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Chapter Ten – On the Capability of Teachers to be at More Than One Place At the Same Time

The news ran through the school like wildfire and the next day, there wasn't another topic of conversation. Sirius' role in the war had been acknowledged and his name had been cleared. But there was still a slight aura of strangeness and darkness around him. Something that oddly clashed with his general good humour and outgoing ways. Something that seemed to explain the quiet fits of broodiness and silence that sometimes apparently befell him. He had his moods when he would withdraw from all society and sit in a dark corner, silently looking in front of him. Fingers plucking at some unfortunate piece of clothing. It always took hours, but then he seemed to shake it away from him, and was the old, outgoing, laughing Sirius again. Well, mostly. There was a shadow in the back of eyes. But it had always been there, and Harry had stopped thinking about it anymore.

It was vastly interesting, that this mysterious man had put up with their equally interesting professor Caldus. In the short time that Caldus had stayed at Hogwarts, he had made himself very popular. There hadn't been that many Defense professors who were actually good, apart from Professor Lupin, and most of the students enjoyed his lessons. But Professor Caldus also had his more unknown side. Nobody seemed to have heard from him ever before. He was strict, but friendly, but he was hardly open. He never told anything about himself, never mentioned a life before Hogwarts and withdrew into himself if students asked him about himself. And he was a Defense teacher. A good one at that. Hm. An escaped Azkaban convict – not that anybody said that around Sirius – and a Defense teacher. All in all, they made for a very interesting pairing and their engagement counted for hours of conversation.

When Sirius went to sit next to professor Caldus, the following day at diner, there were many smiles and a whisper went through the hall. Sirius grinned and nodded to acknowledge it. Caldus, much more stiffly, nodded as well. Harry looked at them and smiled with his class mates when they sat down.

In the days and weeks that followed, quiet returned to Hogwarts. More or less. Once the students had got used to it, little was said about it. Caldus and Sirius seemed to get the hang of acting more discretely, and there weren't any more snogging sessions in the pub. In the presence of Students, that was.

Harry still wasn't entirely easy about their whole relationship. There was something about the whole of it. Professor Caldus had apparently got used to the thought that everybody knew about his being in love, but he still wasn't at ease with public displays of affection.

This was a source of amusement for many students – apparently it was the only way they could make Caldus lose his calm and flush. They tried it often, much to the discomfort of their professor.

But Harry thought that this wasn't the only reason for the uneasy feeling in his stomach. Caldus didn't appear to be the same person all the time. Harry, observing and wondering, thought that the professor seemed to impersonate more than one person. One day, he would laughingly hold hands with Sirius in the great hall during diner, grinning and answering the students' comments, the next day he wouldn't react to Sirius and keep to himself. One day he would be very affectionate, at another he would be sharp and put out at Sirius' remarks.

And there was one other mystery that remained to be solved. Snape. There was always Snape. Caldus was apparently the only Defense professor that Snape had ever got on with. At least, he never sneered about Caldus the way he had done in the past. This relative friendliness seemed to bring him to a new relationship with Sirius. That is – he didn't sneer quite so much and Sirius was too busily engaged otherwise.

Snape's mood seemed to vary a lot as well. One day he would walk around smugly, as if he had accomplished something major, another he would look as a beaten and broken dog. Someday he had those suspiciously red eyes again, at others he would look so gleefully evil at Sirius, that Harry felt the beginnings of panic in his chest.

Of one thing, Harry was sure: Snape was hiding something, and it was no good. The man couldn't be trusted, that was for sure. And it had to do with Sirius and Caldus. Dead sure. But why did the man look so miserable at times? Why did he look as if the had lost the one thing that was beautiful in his life?

But there wasn't much time left to ponder. He was far too busy with lessons, homework and quidditch. So Harry shrugged and put the matter out of his mind.

It wasn't until a few weeks, that Harry's attention was abruptly drawn towards his godfather's relationship once more.

It was at a cold, but very beautiful day in March, with a bright blue sky and the promise of spring. Harry was walking towards the changing rooms. He had just had a very vigorous quidditch and he was feeling exhausted and energetic at the same time. He was thinking about their next match. If they could just play like that in the next match against Ravenclaw… Not that their keeper wasn't very good… He must think of some strategy… Hmmm… Corner tactics…

Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Professor Caldus, who was disappearing inside the castle and smiled to himself. Caldus must have met Sirius somewhere again.

Having showered and changed, he went on his way to the library. It was about time that he finally finished that essay for Professor Snape, on the properties of…

Wait a moment. Wasn't that Professor Snape, right around the corner? Best wait instead of jumping in on him again, then. But no, it wasn't Snape. It was Caldus, loaded with books and coming from the library. Remarkable, really, how much Caldus and Snape looked like each other, in terms of silhouette…

Wait a moment. Where would Caldus have had the time to gather all those books? He could hardly have had the time to select them all. He had hardly had more time than Harry himself. Hm. Strange. Oh, well, Harry argued, he probably selected them in advance.

He walked into the library and immediately spotted Hermione. She was surrounded by piles of books and seemed oblivious to her surroundings. Harry grinned and walked in her direction. She looked up, and vaguely blinked before she recognized him.

"Oh, Harry, it's you. About to finish that essay? Look what I've found on the properties of water in the Defense of magical property. Did you know that the lake was so important to us? I mean, Voldemort could have walked right in without it. I just came back from a conversation with Professor Caldus this afternoon, and it was amazing. He suggested that I write this extra-credit essay on…"

Harry stared at her. "You just had a conversation with Caldus? Can't have been a very long conversation, now can it? I just saw him outside!"

Hermione frowned at him. "What are you talking about? Of course I had a long conversation with him. It was in his office. I spent at least an hour there. Why, he…"

She stopped talking, realizing by now that something was wrong.

"Hermione, are you sure that was Caldus? I mean – he can't have been different places at the same time, now can he?"

Hermione seemed to be stunned for a moment. Then, slowly, "but Harry, are you quite sure that you really saw Caldus? I mean, if you just saw a robe, it might have been everybody, you know?"

Harry frowned. "You know, I was thinking the same thing. In fact, for a moment, I thought it was Snape. It is strange how much they look alike, in a way. But I'm not mistaken. It was Caldus. It was just that same way he moves his shoulders when he walks, you know? No, something is going on here. But what?"

"If you really think that, you should go to Professor Dumbledore, Harry, Hermione said urgently. Think about it. There are still Death Eaters at large. It could be dangerous!"

Harry stared at her. "I can't do that! Sirius would kill me. And rightly so! Let's go tell him!"

"And find out that there is some very innocent explanation for all of it? He would be hurt!"

Harry sighed. "We need to find out more about it," he said determinedly. As he said it, the first glimmer of an idea formed itself in his head. Hermione saw it in his eyes and said urgently, "please go talk to Professor Dumbledore, Harry. You might talk to him in confidence!"

But Harry just nodded and said, "well, I want to find more about this myself first, Hermione. I can always talk to Dumbledore when all else fails."

And nothing Hermione said after that could change his mind about it.

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Harry planned his action really carefully. He knew that Caldus always had an afternoon class on Thursday, when Harry had a free study period. Caldus would be in his classroom and Harry would have a free hour and a half to explore his rooms.

He felt slightly guilty about spying on a professor who had never done anything to deserve that. Hell, he liked the man. But he had the gut feeling that something about Caldus was very, very wrong.

When he had reached the professor's rooms – safely hidden under the cloak and with the guidance of the map – he carefully looked around and quickly entered, his heart hammering in his chest.

He rushed inside the rooms and made haste to close the door behind him. Thus it was a minute before he could take his surroundings in. They amazed him, although he couldn't place his finger on the reason why that was so.

The rooms were decorated stylishly, even if they definitely lacked a personal touch. There were not a lot of books in it, which slightly amazed Harry, thinking about his professor's proclaimed preference for them, but perhaps it made sense. He hadn't lived here for a long time. Perhaps he still needed to time to collect. Harry quickly glanced at the books. Hm. Defense and potions, mostly. Come to think of it, a lot of potions texts for a Defense teacher. Hm. Well, Sirius had said that the man was a crack at them. That would explain it…

There was also this strange smell… What was that again? It reminded Harry of something. Willow? No… Hm. That strange stuff they used in the greenhouses? Hm. Perhaps. But no, it reminded Harry of the potions classroom. Boomslang skin. Strange smell. And leeches, too. Why would Caldus need that? It wasn't as if he was brewing potions here, now would he? A quick look around him confirmed this. There were no cauldrons or anything that might indicate actual brewing. Come to think of it – perhaps the man hid something in his closet?

Harry opened the doors to the man's wardrobe and wondered at its contents. He didn't have much in the way of a wardrobe himself, but what Caldus owned was really pathetic. Only two or three spare robes and hardly anything else. Surely the man couldn't live with just that? He had to have more. Where was the rest?

But wherever Harry looked, there wasn't much to be found in the way of clothing. Could the man be poor? Well, he didn't make that impression in the least. So where did he keep the rest of his stuff?

There were very few personal belongings in his rooms either. No pictures at all of his family. Nothing on the walls. No personal papers apart from student essays and a teacher's administration.

It was as if the man had never lived in this room.

With an increasingly ill feeling Harry walked around the room. How was it possible that Sirius had never noticed any of this? Or perhaps he had? He now remembered that Caldus and Sirius seemed to come together mostly in Sirius' rooms. Well, it was more practical, as Caldus's rooms did seem to be in some slightly removed corner of the castle.

He was about to leave the room, when he caught the glimmer of something red pit of the corner of his eye. It was a small object, nearly hidden under the bed. Harry bent and picked it up. He frowned in amazement. It was a chain, with a little red heart.