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 of MNS. 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 - Bad news first: I don't think the next chapter will be ready by next Friday. I've got part of it written and was writing at an unusually fast pace lately, but then I got some unwelcome news at work and . . . poof! I can't concentrate on anything anymore. I've written a whole two and a half pages in the three days since then (and could probably have managed over ten on why I hate my job.) Hopefully this will blow over in a few days and I'll be able to finish the chapter.
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Chapter 18: Shortening the List
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Room got a little tight at the sixth years' end of the Slytherin table when both Ginny and Neville joined them at dinner.
Professor McGonagall looked on with her lips pressed so tightly together that Draco wondered how she even managed to get any food past them into her mouth and the glares from the Gryffindor sixth years were worse than ever. Not that that bothered any of the Slytherins.
"Hermione says that Parvati is the only Gryffindor in her year that takes Muggle Studies and there are no Slytherins in the class either." Ginny reported.
"We knew that." Pansy sneered. "That's why we had to ask you in the first place."
Ginny gave Draco a quick kiss and smiled pleasantly back at Pansy. "She said the Ravenclaws in class were Mandy Bocklehurst, Corinna Hicks, Eric Farran, Morag McDougal and Taliesin Skipper."
"Well, I wouldn't have suspected any of them anyway." Theodore commented.
"I did consider Eric for a while." Severus said. "Do you know the Hufflepuffs as well?"
Ginny nodded. "Miranda Moon, Sally-Anne Perks, Nathalie Immens and Donald Culley."
"That leaves only Nicodemus on our list." Draco reported.
"And Finnigan." Millicent reminded them. "Did you find out anything about him?"
"No, Hermione doesn't know any more about his holidays either. She said she'd ask Harry and Ron, though." Ginny promised.
"And I'll keep an eye on Seamus as much as I can and report him to McGonagall, if he does anything suspicious. If I'm wrong I can always tell him I did it as a prank to get even for the dog." Neville announced.
"Draco and I will continue to investigate the seventh years." Severus declared.
"Then I'll keep an eye on Hanson." Theodore decided. "Anyone else?"
"Miranda Deering." Severus suggested. "And perhaps the Mattels brothers."
"I'll take Miranda." Alice volunteered. "We occasionally study together, so it won't be so obvious."
"Blaise?" Theodore prompted.
"What?"
"Will you watch Hieronymus Mattels for us?" Theodore asked.
"Why me? Can't one of the girls do it?"
"They can't well follow him to the bathroom. It'll be easier for you."
Blaise frowned. "I have more important things to do."
"More important? This concerns our safety." Theodore yelped. "What could be more important."
"We'll watch him." Vincent volunteered. "We don't want the first years to be afraid anymore."
Gregory nodded eagerly.
"Hey Severus," Ginny called suddenly. "Your hedgehog eats spaghetti."
Indeed Greenie was struggling to pull a long noodle off Ginny's plate.
"I know." Severus laughed. "He eats almost anything. I'm beginning to suspect that hedgehogs are omnivorous."
Greenie blinked his little green eyes at him, but was much too busy to bother with a sniff. These long noodles tasted delicious, but had the unfortunate habit of getting tangled up. Sometimes they even got stuck on his spikes where it was completely impossible to get at them.
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Meanwhile Lucius had another visitor in his office. One he was very glad not to have any blood relations with. At least not very close ones.
"Do you realise what your constant bumbling is costing us?" he demanded.
"I did my best, Sir." the assassin answered. "I was sure that half-yeti was big enough to finish Harry off within seconds, but it was apparently slower than it looked and the Slytherins in class didn't react as expected. Several of them stayed and actually protected Harry."
"They were protecting themselves, you idiot." Lucius hissed. "No Slytherin gives a damn about Potter. You released the creature so close to them that they felt their own lives were threatened and some thought it too dangerous to turn their backs on the yeti and preferred to face it with their wands in hand while they still could."
"They should have run." the assassin insisted. "Most of the others did and none of them were harmed."
"Has it occurred to you that that might have been because others stayed to prevent the creature from chasing after them? My own son was in that class. You endangered his life, endangered the continued existence of the Malfoy line itself. That is unacceptable."
"You are not that old. You could easily have another son to replace him." The assassin announced coldly. "It wouldn't be that much of a loss. With a little luck that second child would be much better anyway."
"You little brat!" Lucius thundered. "You aren't half the student Draco is. What is your lineage compared to mine? You will see to it that the next trap you set is fail safe and that Draco won't be anywhere around to witness it."
"It's true what they say, then?" the assassin grinned. "Your precious heir can't even see blood? What a weakling. Our lord won't be happy with that, will he?"
"Our lord is extremely unhappy with you right now." Lucius hissed. "And you know what happens when our lord is unhappy, don't you?"
The assassin swallowed hard and nodded.
Much better.
"As for Draco, I am just trying to protect him. As I already stated I do not have another heir, so Draco is extremely precious to me. I will not risk him in your clumsy schemes. I have spent a lot of money and effort on preparing him for our battle. When the time comes he will be more valuable to our lord than you could ever be. Until then I intend to hold him back however eager he may be to serve our lord."
"Funny, I heard that he wasn't eager at all. That he was in fact considering becoming a healer."
That child was certainly too uppity. Clearly the result of bad upbringing. No Malfoy would ever allow his child to be this respectless.
"A joke made in the common room." Lucius snorted. "I believe he more seriously debated whether to play professional Quidditch or become a politician."
"I heard he definitely said he wasn't going to join our lord and that he might want to become a teacher."
"I heard the same said about Blaise Zabini just today. The Gryffindor rumour mill is working overtime at the moment. You'd do better to learn not to trust everything you hear. Nothing you hear or read is ever completely true and sometimes even your eyes can be deceived. You have to question everything and judge it's truth and it's untruth with your own brain. Of course with a brain like yours, that might not be much of an improvement." So now he was reduced to teaching things Draco had known as a five year old to a teenager. How retarded was that kid?
The assassin glared at him, but didn't offer any more argument.
"Now it is time you used your special advantage." Lucius instructed.
"My what?"
"The reason you were chosen for this task. Your ability to reach Potter where no other can." Lucius hinted.
"But you said we shouldn't risk that. You said it was too dangerous."
"I hoped that it wouldn't be necessary, which it indeed wouldn't have been, if you were anything remotely close to competent. After this many failures we cannot afford another mistake. We will have to risk showing our hand." Lucius decided. "Be careful not to be too obvious, though. This operation will require extra caution, so do not act without informing me of your exact plans first. We will require something time delayed that doesn't require your presence. Something that might have been set by several other people."
"I think I can arrange something." the assassin grinned. "I will require a few items from Hogsmeade, though."
"Then send the house elf shopping. Just give her enough other items to buy, so she won't remember the important ones, if questioned by the headmaster or that infernal McGonagall."
"Those particular items are only available in Hogsmeade during Hogsmeade weekends. And a house elf would look suspicious buying them."
"Fine. Is there somewhere else we can get them? We have to strike fast this time. They will expect us to wait until they have calmed down once again. We'll keep them confused and strike right away."
"I told you, the elf would be suspicious."
"Then I'll get them myself. They can't forbid me to leave the castle during the weekend."
"You'd seem suspicious there as well. In fact, they'd probably remember me, too."
"Order by owl, then."
"My owl is currently . . ."
"Use a school owl, you idiot!" Lucius yelled. "Write the order with your left hand and send enough money along. Then the owl cannot be traced back to any particular student and your handwriting can't be identified. Oh, and sign an assumed name. Preferable something that sounds like a mudblood."
"Yes, Sir. Harry Potter will be dead within a week. Our lord will be proud and reward us both handsomely."
"Wait." Lucius stopped the assassin's turn for the door. "First tell me exactly what it is you are planning. If we are going to play with such great risk, we need to make sure we have planned for every eventuality. I want all the where, when and hows of your plan."
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"The transfigurations are a dead end." the headmaster informed the boys while offering them some cherry drops. "Lavender Brown came to me this morning and confessed that it is a nervous habit of hers to transfigure small objects. She thinks she was playing with a coin while waiting for Hagrid to bring out his half-yeti. Apparently she kept turning it into a hairpin and back."
"She thinks?" Severus repeated.
"She isn't entirely sure. It's something she does almost subconsciously."
"Not sure that she was transfiguring a coin, or not sure whether she was transfiguring anything at all?" Severus asked pointedly.
"Not sure whether she was transfiguring anything, I'm afraid." Dumbledore sighed. "She often does it in Care for Magical Creatures, but after the shock of the attack she only remembers having a coin in her hand when she arrived at the castle. She did transfigure it a few times while waiting for us to bring Harry back, but doesn't know whether she was transfiguring or just holding it in class."
"That doesn't prove anything then." Severus decided. "What about the transfigurations in the Transfigurations corridor?"
"They might have leaked over from the classroom after all and I doubt any students would remember whether they were practising in the corridor before or after class this long after the event." Dumbledore admitted. "The colour changing charm was performed by Sissi Lawrence who had accidentally put on one black and one dark blue glove and didn't want to be seen like that."
"So we're back to assuming that our traitor does only severing charms?" Draco asked.
"There were the spells used on Potter's plate in the first attack." Severus reminded him.
"Ones any first year could have performed." Draco commented. "That doesn't really help us."
"It might mean that our traitor is a younger student with rather weak magic." Dumbledore theorised.
"Or that he is holding back on purpose to keep us suspecting as many people as possible." Severus countered. "We're dealing with Lucius' cunning as well as with the traitor's limited abilities. He might well have warned the traitor against using any more advanced spells."
"And Lucius was in the meeting where Filius fist declared the first years cleared by the use of the severing charm." Dumbledore nodded. "That was a clear warning that the traitor can give us clues through the spells he uses."
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Saturday after breakfast Severus and Draco lay on Severus' bed discussing their possible next steps in their investigations. Their dorm mates had all left either to trail after their assigned suspects, or to watch the Hufflepuff Quidditch team's practise. Both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor had stepped up their training in preparation for their upcoming game and several witnesses had reported that the Hufflepuffs had some excellent new talents on the field, while the Gryffindors were still having problems adapting to their new beaters. More than one of the older students had come back after watching a practise saying that Hufflepuff actually stood a chance this year.
"So just what does our suspects list look like right now?" Draco asked while trying to make his choice between a chocolate frog and an everyflavour bean.
Greenie, who was sitting on the pillow right next to the plate of sweets, used his moment of distraction to make the choice for him and swallowed the bean in one bite.
"Well, we have Stephan and Seamus in the top spot, followed by Maximius and Neel Ferris." Severus reported pulling out the list to check the exact sequence of the lower ranks. "Nicodemus Hanson has fallen behind Mattis Parker and Gaia Ushton since his alibi for the armour attack might be confirmed by Ines Ivory. We'll have to check back with Albus about that."
"Talking about checking back," Draco interrupted. "What about Filch and the house elves? Did you remember to get their list lately."
"Yes, but other than which student visits him more often in which part of the castle there's nothing new on them." Severus sighed. "After Nicodemus we have Miranda Deering, Caius Rude and Quintus Palmer followed by Ulric Keaton and Ambrosia Melter. Then there are Miles Miller and Vestalia Flemming and behind them the really unlikely ones that are only on there because they don't have an alibi."
Draco quickly grabbed the last chocolate frog before Greenie could get at it.
"Sniff!" the hedgehog complained, but the frog disappeared into Draco's mouth anyway and he had to content himself with another everyflavour bean.
"I'm going back to the lab to complete my gummy bear experiments." Severus announced. "Do you want to come or watch Stephan?"
"I don't even know where Stephan is right now."
"Outside at the pitch, of course." Severus grinned. "He's been talking about the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff game all day. Didn't you notice? The rumours about Hufflepuff's strength are making him nervous."
"They're probably wondering why I'm not out there with them, aren't they?"
"You are part of the team." Severus confirmed.
"Great. So what will I tell them why I was late?"
"Stephan and the others only that you were with me. When our year mates ask you, just tell them that we managed to clear Benjamin and Lionel. Let them know that I'm really suspicious of Stephan, so they'd better not attract the seventh years' attention to us."
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All the watching and sneaking around didn't yield many results, though. Theodore guessed that Stephan sold drugs by Saturday evening, which thoroughly shocked Gregory who had actually looked up to his team captain, but it didn't bring them any closer to identifying the traitor.
"Of course Stephan might be doing it for drugs, or to protect his secret, but it might just as well have nothing to do with the drug ring at all." Severus had to remind Theodore. "Selling deadly drugs for financial profit is one crime. Murdering to gain the favour of the dark lord and influence is another. Voldemort rarely buys his agents with money. He doesn't have the resources considering whom he usually hires." His eyes wandered to the head table just long enough to remind them just how much money it would probably take to buy Lucius Malfoy. "Stephan's motive in selling drugs is to make money. There's no power play involved as far as I can see. Our traitor is most likely hoping to be paid with an increase of his political status. If he wants money as well, it's a long time goal. Right now he'd rather be somebody than have money."
"I don't know." said Estella. "We're looking for a student after all. Someone whose parents are in control of all the money. He probably gets pocket money, but that won't exactly be a fortune of Malfoy proportions. It shouldn't take that much to buy him."
"But then another could buy him off with a higher sum." Draco suggested. "That's one of the first things about business Father taught me. Someone who works for your rival for money, can be bought with more money which spares you a fight with him, but you can't trust people you bought. Father always says that the dark lord prefers those who work for ideals, because they are loyal."
"And the traitor's mission is one that requires loyalty above all else." Severus nodded. "The information he could sell to Potter or Dumbledore, perhaps even the ministry, would be extremely valuable. And you do realise that the ministry can outbid even a 'fortune of Malfoy proportions', don't you?" Severus inclined his head towards Estella.
"Talking about the Malfoys." Theodore completely ignored both Severus and Estella and kept his eyes on Draco. "Shouldn't your father know who the traitor is?"
"He does." confirmed Draco. "At least I don't think he's bluffing. He won't tell me anything, though. Thinks it's none of my business."
"Did you tell him that he endangers all our lives?" Theodore demanded.
"I don't think he cares." Draco sighed. "All that counts for him or the traitor is to kill Potter. If we get in the way that's our bad luck."
"You're his own son." Alice gasped. "He has to care about you more than that."
"He cares about the family name, which has to live on, but he's told me often enough how I'm not good enough. He might actually be happy at the chance to try again with another son."
"He might care more than you realise." Severus commented. "But that would only mean that he'd tell the traitor to only strike when you're out of the danger zone. I doubt he'd be kind enough to extend that protection to the rest of us."
"Then we should all stick close to Draco from now on?" Vincent asked frowning in the attempt to keep up with the conversation. They'd lost Gregory several minutes ago.
"You'd better not." Draco threatened. "The lot of you sticking to me like glue all day is the last thing I need."
"We'd never be able to keep track of all our suspects that way anyway." Alice remarked.
"Not even one of them." Estella corrected her. "Or do you think they'd be blind enough not to notice the whole bunch of us trailing after them all day?"
"Can't we cast some sort of tracking spell on Stephan and the others?" Juliana asked. "Something that would allow us to stay out of their sight while following them."
"And how will we see what they're doing?" Blaise shook his head. "The tracking spell could only give us their location, not tell us whether they're placing a bomb to blow up the school."
"They are also easily detectable." Severus added. "The moment the traitor meets with an adult death eater it would be found and might be traced back to us. You really don't want to know what Voldemort does to people he suspects of spying against him."
"Okay, so we're agreed to continue as we have so far?" Theodore asked.
They nodded.
"The traitor will probably lie low for a while now and wait for us to calm down again." Severus remarked. "We will have to be patient."
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Neville joined Severus and Draco in the library on Sunday afternoon.
"I lost Seamus again." he announced after casting a quick look over to where Stephan LaCriox was holding a whispered conversation with the Mattels brothers.
Several rows behind them Blaise was pretending to read a book on ghosts and Divination without much enthusiasm.
"Where did you last see him?" Draco looked up from his latest drawing.
"The boys' bathroom on the third floor." Neville sighed. "Either he left while I was still in the stall, or he took the other door. Why couldn't he have used one of the other bathrooms that have only one door?"
"It's not that long until dinner anymore." Severus was scribbling notes about potion reactions without consulting any books. Apparently he was just brainstorming. "You'll catch him there."
"If he attends at all." Neville sighed. "I lost him once before, because I expected him to be at breakfast this morning."
"Did you find out where he really was?"
"Hermione followed him to the owlery." Neville reported. "She says he just picked the first school owl and sent it off with a letter, but then noticed her on the way down and confronted her about following him. She was glad that I was watching him as well, because she didn't think it was a good idea for her to continue now that he already suspects her."
"So they were watching him too?" Draco had returned to his drawing, but was apparently still listening to the conversation.
"Only Hermione. She said Ron and Harry were following a different lead." Neville reported.
"Any idea what that might be?" Severus asked, but Neville shook his head.
"That's all she said. I don't think Harry and his entourage appreciate our efforts. They seem to think only they have the right to investigate the traitor. I'm just good enough to watch Seamus when they can't."
"Maybe we can talk to Harry in Potions tomorrow." Severus decided. "Whatever they have could help and we do have information to trade."
Neville nodded his agreement and looked around for something to do so he wouldn't attract Professor Pince's attention.
"What are you drawing?" he asked Draco and bent closer to look.
Draco's first impulse was to roll up the scroll and hide it, but then he remembered how much Ginny liked his pictures. Neville wasn't the type to scoff at others' unmanly behaviour and Draco could always say art was a good way to impress girls.
"I think I'll call it 'The Teachers' Conference'." he told Neville. "See, that's going to be the headmaster leading the discussion. There's McGonagall and Lupin to his sides. Flitwick and Sprout are going to sit over there and that's my father, furious because he doesn't want to be there."
"Scary." Neville commented. "Trelawney looks great, too. That's just how she always held herself in class."
"Severus drew her." Draco admitted. "I've hardly ever seen her, so I didn't think I could get her right."
"Who's going to be next to Professor Malfoy?"
"Vector. I think she's the least likely to kill him or be killed by him." Draco smirked. "She's too logical to commit murder and not likely to intentionally or unintentionally provoke him. She'll just be sitting there looking at the headmaster and ignoring Father."
"And that empty space over there?"
"That's for the Muggle Studies teacher. Severus will draw him as well." Draco explained. "I have seen him more often than Trelawney, but I still don't know him well enough to get him right. Do you want me to put Trevor in there?"
"Trevor? Why would he be in a teachers' meeting?" Neville quickly checked whether his toad was still in his pocket.
"Oh, he could be exploring the teacher's lounge." Draco grinned. "I could have him sit on Trelawney's toes."
"She doesn't like little green things." Severus warned them. "She called Greenie a rat even though all he did was step innocently into her plate. I haven't seen her in the great hall since."
"Did you hear that she divined a vision of the traitor in her third year class last week?" Neville asked, then almost wished he hadn't. Nobody ever wanted to hear rumours or anecdotes anymore by he time they reached him.
"No, what did she see?" Draco asked eagerly.
Right. Slytherins hardly ever took Divination, Neville remembered. Trelawney rumours were much less likely to reach them than the Gryffindors.
"Well, according to her the traitor has a shadow."
"Oh good. That clears all the vampires, invisible beings and ghosts off our suspects list." Severus sneered.
"There are vampires and invisible beings in the castle?" Neville gasped.
"Other than Potter under his invisibility cloak?" Severus asked. "I doubt it."
"They certainly weren't among our suspects." Draco added. "Is that all Trelawney divined?"
"Oh no, the traitor also wears black."
"So rare among students in a school with black uniform." Severus commented. "That really narrows it down."
"He has a mad gleam in his eyes." Neville continued.
"Ah, and what colour are those eyes?"
"I don't think she said, but if you want to I can try to catch us a third year." Neville offered. "I'm not sure which ones take Divination, though."
"Any third year is as likely to predict the eye colour of the traitor correctly as Trellawney, Neville." Severus reminded him. "We might as well lay exploding snap cards to find him."
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Monday morning brought another Potions class and Lucius' okay to brew more strawberry icicles.
That left Harry with a slight problem. He still had his notes on what he'd thrown into his cauldron, but just how much of each of the ingredients had he used?
While Harry threw together random amounts of his ingredients Severus set up an entire Alchemy set to experiment on the gummy bears. Draco had no idea what is friend was doing anymore when he started connecting cauldrons via glass tubes. So he just sat down and out of boredom shoved a green gummy bear into his mouth. After all Dumbledore seemed to think they were meant to be eaten.
"Hey, those really do taste good!" he discovered.
"Sniff!" commented Greenie.
Draco interpreted that as 'I told you so long ago.'
"Okay, yes, so you had a point there." he conceded.
"Let me try one too." Neville picked a red bear. "Oh yes, they really are good."
"Hey!" Severus protested. "Stop eating our project! We're on the trail of something really big here."
"What? That gummy bears can create sparks?" Neville asked. "A lot of ingredients can do that."
"Ah, but that isn't what they do at all." Severus grinned. "Let me show you." He looked around the class for a moment. "Vincent, is that a finished potion in your cauldron?"
"Not quite." Vincent answered. "It's bleaching potion, but I only just finished adding the last ingredients. It'll have to simmer for an hour before it's done."
"Professor Malfoy!" Severus called.
Lucius glared out from behind his paper.
"Vincent's potion is correct, isn't it?"
"Yes, yes." Lucius mumbled.
The simple potions Vincent usually practised as his projects always turned out correct. The boy simply didn't risk brewing anything he wasn't sure he could.
"So you could grade it right now, couldn't you?"
"Why can't I do it later?"
"Because I'd like to use it in my next experiment and that might cost Vincent his grade." Severus declared.
Lucius pulled out his notebook and scribbled into it. "There plus for Mr. Crabbe. Happy?"
"Thanks." Severus called out and returned his attention to his classmates. "So this potion has to simmer for another hour before it can be applied. It takes about half an hour to take effect once applied. Now I'll just drop in this gummy bear."
A yellow bear disappeared into Vincent's cauldron with a soft plop. The potion turned yellow for a moment, then returned to its original colour.
"And that's it?" Harry asked bending close to get a better look. "That's not nearly as spectacular as last time's sparks."
"Just hold still for a moment and I'll show you." Severus grinned and took a small sample from the potion. He cast a quick cooling charm on it and dripped a little onto Harry's head.
Harry's hair turned as white as the untouched snow on the trees in the forbidden forest within seconds.
"Wow." commented Blaise.
"Wicked!" exclaimed Ron.
"Cool." stated Vincent and looked very pleased with his potion.
"What?" Harry asked confused. "I don't see any effect."
The class burst into laughter which caused Lucius to look up.
"How very nice. Excellent work Mr. Snape and Mr. Crabbe. I believe that will be an extra plus for each of you today." he praised.
"As you can see." Severus told Neville and Draco. "Gummy bears have the ability to speed up and enhance magical reactions in potions. They are magical conductors of unusual strength. From what I have seen so far I deduce that the colour of the bear has an influence on the strength and purity of he reaction, but I haven't been able to discover the exact nature of that effect, yet. It is also possible that gummy bears have an influence on other kinds of magic as well as Potions. If so, they might be useable as wand cores, as a focal point for conjurations or wards, even as objects for advanced transfigurations. But I really haven't begun to explore that, yet."
"Wasn't there a chapter on magical conductors in our Charms book?" Hermione asked. "Oh, and mine is up in the dorm!"
"I have it with me." Neville said. "Accio, my Charms book."
The book shot out of his bookbag and into his hand. Neville blinked. Never before had he managed such a strong summoning charm.
"I think eating them enhances your magic as well." he stated.
"Hardly possible." Severus declared. "The bear in your mouth might have enhanced the spell, but it can't increase your innate magic."
"So you are more powerful with a gummy bear in your mouth?" Hermione decided. "I'll have to find a way to smuggle some past my parents for my NEWTs. It isn't cheating to eat candy during the practical, is it? People might need it to calm their nerves."
"Somehow I suspect I'll be very nervous during my NEWTs." Neville commented.
"We'll be a very nervous class." Draco agreed.
Harry shook his head. "I really don't understand what the big sensation is." He drew a hand through his messy white hair trying to brush it over the scar on his forehead. "So Neville did a slightly stronger accio spell. That just means he tried harder this time, or found the correct wavelength. It hardly has anything to do with some candy. . . . Do any of you remember how I made my potion turn gelatinous last time?"
"You threw in a lizard liver with some of my fly wings sticking to it." Neville told him. "I have no idea how many, though."
"That won't make a difference." Draco smirked. "He used a lot less mandrake root this time anyway."
Harry frowned at his cauldron. "Are you sure?"
"It was about the equivalent of a whole mandrake." Severus announced without even looking up from his system of tubes and cauldrons. "I'll need a white gummy bear next, Neville."
"Okay." Harry threw an entire mandrake into his cauldron.
Splash, sizzle! Harry's cauldron turned to paper, burst and doused the flames under it with potion.
"One irregularly sliced mandrake, before the lizard livers." Severus added the white gummy bear to his experiment without losing a beat. "Not ten regular slices first and one whole mandrake afterwards."
Harry just groaned, drew his hands through his hair and walked over to the sink to get a rag to wipe away the sticky potion on the worktable. As he did he happened to cast a look into the mirror above the sink.
"Aaahhh! My hair turned white!"
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Harry hated Severus and his pranks. And his stupid gummy bears as well.
Right after double Potions ended Harry hurried to the hospital wing with his friends. Ron complained that he was hungry and they could just as well have Harry's hair changed back after having lunch, but Harry wouldn't hear it.
"I'm not going to the great hall like this." he insisted. "Can you imagine the Slytherins' reactions?"
"Malfoy already saw you anyway." Ron grumbled. "The whole school will know before the end of lunch break."
"And if Malfoy doesn't tell them, Lavender and Parvati most certainly will." Hermione added. "It's only hair, Harry, not the end of the world."
Harry glared at them both. "Well, I want my normal hair colour back now."
Madame Pomfrey wasn't happy to see them at all. Most likely she was hungry too.
"So what exactly is wrong with you?" she demanded.
"My hair." Harry pointed at his head wondering how the nurse could have overlooked that.
"Is that all?" Poppy asked.
Harry nodded. "I just want it back to normal."
The nurse took a closer look examining several locks of Harry's hair, then touched her wand to it. "I can't detect a charm or transfiguration."
"It's a potion." Ron declared. "An extra strong bleaching potion, I think."
"You think?" Pomfrey repeated.
"An experimental variation." Hermione explained. "Part of Severus' latest project."
"Severus?" Poppy suddenly regarded Harry's hair with more interest, but also quite a bit of doubt.
"The potion was just the normal kind. Vincent brewed it according to the recipe in our third year Potions book." Hermione reported. "But then Severus added a gummy bear to demonstrate how it speeds up the effect and dripped some onto Harry's hair."
The nurse cast a colour changing charm on Harry's hair. There was a little flash of light and then Harry's eyebrows gleamed even blacker than usual.
Pomfrey nodded to herself. "As I expected."
She cast finite incantatem on Harry's hair, which turned the eyebrows back to normal and then poured a bottle of removal potion over his head. The only result of that was that Harry's robe got wet.
Next he had to drink something that made his nails turn black and then the antidote for it.
Finally Madame Pomfrey went back to her quarters to get a book on make-up spells and tried several of those.
"I suppose the only way to remove the white is to shave off the hair." she finally diagnosed. "If it is only bleached it will grow black again from now on. The question now is whether you'd rather be bald or have white hair until it grows out."
Harry wasn't too fond of either prospect.
"Well, you could try Muggle hair dye." Hermione suggested.
"Do you have any?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Of course not." Hermione shook her head. "Why would I dye my hair? It's a waste of time and only gives you split ends. If I wanted to change my hair colour a spell would be much more practical."
"I have some of Mary Sue's hair dye left." Poppy announced. "It's blond, though."
"But I need black." Harry protested. "Isn't there anywhere I can get black hair dye?"
"You could put an add on the notice board in the common room." Ron suggested. "Maybe one of the Muggle born girls has some."
"Not likely, if she's old enough to do a colour changing charm." Hermione shook her head. "And those that aren't usually aren't old enough to care that much about their hair colour in the first place."
"It can't hurt to ask, though." Ron shrugged. "Maybe we'll get lucky."
"I could ask my parents to owl us some." Hermione suggested. "It ought to take only a little over a week."
Harry groaned. "A week? You mean I'll have to run around like this for a week?"
"Unless you can find someone who has Muggle hair dye in the castle." Ron confirmed.
"I hate Slytherins." Harry declared.
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Marauder3Moony - In two or three more chapters, I promise. We are almost done now.
Pam Briggs - Oh, my own list isn't long right now either, but will they last through the next chapter?
Keika no Kaiyou - Ah, but Luci only made an assumption, there. He had nothing to do with the atttack in which Percy was captured. Also Luci wants his classroom cleaned and Argus refuses to do it. He doesn't care whether the students or a house elf scrub as long as he doesn't have to. . . . Harry would like to assure you that he wasn't walking behind Harry when the armour fell on him. He rather wishes he had, though, because that would mean he wasn't the target after all. . . . There also was no distortian (distortion?) charm used. I'll have to ask Filius whether either of the two actually exist. They sound more like hexes to me. . . . I also have good news for you, though: You are not the traitor and I will inform Albus of this fact right away.
yeoldecrazy1 - Actually, the list is in the chapter. (I know, I said there are a few names on it that aren't very suspicious, because I'm actually not sure which ones of those were in fact added to the list at some point and which ones were only mentioned as not having an alibi. The real list are the names mentioned as being on it in this chapter.) Don't look too happy about it, though. The next chapter is going to radically alter the list.
EriEka127 - Thanks!
hummer - Er . . . in my head, but it's not easy. (Want to play name guessing? Some of them actually do have a meaning to me, or I remember how I got to them.) . . . No, I don't get messed up. I have class lists that include spaces for as yet unnamed students. Whenever I name someone I fill in the name and can check it again later. . . . Did give you Sevi and the gummy bears. Had a lot of fun with that scene, actually.
Jade Kirk and Max LBC - Thanks! That's okay, by the way. I don't always review everything I read either.
JerseyPike - Not nearly as complicated as the Austrian system. (Or do you choose between two different school types at the age of ten and then again between several more at fourteen?) . . . Peeves? Peeves seriously working for the dark lord? In fact Peeves working seriously at all? Do you really think so?
Thistle - So you don't think it's Seamus anymore?
Wellington - Not telling, yet. (But soon, very soon now Cy . . . Wait a minute! You probably never even saw that cartoon series so why am I quoting it to you?!) . . . Percy is not in the school. He just got home from the hospital.
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A/N: Will Harry's hair ever get black again? Can gummy bears enhance a wizard's spells? And will Sybil ever see anything useful? (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: Severus plays chess, Draco watches Qudditch and Lucius gives Ron a very unwanted detention (Yes, worse than all the ones before.).
Disclaimer 2 - Draco drawing dragons belongs to PikaCheeka. Sorry I forgot to mention that in the first chapter of MNS. 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 - Bad news first: I don't think the next chapter will be ready by next Friday. I've got part of it written and was writing at an unusually fast pace lately, but then I got some unwelcome news at work and . . . poof! I can't concentrate on anything anymore. I've written a whole two and a half pages in the three days since then (and could probably have managed over ten on why I hate my job.) Hopefully this will blow over in a few days and I'll be able to finish the chapter.
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Chapter 18: Shortening the List
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Room got a little tight at the sixth years' end of the Slytherin table when both Ginny and Neville joined them at dinner.
Professor McGonagall looked on with her lips pressed so tightly together that Draco wondered how she even managed to get any food past them into her mouth and the glares from the Gryffindor sixth years were worse than ever. Not that that bothered any of the Slytherins.
"Hermione says that Parvati is the only Gryffindor in her year that takes Muggle Studies and there are no Slytherins in the class either." Ginny reported.
"We knew that." Pansy sneered. "That's why we had to ask you in the first place."
Ginny gave Draco a quick kiss and smiled pleasantly back at Pansy. "She said the Ravenclaws in class were Mandy Bocklehurst, Corinna Hicks, Eric Farran, Morag McDougal and Taliesin Skipper."
"Well, I wouldn't have suspected any of them anyway." Theodore commented.
"I did consider Eric for a while." Severus said. "Do you know the Hufflepuffs as well?"
Ginny nodded. "Miranda Moon, Sally-Anne Perks, Nathalie Immens and Donald Culley."
"That leaves only Nicodemus on our list." Draco reported.
"And Finnigan." Millicent reminded them. "Did you find out anything about him?"
"No, Hermione doesn't know any more about his holidays either. She said she'd ask Harry and Ron, though." Ginny promised.
"And I'll keep an eye on Seamus as much as I can and report him to McGonagall, if he does anything suspicious. If I'm wrong I can always tell him I did it as a prank to get even for the dog." Neville announced.
"Draco and I will continue to investigate the seventh years." Severus declared.
"Then I'll keep an eye on Hanson." Theodore decided. "Anyone else?"
"Miranda Deering." Severus suggested. "And perhaps the Mattels brothers."
"I'll take Miranda." Alice volunteered. "We occasionally study together, so it won't be so obvious."
"Blaise?" Theodore prompted.
"What?"
"Will you watch Hieronymus Mattels for us?" Theodore asked.
"Why me? Can't one of the girls do it?"
"They can't well follow him to the bathroom. It'll be easier for you."
Blaise frowned. "I have more important things to do."
"More important? This concerns our safety." Theodore yelped. "What could be more important."
"We'll watch him." Vincent volunteered. "We don't want the first years to be afraid anymore."
Gregory nodded eagerly.
"Hey Severus," Ginny called suddenly. "Your hedgehog eats spaghetti."
Indeed Greenie was struggling to pull a long noodle off Ginny's plate.
"I know." Severus laughed. "He eats almost anything. I'm beginning to suspect that hedgehogs are omnivorous."
Greenie blinked his little green eyes at him, but was much too busy to bother with a sniff. These long noodles tasted delicious, but had the unfortunate habit of getting tangled up. Sometimes they even got stuck on his spikes where it was completely impossible to get at them.
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Meanwhile Lucius had another visitor in his office. One he was very glad not to have any blood relations with. At least not very close ones.
"Do you realise what your constant bumbling is costing us?" he demanded.
"I did my best, Sir." the assassin answered. "I was sure that half-yeti was big enough to finish Harry off within seconds, but it was apparently slower than it looked and the Slytherins in class didn't react as expected. Several of them stayed and actually protected Harry."
"They were protecting themselves, you idiot." Lucius hissed. "No Slytherin gives a damn about Potter. You released the creature so close to them that they felt their own lives were threatened and some thought it too dangerous to turn their backs on the yeti and preferred to face it with their wands in hand while they still could."
"They should have run." the assassin insisted. "Most of the others did and none of them were harmed."
"Has it occurred to you that that might have been because others stayed to prevent the creature from chasing after them? My own son was in that class. You endangered his life, endangered the continued existence of the Malfoy line itself. That is unacceptable."
"You are not that old. You could easily have another son to replace him." The assassin announced coldly. "It wouldn't be that much of a loss. With a little luck that second child would be much better anyway."
"You little brat!" Lucius thundered. "You aren't half the student Draco is. What is your lineage compared to mine? You will see to it that the next trap you set is fail safe and that Draco won't be anywhere around to witness it."
"It's true what they say, then?" the assassin grinned. "Your precious heir can't even see blood? What a weakling. Our lord won't be happy with that, will he?"
"Our lord is extremely unhappy with you right now." Lucius hissed. "And you know what happens when our lord is unhappy, don't you?"
The assassin swallowed hard and nodded.
Much better.
"As for Draco, I am just trying to protect him. As I already stated I do not have another heir, so Draco is extremely precious to me. I will not risk him in your clumsy schemes. I have spent a lot of money and effort on preparing him for our battle. When the time comes he will be more valuable to our lord than you could ever be. Until then I intend to hold him back however eager he may be to serve our lord."
"Funny, I heard that he wasn't eager at all. That he was in fact considering becoming a healer."
That child was certainly too uppity. Clearly the result of bad upbringing. No Malfoy would ever allow his child to be this respectless.
"A joke made in the common room." Lucius snorted. "I believe he more seriously debated whether to play professional Quidditch or become a politician."
"I heard he definitely said he wasn't going to join our lord and that he might want to become a teacher."
"I heard the same said about Blaise Zabini just today. The Gryffindor rumour mill is working overtime at the moment. You'd do better to learn not to trust everything you hear. Nothing you hear or read is ever completely true and sometimes even your eyes can be deceived. You have to question everything and judge it's truth and it's untruth with your own brain. Of course with a brain like yours, that might not be much of an improvement." So now he was reduced to teaching things Draco had known as a five year old to a teenager. How retarded was that kid?
The assassin glared at him, but didn't offer any more argument.
"Now it is time you used your special advantage." Lucius instructed.
"My what?"
"The reason you were chosen for this task. Your ability to reach Potter where no other can." Lucius hinted.
"But you said we shouldn't risk that. You said it was too dangerous."
"I hoped that it wouldn't be necessary, which it indeed wouldn't have been, if you were anything remotely close to competent. After this many failures we cannot afford another mistake. We will have to risk showing our hand." Lucius decided. "Be careful not to be too obvious, though. This operation will require extra caution, so do not act without informing me of your exact plans first. We will require something time delayed that doesn't require your presence. Something that might have been set by several other people."
"I think I can arrange something." the assassin grinned. "I will require a few items from Hogsmeade, though."
"Then send the house elf shopping. Just give her enough other items to buy, so she won't remember the important ones, if questioned by the headmaster or that infernal McGonagall."
"Those particular items are only available in Hogsmeade during Hogsmeade weekends. And a house elf would look suspicious buying them."
"Fine. Is there somewhere else we can get them? We have to strike fast this time. They will expect us to wait until they have calmed down once again. We'll keep them confused and strike right away."
"I told you, the elf would be suspicious."
"Then I'll get them myself. They can't forbid me to leave the castle during the weekend."
"You'd seem suspicious there as well. In fact, they'd probably remember me, too."
"Order by owl, then."
"My owl is currently . . ."
"Use a school owl, you idiot!" Lucius yelled. "Write the order with your left hand and send enough money along. Then the owl cannot be traced back to any particular student and your handwriting can't be identified. Oh, and sign an assumed name. Preferable something that sounds like a mudblood."
"Yes, Sir. Harry Potter will be dead within a week. Our lord will be proud and reward us both handsomely."
"Wait." Lucius stopped the assassin's turn for the door. "First tell me exactly what it is you are planning. If we are going to play with such great risk, we need to make sure we have planned for every eventuality. I want all the where, when and hows of your plan."
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"The transfigurations are a dead end." the headmaster informed the boys while offering them some cherry drops. "Lavender Brown came to me this morning and confessed that it is a nervous habit of hers to transfigure small objects. She thinks she was playing with a coin while waiting for Hagrid to bring out his half-yeti. Apparently she kept turning it into a hairpin and back."
"She thinks?" Severus repeated.
"She isn't entirely sure. It's something she does almost subconsciously."
"Not sure that she was transfiguring a coin, or not sure whether she was transfiguring anything at all?" Severus asked pointedly.
"Not sure whether she was transfiguring anything, I'm afraid." Dumbledore sighed. "She often does it in Care for Magical Creatures, but after the shock of the attack she only remembers having a coin in her hand when she arrived at the castle. She did transfigure it a few times while waiting for us to bring Harry back, but doesn't know whether she was transfiguring or just holding it in class."
"That doesn't prove anything then." Severus decided. "What about the transfigurations in the Transfigurations corridor?"
"They might have leaked over from the classroom after all and I doubt any students would remember whether they were practising in the corridor before or after class this long after the event." Dumbledore admitted. "The colour changing charm was performed by Sissi Lawrence who had accidentally put on one black and one dark blue glove and didn't want to be seen like that."
"So we're back to assuming that our traitor does only severing charms?" Draco asked.
"There were the spells used on Potter's plate in the first attack." Severus reminded him.
"Ones any first year could have performed." Draco commented. "That doesn't really help us."
"It might mean that our traitor is a younger student with rather weak magic." Dumbledore theorised.
"Or that he is holding back on purpose to keep us suspecting as many people as possible." Severus countered. "We're dealing with Lucius' cunning as well as with the traitor's limited abilities. He might well have warned the traitor against using any more advanced spells."
"And Lucius was in the meeting where Filius fist declared the first years cleared by the use of the severing charm." Dumbledore nodded. "That was a clear warning that the traitor can give us clues through the spells he uses."
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Saturday after breakfast Severus and Draco lay on Severus' bed discussing their possible next steps in their investigations. Their dorm mates had all left either to trail after their assigned suspects, or to watch the Hufflepuff Quidditch team's practise. Both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor had stepped up their training in preparation for their upcoming game and several witnesses had reported that the Hufflepuffs had some excellent new talents on the field, while the Gryffindors were still having problems adapting to their new beaters. More than one of the older students had come back after watching a practise saying that Hufflepuff actually stood a chance this year.
"So just what does our suspects list look like right now?" Draco asked while trying to make his choice between a chocolate frog and an everyflavour bean.
Greenie, who was sitting on the pillow right next to the plate of sweets, used his moment of distraction to make the choice for him and swallowed the bean in one bite.
"Well, we have Stephan and Seamus in the top spot, followed by Maximius and Neel Ferris." Severus reported pulling out the list to check the exact sequence of the lower ranks. "Nicodemus Hanson has fallen behind Mattis Parker and Gaia Ushton since his alibi for the armour attack might be confirmed by Ines Ivory. We'll have to check back with Albus about that."
"Talking about checking back," Draco interrupted. "What about Filch and the house elves? Did you remember to get their list lately."
"Yes, but other than which student visits him more often in which part of the castle there's nothing new on them." Severus sighed. "After Nicodemus we have Miranda Deering, Caius Rude and Quintus Palmer followed by Ulric Keaton and Ambrosia Melter. Then there are Miles Miller and Vestalia Flemming and behind them the really unlikely ones that are only on there because they don't have an alibi."
Draco quickly grabbed the last chocolate frog before Greenie could get at it.
"Sniff!" the hedgehog complained, but the frog disappeared into Draco's mouth anyway and he had to content himself with another everyflavour bean.
"I'm going back to the lab to complete my gummy bear experiments." Severus announced. "Do you want to come or watch Stephan?"
"I don't even know where Stephan is right now."
"Outside at the pitch, of course." Severus grinned. "He's been talking about the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff game all day. Didn't you notice? The rumours about Hufflepuff's strength are making him nervous."
"They're probably wondering why I'm not out there with them, aren't they?"
"You are part of the team." Severus confirmed.
"Great. So what will I tell them why I was late?"
"Stephan and the others only that you were with me. When our year mates ask you, just tell them that we managed to clear Benjamin and Lionel. Let them know that I'm really suspicious of Stephan, so they'd better not attract the seventh years' attention to us."
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All the watching and sneaking around didn't yield many results, though. Theodore guessed that Stephan sold drugs by Saturday evening, which thoroughly shocked Gregory who had actually looked up to his team captain, but it didn't bring them any closer to identifying the traitor.
"Of course Stephan might be doing it for drugs, or to protect his secret, but it might just as well have nothing to do with the drug ring at all." Severus had to remind Theodore. "Selling deadly drugs for financial profit is one crime. Murdering to gain the favour of the dark lord and influence is another. Voldemort rarely buys his agents with money. He doesn't have the resources considering whom he usually hires." His eyes wandered to the head table just long enough to remind them just how much money it would probably take to buy Lucius Malfoy. "Stephan's motive in selling drugs is to make money. There's no power play involved as far as I can see. Our traitor is most likely hoping to be paid with an increase of his political status. If he wants money as well, it's a long time goal. Right now he'd rather be somebody than have money."
"I don't know." said Estella. "We're looking for a student after all. Someone whose parents are in control of all the money. He probably gets pocket money, but that won't exactly be a fortune of Malfoy proportions. It shouldn't take that much to buy him."
"But then another could buy him off with a higher sum." Draco suggested. "That's one of the first things about business Father taught me. Someone who works for your rival for money, can be bought with more money which spares you a fight with him, but you can't trust people you bought. Father always says that the dark lord prefers those who work for ideals, because they are loyal."
"And the traitor's mission is one that requires loyalty above all else." Severus nodded. "The information he could sell to Potter or Dumbledore, perhaps even the ministry, would be extremely valuable. And you do realise that the ministry can outbid even a 'fortune of Malfoy proportions', don't you?" Severus inclined his head towards Estella.
"Talking about the Malfoys." Theodore completely ignored both Severus and Estella and kept his eyes on Draco. "Shouldn't your father know who the traitor is?"
"He does." confirmed Draco. "At least I don't think he's bluffing. He won't tell me anything, though. Thinks it's none of my business."
"Did you tell him that he endangers all our lives?" Theodore demanded.
"I don't think he cares." Draco sighed. "All that counts for him or the traitor is to kill Potter. If we get in the way that's our bad luck."
"You're his own son." Alice gasped. "He has to care about you more than that."
"He cares about the family name, which has to live on, but he's told me often enough how I'm not good enough. He might actually be happy at the chance to try again with another son."
"He might care more than you realise." Severus commented. "But that would only mean that he'd tell the traitor to only strike when you're out of the danger zone. I doubt he'd be kind enough to extend that protection to the rest of us."
"Then we should all stick close to Draco from now on?" Vincent asked frowning in the attempt to keep up with the conversation. They'd lost Gregory several minutes ago.
"You'd better not." Draco threatened. "The lot of you sticking to me like glue all day is the last thing I need."
"We'd never be able to keep track of all our suspects that way anyway." Alice remarked.
"Not even one of them." Estella corrected her. "Or do you think they'd be blind enough not to notice the whole bunch of us trailing after them all day?"
"Can't we cast some sort of tracking spell on Stephan and the others?" Juliana asked. "Something that would allow us to stay out of their sight while following them."
"And how will we see what they're doing?" Blaise shook his head. "The tracking spell could only give us their location, not tell us whether they're placing a bomb to blow up the school."
"They are also easily detectable." Severus added. "The moment the traitor meets with an adult death eater it would be found and might be traced back to us. You really don't want to know what Voldemort does to people he suspects of spying against him."
"Okay, so we're agreed to continue as we have so far?" Theodore asked.
They nodded.
"The traitor will probably lie low for a while now and wait for us to calm down again." Severus remarked. "We will have to be patient."
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Neville joined Severus and Draco in the library on Sunday afternoon.
"I lost Seamus again." he announced after casting a quick look over to where Stephan LaCriox was holding a whispered conversation with the Mattels brothers.
Several rows behind them Blaise was pretending to read a book on ghosts and Divination without much enthusiasm.
"Where did you last see him?" Draco looked up from his latest drawing.
"The boys' bathroom on the third floor." Neville sighed. "Either he left while I was still in the stall, or he took the other door. Why couldn't he have used one of the other bathrooms that have only one door?"
"It's not that long until dinner anymore." Severus was scribbling notes about potion reactions without consulting any books. Apparently he was just brainstorming. "You'll catch him there."
"If he attends at all." Neville sighed. "I lost him once before, because I expected him to be at breakfast this morning."
"Did you find out where he really was?"
"Hermione followed him to the owlery." Neville reported. "She says he just picked the first school owl and sent it off with a letter, but then noticed her on the way down and confronted her about following him. She was glad that I was watching him as well, because she didn't think it was a good idea for her to continue now that he already suspects her."
"So they were watching him too?" Draco had returned to his drawing, but was apparently still listening to the conversation.
"Only Hermione. She said Ron and Harry were following a different lead." Neville reported.
"Any idea what that might be?" Severus asked, but Neville shook his head.
"That's all she said. I don't think Harry and his entourage appreciate our efforts. They seem to think only they have the right to investigate the traitor. I'm just good enough to watch Seamus when they can't."
"Maybe we can talk to Harry in Potions tomorrow." Severus decided. "Whatever they have could help and we do have information to trade."
Neville nodded his agreement and looked around for something to do so he wouldn't attract Professor Pince's attention.
"What are you drawing?" he asked Draco and bent closer to look.
Draco's first impulse was to roll up the scroll and hide it, but then he remembered how much Ginny liked his pictures. Neville wasn't the type to scoff at others' unmanly behaviour and Draco could always say art was a good way to impress girls.
"I think I'll call it 'The Teachers' Conference'." he told Neville. "See, that's going to be the headmaster leading the discussion. There's McGonagall and Lupin to his sides. Flitwick and Sprout are going to sit over there and that's my father, furious because he doesn't want to be there."
"Scary." Neville commented. "Trelawney looks great, too. That's just how she always held herself in class."
"Severus drew her." Draco admitted. "I've hardly ever seen her, so I didn't think I could get her right."
"Who's going to be next to Professor Malfoy?"
"Vector. I think she's the least likely to kill him or be killed by him." Draco smirked. "She's too logical to commit murder and not likely to intentionally or unintentionally provoke him. She'll just be sitting there looking at the headmaster and ignoring Father."
"And that empty space over there?"
"That's for the Muggle Studies teacher. Severus will draw him as well." Draco explained. "I have seen him more often than Trelawney, but I still don't know him well enough to get him right. Do you want me to put Trevor in there?"
"Trevor? Why would he be in a teachers' meeting?" Neville quickly checked whether his toad was still in his pocket.
"Oh, he could be exploring the teacher's lounge." Draco grinned. "I could have him sit on Trelawney's toes."
"She doesn't like little green things." Severus warned them. "She called Greenie a rat even though all he did was step innocently into her plate. I haven't seen her in the great hall since."
"Did you hear that she divined a vision of the traitor in her third year class last week?" Neville asked, then almost wished he hadn't. Nobody ever wanted to hear rumours or anecdotes anymore by he time they reached him.
"No, what did she see?" Draco asked eagerly.
Right. Slytherins hardly ever took Divination, Neville remembered. Trelawney rumours were much less likely to reach them than the Gryffindors.
"Well, according to her the traitor has a shadow."
"Oh good. That clears all the vampires, invisible beings and ghosts off our suspects list." Severus sneered.
"There are vampires and invisible beings in the castle?" Neville gasped.
"Other than Potter under his invisibility cloak?" Severus asked. "I doubt it."
"They certainly weren't among our suspects." Draco added. "Is that all Trelawney divined?"
"Oh no, the traitor also wears black."
"So rare among students in a school with black uniform." Severus commented. "That really narrows it down."
"He has a mad gleam in his eyes." Neville continued.
"Ah, and what colour are those eyes?"
"I don't think she said, but if you want to I can try to catch us a third year." Neville offered. "I'm not sure which ones take Divination, though."
"Any third year is as likely to predict the eye colour of the traitor correctly as Trellawney, Neville." Severus reminded him. "We might as well lay exploding snap cards to find him."
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Monday morning brought another Potions class and Lucius' okay to brew more strawberry icicles.
That left Harry with a slight problem. He still had his notes on what he'd thrown into his cauldron, but just how much of each of the ingredients had he used?
While Harry threw together random amounts of his ingredients Severus set up an entire Alchemy set to experiment on the gummy bears. Draco had no idea what is friend was doing anymore when he started connecting cauldrons via glass tubes. So he just sat down and out of boredom shoved a green gummy bear into his mouth. After all Dumbledore seemed to think they were meant to be eaten.
"Hey, those really do taste good!" he discovered.
"Sniff!" commented Greenie.
Draco interpreted that as 'I told you so long ago.'
"Okay, yes, so you had a point there." he conceded.
"Let me try one too." Neville picked a red bear. "Oh yes, they really are good."
"Hey!" Severus protested. "Stop eating our project! We're on the trail of something really big here."
"What? That gummy bears can create sparks?" Neville asked. "A lot of ingredients can do that."
"Ah, but that isn't what they do at all." Severus grinned. "Let me show you." He looked around the class for a moment. "Vincent, is that a finished potion in your cauldron?"
"Not quite." Vincent answered. "It's bleaching potion, but I only just finished adding the last ingredients. It'll have to simmer for an hour before it's done."
"Professor Malfoy!" Severus called.
Lucius glared out from behind his paper.
"Vincent's potion is correct, isn't it?"
"Yes, yes." Lucius mumbled.
The simple potions Vincent usually practised as his projects always turned out correct. The boy simply didn't risk brewing anything he wasn't sure he could.
"So you could grade it right now, couldn't you?"
"Why can't I do it later?"
"Because I'd like to use it in my next experiment and that might cost Vincent his grade." Severus declared.
Lucius pulled out his notebook and scribbled into it. "There plus for Mr. Crabbe. Happy?"
"Thanks." Severus called out and returned his attention to his classmates. "So this potion has to simmer for another hour before it can be applied. It takes about half an hour to take effect once applied. Now I'll just drop in this gummy bear."
A yellow bear disappeared into Vincent's cauldron with a soft plop. The potion turned yellow for a moment, then returned to its original colour.
"And that's it?" Harry asked bending close to get a better look. "That's not nearly as spectacular as last time's sparks."
"Just hold still for a moment and I'll show you." Severus grinned and took a small sample from the potion. He cast a quick cooling charm on it and dripped a little onto Harry's head.
Harry's hair turned as white as the untouched snow on the trees in the forbidden forest within seconds.
"Wow." commented Blaise.
"Wicked!" exclaimed Ron.
"Cool." stated Vincent and looked very pleased with his potion.
"What?" Harry asked confused. "I don't see any effect."
The class burst into laughter which caused Lucius to look up.
"How very nice. Excellent work Mr. Snape and Mr. Crabbe. I believe that will be an extra plus for each of you today." he praised.
"As you can see." Severus told Neville and Draco. "Gummy bears have the ability to speed up and enhance magical reactions in potions. They are magical conductors of unusual strength. From what I have seen so far I deduce that the colour of the bear has an influence on the strength and purity of he reaction, but I haven't been able to discover the exact nature of that effect, yet. It is also possible that gummy bears have an influence on other kinds of magic as well as Potions. If so, they might be useable as wand cores, as a focal point for conjurations or wards, even as objects for advanced transfigurations. But I really haven't begun to explore that, yet."
"Wasn't there a chapter on magical conductors in our Charms book?" Hermione asked. "Oh, and mine is up in the dorm!"
"I have it with me." Neville said. "Accio, my Charms book."
The book shot out of his bookbag and into his hand. Neville blinked. Never before had he managed such a strong summoning charm.
"I think eating them enhances your magic as well." he stated.
"Hardly possible." Severus declared. "The bear in your mouth might have enhanced the spell, but it can't increase your innate magic."
"So you are more powerful with a gummy bear in your mouth?" Hermione decided. "I'll have to find a way to smuggle some past my parents for my NEWTs. It isn't cheating to eat candy during the practical, is it? People might need it to calm their nerves."
"Somehow I suspect I'll be very nervous during my NEWTs." Neville commented.
"We'll be a very nervous class." Draco agreed.
Harry shook his head. "I really don't understand what the big sensation is." He drew a hand through his messy white hair trying to brush it over the scar on his forehead. "So Neville did a slightly stronger accio spell. That just means he tried harder this time, or found the correct wavelength. It hardly has anything to do with some candy. . . . Do any of you remember how I made my potion turn gelatinous last time?"
"You threw in a lizard liver with some of my fly wings sticking to it." Neville told him. "I have no idea how many, though."
"That won't make a difference." Draco smirked. "He used a lot less mandrake root this time anyway."
Harry frowned at his cauldron. "Are you sure?"
"It was about the equivalent of a whole mandrake." Severus announced without even looking up from his system of tubes and cauldrons. "I'll need a white gummy bear next, Neville."
"Okay." Harry threw an entire mandrake into his cauldron.
Splash, sizzle! Harry's cauldron turned to paper, burst and doused the flames under it with potion.
"One irregularly sliced mandrake, before the lizard livers." Severus added the white gummy bear to his experiment without losing a beat. "Not ten regular slices first and one whole mandrake afterwards."
Harry just groaned, drew his hands through his hair and walked over to the sink to get a rag to wipe away the sticky potion on the worktable. As he did he happened to cast a look into the mirror above the sink.
"Aaahhh! My hair turned white!"
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Harry hated Severus and his pranks. And his stupid gummy bears as well.
Right after double Potions ended Harry hurried to the hospital wing with his friends. Ron complained that he was hungry and they could just as well have Harry's hair changed back after having lunch, but Harry wouldn't hear it.
"I'm not going to the great hall like this." he insisted. "Can you imagine the Slytherins' reactions?"
"Malfoy already saw you anyway." Ron grumbled. "The whole school will know before the end of lunch break."
"And if Malfoy doesn't tell them, Lavender and Parvati most certainly will." Hermione added. "It's only hair, Harry, not the end of the world."
Harry glared at them both. "Well, I want my normal hair colour back now."
Madame Pomfrey wasn't happy to see them at all. Most likely she was hungry too.
"So what exactly is wrong with you?" she demanded.
"My hair." Harry pointed at his head wondering how the nurse could have overlooked that.
"Is that all?" Poppy asked.
Harry nodded. "I just want it back to normal."
The nurse took a closer look examining several locks of Harry's hair, then touched her wand to it. "I can't detect a charm or transfiguration."
"It's a potion." Ron declared. "An extra strong bleaching potion, I think."
"You think?" Pomfrey repeated.
"An experimental variation." Hermione explained. "Part of Severus' latest project."
"Severus?" Poppy suddenly regarded Harry's hair with more interest, but also quite a bit of doubt.
"The potion was just the normal kind. Vincent brewed it according to the recipe in our third year Potions book." Hermione reported. "But then Severus added a gummy bear to demonstrate how it speeds up the effect and dripped some onto Harry's hair."
The nurse cast a colour changing charm on Harry's hair. There was a little flash of light and then Harry's eyebrows gleamed even blacker than usual.
Pomfrey nodded to herself. "As I expected."
She cast finite incantatem on Harry's hair, which turned the eyebrows back to normal and then poured a bottle of removal potion over his head. The only result of that was that Harry's robe got wet.
Next he had to drink something that made his nails turn black and then the antidote for it.
Finally Madame Pomfrey went back to her quarters to get a book on make-up spells and tried several of those.
"I suppose the only way to remove the white is to shave off the hair." she finally diagnosed. "If it is only bleached it will grow black again from now on. The question now is whether you'd rather be bald or have white hair until it grows out."
Harry wasn't too fond of either prospect.
"Well, you could try Muggle hair dye." Hermione suggested.
"Do you have any?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Of course not." Hermione shook her head. "Why would I dye my hair? It's a waste of time and only gives you split ends. If I wanted to change my hair colour a spell would be much more practical."
"I have some of Mary Sue's hair dye left." Poppy announced. "It's blond, though."
"But I need black." Harry protested. "Isn't there anywhere I can get black hair dye?"
"You could put an add on the notice board in the common room." Ron suggested. "Maybe one of the Muggle born girls has some."
"Not likely, if she's old enough to do a colour changing charm." Hermione shook her head. "And those that aren't usually aren't old enough to care that much about their hair colour in the first place."
"It can't hurt to ask, though." Ron shrugged. "Maybe we'll get lucky."
"I could ask my parents to owl us some." Hermione suggested. "It ought to take only a little over a week."
Harry groaned. "A week? You mean I'll have to run around like this for a week?"
"Unless you can find someone who has Muggle hair dye in the castle." Ron confirmed.
"I hate Slytherins." Harry declared.
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Marauder3Moony - In two or three more chapters, I promise. We are almost done now.
Pam Briggs - Oh, my own list isn't long right now either, but will they last through the next chapter?
Keika no Kaiyou - Ah, but Luci only made an assumption, there. He had nothing to do with the atttack in which Percy was captured. Also Luci wants his classroom cleaned and Argus refuses to do it. He doesn't care whether the students or a house elf scrub as long as he doesn't have to. . . . Harry would like to assure you that he wasn't walking behind Harry when the armour fell on him. He rather wishes he had, though, because that would mean he wasn't the target after all. . . . There also was no distortian (distortion?) charm used. I'll have to ask Filius whether either of the two actually exist. They sound more like hexes to me. . . . I also have good news for you, though: You are not the traitor and I will inform Albus of this fact right away.
yeoldecrazy1 - Actually, the list is in the chapter. (I know, I said there are a few names on it that aren't very suspicious, because I'm actually not sure which ones of those were in fact added to the list at some point and which ones were only mentioned as not having an alibi. The real list are the names mentioned as being on it in this chapter.) Don't look too happy about it, though. The next chapter is going to radically alter the list.
EriEka127 - Thanks!
hummer - Er . . . in my head, but it's not easy. (Want to play name guessing? Some of them actually do have a meaning to me, or I remember how I got to them.) . . . No, I don't get messed up. I have class lists that include spaces for as yet unnamed students. Whenever I name someone I fill in the name and can check it again later. . . . Did give you Sevi and the gummy bears. Had a lot of fun with that scene, actually.
Jade Kirk and Max LBC - Thanks! That's okay, by the way. I don't always review everything I read either.
JerseyPike - Not nearly as complicated as the Austrian system. (Or do you choose between two different school types at the age of ten and then again between several more at fourteen?) . . . Peeves? Peeves seriously working for the dark lord? In fact Peeves working seriously at all? Do you really think so?
Thistle - So you don't think it's Seamus anymore?
Wellington - Not telling, yet. (But soon, very soon now Cy . . . Wait a minute! You probably never even saw that cartoon series so why am I quoting it to you?!) . . . Percy is not in the school. He just got home from the hospital.
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A/N: Will Harry's hair ever get black again? Can gummy bears enhance a wizard's spells? And will Sybil ever see anything useful? (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: Severus plays chess, Draco watches Qudditch and Lucius gives Ron a very unwanted detention (Yes, worse than all the ones before.).