Much to Sirius's dismay, the rest of the holidays faded into an indistinct blur of happiness and, before he knew it, the others had to return to Hogwarts and he had to return to Durmstrang. It seemed as if, with that thought, his happiness faded like a wisp of smoke or the spark of magic in a wizard when he died. The last analogy was not made out of experience, he reminded himself, but due to his darker nature and teachings. He was certain one of his professors had used it at one point.
"Well, see you in five months." He drawled, trying to hide his heavy heart, as he faced Zephari, Zoë and Dante on the front steps of The Burrow on their parting day.
"Cheer up, Sirius, it'll fly by." Dante said with a devilish smirk.
"Yeah, I'm sure that if you just keep your chin up, you'll barely notice how cold, boring and damp it is up there." Zoë smirked.
Zephari rolled her eyes, "Ignore them, they're just happy to be going back to see Liam and Nathaniel."
"Am not!" Zoë cried.
"Liar!" Dante accused at the same time.
"Send me a letter as soon as something interesting happens." Sirius told her, smirking at the other two.
"I will, and do cheer up a bit. It's your last five months in that ice cube, after all." She replied, punching him lightly on the shoulder.
"Alright, dears, into the car or you'll be late!" Molly Weasley called.
Sirius watched the three girls run back to the car with happiness in every step. He sighed slightly and crossed his arms. He was not jealous and he was definitely not pouting. Malfoys were neither jealous nor did they pout. He was simply... disappointed, yes. He was disappointed that he could not join them in roaming about their castle of school as he had to return to the damp dungeons that was his.
"All set, Sirius?" Draco asked with a patronizing hand on his shoulder.
"Why do I have to go to Durmstrang anyways, Father? Kai didn't have to, and he's decidedly more interested in the Dark Arts than I am." He demanded, still refusing to admit that he was pouting or being plaintive.
"Because it builds character," His father said dismissively as the Ford Anglia drove away, "Besides, you only have another five months there."
"Five months in a frozen hell." Sirius muttered.
"Language, Sirius," His father warned.
"You use the same foul language I do. Where do you think I learned it?" He replied without thinking.
Draco Malfoy's eyes narrowed, "That is not the matter at hand. You will behave properly and not use foul language in the presence of our host."
"She's back inside already and has only heard one sentence of this conversation." Sirius replied pertly, "And, yes, Father, I am ready."
"Miss Black, please try to pay attention." Professor Corner called.
Zephari looked away from the feather she was supposed to be levitating. "I am, Professor." She said truthfully.
"Then prove it, please." She was told sternly.
Zephari cringed at her Aunt's tone. "Professor, I don't know how else to explain it, but it feels as if the magic is..." She faltered, and gestured helplessly, her wand in her hands. "Well, fading."
"Careful, Miss Black!" She was warned.
However, her careless wand waving had no effect whatsoever when she had been known to light things on fire in previous instances. The entire class had fallen silent and everyone's attention was on the Professor and one of the usually brightest students in their class. Zephari noticed that not even one feather had been levitating.
"Could anyone manage to perform wingardium leviosa?" She demanded, sounding surprised.
Everyone shook their heads in unison and she looked properly shocked. She ran a hand through her red hair, forgetting that she was wearing her hat which toppled off her head. Zephari winced. This meant that she was worried, very worried.
"Please remain here, class, I will return soon." She said distractedly before hurrying out of the room.
Ginevra Weasley-Corner was extremely worried. She went to the stone gargoyle at the entrance to the Headmaster's office. "Parodying Parchment," She told it and it jumped aside.
Usually she made a wry comment to herself about Bill's choice of passwords. At the moment, however, she was more preoccupied with the fact that her first year students could not perform a spell they had mastered long before Halloween. She reached the top of the stairs and knocked.
"Come in." Her brother's voice called.
Ginny walked in and went up to his desk.
"Hello Ginny," He said in surprise, though she cut him off.
"Something's not right." She said firmly.
"Oh?" He asked, his attention riveting fully on her.
"You know that the Gryffindor first-years mastered the Levitating Charm before Halloween, correct?" She paused long enough for him to nod, "Today, not one of them could perform it."
Bill stood up, surprising her with his sudden movement, "They could not perform it?" He repeated.
"Yes. Zephari described it as the magic was fading." Ginny said sharply.
Bill did not respond, simply stared at her for a moment.
"Bill?" She prompted.
"Go back and dismiss your class, then go to the staff room. I will summon the others." He ordered.
Ginny nodded and ran down the rotating steps two at a time. She slowed once past the gargoyle, Slow down, Ginny, don't cause a scene. Don't make anybody who sees you notice something is wrong. Don't panic, we'll figure this out. She ranted at herself.
She swept back into her classroom in a flurry of grey-green robes. "Class dismissed, you are to go back up to your dormitories immediately." She ordered sharply.
The first-years stared at her, stunned.
"I said return to your dormitories, now move it!" She breathed, almost in a snarl.
They broke into a flurry of movement as they put away their wands and scurried out of the room as fast as possible. None of them dared chance their Head of House's wrath.
"But, Ginny... What's going on?" Dante asked, pausing on the threshold with Zoë and Zephari.
"I don't know, but we're going to find out. Now, up to your dormitories; if you're found out of them, the consequences will be severe." Ginny warned and they hustled to obey.
Looking around the room one last time, she turned on her heel and left, whispering a locking charm as she went. She went straight to the staff room, meeting up with Snape and Malfoy outside the door. Dethol arrived moments later, his strides impossibly lengthy and quick to have brought him from out on the grounds to the staff room in the same time as it took for Ginny to dismiss her class. They went through the doors, first to arrive.
"It appears that being the professors most feared by the student populace gave us an advantage." Draco commented wryly.
Seamus and Hannah arrived almost simultaneously. Close behind them were Arthur Stapleton, Charles Astley and Hugo Pillings, teachers of Arithmacy, Muggle Studies and Study of Ancient Runes respectively. Bill Weasley himself entered the room, nodding at all of them as Oliver Wood followed him.
"Luro and Lavender will be down in a few moments. I will wait for them to get here, as Luro is not a Seer and must hear what I have to say." He informed them.
Snape looked rather irritated, "Could you at least tell us what the problem is?" He demanded.
Ginny realized with a start that the majority of the other professors did not teach subjects that involved direct magical use. "My first-year Gryffindors could not perform the simple Levitating Charm that they had mastered long before Halloween." She informed them, "One of them went so far as to describe it as the magic was fading."
"Which one said this?" Arthur Stapleton demanded.
"Zephari Black," Lavender's voice answered from the doorway, where she and an apparently sleep-walking Luro Vega had appeared after their long descent from their tower domains.
"Yes, she would be one to notice, now wouldn't she?" Hugo Pillings murmured.
"Oh?" Charles Astley asked.
"Well, her parents were both extremely magically potent." Hugo told his co-worker, "You remember Athen Black and Lily Weasley, don't you?"
"Lily, I remember. Brilliant student, had a great interest in Muggles, like her grandfather Arthur Weasley..." Charles mused, "And... Ah, yes, Athen was the student most opposed to my class and took it into his hands to remind me just how useless it was to try and co-operate with Muggles every time we passed each other in the corridors."
"Yes, well, she's right." Bill Weasley announced sharply.
"What?" A few demanded, though Ginny had never doubted Zephari's judgement.
"The simple spells are taking more effort than usual." He told them, "The difficult ones even more. Go ahead; try one of the more complex – yet harmless – spells that you know."
They did as he bid them, Ginny taking out her wand and trying a Patronus Charm. She raised an eyebrow; it did not work the first time. She tried again with a bit more concentration and succeeded. Everyone else fared the same, a few choosing the Patronus Charm like she did.
"How can this be?" Dethol demanded as his dragon patronus loomed over him, hissing at everyone close to him.
"Severus, Draco?" Ginny asked, turning to them, as they knew more about the Dark Arts than the others.
"It is possible that Lucius has concocted a potion to hamper the magical abilities of those at Hogwarts." Snape said slowly.
"Or it could be more than that," Draco added in the same manner, "It could be a magical unbalance in the world, due to the loss of so many powerful wizards and witches not too long ago."
"Or both," Lavender said suddenly.
Everyone turned to look at her.
"How can that be?" Hugo demanded.
"Lately, we have not noticed any change in our magical ability." Lavender explained quietly, "By lately, I mean since the war. However, the magical energy from those who died had to go somewhere."
"You're not suggesting it went into the blood relatives?" Ginny asked, staring.
"That's exactly what I'm suggesting, Ginny." Lavender said evenly.
"But then there would have been some effect on those of you who had relatives who died, no?" Dethol asked, then paused, "But only if you were the last living relatives... The magic would take the easiest host possible and, therefore, the youngest so that it would not harm them."
"The children?" Arthur, Charles and Hugo chorused.
Ginny found that it made sense, "And those with more magically potent parents or relatives would have the larger magical ability and, therefore, be more powerful."
"The magic would have evenly dissipated into as many people as possible, though more into the youngest. This year of students are to be the most powerful, I believe." Lavender continued,
Dethol had caught on, "But Lucius, after seeing this, would have decided to act upon it and make us believe that they are not so powerful."
"Except he was distracted or inhibited for a few months. Or it took so long for us to feel the affects, or for them to reach this level." Oliver concluded.
"Of course he was, he had his rebellious son's younger son to chase after." Draco growled, "I had to send the poor boy off to Durmstrang for a year."
"How did that solve anything?" Oliver demanded.
Draco smirked slightly, "Lucius spent a good deal of time trying to find out where I had sent him. He has Kai firmly in his dark grasp, as he does Veronica, with the help of the Parkinson seniors."
"So he may have underestimated the wards on the school, which is why it took it so long to penetrate." Hannah confirmed.
"But what kind of potion or spell did he use?" Seamus demanded.
"A Dampening Drought, except altered or perhaps used in conjunction with a spell or ritual to affect an area, not a person and not need to be ingested." Snape said smoothly.
"A ritual?" Ginny asked, swallowing hard.
"Yes, Ginny, probably a traditional Dark Art ritual..." Draco sighed, "Have any witches or wizards gone missing recently?"
Oliver suddenly looked panicked, "Katie left for work with the International Cooperation Department in Russia during the summer. She was supposed to be back for Christmas and I haven't gotten an owl from her in a while, but I didn't think much of it... She gets absorbed in her work often; it's not the first time we've lost touch when she was late from a trip..." He faltered, beginning to shake, "Oh god..."
Bill Weasley looked at Oliver worriedly and picked up a quill from the desk. "Portus." He murmured, tapping it with his wand. "Oliver, take this to the Ministry in Russia." He ordered, writing a quick message with it and handing both to him, "Return as quickly as possible with your response. If you don't return by dinner, we'll come looking for you."
Oliver swallowed bravely, "Right, I'll be back as soon as magically – and legally – possible."
With that, he vanished.
Ginny looked at her brother, "You don't think they really took Katie, do you Bill?" She asked quietly.
"I don't know, Gin... She's not a virgin; she's had August after all." He murmured.
Draco cleared his throat, "Not all Dark Art rituals involve virgin's blood, just most. In fact, there are quite a few things you can do without it. The fact that Katie and Harry were close... Well, my fa- Lucius, will want to harm as many of those who opposed the Dark Lord during the war, especially Harry's friends."
"Which would mean that Cho is in danger," Ginny said suddenly, her eyes widening.
"Go warn her, Gin," Bill ordered, "Tell her to go into hiding. Hell," He looked at her, "Even you aren't safe."
"I'm not leaving Hogwarts." Ginny said sharply, "But Mother, Father... Everyone, basically; they all need to be warned."
"Go warn them, but Cho needs to be sent to a safe place." Her brother commanded.
"Portus," Ginny said, tapping a quill and picking it up, "I'll be back before dinner as well."
Dethol watched as Ginny vanished with the portkey. "What do you want us to do, Bill?" He asked.
"Heads will inform their Houses that their classes will be suspended and they will be confined to the castle. Assure them that their lack of magical ability will be rectified as soon as possible." The Headmaster ordered, "Severus, Draco will replace you in informing Slytherin House of this, as I need your intellect put to work on how to counter this magical damper. Seamus, you will go inform the Gryffindors in Ginny's stead."
Dethol nodded, "Aye, Headmaster."
Together, he, Draco, Seamus and Hannah left the staff room. Draco and Hannah headed down the stairs, while he and Seamus headed up. The Transfiguration professor looked bursting to ask questions. He inclined his head and the ex-Gryffindor near exploded with words about what he thought of the meeting and the situation. Dethol only listened with half an ear, until Seamus asked a question.
"What do you think, Dethol?" He asked.
"What about?" He asked calmly, striding purposefully beside him.
"About everything we just heard!" Seamus cried.
"Unfortunately, I can't really believe that Katie's still alive. Oliver's my friend as well and I wish she was, but I doubt she is. The times Oliver was referring to was when she was late by one or two days, not weeks. Knowing Lucius, he would have jumped at the opportunity to have her for a sacrifice. As for Cho and the other Weasleys being in danger, I believe that. Cho is Harry's wife, after all, and the Weasleys may as well have been his family. And Ginny... well, you know how they were back in school." Dethol said quietly.
Seamus looked enraged, "Katie's not weak, you know! She could very well still live, she's a powerful witch!" He snapped.
"I know that, Seamus. I was on the wrong end of a few hexes of hers when I insulted Oliver when we met." The ex-Ravenclaw did not allow his irritation to show.
Seamus glared at him, "And don't I know it, that was one hell of a Quidditch match when we eventually got around to playing it." He frowned, "But everyone who was close to Harry is in danger, I have to agree."
They had reached the place where they parted and Dethol was rather grateful. "See you back in the staff room." He said, probably a lot sharper than he meant to.
He reached the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room without difficulty. Even Peeves seemed to be on his best behaviour. He paused and turned to stare at the poltergeist, who was floating dismally down the hallway in front of the door to the dormitory.
"Oy, Peeves!" He called.
"Crazy Kooky Christopher McKarn," Peeves said with a smirk vaguely reminiscent of his usual one and in an attempt at an Irish accent.
"Be serious for a moment, and don't call me that." He snapped, "You look even more translucent than usual, are you feeling alright?"
"No." He was told bluntly by the little man, "Not been right since Halloween."
"Yes, the ghosts would have been the first affected..." Dethol mused before entering the rooms.
As soon as he entered, the majority of his house gathered in the proudly decorated room. The furniture had navy cushions and there was bronzed brown wood panelling and flooring everywhere. It had a kind of 'cottage in the woods' look, though prouder and more regal. The Ravenclaw insignia was on a bronze plaque above the fireplace, which always had blue flames. House pride was something Ravenclaws rarely spoke of, but had a lot.
"Ravenclaws, come to the common room!" He called in a booming voice which echoed throughout the tower.
He counted the seventy students three times to make sure they were all present. The first-years looked the least nervous of all, while the seventh years looked alarmed. That made sense, the seventh years would be most aware of their loss of magical ability.
"As you are all aware, your classes were put on hold this morning," He began, speaking loudly and clearly, "This will continue to be the case until we manage to rectify what has happened. The magical energies of everyone in this school have been severely dampened, as you may have noticed with your difficulty to perform more difficult spells. You will not be allowed to leave the castle itself until further notice."
Babble had broken out and he held out his wand, letting out a sound like a muggle gunshot, which brought silence as effectively as a Silencing Charm.
"I was not finished." He snapped, "This is important and if you do not wish to pay attention then you will be harmed if you attempt any magic. We do not know what is happening, so it is best not to take chances. You are supposed to be the smartest of the four Houses, please show it by exercising caution.
"Thus, no classes, no leaving the castle and absolutely no performing magic until you are told otherwise by a Hogwarts professor." He concluded, "Not following these rules will lead to the direst of consequences..."
There was a stunned silence following his declaration and he nodded before leaving the room again. He was the crazy demon-raiser, they would respect him. And, until further notice, he would be the only one to go outside on a daily basis. He would have to confer with the centaurs.
"Bloody hell, I hate centaurs." He groaned to himself as he descended the stairs again, "And they hate anyone that has anything to do with Hogwarts... All because of that whole Firenze fiasco," He quieted, "Firenze was probably the most honourable one of all. At least they let us in the forest again nowadays..."
"Talking to yourself again, McKarn?" The Bloody Baron demanded, gliding alongside him.
"Will you ghosts just stop calling me that?" He demanded, glaring at the extremely translucent being covered in silver bloodstains.
"I hear the school is on lockdown..." The ghost drawled.
"Yes, it is. And, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to a meeting and then deal with those hell-horses that live in that damned forest." He muttered distractedly and walked through him with just a bit of a shiver into the staff room.
"The ghosts have begun fading," He announced to those who had all returned before him.
"How do you know?" Charles asked.
"Peeves was being reasonable and told me that he began feeling odd around Halloween, not to mention the Bloody Baron stooped as low as to talk to me." Dethol informed him.
"Wow, this really is bad..." Hannah sighed, sitting down in a chair heavily.
"And it's just beginning." Bill added firmly.