Chapter 46

Thank you, thank you Maria for taking the time to beta this!

Also thanks LinZE for taking the time to answer a few Brit questions for me.

All the names of famous witches were pulled from the Lexicon. You don't need to know their background to understand the story, but if you are interested check them out under the famous people/chocolate frog card section.

Elfric the Eager was a goblin that led a few uprisings against Wizards.

Making his way to the Gryffindor common room to wake Miss Grindelwald, Albus Dumbledore was not entirely surprised both to find Dippet also on his way there and to find the Headmaster arguing with the painting guarding the entrance.

"Get back you scurvy braggart!"

"I am the Headmaster of this school! You will open before me!"

"You cannot force your way to the chambers within!"

"I repeated the very same password that Miss Meadowes just gave you!"

"Yes…well…there is a new password now…to…keep out scurvy dogs like you!"

As amusing as this was, Dumbledore made his presence known. "Headmaster, perhaps you might reconsider my request to change portraits?"

"Traitor!"

Dippet looked sorely tempted, but in the end refused. "This painting has hung here since before you were a student and it will remain here long after we are all gone. There is something to be said for tradition, Master Dumbledore, for keeping things as they once were."

Seeing the direction where this was headed, before the Headmaster could again take up the argument from last night, Dumbledore restated his own position.

"Headmaster, Miss Grindelwald has made it quite clear she would prefer to be in Gryffindor House. I do respect the Sorting Hat and the traditions behind it, however I believe it is our choices that show what we truly are. A student should have a greater say in defining who they are or wish to be than a Hat, even if the Hat in question did once belong to Godric Gryffindor."

Dippet frowned, but apparently having had enough of 'discussing' the matter last night offered a compromise of sorts. "So am I to understand that were she to elect to return to Slytherin you would make no further issue of the matter?"

Dumbledore agreed. "Were she to freely elect to yes, but I don't find that to be a likely-"

Still frowning, Dippet interrupted. "-For the time being, she will continue to take meals and classes with the Slytherin students. Binns will continue to supervise her during meal times and baths. I have requested one of your prefects, Miss Meadowes, to awaken and escort her down to the Great Hall. You may go on about your regular business, Master Dumbledore."

Choosing for the moment to accept an incomplete victory, Dumbledore nodded. As the Headmaster headed towards the Great Hall, Dumbledore made his way back to his own chambers to gather what papers he would need for the day.

Before he could even get halfway to his rooms, a very disturbed Miss Meadowes came running after him. The girl had her head turned to look over her shoulder and literally collided with him. As he helped Miss Meadowes back to her feet, she managed to get out a few very frightened words.

"Professor, the Headmaster, he said to go into her room and bring her down to the Great Hall. I knocked, but when I opened the door-" Miss Meadowes shuddered.

Without bothering to wait for the rest, Dumbledore doubled back to the entrance to the Gryffindor dormitories. Though because of security concerns he normally took points for doing it, he was for once grateful to see a student had wedged something in the way to prevent the portrait from swinging fully closed and locking out all the students, Gryffindor or otherwise.

"Come back here! That's not a very Knightly way to go about getting in!"

Ignoring Sir Cadogan, Dumbledore rushed to the Gryffindor Head Girl's room and threw open the door.

Littered all across the floor were sleeping lions and lionesses. From where he was still standing in the doorway it took him a moment to locate Miss Grindelwald. She was asleep in the exact spot where he had left her last night. Only, last night he had left her surrounded by a pile of fluffy pillows and this morning the pillows had been replaced by an assortment of young cubs.

Remembering how she had been unhappy with him for removing the etchings and the slightly suspicious way in which she had immediately requested the pillows, it seemed clear that this time the girl had done the transfiguration intentionally and was in control of her creations. Gathering his wits and courage, Dumbledore cleared his throat before speaking. "Miss Grindelwald, it is time to wake up."

Without even opening her eyes, 'Kitten' groggily replied. Because she was half buried, her voice was somewhat muffled. "I am still sleepy."

Dumbledore tried to be insistent. "Tonight we will make sure you go to bed a little earlier, but it is time to wake up."

That got no response from the girl, but one of the lions on the floor stood and stretched. When it opened its mouth, Dumbledore wasn't clear if it was meant as a yawn or a threatening roar. Either way, he wanted to make it clear to Miss Grindelwald from the start that he was not a pushover like Binns. Pointing his wand at it he spoke.

"Finite Incantatem!"

Rather than having the desired effect of reverting the lion back to a pillow, the spell served only to infuriate both the lion and the girl. The lion roared angrily while Miss Grindelwald, finally opening her eyes, sat up to reprimand him. "That is not nice! If you cannot play nicely, I think you should leave."

No, it seemed very clear the girl was in control of her creations. Dumbledore barely managed to get the door closed in time to avoid the lion's charge. As the lion continued trying to claw its way through the door, Miss Grindelwald gave her final thoughts on the matter. "It is not wake up time."

Dumbledore sighed. So much for showing her who was in charge.

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Armando Dippet was beside himself. This was turning into an unmitigated disaster. There remained only one thing left for him to do. He went to speak to Mr. Riddle.

"Mr. Riddle, you have my permission to again associate yourself with Miss Grindelwald."

Looking directly at Mr. Riddle, attempting to convey the enormity of the situation at hand, Dippet continued speaking.

"Mr. Riddle, you must find a way to convince Miss Grindelwald to again change Houses. It is of the utmost importance. We must get her away from Master Dumbledore immediately"

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Kevric Kettleburn stopped Tom on his way into the Great Hall for lunch. If he were asked again, he could no longer honestly disagree with Dumbledore's concerns about Tom being a poor influence on Kitten. However, anyone else's influence had to be an improvement over Binns'.

"Tom, no matter what do not let Kitten eat any candy or sweets until she has eaten something more substantial first. Now, I realize candy is all she wants to eat. There may be a few days of her not eating anything at all, but so be it."

Seeing Tom's alarmed expression at the request to stop feeding Kitten, Kevric tried to reassure the boy and explain his reasoning.

"It may seem cruel to do but it is for her own good. Kitten is extremely willful, but not to worry, she isn't foolish enough to starve herself to death. When she gets hungry enough, she will give in and eat whatever we put in front of her, even if it isn't candy. She needs to learn she can't always have her way."

Tom frowned, obviously disliking the idea. "I don't want to hurt her."

"Tom, I promise it won't hurt her. But we need to make her understand there are some things she simply cannot be allowed to do."

After that Tom nodded readily enough. "That is a very good idea, Professor Kettleburn."

In fact, Kevric got an uneasy feeling at just how eagerly Tom agreed.

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Greatly interested, Robert Binns watched the scene playing out before him.

Now that Mr. Riddle was in charge, the flow of sweets to Miss Grindelwald had dried up entirely. It had taken three days without eating but it seemed that at long last Kettleburn was to be proven right.

Looking at Binns, Miss Grindelwald gave one more halfhearted attempt. "Give me candy or else."

Binns averted his eyes as Mr. Riddle shook his head. "No candy until you do as I have asked."

With a slight pout, Miss Grindelwald at last relented. "Fine. I will eat the chicken."

Riddle again shook his head. "That isn't what I asked you to do. You have to move back to Slytherin."

Miss Grindelwald's eyes narrowed. "I like Gryffindor better."

Binns scowled at her, but Mr. Riddle tried another angle. "You have to move back, Kitten. I'm in Slytherin. Don't you want to be with me?"

The girl had an answer for everything and this was no exception. "You can be a Gryffindor too. There is a room right next to mine that you can have."

Of all the outlandish ideas! Binns couldn't fault Riddle for beginning to lose his patience. "Why would I want to be a Gryffindor? Gryffindors are a bunch of filthy mudbloods and mudblood lovers. They are worthless scum not fit to lick the ground-"

Binns doubted the girl knew the meaning of half the words Riddle was using, but she was clever enough to realize her new House was being disparaged. Still, her defense of it was, at least to Binns' mind, a bit lacking.

"In Gryffindor Tower we have lions."

Riddle was growing quite exasperated. "You don't even like cats! You hiss at them all the time!"

The girl gave him quite the piercing look. "They are not cats. They are lions. There is a difference, you know."

Were it someone else's House that the girl had deserted, Binns would have found the situation quite amusing. As it was, some of the other professors had taken to mocking him in the faculty lounge.

Like Riddle, Binns too understood the need to bring the girl back into the Slytherin folds by any means necessary. "Move back to Slytherin!"

Miss Grindelwald shook her head. "I do not like snakes."

"Kitten, the snakes won't bother you again. I can control them. I can speak to them and they listen to me."

Miss Grindelwald wrinkled her nose. "Why would anyone want to talk to snakes? I think snakes are nasty and foul smelling. They should be destroyed as a service to wizardkind."

Riddle looked absolutely furious. "The serpent is an ancient and noble creature. Salazar Slytherin used the serpent from his own family coat of arms to serve as the representation of Slytherin House. The serpent embodies many of the same traits Salazar sought in the young witches and wizards he hand selected for Slytherin House."

Miss Grindelwald gave a shrug. "I do not think that says much about Sally-zar Slytherin if he liked snakes so much."

Riddle seemed almost personally affronted, as if it were his own family the girl was insulting. Through gritted teeth, he repeated himself. "Move back to Slytherin!"

"You come live in Gryffindor."

The two appeared to have reached an impasse.

As she reached across the table for the chicken, Mr. Riddle again shook his head. He pushed the platter out of her reach. "Move back to Slytherin."

Miss Grindelwald scowled, but for the moment said nothing more.

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Afterwards, Robert Binns knew it was his own fault. Armando Dippet had tried to warn him earlier. He clearly remembered Armando's words.

'You have to keep a sharp eye on her when you are around her. She may not really mean any harm, but she doesn't think the way we do. At all times when you are around her just try to be aware of what she is doing. Try to keep a step ahead of her. Look for the signs and try to head off the worst before it can happen.'

And he had tried to keep watch on her the whole time she was in his classroom. It wasn't that he hadn't seen all the signs, it was just that he had misinterpreted them.

Maybe that was why he liked history so much. After the space of a hundred or two hundred years it was so much easier to look at what happened and understand it in all its complexities. Of course, he snorted, maybe if he learned after that first incident, he wouldn't be able to walk through walls now.

Walking into his classroom, Robert Binns enjoyed the tapping sound his shoes made against the stone floor. So far it had been a good day. There hadn't been a single incident at breakfast. Of course, Tom Riddle and his charge hadn't shown up for breakfast. That was probably why there hadn't been a single incident, but since the young lady was now housed in Gryffindor Tower, her comings and goings were no longer his concern.

Looking out at the rows of students before him, he frowned. Mr. Riddle and Miss Grindelwald were not present. That was his concern. Just as he was beginning to think he should send a message to Headmaster Dippet, he heard them coming down the hall.

"My Tom, I want to go back to sleep."

"It's History of Magic, you can sleep there."

"I want my breakfast."

"Move back to Slytherin!"

Going on day five and still she was resolute. "No!"

"Then no breakfast."

Binns admired Mr. Riddle. The young man made the makings of a harsh bargainer. Or perhaps a merciless despot. One of the two anyway. In five days all that he had allowed the girl in way of food or drink was the mandrake potion Headmaster Dippet provided for her. Miss Grindelwald was equally as unyielding. Even with that as her only food or drink, the girl still defiantly insisted on wandlessly banishing it to Dippet's cup.

Naturally Binns wanted it to be the girl to give in first, and in returning to Slytherin House restore some of his tarnished honor. For Riddle too to abandon him would be a blow from which recovery would seem unlikely. Not because he had any real fondness for either of them, truthfully they could both hang for all he cared, but there was his own reputation in the faculty lounge to be considered.

Either way, the battle of wills between them had been something to behold.

Mr. Riddle came into the room carrying young Miss Grindelwald. Neither seemed pleased. Riddle gave an angry glare to the young lady while speaking to him.

"Sorry we are late, Professor."

Ignoring the comments said in the hall, he waved them to their seats. He knew people slept in his class, he wasn't that unaware of what went on around him. If he thought it was his teaching style it would bother him, but what could he do about the students just not being interested in their own history?

Before letting Miss Grindelwald sit down, Mr. Riddle tried to straighten her robes with a spell. Binns could hear his exasperated voice.

"How do you get your robes so wrinkled? I just straightened them it still looks like you slept in them."

Back at his podium, he began his lecture. Often he felt like Miniver Cheevy, the man in the muggle poem. The old days seemed so much more interesting than now-a-days. How much more fascinating it would be to live during one of the glorious Goblin Revolutions! Sometimes during his lectures he liked to think the sleeping students were really wizards and he was Elfric the Eager come to overthrow them and free his fellow goblins from their tyranny. He sighed as his thoughts of setting fire to Mr. Crouch's thatch roof cottage were interrupted.

"My Tom, I am hungry."

Binns frowned and fielded this one for Mr. Riddle.

"There will be no eating in my classroom, Miss Grindelwald."

She just stared at him for a minute before resting her head on her folded arms. When he saw her eyes close he went on with his lecture.

He just never did understand children. It might sound odd coming from a professor who had taught four houses and seven years of students for more than eight score years but it was true. He had never married and had children of his own. It wasn't a conscious decision, it just never happened. He just never found the right woman. But then, what woman existed that had the intelligence of Rowena Ravenclaw, the beauty of Cliodna, the charm of Helga Hufflepuff, the generosity of Daisy Dodderidge, and the power of Morgana? What woman could possibly hope to compare favorably to Circe, Dymphna Furmage, Beatrix Bloxam and Wendelin the Weird?

Looking at Miss Grindelwald he thought about how uncommon it was to have a child that young at the school. The professors who had families usually chose to live elsewhere and apparate back and forth to the area outside the school's wards. He noticed her eyes weren't really closed. They were open ever so slightly. Splendid! He smiled. At least one person in this class could appreciate history in all its grandeur.

He realized it wasn't history that so captivated Miss Grindelwald at about the same time that Miss Fawcett's familiar, a desk over from Miss Grindelwald, realized it was being watched. The small mouse, realizing an audience was after all in attendance, began its usual antics. First, it preened its whiskers and then it whirled its tail like a lasso. After seeing a few back flips, Binns shook his head. Mice were so vain, always needing to be the center of attention. He noticed the small smile on Mr. Riddle's face, not at the mice's antics so much as Miss Grindelwald's captivation with it.

"If you promise to stop being so difficult all the time and move back to Slytherin, I will get you a mouse."

Miss Grindelwald didn't answer. Her head still rested on her arms. Except for her eyes carefully following the mouse's progress, she hadn't moved in several minutes. When the mouse began tap dancing towards her desk, Binns noticed her body tense. She seemed to have forgotten to remember to breathe. He knew the mouse meant no harm so he did not intercede as it got closer and closer. She would soon realize the mouse was of no threat to her.

Later, trying to explain to Armando Dippet what happened next, he had referred to his own shock being so great, "You could have picked me up off the floor!" Rather apt given it wasn't all that long afterwards that after another incident with Miss Grindelwald they really had had to pick him up off the floor. Well, his body anyway.

As the mouse's tap dancing edged closer to Miss Grindelwald's desk, the young girl's hand moved out sharply. Before Mr. Riddle, Miss Fawcett, or he could react, the mouse, well part of it anyway, was in Miss Grindelwald's mouth. The sickening crunch carried through the silent chamber of sleeping students. Miss Fawcett's loud wail and Mr. Riddle's shouts soon had everyone awake and on their feet. The students' quick shift from sleep to ready for battle made him wonder if next time he set fire to Mr. Crouch's cottage he would have time to do his victory dance properly before having to run away.

"That's revolting! Stop that right now! People do not eat mice! Bad Kitten! Just…bad, bad Kitten!"

He watched as Mr. Riddle tussled with the young girl over her newly acquired breakfast.

"Spit that out now!"

The young girl hissed at Riddle when he succeeded in over powering her.

"Don't you ever hiss at me!"

When Mr. Riddle tried to return the parts of Miss Fawcett's mouse to her, Miss Fawcett howled all the more. Miss Grindelwald for her part just returned her head to its previous position on top of her arms with a sullen expression.

Oh dear. This was not good at all. He should have known better than to go along with one of Kettleburn's ideas. "Mr. Riddle, perhaps you should take Miss Grindelwald back to her rooms and find her a proper breakfast."

Mr. Riddle jerked Miss Grindelwald out of her seat by the back of her robes and lifted her past the rows of students. Once at the door he set her down again. All the way down the hall he could be heard haranguing her.

"Little girls don't eat mice! That was the most revolting thing I have ever seen!"

"My Tom, carry me."

"I'm not carrying you anymore. You aren't a cat so stop pretending that you are!"

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Kevric Kettleburn knocked, but did not wait for an answer before entering the Gryffindor Head Girl's room.

Tom had been quite upset with Kitten for switching Houses and after the incident in Binns' class, the two had had something of a parting of ways. Specifically, Tom didn't come around to take her places anymore. Without Tom to follow around, the past few days Kitten had taken to skiving off all of her classes. And of course, no one was doing anything about it.

It was odd how disturbed Tom was by what Kitten had done. Even if the boy had managed to miss the predatory way Kitten seemed to regard Dippet's toad, Tom knew what had become of Kitten's own puffskein. What she did to the mouse really shouldn't have been such a ghastly surprise for Tom.

While Kevric was not pleased with what Kitten had done, he could understand it. And in retrospect, he was partially to blame. This was hardly an unforeseeable consequence of telling Tom to stop feeding Kitten. After all, cats could be fairly self reliant creatures.

Given how horribly his last few ideas had worked out, Kevric had seriously considered just leaving the situation alone. But in the end, he just couldn't do it. Looking at the boxes of candy stacked around the room, he repressed a sigh and wondered if it had been Binns' or Dippet's suggestion to keep Kitten so stuffed with candy that she would not feel the need to graze on other student's familiars.

"Hello Kitten. Shouldn't you be in class?"

"I do not need to go to them."

Raising an eyebrow, Kevric asked the obvious. "Why not?"

With a shrug, Kitten answered. "My bed is much more comfortable than my chair in History of Magic. Charms is just silly wand waving. All anyone needs to know from Defense against the Dark Arts is never get hit. After that, everything else is-"

And Binns thought Kevric was a bad influence on children?

"Let's go. You are coming with me."

"Where?"

"Outside. If you don't want to listen on during my class you can just play outside."

Kitten remained seated on the bed. "I am supposed to stay inside. I am a house cat, not an outdoor cat."

Kevric gave a slight tug on her hand to get her to rise. "The sunshine will be good for you." She went out the door without any physical resistance, but she continued protesting the whole way.

"I am not supposed to go outside. Somebody might steal me. Or sometimes the automobeals outside go by really fast and I might get run over. It is better to stay inside."

"What is an 'automobeal'?"

Kitten was quiet a minute. By the way she ended up just ignoring the question, Kevric surmised she didn't know either.

"They go really fast."

Once they made it outside, Kevric let Tranquility out of her pen in an attempt to interest Kitten, but though the hippogriff followed the girl around like a benevolent pogrebin, the girl no longer seemed fascinated by the hippogriff. Fairly soon after he started lecturing, Kitten grew bored and wandered away from the class. Given their proximity to both the forest and the lake, Kevric kept a watchful eye on her, but allowed her to meander. He couldn't really blame her; today's lesson, dragons and unicorns, was his personal least favorite.

One would think a class on dragons and unicorns would be interesting, but it didn't sound interesting. And sound was just about all it did. Unlike most of his other lessons, with this one he couldn't very well bring in live specimens. Dragons were understandably far too dangerous, but it always seemed ridiculous to be only a few hundred meters from herds of unicorns and not be able to actually show one to the class.

So instead, almost embarrassed, Kevric held a small picture of a dragon up for all to see. Ignoring the snickering from the Slytherin/Hufflepuff mixed class, he began.

"Dragons. Majestic. Powerful. Dangerous. They come in ten varieties. The largest is the Ukrainian Ironbelly, which can weigh the greater part of six tons. The smallest is the Peruvian Vipertooth. Size, however, is not everything. The Vipertooth is considered the most aggressive of all dragons because while by necessity it feeds mostly on goats and cows, whenever given the option, its meal of choice is humans…."

Kitten was a little too close to the lake for Kevric's comfort, but she was happily enough occupying herself with the dirt and mud, so he wasn't going to do anything quite yet.

"Dragon hide is used in protective shields and clothing. The horn and liver can be used in several potions. Dragon eggs have several uses other than the most obvious, hatching, but are now a non-tradable substance. The dung-" Kevric paused patiently to allow the laughter to die down. "-makes a most useful fertilizer. I'm sure more than a few of you have dragon heart strings in your hands right now. Dragons are such highly magical creatures that they make a very powerful wand core. Even the blood of a dragon has many uses. Can anyone name a few?"

Clearly no one had bother to do the assigned reading. "Anyone?"

"Okay, I'll give you a hint; oven cleaner is one. There are eleven more, who can name them?"

After a moment of silence, Kevric asked again. "Come now, surely someone here can name the twelve uses of dragon blood?"

Kevric sighed as finally one hand went up. The new arrival had not escaped his attention. "Professor Dumbledore put your hand down or I will give you a detention."

Fairly certain Dumbledore had not come all this way just to check on him, Kevric waved him off in the direction of the lake.

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Miss Grindelwald was sitting quietly at the edge of the water gazing out at the lake. She had been using her wand to draw in the damp earth around some flowers. Albus Dumbledore gave an odd look to the flowers. They were beautiful, but an unusual assortment to find growing together and he couldn't recall having seen them the last time he walked around the lake.

A hippogriff was resting a short distance from her, but the girl was adamantly ignoring it. Every time the hippogriff tried to move closer, the girl relocated to keep a distance between them. As Dumbledore approached, moving slowly so as not to startle the hippogriff, Kitten looked up expectantly. Her disappointment that he wasn't a certain someone else was obvious in the way her face fell and she returned her gaze to the lake.

Despite having wanted to segregate the girl from Tom Riddle, Dumbledore couldn't help feeling a twinge of regret or perhaps guilt. Now that Tom had grown tired of the girl, she spent much of her time alone. Most of the other children were frightened of her, not an entirely unreasonable response, given the things that had been happening around her.

Trying to interest the girl, Dumbledore picked up a few flat stones. After he skipped the second one over the water, she did look up at him. The dark expression she rewarded him with did not seem at all one of interest. Still, he tried to engage her in conversation.

"Would you like to learn to skip stones? There is a special trick to it in the way you move your wrist."

Her expression was clearly disapproving as he threw another stone onto the lake.

"People live in there you know. Would you like it if people threw rocks at where you live?"

When he was too slow to come up with a response, the girl showed she wanted no part of his company. Turning back only once to peer at him disapprovingly, she made her way over to Kettleburn. The hippogriff followed after her.

When she pulled on the sleeve of Kettleburn's robes, the young professor immediately gave her his full attention. He could see Kettleburn trying desperately to hide his smile as the girl appeared to be telling of his actions. Watching her continue to frown at him, Dumbledore did his best to appear contrite. The girl could be so sensitive, so thoughtful about some things.

Dumbledore had stopped by her rooms to check on her. He knew she had been taking a 'break' from her classes the past few days and so he had been concerned to find her gone. Now, knowing she was in good company, he headed back towards the castle.

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Kevric Kettleburn tried his best to keep from laughing as Kitten related to him what Dumbledore had done. Poor Albus just couldn't seem to win with her. As soon as Dumbledore went back into the castle, Kitten returned to her earlier spot.

Shortly after he began his discussion of unicorns he noticed Hagrid approach with Dippet's toad. Hagrid hung off to the side for a few minutes, but he seemed to just be listening in, not trying to get Kevric's attention. Soon he too grew bored and wandered off.

"Pieces of unicorn horns and hooves can be used in potions. The hairs can be used as well, as a catalyst of sorts. However, given their alternative use as a wand core, they are generally considered too valuable for potion use. Like dragon blood, unicorn blood has several different uses, most of which have to do with the Dark Arts…"

Kevric was disturbed to see the hands of several students shoot up. He didn't want to sound biased, but he did notice that they weren't Hufflepuff hands.

He called on a student at random and found the boy's information to be entirely incomplete.

"Drinking unicorn blood can keep a person alive even if they are at the brink of death!"

"That is true," Kevric conceded, "but drinking the blood of a unicorn leaves you to forever after live a cursed existence."

Kevric found it disturbing that the boy who had suggested drinking the blood shrugged at the mention of the consequences of doing it.

One of his Hufflepuffs gave a less…dark use. "It also acts as a restorative when drunk by other unicorns. It can heal, even regenerate a sick or injured unicorn."

But then the Slytherins started in again with more of the less…innocent uses.

"If a woman drinks it before…" By no means did Kevric think of himself as a prude like Binns, but even he thought the young Slytherin lady should have blushed while saying that in front of the whole class. "…you can guarantee conception."

Apparently the other girls in the class didn't agree with him. Another young Slytherin girl chimed in to further elaborate. "It will even work despite a blood marriage. So you can conceive a child with someone other than your husband."

Kevric could see that some of the Slytherin boys were not pleased with what they were hearing either, but he suspected their displeasure was for a different reason than his.

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Mr. Keys was not one to complain so instead of taking their usual route, Rubeus Hagrid carried him over towards Professor Kettleburn's class. He liked Professor Kettleburn right enough but usually Hagrid tended to stay away from him during his classes. Oh Professor Kettleburn never minded, it was just all the students around him. Most of them were nice enough, he still had some he was friendly with in Gryffindor, but it just felt kind of funny to be around them cause some he used to have classes with.

He tried not to think about it much, but sometimes he still missed all that learning. Not that he didn't like all the responsibilities of his new position, just…sometimes….

But today he heard that Professor Kettleburn was going to be talking about dragons in his classes and the thought of that had kind of helped him forget the unease he felt being around the other children.

Dragons were a special interest of his. There was nothing in the world that Hagrid would like more than a dragon to call his own. He had never met one in person before but when he was little….er well not as big, he used to spend hours looking at all the pictures of dragons in a book his dad had. He still had the book and he still liked to look at the pictures often. They reminded him of his dad, but in a happy way.

Getting close enough to actually hear, Hagrid was disappointed to find Professor Kettleburn was talking about unicorns instead. Oh he liked unicorns just fine, but they weren't nearly so interesting as dragons. And anyway, he could just go into the forest and look at the unicorns anytime he wanted. He wasn't supposed to, but he could and, well, once in a while he did…well maybe more than once in a while…kind of more like a lot actually.

So instead of listening to Professor Kettleburn, Hagrid's attention started to wander. When he saw Kitten sitting by herself, stopping to pet Tranquility along the way, he went over to join her.

"'ello Kitten. How might yeh be doin' terday?"

Kitten looked at him and gave a little shrug. Looking back at her, Hagrid kind of got the idea she wasn't very happy.

"Dinna yeh like Professor Kettleburn's class?"

Today must be a shrugging day. Hagrid could understand that. He had them himself sometimes. "I think Tranquility would like ter come over an' say hello."

Kitten sighed. "I do not want her to come over by me. All hippogriffs do is die and then flyaway."

"Eh, na in that order I hope?"

That didn't even get him the smile he was trying for, so Hagrid gave up on trying to cheer her up. Hagrid didn't really care for Tom himself, but he knew Kitten did and that that was part of the reason she was unhappy. All in all, Hagrid never got the idea Kitten liked it here.

"I was sorry ter hear yeh and Tom aren't gettin' along anymore."

Kitten didn't say anything for a few minutes, but the quiet didn't bother Hagrid and eventually she did say something back to him.

"One time I was in the kitchen with my Mum and she saw a mouse. She climbed up on a chair because she was afraid. But I was not afraid. I chased the mouse and I caught it. My mum did not want me to keep the mouse either, but she was much nicer about taking it away than my Tom was. She kept telling me what a clever little kitten I was for catching it for her."

Professor Dumbledore had told Hagrid all about Kitten, he knew she had never known her mother. He knew she was making the story up, but he didn't let on. He couldn't really remember his mum either and sometimes he liked to make up stories about her too.

"Yeh did a good job. Yeh caught a mouse. That's what kittens are supposed ter do. I dinna know what Tom's problem is."

Real quiet like, Kitten added. "I miss my mum."

Kitten stayed quiet after that, but Hagrid managed to talk enough for the both of them.

"Well I dinna reall' like Professor Kettleburn's class much either terday. I stopped by fer ta see if he was talkin' about dragons, but he isna. I like unicorns an' all, but I can go into the forest and see one o' them any day o' the week. But dragons, well, I'm jus' wild about dragons meself. I think they have got ta be the most beautiful creatures ever. Present compan' excluded o' course.

Na some folks'll say dragons are a mean an' ornery sort, but me, well, I say codswallop. It's all in how yeh treat them. Yeh get yerself one young enough and yeh treat it righ' an' yeh won't have na problems at'll. Yeh see, ta meh way of thinkin' the problem is most folks only ever git ta meet a full grown dragon that has probably never seen full grown people before either. Both get scared and well, that there is where all yeh troubles start.

Na, if yeh are goin' ta do it, yeh need ta do it right. Someday I'm goin' ta get mahself a dragon and show 'em all how it's done."

Kitten seemed to him to be a real good listener, though she hadn't said anything more to him. After a while when he stood up to leave, Kitten seemed kind of disappointed. He had to finish with Mr. Keys' walk and return him to the Headmaster's office, but not seeing any reason why Kitten couldn't come along too, he invited her.

Kitten took his hand, but since Professor Kettleburn was the one she came with, Hagrid took her over with him to ask Professor Kettleburn's permission.

#############################################

Kevric Kettleburn listened to Hagrid's request. Kevric liked Hagrid, he knew him to be a very sweet boy. Hagrid would never deliberately cause harm to Kitten, or anybody for that matter, but as the accident with Myrtle showed, lack of intention wasn't always enough to keep everyone safe. Certainly Hagrid wasn't very good at following rules and Kevric worried about what kind of influence he might have on Kitten.

Somehow he got a very bad feeling about the idea of mixing the two of them together...

Still, seeing Kitten holding Hagrid's hand, finally seeming to take an interest in something or someone, Kevric couldn't actually justify saying no.

"I think Kitten might enjoy a walk. The exercise will be good for her. But let's leave Keys with me. I can return him to Dippet's office after my class is over."

As the pair started to make their getaway, in a very firm voice, Kettleburn added a little reminder. "Hagrid, don't forget that some parts of the grounds are off limits even for assistant groundskeepers."

Kevric kept a careful eye on their trajectory, wanting to make sure they went nowhere near the Forbidden Forest. As soon as the pair were out of earshot, Kitten stopped and said something to Hagrid. After what appeared to be a very brief and one sided discussion, Hagrid nodded. He lifted Kitten up and carried her for the rest of their 'walk'.

The walk itself didn't last very long. After only another minute of Kitten's 'exercise', Kitten's lips could again be seen moving. Hagrid paused and then changed directions. Watching the pair head into Hagrid's hut, Kevric sighed, thinking of all the refreshing sunshine Kitten would enjoy in there. But, at least it wasn't the forest.

Maybe Hagrid's influence on Kitten wasn't the one he should be worried about.

Kevric returned his attentions to his class as one of the students asked a question.

"Professor, you said that unicorn milk has the same properties as the blood, but without the curse. What about dragon milk?"

Kevric again sighed. Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered. "Mr. Nott, you go find a lactating dragon and tell me."

Seeing an alarmed looking Headmaster heading right toward him, Kevric dismissed his class a few minutes early. As soon as Dippet caught sight of his toad, he calmed considerably. Still, he was concerned.

"What happened to Mr. Hagrid?"

"He took Kitten for a walk. I told him I would watch Keys and drop him off at your office as soon as my class ended."

Dippet didn't seem too reassured by this. "A walk to where? Weren't you saying just the other day that you thought Mr. Hagrid had again been venturing into the forest?"

Kevric shook his head. "I was watching for that. They didn't go there, they went into Hagrid's hut."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Kevric realized who he was talking to and regretted saying them.

"You allowed them to go together, unchaperoned, into Mr. Hagrid's hut?"

Without waiting for a response, Dippet strode off in the direction of Hagrid's hut. Following after him, Kevric tried to make Dippet see reason.

"Armando, this is Hagrid we are talking about. I mean…Hagrid! The boy never, I mean I don't think he even knows-"

As they reached the door to Hagrid's hut and heard Hagrid's voice coming out the open window, Kevric was shocked into silence.

"I dinna know about this. Da girls, do they really like this?"

Dippet threw open the door without knocking. After only the briefest of glances inside, Kevric had to turn away and focus on the grounds in an attempt to regain control of his emotions. His sides were shaking from trying to suppress his laughter. No, Hagrid's influence on Kitten was definitely not the one to be worried about.

Hagrid was sitting on the floor with his hair divided into two very sorry excuses for ponytails. Standing on a chair behind Hagrid, brush in hand, Kitten responded not at all convincingly to Hagrid's concerns.

"Of course they do!"

While admiring his new hairstyle in a small mirror, Hagrid noticed the new arrivals.

"'ello Headmaster, Professor. Would yeh care tah join us?"

Almost mesmerized by the mounds on Hagrid's head, Dippet responded slowly. "No…no…just…in the future, keep the door op-Come away from there this instant!"

Startled Kevric returned his attention to the hut. Kitten had wandered over to the far corner. At first Kevric couldn't understand what had upset the Headmaster so; he couldn't see anything over there. It wasn't until Kitten spoke that he realized Hagrid had moved the thestral he was trying to tame inside.

"I am doing it the right way. I am only petting him with his feathers, not against."

"Mr. Hagrid, I think it best that you escort Miss Grindelwald back to Gryffindor Tower now." Dippet seemed quite disturbed that Kitten could see the thestral. And for once, Kevric was in complete agreement with him.

#########################################

"Hobgoblin."

"Be gone wench! You are most unwelcome here!"

Sir Cadogan smirked, watching the girl frown.

"Are you sure that is not the password?"

So what if it was? "Be gone wench! Foul my doorstep no longer!"

"Do you see this?" The girl pointed to her bosom.

Averting his eyes only after an overly long look, Sir Cadogan blushed deeply at the girl's daring. "Your wiles are useless against me you lusty wench! I allow entrance to no one!"

"The badge, you…" the girl stammered, unable to find the word she desired. "…look at the badge!"

Oh, he hadn't noticed a badge before when he was looking, but sure enough, there was one. "What of it, wench?"

The girl was becoming quite livid with him. "I am the Head Girl. It is okay to let me in."

Sir Cadogan shook his head. "Your words mean nothing to me! I will hold this keep until my dying breath!"

Watching the girl's hands ball up into fists, Sir Cadogan prepared to defend himself. He was more than a little let down when instead of attacking she gave a disappointed sigh.

"Oh well. If you won't let me in I guess I won't be able to complete my quest."

"A quest you say?"

She nodded eagerly.

"What kind of a quest?"

The girl seemed a bit uncertain at first. "What kind of a quest? Well…I…I can't tell you. I have been sworn to secrecy."

"All Knights are foresworn to lend aid and assist in quests. Fair maiden, you must make haste! Enter at once!"

"Maybe you're just saying it wrong. Let me try, Mulciber."

"Nott, how many ways are there to say the word 'hobgoblin'?"

Sir Cadogan snickered, listening to the one called Nott try as well. "Hobgoblin. H-o-o-bg-o-o-blin! H-a-a-bg-a-a-blin! H-o-a-b-"

This was far too entertaining. "Knaves, all of you! Draw your swords and prepare to do battle."

Nott seemed eager for the challenge. "Good idea." But instead he drew his wand. "Let's just blast him."

That wasn't at all what he had meant! "No! Swords or lances, like real Knights!"

Thankfully the one called Mulciber was sensible enough to clout the Nott boy upside the head. "Idiot! Binns would probably miss it, but do you really think Dumbledore wouldn't notice a hole blasted through the Gryffindor portal painting? Besides even with a hole in the portrait the doorway will still be closed."

Nott frowned. "Fine. Let's just go find another first year to beat the password out of."

As they were going round the corner they ran into another of their Slytherin cohorts.

"Nott, Mulciber, what is taking you so long? Why don't you have her?"

"We tried Avery, but we can't get into Gryffindor Tower. The password is supposed to be 'hobgoblin', but it isn't working."

Avery sighed. "Did you tell him about the quest we are on?"

The Nott boy looked quite confused. "Quest? I thought we were going to show that little deserter just what we do with Gryf -OW! Don't hit me!"

Avery was growing angrier and angrier. "Do I have to do everything myself? Watch."

Not bothering to wait for Avery to fully approach, Sir Cadogan began the work of warding him off. "Back you worthless cur! This entrance is fortified against all intruders!"

Avery bowed his head slightly in a show of respect. "But kind and noble sir, my friends and I are squires, training to join the ranks of the great Knights, like yourself. We are on a quest and we seek your aid. Please, you must allow us passage into the lands that you so ably protect."

Sir Cadogan was torn. He really shouldn't be letting students from other Houses into the dormitory…but quests were long and arduous work…and it was expected for Knights to lend aid to others training to be Knights…and if they were to become Knights, he might finally get a proper jousting opponent…besides, they did have the password…

He swung the passageway open. "Carry on gentlemen!"

As they entered, Squire Mulciber seemed to be having some doubts about joining the Knighthood. "I don't know about this. Do you think Tom will be mad when he finds out?"

Squire Avery sought to reassure his fellow-in-arms. "Why would Riddle care? He's done with her. Why shouldn't we get to have a little fun?"

##############################################

The portrait that hung in the Gryffindor Common Room was a simple grassy landscape. There was no chair in it, but sitting on the grass with a slight breeze ruffling his garments suited him well. The view here was a definite improvement over that to which he had recently grown accustomed. So far the basest deed he had had to witness here was four students scribing from another's homework parchment.

In the early afternoons, it was customary for the Gryffindor Common room to be vacant. This afternoon however, there were two people present, and neither was truly a Gryffindor.

The Slytherin turned Gryffindor had been lying on the floor by the fireplace, drawing. She did look up briefly when the Hufflepuff entered, but quickly returned her attentions to her artwork. The Hufflepuff for her part didn't say anything either. With an entirely undecipherable expression, she remained simply observing the younger girl from across the way.

His blood, if he had had any, would have run cold at the sight of three more not-Gryffindors entering the room. He briefly hoped that the sight of the older girl, the one who wore the Head Girl badge, would dissuade the three new interlopers. But the hope was foolhardy; after all, did not the young man from whose room he had fled, wear the counterpart of that badge?

Amelia Bones, the Hufflepuff, the representative of all that was supposed to be just, did attempt to confront them…somewhat. "Slytherins aren't allowed in here. Leave now or I will report you."

The Mulciber boy smirked. "And Hufflepuffs are allowed?"

While Mulciber paused to debate the point, the other two had approached the younger girl. As when the older girl entered, she had only looked up long enough to note who was entering and then returned her attentions to her drawing. She wasn't looking at them and noticed neither the Nott boy reaching out to grab hold of her or the Avery boy's shake of the head telling him not to.

Instead, a smiling Avery leaned down, nearer to the girl's eye level and spoke. "I thought I saw your puffskein down in the dungeons. It was wandering about in Tom's rooms. You might want to go-"

Avery didn't even bother to finish as the girl scrambled to the door and out of the dormitories.

"See Nott, much easier. Tom is in the library right now so no worries about interruptions." Turning back to the door, he called to his other companion. "Let's go."

The Bones girl bit her lip. "What are you planning to do to her?"

The Mulciber boy shrugged. He seemed genuinely curious. "Why would you of all people care?"

Hufflepuffs might be just, but they were also loyal. In this case it seemed the later would outweigh the former. "I…I don't."

Amelia Bones allowed the three to pass unhindered. After remaining in the room a few minutes longer, she too finally departed.

###########################################

Heading into Gryffindor Tower, Albus Dumbledore was surprised to bump into of all things a Hufflepuff.

"Amelia, you look upset. Is everything all right?"

He had long ago noticed Amelia's habit of chewing on her lip when she was nervous or trying to make an important decision. She began examining her shoes as though they might have the answer.

"Is there something you would like to talk about?"

For a moment he thought she was going to confide in him, but then still examining her shoes, she shook her head. Sounding very torn, she spoke. "No, sir."

Dumbledore nodded. "Very well. If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

After watching Amelia walk away, Dumbledore entered the Gryffindor common room to check on Miss Grindelwald. Both the Common room and her bedroom were empty. Thinking it safe to assume she had again gone out with Kettleburn, Dumbledore headed back to his classroom.

tbc