A/N - I hope you enjoy this early chapter.
This starts my favorite part of this year's story. The next two chapters take us from the start of school up to the end of the term. The Yule holiday introduces us to a thus far missing (beloved for some) character and the new year's ball. Lots of exciting stuff when school resumes after the holidays including the introduction of another favorite character. The beast is probably going to make a return and add to its count of victims. Who gets introduced? Who gets petrified? I'm not going to say, it would ruin the surprise. But feel free to guess.
See you in about eight days!
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The first weekend of the school year had finally arrived and students took the opportunity to sleep in a bit and allow their bodies to remember just what was expected of them. Harry had found a bit of time over the week to work on his language studies but wanted to review it once more before sending it home. He knew he had until dinner, but he suspect Hermione would in the common room. She always helped him to focus and because it was so early, it would be a few hours before the Hall opened for breakfast. Grabbing his bag and what he would need, Harry made his way into the common room and as expected, he found Hermione working quietly at her table.
"Morning Hermione, would you mind if I reviewed my language work at the table with you?" He knew she wouldn't mind, but she had spread her books over the entire table. With an absent-minded nod, the witch quickly cleared half the table and Harry sat across from her. "Whatcha reading?" They hadn't been assigned any real homework yet, so whatever had grabbed Hermione's focus was something beyond their normal schoolwork.
"Mmmh, some magical creature books. Got 'em from Lucius." Harry watched as the witch looked highly confused. "Doesn't match up. The conclusion is that it isn't. But if it isn't than what is it?" Hermione's muttering didn't really make sense but once she was ready to talk, Harry would be there to listen. Nodding to himself, the young wizard dove into his work. As he worked he became engrossed in what he was doing and didn't realize how loudly he was speaking. "Harry, are you hissing?" Hermione's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he looked up to his friend.
"Huh?" The ever eloquent response was out of his mouth before he could think of a better one. "Hissing? No, I was working on the language that Kitmu's uncle was teaching me. They said it doesn't have a written form. So they provided the work in another language and I'm to translate it orally. Apparently the charm on the parchment will tell Kitmu if I did correctly. Did I not tell you about it?" Hermione shook her head while pushing her notes to the side. "Hold on, I wrote down what Gibby's told me. I thought it would interest you." Harry found and passed the pages of notes to Hermione who began to devour the new information.
Harry had to returned to his studies as his friend read the notes over and over. "It's really interesting. This language is said to be handed down through family lines. And it doesn't have a written component so how do people learn it? Just listening and repeating seems to be the answer." Hermione made some notes and ideas on cross referencing. "Harry?" The wizard looked up and turned his attention to the witch. "Did Gibby tell you what this language was called?"
The wizard shook his head. "When I send my work home I can ask Kitmu if it has a name. Do you think it will help?" Shrugging the witch set the notes to the side and returned to the task of trying to figure out what the muggle attacking beast was.
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When Draco woke that same Saturday morning, he found Marcus Flint settled in a quiet corner of the common room. The second year made his way over to find the older man working on Quidditch schematics. Draco watched as they played out on the parchment and how slight adjustments changed the outcomes. "How did you come up with that idea Marcus?" The older wizard startled, he hadn't heard Draco approach.
"Ah, the former captain started it but it was really basic. Over the last two years I've been working on making the drawings react more lifelike. It's a bit easier since the teams don't turn over that much. I just put my memories of the games into these and the spell shows the most likely results to each proposed situation. Ended up having to talk to Professor Snape who got me some extra books from the Restricted Section. They really helped with the charms needed." Pleased with what he was seeing, Marcus marked the first attack formation with a check and set it to the side.
Draco watched a bit longer and was really surprised at just how in-depth the plans were. It was almost as if all the games were already planned. "When are try outs?" Marcus gave Draco a curious look before finishing the new defensive strategy for their match against Ravenclaw.
"There aren't try outs this year, the players from last year's first year team are on the squad unless they opt to sit out. With the influx from your class, we have more than enough players for all the positions even if a few of you decide to sit. I've had Professor Snape reserve the pitch for Thursday nights. I think that works with your extra classes. At least that is what Snape said." Draco was extremely pleased knowing he was on the team and would get the chance to work with the older seekers. His smile was all Flint needed. "Good. I'll make the announcement this evening after curfew so everyone will be here." Flint turned his attention back to the plans while Draco remained and watched him work.
As it got closer to when the Hall would open, Draco excused himself and went to get Blaise from their room. When the two boys returned, they found Daphne sitting on the couch reading one of the magazines Hermione had given her. "Hey Daph, you ready to eat?" Nodding, the blonde witch closed the magazine and stood. The Slytherin trio left the dungeons and made their way up the steps.
On entering the Hall, they found their friends had commandeered two neighboring tables. When the students had arrived for lunch on their first day of classes, they found instead of the four long tables, dozens of smaller tables had replaced them. It made Hermione's attempt at a schedule easier since they just got to pick whatever table they wanted since there were no longer house affiliations. Draco found the seat next to Hermione empty and claimed it for his own before sending Harry a quick wave. The second years discussed their first week and what their plans for the day were. Since the weather was still nice, they wanted to take advantage of the sun and sit outside for a bit. Hermione mentioned something about going to the library later.
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After returning to its lair, the beast curled up for a short nap. It had taken quite a bit of energy to get to the home of his assigned target only to find the way blocked magically. It had been frustrating, but in the beast's mind, it could return to its original purpose and rid those not from proper families from the school. His master had been gone for a long time. When the heir finally opened the portal the beast found the school was much changed. Its freedom was short lived before the heir was forced to return the beast and seal the portal once more. The heir promised to return one day, but he hadn't. The old wizard was neither the heir nor was he another descendant of the master, but was able to communicate almost as well. The heir was gone now, at least that is what the old wizard had said.
The original portal build by his master to the school had been blocked for some time, but the heir had found it. The old wizard hadn't found it or figured out how to open it so, so he just created a secondary way for the beast to escape. Either way worked and the beast was intent to complete the mission it was given a thousand years earlier. As the beast fell into a sleep-like state the hisses escaping its mouth echoed through the stone walls and plumbing pipes on the other side of the stone walls.
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Paulo sat in his office meditating. His visions came as they came and no amount of wanting to see something ever brought forth a vision. Paulo was happy the family had not been attacked but concerned something still happened. Maybe reality wasn't as bad as the vision, but a man was still unable to be with his family because something had gone wrong. The beast wasn't a boitatá, that was now obvious. The falling of the muggles wasn't because they were muggle but was because of the beast. So then, what other beasts exist that so resemble the Brazilian magical creature. He wasn't sure but hoped something would come to him in enough time to protect the next target.
Paulo's mind began to wander as he fell into a deeper and deeper trance. He couldn't see anything but heard hissing. Believing it was the beast, Paulo remained still and listened. Then there was a second voice also hissing. Were there two? Paulo pulled himself from the trance and thought about extracting the memory, but no longer having a contact at the Ministry and with Sophie busy, Alfonso had arrived earlier in the day, Paulo decided to let the vision remain untouched. In the end, he decided he needed to speak with someone else. He just didn't know who he could trust.
Looking at the clock, Paulo realized it was nearing the time for rounds. Today he was paired with the Head of the Slytherin House and Potions Master. He had not had much interaction with the other wizard, but from all accounts he was stern and formidable man who took great pride in his work. Standing to pull on his robes, Paulo left his office and made his way toward the steps leading him to the dungeons and the Potions Master's office. Severus had promised to show him the dungeons, how best to navigate them, and some of the areas used by students to miss being caught out after curfew.
Luckily for Paulo, he arrived just ahead of Severus. "Paulo, good to see you are punctual. Not all of our coworkers care for the time of others." Severus waved and pointed in the opposite direction of the steps leading out of the dungeons. As the pair walked, Severus pointed out multiple labs, although only one was used for the Hogwarts course curriculum. The others were assigned as needed to potion apprentices or used by the potion master himself when he needed to brew more sensitive potions without the risk of a student accidentally ruining it. There were also classrooms that could be used but hadn't been needed for a couple of centuries. As they circled around, Paulo found himself standing at the steps again.
Amazed at the labyrinth that were the dungeons of Hogwarts, Paulo stood a bit in awe. "How long did it take you to learn all of this?" He was worried he would get lost if he had to navigate the area alone.
"I was a student here and have been a professor for a quite a few years. But to learn it, only my first year, I lived down here so it made sense for me to learn my way around." Severus didn't mention having to learn the layout in order to try and avoid his own bullies.
After spending a good couple of hours with the man, Paulo believed that maybe the Potions Master would listen to his worries. "Severus, I am not sure what you know of my abilities." The other man's expression was unreadable but not negative. Eventually Severus explained his relationship with the Malfoy family and his inclusion in the discussions regarding Paulo's vision of the attack. Paulo's expression changed immediately to happiness. "Maravilhoso! I will not have to explain then. I had another vision today. And before you worry, it was not like the last ones. It was of the beast in a dark cavern. It was hissing and then another voice responded. I do not know what it means but worry there are two."
Severus was stunned, in all the discussions with Lucius and by extension the Ministry, none had thought there could be more than one beast. "That is quite worrisome. From what I've been told, the beast is incredibly large which would mean wherever it lives is not a small place either." The younger wizard nodded, he hadn't thought of that angle. "So if there are two, the cavern must be as large as my dungeon."
Paulo's eyes closed and returned to the vision, it was dark but he had a sense the walls weren't that far apart. "No Severus, I don't believe that large. But, maybe, half the width but the length is long, I don't know if it's longer than this hall or not." Both men gazed at the main hall and realized, even not as large as the dungeon, it would still be a very large area.
"Paulo, I don't know what help a memory of a hissing beast would be, but let's put the memory in a safe place. I will make some inquiries to determine who has been assigned to the case." Paulo followed the man toward his private rooms and allowed his coworker to retrieve a copy of the memory. Paulo returned to his quarters and documented the circumstances around the vision.
Once Paulo had left, Severus unlocked his floo and made a call to Malfoy Manor. Luckily for Severus, Lucius was home and settled in the sitting room with Narcissa. "Severus this is a surprise, would you like to step through?" After a quick nod, the call was ended and a moment later Severus Snape was standing in the sitting room. "I hope Draco or any of the others haven't already gotten into trouble. They haven't been there a full week yet." The look on Severus' face quickly killed the jovial mood. "Severus?"
"Sorry Lucius, no the children are only up to normal things. They haven't even earned a detention yet." Narcissa's expression was more relieved while Lucius was still concerned why Severus was in Wiltshire instead of Scotland. "Paulo had another vision, but you jump to any conclusions, this one was nothing like the last one." Both of Malfoys immediately relaxed. "With Frank still petrified, Paulo wasn't sure who was trustworthy. After the rounds this evening, he felt comfortable enough with me to share the information. We've safely stored the memories and I thought you would probably know who took over the investigation or who should be informed of this development."
Lucius thought back over his initial meetings with Amelia Bones, after the witch had assumed responsibility over the investigation, and she was known to be very difficult to deal with, even on a good day. Plus after realizing her advancements weren't that advanced, when compared to muggles, it was not a "good" day and she had been a bit more surly that normal. "I'll figure something out. What was this vision?" Severus spent a few minutes describing what Paulo had told him. The inclusion of a second set of hisses worried everyone but it didn't provide any real detail on location or anything the DMLE would find useful. Lucius decided he'd discuss with Madam Bones during the next meeting which was scheduled for the Monday following the next. The meeting was to review new devices for the DMLE, but Lucius knew there would be enough time to discuss other pressing matters.
After a bit longer, Severus returned to Hogwarts and sent a note to Paulo informing him the information on his new vision had been relayed. In addition to Paulo, Severus sent an update on the vision to Minerva and Sophie. Only time would tell if the vision was meaningful.
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Hermione had spent her Saturday morning and early afternoon with her friends. As the dinner drew near, she left to find a book to read that evening before bed. She had been so focused on mythical creatures, she realized she was starting to get a bit over zealous. Instead she decided to check out 'Hogwarts: A History' again and have an enjoyable evening reading about her school. As she reached the section where books about the school and the founders were located, Hermione noticed a set of new books donated by Headmistress Mathews. Hermione ended up selecting a book related to the history of Ilvermorny; she knew this was the magical school for North America but knew little else about the school. She hoped the book would be as good as 'Hogwarts: A History'.
After Hermione left for the library, the rest of the second years remained outdoors to enjoy as much of the sun as they could before dinnertime. Those playing quidditch discussed how none of the teams needed tryouts. It seemed all the house teams were in the same boat. They discussed what they had done over the summer and finally talked a bit about their first week of classes. As the dinner hour drew closer everyone made their way into the Hall. Draco noticed Hermione's absence first. After getting Harry's attention, the pair set off to the library. Neither boy noticed the figure in the shadows who began to follow the wizards.
When the boys arrived at the library they found their prey settled in a chair and completely wrapped up in a book. They tapped the witch on the shoulder and watched as she startled. Being careful to not make any unnecessary noise, less they earn a glare of the stern matron of the library, Hermione closed the book and accepted Draco's hand to help her stand. After leaving the library she began to apologize to her friends. Both of the boys just laughed. Harry put his arm around Hermione's shoulder and directed her toward the Hall while Draco placed Hermione's hand on his arm. The eyes watching the entire scene narrowed.
As the trio turned a corner, and left the view of the voyeur, Draco pulled Hermione from Harry. "What book is that?" Hermione began to detail the history of their sister school as they walked toward the Great Hall.
"What seems to the most interesting is the bit on Slytherin. One of his descendants established the school but before that happened there was a disagreement or sorts between the family. It doesn't say it in the book but it sounded like part of the family wanted to stay with older beliefs while the younger generation wanted to move to a more accepting stance. I think it had to do with whether or not muggleborns would be a valued member of the magical society or not."
Draco gave a bit more knowledge about who Slytherin was beyond a founder of the school. The explanation detailed the disagreement on whether to include muggleborns as students at Hogwarts. Hermione was surprised to learn the exact reason for Slytherin's departure a thousand years earlier. Hermione listened carefully and began to think about what she had read in 'Hogwarts: A History'.
"So originally they all agreed and Slytherin changed his mind?"
Draco looked to the witch and took a moment to think. In the end, he just shrugged before continuing.
"I really don't know, the story is just there was a disagreement and Slytherin left. Before he was gone for good, or so the story goes, he left a creature that would ensure his vision for the school came true." Hermione just hummed in thought.
"I wonder if there are any books written about Slytherin, that tell more than the story you know." Hermione decided if anyone knew about such a book, it would be Draco's mother. If she didn't have it in the Malfoy library, she would be aware of what was in the Black library. Both family histories stretched to the time in question.
After dinner the group of second years made their way to their shared room and spent the evening much like the rest of their day. All were thankful to be back with their friends.
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The weekend passed as they all do, far too quickly for everyone. As the second Monday of the year dawned, the weekend seemed forever ago for the inhabitants of the castle and the thought of the next weekend was too far away to even dream about. Hermione, at her unofficial but official, table on Monday morning, pulled her notes from the overstuffed bag at her feet. Her bag contained the notes for all her classes that day. They had been checked before being placed back into her bag, a quill (with a few extras in her custom quill case), enough ink to get her through the day and all the books she would need were packed carefully packed. After verifying she was prepared for the standard curriculum, Hermione had removed her notes from the previous week's supplemental potions class and began to review them. She wanted to ensure she was ready for her first practical lab that evening. Her attention was pulled from the notes by someone clearing their throat.
Hermione looked to see one of the first years standing in front of her. She thought his name was Colin, but wasn't totally sure. He seemed quite shy and for some odd reason, had a camera hanging around his neck. "Um Hermione, someone said that you and some other second years have a room where you hang out . Do you think some of us could use it as well?" Hermione thought and knew the room wasn't going to be large enough to hold many more students.
"I'm sorry Colin but I think the room is too small to hold many more students. But I can check to see if there is another room that can be used by you and your friends." Hermione was pleased she got his name correct when the boy's head bobbed in an excited nod and he quickly disappeared. Hermione didn't have time to get back into her studies before Harry made it downstairs to head to breakfast.
Hermione put Colin's request far from her mind and focused on her lessons for the day. That wasn't until lunch the request returned when she saw his eager eyes watching her. As she left for her afternoon classes she just smiled and nodded at the boy. She hoped to get out of the Hall before he caught up to her.
The day was pretty good and after her second Charms class of the year, Hermione found herself being drawn more toward Charms than Transfiguration but she wasn't going to mention that to anyone. Right now Charms seemed more practical than turning a beetle into a button.
At the end of their final regularly scheduled class and dropping off their extra things at the Tower, she and Harry made their way towards the potions classroom and were greeted by Draco at the end of the hall. The group walked together into the room and quickly went to their stations. Professor Snape entered and made his way to the front of the room while Hermione pulled out her notes, quills, and ink, the boys had their notes on the desk from last week on the potion they would start brewing shortly.
"Good evening, now like last week, I will start with the fifth year work and then move to the third year information. Before I begin Hermione, I believe last week worked very well. So we will continue every week in the same way." Hermione smiled before accepting an additional sheet of parchment. As he reminded the boys about the potion, she reviewed the comments left by Professor Snape. Since the boys wouldn't be getting a lecture, Hermione could focus on the what was added since she'd last seen the parchment.
At the beginning of the first class, Hermione was informed she was not to interrupt the fifth year coursework with her questions. She would be expected to document any questions or observations on the provided piece of parchment. If she determined the answer to a question during the course of the evening, she could write the answer. Severus would collect her questions at the end of the fifth year lecture for his review.
Hermione was pleased to note the responses to her questions included references to follow up or comments on when she would learn the answer. As the boys were released to get their ingredients and start their potion, the potions professor turned to Hermione.
"Go ahead and put that away, I think you'll be able to follow along with what's on there without my oversight." Hermione placed the parchment with her other notes and turned her full attention back to her professor. "Tonight we will continue the lecture on shrinking potions. I was impressed by your essay and it seems you've already read ahead on the topic." Hermione dropped her head for a moment before admitting she had read ahead. Severus saw a lot of himself in the girl with regard to her thirst for knowledge.
"Well, then let's get into discussing the Shrinking Potion and prepare you to brew it after dinner." The first topic was the standard brewing of the potion and how it would result in a fine potion; however, as with the majority of potions, Severus had spent years making small changes to the established brewing processes or ingredient preparation to produce potions that were more effective than the original. Once dinner drew near the boys reached the agreed stopping point, Severus secured the potions before everyone left the room and the room was warded as well. "I'll see you immediately after dinner. Based on where we are, we should be able to finish a bit early tonight."
In the Great Hall the trio found their friends and dung into their meals with relish. Between bites the second years caught up with friends they hadn't seen that day. After promising to meet up in their room after their potion lesson, they arrived at the classroom in time to see Professor Snape release the wards and open the door to the laboratory. While the boys returned to their stations to finish brewing, Hermione went into the supply cabinet to get the ingredients she would need. Remembering early lectures on finding the perfect ingredient, Hermione took her time in selecting each of the required items. As she finished her selections, she heard Professor Snape yell for the boys to duck and then an explosion.
Hermione burst into the room to find everything in tatters and Professor Snape laying over the boys. After a few heart stopping moments, all three began to groan. Before Hermione could get to the group, Professor Snape rolled off the boys and rubbed his head. Both of the boys looked stunned but not actually injured. "Professor Snape, are you ok? Do you want me to get Madam Pomfrey?" The still dazed professor shook his head and with a shaky hand, he sent a burst of silver light from his wand. He then leaned his head on the table behind him with a grunt and shut his eyes.
By this point the boys had righted themselves and were looking around the room in disbelief. A few minutes was all it took before they heard the sound of something outside of the door. A small tabby cat jumped into the room and morphed into Professor McGonagall. "I'm a touch faster in that form. What happened?" Surveying the room Minerva saw Severus and rushed over to him. "Severus?" The man in question just groaned again. Minerva raised her wand and sent another silver burst from her wand. A small, silver tabby cat appeared before looking at the witch. Minerva murmured a message to the etherial animal and it turned around before darting from the room. "It'll be ok Severus, Poppy and Sophie should be here in a moment."
Turning to the trio, Minerva saw they were all standing together. The boys looked a little rumpled while Hermione was just scared. "Miss Granger, I assume you weren't in the lab when this happened." After seeing the younger witch's agreement, Minerva's focus to moved to the two young wizards. "Mr. Malfoy, why don't you start and tell me what happened."
Before Draco could begin two sets of feet were heard moving quickly through the corridor. Hermione thought the people may have been running. Minerva raised her hand to Draco as he was about to begin his explanation. The medi-witch and headmistress burst their way into the room. "Poppy, Severus needs your assistance. He hasn't been able to tell me what happened and Mr. Malfoy was just about to explain." Poppy began to run multiple diagnostic spells and was able to determine a minor concussion was present but no other damage. With that relief, Draco found telling what happened easier.
"We came back from dinner and were starting the final steps on the potion for this week. Professor Snape had set a statis spell on the potions when we left for dinner in the Hall. The spell would not impact the brewing and Professor Snape removed the spell when we returned. Harry looked at his potion and realized something wasn't right. He called for Professor Snape and just as he arrived, the potion began to react. We only had a second before Professor Snape was yelling at us to duck and throwing himself over us. Luckily, Hermione had been in the stores room."
Sophie Mathews looked on in shock. She had heard of potions reacting poorly but to have something like this occur she wondered what potion was being brewed. She had yet to learn some of the students at Hogwarts could blow up water if they were told it was a potion. "What potion were you brewing Mr. Malfoy?"
"Draught of Peace ma'am." By this time Poppy had finished giving Severus several potions and the man was slowly coming around.
"Sophie, I watched both boys while they were brewing before dinner and they did nothing wrong. Harry called me over because his cauldron no longer looked like Draco's, which it had before dinner." The professors looked to the mess as Severus ran his own spell over it. As he read the results he looked to the ingredients and confirmed Shrivelfigs were not listed. "Harry, did you put Shrivelfigs in your potion at all?" The younger wizard looked confused before stating he had followed the ingredients to the letter since this was the first time he'd brewed this particular potion.
After confirming Severus and the boys were fine, Poppy left after warning Severus to get her if he felt the slightest bit off for the next couple of days. She mumbled something about mentioning symptoms to someone else as she left the room. No one seemed to hear her mention Aurora before disappearing though the door. Sophie and Minerva watched in confusion, both did well enough in potions to know the inclusion of the Shrivelfigs would cause the draught to explode. Minerva glanced at the board and noticed the instructions for the Shrinking Solution were written on the second board. Severus caught her gaze and nodded.
"Yes Minerva, Hermione was working on a Shrinking Solution as her assignment today. Since it does not take any great length of time, she hadn't started it before dinner. She was pulling her ingredients when the explosion happened. I truly do not believe any of them had anything to do with this." What Severus didn't say aloud but everyone understood, was someone else had accessed the room. The question was who and how.
"Professor would you like us to clean up this mess?" Draco had learned as a boy if you made a mess with potions it was your responsibility to clean up after your self but this was a different situation. Severus with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, vanished the mess and righted the tables. "That's a dead helpful spell…is it in a charms book?" Leveling a 'not now' look at his godson, Severus dismissed the children but not before saying next week they would determine how to rework the schedule so potions were not left unattended going forward.
The children, still a bit shocked at what happened, went to their shared room but decided to keep what happened a secret. The professors were asking each other questions in an effort to figure out what had happened. Severus reviewed the wards and noticed the ward had been breached but the alarm had been deactivated. It wasn't an extremely difficult ward but it should have stymied students. Any professor or master student should have had sufficient knowledge to take down the entire ward. So it was odd to only have had the alarm deactivated.
It seemed the answer wouldn't be figured out that day or that year.
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After a couple of days, and a regularly scheduled potions class, the trio were able to brush off what had happened Monday night. The boys were on the floor outside of the private room while Hermione and Daphne were completing a more intense workout Hermione's mom had put together. Harry was working a bit on his next assignment from Kitmu while Draco was reviewing some notes from Lucius. Neither were particularly fussed about finishing before Hermione was done, so they kept interrupting each other.
After a discussion on the latest quidditch results, the pair went back into their respective work. Harry leaned against the wall and began re-read his completed assignment. He was reviewing his essay on centaur history when he heard that strange voice again. This time he started to ask questions to the voice and hoped for a response. What he heard in response weren't answers to the questions he asked but more of the same uncomfortable commands Harry had been hearing on and off for a week. He was broken from his thoughts by Draco who was asking Harry was he was saying.
"Hm? I was hearing that voice again. Didn't you hear it?" Draco looked a bit wide eyed before responding.
"No Harry, you were hissing again. Didn't you realize it?" Harry became worried and decided he needed to discuss it with his friends. Luckily Hermione opened the door a few minutes later. Harry was feeling more and more uncomfortable with what the voice was saying.
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Looking at the new mixer board, Rich smiled. He was having flashbacks to his college days and his head was bopping to a beat only he could hear. It had taken a little over a week for it to be delivered as the best option was only available by order and it had been on back order. Once it had arrived, it took Matt two days to place all the necessary spells on it. Today would be the first day Rich could actually use it for its intended purpose.
When Rich had been informed of the mixer's arrival and time frame for it to be ready, Rich had a very dazed look to his eyes. "Seriously Rich, it's just a mixer and I don't want to hear any new masterpieces until you've done whatever you have to do to help Frank. Agreed?" Rich's eyes lifted and saw Jean standing with her hands balled on her hips. With a bit of a sheepish nod, Rich tried to not be obvious about how excited he truly was.
Since the spells were all applied and Matt verified the mixer would work, the Lucius and Rich were standing in the open area of the building Matt used as his office. While Lucius stood and watched the other two were looking at the instructions with a quite giddy expression. Both reached for a set of instructions and started to read. Luckily for Rich, Matt also dabbled as a deejay during his muggle college years and was able to transfer the audio into a format the new mixer could read without ruining the original. With the addition of a few speakers, Rich planned to slowly filter out the static, but it would probably October before Rich dared to use the actual audio.
While Rich was learning about the mixer, Lucius reviewed the listing of muggle technology Rich had thought might be of use to the aurors. It seemed most were surveillance items ranging from video to audio to clothing but there were a few offensive items. Rich explained in the muggle world these were considered both offensive and defensive depending on the situation. It took a bit for Lucius to understand but finally it clicked. Muggles couldn't erect shields in order to protect themselves and if they were in a battle, the better the offensive tactic the more likely the muggle would survive. He now understood what Rich was saying when he mutter something about 'a good offense is the best defense' during a football match.
"Matt, when you are done with Rich, I'd like to discuss a few of these items with you." The other wizard nodded and placed the copy of the instructions he was reading down on the table.
"I could really get wrapped up in that, so it's best we just talk about the list now." Lucius chuckled knowing Matt was being completely honest. In addition to being honest, Matt was also extremely hard working and Lucius had no qualms about the incredibly high salary he was paying the man. Honesty and desire to work hard were difficult to find in any employee. While Matt may have been one of the few wizards with the necessary education and knowledge for the job, he was the best choice due to how very similar he was to his two bosses. "I was looking at the list the other day and have a few ideas on ways to better the muggle version of things." Lucius was quite intrigued by the comment and waved Matt to continue.
Matt walked over to a large chalkboard and started to point to a diagram with a flick of his wrist, the drawing began to move. "This is a drawing of a muggle video camera. It's similar to the cameras used to broadcast television but small enough for a muggle to hold." The drawn camera started to shrink and a stick man walked onto the board. Picking up the camera the drawing placed it on his shoulder. Lucius immediately noticed the size was smaller but still unwieldy.
"I don't understand how this can help the DMLE." Lucius understood the advantage of a camera but not that large.
"I agree so I've been looking into how it actually works. I've found one of the main reasons it's so large is the medium used to hold the recording." Matt held up a VHS tape and the shell of the video camera he had torn apart. "My thought is if we can come up with something smaller the entire set up can be reduced." Lucius saw a great market for something like this.
"This is a great idea, let's come up with a small version, maybe something the DMLE officers can attach to their robes. But, after that, let's figure out a larger version we can sell to the general public. I know our photos show some movement but it's not the same without sound."
"I will work on the camera angle first. After that, I was thinking about the offensive items muggle police use. I suspect some of these may not be impacted by magical defensive strategies, at least not right away." Matt pointed toward the items listed as firearms and other non-lethal weapons.
Rich had joined the conversation a few minutes earlier and nodded in agreement. "There are a few other defensive items Jean thought about last night. I think the DMLE would find them helpful if we could figure out a way for them to work against magic." After Lucius handed the list over, Rich began to scribble his additions to the list. Matt's eyes lit up when he saw the first defensive item listed.
Tapping the item, Matt looked to the other two. "That is something I've thought about as well. I need to look into a few things but since it doesn't use any electricity, magic won't impact it. For an auror to find it useful, I need to figure out how to make it strong enough to stop more than just physical items and possibly repelling curses." The kevlar vest was common place with muggle police, but Matt had always wondered what would happen if strengthening potions or other protective charms were applied to it.
It took a few minutes for Lucius to understand what a bullet was and how a vest could be bullet proof, but in the end he agreed it would be a very useful item if it could repel spells and curses without the wearer having to continually erect shields.
*MoT*MoT*MoT*
Kitmu and Gibby were settled in a small room at Malfoy Manor reviewing Harry's second set of homework. As they reviewed, Kitmu found Gibby to be pleased with what was in front of him. "The boy is good." To Kitmu this was high praise.
"Hes been quick always." The other elf nodded before returning to the notes and determining what needed to be done the following week. "Gibby, he ask about what this language was called. I don't know." The older elf thought for a moment.
"Parseltongue." Kitmu nodded before responding to the boy's question from the previous week.