Fifty-One
Waxing
Not many of the Owls had breakfast in the Owl Room the next morning, deciding the time would be better spent finishing homework before getting ready for the Quidditch match. But Leu went in, thinking that perhaps some of the Gryffindors might be in there since they didn't have to play. Sure enough, Chris, Chuck, and Amy were sitting together at the table. On the other side of the table, Diana sat by herself, her full attention on eating instead of talking.
"Good morning. Are you going to the game?" Leu asked.
"Yes," Diana answered.
"Of course you're going, you're Hufflepuff's star Chaser," Chris chuckled at her.
"True," Diana agreed.
"Well, actually, I was wondering if you were still planning to sit on the Ravenclaw side, Amy," Leu asked. Chuck squinted. So did Diana. "You did promise you'd support me in all the games this year."
"I did promise that," Amy recalled.
"The Owls typically sit in the middle when there are Owls on both teams. You know that," Chuck said.
"Fine, then you and Chris can sit in the middle if you like. I am going to sit with Ravenclaw," Amy said, getting her armband out of her cubby and putting it on before marching out of the room.
"You had better follow straight after her, Chuck. If you don't, you'd going to be in a heap of trouble, you know," Chris warned him.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Chuck said with a sigh, cleaning up the table before he and Chris followed after her. Then Leu turned towards the door.
"Llewellyn MacLir Murphy," Diana called out sternly before he could leave, and he looked over. "I would like a word with you."
Leu closed the door out of surprise more than any other reason; Diana seldom wanted to have a word with anyone. She stood then and gazed at him with the same stern gaze.
"It is time you give up on your infatuation with Amy. It is a lost cause. The two of you are incompatible. Furthermore, it is quite obvious that it is Willowby she is interested in, not you," Diana said bluntly.
"She wants to be an archaeologist and he wants to be an Auror. How is that even remotely compatible?" Leu argued. "At least Amy and I have the same interests in joining an excavation team."
"You want to live in the ocean and she wants to dig in the desert!" Diana snapped. "At least Aurors can go anywhere."
"Oh. Well, she does have another year, maybe she'll change her mind..."
"If she changes her mind, it will not be in your favor, Murphy," Diana warned.
"You don't know that. We'll just wait and see, won't we?" Leu said.
"Fine, it is your time to waste," Diana said with frustration, turning to clean up her side of the table.
"What are you planning to go into, anyway?" Leu asked curiously.
"Items expertise, Ocean excavation," Diana replied.
"What? Really?" Leu said with open surprise. "Hey, do you want to study sometime?"
"Stop every Quaffle throw of mine today. If you can, we'll discuss it," Diana said evenly.
"You want me to stop all of them? But you're the best Chaser out of all the teams playing this year!" Leu protested.
"Yes, I am," Diana said proudly, walking out of the room. Confused, Leu shrugged and went to his room to change for the game.
Severus arrived to find Ivano had gotten to the professor's box early and had most of the bench to himself.
"Good afternoon," Severus said.
"Oh! Good afternoon, Headmaster Snape," Ivano greeted him, standing up. The headmaster didn't seem to notice, sitting on the same bench but pointedly leaving enough space so that someone could sit down between them. A few minutes later, before it could become truly awkward, Jennifer stepped into the box with a smile so bright there could be little doubt that she was in an incredibly good mood. Severus stood so that Jennifer could make her way past to sit between them.
"We saved you a seat," Severus commented.
"So I see, thank you," Jennifer said, her eyes twinkling mischievously as she sat down. "I'm so glad you could come, Ivano! And I'm so glad I didn't have to miss this game either!"
"Were you in danger of missing it?" Ivano asked.
"I would have been refereeing today if it hadn't been for Laura stepping in," Jennifer explained. "Danyelle has the next three weekends off to take care of an important family matter. Fortunately, Laura is a much better flyer than I am."
"That is a gross understatement," Severus said. Jennifer elbowed him playfully. "I only gave my honest opinion. Take out your mirror and look if you don't believe me."
"Don't start," Jennifer tsked at him.
"Who are the Seekers again?" Ivano asked, trying not to sound annoyed.
"Dasher is ours, and boy is he fast," Jennifer said enthusiastically.
"True, although Alicia was faster in her day," Severus mused. "Hufflepuff's Seeker is Karen Fischer. She's not the fastest Seeker out there, but she has a good eye and excellent timing."
"And she's good at anticipating when a Bludger is coming at her from behind," Jennifer added. "But honestly, unless Dasher gets lucky in the first ten minutes, this game isn't going to be about the Seekers. It's all about Diana."
Laura tossed up the Quaffle and quickly got out of the way, hovering above to watch as Diana took control of the ball. Laura had refereed friendly games at the park a time or two, but this was a completely different experience as she sped her broom closer to the rings to watch the exchange as Diana and Leu Murphy faced off.
Diana threw the Quaffle much harder than Laura had ever seen it thrown; that Leu had been able to get a partial block on it was nothing short of impressive. But as it bounced back, Hadrian was there to grab and toss it back to Diana, who batted it through the lower ring before Leu had any chance to respond at all.
"Is there anything you're good at?" Diana snapped at Leu critically.
"What is your problem?" Leu shouted back. But they flew out of range as they tried to get the ball back from the Ravenclaw Chasers.
Kim had the ball now, and although she couldn't throw as hard as Diana she was just as fast on the straightaway, and might have gotten in into the rings had a Bludger not gotten in the way at the last minute. It managed to deflect the ball and gave Diana a chance to steal it back.
Just then, everyone noticed a fast broom zigzagging across the course at a breakneck speed. Both of the Bludgers were quickly hit towards Dasher as he homed in on the Snitch.
"Oh, thank goodness! It is going to be a fast game," Jennifer said.
"He hasn't caught it yet," Severus said, unsurprised when Diana got another ball through the rings. Everyone was focused on the Seekers now, including the Beaters, who had teamed up to strike the same Bludger along the middle line along where Dasher was zigzagging. "They'd be better off concentrating the Bludgers on Diana at this point."
"Go Diana! Stop 'em Grant!" Sally Scribe was screaming excitedly from behind them.
Severus looked over his shoulder to see Sally jumping up and down in yellow and black warpaint while Tangent simply clapped calmly beside her, every now and then ducking an arm or elbow from the enthusiastic History professor. When Severus turned back around, he saw that Leu and Diana were facing off again. At first Leu was looking more like a target and less like a Keeper, but it seemed Diana was getting cocky enough to throw it directly towards the ring he was closest to. Diana beamed it at him in very much the same manner as Lucky shooting a football. Miraculously, Leu managed to block it, and as Kim scooped it up from below, Diana nodded and turned around. Severus squinted at that. Did Diana just give him instruction in the middle of the match? He glanced at Jennifer and noticed her enigmatic smile, apparently having witnessed the exchange as well.
"Jennifer, remind me to ask you what just occurred at the rings later," Severus said. Jennifer's expression immediately turned to one of amusement.
"All right, Severus," Jennifer agreed, glancing back up the Pitch. "Oh, I think Dasher's closing in again," she pointed out. Severus and Ivano looked at where she was pointing, witnessing when Karen cut upwards to try and get in front of the goblin before he reached it. But Dasher was too fast and made it there first, grasping the Snitch as a roar went up.
"170 to 100! And it probably should have been 110 had she not gotten too confident at the end. Kitane is amazing!" Ivano said, clapping.
"As is Dasher," Jennifer protested.
"You're right! That is one fast Seeker you have there," Ivano agreed. Jennifer beamed beatifically at him.
As everyone began to get up and talk, Severus noticed Tonks standing near the stairs, looking at him straight on with an apologetic smile.
"Jennifer," Severus said, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the other spectators. "It seems I have an appointment. Why don't you and Ivano have dinner in your office or something and meet me after? I'll pick up Quintin on the way."
"Alright, Severus," Jennifer said, turning back to Ivano. Severus joined Tonks, the two of them going down the stairs and towards the door.
"We need to run up to the daycare room, then we can take the Doorlift to the Study," Severus told Tonks as they walked to the castle.
"It still sounds funny to hear you say it, despite the fact that I voted for it. I would never have imagined Hogwarts with a daycare room," Tonks grinned.
"Every headmaster tends to make additions or improvements while they're in charge; this was Jennifer's during her brief time in the job. To be honest, it's been a bit of a godsend to most of the parents working at the school at one time or another," Severus said. "It's also a lot more convenient to skip down the stairs any time there's a toddler calamity instead of having to Apparate halfway across the country."
"I bet," Tonks agreed in amusement, patiently waiting as Severus stopped to pick up Quintin and check in with Ashley before they went up to the study.
"So how are things in the department? I assume that's what you want to talk about," Severus asked once Quintin was playing in the nursery.
"Stretched," Tonks admitted. "Thomas and the LE department are helping out by taking some of the more trivial captures off our hands. Even Alex has offered some agents now and then in an emergency, but she's got her hands pretty full trying to dismantle what's left of that Eclipse splinter. It definitely hasn't been easy running on a skeleton crew. But anyway, I wanted to talk to you about Don Coventry. See, we found out how he's been able to stop the flag board and the paintings. The short answer is, they got Erased."
"What?" Severus said, staring at her in alarm.
"Apparently, if you cast the traditional spell on the flags, it Erases all court orders connected to them, and the only way to fix it is to go to court and have the orders reissued. Also, if you Erase an image of someone in a painting, it seems to Erase all sketches made afterwards. It doesn't erase other paintings, though, probably because the ghost paint gives them more permanency, but it's still enough of a disruption to mess with Alicia finding someone if they've had an earlier portrait Erased. If she takes the time to paint a brand new one in oil, it might stick," Tonks conjectured.
"Someone must be helping Don Coventry. Nobody would be stupid enough to teach him that spell knowing how it can be altered... someone at the Ministry must be helping him cover his tracks. Not only that, but we've been making some dangerous assumptions because of how the board was reacting to his flag. He probably hasn't left the country at all; he's just been having a bit of a lie low until the heat is off," Severus concluded. Tonks nodded.
"Yeah, that's what I think too, Severus. Lately, Alex has been noticing the noise levels going up about Don, rumors from different pub rats that all think he's going to be making a move soon," Tonks informed him. "To be honest, it's got me pretty worried. Is there any way you can come in and take a look at the flag board to help us come up with a way to prevent it from getting Erased again?"
"No, I can't leave the castle right now. I'll send Jennifer with you to take care of it. As for the paintings, some sort of temporal potion might work," Severus conjectured, gazing at the Headmaster Paintings. Then he noticed Professor Rogue standing in Dumbledore's portrait.
"What is he saying?" Tonks asked curiously when she saw the portrait signing.
"He's saying that there's no safe way to add a temporal potion to the paintings directly, but I may be able to add something to the frames or to the top varnish to do what I'm suggesting. I will work on that solution myself from here," Severus offered, writing a note to himself with some initial ideas. "I may be able to come up with something that will work in a day or two, Tonks, but Don may act before then. What about Helena Weasley and members of Don's family? If he's going to make a move, it will more than likely be against a personal target."
"Helena's been in protective custody since he ditched his AP," Tonks explained. "I'm not really worried about Beth while she's at the mansion, but I suggested to Thomas to provide an escort outside of it, and he's going to handle that through the LE department. Sir Wisecraft has decent security on his property, so his grandfather and his mother should be okay, but I definitely wouldn't say it's anywhere near the same level of security as the Craw Mansion," she admitted.
"Rogue, send someone to the Black Mansion and ask Sirius if he can help the Auror department secure some residences," Severus told him, the Severus portrait nodding. "And Mike?" he asked.
Tonks shrugged.
"He knows the situation and we're keeping him updated. He's staying at the Craw Mansion so that's not an issue, but there's not much that we can do when he's on duty except make sure he's got a partner at all times and keep him in the loop so he can protect himself," Tonks replied.
"If Donald attempts to make a move on Mike, it will more than likely be through friends," Severus said.
"Yeah, but all his friends are Aurors..."
"What about Delia Agate?" Severus asked. "Has anybody been watching her?"
"Delia Agate? You mean that new girl with the talk show on the wireless? I didn't know they were even friends..." Tonks began and Severus scrambled for a tardy slip and quickly wrote down an address.
"Secure that residence. Now!" Severus barked, shoving the address at her.
Quickly he went over to his cloak and grabbed the contact mirror out of it.
"Get me Aurelius!" he ordered, waiting for the image to settle. "I want you to get to Delia Agate's flat immediately and get her out of there! Fine, if he's your partner, then take him, besides, Mike knows the way if you don't. No time for questions, just get her somewhere safe. Once that's handled, we can discuss it then."
"It's too late, Severus," Icarus' voice came out, Severus looking up in fear. "I'm afraid she's already been drawn into this blood war."
"Dead?" Severus asked.
"No," Icarus answered solemnly, materializing. "But if the signs I'm seeing are true, this isn't the only time that Don will act. Someone in that family will die before the full moon, and I don't think there's anything you can do about it. You'll be needed here."
"That may be, but I'm hardly going to sit and do nothing. I still have a great deal of resources open to me," Severus said, walking over to the fireplace.
"I suppose that's true," Icarus mused, watching as the fire grew.
"Get me Danyelle Brittle," Severus said, waiting impatiently until she answered. "Sorry about the intrusion, Danyelle, but I need to put your team on standby."
Delia opened the door in surprise to see Tonks at the door.
"You're Tonks Dalance, aren't you? Is something wrong with Mike?" Delia asked worriedly.
"No, not that I know of. Hi, nice to meet you. Can I come in?" Tonks asked.
"Sure, but... why are you here?" Delia wondered, opening the door wider. Tonks strode in, sweeping her wand around.
"Just checking your security," Tonks explained, continuing the sweep with a frown. "Why, this place barely has any security at all! Standard wizard locks!" she exclaimed in surprise. "The Professor's right, this place isn't safe."
"Why would I need extra security?" Delia asked.
"Someone told me you and Mike are close," Tonks said.
"Well, yeah," Delia replied, blushing uncomfortably.
"Didn't it ever occur to you that would make you an easy target? What if Don Coventry showed up?" Tonks asked her in exasperation. There was a knock on the door. Tonks opened it up and found herself pointing her wand at Aurelius and Mike.
"Nervous, are we?" Aurelius asked Tonks.
"This place has no security whatsoever," Tonks complained, letting them in. "An amateur could break in here in five minutes if they wanted."
"Then we're going to have to move her somewhere that's secret kept. Delia, you should probably pack a bag with essentials," Aurelius said. "You can't stay here another night."
"Are you sure you're not overreacting a little? I mean, we're just friends. Besides, we haven't heard or seen anything about Don since Dad died, and that's with the entire Ministry search for him," Mike said.
"No, we're not overreacting. Everyone associated with your family needs to be secured, including close friends," Aurelius said firmly.
"Does your brother know the two of you are close?" Tonks asked Mike.
"Well, probably, we were mates at school," Mike admitted. "We've kept in touch ever since."
Delia frowned, wondering why Mike was trying to keep their relationship from the others. But Aurelius had been watching her carefully and grew alarmed at her expression. He walked over to her, gazing at her intently.
"Has anyone been in your apartment in the last week besides you?" Aurelius asked, studying her.
"Just Mike," Delia said quietly.
"I haven't been over here in several weeks, actually. We've been crazy shorthanded," Mike said, a bit confused by her reply. Suddenly, he got a sinking feeling in his stomach. "The last time we met up was for coffee after your interview with Beth just after you got the job, Delia."
Delia gazed at him unsurely. Why would he lie about something like that? Unless... it wasn't him? Mike was staring at her confused expressions when he felt a chill, finally realizing what must of happened.
"Rel... did Don..." Mike's throat tightened up.
"Yeah. I'm afraid so," Aurelius said evenly.
"How could you possibly think that my brother was me!" Mike shouted at Delia. Tonks jumped in and pulled him back.
"Mike, calm down! It's not her fault," Tonks told him sternly.
"I guess... I guess I should have known," Delia said shakily, folding her arms. "It was dark and I thought... I just thought you'd come around... I'm sorry," she added as the tears began to fall.
Before Mike had time to react, Aurelius turned with his wand out.
"Stupefy!" Aurelius cast straight at Mike, taking him completely off guard. Unprepared for Aurelius' quick response, Tonks barely caught Mike before he fell.
"Tonks, take Mike back to the Craw Mansion and tell Grandfather what's going on; he'll make sure he stays there. Then I need you to tell Harry what's going on. I'm taking her to St. Mungo's just to be safe," Aurelius instructed, handing Tonks a key.
"Right," Tonks said with a serious expression. She keyed Mike and herself to the mansion, while Aurelius took Delia to St. Mungo's with another key.
Just what we needed, Aurelius thought as he walked Delia over to the reception desk, to be down another Auror.
Aurelius was very tempted to cancel the Auror Club the next day. But the thought of a particular student came to his mind, and he had downed a Wakeful Dose instead.
The Auror Club students were just starting to wander out to line up when Severus strode onto the Quidditch Pitch. Aurelius immediately noticed his approach, and stepped over to Ginger, acting as his second for the day.
"There's Father now," he said in a low voice. "Take over, Ginger. Don't worry about the list or who's in what group, just line them up for situational self-defense lessons," Aurelius instructed.
"Right," Ginger said, going out onto the field. Viorica immediately ran up to greet her, and the two of them talked for a few minutes before she coaxed her to line up.
"I see Ginger is your partner today," Severus said when he stepped over to Aurelius.
"It's only fair. Jamie had Owain out on a capture last night. We're filling in with whoever we feel can handle themselves in a fight at this point," Aurelius admitted.
"You said in your note you dropped Delia off at St. Mungo's. What happened? Was she badly hurt?" Severus asked quietly.
"A few nights ago, Don decided to masquerade as Mike, woke her in the middle of the night, and took advantage of the situation," Aurelius explained, his father's gaze turning dark and cold. "She didn't even realize anything was wrong until we showed up on her doorstep. I took her straight over to the hospital to make sure the situation wasn't worse than we knew, but she checked out okay."
"How is she mentally?" he asked, glancing out at the students assembling on the field and somehow managing to keep his temper even.
"Blaming herself for being fooled," Aurelius said with a sigh. "I called Conner in first thing in the morning, he's looking after her. Grandfather has been busy keeping Mike from losing it, and from what little he said in the note he sent me, it hasn't been easy."
"Aurelius, I don't think this is the only time we'll hear from Don this week," Severus warned.
"Don't tell me. Ick said something again," Aurelius said skeptically.
"Yes, but in truth, there is more to it than that now. I am certain that Don is convinced that he got away with this little revenge tactic of his, and that will do nothing but feed his confidence. His next attack will be much bolder," Severus said. "I believe we need to take Ick's warning that someone might die very, very, seriously. Also, I want to formally inform you that if Don Coventry ever shows up on this property, he is not likely to leave it alive."
"Even if you didn't have paperwork filed in three departments right now, no one would convict you for it under the circumstances," Aurelius admitted.
"To be perfectly candid, Aurelius, I really don't give a damn whether they'd convict me for it or not," Severus replied.
"Understood," Aurelius said quietly. "On an unrelated note, I filed all of the necessary paperwork with Wizard Family Services to look into that student matter we discussed, so don't be surprised if you hear from the Ministry about it sometime this week." Severus briefly glanced at Viorica, who was listening to Ginger's instruction with interest.
"Very well," Severus replied. Aurelius nodded and walked over to Ginger and the Auror hopefuls.
Severus sat on the lower stands in no real hurry to go anywhere, watching the club without truly paying attention. His mind had involuntarily recollected other students of Hogwarts that had fallen through the cracks and had gone as far as Don had. Amadeus and Roger had immediately come to the forefront, then Goyle... as well as several others that he had lost during the terror years.
Severus heard his name called and was pulled out of his darker thoughts as Jennifer walked over with a scroll in hand.
"Finished, I take it?" Severus asked, glancing at his watch.
"Yes, I think we finally got the last of the inconsistencies out of the new potion. I brought the notation out for you to look over just to be safe, in case we missed something," Jennifer said, handing him the scroll. "If everything looks okay to you, we'll be ready to start testing it next month."
"Very well, I shall look over it at lunch. Are you coming upstairs?" he asked.
"Actually, Sagittari is having one of his gatherings, so Ivano and I were going to go over there for lunch," Jennifer admitted. "But since there's no more lab work to do, I'll probably be back upstairs straight afterwards."
"Good, because there are definitely some things I need to speak to you about... " he paused, noticing Boulderdash walking towards them across the Pitch, escorting another man.
"Why, that's Matteo!" Jennifer realized.
"So it is. In a way, I'm surprised he never made it to the castle sooner," Severus said, standing up and walking across to meet them.
"Signor Disparte, this is Headmaster Snape," Boulderdash introduced. "Headmaster, Matteo Disparte."
"Thank you, Professor Boulderdash. It is good to meet you, Signor Disparte. My wife has spoke of you, of course. Would you care to come inside?" Severus asked.
"Thank you, but no I wouldn't. I am taking a chance coming here in the first place, and I have no intention of going anywhere inside when I'm on unfriendly ground," Matteo said. "I am concerned about my father's employment here. He has questionable ethics, and he tends to be obsessive when it comes to lycanthropy potions, which I know you own."
"Technically, my wife owns those formulas now. She's in charge of the team," Severus pointed out.
"It does not matter which of you owns it. You're both professors and alchemists. My father shouldn't even have a license. It's wrong to experiment on any children, including your own children, and you know it!" Matteo snapped.
"We understand why you're upset, but could you please lower your voice? There are students out here," Jennifer hissed.
In fact, Severus had turned around and noted with concern that Viorica had stopped doing forms and was simply standing in the back watching Matteo. Fortunately, Aurelius had noticed it as well and was already working his way over to talk to her, nudging her over to the far side to line up with Ginger's group.
"I very much agree that it's wrong, Matteo, but as a parent, I also understand the extraordinary lengths a parent sometimes goes to try and take care of a sick child. I think it'd be better if the both of you found a way to come to terms with this," Jennifer said. "I'm sure if you just agree to talk with one another about this issue, a lot of this will sort itself out."
"It isn't just a personal matter, Professor Craw, it is also a question of alchemist ethics," Matteo said firmly. Severus grew thoughtful when he realized this argument sounded quite familiar.
"Well, I can tell you that since your father has been at Hogwarts, he's done all his research by the book, with all the appropriate procedures for research of this nature. Besides that, the fact of the matter is, we've just about finished all of the alterations we can do on the therapy potion at this point, and we were simply waiting for approvals to test it," Jennifer explained.
"I can give you a copy of their working formula if you like," Severus offered.
"I don't care what you've done with it! My father has no business working on it at all! Fine, if that is how it is, I'll go to the council and have him removed from this project myself!" Matteo snapped, then turned for the gate. Severus nodded to Boulderdash, who followed behind to make certain he left straight away.
"Stubborn, isn't he?" Jennifer said with exasperation when they were no longer in view.
"Yes, although to be fair it is a bit of an empty threat, since he knows perfectly well that the Ministry still wants to ask him about that night at the Cauldron. Of course, that makes me wonder what he might do instead," Severus admitted.
Jennifer couldn't help but keep thinking about it as she walked to Sagittari's, realizing she was getting there much later than she normally did. Because of that, she was rather surprised when so few people were there. On the far side of the table sat Ivano, Zoe, and Bael, while near the end sat Leu, Dasher, and Hadrian.
"Sorry I'm late... hello everyone! Oh, is that it?" Jennifer added in surprise as she looked around.
"Yes, you are the last I was expecting this evening. Everyone else sent a note that they would not be able to make it this week," Sagittari explained. "Something happened overnight, for I awoke to find a lot of post in my window box this morning."
"Even my Father was out of the house. Mom said he was helping Harry with something," Zoe explained.
"Well, before we get distracted by all of that, I really should tell you something about what happened a few minutes ago, Ivano," Jennifer said, taking a seat. "Your son paid Severus a visit while we were out on the Quidditch Pitch."
"What? Just now?" Ivano said, paling.
"A few minutes ago, yes, but he didn't stay long. He demanded that you be taken off the project," Jennifer admitted.
"Yes, well, a lot of good it is to ask now that we're on the finishing stages," Ivano said unconcernedly.
"Finishing stages?" Zoe asked.
"Do you have a copy of the formula for me?" Sagittari asked, and Jennifer pulled another scroll out of her cloak and handed it to him.
"We've been able to fine tune the therapy potion so that they only have to take it once a moon cycle. If the tests go well over the next few months, we'll submit it to the board," Jennifer explained.
"How often do they have to take one now?" Leu asked curiously.
"Once every afternoon for the entire gibbous stage as well as during the nights full enough to cause the change," Jennifer explained.
"Oh, then I'd see how that'd be a great improvement," Leu agreed.
"It's more than that, Llewellyn," Sagittari said, putting the bread and charcuterie plates down. "One missed dose can cause a failure in the process and lead to a bad turning, causing the patient to lose control over the situation. The new potion can be taken any time during the gibbous and full moon stages, which means cases of a bad turning will decrease tremendously. Consequently, that will save a lot of lives, and it will also curb the spread of the disease as there will be much fewer cases of accidental turnings." He glanced between Ivano and Jennifer, who both seemed a bit glum. He shook the scroll at them. "You have no reason to feel anything other than successful for your work, especially when you both performed it in such a short period with so limited time between the both of you."
"You are right of course, Doctor," Ivano said with a sigh. "But I still would have liked it better if we had discovered something that would have been a step forward to finding a cure, instead of finding something that caused a setback."
"No, Professor Disparte. You are letting your emotions get in the way this time, I believe," Sagittari said, shaking his head. "You have been an alchemist long enough to know that any new knowledge gained from experimentation is a step forward, even if it causes a setback to you personally. It's highly likely that once the two of you publish your research, some other alchemist will get curious about the blood inconsistencies you found and have some ideas on where to go from there."
"He's right," Jennifer acknowledged. "Time to pass the torch, I suppose. Especially since there's interviews and tests on the horizon, and before you know it, the term will be over. We've done our best, Ivano. All we can do now is start testing what we've got and hope it holds up."
"Yes, of course," Ivano sighed.
"Well, now that you two have finished your moping, perhaps it's time to eat? From the looks of the two of you, you haven't been doing much of it lately," Sagittari scolded him.
"I do agree with him, Lady Jennifer, you have been looking quite worn," Bael agreed, helpfully handing her the cheese plate.
"Fine," Jennifer said, accepting it. "Besides, Sagittari knows very well I could never pass up his cooking, not since the day I was first invited over."
"And many times when she was not invited as well," Sagittari teased, returning to the stove.
Not long after finishing the last of her interviews on Monday, Jennifer went to the Ministry with a jar filled with a gooey, grey, glowing substance and several paint brushes. Thomas and Harry looked on as she applied it to a spare flag board that was on Alex's desk in the Ministry of Mysteries.
"I hope this concoction of Severus' works," Thomas said, getting impatient for it to dry on the surface of the board. As it did, it became more and more translucent.
"If it doesn't, we have a few more ideas on what to try," Jennifer assured him. "But we're really hoping this varnish we developed to protect the paintings can also protect the board," she said, gently touching it. "Still sticky, just a few minutes more. Do you have a new flag for Don Coventry?"
"I have it," Alex said, holding up a scroll. "It's a warrant for impersonating an Auror," she explained evenly.
"He definitely did that," Harry said grimly.
"Once that warrant is turned into a flag, all of the other flag boards will have it as well," Thomas pointed out. "If someone in the Ministry tampers with one of the flags, will this one be affected too?"
"It shouldn't, but we don't know for sure. It's going to need to be monitored, and if it works, this needs to be applied to every board you have," Jennifer said.
"We should keep this one here for now. There are only a few people that can get in here and we still don't know who's tampering with those flags. Once it's working, we need to fix all of the other ones as quickly as possible since whoever is doing it is going to quickly realize his or her allies have been exposed," Alex said.
"Fine, but I say we don't take any chances when it comes to capturing Don. The moment this flag gives us a location, we go after him," Thomas said.
"I agree," Harry said, watching as Jennifer tested it again.
"I'll stay here with Mum and Shell you if he moves," Alex said.
"Assuming this works at all..." Thomas brooded.
"It's dry enough to test. Go right ahead," Jennifer said. Thomas took the warrant and tapped it, transfiguring it into a flag, which he then stuck on a post and added to the board. The four of them watched it intently as it slid across the map, finally settling on a spot.
"Coventry Manor," Alex said with certainty.
"What the hell is he doing there?" Harry exclaimed. "I thought Beth had that place locked up and sealed."
"There's probably a lot of security there that's tied to blood lineage. Let's go," Thomas said, and the two of them left through the fog curtain.
"If this formula holds up, do you think Father would mind if we classified it? I don't want any of Bagman's moles finding out about it," Alex said.
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind, but you should know that his personal informant to the Inner Circle is well aware that this formula exists," Jennifer said.
"Then it can serve as a loyalty test for that informant," Alex said, watching the board carefully. She grabbed her Shell when she saw the flag phasing out and moving north, holding it up to her ear. "Grandfather, he's moved... far north, it even looks like he Apparated," she explained then waited for the flag to settle, getting out a magnifying glass. "It looks like Thieves Holm."
"What? Trelawney had a hidden shack there," Jennifer said with alarm.
"Mom says there's a hidden shack on the island that belonged to Trelawney," Alex relayed, then waited a minute before putting it down. "Harry says he knows where that is."
"It's very strange that Don would know about that place," Jennifer commented.
"The only way I can think of is if Bagman told him. I think it's safe to say that Don's managed to work his way into the Inner Circle," Alex said, sighing when she saw the flag move again. "He also seems to have some sort of device on him when he's being tailed... a miniaturized Foe Glass or charmed jewelry or something," she said, picking up the Shell again. "Grandfather, he's in Kirkwall now," she told him, looking through the magnifying glass again. "He Apparated in front of a Portkey station. I bet he's out of the country." She listened for a moment. "True, but I have no doubt that he'll go through multiple stations before he lands to throw us off," she said in the Shell, putting it down again. "They're going to go get a Portkey record."
"Why would Bagman even let him in the Inner Circle? Don't forget, Don was partially responsible for nearly getting Garvan killed during the games," Jennifer reminded her.
"Yes, but that fact cues us in to something important," Alex said, grabbing a piece of parchment and scribbling out a coded note. "He must have been let in sometime after he murdered his father, and the only reason that Bagman might have decided to overlook that dragon incident is if Don had some very important information that helped him buy his way back into Ludo's good graces." Jennifer only had to think about it for a moment before coming to a conclusion with a sigh.
"Don ratted out what Eclipse was doing with Flammel's notes," Jennifer realized.
"Exactly. Dodger take this to Azkaban, and make Jeaps come back with you," Alex said, handing him the note before picking up the Shell again. "Grandfather, when you're done, you might want to go to Azkaban... oh, you're already there? Okay, but after you warn him about that, I think it's time that Mike and Beth had their ears pierced."
Severus woke up when Jennifer practically fell into bed with a sigh of relief. He turned over and pulled her hair back.
"Are you alright?" Severus asked quietly.
"Espionage is exhausting work, Severus," Jennifer said with a yawn.
"Got pulled in, did you? How did it go with the flag boards?"
"So far, so good. They chased Don around for awhile but he left the country. But we don't know yet how the other boards will effect the protected one until someone tries to alter it. They wanted me to come back tomorrow and monitor, but with classes and interviews..."
"Now, don't worry about that. You finished your career folders Saturday, did you not? I'll fill in for your Potion classes and Icarus can handle the interviews. But don't head back to the Ministry until you've had enough sleep," Severus said.
"Thank you, Severus," Jennifer murmured gratefully.
Severus kissed her gently, glancing over at the window as it slid up and she turned over to get comfortable. But Severus found himself wide awake and decided to get up, pulling on his robe and walking to his office.
He gazed at the lunar candle, the wax sliding up the sides as if dripping in reverse, rebuilding itself as it got closer to the full moon. Everything going on both inside and outside the castle was about to erupt at once; he was certain of that. What was once just a wisp of smoke... an esoteric shadow of a prediction... was now lifting to reveal the real and present danger of everything happening around them, and he had little time left in which to prepare for it. He wandered over to the chessboard.
"Level two," he said out loud, the pieces suddenly shifting. In the place of each piece stood a member of his faculty... from Hermione, the black king, to Jennifer, the white queen near the middle of the board, Danyelle, the black knight, moving forward from her retreated position, and the white pawn, Icarus, hovering in wait with the eighth row a mere step away. But at that moment, Severus wasn't as interested in the game as he was in the pieces themselves. Who should stay, Severus thought, and who should go? He stood there for nearly an hour, thinking about his position.
"Level one," he said, and the game shifted back to pieces again. Focusing in on the game once more, Severus moved his king to a more tactical position.