Chapter Six

Strange Tidings

Jennifer knocked at the open office door, glancing in at Severus. "Any problems with the class?"

"No, I didn't expect there would be. Come in, Professor Craw," Severus said, straightening up a few papers on his desk. "Shut the door."

Oh great, now what, Jennifer thought, but did as she was told.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Tell me about how the meeting went. The school is abuzz that there was a real giant in Hogwarts," Severus said briskly. Jennifer sat down, ignoring the fact she wasn't invited to.

"Yes, he was here to represent the giants, but I wasn't privy to much of that part of the conversation. They went to see Hagrid at that point. I was mainly there to attend the folks from the Ministry, actually. The giant was a bit of a surprise... Arthur's idea, I think."

"Yes, that would make sense," he mused before glancing up at her again. "Were there any problems with any of Arthur's other friends?"

Jennifer hesitated, wondering how much she should tell him. Dumbledore did say she should feel like she could confide in either Severus or Minerva about anything . . . still, his questions seemed alarmingly urgent and pressing. Raising a brow at her hesitation, Severus leaned back and began tapping his quill on the table as if impatiently waiting for her to make up her mind to go ahead and tell him.

"There was some question over Ederick Thurspire. He acted well enough but for some reason he hates me, and I'm not quite sure why." Jennifer grew thoughtful; unaware of how intensely she was being scrutinized.

"How are you so sure of that?" he finally asked. "What do you mean he acted well enough but he hates you?"

Jennifer, somewhat tired of the question rounds and not wanting to pass up an opportunity to surprise Severus, leaned on the desk, looking smug.

"I have what some call a natural acute perception, or inborn legilimens. I see through magic, disguises, Animagi, and most lies."

"So, you're a Truth Seeker," Severus said, his voice a bit strange. He stood up abruptly, looking both annoyed and very alarmed.

"Worried?" Jennifer challenged him with a flirtatious smile. Severus gave her a wide-eyed expression before quickly turning to avoid her gaze, putting on his cloak.

"Well, at least now I understand why hiring you made sense. I thought all of your sort grew up to be Aurors," he said evenly, grabbing a few potions off his shelf and slipping them inside his cloak.

"My mother didn't. She worked at the Ministry. Maybe that's how she met my father." Jennifer shrugged. Severus froze for a moment, but then squinted at her.

"Nobody told me she was one either, although I suppose I should have guessed, all things considering," he said, his face revealing succinctly that he thought he should have been told about all of this before. "Does anyone here know that she was a Truth Seeker besides you?"

"The Headmaster knows that she was. I don't know if anyone else does or not because I really don't know everyone yet. Why? Is it important?" Jennifer asked.

"It might be," he said thoughtfully. "It might be another reason that someone would want her dead other than just being a Craw. Who knows that you are one?"

"Just Dumbledore…"

"Good, keep it that way. When I get back we'll talk about this further, but right now I have more pressing business." He put some gloves on and pulled out her chair, expecting her to get up. "I have some duties that need to be attended to early this weekend. I only have two classes tomorrow, both in the morning. You have conference time on Friday mornings, correct? You can fill in for me."

"Fill in?" Jennifer repeated in surprise, "but –"

"Oh come now, you have your duties and I have mine. The least you can do is fill in for me as well. It is only the fourth day of class; you can manage. They're working on pus balm in second year and Glen's Toad Mixture in fifth year. I'm sure you'll find everything in order in the lab."

"Of that I have no doubt." Jennifer nodded. Severus stopped at the door, glancing at her before he opened it.

"If I were you, I would try to be a bit more cautious, especially considering you obviously have no idea how bad the current situation is here. Either way, I'll see what I can dig up on Thurspire. I'm not quite sure what's going on yet, but I feel something brewing."

Rushing her out of his office and up the back stairs, Severus turned without another word and strode down the corridor, leaving her standing at her classroom door still staring after him.

Suddenly Jennifer turned and hurried into her office. She closed the door behind her, and then, after taking a deep breath, began hitting herself on the head.

"You idiot! Why did you say it like that?" she asked at herself, pacing the room. She'd only known him three days, what had possessed her to speak to him like that? She knew absolutely nothing about him except that there was a lot more to him than it appeared, and her mind seemed to linger on finding out what that was. Perhaps it was just because she was not used to people she couldn't figure out right away, especially someone so methodical that it should have been easy to pick up his thoughts. But it wasn't, and it had begun to intrigue her…

"Worried?" she mimicked herself. "Gah," she muttered, knowing the taunt didn't seem even remotely like she was being sarcastic, even to him. At least sarcastic would have been acceptable behavior. She poured a beaker of water over her head then looked at herself in the mirror, shaking a finger at her own image. "Don't do that again."

Friday morning dawned bright and cheerful. Jennifer woke up early and struggled to get ready. Buttoning her freshly pressed robes, she was actually looking forward to taking on Severus' potion classes. She almost missed her days in the lab at Beauxbatons, with smoke in the air and her fingers smelling of odd ingredients that never seemed to wash away.

Jennifer stopped into the staff room that was right behind the Great Hall on her way downstairs, grabbing some coffee and a roll. She waved to the professor she recognized as Pomona Sprout.

"Has the paper come yet?" Jennifer asked.

"Nope, still too early, even for our post. Do you have an early class today?" Pomona asked in return.

"Yes, I…"

"Jennifer!"

Jennifer waved to Minerva who was coming towards her from down the hall, a very serious expression on her face. "I need to speak with you in private. It's very important. You have conference first period, correct?"

"Actually, I promised Severus I'd watch his class for him today. He had to leave early," Jennifer explained.

"Oh, yes. I suppose he would have gone off," Minerva said to herself. "Very well, lunch then. In my office, please," she decided, striding away again.

Jennifer looked after her, wondering if somehow she hadn't done something wrong. Something was definitely bothering Minerva, some bit of news that was troublesome. Well, it was no good to worry about it now. Jennifer shrugged it off, drinking down her coffee and shoving the roll in her mouth. She only had five minutes to get to potions class.

The first period, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw second year, were delightfully surprised to see Professor Craw walk in. In fact, when she announced that she was taking over for the day, an audible sigh of relief swept over the classroom.

"Don't think that means you're getting off easy. You're still going to have to learn this lesson," she frowned, trying to look menacing. The class just smiled at back at her and she chuckled softly at herself.

The potion itself was simple enough, but the measurements had to be precise; too much slug bile would make it turn from balm to viscous sludge. Harmless in itself, it still had a slight stink bomb effect would make for a couple excitable moments if it was done wrong. One student, Harold Gimler, she thought would never get it right, then realized his hands were shaking every time he tried to measure it, causing extra to fall into the mix.

"Harold, please calm down. It's not like I'm going to make you drink it." Harold blinked with surprise, and the rest of the class glanced at her chuckling. Apparently Harold had already been threatened with one of his own potions. "No, I won't. Besides, it's a balm; it's meant to be rubbed on. But I'm not going to make you do that either, okay? So just take your time," Jennifer reassured him with a lopsided smile.

At last he relaxed. Even though most of the classroom was shifting their eyes between Gimler and their substitute, he managed to complete a halfway decent balm. The room clapped with support, and Jennifer chuckled.

"Five points to Hufflepuff, Harold, for sticking it out, Yes, well, I'll admit it has its problems, it's not all that potent, really. But it's passable," Jennifer assured him, testing it between her fingers as the bell rang. "Monday Professor Snape will be back, so make sure you've got all your supplies out beforehand. I don't like people being unprepared and I'm quite sure he doesn't either," she said, eyeing the responsible parties as they scooted out the door. She couldn't help but smile to herself. It was classes like this that had made her want to go into teaching in the first place.

As she turned to the notes for the next class, trying to decipher Severus' spidery writing, the fifth years started to arrive. As she glanced over the roll call, she saw it was Gryffindor and Slytherin. Oh, swell, she thought, remembering her first year class. She was pretty sure from what she had seen in the halls that the rivalry between the two houses didn't end with the younger students.

"Well! Look who it is!" said a student's voice she didn't recognize. She glanced up to see a thin, blonde boy with slicked blonde hair and a smirking face. She didn't need to be a Truth Seeker to figure out that this student and his two companions did not care for her at all. He walked up to the desk extending his hand. "Draco Malfoy," he said, as she shook his hand and gave him a warm smile.

"Very pleased to meet you," Jennifer replied.

"I'm sure you are," he smiled back without warmth. "Do we have the honor of having you substitute for us today? I didn't think I would not have the pleasure until one thirty. I must say, I'm looking forward to what someone such as yourself has to teach about the Dark Arts." Someone behind Malfoy snickered.

As Draco went to take his seat, she felt her heart sink. She studied several of the faces sitting with them, and they were all looking at her in the same way. Something was dreadfully wrong... something that would directly affect her, and they were getting pleasure from knowing about it.

As she tried to think of something to ask that might reveal what it was, three familiar faces entered the classroom. They smiled at her, wonderfully pleased to see her. Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat down, along with Neville and all the other Gryffindors from her Tuesday-Wednesday class. Most of them seemed to be their cheerful normal selves, so whatever it was hadn't reached them yet. Minerva had been pretty insistent about talking to her, she remembered. But that was only a class period away; even with the longer period she knew she could survive waiting that long.

They were all seated and looking at her expectantly, except Hermione, Ron and Harry, were passing looks between themselves. Okay, so she looked unnerved, but she wasn't about to let it mess up her class.

"As you have probably realized by now, I am filling in for Professor Snape today. We'll be following his lesson plan strictly and any mishaps will get reported straight to him, is that clear? Very good, does everyone have your ingredients out?"

The class went fairly smooth, (with the exception of Neville adding the toadstools in early and getting warts off the fumes) and none of the Slytherin spoke out of turn or did anything else she could catch them on. In fact, there ended up being plenty of time to start them studying the chapter they were supposed to read over the weekend, and the quiet was nerve-wracking. At last the bell sounded and the class filed out, and Jennifer quickly cleaned up and put everything back in order so that she might follow them.

"Oh, by the way, Professor Craw?" Draco added as he, Crabbe, and Goyle stood in the door of the room, "Our condolences on your loss. I'm sure she would have been proud of you, returning to Britain and all. See you at one-thirty… unless you plan to cancel?"

"Class is at one thirty," Jennifer nodded politely to him. Counting to ten to give time for the students to get down the hall, Jennifer grabbed her cloak and locked up. She briskly climbed the stairs to Minerva's office, trying to calm herself down so she could be ready for anything. Just as she got there, the door opened and Minerva looked out, beckoning her in and closing the door behind her.

"Oh, Jennifer, I'm so sorry," Minerva said immediately.

"What ever is going on?" Jennifer demanded. Minerva blinked.

"Ah. By the way you came sounding like a pack of elephants, I thought you might have heard… please, sit down. Try to make yourself comfortable."

Jennifer sighed.

"Well, I will sit down, but there's no way I'm going to be comfortable until I find out what Malfoy was talking about."

Minerva looked up suspiciously.

"What exactly did he say?" Minerva asked, squinting.

"Nothing concrete," Jennifer said acidly. "He expressed condolences on my loss and he seemed to think that somehow I should feel threatened by that."

"Hm. I shouldn't have waited until now to tell you, I see. I hadn't thought word of this would have spread so quickly, especially since we held Owl Post back a bit but… there you are. Anyhow, I suppose there's no easy way to tell you this. They found your mother's body." Minerva said, watching her closely. Jennifer nodded, feeling her throat tighten. She had long believed that her mother had died, but it was still a blow to hear it.

"There's more, isn't there Minerva? She didn't die quickly, did she?" Jennifer asked slowly. Minerva sighed, folding her hands.

"No, she didn't, not at all. I shan't tell you all of the coroner's report. It was rather disheartening," she replied frankly. "Her body had been preserved over time; they're not quite sure how long yet, and from what they can tell she had been branded... heavily branded, all over her body. It seems to have mysteriously shown up on the lawn to Beauxbatons."

Jennifer didn't need to be told what she had been branded with; she knew the mark only too well, for her father once wore it on his arm. Jennifer sat back quietly, trying to sort through her feelings until she could focus again.

"Would you like a drink or something? Or perhaps you need some time alone? I can clear your afternoon classes…"

"No," Jennifer put up her hand in protest, remembering the look on Draco's face. "No, I'm going to teach. I knew she was dead. I didn't know how she was murdered but I knew she was dead. This doesn't change anything." Jennifer paused, thinking of the timing and the fact that it had been displayed to her old school. She knew it was a message... a warning. It was then she began to wonder something else. "Minerva, when was the body found?"

"Last evening, I believe. The groundskeeper found it after dinner." Minerva explained, watching her carefully. So, Jennifer thought, Severus might have known last night. It at least would have explained some of the questions he had asked.

"Are you all right?" Minerva asked, still waiting for some solid reaction. "Don't play that tough teacher with me, girl. I've been doing it a lot longer than you have, you know." Jennifer smiled weakly at her.

"It's shocking, Minerva, very shocking, but it certainly explains a few things about the way things have been going lately," Jennifer admitted.

"For example?" Minerva demanded.

"Some of the Slytherin pupils seem to be rather…" Jennifer paused to think of a good word, but apparently it had been enough, for Minerva nodded.

"Some of their fathers, we believe, are Death Eaters."

"And they're still attending school here?" Jennifer said, staring at her incredulously.

"Better to have an enemy close at hand and know where they are." Minerva said.

"Dumbledore didn't warn me about that part," Jennifer grunted, but immediately knew why. What better way to get an outside opinion of what was going on in Slytherin than sending in a Truth Seeker who hadn't previous knowledge of the situation?

"So they are testing me too, I see. That's just what I need. They're probably wondering how much I know about the Death Eaters as well," Jennifer sighed. "But I don't know anything. My father never talked about it."

"You should try to eat something. Especially if you plan to stick this out, although I really do think this is taking the tough new professor thing a bit too far." Jennifer finally noticed the tray that Minerva had brought up for her and grabbed a roll.

"This will do, thank you," Jennifer said, and received a frown in return. "I'll eat better after all my classes are over with, believe me." Minerva shook her head at Jennifer's stubbornness, finished her tea, and stood up.

"Very well then, I'll walk you to class but I'll have your word on dinner."

"My word," Jennifer nodded to her as she opened the door.

"Any special requests?" Minerva asked with a crooked smile.

"Fried snails. Lots of them. And make sure the Slytherin tables have double helpings." Jennifer nodded. Minerva chuckled at that as they walked down the stairs, Jennifer jumping between moving staircases before they settled to a stop. "Oh, come on, Minerva, you could have jumped that!"

"You're as bad as the students," Minerva tsked, shaking her head at Jennifer's attempt at levity.

It was one of Jennifer's ways of dealing with stressful situations, and one that worked quite well for her on occasion. She didn't like herself when she was constantly brooding over things. This way, she could at least pretend to be brave. But the levity ended very abruptly at the classroom door, and they both stopped short in shock, very much like many of the students coming in were. Looking at the blackboard, its entire surface was rubbed with chalk, and a painstakingly accurate and large depiction of the Dark Mark was etched out for all to see.

"Who is responsible for this outrage?" Minerva boomed, far from calm. In fact, Jennifer had never seen her quite like this before. Jennifer quickly turned and put her hand up as the students' glances went between the blackboard and the professors.

"Minerva, thank you. I can handle it." Jennifer said, disquietingly calm. Minerva checked herself, watching her fellow professor carefully a moment before relaxing her fists.

"Very well. But if you find out without a doubt who did this," she said loud enough for all the class to hear, "please send them up to me so that I can take them up to Headmaster Dumbledore." A short gasp came from the room. That would mean severe punishment if not expulsion, and they all knew it.

Just then, they heard feet running in the hall as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle appeared, apparently out of breath.

"Sorry we're late, Professor," Draco smiled, "but we had to speak a few words with Professor Trelawney after lunch. Here's our pass."

Minerva and Jennifer couldn't help but exchange looks. An alibi. How convenient.

"Very well then, class," said Jennifer, striding to the front of the room. "Since we see that someone saw it fit to leave us a fine example of dark symbolism on the board, let's start the class by speaking of recognizing Dark Arts symbols and signals, shall we?"

Minerva, still angry but knowing that Jennifer was stubborn enough to stick it out, whisked down the hall and up the stairs to the Owlery.