5 February 1994
Geoff looked up at the knock on his office door and was mildly surprised to see an exceptionally frazzled-looking Hermione standing in the doorway, a large bag slung over one shoulder and a heavy tome held in her arms. "Miss Granger," he said, "not going to the match?"
"No, sir," she said, sitting in one of the winged armchairs in front of his desk. She gingerly set the large book she carried on a clear spot on his desk, setting her bag down on the floor beside her. "Too much work to do."
"When Streelers Strike Back: Applying Magical Law to Magical Creatures," he said, scanning the title of the book. "This wouldn't have to do with that hippogriff, would it?"
She nodded enthusiastically, reaching into her bag and pulled out another series of books, naming them as she piled each one on top of his desk. "I've also got Murderous Mooncalves, which talks about the mad mooncalf disease outbreak of 1871, which was blamed on the mooncalves themselves; Lockhart's Criminalizing Cockatrices, Prosecuting Plimpies, and Lawyer for a Leprechaun - I mean, of course I know he didn't actually handle those cases, but I thought there might still be some good information in the books about how trials for magical creatures are handled - and Magical Legislature of the Twentieth Century, which only has a small chapter on nonhuman cases, but it's been really informative... oh, and here we have-"
"Miss Granger, it's clear you've done your homework," Geoffrey said, holding up a hand to stop her. He suspected that as large as her bag was, she had managed an expanding charm on it, and there was no telling just how many books she would pull out. "If I may ask, why are you so interested in this?"
"Because Hagrid's my friend," she said. "And you can't think that Buckbeak really attacked Malfoy," she added. "You've seen him - Buckbeak, I mean, not Malfoy, though I suppose you've seen him, too, since you're a professor - you know he's not dangerous. Malfoy wasn't even hurt that badly! There must be something..." Hermione faltered at the apologetic smile Geoff offered her, looking down at the book in her hands.
"It's your word against Malfoy's, I'm afraid," he said, "and the only evidence we have is that Buckbeak did injure him. Since Buckbeak can't speak for himself, there isn't much we can do."
"Couldn't you offer a testimony?" she asked. She grabbed one of the books from the desk and began flipping through it. "In Prosecuting Plimpies, Lockhart says an expert on magical creatures was brought in at the hearing, and his opinion-"
"It wouldn't do much good," he answered. "All I would be able to do is provide a statement about Buckbeak's condition, and talk about hippogriffs' general behavior. I couldn't say if Buckbeak was behaving inappropriately for the circumstances, or if Malfoy provoked him. Even if I could prove that Malfoy provoked him, what would that accomplish besides showing Hagrid's incompetence as a teacher? Not that I think he's incompetent," he emphasized as she opened her mouth to protest. "But if he failed to teach his students the appropriate etiquette for dealing with hippogriffs, the blame is on him."
"But he did teach us. Malfoy just-"
"I'm sure Hagrid did teach you. He would want you to enjoy the hippogriffs as much as he does. But the evidence is not in his favor, given the circumstances. Wouldn't you rather him lose a hippogriff than lose his job?"
"It's not fair," Hermione said, beginning to put her books back into her bag. "Buckbeak didn't do anything wrong."
"He hasn't been sentenced yet," Geoff reminded her. "Maybe the hearing will go our way. If anyone can figure out a good defense for him, it's you, Hermione."
She sniffled a bit, wiped at her nose, and gave him a teary smile.
"Come on," he said, standing. "You look like you need a break from all this legal reading. Let's go cheer on Gryffindor."
Hermione agreed, and at Geoff's recommendation left her bag in his office to be collected after the Quidditch match. As they made their way down to the Quidditch pitch, they could hear the crowd already cheering, yelling loudly for their preferred team.
Geoff and Hermione made it into the stands in time to see Harry dive for the Snitch, but draw up short, apparently having lost it as a Bludger flew across his path. The skinny Gryffindor Seeker returned to circling above the field, looking for the elusive ball. Hermione caught sight of Ron a short way down the bleachers, but deliberately turned the other way, determined not to make eye contact.
"He's seen it again - there he goes!" Geoff yelled, pointing at Harry as he took another dive. Cho Chang was hot on his tail, but the Ravenclaw girl pulled up short, and her scream was heard across the pitch. Confused, Geoff looked down to the field in time to see three Dementors drifting across the grass, but they were quickly knocked aside by a great silver stag that had emerged from the end of Harry's wand. "Merlin's beard," he breathed.
Harry had caught the Snitch, but only about half the crowd had noticed his accomplishment, the other half focused on the Dementors on the field, who had gotten tangled in their own robes.
"Those aren't Dementors," a second-year boy beside Hermione said, looking through a set of binoculars. "They're Slytherins!"
"What?" Hermione snatched the binoculars away from the boy, who protested loudly. "It's Malfoy and his gang," she said, passing the binoculars to Geoff.
He looked through them briefly, but as soon as he identified his son as one of the Dementors, he passed the binoculars back to the second-year with a heavy sigh. "If you'll excuse me, Hermione," he said, "I have to go deal with my delinquent son."
"Your lessons really seem to be paying off, Remus," said Mariah back in his office following the game. "Cheers."
"I couldn't believe it," said Remus. "Though I'm sure no one was as shocked as Mr. Malfoy."
"And Joel Mansfield," said Mariah. "Poor boy. There's a lot of Emilie in him. You should have seen the bruises he put on Harry and Ron."
"You know, Mariah, since I'm not going to be ill tonight..." Remus reached into his desk and pulled out a large unopened bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey. Mariah smirked.
"But Remus," she pulled out two bottles of elderflower wine from the depths of her robes, "however did you know?" Remus laughed.
"I can't believe it... where were you keeping those?"
"Let's leave a few mysteries in the world," said Mariah, opening both bottles with a wave of her wand and handing one to Remus. He took it, raising one eyebrow, but took a drink anyway.
The two of them made it through the wine in no time, and were a good ways into the Firewhiskey before Mariah threw some Floo Powder into the furnace and crawled inside, emerging pulling a confused Geoff Mansfield back into the office. Another third of the Firewhiskey was gone within the hour, and soon the three of them were left very, very giggly.
"Good God, Remus, it's a zoo in here," said Mariah after a nasty moment where something had grabbed her ankle from beneath the sheet that covered one of many cages against the wall.
"I'm trying to gather everything for the final exam. It shouldn't be too difficult, but I have to run it by Dumbledore and get it set up fairly soon," said Remus, leaning back with his feet on his desk. Geoff lifted another sheet and looked blearily at the Hinkypunk within.
"Tell me when you're examining them, I think I want to see this," he said with some amusement. His eyes grew wide. "What if we had a combined exam! You're using creatures! I'm Care Thereof!"
"We could do that," said Remus, equally awed by the prospect.
"No one does that! Quit looking so eager," said Mariah, sitting on Remus's desk. "Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't we all go nip down to the kitchens, aye? I'm starving."
"Didn't you go to dinner?" asked Geoff. Mariah pointed at the nearly-empty bottles.
"This was dinner."
"Yeah, let's go," said Remus, removing his feet from atop his desk and struggling to stand.
The three of them made their way out through the dark corridor and towards the Spiral Staircase. They had nearly reached it, Geoff supporting Mariah a good deal of the way, when they spotted someone sprinting around the corner ahead of them.
"Who's that?" asked Remus loudly, but Mariah shushed him.
"Let him go. These kids are always out of bed. Insomniacs," she muttered. "I used to do it all the time, give 'em a break. It's Christmas."
"It's not Christmas," said Geoff.
"Then why're we celebrating?" asked Mariah, puzzled.
"Gryffindor won the match," said Geoff.
"Gryffindooooooooor!" shouted Mariah. Remus and Geoff both shushed her fervently, but the next minute they had reached the Spiral Staircase only to find Filch waiting for them at the top.
"There's a student out of bed!" he hissed at them. "I heard footsteps!"
"That was us," said Mariah eagerly. "Sorry, we were just out for a stroll." She leaned heavily on Geoff's shoulder. Remus stepped forward, a little unsteady.
"So, sorry, Mr. Filch, we'll be sure to keep it down. We just ah-"
But Filch had obviously had enough. He turned and walked back down the corridor, his cat Mrs. Norris darting about his heels. They heard him muttering as the light of his lantern faded away about troublemaker students getting jobs they did not deserve. Remus, Mariah, and Geoff continued their journey down the stairs in a fit of laughing and hissing at one another.
"Well that was a trip," said Mariah when they'd reached the landing.
"Which way..." started Geoff, but Remus pointed towards the dungeons.
"Down there."
They'd nearly reached it when suddenly Snape appeared from the shadows, his robes flourishing behind him like an extension of the darkness. The light caught his pallid face, and the pale hand he was pointing right at them.
"Stop right there," he sneered, drawing his wand with his other hand. "I knew you three were up to something. I knew there was no way you hadn't returned to your old allegiances. Dumbledore may have believed whatever lies you told him, but he was mistaken to trust the three of you under the same roof!"
"Snape, what the hell-" Mariah reached for her wand, and Geoff's was already out.
"Hold on," said Remus, stepping forward, quite a bit more sober than he had been a moment before. "Snape, what are you talking about?"
"What is going on?"
Professor McGonagall was descending the Spiral Staircase behind them in a tartan dressing gown. "Have you searched the ground floor yet? Why are you-"
"Professor, I found these three sneaking around the Entrance Hall. They must have been helping Black escape," said Snape.
"What?"
"We didn't help-"
"What do you mean Black escape?" Remus was the loudest. "He wasn't here?"
"Mr. Weasley awoke to find Sirius Black standing over him holding a knife," said Professor McGonagall.
"A knife?" said Mariah.
"Is he alright?" asked Geoff.
"Mr. Weasley is a little shocked, but that is all. Apparently Black found a list of the passwords to the Gryffindor portrait hole that a very, very foolish Mr. Longbottom left lying around somewhere, and now he's loose in the castle. But we are wasting time. Quickly, we need to search as much of the castle and grounds as possible before he has the chance to escape," said Professor McGonagall.
"I've searched the dungeons and the kitchens with no sign of him," said Snape, drawing himself up. "But really, Professor, I think these three should be immediately taken into custody."
"Not until we've done a thorough search to find him," said Professor McGonagall.
"We've covered the Astronomy Tower! No sign of him!" called Professor Flitwick from the top of the stairs, drawing their attention.
"Has anyone alerted Hagrid?" asked Professor McGonagall.
"Professor Sprout, I think. They're covering the grounds, now!" piped Flitwick.
"Whatever this is, we must wait until the search has been finished to deal with it," said Professor McGonagall, eyeing Remus, Mariah, and Geoff, then turning her gaze to Snape. "For now, split up. We need to cover as much ground as we possibly can."
They dispersed, Mariah, Geoff, and Remus hurrying out onto the grounds while Snape stowed his wand reluctantly back within his robes, moving to search the Great Hall.
Saturday morning after breakfast, Harry hurried up to the third floor, slipping the Marauder's Map out of his pocket as he went. Crouching behind the one-eyed witch, he smoothed it out. Harry squinted at a pair of small dots in a nearby corridor, but before he had a chance to read the names, he heard footsteps approaching and ducked behind the witch statue.
"Mark my words, professor, there's something fishy going on around here."
Filch. Harry shifted uncomfortably, a sense of dread filling the pit of his stomach. Did Filch know about the passage to Honeydukes?
"That notorious mass-murderer Sirius Black ain't been getting into this castle on his own," Filch went on. "Not with all them Dementors floating around, not to mention my own little improvements to security."
"I couldn't agree more. He must be having inside help."
Snape's voice only served to heighten Harry's sense of dread. The footsteps stopped right in front of the humpbacked witch. Harry closed his eyes, hoping that Filch and Snape wouldn't look at the statue too closely.
"I know that look, professor. You think you've got some idea who's behind it?"
"Bringing Lupin, Jaeger, and Mansfield here was a mistake. Longbottom is in and out of the Hospital Wing so often, Jaeger must have stolen his list of passwords and given it to Black. The boy may be witless, but even he's not stupid enough to lose it."
"And getting into the castle? How do you reckon Black managed that? Takes more than a list of passwords to get inside these walls." Filch slapped an open palm against the wall of the corridor, patting it almost fondly. "And you think he had help, do you?" he asked as the pair resumed walking.
"I suspect that Lupin is behind it."
"Lupin?"
"He was always tagging along after Black and Potter when they were in school..."
Their voices drifted off, and Harry waited several more moments before emerging from behind the statue, ensuring that the caretaker and potions master were gone.
He tapped the hump of the one-eyed witch to open it, heaved himself inside, and slid down to the bottom of the stone chute. He wiped the Marauder's Map blank again, then set off at a run, eager to tell Ron about the conversation he had overheard between Filch and Snape.
As soon as he emerged in Honeyduke's, however, any thought of Snape was pushed from his mind by the sights and smells of hundreds of varieties of candy and sweets.
Harry didn't dare look at Snape as they left his office. He, Ron, and Lupin walked all the way back into the entrance hall before any of them spoke, then Harry turned to Lupin.
"I don't want to hear explanations," said Lupin before Harry could so much as open his mouth. He glanced around the empty entrance hall and lowered his voice. "I happen to know that this map was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago. Yes, I know it's a map," he said as Harry and Ron looked amazed. "I don't want to know how it fell into your possession. I am, however, astounded that you didn't hand it in. Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around. And I can't let you have it back, Harry."
Harry had expected that, and was too keen for explanations to protest. "Why did Snape think I'd got it from the manufacturers?" he asked.
"Because..." Lupin hesitated for a moment. "Because these mapmakers would have wanted to lure you out of school. They'd think it extremely entertaining."
"Do you know them?" said Harry, impressed.
"We've met," he said shortly. He was looking at Harry more seriously than ever before. "Don't expect me to cover up for you again, Harry. I cannot make you take Sirius Black seriously. But I would have thought that what you have heard when the dementors draw near you would have had more of an effect on you. Your parents gave their lives to keep you alive, Harry. A poor way to repay them - gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks."
He walked away, leaving Harry feeling worse by far than he had at any point in Snape's office. Slowly, he and Ron mounted the marble staircase. As Harry passed the one-eyed witch, he remembered the Invisibility Cloak - it was still down there, but he didn't dare go and get it.
"It's my fault," said Ron abruptly. "I persuaded you to go. Lupin's right, it was stupid, we shouldn't've done it -"
"Lupin!" Harry exclaimed, cutting Ron off short. Having escaped the threat of being caught by Snape, the memory of the overheard conversation had come back to him. "Listen, I was going to tell you - I heard Snape talking to Filch earlier. He reckons that Lupin's the one who let Black into the castle, and that Nurse Jaeger's the one who gave Black Neville's list of passwords."
"What? Snape thinks Lupin let Black in?"
"Yeah," Harry said. "Said they used to be friends at school, so he's probably trying to get him inside the castle to off me."
"I don't know much about that Nurse, but Lupin let Black in? It's probably Snape who got Black inside the castle," Ron said. "You don't reckon he made the map, do you? Lupin said the manufacturers would've thought it was a right laugh to get you out of the castle, and I bet Snape'd do anything to get you out so you'd get chucked out or so Black could get you."
"Why would he make something to call himself an 'ugly git'?"
"Maybe it's a cover. Really, though, I'd bet you all the Galleons in Gringotts that Snape's the one who let Black-"
Ron broke off; they reached the corridor where the security trolls were pacing, and Hermione was walking toward them. One look at her face convinced Harry that she had heard what had happened. His heart plummeted - had she told Professor McGonagall?
"Come to have a good gloat?" said Ron savagely as she stopped in front of them. "Or have you just been to tell on us?"
"No," said Hermione. She was holding a letter in her hands and her lip was trembling. "I just thought you ought to know... Hagrid lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed."