Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sizing Things Up
Maurice was lost in his own thoughts as he watched Diana inspect the contents of bottles and beakers in the Potion Lab of Death. Dasher had climbed up on her shoulder in case she needed assistance, but so far, she seemed quite at home in her surroundings. In fact, she didn't even bother to inspect the scrolls that were in a rack near where his sister normally kept her copy of instructional books. Instead, she heated up a cauldron on the professor's desk and assembled her ingredients readily without much comment. Maurice could almost imagine Professor Young in her place, searching for some obscure cure to help out a student in need. Or perhaps Professor Frump... coming in with some idea for a potion that will keep the MC out of whatever he was hiding from them that book...
"Just how long is this going to take, exactly?" Hope's voice interrupted his thoughts. She was quite tired of waiting on the table in her miniaturized form and looked like a deer about to bolt. "Do you even know what you're doing over there?"
"Yes," Diana said simply, pulling out some measuring equipment and getting started.
"The lab may look strange, but everything is exactly where we left it for the summer," Dasher explained. "Only the outside of the potions and ingredients have changed. All of their contents and what the magical equipment does hasn't been tampered with."
"Of course not," Maurice said. "You can't transfigure a magic item to anything outside of its original function without breaking it. Physical Magic like items and potions are so specific to their purpose that attempting to transfigure it to anything else would cause it to either malfunction or dispel it completely... assuming it didn't backfire explosively for you even trying. Whoever is behind this is obviously quite powerful, but there are limits. That's how we know that however the Distaff is disguised, it's still going to have the same basic shape and properties that can still fulfill its original purpose."
"But doesn't the Headmaster have a way to do it?" Garvan asked. He didn't miss the fact that Ambrose and Hope both frowned and squinted at him.
"What makes you think that?" Maurice asked stonily.
"Grandfather, actually," Garvan admitted, getting that same squinting look from all of them now. "Craw has been in and out of the house discussing his escape with my grandfather, as I'm sure you know," he said, Maurice nodding in response. "Well, Grandfather was convinced that the Headmaster actually does know how to transfigure the spells along with a device, and that's how he was able to hide the Stone, and how he was able to hide it for so long."
"Even if my brother had figured out such a thing, it was probably specific to the Stone itself. Since that is the case, it doesn't matter anymore since the Stone was destroyed," Maurice concluded. "Either way, I don't think it has any bearing here. My brother has no idea where the Distaff is, and I'm quite sure if there has been any sort of breakthrough in the Transfiguration field, it'd have been quite recent since much of the magic we use now has evolved in the years since that Distaff went missing. Wherever it's been hidden at, it's still in a staff-like form."
"Well, the only sticks I see in here are cauldron sticks, and I doubt it'd have lasted this long if it'd been used for that," Hope said. "How much longer, Diana? Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
"A half an hour to brew," Diana explained. "It is a simple enough potion."
"Yeah, she didn't even need me. She had the potion memorized already," Dasher agreed with a shrug. "Can you put me back down on the table, Diana?" Carefully, Diana did as she was asked and went back to her work. "So what do you suppose happened to Aldus, anyway?"
"I'm sure he's here somewhere," Garvan said evenly. Maurice gazed at him questioningly. Garvan's tone had been quite strange.
"You think he's behind this somehow, don't you?" Maurice asked.
"Clemmons thinks so," Garvan replied evenly. "That's why she wants all of you to stay near me, you know. She thinks it'll be safer for the rest of you are with me because my grandfather or any of his closest friends has something to do with this."
"Hang on... there's a lot of conclusion jumping in that," Ambrose interrupted. "I think you're more worried about your grandfather being behind it than in Professor Aldus, and I don't see any evidence of that. For one thing, I can't see your grandfather as having access to the kind of wild magic it would take to create the kind of changes we've been experiencing here. Not to take anything away from him... as a former Minister of Mysteries, we know he's fantastically brilliant and a master manipulator, but this just doesn't seem like the kind of thing he would do if he wanted to disrupt Hogwarts."
"But grandfather knows those books inside and out, Ambrose, we've discussed them frequently on occasion. In fact, I think he may have even contributed to them in some way, and he... he might have even wrote them," Garvan blurted out. Everyone was paying attention now. Even Diana had stopped to stare at him a moment before turning back to her work. "Not only because sometimes I felt that some of the stories were written just for me, but my father has picked up paper bundles from my father while we were there, and none of the guards seemed too disturbed by it, not even Hinge's father. And I always had an early copy and... well, I rather think the signed book I have looks an awful lot like his signature." Ambrose let out a low whistle.
"You mean that we've all been reading a series written by a murderer?" Hope said in disbelief.
"Not all of them, I don't think. Just some of them," Garvan said. "He can't have written the last three, and I don't think he wrote the original series either. It just didn't sound like him."
"There was a big change in writing style after series two," Ambrose mused. "I thought it was because of how long there was between the series coming out, but I admit a change in author makes a lot more sense. After that, the books just kept cranking out at a fast pace."
"Like someone writing from prison with nothing else to do?" Hope said, agitated. "But how would they get that past the guards?"
"They must have known about it, obviously," Maurice said. "If I know the Warden, he probably thought it was a harmless, more constructive way for Bagman to be spending his time rather than plotting and scheming. I'm sure they would have combed through every word of it. Of course, they wouldn't have known to look for code then, but if Alex had found code during her rereading of the books, she would have mentioned it. I wonder if my Father knew about it?"
"If he did, I doubt he would have let you read them," Hope said. "Boy, is he going to be furious when he finds out about it."
"Either way, he didn't write the current story arc," Ambrose reminded them. "And that's what we're on... the vengeance of the evil faeries storyline. And I'll admit that Professor Aldus may have written these. It would explain how these three books seem to know so much about what's been going on at the school."
"Professor Aldus knows a lot about magical textiles," Maurice said. "Not only that, he also knows a lot about the back history of the spinning wheel. He answered rather easily any questions I posed to him about the subject."
"He also knows enough about the security to set this up. But that still doesn't explain all the wild magic," Ambrose reminded them.
"I've never seen him do any magic except what was necessary to teach a class with," Maurice said. "He does have a multitude of magic items on him."
"Protection items," Diana said, using an eyedropper and some transfigured thimbles to work out their doses. "What are they protecting?"
"Yeah," Dasher said, wondering the same thing. "Just what is he afraid of?"
"And if he is behind all of this, is he acting alone?" Garvan added.
"Take your potions," Diana suggested, setting the thimbles on the table. "You might want to do it away from each other."
"Good point," Dasher said, taking his to the far edge. After drinking it down, the quick changes to their body made them all cry out with a start, soon finding that they weren't far enough away as they pushed each other off the table as they returned to their normal size.
"Where to next?" Ambrose asked after everyone got to their feet.
"We stick to the plan and work our way to the kitchens," Maurice said.
"Good, I'm starved," Hope said.
"Eat your sandwiches then. It's not likely to be stocked in the middle of summer," Maurice told her.
"There's bound to be food stocked for the House Elves, though," Hope pointed out. "Where are they, anyway? Come to think of it, most of the hallways were fairly dusty, not to mention that they should be having a fit about all the crazy things going on in the castle."
"The Headmaster doesn't require them to stay in the castle during the summer, Hope, not until the staff arrive for preterm preparations," Ambrose shrugged. "I'm sure a few stay to look after the grounds, though I'm not sure there are any in the castle proper. Francie, the Head Cook, does tend to follow the Headmaster around to look after him, but I don't know about the rest. Maybe they go on holiday."
"Holiday! That's a laugh. Whoever heard of House Elves taking a holiday?" Garvan said. "I know the castle ones are technically free and all, but you know as well as I do they dither about when they don't have anyone to look after. They've been servants for so long, they don't know what else to do with themselves."
"He has a point," Hope agreed. "Aunt Anna has lots of freed House Elves, but they're not all that different from those who aren't. It's a symbiotic relationship."
"Only if both sides are equal, and it hardly ever is," Dasher says. "Take it from a goblin whose race has been on the wrong side of that equation... Wizards love to exploit weakness whenever it is to their advantage."
"Hey! You're a wizard now too, you know," Hope retorted. Dasher shrugged.
"I never said goblins didn't have the same problem on occasion," he admitted. "But I think you're right in that there may be some still lingering in the kitchen. And if they are, they may have the information we're looking for."
"All the more reason to stop wasting time standing in here and moving on," Diana said impatiently, grabbing some phials. "I will bring this just in case Hope decides to touch something again."
"That's not funny," Hope glowered. Diana stared back at her evenly, but the rest of them chuckled softly.
"Let's take the shortcut. It'll give us a chance to check along the secret passages coming from the Potion Lab," Maurice said.
"What about the ones closer to Slytherin?" Hope asked.
"Those have been changed too recently for it to matter," Maurice explained.
"Let's just hope it wasn't there then, or anywhere else that's been changed, like the back rooms of the library," Dasher said as they left. "It could be anywhere then. Come to think of it, it's been so long anything in the castle could have been moved."
"Not everything," Diana said. "This castle has much magic tied to long-standing traditions. Traditions that would keep many items from being moved... or would be immediately returned if it needed to be moved."
"She's right about that," Ambrose agreed. "There's a lot of items that date all the way back from the castle founding that has never been moved from their current locations. A headmaster such as Rapp, versed in both castle lore and security, would know what items would not be moved by headmasters that took his place."
"I doubt anything in the kitchen would fit into that category," Garvan pointed out.
"No, but we're nearly there so we should check it anyway," Maurice said, unlatching the secret door that led into the back of the cooler. After a cursory look, it was easy to tell that there was little but ice and long-term goods in there.
"There is no magic in here except charms to help maintain its temperature," Diana confirmed.
"Let me get the door," Ambrose said. "I know the security hasn't been active to this point, but better safe than sorry."
As he pushed open the heavy door, they immediately saw a crystallized figure standing by the prep table, sorting through a drawer of kitchen tools. It was Professor Aldus.
"So much for him being behind it," Dasher said.
"In a way, it makes me a little relieved," Hope admitted. "We should have guessed he might be here. He always makes his own meals." Garvan and Diana both frowned at the figure, as if neither of them were entirely convinced.
"Hullo! Any House Elves about?" Ambrose called out. They waited a moment, but none appeared. "I am guessing that's a no... either that or they are frightened of whatever it is that has taken over here."
"I doubt Dobby or Francie would be scared no matter what is causing this," Maurice said.
"Hard to say without knowing more about who or what is causing this," Ambrose replied.
"It's rather eerie thinking that we might be all alone in this castle," Hope said, but then paused. "Wait. Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Garvan asked.
"It sounds like someone sweeping a floor somewhere," Dasher confirmed.
"It must be Bethia. We should track her down," Ambrose said.
"She can't be more than a room or two away. The staff room perhaps," Dasher said.
"Let's go," Maurice agreed, following Dasher out the main doorway.
"I hope we can find a way to explain the situation to her," Ambrose commented as they went down the hallway and opened the door for them.
"What choice do we have?" Maurice answered, stepping in.
In the middle of the floor, a broom was busy at work. The wardrobe and bookshelves were dusted, and the hearth was sparkling clean, so it was evident that she had been in the room for a while.
"Hello, Bethia." Maurice said, getting no change in movement. "How are you?"
"Let me try," Ambrose suggested. "Hello, Bethia. I am Assistant Librarian Ambrose. I am currently in charge of the castle." Hope snorted. "Technically," he added, glancing at her warningly. "Could you help us with some... castle maintenance?"
"I don't see how that is going to get us anywhere," Hope said, but quieted down when Diana touched her arm in warning. Bethia had materialized, although she hadn't stopped sweeping the floor. Instead she looked down at her work with a downcast expression. But Ambrose took it as a good sign; at least she was listening.
"We need some new drapes made for the library, and I'm out of thread. Can you make thread?" Ambrose asked. Bethia paused her sweeping and nodded, fading as she turned around. A cool breeze passed them as she left the room.
"That was awful vague, Ambrose. I'm not sure that's going to help us," Garvan said.
"Well, maybe not, but I did ask her to make thread rather than find it, so there is a chance it'll work. All the thread and mending supplies that are used here at Hogwarts comes from Spinster's Witchwoven Fabrics of London, and it has for two centuries. Maybe in her search for a way to make thread, she'll find the distaff or the spinning wheel."
"More likely the distaff, Ambrose, since spinning wheels didn't appear in Europe until later, remember," Maurice reminded him, but Ambrose shrugged at that.
"Goblins and wizards were trading with the east a lot earlier than Muggles were, Maurice, and the spinning wheel was used in India long before Hogwarts was built. It may be a slim chance, but there is a chance she has seen one, especially considering how well traveled the founders and their apprentices were." Ambrose reasoned. "Holda Hufflepuff made the Avian Cloak, and she was one of the most skilled fabric enchanters of the time period. I am certain she was aware of their existence, and being an expert, she probably acquired one at some time during her career, to tinker with if nothing else."
"You have a point," Maurice decided. "But that doesn't mean Bethia knows how to use it, seeing one and knowing how to use one are two different things. And it's not like she could have been Holda's personal servant or anything, or she wouldn't have been left down there."
"We have to eliminate every possibility to find the truth, right?" Ambrose reminded him. "I had to direct her to the library, since that's really where my authority ends. Let's go see if she found anything."
"We should check the Great Hall first since it is close," Diana put in. Maurice nodded.
"Don't worry, Diana, we will. But first we had better try and meet up with Bethia. It's just down the corridor from here after all." Letting out a short exasperated breath, Diana followed the others to the library.
