Chapter Eight
The Dark Witch
Raymond Eldridge came out of his classroom in the Assembly building and stepped out into the garden. He looked around searchingly before finally taking the back pathway between the building and the Quidditch Stadium. He was halfway to the gate when he finally spotted Dean Elk with a very large, very strange bird on his shoulder. He was talking to the bird as he picked fresh blackberries near the outer hedge and fed them to her.
"Good afternoon, Dean Elk," Ray said, still unable to stop staring at the long-necked shell-backed creature.
"Ah, welcome back, Raymond! Ready for another exciting year?" Wind asked with a smile.
"Yes, of course. Just what is that thing on your shoulder?" he asked.
"Radiance is a Huang... a type of Eastern Phoenix," Wind explained, the bird warbling in appreciation at all the attention that Wind was giving her. "I happen to be familiar sitting for Ms. Craw, our Items teacher this year. She had to run home for a couple of days on a family matter."
"Actually, that has something to do with what I wanted to speak with you about," Ray admitted. "I was wondering how well you know our new Items teacher."
"Quite well. I was her teacher when she was in school," Wind explained with a smile.
"Then I was wondering if you knew if she was related to Thomas Craw," Ray asked.
"He's her father, yes," Wind acknowledged, his expression not changing.
"Then I should inform you that entire family is full of Dark Wizards," Ray said. "Including Thomas Craw himself; he was a Death Eater before he turned on them."
"Yes, I'm aware," Wind agreed.
"But sir, there is a lot of reason to believe that Ms. Craw herself is a Dark Witch as well," Ray said seriously.
"Yes, I'm aware of that too," Wind agreed, but his smile never left him. Ray stared at him.
"You knew already? Then how could you possibly invite her here? Don't you know what she is capable of?" Ray asked worriedly.
"A great deal better than you do, I believe, considering that it's obvious that you don't know her history or you'd already have known that," Wind said. "Raymond, you were an Auror for nearly ten years before coming here. You should know better than anyone that it isn't always about whether a spell is considered Light or Dark, or Ancient or Wild for that matter. It is about how you use it and how you refrain from using it. I may be a master of Wild magic, but just because I am not an expert of Dark, it doesn't mean that I don't have abilities that could harm a great many people if I so choose."
"Sir, Wild Magic may have its fair share of spells that can cause destruction if it's abused, but its main function is to encourage life and growth," Ray argued. "Dark Magic is completely designed to cause pain, fear, destruction, and death. Nothing good could possibly come out of it!"
"I see. Well then, I believe this professor exchange will be good for you, Raymond. Because I think this will be the year that you learn that good can come from Dark Magic," Wind said enigmatically.
"I highly doubt that," Ray replied.
"Tell me, Raymond, have you finished setting up your guest speakers for the year?" Wind asked.
"No, I just got here yesterday," Ray admitted.
"Then make sure your first guest speaker is Jennifer Craw," Wind said.
"To talk about what?" Ray asked, baffled.
"Oh, I'm sure she can come up with something. She has taught Defense as well as Potions and Items, after all. And if you keep an open mind, I believe you can learn a great deal from her," Wind assured him, Radiance chirping in agreement.
"I think we have a problem," Frank said. He was in the Wizardnet Lab with a bag of small hamburgers, and he and Asher were taking turns grabbing and scarfing them down while they were working.
"Oh? Did the student network get hacked again?" Asher asked.
"No, not that... it's dossier related," Frank said. Asher walked over, still eating. "I found an old record of her in connection to the Wizard Investigations and Auror Bureau out of Missouri. It seems like at one point she went there to apply to be a Truth Seeker."
"What? She's a Truth Seeker?" Asher repeated in surprise, staring at the screen. "Oh wait, it said she canceled the request."
"Yes, canceled, not failed. For some reason she passed the test and decided not to go through with it. And if she passed it, it means she has exceptional ability," Frank explained.
"Oh. Damn," Asher said, sitting down in disappointment. "I suppose that means we're going to have to scrub the project, doesn't it?"
"Well, you have an advantage over me, Asher. You can easily avoid her because you're going to be at the Healing School and not have any direct contact with her. But I'm going to have to work with her a lot," Frank said.
"Well, just how much can they pick up at a glance? How much can they pick up about something if they aren't particularly looking for it?" Asher asked.
"I don't know. I've never really been around a Truth Seeker before," Frank said with a sigh. "Maybe if I just concentrate on work and nothing else, I can hide it. You'd probably have to take over writing up the dossier, though. I could just feed you information," Frank suggested.
"I don't mind doing it, of course, but it sounds risky. What if she finds out about it?" Asher asked.
"Well, I guess we always have the option of just scrubbing the file and moving on, if you don't think it's worth the risk," Frank challenged him. Asher winced with pain.
"I can't, I just can't... the idea of continuing to work on the project without including her pains me. What's the point of having a database of the hottest witches in the country if we can't include her?" Asher bemoaned.
"Technically she's not from our country," Frank pointed out.
"I know, but she's here now and I feel like it would leave a giant hole not to include her. The entire project would hold no weight anymore. I'd have to tell all of my followers that I have given up on the database and that I'm done contributing altogether. People would stop donating their Wizcoins to my work, and I'd no longer have as many fans who are eager to help me hook up with the best looking witches during summer, fall, winter, and spring vacations." Asher murmured softly in despair.
"Well, I'm not quitting the project, but I can't do it myself. I'm going to upload what I've got done so far and send it to you so you can work on it," Frank said. He buttoned up the file to get it ready to send before grabbing another burger. Not long after, Ray walked by and saw them, so he stepped into the lab.
"Here you are. I just got done talking to Dean Elk about Ms. Craw. What's wrong with you two?" Ray asked, noticing their dour expressions.
"We just found out something about Ms. Craw that's making us rethink our plans for a dossier," Frank admitted.
"I would say it's probably a good idea," Ray said. "I asked Dean Elk about her connection to Thomas Craw. Not only did he confirm that he's her father, but he also confirmed that Jennifer Craw herself is a Dark Witch."
"Oh, the pain!" Asher said dramatically, clutching his heart. "I really do have to write that dossier now, no matter what the consequences! I really don't care about the risks!"
Ray looked at Frank questioningly, wondering what Asher was lamenting about this time.
"We just learned that Ms. Craw is an unlicensed Truth Seeker," Frank explained. Ray stared at him in horror.
"A Dark Witch and a Truth Seeker? But that's the worst combination of talents possible!" Ray exclaimed in dismay. "Don't you know that Voldemort himself had such mental powers? A Dark Witch with those abilities can use it to manipulate people!"
"Oh, please do..."
"Asher, would you please cut that out? You should prescribe yourself a potion to lower your libido," Ray snapped.
"Actually, it's a good thing he can't prescribe to himself, or he'd be taking it in the other direction," Frank conjectured. "But never mind that, how do we keep her from finding out that we've all been researching her in the first place? She might take offense to it."
"Definitely, especially the way you're doing it," Ray said. "I suggest you both start learning Occlumency, and I'll start brushing up on it, just so we're not vulnerable to those kinds of tactics. Of course, learning it will take time, but I know of an old Auror trick you can try as a stop gap," he said, getting their attention. "Get yourselves a Pensieve, and whatever you don't want her to find out about, throw it in before you leave your room in the morning and then put it back in when you're done at night. If you decide to do a complete wipe so that you don't retain any knowledge at all, though, make sure you attach a note to the Pensieve to remind yourself that it contains memories you want back."
"Wait, how do you do a complete wipe like you're talking about? It means you forget the fact attached to the memory, right?" Frank said.
"Right. I can show you after dinner tonight if you want, up in my room. You can bring a Pensieve up to practice with too, if you have one... empty, if you don't mind," Roger added for good measure, not trusting what either of them might have in there. "I might even give you your first Occlumency lesson at the same time."
"Great! You bring the knowledge, I'll bring the pizza," Frank promised.
"Then I'll get the drinks," Asher agreed. With that settled, the three of them went back to class preparation.
Severus spent as much time as he could at Aurelius and Ginger's house, to visit Jennifer as much as to spend time with the children. But soon the doctor had given Ginger permission to get up and move to the living room, and Aurelius had bought two baby baskets that made it easier for her to carry them around so that she could easily take care of them on her own. When Viorica returned, she was eager to help out, volunteering to take care of Justice and even helping Aurelius in the kitchen.
Now that they were ready to take care of themselves, Jennifer was also ready to get back to her job and make up for lost time, arriving at Whitebridge just as the sun was coming up. Jennifer walked over to the Commissary, unsurprised to see Gretchen and Lavender waiting for the doors to be opened.
"Hey! You're back!" Lavender exclaimed.
"Yes, good morning," Jennifer grinned.
"How are Aurelius and Ginger?" Gretchen asked.
"Splendid now, although tired, of course. And guess what? They had twin girls! They managed to keep me completely in the dark about their coming!" Jennifer said excitedly.
"Wow, that is amazing," Gretchen agreed. The doors opened and they went in to grab their trays. Jennifer, who ate hours ago, still stopped for a coffee and a doughnut just to have an excuse to grab the corner table and talk to them. "So how many does Aurelius have now?" Gretchen asked.
"Four; one adopted daughter, a four year old, and now the girls, Brigid and Branwen," Jennifer explained. "Brigid looks as if she'll have auburn hair, and Branwen has darker hair, so it makes them easy to tell apart. They've been quite sweet and not at all fussy."
"Give them time, I'm sure that'll change," Lavender grinned.
"Yes, that's quite likely," Jennifer agreed with a chuckle. "So how have things been going here?"
"Okay for the most part, but my mother wants me to warn you that there's a school board meeting tonight," Lavender said. "And more than likely, the superintendent will want to have some words with Dean Elk and Mrs. Johnson about your presence here, especially if any of the Mason and Powers decide to show up at the meeting and make a big fuss."
"I take it from that warning they must have figured out who I am," Jennifer said with a knowing smile.
"Not only that, but there's a rumor going around that you're a Dark Witch," Lavender said. Jennifer shrugged.
"I've never tried to hide it," Jennifer replied. "But it's not like I don't know the rules on campus. I'm not about to start casting it while I'm here. I learned that lesson as an eleven year old."
"Well, watch out for Raymond Eldridge. He's the Defense teacher here, and he's always telling us about the evils of Dark Magic every time he gets in the mood of telling us anecdotes about when he was an Auror," Gretchen said. Jennifer grinned knowingly at that.
"Well, there's no such thing as an evil type of magic as far as I'm concerned, it's how you use it that makes a spell evil or good," Jennifer replied. "It's quite all right, I can handle it. And with any luck, I might be able to teach him the errors of that line of thinking."
"Good luck, he's pretty paranoid," Lavender said. "He got out after only serving for a few years. He said he couldn't handle the stress."
"Yes, our Defense teacher at Hogwarts is also an ex-Auror and is still recovering from it in some ways, so I understand," Jennifer assured her. "Anyway, I should go see if Wind is in his office yet. I need to pick up Radiance and get caught up so that I'm ready for classes on Tuesday."
"Are you going to have time this weekend to do anything else?" Lavender asked.
"I don't know yet. I guess I'll have to see how much I get done today," Jennifer decided, getting up and setting her coffee cup in the dishes bin before stepping out and turning down the hallway towards Wind's office. As she did so, Asher barely looked up from this pumpkin Tome computer, seemingly more interested in it than what else was happening in the room.
Wind Elk sat in the front row on the right side of the council room. Right next to him were a couple of bored deans from Wizard Vocational schools that were operating out of unmarked buildings located on a couple of non-magical college campuses in the city.
Hiding in plain sight had become second nature to those schools, but many families still preferred the more protected environments offered by attending Whitebridge, Salem Witchcraft, and a handful of other American institutions that offered classes in a less-blended setting. Of course, that also meant that some of the exclusively magic schools were often thought of as elitist; Whitebridge was often labeled as one of them, despite the fact that the school took only a very small percentage of its students that weren't from the Midwest or New England, and they paid only modest fees for being out of the state. It was true that they often invited Salem Witchcraft to exhibition games, being the next closest school of that type (Northwestern Wizard and Magical Industry was the second closest school), but Salem was a private school, and they loved nothing better to trounce Whitebridge's secondary students with their superior skills in both sports and magic competitions.
Wind sat with a pad of paper in his hand like he always did and made notes on the budget and what rules passed and what didn't, as well as what policy tweaks were being made. But even though he was concentrating on the meeting, he couldn't help but notice there were an unusual amount of parents observing. The majority of them, Wind knew, were Whitebridge parents or alumni, and most of them were related to the Mason family.
"What did you do this time?" Dean Willa Schmidt murmured from beside him. Sitting next to them and taking notes on a handheld p-Writer, Dean David Martinez looked between them curiously.
"Hired an exchange professor they don't care for," Wind replied quietly.
"What, is that it? Why don't they care for them?" Willa asked.
"She turned Steve Mason into a cactus when they were kids," Wind explained softly. Willa and David broke out into involuntary laughter that they had to quickly stifle when several board members started throwing them dirty looks for interrupting their vitally important discussion about funding school lunch programs.
"Almost public comment time. I hope your newest addition doesn't lead to a funding cut for that program down the line," Willa whispered.
"I'll fund it with donations if it comes to that," Wind said unconcernedly. "Trust me, this is a battle worth fighting for."
"Why, who is she?" Willa asked curiously, but Wind gestured for her to wait as the board meeting wrapped up.
"We'll now open the floor for public comments, limited to five minutes, plus the opportunity to respond by board members, limited to five minutes, although not all comments will garner a response, and so on," the Superintendent droned. "Secretary Gail Mason, please call up the first public comment."
"Thank you, Mr. Charleston. I recognize Bartholomew Mason for five minutes," Gail said.
"Thank you, Secretary Mason. Mr. Charleston, I would like to discuss the recent hire of a guest professor at Whitebridge, one Jennifer Craw Snape, on tenure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland," Bart began. "Sir, it is come to our attention that said professor is a Dark Witch by both her society and her own proclamations, and has a record for casting major Dark spells within public places, both within magic neighborhoods and even on occasion within view of the non-magical society. We find it highly unlikely that such a witch would be fit and proper to teach our children magic of any kind, especially at a school that specializes in Light Magic and Healing practices. I personally am concerned about the well being of our children, and I believe she should be replaced now before the term starts so that she doesn't pose a threat to the sanctity of the school or our children. Thank you."
"Mrs. Carmody? I believe you were first," Mr. Charleston recognized. In fact, Rosemary Carmody had her globe lit before Bart even made it up to the comment podium.
The elderly witch, on first glance, might have passed for a typical grandmother in a quilting club because of her curly white hair, large glasses, and weathered hands. But her complexion was rosy and her blue eyes were sharp, and no one looking in them doubted the strength of the youthful character that was beneath the surface of that first impression.
"Mr. Mason, I understand why someone, upon hearing the rumors instead of the facts behind Ms. Craw, might be inclined to prejudge her for abilities and thus trigger some apprehension. But as her former teacher at Whitebridge, I assure you that there is little reason to be concerned. Ms. Craw happens to be a school alumnus, and therefore is very well versed on what spells she can and cannot cast while on property. I can easily testify to that fact, since I was one of the teachers who took the time to teach her those rules to make certain that she graduated," Rosemary explained. "I would also like to point out, for the record, that the Equal Opportunity Clause PWS.C114.1980.47, paragraph three, states that, 'employment should be offered to qualified applicants regardless of innate magical quirks, rare abilities, and/or disabilities of a magical nature of any kind, with due process afforded to every other applicant.' In other words, we cannot legally hold it against her that she is predisposed to Dark Magic through her heritage. Furthermore, since she has been teaching at the best wizard school in Europe for decades now, I believe it's quite evident that she is nothing if not qualified to teach at her Alma mater for a year. Therefore, I do not believe after teaching for so long that she poses any threat to the students; if that were the case, I am certain that she would not have been teaching at Hogwarts for so long, personal attachments or not. And on a personal note, I would like to add that she is not eleven anymore, Bart. She is unlikely going to be tempted to transfigure her peers into garden plants again." Sitting on the other side of the Superintendent, Steve grimaced, while there was a smattering of chuckles throughout the observers, including Willa and David, glad to have another reason to laugh about it.
"Mr. Steve Mason," Gail announced.
"Superintendent, due to the circumstances, including the high possibility that this particular hire is a Dark Witch, I request that a more detailed background check be done on Ms. Jennifer Craw Snape, just to be on the safe side, thank you," Steve said.
Rosemary's globe flashed again. In fact, she didn't even wait to be recognized.
"Superintendent, I would like to draw your attention to paragraph four of that same Equal Opportunity clause, which states that, 'any action above and beyond what is standard procedure to an applicant due to a magical ability or disability is to be considered magical discrimination'. It is against both school policy, state, and federal laws to do so without just cause, thank you." Rosemary said.
"Mrs. Carmody is quite correct. However, your concerns will be entered in the log, as will, of course, Mr. Bart Masons' concerns," Mr. Charleston replied. "Shall we move on, then?"
Rosemary glanced down at Wind Elk, who nodded to her with a thin, approving smile. Giving him the briefest of smiles in return, she turned her attention to a parent who wanted to complain about the amount of testing they were doing.