Chapter Twelve

Building Cases

Alicia heard her name being whispered and stirred restlessly in her sleep. Fearing it was a dream she suddenly woke up in a panic, feeling her heart pumping hard from the jolt as she looked around the quiet dorm room.

"All right there, girl?" a low voice spoke, but this time she recognized it as she leaned out to see under the canopy at the wall above the study table towards Humble's portrait.

"Caprica?" Alicia said, the got up. "Well, it's about time! What have you…"

"Ssh, not so loud, you'll wake your dorm mates! Come talk to me in the common room. There's no one there," Caprica said, disappearing out of the frame. Immediately, Alicia pulled on her slippers and robe and tiptoed out of the room, hurrying down the steps to find her sitting in the frame of a den of badger cubs. "Ah, to be back in this tower! It's been years since I was hung in here. They were a bit afraid I'd cause mischief," she chuckled with a wink.

"Well, I want to know why you were moved from the Trophy Room. Professor O'Laren said you were put back in the Headmaster's Study and that you were busy," Alicia said in an accusing tone.

"Oh, yes, very busy! I'm helping the Headmaster with a bit of reorganizing. Headmaster paintings are a part of the general security of the school, you know, so whenever there are changes, the Headmaster likes to keep us informed," Caprica explained. "But that doesn't mean I haven't been keeping an eye on things! I heard what happened with your mother, of course."

"Did you hear the governor's board accused our father of coaching and that they might make us change schools?" Alicia snapped.

"Oh, so you heard about that, did you?" Caprica said, Alicia becoming even more annoyed at her amused look. "Well, fortunately for you, my news happens to be a bit more up to date than yours. As it so happens, I hear that your father quite bluntly told them that he and your mother would quit before he'd see the four of you moved from the school because of them. The board really had no choice but to back down." Alicia frowned at her for a long moment before she finally relaxed.

"Well, I'm glad it worked then, even if it was an empty threat," Alicia said. Caprica raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you so sure it was an empty threat?" Caprica asked.

"Oh, come on, Professor, let's be realistic here. This school means everything to my parents. It always has. Father would never give this job up in a million years. He'll be here until he's so old he withers away so his ghost can haunt it…and will still be attempting to dock points off students for mischief in the hallways," Alicia said. Caprica couldn't help but laugh at the image but quickly contained it, excusing herself.

"I respect your cynicism on the matter, Alicia, after all it evidently runs in the family," she said with amusement. "But what you don't understand is that their love for this school is exactly why they're willing to give it up. Being a teacher here is a wonderful honor to those who truly know what this school truly stands for, but being a student here is something they would never take away. Your mother would have done nearly anything to have gotten her parents send her here…and your father…well, he didn't truly learn to appreciate what it meant to be a Hogwarts student until it was too late. In a way, the four of you are their second chance at dreams they themselves could never fulfill. I suppose you've always seen yourself as being additions to their passion for this school, but in reality, you have all been a part of it. You always have," Caprica smiled, then noted the dubious look on Alicia's face. "Yes, well, maybe you'll understand when you're older. The important thing is that no one is going anywhere, so there's no reason for you to worry about it."

"Sure, until the next time one of us aces a test or does something else they can blame them for," Alicia said.

"Now, that's for the Headmaster to deal with," Caprica said firmly.

"Of course, everyone has something to deal with. The Headmaster will deal with people trying to break up the family. The Aurors and the Ministry will deal with Ciardoth. Father will deal with security. And here we are stuck in the middle and knowing what's going on but we're expected to merely sit and do our homework and pretend that none of this is happening!" Alicia ranted.

"Well, if that's your way of asking for something to keep yourself busy, I do have a small project I need taken care of, discreetly of course," Caprica mused.

"I don't need kept busy. That's what paints are for," Alicia said. Caprica shrugged and smiled.

"All right," Caprica said. "I certainly wouldn't want to keep you from painting in any case." There was a pause then as she waited to hear what else Alicia had wanted to talk to her about. The problem was, Alicia had completely forgotten.

"What sort of project?" Alicia said at last.

After Potions on Friday Alicia had Divination, which meant quite a run for Phoebe and herself to get up there in time. It was a good thing that Morfinn stayed for Dabbler's, Alicia thought as they took the stairs by twos, for even though she was in excellent shape her side was aching by the time they got to the landing. They had stopped to take a breath outside the classroom when Dumbledore and Snape stepped in behind them, talking quite casually.

"Good morning, girls. You'd better hurry in. The bell is going to ring at any moment, you know," Dumbledore said calmly. Glancing at each other the two of them walked in to take find an empty table.

"How did they do that? I don't remember passing them on the stairs," Phoebe asked. Alicia, who was thinking the same thing, shrugged at her. She knew how she would have done it…come to think of it, maybe she should have, she thought to herself as she got out her book, wondering if Phoebe would freak out if she offered to take her that route.

Alicia grinned at that. The two girls had often studied together, but they had never become close…Phoebe didn't really seem to want to get close to anyone, although Alicia wasn't quite sure why. But she had always been polite to Alicia and never outspoken…in short, the exact opposite of her Slytherin brother. Still, Alicia was always glad to partner up with her on projects, for Phoebe was a great team player and always did her fair share of research without procrastination or complaint. Since Divination often teamed up students to read each other's tea leaves, crystal balls, or whatever else they happened to be dealing with, Alicia was quick to ask Phoebe to sit with her.

It wasn't long after they got settled that the ghost of Icarus Ravenclaw floated in with a wan smile on his face, slightly less glum than normal as he looked over his class.

"Welcome back everyone, and welcome to intermediate Divination! I am very happy that so many of you decided to continue your studies of the esoteric arts of prophecy," Icarus said. "Now, although I still plan to cover all of the material in this particular book, you'll find upon the handouts that we'll be going in a slightly different order than the book, so make sure you keep this list handy throughout the term," he said as papers floated down onto their desks. "We are going to start then with chapter twenty…Dream Interpretation. It is a very exciting subject that I'm hoping will attract your attention. You see, as I've explained before in your last year, every one of you have some basic instinctual awareness of things outside your normal senses…hunches; an unexplainable sense of danger before an a event, and so on. The only real difference then between the average witch, wizard, or even Muggle and those 'gifted' with the Sight is they can more easily tap into it. But when one is asleep, the natural barriers we all have become thinner, and that means that everyone at some time in their lives, gifted or not, is likely to have a dream that borders upon an actual vision. Any one in this room can have one of these on any given night. Or, you could have a manifestation caused by stress or eating the wrong sorts of foods too, but we'll get into that later," he said with amusement.

"Each of you," he continued, "will be given a dream journal to put by your bedside to jot down possible visions and so forth…now, ghost though I am, I am a bit of a realist. There are going to be many nights you will have absolutely nothing to report…and there may even be nights where you have one of those embarrassing sorts of dreams you certainly won't want to write anything about, even if your teacher does happen to be a ghost who understands some of the faults of mortality," he winked, a few of the students grinning at each other. "No, and because of that, I know there will be many blanks, but do not worry about it. On those nights, simply put, 'nothing interesting to report' or 'personal' when it applies and write down what you will. I would, however, encourage you to write down any nightmares that you have…even if it's something you have no intention of showing the class…for your own benefit. Sometimes writing out fears is a good way to start working out why one feels them. Again, I promise that nothing you feel uncomfortable with will be used in front of your classmates in any way. Now, with that all being said, I'd like for you to set a goal of having ten workable dreams by the holidays, although I'll be checking every week to see how you are doing. I may be very tempted to give bonus points to students who manage to surpass that. And don't worry, any examples I may use in class will be anonymous as to who had them as well. I like my bases covered, as you can see. Another part of your homework by the holidays will be especially fun, I think, for everyone. Once you have learned the basics, I am going to ask you to write a short paper interpreting dreams of others. You will be choosing five individuals…classmates, friends, whatever, as long as they're not in the classroom, write down the dream, and your interpretation."

"Can we do staff as well?" Juliet asked curiously.

"Well, if you think you could talk them into it, I don't see why not," Icarus said. "Um, let's see, what else? We'll be learning more meditations this year to help you relax and allow yourselves to be more open to portents of the future…rather like we studied last year with the incense before drawing tarots and the crystal ball and so on. I think you'll find they'll be very helpful right before you go to bed as well so you can remember your dreams." Alicia stared at him a moment and then looked over her shoulder at the door almost accusingly, her eyes fixed on the two shadows there. "So, as you can see, we have a lot to do this first half of the year. Phoebe, why don't you start out by reading the chapter intro while I finish writing some things on the board?" Alicia turned back around, shaking her head slightly as she reluctantly turned to her book.

"Well, there's the bulk of it for you, Severus," Dumbledore said with a smile from where they stood outside the door. "I'll speak to Hermione about the rest."

"Aren't you a bit concerned the governors may find out about this?" Severus said in a low voice.

"I wasn't until you said something," Albus said, and Severus grimaced.

"It wasn't my idea to speak to the board in the first place."

"Be that as it may, I believe this alternate plan of ours will work… as long as you can build a case, that is."

"This is the part where I'm supposed to say something about how I'm all for a challenge and some sort of dribble about it being an honor or other nonsense. But to be perfectly honest, I think this is the most repulsive assignment you have ever given me," Severus said irritably.

"If there's one thing no one can fault you for, Severus, it is your complete candor," Albus said, turning towards the stairs with a mischievous look in his eye. "We're going to have to work on that." Severus gave him a dirty look before following him down the stairs.

At lunch, Jennifer hurried to Severus' office to find him with his nose in the Hogwarts policy book again. She glanced at him curiously before closing the door.

"Had a lot of excitement in Dabbler's today. Morfinn sneezed and blew up half the potions in the room. Aurelius was positively furious. I had just lent him some dragon scale mold for an experiment… actually, I should be the one who's furious considering how much that stuff costs. What are you doing? I thought that whole business with the coaching is over."

"I am helping the Headmaster build a case for requiring all students to have at least half a year of Divination sometime in the course of their time here," Severus said, not looking up. Jennifer stared at him.

"You must be joking."

"No, although I understand why you might think so," Severus said.

"But Severus, you hate Divination! How are you going to make a case for it? Many schools don't even teach it anymore," Jennifer said, sitting in front of him and leaning on the desk. Severus handed her a paper and she took it curiously. "What's this?"

"One of Ravenclaw's new syllabi. He and Dumbledore revised it last night," Severus said, and Jennifer looked it over before breaking to a grin.

"Of course! Dream interpretation is one of the main sections on the Divination aptitude tests!" Jennifer said.

"Yes, and they must learn meditation skills as part of the field as well," Severus said. Jennifer gazed at him thoughtfully.

"I don't know, Severus. I can see how we can use the dream interpretation excuse to our advantage, but trying to pass off true mental disciplines for a relaxing exercise is a real stretch. You know what will happen if they find out about it…"

"It'll mean the jobs of everyone involved, including the Headmaster, and possible Ministry charges if anyone believes anyone's rights were violated. Well, we're not going as far as all that; Dumbledore and I have come up with a compromise. I told him about the troubles we were having with you being so open for so long because of your ability, and he was quite intrigued with my alternative. We are going to teach them the same thing I've been teaching you; how to control the content of one's dreams and how to wake up from one voluntarily. It is something they can learn on their own, and although it's not as effective as true mind blocks, perhaps the fact that they are empowered to defend themselves will be enough of a surprise to get her to move on."

"Severus, I'm still not convinced that's going to work. Of course, I haven't remembered any dreams since we began working on that…"

"It will work if you believe it will work," Severus said simply, earning a dirty look from his wife. "What matters is we're doing something." Jennifer smiled understandingly and nodded, turning over the cups.

But just as they were getting settled and Jennifer was able to coax Severus to put aside the books, a frantic knock rapped on the door. Curiously, Severus got up, Jennifer following close behind as he opened it to see Grant DeMille, Deputy Minister of Law Enforcement.

"Minister Thurspire wants to know if you could possibly get away. He told me to tell you it's not something you want in his hands," DeMille said.

"Let me make some quick arrangements," Severus said glancing at Jennifer, who simply nodded, but as they started up for Dumbledore's study, a look of intense worry crossed Jennifer's face before she turned to check his class schedule.

There could be little doubt what spell had been cast. Severus knew it well, although he had never seen such a big impact site. In fact, he seriously doubted that there had been a crater impact quite as big since Grindelwald was alive.

"As you can see, the entire warehouse was obliterated," Ederick said in a low voice as they walked around the perimeter.

"Casualties?" Severus asked.

"We lost two of our officers, who were guarding it at the time," Ederick said quietly. "Petry and Hamlet…there wasn't really enough evidence to say for sure that the impact was the cause of death…" one of the investigators turned and gave Ederick a dirty look.

"Why were there Ministry guards here? I thought you said this was one of Longbottom's… acquisitions," he said with distaste.

"Didn't Thomas tell you? A very large number of complaints have been lodged against Malfoy's business practices postmortem after the Minister went public with all those old documents," Ederick said. "Everyone Malfoy's duped over the years is signing the list to try and get back a piece of what he took. In fact, there are legal holds now on most of the property with the exception of the estate itself. More than likely once all the filings are done and it goes to the Magistrate, Malfoy Industries is going to be a great deal smaller, if it exists at all."

"And your empire will crumble on the weight of your own malice," Severus suddenly murmured under his breath, a gleam of satisfaction flashing in his dark eyes before forcing himself to concentrate on the matter at hand. "It would seem unlikely then that one of Longbottom's enemies would do something like this considering that I'm certain that the evidence against Malfoy at this point is substantial. Perhaps he or one of his cronies decided something inside was better off destroyed than in other hands…"

"Or thought to be destroyed," Ederick put in. "As I've stated before, we are very lacking in any evidence…there's no proof then that my officers weren't killed before the impact…and there's no proof that something wasn't taken out before it either. But yes, that theory is what my investigators all think is the most likely answer, but there are some questions here bothering me about the event…well, obviously, enough to bother you about them."

"Go on," Severus said.

"First off, is Longbottom capable of cold blooded murder, even second handed?"

"Ederick, I don't think I have to remind you of what happened to his cousin, let alone what Malfoy told my wife that day…"

"He said a loyal servant. He never said it was Amadeus…"

"Who had better reason?"

"Now you're beginning to sound like my investigators."

"Perhaps you had better listen, then."

"Wait, wait, wait…I didn't bring you hear to argue. Severus, I know you may not agree with my reasoning but please just hear me out, that's all I ask," Ederick said, trying to control his temper. "Neville's parents lost any power over anything financial as soon as Mungo's declared their case incurable… they were not in any way in Amadeus' way. However, let me note that just before they died, they were beginning to make some progress… beginning to recognize some of their caretakers and even to the point of randomly seeming to respond to questions of people in the room. There were then many reasons an ex-Death Eater might want them dead. Furthermore, I asked myself this; why would someone we know is talented with memory spells bother to kill two bystanders who did nothing to him when it would be in his best interest to use them as unknowing pawns who could state for him he had nothing to do with it?" Severus pondered it for a moment.

"Fear of detection, perhaps."

"From who, me?" Ederick said evenly. "Draco? If no one had gotten injured, would there have been this length of an investigation, Comet Strike or not?" Severus grew thoughtful.

"Anything else?"

"Quite a bit. The extent of the damage. How many wizards are there who would even attempt to control that death curse, let alone be able to control something of this size? Could Jennifer?" Ederick asked him. Severus stared at him icily.

"Ederick, if you mean to imply…"

"Very well, could you?" Ederick said with exasperation. Severus paused.

"Perhaps," Severus admitted with a shrug, "but I would choose other means, as would Jennifer."

"Yes, well, most would," Ederick agreed. "Is it possible that Ciardoth might have done it purely with wild magic?"

"If she could half of London, let alone Hogwarts, would probably have been bombarded by now. She would have made Grindelwald's attacks during the war look like a thrown pebble in comparison," Severus said.

"Could she have manipulated someone else to do it?" Ederick said quietly.

"Had she a reason, yes," Severus said.

"Lucius Malfoy had acquired all sorts of artifacts over the years and scattered them about…if there was something in there she wanted, she may have it, and she wouldn't care anything about the lives of anyone who stood in her way," Ederick said in a low voice. "Severus, to be perfectly frank, I'm not getting much support here from my investigators. They've made their minds up on this case. They all see me as nothing more than a bumbling idiot who is simply over-analyzing the situation. But if there is any possibility that Ciardoth may have something to do with this and has gotten off with something dangerous…if we can't completely rule out the possibility she might have been involved…I don't think it'd be very safe for us to write it off so quickly. That is why I have called you here to find out what you think."

"I think," Severus said, glancing at the crater where the warehouse had been before turning to look at Ederick, "that you really are a bumbling idiot who over-analyzes everything. However," he continued when Ederick glared at him. "how possible would it be to get a list of exactly what was inside this place beforehand?"

"I am working on getting a copy," Ederick said.

"Good. Send me one," Severus said, turning, "and keep me informed."

"Does that mean you do think she's involved?" Ederick said before he stepped away.

"Merely that you are correct in not ruling it out," Severus said, then winced. "But don't tell anyone I even remotely agree with you," he added as he walked away, wondering how he was going to explain his getting involved to Jennifer and Dumbledore this time.