Chapter Nineteen

The Grudge Match

Like many Mondays after a very eventful weekend, (which, at Hogwarts, seemed to happen more weekends than not,) the Gryffindor table found itself crowded with several other house students attempting to get as close as possible to Corey Willowby, waiting to hear the latest tidbits. Even Doug, with his mouse Whiskers perched on his shoulder as if it were listening, sat between Katie and Gail in easy hearing range.

"Of course I knew what he was planning, that's why I was watching for him to throw it," Corey said. "He'd been talking about it for awhile, especially after someone went and tried to kill Rasputin, but I think that Imp was the last straw. He and Dumbledore told 'em all they'd rather see it destroyed than be in the wrong hands."

"But all us students around, someone might have gotten hurt! I heard normally they destroy artifacts in a controlled room in case it blows up or something," Aelfred said.

"It wasn't cursed or anything, it was just a spellbook," Corey said impatiently. "Written by Merlin himself as it was. Besides, Dumbledore and Minister Weasley were there making sure nothing went wrong. They did it there so that everybody could see it was gone and they'd stop bugging the school trying to find it. I wouldn't be surprised if there's even an article about it in the paper today."

"But all of those Ancient spells, gone just like that. What if there was something in there that could have stopped magic from dying?" Taylor said, disturbed that anyone would consider destroying such an important piece of knowledge.

"What exactly is going on here?"

Students began to scatter as Snape came up behind Corey, quickly heading to their own tables at the sight of his flashing eyes. Even Doug's mouse decided to jump off and get out of the way as quickly as possible, perhaps to avoid becoming Rasputin's next lunch.

"Nothing, Professor Snape. Just chatting about the Hogsmeade trip," Corey said, suddenly interested in his breakfast.

"Twenty points off Gryffindor for gossiping."

"Twenty points! There's no rule against…"

"I very distinctly remember Professor McGonagall asking you more than once to curb that habit of yours and I have every intention of informing her of your actions, and if I have anything to say about it, I am going to see about making it so that no one is allowed to jump tables to encourage it as well," he snapped. "See you in class," he added before walking to the back.

"Looks like even Snape's sick of you being the center of attention," Doug said.

"Oh, shut up Doug," Corey said, putting his head in his hand.

Essie and Angela dashed up the tower stairs and into their seats, trying to recover their breaths as many of the other students were that were there so far.

"Made it in record time!" Angela said. "Aelfred! How in the world do you always get here so fast?"

"I take my broom out and fly up, of course. That false door that leads straight off the tower is never locked, supposedly so that spirits can get in," he grinned. "So I borrow it. I'm sure they don't mind."

"Well I'm quite certain I don't," said a sullen voice and the classmates cheerfully welcomed Icarus. Icarus had made quite a habit of haunting their class… it was Professor Craw's conference time, he had explained, and rather than put up with her chasing him out of the office, he decided to find somewhere friendlier to go. Although how he could think their class was friendlier, Essie wasn't quite sure. As much as the students loved his jokes and comments and even occasional helpful hints on their homework, it was very obvious that Madame Trelawney didn't care for him at all. But the cold reception didn't seem to bother Icarus one bit. In fact, it seemed that the more she tried to get rid of him, the more he wanted to stay around.

"Did everyone get their numerology projects done?" he asked, peering over Essie's paper.

"We had to do first and last names of people in our family. I did the Snapes too," Essie told him.

"Ah yes, I see Snape has a type one personality," Icarus said, finding that very amusing.

"Ambitious, independent, and self-sufficient," Angela read from the chart.

"Corey and I are both 3's and 4's, that's make us enthusiastic and fun-loving with a serious side."

"Yes, I do think that works out well, and Jennifer is multi-talented and compassionate," Icarus said, "Well, accept to ghosts, of course."

"But these are all so general! Surely this number thing isn't for real?" Crystal asked. She had learned early on that if Icarus thought it was humbug, he had no trouble telling them or their teacher so.

"I do believe in the power of numbers, quite definitely," Icarus said with a gentle smile. "In fact, if any of you go on to take Symbology or Arithmantics, I think you'll appreciate them even more. Not that I recommend any of you going to the trouble of naming your children based on the outcome of their names," he added. "No, no, environment, upbringing, experience, and heritage affect personality more than anything."

"And just who is teaching this class?"

Madame Trelawney had slipped in from behind the curtain, her long thin arms on her hips in obvious irritation.

"Apparently no one is at the moment. You're late again," Icarus commented, hovering to the back of the class.

"Of course I am, I foresaw I would be," Trelawney said, opening a tiny box while Icarus gazed at her dubiously. But Trelawney did not seem in the mood to explain herself. "Did everyone remember to bring three coins today? We shall be exploring I Ching hexagrams."

"No yarrow to toss?" Icarus asked.

"Will you please stay out of this?" Trelawney snapped.

Essie blinked. Something must have been bothering her for her to act like this. Looking completely surprised, Icarus decided to fade away, watching from a distance. Typically, Trelawney would predict a student death or two to cheer her up, but at that moment she seemed hardly in the mood to foretell anyone's future at all.

"You shall conduct it according to modern methods by tossing three coins, yin being heads of course, and then drawing your lines accordingly. Please pick a basic question and put it at the top of your paper, meditate on it, and then make your marks. When you're done, please turn to the chart in the fifth chapter and outline the important parts of the reading on the paper you made your marks on."

Making the hexagrams themselves were easy, but the interpreting them was a whole different matter, and Essie soon wished they could get back to numbers and tarot cards. Trelawney looked over their shoulders as they worked, glancing at each one as if expecting to see something specific, her face dark. After she passed by Essie, Essie looked over to Angela, cross-referencing her charts with a confused look on her face.

"If we have this thing on our midterms, I'm sunk," Angela whispered to Essie. "It reminds me of Arithmantics."

"What do you suppose is wrong with Madame Trelawney? Do you think she saw something terrible that's going to happen?" Essie said.

"If she did, she'd be the first to tell everybody," Angela pointed out. But Essie wasn't so sure.

"I foresee Hufflepuff losing points in the very near future," Madame Trelawney warned.

The two girls quieted down and got back to their papers, hoping rather fruitlessly that they'd be able to finish it and turn it in before the end of class. But before they knew it,, time was up and they were on their way down to dinner.

"Well, at least I got most of it done," Essie sighed, "but I haven't made even a dent in our Defense assignment."

"Tell me about it," Angela said, flipping through the other book. "What's the sudden push for us to learn all known Dark Fae races? Even the extinct ones? I think your uncle is definitely flipping out this time."

"You need to read the paper more," Essie chided her. "Didn't you see the article on the resurgence of Otherworld creatures?"

"Just what we need when magic is going out, an invasion from beyond," Angela said in exasperation.

"I don't know, I think it's rather reassuring," Essie said, "I mean, if magic really was disappearing, magic races would be fading more now than ever, not becoming more prominent," Essie said.

"All right then, since you're the expert, what's making the spells fail then?" Angela challenged.

"I'm not quite sure yet," Essie said, "But I'm working on it."

"You know Essie, you just haven't been the same girl since you developed that cheese eating habit of yours," Angela chuckled at her. "You're nowhere near as shy as you used to be, or as nervous. Please just don't go so far that you start losing points left and right like your brother does to Gryffindor."

"Oh no, I don't have the talent for trouble he does," Essie smiled. "Don't worry, Angela. I don't have any intention of breaking any rules. Well, aside for sometimes being out after hours now and again," she added before they entered the Great Hall for dinner.

It was a sparring night so Essie ate lightly, not wanting to get ill before her match as she had done once before. Then Essie and Angela went up to the sparring gym and walked over to where Corey and Danny were standing.

It was the last club meeting before the holidays, and the last night they'd be learning any new techniques before the tournament started when they got back. The sparring club had grown in the last few weeks as well; after Corey joined, many of the Slytherin who hadn't been interested a few months ago suddenly became interested, and their overwhelming numbers had caused other houses, especially Gryffindors, to do some recruiting of their own. Nearly every hand on the wand rack was in use, and Jennifer, whom had just come back to the club for the first time since October, surveyed the upsurge with definite surprise.

"Looks like you've definitely had your hands full," Jennifer commented to Severus as they waited for the rest to arrive. "We're going to need more staff help during those first few rounds of the tournament, or we're going to be at it all night."

"I suspect I can get Alvin to help, since Rolanda will be here," Severus replied as Jennifer looked over the lineup. Suddenly she frowned at one of the entries, glancing over at Severus who returned the gaze.

"Are you sure that's wise?" she asked, tapping the page.

"I have a feeling we're going to find out," Severus said. "Perhaps they can get this out of their system. Neither one of their marks have been the same since the Quidditch incident," he added, as if to explain his reason. "And I'll judge that one, if you don't mind."

"All right, but don't blame me if it backfires," Jennifer said, taking her place near the back. Severus was unconcerned, heading over to lead the students in their block and attack routines.

Severus also had no objections to the Slytherins wearing sparring gloves, who tightened them almost challengingly and grinned towards the other students as they waited for the board to go up. Casper and Danny were both instantly disappointed when the matches were posted.

"D. Brim and C. Willowby? What sort of match is that?" Casper protested.

"Yes! I get to take on the big mouth Ames," Greisley grinned.

"Looks like I get to test my new gloves out on the other Brim," Amadeus looked pleased. Danny, however, wasn't too thrilled when she found out she was opposing Taylor. Amadeus nudged her. "You should be able to walk all over that boyfriend of yours. Talk about the mismatch of the century."

Essie stepped up, nodding thoughtfully when she saw she was matched up with Stevens from Ravenclaw. She hadn't seen him duel, but from what she had heard, he wasn't much better at it than she was. But she did have one of the last matches of the night, and that meant a long wait. Still, it gave her an excuse to be here during Corey and Doug's match, and she wasn't about to miss that. Angela seemed to be unusually pleased to have to fight Victor Greisley.

"Here's our chance to get even for all the pranks he's pulled on us over the last two and a half years. I'm going to teach him some manners," Angela said.

"Just be careful, Angie, don't let your guard down on him," Essie said as her best friend stepped in the ring. Angela had always been good at this sort of thing; perhaps that's why Defense came so easier to her, Essie thought. But they also matched each other in size, both tall and slightly stout, and neither one of them really built for speed. Greisley wasted no time in throwing the Bonetangle spell, which Angela only succeeded to partially block, feeling her arm twist painfully as it attempted to tie itself in a knot. Greisley waited defensively as she took a moment to negate it, while Amadeus shouted behind him to go ahead and throw something else at her. But the hesitation was enough, and Angela smacked him with the Toddler's Curse, and Victor suddenly lost complete control of his hand as his wand arm came up and he proceeded to suck his thumb, his wand helplessly pointed upwards. Furious at the chuckle coming from students around them, Victor hit Angela with Titillando. But Angela wasn't particularly ticklish, and after a few squirmy movements came back with Immobulus. Blocking it easily, Victor quickly got off a strange spell that Angela had never heard before, aimed at her feet. A creeping pressure went up her legs like small boa constrictors wrapping around them and she fell to the floor, out of breath. A flash of light came from behind and the pressure released as she heard the word, "Bench!" clearly called out from Craw.

"Victor, where did you learn that spell?" Craw asked as she helped Angela to her feet.

"I don't know. I picked it up somewhere," Victor stammered, realizing his answer would do him no good as Jennifer's eyes went straight to Amadeus, squinting. But Amadeus was pretending to watch the other match.

"I suggest from now on you stick to spells you learn in school, Mr. Greisley, or you'll well find yourself out of the club," Jennifer warned sternly. "Next match, please."

"I hate winning on a technicality," Angela sighed as she stepped over by Essie. Essie had her eyes focused on the other ring where Danny had just flipped Taylor onto his back for the second time in a row. "Doug and Corey's match is next in the other ring, isn't it?" she asked Essie. Essie nodded, feeling quite unsure about the match ahead, hoping that neither of them got hurt. "Good, I hope they zap each other silly," Angela said, Essie staring over at her serious face. "It's for their own good, you know." But Essie saw she wasn't the only one who was worried. Coming out of the ring, Danny and Taylor didn't look too happy either.

Corey grabbed his toad wart wand out of the rack, nodding to Doug as he went to get his.

"Good luck, Doug," Corey said softly. Doug shot him a dirty look.

"You can keep your luck. I plan to beat you with pure skill," Doug said, heading over to the ring without another word.

Corey stepped up behind him, glancing briefly at Snape on the way in. Something about the way he stood and averted his gaze told Corey that this was going to be a rough match. There wasn't going to be any benching this time. Corey sighed, not having much inclination to fight this match, but he knew that if he didn't make the attempt that things would be worse than ever. All he could do is prolong it as much as possible, hoping it'd give Doug a chance to burn off some steam.

It wasn't long into the match that Doug figured out he was stalling, the spells Corey were casting in response to his were too easy to counter for him not to be. Growling angrily, Doug's spells became more malevolent, blasting Corey backwards and nearly knocking him out of the ring, making Corey take a more aggressive approach, hitting Doug's feet with a slippery spell. But Doug was able to block and cast a reflection spell in return, causing the slippery spell to hit Corey instead. Taken by surprise, Corey found himself slipping around as if walking on ice, having a hard time keeping his footing. Taking advantage of Corey's situation, Doug shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Trying to block it, Corey found himself propelled forward by his own movement and the spell hit him straight on, leaving him sprawled on the floor and spinning in a circle, his wand well out of range.

Corey pushed himself up, curbing the urge to flatten him with a wave of his hand and wondering why he hadn't heard Snape call the match yet. But Doug had caught the reactionary movement of Corey's hand and clutched his wand tighter.

"Well go on, you know you want to do it. Go ahead and try to attack me without your wand and see what it gets you," Doug taunted him.

"No, it's over. Rules are rules," Corey said calmly, getting up.

"Rules?" Doug said angrily. "Since when does Corey Willowby ever follow the rules? You break every rule in the book, and instead of getting in trouble, you get a pat on the back. You make great marks without needing to open a book twice, and the entire school, even those who hate you, hang on every word you say. I'm sick of hearing about you and your perfect life and how much better you are than everyone else! I know that you're going to do what you want no matter what anyone else wants, no matter how it's going to hurt your housemates or anyone else, so go ahead and finish it!"

"Is that what you think?" Corey said, staring at him in disbelief. "Well, that proves just how little you know about me, Brim," Corey said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "If my life is so perfect, than how come I would give up everything I have… everything... if it meant I could see my mum and father and brother again? Magic doesn't mean a thing if it can't be used to stop things like that from happening. So you can have the talent and popularity and whatever else it is you think I have that you want, Doug. I just hope you don't have to pay the price I had to for it," Corey said, hopping out of the ring and out the door as students moved silently out of the way. Only a soft sobbing could be heard. Jennifer, who had benched her match early and stopped to watch, glanced over where Angela stood comforting Essie. Jennifer walked over to Severus, speaking to him briefly before slipping out of the room.

Briskly Severus took up the list and called the next match, and Doug slowly left the ring as the next two came up, the room quickly brought back to order. But nobody in the club really felt like continuing, and no one complained when Snape called it a night only a couple of matches later.


It was a frightfully cold, clear night, and the occasional breeze was biting as Corey looked off into the distance. It hadn't taken Jennifer very long to figure out where he had gone… the Astronomy Tower was the highest point in the castle, and probably as far from the Gryffindor rooms as walking down to the lake without having to break the standard rule of leaving the castle after dark.

"Nice view tonight," Jennifer said from the top of the ladder, climbing out onto the roof where Corey stood. "Much higher than the Perch, too, although I wouldn't want to have Sinistra chasing me off every night I felt like stargazing because she has a midnight class or something," she chuckled softly, walking over to stand at Corey's side and not saying another word. Tears were running down his cheeks but she pretended not to notice; instead she looked down upon the lights of the castle and the darkened Pitch just beyond. It was a long time before he finally spoke.

"I hope… I hope I didn't sound ungrateful, I mean, saying what I said," Corey said at last, brushing his face almost nonchalantly with his shoulder.

"Of course you didn't," Jennifer assured him gently, gazing at him. "Corey, we know we can't ever take the place of Charles, Charlie, and Freda, and we don't really want to, or even expect to. But I hope you aren't terribly offended if I say I truly feel like you're my own son, just as much as the ones I gave birth to." Corey turned and gave her a hug, which Jennifer gratefully accepted. "Gah, you're getting so big! You're taller than me now," she said, realizing it for the first time.

"I guess I'm too big for running off to towers and crying over things I can't change," Corey said, feeling rather embarrassed.

"Nonsense, I do it myself from time to time," Jennifer admitted, looking over the edge. "My mother meant everything in the world to me. The odd thing is, if she hadn't died, I'd probably have stayed at Beauxbatons. I'd do nearly anything to have her back and yet… I wouldn't give up Severus for anything, either. I suppose that sounds rather contradictory doesn't it?"

"Yes, but I understand exactly what you mean. I feel that way myself," Corey said. "And I'm quite sure we've had this talk before."

"True, but you're older now," Jennifer said, smiling softly at him. "In two more years you'll be out ready to face the world on your own, and with that comes a different perspective. But don't think for a minute that we won't always be here for you. We do love you, Corey. Well, your Dad may not say it, but I dare think actions speak louder than words."

"I know," Corey said with a smile. "Maybe Doug is right, though. Maybe I do sometimes take things a bit for granted."

"And maybe Doug is a little bit wrong too," Jennifer said sternly, "and maybe he takes even more for granted than you do."

"Yes, but he is my friend, and I miss having him around," Corey sighed. "And I miss the Four Musketeers."

"Me too," Jennifer agreed. "But even if he does keep up this silly stubborn streak, he's on, it doesn't mean you have to act the same way. You can be a good friend to someone even if it's not reciprocated."

"You're right, Mom. But I'm not going to apologize for what I said."

"I should think not," Jennifer agreed. "Come on, we should really get out of the cold. I dare say Sagittari would have something to say about seeing me out here," she said, putting an arm around him as they turned towards the ladder. "And I think someone should talk to Essie, too. She seemed rather upset when you left."

"I hope she's all right," Corey said worriedly. But as they made their way to the gym, they found that only Essie and Severus were still there, using their wands to put everything back in order again.

"Corey, would you walk Essie back to her rooms? It's getting a bit late for either of you to be out," Severus said.

"Yes, sir," Corey agreed quickly. Essie waved at Severus before following him out. Jennifer looked at Severus with a curious smile.

"Since when did Essie start going to you for advice?" Jennifer wanted to know.

"Long story. It mostly happened while you were out," Severus explained, getting his cloak. "I assume everything went well on your end?"

"I think he's all right," Jennifer said, matching his stride as they stepped into the hall, heading towards their rooms. "So did the match go as you expected?" she added, a hint of 'I told you so' lingering in the tone of her voice.

"It was a start," Severus said, slightly annoyed at her lilt. "Even you have to admit that constant bickering the two of them were doing was getting a bit old."

"Oh, you mean like the kind that you and Sirius do?" Jennifer inquired challengingly. Severus decided to completely ignore her until they got back to the room.