Chapter 24: The Night Ends
Charlie sneezed hard twice. "Dammit," he said in a strangely pitched voice, as it modulated from Percy's precise tones to his own more relaxed sound, and sneezed again. "I forgot what these things do when they wear off."
Ron and Bill were also seized with fits of sneezing, Fred and George succumbing a moment later. Their wives laughed and Arthur snapped a shot or two of them all sneezing in a row as their faces returned to more-or-less normal.
"Come on, gentlemen, we've got a job to do," Bill said, heading for the gymnasium entrance. "Bedtime for kiddies."
"Oh, Fred, love, take special care with those girls of mine," Angelina called. "The charms should have worn off by now, but they're going to be dizzy for a while."
"Will do," Fred called back.
"And we need to go move Helen and Marie and Elizabeth," Ginny said. "The others need to wake up in their own dorm if we're going to convince them it was all a dream, and I don't want them anywhere near our girls."
"Good point. Where should we bunk them?" Alicia asked.
"They can come in with us," Ginny said. "Three more beds shouldn't be a problem."
"I'll go and get them ready," said Minerva, and Disapparated.
"Thanks," said Ginny to the air where Minerva had just been. "Merlin, she's fast. Alicia, Angelina, coming?"
-----
Fred and George had no trouble finding the girls Angelina and Alicia had pranked. They were leaning against a wall, giggling weakly, with their eyes somewhat unfocused.
"Come on, midgets, bedtime," George said. "Where's your bedroom?"
"Downstairs?" ventured one of the girls. The rest found this highly amusing.
The twins, both experienced fathers, exchanged a look that said, Up too late for sure. "Who wants a ride?" Fred asked.
"Not like the last one?" another girl said.
"No, not like the last one. Just down the stairs and to bed. Everyone hop on." Fred created something resembling a large stretcher. The girls eyed it warily. One of them went up to it and gingerly poked it.
"Why're you so mean?" asked a third girl in a whiny tone. "Why'd you come in here and be so mean? We didn't do nothing."
"Oh, so that wasn't you threatening to make a new girl lick the bathroom floor?" George asked sarcastically. "Or maybe you didn't say you'd lock her up in the closet?"
The girl made a face. "You're still mean. And I don't like you."
"Well, we're just a big dream, so you don't have to like us," said Fred. "You can wake up tomorrow and we'll be gone. And it's time for you to go to bed."
"Why d'we have to go to bed if we're already asleep?" the fourth girl wanted to know.
"So you can wake up, of course," George said, rolling his eyes. "Silly question. Come on, now. Everybody on."
Slowly, the girls climbed on the canvas, the whiner last of all and still looking deeply mistrustful. When they were settled, the twins guided their impromptu bus down the stairs and around the corners to a dorm where three of the beds were still turned down and warm.
George snagged Helen's duffel from her bed while Fred used a quiet Searching Spell to find Marie's belongings and collect them. The girls were already asleep by the time they left.
-----
Down the hall, Charlie had patched up the scrapes of the boys who had run themselves into a wall aiming for Bill and Percy, while Ron restored the clothing of the girls Hermione and Penelope had hexed and (with a little prompting from Hermione) collected Elizabeth Petrov's things. Neither group had needed convincing that it would be a good idea to go to bed, and all of them were deeply asleep, worn out by a combination of stress and the late hour, almost before they hit the pillows.
Bill had had to coax the boys Fleur had scared out of the classroom where they'd hidden, but he had done it in the end, and they too were now peacefully asleep. He had seen Gabriel sleeping in his baby seat outside a different classroom nearby, but he had no qualms about leaving his son there. Fleur might enjoy teasing a man to the point of near-madness, as he knew all too well, but she was devoted to him and to their children. If she had left Gabe there, she was nearby enough (and not too deeply involved) to hear him if he cried, and she would panic if Bill took him without telling her.
And, to be honest, he didn't want to disturb her.
Although it might be funny to see her victim's look when he walked in and introduced himself as Fleur's husband.
No, let her be. She's an expert at this. As expert as Percy and Penny are at paperwork and bureaucracy.
Wonder how they're coming?
-----
Tom Lutch stopped outside his office.
The light should not be on in there.
But nothing is going as it should tonight. Why should this be any different?
He opened the door onto a scene from one of his private nightmares.
One of the identical red-haired men he'd seen so many of around the school, and the dark-curly-haired woman who had informed him coolly that afternoon that she preferred promises to threats, were calmly and professionally going through his files.
All his files. Including the private ones.
From the piles of papers on the floor, they'd been at it for some time.
"What the HELL do you think you're doing?" he yelled.
They both looked at him as if he was mad.
"We're investigating your papers," the man said dryly.
"Yes! Thank you! What I want to know is, why?"
"Because you're a child abuser and you shouldn't be allowed to have custody over children," the woman said, slowly, as if she thought he were a bit thick. "I've spoken with one of your professors – Ms. Docson, I believe? – who will be making the necessary arrangements in the morning."
This has to be a nightmare. "Necessary arrangements. For what, exactly?"
"For your arrest and removal as Head of this school," said the man smugly. "In fact, I doubt very much whether Goldenrod Academy as you know it will exist tomorrow. We thought it would be prudent to examine your files before we let you know, in case you felt the need to destroy evidence. But there was one thing I wanted to ask you about." He reached into a thick stack of folders and pulled out one unerringly. "This young man, Mr. Prewitts. Justin Prewitts. He has a very interesting letter in his file. When did it come?"
The Headmaster leaned against the wall to steady himself and forced himself to think. "Yesterday – no, two days ago now. It was in with the morning mail, I couldn't figure out how it had come, since there's no stamp, no return..."
"So you opened it," the woman said. "And what did you think?"
"I thought it was obviously written by a bunch of loonies out for kicks. The green ink was a bit of a tip-off..." Lutch trailed off.
"And Minerva wouldn't have known, since standard wait-time on response is three days," the man said musingly to the woman. "They only shorten it up if there's either special interest in the case or if the letter's destroyed..."
"And since this was merely filed, it wouldn't have triggered anything," the woman said, nodding. "We'll have to make sure his mother gets it. We will, of course, be arranging for the children to be transported home safely," she added to Lutch. "We've already started contacting parents and guardians. But we'll leave the rest till morning, everyone needs their sleep."
Sleep would be nice. Even better if I could wake up and find out this was all a bad dream...
"Are we interrupting?" asked a cold voice from the door.
"No, we're just leaving," said the woman, pulling a slim stick out of a pocket and waving it at the stacks of folders on the floor. They lifted up and flew neatly back into the filing cabinets, which opened to receive them. "He's all yours."
"Enjoy," the red-haired man added, though Lutch couldn't tell who was being addressed – himself, or the dark-haired, hook-nosed man in the doorway, who stepped aside for the man and woman to leave.
Or possibly it was the enormous wolf that followed the man inside. The wolf which had been a man at the beginning of the night.
So werewolves really exist, then? I always thought they were supposed to be wild and uncontrollable... maybe he's got this one under his control... what an inspiring thought.
The creature certainly didn't look wild. It was wandering around his office, sniffing at things, and gave a bark that sounded like laughter when it noticed the wallpaper.
"As amusing as your peregrinations undoubtedly are, Moony, our time here is somewhat limited," the dark-haired man said, waving his stick – wand, probably – around in the air to create a comfortable-looking armchair facing Lutch's desk, behind which he was currently collapsed, grateful for his desk chair's armrests. "I suggest you curl up and relax."
The werewolf displayed its tongue in the wizard's direction for a moment, then turned around three times and lay down, eyes fixed disquietingly on Lutch.
"Any questions?" the wizard asked coolly as he took his seat.
"Why are you doing this?" Lutch blurted out, unable to contain himself any longer. All the fear he had felt throughout this night converted itself into rage in one instant. "I find it rather disturbing that you feel you have the right to walk in here and start these... these... terrorist activities! It's – it's awful, it's nauseating! You accuse me of child abuse – look at yourselves! I saw at least one boy who looked like he had a concussion, a group of girls who couldn't even walk – "
"The boy concussed himself running into a wall when one of my brothers-in-law dodged out of his way, and we've fixed him up – he'll be fine," the man said, looking annoyed. "And the girls were no dizzier than they'd be getting off any amusement park ride. All of them are asleep now, and none of them are harmed. As far as they know, this was a particularly strange dream. There will be no physical evidence that it was otherwise. You, on the other hand..."
The man's black eyes narrowed, and suddenly he was more menacing than he had been before, if such a thing were possible. "You are a disgrace to the name of Headmaster. I would love to know how you found your way into this job, how you managed to get into a position of power over children. But it doesn't matter. What matters is that you are disgusting. You harm children with your power – permanently harm them, scar them physically and emotionally, not just give them a scare as we have done."
"It was disciplinary only," Lutch said defensively, hearing the words ring hollow even in his own ears.
"I quote. 'You will be fun to break, won't you.' You said that to a child earlier today."
The werewolf growled.
"You get some kind of enjoyment out of hurting these children. And you encourage them to hurt one another. Bullying is rampant in your school, and you do nothing to stop it. The children we singled out were the ones we had learned were the worst offenders, locking other students in closets and bathrooms, stealing food and personal items – and you did nothing. I find it hard to believe you did not know."
"There will always be some of that in any school," Lutch said faintly. "More here than most, because these kids are troublemakers. Firm discipline is necessary..."
"I agree," the other man said. "Firm discipline is necessary. But most schools and homes maintain discipline without the use of things like that." He jerked his thumb at the pile of sticks in the corner. "Most children of the ages represented in your school can be talked to, reasoned with. They are thinking, rational beings. They are not yet adults, but they are not dumb animals either. And they are damn well not supposed to be abused!"
Lutch cowered in his chair. His mind had almost ceased to work, instead producing stupid tidbits like I wonder when he last washed his hair, and that's odd, his eyes look almost green up close...
The werewolf lifted its nose, sniffing, then leapt up and hurried over, tugging at the wizard's robes and whining.
"What?" the man snapped in a different tone altogether, turning away from Lutch. "Oh. All right." He straightened up, keeping his back to the desk. "I'll be leaving you with Moony now," he said, still in the new tone of voice. "He can let himself out in the morning."
He sounds more reasonable now. Polite. Almost friendly.
What am I thinking? He's leaving me alone with a werewolf!
"And I wouldn't worry. He hasn't bitten anyone in years."
Lutch couldn't help it. He whimpered.
The werewolf gave a dog-like grin, tongue lolling out, as the wizard sneezed and hurried out of the room.
-----
Harry's eyes were watering so much he could barely see. But he knew the touch on his arm, and the sound of the amused voice.
"Here." A tissue was placed in his hand. "Forgot, didn't you?"
"Yes." Harry blew his nose hard. "They had to pick this as a side effect. Of everything they could have had, it had to be this."
"It's helped you out a few times over the years, hasn't it? All you've had to do is ask after people who had a perpetual head cold."
"That only works when the idiots are too stupid to remember to take them every half-hour," Harry retorted, blotting the tissue across his eyes. "Which, luckily, quite a few of them are. Thank God this improved version never got on the general market. We have enough problems as it is."
"Such as how to deal with a school full of children who need to be gotten safely home?"
"I was thinking more about how to keep your mother from killing my cousin, but that'll do."
"Oh, don't worry, she doesn't want him dead," Ginny said, twining her arm into Harry's. "She wants him to suffer."
"And just what does she plan to do to make him suffer?"
"Well..." Ginny smiled mischievously. "Let's just say she has a plan worthy of someone bigger than herself."
-----
Molly Weasley was quite pleased with the results of her night's work so far.
I've gotten a weight off my mind; I've been wanting to say all of that to that – woman – for a long time. And I gave her a reminder of what she's behaved like. And then that revolting little boy. Merciful heavens, how he could be Helen's twin I will never know. If he's anything like she says he is, that spell may never lift!
So, now I take on my last task of the night. After this, most of the wizards planned to bed down, taking it in shifts to patrol the school for signs of trouble. Remus was the exception, of course – but he stays up all night at full moon anyway, he's used to it.
Fleur, who had been the only one unaccounted for after the Quidditch game, had returned to the wizards' home base about ten minutes before Molly had left, cradling Gabriel in her arms and smiling in a deeply satisfied way. Molly suspected there was an extremely stunned young man somewhere in this school, but she had never had any reason to doubt the fidelity of her part-veela daughter-in-law. Fleur can exhaust a man more without doing one improper thing than most women could with a striptease...
She shook her head. Honestly, I'm as bad as the boys, she thought. Keep your mind on your work, Molly. Find the man, curse the man, say your piece, and leave.
Well, maybe not in that order.
Finding him should be easy. She had looked at the makeshift Map before she left, and it had located him in a ground floor dormitory. She was almost there now.
She knocked at the door. No answer, but she hadn't really expected one.
It was locked, but a quick "Alohomora" fixed that. She turned the knob and stepped in.
"What do you want now?" Marcie hissed vehemently, looking up from the bed where Chester seemed to be asleep. "Haven't you done enough?"
Molly ignored them, focusing on Dudley, who seemed to be trying to get away from her without getting out of his chair.
"I don't like you much," she said conversationally. "You tormented my son when you were boys together. You neglected my granddaughter, your own flesh and blood. So I would like to remind you of something that happened when you were eleven, and give you my opinion on it."
Dudley made a strangled squealing noise in his throat as Molly slowly pointed her wand at him.
"Hagrid didn't go nearly far enough," she said contemptuously. "You swine."
She gave the twist and jerk she'd practiced. Dudley squealed again as he experienced what Molly was sure was at least one familiar sensation – a curly, pink pig's tail erupting on his bottom – and one or two he probably wasn't familiar with – specifically, his ears and eyes becoming porcine as well. Although with the eyes, really, there wasn't much visible change.
"The ears will fade in about a week," Molly said, lowering her wand. "And the eyes in two. The tail stays, though, unless you go and get it removed again, which I wouldn't recommend, as this one's charmed to grow back longer every time you do."
"You've ruined our lives," Marcie snarled. "What can you possibly have to say for yourself?"
"Two things," Molly responded calmly. "First, your lives are exactly as ruined as you make them. You can always call in sick for a week or two, or take a vacation, or even wear a hat for heaven's sake. You'll look perfectly normal in public – both of you – within a short period of time. And your son's not harmed at all – in fact, people might actually consider him smarter now, though that might be damaging to him once they find out the truth."
Marcie sputtered.
"What's the second thing?" Dudley asked dully, feeling around one of his new ears.
"Good-bye," Molly said evenly, and walked out.
That was... rather satisfying. Yes, I do believe I enjoyed that.
-----
In the Headmaster's office, Remus Lupin was bored.
I wonder if he has anything I haven't read?
He went over to the bookshelf, mostly there for show judging by the dust on most of the contents, balanced himself with his front paws on an upper shelf, and studied the titles, clearly visible to his night-sight.
Well, I haven't read this one in a while... it'll do.
He pulled the large, hardbound book from the shelf with a paw, and it hit the floor with a thud, making Lutch whimper again.
Remus rolled his eyes and pawed the book carefully open, licking his claw to turn the pages.
Chapter One. "The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close..."
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(A/N: Any fans of Kraeg001 and his fic "Heir of Gryffindor", which I have occasionally borrowed from, see my bio page... and he is now writing on FanFiction under the name "Quillian". Check him out!
Gyre: I agree... thanks!
Nalini213: Thanks for the idea for what Molly does to Dudley! About the Quidditch game, the team of Harry, Ginny, Fred, George, and Bill beat the team of Minerva, Ron, Charlie, Angelina, and Alicia. Yes, Percy does sound like he got hit with a stray Civililingua and never recovered. As for Fleur... use your imagination.
athenakitty: Yes.
emikae: Thank you, I am flattered!
Lady Cinnibar: Would you be referring to the work of GreenGecko? I'm following it out of curiosity as to where the name comes from... I've been lucky so far in that a friend of mine has graciously allowed me the use of her Favorites list, so I've mostly read the good ones. But I'm sure there's quite a lot of crap. Glad I'm not, in your qualified opinion, part of it.
Stahchild: Extenuating Circumstances is my only Sirius-comes-back fic. My big work (the Resonance/Home At Last universe) I'm trying to keep canon. At least until HBP comes out... ::grins to self:: So you want to know who James Black is... not telling yet! Hah! But it's probably not as exciting as you think it is... just wait for sequel, there will be excitement. And fun. And trouble.
Kraeg001: Dude. Sorry you got axed. Here's hoping...
Annikaya: Thank you for getting it!
LadyRaven13: Oops. Sorry I messed you up. They're looking for Tom Lutch, the Headmaster at Goldenrod.
Borg: Your resistance is futile. I will keep writing.
harryp123: Thanks as always!
Tanydwr: Thank you so much! I had fun thinking that up – my online English-to-Latin translator is my best friend.
Agh. My friends are speculating about "what will happen in the end" in canon. Lanie is floating the "Harry dies" theory and Lizzie's on about Ron. I'm just going to post this and mind my own business...)