A/N Thanks as always to Maria for taking the time to beta this.
The errors in the Quibbler article are meant to be the reporter's errors.
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On his way to the Great Hall for breakfast, Albus Dumbledore noticed a second year struggling to drag a trunk. While it was a few weeks before the end of term, it wasn't out of the ordinary for a student or two to leave early. Some less considerate parents habitually scheduled their summer holiday travels to begin before the official end of classes.
Dumbledore helped the young man master the 'locomotor' spell before continuing on his own way. It wasn't until he reached the main staircase and looked down that he realized something was wrong.
Amelia Bones had her own trunk levitated and out the door, but paused to help her young brother, Edgar, with his trunk. Mrs. Bones was occupied ushering out Amelia's even younger brother who, still in his night clothes, was protesting at the idea of going out.
As if sensing Dumbledore's presence, Amelia looked up to meet his gaze. She knew! Even if the sight of the usually composed Mrs. Bones frantically calling at the school in the early morning hours to collect her children could really leave any uncertainty, the look in Amelia's eyes as they met his own was all that was needed to remove any doubt. His heart sank. Never before had Albus Dumbledore ever known himself to be the cause of such a look of hurt and disappointment.
He didn't have long to endure the sight. Amelia quickly turned and followed out the door after the rest of her family.
It was only after the Bones family departed, as Dumbledore made his way further down the stairs, that he truly caught sight of what was going on in the entrance hall. Literally dozens of concerned parents were clustered about. Many like Mrs. Bones were not allowing their children time to dress or even pack. Dumbledore recognized the younger parents as they were former students of his, but he didn't stop to chat as he continued towards the Great Hall.
He made his way to the Head Table to speak to Dippet, but once there, he didn't even have to ask. Copies of the Wizarding and Muggle papers to which Dumbledore subscribed had already been delivered. While the London Times, The Scotsman, and the Daily Prophet were waiting at his place setting as always, his edition of the Quibbler was not there.
"Congratulations, Dumbledore. You're front page news again."
Dumbledore started to respond to Shackleton's remark, but Headmaster Dippet began speaking instead. Dippet disdainfully held Dumbledore's copy of the Quibbler by the corner and read off a portion of the article.
'According to reliable sources at Hogsmeade School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it was recently discovered that within the castle a child has been living the past few months masquerading, as an ordinary muggle cat. While the idea of someone living in the form of a cat is in itself extraordinary enough, the child's identity will astound even those readers of the staunchest heart.
After several rounds of firewhisky, this reporter's most reliable source let slip that the 'catgirl' is none other than Minerva Grindelwald. What's that you say, dear readers? Who's Minerva Grindelwald? Only the daughter of the dark wizard Grindelwald and the supposedly childless and deceased Artemisia Themis.
The discovery was made by Hogsmeade's Charms professor, Albus Gawain Brian Dumbledore, whom readers and Chocolate Frog card aficionados may recall, was the wizard credited with the defeat of Grindelwald. Upon being confronted by Dumbledore with her deception, according to the most reliable source from within Hogsmeade, the girl became quite hostile and viciously assaulted the eighty-something year old professor. At the time of this printing it was still unknown if Dumbledore will ever fully recover.
The disclosure of the existence of this previously undisclosed child leads this reporter to ask just what other secrets the Ministry of Magic and Minister Augustus are keeping from us. Is Artemisia Themis in fact still alive? Is Jupiter Grindelwald really imprisoned in Azkaban or is he still at large? Have the wizard eating Quintaped, also known as Hairy MacBoons, made it off of the Isle of Drear and on to mainland Scotland despite Ministry claims to the contrary? Brace yourself readers for the next issue as the Quibbler, exposes more secrets that the Ministry doesn't want exposed.'
Finished with the article, Dippet threw down the paper. "You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you? I'm going back to my office to deal with all the parents' letters and wait for the visit the Minister will undoubtedly pay us. Stay away from the girl."
"Surely you don't suggest we should have left her as a-" Dumbledore's response trailed off as Dippet rose and departed.
Shackleton picked up the discarded paper. "I can't believe you actually subscribe to this Dumbledore. I don't know which is worse, this or the muggle papers? Never mind that the facts are never right, this is just bad writing - 'disclosure of the existence of this previously undisclosed' and the writer used the word exposed twice in the same sentence."
Handing back the paper, Shackleton asked a question to the table at large. "Really! Since when has Valhalla Pomfrey ever been reliable?"
Looking over at Binns, Riddle, and Minerva Grindelwald seated together at the Slytherin table, Dumbledore came to a decision. He hadn't paid any heed to Artemisia's words and he wasn't going to pay any attention to Dippet's words either. Already today his relationship with one student had been damaged, almost certainly irreparably. He was not going to give up on trying to improve his relationship with this one. The only problem was since Dippet took her out of his Transfiguration class, he had no opportunity to interact with her. As the table's slight laughter died down over Shackleton's all too true comment about Pomfrey, Dumbledore formulated a plan.
"You know, Shackleton, I have a few free periods today. It seems a shame to let all of Pomfrey's classes get behind, particularly his seventh years."
Shackleton took no time at all to consider the suggestion before agreeing. "True, the NEWTS are practically upon us. It's been years since you were the Potion Master, but if you remember what to do and have the time, by all means."
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Still frustrated at being ordered to take his meals at one of the kiddy tables, Robert Binns scowled at all the children near him. Actually, now that he looked, he noticed there weren't nearly as many as usual. With the publication of this month's Quibbler, a generous portion of the student population was departing.
On his way here from the dungeons, he had encountered almost a hundred years worth of former students come to collect their children. Of course, only those parents who had actually attended Hogwarts in their own student days were allowed past the protective wards and charms around the castle. On owl orders some students were being forced to drag their belongings all the way to Hogsmeade to meet their anxious parents.
Personally, Binns was glad the whole thing was out. It was hard work trying to remember which name to call the girl. Though he would deny it if confronted, he was quite certain that on more than one occasion he had called the girl by the wrong name.
Right now, all he was anxious for was his breakfast. He began to look about for the platter of bacon. His eyes narrowed when they finally managed to locate it. The platter was at the Grindelwald girl's setting, placed before her the way everyone else had their plate.
"Miss Grindelwald, pass the bacon over here."
He knew the girl knew her own name, but she ignored his request.
Under the mistaken impression that why she wasn't doing it was of any interest to Binns, Riddle attempted to explain.
"Kitten doesn't like cold cereal or porridge. Bacon is the only thing served at breakfast that she will eat."
He could see it was true. The bacon was indeed the only thing the girl was eating. But frankly, if it weren't for the fact that he wanted the bacon for himself, Binns really could not have cared less what she ate.
"Well, tell her to stop it. She is going to have a heart attack before she is ten. I think I might have a heart attack just watching her."
Clearly the girl's ears were not malfunctioning. At his words she made a very elaborate show out of eating her next piece.
In his most daunting tone, Binns again spoke. "You send that bacon over here right now, Miss."
That finally got the girl's cooperation. Binns smirked as she took out her wand. His smirk faded when it became clear her wand had not come out to levitate the platter. A carefully spoken incantation caused each piece of bacon to take the form of a miniature piglet. As a small group began milling around by his plate, Binns looked up to see the girl was now the one trying to contain a smirk.
Despite knowing it was merely an animation charm like that put on Chocolate Frogs, Binns was quite revolted. Nevertheless, he would not again be bested by the child. It was bad enough she had ruined his tea the other day by filling the cup with tea leaves. She would not deprive him of his bacon.
As she picked a piglet up and began to nibble on it, he herded several onto his plate. Binns picked one up, but the panicked squealing noise that only his piglet made was too much for him. Though he set it back down, he formed a paddock out of toast and oatmeal so that it and the others might not return to her.
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As soon as the rest of his class was occupied, Professor Tofty excitedly made his way over to the girl he no longer had to pretend was a 'muggleborn.'
"Well, let's see it!"
With a swish and a flick, Professor Tofty's sense of triumph and accomplishment faded. He grabbed onto the little girl's desk to steady himself. The feather had floated, but half the room still went with it.
"That's alright. Try it again."
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
This time the feather didn't float, but the other half of the room did. He was disappointed. He knew she could do it. He had seen her do it last night, but he didn't want to put too much pressure on the young girl.
"That's alright. Keep trying."
Tofty wandered the room helping the older students, but he couldn't help but keep glancing back to the girl every time he had to grab onto the nearest desk to keep his balance. Something wasn't quite right.
Usually new students had difficulty moving the feather at all. He had seen through the 'muggleborn' story the girl's first class when instead of moving just the feather, she had moved half the classroom. Her lack of control just indicated she was exceedingly powerful and untrained. That wasn't it.
About halfway through the class, he finally realized what it was that was wrong. Each time the girl 'accidentally' levitated half the room there was a uniformity, an exactness to it. She levitated precisely half the room.
For the rest of the class he kept a careful watch. Sure enough, first the girl would do the left side of the room, then the right. Front, then back. She even split it into diagonal halves. When she quartered the square shaped room into four triangles and did two opposing triangles at a time, Tofty shook his head, amused. By the time she finished doing only those objects in the room with a height greater than and then lesser than a meter and a half the bell rang.
"Mr. Riddle, you may go. Miss Grindelwald, I would like to speak to for a moment."
To the protesting Mr. Riddle, Tofty raised a hand. "I will deliver her to you in the Great Hall in just a few minutes."
He noted that Riddle chose to instead remain waiting immediately outside the door. Tofty used his wand to close the door. Turning to the girl, he spoke not at all crossly.
"Miss Grindelwald, the jig is up."
He wasn't absolutely certain, but he was fairly certain her lips were twitching. Other than that she said nothing.
"Do you find my exercises to be undemanding?"
That warranted an indifferent shrug. He pushed her feather at her.
"Alright, show me what you can do."
For the next few minutes Tofty leaned against a nearby desk watching the girl charm the feather in a seemingly infinite number of ways. First she banished it away from her, then with an 'Accio!' she had it back. She gave it an 'Engorgio!' before casting a 'Reducio!' to return it to normal size. A 'Diffindo!' tore the feather, but a 'Reparo!' immediately brought it back to ship shape. She disillusioned it and vanished it, before making it reappear with a 'Finite Incantatem!' She even managed to give it a horn for its tongue with the 'Horn Tongue' enchantment, despite the feather's lack of tongue. Though the amplification and silencing effects of the 'Sonorus!' 'Quietus!' and 'Silencio!' had no effect on the feather, she did have the words and form correct.
As she went through every spell he could think to suggest, regardless of the level of difficulty, the only one she couldn't get right was 'Expecto Patronum!' Her words and form were flawless, but nothing came out of her wand. Not at all surprising since a person's Patronus was tied to their soul and it was a well known fact that Themis children were born without souls. Still, for a soulless child Tofty thought she was quite pleasant, if a bit mischievous and willful.
It was only after his own error of asking her to cast a fire setting spell, 'Incendio,' a few minutes after having already suggested using a water repellent spell, 'Impervius' that their session came to an end. The incantation that made wine come out of her wand did not help matters. His own attempts at 'Finite Incantatem!' were ineffective against her overly powerful castings.
"Dearie, you try 'Finite Incantatem!'"
The alcohol acted as an accelerant, enabling the fire to quickly engulf the whole desk.
"I already showed you that spell."
It began to spread to the next desk as Tofty backed away, tugging the girl with him by her sleeve. Tofty replied, keeping his voice as even and kindly as he could under the circumstance.
"Yes, you certainly did, but I'd like to see it just once more."
After a few more entreaties, he finally convinced her to repeat the incantation she had already showed him. Opening the door, he eagerly released her to the waiting Mr. Riddle. While attempting to minimize the appearance of damage to his classroom, he considered the matter. Given the circumstances of the Headmaster's acquaintance with the girl's grandmother, Professor Tofty decided it might be best not to mention this incident.
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Armando Dippet had long since given up on attempting to personally hand write a response to each angry letter. Instead he charmed a score of quills to all write out on a separate parchment as he dictated.
"I assure you there is no cause for alarm. The report printed in this month's edition of the Quibbler was almost entirely devoid of fact -"
As the Minister of Magic entered his office with an abbreviated entourage Dippet sighed. Ignoring the Minister's boldly stated opinions about the competency of Dippet and his staff, he shuffled through the tattered remains of Howlers lying on his desk. Eventually, he managed to locate the scroll he had put aside for the Minister's arrival.
In retrospect, Dippet realized perhaps if he had taken a different approach, if he had been a little less overly confidant, a little less arrogant, then perhaps things would have turned out differently. Perhaps the Minister would not have later worked so tirelessly against him. But as it was, he had just spent the past few hours failing to manage to open Howlers at a rate rapid enough to prevent the majority of them from exploding on his desk. Nearly a quarter of the school's students had departed this morning and the letters he had been receiving indicated a portion almost equal to that could be expected to leave by this afternoon. Despite his best efforts to sway him against it, Dumbledore was still insistent upon attempting to embark on a friendship with the girl now. Dippet could already Foresee that harmless childhood friendship and Dumbledore's sense of propriety playing havoc with the possibility of future romantic entanglements with the girl when she became an adult. And to top it all off, during the time of Pomfrey's absence, Dippet's supply of dreamless sleep potion had dwindled to a single, solitary vial. It was Friday and he had just learned that Pomfrey was not expected to be released from St. Mungo's until Monday at the earliest. How he could possibly manage to make it till then was unimaginable.
The one thing he was confident about was that the short scroll he was handing the Minister would decisively resolve at least one problem. Without even unrolling the scroll to attempt to read it, the Minister began to question him.
"What's this?"
"That, Minister Augustus, is a formal petition for custody of the girl. Or rather, it is a copy of a formal petition for custody of the girl. The original was owled off to the proper Ministry department earlier this morning."
The Minister was more than a bit irate in his response.
"Dippet, surely you don't think I plan to leave her here now?"
Dippet stole a quick glance to the men standing behind the Minister. Amongst them he easily recognized Mr. Moody. Mr. Moody looked away, still too ashamed of his behavior of the last evening to meet Dippet's gaze. Dippet was slightly insecure knowing the auror was there and could possibly attempt to refute him, but he gained confidence from the auror's inability to look him in the eye and spoke.
"Be serious, Minister. The child hasn't done anything wrong. There isn't a hint of misconduct on her part. Lacking evidence, without even a credible accusation against her, you cannot send her to Azkaban. You had your chance under the guise of investigating her when her existence was first discovered, but you failed to seize it."
The Minister looked quite incensed. Clearly, he had not forgotten that the only reason he had not exercised that option was Dippet's own doing.
"Even if I can't send her straight to Azkaban, what makes you think I will let you get away with this? I will not be letting you keep her."
Dippet knew his next words were crude and unkind, but they were indisputable. He did after all have experience in this matter from when the girl's mother was a child. Wizarding children were rare and precious. They were seldom put up for adoption and the few that were, were heavily sought after. That had been one of the things that was most upsetting about the discovery of eleven year old Mr. Riddle living in a muggle orphanage. Most unfortunate that his Witch mother had not notified anyone of the Wizarding variety before dying in childbirth at a muggle hospital. Even the inordinately large number of orphan children provided by Grindelwald's reign of terror had quickly been absorbed by the Wizarding community.
Of course everything had an exception and in this case it was the Themis. People could hardly be expected to willingly open their homes to cursed little children. And certainly in this girl's case the identity of her father would not at all serve to facilitate the problem.
"Minister, you have no basis to decline my petition and it's hardly as if anyone else is going to want her."
The Minister could think of nothing to counter the validity of Dippet's words and soon departed.
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After stepping to the side of the stone gargoyles, Alastor Moody stood rigid as the incensed Minister of Magic addressed him personally.
"Moody, I don't care if you have to invent it, I want you to find a reason to get that - that - thing to Azkaban."
Moody realized that he could mention last night's incident. While he was sure it was not what had happened, he knew the Minister could try to make the argument that the girl had choked the boy. Not by wandlessly strangling him as Moody had first supposed, but by having placed the chicken bone in the boy's throat to choke him.
He could have mentioned it, but instead, Moody kept his mouth closed and just nodded his head in response.
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A/N Thanks for reviewing Jessica Lewis, Stacey, Mavidian, Morpheus, Kate, Punurple, Elayne Sedai, Mara MG, Venusdemilo, hmt, and Laura Kay x4!
The chapter is written but I still need to send it off to be betaed. Maria is terrific about getting things back quickly though, so the wait for it to be posted shouldn't be too long. Meanwhile please take a moment and review this one. Thanks.
The errors in the Quibbler article are meant to be the reporter's errors.
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On his way to the Great Hall for breakfast, Albus Dumbledore noticed a second year struggling to drag a trunk. While it was a few weeks before the end of term, it wasn't out of the ordinary for a student or two to leave early. Some less considerate parents habitually scheduled their summer holiday travels to begin before the official end of classes.
Dumbledore helped the young man master the 'locomotor' spell before continuing on his own way. It wasn't until he reached the main staircase and looked down that he realized something was wrong.
Amelia Bones had her own trunk levitated and out the door, but paused to help her young brother, Edgar, with his trunk. Mrs. Bones was occupied ushering out Amelia's even younger brother who, still in his night clothes, was protesting at the idea of going out.
As if sensing Dumbledore's presence, Amelia looked up to meet his gaze. She knew! Even if the sight of the usually composed Mrs. Bones frantically calling at the school in the early morning hours to collect her children could really leave any uncertainty, the look in Amelia's eyes as they met his own was all that was needed to remove any doubt. His heart sank. Never before had Albus Dumbledore ever known himself to be the cause of such a look of hurt and disappointment.
He didn't have long to endure the sight. Amelia quickly turned and followed out the door after the rest of her family.
It was only after the Bones family departed, as Dumbledore made his way further down the stairs, that he truly caught sight of what was going on in the entrance hall. Literally dozens of concerned parents were clustered about. Many like Mrs. Bones were not allowing their children time to dress or even pack. Dumbledore recognized the younger parents as they were former students of his, but he didn't stop to chat as he continued towards the Great Hall.
He made his way to the Head Table to speak to Dippet, but once there, he didn't even have to ask. Copies of the Wizarding and Muggle papers to which Dumbledore subscribed had already been delivered. While the London Times, The Scotsman, and the Daily Prophet were waiting at his place setting as always, his edition of the Quibbler was not there.
"Congratulations, Dumbledore. You're front page news again."
Dumbledore started to respond to Shackleton's remark, but Headmaster Dippet began speaking instead. Dippet disdainfully held Dumbledore's copy of the Quibbler by the corner and read off a portion of the article.
'According to reliable sources at Hogsmeade School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it was recently discovered that within the castle a child has been living the past few months masquerading, as an ordinary muggle cat. While the idea of someone living in the form of a cat is in itself extraordinary enough, the child's identity will astound even those readers of the staunchest heart.
After several rounds of firewhisky, this reporter's most reliable source let slip that the 'catgirl' is none other than Minerva Grindelwald. What's that you say, dear readers? Who's Minerva Grindelwald? Only the daughter of the dark wizard Grindelwald and the supposedly childless and deceased Artemisia Themis.
The discovery was made by Hogsmeade's Charms professor, Albus Gawain Brian Dumbledore, whom readers and Chocolate Frog card aficionados may recall, was the wizard credited with the defeat of Grindelwald. Upon being confronted by Dumbledore with her deception, according to the most reliable source from within Hogsmeade, the girl became quite hostile and viciously assaulted the eighty-something year old professor. At the time of this printing it was still unknown if Dumbledore will ever fully recover.
The disclosure of the existence of this previously undisclosed child leads this reporter to ask just what other secrets the Ministry of Magic and Minister Augustus are keeping from us. Is Artemisia Themis in fact still alive? Is Jupiter Grindelwald really imprisoned in Azkaban or is he still at large? Have the wizard eating Quintaped, also known as Hairy MacBoons, made it off of the Isle of Drear and on to mainland Scotland despite Ministry claims to the contrary? Brace yourself readers for the next issue as the Quibbler, exposes more secrets that the Ministry doesn't want exposed.'
Finished with the article, Dippet threw down the paper. "You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you? I'm going back to my office to deal with all the parents' letters and wait for the visit the Minister will undoubtedly pay us. Stay away from the girl."
"Surely you don't suggest we should have left her as a-" Dumbledore's response trailed off as Dippet rose and departed.
Shackleton picked up the discarded paper. "I can't believe you actually subscribe to this Dumbledore. I don't know which is worse, this or the muggle papers? Never mind that the facts are never right, this is just bad writing - 'disclosure of the existence of this previously undisclosed' and the writer used the word exposed twice in the same sentence."
Handing back the paper, Shackleton asked a question to the table at large. "Really! Since when has Valhalla Pomfrey ever been reliable?"
Looking over at Binns, Riddle, and Minerva Grindelwald seated together at the Slytherin table, Dumbledore came to a decision. He hadn't paid any heed to Artemisia's words and he wasn't going to pay any attention to Dippet's words either. Already today his relationship with one student had been damaged, almost certainly irreparably. He was not going to give up on trying to improve his relationship with this one. The only problem was since Dippet took her out of his Transfiguration class, he had no opportunity to interact with her. As the table's slight laughter died down over Shackleton's all too true comment about Pomfrey, Dumbledore formulated a plan.
"You know, Shackleton, I have a few free periods today. It seems a shame to let all of Pomfrey's classes get behind, particularly his seventh years."
Shackleton took no time at all to consider the suggestion before agreeing. "True, the NEWTS are practically upon us. It's been years since you were the Potion Master, but if you remember what to do and have the time, by all means."
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Still frustrated at being ordered to take his meals at one of the kiddy tables, Robert Binns scowled at all the children near him. Actually, now that he looked, he noticed there weren't nearly as many as usual. With the publication of this month's Quibbler, a generous portion of the student population was departing.
On his way here from the dungeons, he had encountered almost a hundred years worth of former students come to collect their children. Of course, only those parents who had actually attended Hogwarts in their own student days were allowed past the protective wards and charms around the castle. On owl orders some students were being forced to drag their belongings all the way to Hogsmeade to meet their anxious parents.
Personally, Binns was glad the whole thing was out. It was hard work trying to remember which name to call the girl. Though he would deny it if confronted, he was quite certain that on more than one occasion he had called the girl by the wrong name.
Right now, all he was anxious for was his breakfast. He began to look about for the platter of bacon. His eyes narrowed when they finally managed to locate it. The platter was at the Grindelwald girl's setting, placed before her the way everyone else had their plate.
"Miss Grindelwald, pass the bacon over here."
He knew the girl knew her own name, but she ignored his request.
Under the mistaken impression that why she wasn't doing it was of any interest to Binns, Riddle attempted to explain.
"Kitten doesn't like cold cereal or porridge. Bacon is the only thing served at breakfast that she will eat."
He could see it was true. The bacon was indeed the only thing the girl was eating. But frankly, if it weren't for the fact that he wanted the bacon for himself, Binns really could not have cared less what she ate.
"Well, tell her to stop it. She is going to have a heart attack before she is ten. I think I might have a heart attack just watching her."
Clearly the girl's ears were not malfunctioning. At his words she made a very elaborate show out of eating her next piece.
In his most daunting tone, Binns again spoke. "You send that bacon over here right now, Miss."
That finally got the girl's cooperation. Binns smirked as she took out her wand. His smirk faded when it became clear her wand had not come out to levitate the platter. A carefully spoken incantation caused each piece of bacon to take the form of a miniature piglet. As a small group began milling around by his plate, Binns looked up to see the girl was now the one trying to contain a smirk.
Despite knowing it was merely an animation charm like that put on Chocolate Frogs, Binns was quite revolted. Nevertheless, he would not again be bested by the child. It was bad enough she had ruined his tea the other day by filling the cup with tea leaves. She would not deprive him of his bacon.
As she picked a piglet up and began to nibble on it, he herded several onto his plate. Binns picked one up, but the panicked squealing noise that only his piglet made was too much for him. Though he set it back down, he formed a paddock out of toast and oatmeal so that it and the others might not return to her.
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As soon as the rest of his class was occupied, Professor Tofty excitedly made his way over to the girl he no longer had to pretend was a 'muggleborn.'
"Well, let's see it!"
With a swish and a flick, Professor Tofty's sense of triumph and accomplishment faded. He grabbed onto the little girl's desk to steady himself. The feather had floated, but half the room still went with it.
"That's alright. Try it again."
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
This time the feather didn't float, but the other half of the room did. He was disappointed. He knew she could do it. He had seen her do it last night, but he didn't want to put too much pressure on the young girl.
"That's alright. Keep trying."
Tofty wandered the room helping the older students, but he couldn't help but keep glancing back to the girl every time he had to grab onto the nearest desk to keep his balance. Something wasn't quite right.
Usually new students had difficulty moving the feather at all. He had seen through the 'muggleborn' story the girl's first class when instead of moving just the feather, she had moved half the classroom. Her lack of control just indicated she was exceedingly powerful and untrained. That wasn't it.
About halfway through the class, he finally realized what it was that was wrong. Each time the girl 'accidentally' levitated half the room there was a uniformity, an exactness to it. She levitated precisely half the room.
For the rest of the class he kept a careful watch. Sure enough, first the girl would do the left side of the room, then the right. Front, then back. She even split it into diagonal halves. When she quartered the square shaped room into four triangles and did two opposing triangles at a time, Tofty shook his head, amused. By the time she finished doing only those objects in the room with a height greater than and then lesser than a meter and a half the bell rang.
"Mr. Riddle, you may go. Miss Grindelwald, I would like to speak to for a moment."
To the protesting Mr. Riddle, Tofty raised a hand. "I will deliver her to you in the Great Hall in just a few minutes."
He noted that Riddle chose to instead remain waiting immediately outside the door. Tofty used his wand to close the door. Turning to the girl, he spoke not at all crossly.
"Miss Grindelwald, the jig is up."
He wasn't absolutely certain, but he was fairly certain her lips were twitching. Other than that she said nothing.
"Do you find my exercises to be undemanding?"
That warranted an indifferent shrug. He pushed her feather at her.
"Alright, show me what you can do."
For the next few minutes Tofty leaned against a nearby desk watching the girl charm the feather in a seemingly infinite number of ways. First she banished it away from her, then with an 'Accio!' she had it back. She gave it an 'Engorgio!' before casting a 'Reducio!' to return it to normal size. A 'Diffindo!' tore the feather, but a 'Reparo!' immediately brought it back to ship shape. She disillusioned it and vanished it, before making it reappear with a 'Finite Incantatem!' She even managed to give it a horn for its tongue with the 'Horn Tongue' enchantment, despite the feather's lack of tongue. Though the amplification and silencing effects of the 'Sonorus!' 'Quietus!' and 'Silencio!' had no effect on the feather, she did have the words and form correct.
As she went through every spell he could think to suggest, regardless of the level of difficulty, the only one she couldn't get right was 'Expecto Patronum!' Her words and form were flawless, but nothing came out of her wand. Not at all surprising since a person's Patronus was tied to their soul and it was a well known fact that Themis children were born without souls. Still, for a soulless child Tofty thought she was quite pleasant, if a bit mischievous and willful.
It was only after his own error of asking her to cast a fire setting spell, 'Incendio,' a few minutes after having already suggested using a water repellent spell, 'Impervius' that their session came to an end. The incantation that made wine come out of her wand did not help matters. His own attempts at 'Finite Incantatem!' were ineffective against her overly powerful castings.
"Dearie, you try 'Finite Incantatem!'"
The alcohol acted as an accelerant, enabling the fire to quickly engulf the whole desk.
"I already showed you that spell."
It began to spread to the next desk as Tofty backed away, tugging the girl with him by her sleeve. Tofty replied, keeping his voice as even and kindly as he could under the circumstance.
"Yes, you certainly did, but I'd like to see it just once more."
After a few more entreaties, he finally convinced her to repeat the incantation she had already showed him. Opening the door, he eagerly released her to the waiting Mr. Riddle. While attempting to minimize the appearance of damage to his classroom, he considered the matter. Given the circumstances of the Headmaster's acquaintance with the girl's grandmother, Professor Tofty decided it might be best not to mention this incident.
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Armando Dippet had long since given up on attempting to personally hand write a response to each angry letter. Instead he charmed a score of quills to all write out on a separate parchment as he dictated.
"I assure you there is no cause for alarm. The report printed in this month's edition of the Quibbler was almost entirely devoid of fact -"
As the Minister of Magic entered his office with an abbreviated entourage Dippet sighed. Ignoring the Minister's boldly stated opinions about the competency of Dippet and his staff, he shuffled through the tattered remains of Howlers lying on his desk. Eventually, he managed to locate the scroll he had put aside for the Minister's arrival.
In retrospect, Dippet realized perhaps if he had taken a different approach, if he had been a little less overly confidant, a little less arrogant, then perhaps things would have turned out differently. Perhaps the Minister would not have later worked so tirelessly against him. But as it was, he had just spent the past few hours failing to manage to open Howlers at a rate rapid enough to prevent the majority of them from exploding on his desk. Nearly a quarter of the school's students had departed this morning and the letters he had been receiving indicated a portion almost equal to that could be expected to leave by this afternoon. Despite his best efforts to sway him against it, Dumbledore was still insistent upon attempting to embark on a friendship with the girl now. Dippet could already Foresee that harmless childhood friendship and Dumbledore's sense of propriety playing havoc with the possibility of future romantic entanglements with the girl when she became an adult. And to top it all off, during the time of Pomfrey's absence, Dippet's supply of dreamless sleep potion had dwindled to a single, solitary vial. It was Friday and he had just learned that Pomfrey was not expected to be released from St. Mungo's until Monday at the earliest. How he could possibly manage to make it till then was unimaginable.
The one thing he was confident about was that the short scroll he was handing the Minister would decisively resolve at least one problem. Without even unrolling the scroll to attempt to read it, the Minister began to question him.
"What's this?"
"That, Minister Augustus, is a formal petition for custody of the girl. Or rather, it is a copy of a formal petition for custody of the girl. The original was owled off to the proper Ministry department earlier this morning."
The Minister was more than a bit irate in his response.
"Dippet, surely you don't think I plan to leave her here now?"
Dippet stole a quick glance to the men standing behind the Minister. Amongst them he easily recognized Mr. Moody. Mr. Moody looked away, still too ashamed of his behavior of the last evening to meet Dippet's gaze. Dippet was slightly insecure knowing the auror was there and could possibly attempt to refute him, but he gained confidence from the auror's inability to look him in the eye and spoke.
"Be serious, Minister. The child hasn't done anything wrong. There isn't a hint of misconduct on her part. Lacking evidence, without even a credible accusation against her, you cannot send her to Azkaban. You had your chance under the guise of investigating her when her existence was first discovered, but you failed to seize it."
The Minister looked quite incensed. Clearly, he had not forgotten that the only reason he had not exercised that option was Dippet's own doing.
"Even if I can't send her straight to Azkaban, what makes you think I will let you get away with this? I will not be letting you keep her."
Dippet knew his next words were crude and unkind, but they were indisputable. He did after all have experience in this matter from when the girl's mother was a child. Wizarding children were rare and precious. They were seldom put up for adoption and the few that were, were heavily sought after. That had been one of the things that was most upsetting about the discovery of eleven year old Mr. Riddle living in a muggle orphanage. Most unfortunate that his Witch mother had not notified anyone of the Wizarding variety before dying in childbirth at a muggle hospital. Even the inordinately large number of orphan children provided by Grindelwald's reign of terror had quickly been absorbed by the Wizarding community.
Of course everything had an exception and in this case it was the Themis. People could hardly be expected to willingly open their homes to cursed little children. And certainly in this girl's case the identity of her father would not at all serve to facilitate the problem.
"Minister, you have no basis to decline my petition and it's hardly as if anyone else is going to want her."
The Minister could think of nothing to counter the validity of Dippet's words and soon departed.
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After stepping to the side of the stone gargoyles, Alastor Moody stood rigid as the incensed Minister of Magic addressed him personally.
"Moody, I don't care if you have to invent it, I want you to find a reason to get that - that - thing to Azkaban."
Moody realized that he could mention last night's incident. While he was sure it was not what had happened, he knew the Minister could try to make the argument that the girl had choked the boy. Not by wandlessly strangling him as Moody had first supposed, but by having placed the chicken bone in the boy's throat to choke him.
He could have mentioned it, but instead, Moody kept his mouth closed and just nodded his head in response.
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A/N Thanks for reviewing Jessica Lewis, Stacey, Mavidian, Morpheus, Kate, Punurple, Elayne Sedai, Mara MG, Venusdemilo, hmt, and Laura Kay x4!
The chapter is written but I still need to send it off to be betaed. Maria is terrific about getting things back quickly though, so the wait for it to be posted shouldn't be too long. Meanwhile please take a moment and review this one. Thanks.