The moment Lierin dreaded, the Goblet of Might was stolen out of the museum but slowly she and Remus come up with a possible idea to what's going on. Luckily they are not very far from the truth, it's actually a big part of it, but the complete puzzle is much, much worse.

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Chapter 15

The Heist

Two weeks before the end of term with Christmas approaching (and still no further in solving the puzzle that was the Goblet of Might), Lierin knew she couldn't hide herself much longer. That fact, plus a very disturbing letter from Charlie, made her decide that she had to talk with Remus. As she had suspected, she found him in his office. When he looked up to see her enter his office, his eyes didn't show the usual warmth with which he used to greet her.

"Ah, I was wondering if you had forgotten the way to my office," Remus sneered, and Lierin felt a guilty pang in her heart knowing that it had been wrong of her to neglect him in such a way.

"I'm sorry Remus. Please don't be angry with me, I just had to sort out my own feelings for a while."

"I take this has something to do with Severus?" asked Remus, and Lierin didn't even bother to wonder how he knew. She realised that the only way Remus would allow her to make up with him, was by telling him the entire truth. She gulped at that thought.

"Yes, it has something to do with Severus."

"So, what's going on between you two?"

He was still angry with her, she could tell.

"To be honest Remus, I don't even know myself. You know how much we used to despise each other and how it continued from the day I started teaching here. Since my arrival he hasn't even been able to say one single polite word to me."

"But... "

"But... What can I say? Call it mutual attraction if you want. Don't even ask me why, he's not handsome. He's too pale, he's mean, he's cruel, his hair is oily and the thought of him alone can wake up students screaming in the night.

He's a nightmare. He's a bully. He is...he is...he's."

"A disgusting heathen dog from Hades?" asked Remus, and this time he had to stifle a laugh as Lierin looked up at him in pure shock.

"Don't you dare and tease me with that!"

Remus chuckled."Very well, let us drop the subject. There's something going on between you and Severus that you need to resolve on your own, but I take it you didn't come to me to discuss your love life."

A serious look appeared in Lierin's eyes and Remus dreaded the worst.

"No, I received a letter from Charlie. As we feared, the Goblet of Might was stolen just a few days ago. Probably by that suspicious young man who had such an interest in it. Oh Remus! I can't believe it; Charlie never let that damn thing out of his sight! How could it have been stolen so easily?"

"Didn't Charlie say that the young man had visited the museum for weeks on end? Maybe he wasn't there for the goblet, maybe he was there to study Charlie's surveillance patterns. Snatching something from a Muggle museum is easy enough for a wizard, but stealing something from under the nose of another wizard is more tricky."

"Oh, I suppose you are right. Do you think that was the reason why Black was here? For the goblet? Maybe he thought I had it."

"Very unlikely. Besides, we have reasons to believe that Black is after Harry, he probably thinks that by killing Harry he'll bring Voldemort back."

"That's odd. Black is trying to get Voldemort back by trying to kill Harry, and now the goblet is stolen which can bring Voldemort back as well. But how can that be? Are there two servants of the Dark Lord on the loose? Two servants who are both trying to bring their master back without knowing about each other ?"

"I don't know... But if the goblet was indeed stolen by a servant of Voldemort, he still needs Nightfalls'Gain and the potion of spirits to activate its powers right?"

"Exactly," said Lierin and she pulled out her necklace, "That's why it is so important to find the counterpart before the Goblet of Might is activated. That way it will destroy the Goblet of Might but the opposite is possible too. The activation of the Goblet of Might could destroy its counterpart. That's why we HAVE to find the counterpart and activate it if we want to prevent Voldemort from becoming invincible."

"That puts you in a dangerous spot as well, Lierin. Now that the young man has the goblet, he needs the ruby as well and soon, or the goblet will destroy him."

"Yes, I know. Still, he'll need someone to concoct the potion of spirits. Unless, of course, he can make it himself. Although I doubt it. It would be too easy to track him down because there are only five wizards in England who can make that potion. Snape won't make it for the enemy so that brings us down to four."

Remus was quiet for a while. There were a few things that didn't add up, plus he wondered if he should tell Lierin that Severus used to be a death eater.

"Remus, now it's you who's keeping something from me. Come on, spill the beans, and tell me what's going on."

Remus had to laugh.

"It's just that... I don't know. I'm worried about 'Hogwart's Mystery'."

"I know. You were right, it is as if we are following a path that we have walked before, only we have no memory of it. As if something started years ago, and we are now noticing the effects. And whatever it is, it affects our entire view on life, our decisions, our actions, what we say and don't say... It's exactly like what you already told me."

"Yes! Have you noticed that it's getting stronger?"

"Oh yes, I've noticed all right. Have you been having trouble sleeping as well?"

"No, not exactly but I do notice that I'm forced to continue to hold a grudge against Snape, it's getting stronger but I'm trying hard to fight it. But how do you mean 'trouble sleeping'?"

"I'm not sure. It's just that... besides the visions, I see pages from a book in my dreams, but I can never read what they say. But somehow they look very familiar, as if they have no part of the other visions. It's like my mind is forcing me to remember something recent, something I saw or read a while back. I think it's important in some way but I just can't remember."

"So you have visions about your past life and you have dreams about some book you might have read. That is weird. Do you think there's a connection?"

"A connection between what? The Goblet of Might and Hogwarts Mystery?"

"Maybe both. I mean, you come here to try and locate the counterpart for the Goblet of Might. About the same time we discover that something else, something extremely odd is going on that at least involves us, and maybe even Severus. Isn't that a bit too coincidental?"

"I suppose it is. Oh, let's drop it, it's giving me a headache!"

But Remus didn't seem to hear her.

"You know, that grudge between you and Snape, between Snape and me...

It seems so silly sometimes, but still we go on and on without really knowing why. I mean, he can't forgive me for a prank that Sirius pulled on him in our school days. That's what's keeping us from becoming civil with each other."

"What if you were also right about fighting certain 'urges'? Maybe that's why you can forgive Severus, even though it costs you a lot of effort, because you know that something or someone doesn't want you to forgive him. Maybe that's also why Severus can't forgive you because he is convinced that the right thing for him to do is to hate you. But that would mean that he's involved too. It does make you wonder who else is involved."

"This may sound like a stretch, but what if we really do have memories of other times? What if all of this really did happen before?"

"Then we have to figure out why this is all happening again, whether this is some sort of timeloop or not and what we have to do to break it, and if we can break it at all."

"Do you think we should tell Dumbledore?"

Lierin was silent for a moment; she seemed to ponder on that that thought for a while.

"Actually, I don't think we should burden him with this. He already has the safety of Harry to worry about, he has to keep the dementors in check especially since they were out of line for the second time, he has Sirius Black to worry about..."

"I suppose you are right about that. In the meantime, maybe we can figure out if there are other people beside us and Severus who seem to have these kind of déjà vu's."

"Right, and how do you want to approach them? It's a bit daft just to ask whether they think we're stuck in a time loop or not."

At that Remus had to chuckle."No, you are right again. Well, what do you suggest we do then?"

"Hmm, like I said, we need to determine why this is happening, but just as important, what magic is strong enough that let's us relive an entire era again?"

"In other words...?" asked Remus with a twinkle in his eyes, for he knew all too well the answer to this question.

"Research!" said Lierin cheerfully and she winked at Remus.

"Right you are then. Lierin, there was something else that I needed to talk to you about."

Lierin turned around with a concerned look in her eyes."What is it, Remus? Is something wrong?"

"Well, not necessarily so, but there's something you do need to know. Remember our conversation in the carriage, when we first arrived at Hogwart's? You told me about the goblet and Nightfall's Gain that you took with you."

"Yes, we also discussed why I brought it with me and that to activate the goblet one still needs the potion of spirits, Remus, we went through that already."

"I realise this, but there was something that I neglected to tell you. Something that has to do with Severus."

"With Severus? What about him?"

"You said that in England there are only five wizards alive advanced enough to brew the potion of spirits, one of them being Severus. Now, let us assume that the servant of Voldemort will want to persuade one of these Potion Masters to brew that potion instead of some foreign wizard."

"Yes?"

"I think it's very likely that the servant of Voldemort, be it Sirius or that young man, I think it's very likely that he'll want to persuade Severus in doing so."

"Severus? Remus, that's ridiculous. Just because Severus used to be a big old meanie back in your school days and continues being one today, doesn't mean that he'll brew that potion for the Dark Lord!"

"It's not as farfetched as you think, Lierin," said Remus quietly.

"Oh, and why not? Because he is a dark person and is very interested and skilled in the dark arts? Come on, Remus!"

"No, not because of that. But, Lierin, Severus used to be a deatheater."

Silence.

"A- a deatheater?"

"Yes, until he realised that he was throwing his life away for no better cause than the hunger for power of a madman. He returned to Hogwarts and fell into Dumbledore's good grace, and he has been the Potions Master ever since. He didn't become a teacher because he loves children so much, you know."

Lierin had turned a little pale. "It- it would explain his behaviour towards the students, wouldn't it? If it's true and he used to be a deatheater, he would be an outcast in society. No one would want to be linked with him or work with him. So, his only option for absolution would be to work for Dumbledore," Lierin said softly.

"I'm sorry, Lierin. I did mean to tell you sooner, but you were so worked up about the goblet, I didn't want to trouble you even further."

"That's quite all right, Remus. But do you honestly think that Severus will be a threat?"

"I'm not sure what to think. I'd like to think that Severus would use his common sense and steer away from obvious disaster. Then again, common sense has never been one of Severus' best character traits."

"I'm with you on that one." Lierin sighed deeply and stretched her arms.

"Luckily we still have Christmas to think about first and after that I promise to do some heavy research about the goblets and about time loops and time traveling. But first I tend to do a little snooping around about a former student I have a curious interest in. Does the name Serena Romero ring any bells with you?"

"Can't say it does, why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason, just something Severus said that I found to be very peculiar. Something that might explain a bit of his grudge towards Minerva and her students."

"Ha! Snape has always held a grudge towards Gryffindors."

"Hmm, it still interests me though. There's just something about that girl that fascinates me and something what Severus told me about her struck me as odd."

"Well, have fun digging up her history, but don't forget about me this time!"

"Don't worry, I won't!" said Lierin and she gave him a small peck on his cheek before she left him alone with his thoughts.