Chapter Fourteen

The Borrowed Wand

Jennifer woke up early and glanced at the clock, sighing. How was she going to get through another day without a wand? After spending the afternoon writing posts and getting no reply from Audi, Jennifer was considering sending a missing wand report to the Ministry. At the very least, she was going to have to find a replacement. Caught in her own stubborn streak, Jennifer was not about to go to anyone and explain what happened, nor had they asked her. So, glancing at the clock once more to make sure she had enough time, she quickly dressed to make a quick trip to the Alleys and back before classes began that morning.

The hallways were still incredibly quiet as Jennifer began to slip down the main staircases, unaware that she was being watched. As she stepped down to the next landing the staircases began to move, and she impatiently waited for them to settle. They came into position and Jennifer frowned, staring at them. There was no way down from where she was, only up. In fact, it continued to the fifteenth floor before it went the other way. Jennifer turned down the hall, cutting through rooms to get to a stairway on the other side leading down. But the moment she got there, the stairway moved and she found her path leading up again. In annoyance she turned back around and walked towards the back of the castle, ignoring the obvious summons.

Severus, who had been watching from the corridor above her, glanced at the staircases then towards where she was going, shaking his head and smirking softly to himself. He knew quite well she wasn't going to escape Dumbledore by going that way. He'd tried himself once. He tapped the railing in thought and then walked back to his room.

Jennifer finally reached the back stairs, a straight shot up and down through the castle. But as she began to head down it she felt slightly disoriented as if something was out of place. The staircase suddenly dropped off into a room, and she looked around in bewilderment. The staircase went all the way down to the dungeons! Where was she? She stared at the open door, saw a gargoyle and then sighed, realizing at last where she was. Somehow she had ended up exactly where she had not intended to go: the spiral stair to Dumbledore's office. Chagrined and knowing better than to try and walk away now, Jennifer reluctantly climbed up, the door at the top swinging open at the touch of her hand.

"Good morning, Jennifer. Please come in," Dumbledore said, standing in front of his desk, offering her a chair. Jennifer entered and the door closed behind her, as she once again chose the red high-backed chair that sat to one side of the desk. Ever since she had arrived to speak with Dumbledore that very first time she had favored it; leaning back to force herself to relax a bit. Dumbledore smiled and sat looking at her thoughtfully.

"Curious things, the staircases at Hogwarts. Usually they behave all right. Every now and then they actually seem to cause a bit of mischief, but they also always seem to know when someone is in trouble. Bothersome, aren't they?" Dumbledore added chuckling.

"Persistent, at least," Jennifer agreed.

"Yes, well, I'm sure if you would have tried but once more to leave, they would have let you go. But I am glad that you didn't try. I don't know exactly what happened between you and Severus; I only know that you haven't had anyone to talk to and that there is a great deal on your mind. Is there anything you'd like to talk about or need help with?"

Jennifer took a deep breath and told him everything that happened to her after she left, leaving nothing out when she spoke of her meeting with the Ivory Skull, and explaining in detail about her wand.

"It was made for Mallus Craw if that's any indication of its power. Audi knew that, so surely she wouldn't do anything to set it off, would she?" Jennifer said worriedly. The wand had never been out of her possession this long before. Dumbledore looked thoughtful.

"No, the Audi I knew would never let something like that get into the wrong hands."

"It was Audi, you do believe me?" Jennifer asked. Dumbledore gazed at her.

"Of course I believe you, Jennifer. I am only wondering why she would be helping this person." Dumbledore said, getting up.

"Yes, so do I," Jennifer sighed. "She seemed to know him well. But I don't understand why she thought it was my fault that she was mixed up in this."

"Well, we are all responsible for our own decisions, no matter what our reasons behind them, so pay little attention to that. I have a feeling that most of it was just her being upset about your close call. I do believe that you are right in worrying about the wand. That wand probably should have been destroyed when Mallus was instead of being passed down through all those hands, adding to its Dark strength. I think it says a lot about you, Jennifer, to be able to hold onto such a thing for so long, blood bond or not, and still remain in control of it." He walked over to a large cabinet and unlocked it. "I suppose you were leaving this morning to try and get another wand, but I think that perhaps it might be best if you borrowed one of mine. Please come here for a moment." Jennifer gaped at him in surprise before finally walking over.

"It's not too likely that there'd be any in there that'd care for me," she protested.

"Well, let's have a look, shall we? I have quite a collection. Some of them are even older than yours," Dumbledore said, opening up the cabinet. Sitting on the second shelf was a large carousel-style wand holder and a large glass case with four wands inside. Jennifer looked over the wands in the carousel with fascination. Some seemed quite plain, and others so fancy that she couldn't see much practical use for them. But Dumbledore was working on the glass case, using a series of complex spells to upon the lock. He opened the case carefully and took out a wand made from a dark grey wood, polished to an almost bluish tint. "I think, if my hunch is right, that this one may suit you quite well. Why don't you try levitating a few books off the bookshelf there and we will see what we will see."

Jennifer took the wand and turned to the bookshelf, trying to get used to the weight and size, which was slightly longer than her own. Making herself relax, she pointed at the books, thinking the basic spell in her mind. The entire series of Encyclopedia Magicana came floating off the shelf and began encircling the room, dodging everything in their way. After a moment Jennifer pointed back to the shelf and they all went flying back to where they were in the proper order.

"Yes, it looks as if that one will suit you well," Dumbledore said, sounding quite pleased as he carefully locked the case. "But don't you dare lose this one, Jennifer. It is a part of a set."

"This wand must be really something special. I have never had that sort of control over a spell that wasn't Dark before," Jennifer admitted.

"Why, Jennifer, that wasn't the wand's control. That was yours," Dumbledore said. "Although it has had some distinguished owners and is very, very old, that wand is actually just a basic Unicorn mane wand. The reason you've never been able to do it before is not because of this wand, but because of your old wand. Your light energy must have been taxed very greatly to be able to control that wand; so much that in effect it took a lot more effort for you to try and tap into it. It's quite amazing that you were able to do anything but dark magic out of that wand."

Jennifer quickly sat down, shaking her head in disbelief. Could it be true? All the trouble she had in school? All the mishaps? She had done so poorly in any class that involved casting, so she had focused on into potions and items, quietly protecting herself when she had to with dark magic… the only thing she had a talent in. Or was it? Now, she had no idea.

"All those years," she murmured at last. "And here I am teaching cursed items. I should have known it, or at least guessed."

"We should have had this talk sooner. But then, you don't seem to want to talk to many people lately," he observed, putting the case away. "I suggest you try and take it easy on spell casting for several days and experiment a bit. You are definitely not going to be used to the results that you're going to get with a non-cursed wand... and I do mean from all of your spells. Your dark spells won't diminish, I don't think, because you've only really used them for good intent. But their influences on you may change." Jennifer nodded slowly. "In the meantime, I will see if Audacious is willing to speak to me about that other wand. If she won't, we'll have to work from there. I would like to tell the Ministry that you've… misplaced… your wand as well, so they can keep an eye out for it. That way if anything does happen because of it, they'll know what they are dealing with."

Jennifer nodded and got up, carefully putting the wand in her cuff.

"I can't thank you enough, Professor Dumbledore. I'll get myself a new wand as soon as I can and get this back to you."

"No, no, please go ahead and hold onto it for awhile," he said. "If that wand wanted to be with you, I'm sure it's with good reason, so hang on to it for now. And I do mean hang onto it," he teased, making her blush slightly. "Oh, and one other thing I want to say before you go," he said, waiting for her to look over at him. "You can try all you like to abandon all your feelings for those you care about, if that is what you feel you must do. But I warn you, on behalf of all of us who really care about you, we're not going to abandon you in return."

Jennifer smiled sheepishly, and then nodded.

"I'll try to remember that. As well as remember to always listen to staircases," she chuckled, heading down to her first class of the day.