Note: I do not own any of the characters and such, those are entirely JK Rowling's.
16. Halloween
The weeks flew by. Stephanie had visited madam Pomfrey for another check-up and everything had looked good. The nurse had told her she didn't have to come back, unless she wasn't feeling well.
She had also visited Hogsmeade where she had to supervise the children while they visited the small magical village. Of course she had kept an eye on the students but she had enjoyed herself as well. There were some nice shops and made sure to introduce herself to all the shopkeepers, so they knew who she was if she ever needed anything.
At the end of the afternoon she had a drink with some of the teachers. She had tried butterbeer for the first time, but she wasn't really sure if she actually liked it. It was very sweet and thick as syrup. She was surprised to see that Snape had even joined them. He sat at the far end of the table and didn't say anything, but still.
During the weeks she had also met a few more times with madam Hooch to improve her flying skills. It had taken a few hours for her to overcome the slight fear of heights but she truly loved flying now. She could fly as high as the quidditch hoops and had no problem making any sharp twists and turns. Rolanda even let her fly on her Nimbus 2000 which was incredibly fast. The longer she flew it, the faster she dared to go.
Together they had quite a lot of fun just flying around. Rolanda was pretty funny and one time she even had to land or she would fall off her broom from laughing too hard. Rolanda had offered to start teaching her to play quidditch next time. Stephanie wasn't sure how to do that with just two people but she was excited. She could wait to actually watch a real quidditch match, but the first one was planned in November, so she still had to wait a little bit longer.
Before she knew it, it was Halloween. Today would be the first important event of the future. She had decided she wouldn't intervene as there would be no disastrous consequences. She did want to sit next to Snape during dinner, so she could warn him, just in case things would go different than expected.
She made sure she was in the great hall as one of the first, but not before Snape. Quirrell often sat next to Snape, but he was of course not here. She took a deep breath as she sat down next to the grumpy man, wished him a quiet happy Halloween, but said nothing else.
She started eating but not too much as she knew dinner would be interrupted soon. Fifteen minutes in, the doors of the great hall burst open and Quirrell came running in, almost tripping over his own feet. 'TROOOLLLL IN THE DUNGEON! Troll in the dungeon! Thought you'd like to know.' he yelled and fainted right after. Students started screaming and the headmaster stood up to instruct them all. Stephanie took her change, leaned towards Snape and said to him quietly so the headmaster couldn't hear: 'It's a diversion, go to the third floor.'
Snape gave her a furious but also confused glance but before he could actually say something to her the headmaster started talking. 'Prefects, take the students back to their dormitories. Teachers, follow me to the dungeons.'
Snape was still looking at Stephanie and noticed her face was dead serious. 'Go' she mouthed to him after which she stood up and started following the rest to the dungeons. Snape stood up as well but went to the staircase to go to the third floor. He probably was going to check the third floor anyway, even without her warning, but he still felt uncomfortable for actually listening to her.
He ran up the stairs into the corridor on the right handside. Just as he turned around the corner he saw Quirrell standing in front of the door leading to the three-headed dog. 'Quirrell!' he shouted immediately, wand in hand, ready to duel if necessary. The other professor sprung up and turned around to face Snape.
'S-s-snape!' he stuttered. 'I j-j-j-just wanted t-t-to check if ev-v-v-erything was st-t-till alright here' he said. Snape didn't believe him for one second. 'Well, it seems it is.' he snarled. 'So let's go back and see if the others need help with the troll.' he added and pointed with his wand for Quirrell to go first.
When they got back on the ground floor they heard shouting coming from the girls bathroom. They ran in and there he saw Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hemione Granger standing next to a passed out troll. The other teacher had apparently also just arrived as the children were explaining what had happened.
After everything had been handled, Dumbledore asked McGonagall, Snape and Saxton to follow him to his office. 'You okay?' Stephanie whispered to Snape on their way there. Snape just nodded. Of course he was okay, why would he not be?
Once inside the headmaster took his seat while the others stood. Stephanie was curious what he was going to say. She actually felt a bit smug and wanted to yell I told you so but wisely kept her mouth shut.
After a minute of silence the headmaster spoke: 'I assume you knew?' Dumbledore asked as he was looking at Stephanie. She just nodded. 'I see..' was all he said. Minerva seemed quite shocked.
'You knew?' she asked indignantly. 'Why didn't you tell us? We could have prevented it. What if someone got hurt? Or worse?' she added. Stephanie had to use the exact right words now, so she could shift some of Minerva's trust in Dumbledore to herself. Make her see that the headmaster wasn't always right,
'Of course I knew. And I have offered the headmaster multiple times my knowledge so we could prevent certain events. But he doesn't want to know!' she stated. Snape was watching the whole interaction from the side. He wasn't sure what to think, so he just remained silent, for now.
Minerva turned her gaze towards the headmaster, eyes saddened. 'Is that true Albus?' The headmaster nodded at her. 'Yes Minerva, that is correct. But no one was harmed so there is no problem here,' he replied.
'No problem? No problem? What if one of the children had made a mistake? They could have been killed by that troll!' Minerva yelled. 'Ah yes, but they didn't, so all is well.' he said calmly. 'Stephanie, thank you for your time. You're free to leave. Severus, Minerva, if you could stay behind for a moment please.' Albus said.
Stephanie stood up to leave but before she left through the door she turned around to face the headmaster. 'This was nothing by the way. Please remember we're on the same side here.' she said and left. She could see Minerva mouth the word 'nothing' as if she couldn't believe someone would call the events of this evening nothing. Just before she closed the door behind her she could already hear Minerva yell at the headmaster.
Stephanie smiled as she was walking through the halls. Things were going the right way, her way. Minerva's trust in the headmaster had been damaged this evening. Snape had just stood there, probably thinking about what he should make of this whole situation. Stephanie hoped she could get more opportunities to gain his trust. That would be more of a challenge than with Minerva.
Without her intentions, she actually had changed a little this evening. Because she had warned Snape he had reached the third floor slightly earlier, so he didn't have to actually confront the dog, which had spared him an ugly wound on his leg. This would also prevent the golden trio from suspecting him as the possible thief of the stone. With a pleased smile she entered her chambers, wondering what the others were still discussing in the headmaster's office.
The headmaster found himself annoyed with Stephanie, even though she had done nothing wrong. She had done exactly as he said. And still it hadn't worked the way he wanted. Minerva had been quite upset with him. She was still yelling at him. He raised his hand to stop her.
'Minerva I understand your concern, but you have to understand, it is simply too dangerous to try to change the future. It is set. What if we try to change things, but it all gets worse instead of better, hm?' This seemed to calm her down a bit, or at least made her quietly think for a while.
'Now, what we need to find out is how the troll was able to get into the school, or rather who had let it in.' the headmaster said. Wrong move Albus. 'Why don't we ask Stephanie?!' Minerva yelled again. 'She obviously knows!' Albus just sighed at her comment.
For the first time Snape spoke: 'I think Quirrell is after the stone. I suspected tonight to be a diversion so I went to the third floor to check and found him there in front of the door to the dog.'
Albus nodded at his remark. He had suspected Quirrell as well, since the start of the school year. 'Keep an eye on him, will you?' he asked Snape. The younger man raised his eyebrows at the request. Seriously? Hadn't he already had enough to do? Now he had to spy on two staff members?
'As you know, headmaster, I'm already fairly busy…' Snape said. Albus gave him one of those smiles that said, I pretend to feel sorry but I actually don't care. 'I know, my boy, but it is most important. I really appreciate it.' the headmaster answered.
Snape hated how he could never say 'no' to Albus. The headmaster never gave him the chance. And on the rare occasion Severus actually managed to say 'no', the headmaster would make him feel guilty so he would do it anyway. Damn those stupid past decisions.
'Let's all stay sharp and keep an eye out for each other.' the headmaster concluded. Minerva was still angry at Albus but nodded anyway. She tried to convince herself that the headmaster knew best.
Both she and Snape left the office. As she was walking towards her chambers she felt worried. What had Stephanie meant with 'this was nothing?' What on earth was going to happen? She wondered if it would be soon, or if it would take months, or years even.
She remembered her saying that she knew everything from seven books about the young Harry Potter. Would events like these continue to happen for six more years? And that poor Harry, was he going to have to endure them all?
She felt conflicted. She had always been loyal to Albus, but for the first time now she doubted if he was doing the right thing. During the war against You-Know-Who he was the leader of the light. Surely he had the best intentions now as well, right? Right?
She reached her chambers and made a cup of tea with something stronger on the side. She needed to calm down for a bit. She considered if she had to talk about this with Stephanie. She wasn't sure, the headmaster had been clear about what he wanted, and that was not discussing the future with Stephanie. Minerva didn't want to go behind the headmaster's back.
She decided to try to let it go, and see how the next few days would go. If she was still concerned a few days from now, she would reconsider talking to the young woman. From what she had understood, lives were at stake. She wanted to do everything to save as many lives as possible. Even if it meant in the end, that she had to ignore Albus' wishes.