[A/N: Hehehe… Albus is in trah-ble! I think I've got it figured out how I want the endgame to play out. I'm looking to make this story about 20 chapters so I'd say that the final stretch is in sight. Ankle is hurting again… the joys of getting old.]
[A/N2: Congratulations to Cat Nari for being the 500th reviewer! Also I wanted to remind everyone that fanfiction is no longer sending out alerts to everyone that they've received a private message. I know I've sent a few so go check your inboxes!]
Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Director Amelia Bones' Office, the following day after Albus' arrest.
Amelia was sitting at her desk busy filling out the forms that made up the mountainous monstrosity that came with the job of being Director: Everything from approving new classes at the Auror Academy to dealing with the requests of the staff to replace the usual generic teas with something that had more flavor. Sighing in annoyance once more, she continued to scribble her name on the line for her signature.
She hit the rune on her desk to contact her secretary, "Samantha? Would you be a dear and come in here please?" Samantha shuddered; the last time that Director Bones was this polite, it didn't bode well for the staff or Aurors.
Upon entering the office, Samantha stood at the ready to bear the brunt of her boss' temper. Amelia held up a case report by just two fingers and a sneer on her face, "Find the idiot who submitted this garbage and have them report to me, immediately." Samantha grabbed the report but hesitated briefly at the door and turned back.
"Boss? Is there something bothering you? Besides the report, I mean."
Amelia leaned back in her seat, scrubbed her face with her hands and let out a low growl, "No, Samantha, I'm fine. Really...sort of... It's just all this damn paperwork that's killing me. I'd love to have a charmed desk or box that once I'm done with a form, I could drop it into a designated area and have it automatically sign my name. My wrist starts hurting even if I'm not writing."
Samantha quietly nodded her understanding before leaving. Just as she left, the intercom on Amelia's desk buzzed.
Amelia pushed the accept button and the voice of the department's jailer floated through, "Just wanted to let you know that Albus is awake and ranting up a storm. What are your instructions?"
Amelia's grin was shark-like 'Finally something to brighten my day', "Let him stew for a while longer. Change the light levels to early morning but give him something to eat like whatever they have for lunch so it throws off his sense of timing. Put a couple of drops of a mild sleeping potion in his food then wake him after an hour. I want him disoriented when it's time to question him. He's too slippery otherwise. Keep me posted."
Hufflepuff Common Room
Hermione stopped her reading and stretched her arms above her head then scratched her fingers through her hair. A chirrup sounded next to her and a furry paw tapped her on the leg.
She giggled, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Norris. I had to stretch out some kinks in my back." She slowly ran her fingers through the cat's fur, tickling and teasing the light and fluffy strands around the cat's cheeks. Mrs. Norris closed her eyes in contentment. Hermione glanced around the room and spotted Harry still holding court with some of his friends. They appeared to be holding some kind of contest, especially seeing as how Harry was blindfolded and being handed various bits and pieces of wood and things.
"This is… cedar."
There were whispers of amazement at how he could know that without looking at it. Hermione rolled her eyes; cedar had a distinctive scent to it. 'Anyone should've known that.' She continued her ministrations on Mrs. Norris who'd in turn started purring loudly and rolled onto her back so Hermione could get to a new (and neglected) portion of her petting.
"Hey, Hermione. What's your shirt say this week?" came the bubbly voice of Hannah. Hermione leaned back and tugged on the front of her shirt so it could be read more easily. Mrs. Norris grumbled at the interruption.
"I tried…to be normal…once. Worst two minutes…of my life!" Hannah slowly read out then giggled, "that's definitely you. You're not normal in the least yet you make it seem so normal." She giggled again and settled down next to her bushy-haired friend.
Hermione blew her a raspberry, "What's up?"
Hannah shook her head, "Not much. I've finished my homework and don't really have anything special in mind." She eyed the cat nervously, "Do you think that Mrs. Norris would mind having someone else pet her? She looks so fluffy and soft."
Mrs. Norris settled that question by reaching out with a paw and dragging Hannah's hand over to her fluffy head.
"I'd say that's a yes," Hermione laughed as the other girl began gently scratching the cat behind her ears.
"So what's your opinion as to what happened with the headmaster yesterday? Why he locked down the castle?"
Hermione pinked a bit, "I'm not allowed to say. Professors Sprout and McGonagall forbade everyone who was there not to talk about it." Hannah nodded her head understandingly.
"What's Harry doing?"
Hermione chuckled, "He and his friends are playing a game where they're trying to stump him in asking to identify various woods or cores and things. He's not failed yet and they've been playing for nearly twenty minutes."
"Did you hear that Professor Quirrell got arrested? I heard that he tried to extort money from one of the wealthier pureblood families in exchange for giving their son better grades," Hannah whispered conspiratorially.
Hermione shook her head, "I heard that he tried to make an example of Marcus Flint in class and got caught up somehow."
The two girls kept giggling and coming up with more bizarre rumors that were floating around the Hogwarts' Rumor Mill.
Life at Hogwarts for Hermione Granger wasn't all fun and games. Despite her best efforts, she did develop an enemy or two amongst the others in her year group. One wasn't really an enemy. Padma Patil was more like competition to see who was the smartest girl in their year. 'Honestly, it's not like it's that difficult to be smart. All the rest had to do was to crack open a book once in a while! Sometimes I think that the magical world operates on pure inertia.'
It was the red-headed walking stomach known as Ronald Weasley who was her true enemy. To this day, she still didn't have a clue as to what set him off but from that point onwards, he'd make rude comments about her in specific and muggleborns in general. It made her wonder time after time why he kept up the hostility, especially after getting a visit from his father and publicly humiliated into giving an apology to the school; the brat… er, boy no longer made such comments out loud and in public but in snide comments between classes and in the halls. 'It's almost like he enjoys the punishment.'
Both she and Harry tried to be the better people and let the adults take care of things but sometimes, that just didn't work. Case in point…
"I don't know why that muggleborn bird is even bothering to learn Arithmancy. It's not like she'll need it when stuck in the house taking care of her husband and their children. My mother says that all a girl needs to learn how to do are house-cleaning charms and know how to cook," Ronald was heard saying to another couple of first year Gryffindor boys as a third year girl walked past carrying an Arithmancy textbook in her arms.
Hermione glanced over at Harry and a couple of others that they had made friends with. All of them rolled their eyes and shook their heads in exasperation.
"I think that it's unnatural to allow girls into the same classes as the boys. It's a waste of time, really. Better for the teachers use their talents teaching the boys who will actually have a use for that knowledge than stupid girls who will just waste their time by becoming mothers after graduating. Everyone knows the only reason why girls go to school is to attract a husband."
All the muggleborns within hearing range felt their jaws hit the floor with that statement. 'Just how out of touch were some of these wixen?' Most wondered.
Hermione's eyes got that glint that Harry knew so well. A prank was being planned…
After Potions class…
"Professor? I was wondering if you'd like to assist in another prank?" Hermione asked Severus one day after classes ended.
Severus got that look on his face that would've scared a Dementor, "What'd you have in mind?"
She related the comments she'd overheard Weasley the Youngest saying to his friends and said that she needed a way to retaliate in a way that would cause the kid to hopefully think twice before making such sexist comments again. She also mentioned that she was originally going to let the adults deal with it but frankly, it had gone on long enough and needed to be stopped.
Severus thought about it for a moment, "You don't have anything in that Rune arsenal of yours?"
"I do but I'm getting recognized as being a rune savant and don't want anything to be pinned on me, even remotely. I was thinking of a potion or maybe even a compulsion but I'm not sure as to how to pull that off."
Severus drummed his fingers lightly on his desk, "The potion I could definitely help you with. The compulsion charm, well maybe you ought to consider Professor Flitwick. I know he's getting fed up with the boy's antics as well. Granted, I could help teach you how to perform a compulsion charm but it's not my specialty. Besides, what is it that you want to accomplish with all of this?"
Hermione shrugged and waved her hands then paced around in front of the desk, "I don't know, that's the thing. I was leaning towards some kind of reaction that forces him to do something every time he thinks or says something bad about muggleborns or girls."
Severus nodded then held up a finger as he rose from his chair and headed to the fireplace. He called Professor Flitwick and asked the other man to come to his office as soon as possible. Flitwick arrived not twenty minutes later and dusted himself off.
"What's the problem, Sev… Oh! Miss Granger, what seems to be the problem?"
Severus waved his hand over to Hermione who in turn explained her problem to her Charms professor.
Filius nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, I see the problem. I don't understand why Professor McGonagall hasn't dealt with this yet. Well, let's brainstorm. You don't want to use your runes because they've become rather recognizable. A potion is too easily counteracted, no offense Severus," Severus waved that off as he pulled over some homework that needed to be graded.
"Professor Snape suggested that you could teach me how to cast the compulsion charm?" Hermione ventured.
Filius flinched slightly, "That's rather dangerous, especially for a first year such as yourself.
"How about giving him a box of treats laced with a potion and triggered by a rune to produce a charm-like effect?" Severus commented without looking up as he worked on his grading.
Hermione cocked her head, "I like it but what effect do you suggest it have? I want to punish him for saying such sexist things." Her eyes brightened, "Oooh! How about the result of this whole thing is to get him to believe that he's not allowed to eat anything put in front of him unless he starts saying positive things about girls and muggleborns?"
Severus waggled his hand, silently suggesting that it was an okay idea but to keep going.
"Huh, I'd say make him about as talented as he thinks those muggleborns are but I don't know, he's already pretty useless." Hermione giggled while Filius admonished his colleague.
The room was silent for a few moments except for Severus' quill scratching out grades and corrections.
Hermione broke the silence with a giggle, "How about I get Harry to make a fake copy of Ronald's wand? Then float a rumor that the mysterious person who's been correcting the Twins' behaviors has now taken an interest in his misdeeds and that Ronald will only regain his magic when he makes amends towards the muggleborns and girls in general."
Severus slowly raised his head as Filius simultaneously turned and stared at her. Both professors got a gleam in their eyes.
Meanwhile back at the Ministry…
It was the fourth cycle of giving Albus sleeping draught laced food and making him think that more time had passed than had actually done. By this point, the old man was thoroughly confused and off his game. Amelia had him brought into one of the interrogation rooms and began questioning him about his behaviors of late.
"Albus, by locking down the owlery and the castle, you've effectively committed kidnapping and mail tampering compounded by the number of children and staff within the school. You're looking at serious jail time if you don't tell me why you felt the need to do it!"
Albus was still looking rather flushed; his hair in disarray and he was wavering in his chair a bit, "I've told you before Minerva. What I do is for the Greater Good. I would've released everyone back to their normal activities once I regained control of the boy. Those idiotic muggles have no right to take away my control of The-Boy-Who-Lived."
"Really? Do tell." She sensed that he didn't even realize that he'd made that little slip-up.
Albus' eyes were glazed slightly as if he were just repeating an oft told memory, "The boy needs to be tested and I'm the only one capable of knowing how and what to do. It's essential for the betterment of Magical Britain."
"Tested for what though?"
"Oh, hello Gellert! Well, when he was brought to me after that Halloween night, I detected a cluster of Dark magic within that scar of his. I later realized that it's a Horcrux and that the boy needed to die if I'm to vanquish Voldemort for good. I wanted to keep him in the muggle world away from the influences of our world and kept pliable for when it was time to come to Hogwarts. Those blasted muggles were supposed to keep him humble and even beaten down but they failed…"
"But why test him?" 'Gellert? As in Gellert Grindlewald?'
Albus blinked heavily, the lack of sleep clearly affecting his cognizance of being interrogated, "I wanted to see what would happen if the Horcrux were cut off from magic. I thought I told you this, Tom? What would happen if it were to take over the host? Would it trigger a possession if stressed by the host being beaten and oppressed? There are so many unanswered questions as to the capabilities of such magic. I'm getting older and I have so much to do. If the Horcrux acted the way I suspected, then I'd be able to replace it with one of my own and live forever."
Amelia could only stare at him in horror. The so-called 'Leader of the Light' was… Dark. Dark in a way that would make even Croaker puke.
"What do you know of Voldemort? Do you think he's still alive as you've said before?"
Albus hummed to himself and nodded, "Yes, Gellert. He was even teaching Defense against the Dark Arts until recently. Ha! Stupid Unspeakables… I made Voldemort, do they really think I wouldn't keep track of him?"
"You made him?"
"Uh-huh. I found him as a boy in a muggle orphanage back in the early thirties. Gave him a place in Hogwarts. I had planned this with Gellert ages ago. He'd been tracing Slytherin's blood line for a while and discovered the boy's existence somehow. I nudged the boy in the direction of all that Dark magic and turned a blind eye towards his misdeeds. It's funny Horace, to think that no one's connected the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle to Lord Voldemort. Every time he spouts off with 'I Am Lord Voldemort' he's telling everyone his true name. Silly really, magical Britain is scared of an anagram! Anyways, I knew that eventually those who would stand up in defiance of the Greater Good would need to be distracted fighting against something else while I subtly made my changes and guidance of our laws. I was the one who got rid of so many of the classes that would've made things easier to integrate the muggleborns into our society. I wanted the purebloods to think that those upstart muggleborns were the reason why so many of our traditions were getting trampled on and repealed. If they're angry, it's easier to lead them in the direction I wanted them to go. If it causes a few muggleborns to be…removed, so be it."
"What was that about Grindlewald?"
"Poor Gellert, he always wanted to make the world over using violence and murder. I told him repeatedly that to truly change things, he needed to become an educator like me and quietly change the minds of the populace through 'structured education.' I have the children of the future leaders for nearly nine months each year. Plenty of time to get them to look up on me as their leader and savior."
He dissolved into a fit of maniacal giggles…
Gryffindor Common Room
Ronald Weasley was in a bit of a pickle. Ostensibly he was supposed to be doing his homework but he just didn't care. He planned on foisting it off onto one of the muggleborn swots later and just tell them some sob story if they complained. The problem at hand was that no one wanted to play chess with him and he was bored. He lazily flicked his wand to get it to produce bubbles… but nothing happened. Grunting in displeasure, he sat up and tried again but still got no results.
"Stupid wand, nothing ever works right for me," he grumbled. He got up and wandered over to where his brother Percy was studying. 'Stupid Percy is always studying. Who does he think he's trying to impress?' "Hey, Perce? My wand isn't working," he whined.
Percy sighed; he wasn't going to be able to pass his OWLs if he kept getting interrupted, "Ron, I don't have time to deal with this. Go talk to Professor McGonagall, maybe she can offer a suggestion." He waved him off and turned back to his books.
Ron grimaced and left in a huff. He got outside and remembered that Potter was supposedly skilled in making wands, maybe he could help!
'Where was he though?'
Ron looked high and low in all the places he thought Potter would be. The problem was though; he was looking in all the wrong places. Ron kept looking in all the places that he thought the famous Boy-Who-Lived would go like the Quidditch pitch or the Great Hall. In fact, Harry was in the library working on digging up information about a creature he'd seen in one of his trances. The problem was that no one had ever heard of the creature so he was stuck slogging through the magizoology section of the library. Madam Pince was assisting him but she was getting frustrated.
"Are you sure that the creature exists and isn't just something from your imagination?"
"Pretty sure. It's supposed to live underground near hot springs and eats a diet of moss and fungi. According to my vision, it resembled a Corgi but had a curving set of horns on the top of its head."
Irma Pince scrunched her face in thought but shook her head, "I don't recognize that. What about talking with Professor Kettleburn or Hagrid? They might know."
Harry sighed as he replaced the book he was holding back onto the shelf, "It's a good as an idea as any, I suppose. Do you know where the professor's office is?"
Irma directed him to look for an office just inside the hallway that led out to the greenhouses. He left the library and headed off to see the man about a creature.
Later at lunch…
The Hogwarts Rumor Mill was on full blast that day. Somehow word had gotten out that Ronald Weasley had lost his magic and that's why his wand no longer responded to him. The reasons for how this came to be flew back and forth, getting wilder with each telling. The boy in question was currently in the hospital wing being tended to by Madam Pomfrey. Hermione sat back and reveled in the chaos while Harry smirked at his best friend.
"I wonder how long it'll take people to think of taking his wand in for examination?" he asked her. She shrugged in response.
"You're seen as the in-house expert in wand crafting so…never."
Draco sat down with a beatific smile on his face, "I just heard that the Weasel lost his magic and is gonna be kicked out of Hogwarts. Do you think the Ministry will force him into the muggle world?"
Harry snorted and shook his head in exasperation, "Draco, that's not going to happen. Besides, I already examined his wand and there's nothing wrong with it other than being a bit beat up and in desperate need of a good polishing. The problem lies with Ronald himself."
With that statement, the whole Great Hall went silent.
"Oh? What problem is that, Mr. Potter?" They looked up to see Professor McGonagall approaching.
"His wand and subsequently his magic are rebelling against his worldviews. Magic has hinted to me that it's tired of being denigrated by Weasley who thinks that magic shouldn't be taught at the same levels to muggleborns or girls. His view that girls should only be taught the things necessary to cook, clean and raise children is causing his magic to rebel."
"Magic hinted all that to you? How?" She asked incredulously while internally cursing the redheaded git.
Harry looked abashed, "Well, you ever see me go into a trance when I get prepped to craft a wand?" Minerva shook her head no. "Well, when I do, I get a vision of what the wand and the magic associated with it, wants to be. In Ronald's case, I went into a trance to figure out why his wand was no longer working for him. It's hinted to me that it's tired of being tied to such a lazy and rude boy who thinks girls are subservient to boys, girls who should be grateful to do his homework, et cetera. It's going to keep abandoning him until he changes his ways."
There were shivers of dread from everyone who heard his explanation.
Director Bones' Office
Amelia was going over the medical reports on Albus and shivered with dread at the thought that what might've happened if he'd not been brought in when he was and yet tinged with a strong amount of anger for the continued lack of required mental health checks that should've been in place from the get go. 'If there's one thing that the muggle world has better than us, is in early psychiatric detection and treatment of potentially deranged people.' A knock on her door caused her to look up.
"Come in!" The door opened and Croaker walked in and carrying a rather thick file folder. Amelia groaned at the sight of it.
"What's in that?"
Croaker sat down and slid it over to her, "It's the vetting my team and I did for the surgeons to deal with Mr. Potter's scar."
Amelia sighed with relief, "Oh, good. I was hoping this would be done soon. Any problems?"
Croaker shook his head no then gestured at the folder she had been reading, "Problems?"
"It's the Healer's report on Albus' degrading mental health. Let's just put this way: It's bad…" Croaker raised an eyebrow and held out his hand. She slid the folder over and sat in silence as the two of them read their respective reports.
After a few moments, Amelia looked up at the choking sounds that Croaker was making, "Got to the testing part that Albus wanted to perform on the boy, right?"
"Uh-huh. Also about the so-called 'traps' on the third floor corridor."
Amelia snapped her fingers, "Oh, yeah! That reminds me I need to send a team up to deal with all that." She reached for a pad of paper and a quill and scratched out a note, "A Cerberus? What the heck were they thinking?"
Croaker made a noncommittal noise, "I'd say that it was Hagrid that offered up the beast. It seems like his style. I'm just glad he didn't offer anything more dangerous."
Amelia pulled a face, "Like what?"
"He could've used any number of creatures reported to be living in the Forbidden Forest. I've heard there's a colony of Acromantulas in there." Amelia groaned and dropped her head before jabbing a finger onto the intercom rune.
"Samantha, get in here. Bring a pad and a quill."
Samantha entered and was given a long list of department heads to be called before being dismissed. 'The look on the poor girl's face was rather funny' Amelia thought.
"So, before the others get here, is there anything special about the surgeons I should know about? I really don't want to go digging through the file too deeply right now."
Croaker cleared his throat and shook his head, "Nah, all are either muggleborn who left our world, Squibs who couldn't find work here or the parents of muggleborns. They all pretty much guessed who the patient will be from the limited information we gave them but are bound by patient-Healer confidentiality rules not to talk about it with others."
"Oh, before I forget, I want you and a couple of Unspeakables to go with me and the team I'm forming to Hogwarts. I'd imagine there's going to be a need for your talents." Croaker nodded and gave his farewell as he headed out of the office.
Ten minutes later…
It was a crowded room once all the relevant department heads arrived at Amelia's office.
"Okay! Listen up everyone. I want each of you to pull together your teams and get ready to head up to Hogwarts. Harold, you and your beastmasters are going to be having one heck of a battle. I got reports of illegal ownership and usage of Class 5 creatures inside the castle, dangerous traps and a whole colony of creatures in the Forbidden Forest."
Harold raised his hand, "Can you give us any clue as to what's up there?"
Amelia narrowed her eyes as she read off the report, "A colony of Acromantula in the Forest and a Cerberus in a locked room on the third floor." Harold and the others paled.
"Next," she continued, "Ward Masters; you're going to go down to the Central Wardstone and figure out what sort of nightmare the school's wards are like. I've got to imagine that after a thousand years, it's gonna be a mess." The lead ward master nodded thoughtfully and scratched out some notes.
"Keep in mind folks that school is still in session so if you find anything too dangerous on first glance, don't be a hero. Call it in and we'll figure out how to deal with it."
Hogwarts
Amelia and her team arrived just in time to see the Weasley Twins screaming their heads off and running down the hallways at full speed yet there was nothing chasing them as far as anyone could detect. Minerva arrived a moment later and greeted her friend.
Amelia gestured in the direction the Twins ran off to, "What was that about?"
Minerva's face grew puzzled, "To what are you referring to? This is Hogwarts, strange is normal."
That got some chuckles from the others; Amelia described what happened when they arrived.
"Oh, good. It worked then. I was wondering if the charm would hold."
"Minerva! What did you do to those boys?" Amelia's gasp and shock at the Deputy Headmistress caused the older woman to laugh.
Waving her hand dismissively, "Don't worry, Amelia. It's nothing permanent. The Twins are the resident prankster terrors here. Ever since around the middle of last September, someone's been fairly successful at curbing their excess…enthusiasm for chaos."
"And this charm you mentioned?"
Minerva shrugged, "My contribution to the ongoing battle. It's nothing harmful, just a bit of a temporary shock. I found it in one of our Charms books in the library for dealing with unruly people and applied it to their homework I recently handed back. It causes them to see their worst nightmare charging down on them for an hour or two."
One of the beast handlers spoke up, "What could be their worst nightmare?"
"Their mother saying that she was going to be rooming in with them for the rest of their education, I'd wager. She's made that threat a few times," Minerva commented drily then turned back to Amelia, "So what brings you all by?"
Amelia shook her head to clear what she just learned and replied, "We're here to deal with the problems you seem to be having in this school. Class 5 creatures, unstable wards, curses…the works."
Minerva's eyes lit up, "Ah, that's wonderful! I'd been asking Albus for years to deal with some of the problems around here but he kept putting me off. Have at it, then."
Minerva called for a staff meeting in the teacher's lounge where Amelia took over and laid out the path that she and her team would be leading. Hagrid was understandably upset that his Cerberus, whom he called, 'Fluffy' would be removed from the castle, and that the colony of Acromantulas were going to be either forcefully removed or eliminated.
"But you can't! Dumbledore said that he needed Fluffy and I can't just ask Aragog and his family to leave. The forest has been their home for nearly fifty years!" He jumped out of his chair and started begging.
"Hagrid, a school is not the place for such creatures to be allowed to live in! I don't know why Albus allowed you to keep these creatures but it's for the safety of the children. You wouldn't want the children to be hurt or killed, do you?" Amelia growled at him.
Hagrid wouldn't let it go though, "Fluffy is only a baby and wouldn't hurt a fly! He's a bit rambunctious but he never would hurt anyone."
Severus glanced at the others in the room and mutely shook his head. This always happened whenever someone talked about Hagrid's creatures in a negative light. He raised his hand to get Amelia's attention.
"Perhaps Hagrid, you would care to go with the beast handlers so you can show them just how…friendly Fluffy can be?" Hagrid perked up at that.
"I can do that! Thank you, Professor!"
Nearly everyone else rolled their eyes in exasperation.
"Fine, you can help us with the Cerberus but the Acromantulas have to go! They're carnivorous and very intelligent. It's a wonder that no one's died from wandering into their webs in the first place. I won't have you interfering with this, Hagrid." Amelia warned the half-giant. Hagrid morosely nodded his head and settled back down into his chair.
"Next up is the wards. They're in pretty bad shape and need to be at the very least reset to something resembling their original configuration. Professor Babbling, I would like you to join the team to help them with any unforeseen problems."
Babbling nodded then spoke up, "Um, Minerva? Do you still have the Map or did you give it back to the Twins?" Several others murmured at the mention of that.
The Ward Master looked puzzled, "Map? What map?"
Minerva related the story to the man whose eyes nearly bugged out of his head before calling for an elf to relay the message to the Twins that she needed the Map in the teacher's lounge ASAP.
The Twins arrived to the lounge and cautiously entered; the look of terror and panic still evident in their eyes.
"Messrs. Weasley, glad you could join us. Do you have the map?"
Fred pulled it out of his bag and handed it over, nervously peering around the faces of the crowd, "Here, professor. We…uh, we need to get going. Our mother was right behind us."
"Minerva? I think they've had enough, don't you think?" Filius smugly suggested to his colleague. Minerva agreed and cast a finite incantatum at the two boys. There was a halo of light and their eyes cleared.
"Twins, if you would walk the warding team through the map?"
The warding team and the Twins excused themselves. There were exclamations of surprise from the adults occasionally throughout the rest of the meeting. Amelia outlined the rest of the projects her team were going to be covering.
At the end she asked, "Are there any questions or suggestions? No? Then let's get going."