Chapter Fifteen: The Unforgiven
It never rains but it pours. So it WOULD be just as Lucy was trying her best to keep a low profile, do her dirty little assignment for the Circle, prevent Lynx from torching anything, although his gift did explain why that particular flame spurt from the paper pile had been so high, helping to prepare a draft of the International Student Immunity Act for presentation to whomever it was one presented such things to, as well as maintain decent marks in all her classes, that the Circle chose that moment to pull her into the Siberian crisis.
After two weeks of careful analysis the Maintainers knew that something to the north of the schools was seriously poisoning the energy flow, throwing it dangerously off balance. However, this particular form of pollution was completely unknown to even the oldest and most experienced Maintainer. So it came to be that Faustas dropped a heavy ceramic jar, sealed with wax and the stamps of both the Guild of Maintainers and the Guild of Masters, into Lucy's lap as she sat on her bed trying to make Transfiguration make sense.
"Oh what now?" Lucy was grumpy and completely frustrated with the Circle in general. It was one thing to simply pass along whatever military gossip Chester let slip, but it was quite another to casually ask Harry about Sirius's whereabouts, what he was looking for, what he had found. She flat out refused to search around in Harry's head, as had been tentatively suggested, but did manage to open her senses up just a little bit so that if he was projecting unconsciously, as most people do when they get mail, she would pick up on it.
Snape, was another matter all together. She had absolutely no qualms about spying on him, as she became increasingly aware that he WAS spying on her. Not directly, but, for example, yesterday while she had been staring at him he had been thinking VERY hard about something Dumbledore had said to him, an answer to a question, and the question had concerned her. That was all she managed to gleam without going deeper, and going into Snape's head was the last thing she wanted to do. She preferred to let certain comments, lies all of them, slip during class, or in the hall if he was nearby, and read his emotional reaction. It wasn't invasive, so it was fair game.
But she hadn't been expecting a call for earth sense. At first the sight of the jar had terrified her, and she had screamed, and been on the verge of hysterics before Faustas had gotten it through to her that no one was hurt, there had been no attack, they just wanted to see if maybe what was wrong in Siberia was tied in any way to something here.
So she broke the seal and stuck in her hand, only to be overwhelmed by coldness, a deep invasive cold that seemed to penetrate flesh and bone and mind. She searched deeper, to the energy resonance, to find what the Circle had, a complete imbalance, as if the energy pool had been drained of all sustenance, nourishment, warmth and light, and left with a toxic level of cold, a penetrating darkness that sapped energy from whatever touched it; the energy had an unnatural appetite. The less appealing parts of nature, predation, cold, darkness, death, and decay, were also a vital part of the energy cycle, and each did their part in maintaining the natural energy flow of the planet. But by themselves, unchecked by their opposites, they rose to toxic and dangerous levels.
Lucy removed her hand once she had a good sense of what was there, but she was still cold. Not in body, but in her head. The energy in the soil seemed to prey upon the mind, and for anyone with heightened senses that was as draining as running a marathon.
For Lucy, the first thing she had to do was throw up. Then she held her hands under the hot water in the bathroom until she could feel them again.
What, in the name of all the little gods, could have done that?
Item number seventy-eight on her to-do list.
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"Godspeed, little one, may you be well received and treated with the respect you deserve."
** For the love of the Lady! Lucy, it's only a thesis!**
Lucy hugged the leather portfolio to her chest. "Only a thesis! Don't you listen to him! And you! I have poured my blood, my sweat, my tears into this-"
** And you will do the same with the next one. Never become emotionally attached chica, especially to things that can easily be burned. Now hurry up so I can slip off while they're all looking at those ridiculous children on broomsticks. Otherwise a large hawk carrying a portfolio might look somewhat strange.**
Lucy sighed and fastened the portfolio to the harness on Faustas's chest. "You know, you've never given that game a chance..."
** Don't you start, it's barbaric, that's what it is. And if you're mentor EVER found out you had been up there under my watch I'm not entirely sure that my semi-divine status would protect me from his wrath. The possibility of you playing was one of the strongest reasons he had to overcome before deciding to send you here. So you either keep your feet on the ground or rise above it of your own volition, NO wooden intermediaries to be used, understand?**
"I'll try," was all Lucy would say, although she had no intention of ever being on the same field as an unrestrained bludger.
** Well, try hard. I'm going to stay and consult for a little bit, try and stay out of trouble for a week, hmm?**
"Yes, oh graybeard."
With that she let him climb onto her arm before she carried him to the window and launched him out into the afternoon sun. As he headed out over the forest Lucy grabbed her cloak and dashed off to the pitch.
She managed to squeeze into the stands next to the other sixth years just as the Gryffindors poured out into the air. As Lucy gazed over the two teams, she noticed something peculiar.
"Who's that?" She pointed to the chaser on the side of the pitch closest to them, and directly opposite Ginny in the pre-game configuration.
Hermione shrugged, "I don't know. Parvati, who's the Slytherin chaser with the brown hair?"
Parvati squinted a moment. "Umm, oh, that's Christopher, Christopher Moore."
Lucy shook her head, "He doesn't usually play, does he?" What was bothering her was that the person who normally played that position was Dimitri. Why on earth wouldn't he be out there?
Parvati grinned, "Oh, you missed the big pre-game gossip. Christopher is on the reserves, he gets to play because Snape kicked the normal chaser off the team!"
"What? Why?"
Parvati shrugged, "He didn't say, but it just happened. The whispers came around from the Ravenclaw side that, umm, Chernyshev, that's it, Chernyshev had been all ready to go when Snape, furious, bursts into the Slytherin strategy room and tells him he's off the team. Christopher gets to go on by default. No one knows the reason, but look, Snape isn't even here! His own house is playing and he isn't here!"
"McGonagall's not here either," Hermione noted quietly. A quick glance at the faculty box showed that Professor Sprout and the Headmaster were also missing; several other seats were empty as well.
Lucy didn't like the look of this. She liked it even less when an unmistakable Scottish burr came from behind her.
"Miss Montero?"
Lucy turned to see McGonagall, shaking her head so furiously her tartan was shaking, standing behind her.
Lucy gulped, "Yes, professor?"
"Please come with me."
Lucy realized this was not a good time to argue, so she silently followed as the Head of House lead her down to the bottom of the stands. Waiting there already were the Lanes, Alessandra, Karen, Svetlana, and Nicholas, who was still in his uniform, he was one of the Gryffindor reserves.
"You will all come with me, immediately."
They followed McGonagall in silence back to the school, up the stairs, and through the halls to her office.
"Inside, all of you."
They filed in and lined up before her desk. The professor began to sit, and then stood, as if she was too angry to take a chair.
"I was shocked; shocked, appalled and ashamed to hear that no less than eight of MY students had flagrantly flaunted the Ministry's edict with regard to student immigration."
Silence.
"Did you think no one would notice? It was only a matter of time before it was discovered that the current student roster included a large number of students who had not passed through with the proper paperwork. Did you think yourselves so far above the laws that they no longer applied to you? How can you expect the Ministry to protect you and all of its citizens if you refuse to cooperate?"
Silence.
"What right do you think you have to decide what is best?"
"We don't seem to have any rights at all," Lucy mumbled under her breath. Warren jabbed her in the ribs and shook his head.
"What was that, Miss Montero? Speak up, I would LOVE to hear what you have to say for yourself."
"Nothing, professor, only that we don't seem to have any rights at all."
McGonagall paused for a moment, and Lucy briefly thought she understood, before:
"There are things going one right now that NONE of you are aware of. Serious and DANGEROUS things, and it is the Ministry's job to keep you and your fellow students safe. THEY have the right to determine how to do that, NOT you! This may work a little differently from what you are used to back home, but you realize that if you prefer it so much you always have the option to STAY THERE."
Silence.
"Since this was not a school rule but a Ministry order that you violated, the power to punish you lies with the Ministry. Professor Dumbledore is taking no action, but as Head of House I am authorized to use the sphere of my control to impress on you the severity of what has occurred. This afternoon Dimitri Chernyshev, one of your comrades in delinquency, was removed from the Slytherin Quidditch team. The same decision applies to you Mr. Kornakovitch; no practicing, no games, and your name will be removed from the roster."
Her gaze shifted to Lucy for a moment before she began to address the group again.
"I am also supposed to impart to you the Ministry's decision, which was reached during the holiday and is not directly connected with this incident, that in light of the need to focus attention and funds within our own borders, all scholarships, work studies, and other forms of financial aid to international students are being revoked. Your current arrangements will see you through the end of the term but after that you will need to seek other funds."
Lucy examined her shoe very, very carefully, and noticed that Alessandra Dicus was doing the same. There was no time to wallow in it, however, since McGonagall was striding toward the door.
"Follow me, a representative from the Ministry is going to be explaining to you how things will proceed from here. You will join the other houses in the Headmaster's office. Quickly now, quickly."
It was a tense and silent procession through the halls and up the spiraling staircase into Dumbledore's office. The Slytherins, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs were already there.
"The Ministry official will address you from the fireplace. I expect absolute respect and SILENCE," Snape glared at them all before indicating where they should stand.
In a few moments a head appeared in the fireplace, a man, in his mid forties, with dark, neat hair and unreadable eyes stared back at them.
"Is this the lot of them, Minerva?"
McGonagall nodded, "Yes."
Lucy watched the eyes of the head roam over all of their features carefully.
"It has come to the attention of the Ministry that every student assembled here failed to properly re-enter the country at the start of term. As such, you are all here ILLEGALY."
The students' eyes grew wide, and Lucy cast a glance at Warren, whose jaw was set firm, and seemed more angry than anything else.
"As this is a violation of Ministry law, it is our responsibility to investigate and prosecute this offense according to code. However, we have no officials to spare to send out to Hogwarts to deal with you."
William and Sasha breathed a sigh of relief.
Prematurely.
"The only option is for you to be transported to the Ministry Offices in London."
Sasha turned white and William swore silently.
"However, as your headmaster has refused to allow your education to be interrupted- is that still your decision Professor Dumbledore?"
The students turned suddenly. None of them had heard the door at the top of the stairs open, but the headmaster was there, standing at the rail, watching the proceedings.
"That it is, Montgomery, whatever it is you seem to think they have done, I have been entrusted by their parents, and guardians, to provide them with an education. Several of them are not very happy with your Department, you know."
Montgomery tried not to look frazzled, and returned to addressing the students he was more comfortable trying to intimidate. "Regardless of public opinion, you are in the custody of your headmaster during term, and if he will not release you, as minors, to the Ministry than we have no other option than to delay the proceedings until the Easter holidays. You will take the Express, in a separate car and under escort, to London. Lodgings will be provided for the duration of your stay from generous Hogwarts alumni, and I expect complete cooperation. Consider yourselves under VERY close observation from now on."
Montgomery seemed to have little to say after that, he gave a curt nod to Dumbledore and the assembled faculty before vanishing in what Lucy thought was a rather pouty puff of smoke.
When they turned around, Dumbledore was gone. Lucy could have sworn she'd heard a dog bark before her attention was drawn away.
McGonagall approached the clump of Gryffindors. "I have to consult with the headmaster. You will return to the common room quickly, quietly, and DIRECTLY." Her gaze fixed on Warren, and Lucy had a feeling she knew who would be held responsible if they wandered off toward the pitch.
As they exited the stairs they could hear Snape's growl, "Slytherin!" and watched the flock of students almost jogging to keep up with the long strides of their head of house disappearing down the hall. No one dared to fall behind. She shuddered; as did Nicholas and Svetlana, and for the three thousandth time thanked the little gods she hadn't been put in that house.
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"Well, so much for keeping a low profile," Lucy muttered to herself as she stared out the window at the tiny specs flitting back in forth about the Quidditch pitch in the distance.
"Where do they send people now that there's not really an Azkaban?" Nicholas had not taken off his uniform, and was staring despondently out of the next window over.
"I think that would require the Ministry to admit that they lost it first," Warren commented dryly.
The condemned, being the only ones left in the tower with a match against Slytherin going on, were sulking in the common room together. Misery seemed indeed to love company.
"Would this be a bad time to say that I told you-"
"Yes." One word from Warren silenced Lucy on the subject.
"We're doomed," Karen's muffled voice arose from under the pillow she was holding over her face.
"Do you think Magical Medical Schools frown on expulsion and a criminal record?" Alessandra halfheartedly leafed through her potions notes from the last week.
"Do you really think they are going to convict us of anything?" William didn't even pay attention as his knight brutally bludgeoned Wesley's pawn.
"Even if they don't, it doesn't matter," Alessandra tossed her quill on the floor, "I won't be able to come back here regardless."
Lucy nodded, "I don't think Gringotts gives student loans."
Warren looked up, curious.
"The money, Warren. Regardless of what happens in London the Ministry isn't going to give us any more funds for tuition and supplies."
"Who else is getting them?"
Lucy shrugged, "I don't know, I got the general impression that family finances weren't a subject people liked to talk about, but then again, I was hanging around with a Weasley."
"Chandrika is here on scholarship too," Alessandra added quietly.
"Really?" Warren's eyes practically lit up.
"You know, expressing joy at other's financial difficulties is generally considered tacky," Lucy sniffed.
"No, not that, I didn't mean that, but, don't you see, that's perfect."
Lucy gave Warren a blank stare, "Why?"
"Because Chandrika didn't break any rules, she filed all of her paperwork just like the Ministry told her."
"She's not an illegal magical alien like the rest of us," Wesley chuckled.
"But she presents a good image."
"What do we need a good image for, they already don't like us, or did that escape you're notice?" Svetlana snapped.
"We have to start somewhere. And now we seem to be working in a time crunch. We can start this as just an attempt to get equal funding, equal opportunities for every student at Hogwarts."
"And we are going to start this campaign, how?"
Warren grinned, "We already had that part planned out: letters."
"Oooooh, that'll show 'em. They'll be running scared."
"This isn't the Wild West, you have to go about these things systematically, not just jump in guns blazing."
"Ugh, that is such a stupid stereotype of south westerners-"
"One which you are doing nothing to disprove. I admit, it's boring, but we have tried putting up, and that didn't work. If we want to look like responsible young adults and not whining schoolchildren, then we have to present this in a calm and deliberate manner."
"You plan on taking the Ministry bar, don't you?"
Warren grinned, "My mom's brother-in-law is a muggle lawyer in Alice Springs."
"Great, you are going to become evil."
But the rest of the students liked the suggestion, and Lucy had no choice but to go along. But by her count the civil rights movement had started in just such a sluggish manner, and it had taken decades. She was already a sixth year, and things in the world were already starting to get out of whack. They didn't really have that much time.
So it was that over the next week every international student was mobilized to send letters, dozens apiece, to anyone they thought would listen, and even those they didn't. They pleaded their case; they were just students, they wanted an education, their parents had put them in the care of the Ministry when they sent them there, and now the Ministry was trying to use them as scapegoats. They were defenseless. They wanted to learn, but the only choice they had open to them was to flee, to return home, and even that could be taken from them if the Ministry decided to start prosecuting them for crimes they did not commit. Those students who knew people in the Ministry made note of who had children, who they could appeal to by making them think of their own sons and daughters.
By mid-February, they had used all their words. Lucy hoped it wasn't all they had for their defense.
They had decided it was best to say nothing to anyone else, just as it had been best to keep quiet about not being on the train. They never said why, but they all guessed it was because although there was no longer the echo of footsteps behind them, they never knew who might still be listening.
The Quidditch game had been a draw, Seamus and the rest had returned in too foul a mood to question Lucy as to her whereabouts. It was even worse for Nicholas, who had to tell the team he had been suspended from playing because he had cheated on a Transfiguration assignment. The team ostracized him for being so stupid, and because the offense was such an obvious violation of the rules, and in McGonagall's own class, they never questioned her about it.
Lucy told Hermione and the girls that McGonagall had needed to discuss with her an assignment that she had handed in late. Lucy had been forced to write another foot to make up for that or she would be marked down even more severely. McGonagall, Lucy said, had then hurried off to confer about something with the headmaster, which was after all, partially true.
It scared Lucy how easy it was for her to lie nowadays. A solid month of it had made her fine-tuned in inventing stories that could not be refuted by any evidence, or heavily questioned.
And from what she was hearing, both in the school and abroad, she was going to have to get better at it.
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Lucy had sent her thesis off at the end of January. Faustas stayed a week, returned, and left after another week. He returned a week later, just as Lucy was finishing her business with the international students' attempt to gain attention. He had a portfolio strapped to his chest.
She quickly removed it, as well as the harness, and released the hawk back onto the grounds. He circled back.
** I need to talk with you chica.**
Lucy looked up, annoyed. She wanted to be alone with her thesis, and whatever critique had been made. If it had been rejected she would have to start re-working immediately.
"So, talk."
** Not now, not while you're mind is elsewhere, but soon. It is getting noisy.**
Lucy pulled her head up and gave Faustas a Look. Noisy was never good.
"I'll talk to you tonight. I have to read this and then I have a work session with Rasheph."
** When do you plan to sleep, querida?**
Lucy's eyes went cold and she shrugged off the implication. "When I'm finished. Now go on, you're going to attract attention and gods know I have enough of that."
She practically shoved him off the window, and waited till he set off towards the forest to shove the portfolio under her robes and make for Asriel's workroom.
Once inside, she found a bench, sat down, and pulled out her thesis.
A thin sheet of parchment inside the cover fell to the floor, Lucy floated it up to her fingertips.
She read every word, every nuance, between every line to discover what the guild had really thought about her work. It was obvious they found the subject matter obscure, but not irrelevant. As Lucy had hoped she would be able to make them see, they saw how further exploration of this method and field could become applicable to use in many schools, even past the parameters she had set on it now. There were oversights, holes she had missed which she could fill in. But she could achieve all that in an addendum, there would be no need for a re-write. This was confirmed when she flipped to the last page of her work, and at the bottom saw scrawled in a hand not her own, in Quechua, "Accepted."
She wanted to dance, but instead returned to the critique. It was clear that "accepted" did not mean "agreed," but because it had not been rejected she was free to submit her second thesis. She didn't have to wait a year for this one either, now she could submit them, still only one at a time, but as fast as she could work them out. Which was good, because she didn't have a lot of time to waste.
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"Why are we meeting here? What if someone comes in?"
"It isn't curfew yet, we'll just look like we're studying. Besides, we need a window."
Lucy and Rasheph were seated on the ground below a window in the OWL prep room above the BA meeting room. Through the tall glass, which Lucy had pushed open, letting in the sting of the February air, the night sky twinkled.
"Tell me again what you are hearing."
Rasheph sighed. "It's only at night. And the voice, I can't tell if it is a girl or a boy, sometimes it sounds like many. But they aren't really clear. They sort of command, tell me to be wary, to learn, to pay attention. Who's mind is like that?"
Lucy cracked her neck. "No one's, at least no one I know. I don't think you're hearing someone's thoughts, Rasheph."
"I'm hearing something."
"I know you are, but I don't think it's human."
"Than what is it, a ghost?"
"Not quite. I think you're hearing the stars."
Rasheph stared at her.
"Oh don't look at me like that. Compared with some of the stuff you've seen this really shouldn't be all that weird."
"The stars?"
Lucy nodded. "Try focusing on them, pick one, and block the rest of the world out. It should seize on you."
She watched him as he slowly bit his lower lip, which he usually did when focusing. All of a sudden his eyes flew open and he gasped.
"Wow!"
Lucy grimaced, "Eager, aren't they? They're rather attention starved, so they grab on when they sense someone is listening."
"You could have warned me."
"You didn't believe me."
"Point taken, well I do now. So..."
"So?"
"What is this used for?"
Lucy rolled her eyes and stood up, leaning out into the night.
"That depends entirely on you. It really is a rare gift to come so late, it usually manifests itself in the young. The young and easily influenced."
"Can, can I talk back?"
"Oh yes. Eventually, if you wish. It's different than the mind speech that Bet is learning, the stars do most of the work, but should you chose to, you can have long involved conversations."
Rasheph looked at Lucy closely. "Do you often talk to them?"
"No."
"Why not? I mean, once you get over the shock, its really quite pretty, it sounds like-"
"Music," Lucy nodded, "A little different for everyone, but always like music. For Diego they sound like bells, for my mentor it was a single violin, someone at Espiritu once said for him it sounded like a blues guitar..."
"What do they sound like to you, when you do listen?"
"Drums," Lucy said softly, "they were always drums for me, with the occasional cymbal crash thrown in for good measure when they got angry. What do they sound like to you?"
"Singing," Rasheph smiled softly, "Once I focused on the stars it stopped sounding like voices, I still understood what they were saying, but it sounded like singing, no words, just notes."
"Must be pretty."
"Why don't you talk to them Lucy?"
She sighed and rubbed her temples, "You will find, eventually, that what they like to do the most is give advice. They've been around longer than any of us and they think it gives them the right to tell us what to do. And most of them have grown so arrogant that they presume to tell us what the future holds for us."
"They tell us our destinies?"
"No," Lucy answered sharply, "at least, I've never believed it. I believe that they can give very good advice, and to that effect I occasionally listen to see if they have anything interesting to say. But-"
"You don't believe in fate."
"No, I don't and I never have. You make your own destiny. And while the stars understand what has always been, they aren't very up on the recently discovered. Not that they'll admit it. Which I have told them. Maybe its why I get so many cymbal crashes in the conversation."
He smiled, "I understand why they are so eager."
Lucy raised an eyebrow.
"Well, if most people are like you, they must be thrilled anyone speaks to them at all."
Lucy shrugged, "There will always be people who want to have their paths laid out for them, even if they are the wrong ones, just so they won't have the pressure of making choices. But as there become fewer and fewer of the old circle, mankind has turned his thoughts in on himself, and no longer seeks his answers from on high. If you ask me, it is a much more sensible way to solve problems."
She closed the window and rubbed her arms.
"Well, now that you know what to listen for, you can do it from the warmth of your own bed. And, like I said, they'll teach you everything you need to know."
Rasheph opened the trap door and grinned, "I guess I get to be the easy one, this round."
"You were never the hard one, it seems like Lynx always gets to be the one to threaten me with flying objects, only now they are FLAMING flying objects."
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She had almost forgotten about her agreement with Faustas as she drifted off to sleep, only to be rudely interrupted.
** I had a long conversation with Sofia.**
** And?**
** And she seems to be of the opinion that you and Diego are not holding by what they decided was best for you in December.**
**I think Diego and I know what is best for us better than Sofia and Abraham, no matter how good their intentions.**
** So you have been communicating with him?**
Lucy paused for a moment, just how many secrets was she supposed to be keeping?
** Yes I have, but I haven't been writing him or using the mirror, so I don't really think we were breaking any rules.**
Faustas snorted. ** Well, I told her it was a foolish idea to try and separate you two.**
** So are you going to run back and confirm her suspicions?*
** I ought to, but then, you won't accomplish anything if we tie you up and gang you, so I think I'll just keep this to myself. But how have you been speaking then?**
Lucy shrugged, knowing the gesture was useless, since it was dark and Faustas was most likely somewhere in the forest.
**It isn't really that different from normal mind speech. I have to put more power behind it, and be very focused and calmed, or extremely angry, and I can sort of just "be". Once I saw what he was seeing, but most of the time that is all it takes to get his attention.**
**Mmm, I probably should have suspected that. I'm not surprised Sofia didn't though, you two have always been a puzzle.**
**Why is that?**
**Well, you were both uncharacteristically young to start your education, and then you did so much of it together. It isn't often that mentored students are given over to the guidance of someone else, but you learned a great deal from Girlaldi, and Diego learned a great deal from Antolin, and what's more, you taught each other a great deal. There are some relationships, like parent to child, or between twins and siblings that we really don't understand, just accept.**
**You think Diego and I have that?**
**Oh I'm certain, and I think deep down you two knew you were uncommonly close. That's why he let you have half of his strand, it's why when you two pulled out of consciousness you were able to find each other. I think it is a by-product of sharing magic and childhood that is hard to break, you could probably find him anywhere, conscious or not.**
** So was that all you had to talk to me about?**
**Sadly no, chica, I just wanted you to know what was going on in the world. What I have to talk with you deals with Siberia.**
**I already told the council that nothing I have experienced here has remotely felt like that.**
**I know, but I think you need to see if the land has felt anything like that.**
**What?**
**You need to take a sample and see.**
**This is really old country, Faustas...**
** I know, but something tells me that whatever caused that poisoning is connected with the Eastern Circle.**
**It's possible, they're careless enough about the after-effects of spells for anything, but I doubt that they could damage anything as elemental as that... they're using a different system of energy and-**
**I read the thesis, querida, I don't need it recited back, and while it is a good theory, that doesn't mean we shouldn't pursue this.**
**You really think I need to do this?**
**I know the idea probably doesn't thrill you-**
**You have no idea.**
**-but I need you to trust me. I can feel it.**
It was enough for her. When a tierra guardian felt something, there was something to be felt.
**All right, I'll do it. Is that all the noise you have to tell me?**
**Not in the least. Someone is tracking the Sahara school.**
**What?**
**Not too quickly, and not too well, but they started laying down a darker, false trail several months ago, and someone is following it.**
**You think they are going to be attacked?**
**They escaped it once already, they know what to do, but it is disturbing that the hunters are still on the trail.**
**Anywhere else?**
**Small perimeter disturbances in some of the larger Amazon schools, the Kalahari commune has been picking up a strange presence on their perimeter over the past few days, and someone was poking around Chichen Itza.**
**Not tourists?**
**No, this was magical, but not ours, my guess is that it was Easterners. And Chichen Itza was a part of your story, correct?**
**It has been dropped in all the right ears that there was a "meeting" going on there. They have no reason to think there wasn't.**
**Well there you go.**
**So what do I do?**
**Sit tight, and try not to get hauled up on any more stupid immigration charges and you should be fine. Abraham doesn't like you leaving the school.**
**I thought Abraham and the rest were under the impression that I shouldn't BE at the school.**
**They are, but if you have to be over there at all the only thing that makes it semi-reasonable is the fact that you are under the care of a wizard who, despite his flagrant lack of respect for the safety and sanctity of outside communities, is very protective of his own students. No, they don't like trusting your safety to the Ministry.**
**They aren't going to try and interfere, are they?**
**No, I have given them the probably false impression that you have it all under control. But they were all good friends of Antolin and they have flung "what would he say"s in my face for weeks.**
**What did you say?**
**That Antolin trusted you enough to send you away and that should be enough faith in Albus Dumbledore to satisfy any of them.**
**Bless you.**
** I already am. Now go to sleep.**
He didn't need to ask her twice.
It never rains but it pours. So it WOULD be just as Lucy was trying her best to keep a low profile, do her dirty little assignment for the Circle, prevent Lynx from torching anything, although his gift did explain why that particular flame spurt from the paper pile had been so high, helping to prepare a draft of the International Student Immunity Act for presentation to whomever it was one presented such things to, as well as maintain decent marks in all her classes, that the Circle chose that moment to pull her into the Siberian crisis.
After two weeks of careful analysis the Maintainers knew that something to the north of the schools was seriously poisoning the energy flow, throwing it dangerously off balance. However, this particular form of pollution was completely unknown to even the oldest and most experienced Maintainer. So it came to be that Faustas dropped a heavy ceramic jar, sealed with wax and the stamps of both the Guild of Maintainers and the Guild of Masters, into Lucy's lap as she sat on her bed trying to make Transfiguration make sense.
"Oh what now?" Lucy was grumpy and completely frustrated with the Circle in general. It was one thing to simply pass along whatever military gossip Chester let slip, but it was quite another to casually ask Harry about Sirius's whereabouts, what he was looking for, what he had found. She flat out refused to search around in Harry's head, as had been tentatively suggested, but did manage to open her senses up just a little bit so that if he was projecting unconsciously, as most people do when they get mail, she would pick up on it.
Snape, was another matter all together. She had absolutely no qualms about spying on him, as she became increasingly aware that he WAS spying on her. Not directly, but, for example, yesterday while she had been staring at him he had been thinking VERY hard about something Dumbledore had said to him, an answer to a question, and the question had concerned her. That was all she managed to gleam without going deeper, and going into Snape's head was the last thing she wanted to do. She preferred to let certain comments, lies all of them, slip during class, or in the hall if he was nearby, and read his emotional reaction. It wasn't invasive, so it was fair game.
But she hadn't been expecting a call for earth sense. At first the sight of the jar had terrified her, and she had screamed, and been on the verge of hysterics before Faustas had gotten it through to her that no one was hurt, there had been no attack, they just wanted to see if maybe what was wrong in Siberia was tied in any way to something here.
So she broke the seal and stuck in her hand, only to be overwhelmed by coldness, a deep invasive cold that seemed to penetrate flesh and bone and mind. She searched deeper, to the energy resonance, to find what the Circle had, a complete imbalance, as if the energy pool had been drained of all sustenance, nourishment, warmth and light, and left with a toxic level of cold, a penetrating darkness that sapped energy from whatever touched it; the energy had an unnatural appetite. The less appealing parts of nature, predation, cold, darkness, death, and decay, were also a vital part of the energy cycle, and each did their part in maintaining the natural energy flow of the planet. But by themselves, unchecked by their opposites, they rose to toxic and dangerous levels.
Lucy removed her hand once she had a good sense of what was there, but she was still cold. Not in body, but in her head. The energy in the soil seemed to prey upon the mind, and for anyone with heightened senses that was as draining as running a marathon.
For Lucy, the first thing she had to do was throw up. Then she held her hands under the hot water in the bathroom until she could feel them again.
What, in the name of all the little gods, could have done that?
Item number seventy-eight on her to-do list.
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"Godspeed, little one, may you be well received and treated with the respect you deserve."
** For the love of the Lady! Lucy, it's only a thesis!**
Lucy hugged the leather portfolio to her chest. "Only a thesis! Don't you listen to him! And you! I have poured my blood, my sweat, my tears into this-"
** And you will do the same with the next one. Never become emotionally attached chica, especially to things that can easily be burned. Now hurry up so I can slip off while they're all looking at those ridiculous children on broomsticks. Otherwise a large hawk carrying a portfolio might look somewhat strange.**
Lucy sighed and fastened the portfolio to the harness on Faustas's chest. "You know, you've never given that game a chance..."
** Don't you start, it's barbaric, that's what it is. And if you're mentor EVER found out you had been up there under my watch I'm not entirely sure that my semi-divine status would protect me from his wrath. The possibility of you playing was one of the strongest reasons he had to overcome before deciding to send you here. So you either keep your feet on the ground or rise above it of your own volition, NO wooden intermediaries to be used, understand?**
"I'll try," was all Lucy would say, although she had no intention of ever being on the same field as an unrestrained bludger.
** Well, try hard. I'm going to stay and consult for a little bit, try and stay out of trouble for a week, hmm?**
"Yes, oh graybeard."
With that she let him climb onto her arm before she carried him to the window and launched him out into the afternoon sun. As he headed out over the forest Lucy grabbed her cloak and dashed off to the pitch.
She managed to squeeze into the stands next to the other sixth years just as the Gryffindors poured out into the air. As Lucy gazed over the two teams, she noticed something peculiar.
"Who's that?" She pointed to the chaser on the side of the pitch closest to them, and directly opposite Ginny in the pre-game configuration.
Hermione shrugged, "I don't know. Parvati, who's the Slytherin chaser with the brown hair?"
Parvati squinted a moment. "Umm, oh, that's Christopher, Christopher Moore."
Lucy shook her head, "He doesn't usually play, does he?" What was bothering her was that the person who normally played that position was Dimitri. Why on earth wouldn't he be out there?
Parvati grinned, "Oh, you missed the big pre-game gossip. Christopher is on the reserves, he gets to play because Snape kicked the normal chaser off the team!"
"What? Why?"
Parvati shrugged, "He didn't say, but it just happened. The whispers came around from the Ravenclaw side that, umm, Chernyshev, that's it, Chernyshev had been all ready to go when Snape, furious, bursts into the Slytherin strategy room and tells him he's off the team. Christopher gets to go on by default. No one knows the reason, but look, Snape isn't even here! His own house is playing and he isn't here!"
"McGonagall's not here either," Hermione noted quietly. A quick glance at the faculty box showed that Professor Sprout and the Headmaster were also missing; several other seats were empty as well.
Lucy didn't like the look of this. She liked it even less when an unmistakable Scottish burr came from behind her.
"Miss Montero?"
Lucy turned to see McGonagall, shaking her head so furiously her tartan was shaking, standing behind her.
Lucy gulped, "Yes, professor?"
"Please come with me."
Lucy realized this was not a good time to argue, so she silently followed as the Head of House lead her down to the bottom of the stands. Waiting there already were the Lanes, Alessandra, Karen, Svetlana, and Nicholas, who was still in his uniform, he was one of the Gryffindor reserves.
"You will all come with me, immediately."
They followed McGonagall in silence back to the school, up the stairs, and through the halls to her office.
"Inside, all of you."
They filed in and lined up before her desk. The professor began to sit, and then stood, as if she was too angry to take a chair.
"I was shocked; shocked, appalled and ashamed to hear that no less than eight of MY students had flagrantly flaunted the Ministry's edict with regard to student immigration."
Silence.
"Did you think no one would notice? It was only a matter of time before it was discovered that the current student roster included a large number of students who had not passed through with the proper paperwork. Did you think yourselves so far above the laws that they no longer applied to you? How can you expect the Ministry to protect you and all of its citizens if you refuse to cooperate?"
Silence.
"What right do you think you have to decide what is best?"
"We don't seem to have any rights at all," Lucy mumbled under her breath. Warren jabbed her in the ribs and shook his head.
"What was that, Miss Montero? Speak up, I would LOVE to hear what you have to say for yourself."
"Nothing, professor, only that we don't seem to have any rights at all."
McGonagall paused for a moment, and Lucy briefly thought she understood, before:
"There are things going one right now that NONE of you are aware of. Serious and DANGEROUS things, and it is the Ministry's job to keep you and your fellow students safe. THEY have the right to determine how to do that, NOT you! This may work a little differently from what you are used to back home, but you realize that if you prefer it so much you always have the option to STAY THERE."
Silence.
"Since this was not a school rule but a Ministry order that you violated, the power to punish you lies with the Ministry. Professor Dumbledore is taking no action, but as Head of House I am authorized to use the sphere of my control to impress on you the severity of what has occurred. This afternoon Dimitri Chernyshev, one of your comrades in delinquency, was removed from the Slytherin Quidditch team. The same decision applies to you Mr. Kornakovitch; no practicing, no games, and your name will be removed from the roster."
Her gaze shifted to Lucy for a moment before she began to address the group again.
"I am also supposed to impart to you the Ministry's decision, which was reached during the holiday and is not directly connected with this incident, that in light of the need to focus attention and funds within our own borders, all scholarships, work studies, and other forms of financial aid to international students are being revoked. Your current arrangements will see you through the end of the term but after that you will need to seek other funds."
Lucy examined her shoe very, very carefully, and noticed that Alessandra Dicus was doing the same. There was no time to wallow in it, however, since McGonagall was striding toward the door.
"Follow me, a representative from the Ministry is going to be explaining to you how things will proceed from here. You will join the other houses in the Headmaster's office. Quickly now, quickly."
It was a tense and silent procession through the halls and up the spiraling staircase into Dumbledore's office. The Slytherins, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs were already there.
"The Ministry official will address you from the fireplace. I expect absolute respect and SILENCE," Snape glared at them all before indicating where they should stand.
In a few moments a head appeared in the fireplace, a man, in his mid forties, with dark, neat hair and unreadable eyes stared back at them.
"Is this the lot of them, Minerva?"
McGonagall nodded, "Yes."
Lucy watched the eyes of the head roam over all of their features carefully.
"It has come to the attention of the Ministry that every student assembled here failed to properly re-enter the country at the start of term. As such, you are all here ILLEGALY."
The students' eyes grew wide, and Lucy cast a glance at Warren, whose jaw was set firm, and seemed more angry than anything else.
"As this is a violation of Ministry law, it is our responsibility to investigate and prosecute this offense according to code. However, we have no officials to spare to send out to Hogwarts to deal with you."
William and Sasha breathed a sigh of relief.
Prematurely.
"The only option is for you to be transported to the Ministry Offices in London."
Sasha turned white and William swore silently.
"However, as your headmaster has refused to allow your education to be interrupted- is that still your decision Professor Dumbledore?"
The students turned suddenly. None of them had heard the door at the top of the stairs open, but the headmaster was there, standing at the rail, watching the proceedings.
"That it is, Montgomery, whatever it is you seem to think they have done, I have been entrusted by their parents, and guardians, to provide them with an education. Several of them are not very happy with your Department, you know."
Montgomery tried not to look frazzled, and returned to addressing the students he was more comfortable trying to intimidate. "Regardless of public opinion, you are in the custody of your headmaster during term, and if he will not release you, as minors, to the Ministry than we have no other option than to delay the proceedings until the Easter holidays. You will take the Express, in a separate car and under escort, to London. Lodgings will be provided for the duration of your stay from generous Hogwarts alumni, and I expect complete cooperation. Consider yourselves under VERY close observation from now on."
Montgomery seemed to have little to say after that, he gave a curt nod to Dumbledore and the assembled faculty before vanishing in what Lucy thought was a rather pouty puff of smoke.
When they turned around, Dumbledore was gone. Lucy could have sworn she'd heard a dog bark before her attention was drawn away.
McGonagall approached the clump of Gryffindors. "I have to consult with the headmaster. You will return to the common room quickly, quietly, and DIRECTLY." Her gaze fixed on Warren, and Lucy had a feeling she knew who would be held responsible if they wandered off toward the pitch.
As they exited the stairs they could hear Snape's growl, "Slytherin!" and watched the flock of students almost jogging to keep up with the long strides of their head of house disappearing down the hall. No one dared to fall behind. She shuddered; as did Nicholas and Svetlana, and for the three thousandth time thanked the little gods she hadn't been put in that house.
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"Well, so much for keeping a low profile," Lucy muttered to herself as she stared out the window at the tiny specs flitting back in forth about the Quidditch pitch in the distance.
"Where do they send people now that there's not really an Azkaban?" Nicholas had not taken off his uniform, and was staring despondently out of the next window over.
"I think that would require the Ministry to admit that they lost it first," Warren commented dryly.
The condemned, being the only ones left in the tower with a match against Slytherin going on, were sulking in the common room together. Misery seemed indeed to love company.
"Would this be a bad time to say that I told you-"
"Yes." One word from Warren silenced Lucy on the subject.
"We're doomed," Karen's muffled voice arose from under the pillow she was holding over her face.
"Do you think Magical Medical Schools frown on expulsion and a criminal record?" Alessandra halfheartedly leafed through her potions notes from the last week.
"Do you really think they are going to convict us of anything?" William didn't even pay attention as his knight brutally bludgeoned Wesley's pawn.
"Even if they don't, it doesn't matter," Alessandra tossed her quill on the floor, "I won't be able to come back here regardless."
Lucy nodded, "I don't think Gringotts gives student loans."
Warren looked up, curious.
"The money, Warren. Regardless of what happens in London the Ministry isn't going to give us any more funds for tuition and supplies."
"Who else is getting them?"
Lucy shrugged, "I don't know, I got the general impression that family finances weren't a subject people liked to talk about, but then again, I was hanging around with a Weasley."
"Chandrika is here on scholarship too," Alessandra added quietly.
"Really?" Warren's eyes practically lit up.
"You know, expressing joy at other's financial difficulties is generally considered tacky," Lucy sniffed.
"No, not that, I didn't mean that, but, don't you see, that's perfect."
Lucy gave Warren a blank stare, "Why?"
"Because Chandrika didn't break any rules, she filed all of her paperwork just like the Ministry told her."
"She's not an illegal magical alien like the rest of us," Wesley chuckled.
"But she presents a good image."
"What do we need a good image for, they already don't like us, or did that escape you're notice?" Svetlana snapped.
"We have to start somewhere. And now we seem to be working in a time crunch. We can start this as just an attempt to get equal funding, equal opportunities for every student at Hogwarts."
"And we are going to start this campaign, how?"
Warren grinned, "We already had that part planned out: letters."
"Oooooh, that'll show 'em. They'll be running scared."
"This isn't the Wild West, you have to go about these things systematically, not just jump in guns blazing."
"Ugh, that is such a stupid stereotype of south westerners-"
"One which you are doing nothing to disprove. I admit, it's boring, but we have tried putting up, and that didn't work. If we want to look like responsible young adults and not whining schoolchildren, then we have to present this in a calm and deliberate manner."
"You plan on taking the Ministry bar, don't you?"
Warren grinned, "My mom's brother-in-law is a muggle lawyer in Alice Springs."
"Great, you are going to become evil."
But the rest of the students liked the suggestion, and Lucy had no choice but to go along. But by her count the civil rights movement had started in just such a sluggish manner, and it had taken decades. She was already a sixth year, and things in the world were already starting to get out of whack. They didn't really have that much time.
So it was that over the next week every international student was mobilized to send letters, dozens apiece, to anyone they thought would listen, and even those they didn't. They pleaded their case; they were just students, they wanted an education, their parents had put them in the care of the Ministry when they sent them there, and now the Ministry was trying to use them as scapegoats. They were defenseless. They wanted to learn, but the only choice they had open to them was to flee, to return home, and even that could be taken from them if the Ministry decided to start prosecuting them for crimes they did not commit. Those students who knew people in the Ministry made note of who had children, who they could appeal to by making them think of their own sons and daughters.
By mid-February, they had used all their words. Lucy hoped it wasn't all they had for their defense.
They had decided it was best to say nothing to anyone else, just as it had been best to keep quiet about not being on the train. They never said why, but they all guessed it was because although there was no longer the echo of footsteps behind them, they never knew who might still be listening.
The Quidditch game had been a draw, Seamus and the rest had returned in too foul a mood to question Lucy as to her whereabouts. It was even worse for Nicholas, who had to tell the team he had been suspended from playing because he had cheated on a Transfiguration assignment. The team ostracized him for being so stupid, and because the offense was such an obvious violation of the rules, and in McGonagall's own class, they never questioned her about it.
Lucy told Hermione and the girls that McGonagall had needed to discuss with her an assignment that she had handed in late. Lucy had been forced to write another foot to make up for that or she would be marked down even more severely. McGonagall, Lucy said, had then hurried off to confer about something with the headmaster, which was after all, partially true.
It scared Lucy how easy it was for her to lie nowadays. A solid month of it had made her fine-tuned in inventing stories that could not be refuted by any evidence, or heavily questioned.
And from what she was hearing, both in the school and abroad, she was going to have to get better at it.
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Lucy had sent her thesis off at the end of January. Faustas stayed a week, returned, and left after another week. He returned a week later, just as Lucy was finishing her business with the international students' attempt to gain attention. He had a portfolio strapped to his chest.
She quickly removed it, as well as the harness, and released the hawk back onto the grounds. He circled back.
** I need to talk with you chica.**
Lucy looked up, annoyed. She wanted to be alone with her thesis, and whatever critique had been made. If it had been rejected she would have to start re-working immediately.
"So, talk."
** Not now, not while you're mind is elsewhere, but soon. It is getting noisy.**
Lucy pulled her head up and gave Faustas a Look. Noisy was never good.
"I'll talk to you tonight. I have to read this and then I have a work session with Rasheph."
** When do you plan to sleep, querida?**
Lucy's eyes went cold and she shrugged off the implication. "When I'm finished. Now go on, you're going to attract attention and gods know I have enough of that."
She practically shoved him off the window, and waited till he set off towards the forest to shove the portfolio under her robes and make for Asriel's workroom.
Once inside, she found a bench, sat down, and pulled out her thesis.
A thin sheet of parchment inside the cover fell to the floor, Lucy floated it up to her fingertips.
She read every word, every nuance, between every line to discover what the guild had really thought about her work. It was obvious they found the subject matter obscure, but not irrelevant. As Lucy had hoped she would be able to make them see, they saw how further exploration of this method and field could become applicable to use in many schools, even past the parameters she had set on it now. There were oversights, holes she had missed which she could fill in. But she could achieve all that in an addendum, there would be no need for a re-write. This was confirmed when she flipped to the last page of her work, and at the bottom saw scrawled in a hand not her own, in Quechua, "Accepted."
She wanted to dance, but instead returned to the critique. It was clear that "accepted" did not mean "agreed," but because it had not been rejected she was free to submit her second thesis. She didn't have to wait a year for this one either, now she could submit them, still only one at a time, but as fast as she could work them out. Which was good, because she didn't have a lot of time to waste.
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"Why are we meeting here? What if someone comes in?"
"It isn't curfew yet, we'll just look like we're studying. Besides, we need a window."
Lucy and Rasheph were seated on the ground below a window in the OWL prep room above the BA meeting room. Through the tall glass, which Lucy had pushed open, letting in the sting of the February air, the night sky twinkled.
"Tell me again what you are hearing."
Rasheph sighed. "It's only at night. And the voice, I can't tell if it is a girl or a boy, sometimes it sounds like many. But they aren't really clear. They sort of command, tell me to be wary, to learn, to pay attention. Who's mind is like that?"
Lucy cracked her neck. "No one's, at least no one I know. I don't think you're hearing someone's thoughts, Rasheph."
"I'm hearing something."
"I know you are, but I don't think it's human."
"Than what is it, a ghost?"
"Not quite. I think you're hearing the stars."
Rasheph stared at her.
"Oh don't look at me like that. Compared with some of the stuff you've seen this really shouldn't be all that weird."
"The stars?"
Lucy nodded. "Try focusing on them, pick one, and block the rest of the world out. It should seize on you."
She watched him as he slowly bit his lower lip, which he usually did when focusing. All of a sudden his eyes flew open and he gasped.
"Wow!"
Lucy grimaced, "Eager, aren't they? They're rather attention starved, so they grab on when they sense someone is listening."
"You could have warned me."
"You didn't believe me."
"Point taken, well I do now. So..."
"So?"
"What is this used for?"
Lucy rolled her eyes and stood up, leaning out into the night.
"That depends entirely on you. It really is a rare gift to come so late, it usually manifests itself in the young. The young and easily influenced."
"Can, can I talk back?"
"Oh yes. Eventually, if you wish. It's different than the mind speech that Bet is learning, the stars do most of the work, but should you chose to, you can have long involved conversations."
Rasheph looked at Lucy closely. "Do you often talk to them?"
"No."
"Why not? I mean, once you get over the shock, its really quite pretty, it sounds like-"
"Music," Lucy nodded, "A little different for everyone, but always like music. For Diego they sound like bells, for my mentor it was a single violin, someone at Espiritu once said for him it sounded like a blues guitar..."
"What do they sound like to you, when you do listen?"
"Drums," Lucy said softly, "they were always drums for me, with the occasional cymbal crash thrown in for good measure when they got angry. What do they sound like to you?"
"Singing," Rasheph smiled softly, "Once I focused on the stars it stopped sounding like voices, I still understood what they were saying, but it sounded like singing, no words, just notes."
"Must be pretty."
"Why don't you talk to them Lucy?"
She sighed and rubbed her temples, "You will find, eventually, that what they like to do the most is give advice. They've been around longer than any of us and they think it gives them the right to tell us what to do. And most of them have grown so arrogant that they presume to tell us what the future holds for us."
"They tell us our destinies?"
"No," Lucy answered sharply, "at least, I've never believed it. I believe that they can give very good advice, and to that effect I occasionally listen to see if they have anything interesting to say. But-"
"You don't believe in fate."
"No, I don't and I never have. You make your own destiny. And while the stars understand what has always been, they aren't very up on the recently discovered. Not that they'll admit it. Which I have told them. Maybe its why I get so many cymbal crashes in the conversation."
He smiled, "I understand why they are so eager."
Lucy raised an eyebrow.
"Well, if most people are like you, they must be thrilled anyone speaks to them at all."
Lucy shrugged, "There will always be people who want to have their paths laid out for them, even if they are the wrong ones, just so they won't have the pressure of making choices. But as there become fewer and fewer of the old circle, mankind has turned his thoughts in on himself, and no longer seeks his answers from on high. If you ask me, it is a much more sensible way to solve problems."
She closed the window and rubbed her arms.
"Well, now that you know what to listen for, you can do it from the warmth of your own bed. And, like I said, they'll teach you everything you need to know."
Rasheph opened the trap door and grinned, "I guess I get to be the easy one, this round."
"You were never the hard one, it seems like Lynx always gets to be the one to threaten me with flying objects, only now they are FLAMING flying objects."
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She had almost forgotten about her agreement with Faustas as she drifted off to sleep, only to be rudely interrupted.
** I had a long conversation with Sofia.**
** And?**
** And she seems to be of the opinion that you and Diego are not holding by what they decided was best for you in December.**
**I think Diego and I know what is best for us better than Sofia and Abraham, no matter how good their intentions.**
** So you have been communicating with him?**
Lucy paused for a moment, just how many secrets was she supposed to be keeping?
** Yes I have, but I haven't been writing him or using the mirror, so I don't really think we were breaking any rules.**
Faustas snorted. ** Well, I told her it was a foolish idea to try and separate you two.**
** So are you going to run back and confirm her suspicions?*
** I ought to, but then, you won't accomplish anything if we tie you up and gang you, so I think I'll just keep this to myself. But how have you been speaking then?**
Lucy shrugged, knowing the gesture was useless, since it was dark and Faustas was most likely somewhere in the forest.
**It isn't really that different from normal mind speech. I have to put more power behind it, and be very focused and calmed, or extremely angry, and I can sort of just "be". Once I saw what he was seeing, but most of the time that is all it takes to get his attention.**
**Mmm, I probably should have suspected that. I'm not surprised Sofia didn't though, you two have always been a puzzle.**
**Why is that?**
**Well, you were both uncharacteristically young to start your education, and then you did so much of it together. It isn't often that mentored students are given over to the guidance of someone else, but you learned a great deal from Girlaldi, and Diego learned a great deal from Antolin, and what's more, you taught each other a great deal. There are some relationships, like parent to child, or between twins and siblings that we really don't understand, just accept.**
**You think Diego and I have that?**
**Oh I'm certain, and I think deep down you two knew you were uncommonly close. That's why he let you have half of his strand, it's why when you two pulled out of consciousness you were able to find each other. I think it is a by-product of sharing magic and childhood that is hard to break, you could probably find him anywhere, conscious or not.**
** So was that all you had to talk to me about?**
**Sadly no, chica, I just wanted you to know what was going on in the world. What I have to talk with you deals with Siberia.**
**I already told the council that nothing I have experienced here has remotely felt like that.**
**I know, but I think you need to see if the land has felt anything like that.**
**What?**
**You need to take a sample and see.**
**This is really old country, Faustas...**
** I know, but something tells me that whatever caused that poisoning is connected with the Eastern Circle.**
**It's possible, they're careless enough about the after-effects of spells for anything, but I doubt that they could damage anything as elemental as that... they're using a different system of energy and-**
**I read the thesis, querida, I don't need it recited back, and while it is a good theory, that doesn't mean we shouldn't pursue this.**
**You really think I need to do this?**
**I know the idea probably doesn't thrill you-**
**You have no idea.**
**-but I need you to trust me. I can feel it.**
It was enough for her. When a tierra guardian felt something, there was something to be felt.
**All right, I'll do it. Is that all the noise you have to tell me?**
**Not in the least. Someone is tracking the Sahara school.**
**What?**
**Not too quickly, and not too well, but they started laying down a darker, false trail several months ago, and someone is following it.**
**You think they are going to be attacked?**
**They escaped it once already, they know what to do, but it is disturbing that the hunters are still on the trail.**
**Anywhere else?**
**Small perimeter disturbances in some of the larger Amazon schools, the Kalahari commune has been picking up a strange presence on their perimeter over the past few days, and someone was poking around Chichen Itza.**
**Not tourists?**
**No, this was magical, but not ours, my guess is that it was Easterners. And Chichen Itza was a part of your story, correct?**
**It has been dropped in all the right ears that there was a "meeting" going on there. They have no reason to think there wasn't.**
**Well there you go.**
**So what do I do?**
**Sit tight, and try not to get hauled up on any more stupid immigration charges and you should be fine. Abraham doesn't like you leaving the school.**
**I thought Abraham and the rest were under the impression that I shouldn't BE at the school.**
**They are, but if you have to be over there at all the only thing that makes it semi-reasonable is the fact that you are under the care of a wizard who, despite his flagrant lack of respect for the safety and sanctity of outside communities, is very protective of his own students. No, they don't like trusting your safety to the Ministry.**
**They aren't going to try and interfere, are they?**
**No, I have given them the probably false impression that you have it all under control. But they were all good friends of Antolin and they have flung "what would he say"s in my face for weeks.**
**What did you say?**
**That Antolin trusted you enough to send you away and that should be enough faith in Albus Dumbledore to satisfy any of them.**
**Bless you.**
** I already am. Now go to sleep.**
He didn't need to ask her twice.