Chapter Twenty-Six

Dramatic Changes

Anna had taken the news of her best friend's death with a stony expression, listening intently to DeMille about her goddaughter's condition and taking a moment to peek in her hospital room to find her already asleep from grief and exhaustion. Expressionlessly, she went to the front desk with him to sign papers of temporary guardianship. A dozen forms were passed to her, more than half she didn't bother to read.

It was not until very late that night when she was walking down the corridor after saying goodnight to Sirius that the enormity of what happened hit her full force and she found herself with her back against the wall, sliding to the floor and pulling up her legs, burying her head in her arms.

But it wasn't long before she felt a hand on her arm. She didn't look up, thinking it was more than likely a passing by nurse or doctor, and she really didn't want to give them any reason to admit her into the hospital as well.

"Come, Anna," Severus said in a low voice, immediately getting her attention. "Come, let's get you home."

"Oh, Severus," Anna said with grief. "What am I going to do now? How can I possibly handle all of this without Megan to turn to? How am I going to deal with Sirius…and the children…and Lindsay…and the school…"

"That can wait until you've had several potion-laced cups of tea with your brother and a good night's sleep," Severus said firmly, walking her down the hall with an arm around her.

"I am too miserable too sleep," Anna murmured.

"We shall see," Severus said softly as he led her out. But his thoughts turned momentarily across town to someone else that he knew was losing sleep.

"What was he doing back?" Draco demanded angrily in DeMille's face where they stood near the cindered house, while Enforcers worked quickly to secure and come the area for clues. "He was supposed to be going to the Western Isle. What was he doing back here?"

"I simply know what I have already told you, sir," DeMille said quietly. "He returned last night and told me he was onto something big and had to send out a few Owls, then he went home to see his wife."

"Well, if he sent out some Owls, why didn't I get one?" Draco shouted.

"I don't know! I thought he did send one to you. He didn't tell me who he was sending him to," DeMille said.

"Well, why the Hell didn't he tell you anything? Never mind, I already know the answer to that. Because you and those other Enforcers didn't have the sense to listen to him!" Draco yelled at him.

"Sir…he was an idiot…"

"YOU are an idiot!" Draco said, loud enough to make all the other officers scurrying the place to pause and stare. "Stop making excuses and get someone to the Postmaster! And get me Peasegood! And get a reliable Auror here!"

"Harry Potter?" DeMille suggested. He instantly regretted it, ducking an expected wand lashing.

"Potter? You worthless, gullible coward, how dare you even suggest that fat-headed public nuisance to me? Tonks! Grangely! Anybody else! Did anyone send an owl to Dumbledore yet?"

"Yes, sir," DeMille said reluctantly, trying to regain his composure while still standing warily back. "He sends his regrets, but he says that he has his own problems and can't manage to come away from the school right now."

Deflated, Draco turned to stare at the house again, shaking his head at it.

"How did you piss her off, Thurspire? What did you find out?" he murmured out loud.

"Ederick? Find something out? Let's be realistic, sir, the odds of that are really against him, don't you think? He probably just annoyed her as he did most people…" DeMille said,

"DeMille," Draco said. "Go empty you're desk, you're sacked. You….no, you over there…whatever your name is, come here and take over."

"Sacked, sir? What did I do?"

"Insulted one of the few men that was ever loyal to me, to begin with! And I swear I'll sack any Enforcer who does it again, even if that means I have to rehire the entire department!" Draco snarled. "Now the rest of you, keep combing that house for anything pertinent that might have survived! That 'idiot,' that 'dunce,' that 'scarecrow' as I've heard all of you call him may have had the information to save us all! And if you don't find it, I hope there is an afterlife so I can float up and burn your asses for not listening to him when you had the chance! Now start digging!" he snarled. No one had to be told twice.

The Snapes rose early, but not directly because of what happened the day before. Jennifer hurried to get breakfast ready as the children packed for the trip back to school, while Severus closed himself in the study to put the final touches on the first draft of his research follow-up. Once she got everything rolling, Jennifer took a moment to walk through the first level of the house, checking to make sure everything was back in order.

"Aren't those trunks packed yet? I want them down here before breakfast. I don't want us running late for the train again!" she yelled up the stairs.

"Well, it isn't as if you can't just take us with you if we miss it," Alicia complained when she came into view a moment later, her trunk walking behind her. "In fact, can't we just go with you?"

"Your father and I have other things to do before we head to the school, and I think it's better for all of us if the four of you would take the train like everyone else," Jennifer said firmly, checking over Alicia's trunk once it got downstairs to make sure she hadn't missed anything important.

"Are you going to the Ministry?" Alex asked.

"Perhaps, among other places, yes," Jennifer sighed, gesturing her to bring her trunk over. "Your father wants to check on your aunt again before we leave as well."

"Does that mean she's not going to be teaching Muggle Studies anymore?" Alicia said.

"She's gone on leave for a few weeks to make arrangements for Lindsay, but I'm sure she'll be back when she can," Jennifer said. "I'm afraid everything that's happened has been extremely hard on her…she was close to both of them."

"I wonder what the papers are saying about this," Andrew mused.

"Wait, leave your trunk here," Jennifer said when distractedly Andrew forgot to tell his baggage to stop following as he went to check the post.

"Sit," Andrew said, and immediately the legs disappeared.

"Show off," Alicia told him dryly.

"Alicia, Alex, your trunks are okay, so why don't you sit down for breakfast?" Jennifer said, going on to the next. "Where's Aurelius?"

"Here, Mum," Aurelius said, coming down the stairs looking quite tired.

"Didn't sleep well?" Jennifer asked as his trunk walked over.

"Not really," Aurelius admitted. "I just couldn't seem to get what happened to them off my mind."

"I know," Jennifer said gently, glancing through his things quickly before shutting it. "Try not to fret about it, I'm sure everyone is doing everything they can…"

"To what? Make sure it won't happen again?" Aurelius said. "She can strike whenever she likes, and no one seems to be making any progress in stopping her…"

"Aurelius, please, that'll do," Jennifer sighed. "Call your father down for breakfast," she said, walking into the dining room to see Andrew's nose already buried in the Daily Prophet.

"So? What does it say?" Alex asked impatiently.

"'Minister of Law Enforcement Killed in Lightning Strike. Foul play suspected,'" Andrew read as he slipped into his seat. "'The current Minister of Magic, Draco Malfoy, has confirmed that Minister Ederick Thurspire and his wife, Megan Thurspire, were found dead last evening after a fire ripped through their home. According to a tip from an Enforcer, the fire at the home was wide spread and it is believed that not one but several dozen simultaneous lightning strikes caused the blaze. The Ministry also reports that the Minister's under-aged daughter did escape the blaze and is in good health, but refuses to answer questions about her due to her young age and safety considerations. Although they would not comment on any other details of the case, it is rumored that the popular suspect is none other than the being known as Ciardoth who has terrorized the country for years. It is assumed that the death of the current Law Enforcement Minister, as well as two popular Aurors in the summer of last year, has been acts meant to stop the Ministry's attempts to contain her. The Ministry has received a great deal of criticism for its failure to do so, spanning two administrations. Many have blamed incompetence within the Law Enforcement Department as the main cause, while others blame the Ministry's unwillingness to hire the country's top Auror, Harry Potter, to take over the case.' Well, that about sums it up, doesn't it?" he said.

"Except for who Minister Malfoy is going to choose for a new Law Enforcement Minister," Alex said.

"Well, it'd probably be DeMille, right? He's the next in line," Andrew mused.

"But the Minister hates DeMille," Alex said. "Besides, I've heard many times before that all the times anyone's asked for Thurspire's replacement, Draco Malfoy was firmly against it."

"I don't think I'm ever going to understand why," Aurelius said as he walked in the door, Severus coming in behind him a moment later.

"Father, there's some sort of odd package for you in the kitchen," Andrew said, still staring at the paper.

"Oh?" Severus frowned thoughtfully, going over to the counter near the window to find a sloppy bundle rolled in what looked to be a table linen and hastily tied with cord. He muttered a spell at it then frowned when it showed no magic resonance at all, carefully untying it.

Immediately it rolled out, and Severus stared at the folder in front of him, opening it up to find several crumpled, folded, and otherwise hastily stuffed papers at the top of an otherwise neat stack of papers.

"Jennifer," Severus called out, as he carefully began to gently straighten the papers. A moment later she appeared next to him.

"What is it?" Jennifer asked, glancing at the folder curiously and up at him. "You almost look like you've seen a ghost."

"Perhaps in a way I have," Severus said in a low voice, glancing at one of the notes thoughtfully. "This appears to be Thurspire's file on Ciardoth."

"What?" Jennifer said in surprise.

"He must have had some sort of wind that Ciardoth was coming for him beforehand and sent it on to protect it," Severus said.

"But why to you? Why not to the Ministry?"

"Perhaps because he didn't think anyone there would believe him," Severus said in low voice.

"And you would?" Jennifer said dubiously, but stared thoughtfully at what she read in his face. Knowing he need not answer, Severus turned back to folder, frowning at some of the cryptic notations.

By the time all four Snapes got through the hassle of King's Cross and got their baggage and familiars all under control, all of them seemed quite glad to be going back to school…but none of them as much as Alicia. She greeted Morfinn warmly but then lost herself looking out the window while Andrew sat beside her, and Halbert listened intently to all the news he had missed in France.

"It is so terrible! Such horrible things are happening here!" Halbert said when Andrew finished giving him the account of saving Lindsay. "Even back home, things aren't as they should be. Maman spent very little time at home, always in meetings. She is on the World Wizard Council, and they are very concerned about the shifts in time."

"Isn't everyone," Andrew sighed softly. "It doesn't seem like there's much good news these days, is there?"

"I have some good news," Morfinn said, Alicia coming out of her trance to look over at the rest of them. "I just got a letter in the post the other day. I just qualified to participate in the student exchange program. If all goes well, I'll be going to Whitebridge for half of next year to participate in their young healer's program."

"Really? That's great," Andrew said cheerfully.

"Assuming there is a next year," Alicia pointed out, Morfinn frowning at her. "I'm sorry. Congratulations, Morfinn, I know it's what you've always wanted to do."

"Congratulations," Halbert echoed with a smile. "You will make a very fine doctor, if you ever get over that cold."

"It's the wet weather," Morfinn explained, sneezing violently. But Alicia merely sighed and shook her head at her friend before turning to look out the window again.

It was raining full force by the time they arrived at the station, so the visibility was so poor that no one had any idea what they were about to see as they stepped out onto the platform. Andrew wondered why everyone had stopped dead not far from where they stepped off, standing strangely still and speechless instead of the normal bustle to get their bags. Forcing his way past, Andrew found himself doing the same thing… except for the raised platform itself, the only thing he could see was water. There was no road. There was not even any visible signs of the boat docks…simply water, sloshing up around them, even drifting shallowly over the tracks and into the fields beyond it.

"May I have your attention!" called out the deep voice of Doctor Sagittari, although asking for silence was hardly needed. "We shall all be going to the school by boat according to year, First through Seventh. Leave all your bags, and if you can arrange yourselves in groups of six, we shall be able to conduct this as quickly as possible."

"This is terrible," Alicia murmured.

"I can't even make out the lights from here in the weather," Morfinn said. "Do you suppose the castle is all right?"

"I'm sure they would have called school off if it was not," Halbert said. But they became distracted as they saw a familiar figure working his way through the crowd and over to the centaur who was trying to organize the first years.

"Doctor," Aurelius said, finally getting his attention. "Doctor, is the Dark Forest flooded too?"

"Yes, many parts of it…"

"But what about the herd?" Aurelius said.

"They are making do, Aurelius, just as my constellation must, and just as we must," Sagittari said gently. "Now, perhaps you will help me by organizing the others." Sighing from worry and grief over his friend, Aurelius only paused a moment to gaze in the direction the forest should be before turning to do as he was asked, his heart especially heavy as one by one the boats were loaded and shoved off into the black lake.

Not a word was spoken by anyone as they crossed. They were all soaked by rain and staring out into the darkness in hopes of seeing anything familiar, anything warm or inviting in the distance. Finally out of seemingly nowhere they found themselves staring at a high wall of what looked like solidified sand rising more than ten feet above them, shaped with great balustrades. The main boat entrance was cut off, and Alicia spied what looked at first to be a square piece of driftwood out in the lake, but she soon recognized as the top of the shed. There was nothing very friendly even about Hogwarts. The sand walls blocked out a great deal of evening light, creating eerie shadows along the grounds and the towers and turrets. Even the castle itself seemed murky and clouded by the falling rain; suffocating any light from the windows before it reached them.

Carefully they climbed out on a floating dock and then cautiously up a narrow stair of sand that gave strangely under their feet but never lost their shape. At the top they could see other walls built along the low lying areas of the grounds; around the Quidditch Pitch, and even around the cliff base where windows once looked out on the lake from the lower levels. Even when they finally stepped over the wall and down the other side, it was less like a homecoming and more like entering a prison, so when the students finally reached the warm recesses of the Great Hall they were all strangely solemn and serene.

They were not the only ones that appeared shocked over the state of the castle. Members of the returning staff also looked unusually pale and shaken as they took their places, not the least of which were Jennifer and Severus themselves. No one spoke when Professor Weasley and Professor Dumbledore came in together. Not a single whisper traveled through the Great Hall as they took their seats.

"Welcome back, everyone," Dumbledore said with a soft smile, not bothering to sit. "I cannot even begin to express just how glad I am to see everyone here, safe and sound. As I am sure you have noticed, those of us who stayed for the holidays have been rather busy making sure that the castle will remain safe and dry during our second term. Now, some short announcements. First…Madame Black has had to take a short leave of absence, but after speaking with her I have learned that everyone taking her classes have been assigned to research paper subjects. So, instead of holding regular class you will be spending your normal class time in the library with Mr. Boulderdash, who will make himself available if you have any research questions," he said, glancing at the goblin who gave them all a disturbing grin. "Now, due to the recent flooding, rules pertaining to students being off grounds will be strictly enforced. No more trips, even academic, can be conducted in the Dark Forest at this time, and trips to Hogsmeade will be unlikely," he added, earning the first rumble from the crowd since they arrived. "However, Quidditch shall be allowed to continue, with the concession that it may be canceled if it is later deemed to be unsafe due to the weather or other dangers. Other than that, let it be noted that all indoor programs, classes and activities are encouraged to continue as normal, and those used to more outdoor activities are encouraged to join in. With that, I hope you had a pleasant holiday and that you are ready to get back into your studies. I expect to see great things from all of you this semester," he said with a smile, gesturing for the meal to appear before sitting down.

"Get ready to get back to our studies? Sounds to me like there's nothing else to do," Garret Meyers said glumly, poking at his plate.

"All right, Rel?" Stock asked quietly.

"Not really," Aurelius admitted with a sigh. "I can't help but wonder what Pali might be going through out there, and it sounds like Dumbledore's planning to cut off any way for me to actually check on him."

"Aw, sounds like our poor pitiful Prefect is pining over his pretty pony again," Garret snickered.

Without speaking a word, Eigil raised his fist above him and let it fall on Garret's head, and then went back to the sandwich he had put together. As the boy toppled off the bench, half of the table leaned over to stare at Eigil in complete shock.

"Vut are you all staring at? Haven't you seen anyvun faint before?" Eigil said, turning back to his dinner. A moment later Madame Brittle was there, helping Garret up while he stood with his hands on his head.

"Is there a problem?" she frowned at them, looking first at the unconcerned Eigil before her eyes settled on where Aurelius and Stella sat.

"He fainted," Aurelius shrugged, turning back to his meal. "Perhaps it was something he ate."

"Perhaps he bit off more dan he could chew," Eigil suggested in a low voice.

"That can happen," Danny decided. "Come on, Garret, let's make sure you didn't hurt your head or anything on the way down."

"You never know, it could be an improvement," Heph put in after they had walked away, grinning at Aurelius.

"We wouldn't get that lucky," Aurelius said, a snigger suddenly going up from all around. "By the way, Heph, feel free to store that trunk of yours in our room if you like."

"I'll consider it," Heph said evenly as they turned their attention to their meal.