The Contract

Chapter 29

Albus barely glanced up when he felt the stairs leading to his office begin to ascend, bringing who he knew to be Minerva to his domain. If he had spared even a moment longer, he would have realized there were additional magical signatures that indicated that she wasn't alone. He was busy reading missives from his contacts, who were looking for Elmer Eddison. A now retired Healer, who was touring around the world, from what he had been able to glean from those he questioned at St. Mungo's unobtrusively as possible, of course. There was talk of too many different countries being his 'first port of call' in order for Albus to pin point exactly where he was. Which was irritating, especially as he had to remain at Hogwarts as the Headmaster. He was already on shaky ground with the Board of Governors, Wizengamot and the public as well. He dared not be seen stepping a toe out of line for fear of losing his home.

Hogwarts was indeed his home, it had always been, but for a few years while he was a young man. He was the one influencing the minds of the current generation, which was the best way to gain the brightest minds of the generation for his various causes. He had done so for as far back as he could recall, and had rarely been disappointed with his picks. There was also the safety here, that he wouldn't find elsewhere, he did not trust anyone enough to dare to use them for the Fidelius Charm in order to secure his own place. Not that he had one, no, he needed no other place other than Hogwarts, so yes, he had to tread very carefully.

"Albus?" Minerva cleared her throat, eyes blazing at being ignored, especially with company. It made Albus look so utterly petulant, when she knew he was just very busy at the moment, she knew just how difficult it was to keep up with the correspondence, she was the Deputy Headmistress after all.

"Yes, Minerva? Is all well?" Albus asked, brow furrowed as he read the missive in front of him, hmm, interesting, India seemed like a very good bet. Not only had he sent a postcard from India to St. Mungo's but spoke of the beautiful sites he was seeing while there. Perfection. He had a country and place, all was left was to find the Healer himself. He had no funds to spare in order to have someone narrow the search down farther, not yet, and Fawkes was much too near burning day to be of help for any ingredients that might see him gaining funds just that much sooner. He refused to sell of what was left of his treasure trove of items. He'd rather track the healer down himself than do such a thing. It had pained him to sell what he had, but he was determined to buy them back just as soon as he was able. He shouldn't have had to sell anything, he was Albus Dumbledore. Damn Harry Potter and whoever was pulling his strings.

"Albus, may I introduce you to the three inspectors that the school Governors have chosen, Mavis and Michael McMahon, and their partner Auror Dan Strauss." Minerva said, lips pursed, she did not like the thought of strangers inspecting the school any more than Albus did, although he hadn't been aware of when they were coming he had been warned by one of his contacts in the Ministry that it was happening. Unfortunately, she was smart enough to acknowledge that there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.

That had Dumbledore's full attention, as he straightened up, head coming straight up he stared at the newcomers, none of his anger and frustration showing. Slow a twinkle and beaming smile spread across his face, despite his inward detest, they were not ones he would have chosen, two Slytherin's and a Ravenclaw. "Ah, Mavis, Michael, Daniel! Welcome back to Hogwarts! I apologise I wasn't there to greet you, but I'm afraid I wasn't alerted to you coming." Giving a small chiding for showing up uninvited, gauging to see how they'd react.

"That's the whole point of a surprise inspection," Dan Strauss drawled out, his dark hair swept up in a messy ponytail, dressed in fine tailored attire from one of the most expensive shopping districts in the world. Lordship ring on clear display, despite 'drawling' his words, he had an enigmatic look on his face, his purple eyes eerily taking everything in.

Mavis and Michael looked like twins with their identical facial features and height, just male and female versions of one, but they were born a year apart and were most definitely not twins. Michael had his hair long, while Mavis had hers cut short, in a pixie cut both brunette's, Mavis however, had silver – that honestly looked a little grey – highlights in the tips of her hair. Both were dressed modestly but impeccably Mavis in subtle greens and a white blouse and Michael mostly in blue with a white t-shirt with cloaks on to keep the draughty castle from making them cold. Their clothes were definitely no match to Dan's but by no means indicating anywhere close to poverty. Both had rings adorned their fingers, Michael had the Lordship ring and Mavis – who had actually been born first – wore the heirship ring. She was next in line for the Lordship should anything happen to Michael, at least it would remain that way until he had a son, then she'd lose that ring, but he was already having her a new one fashioned so that she never went without protection.

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Mavis said curtly, giving a nod of greeting.

They'd been chosen by the Governors because they would not be swayed – that's what the Governors thoughts – and remain impartial. They were incorruptible, they had no dark hidden secrets, no need of money, and were quite neutral, well Mavis and Michael were, Dan however…was rather grumpy with everyone. They were not related to anyone on the board of Governors and weren't a member themselves. Dan worked despite being a Lord because he wanted to, boredom didn't sit well with him, and as often as the Wizengamot met…well, it didn't stave off the boredom.

"I assume you'd like to get settled into your rooms, breakfast, lunch and dinner is served at its usual time. I'm sure inspecting the school will be quick and easy you can begin overseeing the classes tomorrow. I'm sure Minerva will not mind giving you out the timetables." Dumbledore said, positively beaming at them, brushing off whatever plans they had.

"We have our own timetable for inspecting the school, Headmaster, we have no need to adjust the plans," Dan informed him coolly. "However, if you would see us to our rooms we would be grateful, we shall begin immediately afterwards."

Mavis and Michael nodded in firm agreement, they had been warned Dumbledore would try to dictate what they could and couldn't do. That he would try to take over and would do all he could to distract them should they find anything untoward. Lucius had suggested they begin in the Hospital ward, he'd had that gleam in his eyes that suggested there would be something worth uncovering there. Mavis and Michael had agreed out of sheer curiosity, and thus, their first stop would indeed be the Hospital wing upon getting everything situated in their rooms.

"If you'll follow me, please," McGonagall stated firmly, turning and leaving the office, not even waiting to see if the others would follow, so used to her orders being obeyed immediately.

Nonetheless, she waited impatiently at the bottom for their appearance, which came a few moments later.

"As guests you may eat in your quarters should you desire to do so," McGonagall informed them, it would probably be for the best, "You will need to let me know immediately so that a meal will be prepared for each of you." Slightly put out and condescended, more work for the House-elves to do as if preparing food for hundreds of students wasn't enough.

"We're content to eat in the Great Hall," Michael told McGonagall dryly, you'd think there were hundreds of them coming to inspect the school not just three. They were well aware of the wastage that Hogwarts produced every week, so they would definitely not cause more work for the House-elves. The information they had on Hogwarts was quite comprehensive, and that was just the information they were able to get, not whatever secrets Hogwarts was housing.

"Then I shall retrieve you in time for dinner," McGonagall stated coolly, standing in front of the door, "Sovereign," came her voice, as she used it to open the door, the password granting her entrance. Opening the door, she kept it open for the three visitors, the room smelt lovely, and no doubt the bedding and everything had been changed for a good accommodation. They didn't often get staying guests at Hogwarts, and especially not official kinds that would be nosing around their school.

The guest quarters housed a lovely fireplace and sitting room, a desk and chair pushed into the corner, with a small kitchen with amenities to use as they wish on the other side. There were four doors, three of them led to bedrooms, and the fourth was to the grand bathroom within, which housed a bath, showers, toilet, bidet, sinks and mirrors so they could get ready properly, absolutely everything they'd need. They would find no fault in their welcome to Hogwarts School.

"Do not bother wasting your time retrieving us," Dan informed her in an almost mocking kindness, "We remember the way around the school, and we will more than likely get re-accustomed before we are through."

"Very well, I will leave you to get settled," McGonagall stated, before turning heel and closing the door behind her, leaving the three 'guests' standing there. Their trunks appeared with a pop, having had them taken off them at the entrance hall when they met McGonagall who welcomed them.

"Well, that was…tense, they're definitely not happy we're here." Mavis admitted, shaking her head deeply amused, but they weren't really all that surprised.

Dan snorted, "That's too bad for them," he said wryly, "Wingardium Leviosa!" pointing it at his own trunk, easily recognized by the others by his initial's, and if that wasn't enough, two with the identical initials had gold and platinum overlay. His own was simple, old, from his days at school as a matter of fact, he had no desire to buy a new one, it did not get used often enough for him to care…plus, it was one of the last things his father bought him, it held a great deal of sentimental value to him.

"Will we get these put away and begin?" Mavis queried, grasping her own trunk, which was equipped with traveling case so that it could be moved easily with the wheels instead of constant levitation. Although, it had not helped trying to traverse through the stone pebbles on the road up from the gates to the castle, at all.

"Why not? I'd rather not give anyone a chance to hide things from us," Dan said, his voice muffled as he was already in his temporary bedroom. It was nice enough, large, airy, and the bedding didn't look used, it was perfect. "The rooms clean at least."

"That's probably only because the House-elves did it," Michael called back, the sound of a muffled snort followed. "Otherwise our accommodations wouldn't have been quite so…welcoming."

"Point," Dan agreed, his voice not so muffled, as he emerged from his bedroom satisfied, he carried with him three Dragonhide folders, the rest of the information was in his case, and locked up tight so that they couldn't be seen or tampered with. So, even if anyone got say a House-elf to get their things it would be futile.

He handed off the folders to the others, and at once they left the rooms, and made their way towards the hospital wing. Having to pause and wait for students to pass going to classes, all giving them curious looks, but judging by their tiny stature they summarised they were first years, hence there wasn't exactly an over abundance of curiosity to them, as they passed with not a lot of gossip to follow up.

"Man, were we ever that small?" Michael said, watching them go in amusement, of course, he knew he was that small, but as an adult it was completely odd to see and think of as such.

"Smaller," Mavis teased, before they begun to move again, "Rather draughty isn't it? Especially for what the students are wearing, open robes?" she wrote in her paperwork to make sure that winter robes were still a must, and perhaps find out about warming charms – which were so easily done but not by first years – and why there weren't more of them. Then a note to ask Poppy Pomfrey about how often the students got sick. Which would be taking time out of their education to recover, yes, they could catch colds, and Pepper-up draughts did not cure colds completely just masked the symptoms.

"I don't remember it being quite so draughty myself," Michael admitted, as they made their way through the last hallway, the doors of the Hospital wing in sight. "Ready?" wondering what exactly he'd find in the hospital wing, after all, they had been guided in this direction for a reason.

"Let's get started," Dan stated and opened the doors to the infirmary, the sterile smell hit their noses immediately, and they nodded in approval, good, it was kept clean and sterile, like all medical area's should be. They found the ward completely empty, but not for long, as Poppy emerged from a side room that wasn't her office, and then entered her office and emerged with a clipboard and headed to the potions cupboard.

Mavis cleared her throat, "Good morning," she said, so her voice travelled without being very loud. They didn't want to scare the wits out of the woman after all. She did however, add to the list that there seemed to be no detection spells up to alert the Matron of incoming visitors or students in need. If she was away from the Hospital ward and an emergency happened, they'd need to first track her down before they could be seen.

Poppy whirled around, one potion vial clutched in her hands, staring at them incomprehensibly. "Can I help you?" she asked, nevertheless polite despite the shock of their presence.

Mavis moved forward producing an ID card that showed they were inspecting the school, proof that they were there on an official capacity. The wizards also held their own up, without uttering a single word.

"I see, feel free to look around, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have nothing to hide!" Poppy said with a polite smile, she kept her ward in tip top shape after all. "Anything you wish to know I'd be happy to discuss over a cuppa after I'm done making sure I'm going to have enough potions for the next few months, thankfully the colder weather has passed us by."

"I'll be sure to," Mavis informed Poppy with a small smile of her own, despite the shock of it, she was very welcoming and not at all condescending like Dumbledore and McGonagall had been.

With that the three begun their inspection, Dan focusing primarily on the warding, Michael and Mavis checked the entirety of the rest of the main wing, including the potions cupboard – Dan checked to make sure it was securely locked so students couldn't just wander in and out – to make sure all was up to standard. The entire thing took no longer than half an hour, and thought that was it, when Dan came out of the extra room, he'd decided to check. "Who is she and why is she in a side room?"

Michael and Mavis' attention was peaked, as they took wandered in to see what Dan was referring to. They would a pale young girl lying in bed, deeply asleep, not even rousing at their words. Her hair was bushy and looked quite ill-kempt, but other than that she was obviously clean and content.

Poppy blustered in like a hurricane, checking on her, and tucking in the bedding absently, "Her name is Hermione Granger, a first year student. She was in an accident, we induced a coma due to severe swelling of her brain to keep her alive. She has yet to wake up, but baring that she's healthy as can be and healed from her accident."

"How long ago was this?" Mavis asked, scribbling away.

"Halloween, so over a month now, nearly two," Poppy explained, "The poor dear," she did sit with her as often as she could.

"Why wasn't she transferred to St. Mungo's?" Dan demanded to know. This must have been what Lucius had been trying to tell them.

"There is nothing St. Mungo's can do for her, she has to wake on her own," Poppy explained, "It would just take up beds that they don't have."

"I see," Michael mused, reading the chart at the bottom of the bed.

"At first I did want her taken to St. Mungo's, it was a severe injury that I did not feel fully comfortable dealing with. I am not a healer, I'm a Medi-witch, and quite frankly, Miss. Granger's injury is the most severe I've had to deal with in my tenure as Matron at Hogwarts." Poppy offered up.

"Then why wasn't she if you didn't feel confident?" Mavis questioned, still scribbling away.

"It wasn't practical to move her, as I was reminded by Albus, and getting her there would have significantly made her injuries worse and could have meant more time waiting before she was seen to, which would have proven to make her brain injury permanent. She's a bright young witch, especially considering she'd only known about the magical world a few months before the incident apparently. So, I elected to do the surgery and keep her as safe as possible." Poppy told them, "I had a friend who's a Healer, she works at St. Mungo's come the next day to ensure she truly was healing adequately. I was told she couldn't have done it better herself."

"Muggle-born…how exactly do her parents visit her?" Michael asked, narrowing in on one word she said. There were wards on Hogwarts that prevented exposure to Muggles. The girl really should have been transferred to St. Mungo's so that the girls parents could visit their daughter. This was inexcusable.

Poppy's lips disappeared, eyes gleaming with disapproval, "They do not," she informed them, "I don't believe either Minerva or Albus have informed Miss Granger's parents. I haven't received a single letter of enquiry to know how she is doing."

"Nor does it seem…have any of her friends," Mavis pointed out, the room was bare, no single get well card, flowers or teddy or even a balloon. The room was bare, and it was a sorry sight indeed, it made her feel sorry for lass.

Poppy's eyes gleamed with sympathy, "No," she admitted, "There hasn't been a single student enquiring about her," due to her place in the hospital wing, she didn't know much of the rumours and such surrounding Hogwarts. She didn't know just how badly regarded the girl was and was just saddened that no friend had visited, assuming it was because they were first years and unsure of protocol.

"Has her Head of House been down to visit?" Michael asked, disgusted at this behaviour.

"Minerva? Once or twice," Poppy confessed, "As Deputy Headmistress and Head of House as well as teaching Transfiguration, she doesn't have much free time at all. It's very difficult for her I imagine." Although, if it had been a Slytherin in here injured, Severus would have been sat there at least for an hour every day, even if it was while he marked homework or something. She did not say that though, it felt disloyal to state as such.

"What exactly happened to her?" Dan asked, the injury had been quite severe, taking over reading the board from Michael. "It looks as though her head was bashed into something ceramic and that could only mean a toilet or a sink." He couldn't recall anything else primarily made up of ceramic in the school. A spell would have had to be used, since the force of the blow…couldn't have been accomplished by any student in the school.

"Shall we have a cuppa while we discuss this in my office?" Poppy asked, glancing at the girl, if Hermione was aware she didn't want to discuss the incident just in case it causes undue distress.

"Very well," Michael said, watching his sister transfigure her handkerchief into a teddy for the girl, and placing it on the bed.

"Get well soon," Mavis said softly, before following the others out, she couldn't believe how bare the room was, it was just awful really. Even the long term patients in St. Mungo's who had no family wasn't quite as bare. The thought of this girls family being unaware of her coma was shocking, she would find out exactly what was going on.

She had a feeling Dumbledore's name was going to be popping up quite frequently.

A few minutes later, they were sitting comfortable, their preferred brew in a cup in their hands, Poppy sitting opposite them. It was clear to see she was a little anxious, judging by how much she was fidgeting incessantly, nothing too exuberant, just rubbing her hands together from where one gripped it around her cup. Her brow furrowed, as she stared in silent contemplation. None of the inspectors had to ask the question again, for she began speaking.

"We aren't sure what exactly happened, but a Troll got into Hogwarts, and we didn't know until Professor Quirrell came running in to alert Dumbledore and get the children to safety until the threat was dealt with." Poppy explained, sipping her coffee, Trolls were a danger to the students, even some adults if they didn't properly know how to approach the damn things. "He informed us that it was in the dungeons, and Albus quickly asked that the students be escorted back to their Common rooms by their prefects so that the teachers could focus on dealing with the troll."

"Excuse me, but I do believe Slytherin common room is in the dungeons, why were the Slytherins herded in the direction of the troll?" Dan asked, a bite to his voice, sounding extremely pissed off and trying to conceal it.

Poppy blinked, staring at Dan, truthfully she hadn't thought of that at all, "The troll wasn't in the dungeons, it was in the girls bathroom, and that just happened to be where Miss Granger was." Poppy told them, her eyes shadowed with the remembrance of that night. When she got her first glimpse, she thought for sure the girl was dead, how could she survive such a savage attack by such a beast? Everything had been smashed and ceramic from the sink had imbedded in the trolls weapon of choice before it was thrust at Miss Granger's head.

"How is it that a Troll got in to begin with?" Michael asked, "I thought there were wards to prevent almost all things getting in? isn't it standard practice?"

"I'll be finding out," Dan said darkly, whispering quietly to the others, "Right after this, I'm going to check the warding hub and the wards themselves to ensure no tampering has been done." Even if tampering had been done, it would have alerted the Headmaster, this shouldn't have been possible. Something was going on, and if this school wasn't safe, they'd shut it down until everything was corrected. Which would be expensive for everyone involved, the students, they'd need to self-study and then take their exams at the Ministry. The Hogwarts coffers would be forced to return the tuition money to the students, and the teachers would lose wages. It wasn't ideal, but the safety of the students had to come first…it had to.

Poppy had a very shifty look on her face, as she moved a little and drank her coffee.

"Ma'am? Is there something you wish to add?" Mavis of course, caught the look while the men spoke over her shoulder, detonating that Michael agreed fully.

Poppy looked deeply conflicted.

"I have overheard…some alarming things since the beginning of term, mostly just between Minerva and Albus, I'm nearby when I am free to eat in the Great Hall you, see," Poppy explained, she didn't want to obstruct the investigation, to do so would potentially harm students, and she'd sworn never to do any harm. They came first did they not? Before her fondness for Albus or Minerva for that matter.

"Which is what?" Michael asked, leaning forward, no sign of eagerness but intensity, broadcasting the seriousness of the meeting. He wasn't eager in the sense of gossip, he was eager to find out what the hell had happened and why the wards didn't work appropriately. They would be speaking to all the professors as well as students in the coming weeks regardless, so they'd find something out, they weren't about to let this go.

"There's been talk of a Cerberus being in Hogwarts, the third floor corridor, it belongs to our groundskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid." Poppy explained, "There's also been talk of something else being kept within Hogwarts, something that required traps to be set up."

"Traps?" Dan asked, in a school full of children? Curious children? He knew he'd investigated the school while he was a student and he knew that hadn't changed at least. "What sort of traps? And where?"

Poppy pursed her lips, "Third floor corridor, which Dumbledore ensured was out of bounds,"

"Are you implying he told the students that it was a no-go area?" Mavis asked, hiding her disbelief, that was the quickest way to get a child's curiosity, it would drive them to go and investigate. Mavis threw Dan a serious look, this was definitely something they'd need to investigate very swiftly now before it was dismantled and hidden from them.

"Well, of course, it would be dangerous otherwise." Poppy explained.

Mavis blinked and just dumbly nodded her head, as if agreeing with her, quite frankly it was like the woman didn't realize it would have the opposite effect.

"So, Miss Granger was hurt by the Troll?" Michael asked, changing the subject slightly. "Isn't there a bathroom much closer to the Great Hall than that? Why did she feel the need to go to an abandoned bathroom?" that room was rarely used due to the fact it is 'haunted' by the ghost of a young girl.

"I've been asking myself that, and I asked some of the students and they do not believe that Miss Granger was at the feast at all." Poppy explained, offering a plate of biscuits to them.

"And you're positive her parents haven't been informed? Why haven't they written to enquire why their daughter has gone silent on them?" surely she wrote to them? if the room is to be believed, she evidently didn't have friends, so she would keep up with her parents. Definitely something he would be finding out, the school was legally obligated to inform the board of Governors and the Aurors of such thing, let's not forget her parents, her legal guardians, she was eleven-years old for Merlin's sake!

"I can't say, Sir," Poppy said, shaking her head, drinking the dregs of her coffee she placed the cup down. "I believe you'll need to talk to Minerva or Albus about that, it's not my duty," and she did not want to go against Minerva and Albus and lose her job.

The three investigators seemed to realize this too.

"Well, I'll just finish my inspection of here, then we will leave you to it, now this is where the medical information is kept, correct?" Dan asked, staring at the cabinets.

"It is," Poppy agreed, they all stood, and Poppy was quick to banish everything back to the kitchen sinks for the House-elves to clean. She was about to leave them to their task, not wanting to get in the way when she was stopped with a question.

"Why is there no spells preventing me from getting into the students medical files?" Dan asked, his tone very grim. That shouldn't have been possible, these were legal medical files, that nobody other than healers should be able to get into. Any teacher, any student could wander into this room and read through someone's personal information, this was unacceptable.

Poppy sighed, "There was, until this year, Albus removed it, I am unsure as to why," she informed him.

"Do you understand he was breaking the law?" Dan asked, incredulously. "Nobody, not even the Headmaster is allowed to just peruse someone's medical files without permission." They were definitely going to scrutinise everything Dumbledore did closely.

"I am not sure he has," Poppy said, but she couldn't downright deny it, Dumbledore was free to come and go as he pleased it was his right, he was the Headmaster.

"I see," was all Dan uttered, and almost immediately Mavis was writing more information down, things that required doing, things they were finding out and things that could be better done. "Thank you for your time," he added, and they all gave her a nod of the head before leaving the office.

"I suggest one of us goes to the third floor immediately," Michael stated, as they stalked along the Hospital wing towards the doors.

"Either you or Mavis, I will be checking the warding hub, and then the actual wards," Dan said seriously, he was the best at it, it was his area of expertise.

"Shall we both go? We don't know what traps are laid up…" Mavis suggested, one of them going sounded quite dangerous, it all depended on the traps. "I mean a Cerberus?"

"Good idea," Dan stated, there was a reason Aurors worked in pairs, safety in numbers and sticking together prevented needless deaths. "Is this is bad as I suspect it will be…well…best get to it." he'd never suspected he'd be thinking what he was, and it was ridiculous, definitely not going to be easy.

Mavis and Michael all nodded grimly, with an understanding what this outcome would be should they find what they expect to. What they shouldn't expect find in a school filled with hundreds of children.

"Shall we meet in the Entrance Hall in say forty-five minutes?" Michael suggested, that should give them enough time to thoroughly investigate what was what.

"That should do it," Dan agreed, "I'll see you then," with that the trio split up, the brother and sister moving towards the stairs while Dan went below, he knew exactly where the warding hub was, having been informed specifically for this occasion. They had always made oaths never to reveal its location, to do so would make the school vulnerable. The warding hub was what protected the entire school and kept the children safe.

"What do you think we'll find?" Mavis asked, as they quickly made their way towards the third floor corridor. Unable to believe the idiocy they'd heard, informing everyone that the corridor was 'forbidden' it was like asking for trouble.

"Wand out," Michael ordered her, if there was a damn three headed dog they wanted to ensure their own safety. "Maximum Stupefy if anything is there, right?"

"Agreed," Mavis murmured, but she didn't really believe there was a three headed dog in the school, surely not?

They opened the doors on the third floor, and when they reached a certain one they snapped it closed immediately once more. Wide eyed, breathing heavily at the sudden shock of it, "Well, it's true," Mavis said sounding breathless, "That thing is massive…how on earth did they get it in there? It shouldn't be stuck in a single room without exercise or water!" it would work it up even more and make it break its way out to safety.

"Yeah, did you notice the trap door?" Michael asked, shaking his head, it would be risky stunning that creature. "And there's nothing on this door preventing anyone from just wandering in! In a school full of children! I cannot believe the audacity!"

"I was too busy distracted by its teeth, all three sets of them!" Mavis admitted, she was a dog person but even that Cerberus absolutely terrified him.

"Stunners on three?" Michael suggested, he wouldn't blame her for not wishing to go ahead with this plan of action.

"Okay," Mavis agreed, gripping her wand tightly, the door was gripped by Michael and it swung open and both chanted out, "STUPEFY MAXIMA!" the red stunners left their wands in rapid succession, all of them hitting their targets, causing it to roar in fury before becoming disorientated and falling rapidly to the ground finally stunned.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" and the Cerberus was swiftly levitated away from the trap door. "Well that would have put off the students from investigating further…"

"You think," she admitted.

With that they lit up the hole, to see what was beneath them, "Is that…" Michael started, staring down eyes squinting to see.

"Devils snare," Mavis said, "I've never seen one so big," her light shining the full expanse of the hole.

"We going down or reporting back?" Michael asked, "What if you stay up there?" not wishing for his sister to be in danger even though he knew she could protect herself.

"Let's be able to give a full report, shall we?" Mavis said, not pausing before she lowered herself down, using a spell to stop her decent from being painful. Her brother followed her lead, and both remained very, very still, well aware of how devils snare worked. Barely breathing as the vines wrapped themselves around them, first and second years wouldn't know how to get out of this and could have ended up utterly constricted and unable to breath, which would have inevitably led to their deaths.

The devils snare eventually gave up its quarry, and both of them found themselves lower on the ground, able to remain on their feet. Staring around finding nothing of note, except a door leading to their right from the direction they stood in. They looked at each other with a sheepish grin, it was quite fun, if they forgot the seriousness of it.

The next door they realized quite quickly, was filled with floating keys, "I assume one opens that door," pointing towards the only other way forward. "It's like some sort of treasure hunt, easy for adults, could be fun for teens that know how to deal with magical plants."

"Which begs the question…why and what's at the end?" Mavis asked, "Hmm, there's a key up there with one of the wings broken, old, perhaps that's the one required to get?"

"Perhaps," Michael agreed, staring upwards to where his sister was, Mavis swiftly levitated herself up, until she was eye level with the key and grasped it, and as she levitated down, she begun to be attacked by the other keys, a spell from her brother had them all freezing utterly.

Once her feet touched the ground, she passed the key and winced as she checked her face and neck, which were covered in nicks and sores from where the damn keys had hurt her. She was bleeding, but only a little, nothing concerning at the moment. "I'm fine, lets continue, so far there's been nothing to report back for any student that gets this far, I expected one to be on the door to Cerberus."

"I did too," Michael admitted, sighing softly, opening the door, they stalked through to the next room, which was dark until the fires flared up, lightening the room so they could see what they were faced with next.

"Hmm, chess, I'm going to guess it's wizarding chess…ironic that there's two openings," Michael mused, as he stepped onto it.

"Neither of us are that good at chess," Mavis pointed out, but she could see her brother was salivating over the desire to play the game, more out of curiosity, since they could actually just levitate themselves over. It took a lot of focus and determination to be able to do it, and they never taught it at Hogwarts. No, it was something self-taught if one was interested in learning. Either that or more fun, just blast the pieces to smithereens. "Alright," she sighed, getting into position, unable to deny her brother what he wanted.

-0

Dan stared at the mess that was the Hogwarts Warding hub, incomprehensively, dropping the parchment as if it burnt.

Reapplying his wand, he did another diagnosis, removing his wand in time for the paper to spit out it's diagnosis. The results were unsurprisingly, the very same. This was a mess, a massive, incompressible mess. He didn't dare press for another one, for fear that the entire hub would break down, and Merlin only knows what would happen to the students. How could Dumbledore have let this happen? It was his and McGonagall's responsibility to keep the wards at full power and stable.

Stepping back, he slowly put the stone flooring down, covering it back up when all he wanted to do was throw it down in a fit of utter rage. Fortunately for all concerned, he had impeccable manners. He swiftly retraced his steps, summoning the paperwork as he did so, the look on his face had the student population fleeing before the face of his wrath when they caught a glimpse of him as they went to their next class unaware they weren't in danger from him.

He was an Auror, he protected, he didn't harm.

Fifteen minutes later he was panting as he bolted through the school, making his way as hastily as possible towards the entrance hall in order to get out of the school. He was going to check the wards on the outside, if they were at what looked like full power, Dumbledore was in serious trouble.

Breathing through his nose, trying to calm his racing heart, he turned to face the outside of the building. Both his hands were raised, as he began chanting, walking as he chanted, only breathing when he had an opportunity, through pausing in the chant.

Time was meaningless to Dan, as he focused on the spell, he didn't notice the curious glances he got whenever people passed his window. It was a deep intensive scan, much more rigorous than the one he used touching the ward stone, but that was self-explanatory. He was able to touch the ward stone with his wand, not so easily done with the dome surrounding Hogwarts and her people.

When he came back to himself, and actually looked at his surroundings, he was surprised to see Mavis and Michael there. Blinking stupidly, he stared, "We did say forty-five minutes right?" why else would they come looking for them.

"It has been," Michael pointed out, rubbing his neck, "It's not good, what we've found so far, how about you?" narrowing his eyes at the look on Dan's face, he braced himself, realizing he wasn't going to like what he heard next, Mavis had adopted a similar pose.

"We need to alert the Governors, the school needs to be closed down, now."

Well I did say this chapter was going to be mainly focused on Hogwarts ;) So will they succeed in getting rid of Dumbledore or will his popularity persevere and allow him to return to Hogwarts after being suspended for some time? I'm off two minds, whether to get rid of Dumbledore but his eyes and ears remain at Hogwarts or Dumbledore managing to remain BUT with Voldemort in the works...well, he won't remain unbothered for long...so what did you think? how long will the school remain closed and how big will the outcry be? Will they find money missing from Hogwarts that makes it difficult to pay the students tuition back? causing new measures to be taken so that the headmaster doesn't have any say in the monetary issues of the school? R&R please!

Oh and just FYI - I managed to get this chapter out in a day :P how awesome is that, well a few lines were written yesterday but not much at all just the title and that :D hehe :)