A Mystery Solved
"I've never seen anything like it."
"Amazing!"
"Wonderful!"
"Can it be duplicated?"
"That's what we're trying to find out, Miss Granger."
Several persons were gathered in Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's office, crowded closely around his desk. The object of their attentions was a very small, very winsome, and very intelligent King Charles spaniel puppy, whose master, Professor Severus Snape, had given him the name of "Fidelis".
Fidelis began his existence as a humble Muggle toy, a "Beanie Baby" given to Professor Snape as a gift by Hermione Granger. But somehow, in the course of an assault on Snape's life, a spell meant to kill Snape had instead not only failed to kill the potions master, but given life to a heretofore lifeless object.
At the moment, the former inanimate object was now licking Fizzing Whizzbee residue from Hermione's fingers, eliciting some giggles from Hermione.
Suddenly, Hermione's face darkened. She looked at the assembled gathering.
"I hate to mention this," she said hesitantly, "...but doesn't Fidelis' existence violate the 1965 Ban on Experimental Breeding?"
Dumbledore smiled at her from behind his half-moon spectacles. "Not really, Hermione. You see, the ban specifically is targeted against the breeding of new magical species, and Fidelis here is sui generis, one of a kind; I very much doubt we will see another like him. He was not created through breeding, for one thing; for another, he has no 'Fidelia' with whom he can breed, even assuming he matures into an adult dog."
"What, exactly, happened that night, Severus?" Professor McGonagall asked, putting a hand out to gently scratch Fidelis behind the ears.
"I was sitting at my desk, waiting to meet Dumbledore, when suddenly Robert Barr, a wizard of my acquaintance, bursts into the room, howling for my blood." Snape chose to leave out the exact reason why Barr was after him; some of the persons in the office didn't need to know that, just yet. "Barr attempted to hit me with the Killing Curse, but missed and hit Fidelis instead. The next thing I knew, Fidelis had not only come alive, but was treating Barr's face like a chew toy -- a fact for which I am forever grateful." Snape's sallow, hollow-cheeked face took on some warmth as he gazed fondly at his dog.
McGonagall pushed her hat farther back onto her head, to keep it from falling onto the desk and Fidelis. "Has this ever happened before with the Avada Kedavra curse, I wonder?"
"Not to my knowledge," said a wheezy Professor Binns, his ghostly figure gently illuminating the room. "I have searched throughout the whole of Madam Pince's collections and not found a single tome which records a similar instance."
"Then perhaps it is one of those things which cannot be duplicated," Snape mused, his sharp black eyes still fixed on the miniature puppy. "Barr was, to the best of my recollection, not the most accurate of spell-casters. Perhaps he made a slight error in his casting, one that would be unique to him." Snape smiled thinly. "But in any event, Barr won't be casting any more spells, ever again."
Dumbledore turned to Harry and Ron, who were standing next to Hermione. "You two knew of Hermione's plan to give the Beanie Baby to Professor Snape," he said, giving them a sweeping, penetrating look. Did either of you perform any magic on it, or around it?"
"No, we didn't, I'm sure of it," Harry replied. "And we were the only two persons, besides Hermione, who knew what she was up to."
"Wait a minute," said Ron. His face had suddenly turned as red as his hair. "Fred and George saw it just as Hermione pulled it out of her haversack to show it to us for the first time."
Dumbledore's snowy-white eyebrows went up. "Ah. I see."
"It'd be just like those guys to put some sort of jokey charm on it," Ron continued. "Especially if they knew it was going to -- a teacher."
Dumbledore turned to ask McGonagall to pass the word for the Weasley twins, but she was already out the door.
=============
"Bah! Nasty Weasleys'll get what's coming to them, just you wait!", cried an angry, gyrating Peeves, to the cheers and laughs of the assembled crowd.
"Oh, really, Peeves? Do tell?" Fred said, yawning in a show of exaggerated unconcern, which made the crowd laugh even harder.
Fred and George had lured the poltergeist into a Dancing Trap just in front of the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Peeves was now forced to do a Highland Fling indefinitely, circling the same spot over and over, until such time as the spell wore off, or Fred or George removed it. And that they certainly would not do; their minds were too full of memories of vicious tricks played by Peeves ever to let him get off that easily. Besides, with Peeves occupied in this manner, he wasn't able to harrass anyone, thereby making it much easier to navigate the halls of Hogwarts unimpeded.
The crowd, filled with students and ghosts alike who had all suffered indignities at Peeves' non-corporeal hands, convulsed in uncontrollable laughter. They were at last getting a little of their own back, and it was glorious.
"You can't say you didn't bring this on yourself, Peeves," said a guffawing Nearly Headless Nick, his head wobbling with each laugh.
"Ahem."
A tall figure stepped into view; it was Professor McGonagall, and she was wearing one of her sternest expressions. The crowd fell silent.
"Fred -- George -- come with me. Now."
"But Professor --"
"Now."
Professor McGonagall swept around, and the Weasley twins trudged along behind her. Peeves' shouts suddenly reverberated behind them: "HAHAHAHAHA! I told you! I TOLD you!"
They moved, swiftly and silently, through the corridors of Hogwarts. Fred and George knew better than to try to talk to McGonagall; her face was as grim as ever they had seen it, with small red spots of what looked to be rage high on her cheeks.
At last they arrived at the entrance to Dumbledore's office. "Whoopee cushion," spoke McGonagall crisply, and the gargoyles swung aside to admit her and the Weasley twins into Dumbledore's inner sanctum.
"Ah," said a delighted Dumbledore; his eyes twinkled mischieviously behind his half-moon glasses. "You certainly do move quite quickly, Minerva. Come over here, gentlemen," he said to the twins. "We have a few questions to ask you."
=======
"You put a Loyalty Charm on the toy?" Dumbledore's nostrils twitched in amusement.
"Erm, yes, sir." Fred scuffed his feet, trying not to feel too self- conscious in the presence of so many teachers, all of whom were eyeing him and George with the most intense scrutiny. "I thought it was just as well that the little thing should be a good dog and obey whoever became its master, even if it wasn't alive." And even if its master was Snape, Fred thought but carefully did not say.
"And I put a Lifelike Charm on it, too -- or at least, I thought I had," George volunteered. Like Fred, he was now red-faced with embarrassment and apprehension. He didn't want to think of how many points he and Fred had just lost for Gryffindor. "It didn't seem to work when I tried it, sir."
"Oh, my." Dumbledore was having a difficult time trying not to laugh. He rose from his desk, carrying Fidelis in the palm of one hand, and handed the little dog over to Snape. "Well, as I don't think any of us will ever use those spells in combination, especially with the Avada Kedavra, ever again, I think it safe to say that we need not fear any other sudden vivifications. You are free to go."
Fred and George each let out deep sighs, and gratefully turned to leave.
But before they could do so, Snape's voice rang out: "Before you go, Fred and George....", he said in his nastiest voice.
"Yes, sir?" Here it comes, they thought. Dread squeezed their stomachs.
Snape's face broke into a wide smile. "Fifty points for Gryffindor, for each of you."
"I've never seen anything like it."
"Amazing!"
"Wonderful!"
"Can it be duplicated?"
"That's what we're trying to find out, Miss Granger."
Several persons were gathered in Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's office, crowded closely around his desk. The object of their attentions was a very small, very winsome, and very intelligent King Charles spaniel puppy, whose master, Professor Severus Snape, had given him the name of "Fidelis".
Fidelis began his existence as a humble Muggle toy, a "Beanie Baby" given to Professor Snape as a gift by Hermione Granger. But somehow, in the course of an assault on Snape's life, a spell meant to kill Snape had instead not only failed to kill the potions master, but given life to a heretofore lifeless object.
At the moment, the former inanimate object was now licking Fizzing Whizzbee residue from Hermione's fingers, eliciting some giggles from Hermione.
Suddenly, Hermione's face darkened. She looked at the assembled gathering.
"I hate to mention this," she said hesitantly, "...but doesn't Fidelis' existence violate the 1965 Ban on Experimental Breeding?"
Dumbledore smiled at her from behind his half-moon spectacles. "Not really, Hermione. You see, the ban specifically is targeted against the breeding of new magical species, and Fidelis here is sui generis, one of a kind; I very much doubt we will see another like him. He was not created through breeding, for one thing; for another, he has no 'Fidelia' with whom he can breed, even assuming he matures into an adult dog."
"What, exactly, happened that night, Severus?" Professor McGonagall asked, putting a hand out to gently scratch Fidelis behind the ears.
"I was sitting at my desk, waiting to meet Dumbledore, when suddenly Robert Barr, a wizard of my acquaintance, bursts into the room, howling for my blood." Snape chose to leave out the exact reason why Barr was after him; some of the persons in the office didn't need to know that, just yet. "Barr attempted to hit me with the Killing Curse, but missed and hit Fidelis instead. The next thing I knew, Fidelis had not only come alive, but was treating Barr's face like a chew toy -- a fact for which I am forever grateful." Snape's sallow, hollow-cheeked face took on some warmth as he gazed fondly at his dog.
McGonagall pushed her hat farther back onto her head, to keep it from falling onto the desk and Fidelis. "Has this ever happened before with the Avada Kedavra curse, I wonder?"
"Not to my knowledge," said a wheezy Professor Binns, his ghostly figure gently illuminating the room. "I have searched throughout the whole of Madam Pince's collections and not found a single tome which records a similar instance."
"Then perhaps it is one of those things which cannot be duplicated," Snape mused, his sharp black eyes still fixed on the miniature puppy. "Barr was, to the best of my recollection, not the most accurate of spell-casters. Perhaps he made a slight error in his casting, one that would be unique to him." Snape smiled thinly. "But in any event, Barr won't be casting any more spells, ever again."
Dumbledore turned to Harry and Ron, who were standing next to Hermione. "You two knew of Hermione's plan to give the Beanie Baby to Professor Snape," he said, giving them a sweeping, penetrating look. Did either of you perform any magic on it, or around it?"
"No, we didn't, I'm sure of it," Harry replied. "And we were the only two persons, besides Hermione, who knew what she was up to."
"Wait a minute," said Ron. His face had suddenly turned as red as his hair. "Fred and George saw it just as Hermione pulled it out of her haversack to show it to us for the first time."
Dumbledore's snowy-white eyebrows went up. "Ah. I see."
"It'd be just like those guys to put some sort of jokey charm on it," Ron continued. "Especially if they knew it was going to -- a teacher."
Dumbledore turned to ask McGonagall to pass the word for the Weasley twins, but she was already out the door.
=============
"Bah! Nasty Weasleys'll get what's coming to them, just you wait!", cried an angry, gyrating Peeves, to the cheers and laughs of the assembled crowd.
"Oh, really, Peeves? Do tell?" Fred said, yawning in a show of exaggerated unconcern, which made the crowd laugh even harder.
Fred and George had lured the poltergeist into a Dancing Trap just in front of the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Peeves was now forced to do a Highland Fling indefinitely, circling the same spot over and over, until such time as the spell wore off, or Fred or George removed it. And that they certainly would not do; their minds were too full of memories of vicious tricks played by Peeves ever to let him get off that easily. Besides, with Peeves occupied in this manner, he wasn't able to harrass anyone, thereby making it much easier to navigate the halls of Hogwarts unimpeded.
The crowd, filled with students and ghosts alike who had all suffered indignities at Peeves' non-corporeal hands, convulsed in uncontrollable laughter. They were at last getting a little of their own back, and it was glorious.
"You can't say you didn't bring this on yourself, Peeves," said a guffawing Nearly Headless Nick, his head wobbling with each laugh.
"Ahem."
A tall figure stepped into view; it was Professor McGonagall, and she was wearing one of her sternest expressions. The crowd fell silent.
"Fred -- George -- come with me. Now."
"But Professor --"
"Now."
Professor McGonagall swept around, and the Weasley twins trudged along behind her. Peeves' shouts suddenly reverberated behind them: "HAHAHAHAHA! I told you! I TOLD you!"
They moved, swiftly and silently, through the corridors of Hogwarts. Fred and George knew better than to try to talk to McGonagall; her face was as grim as ever they had seen it, with small red spots of what looked to be rage high on her cheeks.
At last they arrived at the entrance to Dumbledore's office. "Whoopee cushion," spoke McGonagall crisply, and the gargoyles swung aside to admit her and the Weasley twins into Dumbledore's inner sanctum.
"Ah," said a delighted Dumbledore; his eyes twinkled mischieviously behind his half-moon glasses. "You certainly do move quite quickly, Minerva. Come over here, gentlemen," he said to the twins. "We have a few questions to ask you."
=======
"You put a Loyalty Charm on the toy?" Dumbledore's nostrils twitched in amusement.
"Erm, yes, sir." Fred scuffed his feet, trying not to feel too self- conscious in the presence of so many teachers, all of whom were eyeing him and George with the most intense scrutiny. "I thought it was just as well that the little thing should be a good dog and obey whoever became its master, even if it wasn't alive." And even if its master was Snape, Fred thought but carefully did not say.
"And I put a Lifelike Charm on it, too -- or at least, I thought I had," George volunteered. Like Fred, he was now red-faced with embarrassment and apprehension. He didn't want to think of how many points he and Fred had just lost for Gryffindor. "It didn't seem to work when I tried it, sir."
"Oh, my." Dumbledore was having a difficult time trying not to laugh. He rose from his desk, carrying Fidelis in the palm of one hand, and handed the little dog over to Snape. "Well, as I don't think any of us will ever use those spells in combination, especially with the Avada Kedavra, ever again, I think it safe to say that we need not fear any other sudden vivifications. You are free to go."
Fred and George each let out deep sighs, and gratefully turned to leave.
But before they could do so, Snape's voice rang out: "Before you go, Fred and George....", he said in his nastiest voice.
"Yes, sir?" Here it comes, they thought. Dread squeezed their stomachs.
Snape's face broke into a wide smile. "Fifty points for Gryffindor, for each of you."