Chapter Twenty-Two
Friendly Advice
Brisk mornings heralded in the changing of the seasons, and beautiful leaves of red and gold slowly began to fill the trees in the gardens of Whitebridge. After breakfast, Jennifer spent a great deal of time in the library. Then she pulled her a gold sweater vest and went out to find a table out in the garden where she could enjoy the beautiful trees and take in the scent of autumn.
She took off her glasses and brought out her personal journal, taking a moment to bookmark the section where she had written out the details of the memory imprint in the Mallus Craw ring. Then she bookmarked other research she had on memory potions, spells, and items, including her dream therapy. Once all of those were color coded to her liking, she began digging into the books she checked out, starting with a couple from the Healer's School section, quickly losing track of the time.
Frank closed up the computer lab to take a late lunch, Asher waiting for him at the door.
"Back across the street, I suppose?" Asher asked.
"It's better than Cast-'N-Consume dinners," Frank said with a shrug.
"Yes, I suppose that's true," Asher said. "I saw Jennifer this morning; she was in the library. I guess she's spending the day here today."
"That's weird... I thought Luke said that Sundays were her family days," Frank said. Asher shrugged. "I suppose she's getting some ideas for her Items class."
"Yes, she was in the magical items section, as well as spending some time on the college level getting books out of the healing potions section," Asher explained.
"Huh. I wonder what she's working on?" Frank asked as they wandered through the garden. Asher shrugged again. They had been so curious about what she was working on that as they found themselves accidentally ending up in one of the turn-outs near the tulip and maple tree. Jennifer sat at the table, looking through a stack of books and making notes in a small journal, "Oh! Whoops," Frank said sheepishly.
"Good afternoon, Jennifer," Asher said quickly.
"Oh, hello," Jennifer said, looking up. "What did you need?"
"Well, actually, we were just curious what you were working on and accidentally strayed off the path," Frank admitted with a chuckle. "Asher noticed you in the library," he explained. Asher nodded but wasn't looking at her, busy buttoning up his jacket.
"Memory research," Jennifer explained, marking her place. "It's been a project of mine for years, actually... oh, is that the time? Drat, the Commissary is closed to get ready for dinner," she realized, putting on her spectacles and gathering her books.
"How about eating with us, then? I have to keep the computer lab open until four on Sundays, so we always end up eating at Quickbrooms," Frank suggested. Asher stared at him, wondering why he would have invited her like that.
"You don't have to worry about me, Asher," Jennifer said in a tone that made Asher glance at her in surprise. "I can keep my spectacles up the whole time if you like."
"What do you mean?" Asher asked in alarm.
"I mean that you don't seem to care for Truth Seekers," Jennifer said.
"Um," Asher said helplessly.
"You and Frank are obviously good friends, because I see you talking to each other all of the time. But you never come over and you're always hiding behind that device of yours. Well, I may not be that great at reading people without my ability, but I can tell when someone is obviously trying to avoid me, considering how often I've had that happen to me when I was going to school here. I know it when I see it," Jennifer explained. "Fortunately for you, I have these lovely spectacles of mine, which help me block both incoming thoughts and outgoing thoughts. I can't read you when I have them all the way on," she explained, pushing them up on their nose. "There, I'm sure I'm not so intimidating now, am I?"
"Um," Asher said, glancing at Frank.
"I didn't know about the glasses either," Frank told Asher with a shrug. "Come on, let's go get lunch."
"Right," Jennifer said, stuffing all of her books into her cloak.
"I take it that's a Chest Cloak," Frank chuckled.
"Yes, although the chest itself is actually tied to one that's back home," Jennifer explained. "That's how I got most of those special items for that demo safely here, actually, besides other things. Shall we?"
"Can I ask you something?" Asher asked as they walked towards the gates.
"You can ask me whatever you like. I have very little to hide," Jennifer assured him.
"Well, why do you even have a pair of spectacles like that?" Asher asked. "Why would you ever want to block incoming thoughts?"
"That's a long story," Jennifer admitted with a chuckle. "You see, I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve at times, and these help me temper it and remind myself not to be so obvious. A lot of Truth Seekers have trouble with that," she explained. "We're trained to be honest, so sometimes because of that, we can accidentally be a bit too open about things we shouldn't be sharing. These help correct that."
"So they keep you mysterious," Asher said. Frank gave him a dirty look, but Jennifer laughed.
"Something like that," Jennifer agreed with a smile.
As they were stepping out of the gate, Raymond was walking down the sidewalk from the parking garage, nearly missing a step when he saw the three of them coming out of the driveway together. Squinting at them, he called out and they paused so that he could catch up.
"Just where are you three going?" Raymond asked suspiciously.
"Quickbrooms," Frank said with a shrug.
"We're off for a late lunch. Did you want to come?" asked Jennifer.
"I think I'd better," Raymond said, glancing between the other two as if trying to discern their true intentions. But if Jennifer noticed the scrutiny, she didn't comment, concentrating instead on getting across the street and over to where they were going.
They let Jennifer order first, which gave Raymond a moment to poke Frank and Asher on the back.
"I'll be the one to sit with her if you don't mind," Raymond said crisply.
"Really, Raymond, that almost sounds as if you don't trust us," Frank protested.
"Yes, that's exactly right... especially not Asher," Raymond said.
"I don't mind sitting across from her. She has glasses," Asher said.
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Raymond asked, but didn't get an answer as they stepped up to order. By the time they were done, Jennifer had her nose in one of the library books, putting it down when the last of them arrived at the table with their drinks and numbers.
"Do you always drink coffee?" Asher asked curiously.
"Not always, thank you very much," Jennifer said with a chuckle. "And yes, I drink tea as well, and no, I don't mind iced tea and iced drinks in general, and yes, I think Americans go overboard on the ice, and can we please have a more original question? I could tell where that was going even with my glasses all the way up," she teased.
"What do you mean by the glasses thing?" Raymond asked curiously.
"It blocks her from reading thoughts when they're all the way up on her eyes," Asher explained. "But you seem to wear them most of the time. Are they prescription as well?" he asked curiously.
"No, I just wear them all the time for convenience. Sometimes I use them and sometimes I don't," Jennifer explained. "But Asher seemed uncomfortable around me, so that's why I'm wearing them now."
"Gee, I wonder why," Raymond said dryly.
"A lot of people feel that way actually. You should see how quickly people shuffle out of the room when I walk into a pub back home," Jennifer said with a shrug. "Although I must admit that the fact everyone knows who I am at home mitigates that tremendously, and most of the people who leave the room when I come in aren't the sort I want around me anyway."
"I can see your point," Raymond said, critically looking at Asher. Asher ignored him, listening intently.
"It's not like I can use what I learn against anyone even if I did see something questionable, because I'm unlicensed. Of course, since my son is one and my father is the LE Minister... I don't need to be," Jennifer admitted with a grin, then noticed one of the waiters coming over with trays and moved her number out of the way. Pretty soon they were shuffling plates and trays and handing the numbers back to the waiter.
"So what sort of research were you doing when we saw you in the garden, Jennifer?" Frank asked. "Oh, memory research, actually, it's a bit of a specialty of mine," Jennifer explained. "I'm trying to find a cure for someone who has been a victim after losing their total event memory due to the Obliviation Curse, whether it was accidental or intentional. I've pretty much exhausted all of the options for developing a potion therapy for that, so I thought I might look into a device to do what I have in mind," Jennifer said. "After all, we make Pensieves and Memory Spheres to capture memories, and I've run into at least one case where the memory strand spell was crystallized and interwoven with a ring," she explained. "So, I'm going to see if I can come up with a way to bridge the gap caused by the Obliviation Curse so that a person's memories can be restored."
"Yes, but Pensieves and Memory Spheres only work when you start with a memory strand, which obviously has to be intact for it to work," Asher said. "A potion would see to be a better option for that."
"One might think so, but I am beginning to doubt it, to be perfectly honest. Still, I went ahead and pulled out some recent books our of the library just in case someone else has developed something lately that I missed," Jennifer explained. "Still, I really think an item is a more likely solution."
"But books take months if not years to publish. By then, the information is already old," Asher said, pulling out his computer. "We should look on the Wizardnet."
"Must you have that thing out when we're eating?" Raymond complained.
"This will only take a minute or two, Raymond," Asher assured him.
"I've heard that one before," Raymond said dryly. Frank shifted further into the corner to give Asher room to work.
"Frank tells me you're not that savvy when it comes to the Wizardnet, Jennifer," Asher said, opening his pumpkin Tome.
"Actually, I do know how to use it. My son-in-law gave me lessons, and we've had one in the house for years, it's just not something I go to for information. It tends to be inaccurate, not to mention a bit annoying when it comes to advertisements," Jennifer explained.
"You're right that you need to be careful about misinformation, especially when it comes to formal research," Asher agreed. "But there are a lot of reputable sites for professional research that are run by Healer Conferences all around the world. And with just a little digging that should only take me a minute or two;" he said, pausing to get to the right site. "I can find out all of the latest research on any medical topic, and it'll be much more up to date than anything you'll find in that book. In fact, in just a matter of simple strokes, I might even be able to connect you to different experts in the field, and even get you their Net-Owl address."
"Well, thanks, but I'm really trying to do this on my own. On top of that, I promised Severus that if I did consult someone, it will be a witch," Jennifer explained.
"No problem," Asher said. "I simply have to modify my search in the Alchemists' Tincture database, and in a moment, I will have the name of the leading witch alchemist in the field of memory potions," he said, hitting the ignite button with a flare. But then he stared at the screen and his smug expression went away. "Oh."
"What's wrong? Couldn't find it?" Frank asked, wondering if he was going to have to help look.
"No, I found it," Asher admitted. "We're looking at her."
"Oh," Frank said. Jennifer chuckled at them.
"Isn't that amazing? And I didn't need one of those silly devices to do it, either," Jennifer said, sipping her coffee with an amused smile.
"Yes, but how long did it take you?" Frank inquired. "Computers and Wiznet devices make it so that you can research things faster."
"Faster isn't always better, Frank. You can miss things," Jennifer pointed out.
"You can also miss things when you're going so slow that it takes years, too," Frank replied. Jennifer thought about it.
"Yes, I suppose you have a point," Jennifer admitted.
"How long after have you been researching a cure for an Obliviation Charm memory wipe, Jennifer?" Frank asked.
"About twenty years," she replied.
"Twenty years!" the other three repeated.
"Just off and on," Jennifer amended, blushing slightly. "I'm sorry, but you have no idea just how busy my life is between teaching and my family and all sorts of people from Ciardoth to evil wizards trying to upend our society. I have very little dedicated time to work on such things, that's why Severus sent me here in the first place. But I don't need the Wizardnet to do it, just time."
"But it can save you time," Asher insisted with a sigh. "At least let me use it to get you a decent list of books and periodical articles that might help you with your work. I can print them off in the lab and you can work on them on your own, but it'll give you a better starting point than random selections out of the student library."
"Fine, if you insist, but that is all, thank you," Jennifer said. "I can't have any wizards helping with my research this time. If you only knew how vexed Severus got after Ivano received so much credit for the Lycanthropy research, and I did promise."
"Do you mind at least telling us why you're so adamant about it?" Frank asked.
So Jennifer explained everything that happened with the Lycanthropy research team, the other three listening intently until Asher asked about her dream potions research and why she was so invested into finding a cure in the first place. As Jennifer explained what had happened to her during that fateful year, all three of them became quite absorbed in the tale, stopping her only now and then to ask for clarification on some of the details.
So it was that after Andrew had finished his babysitting duties and left to find his mother with his father's watch, he happened to walk into Quickbrooms to see his mother sitting with a cold coffee cup in hand surrounded by three wizards of various ages, all three of them leaning in and completely enraptured by whatever it was she was talking to them about. Andrew put his hand on his hip in disbelief, shaking his head. Then he remembered why he came and wondered at first if he should even go through with it under the circumstances. But finally, he let out a long exhale and came over. No doubt about it, he noted as he came forward. All three of them seemed quite taken with her.
"I know you have a lot of good reasons for not wanting us to help, Jennifer," Raymond said. "But we'll still do whatever we can."
"Just consider it friendly advice on the subject. You don't have to give us any credit just for doing a little digging," Frank agreed.
"Thanks, but that really wouldn't be very honest, would it?" Jennifer replied. "If you can just assist me with my projects at the school to free up my time to work on it, that'd be more than enough help."
"I take it that includes busting the test system," Raymond said.
"It does, yes," Jennifer agreed.
"That part I will agree to readily," Raymond replied.
"Thanks, Ray," Jennifer said with a smile, then finally noticed Andrew approaching. "Oh, Andrew! What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" she asked with concern.
"No, not really. I just had a little time and wanted to apologize for what happened last week, actually," Andrew admitted. "And for not trusting you," he added dryly. He glanced at the others she was with in annoyance, making it clear he didn't feel the same about the rest of them.
"Oh, honestly, Andrew! You didn't have to come all the way here just to tell me that," Jennifer said. "I forgave you a long time ago. I knew you were only trying to look out for me, but you simply don't need to. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"As Friday's demonstration clearly proved," Raymond grunted.
"Yes, thank you very much," Jennifer said, rewarding him with a smug grin.
"Yes, of course you can," Andrew said with an exasperated smile. "Well, that's all I had to say, so I'll be heading back."
"Well, next time, feel free to send me an Owl if you need to talk to me about something, Andrew, I really don't want you to have to cross that ocean if you don't have to. Even with Portkeys, it can throw you somewhere weird at times..."
"I'll be fine, Mother, you don't need to worry about me either," Andrew chuckled then began to turn.
"Oh, Andrew?" Jennifer called out, causing him to pause and look around. "Do me a favor and don't mention I'm having lunch with these three. Severus might get the wrong idea," she requested. Andrew blinked at her. "They're not really helping with my research at all, they're just..."
"Making it so things aren't in the way of her research," Frank offered.
"Exactly," Jennifer said with a grin. "See? They're not helping."
"Yes, Mother. I can definitely see that they're not helping," Andrew said, turning back around. He couldn't help but roll his eyes with exasperation on his way back out of the restaurant.