Meeting Snuffles
Disclaimer- I'm not sure what I own. Okay... I know. I own NOTHING! Now go away and let me manipulate J.K. Rowlings' characters in my insanity.
Prologue
Maunders Don't Need Plans
Leaning against my bedpost, sun streaming through my window, I'm at a lose as to what I should do. I probably should do something helpful.
"Ah well, that'd ruin the summer."
So I just lean over and scratch Snuffles. Now, Snuffles is an odd dog. I've met a lot of odd people here at Hogemeade's child shelter (that's where I live) so I suppose a big, black dog that only answers to the name Snuffles shouldn't be a big deal. But it bugs me. And the fact Snuffles can always find me. That can made hide-and-seek really boring. Anyway, the sun was setting and tomorrow I would be sure to get my grades from sixth year. Since school ends before all the teachers at Hogwarts can finish grading finals, the results get sent home by owl. At least that's the way it works for the Hogwarts students living in Hogsmeade. I usually do okay on finals. Usually, but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach about my Potions exam this year. I groaned.
"This isn't good." Snuffles looked up at me questioningly.
"I think we all know if Madam Bell sees what that creep Snape gave me in Potions, I'm dead meat. You'll probably get kicked out." Snuffles (who had been ignoring my explanation) looked up at this. It never ceased to amaze me who well Snuffles understood me. Well, I'd read somewhere once that said wizarding animals were smarter than normal ones. This apparently extended to dogs. I smiled down at Snuffles. I wasn't really sure about 'tampering' with owl post, but images of Madam Bell taking away my wand firmed my resolve.
"Come on , we've got a report card to steal!"
"There it is!" I whispered fiercely. And there it was. Several letters had just arrived, barring the Hogwarts crest. My report was sure to be in there *somewhere*. Going against my own summer religion I had woken up very early the past few weeks so I could fetch the mail. Unfortunately, I was not the only student year worried about their vacation. Dean Thomas, a 5th year, was already out there snatching up the mail.
"Dean!" I whispered loudly, afraid to wake the Bell family. "Come back here!"
Dean froze before he realized I wasn't an adult.
"Kate! You scared me!"
"Sorry." I muttered. "Well, hand mine over."
Dean grumbled. "I can't tell these things apart..."
I looked down and discovered all the letters baring the Hogwarts seal said simply 'The guardians Mr. and Mrs. Liam Bell.' "Bugger! what're we going to do now?" Dean shrugged, prepared to face his fate when Madame Bell discovered his failing grade (probably in Potions, Snape was the same to all Gryffindors) and got his wand taken away for the summer (or whatever Madam Bell knew he liked the most).
"Potions?" I questioned, not sure what to do now. Dean nodded helplessly. We must look pretty funny. Two young magical kids standing outside in their pajamas and soaking their socks on the wet grass. Wait, we still had our wands, didn't we? "Dean, lets open them up." Dean looked horrified.
"Silly git, we can just use a repair charm if they're not ours!"
"Right, good idea." Kate paused a moment in silent thanks Dean didn't share many of her classes or friends and didn't expect her to get good grades. Sometimes it was nice for people to expect nothing of you. The two Gryffindors headed inside with their loot, triumphant. Several minutes later found them sitting at the kitchen table shuffling thought letters.
"Any luck, Dean?" I questioned. Three letters sat in front of me, all opened. One belonged to Dean's younger brother, Chris, who had just started school last year (Ravenclaw). And twins, Amanda and Lauren Coon (Slytherin). Dean shook his head.
"I've got Chris's, Amy and Lauren's. We'd better hurry up." I nodded towards the rising sun. Dean gulped. I think Snuffles rolled his eyes, but I wasn't sure. Dean and I quickly reached for the last two letters at the same time.
"Ready?"
"Ready." I ripped open the letter I had grabbed. It had to be mine, just had too! I was extremely worried Madam Bell would find us. She was always up before me...
"This's mine!" I said in an above average volume whisper. Whipping out the page with my grades, I carefully examined it, scanning for my Potions grade.
"Whoa...." Dean looked at me.
"I passed! Can you believe it, I *actually* passed Potions!!" I was stunned. Apparently I had interpreted Snape's 'you could have had a passing grade but I ruined your chances at a Ministry job stupid Gryffindor' smirk with his 'there was no way I could fail you so I'm just going to have to and kill you now' sneer. Well they all looked the same anyway. Dean ginned back at me.
"Me too. Looks like the greasy-haired git couldn't fail us. Dumbledore musta been watching!"
"Must have." Suddenly Snuffles jumped up and started growling.
"Bugger! Someone must be coming!" I grabbed Dean's hand and we flew out the back door. As soon as we were out of hearing distance and surrounded by other people's home, Dean paused for a moment then sat down, covering his face with his hands.
"Dean?" What was wrong with him?
"We forgot to seal the letters up."
"Bugger!" We are in so much trouble. I wonder, did Dean know a Charm that could root people to the ground on the spot? Probably not, or I would remember it. Damage control was nonexistent, since somebody else was already downstairs. Neither of us could go back and seal up the letters now. So I did the only thing I could. I turned to Snuffles.
"Snuffles?" The large black dog, who had been listening to our conversation and knew how much trouble we could get landed in, looked ready to roll on the ground laughing.
"This isn't funny! You have to help us!" Snuffles gave me a look that clearly said. 'What's in it for me?'
"I really don't have time for this! My life is at stake." The bloody dog just looked at me.
"Fine already. I'll nick you a chicken. The whole thing. Cooked." Snuffles bounded off happily. Dean looked confused at the silent communication that had passed between me and my dog.
"What just happened?" He asked, awe finding it's was into his voice.
"Snuffles is going to try to fix the mess we left." Dean looked properly impressed.
"Then what was that business about the chicken?" Dean wondered out loud. I could feel my cheeks heat up and I looked down.
"Well, ah... you see, Snuffles hates dog food. Even the wizarding brand. So I give him human food, sometimes. Chicken's his favorite." Dean just shook his head.
"Girls." He muttered under his breath and I pretended not to hear him. The comment was quite rude of him. After all, hadn't my being a *girl* just saved our butts?
"Alright, ungrateful little boy, lets go home already." Dean nodded in agreement.
As we walked home, we passed several of the shops in Hogsmeade. Dean was seriously considering the time was right to raid Zonkos until I reminded him of his nonexistent pocket money. I personally wanted to owl some of my friends (wizarding and muggle) about my luck in potions. Dean laughed at me.
"C'mon Kate. I want to get home." I grumbled about boys and their lack of proper judgment, enjoying the bright summer sun. I couldn't hear any birds singing or anything romantic, but everything was *so* green, I gave up trying to talk Dean into giving me a few minutes to owl people and challenged him to a race home.
Liam Bell was an Auror. And as such, he noticed the little details and took careful note of them. So he was confused to find the mail sitting inside, unopened. None of his children adopted or otherwise, got up early. This wasn't the only thing puzzling him. 'Snuffles,' as everyone referred to him, was an ongoing mystery to him. The dog tugged at a thought, but every time he reached for it, the memory (he was sure it was a memory) became muddled. The object of his puzzling was sitting on the floor, panting at him. Liam knew the snuffles question (as he called it in his head) wasn't going to be solved this instant, so he went to go check on the cooling charms. Already they were deteriorating. 'It's going to be another scorcher' Liam thought. The whole summer had been odd. The weather had been nice early on in the spring, then froze over, usually with snow covering the new grass. Then a cold spring had lasted much longer than it should, like it was making up for the nice weather. Now summer was upon Hogsmeade and it hadn't rained in a month. At least. A magical fire crackled to life somewhere in the house. Liam summoned some coffee and pushed all puzzles not relating to work from his mind. If the office was calling the early in the morning, it wasn't going to be a good day.
Amy and Lauren Coon shared a bed. It wasn't like they needed to or anything. Since they lived in the only all-wizarding town in Europe, magical house expansion was limited only by the Ministry (they drew the line at swimming pools floating ten feet above a home). But when the twins slept in different rooms, and sometimes beds, they had horrible nightmares. Nobody needed to ask about who. In fact, Amy and Lauren weren't the only children in the Bell house with recurring nightmares. The Thomas boys, Amy, Lauren and several other children who had already moved out had lost their families to Voldemort (what? you thought Harry Potter was the only orphan?). Liam and Fey Bell had no children of their own, at least not that the twins knew of. But the twins never left each other's side for long, so their espionage skills left much to be desired. Nobody would have been surprised when they trooped downstairs holding hands and wearing identical Slytherin sneers. *Slytherin* sneers, the type used by people who never stopped acting for that invisible audience. Unfortunately for them, no-one was in the family room to witness their performance. Mister Bell had left for Alastor Moody's office only moments before. So they sat down by the couch facing the stairway and waited for everyone to wake up. Needless to say they were both floored when Kate Bell and Dean Thomas stumbled in the front door, sweaty and panting. Snuffles padded in, raised a shaggy eyebrow with and expression that clearly said '*somebody* got some action!' The twins made the obvious conclusion.
Kate looked up to see the twins wide awake (thought still in fluffy green pajamas) and closing in for the kill. Lauren opened her mouth to speak, mirroring her sister's predatory grin. Before either twin could otter a word Kate interrupted.
"This isn't what it looks like. Really!"
Amy said nothing but started moving around her and Dean. Lauren quickly followed suit. Kate was mildly amused with the twins until she realized *what* exactly they were doing. They were circling, much like a hawk circles it's prey before claiming it's meal. 'This isn't good. The last time they circled a person, Chris cried himself to sleep for weeks!' Kate thought frantically. The situation suddenly seemed much less humorous.
"Really? What does it look like to you, Amy?" Lauren asked. Dean also remembered the Chris incident and looked as terrified as Kate felt. The twins were always brutal with their taunting and they took extreme pleasure in whispering personal secrets to gossipers. Kate and Dean knew Amy and Lauren would push their advantage to get favors and information about Gyffindors. Slytherins to the core, the twins would ruin their lives, even about something as little as this.
"We're going to die." Dean mumbled. Amy stood to their right, smirking. Both Slytherins had stopped circling in favor of standing in front of the Gryffindors, savoring victory and letting tension build. The explanation about just walking died on Kate's lips. It sounded too innocent. Kate decided to try anyway. After all, it was the truth, wasn't it?
"I went outside for fresh air, Dean followed me and we raced home. That's *all*." Kate said, trying to sound firm.
Snuffles shook his head in disgust.
Amy ignored her comment. She tossed aside the excuse like a dead rat the cat brings in and said.
"Looks to me like two Gryffindors were out snogging, Lauren." Lauren shook her head in disgust.
"They're like little rabbits, aren't they?" Lauren agreed. Kate was left wondering how they could continue the 'what it looks like' conversation without a slip-up. Dean covered his ears.
"I am *not* hearing this!!!" Amy's eyes brightened with even more maniac intensity, if such a thing was humanly possible.
"Looks like little Deanie fancies Katherine." She commented. Kate thought dean looked ready to cry. Still, she was startled by Amy's revelation. Could she be right?
Dean surprised everyone. He stood up to his full height, (mere inches shorter than Ron Weasley, who was freakishly tall already) his cheeks stained crimson and said,
"Like you two fancy the twins, eh?"
"Okay Dean, it's your funeral. Amy, Lauren, have at him. Right Thomas?" Kate said. The question didn't register with Dean, because he just nodded mutely. He was busy starring at the twins.
Their sneers were plastered on, but grimaces shown through. The change from playful (in that head ripping sort of way) to broken to pure anger was remarkable. Dean shook in his boots.
Just then Madam Bell walked in.
"Liam's off to work already. Quite early too. I'll get breakfast started." She said to no-one in particular. Then she noticed the near catastrophe in the family room.
"Good heavens! What's going on in here?" She looked startled. Nobody answered her, but Amy and Lauren about-faced stiffly and walked out over to the couch and returned to their original position, facing the stairway. Kate doubted the last child sleeping, Dean's younger brother Chris, would escape their wrath. Fey Bell huffed and turned on the WWN with a flick of her wand. While the Owls played on the wizarding radio, Dean frantically searched for missing limbs. Dean consoled himself that he was still alive because the Owl's song 'Your Magic' would *not* be playing in heaven (the boy band craze had hit Britain as well, the Owls being just one among the many *NSYNC look-a-likes). The twins looked visibly calmed by the music, but the instant Madam Bell disappeared around the corner into the kitchen, Lauren and Amy sneered at Dean.
"You'll pay for that, Gryffindor." Lauren whispered, her voice full of menace. Amy said nothing, but her glare was a silent threat in itself. Kate could also see betrayal shinning in her eyes. Kate led Dean into the hall, thanking Merlin his guts weren't splattered all over the hall. Kate wasn't sure she would have minded too much, thought. The twins may be nasty (okay, damn near evil) but they were her sisters.
They had told her about their crush on the Weasley twins almost two years ago. Amy liked George and Lauren, Fred. Kate was just amazed they could tell the twins *apart*. Less than half the Gryffindor dorm could do that. Kate suggested they get on the twins good side. And even first years knew the way to Fred and George's heart was through pranks.
The plan was set. Amy and Lauren had learned the Head Boy's room viva Penelope, (who blushed the whole time) and learned of a secret entrance for Slytherins only. The Weasley's older brother, Percy, just happened to be Head Boy that year. It was the perfect plan. Until George pushed Amy away without even hearing of the secret passage and Fred rudely told Lauren they *already* knew every passageway in the castle. The boys claimed Amy and Lauren just wanted to lure away for Sirius Black to murder. That was one of the few arguments the girls ever backed down from.
They were going into seventh year, just like Kate, but Slytherin grudges could last lifetimes. Besides, Kate was almost certain they still fancied the twins. She couldn't explain all that to Dean, thought. He was, after all, just a boy.
Dean looked at her curiously.
"Dean, I can't begin to tell you what an idiot you are!"
"What did I... wait, do the twins really like Fred and George?"
"Yes." Dean looked excited. He finally had something against the twins. Kate glared at him.
"Don't even think about Dean. If you try, they'll kill you. Haven't you seen what they almost did to you today? Besides, Amy and Lauren are your sisters!" Dean looked abashed. Family loyalty was very important in the Bells. In fact, Dean's loyalty to family was what got him into Gryffindor.
"I wouldn't a very good Gryffindor if I did that...." Dean muttered.
"Dean, can you keep this too yourself?"
"...yeh. I understand." Kate nodded.
"Good to hear, mate. I hear squeaks, so your Ravenclaw brother must be up." Dean smiled, and they headed back into the family room.
Liam was right. It wasn't going to be a good day. Alastor was here. At the Auror Head Quarters. Alastor Moody, who was supposed to be retired, back a work. Not the sign of a good day. Mad-Eye Moody had braved the floo network (after several hours of searching for curses in the net) to stupify the new secretary in his office. Now, nestled among his many Dark Arts sensors and spy tools, he looked like the proud owner of his own branch at Madame Pandora's (Charmed) Protection/Detection Devices of the Paranoid. It was quite disturbing, really to see the old coot running amok with his electric blue eye and hip flask, muttering 'constant vigilance' at everyone.
'Things must be really serious if Moody was called in!' Mad-Eye was even more paranoid after last year, and if his expertise was needed, things must be down right awful.
"Liam. Good to see you." Moody said in his usual gruff tone. Seemingly independent of it's owner, his magical eye was carefully checking the doorway into his office for other Aurors.
"What's going on, Alastor?" Liam questioned, completely ignoring the welcome. Moody never offered greetings unless he wanted to avoid a subject. Things were getting worse and worse, but the Auror swallowed his worry and waited for orders. Moody smiled at him, twisting all his scars and emphasizing the chunk missing in his nose. Liam smiled back.
"Right to the point. Wonderful to see all the Aurors haven't gone soft." Liam's' Slytherin-like perception hadn't deserted him. Alastor was defiantly hiding something. 'But what could it be?' Liam resolved to find out.
"Alastor. What's happening?" Moody nodded.
"Not to be distracted. Well, I believe you recall year before last when Black was spotted in Cullsmeade?" Liam nodded to Moody.
It had been one of the hardest times in his life, knowing that a mass-murderer had been spotted in muggle Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade was all wizarding, but there was a mountain south of Hogsmeade that separated it from Cullsmeade, or muggle Hogsmeade as magic people call it.
Before Albus Dumbledore's time, Hogsmeade was like every other village, town or city. Muggle and Magical folk co-existed, although the former remained unaware of the latter. The famous Shrieking Shack had gained it's reputation when it emitted strange noises until every muggle had escaped over the mountain. The Wizarding community realized it's chance and quickly set up strong muggle-repellent charms all around Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade citizens remained in fear of the Shrieking Shack even after the haunting ended. Open-minded historians believe the 'haunting' was caused by early followers of Grindelwald. This theory was dropped when the Shack resumed shrieking in the 1970-80's (which Liam later discovered was Remus Lupin).
Liam pulled himself out of history as Moody continued.
"Fudge got to thinking he needs to be more popular to the common wizard, and instead of promising to relax magical restrictions like everybody else, he wants Black. Thinks that sending the murderer back to Azkaban will set the popularity poles in his favor." Liam understood why the minister was refocusing efforts against Black. If he wanted to stay Minister of Magic, he needed supporters. And fast.
Liam caught the tone of disgust in Moody's voice. He understood that too. There were much more important things to worry about. Like the rise of the Dark Lord. Alastor and Liam knew, but few Ministry workers had students going to Hogwarts, and Author Weasley had little sway in the Ministry. But what did this have to do with him? Liam was better suited for interrogation, not field work, and Alastor knew it.
"Hogsmeade and Cullsmeade are the only leads we have for the Black case. Your the only local Auror we have. People will talk to you, and you should be able to pick up some leads. I'm leaving you in charge of this case, in fact. I hope my trust is not misplaced."
Liam was stunned. He nodded dumbly and turned out the door. He walked slowly down a hallway and out of the squat set of buildings known as Auror HQ (Mad-Eye insisted AHQ be non-Apparatable). As Liam walked, thoughts traveled across his mind with no apparent reason. Moody rarely ever entrusted a case from the Minister of Magic to anybody. He handled it himself. And this wasn't just any case. Liam remembered Sirius Black form school. But how could he harbor any pity for this man? Betraying James and Lily, some of his best friends? And killing another, Peter Pettigrew, along with a dozen muggles? Through the muddle that was Liam Bell's mind, one sentence remained clear.
'I hope my trust hasn't been misplaced'
Moody trusted him. And Alastor didn't give trust easily.
Yet this was personal. Liam had been one of the inseparable four's tag-a-longs. Sirius had been training to be an Auror, so his betrayal had hit many of the Aurors in training. It had hit their group even harder. If push came to shove, Liam didn't know if he could hurt, even... condemn to death James' energetic best friend. But James and Lily were dead because of Sirius, and he was most certainly a Death Eater. And... if he was a Death Eater. Wait. If he was a Death Eater- that made him the rat. He had killed.... 'I've got no choice now. Black is dead.' Liam thought. Now he had to convince Fey.
Alastor Moody's magical eye followed Liam all the way out of Auror HQ until he disappeared with a 'pop'. Moody scowled at this. He had just barely managed to pass his Apparation test at 19, and it still wore on him. 'Liam.' Alastor believed Bell would put his work before emotion, just like Auror training droned, so his response changed everything. If Liam hesitated when the time came, Black would be all over him. Pettigrew had paid with his life for hesitating with words. Perhaps he should send and Auror to watch Bell, make sure he did his job. Just to be careful.
Mad-Eye smiled. He was always careful.
Screech owls are in fact the fastest short-distance flyers in all of England. It's been confirmed by every wizarding post office in Britain and publicized by the Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, Owls Illustrated and many other well read material in England. After all, when You-know-who was in power, such statistics were a matter of life and death.
Sirius Black recalled all this as he watched the screech owl had borrowed from the post office in Hogsmeade. Owls were much more intelligent than they let on, and this one knew how important Dumbledore was. Snuffles had no doubt the owl and letter would reach Hogwarts safely. He had been silly, telling the owl about his correspondence was part of an underground resistance movement against the Dark Lord. 'Well, it least the owl'll be proud.' Sirius thought, amused. So Sirius went back to work, already imaging Dumbledore's relaxed amusement. 'Somehow I doubt this will surprise the old coot' Nobody paid any attention to the large black dog. Even if it did look like the Grimm. But not in full daylight.
"Everybody! Come look at this! Charm of Origin!" Called a perpetually squeaky voice from the second floor of the Bell household. The music from WWN seemed to have calmed the twins down, and they only scowled up the stairs to the squeaky voice. Kate and Dean walked back into the family room and the twins made a point of ignoring them.
Having entered late, the two Gryffindors did not hear the cry, so they were surprised when a short boy rushed down the stairs waving a gigantic book entitled Standard Book of Spells; Grade Seven (the 1975 edition).
"Doesn't *anyone* want to see this spell in action?!" Chris look amazed that nobody wanted to watch a spell he had read about and even more surprised they didn't want to watch a spell he had read about from a dusty tome nobody had seen in 20+ years.
'Well, not everybody can be a Ravenclaw' He thought with pride. Kate looked curious, but said nothing. Dean looked exasperated.
"What does it do?" He asked. Chris scrunched up his face and started flipping through pages.
"I thought it was strange... (fipflip) that this spell isn't in our spellbooks.... (flipflip) ah, here it is!" Chris spoke while turning the pages. He gestured to a small paragraph on page 361. The children crowded behind Chris's small frame with a air of practice, like they had done this before. Chris pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his gray eyes shinning with knowledge and began to read:
"The use of every spell leaves behind a magical 'residue'. The spell used, and characteristics of the wand determined the different characteristics of the residue. The Charm of Origin can make such residue visible. Characteristics of said residue can include color, intensity, size, shape etc. Characteristics tend to vary for every wizard, making it difficult to interpret and an unstable spell to use. On a side note, residue created by wandless magic (difficult and unreliable) show the caster's emotion and skill level instead of wand characteristics. Check page 1,095 for incantation."
Amy and Lauren now looked interested against their better belief. Lauren said.
"That could be really useful for Aurors, huh?" Chris nodded, shocked by their insight. Dean remained unsure. This was his younger brother, so he would be blamed if nobody like his idea. And he was in enough trouble already. Better get him to demonstrate the spell.
"Let's try in the kitchen. Bound to be some spells in there from Mum and Dad."
Kate remembered the letters and hoped Snuffles did *something*. Chris hoped he could find someone interested in casting the spell, because it was beyond his skills. Dean hoped the spell wouldn't flop and get him in more trouble. And the twins hoped somebody other than Mum and Dad had used spells in the kitchen, or this could be very boring. Maybe they could track down whoever had broke into their kitchen...
Disclaimer- I'm not sure what I own. Okay... I know. I own NOTHING! Now go away and let me manipulate J.K. Rowlings' characters in my insanity.
Prologue
Maunders Don't Need Plans
Leaning against my bedpost, sun streaming through my window, I'm at a lose as to what I should do. I probably should do something helpful.
"Ah well, that'd ruin the summer."
So I just lean over and scratch Snuffles. Now, Snuffles is an odd dog. I've met a lot of odd people here at Hogemeade's child shelter (that's where I live) so I suppose a big, black dog that only answers to the name Snuffles shouldn't be a big deal. But it bugs me. And the fact Snuffles can always find me. That can made hide-and-seek really boring. Anyway, the sun was setting and tomorrow I would be sure to get my grades from sixth year. Since school ends before all the teachers at Hogwarts can finish grading finals, the results get sent home by owl. At least that's the way it works for the Hogwarts students living in Hogsmeade. I usually do okay on finals. Usually, but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach about my Potions exam this year. I groaned.
"This isn't good." Snuffles looked up at me questioningly.
"I think we all know if Madam Bell sees what that creep Snape gave me in Potions, I'm dead meat. You'll probably get kicked out." Snuffles (who had been ignoring my explanation) looked up at this. It never ceased to amaze me who well Snuffles understood me. Well, I'd read somewhere once that said wizarding animals were smarter than normal ones. This apparently extended to dogs. I smiled down at Snuffles. I wasn't really sure about 'tampering' with owl post, but images of Madam Bell taking away my wand firmed my resolve.
"Come on , we've got a report card to steal!"
"There it is!" I whispered fiercely. And there it was. Several letters had just arrived, barring the Hogwarts crest. My report was sure to be in there *somewhere*. Going against my own summer religion I had woken up very early the past few weeks so I could fetch the mail. Unfortunately, I was not the only student year worried about their vacation. Dean Thomas, a 5th year, was already out there snatching up the mail.
"Dean!" I whispered loudly, afraid to wake the Bell family. "Come back here!"
Dean froze before he realized I wasn't an adult.
"Kate! You scared me!"
"Sorry." I muttered. "Well, hand mine over."
Dean grumbled. "I can't tell these things apart..."
I looked down and discovered all the letters baring the Hogwarts seal said simply 'The guardians Mr. and Mrs. Liam Bell.' "Bugger! what're we going to do now?" Dean shrugged, prepared to face his fate when Madame Bell discovered his failing grade (probably in Potions, Snape was the same to all Gryffindors) and got his wand taken away for the summer (or whatever Madam Bell knew he liked the most).
"Potions?" I questioned, not sure what to do now. Dean nodded helplessly. We must look pretty funny. Two young magical kids standing outside in their pajamas and soaking their socks on the wet grass. Wait, we still had our wands, didn't we? "Dean, lets open them up." Dean looked horrified.
"Silly git, we can just use a repair charm if they're not ours!"
"Right, good idea." Kate paused a moment in silent thanks Dean didn't share many of her classes or friends and didn't expect her to get good grades. Sometimes it was nice for people to expect nothing of you. The two Gryffindors headed inside with their loot, triumphant. Several minutes later found them sitting at the kitchen table shuffling thought letters.
"Any luck, Dean?" I questioned. Three letters sat in front of me, all opened. One belonged to Dean's younger brother, Chris, who had just started school last year (Ravenclaw). And twins, Amanda and Lauren Coon (Slytherin). Dean shook his head.
"I've got Chris's, Amy and Lauren's. We'd better hurry up." I nodded towards the rising sun. Dean gulped. I think Snuffles rolled his eyes, but I wasn't sure. Dean and I quickly reached for the last two letters at the same time.
"Ready?"
"Ready." I ripped open the letter I had grabbed. It had to be mine, just had too! I was extremely worried Madam Bell would find us. She was always up before me...
"This's mine!" I said in an above average volume whisper. Whipping out the page with my grades, I carefully examined it, scanning for my Potions grade.
"Whoa...." Dean looked at me.
"I passed! Can you believe it, I *actually* passed Potions!!" I was stunned. Apparently I had interpreted Snape's 'you could have had a passing grade but I ruined your chances at a Ministry job stupid Gryffindor' smirk with his 'there was no way I could fail you so I'm just going to have to and kill you now' sneer. Well they all looked the same anyway. Dean ginned back at me.
"Me too. Looks like the greasy-haired git couldn't fail us. Dumbledore musta been watching!"
"Must have." Suddenly Snuffles jumped up and started growling.
"Bugger! Someone must be coming!" I grabbed Dean's hand and we flew out the back door. As soon as we were out of hearing distance and surrounded by other people's home, Dean paused for a moment then sat down, covering his face with his hands.
"Dean?" What was wrong with him?
"We forgot to seal the letters up."
"Bugger!" We are in so much trouble. I wonder, did Dean know a Charm that could root people to the ground on the spot? Probably not, or I would remember it. Damage control was nonexistent, since somebody else was already downstairs. Neither of us could go back and seal up the letters now. So I did the only thing I could. I turned to Snuffles.
"Snuffles?" The large black dog, who had been listening to our conversation and knew how much trouble we could get landed in, looked ready to roll on the ground laughing.
"This isn't funny! You have to help us!" Snuffles gave me a look that clearly said. 'What's in it for me?'
"I really don't have time for this! My life is at stake." The bloody dog just looked at me.
"Fine already. I'll nick you a chicken. The whole thing. Cooked." Snuffles bounded off happily. Dean looked confused at the silent communication that had passed between me and my dog.
"What just happened?" He asked, awe finding it's was into his voice.
"Snuffles is going to try to fix the mess we left." Dean looked properly impressed.
"Then what was that business about the chicken?" Dean wondered out loud. I could feel my cheeks heat up and I looked down.
"Well, ah... you see, Snuffles hates dog food. Even the wizarding brand. So I give him human food, sometimes. Chicken's his favorite." Dean just shook his head.
"Girls." He muttered under his breath and I pretended not to hear him. The comment was quite rude of him. After all, hadn't my being a *girl* just saved our butts?
"Alright, ungrateful little boy, lets go home already." Dean nodded in agreement.
As we walked home, we passed several of the shops in Hogsmeade. Dean was seriously considering the time was right to raid Zonkos until I reminded him of his nonexistent pocket money. I personally wanted to owl some of my friends (wizarding and muggle) about my luck in potions. Dean laughed at me.
"C'mon Kate. I want to get home." I grumbled about boys and their lack of proper judgment, enjoying the bright summer sun. I couldn't hear any birds singing or anything romantic, but everything was *so* green, I gave up trying to talk Dean into giving me a few minutes to owl people and challenged him to a race home.
Liam Bell was an Auror. And as such, he noticed the little details and took careful note of them. So he was confused to find the mail sitting inside, unopened. None of his children adopted or otherwise, got up early. This wasn't the only thing puzzling him. 'Snuffles,' as everyone referred to him, was an ongoing mystery to him. The dog tugged at a thought, but every time he reached for it, the memory (he was sure it was a memory) became muddled. The object of his puzzling was sitting on the floor, panting at him. Liam knew the snuffles question (as he called it in his head) wasn't going to be solved this instant, so he went to go check on the cooling charms. Already they were deteriorating. 'It's going to be another scorcher' Liam thought. The whole summer had been odd. The weather had been nice early on in the spring, then froze over, usually with snow covering the new grass. Then a cold spring had lasted much longer than it should, like it was making up for the nice weather. Now summer was upon Hogsmeade and it hadn't rained in a month. At least. A magical fire crackled to life somewhere in the house. Liam summoned some coffee and pushed all puzzles not relating to work from his mind. If the office was calling the early in the morning, it wasn't going to be a good day.
Amy and Lauren Coon shared a bed. It wasn't like they needed to or anything. Since they lived in the only all-wizarding town in Europe, magical house expansion was limited only by the Ministry (they drew the line at swimming pools floating ten feet above a home). But when the twins slept in different rooms, and sometimes beds, they had horrible nightmares. Nobody needed to ask about who. In fact, Amy and Lauren weren't the only children in the Bell house with recurring nightmares. The Thomas boys, Amy, Lauren and several other children who had already moved out had lost their families to Voldemort (what? you thought Harry Potter was the only orphan?). Liam and Fey Bell had no children of their own, at least not that the twins knew of. But the twins never left each other's side for long, so their espionage skills left much to be desired. Nobody would have been surprised when they trooped downstairs holding hands and wearing identical Slytherin sneers. *Slytherin* sneers, the type used by people who never stopped acting for that invisible audience. Unfortunately for them, no-one was in the family room to witness their performance. Mister Bell had left for Alastor Moody's office only moments before. So they sat down by the couch facing the stairway and waited for everyone to wake up. Needless to say they were both floored when Kate Bell and Dean Thomas stumbled in the front door, sweaty and panting. Snuffles padded in, raised a shaggy eyebrow with and expression that clearly said '*somebody* got some action!' The twins made the obvious conclusion.
Kate looked up to see the twins wide awake (thought still in fluffy green pajamas) and closing in for the kill. Lauren opened her mouth to speak, mirroring her sister's predatory grin. Before either twin could otter a word Kate interrupted.
"This isn't what it looks like. Really!"
Amy said nothing but started moving around her and Dean. Lauren quickly followed suit. Kate was mildly amused with the twins until she realized *what* exactly they were doing. They were circling, much like a hawk circles it's prey before claiming it's meal. 'This isn't good. The last time they circled a person, Chris cried himself to sleep for weeks!' Kate thought frantically. The situation suddenly seemed much less humorous.
"Really? What does it look like to you, Amy?" Lauren asked. Dean also remembered the Chris incident and looked as terrified as Kate felt. The twins were always brutal with their taunting and they took extreme pleasure in whispering personal secrets to gossipers. Kate and Dean knew Amy and Lauren would push their advantage to get favors and information about Gyffindors. Slytherins to the core, the twins would ruin their lives, even about something as little as this.
"We're going to die." Dean mumbled. Amy stood to their right, smirking. Both Slytherins had stopped circling in favor of standing in front of the Gryffindors, savoring victory and letting tension build. The explanation about just walking died on Kate's lips. It sounded too innocent. Kate decided to try anyway. After all, it was the truth, wasn't it?
"I went outside for fresh air, Dean followed me and we raced home. That's *all*." Kate said, trying to sound firm.
Snuffles shook his head in disgust.
Amy ignored her comment. She tossed aside the excuse like a dead rat the cat brings in and said.
"Looks to me like two Gryffindors were out snogging, Lauren." Lauren shook her head in disgust.
"They're like little rabbits, aren't they?" Lauren agreed. Kate was left wondering how they could continue the 'what it looks like' conversation without a slip-up. Dean covered his ears.
"I am *not* hearing this!!!" Amy's eyes brightened with even more maniac intensity, if such a thing was humanly possible.
"Looks like little Deanie fancies Katherine." She commented. Kate thought dean looked ready to cry. Still, she was startled by Amy's revelation. Could she be right?
Dean surprised everyone. He stood up to his full height, (mere inches shorter than Ron Weasley, who was freakishly tall already) his cheeks stained crimson and said,
"Like you two fancy the twins, eh?"
"Okay Dean, it's your funeral. Amy, Lauren, have at him. Right Thomas?" Kate said. The question didn't register with Dean, because he just nodded mutely. He was busy starring at the twins.
Their sneers were plastered on, but grimaces shown through. The change from playful (in that head ripping sort of way) to broken to pure anger was remarkable. Dean shook in his boots.
Just then Madam Bell walked in.
"Liam's off to work already. Quite early too. I'll get breakfast started." She said to no-one in particular. Then she noticed the near catastrophe in the family room.
"Good heavens! What's going on in here?" She looked startled. Nobody answered her, but Amy and Lauren about-faced stiffly and walked out over to the couch and returned to their original position, facing the stairway. Kate doubted the last child sleeping, Dean's younger brother Chris, would escape their wrath. Fey Bell huffed and turned on the WWN with a flick of her wand. While the Owls played on the wizarding radio, Dean frantically searched for missing limbs. Dean consoled himself that he was still alive because the Owl's song 'Your Magic' would *not* be playing in heaven (the boy band craze had hit Britain as well, the Owls being just one among the many *NSYNC look-a-likes). The twins looked visibly calmed by the music, but the instant Madam Bell disappeared around the corner into the kitchen, Lauren and Amy sneered at Dean.
"You'll pay for that, Gryffindor." Lauren whispered, her voice full of menace. Amy said nothing, but her glare was a silent threat in itself. Kate could also see betrayal shinning in her eyes. Kate led Dean into the hall, thanking Merlin his guts weren't splattered all over the hall. Kate wasn't sure she would have minded too much, thought. The twins may be nasty (okay, damn near evil) but they were her sisters.
They had told her about their crush on the Weasley twins almost two years ago. Amy liked George and Lauren, Fred. Kate was just amazed they could tell the twins *apart*. Less than half the Gryffindor dorm could do that. Kate suggested they get on the twins good side. And even first years knew the way to Fred and George's heart was through pranks.
The plan was set. Amy and Lauren had learned the Head Boy's room viva Penelope, (who blushed the whole time) and learned of a secret entrance for Slytherins only. The Weasley's older brother, Percy, just happened to be Head Boy that year. It was the perfect plan. Until George pushed Amy away without even hearing of the secret passage and Fred rudely told Lauren they *already* knew every passageway in the castle. The boys claimed Amy and Lauren just wanted to lure away for Sirius Black to murder. That was one of the few arguments the girls ever backed down from.
They were going into seventh year, just like Kate, but Slytherin grudges could last lifetimes. Besides, Kate was almost certain they still fancied the twins. She couldn't explain all that to Dean, thought. He was, after all, just a boy.
Dean looked at her curiously.
"Dean, I can't begin to tell you what an idiot you are!"
"What did I... wait, do the twins really like Fred and George?"
"Yes." Dean looked excited. He finally had something against the twins. Kate glared at him.
"Don't even think about Dean. If you try, they'll kill you. Haven't you seen what they almost did to you today? Besides, Amy and Lauren are your sisters!" Dean looked abashed. Family loyalty was very important in the Bells. In fact, Dean's loyalty to family was what got him into Gryffindor.
"I wouldn't a very good Gryffindor if I did that...." Dean muttered.
"Dean, can you keep this too yourself?"
"...yeh. I understand." Kate nodded.
"Good to hear, mate. I hear squeaks, so your Ravenclaw brother must be up." Dean smiled, and they headed back into the family room.
Liam was right. It wasn't going to be a good day. Alastor was here. At the Auror Head Quarters. Alastor Moody, who was supposed to be retired, back a work. Not the sign of a good day. Mad-Eye Moody had braved the floo network (after several hours of searching for curses in the net) to stupify the new secretary in his office. Now, nestled among his many Dark Arts sensors and spy tools, he looked like the proud owner of his own branch at Madame Pandora's (Charmed) Protection/Detection Devices of the Paranoid. It was quite disturbing, really to see the old coot running amok with his electric blue eye and hip flask, muttering 'constant vigilance' at everyone.
'Things must be really serious if Moody was called in!' Mad-Eye was even more paranoid after last year, and if his expertise was needed, things must be down right awful.
"Liam. Good to see you." Moody said in his usual gruff tone. Seemingly independent of it's owner, his magical eye was carefully checking the doorway into his office for other Aurors.
"What's going on, Alastor?" Liam questioned, completely ignoring the welcome. Moody never offered greetings unless he wanted to avoid a subject. Things were getting worse and worse, but the Auror swallowed his worry and waited for orders. Moody smiled at him, twisting all his scars and emphasizing the chunk missing in his nose. Liam smiled back.
"Right to the point. Wonderful to see all the Aurors haven't gone soft." Liam's' Slytherin-like perception hadn't deserted him. Alastor was defiantly hiding something. 'But what could it be?' Liam resolved to find out.
"Alastor. What's happening?" Moody nodded.
"Not to be distracted. Well, I believe you recall year before last when Black was spotted in Cullsmeade?" Liam nodded to Moody.
It had been one of the hardest times in his life, knowing that a mass-murderer had been spotted in muggle Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade was all wizarding, but there was a mountain south of Hogsmeade that separated it from Cullsmeade, or muggle Hogsmeade as magic people call it.
Before Albus Dumbledore's time, Hogsmeade was like every other village, town or city. Muggle and Magical folk co-existed, although the former remained unaware of the latter. The famous Shrieking Shack had gained it's reputation when it emitted strange noises until every muggle had escaped over the mountain. The Wizarding community realized it's chance and quickly set up strong muggle-repellent charms all around Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade citizens remained in fear of the Shrieking Shack even after the haunting ended. Open-minded historians believe the 'haunting' was caused by early followers of Grindelwald. This theory was dropped when the Shack resumed shrieking in the 1970-80's (which Liam later discovered was Remus Lupin).
Liam pulled himself out of history as Moody continued.
"Fudge got to thinking he needs to be more popular to the common wizard, and instead of promising to relax magical restrictions like everybody else, he wants Black. Thinks that sending the murderer back to Azkaban will set the popularity poles in his favor." Liam understood why the minister was refocusing efforts against Black. If he wanted to stay Minister of Magic, he needed supporters. And fast.
Liam caught the tone of disgust in Moody's voice. He understood that too. There were much more important things to worry about. Like the rise of the Dark Lord. Alastor and Liam knew, but few Ministry workers had students going to Hogwarts, and Author Weasley had little sway in the Ministry. But what did this have to do with him? Liam was better suited for interrogation, not field work, and Alastor knew it.
"Hogsmeade and Cullsmeade are the only leads we have for the Black case. Your the only local Auror we have. People will talk to you, and you should be able to pick up some leads. I'm leaving you in charge of this case, in fact. I hope my trust is not misplaced."
Liam was stunned. He nodded dumbly and turned out the door. He walked slowly down a hallway and out of the squat set of buildings known as Auror HQ (Mad-Eye insisted AHQ be non-Apparatable). As Liam walked, thoughts traveled across his mind with no apparent reason. Moody rarely ever entrusted a case from the Minister of Magic to anybody. He handled it himself. And this wasn't just any case. Liam remembered Sirius Black form school. But how could he harbor any pity for this man? Betraying James and Lily, some of his best friends? And killing another, Peter Pettigrew, along with a dozen muggles? Through the muddle that was Liam Bell's mind, one sentence remained clear.
'I hope my trust hasn't been misplaced'
Moody trusted him. And Alastor didn't give trust easily.
Yet this was personal. Liam had been one of the inseparable four's tag-a-longs. Sirius had been training to be an Auror, so his betrayal had hit many of the Aurors in training. It had hit their group even harder. If push came to shove, Liam didn't know if he could hurt, even... condemn to death James' energetic best friend. But James and Lily were dead because of Sirius, and he was most certainly a Death Eater. And... if he was a Death Eater. Wait. If he was a Death Eater- that made him the rat. He had killed.... 'I've got no choice now. Black is dead.' Liam thought. Now he had to convince Fey.
Alastor Moody's magical eye followed Liam all the way out of Auror HQ until he disappeared with a 'pop'. Moody scowled at this. He had just barely managed to pass his Apparation test at 19, and it still wore on him. 'Liam.' Alastor believed Bell would put his work before emotion, just like Auror training droned, so his response changed everything. If Liam hesitated when the time came, Black would be all over him. Pettigrew had paid with his life for hesitating with words. Perhaps he should send and Auror to watch Bell, make sure he did his job. Just to be careful.
Mad-Eye smiled. He was always careful.
Screech owls are in fact the fastest short-distance flyers in all of England. It's been confirmed by every wizarding post office in Britain and publicized by the Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, Owls Illustrated and many other well read material in England. After all, when You-know-who was in power, such statistics were a matter of life and death.
Sirius Black recalled all this as he watched the screech owl had borrowed from the post office in Hogsmeade. Owls were much more intelligent than they let on, and this one knew how important Dumbledore was. Snuffles had no doubt the owl and letter would reach Hogwarts safely. He had been silly, telling the owl about his correspondence was part of an underground resistance movement against the Dark Lord. 'Well, it least the owl'll be proud.' Sirius thought, amused. So Sirius went back to work, already imaging Dumbledore's relaxed amusement. 'Somehow I doubt this will surprise the old coot' Nobody paid any attention to the large black dog. Even if it did look like the Grimm. But not in full daylight.
"Everybody! Come look at this! Charm of Origin!" Called a perpetually squeaky voice from the second floor of the Bell household. The music from WWN seemed to have calmed the twins down, and they only scowled up the stairs to the squeaky voice. Kate and Dean walked back into the family room and the twins made a point of ignoring them.
Having entered late, the two Gryffindors did not hear the cry, so they were surprised when a short boy rushed down the stairs waving a gigantic book entitled Standard Book of Spells; Grade Seven (the 1975 edition).
"Doesn't *anyone* want to see this spell in action?!" Chris look amazed that nobody wanted to watch a spell he had read about and even more surprised they didn't want to watch a spell he had read about from a dusty tome nobody had seen in 20+ years.
'Well, not everybody can be a Ravenclaw' He thought with pride. Kate looked curious, but said nothing. Dean looked exasperated.
"What does it do?" He asked. Chris scrunched up his face and started flipping through pages.
"I thought it was strange... (fipflip) that this spell isn't in our spellbooks.... (flipflip) ah, here it is!" Chris spoke while turning the pages. He gestured to a small paragraph on page 361. The children crowded behind Chris's small frame with a air of practice, like they had done this before. Chris pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his gray eyes shinning with knowledge and began to read:
"The use of every spell leaves behind a magical 'residue'. The spell used, and characteristics of the wand determined the different characteristics of the residue. The Charm of Origin can make such residue visible. Characteristics of said residue can include color, intensity, size, shape etc. Characteristics tend to vary for every wizard, making it difficult to interpret and an unstable spell to use. On a side note, residue created by wandless magic (difficult and unreliable) show the caster's emotion and skill level instead of wand characteristics. Check page 1,095 for incantation."
Amy and Lauren now looked interested against their better belief. Lauren said.
"That could be really useful for Aurors, huh?" Chris nodded, shocked by their insight. Dean remained unsure. This was his younger brother, so he would be blamed if nobody like his idea. And he was in enough trouble already. Better get him to demonstrate the spell.
"Let's try in the kitchen. Bound to be some spells in there from Mum and Dad."
Kate remembered the letters and hoped Snuffles did *something*. Chris hoped he could find someone interested in casting the spell, because it was beyond his skills. Dean hoped the spell wouldn't flop and get him in more trouble. And the twins hoped somebody other than Mum and Dad had used spells in the kitchen, or this could be very boring. Maybe they could track down whoever had broke into their kitchen...