Chapter Thirty-Six

A Not So Elementary Case Closed

Ederick Thurspire could not be more delighted or more furious than he was the next day. An unbelievably large group was assembled in one of the Ministry conference halls, many of which were criminals…some of which he had been looking for for years. Before Moody stood Rinan Scur and Fylie List, both clapped in magic bonds and looking neither surprised nor worried to be there, along with Thomas Craw who had his own escort in Audi Belle. Earsinge also was there, as were several of the goblins who had been with him. Morfinn Bliant and his parents were there, several members of the board of goblins including Governor Knobgait himself, as well as Dumbledore, and of course, the Minister of Magic, Draco Malfoy. But in the foreground of it all stood Severus Snape, who had been having one of the busiest days of his life, while Jennifer and the children sat near Thomas waiting impatiently for it to begin.

"All right, Severus, all of your ducks are in a row now," Draco said, gesturing for his guards to close the doors. "It's time you explained to them what you got through telling me, and finish what you wouldn't tell me too, if you don't mind," he added dryly.

"First of all, I must comment that I have never seen a quest for knowledge turn into such an unfortunate mix of revenge and greed," Severus said. "Although I have read about it on occasion. I suppose in a way that's how I got interested in this whole thing, and why I am the one that stands before you now to put it all together. I also believe it is important to note that although there are many guilty parties that entered this for many different reasons, it must be understood that the creature that truly started the cascade of events I saw unfold was someone dead and gone now for seventeen years. Voldemort." Scur, Brogan, Fist, and Craw all bowed their heads, while others paled and waited in silence.

"It is no secret to anyone who attended Thomas' inquiry or his property trials what had been done to his business efforts when he left," Severus went on, glancing at Draco who nodded expressionlessly back to him. "Those that partnered with him had also felt the squeeze of that monster's fist. Many of them died because of it. Many of them, in fact, were sold out, and not exactly by whom you might conjecture," he said, the slight gesture to Draco enough of a hint he was referring to Lucius. "It was, in fact, a true partner of theirs who led to their own downfall… their own accountant, Jasper Brad. Being an accountant, Jasper would have seen very quickly if any money was being siphoned out of the books, and one of Voldemort's men decided that it would be better to cut him in, promising, perhaps, to insure Brad's funds would be safe in other ventures if he would allow the finances of Craw, then a powerful figure quite feared by all, to dwindle into nothing. Brad agreed, but secretly kept the knowledge of the true nature of the business, the search for the mines of Solomon, away from those he was in contact with. He then gave the Death Eaters information to the location of other members of the company, first Bronson, and then too, I think Weylin, while he collected the 'useless' scraps of paper they had on them for his own use. And then he went after Wylie," Severus said, Fyren's face turning to stone. "But Wylie had gotten wind of his impending doom and ran to his friend, Naresh. He left him his piece of the map, and I think perhaps stayed with him for some time, but then left for some reason I'm not yet certain of and was killed. It was, in fact, Wylie's map that Naresh had not Fyren's at the time of his death, as some of us were lead to believe. To get rid of Scur, who had disappeared off of radar, Brad then helped the Death Eaters by giving evidence that Scur had been the one to kill Wylie. This, by the way, is now a matter of public record if you want to look it up. Brogan was able to escape by staying with a cousin in a shack north of Hogsmeade. Fyren List, still reeling from the death of his brother, hid himself by working on Muggle digs, taking his anger and frustrations out on his easy prey.

"But several years ago he happened to run into Naresh on a dig. I believe he heavily blamed Naresh for his brother's death, for allowing him to leave on his own. He also, I believe, found out that Naresh was actively seeking the mines based on what little he had of Wylie's map, as well as a great deal of knowledge he had acquired from his work. The fact that he would use the information that Wylie gave to him in any other way than merely to safeguard it against Voldemort infuriated the Fist, especially since Naresh hadn't been on the original dig and wasn't even entitled to a map."

"Something just came over me," Fyren muttered with a shrug. "I suppose I'd not 'ave done it sober, but 'e kept talkin' on and on about 'ow much he respected my brother all the while 'e was using 'im. And t' top it all off, 'e had thrown him out! All to make room for tha'… thing… over there."

"He wouldn't have thrown anyone out!" Earsinge barked, standing up. Quickly Thurspire went over to contain the furious goblin. "Wylie might have left because of me, but it was because he couldn't stand me, not because my father wanted him to leave! You killed him for no reason other than the fact that you didn't want him to find the mine!"

"Well, I suppose tha's partially true. 'E didn't deserve the mine any more than you did, and I admit to tryin' t' work against your efforts t' recover it ever since. But I did'nae kill Jasper Brad."

"No," Severus agreed calmly. "But you left a dagger in his back."

"So wha' if I did?" The Fist retorted. "It's true, I 'ad come with intention of killing 'im 'ad 'e been alive, but 'e was already dead. The blank dagger is a symbol of a true outcast of goblins, and I 'ad hoped its existence there would give Earsinge reason to pause, because 'e would know the rest of us would rally around a fallen comrade."

"So in essence, you went there to kill him in an attempt to get the remaining members of your company to reband and act against Earsinge before he got any farther."

"Possibly," Fyren said casually.

"And how well you succeeded," Severus said. "But little did you know that Earsinge was in a better position than you were to know what was going on. He had manipulated his way into Lost Empire after his father's death; his outcast standing not so significant in the sea of outcasts that is Heckletown, and his knowledge of archaeology and anthropology quickly led to several substantial recoveries that secured him the right to lead. But then he made a very fatal mistake. To further his influence, Earsinge decided to take in a partner with both the connections to the bank and the movement working against the bank; a cart foreman named Napescar."

"I protest, you have no proof anyone by that name ever worked for the bank," Knobgait said, but Severus immediately held up a paper, handing it not to Knobgait, but to Minister Malfoy.

"This is a list of bank employees at the time of last year's murder," Severus said. "And if this won't do, I know Thomas Craw can attest that both Earsinge and Napescar were in the bank when they went in that morning."

"Earsinge was never an employee of the bank!" Knobgait sputtered.

"I didn't say he was," Severus said calmly. "I said he was there, and he was there to collect a copy of Craw's map that Napescar had made. I might not have even suspected Napescar of being there at all if he hadn't scuffed off the bank insignia on his foreman pin and decide to wear it as a sign of rank at the site. But anyhow, Thomas had seen Earsinge and recognized him for who he really was, and Earsinge admitted as much to Napescar. But Napescar was not a partner worth trusting. He knew that if Earsinge was revealed it would mean the end before things even got started. So when Craw and the children came to get a cart to the vault, he ordered one of the least reliable of carters to take them down, and once they were inside, he slit Cutmite's throat and shut them in, then used his authority as foreman to get behind the desk and sign Cutmite's name off.

"Once I realized that Napescar was the one behind it, I did a bit of digging, for I knew Napescar's nature. Although it was obvious he would revel in any political turmoil between the Ministry and the goblins, his choice of where to put the corpse seemed much more personal. After all, he could have just as easily planted it within the Craw vault and caused just as much a political rift since the Ministry let Craw out on bail. But I found out that Napescar's parents were indeed one of the families directly feuding with the Platts and had been killed by Damon's father when he and his brother were still very young. And it was he who decided to order his men to fight with poisoned daggers when Earsinge had him arrange the abduction of my daughter to test her ability. Napescar then, was responsible for that goblin's death as well.

"I believe that is when Napescar and Earsinge truly had their falling out, for Earsinge did not approve of his methods. Earsinge's attempt to cover the matter up by blaming Lucius Malfoy, known to have hired goblins in the past, was compromised greatly by Napescar's arming the hired thugs with poison daggers, for Earsinge had learned by then about the curse upon Malfoy and knew that no one would believe he would have put Alex in that much danger. It also didn't help that Lucius' granddaughter had been visiting, and many did not buy that he would do something like that in her presence.

"Fortunately, Earsinge no longer needed Napescar in Britain. All of the pieces of the map were collected, so he sent him down to Africa with the sole purpose of staking claims near any that Fyren List was apart of. Of course, by then we had joined the search as well. Earsinge continued his work here, gathering the information he needed quite cleverly through an unsuspecting host. Using the research that Naresh had collected, his son gathered as much of the code as he could and pasted it into books one page at a time, and then he had my own daughter decode them for him after his classes."

"What do you mean after his classes?" Thurspire blinked. Jennifer and Audi both had the same surprised look on their faces.

"Just that," Severus said. "Haven't you yet guessed? Earsinge is just another name for Earham Singh."

"That's impossible!" Jennifer protested immediately. "Severus, I can see through transformations. I would have seen through it by now."

"Jennifer, do you recall the conversation we had once with Toby the Tinker? He said that transformations only show for Truth Seekers because the individual is not being true to himself. Earham Singh is just as much Naresh's son as Earsinge is. Do you know why he was abandoned? No? It was simply the fact that Earsinge was born with uncanny magical ability that went beyond a goblin's ability to charm tools and create things. He could actually transfigure things, and transform himself. It was the pure, cruel irony that this goblin child was outcast for magic when Naresh was outcast for being magicless that had swayed Naresh into adopting him… and it was in Earham's effort to fit in with his parents that made him develop his human form, eagerly adopting all of their culture in an attempt to be accepted. But Jennifer, you did see through it to some extent. As I recall, when he and I were sparring you commented that you could read his emotions, but not his thoughts, much like you've done with other goblins. It's unfortunate that you couldn't read him, really. You could have warned me that he had considered killing me at that moment. Luckily, I myself realized soon after the fact that he might have and gave myself some insurance that it didn't happen, although at the time of the incident I wasn't sure of the reason why he might have been tempted to," he admitted, turning to Earsinge. "I think he recognized by that point that my close involvement with both the school and your fathers' business would uncover what he was doing, and it would have been so easy at that point to make my death from the spar look like a complete accident, in front of you, no less, Jennifer."

"Wait, wait, wait," Thurspire said irritably, trying to take all of this in. "Severus, if he's Earham Singh, why would he go to the trouble of getting Alex alone if he could have easily done it at the school?"

"Oh, yes, good point, and one I think our Minister of Magic will be highly interested in," Severus said. "I asked myself this, and then I came up to a rather disturbing conclusion; he did it to prove her abilities not to himself, but for someone else's benefit. The room was quite dark. All Alex could see was the silhouette of a man in front of her and the glow around the map in front of her. She didn't once turn around, but I think if she had, she might have seen something moving behind her. And the reason it happened was to prove to the bank officers there that covering up Cutmite's death was in the bank's best interest. The bank had to have known the truth. They knew who forged Cutmite's name out. They knew Napescar had been in the same vault just a few days before, obtaining in that instant Gringotts' Curse. They even knew where Napescar intended to dispose of the body at. And they knew who was truly responsible for the goblin's death that day in Hogsmeade… of course, by then they were already in too deep to expose it, weren't they?"

"They knew about this all along? You mean we have been sitting on the edge of a political war and they knew it was a goblin all along?" Draco said, his eyes flashing with fury and looking like a cauldron ready to boil over.

"Actually, you were never in any real danger of any conflict, Minister," Knobgait said coolly. "It was merely an act of a business transaction. Had they been successful in retrieving the ancient documents, it would have increased the bank's standings substantially."

"I want the Platts officially cleared and I want it done now," Draco demanded.

"Aren't we all forgetting something here?" Thurspire said with exasperation. "Severus, this has been enlightening, really, but I have noticed that you didn't offer any conjecture at all about who murdered Jasper Brad."

"Oh, yes that," Severus said, waving it off distractedly. "That's because he wasn't murdered." Nearly everyone turned to stare at him.

"That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard of," Thurspire said.

"Oh, really?" Severus said. "Haven't you ever heard the simple rule that states that whenever you've eliminated all the likely possibilities that whatever's left, however unlikely, must be the answer? Brad killed himself. Why with a slow acting poison? Perhaps he wanted to give himself time to take an antidote if he changed his mind. Perhaps because he knew it would look less like an accident and he wanted to take down one of his enemies with him, and Brad had indeed many enemies… including Napescar, who I have heard was seen dancing at his funeral."

"But what reason would he have done so?" Thurspire asked. "He's hardly the type to have done it over feeling guilty about his involvement in the affair with the Death Eaters."

"No, but he is the type to have been driven to it by multiple people blackmailing him for it and threatening to go public with who he had sold out and all about his connections to Voldemort. Who was blackmailing him, you may ask? Well I can name at least two; Lucius Malfoy and Rinan Scur, although I have no doubt there were probably a few more," Severus said. "I suppose we might find out who all were blackmailing him if whoever it was who took the suicide note would admit to it. Oh, and Rinan, before you try to deny it, I may want to add that those fingerprints on the vault were intentionally put there. The layer of dust inside had not been disturbed in some time, leading me to believe that the maps were taken out of Brad's hands quite some time ago. And am I right in attesting that despite threats of death and dismemberment that Jasper Brad resisted?"

"The dirty cheap bastard," Rinan grunted. "All the pressure in the world wouldn't squeeze a knut out of the man."

"Which is why you told the Red Fist about it, hoping he would do you a favor, isn't that right?" Severus said, glancing the Fyren. "The suicide note, Fyren?" Reluctantly, Fyren took out a pack of cards and raised it up over his head. Cautiously, Moody took it and inspected it before pulling out a folded note out of it. "Thank you. Any other questions?" he added innocently.

"Only one," Thurspire scowled. "Moody, if you and Audi knew where Scur, Fist, and Craw were this whole time, why didn't you turn them in?"

"Oh, well, line twenty-three page one hundred and fifteen of the Auror code states that the Ministry must allow time for extradition if a known criminal is in a foreign country. And as you know, Craw was kidnapped," Moody said.

"And where's the kidnapper?" Thurspire demanded.

"Dead," Audi said quickly. "Napescar kidnapped him."

"There now, you can't argue with an Auror, now can you?" Severus said calmly.

"But Napescar was in Africa before Christmas! How would he have kidnapped him?"

"Use your imagination, if you have one," Moody suggested. Thurspire gazed over at Earsinge, but even he seemed to be disinterested in the question.

"Minister Malfoy! I demand to hold Craw for questioning on his activities during this!" Thurspire said at last.

"Shut up, Thurspire," Draco snapped. "Do your job and arrest the Fist for murder, Scur for blackmail, and Earsinge for kidnapping, attempted murder, and accessory to murder. And then everybody get out. The bank governors and I have a lot of talking to do."

"You know, Azkaban isn't as bad as it used to be," Thomas murmured to Earsinge.

"Perhaps not," Earsinge said. "About that night I tried to talk to you..."

"When you were posing to be Thurspire?" Thomas prompted. "I suppose my daughter must have mentioned to Singh that she was planning to stay late that night."

"I was only trying to have a word with you," Earsinge said with a nod. "You were truly one of the few who was ever civil to me as a child, even though I knew you didn't approve."

"No, I didn't," Thomas mused. "But perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps I might drop by sometime." Earsinge nodded at that, allowing one of the guards to escort him away. "And I'll be seeing you too, Scur."

"I won't be in there long," Scur assured him. "Though I suppose this means now legally all of the stash will go to you and Brogan."

"I'll send you a tin of biscuits to compensate," Thomas said.

"And what about me, old friend?" Fyren asked with a smile. But Thomas' expression turned immediately cold.

"And you, old acquaintance, are lucky that I don't have a wand to strike you down where you stand," Thomas said. "You murdered one of the few men I ever respected over a matter that wasn't his fault. If I had been Earham, you'd have died long ago." Jennifer gently took her father's arm as Fyren was led off. The two of them were soon joined by Severus, who received a hug from his wife as he came over. "So I see all those silly Muggle mysteries you've been reading have finally gone to your head," Thomas grunted at him.

"Yes, perhaps they have, but it did come in handy, didn't it? At least now I know I am bound to make a decent profit myself off the venture," Severus mused.

"That and more," Thomas said quietly, gesturing for Brogan to come over. "The two of us have decided to allow you the pick of whatever magical scrolls are down there to help in your ancient magic research. We are going to sell the rest, and considering all you've done, you deserve that much."

"Thank you," Severus said. "But won't you have to give up many of those not related to magic?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Thomas said casually. "None of that is going to be necessary. You see, I was able to buy the mountain that the mine is under after all, including the part that Earsinge's claim was on. The gold and everything else Muggle or not belongs to me now. But with the right middleman and the right auction house, I think many of those religious artifacts will find their way back into Muggle hands where they belong. God knows they won't be doing me any good, assuming there is one," he smirked.

"Wait a minute! I know how little you had going into this, Dad, how could you have possibly been able to afford buying such a large piece of property like that?" Jennifer asked.

"Simple. I took out a loan with the bank last year when I still wasn't sure we had the money we needed to fund this thing," he said, nodding to Griphook standing with the bank governors, who nodded back in return.

"It was insurance in case things went sour," Griphook said, Knobgait squinting at him. It was obvious from his expression he didn't know anything about it. "I don't like losing money."

"Yes, but don't worry, Jen-girl. I'll have the First-born loan paid off as soon as we finish the sales on the scrolls," Thomas said, Griphook grinning wickedly at Jennifer in response.

"What?" Jennifer said, turning pale.

"Don't worry, Jennifer, I co-signed," Severus said, and Jennifer stared at him, deciding to take a more prominent interest in the family budget from now on.

Alex and Alicia were backstage getting ready to go on when several of the other students managed to get her talking about what had happened in Sudan.

"You know, even after everything we've been through, I am glad that Knifetongue is all right," Alex said. "He didn't deserve to be treated like that. He should be up and walking again in a few weeks."

"But what about Napescar? You don't have any remorse for him at all?" Juliet asked.

"No, I should say not after all the lives he destroyed. And honestly, I'm not sure we could have saved him even if we had tried. We'd used up all our healing potions on Knifetongue. How do I look?" Alex asked, putting on the top hat. Around the rim, her hair began to stand on end.

"Great," Alicia smirked.

"But how did you know that the goblin was your father?" Morfinn asked curiously. "I wouldn't have believed it was him!"

"It was the name that gave it away! I kept thinking that I recognized it from somewhere and then I realized where!" Alex said. "Grimpen Mire was the home of the Hound of the Baskervilles, one of my father's favorite books! Of course, it wasn't always father. During the week Harry filled in. Father thought they could get a clue as to who was behind the murders if they had a spy in there."

Just then, Halbert and Andrew appeared off the stage, dragging their canes behind them.

"Didn't do so well, did you?" Alicia asked.

"Snape gave us a 2 out of 100," Halbert said glumly.

"Oh, he's been giving everyone scores like that!" Alex scowled.

"Not true! Jocelyn got a sixty for her violin recital," Juliet said.

"Yes, because he finally found someone who plays worse than he does," Alicia said sweetly, and Juliet stuck her tongue out at her.

"Come on, we're up!" Alex said excitedly, dragging a table behind her while Alicia reluctantly rolled a box with a curtain out. "Ladies and Gentleman! I, the Amazing Alexandria and my beautiful assistant Alicia am about to entertain you with daring feat of magic ALL WITHOUT using any magic at all! Simply by applying a bit of imagination and pure talent."

Sitting on either side of Hermione, Jennifer and Severus became completely skeptical of the act, and it wasn't long before they found they had reason. Alex's attempt to draw Tes out of her hat seemed to nearly get her electrocuted as the Lightning Kitten bolted, irate about having been in the hat for so long. The students in the Great Hall, however, broke into laughter, and even more so when the handkerchiefs got knotted up in Alex's sleeve and one good tug by Alicia sent her to the floor. But Alex took it all in stride as she went on to the milk hat trick. At first it seemed to work beautifully, but as she flipped the hat inside out to reveal the silk flowers inside, drips of milk came out from the tip of it. Alicia wiped it up with a simple spell when Alex had her back turned and the students chuckled again.

"And now, completely without…let me remind you…completely without the aid of magic, I will make my little sister disappear in this unprepared changing closet!" Alex said, tapping the box with an odd, plastic wand. Looking completely unamused about the prospect, Alicia stepped into the box as Alex put the curtain down. "Now I will say the Muggle Magic Gibberish…Presto Chango! And now, she is gone!" Alex said, removing the curtain to receive a smattering of applause. "And now, I shall bring her back! Presto Chango!" Alex opened the curtain again, but she wasn't back yet, causing Alex to do a double take and causing the audience to laugh. "Um. Alicia?" Alex frowned, stepping in the box. Just then, Alicia tip-toed in from behind it, and they laughed again. "Alicia?"

"And now it's time for me to make my big sister disappear!" Alicia declared, and began rolling the box away with her in it. A roaring applause erupted then along with another round of laughter, and a second round when Alicia came out to grab the table as well. Hermione held up an enthusiastic score of 70 followed by a 55 from Jennifer and a 2 from Severus. Hermione and Jennifer frowned at him.

"Severus, it would be nice if you gave someone a score above ten every now and again," Hermione scolded him as she got up, turning the page of her program over. "And now we have the last of the Snape performances. May I present George Stockton and Aurelius Snape in a skit they call, 'The Case of the Printed Letter.'"

From the other side of the stage, Alex and Alicia's jaws dropped as they saw the two boys come out with just a couple of chairs and a letter as props, but it was the costumes that horrified them. There was no mistaking the costume by anyone; it had been copied to perfection, so that even though Rel had a slender nose and wasn't anywhere near tall enough for the roll, there could be no doubt he was playing Sherlock Holmes, inspecting a letter by holding it up to the light.

A moment later, Stockton came in wearing his own period clothing and glasses, pausing dramatically on his way to his chair with a paper rolled up in his hands.

"I say, Holmes, what are you doing?"

"As you can plainly see, I am busy observing the outside of this envelope to learn more about who sent it to me."

"Well, yes, but… well, wouldn't you find out more by actually opening the letter?"

"Watson, consider this, knowing me as you do, that I can probably deduce more from merely looking at this envelope than most people will ever gather about the sender from reading it. Also, I find the moment I do open a letter I find myself with preconceived ideas based on its contents. In this way, I can make my conjectures without otherwise biased opinions," Aurelius declared. "Shall I prove it to you?"

"We are so toast," Alicia murmured back stage.

"I can't believe he did this to us! Why, this is cheating! This is absolute highway robbery!" Alex said hotly. Rose, who was standing in the back checking props came up to see what all the students were grumbling about.

"Oh that! Well, it's not like you couldn't have picked to do it if you thought about it," she said. Andrew and Halbert came to look as well.

"Do you like the costumes?" Andrew asked brightly. "I helped transfigure them." Immediately, Andrew received icy stares from his sisters and decided to make a quick exit.

"I can't believe it Holmes! You solved it again!" Stock said with enthusiasm.

"Elementary, my dear Watson, purely elementary," Aurelius said, then took their bows, receiving a warm applause. They slowly got up to drag their chairs, waiting as Hermione put up a 70, Jennifer put up a 65, and Severus put up a 99. Hermione and Jennifer both leaned over to see his score, rolling their eyes in response while the two on stage clasped hands and moved their chairs off the stage.

"Do you believe it? We're absolutely in the lead!" Stock said excitedly as they joined Xavier and Jocelyn who had read Shakespeare. "And we only needed to place."

"Well done, Rel!" Xavier nodded. "And with only one act left, I think it's safe to say you smashed your point goal for this year quite well, and under pressure too."

"Thanks," Aurelius said. "Who's left anyhow?"

"Just Black," Xavier said.

"Oh, what would he have that could beat that?" Aurelius snorted.

"And now for our last act," Hermione said, looking puzzled over what was written. "Zacchius Black …and friend… will perform the song, 'Me and My Shadow' while baking in the kitchen?"

Zacchius waved as he came out in a baggy shirt and jeans, pulling with him a long table filled with pies and cakes. The audience groaned. Even the judges were looking at each other unsurely.

"He's not going to do what I think he's going to do is he?" Hermione asked Jennifer, who was studying him carefully.

"If he does, nephew or not, I shall hang him by one ankle on the tallest tree I can find," Severus squinted.

"No, I think it'll be all right," Jennifer said.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.

"No," Jennifer said with a grin. "But it might be something we can all laugh at later." Severus' expression told how much he didn't like the sound of that.

Zack bowed and pushed the button on a magic-driven CD player, putting his wand next to it so everyone could hear it as he stepped to the center of the stage.

As he began to sing, the judges noticed that Zack did seem to have a shadow that at first seemed to follow him. But suddenly the shadow put its hands to its ears and made funny faces, and immediately the audience sensed something was up, chuckling nervously as Zack finished the second line of the chorus and spun around to head across the other side of the stage. But as he was going into the fact that he had 'no one else to tell his troubles to,' the audience murmured as one of the pies began to float up behind him, and before he could start singing the next line, Peeves appeared. Unable to resist the setup of having an entire table of deserts at his beckon call, Peeves tossed a pie at the back of Zack's head.

The audience broke into laughter as Zack kept on like nothing had happened, but that merely seemed to instigate the Poltergeist more, lobbing pie after custard after pudding at the boy, each one earning a roar from the crowd even louder than the one before as Zack struggle to keep the cake out of his mouth and from slipping on the floor as he did his simple soft shoe routine. At last, Peeves began to pelt him two at a time, until Zack was covered from head to toe, saving one cream pie for the last note and splatting it right in his face.

A standing ovation followed, while Peeves bobbed around Zack's head singing about shadows and pies, deafened by the roar of applause as Zack took several bows. Even everyone backstage – especially the Gryffindors- couldn't help but applaud as well, especially when Hermione's score of 100, Jennifer's score of 100, and then last of all, Severus slowly showing his score of 100 naming Zacchius Black the winner.

Zacchius Black had succeeded in repairing their damaged score, pushing Gryffindor just a few points ahead of Hufflepuff for second in time for the End of the Year Feast. He received his fair share of handshakes for that, but everyone quieted down again as Dumbledore stood up, smiling once again at the Slytherin table whose colors the Hall was bearing.

"All of us have goals in life," Dumbledore said. "Some to achieve, some to change, and some to discover. Each one of us has things that matter most to us; they are all different and for different reasons, but when someone has exceeded not only their personal goals but the expectations of others it is a rare thing. As it happens, I had a student come to me today as I was glancing over the points for this year and pointed something out I definitely agreed needed to be brought up. For it appears that according to both this student's record and mine that one specific year of Slytherin has not only excelled and grown in countless personal ways, but has actually accumulated more points than any one class year has ever done in any House since the point system was started. I am also told that a great deal of the effort to accomplish such outstanding work was under the leadership of one student in that year. So with that, I would like to recognize Aurelius Snape, for his contributions to Slytherin, fourth year."

As a cheer went up, Xavier Platt was the first to stand, nodding to the grinning boy as Jocelyn joined him and then the rest of the year, only Eigil Hauk maintaining his seat as everyone else got up as well. Aurelius found he couldn't eat much after that, and even Heph was chatting to him excitedly about the summer and plans for the next year. But as all things must come to an end, Aurelius soon found himself grabbing the last of his things and heading for the trains, still wearing a private, triumphant smile upon his face.

So lost in thought was he that he hadn't noticed Xavier come up beside him with a hand in one pocket, gazing at each hall they passed with a heavy heart. But when at last Xavier turned and saw that Aurelius had noticed him, he smiled.

"It feels strange to be leaving here, you know," Xavier said. "But at least I know I'll be leaving it in good hands."

"You did that on purpose, didn't you? You set my goal higher than the record," Aurelius accused him.

"Of course I did it on purpose," Xavier said with exasperation, shaking his head at Aurelius. "Really, Rel, I thought you were sharper than that. You are going to have to keep on your toes if you're going to maintain any level of discipline next year."

"Me?" Aurelius frowned.

"Yes you," Xavier said with a slight smile. "Someone has to take my spot when I'm gone, and you've convinced me to be the best man for it. What's wrong, Rel? Don't you want to be a Prefect?"

"But I'm a Snape! I mean, wouldn't that be favoritism?"

"Aurelius, just what house have you been in for the past four years?" Xavier said, throwing up his arms. "Haven't you been listening during Conspiracy meetings at all? Advisors don't pick the prefects for this house, Rel. The Prefect going out does. And if you're worried about it, your father already knows who I picked."

"But…well, everyone thought Hauk was a shoe-in," Aurelius said, laughing softly in disbelief.

"Eigil Hauk? He can't even speak proper English. Rel, even if he wasn't a mixed breed and an outsider, he's shown no respect at all for Jocelyn or me and frankly has been nothing but a pain in my posterior since he arrived. Popularity doesn't make a Prefect…at least not in this house. Upbringing, respect, pride, and downright stubborn ambition makes it. So it's yours. Now Eigil can be a pain in your backside instead," Xavier chuckled. Aurelius chuckled as well.

"Boy, is Alex going to hit the ceiling when that letter shows up next year," Aurelius grinned. Xavier laughed.

"I'm almost sorry not to be able to be around to see that."

"Why? Where are you heading?" Aurelius asked curiously.

"Northern Canada. I got a job as General Manager in Bertie Bott's Tundra Tasties factory, featuring the flavors of icicle, beaver jerky, moose antler and seal blubber."

"Sounds appetizing," Aurelius said with a forced smile.

"Yes, well, I suppose it does sound bleak but living there has at least one advantage. Permafrost; it's impossible to mine through. There's not a goblin in several hundred miles from there."

"But why are you still worried about it? I thought the Ministry forced the bank to clear your name."

"They did," Xavier sighed. "But frankly, I don't want to be here for the next round, and the next, and the next, or if I ever do get the nerve to settle down, which I doubt, I don't want my children going through it. I will miss it here though. I'll miss my parents too."

"They're staying?"

"Not only are they staying, they moved into the same house again. All that time they were confined together made them work out their problems."

"But that wouldn't work for you and Alex?" Aurelius asked slowly.

"No," Xavier said softly, shaking his head. "No, I… I just don't think Alex realizes just what it would mean to be a Platt. And frankly, she's really not cut out for it. But I do hope she'll be happy with whoever she does end up with," he added. "Feel free to tell her that."

Elfnip blossoms and roses adorned every vase and filled the air with their fragrance as guests filled the field beside Keki's Grove. Corey was staggered by the number of people on Rose's side of the family he was going to be related to, but they were just as staggered when he had no trouble remembering their names. He had been watching the Grove intently while he was greeting them, then broke into a smile when Alex and Alicia ran out both in pink dresses with Aurelius and Andrew both following behind. Then came Jennifer and Severus (Severus in his usual and Jennifer wearing the latest style from Minerva's shop) and Corey excused himself to go over to them, only to be stopped by Alex who was positively excited.

"Sisters! We're going to be sisters!" she declared ecstatically.

"And for that reason alone I'm doing this for you," Corey teased her. "She's at the shop." Immediately Alex raced off again, and Corey met up with his parents, Severus squinting at him with a critical eye. "So you're here at last! Grandfather's been here driving us crazy for nearly and hour. I have Audi and Boltin placating him, though."

"You're getting married in that?" Severus frowned.

"Severus!" Jennifer scolded.

"It's all right, Mom," Corey chuckled, spreading out his Musketeer uniform. "It may be the last time I ever wear it Dad, humor me. This is just as much a part of me as Corey the lazy boy who'd rather be climbing trees than doing homework."

"I can't believe it. I can't believe this is happening," Jennifer said. Laughing softly, Corey hugged her when she burst into tears.

"Molly Weasley warned me you were going to be like this! Come on, I think she's saving you both a seat."

"She has been something of a handful today," Severus agreed, and Jennifer hit him in the arm.

"Don't listen to him, Corey. Despite his expression, I assure you that from what I'm reading, he's hardly doing any better than I am," Jennifer declared.

"Now, who are you going to believe? The Truth Seeker, or me?" Severus asked.

"I think I'm going to stay away from answering that," Corey laughed, walking them over to where everyone else was. A moment later a glass was presented in front of him. Corey took it, following the gloved hand to see its owner. It was Danny, and she along with the two standing behind her were wearing their uniforms as well.

"Isn't it a bit early for this?" Corey grinned.

"Just a private toast," Danny said. "In honor of the last of us to fall."

"Well, I doubt any of you are surprised about that," Corey grinned.

"Actually, my money had always been on Doug," Taylor admitted and the others laughed.

"To the best friend a girl or guy could ever have," Danny said. "May you find all the happiness in the world and more."

"Salut," the other two said, taking a sip.

"And may our friendship last for the rest of our lives and beyond," Corey said back, holding up his glass.

"Salut," they all said again, grinning and taking a sip. Just then, Corey felt hands on his shoulders and looked around to see Molly behind him.

"What are you four doing over here drinking when there's a wedding to be done? Rose is on her way here! Come on, no peeking!" she fussed as she shooed them to take their places.

Father Pachem smiled warmly at Corey as he nervously stumbled into place, winking at him, while Eliza blew her nose loudly from her place in the front row. Jennifer herself was hardly faring much better but Molly was there to pat her hand and also throw a warm smile to Ashley who had just taken her seat across the aisle.

Wearing a white dress of embroidered roses and a fresh wreath of flowers in her hair, Rose finally appeared upon the arm of Albus Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling merrily as they met Corey, who looked a bit shaky on his feet. The three in costume beside him merely grinned at each other as they remembered their own weddings, and Doug looked down at his wife and the small wide-eyed baby sitting on her lap. By Rose's side, Alex's beaming face made her maid of honor dress look all the more pink, while Mandria and Alicia sighed wistfully as they admired Rose's dress. Jennifer couldn't seem to keep her eyes dry as the ceremony progressed, folding her handkerchief over in every possible way until Severus finally offered her one of his. But as she took it and pulled, there was another tied to its end, and another, until Jennifer finally had to stop crying and give her husband a dirty look despite his attempt to ignore her. Thomas rolled his eyes at both of them and murmured something to Boltin who merely smiled in response, while on the other side of them Audi whispered something in Moody's ear that made him gaze at her in sheer terror.

At last, Corey and Rose exchanged rings and were presented before the crowd, and as they kissed a cheer went up that could be heard all the way in Hogsmeade, and a round of guests soon surrounded them for hugs and congratulations.

"I'm going to try to catch the bouquet," Audi sang in a taunting, almost threatening manner.

"You'll do no such thing," Moody said firmly squinting at her.

"Oh, go ahead and let her try," Jennifer laughed at him.

"Aurors don't get married. Wives are a liability," Moody stated.

"Hey!" Ginny said, putting her hands on her hips. Harry folded his arms and grinned at him.

"All right, old Aurors don't get married," he grunted.

"Is it just me, or is he running out of more excuses?" Boltin teased.

"Are you all waiting for this?" Rose said, flirtatiously holding up her bouquet.

"She's going to get it," Jennifer murmured to Severus.

"I heard that," Moody glowered at her, watching with impending doom as Rose cast the spell and tossed it in the air. But Rose wondered if she didn't put a bit too much spin on the throw, for the bouquet zoomed like a bullet and hit Thomas Craw hard in the back of the head, causing him to whip around to try and fight off a possible assailant. The bouquet then spun in a different direction until it was finally caught… by Alexandria. As the crowd cheered, Jennifer and Severus stared at each other and back at their daughter again.

"Do you suppose it's too late to buy a windowless tower for the house?" Severus murmured.

"It wouldn't work, you know," said someone behind them. Dumbledore leaned on the back of their chairs. "You could spend your life solving all the mysteries in the world, Severus, but I don't think you'll be able to keep your children from growing up."

"Then perhaps it's time we spent a bit more time at home on Baker Street," Severus mused. "And leave the mysteries for someone else."

"Is that another promise we're not going to get involved?" Jennifer said.

"Most definitely," Severus agreed. But Jennifer merely smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder, knowing full well it was not a promise that he was likely to keep.

The End of Book 5

A/N Thanks for reading, hope you liked it, and please review! The next book, Jennifer Craw and the Return of the Ivory Skull is a dark nail-biter...and Jennifer is way over her head again...sigh...but she's hardly the only one. Zoe Black has a thing or two to learn in the next book as well, so I hope you keep reading! JCWriter.