Synchronicity 1

Rufus,
I must admit, I'm rather troubled by your request. My visit to check on Azkaban isn't until the summer, but I can tell you right now that I will not bring up the murder with Sirius Black. Discussing the Stirling Massacre is disheartening for normal people, Rufus, but I would hate to see what it could inspire in someone like Black. I have received word from Nurmengard that Ascanius Stirling was noticeably 'restless' after your questioning him about his sister. And surely you know of Black's intimate relationship with her, before her death, so it is a recipe for disaster to confront Black with what might be his most painful memory.

Lastly, I am officially intervening and ceasing this 'L. Blackstone' investigation. If the public ever got word of this conspiracy theory you and your men've been cooking up, England would turn mad. Whoever's running the Stirling Tower now is doing so silently, and within the boundaries of the law. I hope this is the last time we have to speak about this.

Regards, Cornelius Fudge
Minister of Magic

XXX

Everything was ruined at the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match. Corvus and Max were turning desks into Komodo dragons and back when McGonagall disrupted the match. They heard the confused mass of students running through the castle back to their house commons. That's when they heard about meeting with their Head of House.

"All students will return to their house common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. A teacher will escort you to each lesson. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

At the last part, Snape looked directly at Corvus. He rolled up the parchment from which he read and said, "I'm to urge anyone who thinks they might know anything about the attacks to come forward."

There wasn't a move or sound made in response.

"Very well." He turned on his heels and left through the stone door.

X
X

Corvus called an emergency Salesmen meeting in their dormitory. They were sitting while Corvus paced in front of them. "We're going to have to freeze all operations," he said. "Until we figure out how we can work around this."

"I don't know, Corvus, sounds like the school's in total lockdown," said Louis. He was looking doubly miserable since this meant the end of Quidditch too. His high standards for this school year had all been shattered.

"Clients will want refunds," said Max. He was pale and his leg was jittering as he sat. Again they were nearby where the bodies were found. While everyone was outside watching the Quidditch match, they were indoors, alone and vulnerable.

"We can stall with those," assured Corvus.

"But won't that be breaching the contracts?" asked Anwar. "We only have seven days to deliver the goods after the payment's been made." Corvus cursed, Anwar was right.

"How are we going to get to the owlry to send the money back?" panicked Louis. "We've got only two more nights to make Eddie Carmichael's order!"

"Who cares!" roared Jeremy. The others gave a collective gasp. "Chuck their money back in their faces! What's really important now is rethinking who we do business with. Over the Christmas holidays I contacted the Magical Public Research Library in Cardiff," his brown eyes glinted, "asking them to look into all our client's surnames in public historical documents, going back five decades. I'm still waiting for the results. They should be here any day now."

Louis' jaw dropped. Anwar stared at Jeremy wildly. Max looked to Corvus, horrified. Corvus tried to keep it together, his mind racing at a blinding speed, searching for a way to stop this train wreck.

"Whoever's not found will be required to prove their status as a pureblood," he said sternly. "Hogwarts will be a new playing field with Slytherin's heir keeping an eye on all of us." He glared at Max coolly. "And I'm getting all us checked too."

"Enough," snapped Corvus. "You're going to write that stupid library and cancel it."

"What? No!" Jeremy stood up, his fists clenched and his head held high. "You've been putting us all at risk for too long. We must appease Slytherin's heir!"

"Corvus hasn't been putting us in danger," said Anwar.

"Yeah, what the hell are you talking about Pretzel?" asked Louis, angrily.

"Stop calling me that! My name is Petzold!" he stomped. "The Petzold family can trace their history back nine generations of witches and warlocks. My blood's probably the purest here! And I'm talking about him forcing us to do business with filth. Salazar Slytherin would never accept it!"

"Jeremy, drop it already," ordered Corvus.

"And you!" he turned at Max. "You're hiding something. I know it! You've never once offered to prove you're a pureblood." Max nervously shifted as all eyes turned to him. "No one's ever heard of your family. No one knows where you came from! What are you hi-?"

"Silencio!" yelled Corvus, his wand pointed at Jeremy. Muted, Jeremy anxiously touched at his neck and became outraged. His face turned purple as he silently shouted. "You're already an idiot, Pretzel, no point in making yourself look stupider," he told him sharply. "So calm down."

Jeremy shut his mouth and his nostrils flared. He wasn't going to 'calm down.' Instead he stormed out of their dorm.

X
X

They were able to solve their problem concerning refunds. When there was forty minutes left for their Potions class the next afternoon, Max had finished his Confusing Concoction before anyone else and Corvus' potion needed only three more minutes tops, to be finished as well.

"Excuse me, professor?" Max politely approached Snape. Snape was in the middle of bearing down on Jocelyn Grey, a Ravenclaw who could never keep a steady hand in Potions. And Snape loved to loom over her, adding to the pressure to not mess up.

"Yes, Maxwell?" Never, not once, did Snape call Max by his surname. All the other teachers had tried to comfortably pull-off calling him 'Mr. Love', but they always gave up and switched to his first name. But Snape never made this mistake. And because of it, Max was always grateful; it was one less moment of immature giggles.

"I've just finished my potion, and I was wondering if I could use the restroom? I know we're not meant to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher," said Max, "But I know the others will need supervision to complete their potions."

"Probably," drawled Snape. "I've never, in my entire career, have known anyone to mess up a Confusing Concoction so spectacularly that the results were fatal, but I dare say, Miss Grey has the potential to surprise me." He gave Grey a decisive look, her face drained of all color.

"Exactly," Max fought the urge to smirk, "Could I suggest that I leave the classroom accompanied by another student? Corvus' potion is thickening already-"

"Rajan!" Snape called out abruptly. Anwar's potion hadn't even begun to thicken. He was still bringing his concoction to a simmer. "Escort Maxwell to the toilets. Vaisey, Blackstone, tend to his potion while he's gone."

The plan had worked, though the results were a little strange. Why didn't Snape want Corvus to go with Max? Anyway, while they were out, they managed to sneak into the kitchens and asked one of the house-elves to deliver the money to their clients with a letter explaining the Salesmen were temporarily closed until the Chamber of Secrets was dealt with.

But the Jeremy Petzold problem was another thing. Surprisingly Anwar and Louis were most adamant about doing something about him. "You don't know the half of it, Corvus," said Louis exasperatedly. "You and Max are gone all the time, aren't you? That leaves Jeremy with us."

"Why are we friends with him?" demanded Anwar.

"After Max and I found the outhouse we needed to expand."

"Yeah, but you should have just asked us to join," said Louis, gesturing to him and Anwar.

"But we're all roommates," replied Corvus, rather feebly. "At the time it made sense. Why sneak around someone when we could have them on board, right? Besides we'd only known each other a few months then, and Jeremy was okay…"

"Jeremy is like an apple," explained Louis promptly. "He's okay. Not the most exciting fruit, but okay. But leave him lying around and he gets rotten. That's where we are now. It's too late to eat him, it's time to chuck him." Anwar nodded enthusiastically.

"What do you think, Max?" Anwar turned to him. He had been quiet through the entire conversation.

"I think… we can't let him get that letter."

X
X

They watched Jeremy like a hawk for the next few days. Corvus knew they would have to be subtle about getting the letter away from him. Prefects, teachers and Filch were crawling all over Hogwarts now. That letter had to be destroyed. Corvus could see Max had completely given up sleeping over this. Once the letter was taken care of, Corvus couldn't imagine the Salesmen keeping Jeremy. "He was dead weight anyway," shrugged Corvus.

"Anwar was saying the same thing," smiled Louis.

"When did you say that?" frowned Max.

"You know, when you and Corvus went off to do whatever it is you two do," replied Louis. "What do you guys do?"

"We're just trying out new things that Sal's guys might be interested in."

Anwar and Louis looked at them funny. "Are you two puffs?" asked Anwar. Corvus laughed.

"Are you serious? No!" he threw a bread roll at him.

"If either of them were, they'd fancy me," declared Louis, grinning. "I am part Veela."

"Yeah with eyes to match the skies," cooed Corvus.

"Guys!" exclaimed Max suddenly. He grabbed Anwar's arm, as he was closest. He pointed up, as a few owls entered the Great Hall. One of the owls belonged to Jeremy. "He can't read that letter," stressed Max. Corvus stood up.

"Anwar, let's go."

"You want us to fight him in front of the teachers?"

"No, I know a thing or two about tact, thanks," he told him. Anwar followed him to the far corner of the table. Jeremy's tattered-looking owl had just dropped off his letter. He gleefully picked it up and greeted them with a sneer.

"What do you want? Want to know whose going to get out of Hogwarts alive?" he waved the letter at them. Corvus maintained his composure.

"If you have any decency, you'll wait until you were alone to open that letter up," Corvus told him. Jeremy only eyed him suspiciously. "Jeremy, we've all been friends for three years now," Corvus reminded him. "Don't you think you owe it to us, to wait opening that letter?"

"You have something to hide."

"No, I don't," he said. "To prove it, I want us all to sit down and go through those results, privately. We're mature wizards aren't we?"

Jeremy stared intently at him, trying to see through his calm. But Corvus wasn't going to crack. "Fine. I'll wait until we're all back in the dorm. Just be ready for some changes."

X
X

All day they kept their eye on Jeremy and that letter. He smugly held it over their heads until they were escorted back to their commons. They headed straight to their room. Corvus locked the door behind them.

"You still don't want to say anything, Max?" taunted Jeremy.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted Corvus. The letter flew out of his hand. Jeremy yelled and dove to catch it again.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Louis levitated the letter high into the air. Anwar tried holding onto Jeremy, but his boney arm slipped out of his hands. Jeremy climbed on top of someone's trunk and jumped. His hand reaching for the letter…

"Reptifora!" Max cast wildly. There was a loud pop and a yellow flash of light. Jeremy came back down, holding something. It had been the letter, but now it was a hissing chameleon. He screeched, dropping the lizard in surprise.

The chameleon smacked against the floor and sped off.

"No!" Jeremy got onto his hands and knees, searching for the chameleon underneath Anwar's bed. There was no way he'd find it. "Lumos!" he tried using light, but it was still no use. The chameleon was gone. Either it snuck into some hole, or it was expertly camouflaged. "Why did you do that?" he asked them. "It's because I was right! You're hiding something!" he was pointing at Max. "You're a Mudblood!"

Max glared at him.

"It's true! You won't even deny it!" he then turned at the others. "And you're protecting him! How can we call ourselves Salazar's Salesmen? We are mocking Slytherin's memory."

"We're called that because it's catchy," snapped Corvus. "And Max is in Slytherin, he belongs here just like you."

"He's a fraud! Slytherin's heir-"

"Shut up already!" growled Anwar. "We don't care about the bloody heir."

"And we're sick of you," Louis told him. "You're not worth keeping around."

"That's right, you're replaceable Jeremy," said Corvus. "Everyone brings something to the table, but you. That should have made you a bit humble, but no. You're just miserable as well as insignificant."

Jeremy was stunned. Corvus could tell he wanted to explode. His boney hands were rolled up into tight fists. His eyes were glistening with angry tears. "You're throwing me out?" he asked in a strained voice. "Think you have the right to do something like that, Blackstone?"

"What, you want us to take a vote?" asked Corvus snidely. "This isn't a democracy, idiot. I'm the leader, I'm good as royalty and if I say so, it's off with your head."

"You'll be sorry," promised Jeremy. "I know everything I'll-"

"Oh, how easily you forget the rules, Jeremy," Corvus waged his finger. "We all signed a contract, everyone signs a contract, remember? If you tell anyone about us, you'll be in for a world of pain. A lot worse than what happens to our costumers who snitch. Near-death Jeremy," he told him. "Remember?"

Jeremy stared at him.

"Now, you have to decide. Do you want to stay a Salesman, and apologize for being a git, or do you want to walk?"

Jeremy had his wand out in a flash, there was a bang and Corvus was thrown back. He crashed to the floor, but he was back on his feet ready to duel. Jeremy left the room immediately, slamming the door behind him. Anwar made to go after him, but Corvus motioned for him to stop.

"Let him go," he told him. "It's his choice, let him suffer the consequences."

X
X

Now that they'd chucked Jeremy Petzold-Newstark like apiece of old fruit, they had to make sure he wouldn't spawn into an even bigger problem for them in the future. Best insurance they had was if they committed a character assassination on him.

With the Chamber of Secrets phenomena it was possible that Jeremy had gained a little popularity among some in Slytherin. But Jeremy couldn't sustain likeability. He didn't have it in him. He was a boney, pale boy with a dorky haircut. He wasn't strong academically. He wasn't funny. He wasn't interesting. He wasn't athletic. So Corvus and the others weren't worried about him being difficult to take down. They were going to crush him to smithereens.

"I just wanted a good night's sleep," Louis was telling the guys in the Quidditch team, "I'm about to get into bed when I notice the bathroom's light is on. So, I go over to turn the light off, right? But who do I find in there? More like what do I find them doing?"

"Yeah? What was happening?" asked Flint. The other guys were all huddled around him at the table. It was the morning after the huge fight. Everyone's eyes were glued to Louis as he spun his tale. The plan was going well.

"No, first tell us who was in there?" said Miles Bletchley, eagerly. Louis made a show of checking who was around them. Jeremy was well down the table from them.

"Petzold?" asked Malfoy.

"Yes," answered Louis. "It was real sick what I walked in on, mates. I don't think you want to know."

"Come on, Lu, tell us," encouraged Flint. Louis faked hesitation then leaned in. The other guys drew closer.

"Jeremy had climbed onto the sink," he said slowly. "So he could snog the mirror!"

"What?" gasped Per Derrick, nearly choking on a piece of toast.

"What'd you mean snog?" asked Bole thickly.

"I mean he's pressed himself against the mirror and is having a full-throttle snog-fest," clarified Louis, accentuating the story with dramatic hand-gestures. "There was moaning, wet-smacking noises and he groped at his own reflection. It was really disturbing."

The entire team looked aghast. "Why would someone snog themselves?" Graham Montague shuddered. "That's not healthy."

"I know, right? It's sad too," said Louis, as if sincere. "I reckon it's because he's confused." They turned to study Jeremy again. He was certainly confused about why everyone was staring at him, and suspicious too.

"Petzold snogged himself in the mirror?" Malfoy repeated the question. He turned to Corvus. "Did you see it?"

"No, but last week I walked in on him putting lipstick on," he replied. "I didn't say anything, 'cause you know, he's my friend. Still, he's mentally unstable, clearly."

"We think he might be dangerous," said Anwar. "Thought others should know."

"Since we'll be locked up in the commons with him every night now," added Louis. Corvus nudged Max to say something.

"Yeah, he's-he's a big freak."

There was a pause. Then everyone sputtered into laughter.

X
X

By lunch every Slytherin heard about the mirror snog. Girls squealed and recoiled from his presence in hallways and classrooms. The guys snickered loudly as he passed. Corvus almost felt guilty watching Jeremy mope around the commons friendless, but then he remembered why he was friendless.

Jeremy kept to himself. He didn't utter a word to the others when he was in the dorm. Wherever the others were, Jeremy avoided being there as best as he could. Of course the Salesmen would always have to keep one eye on him.

Ginny Weasley went missing, it seemed like the final victim of the Chamber of Secrets was a blood-traitor. It was actually quite unnerving. Everywhere a heavy silence persisted. Even within the Slytherin people couldn't get excited about it anymore. Ginny Weasley was a pureblood after all.

They were in their dorm. Jeremy was enjoying himself in the commons, or trying to since no one wanted to talk to him, even if he was a pureblood. They knew he had tried telling people that Max was Muggleborn. The Salesmen responded with innocent confusion, suggesting that maybe it was due to Jeremy's deranged mind. They then dropped a few more stories to discredit him.

Corvus thought it amazing that neither Anwar nor Louis asked about Max's blood status. But when they found out that Ginny Weasley was the first murder victim, they felt compelled to know the truth. Were they blood-traitors? Or was Jeremy really just being a paranoid git?

"I have to ask," said Louis finally, "Max, are you Muggleborn?"

Max put down the book he was reading.

"I mean, if you are, that's… okay, I guess," he told Max. "My sister Siobhan married a Muggleborn, he's cool and he's a reserve player for the Bigonville Bombers," he said the last part as if that was a plus everyone could appreciate.

"I have an aunt who's a Squib," confessed Anwar. "That's like a Muggle. She's actually the only aunt I can tolerate."

"And once my parents hear about what's happened here at Hogwarts, I'll be pulled out immediately," said Louis. "Probably be sent to Beauxbatons, though my French is rubbish."

"My dad wants to send me to his old school, in India," said Anwar.

"But, are you?" asked Louis again. Max gave his half-smirk at how 'smoothly' that had gone.

"Yeah… yeah I am." There was a pause. Louis's light blue eyes went wide with awe. Anwar just blinked a few times.

"A Muggle in Slytherin?" said Louis. "That's… that's really rare."

"Well done pointing out the obvious, Louis," drawled Corvus.

X
X

Two more weeks past, then one night every student was woken up and told to meet in the Great Hall. Ginny Weasley had been saved. The Chamber of Secrets was closed again. Slytherin's heir was gone. And just like last year, Potter had some direct influence in this near-catastrophe. Apparently there was a slaying of a Basilisk involved too. Him and Ron Weasley were awarded four hundred points, securing Gryffindor the House Cup for the second year running. Lockhart was no longer their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. And all the petrified people were cured.

Salazar's Salesmen was open for business again. It hadn't been the best of years, certainly wasn't what Louis expected, but Corvus was grateful they had survived it. And they made a very good profit too, eighty-three each.

On the last morning the four of them went to the outhouse to clean out the hatbox and deliver the summer writing assignments to Jamal. "I think it's best that we just use the outhouse to enter Hogsmeade," said Max as his hand dug into the box. "Jeremy can steal stuff if we store it in here."

"True," agreed Corvus. "We have all summer to think of alternatives."

"I was also thinking," continued Max, "Things got pretty crazy this year. You in particular got carried away."

"Me?" asked Corvus, confused. "What did I do?"

"You pissed off Potter, Weasley and probably all of Hufflepuff single handedly," replied Max as he closed the hatbox. "We don't need that kind of image. Our image must be neutral."

"Yeah, Max's right," said Louis. "Don't get me wrong, it was hilarious. But you didn't win any of them over with your charm."

Corvus unlocked the door when he spotted Anwar returning. "Fine, Max, what do you have in mind?"

"We have loads of sweets left, haven't we? I think we should send them to the victims, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter," he explained. "Show them that we're happy too Slytherin's heir was stopped."

And so they quickly sent handfuls of Sugar Quills, Chocoballs and toffees to the victims with a short letter attached.

Please enjoy your complimentary order of sweets. Salazar's Salesmen celebrates your recovery.
We hope to do business with you in the near future.

-Sal's Guys

And to Potter and Weasley;

Please enjoy your complimentary order of sweets. Well done, whatever you did to get rid of Slytherin's Heir.
Salazar's Salesmen hope to do business with you in the near future.

-Sal's Guys

X
X

The new and improved Salesmen rode in a carriage drawn by a Thestral back to the Hogwarts Express. Another profitable year had past.

"How do you think Potter did it? You think they really killed a Basilisk?" wondered Louis. He had his feet propped on the space across from him, where Jeremy Petzold-Newstark might have sat if he hadn't been horrible git and a worse friend.

Anwar was counting the orange Gobstones he bought during their last Hogsmeade trip. At the mention of Potter's latest obscure heroics, he commented, "I heard one of the Weasley twins in the Great Hall the other night, they said Potter used Godric Gryffindor's sword to fight it."

"Does no one else find it strange that Potter, a second-year, was able to solve this, while Dumbledore, the twentieth century's most celebrated wizard, couldn't do a thing?" Louis brought up a good point. Corvus laughed.

"Whatever they did, it had to have involved a Polyjuice Potion," said Max. Louis and Anwar frowned, but Corvus knew where Max was coming from.

"That list of potion ingredients Potter gave us in the library," Corvus reminded them. "They were for a Polyjuice Potion."

"Wow, to think, the Salesmen could have been a part of Potter's victory over Slytherin's Heir," smirked Louis. "Oh well, I guess we've got to make history some other way now."

o..O

O..o

Okay, phew, CoS chapters are over, now we go into PoA and I'm sure you all can imagine what fun Corvus is in for with that!