Chapter Fifteen

Enlightenment

Jennifer spent the next few days concentrating on her students, who were working on basic item counterhexes. Every now and again she found herself wistfully glancing up at the doorway only to find it empty and then towards her class, watching their progress. Even with a good night's sleep and her morning talk with Dumbledore, she was sure she had done the right thing breaking up with Severus. He'd be much safer without her in the way, she thought, but that didn't mean she didn't miss him terribly already.

Ron and Hermione had come in during lunch and asked her if she'd be at the special game and she quickly said yes, grateful for the excuse to be around people. What she hadn't accounted for was how many people had noticed something was different, and how many concerned looks were passed her way during dinner that evening.

Dumbledore had gone to London again; leaving an empty seat between Minerva and Severus. Every now and then Jennifer would chance a glance over at him, turning away if he glanced back in her direction. The next thing she knew, Minerva, Rolanda, and even Filius were leaning over and asking if she had a lunch free.

Quickly deciding to stay away from the teacher's box that night, she met Ron and Hermione after dinner, but even they were being unusually quiet and passing looks at each other. Finally Jennifer stopped and glanced in their faces to see what they were thinking.

"Hermione! You didn't!" Jennifer exclaimed, scowling at her accusingly.

"I'm sorry! I was worried about you, and I just told Ron, Harry, and Ginny," Hermione admitted.

"Argh, why me?" Jennifer said, grabbing them. "Let's not talk about this here! I want to see you all in my office after the game."

"But it might be late…"

"I'll write you a pass," Jennifer glared, getting up to walk around the Pitch.

The security checks were done swiftly and smoothly, and Jennifer worked her way back to the student benches. As usual the game had started before she got there, but it was just as well. Jennifer was never particularly keen on Quidditch or anything else involving flying a broom for that matter, and often had trouble keeping up. But this game was an exception, the main reason being because Justin Finch-Fletchley nearly always had the Quaffle. Ginny had her work cut out for her trying to keep ahead of him, and as keen as she was at predicting the Chaser's movements at the rings, she was still a less experienced a player than some of the others and was beginning to wear down. The score was beginning to add up at 60-10 Hufflepuff.

"I hope Harry finds the Snitch soon," Ron said, shaking his head, "either that or Justin takes a Bludger or two."

"It was a lot closer Sunday," Hermione said, as Justin threw the Quaffle again towards the ring. Ginny rushed over and blocked it but took a Bludger on the arm in the process, and many of the students in the box winced. Suddenly the Hufflepuff Seeker dove and Harry soon followed. It was even harder to see the Snitch at night, and only the occasional glint off the lights betrayed where it was. Then suddenly as they pulled up, the Seekers turned into two different directions. Confused, the Hufflepuff Seeker slowed, wondering if she had seen something else. Just then Harry flipped around on his broom and shot across behind her, catching the Snitch she had missed in the dark! Jennifer jumped up as students seemed to explode out of the seats around her, applauding and yelling loudly as Gryffindor won 160-60.

Jennifer let them have a few moments to celebrate before she began to tap her foot, frowning. Hermione then whispered to Ron, and they piled into the crowd, somehow managing to come out with Harry and Ginny.

"Sorry, guys. You can celebrate in a few minutes," Jennifer promised, "but not until we've had a chat." Harry and Ginny nodded, letting everyone know they'd meet them up in the common room, and followed behind Ron and Hermione, the four of them chatting quietly about the game. She opened the door and let them in with a sigh, pulling the door closed. Taking out her wand, she transfigured a few of her books into extra chairs, which popped into place obligingly. As she sat down, she noticed that Hermione was watching her.

"It's a long story, Hermione," Jennifer sighed with a frown. "I had to borrow a wand and let's just leave it at that." The four of them glanced at each other.

"What happened to the cursed wand?" Harry asked.

"Professor Dumbledore is working on that one, so never mind about that. Mainly I wanted to make sure we were on the same page here about what I'm sure now Hermione told you about. The last thing I need right now is for this to go public, especially since I've been going through a lot lately to try and… bury this thing. There are lives at stake here."

"We know," Harry said seriously.

"Great stars, Ron, stop looking at me like that," Jennifer said with exasperation. "I never think twice when I catch you and Hermione kissing in the library."

"Oho, so that's why you've been so eager to get to the library lately," Ginny teased her brother. Ron glared at her.

"It doesn't matter, anyhow. We're not seeing each other anymore," Jennifer said. "The only thing that matters is the fact that what happened needs to be kept quiet, and I need all of you to promise that this doesn't go any further."

"You broke up with him? Is that what all of that was about?" Hermione asked. "And here I had thought there was something really wrong, life threatening even."

"Yes, well, there's some of that going around too," Jennifer admitted. "But it's nothing you need to worry about. Dumbledore is handling it."

"Can you tell us why you broke up with Snape?" Harry asked. Jennifer looked thoughtful as if debating whether or not to say anything, but then she sighed.

"It was just getting too dangerous," she said at last. "We've had too many close calls with Voldemort, and the last thing I want is for him to be in more danger. Sometimes it just gets to the point that it's not worth the risk anymore. I don't want anyone to be put in danger just because I'm around. I'd rather be on my own than to have that happen."

"Does that mean the way Snape's been acting lately is going to be permanent?" Ginny asked. The other three students didn't seem too keen on that idea.

"I'm sure he'll cool off eventually. I hope." Jennifer attempted to reassure them. "I haven't really talked to him since I walked out on him, but I'm sure he'll come around."

"You walked out on him and haven't talked to him since? That's right cold of you," Ron said.

"Hey, who's side are you on, anyhow?" Jennifer asked, looking at Ron with her hands on her hips. Just then there was a soft knock at the door, and Jennifer groaned. "That's him. Just be quiet and I'll get rid of him," she said, walking over and opening the door.

"Can I help you? I'm talking with some students," Jennifer said immediately upon opening the door.

"This late?" Severus asked with a scowl, peering in the door. "Into trouble again, are they?"

"No more than usual," Jennifer said expressionlessly. "What can I help you with?"

"Nothing that can't wait a little longer, I suppose," he said, frowning at the four students and giving them a calculating look.

"Good," Jennifer said and shut the door hard, facing the wide-eyed students and holding a finger to her lips. After a few moments, she nodded. "Okay, he's gone."

"Cold as ice, Professor Craw. I'd never thought you were the type," Ron commented.

"Well, he doesn't need to be worrying about the four of you knowing about this right now. He's got enough on his mind," she said with a sigh.

"You don't have to worry about us either, Professor," Harry said, "you can trust us with this."

"Not that I have a choice in the matter," Jennifer said dryly. "Okay, I trust you. But if there's even one slip, or even an inkling that who woke me is going to leak out, please tell me at once, okay? Now, go to your party already," she said, handing them a pass. "And try not to worry."

Thursdays were a heavy class day for Jennifer, so between having lunch with Minerva, afternoon classes, and helping fifth years take care of Hagrid's creatures that night, Jennifer had little trouble avoiding Severus.

Friday she had special plans for her sixth year class, who were starting to finish up on cursed items study. About halfway through class, Filius arrived, greeting Jennifer cheerfully and standing on her desk to get a good view of the class.

"Today I have arranged for us to test one of the items we've been studying. Professor Flitwick was kind enough to come in today as my spotter. It's very important when testing cursed items that you have a competent spotter there in case something goes wrong. Not, of course, that you wouldn't still take all the safety precautions necessary, cast all of your identify spells, malignant protection spells and so on before that. But as I have explained before, there isn't an identify spell out there that's foolproof. It also doesn't matter how powerful you may think you are. From the worst wizards to the best, don't ever, ever, try a new cursed item without someone there to cover your backside."

Jennifer then took the ring out of the safe, glancing at Filius who nodded good-naturedly. It was a man's ring by design, but it didn't matter much with magic rings, since they usually refit themselves to the person wearing it. She carefully slid the ring on then grinned.

"Well, my finger didn't fall off, so that's a good sign," she chuckled. "Who remembers from our previous testing what conditions make this particular item work? Seamus?"

"You need to be in touching distance of someone else."

Jennifer grinned at him then began walking slowly up the aisles, placing the things she found in her pocket on the desks in front of the student she had just passed.

"Your Remembral, Neville. Seamus, your wand. Parvati, your note, hope you weren't passing that in my class. Ron, don't lose your class notes from Potions class, that'd be very bad. Harry, yours I believe," she said palming the Sneakometer into his hand. "Nice bracelet, Hermione, is that new? Millicent, your letter opener. Nice serpent handle. By the way, this isn't something I'm consciously doing. I'm hardly even aware my hand is moving. Notice how the item goes into my pocket first and then I have to pull it out to hand it to you, so… and here's your wand, Vincent… if this is put on someone unsuspectingly, it's quite possible that they may not realize they're even taking anything until they checked their pockets later. Also, the majority of worn items that are cursed like this need a spell to remove them."

Jennifer paused thoughtfully, looking back at Draco. She'd just passed him, but nothing had happened. Slightly puzzled, she backed up and tried again, but still nothing happened. He was looking at her questioningly, not quite sure what was going on either.

"Hm, curious," she said then tried passing him on the other side, ending up getting a different student's wand that she returned before walking back to Draco. "Well, that's interesting. The ring doesn't seem to want anything from you. Actually, that just goes to show how sometimes a little experimentation can come in handy. He probably has something on him that negates the stealing effect, or something about him personally that negates the effect.

"This is probably intentional. Whoever the original owner was to this ring most likely had the ring cursed with a condition. In other words, if a person has a certain item on him, or is a member of a certain family or order, or perhaps they have a particular eye color or even a certain monetary worth, the ring would bypass them. In the case of this ring, the condition's purpose is there to keep the original owner from getting robbed by a device of his or her own making," she chuckled.

"Don't worry Draco, I'm not going to pry to figure out what it is. It's not really that important anyhow since we'll be disenchanting these in a later class. However, if this were a case of some malicious device getting into the wrong hands, you'd probably want to pursue experimenting with it if something like this came up." Jennifer explained and walked back over towards the desk. She took out her wand and pointed it at the ring.

"Relegare," she intoned, and the ring shot off her finger. Surprised at its speed, she flailed to catch it and missed, but Filius standing on the desk in front of her quickly moved to snatch it out of the air. Jennifer flushed slightly, having only meant to release it enough so she could pull it off. "Sorry about that, Professor Flitwick."

"No trouble, Professor Craw. And may I say it was a very fascinating demonstration," he added as he handed Jennifer back the ring, who put it back in her box.