Chapter Eight

Sour Notes

"Do you believe that? She threatened to ground me during the holidays," Corey said glumly. "At least I know they already signed the forms for Hogsmeade this year."

"Why is your Mom so hard on that ghost anyhow?" Doug asked, poking at his breakfast.

"I think he poisoned a whole bunch of people, and then himself. He used to be a professor here at one time," Corey explained. "Back when the school started."

"How did he end up at Azkaban? Was he a prisoner there?" Taylor asked.

"If he was, he was one of the first. It was an old fort before that, always in dispute by one Muggle tribe or another, but then the wizards came in and hid it to prevent the constant bloodshed. Still, if he was a prisoner, how did he get the stuff to make the potion to bump himself off? And why was he wearing Hogwarts robes at the time?" Corey wondered as they walked down the hall.

"Maybe he was moved," Taylor suggested. "After he was dead."

"I didn't think you could move ghosts," Corey said. "I mean, don't they pretty much stay where they died at?"

"No, not always, a lot of ghosts are moved. In fact, a lot of the ghosts here now didn't die here," Taylor said. "Sometimes they just die somewhere someone thinks is inconvenient, or in a Muggle area and become really disruptive."

"That's what the Department of Incorporeal Affairs does… they bind a spirit to their remains, and then exhume them to a new location," Doug says. "I say, you have to have a stout heart for that job. I wouldn't be caught dead doing a job like that." Corey and Taylor smirked at him.

"There you are! Sorry I'm late," Danny said, walking up. "I had a meeting with a few Slytherin about something and it ran over."

"Oh? Anything we ought to know about?" Corey asked, peering at her quizzically.

"Not especially, at least not yet," Danny said, glancing over their wary faces. "Look, I told you not to worry about it. I have everything well in hand."

"You've said that before," Doug said.

"Well, I mean it this time," Danny said. "Ask Dusthorn if you don't believe me, she doesn't miss anything in this school."

"Maybe later, right now we'd better be getting some practice in," Corey said. "Come on, let's go to the back lawn, nobody will bother us there. Have you all been looking over those books I gave you?"

"I'm going to need help," Taylor admitted. "Do you really have to have another guitar? Why can't I play drums?"

"Because I have had lessons," Doug said. "And so has Danny, so you can't take keyboard either."

"Don't worry, Taylor. I've read every book I can find on guitars and I'm sure I can help you if you get stuck," Corey said. "We'll start out with something simple. How about the Wizard Rhapsody?"

"How about Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star?" Taylor suggested.

"I have no intention of being laughed out of school if anyone caught us playing something like that," Corey said, rolling his eyes.

"But it's the only one I know the chords to! You've only given us a month," Taylor protested.

"Oh, boy. We have a lot of work to do," Danny sighed.

After hearing the most horrendous noise she had ever heard, Professor Sprout came out from behind the seedling tables of the greenhouse and looked around, quickly grabbing her earmuffs out of her pocket and putting them on. After checking over her mandrakes to make sure none of them had grown out of their pots, she went outside to investigate. Spotting the problem at last, she walked over to the castle wall, shouting at the top of her lungs to be heard.

"Mr. Willowby! Brim! Brittle! Nelson! What in the world are you trying to do?" she shouted. Corey, who stopped in the middle of a rather upbeat chorus looked up, followed by Taylor (who was having trouble keeping up anyhow) and Danny, who had to tap Doug twice on the shoulder before the drummer (who felt he was on a roll) finally stopped.

"Just practicing, Professor Sprout. Did we disturb you?" Corey asked.

"I think you've disturbed everything in hearing range, and as loud as that was, I'm sure that was quite a lot," she said. "I'm afraid you'll have my plants uprooting to get away from you…my rabbits' foot fern already tried to hop away! You're going to have to find somewhere else to practice. I can't have you screeching like mandrakes and upsetting the plants," she said sternly, taking off her earmuffs. The four students slumped and began minimizing their instruments. "Why don't you try setting up near the lake, or on the far grounds, or wherever else you can find that's far away?" Professor Sprout suggested. "Oh now, don't fret. I'm sure you'll get better," she reassured their gloomy faces, turning around. "At least, I'm quite sure you couldn't get much worse," she muttered to herself as she walked away.

Next they tried to set up near the forest border, but Sagittari no more wanted them disturbing the animals than Professor Sprout had wanted her plants disturbed, and it wasn't long before he had coaxed them away.

"Well, we can't go any farther out, how about up?" Danny suggested. "How about one of the Towers? The Astronomy tower maybe?"

"Sinistra keeps it locked during the day. What about the Owlery, do you think the Owls would mind?" Taylor asked.

"Redwing doesn't seem to mind," Danny said nodding to her owl, who was sleepily watching them from a tree. "So maybe they won't."

"Well, we'd better hurry, we don't got much more time before dinner," Taylor pointed out.

"Then we'll just come back after," Danny said, as they heading inside.

"What about sparring?" Doug asked.

"I've decided that I'm not going to sparring club this year," Danny said. "Quidditch is enough of a commitment, and between that and this new band, I'd rather just concentrate on that."

"I was planning to drop out anyhow," Taylor admitted. "I'm tired of coming out last in the tournament every year." Doug remained quiet. He wasn't so sure he wanted to leave sparring, especially if Danny was leaving. That would mean Gryffindor might actually have a chance to win the points this year!

"Well, if you're sure, gosh, that'd be great!" Corey said. "I miss having you guys around as much as I miss not being able to spar. Me and my stupid Focus Casting."

"Nonsense, Corey, it's part of what makes you, you," Danny said with a smile. "Just like riding circles around you boys is what makes me, me."

"Hey! You're not all that hot," Doug protested, but only received laughter from Danny.

Minerva McGonagall was halfway up the stairs when she heard it, dashing up the rest to find out what on earth was going on. Panting, she looked into the Owlery to see the four students attempting to practice. Many of the Owls had left, but a few of them had stayed behind, watching them curiously and hooting and screeching along with the band.

"Good heavens! Mr. Willowby! Quietus Mute!" Minerva cast in desperation, waving her wand at the instruments. The students looked up in bewilderment to see the Deputy Headmaster there, staring at them. "Whatever are you doing? Can't you think of somewhere else to practice 'Hogwarts Forever?' Those poor owls!"

"That wasn't 'Hogwarts Forever'," Corey said in surprise. "At least, it wasn't supposed to be. And the some of the owls seem to like it!"

"Well, there are many professors who also come up here to get some peace and quiet, and I'll not have the four of you disrupting them either. You're just going to have to find somewhere out of the way to... express yourselves," she said, sounding slightly exasperated. "Besides, shouldn't you be getting ready for dinner?" The four students looked slightly dejected as Doug put away his drums and the rest left, dragging their instruments behind them. Minerva shook her head and looked after them a moment before breaking into a soft chuckle.

After quickly eating dinner, the four met up again for one last try, dragging it up to the abandoned classroom, which was far enough away to hopefully not disturb anyone. Still, Corey decided some feedback might be a good idea, so coaxed an audience of 'one' to come and listen.

As Corey and his friends finally finished the song they looked up at Caprica expectantly.

"Well, I think you have your work cut out for you," Caprica said, sounding highly amused. "So what's your band's name? The Four Musketeers?"

"No, Caprica, those are private nicknames. We don't want it public," Corey said thoughtfully. "What about Corey and the Comets?" The other three groaned.

"No Corey and anythings," Doug protested. "How about the Gryffins plus two?"

"I'll quit first," Danny glowered.

"I've got one, how about The Screech Owls?" Caprica suggested. Nobody else thought that was very funny.

"There you are, I thought I heard your plucking back here," Jennifer said. Corey looked over at her with surprise.

"I thought sparring club was tonight," Corey said.

"It is, but when I noticed a few missing students, we… that is I… thought you might be up to something," Jennifer said, looking warily over at Caprica but nodding respectfully to her.

"We're not going to spar this year, Professor. We decided we'd rather have time practicing our music," Danny said. "But we can't find anywhere anyone will let us practice at."

"How does anyone expect them to get better without letting them practice?" Caprica tsked. "They're not disturbing anyone here, Jennifer. Might they not stay and practice, at least for tonight?"

"Oh, all right, I suppose you can't get into much trouble doing that," Jennifer sighed, turning around.

"And while they're here, maybe I'll tell them some stories," Caprica said, causing Jennifer to pause at the door.

"Like how Icarus ended up at Azkaban prison?" Corey asked. "Or who the missing one is that Icarus spoke of that Mom had to find?"

"Yes, Corey, perhaps I will tell you about that," Caprica said. "Although who he's referring to the professor here should already have guessed. He was referring to Janus Craw." Jennifer turned back around and leaned on the door, gazing at the painting thoughtfully. Caprica smiled at her knowingly before turning back towards the students.

"Janus Craw was one of Slytherin's apprentices before the school was founded, wasn't he?" Danny asked, sitting down.

"Yes, most definitely, and a very good friend. He was quite talented in the Dark Arts, which is how he ended up catching Slytherin's eye, but was also a dedicated scholar, and a very strict but capable teacher. But one summer he left on a quest and never returned. No one has seen him since."

"I heard Janus left because Hogwarts stopped teaching Dark Arts," Jennifer put in, getting a slight smile from Caprica.

"Rather, Hogwarts stopped teaching the Dark Arts because Janus left," Caprica said. "I had tried finding a suitable replacement, but we ran into a string of… disagreeable problems… with the professors following him. So, the board decided to change to Defense instead."

"What sort of quest?" Corey asked.

"He went to find an artifact that had been taken from the school just after it was formed. It was called Dagda's Cauldron."

"Dagda's Cauldron?" Jennifer echoed, standing straight up. Caprica looked at the expression on her face with complete amusement.

"I thought that might get your attention," she chuckled. "Yes, it had been a gift to the school from one of the founders, Salazar Slytherin. But you see, he and Godric Gryffindor had gotten into a rather heated argument about how it would be used. It was not long after that when the Cauldron disappeared. Salazar accused Godric of hiding it, but whether he did or someone else had stolen it is still unknown. It also seemed to further instigate the rift between Salazar and the other founders, and it was at that point that many believe Salazar began to build his Chamber of Secrets," Caprica said softly.

"Janus thought that perhaps Salazar himself might have hid the Cauldron, so when Slytherin died, Janus tried to trace its last known whereabouts. Finally he thought he had found the location and left to try and locate it, but he never returned."

"Did he leave any hints to where he was going?" Taylor asked excitedly. But Caprica shook her head.

"He hadn't even told his son or his wife, only that he'd be back before the end of the summer. Some thought he might have gotten fed up with school politics and disappeared on purpose, but I don't think so," Caprica sighed softly. "It was turbulent times then, the school had a bumpy ride after the founders began to fade. Obviously we somehow managed. The point is, though, that I don't think it would have kept him from coming back. I am quite sure that something must have happened to him. And whoever picks up the quest to find the Cauldron will probably also have to take up the quest to find out what happened to Janus Craw," she said, looking straight over at Jennifer.

"I bet Mom could find out," Corey put in. "She's always been good at finding things out. Dad says she has an inborn talent for trouble," he quipped.

"Corey!" Jennifer said, trying to ignore the chuckle coming from the painting. "I think that's enough for one night. Finish your practicing and head to your rooms, I need to get back up to sparring club before Professor Snape comes looking for me. Don't forget, we have a guest speaker in Item Creation Class tomorrow, so attempt to be on time for a change?" she added sternly before exiting the room.

"You think she's going to go after it?" Taylor asked, looking over at Corey.

"Without a doubt," Corey nodded, looking over at Caprica who grinned back at him, obviously pleased at that fact.