CHAPTER 38 – DON'T PULL THE MASK OFF THE OLD LONE RANGER
Dinner was a tranquil affair, except for Hermione's tantalizing suggestion that she had figured out the mystery of Cissy's disappearing boyfriend. "I'm sure that I've come up with the solution and I expect to prove it within the next two days. Cissy and I have more or less set a time and place for Alex to appear. I promised that I wouldn't hurt him, but I didn't promise not to stun him to get a closer look. That may not be necessary. I've arranged for him to appear out on the grounds in a spot from which he can't easily rush off to a hiding place and can't apparate. The solution is really quite simple, but I don't want to reveal it, just in case I'm wrong, which I'm certain I'm not. I should be working on the rune translation, but I'll keep my notes with me. Cissy, Alice, and Margaret are getting so overwrought about Alex that I feel I should end this before the situation deteriorates farther. Don't worry, Cissy and I will not be in any danger."
Although peppered with questions, Hermione refused to give any further explication, seeming to enjoy her secret, rather than fearing the embarrassment of a false hunch.
Ellie had sat next to Hermione and across the table from Harry. She found Hermione's comments about Alex totally mystifying. This required just about a total rehash of everything that all of us knew or thought we knew about Alex and his appearances. Cissy started off contributing a lot to the conversation, but became silent and embarrassed by the time Hermione finished the tale. The awkwardness was broken, when Ellie started gushing about how much she was looking forward to examining the 'Peverell treasures' and how odd it was that she was inheriting my bed in the Gryffindor seventh year girls' dorm room. By the end of dinner, Cissy was viewing her as a new friend, rather than a stranger who had just learned the more embarrassing parts of the Alex story.
Professor Celine appeared behind Harry and me, even before I had finished my dessert. Since dessert was pumpkin pie smothered in whipped cream, I didn't feel too bad making a professor wait. Besides, I was hoping Harry would wheedle more information
out of Hermione. In the end, Professor Celine hastened things along by inviting Ron and Hermione to join us and suggesting that we bring the rest of the pie and a pitcher of apple cider along with us.
"You've probably heard that the headmaster slapped me down over inviting Jimmy to paint in the sitting room of my apartment. I apparently violated a prime taboo of Hogwarts. The headmaster started to say that students are simply never invited to faculty apartments, but then she realized that she had, in fact, invited me to her apartment, when I was a student. She thinks I was leading Jimmy on and allowing him to believe I had a greater interest in him than simply improving his art skills and trying to coax him to be less shy."
"I think the coaxing him to be less shy might have been what concerned her," my brother blurted out.
Hermione quickly jumped in to smooth over Ron's comment. "I don't think anyone can blame you. It's not something you do consciously and maybe not something you ever learned to control. You explained at the sweet shop about your Greek ancestry and the ability you've had over the years to either cheer people up or make them sad. You're a Siren and your emotional energy just naturally radiates to anyone in your vicinity. You were working on painting with Jimmy, and as you told us, that always makes you happy. It's only natural that Jimmy felt happier in your presence and also sensed your happiness at those times. He's young and inexperienced and misinterpreted that flow of emotion. It's nobody's fault, and I don't think Jimmy has a serious problem. He's shy and overly manipulated by his parents to do some dumb things, but he's basically a good guy."
"That's part of what I wanted to say. Having spent considerable time in very close proximity to Bruce, I can assure you, as I tried with only partial success to assure the headmaster: Jimmy is not a little Bruce. He is more like I was as a young student, a person who needs art to express himself and manage his moods. I fear cutting him out of art class and the art club, as the headmaster has suggested – no, really as she has demanded – will have a very negative impact on Jimmy. I thought he was beginning to show signs of improvement in his personality as well as his artistic expression. I deeply regret that my actions will close that avenue of expression to Jimmy. He has returned my painting, by the way. He very properly brought it to me in the Great Hall at breakfast time and apologized abundantly for the residual damage, which he hadn't been able to fix. I really had difficulty even finding any damage. He apologized for becoming a victim of a brief rage and lashing out. I accepted his apology."
"Rage can be a very bad thing," my brother told her. "I know that from experience. It is a difficult thing to overcome. You really need to develop a lot of self-confidence first, so you don't feel helpless. I killed two people in a rage. They were very bad people, but I didn't need to kill them. We have to be sure Jimmy doesn't go that way."
I explained how we planned to keep Jimmy involved with painting, and Professor Celine promised to help. She felt at least one of the girls in her class would happily work with Jimmy. She also thought that re-involving Jimmy with Quidditch would give a more socially acceptable way to work out his frustrations and aggressive feelings.
"I want you to know that I never felt unsafe around Jimmy, although I readily admit that his last painting of me was a little too creepy. Still, understanding the artistic temperament, it didn't freak me out nearly so much as it did you or the headmaster. I'm also glad that you'll be attending the art club. I think the presence of the four of you and Draco will help smooth things over.
"I intend to stay through the end of term and then we'll see what happens from there. The headmaster is agreeable to that approach. She says she is on probation, herself. I worry that I would have handled the Jimmy situation better, had I not been knocked off my equilibrium by my contact with Bruce. I have to admit that I am not as fully recovered from that as I had hoped. I should have spotted the problem with Jimmy early on, after his first portrait of me. Although, really, I think he was close to okay until he saw that hateful article in the Daily Prophet."
"He wasn't entirely okay, or he wouldn't have just stolen your self-portrait," Harry reminded her.
"Yes, although I didn't know he had done that. Anyway, it has been good talking to the four of you. Apart from Draco, and Pansy if she returns, you are the only students whom I'm allowed to meet like this. I think personal interaction can be a major element of teaching. I'm not all that chummy with the other staff. I'm actually considering commuting to Hogwarts and staying at Amelia's townhouse, rather than this apartment. I think that would help steady Amelia. You must be gentle with her – she hasn't really recovered from what the Death Eaters did to her. She is horrified of the prospect of sending an innocent person, or even a redeemable guilty person to Azkaban or even to jail. She views Azkaban as the equal of how the Death Eaters treated her and is afraid that it will once again be used as the standard prison. If you could close it down for good, I think that would help her a lot. I know she needs her work for her sanity, but I also know that she returned to work far too quickly. I know she has caused problems for you. I know that you would possibly be doing the sensible thing if you just fired her. I hope you will show an abundance of compassion and kindness and give her a little more time to adjust. I give no guarantees. I'm not totally sure that she is able to do the job right now. She is trying very hard to succeed, but her emotions get in her way.
"That sounds like I invited you herehhjh for a special pleading on behalf of my lover. She would be aghast if she knew I said a word about her problems. That's not why I invited you. I invited you, because I'm worried about Draco. He was doing so very well and now he's so very confused. I thought he was getting over his father's death and his mother's meddling, but the re-emergence of Pansy and the evidence of your tapes has him in turmoil. I hate to see him in so much mental agony. He's torn between Pansy and Erin. That shouldn't even be a choice. Pansy is awful for him. She doesn't even like him. I think she's just grasping for something to keep her afloat and Draco is familiar."
We told her about the plan to have Draco and Erin do portraits of each other.
"I love that idea. I will be sure to schedule oil painting at the next club meeting. Erin is one of my favorite students. I will certainly tutor her when she has to leave Hogwarts. I'm so glad that you're taking action to help Draco. Anyhow, thanks for visiting, and I'll see you all at art club."
The morning papers were most entertaining. The Quibbler's main headline covered the entire front page in bold red type:
RITA SKEETER COMES BACK FROM DEAD TO EXPLAIN HOW FRAKES ALWAYS GETS THE STORY WRONG: "HE'S STUPID, HE'S A LIAR, AND HE'S GOT A GRUDGE AGAINST POTTER"
Rita's outburst at the press conference was reproduced verbatim. Xenophilius had apparently gotten to ask Rita a few questions, because he quoted her lament, "really, I ask you, how difficult can it be to write up a simple story, when you have notes of the quality that I am noted for, from which to work? Frakes is a moron. No wonder Barnabas let Thicknesse write articles and just had Frakes sign them. If Frakes wrote them himself, they'd read like the work of a blithering idiot."
The article also told the tale of Rita's capture as a stirring tale of Elf heroism. Hermione's side of beef demonstration was described in detail, with a picture showing the beef transfiguring into a bloody caricature of Rita, with the print of a giant boot sole appearing across her face and chest, until she was barely recognizable. This picture was presented as the centerfold, with a bold warning on the preceding page:
The following centerfold is not meant for squeamish sissies. If that's you, don't look.
An inner page headline asked
TELL US YOUR FAVORITE FRAKES' LIE FROM THE DAILY PROPHET
Under the headline, Xenophilius asked readers of the Daily Prophet to write in and tell him what they thought of all the lies that had been printed in that newspaper. He promised to publish the hundred best letters and to award a year of free Quibblers to the writers of whichever of those hundred letters his readers chose as the ten best. He promised to share whatever mail he received with Barnabas Cuffe 'so that he can try to clean up his paper, which is quickly spiraling down the drain'.
The Daily Prophet headlines were a tad different:
BELOVED REPORTER RITA SKEETER IS ALIVE
DETAILS OF HER CAPTURE
FRAKES TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED PENDING INVESTIGATION BY PUBLISHER
It had been a very bad day for Frakes and almost as bad for Barnabas Cuffe. Having learned quite a lot from Harry about how the aurors operated, I was sure that both men would have a shadow for at least the next couple days. They were the sort of suspect characters who could be expected to lash out at the authorities in a violent way, when their ambitions were balked.
There were some ews and ahs, raucous laughter, and even some yechs! coming from the Quibbler subscribers at ours and the other tables. One first year even lost his breakfast, leaving a big gap in the seating as the other Ravenclaws scrambled to distance themselves from the unfortunate lad.
After breakfast, we all went our separate ways. Harry, Ron and the aurors were going to investigate the pyramid and its fixed portkey. Hermione was off with Cissy, to await an appearance by Alex. Luna had been tasked by her father 'to innocently hang around the Ministry and see what you can learn about Rita and Pansy. Percy or Callista might be a good place to start.' I was off with McGonagall to plan the Quidditch Tournament and agree on a Junior Team Captain and suggested team members. The auditions for the senior team would be relatively easy, as only fourth year and up starters for one of the house teams would be considered. The candidates for the junior team were wide open.
McGonagall started with the suggestion that the junior team, should have a Captain who was at least a fourth level and that being Captain was just the thing to boost Jimmy Peakes' self-esteem and get his mind off the debacle that his 'special friendship' with Professor Celine had become.
I told her that I didn't really think their friendship was all that 'special', but rather the case of a shy guy falling under the spell of a Siren. I said Jimmy had already agreed to play for the senior team, and that I was fairly sure he would excel in the auditions. I said the junior team needed a very organized person, who could be a leader and make unselfish decisions. We didn't need a repeat of Jimmy's little brother as Keeper. She asked me if I had a person in mind and seemed mildly surprised when I told her "I really think Margaret Wright would be an excellent Captain. After her Joan of Arc stint, all the students respect her courage and determination."
We agreed on Margaret and an open audition, to be conducted over the next week. "It's most important that you find a strong seeker. The second most important thing is to find a first level who can play without pulling the team down. You'll have to have a first level playing at all times."
"The answer to both of your priorities is young Wood. I've worked him at Seeker, and he has excellent skills and is totally fearless."
McGonagall smiled at this news. There was a lot more discussion and debate, but it was fairly inconsequential. None of the others were back by lunchtime, so I ate with Margaret, sounding her out about her willingness to Captain the junior team. She accepted and was also positive about my suggestion to use young Wood as her Keeper.
By early afternoon, the foreign delegations were beginning to arrive. Viktor and Cho headed a Durmstrang contingent, which included Hans Decker and Rudy Krot, whom I had met on our visit to Durmstrang, as well as Hana Knodell, a second year, who had already gone home prior to our visit.
Beauxbatons was the second group to arrive, although their traveling party comprised only Madame Maxine and Audrey. The Irish Academy had still not arrived when Cissy burst into the Great Hall, where the delegates were chatting over butter beer and raspberry tartlets.
"Come quick! Hermione caught Alex and I don't want her to injure him. She's stunned him and he was transforming into another shape. I had to rush back here. Please save him. They're on the ground, under a tree, near Hagrid's hut."
I led the charge out the main entrance and across the lawn, beating the others as I raced toward the spot, where I could see Hermione standing over a body lying in the grass. As I drew up alongside Hermione, I immediately recognized the body as belonging to Alice.
"Alex transformed into Alice a few minutes after I stunned him," Hermione reported. "I was fairly sure that Alex was really Alice, she always seemed to be in the vicinity when Alex disappeared. I thought we might be dealing with a human version of Rita's animagus act, and suspected that Alice couldn't hold the Alex form for very long, which is why Alex had to keep vanishing mysteriously, even though that drew so much attention to him. We chatted pleasantly enough with Alex, but then he seemed to want to leave and quickly seemed in a near panic to leave. He had no easy means of escape, and finally took off running back toward the castle. That's when I stunned him. I think my Mom needs to have a chat with Alice."
"I think I need to have a chat with Alice," Professor McGonagall corrected her. "I also need to have a chat with you. The special privileges that I extended to the eighth years did not include permission to 'petrificus' the younger students. This must have been a terribly frightening experience for poor Alice. I know you wanted to solve this mystery, but I just don't understand how you could have considered stunning her to be acceptable behavior. Please release her instantly, and I'll take her to Madam Pomphrey."
Hermione, who had been quite proud of solving the mystery, now had a guilty, sheepish expression on her face and Cissy was staring at her accusingly. Hermione seemed to shake her head to clear it and then walked back to the castle, as Professor McGonagall was helping Alice to her feet. I followed Hermione all the way back to the Gryffindor common room, neither of us saying a word as I trailed two steps behind her.
As we entered the Gryffindor common room, I pulled up alongside Hermione.
"I really messed things up," she said in a very quiet voice. I guided her to one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace, sitting down in the chair next to her. "I thought it important to stop the Alex disruptions," she continued "and I saw the solution standing right in front of me, then he was leaving, before he transformed back. I just panicked, well not really panicked, because I always considered that I might have to stun Alex, but I wasn't thinking clearly enough to realize that I could keep him in sight all the way back to the castle. I even think I could have stayed fairly close to him, although I don't know what I could have done to prevent him hiding in the castle. I suppose I could have tackled him on the lawn, if I caught up to him. I sensed he was only minutes from changing back. I like Alice and really hope I didn't badly frighten her. I don't know what she thinks when she changes back. It would be awful if she just popped back into her own body, with no memory of being Alex and then found herself paralyzed on the ground and not knowing why I had attacked her and whether I would do worse. After my experience being petrified and hooked up to the generator, I can't believe I put someone else in that position, even for a few minutes. I was planning on releasing her as soon as she had finished transforming. I was afraid what might happen if I released the spell while she was in the in-between state. Please tell me that I'm not an awful person."
"You're not an awful person. Really. You may have gotten a little carried away and you may have given Alice about five bad minutes, which she may or may not remember, but I think you did what had to be done. You couldn't know, we still don't know, whether Alex was a fantasy created by Alice or someone was controlling Alice, like Tom Riddle controlled me. You may have saved their lives. Alex could be very dangerous."
"No, he couldn't. I was almost certain that Alex was Alice and Alice isn't dangerous, except possibly to herself. I honestly don't know whether I was trying to do the right thing to help everyone identify and address Alice's problem, or I was more interested in proving I had solved the mystery. I know Alice was causing a lot of petty turmoil and getting Cissy's hopes up about her new boyfriend, but was she really hurting anyone? I should have talked about my plan with the rest of you, especially Neville, and perhaps even McGonagall. I guess I was afraid that I would look foolish, if I were proven wrong. I think I was selfish."
Neville entered the common room and made a bee line for the two of us. He obviously had heard about the morning's excitement. He was bringing either news or an admonition to Hermione. I was hoping for news, especially the good kind. To Hermione, I quickly blurted, speaking as fast as I thought would be intelligible "Neville's coming, pull yourself together - you don't have to be a saint. I'm not sure you did anything wrong and if you did it was necessary."
"That seems to be the question of the day, doesn't it?" Neville asked, obviously having overheard the last of my remarks. "I'm not sure, myself, whether what Hermione did was a little cruel or very necessary. It was probably both. Cissy is very upset, but I'm not sure she's angry at Hermione or shocked and hollowed out to find her boyfriend is a first level Witch. Alice is very definitely upset. She was scared to 'wake up' lying on the ground and unable to move. Apparently she had no memory of meeting you and Cissy as Alex. She claims no knowledge of actually being Alex, although she admits to having been very worried about what she described as 'brief blackouts'.
"I know the feeling well," I told Neville. "That's exactly what it felt like when Tom Riddle took over my body. I know that must have been extremely frightening for poor Alice, and like me she was an overwhelmed first year, too afraid to mention the blackouts to anyone. I finally figured out for myself that the Riddle diary was connected to my blackout problem. Like Alice, I should have sought help. Looked at from that angle, I can definitely tell Hermione that she did Alice a big favor. I would have been far better off had someone been able to 'petrificus' me and find out that Tom Riddle had taken me over. The most important thing now is to find out who took over Alice, how he did it, and for what reason. This could still be repeated, and it might not end until Alice is dead, which is almost how my story ended."
"Yes, I'm leaning toward 'necessary act' myself, although I'm here on two missions. The first is to tell Hermione that the headmaster wants a chat – her office in ten minutes. I also want to give the Gryffindors a non-hysterical heads-up on what happened. I know Alex scared a lot of the younger Gryffindors and that the very obvious upsettedness of Cissy and Alice will cause a major stir. I thought a quick house meeting would be in order. I'll roust the boys out of their dorm, while Ginny gathers up the girls. I know we'll miss a lot, but I'll hang out in the common room as much as possible today."
We managed to gather half a dozen boys and almost a dozen girls together in the common room. As Neville began a very calm and reassuring explanation of what had happened, Hermione slunk out of the room, still wearing a very guilty look. Getting called to the headmaster's office, following suspected wrongdoing, must have been a new experience for her.
The Gryffindors reacted better than I expected they would to Neville's recounting of the unmasking of Alice/Alex. There were a lot of 'poor Alice' comments. I heard one 'poor Cissy' and looked up to identify the empathetic soul. It was Margaret and she appeared close to tears. I motioned to a third level boy to change seats with me, so I could sit next to Margaret on the sofa and place what I hoped would be a comforting arm around her shoulders. She leaned into me and sobbed softly. Many of the students seemed quite relieved that Alex had been caught and would not be making any more of his frightening appearances. One first level girl commented, "now you all have to admit that we were telling the truth about seeing him. I'm very sorry for Alice and Cissy, but I'm glad people will stop looking at me as if I'm a little unbalanced for claiming to see what I obviously did see."
Having heard the news and giving rather terse responses, which tended not to extend beyond 'Wizard!' or 'knew there was something freaky about that little Witch', the boys quickly dispersed, leaving the girls to continue chatting with us. Girls promised to stay with Alice and Cissy, and watch over them, and fight any students from the other houses who might find it appropriate to tease them, and to just generally 'be the best friend I can possibly be to them'.
I thanked the girls for their consideration, but reminded them that "Hermione is also going to need your support. She did what she felt was necessary to keep all of you safe and to protect Alice and Cissy from a possibly sinister outside influence that had seized control of Alice. This didn't turn out as well as she intended, but Hermione meant well. You all know what a good person she is."
This was met with a few moments of silence and perhaps a little skepticism, but one by one almost all of the girls pledged that they would also try to help and stick up for Hermione. I convinced them that perhaps the most important thing they could do would be to help Alice, Cissy, and Hermione to all be friends again. Still, I was very gratified when the girls had on their pleasant faces as Hermione walked through the portal a minute later. The girls greeted Hermione amicably, but seemed quite willing to quickly drift away when I indicated that Neville and I wished to speak to Hermione in private.
"So, did McGonagall haul out the school cane?" I asked Hermione.
"No, she was quite angry at first, insisting that I should have discussed my plans with her before doing something so rash with two of the younger students. I apologized and explained my thinking. In the end, I think she agreed that we were all better off having the Alice/Alex situation out in the open, so that she can try to help Alice. I told her that Cissy might need more comforting than Alice, and she regretted that this might well be the case. She directed me to come back here and tell you that she would continue the Quidditch meeting, and that you should wait here with me to talk to Cissy. She said she was going to have a few words with Cissy and then send her right over to us. She wants Neville to be in on the meeting. She said she'd like to have Harry as well, but can't summon him from the pyramid. Then she sent a Patronus to summon Harry, so he may be along shortly."
"Do we really want to meet Cissy here?" I asked Hermione. "There are upset students up in the dorms and I don't want them to witness a big scene with Cissy. Especially since all the girls pledged to both support Alice and Cissy and to remain friends with you. A public brawl wouldn't help that goal."
I was going to suggest meeting in Harry's office or our apartment, when Cissy came through the portal. "Everyone please follow me" I said, leading them up to our apartment. "I'm sorry, but we only have two chairs, so we'll have to sit on the floor." Cissy seemed a little reluctant to comply, but followed us back out of Gryffindor. I saw Margaret coming down the stairs and asked her to send Harry along to our apartment when he showed up. Cissy started to speak as we were ducking out of the portal, but I shushed her, saying "prying ears, let's not talk until we're safely inside the apartment."
As we entered the apartment, I saw that two more chairs had magically appeared and we would not have to sit on the floor. The second my door snicked shut, Cissy bubbled over "I've been good, but it's been really difficult not saying anything. I know you were afraid I would start a fight with Hermione in front of the young students, but I'm not interested in fighting her. I'm not even angry. I'm sad and confused and I need to talk things out. I know Hermione was trying to be helpful and protect me from a boy who was something very different than he claimed to be. She was right, but that doesn't make me stop loving him or make him dangerous to me. I can't know what to do until I can understand what Alex is. I know he's Alice, I saw him change back into Alice, but he has to be more than that. I know Alice well and there's a huge difference between Alice and Alex. I don't know what to think. I'll never see Alex again." At this point Cissy started sobbing. Throwing her arms around me, she sobbed into, well more my left breast than my shoulder. It felt a bit awkward, especially since Cissy had arrested our movement toward the chairs and the four of us were clustered inside the door, with the sobbing Cissy in the center. Hermione was rubbing her back, while Neville was standing uncomfortably with his arms crossed in front of his chest. As I looked at him, he took a step backward to lean against the wall. Nobody was speaking and Cissy's soft sobs seemed very loud in the quiet stone room.
It took several more minutes before Cissy was calmed enough for me to steer her to a seat. Thinking it best not to put her right next to Hermione, I placed her between Neville and me, motioning Hermione to the far end of the semi-circle. Hermione was very ill at ease, but ventured "it is possible that you will see Alex again. There is no reason to assume he will stop appearing just because his identity is known, although I doubt he will choose to appear when I'm anywhere nearby."
"I really hope you're right," Cissy replied with a sniffle "there are so many questions that I want to ask him, now that I know he's really Alice. This is especially awful for me, because my father always accused me of only liking girls and now I fall in love with a mysterious boy, who turns out to be a girl. What does that say about me? I know I'll miss Alex, but the big reason I must see him again is that Alice can't tell me anything that happened when she was Alex. She says she began to realize that she was losing bits of time and that the missed time was getting longer. She knew she had a problem, but was afraid to mention it to either Margaret or me. The three of us are best friends in the dorm, although I really feel closest to Harry and the three of you. I wish Harry were here."
"Professor McGonagall sent for him," I assured her, "and I left a message with Margaret to send him here as soon as he arrived at the common room."
"That's good. If you don't mind, I think it would help to have Margaret here."
I walked to the door of the apartment, opened it and sent my Patronus rushing down the steep stairs. When I returned to my seat, Neville had his hand on Cissy's arm and was talking to her in a low, reassuring voice, of which I was getting the bass notes and soothing cadence, but not any of the words. They both looked up at me as I sat down, with Neville speaking for them "Cissy was essentially thrown out of the infirmary, because the headmaster felt she and Alice were upsetting each other. They need to talk and compare memories. We have to get them together as soon as possible. They are best friends and they can work through this together. Alice is desperate not to be sent to St. Mungo's, and Cissy thinks the headmaster plans to send her there. I'm off to speak to the headmaster. If I see your husband, I'll tell him he's needed here. Good luck."
Good luck, indeed. I lacked Neville's experience at comforting the younger students and felt ill-prepared to take his place. I opened my mind and let out a cry of help to Harry. I was surprised to get a reply: {[worried] I'm on my way, I'll be there in five minutes.}
Cissy turned to me, demanding a detailed recounting of what it felt like to be the person possessed by the disembodied spirit of Tom Riddle. I was on sounder footing here, and unembarrassedly recounted every detail that I could remember of my ordeal, from the puzzlement at the blackouts, to the dawning realization that I must have committed the mischief in the castle, to my pleasant bewilderment, upon awaking from near death to find Harry with me.
"That's what I fear most," Cissy cut in as I reached the ending. "Without Harry, you would be gone and Voldemort would be walking about in your body. It worked out for you. You were saved. But who will rescue Alice? I want to see Alex again. I still want to be with Alex forever, but I can't let him steal my friend's body. I'm not sure I'm strong enough to protect Alice. Harry wasn't in love with Tom Riddle."
Harry arrived with news, saying, "I'm sorry to be late, but I got a very significant call from the Ministry. Spencer collapsed at his Muggle school and appeared to be having some kind of fit at the same time that Hermione petrified his sister. He was unconscious for roughly as long as Alice was petrified and then suddenly awoke in the school infirmary in something of a rage. He was rushed to hospital and sedated. The Ministry moved quickly and arranged for the Muggles to transfer him to a specialist hospital, at his parents' urging. He has just arrived at St. Mungo's and Doctor White is examining him. The Ministry is hastening about the task of confunding the Muggles who saw objects flying around the school infirmary, without being touched, while Henry Spencer was having his rage."
"Wow!" Hermione exclaimed. "He is in contact with his sister at all this distance. I wouldn't have believed that was possible."
"It's definitely something new," Harry admitted. "It may be related to all of the magical circles being retuned, or even to our unintentional restarting of the circle and transporter inside the Hogwarts pyramid. Anyhow, quite a few Wizards are feeling more magical than they have ever felt. Your father is scared and a little angry. He called Professor McGonagall down to the Ministry to explain how her department could have missed a child with obvious magical talent, when that child seems to have stronger magic than Voldemort. We'll have to keep an eye on Cissy and Alice – both may be in great danger. By the way," Harry addressed this directly to me. "Professor McGonagall told me that I should relieve you. Since she's at the Ministry, you have to entertain and negotiate with her guests. I guess we'll all see you at the banquet."
I got up to leave, giving Harry a hug and a kiss. Cissy called after me "please make sure that Margaret is on her way." As I descended the stairs, I sent my Patronus racing ahead of me. I had no choice but to wait in the corridor for Margaret. My Patronus would lead her back to me.
While I waited for Margaret, I messaged Harry. {{I assume I am not to show our guests either the inside or outside paths around the pyramid.}}
{I think that wise. No problem with Viktor seeing it, but I especially don't want our Irish friends to learn those secrets just yet.}
{{That's what I thought. I find Henry's skills very frightening. His link with his sister is stronger than our link, and we've exceeded anything previously recorded.}}
{[worried] Yes this could be trouble. Also, we should be careful that our skill remains relatively secret. If Henry turns out badly, it could become a most unpopular skill to possess. The Wizard community could turn on us.}
{{I hadn't even thought of that problem. Do you really think that possible?}}
{A small chance, but best to choose an abundance of caution. We lose nothing by keeping the secret, secret. By the way, the password for McGonagall's office has been changed to 'Hermione's error'. I guess that tells us a little something about the headmaster's state of mind.}
Seeing Margaret approaching, I broke my link with Harry and quickly brought her up to date. She said the Gryffindor common room was calm. I let her through the wall and we went our separate ways.
I was brought up sharply upon ascending the stairs to McGonagall's office, when the first face and outstretched hand to meet me were those of Erasmus. Realizing that we had left our tent in his yard, promising to return long before now, I felt myself blushing as I commented "I'm really sorry that we've left our tent in your backyard. We do plan to return, but things have been insanely busy since we left your house."
I felt myself growing redder as Erasmus replied with a sly grin, "I don't mind the tent, none of the neighbors can see into my backyard. I'm glad it's just the press of business that kept you away. Kingsley suggested that you and your husband think I might be a secret Death Eater. I admit it's odd that Barty was living just down the road from me, but he had a lot of charms to keep us from seeing him and when he left his house, he was on the juice."
"How nice of Kingsley to share my husband's concerns with you," was the best reply I could come up with. "Please don't be offended - Harry has learned to suspect everyone when there are loose Death Eaters running amok. We also suspected Kingsley."
"Yes, Kingsley told me that, as well. We both got had a good laugh, then we got good and drunk. No harm done. It doesn't pay to be too trusting in times like these. Still, if it's any reassurance to Harry, you can just remind him how many Wizards walked by Grimmauld Place, without ever knowing it was there. The same charms protected Barty. I didn't have your super-secret spyglass, did I?"
"No you didn't," I admitted. "Kingsley did convince us that you're really on our side, and we really did stay away because of problems back here. As you know, I'm to fill in for the headmaster, because of just such a problem. Welcome to Hogwarts, by the way. How far did the headmaster get in the negotiations?"
The negotiations had basically ended before McGonagall was called away, so I was needed largely as a tour guide and as the Hogwarts student face to be introduced to the other schools' captains. I had already met everyone, except for the Irish delegation, who had arrived while I was with Cissy. I took our guests to lunch and gave them the grand tour of all the non-prohibited areas. I had to use the ruse of finding Hagrid to give us a tour of the forbidden forest, in order to launch my Patronus to warn the aurors not to be obviously hanging around outside Snape's office. I spent more time chatting with the other captains than with the headmasters, who seemed happier chatting amongst themselves. I knew Audrey from Beauxbatons and Rudy from Durmstrang, so I was really just renewing my acquaintance with each of them. The Irish Captain, Sean Murphy, was new to me. He was also different from the others, in that he was not a student, but a member of one of the Irish Quidditch clubs.
Since the Irish school did not enroll students in the upper levels, we had negotiated an agreement that allowed any Irish Quidditch Club member under age twenty five to play, as long as they only had one over-twenty player at a time. Sean was a huge beater, who might have had a little giant in his ancestry. He had to be at least six-foot-seven-inches and close to three hundred pounds. I was thinking that we'd have to play Hagrid to have a chance of controlling him. I couldn't help thinking that, with Sean sitting there right in front of her, McGonagall had done a lousy job of negotiating in my absence. I certainly would not have allowed this over-aged monster to play against us.
I had hoped to join Harry for dinner, but McGonagall had other ideas. This was a feast for our guests, and anyone who might make our senior Quidditch team was to meet them. Thus, all of the starting Quidditch players for all three houses joined our guests for dinner at the enlarged Slytherin table. It was heaped high with a wide variety of fragrant foods, from roast wild boar, presumably in honor of Durmstrang, to fish, curries, roast turkey, and spicy crab cakes, which I heartily recommended to one and all. There were flasks of Witch sherry in honor of our guests and just about every vegetable, with the exception of mashed turnips, that I could think of.
McGonagall was at the head table with Erasmus, Madame Maxine, and Viktor. McGonagall had also helpfully arranged the seating assignments at the Quidditch table, placing me between Sean and Rudy Krot, with Audrey sitting directly across from me. Since Sean was at the end of the table, unfortunately he had only me and Jimmy Peakes, who was seated directly across from him, to talk to over dinner. Jimmy was in one of his quiet moods. To be polite, I'd have to spend most of dinner chatting with Sean, who appeared to be dense as a log. I'd have much rather been sitting back at the Gryffindor table, where the quality and quantity of food had everyone in a jubilant mood. As I looked that way, I felt I was missing a lot by being where I was.
The thought of dinner with Sean dampened my enthusiasm for the crab cakes, although I still managed to eat three of them. My discomfiture did not take the form I had expected. Sean was extremely bright, well-spoken, and knowledgeable about Muggle society. By the end of dinner, I was the one feeling dense as a log, as Sean unsuccessfully tried conversational gambits ranging from the poetry of Yeats and Byron, to the plays of Shakespeare and Arthur Miller, to the novels of James Joyce and Hemingway. I had to confess to knowledge of none of these gentlemen, and after soaking up interesting literary tidbits from Sean through most of dinner, had to beg for a shift of the conversation to Quidditch over dessert. At least here, I could soar rhetorically as I described my career as a Seeker, leaving Sean to talk about Chasers he had bashed and opposing Beaters who would not fly again this season. This allowed me to thoroughly enjoy my crème brulee.
As I finished my dessert, Sean ended our conversation with the totally unnecessary news that he was studying modern literature at the University of Ulster, with a minor in museum curation. He said Erasmus taught that a strong knowledge of the Muggle society was a very good thing. I was smiling in response and getting up to leave, when Sean dismissed me by saying "I hope I didn't bore you over dinner. I just expected, as the wife of the Deputy Minister, that you would be more, um, literate."
Thanks a lot, Sean.
Professor McGonagall came down from the head table to mingle with us and, after greeting Madame Maxime and Viktor again, I nodded to Professor McGonagall to excuse myself "to see what Harry has learned about Henry."
As I hurried over to the Gryffindor table, I quickly found Ron, but there was no sign of Harry.
"He's in the infirmary," Ron informed me. "Doctor White has moved Henry there. Harry thinks that reuniting him with his sister will calm him down and likely also help Alice. Hermione, Cissy, and Margaret are in the infirmary with Harry. There are a whole bunch of aurors with them, which is why we've got these two new aurors down here with us. I guess the Ministry is afraid that some of our guests may cause trouble."
Much as I wished to hurry up to the infirmary, I knew I had to return to our guests. I took the time for a brief contact with Harry, during a trip to the girls' bathroom.
{{What's happening? I hear both Alice and Henry are with you in the infirmary.}}
{[amused] I expected to hear from or see you much sooner. Henry is fully recovered from the drugs the Muggles gave him and seems calm enough, now that he is with Alice. They've been seated on a cot, hugging each other for the past ten minutes. Actually, I think they're whispering back and forth.}
{{I'm still stuck with the Quidditch delegations, or I'd be up there. I don't think I'll see you until bed time. Wait a minute; if Alice and her brother are whispering to each other, then they don't have our kind of whisper talk.}}
{I think you're right. Alice doesn't seem able to receive her brother's thoughts, unless he takes her over. The brother seems a little confused by the whole situation. He denies intentionally taking over Alice. Cissy and Hermione say he's telling the truth. I'll see you later.}
The Quidditch meeting was a bit tedious, dealing in rules minutia, such as those governing substitutions and player injuries as well as special field rules for both the junior and senior teams. McGonagall and the others had already decided in my absence that the tournament would take place on Saturday and Sunday, two weeks hence. They had also decided that each team would play two games, the pairings for the first game to be chosen by drawing lots. The winners would play the winners and the losers would play the losers. To win the tournament, you had to win both your games. Qualified players and age limits on the field at any time were also decided. I was left to wade through trivia that was unlikely to affect the results of any games.
Thinking McGonagall had given away too much by playing the good host, I soldiered on from the position she had placed me in. For reasons of safety, the snitch would be limited in altitude for the junior team matches and all players at both levels must always remain within the limits of the field and a height of three hundred feet. Patrols would be established to prevent magic from the spectators from influencing the players and to arrest the fall of any player separated from his or her broom. There was a longer list of fouls than I was used to, including any attempt by a Seeker to interfere with the opposing team's chasers. Beaters were also not permitted to attack the opposing Seeker. I could see this as possibly necessary for the junior team, but some of these safeguards seemed very out of place for a senior team, not that I didn't feel a little better knowing Sean couldn't launch his three hundred pounds of beef at me from my blind side.
On entering our apartment at the end of this long day, I was initially surprised to find that Harry had still not returned, and then surprised again as I decided to sit and read by the fire and noticed that the extra two chairs had vanished as mysteriously as they had appeared. I must have been lulled to sleep by the heat of the fire, because the next thing I knew, Harry was shaking me awake and I could tell by the light streaming through the windows that it was morning and fairly far into the morning. I had missed breakfast and my neck was stiff and hurting me, my head having apparently flopped to the side as I slept. "Why didn't you wake me sooner?" I accused Harry.
"Just returned from the infirmary," he answered in a pleasant tone, kissing me on the tip of my nose. "Neither of the Spencer twins was in the mood for sleep and they chattered away with each other and us all night. When Alice says she and Henry were close, that is a great understatement. They apparently were never apart. They played together, ate together, were bathed together, slept together in the same double bed in their own room, learned to read together, sat at adjacent desks at the Muggle school each of the five years they attended. Their mother dressed them identically, so that the Muggle school teachers thought Alice was a lad. They apparently finished each other's sentences, had the same favorite books, colors, songs, and plants in the family garden. They happily shared a cocker spaniel, who was unable to tell them apart. Most of the time their parents couldn't distinguish them either. After all this identical togetherness, it was a tremendous shock and blow to Alice when Henry wasn't chosen for Hogwarts. She had done noticeable magic and Henry hadn't, but she had put this down to Henry's superior self-restraint. I assure you that I spent a most unusual night," Harry concluded.
"Doctor White seems truly bewildered. The Ministry has determined that Henry will start Hogwarts immediately and bunk in Gryffindor. Professor McGonagall brought back that decision from the Ministry, although I don't think she is entirely pleased. She is also totally mystified about how Henry's magical powers were overlooked, given that he grew up in a magical household, with parents who desperately wanted him to attend Hogwarts. It's quite possible that Henry saw his parents punish Alice for using magic, a possibly tragic action which they regret, and decided to hide his own skills. It's also possible that all the outages and surges of the magical force triggered his latent talent. Both of the twins are still a little frightened, as much as anything about being regarded as freaks. Alice does not appear to be angry at Hermione, which has to be considered an unexpected plus."