21 – Laying Low
Security at Hogwarts was increased after the attack, and much to the Twins' chagrin, their father, Artie Weasley, stayed on with his old partners. Harry and Orion seemed pleased, but the Aurors were all constantly alert as well. They turned their classes over to TA's, banned Hogsmeade visits, and thoroughly inspected every shipment coming in by owl. Liam Creevey's owl, Hooter, went on strike. Harry even went so far as to inform Sonny and the House Elves that they were 'free to do what they deemed fit to protect the children' – which was quite dangerous, really, given that the statement was wide open to Sonny's interpretation.
The boys' parents also stayed on, as Orion had expressed concern for their safety as well.
"Absolutely mad, this world of yours," Mr. Gove commented, as the Aurors gathered all the parents to discuss their options that evening. All of the others laughed, and it was genuine laughter. Even the Scotts had to smile a bit.
"Your boy's the Muggleborn, what cooks, isn't he? Or is that the Scott boy?" Mr. Lawrence asked. "Bit of a shock for Laddie, too, when those others flushed him out?"
Mrs. Scott clarified it for him, and even shocked everyone by saying that she didn't care that Ewan was the first non-Slytherin in the history of their family.
"You did a good job hiding Laddie," Mrs. Alcott commented to the Lawrences, "Although it seems the others have accepted him right off now?"
"Unlike his paternal ancestors," Mrs. Lawrence gave her husband a glare, "Our boy is very well behaved."
"Gelded?" Mars wondered.
"Not yet," Mrs. Lawrence grinned. Mr. Lawrence shuddered.
"There've been no conflicts amongst the, ahhh, Scoffers," Orion noted, "Which I have to admit, surprised me. I was sure we'd have trouble between our resident wolf and bear."
"Erik ist not much von a bear," Mrs. Bär noted. "I am just glad zu be away von those awful winters!"
"Where's his father?" Artie asked.
"Werebears usually split up wenn der cub ist old enough zu fend for himself," She shrugged. "We don't mate often, und monogamy ist hardly ein issue. I am nicht sure who his Vater ist, really."
"I say!" Mr. Lawrence beamed at her. His wife slapped him.
"You do realize," Artie Weasley put in, "That you lot could all be in a great deal of trouble for trying to hide your sons' heritages, much less the danger you put them in if some medical emergency had come up?"
Harry kicked Orion's shin under the table. "Some of us should talk," he sniffed.
"We just wanted them to have it easier here than they did at home," Mrs. Lawrence put in, "The other Fauns teased Laddie to no end about his feet, his stubby little tail, his stunted horns, and his tiny little p-..."
"I can image," Mrs. Alcott cut her off, "Poor Garrett had a rough time of it, too, wanting to spend all his time on dry land with the other human boys."
"We didn't even tell Rónán about the outside world until he was six or seven," Mr. Greyson put in. He glanced at the Goves. "It was just too much of a risk."
"It's not your fault, dear," Mrs. Gove patted Mrs. Greyson's hand. "Mag's first letter home was full of worry about how sad your boy was."
"You're taking this awfully well?" She wondered, looking all misty, "Considering your son?"
"As I understand it, Madame," Mr. Gove spoke up, "If it weren't for Mag's ability to change into a wolf now, your boy might be...?"
"I see they told you," Harry glared around the table.
"Sorry," Hagrid mumbled.
"Well if Magnus fancies running about on four feet and having a tail, who are we to stop him?" Mr. Gove laughed.
"Are they all there?" Artie whispered to Orion, tapping his own forehead and jerking his head in the Goves' direction.
"No," Orion sighed without hesitation.
"It's so refreshing to hear that kind of attitude," Mr. Fournier put in, "We did the same with Sebastian, you know, hiding him. And since there weren't any other boy-Veelas around, he was sort of lonely."
"What about that Goblin boy, Professor?" Mars asked, "Where are his parents?"
"Dead, sir," Orion answered, "Ruled accidental, but with as rare as Goblinoid children are, we had to suspect him at first, and we're going to reopen the Geary case files."
"He's got no one to care for him?" Mrs. Gove gasped.
"He's got someone, all right," Hagrid declared firmly.
"Hagrid, why don't we go over it again?" Harry asked.
The half-giant looked away. "Rigel spotted some kinda Cloaking Spell, an' he broke it. Said it were L-Le...ahhh?" Hagrid paused.
"Leprechaun magic," Mrs. Malfoy offered, glancing about the room. About half of the parents were surprised. "Friends," she said more softly, "It's very important for Rigel, and Hogwarts, that this secret not get out. We've already use very special Spells here, but since you've been told by me, you'll know – while no one else here would ever believe it."
"I can imagine!" Mr. Bole gasped, "Shouldn't the Board have expelled him by now?"
"They will not, as they do not know, and are not going to find out," Headmaster Hugo Weasley announced, as he came in, "Sorry to be late. I was on the Floo with Mr. and Mrs. Adams. They are not pleased."
"Isn't that Lucas' housemate?" Mrs. Bole wondered.
Hugo nodded. "And a spoiled rotten little tosser he is! Can't say I'll miss that one."
"Hugo!" Hannah snapped at him, "What a dreadful thing to say! He's just a child!"
"A child with a very dangerous attitude," Orion reminded them, "A century ago, it were families like his that triggered the war. I've read Madame Iceni's reports, as Head of Slytherin House, as well as his progress reports from his classes. He's disruptive, and he's been nothing but condescending and downright mean to...your children," he informed the group. "Keeping him here is a liability, we've decided."
Hugo nodded. "But back to the topic?" He suggested.
"Leprechaun magic," Hagrid resumed. "Rigel busted through it, and tha's when the stranger attacked. Seemed he'd already had a go at Teddy Potter and Rónán. Rigel took him on, give as good as he got, too! Then Lucas an' Rhys dived in ter the fray!"
"What about the others?" Mrs. Bole asked.
"Ain't none o'them no match fer Leprechaun magic," Hagrid reminded her.
"But an Elvin blade and a Goblin ax?" Mr. Bole reminded her as well.
"Firsties 'er not, one Leprechaun ain't up ter standin' up to a mad an' armed Goblin an' a Sprite together!" Mrs. Malfoy nodded, "Not wieldin' blades!"
"Another reason we've kept a close eye on them," Harry put in, "Some of these boys have some pretty special abilities, I'll grant that. But it seems that the natural tendencies to be enemies are absent in these boys?"
"Magnus did write us about how upset he was about the treatment of the not-quite-human students here – himself included," Mr. Gove pointed out.
"I'm sure that by now, you'll understand why we had to keep such a close watch on them," Harry repeated.
"Does this all have something to do with Rigel Malfoy's Leprechaun heritage?" Mr. Scott asked. They all looked at him. "Old family, remember? The Scotts have had a dealing or two with the Wee Folk in ages past. I'm rather disturbed at the insinuations here that the Leprechauns might be coming after all of us!"
"We believe the attack were directed Rigel," Orion explained, "To break up his group of friends and the special magic between them. Rónán was the first, easiest target."
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Fournier asked. "And how did they get out, anyway? Where were the adults?"
"It's not like I could'a stopped 'em, Madame," Hagrid explained, "Hogwarts ain't no prison, and by the time I could'a alerted the staff, they'd'a been gone! What were I s'posed ter do, shoot Sebastian down? Hell, we jus' got him all patched up again!"
"Your boys deserve medals, not this," Mrs. Scott cut in, glancing at the Boles and Fourniers. "They saved Ewan's life."
"One wonders that you're not more upset?" Hugo had to ask of them.
"Accidents happen," Mr. Scott waved it off, "And as for the mixed-blood thing? Who cares? Hell, Ewan's last letter asked if there was any way he could infect himself with something!"
"He DID NOT?!" Mr. Greyson gasped. "I can assure you that my son..."
"Would neither bite anyone, nor share the emergency potion, unless it were a matter of life and death," Hugo interrupted him. "But as the Professor was saying, Rónán was out and about, due to his condition, thus making him the perfect candidate to be attacked."
"But I don't think the first," Harry cut in. They all looked at him. "I've had Ewan's runaway broomstick analysed. Someone used some powerful dark magic on it to send it out of control. Powerful enough to slip by the wards."
"Or placed here, inside them," Artie mused. "I think we've become too complacent in the last century, mates," he added.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Mrs. Gove said, "Are you saying that someone is trying to murder the Hufflepuff boys, because they're not all human?"
"In part," Orion nodded, looking to his wife, who by now, had dropped all her Glamour Charms and was looking rather Leprechaun-like.
"When the Goblin boy broke tha spell what were concealin' me boyo," she said, her accent thickening, "Word were out that Rigel were half-Leprechaun. We had ter cover it up, but it got out in the Realm too, I think. Now, Rigel weren't too popular there, back home, either. He's a Hufflepuff, a half-blood, raised as a human, and he's also the next in line to be the Leprechaun King. Someone don't like that!"
They all just stared at her, but each of them understood what she must be going through – having to hide her son's heritage.
"If the boy would be King," Mars then wondered aloud, "Why has your Court not come to take him, then, Madame?"
"They can't," Mrs. Malfoy shrugged, "Hence the attacks."
"Isn't he a bit young?" Mrs. Scott wondered.
"In human terms, yes. In Leprechaun terms, no. Keep in mind, the current King, Deo, is nigh a t'ousand, in tha Realm!" She reminded them.
"What could possibly stop the Leprechaun Court, then?" Mrs. Bole wondered. "The last time the Goblins tangled with your people, it wasn't pretty? Why don't they just come and get him – that's what I don't understand?"
"Tha's what someone just now tried ter do. Rhys' ax and Lucas' sword turned that Curse," Hagrid reminded them, "An' that fella weren't playin', neither! He were aimin' ter kill!"
"When Rigel was exposed," Orion proceeded, with a nod from his wife, "It was pretty much decided by both sides that he'd have to leave Hogwarts. Policy dictates that Leprechauns are not allowed, since the fiasco with King Deo when he was a boy here. In fact, we've not had a Centaur since, either, when all the non-and-part-humans left."
"You do us honour," Mars nodded.
"As do you, sir," Orion agreed, "But, Rigel didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay here, with his friends. And his friends wanted him to stay. That was when the Dumbledore Theory kicked in, for lack of a better term. And that's why they can't take him."
"What's that?" Mrs. Fournier wondered.
"Simply put," Harry explained, "Albus Dumbledore believed that there is a magic in children, not like the usual run of the mill magic that we teach for daily use. He also believed that there is a special magic in love, and when combined with that of a child, it is a force that cannot be overcome. Lord Voldemort found this out the hard way – first when he tried to kill me as a baby," Harry (Henry) shuddered inwardly, "And next, when Orion's grandfather, Draco Malfoy, was similarly protected by his own mother's offer of sacrifice when she lied to Voldemort. Compounding that was that she did it for my sake as well as that of her own son."
"Basically, it put up a shield of sorts," Orion continued, "The Leprechauns can't take Rigel by force, and he won't go willingly. The logical conclusion is to break that shield, and that means doing in his friends, one by one, until the power weakens. It would follow, logically, that with his friends gone, Rigel would be either so depressed, or so angry at the human world, he'd willingly leave."
"I would imagine," Mrs. Scott put in, "That even if they succeeded in getting to all of the boys, if Rigel survived, that his love would survive with him?" She paused. "And if I recall my lore correctly, an angry Leprechaun, especially one who isn't in full control of his faculties, isn't something you want?"
"More likely, Rigel would be out for vengeance on the Leprechauns who did it," Artie mused.
"Not a chance we want to take, in either direction," Hugo shook his head. "For now, the boys are happy here, and it's clear that the Dumbledore Theory is in full effect. However, we are faced with the conundrum of what to do when the boys have to leave the school?"
No one had an answer for that one.
"Well, I'd say you'd have to find the culprit, wouldn't you?" Mr. Gove put in.
"Or, exclude Rigel from the royal line of succession," Artie offered.
"Which is what the boys had planned when they sent that Elf to get his records," Orion snapped his fingers, "Connected?"
"Maybe," Harry nodded.
"Sonny would never help to harm Rónán," Mrs. Greyson said harshly.
Hugo and the others exchanged looks. Hugo nodded, but said nothing.
"To be the Leprechaun King," Mars offered, "As we understand it, the Prince must be proven potent, and capable of siring offspring, correct?"
"Rigel is a bit young fer that," Orion blushed a bit.
"Don't say it," Venus grabbed her husband's beard and yanked on it.
"We have a good idea who the culprit is, at least, one of them," Orion said, hoping to change the subject.
"There could be others, but we have to get a hold of this one first," Harry went on, "And that's not going to be easy."
Just then, they all felt a slight tremor. A bit of dust fell from the ceiling. A Patronus then appeared in the doorway – a wolf.
"Rigel's awake, and he's pissed!" The wolf said in Teddy Lupin's voice. "We could use a few more wands, and his mother up here!"
Mrs. Malfoy vanished in a swirl of pale green light.
"That's another reason Hogwarts doesn't like Leprechauns, they can Apparate around, once inside the wards!" Hugo informed them, as the teachers and Aurors headed for the Hospital Wing, leaving the confused parents with Hannah.
"Do you think this means our boys will be recovering soon?" Mrs. Gove asked.
"I think so, dear," Hannah smiled at her, I hope, she thought.
"Petrify him, before he hurts himself!" Madame Pomfrey was shouting at Teddy Lupin, who was, in fact, trying his best to do just that.
Rigel Malfoy was standing on his bed, wrapped in a sheet, and spouting profanities that had made the male portraits laugh, and the lady portraits flee! His face was flushed, he was sweating and shaking, and his eyes were wide.
They were pale blue, however, and his ears were round. He looked very much like the small and sickly boy that Magnus had met on the platform, and not like a Leprechaun at all.
Still, he was tossing out bursts of random magic, sputtering pale green little bursts that were enough to keep Madame Pomfrey and Teddy at bay.
"RIGEL OSSIAN MALFOY!" Mrs. Malfoy snapped at him, upon appearing at his bedside.
Rigel paused, looked at her, and then laughed. Then his eyes went wide again, and he seemed terrified. Then he froze, blinked, and fell back over in bed. "Bring me a beer, woman!" He giggled, as he seemed to fall back to sleep.
"W-what was that?!" Teddy sputtered, as Madame Pomfrey began scanning him with her wand.
"There's an odd reading in his brain chemistry," said observed, "High levels of what seems to be ergotamine with traces of lysergic acid! Vasoconstriction is setting in," she noted his hands and feet going blue, as the boy began to tremble with a seizure. "It looks like ergot poisoning!"
"Ergot fungal poisoning?" Mrs. Malfoy gasped, "That'll kill him!"
"What's that?" Teddy asked.
"Not if I can help it," Madame Pomfrey snapped, flicking her wand at the cart. As she immobilized the boy, a thin latex feeding tube snaked its way up his nose. She checked it, then began pumping a Mandrake Draught through it. "Teddy, get that alcohol from Hagrid! I'll want to test it! Ergot is a fungus that grows on cereal grains, and can cause symptoms like this, even death!"
"Isn't it rare, then?" Teddy wondered, "Bezoar?"
"Couldn't hurt," the Mediwitch summoned one, reduced it, then shot it through the feeding tube.
"Yes, especially rare in winter," Madame Pomfrey snorted. "Rigel said he hadn't been feeling right since the last cake party, either."
"You believe he was poisoned?" Hugo asked, as the others arrived, and Orion rushed to his son's side.
"He had to have been," Harry said, studying Hagrid's brew with Teddy. They scanned it, mixed a bit with some various solutions, did a potions charm to separate the ingredients, and declared it safe. They had both had a nip. "This stuff's all clear!"
"Good stuff, too," Teddy commented.
"The groceries that Magnus accidentally summoned?" Orion asked weakly, taking his son's hand. The seizure had stopped, and Madame Pomfrey started him on a very sugary solution too. She set up his sunlamp again, and put his privacy screen back up.
"The groceries had to come from somewhere," Harry nodded.
"Probably somewhere in tha Realm, if'n tha boy summoned 'em!" Mrs. Malfoy said darkly, turning to Madame Pomfrey. "Ergot's nothin' fer tha Wee Folk ter mess around with, don't'cha know?!"
"Let's check the other boys," Madame Pomfrey agreed, "Of course it won't hurt Rhys, but anyone who ate any of that cake should be checked! In fact, you'd all have to be symptomatic by now?" She wondered, whipping her wand around in scans. "And you're not." She snapped her fingers. "But that one cake made Lucas Bole sick, and Sprites are normally as resilient as Goblins when it comes to food toxins!"
"Rotten luck, isn't it, that Rigel got the cake with a high concentration of ergot in it?" Mrs. Malfoy wondered.
"Traces in the Lawrence boy's system," the Mediwitch observed, "But it looks like his other stomach has killed it!"
"What about Aries?" Orion asked, "We don't want Mars angry at us!"
"No chance of danger," Madame Pomfrey shook her head, "Not with as complex a digestive tract as he's got!"
"Treat them all, just to be safe," Hugo decided, staring at Rigel, who was now sleeping again. "He looks positively human!" He gasped.
"Yes, he's run his magic almost completely out," Orion muttered, "Seen it before. He'll be back to normal in a few days, I'll wager, if I know the MacPherson constitution?" He smiled. "In the meantime, let's get him pumped full of his 'bad habits' to regenerate him."
"If he lights a pipe in here, he's done!" Madame Pomfrey warned them.
"Can't keep a good Leprechaun down!" Mrs. Malfoy laughed, but then she turned serious again. "Husband, I'll be off ter tha Realm now. I've got some old drunken sots ter chase down and flog a bit fer answers!"
And with that, she vanished.
"You didn't tell her yet?" Artie asked his cousin.
"No," Orion shook his head, "Would you?"
"Hell no!" Harry smirked, "You married her, remember?"
By the next morning, the rest of the boys were awake again. When they were finally coherent, and over the shock of meeting each others' parents, they all told the same story: a man in black had tried to kill Rónán and Teddy Potter – a man that was apparently using Leprechaun magic and knew that Rigel was the Prince.
"Would you know him if you smelled him again?" Harry asked.
"No, all Leprechauns smell tha same," Teddy informed them. "No offense. I think it's a defense mechanism against werewolves, actually."
"None taken," Rigel groaned, "Not that I fit tha bill right now." He looked over at Magnus. "You look all right in fur, you know!"
Magnus blushed a bit, looking nervously at his parents.
"Absolutely smashing!" His father congratulated him, and that made it all right again.
Of all the boys, Rónán was the most badly off, though. He didn't even remember the forced changes he'd endured, nor being magically shocked back to life during the first. He kept drifting in and out of consciousness, and despite being dosed on pain medications, he still whimpered.
"Technically, you can't consider a natural werewolf dead until the morning sun hits him, and he doesn't move," Teddy pointed out. Madame Pomfrey smacked the back of his head and threw him out.
"You're not helping!" She called after him.
"Y-you guys c-came for me?" Rónán asked in a very small voice, looking around at all his friends.
They all nodded. "You are Deartháir," Rigel told him.
"We needed a canine nose attached to some human intelligence," Magnus shrugged, "I was the best choice, after all," he held up his scarred arm, which wasn't so scarred anymore.
Rónán completely lost it.
From the portrait of a waiting room hung on the far wall, Albus Dumbledore glanced at his friends and smiled.
"Oh, I may vomit," Snape grumbled.
It was also clear that the other students weren't taking it well at all. Even the First Year girls, some of who were still a bit leery of the part-human boys, were showing signs of acute anxiety. Aaron Jordan and Fiona Finnigan refused to leave Gryffindor Tower, and Wilson and Greene Minor of Ravenclaw were found hiding under a sink the kitchen. Connor Poynter's nervous collapse had gotten everyone's attention, too, and he was just as badly off as the others.
But it wasn't limited to the Firsties. Even older students were showing signs of stress, and Madame Iceni was stunned when an alarm went off on her private potions stash.
"Someone's stolen a bit of Amanita Muscaria mushroom," She informed the Aurors, "Which means that we have a student either wanting to get high, or to finish off a batch of Veritaserum. Given it was one small cap, I'd vote the latter."
"Anyone good enough to brew it?" Artie Weasley asked.
"Several," Madame Iceni nodded, "If Rigel Malfoy were mobile, I might suggest that he ate it, being a Leprechaun."
"I do love a good porcino, sauteed in butter," Artie mused.
"Porcini would poison Rigel," Madame Iceni explained, "His physiology is different, recall. Never eat mushroom pizza with a Leprechaun; they're likely to have it topped with Amanitas – Muscaria, Death Caps, Destroying Angels, they're all like candy to a Leprechaun. That's why he peed so much when he first got here – trying to hide his heritage. His blood sugar was far too low, his blood chemistry out of whack, much like Muggle diabetes in reverse."
"Well, truth serum loose in a school can't be a bad thing," Orion had to concede.
They got their answer soon enough, though, from Brian Bott, the Slytherin Prefect. The boy turned in a full batch of a perfect NEWT level Veritaserum potion, minus three drops, to Madame Iceni during a visit to Hospital to see the boys. In fact, he wasn't the only one, and Madame Pomfrey was soon forced to give up on trying to keep the well-wishers out.
"I will trust you on this one," the Potions Mistress told her student discretely, "Although it pains me to know that you think you might have to use it on someone?"
"As Prefect, and senior member of Slytherin House, Madame, it's only logical that I be prepared to do what you – as a teacher – cannot do. If I have to, that is," Bott justified it. "Frankly, Professor, I'm well off. Expulsion means nothing to me at this phase. What does mean something to me is that someone with access to this school wants to kill those boys, and Merlin help him if we find him! Greene Minor's so terrified that he can't get out of his brother's shadow, and while we don't mind having them, we can't keep the Ravenclaws forever, you know!"
"You're going after someone in our House, aren't you?" She asked. "And this isn't the first batch you've made?"
Bott nodded.
"How many so far?" She sighed.
"Twenty-two tested. Quincy is in love with you, Miss. Smith's gay, Peterson cheated on his Second Year Potions final, I've uncovered dozens of pranks, harmless, Robertson hoards pastries in his trunk, and..."
"Stop!" She held up her hands, "Quincy?! He's thirteen!"
"I'm sure it's just a crush, Miss," Bott blushed a bit.
"Cease and desist," she ordered him.
"You don't want to hear what Adams had to say?" Bott asked.
She paused. After a moment, she nodded.
"He thinks it's funny," Bott said softly, glancing at the boys, surrounded by their parents. "As Prefect, I'm ashamed of him, Professor. I want him gone. We've had a Prefects' meeting with the Head Boy and Girl, and we've all agreed. That's why I slipped some of the first brew of Veritaserum to him first. He's a liar, cheat, bigot, bully, conceited, arrogant..."
"I get the idea," Madame Iceni sighed, "Every now and then, you find a bad egg, as Magnus would say."
"I miss him," Bott admitted. "Those biscuits he makes are worth losing the House Cup over in points!"
"Tell me," she agreed, "I've gained five pounds since he got here!" She glanced over at the Hufflepuffs as well. "Why don't you go talk to him?"
"B-but, Miss MacMillan is with him now?" Bott fumbled.
Madame Iceni smiled. "Go and talk to them, then!"
For the next few weeks, the boys laid low. Madame Pomfrey was reluctant to discharge them, especially Rónán, but they were finally carried back to the Cellar where they could catch up their studies in peace, along with some private tutoring. It was nearly December first, and nearing the next full moon, when they finally felt up to making something again. Connor and Lucas, however, remained in Hospital. Madame Iceni had her suspicions as to why, but no one mentioned it. Still, with a bit of help from Sonny and his friends, Common Rooms were soon awash in cream-filled Fairy Cakes again.
While the boys were laying low, it didn't take long for the school to acclimate to the increased security. As soon as he was well enough, Teddy Potter joined them, and soon became very popular with the students. For some odd reason, the idea of having a very angry, self-aware werewolf patrolling the grounds at night made everyone feel safer. The Centaurs even mobilized, although no one ever saw them, blending into the greenery perfectly.
Without anyone really realizing it, Hogwarts had indeed come under siege again.
The next full moon came, and both Rónán and Magnus changed. While Rónán was ready for it, the one requisite 'hard change' knocked Magnus down badly. This upset Rónán terribly, and Hagrid, who stayed up all night with the small wolves. Despite both Teddys assurances to the Goves that he wouldn't have to endure a 'hard change' again, it was little comfort. Mrs. Gove ended up in Hospital, and Mr. Gove was treated for shock upon seeing his son's horrific transformation. Magnus' dog Blackie, however, brought in by Hannah, was delighted.
Two days later, Aidan Adams was formally expelled.
Everyone watched him go, dragging his trunk behind him down the way in the snow towards the front gates to meet his parents.
"Leave it to Addie to ruin the first snow of the year," Rigel snorted, running a hand through his thick, coppery hair. He's been hard at all of his 'bad habits', and was again looking like the picture of health – for a Leprechaun.
"I don't think I'm up to sledding yet, guys," Rónán said, as this was their first day out of bed, and most of them honestly felt like going straight back to it.
"Where will he go?" Magnus asked.
"Probably Durmstrang," Erik guessed.
"He wanted to go there to start with," Connor offered.
"Well, I wish him all the best, and hope he's happy!" Rigel declared. "Don' go 'way mad, jus' go away!" He laughed.
They watched as Adams boarded a coach with his parents, and drove off. The ex-Slytherin never even looked back.
Magnus sighed.
"It's not like you didn't try, Mag," Ewan comforted him, "I guess there's some things even dessert can't fix."
"Dessert!" Magnus snapped his fingers, grabbing Rigel's sleeve. "Let's go over all this again, mate! Are you feeling lucky enough to write a letter?"
"Fetch your owl!" Rigel grinned at him.
Back in the Cellar, the boys and their friends all met in the Common Room to discuss their plans.
"You want to write a letter to the Leprechaun King?" Connor gasped.
"Oh, we love getting mail, and presents," Rigel informed them. "And he's my grandfather, you know."
"Great-something, and you've never even met him!" Aries reminded him.
"He'll love me," Rigel shrugged.
"HE might be the one trying to murder us," Magnus wondered.
"Doubtful," Lucas shook his head, "If he wanted to retire, and there's no one else to take the job, why murder the Heir?"
"Makes sense," Aaron nodded.
"Not bad for a human," Aries smiled at him, which was ironic, since his horse-half was hidden by a divan and he looked perfectly human at first glance. "You should send him a gift, too, with the letter. Something from us, something he'll appreciate?"
"What do Leprechauns like?" Greene Minor asked, still staring around the Hufflepuff chambers in fascination.
"Something funny, but something of value," Rigel wondered, "Goblin-crafted stuff is nice."
"A battle helmet?" Rhys suggested.
"Might convey the wrong idea," Garrett disagreed. "No weapons."
Then Rigel laughed. "I know! A gold letter opener! We can seal it up in the letter!"
"Leprechauns are that easily amused?" Aries wondered.
Rhys ran to get a butter knife, and set in to transfiguring it. As it was simply reshaping metal, it would hold forever. Rigel got a small bar of gold from his trunk, which Rhys incorporated into it as a shamrock on the handle. Then he ran his nails over it, sharpening it. The boys all cringed.
"Mount a nice citrine gem in it," Cedric suggested, "A nice yellow one!"
When they were finally done, Rigel set in to composing the letter:
"Dear King Deoradhán, … think I should just put 'Grandfather'?" Rigel asked.
"NO!" They all snapped.
They worked on the letter all afternoon, which was, pretty much, buttering up the King and telling him how great he was and asking that he come for cake. Rigel closed it with 'your grandson, Rigel Ossian Malfoy."
"Now, can you get Auguste into the Realm?" Magnus asked.
"No problem," Rigel assured them, as they were surprised to see it was evening already when Sonny opened the bay doors. Auguste sat on Rigel's shoulder, then they both seemed to phase a bit. Bits and pieces of them vanished, returned, and others vanished. Then they both vanished! Rigel returned alone in a second.
"Pity, it's nice and sunny and warm in the Realm," he lamented. Then he swooned a bit. "I think I'll take dinner in bed," he rubbed his head. "That kinda hurt."
"You think he'll come?!" Wilson gasped. "Here?!"
"Sure he will! No self-respecting Leprechaun will pass up free COG cakes and beer!" Magnus smiled. "Will he?"
"He'll come," Rigel mumbled, stumbling off towards their room.
"I don't feel so good either," Rónán complained. "You guys tell Uncle Teddy I'm going back ter bed?"
"You want anything?" Magnus asked.
"A raw Porterhouse steak would be good," Rónán smiled, and Magnus had to agree.
They ate in the Common Room, parents included, and no one was surprised to see Magnus eating his meat raw. In fact, it was very fresh. "I say, son, I think Madame Pomfrey could probably get that old cow back on her feet again, what?" He laughed. "You know, these sprouts are excellent!"
"Who do you think taught us hows to cooks it?" Sonny smiled, dashing about the kitchen, "We was boiling them, but Mags says to steam them with seas salts and trim the little stemses off! And butters, fresh butters, and coarse black pepperses!"
"They are just excellent," Mr. Lawrence commented, and from a Faun, that was a high compliment.
"So how long are we in residence?" Mrs. Alcott asked, running a hand over her son's thick, blue-black hair. "You could use a swim, young man," she added.
"I just wanna go back ter bed," Garrett whined.
"You need to have some good raw fish, and a week in the North Sea," his father reminded him. "But I suppose we can settle for a bathtub and canned sardines? And you," he pointed at Sonny, "Look at him! There's hardly any fat on him! He'll freeze!"
"Daaaaad," Garrett whined, but the other parents all understood.
"Is there anything you need, child?" Mrs. Gove asked Rhys, having taken the orphaned boy in hand. Rhys yawned, which was a startling sight.
"No, Ma'am, thank you," He said softly, leaning on her shoulder and closing his luminous eyes.
"He's just adorable," she whispered, "And so are you, son!"
"Mum!" Magnus gasped in embarrassment.
"Probably the fangs," Aaron reminded him, and Magnus covered his mouth.
After Mr. Gove's dessert of cherries jubilee, which was the high point of the night, the little inter-house dinner party broke up as the boys turned in early. As Blackie the shepherd joined his boy in bed, Magnus wondered when King Deoradhán would write back.
He just hoped that the Leprechaun King wasn't offended.
Surprisingly, the boys got their answer the very next day! Auguste returned at breakfast with a green envelope, which got everyone's attention. Just like a Howler, the green envelope floated in front of Rigel and stuck its tongue out at him. "Good luck a'gettin' ME open!" It teased him, before falling into his syrup-drenched porridge.
"Go n-osclaí sibh, le do thoil!" Rigel asked it.
"What did you say?" Ewan asked anxiously.
"I asked it to open up, please," Rigel shrugged, as the letter opened its flap and laughed at him. Rigel pulled out a very nice piece of parchment and blinked at it a few times. The boys gathered 'round.
"Aw, it's written in Leprechaunese!" Ewan groaned.
"It's ancient Gaelic, actually," Aries peeked at it. "Makes sense to me."
"Well, wha's it say, then?" Magnus asked.
Rigel scanned the letter, alternating from frowning to smiling.
"You can read that?" Connor wondered.
"'course I can," Rigel replied, without looking up. "It says he'll come 'round midnight, maybe a minute to, on the fourteenth.
"Day before holiday break!" Sebastian pointed out.
"So what else does he say?" Rónán asked, clearly awed.
"Some of it's personal," Rigel replied, blushing a bit, "But he's amused at how to get in!"
"He should be!" The Twins laughed.
"Says he's looking forward to meeting us and having a scoff. He thinks it's a 'novel idea'," Rigel said, "Of course, he wouldn't pass up a good homemade cake, you know." Then he snorted, "And he wants to discuss the Succession!"
"Which gives us a few days to study up and try and get you out of it," Lucas reminded him. "I'm sure there's a way."
"Well, there is one surefire way," Aries commented, as he finished off his fruit plate.
"What's that?" Rónán asked.
"Geld him," Aries shrugged, "A simple Vanishing Spell should do it."
They all just stared at him in disbelief. Rónán got up and left, still limping a little.
"Erm, no!" Rigel shuddered.
"I think we'd better get to those family records and get some DNA tests," Magnus suggested.
"Good idea, after class," Harry informed them, nodding to Rigel, who was looking strangely at the letter.
"GET DOWN!" Rigel then shouted, and the boys dived under the table.
The letter exploded in a puff of smoke, emitting a shower of confetti and golden coins that vanished when they hit the floor. As it all vanished, the Hall filled with exuberant laughter. "Made ya duck!" A voice snickered.
"Typical," Harry rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just rent a billboard?" He snapped at Rigel.
"No one's gonna notice, remember?" Rigel reminded him, "Luck an' all?"
Harry sighed and stalked off.
"Could be a long day," Rhys predicted. "You gonna finish that porridge?" He asked Rigel.
It was indeed a long day. Classes seemed to drag on, and the boys spent their evening moaning about end of term homework and prepping for finals. When the dishes were finally done, and the Hall cleaned, they dove headlong into Rigel's family history.
"OK, for starters," Magnus asked, "Leprechauns have two sex chromosomes, right?" He glanced up from the very overdue book on magical genetics that Rigel had borrowed from the Library, and made a mental note to bribe Madame Hicks off with a Spotted Dick in custard.
"Yes, they do," Sebastian confirmed, his nose stuck in Leapin' Leprechauns. "Just like humans, an X from the mother, and an X or Y from the father."
"We can rule out the Malfoys, then," Aries observed, "As Rigel is a boy."
"Still," Rónán shivered, "What is it with your people and the n-word?!"
Aries shrugged. "Population control, as well a matter of custom and deep personal beliefs. One must never trample on the customs of other races," he said seriously. "I am sorry it it bothers you, but it is an option."
"No, it's NOT! Trust me!" Rigel assured him, "No offense. I'm sure your herd has some very nice geldings," He added quickly, "But Leprechauns don't observe that custom. They much prefer pranking, for one."
"I understand," Aries grinned, "But when a race is so very long-lived, one has to wonder that they never adopted the practice, and still have so many offspring?"
"The Realm is boundless, almost," Rigel reminded him, "In fact, it's as big as the Earth is, only in another dimension, so it's not like we'll overpopulate it."
"OK, Rigel's Y-gene came from Professor Malfoy, Orion on the chart, and that came from his daddy, Scorpius," Rónán read aloud from the album, "From there, it was Draco Malfoy, then Lucius, then Abraxas, so that's all human."
"Pureblood old wizards," Rigel sighed, "No offense," he offered to Ewan, "They used to be fanatical about that. Grandfather Lucius would probably hate me, if he was still around."
"No one could hate someone so cute!" Miss MacMillan put in, as she came in to check on them. "Are you OK, Rónán?" She ruffled his hair, offering them some Every Flavor Beans.
"Yes, Miss, thank you," Rónán rolled his eyes after she left.
"What's with her?" The boys all asked.
"She's been all-over weepy around me ever since we got hurt," Rónán explained, "I swear, between her and Sonny, I'm going mad! I'm just a bit sore is all!"
"You shouldn't still be sore," Magnus told him.
"I know," Rónán conceded, "Can we get on with it?"
"She's seeing Bott, you know," Sebastian said in a dreamy tone.
"Turn it off, Precious, and let's study my X gene," Rigel suggested, pulling a face.
"That came from your mum," Ewan said, "And she's a half-blood too?"
"Yes," Rigel agreed, making a note on his family tree copy. He had himself listed as "Xy", with the 'y' being a lowercase black letter. "The book says her X genes, since girls have two of those, are one Leprechaun gene, and one human gene." He wrote down a capital L in red and a lowercase x in black. "So, being a half-blood Leprechaun, I have to have her Leprechaun gene for my x." He wrote down a red L, making himself an "L-y".
"So your little brother, Aldebaran, got her human X gene, and he's fully human?" Rónán asked. Rigel nodded. "And Helene?"
"Is fat," Rigel retorted with a grin, "But no, human too."
"Right then, on to Mrs. Niamh Malfoy's parents," Aries noted, "Says here, her mother is fully human, and her father is a pure-blood Leprechaun?"
"Right," Rigel agreed, "So we don't care about Gran's genes, let's go for Grandfather MacPherson's genes."
"The red L came from him, then, since your mum's mum has two human x's," Ewan seemed to struggle with it, "This is harder than history," he grumbled, "And you don't care about his y, right? So Grandfather Mac has the same L that you and your mum do."
"Brilliant," Rónán agreed.
"So," Magnus decided, "That red L gene had to come from the old man's mum, then. What about her?"
"Pureblood Leprechaun," Rigel pointed it out, "Could be either of her folks."
They had the chart made up with Rigel being a red L-black y. His mum was a red L-black x. Her mum was 'xx', which wasn't relevant, as she was human. Her father was listed as red L-green y, Grandfather MacPherson. Things got complicated, though, with Great-Gran MacPherson, who had two more X genes that were pure-blood Leprechaun.
"What a mess," Aries sighed. "Is there a test that Madame Pomfrey can do to analyse your X gene, and compare it to the King's? We know you do not have his y gene."
"Yes!" Rigel gasped, "That'd really simplify it!"
"Yeah, seeing as how we've got L's in red, green, and yellow now," Ewan sighed, "Grandfather MacPherson's folks really complicated things."
"Be glad my folks waited so many years to have kids," Rigel laughed. "I still can't believe none of my hundred uncles and cousins want the job, though?"
"Gelding," Aries mumbled with a shrug, "would have cut that number down."
"NOT funny!" Rónán reminded him. "I'm sorry, Aries, custom or not, it freaks a canine out!"
"All right, then," Magnus spoke up, changing the subject, "We'll ask King Deoradhán if we can test him, then compare Rigel's DNA. That will tell us if he can be the Heir or not. I'm sure he'll help us."
"'course he will, after the cake, and after we get him drunk!" Rigel laughed. "Then we can put all of this behind us!"
"And maybe he knows who wants ter kill us!" Ewan put in.
"Oh, yeah, forgot about that," Rigel groaned.
Notes:
wiki/Ergot – about ergot fungus
easy to copy words:
Rónán
King Deoradhán
Bär
Alistair Wilson – RC1 + Jeremy? + Rhys and Garrett
Taryn – Humphreys' brother, Welsh, RC6, organist
Eachan – Celtic word, "little horse"
Deartháir – Gaelic for 'brother'
King Deoradhán
MacMillan should be 'Macmillan', but who cares?
Ambasadóir – Gaelic for 'ambassador'
Mamaí – Gaelic for 'mom'
Khaavolaar – Goblin profanity
"Honorary Hufflepuff – Hard Work/Best Friends"
Greene Minor – RC1 (Jeremy)
Green Major – S7 (Jeffrey)
Siblings at the same boarding schools are generally referred to as "major" and "minor" in favor of their names.
black kyloe coos – Scottish highland cattle