On Tuesday morning Rachel sat in Potions class, taking notes as Severus lectured on the formulation of antidotes. They'd been working on antidotes for the past two months because it was such a complicated topic. There were all sorts of antidotes to combat everything from drunkenness to poisoning. The trickiest part, which they weren't really covering, was how to tell what someone had been poisoned with. That was more a job for Healers.
The next trickiest part, which they were covering, was how to adjust antidotes for the person you're brewing them for based on their symptoms and their size. Giving a child an antidote meant for an adult could make them seriously ill, or even kill them.
A knock on the door roused them all from their notes and a young Gryffindor that Rachel didn't recognize entered the classroom.
"Mr. Creevey, I assume you have a very good reason for interrupting my lecture," Severus said.
"Yes, sir. I'm supposed to take Rachel Snow upstairs. Mr. Bagman wants all of the champions," the boy said.
Rachel looked at Severus. Why did they want her now? The task wasn't for almost three weeks.
"Did he say for what purpose?" Severus asked.
"Photographs, for the newspaper, sir," the boy said. "All of the champions have to go."
"I assume the Headmaster will be there as well?" Severus asked.
"Yes, sir. He's the one who asked me to collect Cedric and Rachel."
Severus met Rachel's eyes and Rachel nodded slightly. She didn't want to do this, but she would rather do it than make a fuss.
"Very well. Miss Snow, you're excused," Severus said.
Rachel put her quill and parchment away in her bag and then followed the Gryffindor boy out of the classroom.
"I'm Colin Creevey," the boy said once they'd gone a few steps.
"Nice to meet you," Rachel said.
"You're the Girl-Who-Lived, I know that Ginny is friends with you. She and I are in the same year," Colin said.
"That's nice," Rachel said, trying to remember if she'd ever heard Ginny talking about Colin. The name didn't ring a bell.
"I know a lot of people think you put your name in the Goblet, but I don't. I believe you and I don't think all Slytherins are bad either," Colin said, looking at her expectantly.
"Uh, thank you," Rachel said. "Slytherins are just like everyone else. There's really not that much difference between the Houses."
"The Sorting Hat told me I'd do well in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, but said that Gryffindor might help me more," Colin said.
"Do you like being in Gryffindor?" Rachel asked. She knew Hermione's experiences there hadn't always been positive.
"I do. I like my roommates a lot and there's always something going on in the common room, and the Weasley twins are a lot of fun. I always have something new to take a picture of at Hogwarts," Colin said.
"You take pictures too?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, I wanted to be a photographer long before I knew I was a wizard. I'm muggleborn. My brother's a first year this year too," Colin said.
"I only started taking photos in my second year, but I really enjoy it. Most of my photos are of my friends, but I like taking photos in different places in Hogwarts. There's a lot of interesting places where the light does weird things," Rachel said.
"Yeah, I've noticed that too, and have you seen how the architecture changes like it's not all uniform? It's like it was built at different times, but not in any way that I've been able to understand. Some of the lower sections seem newer than the upper ones," Colin said.
"That's because Hogwarts can change itself over time. As far as I know no one has built any additions to it since it was first built, but the castle itself has shifted and reformed. It's too bad cameras are such a recent invention, it would be nice if there were pictures showing how the castle used to look," Rachel said.
"That's so cool," Colin said. "I hope I see it changing one day. Anywhere, here's where I'm supposed to bring you. I'm really glad I got to meet you."
"It was nice to talk with you too," Rachel said, a little surprised that she genuinely meant it. She didn't spend a lot of time talking with people outside of her study group, her roommates, and the Quidditch team.
She went into the first floor classroom and found that most of the desks had been moved aside. Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur were all there, along with Mr. Bagman, a woman in magenta robes, and a man with a large camera.
"Here we are, the fourth champion! Rachel, come on in. We're having the weighing of the wand ceremony, nothing to worry about, everyone will be here soon," Mr. Bagman said, getting up from where he'd been sitting.
Rachel nodded, though she had no idea why her wand needed to be weighed.
"Now this is Rita Skeeter, she's here to do a piece on the Triwizard Tournament for the Daily Prophet," Mr. Bagman said.
Rachel stiffened. This was the woman who had been writing all those awful articles about her?
"Rachel Snow, we meet at last," Rita Skeeter said, offering her hand to Rachel.
Rachel took a few steps further into the room and away from Rita Skeeter. She wanted nothing to do with her and was a little afraid that if she started speaking she was going to yell at her to stop writing about her.
"Don't be like that, Rachel. Why don't we have a short interview and you can tell the world how you really feel? We have time for that, don't we Mr. Bagman?" Rita asked.
"Well, if Rachel doesn't mind," Mr. Bagman said.
Rachel did mind, a lot.
Rita stepped forward and wrapped her hand around Rachel's upper arm and tried to steer her away from the front of the room.
Fortunately Rachel had a lot of practice being grabbed like this from living with Aunt Petunia and knew just how to dig her feet in and shift her weight so she was difficult to move. That didn't deter Rita and Rachel finally stumbled. "You're hurting me!" Rachel said when Rita didn't let go.
"Ms. Skeeter!" Mr. Bagman said.
"Rachel?" Cedric asked, hurrying up to them, Viktor not far behind. "Are you okay?"
Rachel held onto where Rita had grabbed her and glared at her. "I'll be fine if she doesn't touch me."
"Leave her alone," Viktor said, holding his wand at his side.
"Now, now, just a misunderstanding. Ms. Skeeter, I don't think Rachel wishes to be interviewed at this time," Mr. Bagman said.
"You certainly seem to have a lot of defenders," Rita said, looking from Cedric to Viktor. "Already playing games with boys' hearts? I would think you're a little young for that, but who am I to say?"
Rachel couldn't tell if Rita was talking about what Leander had done, but she was offended either way.
The door opened and a group of people came in, starting with Mr. Crouch, followed by Madame Maxime, Professor Karkaroff, Professor Dumbledore, and finally Mr. Ollivander.
"Let's get started," Mr. Bagman said, seeming relieved for a way out of that uncomfortable conversation.
The judges sat down behind the table at the front of the room and Rita went to go sit in a chair at the side, pulling out a piece of parchment and a bright green quill from her bag.
"May I introduce to you Mr. Ollivander. He will be assessing your wands to ensure they are working correctly before the tournament begins," Professor Dumbledore said before sitting down.
Rachel remembered getting her wand from Mr. Ollivander, it had taken a long time, but Mr. Ollivander hadn't seemed bothered by the fact that she didn't speak at the time.
One by one, Mr. Ollivander went through the champions, examining their wands. She wondered how he was able to tell what the core of the wand was just by holding it. The most interesting things Rachel learned was that Fleur was part veela, as her grandmother was a veela, and that there were wand makers other than Mr. Ollivander. Viktor had gotten his wand from someone named Gregorovitch.
"Ah, Miss Snow," Mr. Ollivander said, coming to a stop in front of her. "A very singular wand. Eleven inches, holly, and phoenix feather, of course."
Rachel handed over her wand, a little bit reluctantly, and watched as Mr. Ollivander examined it and ran his fingers over the surface.
Finally he issued a stream of wine from it and handed it back to Rachel, handle first. "It's in perfect condition."
"Thank you, sir," Rachel said.
"Well, I think that's everything," Professor Dumbledore said as he stood up.
"Photos, for the Daily Prophet," Mr. Bagman interrupted. "Let's see. A group shot of the champions, then each of them individually, and then a group shot of the judges, and then a shot with everyone, I think."
"Of course, how could I forget," Professor Dumbledore said.
Rachel sighed. She supposed there was no getting out of it, though part of her wondered what Professor Dumbledore would do if she ran from the room.
It was a slow process, but Rachel got to watch the photographer work and that was interesting. He had a more complicated camera than Rachel had, with dials and adjustments he could make to the lens.
When it was her turn for an individual shot, Rachel did her best to try and smile, but she'd noticed that with the pictures she'd taken that people didn't always act in the pictures like they were acting when she took the picture. It was one of those weird mysteries of magic, like how portraits worked, that she hadn't been able to find much information on.
The shot with all of them together was more complicated as Madame Maxime was so tall. They finally had her sit down, with the other judges gathered next to her, Cedric and Viktor right in front of them, and then Rachel and Fleur at the front.
Finally Professor Dumbledore dismissed them and told them that they could go straight to lunch instead of going back to class, since classes were about to let out.
"Rachel," Cedric said as they left the room.
Rachel turned and walked back to him.
"You realize Skeeter is probably going to write some pretty nasty stuff about you?" Cedric asked.
"She already does anyway," Rachel said, though she definitely was not looking forward to that article.
"I know. Trust me, most people know better than to believe what Rita Skeeter writes. She has a reputation," Cedric said.
"Thanks," Rachel said. She hoped that was true. She hated the idea that everyone in wizarding Britain read about her in the Daily Prophet when it was always blown out of proportion and most of it wasn't even true.
Cedric nodded. "I'll see you around."
Rachel went back down to the Slytherin common room to put her Potions book away and get the things she needed for her afternoon classes. Some days she just couldn't win.
"What'd you do to piss Rita Skeeter off?" Draco asked as Rachel sat down across from him at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall on Thursday morning.
"I refused to let her interview me," Rachel said, holding out her hand for his copy of the Daily Prophet. "Can I see?"
"You sure you want to read it?" Draco asked.
"It's better to know what she's saying about me, isn't it?" Rachel asked, though there was definitely a part of her that didn't want to know.
Draco shrugged and handed over the paper.
"I hate to ask, but are you sure you want to read it? Millie and I can read it and tell you the important parts," Theo offered.
"I can manage reading a newspaper article, but thank you," Rachel said, setting the newspaper down on her plate so that Millie and Theo could see it as well.
'The Girl-Who-Lived, Now The Fourth Triwizard Tournament Champion, Unfit to Compete, by Rita Skeeter' the headline read.
Rachel sighed and quickly skimmed the article. Rita went straight to the point, writing that Rachel was a standoffish, timid, and diminutive girl and not at all a match to the other champions. She brought up the fact that Rachel used to be mute and didn't perform magic at all her first year at Hogwarts, and suggested that Rachel was performing magic at a level behind her peers. Rita finished the article by saying that Rachel should not be allowed to compete at all since it was unlikely she would be able to complete the tasks.
She scowled as she stared at the picture. It was the one of the four champions together, but Fleur was the only one smiling at the camera. Viktor's shoulders were hunched and he was gazing steadfastly down. Cedric was staring out of the picture, but he looked worried and unhappy. Rachel was also looking out of the picture, but her expression was vacant, like she was barely aware her photo was being taken.
"That woman," Millie said, slamming down the fork she was holding and startling several people nearby.
"Well, everyone here knows she's wrong," Theo said. "Everyone in our classes has seen you performing the same spells as everyone else. And the rest of the school knows that Professor Snape would never let you fall behind in classes."
"She's not entirely wrong, I shouldn't be allowed to compete," Rachel said, setting the newspaper aside and placing a piece of toast on her plate. She didn't particularly feel like eating, but she knew she needed to try to eat something.
"For entirely different reasons," Millie said. "You shouldn't be allowed to compete because you didn't enter your name and because you're underage. I think you'll be able to do the tasks just fine."
Rachel sincerely doubted that and the more she thought about the tasks the less capable she felt.
"We'll deal with the tasks, whatever they are. We already knew Skeeter was a problem, I think the next step is asking Professor Snape to ask Professor Dumbledore not to allow her to cover the tournament. The very least we can do is keep her away from you, Rachel," Theo said.
"That won't stop her from writing about me," Rachel said.
"I know, but I don't know what else to do. Maybe Hermione can come up with something," Theo said.
"I think Theo's right though, we should at least stop her from showing up at Hogwarts," Millie said.
Rachel shrugged. As long as she wasn't left alone with Rita Skeeter she didn't particularly care if she was at Hogwarts or not.
"You didn't eat," Millie said, when they were standing up to go get their cauldrons and potions kits for class.
"Not hungry, I'll eat something at lunch," Rachel said. She'd managed a bite of her toast, but even that had felt uncomfortable.
They arrived at class a few minutes early and Severus approached her. "May I speak with you in my office for a moment?" he asked.
Rachel left her cauldron and potions kit on the desk next to Millie and followed him into his office.
"I will request that Albus have a different reporter from the Daily Prophet cover the tournament, I have no idea why he thought allowing Rita Skeeter here would be appropriate," Severus said as soon as he shut the door.
"It's okay," Rachel said.
"It's not okay, it's libel, and it's not the first time she's done this," Severus said.
"And there's no way to stop her writing about me, even if she's not here," Rachel pointed out.
"Unfortunately I do not know of a way to stop her from writing about you," he said. "Most of what she writes is covered by opinion or conjecture. I don't see a way of pursuing this legally."
Rachel shrugged. People did what they were going to do and usually there wasn't a way of stopping them. This wasn't a problem she could run away from or her point her wand at.
"Are you alright?" Severus asked.
"I'm fine. I already knew this was going to happen. I'm irritated about what she wrote, but I'm fine," Rachel said.
Severus nodded. "If anyone bothers you about this, please tell me."
"I will," Rachel said, even though she knew she wouldn't unless the situation was actually out of hand. Severus didn't need to know about every comment she heard in the hallway.
"Let's return to class then," Severus said.
They left his office and Rachel collected her things and plunked down next to Hermione.
"We'll figure out what to do about Rita Skeeter," Hermione said. "There have to be laws in the wizarding world against libel."
"Professor Snape says there isn't a way of pursuing it legally. Don't worry about it," Rachel said. "Are we using my cauldron or yours?"
"We can use mine, but there has to be something we can do," Hermione said, frowning with her lips pressed tightly together as she thought.
"Really, don't worry about it, that's not the worst thing she's printed about me by far. I really don't care," Rachel said. "Let's just brew this antidote."
"If you're sure," Hermione said.
"I'm sure," Rachel said. She had more important things to worry about than Rita Skeeter.
Severus was in his office, writing down the grades for the vials of potion he'd just received from his fourth years. There were no surprises. Rachel, Hermione, Theo, and Draco all knew their way around a cauldron and he was able to give them an Outstanding basically every time. Millie, Neville, Blaise, and Pansy were a little more variable depending on who they worked with, but they were usually an Outstanding or an Exceeds Expectations. Daphne, Dean, Lavender, and Parvati typically managed an Acceptable. Crabbe and Goyle - who he'd learned preferred to go by the surnames in all situations - and Ron went back and forth on whether they managed an Acceptable or whether he simply graded their efforts as Troll.
The flames in his fireplace turned green and Severus drew his wand.
"Snape, I need to speak with you!"
Severus sighed as he recognized the voice. He had no desire to speak with Sirius Black today. Or any day for that matter.
"Snape!" Black demanded. "I know you're not teaching."
"What if I'd been at lunch?" Severus asked as he stood up. He didn't put away his wand. "What do you want, Black?"
A moment later Sirius Black stepped through his fireplace, his expression livid. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"Melodramatic as ever. What do you want, Black?" Severus repeated.
"This!" Black said, grabbing the newspaper from where it had been laying on Severus' table. "Rachel is competing in the Triwizard Tournament and you're letting her? Are you trying to get her killed?"
Apparently Rachel hadn't seen fit to tell her godfather that she'd been chosen as a champion, though she'd likely simply been too distraught to think to do so.
"I am not letting her. She was chosen by the Goblet and now is being forced to compete," Severus said, maintaining his temper by a force of will.
"And whose idea was it to let her put her name in the Goblet in the first place?" Black demanded.
"A Death Eater, setting her up to be killed," Severus said flatly.
That took the wind out of Black's sails and he took a step back. "Who?"
"We don't know that yet, we're trying to find out," Severus said.
"I want to speak with Dumbledore," Black said. "There must be something he can do."
Severus gestured to the fireplace. "Floo powder is on the mantle."
Black threw a handful of floo powder into the fireplace. "Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore, I want to speak with you!"
Severus rolled his eyes and hoped that Albus was in his office. The sooner he got rid of Black, the better.
"Sirius, what is it?" Albus called through the flames.
"I need to speak with you about Rachel," Black said.
"Please come through, and bring Severus with you if you wouldn't mind," Albus replied.
Severus sighed again. Apparently Albus was monitoring the castle's floos if he knew that Black was in his office. He followed Black through the fireplace and stepped out into Albus' office.
"What do you mean Rachel is being forced to compete, take her out of the tournament," Black said.
"It's not that simple, please take a seat, Sirius. We haven't had a chance to catch up," Albus said.
Severus watched from the side of the room. Black looked better than he had the last time he'd seen him in the spring, when he'd returned Rachel after kidnapping her, but he still looked frail and ill. His robes hung awkwardly on his thin frame and his face was still gaunt. From the dark circles under his eyes it was clear he wasn't sleeping well. Azkaban had taken a toll on the man.
"I don't want to catch up, I'm here because somehow Rachel is in this asinine tournament. Why can't she just not compete?" Black asked.
"There is a spell on the Goblet that forces the champions to compete or they are cursed to lose their ability to cast magic," Albus explained, with far more patience than Severus could muster. "Minerva, Filius, Severus, and myself have all examined the Goblet and have not found a way to remove the enchantments."
"Then get a bloody curse breaker in here to do it!" Black shouted.
"The Ministry curse breakers have examined the Goblet as well, as has an Unspeakable. I'm afraid there is no other recourse, Sirius, Rachel must compete," Albus said.
Sirius stood back up. "She is fourteen years old. Fourteen! And what is this nonsense about her being mute?"
Albus looked to Severus. "I think you're better able to discuss that than I am."
"And I would prefer to respect Rachel's privacy," Severus said. "If Rachel wants to discuss the situation with you, that's her choice. I will not."
Black looked between the two of them. "And you're just going to let her get killed out there?"
"We are not," Albus said firmly. "Severus will adequately prepare Rachel for the tasks in secret. I have arranged to allow Severus to join the team that is making arrangements for the tasks and will explain them to him beforehand so that Rachel can get the assistance she needs."
Severus turned to Albus. "They relented and allowed you to add me to the list of people you can disclose the tasks to?" he asked.
"I did not give them much choice. You are now the task liaison for Hogwarts. I will come up with some duties for you at a later time, but please return after classes have been dismissed for the day and I will tell you about the first task," Albus said.
"Thank you," Severus said. That was some relief at least, he'd been about to suggest that Albus find a way to accidentally disclose the task to him.
"I want to see Rachel," Black said.
"You just saw Rachel at the Hogsmeade weekend," Severus said.
"At which time neither of us knew that Death Eaters were actively trying to kill her. I want to speak with her," Black said.
"I'm sure you may speak with Rachel briefly before her next class, if Severus doesn't object," Albus said.
Severus silently warred with himself. He did not want to leave Rachel unsupervised with Black, but at the same time he thought it might be a comfort to Rachel to see him. "You may speak with her briefly, but she is not to leave the castle," he finally said.
"Thank you," Albus said when Black only jerked his head in response.
"Do you need me for anything else?" Severus asked Albus.
"No, I'll see you later today," Albus said.
Severus went back to Albus' fireplace, passing by where Fawkes was preening, and flooed back to his office. He had a short period of time to eat and then he had his sixth years. After that he'd learn what the first task was and then he could begin preparing Rachel.
Rachel, Millie, and Theo had just finished lunch and were meeting up with the rest of their study group before class when a bird made of parchment fluttered up to Rachel.
"That's an interesting way to send a message," Hermione said. "Not terribly practical, but interesting."
Rachel took the note out of the air and unfolded it. "I'm being summoned to Professor Dumbledore's office," she said after reading it.
"Maybe he's asking for all the champions?" Neville asked, turning to look back into the Great Hall.
"If he is, he hasn't summoned them yet, I see Cedric and Fleur," Ginny said.
"And Viktor was still at the Slytherin table when we left just a moment ago," Millie said. "Whatever Professor Dumbledore needs, I'm sure it's nothing bad. Professor Snape is probably with him, he's not at the staff table either."
"The Muahorns don't seem to know what he wants, though they find it difficult to be around the Headmaster," Luna said.
Rachel hesitated. "Did you ask the Muahorns just now?"
"I listened and they would have told me if they'd known," Luna said.
Rachel exchanged glances with Hermione. These last few months Luna had been more insistent about the creatures she saw, but Rachel wasn't sure what to do about it.
"You should go and find out what Professor Dumbledore wants, we'll let Professor Vector know where you are in case you're late," Hermione said. "Do you want one of us to walk with you to the Headmaster's office?"
"No, I can go alone, pretty much everyone is in here for lunch anyway," Rachel said, looking back in the Great Hall once more to check that Professor Karkaroff was at the staff table. He was, and it seemed like all the Durmstrang students were having lunch still. "I'll be fine. Hopefully I won't be long."
"If you're sure," Theo said.
"I am. Professor Snape's probably there and he'll make sure I get to class alright," Rachel said. "I'll see you soon."
With that Rachel went up the main staircase. Then she had a thought. What if someone other than Professor Dumbledore had sent her the note to try and lure her somewhere alone? She hurried back down the stairs. "Wait. Will one of you go with me?"
"I will," Theo said immediately.
Millie followed him over. "This way Theo and I can walk to class together after we drop you off."
"Thanks," Rachel said, and they started up the stairs again.
"What made you change your mind?" Theo asked.
"I realized that someone other than Professor Dumbledore might have written the note," Rachel said. "I'm becoming as paranoid as Professor Moody."
"No, that's smart," Millie said. "That's a great way to get someone alone and know where they're going. There's no classrooms down that corridor either, so it would be easy to ambush someone there."
"And all they had to do was look in the Great Hall and see that Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore weren't there," Theo added. "I'm not sure about the practicality of ambushing someone on Professor Dumbledore's doorstep, but there's no reason to think he pays attention to what's going on in the corridors."
"Does it seem to either of you that Luna is seeing more creatures lately?" Rachel asked.
"Either that or she's more comfortable telling us about them," Millie said.
"I've noticed it too, but I don't know what to do about it. What if she's actually seeing something?" Theo asked.
"I don't think she's lying about seeing them, I just don't know if she thinks she's seeing the things her father tells her about in shadows or sunlight, or if she really sees something we can't," Rachel said.
"Do you think Madam Pomfrey could help? Maybe there's something she can do that would help Luna not see them," Millie suggested.
"Maybe. But I don't know how we figure out if Luna is really seeing something without hurting her feelings," Rachel said.
"Let's talk it over with Hermione privately and see if she has any ideas. If not, I think we need to have Professor Flitwick take Luna to Madam Pomfrey just in case," Theo said. "I'd hate to think we stood by and did nothing while Luna needed help."
"I can ask Professor Snape to talk with Professor Flitwick if we need to do that," Rachel said, coming to a stop in front of the gargoyle that led to the Headmaster's office. "I guess the best way to know if this note is real is to try the password. Stringmints."
The gargoyle moved aside to allow access to the staircase.
"Well, I'm glad it wasn't a trap. We'll see you in class," Theo said.
"Good luck," Millie said.
"Thanks," Rachel said. She stepped on the staircase and it began to slowly spiral upward. There was a small part of her that was hoping Professor Dumbledore had asked her here to tell her he'd found a way to get her out of the tournament. But if that was the case, he could have simply told Severus and then Severus would have told her. The fact that she was being summoned meant something was wrong.
The door to the Headmaster's office opened before Rachel could knock. She stepped inside and was surprised to see Sirius there instead of Severus.
"Rachel," Sirius said, hurrying over to her and wrapping his arms around her.
Rachel could feel all of her muscles tensing up and she couldn't stop them no matter how much she wanted to. The only people she was used to hugging her were Hermione and Millie, and even then only occasionally.
"Sirius, what's wrong?" she asked when he finally let her go.
"What's wrong? You're a champion in this damn tournament is what's wrong," Sirius said. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Oops. It had completely slipped her mind that it was something that Sirius might want to know about. "Sorry," Rachel said.
"How are you doing, Rachel?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
"I'm fine, sir," Rachel said.
"Severus says he's alright with you taking some time to visit with Sirius as long as you stay in the castle. You're welcome to use the staff room on the first floor if you'd like somewhere private to speak," Professor Dumbledore said.
"Thank you, sir," Rachel said. It was a little bit odd that he was letting her skip class to speak with Sirius, but she supposed that Sirius had questions about the tournament.
"I expect you to look out for her," Sirius said to Professor Dumbledore.
"I do my best, I can assure you of that, Sirius," Professor Dumbledore said.
"Let's go talk," Sirius said, this time to Rachel.
"Thank you, sir," Rachel said again to Professor Dumbledore.
"Let me know if you need anything, Rachel," Professor Dumbledore said.
Rachel nodded and then led Sirius out of the office.
"Feels strange to be back in here. I feel like I just left Dumbledore's office after being scolded about some prank," Sirius said.
"Did that happen a lot?" Rachel asked.
"Oh, a few times, though McGonagall was usually the one yelling at us," Sirius said. "I remember once, she was so livid her entire face turned bright red. We got detention for a full month for that one."
Rachel decided not to ask what they'd done in order to provoke that response. "Why don't we go to my study group's room? I think that will be more private than the staff room."
"You have your own room?" Sirius asked.
"Well, we borrowed an unused meeting room. It lets us practice spells and work on homework together without bothering anyone," Rachel explained. "I'll show you."
Rachel led the way back to the main staircase, up another floor, past the library and down the corridor. "Here we are," she said, using the Unlocking charm on the door and then opening it.
"Cosy little place," Sirius said, looking around and then taking a seat in one of the armchairs. "So, the Triwizard Tournament. And you're a champion."
Rachel sat down in the other armchair. "Unfortunately. We don't know who entered my name, but Severus thinks it was a Death Eater or someone acting on instructions from a Death Eater. And I have to compete or I lose my magic."
"Whoever designed that is a sadist," Sirius said. "What can I do to help you?"
"I don't think there is anything, not right now at least. I don't know what the task is yet, but Severus is trying to find out. And then he'll teach me whatever magic I need to know to do it. Hopefully I can manage it," Rachel said.
"I think you can. You had a corporeal Patronus at thirteen years old. Spells don't come much more difficult than that, not practical ones anyway," Sirius said.
"It took me months of practice to be able to do it though, and I don't have months," Rachel said.
"Then we'll figure out spells for you to use that don't take months of practice. There are a lot of spells out there, Hogwarts only covers the ones that are most useful and most important. I know a lot of spells, and so does Snape. Whatever the task is, we'll figure something out that you can do," Sirius said, sounding confident.
"What if I get out there and I just can't do it?" Rachel asked. She could picture herself standing in front of everyone, her wand useless in her hand, and just completely freezing up.
"Then you get to a safe position and you improvise. It's not that much different than fighting Death Eaters," Sirius said. "You have a goal or a mission, and whatever is in your way you find a way to deal with, without getting hit by anything. It sounds harder to do than it is. James and I, we were nervous as hell the first time we went on a mission for the Order. Mad-Eye was there too, which didn't exactly help with the nervousness, but certainly kept us alive. And then we were there and the Death Eaters started casting spells at us, and we started casting spells back. It was over just like that. I think when you get out there, you'll be scared at first, but after that you just focus on what needs to be done and do it."
"It's a little like Quidditch," Rachel said. "When I'm flying, I don't listen to the commentator, or notice the people in the stands, it's just me looking for the Snitch."
"Exactly. Sometimes your body knows what it needs to do, even when you feel like you don't," Sirius said.
Rachel nodded. She'd gotten through a lot of her life by just letting whatever was happening happen and trying to stay alive. In a way, she suspected she was more practiced at that than the other champions were.
"Also, what the hell was the newspaper going on about that you were mute?" Sirius asked.
Rachel felt herself blush. "That was a long time ago."
"How long ago?" Sirius pressed.
"I started talking again shortly after I turned twelve," she said, focusing on picking at the hem on her uniform skirt.
"So two years ago. You just didn't speak? At all?" Sirius asked.
Rachel shook her head. "I just couldn't. And Severus took me to see a therapist, and she helped me start talking again."
"This was something Petunia did to you?" Sirius asked, his voice terse.
"It's complicated," Rachel settled on. "I don't really like to talk about it. Maybe I should go to class, I'm late."
"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Sirius said quickly. "Just don't go yet. I barely get to see you. I feel like I barely know you."
"I want to get to know you too. Obviously my parents would have wanted us to know each other," Rachel said, relieved for a change in subject.
Sirius sighed. "A lot of things that they never could have foresaw happened. I know this isn't the life they would have wanted for you. I want to tell you, if you want out, we'll go. There are lots of places we could go to get away from the Death Eaters," he said.
"Leave Hogwarts?" Rachel asked. "I couldn't."
"Right now you can't, because of the tournament. But when that's over, if you want to leave the country we could," Sirius said. "Me, you, and Remus. We could start over somewhere new. There are lots of places with a lot friendlier laws about werewolves, and there are magical schools all over the world."
"What about Severus?" Rachel asked.
"I don't suppose I could convince you to leave him behind?" Sirius asked.
Rachel shook her head. "No. You couldn't. I don't want to go anywhere."
"But later, if things keep going the direction they're going, I want you to know you have a way out. You don't have to fight in someone else's war," Sirius said.
"You think there will be another war?" Rachel asked, feeling her stomach flood with dread.
"I think it's a possibility. Dumbledore is convinced You-Know-Who isn't gone, and Pettigrew's escape from the Ministry strikes me as a little too convenient. Even if there isn't another war, there's always Death Eaters. Someone has it out for you and I won't let them get to you," Sirius said.
"Severus seems to think I'm relatively safe at Hogwarts," Rachel said.
"And he's not wrong, Hogwarts is probably the safest place for you right now, but the fact that your name wound up in that Goblet tells us it's not completely safe. If they could reach you directly, they would have already," Sirius said.
Rachel nodded. That was probably true, and strangely made her feel a little bit safer. If the protections around her were so good that they had to enter her name in the Goblet to reach her, then the protections were doing their job.
"Anyway, I know someone that can get us an international portkey in an emergency. All you have to do is ask," Sirius said.
"Thanks," Rachel said. It was a bit of a strange offer, but it was nice that he was thinking of ways to protect her.
"We'll see you in the common room later?" Millie asked.
"Yes, or if we're done early I'll come up to the study room," Rachel said. "If it's later, I'll probably be in our dorm."
"Alright. Let us know what he says, if you can," Theo said.
"I will," Rachel said. She opened the door to Severus' office and went inside, and then went through the wall into Severus' quarters. He was sitting in his armchair as usual, but he didn't have any essays to grade or a potions journal to look through and mark up.
"Severus?" she asked, catching his attention.
Severus looked over at her. "How was your visit with Black?"
Rachel came and sat down on the couch. "It was fine. I was surprised you let me skip class to talk with him."
"He wished to ascertain that you were well, and I thought it might be a comfort to you to speak with him under the circumstances," Severus said.
"It was good to see him, thanks," Rachel said.
Severus nodded. "Albus has revealed the details of the first task to me. I've come up with a plan that I think will work, though it will require some preparation on your part."
"Okay, what's the task?" Rachel asked.
"You must steal a golden egg from a nesting dragon," Severus said.
Rachel blinked as she went through everything she remembered reading about dragons. "They want us to fight a dragon?" she asked in disbelief.
"No, not fight," Severus said quickly. "Do not think of the dragon as an enemy, think of the dragon as an obstacle."
"A fire-breathing, human-eating obstacle," Rachel said, shaking her head. "A dragon? I thought that the point was this year the tournament was going to be safer?"
"I had words with Albus on that subject myself," Severus said, a brief scowl crossing his features. "I believe your best tactic would be to use stealth and diversion."
"So I'm going to sneak up to the nesting mother dragon and steal one of her eggs," Rachel said, allowing her doubt to show.
"First you will distract the dragon. I envision you doing this by conjuring large birds that will keep the dragon's attention but not encourage it to move," Severus said.
"I don't know how to conjure anything," Rachel said. "Do you really think I can learn in two and a half weeks?"
"I believe that you can, particularly since we are only focusing on conjuring one thing. And if you can't, we'll simply skip the distraction step. The next two pieces are easier," Severus said.
Rachel sighed. "Okay. What's the next part?"
"After the dragon is distracted, or not as the case may be, you will perform two charms. The first is the Scent Removal charm, which should be easy enough to learn. Dragons focus primarily on their sense of smell, and then on sight. You don't have to worry much about a dragon hearing you. After you cast the Scent Removal charm you then cast the Disillusionment charm, which is a little more difficult to learn but I'm confident that you can do it. This will disguise you from view. Then you make your way to the dragon, disillusion the egg, take it, and leave," Severus explained.
"Can't I just summon the egg or something?" Rachel asked. They'd been working on the Summoning charm in class and Rachel found it to be pretty useful.
"I believe the egg will be charmed against summoning, but it wouldn't hurt to try it in case it works," Severus said. "For the next two weeks I want you to join me after dinner and we'll work on the spells until you can do them."
Rachel nodded, but she was also biting her lip. It seemed impossible that she'd be able to learn conjuration in the space of two weeks and she wasn't loving the idea of sneaking up on a dragon. But she didn't have any better ideas.
"Let's begin with the theory of the Disillusionment charm and see how far we can get tonight," Severus said.
"Okay," Rachel said, taking a slow breath. She could do this, she had to.
Rachel waited until the entire study group was gathered in their study room on Friday afternoon in order to tell them about the first task.
"They're sending you up against brooding dragons?" Hermione asked, her voice taking on a high pitch that meant she was quite upset.
"So much for making the tasks safer," Theo said.
"That's basically what I said," Rachel told Theo.
"Did Professor Snape tell you what to do?" Neville asked.
"Stealth and distraction. I need to learn the Disillusionment charm, the Scent Removal charm, and how to conjure birds. In two weeks," Rachel said.
"The charms seem doable, I don't know about conjuration though," Ginny said.
"Why birds?" Luna asked.
"The birds are mostly to distract the dragon, so they aren't strictly necessary. It would just be nice to have the dragon paying attention to something else while I sneak up on it," Rachel explained.
"I think we need some books," Hermione said, getting to her feet. "I'll be in the library."
"I'll come, we can divide up the sections," Theo said.
"I'll come with you, seeing as this is my project," Rachel said.
"It's the entire group's project," Millie said. "We all want to make sure you get through this okay."
"Thanks," Rachel said, managing a small smile.
"We'll be back," Hermione said, leading the way out of the study room.
Once they reached the library they made their way to the Transfiguration section. "Theo, do you want to check what the Charms section has on disillusionment and scent removal?" Hermione asked, already scanning the titles.
"Sure," Theo said.
"Before you go, we should talk about something," Rachel said. "Hermione, have you noticed that Luna has been talking about her creatures more lately? Like, sometimes it seems like she's speaking about them as if they're actually there, and not just in passing."
"I have noticed that, yes, but I'm not sure what to do about it," Hermione admitted. "It seemed to start over the summer with the wrackspurts. I can't tell if it's because she was with her father or if she's actually hallucinating something."
"How would we know if she was hallucinating?" Theo asked. "Like is there a specific sign we should look for?"
"Well, we haven't seen her actively engaged in a conversation with something that isn't there, so that's a good sign," Hermione said. "I think the only way at this point to tell would be to ask her to show us the creature next time she says that it's there."
"And if she says that only she can see the creatures for some reason?" Theo asked.
Hermione frowned. "I don't know. I'm not a psychologist. I don't know how we deal with this. Luna doesn't seem bothered by the creatures or distressed by them, so I don't know that her seeing them is causing her harm. But it maybe suggests that there's some sort of problem."
"Torey said that we should be concerned if Luna is actually seeing something that we can't see. Millie had the idea that Luna could go to Madam Pomfrey. Maybe there's something that Madam Pomfrey can do that would tell us if Luna is hallucinating," Rachel suggested.
"That's not a bad idea," Hermione said. "I just don't want to hurt Luna or have her think that we're making fun of her or that we don't believe her."
"I don't want that either, but if this is something that she needs help with, can we really just standby and let it get worse? I mean, if it was the same over time, that would be one thing, but I think we can see that something is happening," Theo said. "I don't think it's right to ignore that."
"Next time Luna talks about one of her creatures like it's actually there, let's try to gently ask her about it. Maybe see if she can describe it to us, tell us where it's at in the room, and what it is doing. I think she has to know that we can't see what she's seeing, right?" Rachel asked.
"I'm not sure, we've never said that we can't," Theo said. "I think our next step if she is seeing something is to go to Professor Snape and ask him to talk with Professor Flitwick. I don't think we can take Luna to the hospital wing by ourselves. Not without upsetting Luna at least."
"It's probably better if Professor Flitwick takes her anyway. I'm not even sure if there's anything Madam Pomfrey can diagnose. Even in muggle medicine this sort of thing is hard to diagnose and treat. Okay, we need to prioritize. Dragons now. We can do research about Mind Healers and treatment for hallucinations after," Hermione said.
"I'll go look for anything on those charms," Theo said.
"And we'll start looking for guides on conjuration, particularly in regards to conjuration of small animals," Hermione said. "Why don't you meet us back in this section, we might be a while."
"Will do," Theo said, heading off in the direction of the charms section.
"This isn't hopeless, is it?" Rachel asked as they began to look at books.
"No. We'll manage it," Hermione said firmly.
Rachel nodded and tried to believe that was true.