The Suspected and the Speculative

Lily POV

"Good morning, class," said Professor Stoughton, striding into the room. "Sit down."

Most of the students complied, but two Slytherins, Rosier and Mulciber, just smirked and continued to talk.

Stoughton glared at them. "I said sit," and he flicked his wand at their two chairs which obediently zoomed forward, knocking Rosier and Mulciber off their feet so they collapsed in a crumpled heap on their respective chairs.

Both Potter and Black were now staring at Stoughton with newfound respect.

"Right, there is no time for dilly-dallying, so I'll get straight to the point. What are you here to learn?"

Marlene's hand went up, as well as Remus's. Stoughton nodded at Marlene to answer.

"So we can learn the proper spells and counter-jinxes necessary to defend ourselves," she said, and Stoughton's lips pressed together grimly.

"Sounds like a standard answer, and also wrong," he said, and Marlene went pink. "What about you?"

Remus answered, "So we can avoid getting hurt." Lily could hear the uncertainty in his voice, and Stoughton scowled.

"Wrong. If you're fighting against Dark wizards and creatures, the chance that you'll be hurt is inevitable, whether it be physical or mental."

Potter and Black snorted at that, and Lily's temper flared; they really were arrogant. She was about to start yelling at them, but Stoughton swooped down upon them before she could even try.

"You think I'm joking, do you?" he said, eyes flashing. "What if I were to place you under the Imperious Curse, Mr. Black, and made you torture Mr. Potter with the Cruciatus Curse? Or Mr. Lupin? And after you've tortured Mr. Potter past the point of insanity, I made you set Fiendfyre to an entire village, watching innocent little five-year-olds scream and try to run before they were consumed by the pain and burned to a crisp. And you would have to live with that for the rest of your life, Mr. Black. Tell me that I'm wrong."

By the time Stoughton had finished speaking, Black and Potter's faces were white with fear. Lily herself was shivering at the scene.

He didn't smile or anything; he just spun on his heel and strutted back up to the front of the classroom.

"Up! Out of your seats!" he said.

Nobody moved; they just looked confused.

"That means today, people! People are dozing, and there is a reason I am telling you this. You'll thank me later." Stoughton yelled, and everybody quickly clambered out of their seats. Stoughton took out his wand at flicked it, causing all the tables and chairs to vanish while a Slytherin who was too lazy to get out of his seat fell to the floor with a crash.

"Listen up! My job here is simple. Prepare you for the outside world as much as possible. Today we will not be learning magic. When you're cornered against Dark wizards ten to one, what do you do?"

"Fight and knock 'em on their asses," said Potter arrogantly, and Lily rolled her eyes- it was such a Potter answer.

"You're outnumbered, Mr. Potter. While you may be able to beat other students while their backs are turned, these Dark wizards are not above using cowardly means. Anyone?"

Stoughton looked at each and every one of them. When nobody answered, he said, "You run."

"What kind of advice is that?" Black cried out. "That's what a coward would do!"

"Silence! I will not be spoken to like that. While your version of courage is bordering on arrogance and stupidity, sometimes it takes courage to walk and fight another day. Do tell, Mr. Black, how would you be of any help if you just got yourself killed for no reason?"

Black said nothing, and Stoughton smiled. "I thought so, Mr. Black. If there is nothing else, nobody to save, then you would help more people by being around if something like that happened again. For the next couple weeks, we will be practicing basic defensive spells and counter-charms. Pair up and start."

"I like him. He's not like Banks," said Alice, glancing back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom where Stoughton was cleaning up after their lesson.

"I think their similar with what they're trying to teach, but Stoughton has a different way of teaching," said Lily.

Alice snorted. "Please, Lily. Banks just wanted to make our lives a living hell, but Stoughton wants to actually prepare us."

"You're being bias, Alice," Lily chastised gently. "Their lessons aren't that much more different."

Alice just rolled her eyes and didn't answer.

"What's that?" Mary asked suddenly, pointing to a small crowd forming at the end of the corridor. There was a flash of light blue light, and the crowd gasped as a single entity. Lily glanced at Marlene, but the other girl was just as confused.

"Let's find out," said Alice.

The four girls fought their way through the crowd while the bangs and gasps got louder. Lily felt somebody accidently elbow her shoulder, but she paid them no attention.

"Pertrificus Totalis!" a male voice yelled, and the sound of bricks falling of stone floor reached Lily's ears.

"Is that all you got, Podmore? What would your dear mother say to that?" a cold, drawling voice taunted.

Lily had finally entered the center circle of bystanders and couldn't help but be shocked by what she saw. A Gryffindor, fifth or sixth year by the looks of it, had his wand out pointing at the sixth year Prefect from Slytherin- Luscious Milroy or something like that- who had his own wand out.

The two boys circled each other, and it was impossible to say which face showed more dislike. The Marauders were across from Lily, cheering on Podmore. Students of all ages gazed at the scene.

"It's more than you could ever have, you slimy piece of filth," Podmore growled. "When was the last time you needed poor little Granny to fix it for you? Always running off to your father, that prejudice git named Abraxas Malfoy. How is it with your old man? When was the last time he had to buy off the Ministry for their failing to report on the actual story of what's going on with all the Prophet's lies? You and your father are miserable little cowards who run at the first sign of trouble with your tail between your legs."

A bright flash of white light sped towards Podmore without Malfoy having to utter a single word. Podmore slashed his wand in an arc, producing a strong shield just as silently. Malfoy's hex rebounded and struck Malfoy in the chest. He flew into the wall and slid to the ground.

"Sturgis!" Alexandra Hopkirk ran towards the boy and placed a restraining hand of Podmore's wand arm. "Enough. We have an audience."

Podmore stared at Alexandra before glaring at Malfoy who was still struggling to get to his feet. "This isn't over. Watch your back."

Malfoy sneered. "I'm shaking all over, Podmore. You want a coward? Look in the mirror."

Podmore, who had his back turned and was walking away, whipped around, but Alexandra was already in action. She flicked her wand, and Malfoy flew up into the air and hit the ceiling before crashing back onto the floor.

"Last time I checked, Lucius," Alexandra added a surprising amount of scorn into the word Lucius, "You should be heading up to Madam Pomfrey to get that nasty cut checked out before I'll show you just how far I've come since first year, you racist bigot."

"Did you see Malfoy?"

"What a moron!"

"Hopkirk certainly showed him up."

"I know that Sturgis has always had the biggest crush on her."

"So romantic…"

"Screw romance. Where's that powdered dragon claw that Henry said he would get me?"

The rumors had already started by the time Lily and her friends had reached the common room. They were all talking about the fight like it was perfectly normal, but Lily found it scary: the skill that Podmore, Malfoy, and Alexandra had demonstrated was well beyond that of Lily's. She had always accustomed non-verbal magic with Dumbledore and McGonagall, but now it seemed that everybody used it, and Lily knew that the chances of being caught off guard by a silent spell were much more likely than the duels she and the Marauders always had.

"Did you see that?" Alice asked for the millionth time that hour. "Just,"-Alice made a pounding motion with her fist-"BAM!"

"Yeah, I saw that," said Marlene. "And I've haven't heard about anything else since."

"Except Stoughton," said Alice. "The way he talks, it's like everybody is a Knight of Walpurgis or whoever is responsible."

Lily stopped directly in front of the Fat Lady. "What?"

Alice shrugged nonchalantly. "Mum was telling Daddy about some people who favor pure-bloods and were causing some trouble for the Ministry. It's nothing. Let's go- Lily?"

But Lily was hardly listening, thoughts spinning around her head. It couldn't just be a coincidence that the Ministry was having trouble with pure-blood lovers while successful Muggle-borns were disappearing.

"Lily?" Mary asked uncertainly.

"Don't think too much, Evans. Don't want you to get hurt," smirked Black, stepping into view. When Lily didn't respond, he turned to Alice and asked, "What's up with her?"

"Don't you see, Alice? It has to be connected! Tell me how this can't be a coincidence," said Lily, thoughtfully running a hand through her hair. All seven of the Gryffindors present stared at her like she was crazy.

"Lily, I've said this before, and I will say it again: stop over thinking this!"

"What's a coincidence?" asked Remus.

"The Knights of Walpurgis and the disappearances, Remus!" said Lily excitedly, her attention now on him. "If it's not true, then explain to me why the Knights of Walpurgis are giving the Ministry trouble, and at the same time, Victoria Gobsworth, Bernard Thatcher, and Magnolia Rears, all Muggle-born, all successful enough to be known throughout the Wizarding community, have gone missing along with, what's-his-face, Gregory McMillan?"

"Is she always like this?" Potter asked Alice, and Marlene stepped forward with the same gait as Professor McGonagall.

"Look at me, Lily," Marlene put both her hands on Lily's shoulders, "Let. It. Go. If the Aurors couldn't find anything, then I doubt a twelve-year-old girl could."

Lily's eyes glinted, and Alice groaned since she knew exactly what it meant: Lily wasn't going to stop looking. "They couldn't prove anything, Marlene. That doesn't mean they didn't find anything. I prove it."

"How?" Pettigrew asked. He alone seemed almost frightened by Lily's obsessing with answers; the others just looked concerned and unconvinced.

"Watch me."

Two weeks later, and Lily was no closer to finding the answer than she was to conjuring a wandless Patronus.

While the Prophet still reported on the Knights of Walpurgis, it was mainly commonplace arguments between the group and the Minister behind closed doors.

Lily tracked the Knights' movement through the Prophet and a weekly pamphlet called Knights of Walpurgis, but they were not doing anything against the law. All the trouble was just the small protests they had had. And the group was barely large enough to fill one classroom- only ten or so.

Meanwhile, the Prophet had not reported on any strange events or seemingly random disappearances. The only thing that was a little out of the ordinary was a Muggle-born member of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Thomas Memoir, resigning for a job in the States.

"Just relax, Lily," said Alice as they were finishing an essay on the five most basic forms of self-defense for Stoughton. "I'm sure that this'll die down eventually."

Lily groaned. "But if the people are getting away with this, then what's to prevent them for continuing to kill people?"

"I'm not sure that they would kill them," said Alice, but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself that nobody would actually kill other people.

"You're right. Murder them."

"Look. If you manage to get plausible proof of your theory, then I'll listen, but nobody else thinks that there is some kind of twisted, sick connection between the two."

"You're being naïve, Alice, and you know it."