Chapter 48

A/N A thousand thank you's to Maria for getting this chapter back to me so quickly. The remaining errors are intentional and meant to represent the particular narrators used.

Sorry for the long delay between chapters but being plagiarized isn't one of the better motivators for writing. I have a little over 8,000 words of the next chapter finished already (alas not the first 8,000 words) so hopefully the next chapter will be out a lot sooner.

Just to let you know where the story stands, after this there are two more real chapters followed by a fairly short chapter that take place partially in the past and partially in the present, and then a final sort of epilogue chapter. Now clearly that isn't the end of the story, but this tale has grown a bit overly long. There are six places that work well as a stopping point, so unless someone strongly objects, the story will take up again under the title 'Misconceptions, Transfigurations, & Predictions.' While misconceptions and transfigurations have played an important part in the story so far the main emphasis has been on predictions. The change in word order for the second title reflects that misconceptions will be the main driving force behind the next part.

One last thing, for those confused by Binns' internal monologue in the chapter before last, the poem Binns referenced was 'Miniver Cheevy' by Edwin Arlington Robinson. (I tried to include a url linking to a copy of the poem, but ffn will not let me. Enter the author and title into any search engine and you should be able to find a copy of the poem) Essentially (at least on some levels, please no poetry debates!) it's a poem about a man who instead of doing something with his life wastes it wishing for the way things used to be, or at least the way he thinks they used to be. I'll put a link to the poem in the a/n of that chapter as soon as I get a chance. All you really needed to get out of that segment was that rather than pay attention to what was happening around him, Binns once again allowed his mind to wander.

Since Fnn is being weird:

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####### change in narrator

'I trust everyone is familiar with the game 'Simon Says'?

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Albus Dumbledore couldn't imagine that all the changes and events that had been going on were very comforting to Kitten Grindelwald. He knew she was unhappy and so he had given her a great deal of leeway in recent days, but it didn't really seem to be helping things. Kettleburn was right, structure and stability were very important for children. Though she might resist at first, going to classes would be good for her. It would occupy her time and get her to start interacting with the other children more.

Finding her in the common room, all but inside the fireplace, he held out to her a schedule. Surprisingly, she readily took the parchment.

"Thank you."

Dumbledore couldn't decide between a smile or a frown, watching her immediately turn it over and begin work coloring the back.

"That is the schedule of classes you are to report to today."

Kitten politely returned the parchment to him. "No thank you."

Handing the parchment back, Dumbledore gave a nod. Why was he not at all surprised that it wasn't going to be that easy? "I can understand feeling that way, but school is important. You need to go to classes so you can learn new things."

When he wouldn't take it back in his hand, Kitten laid the parchment on the ground and pushed it in his direction.

"I do not want to go to school. I already know everything that I need to know."

Lowering himself closer to her eye level, Dumbledore returned the parchment and tried again. "School is very important. You get to have wonderful new experiences, interact with other children-"

This time the parchment scooted his way without her hand even touching it. "I do not want to go to school."

Trying to reason wasn't getting him very far. Time to be firm. "Well you have to."

"No, I do not."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I do not."

"Yes, you-" From the smile that Kitten did a rather poor job of hiding, Dumbledore realized what she was doing. "Come with me."

When she made no attempt to move, he added a final word. "Now."

"Right now?"

He nodded. "Right now."

Still lying on the floor, she inquired. "Right, right now?"

"Yes, right, rig-" Dumbledore sighed at himself for again falling for that trick. "You like to make things difficult, don't you?"

Kitten smiled not at all sheepishly. "You mean like right now?"

"Yes, rig-" Dumbledore sighed. "So glad to have amused you. Potions now." Eyes twinkling, Dumbledore held up a hand before she could ask. "Yes, right, right now."

He walked with her until she was out of the tower. As soon as they parted ways he saw her turn not in the direction of the dungeons, but rather in that of the Charm's corridor. Dumbledore shook his head, amused. He had met many a Cornish pixie less mischievous than she.

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Professor Tofty raised an eyebrow. This was certainly an interesting switch. It used to be Mr. Riddle who wouldn't let Miss Grindelwald out of his sight. Now it was Miss Grindelwald keeping watch on Mr. Riddle. When the bell rang, as he made his way to the door Riddle made a great show of avoiding completely Miss Grindelwald's desk . That it was a show was completely given away by the 'casual' way Mr. Riddle looked back to be certain Miss Grindelwald was watching while he passed through the door.

Miss Grindelwald didn't leave. She stayed throughout his next class. The girl who usually sat in her seat during that class took one look and without comment found a new seat.

Tofty didn't mind Miss Grindelwald staying. She sat quietly in her seat, appearing to be deep in thought and not a bother to anyone. He was prepared to allow her to stay for a third class, were it not for the arrival of a very pressed upon looking Professor Binns come to retrieve and deliver her to Dippet's office for afternoon tea.

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The gall, the nerve of some people! Imagine, making him traipse about the castle all day looking after a child. She was in Dumbledore's house now; make him do it! Nearly to the Headmaster's office, Robert Binns began to take out his frustration on Miss Grindelwald.

"I do not have time to gallivant around the castle all day looking for you. If you cannot find your own way to the Headmaster's office then at least have the courtesy to be where you are scheduled to be!"

Turning around, he realized Miss Grindelwald was no longer following behind him. With a sigh he began to backtrack. He found her on the first step of the first staircase they had, or should have, traveled up on their journey. With no small amount of chagrin, he realized just how far he had traveled without noticing her absence.

Standing on the top step, he beckoned her up, but she remained at the base of the stairs. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for the stairs to carry me up."

Binns sighed. The girl wasn't very bright. "These stairs don't move."

"The stairs outside Headmaster Dippet's office move."

"Yes…well…but those are special stairs."

"Why?"

"Because…because they move!"

"Why?"

"Because…" There was some incantation, but it was very difficult. "Because they are special."

"Why does Headmaster Dippet get special stairs that move?"

"Because…because…he is special!"

"I want stairs that move."

"You can't have stairs that move!"

"Why not?"

"Because!"

"Because why?"

"Because! Because! Because!"

The girl frowned at him. " Headmaster Dippet gets moving stairs because he is special. Am I not special?"

"No! You're not!" Seeing the hurt glare, Binns tried to amend his statement. "You're not moving stairs special."

"I thought we were all special?"

Binns frowned. What kind of twaddle was Kettleburn filling her head with now? "Nonsense. Whoever told you that is a liar! Now come along!"

"No. I want stairs that move…or someone to carry me."

Not this again. "I am not carrying you!"

Binns lied to people quite often, and frequently he tried to make it seem as if suggestions he gave people were innocent thoughts he had just come up with. The quiet, very thoughtful way Miss Grindelwald made her suggestion was a dead giveaway that she had not just come up with it.

"Well…maybe you could tell my Tom that he has to carry me again."

Binns snorted. All this subterfuge for that! No doubt about it, she was a Slytherin all right. "Life doesn't work that way. As much as I would like to be able to- and believe me I would like to be able to- I cannot order someone to like or dislike someone else. It just doesn't work that way."

When she still made no movement, Binns sighed. "You have a far better chance of the stairs moving on their own then of that happening so get up here now! We have to hurry, we cannot keep Headmaster Dippet waiting!"

Clearly that answer did not please her. Binns let out a yelp and grabbed at the railing as the staircase shifted, bottom becoming top and vice versa.

He scowled as now above him, the girl began to mock him. "Get up here now! We have to hurry! We cannot keep the Headmaster waiting!"

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"I am telling you, Armando, I don't think the Grindelwald girl had anything to do with it."

As he continued speaking, Robert Binns hoped he sounded sincere. "I think it is some of the other students doing it, trying to get her into trouble. Haven't you noticed it happens even when she isn't around?"

That last part was true. Though he knew she was the one that started all of the stairs shifting, they had continued moving even when she wasn't around them.

Madame Griselda had other ideas. "Oh be serious! We all know it was her!"

Binns had never liked the school nurse and listening to her drone on and on with the list of students injured falling off of the stairs as they moved, he liked her even less. It wasn't as if the woman had any actual proof that the girl was responsible. It wasn't even as if any of the injuries had happened with the girl near the stairs. It was when she wasn't there, when the stairs were left to their own direction that they were shifting out of the reach of the students. Besides, it wasn't as if any of the injuries were life threatening. In fact Binns found it rather amusing watching certain less attentive students start to fall off of the stairs as they rearranged themselves only to be unceremoniously thrown back up the stairs as the safety wards went into effect.

Dippet seemed equally unimpressed. He appeared to have tuned out of the conversation entirely. Unfortunately Madame Griselda seemed determined to regain Dippet's attention.

"Well? Armando?"

Dippet blinked. "Yes, certainly."

Binns made a face at the nurse as she continued ranting. "So what are you going to do? This situation cannot continue. There have only been minor injuries so far, but it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt, killed even! You must take some kind of action!"

Dippet sounded lost in thought or memory as he agreed, "Only a matter of time."

Binns frowned. For fear of his part in the matter becoming known, he really would prefer not to have inquiries made into why exactly the girl decided to start moving all the staircases. Thankfully Dippet was seldom if ever one to address a problem head on.

"I will speak to Master Tofty in regards to modifying the wards."

In response to Madame Griselda's look of disbelief, Dippet spoke in what he must have thought was a reassuring tone. "I will speak to him immediately."

"There now, glad to have all that settled. Time for us to be going. The Headmaster is a very busy man, lots to do!"

Filled with glee, Binns pushed the exasperated school nurse towards the door before she could say anything more. When she tried to turn around, Binns gave a final shove to get her through the doorway before she could again open her big trap.

As the stairs wound downward, Madame Griselda began an interrogation of him. "Robert, you aren't fooling me. What did you do? You put that girl up to it, didn't you?"

Binns' mouth flapped open. As indignantly as he could, he replied. "Nonsense!"

As the stairs reached the bottom, Madame Griselda looked about to verbally blast him, but when the gargoyle stepped aside she thought better of it at the sight before them. Carefully avoiding contact, of the physical or eye variety, with the girl waiting expectantly by the gargoyles, Madame Griselda left.

A bit suspicious himself at the girl's presence and her expectant expression, Binns started his own interrogation. "What do you want?"

"Now Headmaster Dippet will have to tell my Tom to come back to me."

Binns snorted. Of all the scheming little…"I think not! You are going to have to do a good spot better than that…moving staircases, as if that-"

Seeing her expression fall and her eyes start to water, Binns began to panic. "There will be none of that! Crying is not going to get you your way so there is no point in doing it!"

The girl had her head down and was beginning to make sniffling noises. Binns knew he had to do something and quickly. Dippet or Dumbledore or Shackleton could be coming by at any moment. There would no doubt be trouble if they were to find him with a crying girl. Binns did the only thing he could think to do to make her stop.

"Wah! Wah! Look at the little baby crying! Wah!"

His imitation of her made the waterfall stop short. A look of shock didn't last long, it soon settled into an angry scowl.

Feeling her beady little eyes following him, a satisfied Binns made a hasty retreat. An angry disposition was much preferable to a weepy one, at least to his way of thinking.

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Albus Dumbledore nodded in greeting to Professor Tofty as he passed him in the hall on the way to his classroom. The day's classes did not start for another hour, but he had left some essays there that he wanted to go over before his first class. A few minutes later, he nodded to Professor Tofty in passing again. The third time, both men paused awkwardly.

Dumbledore was the first to break the silence. "It's the oddest thing. I could have sworn that my classroom was somewhere down this corridor."

Both men watched as Pomfrey exited a near by door. The room Pomfrey left was not a classroom, but a sitting room like the ones that adjoined the faculty bedrooms.

After Pomfrey passed, Tofty opened the door that he was standing before. It too was a small sitting room. Dumbledore went to a different door and opened it. Professor Archie, the Herbology professor, waved to him. Dumbledore closed the door after waving back.

The Head of Houses had rooms close to their Houses, but the bedrooms of all the other faculty members were together along one corridor. Clearly this corridor was now the faculty corridor.

Dumbledore wasn't really sure what exactly was going on, but he had a fairly good idea of who might be responsible. He turned to head back to Gryffindor Tower the way he had come. He planned to have a little chat with a certain young lady, but after taking a few steps he realized that things weren't going to be that easy. The doorway he had recently passed through to get to the corridor was gone, replaced by a stone wall.

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Albus Dumbledore was growing a bit frustrated as he tried all the various doors he came across hoping to find the Great Hall in anticipation of dinner. He wasn't the only one having problems. Few of his students had been able to locate his classroom today. While he suspected that some of them might not have been trying as diligently as they could have, he could hardly fault them for it. After all, he hadn't been able to locate his own classroom the day before.

While the cause might not be clear, the person behind all of this seemed fairly obvious. Should he ever find Miss Grindelwald again, Dumbledore wanted to confront her. Dippet, however, had other ideas. The Headmaster was of the opinion that the girl was acting out for attention. As such, he had forbidden Dumbledore, or anyone, from rewarding her by commenting or outwardly reacting to what was going on.

So far Dippet had held to that idea even after not being able to find his office for the better part of two days. No one had heard from Pomfrey or the first year Slytherin/Gryffindor potion class for days, though there had been an unconfirmed sighting of them where the Astronomy Tower used to be.

There were only two people who weren't currently being inconvenienced by the changes in the castle; Miss Grindelwald and Professor Tofty. Dumbledore suspected that if Tofty hadn't been sorted into Ravenclaw, he would have done just as well in Slytherin. After the first morning, the crafty old fellow had managed to find his way around the castle quite easily by keeping Miss Grindelwald with him for most of the day. Kitten seemed rather fond of the old Charms professor, or at least had expressed no qualms about staying with him.

"Are you looking for Gryffindor Tower? If so, I saw it two doors ago."

Dumbledore had opened a door only to find Professor Kettleburn standing on the other side. "No, the Great Hall. I'm beginning to wonder if it even exists anymore."

"This lost its 'funness' after the first day."

Dumbledore couldn't agree more. Both men continued down the hall opening doors.

"Well here is something."

Dumbledore stood behind Kettleburn, looking over his shoulder. Not the Great Hall or even the kitchens, but Kettleburn had discovered a door leading onto the school grounds.

Kettleburn glanced back at Dumbledore. "It's a bit earlier, but would you care to accompany me to a quiet dinner in Hogsmeade or perhaps Diagon Alley?"

"At this point I'm almost ready to eat a student's familiar myself. Let's go."

Kettleburn smiled. "Not quite the kind of response I was hoping for, but for the sake of familiars everywhere, I will-"

Neither had noticed Alastor Moody approaching up the path. "What are you two standing in the doorway for?"

Realizing how the current castle situation could look to the Ministry, Dumbledore hastily put an arm around the auror's shoulder in an attempt to guide him back out the door. "We were just about to head to the Three Broomsticks for dinner. Join us."

Kettleburn wore something of a disappointed expression. "You know, I think I will stick around here, but you two go have fun."

Dumbledore knew Kettleburn wasn't too fond of Moody, but really what was he to do? He couldn't very well leave the auror to wander the castle. Besides, he had heard from one of the other professors the reason why Kettleburn disliked Moody; something about Kettleburn having seen the auror shaking Miss Grindelwald. Dumbledore was confident that that had been a misunderstanding along the lines of Tom Riddle's assertion that he had violently shaken the girl when he had only given her a light shake to try to wake her. If Kettleburn only took the time to get to know Moody a little better, surely he would see that the young auror was more sensible than that.

Moody tried to refuse. "I just came to get a report on the girl. Is the Headmaster in his office?"

That was something of a tricky question. Even if he was, good luck finding the office. "He stepped out for a bit, but we can tell you all about her last few days over dinner. Come along, Kevric."

Moody seemed about to relent as Dumbledore all but shoved him through the door. However he turned to take one last look into the castle and stopped with a puzzled expression. "The Headmaster's out you say? As in out of the castle?"

It was pretty clear from Moody's tone that he already knew the answer to his questions, so Dumbledore turned around to look. Sure enough Dippet was coming down one of the nearby staircases.

"No…I, ah, meant out of his office." Dumbledore doubted Moody found his lie very convincing.

Noticing the auror in the doorway, a very unpleased looking Dippet made his way over. "Mr. Moody, thank you for your concern, but I can assure you that all is well here at Hogwarts."

"The whole lot of you are no better at lying that that little girl is."

An uncomfortable silence followed Moody's statement, but soon all heads turned to a nearby corridor from which giggles and the sound of Professor Tofty's voice could be heard getting closer.

"So when the muggle returns with his shovel, he finds out that the leprechaun tricked him. The leprechaun tied an identical ribbon onto all of the shrubs and the muggle has no way to tell which one the treasure is buried und-" Professor Tofty stopped his story and his walking when he noticed the group silently assembled by the door.

Miss Grindelwald was of course with him and he put a protective hand on her shoulder. Whether the older professor was worried because of Moody's presence or because he feared losing his guide, Dumbledore wasn't sure. Tofty gave an uncomfortable nod. "Gentleman, if you will excuse us, we were just heading to the Great Hall for an early dinner."

Moody pushed past Dumbledore. "I will join you."

Tofty looked almost panicked as he turned to Dippet. Dumbledore couldn't help but wonder if there was some secret meaning to the other professor's words. "I really don't think now is a good time."

Not quite knowing what was going on, Dumbledore decided to go along as well. "I think I will join you as well."

Dippet gave a sigh of frustration. "Master Dumbledore, how many times do I have to tell you, leave the girl-"

A great deal of power was required to do the kind of magic that Miss Grindelwald had been doing lately. Power took energy and the expenditure of that much energy could be somewhat exhausting. Stifling a yawn and apparently through waiting for the others, Miss Grindelwald opened the door closest to where she was standing. That door she started to walk through traditionally led to a broom closet, but now opened into the Great Hall. Dippet's words trailed off as Moody tried and failed to put together a few of his own.

"You…she…what…that didn't used to…"

"Yes it did." Tofty's lie would have been a bit less unbelievable if he had let Moody finish his thought. "Always has. Really!"

Moody's presence seemed to be finally forcing Dippet into action. "Miss Grindelwald, I would like to have a word with you in my office."

Kettleburn tried to get Kitten to move back through the door, but she refused. "It is dinner time and I am hungry."

"I command you to go to my office at once!"

Kitten gave a wicked little smile. "Okay. I think I can find something to eat there."

Dippet's jaw dropped. "I will have a plate sent up for you. Go now!" Dippet scowled watching Kettleburn lead the girl away.

Seeing that Moody was still examining the doorway, Dumbledore tried to think up a reasonable explanation. "It's not as bad as it looks."

Moody snorted before walking into the Hall. "And I'm sure you'll tell me all about it at dinner."

Before Dumbledore could enter after him, a very worried Dippet stopped him.

"Ask Mr. Hagrid to collect Mr. Keys from my office. Immediately."

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Entering his office, Armando Dippet was relieved to see Master Kettleburn had not left the girl and Mr. Keys unchaperoned.

Miss Grindelwald held up the parchment that she and Master Kettleburn had been looking at. "Would you like to see the painting I made today in Charms class?"

Dippet waved a hand to get the parchment out of his face. They all knew exactly why they were here so he got right to the point. "This is your cease and desist order. We've all had enough of this so stop doing it!"

She frowned at him and attempted to change the topic. "You were supposed to bring dinner. Did you forget?"

Dippet frowned right back. "I want you to stop moving the stairs and the classrooms."

Her only response to him was to turn away. Dippet reached out to make her look at him. It wasn't just the snapping of her teeth that made him pull back his hand after touching her.

"I want you to stop that too!"

When she wrinkled her nose at him, Master Kettleburn tried to intercede. "Armando, aren't you the one always asking 'why'? Wouldn't it be more useful to try to understand the 'why' behind this behavior, rather than just yell at her?"

Kettleburn was so young and untried. As much as Dippet would have liked to believe that there was a 'why' behind the girl's behavior, he had begun to resign himself to the strong likelihood that the girl was just evil.

Master Kettleburn was as yet unwilling to do the same. "Kitten, why are you moving the classrooms?"

Miss Grindelwald squirmed in her chair. "They were too far apart. I was getting tired walking all around the castle to get to them, so I made them closer together."

Master Kettleburn nodded. "But what about all of the other people in the castle? How are they supposed to find their classes?"

When the only answer returned was a shrug, Kettleburn pressed on. "If we keep the classrooms in the same place all the time, everyone can find their classes. When you move the classes around like that, only you can find the ones you want. Now, which one do you think sounds fair for the larger number of people?"

The girl stopped squirming. "Make my Tom take me to classes with him again."

"What?-No that's not the answer I was looking for."

Dippet interjected. "If I let you take classes with Mr. Riddle again, you will put an end to all of this?"

Miss Grindelwald nodded, but Master Kettleburn sounded extremely unpleased.

"Armando, no!"

Dippet was no more pleased than the Care of Magical Creatures instructor to be giving into the girl's demands, but what other choice was there?

Miss Grindelwald smiled. "Can we go down to the Great Hall and get my Tom now?"

"No," Kettleburn shook his head. "If you are hungry we can all eat dinner here."

At Master Kettleburn's bidding, Dippet summoned three dinner settings. He was fingering the vial of mandrake potion in his pocket when he caught sight of the girl's smile. With a sigh, to save time Dippet skipped a step and added the potion straight into his own goblet. The sound of the girl's evil cackle filled his office.

With the girl distracted, Kettleburn began badgering him again. "Dippet, you cannot do that."

When the door opened Dippet was sure it was that auror or Dumbledore come to meddle again. He was relieved to instead see it was Mr. Hagrid come to get Mr. Keys. As had become his habit when she was present, Mr. Hagrid paused to greet Miss Grindelwald first. While trying to ignore Master Kettleburn's concerns about Mr. Riddle, Dippet watched the two interact.

"I know I have stuck up for Tom in the past, but my opinion of him has changed. I don't know exactly what it is about him, but there is something. Dumbledore has seen it too."

Mr. Hagrid was looking at the girl's drawing. Personally Dippet didn't think the picture was all that impressive. Half of the time, the girl couldn't keep her colors within the lines but Mr. Hagrid was fawning all over it.

"I don't think that Tom is a good influence on her. He's been telling her lies about some of the professors and - you haven't listened to a word I've said, have you?"

Dippet watched horrified in more ways than one as Mr. Hagrid licked a finger and used the saliva to try to rub off a spot of paint next to the girl's ear. Strangely enough, Mr. Hagrid showed no reaction at touching her.

Suspecting at first that perhaps the girl had stopped her 'burning' for the time being, Dippet approached her in order to be certain. Hastily pulling his hand away, Dippet came to a new conclusion. Magic didn't effect giants nearly as much as humans and there was no denying that there was something exceedingly not human about Mr. Hagrid.

Returning to his desk, Dippet pondered the possibility of righting a previous wrong while eliminating a present bother. From the top drawer of his desk, from beside the stores of two similar, yet very different potions, Dippet retrieved two halves of one wand. "Mr. Hagrid, I should like to ask a task of you."

As soon as his name had been spoken, Mr. Hagrid turned. His eyes widened in recognition of the objects between Dippet's fingers.

"Mr. Hagrid, it is a very important task. One for which a wand may be required." Hagrid's eyes remained fixated on the two wand halves as Dippet twirled them between his fingers. "I need someone to accompany Miss Grindelwald to her classes and ensure she does not get into any more trouble. Mr. Hagrid, do you think that you might be up to such a task?"

Mesmerized by the sight of his former wand, Hagrid walked forward. "Aye, sir. Well that's tah say I could try, sir."

"Hold on just a second, Hagrid has been expelled. Armando, you can't just give him back his wand."

Master Kettleburn was clearly impossible to please and so Dippet gave up on trying. He handed the pieces to Mr. Hagrid and moved his attentions on to the other impossible to please person in the room. "Miss Grindelwald, I think you will find Mr. Hagrid to be a suitable substitution for Mr. Riddle."

Miss Grindelwald looked decidedly undecided. "I get to keep him, instead?"

At Dippet's nod, Miss Grindelwald rose from her seat and went over to Mr. Hagrid. Mr. Hagrid just gazed down at her with a curious look as she walked around him in circles, inspecting him. Taking out her wand, she jabbed him with it a few times.

Mr. Hagrid began to chuckle. "Hey naw! Yeh, canna be doin' that! I'm ticklish!"

Miss Grindelwald seemed satisfied at last. "Okay, I will take him."

"Excellent. Mr. Hagrid, please escort Miss Grindelwald elsewhere."

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Kevric Kettleburn didn't know what to say watching Hagrid and Kitten leave the Headmaster's office. He wasn't one to go looking to try to find problems, but when he saw one, or a potential problem, he was one to speak up.

"Do you really think that is wise? Putting the two of them together?"

Dippet responded too quickly. He didn't pause long enough to leave even the impression of having given the question thought. "Certainly. I trust Mr. Hagrid implicitly. I leave Mr. Keys in his care, why ever not the girl?"

Kevric sighed. "Armando…a toad is one thing, but…given what happened to Myrtle…"

Dippet seemed to him to be deliberately avoiding his gaze. "That was a most unfortunate accident. I do not hold Mr. Hagrid responsible for it."

"Armando, I know it was not intentional, but-"

Something about the way that Dippet repeated himself made Kevric stop.

"-Mr. Hagrid was not responsible for what happened."

Watching Dippet sweep out of the room, Kevric wondered what exactly that was supposed to mean? And if Hagrid wasn't responsible then who was?

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Rubeus Hagrid was a little nervous bringing Kitten down through the dungeons to the Potions classroom. Sure, he was excited to be taking classes again, but truthfully he could have done without this class.

He had never been very good at Potions. He wasn't totally hopeless like some people, but his potions almost always came out a little bit off. Sometimes he didn't pay as much attention as he should have and stirred a bit too fast. Or too slow. Or in the wrong direction. And when a recipe called for 'a pinch' or 'a handful' of something or other, he sometimes thought that maybe whoever came up with the recipe might not have had someone his size in mind.

The old Potions professor had been real nice about accidents happening, but Hagrid had heard a few stories about the new Potions professor being not so understanding.

Kitten didn't seem to be looking forward to Potions either. "We should go to Charms again instead. Professor Tofty will let us stay and paint."

"Crikey, I'd like tah, but Professor Dumbledore gave meh a schedule fer us ter follow."

One of the threads on Kitten's robe sleeve had gone unraveled. She played with it while asking him a question. "Are you going to yell at me when my potion is not right?"

"Na unless yeh yell at meh first fer mah potion na being right."

Kitten seemed to like that answer so they made their way into the Potions room together. Professor Pomfrey was at his desk, but he looked up to see who was coming in.

"No! No!" Professor Pomfrey had a kind of panicked look on his face. "No! No! No! Out! Out!"

Hagrid tried to hand Professor Pomfrey the schedule that Professor Dumbledore had given him, but Professor Pomfrey put his hands in the air.

"I don't care what that says! Both of you, out! Go play outside or something, anything, but you aren't staying here!"

Hagrid was getting embarrassed with all the rest of the class staring and Kitten didn't look anymore happy than he did so he took Kitten's hand and led her back out as Professor Pomfrey suggested.

"Yeh come with meh, Kitten. I know some right fun games fer us ter play."

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Robert Binns was on the way to the Great Hall with Dippet and Shackleton. He wasn't the first to notice Miss Grindelwald. If he had been, he would have tried to get the others to go a different route to avoid her.

It was Dippet who noticed her first. "What in the name of Merlin is she doing up there?"

The girl was perched on a sconce more than two meters up in the air. Approached and asked that same question, she gave no answer.

Dippet tried again. "Where is Mr. Hagrid? He is supposed to be with you."

No response from the girl. Not even a twitch or a glance in their direction.

The Headmaster gave a cursory look around, but the assistant groundskeeper was nowhere to be found. "Miss Grindelwald, come down from there at once!"

The girl remained on the sconce.

Being as he was the one that had to sit with her at lunch, Binns was more than happy to see her remain there for all the remainder of her natural life. Maybe even longer.

Dippet however had other ideas. "Shackleton, get her down from there."

Suddenly the girl came alive. "No! I have to stay up here! Simon said so!"

Binns fumed watching Dippet turn to the Deputy Headmaster. "We don't even have a student named Simon. Do we?"

Binns had been here longer than Shackleton. Longer than Dippet even. He should have been the Deputy Headmaster; he should have been the one Dippet asked information of, not Shackleton.

Shackleton shook his head.

Binns could have sworn there was one, but…"Of course there isn't." he agreed. "I've told you, she is a horrid little liar."

Yes, Miss Grindelwald had definitely come alive. "I am not! You take that back!"

"Are too! Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too! Are too!"

"What do you know anyway? You are just a useless old relic so obees that you can't even see your own toes."

Binns stuttered. "You - you take that back! It isn't true!"

Miss Grindelwald smirked down at him from her perch. "Yes it is!"

Binns scowled. "No, it isn't! 'Obees' isn't even a word!"

By her confused expression it was clear he had her now. Binns' turn to smirk didn't last long though.

"It is too a word." She turned to Shackleton. "That is what you said in class?"

"You've said that about me! To your classes!"

Dippet raised an eyebrow. "Really, Shackleton, tell me you didn't."

Shackleton flushed. "Well - no, not exactly. I mean, of course I didn't."

A little voice insisted. "Yes, you did. It was only a few days ago. Do you not remember?"

Shackleton gave a little shake of his head, but not taking the hint, the voice persisted. "You said it right at the beginning of class. When-"

Binns had heard enough. His honor, his integrity had been called into question. So what if he couldn't see his toes? Why did anyone need to see his or her toes? "Armando, I demand satisfaction. A duel-"

Shackleton cried out. "-I never said that! You said it yourself, Robert. She's a horrid little liar."

"You did too!"

Looking from one horrid little liar to another horrid not-so-little liar, Binns wasn't sure whom to believe. He looked to Dippet for support, but there was none to be found.

"There will be no dueling." Dippet still couldn't get over why the girl was sitting on a sconce halfway up the wall. "And as for you, however you got up there, get back down."

Miss McGondelwald refused. "I have to stay here until Simon says to come down."

Enough of this. This was ridiculous. He could practically taste the lunch already on the tables. "You get down here now!" He grabbed hold of one of the girl's dangling feet. He gave it a yank, trying to pull her down, but her other foot got him instead.

"You wretched little beast! She kicked me! She kicked me!"

Binns looked back at his companions, to be sure that they had witnessed it. He was outraged to see Shackleton chuckling.

"You think this is funny? She kicked me in the head!"

Shackleton snickered. "No loss there."

"No loss there! No loss there! You-you-"

"Really, Robert. What did you expect? You stick your finger into a Grindylow's cage, you better be prepared to lose it. She's a Themis; a beast. No more domesticatable than a Chimaera or Hagrid's thestr-"

Dippet sharply interrupted. "That's enough, Shackleton!" Dippet seemed to have finally had his fill. "Just leave her there. She'll come down on her own eventually or perhaps Mr. Hagrid will be able to get her down."

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

Coming back from the boy's bathroom, Hagrid was happy to see Kitten still just where he left her.

"A'right. Simon says yeh can come down naw." Hagrid was a wee bit tall for his age. He didn't even have to stretch to take her down. "Are yeh ready ter go ter the Great Hall fer lunch, Kitten?"

Kitten shook her head. "I am not hungry. Can we go some place else instead?"

Kitten had her head down. She didn't seem nearly as excited as when they first started playing.

"I dinna see why na." He took hold of her hand. "Simon says let's go play outside."

Kitten had said she wasn't hungry, but after they had been sitting outside for a while, she changed her mind. She still didn't seem to want to go inside and it was such a beautiful sunny day so Hagrid set up a little outdoor picnic for them with Kitten's favorite food.

Kitten was lying on the grass. Every few minutes she would open her mouth wide to let him know she was hungry again. Hagrid would dangle a mouse down by its tail for her to eat. Sometimes Hagrid would make pretend squeaking noises and Kitten would giggle herself silly.

Hagrid thought things were going nicely. But then Tom Riddle showed up.

"Hagrid, what are you doing? Get away from her!"

"We're playin'. Havin' a bit o' a picnic lunch."

"Go play somewhere else and leave Kitten alone!"

When he stood up, Hagrid towered over Tom, but Tom didn't seem to care. "Now see here, Tom. Kitten and I ain't botherin' nobody. Headmaster Dippet said I was ter keep an eye on her an' I mean ter do like he asked me ter. If'n you have a problem with that, then yeh should take it up with the Headmaster."

Tom turned back to Kitten. "Kitten, come with me. We're leaving right now."

Kitten stood up, but she didn't make to leave with Tom. She was mad. She was real mad. She was so mad she was shaking with anger. "Y-you l-leave! I-I am s-s-s-taying h-here w-w-with-th Hagrid."

Tom's mouth went open, real wide. If he had wanted to, Hagrid was pretty sure he could have gotten a look at Tom's tonsils.

"H-H-Hagrid i-is n-n-nice! He does-does not yell at me for-for n-not being g-good at p-p-potions! He th-thinks it is okay to do cat th-things! H-he g-gives me mice to-to ch-chase and he l-lets me eat th-them!"

Tom turned to him. "What did you do to her? And what have you been feeding her?"

Tom got even more mad when Hagrid pointed to the two empty cases of ice mice on the blanket. "How many of them did you let her eat?"

Hagrid shrugged. "All o' 'em."

Tom repeated his words back to him, but a lot louder. "All of them! You let her eat two cases of ice mice? Her lips are blue! She's half frozen!"

Hagrid looked at Kitten as Tom tried to wrap the picnic blanket around her to stop her teeth from chattering. Now that he thought about it, the shaking was a lot more like shivering and maybe she had been doing it before Tom got there. "Well, I guess maybe I shouldna 'ave given her so many o' 'em, but she sure did seem tah like 'em."

"You useless halfwit!"

Kitten was a real fiery type. She exploded at Tom again. "You leave my Hagrid alone!"

"What did you call him? Don't ever call him that again! I am your Tom, he isn't your Hagrid!"

Tom tried to pick Kitten up but she moved closer to Hagrid and shook her already shaking head. "I am n-not your c-cat anymore! I b-belong t-to Hagrid now!"

Tom looked at Kitten for a bit, real stunned looking. Then reaching into his pocket for his wand, he turned to Hagrid. "You'll pay for this, Hagrid!"

Hagrid wasn't afraid of Tom. Not really. But he sure was glad to see Professor Kettleburn put a hand on Tom's shoulder.

"Everything all right here, Tom?"

Tom flinched at Professor Kettleburn's touch. Brushing off the hand, before walking away, Tom gave one last look to Kitten who was still scowling at him something fierce.

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A frustrated Rubeus Hagrid frowned and looked out the window at the trees surrounding the school. A few classes were still going on, but all of their classes were done for the day. Kitten had come up with an idea for how she thought they should spend their free afternoon. For a good half of an hour he had been trying and failing in his tries to make Kitten understand what the word 'forbidden' meant. She listened intently as he began again to explain it.

"Na, yeh see, I dinna think I'm makin' mehself clear-"

Kitten interrupted, but she was real nice about it. "Oh, I understand. The forest is forbidden - we are not supposed to go in there."

Relieved to have that straightened out, Hagrid smiled. Kitten smiled back. "But let's go anyway."

"Eh?" That wasn't the kind of answer he was expecting. "Well, I dinna think that's such a good idea."

"Sure it is." Kitten answered back.

"See, I dinna think teh Professors would approve."

Kitten was quiet for just a minute, thinking on it. She soon came up with a solution. "Then we will not tell them."

"See but teh thing is Professors Dumbledore and Kettleburn, they dinna think that teh forest is fit for us tah be playin' in."

Kitten was a real quick thinker and a real good reasoner too. "I think Professor Kettleburn would like it if we went. He is always saying I should go outside to play. The sunshine would be good for me."

Well now that was true. He had heard Professor Kettleburn say a thing or two like that. Still… "Aye, but I think Professor Kettleburn is afraid some o' the critters in the forest might get a bit ornery. "

Kitten was looking at him real intent like. "You told me you go into the forest all the time. Has anything bad ever happened to you there?"

Hagrid thought about it and well... "No, I can't say as it has."

That was all the answer Kitten had been waiting for. "We will be fine." She began tugging on him, trying to get him to the door.

Hagrid stood his ground. "Na, we canna do it. As much as I'd like tah go, I dinna think we should."

Kitten kept at him. "Just for a little while. I have a surprise that I want to show you."

"A surprise? For meh?"

Kitten nodded eagerly.

Hagrid frowned. "But its in teh forest, yeh say?"

Kitten nodded and tried to tug him to the door again.

Hagrid was very fond of surprises, but Professor Dumbledore was depending on him. He shook his head. "Na, we need tah stay here."

Kitten gave a sigh and stopped tugging. Hagrid felt disappointed too. "What kind o' a surprise is it anyway?"

"If I tell you it will not be a surprise." Kitten hesitated a moment. "I want to show you the dragons in the forest."

Hagrid knew when someone was fooling with him. "There aren't na dragons in tah forest. I've been in that forest loads of times and I aint never seen hide nor tail o' any dragons there. It's na nice tah fib."

"There are dragons in the forest. And they have nests with eggs and everything!" Seeing his look of disbelief, Kitten crossed her arms in front of her. "Fine, do not believe me!"

Kitten seemed so sincere. If only there really were dragons in the forest… "Na foolin'?"

Kitten grabbed his arm and started pulling again. "Quickly, before it gets too dark to see them!"

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

Trying to move off of the topic of leprechauns and onto the topic of nifflers, Kevric sighed as Davy, a muggleborn, interrupted him. He didn't mind muggleborns in theory, but in practice they could be a little trying at times.

"When are we going to learn about King Kong and the flying monkeys?"

To Kevric's way of thinking muggleborns usually had one of three responses to the revelation that magic existed.

There was the small majority that most witches and wizards got to see. The ones excited by the arrival of a professor from Hogwarts, or one of the other Wizarding schools, with an acceptance letter. They were fascinated by the whole other world that was revealed to them. Eager to experience magic first hand, they immersed themselves in all the knowledge they could find and quickly adapted to their new environment.

But not all muggleborn witches and wizards successfully made the transition to life at Hogwarts. Some muggles, like Davy, liked the idea, but had trouble adapting. Learning that witches, wizards, and magic really existed caused them to become a bit confused. If stories about witches and unicorns were true and dragons really did exist, then wasn't it equally likely that other stories they had grown up hearing were true? How could they be expected to differentiate between Santa's elves and house elves, or the bloodthirsty goblins of folklore and the not quite as bloodthirsty goblins of Gringotts? It was frustrating to learn the hard way that pixies weren't always happy or helpful. All in all, it could be a confusing experience for a child of ten or eleven.

Not that being a little confused was the worst reaction possible. There were a good number of muggleborns who had the magical ability, but couldn't accept the challenge to their already established beliefs. Those were the ones you had to tread carefully with.

Like most muggles, they would do anything to not have to acknowledge that magic existed. For ordinary muggles, that was fairly easy to do. They were seldom exposed to magic and if by chance they were, it happened so rarely it was easy to discount it as something else.

It wasn't that simple for muggleborns. When their emotions ran high they often made things happen unintentionally. The more often it happened, the harder it became to reason it away.

The conflicting ideas and emotions produced could become dangerously overwhelming. More than one muggleborn had been destroyed by their unwillingness to accept the existence of magic. Some solved the dilemma by conditioning their mind, forcing it to reject and forget everything unusual that happened. Others internalized it, letting it eat away at them. There were also those that externalized their need for conformity. Unwilling or unable to accept all the things that didn't fit their preconceived notions, they tried to eliminate them from their life, sometimes by violence.

The McGonagall boy had been like that.

Muggles were funny. It was hard to try to tell in advance which way one would react. Even within the same family the reactions weren't always the same. Kevric had been one of the professors to deliver the McGonagall boy's letter and meet with his parents. Though Thomas McGonagall had wanted nothing to do with him or the letter, and the boy's parents had had a million and one questions about the Wizarding community.

Kevric hadn't paid much attention to her at the time, but thinking back he remembered that Kitten had been there that day too. Not when he took the muggle family for a tour of Hogwarts, but at the family's home. Kitten had been curled up on Mrs. McGonagall's lap, happily sleeping. When the son had had no interest in going to Hogwarts the boy's father had half jokingly requested to come in his place. The mother had accidentally woken the sleeping kitten when she reached over to clout her husband.

They had seemed like very nice people, for muggles. Yet Thomas McGonagall had gone after Hagrid with a sword.

No, a little confusion wasn't the worst response that a muggle might have.

As gently as he could, Kevric tried to let the young boy down. "Those things are just pretend. They don't really exist."

Davy ignored what he just said. "Is Batman a vampire or is he some kind of a bat/human hybrid?"

In place of again sighing, Kevric decided that since Davy was ignoring what he said, maybe the best response was just to ignore what the boy said. As he was leaning down to take out a niffler for a demonstration, from the corner of his eye he caught sight of two figures leaving the castle.

The two figures noticed him watching. Looking immensely guilty, Hagrid froze in place. Kitten on the other hand gave a cheeky little wave before grabbing Hagrid's hand and leading him straight into the Forbidden forest.

tbc

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A/N

Apologies, but I'm going to put the answers to the review questions and concerns together because a lot of them somewhat overlapped.

Because of the Quibbler article the students do know who Minerva's parents were, but even beyond that she hasn't doing much of anything to improve their opinion of her. To begin with, on her maternal side she comes from a line of people that, according to Tonks, parents tell their children stories about to scare them into behaving. Her father was a known murderer and the relatives of some of his victims also happen to attend Hogwarts. Add to that the fact that House loyalties always play an important part in anything happening at Hogwarts. Most Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, & Hufflepuffs probably weren't too endeared with her after she transfigured their Head of House into beetles. Slytherins were, I imagine, cheering her for that, but they certainly were not happy with her once she began frequently announcing she wanted to go to Gryffindor. Not to mention she tore a girl's nose right off her face, she bites and she always has to get her own way. Oh yeah, and she licks herself.

Admittedly, the last chapter could have been a lot darker, and that was in fact the intent of the Slytherin boys. Tom, however, interceded before things could progress that far. Personally, I just didn't see the need to make the story quite that dark…yet.

It was a short segment but there was a lot to it. These early scenes are setting the stage for a few bits to come later. For starters a new canon character was introduced in Tom's disregard of Binns' order to get rid of all of the serpents. And while Amelia passed on the chance to warn Dumbledore what was happening, she did partially redeem herself by telling Tom and leaving the problem to his discretion. As mentioned before, with the exception of the changing of the ages/dates to make it so Tom and Minerva could have been at Hogwarts at the same time, I do intend to keep the story mostly to canon. Most of the Bones family will be killed by Lord Voldemort and his supporters. There is a reason why Amelia and one of her brothers were not targeted.

Now had Amelia told Dumbledore what was going on then, or confided in him the last time he questioned her, things would have happened a lot differently. But she didn't and like her decisions or not, hopefully the reader has an idea of where they are coming from.

As for why the portrait has never said anything, I mentioned in the chapter introducing him that he cannot divulge information about what he has witnessed castle residents doing unless specifically asked to by someone in a position of authority. Unlike the portraits from Harry's time, these portraits are not allowed to idly gossip about the students, excepting of course the portal paintings which are given a great deal more leeway. If you find that explanation unlikely, just chalk it up to my wanting to have Kitten/Tom scenes and no other narrator was available. As for when, not until April or May of 1980 will Dumbledore think to ask the portrait in the Slytherin Head Boy's room questions and subsequently change the rules regarding the rights and conduct of the paintings.