Chapter Twelve
Ways of Getting Through
November proved to be brisk and windy, the quickly browning leaves twisting in the wind outside as the students excitedly prepared for another Hogsmeade trip. Jennifer hummed softly as she made her way in from Sagittari's Hut, taking the long way to her office so as to be able to peek in on Severus' class, listening to his lecture.
"Anyone who gave any wrong answers on this test, I expect for you to turn in complete explanations of the appropriate way of handling each situation and exact details why you believe your answer was wrong. It might interest you to know that according to these test scores, if any of you actually had to face any of these creatures, half the class would be dead right now," Severus snarled at the class. "Wipe that smug look off your face, Miss Ames, just because you only got one wrong doesn't mean you weren't on that list. Life doesn't allow for second chances. As for you, Miss Willowby, you missed so many that I'm quite surprised you even managed to get as far as this classroom without something picking you off as an easy target." Essie shrunk back in her seat, more out of embarrassment than any true fear of Snape. Many of the other Hufflepuffs were gulping slightly, while across the room most of the Slytherin were sniggering at her.
Snape whipped quickly around with his wand and unlatched the door of the supplies closet behind the Slytherins, and suddenly a ferocious lion headed beast with bat wings burst out of it, the class screaming in panic. Severus rolled his eyes as they scrambled towards the back of the class, and he grabbed hold of Essie by the back of her robe, pushing her forward.
"You. Handle it," he told her. Essie gulped, not remembering anything on her homework sheet that looked like that. Suddenly it changed, transforming into the shape of the largest bee she had ever seen. Terror gripped her, being quite allergic to them, and reason gave way to panic and she fainted. Sighing in annoyance, he pointed at one of the Slytherin students nearest to it. "Fine. Greisley, you handle it," he said. Victor took out his wand and headed over to the beast as it began to change again, catching it before it had time to completely transform.
"Riddikulus!" Victor said, pointing at the Boggart. The Boggart suddenly took the shape of Essie, and the Slytherins all began to laugh, startling it. Angela Ames, who didn't see anything funny about it, took a few steps up herself, casting the spell a moment later.
"Riddikulus!" she intoned, and the poor Boggart turned into a visage of Victor wearing a bunny suit. The entire class, with the exception of Victor himself, began to laugh, waking up Essie who glanced around dazedly, realizing what had happened. As the Boggart retreated back into the closet, Severus sighed and locked the door, dropping a small phial in Essie's lap while snapping at everyone to get back to their seats.
"Ames, that's a ten point deduction from Hufflepuff for casting a spell in class without being instructed to," he snapped. "Victor, five points added for recognizing and giving the appropriate response to a Boggart. I would have given you ten, except it would have been more effective if you'd given some thought to what the whole class might have thought amusing. Miss Willowby, I expect an extra paragraph on why your own response was an inappropriate response to a Boggart as well."
"Yes, Professor," Essie said meekly, inhaling the smelling vapors to clear her mind as she took her seat.
It was then that Severus was finally aware of Jennifer standing in the doorway, giving her a look that clearly showed that he thought this was going to be a very long year. In response she only smiled at him, catching him slightly off guard. She tapped the birthstone bracelet she was wearing and held up three fingers. Severus' lip twitched slightly and he nodded to her, but before the students could become too interested in trying to figure out what had quieted the Defense Professor, Jennifer slipped away, leaving Severus to bark at them for looking out doorways when they should be paying attention to him.
"Class," Hermione Granger announced as they came into the room, "This is a chessboard." That, in Corey's opinion, was an understatement; for it was definitely the biggest board he had ever seen; the pawns were standing just above his own height and the other pieces towered above them.
"Is this the chessboard?" Aelfred asked in awe, having heard stories about the whole thing from his brother.
"Yes, but don't worry. As you can see, it is quite disarmed," Hermione said. True enough, unlike a regular wizard's chessboard, these did not seem to be carrying any weapons. Several of the students noticeably relaxed. "I assume most of you know how to play. If you don't, that's all right. You may be able to pick up some things the other students miss. As you can see, the chess pieces have been moved about already as if in the middle of a game, but if you look carefully, you might begin to notice it is more than that. It is, in fact, a message from the past. Your task is to try and figure out what it is."
"Madame Granger?" Corey asked, raising a hand. She nodded to him. "I understand this is a school exercise, but, if someone wanted to leave a message, why not just write a letter?"
"Paper crumbles, stone wears, paint fades and languages change between invasions of other cultures instilling their languages over time. Even when a culture keeps the same language over centuries, the meaning of words can change as well. But symbolism in its truest sense… as in symbols of food, water, shelter, and so on, typically don't change, and with a bit of deductive reasoning, it can be more accurately interpreted than a forgotten dialect of a forgotten language. Now, I all want you to look around a bit, and speak up if you see anything unusual." The students began to walk around it, studying it.
"Well, for one thing, it's not a complete set because there's a king missing," Doug said immediately, walking around the edge of the board. "The black one's gone."
"The black bishop is definitely in trouble," Julie pointed out, not about to be shown up by her younger brother. "It's here between two white castles on the wrong side. That black knight two paces in front of them could take them, I suppose."
"But both black castles are right in front of the white ones," Taylor said, frowning. "I wonder how they got turned around?"
"And look at these four pawns in the center of the board, one black, three white, but all facing outward from the center," Corey added, gingerly stepping onto of the board. "And what in the world is the white king doing all the way out here unprotected? Unless you count the fact he has pawns behind him."
"Which side is the white side and which side is the black? All the pieces are facing different directions," Gail asked.
"Well, if you went by game rules, white pawns couldn't be in row 1, so I figure this side with all the black pawns would have to be," Corey reasoned.
"But there's a black pawn on this side too," Julie pointed out. "I don't think we can apply normal chess rules here."
"I say, that black castle needs to get out of the way so that the black bishop can get out before the white queen trounces on them," said Taylor.
"What's the point of trying to get the bishop when there's not even a king? They've already lost," Doug shrugged.
"We're supposed to be finding symbols, remember? Not analyzing it as a game," Julie pointed out. "If it were a normal game, the two white bishops wouldn't be on white squares, and the two black ones wouldn't be on black ones, they'd be on one of each."
"Four pawns in the center, one black," Corey said thoughtfully. "Do you suppose it represents the four houses? And this King and Queen is looking after them."
"But there isn't anyone at all on the other side, you'd think there'd be four to represent the founders or something."
"Well, yes, but look, the black bishop and black queen can get to the opposite corners easy enough if they need to be." Corey said, then suddenly stepped back. "I know what this is! We're overanalyzing it! See how there's no other pieces down D and E and 4 and 5 except the center pawns? It's separating the different houses. Each of these groups represents the different houses as they appear on the Hogwarts shield. The corner with the white knights and the king is Gryffindor."
"The one with the Queen and the pawns has got to be Ravenclaw," Doug agreed, "and it looks like the ones with the three bishops and the black knight is Slytherin."
"That makes sense, considering the Knight looks like it's about to get trounced by those bishops," Hailey said, getting a dirty look from Roger Baylor from across the board.
"That means the one with all the castles is Hufflepuff," Julie said.
"Very observant interpretation, well done," Hermione smiled.
"I keep getting the feeling there's more to it than that, even though I think they're right about the Hogwarts shield," Doug said, looking at it thoughtfully. "I keep feeling like some of these pieces are meant to represent people as well, but I couldn't guess who."
"I tell you what. First off, I had someone set this board up for me so I could remain unbiased to your interpretations, so I'm not sure even I know all the answers yet. But what we will do is leave the pieces as they are and you can observe them whenever you like. Whoever finds the most symbols and can logically explain why they think they're symbols and not just random placement, I'll award their house twenty points." A murmur of interest arose among the students. "Once we're done with this project, you're going to have a chance to make your own symbolic messages, and everyone else will get to try and figure them out. The clearer the symbols are, the better mark you'll get for this half of the term, so begin thinking about that. Now, let's get back to the classroom so we can go over next chapter's list of symbols."
As the class walked down the hall, Hermione couldn't help but notice a new enthusiasm building in the class that had never been there before and smiled with an almost relieved triumphant feeling. Perhaps now they wouldn't fall so quickly asleep when discussing their assignments, she thought with a chuckle.
A few minutes later, Dumbledore passed through the hallway, deciding to take a look inside. He gazed thoughtfully at the pieces for a long time before he turned around the opposite direction towards the Trophy Room.
If Severus was unusually restless, Jennifer didn't seem to notice. Piles of papers were stacked haphazardly among racks of phials on her desk as she planned out her midterms, while her husband had managed to make a spot for himself on the table as he looked over his own. Every now and then he would gaze at his watch expectantly before returning back to work, then glanced out the tiny barred window at the grey, late November sky. Just then there was a rapping sound and several letters flew in. Looking relieved, Jennifer immediately got up and retrieved them.
"Oh, here's one with a Muggle post address! I bet it's from Doctor Linde," Jennifer said.
"Good, then maybe you'll break long enough to actually eat something," Severus said in a scolding tone.
He knew quite well she would skip meals altogether if he didn't remind her. In fact, in some ways she had become even more engulfed in work than he was; a fact that sometimes made him rather concerned. Still, she hadn't pushed her luck too far this year, and she hadn't been in the extraordinary amount of trouble she normally would have been in by now. Muttering a soft complaint about the state of her desk, he moved some of the test phials over in order to break out the dinner tray, which quickly filled with warm soup and flatbread. Jennifer opened the letter and sat back down, putting the rest on the desk as she munched on the bread thoughtfully.
"So, what sort of odd procedure is he writing about this time?" Severus asked, glancing at his watch one more time before straightening up his work, marking his place with his golden snake bookmark.
"Something called ultrasound. They have something that bounces sound waves off things, and even inside things. He says they can actually use it to see a picture of a baby still in its mother, and even tell if they're a boy or girl or not."
"All that fuss over something that can be accomplished with a needle and a string," Severus said, glancing over the other mail.
"Perhaps I'll explain about that in my next letter," Jennifer said, looking up thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll actually try finding out this time. It wouldn't hurt knowing beforehand. I don't know, Severus. What would you rather have this round, a boy or a girl?"
"Girl," Severus said.
"Really?" Jennifer asked. He looked over at her when surprise registered in her voice, a flicker of a smile showing his amusement.
"At least then we don't have to worry about your father's reaction when he finds out we're going to call the next boy Andrew whether he likes it or not." Severus said.
"Oh, Severus, really," Jennifer said, carefully folding the note and putting it with her other pen pal letters. "I know you don't like going up against Dad any more than I do, but it's our child not his, and I'm not going to let him bully us into changing our minds again. If he doesn't want Andrew associated as a Craw, fine. I'll pick another middle name, but I still have every intention of using the name if we have another boy."
"I have the perfect suggestion," Severus said, and then frowned at his watch. "But it'll have to wait until I get back to discuss it. I need to take care of something."
"What, now? But you have an early class tomorrow," Jennifer said, looking up at him suspiciously. "Can't it wait until the weekend?"
"We have a Hogsmeade trip to chaperone this weekend," Severus reminded her, putting on his cloak. "I won't be long. Why don't you take the rest of the test keys and bring them up to our room so that we can finish them when I get back? And eat something," he commanded with a scowl.
"My stomach is rolling," Jennifer grumbled, and he immediately took a phial off the shelf, handing her a morning sickness potion. He turned around and hissed in a long melodic tone as if having a rather long conversation. The monitor basilisk, who had been napping behind the door, woke up and crawled over next to the desk, glancing at Jennifer balefully.
"I'll know if you don't eat," Severus said with a warning smile.
"I can take care of myself," Jennifer replied irritably, but Severus Disapparated without responding. Sighing in annoyance, Jennifer took her potion and drank a little of the soup before bribing Rasputin with a dish of stoned raw meat. Satisfied that the lizard would be too sleepy to report to his owner, Jennifer grinned and slipped off to the library to meet up with Hermione.
If there was one thing that Ginny Weasley could count on, it was that the Burrow never changed. No matter how long she was gone, it was the same old place, her bedroom untouched (despite occasional threats by her Mum to turn it into a sewing room) and her brothers popping in, usually unannounced but always expected.
It hadn't taken her long to get her Mum to go along with her plans for an American style Thanksgiving that year; any reason to cook and get as many children and guests as possible together was a good enough excuse for Molly.
Her father was not back from work until dusk, coming in and sniffing the air experimentally with a cheerful smile as Ginny and George, who was sitting expectantly at the table, greeted him warmly.
"Hullo! Hullo! Welcome home, Ginny! My, something smells good. Is that turkey? Are we rehearsing for Christmas?" he asked.
"Well, since I come home during American Thanksgiving every year, I was starting to feel left out, so I thought I'd bring it with me," Ginny said.
"Ah yes, it's that eat yourself silly and watch American football holiday! Ludo told me all about it," Arthur said, a humorous tone in his voice. "He's brought it up many times trying to get us to declare a national Quidditch day. Where's Harry?"
"Helping Ron put out garden gnomes in the yard," Molly said, testing the gravy.
"Molly! You don't have world renowned Aurors putting out garden gnomes!" Arthur said, looking shocked.
"As if I could stop him. He volunteered to help," Molly said, smiling at Ginny. "You know how he is, always lending a hand. Besides, he's practically your son-in-law, and he should be treated like one of the family."
"If you ask me, he volunteers too much," Ginny said, drying her hands on a towel and sitting down for a moment. "Especially when we're here. Every time we come back for a vacation, someone always comes over to ask him to help with something. But I made him promise this time that he was going to take it easy and not let anyone get him involved with things."
"A pie crust promise if I ever heard one," Molly said with a smile and a shake of the head. "You can't change who he is, you know, and as much as he'd probably like to do it to make you happy, something is bound to come up."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Ginny chuckled.
"Dad's home, does that mean we're about ready to eat then?" George inquired, helping himself to a spoonful of whipped cream.
"Just about, dear, so why don't you pull the horn so we see how many places to set?" Molly said.
"If Fred shows up, I'm not staying," George said, getting up. "I'll eat in my room."
"You'll eat with the family or not at all! You both are getting too old for this sort of feuding," Molly nagged him.
"He's the one that started it. I can't believe he sold our patent for Shrunken Head Biscuits to Shimpling's Comedy Factory without consulting me. From now on, he can come up with his own ideas. I'm not helping him," George said resolutely before heading up the stairs to the top floor to blow the air horn.
Outside, Ron stood up, wiping his dirty hands off on his pants, calling to Harry to get his attention. Harry, who had just finished winding up the gnome, turned around to look, the dizzy gnome still in his hand.
"Dinner time, the whistle just blew. Chuck that last one, we'd better go in," Ron said.
"If you say so," Harry grinned, pitching the gnome over the wall. Although he hadn't heard the air horn himself not being a Weasley, he was quite aware of it being there, for Ginny heard it often enough even from where they stayed in Pittsburgh. No matter where they were or what they were doing, all of Arthur and Molly's children heard it, and so there was always a chance on any given night of having any number of Weasleys over at the Burrow. Never had Harry ever felt at home as strongly as he did there, often finding himself spending more time at the Weasley's than his own home just up the road. Arthur greeted them immediately as they came in, shaking Harry's hand only to be sent along with Harry and Ron to the sink to wash them.
"Where's Hermione? Is she coming tonight as well?" Molly asked, handing George a stack of plates to set.
"She'll probably be late if she does," Ron sighed. "She's been working late with Jennifer nearly every night. They're trying to find clues to where they might find Dagda's Cauldron."
"Dagda's Cauldron?" Harry repeated with interest. Ginny gave him a dirty look.
"Apparently, Janus Craw went to look for it when he disappeared, so Jennifer's trying to find out where they went," Ron nodded. "And you know Hermione, she's been driving me crazy talking about it, dragging me to libraries, you name it."
"If anyone can track it down, Jennifer and Hermione can. That reminds me, I need to get with Dumbledore about something," Arthur said thoughtfully, getting out a piece of notepaper.
"What about that reminds you that you need to talk to Dumbledore?" Harry asked curiously.
"I'm sure it's nothing that concerns us," Ginny said quickly. "Oh look, here comes Bill and Heather! Hello Bill!"
"Hi Bill," George said, making sure he put out enough places.
"Well, look at this! What's the occasion?" he asked with a grin, stepping into the kitchen.
"A birthday perhaps?" Bill's girlfriend asked. She was a tall girl with long blonde hair, a Muggle archaeologist, Ginny remembered.
They had just started going out over the summer after an expedition in India, but if he was comfortable enough to bring her home and into the magic world, she was sure he was a bit more serious about this one than some in the past. It was also obvious that their parents adored her, especially when Arthur began fussing for her to sit down next to him at the dinner table.
"It rather looks like a rehearsal for Christmas," Bill joked.
"That's what I said too," Arthur said amused. "It's something Ginny wanted to do for her four day break, isn't it wonderful?"
"Hi Mum, Dad, Bill, Heather, Ron, Ginny, and Harry."
Ginny looked up as Fred came in then did a double take, her eyes growing wide. Molly, in fact, dropped the pot she was holding, but fortunately some speedy House Elves must have grabbed it before it hit the floor, for it appeared on the stove again.
"Fred Weasley, what have you done to your hair?" Molly asked, looking disapprovingly at his glossy black hair.
"I dyed it," Fred explained, kissing her cheek and trying to pick a seat furthest from his twin. "I didn't want anyone mistaking me for the enemy."
"Who's whose enemy? I didn't sell one of your inventions!" George retorted.
"It was one of our inventions. And it paid us off and got us out of the red! I swear you've no business sense."
"We wouldn't have been in the red if you hadn't gambled with our expense accounts."
"It wasn't gambling. It was investing in a potentially lucrative product."
"There was no market in it!"
"What were you investing in?" Harry interrupted curiously.
"Talking toilet seats," Fred said. "Honestly, they were hilarious."
"All they did was tell bathroom jokes!" George said.
"Well what do you expect a talking toilet seat to tell?" Fred said back.
"Is this appropriate dinner conversation?" Arthur asked in a loud, obviously annoyed tone. "Your sister went to an awful lot of trouble to set this up. I suggest if the two of you can't say anything decent to each other you can at least keep quite for her sake!"
Just then there was a knock on the door, and Ginny sighed in relief.
"Perhaps that's Percy?" Harry suggested hopefully, looking for a distraction.
"Nonsense dear, a Weasley wouldn't bother knocking," Molly said as Arthur headed to the door. After a moment he came back, looking over at Harry.
"It's for you, Harry, it's Severus Snape. I asked him in but… well, in any case, he wants to know if you can speak with him a moment," Arthur said.
"I knew it, I just knew it!" Ginny said with exasperation. "Harry Potter…"
"Ginny, he just wants to speak with me. I'll just be a moment," Harry said, getting up.
"You promised!" she reminded him.
"I'll be right back," Harry promised again, looking over at her sincerely. "But I have to talk to him if he needs me, it's Severus," he explained, heading over to the door. Ginny folded her arms as she watched him step out the door.
"If it's not Severus, it's Sirius. If it's not Sirius, it's Dumbledore or Vallid. One of these days I'm going to find a place to take him where nobody can find us," Ginny swore. Arthur chuckled.
"That I don't see happening, Ginny. You're just going to have to learn to share him with the rest of the world, at least to some level," Arthur said.
"Facing a thousand dangers, dozens of dark wizards, having one scrape after another when he's already done more than his fair share," Ginny said, shaking her head. "While I stay back at Healer's School and learn how to patch him up afterwards."
"So what you're really saying is that you want to go along?" Ron asked slyly. Ginny stared at him for a while.
"Of course I do! But I can't seem to get that through to him," Ginny said. "He just keeps going off and adventuring without me."
"Dear, you can't get through to men by using words," Molly chuckled, then winked. "rolling pins are much more effective, you know."
"I heard that," Arthur said, earning a round of chuckles from everyone. Harry returned a moment later, sitting beside Ginny.
"Sorry about that, I just needed to take care of something," Harry said to them, turning to Ginny. "Would you mind terribly if I went out for an hour or so after dinner tomorrow? I need to talk to someone in London."
"Mum, can I have the rolling pin now?" Ginny asked. Molly thought about it a moment.
"Not until you're married, dear," she said, earning another round of chuckles around the table.