Chapter twelve
Trying to keep people in while keeping other people out, isn't as easy as you might think
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Mouth open wide in shock, Téa couldn't help but stare. There was no possible way that she was going to learn from one of the Founders of Hogwarts. That was just not possible! This was like – a dream come true to so many people! Hundreds of Hogwarts students went through the discussion. "If you had the choice to learn from a Founder of Hogwarts, which one would you, learn from?" Of course, the student normally answered that they'd like to be taught by their own house Founder but truly given this unbelievable opportunity, she could not doubt that she truly didn't care who taught her.
"Oh dear me, it is possible you don't even know what Hogwarts is…" The woman began.
"Are you kidding me?" Téa choked out coming out of her shock as the woman's expression turned from one of kindness to one of complete apology. "I attend Hogwarts! It's considered one of the best schools in Europe!"
"Is it now?" The woman exclaimed more than a little surprised by the revelation. "Well, that is heart-warming to hear that our school has lasted so long, of course, we are not here simply to speak about Hogwarts, and we are also here to learn are we not?" The woman remarked kindly before walking towards her and gazing her up and down. "Of course, in my day, girls your age didn't wear such things but once again things do change."
Blushing at that, Téa felt a little more self-conscious especially considering the woman before her was rather modestly covered.
"Didn't have a choice in outfits," she mumbled weakly earning a soft laugh before her chin was forced up with gentle hands.
"Do not worry yourself, dear; you have nothing to be ashamed of. Actually, I would say you have quite a bit to be proud of. You are a beautiful young woman and I am certain that you look beautiful in anything you wear." Hufflepuff whispered before leading her to one of the beds so that she could sit down on one while the woman sat on another.
"Um - What am I supposed to call you, the only other teacher I've had has been an ancestor of mine -" she rambled off earning an amused expression from the woman.
"My students normally call me Professor Hufflepuff, would you be comfortable with calling me as such?" The older witch questioned which relieved Téa.
"That would be perfect, Professor," She agreed.
"Now then I know you are here to learn from me, what I will be teaching you is my specialty, apperation and its use in duels. I will also be teaching you some useful Healing techniques. As you could possibly tell, I was responsible for the infirmary just as I taught Potions to the students of Hogwarts." Professor Hufflepuff revealed making Téa gap.
"What you – you taught potions?" Téa questioned startled by the revelation.
"Yes, what subject do you think I taught dear?" The woman questioned a ton of amusement lacing her delicate voice which was such a stark contrast to Snape it was hard to believe she taught the same subject.
"I – well the thought was that you taught Herbology ma'am or Charms. Our current Potion teacher is – well very different than you." She remarked earning a nod from the founder.
"All teachers are different from one another, and Potion is a very difficult and dangerous subject to learn. If performed badly, it can lead to injury or death. I am sure your Professor is only looking out for your wellbeing and knows all of these facts. Now I think it would be best if we begin our lessons do you not?" Professor Hufflepuff announced before turning to the side and instantly Téa noticed the sudden appearance of a large wooden table covered with various bowls, vials, flasks, plants and flowers, many of which Téa did not recognize at all.
"I wish to know your knowledge of ingredients, please begin naming the ones you do know. Do not worry about what you do not know." Professor Hufflepuff assured her and with a gulp Téa stood and walked over.
Looking at the widespread layout of ingredients she tried her best to stop her racing heart before deciding to just start. Gathering up one plant, she looked at it and swiftly identified it.
"This is Aconite," she answered earning a nod of agreement from her newest Professor.
"Tell me about it,"
"Its also known as monkshood or wolfsbane and has magical properties. The flower is useful for potion-making but its leaves are very toxic. It's a commonly known ingredient in a potion known as Wolfsbane. The root of aconite can be used as potion ingredient as well." She explained earning a nod before she was urged to continue.
"This is Belladonna, it's a mundane plant with magical uses. Fluids from the plant are poisonous yet are used by students at Hogwarts in Potion class. It's part of our standard potion making kit. It also goes by Atropa, Deadly Nightshade, and a few other names. The see of the Belladonna plant is purple."
Going on and on, she continued to build her confidence even as she did not recognize most of the ingredients.
"Finally, this is the last one I do recognize, it's a Bezoar. Every first-year potions student learns about this. It's a stone-like mass taken from the stomach of a goat that acts as an antidote to most poisons. It's used in the preparation of the Antidote to Common Poisons. It's usually made of hair, plant fiber or similar indigestible matter that stays in the gut of an animal and forms a hard ball of "stone"." She finished earning a nod from her Professor.
"Well done, you named quite a few. Now let me clear some of the other ingredients. This," Hufflepuff announced while picking up a small pot containing a powdered white substance. "Is powdered Basilisk fang. It's rare and hard to come by but it can be used in creating one of the deadliest poisons man made. You do know what a Basilisk is correct?"
"Fought one, wasn't pleasant. We don't talk about Basilisk parts actually because one hasn't been 'seen' in many years." Téa answered while frowning at the bowl.
She actually didn't know that a Basilisk could be harvested into Potion ingredients. Of course it did make sense, most magical creatures held parts that could be used in potions. Dragons had dragon blood, scales, and others, unicorns had unicorn hair. Etc. Why not a Basilisk? Yet it also showed one a Basilisk was a category XXXXX Beast. If you weren't a parseltongue it would have been hard to approach one and even then it was a risky situation you got yourself in.
Realizing that Hufflepuff had yet to speak Téa looked up and found that the witch was staring at her in shock, and clearly much paler than she had been before.
"Did I say something wrong?" She asked confused and a bit worried. The last thing she wanted was to offend this specific teacher.
"You – fought a Basilisk?" Helga questioned making Téa smile.
"It wasn't a pleasant memory; I try to forget about it. The Chamber of Secrets was opened during my second year – again – and the monster inside was unleashed. The Monster turned out to be a Basilisk. Thankfully it didn't kill anybody – that time – but a friend was taken down into the chamber. To save her I had to fight the Basilisk and ended up killing it." Téa explained startling the woman even more.
"Salazar's pet was unleashed upon the school?!" "Pet?!" Téa exclaimed startled to learn that Helga knew what the Monster had been.
"Yes, Salazar raised the Basilisk as a mode of protection for Hogwarts. She was supposed to protect but I never suspected she would have survived that long. How on earth did you kill her? She would have been giant." Helga questioned making Téa snort.
"She wasn't giant, she was bigger. I killed her by shoving a sword up her mouth, not the brightest idea I ever had but everything worked out in the end. My friend was safe and that's all that mattered. Plus I had an advantage, I could, at least, understand it somewhat. I'm a parselmouth, so I can understand snakes." She finished earning a raised eyebrow from the older woman.
"That was a rather brash way of dealing with things, I'd rather think Gryffindor would have chosen you for his own house, yet with a talent such as Parseltongue Salazar would have wanted you in his own house," Hufflepuff remarked making Téa chuckle.
"Considering I was sorted into Gryffindor that would be one of the biggest compliments I could get Professor Hufflepuff." She chuckled earning a soft laugh from her Professor.
"Indeed, may I ask if you were considered for any other house or was it a straight affirmative for Gryffindor?" Hufflepuff questioned with curiosity.
"Actually, the hat was stuck between two houses. It thought I'd do remarkably well in Slytherin but with certain events, I chose to avoid the serpent's pits and go into the lion's den." She answered being honest for once about the sorting hats choice.
"Interesting, I suspected the two of them would have indeed fought for you in their houses, no doubt duelled for such a promising student. I can tell with great certainty that you have incredible magical powers within you and a great deal of talents. Then there is the slight air of mystery about you. I have only ever seen that air around one other student and she was indeed a very big mystery to us all. You see her name was Cadellia, she was sorted into Ravenclaw and was extremely intelligent but also very ambitious which was why she got along with the Slytherins so well." Hufflepuff revealed making Téa grin, it was fun to learn about people of the past. "Now enough about houses, I will finish explaining these potion ingredients and we shall continue on to brewing. I wish to see you do a potion for me so that I can deduce your technique. Of course are there any other secret skills you'd like to reveal to me?"
"No, none that I am aware of but I do have somebody to introduce you to, this is my friend, Attor," She announced while motioning to her shoulder where Attor was finally making herself known as she slithered from underneath her cloak.
"Lady Hufflepuff?" The snake questioned clearly shocked by the appearance of the woman yet not as much as Téa who turned her gaze sharply to her friend.
"You know her?" She hissed demandingly.
"Yes, she was a good friend of my masters." Attor answered. "I did not know her for long but she did visit my master on occasion. They used to be colleges as a school for magic."
…
"The current wards surrounding Azkaban have been completely fixed," Bill informed his superior earning a nod of approval. "Currently, we have started on the basic wards, one of which includes those very specific wards. We thought we'd get them down quick."
"Good, those were specified by Heiress Potter, she sure had a good head on her for ward choices."
"Wait, Téaleon chose most of these wards?" Bill questioned shocked by the revelation yet instead of the goblin answering him it was Kingsley.
"She made a fair donation towards the rebuilding of the wards. Choose many of them that Madam Bones couldn't put in place with her limited budget. It was quite generous of her." Kingsley remarked before a horn was blown causing many of them to tense. "Could we count on Goblins if it came to battle?"
"We have been given the affirmative to give support to aurors if we are indeed under attack," The goblin agreed, earning a nod from Kingsley. "Bill, have your wand handy, that was a notice. I think we might be getting unwanted visitors."
"Do you think – he was informed?" Bill questioned.
"Make sure any wards that are set to be installed are installed, we will try to defend you as you install as many as possible. He is not getting his followers out of his prison." Kingsley ordered before leaving the room.
Hurriedly both Bill and the goblin followed suit, the goblin shouting out orders to his goblins while Bill hurried to inform the other curse breakers and warders of what they were ordered to do. As he turned, his attention was caught by Dementors. They were aiding in the breakout, clearly they had returned to Voldemort's side.
"Patronus at hand!" He shouted to his team. "Curse Breakers able to defend, defend. The rest of you help in the wards, get as many up as possible!"
"Death Eaters have landed!" Came a shout and no sooner had that been announced did spells start flying by. Cursing their luck, Bill hurriedly cast shield charms around them as aurors hurried to defend.
"We'll only get this last ward in place Weasley! We don't have enough movement for the rest!" Came a shouted.
"Then anchor the ward and send the stones underground!" He ordered before sending a hex towards the nearest attacking figure, sending him flying back. "Don't let them get a hold of those stones! They are vital to keeping the wards in place!"
"Emergency signal has been sent!" Tonks shouted as she arrived on scene. "Re-enforcements on their way, but merlin knows when they'll get here!"
"Stones underground!" A warder shouted before they also joined the fray. "This is nuts! I thought Death Eaters were done for!" "The Dementors have turned! They are not to be trusted!"
"What was your first clue!"
Moving forward, back to back with Tonks, Bill ignored the comments being shot out by the others, concentrating on taking down as many opponents as he could while defending the woman who was guarding his back. From the corner of his eye, he could see a goblin take down one black robed individual.
It seemed like Voldemort had underestimated their numbers or their ability as their opponents seemed to fall as soon as their numbers began dwindling and they noticed that the Dementors weren't able to help them. Finally, the remaining few chose to escape capture leaving the small team panting and tired from the battle.
"Bind all captured enemy's make sure there are guards around them capable of doing a patronus. Amelia's on her way so I want warders back on the job. We need the rest of the wards up, great work on the others they withstood multiple attacks, that's what we need. Bill was that specific ward set up to a book yet?"
"Yes, it was think Amelia's going to be pleased?" Bill questioned while pulling a leather bound book from his pocket. "We'll hook it up to a bigger book later but for now, it made due."
"Kingsley, Madam Bones has arrived!" Came a shout and no sooner had that announcement been made did they all turn to find the intimidating woman known as Amelia Bones hurrying towards them with a group of aurors hurrying to keep up.
"Tell me he didn't get his followers," She demanded.
"The wards stood ma'am, were installing the last of them now, but one that was installed might come in handy for you," Bill answered while handing the leather bound book to the head of the DMLE. "Its called a magical identification ward,"
"This is one of the wards requested by Téaleon Potter was it not?" Amelia questioned curiously. "What exactly does it do?"
"Yes, it was, it's a very unique ward, it gives information on every witch or wizard who enters the wards, considering they begin straight at the edge of the island everybody who participated in the battle are in that book, names, and status. Statues mean that any spells upon their persona are also revealed." Bill explained earning a shocked expression from the woman.
"Are you saying – that I have a list of all participants in this attack but also a means to tell me if they were of right mind?" She asked hopefully.
"That ward detects if any of the people who come through have been placed under the imperius curse, or any other sort of spells. It's a very – brilliant ward." Bill admitted before excusing himself to go and aid his fellow workers, leaving Amelia with Kingsley.
"This – this is amazing."
…
Storming into the Minister's office, Amelia swiftly spotted Percy Weasley sitting at his desk. It didn't take long for him to notice her arrival and seemed rather put out by it, especially with the company she held.
"Madam Bones, to what do I owe your arrival, you do not have a meeting with the Minister –" "Tell him I'm here on official business Weasley. It's about Azkaban and if he doesn't speak to me then so help him he won't know what the bloody well hit him." She snapped and although the boy spluttered in defense he thankfully did as told.
Waiting impatiently for his return she was glad that she was not alone and that Kingsley and William Weasley were also with her. When the boy finally did return he paid no mind to his older brother which placed much more evidence in her hand then he thought it did.
"The Minister of Magic will see you," he announced pompously earning a snort from William that she chose to ignore.
"Good," was all she said before she walked into the office, followed by her two companions.
Entering the grand office she instantly spotted the man himself sitting behind his desk looking rather worried and Amelia felt a sense of pride in that. It was about time this man started to worry because, for all sense, he lost them many months of preparation.
"Amelia, to what do I owe this unexpected meeting?" the man questioned making her anger grow yet she held it in, it would not due to blow up at the man, at least not right now.
"Azkaban was attacked Cornelius," she announced, not even trying to keep the information till later and it had its effect.
Immediately the man paled, his complexion turning sickly at the thought of a mass breakout from Azkaban and Amelia didn't believe that it was simply because of safety, he was also thinking about his public image.
"The attack was fooled by the team that was on the ground updating the wards. The update happened just in time and only a few wards needed to be added after the attack. The Dementors have fled Azkaban Cornelius and you know the only reason they would do that would be if they had a master they would follow." "He is not back!" Cornelius shouted yet Amelia simply shook her head before pulling a book from her best and placing it on the man's desk. "We were able to capture many of the people who attacked Azkaban and they have been questioned under the new modified Veritaserum."
"Amelia –" "They committed an act of treason by attacking Azkaban Cornelius." Amelia hurried to interrupt not letting the man continue. "It was my right to do as I saw fit to gather the information I would need. There was also a little bit of a – how would you say – plus side to the attack on Azkaban. You see funding was provided through a donation and this donation allowed for a certain ward to be placed around Azkaban. This ward is known as the a Magical Identification ward,"
"This ward is hooked up to a book," Bill Weasley hurried to explain. "It's almost like the Hogwarts Student book but this book is anchored to Azkaban alone. It identifies by name whoever enters the wards and it also informs us of their status. This means that if they are under the Imperius Curse the ward will know. For example sir, if you look at the first pages you will find a list of names dated last evening time of the attack and all."
With that, Amelia opened the book and made sure to show the contents to Fudge.
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Name: Statues: Date / Time
Lucius Malfoy November 16 1995 / 11:30:16
Gibbon November 16 1995 / 11:30:16
Fenrir Greyback November 16 1995 / 11:30:16
Walden Macnair November 16 1995 / 11:30:16
Nott Imperius Curse November 16 1995 / 11:30:16
Travers November 16 1995 / 11:30:16
Stan Stumpike Imperius Curse November 16 1995 / 11:30:16
Tompson Dublin November 16 1995 / 11:30:16
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"The only two people who were there that were under the influence of the Imperius Curse were Nott and Stan Stumpike. The others were under no influence whatsoever. They were there under their own free will. Lucius Malfoy has been using you, Cornelius, using you to get what he wants." Amelia declared, eyes boring into her superiors as she spoke hoping that he understood just what she was saying.
"I – I" Yet the Minister couldn't seem to gather a full sentence.
"Minister," Kingsley began, he deep calm voice always useful in situations such as these. "During our questioning of the captured Death Eaters we gained information that you should know, I know you wish to believe that he is, in fact, dead, but Minister he is not. Death Eaters have confirmed that the Dark Lord Voldemort has indeed returned, he is taking his time to gather his forces and his enemies."
"This is impossible -" Fudge continued yet it was clear he was desperate to believe his own words.
Looking at each other, the trio knew that it wouldn't take much to make Fudge realize that something was, in fact, wrong and that things were not perfect in their world. The man had been running a smear campaigned against a teenage girl who had been telling the truth all along and who had only wanted them to be informed that one of the darkest dark lords to live had indeed returned.
"Cornelius – look I understand that it is hard to admit that you were wrong. To be honest, I did not want to believe it either but we must see that we have an opportunity right now. Voldemort does not know that we know of his return. We can work and form a plan. We can reform our own forces and fool Voldemort into thinking that we are none the wiser." Amelia hurried to put her ideas on the table.
"Amelia – this is, I will be seen as a fool, I allowed myself to be manipulated by," Yet the man froze as though now just realizing who was in the room with him and the head of one of his most important departments.
"Cornelius listen to me, everybody makes mistakes, some make bigger ones than others but it is admitting that you made a mistake that makes an incredible difference. We can work to fix things, to bring things to our advantage. Do you trust me?" Amelia questioned and instantly the office fell into an icy silence.
Author note:
Note to everybody, I am not the best at writing action scenes, that is why this is the first really big action scene in the story. If people have advice send it on I'll take it all into consideration when continuing my story.
