Chapter 13

Severus caught up with the quidditch team by apparating directly to the subsidised school and ignoring the fact that it was an anti-apparating zone.

"What kept you Sev mate?" asked Ron.

"A truant; Evadne Horrocks took a side trip to Innsbruck and I went to retrieve her" said Severus grimly.

"Horrocks? She's a prig's prig!" said Lydia.

"She was autograph hunting" groaned Severus.

"'Nuff said" said Lydia

oOoOo

Emily introduced her team to the home players and their spectators. She did not bother with surnames; Severus had directed her on this to allow the other team to do likewise in case any should be 'gan Prok' or 'child of no man' which was shaming; and Fred and Peter as well as the four adults were aware of the bloodsong of six others besides Ulvik. The twins grinned across at the Schloss Adler marauders and Severus smiled austerely to himself; not only had the lad now felt his cohorts to be ready, he appeared to have found more. Well seven was a large number – though there was a group of nine in Hogwarts – but in such a new enterprise perhaps it was necessary. And too one had to remember that only the keenest, brightest, and most fearless would choose to be first in a new school for the despised like this anyway. Any who feared retribution, shied away from unaccustomed hard work or just was afraid of anything different would not have applied.

The very young goblin who was team captain of the new school was called Grelleg; and he introduced HIS team; himself as seeker – he and Arbrek eyed each other up thoughtfully – Cnebbic as keeper; Witlac, Valerie and Safraxa as chasers; and Torschik and Leta as beaters. Severus noted Ulvik considering that the Prince Peak team had one goblin on it and their team had one human; and was glad that his team had impeccable manners and no problem with goblins in case the home team wondered if Arbrek had been included as a sop to them. The poor could be very touchy; Severus remembered it from personal experience.

There were refreshments and smalltalk first, and Peter and Fred went briefly to ruffle the hair of the first Schloss Adler marauders; and dubbed then the First Eagle Marauders.

It was a good a marauding name as any for those of the Castle of the Eagles; and when the twins whistled the theme from 'Where Eagles Dare' Ulvik and friends merely looked puzzled.

Severus smiled to himself; they'd see the film soon enough. And Ron was beckoning over the twins to go and play. They took their leave of the kids and ran over to get their brooms.

The young marauders looked sober; Severus wondered what they were discussing; perhaps they were just impressed to have been given respect by older marauders; perhaps they realised how much action the twins had already seen. As they held hands he somehow suspected that they were coming to terms with the real business of being marauders.

oOoOo

The outcome of the match really was in no doubt; the Prince Peak team flew rings around the Schloss Adler team. But they did the new team the compliment of not holding back; and called compliments about well executed moves. And then it was over, Grelleg having been taken out with the Wronski feint by Arbrek, who returned to find the snitch he had permitted briefly out of his sight; risky but sometimes worth it to ditch an opponent who was good enough to be trouble. And the Prince Peak team slapped all their opponents on the backs and held a detailed post mortem over Kaffee und Kuchen, pointing out that after all they were largely older, bigger AND more experienced than the home team but it had seemed a little impolite to send their second team. Emily was a good captain and had an excellent memory for sports even if she had difficulty remembering academic facts thought Severus with a sigh; and she was doing well to explain the good moves, and more tactfully, the mistakes of the opposing team. Emily acquires tact! Wonders will never cease, thought Severus. She WILL make a good sports teacher.

"I appreciate it" said Grelleg of Emily's explanation as to why they brought the first team. "We learned a lot playing a team that's used to playing professional teams; and I think Cnebbic and I have learned a lot too about broomsurfing by watching those of you who do it."

"Zoë's new to the position of Keeper – rather good at it though – having been promoted from the second team this year and tried out in it rather than her accustomed position as chaser" said Emily. "The twins are teaching her broomsurfing and more so she'll either kill her silly self or be even better next time we meet."

Grelleg grinned at Zoë. "It is rather a crazy thing we do, isn't it?" he said.

Zoë smiled and nodded shyly. As the baby of the team she felt shy at the best of times, without being surrounded by strangers!

"We're considering sending Grelleg here, and Cnebbic too, on a quidditch scholarship to you at the Peak after they have their ZP's" said Jade. "To benefit from Viktor's and Ron's rather expert tuition. And possibly Valerie might ask her father to send her to you too" she added. "Too bad for our team; but our pupils and their needs are our priorities. It's a couple of years away anyhow as Grelleg's in the third; three for Cnebbic and Val in the second. And the boys at least will have no trouble with any of the academic work in Prince Peak especially Grelleg who's one of our star pupils; Val is less of a high flyer but she's a good hard working girl."

"And I'm the team baby in the third!" Zoë was shocked into saying. "We should have played our younger players against you!"

"It does us no harm to be pushed" said Grelleg. "Perhaps another time we can play a round Robin; our two teams each against your two."

"But best not to play Beauxbatons" said Arbrek with a straight face "It would be poor for their morale to be crushed by a team from a new school whose oldest member is but thirteen."

"NO Beauxbatons jokes please!" said Jade "I have a protégé in Durmstrang who's going to teach there when she leaves school; give the French a bit of class."

"Darryl is talking of teaching there for a year while Mimi finishes at Hogwarts until your protégé leaves school" said Peter "As teaching practice; he can offer what Madam Maxime really wants."

"I'm NOT rising to your innuendo Peter Lowther; yes Darryl is a very fine chanter."

"And there was I planning on saying that he really knows how to use his tongue!" quipped Peter.

Severus leaned over and cuffed him with two fingers.

"And in front of children you horrid brat!" he said. "Including my grandson!"

Fortunately, apart from the fact that he was making smutty jokes the actual meaning apparently passed the first Eagle Marauders by.

And the young marauders were looking far to smug NOT to have been involved in the folded paper birds singing a rather blunt variation on one of the more irritating German Wizarding Wireless advertising jingles! It was from the jingle of a manufacturer of broom repair kits; and Severus knew he would never hear it again without thinking of this alternative version:

"If your dark wizard's broken and his morals lost or bent

just bring him to Schloss Adler where clever kids are sent

if he's lost his marbles and you don't know where to turn

send him to Schloss Adler where a lesson he will learn!

We'll kick him in the belly

We'll kick him in the knees

We'll use a thorough binding spell

And cover him with fleas!"

oOoOo

Severus made sure to praise Emily as they returned home.

"You went through that play very sensitively as well as thoroughly" he said.

Emily flushed, pleased.

"I rather thought that they might be a little fragile around the edges; and they ARE very young. They need more encouragement than critique."

"If you've learned to gauge when that is necessary my dear child, you will be a great teacher" said Severus "And if you do mean to ask Hellibore if you can train girls at his academy I'll most certainly back you; whether you take a year coaching a pro team or not."

Emily looked pleased.

"I did think I'd take a year coaching; for the experience. Coach Krumm said he'd arrange for me to be junior coach with his old team which I can't pronounce; quidditch is played in English but he'll teach me Bulgarian the quick way to take part in deeper discussions."

Severus reflected that it was as well she could be taught the quick way; after five years of trilingual lessons, Emily's French and German were still heavily accented with the strains of the Home Counties.

Peter could not resist seeking out Darryl on their return.

"I told Jade that you were able to offer what Madam Maxime really wants" he said "A really flexible and clever tongue…AWK!"

He had become an avian-like creature that looked as though it might have been designed by Ronald Searle.

"Observe" said Darryl in his snidest voice "The all too common species Brattus Bratticus, which might just get hunted to extinction for its foolish habit of squawking its irritating song in the hearing of hunters. And I shan't turn you back until you cry pax" he added.

"Serves you right" said Fred.

"PAX!" squawked the Peter-bird.

Darryl returned him to his normal appearance.

"You ARE good" said Peter, checking surreptitiously that he had no feathers left.

"Yes" said Darryl "And I'm also nervous enough of Madam Maxime and her large French embraces not to find that comment of yours as funny as you do. It might be fun winding up the French for a year and seeing if any of them ARE capable of more than footerin' aboot wi' magic as Seagh would put it; Hercule rates the Ancient Runes chap who taught him, a Monsiuer Devereaux; and he was at the symposium too; and he'll be pleased that chanting brings a greater meaning to HIS subject."

"You'll do fine" said Peter "Only you may have to beat off the older French girls with a beater's bat; I'll lend you my old one."

"You are pushing it" said Darryl.

Fred Gibbsed his brother.

"Ain't going to be a French girl as neat and beautiful as your Mimi; and I imagine she knows it" he said.

Darryl chewed a lip.

"She IS still sensitive that I used to be racist and that she's an elf and there's all that Parisian chic" he said. "She OUGHT to know there's nobody in the world quite like her, but I think deep down she wonders if I might, when I'm away from her…. Because of the myth of French women and style….. you know."

The twins both smote Darryl on the back.

"You just remind her that the French invented perfume to cover up that they don't wash, Darryl mate" said Peter.

Darryl brightened.

"That's actually really practical; cheers Pete" he said.

"Well, gotta make amends for putting your back up!" Peter grinned.

Darryl smiled back. These twin brothers of his were less easy to understand than Victor and Seagh – both of whom he missed while they infiltrated and disbanded the Odessa in the Ukraine – but they WERE still his brothers.

oOoOo

Now that the weather was better, the art class went sketching outside; and Werner winked at his fellows and produced a drawing of several boxes in descending order of size ascending his page.

"Werner" said Callum, coming up behind him, "What do you call that?"

"Well sir, I've been reading about cubism and I thought I'd give it a go to represent these mountains…. You don't like it then" as Callum gave him the Gibbs two fingered cuff.

"Let me first remind you, young man" said Callum "That the cubists started their movement after each of them had already learned to draw and paint conventionally; because to break the rules you have to have an intimate understanding of what the rules ARE. If you choose to take to cubism when you're fully trained, that's your funeral; meanwhile you will apply the principles of perspective and representation according to the law of Professor Prince."

"Yes sir" said Werner unabashed. "It doesn't count as freer drawing then?"

"No sprout it does not" said Callum "Get another sheet. You have at least managed – I suspect without meaning to – the proportions of each part of the mountain in your child's scrawl of building blocks so you may keep it as reference and to remind you that I don't like it."

Werner grinned, got a new sheet and applied himself.

Sometimes in spring one had to break out a bit in mischief!

"Werner you must be careful; if you don't take it seriously, Professor Prince might BAN you!" whispered Jöran in real concern.

"I know how far he'll let me go; I've had a whole more year than you" said Werner "He'll take a bit of ragging – occasionally; so long as it's not too much or takes up too much time."

"Or wastes too many materials" added Callum. "Jöran, I can take a joke; and I'm glad it was. I was horribly afraid Werner was serious; he DOES like things to be regular after all."

"Only things that are supposed to be, sir" said Werner "Mountains are supposed to be untidy looking things and it's what makes them beautiful. Nature is sort of untidy by well, nature; and I guess the art of an artist is to know what to leave out to tidy it up just enough."

"And I suppose that's as good a summation as any" said Callum. "It's the untidy bits – the random variation – that makes nature appeal to the senses; because although one might admire the near perfect cone of Mt Fuji, one admires it because it's the only one in the world; and actually it isn't totally perfect or it would look wrong. The element of randomness actually is a whole branch of Muggle mathematics, their name for Arithmancy, that is just so far post NEWT level it makes the heads of anyone but Madam Granger and Madam Malfoy and Jade Luytens not merely ache but fire random stinging hexes from itself into the migraine centre. And actually yes, I do happen to know they understand it because they were having a conversation about it in Malfoy Manor at the Symposium which is one reason I dropped the notes I had for the new art exams and left in a hurry. Arithmancy and I parted company in the second year; I had to go back and cover enough to feed it into your lessons on pattern magic. My wife's the arithmancer; and even she reckons those three are out there beyond the wall, and probably Lilith Snape too. Even Sev – er, Professor Snape – starts looking a little glazed!"

"Well sir, if you're poor at Arithmancy that's encouraging for the rest of us who struggle" said Roseli, who loathed the subject.

"Fortunately there are those who DO understand enough to make aides for those of us who do not; muggles use computers to generate whole landscapes that one can go and look around that don't exist anywhere except as a stream of numbers; you can look at an apparent photograph of the moon or Mars without even going there; or a planet with two suns, or several moons. Muggles want something more than their mundane existence you see; which is why a lot of their fiction involves either magic – some of it very strange – or science fiction, which can include powers of the mind, which they count as a possible and believable form of magic. Like the Force; I presume you've all seen Star wars?"

"Yes sir" said Roseli.

"They haven't shown it for the first yet sir" said Paul "I've seen it but Jöran hasn't."

"Well I'll make a suggestion that it's time you did; it has some quite classic scenes that are excellent illustrations of impact and composition" said Callum. "That's much better by the way, Werner, with a mountain shaped mountain; I think you'll find that shadow you're roughing in there on the snowfield is frustrating you because it actually verges on the green."

"Why so it does!" said Werner, looking again.

"Learning to look is half the battle of learning to draw" said Callum "And the homework for the lot of you this week is to find an object; and just look at it, for as long or as often as you can. Memorise its every detail. Next week you'll describe it to me fully and then draw it from memory; and only then will I permit you to actually draw it from life. And we'll compare and contrast the two pictures and see how well you REALLY looked at it. It will be harder than you think; and Randolph is wincing because he knows how hard it's going to be. We're starting to lose the light; your sketches will have to stand as they are because you'll never recapture the moment. And THAT is another reason why remembering detail can be so important; to recapture the fleeting moment of a particular and transient effect of light. When you can look at a scene for ten seconds and then transfer it perfectly to canvas without further reference you will have truly achieved the power to look. And I think you can number the people who've learned to do that in the whole history of art on one hand; but it's something to strive for. If we detour through the village I'll stand you cakes and coffee in their gasthof" he added.

He got a cheer for that!

oOoOo

Art and sports might be the only subjects actually affected directly by the good weather, but it was noticeable that the efforts of all classes picked up with longer light in the evenings and better weather outside; because spirits lifted. Pony rides became popular, though most of the younger ones at least were glad to have their mount on a leading rein with an encouraging senior on a broom beside them, or even on the ground with the pony flying no more than ten or fifteen feet above the ground.

Silvina was hard at work; the different gaits of the flying horses suggested each different tunes to her and she was pulling together all the themes she had been scribbling down to form her first symphony. It was hard; but it was coming together! Silvina might be found anywhere with a scrap of manuscript and a pencil to hand, including circling the mountain on ponyback. Severus picked a relatively placid mount for her that would not object too much to having its rider ignore reins or leg control because of being deep in a Euterpian muse. Silvina could take or leave flying on horseback; it was a means to get from place to place. But she felt she ought to experience it at first hand to add to her music as well as writing how she was moved by the sight of the beautiful and graceful creatures. Silvina was nothing if not thorough; though she quite lost the muse for several days when in the middle of jotting down a graceful and jaunty little passage to be interrupted by her mount breaking wind.

"Horses are for LOOKING at" she said crossly after coming in to land "They SO are not for getting close enough to that you experience the coarser side of them!"

Severus laughed.

"I'm not a great one for riding myself" he said "Never had any opportunity in my young day! They look so graceful and beautiful up in the sky; and I do admit it does nothing to prepare you for the realities of all the mucking out and less beautiful side of them! Not to mention how actually scary it is being on the back of a rather big animal a long way up in the air and no charms to steer it by."

"Oh I don't worry much about that" said Silvina "Now I'm blooded I can always fly if I fall off; so there's no real fear; besides I suppose I have infinite faith in you, dad, to rescue me. It's the smell of horse and the permanent sounds of digestion and the more apparent sounds of digestion and the funny noises they make in their throat. They're not pretty any more once you get too close is all."

There were no words of comfort Severus could find on that subject.

oOoOo

Seagh and Victor blew in with news of their endeavours in the Ukraine.

"We WERE working subtly and quietly, poking here, prodding there, getting the upper and middle echelons to question their values, pick up on the logical inconsistencies" said Victor "And then Seagh lost his temper."

"Weel Grrand Duke Jerkitoff or whatever the wee sumpf ca's himself wisnae bein' rreasonable ye ken" said Seagh "He was about to flog a man whose elf he had been borrowing that wisnae sae servile ony mair."

"He turned Miroslav Ivianuk – which is the fellow's name – into a house elf with minimal chanting after apparating him OUTside the line of our chant" said Victor. "Tied to himself by blood and then ordering the fellow to build a house and cook the food and so on; and called him Miri. Kept him there for three days and then asked the fellow how much he liked working for him; and let him self punish before asking him if he thought any thinking being should have that sort of compulsion. Took another week or so to get him to admit it; and mean it too. So we took him back into Europe proper to let him see the difference and the relief on his face was amazing!"

"I explained that the transfiguration had been a total one; that there had been no difference in the way he thought and felt to the way a house elf did; and that I could arrange for him to spend time as a goblin and a muggle if he didn't shut up and listen" said Seagh. "which led to a lot of argument; and I showed him the internet and disabled his magic genes so he'd have to live as a muggle for a few days and arranged to have him introduced to a university studying mathematics as he claimed to be good at Arithmancy. He isn't, by the way; any one of our senior arithmancers is way better than him."

"We DO rather emphasise it" said Victor. "I feel a bit superfluous now so I'll get back to helping out Frieda and Horst if it's all the same to anyone."

"Hoots, mon! I can handle the sumpf fine weel!" said Seagh. "Though it is muckle grateful I am of yer help over the infeeltration and pokin' in the conscience."

"What's happening about Ivianuk?" asked Severus.

"Well once he found out that muggle kids could discuss mathematics above the level he could understand and knew enough to realise just how good they were he got very quiet; and then I deposited him on Count Lev Levedev – the one who's daughter was one of Jade's fags in Durmstrang? Good chap" said Seagh "I told him pretty much everything about the blood pact and the elf chant and then found out his daughter had already told him. I liked him; and I sort of left Jerkitoff kind of half as his guest, half prisoner. He isn't really a Grand Duke, he's the younger son of a baron with delusions of adequacy. Count Lev and I were sort of planning on mopping up between us."

"Well you boys HAVE been busy" said Severus "Am I going to hear anything about it on the Wizarding Wireless news?"

"Haven't a clue" said Seagh. "Well that's Ihor and Leva's country mostly denazified; which is like being dedoxified only they smell more of bad manners."

"It's a couple of his advisors who are the truly nasty ones" said Victor "Most of them are idealistic fools with no idea of the realities of life. Which unfortunately makes the worst Nazis because they do what they do with a heavy heart yet the firm conviction it's the only way. I believe Seagh was planning on turning large swathes of them into goblins and dropping them in various goblin communities with primed goblin community leaders who'll give them help and succour – without of course believing any wild stories that they should be human – and let them learn that goblins can be humanitarian too. And of course be on the wrong end of unreasoning prejudice. And like with Ivianuk, disable the magic and dump some in muggle communities – with a helpful person who knows how to survive to help out. It'll take a couple of months perhaps; maybe less. But brute force is the only way to complete the process of education."

"I'm afraid you're right" said Severus "Jade virtually hijacked Von Frettchen. He at least was a closet romantic looking for a cause; and some people are racist for good reason. But wholesale idea changing is a little difficult."

"Yes I considered mass confundment" said Seagh "But it's better if they can change their ideas for themselves. Lucius would never have forgiven being confunded."

"Quite" said Severus. "Well I leave it in your capable hands my dear boy."

oOoOo

The school as a whole would take relatively little interest in politics; but Severus passed on the news to both Veta, who had fled the Ukrainian Odessa when they killed her parents; and Zhenga, who, as an Ukrainian part goblin, had some interest in the matter.

Veta was still feeling vindictive enough to hope that Seagh killed them all; Zhenga hoped that Seagh really DID know what he was doing and could teach them not to hate. And would kill them if he could not teach them. She thought Seagh was probably not too soft hearted to deal with them permanently if his pets refused to perform – she could not help thinking that the fey in him would be thinking that way – and would do what he had to do to make it safer for ordinary folk.

oOoOo

Seagh stayed long enough to catch up with whatever music Silvina was producing at the moment and listened to her play and read through the music for her flying horses symphony.

"That's pretty damn good our kid" he said softly. "It jars a bit just here" he pointed to a phrase.

"I know; I'm trying to sort it out but I wanted it written down for the idea. The ruddy horse farted when I was in the middle of an idea and it put me off."

Seagh gave a shout of laughter and subsided as she poked him.

"I know; a bit rotten of me" he said "It was the way you put it though that was so funny. Have you tried getting someone to legilimens you for the lost tune? However transient the idea was, the idea should be there!"

"Seagh you GENIUS!" said Silvina "Can you extract it for me?"

Seagh peered into her eyes; and Silvina felt him find the moment and pull up the thought, suppressing the unwanted accompaniment from the equine wind instrument.

She fell to scribbling and Seagh propped himself up against the wall, watching her fondly.

"That's more like it" he said, reading over her shoulder as she quickly crafted other voices to add counterpoint.

"You've always been here for me Seagh; it's the only thing I regret about being your sister now" said Silvina.

"Eh?" said Seagh.

"I can't hope to be your girl" said Silvina.

Seagh blinked and stared at her in sudden revelation.

"Be damned you can't!" he said "You're my adoptive sister – NOT any relation in blood! If it isn't legal I'll damn well get Lucius to draft us an exception!" and then he jerked her into his arms and was kissing her thoroughly.

Silvina clung to him happily.

"Seagh…. Oh Seagh!" she said. "I – I never knew you cared like that!"

"Nor did I" said Seagh, frankly. "I've been looking for a girl who was special; met several who were close; and all the time my dear, you were right here and I wasn't looking for my adoptive sister. I reckon I've known you were special since you took the cruciatus curse just to write a magic tune to counter it; I am an idiot!"

"No you're not; you're wonderful!" said Silvina.

Seagh chuckled wickedly.

"There's a few Odessa types in the Ukraine who'd disagree" he said, and told her about it.

"Why don't you have some music in the background, just below audibility, that's a persuasive tune while you talk at them?" suggested Silvina "It may not be strictly fair; but if the alternative is having to kill them, it's better surely to give them a chance to be neutralised some other way?"

"It is; and now it's your turn to be a genius" said Seagh; and kissed her again. Silvina made happy noises and pressed against him, reaching round his back to run her hands down him.

"And it's as well I have a job that takes me away" said Seagh, firmly removing her hands and capturing them in his "You have your OWLs this year; and then NEWTs. No point getting carried away to quickly."

"You're so beautiful I can't help getting carried away" said Silvina. "I know I'm a bit plain so it's easier for you…"

"Oy!" said Seagh "You are my sweet and beautiful Silvina; only I'm older than you and ought to have learned a bit more self control by now. Or in the case of Jerkitoff, ELF control" he kissed each of her fingers in turn. "We're one, my dear; we work well together and at the risk of saying something horribly trite, we really DO make beautiful music together. Now we have work to do; to put together a magical tune so subtle and so fiendishly powerful that my work gets to be easier; because there are tunes of mind weakening but it must be more than that; yet less than the leading tunes of the likes of the Veeli, the Duende or the tune of the Pied Piper. They're all brute force; and whilst an echo of the persuasion remains when the music is gone, after a while you recognise the essential trickery of them. We need something based on them that but enhances an argument."

Silvina turned from him and rifled through her notes; and started scribbling. Seagh took the pen and added a complex little counterpoint; and they sat together working on it, and occasionally kissing, all evening. Which meant that Silvina was entirely out of bounds in the music room when Severus came to see why there were lights.

"It's marauder business not homework" said Silvina guiltily

"Not that I ever was a marauder" said Seagh "It's to help with my Ukrainean Ironwillies."

"You have the most low mind in your misnomers" said Severus, laughing. "Did I pick up a burst of something unsiblingish between you?"

"Yes dad" said Seagh "I've been blind, deaf, daft and gormless; Silvina is my girl. Can you swing it past the council officially?"

"Probably" said Severus "We have a couple of years anyway before you can get wed; time enough to get something sorted out."

"See?" said Seagh to Silvina "Leave it to dad; he's the works."

Silvina snuggled at him; dad was brilliant but Seagh was, in her mind, the one who was the works!