Chapter Sixteen
Keeping Things Quiet
Zoë and Zacchius stood glumly in Snape's office as he slammed the door behind him. Descartes flapped over to his shoulder, and Snape murmured something to the bird who then took a snap at the two of them on the way past. Then he turned and looked them over, Descartes sitting as straight as Snape was while eyeing the children disapprovingly, the two looking very much alike in that moment.
"Couldn't leave well enough alone as usual, I see," Snape said, his eyes flashing at Zoë, who merely rolled hers. "Keep up that attitude and see how far it gets you. I can tell you have no idea how serious this situation is. But I have here a list of your 'accomplishments' this evening. Misuse of a Teleporting Device. Magical Tampering of Muggle Property," he said, his eyes flicking to Zacchius before he continued down the list, but Zack was avoiding his gaze. "Kidnapping, including involuntary movement of a representative from another country no less. Instigating public Muggle Mayhem by use of magic…"
"Hey, that was Hexen…"
"Quiet!" Snape warned. "You knew what was going to happen putting someone like that in such a position. You are lucky he didn't lose his cool or we'd be doing more than picking up slugs. Now where was I? Oh, yes, school charges. Breaking into school storage and stealing expensive school equipment. Intentionally disrupting a very important school function…"
"Oh, please! It was just a stupid Quidditch game!" Zoë glowered.
"It was a Quidditch game that was hosting two other Headmasters of different schools!" Snape growled back. "Descartes, bad students!"
Descartes cawed menacingly, then reached out his neck and snapped at them, Zack stepping wisely back.
"Oh, please, call off the metal pelican. If he ever gets first blood you'd lose him and you know it," Zoë said defiantly.
"Know so much, do you? Then you would know that Dumbledore invited them to stay over so he would have a chance to speak with them about your proposed scholarship? A scholarship that is now sure to get no Durmstrang support?"
"Oh, so Hexendaas doesn't like it, so what? Archibald's the Headmaster, not him," Zoë said.
"Archibald is an outsider. That he once taught there is inconsequential; his family is from here. Hexendaas has all the connections to all the monetary support in that school, and without those connections, the floundering school would have to cut the student body by a third to keep operating… something, I'm sure, Hexendaas would be more than willing to do if his own voice isn't heard. Do you know what third I'm talking about, Zoë?"
"Yes, sir," Zoë said softly.
"Good, I'm glad you were paying attention to something," he said. "I imagine Maxime is going to support the initiative, but I'm afraid you've made yourself a bad enemy all for the sake of your 'getting even' and the likelihood of helping any student from there has become bleak at best. So too, actually, is the outlook for your own career here. You do realize of course that the Ministry charges are more than enough grounds for your expulsion?"
"Fine, expel me, I don't care," Zoë said. Zack didn't say anything.
"That is precisely the reason you are not going to get expelled," Snape sneered. "I have no intention of you getting anything you want, including manipulating me to have you thrown out. Without a direct confession or testimony from me that I knew you were involved, the case has no legs to stand on. But don't take that to mean that you are getting away with this unpunished. Quite the contrary, I assure you. Zacchius, what was your part in this? I note that you were at the game when all this happened. Did you assist Zoë in her plot?" Zack blinked, a little surprised at the question and its timing, glancing sideways at Zoë to see her slightly shaking her head.
"Sir, I… actually, I did know about it," Zack said, Snape watching him steadily as Zack's head dipped. "I helped set up the cage so that the Muggles couldn't see it without her command and also recharmed the bracelet so she could set it to different coordinates."
"You should have listened to me when I told you to stay out of things," Snape said.
"I know, what I did was stupid," Zack murmured.
"Very stupid," Snape agreed. Zoë glared at her brother angrily. "Despite the fact that I would love to give you both hefty point deductions for this I cannot, since I, of course, have no knowledge of this incident. However, Zack, you will be facing detention. You, Zoë, will not only have detention, but I have something special for you, something I've found effective in the past…" he said, going over to his shelf and pulling out several heavy-looking tomes. "You will copy the specifics to every law you have broken today, school and otherwise. After you are done copying it you will then write, for each one, a fifty inch essay on why the law is there to begin with and why it is important to follow it…on ruled parchment, so you won't be tempted to use 'big' letters."
"But that would take weeks," Zoë sighed.
"Yes, I know. So if I were you, I'd get started after you leave here," Snape threatened, Zoë's face indicating that she was planning to do nothing of the sort. "As for your legal guardian's response, it seems we have reason to lose a few more privileges. No Hogsmeade," he said, the two of them slumping. "And no American Thanksgiving trip." They both looked up in surprise.
"You can't do that!" Zoë said in sheer shock. "Dad would never allow it!"
"Have you forgotten it was his idea to put you both in my care to begin with? As for that, I believe once I write him about the particulars in the case, I have a feeling that he will be more than supportive of the decision. I personally haven't ever cared for the two of you skipping two class days for such a trivial holiday. Oh, and by the way, Zoë, if you don't finish every bit of your school obligations including those reports, you will also both find yourselves spending the Christmas holidays here. I suggest you do it."
"I'm not staying here. I don't care what you say, I'm not going to do it," Zoë said.
"Then I will bring you back," Snape said with a grim smile. "No matter where you run. No matter how many times you try. I will find you and drag you back by the hair if necessary. Now, get out of my office. And I don't want to see you back in here again until detention. Descartes, bad students," he said, and Descartes snapped at them again, making a strange hissing nose in the back of his throat.
"Come on, Zoë," Zack said, and the two of them left, heading back up to the common rooms. But Zack soon learned that his punishment was not quite over yet, for as they got back into the Gryffindor tower, the students gathered in the common room suddenly converged in front of them. At the head was Shelly Meadows who looked positively furious.
"Zacchius Black! Do you own the Northern Goshawk?" Shelly said.
"Yeah," Zack admitted unsurely.
"Do you realize that your familiar cost us the Quidditch game?" Zack blinked at her. "That stupid blundering bird went right into the Pitch at the most crucial of times and I thought it was the Snitch! What sort of game are you playing at, sending it over the pitch like that? Did you have a bet against us or something?"
"I'm sure he didn't mean it, Shelly," Andrew said.
"You stay out of this!"
"Look, I didn't know he'd go over the pitch, I am sorry!" Zack said.
"What was Ceo doing crossing the pitch at all? He knows better than that!" Zoë said.
"All I know is here I am following this stupid bird that goes barreling towards the teacher's box and meanwhile Rel is closing in on the real Snitch and before I can even figure out what's going on, he has it in his hand!" Shelly said. "An absolutely mad thing to do! Especially with all the Bludgers flying about, your goshawk could have been hurt, had you even thought about that?"
"Barreling towards the teacher's box?" Zoë repeated. Suddenly she turned and pounced her brother, getting him down on the ground and hitting him randomly while the surprised students stared wide-eyed until Halbert and Andrew jumped in and pulled them apart.
"Hang on! What's with the sudden heat?" Andrew puffed, having a hard time holding Zoë off.
"You warned him, admit it! You actually told Snape what was going on! Why you dirty little turncoat!" Zoë snapped.
"I didn't want anyone to get hurt, that's all! It's not like I tried to stop anything…"
"How long have you been spying on me for Snape, Zack? Oh, I know, since that little talk you had after the Pickled Petal incident!"
"No! He just asked me in then to talk me into staying out of whatever you were up to…"
"He's turned you against me! I can't believe it!"
"He has not!" Zack snapped. "But he's right in that you have been going a bit too far with things!" Zoë stared at him, stiffening up.
Deciding that probably meant she wouldn't go after him again, Andrew gently let go. Everyone stood in a circle around them, looking completely bewildered.
"I'm done with this. I'm done playing his game, and I'm done playing yours," Zoë said, heading up to her room. Zack sighed then, shrugging Halbert's arms away soberly.
"Well, what are you all staring at? Never seen siblings fight before?" Zack said and then went to his own room.
Once Severus had left to go after Zoë and Thomas, Tonks and Fleur had gone to congratulate the winning team, Jennifer had taken Olympe Maxime back to the castle for a light tea. Olympe couldn't help but enjoy the chance to speak in her native tongue and get caught up with her old staff member. But after a half an hour there was a knock on the door, and Jennifer opened it to see Hagrid there looking unusually somber.
"No luck?" Jennifer said.
"No, but Harry and the others are still lookin'," Hagrid sighed.
"Did you want to stay, Rubeus? I can have you covered for a few days," Olympe said. Hagrid looked thoughtful.
"No, no, I don't think it's goin' t' make much of a difference really," Hagrid said. "We probably should be getting home, I know."
"We'll keep you informed of anything that happens, Hagrid," Jennifer said gently.
"I know. Dumbledore already promised me tha' he wouldn't leave me hanging like tha'. Havin' a hard time with this, himself, being he remembers 'em all as students…great man, Dumbledore."
"Don't worry, he has plenty of friends here to turn to," Jennifer said.
"Not tha' he would," Hagrid said. "He wouldn't want t' burden any of you with it."
"I'm sure he'll be fine, Hagrid," Jennifer said.
"Come, Rubeus, if we are going home, perhaps we should start so zey can see to zis."
"Right. You take care of tha' son of mine," Hagrid said with a weak smile. "Great Beater, isn't he? Him and tha' Andrew of yours."
"I can't keep them apart," Jennifer chuckled, hugging him. "I hope to see you both here more often."
"We will write Professor Dumbledore wis a proposal of how much we can afford to put aside for ze scholarship," Olympe said, offering Jennifer side kisses before they left, Jennifer walking them to the gate.
Thinking over Hagrid's words, Jennifer frowned, wondering about his concern over Dumbledore and knowing from experience that it was probably on the mark. Getting an idea, Jennifer headed back to her office long enough to scribble a note, opening the small half window and waiting for Dodger to carry it off before she took a quick sip of a numbing potion and then headed up to Dumbledore's study. By the time she got up there, Dodger had returned and was already waiting on the railing to the observatory, well away from the molting Fawkes who sat sleepily upon his perch.
"Hello, Fawkes. Having a hard day too, I see," Jennifer murmured sympathetically to the Phoenix before taking the note from the tawny owl. "Thanks, Dodger, wait just one moment," Jennifer said, going over the desk to look at the appointment book. "Ah, he's cleared all his appointments today. I wonder how long before he comes back?" she said to herself at loud.
Just then she heard the scratching of a quill, and looked over to see the book writing. "Eating at Hogwarts" beside the 6PM entry.
"Brilliant," Jennifer said. "Book, would you change that to dinner in study with Minerva at 6PM?" She waited a moment as the book appeared to consider it. Then the words faded, and again the scratching noise occurred as the words she requested appeared. "Thank you, book," Jennifer said, scribbling something on the bottom of the letter before handing it to the owl. "Back to the sender please."
Jennifer smiled to herself, feeling for the first time that day that she had actually accomplished something and had turned to leave, when she spied that one of the desk drawers was open. As she paused to close it, she noticed something moving and peered inside to see that the map that Dumbledore kept there had been left active. Curiosity overwhelmed her, and suddenly she found herself thinking about her own predicament. Was it possible, she wondered, that Malfoy could be using something similar to spy on her?
Taking it out she unfolded it and immediately became astounded to the sheer volume of the activity going on in the castle, as students went about their weekend activities. The library was filled with students, and Boulderdash's name seem to be walking randomly back and forth across the room…probably putting away books, Jennifer realized. Down the corridor, a large amount of students had gathered in the Great Hall to pass a lazy afternoon playing games and reading…there she spotted Alexandria's name among a large group of girls sitting at the Ravenclaw table. Curiously, Jennifer found herself then looking for the others. Aurelius was easy to spot in the Slytherin Common room; apparently they were having a celebration over their Quidditch victory. Jennifer folded it over to look at the Gryffindor tower but saw no sign of Andrew, but she did note that Zoë and Zack seemed to be in their dorm rooms. As she flipped to the stairwell, she caught sight of Alicia heading towards the Gym, but then suddenly she turned into the Trophy room. Jennifer frowned at that, thinking she had gotten over that. Apparently Caprica Dusthorn was still quite awake, and still actively talking to the youngest Snape. Sighing softly, Jennifer then turned to look downstairs again, checking the kitchen for her other son. Although he was not in the kitchen, it was obvious from the corridor that he was walking in that Andrew had just come from there, his name bouncing almost contentedly as he walked down the hall.
Suddenly the name stopped, and Jennifer stared curiously as she saw Eigil and five other boys coming down the hall. Immediately, Andrew turned around and slipped around the first corner as the boys suddenly began to run up, their names skidding to a stop as they reached the intersection. Despite the fact that Andrew was right there, the boys hurriedly walked passed him, several of the names peering into side rooms while Andrew began to down his original path towards the stairwell.
Jennifer had very little doubt that he was invisible at that point, and couldn't help but wonder how long he had felt the need to avoid Eigil and his friends. Making a mental note to herself to pay more attention to their faces over the next few weeks, Jennifer turned her interest to another part of the map… just in time to see her husband stride in and up to the Gryffindor tower. She then watched as Shelly went up to their dorms and the twins came out, following Severus down to his office.
"Boy, I'd hate to be in their shoes right now," Jennifer murmured to herself, flipping another page to the Transfiguration classroom. But Fleur wasn't in her office, nor did she seem to be in the staff room or any of the connecting halls. She was about to give up looking for her when she noticed her coming in down the hallway leading to the pitch. Surely she wasn't out there all this time, Jennifer frowned, and then shrugged to herself as she folded the map back over several times, attempting to remember the way Dumbledore had had it open. As she did so, she happened to catch a glimpse of her own name, next to Fawkes, sitting in the study. She then also noticed Albus Dumbledore's name, standing by the door. Flailing in surprise she dropped it and fell backwards on the chair, groaning loudly at the prospect of adding another bruise to her list.
"I wondered when you would get back to looking up here," Dumbledore said mischievously.
"I am so sorry! I was just…"
"Quite all right, Jennifer," Dumbledore said. "Such a wicked little thing, this map. It tempts the best of us at times, to nose about and see what people are up to, even when it's really none of our business."
"Um…" Jennifer blushed furiously not knowing what to say as she righted the chair and quickly stepped out of the way.
"No, no. It's all right. As you can see I use it myself from time to time, to satisfy my peace of mind and make sure no one's lurking within these halls that shouldn't be. But other than that I try not to use it much…it opens the door to all sorts of little secrets, and really I have enough of my own to keep without taking any more on, because of course it wouldn't be right of me to really divulge anything I've seen, provided it doesn't hurt anyone, of course," he said with a such a smile that Jennifer knew for a fact that he was talking about what she thought he was talking about.
"I suppose I should… offer some explanation…"
"Don't you even dare," Dumbledore warned her, shaking his finger. "Let's pretend, despite of how many people knows this map exists, that it doesn't. Ah, what's this? It seems Minerva is planning a visit," he said thoughtfully. "She must have gotten caught up in this…this thing that's happened." Jennifer gazed at his eyes, which seemed to have momentarily clouded over. "Well, I will be glad to see her at any rate. Quick cup of tea before you go?"
"Thank you," Jennifer said, unsurprised when a cup appeared by her favorite chair as she sat down. "Have they found out anything yet?" Dumbledore sighed softly, reaching for his own cup.
"Apparently, the last anyone saw him was over the summer when Hermione and Ron had a small party over at their house… Harry, Ginny, Seamus… a few other friends of theirs. According to everyone he seemed quite well…enthusiastic over some sort of new growing technique he was working on for sensitive tropical plants or something. Well, I need not tell you that Neville's always been quiet, very reserved for the most part, and all of his friends admit it was very common of him to get onto a project and forget to check in with them for a month or two…and since the packages were still coming out, nobody thought a thing about it. And, since all of his friends had families to keep up with, perhaps they may not have been quite as attentive as they now feel they should have been."
"I know, I feel the same way now," Jennifer sighed. "Alex mentioned him missing an important meeting with at the Ministry over some environmental concerns. I knew it didn't sound like him, but we waved it off and got caught up in out own concerns."
"Yes, that was the first of several appearances that he missed," Albus said. "And how strange that it occurred around the same time that his cousin was said to have gotten out of jail." Jennifer looked up hopefully.
"You think there's a connection?" she asked. Albus gazed at her for a long time before nodding.
"Well, I wouldn't want to overlook that possibility. Although I seriously doubt that someone in Amadeus' position would so readily jump into such a brandish attack on a family member just after getting out of jail. There is something else…something that hasn't been made public yet. After the woman's death at the coroner's office, Vallid's office has been busy attempting to research a motive and has come to a startling conclusion that the corpse found in Roger's cell wasn't his at all," Dumbledore said.
"What happened to Baylor then?" Jennifer asked after a moment.
"No one is certain," Dumbledore said softly. "But if I had my guess, I would say he is very much alive. Because of this, Vallid has decided not to go to the public with it yet. Jennifer, I'm not quite sure yet what is going on, but considering who this involves, I think you should be very careful."
"Of course I'll be careful, Albus," Jennifer said, quickly taking a drink of tea and putting it down. "And I have every intention of staying close to the school as much as possible until the holidays, if that makes you feel any better."
"Perhaps a little," Dumbledore said with a slight smile. "See that you carry that out, so I don't have to worry unnecessarily." Jennifer nodded and got up then, thanking him one last time before slipping out the doors. Dumbledore leaned back in his chair with a hand against his bearded chin, lost in thought.
