Chapter Twenty-Three
Ring the Hogwarts Bell
It was, in short, a Christmas that no one would forget.
Corey Willowby woke up that morning with Doug Brim shaking him to, grinning widely. He rolled over and told him to go away, but Doug was very persistent.
"Everyone else will be up soon and it's going to be mayhem downstairs. Come on, let's get our Christmas presents before everyone else wakes up!" Corey was instantly awake then, hopping out of bed and sneaking downstairs.
"What time is it?" Corey whispered back, shivering slightly as they stood by the fireplace, looking around.
"Four o'clock," Doug whispered back.
"Four o'clock in the bloody morning!?" Corey exclaimed.
"Sssh, be quiet. I've already had a look, and first-year presents are all the way in the back. We would have to wait for all the other years if we don't get them now. Hang on a moment," Doug said, and pulled a stack out for Corey, three square packages on the bottom that were unmistakably books.
"I can already tell this is going to be a typical Christmas for me," Corey grunted, then took a seat at the couch. "Three books and I'm sure this package from Mum is clothes."
"I'd rather have books than clothes," Doug said, grimacing as he took out some pajamas he got from his sister that he would never wear in a million years.
"At least you can wear clothes more than once. Why does everyone insist on giving books to people with photographic memories?"
"Who are they from?" Doug wanted to know.
"Craw, Snape, and Taylor."
"Taylor got you a book? He gave me chocolate frogs. Thanks for the exploding bubble gum, by the way, I've got a whole list of people I want to give it to all ready," Doug grinned at him.
"Thought you might have," Corey said cheerfully back. From his mother, indeed, he had gotten a new pair of shoes (his Mum had suspected he'd all ready worn out his new pair and she was right, Corey tended to be hard on shoes) and a pair of home made wool mittens, with silver sickles hidden inside. "Well, at least I got some cash back from what I spent, but just like I said. It's mostly clothes and books, just my luck. Oh, but this package from Dad looks promising."
"What are you griping about, you got gifts from two professors, that's not normal, you know. I didn't get any from any of them, and I get in a lot less trouble than you do," Doug complained.
Corey's father gave him a hand video game set he'd asked for the year before (they had had a bad year last year and he couldn't manage it) and plenty of spare batteries. His brother had sent him an entire box of football cards, and his sister had made him up a box of candy and homemade cookies, and a sourdough angel ornament. Doug gave him some Bertie Botts beans, and Ginny had gotten him a very large butterbeer sucker from Honeydukes. There was another strangely shaped package, which, oddly enough, said it was from Snape as well. It turned out to be a potion in a black opaque bottle with an ornate stopper, and Corey frowned at it immediately.
"Oh, they can't honestly think I'm that stupid." Corey said.
"What's wrong, Corey?" Doug asked, looking at the bottle. Corey opened the other present from Snape, which turned out to be a volume of Conventional Antidotes and Antitoxins, his suspicions confirmed.
"Looks like the Dabbler class is trying to get even for the other day. This is definitely not from Snape; he'd never give a student a potion outside of class, especially without saying what it does. Not to mention he'd never give anything with a note saying, 'To my best student for all your hard work, take it in good health."
Doug sat down beside Corey, peering over his shoulder between that note and the one that came with the book, which read: "Something for you to read in the days before class resumes. P.S. I'll know if you didn't read it. S. Snape."
"It's the same horrid handwriting."
"That's easy to sham, though, I'll teach you how sometime if you want," Corey said, then grabbed a small piece of paper from his pocket, writing a quick note. He then disturbed Cheshire, who was somewhat annoyed at having been picked up from his cozy nap near the hearth, and stuffed the note in a bottle around the cat's neck. "Go find Snape, Cheshire."
"Corey, don't forget what time it is," Doug said.
"I know, that's why I'm sending Cheshire to do it," Corey said with a grin as he let the cat out the door. He took a moment to open his other two books, the first being Oliver Twist (with a thoughtful inscription by Craw) and Impractical Spells for Practical Jokes (which Corey had no doubt would come in handy in the days ahead.) "I'm going to go down to the lab, Doug, I'll meet you at breakfast."
"Can I borrow your box thing while you're gone?" Doug asked brightly.
"If you can figure out how to make it work in this castle, sure," Corey smirked before shoving all but the potion and the note under the tree. He then went up and threw on some clothes just as the rest of the students started to stir, and slipped out of the rooms and down the back stairs.
Cheshire caught up with him on the last stair, and Corey paused to get out a small note from the bottle. He picked the cat up and scratched his neck affectionately as he entered the Potion room, handing him a couple cat treats from his pocket. It wasn't long after Cheshire decided to curl up on a desk that Snape stepped in and knocked the cat off.
"No familiars with hair or feathers in the lab. You don't want to know what happened the last time cat hair got into a Dreizalfang potion." Ruffled and annoyed, Cheshire skulked out of the room. Severus frowned at Corey and held his hand out. Corey handed over the potion and note. Reading the note, he grimaced at it. "I definitely would not say that."
"That's what I said," Corey smirked, and followed Snape to the office door. He waited a moment until he was given the all clear and then came in.
"Does anyone else know about this?" Snape asked, taking it over to his desk. He then got what looked like a large crystal fishbowl off the shelf, and took out a small cloth, and set it and the potion in it and the crystal over it.
"Yes, Doug Brim. Nobody else was up yet," Corey explained. "What are you doing?"
"The crystal will protect us in case the formula is triggered by opening the stopper. The cloth is there to take a sample in case it's gaseous. Now stand back," Snape ordered. Corey, who hadn't even thought of the possibility of it being gaseous, did as he was told. They had only covered balms and drinkable ones so far in both of his Potion classes. Snape then took out his wand and pointed it at the bottle, and the stopper popped out. A sudden puff of dark green smoke emerged, followed by dozens of tiny black snakes that wriggled quickly out of the phial looking for something to attack. They struck out at the glass, bearing tiny fangs, before sinking into a puddle of noxious green and swirling black liquid. "Common Slither Potion," Snape said matter-of-factly, putting away his wand, "how unusually unoriginal of them. It wouldn't kill you, but if they had bit you, you would have gotten violently ill for awhile."
"Slither Potion. Sounds to me as if they went out of their way to being obvious, hoping to either scare me or get me to retaliate," Corey said.
"You are not to retaliate, regardless," Snape said firmly, looking over at him. "If you want to catch them at their game, you need to remain blameless. Bad enough the way you've all ready muddled things up. Now, I want you to tell Brim to keep quiet, and act as if you hadn't received anything out of the ordinary. When they start poking around to find out what happened to it, maybe I can find a way to catch them without them knowing that you came to me about this."
"Yes, sir," Corey said. It was going to kill him to resist the urge not to try and get even, but he didn't want to go against Snape, either.
"Good, now get back to your rooms before it gets any later," Snape said. Corey nodded, and hurried out of the lab, taking the stairs two at a time as he headed up to the houserooms. Had he looked back, he might have noticed two figures, Crabbe and Amadeus Longbottom, standing just behind the stairwell, glancing at each other as they watched him head up from the dungeons.
After the boy left, Severus Snape turned back to the potion, putting on his gloves as he removed the crystal, taking out the cloth and putting it in a glass jar as he cleaned up the rest, looking at the bottle and stopper. The bottle wasn't one of theirs, and it didn't look like one from Hogsmeade or Diagon either. He scanned the surface thoughtfully, and reached to the shelf for some dusting powder. There was a brisk knock and Jennifer walked in with a new flowing cloak over her shoulders, looking somewhat exasperated.
"You can't honestly be working today! Good grief, it's Christmas. Don't you ever take a break?" she asked, folding her arms accusingly.
"I had an emergency potion to attend to this morning. You know how things are around here," Severus said, carefully putting the bottle and stopper in one of his desk drawers along with the jar, locking it. "I see you have your cloak. Have you figured out how it works yet?"
"You mean how you've got this arsenal set up?" Jennifer chuckled, flipping over a corner of her cloak. Small, custom made pockets held three rows of one-dose phials, hidden from normal view and magically protected against breakage.
"No, those I had customized. Come over here a moment," Severus said, turning around and stepping over to where a large black and brass chest sat behind his desk. Jennifer had always assumed it was the locker that he used to keep things in over the summer, although she had never seen him get inside it. That morning she had noticed a similar in size in her suite, although its appearance was a bit more ornate that the one he was leaning over now.
Carefully he unlocked a complicated series of magical locks that were on the chest and opened it, allowing her to look inside. Suddenly she grinned in understanding. Candles, rope, empty phials, cloth, extra gloves, magical tools of every sort, notebooks, pens, and useful enchanted items filled the chest; even food, water, and other emergency supplies were carefully packed inside. As she watched, the rope disappeared and Severus brought it out of his pocket, and when he put it back in his pocket, it reappeared where it had been before, neatly packed in the trunk.
"Now I understand how you always seem to be prepared for everything! And here I've been stuffing my pockets every time I go out with potions and wondering how you manage to do it," Jennifer chuckled.
"Unfortunately the potions don't seem to travel through dimensional pockets very well, so after a few… disagreeable incidents, I worked out the system I have now. But don't worry. I'm sure you'll soon get to the point where you can pull out the right potion as quickly as I can," he assured her, closing the chest.
"So how do I get the pockets to work? They feel like normal pockets to me," Jennifer asked.
"Well, first there as to be something in the chest to take out," Severus said smirked.
"Oh."
"Fortunately, it's quite possible there is something in the chest upstairs, did you look?" Severus asked.
"No, I was too busy wondering what you were doing here in your office," Jennifer admitted.
"Well, all you need to do is think of the object you want to grab, and you'll find it in your hand. Try thinking about a burgundy velvet box and see if you can get it," Severus suggested.
Jennifer gave him a thoughtful glance and then reached in her pocket, taking out the long narrow box and opening it. Inside was a fine silver cloak pin adorned white and black diamonds between carefully etched family crests. It lay next to a large, breathtakingly detailed barrette of their two family crests being held by a sculpted dove and raven in flight, and with a silver clasp made to look like her heirloom dagger. She stared at them for so long that he began to get impatient.
"What's wrong. Don't you like them?" he finally asked, frowning.
"Of course! They're gorgeous! I'm just a little overwhelmed. These aren't from Myrkinbrek, are they?" Jennifer asked suspiciously.
Jennifer had never personally gone to the goblin town since she was a child, although she had of course heard many tales of the merchants that resided there. One thing was certain; it hadn't come from London.
"Of course they are. I had to have them custom made and the barrette custom charmed. I certainly wasn't going to trust something like this to anything less," he said calmly, taking out the pin and gently fastening it to the top of her cloak. "You're too easily overwhelmed. We need to work on that," he decided.
"What am I, your fiancée, or your personal side project?" Jennifer demanded, putting her hand on her hips. He was saved from replying by a knock at the door. Jennifer sighed, taking a moment to put her barrette in her hair. As he opened the door, Minerva came in.
"Good, glad to see you are both up and wide awake. Dumbledore got called away on urgent business overnight, and I need both of you out to look over things on the Quidditch Pitch and in the courtyard as soon as possible. There's some concern about safety today, so if anything happens… anything at all out of the ordinary… you are to get everyone inside immediately. I hope you got plenty of sleep because it's bound to be a long day. Excuse me, I need to take care of a few security measures," she said, quickly heading out. Severus looked after her with a deep concerned frown.
"Alright, what is she not saying?" he asked.
"There was an attack of some sort last night involving Voldemort, Muggles, and, if I read her right, some student families," Jennifer said slowly, watching Severus' face darken, staring at her. "That's all I found out, she left too quickly."
"We had better get out there," Severus muttered, grabbing his cloak. He paused by the shelf, threw her a potion and took one for himself on the way out the door.
Corey didn't stay in the houserooms when he got back. Instead, he quickly pulled Doug away from the students bragging over gifts and sent Cheshire with a note to Taylor. Grabbing his mittens and the sickles within, he went down to the courtyard. Taylor soon joined them, one of his new books in hand as they walked down to the tables.
"I figured we could eat out here so we could sit with you, Taylor. I've got something to tell you about. My treat, Mum gave me some money for Christmas," Corey explained. Rosmerta was not at the bar that morning. Instead, a wiry-looking oddly dressed goblin was there. Corey got them a tray of meat rolls and hot chocolate and picked to a table. He then took a few moments to update Taylor and Doug on what had happened that morning. Doug quickly suggested they find a way to retaliate without it looking like it was them, but Taylor quickly argued back that he really didn't want to get on Snape's bad side if they did get caught. Corey just propped his head up in his hand and shook his head.
"Taylor's right. I'm not going to get on his bad side either, although I have to admit if something did come up where we could safely do Doug's plan, I wouldn't object," Corey grinned.
"Look sharp, Corey," Taylor warned. He nodded to the other side of the area where Malfoy and Patil were sitting. Apparently Malfoy hadn't noticed them yet, talking instead to his girlfriend. Sitting a few tables away was Amadeus and Crabbe, and they had noticed them. In fact, they were staring threateningly over at them. Corey looked over at Doug and Taylor.
"All right, I'm going to go over there."
"What?" Doug said.
"Are you insane, after that potion fiasco? They'll have your head," Taylor hissed.
"They still don't know for sure that I rigged that. And I haven't spoke to them since they got out yesterday to even 'apologize' for my 'mistake.'" Corey said, getting up.
"They're not going to buy it. They were only using you to begin with. They won't have any reservations about giving you trouble over this," Doug said. But Corey had already made his mind up. They watched him suspiciously as he approached, glancing at each other and back at him as he reached the table and sat down.
"I just wanted to come over and apologize for our potions running out like that and us getting caught and all, and I'm willing to make it up to you. Not quite sure how, yet, but I'm sure we can work out some arrangement," Corey said in a low voice, trying to sound sincere.
"What do you mean us getting caught? I didn't see your muddy face in detention," Amadeus squinted at him.
"When it started to wear off, I ran into the school to try and get to my clothes and Professor Snape caught me. He couldn't prove I was outside so he just confined me to the houserooms until Christmas Eve," Corey explained quickly. "And he told me to stay away from you, but I wasn't about to do that. I know I messed up, and I'm the sort that owns up to my mistakes." Corey waited calmly as Amadeus leaned over and whispered to Crabbe.
Crabbe then went over and whispered to Malfoy, who looked over at Corey with a frown before he suddenly smiled thinly and whispered back to Crabbe. Parvati looked over at Corey too, and then back at Malfoy. What exactly did she see in him? Corey just couldn't figure that one out. As Crabbe came back over, Parvati's eyes followed him back to the table, looking at Corey with some concern. Malfoy then said something to her that regained her attention, and she smiled timidly at him. Crabbe, who had taken a moment to whisper to Amadeus before sitting down, smiled broadly at Corey.
"Well, it sounds like you've bought yourself another chance to redeem yourself, Mr. Willowby. Meet us at the Quidditch Pitch at a quarter to noon inside the Slytherin gate. Malfoy will speak with you there about redemption," Amadeus smiled at him. Corey nodded and got up, walking back over to Taylor and Doug.
"So?" Doug said impatiently when Corey sat down and started sipping his chocolate.
"So, they didn't say anything about the potion. They didn't even ask," Corey said thoughtfully. "I might need your help with something later. I don't know how this is going to turn out," he admitted.
"Whatever it is you can count on us," Taylor assured him.
They finished eating, and after a last quick run on the rides, went back inside. All the merchants had closed down early last evening, and some of the tents had even left as their owners went home for a quiet Christmas. Even still, the courtyard was already bustling with students as the three began to plan some defense in case Corey was walking into a trap. Taylor had suggested they check Corey's new book for possible usefulness, and they went to the library to work out strategy. After some deep discussion, they were ready to head out to the Quidditch Pitch.
There was an unusual tension in the air that Corey couldn't help but notice, and a strange sense of dread, as if something was definitely wrong. Still, everything looked as it had before, and everyone was about their daily mischief as usual. At the same time, the staff seemed unusually tense. Madame Hooch, coming back from an early lunch, seemed very preoccupied, and belatedly greeted a group of students as if something was heavily weighing on her. When they followed her out, she took an expected turn towards the storage area, looking at the Pitch itself with a thoughtful eye.
"Is it just me, or is there something not quite right today?" Corey asked as they came to the edge of the field. He looked over the different broom games… a snow hill, a flag gathering course, a racing course, and several different games had been set up specially designed for flyers. It was the first time Corey had bothered to come out to the Pitch since the festival had begun, and now he wished he had his own broom.
"I think everything looks smashing! I wonder if it's too late to borrow a broom?" Doug asked, looking around.
"I'm quite sure all the school brooms have been checked out all ready," Taylor said. "You had all week, you know. Look, Corey, if you don't think something feels right, perhaps you ought to back out of this 'talk.' I mean, they just tried to hit you with a potion that would have put you down for the rest of the day. No matter what, they aren't planning to be friendly."
"Don't worry about me. They can't do anything to me that I can't use against them," Corey said. "You both just cover me. I'm going to head on in."
As Corey walked past the lower stands where students were gathering, others soared above to try and get used to their new brooms before the games started. He wondered what the odds were that he could talk his parents into getting him a broom next year. Knowing his mum, she'd make him do a couple summers of extra chores first before allowing him to get one.
It was as he thought about that he had the curious sensation again that something wasn't quite right, something that didn't fit into words. But at the same time, he knew it wasn't caused by any fear of Malfoy. He didn't fear any of the Slytherin, and definitely not that egotistical bully. Doug had slipped into one of the boxes as Taylor took to the lower stands next to the Slytherin gate. Corey then approached the gate alone, slipping in the side door. He seemed to be the only one there so far, and yet he suspected that wasn't the case at all. Rather, they were probably hanging back to make sure he was alone.
Doug climbed the countless stairs to the Slytherin box, which was positioned to have a good view of the gate and south side rings. Snow covered the seats and floor, undisturbed until his presence and was otherwise empty. It was just as well, for Doug didn't need to make up any explanations as to why he had decided to sit up there by himself. From there, he could also barely make out Taylor, sitting alone away from a crowd of students showing off each other's brooms. He wasn't watching the Pitch; rather he was looking back between the stands. All they could do now, Doug knew, was wait. Sighing softly, he leaned against the rail, wondering if Corey was all right. He hadn't heard the footsteps behind him.
In the entrance, Corey was beginning to wonder if Malfoy had ever had any intention of showing up at all when shadows appeared in the dim light, and he turned to look at Malfoy, Crabbe, Longbottom, Bowyer, and Casper, the very five whom he had intentionally set up. But Corey was far from worried. He waved at them warmly as they approached, walking closer.
"So, you actually showed up," Draco said thoughtfully, studying him.
"Well of course I showed up," Corey said with a puzzled expression on his face. "Why wouldn't I? Besides, I got something for you," he said, taking out a phial and handing it out. Crabbe stepped up and took it, looked at it, then handed it to Malfoy. "It's the dragon shell powder you wanted. Sorry I couldn't get it to you earlier, but I was under houseroom arrest. I think Snape's getting suspicious; he's been keeping a close eye on me. I don't think he's figured out who's putting Rasputin to sleep, though."
"Oh, really," Draco said. "I think, Willowby, that it's time you told us what's really going on between you and the recreant," he said as the rest of the boys circled around him.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Corey said, his face displaying only confusion.
"What I'm talking about is, I know why you're in the Dabbler class. You're his little mole. Why else would he let a Muggleborn in his class if he didn't have to? He may be a traitor, but he's no mudlover, or he wouldn't be the head of Slytherin. He wouldn't even acknowledge his own sister until she got magic. So what does he offer you for being his little dirt digger, anyway, or are you too stupid to see he's just using you?" Draco said, staring down at Corey with a smirk on his face.
"What, you mean like you tried to use me? To gather your ingredients for you so you wouldn't get blamed? To put my grubby hands on everything so there would be little doubt it were me and not you and the brainless wonders you pay off? Besides, even a common Muggle sheep farmer knows what comes from too much inbreeding," Corey said, before looking pointedly at Crabbe. "I can see some have to learn that lesson the hard way." As Crabbe and Amadeus came forward, Draco told them to wait.
"Hold him, but don't hurt him, let's not leave any marks. Now that we're starting to hear the truth, it's time we heard the entire story, don't you think, Mr. Willowby?" Malfoy said, taking out a potion from his pocket. "I'm sure this Veritaserum will loosen your tongue," he smiled, nodding to the others.
In the stands, Taylor was getting nervous. He'd been in there way too long, and Taylor couldn't help but feel as every second went by, that this was a very bad idea. He was a scholar, not a fighter. How come he went and mixed himself up with these irritatingly troublesome Gryffindors? But Corey was admittedly the most brilliant person he had ever met his own age and was his best friend, even with his shortcomings. He was not about to let him face off Malfoy on his own.
As competitors started to gather in the Pitch and the spectators were getting settled, Taylor scurried down towards the side door, hoping he had the nerve to face them if it came to that. He suddenly wondered if Doug had seen him from where he was keeping point in the box above. Surely he'd come down and back him up if he noticed Taylor was gone. As he opened the door, he saw a group of mostly older students, chuckling and holding another student down both physically and with spell, and Taylor had little doubt who.
"Get away from him!" Taylor shouted pulling out his wand and pointing it at them, trying to keep it from shaking. "Windgardium Leviosa!" Crabbe's robe suddenly flew up and over his head as the other four turned to face their new adversary. Corey was coughing loudly and struggling to look around as he lay on the floor, bound by a web of light, unable to gesture.
"Taylor, help me! Don't get a professor!" Corey yelled, and then cried out in alarm. "Why, you! Draco you are going to get a reward for this, I'm going to let you forget how much of a honest compassionate man of honor you are and how much I really adore you!" Corey snapped, looking positively furious.
"You heard him, Brittle, help him!" Draco sniggered. "Why Willowby, I never knew you cared." Brittle knew there was no way he could take on so many. Hoping Corey would be all right, Taylor turned tail and ran out the door, dashing out to try and get help.
"Don't just stand there, get him!" Draco ordered, and the other four (Crabbe struggling to keep his robe down) ran after him, leaving Draco and Corey alone. Draco turned and released the spells from Corey, taking a step back. "It's just us, now, Willowby. You want revenge? Now's your chance. Personally, I plan to wipe the floor with you."
"You'll get away with this," Corey snapped. "I'm going to fight you."
"Yes, you are. It'd be a pity if anything happened to Craw's little toy Muggle, wouldn't it? The only reason you got into this school was to save her neck, you know. Pretty funny, if you think about it. A purist got you into this school, a purist used you to try and get to me, and I am going to put you in your place, once in for all. I think it's time for you to eat dirt, Mudblood. Vermis transformare!"
But Corey, now free of the bonds, rolled out of the way, and held up an open hand, fingers slightly curled towards Malfoy.
"Expelliarmus!" Corey said, blasting Malfoy's wand out of his hand. "You remembered something really trivial, didn't you, Malfoy? Pig transformare!" he cast as Malfoy tried to roll for his wand. But before he made it to the floor he took on a strange, pink appearance, growing a curly tail and large snout as he hit the floor, his hooves slipping a bit on the finished surface, squealing in anger. Corey smiled at the pig with extreme satisfaction, then cast a spell he had just learned that morning, Grafittus, pointing his finger at Draco and scribbling the words "Racist Pig" on his side. Recovering his balance, Draco barreled towards the gate and it flung open under the pressure as he ran onto the field and straight towards Madame Hooch. But before Corey could retreat, she had spotted him, calling his name and telling him to report as she looked at the pig with obvious annoyance. The students that gathered around her were chuckling and grinning at the pig, and most of them were whispering to each other, shutting up quickly whenever Hooch's yellow eyes glared at them.
"Mr. Willowby! Explain this at once!" she demanded.
"I started it, he said…I mean…yes…I was fighting!" Corey said, struggling and covering his mouth. "You understand, that's right. I took some Veritaserum potion! Yes…no….Malfoy he…." Corey stopped short, realizing that this wasn't working. He knew very well it hadn't been Veritaserum. It was some sort of lying potion, and he couldn't have any control over it.
"Well, this sort of behavior is totally unacceptable and will be dealt with at once! The both of you! Come along," Madame Hooch said angrily.
"Yes, let's," Corey flailed in frustration, but then he was quite relieved to find she had stopped when another professor neared. It was Snape, and he looked anything but happy.
"What's going on? Anything I can help you with?" Snape asked Hooch, frowning at the boy and the pig.
"I haven't quite found out yet. Only that the pig is apparently Mr. Malfoy and apparently Corey and he were fighting."
"I was fighting, I wasn't defending! He didn't do anything to me! That is, no wait…that's true…" Corey sighed, and then got an idea. "My name is Draco Malfoy and that's Corey Willowby and I gave him a potion!" Corey explained frantically, as the Professors gave him a strange look. "A Veritaserum potion," he added, hoping they'd catch on. Snape squinted at him thoughtfully for a moment, his scowl deepening as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a phial, handing it to Corey.
"Drink that, and keep quiet," Snape snapped. "I don't want to hear any more of your lies. I can take care of this, Madame Hooch. There's no reason for the games to be held up because these two can't be civil to each other."
"Right," Madame Hooch agreed, and turned back to the others, telling them to back off and mind their own business.
Snape then took out another phial and fed it to the pig. After a few moments he squealed loudly and turned back into Draco Malfoy, ready to murder. A burst of laughter rang out from around him as the students (who had suspected who it was all along) caught sight of him, watching as Snape grabbed hold of his arm and got him to his feet, slightly shoving both boys in front of him and towards the school, telling Malfoy he didn't want to hear another snort out of him either. Taylor and Doug were standing at the bottom of the gate giving him a sympathetic look. Well, at least Corey saw they were both in one piece, although he wasn't quite sure why. And where were the other four Slytherin? Corey had little doubt that Malfoy was wondering the same thing.
The two of them were herded quickly into Snape's office, Draco looking defiant and slightly indignant, his eyes like stabbing daggers towards Corey, who tried to look calm in spite of his nervousness. He was keenly aware that he'd broken his promise to Snape not to retaliate, and was more worried over that than any punishment they might be in for.
"I've had quite enough of both of your actions lately," Snape snarled after slamming the door and going to stand in front of his desk "I told you both to stay away from the other. Apparently the two of you are incapable of heeding a direct warning. Such behavior in this school is not tolerated for any reason. Not only have you broke several school rules, but you also broke one of the Sparring Club rules, so you are now both officially banned from it…"
"What? But, I didn't cast a spell on him! He cast it on me! In fact, he also cast the disarm spell before he turned me into a pig!" Malfoy protested.
"I only did it after you tried to turn me into a worm," Corey said.
"Be silent! Malfoy, are you telling me that you, one of the top sparrers in this school, allowed this wet-eared first year Gryffindor to get off two spells on you and you hadn't even cast one back?" he asked. Malfoy paused guardedly, then nodded.
"Yes, he used his mutant ability on me! He never even pulled a wand… he just hit me. I was surprised." Malfoy said.
"And he cast the disarm spell first?" Snape asked.
"Yes, he did."
"Then you must have had a wand pulled out, or he wouldn't have bothered, would he?" Snape asked, staring thoughtfully at him. Malfoy suddenly decided to keep his mouth clamped.
"I am also going to ask McGonagall to remove you from my Dabbler class, Mr. Malfoy, for forcing Willowby to drink a Fibberous Potion before this incident broke out. I had a chance to speak with Brittle, Crabbe, and Longbottom just moments before I caught up with you and was able to acquire enough reliable information to figure out just why I was missing certain ingredients out of the lab that I couldn't account for."
"You can't prove anything! Besides, I can afford my own apothecary if I wanted, I can get my own ingredients," Draco protested.
"In any case, Mr. Malfoy, the Dabbler's class is for responsible, serious potion students, and you have proven to me lately that you are neither. As for points…" Snape was interrupted by a sound…the Hogwarts bell, Corey quickly realized, pondering. Why was it ringing now? He had heard the sound many times, but for some reason this time it sounded different…alarming…in a way he couldn't explain. "Get to your dorm rooms immediately and stay there," he snapped, hustling them out of the office. "I'll deal with you both later," he promised. He even went so far escorting them out into the corridor, making sure they both went in right direction and watching them impatiently for a moment before dashing up the stairs and rushing outside.
Jennifer had been wandering about the courtyard, watching the students as they got in one last festival ride and walked over towards the Three Broomsticks, hoping to get one last Butterbeer. But then she spotted a strange glimmer in the sky…a large bird of a brilliant color. At first she thought it was Fawkes, but as the Phoenix got closer she realized it was a completely different bird than she had never seen before. Her coat was more orange than red, and wasn't quite as large as the Headmaster's. It was crying out in such alarm that soon everyone else was looking up at it in surprise and dismay, and it was then that Rosmerta came out, noticing her immediately.
"Ember! Ember, what's wrong?" she asked as the Phoenix came down to her shoulder. Rosmerta then walked quickly over to the gate with a look of complete concern on her face. Jennifer followed close behind and saw black, billowing smoke rising beyond the hills. "Hogsmeade is being attacked! I must go home at once!" Rosmerta said, "Please let the other merchants know!" She ran out the main gates until she was far enough to Disapparate, leaving Ember hovering in air. The Phoenix let out another shrill call of alarm before flying towards the smoke and was soon joined by another Phoenix catching up and flying beside her. Jennifer wasted no time raising her wand towards the towers. As the bell began to ring, she worked to quickly to get the students inside, ordering them to return to their dorm rooms immediately. Filius helped her hustle them off rides and went to guard the gates as Jennifer worked to clear the courtyard. Before long Severus appeared, dashing down the steps to her side.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Hogsmeade is under attack. They're going to need help," Jennifer explained before turning and barking at a couple of students who were lagging behind. "How's the Quidditch Pitch?"
"I got called away. I'll go check now. Don't go anywhere," Severus ordered before leaving.
Jennifer frowned but didn't say anything, too busy trying to herd the last of the students inside. As she ushered the last few in she stopped to update Minerva who was standing at the door. Severus came over to meet them.
"It looks as if everyone is in but we hardly did a head count," he told Minerva.
"Minerva, please, it looks bad," Jennifer said, pleadingly. She felt partially responsible for whatever it was that was going on with so many of the merchants still at the school when it occurred.
"All right, both of you go. Filius, Rolanda, and I can manage," Minerva said. She barely had gotten the words out before Jennifer hurried out the gate, followed by Severus. Minerva sighed worriedly, wondering what else was going to go wrong. She didn't know if she had the strength to tell anyone what had happened the night before yet.