Another funny thing happened: I found an Italian food company on the Internet called Agivega SPA. Can you imagine it? I share my author name with a food-producer! I wonder where that company got its name… ;)
Please, wish me good luck, because I'm going to have a German exam on Saturday! Say 'May the Force be with you!' (double thanks to those who can say it in German ;)
Chapter 7Angel
The first class the Gryffindors and the Slytherins had Monday morning was History of Magic with Professor Binns. Since the ghost and his teaching methods hadn't changed a bit over the past decades, it was still the dullest class imaginable. Given that it was Monday morning (all students' most hated time of the week), they were downright lucky to have History of Magic as their first lesson: Monday mornings made everyone extremely dispirited and drowsy, but in Binns' class, they could have a nice, long nap to recover their strength after the weekend.
The only person wide-awake in the classroom was Lancelot Weasley, who kept jotting down everything the ghost professor said.
When Binns started to explain the terrible sin Caesare and Lucretia Borgia – both magic people and world-famous poison-makers – committed (they were siblings, said to have lived in incest), Kevin's head fell on his desk and he began snoring. The twins were playing wizard chess under the table (they were just as good at it as their father, Ron) not paying attention to Binns, who, meanwhile, had stopped his lecture on the Borgia family and started a new topic: witch-hunts.
"So, what did your dad tell you yesterday?" Norbert asked the slightly slumbering Daniel, who opened his eyes and yawned.
"Well, that… er, he told me some news…"
"What?" his friend pressed.
"Mum decided to buy Honeydukes. You know it's up for sale."
Norbert's eyes widened. "Wow! Your mum is going to own the best shop at Hogsmeade!"
He must have expressed his enthusiasm a bit too loudly, because professor Binns gave him a withering glance, then continued talking about Malleus Maleficarum ('witch-hammer') – a book written by two Dominican monks who were very eager on burning every woman they suspected to be a witch.
"Dad told me something else, too," Dan whispered to his friend, who was resting his chin on his closed History of Magic book, idly drawing dragons on the desk.
"What?" Norbert asked, adding a couple of flames to his drawing to show that his dragon could breath fire.
"Mum's pregnant again."
"Huh?"
"Potter baby number seven is on the way," Daniel replied.
"Seven? Aren't your parents a bit too… eager?"
"Well, yeah, but my grandparents – the Weasleys – also had seven children. Mum and dad just follow their example."
"Quite busy, those two," Norbert grinned.
"Uh-huh… but I don't mind having another sibling."
Young Malfoy's eyes flashed for a second. "Good for you. I wish I didn't have Draco for a brother. Way too annoying. Strutting as though he owned the universe just because he has that ratty bank of his!"
When Professor Binns started lecturing the class about the merits of Wendelin the Weird, Iago Rosier nudged Daniel.
"Hey, Potter! This is for you!" he handed Dan a small parchment.
Dan opened it to see a line written in a familiar hand:
Let's do it this afternoon. Meet us half past five by the statue of the One-Eyed Witch.
"What is it?" Norbert asked.
"Kevin, Viv and Val want to go to Honeydukes today. With the help of the Map."
"Why go to Honeydukes? It's closed, isn't it?"
"Yeah…" Dan nodded, "but we might find a bit of leftover stocks in the cellar… and even if we don't find anything, we can still say that we have had our first Marauder Adventure."
Seeing Daniel's enthusiasm, Norbert heaved a deep sigh. "Of course your cousins wouldn't want me to join you in this adventure, would they? I understand…"
Daniel didn't know what to reply – naturally Kevin and the twins would not be charmed by the idea of letting a Malfoy become a Marauder… on the other hand, Dan didn't want to hurt his new friend.
"I'll talk to them at lunchtime," he said resolutely. "I'll persuade them to let you come."
Norbert waved. "Spare yourself the trouble, they won't let me. It doesn't matter, really…"
Young Potter, however, had come to a decision: he'd talk to his cousins by all means. Norbert didn't need to know about it, and if he couldn't persuade the Weasleys, Norbert wouldn't be too sad because of having been turned down.
As Professor Binns announced that from the next lesson they would be learning about goblin revolutions (very likely to the end of their seventh year), Dan sent a note back to Kevin saying 'Meet me by the greenhouses before lunch. We've got to discuss something.'
* * * * *
The next lesson of the Slytherins was Herbology together with the Hufflepuffs. Professor Sprout started their first lesson introducing them to her favourite jumping blue tomatoes, that – according to her – cured depression.
At the middle of the class Aberforth Dumbledore put in an appearance, looking a bit hesitant.
"Ehm… Professor Sprout…" he cleared his throat, "Could I borrow… Julie Dumbledore for a minute?"
Suddenly every student turned in the direction of the little blonde Hufflepuff girl sitting at the farthest corner of the greenhouse, trying not to draw any attention to herself.
"Ms. Dumbledore, you may go with Professor Dumbledore," Sprout declared.
The little blonde girl seemed to have shrunk to half of her size. Aberforth gave her an encouraging smile, looking like the benign Santa Claus. "Come, my dear, don't be afraid."
Julie rose to her feet and followed the old man out of the building.
A loud murmur ran down the greenhouse, as every student started to discuss the events.
"I wonder what relation there is between the Dumbledore brothers and this girl," Dan said, trimming the leaves of a blue tomato.
"I don't know," Norbert shrugged. "She may be a grandchild or great-grandchild of one of them."
"She is Aberforth Dumbledore's descendant, that's for sure," Gilda Lockhart spoke up at the neighbouring table.
"What makes you be so sure about it?" Norbert raised an eyebrow. "She could be a descendant of the headmaster as well."
"It's evident, isn't it?" Gilda replied. "Albus Dumbledore was never married, we would know if he had been. Thus the child could not be his descendant."
"Why not? She could be illegitimate, couldn't she?" Dan asked.
"Definitely not," the girl said. "Illegitimate children do not have their father's family name, they get their mother's family name… unless their father adopts them."
"Then…" Dan was thinking hard to find something to prove this annoying girl that she wasn't right. "Albus and Aberforth could have had a sister who had an illegitimate daughter: this Julie… and then Julie could get her mum's family name."
"Have it your way, Potter," Gilda shot him a 'you-are-stupid-and-annoying-and-maybe-I-should-have-beaten-you-up-more-thoroughly'-stare and turned away. Daniel felt the same about Gilda: that she was stupid and annoying. And dangerous.
"At last!" Norbert sighed. "She's driving me nuts, this chick."
"Me, too," Dan agreed, leaning closer to Norbert and whispered: "And she gives me the creeps, too! A girl that can fight this well shouldn't be crossed."
"I'm not afraid of crossing her," his friend replied. "Anyway, I think she just wants to get our attention."
"Probably," young Potter shrugged, in thought comparing Gilda to Liu Chang. While the mere though of Gilda Lockhart (and her straight-lefts) made him shudder, just thinking of Liu made him feel warm from head to toe. He decided that whenever he felt cold, he'd think of Liu.
After having stopped weaving fantasies of the pretty Ravenclaw girl, Daniel directed his attention back to Aberforth and Julie, who were talking outside. He saw the old wizard pull the little girl into a hug, then depart. Julie returned to the greenhouse with a timid smile, but apparently in much better mood than she had been when Aberforth arrived.
* * * * *
"You are out of your mind!" Kevin Weasley shouted at his favourite cousin. "We cannot admit him into the Marauder team!"
"Why not? Just because he's a Malfoy? That's something he isn't faulty in! It's not his fault that he has a former Death Eater for a father and a git for a brother!" Dan felt that he needed to defend his new friend and prove that not all Malfoys were bad. Norbert had long left for the castle to have lunch, but Daniel decided that he'd persuade Kevin of Norbert's good intentions.
"Oh, come to your senses, mate!" Kevin said. "It's all right that you cannot choose the family to be born into, but if you are born into the Malfoy family, then it means that you will be corrupted by the age of four. This Norbert must be like that, too… a snake in the grass, I tell you. He seemed to be quite okay on the train, but I bet it was just pretence!"
"Oh, I understand it now!" Dan snapped. "You thought he wasn't that bad as long as he didn't befriend me! You are jealous, that's what your problem is!"
"Jealous???"
"Yes, jealous, because I'm spending more time with him than with you! You know that I wouldn't have become his friend if I hadn't been sorted into Slytherin! It's not my fault, understood? I never asked to be a Slytherin and I never wanted to be Norbert's friend, but fate had another plan in mind! Fate wanted me to be a Slytherin, to become the friend of a Malfoy and to realise that prejudices were utterly stupid!"
"Stupid? No, they are not! They always have a basis!" Kevin retorted.
"Prejudices have poisoned your heart!" Dan shook his head in disbelief. "If you are so full of prejudices, then maybe you should condemn me, too… I'm a Slytherin, after all… a bad guy."
Kevin rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Dan, don't start philosophising about prejudices and jealousy… I would never have prejudices against you, but Malfoy… he's different. He's… a Malfoy, that's all, and that's enough for me not to trust him," seeing Daniel's expression, he sighed. "All right, all right, let's give him a chance. He may come today to Honeydukes, but I'll keep an eye on him. I'm only doing this for you, remember that. If he turns out a traitor and tells others about the Map, I'll strangle him, I swear."
"Deal," Dan nodded and headed for the castle to have lunch then write his homework for the next Potions class. Norbert had also promised him to exercise the spark-conjuring charm with him (Dan still hadn't mastered it properly, but Norbert had learnt the extinguishing charm over the weekend, so that if Dan set anything on fire, he would be able to deal with it.)
* * * * *
While Dan and Norbert were practicing Charms in the afternoon, the Gryffindors had Herbology with the Ravenclaws. Kevin told Viviane and Valentine about his discussion with Daniel, and the twins were outraged.
"Dan doesn't know what he's doing!" Viv fumed and accidentally broke the stalk of her jumping blue tomato. The tomato started to emit sounds of fury (it was swearing in tomato language, so the students didn't understand a word of it), and kept shaking its leaves (balled into tiny blue fists) at the girl.
"Of course he doesn't know it!" Kevin said. "But he couldn't be convinced! I feared I'd lose his friendship if we didn't let Malfoy join us, so I gave in. But I also added that if this Norbert gave us any grief, we'd resolve to take serious measures."
Meanwhile, the sky started to darken and the sun hid behind thick, grey clouds.
As Professor Sprout began to explain all the magical properties of the blue tomatoes, it started to rain. The fine summer weather got chased away by the chilly winds and the huge raindrops pouring onto the Hogwarts grounds. Every once in a while a flashy lightning ran across the sky – illuminating the park for seconds – closely followed by a loud thunder. It sounded as though God and his angels had been playing bowling up in heaven.
At half past four the world outside looked as though it had been midnight. The blustery wind made the foliage of the trees in the Dark Forest sway madly.
When the lesson ended, the students exited the greenhouse, trying to cover themselves with their robes as much as possible, running towards the safety of the castle. Most of them had already vanished behind the thick curtain of rain when the Weasleys were still stumbling across the grounds. The reason for their slowness was Lancelot, who had accidentally given himself a jelly leg jinx at Defence Against the Dark Arts that morning. Thanks to his clumsiness he could only limp. The twins and Kevin would have reached the castle long ago, had they not felt responsible for their cousin. So, they propped him from either side, trying to make him limp a bit faster in the tempest.
They were already soaked to the skin and called Lancelot everything they could think of (Lancelot was grateful enough for their help to restrain himself from shouting 'language!' whenever one of the other three uttered an elaborately constructed swear).
Though slowly, they were getting closer to the building. They had almost made half of the way when suddenly a centaur raced out of the forest, madly waving with his hands and shouting something that could not be heard through the thundering that kept muffling noises. (It was possible that Lancelot didn't even hear his cousins' swears and that's why he didn't scold them.)
The four Weasley children stopped as the centaur (a blond one) ran up to them, panting. He must have been running for a while, because he looked totally exhausted.
"Thanks the stars I have found someone out here!" he shouted to out-bellow the thunder. "You've got to help!"
"Help? With what?" Kevin yelled back.
"A tree got struck by a lightning and fell over a unicorn! I tried to rescue it but I couldn't do it alone! All the other centaurs had already hid from the storm and I couldn't find anyone else!"
"I'll run up to the school and ask a teacher to come and help you!" Viviane shouted.
"It might be too late for that unfortunate creature! We must act immediately!" the centaur bellowed.
"All right!" Valentine agreed. "We'll come and help you!"
"But... it's the Forbidden Forest!" Lancelot objected, turning chalk-white. "We mustn't go in there!"
"You aren't coming, don't worry!" Kevin yelled. "You are way too slow! Viv, Val and I are going!"
Lancelot cringed. "You are... going to leave me here? Alone???"
* * * * *
"I still can't believe that your cousins let me come!" Norbert said cheerfully as he and Daniel climbed upstairs to meet the other Marauders by the statue of the One-Eyed Witch. As they turned left on a corner they heard the voice of an angry McGonagall coming out of the staff room:
"I simply don't understand this, Albus! My husband had a wife before me but got divorced, that is clear... the woman moved to The States, that's okay, too. She raised their child there... I understand. But why have you never told Aberforth that he had become a father? And if you kept it a secret so long, then why not keep it a secret forever?"
"Now, now, dear Minerva..." the headmaster's soothing voice replied. "Why do I have the impression that you are unhappy about little Julie being here?"
"I'm not unhappy, Albus, but this whole thing was too sudden for me... I don't know... I was only surprised when I read out Julie's name during the Sorting since I didn't remember having sent an owl to a Dumbledore... then I was downright shocked when she turned out to be my husband's great-granddaughter! I'm confused, Albus. How should I react? I'm mad at Aberforth for not telling me about his former marriage, I'm mad at you for not telling him about his descendants... and I'm mad at myself, too..."
"Mad at yourself? Why, Minerva?" Albus sounded surprised.
"Because..." her voice broke, "because whenever I look at her... at Julie... I feel jealous."
"Jealous?"
"Yes. Jealous, because I don't have a granddaughter of my own, and jealous, because now I'll have competition."
"Competition? For what?"
"For Aberforth's love..." McGonagall replied very quietly, almost whispering, but the two friends eavesdropping outside could still hear it.
"Minerva, Minerva... I thought you were more sensible than that," the headmaster said. "My crazy brother loves you and I'm sure that he won't love you any less when he loves this little girl as well."
"I know, Albus, I know, still... I'm afraid."
"Don't be, Minerva."
"Albus..."
"Yes?"
"It was your idea to bring her to Hogwarts... wasn't it?"
"There's no use denying... it was."
"But... why?"
Albus didn't reply at once, he must have been contemplating his answer. "I have been watching my brother ever since he married you, and I have to admit that you changed him. Not much, but you did, nevertheless. He seems to have grown up... at least a bit. I thought he had become mature enough to handle a family, a little child... and I also have to admit that there was a bit of revenge in it, too... yes, Minerva... I always wanted to get back at my dear brother for that goat-joke and I thought I could at least give him a nice shock by bringing Julie here."
"I... I never thought you could be like that... vindictive, I mean," McGonagall said with a hint of accusation in her voice.
"I know... and I'm a bit ashamed of it," replied Dumbledore. "I think I should apologise... to you. I hope I haven't ruined your marriage by bringing Julie to Hogwarts. I just wanted to give Aberforth a bit of a shock... and I also wanted him to get to know his great-grandchild at last. Basically, I had good intentions... with a bit of mischief in the background."
"Tsk, tsk, Albus... sometimes you and Aberforth are so alike!" Minerva tutted, but her voice didn't sound angry anymore, it rather sounded relieved.
Daniel and Norbert would have stayed to eavesdrop a bit longer if Gilderoy Lockhart hadn't turned into the corridor, wearing lilac robes and a wide grin.
The two boys, hearing footsteps, moved away from the door of the staff room, pretending to be strolling around.
"Hello, boys," Lockhart greeted them.
"Good afternoon, professor," Dan and his friend said in unison and continued their way towards the statue of the One-Eyed Witch.
"So, is it true, then. That Julia is Aberforth's great-granddaughter, not the headmaster's," said Dan.
"Yeah... but don't tell Lockhart's daughter that she was right... she's just as stuck up as her father and if we told her she was right, she'd just become even more complacent."
"I don't know... she's annoying, all right, but I don't think she's stuck-up. Had she been like her father, she'd have long, curly locks, magically elongated eyelashes, she'd wear lipstick and she'd paint her nails. But she doesn't do any of these..." Dan said. "She's so much like a boy! And not at all lockhartish."
"I bet good old Lockhart Daddy isn't too happy about his bellicose little daughter," Norbert commented as they reached the statue ten minutes later. "Well, it's already half past five, they are late."
Dan looked at his watch. "Yeah. They had Herbology that lasted till five fifteen. They must have got soaked to the skin in this tempest... they are probably warming up and changing into dry clothes right now."
"Let's have a look at the Map, it will tell us where they are," Norbert suggested.
"Okay," young Potter looked around to make sure that no teacher was nearby and activated the map. The boys bent over it and saw that the Weasleys were nowhere in the castle. In the upper corner of the parchment, however, four dots were moving: three of them labelled Weasleys and one labelled 'Firenze'. They seemed to be running towards the forest.
"They're entering the Forbidden Forest!" Daniel breathed.
"Are they mad?" Norbert gasped and snatched the map out of his friend's hands. "Oh my, they are really going in there… You know, they could get injured in there... the forest is home to dangerous creatures."
"I know. My parents told me a lot about it. There are werewolves, giant spiders and stuff... Firenze is a centaur, as far as I know, but what does he want from my cousins? What if they get into trouble? They might even die!"
"Let's call a teacher!" Norbert suggested.
"I agree," Dan nodded. They might have to reveal the fact that they had such a tricky map in order to save his cousins, but losing the map was not as terrible as losing Kevin and the twins.
The boys ran back to the staff room, but found no teachers there. Where on Earth were Albus and McGonagall when they needed them? Norbert looked at the map again.
"Dumbledore and McGonagall are in Lockhart's study at the other end of the castle," he said. "I wonder how they got there so quickly… Professor Weasley is in the owlery, your dad is in the kitchen… the teacher who is the closest to us is Snape in the dungeons."
"Snape? You have any idea what he'd do to my cousins?" Dan groaned, taking the map back from his friend. "Do we have to go to Snape of all people?"
"If you don't want you cousins to die, then yes. We cannot waste any more time," Norbert replied and started running downstairs.
Two minutes later the friends reached the dungeons and practically ripped open Snape's door.
"What is it? Haven't you heard about knocking?" the Potions Master spat, hastily jerking the sleeve of his robes back into place. He must have been spreading some cream on the lower part of his left arm, because Daniel saw a jar open on the professor's desk.
"Sorry, professor, but we need your help!" Norbert gabbled. "Three students have just entered the Forbidden Forest with a centaur! We don't know why, but they might be in danger and..."
He couldn't even finish the sentence, because Snape hurried past them and growled: "Idiots! Going into the forest in such a weather!" he turned to the two boys, while all three of them kept running upstairs. "How do you know about it at all? You couldn't have seen it from the castle's windows in this downpour!"
He was right: if you looked out the window now, you couldn't see anything but fog and rain.
"We... got to know it another way, sir," Daniel gulped, knowing that he was going to lose his precious map, but his cousins' lives were more important. He had to tell Snape. "With this."
Severus cast a glance at the map, recognising it at once. "Give it to me."
Dan, somewhat reluctantly, handed the parchment to his head of house. Snape immediately performed Impervius on the map. Meanwhile they had reached the gate of the entrance hall and raced out into the heavy rain.
"Three Weasleys, as I see," Snape growled, examining the map. "A wonder you aren't with them right now, Potter. I wouldn't be surprised if you were. But don't worry, you are in just a great trouble as they are. I know that you have stolen this map out of the purple room's closet! I have shut it in there personally, years and years ago!"
Dan didn't feel like replying, just hurried to keep up with Snape. Norbert was clutching at a stitch in his side and panting, while Daniel's glasses got blurry because of the raindrops.
"Impervius!" young Malfoy pointed his wand at his friend's spectacles as they ran through the Hogwarts grounds. He must have got the idea from Snape doing the same to the map.
Dan was surprised that the professor never told them to stop and to not enter the forest with him – although he had several opportunities to do so. Dan was kind of expecting Snape to yell at them to go back into their dorms before they exited the castle, but he did not. He could have ordered them to turn back when they reached the edge of the forest, but he still did not. So the two boys followed Severus into the woods.
The trees and bushes of the Forbidden Forest stood so close to each other that it was almost impossible to move forward – they needed to toss branches aside and Snape decided to give the map back to Dan so that he could concentrate on cursing the shrubbery out of their way, making a passable path. Although it was hard to move in the thick undergrowth, it had at least one advantage: it did not let the chilly winds come through. The dense foliage prevented the rain from pouring into their robes, but they were already soaked enough.
"A bit to the left, professor," Daniel said, following the movement of his cousins on the map. Lucky that the forest belonged to the Hogwarts grounds, otherwise it would not be on the map and they would have no idea where to look for the stray Weasleys.
Meanwhile, Kevin, Viv and Val, led by Firenze, got deeper and deeper into the forest. Their teeth were chattering with cold but the centaur kept urging them on. "Hurry! We don't have much time!"
After fifteen minutes of running they saw something glint among the dark leaves of the bushes. Something was giving off light... white and golden light.
"There she is!" Firenze yelped, jumping forward to push away the branches of a blackberry bush. The three children arrived at a small clearing to see the most painful scene they had ever seen: an enchantingly white mother unicorn lying on the ground under a huge, gnarly tree-branch. The branch must have been at least fifteen inches in diameter and it seemed to have crushed the poor animal badly.
The source of the golden light was a small baby unicorn that kept running around its mother, sometimes bending down to nudge her with its muzzle.
"Ooooh..." Viviane clasped her hands, seeing the foal desperately trying to revive its mother.
Firenze bent down to heave one end of the fallen branch, but he could not move it alone. Kevin hurried to the other end. Viv helped Kevin and Val helped Firenze. The four of them managed to make the branch budge a bit, but it was still too big and heavy.
"Maybe we could..." Kevin began, and the girls nodded. All the three of them pointed their wands at the branch. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
"Good that my dads taught us how to do this because we haven't learnt it at Charms yet," Kevin said happily.
The unicorn mare was finally freed, but it still didn't move, just opened its turquoise eyes and sent her baby a loving stare.
"Could we fix her somehow?" Valentine asked. Her heart ached at the thought that this beautiful creature would die in front of their very eyes.
"I fear..." Firenze bent down to have a closer look at the mare, "I fear her spine is broken. I didn't notice it when I ran for help..."
The foal nestled its muzzle onto its mother's neck, its little golden body shaking. The mare said good-bye to her baby in her silent way – her stare revealed all her love and worry before she closed her eyes for good.
The foal must have felt that its mother passed away, because it let out a plaintive neigh.
"There you are!" a harsh voice tore at the silence that had ensued after the unicorn's death. The three Weasleys cringed as they saw professor Snape stumble out of a nearby bush, but they were even more surprised to see Daniel with him.
"What the hell did you think you were doing, coming in here???" Severus bellowed, making the foal run behind the centaur in fright. The professor's usually yellowish face was ashen with fury and exhaustion, while droplets of rain kept dripping from his greasy locks.
"We just..." Viviane started, but she felt like having lost her voice.
"They just helped me save a unicorn," Firenze spoke up in defence of the children. "They are not to be blamed."
"Save a unicorn?" Snape spat derisively, casting a glance at the dead mare. "This thing doesn't seem to have been saved."
"Because we arrived too late!" Kevin reasoned.
"The branch fell on her and broke her backbone!" Valentine added, blinking back tears. No matter how tough kids and how great mischief-makers she and her twin were, they were still too shocked by the events to remain indifferent.
"As I see the foal has no mother anymore," Snape declared. "It will die without caring. Malfoy, take the foal. We are going to place it under Aberforth Dumbledore's care."
Norbert nodded and scooped up the small being that kept neighing for its mother.
"And now, move!" the professor shouted at the Weasleys. "Out of this forest, hurry!"
"Bye!" the twins waved sadly at Firenze and followed Snape.
On their way up to the castle, Daniel kept wondering what made a person like Snape want to place the baby unicorn under care. Could it mean that he actually had a heart?
As the six soaking wet people entered the entrance hall, they caught a glimpse of Bert Bradley the caretaker and Gilda Lockhart.
"Professor Snape!" Bert shouted. "You are drenched! And these children as well!"
"And?" Severus growled at him.
"I must ask you to perform a drying charm on yourselves before stepping any further, or I'll have to spend the whole night cleaning up the mud you leave behind!"
"Great," Norbert whispered into Dan's ear. "He's no better than Filch."
To their surprise Severus didn't object – he pointed his wand at himself, then at the kids, drying them in the blink of an eye.
"Thank you, professor," Bert said. "It's delighting to see clean corridors. Ms. Lockhart and I have just been talking about the cleaning techniques her father uses in his beauty salons..."
"Mr. Bradley!" Snape waved the caretaker to shut up. "I have no time for lectures on floor-cleaning. I need to have a serious discussion with these students here," he turned to the five children. "Follow me."
Soon they entered Snape's study in the dungeons. Dan had already heard of this room from his father and it looked just as creepy as Harry had described it: ugly dead animals floating in jars full of smelly liquids... yuck.
"And now..." Severus growled. "I want to remind you that nothing, I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to enter the Forbidden Forest! Even if your intentions were good..." he gave the three Weasleys a piercing look that made them have the feeling that Snape could actually see into their souls. "Therefore a hundred points will be taken from you."
"A HUNDRED???" Kevin gasped. Gryffindor house managed to get 35 points in the first two school days, but – given Kevin's minus 10 points because of punching Lancelot at the beginning-of-the-year-feast – the house now had 25 points. With another 100 points taken, Gryffindor would have minus 75 points. Not a rosy prospect.
"100 points... each." Snape replied.
Seeing the shock on the Weasley children's faces, Daniel couldn't help but feel hatred for Snape. His former presumption that the Potions teacher might have a heart got refuted. Snape definitely had not heart.
"WHAT?" the twins shouted after hearing their 'sentence'.
"You heard me," Severus shrugged. "Be grateful that I'm not giving you a detention to go with it."
Now he turned to the two Slytherin boys. Daniel tried not to look too scared, but – having heard what Snape did to his cousins (and to Gryffindor house) – he did not dare imagine what terrible fate awaited him for having stolen the map.
"As for you, Potter... I know you stole the map and I should take a hundred points from you for it... but I'm going to be gracious this time. Detention with Mr. Bradley for a month... you'll be helping him to keep the castle clean – and I'm going to take this map from you and shut it into my room. I do not advise you to try and steal it again. Malfoy..."
"Devilsmoor, sir," Norbert corrected.
"Devilsmoor, then," Snape nodded. "I'm going to notify Aberforth Dumbledore to come and take the foal. Wait for him here in front of my study. And now... off to bed, all of you!"
As the five children exited Snape's room, Dan was surprised to see Gilda Lockhart standing by the wall with crossed arms. She must have got curious to hear Snape telling off Dan and Norbert, and followed them into the dungeons.
Before Dan could say 'you'd better not start rejoicing at our misery', Kevin's fist mysteriously met with his nose. It started to bleed at once. "Wha...?"
"You idiot!" Kevin shouted. "Why did you have to run to Snape and tell on us, huh?"
"We just wanted to help..."
"Help?" Viviane cried. "Oh, you have helped a lot! Thanks to you, Gryffindor has minus 275 points! A record!"
"I just wanted to make sure you didn't get eaten by a giant spider!" Daniel retorted. "I saw you on the map going into the forest and I feared you'd never come out again! Snape was the first teacher we could find to help you!"
"Ooh, how grateful we are!" Valentine snapped. "You saw us on the map... and now Snape confiscated it! You couldn't take care of it for three days!"
"I had to tell him about the map or we wouldn't have been able to find you!"
"I wish you hadn't found us at all!" Kevin bellowed. "I wish you had been eaten by a werewolf! You... you... you aren't my friend anymore!"
"Listen, you great prat..." Dan began, but Norbert cut in:
"Don't you realise that you could have been hurt in the forest? Don't you see that Dan just wanted to make sure you were safe?"
"Oh, Mr. Malfoy has graciously spoken to us!" Kevin snorted mockingly. "I don't care what you say, you git, but one thing is sure: you and Daniel really are good for each other! Both of you traitorous, Snape's-boot-licking bastards! Both of you fucking Slytherins!"
In the next instant Daniel jumped forward to give Kevin a black eye in return for his bleeding nose. When Norbert tried to pull Dan back, he received a punch in the jaw from one of the twins, who – apparently – had thought that he wanted to join the fight.
Before the five youngsters could beat the crap out of each other, Gilda Lockhart intervened. With a couple of well-aimed straight lefts and rights she managed to scatter the fighters.
"You'll pay for your betrayal, Potter!" Kevin growled as he left with the murderous-looking twin girls, cradling a sore wrist and massaging his aching knuckles.
"He called... he called me Potter!" Daniel whispered, not feeling strong enough to produce a louder sound. "I have lost him. Them."
Norbert put an arm around his friend's shoulder. "Not your fault. They don't deserve your friendship. If those house-points and a stupid map is more important to them than your love and caring, then they definitely don't deserve you."
"Thanks," Dan managed a small smile, looking at the little golden unicorn that Norbert had put down before entering the fight. Gilda was kneeling by the small animal, gently caressing it.
"Isn't he cute?" Dan muttered.
"She," Gilda replied. "It's a female."
"A female?" young Potter mused. "Then I guess I have a name for her."
The other two gave him a questioning stare.
"My sister Lily used to own a stuffed unicorn when she was small. Now it belongs to my younger sister, Lea. Its name is Angel."
A/N: For the sake of this chapter, let's assume that the greenhouses are quite far away from the school, and not like they were in the movie (right next to the castle).
Also let's assume that the Forbidden Forest is also shown on the Marauder's Map. I'm not sure it is, but let's just believe that it is, okay?
Lupin's Angel: I'm glad that penicillin really works. It cured Harry, too :))
Desert Hacker: here it is :)
King Jasbon: the baby's name won't be given in the story, sorry.
X-Tow-Naga: you pervert! Reindeer having sex with Ginny! Yuck! :) About Ginny missing being pregnant – I have heard that certain women who don't have morning sicknesses actually like being pregnant. They say that having a new life inside you is simply magical. I don't know, never been pregnant :) But of course the labour must suck, I agree.
Nefertiri: yes, definitely go and see the scene after the credits, it's the funniest of all! Wow, your parents have 8 kids! My gosh! Aren't you related to the Weasleys? :) I hope you did well in your midterm.
SiriDragon: Creevey creepy? I didn't find him creepy, he was downright cute. Pity that he didn't ask Harry for signed photos. Hermione was really a freak in movie one, but fortunately she didn't have that much of a role in the second one. (anyone can yell at me, but I don't care, I don't like Emma Watson's acting. She's overacting.) But all the boys in CoS were perfect. Harry, Ron, Draco, Oliver, Tom, even Crabbe and Goyle… all of them!
The-Girl-Who-Lived: Harry would never be able to hate his son… or would he? No idea. I don't think they'll have 14 kids :)
Altec: IMHO they couldn't have used the pill. Remember: in the previous story it was stated that no charms and potions worked for them. I believe that a birth control potion would function very similarly to the pill, and if it isn't effective, then the pill wouldn't be, either. Sorry, no more excerpts from Slytherin's diary. The only excerpt that was necessary for the fic was the one in the prologue.
star queen: yeah, go Ron/Hermione! I have always been an R/Hr fan, but now that I've seen the movie I'm much more of an R/Hr fan!
Rab: is there a Peeves pic on mugglenet? I haven't seen it. Could you give me the URL next time? Yes, do watch the scene after the credits, it's worth! You STILL like Kevin? *evil grin*
Princess Ginny: you are going to get to know soon what's up with Dinky. In chapter 8 or 9, I'm not sure which one.
Kit Cloudkicker: Daniel just looks like his grandpa, but we cannot be sure whether he is really like James or not. We don't know what James was really like.
Toby Haine: I didn't like Fudge, either, but Arthur was the worst, IMHO. About the music you mentioned: yesterday I saw the movie again and paid particular attention to the scene where Harry touched Ginny's hand, and there was NO music at all. But the Mirror of Erised music indeed returned, when Dumbledore told Harry to examine the sword and he saw Godric's name engraved into it. Make sure you pay attention to this part next time :) I also found it stupid that Malfoy was there at Herbology with the Gryffindors, but it was funny when the Mandrake bit his finger :) Yeah, Herm wasn't that much overacting in this one. I found her very irritating in the first movie. Lea has to be pronounced as 'Leah'. Don't worry about being a male on GTnet, there are some males, for example Runechild, Mr Imogen or Alan Smithy. What? Build-up makes it even better? Really? I feel relieved. I've always feared that people would hate chapters 4-11 for being build-ups. Do tell me when you start uploading Ginny Weasley and the Very Secret Diary, okay? I'm really interested in it.
sabby: for some reason the unborn Potter kid will be important. But not the way you – or anyone – would think. You'll see.
jasper: you're welcome :)
romina: I also loved the Burrow. Looks so cool. I wish I could magically do the washing-up!
Dauphin: evil? Me? Why? In chapter 6 there was nothing evil. Well, this chapter was more evil, but even this wasn't really evil yet. The really evil things will come after chapter 12… or rather chapter 15? Well, it depends on your point of view.
Lainy: believe me, it's hard for me too, to imagine Harry being 31 ;)
Indigo Ziona: you too missed the after-the-credits-scene? You poor one! Next time don't miss it!
K. C. Hunter: I guess that the 'eat dung, Kevin' line originates from the 'eat slugs, Malfoy' line. Oh, I loved the slug-belching scene in the movie, so funny! Did you know that Rupert Grint had to stuff rubber slugs into his mouth and spit them out? I thought those were CGI slugs, but in the werkfilm Rupert said that they were rubber and they even tasted good :)
Lady Schezar: yeah, I wanted Harry to have seven kids, because seven is my favourite number. I also think that a Potter and Malfoy being friends is weird, but the weirder, the more interesting :)
Houou: never heard of Willy Wonka. Who's that?
AClodhoppingElf: a boy.
Lana Riddle: thanks a lot :)
sea cucumber: I envy you! I also want snow, but it hasn't snowed here in Hungary this winter at all. Well, there's still two and a half months of winter, so we might get snow later. I won't give up on it :)
starheart20: I sent you a new mail. Did you get it?
2Coolio: what do you mean by 'score one for me?' And why did you think that Dan's line was hypocritical?
Wood's secret lover: you are right. There's something about the caretaker. But what? Not telling yet :)
Black Ice: no, I haven't thought of names yet.
XxStRaNgEoNexx: the end scene after the credits was about Lockhart. I also missed the house-cup from the second movie. But it wasn't as important as in the first one, so it's not that terrible that it got omitted. Yes, I have evil plot bunnies, but for the time being I'm keeping them in a sack. I'm going to let them out in chapter 12.
Lizzie: it was about Gilderoy in a straitjacket. Totally hilarious.
Derkaun Zarion: I don't always love kids. Not all of them, I mean. I wouldn't want to have seven kids, that's for sure. I'd be satisfied with two.
missy: I'm glad you found it hilarious :)
Waldomier: I hope you'll get to see the movie soon!
Sky: what does rawrness mean?
C-chan: which author wrote The Rejected HP Script? I'd like to read it, it sounds fun!
Red Ridding Hood: for elementary and high school students there's a two weeks long Xmas holiday. For university and college students there's so to say none. We end the term on 20th December, but are going to have exams throughout January, so even if we don't have to go to school for weeks, we have to study a lot, and it's like as though we didn't have holidays at all :( Now I'll have to get used to your new name, Lourdes :)
Katrina: boy.
notebook girl: sure, Norbert KNOWS that everything Lucius does is illegal.
TaMaraR: I'm sure that the end-scene is shown in the USA as well, because actually American email-friends told me to stay and watch the credits because there's a bonus joke at the end.
Alexander Pheonix: perhaps I'm not *that* mean :)
VardaFangwen: thanks a lot.
Kamatazi Yumi: you wrote: "I didn't get my email saying our dear ficcie was up! -pokes and glares". What do you mean by that? What mail didn't you get? Did you refer to the ffnet update alert, or what? Because I have no idea how that works, I don't have update alert. No, I'm not going to kill Harry. He's in for much worse things than death. Don't worry, Hermione is safe. Yes, it was in my fic that Ron decapitated Nick. You belong to those very few people who were happy about Dan being in Slytherin. Yes, Snape is about 50 in this fic. I haven't read Anne Rice's vampire chronicles. I KNOW that Rowling said in an interview that Albus was in Gryffindor, I never said the opposite. I also love the name Mercedes. I got to love it when I first read The count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. There's a Mercedes in there. Have you read that book?
Zenon Lee: don't worry, the triplets won't be particularly important in the fic. Yes, your suspicion about Dinky is right. I have no idea about Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Ask Gred or Forge :) Keep H and G from having sex? Why should I? *innocent look*. I loved the basilisk scene, it was one of the best! I think Hagrid will die in OotP. I think that even if Snape dies, he'll die in book 7, not in book 5. I also believe that Rowling will kill off Dumbledore, but only in book 7.
AmandaPanda: haven't you seen it yet? I hope you'll get to see it soon, it's fabulous, I've already seen it twice!
figgiesblazin: you love the triplets? Other people hate them. Weird. Anyway, it is possible that H and G used the charm to tell how many kids they were about to have, they just didn't mention it to anyone. Don't worry, this time it's just one kid. I don't know how Ron would react to Ginny buying Honeydukes. I guess he'd be happy about it.
CandyGurl83: the caretaker won't be a major character, but he'll still be important for some funny reason. And when you readers get to know what it is, you'll all be yelling at me: 'we would never have thought this of you, you evil/crazy author!', I foresee it - *Agi glimpses into her crystal ball and sniggers into her palm to hide her amusement*
White Raven: yes, I would also have liked to see their faces when they got to know about the new pregnancy. Especially Sirius' face :))
goldenstar555: I'm glad I could make you smile.
Belle: if truth be told, I have no idea what a Lex Luthor/Clark Kent relationship is like. I saw the Superman films, but I don't really remember them. So, what about Lex and Clark?
Jules Rhys: the idea is nice, but I never make name-the-baby contests.
Inken: Dan got sorted on Thursday and Ginny got to know about it on Saturday. So there wasn't a whole week between the two events, just two days.
DJRowley: you meant that motion of non-confidence? Yeah, that came from The Phantom Menace.
Kristen Michelle: there won't be any Draco/Ginny in this fic. LOL, I also had a silly feeling when staying back to watch the scene after the credits – the cleaning people were already there, looking strangely and me, but I thought 'I don't care, I'm going to stay and watch it', and they didn't say a word, so there was no problem.
pamela-potter-24: I think that 'AGAIN?????' was told by Sirius.
Amaranta: the new pregnancy is important for some reason, but definitely not the way you'd think. Wait it out. I also think that Draco is hot, I never ever hated him. You have 9 brothers? What does it feel like to be the only girl (or do you have sisters as well?) Yes, Bradley will be kind of important. Salazar's diary won't come up again, but there will be more about the founders and there will be something in connection with the wizard-knight tournament Salazar had mentioned. You are eager to see all the nasty surprises laying ahead? Glad to hear it, because there will be a lot of them! I've just sent chapters 27 and 28 to my beta and she freaked out when she read their ends (both of them have terribly evil cliffies), LOL. The nastiest surprises will be in those chappies, and I'm very proud of them :)
Allie: I did :)
FireBolt9000: sorry, but no baby for Sirius. But don't worry, there will be enough babies in the story to satisfy you :)
apple-pie: did I hurry enough?
veronik: I'm glad you saw the Lockhart scene at the end :) I'm nothing like a Gryffindor, I guess I'm a bit more like a Slytherin than a Gryffindor, but I'm more of a Hufflepuff than a Slytherin, and I'm more of a Ravenclaw than a Hufflepuff. So, Ravenclaw wins.
LilGinny: yeah, I know what gégegyulladás is :) Thanks for looking up in the Hungarian dictionary :) I'm glad that both you and your sister are feeling okay now.
Ice Kitten: big family, yeah:)
Drex: no, it has nothing to do with the goldfish. The last scene was about Lockhart in a straitjacket.
WolfEyes: yes, that motion of non-confidence DID come from SW EPI.
PepsiAngel: Gildylicious? I love this word! And I'm going to use it in the future! LOL :)
Aimee: yes, for some reason Dan will turn out to be okay in Slytherin.
dragon tiger: for the time being it's very unlikely for me to have time to read anything but schoolbooks :( My exams are looming closer and closer, *sigh*.
Desiree: you're welcome :))
Katie Bell: yes, Draco and Gabie will get together.