Chapter Nine

Learning Experiences

Jennifer smiled warmly at her class as they looked over the well-dressed goblin standing in front of them grinning toothily.

"I thought it might be nice to have some guest speakers this year that create some of the items we use everyday, and perhaps help us learn a bit about how those things are made," Jennifer said to the class. "For those of you who do not recognize him, may I introduce Grendelbane the Eighteenth, who runs the prestigious Grendelbane's Wand Shop in Myrkinbrek. He is going to be discussing some of the basic considerations that go into wand making. Welcome to Hogwarts, Grendelbane, it is an honor to have you here."

"Of course, of course, thank you," he said. "The art of Wandmaking is the art of creating a perfect balance between the wood and the magical component inside it. It requires a steady hand, a good sense of magical auras, and of course, a great deal of knowledge of enchantments and component potency. Today, I have assembled for each of you pre-balanced woods and components for you to choose from and use to make a basic wand. Remember, not all components do well with all woods, so if you have any questions about a combination, please ask."

Jennifer sat back, enjoying not having to teach for awhile, following the lesson with interest. She chose a piece of wood and the feather off a Feathered Toad and followed his instruction on how to put it in and seal it off and was busy on the sanding stage. He seemed to spent quite a bit of time speaking and answering questions from Corey before going and correcting some of the other students on the way they were doing things, finishing up with a short class on wand enchantments before it was over. Grendelbane took a moment to clean his glasses as they left, and Jennifer shouted out homework assignments before any of them managed to get out the door.

"That was quite a bit of fun, I think even I learned a dozen things during your talk. Thank you," Jennifer grinned, still working on polishing the wand she had made.

"I owed Dumbledore a favor," he said, waving it off. "Goblins don't believe in being in debt. Besides, I also found it quite enlightening," he mused, looking over to the door. "That Willowby boy, he's your adopted son, isn't he?"

"Yes he is, why do you ask?" Jennifer said, wondering what Corey had done this time.

"He seems to have a keen eye and feel for woods and components…managed to pick out the best possible combination out of all of those samples I sent," the goblin said musingly.

"Yes, Corey's always been very talented in the Physical Arts, he's at the top of both of his potion classes as well," Jennifer smiled proudly.

"He's a Focus Caster, isn't he?" The goblin inquired, getting a quick yes in reply. "It'll be interesting to see where he goes with all that talent," he said, packing up his tools.

Corey's next class was Symbology, a class he was quickly learning to dread. So far, the first few weeks had been a matter of reading and memorization, so Corey was without question at the top of the class. However, he was soon finding the lectures to be rather hard to keep up with, as hard as he tried. After all, Hermione was his friend before she was ever Madame Granger. But why did she have to talk so much? Stifling a yawn, Corey tried to turn to the subject at hand.

"Now, as you already know, Symbology is used in magic in many different ways, like improving the effectiveness of a spell, or to increase the longevity of a spell, by creating patterns that will help the spell maintain itself. Since we've hit upon the basics of how it heightens effectiveness, today I'm going to tell you about how it's used to help maintain spells," Madame Granger said with a smile. "As I'm sure you've learned in your history classes, there are a lot of spells which have been operating in this castle since the school was formed. Most of them function on numeric symbols, such as running in multiples of four. You will find four used as a key number throughout the castle, and not just in relation to the houses themselves. Can anyone else think of any other significance to the number four?" She asked, looking around with a frown. Most of the class looked half asleep, and were evidently surprised that they were asked a question at all. Hermione leaned on the side of one desk and drummed her fingers. "Doug?"

"Um, well there are four positions on a Quidditch Team, does that count?" Doug asked. Hermione thought about it.

"Considering the school's history, yes I'd think that'd count." Corey put up his hand.

"There are four basic types of magic?" Corey said.

"Very good. Of course, there are several offshoots of them, but four basic forms. In fact, that is probably why the school was formed in the way it was, with each of the founders representing a different magic," Hermione explained. She paused a moment to grab Baylor's potion book from where he was hiding it behind his Symbology book, studying for a later test. "Baylor, what other symbolic importance is there to the number four?"

"Um," Baylor glanced around for some clues, but none of the other Slytherin seemed to be paying enough attention to help. "There are four… seasons?"

"Well, yes, but that really doesn't have any symbolic magic significance," Hermione sighed. "At least not with what we're discussing." Suddenly there was a horrid noise, and a few of the students chuckled as they turned to see Otto Delaney, a third year Hufflepuff, had dozed off in his chair. Hermione woke him up by slamming her books on his desk, and he fell out of his seat, causing another round of laughter coming from the students. "Ten points off Hufflepuff for sleeping in class. Come on, everyone. After reading the first two chapters, you all should have caught on to this by now," she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Madame Granger?" Corey said, waving his hand in the air. "I don't mind memorizing all of these charts on the symbols and their uses and such, but I'm not sure everyone gets the point. So what if there were four founders and four magics and four Sentinels and all that? Well, there were four artifacts too I guess, and then four people went and used the spell from the scroll to call up those dragons during the Voldemort battle, so there's symbolism there too, but really, those coincidences happen regardless. I can cast a spell seven times or with seven people, but that doesn't make it significant. How can you tell when it's coincidence and when it's not? In any case, this stuff doesn't seem to have anything to do with real magic at all."

"It has everything to do with all sorts of magic, and in fact, everything else in our lives as well," Hermione explained, trying not to get frustrated. "What are traditions, but symbols of the past? When we pass on those traditions, we are passing on key information from times long gone. Just as the future is defined by the choices we make, it is also very much defined by everything that happened and everything that lived before the present. And our decisions will effect generations to come until the end of time."

Some of the class looked blankly up towards her, while others twirled pens, passed notes, and attempted to dose off without looking as if they were dosing off. Why weren't they getting it, Hermione wondered.

"All right, let's see just how well you listened to what I've been talking about. Get out some paper, we're going to have a quiz," Hermione said with a sigh. It was after she marked them that evening that she knew for certain she had a problem.

Jennifer came into the library with a book list in hand, a bit surprised to see Hermione slumped over her desk in a depression, barely even glancing at the stack of books in front of her. Jennifer walked up and tapped on the desk to get her attention, and Hermione straightened up, looking glum.

"Teaching troubles, huh?" Jennifer asked.

"I gave a pop quiz today. Corey was the only one that passed it," Hermione said, earning a wince from Jennifer. "They're falling asleep in my class. They don't seem to get it at all. And even Corey doesn't see much of a point. I am such a lousy teacher. I should have stuck to just being the librarian."

"Hermione," Jennifer sighed slightly, sitting down. "Is it possible that perhaps you're trying just a little too hard?"

"What?"

"You spend all your time lecturing and giving homework, but teaching is more than that, it's about finding out how to get through to your students. If all you do is make them memorize lists, how are they going to really learn about the subject at hand?" Jennifer asked.

"But if they're going to learn Symbology, of course they're going to need to learn what individual symbols mean."

"But that's just the trouble, the symbols don't mean anything to them," Jennifer said. "Look, I'm not going to tell you how to teach. You know the drill, you passed the test…you need to develop your own style, and nobody can help you with that. But I will offer you one leg of advice. Don't tell them, show them," she smiled. "Get them involved somehow instead of just sitting and listening all the time."

"But how do I do that?" Hermione asked.

"I think you can figure that part out for yourself," Jennifer said encouragingly. "Now how about helping me track down some of these books?"

"Dark Wizard History, tenth century volume, yes I remember I checked this out before when we were trying to find out information on Janus Craw," Hermione said, scanning the list.

"I need to find anything that might give some hint to where he might have gone when he left the school," Jennifer said. "Apparently, his son was never sure."

"Yes, I remember that. After he left, no one ever heard from him again," Hermione said, glancing over the list once more then looking around. A ghostly figure was standing near the book rack, organizing the books that had just come in. She was a fairly young woman in a long, very old fashioned dress and yet somehow seemed to manage to blend right in to the quiet library, she herself very pensive indeed as she gazed out the window before getting back to her work. "Dame Rachel? Has Dark Wizard History Volume X come back in yet?"

"No, Madame. I believe Professor Archibald still has it. He was working on something for his class," Dame Rachel answered.

"Oh, well, if he's using it for class, it can wait," Jennifer assured them. "I'm sure there has to be something else in all of this that might tell where Janus Craw was going."

"I suppose you've already checked his journals?" Dame Rachel asked.

"Journals?" Jennifer said in surprise.

"Yes, he was a chronic chronicler," Rachel said with a chuckle. "I remember him well. He often spoke to the ghosts around the castle, not that there were so many of us then. But he always kept a written diary of everything and spent many hours in this library researching one thing or another."

"What happened to his journals, then?" Jennifer asked. "Are they here in the castle?"

"They're not in the library," Dame Rachel said with certainty.

"Perhaps they're in the Craw vault?" Hermione suggested. Jennifer got out her Puzzlebox from her cloak, opening to take out a list, scanning down it.

"I don't see anything in here that might be it," Jennifer said with a frown. "But I know things had been taken from it, and not everything got in the vault… some of it was sold."

"Surely no one would have sold that," Hermione said.

"Audi was the one who put together the vault, so I'll ask her if she saw it," Jennifer decided, putting the list back. "Maybe then we'll know if it was sold or it was stolen. Either way, I'm sure I have to find them now."

"Why, what is so important that you need to find out where he went?" Hermione asked.

"Dusthorn thinks he had gone off to find Dagda's Cauldron. So if someone else has a hold of those books, they might also have the key to finding it," Jennifer said.

"They might already have it," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Or, it might not show anything at all."

"We have some more books on the Cauldron too, if you like," Rachel smiled. "Shall I retrieve them?"

"Rachel, I don't know what I'd do without such an able assistant," Hermione praised her. She smiled slightly, looking amused.

"Yes, thank you. I hear that a lot," she replied, turning and fading into a bookshelf.

"How did she die, anyhow?" Jennifer whispered to Hermione curiously.

"Oh, she told me she died giving birth to a child that wasn't hers," Hermione said. "But it's not something she's willing to really talk about." Jennifer puzzled over that for a moment, but before long her hands were filled with books, and she went back down to her office.

It was not long after she settled down to read that Severus arrived, shutting the door so quickly to that Jennifer looked up with surprise, staring at the fury in his expression.

"I just received a note from Audi. Apparently, Fudge has gotten himself a pardon."

"What?" Jennifer said, taking the note Severus held out to her.

"By the Minister of Mysteries, for 'undercover services rendered.'" Severus snarled.

"Wait a minute, they can't do that unless…"

"Unless something about the crime specifically had to do with the undercover work itself. Yes, I know the law well, how else would I be standing here? But what I want to know is how stealing the Staff could be in anyway related to undercover work, let alone stealing items out of your vault…"

"Technically that wasn't stealing though, he had legal possession of the vault at that point," Jennifer said, looking thoughtful.

"Illegal possession of cursed items, then. Not to mention what he tried to do to you and my sister. I swear that if he gets anywhere near either of you again, he will have to deal with me," Severus swore, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"I wonder if he has Janus Craw's journals too," Jennifer conjectured. Severus stopped his pacing to look at her.

"What journals? What do they have to do with anything?" Severus asked irritably.

"According to Dusthorn, Janus Craw left to look for Dagda's Cauldron. So I went down to the library to ask Hermione to help me find out more, and then Dame Rachel said she thought he had some missing journals somewhere," Jennifer explained. "But they're not in my vault, so that means they were either sold at the auction, or Fudge got them out of the vault. Audi would know for sure…"

"And you were going to include me on this, when?" he asked, folding his arms.

"I'm telling you about it now," Jennifer pointed out. "I just found out last night when I went to check on Corey. But if Fudge had the journals and they did say something about the Cauldron, then why would he have gone to the trouble of getting the Staff to search for the Cauldron in the Tomb?" she mused. "It obviously wasn't down there." Severus frowned at her.

"I hope you're not thinking what I think you're thinking," Severus said sternly.

"Severus, the Cauldron is my responsibility, at least it will be soon," Jennifer argued. "And Janus was one of the most reputable Craws ever known. If something happened to him, isn't it my job to find out what?"

"It's your job to teach Potions to snot-nosed students who don't appreciate it, and to take care of yourself so that we can get back on schedule. But every time you get that look in your eyes, I know you're going to forget that," he replied.

"We should at least make sure those journals aren't in the wrong hands. If Fudge…"

"Jennifer, for once I am putting my foot down. I don't want you going anywhere near that man for any reason. Someone who is capable of switching sides to suit his needs is a lot more dangerous than he might appear. If you need those journals found, then fine, but I will handle it." Jennifer gazed at him for a moment before nodding, seeing full well that he wasn't going to back down this time.

"All right, Severus. I'll just work on seeing what information I can get here at the castle," Jennifer agreed. Severus nodded to her, turning towards his office and wondering what they had gotten themselves into this time.