Severus stepped through the floo into the atrium of the Ministry of Magic and quickly moved out of the way so he wouldn't be bumped into by anyone. Leander's trial was scheduled for eleven o'clock in Courtroom B on floor two.
He knew Albus would be there, as a member of the Wizengamot who was sitting in judgment on the trial, though Albus had likely already arrived and was somewhere in the Ministry.
Severus joined the influx of people heading further into the Ministry and went past the Fountain of Magical Brethren. Usually being in the Ministry was uncomfortable for Severus. He could remember his own trial, where Albus had cleared Severus' name and revealed that Severus had been a spy. Today his thoughts were somewhere else. He half wished he'd asked Minerva to keep an eye on Rachel while he was away today.
Near the golden gates, Severus went to the security desk. "I'm here to attend the trial for Leander Wickes."
The guard stood up and waved a security probe around Severus. "Wand."
Severus reluctantly handed the guard his wand and waited while it was measured.
"You can go through," the guard said, putting the resulting piece of paper on spike with a small collection of others and handing Severus back his wand.
Severus inclined his head and rejoined the group of people heading through the golden gates and over to wait for a lift. The lift was slow and full of people and Severus gritted his teeth as it made its way up to the second floor. Finally he exited and found himself in a hallway that led to the MLE and auror offices on one end and the courtrooms on the other.
There were a handful of people standing outside Courtroom B and Severus made his way past them and into the courtroom. It was a fairly small room, not made for a full session of the Wizengamot. Severus went to the section for observers and sat down, noting Albus in his Wizengamot robes leaning in to listen to what another member of the Wizengamot was telling him.
There were twelve members of the Wizengamot in attendance, seated on raised daises, with a place reserved in the center for the presiding member of the Wizengamot and a desk to the right for the clerk. There was a chair in the center of the room for the accused.
"Professor Snape," Mr. Nettlebed said as he arrived.
"Mr. Nettlebed," Severus said, getting back to his feet. He didn't know what to say to the man - last time they'd met he'd been accusing Severus of being an incompetent Head of House.
Mr. Nettlebed nodded and moved to sit further back without saying anything else.
Severus sat back down and wondered if Mr. Nettlebed had come to speak on his daughter's behalf. Severus had offered to Rachel to speak for her at the trial, but Rachel had said she didn't want him to if it wasn't absolutely necessary.
Mr. and Mrs. Pugh arrived next and Severus stood again.
"How are things at Hogwarts, Professor Snape?" Mrs. Pugh asked.
"As well as can be expected," Severus replied, feeling that was about accurate.
"I'm planning to speak for Abigail today. I just hope it helps," Mr. Pugh said.
"I'm sure it will," Severus said.
Mr. and Mrs. Monkleigh arrived just before the doors closed and Severus didn't have time to greet them before the trial started.
Amelia Bones, Head of the MLE walked in with a young woman that Severus recognized as a Ravenclaw who had finished at Hogwarts three years ago. They took their seats and then two members of the MLE walked in with Leander.
Leander looked drawn and pale, though his jaw was set. Severus noticed that his parents weren't among the people gathered in the observation section.
"Criminal hearing of the nineteenth of April into offences committed under the Protection of Minors Act by Leander Wickes, resident of Markel House, Ashly, Bristol. Presiding this hearing is Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Court Scribe is Stella Brewerson. As required, a full fifth of the Wizengamot is in attendance," the court scribe said, the transcription quill writing automatically in front of her.
"Thank you. We'll begin with a reading of the transcript of Mr. Wickes' testimony under Veritaserum. Ms. Brewerson, please begin," Amelia Bones directed.
Severus listened as the court scribe began reading from the transcript. It was worse than he'd imagined. Leander had started trying to get girls alone starting in his fourth year, before Severus had made him a prefect, though it wasn't until his fifth year that he managed to coerce then second year Abigail Pugh into coming with him deeper into the dungeons. He had spent the rest of that year abusing her before moving on to Agnes Monkleigh and Tracey Nettlebed his next year. It had taken Leander months of planning before he'd been able to get Rachel alone.
He was very grateful that Rachel had come to him when she did.
"Mr. Pugh is speaking for one of the victims," the court scribe announced.
Mr. Pugh walked down to the center of the room, standing as far away from Leander as he could while still being on the courtroom floor.
"My daughter's name is Abigail. She attends Hogwarts and this is her fourth year. She's a bright girl, a good student, a good friend, and a good daughter. She came home from her second year at Hogwarts changed from the child that I knew. She was angry and secretive. She sobbed in her room at night. She wouldn't let me hold her or comfort her. For a time, I thought she was just growing into being a teenager, but part of me knew better. I knew something was wrong. My daughter, and the daughters of the other parents who have gathered in this room, suffered at the hands of that boy there. He hurt them and robbed them of their dignity and their innocence. I ask this court, in the name of my daughter, for justice for what was done to her," Mr. Pugh said, his voice shaking by the end of his speech.
"Thank you, Mr. Pugh. You may be seated," Amelia Bones said.
Severus slowly exhaled as Mr. Pugh returned to his seat. As hard as it was to watch Rachel struggle with this, he thought it would be even harder if she'd been away from him.
"Mr. Wickes, would you like to speak on your own behalf?"
"I would," Leander said.
"You may speak," Amelia Bones said.
Leander stood up. "The testimony you heard was given under coercion. I was required to take Veritaserum by the interviewers at the MLE. It should not be considered as evidence in this trial."
"Mr. Wickes, we have a form here signed by you consenting to the use of Veritaserum," Amelia Bones said as the court scribe passed her a piece of parchment.
"I signed it under coercion. The interviewers said it would help prove my innocence," Leander protested.
"Veritaserum proves the innocence of those who are innocent. Your objection has been noted and denied. Would you like to say anything else in your defense, Mr. Wickes?" Amelia Bones asked.
"The Veritaserum must have been faulty, I am innocent!" Leander said.
"Veritaserum can be faulty in allowing a subject not to answer. It cannot force a subject to speak something that is untrue," the court scribe noted.
"Indeed. The Wizengamot assembled here will vote. To find Mr. Wickes guilty of violating the Protection of Minors Act in four counts, raise your hands, to find him innocent, leave your hands unraised," Amelia Bones directed.
Severus nodded as every single hand on the Wizengamot was raised, including Albus'.
"Mr. Wickes is hereby found guilty. He is sentenced to five years in Azkaban for each count, for a total of twenty years. The court is dismissed," Amelia Bones said, standing up.
"No, you can't! I'm innocent! I didn't do it!" Leander screamed as the guards took him from the room.
Severus wondered if this is what it had been like for Horace Slughorn at the end of the war, watching as a number of his Slytherin students were sentenced and carried away to Azkaban. He didn't feel sorry for Leander, he couldn't, but he did feel sorry for the life that he had wasted by his actions.
"We'll be writing to Abigail to let her know, but if you'd like to tell her as well, I'm sure she'd appreciate it," Mrs. Pugh said as she and her husband approached Severus.
Severus wasn't at all certain that Abigail would appreciate it, but she and the other victims deserved to know. "I will tell her," he said.
"Good news, at last," Mr. Monkleigh said, approaching Severus with his wife once the Pughs had left. "That bastard had it coming."
"Indeed," Severus said. "Have you given more thought to arranging counseling for Agnes, as we discussed?"
"Yes, we've made arrangements for her to see someone over the summer. If it's necessary for it to continue in the fall, we'll contact you," Mrs. Monkleigh said.
"That's fine, whatever is necessary," Severus agreed.
"We appreciate that you were here today," Mr. Monkleigh said, shaking Severus' hand before they walked away.
Mr. Nettlebed walked past without saying anything.
"And that is that," Albus said quietly as he joined Severus. "I hope Mr. Wickes' imprisonment puts the childrens' minds at ease."
"If not at ease, they at least know they are now safe from Leander," Severus said.
"Yes, they are. I cannot speak to the sentencing, but what's done is done. I will check in with you later at Hogwarts. I have some business to attend to before I return," Albus said.
"Of course. I will speak with you later," Severus said. He nodded to Albus and left the room, mentally preparing himself to talk to Rachel once he returned.
"Did Professor Snape say why Potions is cancelled today?" Hermione asked as they made their way up to their study room after lunch on Monday.
"He's attending Leander's trial," Rachel said. She hated that her stomach had been in knots all day as she tried to imagine what was happening. She had only the faintest idea of what courtrooms were like, having seen them on the tv shows her aunt had watched, but whether or not it was similar in wizarding culture she didn't know. Professor Snape had told her the court would decide whether or not Leander was guilty and if they decided he was, he would be sentenced. He had also told her regardless of whether or not they found him guilty, Leander wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts.
At this point Rachel didn't really care what the court decided as long as people stopped talking about it. A witch from the MLE had come a few weeks ago to interview Rachel about what had happened, and in the school there had been a lot of speculation of what exactly Leander had done and who he had done it to. Rachel wanted all of it to be over.
"At least it gives us some extra study time," Neville said.
"Well, we don't really need extra study time, we're right on schedule," Hermione said. Hermione had given each of them - including Ginny and Luna - color coded study schedules for their upcoming end of year exams.
"Then it gives us extra research time, and you know how much we enjoy that," Theo pointed out. "Let's do our review of Shrinking and Engorgement charms now, and then we can use the afternoon to catch up on whatever."
"I borrowed some fruit from the Great Hall for us to practice on," Hermione said, patting her bag.
Rachel took her usual seat in their study room and pulled out her two-way book and started searching for the notes on Shrinking and Engorgement charms. Thankfully Hermione had thought to start putting page numbers at the bottoms of the pages.
"Page 164," Millie said after a few moments of searching.
"Etymology is pretty straightforward, reducio meaning to reduce or is reducible. Same thing with engorgio, to engorge or fill with excess," Hermione said, running her finger down the notes. "We're not generally tested on the history of the spell, but I find that knowing it is useful in remembering the spell."
"Most likely we'll be asked to perform the spells for Professor Flitwick, or write down the incantation when asked what spell to use for a specific purpose. Let's practice," Theo said.
Hermione passed around the fruit. "Let's be careful not to explode any of them. Seamus exploded an apple in the common room when we were first learning this spell."
Rachel wound up with an orange. She pointed her wand at it and said "engorgio" as she moved her wand in a stilted loop. The orange grew bigger until it looked more like a basketball than an orange.
Around the table, Millie's banana was stretching over the edges of her book, Neville's giant pear had rolled into his hands, Theo's peach wasn't quite big enough to belong in James and the Giant Peach, but it was still quite large, and Hermione's apple looked like it had come out of a children's cartoon.
"Alright, let's shrink them down to their original size, and then pass your fruit to the left and we'll try again," Hermione said.
"Reducio," Rachel said, drawing her wand in a sharp V. Her orange began to shrink again and she waited until it looked about the size it had before and pulled her wand away.
They practiced several more times before they decided they knew the spells well enough that they wouldn't encounter any difficulties when it came time for exams.
Rachel wished she had a watch. She wasn't even sure if classes were out yet - probably not as Ginny and Luna hadn't joined them yet. "I need to go see Professor Snape," she said, standing up. Surely he'd be back by now.
"Rachel?" Hermione asked.
"He's probably back by now, I just need to ask him a question," Rachel said as she shoved her book back into her bag.
"Do you want me to go with you?" Millie asked.
"No, I just have to ask him something," Rachel said. She slung her bag over her shoulder and hurried out of the room, knowing that they were going to have questions but not knowing what to do about it.
The hallways were almost empty, which meant classes were still in session, and Rachel made her way down the staircases and down into the dungeons. She opened Professor Snape's office door, which Professor Snape had spelled to open to her touch so that she could get into his quarters if she needed to, and then went through the wall into his quarters.
Professor Snape was there, sitting in his armchair, looking surprised at her entrance. "I didn't expect to see you until dinner."
Rachel nodded and went to sit on the couch. "You went to the trial?" she asked, her stomach tight with pain.
"I did. They found Leander guilty. He's been sentenced to twenty years in Azkaban, five for each person he assaulted," Professor Snape explained. "Azkaban is the wizarding prison."
Rachel nodded again, she remembered Neville saying that the people who had tortured his parents were there.
"This is a good thing," Professor Snape continued. "He won't be able to hurt anyone else."
She tried to decide if she felt it was a good thing or not, but all she felt was tension that somehow hadn't been relieved by knowing what had happened. "It's over?"
"Yes, it's over," Professor Snape agreed.
Somehow it didn't feel over.
"Do you want to stay here for a while?" he asked.
Rachel nodded. She knew she should go back and study, but the thought of going back out into the castle made her feel even sicker.
"How about some tea?" he asked.
Rachel nodded again. She could drink tea. That much she could do.
The next morning Rachel, Millie, and Theo made it as far as the doors to the Great Hall before they were stopped by the rest of the study group.
"We thought maybe we could eat breakfast in our study room and talk," Hermione said, her voice not quite even. The rest of the group looked grim.
"What?" Theo asked.
Rachel looked at where Hermione had a newspaper folded under her arm and felt like she was going to be ill. "What did they say?"
"I really think we should go to the study room before we talk about this," Hermione said, looking around nervously.
Rachel held out her hand. "Let me see. Please."
Hermione's face crumpled. "Rachel. I don't think you want to do this here."
Rachel kept her hand held out and waited and Hermione reluctantly handed over the Daily Prophet. All Rachel had to do was read the headline on the front page - 'Girl-Who-Lived Molested by Prefect at Hogwarts, by Rita Skeeter' - and she shoved the paper back at Hermione and ran out the front doors of the entrance hall.
She made it down the stone steps and onto the dirt path before she dropped to her knees and threw up. She stayed there, even though she could hear the rest of the group behind her.
After a moment Luna came and sat down on the dirt next to Rachel. "They really shouldn't publish the details of your private life like that. It's quite rude," she said.
Millie knelt down on the other side of Rachel. "Do you want to go to the hospital wing?"
Rachel shook her head.
"Do you want me to go get Professor Snape?" Millie asked.
Rachel shook her head again. There was nothing he could do about this.
"My father edits and writes The Quibbler. I can have him do an expose on Rita Skeeter."
"What?" Rachel asked.
"If she is going to tell people about your private things, she should expect people to do the same to her," Luna said with a nod. "I'm sure she has things she'd prefer the public doesn't know. Everyone does."
"I appreciate the offer, but I'm not sure it would stop her from writing about me," Rachel said, a little confused by Luna, but grateful to think about something else for a moment.
"I'll ask daddy anyway, he can find things about people," Luna said.
"This says Leander's going to Azkaban for twenty years. Do you know if that's true?" Theo asked.
Rachel nodded. "That's what Professor Snape said."
"Good. He deserves it," Neville said.
"He does. And now he can't hurt anyone else. Rachel…" Hermione trailed off.
"We're here for you. If anyone tries to give you crap over this, we'll take care of them," Theo said firmly.
"If I hear anyone say anything I'll set Fred and George on them. They don't need a reason, all I have to say is that someone bothered me," Ginny said.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital wing? I bet Madam Pomfrey would let you take the day off classes, you did throw up," Millie said. She rested her hand tentatively on Rachel's arm.
"I'm sure. That will just make tomorrow worse, if I'm hiding today," Rachel said. She took a few breaths. She did feel a bit better now that she'd thrown up.
"We're all with you," Hermione said. "And if anyone is being unpleasant about this, I will report them to Professor McGonagall."
"If we don't just hex them first," Theo said.
"Is there anything you want us to do, Rachel?" Neville asked.
"Just don't leave me alone today. I think if you're with me people will think twice about talking to me. And I don't want to talk about it," Rachel said. She pushed herself up to her feet and dusted her robes off before she turned around to face her friends. "I'll be okay."
"You will," Hermione agreed with a sharp nod. "And we'll stay with you. We should do a group of four in Herbology today, so no one can bother Rachel."
"Agreed," Millie said.
Rachel nodded and tried to brace herself to be stared at all day.
The staring and whispering was worse than when people had thought Rachel was the Heir of Slytherin.
Pansy and Daphne came up to Rachel outside the greenhouses just before Herbology and asked Rachel if she was okay. Rachel assured them that she was. Pansy had said that her mom knew some special curses to deal with boys like Leander and offered to teach them to Rachel once Pansy learned them from her mom. Rachel had accepted the offer since it wouldn't hurt to learn the curses even if she didn't intend to use them.
Professor Snape had taken her into a side room at lunch and asked her how she was doing. Rachel had said she was fine and Professor Snape had looked even more concerned. He had said it was an egregious breach of confidentiality involving a minor in a court case and that he was looking into pursuing action against Rita Skeeter. He had also asked Rachel to promise that she'd tell him if anyone was bothering her about this. She had promised, while knowing that she'd only tell him if someone said something really awful.
In some ways the looks from the teachers were almost worse than the looks from other students. She didn't want to be pitied.
She was relieved when they made it back to the common room after dinner and things seemed reasonably quiet and subdued. She was about to go put her bag away in her dorm - and maybe spend the rest of the evening in there - when Tracey, a third year, approached them.
"Rachel, can I speak with you? Privately," she asked, looking at Millie and Theo.
"Whatever you can say to Rachel you can say in front of us," Millie said, folding her arms.
"I can't, actually. It's private. That's why I asked to speak with her privately," Tracey said.
Rachel weighed her options. She could see that Tracey actually looked a bit upset, so she didn't think she was going to say something cruel. "How about this, we can talk over in that corner, where Millie and Theo can see us but not hear us, but if you say something rude about what was in the paper I'm going to tell Professor Snape," Rachel offered.
Tracey looked even more upset. "Have people been saying awful things to you?"
"No, at least not where I can hear them," Rachel said. "They stare at me though."
"I'm sure they do. Can we talk? Just for a moment?" Tracey asked.
Rachel nodded. "I'll be right back," she told Millie and Theo.
When they made it to the corner, Tracey looked around and then lowered her voice. "You were the one who told Professor Snape about Leander, weren't you?"
"Yes," Rachel said, though she hadn't exactly told him so much as she'd written him a note.
"Thank you," Tracey said, her eyes watering. "I wanted to, but Leander said-"
Rachel felt sick again as she realized that Tracey was one of the other girls that Leander had done things to. "I'm sorry."
Tracey shook her head. "No. I'm just glad you did it. I'm glad he's going to Azkaban, even though they told my dad what happened."
"Is your dad… He's mad at you?" Rachel asked.
"No. He's mad at Leander, mostly, and mad at Hogwarts because it's supposed to be safe here," Tracey said. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you thank you. You won't tell anyone, will you?"
"I won't," Rachel promised.
"Thanks," Tracey said before she hurried away in the direction of the girls dorms.
Rachel went back to where Theo and Millie were sitting.
"Everything okay?" Theo asked.
Rachel nodded and sat down, setting her bag at her feet. "Yeah, she just needed to talk about something."
Theo looked at Rachel for a moment and then his eyes grew wide. "Oh," he said.
"Oh?" Millie asked, looking back and forth between them.
"Tracey must have been one of the other girls that Leander…" he said in barely more than a whisper.
"Oh!" Millie said. "That's awful."
"Don't tell anyone," Rachel said quickly. "Not even the rest of the group."
"We won't," Theo said.
"Not a word," Millie agreed.
"Rachel, there you are," Gemma said as she approached. "I was wondering if we could talk."
"Talk?" Rachel asked, wondering what Gemma wanted.
"Just for a few minutes. Take a walk with me?" Gemma asked.
Rachel remembered what Professor Snape said about going places with people, even prefects. "Where did you want to go?"
"There's a room near here, just down the hall. I think it used to be a classroom. I just want to talk to you and see if you're alright, I promise," Gemma said.
Rachel glanced at Millie and Theo, not sure what to do.
"If Professor Snape comes looking for you, we'll tell him you're with Gemma," Theo said with a nod.
"And we'll wait here for you Rachel," Millie said. "Unless you want us to go with you."
"I don't blame you for being nervous right now, but I really do just want to talk to you. We'll be back in less than thirty minutes, and if you want, we can stop at Professor Snape's office beforehand so that he knows you're with me," Gemma offered.
Rachel decided that since Gemma didn't want to keep it a secret, it was probably okay. "Okay. I'll be back soon," she told Millie and Theo.
"Do you want to talk to Professor Snape first?" Gemma asked once they were outside of the common room.
Rachel shook her head. She didn't want to bother him, and it was enough that Gemma had offered.
"Okay, the room is just down here. The Slytherin prefects meet here sometimes when we want to talk about the House without people listening to us. I bet Professor Snape will make you a prefect too," Gemma said as she led Rachel further into the dungeons.
Rachel hoped he didn't. That would be a lot of talking to people and trying to get them to listen to her.
Gemma opened a door and waved her wand so that the lanterns lit up. "We've transfigured some of the benches into couches so it's a little more comfortable. There are a lot of unused classrooms in Hogwarts. I think the student population must have been much bigger at some point. Come sit down."
Rachel followed Gemma over to one of the couches - all of them done in dark green velvety fabric - and sat down just outside of Gemma's reach.
Gemma looked at Rachel and seemed deeply unhappy. "How are you handling things? I know today couldn't have been pleasant for you."
Rachel shrugged. It hadn't been pleasant, but there wasn't a lot she could do about it. She couldn't spend the rest of the term hiding in her dorm room.
"I'm sorry this happened, Rachel. Any of it. I feel like I should have known about Leander, I've known him for almost six years. But I guess Professor Snape didn't know either. You were the one who told him what Leander was doing?" Gemma asked.
Rachel nodded.
"That was really brave of you. I'm glad you trust Professor Snape enough to be able to tell him things like that," Gemma said.
Rachel shrugged and looked away. "I wrote him a note."
"Still, that's good. I'm glad you told him. I never thought I'd say this about Azkaban, but Leander deserved to go there after the things he did," Gemma said. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you something, because I thought it might help. When I was a little kid, my grandfather molested me. I didn't really understand what was going on at the time, but one time my older brother walked in on it happening and he told my parents what he'd seen. My grandfather got five years in Azkaban and he died there."
Rachel didn't know what to say or do, but that sick feeling she'd gotten talking with Tracey had come back. "They killed him in Azkaban?" she asked finally. She'd been under the impression that it was a prison, not somewhere to execute people.
"No, he died from illness. Being around the Dementors like that is really draining," Gemma explained. "I wanted to tell you, because I wanted you to know that you could talk to me if you wanted to, and that I'd understand. I know it's not exactly the same thing, but I didn't want you to feel like you were the only one. I felt that way for a long time, because I didn't know that it happened to other people."
"Thanks," Rachel said, wondering if she should tell her about Tracey. She decided she'd tell Tracey that Gemma was a good person to talk to instead.
"How are you doing?" Gemma asked again.
Rachel shrugged again. "I'm still having nightmares. And I don't want people to stare at me."
Gemma nodded. "That's understandable. I think the nightmares will get better with time. Mine did. They rarely happen now. And I think people will stop staring soon. They'll get distracted by something else and people will forget. Did you want to take a few days off classes? I bet Professor Snape would agree to that."
"No. I don't want to hide," Rachel said firmly. That would just give people even more reason to talk about her. Besides, she really couldn't miss classes, she'd fall behind.
"Okay, if you're sure. I want you to come to me or to Professor Snape if anyone is giving you a hard time about this. People can say some really cruel stuff and I don't want you to have to deal with that on your own. You're not alone, Rachel. You have Professor Snape, and Millie and Theo, and me," Gemma said.
"Thanks," Rachel said. It did help a little, knowing that her friends were looking out for her. It was much better than when she'd been at the Dursleys and she really had been all alone.
"You can come knock on my door if you have nightmares or anything too," Gemma offered.
Rachel didn't think she could do that, but she nodded anyway.
"Did you want to talk about anything?" Gemma asked.
"No. I just want for today to be over," Rachel said. She was tired and she still felt sick.
"Okay, I can understand that. I'd probably feel the same way too," Gemma said. "Ready to go back to the common room?"
Rachel nodded and stood up. She followed Gemma back to the common room. "Gemma, thank you," she said, just after Gemma had said the password.
"Of course," Gemma said, giving Rachel a weak smile. "What are friends for?"
Rachel went back over to Millie and Theo and collected her bag.
"Everything go okay?" Millie asked.
"What did Gemma want?" Theo asked.
"It's fine. Gemma just wanted to check on me to see how I was doing," Rachel said, glad she was able to keep Gemma's secret better than she'd been able to keep Tracey's. "I'm going to go to bed."
"Okay, do you want some company?" Millie asked.
"If you want. I'm probably just going to read until I fall asleep," Rachel said.
"I'll come with you," Millie said. "Night, Theo."
"Goodnight," Theo said.
"Goodnight," Rachel echoed.
"It's too bad Theo's not a girl," Millie said as they made their way into their dorm.
Rachel looked at Millie. "Why?"
"Because he's all alone with the boys. If he was a girl he could be in here with us," Millie said.
Rachel dropped her bag on her bed and sat down. "That's true, I guess. I wish the rest of our friends were in Slytherin."
"Me too," Millie agreed.
Rachel got up to put her things away and pulled the first book of the Horath Bogtrotter book out from the stack of books in her wardrobe. She wanted something to distract her from the day she'd just had and rereading Horath's adventures as a brand new auror seemed just the thing.
Rachel woke up early on Thursday morning from a nightmare.
It was the same nightmare that she'd been having on and off over the past month. The dream itself wasn't that scary - it was the mermaid painting in the prefect's bathroom, except instead of being asleep, the mermaid's eyes were open and she was watching Rachel intently and Rachel was there shivering and she couldn't get away. Each time she had the nightmare she woke feeling sick and clammy with her heart racing.
Most of the time she either tried to go back to sleep or read a book from the light of her wand until it was time to get up. Today the thought of staying in bed made her skin crawl, so she got up and quietly got dressed so she wouldn't wake anyone. She went out into the common room and found the fire in the fireplace burning low. The clock on the mantle said it was just before six in the morning.
Rachel sat down on the couch near the fireplace but quickly found that she didn't want to stay. She left the common room and walked up to the entrance hall. It was almost eerie seeing the castle this quiet and empty, even though she'd seen it empty when she'd been there during the summer holidays.
She went through the doors and out onto the path that led out onto the grounds. The sun was just rising and the air was cool and still. She could see the lights on in the windows in Hagrid's house. Wondering if Hagrid was usually up this early, or if he was having trouble sleeping too, Rachel walked down to Hagrid's house. She figured she could be back in the dorm room before everyone else got up in two hours.
Fang barked when she knocked on the door and she stood back so that he wouldn't knock her over if he came barreling out the door.
"Rachel?" Hagrid asked when he opened the door, his grip firm on Fang's collar. "What are you doing here so early?"
"Couldn't sleep. I didn't wake you up, did I?" Rachel asked.
"No, course not. I was just making breakfast. Come on in," Hagrid said, opening the door wider.
Rachel went in and allowed Fang to jump up on her and lick her face as soon as Hagrid let go of his collar.
"Leave her alone," Hagrid told Fang. Fang didn't pay Hagrid any mind. "How do you like your eggs?"
"Scrambled," Rachel said, sitting down and rubbing behind Fang's ears as he started to settle down. She watched as Hagrid cooked and before long she had a plate of scrambled eggs and a cup of tea in front of her. "Thank you."
"Of course," Hagrid said as he sat down with his own breakfast. "Don't let Fang get your eggs, he's already had his breakfast."
"Okay," Rachel said, pushing her plate further away from the edge of the table.
"How are you doing, Rachel? You said you couldn't sleep?" Hagrid asked.
"I'm okay," Rachel said, though it wasn't entirely true. The past few days had been difficult. "I did sleep, I just keep waking up early and I didn't want to stay in bed today."
"If you're not sleeping, you best tell Professor Snape or Madam Pomfrey," Hagrid said. "I know it's been a hard time for you lately."
Rachel poked at her eggs.
"It would be a hard time for anyone," Hagrid said. "Professor Snape's looking out for you alright?"
"He is. He's filed a complaint about Rita Skeeter for that article in the Daily Prophet," Rachel said.
"Good. I hope they do something about her. Would serve her right," Hagrid said, pausing to take a few bites of his eggs. "I know this doesn't help none, but I've got some good news."
"I'd like to hear some good news," Rachel said.
"Well, it's a little bit complicated, but when I was at Hogwarts, I got expelled. They blamed me for opening the Chamber of Secrets," Hagrid explained.
Rachel's jaw dropped and she put down the cup of tea she'd been holding. "They thought you were the Heir of Slytherin?"
"I guess so. There had been some attacks, a girl died. I was raising Aragog in the castle, he's an acromantula and lives in the Forest now, and they thought Aragog killed her. So I was expelled. Dumbledore kept me on as the gamekeeper, great man he is," Hagrid explained. "This time when the Chamber of Secrets was being opened, I was scared they'd blame me again. But Dumbledore, he figured it out, and he cleared my name with the Ministry. I got the letter yesterday."
Rachel realized that Hagrid didn't know about the diary and that she probably shouldn't say anything about it. "How did he clear your name?" she asked.
"He somehow showed them that it was You-Know-Who opening the Chamber of Secrets, back when I was in school," Hagrid said.
"Does this mean you can take lessons again if you want to?" Rachel asked. "We could help you. We've kept all our notes."
Hagrid smiled. "The time for that has passed for me, but thank you. I like my job, wouldn't leave it for anything."
"Well, if you ever want us to show you anything, just ask," Rachel said.
"That I will," Hagrid said.
Rachel stayed with Hagrid for over an hour, chatting with him about animals and about what he'd been doing, before she went back to the castle and to her dorm.
Millie sat up in her bed when Rachel closed the door behind her. "Rachel? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. You've still got thirty minutes to sleep," Rachel said.
"You're sure?" Millie asked.
"Yes," Rachel answered, not sure which part of that Millie was questioning, but the answer was the same either way.
Something had been bugging Rachel ever since the start of Defense class. Professor Lockhart had said that he'd never been to Armenia before he saved Agarak village. But she was sure he had been there in his book Holidays with Hags. It was a small thing really, but it reminded her of other little things that had seemed off in his lectures throughout the year. He didn't like oolong tea in Gadding with Ghouls, calling it foul and an offense to tea drinkers everywhere. But in Voyages with Vampires he drank a cup of it with the ship's captain and called it delightful.
"I need to go to the library," she said, standing up. It would be faster to check out school copies from the library than it would be to go all the way to her wardrobe in the dungeons.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Millie asked, looking up from where she was taking notes.
"No, it's okay. I won't be long," Rachel said. She left before anyone else could offer. It was nice of them to stay with her, but she felt a little bit less like anyone was going to approach her and say something weird now that it had been a few days.
She got Holidays with Hags, Wanderings with Werewolves, Gadding with Ghouls, Voyages with Vampires, and Magical Me from the Defense section of the library and was just about to take them up to Madam Pince to be checked out when she bumped into Draco.
"Sorry," she said, just managing to not drop her books.
"You're a Lockhart fan? Didn't see that coming," Draco said as he looked at the books she was holding.
"I'm not. Just, he said something weird in class today and I wanted to see if I remembered it right," Rachel said.
"I don't know why you bother listening in that class. It's useless," Draco said. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," Rachel said.
Draco nodded. "I thought so. You seem like the type of person who's not bothered by all that."
Rachel had no idea what to make of that.
"I'll see you later. Partner with me in Potions on Monday," Draco said, leaving before Rachel had a chance to respond.
Rachel shook her head and went to Madam Pince's desk to have her books checked out, and then went back to the study room.
It didn't take her long to find the chapter in Holidays with Hags where Professor Lockhart had been in Armenia, and she found the paragraph in Wanderings with Werewolves where he said he'd never been to Armenia before. Holidays with Hags took place in 1984, Wanderings with Werewolves took place in 1987.
Rachel took out a piece of parchment, wrote down the quotes, page numbers, and years for each. She then found the quotes about the oolong tea. Then she opened Magical Me and started to read. By the time they were getting ready to go down to dinner she had a full page of notes.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked as she put away her books.
"There are some weird things about Professor Lockhart's books," Rachel said, pushing the piece of parchment over so Hermione could read it.
Hermione's brow furrowed. "I've noticed some of these too. Can I help you with this?"
"Sure," Rachel said. It wasn't really anything useful, but it somehow felt good to get it all written down.
"I'll bring my Lockhart books down tomorrow," Hermione said.
Rachel nodded. She planned on returning all of the Lockhart books to the library except Magical Me, which she didn't have her own copy of.
Neville peered at the parchment. "He must not have a very good editor for all of this to make it into his books. Makes you wonder how much of it he's making up."
"A lot of it, I'd bet," Ginny said.
"Some of it does seem quite unreasonable. I don't believe that ghouls will fit in a tea strainer," Luna said, sticking her quill behind her ear.
Rachel nodded, it wasn't exactly an inconsistency, but it did strain credibility.
"We'll see what we can find," Hermione said.
"What happened to studying for exams?" Theo asked.
"We can do that too," Hermione said.
"Okay, but as absurd as I find Lockhart, I'm not researching his books to death. Being subjected to them in class is enough for me," Theo said.
"That's fine, Rachel and I can do this, right?" Hermione asked, turning to Rachel.
"Sure," Rachel said. She hadn't meant for this to turn into an entire project, but at least it was something to keep her mind occupied.