Chapter Twenty-Seven

Discoveries and other Disasters

Excitement was in the air the next morning, and when Corey finally stumbled out of bed to find the usual hubbub that was around his table had taken a wild turn; everyone was crowding the Slytherin table. Staring in disbelief at his fellow housemates and the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws that were usually apart of his own gossip entourage, Corey couldn't help but go over to see what all the fuss was about.

Copies of that morning's Daily Prophet were being passed back and forth, and Danny was grinning wildly as students at the ends of the table cast spells or inched further in to hear the commotion. Even Amadeus was nearby, his arms folded and looking rather nervous.

"Really, I had no idea until this morning, but I expect a letter about it any time," Danny told them. "Frankly, I don't even think Uncle Lucius knew because I don't think he would have been too happy about it."

"I'm sure he wouldn't have," said Perry with a nod. "I say, you don't think he'd disown Draco or anything?"

"For what, being a public hero?" Danny grinned. "He wouldn't dare."

Impatiently Corey grabbed the paper out of Doug's hands, who protested until he saw who it was.


Imp Incidents Intercepted by Inside Informant; Order Connection Suspected.

The Ministry disclosed today that there was an inside investigation on the popular Order of Equinox in attempt to link it to recent incidents of Imp mischief on two different continents, leading to one arrest. Bronan Tubbins, an executive publisher from Wizardday Publishing, was arrested on three accounts of public mischief, two accounts of misusing a magical creature to perpetrate a crime, one account of Muggle endangerment, and one account of misuse of a magical creature to terrorize Muggles. The arrest came after a lone informant from the Order of Equinox, Draco Malfoy, gave evidence to the Ministry about possible links from the Order to a series of thefts and attempted thefts of ancient artifacts. The Ministry states that other evidence had been given to them about the possible involvement of Tubbins, and that along with information supplied to them by the informant led to his arrest. Upon asking for a statement, Tubbins told the press that he was only acting "on the orders of the Chairman." The order issued this statement, "the only crime committed here is of those who misuse artifacts in the first place. We (the order) are here to protect them from misuse, and acquisitions are made solely with public safety in mind." It should also be noted that the Chairman, Ludo Bagman, is already serving sentence in Azkaban for the murder of former Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Further investigations are pending to determine whether these incidents are also related to the attempted murder of Professor Jennifer Craw Snape of Hogwarts, and although no connection has been made to Tubbins, Auror Potter states that "we haven't ruled the possibility of Equinox involvement out as of yet." A special court proceeding is planned in April to determine whether or not the Order itself should be disbanded if criminal intent is established.


Draco Malfoy was working as an informant? Corey stared at the name puzzledly. Perhaps he did it as a save-his-own-rear tactic… yes, that had to be it, Corey reasoned to himself. There was no way Draco could possibly have done it out of his own good conscience, because he hadn't any.

"Odd how it doesn't mention anything at all about the incident with Snape's office," Julie Brim said.

"Well, I asked Snape about it once, and he seemed to think whoever did that was someone in the school, isn't that right, Corey?" Danny said, bringing Corey out of his thoughts.

"Yes, it sure seemed to be. All the roosters were from the pens here and the nearby farm too, whoever it was didn't go out of their way- "

"Do you think your cousin will tell you more about it in his next letter, Danny?" Aelfred asked her. Corey felt annoyed at being cut off, and the students hadn't even looked at him when he had spoken.

"Oh, I'm sure so. If not, I can always ask," Danny continued.

Corey had lost interest in the topic, walking back to the table long enough to grab a roll off his plate, ignoring Doug's questioning look as he decided to head to his first class early.

Snape was already at the desk working when he got to the Potion Room, not even bothering to look up when Corey slid into place in the back.

"What's wrong, Mr. Willowby, someone else is in the spotlight for a change so you decided to get off the stage?" Snape asked evenly, ignoring the look Corey was giving him. "Don't worry. If anyone is going to tell you that you're only making an ass out of yourself by behaving exactly like Doug Brim was, it won't be me. And by the way, since you're here early, you might as well do something productive and fill the leech jars, we're making Pickled Plagiarism Potions today." Corey frowned at Snape with irritation before getting up and filling the jars, carefully making sure he didn't get any of the foul creatures on him as he put a jar on each table.

By the time he was done, the rest of the class had drifted in, their loud chatter outside quieting at the sight of the professor as they entered, hurriedly taking their places. Snape stood up, scowling at them until they all had their books open to the right page.

"Before we begin, I'd like to inform those of you in Dabbler's that there's no class this afternoon, for I must head to the Ministry to add testimony about a piece of evidence they have against Tubbins. And for those of you who haven't yet arrived on the planet yet today and have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure Miss Nelson would be more than happy to enlighten you after class," Snape said with a slight smile in her direction. Danny beamed brightly. "It does not surprise me that one of my own former Slytherin students, Draco Malfoy, already a well recognized member of our society, has played a major part in recent political events, and I hope that he will be an inspiration to other Slytherin students."

Doug grimaced and looked over at Corey, who had resignedly leaned his head in his hand. It was going to be a very long week.

It wasn't until the end of the week that Essie had finally found time away from her homework to settle down with the Beginner's Crystal Ball that Corey had given her two Christmases before, carefully polishing it. She had never really had a chance to use it, although she had thought about it often. But now she had reason. Angela was there to help, reading out of the instruction manual and their Divination book, making sure that everything was being done right. She handed Essie a scarf with a shrug.

"It's in the book," Angela explained, and the two girls grinned and put on the scarves.

"Okay, what's next?" Essie asked.

"We light the incense," Angela said, carefully doing so. "Then you need to concentrate on the crystal, meditating on your subject. It also says it helps to have something of his."

"Something of his?" Essie said thoughtfully. "Well, we'll have to do without. I doubt after a thousand years I am going to find anything that belongs to him." Angela nodded and watched as Essie attempted to relax, wondering if she would know if Essie went as far in a trance as last time. But Essie was unaware of Angela's scrutiny, concentrating instead on the crystal.

For some reason, it wasn't as easy as it was with the glow of the incense. The cloudy crystal didn't seem to anything at first; it was barely even reflecting the dim light in the room. Finally she noticed the cloudiness became denser and began to swirl and she was able to concentrate on it. As it began to glow, she was barely aware of Angela's voice in her ears, telling her to recite the rhyme.

"Magic mystic crystal ball, within your depths show us all!" Essie repeated, trying not to feel silly as she said it she concentrated on the very center until the cloudiness began to fade. A clear spot began to grow out from the middle, getting larger as the clouds spun around it. Essie squinted, waiting for something to happen, when suddenly something large and round appeared in the vision.

"Well, what do you see?" Angela asked impatiently. Essie stared at it, slightly puzzled.

"I see a crystal ball," Essie said.

"Well, of course you see a crystal ball. I meant, what do you see in it?" Angela coaxed.

"A crystal ball," Essie said again. "I see the image of a crystal ball in the crystal ball." Essie was trying quite hard to keep her concentration up, but the confusion had taken its toll and the crystal began to grow misty again until she could no longer see anything, sitting up and rubbing her eyes a bit from the strain. "How very odd."

"You know what I think?" Angela said. "I think that Divination shop gypped your brother. I bet it's busted."

"Maybe, and maybe not. There's no way to tell for sure I suppose unless I try one I know that works," Essie said.

"And just how do you plan to do that?" Angela asked. Essie didn't answer, putting her crystal back in her trunk.


As the weather began to warm up at the beginning of March lending to an early thaw, Jennifer couldn't help but be cheerful about the way things were going. Now that the Imp attacks had stopped and none of the curious magic failures had happened for months, Jennifer had plenty of time to relax and concentrate on work and her plans for the Gauntlet, as well as her pregnancy, which seemed now to be right on track nearing her sixth month. Of course, Sagittari still insisted on giving her a nonmagical concoction of juices, herbs and oils, which he insisted would help with her vitality. It was after she learned there were powdered oyster shells in the drink that she decided it was best not to ask what else was in it, pinching her nose shut and drinking it down every morning with a powerful urge to expel it back out again.

"Come now, I've seen you take potions that surely must taste twice as foul as this simple health drink," he would coax her.

"Nothing I've taken has tasted this foul," Jennifer insisted, saying each word slowly and distinctly to make sure he knew just how serious she was. Anna, on the other hand, had refused the drink altogether; and instead took something that looked to Jennifer like a hard sort of chalky candy which she swallowed whole with a glass of water.

"You really should try it," Anna insisted one morning as they sat in the staff room and Jennifer was looking dourly into her glass. Anna, now nearly eight months pregnant had grown rather large… definitely larger than Jennifer had ever gotten. But of course, Jennifer had never carried two, and she was quite glad of that fact, even if it would have saved them an extra year. "It only takes a second, and it has everything in it you have in that cup, you know. More of it, in fact," Anna added. "You'd probably be better off taking one."

"How could they possibly get all of that into that little pellet?" Jennifer asked dubiously, sipping her drink. Sure, it tasted bad, but she would trust Sagittari's formulas over Muggle medicine any day.

"Science," Anna said simply. "You know, you really should make an effort and try to understand some of it."

"Why?" Jennifer asked with a shrug. Anna gazed at her with a frown.

"Well, Dr. Linde has been learning a lot from you about magic. Surely he's been telling you about some of the things he does."

"Sure! He tells me lots of things, like about x-rays and ultrasounds and stuff," Jennifer said. "Of course none of it measures up to what we do."

"That's it," Anna said, carefully standing up. "You have a conference after lunch, right?"

"Well, yeah, but Severus and I were going to work on some ideas for…."

"It can wait. I think I'm going to take you out for lunch today. Meet me at my office when you get out of class," Anna said, packing up her books and walking out. Jennifer looked at her curiously as she followed her out of the room.

"But what should I tell Severus?" Jennifer asked.

"Just tell him you're having lunch with me," Anna said.


Jennifer had never liked Muggle clothing, but she soon discovered she particularly felt no love whatsoever for 'maternity wear.' She refused to put it on completely until they stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron, wearing a temporary disguise until she slipped on the ungodly looking things in the lavatories at the Tube station, wondering exactly how she was talked into this when they arrived at South Kensington and walked up the street.

"If anyone sees me like this, I swear I am just going to crawl into a hole and never come out again," Jennifer proclaimed as they crossed the street.

"Oh, come on, Jennifer, it's not like I put you in a balloon dress. It's cute, stop worrying about it," Anna said with a sigh. "I wore it myself for the short time I was about your size," she said dryly.

"Where are we eating at again?" Jennifer asked, quite sure that everyone was staring at them. It hadn't occurred to her at all that two women walking down the street in their condition was bound to get looks on its own accord.

"Well, we don't really have time to sit down and eat if we're going to have time to look, so we'll just grab something at the Museum Café," Anna said. That was when Jennifer happened to look up at the building they were turning into.

"A science museum? We're going to a science museum for lunch?" Jennifer said dubiously.

"What's wrong, afraid you might learn something?" Anna said challengingly, heading in. Shrugging slightly, Jennifer followed her in. At least she knew she could get a Coca-Cola out of all of this.

At first Jennifer's reaction seemed encouraging to Anna; she gaped at everything in sight when they came in, sitting quietly and sipping on a soda while looking around with interest. But it wasn't too long before Anna got the impression that Jennifer was quite lost. Some of the things Anna thought were most interesting, like the early modern video recorders, only looked like scrap metal boxes to Jennifer, and all of the computers looked like nothing but piles of junk littered around a plate of letters that didn't make sense.

"You know, if they're going to go to the trouble of making all this to print letters on screens with, you'd think they'd at least put the letters in alphabetical order," Jennifer stated, getting an annoyed look from Anna but a few grins from several of the others around them. "And what about that thing over there?" Jennifer asked, pointing across to another keyboard like box.

"Oh, that's an Enigma," Anna said, walking closer. Jennifer nodded.

"It sure is," she agreed.

"No, no, that's just its name. It's a coding device they used to use for encoding secret messages," Anna explained.

"Not much of a secret now, is it?" Jennifer said, slightly amused.

At least she showed interest in the medical exhibits, gazing intently at the insides of the machines, completely baffled by how any of them worked at all. But it was after seeing a model of DNA and attempting to explain that to her that she completely lost interest.

"It's too bad we're both expecting right now, or we could go on a simulator," Anna said, wondering if it would have been a good idea anyhow. But Jennifer was busy staring at a space capsule, reading the exhibit information.

"They went to the moon? In this?"

"Well, Apollo 11 was the first, landing in 1969. The first human beings on the moon," Anna said with a smile.

"That's what they think," Jennifer said snidely.

"That's it. Let's go home," Anna said.

"Already? But we have another hour," Jennifer protested. "And I still haven't figured out what the point of that non-moving photo in the stairwell is."

"You've been poking fun at every single exhibit since we walked in here," Anna said with irritation.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… well, except for maybe that clock they didn't even bother to put regular hands on but surely you can't blame me for that!" Jennifer chuckled.

"I give up," Anna said. But just then Jennifer noticed something that she did understand, suddenly alert as she looked past Anna. "What is it?"

The shadow of the creature disappeared behind one of the exhibits, and Jennifer became concerned, looking around at the unsuspecting Muggles around them.

"It looks like the museum somehow attracted a Grimlin," Jennifer explained. "Must be all this space and flight junk. All that stuff about that sunken boat probably doesn't help either."

"A gremlin?" Anna repeated skeptically.

"A Grimlin," Jennifer corrected. "A mad wizard by the name of Blithers created them in the nineteen tens… he instilled Grim blood in a group of especially crafty goblins to make them especially vicious and sent them to destroy German planes during World War I. Unfortunately, they went insane and started causing trouble on our planes and boats as well. They thrived so well at their jobs they become even more of a menace during the second war. The rest is history," Jennifer explained, edging closer to try to get a look at it while Anna stood blinking at her. "The museum probably doesn't even realize they have one."

"Perhaps we should leave it alone then?" Anna suggested.

"That depends on if it's seen us or not," Jennifer said carefully, stepping back over to Anna. "Because if there's one thing a Grimlin really hates-" Someone suddenly shouted out a warning as a tall model of a rocket lurched from its bolts and threatened to fall on the crowd. Jennifer hurriedly grabbed a hold of Anna and got the two of them out of the way as the model came crashing down, the rest of the crowd chattering excitedly as the museum personnel began to run over. "It's wizards and witches," Jennifer finished, gazing up to see a shadow move across the ceiling. "It's going to keep causing trouble if we stay here. Maybe you're right. Maybe we should just leave and let the Ministry deal with it."

"No," Anna said, looking up in annoyance, trying to spot what it was that Jennifer was tracking. "It tries to hurt these babies, then it has to deal with me," she stated, turning towards the stairs.

"Here we go again," Jennifer said to herself, heading after her. "Anna, let's not do anything to upset the Muggles, okay?" she said, getting a freezing look in return. "Let's try to capture it."

"How can we capture it when we can't even see it?" Anna asked with irritation. "All I can see is its shadow."

"Well, be glad of that, that's part of its Grim traits," Jennifer said, gazing around cautiously. "I've heard that if you actually see a Grimlin, it's a sure sign you're going down with the plane or ship, whichever you're on," Jennifer said, Anna pausing to stare at her. "Of course, I've never heard of them taking out a building, so we should be relatively safe," she added a bit more cheerfully.

"Mummy! Look at the glowing lady!" A little girl pointed at Anna as her mum dragged her away.

"Yes, Matilda dear, don't stare," her mum answered, pulling her further out of range.

"This is not a good time to be turning into a light bulb," Anna muttered to herself.

"I think it's because it's close," Jennifer said, uncuffing her wand from her sleeve as nonchalantly as she could. "That capsule thingy we saw, that's a vehicle, right?"

"Well, yes," Anna said.

"I think we might be able to contain it in there," Jennifer said in a low voice. "You try to get its attention and lead it over, and I'll go set up the trap."

Anna was still wondering exactly how she was going to do that when Jennifer left, wandering around the area a bit until she finally caught a shadow with no apparent owner in the corner of her eye. Hurriedly she went over in that direction when suddenly every single exhibit she passed turned themselves on, plugged in or not, whistling beeping and spinning wildly as several of the museum's patrons cast a curious eye on her.

"Sorry! Guess I hit a switch, a bit clumsy right now," Anna explained quickly, catching the shadow heading out of the room.

"Why are you glowing like that?" A teenage boy in a school uniform asked, standing right beside her.

"I drank some plutonium and now I'm radioactive. Hope you have on some protective gear under those clothes, kid," Anna said, watching as the boy quickly sidled away as she hurried around the small tour group. They backed away from her as she waddled by, but she was only aware of the shadow tracking her from behind. "Closed exhibit" signs, tied together on ropes, had been dragged across the floor in her path, but oddly enough even they seemed to back out of her way as she came through.

Fairly sure the creature must be right behind her, Anna strode straight towards the capsule, its door open invitingly. At the last second, Anna quickly stepped to one side as the Grimlin tried to pull up, grabbing what turned out to be its arm. She saw it then; a hideous creature, furry and green, with a dog-like nose, green ears ,and glaring, beady black goblin eyes, and Anna couldn't help but think she hadn't seen anything quite that hideous in all her life. At a shout from Jennifer, Anna threw it inside and the door came slamming shut. The furious Grimlin pounded at the sides, shaking it violently while the sound of its banging around traveled through the museum.

"Quick, do something before the entire museum is over here, signs or no signs!" Anna hissed, holding her ears. But Jennifer was already on it, a spark in her eyes as she clamped chains around the capsule and then called out the minimize spell, shrinking it down to fist-size.

"Excellent," Jennifer said, pleased at how well that went, taking the capsule and putting it in her pocket. "Mission accomplished and not one Muggle upset. We are really getting good at this," she said, pulling back the exhibit ropes and waltzing out, stopping only when she saw Anna staring at her.

"What?"

"Jennifer, don't you think someone's going to notice an entire space capsule missing?" Anna said, following her down.

"Oh, don't worry, we can just drop it off at the Ministry and they'll return it after the museum closes tonight," Jennifer said.

"Don't forget to tell them to turn the cameras back on too," Anna suggested with a sigh. Jennifer stopped suddenly, looking puzzled.

"Cameras? What cameras?"

"The cameras in the exhibit room we caught the Grimlin in? You did… do something to them, didn't you?" Anna said, realizing exactly how much she was expecting. Jennifer looked at her for a moment, and then grinned apologetically, not having realized there were any sorts of cameras there.

"Um. Oops?" Jennifer replied sheepishly.

It was then they had to stop short, for the lobby was filled with excited tourists, security guards and local police who seemed to be blocking the entrance and not letting anyone in or out. Anna grabbed Jennifer and retreated to the nearest bathroom, checking to make sure it was empty.

"Oh sure, nobody noticed a thing," Anna said sarcastically. "Now what do we do?"

"Pray our husbands don't find out?" Jennifer suggested.

"Besides that!"

"Look, I know you can Disapparate, so why don't you head on back to the castle? I'll figure out how to get out and get to the nearest floo."

"You didn't bring your house key?"

"I seem to have left them in my other denim dress," Jennifer said dryly.

"Well forget it, I'm not leaving you. How about a disguise?"

"I can change the look of our clothes, but I can't hide our condition," Jennifer mused.

"Can you think of any reason a Muggle might wear robes?"

Anna suddenly grimaced.

"Do stupid ideas that just might work count?" she asked.

Jennifer was ready to try anything, and with a quick flick of the wand the two women were donned in the full habit of Franciscan nuns, Jennifer pulling at the uncomfortable neck but otherwise looking quite pleased at the results, taking out her pocket mirror and deciding she would never have made a good nun.

"Not a bad disguise if I do say so myself," Jennifer said with a nod.

"Then why do you suddenly remind me of Hagrid?" Anna asked.

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Let's just go," Anna said impatiently.

"Agreed, I think the Grimlin is actually making a dent in that capsule," Jennifer said as the two of them headed back to the lobby.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you will have to be searched to be allowed to leave," the officer said to the protest of the crowd. "Now, then, we will do this as quickly and efficiently as possible," he assured them. Jennifer felt a tug on her sleeve as Anna headed to the entrance in front of quite a number of people who stepped out of the way, Jennifer hurrying along beside her. It wasn't long before they had worked their way to the door, the officers standing there, smiling apologetically at them.

"Have you anything in your pockets, then?"

"Only the small purse that I carry what little cash I require on me," Anna said, showing them her purse and wallet. "Whatever else I need the lord provides."

"And you, sister?"

"Um, well, I only have a small toy I bought here for my son-"

"Godson-" Anna quickly corrected.

"Yes, godson, of course," Jennifer chuckled nervously, showing them the tiny capsule, slightly shaking back and forth in her hand.

"You might want to remove the bat'ries when you get a chance else they might be dead before you give it to him," the officer smiled kindly, nodding for another officer to open the door. "Be careful getting back now."

"Bless you, officer, have a good day," Anna smiled primly, gliding out the door as Jennifer smiled wanly after them, putting the capsule back in her pocket and following her out, breathing a sigh of relief as they got back on the street.

"That was brilliant, Anna!" Jennifer said taking in a deep breath, "Positively brilliant! I thought we'd never get out of there in one piece."

"Sssh, Jennifer, we're not out of trouble yet," Anna said as she tried to get Jennifer to pick up the pace. But Anna came to a dead stop a second later when she discovered how right she was.

"You can say that again," Sirius said, standing in front of them with his arms folded. Severus, standing by his side and looking just as irritated about having to wear Muggle clothes as he was to have to come after them in the middle of a school day, looked at their disguises and shook their head.

"I guess our prayers weren't answered," Jennifer muttered to Anna before reluctantly shuffling over to them.