile.
"Yes we are a little smaller than you" he said evenly "But we are considering opening our doors to pupils from other European countries as you have done. We have a few American pupils of course, whose parents want their children to have an English education in a nice small school; and of course they come to us knowing only Quadpot."
"A barbarous game" said Severus "But then, when you consider that America is the only country to go from barbarism to decadence without the usual intervening period of civilisation it almost makes sense."
"They are rather brash" agreed Hellibore. He only took Americans for economic reasons "One has to try to civilise them."
"Oh quite" said Severus.
The visiting team had extracted Gaius Paddock from his fellows, as he had come into Prince Peak for the Sixth Form to find out how he found it.
Gauis answered truthfully that he found the work a sight harder than what he was used to, and had needed remedial studies because of having missed certain points at OWL level studies.
"I'm managing to keep up though, because the rest of the class have been very decent about sharing old notes with me, and talking me through stuff I haven't covered" he said "I – I did wonder if I had bitten off more than I could chew, but I appear to be doing a lot better than I was at first. I'm taking five NEWTs which is a bit above average here I think, though it might be because most of the class are Cackle's girls and Victor – he's the keeper, he came here from Hogwarts last year I think – says they're a bunch of duff lemons."
"How many NEWTs is this Victor taking?" asked one of the team.
"Seven" said Gaius. "He's only expecting to take 'O' in three or maybe four but he's straight 'E' with the rest; but he reckons that the difference in the kids coming up the school is visible, that the ones taking OWLs NEXT year should show an average as good as Hogwarts. It's rather exciting; and also jolly nice not to have the chagrin of one's younger brother gloating that he's got significantly higher qualifications than oneself. I think it would pay Professor Hellibore to sack some of his older fuddy-duddies and get in bright new teachers who can teach us modern theory so we know what the exam questions are talking about. I don't think Professor Quails has ever heard of Waffling logic."
As the other quidditch players – apart from Miles – had also never heard of Waffling Logic they wisely did not comment! There was indeed much angry silence; since a Hellibore's boy was considered remarkably good if he was taking four NEWTs; and only the Grant boys had been permitted so many. Most thought they were doing well if they took two.
"So how many OWLs is that next sister of yours taking, the one Snape poisoned?" asked the Seeker.
"Oh the fairly standard ten" said Miles "And I don't expect she'll get high grades in many of them. Six are compulsory so they can follow their interests with another three or four. There's three kids in her class she says are taking eleven, and as many only taking seven; and somehow I don't see Kate taking more than eight or nine. Em's got a really clever friend who she tries to study with as far as she can; kid was ill for years and had nothing to do but read."
Miles had managed to pull nine OWLs out of his less than adequate education; and was studying hard for the four NEWTs he was taking, using text books recommended by Severus in the hopes of getting better grades. He was also studying Arithmancy to OWL level in his own time and planned to ask Professor Hellibore if he could sit the exam although it was not one usually entered by the boys of Hellibore's.
"What potions does he brew to make them able to study so much? He must be cheating!" said the seeker.
"Look here, Tiler, if I were you I'd withdraw that comment" said Miles "Because making a suggestion like that is slander; and you are over seventeen and an adult; and to accuse a schoolmaster of something that damn serious is pretty contemptible."
"Why should I withdraw it? Nobody can achieve such results without cheating!" said Tiler.
"So you reckon that Dumbledore is cheating too?" said Miles, coldly "I'm afraid, as you've made the accusation in front of one of the Prince Peak students – Gaius here – and called him a cheat to his face, and won't withdraw it, I'm going to have to go to Professor Hellibore; so I don't get tarred with your slanderous brush" his face was set and white "And Gaius must report this to Professor Snape."
"What, sneaking?" sneered Tiler.
"No Tiler; reporting a crime" said Miles "I warned you; you are adult. Taking away the character of another, especially another in a responsible position, is a crime."
"Oh come on – who cares what I say about that gobbo-lover?" sneered Tiler.
"Any of the parents whose children you accuse by extension of getting their qualifications under false pretences" said Miles "Don't you GET it? You're slandering my sister and my brother Cenric and Hellibore's granddaughter and however many others!"
Tiler went pale.
"Well, I don't blame them for what he's doing!" he said.
"YOU FOOL!" hissed Miles "You ARE accusing them; no kid is going to be unaware if they were under a potion that improved their faculties! And when it's proved that there is no such potion YOU go to Azkaban! I'll tell you the extra magic Snape uses; because he gave me the key and I'm applying it to my studies! And the key is to use textbooks that aren't fifty years out of date, to read extra texts on the subject, and to put in three to four hours study every night! If you spent more time studying and less time bellyaching about things you'd have higher grades too; and you might notice I've been getting straight 'O' grades since I've been studying harder except the time when I gave an answer to old Quails that was beyond his understanding! Too late, Tiler; you've attracted attention. Skip to Professor Snape, Paddock; I'll see the Old Man."
Hellibore listened to Miles' report; Gaius went along with him and nodded confirmation for Severus.
Severus turned to Hellibore.
"Engelbert, your boy makes a serious accusation. As you are neutral I demand that you use the Revellaspell on all my exam students; and a random selection of others. I also demand that you question me under veritaserum about such an accusation with your sports master present as a witness as well as one of my senior staff" he said.
Hellibore paled.
"The boy is not serious, I'm sure!" he said. "Miles, surely it could have been left?"
"I am though" said Severus grimly "Such a whisper, however flippantly made, could ruin the reputations of any graduates from this school as well as mine; as Mr Grant has realised. He is aware of the terrible blight this could have on ALL the students at this school; including three of his own siblings. If you believe this whisper I demand that you call in the Auror's office here and now. As it also devalues your own grandchildren's achievements; all of Angelica's OWLs, the NEWTs she takes this year; and the boys' exams of the future."
"Of course I don't believe it, Severus" said Hellibore waspishly "Why, it is ridiculous; your integrity is as legendary as your nasty tongue! Very well; let us have the two exam classes in a classroom, Miles, pick random children as well. And bring that ape-brained idiot Tiler too" he added venomously. "I don't have any veritaserum, Severus; and if you have, it could become suspect. I DO however know the babbling curse; and if you will release your shield in private I will not speak of anything irrelevant you say but will sign an affidavit to the effect that I am satisfied. Will that do? Time enough to call in the aurors if that young fool Tiler will not make as public a retraction as he made the accusation and writes you an apology."
"It will do" said Severus.
Hellibore cast the Revellaspell on each of the examination students, concentrating on potions in their system; and commented acidly that so far all he could find was that two of them had taken pepperup potion within the last few days.
He and Severus retired into Severus' office where Severus, questioned under the babbling curse explained in great detail how proud he was of his students for the way they worked except the three lazy little cows in the lower sixth and how disappointing it had been to have to expel that nasty little girl Ortensia and how nice it was to have willing, hard working kids like Henik and perhaps he would stop taking any paying students and just run on examination and scholarship and he wished at times he could turn the Tugwood twins into sheep because they had as much sense.
As Hellibore had taught male Tugwoods he actually sympathised with that sentiment!
He declared to Tiler that so far as he could see, any nasty minded accusations about Professor Snape had originated only in Tiler's festering and nasty little brain and that the boy would make a retraction AND write a letter of apology to Professor Snape and to the exam classes for trying to bring them into disrepute.
Tiler protested.
"How CAN they achieve such results though sir?"
Hellibore lost his temper at this point.
"Because I've been too soft on the lot of you for years because I run a school for idiot rich brats who pay for the privilege of going to a smaller, softer school than Hogwarts; and because I employ old boys who are out of touch because I am sorry for them because I have placed the old school tie and snob value over educational excellence! And I shall be making a decision about whether I shall continue to cater to rich idiots who haven't the brains to pass the new DOE exam without a wand up their backsides or whether I want to teach to the level Snape and Dumbledore teach to!"
Tiler stared, open mouthed.
"You mean you don't think it's unnatural?" he asked.
"MERLIN'S TROUSERS BOY! Are you so stupid you have failed to hear me say just that in many different ways?" Yelled Hellibore. "Now you apologise and get me those written apologies or I expel you because I don't want to be tainted by your loose and foolish tongue and charged with slander by association when Severus Snape calls in the Auror's office to investigate your smutty little allegations!"
"Oh! I'm sorry sir; all right!" said Tiler, much abashed.
His written apologies were not especially literate; but they would at least serve to show any parent that their child was NOT being accused of cheating if the story got out! And both headmasters heaved a sigh of relief and Severus broke out the elf-made wine to soothe both himself and Hellibore.
"Some children" said Hellibore.
"Especially when they're young adults and their brains haven't caught up" said Severus.
"If they have any" said Hellibore sourly.
Severus had never liked Hellibore more than when he lost his superior guard and showed himself to be as human as anyone.
"Actually Severus, I've made up my mind what to do with my school – if you're ready to help me" said Hellibore "I am not going to try to compete with you; as I understand it, you're planning on taking only those with outstanding talent of some kind; musical, or academic or whatever. I run a school for rich kids most of whom are stupid. I need however to cram them more; and have more up to date teaching methods. The crunch is that I can't afford to. If you will invest in my school I can take the rich brats you don't want who traditionally come to school in Austria or Switzerland; and I can see that those who need more get the education they need. I – I'm not as clever as I thought; and you have a talent for getting the best from children. I'm teacher enough to recognise and acknowledge that; at least I am when I'm tipsy."
"Will you take the posh dim girls too?" asked Severus.
Hellibore considered.
"It would require extensive modifications….. yes, I shall. It makes sense. It appealed to my vanity to cater to the tender and not too bright children whose parents wanted them out of England safely; it was easy to shut eyes and ears and to refuse to see all the terrible things that were happening. But with Odessa, I can't afford to do that; the rot is too widespread. I can at least cram some knowledge into the brainless. And – you see, I don't like to sack the old boys who are teaching; or even the younger ones who have been my father's pupils!"
"Pension off the old ones; I'll pay for that as part of the improvements. Those young enough to be having a laugh at your expense must take their own chances. There's giving someone a hand up and there's being exploited. Yes; Hellibore's Academy for young magical ladies and gentlemen has a ring to it that will appeal; it should turn a profit. And Miles did well enough in the Triwizard to show your top pupil as a contender. I suggest you either make it your last Triwizard or hope to get the odd one who's competent enough to look good who prefers to be in an academy than to rub shoulders with poor kids with talent and with goblins. Some of your boys did NOT like shaking hands with Arbrek."
"They came close to being rather rude" said Hellibore "Tiler has about as many brains as a guinea pig but fails to be as cute. He's struggling through a NEWT in History in the hopes of working in the ministry."
"Hmm, well, I doubt he'll affect the average intellect there much" said Severus. "If we work in conjunction, if I have a kid who is miserable because they can't hack the standards I shall expect I can transfer to you; if you discover a child with hidden talents – and you'd be surprised how many parents have no idea that they have children who can draw superbly, say – you can transfer to me. You get the social kudos and I get the pleasure of seeing that quirky abilities get nurtured. It could work very well. Tell me what you need; Krait is loathsomely rich. She got her hands on everything Voldemort amassed and that's quite a pile; his muggle father was very wealthy and gold spends in both worlds."
"Nice that you don't have to worry" said Hellibore with an edge "Another thing I have to resent about you; as well as your talent for teaching and the fact that we owe you a big debt, all of us, for spying on Voldemort."
"Being rich is a nice payoff for the years of terror" said Severus "I guess I'd hope you'd not grudge it; for I don't want gratitude. You know why I started doing it?"
"Because you hated him?"
"No" said Severus "Because I loved Harry Potter's mother; because she will always be my first love, and that has a special place in any man's heart. Because I swore to protect her son as if he was my own; as I might once have hoped that he had been. Because I have come to love Harry for himself; and because I, like Jade, loathe inefficiency. Voldemort was inefficient. It tends to be a flaw of megalomaniacs. As to my talents of teaching, Engelbert, I learned to teach efficiently when I learned to love myself and hence to love others and to care passionately about the fact that Harry MUST learn occlumensy to protect him from Voldemort – for the scabby little bastard left a portion of himself in Harry when he failed to kill him. Harry had to live with seeing some of Voldemort's actions; and learn to hide his own. And I learned to love to teach him, and Krait, and thus found a love of teaching that I had not known I had within me; for I had taken the job teaching, as Albus suggested, without enthusiasm only because it would keep me in a position to watch and protect the boy when he got to school. And they formed a club, hiding it in the innocuous sounding name Muggle Studies Hobbies Group, where the keenest and most eager learned to fight Voldemort. And teaching those keen ones, the bright ones and the dull but worthy, but essentially those who WANTED to learn, showed me how teaching could be. I want the ones who want to know more; and I have learned over the years that almost all children can be stimulated to want to know more. The dullards are rare; even Miss Cackle's silly girls have, in the main, risen to the challenge. With a few exceptions; I think I babbled about some of them."
Hellibore grinned.
"I've taught a few Tugwoods myself" he said "If you turned them into sheep few people would notice the difference."
Severus gave a rueful grin.
"Is that what I said? I wasn't really listening to myself….babbling curses are rather embarrassing things."
"You weren't particularly embarrassing actually…. Most of what you were doing was crowing about how hard your pupils work and how concerned you were about some Italian kid you expelled….. if I understand it rightly, you can't win them all. She'd have been suited to transfer to the girls' part of Hellibore's Academy when we've set it up in an improved version. Should I have two separate schools and schedule the Professors to move from one half to the other?"
"The logisitics of that would be a nightmare" said Severus "If I were you, to protect all those gels and tender flowers, I'd have two separate sleeping wings to reassure the parents. And I can pass you the names of some parents who didn't like the idea of co-ed, but who might be reassured if too you had boys on one side of a classroom and girls on the other. Just a suggestion; I think it's silly myself but there you are. Muggle studies show that girls learn better in single sex schools and boys learn better in co-educational classes so whatever one does causes some unfairness; but if they grow up not thinking the opposite sex is an alien species, they're less likely to be gauche in social situations and girls are less likely to be flattered, impregnated and left by bold seducers because they'll have mostly wised up to the shenanigans boys can get up to, to wheedle a sly kiss behind the broom sheds. Make them dance very formally, perhaps, as a social skill and that's the time they get to socialise fully with each other; it could work."
"Yes it could; not fully co-educational; I could market it as socially interactive in a controlled environment" said Hellibore.
"Have you been taking lessons from Lucius?" laughed Severus "That sounds like the sort of crap he uses to sell ideas!"
"I think I'll take that as a compliment" said Hellibore.
"Oh it more or less was; I find I like you more than I expected to" said Severus.
"Likewise; I rather thought I disliked you. Especially as I could feel you disapproving of me not being able to heal Angelica. I had not realised there was such talent…. I was afraid someone else might manage a partial cure and leave her in worse pain…."
"If you'll listen to advice, I have never, when I've offended someone who means something to me, regretted apologising abjectly and explaining my feelings. Every time I have bottled up and failed to speak I HAVE regretted it; especially when the person I would have spoken to died before I managed to speak" said Severus.
Hellibore nodded.
"Then I shall take my courage in both hands and go to see my son and talk to all the children in the holidays" he said "Bellamy had the same trouble…."
"It runs in my family too" said Severus "I expect the Hellibores and Princes are related somewhere down the line. I've corrected it in a number of my relatives; it's almost routine now."
"Ah; I see" said Hellibore "I was angry that a child that Jade was should do something so risky; but to her it WAS routine… I can see that now. And she is not, I think, a girl to overestimate her abilities; but many are."
"Jade and Lydia taught themselves occlumensy in case Voldemort captured them to ask questions about their daddy" said Severus grimly "And that I found out in a chance conversation. I would not be surprised to find they were practising the cruciatus curse on each other to learn to resist it before they even had wands; the war gave us remarkable children but at the price of some of their childhood. Somehow I doubt Jade has thought of herself as a child since she was about twelve. And in many ways she was more capable than most adults by then. Such is life; and I'm damn proud of her!"
"Yes; she is a child to be proud of" said Hellibore "And I know Angelica is proud to be a friend of hers. Shake hands, Severus; and let us move forward."
Severus was glad to do so; Hellibore could be foolish; but it is a wise man who is prepared to admit his own folly.
Englebert Hellibore was to Severus' mind a bigger man than Horace Slughorn.
