Chapter Twelve
Eagle and Wolf
Terry, Travis and Alia never got a chance to go to the library to get a book on Patronuses. Their classes had them swamped. Snape was in a worse mood than he had been all Year as everyone suspected Snape of attacking Terry and Professor Ferrotte.
Since Professor Ferrotte's attack, people would stop Terry in the corridors to get his rendition of when he was attacked.
"Did it hurt?" –- "Was it fat?" –- "How tall was it?" –- "Was it a boy or girl?" –- "How long were you in the hospital?"
Terry felt so overwhelmed with the questions that were bombarding him. Alia, Travis, Natasha, and Peragu caught on that Terry was being badgered and were often seen going out of their way to protect Terry from his mad group of inquisitive fans.
Some students tried to catch a glimpse of Professor Ferrotte in her hospital bed. The only ones that were able to see her was Peragu and his friends Kai Jaraman and George Taneman. They were able to report that she was sitting there, just muttering to herself.
"She's in a right state," said Peragu. "She kept muttering about 'eyes'."
Two days after Marigold's breakdown and Professor Ferrotte's attack, Alia was in an extremely good mood and Terry and Travis knew why. It was Alia's birthday.
Terry had gotten Alia a bracelet charmed to shine the initials of the wearer. ALC would flash every time Alia put it on. Travis had bought her a some candy from the Muggle world. Mars bars, ordinary lollipops, chocolates, and fruit flavored candies were all handed to Alia by Travis in a multicolored bag.
Flowers and hearts were to be seen the same day as it was Valentine's Day. First Years went down to the greenhouses for a special Herbology class, even though it was Sunday. Professor Budman had called them down there because the love-in-idleness plants the first Years had planted in their first Herbology class had bloomed.
"As you may notice," said Professor Budman, "the flowers resemble a normal flower most of you would know called the pansy. Its juices will cause someone to fall in love with the first living thing, animal or human, they see. You simply wipe the juice on a sleeping persons eyes. It is said that fairy a king used this flower to mess up four lovers and his wife. Of course, fairies are extremely dim and would have never learned the properties of this plant."
The next day, half a dozen students were sent to Madam Treaten. Someone, questionably Peragu, had snuck into the different dormitories and wiped love-in-idleness on their eyes. Four of the false lovers had actually fallen in love with humans, but one fell in love with his toad and another fell in love with a bird and tried to jump out of the window when it flew away.
That Tuesday, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff played against each other on the Quidditch pitch. Gryffindor had beaten Hufflepuff, one-sixty to fifty. Putting Ravenclaw in first place, Gryffindor in second, Hufflepuff in third, and to Alia's delight, Slytherin in last.
Soon after that, Terry, Travis, and Alia had a very interesting potions class.
Snape now hated Terry, Travis, and Alia more than even the Gryffindors put together. Terry had started to wonder if Snape could read minds because Snape acted as if he knew Terry, Travis, and Alia suspected him.
Upgrading from insulting and tormenting the three, he didn't speak to them. He would sweep past them, not looking at them, like there were three empty stools sitting in front of a bubbling cauldron.
"Greasy git!" yelled Travis once in the Entrance Hall. He untucked his shirt untied his tie and draped it over his shoulder.
"Don't tell me!" said Alia. She pulled her hair out of a five curl ponytail. "I haven't liked him since our first class with him. I'm probably failed potions. I just can't pay attention and Snape is enjoying intimidating me."
"I can't stand him either," said Terry, taking his hair out of a ponytail too. "I mean, he did attack me and Ferrotte. What's to like about him?" Terry suddenly found himself and Travis and Alia in front of the owl statue.
"Ultum virtus," said Terry. The owl fly to its usual position on top of a bookcase. Terry, Travis, and Alia walked through the hole in the wall to join the rest of the studying, visiting, and reading Ravenclaw students. They all flopped down on a turquoise colored couch. Alia pulled out her wand and used a Whistling Charm. A tiny tinny issued from her wand and a tiny gold something flew from the girls' dormitories and landed in Alia's hand.
"What a clever bird you are, Flick!" said Alia to Flick. "I'd like to see a Snitch do that, Terry."
"Yeah," said Terry. "So would I."
They went upstairs and deposited there belongings and school things in their beds and came downstairs again. After a tiny argument, in which Terry and Alia swore to hex Travis' knee caps off, the three of them decided to go to the library and start work on their Patronuses.
After they stole food away form the Great Hall that they munched on en route to the library (food wasn't allowed), they entered the library and checked in Charming Charms for the Charmed. No luck. Then tried Standard Book of Spells: Grade 3. Nothing. Achievements in Charming had nothing on the subject. They had to talk to Mr Fulton who led them to the Defense sections and pulled Protection and Deflection from the shelf.
After leaving the library with the five pound book tucked under Alia's arm. They decided to work out in the sunlight today and say beneath a beech tree with the book opened to the Patronus Charm.
Terry, who felt lazy, used the Auto-Tasking Charm to make the book read aloud its topic.
"'The Patronus Charm is one of the more complicated charms a wizard can learn. It makes a powerful barrier between you and Dark creatures such as Dementors and Lethifolds. To conjure a Patronus, you must think of the happiest memory you can muster up and say the incantation, Expecto Patronum. A silvery white airy substance should come out of the wand if the conjurer has enough magic behind it.
"'Sometimes, if the magic is strong enough, the Patronus will take on a form; usually an animal. There was one case in which Andros the Invincible produced a Patronus the size of a giant.'"
Terry snapped the book shut and pulled out his wand.
"It's worth a shot," he said. "Expecto Patronum!" Nothing happened.
"Did you think of something happy?" asked Alia.
"Oh, no. Let me think..." Terry racked his memory for a happy memory. Terry hadn't had a horrible childhood, but he couldn't think of anything that he thought would produce a good Patronus. There was the time Fraton first let him ride a boom...but he nearly fell off. There was when his grandmother took him to a Quidditch game...but the Appleby Apples had lost a horrible loss.
"Does anyone have anything?" asked Terry. Alia had her eyes closed shut but Travis was looking normal.
"I haven't a thing," said Alia. He pressed her index fingers to her temples.
"I do," said Travis. "The day I got my letter to Hogwarts." He pulled out his wand and shouted: "Expecto Patronum!"
A tiny whisp of silvery smoke came out of his wand. Nothing too impressive, but it was a good start for Travis.
"I did it!" said Travis. He did it five more times and the same smoke came out. Each time it disappeared into nothingness.
The three of them continued to practice Patronuses, even into the Easter holidays. Terry decided to stay at Hogwarts for the Easter holidays and Travis and Alia stayed along too. Loads of students had left for the holidays that only about forty remained, ten in each house. Terry, Travis and Alia had plenty of time to practice and study and just goof off since only they and Natasha Skile had decided to stay. The rest of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team had gone home, including Marigold.
Patronus–wise, the three of them were progressing. Alia had finally picked a memory, but wouldn't say what it was. She had gotten quite a big blob of smoke to come out her wand that no one really questioned her too much.
Terry had also picked his memory, when he had won an award for a short story he had written. Terry hadn't really written much since he had started Hogwarts, but he was quite a good talent in the literary business. He had gotten a weird shaped figure with to cone like things on to of a sphere connected to a sort of fluffy, fat body. Terry had no clue what it was.
"Maybe it's some sort of horned dragon," suggested Travis, who was getting a head and a snout and a streamlined body out of his wand.
"I don't think so," said Terry. "Dragon's aren't exactly furry."
The last Sunday in March, Terry, Travis, and Alia received candy eggs filled with even more candy. They ate these happily and were thrown into a massive sugar high after eating all the sweets. Gary had gone home for the holidays so Terry, Travis, and Alia could be raucous in the common room without too much nagging.
Peragu, in his quest to throw twenty parties, threw a quite loud one for what he said, "Just for the heck of it." Since the party was not honoring Terry or Travis or Alia, the three of them were able to enjoy the festivities without having to dodge a massive amount of screaming "fans" as Travis said. Even though it was a crowd of eleven or twelve people, it was very loud.
"The louder the funner!" said Peragu. Terry and Alia became annoyed both for the same reason: they both made a point to using proper grammar.
There were plenty butterbeers to go around since Peragu had stolen a little too many. Hope Livecombe and Michelle Bulkstrand had decorated the common room tremendously in blue, silver, white, and a blueish-green aqua colors that matched the furniture perfectly.
There was an enormous game of Exploding Snap halfway to midnight. Once again, Travis' luck didn't pull through. The eight foot card house the Ravenclaws were building blew up right in Travis' face and he fell right onto Claire Harain, a girl in Alia's dormitory. Claire, obviously, wasn't too happy and Travis sat in a chair in the corner for most of the remainder of the party.
The classes started up again two weeks later. Terry, Travis, and Alia were knee deep in homework.
"Oh, isn't this great?" asked Travis sarcastically. "We have two months until exams! Why not cram now!"
Terry and Alia agreed that the teachers had started the cramming and studying process to early, but they also agreed they would be thoroughly prepared for the exams.
Terry, Travis, and Alia had been having empty class periods in place of Defense Against the Dark Arts for Professor Ferrotte had not returned from the infirmary. But, a notice had gone up on the notice board saying that Defense Against the Dark Arts classes would resume the following Tuesday.
When they reached the classroom on the first floor, a woman with a severe haircut and a prominent chin was sitting in Ferrotte's desk. On the board behind her, the word's "Professor Grubbly-Plank" were written on it. The rest of the class piddled in and took their seats.
"Hello, class," said Professor Grubbly-Plank, standing up. She was very old and her hair was a dull gray. "I am here filling in for Professor Ferrotte. She is still a little unbalanced in the hospital wing. So, I shall take up her classes until she is able to resume her teaching.
"Professor Potter could not get a word about a lesson plan out of her when he spoke to her, so he told me to just read some stories out of some books he had in his office. I thought we would let democracy take its course here so, it's either Gadding With Ghouls or Year With the Yeti."
No one raised their hands.
"Well, then, Gadding With Ghouls it is, then," said Professor Grubbly-Plank.
The entire class was bored to tears, bored senseless, bored stiff, and bored stupid as Professor Grubbly-Plank read about a extravagant and egotistical wizard who spent time in the wild, studying ghouls and let the ghouls learn about wizard culture.
"What a brainless, mindless, senseless git!" said Alia when they left the room, wiping drool from their chins. "There is no possible way he did that. He made it up. I bet Potter found that book in the fiction section of Flourish and Blotts."
"What makes you say that?" asked Travis. "It is possible that this Gilderoy Lockhart bloke did that."
"I doubt it," said Alia. "Ghouls usually throw stuff at people who intrude on their packs. My uncle was put into St. Mungo's for a ghoul attack."
Transfiguration was a grueling experience. They were turning brooms into umbrellas. Professor Dannersham made sure that the handle became the right curve for the umbrella and that the bristles turning into the top fanning part of the umbrella. Terry was able to get the bristles to turn to a durable fabric and the handle was starting to curve. Travis, as usual, wasn't having very good luck. His broom wasn't curving or fanning out, but he had made it levitate.
Travis was given more homework than any other person in class. On top of that, his head was spinning along with Terry's and Alia's because of more homework than they had had all Year, studying for exams, Quidditch practice, and their own practice of Patronuses.
Their Patronuses still hadn't taken a definite form yet. Travis' had been the same for since they last worked on Patronuses as had Terry's. Alia's had taken a form of a slender, pointed head.
"I still can't get it to change!" said Alia one Sunday of practicing. "Still the same point!" They were in Professor Granger's empty classroom. Alia had found a way to climb up on a top shelve with nothing on it to sit.
"Neither can we," said Terry, still getting the furry creature. "I give up. We should really be in the library, studying."
"I know we should," said Alia. "But, I determined to learn how to do this! I may need it during the summer holidays." She tried the charm again, and this time, it wasn't just a pointed head. It had a body with to triangular structures flanking it. Alia smiled and performed the charm twice more.
"What do you mean 'I may need it during the summer holidays?'" asked Travis. "We're not allowed to use magic during the holidays unless in emergencies."
"I know," said Alia. "I may have an emergency."
"I don't understan –- " started Terry but...
"You don't need to understand," said Alia. "I just want to learn the charm. I've made progress; enough progress for today. I'll go to the library." She jumped down from her shelf and picked up her bag.
"I'll come with you," said Terry. He pocketed his wand and retrieved his bag too. Travis joined them also.
The library was almost deserted. Two other students and Mr Fulton were the only one's there beside Terry, Travis, and Alia. They took refuge in the Transfiguration section and worked on an extremely difficult essay Professor Dannersham had assigned about what could happen if you don't concentrate on the thing you are trying to turn an object into. It was bore to end all bores.
Terry usually liked to learn. He thought that learning was something you had to do and something that was not fun but not boring to do. This was a major wake up call on Terry's theory. Terry thought he was going to start drooling all over A History of Magic and A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. Travis had resorted to absent mindedly tapping his wand on the table until it emitted the same blue and silver sparks it had before. Alia was in a gazed stupor just staring at her book without her eyes moving or taking in a word of what she was reading.
They "studied" well into the evening. Mr Fulton eventually kicked them out because he realized they were doing absolutely nothing and were just sitting there. They said that they would not return the next day because it was the most boring thing they ever had to do except History of Magic.
History of Magic was taught by a kind faced witch by the name of Professor Elnota. When Terry, Travis, and Alia came to her class the following Monday. They were studying the progress of the Ministry of Magic.
"...So, about fifty Years ago," read Professor Elnota, "the Ministry was having trouble with Dark wizards and the Aurors were no match for them. The Ministry had to take action. They created seven magical elements. They helped quite a bit; Azkaban was having to put more than one prisoner in one cell, a first in thirty Years. But then –- "
The bell rang and interrupted Professor Elnota.
"I guess that's all the time we have for today. For homework, read chapter nine of A History of Magic and read on about the elements and give a six inch report. Have a good afternoon!"
The class got to its feet and left the classroom. Since they didn't have flying class anymore, they had the rest of the afternoon off to do whatever they wanted. Fortunately, Marigold didn't find them, like Davis had told them she was, so they could go a practice Patronuses.
"I can't get it to take any form," said Terry, still getting the furry and blurry something. "You two keep working. I have to do a lot of homework."
So, Terry left the usual tree they worked at, and broke his promise to himself not to go to the library today, and went. He took out three different books. (Magical Drafts and Fungi, for Snape, A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration, for Dannersham, and A History of Magic, for Elnota.) He opened A History of Magic and turned to chapter nine.
"Unofruor," said Terry lazily. The book began to read:
"Because of ramped Dark wizards, the Aurors were dropping like flies. Many precautions were taken to avoid this problem, but none prevailed. They eventually invented the following:
"The Searcher's Eye, a blue glass sphere, was able to see through anything. It came in handy for looking around corners or seeing down a couple of floors.
"The silver Legilimen's Eye was able to penetrate the mind's thickest layer. Lies and deceits of criminals were no use against this Eye.
"The Healer's Eye, in nature's natural colors, produced a potion able to cure or heal any wound or disease and even death. Aurors who were injured were easily revived.
"The Arrester's Eye, deep scarlet, would stop people in their tracks. If a Dark wizard were to run at an Auror or try and curse them, it could halt the felon and the spell.
"The Stunner's Eye of violet could baffle and confuse Dark wizards, temporarily immobilizing the wizard for a time.
"The Decipherer's Eye, a bright yellow, would brake down the language barrier. Able to translate languages was essential to Ministry officials.
"Finally, the dark Plunderer's Eye, would seek out treasure. If a Dark wizard had stolen some gold this sphere would be able to find it.
"The Ministry of Magic thought that these tools were fool proof, but like most times, they were gravely mistaken. The first six were working smooth without flaw, but the Plunderer's Eye wavered in its allegiance.
"The Plunderer's Eye, instead of located treasure for the Ministry, would find gold and jewels, and telepathically send the coordinates to criminals.
"The Ministry soon began to fear its power, and tried to dispose of it. The Plunderer's Eye persuaded the Stunner's Eye onto its team, and it bamboozled the other's into thinking the Ministry was the enemy. So, anytime the Ministry would make an attempt at destroying the Plunderer's Eye, the Healer's Eye would protect it. The other eyes also contributed their powers to the Plunderer's Eye so that it was now the ultimate Eye.
"Soon, the Plunderer's and the other Eyes became unstoppable. The Ministry couldn't do anything to get rid of them. In the end, the Ministry decided to hide the Eyes in a place they thought would be best protected. They built a secret underground chamber to house the Eyes.
"The Plunderer's Eye still calls to those who seek it. No one knows where it is, including the Eyes. They were relocated without their knowledge. Unfortunately, the nearest person the Plunderer's Eye calls to has to be living where it is located."
Eyes...eyes...Terry knew that sounded familiar. Then it hit him. Professor Ferrotte, in her ranting in the infirmary was saying something about eyes. Could this be what she was talking about? But, why would she be talking about them?
Snape! Snape probably questioned Professor Ferrotte they day the entire school found her lying on the floor in the Entrance Hall. He could have used a number of Memory Charms and could have disposed of her sanity.
But why would Snape want the Eyes? "The Plunderer's Eye, instead of located treasure for the Ministry, would find gold and jewels, and telepathically send the coordinates to criminals." That's it. Snape wants treasure. Who wouldn't?
Terry stood up and closed the book. He put away his belongings and left the library. He wanted to share his new information with Travis and Alia.
He past the third floor and saw Professor Granger go into the teachers' lounge. That's right...Snape was in there when he was looking for Professor Granger and said something about a "key." It fit. Professor Potter gave the key to where the Plunderer's Eye was kept to Professor Ferrotte and Snape wanted it. So, he attacked her trying to find it, made too much noise, and ran away.
Snape was also behind Halloween and the seventh floor being destroyed. He was probably looking to see if he could find an alternate way to get to the Plunderer's Eye, but failed. When Professor Potter spoke to the portrait of the green skinned man, the portrait reported the cloaked figure said, "It's not here," as it left.
Then Terry's detention. Snape was probably going to try and find the Plunderer's Eye and didn't expect Terry there. So, he attacked him and Professor Ferrotte rescued him.
Terry's stomach sank. The woman who had saved him, was lying in the hospital wing, bling to herself, and as Peragu now said, she was talking to a jar. That poor innocent woman was insane. She thought she was just applying for a job at Hogwarts, not knowing what she was in for.
He opened the great oak doors and went out onto the warm and sunny grounds. Travis and Alia saw him and ran up to him.
'Terry!" screamed Alia with glee. "Terry, we did! We got our Patronuses!"
They both pulled out their wands and said, "Expecto Patronum!"
Two silvery forms shot out of the wands and landed gracefully on the ground. Alia's was a tall, feathered figure. Two large wings and a beak were intact along with sharp talons. Travis' was long and streamlined, four paws, a snout, and a tail that made a sort of "C."
The eagle and the wolf sat their and then they flew and ran around the grounds, around the gamekeeper's hut, and a pack of studying Hufflepuffs.
"Guys, I'm really happy for you...but I've just figured something out," said Terry. They went back to the beech tree and Terry recounted all the conclusions he had found out while in the library and returning outside.
Travis and Alia listened intently and didn't speak for a while when he finished telling the story.
"I knew it!" exclaimed Alia after a while. "I knew Snape was no good!"
"Poor Professor Ferrotte," said Travis. "She was just holding on to something for Potter and she goes insane."
"Well, Snape hasn't gotten the Plunderer's Eye, yet," said Alia. "I think we're alright. Let's move on to something a bit more cheerful. Hufflepuff and Slytherin are playing Quidditch tomorrow. I hope Hufflepuff will win."
"Oh, please!" said Terry. "Hufflepuff has a worse chance of winning than Professor Ferrotte has of trying to steal the Plunderer's Eye."