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CLAWS OF A RAVEN
by Tyde

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Chapter Ten

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Sorora paced slowly down the Charms corridor. Her low-heeled boots made reassuring clunks on the stone floor as she progressed. The professor was headed for the staircase at the end that would lead her onto the fourth floor which housed the library and the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. Keeping her eyes ahead and alert for any signs of movement she felt drained. The emotion and events of the day were making her very tired. She stopped and sat down on a wooden bench near the staircase for a few minutes. Sorora rubbed her eyes vigorously and tried not to feel sleepy. Although the corridors were cold she still found herself wanting to drift off to dreamland. Her head nodded slightly and she found herself stretching out on the bench, resting her head on her hands.

"Just a few minutes" she mumbled to herself. She'd barely closed her eyes when a slight scraping noise ahead of her caused her head to snap up and she scanned the immediate area for anything. Nothing. Then she heard it again. It sounded a little like someone walking with a limp and dragging their bad foot behind them. She was familiar with the noise because her Uncle Charlie had such a condition.

Professor Palgetti strained her ears but did not hear it again. She got off the bench and started walking quickly and quietly towards the direction of when she'd last heard the noise. Then as she was heading up the staircase to the fourth floor a flash of cloth dazzled her peripheral vision. She clambered quickly down the stairs and caught a glimpse of someone hurrying down to the second floor. They were scurrying very fast as if they were being chased by someone. Puffing with the effort of hastening down the stairs she stopped to catch her breath and the figure stopped too. It was wrapped in a dark cloak, nothing distinguishing. It was stooped a little so it looked shorter than it was. One foot was protruding from the material, bent oddly, and looked as if it was broken. The shoe scraped across the ground and Sorora knew it was the sound she'd heard. She took two steps forward, a hand reaching out towards the figure when it turned to look at her. For a fleeting second she saw the very image of her husband, Julian. He had panic and pain in his eyes. The professor was amazed, she stood with her mouth open in a big O and then instinct overtook her and she wanted to sling her arms around him and hold him close. She blinked as she took a step to close the gap and was shocked to discover he had disappeared and in his place stood a rather pissed off looking Madam Hooch.

"What are you doing Professor? Second floor is my domain. Get back upstairs and stop wasting time. How are the students supposed to feel safe if you aren't protecting them?"

She shook her head as if to clear it. "Sorry Madam Hooch. I thought I saw something. I followed it down here but it seems to have disappeared"

"Probably just one of the ghosts" she said a little kindlier. "They've fooled me once or twice myself. And I saw one of the house elves heading downstairs a few minutes ago"

"Right" Sorora headed back up the stairs and onto the fourth floor. The shock had caused her to become ultra alert and no thoughts of a quick nap were entering her head now. She was happy to report to herself that it was all quiet and nothing seemed to be appearing or disappearing to confuse her. Then she heard the noise again, the scraping sound. But this time it was coming from the library.

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Ron was up to his nose in books and although it had been his suggestion to come to the library he didn't look happy at all. Harry was nearly falling asleep on a copy of Almost Potente Potions. Suddenly a voice rang out from within the book shelves.

"I found it!" Hermione rushed over to them, a copy of The Dark Years : Insidious Incantations and Portentous Potions in her hands. She dragged a chair over to the table and sat down, plonking the book in front of her. "It's not a common potion Harry. In fact it hasn't even been around for very long. It was developed around the time of You Know Who's first rising by one of his followers. Only that person knew the ingredients and dared to make it" She was running a finger down the information as she spoke.

"Well don't leave us in suspense Mione! Who is it?" cried Ron.

"S. Snape – that's all it says"

"S. Snape? Severus Snape. I knew it! You saw how worried he looked at dinner. Cause he knew he'd be found out! All this time he's been pretending to be good – although he's doing a very bad job of it – all this time he's been waiting until You Know Who came back into power and then he's gonna kill the lot of us" said Ron. Harry looked worried and his hand drifted towards his scar.

"Ron, it could be any S. Snape. Professor Palgetti's first name is Sorora. It could very well be her" concluded Hermione. "But if this is all printed in a library book, why isn't the culprit in gaol? That's grounds for imprisonment if ever I heard it. There's something very odd going on"

"Correct you are Miss Granger. For instance three Gryffindors – one of them a Prefect – rifling through library books when they were told to stay in their common rooms. Do rules mean nothing to you three?" Professor Palgetti's voice was cold, as cold as her brother's could be. Ron gulped, Harry looked at her warily but Hermione squared her shoulders and looked Sorora right in the eye. "You're quite the little investigators aren't you? I'm not even going to ask how you found out I was born a Snape" Her hands were resting on her hips and she looked annoyed. "Just because I don't heap favour on Mister Potter like everybody else in this place doesn't mean I'm in league with the Dark Lord"

"Well there is only one way to find that out. Roll up your sleeve!" demanded the Gryffindor Prefect. To Ron and Harry's amazement Hermione now had her wand trained on the professor and didn't seem likely to budge until her command was obeyed.

"How many detentions do you think you have earned yourself now Miss Granger?"

"I really don't care, Professor" it was said with some malice. "Detention is far better than being betrayed by someone we've been told to put our trust in. ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVE NOW!" she nearly roared it and Harry stood up to lower her arm.

"Hermione, calm down. What's gotten into you? This is a professor you're talking to. I figure if she hasn't killed me yet, she's not going to now. Especially not in front of you two" he glanced at Ron who didn't seem put off by Hermione's take charge attitude at all, in fact he seemed almost mesmerised by it.

"It's okay Mister Potter" Sorora stated quietly, her eyes flicking to the book in the Prefect's other hand. "If my brother is anything to judge by I could imagine Hermione wouldn't trust anyone else from the Snape family" As she spoke she was rolling up both her sleeves to reveal rather pale but untainted flesh. Hermione flushed with embarrassment and lowered her wand.

"I'm sorry Professor. I don't know what came over me. I..." The bushy-haired girl wiped at her forehead as if she were sweating and blinked her eyes quickly a few times.

Palgetti reached forward to take the book from her grasp. The Prefect noticed her own fingertips stained with blue-black ink from the print. As Sorora placed her hands on the book it emitted a low growl. "It is the book Miss Granger. It is so full of reports of Dark Magic that it can't help but infect those who read it, or even just handle it. You'll want to get a powerful cleaning concoction for that. There's one in Chapter Fifteen of your textbook" and Hermione nodded knowingly at this. No doubt she'd already read it.

Sorora put the tome down on a nearby table. "I can't imagine why Irma didn't have it in the Restricted Section in the first place" A frown creased at her forehead. "We can't have students gallivanting about with Dark Magicks seeping into their subconscious. As if we didn't have enough to worry about". The three students looked at each other warily. They hadn't been in the common room when Professor McGonagall had delivered the conclusions the faculty had reached and they sensed Professor Palgetti was terrified. She snapped her fingers suddenly and they looked to her.

"Unless of course it's not a Hogwarts Library book" A flick of her wand opened the book up to the first page where the crest of Hogwarts would normally be with the words "Property of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" underneath it, but the page was blank. Flicking a few more pages it appeared that that the book Hermione had been reading from was not school property at all.

"You mean someone planted that book here?" Ron queried.

"It appears so" Sorora fiddled nervously with her wand. "You three go back to your dormitories. I need to speak to the Headmaster"

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As the three friends climbed the steps to Gryffindor Tower a small, anxious body rushed straight towards Harry and collided with his knees. They immediately reached for their wands but relaxed when they realised it was Dobby.

"Dobby? What are you doing here?"

Dobby's giant eyes were filled with concern and sorrow and he looked like tears would leak any moment. "I'm sorry Harry Potter, sir. You must forgive Dobby, he was not looking where he was going. Oh dear. Oh no" He looked lost, his tea cosy hat hanging forlornly off one of his ears.

"Dobby what is it?"

"Dobby is on his way to Professor Dumbledore's office. Dobby has to tell him something terrible!" His hat had fallen onto the ground and he picked it up, kneading it like it was dough. He was obviously very upset.

"What's happened?"