Chapter 16 - Detention's Prisoners
By: Zero Star (zrostar)
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Back in the Library, the two boys informed Hermione of the detention.
"Completely careless of you." Hermione scolded, but her voice was distant, she was distracted by the materials in front of her.
"What? That's it?" Ron was shocked she didn't attempt to give either of them a tongue lashing. "No, 'You should be expelled!' or 'I'm thouroghly disapointed in the both of you!'?"
She didn't hear him. Turning the page of a large book before her.
Ron and Harry exchanged glances.
Harry interupted her. "Hermione? What are you doing?"
"Research..." She mummbled absently.
"About what?!" Ron was growing annoyed.
Harry decided to get a closer look. He moved from across the table to beside her. She was taking notes from the book Ron had snatched from the Slytherin bookcase. At once Harry's eye grew wide. Ron joined him.
Hermione was reading up on 'Mandragora De Tiganii,' her thumb rested just below a black and white copy of his portrait reprinted for the book, her forefinger stretched across the page underlining various bits of information.
"I think there is a reason Snape wanted you to come later for detention." She scribbled a note.
"So we won't miss supper?" Ron raised a doubtful eyebrow.
"According to this book, Professor Tiganii was extremely nocturnal while he was at Hogwarts. Sometimes even holding classes in the middle of the night. Snape probably wants him to be there when you show up. This book also makes it sound like he's not very friendly."
Harry read over her shoulder aloud. "'He met adversaries with a steady eye and never feared to draw his wand during an arguement. Student who crossed him regretted it...'"
Harry swallowed hard. "I just hope he doesn't hate Gryffindors as much as Snape does."
"It gets better." Hermione stated flately. She turned a few pages. "He is also known for taking personal students, who don't survive his training."
Ron squinted in dismay. "What kind of sick freak would take an apprentice and have them killed? Harry?! What are we getting into?!"
He could only shrug in reply, as helpless as Ron.
"When you three head back to get more of Fred and George's goodies, I want to come with you." Here she looked up at the two of them, seriously.
Ron was about to answer when a lot of giggling began in the corner of the room. Four blonde first years, each with a differant house uniform, sat in a shadowed corner table. They seemed to be having a good time talking about something.
"Hermione, are those your new friends?" Ron was curious.
"I wouldn't call them friends, Ron. But the Ravenclaw is very knowledgeble about the library already. I've been showing her around. She's quite bright for a 1st year. When her sisters show up, I tend to leave them alone. They have a pretense for giggling and talking about boys." Hermione rolled her eyes.
Harry couldn't help but noticed how tired they looked. Despite their laughing and joking.
"I thought you liked boys?" Ron gave her a cheeky smile.
She playfully slapped at him. "It's almost lunch time. You two better get something to eat before you find yourselves locked in a cage over a cauldron tonight."
"Did you read that?" Harry asked worriedly.
"He wouldn't actually do something like that, would he?" Ron bit his lip. Looking a bit like Ginny.
She did not answer, only gave a whistful smile.
----
After a brief lunch, Harry left Ron and Hermione together in the Hall and rushed out to the quidditch pitch to join the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team. This was the first unofficial meeting of the year. Some players had graduated and try outs would be held as early as possible.
Harry mounted his broom and impressed a small gathering of students with a loop over the pitch before returning to his team.
Only a few Gryffindors had turned out, but Harry was happy to see one was Ginny Weasely.
Madam Hooch was helping the new captian Katie Bell, judge the try outs. Which reminded Harry of what he wanted to ask her.
"Madam Hooch! May I ask you a question?"
"Of course, Mr. Potter. A little higher dear!" She shouted at a third year that was flying only a few feet above the ground.
"I ran into Professor Lethe on the Quidditch pitch this morning, while I was doing some laps. He had an old Olympia broom. Do you know anything about the brand?"
"NO!! This is not a stunt ground!!" Another student had attempted a loop like Harry had greeted them with, only to fall from his broomstick. "Olympia! Why yes! Those were made in Greece years before you were born. Not very good really. Quite a shabby job with it's flying charms." Hooch smiled to herself for a moment.
Harry was shocked to hear it, considering he was nearly out raced by one.
"But..." Hooch continued. "There was a problem with the charms, as I said. They could be tampered with. In fact, many a young wizard would buy an Olympia to make an illegal racing broom. Upgrade the propulsion and hoover charms, you could get pretty creative with the spells on one of those."
"Illegal?" Harry gulped. "Not like, 'against the ministry' illegal was it?"
"Ha! Try harder Mr. Finnigan!!!" She turned back to Harry. "Well not exactly. What mostly constitues an illegal broom would be in racing rules and in professional quidditch. Any tampered broom without standardized spells is against the rules. But in other countries in Europe - Make that NEXT YEAR Finnigan!! - a tampered broom is considered unsafe to fly for the rider and potenial by-standers. Although if you ask me, playing around with the safety spells can be rather fun. A wizard who knows what he's doing would probably be able to re-charm his broom better than the manufacuturers of most of today's brooms. Although Olympia hasn't been making brooms for years now." She gave him a wink and smile, Harry's que that the question and answer session was over.
Harry smiled to himself and thought, Lethe has an illegal broom. That's great!
----
"Dinner already..." Ginny sighed, "What happened to the day?"
"You fell asleep under the tree, after quidditch try outs." Neville replied. "I was afraid to wake you up."
The other gryffindors laughed.
"There he is again." Had become the motto for Colin Creevey in the evening. "But it looks like he's got a friend."
Harry glanced at the High Table, Cherti sat next to Dumbledore, the two talking. Cherti again ignoring his plate. However, a new figure had taken one of the empty place settings. Leartes Lethe sat between McGonagall and Snape. He seemed to be having a decent conversation with the transfiguartion teacher, however, Snape sat pale and ill ignoring the two as best he could.
"Lethe hasn't touched a bite either! The food isn't that bad here, how picky can you get, even for a forgiener?" Ron frowned deeply.
"I wonder if there is another explaination for that." Hermione sounded distant, thoughtful.
"She's up to something Ron, we'd best stay out of her way."
"I think you're right Harry... going to cause us nothing but trouble." Ron replied.
Without warning Lethe gave departing bows from the High table and strode cheerfully to the Gryffindors.
"Good evening, students!"
"Good evening, sir..." A few replied cautiously.
"Now now, cheer up! This looks like it's going to be the start of a promising year. After all, quidditch season will be starting soon and I know the team is training hard already. We'll smash Slytherin this year... oh yes, into little, tiny, itty-bitty pieces." He grinned quite nastily, lost in his own thoughts for a moment.
"Now, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasely. I don't want you to be late for detention, I'll escort you to the dungeons, personally. I'll be in the hall after dinner." He gave them a grim smile before continuing from the room.
The Gryffindors all looked at each other.
"Did he frighten the rest of you as much as he frightened the fouth years, in his class?" Ginny asked, quietly. "He was really strange, nice but strange..."
The rest of the class mumbled in vague agreement.
"A bit to hyper for this own good. I know I wouldn't want to engage that man in a brawl." Finnigan pushed his plate away.
Dinner was finishing up, but there was another hour to go before detention with Snape. Harry and Ron waved a last goodbye to the rest of their house, deciding to stay behind awhile longer. Hermione stayed with them. Perhaps there was a way to still get out of it?
"Oh, stop being such a baby, Ron! Neither of them can kill you, Dumbledore's here, remember?" Hermione scolded.
"YOU aren't the one who won't come back tonight!" Ron defended. "I'd like to see you be so smug and calm while you are looking Snape in the face as he grinds his teeth at you!"
"Stop fighting, it's only waisting time!" Harry shouted above the two of them.
"Don't worry, you aren't going to die, either of you." Professor Lethe voiced from beside them. It startled all three of the young students. "He'll just torment you for a while, with his noxious fumes and then send you back a bit shaken." He must have snuck up on them as the rest of the student body had been slowly clearing away.
Hermione hesitated, then spoke. "Are you familair with Professor Snape's detentions?"
"A good question as always, Ms. Granger." He winked at her. "No, I am not. But! I am all too familiar with the other you'll be meeting tonight."
Mandragora. Harry thought, as if the name were a chant for evil.
"Yes," Lethe cocked an eyebrow. "We are well aquainted."
Hermione hesitated again, as if putting great thought into her words before speaking them. "Sir, while you are here, can you tell us about your time at Hogwarts?"
He looked suprised, flattered and suspicious, all at once. "Ah well... what's there to tell?" After a moment he departed some of his knowledge. "Let me see. I am a former Head of Gryffindor. I was here at the same time the old dragon was - "
Ron interupted, "Old dragon?"
"Yes! That's what we used to call the Slytherin in Charge, at the time. A rather infamous nick name, hehe." This seemed to amuse Lethe. "You may even see why yourself, later tonight. Mandragora is rather... uh well, himself. He's like no one else you'll ever meet." Lethe chuckled again. "That's a GOOD thing!"
The students came to the conclusion Lethe and Mandragora had been house heads at the same time. Like McGonagall and Snape, there was probably some conflict. With Lethe's brash nature, and the Mandragora's temper it must have been an amazing sight, and no doubt a violent one.
The clock chimed at it was nearly 8 o'clock.
"Alright boys, time for the long walk." Lethe patted each on the shoulder encouragingly. "It will be over before you know it. Miss Granger, care to walk with us?"
As Harry and Ron hessitantly took his side, Hermione shook her head. "I'm very sorry sir, but I have a lot of homework and research to do."
"Alright then, good evening M'lady." He gave her a sweeping bow before marching the two Gryffindor boys from her sight.
The walk was strangely quiet, neither of the boys knowing what to say and Professor Lethe seeming very lost in his own thoughts.
As they walked, Harry noticed across the back of Lethe's bright red cloak was a golden lion, stitched perfectly in spun golden thread. He continued to stare at the Gryffindor mascot and swore he saw the lion move, just a little, to wink at him.
Ron unexpectedly broke the silence. "Professor, are you familair with a local legend?"
"Hmm, an odd question Mr. Weasely, well many of them, yes. To which are you refurring." Lethe paused his walking to face Ron.
The red haired boy suddenly was unsure of what to ask. "Uh - well. It's more of a rumor maybe..."
"Spit it out." Lethe stated sharply.
"I heard talk that, well, the Darkest Night had something to do with a murder a long time ago." Ron spoke swiftly and stared intently at the floor as he did so.
Lethe drew his brows together, a distant gaze in his eyes as if he were remembering something very nasty that he would never forget. "About, fifty years ago." He whispered in rememberance. "Not that long for someone like me..."
"Professor?" Harry quizzed with a glance at Ron.
"Er." Lethe shook his head and raised a hand to his temples, rubbing away the terrible vision. "Yes, Mr. Weasley. I am familiar with that 'legend.' Soon, I hope it will be past and gone. Now hurry along boys, don't want to be late!" He offered no more commentary until the three reached the entrance to the dungeons.
"Now, unless I miss my guess, you are going to have a run in with a former ... uh ... rival of mine. He's nasty, he's gross, but most of all, he's dangerous. Watch yourselves. He and Snape will probably double team you. Alright now boys, it's time to be brave!"
Harry and Ron swallowed hard and tried to muster all the strength they could. Harry was rationalizing to himself, if he's faced the Dark Lord Voldemort so many times before now, face to face an old Slytherin isn't going to be a problem, but something in his spine told him other wise. Ron was trying not to pant to loudly as his breath quickened and a cold sweat broke across his forehead. For some reason Ron had always been sensitive to the "bad feelings" of the school. Now was no exception.
"I'll walk you to the door, not to worry." Lethe was calm and Snape didn't seem like the type to threaten the old man, in the least.
Professor Lethe gave three swift knocks at the door of the classroom. A vicious smile crept to his lips as Snape shouted from within.
"Potter! Weasley! You are late, there is no excuse for Gryffindor tardiness." His voice dropped to the icy cold they were familiar with in class as Snape opened the door. "Your pathetic house and it's teachers haven't taught you the proper value of - "
There was a long pause. Snape's eyes suddenly grew wide as he realized the unruly Professor Lethe, former Head of Gryffindor, was standing before him, instead of two unruly young Gryffindor boys. Lethe continued his disturbingly wicked grin as he met the eye of the current Slytherin Head. Even though Lethe was the much shorter of the two he had all the power in this situation. Snape swifly and obviously masking his surprise, dislike, and anger with a sickeningly vile grin of his own.
"Professor Lethe, how good of you to escort these two students to their detention. I wouldn't want them to miss their punishment after all."
"Of course not Severus." Lethe's informal greeting was meant as an insult. "In fact, there is no better person to teach young impressionable boys the error of their ways, than a Slytherin. Since Slytherins are so familiar with the decent and mistrust that can get a fellow into trouble to begin with." Lethe spoke evenly, his gruff old voice and evil grin sinking his words as deep as he could.
Harry and Ron looked out timidly from behind the older man. Snape returned thier gaze without a change in his mock face, but the blazing daggers in his eyes were only for the two of them.
"Alright boys, time for your morality lesson." Lethe guestured to the doorway, Snape swept angrily back to what ever it was he had been doing before they came.
"Thank you, sir." Ron whispered to the old Gryffindor. Lethe winked in reply.
With a final glance at Lethe and each other, they hung their heads and marched into the Potions Classroom. It felt slow and painful, like a death march. Ron could almost feel his spirit leaving his body as the two entered the deathly cold room.
Harry suddenly bit back a yelp as his forehead began to burn. Ron turned five shades of pale at the sight before them.
Snape, arms folded, tapped one foot irritably, scowling down at the two Gryffindors from the front of the room. His black eyes narrowed into wicked slits, while a venomous snarl twitched violently at the corners of his mouth. He clentched his teeth, in a manor that suggested he wanted, very much, to bite one of them. He looked thinner and more bitter than usual. Perhaps, it hadn't been for the best that Lethe irritate their punisher so much.
Ron began to whimper.
As frightening a sight as Severus Snape made, the figure next to him was horrific. Standing a few feet back, leaning heavily over a cauldron large enough to hold a full grown man, was a faceless black form. He was a little shorter than Snape, but gave off a feeling the other could not. The feeling of rotting flesh and decaying souls hiding just under his skin. It felt as if something were very, very wrong with this man.
Ron and Harry froze, not knowing what to do. Some unrealised panic about to take them.
"Ah, I see you've noticed my guest." Snape spoke cooly, his wrath melting into a triumphant sneer. "My mentor will be assisting in your punishment this evening. I believe he's gone some very creative ideas on what can straighten out two cronic trouble makers, such as yourselves."
The hooded figure made no reaction to the oddly flattering comments.
"Either way, you two will spend your detention tonight, helping him. Potter, My office, NOW."
Snape strode briskly out of the classroom and to his office. Harry slowly followed behind. Ron was left with the frightful being, all alone. He looked back at Harry, as if he needed to be resqued. Harry didn't smile or laugh as Ron mouthed a word in his direction.
Help!
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*huff huff pant gasp*
OH GOD!! I just did a major rewrite on this chapter!
It was rough and I took out a lot of the old stuff.
So if you haven't read the new version of this thing, DO SO!
It changes the plot a bit.
1-26-03