Chapter Fifty-Four
Compromised
Despite all of the hard work that came with it, Jennifer was so proud of her student's projects and what they had done to get them ready that even she began looking forward to the Items and Industry Fair. It would run every day from four to six to give all of the students a chance to present their projects. Some of the presentations would be held in the Industry Lab, and others would be given in a couple of adjacent rooms that had been commandeered so that there was enough room to display them all. Once they had all made their presentations, there would be an open house on Saturday, where they would give out various awards for different categories of projects.
The Sunday before the fair began, Jennifer went downstairs to help Frank and Luke set up the tables.
"I don't suppose you heard who the judges are going to be," Luke asked Jennifer so seriously that Jennifer gazed at him over her glasses.
"Oh, no," Jennifer groaned.
"I take it from her reaction that Steve Mason is judging again," Frank observed.
"Yes he is, as well as Wind, Rosemary Carmody, Dean Martinez, and Dean Schmidt," Luke said.
"I remember Dean Martinez, we met him during trick-or-treating, right?" Jennifer said.
"Yes, that's right. Martinez runs the school out of one of the local colleges for students that take Wizard Studies as supplemental education, and Willa Schmidt runs a similar school on the north side of the city that serves a lot of local rural communities. Both of those schools are under the same school board jurisdiction as Whitebridge," Luke said. "I like Willa, she's pretty down to earth," he said with a smirk.
"I take it she's an Herbologist," Jennifer chuckled.
"Yes, her specialty is enhancing food production," Luke replied. "You'll probably see her again, actually, because Gretchen always invites her as a guest speaker in the spring."
"Then I look forward to meeting her," Jennifer said. "And if both Wind and Rosemary are going to be there, I'm sure I'll be able to handle Steve, no matter how obnoxious he gets. I'll just keep my glasses full on, and it'll be fine. It's only two hours a day, right?"
"Which means ten hours of Steve Mason. Plus Saturday," Frank said flatly. "I'm sorry, but even I'm going to be ready to deck him after spending that much time with him." Luke and Jennifer grinned at that.
"Well, I plan to do anything in my power to keep my temper. But if I duck into the garden to have a bit of a scream, please don't blame me for showing a little weakness," Jennifer replied.
"Go to the music room instead. It's got a sound dampening charm on the door," Luke suggested, and they all got back to work.
When Steve stepped into the Industry Lab with the rest of the judges, his eyes didn't fall on the projects or students, or even the teachers waiting there. Instead, his eyes went up to the damaged window. A mix of snow and rain was falling outside, but apparently someone had taken the time to charm the damaged window so that none of the precipitation came in.
"What in Merlin's name happened to your window?" Steve asked critically.
Wind, who hadn't noticed before, looked over at where Luke and Jennifer were standing. Luke seemed to be looking at anywhere but at the judges, while Jennifer met his gaze with her chin up as if daring anyone to confront her about it.
"Ah, well, it does get quite warm in this room, Steve, especially with as much hard and diligent work our students have been doing. It is simply a temporary fix until I can have them renovated so that they can be opened when required," Wind replied. Jennifer smiled warmly at him and turned her attention back to the students.
Jennifer became quite absorbed in each presentation as her students gave them. Despite a nervous moment and a stutter now and again, she smiled at them encouragingly and clapped enthusiastically at the end of each one, watching as the judges asked them questions about each project with interest. The two Deans from the other schools always had the most to ask about each project, while Wind and Rosemary took turns asking questions about points they thought the students needed to explain in more detail. Steve said very little at all, making diligent notes on his Wizard Tablet about each one and only commenting on the students that were either Masons or offshoots of them. By the time they finished the presentations in the second room, Jennifer was growing a bit irritated about his lack of enthusiasm. In the third room, she did her best to show extra enthusiasm over the last few projects when it seemed as if he had lost complete interest. Finally the judges stepped out of the rooms and walked down the hallway, chatting to each other. Jennifer released the last of her students to go to dinner and then finally turned to Luke.
"Does Steve judge this fair often?" Jennifer asked.
"Most of the time, really, since he's been on the school board," Luke replied. "Sometimes he has other commitments, but he does judge it a lot."
"Does he show family bias when it comes to judging?" Jennifer asked.
"I guess, maybe a little. To be fair, during a typical year, the Masons do have the best projects because the parents are allowed to help," Luke reminded her with amusement. "This is the first year we kept it to a budget and didn't let them take projects home, and personally, I think it's a huge improvement. I want to see what my students can do, not what their parents can do."
"Yes, I quite agree," Jennifer said with a smile.
"I bet that's why he wasn't too impressed with any of their projects today, though," Luke added. "They're typically way over the top... not to mention a lot less practical than these. I like how many of the students this year chose projects to help the medical field, or they picked something that improved on an existing device or tried to solve a problem somehow. In fact, I didn't see one poster this year that said they made the item 'because they thought it would sell' in the 'why did I create this product' column."
"Of course not," Jennifer said. "Every time someone came up with a design and that was their main reason for making it, I had them start over and try again. As an Items Instructor, it's my responsibility to guide them towards making items that are bit more meaningful. It shouldn't be something meant as an impulse buy that the owner will regret buying right after they get it home." Luke chuckled at that. "I want my students to understand the intrinsic value of using their talents to contribute to society in a positive way, whether anyone thinks they can make a dollar on it or not."
"Well, considering I'm teaching Industry and Manufacturing, I probably shouldn't agree with you," Luke said with a grin.
"So that's why he was so put off, was it? I wondered why he was acting like that. I kept waiting for him to say their items were not up to his standards because I was teaching that class, to be perfectly honest," Jennifer admitted.
"Oh, don't worry, it's coming," Luke warned with a chuckle. "He's probably just waiting until Friday for that."
"So he can see all of the projects first?" Jennifer asked, attempting to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"Yes, that, and because he's a blatant coward in some respects," Luke admitted. They walked back over to the main Industrial Room to help Frank set up for the next day.
Since participating was optional for Jennifer's sixth-graders, there were only a small handful that presented their wood projects along with her Items I class on Friday. Jennifer didn't miss how quickly Truman pushed his glasses up when the judges came close. Becky Mason gave him an encouraging smile, and Jennifer gave him a nod and a thumbs up before he gave his presentation, showing off his charmed wooden bookcase. As he got to the part where he demonstrated how it worked, the judges watched with interest as Truman was able to collapse and flatten the wooden bookcase despite being filled with books, reducing the bookcase to the size of a schoolbook.
Wind, Rosemary, Willa, and David all made sounds of delight, while Steve Mason rolled his eyes.
"How splendid! But how much does it weigh?" Rosemary asked.
"About the same as a normal wooden box this size weighs," Truman explained, handing it to her. "And if you open it up, you'll be able to see why." Rosemary opened it up, and Wind, Willa, and David looked in and ahhed when they saw the tiny books inside. "Basically, it works with a Microtransfiguration charm that is cast on the books when you break down the bookcase. And if you restore the bookshelf to its normal size," Truman demonstrated, unclasping a book hinge that allowed him to unfold it again, "the books will naturally return to their normal size and in the same position it was in the bookcase before you folded it," he finished, and they watched as the books did just that.
"Will it work on any books?" David asked.
"Perhaps scrolls as well?" Willa added.
"Well, mostly, except for books that already have a size or dimensional charm on it. Those books will keep it from working right," Truman admitted.
"If you decide to take Advanced Items classes, you will learn how to compensate for that," Wind said.
"I think I will," Truman decided. Jennifer beamed at him proudly.
"Yes, yes, I will admit that this project is quite impressively done for a sixth year," Steve said. "It is commendable, to be sure, but what is the point of it? It isn't as if anyone would buy something like that."
"I would," Rosemary said.
"So would I," David said.
"I have so many books, it'd definitely be handy to have," Willa agreed.
"But why bother when our entire libraries can now be read from our p-Writers? We don't need books anymore, they're nothing but dust magnets that take up wall space. I got rid of all of my books ages ago. This is all I need," he said, showing them his Wizardnet tablet. "I have access to more books in the palm of my hand than could ever fit into any library, and while all of the projects I've seen this week have been quaint, they have been highly antiquated and hold very little value in the modern world." Jennifer clenched her fists and put them in her pockets to hold back her temper.
"Steve, you are embarrassing yourself in front of my students," Wind said sternly. "They have worked very hard on their projects and each one has done a magnificent job with them. Personally, I found them not only innovative, but quite refreshing. Such as Becky's project, creating those lovely garden stakes that grow with the plant until it no longer needs them and then self-composting into the soil... I'm sure Mr. Green will be using those in the spring," he said. Becky smiled proudly at that.
"And Ajay Cole, with his wonderful emergency blankets that change temperature based on the needs of the patient, offering relief regardless of their condition."
"Clever enough, but hardly cutting edge," Steve replied. "You don't think it's lost on me that the number of Wizardnet products this year was vastly reduced from years past? And many of those projects seemed to be related to security."
"To be fair, Steve, there is a booming market right now for products in Wizardnet security," Frank put in from where he was standing by one of his own students, who had presented an external data device.
"That may be, but personally, I think the main reason that's the case is that the current Items Instructor is a technophobe who hasn't come out of the Dark Ages yet," Steve said crisply.
"And I personally think that a member of the school board would know how inappropriate it is to voice such opinions about school staff in front of students," Jennifer replied icily. "In fact, don't be surprised when you hear that my lawyer has filed a complaint with Mr. Charleston on the issue."
"Yes, as will I," Wind Elk added immediately. "I think it's time you left, Steve. I believe we can finish judging this contest without your input on the matter."
"I'll show him out for you, Wind. Don't do the next room without me!" Rosemary offered.
"Thank you, Rosemary. We won't," Wind said with a smile. Jennifer glanced over at Frank and Luke, and the three of teachers used the extra time to reassure the students about their projects.
Steve and Rosemary stepped out, and Rosemary put on her warm gloves and readjusted her scarf as they began walking towards the front stairs.
"You know they have a good reason to complain about you speaking like that in front of students, right?" Rosemary said. "It could have waited until we were done."
"I've been holding back for days. The products being presented this year pale in comparison to what's been presented in years past," Steve snapped.
"Well, of course they're not the same," Rosemary replied. "The students had a budget cap on how much they could spend on supplies and they had to work on it here at the school without parental involvement. Because of that, it was a lot more fair this year. Not all of the students have access to disposable income or had parents who could set aside a lot of extra time to help. This time, they all had the same money going in and had to do the work themselves. To be blunt, I think that rule change was long overdue."
"That doesn't account for how archaic those projects were! Very few of them were state of the art, competitive, or were anything that could be sold for more than a few dollars," Steve argued.
"Maybe, but they were a lot more practical this year too. I like how each one of them solved a real problem instead of trying to create a problem to solve," Rosemary said.
"But that is the best way to make money! How are these children going to learn how to make a living in the real world attempting to sell bookshelves and blankets?" Steve asked.
"I would definitely buy both of those. And the plant stakes. And those earrings we saw on Wednesday that improved a person's hearing in a crowded room..."
"Enough! I should have known that you would take her side, regardless of how right I am! You've always been biased towards her, even back when you were teaching. And Wind is even worse than you are! Considering how she's taken over this school, I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't have a spell on him or something. Or maybe she's even seduced him. It's only a matter of time before she does something that is going to turn this school into a nightmare..."
"Are you actually reading those social media tabloids on Jennifer?" Rosemary laughed at him. "Surely you don't believe all that claptrap, especially since you know as well as I do that Wind is celibate. And Jennifer is so dedicated to Severus, she doesn't see how many of the staff trip when she walks down the hallway. The only sort of spell she has on the Dean is the one that came from how many times Wind had to pick her up off the garden path or pull her out of the pond when she was eleven. In other words, part of it is your doing," Rosemary informed him.
"I was just a boy. I didn't know any better," Steve snapped at her as the two stepped outside.
"Yeah, I understand that," Rosemary assured him as they walked to the Gatehouse. "Of course, that doesn't explain why you're still acting like this now," she added just as he was about to step inside. Steve glared fiercely at her, but she met it with an even, serious gaze of her own. Steve left in an indignant huff.
The last day of the fair was much more pleasant when not only Steve but several other Masons decided not to show up for the presentations and the awards. Jennifer enjoyed meeting so many of the parents, and was especially happy to see John and Niki Ford, along with Truman's big sister and young brother, Kristy and Marvin, who he showed off his 'Sixth Grade Best in Show' ribbon to.
"It's so nice to see Truman so animated now, especially after worrying so much about him last year. He was quite closed off and wouldn't talk to anyone outside of the family circle," Niki said. "He's enthusiastic about school now when he's always hated it before, and I hear from his letters that he's made a friend or two."
"Oh, yes, he's doing much better," Jennifer agreed. "But I can say from personal experience that it will be a bumpy road for him until he gets through school. Teenagers often think in extremes, and I know it did a number on me when I was his age. Still, he's off to a good start, and it always helps to get off on the right foot."
"Well, we've definitely seen a lot of positive progress, both in school and since you've been training him, so thank you," John added.
"Oh, no problem," Jennifer said with a smile, quite glad to be ending on such a positive note.
She also felt sheer relief when it was finally over, tiredly getting to her room to find that a bouquet of flowers had been Owled in with a note attached. Reading it happily, Jennifer wrote one of her own. She put it in her cloak before settling in for the night, glad that she had already planned to take it easy the next day.
Late the next morning, Asher ran into the Commissary hurried over to where Ray was watching as Frank was going chatting in the Disrupt forums.
"See? There's the new guy I've been talking to. TheWizofAus," Ray pointed out. "I swear he's from Pittsburgh, or at least he knows the area pretty well, despite the name implication. He seemed interested in getting some insight on some of the dossiers I commented on. But the only ones I've ever commented on are yours to try to help get you more views."
"Yes, I know... thanks for that... although technically, Asher wrote Jennifer's, you know," Frank said.
"I just wanted to reiterate how off limits she is... especially now that it's finally hit the top fifty," Ray shrugged.
Suddenly Asher appeared next to the table as the garden's effects wore off, and the two of them looked up with surprise.
"Stars, man! Don't you have enough sense to get a cup of coffee first so that we see you coming?" Ray exclaimed in surprise.
"Where have you been, Asher? You totally missed the Industrial Fair yesterday," Frank added critically. "I thought you were going to stick around this weekend instead of going out?"
"I did stay here. I've been in my room since Friday night, and I need you to come up to my room. There's something you should see," Asher said seriously.
"Your room is clean and aired out, right?" Ray said skeptically.
"Yeah, I'm with Ray on this one. Can't we go to my room instead?" Frank protested.
"Fine, but you may change your mind after you find out what I want to show you," Asher said. Ray squinted.
"Care to explain that?" Ray asked.
"No, not here. Upstairs," Asher insisted again. Glancing at each other unknowingly, the two of them got up, stopping only long enough to put their cups in the dishes bin before following him out.
When they got upstairs, Asher was quick to lock the door.
"I need to show you something on the Dark Wizard Web. Do you have a machine in here I can use for that, Frank, or do you want me to go get my Tome?" Asher asked.
"You're on the Dark Wizard Web?" Ray asked critically.
"No, normally I'm not, but I got a Net-Owl on the Master Date site with some information. Don't worry, Ray, it's someone I've known from the site for a long time. It wasn't out of the blue," Asher explained seriously. "But he saw our dossier on Jennifer and he sent me to a questionable Dark Wizard stream site... very questionable... and one of the stream girls, well... looks like Jennifer."
"What? That makes no sense whatsoever!" Ray said in alarm. "Wait here and I'll go get my old Auror computer. I've got all the keys we need to get on the Dark Wizard Web without us compromising any addresses. I hope you didn't use your regular name on that thing, Asher."
"No, I went through a random generator and key-ring plug in before I went in there," Asher replied.
"Be right back," Ray said.
"This is got to be some sort of elaborate setup, you know," Frank said. "Maybe someone used a spell or a filter to make the girl's face look like Jennifer's."
"No, it's not a filter. I've been going through the saved streams over and over again. Frame by frame, it looks quite real," Asher said. "I haven't been asleep in thirty-six hours."
"I doubt it would have taken you thirty-six hours to decide whether or not it was manipulated footage," Frank said dubiously.
"It's a sacrifice I was very willing to make," Asher said solemnly.
"Yes, I bet you were," Frank said with a snort. Ray came back in with a banged-up Wizardnet device and set it on the table, the three of them gathering around as Ray put in the keys and pulled up the site that Asher gave him. The three of them stared at enticing thumbnails that looked decidedly like Jennifer.
"This looks really bad," Ray said grimly.
"You haven't seen enough of it to judge," Asher said. "Here, this one is a good one," he said. Asher was too busy looking at the screen to notice that both Ray and Frank had given him a dirty look. Then he started playing a recorded stream of the already nude witch enticing her live audience into conversation and offering to do different things in exchange for tips.
"This does not look like a filter," Frank said when he was finally able to force his voice to work.
"If it is a filter, it's quite convincing. I'd swear it was her if I didn't know better," Asher added.
"Impossible! You both know perfectly well it isn't her," Ray snapped. "In fact, I am quite sure that she's been Poly-Exploited. Somehow, someone got a hold of some Polyjuice potions of her and are taking advantage of them by making these horrendous videos of her and profiting on them."
"A Poly-Exploit... so that's what she really looks like, then," Asher said thoughtfully, propping his head in his hand. "What a shame! That means there's no mystery left; it's ruined for me now. I guess I'll have to move on to someone else." Ray hit the back of Asher's head.
"This is a lot worse than you losing interest on someone you had no chance with in the first place! This is a major wizard crime in progress!" Ray snapped at him angrily. "We need to go tell her."
"Tell her?" Asher repeated in disbelief.
"Of course we tell her!" Ray snapped. "This is really serious! It needs to be stopped, and she needs to know that this is going on so we can report it and try to track down who's doing it."
"Ray is right, Asher," Frank said firmly. "There's no way we can let this continue. It's way too harmful, although I'm a bit afraid of what is going to happen when Professor Snape hears about it."
"Good point. We don't want him after us if we don't report it right away," Asher agreed, but kept watching the clip until Ray finally turned it off.
"Come on. With any luck, she'll be in her classroom. I doubt she went to New York considering it's the end of fair week, and she won't be working in the garden in this weather," Ray said. He closed the device and the three of them hurried downstairs.
Sure enough, Jennifer was at her desk with a very large picnic basket at her disposal, munching on a plate of stuffed grape leaves while reading out of a book about cursed memory items. She looked up in surprise when the three of them came in, wondering if she was going to be forced to share. But as they closed the door and walked over, their expressions were serious.
"What's wrong? Did Steve do something I don't know about yet?" she asked curiously.
"No, I doubt this has anything to do with him. At least, I sure as hell hope not," Ray said, opening the device.
"Ray, the painting," Frank warned, and they noticed that the Severus painting was watching the three of them suspiciously.
"Does that thing report to him?" Ray asked bluntly.
"Sometimes, yes, when I ask him to. Why?" Jennifer asked.
"I think you had better see this by yourself first," Ray decided. He handed Frank the basket, who moved it on the other side of the desk. Ray set up his Martian Wizardnet device so that it was facing in the opposite direction and opened it, taking only a moment to sign in again. "It appears that you've been Poly-Exploited, Jennifer."
"What?" Jennifer exclaimed in surprise. Wondering if they might have been using her image to go on a killing spree like Lucius and Baylor had when they posed as the Ivory Skull, she jumped out of her chair and went over to where they were setting up the device, taking off her spectacles.
"Someone on the Wizardnet tipped Asher off after they noticed you on a witch rating site," Frank said. Asher tugged his sleeve hard, but Frank ignored him. "They informed him that this existed on the Dark Wizard Web, so Asher confirmed it and then showed it to us."
"The Dark Wizard Web is a collection of secret net portals where illegal activities take place," Ray explained.
"I think I could have guessed that one myself. Someone got a hold of Polyjuice Potions of me?" Jennifer prompted. "What have they been doing with them?" she asked. She blinked at what she was reading from their guilty faces. "Show me!" she demanded. Reluctantly, Ray picked out the first thumbnail he found and opened it for her to view.
As Jennifer stood there and stared at the girl, her expression grew darker and darker as her anger began to build. In fact, she was enraged enough that Frank and Asher both took a healthy step backward, and even Ray managed to scoot his chair further away.
"So what do you want us to do about this, Jennifer?" Ray asked, maintaining a calm voice. "Do you want me to help you file charges against this WP address and see if the government will take the site down?"
"No, I want it off of there now," Jennifer snapped fiercely.
"I understand, Jennifer, and I don't blame you, but this will take some time..." Ray explained calmly.
"And how do you know this is the only place on the Wizardnet these videos are at?" Jennifer asked furiously.
"I'm sure plenty of people have downloaded it," Frank admitted.
"Once something like this gets on the Wizardnet, there really is no way to get it off completely," Asher reluctantly informed her.
"That's what you think," Jennifer said, taking out her wand. Not knowing what she was planning, Ray scrambled out of her way as she pointed her wand squarely at the Wizardnet device.
Concentrating on the images she was seeing, she drew on both her internal power and the power of her anger as she cast.
"ERADICUS DATAM!" Jennifer shouted, making a complex wand movement that none of them could follow as she blasted the device.
It was hit by such a blast of magic that it went sailing across the room, nearly hitting the painting as it bounced off the wall, the ceiling, and then the floor, bursting into flames. Frank and Ray were quick to jump in and put it out with their wands, then quickly cleared the smoke so that the sprinklers wouldn't go off. It became so quiet afterwards that all they could hear was Jennifer panting from anger, still attempting to bring it under control.
Asher pulled up his cloak hood and put a hand on his heart to signal the death of Ray's poor computer.
"Jennifer? What did you just do, other than frying Ray's computer?" Frank asked. Ray was still staring at the ash pile at his feet.
"I Erased them," Jennifer said evenly, putting away her wand. "All of them."
Just then, the school's fire alarm went off. While Ray, Frank, and Asher ran out to see what was causing the alarm to go off, Jennifer closed her food basket and grabbed her cloak, looking up at the Rogue, who signed at her, asking her what was going on.
"Severus, if the real you asks where I went, just tell him I'm going to go talk to my lawyer," Jennifer said, prompting the Rogue to ask her what happened a second time.
But Jennifer simply ignored him, walking outside and locking up the classroom as several professors ran by. There was a heavy smoke in the air, and Jennifer surmised that she must have taken out the school's computer system in the process of the Erasure. She brushed it off unconcernedly, short-cutting through the gardens to get to the Gatehouse quicker. She had yet to realize the magnitude of what the spell had actually done.