Chapter Eighteen

Eye Openers

Corey waved his friends over to a large circular table near the bar, a very nice spot with a view of everything, and near the long table that the professors often reserved for the day. Danny looked rather impressed at him having secured such a good location and said so as she and Taylor walked in. Angela walked in a moment later and was also waved over.

"Where's Essie?" Corey asked.

"Oh, she went to talk to Doug for a moment," Angela said.

"What for?" Corey asked with a grimace. Angela shrugged, having promised Essie a long time ago that she wouldn't tell anyone about her crush on him.

"Perhaps she's trying to get the two of you to make up," Taylor suggested. Corey glared at him. "You know, you're just not the same without him around. The two of you used to always have a lot of laughs and now you've both gotten way too serious."

"There's a lot of serious stuff going on, Taylor," Corey said. "Which is another reason I think Doug is acting so silly."

"Well, I for one intend to go see Lisa and see how things are going," Danny said, getting up. Just then, she looked over at the door to see her uncle and cousin come back in and frowned. "What in the world? I thought they said they were leaving."

"I thought Rosmerta didn't want him in here," Taylor added to Corey.

"She doesn't," Corey said calmly. But strangely enough, Rosmerta didn't seem too surprised to see him. Danny looked questioningly at her uncle but was quickly gestured to run along, and Danny decided to go out to where Lisa, Doug and Essie were standing.

Corey's attention turned to Rosmerta, who was wiping her hands on her apron and giving Lucius a polite but cold smile, directing them to the professor's table where McGonagall stood and nodded to them politely as they took seats. The only other professor at the table, Snape, neither stood or acknowledged them, calmly reading his book while Lucius said something to McGonagall that Corey couldn't quite pick up. Then there was a rustle from the front of the room as Dumbledore, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the board, Investigator Thurspire, and Minister Weasley himself entered. McGonagall quickly excused herself saying that she needed to get back to the castle, and the others sat down, making for quite a gathering indeed.

"Thank you for meeting me at such short notice," Arthur said with a smile. "I thought that considering certain circumstances between certain parties…" he said. glancing between Snape and Malfoy, who gazed warily at each other from across the table, "that it might be good to meet on neutral ground. Since we're all here in Hogsmeade anyhow, we might as well get it over with. I'd like to come to a mutual decision about what's to be done with the Tome of Merlin."

"What's to be done with it, Weasley?" Lucius asked suspiciously. "Come now, surely as Minister of Magic, you know the law states that stolen possessions go to its rightful owner after they're recovered."

"Yes, Lucius, that's true. The only problem is that you are not the rightful owner," Arthur said. Lucius stared at him. "On your behalf, I had Ed here look up your proof of ownership, and we did track it to that bookstore that you spoke of, but apparently the bookstore had not acquired it legally. It had been stolen from its rightful owner, who had been murdered nearly thirty years ago. How it came to be in that shop and how it came that you might have known to look for it there is inconsequential, really," Arthur said, Lucius squinting at the hint of accusation in his tone. "But the point of the matter is, whether you bought it knowingly or not, that book was stolen property at the time you acquired it."

"Did you find out then who the rightful owner is then, Arthur?" Erik asked calmly.

"Yes, we did find the owner, the son of the deceased," Arthur said, not missing for an instant that Lucius' eyes went straight over to Severus and then over at the Tome nonchalantly had in his hand as if a common textbook. "In fact, it was his idea to have this meeting."

"Yes," Severus agreed, glancing up and placing the book in front of him so all could see, his hand never leaving it. "Because I have come to the conclusion that this Tome must be destroyed." Balmweed and Lucius immediately jumped up in surprise.

"You can't possibly be serious! Don't you have any idea what this is? What it may mean?" Balmweed shouted, lowering his voice when Dumbledore reminded him there were students present. "Ancient Magic is dying, we've all seen it! If you destroy the Tome, you may be destroying our link to it completely! Give it to Equinox, Severus, please! Let us find a solution before our magical world is gone forever!"

"The spells in here can be used by anyone, even those not born with magic, as Lorcan has already demonstrated," Severus replied, making eye contact with them all but holding his gaze longest on Lucius. "It also holds a spell to open the gate to Tir Na Nog, which if improperly opened can also destroy our world," Severus informed them loudly, but Dumbledore made no gesture to quiet him. "I have had my wife, familiar, and the security of the school jeopardized by its presence. Magic failing or not, I want it to be made perfectly clear that this book is too dangerous to exist any longer."

"He's bluffing, he wouldn't destroy it," Lucius said calmly. "Either that, or he'll destroy a different book and try to fool us into thinking he has." Severus, never letting his eyes off of him, stood and opened the book randomly so Lucius could see inside. Balmweed desperately leaned over and tried to read what was on it, some sort of time related transportation spell. Thurspire and Arthur gazed at it with interest, and even Erik couldn't help but flicker a curious eye towards it. But before the hands that reached over to touch it were able to brush a page leaf, Severus suddenly tossed it into the air. The rest of them yelped in surprise, while Corey, waiting at the table next to them, caught it neatly, much to the surprise of the students drinking their butterbeers along side him.

"Excuse me a minute, guys," Corey said cheerfully standing up, keeping the Tome in plain sight of everyone watching him. Without a word, he walked out of the pub and Severus calmly followed behind. Doug looked up at the crowd of people that ran out of the pub, while outside Corey began to trace a symbol in the air that appeared in the dust on the road as a complex matrix of overlapped circles. Irreverently, he tossed the Tome in the center, making sure it popped open so that those coming out could see it was the same book. Severus stood on the edge of the circle, glancing over at Dumbledore, who nodded gently to him.

"You can't be serious. You're not going to do it here?" Thurspire said in surprise, looking around. "Don't you think that'd be rather dangerous?"

"I'll try to contain the repercussions, Ederick, but I wouldn't object to any assistance anyone else would like to give," Dumbledore said. Erik stepped up as well as Arthur, and Thurspire stared at them as Balmweed and Malfoy looked on, fervently trying to think of some way to stop it.

But before they could do anything, Severus took out his wand; an eerie, frightening look coming over him as he began intoning a spell that Ederick didn't recognize. A dark beam that seemed to absorb all light enveloped the book in a black sphere that slowly turned blood red in color, reflecting in everyone's face as the book burst into a column of flames that jetted off harmlessly towards the sky. After the light returned to normal, only some black ashes remained in the circle. Thurspire saw a flash and turned to see Ron standing there, writing in his press journal while students gathered all around them trying to figure out what was going on.

"You can have your book back if you want, Lucius," Severus said evenly, stepping around the ashes and nodding to the others politely. "Now, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to go see Jennifer."

Severus nodded to Corey on his way, leaving the rest standing in stunned silence. As Corey turned and went back inside Three Broomsticks, he found himself followed by a crowd of students wanting to know what all that was about.

"I was just having a bonding moment with my Dad is all," Corey said with a smirk.

"I always knew your family was weird, Corey," Gail commented as they walked in.


Jennifer had planned to spend the day getting ready for her return to the classroom. Phials were cleaned and inventory was taken, Hermione's notes about class progress was read and assignments looked over. After getting a handle on what material to add to her midterms, she had taken a break to read the post. A letter from her Muggle penpal Dr. Linde was quickly opened and Jennifer squealed softly in delight, for apparently he was coming to a medical conference in the spring and was going to be there for two weeks in April. She hadn't seen him since Anna's wedding when it had been revealed to many of Anna's closest friends and relatives what she was, and he had been one of the number of Muggles that had been allowed to retain the memory of it. Quickly marking it off on her calendar, she was about to pick up the next letter when she heard a frantic beating of wings against her door.

It was a bright-eyed peregrine holding a note in its beak, and Jennifer took it, wondering who owned the falcon. But Jennifer recognized the flowing handwriting at once as Carol's and she quickly opened it. She only had to read a few lines before making up her mind, stuffing the note in her pocket and grabbing her cloak. Yes, she knew she wasn't supposed to leave the castle, but this was an emergency. Resealing the door behind her, Jennifer hurried home. She didn't realize that she had just missed Harry and Ginny, who appeared at the gates only a few minutes later.


Carol was pacing the floor of the living room when Jennifer arrived, the three children all in the pen, awake and wanting to come out. Carol looked at her with both relief and concern, seeing who it was and that she was alone.

"How bad is it?" Jennifer asked immediately, picking up the insistent Alex to give her a hug. "I've missed you!"

"We're as visible as it gets, Mrs. Snape, no doubt about that. It just started all of the sudden, but there be several boats below and curious neighbors about," Carol said. Jennifer peered at the window a moment and then headed down to the family room. Carol had succeeded in drawing a curtain over the large opening, but even that, Jennifer was sure, looked rather odd indeed to the small fishing boats skirting the rocks below.

"Well, it's not like the house can be seen from the road at all, so we only have these to worry about, at least," Jennifer sighed.

"I wish that were the truth, ma'am, but I've had callers enough in the last hour or so…some sort of Muggle charity was about going door to door and made it all the way up this far, that's how I knew we were seen," Carol said, following her back up the stairs. "I've already Owled Mr. Black and he said he'd be here as soon as he can. I contacted the Ministry as well, but it seems we're not the only residence appearing at the moment and they'll get to us when they have the time."

"This is all we need right now," Jennifer said worriedly, looking at her children. Jennifer had quickly realized that her house being seen was more dangerous than just a few curious Muggles. If any of those happened to chat about it before something was done, the Secret that protected where they lived would also be in jeopardy. In fact, she had little doubt that anyone wanting to could probably find them at that moment. Jennifer stepped out on the porch and noticed several people hanging out and chatting by the road, and when they saw her began walking back down it, waving. Jennifer, realizing she was still in her Hogwarts robes, rushed back in and quickly disguised it as a normal dress, putting Alex back down, who then began to cry.

"I'm going to go talk to them... maybe even give the Ministry a head start Obliviating."

"Be careful, Mrs. Snape," Carol said worriedly. Jennifer walked back out and towards the friendly looking crowd, feeling as if she were feeding herself to the lions.

Some seemed very familiar to her, and she realized that she had met some of them before from an occasional trip to town with Corey or walking him to church, and they in turn seemed to brighten as she came near.

"Good afternoon," an elderly lady said. Jennifer realized from the pamphlets in her hand that she and the man warily standing beside her must have been the ones that Carol had mentioned going door to door. Several children and a woman who might have been one of their mothers and a postman were there, smiling at her curiously. "Are you the lady of the house?"

"Er, yes, can I help you?" Jennifer said with a nervous smile.

"We just happened along and were wondering how long you've been in the neighborhood? Not much gets past us in Haven's Bluff, being such a small community and all. That cottage had been abandoned for so long, and yet it seems you've done wonders with it! You must be new, then? I'm Mrs. Dimple, and this is my son, Bart. I don't suppose we could come see your home?"

"No! I mean, I'm sorry, but the place is rather untidy right now. Perhaps some other time," Jennifer said, smiling wanly.

"How long have you been in Haven's Bluff? I don't think I've gotten any post redirected here," the postman asked.

"Um no, we, uh, have our post delivered at work," Jennifer explained, hoping that wasn't too unusual an answer, looking around desperately. That was when she finally saw Rebecca and Mark walking around the corner, Rebecca with her mouth clamped in concern as they approached.

"Rebecca! Good to see you!" Jennifer said with relief.

"Jennifer, glad to see you're feeling better," Rebecca said.

"Mrs. Hunt, could you introduce us to your neighbor? She seems rather reluctant to speak to us, and we only want to welcome her into the neighborhood…"

"Eliza Dimple, I thought you were raising funds for the auxiliary, not on another gossip run," Rebecca said, getting a look of surprise from Eliza. But Jennifer could easily tell that Rebecca was hardly far off. "Mary Clemmons, what are you doing here?"

"My daughter Mary told me that someone had restored the Pince place, so I thought to see who it was," she smiled good-naturedly. "We like to know our neighbors in case anything comes up. We look out for each other here."

"I'm quite sure Mrs. Snape doesn't need much looking after. I expect you should all be respecting their wishes to be just left alone," Rebecca said firmly. Jennifer didn't like this at all. They really were only trying to be nice, even if a bit nosy. They could hardly be blamed for their curiosity when they hadn't seen the house before.

"Mrs. Snape?" Bart said, finally recognizing her. "You're the private school teacher that adopted Corey Willowby?"

"Yes, actually," Jennifer said. This was getting worse and worse. Now they had a name and an address.

"Ah, good to meet you!" the postman said cheerfully, offering his hand warmly, Jennifer took it carefully, looking worriedly at Rebecca. "I've always wondered exactly where your school is, Mrs. Snape, but Mrs. Hunt never seems to send post there," he said in a voice that indicated what he thought of a parent that sent no letters to a child away at school. Rebecca glowered at him.

"Oh it's, uh, up north," Jennifer said carefully, nodding. "Private school. I'm sure it's not interesting."

"What do you teach?" Eliza asked.

"Um…"

"You know it's rather cold, so why don't we all go up to the farmhouse and talk?" Mark suggested. He had noticed the longer they stood there, the more other curious Haveners peered down the road to see what the fuss was about.

"Oh, but it's so long a walk for my old legs," Eliza said, looking at Jennifer hopefully.

"If I do happen to get any post for you, where should I redirect it to, Mrs. Snape?" the postman asked. Jennifer was debating whether or not to give him the Muggle address of the school and wondering how she could possibly cover all this up when yet another figure walked up the road that Jennifer recognized.

It was Father Pachem, the local pastor, who looked just as curious as the other villagers who followed hurriedly behind him to take a gander at the mysterious cottage. Pachem was one of the other folks in town who knew very well what the Snapes were, and had even been helping many of the Muggles who hadn't completely forgotten cope with the Christmas of four years ago. Dumbledore had mentioned to her before that he trusted him, but Jennifer had a hard time truly identifying with a man such a different background as hers and had barely spoken to him.

"Just give the post to me, and I'll make sure she gets it," Rebecca said quickly, not liking the gathering crowd any more than Jennifer.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't catch what it was you taught?" Eliza asked.

"Good afternoon, Jennifer," Pachem said cheerfully. "Well! What a lovely cottage! It's not supposed to be there, is it?" he said so matter-of-factly that Rebecca and Jennifer stared at him.

"Well, it's 'supposed' to be there, if it's there, isn't it?" the postman asked in confusion.

"Maybe it's a magic house that's only there some of the time," a seven-year old girl standing below Mary Clemmons said. Rebecca grew quite pale and Jennifer wondered if she could have even stood if Mark hadn't gotten hold of her.

"Out of the mouth of babes," Pachem smiled and winked. "It's quite cold out here, however. Jennifer, why don't you be a good sport and show us in?"

"Oh no! I can't," Jennifer said.

"Father Pachem, what are you doing?" Rebecca demanded. "You can't have them going in there!"

"Well it's certainly safer than standing out here until we end up with non-locals gaping as well, don't you think?" Pachem pointed out. Jennifer saw some sense in that, and the fact that if she were able to keep them all in one place, it would be easier to Obliviate them. Stalling for the Ministry hadn't paid off, and standing there did seem to make it worse instead of better. What choice did she have really? Still, she had asked herself that same question when she let Corey in, and it had nearly cost her job.

"You all go on ahead, I'd better tend to some things," Mark said, whispering in Rebecca's ear, but then added, "Go on down if you like, Rebecca." Rebecca, who had an expression that revealed that she would rather be just about anywhere than in the position she was in now, stepped beside Jennifer as they walked back to the cottage. Mark in turn went towards the barn to get some red paint to make 'No Trespassing' signs. As Jennifer got to the door, Carol let them in with wide eyes as they all crowded into the tiny living room, gaping around at anything and everything.

"What the devil? Look at that picture, did you see that?" The postman said, pointing to the small frame on the corner desk that a picture of Snape had been in.

"Mum! Look at all these books! And look! This bookcase moves!"

"Did you see that? I could have sworn the toy that lad threw just went and picked itself up!"

"Wherever did all those cups on the table come from?"

Jennifer gazed over to the kitchen to see that sure enough, Mercy the House Elf had hurriedly poured hot spiced apple juice and tea, enough for everyone to get what he or she liked.

"What adorable children! Are they yours?" Eliza asked, but Jennifer was quite tongue-tied, trying to grab them up before anyone else could.

"Please, please, settle down everyone! Can't you see we're frightening them? After all, we're quite a mob to be coming on a front doorstep," Pachem said. "Especially unexpected."

"But what's making all of these things work? There's not an outlet in sight and no string of electric anywhere!" The postman asked.

"Well, I think that'd be as obvious as anything, don't you?" Eliza said. "It's magic, of course! I daresay Mrs. Snape and the good lady here must be Witches," she said with surety. "You know, just like my cousin Marcie."

"Ah, Marcie," several of them nodded knowingly.

"The one who used to walk about Bluff Street and hand out those gingerbread cookies at Christmas?" The postman asked.

"The children would tell us they moved about and no one would believe them for ages," Mary laughed, remembering. "And then my daughter's cookie went and winked at me! Blimey if it didn't."

"Do you remember Old Uncle Spartan that lived down on Meadow?" another woman named Crista said, helping herself to a drink.

"I remember him, the old man with the fifty owls that used to chase me off the property when I first started working for the post service," the postman said.

"Well of course he did, Jack, he was a wizard," Eliza laughed, "Wizards don't use normal post, they use messenger birds. He was a nice old man though, he knew just what to feed plants and things…strange mixes they were, and smelly, but I dare say the Scott's next door had the best garden in town and he had something to do with it."

"Wait a moment, wasn't the Scott boy himself a wizard?" Jack said, "I suddenly recall picking him off the pavement a few times, and I swear when I asked him what he did he said he fell off his broom."

"Jack Martin, I swear you'd marry a witch and not even know it the way you close your eyes to it," Mary sighed at him.

"I've heard that June Wispin was a witch too, but I could never get anything out of Freda about it, rest her soul," Eliza said, gazing at Rebecca who stood staring at them all in complete surprise. "And I'm quite sure old Terra Pince was too, not that she was much of a mixer."

"Not many of them are," Bart shrugged. "Afraid we're going to burn them at the stake or something I suppose."

"Not in this town," Mary said, holding her daughter to her, gazing over at Jennifer's petrified face. "Now don't you worry none about things like that, Mrs. Snape. Not one bit. We look after our own here, and our own means our neighbors and townsfolk and we take that seriously, no matter what your past."

"Not that we haven't had to run a person or two out of town on occasion," Bart chuckled. "There's a bad egg in every batch."

"But that doesn't mean throwing the good out with the bad," Eliza told her son. "Why, Rebecca, you look as if you've seen a ghost!"

"Jennifer, Rebecca, Carol," Pachem said with a warm smile. "Might I introduce you to your neighbors?"

It was not long after that they had all were invited downstairs where they could stretch, some of them curiously peering past the curtain. Jennifer, not seeing much use in hiding it then, told them nearly everything they asked about, even mentioning why they needed to be hidden so badly. After that, they were quickly forgiven for not being 'neighborly' sooner, and took quick interest in the problem at hand, looking out at the several fishing boats beyond. Bart waved Jack over to see if he could identify any of the boats.

"No, I don't recognize any but one," Jack frowned, "that's Dale Parker's boat."

"We're going to need to figure a way to keep boats out of that inlet there, no telling what sort of riffraff might see your fine balcony here," Bart said. "I think a couple good placed hazards and some warning buoys might do it."

"Oh, I'm sure you need not go to any trouble. Sirius should be here at any time," Jennifer protested.

"It's no trouble at all, Mrs, Snape. Even if they do get your protection back up, it'll help protect in case something like this happens again," Bart said. "If you could make some inquiries for us of some folks that might have some junk that might work as hazards, Pastor Pachem?"

"Of course, Bart, splendid idea," Pachem smiled as he bounced Andrew on his knee. Eliza was busy entertaining Alex, who was very much showing off for all of the company, but Aurelius wouldn't have anything to do with any of them, screaming endlessly until he was put down in the play area where he sat and sucked his hand, glaring at them. Just then there was a loud noise and a tremble, and Carol quickly excused herself bringing a very tired looking Sirius down with her. But Sirius stopped short and paled dramatically when the rest of the company waved at him.

"It's alright! Really!" Jennifer said, standing up from where she was sitting. "They knew already!" Sirius then stared at her.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to stay in the castle," Sirius scolded her.

"Well, young man, what would you do if your house suddenly became a sight for any nosy old woman that happened by?" Eliza asked boldly. "She did what any good Mum should and came to check on her children, and what lovely children they all are, too! My, she does look like you."

"Might I be getting just another spot more of tea?" Mary asked, peering into her cup and looking pleased when it filled back up. "Thank you very much." Sirius groaned and went over to Jennifer, pulling her aside.

"Jennifer, do I really need to tell you what's going to happen if Severus finds out you're gone and then finds you playing hostess to half a Muggle town?" Sirius hissed.

"It's not my fault!" Jennifer protested. "The Ministry never showed up."

"The Ministry is busy trying to make the Lost Tower of London lost again," Sirius explained. "Wait until Arthur finds out. He had to take care of something in Hogsmeade."

"Hullo! Anyone home?" Harry's voice said from above. Carol soon brought Harry and Ginny down, and although surprised, Harry greeted them warmly as they introduced themselves, and even more pleasantly after they asked him who he was. As much as Harry loved his wizard neighborhood near the Burrow, Harry immediately decided that if he had to live in a Muggle neighborhood, this would definitely be it. But Sirius' nervousness and constantly looking at the clock must have tipped Pachem off, for the pastor stood and said something about other commitments, and reluctantly the others did as well, each one professing a desire to call again and rattling off addresses and directions on how to call on them so fast that Jennifer's head was spinning. Sirius quickly got to work and Harry helped Carol show the people out while Ginny insisted Jennifer sit down so she could have a look at her.

"I feel fine," Jennifer protested as Ginny took her pulse.

"Well, you look pale and exhausted. Besides, we need to get you back before Severus and Sagittari realize you're not in the school," Ginny insisted.

"I second that," Sirius said, pulling back the curtain to the balcony, frowning at the water. "Well, that's fixed. Guess I'd better do something about those fishing boats down there, shouldn't I?" Sirius decided. "See you back at the school," he added, Disapparating. Jennifer picked up Alex, who had finally fallen asleep on a chair and put her down by her brothers, gazing at them.

"I don't care what Sagittari says. I am coming back to see you next weekend," Jennifer promised herself, gently brushing back the hair on Aurelius' forehead and kissing Andrew.

"Come on, Jennifer, let's get back," Ginny nudged her as Harry came down the stairs, watching them.

"But will they be safe here?" Jennifer asked, her worry finally showed on her face. "So many know we're here…" she said, gazing around the room. Were they going to have to move?

"No one is going to get that close, Jennifer, trust me," Harry said from where he stood on the stairs. "Secret or no secret, they have a lot of people looking out for them, Carol, Remus, Dumbledore, and Ginny and me. Besides, anyone would be a fool to do anything to tick off either you or Severus," he pointed out with a grin. "Speaking of which, let's get you back."

"They're all on their way, Mrs. Snape," Carol said, coming down the stairs and smiling at the three sleeping babes, taking the opportunity to sit down for a few minutes.

"What would I do without you, Carol?" Jennifer said. "Just knowing you're here makes me feel better," she added.

"I do my best," Carol smiled, waving to them as the three headed up the stairs. But the smile faded when they disappeared from view and she sighed softly, shaking her head as she turned her attention to her three small charges.


It was not long after Harry and Ginny had left and Jennifer had gotten herself settled on her couch with her midterms that Severus came in. He was unusually somber as he took off his cloak and tossed it to the side, bringing his Pensieve out of the cabinet.

"So, you destroyed it, then?" Jennifer asked.

"With a crowd of witnesses, including Lucius Malfoy," Severus said expressionlessly. He took a out a long strand from the Pensieve, which suddenly shot at his head and then dissipated in a soft glow.

"I would have loved to have seen the expression on his face when you did it," Jennifer grinned.

"You probably would have found the expression on Balmweed's face entertaining as well," Severus said, putting the Pensieve back and looking at her thoughtfully. "So what have you been up to today?"

"Preparing to get back to work," Jennifer said, showing him her paperwork.

"Is that all?" Severus asked.

Even if Jennifer hadn't looked up, she couldn't have missed the warning tone in his voice, and it had immediately occurred to her that he probably glanced at the watch once or twice. Jennifer looked up at his searching gaze and sighed.

"All right, I admit I might have gone home for a few hours, but I needed to check on the children," Jennifer admitted. "Surely you can't blame me for that."

"I could have sworn that Sagittari said you were not to leave the castle at all," Severus scowled. But Jennifer could immediately tell he wasn't as bothered about it as he pretended to be. In fact, he almost seemed glad that she wasn't by herself the entire time. He would be more worried if he knew what had happened, but Jennifer decided he really didn't need to know that part quite yet.

"They're getting so big now," Jennifer commented, ignoring his exasperated sigh. "Aurelius still seems to have no inclination to talk, though. Carol thinks it's more because he doesn't want to rather than he can't. And Andrew is scooting around trying to get at everything, he's so curious about anything that moves."

"Oh very well! I'll let it go this time, but I don't want you making yourself sick again by popping all over the place. You heard what Sagittari said about getting your strength back," Severus said, "It's more than about you, you know, it's about Anna and her twins and our child."

"Daughter," Jennifer said wistfully. "Sagittari said she was a girl. I feel so empty, like I've been… robbed." Severus was still trying to figure out how to reply when there was a knock at the door. Severus opened it to see McGonagall standing there.

"Oh, good, you're here," she said, nodding over to Jennifer as well. "Dumbledore would like you both to come up to his office if you can, there's been some widespread trouble with spells this afternoon, and Ederick needs to speak with you, Jennifer."

"Of course," Jennifer said and got up, while Severus took extra pains to secure their room before leaving. Jennifer looked at him curiously, but Severus didn't look at her as they went up the stairs, crossing the corridor and up the winding stair into the study. As they walked in, Jennifer noticed a very tired looking Arnie Peasegood, sprawled out in the chair as if he hadn't slept for days. He stood when Jennifer came in, obviously pleased to see her and shaking her hand.

"I am so sorry we never managed to get out to your house today," Arnie said apologetically. "But I understand from Sirius that everything was taken care of?" Jennifer was quite aware of Severus' eyes on her back.

"Yes, sir, it all worked out," Jennifer said carefully. "Is everything all right in London? He said something about the Tower appearing."

"Yes, and in the middle of lunch hour," Arnie said as she sat. "It's a wonder that nobody got killed. Several automobiles were smashed up when the building appeared in the middle of the street, and people on the street found themselves inside the jailhouse and courtyard. Two unfortunate Muggles found themselves behind cages in the Menagerie," he added, as Jennifer cringed. Severus was still squinting at Jennifer, too busy trying to figure out what had happened at home to react. "I don't know who was more unhappy, the Muggles or the Cats'o'nine-tails," he said, rubbing his head. "I did everything I could until Arthur relieved me half an hour ago, but I don't see how we could possibly manage to contain this. Hundreds of people saw it. We have them convinced it was some sort of government experiment, but the truth is that if anything like this happens again, we're done. They will know we're here, and we won't be able to cover it up much longer," Arnie said. "Professor Dumbledore, I know how you feel about this, but even you have to admit neither one of our societies are ready for something like this right now. Magicless or not, they outnumber our kind hundreds to one. We would lose everything. Something must be done to stabilize what's happening quickly or it'll be the witch hunts all over again."

"Calm down, Arnie, there's no need to panic just yet," Dumbledore said. "Has a Council meeting been called?"

"I believe Arthur is setting that up now, Professor," Arnie said, nodding numbly. "I really ought to tell you that the Creatures department is also getting more reports of Fae creatures causing trouble, especially in the farmlands down south… some creatures we haven't seen in centuries are popping up out of no where… Changelings and other unseelie creatures… Riverhags and Knucklelaives and the like. The locals are keeping one step ahead of them at the moment, but they are also demanding the Ministry do something about it."

"Some also wonder if it didn't have to do with the gate nearly reopening a few years ago," Thurspire put in. "Although, I seem to recall that the Wraiths and Beansidhe incidents happened before that… not long after Anna got here actually." Severus and Jennifer turned their eyes on him with open dislike.

"You will also recall that Voldemort was calling out every creature he could find that he thought he could control, and a lot of the creatures that appeared at that time was his doing," Severus said icily.

"The Beansidhe had been there a long time, Thurspire, as anyone in Hogsmeade will attest to. You can't really believe Anna is behind this. I thought you were friends," Jennifer said.

"Well, I know that the Wraiths weren't controlled by anyone, and something must have attracted them here, and I think it's been well established now they were attracted to Anna. Who's to say the others aren't? She's supposed to have all sorts of faerie like abilities."

"So does Sagittari and several others I could name, Ederick," Dumbledore said.

"Well, of course Sagittari does, being a magical creature himself. But many are worried about a witch who has them; especially one everyone knows now is capable of opening that gate. And before you start in again, I am only worried about her safety," Thurspire said defensively. "There is a growing fear and restlessness in our society, and I'm afraid of what's going to happen when they begin to get frightened enough to point fingers."

"Yes, you are right about that," Dumbledore said quietly, folding his hands together and putting them to his lips in thought. "The first priority must be to maintain calm. Minerva, could you send an owl to Ron Weasley and ask him if he could see me when he has the time? Oh, and send for Harry as well. For the next priority is seeing what we can do to find the cause of the problem. The Fae, at least, I have some inclination to what the cause is, for the worst of this began after Lorcan attempted to open the gate. The Seal holding it must have been damaged, and although I do not believe I can completely repair it without the Lia Fál, with a bit of help, I may be able to strengthen it some until we can," Dumbledore said, glancing over at Severus. "Let's head back down to Salisbury this evening, Severus, I'm sure between us and Harry we can get it temporarily stable. And then," Dumbledore said with a sigh, "I suppose I should go see Viviane about that Stone. We've had no luck in finding it, and if she knows where it is, I dare say we won't find it without her help, like it or not."

"Sir, I'd rather not leave Jennifer here by herself," Severus said. Jennifer looked at him with surprise.

"I'm not a complete invalid, you know," she said hotly.

"Harry expressed concern that the Ladle incident was an inside job, and frankly I'm not entirely sure whom we can trust anymore," Severus continued, ignoring her protest. Dumbledore looked at him steadily, as one who had contemplated that possibility himself. He looked down for a moment as he thought it over, then looked up at Jennifer.

"Fine, I'm warned, but I'll be damned if you assign me a babysitter," Jennifer said stubbornly.

"Professor Craw is right. She can take care of herself," Dumbledore said calmly. "Besides, you have the ring and watch with you and I'll be there if we need to get back in a hurry. I can't do this without you Severus," he added. It was quite an admission, Jennifer realized, wondering exactly what Dumbledore could possibly think Severus could do that he can't. But whatever the reason, his expression was firm enough to convince everyone how serious he was, and Severus reluctantly nodded. "In the meantime, Professor Craw, I'd appreciate it if you would go find out what Caprica's been up to. I'm sure all of the recent events have her stirred up again and I'm sure she'll be trying to cause trouble if we don't keep an eye on her and her friends."

"Certainly, Professor Dumbledore," Jennifer said, resigning herself to a rather annoying evening as they all began to get up, and suspecting the real reason behind it was just to keep her busy.

"And when I get back, you and I are going to have a long talk about exactly what happened while you were at home," Severus told Jennifer, who smiled wanly at him in return.

"I just had tea with the neighbors," Jennifer shrugged, and Dumbledore suddenly turned and smiled at her in a way that told her that he knew more about that than he had said.