Youth Is Old
Part 1 : The Ruins
Part 2 : Who Must Be Named
Part 3 : Boys Will Be Wizards
Part 4 : Miss Parry's Angst
Part 5 : Autumn Cherry
Part 6 : Going Awry
Part 7 : The Inheritance
Part 1 : The Ruins
Paragraph 1 : The Empty Bookshelves
Had one thought that the end of the 1983-1984 school-year would be uneventful, they would have been finally left past that point with a mix of joy and worry, seeing that so much had happened at Hogwarts. The first clue that the quiet life at Hogwarts would change into a whirlpool of events, as if a spell had been cast on this very life, appeared when the rumour that a book entitled 'How To Become a Dark Wizard' had been seen at Hogwarts started spreading. Would you listen to the most enthusiastic of Hogwarts students among those interested in this rumour, you would be told that Lord Voldemort himself had gained all of his power from reading this book. The rumour ended up giving birth to a trend. A significant number of Hogwarts students were looking for the book itself, while some others, who were clearly skeptical, were seeking information that would allow them to refute the rumour. Yet, the event that would actually give the trend some significance was a tiny one, and would take place in an empty classroom. At 7pm this day, Ann Aves, a witch with long black hair and a somewhat dark skin complexion, entered this classroom. She had never been in this one, and it was not surprising, given the state in which it was. The wooden benches and desks were dusty, some had cobwebs, most of them had obviously been moved, with the result that they stood at bizarre angles, the linear organisation of the room completely lost : there were now hardly two aligned benches. The chalkboard had been removed, leaving on the wall the trace of a rectangle, as dusty as the rest. Some desks had probably been borrowed from the classroom. And on the right side wall, a few empty bookshelves had been left, giving the impression of an incomplete library. Ann had had some trouble finding the room. Yet she was on time, and she still had one hour available. She moved closer to the empty bookshelves, and started with the kind of spell that anyone would use first if they suspected anything magic from an object : 'Reveal your secrets'. But the empty bookshelves remained exactly the way they had looked like. She cast a wider look at the classroom, apparently trying to find something. Her look was alternatively stopping on various locations of the room, when the grinding door opened again. Ann had obviously not expected anybody else to go to this unused and useless classroom at the same time as the one at which she would be there. Yet, the little note had said that she had to be there at 7pm to learn more about the book. Maybe she was supposed to get some information from the girl that was now on the doorstep. She wasn't sure. So she waited, staring at the newcomer, just like the latter was staring at her. Ann thought she knew her name, Judith, and by the look of her uniform, she was in Hufflepuff, but that's all she could gather from her memory and from what she could see. Judith had auburn long hair and brown eyes, and was slightly chubby. Given that none of them was either talking or moving, it was clear that the situation was some kind of standoff, which meant that Judith, if that was her name, had probably not come here to deliver some information about the book. The newcomer put a foot forward, and said, in a hesitant voice
Hi, I am Judith Parry. You received the note, too ?
Ann was confused. Now, she posited that both she and Miss Parry had been invited to some kind of secret meeting where they would be learning more about the book. She felt it was strange to organise a meeting between people of different Houses. She had not in mind a single occurrence when Slytherin students had been invited to take part in events organised by another House. Being a Slytherin was kind of a handicap when it came to socialising at Hogwarts. Ann thought that after a few years, when wizards and witches would have grown accustomed to the disappearance of Lord Voldemort, their children would be slightly less biased towards students coming from the same House as who she called the 'Dead Lord'. This thought was broken when a boy showed up on the doorstep, just behind Miss Parry. Ann didn't remember the name of the boy, she just knew she had scoffed when Professor McGonagall had pronounced his name at the Sorting. He had some unbelievable name, she just couldn't remember what it exactly was. But she was positive that they were in the same year, the boy had been sorted shortly after her, in Gryffindor. He also had brown hair and matching eyes, though he was athletic and taller than Miss Parry. Said eyes fell on Miss Parry, on Ann, on the room. He was apparently assessing the situation, just like the others. After a delay that summarised the general embarrassment, the boy said in a dreamy voice
Sigismond. Are we waiting for somebody else ?
That was the name. During the following seconds, Ann stayed unwillingly focused on the name, and her mind chose to disregard the accompanying question. Miss Parry said
I don't know
Away from the door that was still ajar, they heard somebody panting. A third girl showed up, behind Sigismond.
I am not late I suppose ?
This one didn't need much of an introduction. A little blonde fifth-year girl from Ravenclaw, with hair slightly shorter than the two other girls, Eleanor Magarthy was known by almost every soul at Hogwarts, including the ghosts, Filch and Peeves. She was one of the most cheerful students at Hogwarts, the kind of person next to whom almost everyone else wanted to be. Ann thought
Quite the opposite of the boring Ravenclaw student that you would expect to meet. Yet her permanent cheerfulness in itself must be boring if you are constantly with her
Of course, Eleanor had many friends, although it wasn't very clear how many of them were really close friends with whom she would share her private thoughts. One would rather say that she was friendly to others, and most answered in kind, that is with kindness.
Maybe we should sit
she said. She gently directed Sigismond and Miss Parry to move, picked a few benches and desks, and cast spells on them to get rid of the dust that had accumulated on them. And she sat on one of the cleaned up benches. The others followed suit, and they were soon all seated on the now impeccable benches, Sigismond having previously closed the door shut.
Surely somebody will arrive and give us the information we need
Eleanor said. Ann nodded. They waited quite a long time. When the clock indicated 7.35pm, Judith broke the silence and said :
We should go back to our Common Rooms. That is probably just a prank to waste our time. If we stay here much longer, we will be put in detention
No teacher will come here, it's an unused classroom
said Sigismond in his usual dreamy voice.
Being late at the Common Room because one wants to learn should not be too big of an offense in a school
Eleanor replied.
You could be in Slytherin
Ann retorted.
Thank you
said Eleanor with a smile, having picked up the irony, but completely disregarded the potential criticism.
You said you were here to learn
added Sigismond.
Is this the reason why you are looking for the book ?
Eleanor replied
Yes. I am just a Ravenclaw after all
What about you ?
Sigismond asked, in the direction of Ann and Judith.
School is boring, and looking for a book that bears a debatable name is the closest thing to an adventure I have found till then
Ann answered.
Everybody wants to know about it I guess
Judith said, after a pause.
And you ?
Looking for the book is something that caught my imagination
Sigismond replied. The discussion went on, and every of them started sharing their experience of looking for the book. They hadn't found anything decisive, far from it. They had heard stories that some students had broken into Filch's office, or had started asking ghosts and portraits what they knew about the book, to no avail, and quickly stopped. For the portraits associated to Slytherin had been questioned an uncountable amount of times, and some had become irate, finding it offensive to be associated with dark magic, and even with Lord Voldemort. The same kind of fate had fallen on the Bloody Baron, and his displeasure had also been conspicuous. A few minutes after 8pm, the door opened again. During a fraction of a second, they hoped that a person with information about the book would be the one responsible for the opening of the door. Maybe this person had received an appointment with the wrong time. But these hopes vanished instantly when Professor Snape's figure appeared in the door's frame. Snape smirked and said
How nice that every House is represented here equally. 10 points from every House. And detention for all of you.
Judith, in a desperate voice, explained
We received a note saying that we should be here if we wanted to know more about the book. You know which one, do you ?
Maybe you would need a note to tell you to follow the rules ?
snapped Snape back. Ann, clearly furious of having fallen into a trap, tried in her own way to solve the problem
You are being manipulated, Professor
she said.
Do not believe that being a Slytherin can shield you from punishment, or from the consequences of your insolence. Stop..speaking…now
retorted Snape, in a most definitive tone.
Paragraph 2 : Bindings (Reliés)
The four expected to receive separate detentions, each from the Head of their House. They were thus surprised, and a bit worried, when Professor Snape told them that he had agreed with the Heads of the three other Houses to give the four students the very same detention. For Professor Snape would not miss an opportunity to display his skills at irony. That is why all four ended up in the library, repairing and cleaning the bindings of all the books. Obviously Professor Snape thought that spending several hours performing one of the most displeasing tasks in relation with books would help Ann, Judith, Sigismond and Eleanor losing interest in the quest for the rumoured book. Ann arrived salty at the detention, but the repetitiveness of the task had in practice the effect of making her forget the painful explanation of her presence at the library. She had been given detention previously, but always because of her fierce temper, not because of a trap. For Judith, on the other hand, it was the first detention. She was initially anxious, but she had something in mind that helped her keep her head up. And above all, she was not alone. Eleanor went through the whole task as if it were some kind of normal homework, and never let at any time gloom insinuate itself in her mind. As for Sigismond, he stopped sometimes in the middle of his task : his train of thought had made him forget where he was and why. This prompted the librarian to remind him sternly at those times of what he was supposed to do. They had been allocated a desk each, more or less at the four corners of the library. They would collect a few books, bring them to their desk, check the binding, and if necessary run their wand along it to repair it. Then of course they would replace the books and would resume from the first step. So they spent three hours. At the end of the detention, Judith told the three others that they should meet in the weekend, at a spot near the lake that was isolated enough to prevent other students from walking by chance into their meeting. And that they should bring the note they had received, asking them to be in the abandoned classroom the day when they landed the detention. Ann, Sigismond and Eleanor agreed. In the following days, Judith scoured the banks of the lake, looking for the right spot. Thus they were, on the following Saturday, at 2pm, near the lake, but away from potential onlookers or passers-by. Judith had found a place where a wood bordered the lake, but a recess in the trees formed a sand-less beach. Judith had picked a spot with extreme cautiousness in mind : nobody was supposed to find this place by chance. And in effect, all four of them would be able to meet during several months there without running into anybody there. The downside of this careful pick by Judith was that they all had to walk a long time before reaching their destination, while not getting lost in the process of course. The fact that this place was surrounded with trees meant that the sun was partly blocked during long periods of daytime, which implied a certain degree of darkness at those times. When one was facing the lake, they could see the castle, up and on the right, provided that no low clouds would obscure this part of the landscape. Judith, who was not the bravest of all, thought that the four of them had to be careful as to not set foot in the water, lest some marine creature would jump out of it and seize them. Judith told the three others there, with an excitation the source of which was not clear, that together, they had the possibility of investigating on two separate fronts. They could cast 'Priori Incantatem' on the notes they had received and that had resulted in them getting detention, in order to find who had sent them these poisoned notes. And they could try and trace back the origin of the rumour concerning the book, by finding from whom they had heard it first. Ann thought
No chance anybody would have used a spell to write four short notes
but didn't want to dampen Judith's hopes. Indeed, when they all cast 'Priori Incantatem' on the notes, nothing happened, and it became obvious that whoever started the prank on them had just used good old ink and paper, and had handwritten the notes. Then, they exchanged their experience of hearing the rumour first. Ann, for a start, had completely forgotten who talked to her first about it. Judith, like many fellow Hufflepuffs, had first been made aware of the rumour by Agatha Houstack, another Hufflepuff, who was never happier than when she was gossiping. You could trust that she would be current with almost all romantic relationships, including some that were only wild guesses, because you couldn't expect Miss Houstack to check her sources. Typically, people would write the news they wanted to spread in her bag while she was talking to somebody else and couldn't notice who was putting which note in her bag. Therefore, it would be extremely difficult to trace back any news from her. Then remained two possible leads : that from Sigismond, and the one from Eleanor. Both were tasked with trying to find the origin of the rumour.
Paragraph 3 : A Westal Tale
They reconvened a week later, at the same place near the lake. In the meantime, someone had let the word out that students of the four different Houses had been caught together after hours, and had received detention. Judith considered that this additional and superfluous blow had a silver lining. Yes, some students were talking about this turn of events with glee, sneering. Yes, some of them even insinuated that the four runaway students were two pairs of lovers. But Judith found it fortunate that their names had not been divulged. Then, when they had reached their new kind of secret base, she focused once more on what they would do to try and make a happy ending happen. Sigismond and Eleanor reported that they had been able to trace back the version of the rumour that they had heard to a Ravenclaw student, who claimed that a Gryffindor student, Herbert Forsythe had passed the rumour on him, but Herbert Forsythe was adamant he had never talked about the rumour to anybody. Sigismond and Eleanor had already foreseen that this result would sadden Judith. Therefore, they had prepared a sweetener. They told Judith that everything was not lost. They would have to find somebody with a connection to Flourish & Blotts, and hopefully, they would be able to retrieve some relevant information about the book through this person. Although both of them had devised this idea with the mindset of one ready to send a bottle at sea, what was supposed to be a consolation prize would soon prove to be more than consequential. They had envisioned going to Flourish & Blotts, yet they had not found yet a workaround for a few problems. To start with, no wizard or witch could go there, ask for a book so conspicuously about dark magic and hope that an employee would hand it to them without questions. Not only that, but they also were underage. A grown-up witch or wizard would be frowned upon when trying to collect this kind of forbidden book from a very mainstream bookshop. An underage one would be scolded and their request ignored or denied. Word that they had asked for the book at Flourish & Blotts might even go back up to the school's administration. The last thing the four of them needed was a second detention within the span of a few days, especially a second detention related to the same book about dark magic. Eleanor argued that many students were ostensibly in search of the book, and did not appear to have been given detention, therefore this worry should be ignored. Then, of course they were concerned about the possible unavailability of the book. It could very well be the kind of object that only a handful of enlightened people could locate and lay hands on. At this point, Sigismond remembered that students had asked portraits about the book. Yet they had mostly focused on portraits of people associated with dark magic. But among all the portraits that covered the walls of Hogwarts, which was after all a school, an institution established to study from books, there could very well be a portrait of someone who had been in the publishing industry. This realisation lifted the morale of the group, and they embarked on making an inventory of all the people depicted in the Hogwarts portraits. It turned out that somebody had actually already had the idea of such an inventory, and had, well, written a book about it. The book was a bit old, but it was a very welcome shortcut in their chase to the right portrait. They found thanks to the book that a wizard, who had been at the helm of a publishing house in the sixteenth century, had had his portrait in Hogwarts at the time of the release of the book. As a result, they spent a lot of their free time going methodically up the castle, from the ground floor, checking every painting to find where the coveted portrait now was, if at all. For, of course, the paintings had changed places multiple times since the release of the book. Fortunately, the inventory book had a picture for every painting, which allowed them to tell immediately if the painting they were walking past was the one they looked for or not. They had looked carefully at the picture. It represented a tall man called William Westal standing next to a wooden printing machine of the sixteenth century, on top of which some metallic characters were visible. The wizard himself wore what Judith would describe as a crimson suit with a white collar, and a purple cape. Having more or less memorised the most distinctive features of the painting, they still had to set up an efficient organisation in order to locate it. The four had previously researched the maps of the castle, so as to make it possible for them to split up the task for each floor. Each one of them ended up with an area to cover on each floor. The map they had retained had been drawn up by a team of archaeologists and adventurers looking for a place called the Chamber of Secrets. Judith had also heard about a more recent map of the castle, but she was not sure at all whether this map actually existed or was a myth, because the map was supposed to show everything going on in the castle at every given moment. So they went with the older map. After they already had fruitlessly searched the first three floors, Ann, at last, found the target painting, on the fourth floor. The wizard in the portrait cast a quizzical look at her after she had abruptly stopped in front of him, an awed smile on her face. Ann did see the reaction of the wizard, but her brains had started rushing, and she now had to determine what she was going to do, so as to be able to lead the others to the correct location later. The first thing she did was taking out her wand and using it to draw on the map a cross at the spot where she thought the painting could be found. The wizard in the crimson suit was probably now thinking she was doing some kind of scavenger hunt, and was maybe expecting her to check the back of the portrait looking for some clue or some secret passageway. Ann took a look around her, trying to remember the layout of the whole corridor, and the contents of the neighbouring paintings. Then, she started walking away from the painting, retracing her steps, while counting the number of paintings that were on display between the beginning of the corridor and the painting of the publisher. Having reached the beginning of the corridor, she cast a last look at it, and thought
I guess I am set now
She walked slowly back to the nearest landmark she could find - the door of a classroom where she had had multiple classes of Enchantments - keeping in mind her route to it. She now had to find the three others, and lead them back to the publisher. She of course knew they were all on the fourth floor. She took a look at the map showing the areas where the three others were on duty, and guessed she would be by now closest to Sigismond. She walked briskly towards his area, and found him. Next, the two of them went in pursuit of Judith, and once successful, they were now three chasing Eleanor in her own area. When the latter saw the three others advancing at such a fast pace, Sigismond being in tow because he had let his attention wander here and there, she smiled, because she knew that one of them had found the painting.
Follow me
said Ann. They had now little time before the beginning of the dinner, and Ann broke in a run, followed by the three others. She paused once or twice, checking her surroundings to make sure they were headed in the right direction, and they all arrived in front of the painting of the publisher. Since on arrival they were panting, they waited a bit in order to recover. Ann started the discussion with the publisher :
Err, hello Sir. You are Mr. William Westal, aren't you ?
The publisher was amused. Maybe this was no scavenger hunt, but he had not witnessed something as intriguing in years, and was pleased to answer that he, indeed, was William Westal himself. Ann resumed :
Hmm, have you heard about a book called How To Become A Dark Wizard, by chance ?
All four took a quick glance at the facial expression of the publisher, then at each other. They were anxious that the four hundred or so years old man would feel offended and rebuff them. Nothing like so happened, on the contrary. William Westal repressed a laugh and said
Yes, yes. Somebody else asked me about the same very book many years ago
He paused, happy to see that he had their attention :
This book is, as far as I can tell, a myth. Perhaps somebody has tricked you in looking for it. In my epoch, the Ministry would receive from time to time a message saying that some witch or wizard held a copy of such a book. They had already stopped investigating these assertions several centuries ago, for in that era, whenever they had shown up where the book was supposed to be, they had left empty handed. I remember, being a young publisher born of Muggles, that people would come to me and say they would like me to print a copy of the book the name of which should not be mentioned. I must acknowledge that, much to my shame, as a person new in the trade and also unaccustomed to wizarding lore, I could only lay bare my ignorance. These people In search of a copy would either believe I was a liar, pretending not to know the book to avert any trouble, or that I was an idiot. Later, I put two and two together, and guessed that this book the title of which was so mysterious was probably the one you are looking for. In what century are we now ? I am not always very current. In this epoch young lads and maiden do not fear anymore saying out loud expressions that would have caused a scandalous uproar in my own
The four of them were baffled. Maybe the wizard who had asked about the book so much time before was Lord Voldemort. They didn't fail to notice that, even these days, people would still actually refrain from uttering an expression like Lord Voldemort. Yet they were not here to correct a slightly inaccuracy made by a wizard who had nothing to worry from the darkest possible wizard, unless said wizard - or witch - decided to launch a fierce attack on some random paintings. The discussion could have stopped here, and remained unsuccessful. Sigismond was nevertheless quick enough to realise that their new acquaintance could still be helpful.
If such a book existed, where would it be stored ?
he asked. William Westal was still keen to answer :
Either in the collection of some wealthy wizard who would be ready to keep it without ever taking it out lest it could land him in trouble, or in the vault of some library, or publishing house. These usually have a rare books section. They don't sell them of course, but owning them is a matter of prestige. The older the company, the higher the chances for it to have some truly amazing copy
They were stunned. On one hand, they had the confirmation that Flourish & Blotts might have the book they were looking for. On the other hand, if it was in some protected place like a vault, the difficulty had just grown bigger. After thanking William Westal of his kind contribution to their modest quest, they said goodbye to him. They had missed the dinner, but that was not worrying them. They went back silently to their respective Common Room, each of them pondering what could be their next step. Little did they know at that time that they would get out of this dead end very soon.
Paragraph 4 : No Risk No Return
Eleanor invited the three others to gather at the usual place near the lake the following weekend. The spring of the year 1984 had just started, which meant that, in this beautiful day that would not see the rain, they could sit on the grass near the sprawling body of water, and enjoy intermittently the sun. Now, the tally for their problems had reached three. They could not ask Flourish & Blotts to hand them a copy of the book, they were underage, and it was likely that the book, if it was at Flourish & Blotts, would probably be in a protected room. But Eleanor had something in mind. Her plan was to use an Aging Potion to make one of them look like a wizard or a witch of age, and have him or her pose as an connoisseur in search for rare books, especially early copies of 'The Twelve Uses of Dragon Blood' by none other than Albus Dumbledore, and ask a Flourish & Blotts employee to visit the rare books section. Ann and Sigismond's reactions were enthusiastic, but Judith's was more ambivalent : sure, this was their best opportunity, yet there was quite a big probability for a bad outcome. They could mess up the brewing of the Aging Potion, they could fail to impersonate a connoisseur, and the book could just not be there at all. But since everybody agreed that this was their best shot, they decided to carry out the plan, with the added provision that Judith would not be the one performing the crucial task. Eleanor said that, to alleviate the risk of being exposed at Flourish & Blotts, the member of the group tasked with the impersonation of the connoisseur would need to have a large supply of cash. The underlying ideas were that Flourish & Blotts, being a company, would not want to make unhappy some rich fellow, and would easily believe that a person holding substantial amounts of cash at the ready was likely to be a genuine collector. Sigismond said that his family was the most likely to provide them with a sizeable amount of Galleons, given that his mother was a successful raider of magical objects. This started a conversation of what their life was at home, and about their parents' jobs. Once again, it was on Eleanor's side that fame laid. For her father was a worker at the factory producing the Chocolate Frogs. This was all the better known that the few people who disliked Eleanor had nicknamed her 'The Froggie', a mockery to which Eleanor was naturally impervious and oblivious. She liked summarising her life as a pretty normal one, but Judith thought
I wish my life were that normal
What Eleanor described of her life at home was mostly harmony with a few bickering bouts between siblings. While on the other hand, Judith had to cope at home with very strict and cold parents. Eleanor's mother, Persephone Magarthy, was also a witch, which made Eleanor the closest to a Pure-Blood witch among all four of them. Mrs. Magarthy was running the family's cauldron making company. Both Judith and Sigismond were Half-Blood. In Judith case, her mother was a Muggle general practitioner, who had had no trouble guessing that her husband, an employee working to ensure safety at the Ministry of Magic, was no cape designer, as he had claimed on their first date. In Sigismond's case, it was the opposite. Her mother could hardly have been a Muggle given that her occupation consisted in finding magical objects, while her husband was a chemist. As for Ann, she was entirely Muggle-born, which of course didn't go unnoticed in Slytherin, and Eleanor thought that the gap between what the average Slytherin student would expect of their classmate regarding their so-called blood status, and the reality of Ann's situation, was perhaps one of the root causes behind her slightly rebellious temper. It turned out that her mother was a baker, and her father a journalist. She was obviously the one who volunteered to go to Flourish & Blotts. The plan was supposed to unfold two weekends later, in order to give Sigismond the time to get the money, and Eleanor to brew the Aging Potion. Judith made the point that Eleanor had better chances of pulling it off, since she was so socially competent and would be able to Disapparate in case of emergency. But Eleanor told her kindly that the reason why she was at ease with people hinged probably at the fact that she was true. Thus, if she were compelled to lie or deceive, she would probably be no more convincing than anybody else. Finally, on the dreaded weekend at the beginning of April, all was set. Ann was clutching a purse full of Galleons, and had accumulated a vast amount of clothes of different sizes, not knowing exactly what would be her size after having drunk the Aging Potion and taken on ten years. Eleanor would lead Ann to Diagon Alley by Side-Along Apparition, and then Ann would be on her own. In case people at Flourish & Blotts knew that Ann Aves was just a fourteen years old Hogwarts student, Ann had decided to introduce herself as Ginevra MacMillan, hoping that no one in the wizarding world, nor in the potentially Muggle entourage of the Flourish & Blotts employees would have such an absurd name. Since they suspected that her clothes would become too small after she had drunk such a powerful Aging Potion, and that they were intent on not being spotted while making preparations that would look excessively strange to other Hogwarts students, the three girls let Sigismond waiting at Hogwarts, and set out to reach a spot from where they would be distant enough from Hogwarts to allow Apparition. Ann was holding in an expanding bag the clothes and the purse loaded with Galleons thanks to a shoulder strap, while Judith carried with her the vial that contained the Aging Potion. Then Eleanor brought the two other girls through Side-Along Apparition to her house. This was during a period of the weekend when her parents had planned to be out. Eleanor and Judith waited outside of Eleanor's bedroom while Ann, locked inside, would keep only the minimum of garments, drink the Aging Potion, pick the clothes that fitted her best given her new size, put them on, and get out of the bedroom. Eleanor and Judith started waiting, and they became a bit anxious seeing that a long time was passing. Finally, Ann went out, and said
Hmm, I think I don't look too bad
Of course you look nothing like bad
replied Eleanor in her usual cheerful voice. Judith asked
What did take you so long ?
I needed to watch myself quite a bit in the mirror to get accustomed to my new look
Ann explained. Eleanor took Ann's hand, and asked her
Ready ?
When Ann answered with a casual
Yeah, I think
Eleanor added for Judith
See you
and off they were, towards Diagon Alley. They landed in a secondary street off Diagon Alley. They looked at each other. Eleanor provided her with her last encouragements, and Ann started walking hesitantly towards Flourish & Blotts, then accelerated to a more normal speed, seeing that nobody seemed to notice her in the midst of the crowd of shoppers who filled Diagon Alley. She tried to keep in mind the image of how she now looked, thinking it would help her keep her impersonation consistent. She entered Flourish & Blotts, looked for an employee, braced herself, and walked directly towards him, trying to act as if she had no reason of having a single hesitation. The employee noticed that she was coming towards him, went to meet her, and asked her if he could assist her. Ann extended her hand, and said
Ginevra MacMillan. I was told that you might have, maybe, some copy of The Life of Merlin by Morgana The Fairy, or, say, a rare early edition of Dumbledore's Twelve Uses of Dragon Blood. Am I wrong ?
The employee shook her hand, and replied
If you have the budget, we could make you a copy of one of the books we have in our rare books section. However, we will not sell any of the originals
Ann, delighted at this point, uttered
Deal
However, the employee did not move. A few seconds passed. He made his point clearer
If you have the budget
Ann blushed, mumbled
Ah yes, sorry
took her purse out of the bind of her shoulder strap, and opened it slightly, so that the employee could see that it held a convincing amount of Galleons. The employee started smiling, and made a gesture with his hand, motioning Ann towards the back of the bookshop. She followed him behind the desk where clerks would cash the proceeds of the sales, up to a door that was off limits to the general public. The employee opened the door for Ann, let her through, then resumed his leading position. They walked along a corridor the walls of which held a few portraits, then up a few staircases. They arrived in front of a second door. This time, the employee had to take out a key the handle of which held unusual embellishments, and use it to open the door. Ann wondered why 'Alohomora' would not suffice, but she hadn't more time to elaborate, since the door opened to a room where desks ran across three of the walls. The last wall comprised mostly large windows, that were lighting brightly the room. Ann thought that in the Muggle version, old books would be kept away from any source of light, to prevent the damaging of the paper and ink. She surmised that Flourish & Blotts had not only accumulated books, but also a few spells to make the books it stored impervious to the potential damages arising from exposition to light. This would make the reading experience of her part far more enjoyable than at Hogwarts. The employee told her that he didn't know if the books she requested were here, but that he was rather confident that she would find something worth the visit here. Ann started walking alongside the desks, looking at the titles, opening the books that had caught her eye, ostensibly checking the printing dates. The employee was in the meanwhile standing still, watching Ann closely. Going through the lines of precious books, Ann couldn't help but notice that the book production in the wizarding environment was much more diverse than expected. Instead of just books about very advanced magic, or dark magic, she had before her eyes parchments that dealt with a number of topics she had not imagined. She was especially surprised with the amount of literary works that were on display. And a concern grew in her mind as she progressed along the walls : there was just no way one specific book could be there. After having toured all three walls that sided with books-laden desks, she had to acknowledge that any hope of finding the prized book was illusory. She didn't want to go back empty handed, though, and she decided after a pause to make a second run. She already had in mind a broad overview of the books that could have some value for students like them. Therefore, she didn't have to stop in front of almost every book. Though feeling it was somewhat sacrilegious, she skipped all the literary works, clearing her conscience with the silent inner promise that some day she would delve into the wizarding literature. This second run made her shortlist four books. She then set up to fully read the contents section of every of these books. Yet, in the middle of doing this for the second book on her list, she hit an unexpected mention : 'Intuition Potion'. That had to be it. They just needed the right intuition to find the book. Therefore they needed the book. She turned around, in order to face the employee that had remained expressionless. She pointed at the book and said in an assured tone
I'll need a copy of this one
The employee walked in the direction of the book she was designating, took out his wand, directed it at the book, and said 'Wingardium Leviosa'. The book was lifted from the desk. Then, the employee told Ann
After you
Ann walked towards the door, opened it, and stepped outside of the room. The employee held his wand up so as to keep the book in the air, while he rummaged with his free hand in his pocket. He found the embellished key, turned it in the keyhole, and said
We will go down the staircase, and I will show you the place where you will be able to complete the transaction in a discreet way
This made Ann's heart sink. Then it started pounding in her chest. She had to make a choice now. Was she going to spend somebody else's money, and more specifically, an unknown, possibly high amount of it ? She was now frantically seeking a solution to her conundrum. Her brains were rushing. She went down the stairs, as planned, while trying to devise a clever plan, and when the employee showed her the place where she would either backtrack or make the boldest move of her life, she followed him. They arrived in a room without a single window, and not a single portrait either. There was just a desk in the middle of the room, with cushioned chairs at either end of it, and on the desk, a chandelier lighting the room, a parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink. She noted it was maybe even more discreet than Hogwarts' dungeons, indeed. The employee went towards the nearest chair, pulled it away from the table, and went to the other side of the desk, where he sat on the chair opposite the first one. Ann went to sit in the chair that the employee had gallantly pulled. The employee moved his wand lower, and lifted the spell, gently letting the book rest on the table. He examined the book, made a few notes on the parchment, and turned it over to Ann. It was a contract, according to which, in exchange for an immediate deposit of 42 Galleons taking care of the whole amount of the service, Ginevra MacMillan would be granted a copy of the 1712 edition of 'Of Potions And Spells For The Universal Wizard', by Cuthbert Nomay. The employee handed her the quill over, after having dipped it once more in the bottle. Ann read and reread the few lines. Then, like transfixed, she added a hurriedly crafted signature on the paper. She lifted the quill from the paper, raised her head, and looked in the eyes at the employee. Then, she slowly moved the purse onto the table, opened it, and counted 42 Galleons. The employee said :
The copy will be ready shortly. I am going to bring you some refreshment
He raised his wand, conjured a wooden chest in which he put carefully the 42 Galleons and the book, cast once more 'Wingardium Leviosa', this time on the chest, and walked towards a door opposite to that through which they had entered. He came back a few minutes later with an orange juice that was probably the best one Ann had ever drunk, after which he left for the second time. In the meanwhile, she had grown accustomed to the situation. She had made her choice, and the psychological pressure started decreasing. She still had a lingering fear about Sigismond's reaction, but tried to imagine how she could talk herself out of blame without being dishonest whenever the stress came back to hurt her confidence. Then, finally, the employee came back, still using 'Wingardium Leviosa' to make the heavy copy float in the air in front of him while he was headed towards the desk. He lifted for the second time the spell, and the copy came to rest on the desk, in front of Ann. She opened carefully the book that carried the distinctive smell of newly printed parchment. She checked the contents section, which duly mentioned the page where the Intuition Potion was described, went to the corresponding part of the book, and here it was : 'Intuition Potion - For The Curious Wizard'. She then closed the book, and used both her hands to retrieve it from the desk, clutching it then on her chest. She was still afraid that something could go wrong at the bookshop, but she was now mainly worried with the reactions of the three others. With that mindset, she got up with the book still held tight in her hands over her chest, and turned around, to leave. The employee, keeping silent, led her back to the public part of the shop. Ann started blushing again : after several hours spent in quiet hidden corners of Flourish & Blotts, she was again in the open, and was now fearing again that among all the people visiting the shop would be someone who would notice that something was up. Yet, nothing of that sort happened, and she reached the door, this time with the employee behind her. She wanted to leave as fast as possible and get back to Eleanor who was now probably worried that something might have happened, since it had been hours since they had parted ways. But she still had a last nicety to perform. Just before pushing the door open, she turned around, managed to shift the hold of the book to one single hand, and held the other one out. She remembered doing the same gesture several hours ago, when she had almost no idea of the fashion in which she could succeed at her task, and noted that so much had happened in the meantime. The employee shook her hand again, and said
You will always be welcome Mrs. MacMillan. Have a nice day
Thank you
Ann replied, before letting go of the employee's hand, turning around once more, this time to face the door again, and leaving into the lukewarm air of the spring. She walked briskly towards the point where she had left Eleanor. Ann wondered if the would still be there. And here she was. She had conjured a stool on which she was sitting. Ann thought
Of course. When would Eleanor let somebody down ? So silly of me to have envisioned she could have abandoned me, or anyone else for that matters
Eleanor smiled at her, stood up slowly, and let her move closer. When they were face to face, Ann explained, in an apologetic way
This is not the book we wanted, but this one will be fine I hope
Eleanor held both her hands out. Ann put the book in Eleanor's hands, who raised it in front of her eyes to read the title.
That sounds interesting, indeed
She put the book back in Ann's hands, and extended one of her own, asking :
Ready ?
Ann, who was impatient to get reassurance about her bold enterprise, replied :
You don't even ask me why I took that book ?
To which Eleanor responded in turn :
I trust you
Ann paused during one or two seconds, then said
Let's go
She once more shifted the book to be able to hold it in one hand, and made the remaining one join Eleanor's. They Apparated in front of Eleanor's bedroom. They didn't see Judith. Ann looked around for clues that might indicate her whereabouts, but Eleanor had something else in mind. She just opened gently the door of her bedroom. Ann turned around to watch what Eleanor was doing, and they heard a dull noise. They took a look at the inside, and didn't see Judith there either. Ann said
What now ?
Then, the head of a disheveled Judith popped up from the other side of the bed.
You are back. When I heard the door open, I dived behind the bed. I thought Eleanor's parents were back and were about to catch me
Ann burst into an unstoppable laughter and almost let the book fall, while Judith started blushing intensely. Eleanor said
Sorry, Judith, I could have Apparated here from time to time to keep you posted
Judith straightened her hair as much as she could, moved to sit on the bed, and asked - in a grumpy voice, since she was upset by Ann's continuous display of merriness
So, we got the book ?
Eleanor answered :
No, this is another book. Ann will tell us why she picked this one instead. Come downstairs, we will make tea
This was a clever way of drawing Judith away from Ann's joyful agitation. They both went down, and waited for Ann's exhilaration to subside, seated at the kitchen table. She then joined them. Judith made the two others promise they would not tell Sigismond or anybody else about her painfully ridiculous attempt at hiding. This triggered a few additional hiccup-like laughs from Ann, but she accepted with obvious goodwill and understanding. Then, difficult things started for happy Ann. She had to explain why she had spent 42 Galleons on a book which held a single recipe of interest. Now that she was face to face with two of the people who had most of the legitimacy to contest her views, the rationale that she had used to convince herself she had made the right choice seemed dismally weak. Yet, this interview went well. Eleanor was not the kind of person who would see fit to criticise anyone, unless they would have done something ghastly evil. And Judith had mixed feelings about Ann's decisions. She was in awe about Ann's cool handling of the task, maybe she was even a bit jealous of her, and she shared the opinion that the Intuition Potion could be their best chance to discover the book. She was though very worried about Sigismond's parents' reactions. They then moved to sit side by side, the book in front of the girl who was in the middle, and they started browsing through the potion's ingredients and requirements. Judith said that she had heard about a potion very much like this one : who would drink it would get what they wanted. Eleanor said that the Intuition Potion was probably not this one, because the Intuition Potion could bring you information only, not anything else. After a while, the conversation died out, and they waited for the Aging Potion's effects to subside. Shortly after 7.30pm, Ann's features finally started changing. She became progressively smaller and thinner, and her garments became too big for her. She went up to Eleanor's bedroom, using caution because her dress had now become far too long and she might trip over its helm if she decided to move carelessly. Judith and Eleanor stayed outside while Ann once more changed her clothes. The door opened again a few minutes later, and Ann Aves was back to normal in front of Eleanor and Judith, already in her Hogwarts robes. Eleanor brought Judith and Ann back to the limits of Hogwarts grounds through Side-Along Apparition. On this return trip, they still had the expanding bag with the assortment of clothes plus the purse, but they now had the book, and of course the vial that once contained the Aging Potion was empty. They then started walking back to the castle. It was already past 8pm and one more time they had missed dinner. The following day would be Sunday, and they would be able to meet Sigismond again.
Paragraph 5 : The Arch Room
All four of them were sitting on the grass, in their usual meeting place near the lake. There had been some rain this Sunday, but they had agreed to go there when the sun would replace the clouds, if at all. Thus, when the sun started dominating the sky, they all set out to the sand-less beach. There, they cast spells drying the once wet grass, and here they were. Ann thought it would be more psychologically skillful for her first to describe to Sigismond how the action had unfolded near and at Flourish & Blotts. She was very intent on giving every detail possible, because for a start, it would probably make her decisive choice more understandable, and additionally, it would postpone the time when she would have to tell Sigismond about the transaction. The three girls had kept the book hidden in the expanding bag, so Sigismond could not know in advance what had been the result. When the narration closed in on the most important part, Ann slowed down, and started casting repeated glances at Sigismond's facial expression. She took a deep breath before telling Sigismond that she had signed the contract, then waited for his reaction. Sigismond didn't react. He was apparently waiting for the rest of the story, since he asked :
And then ?
Ann, relieved, was able to tell the rest of the story much more coolly. Now, she was giving out details, not out of tactical optimisation, but just because she was telling a story for a friend who might find them compelling. She didn't forget to skip the circumstances in which she and Eleanor had discovered Judith on their trip back to Eleanor's house. When Ann signaled that she had nothing more to say, Sigismond asked :
Where is the book, then ?
Ann picked up the expanding bag, rummaged inside of it, and pulled the book before handing it over to Sigismond. He started looking at it, opened it, read bits of it. All three girls were now silent, anxious to know whether Sigismond would deem the acquisition worthwhile, and the consequences of it manageable. He closed the book, raised his eyes towards the sky, which was rather usual, given that he was most of the time out of this world, busy imagining another one. He noticed that something was odd. Usually he was the one being silent, and the others would talk meanwhile. In this case, all four of them were silent. He lowered his gaze. All three girls were looking at him. Ann was impatient to know if she was in trouble. Sure, Sigismond was not mad at her at all, but that didn't mean that he approved of her course of action. Therefore, she asked :
Do you think the book will be useful ? Do you think your parents will agree with my decision ?
Sigismond looked puzzled
The book could be useful. Mum will not make a fuss about 40 Galleons
Ann's instant instinct was that Sigismond was tactless. When her own parents had computed the amount of pounds they needed to purchase all the Hogwarts stuff, they had thought in all likelihood a lot of things, but not that 40 Galleons were making up a low sum. Immediately after, she changed her mind. She was the one who had treated 42 Galleons as a dispensable amount in the first place. She therefore had neither reason nor right to be upset about Sigismond's affluent parents' perspective. Ann thought that all was set, that they were about to brew it, drink it, and they would get to the next step. Judith, though, wondered about something that was not inconsequential. She said that they were now back at Hogwarts, they had already been given detention for breaking rules while trying to find a book about dark magic, so the least they should do was to make absolutely sure that the Intuition Potion was not dark magic. She argued :
That is the problem of using something that doesn't come from Hogwarts. We can be fairly sure that no teacher is going to let us read a book about dark magic, which means that such books will be at least in the Restricted Section. At Flourish & Blotts, Ann visited something that is very much a state-of-the-art Restricted Section, which implies that there could be still darker magic in this book from Flourish & Blotts than in Hogwarts library's own Restricted Section. Add to that the fact that this potion could direct us towards dubious actions and that makes for a lot of potential issues
Ann dismissed Judith's concerns, saying that they were free to choose to follow or not the leads that the potion, if it worked, would give them, and that furthermore, nothing in the potion's description hinted at any hallmark of dark magic. The potion, though more complex than the one a student would be typically tasked to brew, was straightforward to make, at least on paper or rather on parchment, and none of its ingredients was out of the ordinary. Ann concluded that only somebody who was willing to take the risk would drink the potion, and that if Judith considered that risk was significant, she would just have to abstain from drinking it, nobody would force it on her. Eleanor surprised the three others, when at that moment, she said she wanted to try the potion. Judith asked
You mean, drink it yourself ?
Eleanor nodded. Ann reacted immediately
Why not me ?
Eleanor answered, a grin on her face,
Because you already have had a lot of nerve wracking things to do lately
Sigismond, for once, seemed to have a strong opinion on his mind, since he left his passive posture for a brief moment and told Ann directly :
We can't leave all the action to you. That would yield an unbalanced situation. We have to share the risks. You exhibited bravery once, I brought the money for the plan, Judith set the goals and kept us together, Eleanor solved the practical difficulties that were preventing us from getting the book. Now it's time for somebody else to show their courage
Ann, defeated by reason and a majority, tackled then the next issue :
This time, it's not as basic and commonplace as the Aging Potion. How can we brew the new potion while remaining unnoticed ?
Eleanor had something in mind :
We already know that there is at least one classroom gathering dust where hardly anybody sets foot. We should not go back there, because we don't want to be at risk of arising more suspicion. We could however probably find another similar room. Should we get busted once more, it won't be as painful as if it were in the first one, and it will be somewhat less suspicious
They all agreed, and within days of scouring during their free time the rooms which they had no recollection ever visiting, Sigismond had found an acceptable one. It was not clear whether said room had ever been used as a classroom or not. In any case, it was a small one. There were no desks, no benches, no chairs in it. There were extensive cobwebs, sure, but these were located in the top corners. This prompted Ann to tease Judith, when they found themselves there together for the first time :
There were also cobwebs in the first one. I am surprised that, while being afraid of so many things, you seem not to be the least scared of spiders
Judith answered, matter-of-factly :
I am cautious, not a coward
Ann hesitated. Should she find some quip in response ? She opted not to, and ended the exchange saying, as neutrally as possible :
Hmmm. If you say so…Okay
The room was empty, but had three narrow and tall artfully arched windows on the back wall, and these openings obviously brought light and some heat during daytime. Through the windows, one could see the wooden landscape of the Forbidden Forest, with a view in the opposite direction of Hagrid's hut. Eleanor noted that it was curious for a room that had some pleasant features not to have any use. Till now. Eleanor had to Disapparate to Diagon Alley on Saturday to purchase the few ingredients that had not made it to the standard list of ingredients of the average Hogwarts students, plus an extra store of some ingredients that they already had but that would be in short supply once they would have used them for the potion. Eleanor's mother provided the cauldron, and Eleanor herself cast a spell that would make the cauldron look like a stack of broomsticks from the 1950s to everybody save the four of them. They started brewing the potion together, each one of them making sure that they were not making any mistake during the process. They all had their copy of the Intuition Potion recipe, and they would generally, at the end of the preparation time in the Arch Room, insert the corresponding parchment in one of their own books wide enough to hide the presence of the annotated vellum, and bring the hiding book out of the Arch Room. In the meantime, somebody might have noticed that the four same students were repeatedly going to the same place, for a rumour more accurate than before started spreading, a rumour according to which Slytherin's Ann Aves, Gryffindor's Sigismond Candler, Hufflepuff's Judith Parry and Ravenclaw's Eleanor Magarthy had become friends. Some students didn't believe that such an improbable combination of inter-Houses friendship could ever happen. Others did believe the rumour or at least found it believable, and these could be split into three sets. One set was made of students who didn't care about this new team, the second one was made of students who felt this kind of cross-Houses socialisation was twisted, misguided and borderline evil, and the third one was made of students who didn't hide their satisfaction at the fact that the association of these four students mirrored the collaboration that had led to the founding of the school. Among those who saw with contempt or disgust the fraternisation, one could find a number of Slytherin students who believed that no worthy member of their prestigious House should be allowed to become close to people belonging to Houses consisting of what they saw as losers, especially Hufflepuff. You could also find members of the three other Houses who showed reprobation at the amicality between the four on the grounds that it was gross, according to them, to associate oneself with a Slytherin student. The most blatant result of these contradictory stances among students was that whenever one of the four students was present somewhere, there was a possibility that the other students would take a sideway look at her or him, and occasionally mutter something that one could suspect was unfavorable to them. Ann especially was targeted by a few fellow Slytherin students, since she was as far from the Pure-Blood ideal as was possible. Some of her detractors would just ignore her, the others would sneer when she got close to them. Still, quite a number of students were neutral, and found it more productive to focus on their studies than on some bizarre event, and a few others were openly supportive of the four. In general, life was more troublesome than before for them, since they had to worry permanently about what students in the same classroom, or in the Common Room of their House, were thinking about the group. Sometimes they would not perceive any difference in the usual atmosphere, and the rest of the time, an especially telling silence would make the ambience sinister. They even came across students who were scared, thinking that they were intent on becoming dark witches and wizard, as was supposedly demonstrated by their detention and their quest for the book 'How To Become a Dark Wizard'. This led them to some soul-searching. Ann was worried that she was indeed following the path of the archetypal ill-intentioned Slytherin student. Judith was more and more apprehensive, if that was possible, about the choice they had made regarding the Intuition Potion, and spent time thinking about the decisions they had made since their fateful first meeting, attempting to sort them out in a three categories, namely 'right', 'wrong', and 'neutral'. Sigismond and Eleanor were more or less impervious to the implicit criticism of some of the other students. This being said, Sigismond was taken aback, once, when Peter Dormond, a fellow Gryffindor, told him bluntly :
You should let down your Slytherin friend. I try to be tolerant, you know, being friends with a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw, why not ? But with a Slytherin on top of that, that's insane
Sigismond didn't know how he was supposed to deal with this kind of brazen statement. He just stood there, like struck by lightning. He was spared the need to defend his view, since Peter Dormond, having delivered this piece of advice that was supposed to smack of universal common sense, turned around and went his way. Eleanor, though being her usual cheerful lively self, saw a few students she had considered her friends turn away from her, essentially because they were jealous of the hitherto never seen dedication that Eleanor had granted to these three nobodies. Eleanor shared with the three others the idea that they would need a means of communication, so as to be able to lay low for as much time as was needed for the popularity of the rumour to fade. After that, they would still have to use this soon-to-be-devised way of conversing, in order not to reignite the passion that accompanied the rumour. The three others thought it would be difficult to find this communication technique, but were of course unanimous about its relevance. In the meantime, a surprise came when Sigismond told them that he had sent an owl to this mother about the spending of the 42 Galleons. Ann braced for what would follow, expecting Sigismond to report to her his mother's dissatisfaction, or even to hand her over a Howler, but Sigismond showed her the brief answer his mother had written :
With that kind of mindset, this girl would have been a worthy daughter. See you in the summer sweetheart
This lifted Ann's spirits, and provided the only ingredient they could be missing. Merriness.
Paragraph 6 : Cheers
They were standing in the little room which featured the three arched windows. The potion was ready, and if you let out the fact that its color was a suspicious purple, it didn't seem like anything horrible. It was even reminding of Butterbeer, given that the potion was very liquid, with white foam on top. Ann wondered at this time if Butterbeer already existed in 1712, but was quickly brought back to reality when Eleanor put a glass of the potion to her lips, and started drinking it with a facial expression that quickly betrayed disgust. Ann, Judith and Sigismond remained silent, anxious to know what would happen. Did they make a mistake ? Finally, Eleanor opened the mouth as if she was going to throw up, but instead said :
You can go back to your Common Rooms. I just need to go to the Ravenclaw Common Room, and put a note in the bag of several fellow Ravenclaws
Ann reacted instantly :
What will be on the note ?
Eleanor replied, with a face still slightly twisted by her potion drinking experience,
Go to the statue of David The Blood Quencher
Judith voiced her concern :
What is the connection with the book ?
Eleanor, now rid of the taste - and of the after-taste - of the potion, replied :
I don't know. It must be the intuition
Ann was clearly disappointed, and said in a desperate tone :
This potion is just a piece of junk. Maybe there was something else to do to make it work. Maybe it's just an outdated recipe. Maybe our modern ingredients don't work the same as the 1712 ingredients
Eleanor was undisturbed :
Even if it fails, it just means that we will not find the book this way. Our friendship is more important than finding the book, or finding who set up a trap for us to fall into. Sigismond's mother already told us that you did the right thing. Now, I am going to the Ravenclaw Common Room. See you later
She smiled at them, went to the door, waved briefly at them, and left.
Paragraph 7 : Bold And Bright
They woke up the next day to alarming news. A number of Ravenclaws had ostensibly made their way from their Common Room to the Gryffindor's Common Room, and on reaching its entrance, had turned left, gone to the statue of David the Blood Quencher, spent some time there, then retraced their steps to return to their own Common Room, which implied that they had once more gone past the entrance of Gryffindor's Common Room. This had upset several Gryffindor students, who thought it was a ruse in preparation of something nasty against the Gryffindors. One of them, seventh-year Matthew Fourbanks, had decided to retaliate by challenging to a duel any Ravenclaw who felt like defending the honour of their House. The underlying idea was apparently that, if Ravenclaws knew that provoking the Gryffindors would make them in danger of a swift response, they wouldn't dare any more dabble into questionable methods. This was the official rationale at least. It would have probably been wiser to assume that some Gryffindor student had overreacted, and found a pretense to get a duel. This whole incident sent the morale of the four down. Judith's take on the potion had never looked more true than at this moment. Maybe it actually was a vessel for dark magic. They blamed themselves for what they now considered as their recklessness. Their friendship had started when somebody had sent them anonymous notes, and one of the goals they wanted to achieve when using the potion had been to find the source of theses notes. Now, they had themselves sent anonymous notes, and they had one more worry : somebody might make a better use of magic than they did, and find out they were behind those anonymous notes. Sigismond and Eleanor made more or less conceited efforts to get to know more about the potential duel, since Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were the Houses involved in this opposition. They both spent extra time in the Common Room of their respective Houses, and paid careful attention to whatever they could eavesdrop there. Eleanor even took the risk of enquiring about what was up with regards to the proposed duel, to no avail. Actually, very few people seemed to have information about what was bound to happen, since Agatha Houstack, the queen of gossip herself and thus the only person that could be more anxious than them to know what the future held, was none the wiser about it than anybody else. Days went by, and the four started thinking that the project of a duel had been dumped. They were therefore stunned when they heard stories about what had happened between Matthew Fourbanks and his antagonist, who had been Deborah Scart, a stern-looking, black haired sixth-year Ravenclaw who wore glasses. Soon everybody in the castle had heard one version or the other of the short fight. Fourbanks and Scart had purportedly met at 11pm, in a corridor on the top floor of the castle. To avoid detection during the negotiation needed to set up a time and a place that would fit not only the requirements of a secret duel but also the respective tastes of the opponents, no intermediary had been employed, and Miss Scart and Mr. Fourbanks had communicated through owl-post. Yet all these efforts would prove having been incompletely successful. Miss Scart and Mr. Fourbanks, at the agreed time and place, performed the usual niceties, then Miss Scart swiftly struck. She began with a stuttering spell on Mr. Fourbanks, which took off the equation the risk of most of the spells that he could have in store. Already three seconds into the duel, Miss Scart was confident she had the upper hand. She then proceeded to cast in a derisive voice a spell that would slow down every move by her adversary, and waited to watch in slow motion the latter try to find a solution. She crowned her evening by casting a third spell, that changed Mr. Fourbanks into a portrait, that she hung on a hook of the wall with a casual 'Wingardium Leviosa'. She then left the arena pretty satisfied with herself. The Gryffindor representative was now moving at a third of the normal speed his head from one side of the portrait to the other, eager to find an exit to the enchanted frame. He tried to jump out of it, but landed on his back, having bounced off the front of the painting as if it had become a wall. His desperate attempts at escaping could have lasted long if absolutely nobody had acquired the knowledge of the duel happening there and then. After the departure of Miss Scart, Trevor Umphrey, a fifth-year Hufflepuff, uttered 'Finite Incantatem'. The mostly two-dimensional portrait dissolved into the actual three-dimensional Matthew Fourbanks, who fell on the floor, got back up on his feet, and used a spell to get rid of the dust that his uniform had gathered when he had hit the floor.
Why are you there?
Fourbanks asked, delighted at the sight of Trevor Umphrey.
Just read your mind. I didn't want to miss a duel. After your open challenge, I knew I just had to monitor you and wait for the time when you would be thinking about the scheduled place and time
Trevor replied
Lovely creepiness
Fourbanks added in an amused voice. Trevor explained
I don't read the mind of girls, you know
I am so relieved
Fourbanks quipped. Trevor had one question, though.
Why didn't you use the spell you had in mind at the very beginning? You could have beaten the clock and Deborah
Fourbanks detailed
I liked very much having this spell in my arsenal. Actually, I wouldn't have durst challenging anyone if I hadn't had it ready. Trouble is, this spell comes from a wizard that is not commendable. Before the duel, I had dismissed this problem. I like this concept so much. But when I was in front of Debbie, I had to make a choice. I pondered the use of this spell. It gave her time to do her stuff, and she did brilliantly
Trevor was missing a piece of information :
What does this spell do actually? I didn't get it when I saw it
Fourbanks obliged :
You put all the spells that your opponent could cast to hurt you in an object. And they can't use these anymore against you, as long as the object remains intact
Trevor became lost in his thoughts. But the time was passing by, and they had to make it to their Common Rooms as quickly as possible, in order to minimise the risk of being caught out of bed. Both succeeded, and it turned out that Deborah Scart had not met any authority figure on the way back either. The situation of the four was now different. Should anyone find out Eleanor had sent the anonymous notes, she would be more than fine, she would even end up congratulated. For she had made it possible for a Ravenclaw to display her skills in impressive fashion. Besides the immediate common view that it was first and foremost a House victory, a few Ravenclaw students couldn't help but note that Fourbanks had magnanimously praised Scart's abilities, and that solely looking at the duel's outcome would be tantamount to intellectual fraud. At the opposite of the spectrum, should somebody discover that Eleanor had been involved in this magical fracas, it would not pan out for Sigismond. Everybody knew of his tight connection to Eleanor, and his fellow Gryffindors would hold him accountable for Matthew Fourbanks' defeat. Even though they didn't know that the duel was a faraway consequence of his friendship with Eleanor, he was seen with suspicion as a notorious friend of a Ravenclaw student. The ambience in Gryffindor Common Room was morose, since their latest champion had, in the mind of most students, failed to uphold the status of Gryffindor as the House of the brave-hearted. According to their assessment, he had backtracked in front of a difficult choice, and that was sufficient to prove he had acted dishonorably. Some students did on the contrary consider that he had shown restraint when he could have used powerful dark magic, and that placing decency over the egoistic will to win was exactly the kind of noble behaviour that Gryffindor was supposed to prize. Consensus however was that Miss Scart had won without courage either, and was therefore a student that any normal Gryffindor should despise or hate.
Paragraph 8 : Bold And Cold
In the aftermath of the duel, Eleanor was in the Ravenclaw Common Room when Bethany Radote, a fifth-year, went to seek Deborah Scart and told her, she had been so impressed by Deborah's success at this first challenge, that she had another one for her. Maybe Deborah could solve a riddle that bugged her. A riddle that originated in a visit by Bethany's family of ruins in the countryside. There, an only room was still intact, and its walls were smooth, in spite of the fact that the construction had been built centuries ago. This led Bethany's mother to think that some magic had been applied to the walls, since they wouldn't be that smooth otherwise. And very soon, it became still more obvious that magic had been practiced there. For on the floor laid a stack of what looked like golden dust. Bethany's father moved his wand close to this stack, and it changed into a pile of white powder, possibly the remains of a corpse, and a sad and hollow voice echoed in the room, as if a dead person were trying to communicate, although no words could be extracted from the sound. He then withdrew his wand, and the white powder was replaced by the initial gold dust. He muttered 'Accio gold', but the heap of dust didn't move. He put his wand back in his robes, and cautiously tried to grasp a bit of the golden dust in his hands, ready for a manifestation of dark magic, but his hands went through the accumulation as if it were air, or at least nothing solid. They had stood there, puzzled and silent, before leaving. On ending the narration of this story, Bethany paused, waiting for a reaction by Deborah. But the latter was completely uninterested, and said :
Eleanor is there. Since your stuff is about dark magic, you'd better tell her
Bethany was visibly disappointed that Deborah would not even take a few seconds to try and find some explanation to this mystery. She went away from Deborah without a word, and headed towards her bedroom. Eleanor was taken aback by the insinuation that she was the go-to person when it came to dark magic, and reported about this incident to the three others. Ann thought it was rich from Deborah to be so bitter at the expense of Eleanor, considering that Deborah was the one who had cold-bloodedly let somebody trapped in a fake portrait.
Paragraph 9 : Arthur And Douglas
Now that everybody was knowledgeable about the friendship of the four, they started to meet from time to time in the castle. They were still keeping a low profile, and they had little freedom to be their usual selves when they were together, but at least it made it much easier and faster to find some time - and of course a nearby place - to exchange about what they could and should do. However, this had an additional, unexpected drawback. One day, while walking on the ground floor, in an outer corridor, they went past two Slytherin boys, Arthur Fosty and his best friend Douglas Poofer. Arthur turned around, and told them in a loud voice
You still don't get how stupid you look when you are together?
The four of them also turned around, to face Fosty and Poofer, Sigismond being the last one to do so, since he had been the last one to notice something consequential was going on, too, with the result that he was a few steps behind the three girls. Ann asked :
Arthur, why did you decide to be more unbearable than before ?
Arthur Fosty chose to elaborate to the point where it would hurt most, but also where it would make his main personality trait quite apparent
Let me get lyrical. We were in the Common Room, say one month ago or so. That's when this silly quest for the dark book started. And Douglas came up with a brilliant idea. He wanted me to pick one student from each House, so four of them in total, the most pathetic ones among those who wanted the book. I had many candidates. First there are those that I eliminated. Ravenclaw's Evan Patts, who is delusional enough to believe he will be famous one day. Quite a good candidate, entertainingly stupid, but he was not looking for the book. Then, there was another case that stood out. Hufflepuff's Akinori Milpense. The girl will just react to anything with funny made-up words, take out her wand, perform magic on whatever would come from her pockets, and hand it over to you, with both hands extended. A top-level weirdo, not the least interested in the book though. Gryffindor's Terrence Woadler. Brooding so much that you can expect him to commit suicide at any time. This one, surprisingly, was going for the book. Didn't pick him for the afore-mentioned reason. Didn't want to end in Azkaban if he actually went for a big jump or a Butterbeer overdose. Ravenclaw's Amalie Eamon. Always mad in love for some guy. One day it's John, the next day it's James. Difficult to track, even for Houstack. But of course, just too busy chasing guys to be chasing a book. At least that's an intelligent trait of hers. The only one. Gryffindor could also have been represented by Robert Stoutson. Always sporting this contemptuous look, so vain, so satisfied with himself. And actively looking for the book. But I knew that he wouldn't last more than three minutes with three other people in the same room. Unless there would be a huge mirror in it just for him. The only person with whom he can socialise is himself. I had to exclude one more Ravenclaw from the list. Oliver Perrusi. The guy comes from a wealthy family, he always wants the most exclusive item possible. He can't realize he pisses off everybody when he says he is after an autograph from a Quidditch star, or after the Elder Wand. Even if he were saying he is after an Easter egg, he would find a way to speak his wish in a fashion that would annoy people. Of course he wants the book. But how to keep him in a room with three people who are poor according to his standards? They would Stupefy him through the window. That's why we ended up with you. Aves has the subtlety of something that I heard about in Muggles' studies, that must be a 'chainsow'. Candler has completely lost his marbles. Parry will always blindly follow the flock. And Magarthy the Foggie is not kind, she is way more than that, she is mawkishness made human. You know why you keep together ? Because each of you knows that the three others are as much of a misfit as you are
Fosty ended his monologue here, waiting rapturously for the outcome. Several other students had gathered around the scene, expecting some fireworks. Eleanor walked over to him, to the extent she was so close that she was within range to slap him in the face. Fosty pointed his wand in response at Eleanor's stomach. And the little Eleanor, standing on her tiptoes, kissed Arthur Fosty on the cheek. While the latter started blushing more and more, Eleanor added, without any trace of irony
Thank you for providing me with three great friends
Ann, Sigismond, Judith, and a part of the audience erupted in laughter. An enraged Arthur Fosty yelled, to cover the noise of the surrounding exhilaration,
I will take on any of you losers. Now
Ann moved to face her fellow Slytherin. Fosty didn't lose a second, cast a spell, and Ann, taken by surprise, was forced to bow to her opponent. Fosty maintained her in this bowing posture, but Sigismond, without even taking his wand out, hurried to place himself between Arthur and Ann, putting an end to the effect of the spell. Arthur suddenly told Douglas Poofer,
We got what we wanted
and they eloped together through the crowd that had encircled the group. It became quickly obvious they had done so, not out of any sense of measure, but out of fear of landing in trouble, for Professor Flitwick had come in the direction of the action. Since said action had ceased to be interesting, the crowd disbanded, leaving the four friends alone with mixed feelings. Later, in the Slytherin Common Room, some students voiced their support for Ann, which comforted her a little bit.
Paragraph 10 : Taps And Traps
Arthur Fosty and Douglas Poofer were notorious for not being studious. None of them had ever handed over to a Professor an essay or a homework that they had done themselves. You could not either expect from them to have read a single schoolbook. Not that they were illiterate. They had after all written with correct grammar and spelling the notes they had sent to the four friends. They just found it boring to work. Their focus was rather on flying broomsticks, buying stuff from Zonko's and drawing caricatures of their schoolfellows. One other fine day of this spring 1984, both noticed they were facing a strange problem when using the bathrooms : when they needed clean water to flow through the bathrooms' taps to wash their hands, a dark grey liquid was flowing instead. They had tried a number of taps, in a number of different bathrooms across the castle. And they had had several schoolfellows try a few of these mysterious taps. Whenever a schoolfellow was putting their hand beneath the tap, water was running clean. But if Fosty or Poofer tried the same, only the dark gray liquid would exit from the tap. They found a quick fix though. They let the water run, and after a few minutes, they were able to access again pure water. Obviously somebody had played a prank on them. During the following week, things got nastier though. Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape had given them failing grades for their latest essays - or rather, the essays that other students had written for them. In all three cases, the teachers had received an essay that was blank save for the top part where they had to write their name. Initially, Arthur and Douglas suspected their essay suppliers had played a trick on them to show their discontent. Soon, however, they found out what has happened. Actually, almost everybody in the castle did know. Somebody who had been unhappy that they had picked on a fellow Slytherin had collected the ink from their essays and bewitched the bathrooms' taps so that the collected ink would flow from them when they wanted to use the taps. Arthur and Douglas had therefore let go down to the sewage system the ink that their essay suppliers had used to write the essays for them. Not only almost every student of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, but also many Slytherins were supportive of this revenge. Arthur and Douglas were therefore still angrier than if only the members of other Houses had validated this counterstrike. The only thing that the story did not mention was the name of the hidden avenger. The most widespread guess was that a Slytherin had done it. For it would have been far easier for a Slytherin than for a member of another House to get access to the essays at the right time. Arthur and Douglas envisioned going to McGonagall, Flitwick and Snape, to tell them they had been duped, but the reputation of the two Slytherins implied that all three Professors would be happy to give them for once the mark they deserved. Moreover, they had no proof that the ink had been removed after they had handed over the essays to the Professors, and it would have been ludicrous to accuse any of the three Professors that they could have been negligent in keeping the essays safe. Especially Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. If the ink had been removed before they handed over the essays, it was their responsibility. Of course Arthur and Douglas suspected Ann, who indeed felt vindicated in her assessment of the personality of the two boys, and who probably had had the strongest motive to act. Yet, even Arthur and Douglas, who were not overly smart and subtle, doubted very much that Ann had been responsible for their latest woes, because she was not at all gloating about the event.
Paragraph 11 : What Hogwarts Students Should Learn
This mess reminded the four friends that it would be nice to have a way of communicating discreetly, especially without having to meet in person. There were obviously a few ways of communicating among wizards, but not a single one fitted their specific needs : owls ? Slow and very conspicuous. Flying notes, like at the Ministry of Magic ? Fast, but hardly less visible. Judith asked Professor Flitwick if there was a spell that would allow to send messages to friends. He answered that he hadn't heard about such a spell, but that after all, trying to invent this very spell might make up for a good training for a student. After all, some students had come to see him years ago to ask him for advice, because they wanted to create a magical map. The four of them thus met with Professor Flitwick in an empty classroom after the end of classes, and he gave them details about how magical research worked. The heart of spell research was a quest for an adequacy between the wizard's will and the wand's will. Getting the wand's will was the most difficult part, and the only way to achieve this was to trust it with powers. Whenever a wizard would cast a spell, a fraction of his powers would be temporarily transferred to the wand, which would perform the corresponding task, then release the powers back to the wizard. This meant that, for the wand to retain for a longer time part of the wizard's powers, it would be necessary to use a potion. They would plunge the wand in the potion, cast a powerful spell, and the wand would feel trusted enough if it was able to keep a significant part of the wizard's powers. The more powerful the spell, the more willing to help the wand would be. Casting an ordinary spell would make it easier for the wizard to get cooperation from the wand when attempting to discover an innocuous spell, and harder to find a spell associated with dark magic. Conversely, casting a spell known to pertain to dark magic would make it more straightforward to invent a spell in the field of dark magic, while making it tougher to make a breakthrough in the domain of positive magic. Communication with the wand was most important. With time and experience, this kind of communication would become more and more efficient. That was how wizards could detect magic, especially dark magic, the intentions behind it, and what kind of spell had been cast. 'Priori Incantatem' and 'Finite' or 'Finite Incantatem' relied a lot on this, though at a very basic level. The wand can in turn gather knowledge and experience from its wizard, and you can expect the next owner of the wand to be able to benefit partly from these, provided that he would prove trustworthy to the wand. Just like the wand will subtly kind of converse with the wizard, providing him with information about the magic surrounding him, the wizard must in his way talk to the wand, until the data passing from the wizard to the wand, and from the wand to the wizard hopefully results in an agreement. The wand will then accept to accomplish the new spell. The ability to get an agreement from the wand is what makes a person a wizard or a witch. All wizards and witches already have had this experience, typically at Ollivander's. When for the first time a wand agrees with the wizard's or the witch's will, they will feel magic itself around them. Once the wand has accepted to perform the new spell, the inventor has to brew a second potion, throw in it a parchment with the desired name for the spell, and pulverise the potion to a cloud. From there, whenever rain from this cloud will fall on the wand of a wizard or a witch, this person will be able to use the spell. A same spell can have as many formulae as people want. Once rain carrying the means to perform the spell had fallen on their wand, they could in turn brew the same potion, insert a parchment with a new name in it, and pulverise their own potion in a cloud. That was very convenient to allow wizards speaking other languages to use new spells with an easy to remember and to pronounce formula. Many ambitious inventors wanted to give their name to the spell they had devised, but other wizards proposed then neutral and descriptive formulae. That is why these days, all wizards were using one single standard formula, while in fact they could use others with the same effect. Professor Flitwick added that apparently, what they were trying to achieve was information Apparition. He allocated to the four a little room, where they could brew the initial potion - the potion that would help their wands retain some power - practice cooperation with their wands, and try and find the spell they needed. Professor Flitwick gave them the keys to the room. He also set a limited number of hours per week and a schedule that they should abide to in order to use the chosen room. He said the recipe for the two potions would be available in this room shortly. He led them to the room. This one didn't have as beautiful a view as the room in which they had brewed the Intuition Potion, but it was fully furnished. In actuality, the only window of this room was a plain rectangle without any intricate embellishment, and since the room was on ground floor, the view was nothing more than a long patch of grass. This time, there were no cobwebs, and every piece of furniture was in its place. There even was a chimney. Judith took out some Floo powder from her pocket, ready to see if this one had a link to the Floo Network. Seeing that everyone was startled by her initiative, she asked rhetorically
Am I the only one here who is cautious ?
Ann started giggling. Eager to set the conversation on a new course, especially a course that would prevent Ann from getting the same sort of unstoppable laughter that she had had at her house, Eleanor noted
Since we don't want the others to be able to use this communication spell, we will just have to dip our wands in the potion number two
Paragraph 12 : The Flitwick Room
They spent the next week using as much as they could their new lair. They now had visited quite a few out of the beaten path rooms, thus they felt it wise to give a nickname to each of them. The room with the empty bookshelves would be called 'The Friends' Room'. Sigismond had proposed 'The Trap Room', but this reminded the three others too much of the fiendish Fosty-Poofer couple. For the room where they had brewed the Intuition Potion, they didn't want to use the name 'Intuition Room', since they felt it necessary to keep secret by all decent means available what was exactly happening there when they were using it. They finally went for 'The Arch Room', as a reference to its main features, the three arched windows. And the room where Professor Flitwick had put them would be of course named 'The Flitwick Room'. They first brewed the two potions, stored them in two different corners, and labelled them 'Potion #1' and 'Potion #2' to make sure they would not end up making a mistake. Each of them had their own take on the task. Ann became quickly frustrated by the difficulty of the process. She had the impression that her wand was not cooperative enough, which of course infuriated her, making things still worse. Eleanor had not much success, but kept her usual cool countenance. Judith was dedicated to achieving their goal of efficient communication, and was probably the most successful of all four when it came to establishing some harmonious relationship with her wand. She had since the beginning focused on turning her wand into a friend, and this was paying off, more or less. But she couldn't identify which of her wand's wills would be the key to an agreement on the new spell. The three girls were holding their wands in front of them, as if this would help them considering the wand as a partner, but Sigismond was dismissive of this. He had kept his wand in his robes, and was just letting his imagination run wild. On the Thursday of this week, at 5pm, Sigismond and Judith were in the Flitwick Room, intent on discovering their first spell. They had dipped their wand in the potion number one, cast 'Expecto Patronum' and begun their work. Eleanor and Ann were still in class. Suddenly, after some fourty minutes spent in silence trying to turn the link with their wand into some actual magic, the atmosphere of the room changed, and it looked like a glowing yellowish light had become expanding. When the glow hit the walls and the window, it made them look brighter than if the sun had shone directly on them. It was now impossible to see anything through the window, which had become a blinding white rectangle. Wind engulfed the room, coming from inside the room itself, and moved during a few seconds the furniture up a few inches, before vanishing, and letting the furniture fall back down on the floor. Judith asked
What did happen ?
Sigismond this time, was not his usual self. He looked very much a part of this world. He smiled, looking amazed at the result of his efforts, and he explained :
I pictured our wands having a social life through our communication. Now we have to test if it worked. What name are we going to give to the spell ?
Judith enquired :
How to say 'send' in Latin ?
Sigismond said :
We'll have to look it up
Judith, after telling Sigismond what she was about to do, ran to the library, and was back about fifteen minutes later. Panting, she entered the Flitwick Room where Sigismond had been dutifully waiting for her return. She caught her breath, then uttered
Mitto
She closed the door behind her, and they both walked to the cauldron with the label 'Potion #2'. Sigismond had completely forgotten that they would need ink and a parchment. When she spotted this, Judith said :
I am going to fetch the writing stuff
Sigismond stood by the cauldron, while Judith strode to her belongings, extracted a bottle of ink, a feather and a page of parchment, wrote 'Mitto' on the top left corner of the parchment, and cast a spell to use her wand as a pair of scissors. She went back to the cauldron with the bit of parchment that bore the name of the new spell, and let it slip into potion number two. Then, Sigismond dipped his wand in the potion. Judith followed suit, and both of them finally removed their wands from potion number two. Judith proposed to entitle this one the 'Naming Potion', and Sigismond nodded in approval. Now was the time to check if Sigismond had actually achieved something. Judith raised her wand, muttered 'Mitto', and gasped. Ink had splashed on Sigismond's face, shaping the message
Hello Wizarding World
on his forehead. A confused Judith said, in an apologetic tone,
Err, we might have two problems
Sigismond replied
I only see one
Judith went on
The second one is probably that we can't see who is sending the message
Sigismond reacted
Arr, yes, true
Judith looked for a solution so as to alleviate the embarrassment of this partial setback. After a few seconds of silence, she was ready to offer one, but didn't disclose it to Sigismond. Instead, she asked him :
Ready ?
When Sigismond agreed, Judith raised her wand, and conscious that things could go bad for a second time, took her breath before letting the incantation out of her mouth. Nothing had happened, but Judith didn't seem disappointed. She looked anxious instead. She told Sigismond
Check the back of your tie
Sigismond turned the tip of his tie over, and moving his gaze lower he was able to read, embroidered on the back of his tie
You have mail
Since Sigismond was still expressionless, as usual, Judith was still wondering if it had worked. He was maintaining his tie turned over, but she couldn't fathom if it was because he was waiting for something to happen, or if he was just amazed at the result. She moved closer to Sigismond to check herself if her message had made it to Sigismond's tie. When she was close enough to see the black threads on the gold and crimson motif, she smiled. Sigismond was staying still. He probably needed some time to take in the news and what it implied. He then let his tie down, raised his head again and solved the second problem.
I will embroider my messages in gold, Ann in green, Eleanor in blue, and you in the color of copper
It was now close to 6pm. They knew that Eleanor would soon end her final class of the day - Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall - while Ann would ironically at this same time leave her Charms class with Professor Flitwick. Thus, Judith hurried to the classroom from which Eleanor was supposed to be exiting next, and Sigismond, slower, walked to Professor Flitwick's classroom in order to meet Ann. Fifteen minutes later, Eleanor and Ann had also dipped their wands in the Naming Potion, and all four started writing silly messages to each other. Sometimes, one of them would embroider their ridiculous sentence on purpose with the colour that was associated with somebody else, to create still more confusion and laughter. For example, Ann embroidered in blue - Eleanor's colour - the remark
Now you have a chance to date a famous wizard
on the back of Judith's tie. This evening, Sigismond found it difficult to get asleep. He mulled over what had happened in this day. At last he had come across a task for which his imagination and attraction for what was out of this world were ideal. Arthur Fosty had declared they were misfits, and that he had lost his marbles. Would Arthur still think the same if he had witnessed what had occurred in the Flitwick Room ? Sigismond was not angry at Arthur for his rash commentary, that was not in his nature - although he had been seriously bothered when Arthur had offended Ann. Therefore he had no will for Arthur to stand corrected. He was just curious to know how Arthur would react, if the latter realised that a boy he saw as a good-for-nothing, had been able to do what he might not ever achieve due to his complete lack of interest in the science behind magic.
Paragraph 13 : Wizard Woes
Two events caught the attention of the students in the next week. While the four friends were blissfully taking advantage of their new capability, the gloom brought by these two events ensured that the mood of the school was the opposite of the four friends' one. First, Gryffindor's Martin Hift struggled because his father was now bankrupt. Mr. Hift Senior was an inventor, the chief executive of Hift Magicharms, and his latest commercial venture was about simplified prophecies that could be mass-produced, but with a major drawback : their reliability was much lower than that of real prophecies. Another executive working for Mr. Hift Senior, Mr. Traister, seeing that his boss was reluctant to market a product still not very reliable, had taken over the business, leaving Mr. Hift Senior penniless. For Mr. Traister had argued in front of Magicharms' Board of Administrators that, if Mr. Hift Senior was allowed to indefinitely delay the sale of the simplified prophecies as long as an increase in the reliability of these was not guaranteed, they might wait forever, and lose their investment. Mr. Traister had convinced the Board that Mr. Hift Senior was acting opposite to the best interests of Magicharms, and that therefore he had to be fired and his shares confiscated. The Daily Prophet, instead of reporting the story in its entirety, had only copy-pasted the official version of it publicised by Mr. Traister and the Board. As a result, the wizards and witches of England were able to purchase the defective product that Mr. Hift Senior had diligently tried to keep off the shelves of the shops. Martin Hift's father was portrayed, just like Mr. Traister and the Board of Magicharms wanted, as a selfish businessman who had acted to deprive the magical community of a wonderful product, because he was jealous of the rightful inventor, Mr. Traister. Another sinister story, closer to home, hit the students soon after. Edward Songer, a fourth-year Ravenclaw student, had been reprimanded in a Charms lesson, but not for something as inconsequential as sending paper planes across the room. The Ravenclaw-Slytherin class was aimed at practicing a spell allowing to share briefly knowledge and intelligence in order to find a solution to a problem. Obviously, neither the Ravenclaw participants, nor the Slytherin ones had failed to use this peculiar setup to exchange sarcasms. Professor Flitwick, intent on getting through the implicit message that even Slytherin students and students of another House could be great teammates, had requested from every Slytherin student to pair with a Ravenclaw student. Grumpy Slytherins and Ravenclaws had therefore assembled in couples. In the end, the least popular Slytherin student - a permanently cold girl - was associated with the least popular Ravenclaw student - a clumsy boy who was regarded as not handsome - of that year. This prompted another Slytherin student to address the Ravenclaw boy in the following way :
Look at your date, and keep in mind it's the best you'll ever have
A Ravenclaw girl snapped back at the Slytherin trash-talker :
Stop talking, you are facing a boy, and with your gentlemanly attitude, that's the thing closest to a girl that you'll be able to date yourself
A lot of laughter ensued from most of the neighbouring Ravenclaws and Slytherins. This was the best result towards friendship between the serpent's House and the eagle's House that Professor Flitwick achieved, since when practice began, Edward Songer, who thought the idea was brilliant, used a different spell. For Edward Songer, a true member of Ravenclaw, had a vast knowledge, and was able to prove it. The spell he had picked yielded similar results to that they were supposed to cast, and on top of that, made it possible to bind the minds for a longer time, without the quick exhaustion brought by the textbook spell. There was just a little flaw in Edward Songer's reasoning. Among the wizards either, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Professor Flitwick had barely heard the spell chosen by Edward Songer that he lifted it with a commanding 'Finite'. The room became silent, and Professor Flitwick told Edward Songer :
You will stop the practice here, Mr. Songer. I will need a word with you at the end of this class
Edward Songer, surprised to see Professor Flitwick so stern and eager to admonish him, moved to a bench, and would sit there till Flitwick dismissed the class. In the meanwhile, Professor Flitwick had let the other students resume the practice, which took place in a most studious, quiet, and somewhat oppressive atmosphere. Shortly after, Ravenclaws who had researched Edward Songer's unusual spell let emerge disgruntedly that the charm was relying on dark magic. More specifically, it was dealing with soul manipulation, a trait that was typical of dark magic. Surprisingly, Flitwick seemed satisfied with Songer's explanation, and he didn't receive detention. Actually, Ravenclaw didn't lose a single point for the House Cup. However, an insisting rumour spread. According to it, Songer had found the book 'How To Become a Dark Wizard', and had started applying its evil teachings. Songer would have used the Imperius Curse itself on Flitwick in order to preclude any punishment that would be a sure sign of very deep wrongdoing. As a result, everybody seemed to have forgotten that the four friends had received detention while looking for the book, and have dropped the assumption that they were infatuated with dark magic.
Paragraph 14 : Melusine And Tracy
The school learned more, this time while outside the classrooms. Slytherin's Melusine Datts and Hufflepuff's Tracy Cobber had teamed up to play the trick on Arthur Fosty and Douglas Poofer. Cobber and Datts had been friends since their second day at Hogwarts. Datts had talked about her disapproval following Fosty's attack on a fellow Slytherin, and Cobber, a Hufflepuff who valued loyalty more than hard work, felt the betrayal still more disgusting than most Slytherins. Both had agreed that they had to do something to send the two lazy, cynical boys a simple message : take care of your own defects instead of looking down on the others because you feel they have some. Given that the main defects of the two boys translated into cheating at essays, the two girls had decided to leverage this vile habit in order to exact revenge on behalf of Ann. The general opinion among Hufflepuffs when they caught wind of this backstory was that Cobber had acted in a spiritful, decent and generous way, and that her Slytherin friend had done the right thing. Reactions were more mixed in the Slytherin Common Room. Besides Fosty and Poofer who were already plotting their own revenge, some considered that things had gone too far, and that neither Cobber nor Datts should have entered this cycle of vendettas. A bigger number of Slytherins thought that Fosty and Poofer had gotten what they deserved. Yes, Slytherins traditionally valued resourcefulness over ethics, high goals over respectable means, but choosing the fast and easy track all the time would not cut it. This was actually a very prevalent opinion among the Slytherins who had a strong penchant for dark magic. Their mindset revolved around the notion that to achieve great things, having a deep knowledge and understanding of both ordinary and dark magic was necessary, and that therefore it was indispensable to study seriously. Good marks without cheating tricks were the path towards the satisfaction of their ambitions. After all, Lord Voldemort had been an excellent student at Hogwarts, possibly the best in decades. And disparaging the others was in their mind a useless tactic. Many of them were convinced that the best representatives of dark magic, especially Lord Voldemort and Gellert Grindelwald, had failed because they had underestimated the ordinary magic of do-gooders.
Paragraph 15 : Howeswold, Walth & Foames
Judith reminded herself of how much had happened recently. Arthur Fosty and Douglas Poofer had played a trick on them, and in return, they got pranked when their ink changed forms from text to shapeless liquid. As a result of the trick, she had become friend with three very different people, and they had devised a way of communicating through embroidering messages. Sigismond was lucky, he was the one who had the right to embroider in gold threads. Martin Hift's father had gone broke, and the four friends had been responsible for a duel after which this Bethany girl had found it fitting to tell Deborah about this strange room with golden dust. At that point, Judith's line of thought derailed, and she started linking the dots. She sat up in her bed. Sigismond was using gold to seam his messages, and there was gold dust in that mysterious hall. What if the pile of gold had been formerly some text written in gold ? Everything was making sense. The walls were smooth because they were supposed to be covered with text. Tracy Cobber and Melusine Datts had used some spell to turn the text from the two boys' essays back into their meaningless primary good, ink. There had to be a spell to reverse this effect. Judith barely slept that night. She was eager to tell the three others what she had deduced. However, it was night, the others were most likely sleeping, and there was just not enough space on the back of the ties to explain with copper threads her rationale and not look crazy. She thought over and over about her seemingly brilliant conclusion, trying to imagine the reaction of Ann, Sigismond and Eleanor. She opened a drawer near her bed, pulled from it an empty parchment, cast in a whisper a spell, and the timetable of her three friends appeared on the parchment. Judith examined the schedules to determine the optimal path for her to be able to get to each of the three others as early as possible, taking into account her own classes, those of the three, the distance between her own classrooms and those where the three would be, and the time needed to go from her location at different times of the day to that where each of the three would be at the same time. Thus, the following day, at 7.52am, she was able to meet Sigismond. Both she and Sigismond would have their lessons in almost neighbouring classrooms at eight o'clock. Just as she expected, Sigismond didn't react very much, and just said
Yeah, that looks right
before raising his eyes towards the ceiling, deep in thought. Judith didn't wait for further response from Sigismond, and went to her classroom, where she followed very absent-mindedly the lesson. Her brains could only focus on her finding. She knew that after this class, she would have to run to reach Ann's classroom before going to her own next lesson. Eleanor would not be in the castle this morning, since she had Herbology in the greenhouses first, and Care of Magical Creatures second. Therefore, Judith would get feedback from Ann at the break between this class and the next one, and from Eleanor at lunch. What Judith had forgotten to factor in was the fact that a sizable bunch of second-year Gryffindors and Slytherins coming from the Astronomy Tower would run into a crowd of sixth-year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws going in the opposite way on the third floor, in a corridor through which Judith had elected to make her way to Ann's classroom. On paper, it was the only route short enough for Judith to reach Ann's location before being able to get to her own. Actually, Judith lost two whole minutes in the mix of Gryffindors, Slytherins and Ravenclaws who were trying just like her to force their passage on this damned third floor. Judith made use of her short stature to extract herself from the pack in the middle of sharp remarks by dumbfounded members of the three other Houses, in the style of 'What's a Hufflepuff doing in our midst, it's already difficult to navigate this traffic jam implying three different Houses, we don't need the fourth one at this stage'. Then she ran flat out to her destination, but was just in time to see Ann entering Professor Binns' class. Judith was slightly disappointed, but nothing could markedly dampen her spirits. For the second time in the morning, she went to attend a class during which she was mostly looking at the clock, hardly hearing anything about the Muggle Studies lesson that was about televisions. When at last this one ended, she gathered her belongings and put them into her bag at top speed, and ran downstairs to the Great Hall. On arriving at the large doors, she scanned the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables, and was able to see mostly empty tables. Not discouraged in the least, she went to sit at the end of the Hufflepuff table that was close to the doors, in order to be able to spot Eleanor and Ann as quickly as possible when they would reach the Great Hall. She sat there staring at the doors, not eating anything, till Ann showed up. Judith leapt to her feet, and went to tell her excitedly the idea she had come up with during the previous night. Ann was perplexed :
This is really an appealing theory, but it is completely unrelated to the book
Judith had not expected this. She was looking for a reply that would make Ann's point moot, when Eleanor herself joined the two girls. Judith repeated for the third time in four hours her reasoning, and both she and Ann waited for Eleanor to digest the intertwining bits of information that made up Judith's theory. Eleanor smiled, and said :
That's worth a try
Ann interjected :
But that has nothing to do with the book. Is it that important ?
Eleanor replied :
Maybe it's not as important as the book, but that's an opportunity to make your friend shine. That is sufficient to me. By the way, didn't you say when we first met in the Friends' Room that you were after the book because you were looking for adventure ? Following this lead would probably be closer to an adventure than writing essays
Judith was beaming. For the first time, her typical life at home with her rigid parents looked like nothing more than memories. She felt rid from the paternal pressure, without having ever clashed with her parents. She thought, maybe that was what 'growing up' meant. Sigismond was last to arrive in the Great Hall, being the least impatient of them all. Soon, they were all set. The following weekend, they would prove or disprove Judith's theory. Ann, being in Slytherin, would ask Melusine Datts what was the spell she had used to collect Arthur and Douglas' essays' ink, and if she knew the counter spell. Eleanor would meet Bethany Radote and hopefully convince her to bring them through Side-Along Apparition to the place where she and the rest of her family had spotted the ruined castle. There, Bethany's father would be waiting for them, ready to perform the magic they weren't allowed to do outside school. At the end of the day, Ann had already transferred through embroidery to the three others five messages :
They used Extractum
Opposite is Reforma
There is an additional subtlety though
For Reforma to work, one needs to picture…
The form one wants the substance to take
On Saturday, the four of them met with Bethany Radote near the lake. This time, they would walk on the bank of the lake that was opposite to the one near which they had held their meetings. For they didn't want to disclose their historical gathering spot, that was synonymous with memories only the four of them shared. It was raining, and they hoped the weather would be better at their destination. They had packed a few things in case their trip would convert itself into an adventure. An expanding bag contained food for one day, a tent and spare clothes. Ann couldn't help but tease Judith :
I hope you didn't forget your Floo powder at home
Judith answered casually :
I still have some. When one can't Apparate, it's nice to have this kind of stuff ready
Ann replied,
Sure. Chimneys grow naturally in the middle of nowhere
The three others - Eleanor, Sigismond and Bethany - being ready and waiting for them, Ann and Judith stopped sparring. The five of them made their way along the muddy side of the lake. They reached the limits of Hogwarts' grounds, gathered round Bethany, the four friends gripped a bit of one of Bethany's arms, and off they were. They reached a hilly part of the countryside, where it was raining too at the moment, and atop one of the hills stood the medieval-looking construction. The remains of the surrounding walls were more or less high depending on the location. This made for an odd visual effect. At some points, the wall had collapsed and was only two or three meters high. At other points, the wall was complete, meaning you could see side by side a collapsed portion, then a portion complete with rampart walk spreading horizontally over two meters, then another collapsed portion. They met Bethany's father, and after Bethany had made the introductions, the six of them walked towards the ruined gate, entered the yard, and saw standing next to the back wall a tall hall that didn't seem to have taken any damage from time nor aggression. The hall was so high that at some places, it was much higher than the remains of the wall next to it, although it was apparent that initially, the hall's ceiling had been lower than the top of the rampart walk. Near the top of the hall, on either side of it, were two openings that had probably been connecting the highest point of the enclosed room with stairs leading to the rampart walk. All six of them went straight to the wooden door of the hall. The wood was pristine, which was the first hint at the fact that the place had been magically self-maintained. The four friends expected Bethany's father to cast 'Alohomora', but instead, Bethany herself just pushed open the high doors. Magic probably also played a role in this. If the huge doors had not been made as light as feather through magic, Bethany could never have moved them over a single inch. They reached the inside, and here it was, the stack of golden dust. The walls were so smooth it was impossible to discern the pattern of a single stone. Because of this, the hall seemed to have been carved and polished from a huge rock. The two openings that had in long gone days been doors allowing men to move in and out of a top floor bordered by ornate railings, were now just rectangles letting daylight come in and help people appreciate the architecture of the inside. Moreover, the intact hall, or rather the intact ceiling of the hall shielded them now from the rain, that was only passing through the two openings, high over them, at the back of the hall. They suspected once again magic had been used to protect the hall from damages that could have been caused by water and more generally humidity, since the rain that was falling through the openings vanished before reaching the floor. The floor, contrary to the walls, showed the boundaries of each stone that composed it. Bethany's father moved closer to the heap of gold, and pronounced
Reforma
The gold particles flew slowly in the air towards the walls, and one could soon read on the smooth walls, in huge letters of pure gold :
Werther Gorth, born in Coventry, had his elf write twelve copies of what a young wizard dedicated to knowing all magic could do to master the finest and subtlest of all, Dark Magic. Out of these twelve copies, three were hidden where Werther Gorth went through his darkest times. He used magic on the copies of his books, so that they would look like Galleons unless a wizard would perform dark magic near them. In this case the copies would appear for what they are. Werther Gorth, when he was close to the darkest of times a human can experience, buried his memories under the church of Tewkes. He passed away on June the third, 977
Ann was the first to react. So as not to be heard by Bethany and her father, she said in a hushed voice to Eleanor
This doesn't make sense at all. It looks like a stupid movie. We went here because Bethany had some weird story about a hall with gold. It is too much coincidental that this story could lead us straight to the book
Eleanor replied :
It's not a coincidence. I drank the Intuition Potion, and the potion directed me towards sending notes to other Ravenclaws. As a result, they went past Gryffindor's Common Room, which triggered the duel. When Deborah won the duel, Bethany went to her about her gold filled story while I was in the room. To summarise, the potion kind of knew that the first step towards accessing this hall connected to the book was to send mysterious notes to other Ravenclaws. In short, the Intuition Potion worked definitely very well. By the way, what's a moovy ?
By that point, everybody apart from the very collected Sigismond, and including Bethany and her father, was excited about the next step, going to Tewkes' church. After an expedited concertation, the five Hogwarts students went to Tewkes thanks to Bethany's father, who had allowed them to Apparate alongside him. Tewkes was a little village, and its church's tower bell was unsurprisingly the tallest building in the town. Therefore they quickly spotted the church, and made their way to it. Bethany cautiously pushed open the church's door, and caught a glimpse of what was inside. She said
Nobody's there
and opened the door wide. The group went inside, and Sigismond closed the door behind them. Ann noted :
Of course. Only a dark wizard would display a disrespect towards ethics so deep. Burying the memory of his misdeeds under a sacred place
Bethany's father moved to the center of the church, and with deferential solemnity, used 'Wingardium Leviosa' on the tiles. When he attempted to do it on the tile in front of the short stairs leading to the altar, they were able to see a pit, and a second tile moved up from the bottom of the pit. When it reached the surface, Ann set foot over it. The tile started moving down the pit, engulfing Ann whose sight quickly disappeared. When the tile moved up again, they heard Ann's voice, shouting
It's OK
She couldn't use a spell like 'Sonorus', since she was not at school. One by one, they went down the pit, while Bethany's father was keeping the stone that had hidden the pit far above them. He finally went down himself, letting the stone gently rest on the top of the pit, like it probably had for a few centuries, unless of course somebody had visited this place before them not too long ago. What they discovered was a second hall, this time lit by torches. Only one architectural element was present there : a basic stoned fountain that was permanently delivering water to its basin, the liquid splashing where it fell. Judith said :
Where are the memories?
Mr. Radote answered this without opening his mouth : he stepped into the basin. The others followed suit, Judith and Sigismond being the last ones. Their surroundings dissolved into a part of the British countryside. Just one wizard was there, on his way to a neighbouring stoned house. He had dark hair and a pale face, was young, and was wearing navy blue robes. The group followed him, guessing he was Werther Gorth. Gorth knocked on the door, and a few instants later, an older, bearded wizard with long brown hair sporting black robes opened the door. Gorth followed him, and they both sat at the table of the wide room they had entered. The older wizard's voice was imbued with seriousness, and he sounded slightly tired.
What kind of knowledge are you seeking ?
he asked, letting the words come out somewhat slowly. Gorth replied, in an excited voice
Everything that can make me known one day for my science
The older wizard paused, then summarised :
You want to be famous, in other terms. Many wizards are hugely knowledgeable, but have not achieved celebrity
Gorth went on :
You are famous yourself
The older wizard explained :
I wouldn't go as far as to say I am famous. I acquired a reputation because I taught wizards who ended up being themselves reputable, with the consequence that their word and their recommendation carried more weight than average
The environment dissolved this time in the inside of an inn. A few wizards and witches were there. Gorth was sitting at a table face to face with a wizard in his thirties, blond with green eyes. Both had in front of them a foamy beverage. The wizard opposite Gorth took a sip from his glass. He wore green robes dotted with elaborate golden shapes representing tiny magical creatures, and a thin silvery necklace that featured the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. Gorth expressed, in a seemingly concerned voice, what he had on his mind :
You are known for teaching dark magic. Does it bother you?
The flamboyant wizard answered, with a chanting voice :
Dark magic is dark only if you use it for wrong purposes. One can't possibly expect to be learned if one doesn't know a lot of it. Dark magic makes up for a significant part of all magic. A fantastic amount of formidable things, including in ordinary magic, come from dark magic
The wizard was clearly passionate and eager to teach. The not so busy tavern turned into a room of a house littered with bottles, tools, cauldrons, books, ornate furniture and piles of books, where both Gorth and his new teacher were standing, next to a steamy cauldron.
Is it ready yet?
Gorth asked. The teacher answered, delighted :
Yes, yes. It is. Do not forget to bring tomorrow the three Galleons for the ingredients
Gorth nodded, took a vial and a ladle, collected with the ladle the equivalent of a few drops of the potion that was inside the cauldron, and poured the ladle's content into the vial. Then he left the house with the vial in his hand. The group found itself next in what looked like a nearby town. Gorth had probably Apparated there. The noise of the humdrum reached the ears of the group. Gorth went to the well, turned around to check if someone was looking at the well, then promptly emptied the vial in the well. Suddenly, the shapes of the landscape and of the town's buildings changed. Most of them had fallen in disrepair. The town was now probably uninhabited. No noise could any longer be heard. Gorth entered a derelict house, and closed the door behind him. A very shiny figure was there. The ghost's head turned around. She was an old woman, a sad expression on her face.
Why are you here? Nobody comes these days
she asked. Gorth replied casually :
I went to see if the rumour was true. People from this town who die always end up as ghosts haunting the place
The old woman was sharp enough to notice something was funny about Gorth being there :
Everyone flees when they see ghosts. Why don't you do the same ?
Gorth obliged, enjoying a conversation that was harmless to him, given that he knew no ghost could ever wound him :
It is usual for people of my trade to see ghosts. Because I am a wizard
The action cut to the house of Gorth's preceptor. The latter had clearly aged, and taken on quite a few pounds. The house was still littered with objects and ingredients, but the quantity of objects made of gold or silver had greatly increased. Gorth's teacher was saying :
I need more. I have given you so much. I have made you a brilliant wizard, Werther
Gorth coldly retorted :
I can't give you more. Sell your flashy diamond-laden alambics if you need monies
The bitter remark made Gorth's master's realise his hopes of convincing his disciple to pay up were now vain :
You are breaking my heart. Such a cruel sentence for so much generosity
Then, in the following minute, progressively, the master's mood started changing, as if memories of a long forgotten life when he had to prove his skills had reached the surface. He took out his wand and slowly raised it. Gorth mirrored the move. He thrust the hand carrying the wand forward, and his master fell on the floor in a lump, unconscious, bloody gashes open on his chest. Gorth then extracted an expanding bag from his robes, and undertook the plundering of his former master's house. No valuable object had been left when Gorth departed without a word for the source of most of his abilities. The following memory showed Gorth walking in an austere manor, on the lookout for something. The walls were made of gray stone, and the long and wide corridor where Gorth was had not a single piece of furniture. In spite of the numerous windows that should have been able to let a lot of light in, the corridor was surprisingly dark, as if magic had been used to counteract the openings' effect. He arrived in front of a door, raised his wand, and the group heard a clicking noise. Gorth entered the room behind the door, the group of six on his tail. He cast a glance around the room, and the invisible others imitated him. The room held in its center a big but unadorned table, and the portrait of a severe-looking witch clad in white robes. Surprisingly, Gorth walked alongside the wall to which the door belonged, went to the corner, and crouched. He whispered something, and the stone making up the corner, just above the floor, disappeared, replaced by a completely dark cube. Gorth moved his hand close to the cube, and a surreal black dust started whirling around it, while a thumping sound came from the cube. Gorth seized the object, the dust continued circling the cube and the sound became louder and louder. Gorth said 'Muffliato', the sound became much lower, and he put the cube in his pocket. The scene then transitioned to the point where Gorth was in another room of what looked like the very same manor. He was not alone. A small wizard was standing in the middle of the room, that featured the characteristical gray-stone walls and basic-looking wooden furniture. Gorth asked the other wizard, with badly conceited glee :
Why is the owner selling ?
Then the answer came :
The former owner lost his mind, and passed away. A devastating loss, I heard
The thread of memories continued in, this time, a hilly landscape where Gorth, in crimson robes, was watching a young maid, who was washing her linen by hand under the roof of a wooden construction that was erected over a water-filled wide basin, which was connected to a neighbouring river. The maid had long blond braided hair and blue eyes. Gorth stared at the maid. The group of six was stuck in this memory where Gorth was gazing for a long time at a young woman. Ann noted that the wizard was acting as if he had been the one that had been enchanted. Then, finally, Gorth made his mind and walked down to the washhouse. Once at the other side of the basin, he told the maid :
You know, I don't need all this effort to wash clothes
The maid was witty and replied in a cheerful voice, loud enough to make it possible for Gorth to hear it distinctly across the basin and over the noise of the water flowing from the river to the washhouse :
You shouldn't woo a woman by first alluding to your wife
Ann sighed :
Damn tenth century
Gorth went around the basin, towards the maid. The maid, seeing this, paused and quizzically watched him closing in on her. When he was six feet away from the maid, he took his wand out of his pocket, raised it, directed it at the linen that the maid was holding in her hands. The linen jumped out of the maid's grasp, the maid flinched, Gorth conjured a brush, and the brush started scratching the linen in the air. Then, the linen dived in the water, before coming back up to get once more scratched by the brush. The maid was taken aback. Gorth went on :
Extend your finger to my arm, and I will show you more of this
Gorth, the maid, and the six onlookers felt on the spot transported to the manor, that had undergone quite a transformation. But what they noticed first was the maid's reaction. She landed on all fours on arrival and threw up. Gorth said
It's often like this the first time
He conjured a glass filled with water that hovered in mid-air, and wiped instantly the floor clean with a spell. He extended his hand towards the maid, who used it to get up, and proceeded to drink the water from the glass which kept refilling itself. The end of this action allowed the group to look around and see for a brief moment that portraits, ornate furniture and decorative objects had been added to the little castle by the bucket. Gorth had though kept in place the magical mechanism that prevented the brightness of the sunlight from entering massively through the windows, and installed torches instead. The maid marveled at the few moving paintings, went to one of them, and started conversing with the person in the portrait, a wizard in purple robes that was busy twirling his wand. They then jumped in the timeline, and the decor once more evolved. They were back in the hilly landscape where Gorth had obviously fallen in love with the maid, but this time they were in a village. The maid was walking alongside a sturdy, brown-haired young man with half-long hair. Gorth walked briskly towards the pair. He was clearly disturbed.
What is this man ?
he sputtered to the maid on reaching them. The maid, who was sensing that Gorth was about to make a scene, worded diplomatically but sternly her answer :
This is Walter. I and my parents chose him to be my fiancé
Gorth replied, or rather retaliated, with blame :
I am the only one who can give you a comfortable life. What can this peasant bring I can't ?
The maid, patiently but concisely, explained :
You never let me know you. In the meantime, I got to know Walter. And I was able to make sure he would be a good man. On the other hand, what you just did shows me that, even if I had let you open yourself to me, I would still have seen in you not as good a man as Walter
There was nothing to be done. Neither - ill-acquired - wealth nor magic could match the mundane but honest personality that this Walter was bringing as a gold-less dowry. The maid concluded :
Now, please excuse us
Both she and her fiancé moved away from Gorth. But now rage was swelling in him. He kept looking at the pair, who had their back on him. He just had to aim true. He cast a spell under his breath. A green light flashed around the fiancé, who fell on the ground, eyes wide open. Gorth turned around, and walked calmly away, sad resignation on his face. The maid kneeled near Walter, and kept telling him, panicked :
Say something
Then, after around a minute, anger came to her. She cursed Gorth better than a magical woman could have done, shouting in his direction :
More than any witch, you deserve to burn at the stake
But Gorth had his back on the maid, on the town. And on the hope he had had. The hilly countryside dissolved to the now familiar castle. Wizards and witches were populating it. Gorth was now visibly close to his fifties, and was walking in one of the corridors of his manor. He waved his wand, and a large door opened in front of him. A young wizard, who like Gorth had dark hair, but was smaller than him, was already sitting near a table, eating in a laid-back manner fruits from a silver plate in front of him. Gorth went to sit opposite him. Judith noted that this time, Gorth's voice was as serious and tired as that of the first wizard Gorth had approached as a potential master. He asked :
James, Why are you doing this ?
And James answered :
You need students to live. I also need students to live. I was your student, and a quite dedicated one. None of the students who are now my students and were once your students can complain about the quality of my teachings. And Mark does the same
Gorth, clearly frustrated, stated his mind :
Poaching my students is not the way to go. What is important, more than the magic you use, whether dark or ordinary, is the purpose. The purpose should not be wrong. Students are leaving the castle. They are scared. You and your students are busy injuring Mark's students, who are themselves very intent on injuring your own students, who are supposed to be my students
Eleanor thought :
He knows he is in the same situation as his own master was when they dueled
The scenery changed again. The background was still the manor, but it was empty of people and of magical objects. Gorth, still tired, was answering questions from a witch who wore a lilac dress.
Why are you selling, Mr. Gorth ?
And Gorth replied, with cold irony
A devastating loss
They again underwent a location transfer. Gorth, wearing black robes, was exiting a tiny house. He had grown still much older. He was now maybe sixty. His house was part of a wizarding village : everybody in the streets wore robes, and many people wore pointed hats, too. Gorth then headed towards the forest, and the six followed him. A few dozens of yard into the forest, which held quite a few magical creatures, Gorth met a young wizard. The path was narrow, and Gorth apparently expected the younger wizard to let way. But instead, the young wizard stopped in front of Gorth, and started waiting for Gorth himself to move out of the way. They were in kind of a stalemate, and quickly it became obvious why. The young wizard voiced his mind :
Move on, old man. You may be knowledgeable and powerful, but you are overall a failure. Move
Gorth outpaced the young wizard. He swiftly took out his wand, and cast him a spell. The young wizard opened his mouth, and it remained open. He became completely expressionless, and unable to speak. Gorth moved the now still body of the young wizard away from the path forcefully with his hand, and the young man fell as if he had lost any force to stand, without even putting his hands in front of him to alleviate the effects of the fall. When he hit the mixture of grass, moss, and mud that made up the forest's floor, he didn't yell or even utter a sound. Gorth resumed his walk in the forest. He walked still a few yards, then changed his mind. He turned around, and retraced his steps. The group followed him once again. This time, he went to his house. The group entered the house, that was very modestly furnished. However, Gorth was not ending his life alone, technically speaking. He now had a house-elf. Gorth started writing. On top of the page, a simple title : 'How To Become a Dark Wizard'. Once again, the surroundings changed, but slightly. They were still in Gorth's house, the inside of which had a bit evolved. It was now filled with stacks of parchment and quills, and bottles of ink. Gorth cast a spell on the heap of parchments that sat on his desk, and a binding appeared along the side of the parchments. He then addressed his elf :
Holly, I need you to make twelve copies of this book. Out of these, three of them will be hidden in specific places. One in Howeswold, where was my old manor, and where I stole a most fascinating magical object. One in Walth, where I killed the only Muggle who was able to thwart me. And one here in Foames, where I cursed into insanity a young wizard who spoke the truth, but in a most impudent way. On completing each copy, you will have to give me the copy temporarily for me to perform some special magic on it. As for the nine last copies, I will let you choose the places where you want to hide them
Paragraph 16 : The Builder
The string of memories ended there, for they could now see the fountain in which they had set foot earlier, and the empty room beneath the floor of Tewkes' church the door of which was leading to the magical lift. They waited a fraction of a minute, waiting for something more to happen, but that was ostensibly it. They climbed above the railing of the basin, and made way, one by one and in silence, towards the lift. One after the other, they ascended the pit till reaching ground floor. This time, Mr. Radote seemed uncertain about what they should do next. Eleanor, however, had something on her mind. She asked Mr. Radote to bring them back to the hall where they had changed the stack of gold dust into letters. Although Mr. Radote was surprised, he didn't object to this initiative, and the four others, seeing that the only adult with them had nothing to say about this suggestion, didn't say anything against it either. They pressed their fingers onto Mr. Radote's arms, and Apparated back in the smooth-walled room. The message was still visible on the surfaces, though dusk's dim light made it harder to read it, and rain was over. Eleanor went to Mr. Radote, and whispered something in his ear, while he was bending his head forward to make his ears level with the mouth of the tiny Eleanor. When she had finished conveying her plan to Mr. Radote, he raised his wand, and cast the spell 'Extractum'. The golden letters flew back to the middle of the room, piling up. Ann frowned. Then, Mr. Radote walked towards the gold stack, bent over once more, moved his wand close to it. As expected, the pile of gold turned into a heap of bone powder, and a hollow sound resonated in the high-ceiling hall, as if a person was whining and howling an indiscriminate sentence. Mr. Radote kept his wand near the sinister accumulation, and muttered 'Reforma'. The sound stopped, and the gray-white powder flew to the walls, and the shapes it adopted made another message apparent - the powder had been enchanted to glow in the dark.
I, Aethelred of Thrall, born in the year 1403, devoted my life to Dark Magic. Having retrieved a copy of Werther Gorth's book which mentioned the fountain of memories beneath Tewkes' church, I decided to build this Hall as a tribute to Gorth's book's monumental influence on Modern Dark Magic. 1468
They looked silently at the inscription for a few minutes, trying to take in everything they had learned in the afternoon. Ann broke the silence, and said in an excited voice, loud enough for the rest of the group to hear - all of them were scattered across the immense hall
We now have so many important indications. We know that the book is hidden in the guise of a Galleon, we know broadly where some of the copies were initially located, and we know that this guy of Thrall had it at some point
Mr. Radote crushed these ecstatic expectations :
We overall know that to make this book reveal its true nature, one has to use dark magic. You have done very well, all of you. You have solved as much as students can solve. Now, I hope you won't be foolish enough to go further, and that, instead, you will defer the rest of this quest to wizards who are able to handle it. I will send an owl to Hogwarts' administration so that they can find a way to make your hard work and dedication matter
On the one hand, the four friends were disappointed of having involved an adult who in the span of a few hours went from being extremely helpful to signaling the end of the process they had started a month ago. On the other hand, and even the hot-tempered Ann had to acknowledge it, Mr. Radote was appreciative of what they had done, which was a welcome novelty. Therefore they all agreed - Ann grumpily and the three others serenely - that they would relinquish the product of their efforts to the school's administration. Eleanor thought it was a clever move in the perspective of making students and teachers alike realise that the four friends were not after dark magic itself. Judith still wanted to take advantage of their last moments at the helm of their investigation. She proposed to sit, and have dinner together in this big hall before going back to Hogwarts. All felt it was a fitting concluding step for this day. They thus spent two hours talking about life at Hogwarts - the four friends could not share much about what they had done regarding the search for the book because it mostly implied actions they wished they would remain secret - eating some of the sandwiches they had brought just in case in the eerie glimmer of both the glowing message made up of bone powder, and the moonlight. Mr. Radote himself had a few nice stories about his time at the wizarding and witchcraft school. When they all had finished their meal and that they had all fallen silent, Mr. Radote muttered 'Extractum', and the bone dust flew back to the middle of the room, before turning on the spot into gold dust, since Mr. Radote was away from the stack. The five students pressed for the last time their fingers onto Mr. Radote's arms, and they all Apparated at the tip of the lake. They walked towards the castle, and when they reached Hogwart's grounds' limits, they all raised their wands up in the air, and cast 'Lumos' to make the trip back to the castle easier and safer : moonlight was scarce here, because of the presence of clouds. When they arrived in front of the gates, Filch went to enquire about the late comers, ready to scold them. Then he saw Mr. Radote, who knew very well how to deal with Filch and Mrs. Norris, and very quickly, the six of them were able to enter the castle without any kind of nasty remark by Filch. Mr. Radote then asked Filch to issue the five students a pass, so that they could go back to their dormitories without getting detention. Filch grumpily obliged. Mr. Radote added to Bethany, Ann, Judith, Sigismond and Eleanor :
Off you go
And the five of them, now so tired they were glad to go to bed, dispersed on their route to their Common Room.
Paragraph 17 : Moral Fiber
The four friends went back to their usual students' schedules. They spent a lot of time communicating through embroidery, but they had too much to talk about for this kind of communication to be convenient. Therefore, they mostly embroidered messages aiming at organising in-person meetings. They met sometimes at their usual spot near the lake, typically when the weather was fair and they had enough time to walk to and back from there. At other moments, they met in either the Friends' Room or the Arch Room - the Flitwick Room was not up for grabs at any given time, as per their agreement with Professor Flitwick. About ten days after the fateful events at the smooth-walled Hall, something unexpected hit them. Their respective Heads of House gave them a Summons to Professor Dumbledore's office, for the very same day, at 6pm. Judith and Sigismond realised too late that they should have asked their Head of House where the Headmaster's office was, since none of the four friends actually knew where to find it. Ann and Eleanor, though, had been quick enough to understand immediately, on receiving the Summons, that they had to ask their Head of House where the dreaded office was. After some embroidery from Ann and Eleanor to Judith and Sigismond, all four of them were set. They met at the imposed time at the right place. Professor Sprout was there. She said :
Hair-dryer
and the spiraling staircase leading to Professor Dumbledore's office appeared. The four friends set foot on one step of the staircase each, and it started its circular ascension. When they reached the door on top of the ride, Ann knocked on the door, which shortly after, magically opened. They took a look at the very diverse array of objects that laid here and there, but soon Professor Dumbledore required them to come to his desk. Worried, they moved slowly towards the desk. They ended up in a line facing Professor Dumbledore from across his desk. Professor Dumbledore was straight to the point :
On the night when Mr. Radote led you to the castle more than a week ago, I was able to meet him. On hearing his description of the situation, I sent an owl to the Ministry. Aurors were able to locate a few copies of this book so many of you have tried to lay their hands on in the past month and a half. Furthermore, a Gryffindor went to me, explaining that the rumour about the book originated from him. He apparently had understood that a brave heart does not always seek life-threatening adventure, but sometimes barely has to face a possibly unkind judgment. Now, just like Mr. Radote told you, I urge you not to take any more action regarding the book
Professor Dumbledore paused, apparently waiting to read on their faces expressions that would show how seriously they were about to follow his latest instruction. The four friends kept respectfully silent. Looking satisfied, Professor Dumbledore put an end to the short interview :
You may go
The four students departed silently.
Paragraph 18 : Epilogue
The four friends had gathered at their sand-less, grassy beach near the lake. Judith said :
It feels bittersweet. We did a lot, but we never ever saw a copy of that book
Sigismond, in his typical dreamy voice, made one of his rare statements :
The Intuition Potion brought us far
Ann retorted :
With a lot of setbacks
Judith asked :
What should we focus on now ?
Ann answered :
Classes for once, I guess. What options are you going to pick next year Judith ?
Judith replied :
Legilimency I think
Ann commented :
I heard it's not easy
Eleanor elaborated :
I don't have much skill but I also picked Legilimency and I got the hang of it
Ann noted :
You don't seem disappointed in the least
Eleanor concluded :
What I like is having friends and learning stuff. I got new friends and fresh knowledge. Now I just hope I will not lose any of those
Part 2 : Who Must Be Named
Paragraph 1 - 19 : Songer's Dreams
During a few days, the four friends were able to enjoy a bit of quietness. Little did they know it would not last. One fine day at this period, Eleanor went down to Ravenclaw's Common Room to find Edward Songer, sitting there alone at a table, with absolutely nothing in front of him. He was most certainly not waiting, and it was much more likely that he was deep in thought, focusing on something worrying, since his face displayed the expression of someone preoccupied. Eleanor's first assumption was that Edward was still troubled by the suspicion that he was a dark wizard in the making. She then also hypothesised that he could be wondering if he was on some dangerous path. On the one hand she wanted to leave Edward think through his problems alone, on the other hand she felt an urge to talk to Edward. She went to the other side of the table where he was sitting, and she sat herself opposite Edward. The latter noticed the move, raised his eyes, looked at Eleanor and reacted in a dull voice :
Ah, you are here. What's up ?
Eleanor smiled at him, and replied :
I was about to ask you more or less the same
Edward spent a few seconds deciding whether he should or not let somebody in on his hassle. He opted to be upfront about it, and told Eleanor that he was having some dreams that were probably about events actually taking place, since in those dreams, people would always have a very consistent course of action, very precisely defined and distinctive features, and would always look exactly the same. In addition, he could remember without any problem all the details of these dreams. His latest such dream was in two parts, and about a man and a woman. The first part was taking place in what was obviously their home. The woman had her wand raised in her hand, was repeatedly uttering the name of a spell to affix a parchment onto the wall, but the parchment would stop its flight mid-air. The witch kept trying, but the result would always be the same. The man, seeing what was happening, looked surprised and worried, while the woman looked at a loss. In the second part, the man and the woman were in a white-walled room with a wizard that had to be a physician, for he told the woman, in a gentle voice :
You are losing your abilities to use your powers. It's rare, but it can happen. I can't help you though, because no one has ever come up with an acceptable cure to this kind of sickness. There are ways to try and fight this condition, but they are far too risky for a reputable man of the art to propose them. What we can do is a psychological cure to cope with the feeling of loss that this disease entails. We can recommend specialists who will explain to you how Muggles solve problems without magic, so that you can remain independent, and maintain a better morale
Edward had a sad look. He said the last image he had of this dream was the man and the woman holding hands in this white room, and the woman crying. Eleanor paused, then intended to conclude the conversation gently :
I think it was the right decision to share this story with someone. I know it's easier to tell than to achieve, but the fact you can have these sad dreams should not make you afraid of going to bed
Edward added, much to Eleanor's surprise :
You remember, the spell in Flitwick's class that relied on dark magic ?
Eleanor answered :
Yes, of course. But we are now fairly sure that it had nothing to do with who you actually are. I mean, these accusations that you could have had in your hands the book were ludicrous
Edward disregarded Eleanor's kind reassurance, for he was eager to go on :
I saw this spell in one of those dreams
Eleanor was taken aback, but she almost instantly came up with a line of thought that might help Edward :
Aren't some of these dreams happy, positive ?
Edward replied :
Yes, sometimes
Eleanor finally summarised her conclusions :
Focus on those. These dreams bring you knowledge. Just like any piece of knowledge, you have to sort it into good and bad. With growing experience, you will do better and better
Edward started taking in and pondering what Eleanor had said. At long last - it is not easy for a teenage boy to acknowledge a teenage girl is right - he said :
Sure…Err, thanks. Good night
He stood up, pivoted on his heels, and went straight to the boys' dormitories.
Paragraph 2 - 20 : The Ogre's Buffet
As soon as she could, Eleanor embroidered a message requesting all four of them to convene, so that she could narrate Edward's story to Ann, Judith and Sigismond. They ended up using the Arch Room. Ann noticed it was unusual for Eleanor to be impatient to do what amounted for short to gossiping. While she was at it, she also felt it was strange for Eleanor to have gone out of her way in order to interview Edward Songer. The Eleanor she knew was proficient enough in social relationships not to land herself in a situation where she could be unceremoniously asked to take care of her own business. In Ann's opinion, it was not normal for a depressive boy to open up to a girl almost spontaneously - right, Eleanor had made the first move, but Edward Songer had been very talkative. However, she quickly had a problem on her hands. Sigismond had also decided to act up and to plead lyrically for the use of the Intuition Potion :
It's exactly what the potion is for. Finding a solution that would otherwise be out of reach. We could identify something that researchers have missed, some hint directing us to a cure
In Ann's view, nothing was going right. Of course, she should have expected that a boy like Sigismond, who was out of touch with the actual world, would show tendencies towards idealism. But having Eleanor and Sigismond both behaving oddly was upsetting the balance in the group. Eleanor, having started the whole thing, was not going to backtrack. Ann was now at the mercy of Judith's opinion. If the latter followed Eleanor and Sigismond, she would be the only one disagreeing with the three others. This didn't fail to happen : Judith nodded at Sigismond's proposal. Ann retorted, in a way that was probably so sharp that Eleanor wouldn't miss the cue indicating Ann's underlying mood, that since Sigismond was so enthusiastic, he should be the one drinking the Intuition Potion. Sigismond, who of course had not detected Ann's frustration, just replied :
Then, that's settled
So they spent a few days brewing the potion in this very same Arch Room, as they had done before. Ann, just like the others, was supposed to supervise the brewing by whoever among the three others was tasked at the time with adding the ingredients. She tried to be somewhat serious in this endeavour, but her disinterest showed insofar as she instead was only casting cursory glances. And when it was her turn to add the ingredients, adjust the heat of the fire, or stir the mixture, she was distracted. As a result, Eleanor had to kindly put her back on track from time to time. Then, on Saturday morning, the grand moment came : Sigismond, who clearly had in mind the image of Eleanor drinking the potion with disgust about fourty days ago, slowly and cautiously raised to his lips the as always purple beverage, and took sip after sip of it. His face's features started contorting more and more, and he ended up swallowing in one gulp the remainder of the glass. The effect was immediate : he got on the spot a feeling of retching, opened the mouth wide as if he was about to vomit, and closed his eyes. After some thirty seconds with that sick look on his face, the effects seemed to fade. He conjured water in the glass, swallowed it whole, and waited a few seconds before saying :
We should be going to The Ogre's Buffet this afternoon
Ann asked :
You mean, just after lunch? We won't be hungry any more
This was more of a diversion than a question, since there was an easy fix for this made-up issue. Sigismond answered :
We could skip lunch at the castle and eat it there
Thus, at 2pm, they went to Hogsmeade, where The Ogre's Buffet could be found. For a change, Sigismond was in front of the little pack, and Ann at the rear, where at least her look of resignation could not be noticed by the others. The Ogre's Buffet was a restaurant without waiter, a bit like Hogwarts' Great Hall. However, customers at the Buffet had to use 'Accio' to retrieve their orders. The Buffet's selling point was its speed : it was a wizarding-style fast-food restaurant, with a much better cuisine and higher prices though. The Ogre's Buffet was a French concept, and the first restaurant of this kind had opened in Paris' eighth arrondissement - district if you will - two years ago, under the name 'Buffet de l'Ogre'. Although it was a place to fill your stomach, it wasn't at all laid out like any typical restaurant. First, there was no shopwindow. The building where the entrance was located looked very much like a house : there were rows of normal-sized windows at every floor, and a classical wooden door. Ann had never visited the premises, since she didn't really think she had the budget to eat there. Judith, who liked good food very much, was a regular though. Both Eleanor and Sigismond had tried the service once or twice in the past year. They pushed the door open, and, just as if they had set foot in a mundane house, they could lay their eyes on a dark and wide corridor. Yet, benches ran alongside the walls, and quite a few wizards and witches were already sitting on the benches that were on the right-hand side. In other words, the four friends would have to wait in line. They thus sat next to the wizard farthest from the counter where an employee was greeting and dispatching the guests. Whenever the person at the end of the line was offered to stand by the employee, everybody would move up the line. Soon other wizards and witches arrived and sat on the left of the group, more precisely on Judith's left side. Ann, who was new to the concept and its codes, asked Judith :
Why are there so many people after 2pm ?
And Judith casually answered :
They come for the dessert
Ann complained :
There is quite a lot of people
Judith dismissed Ann's grumpy comment :
I already went there a few times when the benches on both sides were packed. Today is not a busy day
Ann looked up at the ceiling, disheartened. They waited, mostly in silence, and progressively moved towards the counter. When they reached the line's top spots, the employee handed them menus over. Ann was the only one who didn't know what was on offer, and overall, had little idea about the prices, except that they were supposedly a bit too high for her. While she had opened the menu with boredom and hunger on her mind, she hit the roof on reading it. Distraught, she told Eleanor :
The prices are insane. I won't be able to eat enough
Eleanor felt the raw distress in Ann's voice. She put her hand on Ann's shoulder and tried to calm her down :
We will help you with the bill. What do you want ?
Ann was embarrassed, since the items that would please her most were also the most expensive, and she didn't want to profit from her friends. She therefore settled for the basic pizza, thinking that this was the best quantity per pound ratio - Ann was Muggle-born, so she didn't really think in terms of Galleons when it came to money. Eleanor had understood her rationale, and insisted :
Pick whatever you want. Forget the prices
Ann felt at the same time relieved of the pressure and embarrassed to have made her intentions so easy to read. She thought :
Maybe Eleanor used Legilimency. She told us she had picked this subject and that she was more or less competent. Hmm, no. There was no reason for her to use Legilimency at that time
Thus, Ann reread quietly the menu, this time as if it were a list of Christmas gifts to pick from. She started feeling that after all, this second Intuition Potion was not a bad thing. In turn, this prompted her to notice that she was easy to bribe. Maybe because she didn't come from a well-off family. Ann, in an exceedingly merry voice, finally declared she would be happy with goat cheese crêpes. She didn't have any idea about what this fancy dish could taste like, but it seemed she wouldn't be able to try it again any time soon, so it was now or never. Since by that time they were already at the top of the waiting queue, the employee at the counter soon invited them to follow him. They went left, in a perpendicular corridor, and at the corner - this corridor was seemingly going round the inside of the building - the employee raised his wand, and a door opened, unveiling a room lit by one of the windows that they had seen from the outside. The four friends entered and saw more benches going round the table that stood at the center of the room, though these benches were cushioned and clearly more comfortable than those in the waiting corridor. There were little golden bells on the table. Since neither of them wanted to have their back to the window, Ann and Judith sat left of the window, Eleanor and Sigismond opposite. Ann briefly fidgeted with the bell in front of her, looking at it with a puzzled look. Judith explained :
When your bell rings, it means that your order is ready, then you use 'Accio' to fetch your order. There is an opening near the ceiling, you see, and the plate will fly from there to you
Ann's anxiety surged once more :
Hogsmeade is not within the limits of the school. We are not allowed to use magic here
Eleanor replied :
They have a dispensation from the school so that students can eat here, provided that they'd only use 'Accio', and nothing more
Judith supplemented :
I think that some guy at the school Board knows the restaurant's manager
Ann wondered if that was a Houstack rumour, but didn't press on the matter. They started conversing about everyday things, waiting for the dishes to be ready. Ann's bell was first to ring. She took out her wand, looked around, as if expecting to see a Ministry of Magic official Apparate, ready to leap onto her and pin her to the bench because she had used magic outside school, and seeing that nothing of the sort was happening, said 'Accio'. The three others started looking up, at a spot above the door, so Ann turned her gaze towards it, in time to see the plate go out of the opening that was up there, fly over the table, and land vertically in front of her. Ann looked at her dish for a few seconds, clearly not being able to tell what she was actually seeing, before cautiously taking her first bite. Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond didn't have the opportunity to observe Ann trying her life's very first fancy meal, for their own bells started ringing one after the other in quick succession. Judith and Eleanor had gone for pizzas, whereas Sigismond had chosen aligot. They ate in silence, trying to make the most of each of the expensive mouthfuls. Ann ate her crêpes to the last crumb, and had now become completely oblivious to the reason why they were here. Judith, who conversely hadn't lost track of their mission, commented :
Well, nothing happened. Are we supposed to just go back Sigismond ?
Sigismond, who didn't seem bothered by their apparent lack of results, explained :
When I drank the potion, I felt the urge for all of us to go there. But this will to act left me when we entered the room
Eleanor opened her mouth, but no sound was coming out of it. Judith worried :
Eleanor, are you alright ?
Eleanor closed her mouth, waited for a few seconds to elapse, then detailed :
Sigismond was feeling the urge to go here after drinking the potion. And I had decided to try and chat with Edward because I felt the urge to do so. I drank the first Intuition Potion. What if this one was still affecting me? I mean, if I had behaved normally, I would have left Edward alone, lest I could disturb him by starting a conversation with him
Sigismond rephrased Eleanor's reasoning :
So, the first potion would have put you at the right place, at the right time, for you to be able to talk to Edward, and would have motivated you to do something unusual. The first potion's goals were to find the originator of the prank and the book. We already achieved the first goal, meaning that Edward Songer's saddening dreams and me drinking the second potion would be connected to the first book. Which would make sense since we never found a single copy of it. But I think we all agree we should do what we were told by Professor Dumbledore and let this story to rest
Ann was suddenly taken from her blissful adoration of the meal-producing free-trade economy avatar by these realisations. She underwent the task of taking in these new assumptions and what they could mean. Judith was possibly doing the same, because all of them had gone silent. By now, Ann was more understanding of Eleanor's and Sigismond's actions. Eleanor had been on automatic pilot because of the first potion, and Sigismond, well, he was kind of following the path laid out by said potion. Judith, Eleanor and Sigismond paid, and the four friends went back to the castle. They didn't know if they had achieved anything at The Buffet - after all, the first potion had made them accomplish a lot, although at first, just like in this new case, they had the impression it had yielded nothing - except Ann, who thought that this trip to Hogsmeade had led to an amazing success : she went from being distrustful and uncooperative to being overwhelmed with the happiness of her friendship, and with goodwill. She of course didn't tell the three others, because it would have entailed unveiling with a lot of embarrassment her not-very-friendly previous assessment of the situation.
Paragraph 3 - 21 : Sparring Snape
What they didn't know was that someone would come under fire, and unexpectedly, it was the cautious and rules-abiding Judith. She was in a Potions class with Professor Snape, when the latter, glancing at Judith's kit of ingredients, noticed something. He pointed his finger at a few of these ingredients, none of which was necessary for the classes but all of which were indispensable for the Intuition Potion, and asked Judith with his unmistakably reproachful voice :
Why are these ingredients at your disposal ?
Judith answered in an almost inaudible voice :
I need them for an extra potion
This prompted Professor Snape to sneer :
You are taking extra classes in Potions. How dedicated you are to the study of my subject
Judith didn't know what to answer this time. Professor Snape went on, in the same ironical tone :
This extra potion has a name, maybe ?
Judith envisioned a fraction of a second to reply to Professor Snape she would tell him what it was at the end of the class, when the ears of the other students would not be in range of her voice, but this was clearly not the kind of thing the careful Judith Parry would dare try with Professor Snape. Instead, she said, as lowly as possible :
An Intuition Potion. But it's not to cheat of course, you know
Professor Snape retorted :
I know what an Intuition Potion is, and I would know it if it could make students successful in any way. On the surface, a clever answer, the Intuition Potion. Are you very sure it is what you prepare in your hardly deserved time off ?
Judith was perplexed :
It's the only extra thing I can prepare with these ingredients
Professor Snape concluded :
One can brew many potions with these extra ingredients. Such potions have a common point though : they involve meddling with time. Beware, Miss Parry
Professor Snape looked intently at Judith in the eyes, so as to let the warning sink in, then resumed his observation of what else was going on in the class. Next, Judith made the four of them assemble as quickly as possible near the lake. She then duly reported what Professor Snape had told her. Eleanor opined on it :
It makes sense. To put the drinker on the right path, the potion needs to kind of know what consequences the action it proposes has in store. It has to have a glimpse of the future that the drinker's intervention will bring, and make sure this future is a situation where the drinker knows something new and relevant
Sigismond had a different take on the potion's workings :
The potion doesn't need to know anything about the future. Just about how elements of knowledge are connected. Anyway, I already drank the potion. We can't do anything but see what will come off it
Ann noticed that Judith was frightened by this statement - advocating to surrender to what the future held - and that now the problem had shifted : it wasn't Ann anymore who would be reluctant to let things go according to plan, but Judith might be.
Paragraph 4 - 22 : Miss Milpense
The name of Snape came up again shortly after. A Gryffindor student claimed he had seen Peeves zooming away from Professor Snape's office, carrying a few vials and parchments he had obviously stolen there. According to the student's account of the story, Peeves had noticed him, and cackled :
You won't believe me, but I needed a good lesson
Then, he had flown towards the student, thrown in his direction the content of one of the vials, missing him by a few inches, and changing course, propelled himself away from the crime scene at high speed, allowing unwillingly a part of the magical liquids held in the vials to spill over in his airborne tracks. At around the same time, Judith overheard in Hufflepuff's Common Room a discussion that had initially not come across as sensational to her, but the end of which had caught her attention. The discussion involved a dozen of students, and was very much like a campfire chat : the students were talking mainly so as to have a reason to evade homework. A girl had recounted that Akinori Milpense, who was well-known there since she was also in Hufflepuff, had commented on her haircut, saying something along the lines :
Kawaii, this suits you very well !
Then she had taken out of her pocket some kind of silvery bracelet with one hand, waved her wand held in the other hand towards the bracelet, put her wand back in her pocket, and handed the now probably enchanted bracelet over to the girl with both hands extended. This was routine in Hufflepuff, which explains why Judith at first hadn't thought much of it. Yet, probably due to the significant amount of students taking part in the discussion, it evolved into a gathering of everything special related to Miss Milpense. The students first made a list of all the Japanese exclamations they remembered her using : 'Yabai', 'Kakkoi', 'Kimoi', 'Sugoi'. Since they had run out of exclamations, the next part of the exchange was devoted to the most extraordinary anecdotes they had about Miss Milpense. It emerged that a number of Professors had been on the receiving side of Miss Milpense's Charms. The Hufflepuffs had a good laugh reenacting the situations in which Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape had had the opportunity to obtain their Milpense Object. Professor McGonagall, on being offered a gift by Miss Milpense, had briefly reacted as if she had been dumbfounded, then had recovered and replied in a definitely assured tone
Sorry Miss Milpense, Professors cannot accept gifts
Miss Milpense had in response just smiled, and put her object back in her pocket. The consensus was that Professor McGonagall had done the right thing, but that her immediate reaction was that of a person who sadly wasn't accustomed to being thanked, and that was a shame. This led some of the debaters to attempt to steer the discussion towards a tried and tested topic : Professor McGonagall would have done great at Hufflepuff or at Ravenclaw. However, other students got the conversation back on track, since it was of course entertaining to imagine Professor Snape getting a gift from a student. When Miss Milpense had put her hands forward with a pink ribbon in them, to give it to Professor Snape, the latter had uttered in his sinister and articulate voice, the following words :
Put this away. Now. Before I decide to give you detention
Miss Milpense had smiled, though, withdrawn her hands, and said
Gomen ne
These were the words she would also use when somebody asked her what her spell was doing. Then, she would turn around, and leave. One of the Hufflepuffs reminded the others of an occasion on which he had been summoned to Dumbledore's office. On the desk, among the magical objects, was a Muggle snowball containing skiers moving around Big Ben. When the student asked Dumbledore what this object was doing there, Dumbledore answered :
It is a gift by Miss Milpense. I do not know what it does. I shall research one day its properties
One of the participants of the discussion expressed his concerns :
If even Dumbledore doesn't know what these objects do, they may as well rely on dark magic
The conversation went on, but nothing special came after this sombre assessment. Judith hadn't heard before the story of Professor Snape being presented with something by Akinori Milpense. She smiled again while picturing once more Professor Snape being handed a pink ribbon, and thought it was something she would definitely share with the three others.
Paragraph 5 - 23 : A Peeves Plan
A surprise awaited the students the very following day. Peeves was up to no good, but for a change, it seemed, with a careful plan. For students had seen him carrying in air heavy books that he held tight, as if they were precious to him. And most strangely, he was neither cackling nor even saying anything to anybody. In addition, he didn't use anything as a projectile. Many people wondered what he exactly was up to. Some students claimed this latest course of action bore a connection with his earlier visit of Snape's office. However, they didn't have the slightest idea of what this connection was, which meant that other students dismissed derisively the afore-mentioned claim.
Paragraph 6 - 24 : The Lost Talisman
Two days later, on Wednesday, Judith had her worst morning of classes : Professor Snape at 8.30am, and Professor Binns at 10.40am. As a psychological counter-measure to this dreadful combination of magistral curses, she would every Wednesday morning carry in her pocket the first magical object she had ever received, a gift by her father. It was a little silvery box that held a tiny feather, and that feather would repeatedly write Judith's name over and over, whenever a parchment was close to it. Yet, that morning, she was unable to locate the box. She tried to remember when and where she had last carried it with her, but she wasn't sure anymore. Since time was ticking and the starting moment of her unappetising class with Professor Snape was getting closer and closer, she hurriedly went through her belongings, to no avail. When she was left with barely enough time to make it to the classroom without being late, she gave up her frantic search, and, dispirited, headed towards the dungeons. She kept thinking about her lost box all day, which deprived her of most of her focus on classes. She almost got detention from Professor Sprout after failing to notice that the teacher had asked her a question. When the studious part of this awful day came to an end, she went immediately to her dormitory to resume her search for the little box. She now had time, and she set up for a methodical investigation. She left nothing unturned. But the box was still not to be found. The only saving grace of this operation was that she had found instead a book, that happened to be another birthday gift. It was about magical creatures, but she had never had enough motivation to read it. Judith considered that this present would, for the time being, play the role of a temporary replacement for the otherwise prized magical present she had lost. She started reading the book. This made her forget the upsetting disappearance of the little box she had been fond of for ten years. The book was a good read, and she ended up going through the whole of it in one go. It also included some interesting material that might make it to some future essay in Care of Magical Creatures, or that would at least make the corresponding classes more enjoyable. But at the end of this somewhat uplifting read, reality dawned on her once more : the box was gone, and her stomach was empty.
Paragraph 7 - 25 : The Rogend
Judith's bad mood persisted as she was lamenting everyday that her beloved little box had vanished. But soon blue embroidery printed itself on the back of her tie, followed by gold and green threads, as Eleanor was coordinating with the others for the four of them to meet. For once, Judith was the last to validate the meeting's chosen place and time. And on Saturday, she walked more slowly than usual to their spot on the banks of the lake. Ann noticed immediately Judith's gloom, and enquired about it. Judith explained what she was going through. Eleanor and Ann tried to comfort her, and their diplomacy worked more or less. Ann even offered to drink one day an Intuition Potion to try and retrieve the box. In the meantime, they would have to take care of something else. Eleanor had requested a meeting because Edward Songer, who had agreed to keep Eleanor posted on his clearer than reality dreams, had told her that he had had a dream which developed the story of the couple whose woman was losing her ability to control her powers. Eleanor reported as accurately as possible what Edward had detailed to her. In the dream, the man received an owl, carrying a letter which read :
Dear Mr. Grithe
I became recently aware of your plight. Note that you should not mention this correspondence around you, for I could suffer regrettable consequences if this communication were to be known. Since there is no ordinary cure for your wife's illness, a more arcane one will be needed. This entails the use of the 'Cambius Extrema' spell. Please practice it. In five days, at 10pm, you and your wife will go to the prairie that lies behind a mansion called The Farthing. There you will cast the spell on the Rogend you will find there. Since this exchange requires anonymity on my part, just give your answer to the owl, it will be able to find me. Good luck
Eleanor paused here. Ann respected briefly the pause, allowing Judith and Sigismond to take in the new pieces of information, then, displaying her typical eagerness to act, went straight to the point :
What are 'Cambius Extrema' and a Rogend ?
Much to her surprise, Judith on the spot answered the second part of the question :
A Rogend is kind of a magical horse. It is always black, but its mane and tail are a glowing white. It doesn't need to breathe, because it sources the energy it needs to function from magic. Therefore it can walk earth and survive in environments where oxygen is scarce or unavailable, including high altitudes, fumes or Muggle toxic products, but also swim to the bottom of the ocean
Ann resumed :
Err, where did you find all of this? Is this some fourth-year stuff ?
Judith innocently answered :
That was in the book I read when I was looking for the box
Ann built on Judith's reply :
You are telling us that you read something about Rogends a few days before we first heard about them and discovered these creatures were important for our investigation
Judith, who now was understanding that something weird and improbable had happened, said :
Err…Yes
Eleanor supplemented Ann's reasoning :
Sigismond drank the Intuition Potion to find something about this mysterious illness. The potion directed him to The Ogre's Buffet. Then you lost your very valuable box, which made you go straight to some crucial information about the afore-mentioned illness. So…Maybe there is a direct connection between what happened at The Buffet and the rest. In other words, you may have lost the box there, and the potion knew in the end that losing the box there would allow you to find what a Rogend was right on time
However, none of them knew what kind of spell was 'Cambius Extrema'. The only thing they could surmise was that it was shady, therefore possibly related to dark magic. Given that they had already ran into complications that had led to them being labelled as dark magic adepts, they couldn't overtly, in a risk-free fashion, borrow books at school that dealt with anything pertaining to dark magic. They then settled for a simple plan of action, that would hopefully circumvent that hindrance. They would ask Sigismond to get some noteworthy books about the life of Lord Voldemort delivered by owl. Since You-Know-Who was supposed to have undertaken all things dark, there would probably be something about 'Cambius Extrema' in these books. Within two days, each of them had a book about Lord Voldemort to read. Since keeping those in their dormitories, among their belongings would have defeated the purpose of having acquired them stealthily, they had kept them in the Arch Room. There, they could read the books without having to fear much being found and exposed. The process didn't yield the expected result. There was no documented evidence of Lord Voldemort using 'Cambius Extrema'. Sigismond had yet something in store for them to keep going. He had noticed that three of the four books had a bibliography. He thus candidly offered to purchase among all the books in the bibliographies, those the title of which looked promising. Eleanor was in awe with the idea, whereas Ann was feeling like moaning - 'Still more reading'. As a result, Ann did at first her best to evade the bulk of the task, which fell on the three others. She quickly changed her mind, though, remembering how generous Eleanor had been at The Ogre's Buffet. She ended up doing her part. And this time, in some obscure academic work, they got a hit. To be more precise, Ann did. She first read the explanation, which was too abstruse and lengthy to her taste. In spite of this, she gathered the main point of the article. At the end of the chapter, she said :
Found it. I am glad we didn't ask Professor Snape about it
The book where Ann had spotted the spell's description changed hands, as each of the three others read in turn the relevant chapter. To make a long story short, the 'Cambius Extrema' spell opened a connection that allowed to channel magical powers from a magical being to another. There was a ranking of the creatures according to the features of the connections Cambius Extrema would imply when cast on them. Rogends were listed. The table said, regarding them : 'Long range connection.' There was a catch, though. When powers were passed from a magical being to another, they were unfairly collected, with the result that the recipient would progressively become more and more evil. The four friends knew what to do, it was obvious. Thanks to the letter, they knew the name of the man, and they had to send to him as soon as possible their own letter, pleading for him not to perform the scheduled operation, with details explaining why it was not an adequate and ethical solution. Eleanor wrote the letter on the spot, with inputs from the three others, and they then went up to the owlery, where they watched Eleanor's owl depart for Mr. Grithe's dwelling.
Paragraph 8 - 26 : Spotted And Spanked
The pace at which events unfolded was not slowing down, and two days later, word was running through the castle that Filch had hit the height of his career as a happiness waster, with Peeves's contribution to boot, who had provided the crucial tipoff : the latter knew the exact location of the very stone belonging to a very precise wall, behind which students were exchanging secret notes. This made it possible for Filch's life goal to come to fruition. He had seen one of such notes, copied down its content that described the setup of a forthcoming gallant rendezvous between a Gryffindor fifth-year boy and a Slytherin sixth-year girl, replaced carefully the note, and, with unwavering dedication to his most noble task, had made sure he would be on time at the right place : behind a statue that stood at a corner from which he would see anyone coming without giving any angle for anybody to spot him. He had waited with a grin of delectation for the couple to kiss tenderly, leapt from his hideout and delivered with his trademarked irony what he hoped would be his most famous line ever :
Professor Snape will be happy to grade your adorable trade I trust
Both lovers were given the same detention : cleaning Moaning Myrtle's bathroom without any authorisation to use magic, under the supervision of a triumphant Filch, and of course Myrtle's own sneering.
Paragraph 9 - 27 : Who Must Be Named
The four friends then received an update by Edward Songer through Eleanor. Mr. Grithe had gotten a second letter, in which the as before anonymous author had expressed his disappointment that Mr. Grithe had not been at The Farthing on the requested day and time. Three of the friends considered it was mostly a victory. However, Sigismond was hoping for more. Sure, he didn't want Mrs. Grithe to get cured through the use of dark magic, but he felt the Intuition Potion still owed them a solution to Mrs. Grithe's illness. The three girls had sympathy for Sigismond's cause. Nevertheless, they had averted a disaster, which they thought was a noteworthy consolation. More than a week went by, and at this period Eleanor came back with further news from Edward Songer : Mr. Grithe had attended what was probably a second meeting at the prairie behind The Farthing. Edward had seen Mr. Grithe, his wand alight, progressing at night with his wife alongside him towards the Rogend, which was standing in a wood nearby. Since everything was dark save the Grithes' surroundings and the glowing Rogend, Edward had not been able to see Mr. Grithe's facial expressions. Mr. Grithe entered the silent wood, cast 'Cambius Extrema' in the direction of the Rogend, and waited for the spell to fulfill its purpose. There was no visible cue that anything was happening, and the seconds were going by. But then, the light at the end of Mr. Grithe's wand started dimming down and the wand itself started shaking. Soon after, Mr. Grithe fell to the floor. Mrs. Grithe was apparently not reacting at first. She said 'Lumos Maxima', and the spell did work. Immediately after, the sound of bushes being beaten could be heard, and in the surprisingly powerful glimmer of Mrs. Grithe's wand-tip, a figure could be briefly seen, before it disappeared, probably because of Disapparition. Mrs. Grithe then cast the 'Levicorpus' spell on her apparently unconscious husband, and when his body reached Mrs. Grithe, both she and her husband also Disapparated. Edward's dream's first part ended there. In a second part, the couple were at home. Mr. Grithe looked very tired. He was trying to use 'Wingardium Leviosa' on a heavy decorative object he seemed to have dropped. The object briefly gained altitude, before dropping again to the floor, with a banging noise. Mrs. Grithe was watching the whole scene, without helping her husband at all. Then she spoke, in a disdainful voice :
You are a good for nothing, you always were. You ended up getting involved in a deal that was far beyond your abilities for this very reason. You can't make anything work. You want to help people, but you shouldn't, because you can't. You are just not smart enough, even to take care of yourself
The dream's second part stopped there. In a final and short part, Mrs. Grithe was at the house of a tall brown-haired wizard. What was striking, according to Edward, was that Mrs. Grithe behaved and moved there as if it was her home, and the wizard didn't seem the least disturbed by this. Actually, the wizard seemed to find it normal. The string of dreams stopped there. The four friends now had to try and make sense of all of this. For one, they had had the impression till now that the focus was on Mr. Grithe. When he was receiving the letters, her wife was seemingly absent. Now, they had pieces of dreams that revolved around the husband, but a majority of them were apparently showing the wife's point of view, or a mix of both. Therefore, the four friends were confused. During the night when the husband performed 'Cambius Extrema', the woman had regained her abilities to use her powers, while her husband had lost his. Since there had been a third person at the scene, maybe the letters' anonymous author, either this unknown person had taken the husband's abilities to use his powers, or the spell had misfired, and the husband's abilities were transferred to his wife. In any case, the wife had become nastier and nastier, as was expected from someone having benefited from 'Cambius Extrema'. The last part tended to show that Mrs. Grithe had let down her husband to bond with another wizard. When Sigismond had drunk the potion, the plan had been to find a way for Mrs. Grithe to get a cure for her illness. However, she was not ill anymore, and it is Mr. Grithe who had inherited her predicament. Would the potion still try to move them on the path of a cure for the disease ? Did the potion show them that there was nothing to be done, since now Mrs. Grithe was from a purely physical perspective fine ? They agreed that the way to go was to visit Mr. Grithe, to see what was his current state. Eleanor was tasked with asking Edward about a clue that would allow them to locate the home of the Grithe family. She didn't need much time to come back with a very satisfactory answer. Edward, who remembered all the details of these dreams, had seen the address on one of the letters. The four friends were relieved not to have to embark on another boring session of research. Ann, Eleanor and Sigismond asked Judith if they could use a bit of her store of Floo powder to try and get to the chimney of the Grithes'. Judith heartily agreed and they only had to find a chimney to depart from. There were chimneys in the Common Rooms, but their use was of course impossible. Even if the four friends had belonged to the same House, and they could have used the Common Room's chimney, it would have been awkward to use it in front of the other students. They went in their mind through the places they knew in the castle. The Friends' Room ? Zero chimney. The Arch Room ? Just the same. The Flitwick Room ? Hey, there actually was a chimney there. They therefore waited a time when they would have the right to be there, and entered the Flitwick Room. By its current look, nobody had used it after they had invented the messages Apparition spell. Sigismond, who was the most involved of the four friends in the quest of the remedy, set foot first in the room, while Ann crossed the threshold last and closed the door behind them. Judith dealt the three others a bit of Floo powder, and one after the other, they stepped into the fireplace, threw a handful of Floo powder, and shouted
The Periwinkles
When the last of them reached the hearth in the Grithe's home's chimney, they found themselves in a long abandoned house. They were not sure they were at the right place, because Edward had not depicted the interior of the house he had seen in his dreams. It was dark, because every blind was closed, and the dim light that allowed them to see around them came from holes in the blinds. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere, and a foul smell pervaded their nostrils. Ann, pinching her nose, went to the nearest window, opened it and the associated blind. The three others did the same, and Judith ended up opening a window and a blind that had a distant view to another house. Since this house held together in spite of the most basic laws of gravity, it was natural to venture the guess that the neighbours were no Muggles. That house looked well kept, although it was not possible to be hundred percent sure, given the long stretch of grass that extended over what looked like a quarter of a mile, between the derelict house and the weird one. Ann, eager to be in the open and away from the stinking smell of the rundown house, pushed the door open with one hand - the other was of course still tasked with keeping Ann's nose shut. They all got out of the smelly house, and headed towards the other. When they were at their destination, Ann knocked on the door. A few minutes elapsed, but finally a witch opened the door, ostensibly puzzled at the sight of four Hogwarts students in their robes, and above all, each of them belonging to a different House. The witch looked at their chests, explaining :
I expected four students of four different houses to be Prefects tasked by Dumbledore to do some chore for the school
Judith tried to set the conversation on a more friendly path :
We know that Mr. Grithe has some condition. We still wanted to see if he was doing okay. We didn't know he had left
The witch burst into laughter. Ann thought she wouldn't get the award of Best Neighbour anytime soon. After having laughed to her content, she elaborated, a snickering tone in her voice :
You are a bunch of liars or fools, but it doesn't cost me anything to tell you the story : Grandpa Grithe had good heart, but no wits. About ten years ago, he became impaired, went to Saint Mungo's, his wife left him. By now, she is probably catching up with lost opportunities somewhere in London. Skeeter recently published a story based on this. I like her work very much. Great witch, won't let idiots get in her path
Judith, still courteous but a bit shaken by the witch's utter lack of empathy, concluded the conversation :
Err… Thank you, we didn't know. Err…Good bye
Judith awkwardly waved her hand, and the four of them turned around, going back to the dusty and rotting house where they would be able to go back thanks to the Floo network access that this house's chimney was providing. Once they were back in the Flitwick Room, they updated their assessment of the situation of their assumptions. The Intuition Potion couldn't have helped them find a cure in time for Mrs. Grithe, since all of this had taken place some ten years ago. When Mr. Grithe's anonymous contact person sent him a second letter expressing his discontent that the meeting at The Farthing had not taken place, they had thought that it was because their own letter had led Mr. Grithe to give up on the operation involving 'Cambius Extrema'. Things were very different, though. Maybe Mr. Grithe hadn't made his mind by the time of the first appointment, then relented in time for the second one to seal his fate. By this point, the Intuition Potion had given them a key element to establish what had happened, but had fallen short of giving them a single clue that would help them find a cure for Mr. Grithe illness, which was formerly his wife's illness. Maybe Rita Skeeter's book would cast some light on the remaining mysterious parts. Sigismond voiced the opinion it might even actually be a step towards the cure, that the potion's goal had been to put them in the way of her book. That is why all four of them promptly got a copy of Skeeter's book delivered to them - a Sigismond move. Nonetheless, this didn't really pan out. Skeeter's novelised version of the story was very consistent with what they had gathered from Edward's dreams, except that the journalist's story made no mention of a second wizard being present when 'Cambius Extrema' was performed. Ann was frustrated and even accused Edward of having just described as dreams things that he had read in Skeeter's book - 'Dark and white'. Eleanor, always positive-minded, rather posited that Edward's dreams had been triggered by the release of Skeeter's book, but that he had not read it, and that he didn't even know the chief contributor of Witch Weekly had published a fiction about this upsetting life excerpt. Eleanor hypothesised that somebody had brought to Edward these visions because they wanted somebody to make truth come out, for example, by bringing up the presence of a second wizard during the use of 'Cambius Extrema'. Judith reminded them that, the previous time, the key had been Bethany. Maybe the key for this second investigation was Edward. When Sigismond heard Judith's remark, he was dumbstruck. Yes, surely there was a way to take advantage of Edward's connection with the dreams. The only question was : 'how ?'. Sigismond's imagination was set in motion, but it's his memory that did the trick. Judith had alluded to the events related to the first Intuition Potion. There actually was one such event that could bring to light the missing element. Sigismond told Eleanor, in a surprisingly excited voice :
Can you bring Edward here ?
Eleanor answered :
I can try. What am I supposed to tell him that would convince him to follow me, though ?
Sigismond paused, and after a few seconds, decided on a selling point that wouldn't disclose what he had in mind :
He might make it possible for us to see clear through all this without any effort on his part
Eleanor nodded, then left the room. Ann and Judith, however, were not about to let Sigismond remain mysterious about the action he had in sight. They insisted on learning more from him about what he had in store for them, but Sigismond remained steadfast, or as Ann would put it, stubborn. Ann grumpily stopped querying Sigismond after some time, and Judith, who had now lost her ally, interrupted the course of her own questions. They thus were all three sitting in silence during about a quarter of an hour. Then, Eleanor went back, with Edward in tow. The latter, a stocky dark-haired boy with a pale face, was discovering the room. He made a few steps towards its center, and let his eyes move from one feature of the room to another. Sigismond stood up, and told the newcomer :
Can you take your wand out ?
Edward answered with another question, a worried look on his face :
What for ?
Now, Sigismond had to explain what he intended to do. He reminded the three girls, while basically teaching Edward, that the wizard needed to communicate with his wand whenever he wanted to create a spell, or find out if magic was around him. Therefore, Sigismond's plan was simple. The four friends would attempt to connect with Edward's wand, and said wand would tell them more about what was happening when Edward was having these real dreams. Edward was supposed to think about these dreams in the meanwhile. He cut Sigismond's speech short with witty irony :
I thought I would have no effort to make
Ann retorted, with a smile on her face and a gently mocking voice :
Well, Sigismond, I think you have for the first time in your life come up with a ruse
Edward was actually willing to cooperate, and they went with Sigismond's plan. The four friends gathered around Edward, and they tried to repeat what they had done when they had been trying to generate the messages Apparition spell. Soon, the Flitwick Room disappeared in darkness, and when brightness came back, the environment was completely different. Sigismond looked around. He was the only one there. On the cobbled ground, directions laid out in a circle indicated in blue letters the names of different people. There were names in which the last name was 'Songer', therefore Sigismond felt awkward at the idea that he might be invading Edward's privacy. Among the other names, most of them belonged to Hogwarts students, or so Sigismond believed. One name stood up in the midst of the others : Rita Skeeter. Then, Sigismond flinched, because someone else had suddenly appeared on his side. He turned around to see the newcomer, his wand at the ready in case it would be an ill-intentioned wizard. And he sighed. Judith had also made it to Edward's wand's universe. She was not at all surprised to see Sigismond, and she was busy taking in the information she could gather from this new environment, just like Sigismond had done a few moments earlier. Sigismond asked :
When are Ann and Eleanor coming ?
Judith answered, grinning :
I think they won't be able to join us. We had both succeeded at connecting with our wands when we were attempting inventing the Apparition spell. But Ann and Eleanor are not great at this stuff. I should tell you that you suddenly disappeared from the Flitwick Room when you went here. As if you had Disapparated, but of course that's impossible, you were at Hogwarts
They then both went in the 'Rita Skeeter' direction, and arrived at a second circle of blue directions. Sigismond and Judith hardly knew any of the new names in spite of the sheer number of them. They spent quite a bit of time listing almost all the names, but before they had reached the end of this accumulation, Judith said :
Here! Mrs. Grithe
And off they went again. After a short walk, they were again in the middle of a circle of blue directions. This circle was much smaller. There was just a problem. They didn't know a single name. There wasn't even a 'Mr. Grithe' direction. Sigismond was quick to find a solution, though : he cast 'Hominum Revelio'. Immediately, figures who had their back on Sigismond and Judith started walking from every blue direction, away from the students. Judith cast 'Lumos Maxima', and they both scanned the figures. They didn't recognize anyone, and didn't dare asking the individuals to turn around so that they could see the faces associated to the figures. Yet, one of these figures was that of a tall, brown-haired man, who matched the description of the man Mrs. Grithe had ended up visiting. Therefore they started cautiously following him, a dozen of steps behind him. The man came to a halt in front of a group of wizards and witches, who could now see Sigismond and Judith coming closer. Both were more and more concerned. Were these wizards and witches friendly or not ? At the sight of the newcomers, some of them had giggled. The man they had followed, who was wearing navy blue robes, turned around to take a look at them. One witch asked, in a merry voice :
Why are you here ?
Judith felt it careful to obscure their actual intentions :
We are interested in the Dark and White plot. We heard it was based on a true story. Is that correct ?
The man they had followed answered mockingly and ironically :
More or less. Shame that Rita had to keep some of the best plot twists out
Sigismond and Judith heard more giggle. Apparently, Mr. Grithe's demise left them indifferent. And there was in the man's answer and the reaction to his irony an innuendo : the real version was worse than that of Skeeter's book. Sigismond was now upset, and it was visible on his face. Suddenly, one of the wizards, blond with green eyes who wore assorted green robes the sleeves of which were adorned with interlaced gold and silver motifs, raised his wand, and cast a spell :
Wendica
Sigismond started hearing high-pitched voices coming from nowhere, saying :
You were given too much. You are nothing more than a spoiled brat. How many kids can afford to just dream all day ?
The giggling from the group of wizards and witches sounded louder and louder by the minute, as if it were amplified. Then, abruptly, it stopped, and it dawned on Sigismond that what he had heard was probably what the wizard clad in elaborate green robes had in mind. In mind. That was the triggering expression. Sigismond had never tried this, but he had to make an attempt at it. He swiftly directed his wand at the wizard who had just cursed him, and said :
Legilimens
He now had in front of his eyes a brightly lit room at the first floor of a building. The room was in a corner, and one could see through the windows what was happening below in one street, or what was taking place below in the street perpendicular to the first. Both the wizard on which he had just performed Legilimens and the tall brown-haired wizard were conversing, sitted in armchairs, looking far younger. The latter talked first :
And then the stupid bloke opened the connection, but it was on a Rogend, so it was a long range connection. He could use the connection to bring magic from the Rogend to his wife, but he didn't know that, since it was a long range connection, I was able, back at a distance, to channel his own abilities to use powers to me. When the flouted guy was done, I just went to his home and started dating his wife. She had become adorably evil, she had sent her husband to the cheapest type of room at Saint Mungo's. So, do you think you have someone for me ?
The blond wizard whose thinking was laid bare for Sigismond to see, answered :
I have the best for you. Skeeter herself. She will guess it's a true story, but she'll be happy to be regarded as a writer. She tried to publish things years ago. She is just a journalist because she is good at this, and she likes the job, but the witch is fairly ambitious. Yet you will have to wait a few years before the book gets out. Skeeter has a lot on her plate, and you know, people shouldn't be able to connect too many dots. That's why it would be great if on the publishing date, your charming romance were finished. Don't worry, be patient, when this book comes out, you will have your pockets linen with gold. Okay, I think we are done, I got it, trust me. Now I have a party to host
The room vanished, and this time, the blond wizard was standing, conversing with a third wizard, who had dark hair, was tall and wearing black robes. They were also in a room overlooking a street, but not just any street. Down there was Diagon Alley. The room had walls of the purest white, that made the strongest possible contrast to the appearance of the dark-haired wizard. The windows were not letting as much light in, for the building was obviously old, and the smaller windows were embedded in a thick wall. The blond wizard, who looked very much like his current self, spoke first :
The prophecies are basically mediocre, and you are ready to give me twenty percent of Magicharms' shares - that you don't have now - if I make the Daily Prophet believe that you are the rightful inventor of junk prophecies, then the Board will end up firing the founder, giving you his shares, so that you will have a cut to give to me. Correct ?
The dark-haired wizard replied :
Yeah, that sums it up perfectly
The blond wizard wanted to make a point :
Do you know why I like this crappy plan ?
The dark-haired wizard shook his head, and twisted his mouth to show he had no idea. The blond wizard expanded on his vision :
This Hift guy has had everything. He is bright, he is more or less powerful. This kind of person doesn't know what it is to be down in the mud. But that's exactly the type of wizard who should find out how this feels
The sequence of memories stopped there. The blond wizard was there, wand at his side. He moved it up briskly. Sigismond reacted instantly. He cast 'Protego' in advance, then seized Judith's hand. One second later, both of them had fallen on their hands on the floor of the Flitwick Room, in front of Edward, Ann and Eleanor. The three of them, especially Ann and Eleanor, were obviously very worried, according to the tone of Ann's voice - 'Are you OK?' - and the precipitous arrival of Eleanor next to Judith. Eleanor immediately kneeled and waited for Judith to straighten up on her own knees. The former then looked at the latter's face, and after seeing that Judith looked unharmed, she just cast a glance from time to time towards Judith in order to check that her reactions were those of a sound and fit person. In the meanwhile, Sigismond had gotten up to his feet. When both Sigismond and Judith were sat, they described what had happened to them. Judith supplemented Sigismond's account : when the blond wizard had performed 'Wendica', the high-pitched voices had not told her the same as they had with Sigismond. Judith remembered hearing sentences like :
Always eating enough and more, oblivious of the fact that more worthy witches and wizard cannot
They concluded this eventful meeting with a summary of what they now knew. Some blond wizard, whose name they didn't know and that they nicknamed You-Don't-Know-Who, had brokered deals with two wizards so that they could profit from others' woes. They had learned that the wizard who had fled the scene where 'Cambius Extrema' had been performed was the brown-haired wizard who had entered a relationship with Mrs. Grithe, and he had indeed misappropriated Mr. Grithe's ability to use his powers. It was fitting that he had done so, since being already evil, taking advantage from 'Cambius Extrema' would not change his life. Sigismond wondered why he had been able to access the two most important memories he could have collected. Eleanor of course had a theory about this : You-Don't-Know-Who had this very memory in mind, about the brown-haired wizard, because Sigismond had talked about the story involving him, so it brought to You-Don't-Know-Who the memories that linked him to the brown-haired wizard. Then, he knew that Sigismond and Judith were Hogwarts students, and that was how the second memory came to him : Mr. Hift's fall from grace had impacted his son who was a Hogwarts student. Sigismond had still another question : why had he been able to use Legilimens ? Edward had his own take on this. He claimed that Sigismond and Judith had penetrated an environment that mirrored the links between the minds. Hence the tree-like series of blue directions. This meant they were already in You-Don't-Know-Who's mind, making it easy for any beginner to use Legilimens. Judith, this time, had one more question : how had they been able to come back to the Flitwick Room ? Sigismond smiled, and explained :
I just talked to Edward's wand to tell it we wanted to go back. We had left thanks to this method, so it was logical we could revert the process with the same one
They wondered if they would have the opportunity to access more information through a connection with Edward's wand. Eleanor noted that Sigismond and Judith had been able to find relevant information because it was related to one of Edward's dreams. Therefore, they couldn't just browse randomly through the directions and expect one to lead to something that was interesting and that was respectful of Edward's private life. Anything they would find this way would be first and foremost linked to Edward. Thus they couldn't hope to lay their hands on the precise bit of data they needed, that would most likely not be in relationship with Edward. Eleanor marveled though at this magical technique allowing to get to a lot of information.
No way Muggles could achieve that
she thought.
Paragraph 10 - 28 : Misguided
They were left with a dual state of mind. On the one hand, they had discovered a lot, and had probably gotten closer to the truth than almost every witch or wizard, save the brown-haired wizard and You-Don't-Know-Who. On the other hand, they had neither been able to find a cure for Mr. Grithe's sickness, nor had they gotten a single opportunity to thwart the retching-inducing designs of You-Don't-Know-Who. For a start, they didn't even have a real name for him. They now had a new mindset when it came to the Intuition Potion : it was not that much a potion that would bring you any knowledge you would need, but more of a beverage that would give you a swath of relevant knowledge. One last bit of action took place around this time. The honeymoon between Filch and Peeves would have to be postponed. For Filch had found the purported stack of books that Peeves had collected. But whenever Filch would open one of these books, some acid glue-like liquid would come out of the book, and fly at amazing speed towards Filch's face. Filch tried to duck the nasty weapon, but the latter was behaving very much like a guided missile, and would never, ever, miss Filch's face. Filch tried every book, hoping that the perilous books were decoys for one of them, that would be worthwhile. But in the end, it was obvious that the whole pile of books had been made harmful. Filch ended up visiting Mrs. Pomfresh. And the students were able to conclude that Peeves had stolen vials from Professor Snape's office, and normal-looking books from other places, to set up this final trap, after having planted a false feeling of confidence in Filch.
Part 3 : Boys Will Be Wizards
Paragraph 1 - 29 : The Carefree Students
To some students, the past month had brought more than Christmas, and the school-year was closing to an end. In a few days, it would be time to allot the final points for the House Cup. Judith was attending a Charms class in which Professor Flitwick had to insist that spells and potions, far from being separate, were connected, because not many students liked the theoretical parts of any given class. Judith thought mostly that this kind of mindset was a bit of a waste, since the four friends had discovered with Professor Flitwick himself that spells and potions combined could work wonders, noticeably when one had to create a spell. Judith still had to acknowledge that the average student could more or less legitimately find the lesson boring, for Professor Flitwick wasn't this time explaining any thrilling way of making spells and potions work together. What bugged Judith - and the three other friends - was that they had not been invited to possibly the biggest party thrown in several decades at Hogwarts. This was especially hurting because they had heard an incredible amount of details about the party, and that if reports were true, this party had brought a lot of forbidden satisfaction to its attendees, which meant that said satisfaction was lost for the four friends. Even Eleanor seemed bitter about not having been able to join. Her friends had tried to make it possible for her to go, but to no avail. For invitation was not about getting a nice card. Students who were already in had to cast a spell devised for this very party on whomever they wanted to bring with them, and this spell would make the recipient immediately forget the place and time of the party if they were unable to keep the setup details secret. Since none of the four friends had any intention to go to the party without telling the three others about it, the spell's workings had the result that whenever one of them was invited, they forgot on the spot the crucial information the spell had just let in their mind, cancelling in effect the invitation. And this spell seemed overly potent, since even by now nobody had been able to recount where and when exactly the party had taken place. Of course, the spell made it also impossible to invite teachers. On top of that, it was obvious that Agatha Houstack didn't stand a chance to go either, and after being made aware of the party's highlights, she became extremely bitter. Being forced to skip an event where couples were going to shape up was already torture for the gossip-avid Agatha Houstack, but being out of the party of the century was a shame for a person who had devoted her young years to socialisation. The spell didn't however prevent the partygoers from keeping a vivid memory of the layout of the room where the party had been organised. The actual original room was by the way not recognisable at all, because a bunch of spells cast on it had enlarged it so much that neither the dimensions nor the locations of the room's features allowed anybody to tell what the place had initially looked like. The altered room had thus the following layout : a dozen of round tables wide apart from each other, so that the visitors could roam easily through the big space available, and a deep and wide wooden stage which could be accessed by walking up a few steps at either side of it. The whole was brightly lit by candles and torches on the walls. In addition, the right side of the room had been carved into some kind of hemicycle-shaped chapel in the middle of which five square tables stood. On each of these tables lied a board of BlackDark : a board game for four players where every player could order their pawns to perform any kind of magic on the pawns of the other players or on their own pawns. Teenage wizards could express their rebellious tendencies in this game, since they had with it the possibility of using magic as dark as possible, including 'Avada Kedavra'. Slytherins seemed to be especially fond of this game, but it wasn't possible to tell whether this was so because Slytherins had no bias towards dark magic, or because students from other Houses wanted to avoid being seen as dark magic adepts by the others - in teen age, one will highly value image among peers, often over true self. Some female students also played the game, and there were enough players at Hogwarts for a small League to be organised in order to rank players. Several world champions of the game had even honed their skills at Hogwarts first. But apart from being a game where ruthless dark magic was allowed, another stain affected the game : while Quidditch was considered the ruling game, where bravery and high adrenaline shots were king, BlackDark was seen as an opposition between bespectacled, cowardly and clumsy nerds. Among teachers, though, BlackDark was more in favour than Quidditch. For the former was a game of learning, and the latter more of a way for reckless students to show off and win House points without studying. Going on with the rest of the party room's features, there was a second door in the wall where the entrance was. But this one led to a secret inner room, and not to the castle's corridors. On the lintel a derisive sign made of parchment had been put up : 'Smooching Corner'. Actually, this part of the premises was completely ignored, and the romantic gestures took place in plain sight inside the main room, which had been nicknamed the Grit Hall, for every student present in this room almost as big as the Great Hall was putting at risk most of the points of their House - and that was a lot considering this party was happening at school-year's end - and their spot at the school. Before going into details about what actually happened, the careful wizard should be notified of the way Peeves was kept at bay during this gathering. Apparently, some of the students who had organised the party had tracked the poltergeist, or rather waited for his cackling to manifest itself, and, anticipating where he could go next, had cast a spell on the potential destinations so that Peeves, zooming there, would get trapped in a kind of fantasy world : he would wander in a fictitious endless landscape, unable to find the exit of a wall-less maze. A simple 'Finite' would have done the trick to counteract this prank on the prankster, but Peeves had most regrettably no wand nor magical powers. He was still stuck there when the morning following the party, one of the organisers released him from this bogus jail. When the party was inaugurated, it began with a scandal. For the organisers had claimed they were about to deal alcohol for free, which was a widespread feature for underground events, but the deal had turned sour. The first partygoers had barely swallowed the first sips of the glasses they had been handed, when they spat the contents out. The taste was awful, and not just because alcohol is not that tasty a beverage. The ethanol based concentrate had actually been replaced with something else. Nobody really knew what was in the glasses. The liquid was reddish with white foam on top, and not even the Muggle born or Half-Blood students, who might be more accustomed to a wider diversity of drinks, had any hint about the vomit-inducing content. Sure, some syrups could have that color, but they didn't taste at all like this. This riddle was however solved rather quickly : one student found the thing delicious, and was able to tell them why. Akinori Milpense said, giggling :
That's nattou-flavoured Butterbeer
Alarmed, an organiser asked her what was nattou. And Miss Milpense answered it was fermented beans that most Japanese people loved eating. It emerged later that the student who had been tasked with providing alcohol, furious of not having been invited, had replaced the alcohol with nattou-flavoured Butterbeer, and had pocketed the difference between the pricey alcohol he had presumably purchased, and the cheap Butterbeer with a funny exotic flavour that he had actually bought. He had billed the real thing while selling junk. The organisers bounced back with the next step on their list, the one that would make the evening memorable : a contest of the stupidest spell. Soon, the contenders were lining up near the right side access to the stage, most of them looking at the audience grinning. Some students had gone to the BlackDark tables, but most of the attendees were now seated around the round tables, waiting for the show to begin. The first contender, a fourth-year Gryffindor witch, was already giggling before casting her spell. She tried though steadying her hand holding the wand, and said :
Denestra
Everything in the room took off, and it quickly became apparent why : the things, objects and students who were on the contender's right side were flying to her left side, and conversely. In the process, many students and tables collided mid-air. As for the BlackDark players, they were flown across the full width of the room, and crashed with their tables, chairs and game gear in the wall on the contender's right side. These were not the only crashes. Of course, the tables and the students who had collided had fallen on the floor at the spot below their collision, and the chair with the students. The Grit Hall was now littered with disheveled students suffering from quite a few bumps, and with broken tables, while it has to be noted some tables and students did land perfectly and without accident at the opposite of the place where they had been sitting or standing. At this point, the party was on a good track to be a disaster. But the organisers acted swiftly, and the Hall was in no time in good order, tables fixed, students - whether they had bumps or not - sitting on repaired chairs. The BlackDark games had resumed. From the second contender though - a fifth-year Ravenclaw wizard - the participants felt some apprehension whenever somebody was on stage. The Ravenclaw student, who had clearly taken the stage out of thoughtless will to impress, didn't think of a more fitting spell than 'Reducio'. The whole attendance, including the contender and the organisers, was confined in the equivalent of a big broom cupboard. The furniture, stage included, had fortunately so dramatically shrunk that it was now just a small pile of wood at the students' feet. Yet, it was difficult to breathe, and more worryingly, to move or take out a wand, since everybody was pressed against the others. Some of the organisers had kept their wand in hand, though, and after a number of enlarging spells, the room was back to normal, or rather, back to its grand shape. Everybody in the Hall was holding their breath when a first-year Ravenclaw wizard - the second Ravenclaw boy in a row - made his way to the stage. Although he would end up being the youngest contender of all, he had a very clear idea of what the stupidest spell could be :
Callouse !
Very few students knew this spell, but they understood fast what it did. Two or three parts of every student's body started itching. Thus, everybody were soon scratching themselves frantically. The spell had made louse appear on its targets. What made the spell really horrible for wizards and witches was that they mostly needed to have their wand in hand to make the spell's effects cease, but, because of the spell, they felt the unstoppable urge to use both hands to scratch themselves. Some of the students displeased with the treacherous move were able to resist the urge of scratching with both hands, took out their wands in their remaining free hand, cancelled the spell's action, and immediately after, flat-out undertook an attack on the Ravenclaw first year, who ran from the stage where he was an easy target to the door at the opposite side of the Grit Hall, under heavy fire by Stupefying attempts. Some of these hit the mark, and the young boy was repeatedly sent into the air, until the organisers intervened, by first putting the itching to an end, then calling off the onslaught with a lot of Sonorus-amplified instructions. To be fair, the second part of the organisers' response failed, but the inamicable spell-casting came to an end when almost all the irate victims of the louse-conjuring charm had successfully Stupefyed the Ravenclaw boy. When the last contender, a seventh-year Hufflepuff witch, took the stage, the other members of the gatherings thought they were ready for anything else that would come next. The contender looked a bit anxious, and coughed once or twice before casting her spell on two dozens of attendees in quick succession :
Muddle !
Those targeted started reacting strangely and diversely. One set of bewitched students, who suddenly looked amazed, cast glances around them as if they were seeing the castle's inside for the first time, and asked other students if they were actually able to perform magic, leaving said other students bewildered. Another set became scared, and ran to the door. Before anybody could do anything to stop it, one student belonging to this second set opened the door, and the whole set, pushing the others aside as they went for the exit, ended out in the corridor, screaming in panic and going as fast as they could in every direction, which prompted many portraits to react vehemently and severely. The organisers had to chase this second set, and promptly cast 'Finite' on each of its living elements. At this point, those of the people who were partaking without having been bewitched grew worried that they could be caught by Filch or a teacher. While the organisers were busy cancelling the 'Muddle' spell on the students who had eloped, so as to bring them back to the Grit Hall, a third set was undertaking negotiations with befuddled students : the students in that set clearly thought they had been taken hostages by those who had not been victims of the spell, and that they had to make a bargain with them in order to escape. However, it was the fourth and final set who gave rise to the biggest amount of work for the organisers. For the students in that set, grinning and laughing, mocked the wizarding uniform, which triggered outraged responses by the attendees who had not been 'Muddled', and who had spent their whole life in the wizarding world where the Hogwarts outfit was a very normal one. As soon as the proudest among the Pure-Blood students understood the insult to their customary dress, the outrage developed in a full fist and kick fight between the once hilarious bewitched students and their Pure-Blood non-bewitched angry fellows. Some magical curses even flew towards some of the mockers. Obviously, this Muddle spell gave to its targets the impression they were Muggles. The organisers, once they were back from the chase with the scared set, cast 'Finite' on the remaining sets of bewitched students, and ended up using 'Petrificus Totalus' on the offended Pure-Blood wizards and witches. The organisers then thought it wise to cancel the contest, but the audience booed them : they wanted to elect a winner. Yet everybody agreed it would be better not to allow the remaining contenders to compete. The final ranking was thus : in fourth-place, 'Reducio', with six votes. In third place, 'Denestra', with eight votes. In second place, 'Muddle', with thirteen votes. And the winner was 'Callouse', with an amazing seventeen votes. Apparently, creating mayhem was paying off in that contest. The first-year Ravenclaw wizard was awarded his prize, a three Knuts voucher to be used at Zonko's, under thunderous applause. After this tempestuous first act, the organisers offered a more quiet and cosy one : they had the attendees stand up, made the round tables vanish, conjured benches alongside the walls instead, decreased the torches' and the candles' brightness, and started broadcasting slow music. One of the organisers was dispatched on a high-risk mission : going to the castle's kitchen, to try and collect a tasteful beverage from the Hogwarts house-elves, who were hopefully not sleeping yet. Then, the dance and the flirting began in the Grit Hall. Two pieces of music were hits, and saw a lot of people dancing to them : 'My Witch', and 'My Love Is A Nibelung'. After fifteen minutes, the organiser who had been tasked with retrieving a potion more satisfying for the lips than the nattou-flavoured Butterbeer was back with an array of drinks. The Hogwarts house-elves had a little store of Butterbeer, but most of the participants would have to be content with pumpkin, orange and apple juices. When after a lot of talking, waltzing and kissing, everybody was exhausted, the organisers conjured mattresses where the dance floor once was, so that the attendees could sleep in the Grit Hall, and would not have to risk being caught on their way to their dormitories. Here ended the recount that was making consensus about this hectic night at Hogwarts. The party had had an unexpected impact on the four friends. While before the party, their multi-Houses friendship was essentially frowned upon, especially because it included a Slytherin, after the party, the mindset of many students seemed to have shifted. And this was the case not only for people who had attended the party, but also among people who had not been able to get in. The party had apparently made clear that students of all four Houses could spend a whole evening harmoniously. Therefore, it was now natural to consider that a friendship between people of all four Houses was a healthy possibility. The four friends welcomed the change in perception, but now they were focused on the typical end of year chores, choices and cheers. The time for the final exams was near, there was an only Quidditch match to go, Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw - Judith had been told that the new Hufflepuff Seeker was a real asset - and the House Cup would have been up for grabs if the last Quidditch game hadn't been Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw. The current standings were : Gryffindor last with 506, Slytherin third with 533, Hufflepuff second with 541, and Ravenclaw first at the moment, with 575. Therefore, the final Quidditch game was in actuality a House Cup final : if Hufflepuff won by a margin of more than 34 points, it stood a good chance of overcoming Ravenclaw and ending at the top.
Paragraph 2 - 30 : Wandlore And Wandlink
Another strange thing had taken place between the date of the party and this end of year. On the ground floor, between two lessons, many students were going from the places outside the castle where the Flying, Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology - among others - classes were set, to the classrooms, and other students conversely were walking out of the castle to the locations of the outside classes. A flash of blue light along a distorted line suddenly appeared between the wand of a student and another's. However, in the packed ground floor, nobody had been able to discern to whom the connected wands had belonged, and apparently, the students whose wands had connected hadn't noticed it was theirs that had acted up, since they were in their pockets out of their eyesight, and it had lasted a fraction of a second.
Paragraph 3 - 31 : Good Marks
Ann was in the Slytherin Common Room when a second-year boy came to talk to her. He had a most peculiar story for Ann to hear. The young wizard's name was Mark Amader and he was almost as small as Eleanor, with some vaguely curly brown hair. He had been watching through the Great Hall's open door the last moments of a third-year exam. The teacher who was overseeing the exam - Professor Sinistra - was at the back of the Hall, collecting the essays from the students, had therefore in her sightline students grouping around her table, and her view from the students still busy with the final steps of their exam, sitting at their own tables, was blocked. A Slytherin student drew his wand from his robes, and surreptitiously tapping his ink bottle with it, made the ink travel fast from his table to the floor beneath select other tables. There, it remained in the form of puddles filled with a gray liquid. Then, the student gathered his belongings, stood up, handed over his essay, and walked out of the Great Hall, a grin on his face. Mark was transfixed, intrigued. Therefore he stayed to watch the rest of the events unfold. When all the students were out, Professor Sinistra used 'Wingardium Leviosa' to move the stack of essays across the long Hall. She noticed one, two, three, more puddles. Mark expected Professor Sinistra to clean it up, but it became soon obvious she had something else on her mind. She resumed her duty of carrying with the use of 'Wingardium Leviosa' the essays, crossed the threshold, then collected from mid-air the essays in her left hand, her wand still in her right hand, but now free to perform another spell. She waved her wand, and the doors of the Great Hall closed. Mark stayed there. Something was up. About ten minutes later, Professor Sinistra came back, with Professor Snape in tow. Professor Sinistra reversed the previous spell, and the huge doors of the Great Hall opened, with its localised gray puddles. Professor Sinistra led Professor Snape to the nearest one, which was of course also the nearest one to the door and thus to Mark. So, both Professors were within Mark's earshot. Professor Sinistra told Professor Snape :
They are only beneath Gryffindors' tables
Professor Snape looked down towards the puddle, moved his wand in its direction, then said :
This is not dark magic for sure. Perhaps I can propose a more suitable expert ?
Professor Sinistra asked, matter-of-factly :
Who then ?
Professor Snape obliged :
The Headmaster
This made Mark shiver. If Professor Snape involved Professor Dumbledore, it meant that things could get really serious, and it was difficult to imagine Professor Dumbledore could fail to understand what had happened. The Slytherin student had tried to frame the Gryffindors, and it had worked more or less on Professor Sinistra, but now the tide was turning. Mark thought :
A backfiring tide, ironically
His heart was pounding. Slytherin was about to lose points by the bucket, in the end of year, that is, in the money time. Then, the ballet resumed. Professor Sinistra and Professor Snape went out of the Great Hall, sealed the grand doors shut, and left to fetch Professor Dumbledore. Mark was hoping very much Professor Dumbledore was busy buying socks at Diagon Alley. Since it was not possible to Apparate to and from Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore wouldn't be back any time soon, and Professor Sinistra and Professor Snape would have no choice but taking points from Gryffindor, or just wiping the Great Hall's floor clean with a quick spell. Alas, ten minutes later, the pair had become a trio, and the tall stature of Professor Dumbledore joined the figures of Professor Sinistra and Professor Snape. The Headmaster unlocked the doors, and, just like Professor Snape had done earlier, examined the nearest puddle. Then, something very surprising happened. Professor Dumbledore waved his wand at the puddle, and it turned into a piece of parchment. From where he was, Mark could not see if there was something written on it, but he quickly gained this information, for Professor Dumbledore spoke in his usual quiet voice the following words :
Professor Sinistra, you will match this parchment's writing with the essays' writings. We will know shortly on whom we should lay the blame
Slytherin's tiny hopes of catching up in the race for the winning spot at the House Cup were over. Professor Dumbledore had been a Transfiguration teacher. That was why Professor Snape had called in the Headmaster. Mark had narrated this rather long story to Ann, and the latter found it compelling. Ann didn't care whether Slytherin ended first or fourth or even fifth at the House Cup, although Mark seemed to care a lot about this. But Ann didn't know yet why Mark, who was a second-year, had gone to her, a third-year, specifically. Did he think she would know some useful spell pertaining to the third-year syllabus ? She found out ten seconds later, when Mark told her :
I had envisioned going to you or Melusine. I mean, what this Slytherin student did looked very much like the spell that Melusine used on Arthur's and Douglas' essays. And you and your Hufflepuff friend used it also. Did he ask you or, perhaps, Melusine ?
Ann answered :
Not to me. Anyway, it's just two simple spells. We didn't have to perform it ourselves, some grown-up did it, because we were out of Hogwarts, so I don't know if they are spells that anyone can use easily or if it requires training
Ann had talked quite a bit, but on finishing her explanation, she noticed something strange. Mark seemed very focused on her. Apparently he wasn't ready to let her go back to her normal life. He hastily resumed :
There are two other things that I have seen and that maybe matter. One day, maybe a month ago, before the party I think, I felt it nice to direct my steps towards some place in the castle where I had never set foot. And on walking past a classroom, I heard some kind of explosion, and somebody opened the door of the classroom from which the banging noise seemed to have originated. I ended up face to face with a Ravenclaw student, I think he was in sixth or seventh year. He had apparently opened the door to let out a foul smell. Since the door was open, I could see behind him a bunch of other older Ravenclaws, and all the stuff to brew potions. So I asked him what they were doing in that classroom. I mean, if you are doing the regular stuff, nothing is going to blow up with a stinking smell. And he replied 'Cooking your next meal. Probably the last actually.' He turned around, we saw a liquid flowing on the ground, and the Ravenclaw bloke added : 'Currently brewing your Butterbeer I guess.' I loved the guy's irony. And then, there is something else. It's about the new Hufflepuff Seeker. It's rare when a team changes its lineup. But the previous Seeker thought he was some kind of disgrace, so it was noble for him to leave his position. And the new Seeker, Andre Gaspy, was actually not at all self-confident initially. He hadn't even attended the Hufflepuff tryouts where the now depressed Seeker had been picked. The thing is, he got the motivation to apply because a Hufflepuff girl, Emma Austeere, who is I think fond of him, was putting notes in Andre's belongings. I saw her do that several times. That means a lot for the House Cup rankings, you know. She did more to put him on the team than the captain did and now he is the best chance in years for Hufflepuff to win the House Cup through points awarded at Quidditch. Anyway, this gave me an incentive to go and watch Hufflepuff's games
Mark stopped there, and he seemed anxious to see Ann's reaction. Ann was surprised to be under such inquisitorial scrutiny. She had feared Mark's stories would be mostly made of annoying irrelevant elements. Mark was obviously overestimating the value of his gossip, but it wasn't awful though. However, she didn't want to give another pretense for Mark to elaborate on everything he had done at Hogwarts, and she used a voice intended to be firm to declare :
Hmmm. I think it will be interesting for Judith and Eleanor. Now, I think I need some rest. You know, I intended to work, but we talked so much, now I don't have any more time and energy to get back to my homework. See you, OK ?
She collected her belongings, stood up, waved briefly and awkwardly at Mark, and headed towards the girls' dormitories with her bag. In the middle of her walk out of the Common Room, she cast a short look above her shoulders, and noticed that Mark was following her with his eyes. Sure, it was cute, but she was, to begin with, not sure that her hot temper would make it possible for her to tolerate long Mark's stickiness.
Paragraph 4 - 32 : Do Not Ditch
Although Judith was no Quidditch fan, the last match of the year would most likely decide the winner of the House Cup, and Hufflepuff had its chances - thanks to their new Seeker Andre Gaspy - which didn't happen often. Therefore Judith sat in the stands for the Hufflepuff - Ravenclaw game on this sunny afternoon of a Saturday in June. Neither Ann, Eleanor, nor Sigismond were attending. During that school-year, the stands had been just a very wide oval ring without any special partition to separate Hufflepuff supporters from Ravenclaw supporters, or from other Houses' supporters. Therefore, everyone sat where a seat was available. Those who had come early had been able to pick carefully their spot, while the members of the public who had arrived last had not had a vast choice. As a result of this complete seating freedom and of the corresponding constraints, one could find Hufflepuffs among Ravenclaws, Ravenclaws among Hufflepuffs, but also Gryffindors and Slytherins among Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws, or Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws among Gryffindors and Slytherins, for what was a bit of a mess. Many students, whatever their House, had a vested interest in the game's outcome, having placed bets on the winner of the game, on the winner of the House Cup, or on both. Should Ravenclaw win by a sizable margin, they would be almost sure to win the House Cup, no other House realistically having the ability to catch up with them. The same applied to Hufflepuff. Of course, there was also another scenario : Hufflepuff might win but by too short a margin to overcome Ravenclaw. Judith thought it was a paradox that the House Cup winner would be decided by a Quidditch game between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, given that these same both teams had been awful at Quidditch. Gryffindor and Slytherin had amassed a significant portion of their House points by trashing Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw at Quidditch, and the Gryffindor versus Slytherin game had been in essence a draw, Gryffindor focusing on catching the Snitch because they had a better Seeker, while Slytherin kept scoring goals thanks to better Chasers and Beaters. Yet, technically Gryffindor had won the game by a margin of 20 points. The overview of the Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw game was a bit different. Nobody actually knew whether the Hufflepuff's Beaters and Chasers combination was better than Ravenclaw's or the opposite, since in their previous appearances, versus Gryffindor and Slytherin, the performances of the field players had been equally dismal. As a consequence, Hufflepuff having a most promising Seeker and Ravenclaw not, the odds were in favour of Hufflepuff, who was given at five to two for the game, and at two to one for the House Cup. When the players flew onto the field, the already cheering crowd became more noisy than in the five previous games of the school-year : the stakes had never been so high, especially among those who had placed bets on the two most important Hogwarts competitions. Judith was not a regular at Quidditch games, and she felt it difficult to discern anything given the distance between the spectators and the players. She had envisioned borrowing binoculars - buying them for a single game was probably a waste of money - but obviously students who had binoculars had already planned to use them at the game. Judith proposed to share the binoculars during the game, and even offered to go early to save the seats for them, but it wasn't enough to convince the fortunate owners of the precious optical devices. Judith posited that they already shared them with their friends, and that they would find it awkward to bring a newbie in the midst of said friends. As far as Judith could see, the Hufflepuff Seeker, Andre Gaspy, who was the highest flying Hufflepuff player, was blond. She looked around in the stands. She had made the effort to arrive early, but Judith's cautious notion of 'early' was apparently not the same as Hufflepuff's zealous Quidditch fans. Thus, there was already a big chunk of the whole House seated in the stands when she reached them. She found a spot high in the stands, and thought that at least getting there late had made it easy for her to seat among the Hufflepuffs. If she had been first in the stands, she would not have known where to sit, and perhaps the next Hufflepuff supporters would have picked a spot at the opposite of hers. Around her, or to be more accurate, essentially below her, most people were Hufflepuffs, which was of course the reason why she had chosen this section of the stands, but there were also students of other Houses, including some who, over their blatantly Gryffindor or Slytherin uniform, wore merchandise in support of Hufflepuff. This puzzled Judith very much, but she somehow liked the spirit, although she guessed that these unexpected devotees were actually students who had bet heavily on a Hufflepuff win. Judith couldn't hear a thing, not even the players flying on their broomsticks, rushing mid-air, for the people in front of her were chanting, shouting, clapping, and even stomping. Judith had though a clear view on the Hufflepuff goalposts, and found it unlucky : she would have preferred seeing Hufflepuff players scoring for the House than Ravenclaw players scoring against Hufflepuff. She felt somewhat guilty for having had this thought, given that one of her best friends was a Ravenclaw. This made her ponder how divisive these Quidditch clashes and the House Cup were. The positive side of being near the Hufflepuff goalposts was that she saw a lot of action, for Ravenclaw Chasers were far more efficient than Hufflepuff Chasers. It was not her very first Quidditch game, she had attended one before : when she was in her first year, she had gone to the first Hufflepuff game of the school-year, because that is the kind of thing you do when you are eleven, have just arrived in a group, and want to fit in. You don't want to be the person who will disparage the activity that is the most popular in your group. However, she had noticed that actually very few people cared whether or not one member of their House was going to the stadium to support the House team. Judith found it fun to follow the games when the weather was nice, but you couldn't expect every promising sunny morning in Scotland to remain so during an entire game. That explained why Judith was not a frequent Quidditch watcher. But she knew for a start that players and spectators alike had to watch out for stray Bludgers. Unfortunately, Hufflepuffs Beaters were not wonderful defenders, and allowed a Ravenclaw Beater to send a Bludger at short range - hardly seven feet - to one of Hufflepuff's Chasers, who was hit in the stomach. The horizontal and upward force took him off his broomstick, and he fell to the ground. Given the height at which he had been struck, his fall took several seconds, giving enough time for every attendee to see drama coming, gasp, and watch in horror, except the Gryffindor student who was excitedly and disgracefully commenting :
A brilliant hit, great Beating here. Wait for the big crash !
Judith thought this was the first time in her life at Hogwarts she was witnessing a Ravenclaw student being so merciless. Sure, many Ravenclaws were noted for their bitter wits. But she hadn't seen till then such an aggression by a Ravenclaw. When the Chaser contacted the sand of the pitch, hands in front of him, his arms broke and he fainted when his head hit the ground. This implied that Hufflepuff was down to two Chasers, making it far too easy for Ravenclaw field players to intercept the Quaffle during the Hufflepuff rides towards their goalposts. Before losing their Chaser, the Hufflepuffs had scored four goals. They wouldn't score a single one anymore in this game. While the scorecard was remaining stuck at 40 on Hufflepuff's side, the points were increasing on the other side. Now Judith was mostly looking in one direction : the Hufflepuff goalposts, which were subjected to a permanent pressure by Ravenclaw Chasers, while the Ravenclaw Beaters were trying to deflect all the Bludgers towards the Hufflepuff Goal-keeper. Since she permanently had two tasks to perform, one, remaining on her broomstick, two, keeping the Quaffle at bay, it was more difficult than ever to succeed at both. Typically, the Goal-keeper doesn't have to worry about the Bludgers much more than any other player, except when they are a star component of the team. Currently, though, Ravenclaw Beaters were behaving as if the Hufflepuff Goal-keeper were the only remaining player opposite, and Hufflepuff Beaters had become nothing more and nothing less than bodyguards for their House's Goalkeeper, repelling the Bludgers as far away from their goalposts as possible, without even trying to hurt the Ravenclaw players with the enchanted projectiles. Judith, who had come to the Quidditch game without much expectation, since she was not fascinated by performance or deeds like winning a frivolous Quidditch game or clutching an irrelevant House Cup, was now feeling unwillingly very worried about the situation and the perspective of losing this game. She was keeping her eyes on the three goalposts she thought earlier they were not the best ones to watch. Her attention was nevertheless soon distracted. For the more seasoned Quidditch fans knew that Chasing, Beating and Goalkeeping are not everything at Quidditch, and had not forgotten to keep track of the Seekers. Therefore, when those avid amateurs spotted action on the part of said Seekers, they directed the attention of the other spectators to the search of the Golden Snitch. This didn't go unnoticed among the field players. But while the Hufflepuff ones were remaining focused on their task, the Ravenclaw Chasers had now lost track of their basic duty, and were now chasing the Seekers with their eyes instead of chasing the Quaffle with their hands. This gave a respite to the two Hufflepuff Chasers, who intercepted the Quaffle, and started moving towards the Ravenclaw goalposts with it. The Beaters, unlike the Chasers, could never afford the luxury of watching passively some extraneous action, lest teammates or themselves would end up knocked out by a Bludger, and they were now the only Ravenclaw field players actually doing something for the team, out of five possible. They were back to the usual Beater chore, the one at which they had been so successful earlier : targeting the opposite Chasers. They shouted at the Ravenclaw Chasers to resume their job, but to no avail. Ravenclaw was in the lead, but by a margin of only seventy points, meaning that, should one Seeker succeed, the one or two goals the Chasers could score in the meanwhile wouldn't hardly matter for the game and the House Cup ranking. From her part of the stands, which was packed with Hufflepuff supporters and was far from the section crowded with the Ravenclaw ones, Judith couldn't tell exactly what the latter were shouting, but she guessed it was something like :
Resume playing !
Even for Judith, it was not difficult to see where the Seeking action was taking place : it was at the same time the spot where almost all eyes were directed, and the only spot where two players were flying side by side at top speed without any regard for the goalposts. One of them was Andre Gaspy, but at that speed, the image of the players was so blurred it was impossible to see which one was the Hufflepuff Seeker, unless they would come close. Judith didn't know for sure what these ultra-fast broomsticks were, but she thought they had to be top-notch Comet 260s. The two Seekers meandered so much across the pitch that in two occasions, Judith was able to see them close up. There was something striking in the difference in flying styles. The Ravenclaw Seeker was extremely and aggressively bent over his broomstick, as if he thought that putting his head forward would make him faster, and he was sharply changing angles and directions, whereas the Hufflepuff Seeker was flying coolly, leaning forward only slightly, varying his inputs in a more progressive, rounded and elegant way. Andre Gaspy was now leading the race, and kept gaining advance at a regular rate. Comically, the Ravenclaw Seeker, who could not yet acknowledge that his posture was inefficient, was getting closer and closer to a horizontal position over his broomstick. It was obvious that only one of them stood a chance of grasping the Golden Snitch. Judith could now understand why the binoculars were such a prized possession in Quidditch games : only the people holding them could see if the Seekers were getting close to the Golden Snitch. Apparently, Andre Gaspy was, because a few binoculars users were clenching their fist, as if the moment they held most dear was coming. But this situation was lasting, so Judith didn't know any longer what to think about this chase of the Golden Snitch. And then, somebody in the stands near her moved the binoculars out of his eyesight, and without letting out any sound, put his arms in the shape of a 'V', with his fists clenched. Immediately after, the Hufflepuffs stands started emitting more noise than a rocket at take-off. It was a mixture of screams and shouting, and very quickly the screaming voices became hoarse. In the meantime, the two Hufflepuff Chasers hadn't succeeded in scoring any additional goal, but that didn't matter the least. Hufflepuff was on track for its biggest House Cup win in more than fifty years. The Hufflepuff players - at least, the six Hufflepuff players who hadn't been knocked out - had flown towards the section of the stands filled with Hufflepuff students where Judith was, to celebrate with the supporters. The Ravenclaw supporters now sat still and silent. The raucous celebration would last about fifteen minutes. At the end of this quarter of an hour, most of the Ravenclaw supporters had had enough time to digest the unappetising conclusion of this game, and had left, some with their heads down. Some others were still sitting, yet, catatonic or crying. An unexpected thing happened, below and on the left of Judith, and she didn't understand exactly why. A Ravenclaw witch had decided to get to the exit through the Hufflepuff part of the stands. She then stopped briefly next to a Hufflepuff witch who was clapping in front of the Quidditch players. The Hufflepuff witch suddenly stopped clapping, turned around to face the Ravenclaw girl, but the Ravenclaw student went on towards the exit. The interesting part took place at this moment. A Gryffindor boy was also leaving through the same Hufflepuff stands, when his wand connected with the wand of a Slytherin boy who had been sitting in the Hufflepuff corner of the stands, a bit higher. The two boys contorted with their wands in hand so as to break the light blue flash of light that was linking the wands. They succeeded when the Gryffindor student completely turned around, so that he had his back to his Slytherin counterpart. Then the Slytherin student, taking advantage in the break, left the stands, with his wand as far from the Gryffindor boy as possible. But Judith was grinning. And Hufflepuff's odds for a win at the House Cup had skyrocketed to twelve to one.
Paragraph 5 - 33 : Poltergeist Heist (Esprit Braqueur)
Several Professors were facing a slightly nasty problem around that time. A greenish stinking viscous liquid would flow on the floor from outside the classroom towards the teacher. And in the middle of the room, it would turn into a huge parchment, on which students could read, written in enormous letters, rude messages intended to be about the teacher. However, sometimes, the comment was about the wrong teacher : Professor Sinistra's students were able to read 'Fleetwick sinks' for example. Different teachers would yield varying reactions. When Professor Snape got a towering 'Sour Snapes', some students couldn't suppress a giggle in spite of the fact that they well knew what would follow, and sure enough, they lost points, two for those who were Slytherins, five when they belonged to Gryffindor. This caused the atmosphere to mostly return to its studious normalcy. Mostly, because a Gryffindor witch had not stopped laughing. Snape countered with his iciest voice :
Ten points from Gryffindor, for your shameful lack of respect for your classmates
Professor McGonagall ran into a big 'Old age is a wreckage'. When this occurred, her head moved suddenly back in surprise, but she was quick, and she changed the parchment into a beautiful flying ship, which led to some clapping. She then went back to her lesson, as if nothing had happened. The jokester clearly had a preference for Professor Snape, who got more mail. The second time, it read, in an ironically pleasant writing 'A thousand points from Slytherin, for having a thick oaf as Head of House'. It was in a Hufflepuff - Ravenclaw class, and many students relished this moment, because the prankster had been able to say publicly more or less the kind of thing any student that wasn't in Slytherin wanted to tell Professor Snape one day. Nobody giggled this time, but smiles were on almost every face, which prompted Professor Snape to give the whole class a ten parchments essay to write for the following day as homework, a serious blow ten days from the end of year feast. This very effectively wiped the grins off the students' faces. On the third and last instance, the text disparaging Professor Snape was made up of the words 'You are the fairest and fartiest of all.' This made a Ravenclaw girl whisper to her female neighbour :
Do you think that he has ever been handsome ?
And her neighbour replied, in the same hushed voice :
Why do you think he is a Potions Master ? With a massive store of Polyjuice, he can assume the resemblance of a different attractive witch everyday
The discreet conversation went on along the following line :
Yeah, but it lasts just one hour, not enough to take advantage of it
Then, a boy who had been listening from the row just behind the two girls leaned forward and supplemented the high-level talk with his own assessment :
There are enough dim-witted boys in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff to make it work
One of the two girls told her neighbour and the boy :
Gross
And the neighbouring girl concluded :
Yeah. But knowing potions is probably an asset to prevent one's farts from stinking
After which, all three students went back to their studying task, as if what they had uttered were common sense to them. Of course, teachers complained about the nuisance, and the suspicions fell on Peeves. No student could be rash enough to undertake such a perilous attack on the Professors. The Bloody Baron was therefore tasked with performing a thorough questioning of the aerial suspect. It turned out Peeves was probably eager by now to disclose his past mischiefs, which had met an overwhelming success, far greater than what the school had expected. For a start, the guided acid trick he had played on Filch over a month ago had just been the surface, and had deceived the school into believing he was finished with his plan. Then people had seen him using a bit of magic that was very similar to that used by the Slytherin student to try and frame the Gryffindors for allegedly cheating at Professor Sinistra's exam, and had deduced that the poltergeist had copied the Slytherin boy. But one should have been more wary when they had seen Peeves acting for once with long term in mind, for example when he had flown over the students with books without ever ditching them over anybody, nor cackling. Actually, he had collected every book and parchment he could find in the castle's public places, had retrieved from them every wily annotation that students or teachers had inserted in them, had copied these handwritten additions - leaving of course certain crucial points out - on several dozens of other parchments, then put said parchments in the belongings of random students. Not only that, but he had been the first to have in hand the trick for the viscous liquid that would flow on the floor before turning in a parchment - after the person who had added it in one of their books. Initially, it was just a potion in which the user would drop a parchment with the text to display in the future on it. It was possible to add features to the liquid, with extra ingredients : colour, smell, text animation. Then, the user just had to pour the liquid on the floor in the right direction, and on meeting an obstacle, for example a teacher's foot or a piece of furniture, the liquid would assume its original form : a parchment. Peeves had dropped the biggest parchments he had been able to lay his hands on. The Slytherin student had just been on the receiving end of one of Peeves' distributions. The young wizard had used spells to make the liquid flow to the exact locations needed and to prevent it from turning into parchment. These revelations, Eleanor said, implied that the secret of the Intuition Potion could have been leaked. The four friends had done their utmost to keep the potion-related elements out of their dormitories, which were the only places where they would have been safe from Peeves' snooping, because they had wanted to avert the discovery of the potion by other students. Those among these students who belonged to their House, year, and gender would have been able to see the suspicious things that the four friends were storing in the shared dormitories. On the other hand, they would keep out of unused classrooms. For it was most natural to consider that a room would remain empty and unused because it was useless, and nobody wanted to be wasting their time in a useless part of the castle. Peeves's perspective was the opposite. The dormitories were out of bound for him, whereas the seemingly abandoned rooms were no less than free opportunities to find something unusual. Consequently, Eleanor thought it would be nice to check if they all had their parchment describing the Intuition Potion. They stored these parchments in books in the Arch Room. Eleanor and Judith often cast Transfiguration spells on these books so that they would look like purposeless pieces of wood, but Sigismond and Ann were prone to forget to do it. After a few embroidered communications, they all ran at various speeds - Ann fastest, Sigismond slowest - to the Arch Room. Ann was first there, and could do nothing but realise that her book with the Intuition Potion parchment in it was gone. She transfigured every piece of wood in the room, and found this way Eleanor's and Judith's books holding the coveted bits of parchment - well, she was not sure, because she was absent-minded and hadn't paid attention to the appearance and title of the others' books, so she wasn't hundred percent positive these were Eleanor's and Judith's copies. Eleanor arrived then, and smiled when she saw the two books. Ann was puzzled by her reaction. She had been worried of being scolded for having been careless about such an important object - 42 Galleons ! - and therefore had panicked at the idea she had done something very wrong. Judith was next, and very much like Eleanor, was apparently relieved that they still had a copy of the potion - actually they at least had two. Sigismond was last, and barely reacted. He wasn't panting in the least. Ann asked him :
Do you have your copy ?
Sigismond dreamily replied :
I guess not. And you ?
Ann answered in a moaning and hesitant voice :
Err. No
Eleanor was quick to try and dissipate Ann's embarrassment :
Peeves most likely got copies and perhaps distributed them, but we don't have any evidence that somebody tried to make and drink them. If this had occurred, we would probably have seen unbelievable coincidences arise
On this reassuring note, the four friends decided to go to their meeting point near the lake. The weather was nice, and they could walk along a part of the route in the fresh shadow of trees. Ravenclaw had been making last ditch efforts to catch up with Hufflepuff at the House Cup ranking. They had been awarded thirty points lately for brewing a new potion, that would make the drinker forget about the existence of a person during a set amount of time that the potion maker could precisely adjust. They had been working on it for months, according to a rumour. Now, Hufflepuff was sitting on 753 points, while Ravenclaw had an astonishing 724, which was exceptional given that they had lost all their Quidditch games.
Paragraph 6 - 34 : Land Of Halls And Glory
The Great Hall was crammed with students and staff, and the copper-coloured banners that flew above the wizards' and witches' hats showed that Hufflepuff had indeed clinched a long awaited victory in the House Cup. Since the only occasion on which the four friends had lost points had seen them wasting an equal amount of points for every House - Snape had been fair this time - their behaviour hadn't had any influence on the final rankings. Judith and Eleanor had scored a few points thanks to their dedication to learning. Ann felt that Sigismond would have deserved a hefty amount of points for inventing a new spell within a few days of hearing how this could be done. Yet it was important for the four of them to keep this breakthrough secret, since this level of secrecy allowed them to hog the communication system Sigismond had devised. First, it was time to award the Quidditch Cup. Gryffindor had won all three of their games, hence they emerged victorious of the overall competition. Slytherin were second, having won two games out of three. Hufflepuff ended third, thanks to its memorable win against Ravenclaw. And the latter ended last and least with zero game points. Judith had always found it weird that the Quidditch players of the winning team were receiving the associated Cup in their classes uniform, and not in their sports outfit. She saw seven Gryffindors whose name she didn't know and the look of whom didn't ring a bell leaving the Gryffindor benches, standing up and walking proudly towards Mrs. Hooch, under a lot of clamouring from their House, and a fair amount of clapping from the members of the three other Houses. Mrs. Hooch was standing, in front of the teachers' table, next to a desk where lied the Quidditch Cup : a massively enlarged wingless Golden Snitch that obviously kept balanced on the desk without any visible support, and therefore through magic. Mrs. Hooch said a few words :
Congratulations to the 1983-1984 Gryffindor Quidditch team, who proved they were equally gifted at all positions !
She then used 'Wingardium Leviosa' to make the huge Snitch levitate, made it travel towards a girl who apparently was the team captain. The Gryffindor girl clasped the trophy in her hands, then hoisted it over her head, at the same level as her hat, and the Gryffindor table went crazy : some Gryffindors had stood up, some were stomping, others were screaming. Judith thought it was the same standard stuff she had seen at the Hufflepuff - Ravenclaw game, and she wondered whether the House Cup delivery would produce the same effects in her own House. She couldn't prevent herself from beaming, understanding that the most conspicuous merriness of the Gryffindors would be hers very soon, though maybe at a lesser level. In the meanwhile, the students of Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin had resumed their clapping, but it was somewhat lower than before. The teachers were clapping moderately, without letting their emotions display themselves on their face, except Professor McGonagall, who was quite visibly smiling wide. When the racket started decreasing markedly, the Gryffindor Quidditch team returned to their seats, and the noise this time subsided completely. Professor Dumbledore, who was wearing lilac robes, then stood up. The House Cup, which was to Judith a very basic silver cup with golden engraving, was lying in front and on the right of Professor Dumbledore. He delivered the following speech :
Congratulations to Hufflepuff for winning this year's House Cup. As often, Quidditch played a part in the race, and Hufflepuff discovered among his unpretentious members a most valuable young wizard. I nevertheless want to stress how important learning has been this year for the House Cup. Ravenclaw, in particular, almost succeeded through trusting their strong point. I hope this will not be lost on students who will be back next year, nor on students who are now graduating. Have a great feast
Ann was stunned. Professor Dumbledore had alluded to the Hufflepuff Seeker and to Ravenclaw's success at a potion they had been apparently concocting for months. This was very much like what Mark Amader had told her. In other words, it was quite a coincidence. Maybe, actually, somebody else had drunk the Intuition Potion this year. But Ann was stuck at the Slytherin table. She was supposed to attend politely the whole event, despite the fact she was so eager to talk to her three friends. She was now becoming more and more frustrated by the obligation to stay seated for a frivolous nicety. She was constantly imagining variations of what she would tell Judith, Eleanor and Sigismond, refining in a loop her future presentation at every new version of her planned explanation, and anticipating different reactions from the three others. Therefore, there were only two things on her mind : when would the compulsory part of the end of year event finish at last, and what would she tell the others. She was thinking so hard about what she expected would come when she would meet her friends, that her brains hardly registered what was happening, except when frustration at the overly long display of socialisation popped up in her head. Judith, for whom being in a group mattered more than almost anything, was on the opposite enjoying the noisy celebration of her House's classmates work. Dumbledore made the House Cup fly to the Hufflepuff table, and the Cup made slowly its way along the full length of the table, allowing every Hufflepuff to touch it before resuming on its wooden path. During this progress, the Hufflepuffs who had not yet had the Cup in front of them were silently waiting for the Cup to arrive, while those who had already enjoyed its presence had started talking merrily. The students of the three other Houses were also chatting, maybe less cheerfully than the Hufflepuffs. Judith saw the Cup moving towards her. She thought it was a rare feat for Hufflepuff to win the Cup, and that she was thus supposed to appreciate the performance. However, she was more satisfied with the feeling that this Cup represented a lot of hard work by a group she liked, than with the pride-inducing pure achievement it could be to some. She lay the tip of one hand on the base of the Cup, then let it go away. Then, she engaged in the happy conversation with her classmates. However, Judith felt within a few minutes that a big part of the discussion was empty : it was mostly about the instances when this boy or that girl had made the House win or lose points. She thus let her thoughts wander. What were the three others doing ? Given the noise, they were probably also involved in some heartwarming chat about the rest and happiness that the holidays were going to bring, and possibly also about the defining moments of this year for their Houses. She knew that Sigismond liked the Quidditch but was not either a devout fan, so he was most likely indifferent to the points-winning Gryffindor Quidditch games. Eleanor had been one of the numerous Ravenclaw students contributing to the points harvest day in and day out in classes, but she wasn't the kind of person who would resent in the least losing the right to an honorary title, and winning three points in some Herbology class could obviously not be categorised as a 'defining moment'. Deborah Scart's win in her duel against Matthew Fourbanks had probably been the biggest highlight for Ravenclaw this year, but it hadn't yielded any points. As for Slytherin, she had no idea about what their defining moments could have been for that school-year. The school, though, had lived some of those moments. First, of course, there had been the search for the 'How To Become a Dark Wizard' book. Then, the party in the so-called 'Grit Hall'. And the Hufflepuff - Ravenclaw Quidditch game to make the list complete, as far as Judith could see. She noted that the four friends had lived more big things in the three past months than the entire school in nine. But that was probably also the case for any group of friends at Hogwarts. Judith was at this point in her thinking process when the dishes showed up on the table and the feast began. Apparently, every Hufflepuff student had been able to make a fond memory of the House Cup stopping in from of them. Now, the Cup was at the end of the table. Since it was the first time Hufflepuff had won the Cup in Judith's four years at Hogwarts, she didn't know where the Cup would be during the next school-year, while it would be awaiting its next worthy winner. Presumably, it would be kept in the Hufflepuff Common Room. That was her best guess. The time of idle thinking was anyway over. She helped herself to some appetising-looking dishes, wondering what the four friends would talk about just before boarding the Hogwarts Express. But of course, she couldn't have anticipated it. For at the time, only Ann knew.
Paragraph 7 - 35 : A Fair Potion (Une juste potion)
Ann quickly swallowed the food she ate at the end of year feast. It was probably a shame, and disrespectful of the house-elves' work, but she was just unable to focus on something different from the Mark Amader narration's implications. After having filled her stomach - it would have been excessive to describe what Ann had done as 'eating' - she started looking alternatively at her three friends spread across the Hall, ready to jump at the first of them who would stand up. This was no short business. Obviously, Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond were enjoying the meal - Ann thought
especially Judith, she loves food and has won the Cup
which brought Ann on edge : they were having fun with blissful forgetfulness, not knowing that something much more important was to be done. They wouldn't have that much time to solve the remaining mysteries : who had drunk the potion, and why ? Finally, when Ann's case was from a medical point of view almost desperate, Sigismond stood up, headed towards the immense doors, and Ann ran to him, which made some students giggle :
Time to declare yourself, Aves !
When she caught up with him, that is, within five seconds, she told him, at the same time panting and trying to keep her voice low enough for the exchange to remain private, she told him :
Someone drank the potion, we must discuss this now
Sigismond stopped in his tracks, and replied :
Err. Yes, of course. But now I need to go to the bathrooms
Noticing her accentuated use of the word 'now' in conjunction with her look that spelled distress, he added :
I will be back in five
and walked faster than usual for him towards the nearest boys' bathrooms. In the meanwhile, Eleanor had posited that Ann's move was somehow related to the four of them, so she stood up and went to Ann, who had turned around to face the inside of the Great Hall in order to see if Eleanor or Judith was also finished with the feast. Ann saw thus Eleanor walking calmly to her. She wasn't panting anymore, and she was able to whisper to Eleanor the same as what she had told Sigismond. Both girls decided to wait for Judith, who had not noticed anything yet, to be ready to join them. This didn't last long, though, for several Hufflepuffs had seen the puzzling gathering, and they told Judith that maybe she was missing something since her friends were talking secretively to each other. Judith hurriedly finished masticating and ingesting her last mouthful, and went briskly to Ann and Eleanor. Eleanor updated Judith on what was happening. They chose to move slightly to the left of the doors, so as not to be watched permanently by some other students, who clumsily behaved as if the three girls were giving a show. They were now out of sight of the people sitting in the Great Hall, and waited for Sigismond to come back. On the one hand, Ann was impatient to tell Judith and Eleanor the details, on the other hand, she felt it would be ridiculous to speak now, then to have to go over the same story for Sigismond. The three girls thus waited silently for Sigismond's return. When he joined the group, Eleanor proposed that they go near the lake, not at their hidden spot far away, but at a location as close as possible to the castle. Upon agreeing to this plan, they headed towards the lake, Ann leading the pack at a fast pace. On arriving near the lake, at a place where they obviously would not be heard, Ann stopped, and remained standing, while the three others sat on the grass. Ann, understanding that the situation would keep looking weird as long as she would not have sat, did so. Now that they were still, they could feel the fresh air : there was a bit of wind, and it was moving the clouds slowly, at times in front of the sun, next out of the way of its rays. Ann started recounting everything she could remember from Mark Amader's tale at high speed. She concluded :
There are too many coincidences. Somebody must have drunk the potion
Sigismond reacted in his casual voice :
Did you ask Mark Amader if he had drunk it ?
For the second time in a few hours, Ann was stunned. She had mulled over what she would explain during possibly one hour, but hadn't looked for a single candidate drinker. Deducing from the silence and Ann's silent but open mouth that she hadn't, Eleanor kindly told Ann :
He is a Slytherin. So, I think your next job is to fetch him
Ann paused briefly, then said :
Of course
And she left the three others, striding towards the castle. What was she going to tell Mark ? Well, anything would do. He would most likely be very pleased to have an opportunity to stick around Ann. On reaching the doors of the Great Hall, she caught a glimpse of the Slytherin table as discreetly as possible, and not seeing Mark in the two seconds that lasted her glance, she went to the dungeons. Anyway, if she had just failed to detect Mark at the Slytherin table because she had not looked at it properly, this was not much of a problem : it would have been awkward to address him in front of the people who were still in the Hall. But at least, she knew it was most likely she would have wasted her time waiting near the entrance to the Hall. She reached the Slytherin Common Room, and started her search for Mark Amader. She knew by and large where was the passageway to the second-years' boys' dormitories. She therefore made her way according to these sketchy memories in the maze that made up the Slytherins' quarters. She was now in front of a corridor, and on each side of the corridor, a long line of wooden doors was spreading. She had no idea of the one behind which Mark was spending his nights. Therefore, she just waited for somebody to enter the corridor or to exit through one of the doors. Ann was preoccupied : currently, she didn't know if she was at the right place. She was positive she was not in a girls' dormitory of years encompassing the first, second and third one, since she had slept in those in the past years and she thus knew very well where to find them. But if she was at the wrong spot, Mark could already be walking out of Slytherin's Common Room. Now that she was thinking of that, he might have already left the castle before she even entered the Slytherin's lodgings. She tried though to reassure herself : nobody could pack that many things in the short time they had spent going down near the lake, and her going back up to the castle. What if Mark had been so fast that he had finished the feast before Ann ? Anyway, Ann's waiting strategy paid off within three minutes. She didn't want to invade the privacy of a boy, especially a boy who seemed attracted to her, this would lead to very unwanted misunderstanding. Therefore, when she saw a young wizard leaving one of the rooms lined up on either side of the corridor, she told him she and her friends wanted Mark to join them near the lake, because he was knowledgeable about something that was important to them. And she asked the boy while trying to remain as polite and collected as possible :
Can you go to Mark's room to deliver this message to him ?
The boy answered
Sure
and he walked up the corridor, before pushing one of the doors. In less than one minute, Mark was in front of her, with a wide smile on his face. Ann asked Mark, with all the kindness she could pack in her voice :
Did you drink a potion that was not part of the classes ?
Mark answered :
Yes. How did you know ?
Ann went on :
I will explain to you in a few minutes. When did you drink it ?
Mark complied with the request :
About a month ago. Why ?
Ann replied :
Because it matters a lot for me and my friends. We may know important things you too should know
Ann was happy about the confirmation, but she didn't want to give him any chance to imagine things, so instead of smiling, she tried to picture what Professor McGonagall would tell in this situation, and instructed to Mark :
Please follow me
They then went up to the ground floor, out in the open, and down to the lake. They both kept silent. Ann was worried that Mark, who was so important in the short time available, would escape, so she kept turning around to make sure he was still behind her, and sure he was, grinning from the beginning of the trip to the end. When they were both next to Judith, Eleanor and Sigismond, Ann made the introductions, then told Mark :
Err. Well. Please, sit
They were soon all seated in a circle on the grass. Ann updated the group :
Mark has drunk the potion one month ago
Judith said :
Maybe we should make sure we are talking about the same potion. What was the title of the potion ?
Mark answered :
It was labelled 'For The Curious Wizard'
Judith went on :
It wasn't rather entitled 'Intuition Potion : For The Curious Wizard' ?
Mark replied :
No, just 'For the Curious Wizard', nothing else
Then, what did you assume the potion was supposed to do ?
was Judith's next question.
I thought it would show me interesting things
was Mark's answer. Judith felt it necessary to make Mark current with what the potion was actually doing :
If you need to discover some information about a precise mystery, the potion will give you the intuition for one or several things to do in order for you to get this information
Eleanor, who had listened carefully to Ann's exposé about what Mark had told her, had noticed that Ann had insisted on the fact that Mark was talking a lot about House Cup points. She added :
What I guess is that you wanted to find out who was getting or losing House Cup points. You wouldn't have tried this potion if you hadn't been indeed very curious about all these important events that influenced the House Cup rankings. And the potion will always generate extraordinary coincidences : for you to get the information you want, you need to be at the right place at the right time
Mark tried to make sense of everything he had been through since he had drunk the potion with this additional crucial piece of knowledge :
So, I drank the potion, this other guy drank it too, and we both got to know things we wouldn't have been aware of otherwise. I saw two things that mattered for the House Cup, namely the Quidditch game at which my wand connected with the other guy's one, and the attempt by another Slytherin to frame the Gryffindors for cheating
This time, all four friends were befuddled. Judith had seen the action at the Quidditch game, but seeing the events unfold from a distance, she hadn't kept any reliable recollection of what the two boys whose wands had interacted looked like. Eleanor was thrown off guard, so much so that she didn't even care to correct Mark, who had actually seen at least three actions that impacted the House Cup scores, the third one being the invention of the temporary amnesia potion by Ravenclaws. Now, they had to fetch a second boy, and they had no idea about the kind of knowledge the latter was seeking when he had drunk the potion. Sigismond, who had the most serene temper of all four friends, was the first to come to his senses :
Mark, who is the other boy who drank the potion. And why do you know he did it, too ?
Mark coolly answered :
Lewis Lapst. And I don't remember the name of the Gryffindor bloke who was bugging me, explaining lengthily as if he had the scoop of the century, you know, I had heard that two people had drunk a most peculiar potion, I wanted to know if it was the same, so I cast a spell on many students, and the spell would make the wands of people who had used the same potion produce sparks blah blah blah
Ann felt it rich from Mark to disparage another student for talking a lot while he had done the same with her, but Mark was now some kind of resource for the group, therefore she kept her slight annoyance private. Eleanor addressed Sigismond :
Now, it's your turn. You know Lewis Lapst ? Do you think you will be able to find him before it is too late ?
Sigismond replied
I hope so
And he calmly set off in the direction of the castle. The three girls, along with Mark, waited quite some time for Sigismond's return. Ann didn't want to say it loud, but she feared that Sigismond's lack of determination might make him miss chances to get to Lewis Lapst in time. This break in the action near the lake brought yet an unexpected benefit. Judith recalled a part of this Flitwick class, when the tiny Professor had dwelled on the fact that spells and potions were deeply connected. That was probably why the 'Gryffindor bloke' had been able to use a spell which allowed to identify who had drunk a potion. If they had been intelligent to the extent they would be almost clairvoyants, they could have inferred from the wands' connection at the Quidditch pitch that there was a link with the potion. And once they knew that the secret of the Intuition Potion had been leaked by Peeves, they could have hypothesised that the wands' interaction was not just about a random potion, but to the Intuition Potion. In other words, in a perfect world, they would have been able earlier to theorise that two boys had swallowed the Intuition Potion. Then, they would have investigated who these boys were, and they would have solved this about two weeks ago. This brought to Judith's mind the memory of the sight of Eleanor and Sigismond drinking with disgust the potion. Mark and Lewis Lapst had probably been also very surprised at the potion's taste. Finally, they saw Sigismond bringing a lean, tall, dark-haired with blue eyes fourth-year Gryffindor boy. From the point of view of the four students waiting near the lake, this was a pair of tall Hogwarts boys about the same age, in the same Gryffindor uniform. On reaching the group, Lewis Lapst introduced himself, and after an invitation by Eleanor to do so, they both sat in the circle. Lewis didn't seem upbeat. He began :
Sigismond told me you were some kinds of specialists for the potion for curious wizards
It soon emerged that the Peeves copies Mark and Lewis had used to brew the potion were shortened versions of what the four friends had at their disposal. There was no mention of the word 'Intuition', nor of the actual working of the potion on the two boys' parchments. Just the recipe, with the vague title 'For Curious Wizards'. Lewis said he didn't have a clue about what he was after when he drank the potion, about one month ago. He expected it to improve the magical abilities of curious wizards, or something of that sort. To get out of this impasse, the four friends asked both boys to recount with more details what had exactly happened when the wands' streams had joined. In the first instance, both boys had just moved on, and the wands had stopped emitting sparks, probably because they weren't anymore close enough to connect. In the second instance, there was much more to learn. Judith remembered the Ravenclaw girl stopping by the Hufflepuff girl, and shortly after, both boys' wands getting out of control. It turned out Lewis knew quite a bit about this. Hufflepuff's Emma Austeere had been clapping feverishly while marveling at her House's Quidditch team members who had flown towards the stands to celebrate with their supporters. Lewis was behind the Ravenclaw witch, Adelaide Morr, and when she had been level with Emma Austeere, Morr had quipped :
We know who has to make a move to catch what she wants
Then, all joy gone, Austeere had turned around to face Morr, taken out her wand and raised it, but abstained from using it, probably because she didn't want to make her House lose the precious points its Quidditch team had just collected. At that point, Ann filled in Lewis' story blanks thanks to what they had gathered from Mark :
Emma had been petitioning almost all year to have Andre Gaspy apply for the position of Seeker in Hufflepuff's Quidditch team. The Seeker catches the Golden Snitch. So, when Adelaide said that Emma needed to catch something, she was perfidiously alluding to the fact that Emma needed to act decisively in order to make her romantic attraction for Andre known. Emma was in short mocked for not catching the Golden Snitch catcher
Lewis seemed upset. He barely waited for Ann to stop speaking, and criticised :
It was not perfidious. She was just frustrated because Emma was not being honest and needed to get a grip on herself
Mark, who was clearly a very outspoken young wizard, added some oxygen to the fire :
What Adelaide did was mean and despicable. She tackled publicly the private life of somebody else, and she hadn't her best interest at heart. It was a gratuitous mocking pun. Probably premeditated, since she could have exited elsewhere
The four friends were now growing more and more worried by the second they were going to witness a heated argument. Lewis responded :
Mean ? Despicable ? You are the one being mean, not Adelaide !
Both boys took out their wands. Eleanor did so, too, and cast 'Expelliarmus' on both boys :
We get it boys. The potion's signature is the coincidences it leaves behind. People who are strangely at the right place, at the right time. There was no reason for both of you to be at this part of the stands at the same time. Mark is in Slytherin. But he drank the potion, and the potion wanted him to be where House Cup points were being won or lost. So the potion had Mark almost stalk Emma, who had sourced the only Quidditch player who could make Hufflepuff win a lot of points. Therefore Mark ended in the same stands as Emma at this game in which Hufflepuff would win the points it needed to seize the Cup. As for Lewis, who is so vehement when one criticises Adelaide, he drank the potion because he wanted to know more about her, for obvious reasons. Thus, he was merely following Adelaide at the Quidditch pitch. Since Adelaide had decided to make her opinion known to Emma, she went straight to the stands packed with Hufflepuffs, especially Emma who had brought the game-changing person to this House's team. Adelaide, who was near Lewis, got close to Emma, who was near Mark and that is why the wands connected
Mark's mood had completely changed. He told Eleanor, smiling :
Can you give us our wands back please ? I swear I won't do anything detrimental to Lewis' health. And I would like to object to what you said. Because you have just tackled publicly the private life of somebody else. I could deem this mean and despicable you know
Mark winked. As for Lewis, he was blushing intensely. He sat back down, as if mortified. Judith tried to appease Lewis' distress :
Err. This is not good to keep this inside. I think we can all understand what you feel, even Mark
Ann thought
Sure. Because if I were telling him I was about to date Hagrid, he wouldn't be as cheerful
Judith went on :
I think love stories are just beautiful stories
which made Ann imagine herself telling Judith :
Wait till some Mark Amader gets fond of you
However, the kind, fair and heartfelt words of Judith seemed to be the right ones, because, after a few minutes of silence, Lewis said :
This is quite a long one
Paragraph 8 - 36 : Aloof Love
First of all, Lewis had guessed from the start that, far from giving magical abilities to curious wizards, the potion would help him with what he was most eager to discover : where was Adelaide's love headed ? He was at the time persuaded that getting an answer to this lingering and worrying question, whether said answer were in his favour or not, would make his mind at peace. Therefore, he brewed and drank the beverage with hope and impatience. Just after drinking the potion, he felt the urge to borrow at the library a very precise book about Creatures Transfiguration. Once he had it in his hands though, he hadn't any motivation to read it, and just kept it in his dormitory without taking a single look at it for the following weeks. Shortly after, he felt another urge. He wanted to throw a party. He nevertheless didn't invite Adelaide. But, through the process of transferring the right to invite somebody else with a spell, provided that the recipient would be ready to keep the party setup secret, Adelaide ended up being there. The four friends were shocked to discover that Lewis had been the person behind the raucous party, and that the party itself was a result of the potion. Apparently, the potion had anticipated that without inviting Adelaide directly - which would have been awkward, since there was no innocent reason that would explain why a Gryffindor student Adelaide hadn't met would know she would be a worthy and trustworthy participant - Adelaide would still go there, for Lewis to see her. Lewis, on seeing her arrive, felt his heart pounding in his chest. He looked at her as often as he could, maybe too insistently at times. He was scared of being rejected, and knew that Adelaide would instantly understand why he was coming to her if he did so, therefore he didn't make a single move towards her, at least during the first part of the party, during which they were watching the stupidest spell competition. Lewis had been more or less the mastermind behind the party, but he had used his role of main risk-taker in the organisation to elude the dull tasks which the other organisers would have to perform : cast the spells to arrange the room depending on the party's evolution, ensure that the party would go unnoticed till the end, get the drinks and so on. Therefore, he was as free as any partygoer during the event. In the middle of the party's romantic episode, he saw Adelaide sit in a corner of the Grit Hall, and, much to his surprise, start conversing with it in a low voice. This time, the urge not only enticed him to go and meet Adelaide, but also lifted his fear of being sent to hell. Thus, he walked briskly to her, and addressed her, in a voice that was unexpectedly confident, probably an effect of the potion :
I had the impression that you were talking to your wand
Adelaide answered coolly :
Yes
Any potion's effect notwithstanding, Lewis was taken aback by this confession, but didn't reply with a confession of his own, and just asked :
Why ?
Adelaide, who obviously had a good grasp of what Lewis was trying to do, replied, in a definitive tone :
Because it's safer to trust a wand than a boy
She then broke eye contact with Lewis, and directed her gaze at her wand back instead. Lewis departed the scene, with mixed feelings. It had neither gone very well, nor very wrong. At the end of the whole festivity, having witnessed quite a few couples getting together, his insight was that this big romantic business was not that complicated, hence he should make a move before it was too late and Adelaide had found love elsewhere, with someone who had understood how easy this was prior to him. On the other hand, it also meant that the goal was in sight. It would just take a bit of time to persuade Adelaide that he was a trustworthy boy. After the party, a week, perhaps ten days, elapsed. Then, a Ravenclaw witch went to him, saying that she had looked for him everywhere, for according to the librarian he was the last student who had borrowed the book 'Created And Transfigured'. She was rather tall, and was clearly indignant that Lewis had not brought the book back in time. She elaborated, explained that she needed the book, because she absolutely had to find out if transfiguring a Hippogriff in a Thestral would give the former, temporarily after the reverse transfiguration, powers typical of the Thestral's. And more generally, she had to enquire about this fascinating possibility : could creatures A turned into other creatures B acquire some of the capabilities of the creatures B in some specific circumstances ? She concluded stating that of course, Gryffindors, especially Gryffindor boys, couldn't understand that all things related to study were important, and that Ravenclaw House had been invented just for that reason : only the Ravenclaws felt it natural that study was the basis for any chance of a future noteworthy achievement. Sure, Gryffindors and Slytherins could succeed while Quidditch was a key factor, but once in the open, at work as grown-ups, their bravery and their cunning would not make up for lack of knowledge and dedication to analysis. Lewis was not convinced by this speech, because winning points at Quidditch would not allow anyone to graduate with a diploma if their marks were abysmal, but he was smart enough to not enter into a fruitless and frustrating argument with such a self-confident witch, who might have a case or not. Paradoxically, it seemed that this self-proclaimed savant girl's analysis was the one that was off. Lewis just told the witch :
I will be back with it in ten minutes. Wait for me here
The girl cast him a severe look, and, again with condescending voice and attitude, said :
Fine
Lewis ignored the witch's despise, and strode towards the Gryffindor dormitories to retrieve the book. When he was back in front of the pretentious Ravenclaw witch, she spotted a Hufflepuff boy, turned in the latter's direction and told him, as if Lewis' existence and presence were of no importance :
She will see you tonight at the Astronomy Tower. Ten o'clock
She then rotated back to face Lewis, saw Lewis carrying the book, held her hand, and let Lewis put the book in said hand, before walking past Lewis. By this point, the Ravenclaw's girl continuous arrogant demeanor had become irritating to Lewis. What he had to do was obvious. He would have a glimpse at how this romantic thing could unfold away from prying eyes. And on top of that, he would get some sort of revenge on the snobbish Ravenclaw girl : her disdainful lack of cautiousness would lead to one of her classmates' private life being exposed to the boy she had looked down on. Ann wondered if hormones could be considered a potion, because even without the Intuition Potion, Lewis would probably have decided to do the same. Lewis was therefore this evening in the Astronomy Tower at 9.30pm. He wanted to make sure he would find the lovers, and to achieve this, he had to scour the Tower from bottom to top repeatedly, while remaining undetected, not only from the couple, but also from Filch and Peeves. Finally, he saw a figure that looked like that of the Hufflepuff boy whom the commanding Ravenclaw witch had addressed. The human shape went up to the top of the Tower, then sat, apparently waiting. Lewis noted that, indeed, meeting under the moon at the top of an Astronomy tower made sense from an amorous perspective. Since the moon was lighting the top of the Tower, that was open at the sky, Lewis was able to distinguish some of the patient boy's features, and was now positive he was not mistaken : this was the boy to whom the Ravenclaw witch had given the indications for the rendezvous. Lewis then looked for a spot from which the incoming beauty would not see him, but which would also be a good vantage point. He elected to hide behind a part of the bulky mechanism the purpose of which was to make the observation instruments work. By doing so, he made it to two the count of boys waiting. He was going to find out one of them was more than superfluous. A person was now cautiously walking up the stairs. Were they trying not to miss a step in the dark, listening to the surrounding noises in order to check that Filch, Mrs. Norris or Peeves was not in the vicinity, or enjoying every second that was making them closer to the location of their soon to come happiness ? Lewis saw in an interstice between two metallic parts a head emerge from the staircase. Half-long hair. Ravenclaw uniform. Then moonlight intercepted the face of Adelaide Morr. Lewis watched, stunned. Adelaide moved slowly towards the Hufflepuff young wizard. She extended her hands, and put them around the Hufflepuff boy's torso. They kissed. During a long, long time. Then, they just stared at each other. This lasted a good fifteen minutes. They hadn't uttered a single word. And Adelaide turned around, going back down the staircase. The Hufflepuff boy sat back, looking at the dimly lit landscape from the top of the Tower. He spent this way the next twenty minutes or so. Then he stood up, and made it to the staircase. Lewis followed suit, shortly after. He was sadly pondering what had gone awfully wrong, when he heard a commotion below him. He ventured a glance at the place from which the noise had come. The Hufflepuff boy had tripped on a broomstick. And apparently, the broomstick had not been there by chance, but had been set in place by Filch himself, for Lewis could hear the latter's voice :
Going there to observe wonderful stars ? I've got plenty of rules for you to observe in your next detention
Lewis was now in a bittersweet mood. He was at the same time utterly depressed because his first love was out of reach, and unhealthily satisfied that his rival had been indirectly punished for this hurtful love. In the following days, he was brooding a lot, and mulled over what had happened. Clearly, this potion had given him what he wanted. He just hadn't envisioned that this would be exactly the most detrimental situation for him. By now, he felt the potion was wickedly insensitive. It was normal for an inanimate thing to be insensitive, but not for it to be wicked. Lewis' story ended here. Mark's frank response was immediate :
You should be happy for the girl you like
Ann thought :
Wait till I date a Goblin, we will see if you still are happy
Judith was quick to make the conversation swerve to a more positive mindset :
Why do you love her ?
Lewis answered :
Well, you understand, she looks different
Judith kept her most understanding voice to explain :
Err, you know, whenever you love a person, they will look different. Anyway, did you know why Adelaide and Emma are on bad terms ?
Lewis was surprised by this change of subject :
No
Judith therefore developed the background of the relationship between the Ravenclaw and the Hufflepuff :
Some of this happened before I entered the school, so I know some bits through Agatha - Agatha Houstack. Adelaide and Emma are fifth-years now, and when they were in their very first year, in a joint Ravenclaw - Hufflepuff Potions class, they needed a specific quantity of Gloms. Emma wanted to take the right count from the jar, but she overturned the jar in the process, and lots of Gloms started scattering on the floor. Emma embarked on picking them up by hand one by one, and it wasn't going as well as planned, so Emma was looking lost. Adelaide, who at the time was very much like the Ravenclaw witch who claimed the book Lewis had borrowed, used her most contemptuous tone to cast the right spell, I think it was 'Mutinglomi Fortum'. Some Ravenclaw students laughed derisively at Emma, who had resorted to a Muggle clumsy technique instead of thinking in terms of magic, and of course Emma was mortified as a result. Now, fast-forward three years. One Hufflepuff girl - this whole story is an all girls business, I don't know why - hadn't grown up very much. So I won't tell you who she is. Her most noticeable trait had been her tendency to lie for almost everything. She wasn't responsible for anything, whenever she had messed up somebody else ended up taking the blame. But she was steadily improving, getting more responsible. She was still a compulsive liar, but when she screwed up, she didn't lay the blame on somebody else anymore. She was merely inventing excuses through which everybody could see, Professors and students alike, in order to explain why she had failed, while not acknowledging it was due to her lack of skills. Nevertheless, during these first four years interspersed with many split Ravenclaw - Hufflepuff classes, Adelaide had disparaged the Hufflepuff girl for being a mediocre and irresponsible student, and for not being a true Hufflepuff. Guess what Emma did ? She always sided with her classmate, saying Adelaide was more irresponsible with her bullying behaviour than the classmate. This had to end in a dramatic way. One day, one more day with a combined Ravenclaw - Hufflepuff class, this was a Charms class, Adelaide made a mistake, and ended up injuring another Ravenclaw student because she had mixed up some spells. Professor Flitwick hadn't seen what had happened, he had at this moment his back on Adelaide and her partner for this exercise. And when Professor Flitwick turned around to assess the damage and the necessary response, the Hufflepuff girl the name of which is not to be disclosed, said she was sorry, it was her fault. At this point, the entire class fell silent - that's what I heard - and Flitwick, who was of course inclined to believe that the Hufflepuff clumsy girl had done something stupid to a student who wasn't even her partner for the practice session, just sighed, took five points from Hufflepuff, didn't even take the time to admonish the Hufflepuff girl - I mean, she had been reprimanded dozens of time and it had failed to produce any tangible result from the Professors' point of view - and Professor Flitwick reversed the effect of Adelaide's wrong spell. From this moment on, something clicked in both girls. Not only the Hufflepuff girl became a responsible and truthful student, although some of her old habits would occasionally come back to hurt, but one wouldn't hear Adelaide disparaging anymore anyone, except Emma. Because Emma, who had supported for years the clumsy Hufflepuff lying student out of spite for Adelaide's scorn during this first-year class, took advantage of the incident to exact revenge on Adelaide. Emma permanently reminded Adelaide that she had been an awful bully, and while the clumsy Hufflepuff girl was there, Adelaide, out of respect for her, wouldn't hit back at Emma. The thing is, at the Ravenclaw - Hufflepuff game, Adelaide was attending because she is a Ravenclaw and she likes Quidditch, Emma was at the pitch because she is attracted to Andre Gaspy, but the mysterious Hufflepuff fifth-year girl was not there to shield Emma from Adelaide's resentful criticism
Judith stopped here. The six students paused, five of them to take in this new background story. Eleanor was first to get out of her reverie :
That's a new coincidence. The Intuition Potion apparently leveraged the fact that Adelaide and Emma were enemies, in order to make Lewis and Mark meet. But that doesn't make any sense. The consequence of Adelaide and Emma behaving icily towards each other was that Adelaide went to Emma, and that ultimately the wands interacted, which helped Mark and Lewis learn that they had both drunk the same potion. But this didn't make them find out anything more that would be related to their curiosity. They knew already everything. Lewis was current with Adelaide's love life, and Mark was knowledgeable about all the events that were doling out and subtracting House Cup points
Ann noticed :
Actually, this had another effect. Namely, that they both ended up here, talking with us
Eleanor was feeling somewhat frustrated with their incomplete conclusion :
None of us knows anything at all about Adelaide's romantic inclinations. I am the only fifth-year here, Adelaide is a fifth-year too, but even I don't have any piece of information in store about this part of her life. And we never played any role in the House Cup ranking. We all lost 10 points, which didn't change the rankings. Furthermore, it was well before Mark brewed the Intuition Potion. I fear that this sequence of events will remain a mystery
Ann concluded :
Who does care ? We heard a beautiful story. I agree with Judith here : Lewis' love story was a nice one
They then stood up and scattered. Every one of them had now on their mind the coming life at home, which would bring a different set of liberties and constraints. The next day, the four friends shared the same compartment in the Hogwarts express. In the aftermath of Lewis' party, their closeness had become widely accepted, even welcomed by some, and they didn't have any doubts : it would last.
Part 4 : Miss Parry's Angst
Paragraph 1 - 37 : Rest Or Test
The beginning of the summer holidays was uneventful, but it became soon obvious to the parents of the four friends that something special had happened. The behaviour of their son or daughter had undergone a more or less blatant shift. Eleanor had been outspoken about her new friendship, since she didn't need to worry about the reaction of her parents and her siblings, who were making up a united family where every member was happy about the others' joy, even at times when this meant that they would get less as a result. In a nutshell, the standard in Eleanor's family was a faithful reflection of Eleanor's mindset : bring something positive to the group. It might be cheerfulness, consideration, respect, or just everyday politeness. Whatever it would be, it would matter as long as it was benevolent. The children could openly talk about their down moments, and there would always be somebody close to comfort them. This didn't imply that Eleanor's attitude had not changed, though. It was apparent that her attachment to the three others was stronger than to any other friend : whenever her mother, father, brother or sister would say they were puzzled by an action undertaken by Ann, Judith, or Sigismond, Eleanor would be faster than ever to explain it and make it likable. The atmosphere at Sigismond's home was very different, but not the opposite : the Candler family was affluent, the house was three storeys high, and Sigismond could rely on servants for a lot of things. However, Sigismond hadn't evolved into a spoiled brat. Perhaps because he was so dreamy and serene, perhaps because his parents were strict. They were also distant, although Mrs. Candler could be vehement if one dared speaking ill of Sigismond's lack of determination and awkwardness. She had once ousted guests who, after a few glasses of wine, had belittled Sigismond's 'apathetic' demeanour. Mr. Candler, who was a Muggle, wasn't worried in the least about the risks that life at Hogwarts entailed, since his wife was a professional magical objects hunter, and was therefore putting her life in jeopardy quite often in dramatic circumstances. Mrs. Candler had not chosen this career path out of appreciation for adventure, but because she had one rare gift which gave her an edge in her business : whenever a wizard or a witch would Disapparate in front of her, she could have a glimpse of the destination where they were headed. This helped a lot while chasing dubious people carrying stolen objects. In the middle of this, Sigismond would stay most of the time in his bedroom, which was his personal little world, where he could dream, read, and add entries to his diary. Nevertheless, meal-time was of prime importance at the Candlers'. Therefore, both Sigismond's parents were able to notice three times a day that their son was somewhat more focused, paying more attention to what others were saying around him, less prone to be taken aback by a sudden question. Ann, whose both parents were Muggles, had to reassure them permanently, not only because Hogwarts was a place with numerous dangerous features, but also because they knew that Ann's defects could land her in trouble. So as not to create superfluous worries, she had by the way abstained from mentioning that a long string of dark wizards had studied at Slytherin. Her parents would ask a lot of questions, request details about the way things were working at Hogwarts, in spite of the fact she had now already spent three full years there. Yet, on the other hand, they were very supportive of their daughter. Ann was a bit frustrated at the constant flow of questions, especially when those were questions which she had already answered two days or two years before, but that her parents had repeated because they were so preoccupied, given that they couldn't help Ann at all in her studies, nor really understand how Professors and magic itself protected the students to a certain extent. All in all, life at home was pleasant and comfortable, although it included long discussions with extremely curious parents about what magic allowed to do or couldn't make happen. Judith's parents, on their part, were becoming more suspicious of their daughter, because they had the impression they were losing control. Judith was suddenly slightly too happy to follow the rules and adhere to the constraints of everyday life. Family was probably the only group in which Judith had not striven to fit in. She had been grumpily abiding by the home rules during the best part of her young life. She was receptive to criticism from her parents and very intent on not disappointing nor hurting people, though, which made her parents' task not too difficult either. Judith would not talk about any social group to which she could belong, although her father being a wizard, he knew that she was most likely very sociable out there, she wouldn't have landed in Hufflepuff otherwise. Therefore, her parents were aware there was probably a big difference between Judith the teenager at home, and Judith the student at Hogwarts. In the holidays' second week, however, her parents came across an occasion to pierce their daughter's armour. Judith brought it herself actually. She had picked up the Daily Prophet after her father, who was ensuring safety and security at the Ministry of Magic, had been finished with the newspaper and had left for his workplace. On reaching page three, she found a most intriguing article. A Slytherin student, Peter Perklus, had been questioned by Aurors because he had been at the place where a member of a reputable family of Pure-Blood wizards and witches had mysteriously disappeared. According to Perklus' testimony, he had entered the house where he believed his help was needed, had felt the presence of a magical being, but not knowing if this was a friendly or inamicable person, had cast the most powerful counter-spell at his disposal, a spell which was supposed to shield him from magic. The Aurors had established that Perklus had kept the spell's effects alive till after the loss of any trace of the victim's presence. Though, the use of this protective spell was seen as suspicious, because it was typically the kind of spell one would use to act at the expense of somebody else while trying to prevent the adversary from using protective magic themselves. But the Aurors had found no indication, through 'Priori Incantatem', that Perklus' wand had performed any other kind of magic. They had envisioned he could have used a spare wand to cast a harmful spell on the victim, but they had rejected this hypothesis, since Perklus' powers were most likely insufficient to handle at the same time the powerful protection of the first spell, and the almost equally potent magic required to wipe a magical being from existence. The investigators considered that Perklus' statement, according to which he had felt a magical presence, was nothing more and nothing less than an assertion that the victim had been there in front of him at the time of their disappearance. Perklus had said that there was no light during the whole time he spent there, thus the victim could have been facing him without being seen. He had added that he had heard the sound of two gusts of wind, but Aurors had disregarded that, because these noises could have been nothing more than, well, wind. The article concluded that there was no evidence of wrongdoing by Peter Perklus, and that he consequently remained free, a simple witness with weird whereabouts. Judith had read the article at top speed. She had seen Peter Perklus. He was, well, the kind of young wizard the figure of whom Judith's gaze would linger on. Judith had already been blushing at recalling Peter's allure. Her reddening intensified when she realised that there were probably fifteen or twenty boys whom she subjected to the same observation. She remembered what Arthur Fosty had said about Ravenclaw's Amalie Eamon, who went from one boy to another. Judith thought :
Maybe I am frivolous…Hmm, probably not more than many Hogwarts boys. I heard some of them displayed appreciation for more than one witch
Anyway, Peter was in a tough spot. There was a mystery around this sequence of events. For a start, the newspaper itself didn't even mention the name of the 'reputable Pure-Blood family' to which the victim belonged. This was a standard use case for the Intuition Potion. But, it was dangerous : the potion might do whatever it would take for the drinker to locate the missing piece of information. And conversely, Judith was cautious. She was reminded of Ann noticing the cobwebs in the Arch Room - the very room where they used to brew the Intuition Potion - telling her it was surprising she wasn't afraid of spiders, and Judith had answered she was cautious, not a coward. Was declining to face a danger a cautious act, or a coward's behaviour ? She decided to put that thinking to rest. She didn't know that she was in for a nerve-wracking sleepless night. For she was unable to repel the urge to mull over the recent news. What if Peter found out that she could have drunk the potion, but had averted doing it out of fear ? He would probably sneer at her for her lack of bravery. Then, all these boys she liked crossing in Hogwarts corridors would cast sideways scornful looks at the utterly useless, unskilled Judith Parry. Conversely, if she drank the potion, even if she failed to find anything relevant, she would be able to impress these same boys. Maybe she was thinking like these young wizards who liked showing off. Perhaps she could ask Ann, Eleanor or Sigismond to use the potion in her stead. At least that would help Peter. But that wouldn't dismiss the accusations of lame cowardice. She came to realise that Eleanor and Sigismond had already swallowed it, and Ann had been the very first volunteer to put it down her throat. Could she solve the mystery from her bed ? She listed all the elements that the newspaper had laid out. There were just too many missing data. The same thoughts kept looping in Judith's head. When 5am rang, Judith knew she wouldn't be able to sleep as long as she was postponing the inevitable. She would have to brew the potion. One minute after having taken the decision, she was asleep.
Paragraph 2 - 38 : Declaration Of Independence
Judith woke up at 1pm. Brewing and drinking the potion might go unnoticed or unscrutinised by the Ministry, but without any possibility to use magic, she would probably not make much progress in her investigation. If she could solve this problem, she would face another : how to persuade her parents that looking for clues to once and for all clear of any accusation a Slytherin boy was a suitable idea, while the victim's disappearance might mean that she was after a murderer, and that she was in Hufflepuff. Her parents might guess the reason why she was so interested in Peter's fate. But her father worked at the Ministry. He was low in the hierarchy, yet it could make things easier. By that point, Judith had not eaten for seventeen full hours. She would have liked going to the restaurant. The second Intuition Potion had led them to the Ogre's Buffet. Judith hoped that hers would direct her to do something as enjoyable. And then it clicked. The Ogre's Buffet had a dispensation from the Ministry, to allow underage students to use 'Accio' there. That was what she needed. A dispensation to perform basic magic while under the influence of the potion. And now, her father's lowly position at the Ministry was nothing short of adequate. The plan was therefore entirely relying on her ability to convince her parents that her goal was the right one. If she couldn't make them understand that, not only they wouldn't let her brew the potion, but her father also would not introduce her to the right person at the Ministry. She needed a carefully devised speech. And the best way to have enough energy to make it up was to have lunch. Once Judith had filled her stomach, she gathered a few parchments and a feather, and she started writing down the arguments that could bring her parents to accept her choice. Finally, the time for showdown came at dinner. Both her parents were back from work. She had her address prepared, maybe excessively so, since it was obvious to whoever was listening to her that she was delivering a text she had learned by rote :
As a Hufflepuff, I think that fairness is very important, and the notion of fairness itself implies that it can't be just about Hufflepuffs being fair with other Hufflepuffs. A Hufflepuff should also strive so that a Gryffindor, a Ravenclaw or a Slytherin, whether boy or girl, could be treated fairly. I have read in the newspaper that a Hogwarts student, Peter Perklus, had been at the place of a person's disappearance. The Ministry hasn't found anything proving he committed any wrongdoing, and he is therefore free. On the other hand, they haven't discovered anything to exonerate him either. I would like to have the opportunity to use productively the rest of these summer holidays to try and find clues about this case, and hopefully help the Ministry's investigation without disturbing it. That's why I would like to have your approval, and to have Dad's help to get a dispensation from the Ministry in order to perform basic magic while I am helping the enquiry
Judith took then a deep breath and scrutinised the look on her parents' faces. The situation was clearly awkward, and Judith's motivations were probably not so difficult to fathom. Her heart was pounding, and her parents looked embarrassed, Judith's mother was seemingly repressing a giggle. Her father was more serious. After all, he was the one who, in Judith's plan, was supposed to put the credit he had among his colleagues at the Ministry on the line. After twenty seconds which were endless to Judith, her father spoke :
We are going to discuss this with your mother, and we will tell you our decision tomorrow
Judith's heart rate decreased without going back to normal though, and she said, while trying to keep a straight face :
Thanks
She finished her dinner, which was after her intervention extremely silent, and went to bed. This time, she was able to sleep, but not perfectly either. Sure, she had done her best and officially put her life at risk for Peter, but she was anxious about her parents' final decision, and about what they would think of her in the future, following this unexpectedly bold and definitely embarrassing move.
Paragraph 3 - 39 : The Double Deal
When Judith woke up the following morning, she was eager to hear from her parents what was their call. On reaching the breakfast table, at which her parents were already seated, finishing their meal, she asked tentatively :
So ?
Her father answered :
There is a lot for us to tell you, and we don't have enough time to do so now, therefore we will talk during dinner about it
This left Judith in an anxious state of mind that would persist all day. She was unusually absent minded, for she wondered whether her father secretive stance in the morning was good news or bad news. Did her parents need time to put Judith back on down-to-earth tracks and to tell her she should leave things as they are ? Did they rather envision taking time to warn her before letting her act ? At lunch, her parents were not home, and she started pouring water in her glass. But her train of thought was making her drift away so much that she stayed before the tap during two whole minutes, without noticing that her glass wasn't beneath the tap, and that water was in the meantime going down the drain. In the evening, when dinner time was coming closer and closer, she got at the same time worried and excited, very much like during the past night. Finally, they were all around the table, ready to start having dinner. Her father dipped his hand in his pocket, and retrieved from it a parchment, before reading it and saying :
We will allow you to go and look for information about the disappearance mentioned in the Daily Prophet involving Peter Perklus, if you get the approval of people working for the Department of Control of Underage Sorcery. They will most likely set forth strict conditions. If you are then ready to abide by the corresponding rules, you will be free to perform the kind of magic that is legal for a student fresh from Hogwarts, yet only during a limited time, and only as long as it is related to the Peter Perklus case
There was a short pause, which let mixed feelings develop in Judith's mind. She had overcome one obstacle, but there was now another, bigger one to face. Overall, she was hopeful, though. Getting support from her father and gaining entry to the Ministry, even if that was only to attend an intimidating hearing, was already a little accomplishment. She nodded in approval. Her father concluded :
I will give you a date for your appointment with the Department of Underage Sorcery as soon as my colleagues there make a potential date known to me
The dinner then proceeded in silence. While the quietness of the previous day's evening was mostly a result of embarrassment, the lack of conversation this time was due to a steeply mounting amount of seriousness. Two days elapsed, without Judith getting an appointment at the Department of Control of Underage Sorcery, which made her worry that the people at the Ministry could be just looking down on a request that originated from a teenage witch. Finally, her father passed on her a date and a time for the hearing. It would take place in a week. Judith recalled the numerous conversations in which her father had bemoaned the slow pace that would come with every decision, whether important or insignificant. Therefore, she considered that a week's delay was not overkill, although it would give her seven days less to try and perform her own amateur investigation. She had not communicated through embroidery with the three others, because she feared one or several of them would attempt to deter her from going on with her plan, and that would generate an additional embarrassment. Days went by slowly, while Judith was waiting for her appointment at the Ministry. She didn't feel like doing anything, except pacing in her bedroom. The hearing was at 11am, on a Wednesday. Judith would have liked having an opinion from her mother about what she should wear in such formal circumstances, but her mother was a Muggle, so she couldn't tell what would be acceptable formal attire at an official hearing at the Ministry of Magic. Judith thought it was ridiculous to have to take into account one's dress in order to be taken seriously, in spite of the fact that one could be gifted with a sense of fashion and of what was appropriate wear while being a terrible investigator. In the end, she had to request advice from her father, which was yet again slightly embarrassing. She opted for a blue robe with a white collar and her Hufflepuff tie hidden behind the robe. In the mind of fourteen-year old Judith, this was sober and elegant. Furthermore, her father agreed that the ensemble looked good, and he was positive she was lovely in it. However, Judith didn't know if her father was an adequate judge. Once again, mixed feelings pervaded her mind. She liked her dress, but was worried people at the Ministry would find it unsuitable or frivolous. Were the collar and the tie a bit too much ? Anyway, it was now too late to regret or complain. Both Judith and her father travelled by Floo powder to the Ministry. Judith's father gave her the directions for the location where the hearing would take place, then went to the gates of one of the Ministry's entrances where he would spend his day working. Judith used the lifts to go to the ascribed corridor, hoping she would then have time to get in the mood for what would be some sort of screening. On her way, she looked at the wizards and witches, especially the witches, to check if her chosen dress looked in line with the standards regarding appearance at the Ministry. Judith felt reassured, given that she saw witches clad in very fanciful pairings, including one who was confidently wearing a pink silky skirt falling under the knees and what might be a pale green tunic on top of it with matching hat. Nobody seemed to notice her, which was probably a good sign. The corridor which gave access to the room where she would be interviewed was unremarkable, except for the walls, the bricks of which emulated brown wood, not black stone. To create a contrast, the doors' surface looked like it was made of a thin film of black stone. Since there was no chair nor bench to sit in the corridor, Judith leaned on the wall with her back to it. She had expected other people to be waiting for a hearing too, but actually, she just saw wizards and witches opening doors, walking up and down the corridor, and closing doors shut behind them. 11am came, but nobody with it. The minutes elapsed, and Judith wondered anxiously if she had been waiting more than two hours at the wrong spot. Maybe the look of the corridor, and the absence of people waiting, had been telltale signs that she was at the wrong place ? She started casting glances feverishly around her to see hopefully confirmation she had followed her father's instructions. Did the voice, when the lift stopped at this level, say 'Department of Control of Underage Sorcery' or something else ? She hadn't even paid attention. Or she had, but had forgotten shortly after, blissfully satisfied of having seemingly reached her destination. If she had made a mistake, several fuming officials were probably waiting for her far away from here, and they had already made a decision : why would you expect a teenager who didn't respect the time of the Ministry's workers to abide by 'strict conditions' ? The interview would be short, the atmosphere sinister and the remarks scathing. It was at that point that a wizard and a witch chatting merrily, each of them clasping files in their hands, closed in on Judith. When they were within one meter of Judith, the witch asked her :
Are you Miss Parry ?
Judith nodded. The wizard moved past Judith, pushed the door next to which she had been waiting, entered the room, and bewitched the lights on. The witch told Judith :
Come in, please
Judith entered the room, where the wizard had sat on a chair facing a desk, his files now lying in front of him on said desk. This was apparently a very basic meeting room. There were wooden tables along the walls, and chairs stacked on top of each other almost everywhere. And in the middle, a desk with two pairs of chairs, each pair facing the other at the opposite end of the desk. The desk was wide and large, which meant that, when Judith sat opposite the wizard, she was almost seven feet away from him. The witch was last to cross the threshold. She closed the door behind her, went to sit next to the wizard, and put her own files on the desk, as the wizard had done. She said :
I am Amantha Presty, and my colleague is Robert Irwinning
The interview could now begin. They asked a lot of questions, Mrs. Presty being mostly smiling, Mr. Irwinning being essentially expressionless. Apparently, they wanted to make sure that Judith had not acted on a whim, for example that she knew and understood the public elements of the case. They were also curious about Judith's personality, especially actions or traits which would help them categorise her as responsible or not. Here Judith's cautious nature was quite an asset. She of course stopped short of mentioning the three others, and the kind of things they had done together. Giving these very relevant pieces of information would have shown that Judith had started deviating from her usual careful self, even though it was just to follow the group in their more or less bold enterprises. At long last, after an hour or so of interrogation, they looked at each other briefly, apparently to make sure they agreed on the final decision. When they both turned around to face once again Judith, the witch enunciated the list of rules Judith would have to follow to get clearance : she shouldn't go to the place where the victim had disappeared, interview people from the Ministry, members of the Perklus family, or members of the victim's family, withhold any information that could be useful to the Aurors, do anything that could jeopardise the Ministry's investigation, nor obviously use dark magic. All of this restricted so much Judith's possibilities that, had she not had the Intuition Potion as a resource in reserve, she would have been prevented from doing anything helpful. But she had the potion's recipe. Therefore she smiled back at the witch and said :
That sounds fine to me
Something else brought her immediately back to reality, though, for the witch concluded :
We will have a contract ready in three full working days, thus you should go back Tuesday to sign it, get it stamped, and have it registered with the clerk at the Office of Magical Law Enforcement
Judith was reminded of what her father had once said
If manufacturing delays and procedures were a profitable business, the Ministry would not have to levy a single tax
Yet, Judith had made a lot of progress. She would have the Ministry's official approval the following week, and when she would go back there to have this contract signed, stamped and registered, she wouldn't need to wring her mind about the dress she had to wear. This one would be perfect.
Paragraph 4 - 40 : The Daily Prophet's List
Judith hoped she could use the delay to collect the potion's ingredients and brew it. She was however faced with a dilemma : should she tell her father what the potion did, or try to keep its purpose a secret ? The potion's recipe had already been circulated at school, and it was clear by now it wasn't dark magic. What bothered Judith though was that the potion was one of the key elements of her friendship with the three others, and that the last thing she wanted was to make Ann, Eleanor and Sigismond distrust her, or to make them think that she, on her part, didn't trust them. And disclosing the potion's working to her father was almost tantamount to revealing the existence of the three others, which was in Judith's mind some sort of treason of the group - she didn't know that Eleanor spoke openly at home about Ann, Judith and Sigismond. Judith could try to circumvent this danger by just saying she had discovered the potion's recipe in a book borrowed at Hogwarts' library. She was a good student, after all, it was believable that she had read about this potion while looking for material for an essay. Perhaps it was also time she told the three others what she wanted to do, so that they would at least have their say in it. Embroidered messages were convenient as long as their text was short. Therefore, she only sent :
I'd like to get to the bottom of the Perklus case (see Daily Prophet), and I am ready to use the potion for this
Then she waited for the answers. Sigismond was first to react. He enquired about the date of the newspaper edition in which Judith had read about the 'Perklus case', and Judith quickly replied. Eleanor was surprised by how assertive Judith's apparating post had been. She nonetheless sent back :
Do what you feel is right !
Ann was living in a Muggle family, and she didn't get the Daily Prophet delivered at her home. She wrote :
Any pretense to drink this potion is a good one. Have fun, keep us posted
After one hour or so, finally, Sigismond, who had laid his hands on the right Daily Ptophet edition, embroidered :
This is really a good use for the potion
Judith's issues count was down one unit. She now had to find the right way to introduce the Intuition Potion to her parents. Therefore, the same evening, she updated her parents about the hearing at the Ministry, and she had her potion speech ready :
There is a potion that I found at Hogwarts. It gives people propositions of actions. They can follow them or not. And in the end, it will bring them a piece of information about the thing they are most curious to know. There is no extraordinary or expensive ingredient in this potion, and it seems to fit exactly my purpose, so I plan to use it
Judith's mother said in reply :
Show it to your father, he will tell me what he thinks about it. Now, this is the last request you can make. There shouldn't be any other after this one. Understood ?
The time when Judith's mother was ready to giggle about her daughter's plans was over. She was now clearly concerned by what looked like an escalating situation, consisting in an excessively long sequence of demands. Judith had almost crossed the limit, but she was relieved that, pending a review by her father, she would have everything she needed to perform her investigative tasks. Therefore she answered, in an assured tone :
Yes, of course
Judith's father didn't think much of the potion and its ingredients. Therefore, in the following days, Judith received the first ingredients, which her father had ordered for her. Gathering them was more tedious than at Hogwarts : the school was a place where students were supposed to be able to access anything that would be useful for their studies, and potion ingredients were no exception. On the opposite, Judith's home was almost entirely devoid of ingredients. Mrs. Parry had tried to brew a few potions she deemed convenient in the past, but she was fine performing everyday actions the Muggle way. As a result of the initial shortage of ingredients, Judith was frustrated, since time was ticking - or to be fairer, her eagerness had the better of her - yet on the other hand, she was now on a tight rope. There wasn't any possibility left to displease her parents, therefore, she was stuck with her slower than expected plan, and had to display a somewhat hypocritical appreciation of what her parents were doing for them, as if every intermediate event unfolding was falling perfectly in place, but also in time so to speak. Barely half the necessary ingredients had made their way to her home when she had to go to the Ministry to sign, stamp and register the contract. Once more, her hopes were dashed, since the clerk at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was not aware of any contract she would have for Judith. Seeing the look of despair on Judith's face, the clerk grudgingly agreed to go and ask for more information about a contract involving a Miss Judith Parry. The clerk came back with the precious document, and an inversely lame excuse
The Printing Service had not notified the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of the new contract's draft
The clerk had turned up with three copies. One for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, one for the Department of Control of Underage Sorcery, and one for a certain 'Judith Pary'. Judith didn't complain about the mistake in her name, and spent two less than thrilling hours coming up and down in the Ministry, to sign the three copies, locate the place where she needed to collect the stamps, put the right stamps on them, go back to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to have the contract registered, and finally deposit the copy intended for the Department of Control of Underage Sorcery at their office. It turned out that this office was very far away from where Judith had attended the hearing with Mrs. Presty and Mr. Irwinning. Judith went back to the hall where the chimneys allowed people to go to and from the Ministry, and used once more her Floo powder. On arriving home, she read the contract after blaming herself for having not looked at its contents before signing it. However, it didn't hold any awful surprise. It was no more than an accurate rendition of what she had consented to at the end of the hearing. She rolled the parchment, put it in some sort of sheath, and thought :
I should keep it with me at all times, in case somebody from the Ministry complains anyway that I am using magic outside of Hogwarts
In the following days, she got delivery of the remaining ingredients, and she started the brewing process. Since she was careful and had already seen two times all the necessary steps - she had also taken part in the potion's making, which meant that she knew by heart what to do at certain stages - the potion's preparation was rather straightforward. Then came the deciding moment, when the gourmet Judith would have to bring through her digestive tract the horribly tasting beverage. She pinched her nose, thinking it would help her avert some of the disgust, and put the vial holding the potion in a position which allowed the purple liquid to flow slowly and very progressively in her mouth. While drinking, she kept repeating to herself
This will help Peter…
This will help Peter…
This will help Peter…
When the vial was empty, Judith waited. But nothing came, she didn't feel any of those urges the other drinkers had immediately had after drinking the potion. She grew disappointed, and more and more worried : maybe she had been overconfident in her skills, and had done some hasty slapdash work while brewing the potion. Perhaps she had drunk something that actually was dangerous for her health. This moment was in no way the beginning of the success she had plotted for weeks. She tried to put on a brave face at dinner, and abstained from telling her parents what had happened, or, to be more precise, what had not occurred. Judith thought that at least one thing did happen as expected : the potion was purple and its taste had been retching-inducing. Yet, when she got to bed, she couldn't prevent herself from sobbing. She had most likely failed. But of course, she was a Hufflepuff, and she knew what most students from other Houses thought about Hufflepuffs : good heart, full of goodwill for study, but prone to fail. This return to her own human nature was such a contrast with the apparent triumph of the end of the 1983-1984 school-year, when Hufflepuff had won the House Cup, and Judith had been able to lay her hands on the Cup. This win didn't matter anymore. When she awoke the following day, Judith was somewhat depressed, but the psychological pain of the previous evening was slowly subsiding. Though disheartened, she woke up after her parents had left for work, and picked up the Daily Prophet. Nothing that she could read in it looked relevant. She noted that there was nothing about the Perklus case, too. At the end of the newspaper, the kind of information that few wizards and witches would read was making up the bulk of the articles. On reaching that bottom part of the periodical, she started going through the content superficially. Nevertheless, at that point, one thing caught her eye : a lecture was taking place in two days. Judith would usually discard this kind of opportunity, but when learning of this lecture, she became upbeat instead. Was it some effect of the potion after all ? Or was it just Judith trying to persuade herself that the potion was working ? The lecture's title was 'Beyond Unregistered Spells', and next to it was a hefty list of Portkeys that the wizards and witches who wanted to attend could use. Judith's house was her mother's house, that is, a Muggle house, although Mr. Parry had added a few magical objects, which he had to keep locked away whenever his wife invited Muggle guests, and a chimney connected to the Floo network. Thus, the nearest Portkey was three miles away from her house, in the middle of nowhere. She would have to walk the full distance twice. However, Judith had been used to walking, either to reach the spot she had found for the four friends' meetings near the lake, or to get to places far enough from the Hogwarts castle to take advantage of Side-Along Apparition. And this was the only hope she could entertain that the potion was producing some effect. It would be a good opportunity to put on again the blue dress that she had worn twice at the Ministry. Judith spent this day and the following one with a significantly lifted mood. Then, the lecture day came. Judith was allowed to use magic, but she didn't want to give the impression she was bragging about the fact that she had been granted a dispensation from the Ministry. Moreover, she wasn't hundred percent sure that this lecture was related to the Perklus case, and even if it were the case, it might be difficult to convince the Ministry that using magic while going to the lecture was within the bounds of her contract : magic was allowed to Judith only insofar as it was exploited to shed light on the Perklus case. As a consequence, Judith would just carry in a bag-pack the parchments, the quills, the bottle of ink, her meal and the water she wanted to bring to the lecture. Additionally, she had taken a map, and had cautiously allocated to the task double the time she would normally need in order to reach the Portkey. The trip went well in spite of a few moderate rainfalls. Even the cautious-but-emboldening Judith Parry could forget one might need an umbrella in Great Britain, including during summer. She got to the Portkey - a muddy brush - well in advance. Then, progressively, wizards and witches showed up. Judith had expected to be the only teenager around the Portkey, but there was something she hadn't : every wizard, every witch was wearing a hat. Judith was the only hat-less member of the group waiting before using the Portkey. Not only that, but these people were impeccably dressed, at least from a wizarding point of view. The fashion standards around the muddy Portkey were far higher than at the Ministry. Judith got the very intimidating impression that most of the people were wearing silk clothes, with gold or silver embroidery. Most of them clearly knew each other, and had to be regulars at this kind of event, because the group had divided itself into two subsets, in which the wizards and witches were discussing with a yes-obviously-my-dear-this-shall-happen-I-was-talking-about-it-to-the-Minister-yesteryear condescending tone, characteristical of people who are absolutely sure they know better than ninety-nine percent of the population what is right or wrong. Judith hated hearing people talk this way, and with every minute of this snobbish conversation, she was growing more and more irritated. When Judith considered she had had enough, she went to the Portkey, touched it, and was transported in front of some kind of huge and tall square building with chimneys at so weird angles that they would have collapsed without magic. A covered passageway ran around the construction, the walls and flat roof of which were made of a haphazard mixture of wooden and stony irregular pieces. At each angle of the passageway stood a frail column decorated with an abundance of painted motifs. A thin painted frame around the tall doors made it possible to distinguish them from the wall in which they were embedded. Unfortunately, the crowd who were populating the surroundings of the building were exactly the same as the people Judith had left behind near the muddy brush. Hats, gold and silver threads, silky robes, and noisy discussions with assured tones. She cast a look at her watch : the lecture would start in fourty minutes. She thought :
At least, if I enter first, I will be able to pick my seat. It will be the situation opposite to that of the Quidditch game, when I had found my seat late after the first arrivals of supporters. The differences are, I am fairly sure that the kind of people I have seen outside will do their utmost not to seat next to me, and I don't want to be near them. Therefore, I can choose my spot
Having reached that conclusion, she went for the doors. Something was annoying, though : could one just push them open, or would she need to cast a spell she didn't know to open the doors ? She would be unhappy if she had to ask for help from her future by-sitters. She moved her hand forward to push tentatively one of the doors, but the door pivoted open before her hand could touch it. Judith had before her eyes a wide corridor between high stands made of the same combination of randomly shaped wooden and stony parts. At the end of the corridor, several feet apart from the beginning low end of the stands, was a little desk, with a chair behind it. The ceiling was covered with a giant painting representing an array of events : duels between Renaissance-era wizards and witches, battles involving Goblins, Giants, house-elves, wizards and witches, a giant ship anchored in a beautiful bay -
Maybe that's a depiction of the discovery of America
she thought - some allegoric depictions involving barely dressed men and women of Magic uniting humans and creatures, and extracts from Merlin's life. Judith advanced towards the little desk while gazing at the ceiling, and on seeing she was now at the low end of the stands, went up in the left part of them, to the top, where she sat. She was now so high in the stands - and this reminded her of Quidditch too - that when bending over the railing on her right she had an almost bird's eye view on the corridor below. She looked up at the ceiling, waiting for the rest of the audience to join her in the stands. When the door opened again, she looked down at the corridor, and saw a group of hats move along it. The hats looked surprisingly small from the top of the stands, which started filling up with wizards and witches. As expected, nobody went within ten feet of Judith's seat. The latter was growing worried, though, because the objectively small desk now looked tiny : maybe she wouldn't hear well the speaker, if they were to remain seated at the desk, especially if the spectators were still talking to each other in the middle of the lecture, as was at that point the case. Her doubts were quickly alleviated. A wizard wearing black robes and matching hat, and carrying rolls of parchments in his left hand, Apparated next to the desk, sat at the chair behind it, stacked his rolls of parchments on its surface, took out his wand, directed it at his throat. Suddenly, his voice echoed loudly in the room. The ambient chatting became whispering. He introduced himself :
Hello to all of you, ladies and gentlemen. I am Norus Likkom, researcher in applied theoretical spell-casting. Today, for a couple of hours, I will be talking about unregistered spells, that is, of course, spells which the Ministry of Magic of Great Britain doesn't recognize or track. Note however that some magical institutions in foreign countries do take these spells into account. Those of you who are interested in the full list, refer to my latest paper, published in Wize Wizardry, 'Steps Towards the Reasonable Use of Unregistered Spells Within the Boundaries of Klapstock's Theorem'. For those unfamiliar with Klapstock's findings, you will only need for this popularizing lecture to consider, even if it is slightly over-simplified, that Werner Klapstock concluded that the rarer the use of a given spell, the wider the range of unexpected side-effects. To be more accurate, the way the spell has been discovered, and the inventor's wand's working mitigate or amplify the risk, but we will leave these complex elements aside and focus on three spells today : Anjou, Moveren, and Diminutio. The first two spells owe their names to the action of their inventor. The first inventor wanted to honour the region of the world in which he was born, which was called Anjou. This spell makes some permanent transfigurations possible. You will find that all three spells kept their initial name, given by the inventor, which is fairly rare, but the spells themselves are rare. That is why nobody has ever felt the urge to change their names. Since the word 'Anjou' is somewhat difficult to pronounce for many people around the world, it can give bizarre results when they utter it, but nothing dramatic. The second name is a pun based on the fact that the corresponding spell makes it possible to change the circulation of information, in other words, move information in a different way. Since the inventor's name ended with 'ren' he called his new spell 'Moveren'. The last one is fairly self-explanatory. It makes it possible to lower during a long time the abilities to use magical powers. It has almost exclusively dark uses, but anyway very few people dare undertake the process which allows one to cast it. Since all those spells require tremendous trust from the wand, only through surviving the trials brought by a 'Provo' spell can a wizard or a witch gain sufficient trust. As a young researcher in the field, I cast this spell, and overcame the hurdles it conjured. Nobody can prepare for the tasks that the 'Provo' spell entails. It is clear that the trials differ widely from one person to another. I was able to talk to other researchers who used the spell. They all faced very different things. Recovering from a sixty-feet dive, making a dragon disappear, using a Muggle appliance to generate the energy needed to move a huge wall, and so on. I have never heard about anyone dying, though. Nobody really knows what happens if you fail, probably because the people who attempt to go through the Provo spell effects are in general more skilled than average
Judith had taken out in haste from her bag-pack the parchments, the quill, and the bottle of ink, which she had put on the floor, twenty inches away from her feet, so as to minimise the risk of inadvertently kicking it. She started writing feverishly what she could grasp. She marveled at the fact that being a researcher in magic could imply putting one's life in danger. Since Judith's mother was a general practitioner, she had heard about Muggle researching procedures, and what Judith had gathered from the Muggle science was that people in laboratories were either very well protected, or just sitting all day behind a computer. Anyway, she soon had no time to let her mind go off-topic, since she quickly became overloaded with the pieces of information flowing from Mr. Likkom's mouth that she felt compelled to write down. When the two hour lecture finished, more or less on time, Judith was exhausted. The audience clapped, but not as enthusiastically as she had anticipated. This was polite applause, no more. Judith found herself being once more the lone individual standing out, as she clapped noisily. For once, the people around her weren't making up a group in which she felt necessary to fit in. She was packing her things, ready to leave, when she noticed that the chatting noise stemming from the former audience had resumed. Judith had expected everybody to leave as quickly as possible, but the exact contrary was happening. The former spectators had now gathered at the bottom of the stands. They were apparently waiting something. Judith was puzzled, and stayed at her seat, far above the action, to be able to easily see what was coming. Something was already off, and she understood in a matter of seconds what it was : the little desk had vanished. Several minutes elapsed, and some people looked now impatient. Then, a wizard Apparated at the back of the room, and a flurry of ecstatic 'Ah's rose from the crowd. The newcomer conjured a table that stretched from the leftmost part of the hall to the rightmost one. The pack of people shuffled, because the once dignified-looking wizards and witches were now doing their best to be as close as possible to the table, pushing inelegantly their neighbors aside in the process. Obviously, something extraordinary was going to appear on this table that was wider than any of the tables in Hogwarts' Great Hall. Sure enough, within seconds, lots of little things were on display in what was looking like a double line of silver plates. Judith thought :
Wait, is that food ?
All of a sudden, people rushed their hands towards the little things on the table, and brought them speedily to their mouths. Yes, this was food. Gourmet Judith was at the most distant point from a table loaded with petits fours. She was witnessing a display of pure gluttony. And it dawned on her : all these snubbish wizards and witches elbowing each other to lay their hands on macarons were here in order to socialise, eat and be seen. From her vantage point, Judith was only seeing the second line of canapés, the first line being blocked from her view by the tight pack of attendees. And by the look of what was left in this second line, she guessed that the first line had been consumed the way a automatised assembly line of a factory swallowed primary goods. Very soon, Judith couldn't even see anything on the second line save the plates. The battalion of haute cuisine eaters then moved away from the tables, and dispersed. Judith put her bag-pack on her shoulder, and went down to the table. She looked from the left extremity of the table to the right one. She was in shock : there was now nothing to eat. All these people whom she had thought a few hours earlier they were distinguished, impressive and learned grown-ups, had actually behaved as vain children. She turned around to sit on a bench at the low-end of the stands, hoping the former spectators had at least left the Portkey in place. Judith took out her meal, since apparently it was more than acceptable to leave crumbs behind oneself in this room, and ate, looking now and then at the painted ceiling. She then carefully cleaned up after her, put her bag-pack once again on her back, and left the room. Before crossing the threshold towards the countryside, she cast a last glance at the wonderful ceiling : pity that it wasn't enchanted like the pictures and the portraits were. Probably because the people depicted at the peak of the room were not around anymore when the piece of art had been composed. She slowly made her way back to the muddy brush, and was soon at her departure point. She then took out her map, and walked towards her house. Once home, she wanted to do only one thing : go to bed. She put down her bag-pack in her bedroom, took a shower, put on her pajamas, and went under the blankets. In the following morning, after having breakfast, Judith went back to her bag-pack, extracted the rolls of parchments that were now filled with her notes from the lecture, and reread them. If the potion had actually been the drive behind her coming to the lecture, the solution she needed to make progress in her investigation about Peter's case had to be in these scripted lines. Maybe not, actually : when Sigismond drank the second Intuition Potion, it wasn't an action involving directly Sigismond that had helped the four friends getting some information, but Judith losing her little box at the Ogre's Buffet. She vaguely smiled : something important had happened at a restaurant, and the lecture she hoped would prove decisive had taken place because some barely mature wizards and witches wanted to eat petits fours.
Paragraph 5 - 41 : Right Night
Something was obvious to Judith : the 'Moveren' spell was about making information circulate, therefore she could try and use it in order to direct information towards her. However, there already was a spell allowing to hijack information. She knew it existed, she just didn't have its name. Therefore, what would be the point of going through the trials generated by 'Provo', if she could research that simple other way ? Additionally, assuming that she would discern what could make 'Moveren' a good choice, she didn't think she had the guts to face situations such as sixty feet free-fall dives. But first and foremost, she had no target to extract data from : her contract with the Ministry prevented her from legally going near anybody related to the case. She had to locate someone who wasn't involved in the official investigation but was knowledgeable about the case. Someone who would have heard rather trustworthy rumours. The Ministry of Magic itself could be this nest of handy gossip. Her father could let her in, and she would use this simple spell, the name of which she didn't remember, to retrieve all the Ministry hearsay. The catch was, the Ministry would probably notice her use of this spell, and kick her out, even potentially suing her for breach of her first contract. This would lead to a lot of embarrassment for her father. So, Judith was back to the beginning of her notes and her reasoning, that is, 'Moveren'. Mr. Likkom had mentioned that unregistered spells were not tracked by the…Ministry. This meant that she could cast it in the crowded lobby of the Ministry, and provided that she remained careful, no magic would tell the officials that she was gathering more or less confidential information. That was her best lead. Perhaps the potion was actually at work. Judith was at the same time excited and very stressed. She had a plan, but no will at all to undertake fancy, potentially dangerous tasks that came with 'Provo'. She started pacing in her bedroom, and when dinner time came, she hadn't reached a decision. At midnight, Judith was still in the same state of mind as the one she was in when she had to decide whether to drink the Intuition Potion or not. Maybe she could stop her investigation there, it was safer, and she had already done what she could to avert an injustice. This was actually not really true, she had only drunk a basic potion. Judith knew she faced a sleepless night if she didn't give in to her desire to go further, and a difficult night if she chose to cast 'Provo'. She tried to picture herself in the two possible situations : either telling Peter she had performed 'Provo' to find leads in the investigation, or going past him hoping he would never know she had retreated in front of danger, let him down, and preferred her cosy well-being over a noble cause. This latter vision was the most disturbing to Judith, because it implied she would never have any appropriate opportunity to start a discussion with Peter. She could attempt to talk to him, but the circumstances would be awkward, and the outcome most likely disappointing. If she went through 'Provo', she would conversely and ultimately have no effort to make : Peter would have to come to her and initiate the talking, at least to thank her. That was really an attractive perspective. She smiled, thinking about Peter's face, coming closer while he was on his way to ask for details about her investigation's highlights. The decision process was now over. She fell asleep two minutes later with this scenario in mind, in front of her closed eyes.
Paragraph 6 - 42 : Brave New Judith
Judith of course needed extensive preparation. She had collected from her parents' belongings the family's biggest bag-pack, and proceeded to fill it with everything she could imagine might help : food and water, blankets, two full sets of clothes, a magically shrunk tent, an emergency kit for both typical Muggle and obviously magical wounds, boots, a trench coat, and she had to stop here, for the bag was full and she didn't have any idea about the way she could shrink the other items. She had dressed the Muggle way, because she considered Muggle clothes were best suited to tackling tasks which might require, as her mother would say, cardiovascular efforts. Therefore, she wore blue jeans, a T-shirt, and walking shoes. The only coquettish thing she had added was her Hogwarts tie, to be in touch with the three others. From the outside, the only thing that could tell the onlooker she was a witch was the wand protruding from one of her jeans' pockets - the wand's handle was bathing in Floo powder, exactly what one would expect from Judith Parry. Said onlooker would have anyway understood she was up to something, since she had a full expedition equipment while standing in the middle of her bedroom. She took out her wand, and pronounced distinctly, 'Provo'. Her surroundings spiraled out of her sight, and were soon replaced with an unusually wide corridor, the roof of which had missing parts. Therefore, one could see the sky through the associated holes, and things were very varyingly lit depending on the place where one stood. At the other side of the corridor was a figure in black robes, wand at the ready. If this was the invitation for a duel, then Judith was facing an issue : was it some mundane spell contest, or conversely, a duel to death ? As per her contract, she was not allowed to use dark magic. What if her opponent chose to perform 'Avada Kedavra' on her ? What was she supposed to do to counteract such a fierce opposition ? She didn't have much time to dwell on this, since the figure cast a simple 'Stupefy', to which Judith responded with 'Protego'. There was a symmetrical exchange, where Judith used herself 'Stupefy' and what looked like a wizard countered easily. At that point, Judith felt that 'Provo' was not that bad, and she had made a good decision. Yet, the battle slightly escalated when the man - Judith thought it wasn't a woman, judging by the voice and the tall stature - conjured a flurry of spiders that ran towards Judith. She had the time to recall her sparring with Ann about the fact Judith was not afraid of spiders, but then, she had to cope with the situation : these were not Hogwarts spiders, maybe the miniature floor-knitting flock was made of deadly ones. Judith attempted 'Reducto' on as many spiders as possible, but their numbers were growing, as if there was a permanent flow of hairy, and definitely not cute, little parasites from the wizard's side. When the first line of the beastly battalion came within about ten feet from Judith, she fell backwards. Her opponent immediately exploited the window of opportunity, and cast a new Stupefy on Judith, who was sent flying over twenty feet away from the spiders. Through quick thinking, she realised that she could use the fact that she was now further away from the oncoming spiders to defend herself. She uttered :
Rule Britannia
and a ten feet tall wave filled the width of the corridor, before moving towards the spiders, which drowned en masse, and onto the wizard. Nevertheless, the latter didn't move or react to the avalanche of water. Judith wondered if it was normal for a man to be able to stand still after the full force of several cubic feet of water had hit him. And curiously enough, after the wave went past him, he didn't seem wet at all. Maybe this was no man, and no wizard. Judith stood up, and said :
Finite Incantatem
The corridor dissolved into a multi-coloured blur. No definite shape was visible. Then, a huge rectangular space in the blur started broadcasting weird images, which on their part had extremely good resolution, far better than the best television sets or movie theater screens. Judith was seeing herself, in different places she had visited at different times of her life. In her aunt's house, when she was six years old. In kindergarten, when she was three. At Hogwarts, in her first year. In the countryside, near a river, with her parents during a weekend, when she was nine. Every time a change in the settings occurred, the height from which she was seeing herself was different. She was apparently seeing herself from the point of view of other people, who had known her, and who were recalling memories involving her, with a precision in the details that Judith couldn't have herself. This selection of memories was not hers. She had forgotten these specific moments of her life, which looked completely random. Judith knew what to try first : 'Finite Incantatem'. That didn't work. She then tried a variety of spells, but only the basic ones, like 'Aguamenti', were making effect, as if Judith were now unable to perform advanced magic. Judith turned to her Hogwarts tie, and embroidered in haste
Help, I am stuck in a sequence of dreams where I can't use most of the spells
Ann replied
?
but Judith saw Ann seeing her on the rectangular space. It was a memory in which they were talking to each other while walking towards their spot near the lake. Suddenly, Judith's wand performed a spell, without her trying to cast any. The blurred surroundings and the projection surface were soon engulfed in a huge cloud of dust, and a loud bang echoed. Immediately after though, the initial aspect of Judith's surroundings was restored. She embroidered :
My weird environment got bombed, as if I had used a spell, but I did nothing. Any idea ?
Judith got a reply less a minute later, in Sigismond's gold threads :
I imagined you casting Bombarda Maxima. It turns out you are now remote-controlled by people who are thinking about you
Judith was partly relieved to have an explanation for what was happening. That was probably the key to the trial. She wrote on the back of her tie :
Then, maybe you can imagine me being in front of you for real
She now had before her, on the fictitious screen, diverse images of her showing up in a loop. The three others were clearly doing their best at executing her request, but it was to no avail. Judith resumed the magical sewing :
I see all of you trying hard, but I guess it's not the solution
Judith then felt a new message appearing beneath her tie. It was in Eleanor's teal :
I will have to research mind-related spells in a few books. In the meantime, Ann and Sigismond could picture in their head the best memories of Judith they have
Ann knew exactly what would be on her mind next regarding Judith. Judith had come to the same conclusion. Soon she saw herself emerging, disheveled, from behind Eleanor's bed. She was still blushing at the recollection of this event, but it was now mixed with a kind of merriness. Judith felt it was so interesting and mind-opening to see the others' perspective, especially when it was done in a benevolent way. She was sure it could also be a great technique to learn from one's mistakes in life, even in the case when one would see the point of view of people who were resentful at one's failure to act properly. But at the present time, Judith was in essence watching a show made by two of her three friends for her. Sigismond recalled the time when Judith had excitedly explained to them how to turn the stack of gold dust in the hall with smooth walls into huge gold letters displayed on these same walls, during the previous school-year. Judith thought, when seeing the memory onscreen, that the sleepless night during which she had connected the dots about the gold dust was showing on her face, and in her dress, that was far from perfect : for instance, her shirt was not properly tucked inside her skirt, and her tie was not straight. She also hadn't kept in her brains the exact speech she had delivered to explain the link between the pile of gold and the smooth walls, but in the enhanced memory, her whole address could be heard. Ann was then reminded of Judith enjoying the tasty food at the Ogre's Buffet, the day when she had lost her little box without even realising it. Judith thought :
Am I really eating like this ? This is fast. At least I don't speak when my mouth is full
At this moment, the blur vanished, and Judith saw around her a hilly landscape. Apparently, Eleanor had found the right counter-spell, and had imagined Judith casting it, causing Judith to benefit from it. A new message from Eleanor came up :
Magic is really amazing, for it is the only medium through which imaginary worlds can get alive
Ann furthered the conversation in a very direct fashion :
Maybe you could tell us why you ended in this situation. Why would you have the right or the obligation to use magic ?
Here began the lengthy process during which Judith embroidered, bit after bit, the different elements of the story that the three others had missed : getting a dispensation from the Ministry, drinking the potion, going to the lecture, letting Provo put her to the test, the task involving the duel. Judith expected Ann to be mad at her for having not updated the three others since she had decided to brew the Intuition Potion. However, Ann didn't complain. Judith envisioned the possibility that Ann hadn't wanted to write, line after line, a list of her grievances regarding Judith's solo part. Perhaps she was instead preoccupied with Judith's precarious situation, and didn't want to add to the latter's problems. Judith looked around her, and saw only green grass spreading in every direction. Only the heights, the curves and the declivities varied. Nobody was to be seen. Judith wondered if that was the kind of task in which one had to survive without food, water, nor shelter for days at end. If that was the case, given that Judith had brought everything needed for everyday life in her big bag-pack, she would have a few days to figure a way out of this green environment. And since there was no Muggle in sight, she had the liberty to use magic at will. Unless this was a continuation of the previous task. After all the transition between the blurry surroundings and the empty green terrain had been amazingly smooth. She therefore had to try some powerful spell. Sigismond had used Bombarda Maxima, that is why it was the first one that came to her mind. Judging by the crater the wand's work created in the hill that stood in the direction of said wand, she had at her disposal all the magic she had learned, unlike in the previous movie-theater-like setting. She could also conclude that this was another task, and she wondered how many there would be. Judith reviewed the past three ones. They all looked like mysteries, without forcibly danger in them. She thought :
Don't count your eggs before they are hatched, though
She set off in a random direction. After an about fifty minutes walk, she spotted a sort of cabin, which made her hopeful. If there was some construction in there, this landscape was not a coast-less desert island, and she could expect to meet people, or at least to discover tools that would help her. She strode towards the hut, but on reaching its tilted shabby-looking door, she felt she needed to be cautious. Thus, she took out her wand, and delicately moved her hand forward to push the door open. The door immediately fell in a loud noise on the floor, dust flew from the places where the door had hit the ground, Judith flinched, and she fell backwards, her wand still in her hand. After this combined door-witch double fall in opposite directions, Judith, still level with the grass, squinted at the inside of the rudimentary building. There was a table in it, but also, on the back wall, a painting representing a horse in a prairie. Since the horse was moving, the painting was obviously magical. Judith wondered this time if the picture was an escape route, like in some Muggle novels for children. She knew for sure no Hogwarts portrait or painting allowed a wizard or a witch to get inside it. Yet she had already found that in these trials, magic itself looked enchanted, and what she understood of magic might not apply fully in the 'Provo' simulations. She abstained from using 'Bombarda Maxima', since that might deprive her of a potential exit, and attempted 'Finite Incantatem', without any visible result. She devised what she considered like a potential solution : getting a magical painting of her made, that might allow her to access other portraits. If the goal of this task was to find a way out, maybe entering the realm of portraits would count as a win. Trouble was, there wasn't a single soul down here to even draw a sketch of Judith's face. She therefore decided to use the cabin as a shelter for the night. There was another thing about which she wasn't sure : how did time evolve in these made up environments ? Were there days and nights, dawns and sunsets ? She envisioned getting in touch again with the three others, but she hadn't what her mother would name a 'diagnosis' of the situation, and she felt it would be better to first get an assessment of what was exactly wrong with this fairy-made empty, gigantic and dull field. She wanted to fix the door, and used 'Wingardium Leviosa' to put it back up, before maneuvering gently in order to assemble again the hinges. Judith hoped there wouldn't be gusts of wind that would make the door crash again in the night. To make sure that, should this happen, the door would at least not crush her, she opted to sleep at the back of the cabin, beneath the painting. There was no bed, so she would have to sleep on some of her blankets that would themselves lie on the floor, while the other blankets would rest on top of her. She now only had to hope that there were nights in whatever this place was. It turned out the sun was working the same way in this fictitious setup as in the real world. When daylight became scarce, Judith was relieved, and ate her dinner. The night was not excessively fresh : clearly, in this location it was summer, too. The following morning, Judith woke up in panic, not remembering on the spot why she was there. When the memories of the previous day came back in their usual haphazard order, she was able to calm down, and proceeded to have breakfast. She felt a bit embarrassed by the fact that there was no possibility to take a shower, or a bath. Judith worried that filth accumulated during every hour spent in this water-less universe would contribute to make her ill. If at least there was some kind of big, wide and deep bucket, she would be able to use 'Aguamenti', and fill it with water to emulate a bathtub. Judith hoped she would find other constructions with more useful objects in them. Indeed she ran into a barn, which held grain, a sort of stable in which magical creatures she had never seen were living, and finally a large house. She had envisioned using the magical creatures - looking like extremely enlarged dogs four feet tall and three feet wide - for transportation, but she didn't know if they would be cooperative or hostile to such an initiative. Filled with the motivation to not fall victim to a stampede or trampling, she elected to keep this option for later, in case of despair. Reaching the afore-mentioned house that she spotted last this day, she felt happy, after having walked and sweated all day. She thought it was not the investigation she had had in mind in the first place. Instead of looking for significant clues, she was now focused on finding tools, a roof, and yes, a bathtub. Sure she had a shrunk tent in her bag pack, but she had already spent the first night under some solid cladding, and she was in search of a betterment, not a downgrade. The house was entirely made of grey stone, which seemed promising. Almost all the windows were intact, only one of them was broken. She came near the house cautiously, though, her wand out, and tried to discern through the windows a living presence, be it harmful or helpful. The windows were amazingly clean, as if someone was actively taking care of the house - except that they hadn't replaced the damaged window. She had a good view of the inside through the glass, and saw nobody, only furniture. Judith had a good memory of the way she and Sigsimond had managed the mysterious environment accessed through Edward Songer's wand, therefore, on crossing the threshold after having gently pushed the crimson door open, she said : 'Hominum Revelio'. Not a single sound reached her ears, not a single vision travelled to her eyes. However, the spell only worked on humans. There might thus be creatures ready to ambush her. Judith was in a hall, from which two parallel staircases were departing. Here also, everything was impeccable, no dust was lying on the surfaces. Judith, who was prudently progressing in the house, ready to react to any sound or any move, a bit like in the silly series about secret agents that her Muggle cousin was watching, made an inventory of what she was finding : four beds, two tables, two chimneys, nine chairs, a full set of tableware, a sink, a stove, two flying broomsticks, a lavatory, and, yes, finally, a bathtub. Judith was exhausted, but also exhilarated : she might get out of this world thanks to her Floo powder. Nevertheless, maybe she would just end up in a soot-filled chimney of another, less convenient and less clean house in the same gloomy greenish stretch. Therefore, she wanted first to take a bath, and sleep in the biggest bed of the house. It turned out, though, that there was no running water in it. Judith thought :
Never mind, I'll use Aguamenti
She was very tired, and had to perform the same spell about a hundred times before getting enough water to take the bath she had dreamed about since the morning. She then had dinner, and went upstairs, more precisely up the left staircase, where the bedroom with the biggest bed of the house was. She lied down on it, and quickly fell asleep. The following morning was very much a repeat of the previous one : why was she there ? This time, though, the memories were coming along with the satisfying perception of her pleasant surroundings. There were times when life at home was frustrating. Perhaps she could go back here sometimes, and have a tidy large house for her alone, in which she would decide about her schedule ? She would have to bring food, though, because she hadn't seen any yet in two days' time. She had been gone for more than one full day. If time really went by in this universe exactly like time does in the place where her parents lived, then the latter would probably be very worried. She hadn't told them she was going to use 'Provo'. Anyway, this didn't actually matter, since she would shortly use her Floo powder and hopefully go back home to reassure her parents. She therefore went down the stairs, turned right, and arrived in one of the two rooms that had a chimney. She stepped into the hearth, dropped a handful of Floo powder, and gave the usual address for her house :
At Mr. and Mrs. Parry, Boston, Lincolnshire
Yet this didn't work. She tried again, with the same disappointing result. She then tried Eleanor's house, but there was clearly no way to make Floo powder bring her back from there to the world where her home and Hogwarts stood. Judith started panicking, and let her brains rush. After some fruitless minutes of cerebral effort, she moved out of the fireplace, and walked towards the nearest chair, where she sat down. She had to go back to her initial train of thought : she had looked for the constructions in order to find tools, and on discovering the house, she had made an inventory of everything that looked useful. She then mentally ran through her list. There actually were tools she could take advantage of : the two flying broomsticks. With them, she could cover large distances, and locate either a more interesting building, or the edges of this endless patch of prairie, maybe even a creature able to communicate, for example a portrait that could tell her how this world worked. She picked one of them, went with her bag-pack on her back out of the house, and took off. Judith wasn't very confident in her flying skills, so she proceeded carefully. First, she gradually climbed in order to get the best vantage point, from which she had a chance of spotting a potential boundary for the green landscape. However, in spite of getting higher than ever in her life with a broomstick, she could only see a green ocean, with sparse constructions. This didn't matter, she would keep flying in one direction, and at some point, she would reach some landmark, or detect a change of scenery. Therefore, she chose an angle, and stayed on course for two hours, without noticing a singularity in the panorama. She got a hunch, and began memorizing as much as possible of the terrain down there, then made a U-turn, and checked if what she was seeing matched what she had seen on the outward journey. After a few minutes, she wasn't absolutely positive, but she had the very powerful impression that the ground had been altered in some places. Judith guessed she was trapped in an ever-evolving environment. By now, maybe the house with the crimson door was gone. She was flying, but purposelessly, her mind drifting. She wasn't paying attention to what was below her, or even in front of her. She was mid-air, in an infinite jail. It took several minutes for Judith to realise : this had already happened to someone. When Lewis Lapst had organised his party in the so-called Grit Hall, his classmates helping with the setup had locked up Peeves with the same kind of trick. She now needed to have her hands free, because embroidering messages with the wand in one hand, and the broomstick's handle in the other one, would put her at risk of dropping her wand, falling off her wooden ship, or both. Judith descended in a diagonal trajectory, a good compromise between the haste of setting once again her feet on the ground and her traditional but now relative cautiousness. She landed, dismounted from the broomstick, let it fall down next to her, took out her wand, and sent the following message :
Could one of you find the counter-spell for what was used to put Peeves in cage during the Lewis Lapst's party ?
Judith quickly received positive answers. From what she could see on the back of her tie, the three others were communicating to expedite the search for the requested piece of magic. Judith was serene : she had never been in much danger in this overly quiet simulation, she wasn't in too much of a hurry to find the right spell, and her friends would be able to help her, although their work would be made more complicated by the fact that they were away from Hogwarts' written resources. She sat on the grass, and looked at the multi-coloured exchanges on the back of her tie with a smile. Something was nevertheless bothering her : without Ann, Eleanor and Sigismond, she would have lacked the skills to get through two of the first three tasks. It had been irresponsible on her part to delve into the mysteries of unregistered magic. She had been brave, maybe even reckless for the first time in her life - or the second one if she was taking into account her choice of brewing and drinking the Intuition Potion - and she had faced several trials with some success, which was empowering, rewarding, perhaps even ego-filling. On the other hand, her shortcomings were obvious : she was no more than a student, with so much to learn. Sigismond found the appropriate counter-spell, for apparently his mother had acquired a certain amount of interesting books dealing with delicate situations :
In Re Veritas
Judith cast the spell, and wooden-looking walls erected themselves around her. She was soon in some sort of box, with an array of objects on the floor : an orange, two knives, a table, and a golden chandelier - the candles of which were out. There were no openings, and the box was most certainly lit with magic. She had now reflexes when it came to getting out of these traps : Judith tried 'Finite Incantatem', 'Alohomora', 'Bombarda Maxima', and as a bonus, 'Confringo'. Both the two latest spells produced a lot of dust and noise, but none of them altered the appearance of the surroundings. Judith was worried she might run out of oxygen, which would mean she had limited time to find a way out. Suddenly, one of the knives took off, and flew parabolically out of the box. Judith was stunned, she hadn't even attempted the easiest possible solution. Apparently, the walls of this box were very much like the pillar at King's Cross through which one accessed Platform 9 3/4. Therefore, Judith ran towards the wall through which the knife had escaped, and her head collided with the wall. Apparently not in fact. She moaned, ran her fingers through the place on the forehead which had taken the hit, and sure enough, she felt a bump. Still holding with one hand the hurtful embossed wound, she unloaded from her back the bag-pack, and extracted the emergency kit with the other. From it, she collected a soothing potion, poured a few drops of it on Muggle band-aid, and made said band-aid stick to the bump on her forehead. Maybe she could try a variation : she would put the small objects in her bag pack, with her back to the wall, and when one of these objects would fly to exit the box, perhaps she would be allowed out, too. Furthermore, if this wasn't the right technique, her bag-pack would take the brunt of the collision with the wall. She put this plan to the test : the remaining knife, the orange, and the chandelier went into the bag pack. She leaned with her back carrying the bag pack to the wall, and waited. Then, something she hadn't expected happened : a doorknob flew into the box from another wall, and fell on the floor. This was puzzling, but Judith considered she had no reason to change her plan. She waited, and finally, she felt lifted from the ground over a few inches. Her bag pack and her back ended up briefly compressed to the wall, as if they had been affixed there, in mid-air, then the compression feeling disappeared, and she landed on the floor. A strange rattling noise erupted from behind her, though. She unloaded her bag pack again, since the noise had come from there, and saw on the floor the chandelier, the knife, and a part of the packages holding her food. Some other elements making up the content of her bag-pack were ready to exit it through an almost perfectly circular hole in the bag. Judith made an inventory of what was gone. Only one thing was missing, the orange. Obviously it had forcefully escaped, making a hole in the bag in the process. On the bright side, as devised, Judith had not been injured this time. She repaired with a spell her bag-pack, put the food packages back in it, and placed the chandelier and the remaining knife in a corner, so as to avert being impaled or struck by either of them, if they were to fly out. It was now plain that only the objects could get in and out. But Judith was no object, and even if she were one, the thing or the person that was bringing the objects in and out would not know she was in the box, and would therefore most likely never be able to decide her out. Unless she became one of the objects. Judith thought :
At last something in which my transfiguration classes might pay off
She was getting more cautious in her assessment of how tricky the task was. She had been excessively hopeful when she had imagined the two first solutions, since none of them had panned out. She decided it would be easier to fuse herself in the chandelier. She put her bag pack once more on her back, and, directing her wand at the chandelier, said : 'Fusio'. She was now in complete darkness. She tried 'Lumos', and 'Lumos Maxima', but in both cases, the light at the tip of the wand shone on nothingness. The only meaningful things that Judith could do were waiting or casting the spell reversing the effects of 'Fusio'. She opted to wait. After what seemed like hours, she felt pulled with full force off the ground and horizontally. The surroundings changed once again, and Judith ended in the open. This was an additional avatar of a green landscape, with a serious twist though : two endless lines of warriors armed like in the Middle Ages were fighting, and the effects of magic on the battle were obvious : whenever one of the men at arms would fall wounded or - and this made Judith shiver - apparently killed, they would vanish and be replaced instantly by another fighter appearing at the back of the line where the previous one had sided. Moreover, in the distance, from each army's encampment, archers were aiming at the enemies battling in the lines. Even with the legendary Invisibility Cloak from Beedle the Bard's tale 'The Three Brothers', Judith would probably get wounded while trying to get through the melee. She tried to walk along the line behind which she was, just in case there would be a safe opening or an end to the line. She walked during one hour towards the left, one hour back to her starting point, then one hour to the right. The stretching armies would never end. Judith thought that she should find a broomstick. Therefore she looked everywhere for one of these flying devices, to no avail. She retreated to a hill, from which she could try and spot what was beyond the skirmish. A house was standing over there, and the figure of a boy in a uniform. Judith's heart started pounding. Maybe it was Peter himself, curious to see whether she would dare act to help him. Judith thought it was unlikely, all these settings were fictitious, in other words, magical simulations completely independent from reality. However, this vision seemed to confirm that the goal of the task was to cross the battlefield. Apparently, this was exactly the use case for 'Bombarda Maxima'. Nonetheless, it might be a poor choice : if one attacks people, these could retaliate, unless they were exclusively bewitched to target other soldiers. Judith pushed her reasoning further : if these men decided to turn around and run at her, she could still out-speed them, given that they were wearing very heavy metallic protections that would slow them down. She just had to hope that the archers would not turn at her. She placed herself as far from the military engagement as possible, and prepared herself to turn around and run away at top speed, before directing her wand at the deadly action, and saying : 'Bombarda Maxima'. The spell had once more the same underwhelming effects : a big bang, a lot of dust, but nothing better. It had not disturbed the men on which it was cast even during a fraction of a second, and they had remained oblivious to Judith's own attempt at violence. Slightly disheartened, Judith tried without much belief 'Finite Incantatem', with the same unimpressive outcome. She would have to get past warring soldiers using her Hogwarts knowledge. In her mind, she complained that the school's curriculum in Defense Against the Dark Arts was not extensive enough to deal with the kind of situation she was currently facing. She examined the fighting, in order to spot consistently weaker places, for example, locations where less arrows than average were falling. The result of this intelligence gathering was that no point in the lines was visibly spared in comparison to the others. A typical line was five soldiers deep, therefore, to cross the two lines, she would have to avert the blows from about ten soldiers on her right, and ten soldiers on her left. In average, at any given spot with the width of one human being, one arrow was falling every three seconds. Using quick mathematics, assuming she would need three seconds to get past every set of soldiers - one on her right, one on her left - Judith determined that she would have to counter ten arrows. In order to actually get past them, she would need 'Stupefy' to work more or less. Therefore, she cast a sampling set of 'Stupefy' to soldiers. Her targets fell over or flew into one of their neighbours. That was a good point, since it implied that the men whom she would have attacked would be rendered harmless for a duration sufficient enough for Judith to get to the next layer of warriors. She proceeded to try and cast 'Stupefy' properly as fast as possible, using the spell several times in a row, about one time per second. With this combination of warm-up and training, she felt more or less ready to have a go at this daunting task. Before joining the dangerous opposition, she made a mental note of the reflexes she should have during the thirty seconds or so that her crossing would last :
Be quick with Stupefy, use Protego as much as you can, don't forget to do it against arrows
As she was rehearsing this, an arrow fell a foot away from her, and ended stuck in the ground. Judith flinched. She would have to remain careful even after crossing the part of the fight that was dense with soldiers. She got close to the pack of armed men, looked up at the sky in case arrows were incoming, then cast 'Stupefy' on the two soldiers at the back of the line who stood left and right from her. They were catapulted away, and she used the now available space to cast the same spell on the next line, before running towards the gap in the two back lines, adding two more 'Stupefy' while doing so. She started panting, and the once knocked over soldiers had resumed their threatening actions. Judith could now be attacked from all sides, including from behind. Therefore, she cast 'Protego' in quick succession, towards the soldiers in front of her, but also towards somewhere behind her, and over her head, to get protection from arrows. She maintained this routine of casting 'Stupefy' on the soldiers in front of her, then using 'Protego' a bit everywhere around her so as to be briefly in some sort of protective bubble. She had reached the lines of the opposing party when she felt an excruciating pain in her left lower calf, and she fell on the ground. She cast 'Protego' above her in every direction, interspersed with 'Stupefy', in order to keep the path in front of her clear, while crawling forward. But even these rudimentary moves were painful : apparently, an arrow had pierced her leg, and whenever she would move this leg, the arrow would get in contact with the ground, and act like a dagger further hurting her leg. Crying, with dust in her face, having to carry her heavy bag-pack, trying to cast as many 'Stupefy' and 'Protego' with her right hand all over her, while using the left one as support to make it towards the area in front of her where she would be almost safe, she slowly progressed. A warm liquid, which she alarmingly guessed was blood, was flowing from the bottom section of the wound, at the place where the arrow was going out of her leg. She kept the dwindling few feet that stretched before her clear of soldiers, and managed to crawl away from most of the danger. She then sat behind the last line, saw the blood leaking from the arrow's exit point, unloaded her bag-pack, retrieved the emergency kit while casting glances obscured by her tears at the sky every few seconds to see if arrows were arriving towards her, and paused. First, she cast 'Reducto' at the arrow's tip, which blew up. She then extracted a potion that would act as a painkiller, poured a few drops on the two places where the arrow had entered and was exiting from her leg, held her breath and pulled on the arrow. She felt a bit of pain in spite of the potion, but nothing in comparison with what she would have endured without it. Once the weapon's handle was out, she poured generously an additional amount of the potion in the hole that it had occupied. She added to it a part of another potion's content, the role of which was to close the diagonal gap in her leg, rebuilding the missing flesh and muscle tissue. When her leg was whole again, she slowly stood up, in order to check whether the pain would increase dramatically if she resumed relying on her lower calf. She felt a sudden surge in the suffering caused by the curing wound, but it didn't last, and she took advantage of her restored fitness to run as far away from the raging battle as she could. She wondered if the boy in uniform would still be around. Therefore, she sprinted towards the house. Something unexpected happened, though. While she was heading there, the landscape turned into the slopes of a volcano, from the crater of which lava was flowing in a number of red, yellow, and green rivers. The temperature was hardly bearable, but Judith feared that dropping her bag-pack on the ground would make its bottom melt, its content spill and also dissolve due to the heat. She was already feeling the hot ground eating at her soles. She looked around her, for running away might do the trick. That wouldn't do, because the crater she had in front of her was just an instance in a sea of volcanoes. This was clearly the equivalent of a timed task, and she was desperate for the sequence of trials to stop. Mr. Likkom's quick overview of Provo's use had failed to give Judith the much needed impression that the number of obstacles contributed to the hardship. There had been a hike in the level of difficulty since task number four, and should it resume climbing, Judith would be finished. She cast in rapid succession the quick-fix spells : 'Finite Incantatem', 'Bombarda Maxima', 'Alohomora', which didn't yield any change in the dangerousness of the situation, and in the situation at all. She had to think about the specific elements of the trial. Since it was a scary setting, it might be a giant Boggart. Therefore, she tried 'Riddikulus' while imagining the volcano spitting boogers, but that was also in vain. She thought that for once, a Dementor could be an asset, however she didn't know how to conjure a semblance of the sinister creature. She instead used magic to put up walls in the middle of the lava streams, yet the extremely hot liquid would simply erode each wall in a few seconds. She recalled what she had in her bag-pack : perhaps one item in it would give her time or a way out. She actually had something. Not in her bag-pack, though. Her plan was insane, nevertheless it made sense. It fitted with the most intriguing element, that would otherwise be out of place, and with the heat. If she was right, it would be genius. If she was wrong, she would die. But if she didn't attempt this, she could also pass away shortly after. She rummaged in her jeans' pocket, took what was inside, ran to the crater, dived in it while dropping the Floo powder in the red, yellow and green burning lava below her, and said :
Mr. and Mrs. Parry, Boston, Lincolnshire
She kept falling towards the bubbly incandescent lake, which had wholly turned green - did it mean that the crater was indeed connected to the Floo network, or conversely, that Floo powder would always change the colour of what it would fall into to green ? In spite of dropping at full speed, the heat was growing less bearable by the second. Perhaps it was the time to find a way to recover from a sixty feet free-fall dive. No, it was too late. When the green boiling surface was a few seconds away, Judith started screaming. She was so to speak flying horizontally when the impact came, and she landed on her chest in the living room's chimney. Nobody was home to greet her after her stroke of genius, or to scold her for reckless behaviour. But the job was complete, and so much had happened since she had left her bedroom with her bag-pack on her back, her wand and Floo powder in her pocket. She used her hands to get up, sat on the living room's floor, and unloaded the bag for the last time. Actually, the past two days had changed the way she perceived the present and anticipated the future : yes, she had been attracted to Peter Perklus. She was amazed at the fact that she hadn't durst putting this thought into plain and clear words before the 'Provo' trials. Now, it was easy for her. No, she wouldn't tell this anybody and everybody : she was just not afraid any longer of her weaknesses. Looking back, the investigation had been a frivolous endeavour. Nevertheless, it was the corresponding immaturity that had brought her to this new, more laid-back and realistic mindset. She had always considered herself realistic, thanks to her carefulness, yet she had just realised this self-assessment had been incorrect. Being realistic means that one faces reality, not just that one understands the practical constraints, as she had considered without giving it much thought. She had lost her initial, vanity-filled motivation for the investigation. There was no need to impress Peter Perklus, nor even a reason to expect him to be impressed : one doesn't get commended for doing rash things under the influence of hormones. She had drunk the Intuition Potion, and it had led her to this state of mind, in which the investigation didn't matter any more. Well, maybe she was going too far. On the one hand, starting an investigation out of romantic interest was ridiculous. Letting somebody down was heartless, though. In short, she would delve into Peter Perklus' weird case, but out of different considerations. Landing a date with Peter wasn't the important aspect at that point : it was helping somebody who had apparently acted truthfully, and who hence deserved this help. The plan was to first, clean up the mess she had created by crashing in the fireplace, then, deal with her parents' reaction, and finally, put to use the 'Moveren' spell at the Ministry. This would require her to get once more her father's approval : a person in charge of safety at the Ministry was by definition not supposed letting anyone enter it without credible reassurances. Her mother had imposed from Judith she wouldn't make any additional request. If this element came up again at dinner, she would find some other way to further her detective work. Judith took her shoes off : their sole was almost completely molten. She would keep these shoes on display in her bedroom to remind her of the strenuous circumstances in which she had had to act bravely. She grabbed a broomstick, and wiped the dust and the soot off the floor. And she brought the bag-pack upstairs in her bedroom, to empty it before cleaning the clothes and the blankets it had held. Then, she sat at her desk, and wrote a summary of the tasks she had gone through. Since there was still time before her parents would come back from work, she went again through her notes about the case and the lecture. When her parents arrived, she smiled at them, and said :
I hope you weren't too worried. I hadn't expected my kind of trip to last so long
Her tone was different, collected, more confident than before but respectful, and her parents were clearly surprised, judging by the expression on their faces. Her mother put her bag down on a low table in the hall, and took a bit of time to adjust her words and her own tone to the new Judith. She replied sweetly and calmly :
We had noticed you had brought the big bag-pack and blankets, so we had guessed you had prepared yourself to travel fairly far
Judith answered :
Yes, long story. Sorry if I have caused trouble
At dinner, Judith explained in a nutshell what she had done : going through tasks in order to gain her wand's trust. She didn't elaborate on the perilous aspects - saying she had overcome trials presented as very dangerous would make her sound uselessly boastful - and waited for her parents to take in the news. Seeing that everybody around the table was silent, she added :
From the completion of the Provo tasks on, I should be able to use a spell, which is called 'Moveren'. It would help me gather rumours at the Ministry without disturbing people there. I thought before using the 'Provo' spell that 'Moveren' was a brilliant way of acquiring knowledge about the case, but I wouldn't say anymore it is brilliant. Maybe convenient, no more. I would appreciate if Dad let me in the Hall of the Ministry, and cast this spell there. Obviously, I wouldn't enter the non-public space at the Ministry, and I would stay in the Hall
She wasn't begging for favors on the basis of truncated information as she had done before the 'Provo' spell. She was poised, letting her parents decide from reliable data. She didn't wait anxiously an answer to her request, and went back to her plate instead. When she finished her main course, she lifted her head again. Her gaze crossed her father's, and the latter said :
Come with me tomorrow, use this spell during the day, and tell us during our next dinner what came up or didn't
Judith nodded in approval.
Paragraph 7 - 43 : Bureaucratic Magic (La magie de la bureaucratie)
The following morning, Judith was in a recess in the Hall of the Ministry of Magic. Through trial and error, she quickly became proficient at the 'Moveren' spell : while casting it, she should direct her wand at the mouth of somebody, then move the wand till it would face towards her. She noticed that she would hear much more easily if, in the final position, the wand was close to her ears. She would have looked stupid doing this if anyone had paid attention to her, therefore she tried to refine her technique so as to look gracious when moving her wand from the starting to the ending position needed for the spell. Since she was in a recess, only people whose gaze would have been perpendicular to the Hall's main direction, and who would thus have decided to turn around at ninety degrees in her direction exactly when they were going past her, would be able to spot her shenanigans. Even if this were to happen and to cap it all, the person reported her, she was anyway abiding by her contract, therefore she wouldn't be in much trouble. Whenever she had heard something, she would sit down on the Hall's cold floor, and scribble on a parchment what had been said by the Moveren spell's target. She still had her blue dress with white collar, but had let her Hogwarts tie at home, for the accessory would have made her more noticeable. At the end of the day, she was exhausted, hungry, her buttocks hurt, and her parchments' contents looked like this :
Mrs. Prooves is incompetent. Mr. Hourry got promoted because he was a friend at Hogwarts of the current Head of Cooperation With Intelligent Creatures. The Head of Cooperation With Intelligent Creatures is incompetent. The Department Of Apparition needs to promote its Smart Drive For a Safe Travel initiative, since people are inexplicably unaware of it. Mrs. Bogato should stop petitioning about alleged illegal activities by Bispeel Inc. The Minister of Magic is fond of her three-year old nephew, although it's natural since the kid is so cute. The French counterparts of the members of the Department of Magical Cooperation are idiots, because they always want to tax exportations of British broomsticks. An unknown wizard has bet three Galleons that the Chudley Cannons would finish last this year. Mrs. Bogato is a nut. The American quasi-monopoly on dragon heart-string drives the cost of wands up. The Aurors have raided a house the owner of which had a three thousand litre store of contraband Butterbeer. Rita Skeeter epitomises the modern witch. Kate Mertish, 24, is still to be found. The Department of Law Enforcement is too lenient with Pure-Blood wizards and witches. The latest exhibition sponsored by Mr. Hexler was excellent. An unknown witch's son has forgotten a doodle in her mother's office. The Head of the Committee awarding grants for American and Peruvian colleges of magic is an amazing witch. The thickness of cauldrons' bottom is a permanent issue, and requires standardisation, but surprisingly no one has found anybody to write a report about it. The Aurors are working on a big score in Liverpool. The new scams to accrue magical powers lead to loss of human form, or to body decomposition. Mr. And Mrs. Omphrey are suspected of having teamed up to embezzle money from the Fund instated to pay compensation for victims of broomstick crashes, because they wanted to go on a honeymoon in Vietnam. Mrs. Bogato is a pain in the back. The Minister of Magic spends too much on her robes, which attracts criticism and makes it difficult to pass reforms. The Buttercoffee machines on levels minus two and minus eleven are broken, which is a pity, because they were cheaper than average, and now people from these levels go higher or lower, which creates bigger jams than ever at the floors where Buttercoffee is cheap. Underground magic music is underfunded. Constituents complain that the Ministry should not have allocated monies to tracking unregistered Animagi, because wizards and witches should have the liberty of choosing under which guise they wish to appear. The Vice-Head of the Department of Magical Creation used his connections to help his daughter succeed in the field of photography, at the expense of more skilled young wizards and witches. The safety at the Department of Mysteries is lax. The initiative consisting in giving free second-hand broomsticks to modest households was a great success when it came to boosting sports practice, however there are whispers that there has been embezzlement going on within this initiative. Switching from inter-departmental memos delivery by owl to delivery by flying spells allowed for an economy of more than two thousand Galleons. Mr. Wouls will most likely be voted most handsome wizard of the Ministry. Hogwarts' Professors get paid too much, but the son of the wizard who said that will be Prefect. Mrs. Deedoss left early, as usual. The Department of Magical Cooperation is working towards reinstating the Triwizard Tournament, but the French are too demanding, they don't want to be hosts because it would be expensive. A wizard left a viper in the drawer of Mrs. Chocks, who is rumoured to be a Parselmouth, however the wizard doesn't know whether the snake will be able to survive in the drawer till the following morning
At dinner, Judith showed her compilation to her father, who told her calmly but firmly that she wouldn't have the opportunity to go back to the Ministry to use this 'Moveren' spell, because he had heard complaints from people who had been entering or leaving the hall that they had had to repeat things, which was probably due to some magical dysfunction. And Judith's father suspected the 'Moveren' spell to have been the cause behind this disturbance. Therefore, she would have to make do with her spoils of the day. He nevertheless thanked her for indirectly warning him that Mrs. Chocks was about to be the victim of a regrettable prank. The following morning, Judith studied her notes that now included the gossip extracted in the Hall of the Ministry of Magic, but couldn't make progress. She wondered whether the three others were busy. If they were bored, having nothing special to do during the holidays, they might find taking part in her investigation enjoyable. Since Judith was not any longer on the case out of vanity, but out of genuine empathy, it would be easier for her to convey the heartfelt need behind a request for help. Therefore, she retrieved her Hogwarts tie, put it around her neck, and sent a copper-coloured message :
If you wish to help me with the investigation, I could copy my notes and send them to you by owl
Ann replied first :
I will read them and do my best, but you know that study is not my forte
Judith thought that it would be sufficient to justify making at least one copy of her notes. She was in the middle of this task when she felt letters carving themselves beneath the tie. She turned the tie over, and read in gold :
I guess it will be an interesting read
Judith resumed the production of her first copy, for Ann, then went on with the version intended for Sigismond, sent the first set of notes to Ann by owl, and warned the three others :
Ann's package is en route. Waiting for my owl to go back to send to Sigismond his
She then lied down on her bed, again trying to piece together the elements she now had, wondering whether she had the right ones. After all, she had collected only a part of one day's worth of rumours in the Hall of the Ministry. The Perklus case was still pending according to the Daily Prophet, and she had expected it would be hot news at the Ministry, thus she was slightly surprised and disappointed at the same time by the fact that none of the overly chatty employees and visitors whose conversations she had captured had made a direct mention about the Perklus case. As she was pondering this, Eleanor, a bit late to the party, wrote back :
I am in
Judith went back to her desk in her bedroom, and proceeded to duplicate for the final time her notes. She then had to manage the logistics of having an owl delivering a parcel, having to rest, getting something to eat and drink, then going away for the third time. In the middle of one of the family's owl's journeys, she had dinner, and around midnight, Ann, Sigismond and Eleanor, in that order, had all been able to delve into Judith's written work. After bringing food and drink again to the owl, Judith undressed, letting her Hogwarts tie to lie on her bed-table, put on her pajamas, and went to sleep.
Paragraph 8 - 44 : The Official Signature
The following morning, she smiled : she had dreamt during the night that she was awakening in the hut of the third trial, except that the hut itself was painted in green, and she was relieved to find out when awakening for real this time that she was in her own bed. She extended her hand towards her Hogwarts tie, and saw a blue message from Eleanor that delighted her :
The Daily Prophet article says the victim is gone and is also from a reputable Pure-Blood family. The Mertish's are a reputable Pure-Blood family. There are good chances that Kate Mertish could be our victim
This meant that maybe people at the Ministry had actually mentioned the Perklus case. On the one hand, it was progress, on the other hand, the four friends' investigation was still lagging by a world and ages the Ministry's. Eleanor also brought the next step for their effort : since Kate Mertish was 24 years-old, she had left Hogwarts recently. Therefore they could ask for a picture of her when she was in her seventh year at the school. They wondered yet if there was someone at Hogwarts with the authority to make the call to send them or not the picture during the summer holidays. For it is most common among students, from first grade to last, to forget that the school also lives during the holidays, although in a very different way. Once the holidays have arrived, students direct almost hundred percent of their attention to the kind of pleasant activities they will be able to enjoy before the next school-year begins. One may even argue that it's forgetting temporarily that school exists that makes the holidays such a thrilling period, during which children and teenagers maintain this so merry impression, specific to young people, that ruthlessly elapsing time has in fact no effect. In the end, Judith decided to send an owl to Professor Dumbledore, asking for a picture of Kate Mertish. She expected to get a very late answer, but the very next morning, a big white owl delivered an envelope with the Hogwarts red seal, and a bit of parchment with these few lines :
Hogwarts does not have any picture of Miss Mertish. I hope though you will see clear through this. Albus Dumbledore
Judith immediately communicated through embroidery the entirety of Professor Dumbledore's letter. Very quickly, interpretations made their way to the back of Judith's tie. Eleanor suggested that they didn't take pictures of students seven years or so back. Ann proposed a hypothesis according to which the Mertish's had pressured the school into not recording their daughter's image. Maybe the young Kate Mertish had fallen victim to a vicious spell, or just had a strong temper and had said 'No, thanks', to the picture. There also was this mysterious line in Professor Dumbledore's brief correspondence :
I hope though you will see clear through this
Did it mean that he had posited they were after the truth in the case of Kate Mertish's disappearance, whether it was linked to Peter Perklus' or not, and he wanted to encourage them to persevere in their endeavour ? Sigismond had another idea, namely that the arcane line implied nothing else than :
I can't tell you why there is no picture of Kate Mertish, but I hope you will figure out why
The afternoon came, and suddenly Eleanor reacted :
I have a theory that seems to fit. Kate Mertish never attended Hogwarts, because she was a Squib. Of course Dumbledore had no right to say it loud or brightly on paper that a person was a Squib, especially a person belonging to an almost prestigious Pure-Blood family. They all are hell-bent on protecting their reputation, and letting out the information that one of their members is a Squib would make the other families scoff at what could be perceived as declining magical abilities
This was probably the longest message that any of the four friends had embroidered. Eleanor was most likely excited at how well her theory was looking. Still, they had no idea about the connection between Peter Perklus and the disappearance of Kate Mertish. Perhaps they knew each other, had been neighbours. Anything was possible. Anyway, this Kate-Mertish-is-a-Squib hypothesis was their best shot. They therefore tried to put themselves in the shoes of a Squib from a reputable Pure-Blood family. Of course they would permanently try to detect a trace of almost infinitesimal magic in themselves, or look for ways to gain magical abilities. Eleanor noticed that the Ministry's employees had also talked about it : according to Judith's notes, the Ministry wanted to warn Squibs that there were techniques to accrue magical powers that were scams and could backfire to the extent that they would lose human form, or have their body decompose. This highlighted how desperately widespread it was for Squibs in the magical community to try to fit in through becoming able to perform a bit of magic. This probably also meant that Squibs were getting harshly treated or mocked - maybe even in their own family - which pressured them in doing their best to achieve the impossible. Sigismond was distracted by something : he said through the 'Mitto' spell that losing human form was not a terrible risk, because there were objects that one could purchase, and would restore your human form. The catch was, you had to keep them close to you at all time. Her mother chased a few of those for clients, although she heavily suspected them to be Lord Voldemort's admirers who thought that the objects would help bring back You-Know-Who. Obviously, people who dearly wanted the Dark Lord back were often belonging to rather affluent Pure-Blood families, and the objects were expensive. They were at that point in their train of thought when Ann noticed something : the Daily Prophet's article mentioned that Peter Perklus had performed a powerful protective spell because he had felt the presence of a magical being. The Aurors thought it was the presence of the victim. But if the victim was indeed Kate Mertish, and also a Squib, and assuming that Peter Perklus was truthful and not mistaken, then he had perceived the presence of somebody else, a wizard or a witch for example. If this had been a member of the family, or an acquaintance of the family, the Mertish's would have easily cleared this up themselves. But if it conversely was a third party, then there was only one simple reason why they could have been there : they wanted to steal an expensive item, for example an object craved by You-Know-Who's wealthy supporters. Ann's theory was as follows : the Mertish's, a rich and Pure-Blood family, are seeking a way to make You-Know-Who return. They purchase an object that can make him human again. Nevertheless, they have a terrible secret, one of their members is a Squib. Therefore, when they learn of a technique allegedly endowing Squibs with magical powers but that brings an associated risk of making their family member lose their human form, they think :
Let's kill two birds with one stone. In the worst case scenario, our family member's human form will be voided, but we will use our powerful object for them to resume their life, till we find another way for Squibs to become gifted at magic
In the meantime, some people who know that the Mertish's have this kind of object decide to steal it. Trouble is, the object is now absolutely necessary for the afore-mentioned family member to stay alive. So, when the thief takes the object, the family member vanishes. Judith, Eleanor and Sigismond thought it was a brilliant explanation, but it didn't fill two big blanks : if Peter Perklus was not the thief, why had he been there at the same place, at the same time ? The Daily Prophet's article didn't say he had drunk something like the Intuition Potion. Then, why would other people who wanted Lord Voldemort back, and who were thus attracted to Pure-Blood families, didn't ask to use the object of one of the Pure-Blood families they were acquainted with, or just didn't buy one ? These were the limits of what they had now guessed. Their plan was now simple : Sigismond would kindly ask his mother to find where the objects that maintained people's human form were located, and in passing, get the name of this object. They were happy with their day's work, and quietly came back to their usual entertaining holidays activities. What they didn't know was that Sigismond would come back with out of the ordinary news the same evening : his mother had been surprised by the request, since one of these objects - a Sertor - was up for auction next week. Given that Sertors were by now unavailable, rich families having gotten hold of all of them, it was quite a coincidence that Sigismond was asking about the Sertors just at the moment when one of them was on the verge of being sold. Nevertheless, she would definitely not track all the Sertors of Great Britain, for this would take possibly years, and as far as she could tell, none of the four friends was ready to pay her fees for several years' worth of this scavenging hunt. When Sigismond reported this to the three others, Ann told him :
Ask your mother how much delay is necessary to organise an auction. Maybe it's the thief themselves who requested the event to take place. If it took three or four weeks to set up the sale, it might mean that this indeed is the case
Sigismond went back a few minutes later with the answer - his mother had been surprised that he had come back after dinner, usually he would go back to his room after every meal and stay there till the next one -
My mother says it takes a few weeks
At least, they had a slightly more comprehensive picture of the potential sequence of actions that revolved around Peter Perklus' case. The thief was not the henchman of a rich Pure-Blood family, he was a professional offender who had acted to make a quick buck. They had an interesting conjecture, but nothing to prove it. Unless of course they would find the seller, who would be somehow connected to the thief. Ann made up a grandiose plan to discover this missing piece : Sigismond's mother would go to the auction, purchase the Sertor, and identify who was cashing her money. Eleanor amended the plan, to make it more alluring to Sigismond's mother, who was clearly not the kind of witch who would go to an auction ready to spend her whole fortune in order to hypothetically catch a thief. Perhaps the Sertor on offer next week was actually another one, which had not been stolen. Therefore, the revised and barely refined version was : Sigismond's mother, as an expert in magical objects, would tell the Ministry that a Sertor which might have been stolen to the influential Mertish's was going up for sale very soon, and that, should the Ministry purchase it through an operation, where she would act undercover so as not to arouse suspicion with the seller, she would help with said seller's identification, and hopefully solve the Mertish's double loss : a Sertor and a member of their family. The underlying idea was that the Ministry would talk to the Mertish's, and, if the four friends' theory was junk, the Mertish's would turn down the offer, and the Ministry would pass on their refusal to Sigismond's mother, an action which would allow the four friends to understand they had been mistaken. There was nevertheless another negative possibility they could envision : their theory could be right, but the Mertish's would either not want to disclose they had a Sertor or that one of their family members was a Squib, or both, and they would anyway decline the proposition. For instance, they could just hire a middle-man to purchase back the lost Sertor at the auction. They might also have already assembled a team to track the Sertor and Kate, and have no interest in the four friends' amateurish intervention. Anyway, Sigismond was tasked to persuade at next breakfast his mother to do the heavy lifting. The three girls waited anxiously during the night, fearing very much that Sigismond's mother would have had enough of their requests. Nonetheless, on the next morning, Sigismond returned to the discussion with a positive answer. He was himself baffled at the fact that he hadn't needed to make an effort to convince his mother. Apollina Candler would use her negotiating skills to make the Ministry agree on the four friends' ambitious plan. Within the same day, Mrs. Candler had made the deal. Since one of her strong points was observation, which allowed her to spot where someone was going to Disapparate, she argued she would be the most efficient volunteer available to identify the person who would get hold of the sale's proceedings - without stating explicitly what was her gift. She added it would be wise to let someone like her do the undercover job, because Aurors were few and rather well known, so the seller could notice that the Ministry was making a move with his Aurors to catch them. A professional chaser of magical objects was the perfect agent : it was natural for somebody in her business to attend an auction which included rare and valuable magical objects. At first the Ministry was reluctant. Therefore, they hurriedly organised a test with Mrs. Candler and a few Aurors : each of them would meet for the first time a person, look at them in the most natural fashion possible for a few seconds, and they would have then to draw said person with as many details as possible. Mrs. Candler recalled the test with obvious merriness : a couple of Aurors had observed the test people in an egregiously intense way, the others had demonstrated limited drawing abilities, had memorised too few features, or had mixed up the traits of different test people. Mrs. Candler had therefore been awarded the right to go undercover with the Ministry's money. To summarise, everything was going on like in a dream. So much that each of the four friends was sure that actually something was up, off, or both. The four friends were obviously kept out of the loop, and at home, during the operation at the auction house, on orders by the grown-ups. They were so much kept in the dark by Mrs. Candler that they didn't even know which auction house was the relevant one. On completion of the operation, Mrs. Candler was delighted to tell the four friends that she had made a very resembling drawing of the person she suspected was in charge of the seller's business. Instead of just taking a look at the person who was receiving the Ministry's money, she had discreetly followed them, and the person had brought the money to some other wizard, who had then Disapparated. Mrs. Candler hoped that the latter was the key recipient for the investigation. She however categorically refused to show them her drawing of both wizards, only saying to ease their thirst for data they could use for the rest of the case, that the wizard who had Disapparated was in his early thirties. Ann wondered why the first wizard hadn't Disapparated himself to the seller's place, in order to break the link between the auction house and the seller. Sigismond said that anyway his mother was good at spotting where people were Disapparating to, and posited that the auction house's staff was not part of the criminal ploy, which implied that the rogue seller would prefer that the auction house employee would deliver the money to an anonymous wizard, than having said employee come to see where the seller was performing his shady activities. Ann retorted that at least, the seller could have decided to have the money exchange executed away from the auction house : the employee getting the Ministry's money would have Disapparated to a place where the seller's anonymous representative was, and handed the money to said representative, who would have then instantly escaped through his own Disapparition. Sigismond argued that this kind of maneuver would have made it obvious that the sale was made fraudulent by the illegal acquisition of the Sertor. Judith cut to the chase : had Mrs. Candler seen where the second wizard, who was supposedly the seller's agent, had Disapparated to ? Sigismond was soon back with his mother's reaction : she didn't want the Ministry to know that she could track people more easily than the average witch or wizard. Therefore she wouldn't pass the information on the Ministry who was the sole organisation able to investigate thoroughly based on nothing more than a place. But she had had a glimpse of the location, yes, and she could find through trial and error where it actually was. Eleanor had another idea, though : since the wizard number two, who was most likely closer to the seller's operation, was in his early thirties, maybe he had attended Hogwarts in the past fifteen or twenty years. Thus, laying hands on Hogwarts' yearbooks for the period stretching from 1965 to 1975 would yield the pictures of then seventeen years old British wizards who were now roughly ages 26 to 36. Mrs. Candler could look at these pictures, and tell whether her drawing looked like one of them. The back and forth between Mrs. Candler and the three girls via Sigismond resumed. The latter's mother, for once, requested something from the three girls. Usually it was the other way round, the three girls requesting something from Mrs. Candler. Namely, Sigismond's mother wanted one of the three girls to write a letter to Dumbledore with the aim of persuading him to send the yearbooks. Ann asked why she wouldn't do it herself. Sigismond replied that his mother may have crossed Professor Dumbledore a long time ago. This made Ann laugh. How could one have a temper so strong that they would end up on bad terms with Professor Dumbledore ? Her two hypotheses were that, either the young Apollina Candler studying at Hogwarts had spoken ill of Professor Dumbledore, possibly getting detention, and had felt it less embarrassing and humiliating to not seek forgiveness once she had grown up. Or, she had been a normal student at Hogwarts, but had, in the course of her professional enterprises, been excessively demanding, maybe harassing, with the school's Headmaster. Anyway, Eleanor sent an owl carrying the following text to Professor Dumbledore :
Dear Sir, We would like to obtain a copy of the yearbooks of years 1965 to 1975 in order to make progress in our attempts to exonerate Peter Perklus from any wrongdoing.
Sincerely yours,
Eleanor Magarthy, Ann Aves, Judith Parry & Sigismond Candler
There was some hesitation when it came to choosing between adding Sigismond's name or not. For there was 'Candler' in 'Sigismond Candler'. Which meant that Professor Dumbledore may guess that Apollina Candler was somewhere behind their entreaty. Finally, the three girls kept their male friend's full name on the correspondence, for two reasons. The first and foremost being that Professor Dumbledore was, unlike Mrs. Candler, mature enough to place a student's legitimate interest above his, and to forgive a string of mistakes. The second being that it was their first opportunity to symbolically, publicly and officially emphasise they were now a tightly knit group of friends acting together with a unity that underlined trust. The four friends expected the process of compiling the yearbooks to be long and tedious, which potentially implied two big burdens for the always busy Professor Dumbledore. However, by dusk, Eleanor discerned at a distance a phoenix carrying a string of packages flying towards her house. She was puzzled by the delivery's author, and wondered if this was indeed the reply they had been waiting for. Judith had received Professor Dumbledore's answer by owl, not by phoenix. Yet, Eleanor went down the stairs to check the contents brought by the magical creature. On arriving on her doorstep and opening her house's door, she saw the phoenix hovering a dozen of feet above the ground, remaining airborne high enough to make sure the vertical line of parcels wouldn't hit the ground. Judging by the boxes' dimensions, Eleanor upgraded the probability that the delivery could be made of yearbooks. At first, she wanted to extend her hands in order to stack in them the parcels, but she thought that eleven heavy and thick books would be too much to carry in her tiny hands - and her flimsy muscles. Being Pure-Blood, Eleanor had the luxury to use a bit of everyday magic without scrutiny by the Ministry. Therefore, she cast 'Wingardium Leviosa' on the packages, the phoenix severed with its beak the rope that kept the books attached to it, and left while emitting a shrill noise. Eleanor magically divided the pile of books into three columns, and delicately flew the assortment of parcels through the door - there were less than two inches between the limits of the doorframe and the boxes - and into the living room, then the dining room, before letting them rest on the table there. She opened the packages, making sure she had indeed received the yearbooks, and updated the three others about the arrival of the coveted assembly of pictures. She sent with her family's owl the first yearbook to the Candlers', and waited for it to return. She had enough time to send the years 1965 and 1966 before having to let the owl go to sleep, and to go to bed herself. The following morning, she resumed her dispatch of the remaining years. Given the distance between the Magarthys' and the Candlers', and the obvious need to feed and give rest to the owl every two trips or so, the back and forth lasted till the end of the day. Now, they only had to wait for Mrs. Candler to pore through the seventh-years sections of the eleven yearbooks. Sigismond marveled at the fact that his mother had agreed to perform this exhausting unpaid, and definitely long task. At the end of the process, Mrs. Candler had identified a dozen of students who could at present be the wizard who had cashed the Ministry's money through the auction house employee. She then passed on the names to the Ministry. The Aurors painstakingly went through the biography of each of the students that Mrs. Candler had identified, determined their current whereabouts, and discreetly obtained photographs of them. In turn, they passed on the recent photographs to Sigismond's mother, who was able to pinpoint the wizard whom she had seen cash the Sertor's sale's proceedings. And Mrs. Candler returned the gesture by giving the Ministry the name of their now primary suspect. She didn't extend this graciousness to the four friends, who had no idea who was the unlucky loser.
Paragraph 9 - 45 : Ahead Of Aurors
They were not completely kept in the dark this time, though, and received feedback on the progress of the official investigation, but not thanks to the Ministry's generosity. They owed the updates to none other than the Daily Prophet, which reported that the Aurors had questioned a suspect in the Peter Perklus case, and had searched the premises of this suspect's workplace : Bispeel Inc. Yet, the magical police had left empty-handed. No clue that the Sertor had been there had been discovered, at least according to the newspaper. The Daily Prophet didn't even mention the word 'Sertor', or the fact that an object needed to regain human form was at the centre of the investigation. On the other hand, it allocated a whole column to the story of a Mrs. Bogato, who was described as a virulent critic of Bispeel Inc for a decade. She claimed that the company was behind a lot of criminal operations, and it was a shame that the Ministry had waited for a catastrophe to happen before launching a full-scale investigation into the dubious business. She also claimed that many wizards, witches, and Goblins who had hitherto doubted her accusations, had now joined her organisation and donated substantial amounts to take down the infamous corporation. According to Mrs. Bogato, Bispeel Inc was a front, masquerading as a company focused on research and development in delayed spells, for providing dark magic to a wide range of criminals. The three girls were frustrated that, in spite of their efforts and commitment to the case, they were still left aside by the Ministry. Judith had started her own prodding at the mysterious circumstances behind Peter Perklus' presence on the place of a crime on the basis of only public information, and had put her life on the line in order to catch up with the Ministry's very secret investigation. The consensus among the three girls was that without at least one non-public and crucial element, they would end up as neglected contributors. Ann ventured the guess that the Ministry wanted to take all the credit, and were doing their best to not have to reward the four friends. She even insinuated that Mrs. Candler was on the Ministry's side, and that she would share the spoils with the Aurors at the end, which would explain why she hadn't asked for her always sacred fee. Sigismond didn't get irate at all, and instead, in what the three girls believed was the dreamy way he had retained, replied calmly, through embroidery :
We have now more public information. Let's go back to Judith's notes. Maybe we are in a better situation to finally get ahead of the Ministry and oblige them to take us seriously
Eleanor and Judith appreciated the elegant way with which Sigismond was trying to simultaneously placate Ann's anger and put them back on track, hopefully a winning one. Sigismond was not only the proponent of this solution, but also the one who came up first with an interesting theory :
We know that the thief just needed an 'Accio' on the Sertor. Kate Mertish couldn't do anything to prevent it, since she is a Squib. But Peter Perklus had cast a protective spell. We additionally learned that the thief was connected to Bispeel Inc, which specialises in research and development in delayed spells. So, to circumvent Peter's protection, the thief could have just cast a delayed 'Accio' on the Sertor. If Peter's spell only prevented a wizard or a witch to cast a spell while he maintained his magical coverage, but couldn't avert a spell cast before he had established his curtailing of magical prowess, then it would have worked for the thief
Ann immediately reacted :
It's attractive, except that it doesn't explain very well why the thief would have felt the urge to use a delayed spell in this situation. Perhaps he had noticed Peter's protective enchantment, and succeeded in defeating it with a delayed 'Accio' thanks to Bispeel Inc's efficient research and development, but this explanation doesn't suit me fully
Eleanor supplemented Sigismond's hypothesis :
We haven't heard of any instance of an 'Accio' spell cast silently. Moreover, it is likely that the house's openings were shut, making it impossible to cast successfully 'Accio' while staying out of the house. Therefore, without the delayed spell, the robber would have needed to enter the house, and say aloud 'Accio Sertor', which would have given to any witness, including Kate Mertish, even in the dark, an opportunity to gather information about the thief's voice. And that kind of information could have led to his identification and capture. As a result of this kind of thinking, he cast the delayed 'Accio' while outside the house, then entered it to give the Sertor a trajectory towards his hand that wouldn't be blocked by walls, roofs, closed doors and windows, and the delayed spell kicked in. That's why Peter heard gusts of wind, the Sertor was traveling from Kate Mertish to the robber
Judith commented :
All of this is brilliant, yet it doesn't tell us why Peter was there exactly at the time of the crime. Since we can assume the real offenders were the ones who auctioned off the Sertor, that tends to prove he is innocent, but we need something definitive
It took two more days for one of them to imagine a satisfactory explanation for this recurring question. Ann's green threads appeared then :
Peter being there was a coincidence, which is a typical feature of an Intuition Potion's use, yet up to now, we couldn't think of anyone who had an interest in brewing one. Currently, we do have one though : Mrs. Bogato. She had moved heaven and earth to castigate Bispeel Inc. Maybe she finally acquired a recipe of the Intuition Potion and decided to have a go at it
Eleanor thought it was a good starting point, but her reasoning was : Mrs. Bogato had had for a decade knowledge of Bispeel Inc.'s foul methods, therefore the only kind of additional intuition she needed was one that would pillory the company. Yet, she hadn't learned anything new, and had merely taken advantage of the investigation. However, there was the potion that Judith had referred to when they first had in front of their eyes the Intuition Potion, and that was analogous to the latter, except that it made happen anything that would benefit the drinker. Since they had limited documentation when out of Hogwarts, Eleanor and Judith, who had parents who were former Hogwarts students, and Sigismond, whose mother had a library full of interesting books, would enquire about this other potion, or examine the parchments available to them. Sigismond got a hit first : according to Apollina Candler, the potion was called 'Felix Felicis', it was very expensive because few people could brew it correctly - otherwise the effects could be catastrophic - and its effects didn't last very long. It was very similar to the Intuition Potion insofar as it would give the drinker the urge to perform actions that would end up being beneficial to them, even though these actions might seem absurd at the time. Taking into account this new insight, the four friends' vague theory stated that Mrs. Bogato had drunk Felix Felicis, prompting her to send somehow Peter Perklus at Kate Mertish's house exactly when her Sertor would be stolen, but the potion's effect lasting at best a few hours, she had quickly run out of profitable nudges, and had had to wait a month for her few efficient actions to yield results. Mrs. Bogato was a public personality, and one of the four friends could have tried to meet her in order to question her. Judith had the right to use magic outside of school for anything that could help the Ministry's investigation without any risk of hindering it. Maybe the Aurors had not realised that Mrs. Bogato was a person of interest in the case, and considered she was merely an opportunistic bystander. The four friends thus shared a dilemma : should they act independently from the Ministry, have a chance to shine, and risk infuriating the Aurors, or delegate once more grudgingly to the uncooperative and contemptuous public service the task of advancing the case, and risk getting zero feedback as usual. Since Judith's father was working at the Ministry, despite the fact he was at the Safety Department and not a bureaucratic official, he could be an acceptable tie-breaker. He knew enough about the Ministry's assets and inconveniences, and at the same time was not in a position that would have made him a blind admirer of the Ministry's practices. At dinner, Judith voiced the four friends' concerns. Mr. Parry kindly answered :
You have been used to being rewarded rather fairly and timely for your efforts at Hogwarts. This is good, because it allows students to see that equity can be achieved. But this is also deceptive, since outside of school, people hardly get rewarded based on their merits. Your contribution to the case is, objectively speaking, considerable. But you will most likely never be compensated with benevolence by the Ministry. You will have to find the reward in your heart. This amounts to telling you that it is not acceptable to look tirelessly for justice with bitter feelings on your mind. No fairness can be achieved through bitterness. It is my opinion that you and your friends should tell the Aurors anything that may help them
Judith reported her father's words, and all four friends agreed that Mr. Parry's stance was balanced enough to be acted upon. Sigismond shared the group's latest theory with his mother, who passed the message on the Aurors.
Paragraph 10 - 46 : Breaking News For Breaking The Case
In the following week, the four friends discovered in the Daily Prophet an overview of the Aurors' work on the Peter Perklus case. To be more accurate, Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond had access to the Daily Prophet, and they reported back their findings to Ann. According to the newspaper, who didn't mention a single time the involvement of Hogwarts' students, the Ministry had made generous use of Veritaserum with a number of people of interest. This prompted a surge in reactions about the proportionate exploitation of the famous truth-extracting potion. Some were clamouring that the beverage was a dangerous tool that could help the Ministry control the population, others were vying for a more widespread usage of the potion, portrayed as an easy fix to many problems, so easy it would be absurd not to take advantage of it. Within the boundaries of the Perklus case, however, the Veritaserum brought about the desired outcome. Mrs. Bogato acknowledged she had drunk Felix Felicis, and that she had done two things as a consequence, and to be more precise, two owl interceptions. During the first one, she exchanged the plain parchment that the bird was initially carrying with another plain parchment, which held two names : Harold Kless and Peter Perklus. The letter had been sent to a certain Amanta Towl. As for the second owl, Mrs. Bogato had caged it, and the Aurors found it, with a piece of correspondence attached to it, saying :
Help is en route
When the Ministry's detectives had performed 'Priori Incantatem' on Mr. Kless' wand, they had found an occurrence of 'Accio Sertor Tardum', which basically meant he had tried to seize a Sertor with a delayed spell. Additional drops of Veritaserum made him confess he was the thief behind the robbery at Kate Mertish's house, and a dose of the potion untied the tongue of Amanta Towl, who admitted being on the payroll of Bispeel Inc. The investigators were then able to reconstruct what had happened. Bispeel Inc., wishing to make money through the resale of a stolen valuable object, had contracted Mrs. Towl to find a thug who would do the stealing part of the plan. Mrs. Towl had had two names of potential criminals delivered by owl, and had selected the target, Kate Mertish's Sertor. Trouble was, Mrs. Bogato's interception had had the effect of replacing the name of a professional thief with that of Peter Perklus. On receiving both names, Mrs. Towl had immediately sent an owl to the first person on the short list, Harold Kless, with the vague message
Your help will be needed at the house of Kate Mertish, on July the fifth, eleven PM. Please send an acknowledging reply
Mr. Kless had speedily sent back an owl to confirm he would bring his much needed help to Mrs. Towl, and therefore, by extension, to Bispeel Inc. Yet, Mrs. Bogato was still feeling the effects of Felix Felicis, and intercepted Mr. Kless' owl. Mrs. Towl had waited for Mr. Kless' answer during a day, and not being able to welcome the intercepted and caged Mr. Kless' owl, had asked for the help of Peter Perklus at exactly the same place and time. Thus, both Harold Kless and Peter Perklus went to Kate Mertish's house, on July the fifth, at eleven PM. Mr. Kless had come to rob Kate Mertish of her Sertor, and Peter Perklus had made it to the Squib's house because he genuinely thought his help was needed there. The Ministry had now all the elements needed to request prosecution of the crimes committed by Harold Kless, Amanta Towl, and Bispeel Inc., and to ascertain that Peter Perklus had not even tried to do something illegal or dubious. Since the Ministry was sure that Kate Mertish had vanished because Harold Kless had stolen her Sertor, its new concern was to bring back Miss Mertish's human form. The Ministry had controversially decided to create multiple copies of Sertors, and to plant them in all the major wizarding locations, including Hogsmeade's and Diagon Alley's shops. Some wizards and witches had indeed complained that increasing the number of these objects was tantamount to helping Lord Voldemort's supporters find a way to use them in order to bring the Dark Lord back. The Ministry had been in a tight spot, between this criticism, and the Mertish's connections' influence. It had said it was a temporary measure, that its versions of the Sertors would be all destroyed in the aftermath, and had sent agents to watch over the valuable magical objects. The strategy paid off, though in a slightly awkward way : Kate Mertish did reappear, but on a fireplace mantel in a Diagon Alley shop, because the business owner had requested the Ministry's Sertor to be placed somewhere in their shop where it wouldn't block the passage for the clients. This led some wizards and witches to react angrily against the shopkeeper, who had prioritised a slight additional comfort for his clients over the good cause that the Ministry was for once serving. The Ministry's representative who had been attached to the surveillance of the Sertor that Kate Mertish used to go back to life brought her to the Ministry through Side-Along Apparition. She was apparently shielded by her family from the overly curious journalists, because no Kate Mertish interview was to be read in the Daily Prophet in the following days. After a somewhat underwhelming collaboration with the Ministry, the four friends were surprised when they heard that Judith had been visited by an Auror. The three other friends thought that, obviously, the Ministry agent had come to congratulate her putting her life on the line through the 'Provo' spell. But Judith dispelled this too good to be true celebration. The Auror had come to give Judith back the little box she had lost at The Ogre's Buffet, and that somebody related to Bispeel Inc. had probably stolen from her there, because the Aurors had found it during their search at the disgraced company. Judith thanked the Auror, who thanked back Judith for her contribution to the case before Disapparating. This would be the only appreciation they would get from the Ministry. After the Auror's departure, Judith opened the box, and put an empty parchment next to it. The feather jumped to the parchment, and started writing Judith name, then another name : Walter Oppus. Judith was almost sure this wasn't an Auror's name. Intermittently, the feather would write this mysterious name. This saddened Judith very much : this very first magical gift she had received when she was a little girl had been tainted by the intervention of somebody else. It would probably never be again the pure reminder of Judith's beautiful first years on earth it had been.
Paragraph 11 - 47 : The Four Portkeys
The very next day, each of the four friends received an owl, at approximately the same time : an invitation to have dinner at the Mertish's mansion, on the following day. Each owl carried a little object in a separate parcel, and the letter explained that these packages held Portkeys, for the four friends to reach their destination, should they accept the invitation. Judith, Ann, Eleanor and Sigismond were all excited to go. This invitation was the closest thing to an acknowledgement of the work they had done on the case they had received yet. Typical Portkeys were shabby items, but when they opened their package, the four friends noticed that the four Portkeys they had been delivered were identical, miniature silver imitations of ornate wands. Even though they had been surprised to be offered this means of transportation, they quickly understood the rationale behind the objects : Ann, being Muggle-born, couldn't have a chimney connected to the Floo network. The Mertish couldn't either be sure that Judith and Sigismond, who were Half-Blood, had a chimney compatible with Floo powder travel. Therefore, the choice of Portkeys made sense for three of them, and the Mertish had probably decided against creating some semblance of inequality between the four friends by giving the Pure-Blood Eleanor Magarthy the privilege of arriving at their mansion thanks to the green magical dust. Judith already knew what kind of dress she would wear. Sigismond had already attended social gatherings in the wizarding environment, and opted for green robes and a crimson cape. Eleanor elected to wear red robes. Ann, whose only wizarding world attire was her school uniform, had little choice. However, this prompted the three others to also put on their Hogwarts tie. The underlying idea was that, even if Ann's look were to seem off in comparison with their hosts' outfits, the common point between the four friends would make Ann's dress more natural to the eye. They synchronised their arrival at the Mertish's mansion by using embroidery to signal to the others when they were ready. They arrived at 5.55pm. This was mid-August, therefore the sun was still shining, and the four friends could observe the mansion's architecture, which was slightly peculiar : instead of two aisles bordering a central entrance, there were two aisles without any central part. Each aisle had a wide entrance with its large and tall door. The construction was three level high, made of what looked like a single immense gray stone randomly striated with marble-like tapered curves. A person in black robes was waiting for them, and gestured them towards the left aisle's door, which opened itself when Eleanor, who was first in line, was within ten feet of the threshold. The inside was a feast for any gaze, or any stare. The hall, magically lit, stretched from the leftmost part of the left aisle to the rightmost part of the right one, and was about twenty feet deep at its thinnest, but was extending till the back of the building for the rest. The vast open hall was lined up with carved tables supporting a myriad of objects, from armament of different epochs, books, clocks, jewels, vials filled with liquids or tiny creatures, to miniature dragons moving and spitting fire in cages. Some paintings were directly engraved in the walls of the hall, or in the surface of the tables. In the middle, on the ground, lied only beige-coloured tombstones. The two upper levels consisted of two blocks, each supported by four pillars, and every of these pillars was a lift. There was not a single staircase. The structure of both these levels was the same : a corbelled wooden railing was revealing a passageway that stretched alongside almost the full width of the aisle. Behind the passageways were the rooms. Whereas outside there was no central part, inside there was one : each aisle being made of a massive block, there was a void between the two blocks, and to join them were, at the top level, three parallel bridges. On the first floor, underneath both blocks, were weird constructions, square at their base, arched from four feet high to the top. The keystone was about two feet below the ceiling, and the presence of the arched parts explained why the hall wasn't just a big rectangular entity. A few wizards and witches, scattered across the visible space and all clad in black robes, were either moving objects or cleaning the surfaces using spells. The servant who had shown to them the way in, led the little pack of Hogwarts students to the pillar that was leftmost and closest to the door, waved his hand towards the door in the pillar, and the door opened. He gestured the four friends towards the inside of the pillar, while staying in the hall outside of the lift. Ann, Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond saw the door close in front of them, then felt under their feet the upward motion one would expect from a lift, and within two seconds, had arrived at the intended level. Before their eyes, a door opened, and the light that was shining in the corridor made it possible for them to discern that actually, the lift had four doors, and could open in all four directions. Only one of them was available though, and they followed the corridor lit by a mixture of torches and sunlight, till reaching the very wide opening that had let in the star's rays. Ann was leading the group, caught a glimpse of what was inside, and shyly entered, followed by the three others, while a noise of chairs being moved could be heard. The four friends were able to see, for the first time since they had arrived near the Mertish's mansion, windows. To be accurate, three wide and tall windows, all on the back wall of the building. The four students were therefore able to see a long wooden dining table with an extremely thin golden top supporting ten silver tableware sets, and gathered around the table's extremity, four wizards and two witches, who had stood up when Ann's head had appeared through the doorframe. The oldest wizard, who was in his late fourties, in black robes embroidered with thick ornate red threads, made the introductions in a poised dark voice, and started with himself, Robert Mertish IV. He then moved his right hand towards the witch near him, who was in red robes, although this red nuance didn't exactly match that of Robert Mertish's own dress ornaments :
Gwendoline, my wife
He gestured then towards a young wizard, on his wife's right side, who was in dark green robes :
John Mertish
The procedure resumed with James Mertish, in beige robes, further on his brother's right, Mary Mertish, in pink robes on her father's left side, and as all four friends had guessed, in lilac robes, Kathleen Mertish, who was smiling awkwardly at the four newcomers. Ann thought it was a very old-fashioned conservative family, with the typical patriarch as the head. Robert Mertish offered the four friends to sit, and coming closer to the places of the table that were nearest to the Mertish family members, they noticed four little placards : 'Miss Parry', 'Miss Magarthy', 'Miss Aves', and 'Mr. Candler'. Judith had initially gone towards Robert Mertish's right side while her placard was on his left side, and conversely, Sigismond had gone in the direction of Kate Mertish whereas he was expected next to Eleanor, who was supposed to be in turn at James Mertish's side. This led to a comical moment, during which Judith hastily went round the table to sit next to Kate Mertish, and Sigismond walked more quietly the other way round towards James Mertish, crossing Judith in the process. Thus, the sitting order was, from left of the door to its right, assuming one would be looking from outside the dining room to the inside, Sigismond, Eleanor, James, John, Gwendoline, Robert, Mary, Kathleen, Judith and Ann. John was facing Mary, James was facing Kathleen, Eleanor was facing Judith, and Sigismond was facing Ann. Once the four friends were seated, the Mertishs sat down. Eleanor would have expected, in this kind of very formal setup, for the four friends to be at the main seats, but she thought that Robert Mertish had envisioned it, then discarded this plan for a more traditional one, while keeping Judith close to Kate Mertish, as a sign of appreciation for what the former had done for the latter. Perhaps Robert Mertish didn't know how to give their dues to the four friends, and had opted for a default layout, for he said :
We have obviously heard about your contribution to bringing back Kathleen, but we would prefer hearing the whole story from you
Ann thought it was a clever way to put things that could instead be bluntly described as 'The Ministry is not very reliable, and we trust more the words of teenagers than those of professional hypocrites'. She said impulsively, doing though her best not to sound impolite :
Mrs. Candler helped a great deal, too, why is she not with us ?
James giggled. His father frowned, and said in an almost detached yet firm and polite tone :
Mrs. Candler received her fee, as had been negotiated from the beginning, at the exact moment when Kathleen was safely brought back by the Ministry's agent
Eleanor herself couldn't repress a giggle, and explained :
I am very sorry, Mrs. Candler had not shared with us the exact extent of her dealings with the Ministry and, as it happens, with your family
Gwendoline Mertish commented, in a voice that barely hid her scorn :
Why asking money for the return of a child ?
Robert Mertish reprimanded implicitly his wife on the spot :
Not everybody can afford to take money lightly, Gwendoline. Mrs. Candler's fee was significant, but not unreasonable. Now, maybe we could get to the narration
Judith knew that she would have to be the one who would begin. She wondered, in passing, if she would have been able to guess it instantly if she had remained the Judith Parry that was still hesitating to brew the Intuition Potion. She calmly went through her initial steps, explaining how her infatuation for Peter Perklus had led her to brew the Intuition Potion. When she reached the part when she was describing the outfit she had picked to prepare for the hardships of the 'Provo' spell, she spoke of her jeans, which prompted Robert Mertish to say in a barely audible voice :
Gins. Djinns. Hmm
Judith sorted out the misunderstanding, then proceeded to give some details about the 'Provo' induced trials, while trying not to sound arrogant. James Mertish kept a gaping mouth while Judith recounted the tasks. When she recalled landing in the fireplace, after using the volcano as a chimney connected to the Floo network, he blurted out :
This is much more fun than the Ministry's dull and obsequious reports
Robert Mertish, with his always even voice, retorted :
James, do not interrupt and mock. Your sister was almost lost
While she was telling about her experience at the Ministry with the 'Moveren' spell, almost everybody at the table was expecting James Mertish to make a snide remark about the Ministry, but he had apparently taken seriously his father's warning, and nothing of the sort happened. Eleanor then supplemented Judith's long story with the different breakthroughs the four friends had made with their limited resources and the frustratingly scarce cooperation by the Ministry. When she hit the point at which the four friends had devised the purchase at the auction of the Sertor with the Ministry's money, Gwendoline Mertish scoffed, with almost furor in her voice :
Apollina never proposed that the Ministry would put its own money on the table. She knew it wouldn't work. What do you think happened young witch ? We had to give the money to the Ministry ! For a Sertor on which I have already spent a lot a few years back. The Ministry will need months to get back even a few Galleons from the now bankrupt nest of petty felons who stole it
Eleanor blushed, thinking that Mrs. Mertish was making a good point : how could they have believed that Apollina Candler would be able to negotiate a deal through which the Ministry would spend the taxpayer's money ? That had been stupid. James Mertish let his mother fume silently after her rant, before saying :
Well, we had to use the Sertor because you had the desire to make Kathleen a witch
Gwendoline retaliated, in an indignant but calmer tone :
The elder Malfoy was teasing me about having a you-know-what in the family. He was smearing us
Robert Mertish concluded the argument with the following words, quietly spoken :
We have heard your plea, Gwendoline
Ann noticed it was weird for a witch to criticize another one for being greedy, then to insist on the money spent on one magical object, and to end her speech with an acrimonious attack on the Ministry because it was unable to get her money back. Eleanor resumed with the sequence of deductions they had made in order to allow the Ministry to end the investigation successfully. Robert Mertish then thanked the four friends and said it was time for dinner. Ann suspected the meal to have French inspirations, like at The Ogre's Buffet, and did her best not to eat the content of her plates with the speed of someone who would have been starved for two weeks. Judith, who was also fond of good food, thought that such a good dinner was a fitting reward for her part in the reappearance of Kate Mertish. She noticed that the latter was casting sideways glances to her. Sigismond, who was used to the decorum of formal dinners, and Eleanor, who was skillful at any event involving socialisation, were both confident they were doing a good impression. When the meal was complete, silence filled the room, and the four friends thanked the Mertishs. The young patriarch gently instructed John to show the four friends the way out. Ann, Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond thus followed John along the corridor, down the pillar, and to the door of the left aisle, till they reached the open in the lukewarm August evening. However, both James and Kate had used another lift to join John and the four friends. John started, in a dreamy voice that reminded the three girls of Sigismond's :
Now it is time for me to give you our presents
James interrupted him :
Come on, don't you think they are entitled to a more developed background story ? Kate, do you think they deserve it ?
Kate, in a shy and low voice said :
Of course
James was not avaricious in the relevant information :
Kate was the last child, because when Mother noticed her new baby still had no sign of magical skills at age two, she considered it better to not risk having a second potential Squib. For John, Mary, and I, had displayed a few talents very early on. Mother has always had a penchant for Voldemort's ideas. She never joined the Death Eaters, partly, err, let's see, because recruitment was not as high ranking as her standards required. But she purchased a Sertor when rumours began spreading that Voldemort could have just lost his human form. She likes following trends. And when she heard there was a way for Squibs to get basic magic abilities, with limited risks, she went for it. Mother always felt that Kate was a disgrace. She would call her derisively our honorary Hufflepuff. That was a shock for her when she found out she owed Kate's return to the braveness of a Hufflepuff. Father protected Kate all the time from Mother's dispirited mood. Most of the loving Kate got came from Father. This yet didn't mean that Mother didn't care about Kate. It has just always been too painful for her to acknowledge that she, in her own way, loves Kate. Before Kate's birth, Mother loved making fun of Hufflepuff. I, Mother and Mary are all former Slytherins. Father and John are Ravenclaws. I think now you have the full story, just like us
Kate nodded in approval. John was then able to resume his task. He took out of a pocket in his robes a large wooden box, put it horizontally in one of his hands in front of the four friends, then opened it with his other hand. He didn't say anything, but light was sufficient to see what were the gifts. The box was divided in equal four spaces, all holding a figure in gold. The figures represented respectively a lion, a badger, an eagle, and a serpent. Eleanor said :
Judith, you first
Judith extended her hand over the box, and seized the badger. It was very heavy, yet so small. It had to be massive gold. Then, Ann collected her serpent, and almost dropped it, because she hadn't expected it to be so heavy. Sigismond grasped the lion, and Eleanor the eagle. Then, John said :
Maybe we will meet again. Good luck to all of you. Our butler will give you the Portkeys for the return trip
James and Kate added their own 'Good luck', and the three Mertishs waved their hands in goodbye. The four friends imitated the gesture with the hand that wasn't holding the gift, then went away, towards the butler. They had uncovered much more than just the circumstances in which Peter Perklus had met Kate Mertish. Ann addressed Judith :
The Ministry gave you a dispensation because they thought the associated conditions would make you unable to do anything, save 'Accio' apples. In the end, they got nothing special, and we were handed pure gold
Eleanor commented :
It's hardly believable what we were able to change while outside Hogwarts
Judith thought about what the events of the past six weeks had changed in her, and concluded, ten feet away from the butler waiting with the four Portkeys :
See you at Hogwarts in ten days
One by one, and Judith last, they touched the Portkey that the butler was presenting to them. She had now ten days of holidays to enjoy. Then, the 1984-1985 school-year would begin at Hogwarts.
Part 5 : Autumn Cherry
Paragraph 1 - 48 : Mystery Manufacture
Judith was now entering her fifth year, which was known overall for one thing : it was a one way trip to the OWLs examinations, a long sprint towards a list of short trials, a bit similar to what she had experienced during the previous holidays. She relied on Eleanor to help her during the ordeal's preparation, since the latter had been awarded Es and Os two months ago, for her own OWLs. Eleanor considered that spending a lot of time with a Muggle-born and two Half-Bloods had been crucial for achieving an O in Muggle Studies. She had also aced Potions and Spells, thanks in part to the work done in the company of Ann, Judith and Sigismond. Ann and Sigismond had each entered their fourth year. Only two major things had come to the attention of the four friends. Judith had been first in hearing a rumour according to which a very rare little box, that would turn a parchment with a message on it into a paper blank for anybody but the person who was the rightful recipient, was the property of an unknown Hogwarts student. The box was supposedly impervious to any spell cast with the aim of hoodwinking it. The other big news was that the Ministry had sent for the first time in years an inspector, who had attended a few classes, polled a number of students, interviewed members of staff, and written a thick dossier that reportedly held a few disturbing truths, and was probably now sleeping somewhere in a drawer at the Ministry, ready to be extracted at the worst possible moment. The first six weeks were pretty uneventful, especially if one were to keep aside the different pieces of gossip about the 'black box' - the actual colour of which was by the way unknown - and the inspector's report. Then, at last, something meaningful from the point of view of students at least, emerged. A Ravenclaw student, whose name had not been disclosed, had hired, with the school's permission, a famous photographer to populate with his works the 1984-1985 Hogwarts Yearbook : John Chrawn. Every student of each House and every year would have four photographs taken : one with the traditional hat, together with the classmates of their House and year, then the same but without the traditional hat. The two others being individual pictures, one with the hat, one without. Given the amount of time needed for the photographs and the limited availability of the star photographer, the school had had to cancel all classes for the shooting session to take place. Therefore, on the set date, excited students poured into the grass before the castle, either waiting patiently for their turn to come, seated on the grass, looking at Mr. Chrawn's setup and operations, or taking their turn in front of the magical device. A few Ravenclaw fifth-years were in charge of coordination alongside some Professors, and were striding or running from one place to another with equipment, spare hats or ties, lists of missing students to locate, benches and stands. The four friends privately lamented with wit there wouldn't be a special photograph for their little group. Since it already was October, the temperatures were not as comfortable as at the beginning of September, and the weather varied all day, prompting the Ravenclaws in charge to set up tents under which the photographs would be taken every time rain would drop. The Ravenclaws had not been very imaginative. The first-years would make up the first set of batches, the second-years the second set of batches, and so on. Not to display any favouritism, the Houses were called in the alphabetical order, Gryffindor first-years taking their turn at the very beginning, while Slytherin seventh-years would come last in the process. Ann, Judith and Sigismond had their photographs taken in the open when sun solely was contributing to the pictures' luminosity, whereas Eleanor and her sixth-year Ravenclaw classmates ended up under a tent, the back of which was adorned with a background of the castle, since around 5pm rain was falling. The procedure was straightforward, but maybe it would have been wiser to let seventh-years begin, because a lot of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first-years, who lacked practical skills, ended up in distress, sometimes crying, being lost in the sequence of actions and moves they had to perform : the classmates of a given House and year would have to line up with their hat on in front of Mr. Chrawn, who would decide to place them at a precise spot in the three-level stands. Since Mr. Chrawn was giving directions very fast, some students were left standing still, not understanding where they should go. Fortunately, the photographer was patient and respectful of the young wizards and witches. Therefore, he would repeat his instructions as many times as was necessary without ever losing his temper. Once the group photograph was complete, the students had to drop their hat on a bench, in a recess. To make sure nobody would wake up the following morning with their classmate's lice, there were labels with the name of every student on the bench, indicating where the students should put their hat down, and where they would be able to retrieve it. Sometimes Mr. Chrawn frowned when some students resumed their place in the stands : these had most likely forgotten where they were supposed to go back. Thus, the star had to correct the mistaken students. There were also occurrences when the artist, having noted that his subjects' look was significantly different without the hat, altered their placing for the hat-less group photograph. The third and fourth photographs were individual ones. Every student, in the alphabetical order of their family name, would sit without their hat on a chair that stood far away from the stands so as to avert them from being in the field. Mr. Chrawn would work his professional magic, then the student had to go diligently to the bench, get their hat back, sit again on the chair for the last photograph, and they were finished. They just had to go to a specific place away from their classmates who were waiting for their turn, in order not to mix them with students who had already completed the process. At the end of the day, three students had been absent and had missed their chance for a stellar photograph : Deborah Amburst, a Gryffindor second-year, Evan Malken a Gryffindor fifth-year, and Christiana Zeer, a seventh-year Ravenclaw. The two girls' absence was a surprise, unlike that of Evan Malken, who was known for skipping classes since the start of the school-year. So, why not skipping the yearbook's photograph, too ? The four friends were happy that they had had the opportunity, at least once in their seven years at school, to have a memorable photograph of them taken. Many students asked for numerous copies of the photographs, and the four friends were no exception. Sigismond had to help Ann with the cost of these, but in the end, they were able to make four montages, one for each of them, of their four hat-less individual photographs making up a square : leftmost and at the top, Ann. On her right, Sigismond. Under the only boy, Judith. And leftmost at the bottom, Eleanor. The four friends even learned to engrave still pictures to have an immobile version of the montage available on a book of their choosing.
Paragraph 2 - 49 : Gallantry For A Gryffindor
About ten days later, another event worthy of a mention took place. Evan Malken had again acted up. He had cast Immobulus on Roger Hillpenny, a Hufflepuff fourth-year, who was leaving his House's Common Room, and implored the many surroundings Hufflepuffs not to lift the charm, for he said they would thank him if they let it be for a few minutes. He had then sent a tiny paper-made blue plane fly away from him. A crowd gathered around the still Roger Hillpenny, who wasn't saying anything, in spite of the fact that Immobulus was not supposed to prevent him from speaking. Then, Margreth Lasquer, a Gryffindor fourth-year girl whom Roger Hillpenny notoriously fancied, appeared, following the paper plane that was back. She excused herself through the pack of onlookers, and went to face Roger Hillpenny. The meeting was weird and awkward. The Hufflepuff wizard was blushing and sweating, staring at Margreth Lasquer, clearly trying to find the appropriate response to the situation. Both remained silent during about twenty seconds, and the entire, several rows deep, circle of students around them respected the solemnity by keeping religiously their mouths shut. Then, Roger Hillpenny, in a barely recognisable and high-pitched voice, said :
Margreth, could we go out on Saturday at Hogsmeade together ?
Margreth hesitated during about a second, then replied in a low voice :
Yes, of course. See you on Saturday
Immediately, Evan Malken cast 'Finite', and Roger Hillpenny was able to move again. He waved at her, now looking much more confident, and walked away briskly, under thunderous applause by the surrounding students, who moved out of his own path through. There were many reactions to this instance of fate being forced on the two lovers. Some were saying this would have been wrong if Margreth had not been willing to date Roger, but Evan, being in Gryffindor just like Margreth, probably knew the relationship was possible, and therefore hasted things for the best. Others considered it was just an awful way of getting things done, but out of respect for the two schoolfellows' love, didn't make a scandal about it, and stated in a tone displaying restraint their disapproval of this instance of the goal being put above everything else. In the wake of this event, rumours saying that Hugh Lankan, a sixth-year Hufflepuff, had lent the 'black box' to Roger, and that the latter had declined to return it, surfaced. But the focus of the following week's unhealthy gossip was the date between said Roger and Margreth. Had it gone smoothly ? As far as hearsay was concerned, the appointment had not disappointed either of the lovers. The 'black box' story expanded again two weeks later, when, on a student's request, a colleague of Mrs. Candler was invited to Hogwarts to give a lecture about this kind of magical objects. His name was Albert Stunherd, and he was the father of a second-year Slytherin. The school had cut the last hour of classes on a Friday evening, from 5pm to 6pm, in order for Mr. Stunherd to give his insights of chaser and analyst of magical objects to the whole school assembled in the Great Hall. The students were delighted to see that, for the second time in a month, they had been able to take time out of the boring standard classes, first to focus on the yearbook, then to learn about something far more thrilling than Hinkypunks. There was a lot of excited chatting at 4.50pm, in the Great Hall, in mid-November of 1984. When Mr. Stunherd, in blue robes with black and white ornaments, arrived in the Great Hall, silence fell instantly. The students had immediately noticed that the newcomer had never been seen at Hogwarts, and had rightly deduced he could only be Mr. Stunherd. The latter spoke to an attentive audience for one whole hour, followed by questions. The key points to take home about the exposé were that these objects, the Secreti, had been first devised in the sixteenth century by warring governments to carry secret diplomatic messages, which explained why these objects had so good protections against scrutinising spells, even powerful ones which were in the field of dark magic. However, governments ultimately found other ways to pass on confidential messages, then just ended up being at peace, and having no more use of these old boxes, that had been state-of-the-art once. Therefore, the governments had auctioned off the Secreti, who had become typically objects used either by criminals seeking to communicate freely and undetected, or by lovers looking for privacy or extramarital affairs. The way these boxes had been made so resilient to dark and powerful magic was not public knowledge, even among professional chasers of magical instruments,. The secrets behind the Secreti's production had most likely been lost for centuries. As a consequence, they were in limited numbers, and more prevalent in countries that had historically been a lot at war in the sixteenth-century. The way they worked could change. Some would reveal the content of the letter to the recipient when they would move their hand over the parchment, others when they would drop Floo powder in the box. The lecture was very instructive, but the bigger reaction to it came from none other than Mrs. Candler. The day following the lecture, in the morning, Sigismond's mother landed with her broomstick in the castle's inner yard. It looked like she was flying off the handle. Apparently, Apollina Candler shared with Professor Dumbledore her frustration of having not been chosen as the lecturer about Secreti. According to her, this was certainly because of some misogynistic bias from the Headmaster, which explained why he had repeatedly failed to help her when she was requesting his intervention in her first years as a professional chaser of magical objects. She additionally argued that she was more experienced than the young Mr. Stunherd, who was spending way too much time behind his desk, and not enough facing the dangers that any worthy professional chaser should confront. She considered that, at least, Hogwarts should have organised a bid for the lecture. Professor Dumbledore answered coolly that a student had come with a brochure from Mr. Stunherd, requested a lecture from him, and offered to pay the fee. The Headmaster therefore gently suggested Mrs. Candler to print and distribute some brochures, unless of course she wished to restrict her clients list to wealthy individuals. Sigismond's mother didn't want to give Professor Dumbledore the impression she was conceding her defeat, and went on to ask for Mr. Stunherd's brochure that the unnamed student had allegedly shown to the author of 'The Twelve Uses of Dragon Blood', as if defiant of the old teacher's claim that he had acted upon a precise request from a student. Professor Dumbledore obliged, handed her the brochure, and Apollina Candler stormed outside of the office, before mounting her broomstick again and departing at full speed, clearly still affronted. Sigismond might have felt embarrassed by his mother's public behaviour that hardly conceited her somewhat narcissistic obsession with collecting as many fees as possible. Yet, if there was an embarrassment, Sigismond was neither letting it show on his face, or in his correspondence through embroidery. What nobody at Hogwarts had expected though, was that Mrs. Candler would find a way to go further.
Paragraph 3 - 50 : Hat Tricks
Sigismond's mother came back with her broomstick, but this time, without any spectacular display, and had elected to land near Hagrid's hut. She had the brochure publicising Mr. Stunherd's services in her hand, and behaved in a more or less stealthy way, asking students if they had seen a fifth-year schoolfellow carrying the infamous brochure, hiding through smooth moves behind pillars when staff was coming her way. She had nevertheless been detected, since Professor Dumbledore, within fifteen minutes of her arrival, went straight for her. Apollina Candler tried once more to shield herself from eyesight, causing laughter from neighbouring students who could see the ridiculous scene, but Professor Dumbledore approached the stone obstacle, and, as if talking to it, said :
Mrs. Candler, Hogwarts is not a public space
Sigismond's mother emerged from her paltry hideout, under an increased amount of signs of merriness, and retorted, in the most dignified tone she could summon in these circumstances :
I have studied the traces of potion ingredients on this brochure, Dumbledore, and they match the use of only one year at Hogwarts : the fifth one
By the look on her face, Apollina Candler hoped to gave gained respect from her thorough investigation. However, Professor Dumbledore simply and calmly replied :
I am afraid to tell you this analysis is flawed, and that you can count every fifth-year out of the potential candidates for the lecture request. I however have something for you
Sigismond's mother retaliated ironically :
I trust it is not a kick in the rear
Professor Dumbledore, with even countenance, closed the sparring contest :
Definitely not
He took out of his robes the Muggle snowball containing skiers moving around Big Ben that Akinori Milpense had given to him, and explained :
Somebody has performed magic on this object. I am fairly sure it is nothing pertaining to dark rites. It is nonetheless most rare, and maybe this could be a good opportunity for you to appear more favourably. For example, you could investigate on this object
Sigismond's mother put on what was supposed to look like a smile, collected the Muggle snowball, and concluded, in a tone that betrayed disappointment :
Possibly
She then walked out of the castle's yard, through the gate, to her broomstick, and took off. Professor Dumbledore was still at the same spot when she departed, and he waited to see her fly away before coming back inside. Mrs. Candler's latest stunt had an additional effect, though. At that point, the whole school knew that there might be a connection between the fifth-years and the Secreti. Two days later, Evan Malken came to Sigismond in the Gryffindor Common Room, and he was very excited. He addressed Sigismond :
I'd like to talk to the four of you
Sigismond was puzzled, and replied :
You mean, Ann, Eleanor and Judith ? About what ?
Evan went on :
Yes, the three girls with whom you are friend. There's something that everybody think they have seen, but they actually have seen only half of it !
Sigismond was more and more perplex :
If it's a general misconception, why not just spreading the information through the whole school ?
Evan markedly lowered his voice, and answered :
Because I think that someone should know, but if the whole school learns about it, many students will be in trouble. Including me I guess. You are the son of Mrs. Candler, and the four of you have good wits, which is crucial for what I want to disclose
Sigismond thought for a few seconds, then told Evan :
I will talk about it to Ann, Eleanor and Judith
Evan was anxious about something :
Fast ?
Sigismond was once more taken aback, this time by the urgency that Evan felt for something that didn't sound that important. He almost frowned, and finished the conversation with :
It won't be long I think
When Evan had finally left, Sigismond went back to his dormitory, saw that he could be alone there, and used the 'Mitto' spell to propose to the three girls a meeting at their old spot near the lake. They agreed, first on the principle, then on a date and time that would suit all four friends and fit their schedules. Thus, they made the walk to the sand-less beach two days later, on a Saturday. The temperatures were already low and they had to wear sweaters and scarves to reach the far away place without freezing. Since the trees had lost their leaves, the location was not as good a hideout as it had been. But now that their friendship was kind of an element of the school's background, the type of thing that everybody think will be there forever, and that therefore nobody should try to disturb, erase or replace, the slightly more apparent recess in these naked trees was no drawback. Despite the fact it was not raining, the grass was wet, and they had to conjure wooden boxes to sit on them without ending up with uniforms soaked in places. The discussion quickly led to the consensus that letting Evan share with them information that deserved according to him so much secret and attention wasn't a bad idea. They nevertheless needed a place that would allow the kind of secrecy that Evan desired, and that wouldn't be one of their usual lairs. Evan's obvious lack of maturity was a potential hindrance, too. Although he already was a fifth-year, he had skipped many classes, and the four friends envisioned that his massive lack of consideration for the rules might be a sign of duplicity. Ann smilingly sneered that she wasn't very mature and that the full group had not been very observant of all rules in the past months, yet they were trustworthy and had always acted in good faith. There also was this mysterious statement :
Everybody think they have seen something, but they only saw half of it
They wondered about what they could have missed, and that the rest of the school would have been unable to spot, either. Evan had mentioned the role of Mrs. Candler in his choice of opening up to the four friends. Did it mean it was related to the Secreti, to Mr. Stunherd, to Akinori Milpense's Muggle snowball ? Perhaps what Evan implied was that the Secreti was hiding in plain sight. The Milpense's objects might be Secreti, they thought. Anyway, they first and overall needed a place to convene with Evan. Their discussion revolved around the Astronomy Tower, which was at the same time a landmark and a place rarely visited. They nevertheless all had in mind Adelaide Morr's romantic appointment there with a Hufflepuff boy while Lewis Lapst was watching. Therefore, maybe it was common for lovers to meet there at night. During day, there would be classes, and students would go up and down, including up to the top of the Astronomy Tower. And at night, there was a risk for the four friends, but also for the overexcited Evan Malken to get caught. They envisioned finding an umpteenth empty and unused room, but they discarded this option, since it would make a very tedious task. The Astronomy Tower, Monday evening at 11pm would do. This was a mediocre compromise, but the most noticeable thing was that Judith had not flinched at the idea of meeting after hours, or even offered a more conservative approach. Sigismond would hopefully guide successfully the impetuous Evan Malken during the risky trip. On coming back from the gathering at the lake, Sigismond took a book, and began reading it in the Gryffindor Common Room, his head facing the door, while waiting for Evan Malken to show up. When the lone Evan entered the Common Room, his hands laden with sweets bought at Hogsmeade, Sigismond stood up. Evan had figured that Sigismond wanted to tell him something, therefore he walked in Sigismond's direction. He then stopped in front of Sigismond, who was taller than the fifth-year Evan. Sigismond told him in a rather low voice to be in the Common Room, on Monday evening at 10.30pm. Evan absurdly asked :
You will have the three girls come to our Common Room when nobody's there ?
Sigismond patiently explained that no, he wouldn't invite a Ravenclaw, a Hufflepuff and on top of that a Slytherin in the Gryffindor Common Room, but that he would make it possible for both of them to reach the rendezvous point on time without hassle. Evan was beaming :
Great. Monday, 10.30
Sigismond wondered if he should worry that Evan would forget that it was 10.30pm and not 10.30am by Monday, but he considered it wasn't a consequential risk : in the worst case scenario, Evan would skip a class once more and wait Sigismond in vain in the morning. Monday evening came, and Sigismond went down to the Common Room at 10.25pm. Evan was here, and Sigismond politely asked :
Did I make you wait a long time ?
Evan answered :
Not really. I just didn't want to miss the appointment, so I decided to wait from the time I was back from dinner on
Sigismond abstained from commenting on Evan's overly enthusiastic behaviour, and led him out of the Common Room. Sigismond took his wand out, cast 'Lumos', and seeing that Evan was doing the same, asked :
Why do you take your wand out ? One Lumos spell will suffice
Evan replied :
If something comes up, I want to be ready
Sigismond, smiling, reacted :
Should a Professor catch us, jinxing them won't improve the situation
Evan stopped in his tracks. This was not the kind of rule-bending he was used to, apparently. Then he came back to his senses, and caught up with Sigismond, but he still had his wand in hand, just in case. The fact that Sigismond was more on the taciturn side helped Evan understand that silence was sound basics for their trip, and he remained quiet, casting glances here and there. Just in case, you know. They made it to the top of the Astronomy Tower, without having to overcome any hurdle. They were first there. Paradoxically, Evan, clearly worried, asked Sigismond :
Do you think the three girls have forgotten about the meeting ?
Sigismond calmed Evan down :
They have never missed an appointment. And the reason they are not here is just that we are quite in advance. The gathering is supposed to start at 11
They sat next to the basis of the telescope, and Sigismond used 'Nox' to make their presence almost unnoticeable. Eleanor and Judith arrived about ten minutes later. They hadn't run into trouble either. Ann's story was a different one, though. She made it on time, but panting : she had run to reach the top of the Tower before 11, because she had been delayed by the unexpected sighting, or rather detection, of Professor Snape. She had used 'Lumos', just like anybody walking at night in a castle where torches were scarce because portraits had to sleep, and before reaching a corner, she had observed that her wand's luminosity had seemingly increased. She had cast 'Nox' in a whisper, but there was still light coming in her direction. At best, it was another rebellious student. She tiptoed back in her tracks as fast as possible, chased by the ever advancing powerful light rays. She was keeping her right hand next to the wall, and sometimes behind her, in order not to collide with anything and stupidly get knocked out. As soon as her hand made her perceive she was level with another corner, she hastily turned into this new direction, still moving backwards, partly holding her breath. She saw the light moving forward in the corridor she had just left, and she wondered whether the Lumos spell caster would keep their current course, turn ninety degrees right in the direction opposite to hers, or turn ninety degrees left and stumble upon her. Ann nevertheless reasoned that it would be absurd to go her way, because that would amount to backtracking for the then mysterious annoying person. Ann resumed her tiptoeing away from the light, and when the author of the spell at last appeared at the intersection she had previously exploited to turn, she was able to discern Professor Snape, who luckily decided to turn on his right side without any hesitation. As a result, the Potions Master's wand-lighting never fell on Ann, who had to wait for him to be far away, check if nobody else was coming, then retrace her steps, forward this time, with additional cautiousness in mind : Snape could just come back. When she reached the bottom of the Astronomy Tower, she saw on her watch she was almost late, and therefore sprinted up the steep staircase to get to the meeting place. Soon they were seated in a circle, Eleanor facing the staircase. She was therefore tasked with spotting potential intruders. Judith then told Evan :
Maybe you can start now
Evan had obviously prepared his speech, or to be more accurate, the exchange :
How do you think my sudden absences since the beginning of the school-year, the extraordinary circumstances in which the Yearbook was composed, and the fact that I cast Immobulus on Roger Hillpenny are connected ?
Eleanor answered, smiling :
All three involve you. You were among the absent students at the Yearbook photographing session
Evan replied :
Actually, I was on the grass in front of the castle when Mr. Chrawn was operating. It's just that in the three situations, I was following what was actually taking place
Sigismond went on :
You told me that we had seen only half of what we had to see. You mean, when you acted on Roger, you were also watching something else taking place ? But there is no connection between the photographs and you jinxing Roger. As far as we know, Roger's pictures on the date the Yearbook was being assembled were no different from what they should be
Evan immediately followed up with Sigismond's reaction :
Didn't you notice that Mr. Chrawn's whole circus was supervised by fifth-year Ravenclaws and I also am a fifth-year ?
Ann thought :
Given the way you behave, it's difficult to tell you are a fifth-year anyway
and she flatly replied :
No
Evan could not be stopped :
When the photographs were taken, there was a label in front of each student's hat. Why do you think it was so ? I can give you a clue, it had actually nothing to do with sharing lice
Judith was puzzled, but Eleanor started enjoying the riddles :
So, you are telling us the names weren't put there to make sure we wouldn't mix up which hat was whose ?
Evan, in a doctoral tone, trying to thicken and lighten the plot at every sentence, said :
The names were there to prevent this mixup. But not by the students. By somebody else. First, what can you find in a hat ?
Ann thought :
Brains as long as it's not your hat
Eleanor played along :
Hair. Well, at least if you are a girl, there will be a lot of them stuck in the hat
Evan's voice was growing louder, and Ann had to shush him, while he was saying :
Hair and magic, what does it give ?
Judith answered this time :
Polyjuice Potion
Evan was satisfied by Eleanor and Judith's attention, and said in a slightly arrogant fashion :
We are making headway. Now, let's go back. We are left with three things : names labelling the hats, Polyjuice and me casting Immobulus on Roger
Eleanor was almost giggling, seeing how enthusiastic Evan was getting. She contributed further :
Of course you need the name labelling the hat to make sure you are going to turn into the right person. And then you cast Immobulus on Roger. So, my first guess is that somebody drank the Polyjuice to have Roger's appearance. But why ? Roger was known for one thing, he fancied Margreth Lasquer. Maybe I am getting it, on second thought. You said we had seen one thing, but it was just half of what was happening. Somebody considered it was a shame that Roger would not open up to Margreth, so came up with an elaborate plan to turn into Roger, and have you bring Margreth - who is for you a fellow Gryffindor - then ask her out instead of the real Roger, so that Roger ends up happy. It could be Roger himself who devised this plan : he didn't feel confident enough, he asked somebody else to ask Margreth out for him. Trouble is, that doesn't make any sense. Roger would not have needed any ruse to lay his hands on his own hair, and pass one of them on the Polyjuice drinker. There is another thing bugging me : why do you know so much about what happened ? This is impossible. We have experienced what it is to try and get information from the side, and it was very tedious just retrieving a little bit of it, without even being able to dream we would have the overall picture at the end
Evan filled in :
That's why I was absent. You remember Ravenclaw fifth-years were supervising Mr. Chrawn's artistry. And a Ravenclaw fifth-year was offensive to me at the beginning of the school-year, which led me to follow him about everywhere. That is why I was skipping classes. It doesn't matter, I study late, and as long as I only get the usual Os and one or two Es, my folks don't complain. So, by following the Ravenclaw boy, I discovered he had a plan. By the way, I didn't know the whole scheme either before Mrs. Candler stepped up. I hadn't realised that this entire Ravenclaw plan was revolving around the Secreti. I should have guessed early, considering who had insulted me
Sigismond said, amused :
You were mistreated by Oliver Perrusi, the obsessive item collector ?
Ann was reminded of the way Arthur Fosty had described Oliver Perrusi : in short, somebody who was unbearable. Since Evan didn't have either a very good command of social relationships, it was surprising Perrusi had not demolished him four years earlier. Ann was becoming more understanding of Evan, though : brilliant at theoretical learning, overly sensitive, but of course, immature. Evan answered :
Yes, which makes sense with the rest of the story, in which your mother claimed that a fifth-year was involved with the lecture about the Secreti. Oliver Perrusi is in his fifth-year, and I hadn't gotten it at first, but he assumed the appearance of Roger Hillpenny to borrow the Secreti from the sixth-year Hufflepuff, err., I don't remember his name. Anyway, Perrusi would never have given a damn about Roger's quest for love in the arms of dear Margreth, so the use of the Polyjuice wasn't at all an elaborate attempt at landing a date for Roger. Now you have all the main elements I have. To summarise, it all started when Perrusi was rude to me. I followed him, because if someone is mean, one can expect them to be ill-intentioned. I didn't know then, but I was watching Perrusi going through steps of a plan to get the Secreti. Initially, he was visiting lots of places in the castle, and behaving as if he was himself spying on something. Not someone, for he was almost always keeping a look on different students. Then, his action pattern shifted, and he began attending the owlery, sending his owl repeatedly, day in and day out. I needed to know what he was sending. I asked somebody whose name I will hide, and who has an Auror in their family the following : how do Aurors intercept owl post ? I expected not to get a reply, or to be, you know, as often, sneered at, yet I received an answer : one had to keep the departing owl in sight, and cast a spell on the animal while holding a parchment in the other hand, then the content of the message will print itself on the paper. That's why, as regularly as possible, I waited for Perrusi to turn his back on his pet, and I used this sort of eavesdropping spell. This whole correspondence consisted in a string of orders for very rare potion ingredients. You know, Perrusi is rich, he can afford this expensive stuff. The thing is, these ingredients were so specific only one potion's list of necessary substances matched them : the Polyjuice one. I had to find out into whom he intended to transfigure himself, and I had no idea. I was following him, but the only thing he was doing was bringing packages in a room, always the same one. I assumed the parcels were holding ingredients, and he was brewing the potion, waiting for the right time to collect the hair he was after. And all of a sudden, when the month necessary to concoct the potion had elapsed, I heard that some wealthy Ravenclaw bloke had hired a star photographer, and the directions to the students specifically mentioned there would be pictures with hat, and without hat. It clicked in my head : Perrusi was a fifth-year from an affluent family, and with this imaging business he would get access to hats, which held, of course, guess what, hair. Therefore, I had to watch him constantly during the day of portraying. That's why I was absent from the Gryffindor fifth-year photographing session. I couldn't afford to be stuck, even temporarily, in a place and a situation from which and in which I couldn't freely observe Perrusi. I hid behind some vegetation near the bench where the hats were stored and taken back. Remember, the bench was in a recess, behind the stands, making it impossible for almost anybody to notice whether someone was weirdly handling the hats. I saw Perrusi, during a Hufflepuff shooting, go to the left of the bench, and walk alongside the bench while keeping his eyes on the labels. He is so arrogant, so self-confident, he didn't even check whether somebody was paying attention to the obviously wrong thing he was doing. At about two thirds of the bench, he stopped, picked up the hat, reached into it with his hand, then put it back down. Now, I am not an idiot like Perrusi, I am a bit careful when I do something dubious. I didn't need to get out of my bush and to read the labels to get the answer I wanted. I just stared at the hat that Perrusi had briefly rummaged in, opted for the best angle, in that case, I was able to see the face of the students who were walking towards the bench, and I did my best to determine which Hufflepuff wizard or witch would seize the damn hat. I didn't know who he was at this point, but it wasn't that difficult, with a good description, to put a name on the face, Roger Hillpenny. There was just one thing everybody knew about him : he was in love with Margreth. I thought it was lucky, since we are both Gryffindors. I had to take advantage of this, and overall, to keep track of Perrusi's whereabouts, in order to make sure I would be here when he would turn into Roger. I hoped he would do this during daytime, because at night, I study. But he is so brazen. Of course he elected to act in broad daylight. Anyway, the crux of my reasoning was : when you change into somebody else, you have one hour to deceive. When this hour is up, you are at risk of being caught. Thus, Perrusi, while under the guise of Roger, would be stressed about the time he had left to escape. On the other hand, Roger's interest, if he were to meet Margreth, would be to spend the longer time possible with her. As a result, if I could prevent Perrusi, while he was under the influence of Polyjuice, from moving, it would make him stress, and if he were additionally facing Margreth at the same time, he would have to put on a brave face, since the situation was supposedly in his favour. In a nutshell, the onlookers thought they were seeing one action taking place, but there were two of them happening simultaneously. That was what I considered as a brilliant design. You know, like these Muggle magicians, who give you the illusion that something is going on, but in fact something else is occurring. I was going to be a magician using real magic. My audience would watch conspicuously Roger trying to spend the longest time possible in the company of Margreth, and see without realising it Perrusi trying to spend the shortest time possible in front of her. That was my revenge. Having the haughty Perrusi sweat and feel on the wrong end of the mockery. People believed he was blushing and sweating because he was in front of his first love. Actually, he was blushing and sweating because he was worried to be caught. And he knew as well as I did what was happening. I had arranged with Margreth so that she would come when I would need her. I had told her that, when she would see the flying memo, she should follow it, and she would finally have an opportunity to be happy. When Perrusi took on himself to ask Margreth out at the benefit of Roger, I was dumbstruck, and it was so heartfelt and nice from Perrusi I had no longer any reason to try and frame him. Next thing we discovered was that this sixth-year Hufflepuff, I still don't have his name, had lent the Secreti to Roger, who had refused to give it back. The truth is most likely, Perrusi has the Secreti while the Hufflepuff thinks Roger borrowed it and has it. Since Roger doesn't have the Secreti, he can't give it back at all. Nevertheless, he is happy, because somebody else, and he doesn't know that it's Perrusi, did the romantic job for him, and his date with Margreth went well
Evan was beaming. None of the four friends were, though. Eleanor and Judith were awkwardly smiling, Ann had disgust on her face, and Sigismond was in shock. Judith expressed in a quiet and serious voice the cause behind this silent yet negative feedback :
Evan, you have used a fellow classmate, of your own House, to play a trick on somebody you loathe. Oliver could have just broken Margreth's heart, and made two lovers unhappy, unable to understand that they actually loved each other. You, on the other hand, fell in love with a concept. You should not, however brilliant it may look or sound in your head. We all have to put people first, ideas further down the list. You have been so sensitive to Oliver's lack of respect for you at the beginning of the school-year. And in the end, you were insensitive to Margreth's potential despair. She went because she trusted you. And finally, instead of playing a trick on Oliver only, you played a trick on both Oliver and Margreth. If she finds out one day what really took place, this first confession, this first date, and all the rest with Roger will be cast into doubt. Because Roger took the credit from somebody else's actions. Sure, Oliver was not just being noble when doing what you call Roger's romantic job, he was also seeking an elegant way of getting favourably out of a trying situation. Yet, he did the best thing he could do. You acknowledged it yourself. But maybe you lifted Immobulus because you wanted your illusion, actually, your show, to look perfectly consistent, and not to reward Oliver's good deed
This was clearly not the triumph Evan expected, and he started crying. The four friends were now sad for Evan. Ann took out a handkerchief, and handed it to Evan, who proceeded to loudly blow his nose, then to wipe the tears off his eyes. They stayed there, waiting silently for Evan's sadness to subside. Then, they had to go back to their dormitories, which was a task made more perilous for Sigismond since he would also have to keep out of trouble Evan, who by now was so focused on his despair he could hardly respond dynamically to any threat that might arise on their path towards Gryffindor's Common Room. Judith almost ran into Mr. Filch, but she cast 'Muffliato' at a nearby door to prevent it from making noise while she was opening it, and hid in the room the door was giving access to, leaving Mr. Filch enough time to walk away before resuming safely her trip back to Hufflepuff's Common Room. On arriving at her destination, she enquired through embroidery with the three others if they had averted being caught. None of the three others had faced significant danger on the return trip. Judith thought :
Eight trips, two near misses. Apparently, whenever four people get out after hours in the castle, there is on average one who will be at risk of being detected. Yet, overall, we all learned one thing : the Polyjuice potion is the go-to beverage to deceive
Paragraph 4 - 51 : The Boy Who Lived Comfortably
The following day, Ann's green threads made their way to the back of the three others' ties :
I think it would be interesting to get Oliver's version. There are unanswered questions, for example, does he know what is the missing link between the fifth-year potion ingredients on Mr. Stunherd's brochure and this whole Evan story ?
At first, the three others were reluctant, and Ann argued that they had an edge over Oliver now, since they knew he had been involved in a string of wrongdoings while he had no idea that they had gone on a forbidden midnight stroll to learn almost the full story regarding his plan. This didn't persuade the three others, either, who considered the Evan incident had been already painful and risky enough. Ann finally struck success when she added :
He stole something. As long as we don't threaten him or do anything harmful to him, we can convince him to give back the Secreti to Hugh Lankan
They had once more to find a place where Oliver Perrusi could talk in private to them. Eleanor, who was also in Ravenclaw, one year above Oliver, knew that he spent a lot of time in the library. Ann had another, more forceful plan in mind : Eleanor would see Oliver in Ravenclaw's Common Room, and ask him politely to join the three others somewhere in the park, where the temperatures were now close to the freezing point. Eleanor didn't object to this course of action, and two days later, she was walking through the castle's entrance, towards the grounds, where the three others were waiting, Oliver in front of her. He was a tall young wizard with black hair and blue eyes. When they reached Ann, Judith, and Sigismond, Oliver spoke :
You are the patrol in charge of bringing me to Azkaban ? I expected it to be more impressive. Let me see : my punishment will be to get transfigured into a Chocofrog
Judith asked Eleanor :
What did you tell him to persuade him to go ?
Eleanor replied, smiling as ever :
That we were curious to learn more about the circumstances in which he laid his hands on the Secreti
She then directed her gaze at Oliver, and addressed him :
We would be happy to know what exactly happened, from the beginning of the school-year, to Mr. Stunherd's lecture
Ann, who was already resenting Oliver's behaviour in spite of the fact she was the one who had insisted on getting him to talk, told him :
Yeah, how did you fall victim to the evil trap of the powerful master of dark arts Evan Malken ?
Oliver sneered, and began his own narration :
From almost day one, I was after the Secreti. I didn't know much about its background, but there was apparently just one available at Hogwarts, so it had to be an object that brought rare magical knowledge inside. And then, Evan came to me, with a silly unimportant request, while I was busy spying on the right people who could lead me to the Secreti. He was asking me if he could borrow from me some book he claimed was very expensive. Apparently he had asked a lot of people, and when he saw me, this cretin clearly thought : 'Perrusi is rich, he will lend me the book, let's go talk to him.' Lending or not the book wasn't a question at the time, since I was busy. So I told him to gluffing beep off with his filthy uniform. To locate the Secreti, I had a very solid plan. I talked to Houstack, compiled thanks to the foolish chatterbox the list of couples. There were probably bogus ones in the lot, thus I had to be a bit careful, but with a bit of curiosity, I was able to determine which pairings were most likely real, and which ones were fantasies. The rationale was, this Secreti object would be hugely interesting to exchange inflamed correspondence, therefore, by learning who was dating, I would end up discovering who was using the box - remember, at the time, it was nothing more than the so-called 'black box'. I proceeded to spy on couples of different Houses. And then, with a Hufflepuff one, I got as close to a hit as I could hope while having no access to three of the four Common Rooms : one of the dating Hufflepuff boys was in an area surrounded by other Hufflepuffs belonging to all seven years, so I supposed their Common Room was not far, and he had a tiny parchment in hand. He went to a girl close to the one for whom his heart was beating, and gave her the paper. From this moment on, I focused on the Hufflepuff couples. And I noticed they would often have parchments, which were always little, as if the box wouldn't let bigger ones fit in. I needed to impersonate a Hufflepuff, but I had not made any choice at the time. As a Hufflepuff, I would be able to enter the Common Room, borrow the black box, then get out. I certainly needed to assume the appearance of someone who was in love, but who hadn't used the box, and who would be able to ask who in Hufflepuff had the box without arising suspicion. I bought the ingredients for the Polyjuice, and I organised Mr. Chrawn's intervention. At this time, I had made my choice. It would be Roger Hillpenny. According to various more or less trustworthy sources, he was fond of Margreth Lasquer, but hadn't had yet the guts to perform some decisive action. He was loving from afar, therefore I thought he had never used the box, and never asked who had it. He was the perfect target. Having followed a lot of students of all four Houses, I knew where I could find each corresponding Common Room. I selected a day and a time when all the Hufflepuff years would be in their Common Room while Roger's year would be in some classroom, hoping that the person who owned the Secreti wasn't also in Roger's year, drank the Polyjuice, hurried to the Hufflepuff Common Room. There, I said I wanted to use the box to let my feelings known to Margreth, and some witch pointed at Hugh Lankan, whom I persuaded to lend me the box, before exiting the Common Room with it in my pocker. That is the moment when Evan performed Immobulus on me, which was very brave, since I had my back on him. Ten minutes later, I was face to face with Margreth. I tried to play the part as long as possible. I had a bit studied Roger's voice and moving style, and I was pretty satisfied of the outcome. I had used in the Hufflepuff Common Room the pretense according to which I wanted the box to share Roger's adoration for Margreth, I had to continue the sham, and it worked on that oaf. I asked Margreth out for Roger, and he thought of nothing smarter than to give me freedom again. And I escaped to the nearest bathroom. Now, I had the box, but you see, I am not in Ravenclaw for nothing. I was curious about it. Nevertheless, I couldn't attract attention on me and request the lecture personally. I mean, there was already some anonymous fifth-year Ravenclaw who had hired Mr. Chrawn, if word came out that once more a fifth-year Ravenclaw whose name wasn't disclosed had asked for a lecture, it would be suspicious, first to the few students who had brains, but also to the staff, who would have seen me twice making unorthodox demands, and would have connected the dots. I had to find an involuntary middle-man, smart enough to understand my underlying will, but naive enough for them not to come to the conclusion that something was up. What you also need to know is that, when making the Yearbook, I had had the list of every student's parents' jobs in front of my eyes. I retrieved the list, took the first occurrence among the parents of a wizard or witch who would be knowledgeable about the kind of stuff I wanted to learn more about, and that was Mr. Stunherd, who was the father of a second-year Slytherin. So I considered the story would be more believable if another Slytherin asked for the lecture. They would have met micro-Stunherd, and would have thought, 'hey this is so great to have an expert of magical objects in your family, since we are all talking about an object we don't even know the name of.' I picked a third-year Slytherin witch, Amedea Valkyre, poured in her drink a beverage that was a very clever derivative of mine of a love potion. Instead of being infatuated with a person, she would become crazy about the magical object. I had to dip the Secreti in the potion to make it work. And I planted in her belongings the infamous brochure, on which Mr. Stunherd advertised his skills as rare objects hunter and lecturer. I must acknowledge she put two and two together very quickly, and went to the administration asking for the exposé almost straight away. She even volunteered to pay up Mr. Stunherd's fee. That was already much less clever. And after the performance was over, I dropped the antidote in Valkyre's next pumpkin juice, and she completely stopped worrying about Secretis and what on earth could have led her to involve herself in the lecture. End of the story. Now, if you don't mind, I feel like going back to my warm dormitory, although I must confess I have always been disappointed with the Hogwarts experience : why should I share a room with others ? Why can't I pay my way out of this embarrassing pre-historical cohabitation ? You girls can't imagine how much guys stink, especially after Quidditch
Ann was quick to direct his attention to another element of the immanent and crude reality :
You have stolen an object. What's the point of being affluent if you can't even stop yourself from being a kleptomaniac ? I don't live with a fortune at hand, yet I don't take what belongs to others
Oliver Perrusi retorted :
You have had the story, which was already generous from me. You can't have it both ways, it would be grossly unfair
Sigismond attempted brokering a deal through diplomacy :
Evan has renounced to expose you. It wouldn't have come to his mind to take revenge on you by reporting you. You could consider that we are acting on his behalf, requesting you to do the right thing in exchange for Evan's fair play
Oliver retaliated :
Why would I do something that would imply that a pesky retard should be praised ?
Judith had something on her mind :
Why would you do nothing, and let us think that Evan is a much better person than you are ? Perhaps because you are accustomed to a situation in which even your Ravenclaw classmates feel you are one of the most dreadful individuals in the castle ?
Oliver Perrusi scoffed :
This is normal, from people with low income, to be jealous of members of successful families. You say they consider me as dreadful, but actually, deep in their hearts, it's envy that drives their contempt, not a fair judgment
Eleanor giggled :
What is great when one listens to people, it's that one can learn a lot of things. Not just irrelevant gossip, but also very real knowledge. This time, however, I will only need gossip to disprove your claim : there are a number of students whose families are richer than yours, and they also consider you a lost cause. I try to see the best in people, but with you, this is pretty difficult
Oliver concluded :
It's not because four fools have the same opinion it's a valid one
And he walked away briskly. Judith said :
Now, things are clearing up at least. The reason why there were fifth-year's classes potion ingredients on the brochure was that Oliver had been the person who had collected it. And Mr. Stunherd being picked over Sigismond's mother had nothing to do with skills. In the Yearbook, second-years are before fourth-years. Therefore I guess that the list with the parents' jobs mirrored that order. The job of the parent of every second-year was far above that of Sigismond's mother, and Oliver opted for the first one
Paragraph 5 - 52 : Athrea
A few days later, Ann was in the Slytherin Common Room when Professor Snape walked in. Initially, Ann was not particularly moved by the sudden appearance. Nevertheless, she entered a state of panic, when she heard the rhythmic noise of Professor Snape's firm steps growing louder and louder. She raised her head, and almost flinched when seeing his greasy hair barely four feet away from her eyes. He addressed her :
Your presence is needed in the Headmaster's office. Follow me
Ann's brains were racing : maybe Professor Snape had actually detected her when she was going to the Astronomy Tower, and reported her, prompting Professor Dumbledore to envision her expulsion. Or the old wizard had guessed that she and the three others knew something about Lankan's stolen Secreti, and that they hadn't come forward when they should have : after all, Oliver Perrusi had not only robbed Hugh Lankan, he had also brewed Polyjuice. Alternatively, a member of staff could have spotted their equipment in the Arch Room, and now the administration had questions about the Intuition Potion. This didn't make the cut : Professor Snape had already extorted from Judith the confession that she had concocted an Intuition Potion, and had seemingly concluded it was innocuous. Maybe actually this theory held water : Professor Snape could have changed his mind after hearing more about the details surrounding the use of the Intuition Potion, which would explain why he was the teacher who had come to fetch her. In the meantime, they had climbed stairs out of the dungeons, and had arrived in front of the spiral staircase that led to Professor Dumbledore's office. Much to Ann's surprise, Professor Snape let her ascend alone and effortlessly - since the stairs were moving up, but Ann didn't have to walk up - towards the working space of Professor Dumbledore. On reaching the door, she paused before knocking on it. There were voices coming from her destination. She hit the door with her knuckles, and when it opened, it revealed a completely unexpected situation : Eleanor, Judith, Sigismond and Professor Dumbledore were here, but they had company, namely Mrs. Candler. Apparently, the Headmaster could read on Ann's face her bewilderment, and he explained what they were all supposed to do : hear about the discoveries that Mrs. Candler had made when investigating Akinori Milpense's object. She cut short to the interesting part :
After trying quite a few things, I got a result when dipping the snowball first in an undirected love potion then in the Pensieve. When one makes a love potion, one has to put something from themselves. For this case, though, I didn't put anything belonging to me or another person. And I was able to access memories. Not only Miss Milpense's memories, but also memories that apparently are ultimate causes of Miss Milpense's feelings. Since I used a neutralised love potion, and that I am talking about feelings, you may surmise that I found memories of teenage love. In that case, you will be sorely disappointed. I did find things related to love, but nothing quite joyful. This was a story about three people, apparently living in Japan. I guess they were all Muggle-born, since I saw no magical element in the glimpses of their lives. The very first memory of the loop is a young man and a young woman talking merrily near a river, in a city, I suppose in Japanese. I didn't understand a single word. The man was beginning a lot of sentences with something like 'Hirata-san', therefore I'd say the woman's name is Hirata-san. The next piece of family history was taking place in, you know, these traditional homes made of wood that one can find in this part of the world. Apparently, Hirata-san's parents were talking to her, and that was very upsetting to the young woman. The third episode was showing another young man, not the first one, but one that one would see later in the sequence of events. He was at his home, and he was looking at a paper, like a test. He was writing notes, in signs I couldn't decipher. The fourth burst of actions was in an examination room. There were two subsets : in subset number one, the very first young man, who had chatted happily, was taking the test, the subject of which being exactly the same as that the second young man had had before his eyes previously. In subset number two, in another place of the examination hall, the second young man was facing again the very same test. This dissolved then to another event, a wedding. Between Hirata-san and the second young man. My theory is that Hirata-san was in love with the first young man, but had to marry the second one, because the latter had been more successful at the examination, for which he had cheated, having had access to the subject before the official test. Following this, the memories where a young girl was present appeared. Probably the then-little Akinori Milpense. Hirata-san was near her, therefore I ventured the guess Hirata-san is Miss Milpense's mother. She was permanently watching her daughter with the kind of deep sorrow one can't conceit, as if the unhappy and unwanted marriage she was in had left her in distress. I posited that the young Miss Milpense was an undesired child, only conceived to please the step-parents. Nonetheless, the current behaviour of Miss Milpense is that of someone who does her best to give happiness, instead of lamenting on her fate and being resentful for the injustice that was behind her birth and that hit her during her childhood. The next memories were exactly about this. I don't know to which year at Hogwarts they correspond, because Miss Milpense, is very small, thus one can hardly tell her age from her stature. In the first set of images, she was smiling repeatedly to a Slytherin boy, who was clearly embarrassed. But in the second set of pictures, there was also superimposed talking. A Gryffindor witch was awkwardly polling Miss Milpense about her wish to date the Slytherin boy, she mentioned the name of Matthew. The Gryffindor girl was saying something along the line 'I know you like Matthew, but I like him too. I am sorry.' And Miss Milpense did something that took me aback : she took out of her pocket a circular silvery object, like a wristwatch, bewitched it, and smiling, handed it over with both hands extended to the Gryffindor student, who slowly moved both her hands forward to accept the gift symmetrically. The last memory was Miss Milpense, sitting at night in an alcove of what I think was her dormitory. There was sufficient moonlight from the neighbouring windows to see that she was, as her mother had been, sorrowful. And the last image I got from looking in the Pensieve was Miss Milpense, slightly smiling while tears were running down her cheeks
The six of them waited silently during a dozen of seconds for this new set of informations to sink in. Then, Professor Dumbledore spoke :
Let me complement this. Miss Milpense put her feelings in the objects she was giving as presents. She inherited melancholy, or acquired it though living within it. And by adding elements of a love potion to this feeling which derives from lack of love, one supplements the sorrow with the missing element, an absence that initially prevented the object from being whole and helpful
Mrs. Candler waited a few seconds, possibly to give the impression she wanted to allow the four students to contemplate the words of the person who could reward them the most or expel them. Then, she went on :
Professor, maybe I could have a little chat in private with my son
Professor Dumbledore answered :
Once you are back down the staircase, yes. I hope I didn't frighten Miss Aves, Miss Parry, Miss Magarthy and Mr. Candler by summoning them. They can now go back to their dormitories
The door opened magically, and Mrs. Candler was first to exit the office to step on the spiral staircase. Then, one by one, Sigismond, Ann, Eleanor and Judith in this order joined Mrs. Candler at the bottom of the staircase. Sigismond's mother had another surprise for the four friends : she had skipped interesting elements of her investigation, and they would soon understand why. There was a lot more to Miss Milpense's story. To begin with, Mrs. Candler hadn't had the idea of dipping the snowball in the love potion out of luck or trial and error. When she first attempted things on the Muggle decoration, she used in quick succession 'Fusio', then a similar spell, that could have conversely allowed herself to be absorbed by the object, and to finish, she had dipped the snowball in the Pensieve, but without the love potion. And she had seen only one memory, that formed the basis for her later research : Akinori Milpense, with the Sorting Hat on her head, the latter telling her she wouldn't fit in any of the four Houses. This happened sometimes, and the magic Hat's policy was, whenever this occurred, to let students pick their House, and tell them they would be concurrently and secretly listed as members of the fifth House, Athrea, which was the name of the first student, about a thousand years ago, whom the Sorting Hat had not managed to sort adequately for the same reasons. Akinori took a few seconds, then told in a little voice to the Hat
Gambattetai kara, Hufflepuff onegai shimasu
She was therefore officially sorted in Hufflepuff. Mrs. Candler was then stuck in this memory for about twenty minutes, and had worried at one time she might end up trapped in it forever. Despite this pending risk, once out of the memory, she had repeated the process, hoping to see more events, but it was still the same, and the delay needed to exit it also. Sigismond's mother knew from that point on that the snowball was able to interact with the Pensieve, and she imagined that, with a bit of help, it would yield better results. Thus, she embarked on a research on identical anecdotes from Hogwarts students throughout the school's life. There were a few esoteric books in which descriptions equivalent to what had happened to Akinori Milpense could be found. For a handful of students, who had been officiously sorted in Athrea, there were biographies. And first of all, there was a short note somewhere about the student named Athrea, who had lived a thousand years ago : this was a young witch who was a Muggle-born from a noble family. One common point between the detailed biographies was obvious : the students sorted in Athrea had been undesired, unchosen children. Another salient point was that their experiences with love potions were very different from those of usual wizards and witches : instead of just bringing towards them the people who had drunk their potion, it was also making their parents come back to them and try to improve relationships with their unwanted child, at least while the potion was having effects. This prompted Mrs. Candler to dip the snowball in the neutral love potion before dropping it into the Pensieve. Thanks to the numerous additional memories, she was able to posit that Akinori Milpense had also been an undesired child. This would make sense with the original student's case : in noble families, a thousand years ago, people were married to strengthen ownership of vast fiefdoms, and had no say about their spouse for this reason. As a result, there were very few marriages celebrated out of love in these families, and the children borne by the woman were only the consequence of the pressure on the newlyweds to give a heir, if possible a male heir, who could inherit the territories of their father together with those brought to the couple through the mother's dowry. The last element that Mrs. Candler set forth was the most important, though : the sacrifice made by Akinori Milpense by accepting that the Gryffindor witch would be the one who would date the Slytherin boy they both loved, had likely produced powerful magic that could undo any injustice. For, instead of trying to exact revenge from an unfairly sad childhood, brought about by a broken romance, Akinori Milpense had renounced to her own legitimate right to find love with the boy she liked. By feeling mixed sadness, for having given up, and happiness, for having allowed somebody else to experience profound happiness, she had endowed the wristwatch-like object with power she hadn't expected to transfer to it. Mrs. Candler added she hadn't told this part of the story to Professor Dumbledore, because she didn't think a man who had apparently never met love could understand this feeling's magical powers, and would have seen this hypothesis as the result of a typical female mawkishness. She then wished them a good evening, turned around, and departed.
Paragraph 6 - 53 : The Goodrow Affair
The four friends attempted debriefing all of this new data. The Hufflepuff witch who looked so superficial with her weird actions and her permanent smile had in fact most likely one of the deepest personalities among all the people living in the castle. And the four friends, if they trusted Mrs. Candler, had the opportunity to pick an injustice and make things right regarding it. They initially envisioned using the purported power of Akinori Milpense's silvery object on the unfair treatment of Martin Hift's father. But Ann had something else in mind. She felt that it was a good occasion to use the Intuition Potion, because it might tip them off about the worst possible injustice. If it were the case, they could right the biggest wrong ever made, and Akinori Milpense's supposed magic would end up being most efficient. Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond had drunk the Intuition Potion, and Ann had wanted to use it on her for a long time. If they brewed it, Ann would be the only legitimate candidate left to try it out. She knew it, and the drive behind her advocacy of the Intuition Potion's use was obvious : she was at least as much interested in drinking the awful purple beverage as in making Akinori Milpense's powers extremely beneficial. Yet, she had a point. Thus, the four friends would once more meet in the Arch Room, and produce a fourth and final glass of the potion. When they first reconvened there, they had to clean it up. Since they had visited it last, when they had hypothesised that Peeves had taken Ann's copy of the recipe, nobody had set foot in it. Or somebody had opened the door, seen almost nothing apart from the stack of broomsticks that was actually the cauldron and pieces of wood that hid the books holding the parchment with the set of instructions, noticed that the room was smelly and dusty, and left it. At least, everything was there, except the ingredients of course. They brought those that they already had in their standard kit, which was different from last school-years, since none of the four friends was any longer a third-year, meaning that some excessively basic ingredients were missing, and Eleanor was now a sixth-year, which implied she had more ingredients than before, but also more fancy ones that were useless for the very straightforward Intuition Potion. Ann reasoned :
We can afford to order the few ingredients none of us has in store, and wait for them to arrive. There is no risk injustice will just vanish in the meantime
They resumed their custom of checking the process, to make sure that they wouldn't miss anything. Judith was now the only one among the four friends who had concocted the potion from beginning to end alone. However, she kept focused and didn't become overconfident, double-checking her operations as if she were the one who would drink the potion. Finally, at the beginning of December, the potion was ready, and they gathered round Ann who was beaming in spite of the fact she knew exactly what she could expect from the beverage's taste. She opted for the Sigismond technique, drinking the purple liquid bottoms up. Her face underwent worrying transformations and deformations, but after a few minutes, her traits were back to normal. As soon as she could speak without her mouth looking like it was convulsing, she said :
I need every edition of the Daily Prophet in the last thirty days
Judith replied :
Fine, Dad reads the Daily Prophet at breakfast everyday, this is good, but what is less great is that every edition goes to the Parry's dustbin at the end of the day
Sigismond had better news :
Mum always keeps the Daily Prophet. Because it is the standard primary good for her investigations. We have almost every edition since I guess the time I was born and Mum started working. Since she is the one who triggered our efforts, she will probably package the latest thirty editions within a few days and send them to us by owl. I hope it won't be too heavy for the owl
Sure enough, two days later, Sigismond saw an overloaded owl flying towards him at breakfast, and landing in a not so smooth way. The young wizard severed the rope linking the owl's leg and the parcel it had been carrying. The owl, probably as much relieved of several pounds as relieved of the psychological pressure of having to perform this uncomfortable task, took off on the spot. Sigismond quietly finished his breakfast, then brought the package without checking its contents to his dormitory, where it would wait before he and Ann could meet for the former to pass on the latter the thirty editions that were hopefully in the parcel. He went down to attend his first class of the day, and embroidered on the back of his tie the necessary update. After a few messages conveyed thanks to the 'Mitto' spell, needed to ensure the coordination between Sigismond and Ann, the boy waited for lunchtime. Then, he went back up to his dormitory, retrieved the parcel, and brought it to Ann who was in front of her plate in the Great Hall. She unwrapped the package, and here they were, the thirty latest editions of the Daily Prophet. Ann was clearly eager to work on this new investigation, and let her dish cool down while browsing the stack of newspapers. She wasn't even reading the titles or the dates, but obviously the potion was doing the job, since, on reaching the edition of November the thirteenth, she felt the urge to pick it and leave the remaining editions aside. She flipped through the pages, till getting the impression she was at the right spot, and began reading the articles on the corresponding page. After going through all of them, it was clear to her that only one matched the required features. She embroidered in green threads :
Found it. We have to meet as soon as possible. 6pm, in the Arch Room ?
Judith answered :
Found the right edition ? That was quick
Ann replied :
The right edition and the article that goes with it
On leaving the Great Hall, Ann unceremoniously, and somewhat impolitely, abandoned the twenty nine useless editions at Slytherin table. At 6pm, when her last class of the day finished, Ann sprinted towards the Arch Room, and arrived first. She thought :
Of course, the others probably have far away classes, and don't run as fast as I do. Especially Sigismond
One by one, the three remaining friends entered the Arch Room. Sigismond was not last, because the classroom where his last lesson of the day had taken place was relatively close to the destination. As had been the case when they had first met in the Friends Room, Eleanor was the last one. Ann thought :
Well, Eleanor is tiny, so her short steps don't make her move forward as quickly as those of a basketball player
She proceeded to show them the article of interest. It read :
A New Development In The Goodrow Affair. One remembers (our edition of October the 25th) that Mr. Fedapp, a wizard known for his connections with several members of the Order of the Phoenix, had accused Mrs. Goodrow of being a former You-Know-Who sympathiser. Mr. Fedapp's prestige and clout had lent credibility to his claim, and Mrs. Goodrow has been on the defensive ever since. Our sources report she visited Saint Mungo's repeatedly for rehabilitation cures. Nevertheless, a journalist belonging to a less established news agency, Mr. Soulkish, had sought to disprove Mr. Fedapp's assertions, and had concluded the latter had spoken too lightly based on circumstantial information. Mr. Soulkish had furthermore involved Mr. Moxy, an employee of the Ministry, for having withheld his doubts about Mr. Fedapp's statements, allegedly out of selfishness, as he would have wanted to avoid incurring Mr. Fedapp's anger. This led to turmoil. Mr. Soulkish's work was praised for being thorough. As a result, Mr. Moxy had taken the brunt of the public outcry, and his career progress was definitively put on hold. Nevertheless, a twist recently came up. Two unquestionable witnesses testified yesterday that Mr. Moxy had made an Unbreakable Vow to clear his name. The content was, in short, that Mr. Moxy would always speak the truth and seek it in public maters. One of the witnesses is the person with whom Mr. Moxy made the Unbreakable Vow. Immediately after, he had offered to give a press conference during which he flatly denied the allegations of cowardice against him. The fact that he did not die as a consequence ended up proving his innocence. Wizards and witches present to the press conference almost unanimously praised Mr. Moxy for having been steadfast and having stood up to pressure. The Ministry, in the wake of this turnaround, promoted Mr. Moxy. Mrs. Goodrow's and Mr. Soulkish's could not be reached for a reaction
Eleanor reasoned :
If this is an instance of injustice, then it means that the journalist, Mr. Soulkish, was right, and that either Mr. Moxy found a way to cheat an Unbreakable Vow, or manipulated it to look like he was proving his innocence. Trouble is, the article doesn't confirm or infirm Mr. Fedapp's accusations. If this wizard made a defamatory conjecture against Mrs. Goodrow, then the latter is the one who was most wronged. Potentially, two people ended unfairly on the wrong side of the media showdown : Mrs. Goodrow and Mr. Soulkish. Ann, what do you think, or rather, feel ?
Ann replied, in a slightly disappointed tone :
Err. Nothing. The potion seems to have stopped giving me guidance
Sigismond told Ann :
The first thing we can do is reading through this edition and all the twenty nine ones remaining. Maybe we will be able to connect the dots this way. Ann, could you collect the rest of the Daily Prophet copies ?
Ann remembered with guilt that she had let these to rot on the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. She said :
Wait, I am going to pick them up
She ran to the Great Hall, but somebody had visibly tidied up the stack of newspapers, perhaps even thrown it away. She had to find the right person. Someone who could designate the place where her pile of articles had ended, but who wouldn't judge her too harshly, and who would be easy to locate. Well, that was obvious. Only one person fitted this description. She hurried towards the entrance, crossed the threshold into the cold winter air, and made her way to Hagrid's hut. Ann hoped he wouldn't be on a mission far away from his dwelling. Fortunately, she quickly spotted him. He wasn't at his cabin, but his massive stature was heading towards the greenhouses. Ann broke again into a run. This time, she was the one with the short legs who couldn't have matched the half-giant's speed if he had decided to move faster. She went level with him, and panting, said :
Mr. Hagrid, err…I trust you know a lot of practical things, what is supposed to happen in the castle, and so on, right ?
Rubeus Hagrid stopped in this tracks, turned ninety degrees to face Ann, and answered :
Well, yeah, more or less
Ann was delighted, this was her best hope :
Great. Suppose you would have forgotten something big on a table in the Great Hall at lunch, where would it be now ?
The Keeper of Keys and Grounds was puzzled by the question, but replied after a short pause :
I'd go to the kitchens. Ter find the house-elves, see if they know somethin' about it
Ann thanked heartily Hagrid, and came back towards the castle. By that point, she was exhausted from having sprinted several times, therefore she just walked briskly. Ann hadn't been in the presence of a house-elf, neither at Hogwarts, nor elsewhere. Sure, if they all were in the kitchens, which she hadn't visited a single time either, this wasn't that surprising. Ann hadn't a clue about the way house-elves perceived wizards and witches, and she couldn't fathom either how she was supposed to address them. Would they be like Mr. Filch, and scold her for having been careless with her belongings ? On reaching the tall doors, she wondered whether the three others were frustrated by the delay. Probably not, for that wasn't in their temper. Before the holidays, Judith could have been concerned about a situation in which Ann had implied she would be back soon and where she was still not back more than ten minutes later. Nevertheless, Ann was the only one among the four friends who had remained constantly impulsive. Being rid of this worry, she directed her thoughts at locating the kitchens. She asked a few students, and after several fruitless attempts over different floors, was given reliable directions, which she put to good use. She had been carefree earlier, and had to be focused from this moment on. Ann memorised dutifully the instructions of the student who had claimed they were knowledgeable about the kitchens' location, and double-checked every of her turns, every landmark the student had indicated, every staircase's change of heart. Finally, she found herself in front of the painting that was supposed to be the entrance to the kitchens. There was nobody, and she thought she would wait for somebody, wizard, witch or house-elf, to come in and out of the kitchens, in order to take advantage of their opening to enter herself. She was in for a long wait. She started reasoning. The dishes appeared by magic on the tables of the Great Hall, thus there was no need for the house-elves to act like waiters in Muggle cafés or restaurants did, moving from the kitchens to the Great Hall. If their lodgings were connected to the kitchens, they could stay a long time there. Furthermore, it was almost dinner time, so they were probably very busy in there. Nonetheless, they most likely appreciated fresh air, which meant that at some point, they would go out. Trouble was, in the meantime, the three others would miss the meal. Ann contemplated also the possibility that the student, a Gryffindor boy, who had directed her there had played a prank on her. Perhaps this was a case of a Gryffindor misleading a Slyherin out of traditional enmity. He had sounded very truthful, though, and the location made sense, just beneath the Great Hall. To cap it all, her patience paid off with the arrival of Professor Snape, which typically heralded bad outcomes. The Potions Master addressed Ann :
What are you waiting for, Miss Aves ?
Ann wondered if she was at a forbidden place. The only way to know was to answer :
I…don't know how to enter. I am looking for an item I lost at lunch. Err…why does a Professor need to talk to the kitchens' staff ?
Ann feared she had gone too far, but Professor Snape just smirked and replied sternly, accentuating words in his usual way :
I need more chocolate in my cake
Ann didn't know if it was irony intended to deflect more politely than was Professor Snape's habit the overly curious question, or if her teacher had thought it fine to state clearly his goal. Professor Snape went to the painting, and tickled a pear on it. Ann was confused. The last thing she could have imagined was the asocial Potions Master tickling anything or anyone. Anyway, the entrance to the kitchens appeared, and Ann was able to see a small army of tiny creatures with bulging eyes, barely and clumsily clad, busy around dishes, ovens, and tables mirroring those above in the Great Hall. On spotting the two newcomers, four beaming house-elves went to greet them, and enquired enthusiastically about their wishes. Professor Snape, who didn't sound the least softened by the warm welcome, told Ann :
Miss Aves, you first
Ann thought her request would sound all the more rude that the house-elves had been so nice to her. She was still more afraid of being frowned upon, and said in a lower voice than usual :
Err…I forgot twenty nine editions of the Daily Prophet on the Slytherin table at lunchtime. Is it possible you would have kept this in store ?
She cast a sideway glance at Professor Snape, who highlighted his surprise with a sarcastic tone :
Twenty nine editions of the Daily Prophet. I only had to read the titles of one of them to come to the conclusion that I would not need to read any. What a poor use of your time
Ann dearly wanted to retort something, but she repressed this desire. She was already making her friends wait, if she had to tell them that an angry Professor Snape had confiscated the copies, she would feel very bad. The house-elves, once Professor Snape had blurted out his criticism, just beamed at Ann, and one of them told her :
Wait, I will see if we have found something at lunch time
Ann and the Potions Master remained standing in this awkward situation where nobody wanted to be in the company of the other, while the house-elf was away, looking for Ann's missing newspapers. He or she went back, a few minutes later, using magic to make the big stack of Daily Prophet editions fly in front of them. The heap was so high Ann couldn't see the house-elves head, hidden by the newspapers, until he or she had come close. Ann put the floating pile in her hand, smiled at the house-elves, thanked them, then hurriedly departed before Professor Snape could say aloud he wanted her out. She had recovered from her previous runs, and would have resumed sprinting towards the Arch Room if she hadn't been carrying a stack of paper that could easily drop or fly away. On arriving at the Arch Room, she said :
Sorry for the delay
She then elaborated, and recounted her little adventures to retrieve the copies. They split the task in four. Ann and Judith would read seven editions each, whereas Eleanor and Sigismond would take care of eight copies each. They then went back to their respective dormitories with their bonus homework.
Paragraph 7 - 54 : Public Investigations
They had read every article of all the thirty editions several times without tangible result, when, on Sunday, Ann embroidered :
We need to go to Diagon Alley. Probably a hunch from the potion. See you all in one hour at the spot near the lake. Eleanor will bring us through Side-Along Apparition. OK ?
It was snowing, the frozen ground was covered with about two inches of snow, which would make the walk to a place far enough from the castle to Disapparate more difficult than ever, but Ann was positive they had to act quickly. From the now snowy recess in the trees away from the castle, they would be able to walk together outside of Hogwarts' grounds. Sigismond was last at the rendezvous point, as expected, but he was also late. This frustrated Ann, who nevertheless abstained from criticising the Gryffindor young wizard. Yet, Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond could read on Ann's face her repressed line of thought, which caused Eleanor to giggle and tell Ann :
I will keep an eye on Sigismond so that he walks faster
They then went along the banks of the lake, under the snow and amidst fog, till the little image of the castle on the horizon across the lake became so small and so rarely visible they were fairly sure they could Disapparate from the location they had reached. Eleanor asked Ann :
Which place in Diagon Alley ?
Ann was taken aback :
Err, I don't know. Any spot will do as far as I can tell
Eleanor smiled at her and went on :
Are you sure you don't want more of the potion ?
Ann didn't answer the rhetorical question, and just said, calmly :
Let's go
Eleanor extended her hand horizontally, the three others put one of their own hands on it, and they were off to Diagon Alley through a sequence of top-speed twists. Once they had arrived at their intermediate destination, Ann led them briskly through the crowds and the secondary streets with confidence. They reached an empty alley which was facing a very long, three-floor tall white nondescript building. Ann stopped there, turned in all directions, then focused on what she could feel. This lasted a few minutes. Judith gently asked Ann :
What should we do now ?
Ann paused a bit, and replied, in an almost little voice :
Err…I don't know. Wait maybe ?
Since it was the only option that could justify all their trip, first under Hogswarts' snow, then under London's snow, they did nothing else than what Ann had suggested. Waiting outside, in the cold, under falling snow, was no piece of cake. Ann pictured Sigismond telling her in a tone laden with reproach :
You were frustrated when I was late near the lake, and now you are making us wait
But Sigismond would never tell this, even if he could feel this kind of annoyance. Actually, Sigismond had noticed the irony of the situation, but had almost instantly gone on reminding himself of what he had read in the eight editions of the Daily Prophet, the reading of which had been allocated to him. After one hour in this precarious environment, staring alternatively at the empty alley then at the white neutral construction, Ann became suddenly very focused, and said :
It is coming
Judith envisioned asking about what was supposed to come, but opted for just silently following Ann's intuition. After all, they were here for this, an intuition. Ann went on :
Take your wands out
This time, Judith was worried :
Ann, we are not to use magic outside school. Maybe the potion doesn't know it, but we do
Ann retorted :
Just do it
Judith considered that, Ann being a friend, she had to trust her. Apparently, Eleanor and Sigismond had made the same kind of reasoning. They all raised their wands, in spite of the fact that no danger, no presence was justifying it. Ann was ready to perform magic, but the three others had merely and almost symbolically lifted their wand's tip. Then, Ann sprung from the alley, and said :
Follow me, quickly
Eleanor immediately acted on Ann's request, Judith and Sigismond following suit. A tall wizard, with brown hair and dark eyes, clad in purple robes, had raised his wand. Not towards Ann, or any of the four friends, but in the direction of the anonymous building. Ann shouted to the wizard :
Stop it
The man turned around slowly, and saw Ann, in her Slytherin uniform, almost en garde, one Ravenclaw witch, one Hufflepuff witch, and one Gryffindor wizard with their wands raised. He seemed annoyed more than anything else. He apparently had no intention to fight back, or blow any of the four intruders into pieces. The wizard asked, using the tone of someone who believed they were up to something stupid, which was in all likelihood the case :
What are you doing ?
Ann retorted :
What are YOU doing ? Casting a spell on a random building, you are clearly not about to decorate it
The wizard lowered his wand, and politely gestured them towards the alley. Ann calmed down, lowered her wand, and said :
You first, please
The wizard moved away from the construction, and into the narrow street. When they were all gathered within earshot of each other, the wizard told them, in a kind of pedagogical tone, which nevertheless didn't conceit completely some exasperation :
Why do you think you are doing something nice protecting this building ?
Ann answered :
If you know that we are doing something wrong, explain to us why it is so bad
The wizard put his wand in his robes, opened his hands, and said :
Fine. This building belongs to Mr. Hexler. I have probably been Obliviated recently. I was poor, I needed a nice-paying job fast. I heard on the street there was a place, where you could earn a big amount. Of course, this was something dubious, but I hadn't eaten in days. And now, I have something acceptable on my shoulders, a place I can call home, food at every meal. But I also feel an intense anger. I tried to determine the origin of this permanent irritation. I went back to the place which was mentioned in the rumours. And I discovered that the rundown building where I had most likely sold my soul to some kind of dark wizard belonged to a certain Mr. Hexler. He is connected, always dealing with the higher society, and he derives most of his power not from magic, but from his business. Instead of exploding the lame cave where unemployed wizards and witches go to try and change their lives, which is probably a secondary location, I wanted to target one of Mr. Hexler's key constructions. Which is in your back
The four friends took their time to let the new information sink in. Once more, Ann was the fastest to react :
You want to do something right, and we want the same. In different ways, though. I suggest that you show to us this rundown building, and we will happily allow you to blow up whatever edifice you want. Deal ?
The wizard answered :
You are teenagers, and you shouldn't get involved in this dangerous business. If you go further, you may die or disappear. And I can tell you it won't be because of me
Ann was unmoved, and retorted sarcastically :
We will be nice kids, don't worry. You have a powerful opponent. But we don't know whether your current adversary will be also ours later. We don't have one at the moment
The wizard in purple robes concluded :
Follow me
He went past them, out of the alley, with the four friends in tow. They walked through a maze of streets that none of them had imagined there could be. Some were lively and full of shops, others dull and inactive with an oppressive atmosphere, some were brightly lit under the snow, others gloomy, some were clean, others filled with dirt, dust, weird stains and foul smells. Finally, they arrived in a clean street, lined with beautiful buildings on one side, but bordering no construction save one on the other side : a low stack of gray bricks, a kind of bunker, with a staircase going down deep below the ground, which was filled with people in sketchy robes randomly pierced with holes. The wizard left them there, with a sad :
Good luck
Once he was out of sight, Ann led the three others again. She was casting looks on both sides from time to time, but advancing rather confidently. Then she stopped, and stared straight in one direction, where the four friends could see another wizard, this one in flashy red robes, sturdy with mixed blond and brown long hair that went with a trimmed beard, and blue eyes. He was observing the entrance of the bunker-like set of bricks. Ann went straight to him, and asked him :
What do you think you are looking at ?
The flamboyant wizard answered :
Poor people looking for a good job. And you, what are you looking for ?
Ann replied :
We were looking for this place
The blond wizard was the one to retort, this time :
Not at all. You went straight for me. One should always speak and seek the truth
Ann tried to adjust her strategy :
Fine, we went for you. But why are you here ?
The wizard answered :
I don't know. I go here from time to time. It looks like a good place to find disturbing truths
Judith became curious :
And what have you found, up to now ?
The mysterious man shrugged his shoulders :
Not much. People here get employed by Mr. Hexler if he needs them, and they end up laden with money. If you can supplement this overview, please do
And he handed business cards to each of the four friends. They read :
Alderay Fitzrock
Public Investigations
Floo Powder Connection : The Living Waters
Sigismond enquired :
Why public investigations ? You mean private investigations, no ?
Mr. Fitzrock denied there could be a mistake on his business cards :
I actually mean public investigations. I am looking for truth in the general interest. I don't have clients, for they could have unethical motivations
Sigismond, dumbfounded, said :
One can't live without clients. How do you make money ?
Mr. Fitzrock giggled :
This is a secret. In other words, a truth that you will have to seek yourselves. I never lie, but I hide something if it is obvious that its disclosure would hurt the general interest
Sigismond turned his gaze towards Ann, which prompted Eleanor and Judith to do the same. Ann was the only one who could fathom what should be their next move. And what Sigismond could read on Ann's face was that she wasn't sure at all of their future steps. Noting that the three others awaited instructions, she concluded :
Err…Mr. Fitzrock, I think we got what we needed. See you
Then, she put her hand on Judith's shoulder, and pressed it briefly, lightly towards the back, in order to make her understand it was time for them to turn their back on Mr. Fitzrock, putting an end to an awkward stalemate. She turned around, and one by one, the three others imitated her move. When they were out of range for anybody to eavesdrop on them, Ann explained :
This is a bit disappointing. But at the end of the conversation with Mr. Fitzrock, I wasn't feeling any longer I was doing something productive. I figured that the potion wanted us back. Eleanor, would you mind ?
Eleanor extended her hand, the three others maintained the contact with it, and they were soon back at the limit of Hogwarts' grounds. Snow was still thicker in Hogwarts, not only than in London, but also than it had been when they had walked in the opposite direction. They slowly made headway towards the castle. The sun would have set when they would reach the school. Maybe they were about to miss dinner. Near the gates, they had a last opportunity to talk in person for the day. Judith noted that the potion might have taken into account the fact that, as Hogwarts students, they weren't allowed to perform magic outside school : they only needed their wands to threaten the wizard in purple robes, not to cast any spell.
Paragraph 8 - 55 : A Visit With A View
In the following days, Sigismond had a theory : Mr. Fitzrock was a contractor for journalists. That would explain why he could make a living while having no clients, and remaining focused on truth. By that point, all four friends had more or less in their memory an outline of the content of the Daily Prophet's thirty editions they had repeatedly read. They got back to the copies, but nothing special popped up : it was difficult to tell whether a given information had been sourced by Mr. Fitzrock, another contractor, or by the journalist themselves. Moreover, Mr. Fitzrock might work with other newspapers. Ann still had in mind Professor Snape's snide remark in the kitchens : the Daily Prophet wasn't exactly a paragon of exemplarity in the field of reliable news gathering. Therefore, Mr. Fitzrock would have preferred associating himself with more upscale publication brands. Ann's morale was down, and this had an effect on Judith. The latter reminded the instances when she and Ann had been sparring, affectionately mocking each other. She had significantly grown-up because of her adventures during the holidays, and Ann's personality hadn't undergone the same kind of drastic shift. Yet, Ann remained special to Judith, who felt this case, on which Ann had so much invested, was as much for her to solve as for Ann to go through. In her bed, she began mulling over every piece of information they had gathered. Of course, she hadn't a good command of the Daily Prophet editions that the three others had read, but maybe there was already something in the common parts of their investigation, that was awaiting to stand out. The most striking element was that the wizard in purple robes and Mr. Fitzrock had made the same account of what was happening in Mr. Hexler's gloomy premises. By the way, both of them were weird. The wizard in purple robes was obsessed with taking revenge on Mr. Hexler's business, and Mr. Fitzrock was obsessed about truth. 'You should speak and seek the truth.' That rang a bell actually. Anyway, she could go back to this later. The crux of the case was certainly the Unbreakable Vow. Had Mr. Moxy been able to defeat the powerful magic of this spell ? He had sworn, through the Vow, to…speak and seek the truth in public matters. That was why Mr. Fitzrock's rant about truth had aroused her curiosity in her earlier thinking. So, both Mr. Moxy and Mr. Fitzrock had made the same Unbreakable Vow. Was Mr. Hexler's business manufacturing Unbreakable Vows ? That was unlikely : as far as Judith knew, any grown-up wizard or witch with ordinary powers could make one. Perhaps the Vows were shams, misleading. This didn't work very much as a theory, since Mr. Fitzrock looked very much intent on finding the truth, so he had most likely been involved in a very real Vow. Maybe only some of these Vows were shams, then. In other words, they had had the purpose of deceiving. She had noticed in the unrelated Evan plot that Polyjuice was a go-to method to deceive. So what ? Did somebody in the Goodrow affair drink Polyjuice ? Or one of the two wizards met in Diagon Alley ? And if one of them had used the beverage, whom had they changed into ? The most logic thing to do was to assume the people who had gained the most had been the masterminds behind a possible deception. This meant that, in the current situation, Mr. Moxy and the wizard in purple robes met in Diagon Alley on Sunday were the best candidates. Mr. Moxy, instead of being demoted had been promoted, and the man in purple robes had gone from rags to some level of riches. And of course, Mr. Hexler being somewhat in the middle of all this, and a businessman, could have reaped the fruit of his work as an intermediary, connecting the cheating parties. Still, nothing was explaining why Mr. Moxy and Mr. Fitzrock had made the exact same Vow. First issue with this train of thoughts was that she wasn't even sure at all if Mr. Fitzrock had made an Unbreakable Vow. Mr. Moxy had unquestionable witnesses, not Mr. Fitzrock. The latter could be the one trying to fool them, with his grandiose emphasis on truth. If this were the case, he could have brewed the Polyjuice, but he had no interest in doing this, unless his claim that he was making money as a public investigator was the misleading part of the story, and he was cashing in Mr. Hexler's money. This was a very interesting theory. It would explain a few things. He might be a sentinel waiting to warn Mr. Hexler if a potential victim was near the bunker-like building. To summarise, Mr. Fitzrock had used the Polyjuice potion in order to make believe that he had made an Unbreakable Vow obliging him to seek the truth, and he had been rewarded for this by Mr. Hexler. At that point, Judith considered they had a promising avenue to further their investigation. They would only need to travel to Mr. Fitzrock's office, and take advantage of his own words, according to which he was in this for the truth, to give him no choice but to prove to them he had made an Unbreakable Vow. And when it would be clear no such thing had happened, they would have made headway. The wizard in purple robes had warned them that the closer they would get to Mr. Hexler, the riskier it would become, or something like that. Anyway, she would have to consult with the three others before doing anything that might be rash. It took about fifteen minutes for Judith's brains to switch from feverish reasoning mode to quiet state, then she fell asleep. The following morning, she updated the three others through embroidery about her findings. Ann was very upbeat about Judith's proposal to go to meet again Mr. Fitzrock. Eleanor and Sigismond considered it was a good basis for further action. Emboldened by this sort of consensus, Judith and Ann set the time of their visit to Mr. Fitzrock to Saturday, 2pm. They would enter the Flitwick Room, with or without permission, and use the chimney there, which they already knew it was connected to the Floo network, in order to travel to Mr. Fitzrock's office of public investigations. In the meantime, Sigismond would try and get authorisation from Professor Flitwick to be in the room they associated to him at the given date and time, and Eleanor would research the spell needed to establish the previous magical actions performed on a wizard's hand, in case it would not be 'Priori Incantatem'. Professor Flitwick acquiesced to their coming to the room adorned with a chimney where they had invented the 'Mitto' spell, since during the weekend, there was hardly a foreseeable need for anybody else to reserve it. Eleanor, on her part, concluded from her study that the standard 'Priori Incantatem' would do the job. Therefore, they stood there, in the Flitwick Room, in front of its chimney, on Saturday at 2pm. Ann and Judith had arrived first, followed by Eleanor and Sigismond. Judith had extracted from her Floo powder store enough of it for four people to go to their destination and back. She kept the Floo powder in a wooden box, and she would open it towards the three others as each of them, in turn, would collect the green dust then step into the fireplace. Ann departed first, Eleanor and Sigismond followed, and Judith was last. They landed in a little office : a wooden desk with ornate feet was six feet away from the chimney. The walls were white with a two feet high ribbon of blue upholstery lining them, six feet from the floor. Behind the desk, occupying the entire width of the back wall, was a library filled with books. To let the blue fabric circle completely the room, the bookshelves stopped slightly below the piece of decoration, and resumed slightly above. In other words, the library had a lower level and an upper level. A wide window on their left let the cold winter sunlight in. By looking through the glass, they could deduce that the office was at the fourth floor of a building, and discern below them a clean but empty narrow street. There was no door. In case Mr. Fitzrock would arrive through the chimney just as they had, the four friends moved closer to the desk, leaving a bit of space for a potential newcomer. There were three chairs, one between the desk and the bookshelves, two between the desk and the chimney. Nevertheless, they waited, standing for a long time. After about two hours, Ann apparently had enough, and moved to sit in one of the two chairs that were conspicuously placed to let guests be comfortable. A bit less than one hour later, the books, the shelves, and the blue ribbon vanished, leaving only one rectangle frame. Behind the frame was a sort of a chamber, walled with grey stone, five feet deep, without any window nor decoration but a chimney at the back. Mr. Fitzrock, in green robes this day, stood in this chamber, facing the desk and the four friends. His blond hair and beard were looking darker, as the light coming from the window wouldn't reach most of the chamber that was made of a recess. Mr. Fitzrock made a few steps towards his desk, and his features became distinctively apparent in the daylight. He smiled at them, and opened the conversation :
I don't have enough space for four chairs, but surely one of you can occupy the remaining one ?
Judith, Eleanor and Sigismond looked at each other, trying to decide silently who would sit down. Eleanor hesitated less than the two others, and slowly walked towards the second of the chairs for visitors to sit in it. Mr. Fitzrock, seeing that some of his guests were still standing, was courteous enough not to seek the comfort of his own chair. He was clearly waiting for them to set forth the rationale behind their visit. Judith decided to lead the interview :
Mr. Fitzrock, have you made an Unbreakable Vow in the last, maybe, three months ?
The stylish wizard answered :
I have no recollection of doing such a thing. But I cannot guarantee I didn't make one, since memories of some periods in the last three months are fuzzy
Judith jumped at the opportunity :
Then, let's check in which spells your hands were involved lately
Mr. Fitzrock said :
That looks interesting
And he fully extended his right hand on his desk. Judith took her wand out, pointed it at Mr. Fitzrock's arm, and enunciated :
Priori Incantatem
Two seconds elapsed, then a hollow and hoarse voice came out of the arm :
I will always speak and seek the truth in public matters
Ann, Judith, and Sigismond didn't know what to think. Mr. Fitzrock hadn't lied, and contrary to what they had assumed, he had made the Vow. Eleanor, though, quickly understood what the existence of the Unbreakable Vow meant, and she asked Mr. Fitzrock :
Can you more or less precisely tell us the period associated with your elusive memories ?
Mr. Fitzrock withdrew his hand, and seemed computing in his head. Finally, he hesitantly uttered :
November the tenth, November the fifteenth, around that time
Eleanor went on, in a calm voice :
Before that, were you by chance poor ?
Judith was taken aback, this was a very blunt question for the kind Eleanor to ask. Nonetheless, Mr. Fitzrock didn't sound hurt by the slightly indiscrete enquiry :
I have been poor for most of my grown-up life, yes. I was one of these vagrants who would go to Mr. Hexler's underground building to get a shot at a hefty paycheck
Eleanor smiled :
In short, you have been Obliviated at the time when Mr. Moxy had purportedly made the same exact Vow. And you were Obliviated, because nobody was supposed to know you were the one who had made the Vow to speak and seek the truth. Mr. Moxy never did. The witnesses saw somebody looking like Mr. Moxy take it, but actually, this was Mr. Fitzrock who had drunk Polyjuice to assume the appearance of Mr. Moxy. Mr. Hexler's business is that of a fixer. He hires people like Mr. Fitzrock, then uses them as pawns to manipulate the media. Mr. Moxy purchased Mr. Hexler's services to give the impression he had acted in good faith. The end result was that Mr. Soulkish was discredited, Mr. Fedapp's accusations were strengthened, and the latter could influence the Ministry to reward Mr. Moxy. And the wizard in purple robes had also been Obliviated after taking part in Mr. Hexler's tricks, but the guilt in his conscience had not been erased. That is why he wanted to blow up Mr. Hexler's office. Both he and Mr. Fitzrock were made rich because Mr. Hexler paid them for cheating the media
Mr. Fitzrock was dumbfounded. This was obviously not the kind of truth he had expected to hear, and by the look of his face, was saddened to learn that his current comfort had been acquired at the expense of ethics and of the well-being of Mrs. Goodrow. Judith understood what was happening in Mr. Fitzrock's mind, and said :
Don't blame yourself Mr. Fitzrock. You don't have to give up the money you made through this scheme to make things right. For we know how to do it. So, we are going to leave you now, and let you think over all of this with a reasonable state of mind
Mr. Fitzrock's gaze was lost in a void. Judith quietly stood up, moved to the public chimney, took out from her uniform the wooden box holding the Floo powder, and presented it to her three friends. Ann left with a compassionate
Goodbye Mr. Fitzrock
and a wave of her hand. Then, Eleanor, Sigismond and Judith last, imitated Ann, although Sigismond's display of compassion was somewhat clumsy. They were soon back in the Flitwick Room, and it was almost dinner time, again. They still had a few minutes to exchange ideas in private. Eleanor said :
The potion put us on the track of this case because it knew we could expose this manipulation. The reason for this was that we had discovered that the Polyjuice potion was a staple for deception, which was a key point in determining the sequence of events
Ann went on :
We should look for a picture of this Mr. Hexler
Judith concluded :
We will have to talk to Mrs. Candler about the use of Akinori Milpense's on this case. It looks like a good candidate, because Mr. Hexler is not only unfair, he manufactures injustice, from what we could gather
The three others nodded in approval, and after a short silent pause, they decided it was time to go back to their dormitories before having the last meal of the day.
Paragraph 9 - 56 : The Best Christmas Present
The four friends felt it would be awkward to ask fellow students a picture of Mr. Hexler, since it could be interpreted in various ways, but most likely, disturbing ones. They thus elected to ask Mrs. Candler to meet them and to send to them a picture of Mr. Hexler. Sigismond put to use his owl for this purpose, and the following day, they received the image and a letter saying :
Dear all, I will land at the lake's extremity furthest from the castle in two days, at 7pm. Confirm your agreement to my proposition by owl
The four friends considered it wasn't ideal, since they would only have little time to discuss matters with Mrs. Candler two miles away from the castle, before having to walk back to the school in order to be in their dormitories by the prescribed moment. Moreover, they would skip once more dinner. Finally, they agreed on a different course of action : Sigismond would send a reply declining politely the invitation, explaining why it was so, and detailing for Mrs. Candler their findings about Mr. Hexler. They then took a look at the picture that came with Mrs. Candler's letter. It represented a tall wizard, blond with green eyes, dressed in an extravagant way : his blue robes wore elaborate gold, silver, and copper-coloured symmetrical motifs. Eleanor and Ann didn't think much of the man, but Sigismond and Judith did : he was the wizard who had cast 'Wendica' on them when for the first time they had tried to undo an injustice, namely, that through which Mr. Grithe lost his abilities to use his powers. In the process, they had discovered that this one was linked to another : Martin Hift's father being defrauded. Mr. Hexler was the same wizard on whom Sigismond had successfully performed Legilimency. They approximately remembered his words about Martin Hift's father :
He had everything, he was never down in the mud, he should find out how it feels
Judith, visibly disgusted, summarised :
This Hexler is a sick wizard. He puts injustice upside-down, redefining it as the contrary of what it should be. When someone gets rightfully blamed, he will consider they are the victim of the injustice and try to reverse things in their favour
There was no doubt possible, if Akinori Milpense's silvery circular object indeed had the power they surmised it had, they would use it to counter-strike against Mr. Hexler. The following day, Sigismond got his mother's response delivered :
Dear all,
I find nothing wrong with your pick. That being said, there are a few steps needed to do the job. We need to locate Akinori Milpense's object resembling a wristwatch, get permission to acquire it, and find how to change it into something that will counteract the targeted injustice. Dumbledore would be very helpful for all of this, but I am pretty sure we should keep to the minimum what we tell him. He will already be, to remain polite, annoyed, that you went on a mission thanks to information I didn't confide in him
On finishing reading this, Judith started thinking, and, after a few minutes, said :
I know how to do it
Sigismond asked :
Really ?
Judith elaborated :
I will ask Agatha Houstack about all the couples of the past years made of a Gryffindor witch and a Slyherin wizard, and if one of the Slytherin boys in these is called 'Matthew', we will have a good lead. Otherwise, we will have to ask all the Gryffindor girls listed by Agatha
Ann concluded :
That sounds like a good plan
Sigismond and Eleanor nodded in approval. Eleanor supplemented this :
We also need Sigismond's mother to work on a way to turn the object, that we will hopefully find, into a weapon against Mr. Hexler. If she succeeds, we won't be obliged to have an awkward discussion with Professor Dumbledore
Sigismond agreed to report this refined sequence of steps to his mother by owl. Then, Judith went back to the Hufflepuff Common Room, where she would wait for her House's chatterbox to pop up. That wouldn't last long, because Miss Houstack knew very well there were more chances of hearing gossip in a place dozens of people would go through than in her bedroom, where three girls, already fed up with the constant need to watch out for Agatha's eavesdropping lest their secrets would become public, were doing their best to ignore her. At 10pm, Judith conveyed through embroidery two names : Ophelia Proomal and Cassandra Reafs. Agatha wasn't sure which one of the two was dating a Slytherin boy named Matthew. According to her, as far as she could remember, the relationship was still intact to this day. She wasn't posted very often about these long-lasting associations, because after some time, people started considering them as part of the background, and there was less excitement about them, unless of course the two students would break up. Sigismond was therefore tasked to up his social game, and ask the two candidates in the least creepy way if they actually dated a Slytherin wizard whose first name was Matthew, and if Akinori Milpense had handed to them an object. This time, it was Sigismond who would have to wait for one of the two Gryffindor witches to show up in his House's Common Room, and interview her. Ophelia was first, and Sigismond, whose heart was pounding since he was about to do something that would sound all the more strange he wasn't used to initiating communications with girls, uttered in a low voice, stuttering slightly :
Ophelia…Err…do you have someone in your life, like a Slytherin boy called Matthew ?
Ophelia was amused, because she had the false impression she was understanding what Sigismond tried to do :
Yes. But I don't plan on finding a replacement for him. He is quite decent
Sigismond blushed and, in a still lower voice, explained :
I am only interested in a powerful magical object that you received from Akinori Milpense, when you were about to start dating this Matthew
This wiped the smile off Ophelia's face :
You are telling me I shouldn't worry, you aren't interested in me as a girl, while you have obviously spied on me more than anybody else ? Go to hell
With an angry face, she swiftly moved away from Sigismond, and started walking briskly towards the girls' dormitories. Sigismond stood up, and said in her direction, with a loud voice that betrayed the urgency of his request :
All these objects contain a copy of her memories
But Ophelia had felt hurt too much to give up on her decision of putting the longest distance possible between her and Sigismond. She walked up the staircase leading to the girls' lodgings, and disappeared out of Sigismond's sight. The latter sat down. He was fighting injustice, but with his ambiguous way of addressing Ophelia, he was the one who had ended up unfairly treated. He sat at the same spot during hours, stunned by unhappiness, his eyes wide open but seeing nothing, his brains being unable to process anything, whether thoughts or sights. Around 11pm, he however heard footsteps down the girls' access to the dormitories, then across the Common Room. The Gryffindor witch sat opposite to Sigismond. She was so close his brains woke up, and he saw Ophelia herself. Seeing that she had Sigismond's attention, she asked :
If what you said was true, what is in these memories ?
Sigismond's mind needed a few seconds to progressively switch from apathetic to active, and he finally said :
Things about Akinori's childhood, about her at Hogwarts, about her parents' lives
Ophelia was more thirsty in terms of knowledge than that :
How can I believe you if you are telling only basic things ?
Sigismond wasn't begging anymore, he was severe this time :
You made me the reproach of having spied on you, and now you want to hear about me unwillingly spying on Akinori ? I am here for the object, nothing else. The only thing I can tell you is that, when she renounced to vie for this Matthew's love, she was somewhat happy for you
It became visible on Ophelia's face she felt the criticism was fair, and that Sigismond's description of what had happened was probably truthful. She tried to find out about something that would not invade on Akinori's privacy :
Why don't you use another of her objects ?
Sigismond immediately answered :
Only yours is powerful. Because of the circumstances in which she gave it to you. She would hand the others over out of pure generosity, but when she did it with you, it was out of sacrifice
Ophelia paused, thinking. She then asked :
Will I get the object back ?
Sigismond replied :
I honestly don't know. You should assume you won't
Ophelia went on :
How are you going to use it ?
Sigismond remained evasive :
Basically to give back the life they deserve to someone
Ophelia raised her head, as if staring over Sigismond's, contemplating her choices. She then lowered her head, looking intently in the Gryffindor wizard's eyes, trying to read something noteworthy that would allow her to check if her schoolfellow's claim could be trusted. Sigismond sustained Ophelia's gaze. After about two minutes, Ophelia broke the eye contact, directing her attention to her right side, put her hand in her robes at the same side, and extracted from them the circular silvery object. She laid it on the table, looked at it several more minutes, before pushing it toward Sigismond. The latter slowly picked it up with precaution, thanked Ophelia in a grave tone, and stood up, going to his dormitory. He turned around to take one more look at the Common Room. Ophelia was still sitting at the same place, a dreamy look on her face. Once back in his bedroom, Sigismond updated the three others. They then had to wait for Mrs. Candler to solve the last mystery : how to unleash the object's magic ? The Christmas holidays were coming closer. Finally, three days before the end of the year's classes, Mrs. Candler sent an owl carrying a letter in which she asserted she had devised a possible solution. On the Saturday that would signal the beginning of the vacations, the five of them would go to Saint Mungo's with the wristwatch-like object. Initially, Ann wondered why they should be there. Eleanor and Judith had already guessed :
Mrs. Goodrow is most likely still at the hospital, depressed. If you want to turn around her life, you have to go to Saint Mungo's
Therefore, on the coming Saturday, they met in front of the wizards' and witches' hallmark for medicine, in the cold air of winter, under a brightly shining sun who still couldn't deliver much warmth. Mrs. Candler, who had required from the four friends to arrive clad in their Hogwarts uniforms, explained to them :
I discovered a potion that can absorb the magical powers of an object. I hope it will do the trick. We will have Mrs. Goodrow drink it. If it backfires, at least she already is at the hospital
Ann was particularly shocked by Mrs. Candler's carelessness. She asked, in a stern tone :
What is the name of this potion ?
Sigismond's mother answered :
Intra Poter
Judith enquired :
Like the Boy Who Lived ?
Mrs. Candler replied :
Poter, I said. It ends with the sound 'air', not the sound 'er'
Eleanor was worried about something :
How are you going to give her the potion unnoticed ?
Apollina Candler had everything prepared :
I used additional ingredients that shouldn't degrade the power of the object, but that will give the potion the water's transparency
Ann had another issue with the plan :
How are we going to get access to Mrs. Goodrow ?
Sigismond's mother said, in a definitive, very confident tone :
Leave it to me
She led the pack of students to the reception desk of the hospital, and told the clerk, with the same, unbelievably cheeky voice :
I am supervising the work of four Hogwarts students who have been tasked with investigating about the possibly unfair accusations against Mrs. Goodrow. A holiday school project, designed to foster collaboration between the four Houses. I am the mother of the Gryffindor boy. They have already researched a lot of elements, and they would like to deliver potential good news to Mrs. Goodrow
This speech made the four students stress and frown, but the blasé clerk just lowered her gaze towards a list, and after a bit of reading, announced :
Mrs. Goodrow, room 404
The four friends had a few questions about Mrs. Candler's bold process, but to keep the useful narrative alive, they just followed Sigismond's mother, who was visiting the place as if it were no more than some boring tour of her own house. They went to the lift, which was empty, and Mrs. Candler said aloud :
Four
The lift moved upward, and they soon arrived in the middle of the fourth floor's corridor. There were doctors and nurses in white robes walking along it. Mrs. Candler continued to lead them, and they reached room 404. Sigismond's mother knocked on the door, and without even waiting for an answer, pushed it open. She gestured the four friends into the room's hallway, entered last, and closed the door on the five of them. Ann, who was in front, waited for the door to close to move forward. She laid her eyes on a tiny apartment, that was probably enlarged through magic. There was in the same room a kitchen, a miniature living room with a sofa, a table to eat, a desk to work, cupboards, a bed, and a chair. There was probably somewhere an access to a bathroom, but her eyes fell on Mrs. Goodrow, a witch with half-long auburn hair and brown eyes, who was sitting at the desk, immobile, doing nothing, her eyes looking in front of her at nothing either. She wore white robes. Mrs. Candler moved past the four friends, towards Mrs. Goodrow's left side, smiled at her, and told her gently :
We have a present for you
She extracted from her robes a vial that was upside down, but from which the red liquid in there wasn't escaping, most likely a courtesy of magic. She put it back in the right direction, its top pointing at the ceiling. Then, she turned at Sigismond and told him, with the most natural tone in the world :
Sweetheart, it's cooking time. Can I have the object ?
Mrs. Goodrow had not moved by a single inch. Sigismond took out of his robes the circular silvery piece of what looked like a metal, and handed it over to his mother. Mrs. Candler dropped the object in the vial, where the potion dissolved it slowly. She then looked around, went to different cupboards, found a glass there, and picked it up. She now had in her right hand the vial with the potion, and in her left hand the empty glass. She turned around, retraced her steps, and laid on the desk in front of Mrs. Goodrow the two small containers, freeing both her hands. She took out her wand, pointed it at the glass, uttered :
Aguamenti
and the small vessel filled itself with water. She then poured the content of the vial into the glass. But instead of overflowing, the liquid in the glass remained at the same level, while the vial was being emptied into it. As expected, it was impossible to tell that a red potion had been poured in it, since its content was still translucent. Mrs. Candler put the glass in her left hand, pointed her wand at Mrs. Goodrow's mouth, said :
Aperto
and the depressed witch's mouth opened. The four students were watching this whole operation in shock, dumbstruck. Sigismond's mother then delicately put the glass over Mrs. Goodrow's lower lip, and transferred the glass's content into the other woman's throat. She then merrily said :
Mission accomplished. I suppose it will take time to undo the injustice. We'll have to keep track of the events
Sigsimond's asked :
Since when are there school projects at Hogwarts ?
His mother retorted :
Since today. Given the success of the first one, I think I should promote the idea with Dumbledore, and get a fee for my innovative thinking
Eleanor cautiously enquired :
Does it always work, the trick at the reception, when you are just confidently lying ?
Mrs. Candler was a bit embarrassed :
It depends on the situation. Don't try it on Hogwarts Professors, especially Dumbledore, it never worked on him. But it's always a success at the Ministry. People there are so stupid
Judith was angry, but she said in a voice as composed as possible :
My father works at the security of the Ministry of Magic
Mrs. Candler slightly blushed, and said :
Well, sorry. Maybe I tricked your father once or twice, I don't know. But be sure that I mostly fooled people inside the Ministry, not just people at the gates…Hmm. Maybe it's time to take off
She collected the vial, and went to the door, followed by the four students, who had been merely used by her to get access to the room. They silently went back to the lift, to the entrance, and then out in the street. Sigismond's mother concluded :
I will keep you posted through Sigismond. Have fun, enjoy your holidays
She put her hand on her son's shoulder, and they Disapparated. Eleanor brought back Ann and Judith through Side-Along Apparition, since Judith, who had already taken a few lessons in Apparition, wasn't yet operational when it came to traveling at light-speed. When Ann was home, she sent through embroidery the following mischievous message :
Now we know why Sigismond's mother's relationship with Professor Dumbledore is strained
Judith had been unhappy with Mrs. Candler's rash and insulting words, but this made her smile. Two days elapsed, during which they couldn't tell whether their stunt at the hospital had been beneficial to Mrs. Goodrow. Then, the Daily Prophet published the following article :
Another Twist In The Goodrow Affair. A mysterious illness has struck different people involved in the case, namely Mr. Moxy and Mr. Fedapp, but also the noted socialite Hestervey Hexler. The most bizarre development produced several outcomes, that took the appearance of a system of revolving doors. Mr. Moxy and Mr. Hexler are now in Saint Mungo's. Mr. Fedapp had been hospitalised too, but his woes subsided when he claimed that Mrs. Goodrow was in fact innocent. The latter was then rehabilitated, and was able to leave the famous medical facility for wizards and witches. Mr. Soulkish's work has similarly been reappraised. The most curious part is that Mr. Fedapp, on getting cured from this strange disease, explained that it consisted in the perception that one was in Azkaban. He recounted having the impression, typical for prisoners on the isolated island, that he would never be happy, and that he could only relive his worst memories. Physicians at the hospital are trying to find the key words that Mr. Moxy and Mr. Hexler should say to be at last spared the symptoms, too
The four friends were then able to enjoy the last few days of the year 1984, including Christmas. Judith noted Mrs. Goodrow had already been awarded one of the most beautiful Christmas gifts possible. Sigismond had given Ann the most valuable present, since she had drunk the Intuition Potion recently : a copy of the recipe on a green parchment, with the text written in golden and silvery threads. Sigismond, on Judith's request, gave her a spare Hufflepuff tie. Eleanor received from Sigismond a book entitled 'Going Further Than The Standard Hogwarts Syllabus', and reciprocated the gift with another book : 'Tales Of Music Through Magic'. The Ravenclaw witch sent to Judith a five Galleons voucher for The Ogre's Buffet, and to Ann an enchanted frog that would leap here and there but always come back to her departure point. Ann had a box bewitched to write Judith's name on its bottom delivered to the Hufflepuff student, as a replacement for the box that wasn't functioning properly anymore. Ann considered it fitting to offer to Eleanor a cauldron enchanted to sing different tunes according to the ingredient one poured into it : a reference to the fact that Eleanor's mother had a shop of cauldrons, and had provided from the beginning on the cauldron in which they had brewed the four Intuition Potions, plus the potions to invent and share the Mitto spell. Ann's present for Sigismond was a Muggle chess set. Judith also wanted to allude to Ann's latest use of the Intuition Potion and had a vial filled with a dynamically glowing purple liquid delivered to the latter. Judith, as a souvenir of the fact that the four of them had initially met in a room with empty bookshelves, and that Eleanor liked reading almost as much as Sigismond, shipped a couple of them to Eleanor. But they also were bewitched, to instantly tell in which part of them was a given book resting : one had to say the name of the book, and if it was in the middle of these magic bookshelves, it would emit light. Finally, Judith had the following present in store for Sigismond : a book listing every major achievement by all four Hogwarts Houses, and every winning House of the Cup from the school's inception to the year 1975 - the latest edition dated back to that year.
Part 6 : Going Awry
Paragraph 1 - 57 : Wear And Tear
On January the second, Judith was the first among the four friends to find out that something wrong had happened. For the catastrophe had taken place at the Ministry of Magic, and impacted directly her father's job. A very polite employee of the Ministry came to the Parry's house, and told Judith's mother that her husband was safe but would come back extremely late, possibly in the early hours of January the third. Judith went to bed, and had trouble falling asleep. She wondered why the employee had been mysterious about the cause behind this turmoil. Her mother slept in the living room's sofa, waiting for Judith's father to come back. When Judith woke up at 6am, her mother told her that her father was back, but that he was now sleeping, exhausted after a working day that had lasted nineteen hours, from 8am on January, the second, to 3am on January the third. Mrs. Parry, who was also sleepy, reported back to Judith what she had to know : an explosion had taken place at the Department of Mysteries. The main thesis behind this incident was that it was nothing more than an accident, that the Ministry's safety hadn't been breached. Nevertheless, the Ministry had wanted to investigate as thoroughly as possible into all avenues, including the one according to which an intruder could have broken into the Ministry and blown up a part of the Department of Mysteries. That was why they had questioned all the Ministry employees in charge of safety : they wanted to have an accurate statement, while recent events were fresh in their minds, of people like Judith's father, to determine whether they had noticed something that the Aurors could categorise as suspicious. Mr. Parry had had to describe everything he remembered about every curious event in the past month. Given the nature of the experiments at the Department of Mysteries, it wasn't surprising that one of them would end up like this, but the Ministry wanted to make sure no ill-intentioned person had been involved. Judith was relieved by this news, but her morale sank when she read the Daily Prophet's article :
Explosion At The Ministry Of Magic : Analysis by Cathar Schuttoff. One should not be surprised nor fooled by the alarming failure of the Ministry of Magic to prevent the kind of dysfunction that led to the explosion in the Department of Mysteries. Far from being an isolated accident rooted in the nature of the day-to-day activity of this Department, it is the consequence, predicted a long time ago, of a lack of modern management techniques in the Ministry. As Fitcher and al. have shown in 1981, integration of the different activities in organisations like the Ministry is paramount. The Department of Mysteries is the worst example of this missing element in the Ministry's organisation : if employees cannot exchange formalised ideas stemming from their knowledge of the other services' ways of working - called 'adjacent co-expertise' by Doubus and al. - under the supervision of a central Department of Internal Communication reporting directly to the Minister, the creative thinking needed to warn of impending disaster will be absent, and one day or the next, catastrophe will strike. Brainstorming and cooperation should be the norm, not blind and rigid segregation between Departments. An organisation is not a set of structures, as so many people, inside and outside the Ministry picture it, but very much like a human being. All parts should work together. The Department of Mysteries being the most separate of the remaining subsets of the Ministry, it was obvious that it was the most prone of all to endure damage. The Ministry should reform itself, and not rely on low-paid workers to ensure a fallacious feeling of safety. Safety should be maintained through the collaboration of employees who not only master the minimum defensive spells, but who can also analyse themselves situations, and bring their adjacent co-expertise to the other Departments. The Ministry should rethink the way it designs safety. Members of the staff currently tasked with it are not well equipped to tackle the modern, permanently evolving constraints of today's magic, that is more powerful than ever. It is imperative the Ministry envision reviewing their training, or replacing them with recent college graduates more up-to-date with the latest spells, collaboration techniques, and requirements of the organisation the activity of which depends most on protection. The Ministry, in short, needs fluid integration with a more skilled workforce
Judith threw forcefully aside the newspaper, but averted throwing it away : she wanted to have her father's reaction. She then came back to her bedroom, looking at the three presents she had received, trying to keep her mind off the offensive article. Mrs. Candler had treated her father disparagingly at the beginning of the holidays, and now, when the memory of this disrespectful behaviour was about to subside, another critic of the Parry family was letting his voice heard, or rather his hurtful words read. Mr. Parry woke up at 1pm, and the whole family went on with having lunch. Judith was anxious to get her father's opinion about the disturbing article. He went through it serenely, and after reading it, just put the newspaper back down as if nothing special had happened. Judith asked :
So, what do you think ?
Mr. Parry answered :
Do you believe there actually is something to think about it ? There are every year dozens of articles in the Daily Prophet shooting down the Ministry's activity. Sometimes, I feel there is some truth in them, the rest of the time I am much more skeptical. This is a newspaper for everybody on the street, not for specialists delving into the depths of science, even when it does ask the opinion of some theoretician. The Ministry will never listen to people like Mr. Schuttoff, whether they say anything wise or something superficial. Big things such as the Ministry don't overhaul radically their procedures, unless there is monumental pressure
Judith felt reassured, but the issue bringing down her nerves wasn't over. The following morning, the Daily Prophet had inserted readers' reactions to Mr. Schuttoff's analysis :
At last some enlightening insight about the Ministry's dreadful shortcomings
Or
Why does the Ministry not consult with experts like Mr. Schuttoff ?
The article itself and its aftermath in the media soured Judith's end of holidays.
Paragraph 2 - 58 : The Heir
Once back in Hogwarts, Judith felt relieved. She was hundreds of miles away from the Daily Prophet's London headquarters and the gratuitous criticism that ran it. Somebody, though, had obviously experienced a less pleasant comeback at school : two days after the beginning of the 1985 classes, Robert Stoutson began behaving strangely. Instead of being as usual merrily strutting the corridors, he was in a terrible temper, and would sometimes even flinch at random noises. Some students posited that he had spent bad holidays, but that idea wasn't grounded in facts, since the same Robert Stoutson had been as annoying as was the norm during the first two days of school. Two weeks elapsed before anything remarkable would occur, unless of course, you would include in the noticeable occasions that of the meals mixup, at lunchtime, on Thursday, January the tenth : when the plates loaded themselves with the dishes, there were two levels of them. Apparently, the lower level was made of the elements prepared for lunch, while the upper level consisted of what the house-elves had already cooked for dinner. The upper level was levitating over the lower level, and somebody had to run to the kitchens in order to tell the house-elves about the issue. Very embarrassed, they made the upper level disappear, and the students were able to collect the food pertaining to the lunch without toppling any plate that would have been hovering above the table. Nevertheless, some students had liked more the dinner dishes, and had extracted a bit of the food from the upper level before it vanished, probably brought back down to the kitchens. The actual big event was the second clandestine party in less than a year. This time, it had been more of an impromptu stunt. Two dozens of students had gathered rather briefly in an unused classroom, to elect the heir of Lord Voldemort in a parodical display at the expense of Slytherin. The organisers had merely moved away the teacher's desk from the stand, that would be a kind of low stage. Since they were supposed to contend for the rank of heir of You-Know-Who, the candidates were tasked with doing a 'You-Know-What'. It was up to them to decide what this 'You-Know-What' would be. The first contender was a Gryffindor witch, who conjured a huge bottle floating in the air, then a brightly red liquid in the vessel, and a wide banner on the bottle reading in tall letters : 'Pure Blood'. She then cast a spell, and the red liquid began taking up more and more space in the bottle, till it overflew in a burst, splashing the ceiling, the walls, and all the participants, including the candidate, with red stains. Some of the students had received a downpour of red liquid on their heads, and whatever this liquid was, it would stick. The second candidate was a Hufflepuff wizard, who tried to cast in quick succession the same spell, on as many attendees as possible. The spell had the effect of printing lightning-bold shaped scars where the Hufflepuff boy had aimed, and some witches became furious because the spell had pierced their uniform on their chest or their buttocks, in order to affix the red-hot scar of the Boy Who Lived there. They started casting Stupefy on the Hufflepuff student, who dived in order to hide behind the desk that had been moved on the side, and resumed casting the same spell in random directions as if in a shootout, raising his head over the desk to aim, then putting it back down to take cover. Finally, a Hufflepuff witch got around the desk, and cast the most powerful 'Stupefy' she could muster. Her House fellow flew to the wall, his head hit the stone, and he fell in a lump on the floor, knocked out. The organisers brought their emergency kit, and made sure that the Hufflepuff boy would not be impaired by the sudden and harsh contact with the hard wall. In the meantime, the targeted witches - and wizards - repaired their uniforms. The third contestant was a Ravenclaw witch, who conjured a snake, put it to sleep, and made it snore as loudly as possible, to the extent that the audience were keeping their hands on their ears. The last candidate was a Ravenclaw boy, who didn't even take the stage. He took his wand out, and began patrolling through the ranks. Then, suddenly, he dived at a Gryffindor witch and kissed her. The latter pushed him away, slapped him with a wide gesture from right to left, and perfected her retaliation with a kick in the crotch. The Ravenclaw boy put his hands over this part of his body, whined, and the organisers made their way to him. One of them put his hand on the back of the second punished boy, and proclaimed :
For your sheer absence of ethics, we award you the title of You-Know-Who's heir
The event ended here, under some loud applause. An additional week went by, and Professor McGonagall toured the four Common Rooms. On seeing her cross the threshold of their Common Room, many students assumed she was coming to ask retribution for the excessive behaviour at the party, and the Slytherins were eager to hear her condemn strongly the barely veiled satire of their House by the three other ones, but she actually was there for another reason. Her speech was more or less the same in every House :
I have received an anonymous note saying the following : 'The Muggles may have the answer'. I am surprised by the fact that, apparently, there is still at least one student who does not know that they can speak freely to me. My office is wide open to any of you, whether from Gryffindor or any other House. I will listen to them, and treat anything serious they convey to me with benevolence and discretion. On the other hand, if it is a prank played on me, I will wait. I do not need to start a full-scale investigation, the truth will come to me. You will notice, hopefully in your life, that should you act with fairness at heart, truth will reach you easily, for other people will know they can trust you. Good evening
In the following days, students talked about Professor McGonagall's intervention. Some even asked her directly if she had reaped the fruit of her visits. She answered that she still had no idea about who could have written the note to her.
Paragraph 3 - 59 : Oppus Number Two
A few days later, Ann told the three others through embroidery she had a hunch : they should look for the man whose name was appearing concurrently with Judith's when she was using the box carrying the magic feather, Judith's first ever magical present. Trouble was, they were at school, couldn't leisurely locate Walter Oppus, and therefore could still less stay on his tail. Ann had something in mind, though. Eleanor hypothesised :
Mr. Fitzrock or Mrs. Candler ?
Ann replied she had completely forgotten about Mr. Fitzrock, but that Mrs. Candler was still her choice, because Sigismond had said her competitive edge was to be able to discern where people where Disapparating to. Judith answered :
I didn't know you were currently rich enough to afford Mrs. Candler's fee. L.O.G.
Ann was puzzled, and enquired :
What does L. O. G. Mean ?
Judith quenched Ann's curiosity :
It's an abbreviation I have just invented. It means 'Lots Of Giggling'
Ann concluded :
I see. You cracked the case last time. So, I will try to convince Mrs. Candler to make her magic work by putting forward the fact that she owes her latest success to your reasoning. Finding the wizard who broke your gift would be a good way of reciprocating the deed. I feel we ought to persuade her to start working on it from Saturday. She could start with Gringotts for example
Sigismond passed on the argument on her mother by owl, and the latter said :
A woman should never underestimate her contribution to a good cause. I like Ann's way of showcasing Judith's work. I would have preferred Judith to do it herself, though. I will take care of this Walter Oppus, on Saturday at Gringotts as requested
Mrs. Candler went through a lot of newspapers, and the Hogwarts Yearbooks of years 1965 to 1975. She got an indirect hit : two students who had gone through Hogwarts' syllabus somewhere between 1965 and 1975 had 'Oppus' as their last name. One of them, Ulrich Oppus, had now a very public position, namely Head of 'Pester, Potions and Perfumes'. She interviewed Ulrich Oppus through a proxy, remaining hidden behind the person acting as a facade for her activities, and the latter came back with interesting news : Ulrich was a cousin of Walter, who owed six hundred Galleons to the former. The successful businessman was happy to give a picture of Walter to Mrs. Candler's middle-man, adding that if the person for whom the proxy worked could locate his deadbeat cousin, this person would get a nice monetary compensation. Sigismond's mother was of course delighted. She had began this chase of Walter Oppus without any perspective of a financial reward, and a few days into the process, she was more or less hired to perform the task she had been about to do for free. She therefore waited in front of Gringotts, on Saturday morning, with a picture of very good quality of Walter Oppus : it represented a stout wizard, with dark hair and green eyes. It made sense to wait before a bank a person who had obviously been involved in business, and that was thus most likely money-hungry, whether it would be Galleons or Knuts. However, she hadn't expected to get so soon a result : within two hours of waiting near the bank's gates, Walter Oppus, in navy robes, went to enter it. Mrs. Candler waited for him to perform whatever operation he wanted to do there, and when he exited the misshapen Goblins' building, she started following him, barely blinking lest he would Disapparate and she would not see well the details of his destination. Actually, he had something to do near Diagon Alley. Mrs. Candler shadowed Walter Oppus through the maze of secondary streets off the main artery, and her target stopped abruptly in the middle of an empty alley. Sigismond's mother thought that she had been spotted, but just in case, she kept looking discreetly at what Walter Oppus was doing. And clearly, he was waiting for someone. Perhaps a group of thugs acting as his bodyguards who would blow her into a million pieces. That was not very likely, though. If he could afford bodyguards, even from a lowly life, he could pay back his cousin. Emboldened by this conclusion, Mrs. Candler conjured, while Walter Oppus had his back on her, a set of dustbins, which made up half a circle near a wall. She crouched behind the modest elements of her new hideout, hoping she was within earshot of Walter Oppus and his soon to arrive correspondent. At last, footsteps echoed in the alley, and Mrs. Candler saw a lean wizard with dark hair and dark eyes, clad in black robes, close in slowly and hesitantly towards Walter Oppus, after having checked the name of the lane. Mrs. Candler heard the conversation, which was rather short. Walter asked confidently :
Do you have the money ?
The unknown wizard replied, in a low voice, that was high-pitched, though, which made it audible to the eavesdropping witch :
There is nothing to pay. You tricked the newspaper into switching from one version to the other. But one of those is still the one that is detrimental to me
Walter insisted, in a tone that was slightly threatening, darker :
The only thing you need is reasonable doubt. You have it. Now, I need my paycheck
The lanky wizard was definitely not the kind of person who could afford messing with Walter Oppus and his like. He grudgingly extracted from his robes coins, and handed them over to Walter Oppus. Mrs. Candler thought :
Somebody who took a leaf from Hexler's book. A fixer again
Now, she knew one or both of them was going to Disapparate. Which of them should she follow ? Walter Oppus, the primary target ? Or the unknown man, who was the weak link ? She opted to watch the destinations of both wizards, and she would go to the place that was easier to identify. If only one of them Disapparated, she would try to see where to, and let the other one walk away. After having counted the money, Walter Oppus said :
Fine. You are a good guy. The right amount for the right service
And he Disapparated, to some random place in the countryside. The anonymous wizard Disapparated shortly after, but to another spot within the Diagon Alley complex. This was much easier to find, therefore Sigismond's mother Disapparated at different places that might match the unknown wizard's destination, till she found the right one. It was a street with a few shops, but mostly houses. She wondered whether the man had just returned home. This would imply he could stay in one of the neighbouring buildings for hours, maybe even not get out before the following day. Mrs. Candler waited for some time, looking around in the hope of spotting again her new target, but to no avail. She would have to go back there until the man would show up again. There also was the possibility that this anonymous person doing dubious deals as if they were a newbie was actually somebody who knew how to hide their tracks. This would mean that Mrs. Candler would have lost her two most promising avenues to her financial compensation by Ulrich Oppus. She still had Walter Oppus' picture, though, and she guessed he would visit Gringotts rather often. When she reported back to the four friends how this first day of chase had gone, reactions were mixed. Ann was annoyed that Mrs. Candler had seemingly lost sight of the main goal, Walter Oppus. Sigismond's mother assuaged Ann's concern by explaining her that the unknown wizard was a key. If she found him again, he would know how to get in touch with Walter Oppus, and voilà, this would lead them to the sinister-looking and threatening wizard. Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond were on the other hand, satisfied with what had been a day's work in their favour, although it was not a perfect assessment, given that Mrs. Candler had skipped the part where she had discovered she would get a fee if she got to Walter Oppus. Mrs. Candler, on her part, had a searing question on her mind : how could Ann possibly know that Walter Oppus would walk into Gringotts on Saturday morning ? The four friends were not sure, but Eleanor suggested an interesting theory : the latest Intuition Potion, the one that Ann had drunk, was still having effects. Which implied that they were again on a quest to expose an injustice. The catch was, they hadn't any longer a powerful object in store to put an end to it. In the following days, Mrs. Candler went back to the place where the unknown wizard had apparently Disapparated to last time. She had drawn a very resembling portrait of him, and elected to name him for the time being 'Mr. Black', since he had dark hair, dark eyes, and he was wearing black robes during his meeting with Walter Oppus. She had envisioned polling the people dwelling in the close neighbourhood, but had rejected this course of action, because she didn't want Mr. Black to find out he was chased : he could be scared and flee to a cabin on some tiny island in the midst of a sea's furore. She spotted Mr. Black twice, and he Disapparated both times in the vicinity of Diagon Alley. Mrs. Candler therefore suspected he was an inhabitant of London's wizarding district. On the first occurrence, Mr. Black travelled instantly to some kind of department store. In these places, you can't expect the sellers to know people. As a consequence, Mrs. Candler chose not to interview anybody there. When she saw him move for the second time through Apparition, he landed in a street with shops on both sides, and benches in the middle of the street. Mr. Black sat on one of the wooden benches, as if the contact with the surface, fairly cold in January, wasn't a significant disturbance. He was for this reason the only person sitting on one of the benches along the whole street. It was 11.40am. Mrs. Candler kept standing, looking from afar and behind Mr. Black, who was staring at a shop. Sigismond's mother assumed it was a place where he liked to relax, and think out his problems, which were most likely big if he had felt it necessary to pay for a dubious wizard to trick a newspaper. Mr. Black could see wizards and witches going in and out of the shop in front of him, a shop specialising in creatures of small size. Jars of different nuances contained variously shaped and coloured little walking or flying things. One jar was translucent and looked like it held nothing, probably because the creatures in it were either tiny, equally translucent, or invisible. Another jar was filled with immobile spheres floating in it, and if the shop hadn't been devoted to creatures, one could have believed that these were objects. The creatures had sometimes hair, an odd or even number of legs or wings. Some were immersed in water or in strange liquids. At 12.30, Mr. Black's pattern of action changed : instead of staring at the inside of the shop, he started following with his eyes two witches, who had left the shop and closed it behind them, probably two sellers. Mr. Black stalked them with his eyes, staying alone on his bench. When they were out of sight, he started looking around, and Mrs. Candler had to be cautious not to be spotted : it was weird standing permanently without doing nothing. At 12.50, Mr. Black resumed his observation, this time in the direction of a faraway point, the place where his eyes had lost track of the two witches. When they showed up again, he once more followed them with his gaze, a bit more discreetly though, so as not to look overly creepy Mrs. Candler guessed : the witches, on their return trip, were walking towards Mr. Black, not away from him, therefore they could easily notice that he was eyeing them. They ignored Mr. Black's insisting looks, went straight to the shop's door, opened it, and resumed their work inside. Mr. Black kept peering through the shopwindow during one hour, then, without standing up, Disapparated. This time, Mrs. Candler was pretty sure the witches had an idea about Mr. Black's real identity. She waited a few minutes to make sure he wouldn't be back after eating a sandwich, then entered the shop, put her drawing of Mr. Black under the nose of the witches, and asked them with a most innocent voice :
Could you tell me who this man is ? I absolutely need to find out
One of the witches answered :
It's Mr. Drowhaly. He is fond of Greth. He is annoying but he doesn't enter the shop
Mrs. Candler, still with an angelic voice, went on :
How do you know his name ?
The same witch replied :
He used to work here with Greth
Sigismond's mother wanted to make sure she wasn't mistaken. She made an elegant move with her hand towards the witch who hadn't spoken :
You are Greth, I suppose ?
The hitherto silent witch stated, in a voice that was supposed to sound upbeat :
Yes, I am Lisgreth Mawden. Hence the nickname Greth
Mrs. Candler thanked the witches, and added :
Dont' tell Mr. Drowhaly I enquired, please
Then, she put Mr. Drowhaly's picture back in her robes, and exited the shop, before Disapparating back home. She kept the four friends posted. She had seen the name 'Mawden' recently, but she couldn't figure exactly where. Then she remembered what Mr. Drowhaly had said : he had mentioned an article. Therefore, the first thing to do was to go through the latest editions of the Daily Prophet. After almost a whole day of reading copies of the newspaper, ranging from January the first to the current day, she hadn't found a single article with the name 'Mawden' in it. However, she noticed an article that behaved in a strange way. Actually, the weirdest thing in it was that the article itself was behaving as if it had a personality. It was illegible, because its content was merely a constantly changing shape made of ink. Mrs. Candler cast 'Immobulus' on the article. Its content became intelligible, and its title read : 'Death In Worcester'. Mrs. Candler started going through the article, but after a few seconds, it acted up again, changing permanently its form. Sigsimond's mother repeatedly performed 'Immobulus', and copied on a parchment the text of the article that she was reconstructing progressively, about one line at a time, before it would become again an evolving stain of ink. Trouble was, there wasn't a single article. There were two of them, with two different versions of the death of Mr. Mawden. In the first one, the latter died when one of his potions had turned into a viscous liquid, melting him and his entire house. In the second variation, he had been found dead in his intact house, killed by an 'Avada Kedavra' spell. She knew very well who would have a motive to murder a competitor : Mr. Drowhaly might have committed the crime out of jealousy, trying to clear the path towards Lisgreth Mawden. Now that his rival was gone, he could wait a bit before courting Mrs. Mawden. And he had requested Walter Oppus to assist him. The greedy and scruple-less wizard had tried to hide the reality behind a fabricated story, like Mr. Hexler would have done. But Walter Oppus was not as skilled, and instead of planting just one story that would be completely beneficial to Mr. Drowhaly, had only succeeded in letting the two versions live concurrently. This was sufficient to create a doubt preventing Mr. Drowhaly from being chased by the Aurors, but not a very reassuring guarantee altogether. Once Mrs. Candler reported back her latest findings, Eleanor communicated through embroidery :
If really Ann's potion is still active and behind this, it's logical that it led us to one of the worst possible injustices, a murderer escaping the law. The potion would have waited for the right moment, when Walter Oppus was in touch with Mr. Drowhaly and working for him, to instruct Ann to go after the henchman of scumbags, and find out the key details of the injustice that might allow us to undo it. The Aurors have two versions, we have to demonstrate that only one of them is trustworthy
Sigismond's imagination proved useful one more time. His reasoning was that Mr. Drowhaly knew what happened, and that something as soul-trashing as the memory of murder would enter his mind when he was watching Mrs. Mawden, since there was the most intimate connection between his love for her and his crime. Thus, they needed somebody who could read minds, especially someone who wouldn't be caught doing this. Trevor Umphrey, who during the previous school-year, when the four friends were after the book 'How To Become a Dark Wizard', had resorted to his undetectable Legilimency skills in order to watch the duel between Matthew Fourbanks and Deborah Scart, would be the perfect candidate. The three others agreed, and Judith, who was a fellow Hufflepuff, was to persuade him to put his skillset to use in favour of a dead man's silent call for justice. Judith waited that evening in the Hufflepuff Common Room, but didn't meet Trevor in spite of the fact that she stayed there till midnight. However, the next day, her patience paid off. When the bespectacled, short and blond-haired Trevor Umphrey showed up in the Common Room, Judith stood up and went to greet him :
Hi. Have you heard about Ann, Eleanor and Sigismond ?
Trevor answered :
Your friends ? Yes
Judith, in a collected tone, told him :
We might have a more noble use of your skills than is the case at Hogwarts
Trevor was puzzled :
I find the trace of noble actions here all the time. Why would there be less at Hogwarts than elsewhere ?
Judith quipped :
Because there are no murders to solve at Hogwarts
Trevor was this time utterly befuddled :
Why would you know about a murder ?
Judith explained :
There is an article in the Daily Prophet, that has a kind of dual content. If you read part of it, it says somebody died in an accident. But there is another part, that says this person was assassinated. And we know that somebody had a motive to eliminate the dead person. Therefore, we are interested in reading their mind to check whether they think of the murder with the perspective of the perpetrator
Trevor tried to let all of this sink in :
You will have to give me many more details. You haven't answered my question, you know. Why are you so knowledgeable about this ? Everybody can read the newspapers, but identifying a person with motive is very difficult, especially when they aren't at Hogwarts and the four of you are on the other hand stuck here
Judith recounted for Trevor their investigation and Mrs. Candler's contribution. The boy then agreed to go with Mrs. Candler on Saturday, in front of the shop where Mrs. Mawden was working, where they expected to find Mr. Drowhaly on a bench. Saturday came, Trevor left the Hogwarts' grounds, met Mrs. Candler at the extremity of the lake, and the latter brought both of them through Side-Along Apparition to a spot in the Diagon Alley complex not far from the fateful place. However, Mr. Drowhaly didn't show up this day, and the reason became obvious at 12.30 : only one witch exited the shop, and it wasn't Lisgreth Mawden. Mrs. Candler presumed that Mrs. Mawden had a day off, but she envisioned also other possibilities : she could have fallen ill, for example she could have become depressed as a result of her husband's death. Mr. Drowhaly could have tried to woo her, threatened her, endangered her. Sigismond's mother had been warned that lies may not work on Trevor, therefore she shared her analysis with the Hufflepuff wizard and invited him to try again on Sunday. Trevor grudgingly accepted, probably because the stakes were high : every additional day of freedom for a potential killer was increasing the danger for a lot of people. When they came back the following day, Mr. Drowhaly was present, on his bench. Trevor stayed about twenty feet away from the bench, and from behind Mr. Drowhaly, took intermittently a glimpse at his thinking. He kept focused on Mr. Drowhaly during about fifteen minutes. Mrs. Candler was growing anxious that they could be spotted doing something weird : it wasn't very natural to stand immobile without saying a word nor doing anything special. Then, Trevor apparently closed the connection with Mr. Drowhaly, turned to Mrs. Candler, and told her :
We need to get out as quickly as possible
Sigismond's mother obliged, and they were soon back at the far end of the lake, away from the castle. She asked, in a tone that betrayed her impatience :
What did you see ?
Trevor paused for a few seconds, watched her in the eyes, and answered :
In short, he did it. The long story is, he went to a house, in the middle of nowhere. He knocked on the door, a wizard in red robes opened the door. Mr. Drowhaly said something, but I didn't hear what it was. The wizard in red robes let Mr. Drowhaly in, and into the living room. There were French windows, letting the sunlight in, showing the countryside and the sea in the distance. Mr. Drowhaly looked during some time at the view through the windows, but his mind was on something else. He then suddenly turned around, there was a lot of anger in him, he abruptly took out his wand, pointed it at the wizard in red robes, and a green flash of light erupted from it, hitting his host, who fell on the floor. He was still very angry when the wizard in red robes was down on the floor. I had never seen this happen before : he kept getting the same burst of images over and over, every twenty seconds or so. The green flash of light
Trevor was shaken. Mrs. Candler didn't really know what to do. She wasn't the kind of person who would pat people on the shoulder, or who would display compassion. She could only say in response :
Err…We should report this to my son and his friends
She walked along the lake, accompanying him for their return trip to the castle. When they were almost close enough to Hogwarts' buildings for an onlooker to be able to spot Mrs. Candler, she told Trevor :
I shouldn't be here. If I move closer, Dumbledore, err, I mean, Professor Dumbledore will not like it. Pass what you saw onto Sigismond and the three girls
She then let Trevor move on towards the castle's entrance, before turning around, to go back to the extremity of the lake, from which she would be able to Disapparate discreetly. Trevor repeated in whispers what he had told Mrs. Candler to Judith in the Hufflepuff Common Room. Judith in turn sent Trevor's description of what had happened through embroidery, which was painstaking because there were a lot of things to convey. Ann replied, with her green threads :
So, Mr. Drowhaly killed Mr. Mawden. What do we do now ? Should we transfer what we learned to the Aurors through Judith ?
Eleanor answered :
We know that Mr. Drowhaly killed a man, but we aren't sure it is Mr. Mawden
Ann retorted :
It doesn't change things much, whoever is the person he killed. The Aurors will only have to cast Priori Incantatem on his wand
Ann had a point. Thus, Judith sent an owl to Mr. Parry about what they had discovered. However, Judith's father couldn't do much, because of the turmoil at the Ministry of Magic's safety services, which decreased Mr. Parry's and his colleagues' credibility. Judith's father wouldn't admit it easily, but there were some bigwigs at the Ministry who had seen in Cathar Schuttoff's analysis some divine-like foresight, had fallen in love with his take on the issue, and had bluntly let out the scorn they had always felt for the low-paid wizards and witches working at the Ministry's safety. The unwillingness of people like Mr. Parry to change their practices were considered as evidence of a regressive tendency, and of their inability to perform introspection. That was why Mr. Parry wasn't in a good position any longer to connect his daughter with the Aurors. Things were going to become still worse, and the four friends couldn't have foreseen it.
Paragraph 4 - 60 : The Darklog
A few days later, at dinnertime, Professor Dumbledore made an announcement :
The Ministry has acquired an object that is supposed to measure dark wizardry or witchcraft in any person. I do not believe such a thing exists, and I have voiced my concerns to the Ministry when the Minister himself has requested this object to be used on all Hogwarts students, purportedly in order to detect future dark wizards and witches, and prevent the recurrence of cases like that of Lord Voldemort. Aurors will therefore come to the school and subject to this object's measurement every student. I nevertheless want you to rest assured, I will never allow any student to be expelled on the basis of this practice. If the Ministry dared requesting such a thing, I would resign. Should even one of you actually possess demonstrable traces of disturbing abilities to perform dark magic, I must say to those asking for their removal from the school : beware. Magic is one thing, what one does with it something completely different
It soon emerged that this effort by the Ministry at Hogwarts was an offshoot of a wider campaign. The Aurors had received at the beginning of January the object, and used it successfully in many cases. Thanks to it, they had been able to disprove false accusations, and to catch authors of a number of crimes in a swift way. Initially, they had been suspicious of the object, but they had crossed its results with their own independent investigation, and the match had always been perfect : whenever their research indicated that someone had been guilty of a felony, their dark magic readings had been significant, and whenever the Aurors had concluded somebody was innocent the object would yield low levels of dark magic. At first, the object had no name, but the Aurors nicknamed it 'Darklog', and the expression stuck. The four friends also found out an analysis by Cathar Schuttoff in the Daily Prophet :
The Darklog, Future Of The Efficient Organisation. As I wrote in 1979 in my seminal book '2000 Is Next Door', the emergence of more and more spells and objects allowing anyone to take decisions without any deep analysis nor extensive resources will help streamline the organisations' processes. The Darklog, with its scientifically proven performances, heralds the advent of an era where progress makes it possible to hire only people whose actions will always benefit the public, and never hurt the reputation of the organisation. Having the right people is of course an immense asset, but knowing that one can trust their coworker is almost as big an advantage. Is is indisputable, and almost all people, from every walk of life, are now cognizant of this, that the more recent a product, a service, or even a finding, as the precursor of products and services, the more efficient and trustworthy it is. The apparent simplicity of these modern applications of magic actually betrays their sophistication and their usefulness. The time long gone when one had to understand the effect of every cog of an object to assess its qualities or defects will not be regretted. We have reached a point where the ordinary wizard or witch can immediately feel, when looking at a product's, a service's, or a theory's features whether it is an advance or a regress. The Ministry has, and it is rare enough to be noted, made the right call when deciding to widen the use of the Darklog to every organisation over which it has authority. With the elimination of the damaging effects of the actions by people objectively prone to using dark magic, we are closing in on a harmonious society, in which modernity will allow everybody, when fighting for their own interest, to be at the same time aligned with the general interest
Following this, the testing at Hogwarts by the Aurors through the Darklog began. The students were called in a room, one by one. There, the Auror in charge of the evaluation, seated behind a desk on which a box made of wood for its lower part and metal for its upper part lied, would ask the student to press their hand on the top of the Darklog's surface, and he would look down at the readings. Then, the Auror would tell the student the process was over, and allow them to leave, before calling the next one. As had been the case with the Yearbook, the Gryffindor first-years were at the top of the list, and the Slytherin seventh-years at the bottom, last to be tested. This prompted once more the school to cancel classes for the two days that the assessments lasted. Some students were anxious, because nobody exactly knew what the Darklog was measuring. Would lying, cheating, dating or dueling people after hours, practicing spells that didn't belong to one's class' syllabus because they sounded cool count as units of dark magic ? The four friends were of course worried, since they had been doing lots of extracurricular activities, leaving their dormitories after hours, and overall chasing a book about dark magic that most likely contained instructions on how to perform it. Therefore they weren't surprised to be summoned to Professor Dumbledore's office, soon after the testing. The summon had been delivered in a very cautious way, though, and no other student had learned about this : each of the four friends had received their imposed invitation through owl-post, and nothing on the envelope had been printed that might have allowed an onlooker to guess that Hogwarts' administration itself had sent it. The note in the envelope was from Professor Dumbledore himself :
Please come to my office tomorrow, at 9pm. You have dispensation for being out of your lodgings after hours
The four friends had communicated through embroidery : that was why they knew they all had been summoned. What they ignored, however, was if there would be other students. Eleanor remembered perfectly where Professor Dumbledore's office was, and acted as a guidance system for the three others, who had forgotten how to get to the desired location. Professor McGonagall was waiting for them at the bottom of the spiral staircase. She had already opened the entrance to it. Ann, Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond, one by one, ascended thanks to the magical flight of steps. When Sigismond reached the level where the door to Professor Dumbledore's office stood, he saw that said door was open, and the three girls were waiting, standing in a little group near Professor Dumbledore's desk. The Headmaster was seated. Sigismond joined the three girls, the former teacher closed the door shut, and addressed them :
As you may have guessed, you are the only four students who tested with allegedly high levels of dark magic. This actually made me distrust still more this so-called Darklog. I negotiated with the Ministry a lenient sanction, and the only consequence for you will be the following : you will not be allowed any longer to assemble. I am sure this is a very disturbing situation for you, but do not let this distract you. We will come to the bottom of this. Off you go. Good luck
Ann made the trip back down first, followed by Sigismond, Judith and Eleanor. When Eleanor reached the entrance to the staircase, she saw that none of the three others were there anymore. Only Professor McGonagall was waiting for her. Eleanor thought :
Of course, we can't convene any longer, so they all have departed to their Common Room
Eleanor wished a good night to Professor McGonagall, in a less cheerful voice than usual, then directed her steps towards the Ravenclaw dormitories. The evaluation's result caused the four friends to perform introspection, each in their own way. Ann mostly wondered whether her sorting in Slytherin had been a forewarning, and if she was therefore exerting a bad influence over the three others. Sigismond was questioning his lack of connection with reality, that might make him forget about essential elements of humanity. Eleanor, on her part, was worried that her own belief and confidence in the fact she was doing things for the best could be her downfall, or an unconsciously treacherous way of hiding evil tendencies. As for Judith, she envisioned that her adventures during the latest summer holidays had turned her into a rash person that would soon evolve in a brazen creature, unable to take into account good and evil. All of them suspected the Darklog's readings to be erroneous, yet there was one recent instance during which they had used magic that was potentially dark : for they had not checked whether their exploitation of Akinori Milpense's wristwatch-like object was ethical. Chaining people in their personal Azkaban had possibly been exaggerated, far too harsh. Teenagers weren't supposed to dispense justice, especially without any kind of control, even under the supervision of a grown-up. All of this might mean that the Darklog was at least partially reliable, and that they would have to be very cautious not to develop a penchant for obscure magic. And perhaps it was already too late.
Paragraph 5 - 61 : Not A Clock
Eleanor was in the Common Room when a memory came back to her. She had been in this same place, talking to Edward Songer, after he had used a spell involving dark magic in a Flitwick class. Therefore, why had he not been also singled out as a person with high dark magic levels ? Sure, he had cast the spell in good faith, and was a nice person, but as far as she could be objective, Ann, Judith and Sigismond were also good people, yet they had been hit with a sanction. Eleanor thought that Edward's take on the matter might be insightful. She thus decided to wait for him to show up. She didn't see him this evening, and assumed he had gone to his dormitory before she had gone down to the Common Room. However, the next day, Eleanor waited in the Ravenclaw's gathering space from the time she was back from her last class of the day, and she saw Edward Songer come back from dinner at around 7.30pm. She stood up, and said in a gentle voice :
Did the Auror's testing go well ?
Edward smiled and replied :
Yes, I think. I didn't have any news since the day of the evaluation. No news is good news, huh ?
Eleanor, who perfectly knew that the saying fully applied in this circumstance, smiled back and told Edward :
Yes, I am fairly sure. I was worried for you because of what happened in the previous school-year, in the Flitwick class
If anybody else had mentioned this episode to Edward, it would have been painful, but Eleanor's permanent benevolence made it clear that she never had any intention to hurt. As a result, things that could have upset people, when uttered by Eleanor, sounded nice. Edward replied :
I was concerned about this. But there is something else, completely different, that drives me nuts. The memories I have of other people doing all sorts of things have all become strange, as if I were losing my touch. The same event will happen in different centuries, including eras in which it shouldn't occur because it involves objects that had not been invented in this very same era. Or I see different people performing the very same action on the exact same object or person, at various places, and various times
Eleanor was puzzled
That's troubling
Edward concluded :
Yeah. Good night Eleanor
And he went to the Ravenclaw boys' dormitories. Eleanor had now a theory, which she shared with the three others through embroidery - the 'Mitto' spell had never been as critical for their friendship as now. She posited that somebody stole a Time Turner at the Department of Mysteries, hence the explosion there, and used it in a clumsy way. It would explain why the lunch and dinner dishes at Hogwarts had been mixed up : the only major difference between lunch and dinner was the time at which they took place. Her theory would also make sense for the alleged murder by Mr. Drowhaly of Mr. Mawden. Walter Oppus could be the one who had stolen the Time Tuner, in order to manipulate reality. He would have ended creating two concurrent versions of it, by coming back to the time when Mr. Drowhaly had killed Mr. Mawden. Furthermore, Edward Songer's memories would have turned into a meaningless soup because the timeline had become illegible : it was now impossible to determine when anything had taken place. Just like there were two versions of the Daily Prophet's article, there were multiple versions of the events on the affected timeline, contradicting each other in Edward's mind. Eleanor's hypothesis was however insufficient to determine why the four friends had been identified as potential dark wizards and witches, or why somebody had left a mysterious note to Professor McGonagall about the Muggles. The fact that Eleanor's musings didn't include a Muggle with a prominent role in them was another cause for pause : either the person who had sent the comment to Professor McGonagall had been wrong, whether in good faith or not. Or they were right, and Eleanor could throw away her theory. Two days later, Hector Hutter, a Slytherin fourth-year, was telling anyone who would listen that he had defeated Robert Stoutson in a duel. He was adamant Stoutson had been known for always winning his duels, which was the reason behind his self-satisfaction. Hutter was pretentiously gloating that he had won easily : after a few 'Stupefy', 'Expelliarmus' and 'Rictusempra' countered by 'Protegos', Hutter had, if you would believe him, cast a stuttering spell on Stoutson, before finishing him off with a few extra 'Stupefy'. This account triggered heated reactions, especially by people that Hutter claimed they had lost to Stoutson : the latter was undefeated because he was overwhelmingly fast. It was just impossible he could have failed to protect himself from a stuttering spell. Others were saying that, even if Hutter's assertions were true, it didn't mean much, since Stoutson had been brooding since the beginning of January. This meant, if one followed Hutter's reasoning, according to which Stoutson's was self-satisfied as long as he was winning his duels, that the latter had already lost one or several duels by the beginning of January. After this debate across the school, the Daily Prophet published an article that went unnoticed, except by a few students, among others, the four friends. The article said that Magicharms' prophecies, which already weren't very reliable, had started losing track of reality, and were now nests of absurdities. This reinforced the four friends' perception that Eleanor's theory held water. For prophecies were glimpses in the future. If a Time Turner had been mishandled, this might imply that the available overview of the future, that is, of what is next in the timeline, had become topsy-turvy or otherwise undecipherable, making the cheap prophecies ineffective.
Paragraph 6 - 62 : Return Of The Mommy
When it came to their Darklog's results, things went further down. Apparently, a member of the school's Board, connected with people at the Ministry, had leaked the fact that the four friends had kind of tested positive. The four friends were now facing ostracisation. They had already been suspected of being on a dark path when they had been looking for the book 'How To Become a Dark Wizard'. Then, students had set aside this superficial judgment, and even embraced the idea of a group of friends made of students from each of the Houses. Now, an official assessment was proving that their initial fears had been justified, that a friendship like theirs wasn't sound, and spelled evil. Even first-years who had not yet set foot in the school at the time of the chase for the book were following the general trend of ignoring them, or being contemptuous of them in silence, although it was probably due to a widespread behaviour among children who were at the lowest level of any given pyramid : imitating the more senior students would, in their mind, serve them by establishing with their older schoolfellows that they were on their side, and that they deserved respect for embracing the opinion of people who were forcibly wiser than themselves. However, the publicising of the Darklog's results had a side-effect : Mrs. Candler soon landed again in the middle of the school-yard, visibly furious and eager to meet once more the Headmaster. She strode towards the entrance to the spiral staircase, then waited, with a haughty look on her face. Sigismond learned from his mother the rest, or rather a redacted version of it - at least, what Mrs. Candler felt was adequate to cite, which was typically more than what an average wizard or witch would dare expose that would disclose their inner thinking. Professor Dumbledore had detected Apollina Candler's presence, and had granted her an interview. Sigismond's mother had vehemently defended her son's case, arguing as a bonus note that even his only Slytherin friend was harmless. When she had finished her 'detailed' speech, Professor Dumbledore had explained to her what had happened, how he had succeeded in keeping at the minimum level the sanctions imposed on the four friends, and that his position was in essence close to Mrs. Candler's, except he was more composed and diplomatic when expressing it. After a short exchange, he divulged to Mrs. Candler the name of the person of the Ministry who carried the Darklog. She wouldn't mention his name, because, you see, she is a professional and responsible woman. Therefore, she called him Mr. Auror, a very cautious pseudonym. Sigismond's mother, dressed in black and green robes that would allow her to blend in the Ministry's Hall, had waited there for Mr. Auror to show up. She spotted him a few times in the next few days, but he would use chimneys far away from Mrs. Candler to travel. The latter changed her waiting location, and finally, she found herself close to the chimney he stepped in for one of his trips, and was able to hear him announce his destination. She waited one minute, then went through a neighbouring hearth to go to the very same place with Floo powder. She had landed in a room full of people, at the second floor of a house, and had, with her usual affectation of confidence, moved straight for the door at the other end of the room, casting glances right and left to check whether Mr. Auror was there. Since he was absent, she went down the stairs, keeping watch over the different people coming in and out of the house. She saw Mr. Auror come in, then climb the stairs. Mrs. Candler didn't know whether he was back up at the second floor to travel by Floo powder to another location. She opted to wait in the hall, thinking she would anyway have other occasions in the next days to follow him from the Ministry's Hall's chimneys if he were to escape this time. Nevertheless, Mr. Auror was soon going back down the stairs. He precipitously exited the house, and Mrs. Candler calmly followed in his tracks, about fifty feet behind him. After a few seconds, she took a look around, and seeing that nobody was in a position or in the state of mind to watch her, cast 'Accio Darklog' on Mr. Auror, who instantly tried to turn around. Mrs. Candler performed 'Petrificus Totalus' before he could complete his full motion. He fell on the ground, having been prevented from taking a look at Mrs. Candler, who caught the wood-and-metal box which had flown towards her, before Disapparating home. She had hopefully a few hours, maybe a day to inspect the Darklog before Aurors would link the dots and catch up with her. She feverishly cast in quick succession a number of non-destructive spells on the instrument, to no avail. She then paused, trying to figure other spells that could help her. During her second salvo, none of her spells succeeded either. She had to think out of the box, since she was facing one. Surely this high-magic object would need some updates. Therefore she cast 'Denovo' on it. The lower part of the Darklog, the wooden one, revealed a drawer that slid open. In it was a bubbly, muddy-looking liquid. Mrs. Candler plunged cautiously her left hand in it, her right hand holding her wand, ready to cast a defensive spell in case the liquid would be connected to a trapping mechanism. Nothing special happened. Her hand reached the bottom of the drawer. Little things were resting there. She rummaged in the deep of the liquid, trying to gather elements from there. When she extracted her left hand from the potion, she saw she was holding hair in her wet hand, from which brownish drops were falling. This made her pause. She finally came up with a solution. She cast
Accio Sigismond Candler's hair
The liquid in the drawer started twirling, and after a few seconds, a piece of hair jumped out of the wooden part, before flying slowly towards Mrs. Candler's hand. She did the same with Ann Aves, Judith Parry, and Eleanor Magarthy, and ended with four pieces of hair. This Darklog wasn't about subtle magic : it was just an object designed to react with a high reading when the person pressing their hand over it was one of the people whose hair was inside the drawer. Maybe the maker had inserted there hair belonging to most dark wizards in Britain, and hair of a few people they just disliked - the four friends were probably falling in this category - to frame them. But it certainly didn't hold hair of all the dark wizards around the world. If they were to use the Darklog on the American or Korean Azkaban, even the worst felons there wouldn't be detected by the gross mechanism. Mrs. Candler had then slid the drawer shut and flown to Hogwarts with the Darklog loaded on her broomstick. The dialogue in Professor Dumbledore's office, went the following way - Professor Snape was witnessing the exchange - starting with the Headmaster saying :
You don't believe any longer I am senile ?
Mrs. Candler had replied :
What do you expect from a lady, but temper ? I have for you the perfect occasion to prove to me you are smarter than ever. I want to let your skills shine, of course
She then had elaborated about her findings and the plan that she wanted Albus Dumbledore to follow. The former teacher listened to her carefully and quietly, then asked :
I heard no mention of your involvement in what you think is to come. I am surprised that you would like to miss your own opportunity to shine
Mrs. Candler smiled, and retorted :
Dumble…I mean, Professor, it is obvious that the Aurors will be busy asking me lots of questions while you are saving my son
The Headmaster followed with :
The spirit of the plan is there, I will however have to amend it in some places
Sigismond's mother replied :
Great. You won't forget to help me out of Azkaban, I presume
Professor Dumbledore concluded :
If you promise not to torture Dementors with your temper, of course
The very next day, Albus Dumbledore was at the Ministry. Mrs. Candler had handed over to him the Darklog. The Hogwarts' Headmaster explained to the Aurors he was here to bring them back their property, but that a weird finding was putting into question the Darklog's reliability. The wizarding police proceeded to detain Mrs. Candler, and argued against Dumbledore's claim, that the former could have altered the Darklog's inner workings to make people believe that the object was fraudulent. The author of 'The Twelve Uses of Dragon Blood' enquired :
I am under the impression that you didn't investigate yourselves about the object's mechanism, am I correct ?
An Auror answered that the manufacturer had expressly stated that the Darklog was a fragile object, sensitive to all sorts of magical alterations, and that it would most certainly break if subjected to invasive spells. Professor Dumbledore retorted :
Since the first copy was compromised because of Mrs. Candler's foolhardiness, I suppose it would be a good idea to produce a second one. I would be very interested in observing the manufacturing process
The Aurors rejected the Professor's proposition, saying that no individual that wasn't working for the Ministry would be allowed to monitor its processes. The old wizard ingenuously asked when the Ministry would have a replacement. One of the Aurors was dispatched to the Department that had produced the Darklog, and went back with the information that conditions to make another copy wouldn't be met before several years. The Hogwarts' Headmaster subtly suggested that, since there wasn't any longer a foolproof working Darklog that could prove the four friends indeed had dark magic in them, the Ministry should officially state they weren't suspected of future or past wrongdoing anymore. The Aurors felt this was unacceptable, since it was Mrs. Candler's fault the Darklog was out of order, and she had clearly acted in bad faith to hamper the Ministry's activities. The shrewd Professor argued :
Every wizard and every witch should be able to make their own Darklog, so as to make sure their children do not drift towards questionable fields of magic. There is no reason for the Ministry to hide a process that can help parents raise their progeny
The Aurors grudgingly agreed to let the old wizard enquire about the Darklog's manufacturing process. They escorted him to the Department in charge of the Darklog's production, and introduced him to the witch - Clara Unndod - who had made the prototype. She was blond, clad in purple robes, and categorically refused to divulge anything about the secrets behind the dark magic reader. The room where they were standing was filled with rows of shelves carrying files up into the deep darkness of the back of the walled space. Professor Dumbledore artlessly posited aloud that the only reason behind the witch's secretiveness could be she had dealt into dark magic herself to produce the object. He extracted from his robes a vial in front of Aurors whose eyes went wide, for they had recognized its content : Veritaserum. The Hogwarts' Headmaster innocently asked :
Had you tested the dark magic levels of all employees ?
Facing a silence that made the answer clear, he addressed the members of wizarding law enforcement :
As Aurors, it is one of your prerogatives to use Veritaserum on whomever is suspected of being a dark wizard or witch
The witch suddenly turned around, made a sharp turn, and began running into one of the rows, away from the pack of wizards and witches accompanying Professor Dumbledore. The Aurors were caught off guard, as they had been busy focusing on what looked like their biggest and most annoying issue, the Hogwarts' Headmaster, but within two seconds, they had spread into all directions, chasing the now very suspicious-looking witch in purple robes. Spells started flying, shelves fell over, and the blond escaping witch tried to take advantage of her knowledge about the room's layout to bypass the Aurors and go back to the exit, but the Aurors had under control the majority of the space, and finally, the witch in purple robes ran into another who coolly cast 'Incarcerous' on the suspect, before bringing Mrs. Unndod back to the starting point of her short flight, next to Professor Dumbledore. They were slowly joined by Aurors, some panting from the chase, others merely coming back from their guarding stations. The former teacher handed over the vial of Veritaserum to the Auror closest to him, but Mrs. Unndod felt it was time to clear her conscience :
I am no effing dark witch. If I had been, I would've blasted all of you into oblivion. This Darklog, I never made it. Some bloke gave it to me, with instructions, and money. I was supposed to pass it on the Aurors, telling them it was a foolproof tool for catching bad guys, and that they should never, ever look at what was inside, because it would break the stuff. Morons, they took this for granted
Professor Dumbledore calmly went back to the plan :
We are still very interested in catching dark wizards and witches. Maybe you could find a spare copy of it for us ? We might have unfortunately made the original…go haywire. That would be your redemption. I am very sure the Ministry will appreciate your cooperation and reduce your future sentence at Azkaban
Mrs. Unndod panicked :
Azkaban ? No, no, no. I didn't steal anything, I didn't kill anyone
Professor Dumbledore quietly replied :
Well, the Ministry seems intent on prosecuting people who hamper its activities. Especially witches with hot temper I heard
Mrs. Unndod was so stressed by the perspective of being sent to Azkaban that her feet began trembling uncontrollably, and in a very nervous voice, with very fast delivery, she blurted :
I will have it tomorrow, if you take the Azkaban stuff off the table
Professor Dumbledore turned to the Aurors :
I have no authority to negotiate for you. Please keep me posted about the result. I have all the rime in the world. But Mrs. Candler not
He left, hearing in the distance Mrs. Unndod shouting repeatedly, while crying :
Not Azkaban, not Azkabaaaan !
Sure enough, the following day, Professor Dumbledore and the Aurors had in front of them, at the Ministry, a brand new Darklog. There wasn't a single difference between the original and the copy. The Hogwarts' Headmaster commented ironically :
I had hoped they would have added improvements for this version two
One of the Aurors, who was carrying the Darklog, and Professor Dumbledore, walked towards the chimneys in the Hall of the Ministry. The Auror announced :
Chiuditorre
Once he was gone through the Floo network to the visitors' entrance of Italy's main wizarding prison, the Hogwarts' Headmaster imitated him. They had arrived in a room at the top of a round tower - made of yellow-beige stones - that was connected to another identical one. Both had a very big diameter, and should one look through the four equally spaced windows, they would see that the room was at least two hundred feet above the ground. In the middle of it was a desk, with two chairs that were awaiting the two British guests. An Italian witch was there, with half-long dark hair, dark eyes, and a slightly darker complexion than the two subjects of Her Majesty. She introduced herself as Elvira. Elvira had no discernible accent, and sounded very much like an English witch. The desk was in the middle of an axis that ran from the chimney to a metallic door. The Auror laid carefully the Darklog on the desk, and sat, soon joined by Albus Dumbledore. Elvira reviewed the process with her guests : one by one, the inmates would enter through the door, Elvira would give their name, they would press their hand on the alleged dark magic reader, then go back through the door. The Auror would note down the reading for each prisoner on the file corresponding to his name, where their priors were indicated. The Italian witch would then wait for a signaling spell cast by the guard waiting at the bottom of the tower for the safe return of the inmate before opening again the door. The painstaking task went smoothly, highlighted though by the behaviour of two out of the ordinary prisoners. The first, who on his part had a strong accent, rolling heavily the 'r's, excitedly commented :
Dis is Albous Dumbledorr. I rread is book at schowl. Not bad
The second didn't say anything at first. It's Elvira who gave the two British wizards the context :
This is Arbace. He murdered four people
Arbace asked the witch aggressively :
Che dici di me ?
Elvira translated into Italian what she had said :
Io diceva che hai ammazzato quattro persone
Arbace then smiled, and concluded cheerfully :
Si. Le' rivedro all'inferno
Elvira translated back into English :
Yes. I will see them again in hell
At the end, they thanked Elvira, and used the chimney again on their way back to London. Professor Dumbledore and the Auror with whom he had spent the best part of the day attended a debriefing session at the Ministry. There were wooden tables put together in the shape of a square, and chairs lining the walls. Albus Dumbledore and his companion of the day were seated first, and were then joined by other Aurors and officials of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Auror who had noted down the readings for every prisoner at Chiuditorre was categorical : for none of them the measure had gotten past zero. The Darklog hadn't detected a single ounce of dark magic in any of the wizards and witches who had murdered or otherwise performed dark magic on other humans. Therefore, Mrs. Candler's claim, according to which the Darklog was nothing more than an object that showed high levels of dark magic for preselected wizards and witches, was by far the most convincing explanation for the once praised object, which was now officially in disgrace. The person who was behind the Darklog was most likely cognizant of crimes that had hitherto not been investigated, and had used their knowledge of the names of the culprits to mislead the Aurors into believing that the Darklog was an efficient tool for tracking dark wizards and witches. As a result of this conclusion, Mrs. Candler was hastily released, and Professor Dumbledore, back at Hogwarts, at dinnertime in a February evening, delivered the following short speech :
We should feel happy for being around some people who, out of self-interest or appreciation for justice, will help giving their fair share to any of us. And the best way not to become a dark wizard or witch is to wonder whether one is on this sinister path
This wasn't however the last take on the issue. Cathar Schuttoff would have his say on the downfall of the Darklog-led practices :
I stand by the subtle criticism I had made earlier of the Darklog, even if some people have found it disturbing. By grounding my reasoning in models that may sound overly complicated to the wizard on the street, I was able to reach the right conclusion way in advance. Maybe some people will acknowledge it grudgingly, but this tremendously successful foreshadowing demonstrates the need for educated people, who will not bow to what looks most obvious or popular. Therefore, I wish to make my previous stance more understandable, so that people of all walk of life can be penetrated by the wisdom of study : combining research on dark magic and the cautiousness that goes with a long experience in the field, we can pave the way for a society where dark magic can be rendered less threatening. I know that many people have supported the possibility of an easy and quick fix to dark magic, but this has only been possible because desperate wizards and witches are made credulous, and end up listening to sales pitches and convoluted considerations by businessmen and politicians who are interested in making money or votes out of illusions
Eleanor, while reading the article in the Great Hall, was giggling, but on reaching the bottom of the article, she burst into laughter. In the meantime, the four friends had been allowed to convene again as they saw fit.
Paragraph 7 - 63 : Forbidden Braveness
A few days later, Gryffindors were able to see a large parchment affixed to the wall. There was nothing to read on it though : it was as blank as the mind of a student who is asked by the teacher a question about a lesson the student has failed to work on. Some Gryffindors checked the back of the parchment, but it hadn't been pinned upside down : the paper was empty on both sides. People began envisioning a prank. Others students thought of it as a riddle, which prompted a Gryffindor wizard to sneer :
Wrong House, pal, you should have put this at Ravenclaw
In the following day, several Gryffindors tried various spells on the mysterious nothingness, from basic ones - 'Finite !' - to Transfiguration spells. After a while, though, the Gryffindors lost interest in this element of the background. But then, in the evening, a text appeared on the parchment :
I had an object that allowed me to insert my spells before any other, including those cast by opponents during duels. This is how I won so many of them. I was happy about this and I should not have. My mood changed at the beginning of January, as if I could feel that my merriness was about to end. Yet, I was still a successful duelist. Then, my object started whirring and hissing loudly, incessantly. And one of us, annoyed by the permanent noise, destroyed it. That's when I started to lose oppositions. But I noticed after some time that this constant help had prevented me from becoming a true Gryffindor, who would rely on their courage instead of a cheating crutch. That is why I decided to venture into the Forbidden Forest tonight. I will be then, whether I live or I die, for the first time in my life, a member of the House of Gryffindor.
Robert Stoutson
Sigismond transferred Robert Stoutson's story to the three others through embroidery. Eleanor considered Robert's narration as an encouragement to refine her theory : it was making sense that Robert's object, which relied on altering the timeline by inserting in it a spell, had a dysfunction when the Ministry's Time Turner was mishandled. Moreover, Robert's mood had drastically worsened before the event that should have caused this very same depressing and angry feelings, because the two elements, the object being destroyed and Robert's psychological downturn, had been swapped in the timeline. Eleanor had not expected that Robert's immature behaviour would also be connected to the explosion at the Department of Mysteries, but it was a positive development, since it strengthened what was currently the four friends' best guess at the recent events' interpretation. The anonymous note's sending to Professor McGonagall was still without a rational explanation, but maybe it actually had no relationship with the damage at the Ministry of Magic. The short parchment's author might have alluded to something else, something that was known to Professor McGonagall or the staff only. For once, Ann solved the riddle. She had visited the house-elves, and a mixup had happened between the lunch's dishes and the dinner's ones. Someone had gone down to the kitchens to warn the house-elves of what looked like a mistake. Not only that, but Eleanor had also theorised that this hiccup in the meals' management was a consequence of a part of the Department of Mysteries blowing up. Thus, it was most natural to assume that a house-elf had understood the connection between a problem in the kitchen and the latest one big catastrophe outside of Hogwarts. Of course a house-elf would be frowned upon for what amounted to meddling with their master's worries. The house-elf would have considered that neither creatures of his kind nor the staff would have seen the sending of the note as a positive initiative, consistent with house-elves' duties and customs. They would have therefore never spoken up when hearing that the severe Professor McGonagall wanted to have a talk with the individual behind the message. On the contrary, they would have feared a sanction. As far as students knew, Professor McGonagall hadn't visited the kitchens to deliver the speech she had made in all four Houses, which implied that the house-elf from whom the note originated had no idea Professor McGonagall had appreciation for the parchment's content. Eleanor was skeptical, because she knew that house-elves were supposed to work tirelessly at the service of their master, and that this constraint wasn't compatible with taking time off to read about what was going on in the outside world, especially to delve into Muggle knowledge : wizards' and witches' interest in Muggle business was already lacking, it was difficult to imagine that a house-elf, who probably had never met a single Muggle in their life as they were busy serving Pure-Blood wizards and witches, would have opted to enrich their understanding of the universe with data about what Muggles were doing and discovering. Ann argued, though, that there were so many house-elves in the kitchens relative to the students' population that it was likely they didn't have to work round the clock to complete all their tasks. Additionally, it wouldn't cost anything to put this hypothesis to the test. Ann went to Professor McGonagall's office, and was able to have a conversation with the Quidditch-loving witch :
Hmm. Professor, maybe a house-elf wrote the note to you
The Transfiguration teacher's head moved back slightly but abruptly, denoting her surprise. She asked why Miss Aves had envisioned this possibility. Ann explained at length but very fast all the elements that were in concordance with her theory. She was so stressed at the idea she could forget an important point that she described several similar lines of thought with a different angle each time. At the end of the flurry of words that Professor McGonagall had digested while displaying poise, the Head of Gryffindor concluded :
I have enough elements to put your theory to the test. Maybe you could however, in your future exposés, go straight to the point, Miss Aves
Ann, blushing slightly, answered :
Err…Yes, certainly Professor
In the evening, Robert Stoutson was back from the Forbidden Forrest. His uniform was dented in some places, and he was slightly bleeding through a few scratches, but was mostly fine. When he entered the Common Room, the Gryffindors who could see him arrive fell silent, which prompted the other students of the House to also stop speaking and look around, till their gaze would fall on Robert Stoutson. They understood this way the reason behind the sudden change in loudness in the Gryffindor gathering space, and all watched the new adventurer cross without a word the Common Room, and go up to his dormitory. On his face, the students could read that his mind was now on deeper considerations than usual. There wasn't either a sign of an angry mood. His look of self-satisfaction was gone and would never return.
Paragraph 8 - 64 : In The Wild
Professor McGonagall summoned the four friends to her office two days later. She explained to them concisely that she had visited the kitchens, asked all the house-elves to write a sentence which included all twenty-six letters of the alphabet, and determined that only one house-elf could have written the note. His name was Telly, and he had been invited to Professor Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster had interviewed the house-elf, who acknowledged he had written the message to McGonagall, and tried to drown himself in the Pensieve, from which Professor Dumbledore had extracted him, before using a spell to dry him. He had then instructed the house-elf to spend his spare time with the Professor of Muggle Studies, as an assistant. He would therefore have access to all the literature and to all the information he would like. He would also be able to serve the school by making the Muggle Studies lessons more comprehensive. The Headmaster stopped short of making Telly a Professor, because he knew this would strain his relationships with the other house-elves, and would preclude him from working in the kitchens, which would finally cut him from his community. Professor McGonagall then ordered the four friends, in the firmest of tones, never to divulge this development to anyone. They had been updated on the matter because they had contributed to the happiness of someone, Ann with her decisive intuition, and the three others, especially Eleanor, with their reasonings about the possible Time Turner mishandling. The four friends promised not to let out the sensitive piece of information, and were soon out of Professor McGonagall's office. In the next few days, the Daily Prophet published two articles about strange events. In the middle of the countryside, a castle was building itself. Maybe the word 'castle' was a euphemism, because it was actually heaps of parallelepiped stones randomly growing here and there. As a result, there was no opening, no entrance nor window, not a single room. It was obvious that magic was involved, since the stones appeared from nowhere on top of others. Trouble was, no wizard or witch seemed to be behind the haphazard useless construction, which implied that there was nothing preventing Muggles from looking at magic being at work. In this instance, one could have the impression that magic itself had become a wizard or a witch, and had decided to act independently from any known person. The Ministry had to intervene, in order to Obliviate the thousands of Muggles who had gathered around the curious building, then to perform spells preventing said Muggles from seeing magic going rogue, and finally to destroy as many pictures taken by the Muggles as possible. The magical process had initially gone under the radar of the Ministry, since it had happened in a place that it didn't monitor - no wizard, witch, Goblin, house-elf, giant, troll and so on was living there or had previously performed magic there. Only when Muggle newspapers began publishing sensationalist articles had the Ministry of Magic been able to identify the problem. The second article narrated the misadventure of another felon, a would-be murderer. The wizard had cast 'Avada Kedavra' on another one, the green flash had flowed from his wand, and hit the target, but the intended victim had stayed alive and well, which had allowed them to cast a successful 'Incarcerous' on their opponent. The Aurors had swiftly investigated, determined that, indeed, wizard number one had used his wand to cast 'Avada Kedavra'. They had corroborated the whole story, and had jailed wizard number one for attempted murder in the first degree. This story had prompted many more reactions than the first one : a number of readers had pointed out that this result might derive from the same failure as that which had led to Lord Voldemort vanishing and a little boy escaping unscathed. In other words, Lord Voldemort would have been stopped by the same magical force that had saved the life of the wizard number two in the story. Other Daily Prophet readers supplemented this assessment with their own claims that the Boy Who Lived could only have survived through very powerful dark magic, and should therefore be suspected of unconsciously harbouring a penchant for the wrong side of wizardry. The problem both articles brought onto the four friends was that they didn't know if the events they described were connected to the Time Turner dysfunction. If there was no link between them and the explosion at the Department of Mysteries, their theories would stand and remain relevant. But if one or both of these were consequences of the turmoil at the Ministry, their current interpretation would not hold. No change in the timeline could explain such extravagant things. Judith had something up her sleeve, though. Something that had already helped her solve a case. She embroidered :
Telly has given a potential solution : the Muggles might be the key. I already attended a wizarding lecture when working on the Peter Perklus investigation. Now, we have to go to Muggle lectures
This made Eleanor giggle. She could already forecast it would be quite an experience, as a Pure-Blood witch, who had never had to fit in a Muggle environment. The four friends agreed, and with the help of Ann, whose parents received the Muggle newspaper everyday, found four lectures about time that would take place on the following Saturday. Ann was supposed to coach Eleanor in order to give her the necessary knowledge to survive in the hostile Muggle world, and first and foremost, to reach her destination. The tiny Ravenclaw witch, who was usually the most educated about every subject among the four friends, knew about the Muggle ways what she had learned in Muggle Studies lessons, and what she had heard from the three others. That is, she had a very theoretical and superficial varnish, that could produce fireworks once she would have landed in a most practical and real situation involving hundreds of Muggles. What was making Ann's task tougher was that Eleanor was permanently giggling, excited as she was about visiting the Muggle part of Great Britain. Ann thought every Pure-Blood Hogwarts student should at least make one trip with a Professor in Muggle London during their school-years there. But this wasn't the case. Therefore, Ann, who wasn't the most gifted at practical things, had to make an effort, to teach Eleanor how to make her magical background go undetected. There were the clothes, the constant reflex of taking one's wand out, of seeking chimneys, seeing broomsticks as means of transportation, Apparating and Disapparating, being able to see magical elements hidden for the Muggles, which would be distracting for Eleanor, the vocabulary, starting with the word 'Muggle', the pervading use of electronics by Muggles, rock music, places designed to allow Muggles to perform tasks that were rendered useless by magic, and so on. To start with, clothes. Ann was taller and thicker than the tiny Eleanor, which implied Ann had no choice but asking clothes for Muggle ten years old girls, since the only female members of her family who had grown up, and had no longer use of clothes they had however kept, were now twelve. Eleanor ended up with jeans, a pink blouse with a teddy bear on the left part of the chest, a blue sweater over it, and a little jacket, also in jeans, that Ann had selected because there was in it a pocket large enough - Ann thought it was 'ridiculously high' - to accommodate and conceal Eleanor's wand, just in case. When Eleanor saw herself in the mirror, she burst into laughter, which mortified Ann. However, Miss Aves remained devoted to her towering task. She said that, since the lecture was at 2pm, in London downtown, she would take Eleanor through Muggle London from 9am to 1pm, so as to allow Eleanor to hopefully acquire good practices. The other option would have been for Ann to write an encyclopedia about how to react to everything Muggle one could come across, an option which was definitely neither viable nor enjoyable. Ann's project was simple : get Eleanor in the highest possible amount of Muggle places in order to demonstrate to her the best things to do not to arouse suspicion. Ann had received from Sigismond extra money to do shopping : Eleanor would probably not have many more occasions to purchase things in the Muggle world while being protected from disastrous faux-pas. On Saturday morning, at 8am, Eleanor brought Ann through Side-Along Apparition to a place in Diagon Alley very close to the Leaky Cauldron, which they crossed before ending in the open, or rather, from Eleanor's point of view, in the wild. Eleanor was permanently looking around her, up and down, watching the skyscrapers' tops, ignoring pedestrian crossings, roadsigns, traffic lights, whispering to Ann her opinions about some of the thousands of Muggles they would walk past :
Why did this Mom said to her daughter she would not watch cartunes ? Why do Mugg… cars have tunes ? What are these trousers the bottom of which is excessively wide ? Are these misshapen clothes from refuse for people who can't afford good clothes ? This man was talking about inflation. Does it mean that Mugg… people's bellies inflate ?
Seeing posters about a movie that aimed at portraying the life of a female secret agent wearing a bikini :
Why is this woman always pictured almost naked ?
Seeing advertisements about computers which were supposed to run faster :
Are these means of transportation ?
Ann answered :
Err…That's basically a machine that counts faster than any wizard or witch
Eleanor was unaware that people wearing this or that kind of uniform had a special function in society, which ended up being particularly awkward when both girls first faced a policeman -
Why are people overly polite with this man who is strangely dressed ? Is he a politician ?
then a Buckingham guard
What does he carry in his arms ? Is it some symbolic object ?
Ann replied :
No, that's a gun, he can kill you with it if you trespass, even though you are a witch
Eleanor became all of a sudden, but only temporarily, very quiet, resuming her questioning when they were out of sight of the guards. Ann thought it was a shame lessons in Muggle Studies didn't include many Muggle pictures. They walked a bit in the business district where most men and women alike wore three-pieces suits :
Why are so many people wearing the same neat uniform ? Is it Mugg…fashion, or people working like house-elves ?
Ann replied :
They are businessmen and lawyers, and they earn as many Galleons in a year as all four of our parents in twenty
Eleanor wasn't fully satisfied with the answer :
But why wearing exactly the same thing, with the exact two same basic colours if they are rich ?
Ann needed a few seconds to devise an adequate reply :
This is to show their status, look cool even if they fire people
Eleanor was dumbstruck :
Are there so many people who are dismal at their job ?
Ann answered :
No, it's just that there are many more people here than in our world, so businessmen can easily and cynically replace the people they have just fired whenever they need it
They looked at shop-windows :
I recognize one of these computers. Can I buy one ? 4000 pounds, is that a lot ?
Ann answered :
Sigismond gave us 60 pounds, and it's already a lot
Eleanor was surprised :
Why paying so much for something that just counts fast ?
Ann shrugged :
Some companies want to count many things instantly
Finally, they bought for Eleanor a walkman, and a tape of Muggle rock music. Eleanor tried it, and was stunned. It was the first time in her life she had a Muggle object in her hands that allowed her to do something useful which was impossible in the wizarding world. Eleanor also marveled at the television sets, in which she could see and listen to a presenter talking about geopolitics :
What is you SSR ?
The two girls then exited the electronics shop and walked towards a neighbouring one, where jewelry was on offer :
How do Mugg… people do to manufacture silverware without Goblins ?
They went to an Italian chain of restaurants with a part of what remained of Sigismond's money. Eleanor kept looking around. Apparently, she had never seen that many people in a single restaurant. After this, it was time to travel through the subway :
Why do you go to see the clerk ? You don't know how it works ?
Ann answered :
No, I am just buying tickets
Eleanor, shocked, went on :
You have to pay to travel ?
Ann replied :
Yes. Follow me
They went to the gates, Ann drew her ticket up visibly, and progressively directed it to the slit where it should go to make the gate open. Eleanor hadn't understood that Ann had exaggerated her gestures in order to make the process easy to grasp for Eleanor. The latter imitated a bit too much the former, and ostensibly drew up the ticket, before slowly moving it towards the slit, in front of Ann who was in disbelief. Eleanor, who was so skilled in social relationships in the wizarding world, was so lost in the Muggle environment she hadn't noticed Ann's pedagogical intent, and had assumed that one could do nothing but follow an absurdly ridiculous procedure involving precise gestures. They arrived on the platform. Eleanor didn't complain about the noise, certainly because the Hogwarts Express was also emitting loud noises. However, something dawned on her :
Ann, is there any way in the Mugg… here to travel without having to wait, either for the departure, or for the travel to be complete ?
Ann obliged :
As far as I know, no, there is no such thing. With cars, you go slowly, and you can run into jams. Trains networks more rarely experience jams, and are faster, but more expensive. Then, there is the plane, it is fast, expensive, and it connects only major cities
Eleanor was getting more or less accustomed to the expected behaviour in the Muggle world. Nevertheless, she was annoyed by the travel in the crowded subway carriage. After the ride involving a transfer at Holborn, they reached Turnpike Lane, which was as close to equidistant as possible between the locations where Ann's and Eleanor's lectures would take place. Ann had taught Eleanor a few things about Muggle plans, and given one to the Ravenclaw undercover witch, hoping the latter would never have to ask a Muggle about directions. Fortunately, Eleanor managed to find the hall where the lecture would take place. Once she was inside, the presence of air-conditioning meant that Eleanor had to take off her jacket and her sweater, disclosing the pink blouse ornate with the teddy bear. She blushed, seeing that some people were frowning about her informal dress. However, the attendees were a mix of people in formal attire - probably businessmen who fired lots of workers - and of people casually dressed, with T-shirts. Eleanor even noticed a few boys who also wore jeans, although there was no teddy bear on their shirts. Some people had gathered into groups, and were chatting. The building in which she was standing was covered in glass, which allowed to see from the waiting area the park sprawling outside - a park she had crossed to make it to the lecture hall - and the cold blue and gray London sky of February 1985. Inside the envelope made of glass stood the hall itself, a round-shaped space with very white walls in a substance that Eleanor had never seen in the wizarding world. She believed it was what Ann had called 'Pla-stick'. She went close to the wall, and knocked on it, trying to get a feel of what this matter was. If Ann had been there, she would have hit the roof : it wasn't at all the kind of thing a wizard or a witch should do if they wanted to be discreet, and minimise the probability of being identified as a non-Muggle. Nevertheless, nobody paid attention to Eleanor's odd behaviour. At 1.50pm, people wearing suits arrived, and opened the door to the hall. Eleanor was confused : why would people who were rich and who could fire people do such a basic job, opening doors ? It was a free lecture, therefore there was no prospect for them to make a lot of money out of this event. Anyway, Eleanor could now see an amphi-theatre. She was surprised by one thing : the waiting area's ground floor was the top level of the auditorium. The bottom of the conference hall was probably fifty feet below the doors, and the stands were spreading down from the entry point, not up. In the center of the lecture hall's ground, far away from Eleanor, looking tiny, was a very wide white desk and a chair. A huge chalkboard had been affixed on the wall, slightly above the level of the desk. Eleanor wondered how she would be able to listen comfortably to the lecturer, since as a Muggle they wouldn't have the option to cast the 'Sonorus' spell, unless she would seat at the bottom of the pit, next to the desk. She therefore went down to one of the first rows, and sat there. She was surprised by the fact that many Muggle attendees had occupied seats near the top of the amphi-theatre, far away from the desk. Weren't they interested in listening the lecture ? Were they just going to the event because it was some compulsory task ? At 2pm, the lecturer, a woman clad in the standard black and white suit - apparently many workers ended up fired in the Muggle society - entered through a door in the wall near an extremity of the chalkboard, under loud applause. Eleanor applauded, too. The woman sat at the desk, seized some black object, brought it up next to her mouth, and began her speech :
Hello, I am Carrie Delsen, we are going to spend two hours musing about time, and especially, how the scientific understanding of time allows us, up to a certain extent, to forecast the future
Eleanor had flinched when the lecturer had started talking, for her voice sounded so powerful that she could as well have performed 'Sonorus'. Eleanor could now understand why people had picked seats so far from the desk : they knew Mrs. Delsen's speech would be amplified. She repressed a giggle, thinking about her mistake made out of naive prejudice. The lecture in itself was stimulating for Eleanor's brains, but there were so many words that pertained to Muggle science that she didn't understand a lot of things. She was for once in the situation of a lazy and weak student who hadn't studied his lessons before the examination. Noting this paradox, she came to the conclusion that instead of enlightening her about space-time, this lecture would rather open her eyes about the life of many students who weren't as gifted as she was, which was a valuable experience : the very social Eleanor loved everything that allowed her to have a better grasp of anything, and especially, of other people's lives. Ann wasn't thrilled by the 'show' she had picked, partly because she found out at its beginning that it would last four hours, but as the initiator of these visits in places of knowledge, she had to put up a brave face, and pay attention. Judith had brought Muggle paper to take notes, and went through the task without much trouble : to her, it was very similar to any other lesson. There was some complicated stuff she didn't understand and that she would have to research later, which would be painstaking, but she appreciated every effort made by the lecturer to sound pedagogical. Sigismond wasn't very focused during his time in the conference hall, as was usual for him. Therefore, he barely followed the lecturer's logic. On the other hand, he had had during the event something in mind, something that bugged him, and when the moment allocated to questions arrived, he raised his hand, and asked : 'Suppose you could encase time itself in an object, and this object would blow up, what would happen ?'. The lecturer smiled at the question, and people in the audience laughed, but the scientist answered : 'Causality would break, most likely. There wouldn't be any longer a strict association between causes and effects, for example, effects could take place before their causes.'
Paragraph 9 - 65 : The Free And The Fee
The four friends met at their usual spot near the lake. They had once again conjured little wooden boxes to sit on top of them without making their uniforms wet in places nor getting cold. In aggregate, they had spent a dozen of hours in four different conference halls, but it's Sigismond's intervention that caught the three girls' attention, especially Judith. She decided to interpret again everything they had associated with the explosion at the Department of Mysteries in the light of the answer the scientist had given to Sigismond :
Robert Stoutson's misadventure is a direct application. The cause of his mood change was the destruction of the object he used to win duels. And the cause got reversed, taking place after the effect which was Robert's depressing feeling. The mixup in the dishes, the mayhem in Edward Songer's dreams, and the prophecies becoming absurd, are correctly explained by Eleanor's theory. Then, there are three remaining items : the two versions of Mr. Mawden's death, the haphazard construction in the middle of nowhere, and the failed Avada Kedavra. What I gathered from what I heard at my lecture is that causality means that one set of identical causes will always have one other set of similar effects. The misshapen heap of stone was building itself, it had zero cause, which is consistent with a break in causality. Avada Kedavra didn't work because the effect forecast through basic causality didn't follow its cause. As for Mr. Drowhaly's case, I would use a combination of what I learned at the auditorium, what Sigismond discovered, and what Eleanor conjectured : two timelines coexist. It is at the same time true that Mr. Drowhaly killed Mr. Mawden, and that Mr. Mawden died out of an accident involving a runaway potion. In short, Mr. Mawden fell victim to a dysfunction of space-time, which added a second cause to the same effect, his death. That was probably due to the fact that Avada Kedavra and the magic underlying Time Turners are very powerful, and could have created disastrous interactions. All of this has nothing, zilch to do with Walter Oppus. But knowing the reputation of the latter, I would just say he was lucky, and that he took credit for something he hadn't done, in order to collect Mr. Drowhaly's money. Mr. Drowhaly went to him immediately after having killed Mr. Mawden, Oppus said he would do something about it, and what did he find out the next morning ? The newspaper saying one thing and the opposite about Mr. Mawden's death. He merely claimed this was his doing, while it would have been impossible for Oppus to first get this idea, then pull off such a feat affecting timelines. I would say there might be a more precise description of what happened with Edward Songer's dreams : when causality broke, the same event became the effect of a list of causes, including causes that shouldn't have existed in the era corresponding to the event, allowing it to also appear in wrong epochs
The three others took a bit of time to let this new interpretation sink in, then Eleanor noticed :
If it is really what happened, then Oppus was right about one thing : the fact that two versions of Mr. Mawden's death coexist implies that nobody will be able to prosecute or sentence Mr. Drowhaly. Sure, the Intuition Potion led us to a terrible injustice, namely, a murderer escaping any sentence, but didn't give us any way to right the wrong. And we also fell victim to some kind of witch hunt, but we have nothing at our disposal to assert it has been caused either by the explosion at the Ministry or by somebody in particular. On this point, maybe we could ask for Professor Dumbledore's assistance. He could liaise with the Aurors for them to identify the person behind the Darklog
They shared their conclusions with Professor McGonagall, who promised she would report to the Headmaster about them. They later received an update by Professor McGonagall, who told them that Professor Dumbledore had suggested the Ministry investigate about the origin of the Darklog, but to no avail. However, two days later, Mrs. Candler sent an owl to Sigismond :
Sweetheart,
Thanks to you and your friends' contribution, I was able to have a most productive chat with Mr. Drowhaly, who arranged promptly a meeting with Walter Oppus, where his cousin was unfortunately present. But because of this coincidence, I collected one of the biggest fees ever.
Your dear Mom
When hearing about this, Ann thought :
At this rate, the Candler family will be able to buy a computer for Eleanor in no time
Part 7 : The Inheritance
Paragraph 1 - 66 : Watch And Whack
On Saturday, March the second of 1985, at around 9am, the four friends were headed towards Hogsmeade, In town, very few shops were open. When entering the village, they saw in a distance two wizards seated on a bench, with massive books in their hands. This was of course puzzling : why would one person sit an almost frozen bit of wood, that might also be wet ? Why would you go outside to read books ? And why would you do this by two ? The four friends closed in on the strange sight. On reaching a point about fifty feet away from the wizards, Sigismond said :
I think they are looking at Hogwarts Yearbooks. Three of them
The wizards were alternatively watching students come, and lowering back their heads towards the Yearbooks. When one of the wizards' eyes fell on the group of friends, he whispered something to his associate. Suddenly, they stood up, took out their wands, and began casting spells in the direction of the four friends, while running towards them. Sigismond envisioned staying his ground and fighting back, but Ann shouted at him
Move !
while sprinting away from the attackers with the two other girls. In the meantime, a few other Hogwarts students had started casting their own spells at the two wizards, so as to slow them down, and this proved rather effective. Sigismond was able to catch up with the three girls, Judith performed 'Alohomora' on the door of The Three Broomsticks, they all entered the inn, ran to the trapdoor leading to the reserve, went down the stairs, and once there, Eleanor, still panting, said :
Group around me
Sigismond was once more last to act on the other girls' instructions : he cast a spell at a wooden box, before joining Ann and Judith around Eleanor. Eleanor extended her hand, and Ann, Judith, and Sigismond grasped a bit of her arm. In the following seconds, they had Disapparated through Side-Along travel to a completely nondescript part of the countryside. They recovered from their running. Then, Ann asked Sigismond :
What kind of spell was so important for you to choose to cast it on a box when people were possibly trying to kill you ? A will writing one ?
The boy answered :
Do you remember what we had used to engrave our photographs by Mr. Chrawn, to make the montage ? I used a derivative to carve on the bottom of the inside of the box the faces of the two wizards
Ann retorted :
I officially commend you for doing this useful thing, since we are still alive. I would have however had the urge to kill you if we had died as a result of what would have been a superfluous and vain operation
Sigismond smiled :
I hope we all enjoyed a fun Saturday at Hogsmeade. Now, we should go back to Hogwarts. Without any detour through Hogsmeade. Eleanor ?
The Ravenclaw witch once more extended her arm, and soon the four friends had arrived at a spot they hoped would be safer : the extremity of the lake away from the castle. They walked towards the castle, past their usual meeting recess, then on the grass in front of the gates. From the moment they had reached a place where they were exposed again, they had all been on the lookout for potential aggressors that would have circumvented the school's protections, wands out, walking more slowly. On reaching the inside of the castle, they went to Professor McGonagall's office, and recounted their undesirable chase. The Head of Gryffindor informed the four friends that, on hearing from other students who had come back to the school as quickly as they could to report the events at Hogsmeade, the school had dispatched a number of Professors and Hagrid to find Ann, Eleanor, Judith, and Sigismond, and bring them back safe and alive. Since they had needed about one hour to walk from the extremity of the lake back to the castle, the members of the staff in search of them were now scattered. Judith mentioned the fact that Sigismond had left a portrait of the two wizards on the bottom of a box in the reserve of The Three Broomsticks. Professor McGonagall enquired :
Does one of you still have a good recollection of the features of the wizards who tried to assault you ?
The four friends shook their heads.
Paragraph 2 - 67 : The Ban
On Monday, March the fourth, Ann, Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond were extracted from their classes in the morning by Professor Dumbledore, who introduced them to two Aurors, a wizard and a witch. The Headmaster explained that he had no authority to act at Hogsmeade decisively, and that the Ministry was in charge of the aggression. They had to go back to The Three Broomsticks, to show where they had left the engraving of their attackers' portraits, because the Aurors had found none in the reserve. Moreover, Madam Rosmerta was irate, since in order not to contaminate the 'crime scene', she had been obliged to close The Three Broomsticks on a Sunday, which was typically her best day of the week. In addition, there wasn't any longer a trace of alcohol in her bottles, and she was blaming the four friends' impetuosity for the damage. Professor Dumbledore had posited that the two aggressors could also have caused the loss of expensive beverages, for they had searched the whole inn. This was a point of debate : had the Aurors failed to detect a box with the carved images because the attackers had found them and erased this trace of their guilty actions ? Therefore, it was necessary for Sigismond to say if the box he had engraved was still there. To begin with, the Auror witch asked to perform 'Priori Incantatem' on Sigismond's wand. Since the Gryffindor boy had used a few spells in-between, it took a bit of time for the Ministry officer to get to the spell that the dreamy student had cast on the wooden box in the reserve. Now that it was sure Sigismond had done something consistent with his story, they all had to go to Hogsmeade. Since it wasn't possible to Disapparate from Hogwarts, except for the Headmaster, the Aurors elected to make the trip with Thestrals. On arriving in front of The Three Broomsticks, they found a sulky Madam Rosmerta. They went past her silently, entered the empty inn, through the trapdoor, down the stairs. Sigismond pointed at a box. The Auror wizard said :
We have checked this one, there is nothing in it. Look for yourself, boy
The student, followed by the three girls, moved towards the box, opened its lid, looked at the bottom, that was plain and mark-less. The Auror witch suggested the Gryffindor wizard had failed at making the carving spell work, or that one of the attackers had indeed scratched the incriminating portraits. Once they were back at ground level, Madam Rosmerta asked in a disgruntled voice :
So, you found something ?
The Auror wizard, who was clearly disappointed, answered dully and somewhat haughtily :
No, of course. If there had been something, we would have found it earlier
Madam Rosmerta concluded :
I don't want to see the four of you again. Ever
Sigismond was upset, since not only his attempt at shedding light on who were the perpetrators had failed, but he also was banned from going back to the reserve of The Three Broomsticks. Nevertheless, when he pointed this out, in a rare display of verbosity that betrayed his frustration, Ann retorted :
We can still Apparate there. It's risky, but not impossible
Judith had ceased being an extremely cautious witch since her bold initiatives in the Peter Perklus case, and didn't oppose the move. Eleanor was sympathetic to Sigismond's apparent desire to find a way of going through these tough to bear circumstances. Thus, the next Saturday, they again went to the extremity of the lake, outside the limits of Hogwarts' grounds, and travelled together through Side-Along Apparition courtesy of Eleanor to the reserve of The Three Broomsticks. After having briefly made sure nobody was about to go down to the reserve, Sigismond strode to the same box as before, opened the lid once more, and here they were : the engraved portraits of the two attackers. Sigismond, in an excited voice, invited the three girls to see for themselves the magical drawings. He stepped aside, and one by one, Ann, Eleanor and Judith moved towards the box, and caught a glimpse at the bottom of the chest-like object. This had happened in silence, which Sigismond broke at the end of the process with a confident voice :
We need to go and buy at Diagon Alley a camera
The three girls agreed, and the plan went smoothly : they Apparated in Diagon Alley, and found a specialised shop slightly after Gringotts when one was coming from the Leaky Cauldron. Sigismond checked the prices, picked the cheapest camera, paid, and they were soon back at the reserve of The Three Broomsticks. This time, however, they gasped. Somebody was waiting for them there. But it wasn't Madam Rosmerta. Under a mirror that they hadn't noticed earlier, on the floor, a Ravenclaw witch was seated : Adelaide Morr. Ann asked her :
What are you doing here ?
Adelaide answered, smiling :
Waiting for you, of course. I find it paradoxical for you to ask this, since you are the ones who have been forbidden to set foot in The Three Broomsticks, which includes its reserve, I assume. Madam Rosmerta is very vehement about your ban
It was Judith's turn to have a question :
Why would you wait for us ? I have a guess, but I am not sure at all it is the right one
Adelaide, still seated, but courteous, replied to the four friends standing :
You have entered a feud with Hestervey Hexler. Initially, your actions landed him in Saint Mungo's. And that was so powerful magic he didn't find anything better than drinking unicorn's blood to cancel it. He is not the forgiving type, so he tried to have you framed with the 'Darklog'. According to somebody who works at the Ministry, you requested from the Aurors, through Dumbledore, to investigate about this parody of an object's origin. They declined, not because it would be a worthless case, but because Hestervey Hexler is connected, and he was able to pressure the Ministry into focusing its resources elsewhere. Since the Darklog had a limited effect on you, he sent henchmen to finish you off. Now you are in deep trouble. Because Hexler wants you dead, and the only place where his influence is too weak to ensure his objective won't be attained is Hogwarts. You could live forever under Dumbledore's protection in the castle, as long as he survives himself of course. After all, Voldemort himself feared the old wizard. There might be another way, though, and it is related to one of your past experiments with magic. Akinori hands out her very special objects, in which she puts a part of her personality. The reason why Dumbledore hadn't figured out these objects' magic is that they are extremely rare. For it is most dangerous to deal them : if a second person inserts their personality in one of those, both personalities will influence each other, till one of its owners dies. I have in my pocket one of these objects. It is currently empty. If one of you puts their personality in it, I will make sure that Hexler finds it and does the same. He will be the only wizard able to see and use the object, because, yeah, that's magic. Otherwise, I could help you locate him, and the four of you will be able to duel his bodyguards. But I guess your chances are still lower in this second setup. To be fair, I don't expect any of you to make this deal. I am here because I had the idea of this potential but risky solution
The four friends paused, mulling over what Adelaide had said. Then, all of a sudden, Ann spoke :
You say it's a fight between personalities, magical powers or knowledge can't be used as weapons to win the opposition ?
Adelaide answered :
Yes, exactly
Ann immediately replied :
I have the strongest personality here, I'll do it
Judith instantly wanted to express something, but only uttered
Err…
because she knew she was the last person that could advise Ann not to put her life on the line, given that she had herself done it for something as futile as Peter Perklus' well-being. Eleanor and Sigismond had probably abstained from reacting indignantly at Ann's proposal because they had already condoned about ten months ago Judith's actions performed to endanger herself. All four of them had now drunk the Intuition Potion exactly once each, but the level of bravery required was not at all the same. It was obvious Ann was right when she was claiming to have the strongest personality. And a fight in which magical prowess wasn't required was probably the best compromise they could get to vanquish a person who apparently wanted them six feet under. Eleanor's brains were racing. Professor Dumbledore had defeated Gellert Grindelwald fourty years ago, he might take up the fight in their stead. However, even if the Hogwarts Headmaster defeated Hestervey Hexler, the four friends' troubles wouldn't be over at all : since Hexler was protected by the Ministry, he would never be sent to Azkaban, and as a free agent, would remain a permanent death threat for Ann, Eleanor, Judith, and Sigismond. The latter asked Adelaide :
If Ann doesn't make it alive, will I be able to try myself ?
Adelaide was puzzled, but answered :
I can make as many objects of this kind as you want. But of course, Hexler may consider that allowing one challenge would be generous. Although he may conversely think so highly of himself that he might take on the four of you in a row. I am fairly sure he will accept the first opposition, though, for he is pretty self-confident. So much so, that he doesn't care about doing illegal things almost in the open, sometimes in front of the eyes of Ministry officials, under the guise of bringing another flavour of justice to his clients
Sigismond's offer was changing the whole thinking process for Eleanor and Judith. Now that two of them were willing to take the risk, there wasn't any longer much of an opportunity for a string of arguments to win the Slytherin witch and the Gryffindor wizard over. Eleanor and Judith thus remained silent in the aftermath of both these solemn commitments. Adelaide said :
That seems settled
She took out of her robes a sphere, like an opaque and smaller Remembrall, and told Ann :
Just wave your wand at the globe, and say 'Persona Grata'
Ann took out her wand, and slightly trembling, applied Adelaide's instruction. The latter then explained :
I am going to make this available to Hexler. If and when he chooses to put his own personality in there, the opposition will begin. At this moment, Ann will have to give a sign, and I will arrive to perform Legilimency on her, watch a representation of the fight in Ann's mind, and report it to you
Judith had a question about this organisation for Adelaide :
How are you going to find Hexler ?
Miss Morr replied :
Hexler is a socialite. He will go at some point wherever the trend entices other wizards and witches to gather. And I happen to know one of these places, which is definitely very close. I will just lay the object there
Apparently, the Ravenclaw witch wouldn't disclose more, therefore the four friends said 'Goodbye' to her. Ann, Judith and Sigismond gripped Eleanor's extended arm, and they were within two seconds at the extremity of the lake, whence they could walk to the castle without incurring the risk of being assaulted en route. But on arriving at the castle, instead of directly going back to their dormitories, they visited again the room with the empty bookshelves where their friendship had begun. It sounded fitting to reenact the initial effect of their bond, now that a threat weighed down Ann's fate. If she were to die, the three remaining friends would have a last, strong, evocative memory that they would be able to use as a keepsake. They wandered silently in the room that still had its cobwebs, and its unordered benches. Ann sat on one of these, and went into such a deep thought she could barely hear the regular footsteps of the three others. She remembered being first to arrive in this room, not having the slightest idea that things would go so far that they would question her possibility to live, hence her whole life. She reminded herself of what she had done she could find noticeable. After having spent ten years in a Muggle family where money was scarce, but support never lacking, she had found out she was a witch, and entered Hogwarts. She had been sorted in a House that was synonymous with dark Pure-Blood wizards in the superficial folklore of the school, and had always wondered why. She had been clumsy in her relationships with her fellow Slytherins, and in her adjustment to the dumbfounding environment that Hogwarts was for a Muggle-born, but that had been the price to pay for being herself. She had ended lonely, though not on bad terms with anyone, at least that was what she believed. But she had met Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond, and all of a sudden, the working of relationships had shifted from mysterious to obvious, and she had become involved in fast-paced investigations riddled with vicissitudes. They stayed in the Friends' Room till the time came for dinner.
Paragraph 3 - 68 : White, Green And Black
Three days later, Ann was in a class when her neighbour noticed she was completely unresponsive. She was staring at a point in front of her, that was corresponding to the back of another student, with her wand raised. Ann's neighbour pointed out the problem to Professor Sprout who was this time teaching theoretical elements about Herbology. The Professor took out her wand, which was typically unnecessary in her field, and tried to elicit a reaction from Ann unsuccessfully. Therefore, she dispatched a fellow Slytherin student to carry her by Levicorpus to the Hospital wing. Ann had barely had enough time to embroider the message :
The fight will be on soon
Immediately, the three other friends had invented an excuse to leave their own class - this worked only because none of them had ever lied to a Professor up to now - and started looking for Ann. They quickly received a second flurry of green threads :
Hospital wing
Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond adjusted their course accordingly. They were joined at the Hospital wing by Adelaide Morr, as if she had herself read Ann's warnings. The latter was lying on a bed, still staring at nothing in particular, this time some tile of the ceiling. Mrs. Pomfresh had visibly taken her wand off her hand, and she arrived to scold the four students :
I didn't give permission to any of you to visit. You should be in class
Adelaide retorted :
If you want to know what Ann is suffering from, you will need us
And she started performing Legilimency on Ann. Mrs. Pomfresh raised her voice, furious :
This is a hospital, not some place for a performance
Eleanor's facial expression indicated as much seriousness as her voice, which Mrs. Pomfresh knew was extremely rare :
We are not here for a show
Hearing this from Eleanor Magarthy made Mrs. Pomfresh scowl in surprise, but the Ravenclaw witch had made her point, and Mrs. Promfresh left, upset of being implicitly excluded from her own territory. Adelaide could now describe what she was seeing in Ann's mind. A green paved terrace circled with green stone towers was spreading towards the opposite side, which symmetrically was made of a white paved terrace circled with white stone towers. At the meeting point of the green and white terraces, dust was flying in the air, as if both terraces were each moving towards the other, each damaging the other. Amidst the white part of the landscape, a tall blond wizard with green eyes, clad in blue robes, was facing another, who on his part, was shorter, had brown hair and also green eyes. Mr. Hexler addressed the other wizard in a voice that was unexpectedly soft :
You got caught with your wand in the cookie jar. The Board needs someone who will not collect anything from the community pot
The other wizard vehemently shouted :
You are a disgusting piece of crap. You stole the money, and you manipulated the Board for them to believe somebody like me could lower themselves to be the one embezzling the company
Mr. Hexler coolly retorted :
There is nothing substantiating such a thing
By looking at Mr. Hexler's face, it was obvious the situation appeared to him as normal, not conflictual in the least, nor worrying. Mr. Hexler's feelings started influencing Ann's. For the first time in her life, she could experience satisfaction out of injustice and scruple-less treachery. The white terrace started gaining ground over the green one, blasting it. But then Ann wondered :
Am I really like that ?
Her thoughts derived, and one memory came back to her. A clandestine party had been organised at Hogwarts. Sure, she hadn't been invited, nor her friends. But according to every account of what had happened, students had had an astounding amount of fun. And this had made her somewhat happy, altogether bittersweet. Immediately, the white pavement grew again, and repelled the green one. Another drama started taking place on the white side. Mr. Hexler was speaking to a dark haired witch with brown eyes :
Somebody has reported something disturbing to me. It seems that the Ministry has favoured Mr. Yerry for the contract of the broomsticks fleet, not because his offer was the best, but because he was close to the Head of Materiel. I could set this problem aside, preventing it at all cost from becoming public, if the Ministry could also improve my fortunes
Mr. Hexler and the witch disappeared briefly, before showing up again. The witch presented to Mr. Hexler a box in a red fabric envelope, and said :
The Order of Merlin. First-Class. For protecting so many people from injustice
Ann this time felt Mr. Hexler's unhealthy relish at power. He had reached his goals, even the Ministry couldn't keep him in check anymore. His position was impregnable. Should one person at the Ministry complain about his crooked methods, the Ministry itself would collapse under the amount of compromising information divulged to the press. Ann felt this exhilaration of the person who is on top, having crushed every possible competitor. She thought that this was her Slytherin side taking over. The white pavement moved closer, erasing the green one. She had to envision things differently. Mr. Hexler had felt pride for his own convoluted accomplishments. This was very different from the pride Ann Aves could feel, for example when Judith had bravely chosen to cast the 'Provo' spell. Ann had been proud that Judith, with whom she overall liked to spar friendly, each of them making fun of the defects of the other in a benevolent way, had gone past her fears and past the biggest drawback of her personality. The green pavement made progress again at the expense of its white counterpart, sending more dust in the air. Then, a witch and two wizards that neither Ann nor Adelaide had ever seen became visible at the white end. One of the wizards held a notepad, and the other a camera. The wizard with the notepad asked the witch :
Mrs. Dreght, have you ever come across something dubious, an injustice by Mr. Hexler ?
The witch answered
Not at all, quite the contrary. I don't like at all your innuendos
The same wizard cast a penetrating glance at the witch and said ironically :
Would you be ready to make an Unbreakable Vow according to which you commit to report to me any injustice you would hear about from Mr. Hexler ?
The witch replied, defiantly :
Yes
And she extended her hand. The journalist gripped the witch's arm, and the photographer raised his wand, before pointing it at the interlocked arms. The two wizards and the witch vanished, but the witch was soon back, talking to Mr. Hexler, explaining she had made the Vow with the journalist, whose name was apparently Mr. Treadboat. Mr. Hexler smirked. Then, Mr. Hexler and the witch looked like they had instantly both changed robes. Apparently, it was another discussion between the two, at a later time. Mr. Hexler told Mrs. Dreght that curiously, the journalist, Mr. Treadbeat, had been found beaten in an alley, Obliviated, and transferred to Saint Mungo's. He added, without the slight threat in his voice, but on the contrary, a tone that implied he was putting his life into Mrs. Dreght's hands :
I hope I can rely on your loyalty
The witch vanished, replaced by a wizard, who was updating Mr. Hexler :
Mrs. Dreght died. As if thunderstruck
The flamboyant wizard commented, more talking to himself than to the news bearer :
This is really what I call a die hard fan
He was feeling elated. He had believed his successful blackmail of the Minister of Magic would be his life's crowning feat. But this new perception was unprecedented. One had to be powerful to deal with a whole Ministry in a position of superiority, but this was nothing in comparison with what it took, to inspire such a devotion, that the person feeling it would die for you. Ann was feeling jealous. Of course, she deserved this. Why hadn't any of the three cowards she could consider as her friends proposed to sacrifice their life in order to prevent Ann from endangering hers ? At least one of them could have come forward, and announced they would fight in a duel Hexler. But why should any of them, including Ann, attempt to erase Mr. Hexler's existence from this world ? He was clearly an exceptional man, with so many gifts. Only a truly fantastic wizard could have inspired Mrs. Dreght's sacrifice. What was the point of this opposition ? The white pavement and its flanking towers advanced swiftly towards the green buildings. The two green towers that had been closest to the white part were toppled by the two white towers that had faced them. The two green towers collapsed, becoming a rubble engulfed in green and white dust. Yes, that was fair. There was nothing to fight for, least of all, her three lame friends. They had ceremoniously met in the room with the bookshelves. This ultimate gathering now sounded ridiculous. It was time for Ann to sacrifice herself, as had Mrs. Dreght. The white terrace kept substituting itself to the green one, erecting a wave of the same green and white dust at the meeting point of both sides. Ann felt something troubling. The four friends had visited the room where their friendship had started, and this memory made a powerful nostalgia mixed with satisfaction emerge. The white terrace came to a halt. Then, on the white part, that was now much closer to Ann's point of view, thus easier to watch, a teenage blond wizard with green eyes wearing the Hufflepuff uniform was seated in the air, talking to a witch of the same House :
Without me, Davis wouldn't have had better than a T. With the appropriate help by me, though, he got E. That's wonderful, isn't it ?
The witch, an indignant look on her face, stood up without saying a word. The young Hestervey Hexler was now talking to a Gryffindor wizard :
Look. You are a perfect Gryffindor. You consider that braveness is above everything, and as a result, you get loathed by the whole school, who think you should be more focused on ethics. I am the truest Hufflepuff. I believe nothing can surpass loyalty, and even when helping Davis to cheat out of will to exhibit my House's most prized quality, I got only scorn as a reward. We are both sharing the same dreadful pool of injustice that Hogwarts is. We could work together, I have a little plan in mind. We could swap two essays. For instance, an essay by the excruciatingly arrogant and smart Elly Fowes, and another one by you
The Gryffindor boy vanished, and the teenage Hexler, alone, was left. He was sporting a look of intense satisfaction. Ann could feel the same. Revenge could bring so much of this, she should have gone for this option early on. The other Slytherins hadn't respected her, because she was Muggle-born, but the solution had been obvious, in front of her eyes. Her House valued success at all cost. In other words, ignoring the fact that one was using unpalatable means to achieve something. Mr. Hexler was a superb example of this. As reckless as a Gryffindor, as defiant of stupid ethics as a Slytherin, as loyal as the fact of belonging to his House commanded, as filled with foresight as the smartest Ravenclaw. She could have exploited the skills of the three others to come on top of her House, forcing Slytherins from the first year to the seventh one to bow to her ambitions. The white terrace crashed onward faster than before, blowing up the two last green towers standing, leaving only a few feet of green paved terrace. Death was coming, but it didn't matter. After all, she could die now, having learned at last what mattered most, and having felt Mr. Hexler's deepest satisfactions as if she had lived as long as he had. There was something going counter to that oblivious happiness, though. Mr. Hexler had never given altruistically, he always had a motive. This was very different from what she had done to guide Eleanor in the Muggle word. She thought again about the absurd remarks by the Ravenclaw witch, and this was funny. But the white terrace kept grinding the green one, even though it was at a slower pace. Then Adelaide could not see anything any longer, and stopped reporting to Eleanor, Judith, and Sigismond. Eleanor immediately understood what it meant, and swiftly moved to check Ann's pulse. She waited two whole minutes, but didn't register a single trace of heart beating. In the meantime, Judith and Sigismond, having seen what Eleanor was trying to do, watched Ann, looking for any tiny move of her body that could indicate she was still alive. Judith, whose face was extremely pale, stood up, and went to see Mrs. Pomfresh. The latter arrived soon, made a few checks, and looked intently at all four students, trying to read guilt on their faces. And yes, there was. But Mrs. Pomfresh was too upset to even shout at Eleanor, Sigismond, Judith and Adelaide. Miss Morr, in a hollow voice, explained to the nurse what had happened. She finally concluded :
Several days before Ann entered the hospital wing, there wasn't anymore anything you could do to save her. You could have stayed near her, but this wouldn't have changed a single detail
Mrs. Pomfresh ordered them to stay at the exact same spot, and went to fetch Professor Dumbledore. About ten minutes later, the Headmaster was back. On reaching Ann's bedside, he stared at the corpse, then at each of the four students still alive. Then, he spoke :
I would have most severely punished you if I hadn't experienced myself resounding, even ashaming, failures brought by young age when trying to act for the best. You, on the other hand, did nothing that deserves shame, therefore I would not be fair if I disciplined you more than the teenage Albus Dumbledore himself had been. The death of your friend and schoolfellow will affect you very much till the end of your schooling, and even after. The only thing you can do to repay her sacrifice is to learn from your Professors as much as one can learn from her braveness. Nevertheless, do not seek solace in feverish hard work aimed at forgetting your loss. The more time you will abscond from facing her departure, the more cruel the wakening call will be. Now that you know the price of fairness, use this knowledge to appreciate every ounce of justice that one can find in everyday deeds. Now, I think you should know something : one of the portraits in my office has warned me that Hestervey Hexler has just died. I am very sure it is not a coincidence
The three girls - Eleanor, Judith, Adelaide - and Sigismond stayed near Ann's bed during the whole day, and into the evening, till 1am. Judith cried a lot, and she was the one whose pain was most easy to capture, but tears also flowed on the cheeks of Eleanor, Adelaide, and Sigismond.
Paragraph 4 - 69 : Plus Oultre
Before leaving, Adelaide told the three remaining friends :
I owe you a bunch of explanations. And somebody else, too, because I wasn't alone in this string of initiatives. Meet me and the other student today, after classes, in the room that you call the Friends' Room
Eleanor, Judith, and Sigismond nodded in approval. On the one hand, they were extremely sad, not only of having lost a friend forever, but also of having been kept in the dark by Adelaide. On the other hand, knowing more might help them cope with Ann's death. They were therefore back, at 6pm, in the room full of cobwebs. None of them had eaten since the breakfast of the previous day, because they had been too depressed to be hungry. Adelaide arrived, in the company of a Hufflepuff witch, whose name was Faustia Verst, a black and small student. Faustia hadn't experienced seeing the death of anybody, but she knew what had happened, and was good at reading the mood, therefore she explained in a very kind voice what the three friends had missed :
Just like there is a separation between Muggles and wizards, there is a difference between the everyday wizard and what we call 'Non-Dogmés'. The latter have a better understanding of magic, and can easily perform some actions that ordinary wizards can't, although there isn't the slightest difference in magical powers between the two communities. The Non-Dogmés are scarce, and there is no automatic process that allows to detect them. They go to Hogwarts just like any other wizard or witch, and people who know they are Non-Dogmés painstakingly go through the list of students, and try to determine if they also are Non-Dogmés. There is a typical clue, though : Non-Dogmés people get usually asked out a lot. Apparently, many students fall in love with us - Adelaide and I are Non-Dogmées - because they perceive that we are different. Non-Dogmés don't look down on Muggles, are good at discerning what is going on in the channels that allow to perform magic, and know that wands are creatures. All the instant magical means of transportation, every Transfiguration, every prophecy work thanks to the channels, joining places, times, objects, people. For example, in Transfiguration, the targeted object enters a channel, exiting thus the reality, while the desired object leaves the channel, and replaces the first one as the thing present in the standard space that every wizard or witch can see. There are people who aren't Non-Dogmés and who still can read what happens on some of these channels. Edward Songer is an example of this. We had initially assumed he was Non-Dogmé because of his skills at getting dreams about what was happening, had occurred, or was to come, but he is not. He is just an ordinary wizard especially gifted. The channels also allow to bind people together. I must add that Adelaide was able to know that Ann was going to the hospital wing because we read on one of the channels your messages. I don't know exactly how you make these transmissions work, but we are sure they use the same channels as Apparitions. This kind of ability has another very important implication : we have asked a number of Non-Dogmés people if they had discerned another fight between Ann and Hexler, and a few of them did. We had underestimated the fact that Ann was a Slytherin. But what makes - sorry, made - her a rightful member of this House was not ambition, it was cunning, and that is what she used to defeat Hexler : in her last opposition, instead of thinking about one counterattack she elected to use two at the same time. What the Non-Dogmés saw, was Ann recalling the moment when you broke Hexler's injustice in the Goodrow affair. She really had a fond memory of this event. Ironically, it's by thinking about an action performed through an object in which Akinori put her personality, that Ann was able to vanquish Hexler in the fight she had entered by putting her personality into an object. This probably explains why the feeling coming from this episode was so powerful, fitting with the process. At the opposite side, Hexler hadn't expected any further blow to come, and he was only able to remind himself of the party at which he found in Rita Skeeter a person very much like him. Then, the rubble of green stones that was left on Ann's side submerged Hexler's white terrace and towers
Faustia paused here, and cast a glance at Adelaide, who went on :
For the rest of the story, we will have to Disapparate. I and Faustia can Disapparate from Hogwarts, because we use the same kind of channel as the Headmaster to circumvent this limitation, but we avoid as much as we can to make a display of our differences with the ordinary witch or wizard. Therefore we will need to go to a place outside of Hogwarts' grounds
Judith said in a faint voice :
The extremity of the lake
Adelaide hadn't expected an answer to come so quickly, and from any of the three friends, but she returned the earlier glance from Faustia, and seeing on the latter's face a sign of approval, agreed :
Let's meet again on Saturday at 2pm here to make the trip
Therefore, the five of them arrived one by one in what was still to Eleanor, Judith and Sigismond the Friends' Room, then proceeded to walk from this place in the castle to the extremity of the lake, from which they used Adelaide Morr's abilities to Side-Along Apparition in order to get to their destination, a location they knew very well.
Paragraph 5 - 70 : Floo !
They were in the reserve of The Three Broomsticks. Faustia addressed the three friends :
I suggest that, one by one, each of you climbs the stairs, opens the trapdoor, and looks at what is in the inn
None of the three friends were at this point in a state of mind to ask why Faustia had made this request. Sigismond was first to react, and to do his part. Eleanor and Judith had expected this would last a few seconds, but Sigismond was apparently befuddled by what he could see, and was looking around, at the inside of the inn. He finally went down, and told the two girls, in a dull voice :
That is clearly something to see
Eleanor went next, and she behaved very much like Sigismond. When she closed the trapdoor and directed her steps towards the basement, she told Judith
This is not The Three Broomsticks
Judith took the last turn, now more puzzled than sad. The same sequence of actions unfolded : Judith looked around a long time. When they all were back at the bottom of the stairs, Faustia explained :
When you were running towards the real Three Broomsticks, at the beginning of March, to take cover from your two attackers who worked for Mr. Hexler, I was there. Some students were slowing them down. You broke into The Three Broomsticks, and, at the last moment, I made The Three Broomsticks Disapparate in some nondescript street in the vicinity of Diagon Alley, before creating, within the same second, a copy of The Three Broomsticks. But the rules of magic still apply, even for Non-Dogmés : one can't conjure food or alcohol. I had caused the alcohol to Disapparate away to Diagon Alley, and in the copy at Hogsmeade, the bottles were now empty. That's why Madam Rosmerta thought you had been behind the loss of her store of alcohol. When Sigismond carved on the bottom of a box the portraits of the aggressors, it was after I had transferred The Three Broomsticks with the four of you near Diagon Alley, thus he was engraving the box here, close to Diagon Alley, not the box in Hogsmeade, that was a copy. When Eleanor allowed Ann, Judith and Sigismond to Apparate in The Three Broomsticks, she wanted to arrive in the version of the tavern in which Sigismond had affixed the portraits. Therefore, the four of you came here, for the second time, without noticing that you were in the Diagon Alley complex, not in Hogsmeade. I came back to the new Three Broomsticks, here, and installed a mirror, that would allow me to spy on what was happening in the reserve of the copied inn. Apparently, the wizard who owned the building considered the appearance of a full tavern, with its valuable store of alcohol, as a blessing, and he changed the Three Broomsticks into a new inn, with a different décor, so as to prevent people from understanding that they were in a copy of The Three Broomsticks. Then I saw that you had come to the new Three Broomsticks, and I told Adelaide about it. That's when Adelaide came up with the idea of the object into which one can put their personality. The copy of The Three Broomsticks would work as an in-between place : Hexler, who is a socialite, would come to the new Three Broomsticks, and you would come to its reserve. When you were back in the reserve, with your camera, Adelaide was here. She of course didn't say a word about Non-Dogmés, nor about the fact that I was the person who would hand the object over to Hexler. Because Hexler is a former Hufflepuff, and I also belong to this House. So, Hexler knew he could trust me when I left a note telling him that, if he really wanted to get rid of you, he would just have to put his personality in the object, visible to him only, that was waiting for him in the new Three Broomsticks. By the way, its current name is 'Floo !'
Faustia finished here her speech, and let the new perspective sink in on the three friends. They then Disapparated back to the extremity of the lake, from which they walked once again towards the castle.
Paragraph 6 - 71 : The Elephant In The Forrest
On the following Monday evening, Professor Dumbledore addressed the four Houses gathered in the Great Hall :
You are now aware of the tragedy that took place within this castle. This was not an instance of negligence by anybody here. It was an example of extreme braveness. Miss Aves honoured not only Slytherin House, by acting selflessly and with cunning, but also every one of us who wants to find one day our society more beautiful to live in. A few years back, a former Slytherin student who had misappropriated and betrayed this concept met his downfall. Now, a Slytherin student made it obvious that noble souls can also be found in this very same House. Before making her last sacrifice, Ann Aves was able to rely on three friends, from the three other Houses. This should not be considered a random piece of fate. On the contrary, it is the sign that this school needs the qualities of all its students, whatever their House, to do something significant. In the light of the extreme and invaluable contribution made by Ann Aves to a kinder world, and in order to make this contribution impossible to forget, Slytherin is now awarded in advance, in an honorary fashion, the House Cup for the school-year ending this summer. No count of the points of any House will be kept. The specially made House Cup, exceptionally, will remain in the Trophy Room as long as Hogwarts exists. The Aves family have made their decision known to the school : since Ann experienced some of the best parts of her life at Hogwarts, she will be buried here. The ceremony will take place tomorrow. Classes will be cancelled as a sign of mourning, and to allow every student to attend. Remember Ann Aves
A very long applause broke out, in the otherwise silent Great Hall. In the morning of the following day, while being with Judith and Sigismond, waiting for the ceremony to be fully prepared, Eleanor asked them :
Do you remember Mark Amader and Lewis Lapst ?
Judith answered 'Yes', and Sigismond nodded in approval. Eleanor went on :
We now can assert that the Intuition Potions that they had drunk had led them to meet us, because it was the first step towards finding out what they wanted to know. Mark's desire was to determine who would win the House Cup. And this year, Slytherin won the House Cup, thanks to Ann. Lewis' ambition was to understand who Adelaide Morr was, and the only people who were able to discover this, it's the three of us. The Potions knew that they had to connect with us in order to quench their thirst for information. But the Potions' effects didn't last long enough, and neither boy kept in touch with us
Most of the students were scattered around them, on the grass in front of the castle's gates, watching the Professors arrange the ceremony. A wide path had been drawn, perpendicular to the school's doors and seventy feet away of them. The path's boundaries were delineated by white, black, and green rose-like flowers making up two parallel rows. The path was extremely long, in order to allow later all students to line up. At one extremity, a pit had been dug and cased with green marble. A white square stone, behind the pit, supported the golden honorary House Cup. At this moment, though, Judith, Eleanor and Sigismond were called by Professor Snape, who brought them to Professor Dumbledore's office. Somebody was already there, a small witch in purple robes. The Headmaster introduced the witch as Mrs. Omiga, from the Ministry, and more precisely, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Mrs. Omiga waited for the three students and Professor Snape to be in the office, and for the Potions Master to close its door behind the six of them, to explain :
Mr. Cathar Schuttoff came to us yesterday, claiming he was Ann Aves' real father. He was so adamant about this that we felt it wise to use Veritaserum on him. His stance was still the same after having drunk the beverage. We showed to him a picture of Mrs. Aves, and he confirmed she was Miss Aves' mother. Then we displayed a colour picture of Miss Aves herself, and told him it wasn't possible for a wizard with pale skin and a woman with similarly white complexion like Mrs. Aves to beget a daughter with dark skin. Mr. Schuttoff wasn't at all taken aback by this simple demonstration, and said his magical powers were so wide-ranging they might be the cause of Miss Aves' dark skin. We then proposed to him a little challenge, looking at a memory in a Pensieve, then telling us what he thought about it. He didn't hesitate, and agreed. The memory was that of a wizard who was murdering another one. Everything was in there : 'Avada Kedavra' was more than audible, the green flash most recognisable and the victim was on the ground, fear on his face. Mr. Schuttoff offered to us what he called his analysis : according to him, his skill is about seeing beyond the crude perception, and the veil of ignorance that comes with a basic overview. He thanked us to have required his expert assessment, and told us, without the slightest sign of irony, that obviously, the fearful look of the victim indicated the latter was scared of being possessed by a creature that was inside them, and the murderer had clumsily tried to get the victim rid of it. We didn't feel it necessary to insist at this point, we have read his articles in the Daily Prophet, it is clear that he is either delusional, or a con artist. One of the witches of our Department, who was attending the whole ridiculous display by Mr. Schuttoff of his own level of absurdity, was frustrated, and recalled being at a party where Mr. Schuttoff was one of the guests, although he might have just been gate-crashing. Our employee had trouble concealing their anger, and told Mr. Schuttoff that, during the whole party, people were ignoring him and his inopportune interventions in the groups of attendees. Mr. Schuttoff didn't abandon his coolness, and replied as if it were blatant truth, with limitless candour, that the participants weren't scornful towards him at all, they merely felt deeply impressed by his presence, and politely attempted at camouflaging their noble feelings. Noting that the situation could only escalate, we thanked Mr. Schuttoff, and found after a lot of more or less diplomatic efforts, including the threat of removing him forcefully from the Ministry's premises, a way to make him leave. I must confess I had never seen this happen. We had given him so many heavy doses of Veritaserum there was enough to knock down an elephant, but he was till the end assured of his own truthfulness. We didn't have enough elements to put him in jail, and we are envisioning to send him to Saint Mungo's, but this is difficult, since we have to respect everybody's liberties, and Mr. Schuttoff has the absolute right of being a liar, or a fool. However, we have received intelligence that he is intent on making a scene at the burial. Therefore, we would like Hogwarts to use caution
Mrs. Omiga ended her exposé here, and Professor Dumbledore replied :
I will make it as difficult as possible for anybody to disturb the serenity of Miss Aves' burial. Thank you, Mrs. Omiga
The witch from the Ministry departed, and the Headmaster told the three friends and Professor Snape :
I have a mission for the four of you
Professor Snape cast sideway glances at the three students, feeling it very weird to be put at the same level as teenagers. Once Professor Dumbledore had finished giving his instructions, the three friends and Professor Snape went back down to the grassy space where the solemn event would take place, starting from 4pm. At around 2.30pm, though, a tall brown-haired wizard with curly hair and very stylish red robes, emerged from the Forbidden Forrest, and shouted, at the top of his lungs, wand raised :
Stop this masquerade immediately. I am Ann Aves' rightful father. Let me…
As per the Headmaster's plan spread among the four Houses by the three friends and Professor Snape, all the students, of every House, directed their wands at the intruder and cast a prolific amount of 'Stupefy' and 'Rictusempra'. Although the distance to Cathar Schuttoff was significant, a few dozens of spells reached the target, and the former Daily Prophet analyst was projected backwards into the Forbidden Forrest. He was apparently knocked out, for he didn't stand up in the next fifteen minutes. Mrs. Pomfresh finally strode towards Schuttoff, and carried him through 'Levicorpus' to the hospital wing. At 4pm, the students, as had been devised, lined up along the path, on either side of it. Ann's Muggle parents walked to the side of the pit where their daughter would rest. All the Professors were already gathered behind the burial place. Mr. Aves, who was wearing a three-pieces suit, had his hand over his wife's shoulder, and the latter brought from time to time a handkerchief to her eyes and her cheeks. Mrs. Aves was wearing black Muggle robes. Then, a black carriage which supported the wooden coffin and was pulled by Thestrals, became visible within the frame of Hogwarts' outer walls' doors. It moved slowly towards the beginning of the path, and entered it, advancing on its way to the pit, while students raised their wands to cast green arcs in the air. The arcs of the students on one side of the path crossed those of the students on the other side. The loud but melodic tune of a Requiem echoed off the walls of Hogwarts and the trees of the Forbidden Forrest. When the Thestrals' hooves were close to the pit, Professor Snape cast a spell on the bindings that attached the creatures to the carriage, and they dissolved. The Thestrals then took flight, away from the Hogwarts' grounds. Professor Snape then performed 'Sonorus' on his throat, and delivered the first part of the eulogy :
Ann Aves is most certainly not the last member of Slytherin House to die in a heroic way. For one does not cease to be a Slytherin, a Gryffindor, a Hufflepuff, or a Ravenclaw after graduation, and we all know that among the students in every House, some of them will meet a dramatic but meaningful fate. However, I dearly hope that for the last time, Hogwarts is burying one of its students
Professor Dumbledore then cast 'Sonorus' on his own throat, and concluded the last official speech in favour of Ann :
Miss Aves acted as an adult while so many grown-ups fail to behave at least as well as teenage students. This is all the more wrong that one, even in old age, should remain a student ready to learn everyday from the others, and from the life that puts them together. You are all here to learn, but first and foremost, to live. Miss Aves cannot live anymore, you will thus have to live not only for you, but also for her
Some students briefly clapped. Then the Headmaster gently made the coffin levitate over the pit, and into it. Mr. and Mrs. Aves threw a red rose each in the pit, on the coffin. Finally, Professor Dumbledore waved his wand, and conjured a stone of green marble, on which one could read, in golden letters :
Ann Aves
Slytherin House
1971-1985
Braveness & Love Are More Powerful Than Magic
The Headmaster then invited all the students to conjure one by one flowers or anything else that could convey their emotion, on the tombstone. Slowly, the tombstone grew to support more and more flowers. When the last student came, it had already long become invisible, covered under the magical roses.
Paragraph 7 - 72 : Owl-Ware
During the remainder of her years at Hogwarts, that is, one full year and three months, Eleanor compiled what the four friends had done and learned in a book. This wasn't a linear story, for Eleanor was reminded of more and more details that pertained to different adventures. But when she graduated from Hogwarts, she felt she had gathered most of the important elements of her friendship with Ann, Judith, and Sigismond. Judith and Sigismond reviewed the manuscript. Then Eleanor brought it to the Professor in charge of Muggle Studies, instructing her to give the book to Telly. Several years later, Eleanor and Judith had started, with Sigismond's funding, their company, 'Magarthy & Parry', headquartered in Leicester Court, not far from the Leaky Cauldron. Sigismond had, on his part, chosen to become, like his mother, a chaser of magical objects, though with a very different mindset than Apollina Candler's. On this day, Eleanor was welcoming a fresh Hogwarts graduate, for whom it was his first day at the company. The former Ravenclaw witch was clad in jeans, but had a white blouse. Nobody at the company was wearing wizarding robes. Eleanor explained to the newcomer :
Since you are Half-Blood, I suppose that you know how to dress like a Muggle. If you have a doubt, don't hesitate in asking someone at the International Information Collecting Department. There are four departments : the Management, who handle the paperwork for the Muggle administration and the Ministry of Magic. Since the company is a resident in a Muggle building, we need two accounting divisions. No wizarding robes, no wand visible or out unless there is imminent peril, no Disapparition or Apparition, of course no travel by broomstick to Leicester Court, the chimney here is definitely not connected to the Floo network, and no creation of Portkeys to commute. We are close to the Leaky Cauldron, so, if you need something in our world, you walk up to the inn, enter Diagon Alley, and do whatever magical stuff you need. The second department is the one I mentioned earlier, its purpose is to collect hitherto unknown magical knowledge, mostly abroad. This one works with the third one, which is the Registering Department. The knowledge collectors bring novelties to this service, where we save them on a Muggle computer. The last department is the one which deals with clients : people send owls with their request for worldwide information, we receive these requests, we retrieve thanks to the computer almost instantly the results, we print them on special Muggle parchment, we send back by owl the search results with an invoice, and if everything is fine, a week later, one of our owls collects the fee. Now, there are schools and other major clients, who use the service a lot. They get discounts, and we collect the fees in person. For a start, you will learn everything you can from all four departments. Don't forget : even if you neglect one department on purpose, because you prefer another, it doesn't mean that you will become a member of the department you are aiming for. Everybody must know the basics of the four departments, and be able to help if somebody is missing. Got it ?
The new employee answered :
Err. I think so
Eleanor went on :
Your first assignment, it's learning how to use the computer. Registering Department. Your trainer there will be Lily. Off you go
The young wizard nodded, and left the room. Then Eleanor opened a drawer in her desk, and looked at the enchanted cauldron that Ann had given her as present for Christmas 1984. Without Ann, neither Eleanor nor Judith would have had the idea of the company. Judith, on her part, kept the bewitched box from Ann, which was her present for Christmas 1984, at home. Eleanor thought again about Ann : sure, she now knew that wearing three-pieces suits didn't warrantee one would become a dreadful person ready to fire workers. However, she cautiously preferred wearing jeans and blouses. Just in case.
Part 1 : The Ruins 3
Paragraph 1 : The Empty Bookshelves 3
Paragraph 2 : Bindings (Reliés) 8
Paragraph 3 : A Westal Tale 10
Paragraph 4 : No Risk No Return 16
Paragraph 5 : The Arch Room 27
Paragraph 6 : Cheers 33
Paragraph 7 : Bold And Bright 35
Paragraph 8 : Bold And Cold 39
Paragraph 9 : Arthur And Douglas 40
Paragraph 10 : Taps And Traps 43
Paragraph 11 : What Hogwarts Students Should Learn 45
Paragraph 12 : The Flitwick Room 47
Paragraph 13 : Wizard Woes 52
Paragraph 14 : Melusine And Tracy 54
Paragraph 15 : Howeswold, Walth & Foames 55
Paragraph 16 : The Builder 71
Paragraph 17 : Moral Fiber 74
Paragraph 18 : Epilogue 76
Part 2 : Who Must Be Named 77
Paragraph 1 - 19 : Songer's Dreams 77
Paragraph 2 - 20 : The Ogre's Buffet 79
Paragraph 3 - 21 : Sparring Snape 86
Paragraph 4 - 22 : Miss Milpense 88
Paragraph 5 - 23 : A Peeves Plan 90
Paragraph 6 - 24 : The Lost Talisman 91
Paragraph 7 - 25 : The Rogend 92
Paragraph 8 - 26 : Spotted And Spanked 95
Paragraph 9 - 27 : Who Must Be Named 96
Paragraph 10 - 28 : Misguided 109
Part 3 : Boys Will Be Wizards 111
Paragraph 1 - 29 : The Carefree Students 111
Paragraph 2 - 30 : Wandlore And Wandlink 119
Paragraph 3 - 31 : Good Marks 120
Paragraph 4 - 32 : Do Not Ditch 124
Paragraph 5 - 33 : Poltergeist Heist (Esprit Braqueur) 131
Paragraph 6 - 34 : Land Of Halls And Glory 135
Paragraph 7 - 35 : A Fair Potion (Une juste potion) 140
Paragraph 8 - 36 : Aloof Love 150
Part 4 : Miss Parry's Angst 160
Paragraph 1 - 37 : Rest Or Test 160
Paragraph 2 - 38 : Declaration Of Independence 164
Paragraph 3 - 39 : The Double Deal 167
Paragraph 4 - 40 : The Daily Prophet's List 172
Paragraph 5 - 41 : Right Night 184
Paragraph 6 - 42 : Brave New Judith 186
Paragraph 7 - 43 : Bureaucratic Magic (La magie de la bureaucratie) 206
Paragraph 8 - 44 : The Official Signature 211
Paragraph 9 - 45 : Ahead Of Aurors 221
Paragraph 10 - 46 : Breaking News For Breaking The Case 226
Paragraph 11 - 47 : The Four Portkeys 229
Part 5 : Autumn Cherry 238
Paragraph 1 - 48 : Mystery Manufacture 238
Paragraph 2 - 49 : Gallantry For A Gryffindor 241
Paragraph 3 - 50 : Hat Tricks 245
Paragraph 4 - 51 : The Boy Who Lived Comfortably 260
Paragraph 5 - 52 : Athrea 266
Paragraph 6 - 53 : The Goodrow Affair 273
Paragraph 7 - 54 : Public Investigations 282
Paragraph 8 - 55 : A Visit With A View 288
Paragraph 9 - 56 : The Best Christmas Present 296
Part 6 : Going Awry 308
Paragraph 1 - 57 : Wear And Tear 308
Paragraph 2 - 58 : The Heir 311
Paragraph 3 - 59 : Oppus Number Two 314
Paragraph 4 - 60 : The Darklog 326
Paragraph 5 - 61 : Not A Clock 331
Paragraph 6 - 62 : Return Of The Mommy 334
Paragraph 7 - 63 : Forbidden Braveness 344
Paragraph 8 - 64 : In The Wild 347
Paragraph 9 - 65 : The Free And The Fee 357
Part 7 : The Inheritance 361
Paragraph 1 - 66 : Watch And Whack 361
Paragraph 2 - 67 : The Ban 363
Paragraph 3 - 68 : White, Green And Black 370
Paragraph 4 - 69 : Plus Oultre 377
Paragraph 5 - 70 : Floo ! 380
Paragraph 6 - 71 : The Elephant In The Forrest 383
Paragraph 7 - 72 : Owl-Ware 389
