Chapter 2

The scarlet Hogwarts Express would be arriving any minute now but Lierin already felt sorry about her decision to wait for it at Hogsmeade Station. It was freezing on the tiny platform and the rain was driving down in icy sheets. She shivered in her forest green velvet cloak and pulled it closer around her as she concentrated on the sounds around her, imagining she could faintly hear the train thundering down the tracks.

"He'd better be on the train," she muttered under her breath, but she knew that even if the gods had decided to pour the entire ocean out over her head, she'd still be here waiting for him. It really was a shame they had lost contact with each other; they had always been so close. They had always been like brother and sister even though they weren't blood relations.

His parents had taken her in when they had found her roaming the streets all alone and with no one to turn to. She had only been five years old when the Dark Lord had decided her family had to die because they wouldn't turn over to the dark side. She owed the Lupins an awful lot and the second she'd learned Remus would be teaching at Hogwarts also, she'd decided to pick him up from the train. At the other end of the platform she saw Hagrid waving at her, he had been so kind to give her a lift to Hogsmeade in his boat. He always took the first-years for a traditional journey across the lake. Her first thought was to wave back and it wasn't until she had raised her hand that she realised he was trying to draw her attention to the Hogwarts Express which was steadily approaching it's destination. Her stomach gave a funny jolt when she realised she'd be seeing him soon. She smiled at the thought of how surprised he would be to see her here. Imagine that, Lierin Heartilly, teaching at Hogwarts, working with her old Professors instead of working against them. It would certainly require some adjusting and she wondered what kind of teacher she'd be. Would she be strict but fair like McGonagall? Or dull like Binns? Or chaotic like Professor Sprout? She really had no idea. She hoped she'd be entertaining but also that she'd be able to keep order in her class. Some people were just born to teach and she wasn't entirely sure she was one of them. At least she knew one person at Hogwarts who absolutely never should have been appointed as a teacher. Well, whatever this year would bring, Lierin was sure she'd do a hell of a lot better than he would. She pulled a wry face when she thought of her old Potions Master and she rubbed the upper part of her left leg where she felt a faint but familiar pain tugging at her leg. At long last, the train stopped at the station and there was a great scramble to get out. Lierin smiled when she thought back to her own school years; owls hooted, cats meowed, toads croaked and here and there she saw students clutching their pet rats in their hands.

"Firs'-years thisa way!" called the familiar voice of Hagrid and she soon heard him welcoming three kids who just got of the train. They didn't get a chance to talk, though, because the mass of people around the kids was shunting them away along the platform. Suddenly she noticed the familiar tall figure of Remus; his light-brown hair streaked with even more grey than she remembered but his face as youthful as ever. She didn't dare to draw his attention to her; she wanted him to notice her himself.

He dusted off his extremely shabby set of wizards robes which had been mended in several places and in his hand he was carrying his small, battered case held together with a large quantity of neatly knotted string. Sadness crept in her eyes, as she knew how difficult it had to be for him to find a decent job. She could have kissed Dumbledore when she had heard the news, but that would have been a bit odd because she had been eavesdropping on him and her least favorite teacher, correction, colleague, who with any luck still wasn't aware of the fact she had come to Hogwarts as well. So far she had been able to avoid him during her days of preparation. Days of peace and tranquillity without Snape bothering her with his unsettling presence. Snape was a very intimidating person with quite a severe and grim charisma. So far Lierin had enjoyed her days at Hogwarts, preparing herself for classes even though she knew she was here for an entirely different reason. A reason she even hadn't told Remus about. Not even Dumbledore. For a moment she really felt like a schmuck for deceiving the few people she held in such high regard. Lierin looked down at her feet and wiggled her toes in her boots. Soon, she promised herself. Soon I'll tell them all about it. But not now, not today. Soon.


Slowly Remus got off the train and she could tell he had spotted her.He blinked his eyes a couple of times, hesitated on the steps of the train until a student prodded him in the back to make him move, and finally he was making his way though the crowd towards her.

At long last he was standing in front of her, a look of wonder in his eyes as he studied her slim figure. She was wearing a wine-red velvet tunic with a velvet set of forest green wizards robes. Her legs were pulled into green tight trousers and stuck in long black suede boots. She had a heart-shaped face, skin smooth as silk and pale like the petals of a white rose with just a hint of pink on her cheeks. Full rosy lips were curved in a charming smile, indicating she was very happy to see him. Her thick golden hair was pulled back in a braid with soft silver streaks which looked like they had been kissed by the moon. Remus faintly smiled to himself, hardly believing his eyes, but there was only one girl in the world who was gifted with hair that looked like it was partly spun with the last rays of the sun and partly with the first rays of the moon.

"Lierin!" he cried out and he spread his arms for her. It took her less than a second to fling herself into his them and begin kissing his cheeks over and over again. She didn't care if she was making a scene and neither did Remus, he was thrilled to see her again and he swooped her up to spin her around like he had done countless of times.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing here?" asked Remus laughingly.

"Well, the same as you of course," said Lierin in an innocent tone, her eyes twinkling with joy.

Remus broke their embrace and held her at arm length to study her face.

"Lierin, are you merely jesting or...?"

"No Remus, I'm here as a teacher," said Lierin, "Just like you," she added while she gently pushed him against the shoulder. Remus, being the werewolf that he was, eyed her curiously and Lierin knew that if she didn't change the subject very soon, he'd know she was lying. That she was keeping something from him.

"Come on Remus, let us take a carriage to the castle and I'll tell you all about it."

They both walked out onto a rough mud track where the last stagecoaches awaited the remaining students. The coach smelled faintly of mould and straw and soon Remus and Lierin were engaged in an animated conversation, filling each other in with the gaps over the past years and bringing up memories.

As the carriage trundled towards a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars, Lierin grabbed hold of Remus arm as they passed two towering hooded figures, standing guard on either side of the gate. She shivered involuntary and she moved closer to Remus.

"Those are Dementors. They are here guarding the castle. Apparently there is a maniacal murderer on the loose who escaped from Azkaban. I'm afraid I'm not particularly fond of them," whispered Lierin confidentially.

"I know," said Remus grimly, "I've just met one on the train. Scared the living daylights out of Harry Potter. But who could blame him after what that poor boy has been through."

"Harry Potter? He is here? The Harry Potter? The boy who lived? Him?" asked Lierin with incredulity in her bright sapphire eyes. Remus chuckled.

"He's just a normal kid Lierin. Until two years ago he didn't even know he was special. Didn't even know about us wizards. So please don't go staring at his scar, it makes him feel very uncomfortable." Sadness clouded his eyes and Lierin wondered what was wrong with him until she remembered James and Lily Potter had been his closest friends for years.

"Oh," she said softly, more to herself than to Remus.

Lierin noticed Remus was watching her with something of curiosity in his eyes. She neglected him and pretended she didn't notice his scrutinizing look. Feeling quite uncomfortable under his attentive gaze, she shifted her weight a couple of times and finally she sighed in exasperation as she couldn't stand it anymore.

A victorious smile curved his lips and a hint of mischief caused his eyes to twinkle.

"I knew you were keeping something from me. Now come on, spill it and have it over with. It can't be that bad."

Again Lierin sighed, but this time she sighed because she knew she didn't have a choice. Besides, he'd find out soon enough.

"Actually it is that bad. You received my letter a few months ago?"

"The 'Hello-Remus-how-are-you-I'm-fine-read-my-book-take-care-and-so-long' letter? That one?"

Lierin stuck out her tongue and laughed.

"Yes that one. Well?"

"Well what?" asked Remus innocently.

"Have you read my book?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact I have."

"Good. Because I found it."

"Found what, the book?"

"No you moron. The goblet. I found the goblet. It's in a museum now and thanks to my book. Everyone who has read it will be able to recognise it. Maybe even ...You-know-who."

"You're kidding me right? Surely this can't be so, can it?"

"I'm afraid it's true. Charlie found it a while ago. Here, he sent me this letter."

Lierin pulled a crumpled letter out of one of her many pockets and handed it over to Remus. Remus bend over to take the letter and folded it open.His eyes flashed over the words, then he looked up from the letter to look at her with one of his sphinx-like expressions. Then, without a word, he folded the letter again and gave it back. Lierin took it from him and put it back in her pocket. She sat back as well and watched him, waiting for him to react on the letters' content. Silence fell in the carriage as the two of them sat back and watched each other. Finally Remus decided to break the silence.

"And you are sure this is the same goblet?"

"Yes, I'm positive. Now, I was so foolish to write about the goblet, giving a very detailed description. Of course at the time I couldn't foresee the goblet would actually be found. But, I also know there's another goblet. A counterpart for the Goblet of Might. That's why I'm here. To find the other goblet before the Goblet of Might falls into the wrong hands."

"Why not steal it and thus prevent it from falling into the wrong hands?"

"Are you kidding me? It's evil and it brings bad luck as long as it's incomplete. Besides. I'm the one who owns the one thing that can activate the goblet. The dark ruby "Nightfall's gain". If I would steal the goblet, Voldemort could snatch it along with the ruby. Now when either of the items are stolen, I can always try and prevent him from stealing the other one."

"Luckily you didn't write about Nightfall's gain. Imagine the wild goose-chases if one would find out that the ruby has been in possession of the Heartilly family for ages."

A guilty look appeared in Lierin's eyes and she tried to look away from Remus before he'd notice. Maybe if she hadn't turned her head away Remus wouldn't have noticed, his mind was still wondering about the ruby, but exactly that shy gesture was what caught his attention and he knew what it meant.

"Oh no, don't tell me you wrote about the ruby as well!"

"Of course I didn't write about it, but I did found a book that explicitly says the ruby has been in my family for ages. So, afraid one might brake into the manor and steal it, I took it with me."

"ARE-YOU-INSANE?" cried Remus. "Do you know what will happen if some crazy fool finds out? Every lunatic who finds the goblet and knows how to use it will come after you. It's bad enough we have one murderer on the loose. We don't need more!"

"I brought the ruby with me because this is the one and only really safe haven. It's actually a good thing that the murderer Sirius Black escaped. I don't like the dementors, but they protect Hogwarts against assailants. I'll be safe here, and so will the ruby. While I'm here, I'll do research about the other goblet and I'll find it before someone can use the Goblet of Might."

"Do you have any idea how selfish that is? Tell me, have you even thought once about the jeopardy you may have put the students in?"

"Yes I have, but this was the best idea I could come up with. If you have better suggestions, I'm willing to listen. Until that time, I'll proceed with this mission as planned."

"I still think it's a stupid idea. There's too much that could go wrong and I really think you didn't think this through. But considering the fact you're going to need all the help you can get, I will help you."

"Thanks Remus. There's really no danger in this yet. There are no signs yet that someone recognised the goblet and Charlie promised me to keep an eye on it. I have the ruby that activates the goblet and no one wants a goblet that brings bad luck when incomplete anyway. Then there's the little catch that you need to drink the potions of spirits from the goblet in order to obtain it's powers. It's one of the most complicated potions in existence and only few Potion Masters are able to concoct it. I think at the moment there are only five wizards who have obtained such high a level of potions making and one of those five is Professor Snape. He won't make it for anyone so that brings us down to four. So you see, it's close to impossible for anyone to actually activate that goblet."

"Yes, Severus always was brilliant in potions and the dark arts. But I'm not sure whether that's reassuring or threatening." Remus ignored the questioning look in Lierin's eyes and he wondered if it was wise to tell her that Severus Snape had once been a follower of Voldemort.

He thought it wiser to keep it silent for now. There really was no need to make her more worried than necessary.


The carriage picked up speed on the long, jostling drive up to the castle and Lierin leant out of the tiny window to watch the many turrets and towers draw nearer. Finally the carriage swayed to a halt and Remus and Lierin got out just in time to stop a fight.

"You fainted, Potter? Is Longbottom telling the truth? You actually fainted?" said a young boy in a drawling and delighted voice.

Lierin instantly knew she didn't like the young, pale, blond brat. The boy in question elbowed past a girl with long bushy brown hair to block a boy's way up the stone steps to the castle, his pale face gleeful and his even paler eyes glinting maliciously.

So that was Harry Potter, Lierin immediately felt a warmth for the small fragile boy with his scruffy raven black hair.

"Shove off, Malfoy," said a young redheaded boy, whose jaw was clenched. Lierin smiled to herself as she instantly recognised the boy as a sibling of Charlie.

"Did you faint as well, Weasley?" said the young boy called Malfoy loudly. Her dislike for that boy started to grow with the second.

"Did the scary old Dementor frighten you too, Weasley?"

Lierin had her arms stretched out with the intention to lunge forward at the boy but Remus held her back.

"Sorry sweetie, those days are over. You can't propel yourself into every fight you get the chance to," whispered Remus in her ear. Lierin didn't care, she wanted to teach that brat a lesson and for just an instant she could completely understand what had gotten into Snape when he'd cursed her, for now she wanted do the same to Malfoy and she had barely known him for two minutes. This promised to become a very interesting year indeed, she thought to herself.

Luckily Remus decided to butt in.
"Is there a problem?" asked Remus with a smile. Malfoy gave Remus a stare Lierin didn't like at all and with a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice he said, " Oh, no...er...Professor,"

Malfoy smirked at his two cronies flanking him and Lierin just couldn't restrain herself.

"If you have nothing further to say, Mr. Malfoy, then I suggest you turn around NOW and start moving. I do hope that in class you will have something more useful to contribute. Although, I highly doubt it."

Malfoy took in the stern expression on the woman's face and he shot her an angry glare before he turned around and led his friends up the steps into the castle. Potter, Weasley and the girl hurried up the steps and Remus guided Lierin into the castle to the Great Hall.