Chapter 10

Mimi was glad of the hard work involved in being in her OWL year; it helped her not to miss Darryl so much. That she could feel him in her blood was comforting; and she did apparate to Prince Peak on odd weekends to spend time with him but being apart was hard, especially as the 'Daily Prophet' ran a series of news items covering their speculations over the deaths of each of Darryl's mother's previous husbands that were under investigation whilst she and her older son were held in custody. Blaise had been convicted of attempted murder of his brother and there was a lot of gossip in the fifth and lower sixth about where Darryl was and whether he had left school because of the shame or whether he lay dangerously ill in St Mungos hovering between life and death.

Fortunately most of the lower sixth were decent – and a large number of them were blooded – so it was only really Robert Spikenard in Gryffindor and Porphyria and Deborah of Hufflepuff who did much speculation there; and assorted Ravenclaws in the fifth.

Robert, who was rather fond of himself and a little too impressed by his ability with divination determined that Darryl Zabini was on the continent and declared didactically that he was in Durmstrang where he belonged; and Venilia Cornfoot and her friend Avice Crawford, Ravenclaw's prefects in the fifth, reminded her housemates loudly and firmly just where speculation about Zabini had got them last year; and if they wanted to wear the word 'pratt' on their foreheads again, they need not think for one moment that Lydia Snape was any less able at the execution of the same than Mei Chang had been. She added that Lydia was probably quite capable of putting the word in insubstantial zits on the foreheads of ghosts.

This generally quieted any public discussion at least; until one of the more lurid pieces in the 'Prophet' stated that inside information from one of young Zabini's former schoolmates placed him in Durmstrang, where he was learning to torture non humans and muggles.

Mimi read that, jumped to her feet and went to the staff table.

"Please Professor Dumbledore, can we just put this to rest?" she asked. "No reporters can get at Darryl; it doesn't harm to tell people where he is – and WHY."

Dumbledore nodded and banged on the table.

"The 'Daily Prophet is doing its usual comedy turn" he said dryly "But I understand that someone from this school has been telling them lies again about Darryl Zabini."

"It WASN'T me!" squeaked Michelle Makepeace.

"That's all right, Makepeace, I've a shrewd idea who it is" said Mimi "Never suspected you; you get bees in your bonnet but you ain't that stupid. To be that stupid takes a Gryff."

"Oh!" said Michelle, half gratified and half not sure how she felt.

"I know exactly where Mr Zabini is" said Dumbledore "Since he discussed with me, and with his former house head, how concentrating on NEWTs was going to be rather difficult with the sort of malicious publicity the 'Prophet' manages, who manage to blame a young man for having been a victim of an abusive mother and who saw his father murdered by her. I should like you all to reflect on that; what it would be like to see a parent murdered. Yes, Gorbrin; I know YOU know; and you also have the support of your mother and step father. Darryl does NOT have anyone; so the 'Prophet' feels able to victimise him still further. Having been through their form of not quite illegal slander with Harry Potter I concurred with the boy's guardian that it was best for him to go to Prince Peak, where the headmaster is his former House Head, Severus Snape. Severus is a veteran of two wars against Voldemort and one against Odessa, so mere reporters are NOT going to trouble him. Though the number of vultures at the castle may increase if any try I suppose" he added mildly. Several people giggled, especially Chrys, who had suffered from reporters. "Whoever made the infamous suggestion to the 'Prophet' that Darryl was er, learning to torture people in Durmstrang should write an apology to both Darryl and Madam Bacsó immediately and send it to the 'Times' for publication; there need be no name appended so long as the culprit identifies himself as the supposed informant to the 'Prophet'; and if you were misquoted, it would be a good opportunity to mention this. I have no doubt that the words were spoken in haste and without thinking in Hogsmeade when one of the 'Prophet' vultures made an approach; and let this be a lesson that hasty words can bring far reaching results. If such a letter does NOT appear, since I am of the opinion that the culprit is over seventeen I shall not restrain Severus and Madam Bacsó from bringing slander suits against him. I hope I make myself clear?"

Robert Spikenard gulped and stood up; he did not lack courage. Madam Spikenard groaned; her grandchildren had been conspicuous over the last couple of years with their divination talents making trouble.

"Well when I divined he was on the continent how would I think he might be any place BUT Durmstrang, sir? Why would Snape have him? He's a racist!"

"Robert, Robert!" said Dumbledore. "For a supposed seer of the future, have you not the eyes to see the past and present? Have you not NOTICED last year that Darryl had been learning some truths? Did you fail to hear his courageous speech to the whole school explaining why he had a phobia about goblins? Did you fail to notice that he took Mimi Snape to the Yule Ball, even if you don't take 'Witch Weekly' and did not see the photo of them wrapped around each other? Darryl has been a troubled boy that made him troublesome; and he has been big enough to admit his faults and grow out of them – the mark of a real man. I fear, my boy, from the look on Lilith Snape's face, your er, bodily gasses are going to fluoresce for the foreseeable future. And I suggest you get that letter written quickly to the 'Times' and try to find some way in which you were misinterpreted or misquoted or a serious slant placed on something said in jest. I expect that Gorbrin and Meliandra will help you; as they are both noted for their felicity of style in writing."

Gorbrin and Meliandra grinned and flushed; they had ambitions – between being aurors – to publish whodunnits.

"Sir" said Robert who was a foolishly self-opinionated boy rather than a bad one. "I'd be glad of the help if you two will be prepared to give it."

"Any time" said Gorbrin "Darryl's a friend of mine."

And THAT ought to scotch any rumours that the boy was still racist.

oOoOo

Bella was suffering from feelings of so-near-and yet-so far from her Assim; and sympathised with Mimi for her physical distance that made life both easier and harder. Over the holidays Drusillina had settled down to being Leo Black-Weasley's girlfriend; Isabel Nightshade had settled on Chad Fenwick; and Maud was also suffering quietly like Mimi – which earned her hugs from her friend – because she had come face to face with Fabian Ramage, one of the Prowling Marauders, at what Bella called the Malfoy bean feast and had blushed hard and stuttered a lot. Since Fabian had also blushed hard and stuttered a lot it was generally accepted that they had a Case.

Bella was being very good about Assim until the night she had a really bad nightmare about her former self's encounters with Tom Riddle; and found herself apparating still half asleep to find a fluffy white tummy.

Assim knew when distress was no perversity and though briefly startled, Bella's scent was familiar and dear to him, and he gently washed a sobbing young girl with a big rough tiger tongue without bothering to mention the impropriety of her being only in her nightgown.

Her scent DID have an effect on him however and when he awoke to the awareness of that, Bella was gazing fascinated at the said Effect.

"Assim, it's so PINK!" she said "Almost Barbie pink; I sort of though it would be mahogany like the rest of you!"

"Hrrrr!" said Assim, rolling over onto his fluffy white tummy to hide the Effect. "Pestilential horror, I am in tiger form" he added in his thick, treacly, purry tiger voice "And it is a proper colour for that. In my human form all parts of me are a proper colour for that too."

"OOooh, can I see?" asked Bella.

"No you may not" said Assim, cuffing her gently with an admonitory paw "And you should go back to your bed before your friends miss you."

Bella planted a kiss on the end of his brown leather nose and woffled her face against his. He swiped her face with his tongue, paused, and investigated her ear with its tip, Bella squirmed and giggled.

"It needed a wash" said Assim. Bella kissed his nose again and apparated back to her fellows. She felt MUCH better for that!

oOoOo

Robert's letter to the 'Times' was a masterpiece, as the boy himself acknowledged. Gorbrin and Meliandra had been decent to find ways of saving his face; and he was prepared to admit it. This had been a knock to his over-inflated self esteem and had been a timely warning. Robert was determined to be more circumspect from now on; and, after a rather uncomfortable interview with his grandmother, to be more careful in checking his divinations. She had pointed out – forcibly – that if he hoped to be an insurance diviner as she and his grandfather had been he needed accuracy not wild guesswork based loosely on a half understood divination.

The three had written, in a mild tone of reproach, that it was a sorry day when reporters were so short of stories that they had to question schoolchildren over the whereabouts of a previous colleague, who had moved to another school to avoid just such contumelious – Gorbrin's word – interference over their status as victims of familial abuse – Meliandra's phrase. And whilst it might be beyond a sixth former to rag them by seeing how much tripe they might absorb, and he, Robert, was very sorry for causing any trouble to Mr Zabini or lowering Madam Bacsó's reputation by the said tripe, no reasonable thinking being would have taken on the rag as real and printed it as though factual. Robert wrote that he was contacting the 'Times' with a copy of the letter to the 'Prophet' in the belief that the 'Times' as a reputable periodical would print his retraction of the views as offered by the 'Prophet' rather than doing something like quoting him out of context. Robert wrote that he had known that Darryl was somewhere on the continent and had not troubled to divine further since it was not really any of his business, and had been making wild and unlikely comments for a lark. And if anyone really WANTED to irritate Severus Snape, veteran of three wars against dark wizards by trying to poke into HIS school then it proved they really were as retarded as they seemed to be for believing wild fantasies.

The 'Prophet' printed the portion of the letter that was the retraction whilst using their editorial rights to leave out comments concerning their reporting and editorial intellectual deficiencies; the 'Times' printed the letter in full and the editorial remarked acidly that justice was never served by the press deciding whom to hound and in attempting to try a case without the full facts available to the Wizgamot and suggested that that august body should perhaps consider injunctions to the effect of the same and if necessary charges of attempts to pervert the course of justice to any editors guilty of wild speculation and prejudice.

The stories in the 'Prophet' were promptly toned down to the point of being boring; and the 'Times' printed true tales of muggle murderers and their victims and how the cause of death was determined by muggle science even years after.

The sales of the 'Times' went up.

oOoOo

Meanwhile quidditch matches were played before the weather got too dire; Gryffindor played Hufflepuff first, both first and second teams; and the school voted them some of the best matches they had seen played. Hufflepuff lost both games but showed, as Lydia put it, much better than the result suggested. Both matches took a full day to complete, with the first teams playing on into the darkness under lumos spells for the permitted half an hour since it was plain that Sekunder had seen the snitch; and it was a chase between him and Dunbar Finch.

They all shook hands afterwards and went for well-deserved food; and both Houses agreed it was the best fun any of them had had that term.

The two Ravenclaw teams played the two Slytherin teams next, and provided another weekend of excitement; though not quite as long as the previous matches, the first teams played well on into the afternoon for being well matched, the scoring of Chad and Mad and Sampta Patil being cancelled out by Gorbrin's beating of Jack Murray to the snitch after a well executed Wronski feint that ended the game on a tie in points!

As Jack said,

"The Wronski feint is a bit Wriski but whenski it goes wrightski you're laughing."

Gorbrin grinned. He and Murray got on well enough now; and he wished the boy every success in his intended career as a professional quidditch player. And a tie with Ravenclaw was better than a loss any day!

Unfortunately the Slytherin second team did not do so well and Simi Patil, Sampta's little sister, caught the snitch in ample time and ended the match with a win, if not a large one, over the Slytherin youngsters.

And then it snowed and quidditch was off for the winter as more than a bit of knockabout play at the weekends that held fine.

And there was more time to concentrate on the usual idiocies that led up to the Yule Ball.

oOoOo

The fourth this year, whose attendance at the ball was mandatory, included all the original founders of the SAS and the other gang of the year who might be said to be cronies to Roger and his friends. It may be said that they had all put their heads together and planned to come in robes decorated with the pigments obtained from Kevin Slugworthy's psychedelic slug trails just because; he was successfully marketing the pigments now, as well as the pictures his snails made, and the rest of his group insisted that he should keep substantial amounts for himself as well as dedicating some to the freeing of slaves.

The amounts they HAD raised had been entrusted, rather shyly, to Lucius Malfoy to use to buy out elves who needed help; and three European elves had so far been successfully purchased and freed, and were being kept by the efforts of the society, courtesy of them being housed by Lucius who was, as Dobby put it, a mug, bless him.

The SAS now also spread over four houses, since Kevin had talked Wendy Waffling and her friend Mesmadora Turpin into joining, since Wendy's little sister was a Marauder. Lydia decided that the Ball's decorations would have to take into account the lurid, colour-changing pigments of the Streelugs that were only barely legal creatures and just recently licensed as permissible for having been bred without any magical intervention unless one counted the enlargement of ordinary slugs and the confusing and befuddlement draught fed to both slugs and streelers to persuade them to co-operate.

Potions were NOT covered by the statute of magical breeding as Kevin had checked well in advance.

Lydia, Leo, Mad, Chad and Polly put their heads together and decided to stick to a white theme of snowfields in a traditional snowy landscape, utilising fey glamour magic to produce it so the snow was not cold; and warned the school that the dance would be on ice and those who had never skated had better learn fast.

It was fortunate that the basic skills of skating might be passed magically; but learning the finer points was a little trickier and though all the Marauders had spent time in Austria they DID take some time out to brush up!

Leo and Chad were fixed for the ball, and Mad invited Maud, since they were both missing people; Lydia invited Stoyann Krumm as he was soon to be her brother-in-law; and Polly invited Kreacher who was both shocked and flattered. He was very dashing these days, his youth restored by Lydia's chanting and his hair nicely kept and brushed back in quite a rakish style; and Polly made herself a half-elf form to go with his.

"WELL now!" said Lydia to Leo "And I always figured Polly for Beloc!"

"Oh, Beloc's a player" said Leo "He'll settle down when he falls desperately in love; but if he wed Pol it would only be convenience of a love beyond love that any of us might have. I'm glad you're marrying Viktor; now I'm with 'Lina I understand about having to find the right one. Sorry I was a pain for a while."

Lydia shrugged.

"It's because people sort of form assumptions; like lots of people expected Jade to end up with Fabian. Maud suits him much better; she's a very capable little thing, with a nice offbeat and understated sense of humour but she'll be as happy to follow him as be an equal. Jade would hate to be married to someone she could bully, and Fabian likes a quiet life. He and Maud will agree happily with each other or argue logically and sensibly if they disagree without any histionics."

Leo laughed.

"Jade doesn't pull histrionics, she turns people into things!" he said.

"Well there is that" said Lydia, laughing. "I half considered taking Nick, you know; but Stoyann is shy and needs protecting."

"Oh get Mimi to take Nick and suggest Bella takes Sir Edward" said Leo.

Lydia laughed.

"Why not!" she said.

oOoOo

Stacey had made her shy declaration of partiality to Jordan Christie who had gone very pink and stammered that he had never expected to have a chance with her; and Silvester Crouch-Jones teased them both and offered congratulations and made an offer to dance with Clementine Yaxley who asked him suspiciously how well he could skate.

"I was planning on using the hovering charm and getting you to push" said Silvester blandly. Clem laughed and said if he'd practise with her she would accept the offer.

There were no prizes for guessing that Gorbrin would go with Meliandra, Ming with Erica and Jardak with Jaska; any more than anyone expected Theo Weasley and Nell Pettigrew to go with anyone but each other.

Albert Macmillan surprised himself and everyone else by firmly asking Lalita Khan, Assim's little sister, to go with him; and she accepted with a squeal of joy because he was almost a marauder like her big brother. Actually Albert and Lalita had a lot of interests in common since she was a brilliant potioneer and more than competent at Arithmancy; and she was delighted, as Albert was, to be doing so well in her NEWTs so far, taking four subjects with every expectation of doing well in them. Albert was amazed with himself that he was so far doing so well in the five HE was taking; having a proud uncle ready to take an interest in his work was almost as good as having supportive friends!

Herbert MacMillan was also taking an interest in Albert's metalwork, an exciting new subject to him, and was most impressed by the project Albert was building for NEWT, having decided to work on his differencing engine in his own time and demonstrate something different for the higher exam. He had told his uncle about the differencing engine and about muggle computers and Herbert was behind the youth in his desire to pursue the invention into a means of sorting data for the aurors' office, and had been with him to discuss it with Alastor Moody; who recognised that anything that came under the auspices of Herbert MacMillan would not be flighty and might even be a means to increase constant vigilance. Albert's current project, something of a refinement on his second OWL piece, was a map of England enchanted to act like the marauders' map; save that it lay in a frame and scrolled east, west, north or south at will, and enlarged or reduced in scale as required; and most important to Albert, had divining rods fitted so that if he was searching for someone or something the divining rods would cause the map to scroll to the precise part of the map required. He had already half built it over the holidays out of sheer enthusiasm and Jorbal was ecstatic by the complexity of the device and its personal applications to his pupil. The OWL piece, a globe that projected a map of such a part of the world as anyone wanted – with more detail in those regions Albert knew – was a very useful piece of kit to a traveller but this was definitely more refined in its functions, and Herbert MacMillan had, too, taken Albert to all the major wizarding centres in England so he could add them to his map in some detail, so that if he was tracking a particular villain, the footsteps would show up as on the marauding map. He had also had some help from Draco, who thought that it should be standard kit of any forensic dowser.

Albert would actually manage to find plenty to talk about with Lalita!

oOoOo

With the big ones being silly about the ball, the Stripy and Pepperingye Marauders consulted each other over the fact that no-one had pulled a really good stunt of any sort even though it was already after half term and, as Lilith said, she was getting old for being now into double figures.

They agreed that the first year's would-be marauders were doing quite nicely – the 'Daily Prophet', deprived of Darryl to victimise, had run a story on the plague of frogs outside the front door of a Mr Buckley Cooper who could not explain it and nor could the curse-breaker he had hired break it, who had indeed failed to break it.

"And all good to them, though it's not quite enough to invite them in for yet" said Nathan. "But we'll lose our edge if we don't do SOMETHING; and most of us weren't invited to irritate ghosts."

"My counterpoints go well with Lydia's" shrugged Lilith. "We could set up an age line and transfigure for anyone over a certain age sections of corridor into ice and their boots into skates to help them practise for the ball?"

"Some of the staff SO will get waxy about that" said Gennar. "Besides, booby trapping doorways and stretches of corridor is passé."

"Malfoy caddish git" said Lilith without rancour. "I say, there's a poem about Chrysogon Rufus using that muggle superstition about standing on the cracks in paving stones; I know it's kind of a corridor booby trap but why don't we make it so anyone who stands on a crack summons a big plush teddy-bear? We need not permanence them, but it could be funny to have corridors filling with bears."

The others giggled.

"It's jolly silly" said Isambard "Let's do it!"

oOoOo

The twelve junior official marauders used Miss Thirkettle's little poem to make their enchantment together with a lot of Arithmancy and giggling; and the next couple of days saw the main entrance hall filled with loud POPs as teddy bears were summoned out of nowhere as the unwary stood on cracks between the marble tiles on its floor. As the bears were formed out of the imagination of the casters of the concept of 'teddy bear' they were quite varied and disparate and there were some cries to have certain bears permanenced; which as Lilith said was a bit much, because if big girls in the fifth couldn't do that for themselves they were a bunch of poor prunes. And Madam McGonagall took her to her office, fed her biscuits and pumpkin juice and explained kindly that placing a permanence on even inanimate objects was beyond some people taking NEWTs; and firmly informed Lilith that she might take NEWT transfiguration alongside the OWLs in Potions, Ancient Runes, DADA and Charms she was taking this year. Lilith was no end bucked by this and McGonagall went to confess to having given in to a temptation that would only lead to further research in the future from Lilith Snape and the school might as well be prepared.

"Albus will back you" said Sirius "He doesn't have to deal with her after this year as he's retiring."

"Ye ascribe farrr too base a motive to…. Sirius, you are a bad boy teasing like that!" said Minerva. Sirius grinned.

"Well at least she's in a habit of obedience to David; he used to babysit her" he said.

The would-be weird marauders were only sorry that THEY had not thought of using Chrysogon Rufus poetry first!

oOoOo

Late in November the Blood Group assisted in the birthing of Cornelius Albus Ronald Snape to Krait; and were informed by mental communiqué that the Ronald had been added partly just because and partly for the baby having been born with hair as red as Lilith's and small Draxana's. Lilith was delighted.

oOoOo

The Yule Ball was upon them all before anyone realised; and the scenery was spectacular. The Mad Marauders had chosen to make most of the area a frozen lake with a roaring fire as part of the shoreline activities, that threw up mysterious shadows. Trees ringed the lake and disappeared into smoky blue distance up the side of a mountain, lit at the top by the fiery rays of a setting sun, circled by flying dragons. Deer slipped between the trees in soft white forms and Lydia had managed to talk very fast to persuade some real dryads to come to be part of the decorations. Forming illusional facsimiles of their own trees that 'felt' right had been a tricky piece of illusion magic with a good bit of summoning involved as well; and Lydia had to swear that the wolves to be seen occasionally were but illusion themselves and would be no trouble. It was her tribute to her sister Jade.

The music was to be largely Viennese in nature; waltzes and polkas for the main part with some other dances for those who liked them since Lydia was not as contrary as some of her sisters and was happy to accommodate the preferences of others.

As Head Girl she led the dancing with Stoyann, whom she had coached ruthlessly. Stoyann was not the quidditch player his brother was; but he was sportsman enough to pick up skating readily, and Lydia had taught him moves to allow her skill to showcase them both, with lifts and holds to make others gasp.

There were plenty who, whilst impressed by the décor, shuffled nervously once around the edge with their partners and then tried to avoid skating again; but on the whole, the idea of doing something so completely different caught the imagination of the youths, who wanted to have a go, even if they fell over several times. The ice, as Lydia said, broke the social ice quite nicely.

oOoOo

Bella and Mimi had indeed brought along ghostly partners, with the same special gloves Krait had initially made for Abraxus to dance with Myrtle. And Nick was enjoying himself no end, pretending to skate and whirling wildly around with no danger to his head at all! Mimi was a good enough skater to accommodate his antics, having also skated in Austria at Yule most years; and Bella and The Bloody Baron did not even bother to pretend to do anything clever.

It may be said that the SAS and cronies fell over as often as not and giggled a lot about it and probably enjoyed themselves a sight more than most fourth years at a ball for the first time; and if their efforts – Korban Gan Nork exiting the ice by sliding on his backside – were not entirely in keeping with an ice ball, Lydia preferred to see them having fun.

The fourth's surprise stars were Ludmila Yaxley and Damien Malfoy, both of whom had learned to broomsurf and skateboard and who picked up skating with relative ease. Admittedly they were counting out loud as they went through their figures, but they looked rather good for all that!

"Crumbs, look at Faunus and Flora!" said Mad laughing "I wonder if that's going to be a case?"

"If it is, it'll be a war between Damian's aggressive pets and Ludmila's aggressive plants!" said Leo, with feeling. Ludmila's plants were now less of a threat to the Slytherin common room but Leo had been caught by a mating Saggitarius spinifora the week before and had spent half an hour picking the spines out of himself.

Damian was another of Vladimir Malfoy's sons and was as keen on animals as his brother Hadrian; and like him was taking both Care of Magical Beasts and Care of Domestic Magical Beasts to OWL. He was trying to domesticate Knarls – and fighting a losing battle – as well as having acquired a firecrab that he had taken forcefully from someone he declared was not treating it right. He had also adopted one of the Blast-ended Peke puppies.

It has to be said that the nicknames 'Faunus and Flora' stuck thereafter to Damian and Ludmila.

oOoOo

Lydia, greatly daring, asked Professor Dumbledore to dance, as it would be his last Yule ball as Headmaster; and Albus accepted. He was a good dancer; and adapted well and quickly to ice.

"I can see you've skated before sir" said Lydia.

"I have indeed" said Albus "And I must say it's a joy to skate with someone who knows what they are doing."

"Without wanting to be maudlin we ARE going to miss you" said Lydia "Actually I suppose I shan't because I shall be left and teaching in Prince Peak; but you know what I mean. It seems a kind of an end to an era and I need to make a speech to that effect at the end of year without being terminally soppy about it. If there's anything you want me to mention, perhaps you'd think about it in the meantime."

Dumbledore smiled.

"Whatever you say, say it from the heart and it won't be wrong" he said.

Lydia nodded.

"Thank you sir" she said. "You know, I don't know that it would harm announcing it to these older ones at the end of the ball; to give them time to adjust and to get all the silliest ideas of what to get you as a farewell gift from the school out of the way. That we marauders shall get in any case" she added firmly "So you need not worry about getting ormolu clocks that tell you coyly that it's time to get up and nag if you don't."

"I am glad to be preserved from that" said Dumbledore gravely.

"I did have an idea" said Lydia "But I'd like to ask you nicely, sir, to scram before I put it to the kids here; they can pass it on to their youngers in due course."

"I am always happy to be guided by my head girl" Albus twinkled at her. Lydia grinned. Eternally youthful in outlook, Albus Dumbledore would be a tough act to follow; but David would have the various layers of Marauders to help him do just that.

oOoOo

She made the announcement at the end of the ball, calling for silence.

"Professor Dumbledore has given me permission to break the news to you older ones that after this academic year he is retiring; well, don't sound so shocked, the poor man deserves some opportunity to enjoy a bit of peace!" she added as there was a gasp of dismay. "And I wanted to propose a leaving gift."

"A nice clock would be appropriate!" suggested Stuart Markham of Gryffindor's upper sixth.

"Don't be such a silly git, Stuart" said Lydia with more vehemence than tact "He's had to count the minutes for all the years he's been teaching to sort out timetables; a clock is the LAST thing you give a teacher! I thought he might like something more personal myself; because I thought if everyone could write a poem, or a letter, or draw a picture, recount an anecdote of a part of school life they loved, recall a prank, or some such, we might have it all bound; and I'll get in a photographer to do the whole school to fold out for him. And any older siblings or cousins you know who'd like to contribute would be cool too; I'm going to ask Harry Potter, Ludmila, you can ask Neville and Sephara and so on. And we'll include the little kids too but we need to break it to them a little more gently. So you have all next term to come up with something and until just before the exams; I want to get it ready for binding before my NEWTs IF you all please; last minute efforts might get left out. Anyone disagree that this is what Albus Dumbledore would like most – a reminder of his school and his pupils and our love for him?"

"It's bloody brilliant" said Bella. "We'll write out our chant to cure people of not being tigers; he laughed an awful lot over that!"

"Can we just write a story about a favourite day?" asked timid Teela Guffy.

"Oh that's a lovely thing to put in!" said Lydia. "I expect Chad and Mad to come up with some poetry and I guess we HAVE to include the Cauldron Monster Song; and I say, if any of you do more than one thing, I'll either pick the best or put both in, depending on how much room we have. I'm hoping we'll have a massive tome; don't let me down, people!"

There was a chorus of promises that she should have plenty.

Some pieces would be better than others; some barely worth reading. But they would all go in, however clever some of the Ravenclaws tried to be that ended up being – probably – rather pretentious. Save Chrys Lockhart, who she had heard declaiming his own poetry to his schoolmates. Lydia was determined that Albus should be entertained with the piece that ran,

"He's blowing up cauldrons – that evil forebodes

Chrysogon Rufus is gutting horned toads!"