Disclaimer - All JKR's, nothing mine! Except for a few characters I added.
Disclaimer 2 - Draco drawing dragons belongs to PikaCheeka. Sorry I forgot to mention that in the first chapter. I sort of adopted the idea subconsciously.
Disclaimer 3 - Severus' raven belongs to J. L. Matthews. I just borrowed him because he's such a perfect pet for Sevi and promise to return him unharmed.
The catar however are all mine and I love them so please don't use without asking me first.
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A/N - Here's the new chapter. Luckily our new modem made it here just in time, or you'd have to wait another week. (The old one died on Tuesday.)
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Chapter 5: Investigations
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On the way back from the hospital wing Severus and Draco made a little side trip to Remus Lupin's office. Even though the afternoon classes had been cancelled for an emergency staff meeting, the DADA teacher was in.
"I have to leave in a few minutes, though." he explained as he let them in. "I don't want to be late for the meeting."
"We just need to know what students you were teaching in the second lesson today." Severus said pulling out his list of suspects.
Remus nodded sadly. "Not your main suspects, I'm afraid. The second year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws."
Severus nodded glancing at his list. "Any absences?"
"No, but I did let the class out about three minutes early. They were getting a little restless and I didn't see any use in starting something new."
"That's no problem." Severus assured him. "We were already in the great hall by that time. Our traitor must have set his trap before then. Did any of your students leave the class in between."
Remus thought for a moment. "Two . . . no, three went to the bathroom, but they all returned within a reasonable amount of time."
"Who?" Draco demanded eagerly.
"Phil Hawkins, Fatima Suleyman and Marlies King. Phil took longer than the other two, but the boys' bathroom is further away than the girls' one."
"What of Sondra Summer and James McGregor?" Severus asked scribbling something onto his list.
"Sondra sat next to Fatima, but she never left the class nor did I ever catch them talking." Remus reported. "James sat alone in the last row. He seemed to be sulking about something at the beginning of class, but after I asked him a few questions and awarded him five points he came out of it and participated very eagerly."
"Thanks, Remus. That helps us a lot." Severus smiled at him as he got up.
"It does?" Remus asked surprised.
"Yes, you just cleared Sondra and James for us." Severus answered.
"What of Phil, Fatima and Marlies?" Draco asked later on their way back to the common room.
"None of them seem likely candidates to me, but I'll consider them suspects if all else fails." Severus answered. "You do realise that Blaise, Theodore, Pansy and Millicent didn't have class any more than we did and the same should go for at least one other house in our year."
"Granger was in the library along with us." Draco pointed out. "That means it must have been the Gryffindors. We've got no suspects in that class."
"Which doesn't mean Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had class." Severus pointed out. "We'd need the schedules of all students to determine that."
"Why didn't you ask Lupin to see them, then?"
"Because he doesn't have them." Severus sighed. "As DADA teacher he has one schedule listing all DADA classes and as head of house he has a copy of every year's Slytherin schedule. He doesn't have the other houses."
"So who has?"
"Albus and McGonagall are the only ones that have the complete list. Albus, because he's the headmaster and had to approve all schedules, McGonagall because she made them."
"Then lets visit the headmaster." Draco suggested. "You're on good enough terms with him at the moment, aren't you?"
"He's in a staff meeting, Draco and so's McGonagall. A meeting in which your father is present as well. Then there's Hagrid who can't keep a secret no matter how hard he tries and Trelawney who's completely unreliable. What do you think would be the results, if we walked into that meeting asking for a list we're not authorised to see?"
"Father would get suspicious, wouldn't he?" Draco guessed.
"We'll have to talk with all the reliable teachers anyway." Severus told him. "And to do that we must wait until after the meeting."
"What about the ones we can't rely on?"
"Albus will have to question them, but I don't trust their word all that much anyway. It'd be just like Trelawney or Hagrid to forget to take attendance or that a student left class during a lesson."
"And father would cover for the traitor anyway." Draco sighed. "That doesn't help us much."
The Slytherin common room was full of excited chatter mostly from the second and third years, but the older students were whispering eagerly as well. Generally the Slytherins seemed to approve of what had happened at lunch, but then they couldn't know, yet how deadly the trap could have been.
"And BOOOM!" Bran Lewis shouted excitedly gesturing with his hands to mimic an explosion.
Maximius Mattels was rolling in his armchair with laughter just barely keeping from falling to the floor.
"And did you hear the cowards scream?" Gaia Ushton crowed. "So scared of a tiny little boom."
"They were screaming because of the shards that cut them." Draco hissed at her angrily. "Those might have been a little painful, you know."
"Shards? What shards?" one of the first years asked. Severus still didn't know her name.
"The shards of Potter's plate." Severus declared coldly. "An explosion isn't just lights and sounds, children." he sneered at the first through third years. "An explosion is also fire and objects being torn apart, the shards get catapulted through the air in every direction. They can hit other objects that get broken or shattered, or they can hit people, cut them or kill them. Explosions can cause walls to collapse on top of you, can burn you, can make you go blind from the light. They can destroy whole buildings."
He glanced around at the suddenly silent students. The first years were staring back at him with huge frightened eyes.
Well, he wasn't a prefect, was he? He had no duty to calm them down, so he decided to make the most of it.
"This one was a very small explosion. Only about ten people really got hurt and only three of them will have to spend more than one night in the hospital wing. It also only affected the Gryffindors." he continued icily. "Whoever was behind it might have been an extremely thoughtless and clumsy prankster, who is a danger to everybody in this school, or he might have intended people to get hurt. This might be a warning to all of us from an attacker who wants us to know he can get into this school. An attacker who meant to say 'Next time you won't be so lucky.' Next time he might blow away half of the great hall, or maybe the whole school. As long as the culprit isn't found we are all in danger."
"But ... but who would want to attack a school?" another first year whimpered. "Who'd have anything to gain from it?"
"Voldemort?" Draco suggested. "Blowing up the whole school sounds like a good way to assure the death of Harry Potter."
"But we are not Harry Potter." Stephan LaCroix spoke up. "Most of his supporters are Slytherins. Many have children in this school. Children that are on his side. Why would he kill them? The dark lord would never harm Slytherin."
"Killing Harry Potter might be more important to him than a bunch of children that aren't even full fledged wizards yet." Estella Rashton said to everyone's surprise. She was usually a very quiet girl that kept to herself and rarely made her thoughts known to others.
"It's a simple question of how much he wants Potter's death." Draco confirmed.
"We're his house." Theodore argued.
"Voldemort isn't exactly famous for his sentimentality." Severus pointed out. "It would be a rational decision to him. Harry Potter's death is one of his primary goals and if he can reach it by sacrificing a few possible later recruits he will do that. He risks the lives of his proven soldiers every time he sends them into battle. Why would he shy from risking those of unproven children who haven't even sworn him loyalty, yet?"
That did it. One of the first years burst into tears, then another. Elena, the little Muggle born second year started sobbing as well and several third years retreated up the stairs towards their dorms.
"Our Lord would not kill us." Gregory Goyle announced stubbornly.
"Are you really so sure of that?" Severus asked him, even though he doubted that Gregory was bright enough to figure these things out. The chance that he might sow a little doubt in the boy's mind was too good to pass up.
"Of course." Gregory stated, but beside him Vincent looked thoughtful.
"I'm not." Severus said softly as he passed Gregory on his way out the door.
Slightly confused Draco followed him out.
"Where are we going?" he asked when Severus didn't even turn around on his way down the corridor.
"To check whether the rest of the teachers are back, yet. Vector's office is closest and her subject is an elective. Whatever year she taught will require a closer investigation."
"Oh." Draco made after a moment. "Why?"
"Because not all students take either Arithmancy or Divination. Those that don't had that hour off."
"Oh." Draco made again.
Vector wasn't in her office, but Severus insisted they should wait. "She spends most of her time here, so it's likely to be the first place she goes after the meeting."
Indeed almost a quarter of an hour later Professor Vector arrived.
"The last class of the day will be held normally." she told the boys looking only slightly surprised that they'd come to see her rather than their head of house about that.
"Actually we've got some more important questions." Severus told her.
Professor Vector raised an eyebrow at him while she unlocked her office. "Like?"
"Like what class you were teaching second lesson and who was missing." Severus explained once they were inside.
Vector sighed. "Albus just asked everybody that. Why don't you go ask him?"
"Because first hand answers are usually closer to the facts." Severus quoted one of her own favourite lines.
"Very well. I taught the seventh years and there were no absences, though one girl arrived five minutes late claiming to have needed to go to the bathroom exactly at the start of the lesson."
"Any other bathroom breaks?" Severus asked calmly. "Particularly during the second half of the lesson?"
"No, nothing. None of my students could have done it."
Severus nodded. "Who are your students?"
"What?" Vector asked surprised. "I already told you, it was the seventh years."
"Ah, but what seventh years take Arithmancy. The ones that don't are still suspicious." Draco smirked.
"I know only the ones that do and I'm not handing over my class list." Vector insisted.
Severus hesitated, then took out his list of suspects. "Fine. Just tell me yes or no for the ones I suspect then. Stephan LaCroix?"
"That's the Slytherin Quiddich captain, isn't it? No, never taught him."
"Benjamin Davids?"
"Yes, one of the best in that class."
"Lionel Bardon?"
"Yes, that one's terribly sloppy though. Always makes the most ridiculous mistakes."
"Neel Ferris?"
"No, never even heard of him." Vector shook her head.
"The other seventh year class at the time was Divination, I assume?" Severus asked.
"Yes, Professor Trelawney had no absences either as far as I remember." Vector said. "I wouldn't advise questioning her. She's not supposed to know anything of your mission."
"Don't worry, I won't." Severus promised. "I'll need to ask Albus about any bathroom breaks in her class."
As they left the office the amplified voice of the headmaster announced that the fifth lesson would be held as scheduled throughout the school.
Draco covered his ears against the noise. "I wish they'd find a way to dose that spell properly. I know he needs to be heard down in the last dungeon, but does that mean he has to sound like a roaring dragon up here?"
"We could try to convince him to fit out every room in the school with Muggle loudspeakers. They'd have the same volume everywhere." Severus suggested teasingly.
Draco made a face at him. "Eeewww. Are the seventh years cleared then?"
Severus shook his head. "We still don't know the bathroom breaks in Divination and what students take it in the first place. I doubt Stephan would bother with the subject."
"Oh, so we're going to the headmaster's office next?"
"No, to the library." Severus grinned. "I didn't see Madame Pince there today and she wasn't at lunch either."
"So?"
"She teaches Latin this year, because Professor Rosetta took over Ancient Runes class and Albus couldn't come up with a new Latin teacher in time."
"So you think she was teaching?"
"Yes, probably."
But they only found Dobby and Winky in the library, busy repairing damaged books.
"Professor Pince Sir, is going to Hogsmeade this morning Sirs." Winky informed them.
"Professor Pince is tell Dobby to be taking good care of library, because she is needing see doctor today." Dobby added.
"She wasn't here all day then?" Severus demanded.
The house elves shook their heads, ears fluttering in tandem.
"Do you know whether she'd have had a class during the second lesson?" Draco tried without much hope.
"No, Dobby and Winky is not knowing." Winky answered sadly.
"No no, yes! She is having class. Dobby has schedule that says when Dobby is to replace Professor Pince in library and Dobby's schedule says Dobby must be in library Wednesday second lesson." the other house elf reported eagerly.
"Does your schedule say what class?" Draco continued almost as eagerly.
Dobby shook his head sadly. "No, Dobby not know."
"No problem." Severus said calmly. "We can always ask Madame Pince when she returns."
The last class of the day unfortunately was Potions. Normally Severus would have enjoyed the prospect of a whole lesson of Lucius messing up, but today he wished he had a teacher that he could question after class. He couldn't let Lucius realise that he was playing detective, of course.
On the way down into the dungeons they met Neville who was looking miserable.
"Hey, Neville!" Draco called out to the Gryffindor. "What's wrong?"
"It's Trevor." Neville explained attempting a weak smile. "He's in so much pain. Professor Hagrid gave me a salve for lizards, but it doesn't seem to be doing much good."
"Lizard skin is very different from toad skin." Severus agreed. "Didn't he have any medicine for toads?"
"No, not even for salamanders. He checked."
"Well," declared Severus. "Then we'll have to brew some. Professor Malfoy probably won't care what we're doing anyway and after all Trevor saved at least one life today."
"Trevor did what?" Neville asked incredulously.
"He set off an explosion that otherwise would have been triggered by a student sitting near the destroyed plate, most likely Harry Potter. Trevor is small enough that all the shards went over him harmlessly."
"You really think it could have killed Harry?" Neville paled.
"You saw what one of those shards did to Dean and it only hit his arm." Severus answered calmly. "If Harry had been sitting in his usual place at the table when the plate exploded he'd have gotten lots of them right into the face and upper body."
"Oh Trevor." Neville whispered looking down at the little patient in his hand.
"Trevor will be alright." Severus promised. "Burns are painful, but they're not bad enough to kill him."
"So this was really the best that could have happened." Draco added. "If anybody else had triggered the trap, they'd have fared much worse."
"Trap?!" Neville squeaked.
Severus shot Draco an angry glance. "Well, why would a plate explode?" he asked Neville. "They're not made from explosive materials. If it had been a cauldron it would be believable that it was an unlucky reaction of ingredients. It happens, if the cauldron isn't cleaned properly. Food and dishwashing potions however are not explosive. For a plate to blow up like that it must have been tampered with."
"But who would want to kill Harry?" Neville asked, then blushed as he realised what he'd just said. "Oh right, him."
"Exactly." said Draco.
"Possibly." Severus said determinedly, shooting Draco another warning glance. "It might just have been a prank gone wrong, somebody wanting to imitate my firecracker in the soup prank without a firecracker. Whoever it was is dangerously stupid or careless, though, if he didn't realise that the shards could be dangerous."
Meanwhile they had arrived in the Potions classroom.
One quick look around confirmed that Lucius Malfoy wasn't around.
Severus sighed. "He didn't even lock the office. Remus will have to start searching our rooms to find all the missing ingredients before somebody accidentally blows up the whole school."
"Especially our 'prankster'." Draco added and Neville shuddered.
"Well, right now this chaos is to our advantage." Severus declared. "You two set up the cauldron, I'll get the ingredients we need."
Severus wasn't the only student serving himself from Lucius' office stores. "Why Pansy, Seamus, do you even know what these ingredients do?"
"I need this for my lip reddening potion." Pansy declared. "I forgot to bring the new bottle."
Seamus Finnigan blushed. "I was just . . . just curious really. I wasn't going to take anything."
Severus probably wouldn't even have believed them, if their lies hadn't been obvious. However, if Pansy really intended to use a potion including powdered blueberry roots on her lips, that would more likely turn them a striking blue, than anything approaching red. As for Seamus, well, maybe he should tell him that a jar of lily seeds was peeking out of his overstuffed pocket?
Both ingredients could be used in dark potions, but were legal enough that they could have bought them in any apothecary. Neither was poisonous on it's own and they definitely weren't explosive either. Severus shook his head and let the two be.
"Sniff!" Greenie declared happily, when Severus fished a large caterpillar out of one of the jars for him before picking out the ingredients he'd need to help Trevor, the heroic toad.
He smiled at the sight of a cockroach peeking out cautiously between two jars. The insects had had a hard time of it when he and Greenie had been living in the potion teacher's quarters next doors. The little green hedgehog loved to snack on fresh cockroaches.
Despite that the beetles had thrived well in the dungeons of Hogwarts. Their population had grown quite large by now.
Severus wondered how Lucius was handling them. He didn't think the man had any tolerance for vermin, but he wasn't as squeamish as Mary Sue either.
Outside in the classroom a lot of students had gathered around his worktable, where Draco and Neville had already lit the fire under Draco's cauldron. Severus had to push through the crowd to be able to set down Greenie and the ingredients.
"What are you doing?" Vincent asked him when he started chopping up birch roots. "Do you already know what we're supposed to brew today? Professor Malfoy didn't say."
"We're brewing some pain reliever for toads, I think." Draco answered. "Neville's worried about Trevor, so Severus decided to show him how to help."
"In that case I want to try that recipe for eyebrow darkening potion from Teen Witch." decided Alice and Juliana squealed with excitement.
"Do you have your Teen Witch with you?" Lavender asked Parvati. "Maybe this is worth trying."
"I'll make another attempt at mind control potion." Ron announced. "Do you want to join me, Harry?"
Harry shook his head. "No, thanks. I've always wanted to try and make caramel bonbons in a cauldron. This might be my only chance while I'm still in school."
"I'll help you, Ron." Seamus offered. "I find that mind control potion fascinating."
This time Lucius arrived to a completely different scene when he entered his classroom. Though the cupboard had been raided once again, every student seemed to be working diligently and for once the blackboard was untouched.
"What pray, are you doing?" he asked with forced patience.
"Independent study, Professor." Severus declared without even looking up from his cauldron.
"It allows each of us to concentrate on his or her special strengths, weaknesses or interests." the bushy haired nuisance declared. "There are so many interesting potions that they can't possibly all be taught in class, but there's also much that won't interest every student, or might be too difficult for some, while others might ..."
"I get the idea." Lucius cut her off with a sneer. His first reaction had been anger, but on second thought this spared him from having to think up something new for the class to work on. "Fine. I was going to take attendance before you start working this time, since I thought that might help avoid more accidents, though." Actually Filius Flitwick had taken him to task for the mistake and given him some instructions on proper organisation, but the students didn't need to know that. "Seeing as you're all already working, however, I suppose there's no need for that precaution this time. You are Parvati Patil?" he asked the first girl in the first row. "And you Hermione Granger?"
"No, I'm Lavender Brown, Professor. Hermione's the girl in the third row."
Lucius ground his teeth. The bushy haired nuisance somehow didn't look like a Hermione to him. Oh well. "Patil and Brown, I see. What are you two working on?" An air of professionalism couldn't hurt.
"A hair care potion my grandmother used to use." Parvati answered. "I'm not entirely sure about the exact recipe, so we're going to brew a batch to try out."
So, not a mudblood, after all, then. Lucius dutifully wrote that down and went on to the next table. "Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. What are you brewing?"
"A headache potion we learned at the end of fourth year." Vincent answered. "Greg never quite got it right, so he's trying again and asked me to watch for whatever it is he's doing wrong."
Another Slytherin that was much too kind in Lucius' opinion. He sneered and moved on. "Alice Mortimer and Juliana Carlson?"
"Yes," confirmed Alice. "We're brewing a recipe from a magazine. A make-up potion."
How boring! Lucius went on to the second row. "Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini. Your project?"
"Erm ... a ... um ... Well, it's a light poison, Professor Malfoy." Theodore admitted.
"For rats and mice and such, you know." Blaise added hastily.
"Ah excellent, excellent." Lucius nodded. "There seems to be a lot of vermin in this school. Draco and Severus Snape why are you working with that Longbottom boy?"
"The project was his idea, Professor." Draco said with a shrug.
Why that little disobedient brat! "You will look at me when I'm talking to you!" Lucius yelled. "Ten points off Slytherin!" The reminder that he could take points had come from the headmaster himself when he'd complained about the racket the students had made in class.
Severus grinned. "Congratulations, Draco. You're the first in our class to lose points in Potions this year." he said casually.
Lucius wasn't entirely sure whether the remark was meant to be sarcastic or not. If it was, he definitely didn't want to discourage it, so he didn't react.
"So what is that grand project of yours?" he asked instead.
"A healing potion for Neville's toad." Severus reported. "He got hurt in the explosion today, so we'll have a chance to see whether it actually works."
"I see." Lucius was about to move on when he noticed something green sniff Neville's hand. "What is that infernal hedgehog doing on the table?"
"He needs exercise." Severus declared. "The cage is great to transport him in and lock him up at night, but it's much too small for him to live in permanently. I always let him out during class to ensure that he's got enough chance to move about."
"Does the headmaster know about that?" Lucius demanded.
"Of course." Severus looked at him as if the very question were an insult.
"I'll check that with him." Lucius announced before turning towards the next group. "Seamus Finnigan and ..." he checked his list again. "Ronald Weasley?"
"It's Ron, Professor." Ron corrected him. "And we're making a second attempt at the mind control potion since we didn't get it on Monday."
"Very good." Lucius smiled at Seamus, ignoring Ron. "Why's the table behind you empty? It was taken on Monday."
"I was sitting there." Seamus reported. "With Dean Thomas. He's still in the hospital wing after the incident at lunch."
Lucius nodded and wrote 'hospital wing' next to the name Dean Thomas on his class list. The emergency meeting had taught him a thing or two about why teachers took attendance. The moment the headmaster had asked what students had been missing from class or left early all the other teachers had taken out their attendance lists and had been able to answer him without a hint of doubt.
"Harry Potter." he sneered. "And Hermione Granger. You are working on separate projects?"
"Yes, I'm ... er ... experimenting with a variation of a Muggle recipe, while Hermione's brewing some ... well, I can't remember the name properly. I think it's called 'Agamatris Potion' or something like that. It seems to be really complicated and in a tricky stage right now, so she has to concentrate and can't answer you at the moment." Harry reported.
The class burst into laughter.
From the ingredients and the colour of the potion in Hermione's cauldron Severus could have told Lucius what potion it really was whose name Potter had so appallingly distorted, but why bother? He was supposed to be a simple sixth year student. Why should he care to know what a Gryffindor was brewing?
"And Estella Rashton." Lucius ticked off the last name on his list. Now he just had to grade that idiotic homework and then he was free to do whatever he liked.
"I'm trying to develop a combination of plant fertiliser and dye potion." Estella reported. "Right now I'm checking whether any of the ingredients I'm intending to use are in danger of exploding when combined. That's why I haven't set up my cauldron. I'll probably not have enough time to do more than map my experiment out on paper in this lesson."
Lucius frowned. Whatever was a girl doing such a scientific project for? Well, at least she was busy and not needing any help from him. The second years had been hell, the third and fourth year not much better and he didn't even want to remember the fifth and seventh years he'd taught on Tuesday. At least the first years had been happy enough to do a reading assignment while he read his paper. Today however he still hadn't had his chance.
Well, first the homework, then he'd be free.
"Alright, now hand in your essays." he ordered.
"They're on your desk." Severus answered distractedly.
Lucius walked to the front of the class and checked. Indeed there was a messy pile of very small rolls of parchment. He picked them up and counted, then did a quick head count.
"There's one missing." he announced.
"That must be Dean's." Seamus offered. "I couldn't quite break into his trunk to get it."
Lucius nodded. "Oh right, I forgot he was missing." He sat down in his chair. 'Damn uncomfortable thing!' and started to read the first essay. Gregory Goyle had described the brewing process.
Lucius corrected 65 spelling errors and added a tiny plus in the little notebook Sprout had given him for the students' grades.
Vincent Crabbe had tried to analyse his mistake. The theory sounded a little weird, but the spelling was correct. Lucius wrote another plus.
Hermione Granger had written three rolls on the discovery of the potion. Lucius read the first ten lines and grudgingly wrote another plus.
Neville Longbottom on the history of the potion. 'Stupid auror brat!', but he couldn't find a reason not to give him a plus.
Draco. A comparison with the imperius curse. Wherever did the boy get that idea? Plus.
Severus Snape, about . . . Lucius had no idea what this was about.
He stared at the parchment for several minutes trying to make sense of anything on it. Damn, he needed a dictionary and he couldn't be seen using one in front of his students. He had looked up something in the Potions book during the second years' class and the students had still been giggling when class ended half an hour later, whispering to each other that even Mary Sue, whoever she was, hadn't been this clueless.
He stuffed the parchment back under the pile and picked up the next one. He would have to do that one in his spare time, but he still could deal with the rest right now.
Lavender Brown on the potion's inventor. That was easy enough. Plus.
Next, Parvati Patil on why it had never been outlawed, then Harry Potter on possible ways to detect the potion in one's drink and how to counteract it. Plus, plus.
Seamus Finnigan had written an excellent essay on the uses and effects of mind control potions. Lucius shuddered inwardly at the realisation that he was beginning to like a Gryffindor.
A bang, a squeal and a splash from somewhere in the front row.
"Oh, no! That must have been the wrong ingredient." Lavender Brown shrieked.
"It probably should have been mint leaves after all." Parvati Patil agreed.
"Clean up the mess and start over." Lucius sneered without looking up from his essays.
Theodore Nott, the advantages and disadvantages of mind control potion compared to the imperius curse and Blaise Zabini had written a comparison between different variations of mind control potions. So had Pansy Parkinson, while Millicent Bulstrode had theorised how the ministry might have reacted had the dark lord used the potion rather than imperius to gain followers.
Estella Rashton had managed to write almost twice the required length about why bat hair should never be added to mind control potion. Lucius frowned. That girl clearly didn't understand her proper place in wizarding society.
Alice Mortimer on the uses of the potion on animals and Juliana Carlson on the suspected consequences of prolonged use on wizards and there was Severus Snape's essay again.
A sudden hiss from the back of the room and a sweet burned smell began to fill the room.
"Oh yuck, Harry." the bushy haired nuisance Granger declared. "If you are going to use Potions class for cooking at least take the cauldron off the fire before you burn the food."
"It's too hot." that idiot Potter complained. "I can't touch it."
"Then don't." Granger scolded. "Why really Harry! Extinquo! Wingardium Leviosa!"
Lucius cast a quick look towards the two Gryffindors and watched Granger levitate Potter's cauldron to the sink to cool it in the water. The smell remained, but at least the smoke disappeared after a moment.
Oh, what the heck. Severus had definitely written more than was necessary and he doubted the boy had neglected his research. He'd grow up to be a Potions Master, after all. He added another plus to his notebook and was finally done.
Walking from table to table he handed back the essays. "Quite nice work, class." Dumbledore had insisted that he needed to tell his students they'd done well from time to time. "Though, some of you overshot the mark a little. Next time I will set a maximum length for your essays and I expect all of you to remain under it. Is that clear?"
A few disinterested nods. Everybody was busy with their cauldrons.
Lucius shrugged it off and went on. First row: Brown and Patil, Goyle and Crabbe, Nott and Zabini. Second row: Mortimer and Carlson, Parkinson and Bulstrode, Finnigan and . . .
"Weasley, where is your essay?" Lucius went through the parchments in his hands once again, but he couldn't even remember grading it. But he'd had all essays accounted for!
"Oh, oh. It's right here in my bag." Ronald Weasley stuttered. "I'll get it."
But Lucius shook his head. "Detention! See me after class." he bellowed and moved on.
Granger and Potter, Draco, Snape and Longbottom and finally Rashton.
No, no parchments left. How could he possibly have miscounted?
Before he had time to figure it out however there was a shriek behind him and Gregory Goyle's cauldron bubbled over.
"Turn the flames down!" Vincent Crabbe shouted at his friend, but the potion had already managed to drown out the fire on it's own. A sticky blue mess flowed over the floor next to the boys' table however.
"Ah, Mr. Weasley. Something to do for your detention, I believe." Lucius commented just as Alice Mortimer's cauldron gave a loud hiss and melted into an ugly brown soup on the girl's table, that unfortunately turned out to be inflammable.
Alice and Juliana dived away from the table as it burst into flames.
"Extinquo!" Lucius cast hastily and breathed a sigh of relief as the flames vanished before anything else could catch fire. The table was past the help of any reparo charm however.
"I think, it's time to start tidying up your workplaces." he decided after a quick glance at the time. "Take your cauldrons off the fire and put away the ingredients."
"Won't you control our progress first?" Granger demanded.
"I'll do that once the fires are out and the tables cleared." Lucius declared.
Five minutes later the shoving, door slamming, colliding with each other and dropping jars finally died down and Lucius, with a feeling of accomplishment went to inspect Brown and Patil's potion.
Almost like an afterthought Nott and Zabini's potion exploded with a loud boom, leaving a huge red stain on the ceiling.
After a moment of just staring in surprise Lucius decided to pull out his notebook. "Looks like that will be a minus for today's practical assignment for you two."
Patil and Brown had managed to get past the stage where the potion had exploded the first time on their second try, but hadn't managed to finish it in time. Still they had made progress earning themselves a plus each.
A minuses for Crabbe and Goyle as they had no potion left to show him, minuses for Carlson and Mortimer, Nott and Zabini. Pluses to Parkinson and Bullstrode, their potion had turned out right. Minus for Finigan and Weasley as their potion was wrong yet again, minus for Potter. A grudging plus for the nuisance who claimed to have successfully completed stage one of her Augmentis potion, which would need more work next week. Her cauldron was levitated to a safe spot in the potions lab until then.
Plusses for Draco, Snape and Longbottom. Trevor, the toad, was visibly improved and croaked happily at Lucius. And a plus for Rashton, who'd written three feet of parchment on the possible reactions of her ingredients.
Lucius sent the students on their way and collapsed back into his chair. "Twinky!" he hollered for the only house elf that seemed to still be willing to serve him.
"Sir?" a small voice asked from across his desk. "Here's my essay. And what about my detention?"
Lucius stared at Weasley in surprise for a moment. "Oh right, your detention."
"And I was wondering whether you could recommend me any books to learn more about mind control potion from." Seamus Finnigan announced. "I want to get it right next time."
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JerseyPike - Well, maybe they're trying to drive people away? Nah, probably just my usual tendency to assume that I'm just not wanted when I'm feeling down. . . . Don't worry, I could never kill poor little Trevor. With Sevi's potion he'll be cured in a few days.
Devi - Hentai? Um sorry, I don't understand any Japanese. . . . Actually, I have no idea what Draco said to Pansy myself. I just felt the need for a food fight and generally those need a cause, so I gave it one.
Thistle - Never underestimate small animals. . . . Erm, what Moody did wasn't approved of either. Both, I'd say, are the equivalent of a Muggle teacher slamming a ruler on a child's fingers. (= abuse) . . . Well, Luci is a spoiled aristocrat bad guy. (Love him, too, but he is.) . . . Sevi's not looking for info on himself. He's after incriminating evidence. Preferably that one of the students intends to murder Harry. . . . Sevi's not afraid of Greg and Vince anymore. He hates Blaise, though and Theodore still scares him a little. (His pranks against his classmates are just to make them more scared of him than he is of them.) . . . Actually Luci's grading by: 'homework there, plus'. And I'm still using the Austrian grading system, so no F. (Anything other than an actual test or exam only gets a plus or minus in Austria, and the grades are the numbers 1 - 5.)
Madame Moony - Nah, just Ron and one house elf. That's much more fun in Luci's eyes. (That and he just hasn't figured out the punishments yet. He never knows what's appropriate.)
Black Angel - No, Catar are actually a race, like the centaurs. Catar can become animagi, by the way, though few bother with it. They would then have three different shapes to chose from. . . . I'll have to ask you for patience there, I'm afraid. I'll write a Catar fic someday, but I have to get this and the RD sequel done first. I love cats, too, but would most likely end up with a hedgehog for my animagus form: harmless, small, solitary, spiky and tends to roll into itself when scared. Yep, that's me. . . . Don't be too sure anyone's off the list for having had classes: They can skip, excuse themselves to go to the bathroom, claim to need to go to the hospital wing, or simply have a class that finishes early. . . . The comparison of lists will leave Sevi slightly disappointed, but that's for next chapter. . . . Well, right now Sevi's still busy with Slytherin trunks. The idea might come up later, though. . . . Yeah, numbering is stupid. Maybe next we all get to use out Userid numbers instead of our names? (At least then nobody would recognise anybody anymore . . . .
Leevee of Team Socket - No pick yet? Well, don't worry: I've got more suspects still to come.
TatraMegami - I'm afraid Luci will have to take the fast, on the job crash course. There's no time for him to take proper lessons. (Nor does he want to.)
Pam Briggs - Remember that the traitor already had his orders before Luci became a teacher unexpectedly. Luci is functioning only as an advisor and teacher to the young death eater. Yes, he may have provided an alibi, or even planned the trap, but he did not set it, nor does he control the one who did in any way.
Redstrawberry900 - Well, I really liked the book, but some of my friends complained. Some because of Sirius, but others were disappointed with the writing style itself. In my opinion a good read, but ten quaffles might be a little exaggerated. I'll give it eight out of ten and save the ten for the truly ingenious masterpieces.
Merlyn - I saw you finally posted something again. Would have reviewed, too, but since I don't know the language I didn't really have anything to say. Any chance we might get an English version? ... Oh yes, Greenie and me are fine, if a little overworked at the moment. (Starscream's off sulking, because I put the Transformers fic on hold due to a plot hedgehog Greenie dragged up for a Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs fic, so it's just the two of us trying to get some writing time for two fics in between my job and reading fanfics.)
Delfeus - My mother used to use nicknames or shorten the names of her students, if she had two with the same first name (Markus and Mark, Tina and Tini, Alex and Sascha . . .) I picked my own shortened version much later on, though some people refused it claiming it was ugly (and nowadays they just don't remember it for more than a day or two. . . . I don't worry about the people with ff.net accounts all that much, but there's enough people who don't have them. And I know a lot of people who remember the author of a story but forget the exact title, or the other way around. Well, nothing I can do about it, I guess.
Iremione - Actually, I don't remember what Harry's trunk looked like in the film. I'm not a visual person, remember? Sevi and Draco aren't disgusted by the fact that the trunk has a name plaque, but by the fact that said name plaque is terribly over decorated (you know swirls and pearls and little leaves, roses, heraldic symbols, all imitating gold . . .) I know Hermione is awake after History, but Draco and Severus (and Estella) don't, because they have it with the Ravenclaws and have never seen Hermione during it (and if they saw her right after, they probably wouldn't have known what class she'd just had.) . . . Well, it was the Gryffindor girls' dorms that were equipped with that particular protection. Slytherin might have different precautions, but as head of house Sevi definitely knows what they are and how to circumvent them, or simply switch them off temporarily. . . . As for Sevi not calling Hermione a Mudblood, I'm assuming that he's met some muggle borns that impressed him since his first childhood and just doesn't view them the same anymore. Hermione's blood just isn't as important to him anymore as it is to Draco. I'm not saying he mightn't use the word Mudblood, if he wants to hurt her, but it's not how he thinks of anybody. . . . Actually Theodore and Blaise could easily have done it. They had a study hour, which hey could have spent entirely at the library, but they also could have gone down to the great hall at any time. Luci was in class. He is only an advisor to the traitor. He won't actively participate in any of his actions. Stephan's another main suspect and you might notice somebody else popping up in this chapter. . . .
Weasleylover1 - Um, Luci has to stay evil. I need some bad guys left. (My current mantra. I like Luci, but this fic needs him evil. Since I don't believe in absolute evil however, that doesn't mean he can't be sweet while still being a prejudiced death eater.) . . . Um, I'm not entirely sure hedgehogs don't eat toads, so I'm not experimenting with those two. . . . Is Percy evil? Is Percy dead? Was Percy the ministry traitor? Is Percy just an innocent victim? Is Percy under the imperius curse? Or mind control potion? Am I even planning to answer those questions? (Well, I wouldn't be avoiding the answers like this, if it wasn't going to be in this fic, right?)
annakas - Oh, I think Luci got off easy. Just think of what Albus and Mary Sue had to endure. I guess it just shows when I like a character. Remus is definitely in my top five (With Sevi, Draco, Ginny and Neville.) Luci's grown on me, too. I might even like him better than Albus by now. . . The title? Well, ever saw a James Bond movie? The guy's secret codename is 007, pronounced double O seven.
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A/N: Did you notice how Lucius managed to miscount the essays? And what does the name Harry gave Hermione's potion actually mean? Will Lucius ever learn how to actually teach a class? (Guesses about the identity of the traitor as always will be read with great interest, but not answered, yet.) Please R/R.
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Next: Sevi talks with Albus, Draco wants to recruit Neville and Lucius writes a letter.
Disclaimer 2 - Draco drawing dragons belongs to PikaCheeka. Sorry I forgot to mention that in the first chapter. I sort of adopted the idea subconsciously.
Disclaimer 3 - Severus' raven belongs to J. L. Matthews. I just borrowed him because he's such a perfect pet for Sevi and promise to return him unharmed.
The catar however are all mine and I love them so please don't use without asking me first.
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A/N - Here's the new chapter. Luckily our new modem made it here just in time, or you'd have to wait another week. (The old one died on Tuesday.)
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Chapter 5: Investigations
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On the way back from the hospital wing Severus and Draco made a little side trip to Remus Lupin's office. Even though the afternoon classes had been cancelled for an emergency staff meeting, the DADA teacher was in.
"I have to leave in a few minutes, though." he explained as he let them in. "I don't want to be late for the meeting."
"We just need to know what students you were teaching in the second lesson today." Severus said pulling out his list of suspects.
Remus nodded sadly. "Not your main suspects, I'm afraid. The second year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws."
Severus nodded glancing at his list. "Any absences?"
"No, but I did let the class out about three minutes early. They were getting a little restless and I didn't see any use in starting something new."
"That's no problem." Severus assured him. "We were already in the great hall by that time. Our traitor must have set his trap before then. Did any of your students leave the class in between."
Remus thought for a moment. "Two . . . no, three went to the bathroom, but they all returned within a reasonable amount of time."
"Who?" Draco demanded eagerly.
"Phil Hawkins, Fatima Suleyman and Marlies King. Phil took longer than the other two, but the boys' bathroom is further away than the girls' one."
"What of Sondra Summer and James McGregor?" Severus asked scribbling something onto his list.
"Sondra sat next to Fatima, but she never left the class nor did I ever catch them talking." Remus reported. "James sat alone in the last row. He seemed to be sulking about something at the beginning of class, but after I asked him a few questions and awarded him five points he came out of it and participated very eagerly."
"Thanks, Remus. That helps us a lot." Severus smiled at him as he got up.
"It does?" Remus asked surprised.
"Yes, you just cleared Sondra and James for us." Severus answered.
"What of Phil, Fatima and Marlies?" Draco asked later on their way back to the common room.
"None of them seem likely candidates to me, but I'll consider them suspects if all else fails." Severus answered. "You do realise that Blaise, Theodore, Pansy and Millicent didn't have class any more than we did and the same should go for at least one other house in our year."
"Granger was in the library along with us." Draco pointed out. "That means it must have been the Gryffindors. We've got no suspects in that class."
"Which doesn't mean Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had class." Severus pointed out. "We'd need the schedules of all students to determine that."
"Why didn't you ask Lupin to see them, then?"
"Because he doesn't have them." Severus sighed. "As DADA teacher he has one schedule listing all DADA classes and as head of house he has a copy of every year's Slytherin schedule. He doesn't have the other houses."
"So who has?"
"Albus and McGonagall are the only ones that have the complete list. Albus, because he's the headmaster and had to approve all schedules, McGonagall because she made them."
"Then lets visit the headmaster." Draco suggested. "You're on good enough terms with him at the moment, aren't you?"
"He's in a staff meeting, Draco and so's McGonagall. A meeting in which your father is present as well. Then there's Hagrid who can't keep a secret no matter how hard he tries and Trelawney who's completely unreliable. What do you think would be the results, if we walked into that meeting asking for a list we're not authorised to see?"
"Father would get suspicious, wouldn't he?" Draco guessed.
"We'll have to talk with all the reliable teachers anyway." Severus told him. "And to do that we must wait until after the meeting."
"What about the ones we can't rely on?"
"Albus will have to question them, but I don't trust their word all that much anyway. It'd be just like Trelawney or Hagrid to forget to take attendance or that a student left class during a lesson."
"And father would cover for the traitor anyway." Draco sighed. "That doesn't help us much."
The Slytherin common room was full of excited chatter mostly from the second and third years, but the older students were whispering eagerly as well. Generally the Slytherins seemed to approve of what had happened at lunch, but then they couldn't know, yet how deadly the trap could have been.
"And BOOOM!" Bran Lewis shouted excitedly gesturing with his hands to mimic an explosion.
Maximius Mattels was rolling in his armchair with laughter just barely keeping from falling to the floor.
"And did you hear the cowards scream?" Gaia Ushton crowed. "So scared of a tiny little boom."
"They were screaming because of the shards that cut them." Draco hissed at her angrily. "Those might have been a little painful, you know."
"Shards? What shards?" one of the first years asked. Severus still didn't know her name.
"The shards of Potter's plate." Severus declared coldly. "An explosion isn't just lights and sounds, children." he sneered at the first through third years. "An explosion is also fire and objects being torn apart, the shards get catapulted through the air in every direction. They can hit other objects that get broken or shattered, or they can hit people, cut them or kill them. Explosions can cause walls to collapse on top of you, can burn you, can make you go blind from the light. They can destroy whole buildings."
He glanced around at the suddenly silent students. The first years were staring back at him with huge frightened eyes.
Well, he wasn't a prefect, was he? He had no duty to calm them down, so he decided to make the most of it.
"This one was a very small explosion. Only about ten people really got hurt and only three of them will have to spend more than one night in the hospital wing. It also only affected the Gryffindors." he continued icily. "Whoever was behind it might have been an extremely thoughtless and clumsy prankster, who is a danger to everybody in this school, or he might have intended people to get hurt. This might be a warning to all of us from an attacker who wants us to know he can get into this school. An attacker who meant to say 'Next time you won't be so lucky.' Next time he might blow away half of the great hall, or maybe the whole school. As long as the culprit isn't found we are all in danger."
"But ... but who would want to attack a school?" another first year whimpered. "Who'd have anything to gain from it?"
"Voldemort?" Draco suggested. "Blowing up the whole school sounds like a good way to assure the death of Harry Potter."
"But we are not Harry Potter." Stephan LaCroix spoke up. "Most of his supporters are Slytherins. Many have children in this school. Children that are on his side. Why would he kill them? The dark lord would never harm Slytherin."
"Killing Harry Potter might be more important to him than a bunch of children that aren't even full fledged wizards yet." Estella Rashton said to everyone's surprise. She was usually a very quiet girl that kept to herself and rarely made her thoughts known to others.
"It's a simple question of how much he wants Potter's death." Draco confirmed.
"We're his house." Theodore argued.
"Voldemort isn't exactly famous for his sentimentality." Severus pointed out. "It would be a rational decision to him. Harry Potter's death is one of his primary goals and if he can reach it by sacrificing a few possible later recruits he will do that. He risks the lives of his proven soldiers every time he sends them into battle. Why would he shy from risking those of unproven children who haven't even sworn him loyalty, yet?"
That did it. One of the first years burst into tears, then another. Elena, the little Muggle born second year started sobbing as well and several third years retreated up the stairs towards their dorms.
"Our Lord would not kill us." Gregory Goyle announced stubbornly.
"Are you really so sure of that?" Severus asked him, even though he doubted that Gregory was bright enough to figure these things out. The chance that he might sow a little doubt in the boy's mind was too good to pass up.
"Of course." Gregory stated, but beside him Vincent looked thoughtful.
"I'm not." Severus said softly as he passed Gregory on his way out the door.
Slightly confused Draco followed him out.
"Where are we going?" he asked when Severus didn't even turn around on his way down the corridor.
"To check whether the rest of the teachers are back, yet. Vector's office is closest and her subject is an elective. Whatever year she taught will require a closer investigation."
"Oh." Draco made after a moment. "Why?"
"Because not all students take either Arithmancy or Divination. Those that don't had that hour off."
"Oh." Draco made again.
Vector wasn't in her office, but Severus insisted they should wait. "She spends most of her time here, so it's likely to be the first place she goes after the meeting."
Indeed almost a quarter of an hour later Professor Vector arrived.
"The last class of the day will be held normally." she told the boys looking only slightly surprised that they'd come to see her rather than their head of house about that.
"Actually we've got some more important questions." Severus told her.
Professor Vector raised an eyebrow at him while she unlocked her office. "Like?"
"Like what class you were teaching second lesson and who was missing." Severus explained once they were inside.
Vector sighed. "Albus just asked everybody that. Why don't you go ask him?"
"Because first hand answers are usually closer to the facts." Severus quoted one of her own favourite lines.
"Very well. I taught the seventh years and there were no absences, though one girl arrived five minutes late claiming to have needed to go to the bathroom exactly at the start of the lesson."
"Any other bathroom breaks?" Severus asked calmly. "Particularly during the second half of the lesson?"
"No, nothing. None of my students could have done it."
Severus nodded. "Who are your students?"
"What?" Vector asked surprised. "I already told you, it was the seventh years."
"Ah, but what seventh years take Arithmancy. The ones that don't are still suspicious." Draco smirked.
"I know only the ones that do and I'm not handing over my class list." Vector insisted.
Severus hesitated, then took out his list of suspects. "Fine. Just tell me yes or no for the ones I suspect then. Stephan LaCroix?"
"That's the Slytherin Quiddich captain, isn't it? No, never taught him."
"Benjamin Davids?"
"Yes, one of the best in that class."
"Lionel Bardon?"
"Yes, that one's terribly sloppy though. Always makes the most ridiculous mistakes."
"Neel Ferris?"
"No, never even heard of him." Vector shook her head.
"The other seventh year class at the time was Divination, I assume?" Severus asked.
"Yes, Professor Trelawney had no absences either as far as I remember." Vector said. "I wouldn't advise questioning her. She's not supposed to know anything of your mission."
"Don't worry, I won't." Severus promised. "I'll need to ask Albus about any bathroom breaks in her class."
As they left the office the amplified voice of the headmaster announced that the fifth lesson would be held as scheduled throughout the school.
Draco covered his ears against the noise. "I wish they'd find a way to dose that spell properly. I know he needs to be heard down in the last dungeon, but does that mean he has to sound like a roaring dragon up here?"
"We could try to convince him to fit out every room in the school with Muggle loudspeakers. They'd have the same volume everywhere." Severus suggested teasingly.
Draco made a face at him. "Eeewww. Are the seventh years cleared then?"
Severus shook his head. "We still don't know the bathroom breaks in Divination and what students take it in the first place. I doubt Stephan would bother with the subject."
"Oh, so we're going to the headmaster's office next?"
"No, to the library." Severus grinned. "I didn't see Madame Pince there today and she wasn't at lunch either."
"So?"
"She teaches Latin this year, because Professor Rosetta took over Ancient Runes class and Albus couldn't come up with a new Latin teacher in time."
"So you think she was teaching?"
"Yes, probably."
But they only found Dobby and Winky in the library, busy repairing damaged books.
"Professor Pince Sir, is going to Hogsmeade this morning Sirs." Winky informed them.
"Professor Pince is tell Dobby to be taking good care of library, because she is needing see doctor today." Dobby added.
"She wasn't here all day then?" Severus demanded.
The house elves shook their heads, ears fluttering in tandem.
"Do you know whether she'd have had a class during the second lesson?" Draco tried without much hope.
"No, Dobby and Winky is not knowing." Winky answered sadly.
"No no, yes! She is having class. Dobby has schedule that says when Dobby is to replace Professor Pince in library and Dobby's schedule says Dobby must be in library Wednesday second lesson." the other house elf reported eagerly.
"Does your schedule say what class?" Draco continued almost as eagerly.
Dobby shook his head sadly. "No, Dobby not know."
"No problem." Severus said calmly. "We can always ask Madame Pince when she returns."
The last class of the day unfortunately was Potions. Normally Severus would have enjoyed the prospect of a whole lesson of Lucius messing up, but today he wished he had a teacher that he could question after class. He couldn't let Lucius realise that he was playing detective, of course.
On the way down into the dungeons they met Neville who was looking miserable.
"Hey, Neville!" Draco called out to the Gryffindor. "What's wrong?"
"It's Trevor." Neville explained attempting a weak smile. "He's in so much pain. Professor Hagrid gave me a salve for lizards, but it doesn't seem to be doing much good."
"Lizard skin is very different from toad skin." Severus agreed. "Didn't he have any medicine for toads?"
"No, not even for salamanders. He checked."
"Well," declared Severus. "Then we'll have to brew some. Professor Malfoy probably won't care what we're doing anyway and after all Trevor saved at least one life today."
"Trevor did what?" Neville asked incredulously.
"He set off an explosion that otherwise would have been triggered by a student sitting near the destroyed plate, most likely Harry Potter. Trevor is small enough that all the shards went over him harmlessly."
"You really think it could have killed Harry?" Neville paled.
"You saw what one of those shards did to Dean and it only hit his arm." Severus answered calmly. "If Harry had been sitting in his usual place at the table when the plate exploded he'd have gotten lots of them right into the face and upper body."
"Oh Trevor." Neville whispered looking down at the little patient in his hand.
"Trevor will be alright." Severus promised. "Burns are painful, but they're not bad enough to kill him."
"So this was really the best that could have happened." Draco added. "If anybody else had triggered the trap, they'd have fared much worse."
"Trap?!" Neville squeaked.
Severus shot Draco an angry glance. "Well, why would a plate explode?" he asked Neville. "They're not made from explosive materials. If it had been a cauldron it would be believable that it was an unlucky reaction of ingredients. It happens, if the cauldron isn't cleaned properly. Food and dishwashing potions however are not explosive. For a plate to blow up like that it must have been tampered with."
"But who would want to kill Harry?" Neville asked, then blushed as he realised what he'd just said. "Oh right, him."
"Exactly." said Draco.
"Possibly." Severus said determinedly, shooting Draco another warning glance. "It might just have been a prank gone wrong, somebody wanting to imitate my firecracker in the soup prank without a firecracker. Whoever it was is dangerously stupid or careless, though, if he didn't realise that the shards could be dangerous."
Meanwhile they had arrived in the Potions classroom.
One quick look around confirmed that Lucius Malfoy wasn't around.
Severus sighed. "He didn't even lock the office. Remus will have to start searching our rooms to find all the missing ingredients before somebody accidentally blows up the whole school."
"Especially our 'prankster'." Draco added and Neville shuddered.
"Well, right now this chaos is to our advantage." Severus declared. "You two set up the cauldron, I'll get the ingredients we need."
Severus wasn't the only student serving himself from Lucius' office stores. "Why Pansy, Seamus, do you even know what these ingredients do?"
"I need this for my lip reddening potion." Pansy declared. "I forgot to bring the new bottle."
Seamus Finnigan blushed. "I was just . . . just curious really. I wasn't going to take anything."
Severus probably wouldn't even have believed them, if their lies hadn't been obvious. However, if Pansy really intended to use a potion including powdered blueberry roots on her lips, that would more likely turn them a striking blue, than anything approaching red. As for Seamus, well, maybe he should tell him that a jar of lily seeds was peeking out of his overstuffed pocket?
Both ingredients could be used in dark potions, but were legal enough that they could have bought them in any apothecary. Neither was poisonous on it's own and they definitely weren't explosive either. Severus shook his head and let the two be.
"Sniff!" Greenie declared happily, when Severus fished a large caterpillar out of one of the jars for him before picking out the ingredients he'd need to help Trevor, the heroic toad.
He smiled at the sight of a cockroach peeking out cautiously between two jars. The insects had had a hard time of it when he and Greenie had been living in the potion teacher's quarters next doors. The little green hedgehog loved to snack on fresh cockroaches.
Despite that the beetles had thrived well in the dungeons of Hogwarts. Their population had grown quite large by now.
Severus wondered how Lucius was handling them. He didn't think the man had any tolerance for vermin, but he wasn't as squeamish as Mary Sue either.
Outside in the classroom a lot of students had gathered around his worktable, where Draco and Neville had already lit the fire under Draco's cauldron. Severus had to push through the crowd to be able to set down Greenie and the ingredients.
"What are you doing?" Vincent asked him when he started chopping up birch roots. "Do you already know what we're supposed to brew today? Professor Malfoy didn't say."
"We're brewing some pain reliever for toads, I think." Draco answered. "Neville's worried about Trevor, so Severus decided to show him how to help."
"In that case I want to try that recipe for eyebrow darkening potion from Teen Witch." decided Alice and Juliana squealed with excitement.
"Do you have your Teen Witch with you?" Lavender asked Parvati. "Maybe this is worth trying."
"I'll make another attempt at mind control potion." Ron announced. "Do you want to join me, Harry?"
Harry shook his head. "No, thanks. I've always wanted to try and make caramel bonbons in a cauldron. This might be my only chance while I'm still in school."
"I'll help you, Ron." Seamus offered. "I find that mind control potion fascinating."
This time Lucius arrived to a completely different scene when he entered his classroom. Though the cupboard had been raided once again, every student seemed to be working diligently and for once the blackboard was untouched.
"What pray, are you doing?" he asked with forced patience.
"Independent study, Professor." Severus declared without even looking up from his cauldron.
"It allows each of us to concentrate on his or her special strengths, weaknesses or interests." the bushy haired nuisance declared. "There are so many interesting potions that they can't possibly all be taught in class, but there's also much that won't interest every student, or might be too difficult for some, while others might ..."
"I get the idea." Lucius cut her off with a sneer. His first reaction had been anger, but on second thought this spared him from having to think up something new for the class to work on. "Fine. I was going to take attendance before you start working this time, since I thought that might help avoid more accidents, though." Actually Filius Flitwick had taken him to task for the mistake and given him some instructions on proper organisation, but the students didn't need to know that. "Seeing as you're all already working, however, I suppose there's no need for that precaution this time. You are Parvati Patil?" he asked the first girl in the first row. "And you Hermione Granger?"
"No, I'm Lavender Brown, Professor. Hermione's the girl in the third row."
Lucius ground his teeth. The bushy haired nuisance somehow didn't look like a Hermione to him. Oh well. "Patil and Brown, I see. What are you two working on?" An air of professionalism couldn't hurt.
"A hair care potion my grandmother used to use." Parvati answered. "I'm not entirely sure about the exact recipe, so we're going to brew a batch to try out."
So, not a mudblood, after all, then. Lucius dutifully wrote that down and went on to the next table. "Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. What are you brewing?"
"A headache potion we learned at the end of fourth year." Vincent answered. "Greg never quite got it right, so he's trying again and asked me to watch for whatever it is he's doing wrong."
Another Slytherin that was much too kind in Lucius' opinion. He sneered and moved on. "Alice Mortimer and Juliana Carlson?"
"Yes," confirmed Alice. "We're brewing a recipe from a magazine. A make-up potion."
How boring! Lucius went on to the second row. "Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini. Your project?"
"Erm ... a ... um ... Well, it's a light poison, Professor Malfoy." Theodore admitted.
"For rats and mice and such, you know." Blaise added hastily.
"Ah excellent, excellent." Lucius nodded. "There seems to be a lot of vermin in this school. Draco and Severus Snape why are you working with that Longbottom boy?"
"The project was his idea, Professor." Draco said with a shrug.
Why that little disobedient brat! "You will look at me when I'm talking to you!" Lucius yelled. "Ten points off Slytherin!" The reminder that he could take points had come from the headmaster himself when he'd complained about the racket the students had made in class.
Severus grinned. "Congratulations, Draco. You're the first in our class to lose points in Potions this year." he said casually.
Lucius wasn't entirely sure whether the remark was meant to be sarcastic or not. If it was, he definitely didn't want to discourage it, so he didn't react.
"So what is that grand project of yours?" he asked instead.
"A healing potion for Neville's toad." Severus reported. "He got hurt in the explosion today, so we'll have a chance to see whether it actually works."
"I see." Lucius was about to move on when he noticed something green sniff Neville's hand. "What is that infernal hedgehog doing on the table?"
"He needs exercise." Severus declared. "The cage is great to transport him in and lock him up at night, but it's much too small for him to live in permanently. I always let him out during class to ensure that he's got enough chance to move about."
"Does the headmaster know about that?" Lucius demanded.
"Of course." Severus looked at him as if the very question were an insult.
"I'll check that with him." Lucius announced before turning towards the next group. "Seamus Finnigan and ..." he checked his list again. "Ronald Weasley?"
"It's Ron, Professor." Ron corrected him. "And we're making a second attempt at the mind control potion since we didn't get it on Monday."
"Very good." Lucius smiled at Seamus, ignoring Ron. "Why's the table behind you empty? It was taken on Monday."
"I was sitting there." Seamus reported. "With Dean Thomas. He's still in the hospital wing after the incident at lunch."
Lucius nodded and wrote 'hospital wing' next to the name Dean Thomas on his class list. The emergency meeting had taught him a thing or two about why teachers took attendance. The moment the headmaster had asked what students had been missing from class or left early all the other teachers had taken out their attendance lists and had been able to answer him without a hint of doubt.
"Harry Potter." he sneered. "And Hermione Granger. You are working on separate projects?"
"Yes, I'm ... er ... experimenting with a variation of a Muggle recipe, while Hermione's brewing some ... well, I can't remember the name properly. I think it's called 'Agamatris Potion' or something like that. It seems to be really complicated and in a tricky stage right now, so she has to concentrate and can't answer you at the moment." Harry reported.
The class burst into laughter.
From the ingredients and the colour of the potion in Hermione's cauldron Severus could have told Lucius what potion it really was whose name Potter had so appallingly distorted, but why bother? He was supposed to be a simple sixth year student. Why should he care to know what a Gryffindor was brewing?
"And Estella Rashton." Lucius ticked off the last name on his list. Now he just had to grade that idiotic homework and then he was free to do whatever he liked.
"I'm trying to develop a combination of plant fertiliser and dye potion." Estella reported. "Right now I'm checking whether any of the ingredients I'm intending to use are in danger of exploding when combined. That's why I haven't set up my cauldron. I'll probably not have enough time to do more than map my experiment out on paper in this lesson."
Lucius frowned. Whatever was a girl doing such a scientific project for? Well, at least she was busy and not needing any help from him. The second years had been hell, the third and fourth year not much better and he didn't even want to remember the fifth and seventh years he'd taught on Tuesday. At least the first years had been happy enough to do a reading assignment while he read his paper. Today however he still hadn't had his chance.
Well, first the homework, then he'd be free.
"Alright, now hand in your essays." he ordered.
"They're on your desk." Severus answered distractedly.
Lucius walked to the front of the class and checked. Indeed there was a messy pile of very small rolls of parchment. He picked them up and counted, then did a quick head count.
"There's one missing." he announced.
"That must be Dean's." Seamus offered. "I couldn't quite break into his trunk to get it."
Lucius nodded. "Oh right, I forgot he was missing." He sat down in his chair. 'Damn uncomfortable thing!' and started to read the first essay. Gregory Goyle had described the brewing process.
Lucius corrected 65 spelling errors and added a tiny plus in the little notebook Sprout had given him for the students' grades.
Vincent Crabbe had tried to analyse his mistake. The theory sounded a little weird, but the spelling was correct. Lucius wrote another plus.
Hermione Granger had written three rolls on the discovery of the potion. Lucius read the first ten lines and grudgingly wrote another plus.
Neville Longbottom on the history of the potion. 'Stupid auror brat!', but he couldn't find a reason not to give him a plus.
Draco. A comparison with the imperius curse. Wherever did the boy get that idea? Plus.
Severus Snape, about . . . Lucius had no idea what this was about.
He stared at the parchment for several minutes trying to make sense of anything on it. Damn, he needed a dictionary and he couldn't be seen using one in front of his students. He had looked up something in the Potions book during the second years' class and the students had still been giggling when class ended half an hour later, whispering to each other that even Mary Sue, whoever she was, hadn't been this clueless.
He stuffed the parchment back under the pile and picked up the next one. He would have to do that one in his spare time, but he still could deal with the rest right now.
Lavender Brown on the potion's inventor. That was easy enough. Plus.
Next, Parvati Patil on why it had never been outlawed, then Harry Potter on possible ways to detect the potion in one's drink and how to counteract it. Plus, plus.
Seamus Finnigan had written an excellent essay on the uses and effects of mind control potions. Lucius shuddered inwardly at the realisation that he was beginning to like a Gryffindor.
A bang, a squeal and a splash from somewhere in the front row.
"Oh, no! That must have been the wrong ingredient." Lavender Brown shrieked.
"It probably should have been mint leaves after all." Parvati Patil agreed.
"Clean up the mess and start over." Lucius sneered without looking up from his essays.
Theodore Nott, the advantages and disadvantages of mind control potion compared to the imperius curse and Blaise Zabini had written a comparison between different variations of mind control potions. So had Pansy Parkinson, while Millicent Bulstrode had theorised how the ministry might have reacted had the dark lord used the potion rather than imperius to gain followers.
Estella Rashton had managed to write almost twice the required length about why bat hair should never be added to mind control potion. Lucius frowned. That girl clearly didn't understand her proper place in wizarding society.
Alice Mortimer on the uses of the potion on animals and Juliana Carlson on the suspected consequences of prolonged use on wizards and there was Severus Snape's essay again.
A sudden hiss from the back of the room and a sweet burned smell began to fill the room.
"Oh yuck, Harry." the bushy haired nuisance Granger declared. "If you are going to use Potions class for cooking at least take the cauldron off the fire before you burn the food."
"It's too hot." that idiot Potter complained. "I can't touch it."
"Then don't." Granger scolded. "Why really Harry! Extinquo! Wingardium Leviosa!"
Lucius cast a quick look towards the two Gryffindors and watched Granger levitate Potter's cauldron to the sink to cool it in the water. The smell remained, but at least the smoke disappeared after a moment.
Oh, what the heck. Severus had definitely written more than was necessary and he doubted the boy had neglected his research. He'd grow up to be a Potions Master, after all. He added another plus to his notebook and was finally done.
Walking from table to table he handed back the essays. "Quite nice work, class." Dumbledore had insisted that he needed to tell his students they'd done well from time to time. "Though, some of you overshot the mark a little. Next time I will set a maximum length for your essays and I expect all of you to remain under it. Is that clear?"
A few disinterested nods. Everybody was busy with their cauldrons.
Lucius shrugged it off and went on. First row: Brown and Patil, Goyle and Crabbe, Nott and Zabini. Second row: Mortimer and Carlson, Parkinson and Bulstrode, Finnigan and . . .
"Weasley, where is your essay?" Lucius went through the parchments in his hands once again, but he couldn't even remember grading it. But he'd had all essays accounted for!
"Oh, oh. It's right here in my bag." Ronald Weasley stuttered. "I'll get it."
But Lucius shook his head. "Detention! See me after class." he bellowed and moved on.
Granger and Potter, Draco, Snape and Longbottom and finally Rashton.
No, no parchments left. How could he possibly have miscounted?
Before he had time to figure it out however there was a shriek behind him and Gregory Goyle's cauldron bubbled over.
"Turn the flames down!" Vincent Crabbe shouted at his friend, but the potion had already managed to drown out the fire on it's own. A sticky blue mess flowed over the floor next to the boys' table however.
"Ah, Mr. Weasley. Something to do for your detention, I believe." Lucius commented just as Alice Mortimer's cauldron gave a loud hiss and melted into an ugly brown soup on the girl's table, that unfortunately turned out to be inflammable.
Alice and Juliana dived away from the table as it burst into flames.
"Extinquo!" Lucius cast hastily and breathed a sigh of relief as the flames vanished before anything else could catch fire. The table was past the help of any reparo charm however.
"I think, it's time to start tidying up your workplaces." he decided after a quick glance at the time. "Take your cauldrons off the fire and put away the ingredients."
"Won't you control our progress first?" Granger demanded.
"I'll do that once the fires are out and the tables cleared." Lucius declared.
Five minutes later the shoving, door slamming, colliding with each other and dropping jars finally died down and Lucius, with a feeling of accomplishment went to inspect Brown and Patil's potion.
Almost like an afterthought Nott and Zabini's potion exploded with a loud boom, leaving a huge red stain on the ceiling.
After a moment of just staring in surprise Lucius decided to pull out his notebook. "Looks like that will be a minus for today's practical assignment for you two."
Patil and Brown had managed to get past the stage where the potion had exploded the first time on their second try, but hadn't managed to finish it in time. Still they had made progress earning themselves a plus each.
A minuses for Crabbe and Goyle as they had no potion left to show him, minuses for Carlson and Mortimer, Nott and Zabini. Pluses to Parkinson and Bullstrode, their potion had turned out right. Minus for Finigan and Weasley as their potion was wrong yet again, minus for Potter. A grudging plus for the nuisance who claimed to have successfully completed stage one of her Augmentis potion, which would need more work next week. Her cauldron was levitated to a safe spot in the potions lab until then.
Plusses for Draco, Snape and Longbottom. Trevor, the toad, was visibly improved and croaked happily at Lucius. And a plus for Rashton, who'd written three feet of parchment on the possible reactions of her ingredients.
Lucius sent the students on their way and collapsed back into his chair. "Twinky!" he hollered for the only house elf that seemed to still be willing to serve him.
"Sir?" a small voice asked from across his desk. "Here's my essay. And what about my detention?"
Lucius stared at Weasley in surprise for a moment. "Oh right, your detention."
"And I was wondering whether you could recommend me any books to learn more about mind control potion from." Seamus Finnigan announced. "I want to get it right next time."
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JerseyPike - Well, maybe they're trying to drive people away? Nah, probably just my usual tendency to assume that I'm just not wanted when I'm feeling down. . . . Don't worry, I could never kill poor little Trevor. With Sevi's potion he'll be cured in a few days.
Devi - Hentai? Um sorry, I don't understand any Japanese. . . . Actually, I have no idea what Draco said to Pansy myself. I just felt the need for a food fight and generally those need a cause, so I gave it one.
Thistle - Never underestimate small animals. . . . Erm, what Moody did wasn't approved of either. Both, I'd say, are the equivalent of a Muggle teacher slamming a ruler on a child's fingers. (= abuse) . . . Well, Luci is a spoiled aristocrat bad guy. (Love him, too, but he is.) . . . Sevi's not looking for info on himself. He's after incriminating evidence. Preferably that one of the students intends to murder Harry. . . . Sevi's not afraid of Greg and Vince anymore. He hates Blaise, though and Theodore still scares him a little. (His pranks against his classmates are just to make them more scared of him than he is of them.) . . . Actually Luci's grading by: 'homework there, plus'. And I'm still using the Austrian grading system, so no F. (Anything other than an actual test or exam only gets a plus or minus in Austria, and the grades are the numbers 1 - 5.)
Madame Moony - Nah, just Ron and one house elf. That's much more fun in Luci's eyes. (That and he just hasn't figured out the punishments yet. He never knows what's appropriate.)
Black Angel - No, Catar are actually a race, like the centaurs. Catar can become animagi, by the way, though few bother with it. They would then have three different shapes to chose from. . . . I'll have to ask you for patience there, I'm afraid. I'll write a Catar fic someday, but I have to get this and the RD sequel done first. I love cats, too, but would most likely end up with a hedgehog for my animagus form: harmless, small, solitary, spiky and tends to roll into itself when scared. Yep, that's me. . . . Don't be too sure anyone's off the list for having had classes: They can skip, excuse themselves to go to the bathroom, claim to need to go to the hospital wing, or simply have a class that finishes early. . . . The comparison of lists will leave Sevi slightly disappointed, but that's for next chapter. . . . Well, right now Sevi's still busy with Slytherin trunks. The idea might come up later, though. . . . Yeah, numbering is stupid. Maybe next we all get to use out Userid numbers instead of our names? (At least then nobody would recognise anybody anymore . . . .
Leevee of Team Socket - No pick yet? Well, don't worry: I've got more suspects still to come.
TatraMegami - I'm afraid Luci will have to take the fast, on the job crash course. There's no time for him to take proper lessons. (Nor does he want to.)
Pam Briggs - Remember that the traitor already had his orders before Luci became a teacher unexpectedly. Luci is functioning only as an advisor and teacher to the young death eater. Yes, he may have provided an alibi, or even planned the trap, but he did not set it, nor does he control the one who did in any way.
Redstrawberry900 - Well, I really liked the book, but some of my friends complained. Some because of Sirius, but others were disappointed with the writing style itself. In my opinion a good read, but ten quaffles might be a little exaggerated. I'll give it eight out of ten and save the ten for the truly ingenious masterpieces.
Merlyn - I saw you finally posted something again. Would have reviewed, too, but since I don't know the language I didn't really have anything to say. Any chance we might get an English version? ... Oh yes, Greenie and me are fine, if a little overworked at the moment. (Starscream's off sulking, because I put the Transformers fic on hold due to a plot hedgehog Greenie dragged up for a Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs fic, so it's just the two of us trying to get some writing time for two fics in between my job and reading fanfics.)
Delfeus - My mother used to use nicknames or shorten the names of her students, if she had two with the same first name (Markus and Mark, Tina and Tini, Alex and Sascha . . .) I picked my own shortened version much later on, though some people refused it claiming it was ugly (and nowadays they just don't remember it for more than a day or two. . . . I don't worry about the people with ff.net accounts all that much, but there's enough people who don't have them. And I know a lot of people who remember the author of a story but forget the exact title, or the other way around. Well, nothing I can do about it, I guess.
Iremione - Actually, I don't remember what Harry's trunk looked like in the film. I'm not a visual person, remember? Sevi and Draco aren't disgusted by the fact that the trunk has a name plaque, but by the fact that said name plaque is terribly over decorated (you know swirls and pearls and little leaves, roses, heraldic symbols, all imitating gold . . .) I know Hermione is awake after History, but Draco and Severus (and Estella) don't, because they have it with the Ravenclaws and have never seen Hermione during it (and if they saw her right after, they probably wouldn't have known what class she'd just had.) . . . Well, it was the Gryffindor girls' dorms that were equipped with that particular protection. Slytherin might have different precautions, but as head of house Sevi definitely knows what they are and how to circumvent them, or simply switch them off temporarily. . . . As for Sevi not calling Hermione a Mudblood, I'm assuming that he's met some muggle borns that impressed him since his first childhood and just doesn't view them the same anymore. Hermione's blood just isn't as important to him anymore as it is to Draco. I'm not saying he mightn't use the word Mudblood, if he wants to hurt her, but it's not how he thinks of anybody. . . . Actually Theodore and Blaise could easily have done it. They had a study hour, which hey could have spent entirely at the library, but they also could have gone down to the great hall at any time. Luci was in class. He is only an advisor to the traitor. He won't actively participate in any of his actions. Stephan's another main suspect and you might notice somebody else popping up in this chapter. . . .
Weasleylover1 - Um, Luci has to stay evil. I need some bad guys left. (My current mantra. I like Luci, but this fic needs him evil. Since I don't believe in absolute evil however, that doesn't mean he can't be sweet while still being a prejudiced death eater.) . . . Um, I'm not entirely sure hedgehogs don't eat toads, so I'm not experimenting with those two. . . . Is Percy evil? Is Percy dead? Was Percy the ministry traitor? Is Percy just an innocent victim? Is Percy under the imperius curse? Or mind control potion? Am I even planning to answer those questions? (Well, I wouldn't be avoiding the answers like this, if it wasn't going to be in this fic, right?)
annakas - Oh, I think Luci got off easy. Just think of what Albus and Mary Sue had to endure. I guess it just shows when I like a character. Remus is definitely in my top five (With Sevi, Draco, Ginny and Neville.) Luci's grown on me, too. I might even like him better than Albus by now. . . The title? Well, ever saw a James Bond movie? The guy's secret codename is 007, pronounced double O seven.
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A/N: Did you notice how Lucius managed to miscount the essays? And what does the name Harry gave Hermione's potion actually mean? Will Lucius ever learn how to actually teach a class? (Guesses about the identity of the traitor as always will be read with great interest, but not answered, yet.) Please R/R.
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Next: Sevi talks with Albus, Draco wants to recruit Neville and Lucius writes a letter.