Chapter Ten

Ghosts

Several of the Azkaban guards stood at the corner of the yard, some with folded arms and some with raised eyebrows as Ludo cautiously warmed up. He took a brisk walk around the yard, and then pushed himself into some calisthenics. Despite his size and how out of shape he was, the movements themselves reminded them that he knew perfectly well what he was doing. Intentionally keeping his back to the guards, he kept his focus on the exercises themselves, testing his limits while doing each move to the best of his ability. Just before the appointed time, another guard came up to the yard gate.

"Fine! We were tired of watching the old bowling ball rolling himself around the yard anyway," Hinge said irritably. "All right, Bagman!" He called out. "Time to stop hogging the yard and let the inmates who actually earned their time get some exercise."

"I doubt it's been twenty minutes already," Ludo protested.

"Well, don't blame me. Blame that sniveling lawyer and his 'equal rights to healthcare' argument, although I don't see how come teeth are included," Hinge said in annoyance. "The dentist is here to see you."

"Ah, yes. I need a filling," Ludo said, walking over to the gate and held up his hands for magical bindings.

"What next? A personal masseuse and hair dresser?" Hinge said in disgust, nodding to the other guards to open the gate.

Ludo couldn't help but toy with the idea in his mind as they walked through the tight corridors; it would be quite amusing to see Hinge's expression if he were able to pull off such outlandish requests, but right now there were much more important matters to attend to. He was shown into a small room, the very same one where he had had his physical with a doctor a few days before. Standing there was a man with thinning light blonde hair who met his gaze with a solemn expression.

"Doctor Caster, I presume," Ludo said.

"Come sit down, Mr. Bagman. I am here to give you your filling," the dentist said, then jostled one of the guards as he tried to step around to the other side of the chair. "Might I have a bit of room, please?"

"We're not supposed to leave this prisoner without supervision, doctor," the guard explained evenly.

"And I can't work with someone breathing down my neck. Strap him in if you like, and I can give him a sedative if that isn't enough, but I will work a lot faster if I can get back and forth around the chair and to my tools without bumping into people. Why don't you wait just outside the door?" Caster asked.

"We'll have to clear it with Hinge. He's the head guard in this quarter…"

"Fine, help me strap him in then go do that," Caster said.

The guard sighed and secured Ludo to the chair, double checking the binds on his wrists and ankles carefully while Caster checked his equipment. Caster glanced in Ludo's mouth thoughtfully but immediately pulled his instruments back out when the guard left the room.

"I assume you have it," Ludo murmured.

"Yes, sir, although I had my doubts it would actually get through at first. I have it stored with my other filling materials," Caster explained.

"Excellent," Bagman said, watching as Caster got a small gold cube out of his kit, sizing it up before looking into Bagman's mouth again. Carefully he drilled a hole out of one of Ludo's back teeth that hadn't been there before and then carefully inserted the gold into the cavity, infusing it with a bit of gold filler and a touch of magic. Experimentally, Ludo felt around the strange filling with his tongue before nodding to Caster. "Good job."

"Always happy to serve, sir," Caster said with a smile before checking his other teeth.

"What the devil is going on?" Hinge said, standing in the doorway. Caster glanced up quizzically.

"I gave him a filling and I'm cleaning his teeth, of course. What did you expect a dentist to do?" Caster asked.

"The guards said you were complaining they were in the way. This is a prison, not your corner office, and they are under orders not to leave this prisoner alone with anyone," Hinge said hotly.

"Pardon me, Mr. Hinge, I didn't mean to step on your authority. I was simply trying to do my job," Caster explained.

"As I will continue to do mine," Hinge snapped, eying them both warily and not letting either of them out of his sight until it was time to escort Bagman back to his room.

Strangely enough, Hinge didn't feel any more secure now that Bagman was in his room than he felt a few moments before, but he wasn't quite certain as to why. Hurrying over to the gate, he looked over the search records to make sure no dental tools had been 'accidentally' left behind. But when it became obvious that there were no discrepancies other than the amount of filling material he had taken in, Hinge sighed in resignation and discounted his suspicions. Perhaps he had just imagined it, he thought to himself, checking the time to see how much of a shift he had left before returning to his post.

It was only moments after lights out that night that Ludo relaxed into a meditative state, eager to test out his newly acquired toy. Focusing on it for a moment, he then let himself relax until his body went limp and he found himself floating in a silhouetted form above his body. Wasting no time, he pushed his way through the ceiling to keep from being seen by the patrolling guards, higher and higher until he was floating above the castle. There he floated, disoriented, getting reacquainted with the sensations, for it had been years since he had used the proxy device. But finally he found himself able to push forward, focusing in on his destination; home. In no time, he seemed to be speeding off for it until everything was a blur. Finally, everything slowed back down as he found himself standing in the front room of his house, fairly well kept up despite his absence.

In fact, it was not long before he noticed two boxes sitting on the coffee table waiting for him. One was a box of black hooded robes, and the other a box of wands all made of the same wood, same height, and same shape. Immediately he donned one of the robes and pulled the hood over his ghostly face, taking more time to pick out a wand. Using it to call up a pair of gloves to disguise his ghostly hands, he then glanced at the clock on the wall and drifted back out of the door.

The night was cold, but the figure was not aware of it… neither was the lone dark figure that stood upon a small graveyard at the top of a hill. The names from the stones had all but washed away, and the church that once stood there was nothing more than jumbled rocks and a foundation. Farms surrounded the hill; nearly all of them unlit except for a security light here and there, and in the distance were the same set of railroad tracks that had carried students northwards to Hogwarts just days before. In fact, the hill was several miles out of Foncé's territory, and he was quite certain that was one of the reasons it had been picked. It was neutral and remote… but open enough that one might meet without worrying about anything creeping up on them unknowingly. Foncé stood in the darkness impatiently, his red eyes flashing any time he stopped to glance at his watch.

"I see that you are here," said someone behind him. Foncé whirled around and pulled out his wand, growling that anyone could have taken him by surprise. He gazed warily at the cloaked figure there, his head down and face shadowed.

"What are you? You are no clansman, but I smell no blood," Foncé said.

"I am the same man you were expecting," Ludo said calmly. "At least in spirit. Is it the body that matters, or the mind?"

"You are speaking of mortal concepts, Bagman, in death it is all one and the same so it matters not," Foncé said evenly. "But I happen to be late for dinner, and since you in no way can provide it, I suggest that you pitch whatever offer it was you were going to make to me so we can go about our business."

"Are you sure it is mortal blood you truly thirst for, Marquis? Or is it something else?" Ludo challenged him. "The satisfaction gained by a meal is quite fleeting, and I doubt highly if that were your only motivation would you have come here tonight, let alone would you have ever moved to Scotland when you had very posh holdings in France. It was a very bold move on your part, to construct a new wine bottling plant here so close to a town full of wizards who wouldn't think twice of trying to strike you down if they could. It couldn't have been simply the blood supply; you had plenty in France and easier pickings there. The only thing that comes to mind that could explain it was that you might have been trying to make an impression among your own kind…an impression, if I am not mistaken, that has fallen rather flat in the eyes of your clan, has it not?"

"You are mortal, Bagman. You speak of things you know nothing about," Foncé said, baring his fangs menacingly. "Get to the point and be done with it!"

"Very well," Ludo said. "I am prepared to offer you that which you crave more than blood; power over your clan. If you agree to join me in some mutual endeavors, I will insure that Rafe is ousted, if not destroyed outright, and you can gain control of your clan."

"You wish me to commit treason against my own clan?" Foncé snarled.

"Not at all, Marquis. I can do that for you," Ludo said in an oddly cheerful voice. "You won't even have to lift a finger, if you leave it up to me." Foncé squinted at him.

"I don't believe you. You're trying to trick me into something, and I am not playing your mortal games…"

"Mortality isn't a game, although some make it out to be," Ludo said calmly in return. "Perhaps, however, you would agree to let me show you my sincerity?"

"How?" Foncé asked, squinting.

"By getting one of the thorns in your side out of the way," Ludo explained so seriously that Foncé was intrigued in spite of himself.

"So? Anything interesting?" Maurice asked, salting his soft-boiled egg. Somehow his menu always seemed to be a bit different from what everyone else was having. It had become so commonplace that few ever commented about it, although many wondered if he might have brought a personal House Elf with him to school. They had just sat down to breakfast, and it was Max's turn to read the paper so that Maurice could have his hands free to eat.

"Nothing exciting on the front page at least. They're talking about plans for an autumn faire in Diagon Alley to boost business," Max said.

"Rather good idea, they should do that in Hogsmeade too," Cain said. "I wouldn't mind a bargain or two to stretch the galleons since we finally get to go this year."

"And what's Toby's shop going to do? Take ten percent off on whatever it was you were going to pay me in the first place?" Gamban chuckled.

"He's abroad right now anyhow, even Ambrose has no idea when he'll be back," Maurice said. "Best guess is he'll have it open before Christmas, though."

"Sad that even his son doesn't know when he'll be back," Gamban said. "Not to mention no one seems to know where he goes when he leaves."

"That's obvious, he's probably looking for exotic items for his shop. You don't think all that stuff appears out of nowhere, do you?" Max snorted.

"Starling, you're supposed to be reading," Maurice pointed out. "Find something in politics or arrests."

"Ah… here's one," Max said after scanning the paper for a moment. "Hansen Dubois, a famous Belgian Auror, is said to have succeeded in taking out one of the most dangerous members of the Donnacht clan of vampires last night thanks to a tip from the Ministry of Magic. The tip led he and a team of other Aurors to the location of Kenolak Rannof, who has since been tied to numerous murders in Belgium, the Netherlands, and western Germany. Dubois has stated that it may take some time to pin down all of the vampire's victims, especially since the vampire in question was destroyed after resisting arrest."

"Sounds like they have a mess to clean up," Cain said.

"I'm glad they killed it. I hate vampires," Gamban said.

"Rather odd, though, isn't it?" Maurice said, the others looking up at him quizzically. "I mean that business about getting a tip from the Ministry. It doesn't make sense that one of our own wouldn't have been there during the arrest, and yet the paper would have mentioned it had there been one of our Aurors there."

"Why would they have been there? It's out of their jurisdiction, isn't it?" Max asked.

"Out of Law Enforcement's jurisdiction, yes. But Aurors don't work that way… they couldn't do their jobs at all if there weren't some concessions made, you know, or all any dark wizard would have to do is Apparate out of the country to keep from getting caught," Maurice explained. "There are certain agreements in place throughout the continent that allows them to follow up on cases they've been working on, and I know Potter has been after Donnacht, The Clan of the Sunset Dawn, for years. It's been a personal project of the department after that business with them kidnapping my niece, so it makes no sense to me that they would have left this to someone else without having someone there. They couldn't have known about it…and that means, my father couldn't have known about it either, because he would have told them about any leads. So where did this tip come from?" Max and Cain shrugged unknowingly.

"The Ministry of Mysteries, perhaps," Gamban murmured.

"I doubt it. The current Minister of Mysteries has been working with the Auror department a lot lately," Maurice said. Gamban gazed at him fixedly.

"How would you know?" Gamban asked.

"There isn't much about the inner workings of the Ministry that Maurice doesn't know," Cain chuckled. "Why do you think we elected him president of the Meglomaniacs club?"

"I thought it was just because he was a Craw," Gamban admitted.

"That too," Max agreed, turning back to the paper.

"Oh…Box," Maurice said when he noticed a pair of first years walk over to the end of the table to sit down. "Do you have any classes with Ravenclaw today?"

"Potions, not until afternoon though. Why?" Box asked.

"Well, could you please let my nephew know that if he needs help studying and still doesn't want to go to the library to come see me at dinner and I'll make other arrangements. I know he's not going to have much time to study this weekend under the circumstances," Maurice said with a sigh.

"Nephew? What nephew?" Keir asked in surprise. Maurice gazed at him fixedly.

"Surely you knew. We thought that was why you bothered to become acquainted with him," Maurice said, but Keir still looked baffled. "Leu Murphy is my nephew. Would you mind?"

"Sure, I'll tell him," Keir said distractedly, and Maurice nodded to him. "But how exactly is he your nephew?"

"My sister adopted him, of course," Maurice said. "Honestly, do you never read the paper at all?"

"Apparently you don't either," Matt Meyers pointed out, coming to his friend's defense.

"That's because typically I know more than the paper does," Maurice answered smoothly. Gamban, Max and Cain exchanged knowing grins and then turned their attention to finishing breakfast.

Out near the greenhouses, Leu and his classmates were already trying to get settled in the small classroom set aside in one of the central structures. There was a persistent buzzing sound coming from behind him, so much so that every now and then Leu had to resist the urge to swat at the honeybees that seemed to be checking out these new intruders.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of plants!" said a cheerful voice from the doorway. Leu looked up to see Rose standing there in a vivid green robe, her golden hair in a complex braid and pinned up on her head. "I am Madame Willowby. I am going to be your instructor in Herbology this year, and I hope that you are looking forward to it as much as I am. Being that this is your first year… and mine as well, I can't wait to get to know all of you better, although I do recognize a few of you from Hogsmeade," she said, smiling at Tanya Matchett and at Leu on the Ravenclaw side and then at several of the Gryffindors. "Our main emphasis this year will be on identification of basic magical plants and herbs, most of which you will also be using in your Potions class, but we will also be covering basic plant anatomy, and of course you have plenty of hands-on fun learning to nurture plants of your own. Since we have a lot to do, let's get started! Unless there are any questions before we begin?" she added quizzically when she saw Leu's hand up. "Yes, Llewellyn?"

"Would you mind if Noah joined us?" Leu asked solemnly. Rose looked up in surprise as Noah materialized in one of the empty seats, gazing at her with a solemn and yet hopeful expression.

"Oh! Well, yes, I suppose he can join us, although we do use sprinklers and rain barrels around the greenhouses, Noah, and there is a great deal of watering to do…"

"It's all right. Leu can handle that for me. He likes the water," Noah explained.

"Yes… yes, I know," Rose said, looking amused in spite of herself as she looked between the two. "Goodness you two look a lot alike! Almost as if you were related," she said. Leu looked at Noah with a startled expression. Noah simply shrugged unknowingly, but also didn't seem surprised by the idea at all. "Well! Enough delays, let's get started! Everyone turn to the first chapter on perennials and we'll discuss some of the plants that you will be growing this year."

The rest of the class was spent looking at detailed pictures of leaves, flowers and seeds of balmweed and learning about their general uses, with occasional hints by their teacher that they would probably be planting their own after they turned in their homework the next day. Leu quickly decided that she was a fairly good teacher; at the very least she was very enthusiastic about the subject and knew how to handle a room full of fidgeting students. The rest of the class seemed to like her as well, especially after she let the class go five minutes early so they had extra time to get from the greenhouses to their next classes.

"So what's next?" Noah's voice asked, from beside him even though Leu couldn't see him. Leu took his schedule out of his pocket.

"Next is Potions with my mother, then after that we have History with Professor Scribe again. Same schedule tomorrow, except that we have Astrology tomorrow night," Leu said.

"That'll be fun. And I like Professor Scribe, she's very nice to us ghosts. She heads the Adopt-a-ghost program in school, you know."

"What's that?" Leu asked.

"It's where students sign up to spend time with their adopted ghost every week to keep them active and happy and all that," Noah explained.

"Really? Maybe I should adopt you, then," Leu suggested.

"Well, I'm not opposed to the idea, but I really ought to ask my girlfriend first. I don't want her to be hurt and she would likely be if I didn't consult her beforehand," Noah decided.

"You have a girlfriend?" Leu asked in surprise.

"Yes, Myrtle, she lives in the girl's bathroom down that hallway. She's actually very nice, but a bit sensitive at times. She also moves a little too fast for me," Noah confided to him in a low voice as if concerned that they'd be overheard. "She wants me to kiss her, but I'm certainly not ready for that kind of commitment yet. Honestly, we've only been dating for thirty years or so, what sort of ghost does she take me for?" he asked.

Leu couldn't think of anything to reply to that and simply kept on walking until he heard his name called as he approached the stairs and glanced down them to see Matt and Keir waiting at the bottom.

"There you are, Murphy! I've been waiting to ask you something," Keir said, stepping back as Leu came down the stairs.

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you tell us who you really were?" Keir scolded him, but Leu stared at him in confusion.

"I did tell you who I really am," Leu said.

"You never mentioned you were adopted by the Snapes, did you?" Keir challenged him.

"Oh, that," Leu said uncomfortably. "I thought everyone had guessed, but even so, I'm really not supposed to talk about it."

"I understand. You don't want to take advantage of your old man's position, do you?"

"Well, sort of…"

"That's all right. I won't bring it up again, but I'm supposed to tell you that your Uncle Maurice wants you to let him know if you need someone to help you study, and that he'd help you study outside of the library if you want. Why don't you want to go to the library?" Keir asked.

"It's all right. I found someone to study with," Leu said.

"Well, if you ever need any more help, let me know. I'll even run to the library and grab whatever books you need if you want," Keir said.

"How much did you have to pay him to get him to do that?" said someone from behind them.

They all looked up in surprise to see Jimmy and Colby on the stairs with a couple of other Ravenclaws walking with him.

"Do you have a problem, Minster? I was just trying to be friendly," Keir said.

"Sure you were," Jimmy said, walking down the stairs past them. "Hasn't he gotten you in enough trouble, Murphy? Come on, let's get you to class before you somehow manage to earn another point loss and detention."

"I can walk myself in, thanks," Leu said evenly, shrugging off the hand in his arm and pulling away, stepping inside the door.

He waited until all the others were seated before he chose a table at the far side of the room that didn't have anyone else sitting by it. It wasn't more than a moment after he sat down that Professor Craw glided into the room, beaming at them warmly as she made her way in front of her desk.

"Good afternoon, everyone! Glad to see you all at last! How has your week been so far?" she asked, and became amused by the mixed answers. "Well, don't worry. Things will sort out in a few weeks and you'll be into a comfortable routine before you know it. I hear you have Herbology before my class? Well, that's good, because that will make your lives easier as the year progresses and we start digging into salves and balms. You may sit wherever you like in my class, but be aware that whomever you sit with will end up being your lab partner… hm, we have an odd number in class, don't we?" Jennifer said, looking over at Leu thoughtfully despite the fact that it was obvious from his expression that he really didn't want to sit with anyone else.

"Can I be his lab partner?" said a voice beside him, and Jennifer looked over to see that Noah was now sitting in the other seat.

"Oh! Um…well, Noah, we do deal with a lot of liquids in this class…"

"I'll help him with it," Leu readily agreed.

"And there must be consistency from day to day. I can't have Leu with a partner today and then you forgetting about it until a month or so down the line as ghosts are want to do," Jennifer said sternly. Noah gazed steadily back at her. "If you want to sit in my classroom, I don't care, but it will be every day until the end of the year or not at all."

"I understand, Professor," Noah said.

"Very well then! I suppose I'll have to mention it to the Headmaster, but I doubt he'll have any objections. Everyone get out your kits! Oh, um… Noah, you can just look out of Leu's kit for now," Jennifer said, and then proceeded to teach.

By the time Jennifer had made it back with Quintin to their rooms, Severus had already gotten wind of what Noah had been doing so was not surprised when she brought it up.

"Apparently the rest of the staff made the same decision you did, Jennifer, including Bellamy who decided that it fell within the 'not interfering with the ghosts unless it caused a disruption' rule," Severus explained. "It does seem quite out of character, though, I'll admit. I'll ask Zack to drop by tomorrow."

"I hope it's all right. They've seemed to have gotten quite attached to one another," Jennifer admitted.

"Llewellyn is simply looking for someone he can relate to in foreign surroundings, Jennifer. I am not in the least bit surprised that he is having trouble doing that with other students his age. Are you?" Severus asked.

"Well, no, not really," Jennifer admitted. "But I was hoping he would find at least one student he could relate to."

"Yes, well, apparently that one student is a ghost, as ironic as that may seem considering what happened at the Sorting Ceremony… a ghost, and a confused frog who thinks that she is an attack dog," Severus added, glancing with a frown at the latest student complaint about Copper lying on his desk. "However, I believe the matter will start to sort itself out if he agrees to join the Owls. He knows the majority of them and the familiarity should help keep him from becoming too isolated."

"And what about Boulderdash, Severus?" Jennifer pointed out.

"With any luck, that little problem will be solved during his detention this weekend," Severus said, straightening up his desk so they could settle in for the evening.