Right after the lessons ended, Harry apparated to London, only stopping to pen Severus a letter. He hastily explained that Talbott was innocent, not that Severus would agree with that particular choice of words. Provisionally cleared of suspicion until further evidence that is sure to appear, that would be more to his liking. After some deliberation, Harry left him the surveillance ball as well.
Harry entered the office and stopped short. There were lips in the middle of his and Pansy's office. Giant red lips. After a moment of disbelieving silence, Harry realised that it was a red leather couch shaped like a mouth, disturbingly lifelike. He went around it twice and gently poked it. The… thing was quite real.
Suddenly Harry remembered the last conversation with Pansy when he told her about that Slughorn's ability. Surely—
"P-pansy?" he asked. "Is that you?"
The couch was silent. Harry felt very stupid talking to it. He tried Finite Incantatem, but nothing happened.
"Erm... If you can hear me, can you just—" Harry paused. What could a couch do? "Creak? Squeak? No? Alright then." He stood in front of it in dismay, wand out.
"Potter? Why are to talking to that sofa?"
Harry spun around and came face to face with Pansy herself, looking at him like he had lost his marbles. He felt his ears burning.
"Well? Did those kids finally manage what the Dark Lord and The Daily Prophet couldn't and make you crack?"
"I thought maybe you managed to transfigure yourself into that. You've got to admit, the colour if not the shape is definitely yours."
Pansy harrumphed. "What do you know about colours, Potter. When I manage the transformation, it certainly won't be a mouth-shaped leather sofa, of all things. And I'm glad you have so much faith in my abilities, but even I can't master it in just a few days. When I do it, you'll be the first to know." She flashed him a smug smile.
"Unless it's a nose-shaped table."
"I've seen one of those too back where this sofa came from, actually. But no. If you ever discover something like that about me, I'll be forced to kill you on the spot, you understand."
"Of course." Harry nodded sagely. "What is it, anyway?"
"Oh, this is where I found Mrs. Featherwright's diamond jewellery set, right inside the seat. It was in this weird museum in Catalonia, part of an installation making up a woman's face. The set was there for decades, with no one the wiser."
"What?"
"Yes, I know, the paintings there were even more surreal. Muggles are weird."
"Wait, did you just take it from the museum? And how are you going to get the jewellery out?"
"Already got it. Nothing a quick Diffindo and Reparo cannot do. And I left a perfect transfigured copy, so Muggles won't suspect a thing!" With that, Pansy flopped on the couch, putting her arms on the upper-lip back with a flourish. Even the sofa in the small parlour in the Grimmauld place didn't look quite so creepy. And that thing used to snap at him whenever he went past it and tried to eat him once.
"You will return the couch to the museum, right?"
"But I like it," she pouted. "Makes the place more alive."
"Pansy."
"Spoilsport," Pansy grumbled. "Why are you here, anyway? Don't you have classes to teach, the case to solve?"
"Actually, I've dropped by to see if Bill cracked the wards on the Rowle's box."
"I saw him working on it yesterday."
Stepping through to the Weasley's Cursebreaking, Harry was assaulted with a multitude of sounds and colours. A leather-bound book was flinging itself against the bars of the cage, snapping its binding. A mechanical peacock wobbled around a large ritual table covered in runes in the middle of the room, screeching loudly. Emerald feathers in its magnificent metal tail looked disturbingly blade-like, and its engraved beak seemed knife-sharp. A wizard in a white wig and eye-watering canary-yellow robes regarded Harry haughtily from the full-length portrait placed against one of the bookshelves, before stalking back into the crimson sunset painted in broad brushstrokes. Harry could only wish to own up to his own recent fashion choices with such dignity.
A very pregnant Fleur was reading from an old scroll on the couch usually reserved for visitors, long legs on the armrest, more gorgeous than ever. The couch was for some reason heavily singed.
"Oh, it's you, 'Arry." She looked up and smiled slyly. "I'm pleased you've decided to branch out your wardrobe."
Harry looked down on himself and realised he'd forgotten to change from his poncho in his haste.
"By the way, don't touch the peacock."
Harry, with his wand surreptitiously trained at the damn bird from his hip and a silencing spell on his lips, straightened with an innocent face.
"Seriously, Potter, don't," Pansy said with a wince.
"Yes, Pansy would know." Fleur laughed melodically at Pansy's put-out expression. "Don't pout, ma chérie, you were lucky to still have zat wooden leg of yours yesterday."
"A wooden leg?" Harry gaped, glancing down at Pansy's black trousers and expensive pumps.
Apparently, his previous concerns weren't so unfounded after all. Despite what she said, Pansy must have still practised transforming into furniture.
"It got better," Pansy said dryly. "And if you make any Moody jokes, I'll hex your balls sideways," she warned.
Harry, who opened his mouth to do just that, promptly shut it. Still, he had every intention to get all the details later for some much-needed blackmail material.
"You would absolutely deserve it for running your mouth about me to Hannah Abbot." Harry suddenly remembered that he was cross with her.
Pansy had the grace to blush. 'It needed to be said. Abbot was ready to give up, sell the pub and return under the thumb of her vulture of a grandmother-in-law like a good loyal Hufflepuff. Obedient and resigned to her duty. Hufflepuffs don't understand revenge," she sneered contemptuously. "But buckling up and working diligently in the face of hardships? That's their bread and butter. And nothing like a little righteous anger to put them back on track."
"Did you just compliment Hufflepuffs?" Harry asked in disbelief. That was definitely a first.
"Don't be silly," Pansy scoffed.
Fleur watched the interaction in bemusement. "Ever since I came to Hogwarts for the first time, I've been grateful that Beuxbatons doesn't have a House system."
The other door to the office opened, and Bill burst in. He was out of breath, and strands of red hair were falling out of his loose ponytail. In his hands, he had a huge ice cream cone and a paper bag from the Diagon bakery.
"Hello, Harry," he said, handing the ice cream to Fleur and the bag to Pansy. "Don't touch the peacock."
"I've been warned already."
"I haven't been able to open your box yet," Bill said apologetically. "The boy has some real talent."
Harry tried not to show his disappointment.
"But there is a cheat that might be helpful to you." Bill summoned the biscuit tin from his table and tapped it with his wand, muttering a lengthy incantation. Suddenly, the tin began to blur until it was almost completely transparent. Bill handed it to Harry.
There was a notebook or a journal of some sort inside, bursting with what seemed to be notes and photographs. Harry turned the box over upside down. There were a couple of pictures outside the notebook. The top photo, only one visible, showed a hand with webbing between the fingers. It looked too human to belong to any water creature, even to a mermaid. In fact, Harry was reminded of—
"You had something similar for the second task in our Tournament, non?" Fleur asked, looking over his shoulder.
That was it, but something else was nagging at the back of his mind. Before Harry could remember what, however, he felt his mirror vibrating in his pocket.
Harry opened the powder box, turning so that in case it was Severus, he wouldn't see anyone else in the room.
It was indeed Severus.
"Thompson! I can't fathom how you've come to the conclusions in that asinine note you've left, but Talbott is anything but innocent! In fact, that imbecile just sent Mr. Farley to the hospital wing and landed there himself!"
"What happened exactly?" Harry didn't expect Talbott to act up so soon after their conversation.
"They've had a spectacular fight outside your classroom, which judging by the background you're not in. None of them, including Miss Weasley who was also present, would say anything. As if the reasons weren't clear enough."
Harry swore. "Severus, please, don't do anything haste. I'll be right back."
Harry snapped his mirror shut and stood up hastily.
"Severus, is it?" Pansy asked knowingly.
Harry flipped her two fingers and apparated to the gates of Hogwarts, filing the strange photo for later.
The Hospital Wing was just as Harry remembered, all lancet windows and pristine white beds. The last time he had been there, it was missing half of the wall, obliterated during the Battle, with a transparent magical barrier hastily erected instead. All the beds had been occupied. Harry remembered Severus lying on one of them in a healing coma, pale and lifeless, thick bandages covering his neck. He seemed so much smaller on the hospital bed compared to the memory of the man towering over Harry in the Potions classroom or stalking the halls with his robes billowing around him. So much more vulnerable.
Trying to clear his mind, Harry shook his head and looked at the two beds that were currently in use. The one he still thought of as his own was occupied by a Gryffindor, that much at least was evident by the tie on the bedstand. The boy sported a head of a tiger and furry orange paws for hands. Edgar and Emma were sitting on the bed next to his, deep in hushed conversation. Edgar had his left cheek covered with a thick layer of greenish paste.
The tiger boy looked at Harry and opened his maw in an attempt to say something. What came out was something between a roar and a whine. The Slytherins noticed Harry as well and, to his surprise, looked questioningly at the Gryffindor, who nodded with a loud animalistic sigh.
"As Mr. Talbott here is obviously unable to speak, can any of you explain what happened here?" Harry asked sternly, channelling his inner Severus.
Emma looked at the direction of Mediwitch's office nervously.
"I met Madam Pomfrey on my way here. She was going to the Great Hall." Harry sighed in frustration, but took out his wand and cast Muffliato anyway.
"Well, we came to see you in your classroom to ask a question about shields, only to find Talbott already waiting at the door," Emma started explaining. "Things quickly went downhill from there, with this prat acting extremely antagonistic and baiting Edgar about Alex." Harry glared at the Gryffindor at that, but the boy's head was pointedly turned away. "His insults soon turned completely ridiculous, and that stopped us from hexing him six ways to Friday, as he clearly expected us to. When it was clear that we aren't going to fight him—" She hesitated. From the look of the boys' uniforms, there definitely had been some fighting, but Harry decided to let it slide for now. "Well, he just asked us to use some visible and lasting spell on him." The way Emma looked at Talbott made it clear what she thought about his mental faculties.
"Was it—" Harry started, looking at Talbott questioningly.
The boy nodded and gave Harry a crumpled piece of parchment from his pocket. Apparently, Richardson got some new stuff and expected Talbott in his office later this day. Damn.
The Slytherins shifted their gazes from Harry to Talbott curiously.
"What did you use?" Harry asked. "Madam Pomfrey was complaining that she hadn't seen such a stubborn case of botched Transfiguration before."
Emma's cheeks pinked slightly. "It's not Transfiguration. The owners of Weasley Wizard Wheezes are my... relatives, actually, and they've sent some of their new products for testing. No Skiving Snackboxes, though," she added hastily, making it clear that there were Snackboxes involved. In any case, Harry thought it was great of George and Ron to reach out.
On the way to the dinner, Harry was intercepted by Severus, who was still utterly unconvinced of Talbott's innocence but agreed to make a move on Richardson immediately. He left Harry to go to the Great Hall first to avoid any suspicion.
The staff table was half-empty as usual, but to Harry's delight, Aurora was there today. On the opposite end, Madam Pomfrey was describing Talbott's situation to the Transfiguration Professor who was way more interested in all the technical details of his condition instead of actually trying to propose a solution. Professor Doge did suggest that it could very well be the result of something other than Transfiguration, but was very excited to see the boy and have a chance to examine him tomorrow.
"Priscilla is such a gifted researcher," Aurora noted in a low voice with a sigh after Doge had asked what House exactly Talbott was in. "I just wish she had a little more interest in her students. She is the only Ravenclaw professor here except for Filius and Bathsheda. Bathsheda Babbling, she teaches Ancient Runes," she clarified. "But she doesn't actually live in the castle and travels a lot during the school year. So when Filius retires, it's Priscilla who will be in charge of his eagles. Frankly, I think he would have already if there was another Ravenclaw on the staff."
Before Harry could answer, Richardson stomped to the table and set his chair back with a loud screech. A couple of students turned their heads to the noise before returning to their plates and conversations. Shortly after, Severus followed, making his way to his customary seat.
"Aurora. Paul." Severus nodded. Harry fought to hold back an inappropriately goofy smile.
A couple of minutes later, after Richardson finally settled down and stopped fuming, stabbing his steak as it had personally wronged him, Severus turned to the Astronomy Professor and asked in a low, but still clearly audible voice, "Say, Aurora, how is John? Did they find the perpetrator who was stealing the Wasps equipment?"
There was a loud clattering as Richardson's knife hit the plate too hard.
Aurora threw him a distracted glance before nodding her head sadly. "One of the team's Mediwizards was caught red-handed and now he claims that he was blackmailed."
"Blackmailed?"
"Yes, and John and I really want to believe him. Felix Pucey, you remember him? Always stayed out of trouble. Libra from Hufflepuff is his daughter." Harry remembered the seventh year from his NEWT class.
Conversation between Aurora and Severus then turned to the Slytherin House issues. Harry listened with half an ear, occasionally throwing glances at Richardson. The Defence Professor was sitting rigidly, glaring at his food. Apparently having lost his appetite, he finally stood up and strode out of the Great Hall.
When Richardson's back disappeared in the entryway, Harry glanced at Severus and received an infinitesimal nod. He apologised to Aurora, hoping he didn't sound too rushed. As the clock struck, Harry and Severus both stood up and winced simultaneously.
"I don't want to know, do I?" Aurora asked in bemusement.