Notes: Celebrating the rebirth of my beloved notebook. ... Dustcloud surprised me in this chapter. I never expected him to go this far.
Chapter 20: Heresy And Murder Plots
Raven had expected to be overrun by kittens the moment he returned. Due to the experience gained from his earlier absences he'd also expected to find several notes from his students and co-workers informing him of unsolved problems that had occurred over the weekend. What he hadn't expected was to find human children camping outside his door, especially not Gryffindors.
Well, the Weasley twins he could believe. The third Gryffindor however ...
"Miss Granger?" Though very studious this girl didn't normally come to him with questions outside of class.
"Good Morning, Professor," she replied blushing and tried to disappear behind Firewheel.
Maybe she was only accompanying her friend? In that case he needed a way to get rid of her or the talk about his trip would get very awkward.
He'd have nailed the girl down right away, but the rest of the campers seemed to consider the greeting a signal to attack.
"Morning!"
"Professor ..."
"... book ..."
"... bathroom ..."
"... Lupin ..."
"Silence!" he hissed at them and vanished their voices with a, slightly over-dramatic he had to admit, wave of his wand.
The youngest students looked panicked, the oldest dismayed, Granger rolled her eyes impatiently and the kittens glared at him. In their opinion such treatment clearly was for humans.
"Now," he announced calmly. "Let's try this one at a time. Mr. Hennesey?"
He released them all at once, but except for a few yelps there was silence until Slytherin second year Raphael Hennesey managed to regain control of himself.
"Our bathroom needs repairing," the boy finally gasped. "It stinks."
"It stinks?" Probably a clogged toilet. "So why are you telling me? Repairs are Mr. Filch's job. Tell him and he'll assign a house-elf." Or tend to the matter himself, if he felt like it, but it wouldn't be proper of a student to ask for that. "Miss Davison?"
The sixth year Slytherin prefect looked at him haughtily. "Professor Lupin is an asshole, Sir," she reported.
"As fascinating as that information is, Miss Davison, I recommend you watch your language when talking about your teachers," he returned calmly. It never paid to lose one's cool with the older Slytherins. "Care to elaborate?"
"He made us go to bed and turn off the lights at ten!"
The others nodded confirmation of that horrid crime.
"I suppose that's Gryffindor custom," Raven shrugged it off. "You can't expect every teacher to stick to internal Slytherin deals."
"But that's not fair! We were going to ..."
"Then make a deal with Professor Lupin next time. I'm not going to ask him to do anything outside the school rules." He was annoyed at being swamped the moment he got home. At a better time he might have promised to inform Remus of the Slytherin customs. "Miss Granger?"
"Um ..." the girl hedged. "Well, Loki and I have been working on this project. It's about the founders and Hogwarts."
"They were researching Salazar," Rascal interrupted. "And Granger found a reference to a book. Here," he tore a book out of Blaise Zabini's hands and held it open. It's supposed to be about the founders' childhood, but Granger couldn't find it in the library. We think it's restricted, because it contains information about you-know-what."
"But we're all so very interested in the founders," Blaise added. "And you know that we're responsible and mature students and we were hoping that maybe, if you were to ask Madame Pince, we might be allowed to read some of it. Maybe under supervision?"
Granger shot Blaise a glare. Clearly 'some of it' and 'under supervision' had been no more part of her plan than of those of the kittens.
"The book isn't in the catalogue?" Raven asked the Gryffindor. She seemed most likely to thoroughly check there before coming to him.
She shook her head. "No, but Malfoy and Zabini say that they've seen other books that aren't in there either in the restricted section. We thought that maybe they're meant only for teachers."
Severus shook his head, glanced up and down the corridor, then at the remaining students. It wasn't actually a secret, just something they'd not have the students talking about in every corridor. Knowing that something was forbidden or hidden usually provoked many of them to try to get at it and getting caught attempting to steal those books would get them into serious trouble.
"Not quite," he admitted. "Come inside." He waved them into his office and shut the door. "Those books that aren't in the catalogue," he explained sitting down at his desk. "Were removed from the library according to a deal between Hogwarts, the ministry and the Templar order. They were originally supposed to be destroyed as heretic on the order of the ministry, but the Hogwarts librarian of the time objected to burning them for moral reasons. Because the books also represented a financial value the ministry finally agreed to keeping them in the restricted section, but they are practically under the direct control of the Temple. If your book is indeed one of those any request for it must be reported to the Grand Master. I do not want that kind of attention."
"And they probably wouldn't hand it over to you either," Granger stated with a sigh. "At least not if Sir Saint Aignon's attitude represents that of the whole order."
She was quite observant for a thirteen-year-old.
"I advise you not to try and sneak a peek into one of those books either," he warned remembering the long list of offences Mr. Filch kept on the Weasley twins. "The possible consequences of getting caught are far worse than mere expulsion."
"I asked Madame Pince for the book," Blaise admitted his face white with fear. "Do you think they'll come for me now?"
"You asked based on this quote?" Severus pointed at the book Rascal was still holding.
Blaise nodded.
"And did you mention that you thought it was restricted?"
Blaise shook his head. "I said I was researching Helga Hufflepuff and that the book looked like it'd have interesting information."
"Then Madame Pince probably reported just that. It might be a good idea to write an essay about Helga Hufflepuff as a cover and hand it in to Professor Binns for extra credit. You should at least have a first draft ready, if Saint Aignon asks you about it."
"Hand it in to Binns?"
"Yes," Severus confirmed amused at the incredulous look of his student. "The ghost is forgetful enough to make the story credible even if he denies it and if you actually get extra credit for it so much the better." Most likely Binns would confirm assigning the essay rather than admit that he didn't recognise Blaise's name at all and of course the Templar was aware of Binns' habit of confusing his students' names. If he even went so far as to ask Binns for confirmation. Hopefully he had more important things to do than double-check whether an essay he'd already seen was actually assigned.
"So what brings you here then Misters Weasley?" He turned to the twins still hoping to get rid of the other students so he could talk with the kittens in private.
"We," George grinned at him triumphantly. "Are here for detention."
"Here's the slip," Fred added happily. "Mr Filch seems to have misplaced it, but luckily we found it."
"And being the responsible students that we are," George continued. "We came right over for our punishment."
In other words they either wanted an extra lesson or were here to steal potions ingredients, though they might also be looking for an alibi. Unfortunately there were no dirty cauldrons left to scrub. He considered setting them to sort ingredients, but that would make a theft too easy and he didn't have the time to supervise them that closely, so he set them to brewing asthma potion for Fiona in the classroom where they could only get at the students' cupboard as long as he kept the storeroom locked.
As he went to get the required ingredients that weren't available in the classroom his thoughts drifted back to the book Granger and Blaise had been after. If it really was a heretic text in the Hogwarts library, maybe there was a way to find out without anyone noticing. Madam Pince was used to him researching dark spells and potions and trusted him enough to leave him to work on his own or even supervise students there when she was needed elsewhere.
The heretic texts were kept on the last shelf in the back of the restricted section right across from the medieval books most of which were too outdated to be requested frequently. It shouldn't be hard to take a quick glance at the titles under the cover of getting a medieval potions text for academic purposes.
In fact ... Severus smirked to himself. Let's see whether an old spy couldn't trick one closed minded Templar after all. It'd be a small risk, if he played it right.
Firewheel and Luna met up at the bottom of the main stairs exactly at midnight. Despite all her experience hunting and searching for herbs Firewheel was too afraid to sneak into a still unfamiliar forest alone and in the dark. Even just sneaking through the castle to meet her friend was scary enough to make her heart hammer loudly in her ears. Asking Loki or Rascal along had been too embarrassing and would have violated Dustcloud's order not to let Raven or any member of another clan know how she sent her reports.
Taking Luna with her was a risk, but being clanless like herself the younger kitten wasn't technically a member of another clan and as long as she kept her report entirely in German she wasn't giving away any dangerous knowledge. All she'd told Luna was that she was going to send a message to a Catar in Germany. It seemed completely innocent to her. Surely Luna would think they were merely doing it at night and in the forest to make sure they weren't caught by humans.
"Oh Firewheel!" Luna sounded no less nervous than she felt. "I almost ran into Filch on the first floor. I think he'll come down here next. It looked like he was just distracted by chasing the poltergeist."
"Peeves?" Fiewheel asked. "Good, that'll probably keep him busy for a while. Come on."
They tip-toed across the entrance hall and Firewheel pushed the heavy door open just far enough for two slim girls to slip through. It squeaked, but hopefully Filch was too far away to recognise the sound.
The grounds were dark and empty and smelled faintly of freedom and home.
"We should keep to the right," Luna suggested. "That way we won't get too close to Hagrid's hut."
There wasn't even a light in Hagrid's window and Luna's route would take them across the wide open Quidditch field in the light of the full moon, but staying on the pass would take them straight past Hagrid's door and the first trees seemed nearer to the right. As soon as they'd passed the first line of trees they'd be safe from wizards' eyes.
"We'll use the group of trees right behind the Quidditch field," Firewheel decided. "They're closest."
"You do know that there are werewolves in the forest, right?" Luna asked nervously.
"We've got claws," Firewheel returned, but still cast a nervous glance up at the moon above them. A werewolf's drive to attack only reacted to humans, so she'd most likely be safe in her cat-form, but Luna couldn't transform yet and it wasn't unheard of werewolves to risk a fight with a Catar, if they felt in a position to win. She'd have to defend her friend with untried teeth and claws, if she were attacked.
"They probably won't come this close to the castle," Luna reassured herself. "And we're not going far, right?"
"No, not far at all," Firewheel confirmed. Right behind the first trees ought to be enough after all. She didn't want to go further and they both needed their sleep.
She felt much too visible crossing the Quidditch field under the light of the full moon and then a painful howl tore through the silence of the night.
"See," Luna said. "I told you there are werewolves and this one sounds like he's right on the grounds."
"It's an acoustic illusion," Firewheel assured her. "He just sounds closer because it's so silent and we're nervous. The wind blew the sound right at us, that's all."
"Yes, yes of course. That must be it," Luna said, but remained so close to Firewheel that she thought she could feel her shiver.
And were those two heartbeats hammering in her ears?
Firewheel pulled Luna behind the first bush they passed. "Here, this will do. I'll just conjure a water elemental from the snow and give it my message. It won't take more than a minute or two."
In her nervous state it actually took three minutes, but Luna was way too impressed by the advanced magic to criticise. The water element wouldn't have been Firewheel's first choice. She was better at summoning fire elementals, but as Dustcloud had pointed out the firelight was likely to attract attention and, if he didn't happen to have a fire going when she sent a message it would be delayed and no direct exchange would be possible. The best suited element for secret messages would have been air, but Firewheel hadn't yet learned how to conjure an actual elemental from it and just manipulating air would be insufficient for the purpose. So they'd agreed on water. Dustcloud was likely to at least carry a water flask, if he wasn't near a well or lake.
Finally the small winged creature took shape and Firewheel mumbled a hasty greeting before sending it to Germany with a summary of what Raven had told her of the French clans.
"Can we go now?" Luna might have been awed by the appearance of the elemental, but she was also scared and something was snuffling and rattling in the bushes. Firewheel was almost completely sure that it sounded like a hedgehog searching for food, but with the memory of the werewolf's howl every sound was spooky.
"We have to wait for a reply first. He might want to know more."
"About what? How you're doing in school?"
Firewheel winced. "No, it's ... about the cats here, actually. I think it's dangerous knowledge. He said not to tell anyone else."
Luna stared at her wide-eyed, but then the water-elemental was back.
"Diese neuen Katzen sind Kriegsclans?" it repeated Dustcloud's question.
"Ja, Raven sagt, dass sie sogar einen Gegenangriff auf die Templer planen," Firewheel confirmed. Was this it? Had she done well? Would Dustcloud reward her for finding out? Or would he ask for more, for information she didn't have and be disappointed?
The elemental disappeared again, but returned in less than a minute.
"Es ist zu gefährlich," it reported. "Du musst Raven und Greypony töten, damit sie unser Versteck nicht verraten können."
Firewheel's eyes flew wide in horror. "Nein! Das ist Mord! Das kann ich nicht!" Raven had been so kind to her!
The elemental flickered and for a moment she thought it had left to report her refusal, but then it was back and growing into a big shape made of icy water. It reached out with one hand covering her mouth and nose before she fully understood what was happening.
Firewheel tried to scream, to claw at it, but her throat only produced a weak gurgling sound clogged with ice-water, or possibly even ice as it was, and her claws went harmlessly through the liquid body.
"Aaahhhh!" she heard Luna shriek in horror. "No! Let go of her! Help!" It sounded so far away and then everything went black.
Luna's first impulse was to run, but then Firewheel fell to the ground and the horrid monster bent over her clearly trying to drown her. She couldn't leave her best friend to be murdered no matter how horrid the monster. She had to at least try to fight it off. If she could get it to let go of Firewheel, maybe she'd wake up and be able to banish it.
Firewheel's fruitless attempt had proven that claws were useless, but water should respond to her magic, especially if she urged it to follow its natural inclinations. She had no idea how to banish an elemental any more than how to summon it, but her father had taught her how to direct the elements.
She grabbed for all the magic she could reach and directed it to urge the water to flow downward, away from Firewheel. The monster shuddered and flowed back, but didn't show any signs of flowing apart.
"Help!" she called desperately. "Hagrid!" Oh, if they'd only taken the path that led by his hut!
There was a crack and then a splash as what had to be a werewolf threw itself into the water-monster.
She was going to die! There was no way she could beat both of these attackers. Luna screamed in naked terror and all reasonable thought vanished from her brain along with the control of magic she'd been learning since early childhood.
The water-monster disappeared in a flash of uncontrolled magic and the next thing she knew Hagrid was beside them and picking up Firewheel.
"Oh, poor little girl," he said. "But don't you worry. Madam Pomfrey will revive her in a moment, you'll see."
"There was this water-monster," Luna told him as she stumbled along beside him on the way back to the castle. "And a werewolf."
"A water-monster and a werewolf?" Hagrid asked in the calm voice one used with frightened animals. "Oh no, Dumbledore would never allow that."
Professor McGonagall met them at the door. "A water-monster attacked us," Luna told her as well.
"Must have fallen asleep outside and had a nightmare about monsters and wolves, the poor little darling," Hagrid explained to the professor. "Don't know what's wrong with the other one."
"Oh Fiona," McGonagall gently touched her cheek. "Probably an asthma attack. Miss Lovegood must be in shock from seeing her nearly suffocate. That's why she's babbling nonsense."
"No, there was a werewolf," Luna insisted.
"Oh no, dear." That was Professor Sprout. When had she arrived on the scene? And where was Professor Flitwick? Shouldn't her own head of house be here as well? "That wasn't a werewolf. Not this close to the castle. You probably just saw Moony. He's a dog from the village that just looks a lot like a big wolf."
"Oh, poor children," Hagrid sniffled, but didn't stop on his way to the hospital wing. "They must have seen the dog and the poor little girl fainted from fear."
"No, it was the water-monster!"
"Sure," Professor McGonagall smiled sternly down at her. "And it'll make a great story for the Quibbler."
They didn't believe her, but at least Madame Pomfrey got Firewheel to breathe normally again and look a little less pale. Apparently drowning was very similar to an asthma attack, because Madame Pomfrey, too, mistook it for one, but the charms and potion helped anyway.
Luna herself was told to drink a calming drought and then they started asking her questions.
"We," She couldn't tell them that they'd conjured an elemental or that they'd been sending a message to a Catar. "I was going to show Fiona a Skerkuffle. They're these little furry creatures you can only see on snow under the full moon."
Now nobody was going to believe that there was a water-monster out there. She could only hope that it didn't come back. Then again she'd learned from the moment she could talk that hiding any information about Catar was more important than the truth or being believed.
Professor McGonagall was quite content to make up the rest of the story. They'd snuck out, caught a glimpse of Moony the dog instead of the desired imaginary beast, mistaken him for a werewolf and panicked. Fiona's fear had provoked an asthma attack and scared and unable to help her friend Luna had lost control of her magic which had caused the flash that had alerted Hagrid.
The Transfigurations teacher took fifty points each off Ravenclaw and Gryffindor for breaking curfew. Luna sighed and accepted it. She'd suffer for loosing her housemates' points, but there was nothing she could do about it now. At least Firewheel would be fine.
Raven slipped from the scene in the hospital wing as soon as he was sure that Firewheel would live. Much as he worried for his kitten, she was officially a Gryffindor and a stranger. It would seem odd for the head of Slytherin to care. He'd had to stay in the background.
He wished he could have questioned the Lovegood girl, but she wasn't one of his own either, nor was she at all trustworthy. Water-monsters, werewolves and Skerkuffles? He was almost sure that she'd seen Lupin. The werewolf must have decided to stretch his paws on the grounds where it had seemed completely safe with everybody asleep inside and the wolfsbane potion keeping him in control of his body.
What had Firewheel and Lovegood been doing outside in the first place, though and why would Firewheel choke at the sight of a werewolf? Lovegood was the one who had cause to fear an attack, not Firewheel with her agile and well armed cat-form.
Maybe he could catch Poppy before she went back to sleep and ask for a better explanation. That she'd confirmed an asthma attack when she'd been the one to invent Fiona's asthma in the first place was suspicious.
At breakfast the next morning the great hall was buzzing with rumours. There were tales of death eater attacks, of werewolf packs, demons ... Ron Weasley was loudly explaining to the turned backs of his classmates how an army of Catar had attacked Hogwarts in the night when Firewheel arrived at the table.
She'd been planning to sneak in as inconspicuously as possible, but this rumour was just to dangerous.
"Nonsense!" she exclaimed forcing her voice to be loud and steady. "Luna and I snuck out and I had an asthma attack. I was out of potion so Luna had to call Hagrid for help. Then she saw a dog and mistook him for werewolf in the dark. The rest is all made up."
"An asthma attack?" Ron snapped at her. "You lost us fifty points for an asthma attack?"
"It was a serious attack," Neville defended her. "Fiona could have died."
"And what were you doing out there in the middle of the night and without your potion anyway?" Hermione asked. "It's against school rules."
"We just ... You all keep telling me about all those adventures you've had sneaking outside or into the library and the kitchens. Why can't Luna and I have an adventure, too?" It was so unfair to be blamed for sneaking out when everybody else was always boasting about it.
"We don't get caught at it," Harry pointed out.
"And we don't have asthma," Lavender added. "You should have at least remembered to take your potion."
"I did!" Firewheel claimed. "I just didn't realise the vial was almost empty!"
"Well, you should have checked. One always has to be sure one is prepared," Ron lectured. "Responsible people do not lose points for no good reason."
Firewheel hung her head in shame. Now she'd not only lost all her hopes for ever returning home, she'd also lost her human friends. If only she could have told them why she'd really gone outside and what had happened, they'd probably forgive her, but then they'd know what she was and the Templar would come for her. She wasn't sure she could stay silent about the clan, Raven or even Luna under torture.
"And just what is your current total for the year, little brother?" a cheerful voice asked. "Have you passed 200 yet?"
Thank the gods for the Weasley twins and their detention records. The inevitable confrontation between the four Weasley boys was at least going to keep the others' attention away from her for a while. Maybe long enough that she could grab a few slices of toast and make her escape.
"Miss Wheeler? Please follow me."
How did Raven manage to sneak up on her like that? Being soft pawed was one thing, but how was it possible that she never noticed his aura until he was right next to her? If Hermione hadn't assured her that it was impossible inside Hogwarts, she would have be sure that he'd just apparated behind her.
"Yes, Sir." Well, so much for breakfast. She probably deserved to go hungry, though.
"So, what really happened out there yesterday?"
What should she tell him? Dustcloud had forbidden her to let Raven know how they communicated, but then, how obliged was she to follow him anymore?
"I went outside to send a report back to Germany," she began stalling for time. "Your meeting with the French clans was a big event and I thought Lord Dustcloud ought to be informed."
"And you took Luna Lovegood with you?" Raven glared at her.
"I ... It felt unsafe to go alone. I wanted someone to watch for ... I was afraid to be caught by a human. Hagrid or Filch might have been around. So somebody had to watch the path while I talked to Dustcloud."
"A second year Ravenclaw?"
"Well, I couldn't possibly have told a human and Dustcloud had specifically forbidden letting a member of another clan watch, so I couldn't ask Loki or Rascal. Luna is clanless like myself, though. All she had to do was warn me, if she saw anybody. It's not like I was expecting a fight."
Raven tilted his head and closed his eyes for a moment concentrating on something else apparently. Firewheel couldn't tell what. Maybe he'd set some sort of alarm to warn him if anybody approached the door.
"You were going to talk to Dustcloud, not send him a bird," Raven said finally. "How?"
"I ..." Raven was the only adult cat she had left in the world now. She had to tell him. "I summoned a water-elemental. I can summon corporeal water and fire elementals, but wasn't supposed to let you know."
"And then?"
"Dustcloud sent it back to ask whether the French clans were warriors. I told him yes and the elemental came back and said ..." She sobbed. How could this even have happened? How could Dustcloud have ever asked this of her? "It said to kill you and Greypony. I'm no murderer! I kill to eat, but not ... not ..."
"Of course," Raven purred softly.
It was a pleasant and calming sound, but how could he be so relaxed about what she'd just told him?
"You expected it?" she gasped.
"No," he admitted. "But I didn't have a good feeling about Dustcloud from the start and I am a warrior. I was trained to kill in battle, have killed before and have had others try to kill me. In war you get used to the idea."
"I don't want to," she sobbed. "I don't ever want to kill another person."
He nodded. "That's alright. A lot o people feel like that and I always thought you had the talents of a hunter anyway. You should make use of them."
She nodded as well. "I like hunting. Always thought I'd be a hunter someday."
Raven smiled. "Then I don't see what you're worried about."
"It's a bit pathetic, isn't it?" He was a warrior after all.
"Wanting to be a hunter, you mean? Why? It's a vital function for the survival of the clan. Most of the leaders of our clan were hunters, I think."
"But all the current clanmasters are warriors."
"I thought Dustcloud was a hunter," Raven returned still purring. "I know Greypony and Mistwalker are. Stardust probably is one as well. I can ask about the others when I met Mistwalker on the weekend, but I always thought the hunters were the dominant function of this age."
"You became a warrior," she insisted.
"I had the skills for it just like you have the skill for hunting. Besides I got tangled up in a wizarding war s a kitten and the clan had enough hunters at the time. It seemed to make sense to become a warrior then." He gave her an oddly considering look. "It's a different situation now, though. If the clan is to survive, what it needs most now is a hunter. Unfortunately Rascal has shown little aptitude for it."
"I'm sorry," she said, though she wasn't sure what she was apologising for. Maybe Rascal's lack of talent, or perhaps having just the talent Raven needed from Rascal, or maybe she was just apologising for Dustcloud and his lack of basic moral decency. Or perhaps she was apologising for existing. Nobody had ever wanted or needed her, so just why had she been born? "Anyway, I told the elemental that I wouldn't do that and it ... it attacked me. I don't know what happened next. The last thing I remember is Luna calling for Hagrid. Then I woke up in my room and Madam Pomfrey told me to say that I'd had an asthma attack and Luna mistook a dog for a werewolf."
"What became of the elemental?" Raven asked. "Hagrid did mention the ... dog, but not the elemental."
"I don't know. It was drowning me when I blacked out and I never saw a dog."
"He must have tried to help you," Raven explained. "But there isn't much a dog can do to an elemental."
"I suppose Hagrid must have banished it somehow," Firewheel decided. There were wizarding spells for banishment after all, even though she wasn't sure to what extent they were suitable for elementals.
Raven shook his head. "Hagrid doesn't have a wand, nor is he likely to know any advanced magic. He understands most magical creatures well, but elementals are completely outside of his experience."
"Maybe Dustcloud told it to flee, if a wizard showed up. I'll ask Luna what happened."
"Do that. It might return to attack again, if it is still corporeal in our world. And don't summon any water elementals on your own again. In fact, it might be best not to do any summonings at all at the moment. Stay with your wizard friends when you aren't with me or the other kittens. Dustcloud still wants us dead, but he probably won't strike in front of witnesses."
"He'd come here to kill us?" Oh no, no, no! She'd always admired Dustcloud and tried so hard to impress him.
"I doubt it. He seems to be very opposed to travelling. He will try to reach us from afar, probably via elementals as he seems to be in the habit of using them as his tools."
Firewheel shuddered. Somewhere deep inside she'd always expected to be adopted by the clan in the end and now they were out to kill her instead. How could one become a hunter, or anything at all, if there was no clan to hunt for?
"Are you absolutely sure that it isn't a mistake?" Albus asked Sir Fulko once again. This just didn't seem right. "Have you asked Poppy? Maybe she was in the hospital wing on those two Sundays. Or maybe there's a mistake on the list."
"What use is the list, if you aren't going to believe it?" Sir Fulko snapped. "And why would the same girl accidentally be missed twice?"
"Very well, but do talk with Poppy before you alert her parents," Albus insisted. "The Weasley children have always been very diligent church attendees. It seems so unlikely that Ginevra Weasley of all students would skip mass."
The relationship between the Templar and the nurse seemed to have deteriorated to the point that they were no longer talking at all.
"I still insist that ..."
The sudden arrival of Severus Snape saved Albus from the rest of the tirade.
"Oh, forgive me, Sir Saint Aignon, I didn't mean to interrupt," Severus looked so contrite that even Albus almost believed him. "I merely wanted to ask the headmaster's permission to do some research for the order. It can wait."
He wanted permission to research? Severus researched order business without special permissions all the time. Or did he need a reference to gain access to a restricted book in the ministry's library?
"No problem, Severus," he assured the Potions teacher. "We were merely discussing a minor school issue."
"The immortal soul of a twelve year old girl is not a minor issue!" Sir Fulko yelped.
"Sir Fulko, two missed services will not irredeemably condemn the child. If Voldemort takes over, however, a whole generation of wizards might be raised to be heartless murderers," Albus reminded the Templar. "Now, what exactly do you need, Severus?"
"Well, not need precisely, but I think we should take a closer look at the matter of Salazar Slytherin's wand," Severus explained. "As you know Slytherin was a Catar and as Sir Saint Aignon probably knows better than me, Catar do not require wands."
"Yes, Remus informed us of your doubts in that matter," Albus confirmed. "But he also has a point with his own theory that Slytherin may have used a wand to teach human children."
"It is a possibility," Severus allowed. "As is that Voldemort is actually on the trail of some other magical tool of Slytherin's, something that might be a lot more dangerous than a wand that is unlikely to suit him. I have spent some time thinking about the problem since my return from France and remembered that there are some texts written by the founders or people who knew them in person in the restricted section of the library. If Salazar Slytherin had a wand or some more unusual magical tool, there should be mention of it somewhere."
"That is an excellent idea, Severus." Albus beamed at the Potions teacher. "But are you sure that you have enough time for this?"
There was a hint of a dismayed frown on Severus' face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. What was that about?
"Which is why I'd like to ask you for the assistance of Remus Lupin."
Ah, of course, Severus still wasn't entirely comfortable with the werewolf and requesting his help had to rankle.
"Of course, Severus. I'm sure he'll be delighted to help."
"I also wanted to make sure that you are aware that that research will have to include some outright heretic texts and that we can't conduct it entirely in the library."
"You want to remove heretic texts from the library!" Sir Fulko shouted. "That is out of the question!"
"I need to remove some highly restricted texts from the library, preferably to my private rooms where I can research without the risk of students seeing them. This doesn't necessarily have to include the heretic texts. Some of the time I can set aside for my research will be during the normal opening hours of the library. It shouldn't be a problem to arrange it so I can read the heretic texts at the normal study desk in the restricted section, if I save the less risky material to study in my rooms after hours."
Albus had never seen the Templar's face this white before.
"At the same desk as the students! Then anyone studying in the restricted section could see! There' no preventing them from peeking when they're right next to you and even worse they might sneak up behind you and read over your shoulder!"
"Only students who have been granted access to the restricted section," Albus pointed out. "They will be mature young wizards and witches and hard at work on their essays with no time to waste on off topic reading."
"Young souls easily tempted," Sir Fulko countered. "No, no, if you are going to search heretic texts, I insist that you do so only in your rooms and keep the door locked at all times. Only take them out one at a time and make sure they are safely locked away whenever you aren't reading them."
Severus hesitated. "I suppose they should be well protected in the safe I used to hide my Death Eater mask in," he said finally.
"Yes, the Templar agreed. "That should be adequate. Just don't keep them anywhere else."
"Of course. Thank both of you." Severus bowed and slipped out the door again.
Albus smiled happily to himself. Just why did he have the feeling that the Templar had just been masterfully played? Severus hadn't even known that Sir Fulko was in here when he'd arrived and what reason would he have to manipulate Sir Fulko into letting him research Slytherin's wand?
"Very well," Saint Aignon sighed and straightened out his white mantle. "What were we talking about again?"
"I believe you just said you were going to ask Poppy whether Ginevra Weasley was sick on the two Sundays she didn't attend mass." Ah, he almost ought to thank Severus for the timely interruption.
"Fifty points, little one," Cho smiled sweetly at her. "Do you even know how much that is?"
"Yes, Cho," Luna whispered. There was a piece of black string on the carpet right in front of her foot.
"I don't think so," Cho said. She was probably grinning. She usually was when she was using this tone. "Someone who understands that they have lost their house fifty points when they never even gain any, would be sorry and someone who's sorry would do something about it and not just flounce into the common room like any other day. Someone who's sorry looks sorry. Do you think she understands?"
There was indeed something Luna didn't understand, but it wasn't the fact that she had no way in the universe to ever regain fifty points for Ravenclaw. It was how being sorry looked. She was pretty sure that trying to slip through unnoticed wasn't flouncing and that she had to look terribly unhappy. She was sorry, too and if she didn't look it she'd gladly have faked it to prove it, but how did one do that?
"No, not at all, Cho." That was Marietta's voice somewhere to her right. "She's lying."
Maybe if one had to fake sorry, one really wasn't sorry, though? Maybe Cho was right and she ought to be made more miserable than she currently already was. Maybe a normal girl would feel differently.
"Yes indeed," agreed Hecate the fifth year prefect. "She's got to be lying. If she were telling the truth, she'd be able to look us in the eyes."
Luna wondered whether they knew that she just couldn't seem to look up from the floor whenever she was scared of people. Then something inside her just demanded that she curl in upon herself. This probably never happened to normal girls either.
"Maybe she is just ashamed," Marietta theorised. "I'd be ashamed, if I didn't know how much fifty is."
"Oh, but little Loony-girl doesn't know what anything is," Cho returned. "Isn't that right Loony?"
Luna shook her head. She knew how much fifty were, she even knew the names and death dates of the last fifty headmasters of Hogwarts and she bet none of the three older girls did. She also knew that Cho was sleeping with Cedric Diggoy from Hufflepuff and wished she'd dare ask her whether her parents had told her about contraceptive potions. And she knew that Marietta sometimes hid in Myrtle's bathroom to cry over her spots and Hecate's mother wouldn't let her choose her own clothes. She also knew that those things were embarrassing for the girls, though and that they might be ridiculed if others found out, so she never told anyone. She just couldn't. No more than she could have sunk her claws into their flesh until they bled and surrendered. One didn't do that. It would be mean. Good normal girls like Cho, Marietta and Hecate didn't deserve to be treated like that.
A normal girl probably wouldn't feel like that either, nor would a normal cat, but Luna wasn't a normal anything. She was just useless Loony Luna Lovegood and she couldn't fight back. It was wrong, after all.
So she just stood there in the middle of the common room making herself as small as possible and staring at the floor until it was over and the girls lost interest.
If she weren't all frozen in fear, she could run away, up the stairs and into the dorm. The boys wouldn't be able to follow and the older girls rarely entered there, but it was probably very bad behaviour and it belonged to the other girls in her year. Much rather Luna would go somewhere where she could be all alone, where nobody could see her. Her bed at home in her room would be exactly what she wanted. She'd make herself very small and pull the covers all over herself and then she'd sleep and hope to never wake up.
There was no way to go home right now, though and she'd have to come back again anyway. It was only February and she had to attend school until July in three years. At Hogwarts there was no safety or home for a wrong girl like her. One could never be alone here. There was no place that didn't belong to someone else. She just had to live through it. Or make an end, but killing oneself probably hurt and she was too much of a coward anyway.
She'd get to go home for a few days at Easter. That was a short time goal to cling to, if only this situation would somehow pass. It seemed like they'd been talking at her for an eternity.
"Well, you see, little Loony," Cho crooned. "Losing fifty points is a bad, bad thing. We know that's hard for you to understand, but it's important that you do."
"We need to make it more obvious to her," Marietta declared.
"Yes, as responsible friends we have a duty to teach her," Hecate agreed. "Because we care for little Loony, don't we girls?"
"Yes indeed," Cho agreed. "We will have to punish you, because we care. You do understand that, don't you, Loony?"
Luna said nothing. After all what was there to say? They were being friendly, so she couldn't yell at them. They weren't attacking her, so it would be wrong to hex or slap them. The prefects would have the duty to take points and that would only prove that they were in the right and she didn't understand the severity of her transgression.
Oh, if only she hadn't been sorted into Ravenclaw! But then she'd be in another house and would have lost them points, so it wouldn't solve anything either.
A sob escaped her.
"Oh, is little Loony crying again?" Marietta asked. "Are those false tears running?"
Another sob and Luna curled in tighter. Please somebody make them stop. Make it be over already.
For once her pleas were answered. There was the sound of the secret entrance opening up behind her and the noise level in the room suddenly lowered. Someone walked up to them. Luna didn't dare to look up.
"Miss Chang and Miss Dorals, if I could have a moment?" That was Professor Flitwick's voice.
"Is something wrong?" Hecate asked worriedly.
"Wrong? Oh no, I was merely wondering about the Qudditch practise schedule and the Chess club's party."
"Oh that, sure Professor," Cho said. "We'll continue this some other time, Loony."
Relieved Luna nodded, sobbed one last time and fled up the stairs. It had to be her lucky day, because there was nobody in the second year dorm.
Luna threw herself onto her bed, drew the curtains closed and cried for a while until she heard laughter from the corridor. Someone was coming up the stairs. She suppressed her tears right away. If they heard her crying, they'd know she was here. If she didn't make a sound, though, they wouldn't pull back the curtains to check. She knew that from experience.
Whoever it was walked past the door. Luna sat up and pulled in her knees as she listened to their happy voices fade away. How long should she wait until she could be sure it was safe?
She was wearing shoes in bed. She shouldn't do that. It was uncomfortable and would get the sheets dirty.
Very slowly she untied both shoes, loosened them and finally slipped out all the while making sure that she didn't make a sound. Now, where to put them?
There was nobody in the room, so she could just get out of bed, put them away and get back in, but if somebody walked in right then, she'd be caught. If she left them in front of the bed as usual, it would only take a moment and she didn't even have to get out, but then people would see them and know she was in bed. Not that they were likely to disturb her, if they thought she was asleep, but it was a bit too early to sleep.
Very quickly Luna opened the curtains on the side facing away from the door and lowered her shoes down, then pushed them back under the bed. Now they were out of sight, but still readily on hand for tomorrow. She'd just sleep in her clothes tonight, she decided, lay down and closed her eyes.
SupportSeverusSnape - Luna is likely to transform in about a year. The fact that her father sent her to school this year indicates that she hasn't shown any hints of an impending transformation and he doesn't expect it before the summer holidays. He won't let her first transformation happen at school where she might be seen.
anna - Well, with Acornlight and Beavertail we at least have two more of the really important characters on stage. One more pre-planned important character's still missing, but we won't see him for a while, yet.
Shadarus - Holiday Blues has a special place in my heart. For some strange reason there seems to be no category for its kind of fic. I think of it as a 'bedtime story', something sweet you can tell even a very small child before going to sleep without worrying about giving them nightmares.