The Eye Of The Gazer
Chapter 20
Lucius Malfoy walked into the unfamiliar surroundings of the library at Transpires University. Here he did not know his way about, and he lacked his usual confidence, although this would not have been apparent to an observer, for he carried himself with his usual arrogance.
The university library was a highly unusual building: the concentration of so much knowledge in one place had created a strong magical field. This had formed a space that was multi-dimensional, containing far more books than would apparently fit into the building, thus it was possible to get hopelessly lost in the stacks if one did not take care. There was also the possibility of attack from some of the more dangerous works. Therefore, if anyone wished to read anything that was not contained in the limited Undergraduate Collection, they were not permitted to wander among the grimoires and reference books without a member of the library staff as a guide. Numerous signs stating this fact were posted around the library, plus the entrance to the stacks was protected by intruder charms.
Lucius therefore approached the library enquiry desk, his head held high. When he reached it, and finally realised who was sitting behind the desk, he could hardly believe his eyes: it was Hermione Granger, swathed in the anonymous dark blue academic gown of a Transpires professor. For her part, Hermione was absorbed in the book in front of her, and looked up with a start when she realised someone was waiting to speak to her. She opened her mouth to apologise for not noticing him, but the words died on her lips when her eyes reached Lucius' face.
This was a public place, and so these two enemies would both behave with decorum, although it took each of them a short while to recover their equilibrium. Hermione spoke first: "Good morning, Mr Malfoy. How may I help you?" Her voice was calm, but her eyes were wary.
"Good morning, Miss Granger," replied Lucius, managing to inject a sneer into the words of greeting. "I did not expect to see you here. I understood you were doing research into the Dark Arts, and lecturing part-time. I did not realise that you had become a librarian too. Is there no end to your abilities?"
"I am not a librarian, I'm a part-time library assistant," Hermione replied evenly. "Were you looking for something in particular, Mr Malfoy?" She looked at him with a slight smile, for of course he was seeking something in particular, else why was he here? And if he wished to pursue his line of enquiry today, he had no option but to ask Professor Granger, for she was the only person on duty.
Lucius stood awhile and considered. He was seeking information on two subjects, and finally he decided that one at least was innocuous enough. "I am looking for something on the founders of Hogwarts. I have seen the relevant section of Hogwarts: a History, but I would like to see more." He saw that Hermione was impressed by this statement. In fact, he had not read the tome at all, but knew enough about the book to be sure that the information he sought would not be in it. He only claimed to have read the book because he knew, from Draco's complaints many years ago, that the Granger girl had read everything on the Hogwarts reading list. "I wish to know about the founders before they founded the school. I would prefer a volume with accurate illustrations, if such a thing exists."
Hermione nodded. "And do you have a special interest in any one of the founders?" she asked pointedly. Lucius stared her down, and decided to play with her. "Yes, I do as a matter of fact." He waited a few moments, and then said, "Godric Gryffindor. But information about the others would be useful too."
He saw Miss Granger was surprised, and smirked a little. He waited while she went over to the enormous card index housed in a huge oak cabinet with numerous tiny drawers. This covered two walls, and reached so high that it disappeared from view. Hermione took out her wand, speaking a spell as she flicked it. Drawers shot open, and a number of cards flew into her extended hand, arranging themselves neatly into a pile.
As she shuffled through the selected index cards, Lucius looked down at Professor Granger's vacated desk. He had years of practice reading upside down from his days at the Ministry of Magic, where he had always surreptitiously read everything visible on Fudge's desk; thus allowing him both to keep one step ahead of the irritating man at work, and also to monitor the Ministry's attempts to identify or deal with Death Eaters. So now, he read the book Miss Granger had been reading, curious to know what the annoying Mudblood was up to. He almost gasped out loud when he saw the running title at the head of the page: Parselmouths: their origin and influence. The page at which the book was open was about the development of Parseltongue in young children.
Was this a coincidence? Lucius asked himself. The second subject on which he required information was Parseltongue: he wanted to know if his daughter was developing this language in a normal manner for a Parselmouth, or whether it was more likely that something had happened to make her gain the ability; and if so, what could have caused this to happen? Lucius thought carefully. Miss Granger could not know that Bryony was a Parselmouth, could she? Unless someone had told her? He then remembered that Gabrielle Delacour knew Hermione; indeed, felt the same bond with her that she felt with Cho, because of their joint experience in the lake at Hogwarts. Gabrielle had been visiting a friend from Hogwarts when Lucius was clearing out his secret chamber. Whom had she been to see? Lucius had asked Gabrielle to keep secret the fact that Bryony was a Parselmouth, but what if she had shared her worries with the Mudblood witch instead?
Lucius felt a great desire to demand from the Granger woman what she had learned about Parselmouths; but he would not demean himself, it was bad enough having to ask her permission to see books on the Hogwarts founders. Miss Granger was now coming back towards him, scanning the cards in her hand. "There are quite a few books that mention the founders, but I narrowed the choice down to these eight, because they seem to have more information than the rest. Edmund the Scrivener wrote a book on each of the founders, but they are very old indeed, written just after the school was founded. Can you read ancient Futhorc runes?" she looked up at him, waiting for a reply.
"Only a little," said Lucius stiffly, furious at having to make this admission to his despised opponent. However, she was being helpful at the moment, so he took a few deep breaths to calm himself as she flicked through the cards again. "Well, in that case, I think these other four might be better for you. Two of them have illustrations. Are the pictures very important to you?"
"I would very much like to see pictures of Godric Gryffindor," he replied neutrally.
Hermione was obviously thinking, for she said next, "Then we can get Scrivener's The Life of Godric Gryffindor as well. It has coloured illuminations. Even if you can't read the runes, you can look through the pictures. If you need a translation, I can do that for you if the passage is not too long – for example the description of an illumination.
"This way, Mr Malfoy. I should tell you that these books are all part of the reference collection. You must read them in the library, they are not available for borrowing. There are carrels here where you can read undisturbed. You can make notes yourself, non-drip ink only please, or if you wish to have a copy of any passage, we sell Quickcopy Quills to do it for you. The books are all protected by wards that do not permit them to be taken out of the library.
"Here we are, you can use this carrel. Please wait here while I fetch your books."
Hermione walked into the stacks, and Lucius saw her disappear in a whirl as she flicked her wand, using a spell to guide her straight to the book on the first card. He sat on the chair by the reading desk, noting the pile of old parchment provided for making notes, and the quill with a pot of non-drip ink beside it. There was an oil lamp shining brightly onto the desk, and a bell-pull in the carrel for summoning assistance.
Lucius did not have long to wait before a large book bound in brown leather came towards him at a stately pace, and landed on the desk. This was swiftly followed by four more books, until he had a neat pile of them in front of him. Professor Granger reappeared, recasting the wards at the entrance to the stacks as she emerged.
"Will those books be sufficient for now, Mr Malfoy?" she asked him. "I suggest you look through them first. If you require other books when you have seen them, or you would like any other assistance, please ring the bell. Please leave the books in the carrel when you have finished"
Malfoy could not bring himself to thank her, so he acknowledged her with a nod of his head, and the words, "Miss Granger," uttered in a tone of dismissal. She raised an eyebrow slightly, and walked back to her desk in a dignified manner, not looking back at him.
Lucius began looking through the books. Grudgingly, he had to admit that Miss Granger seemed to have made a good selection. The ornate script coupled with the old fashioned English in three of the books was difficult to decipher, but he could read them with patience. The fourth book was much more modern, and he could skim through it easily. The fifth, The Life of Godric Gryffindor, was, as he had been told, written in ancient runes, but the Mudblood was right, it was full of hand-painted brightly coloured illuminations. Lucius flicked through it hopefully, searching for a picture of one particular item, or at the very least something that would show he was on the right track. He had to admit to himself that this was a very fine book indeed, beautifully preserved. Had he not been on the trail of particular piece of information, he would have enjoyed just browsing through it and admiring the work of the unknown artist. As he looked through, he began to doubt that he would find what he sought, for many of the illuminations were not in fact pictures to illustrate the text, but enlarged capital letters decorated with real and imaginary magical beasts; but there were a few real illustrations, and so he persisted.
After some more pages, his doubts took over. He marked his place in the ancient volume, and began to look through the newest book next, reasoning that as he could read this one most easily, he would either find what he wanted, or be able to discard it very quickly. Lucius wanted to know more about Godric Gryffindor's origins. He had never before thought much about the man, he had always concentrated on the pure blood background of Salazar Slytherin. He seemed to remember that Gryffindor came from the north of England, but was this true? This book was about the founding of Hogwarts, with a short life history of each of the founders. Lucius turned to the pages about Gryffindor's early life: yes, he was what would now be called a Yorkshireman, from the southern part of Northumbria that became the kingdom of Jorvik in the days of Viking rule. Gryffindor came from a market town in the West Riding. Lucius was pleased that his recollection had been correct. He read a little more, but decided that the rest of the information was superfluous to his needs. He then read a little about Salazar Slytherin, but soon realised that this book would not tell him anything about Slytherin's abilities as a Parselmouth, which today was the only information he needed about this founder. This book had no pictures, so he started on one of the older volumes with illustrations.
Lucius spent a long time scouring the library books for illustrations of Godric Gryffindor, but the authors seemed determined to thwart him, for there were pictures of many things, including all four Hogwarts founders in a variety of heroic poses, but none of these showed Gryffindor with the one thing Lucius sought. Finally he began again with the oldest book, but his diligence proved fruitless, and the only thing Lucius was able to determine from this antique volume was that he had interpreted his ancient runes correctly the previous day at home. He sat back in his chair and frowned, thinking. He had an idea, but it would mean asking the Granger female for help again. Well, he wanted the information, so he would use the tool to hand. He could go home and bully the house elves to relieve his feelings afterwards.
He approached the enquiry desk once more. Miss Granger looked surprised to see him, but asked him civilly enough if he had found what he was looking for. Lucius replied airily that he had found some useful information, but he had not found an illustration that suited his purpose. "Tell me," he said, "Are there any portraits of the founders here? Or are they all at Hogwarts?"
Hermione frowned. "I'm not sure exactly what we have. I know there are portraits of all former Transpires students, but the university was founded 300 years after Hogwarts, so of course the founders did not study here. There is a gallery of portraits of important witches and wizards on the next floor here in the library. But because some of them were honoured by being placed there many years after their death, the portraits are sometimes a mere guess at what the person looked like, or poor copies of earlier portraits. Some of the older portraits are in sad need of restoration; but the occupants are very stubborn, and won't stay still long enough to be cleaned. Of course, hygiene wasn't as important in those days…" She seemed to realise she had been rambling somewhat, and suddenly stopped speaking. She began again with, "Would you like to see the gallery, Mr Malfoy?"
"Yes I would. What is the procedure?"
"You would need to be accompanied, because the gallery is part of the multidimensional library space. If you would like to go there now, I can arrange for a house elf to take you. The house elf will remain with you all the time you are in the gallery, and bring you back here afterwards."
Lucius managed to convey without speaking that this arrangement would be acceptable. Hermione picked up a speaking tube beside her desk, and said into it, "Please would one of you come to the library reference section enquiry desk. I have a visitor here who would like to be escorted to the portrait gallery." Lucius sneered at this. Of course, the Mudblood had no idea how to talk to house elves. All this "please" and "would you"! House elves responded best to orders, otherwise they started slacking. He wondered how long he would have to wait.
However, a house elf apparated almost immediately. He wore a cut down tablecloth neatly belted with a length of material matching the university's academic gowns. This was the standard garb for the Transpires house elves. He bowed awkwardly to Lucius, and said, "The visitor will please follow Livvy." He then walked rapidly towards a corner of the room where a staircase could be seen spiralling upwards. Lucius strode after him.
On the next floor, after climbing an almost vertical staircase, they came to an enormous gallery with portraits lining the walls, disappearing out of view in all directions. The occupants of some of the portraits looked at Lucius suspiciously. He turned to Livvy, trying to hide the fact that after the steep climb he was slightly out of breath. "I am looking for a portrait of Godric Gryffindor. Do you have such a thing?"
"Livvy only knows some of the pictures, Sir. But Livvy can ask Old Bursar. Old Bursar's portrait is along here."
Lucius decided to wait where he was. After a short while, the house elf came back to him and reported, "Old Bursar says there is one portrait of Mr Gryffindor. The visitor will please stand very close to Livvy." The elf then snapped his fingers, and the two of them disapparated, apparating again in front of a very large portrait with an ornate gilt frame. Livvy pointed at it. "Mr Godric Gryffindor," he said, and then stepped back to wait.
Lucius looked upwards at the portrait. He saw a man of about 30 years old, dressed in the garb of a nobleman of the 900s. He had red-gold hair and a beard, and the build of a warrior. He was wearing a sword belt, and Lucius recognised the ornate hilt of the sword: it was the same weapon that now hung on the wall of the Head Teacher's office at Hogwarts. Lucius examined the portrait, looking very hard at Gryffindor's neck to see whether he wore any ornamentation, but he could only see a large jewelled brooch pinning the founder's cloak in place. The man in the picture stared back at him levelly.
Lucius turned slightly to see how near the house elf was standing.
"Is it required that you remain within earshot?"
"No, Sir. Livvy must be able to see the visitor."
"Then move back until you cannot hear me, but can still see me. I wish to speak to Gryffindor." Livvy did as he was bid. Lucius then turned to the portrait, and said, "Godric Gryffindor, I wish to ask you a question."
The portrait spoke back to him in a deep voice, but Lucius was disconcerted when he realised he could not understand him: the man was speaking in Anglo-Saxon. He cursed himself for not having considered this possibility. However, it did mean that this portrait was similar enough to the real Godric Gryffindor for it to have acquired his characteristics. It was obvious that this painting had been done many years after Gryffindor's death, but even if it was not an accurate likeness so far as the man's appearance was concerned, the artist had been skilled enough to capture his essence.
Lucius thought a moment about what he really wanted to know. He glanced sideways at Livvy, to make sure where he stood. Then he slipped his hand into his pocket, out of the elf's line of sight, and drew out a bronze ornament, which he held out before him so that Gryffindor could see it clearly. "Do you recognise this?" he asked, and watched the founder's face carefully. He was rewarded by a widening of those watchful blue eyes, and an expression of surprise. Gryffindor spoke, and still Lucius could not understand the words, but their meaning was clear: he had recognised the object. "Is it yours?" asked Lucius, gesturing from the ornament to the portrait. Gryffindor's gesture in reply was unambiguous: he pointed from the object to himself. It was also obvious that he did not understand how it came to be in this stranger's possession. An expression of great frustration appeared on his face, for he could not speak to the visitor to ask him how he had come by it.
Lucius had his answer, and he smiled in satisfaction. He replaced Bryony's Thor's Hammer pendant in his pocket. It was as he had first thought when he had begun to decipher the runes inscribed as part of its ornamentation: this ancient pendant bearing a lion, the symbol of Gryffindor House, had once been Godric Gryffindor's amulet; for it was inscribed in Anglo-Saxon Futhorc runes with a word that he had painstakingly spelled out as "Grifindor".
Lucius apparated into Cho Chang's sitting room at Gildenford Hall; now that the couple were reconciled, he was permitted once more to enter her suite of rooms this way. Should he wish to visit any other part of the Hall, he was expected to ring the front door bell like any civilised caller. He stood awhile and listened, but as he had hoped, the rooms were quiet and he was alone. It was generally understood that Lucius was only to call when Cho was at home, and he was aware that this was the second time today that he was in effect a trespasser abusing the privilege he had been granted; for of course he knew that Cho would be working at this time of day.
To avoid stepping into the corridor, Lucius now apparated once more, this time into Bryony's bedroom. He made straight for the dressing table, which was covered in the kind of clutter beloved of young witches: miniature replicas of magical objects; cuddly toy dragons, cats and owls; witch and wizard dolls; polished samples of pretty crystals; a tortoiseshell-backed dressing table set of brushes, comb and hand mirror; and last but not least, a Chinese lacquer box inlaid with mother of pearl, that Bryony called her "treasure box".
Lucius opened the treasure box, and felt in his pocket for Gryffindor's amulet. The Thor's Hammer shape seemed to have twisted itself into the corners of the pocket, and Lucius firstly tried to free it manually. He was just considering using magic to solve the problem, when he heard feet running along the landing outside the room. The bedroom door suddenly burst open, and in ran Bryony. She stopped when she saw her father, and stared at him in disbelief. Lucius was taken aback by her unexpected appearance: he knew he had been caught plundering Bryony's treasure box, and he did not know what to say to his daughter. Even so, her reaction was one he could not have predicted.
Bryony's sweet face twisted into a snarl, and her eyes flashed: was that a hint of red in them, or a trick of the light? She sprang forward, and in a harsh voice, she spat at him. "Give me the pendant back this instant!" Lucius stared down at his child, transformed into some kind of demon, her hand stuck out imperiously, the other hand on her hip expectantly. It was as if she had been taken over by another being. When had she learned to say "this instant"? What had provoked her to speak to her father this way? He frowned.
How did she know what was in his pocket? For the Thor's Hammer was still caught up in the fabric, and Bryony was alternately glancing from the hand in his pocket to his face.
"Bryony, calm down," he began, gently enough, watching her face carefully; but she thrust out her hand even further. "Give it to me! How dare you take it without asking?" Silently, Lucius cast a spell to free the pendant from its entanglement, withdrew it from his pocket, and placed it on the small outstretched hand.
It was as if a cheering charm had been cast over Bryony. She smiled: at first it was a more like a smirk of triumph, but then her face relaxed, and she looked like her usual self. The reddish light was no longer in her eyes. In fact, she seemed slightly puzzled, and stared at the pendant in her hand as if wondering how it had got there. She looked up, and also seemed surprised to see Lucius. "Daddy!" she said, and beamed from ear to ear. She ran up to him, and hugged him around the waist, as high as she could reach.
Lucius crouched down and returned the hug, but although he was pleased to see that Bryony was herself again, he was genuinely concerned at what had just taken place: this had been no childish tantrum, she had been almost threatening. Lucius had enough experience of wilful children to recognise that something else entirely had just happened here.
As he helped Bryony to put the pendant back into her treasure box, he wondered if it was the artefact itself: did Godric Gryffindor's amulet possess some secret power? If so, perhaps it was worth even more money than Lucius had originally estimated.
Lucius wondered how he could discover more about the pendant. Bryony's chatter washed over him as he pondered.
Note: The concept of a multidimensional library space was invented by Terry Pratchett for Ankh-Morpork's Unseen University on Discworld. I have shamelessly borrowed this idea, and also named my university in homage to Terry: Transpires is a combination of transparent (i.e. unseen) and spires from Oxford's "dreaming spires".