Disclaimer: Not mine, I just like to play with them for a little while.
Notes: Did I promise an update within a week last time? Oh dear, I ought to know better by now.
Chapter 9: Respectfully
The scowl with which Harry regarded his breakfast on the first of December could almost have rivalled Snape's, but then he thought he had good reasons to be upset. He'd gotten up especially early to get in some flying practise before the meal and found that the broom shed wouldn't open.
After trying a few spells without any result he'd reluctantly gone and reported the problem to Mr. Filch and promptly earned himself a detention for bothering the caretaker before breakfast. Well, considering that Filch had been blinking sleepily and wearing his night-shirt when he'd opened the door, he'd probably woken him up. That tended to annoy people and Filch was grumpy at the best of times.
Detentions didn't really bother Harry all that much anyway. Usually they were more pleasant than any one of his daily chores at the Dursleys'. Scrubbing the entrance hall floor wasn't going to kill him. What did bother him was that Filch had told him that Professor Hooch had sealed the broom shed, when she'd closed down the pitch for the winter. Apparently the unusual amount of snow this year had convinced the Flying teacher that the pitch was unsafe.
Harry had then tried to convince Professor Hooch to let him take his broom inside so he could at least service it, but the Professor hadn't believed his promise that he wouldn't sneak out to fly. Apparently his lying skills had suffered since leaving the Dursleys'. Lack of practise. Here at Hogwarts he had little reason to lie except occasionally to Snape or Filch.
He took a sip of tea to distract himself and found that he'd forgotten to add sugar. A glance up and down the table revealed that the Weasley girl had taken the sugar bowl. Jean? No Jeaney, or Ginney or something like that. At least that was what her brothers called her. Harry knew Fred and George Weasley from Quidditch, and Ron was his dorm mate, after all, but had barely ever talked with the other two Weasleys. They seemed to be more quiet than the twins and Ron.
Could he risk using the sugar after it had been in the hands of a Weasley? The twins were nowhere around, but could they have talked their sister into helping them set up a prank anyway? Would Jeaney do that? He'd heard George complain about what a rule abiding prick Percy the prefect was once, but couldn't remember either twin ever saying anything about the girl.
Perhaps it was safer to just drink his tea without sugar today? He never got any at home either, after all.
A gust of cold wind announced the arrival of the morning owls and caused Harry to look up hopefully. Due to his Uncle Vernon's refusal to sign the permission form for Hogsmeade visits he'd been forced to get his Christmas presents via owl order and the package with Neville's gift was due to arrive any day now. It would be perfect if it were delivered now before Neville came in and saw it.
His eyes were drawn to a flash of white wings, but no, it wasn't Hedwig. This owl was larger and there was a letter affixed to her leg. Harry didn't know anyone who'd owl him a letter. The Dursleys and his old baby-sitter Mrs. Figg were Muggles and the only other people he knew outside Hogwarts were Neville's relatives. They occasionally added a few words to him in their letters to Neville, but it wouldn't make sense for them to owl him directly.
Yes, as predicted the snowy owl sailed past him and landed on the head table. Harry sighed as he watched him hop in front of Snape and hold out his leg.
It just had to be Snape, didn't it?
"By the way, I meant to thank you, Severus." Remus Lupin said in a deliberately casual tone while buttering his second slice of toast.
"Lupin, you've already thanked me at least twice for every single dose of ... medicine I've brought you." Raven returned grumpily. He could hear Filius' muffled sniggering and see Minerva roll her eyes at Albus.
"I didn't mean the potion." Remus explained even more softly and sent a warning look Flitwick's way.
Whatever he wanted to say, he was obviously serious about it and he didn't want to arouse Severus' anger. Luckily he knew that that meant not to make a big emotional scene, but all in all Severus preferred when Gryffindors didn't thank him at all, especially not in public.
"What else have I ever done for you?" More than he hoped the werewolf was aware of.
"I wanted to thank you for taking most of my classes while I was ... sick." Remus explained. "I know you had to cancel your own lessons for it. Considering how far behind the students are already I would never have been able to make up for the lost time otherwise."
"Thank the headmaster then." Severus snapped. "I did it on his orders."
"Ah, but you didn't have to start a new topic. Especially one as complicated as werewolves." Remus smiled. "Anybody else would have just supervised the classes or done some revision."
"A new topic was most likely to keep the students busy." Severus claimed. "And werewolves seemed appropriate as it happened to be a full moon."
"Aren't werewolves usually discussed near the end of the year?" Albus asked just a little too innocently.
"Yes, that's why I could be reasonably sure that Lupin hadn't covered them yet."
"Indeed." Remus confirmed. "Thank you for seeing to a topic that might well have had to be cut short due to lack of time at the end of the year."
"Cut short?" Severus sneered at the DADA teacher. He knew very well how reluctant Remus was to speak about his condition. He'd probably never have been able to work up the courage to discuss it in class at all.
Lupin was about to answer, but a demanding "Hoot!" cut him off.
Severus raised an eyebrow at the snowy owl sitting in his, luckily already empty, plate. He wasn't expecting any mail.
The owl looked quite convinced that he was his rightful recipient, though, so Severus untied the letter and examined the envelope. There was no return address on the front, but when he turned it around he discovered a wax seal on the back that was easy enough to identify.
Raven pocketed the letter as quickly as he could without seeming hasty.
"Aren't you going to open it?" Remus enquired.
"Later." Raven shrugged off the comment.
"Oh, Severus doesn't want us to see his letter." Filius teased. "Got a lady friend there, old boy?"
Raven snorted. "Hardly. Just a polite letter from a former student."
"How do you know that, if you haven't read it yet?" Albus was twinkling again, clearly amused.
"Because." Raven stated with a glare. "I sent her congratulations on her recent promotion. This is merely her thank you note, nothing more."
"And that's so secret you won't share it with us?" Minerva shook her head. "Slytherins."
They didn't push any further, though and that was all that mattered to Raven at that moment. This letter should never have arrived in public. Perhaps he'd have time to read it in his office after setting up for his morning class.
He should have known better than to hope for some time to himself on a Wednesday morning, of course. The day began with a double dose of Gryffindor/Ravenclaw fifth years. Not as volatile a combination as Gryffindor/Slytherin, but this class included the Weasley twins.
Not that Severus found them difficult to handle, but they were demanding students that required his full attention. This was their OWL year and Severus was convinced that only straight Os would serve for their intended careers as joke-inventors. Taking a minute to read a letter, no matter how important, would be slacking off on the job. Maybe he'd find some time between classes and lunch.
It was not to be however. Three minutes before the end of the second lesson Lee Jordan's cauldron gave a sudden hiss, then cracked and fell into pieces. A solid, blue, cauldron shaped chunk fell into the fire beneath it and with another hiss the flames perished.
Lee reacted with a strangled cry of frustration, but it was the wide eyed fascination in the Weasley twins eyes that caught Severus' attention and caused him to swallow the first comment that came to his mind.
"Too late to start over, Jordan." he said instead. "You do realise that this potion is one of the most popular OWL assignments, don't you?"
Lee gulped and nodded.
"I'd start studying, if I were you."
"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry." And probably glad the incident hadn't cost Gryffindor any points on top of the big T in Severus' grade-book.
There was complete silence in the class. Then predictably two hands rose into the air at exactly the same time.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley?" Let them decide which one he was talking to.
"But what exactly happened to Lee's potion, Sir?" Fred asked.
"Well, what do you think, Mr. Weasley?" Snape smirked. "At your level you should be able to deduce the mistake from the visible facts."
Fred and George stared at the mess on Lee's desk.
"The potion congealed?" George suggested.
"Did it?" Severus sneered. "Why don't you come here and take a closer look to test that hypothesis?"
Fred and George didn't hesitate to accept the invitation. Around them the rest of the class began to pack up and leave, but neither Severus nor the twins paid them much mind. If he could teach them to analyse and track a mistake scientifically this early on ...
"Is it safe to touch?" Fred's hand was hovering right over the blue chunk.
"If you don't know, always assume that it isn't."
Fred glanced at him, then back at the chunk. He was sure that Fred was fully aware that he hadn't warned Jordan against touching anything, nor disposed of the failed potion immediately. That should assure the boys that the chunk couldn't do them any serious harm, but he hoped they wouldn't take it as a guarantee against minor cuts or burns.
Fred returned to his desk and pulled on his dragon hide gloves. Good boy. Raven ignored him.
"It's not congealed." George reported after several minutes of poking and pushing the chunk with gloved hands. "It's frozen."
By now the rest of the class had disappeared and Severus remembered too late that he hadn't set them any homework. Oh well, he'd make up for it with a surprise test next lesson.
"Frozen." Fred repeated in wonder then picked up one of the cauldron shards. "Can cold break a cauldron?"
"Break?" George asked.
"This clearly didn't melt, nor was there an explosion and it most certainly wasn't cut apart."
"Cauldrons don't just break. They're solid metal."
"Metal like most things contracts in the cold." Severus supplied. The wizard raised boys probably had never even heard of Physics after all. "Grows smaller. Water however extends when it freezes. And it freezes from the top down. So when the potion froze so suddenly the cauldron was torn apart."
There was a moment of silence while the twins contemplated that.
"Okay, so the potion froze very suddenly. That's what went wrong, but why did it happen?" Fred put the shard down on the table and poked the frozen potion again. "The room is a little drafty, but not really cold enough to freeze water, there was a fire under the cauldron and the potion was boiling the last time I looked this way. I'd have noticed, if it hadn't been."
Severus reacted only with a stern look. He was aware of the twins' habit to keep an eye on their classmates' potions and alert them to mistakes when they thought he wasn't looking. He'd never addressed it, though, because they hadn't shown a tendency to forget their own work over it and there was always a chance that they caught a mistake he had missed. Despite what some students might think Severus wasn't fond of potions exploding into his students' faces or boiling over onto their fingers.
"It must have been a wrong ingredient, then." George agreed. "Something that reduces the potion's temperature."
Fred checked the ingredient jars left on Lee's desk. "None of these look wrong." he commented and George handed him a potions book already open to the correct page.
"No, nothing here that isn't on the ingredients list." he confirmed after a moment.
"Then Lee must have added the wrong amount or maybe he forgot to add a heating agent." George deduced.
"Or added something at the wrong time." Fred suggested. "We need to know which of these ingredients can affect a potion's temperature." He looked expectantly towards his teacher.
"Now how could you find that out?" Severus mocked.
"The ingredients index in our Potions book." George stated. "Their properties should be listed there."
Checking every ingredient took some time, of course and by the time they were finished lunch had already started. So much for reading his letter during lunch break. Oh well, this was worth it. This was what teaching Potions should be like. No bored, unwilling or even distracted students, no stupid answers. Just a small group of truly interested students discovering the intricacies of brewing. It was a Potions teacher's dream lesson. So what if it wasn't an official lesson at all.
"It's the dragon scale and the ice-flowers." Fred finally reported to him. "The scale is necessary for the potion's effect, but the ice-flowers are only in there to counteract its heating effect so the potion won't boil over or evaporate. Lee forgot the scale and the potion just wasn't hot enough when he added the flowers."
Severus regarded the frozen potion which was finally beginning to melt. George noticed his look and began to close the ingredient jars and move them out of the potion's reach before it could spoil their contents. Good boy.
"That is a nice theory, but unfortunately it doesn't fit all the facts I see."
Fred frowned at his notes, George wiped a blue stain off the jar of ice-flowers, then held it against the light to check whether any of the potion had gotten inside.
"It's the dragon scale that turns the potion blue." he said suddenly. "Without it the potion should remain purple."
"So what do we deduce from that?" Severus demanded.
"Lee did add the dragon scale, but overdosed on the ice-flowers." Fred realised. "But how could he make a mistake like that? It clearly says to add two ice-flowers. How can you miscount two?"
"That," Severus smirked. "Is why I keep telling you to concentrate on your potions. I doubt that Mr. Jordan miscounted at all. He probably got distracted, forgot that he'd already added the ice-flowers and added another two. Two points to Gryffindor and now, clean up this mess."
"Yes Sir!" The twins beamed at him.
If they weren't Gryffindors he'd probably love those boys almost as much as his little Rascal.
Albus Dumbledore looked up in surprise when Severus Snape hurried into the great hall late, accompanied by the Weasley twins of all people and ... smiling?
Yes, that definitely was a smile and not a smirk. Those little rascals couldn't have managed to cast cheering charms on the ever cautious Potions Master, could they?
"Severus." Remus Lupin greeted his colleague happily. "There you are. I already thought you were going to skip lunch today."
"Unlike some people's my life doesn't revolve solely around mealtimes." Severus snapped half-heartedly.
"Your life revolves around giving the Weasley twins detention?" Minerva asked. "Why really Severus, what did they do to deserve this?"
"Detention? Of course not." Severus returned just as condescendingly. "I have no idea what you are talking about." His smile had disappeared, proving that it hadn't been magically induced after all.
"Well, what were you doing, if not giving the Weasleys detention?" Albus asked. It couldn't possibly have been something the twins did that had made Severus smile, could it?
"I was furthering my students' talents, by responding to their interests and providing them with a challenge worthy of their intellects and level of knowledge."
"You what?" Poor Hagrid never had been able to keep up with Severus' vocabulary.
"They expressed an interest in some extracurricular work I thought they would profit from, so I allowed them to work it out after class."
Hagrid still looked puzzled and Minerva was wearing a confused frown. She'd probably call the Weasley twins into her office the first chance she got and demand an explanation.
Albus however wasn't worried at all. Severus had spoken quite positively of the twins before and he could be a better teacher than most people realised when he felt the effort was worthwhile. Perhaps the Weasley twins were doing Severus more good than he had realised so far. It was good that at least one teacher saw actual potential in those two. That could only further their interest in their school work and was the only thing that might keep them in school after this year.
"Hello Ronnikins." Finding no free chairs left with their dorm mates, Fred and George decided to sit with their little brother. "What're you doing?"
"Checking the pumpkin juice for poison." Ron answered matter-of-factly.
"Don't you think that's just a little bit paranoid?" George hinted.
"No it's not." Ron insisted. "The Slytherins are out to get me, for that stupid cat incident and potions are their typical weapon. I bet Snape custom brews them for them."
"Nonsense." Fred snorted.
"Ron, the pumpkin juice comes in several carafes for free use of everybody at the table." George explained patiently. "How would the Slytherins know which one you're going to get your juice from and how could they ensure that nobody else is affected."
"They could poison all of them." Ron declared. "Snape hates all Gryffindors anyway."
"Look, little brother, no matter how unpleasant a person he might be he does not poison his students." Fred said exasperatedly. "He might not like us, but he is responsible for us and he takes his job seriously."
"He's a greasy git." Ron insisted. "And when does he ever bother to actually teach a Gryffindor anything?"
"Well, believe it or not, he just awarded us points for figuring out how Lee botched his potion." George grinned proudly.
"He stayed after class and gave us hints and everything." Fred added. "You can't deny that that's really nice of him."
"He kept you after class." Ron told them. "What's nice about that?"
"He worked overtime, because we asked him a question." George countered.
"You asked Snape a question? You're crazy." Ron informed his brothers.
"What's crazy about wanting to know something?" Hermione looked up from her newspaper. "I think it's wonderful that at least some people in your family are showing an interest in their school work."
"Anything interesting in the Prophet?" Ron asked, probably to distract her.
Hermione nodded sadly. "There was another attack in Diagon Alley. It's not clear yet whether the target was Olivander's or a customer who just happened to be in the shop at the time."
"Olivander's?" George gasped. "The wand-maker?"
"Yes, the shop's almost completely destroyed." Hermione confirmed. "The paper doubts that Mr. Olivander will even re-open. But where will next year's first years get their wands, if he doesn't?"
"I got mine handed down from a great-uncle." Fred said. "And George has grandpa Weasley's."
"Most wizarding families have old wands lying around somewhere." Ron agreed. "They don't really have to buy a new one for every child."
"But what of the Muggle borns?" Hermione wondered. "I don't have any magical family members who could hand down wands. I bought mine at Olivander's."
"Well, I suppose they'll have to go to Wands and Books in Aberdeen, then." George said after a moment. "Or have one custom made at Fine Wands in Hogsmeade."
"Fine Wands?" Hermione asked. "I've never even heard of that shop."
"It's a very small shop in the alley behind the Three Broomsticks." Ron explained. "Dead posh and expensive. I bet Malfoy has one."
"His father, probably does." George agreed. "But not the boy."
"It doesn't really make sense for a child's first wand." Fred added. "The wandmaker needs to know the wizard's strengths and preferences in order to know what wand would suit them. That's hard to determine for a child that hasn't even learned any spells, yet. It's much easier to try on various different wands and see which one responds best."
"Do many wizards have custom wands?" Hermione asked.
"Most of them." George nodded. "Many have them made right when they leave school, but the wiser ones wait until they are about twenty and their magic is fully developed. By then they can give the wandmaker a very clear picture of what they need and be reasonably sure that they get the best possible wand for them."
"A custom wand is something very personal and can tell you a lot about the wizard who wields it." Fred mused. "You know, even the pre-made wands can tell you what talents their owners have, but the custom ones are practically a mirror of the wielder's personality and power."
"Power?" Hermione repeated. "What do you mean by power?"
"Well, ... sort of how much magical energy a wizard is able to control at once. A very powerful wizard's wand conducts more magic at once than a weaker wizard's." Fred explained. "Mum's wand for example is so much stronger than Dad's that it burns his fingers whenever he tries to use it."
"Dad can't focus as much as Mum, you see." George grinned. "That makes him weaker than her."
"So magical power isn't just a matter of talent, but also of mental discipline?" Hermione realised.
Fred shrugged. "I suppose so."
Hermione glanced up at the head table. "Professor Dumbledore's wand must be really powerful."
"I bet he has the most powerful wand in the entire school." Ron agreed. "Maybe even in all the world."
"I don't know about that. At least not the world." Hermione shook her head. "You-Know-Who's extremely powerful as well and there must be other very great wizards out there. It's a big world."
"Not necessarily all of Hogwarts either." George added. "Sometimes a less powerful wizard can be much greater than a very powerful one, you know. A lot depends on how wisely you use your power and Dumbledore's very wise. The most powerful might well be Flitwick. He was a champion dueller, once, you know. Those are usually very powerful, because in duelling a lot depends on the speed with which you cast your spells. A fast wand is a great advantage there."
"Don't discount McGonagall, though." Fred said. "Or Snape. They both cast wordless spells almost casually. That requires a lot of power, too."
"Lupin's no lightweight either." George threw in. "Most of the staff are pretty formidable. I wouldn't place any bets there."
"I still bet on Dumbledore." Ron declared.
"Then I bet on McGonagall." Hermione said.
"You realise that we'll probably never find out, don't you?" Fred reminded them. "We can't just ask them to present their wands for inspection."
"Of course not." Hermione agreed. "This is just for fun. Just say whom you'd support in a competition."
"Okay, I pick Lupin then." George laughed.
Fred hesitated. "Snape." he decided finally.
"What?" Ron gasped. "You'd pick the greasy git? You could take Flitwick, if you don't want to share your champion."
"No." insisted Fred. "I prefer Snape."
"You like Snape better than Flitwick?" Now even Hermione was surprised.
Fred shrugged. "Well, maybe not like, but I respect him. He definitely has the most focus of all the staff. And I find Potions much more interesting than Charms."
Ron buried his face in his hands. "My own brother likes Potions."
"Oh, the shame!" George mocked.
"It's not that impossible." Hermione tried to console him. "It's a very fascinating and useful subject. I find it quite interesting myself, though I prefer Transfigurations. If Fred's talents run that way, why shouldn't he study Potions, even if the teacher is unpleasant."
"In fact, the shame is even bigger." George confided. "You see, I find Potions interesting, too, and don't tell anybody, but I think so does Ginny."
Ron groaned. "My entire family has gone mad. Is Percy really the most sane sibling I have?"
"Percy had an E for his Potions OWL." Fred reminded Ron. "He must have at least made an effort to study for the exam."
"That's because he's perfect Percy and doesn't want to fail anything." Ron decided and turned back to checking his lunch for poisons.
Severus's day continued with a double lesson of sixth year Hufflepuff/Gryffindors. In his opinion that was the most unpleasant class he had that year. He'd only inherited them from Professor Vector this very year and in his opinion they were so far behind that he was surprised any of them had passed their OWLs at all.
At least the Hufflepuffs were reasonably well behaved and kept their things in order, even if they didn't know the difference between fairy dust and powdered unicorn horn. The Gryffindors however ...
"Mr. Martins!" he snapped after a single glance into the boy's potions kit. "Whatever is that supposed to be?"
"That, Sir? That's my jar of crushed beetle legs."
"Crushed beetle legs?" Snape repeated and held the jar up so the entire class could see the black, white and green clots inside. "You are absolutely sure that it isn't mildew?"
"Mildew isn't on the sixth year ingredients list, Sir." Anya Goyle commented.
Severus suppressed a sigh. From her cousin Gregory such a comment might have been taken as sarcasm, Anya however was almost too polite and helpful. And the slowest student he'd ever taught. She truly was the perfect cliché Hufflepuff.
'Gods, give me patience.' he thought. After all it wasn't the girl's fault that her no good father had hit her over the head too often when she'd been small. Divorcing had probably been the best thing Artemia Goyle had ever done in her life, despite the scandal it had caused. "I'm aware of that Ms. Goyle. This still looks like a jar of mildew to me."
"I was going to get new ones during the holidays." Stephen Martins lied.
"You'd better get a whole new potions kit to go with them as by now the spores must be everywhere." Snape glared at the boy. "Spoilt ingredients must be disposed of the moment you discover them to save the rest of your stocks."
"I'll just bathe the whole thing in anti mildew potion." Stephen shrugged. "That should take care of it, don't you think, Professor?"
"No, I don't!" Snape snapped. "Ten points off Gryffindor for utter stupidity."
Another student raised her hand tentatively.
"Yes, Ms. Meyers?"
"Why is using anti mildew potion stupid?"
Didn't these fools know anything? What had they been doing in Potions these last five years?
"Anti mildew potion kills off mildew as well as most other plants and insects. Hence most of your ingredients would perish anyway if you apply it to them."
"But what of the kit itself?" Stephen argued. "It's made of Muggle plastic."
"Which is probably why mildew could develop in there so easily in the first place." Snape glared. "It wouldn't suffer any harm from the potion, but the stains and old bubble-gum won't come off easily either. Therefore you'd do best by getting an entirely new and proper kit made from good old fashioned enspelled wood. Now, since last week's assignment was obviously too difficult for you dunderheads, we are going to attempt a simple pepper-up-potion. Do any of you remember the ingredients for that?"
Well, it was somewhat interesting to hear their suggestions. As long as he didn't think of the likely results, if they actually attempted to brew the suggested recipe, at least.
Between the sixth years' lesson and the seventh years that were his last class of the day Raven finally managed to retreat into his office and open his letter.
Dear Raven,
I apologise for taking so long to answer, but this was not an easy choice for me. Unlike you I was born among wizards and have lived as one of them all my life, as did my father before me. Though I am familiar with the traditions and ways of my ancestors I have never practised them, nor have I had much contact with those who do. By now I believe that I am too old and set in my ways to adapt to a new lifestyle. My place is firmly among wizardkind.
I will however aid your search as much as I can without exposing myself. You are no doubt familiar with our cousins who share my lifestyle. As for other relatives, I am descendant of the Stonehenge branch of the family, but have no knowledge of any other members still living there. I think my father once mentioned some of them had moved to Germany or France, though. I am sorry for not being able to give you a more exact address, but father was never very close with his more distant family.
Yours respectfully
Fleetpaw
"Germany or France." Raven sighed and after re-reading the letter once just to be sure he hadn't missed anything threw it into the fire.
He would not endanger Fleetpaw's life no matter who they were. His original letter had been addressed to the youngest daughter of the family who'd graduated five years ago, but the style of the answer did not match his memory of the former student, nor did the references to age, or an apparently dead father fit her. Most likely his request had been passed on to the family's oldest Catar member, perhaps a parent or even grandparent of the girl he knew.
It was the only answer he'd received to his letters and he'd already given up hope of getting any reaction at all. Considering that this was good news, even though Raven saw little chance to find the surviving Stonehenge clan-members on those scant clues. At least with White Wolf's clan he knew for sure which country to search in.
The most remarkable thing about the letter however was the signature. Yours respectfully? Why would Fleetpaw specifically express respect? They could have ended the letter with a simple sincerely without being in any way impolite.
Yours respectfully. At first glance he'd thought that it was supposed to be some sort of code, but it didn't make any sense. No, Fleetpaw had meant to tell him something else, something more personal even though they were determined to remain a stranger to him as the decision to sign with their secret Catar name proved.
The sound of a door slamming and voices interrupted his musings. Ah yes, the seventh years. At least this was a rather easy class. Most of them could be trusted not to burn water, if he turned his back on them for two minutes, but it still wasn't advisable to keep them waiting. Unsupervised students easily got bored and bored students always came up with the most dunderheaded ideas.
Throwing classmates' kittens out of the window, pouring thirteen random ingredients into a cauldron and setting fire to them or seeing who could conjure the biggest fireball were just a few examples he'd personally witnessed in his not yet twenty years as a teacher. He didn't even want to know what tales veterans like Albus or Minerva could tell.
The table shuddered again and for the third time in less than a minute Draco's quill slipped and drew an ugly line through his Transfigurations homework.
"Greg, could you please stop kicking the table? Thank you."
"I'm bored." Gregory complained. "We never do anything fun anymore. I want to go flying."
"The pitch is closed." Vincent remarked.
"I still want to fly."
"Well, you can't." Draco snapped. "None of us can." Transfigurations always put him in a bad mood.
"Then lets go bother some Gryffindors." Gregory suggested. "Maybe we'll even find Potter and Longbottom. Or that Weasley idiot who turned you into a cat."
"I've got to finish my Transfigurations homework." Draco reminded him. "It's already overdue."
"You've always got homework to do this year." Pansy said and gave the table a kick of her own. "And the rest of the time you just disappear. You're no fun anymore."
"I have to study a lot." Draco returned while blotting at the drop of ink Pansy's kick had caused to fall on his parchment. "Father expects me to beat Granger this year and you know how much she studies."
"But you're hardly ever in the library either." Pansy insisted. "You're either with Snape, or you just disappear completely. I want to know where you go."
"Maybe he's got a secret girlfriend in Ravenclaw." Gregory grinned and Pansy shrieked in outrage.
"No, I don't." Draco forced out between clenched teeth. Now he'd completely forgotten what he'd meant to say and he'd been right in the middle of a sentence, too. "I'm just studying more than you're used to. I might get to go to Iceland in the holidays, if my grades are good enough."
"It's a whole year until summer." Pansy pouted. "And Iceland's too cold for swimming anyway. Your Father should take you to France, or even better to Spain. I know that you have relatives there."
"I was talking about the Christmas holidays actually." Draco pointed out. "And Father has nothing to do with that trip anyway."
"Iceland in winter?" Pansy shuddered. "Brrr. It's not called Ice-land for nothing, you know."
"So who's taking you, if not your father?" Vincent asked. "You're not old enough to just go on holiday all alone."
"Oh Vincent, what kind of baby are you?" Theodore who'd just come in and heard only the last sentence snorted. "Can't use the floo without your Daddy holding your hand?"
"They don't let you use international floo alone until you're sixteen." Gregory pointed out. "Draco's going to Iceland for the holidays, but he won't tell us who's taking him."
"Nonsense." Pansy sneered. "He only said that he isn't going with his father, so of course it's his mother that's taking him."
"Is not." Draco frowned. "And now shut up and let me write my essay."
"Not until you tell us who's taking you to Iceland." Pansy insisted.
"Yeah," Gregory agreed. "Come on Draco, tell."
"Alright, alright. It's Professor Snape, but only if I'm good and don't leave any homework to do during the holidays, so I need to get this done. Okay?"
"Snape?" Theo exclaimed. "But why would Snape take you to Iceland? Don't you need your parents' permission for that?"
"He's cleared it with Father." Draco snapped. "And he's taking me, because he was going anyway and I asked to come along."
"But why would either of you want to go to Iceland in the middle of winter?" Pansy was still sneering. "That's just no place to go in winter."
"It's a business trip." Draco explained. "Something or other about special potions ingredients and meeting a fellow potions master."
"Well, I wouldn't want to go on a trip like that." Pansy declared. "It'll probably be dead boring. You'll spend your whole holiday in icy markets watching Snape haggling over obscure ingredients, or being dead bored while he and his friend throw around potions vocabulary you've never even heard before."
"He said we might meet cat animagi there." Draco hissed angrily. "You know, the big kind."
"Snape knows Cata- cat animagi?" Gregory gasped.
"He's heard a rumour that there are some in Iceland." Draco corrected. "He doesn't actually know them, but he knows a lot about their kind."
"Like what?" Pansy demanded. "What does he know that we don't?"
Draco cast a nervous look around, but nobody seemed to be paying them any attention. "That the ones in Iceland have different customs than the ones here. They don't allow marriage with Muggles for example. And I really shouldn't be talking about this. I need to finish my essay."
Gregory looked confused, but Pansy had gotten the hint.
"We can talk on the train home." she said. "It sounds like a good topic to pass away the time on a long trip."
"I'm not going home with you." Draco reminded her. "Not, if I get to go to Iceland."
He sure hoped he hadn't given too much away. Raven had made him promise that he didn't mention anything about Catar or the things he was teaching him to anybody, but he was so excited about their trip that he just hadn't been able to hold himself back.
Cattibrie393 – Thank you. I try to give them a believable background.
Bob the Kiwi Dictator – So do you rule over the kiwi birds or the kiwi fruits, Bob? ... And this one does indeed look like it'll take forever. Chapter nine already and I still haven't introduced half of the cast. Ah well, at least I know where I'm going with this and the fire lady has finally set things in motion. I'm just not entirely sure how I'll get there, yet. ;)
Blythe.Naurin – Christianity is a very weird and contradictory thing when viewed from the standpoint of a Catar. They aren't necessarily the best people to ask about it.
Boudicca – I need to? ... No, but I suppose you'd like me to. So lets see what it is you'd like me to do: Give more information on the Templar teacher and Templars in general. I suppose I could do that, but at a point where it fits in. Right now I have my characters headed for Iceland so it's a bad time. What do they look like/What do they wear? I'm not a visual person and don't have pictures of my characters in my head, but I suppose they'd still wear their typical white mantle with the cross. The rest of their normal day to day clothing has probably changed to a more wizard like style, while in battle they will look much the same as they used to. How do they fight? A mixture of both, I'd say. They are all wizards now after all, but also have their traditions from earlier times. Any information on their fighting style in this fic will have its proper place near much later, though, when they actually will fight. It's not demonstrated or discussed during Religion classes. Give history on the Templars? Not unless it comes up in the writing. It's not my purpose with this to study the Templars. They are in here because I needed a religious institution that would be shown in a rather bad light and didn't want to use the church as a whole or any existing order as that seemed too offensive. A dissolved one seemed like a good idea The Templars were really just a lucky pick inspired by Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe and it was only when I read up on them in preparation for writing that I found out that there is a theory that part of the order fled to Scotland and survived there. ... Going to change the order of your questions now, so the answers will make more sense: Templars and magic: From what I've read about them the Templars were astoundingly accepting of Moslems and treated their culture and traditions with a measure of respect. Each knight in the order had command over a group of Saracen bowmen, so they were constantly exposed to a different faith. If they were tolerant of the very faith they fought, why not have an open mind towards magic as well if it was on their side? When the order was accused of heresy there were claims of dark rites and I think magic as well. The base for those claims could have beenspells and incantations performed by wizarding members of the order. In this AU there always was such a magical section. When they fled to Scotland those wizards contacted Hogwarts (as a center of the magical community there) and the wizards hid them from the muggle inquisitors. As they were hiding from the muggle world all new recruits after that were wizards, hence the Templars turned into an entirely wizarding order. ... No, they were not a studious order, they were originally exclusively a fighting order consisting only of knights, i.e. noblemen who did tend to have a bit more of an education than common people, though those were generally uneducated times. They would have known how to read and write and they also did their own bookkeeping, so at least some could do Math as well. Educational standards have generally increased since then and the order had to adapt to the end of the crusades as well. Fighting could no longer be their only purpose in existence, as there was a lot less of it to do in wizarding Scotland. Also remember that Saint-Aignon is the one member of the order picked to teach at Hogwarts. He was chosen for that task, because he has the ability to teach. That doesn't mean all the members of the order do, though they will have other teachers at other schools. The order nowadays also has a large number of members who function as priests and/or liaisons with important magical institutions. Their main dignitaries are more politicians than warriors and spend a lot of time spinning intrigues at the ministry of magic. They are the ones Dumbledore can't afford to piss off. ... As already mentioned above I read up on them long ago. I don't intend to turn this fic into an essay on Templar history, though. As for the vows: The individual members do not officially own anything, the order on the other had always was and still is very rich (which was most likely part of why they came under attack in the first place. It was a good excuse for taking their money.). Chastity is part of the definition of a catholic order, so I do not believe I need to explicitly inform anyone of that part. The swearing and gambling would fall under things that are expected of a monk as well, though here theory and praxis are most likely two pairs of shoes (maybe on the chastity as well?). Obedience is still there as might come up when they go to battle. This one to them is more a soldier thing than a church one, though the church of course loves it as well. (It also reflects in Saint-Aignon's teaching. Or hadn't you noticed his 'because I say so' attitude towards student's questions?) ... If you are uncomfortable with the rather bad light in which this story shows the Templars please remember that these are no longer the original Templars. It is a direction they have developed in in this AU. I need them to be the 'bad' guys for the purpose of this story, but this does not reflect my general feelings about the original order. ... I'm not taking it as a flame, but I also don't want a fight. I'm writing a story I want to tell. I'd rather lose a reader than have to change my plot for them.
iamtherealmaverick – Greenie is already much happier with you ;). The other Catar will most likely walk into the picture around chapter 11. Well, the first at least ...
Wirretine – Draco leaves for Iceland next chapter, but don't expect to see too much of the country as I've never been there.
Preppygirl – Well, couldn't hurt to ask. Unfortunately Catar don't give a damn about Catholic saints, though. ;) ... Sorry this took so long and there are no northerners in here, yet. They'll come in time, though and might not be quite what you expect. ... By the way, the first time Draco is called Rascal is actually in MNS. He's had that nickname from me for years.
ghdh – Tamora Pierce? Oh well, maybe once I get through all those other unread books piled up on every flat surface around here. For now I'm trying to stop myself from adding to them, though. The book buying habit is getting out of control ...
Ebony StarStorm – Sigh, too obvious, my mystery. Everybody guessed it. (Those who know me best after reading only the prologue which doesn't even have any hints!) ... Yes, that Winky. Are there any others? ...
Marauder3Moony – That's okay. I don't always review either. (In fact I recently read your I Am Dansemesyeux Riddle and I think I didn't review at all. It's a bit weird in places, but quite fun to read. I don't suppose you're ever going to return and finish it, though, are you? The current ending actually works, but it's quite the cliffhanger as well.)
HollyWd – Well, Draco wasn't expecting his teddy to suffer such ill treatment. He was just looking around the flat for some distinctly different items so several people could work at the same time without getting in each other's way and Cuddly happened to be one of the few things around that actually belonged to him ...