The Eighth Chapter
Disclaimer: If you recognize anything, it's not ours.
A/N: Attention! Those who wish to thank the authors for updating with gifts line up to the right. And…erm...those of you with pitchforks and torches line up to the left… yes a little more…yes there…no, no that's fine…right there on the edge of the cliff.
"Hagrid would you be so kind as to fetch all the professors who are still awake, except for..."
"I'm on it Headmaster."
Severus Snape stalked up the stairs past the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office, scowling as usual. Although admittedly he had very good reason to scowl this year, more than any other.
His two greatest and most hated school rivals were back from the dead, the arrogant Potter and the insufferable Black. Already he had to share the post of the Defence against the Dark Arts position with afore mentioned Potter and Black will be prowling about the school looking for more mischief.
Snape swept through the door at the top of the stairs and glared at his colleagues gathered in the Headmaster's office.
James snorted and Lily giggled while Trelawney looked slightly drunk.
Snape glared harder at James.
Dumbledore coughed once and indicated to Snape to take a seat.
"I have called all of you here to-"Dumbledore began.
James interrupted, "Wait, where's Sirius?"
Snape sneered, "The mutt is probably sniffing up trees or the like."
James looked furious.
Then threw his head back and roared with laughter.
Dumbledore stared.
Eventually James calmed down enough to chuckle quietly. "No, seriously where is Sirius?"
"That is why we are-" Dumbledore tried again.
A hoarse voice rasped "I see darkness…great darkness… the future is black…"
Snape raised a single eyebrow. "Really?" he drawled.
Trelawneys's head snapped towards him, "The inner eye-"
Dumbledore cleared his throat. However before he could speak, Lily interrupted.
"Really Madam Trelawney, the last time one of your so called predictions crossed my path I died. So excuse if I am a little sceptical. The Dark Lord indeed." She huffed and crossed her arms.
"Quite." Snape commented.
"Indeed." James drawled.
"As I was saying…what was I saying?" Dumbledore contemplated the ceiling for a heartbeat or ten. "Oh yes, Sirius."
They waited.
Dumbledore beamed at them.
They waited.
"Right. Sirius is not who we think he is, or rather he is not what he appears to be." Dumbledore explained.
James slouched in his chair and straightened immediately with a small grunt. "Well that is about as clear as mud, Headmaster." He commented while furiously rubbing his bruised ribs.
Lily, who damaged said ribs, smirked at her husband, "Stop interrupting the Headmaster James, he's only starting to explain."
Dumbledore gestured in the Keeper of Keys' direction "Hagrid is far better equipped to explain the situation."
As one, all the professors turned to stare at the half-giant.
Hagrid blushed and stuttered through his story of what he saw on the grounds.
The glowing red eyes; and Sirius Black.
Snape sighed irritably "You were quite possibly seeing things. Especially after your visit with your precious brother."
"I ain't lyin' professor," Hagrid argued.
Lily put her hand on Hagrid's massive one, "No one said you were lying Hagrid." She soothed.
James spoke up, "Glowing red eyes does not necessarily mean someone is dangerous. It could just have been a trick of the light or whatever. Besides, if Sirius or a Sirius imposter wanted to harm Harry he had plenty of opportunities to do so before he came to Hogwarts, right underneath Dumbledore's eyes."
Dumbledore smiled, "James your continued belief in that I am always aware of what is going on is astounding and greatly flattering. But unfortunately, I have proof that Hagrid's claim is reasonable."
"Only reasonable Headmaster?"
"Severus."
Snape looked mildly abashed. But only for a second.
Minerva McGonagall considered herself to be a fair if strict person. She liked order, rules and definite organization. She despised lack of discipline and the idea of not following the rules was abhorrent to her. Black and white. Right and wrong.
But this Sirius Black, he simply defied all classification.
Minerva huffed.
Defied classification, she thought, he destroyed any attempt to have him categorized.
Well there was one method she could keep track of him Before Veil Sirius and After Veil Sirius. Because Before-The-Incident-At-The-Department-of-Mysteries Sirius and After-The-Incident-At-The-Department-of-Mysteries Sirius was just a bit of a mouthful.
Before he was rude, insolent and arrogant.
Now he's rude, insolent and arrogant.
Hmm.
Not really much of a difference if you look at it that way.
But he was different. And much stranger. But who knows what happened behind the veil.
Luckily that is not my responsibility to puzzle out. I have over a hundred Gryffindors to look after, Transfiguration to teach and I have Deputy Headmistress duties to see to. Dumbledore can make sense of his Order of the Phoenix members.
Minerva shuffled the thoughts of Sirius black to the back of her mind as read the parents' petition to have Professor Binns replaced. She sighed.
There was one every year.
Dumbledore beamed at the figure in his doorway.
"Hello, my dear. Thank you for coming so quickly this late."
"No problem, Headmaster."
"I'm sure you've noticed a bit of unrest in the castle."
"Yes, Headmaster."
"And I'm sure you're just eager as I am to have it resolved."
"Yes, Headmaster."
"Lemon drop, my dear?"
"No thank you, Headmaster."
"Please do sit down."
"Thank you, Headmaster."
"Now with regards to Sirius Black…"
The door to Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's study closed with a solid thunk.
After her meeting with Dumbledore, Gwen sank into the couch in her sitting room and groaned.
Another sodding research project for the barmy old man. Great, just what she needed on top of all the other research she had to do for the Department. Just because she was an Unspeakable on a three year sabbatical did not mean she wanted to research her time away.
Okay so it was interesting. Very interesting. In fact in that book there might be a reference to an ancient Greek legend…
"…waking up now…"
…
"-lock wake up..."
…
"Miss Gwenny…"
A sharp bang startled the Ancient Runes professor awake. She shot up and yelped when her neck protested with sudden movement. Slowly sound started to filter in.
"Professor is going to be late to first day of school. Professor must eat breakfast, can't miss breakfast oh no that would be bad. Bad Professor to not be sleeping in bed. She must not sleep in ch-"
Gwen sighed, "Thank you Minky. I believe I'm awake now."
The house elf gave her a disapproving glare and popped away.
She gave a small chuckle at the house elf's manner, and then grimaced at the woolly sensation in her mouth.
"Right. Brush teeth, first priority."
She stumbled to the bathroom almost crashing into the door, but made it further without incident.
The mindless action of brushing kept her occupied until she noticed the ink on her cheek. The book she had used as a pillow must've gotten wet with drool and in return the ink decided that clinging to her was the perfect revenge.
"Oh bugger."
"Really my dear there's no need for such language." The mirror huffed angrily.
"I'm not your dear." Gwen mumbled back, the toothbrush dangling out the side of her mouth.
The mirror huffed again and Gwen's reflection gained a wart on her nose and a hairy chin.
"Stop that!" said Gwen irritably.
The mirror darkened slightly.
"I'm warning you."
It darkened further.
"I'll fetch my wand."
The mirror blew a raspberry at her and her reflection returned.
"Without your additions!"
The mirror complied.
"Thank you."
Gwen picked up the washcloth and started scrubbing at her cheek until she noticed a word
…rood s'htaed…
She frowned at her cheek. Rood s'htaed, what on earth was that?
The mirror snickered.
"What is it now?" she snapped.
"I'm not gonna tell." The mirror said in a sing-song voice.
Gwen ignored the mirror and thought of the possible languages it could be in. Gaelic, Welsh, Ancient Egyptian, Arabic.
It hit her with the force of a sledgehammer. Mirror image. So it must be death's door.
"Ha I have it." She crowed
"Ten points to the genius." Said the mirror snippily.
Gwen gave the mirror a disgusted glance and covered it with a nearby towel.
"Hmmmf, pfffp. Mmmfff mffff."
She ignored the muffled sounds and walked back into the study.
breakfast found all the teachers sitting in their usual spots, except one, Sirius. He was off to one side where he could keep watch over the entire hall. He knew that the humans were trying to decipher him, and he enjoyed their struggles, it was highly amusing to the Death god.
He kept scanning the faces of the students; it was a little much for him, but the fact that he could feel the uneasiness around him, that was worth it. Not to mention the way the Sotter… or Otter…or was it Potter? He didn't really care, but the boy marked with the scar, he was the most fun.
Then there was his female companion, Hermione, now she was very interesting to him. She had a dark side, a side she tried to hide, but he saw it. He saw she liked it, he saw the way her body seemed to leap whenever that side showed.
Finally, there was Luna. He didn't know what to make of her; she was one of the few who could see through this illusion around him, one he himself didn't even know how it came to be. Man, he couldn't wait to get back home. No more silly humans
A shiver ran down his spine, she was staring at him way too intense…and...no...can't be…did that silly little human girl just sigh?! He had to get out of there! Now!
He stood up abruptly, which caused caused almost every eye in the Great Hall to focus on him.
"Excuse me" he said in a voice not his own.
He walked quickly towards the door and freedom, but before he could reach the exit, something exploded on his head and he was soaked with ice cold water. The Gryffindors, silly goody two shoes, were all shocked and the amused Slytherins were laughing and he was going to kill the one who did this.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Got the professor Black! Ha ha ha! He's all wet! Washed out!" came a very annoying cackling voice.
Yep, he's gonna kill 'em dead.
He slowly turned, his were like burning coals as he stared at a very amused poltergeist, the one called Peeves.
PEEVES!
The voice seemed to come from all around.
To everyone's complete shock and horror, the poltergeist that tormented everyone, the one that listened to no one, screamed in terror. He fell to the floor on his knees begging.
"Master! Please! I didn't know it was you!" his voice muffled due the fact that he was kneeling with his face in the cold stone floor. "Please I beg you don't…don't send me to…"
Before Peeves could continue, Sirius growled "Shut up! Now!" and immediately the begging poltergeist fell quiet, quieter than he'd ever been.
"Leave. And don't ever bother me again."
Silent and trembling Peeves quickly left a noiseless Great Hall, looking back as if he expected to be pursued.
Every single pair of eyes was focused on the scrawny black-haired professor as he too left the breakfasting students behind.
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat gently and continued speaking to Mr. Longbottom about his electives for the year.
Dumbledore smiled as he looked at her. Good old Minerva. She never lets anything upset her schedule for long. He let his eyes drift over the student body, pausing on a student here and there. He made a note to speak to Professor Sprout about Susan Bone. And to remind Severus about his newest students. The newly appointed Defence Master had a tendency to focus rather exclusively on one thing. Draco Malfoy for example. Harry Potter for another. And Voldemort just as an irritating third.
Dumbledore sighed as he contemplated Mr. Malfoy. The poor boy had such delusions about fame and glory and power. Such a distorted view of the world. And a death sentence hanging over his head.
He frowned a little as his eyes rested on Harry Potter. The return of the boy's parents ruined some of his plans. They certainly would not approve. He shuddered as thought of James and Lily's reaction, should they find out what he knew. Everyone knew that Lily had a temper. Few knew that James also had a temper, but while Lily was quick and hot, James was a slow, smouldering heat. Like a volcano, he could lie dormant for years and then suddenly erupt. Dumbledore could count "James incidents" on one hand, but what spectacular sights they had been. Dumbledore was sure that there would be naught that would remain of him once James got hold of him.
Minerva, who had returned to the table during his introspection, glanced worriedly at him and whispered from the corner of her mouth, "Are you alright Albus?"
He smiled at her, "Perfectly fine, thank you Professor McGonagall."
She stared at him a little longer and then continued with her meal.
Dumbledore sighed. This year will be terrifying in its shortness and agonizing in its length.
A/N: Thank you for reading!hands out flowers to readers we promise that the next chapter will not take 18 months to post. As always everything belongs to JK Rowling except Black/Set and Gwen Woodlock.
Ta ta for now
ED
