Chapter Twenty

Extra Curriculum

It was a snowy but fairly warm afternoon several weeks into January when Anna found herself dragged to the Quidditch Pitch with her broom in hand by Jennifer and Danny.

"Don't worry, Madame Black, riding a broom is the one of the most fundamental uses of item manipulation," Danny coaxed, heading out to the middle of the field.

"Craw can't do it either," Anna pointed out, "and she's a Physical Arts major."

"I can ride one, I'm just not any good at it," Jennifer said. "We have the whole field to ourselves for a few hours. Practice won't start up officially until next week, so we shan't be bothered. Just relax and have fun with it."

"What about you, Professor? Do you want a few lessons too?" Danny inquired seriously.

"Oh, no, I'm just here to supervise Black's training. Besides, in my condition…"

"If you can ride a Pegusi, you can ride a broom. Corey told me about your barrette to protect you from falls…."

"Falls, yes. Crashes, no."

"So what you're saying is, you're trusting a thirteen year old to teach me, but you won't let her teach you," Anna challenged. Jennifer glared at her, for there were other reasons she had asked for Danny's help. Finally, she sighed in resignation.

"Fine, but you realize if Snape finds out about this, he's going to kill all three of us," Jennifer said, detouring to the shed to pick out a docile-looking school broom.

"Don't worry, you don't need to fly high at all. Just stay within a broom's length from the ground, Professor, then if you get into trouble, just lean so the bristles touch the ground and it'll stop on its own," Danny advised.

Nervously, the two women mounted their brooms as Danny nodded approvingly. She started them both off barely above the snow, practicing turns and stops. It didn't take her long to realize that a majority of Craw's problems were from overcompensating and her panicked movements, while Black seemed to be trying to will the broom where she wanted to go instead of actually turning it. Shaking her head, Danny could see there was a lot of work to be done. Danny was a meticulous perfectionist that reminded Jennifer a bit of Severus, and Jennifer wondered if perhaps he hadn't been somewhat like that at this age.

Completely absorbed in the matter at hand, their time was nearly up before Danny was satisfied with their progress enough to let them go a bit higher. She started them on speed runs, practicing straight shot flights from one end of the Pitch to the other, but allowing them to fly at their own comfort level. Anna and Jennifer even tried racing a few times, but it was soon obvious to Anna that Jennifer's comfort level for speed was entirely too slow to make for a good race, so they contented themselves to just taking turns, pulling up easily before reaching the end of the Pitch.

Rolanda Hooch, who had come out to clean the shed, stared in surprise at the three on the Pitch. She walked up to where Danny sat on her broom.

"Is that Craw on that broom?" she asked in amazement.

"Yes, Madame. And also Madame Black," Danny said.

"Incredible," Rolanda said. "And I'd given them both up for lost," she added with a chuckle. "Listen Nelson, if you can get them both riding safely at a decent height by term end, I'll give you twenty-five points," Rolanda said appreciatively. "Oh, but don't mention it to Snape, or the deal's off."

"Yes, Ma'am," Danny grinned, nodding to her knowingly.

Next on the list was Transfiguration, and with a little wheeling, dealing, and a promise to help Minerva get caught up on some of her sewing projects, Jennifer managed to secure some time that afternoon for Anna.

"Once you learn some basic rules, the process itself is rather easy. And considering you're an Animagus as well, I'm sure you'll find it quite simple to understand," Minerva began. "Transfiguring something doesn't change what it truly is… it will have the properties of the item or beast you turn it into; it'll behave like the item, sound like it, conduct like it, but it will know what it truly is. For example, when you're a Unicorn, you do not forget that you are human. An animal that turns into an inanimate object retains knowledge of what it is, even though some animals will not remember the occurrence itself as a sort of safety mechanism for their psyche. In the other direction, if you turn a desk into a pig, even though it behaves like a pig and moves like a pig, it has no true conscious awareness. Liquids have entirely different rules, and you shouldn't try to transfigure anything, especially creatures into a liquid, for liquids are truly not one 'item' but many droplets, each one with different properties. Any questions so far?"

"One," Anna nodded. "Why would anyone want to turn a desk into a pig?"

"You've been talking to Corey, haven't you?" Minerva asked, earning a chuckle from Jennifer. "It's just a common classroom exercise to work towards bigger things. But let's just start out turning something simple into something very similar. The closer the properties are, the easier they are to transform," Minerva said, looking around. "Ah, here we are," she said, picking up a quill. "Now, you must consider all the properties of what you're going to be turning it into, and focus on them when you're saying the spell. Now, there may be hidden properties you may not be aware of at times, but that shouldn't be the case for this exercise. Reference books will help you with that; it's mostly memorization. Also, you may speak either in Latin or English while practicing this spell, whichever your comfortable with," she said, putting the quill down and pointing at it with her wand. "Quill to stylus!" With little fanfare, the quill changed into the stylus and she allowed Anna to look at it for a moment before putting it back down. "Very well, your turn to try."

Anna got out the wand she'd been using, trying to think of the quill she had seen a moment ago. The feather of the quill was white and long, perhaps a goose feather, she thought, with a rather off-color metal tip, heavily stained from heavy use. Pointing at the stylus, Anna intoned, "stylus to quill!"

Suddenly the stylus grew and changed in a rather warped shape, and before either Minerva or Jennifer could move, a flapping, honking bird emerged onto Minerva's desk wearing a discolored quill tip around its neck.

"Yes, well," Minerva said, trying to formulate what to say as she looked at the goose in obvious surprise. "Good try, Anna. But perhaps you should concentrate more on the properties of the quill and not where it came from?"

Severus frowned testily as he kicked his sister's foot into place, nodding as he passed Corey, who had the proper stance. Jennifer, who had taken a break to rest her sore feet, watched from a chair near the back of the gym. Anna, admittedly, felt a bit silly, wondering if she could talk Dumbledore into getting out of this part of her 'training.' But Jennifer was quite unconcerned with Severus' snarling, and did it not seem to bother Corey either.

"Very well, run through it one more time, and this time pay more attention to your stance," Severus said, drumming his fingers on his folded arms.

"Why does it matter how I stand? I seriously doubt anyone will be paying attention to my feet, and I know I won't be doing any of these 'forms' in a battle. Besides," Anna continued, ignoring the glaring look on her brother's face. "I don't really want to hurt anyone, and I haven't, except for Dementors."

"Anna, none of us really want to hurt anyone, but sometimes there are no other options," Jennifer replied. "The best defense is being prepared for any type of attack, and if a wizard attacks, you need to be able to defend yourself as if you have no outside protection. We saw what happened last year when your magic gave out."

"My magic doesn't give out," Anna retorted. "It just steps out of the way, sometimes."

"How you stand is important for both balance and speed, both of which you need to block attacks. And Jennifer is right, which is why I agreed to teach you. Now, let's do it again, and let's try to get it right this time so we're not here all day, shall we?" Severus scowled.

Jennifer got up to join them, patting Anna encouragingly on her shoulder before taking a stance beside her. Even four months along, Jennifer somehow managed to do the exercise with the grace and ease of years of practice, and Anna's natural stubbornness kicked in. Anna might not have wanted to learn it on principle, but learning it to prove to herself that she could do it was an entirely different matter.

Severus decided to let them go just when Anna felt she was beginning to get the hang of it, and then suggested that next week, she could start sparring with Corey. Anna wasn't quite as enthusiastic about the idea as Corey was. Corey, not being allowed to be in the regular sparring club, was missing his practice time with his friends, and his training lessons with his Dad had been the next best thing. Having someone else there to practice with was going to make life a lot easier on him.

As Corey ran back to his dorm and Anna opted for a long hot bath, Jennifer and Severus found their way to their rooms. Jennifer stopped in her room for some paperwork, while a bored bat followed her as she went into Severus' sitting room. She plopped down into a chair with a long sigh as Severus looked over at her with concern.

"I'm all right, just tired," Jennifer smiled. "I've really been pushing Anna kind of hard since we got back to Hogwarts, and I think it's starting to catch up with me. But she's actually putting the effort in, now. I don't think she really took it seriously before the wedding."

"Weddings have a way of affecting people in strange ways, they find themselves doing all sorts of things they might not have considered before." Severus said seriously. Jennifer grinned at him.

"Well, yes, that too, but I think it was more because of that Imp and all of that."

"Yes, and that odd threat. I still don't know what Fudge was doing there, either, perhaps he was behind it," Severus pondered.

"Did he speak to anyone at the wedding?" Jennifer asked seriously.

"I don't know. Between the lights and Alex I hardly had time to look around, let alone pay attention to what was going on," Severus admitted.

"Well, I'm not so sure Fudge did it," Jennifer said. "He's worried about what she is... frightened of her, even. But I don't see him as the type to write a threatening note."

"Then it'd almost have to be someone from the Ministry, since they're the only ones that knew who and what she was." Severus mused.

"Knew is the key word. A witch or wizard would have had to be blind at that wedding not to see that it wasn't modern magic she was using. Maybe if she keeps learning our style of magic, it won't be as noticeable?" Jennifer suggested.

"Normally I would have said that I would rather she learn to curb her instincts so that it wasn't so obvious," Severus said. "But considering the circumstances, I could hardly be anything but grateful."

"Have you told her that?" Jennifer asked.

"No, but I shouldn't have to," Severus said.

"Well, I'm sure I was grateful enough for both of us," Jennifer said, shaking her head at him and smiling, knowing what was really on his mind. "You know, her being married doesn't make her any less your sister. You needn't feel like you can't talk to her anymore." Severus tapped the papers in her hand, handing her a quill.

"Catch up on your homework, so we can catch up on ours," he replied, going back to his work.

"Oh, all right, since you don't want to talk about it," Jennifer said. "But sooner or later, you are going to have to tell her the truth, and I mean the whole truth about what happened the night your parents died. She's not going to think any less of you than I did," she added gently. Severus sighed, nodding to her.

"When she's ready," he said, turning back to his work.

But Severus had other things on his mind and other things to do. He spent a lot of time in the forest with Sagittari and Remus, making plans with the centaurs, and trying to find out more information on the burrows they had found. And although the centaurs hadn't seen the creature and even the stars didn't reveal what it was, it was no secret that the holes had started to grow larger as time went on. Harry's feeling that it was a reptile of some sort began to grow on Severus' mind. After all, Slytherin had left an ancient basilisk to guard his chamber… could his followers have left something similar in the Tomb? Perhaps it had been subdued by Voldemort when they had gone down there, and somehow it had survived the collapse. The thought was so disturbing that the very next weekend he went back to the site with Rasputin under his arm.

"It's cold. I want to go to sleep by the fire." Rasputin complained.

"Well, you're just going to have to wait. I very seldom ask anything of you, Rasputin. You can help me out this once," Severus hissed back in parseltongue.

"No chopped meat tonight. I want a mouse or two," Rasputin hissed.

"Don't you think about anything besides eating and sleeping?" Severus sighed, sliding a bit down the hill.

"The eye patch itches," the monitor basilisk added. Severus slipped into the barrier and over to the nearest hole, putting the basilisk down. The lizard tested the air experimentally, sticking his head down into the hole. "It doesn't taste like a basilisk," he hissed after a moment, rubbing its head on the top of the hole. The eye patch slipped off and Rasputin scurried down a bit farther.

"Don't go too far," Severus hissed in warning, kneeling down so he could listen. He reached in and grabbed the eye patch. "And warn me before you come back up or you are going to have a very long walk home."

"The tunnel is much larger in here, and it's warmer, but I'm still sleepy," Rasputin said. "It's too cold. Nothing moves. I taste something, but it is too far."

"Warm blooded or cold?" Severus asked.

"Cold. Like me. I want to go home."

"All right, all right," Severus said, taking the eye patch in his hand and turning away. "Come on up then."

It was just as Severus managed to get the patch back on him and picked him up that a gentle tremor shuddered below them. Rather then get caught by another Wraith or some other unexpected surprise, Severus dove through the barrier, turning quickly around when the tremor stopped. It was then that Severus noticed that all of the holes had collapsed a little, leaving a larger opening than before. Tossing back his hair and waiting for a few minutes to see if anything else occurred, Severus then took Rasputin back to the school.

"The holes themselves are growing bigger because of those odd tremors, which are either caused by stress as further caves collapse, or something that is living in the tunnels," Severus informed Dumbledore when he got back. "I gather from what little I was able to discern from Rasputin that the passages are fairly large, perhaps even large enough that someone could crawl through without transforming into something else. However, regardless of what's down there, it's not worth the risk to explore them since it's likely that more cave collapses are immanent," Severus said. Jennifer shuddered.

"And you were unable to determine whether or not there was a creature present?" Dumbledore asked.

"Rasputin smelled something... something he didn't recognize, but reptilian I believe," Severus said. "But it's hard to say if what he was smelling has anything to do with the collapses or the Wraith's attraction to the area, or if it's just a natural creature. We seem to know even less now than we did before."

"Even if it were just a natural creature to begin with, I'm not so sure it would still be one after spending much time saturated within that darkness," Dumbledore replied. "Perhaps you should start trying to narrow down what it might be so that we may come closer to knowing just what we're dealing with. Hopefully it'll prove to be nothing, and the Wraith is our main concern."

"The centaurs are watching for the Wraith to come back. They have been guarding the darker recesses of the Forest looking for signs of its return," Severus said. "However, if they are forced to face it alone…"

"They would be no match for it. I know, Severus," Dumbledore nodded. "One thing is certain. We cannot allow it to take us by surprise again, because out chances of surviving unprepared is bleak at best," he said somberly. "Even so, our strength is in our numbers. No matter how much power it has absorbed, it won't be able to defeat us as a group."

"But the Wraith always seems to catch us when there's only one or two of us," Jennifer pointed out.

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded. "That is simply its preferred hunting method. Perhaps we can use that fact to our advantage," he added thoughtfully, taking a step back.

"We need to set a trap," Severus said, getting a nod from Dumbledore.

"All we need now is suitable bait," Jennifer said.