Chapter Five

The Standoff

When Corey sent Cheshire asking them to come as early as possible, Jennifer didn't hesitate, quickly making coffee and putting together a quick breakfast for the children so that they could be on their way. By the time they got there, quite a number of excited people were standing around talking, including the local sheriff, a Muggle named Keepser. Curiously enough Archie Peasegood was there as well, Minister from the Accidental Magic office.

"What happened?" Severus asked once they managed to work their way over to the counter. Corey took their lists with a sigh.

"The shop got broken into last night. A Muggle-style robbery, although I don't know how one would have gotten past Uncle Sirius' magic alarms without help," Corey explained in a low voice. "Several rather sensitive potions were taken from stock. Not only that, but when we were taking inventory, I ran into a rather strange discrepancy in some of my ingredients which coincidentally match the components that would have been needed for that transfiguration potion at the party."

"How convenient," Severus said.

"Yes, isn't it though?" Corey said angrily. "Someone is trying to set me up."

"I'd definitely think that was an understatement," Jennifer agreed.

"I'm sure this is connected to the resurgence of protests in the Council about this town. In fact, some of them went back into heavy campaigning against it since the party," Corey said in a low voice, gazing over their shoulders at the investigators.

"Corey, you know this town has plenty of support that isn't going to budge because of this, including the Minister of Magic and quite a number of others in the Ministry. I'm sure they can tell this is a set up," Jennifer said, gazing over at Arnie who was talking to one of Corey's assistants.

"Either way, my shop did get broken into, and if they can say that a Muggle could have possibly done it on their own, I'm in trouble," Corey said.

"Does Dumbledore know about this yet?" Severus asked.

"No, do you think we should tell him?" Corey asked.

"Considering how much time and effort he has put into this town, he would want to know," Severus nodded. "Excuse me a moment, I think I'll send up a Flame."

"Everything on your end of the counter has been checked already if you need to get anything from the bins," Corey told them, gazing at the list in his hand.

"Alex, could you help your sister pick out a potion kit, please?" Jennifer asked. "And then perhaps the four of you can get some tea over at the table. Try not to get in the officers' ways."

"How typical. At the first sign of trouble, they send us for tea," Aurelius said grumpily as he and Andrew walked to the table. "If we're always such an inconvenience, why did they bother having us in the first place?"

"Come on, Aurelius, this is serious," Andrew said. "You know how dangerous potions can be if someone doesn't know what they are. What if a Muggle did get a hold of them? What if they tried to take them all at once and get turned into a blind dragon bewitched into falling in love with toads or something?"

"Then I think they'd be pretty easy to spot, wouldn't they?" Aurelius snickered.

"Poor Corey," Alex said when the girls came over, Alicia's potion kit in hand. "He looks so worried."

"So do Mum and Father," Alicia agreed. "Who do you suppose would have broken into this place?"

"Someone who couldn't afford potions?" Andrew asked.

"Anyone who knew Corey would know if they needed them that badly, he would gladly just give it to them," Alex said. Aurelius rolled his eyes.

"Yes, of course, not only is he a vigilante by night but a philanthropist mudlover by day."

"Aurelius. You know we normally look the other way when it comes to you and Corey," Andrew said sternly. "But right now I think you ought to shut your trap."

"And who's going to make me? You?" Aurelius asked.

"Please, let's not fight today," Alicia pleaded.

But Alex was distracted by a strange sound and wasn't listening to the argument. Just then, Ederick Thurspire and two others from the Ministry stepped in the door. Ederick had a grim look on his face and a paper in his hand. Rather than straining to hear from the table, the four children quickly found things to browse closer to the counter, trying to find out what was going on.

"Thurspire, I don't care what your report says. I turned the Sensomagic Alarm system on before I went to bed last night," Corey said. "I have perfect recall."

"Was it on this morning when you went to open the shop?" Ederick said.

"No, it didn't appear to be. Whoever broke in must have turned it off," Corey said.

"Then it would have gone off or at least have shown some signs of being tampered with," Ederick said. "The magic alarms weren't affected in any way; not tampered, not stopped, they were just off. Whoever broke in did so with common Muggle tools, and there are no prints of any spells being cast in the building since nine p.m. when you turned out a light. That alarm could not have been turned off except by someone from the inside. Does anyone else have a key to the shop? Your clerks?"

"No, just Essie and Dad," Corey said. "Neither of them were at the shop yesterday at all. Essie was tagging the winter Slumber Sheep stock, and Mom and Dad took the family to Diagon Alley." Jennifer nodded in confirmation.

"Well, the break-in didn't happen during the day, did it?" Thurspire pointed out.

"Corey, do you leave any windows open at night?" Severus asked.

"In the attic, but open just enough for mail drops. Cheshire has a cat door, and he tends to stay out all night."

"Perhaps someone used a familiar to turn off the alarm, especially if they knew Cheshire's habits and guessed he wouldn't be there to alert you," Severus suggested.

"They still would have had to have pass the back room if they had come in that way, which would have been armed with the alarm until it was shut off," Corey replied.

"You're not helping," Severus pointed out.

"Sorry, Dad," Corey grimaced.

"And I'm sorry, Corey, no really, I am," Thurspire said when Corey and Severus gave him a look of disbelief. "But as far as we can tell, your word or not, the evidence points to that alarm not getting turned on last night."

"And then some Muggle just happened to pick the particular night that it happened to be off to try and rob the place?" Corey challenged him.

"I'm open to any other suggestions," Thurspire said evenly. "In fact, if I didn't know you better, I'd almost think you might have set yourself up." Jennifer dove between Severus, Corey, and Thurspire, hearing knuckles crack. "If you assault me again, I will have you thrown in jail," he warned Severus.

"Yes, but then I'd have the moment to think back on," Severus reasoned.

"Severus, please! Let's not get into a war with the Ministry," Jennifer pleaded. "Thurspire, we just want this solved as quickly as possible."

"Have you finished compiling the list of items stolen?" Thurspire asked.

"Uh, almost. We still have two more shelves to count," Corey admitted.

"Here, let me help you," Severus said, slipping behind the counter. "For some reason counting skinned, headless gulletworms seems more preferable than having to speak to one right now."

"Your husband is so charming, I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't want to live with him," Thurspire said sarcastically as they walked off, Jennifer looking at him completely unamused.

"Excuse me," Alex said, stepping up from behind a counter before any of the others could stop her. "Can I ask you something, Deputy Thurspire?"

"Well, I'm rather busy at the moment, as you can see," Thurspire said, waving her off as he attempted to identify a strange sound that seemed to have come from outside, glancing at the Ministry team who were oblivious to both the noise and Ederick himself.

"When a Muggle robs a chemist, how often do they read the labels?" she asked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I mean, don't they normally just take the money and run? Was there any money missing?" Alex asked.

"No, as Mr. Willowby has pointed out, it was in his safe."

"But his safe looks like any other safe, even to a Muggle," Alex reasoned. "And that would be equipped its own alarm, wouldn't it? Doesn't it seem odd to you that they wouldn't even try to get into it? That there wouldn't even be a scratch? And isn't it odd that the potions missing are on different shelves, different full shelves? Why pick some and not others unless they knew what they were?"

"Miss Snape, I suggest you stay out of Ministry business. There's nothing you can say that we haven't already thought of. And, as you can plainly see, the contents of the bottles are perfectly labeled pointing out their uses, simplistic for wizards of any background. Even a Muggle could understand what something like 'Cures warts' means." Thurspire said.

"But that's exactly my point," Alex said stubbornly. "When you rob a shop, you don't stop to read the labels. During a robbery, there wouldn't have been enough time for a Muggle to read every single label to figure out what they wanted." Thurspire stared at her then glanced over at Jennifer who was nodding approvingly.

"She's a lot like you, you know," Thurspire said, and then glanced at the door where the other kids were gathered by the front window. "And what are you three up to?"

"There's an autobus outside," Andrew said. "Nothing special, though. One level. A bunch of tourists."

"A bunch of what?" Arnie said, popping out from behind a shelf.

"Quick! Secure the shop!" Thurspire shouted, casting a disguise spell to put himself in Muggle clothes before he ran out. Behind him, the Ministry Enforcers pulled down dark blinds that hadn't been there a moment before, covering all of the windows, and switching the sign on the door from 'Open' to 'Closed'. "Since when has this been a tourist stop?" he asked, the kids following behind him curiously.

"Since never," Andrew said.

"First time I've seen it," Alicia agreed.

"I don't think the town is even on the road signs or any maps," Alex added. Jennifer came outside then, casting disguise spells on the kids and herself. "Mum! The shop sign!"

"Wait! They already saw it!" Thurspire hissed, trying to get Jennifer to put away her wand. The tour group, consisting of what appeared to be mostly little old ladies with a few extremely bored-looking families mixed in were gawking at the tiny town as if it had been the only tiny town they had seen that day, and there were flashes from their cameras. "If anyone asks, it's a florist shop that went out of business."

"Right," Jennifer agreed.

"Good mornin'," a copper haired woman said cheerfully, her daughter by her side drinking out of a foam cup. "Do you live here?"

"Oh, I'm just visiting," Thurspire smiled. "Are you lost? Does your driver need directions back to the main road perhaps?"

"Do you even know how to get back to the main road?" Jennifer murmured to him.

"I was hoping you did," Thurspire murmured back. Jennifer shrugged.

"No, but we were wondering how to get to the shore from here?" she asked.

"Sure, you just follow that …"

Jennifer grabbed Alex and pulled her over before Alex could finish what she was saying.

"Oh, it's really not all that accessible from here. We're on a bluff, you know, it's very rocky and all of that," Jennifer explained.

"That's why they call it Witch's Bluff then, I suppose," the copper haired woman said. Thurspire and Jennifer paled noticeably, while the children looked at each other in confusion.

"No, the town's name is Haven's Bluff," Jennifer said. "Wherever did you hear it called that?"

"Why, in the brochure, of course!" The woman said, feeling around. "Oh, dear! I left mine in the bus. Kitty, how about running ahead and getting it for me, and maybe buy me another cup of that nice lemonade, there's a girl. Now then, perhaps you can tell us where's a good place to view the bluff from here?"

"Someone's selling lemonade?" Andrew asked hopefully.

"Yes, the little girl by the bus, such a darling little thing! I bet she's glad we happened by today, eh?" the woman laughed, looking over at small lemonade stand. But the little girl wasn't there. "Now, where did she go?"

It was in that moment that Jennifer came to the horrifying conclusion that something strange about the mysterious girl and the lemonade stand. But before Jennifer had time to question it, the woman in front of her became rigid, growing taller and taller until at last Jennifer and Thurspire found themselves looking at the trunk of an oak tree.

"Craters!" Jennifer cursed as Thurspire ran for the shop. "Children, get inside, now!" She turned once more to see a young boy suddenly turn into a man, while beside him an old woman found that she could dance Russian ballet with perfection. Reluctantly the four Snapes went inside, but the curtain on one side of the shop was pulled up and their faces became glued to the window.

"Round them up as quickly as possible! Make sure we get everyone who was on that bus!" Arnie barked at the others.

Jennifer fumbled for her potion wallet, slipping out a phial, which she promptly poured over the base of the tree. The liquid seeped up its length. A moment later, the woman was standing there again, crying hysterically.

"It'll be all right, I'm sure it was just a dizzy spell," Jennifer improvised helplessly, putting an arm around her and taking her to sit with a group of others that the Ministry had cured of the tainted lemonade. Many of them were shaking like leaves or complaining that the brochure said nothing about cheesy publicity stunts. "It's just the heat, you're not used to the air here is all. Relax, we'll get you some water," Jennifer told them.

"Thanks for the help, Jennifer," Thurspire said, waving the rest of the Ministry officers to bring the other Muggles over to the larger group. "You'd better go in so we can finish cleaning this up. Everything's fine now, we got it."

"Clean it up?" Jennifer repeated and then turned to stare at Thurspire, reading his expression.

"Please. Inside, Jennifer, I don't want to disturb you," Thurspire insisted, waving his wand towards the shop.

"You're going to Obliviate them?" Jennifer realized.

"We are going to professionally and effectively adjust their memory so that this incident doesn't disturb them, yes," Thurspire admitted. Jennifer stood up slowly and smiled thinly.

"Over my dead body you are," Jennifer said. The thin smile becoming strangely cold.

"Jennifer," Thurspire said warningly, glancing at Arnie. "Come away from the tourists, please."

As Arnie slowly began to get out his wand, Jennifer caught sight of it from the corner of her eye. Immediately slipping her wand out of her sleeve, she blasted it out of his hand. A split second later it was in her left hand and she was waving dangerously at the Ministry assistants next to her, while her normal wand was pointed at Thurspire's head.

"Back off," Jennifer said in an even voice. Her left-hand wand gestured for the wizards on the left to move over to where the Enforcers were standing behind Thurspire. "Get over there now, or you'll be looking for Thurspire's head for months!"

"Do as she says," Arnie told them. "I think she's serious."

"Back up, Thurspire! I'm not telling you again!" Jennifer shouted at him. Reluctantly, he stepped backwards in front of the rest of the Ministry wizards. "It's all right, just stay behind me. I'm not going to let them harm you," she told the Muggles in a much gentler tone.

"Jennifer, we were not going to harm them," Thurspire said.

"Shut up!" she snapped angrily. "You have no idea what harm that spell actually does to them, or to anyone!"

"Jennifer, I realize you're upset. But do you realize what you're doing?" Thurspire asked evenly. "You are threatening members of the Ministry of Magic who are trying to do their jobs. There will be a tribunal over this if you don't listen to me and surrender now."

"He's right, Jennifer," Arnie said calmly. "Please, as a friend, listen to him."

"No, you are going to listen to me," Jennifer snapped. "Because if all of you don't put your wands on the ground now, so help me by all that's sacred I will pierce you with a shriek that will rip your eardrums out of your head and leave your ghosts deaf forever!"

"I think she's serious," Arnie said again.

"Expelliarmus!" Jennifer jumped at the sound of Severus' voice as a Ministry Enforcer came flying out of the door of the shop, his wand quickly snatched up by her husband as he came to join her.

"Snape! Talk some sense into her, man! It's not worth what's going to happen if this goes any further!" Thurspire told him as he passed them.

"So much for not going to the war with the Ministry," Severus said, ignoring Thurspire as he took his place beside her, turning so he could see behind her as well.

"I changed my mind," Jennifer told him. "Thurspire, I don't want to kill any of you, but I will if that's what it's going to take to end this. Put your wands down. Now!"

Just then there was a loud * pop * as someone Apparated in near the bus. Severus immediately turned his wand to the direction of the sound; relaxing when he saw a very surprised Albus Dumbledore looking between the two groups thoughtfully.

"I suppose a briefing to the standoff would be out of the question?" Dumbledore asked, looking thoughtfully over the frightened but attentive group of tourists watching the exchange.

"My guess would be that Thurspire attempted to cast the Obliviation Charm," Severus said casually but still keeping his guard.

"Ah," Dumbledore said. "I suppose I'm over here then," he said, stepping over to where Severus and Jennifer were standing as Thurspire's face turned from resolve to horror. "Ederick, I would suggest that you do whatever it is that Jennifer's demanded you to do quite expeditiously. I really don't want to spend my entire day scraping corpses off this otherwise picturesque street corner. Whatever it is that she's told you is going to happen if you do not do as she says, I quite imagine will happen if you don't."

Thurspire gazed steadily at Jennifer then, sizing her up like a rival in a high stakes poker game. Finally he flipped over his wand and put it down, the rest of the Ministry officers who hadn't done so yet following suit.

"Could you gather their wands, Severus?" Jennifer asked. Without question, Severus waved his wand at them and they came over to him like a magnet, quickly gathering them up. "Watch them a moment," she murmured to him. She turned back to the tourists, stepping up with an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm so very sorry for the inconvenience! Please, everything's going to be all right," Jennifer said, getting their attention. "I'm afraid this town was being used by the military to test new hallucinogens, and we of the ah… non-military protection agency… have been in the middle of a sting operation to bust them for their crude, cruel, and unreliable practices," Jennifer said, glaring at the Ministry to make sure they knew she meant that last part. "I hope that I didn't frighten you with my um…" she glanced at her wand thoughtfully.

"Laser stick?" Dumbledore suggested.

"Yes, laser stick! Now, um, why don't we go to the local church so you can relax and recover for a bit?"

"A government conspiracy," said the boy who had been an adult a few moments before. "I knew it."

"Jennifer, let me take care of this for you. I'm sure Pachem and I can handle it," Dumbledore said. "Besides, I do believe you have another matter to attend to now."

"Yes," Jennifer agreed solemnly. "Thank you," she added, receiving a smile in return.

She waited until they were well out of sight, turning back to where Severus was standing. She took a few deep breaths to give Dumbledore a little more time to get the tourists away.

Finally she glanced at the door of the shop where Corey nodded to her. Then she flipped her wand over, holding it out to Thurspire with the handle towards him in surrender. Severus immediately did the same, dropping all the wands he was holding with the same calm look on his face that she had.

"This really wasn't the smartest thing you've ever done, Jennifer," Thurspire said, as she held out her wrists obediently when he got out the cuffs.

"Perhaps not," Jennifer said. "But at least I'm going to be able to live with myself in the morning."

"Just don't be surprised when you don't wake up in your own bed," Thurspire said with a cold smile.

"By the way, Corey?" Severus said, glancing up questioningly.

"Take care of the kids, got it," Corey nodded. "Assuming I'm not next." He glanced back in to where the four Snapes were sitting on the windowsill, every one of them looking stunned at just what happened.

"What's going to happen to them now?" Alicia asked quietly.

"Oh, don't worry, it'll work out," Corey said casually. "They used to do stuff like this all the time."