It was nearly seven o'clock on Sunday when Rachel and her friends went up the stairs toward their study room. Everyone had arrived just over an hour ago and the Great Hall had been busy and noisy as everyone talked about what they had done over the holiday. Rachel had begun a timeline in her head. She had two weeks until the Quidditch match versus Gryffindor. There were four weeks until the first challenge of the Potions Championship. Two weeks after that the Championship would be finished. The Slytherin vs Hufflepuff match wasn't until well after Easter break, but she wasn't particularly worried about that either.
"I put together an end of year exam study schedule, but we don't have to start until March," Hermione said, once everyone was seated at their spots around the table.
"I'm not sure how much extra studying we're going to need for the exams. It's not like we're currently slacking off," Theo said.
"That's true, but it wouldn't hurt us to review some of the things we learned earlier in the year," Hermione said. "It's not a rigorous schedule, just a refresher. Repetition helps with memorization."
"I just want to take the OWLs and be done with it," Ginny said, looking somewhat weary despite the holiday.
"You've been doing OWL reviews for a year and a half now, I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you. They were much easier than we were expecting," Millie said. "How was everyone's holiday?"
"Quiet, for the most part. My parents wanted to hear all about Hogwarts. And about the war. They seemed relieved that nothing significant was happening at Hogwarts, but they were concerned when I told them about the attacks on muggleborns' family members," Hermione said. "But they seem convinced that Hogwarts is the safest place for me to be."
"That's good. I wish my Christmas had been quiet. My mom is fussing that I don't spend enough time with the family and that I don't watch Isobelle closely enough at school. And Isobelle did get one of your brothers' pygmy puffs, Ginny," Millie said.
Ginny smiled. "I did too. Mine is named Arnold, want to see him?"
"Yes, definitely," Rachel said. She'd never seen a puffskein or a pygmy puff in person.
Ginny reached into her bag and pulled out a small round purple furred critter. It made little sniffly noises as it was set on the table. "This is Arnold."
"It's a tribble!" Hermione exclaimed, causing everyone to look at her.
"What's a tribble?" Luna asked.
"It's a made up creature on a television program called Star Trek. Pretty much all they do is eat and breed. But they look exactly like that, just in a bit more natural fur colors," Hermione explained.
"Well, basically all they do is eat and breed, so that sounds about right, but they are cute and soft, and they'll sit on your shoulder," Ginny said, placing Arnold on her shoulder.
"Breed? How do you tell which ones are boys and which ones are girls, because I know Isobelle's friends got them too," Millie asked, looking slightly alarmed.
Ginny picked up Arnold again and poked around in his fur. "Hmm. I don't know. Fred told me mine was a boy, so there must be a way to tell. I'll write to them and ask."
"How big are their litters?" Luna asked, looking interested.
"Usually between five and seven pygmy puffs per litter," Ginny said. "I'm pretty sure your sister's pygmy puff came from the same litter as Arnold as these were the ones just old enough to be sold at Christmas."
Millie moaned softly. "Between five and seven. That's way too many pygmy puffs."
"I presume Fred and George are accounting for genetic lines and inbreeding with their litters?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, yes, they've got eight puffskeins that they started with, so that they could get different colors. Mom is threatening to make them get their own place to live since they have so much of their shop stuff everywhere. Between the crates of products and the pygmy puff pens they barely have room to sleep in their bedroom. They had to buy two owls to deal with owl orders. They want an actual shop, but that's a ways away yet," Ginny explained.
"How was Christmas at Hogwarts?" Neville asked.
"Boring," Draco answered for them.
"Not bad, better than it otherwise would have been," Theo said.
"Did Blaise not want you to go home with him?" Luna asked.
"I think Blaise would have stayed here if he could have. His mother got married over Christmas and I felt I would have been in the way, so I stayed here," Theo said.
"I don't mean to judge, but didn't Blaise's step-father just die in the spring?" Hermione asked.
"You really don't know?" Draco asked, looking around the room.
"Know what?" Hermione asked, her eyebrows raised.
"Celeste Zabini is under a blood curse. My father says it was Betrand Baddock who cursed her, this was about eighteen years ago, maybe nineteen now. He wanted to marry her, but she wouldn't. So he attacked her and got a sample of her blood and used it to curse her. Now, unless she's married, men will basically swarm her and go into a frenzy to the point where they will kill her. But, if she does marry, her husband slowly dies under the curse. Then the whole thing repeats when the husband dies," Draco explained.
Rachel covered her mouth, trying to hide her horror. That was much worse than anything she'd been imagining, not that she had ever put much thought into Blaise's situation. At least it explained the extensive wards on the Zabini castle.
"My god," Hermione said, looking horrified. "Can't anything be done?"
Draco shrugged. "If it could be, she would have done it by now. She's very wealthy and I'm sure she's sought every curse breaker and specialist that there is. Blood curses are hard to deal with. Astoria's under a blood curse too."
"What?" Rachel asked. "But who would curse Astoria? She's just a kid."
"No one cursed Astoria, it's a blood curse, it's passed down through the family line. Astoria's grandmother was cursed, Astoria's mother didn't have the curse, but she still passed it down. The curse skipped Daphne, though she could still pass it onto her children, but it manifested fully in Astoria. She'll probably die by the time she's thirty. Haven't you ever wondered why she's so sickly?" Draco asked.
Millie shook her head. "That's awful, Daphne never said."
"Presumably she wanted to protect Astoria's privacy," Theo said with a hard look at Draco. "And Blaise definitely doesn't want everyone to know about his family situation. It's hard enough as it is."
"We won't say anything," Neville said.
"There really isn't anything that will help?" Hermione asked. "Is no one studying blood curses or putting together treatments or anything?"
Theo shrugged. "Curse specialists, but like Draco said, blood curses are a whole different thing entirely. Each one is unique, specially crafted by the person who casts them. They are very rare because they're so difficult, and they often go awry. The effects the caster intends are often not the effects that result. Magical blood is a volatile substance to work with, there's a good reason why most potions needing magical blood are considered dark arts."
"Professor Dumbledore said that it's thought that being a Parselmouth originated through a blood curse, and that's how it's passed on through family lines. Apparently snakes were used in dark arts at the time," Rachel offered.
"Snakes are still associated with the dark arts, over a thousand years later. Salazar Slytherin himself was thought to be a practitioner, though of course, what is called dark arts varies from era to era," Theo said.
"There has to be something someone can do. People shouldn't have to live like this. Was nothing done about the person who cast the curse on Mrs. Zabini?" Hermione asked.
"They could never prove that it was Baddock. He would be in Azkaban if they could have proved it. And he's a Death Eater, so he was definitely getting help with the whole thing. There were Death Eaters and Death Eater sympathizers in the MLE in the war. Probably are now too," Draco said, frowning briefly before readopting his more carefree expression.
"Well that's a disturbing thought," Ginny said.
It was a disturbing thought. Rachel didn't know what could be done about it though. The room fell quiet as everyone considered that.
"I suppose they will have to reveal themselves eventually, through their actions, if nothing else," Hermione finally said. "What did I miss in Potions lessons?"
"Nothing, we just practiced, that's all," Theo assured her.
"Well, we have three more lessons with Professor Slughorn before the Championship begins. I hope we're ready," Hermione said, the corners of her mouth pulling down.
"I think we're ready. We've got two challenges completely prepared for and now we're starting to get results for the modification challenge. We're more than ready," Draco said.
"I think we're as ready as we're going to be. Try not to worry about it," Theo added.
Rachel sat for a moment and tried to see if she was worried. Surprisingly, she wasn't that worried about the Potions Championship or the upcoming Quidditch match. She was worried about the war and about all of the suffering the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters were inflicting. Suffering she'd never even realized was happening, like with Mrs. Zabini.
The sooner the war came to an end, the sooner she faced the Dark Lord, the better it would be for everyone involved. The horcruxes came first. But then it was time.
"Please come prepared to practice defensive casting when we meet on Thursday, you're dismissed," Professor Nash said, looking over them and then using her wand to clear her chalkboard.
Rachel slid her textbook and her notes back into her bag and was grateful they didn't have another essay to do. They'd been assigned a large amount of homework both in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy that morning.
"Terry, Padma, can we talk to you in the hall for a moment?" Theo asked. "Anthony, you can be there too, if you'd like."
"What's this about?" Terry asked.
"We wanted to speak with someone who has an understanding of Ravenclaw House and we feel we know you best out of anyone in Ravenclaw," Theo said.
Terry turned to look at Padma.
"We can't promise answers for you, but we will listen to your questions," Padma said after a moment.
"That's all we ask," Theo said.
They left the classroom as a large group and Theo led them further down the corridor and let everyone take a place in a circle before he put up a privacy ward.
"Is there a problem?" Anthony asked. "Because this looks like there's a problem."
Rachel watched as both Anthony and Terry rested their hands over the pockets where they kept their wands. Padma simply folded her arms.
"We don't have a problem with any of you, but we do have a problem and we'd like your insight as to how to solve it," Theo said. "Luna Lovegood. You all know her, I presume, and you know that she's a member of our study group. She's being bullied inside Ravenclaw, but we're not clear on who is doing it outside of her dormmates. We want to understand why this is happening and what needs to be done to put an end to it."
Terry and Anthony both looked away, but Padma held steady. "That is a very complicated matter and a Ravenclaw House matter," she said.
"And you're prefects. Part of your job is to put a stop to bullying. They put her underthings in the toilets," Hermione said, meeting Padma's gaze. "This has been going on for five years now. It is well past time for someone to do something about it, and if the Ravenclaw prefects aren't willing to do so, then it's time to involve the professors."
"It's not that simple," Terry said.
"Clearly it's not. If it was a simple problem it would have a solution. This isn't about Luna being a little odd or talking about creatures that don't exist. There isn't a House-wide conspiracy to ostracize someone just because they're a bit strange. Please tell us what is happening so that we can help our friend," Theo said, his tone firm but still calm.
Padma and Terry looked at each other and finally Terry nodded slightly. Padma looked back at the study group. "Do you know about Luna's mother, Pandora Lovegood?"
Theo glanced around the group and then looked back at Pansy. "I know she died seven years ago."
Rachel didn't know much more than that herself, beyond the fact that Luna had witnessed her mother's death.
"And?" Hermione prompted when none of the Ravenclaws responded.
"She died from experimental magic, rather horribly, if the reports are to be believed," Anthony said.
"Are you trying to tell us that Luna is being bullied because of the way her mother died?" Theo asked, sounding incredulous.
Terry sighed. "Fine. Before Pandora Lovegood died, she was part of a research company that was separate from the Spell Crafting Guild. They wouldn't endorse their work, they thought it was too dangerous. Sure enough, there was an accident. Pandora Lovegood took most of the blame, but the rest of the research group was blacklisted from guild work and Ministry work. All of them were Ravenclaws and three of them have children in Ravenclaw House. Hortense Cooper, our fifth year girls prefect is among them, along with Lisa Turpin, and Trevor Birch."
"When Luna was Sorted into Ravenclaw, Hortense wouldn't let Luna sit with the other girls in her year for their study group, and things sort of devolved from there. The prefects at the time did what they could to stop the worst of it, but they couldn't stop what was happening in the dorm room and Luna never complained about it," Padma added.
"They do understand that none of this is Luna's fault, right? Luna isn't responsible for what her mother did," Hermione said.
Anthony shrugged. "I'm sure they understand that, but it's not stopping them from holding a grudge. Hortense is fairly popular and where she leads, the rest of her year and some of the younger students follow."
"What about Yvonne?" Rachel asked, having heard that name from Luna a few times.
"Hortense's best friend," Padma said. "She'll do whatever Hortense isn't willing to get caught doing."
"So what is the solution? How do we get them to stop bullying her?" Millie asked.
Terry and Padma looked at each other again. "I'm not sure this is a problem we can solve," Terry said.
Padma shook her head. "Talking to the House as a whole isn't going to help. Trying to talk to Hortense and Lisa definitely doesn't work."
"Does Professor Flitwick know one of his prefects is a bully?" Theo asked.
"Professor Flitwick is aware that Luna isn't popular, and he knows that Hortense is well liked and that she's a leader in the House, that's why he picked her to be a prefect," Padma said. "Look, we're not condoning what is happening. No one should be bullied. But outside of giving Luna her own room, I'm not sure what can be done. I don't think anything can fix Luna's reputation in our House."
"Can she be given her own room? Is that something that can be done?" Neville asked.
"There are two private rooms with single beds and baths in Ravenclaw for students with sleep or health issues that prevent them from sharing a dorm room. One of them is open. If Professor Flitwick warded it appropriately, it would at least give her a private space and people couldn't mess with her stuff," Terry suggested.
"That would be a start. How can that be arranged?" Hermione asked.
"If Luna went to Professor Flitwick and explained what was happening, he would probably arrange it. I suppose I could go to Professor Flitwick too," Padma said.
Theo nodded. "We'll talk to Luna about speaking to Professor Flitwick, but we'd appreciate it if you spoke with Professor Flitwick as well. Thank you for being honest with us."
"Anything else?" Terry asked, looking slightly weary.
"No, thank you," Theo said.
The study group remained while the three Ravenclaws walked away.
Hermione shook her head. "This is ridiculous. Luna's mother is dead, and even if she wasn't, Luna was just a child when this happened."
"This sort of family grudge is not uncommon with purebloods. The Weasleys and the Malfoys have had a feud for three generations now," Theo said.
"Really?" Rachel asked. "Draco seems to get along alright with Ginny. And I think he's stopped bothering Ron, hasn't he?"
"He has," Hermione said.
"After he separated from his parents," Theo pointed out. "Let's go to our study room. I think we need to talk with Luna and see if we can convince her to speak with Professor Flitwick."
"Do you think Luna even knows why they're bullying her?" Millie asked.
"I would assume so. I think she just didn't want to tell us," Hermione said. "She probably feels like she needs to protect her mother."
Rachel bit her lip as they walked down the corridor. It seemed that things were always much more complicated than they appeared at first glance. She wasn't even sure how they could have this conversation with Luna without upsetting her.
"I think if Luna isn't willing to go to Professor Flitwick, then we need to do it for her. And I think we need to tell her that," Theo said, once they were all seated.
"As much as I hate to do that, I think we pretty much have to at this point," Hermione agreed, tapping her fingers on the table as she thought. "Honestly, I feel we should have done something long before now, I feel guilty that we didn't. But I was trying to respect Luna asking us to stay out of it."
"Do you really think we should give her that ultimatum though?" Millie asked. "Shouldn't it be her choice?"
"That's what I think too. I want them to stop bullying Luna. But I don't want to force her into a situation she doesn't want to be in," Neville said, his brow furrowed with worry.
Hermione shook her head. "It's not about taking away Luna's choices, it's about helping her see that she doesn't deserve to be bullied and that she can stop at least some of it. I wish there was more that we could do to stop it, but at least this is something that will make a noticeable difference. If I could I would ask Professor Flitwick to remove Hortense's prefectship. I had no idea Hortense was like that."
Rachel pulled her books out of her bag and frowned down at them. She didn't know what the right answer was. She wished that Luna had been Sorted into Slytherin, but she wasn't sure that Slytherin would actually be a good fit for Luna either. But at least she wouldn't have been bullied so much there.
"At least we now have more information. I knew something wasn't adding up," Theo said. "Are we talking with Luna today? After the fifth years are done with classes?"
"Yes. The sooner, the better, I think. We can do this in a supportive way. Luna knows we care about her. I think she'll understand that we're trying to help," Hermione said. "In the meantime, let's start with Arithmancy."
Rachel understood that people meaning well and wanting to help weren't exactly always helpful. She wondered if Hermione understood that. She tried to focus on her Arithmancy homework, but her mind kept coming back to the idea that Luna had been being tormented about her dead mother for the past five years and none of them had known.
In some respects, she completely understood. Some things were private. She didn't like it when people dragged her stuff out for everyone to see, even her friends. On the other side, she hated that Luna had been suffering and had been being reminded like this and none of them had helped because they hadn't known.
Much like with Arithmancy, there were no easy answers. But at least the Arithmancy problems had a solution if you figured out the right variables and pieces. The only way forward here involved bringing up a painful topic for one of their friends. And even that wasn't really a solution.
They were most of the way through the assignment when the door opened and Ginny and Luna came in.
"I can't wait to drop History," Ginny said as she sat down. "Ron got a Dreadful in History last year and I'm starting to think that's the smart way to do it."
"You have to be trying to fail in order to get a Dreadful," Hermione said, looking put out at the idea.
"It's not a very well thought out class. It skips the most interesting parts of history," Luna said.
There was a moment of quiet where Hermione and Theo looked at each other and seemed to silently negotiate who was going to speak.
"Luna, can we talk to you about something?" Theo finally asked.
"What about?" Luna asked, her eyes darting around the room.
"About the situation with Hortense, and Yvonne, and the rest of the Ravenclaws," Theo said.
"And about what happened right before we left for the Christmas holiday," Hermione added.
"I don't see that there's much to say. I don't know who was responsible for taking my things," Luna said, her mouth set in a flat line.
"We talked with Terry, Anthony, and Padma, and they told us about what's been happening. We'd like to help stop as much of it as we can," Theo said.
"It's not your fault, Luna. What they are doing is wrong. None of it is your fault," Hermione said.
Luna blinked a few times, but remained unmoved. "There's really nothing to be done. It doesn't bother me."
"It doesn't matter if it doesn't bother you, they shouldn't be bullying you. You should be protected," Hermione insisted.
"Terry and Padma suggested you might be able to have a room to yourself. If Professor Flitwick could ward it, that would prevent the other students from taking your stuff and give you a safe place to sleep and shower," Theo continued. "It would mean telling Professor Flitwick about what's going on though, so he understands why it's necessary."
"We could come with you, if you wanted support or just a friend or two there while you did it," Millie offered. "Any of us would be glad to do that."
"I'm not sure Professor Flitwick will think it's important," Luna said. She had shrunken in on herself and looked a little bit like a cornered animal.
"I think he will think it's important, once he understands the extent of what's been happening. And if he doesn't think it's important, we can talk to another professor who will be willing to help," Theo said.
"But we won't know what Professor Flitwick thinks unless we talk to him. I think that's the first step. Don't you want them to stop?" Hermione asked.
"That would be nice, but I don't think anyone can stop them. And I don't care what they say. They're wrong," Luna said.
"They are wrong," Neville said. "No one should say things about your mother like that."
"We probably can't stop them from saying things. But at least this would give you a safe place where you wouldn't have to be around them," Theo said. "Will you consider going to Professor Flitwick?"
Luna nodded, ever so slightly.
"Can we ask you about it again, in a day or two?" Hermione asked.
She nodded again.
"Thank you. We just want to help. We hate the idea that you're being hurt, and especially that we're standing by not doing anything to help," Hermione said.
"And if there is anything we can do to help that we haven't thought of, tell us, and we'll help," Millie said.
Slowly they went back to work. Rachel glanced up from her Arithmancy problems and saw that Luna was sitting quietly, frowning down at her book. She looked incredibly sad and Rachel hoped that they hadn't just made things worse.
It was midmorning on Thursday and they were just leaving the bathrooms on the first floor - no one liked to use the girls bathroom on the second floor, due to Myrtle's somewhat insistent whining - after cleaning themselves up after Herbology.
"Do I still have dirt in my hair?" Millie asked.
"Bend down a bit," Rachel said. The serpensantos plants they had been repotting had rather vigorously not wished to be repotted and soil had been sprayed pretty much everywhere.
Millie bent down and Rachel carefully brushed through Millie's dark hair. "I think you're alright. We should probably shower tonight anyway though."
"If we didn't need Herbology for Potions I wouldn't be taking it," Draco said as the boys emerged from the boys bathroom. He aimed his wand at his robes and they fluttered briefly as more dirt was shook loose.
"Some days I like that class better than others," Hermione said, leading the way to the staircase so they could go to Charms.
"The plants do seem to be a little more violent this year. But they're also very useful," Neville said. "Most greenhouses won't keep serpensantos, if they're not potted properly they'll escape their pots and consume anything nearby, usually killing themselves in the process."
"Seems like they're more trouble than they're worth. They're only used in three potions, and uncommon ones at that," Theo said.
"True, but it's good to have experience with them, I wouldn't be surprised if they show up on our NEWTs," Neville said.
"Then it's good that we got the practice, though I rather wish it was lunch time. I'd like a shower," Hermione said, using her fingers to brush at her curls.
Rachel hoped they didn't show up on their NEWTs. She was pretty sure she was going to have a bruised wrist from where the plant had wrapped itself around her lower arm to try and prevent her from putting it into the pot. Fortunately Professor Sprout hadn't seen, but she definitely would have lost points if a NEWT examiner had seen that happen.
They'd been dismissed early from Herbology so that everyone had a chance to clean up a little bit, which meant there were still five minutes before classes let out and the hallway was mostly empty. They gathered outside the Charms classroom, Lavender, Parvati, and Ron joining them a minute later since they had also come from Herbology.
She was gazing down the corridor, half lost in thoughts about what homework needed to be done that day when she saw a flash of red light. "Down!" she cried, grabbing Draco's arm.
They both dropped to their knees onto the hard stone and Rachel found her wand in her hand and immediately cast a Shield charm around them, though not before the spell impacted behind and above them with a cracking sound and a wave of heat.
Hermione and Theo immediately cast the Stunning spell in the direction the spell had come from and Neville, Millie, and Ron had all cast the Shield charm.
"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed.
"What was that?" Lavender asked, half clinging to Parvati.
"Cutting hex, look at the wall," Theo said.
Still holding her shield, Rachel pushed herself back to her feet and looked at the wall. There was a two foot long gouge in the stone that was nearly an inch deep. It was right at level with her head.
"Did we get them?" Hermione asked.
"Homenum revelio," Draco cast, apparently shaken enough to forget he could cast silently. He shook his head. "If they were still there, even unconscious and invisible, that would have shown them."
The chime to end classes sounded a moment later and the door to the Charms classroom opened and younger students started to leave.
"What do we do? Someone just tried to kill you," Millie asked, her face blank with shock.
"We tell Professor Flitwick, he's closest," Theo said.
"Any idea where the seventh years are supposed to be this time of day?" Neville asked.
"Potions," Rachel said. "But the Carrow twins and Simon and Maxwell aren't taking it. They should have a free period."
"Crabbe also isn't anywhere in sight, though he's taking Charms so he should be on his way here. I don't think Marcus takes NEWT Potions either," Theo said.
"Well, they know who to start questioning at least, let's talk with Professor Flitwick," Hermione said, though she looked a little shaken.
Rachel followed everyone into the classroom, but kept glancing at Draco. She wasn't sure if the Cutting hex had been aimed at him, at her, or at both of them. It was certainly wide enough to have killed both of them. On the other hand, she didn't think she could die until the Dark Lord killed her. So maybe it was somehow preordained that she would see the Cutting hex come towards her?
She needed to find a book on prophecies, she decided. After the Potions Championship was over. If the prophecy could influence her life like this, she needed to know what else it could do.
"Professor Flitwick. Someone just cast a Cutting hex at Rachel and Draco in the hallway. It nearly killed them. They were under the Disillusionment charm. We tried to stun them, but apparently missed, and they got away," Hermione explained.
"Pardon me?" Professor Flitwick asked, balancing on his chair behind his desk.
"Someone just tried to kill us," Draco repeated.
"Oh my. Was anyone hurt?" he asked, peering at them.
"No, they got out of the way in time. But something needs to be done," Theo said.
"Yes, of course." Professor Flitwick pulled out his wand and cast his Patronus. A silver squirrel perched on his desk. "To Professor Dumbledore. There has been an incident in the Charms corridor that requires your attention."
Rachel frowned. She suspected this was going to be just like the time with the doe. They'd question everyone and no one would know how it happened. Though casting a Cutting hex at them was definitely escalating from leaving a dead animal in Draco's bed. It didn't exactly make sense to her, unless they really had only been aiming at Draco. They must know that the Dark Lord wanted to kill her himself. Or, maybe they didn't. Maybe they weren't all that well informed and thought they'd be praised for it.
She went over to her usual desk and sat down. Somewhat mechanically she pulled out her completed homework and stared down at it.
"Are you alright?" Millie asked quietly as she sat down next to Rachel.
"Yeah. I just wasn't really prepared for this today," she said. She did need to be more prepared to be attacked by other students. Her and Draco both. She just wasn't sure how to do that.
Millie shook her head. "I didn't expect them to go from threatening messages to attempted murder. That's a big step."
Rachel slowly nodded to herself and tried to prepare for speaking with Professor Dumbledore, for Severus' worry, and for rumors to make their way around the school. It was always something.
Severus was quietly fuming. He'd received the news of the attack on Rachel and Draco at lunchtime. Both of them had seemed quietly dismissive, even though they would have been either killed or seriously injured if the Cutting hex had hit them. Rachel seemed to have no expectation that he would locate whoever cast the hex, which was both frustrating and disheartening. He liked to believe that he had her trust, but he could see why that would wane if she felt he couldn't protect her from other students.
Albus had again offered Rachel an auror escort, which Rachel declined. Severus had decided that he would let her get used to the escort during the Championship and then suggest that she retain the escort after she learned that they wouldn't hamper her activities around the castle. Hopefully she would see that it was a reasonable request and that the auror could wait outside of secured rooms and that she could still have a fair amount of privacy.
Draco had seemed relatively unaffected, saying only that they knew this was going to happen and that whoever had done it was clearly unskilled. Severus had rather sharply reminded him that even the unskilled could get lucky and while the attackers could try again, Draco only had one life.
It was more gratifying to hear that the students had reacted appropriately. They had dodged, shielded, and sent the Stunning spell toward their attacker. Under the circumstances, in a school and in a closed environment, he couldn't ask for more than that. They were children, not aurors.
A knock on his door drew his attention. "Enter."
Pansy slipped inside looking worried. "I heard what happened, sir. I think everyone in Slytherin has heard by now."
Severus nodded. "That's to be expected." He had wanted to speak with his prefects before he spoke to his sixth and seventh years. He had already gone through the class rosters and had identified who would have been out of class at the time of the attack. The fact that it had happened during a scheduled class time narrowed the possibilities significantly.
"I was going to come to you anyway, because I felt something," Pansy said, taking a seat on the opposite side of his desk.
"You felt something?" he repeated, not quite sure what to make of that. Usually when Rachel spoke of feeling something, she was speaking of the Dark Lord.
"I was in the corridor leading to the Charms corridor, on my way to class and I felt something brush by me, just barely. I didn't give it too much thought until I reached class and found out what had happened. Whoever did it was still Disillusioned when they ran away," Pansy explained.
That was at least more concrete than Rachel's feelings from the Dark Lord. "I see. Do you know approximately what time this was? Had the class chime sounded already?"
"It sounded about thirty seconds later, because I just entered the Charms corridor and saw people exiting the classroom," Pansy said. "And Daphne saw Crabbe going into his dorm to get his bag just before she and I met in the entrance hall. I don't see how he could have gotten up to the Charms corridor before us, even Disillusioned. I don't know where Blaise was, he showed up at Charms class about ten minutes later, but I would hardly call him a suspect."
Severus nodded. "Did Miss Greengrass say if she'd seen anyone else in the common room?"
"I already asked her. She said that Hestia, Flora, Simon, and Maxwell were all in the common room, but left about fifteen minutes before the chime for the end of our first class. Any of them could easily have made it to the Charms corridor in that time," Pansy said, clearly knowing what he was driving at. "I saw all of them in the common room before Tracey told me to come see you."
"Is there anything else you think that I should know?" he asked.
"No. Obviously we'll need to write about this in my letter tomorrow. Rachel seems…"
"How does Rachel seem?" he prompted her when she didn't finish.
"Not very well, really. When she came back to Charms class after speaking with Professor Dumbledore, she just seemed like it was another thing, you know? Not like someone had tried to kill her," Pansy said, looking at him as if checking to see if he understood.
Severus gently pressed at her mind and found the recent memory of her walking up the staircase with Daphne and arriving in the Charms corridor, and then a memory of seeing Rachel and Draco returning to class. He hadn't expected anything different, but he was planning to exhaust all possibilities. "I understand. I will speak with Rachel." Again.
Pansy nodded. "I don't think anyone really knows what to do."
"I will take care of it. Is there anything you need?" he asked.
"No. I'm alright. Rachel is tutoring me in Arithmancy and that's the only help I really need right now. And your help with letter writing, of course," she added quickly.
"We will meet tomorrow at our usual time. Hopefully we will have more information then," he told her. "Can you ask Miss Flora Carrow to come to my office?"
"I will. Thank you, sir," Pansy said, recognizing his dismissal and leaving quickly.
Severus sat and considered his next steps. He would interview his seventh years, all of them, and then he would interview Daphne and Blaise to see what they had seen, though he truly suspected neither of them. His fifth years had been in Transfiguration, though he would check with Minerva to make certain everyone had been in class that period. Same with his fourth years, who had been in Defense. And just to be certain, he would check his third years, who should have been in Charms, though he doubted someone under the age of thirteen could cast that strong of a Cutting hex or a Disillusionment charm.
And then he would convince the other Heads of Houses that he needed to speak with their seventh and sixth years, particularly anyone who hadn't been in class at the time. Somewhere, he would find results.
A few minutes later a knock on his door announced Flora's presence. "Enter."
Flora entered and moved to stand in front of his desk.
"You may sit," he told her.
"I'd rather stand, sir," she said.
Severus refrained from rolling his eyes. Six and a half years with the Carrow twins in his House and he had never made so much as a dent in their lack of regard for him. "Where were you five minutes before the chime announcing the end of first period today?"
"I was on the main staircase, on my way to Arithmancy, sir. My sister was there as well. We parted company with Simon and Maxwell on the third floor landing, as they were going to the library," Flora answered, her eyes on his desk.
"I would like to see your wand," he said, working to catch her gaze.
She did look at him that time, long enough for Severus to push into her mind and search for the memories he was looking for. Sure enough, the four of them were on the staircase and then the Carrow twins continued while the boys took the third floor landing, distinctive with the painting of Bodley the librarian on the wall. He did a cursory search for any strong emotion that was recent, but there was nothing other than annoyance in the common room.
"Your wand," he repeated, leaving her mind.
Flora pulled her wand out of her pocket and set it on his desk.
Severus performed the Reverse spell on it and watched to see what spells she had done recently. A Warming charm, which was unsurprising given the draftiness of some of the corridors in the winter. A teeth cleansing spell. And then an unknown spell that was just represented by a flare of light. "What was the last one?"
"We are doing spell invention in Arithmancy, I was trying to change the color for the Wand Lighting charm, sir," she said.
That sounded right for this time of year in Arithmancy for seventh years. "Do you understand why I'm doing these checks, Miss Carrow?"
"Because of the attack in the Charms corridor, sir," Flora answered steadily. She seemed completely unaffected by his questioning.
"Yes. Two students seemed to be the target, Miss Snow and Mr. Malfoy. Do you have any information?" he asked, though he was relatively certain she hadn't been the perpetrator of the attack, but she may have had a hand in planning it.
"I only just heard of it after I returned to the common room after class. People will gossip rather incessantly," she said, pausing. "Sir."
They did at that. "Is there anything you would like assistance with, Miss Carrow? Is there anything you wish to speak about?"
"No, sir."
Severus watched her for a moment, trying to decide his next move. Giving her the talk about what would be expected of her upon leaving Hogwarts as a Death Eater could wait. He needed to get through as many students as possible today while he still had the opportunity to use the Reverse spell to some effect. "I understand. Please send your sister to my office."
"Yes, sir," she said, turning sharply and leaving his office.
He sighed as he quietly calculated how many students he could get to in the next four hours. Not enough. He would get class rolls from the other professors at dinner and make sure he had his House covered. Maybe he could get to some of the sixth and seventh years from other Houses tonight. He had to try.
Rachel frowned down at the Potions book she'd taken out from the library. She'd checked out pretty much every book of simple potions by this point and was now looking at slightly more complicated potions for ones with clear and visible side effects. Every now and then she copied out a recipe that she thought could be modified, but for the most part she was just reading and testing herself on pairing ingredients and their interactions.
The study room was quiet in the midafternoon. It was Saturday. She'd been to see Torey that morning, where she dutifully recounted the attack in the Charms corridor and discussed how to be safer in the school. As far as Rachel could tell, it was as safe as it was going to get as long as students who supported the Dark Lord were in the school. She just had to keep her attention while she was in the corridors and not let her mind wander just because she was standing somewhere with her friends.
Theo, Hermione, and Draco were all still in the library. Millie was sitting next to her, bent over an Arithmancy review. Neville was across the table with an Ancient Runes dictionary open. Ginny was at the Gryffindor Quidditch practice. And Luna had been sketching runes on a piece of parchment but was now sitting quietly with a small frown.
The silence stretched on as they worked and Rachel reached the end of the book that she'd checked out earlier today and closed it with a small sigh. She'd only found five potentially useful potions there, which she'd copied into her notes, and she would memorize them over today and tomorrow.
"Rachel?" Luna asked.
Rachel looked up. "Yeah?"
"Would you go with me to see Professor Flitwick?" she asked, still looking worried.
"Of course. When would you like to go?" She was a little surprised. When Hermione had asked Luna yesterday about speaking with Professor Flitwick, Luna had said that she'd needed more time.
"He might be in his office now, I'm not sure. If not, we can do it another day," Luna said.
Rachel opened her bag and used her wand to open the slit in the back. She quickly found the Marauder's Map inside and set it out on the table. "Let's find out. I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," she said with her wand tip resting on the parchment.
"I can just picture Sirius running around with that thing and Remus chasing after him trying to keep them out of trouble," Millie said, her eyes on the map.
"From the sounds of it, my dad played a fair hand in getting them into trouble," she said. She also wasn't sure that Remus had been as responsible then as he behaved now. Some of the stories they told seemed like Remus had been right alongside her dad and Sirius.
"They couldn't have been worse than the Weasley twins. The Gryffindor common room seems almost quiet without them," Neville said.
"Severus has assigned Fred and George more detentions than he's assigned anyone else in his past sixteen years of teaching, and as far as I know they didn't get detention from him at all these past two years, so that was all done in the space of five years," Rachel said, her eyes roaming the map until she found Professor Flitwick's office on the second floor. Professor Flitwick was inside and he was alone. "Do we want to go now?" she asked Luna.
Luna nodded and put away her things.
"Mischief managed," she told the map and watched as the ink disappeared. She still needed to get someone to teach her that charm, she knew Hermione knew it.
"We'll send a Patronus if you're gone more than an hour," Millie said.
Rachel finished packing her bag. "We shouldn't be longer than that, I don't think." She left the study room with Luna and they began walking toward the main staircase.
"Thank you for not asking me to go to Professor Flitwick," Luna said.
She tried to think of the right thing to say. "I didn't want to put pressure on you," she finally settled on.
"I still don't know that this is the right decision." Luna looked at Rachel. "What do you think?"
"Well, when I'm worried about doing something, my Mind Healer always tells me to think of what the worst case outcome could be, and then to evaluate how likely that outcome is. What do you think would be the worst case here?" she asked Luna.
"I don't think there really is one. Perhaps Professor Flitwick won't think it's important, and then nothing changes. Or he speaks with my dormmates, but I can't see that making the situation any different either," Luna said after thinking for a while.
Rachel nodded. If Professor Flitwick didn't think this was important enough to do anything about, her next stop was Severus. And then maybe Professor Dumbledore. "So that means that the only thing to fear is nothing changing. And there are good outcomes. If Professor Flitwick gives you your own room, you'll have a safe space from them in Ravenclaw. They wouldn't be able to take your things anymore." She doubted that Professor Flitwick talking with the bullies was going to have any impact on their behavior, so she considered that a rather moot point.
"I suppose that's true. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I wonder where that saying comes from."
"I don't know, I'm not sure I've heard it before," Rachel said as they reached the second floor landing. They turned down the corridor that led to the Charms corridor. Once in the Charms corridor, her eyes were drawn by the gouge in the wall where the Cutting hex had hit.
"Has there been any progress on finding who tried to kill you and Draco?" Luna asked, her gaze on Rachel.
"No. Severus interviewed all the sixth and seventh years who weren't in class at the time, but he didn't find anything." She wasn't particularly surprised by that. If he could have found them, he would have when the dead doe was in Draco's bed. Obviously they were doing something to hide their memories from Severus, because she was positive he was using legilimency on the students. She had been very careful not to mention or even imply that to Torey, she knew she wouldn't approve in the slightest.
"It is a puzzle, isn't it? There are the obvious suspects, but if they all have alibis, and everyone has been questioned, it must be someone we don't suspect," Luna said, her expression flowing from worried to thoughtful.
"Either that or the obvious suspects have made it seem like they were somewhere else at the time. Memory charms, maybe, though those are supposed to be very difficult," Rachel said. Memory charms seemed like the most obvious answer, but at the same time it was hard to believe that Hogwarts students had mastered memory charms when Professor Slughorn hadn't been able to properly disguise his own memory.
"It would be very surprising for a student to have mastered memory charms, both for forgetting entirely, which isn't as difficult, and for placing a false memory, which is much more difficult. I presume Professor Snape also checked everyone's wands?"
"He said he did, but he also said the Reverse spell only goes back so far, so it's possible someone did a bunch of spells to disguise casting the Cutting hex, especially if it was more than twenty four hours before he interviewed them." Rachel was gaining a whole new respect for magical law enforcement. How did they prove any magical crime happened without Veritaserum?
They arrived at Professor Flitwick's office and Luna stared at the door for a long moment. "I suppose it's like you said, nothing worse can happen from doing this," she finally said, and then knocked on the door.
"Come in," Professor Flitwick's voice called.
Luna opened the door and they stepped inside. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Professor Flitwick's office was filled with bookshelves. There were two plush chairs in front of his desk, and behind his desk, Professor Flitwick sat in a raised chair that had a small set of stairs at the side.
"Miss Lovegood, Miss Snow, what may I do for you? Come sit down," Professor Flitwick said, setting aside a piece of parchment that he'd been working on.
They sat and Rachel glanced at Luna, who seemed to be having trouble finding the words to start with. "We'd like to talk with you about something that is happening in Ravenclaw House," Rachel started for her.
"Oh dear. I know we've spoke of this before a few years ago, Miss Lovegood. Are your dormmates giving you difficulties?" Professor Flitwick asked.
"Yes, sir," Luna said. "On the Saturday we left for the Christmas holiday, someone stole all my socks and underthings and put them in the dormitory toilets. When we returned from holiday, someone vanished all the linens from my bed and I had to seek the House Elves to replace them. Previously this year, and in years past, they've taken a number of items from me. Usually they hide them around the school. No one in my dorm room will speak directly to me. They haven't since my first year."
Rachel frowned, she hadn't realized that anything had happened since they'd returned to classes.
"I am sorry, Miss Lovegood. Obviously your dormmates are suspect, but is there anyone else you can think of who might be involved?" Professor Flitwick asked.
Luna shrugged. "I'm not sure."
"From what we've learned, Hortense, Yvonne, Lisa, and Trevor are in a particular position to hold a grudge against Luna," Rachel said.
Professor Flitwick frowned. "For what cause would they be holding a grudge against you?"
Rachel looked to Luna and Luna shook her head. "My mother," Luna whispered.
"What about your mother, dear?" he asked.
"They blame her for their parents being blacklisted from the Spell Crafting Guild. They worked together, about ten years ago," Luna explained. "It wasn't my mother's fault."
"I'm sure it wasn't her fault. She certainly didn't force them to join her work. I am sorry, Miss Lovegood. I will speak with them and try to put a stop to this," Professor Flitwick said.
"We were wondering if Luna could have her own room," Rachel said when it was clear Luna wasn't going to ask. "If it was warded to only allow her in, that would stop people from taking her things and give Luna a safe place to sleep and shower."
"Do you feel threatened, Miss Lovegood?" Professor Flitwick asked. "Do you feel unsafe in your dorm?"
Luna looked down. "I don't expect they would seriously hurt me, not in the way that Rachel is in danger right now. There have been spells and hexes cast at me though. And threats," she said, her voice devoid of emotion.
Professor Flitwick looked particularly solemn. "I dislike using the private rooms as I feel it separates students from their year mates, but if you are being threatened, I take that very seriously. Would you like to use one of the private rooms?"
Luna was quiet for a long moment before she nodded. "Yes, please, sir. I would prefer that to the current situation."
"I will make arrangements today then and ward the room and you may move in after dinner. I will also speak with the students you mentioned and make it clear that I will not tolerate bullying within my House. Please come to me if it continues, Miss Lovegood," he said.
"Thank you, sir," Luna said, though she did not seem relieved.
"As for you, Miss Snow. Is there anything we can do as professors to help you feel more secure in the castle?" Professor Flitwick asked.
The only thing they could do was find who had tried to kill them and expel them, but that wasn't going to happen. "I don't think so, sir. My friends and I are being very careful. We're aware we're targets."
Professor Flitwick's frown deepened. "I wish it wasn't so. If you would like me to speak to Professor Dumbledore about additional protection for you within the school, I would be happy to do so."
Rachel shook her head. "Professor Dumbledore has already offered me an auror escort, but I don't think that will help at this time, but thank you, sir."
"You may wish to consider accepting his offer. While I'd like to believe Hogwarts is safe from the influences of the war, that is clearly not the case, and you are in a uniquely vulnerable position. There is no shame in wishing for appropriate protection," he said, meeting her eyes. "Was there anything else I can do to assist you today?"
"No, sir. Thank you," Luna said as she stood.
"Thank you, sir," Rachel echoed.
"I'll have the room prepared by the time you return from dinner. My door is open if you need me," Professor Flitwick said.
"Thank you, sir," Luna said again.
They left Professor Flitwick's office and began to walk down the Charms corridor in the opposite direction this time.
"Was that alright?" Rachel asked.
"He doesn't understand about my mother. No one does," Luna said, her voice quiet.
"If you ever want to talk about her, I'm glad to listen," Rachel offered.
Luna shook her head. "Not right now."
"That's okay. The offer is open for whenever," she said. "Back to the study room or somewhere else?"
"Back to the study room. I do actually have things I wished to do today," Luna said.
Rachel nodded. She did too. She was going to go back to the library for another potions book.
"Very nice, Miss Snow. The distinctive sheen of the Panopoly potion, but without the burning effect of the bitterroot," Professor Slughorn said, moving on without meeting Rachel's eyes.
"An excellent example of a modified Precision draught, Miss Granger," he continued moving down the line.
"Also the Precision draught from Mr. Malfoy, but substituting for the comfrey essence instead of the fire seed. Notice how Mr. Malfoy's potion still bubbles in the vials," he said.
"And the Phial of the Berserker from Mr. Nott, a rare potion indeed, with a paired substitution," Professor Slughorn said, moving back to the front of the classroom. "At this stage, I have nothing left to teach you for this competition. You are all well on your way to becoming acceptable brewers within the potions community. We'll continue to meet for the next two Sundays to practice modification challenges that have been used in past championships, but you may consider your tutelage complete. Well done, all of you."
"Do you really believe we're ready, sir?" Hermione asked.
"I do indeed, you are a fine competitive team. Now, that's no reason to stop reviewing and testing your memories, but I believe you will place very well in the championship. Go ahead and clean up and we will dismiss for lunch," he said, clapping his hands together.
Rachel moved to clean her cauldron and the rest of the equipment she'd used. Her hands were shaking particularly hard at the moment and she promptly dropped her cauldron with a loud clang as she fumbled to catch it.
"Was anyone splashed?" Professor Slughorn asked, hurrying over.
"Just me, I think," she said, looking at the spots where the Panopoly potion had landed on her hands. She could feel them burning into her skin, but it was a strange and distant sensation. It should hurt a lot more than it did.
"Over to the sink, I have a Cleansing draught on hand. Miss Granger, can you help her move?" Professor Slughorn asked, now rushing in the opposite direction.
"Here we go. Just your hands or anywhere else?" Hermione asked as she gently pulled Rachel up and towards the sink.
"Just my hands, I don't feel it anywhere else. There was almost nothing in my cauldron, it all went into the vials," she said, still watching her hands. There were a few discolored spots on her sleeves, but as far as she knew the potion wouldn't do much of anything to cloth other than remove the dye.
"Pull back her sleeves," Professor Slughorn called as he approached the sinks.
Rachel held her arms out and let Hermione roll up her sleeves. Her hands were shaking even worse now.
"It's alright, you'll be alright then," Professor Slughorn said. He carefully poured a milky white potion over Rachel's hands, starting with the right and then the left. "Turn over your hands, let me see the palms."
She did so. She hadn't even realized she'd gotten the potion on her palms. It really should hurt more than it did.
"Water next, cold water," he said as he finished pouring the Cleansing draught on her palms.
Hermione turned on the tap and Professor Slughorn moved Rachel's hands beneath the water.
"There, let that run over them for a few minutes and then we'll use the Healing Salve," he said.
"Thank you," she said.
Professor Slughorn shook his head. "Accidents happen, just try not to do it in front of the judges before they score you. Better than blood, we don't want human blood anywhere near potions."
She felt herself flush slightly, remembering cutting her thumb in Potions class last year. She didn't think of herself as accident prone, she was usually relatively coordinated.
"I've got your cauldron, don't worry about it, just focus on your hands," Theo said, coming up to the tap nearby.
"Thanks," she told him.
She stood with her hands under the water, noticing that she felt them feeling cold more than she felt the effects of the potion. Maybe her modification had made it somewhat less caustic as well as removing the flame effects. Deciding to check, she pulled her right hand out of the water and found that she had open sores on her hands in spots that were about a centimeter in diameter on both sides of her hands. They began to sluggishly bleed now that they were out from under the water. Feeling a little sick at the sight, she put her hand back in the water. The last time she'd been bleeding from injuries had been when they'd been treating her wounds this summer.
"Alright, I've got the Healing Salve and while I'm not a Healer, my bandages are fairly tidy. Let's take a look," Professor Slughorn said, turning off the water. "Oh my, you have a bruised wrist too, how did that happen?"
"Repotting serpesantos in Herbology," she said. It really had not been that great of a week. The bruise around her wrist from where the plant had wrapped itself around her was currently a light purple.
"Well I've got some Bruise Paste for that as well. I hope you don't need to hold a quill today," he said, applying the Healing Salve liberally on her hand and then conjuring a bandage around her right hand before moving onto the left.
"My homework is already finished." Thankfully. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to hold anything with her hands bandaged like this.
"There we go, now the Bruise Paste," he said as he finished with her left hand.
"You really don't have to, it can heal on its own, thank you," she said.
"Nonsense, there's no point in suffering if you don't have to," Professor Slughorn said, retrieving another jar from his big potions kit. "Here we are, and then another bandage so you don't get it on your clothes. Well then. You look a little worse for wear, but no harm done."
"Thank you," she said, looking down at her hands. She looked like she'd just come out worse in a fist fight, or maybe that she was preparing for a boxing match.
"Not at all. Run along to lunch with your friends, I'll be along soon," he said.
Rachel turned away and joined her friends, who had all waited for her.
"I don't think you should get on a broom like that," Draco said as soon as they were out in the corridor.
"They don't hurt, and I still have most of the use of my fingers," she said, flexing her hands experimentally.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Draco is right. You don't use your fingers to grip your broom, you use your palms. Do you really think Professor Snape will let you play in the game next Saturday if you fall off your broom today?" Theo pointed out.
"I suppose not," she said, though she didn't think she was going to fall. Then again, she'd thought that a few months ago and she had fallen. Severus still didn't know about that. And now she had to show up for dinner tonight with her hands bandaged. He was not going to be pleased.
"You can coach from the stands. We're ready for Gryffindor anyway," Draco said.
Hermione gave him a cool look. "I think you'll be surprised by our team. They've improved a great deal since the beginning of the year."
Rachel kept her silence. Ginny still bemoaned her Chasers and her Beaters every time she came back from practice. Unless that was a tactic to make Rachel underestimate the Gryffindor team, she wasn't worried in the slightest.
"The Slytherin House team is the best team in the school. If you don't know that, then you either don't know anything about Quidditch or you're delusional," Draco said, apparently full of House pride.
"Let's just have lunch," Theo said. "And, minor disasters aside, Professor Slughorn said we're ready for the Championship. And he thinks we'll do well."
"He has to say that, doesn't he?" Hermione asked.
"I don't think he'd tell us we were ready now if we weren't ready," Draco said. "You're overthinking it."
"Professor Slughorn has been teaching Potions since the thirties. If anyone would know if we were ready for the Championship, it would be him," Rachel said, though she did share some of Hermione's doubt.
"I suppose that's true. I just want to do well," Hermione said. "I want to prove that Professor Snape made the right decision to pick us instead of the seventh years."
"We will. Professor Snape wouldn't have chosen us if he thought we couldn't do well," Theo said soothingly.
Rachel wondered a little bit about Severus' decision to choose them, but she certainly wasn't going to bring it up. And it was far too late for second guessing now.
"Alright, lunch, Quidditch practice, then a break," Draco said.
"I want to review this afternoon," Hermione said.
"Have fun with that," Draco retorted.
Rachel sighed. It didn't feel like it had only been a week since the Christmas holiday. And it felt like ages to go until the Easter holiday. Sometimes time seemed to pass all at once, and sometimes it stretched out until every day felt like a week.
She looked at her hands and wondered if they would have healed enough by the time she went to Severus' quarters for dinner that she could remove the bandages. She could hide slightly spotted hands much better than bandaged hands. She supposed she'd have to wait and see.
Severus jolted slightly as Rachel dropped her spoon with a clang against the bowl she was eating applesauce out of. "What the hell happened to your hand?" he heard himself ask as he spotted the red sores on the back of Rachel's hand. How had he not noticed that when they first sat down for dinner?
She sighed. "I had a minor potions accident this morning. It's okay, it doesn't hurt."
He felt his eyebrows climbing. "Did you not seek Poppy for treatment? What happened?"
"Professor Slughorn treated my hands, he washed them with the Cleansing Draught and then put Healing Salve and bandages on them," she said, hiding her hands in her lap as though that would help the situation.
"Why are your hands not still bandaged?" he asked, deciding he'd come back to what had happened in a moment.
"Because I thought they were better because they didn't hurt. They have healed quite a bit since this morning. They're fine."
"I assume you don't wish the sores to scar. Healing Salve should be applied for at least twelve hours, twenty four is better," he reminded her.
She examined her hand. "I don't think they'll scar, but if you think they will I probably should put the Healing Salve back on overnight at least."
"I will treat and bandage your hands after dinner. Are you wounded anywhere else?" he asked, half dreading the answer.
"No. And I didn't even fly today because I probably wouldn't have been able to grip my broom well. I mean, I probably would have been fine, but I didn't just in case." She raised her eyebrows at him.
He nodded. "I'm glad to hear that. Now, what happened in this accident?"
"My hands were shaking and my grip slipped on my cauldron when I went to wash it. It was mostly empty. Some days the shaking is worse, I'm not sure why. I didn't exert myself yesterday." She shrugged and went back to staring at her mostly uneaten dinner.
"I'm not certain why either, I would assume that the tremors would grow worse with exertion as well. What were you brewing?" he asked.
"The Panopoly potion. But I modified it to remove the bitterroot, which is probably why this didn't hurt. No burning effect. Professor Slughorn says we're ready for the Championship."
Severus fought back a grimace. Even without the bitterroot, being splashed by a potion as caustic as the Panopoly potion should hurt. "I'm glad your injuries were minor. Try to eat your dinner."
She began fiddling with her bread roll. "Since you haven't said anything, I assume no one knows who cast the Cutting hex at us."
"I'm afraid not. I interviewed everyone third year and up who was not in class at the time of the incident." It was frustrating beyond measure. Someone had tried to kill Rachel and while he had suspects, he had no proof, not even in their own memories.
"I did tell Torey about what happened, and I told her you were trying to find who did it, but I didn't tell her you were using legilimency on students. I suggest you don't either." Rachel glanced at him, the corners of her mouth dipping down almost in a frown.
"I was not intending to," he said, though it felt odd to conspire with Rachel to keep his not technically illegal legilimency activities away from her therapist.
"They have to be using memory charms, right?" she asked, now looking worried.
"Either some sort of memory modification or an occlumency technique that I'm not familiar with, but both are unlikely. At this point I have no other theories," he admitted. It was galling that he couldn't figure out how students were pulling this off.
"Can you attack someone with memory charms? Can someone just come up to you and change your memory without you knowing?"
"The memory charm to forget information, with the incantation obliviate, can be used suddenly, though generally not during a fight. Usually when it's used this way, it's used to erase the memories immediately preceding it. A more careful obliviate can select memories to remove. While it's theoretically possible that students may be able to do this, I should have noticed something in their minds if they had done so. Obliviate when used crudely is not a subtle spell," he began.
"So I shouldn't have to worry about being obliviated too much as long as I'm with my friends?" she asked.
"Probably not. It takes a bit of time to use the spell. It is very improbable that you'd be attacked with a memory charm in the way you were attacked with the Cutting hex, or any other combat spell," he explained. "The false memory spell is much more difficult and takes much more time and skill and usually training in mind magic besides. I do not believe students are implanting false memories."
She seemed to consider that. "I really don't want anyone messing with my mind."
"Your occlumency will help with that as well. You will have some natural resistance to the false memory spell. Your mind is protecting and shielding your true memories. You should be able to identify a false memory within your mental architecture because it will not fit with the others," he assured her. He wavered on suggesting an auror escort again, since she seemed concerned, but decided to wait until the escort arrived in two weeks.
He watched her for a moment as she stared at her dinner. She seemed more than weary. She seemed defeated. "Are you feeling well?"
Her expressions moved too fluidly to catch before she settled on worried again. "I don't know. I don't feel quite right. I haven't all day. A bit yesterday too. It's not the Dark Lord, I already checked."
"May I perform a diagnostic charm?" he asked, reaching for his wand.
She nodded.
He cast the charm, watching her shiver in response. "You have a slight fever. You've probably caught whatever is going around. I've already had to brew two cauldrons full of Pepper-Up potion this weekend for the hospital wing," he said. "That also probably explains why your hands are shaking worse right now."
"That's a relief. Not that I want to be sick," she said quickly, glancing at him. "But it's nice to understand why something is happening."
"I understand. I will go get you a Pepper-Up potion and a Nutrient Restoration potion, as well as some Healing Salve for your hands," he said, standing up. "Anything else you need?"
"No."
"Is there anything you want to eat?" he tried.
"No, not really. I think I just don't have much of an appetite from being sick," she said.
Severus thought she hadn't had much of an appetite since this summer. She had seemed to eat moderately well over the Christmas holiday and at most meals, but he would prefer if she was eating better. Her face seemed thinner and she definitely could not afford to lose more weight. "I will be right back."
He went into his private lab and collected the potions he needed and checked on the small cauldron of Veritaserum that he had bubbling. It wasn't that he was intending on dosing his suspected students with the potion, but he wanted the option should it become necessary.
"I'm going to stay with Severus for a while, I'll be back in the common room by curfew," Rachel was telling her Patronus when he returned. Her doe trotted away with her message. "I didn't really want to go back with smoking ears."
"Understandable. Try to drink your juice, at least," he said, giving her the Pepper-Up potion and the Nutrient Restoration potion before sitting back down to his own dinner.
Rachel made a face as she took them and then reached for her juice as her ears began to smoke under her hair.
"Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?" he offered.
"No, I'm just kind of done for the day," she said.
He understood the feeling entirely.