Chapter Thirteen

A Memory Out of Time

October flew by in a flurry of leaves and homework. Despite her tendency to put off things to the last minute, Alex managed to keep her marks above what she knew her parents considered 'acceptable Snape standards.' But as time went by, she found herself missing her siblings more and more. Mandria never showed the least bit of interest on trying any 'book reenactments' on the weekends, and Rose, although interested, never had the time with Quidditch practice going and Gryffindor's first game coming up. So Alex absorbed every book she brought with her, as well as every paper that came via the Owl Post, studying it from cover to cover in hopes of hearing more about the diamond case, which seemed to have lost momentum after Auror Potter stepped in. There had been no deaths since that point, and many had decided that the culprit was probably too intimidated to act now that Potter was on the case. At least he had finally taken the time to stop in and say hello, but as to what he was doing there or why, he hadn't given a single clue.

Frustrated with the apparent dead end, Alex attempted to concentrate on the concerns of her friends, which like everyone else seemed to be centered a round the Ravenclaw Seeker, still in the medical wing for observation.

"Dr. Sagittari said she came out looking like a pretzel after that new Slytherin Seeker bounced her out of the way," Mandria said.

"Of all the people to pick for Seeker, the last one I would have thought would have been Henry the Ox," Ralph said. "He may be sharp, but he's much too… well, he's not built for a Seeker. It's amazing he can even get the broom in the air let alone the speed."

"He doesn't have to have much speed, that's the whole dodgy point of it," Kirk Havershaw said, poking at his lunch. "He's as big as all three of the other Seekers put together. He can take a Bludger at full steam and still not be knocked from his broom. All he has to do is try for the Snitch at the same time as the other Seeker and get a little bit ahead. He doesn't have to lift an arm, the brooms never touch…an 'accidental' bump like the one he gave Vi yesterday and he's free to grab the Snitch while the other Seekers hit the Pitch head first. Mark my words, Donovan will be next." Mandria and Alex looked at each other worriedly. Would Rose be able to handle this new roughhousing tactic?

Halloween hit mid-week that year, and the feast was served a little early to make time for a Pumpkin Charming contest that Professor Weasley and Sprout had organized. Ghosts wandered around the tables chatting with the students and telling their death stories as the students picked through candies and pies and apples, listening with interest. Even Professor Ravenclaw had settled down at one end of the table where some of the older students sat, leaning over to hear his tales of the earlier years of Azkaban and the Dementors within. The students pressed to hear of the night of the Dementor Revolt, but the Professor's image took on a blurred look to it, and he shook his head slowly.

"Some horrors should never be spoken of, not even on Halloween," he said quietly. "It was the last terrible day of a nightmare that lasted for years and years. I will never forget the screams that night… never. But then, that. I believe, is part of my eternal punishment."

"But it's a good thing in a way, though, isn't it? I mean, things have gotten better since then, now the Dementors are gone from the prison and all," Mandria said.

"The tragedy, Miss Shea, is the fact that sometimes the worst must happen before change can. If only we learned to read the warning signs and act beforehand."

"By premonition?" Kirk asked. The ghost smiled wanly at him.

"No, Mr. Havershaw, in this case I mean plain old common sense," he said, floating through the table and back up to his seat.

"Depressing the students again, are we?" Severus asked him when he came near.

"Depressing myself actually," Icarus said, taking his place.

"That shouldn't be too hard," Jennifer said crisply.

"Is something the matter, Icarus?" Dumbledore asked. His voice was light, and yet there was a subtle hint of concern in the tone.

"This all seems familiar to me, and that is troubling me," Icarus admitted.

"Well it should seem familiar, this is the seventh Halloween you've been up here with us," Jennifer pointed out.

"My dear, Time is even more profound to me now than when I was alive. And this…this night is something I remember. Someone we know will not survive it," he said, poking at his mold-covered cabbage stew.

"We as in at this table?" Severus asked, squinting slightly.

"We as in this school," Icarus said calmly, the other professors exchanging glances.

"Oh come now, it may not be this year at all, even if you are remembering correctly. All Halloweens look alike after awhile," Jennifer said, waving it off.

"I might agree with you if it wasn't for the fact that I recall knowing that I had one and only one relative among the students," Icarus said, glancing at Alex.

"It could be Alicia's last year then," Jennifer pointed out. Icarus smiled with enigmatic amusement.

"Oh, dear no, that year I remember quite plainly and in every detail," he said. "But this is something quite different. Vague. As if something in this entire time period is blocking me from seeing anything clearly." Severus stared at him, suddenly becoming worried. Pushing back his plate, he stood.

"Perhaps I should make a few inquiries to be on the safe side, starting downstairs," he said. Jennifer gazed at him in surprise.

"I'll be here or in my study if you need me," Dumbledore said with a nod, glancing over at Minerva who was staring fixedly at the ghost. Jennifer quickly rose with a nod and hurried after her husband who was moving at a rapid pace down the hall.

"He's probably just saying that to get us on edge," Jennifer said once she caught up. "Really, Severus, you've never held any weight in any of that premonition stuff, why are you taking this so seriously now?"

"This isn't a vision for him, but a memory. You know as well as I do the difference between what Icarus' talent is and that of a regular prophet or diviner," Severus said.

"He lived in all times at once, but he died over a thousand years ago. Even he admits that things in the future can be changed or prevented, and there are a lot of years in between. What he saw when he was alive could have already been permanently altered," Jennifer reminded Severus.

"He also was forced to admit after his own action to try to prevent something that some things cannot be changed, and now he's damned because he tried," Severus said. "When has he ever told us anything that he's remembered that has not come about?"

"Well, never," Jennifer admitted. "But he doesn't do that very often."

"Yes, which only makes me more concerned when he does, but not as concerned as him admitting how vague the memory is. Not a vision, a memory… a memory out of time."

"Perhaps that means that a lot of the events happening now are changeable?" Jennifer suggested.

"He usually doesn't remember the changeable, although that is a very valid theory. I have another," Severus said, gazing over at his wife as he unlocked the storage closet and opened it for her. "That something in this time period has the ability to block that sort of memory."

"But that's impossible, I mean… something or someone able to do that would have the power to confound Merlin himself."

"Let's just keep an open mind until we can prove without a shadow of a doubt it is impossible, shall we?" Severus said, putting his hand on a small chalk mark on the wall. Jennifer nodded slowly, a strange creeping feeling moving up her spine. Were they overreacting? Or was Severus right in that they might be up against more than what they might have bargained for?

A staircase leading down had appeared where the wall had been a moment ago, and Jennifer followed Severus down, lost in her own thoughts.

As dinner was cleared away for the evening and some of the students started up to their dorms, quite a number of them, including Alex, Mandria, and Rose, stayed behind for the pumpkin charming contest. Mandria had chosen a very small white one, still not sure what she was going to do with it, while Alex was already busy attempting to draw a face on hers.

A moment later Rose came over and sat down beside them, dropping a pot of soil and a glass of water on the table.

"Well? Where's yours?" Mandria asked.

"Right here," Rose said cheerfully, showing them a seed she had gotten from someone else's pumpkin, popping it in the soil. "They were running low on pumpkins, so I thought I'd better grow my own. I have some of that growth solution your Mum makes for Professor Sprout. I was saving some for an experiment I was planning next month, but I'll use that."

"I hope it works fast enough, we don't have much time. What are you making, Alex?" Mandria asked.

"I was thinking maybe it'd be fun to enchant the pumpkin to think it's a Boggart," Alex said cheerfully. "You?"

"I have no idea," Mandria said, propping her head in her hand. "But I'd want it to be scarier than a Boggart."

"What's scarier than a Boggart?" Alex asked.

"A toad?" Rose suggested. Alex rolled her eyes at her.

"They can't hurt you, Rose."

"But they're so slimy!"

"How on earth do you get through Potions class?" Alex asked

"I always try to find a partner I can talk into cutting that sort of stuff for me," Rose chuckled, slightly embarrassed. "But I am good at picking ingredients, so usually I don't have trouble finding someone."

"I've got it!" Mandria said with a wicked grin, getting up. "I need to get some supplies."

Alex had leaned over to get a better view of the pumpkin creases, trying to make a heavy mark on the cutting lines before picking up her wand to cut it out. But just as she sat back up, she heard a yelp from across the table. The seed which Rose had just added the growth drops to suddenly took off, shooting out a vine as large as a fist and soon covering not only the table but began to wrap around Rose as well.

Jumping onto the table and over, Alex pulled at the vines around her friend's neck and mouth as blossoms appeared along the entire vine, falling off as quickly as they bloomed to form tiny lumps that grew larger and larger, the green color suddenly turning a deep orange as the pumpkins broke their vines and rolled onto the floor. Finally it stopped, leaving both the girls out of breath as they attempted to get the vines off of them.

"Thanks," Rose said after a moment, a reddish color still lining her cheeks. "I suppose I used too much."

"You said it," Alex said, crawling back over to her side of the table just as Mandria ran up dumping out her contents.

"Are you all right?" she asked worriedly. "My, that's strong stuff, isn't it?"

"Look at that flower sitting in the pumpkin patch! I didn't think those sorts of plants had thorns on them, did you, Stewart?" Conner Donovan laughed from beside them.

"It's true, there may be such a thing as too much of a green thumb," Stewart agreed. "Better be careful, Thorny. Don't forget we have a game coming up this weekend."

"When did those two make up?" Mandria muttered under her breath.

"And is it a good thing or a bad thing?" Alex asked, glaring at them.

"Oh! How very thoughtful of you! Well done, Miss Bailey!" The three girls looked up to see Professors Weasley and Sprout, smiling at them. "I had just given out the last of my pumpkins, and I'd used up the rest of my growth formula to make what I had. Do you mind so much if we take these extras?" Sprout asked.

"Of course, Professor, help yourself," Rose said, and at their encouragement picked out one for herself first. A simple flick from Weasley's wand was enough to get the vine's attention, loosening its grip and slithering to the floor like a snake, wrapping itself in a coil.

"There, now let us help you, Professor Sprout, and I'd say ten points for Gryffindor is in order," Weasley said, handing two of the pumpkins to Madame Brittle and taking two herself. "Good luck, girls. Remember you only have an hour before we start judging them," she said as she walked away. Conner suddenly smiled and gave Rose a nod of approval. Rose promptly turned her back on him.

"I hope I still have enough time to make what I had in mind," Mandria said, snapping a book on enchantments and concentrating on a lump of clay she had brought from the supply table.

"Perhaps we should get to it then," Rose sighed, looking a bit lost as to what she wanted to do with it.

Alex, however, needed little encouragement. In fact, she became so absorbed in her own design that for a long time she hadn't realized exactly what it was that Mandria was making beside her. It was only after Rose handed her a black colored mop head that she finally looked up to see what was going on.

"Oh Mandria, really! How could you!" Alex said in complete horror as Mandria put the stringy black mop head on top of the pumpkin. The clay she had modeled into a slightly crooked, beak-like nose that was so like the real thing that several students had gathered behind them to snigger.

"Wait, I'm not done yet," Mandria said wickedly, glancing at the book of enchantments and waving her wand, murmuring a spell. Suddenly, the hollow, candle lit eyes glared at her, the flames darkening the edges and giving them a rather sinister look.

"What are you staring at? Why aren't you doing your homework? Ten points off Ravenclaw!" The pumpkin-head Snape said. A roar of laughter went up from behind them, and Alex felt her ears burning red.

"Wait! Wait! It's not right without mine!" Rose protested. She turned her pumpkin around, and at first it seemed rather indistinguishable beside the Snape one; it was a woman's face with pursed lips and wire shaped like spectacles above the nose. But when she produced a floppy hat and stuck it on the top of the pumpking that everyone laughed again, watching as the pumpkin McGonagall sprang to life, looking around disapprovingly.

"You! You're a Gryffindor, what are you doing at this table?" Snape-pumpkin demanded. "Ten points off Gryffindor!"

"Now, Professor, I'll handle the punishments for my own students. Ten points added to Gryffindor for having enough sense to make a pumpkin like me to keep an eye on him," the McGonagall pumpkin said. Another burst of laughter came over them, and even Alex couldn't help but admit they were rather funny, barking at the students as they passed about homework and curfews.

"Stop cackling and back to work, or I'll put you all in detention before the Quidditch game!" Snape-pumpkin snarled.

"You just want to keep the Quidditch record for yourself!" McGonagall-pumpkin declared.

"As if you had a chance to win it," Snape-pumpkin snapped.

"Don't you dare try to get smug with me, Professor Snape. If you don't stop threatening these students I'll have them turn you into pumpkin pie," she said, inspiring another roar up from the students.

Hermione, Pomona, and Danny, who had all been staring with their jaws open for some time, looked at one another before bursting out in laughter themselves, despite valiant attempts from all three of them to try and keep a straight face.

"What are we going to do? How can we possibly judge those now?" Hermione asked, wiping tears out of her eyes.

"They are brilliant. I'd say they deserve ribbons," Danny said.

"Oh, but we mustn't encourage this sort of thing, it wouldn't do at all," Pomona pointed out, still chuckling, excusing herself every now and then when she broke into a fresh round.

"I dare think Minerva probably wouldn't mind, but if Snape sees those, those girls are going to be in a lot of hot water," Hermione pointed out.

"So will we if we judge the obvious winners as the obvious winners," Spout murmured back.

"Perhaps I can help." Albus came past them with a smile on his lip and in his eyes, the three judges falling behind him as he walked over to the pumpkins, the students quickly made way. The students fell silent as he came over to inspect them.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore," Pumpkin-McGonagall said.

"Sir, this particular event is getting out of hand. I suggest we cancel Halloween and send the students to their rooms," Pumpkin-Snape said.

"I understand your concern, Professor, but as you can see, the contest hasn't been judged yet," Dumbledore said nodding to the pumpkin. "Quite well done. Might I ask what charm you used?"

"The Relative-perspective Charm, sir," Mandria said.

"Ah yes! That's the one that makes things act like you expect them to act, isn't it?" Dumbledore said looking pleased. "But where is my pumpkin?"

Dumbledore looked over to Alex, who blushed slightly, showing her pumpkin. The Boggart pumpkin then proceeded to launch into a series of scary faces, each one accompanied by an enthusiastic "Boo!" at every attempt at scaring the Headmaster.

"Oh dear. It appears I have been ousted in favor of Humphrey," Dumbledore said, a few of the students are chuckling. "You know, these pumpkins appear to have something missing. It is hard to fathom now seeing Snape without Craw, or perhaps all three of them without Sprout, or Weasley, or even Brittle. What I think would be fun is if we could see all of them interacting, don't you? Rose, Mandria, why don't you put yours at their seats at the high table? Perhaps others can get inspired to do the rest of the staff. Alex, I am sure Humphrey would prefer to be just behind the front door so he can scare people who walk in. The rest of your delightful pumpkins we can set on the tables, I dare say it will be a fine display."

Alex grinned at that and picked up her Boggart Pumpkin, as there was a rush to get to the pumpkin table. How all of those extra pumpkins got there no one was quite sure, but each person grabbed a pumpkin and headed to a table spot to claim a teacher or staff member, getting hard at work. Dumbledore chuckled when he saw that no one had had the nerve to try and make one of him. Instead, he suddenly produced the Sorting Hat from thin air, placing it on a tall pumpkin and sitting it there in his place.

"Brilliant as always, Professor," Hermione said cheerfully. "Since all of the staff is getting a pumpkin, nobody will be offended by it."

"But how do we judge them now that they're all using the same charm?" Danny asked with a chuckle.

"Well, we'll just have to give them all ribbons then, shan't we?" Albus said with a glint in his eyes.

Just then there was a trio of hearty boos coming from the doorway, and the professors glanced over to see Minerva, Arthur Weasley, and Taylor Brittle standing there with solemn expressions.

"Taylor?" Danny said with surprise going over to her husband as they walked over to the professors. "What are you doing here?"

"It's about Aunt Narcissa," Taylor said in a low voice. "She had one of the diamond sets."

"What? Is she alright, what happened?" Danny asked, looking between him and Arthur. The expression on Arthur's face alone told her the truth even before either he or her husband shook their head. Her face grew as white as a sheet, turning slowly to Dumbledore. "Professor… I must… my uncle… Draco…"

"Go, go, you're released, be with your family," Dumbledore said gently. "Minerva, you had better get Jennifer, Severus, and Alastor up here. I'm sure Harry can handle things where he is."

"Yes, Professor," Minerva said, heading swiftly back out the door.

"Hermione, I trust you can handle things here. I'm sure you know to keep this under your hat for now."

"Of course, Professor," she answered, watching with open worry as he and Arthur left the room.

"Of all the people I was thinking of, worrying about when Icarus gave his warning, I never thought it would be one of the Malfoys," Pomona Sprout said, shaking her head.

"Perhaps we'd all have been better off if it wasn't," Hermione said grimly. "This is going to be bad."