Chapter 8: Problems and Punishments
Uric had to walk quickly to keep up with Professor Stewart. The professor's robes were practically billowing out behind him he was walking so fast. Uric attempted to not get a mouthful of cloth and nearly bumped into a statue of Stanley the Stalwart. They had gotten stuck on a staircase that decided to mysteriously change direction in midair and ended up in an abandoned corridor filled with bubbles. Professor Stewart had looked disgusted and cursed the staircase until it changed again. Then he had resumed his impossibly fast walk, with Uric following dutifully behind. Eventually they arrived at a stone gargoyle Uric remembered passing before.
"Discipline," said Professor Stewart and the gargoyle swung aside to reveal a long staircase. Professor Stewart proceeded up the stairs, but was forced to come back and get Uric after he stopped to talk to the gargoyle. Uric wondered why the gargoyle wouldn't talk to him.
"Uric! The Headmistress is already up there!" Professor Stewart grabbed his shoulder and nearly dragged Uric up the stairs. They entered a formal looking room. Dark mahogany panelling lined the walls interspaced with tapestries. A formal portrait of the Headmistress and her husband sat over a cold fire place. A deep carpet coated the floor, but added no warmth.
Mrs. Kurze sat in a tall chair behind a massive mahogany desk. It was very neat and had only a pile of parchment to one side of it, a quill and a pretty glass ball acting as a paper weight. Uric's first urge was to go up to the desk and look at the pretty ball. So he did. He had just enough time to see that it was shot through with strangely swirling silver before a hand grasped it and took it out of his field of vision. He looked up in time to see Headmistress Kurze putting the ball in a drawer.
"Mr. Beaufolle, would you please stand in front of the desk, not on it," she said in her clipped, angry tones. It was only then that Uric noticed he was on his knees leaning across the desk to look at the pretty ball. He got off the desk.
"Sorry, Headmistress Kurze." She looked at him with her piercing grey eyes.
"I don't think you are, Uric. Just like I don't think you are sorry for hexing poor Miss. Lupin. This school has a standard to uphold and you have failed us today." Uric frowned at her, trying not to feel uncomfortable under her stare.
"But," he began and she cut him off.
"I'm sure your father would be very disappointed in you, Mr. Beaufolle. I'll bet you thought your little prank was funny, but it was very traumatizing for Miss. Lupin." Uric decided to try again.
"But I didn't-" Mrs. Kurze's glare got even stronger, if that was possible.
"Do not deny it, Mr. Beaufolle. Despite the reports I get of your negligence in class-" She paused to glance at Professor Stewart. "Your grades are the highest in nearly every class. I am assured that you are capable of the complicated hex that was performed on Miss. Lupin." Uric held very still. She had told him not to deny that he had done the prank, but he hadn't done the prank. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. The Headmistress seemed to take his silence for assent however and continued speaking.
"Now, your parents will be informed of your behaviour. But in addition to that, fifty points off Hufflepuff and you will serve detention every day after class for the next month."
"Running?" said Uric hopefully. He already ran around the school most of the week anyway.
"I think not. Dasha has expressed the need for an extra hand to help her with her work. You will report to her for details." She stopped talking and stared piercingly at him. Uric didn't want to look at her anymore, and focused his eyes on the bookcase behind her.
"Look at me, Uric." Her voice was made of steel. Reluctantly, Uric met her eyes. "Something tells me that you are not sorry about your actions in the least. Are you sorry about what you did?" Uric thought for awhile.
"What did I do, Ma'am?" It was Professor Stewart who answered him. The Headmistress was too angry to speak.
"You hexed Miss. Lupin!" he exclaimed. Uric opened his mouth to respond, than closed it again. He was very confused.
"It is unfortunate that they have banned us from physically punishing the students, like our muggle counterparts these days. Perhaps your father will give you a good whipping when he finds out about this," said Mrs. Kurze. Uric, not understanding how lucky he was, opened his mouth to protest that his father had never whipped him, but was cut off by Professor Thacher entering the office.
The Head of Slytherin regarded them all as if he were surprised to see them there.
"Is there something you want Professor?" asked Mrs. Kurze, her voice cold. Thacher ignored her for a moment, than focused on Uric.
"Ah! There he is! I was so close to having perfect attendance today, but then you didn't show up."
"I'm sorry, Sir," said Uric politely.
"You did see what Uric did in the Great Hall, Jeffery? And to one of your own students," said Mrs. Kurze.
"That was Uric? Strange…Still, I need him for in my first class. He's the only one who I can demonstrate the confundus charm on without worrying. So if you're finished with him?" He looked expectantly at the Headmistress. Uric turned to look as well and fancied he saw smoke coming out of her ears. Perhaps she had had too much pepper-up potion. They all watched her visibly calm herself before speaking.
"You may take him Professor Thacher." She turned her attention to Uric once again. "Report to Dasha after classes Uric and rest assured, if I see you in here again for any other mischief, I will expel you, regardless of your father. Understand?" Uric started to shake his head no, but found his short braid held in the iron grip of Professor Thacher. The teacher had somehow managed to get awfully close while the Headmistress was talking.
"Of course he understands, Headmistress. Come along, Uric." He practically dragged Uric out of the room and down the stairs. They were half way to the Charms classroom when Professor Thacher spoke.
"Aren't you going to thank me Uric?" he said.
"Thank you, Sir?"
"It's not often that I make such an effort for students of other houses. You should be thanking me for making an exception. Do you write letters home, Uric?" he asked. Uric thought back to the rather rambling letter he had been writing for the past month to his parents. It was only seven feet long now and he still hadn't gotten to telling them what the castle was like. Perhaps he shouldn't have put in that part about the rabid oranges…
"Uric!"
"Yes, Sir?"
"I'm going to do something very un-Slytherin and spell this out for you, so listen carefully." Uric nodded. "When your father writes you wondering what happened, make sure he knows that I rescued you. Okay?" Uric didn't think that would be too hard.
"Okay, Sir," he said. They arrived at the classroom door.
"Remember, Uric!" Thacher said one more time, before entering the classroom. Once there, he proceeded to teach like normal, and he never did demonstrate the confundus charm.
*****
The kneazle bounded across the grass outside the hut, knocking Uric over when it attempted to perch on his shoulder. He grinned in delight and pet it as it curled up on top of him. Dasha strode out of her cottage after it.
"Get off him you overgrown hair ball!" She picked the kneazle up and tossed it lightly to her left. It contorted spectacularly in mid air before landing heavily on its feet. There was a small smile on Dasha's face when it walked away stiffly, its tail in the air. It faded away when she looked back at Uric. "You can get up now. Beckett only maims one person a day, and I seem to have gotten off lucky today." Uric got up, and brushed the grass off his robes.
"Headmistress Kurze said to report to you for my detention ma'am."
"It's Dasha," she said. "Are you the kid I always see running around the castle?"
"Yes, though sometimes I skip." Uric smiled at her. Dasha gave him a doubtful look.
"I'm sure you do. I hope Mrs. Kurze knew what she was doing when she assigned you to me," she said, while staring off into the forest. She turned back and regarded Uric critically. Meanwhile, Uric removed on of his shoes and placed it in front of him. Dasha watched, curious about what he was doing. He stood on one foot and stared hard at the shoe. Dasha blinked. She could have sworn it hopped in place for a moment. Uric seemed satisfied, and put the shoe back on.
"If you're finished with your shoe, we'll be heading into the forest now. Keep your eyes open. Wizards have gone in there and never come out," she said with relish. Uric didn't seem to be affected by this comment, much to Dasha's disappointment. He was still smiling when they entered under the shadow of the trees.
*****
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Uric!" said Louis with a smile when Uric walked into the library. "Tell me all the gruesome details." He was leaning against the table near where Mena was sitting.
"You don't have to say anything Uric," said Mena, her voice muffled from where it lay in her arms. It was one of her favourite positions when things weren't going well. Uric smiled at them both.
"Well, I was thinking about brooms, and if they could mate with carpets. Because a carpet covered broom would be a lot more comfortable and-"
"I meant what happened with Mrs. Kurze. Rumour says you got detention for a month," said Louis. Uric nodded in agreement.
"Yes, and she took off points too. She was very confusing though and wouldn't let me explain." He sounded almost sad. "Then she got very angry and Professor Thacher came in and pulled on my braid." Mena's face was still hidden, but that didn't stop her from commenting.
"You were very brave to stand up to her," she said. Louis gave her an exasperated look, and turned to Uric.
"You should have cried, Uric."
"Cried?" asked Uric, puzzled.
"Yes. She's used to students crying when she punishes them. When you didn't cry, you made her angry. Now she thinks you were defying her," explained Louis.
"I think it's scary how much you think about these things," said Mena. She had lifted her head from her arms and was now staring studiously at the row of books to their left. Uric turned to look there as well to see what she found so interesting.
"You obviously weren't thinking this morning," said Louis accusingly. She finally pulled her eyes away from the shelves, and stared at Louis angrily.
"How was I supposed to know that she would blame Uric instead of me?"
"She knows he's your friend Mena, and it would have been too easy to blame it on you. This way she gets to have revenge on you by proxy, and she can still make your life miserable. I would brush up on your defence skills if I were you." Louis' voice was calm as usual, but the way he clenched the quill in his fist showed how annoyed he was. "You should at least apologize to Uric as well."
"It's okay. Dasha's kneazle likes me," said Uric with a smile. Louis glanced at him.
"That's very good, Uric, but I still think she owes you an apology."
"I didn't bloody know!" Her voice caused the librarian to send a silencing charm their way, and they were forced to spend the next couple of minutes staring sullenly at each other. Well, except for Uric who was drawing what looked suspiciously like a four cornered triangle. The charm wore off rather abruptly, and Louis' sigh sounded very loud.
"This is ridiculous. Let's just make a pact. Any prank one of us pulls has to be approved by the other two of us. Okay?" he asked. A stubborn look lingered on Mena's face, but she nodded. Uric nodded as well, though it was doubtful he had been listening long enough to understand why. Louis decided to change the subject.
"So what are you doing for detention? Still running around the castle?" Uric shook his head.
"No. I went with Dasha into the Forbidden Forest."
"What's Dasha doing in the Forbidden Forest?" asked Mena.
"Research. I got to count the birdies."
"How about the monsters?" asked Louis sarcastically.
"I didn't see any today. Maybe tomorrow?" said Uric. Louis just shook his head at Uric's obliviousness.
"Is the forest really as dangerous as everyone says it is?" asked Mena. Louis thought for a moment.
"Yes. It's a breeding ground for some of the most dangerous creatures on the planet. Not to mention the trees themselves are supposed to be alive and watching. Oh, and the centaurs. They can be very nasty when they want to be. A couple of them fought in the goblin rebellions awhile back and were asked by the Council to never do so again."
"Wizards have gone missing there too," chimed in Uric helpfully. "Dasha told me all about them."
"In her effort to comfort you upon entering the forest, no doubt," said Louis.
"You must be very brave to enter into the forest then, Uric." Mena's tone was wistful. Louis gave her a doubtful look.
"He's got detention in there. No choice, remember? And since when did you get so hung up on bravery?" Mena gave him an annoyed look.
"The Gryffindors are all very brave," she said indignantly.
"Yes, they are according to the Sorting Hat. But you aren't a Gryffindor, judging by that badger on your robes." Mena stood up and stared at him defiantly.
"Well maybe I wish I was!" She looked like she was going to hit him then, but seemed to change her mind, and stormed out of the library instead. Louis got a contemplative look on his face.
"You know, with all the time she spends storming out of this place. It's a wonder she found the time to do the research on that little hex this morning." He looked over at Uric to find him deep into transfiguring his ink blotter into a cactus. Louis sighed. "Sometimes I think I'd be better off talking to myself." He sat down and took out his Potions assignment. Mena would be back. After all, she had left her books.
*****
Thank you to my reviewers for your encouragement: Anne, Gen Raid, Em, Zadesko, and Mad Potter.
I think I'm going to have to give up saying what will happen in the next chapters, since every time I do, I somehow manage to write whole parts that aren't planned. This story is mutating. For instance, I was supposed to get around to Halloween in this chapter…
Please review and let me know what you think.