Chapter 9
Back in Hogwarts life slipped back into normal.
The new metalwork classes started with Jorbal Gan Thahk, also known as 'The Artificer'; he was an efficient goblin who spent the first lesson giving a lecture on tool care and respecting the tools the students would be working with and the necessity for care and precision.
"If I have to speak more than twice about slapdash work, that student will be out" he said. "Apart from the fact that anyone slapdash will never learn true craftsmanship, carelessness in one way indicates carelessness in others, and that can risk yourselves and fellow students."
"Like potioneering sir" said Lydia Snape.
"Ar, so I've heard" said Jorbal. He had asked to be known as Professor Jorbal rather than use his father's name or the epithet 'Artificer'.
He liked these human children calling him 'sir'; it seemed strange but was gratifying that they acknowledged his skill. Jorbal was not the best artificer ever but he had been reared in old traditions and wanted to pass these on. Clockwork was fashionable; but it was only a part of the various crafts that most wizards put down to 'goblin crafting' as though they were all one, and Jorbal was of the view that craftsmanship was the province of anyone who loved tools and crafting things from scratch.
He had put together a syllabus covering a theory section with materials properties, enchanting theory and something very akin to the muggle science of stress analysis and the ways in which enchanting could extend and improve upon the natural properties of metals. Their practical sessions would cover forge work, the drawing of wire, the production of springs and basic instrument making as well as adding enchantments at every layer of manufacture. Some of this class hoped to cover the syllabus in a single year; Jorbal had his doubts, but seeing how hard they worked he revised his opinion.
It was possible that some of them might manage to cover enough for at least a pass mark.
The younger ones, spending two or three years on the work would doubtless do better. He had a good class of fourth years willing to put their backs into an extra elective; not all the goblins in the year, but the one who had 'Malfoy' as part of his name – and patronage never did any harm – and the half giant boy who made Jorbal nervous at first but who seemed both pleasant and intelligent enough. He and Gorbrin and a boy called Ming had asked if the properties of metals might not also be improved by the use of transfigurational changes.
Jorbal did not know; but he was a big enough character to say so.
"May we experiment, sir, when we know enough of the basics to make us no longer disaster areas?" asked Gorbrin.
"Well I don't see why not, Mr Malfoy-Tobak" said Jorbal "I must say I'd be interested to learn enough transfiguration to have a few experiments myself."
"I'd think, sir, you'd do best to ask Madam McGonagall to help with that; she is a most excellent teacher" said Gorbrin. It was all very exciting to consider combining the magic of goblin and human and maybe too of the fey to produce new and exciting magic!
Gorbrin and his enthusiasms were much what Jorbal had in mind as the ideal student; and all the boy's friends were as enthusiastic. Erica was studying it as an extension of her artistic endeavour; Meliandra out of curiosity, Jazka to stay with Erica. Pearl Brocklehurst was of enquiring mind generally; and in such a spirit too Hugin Corbin was studying the new subject. Hugin had a wide interest base, and Ming said unkindly that he had a mind like a soup dish, broad but shallow. Albert MacMillan as a near squib was hoping that this would be something he could do; and was amazed to find a real talent! Albert was delighted; he was already talented at dowsing as a part of Divination and was also good at cricket, not perhaps important from the point of view of qualifications, but certainly important for Albert's sense of self worth. If he did well at metalworking as well as divination, Albert was even considering staying on to take a NEWT or two, something he would never have expected to be doing when first he came to school!
Jordan Christie and his friend Silvester Crouch-Jones of Gryffindor had also signed up to do metalworking for fun; and Jorbal had been warned that the Crouch-Jones all meant well but could be, well, accident prone.
Jorbal elected to give the boy a try; and Silvester was certainly the least slapdash of his siblings, even managing to produce competent potions; and Jorbal could not fault the care the rather clumsy boy tried to take. He cut himself at least once a lesson but as the boy's friends seemed to look on this as perfectly normal and a selection of absent wands cast episkayo the moment Silvester gasped in pain it did not seem to be a real handicap if the boy was prepared to work through the pain and put himself out.
It was carelessness that Jorbal hated; the boy could not help being a natural klutz and the discipline of a skill needing methodical preparation might even help him overcome his worst klutziness. Silvester was enjoying himself; he was no high flyer and if he could overcome the tendency to find any sharp edge within three miles of Hogwarts – as Jordan put it – he had high hopes of using a practical skill to get a job that would mean less headaches than doing something tedious at the ministry or in an office all day. Silvester was clever enough; and if he had a decent number of OWLs and a few NEWTs too, understanding artificing could give him a job supervising in a factory in a responsible post not just pushing papers about.
Maybe even a job in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes factory.
Might as well be ambitious after all, thought Silvester, blissfully unaware that the height of his ambition might raise a few eyebrows in his family.
Gorbrin was interested from the factory supervision side of things as well.
His stepfather had been carefully ruining Harris Warrington for the man's treatment of Tanjela, Gorbrin's mother; and had bought out Warrington Springs, the primary manufacturing plant of springs in England. Gorbrin took a close interest in all his stepfather's businesses; including the small, private business part owned by all the original Marauders and Lucius making silver bullets for the muggle weapons the MSHG used.
Gorbrin was a modest lad, but he was hoping that his stepfather might give him the responsibility of overseeing Warrington Springs when he left school if he had the requisite skills, and if he did not have the qualifications to be an auror.
It was as well, after all, to have a secondary ambition; and if Gorbrin could not be an auror he did not fancy being a quaestor as second best, but preferred to take part in urban renewal schemes alongside Lucius and write books of social commentary and detective fiction as a sideline.
Gorbrin knew that as a Malfoy, even a step-Malfoy, he would be something of a public figure; and one might as well use that.
He was only sorry that his friend Jardak had elected not to take metalwork; Jardak's reasons being that it was a stereotypical goblin skill, and as a Hogwarts student, Jardak had the chance to step aside from the stereotype.
"I can't understand why you'd take it, reinforcing stereotypes!" he declared angrily to Gorbrin.
Gorbrin shrugged.
"Maybe it's because I've become a stereotypical Malfoy who likes to have fingers in many pies and learn as much as I can about everything" he said "Draco would have taken it like a shot!"
Jardak laughed ruefully.
"From anyone but a Malfoy that would be an excuse….yeah, mate, you really are a ruddy Malfoy, and I guess that makes you nobody's typical anything because the only typical anything a Malfoy is, is flaming awkward!"
Gorbrin grinned.
"ya noticed!".
It was good to avoid a serious squabble with Jardak, his closest friend through the bad times; and to have Jardak understand. He would hate anything to drive a wedge between them!
Erica's concept of taking the thought of moving pictures into moving bronzes was another idea that Jorbal found exciting. Really, he was learning as much from these students of his as he was teaching them in many ways; there was so much to consider about applying wizarding ways to traditional goblin crafts that it was almost extraordinary that nobody had ever thought of it before!
Lionel meanwhile was, in addition to enjoying his metalwork, enchanting and chanting and the laconic directions of Alastor Moody who had personally taken over the boy's training, considering the next clue.
The box had opened easily; there appeared to be no hidden catch to it. Inside was a piece of parchment marked with a few lines and equilateral triangles of varying sizes. There was also the appended note
"All you will need to save your heart's desire from certain death will be there."
Lionel had never studied Geomancy formally; but he knew enough to recognise Geomantic symbols. He went looking for a geomantic map of Durmstrang and regions in the library; and was soon able to orient the unmarked clue map on the surrounding countryside. One might assume that X marked the spot to make for; and so he would need a broom.
Lionel decided to ask Gorbrin if he might borrow his racing broom; even seconds might make a difference to gaining an extra point. And looking at the distances involved it was at least a twenty minute flight by conventional broom.
Gorbrin was more than willing.
"It has excellent cornering abilities at all but the top speed, but if you're just going somewhere straightish, set it on fast and hang on while you stream off it in the slipstream" he said cheerfully.
Lionel grinned.
It was an exaggeration but he knew what Gorbrin meant.
He planned to wear a streamlining helmet and lie flat as well to shave off as much time as he could; brooms were subject to drag as much as any muggle vehicle.
"If you add spoilers just ahead of the bristles it might help too" said Gorbrin when Lionel told him what he planned to do "Like on muggle cars. They cut down the turbulence. And a fairing might help too; we can experiment."
With Professor Jorbal also involved the racing broom grew a few unauthorised appendages and increased its speed in straight flight by a significant margin.
Applying muggle science as well as wizarding things also seemed to improve technology no end; and Jorbal was ecstatic.
So was Lionel.
Jade would doubtless be able to manipulate ley lines or even apparate directly; he needed all the speed he could muster. What he needed to do on arrival was a mystery; but if saving a loved one from certain death was set by Severus Snape one might possibly bet that choosing an antidote from a set of bottles might be guessed to be a probable test, with some mind-bending riddle to figure out which one was which.
Unless one had to use ruddy Golapott and blend one's own antidote?
Lionel groaned, but shrugged.
He knew Golapott's third law, that a blended poison required an antidote that exceeded in composition the sum of the parts of the poison.
He had an 'E' grade NEWT in potions. How hard could it be? They would surely not make one brew a potion from scratch…..would they?
It was pointless worrying about it until he came to do the task.
Revising poisons and blended poisons would do no harm, however!
Lionel was also playing quidditch while the weather held; the games were only really knockabout games but there was the David Fraser Shield to aim for. With the informality of the games, the games played by the second sevens were also taken into account, which actually gave some emphasis to those who had never been quite good enough to make the main house team; and that had to be good for them. This meant that Ravenclaw would probably take the shield; because they had some very good promising youngsters who would have been capped in any other house with less wide and varied talent; and as it was informal, Mei Chang had announced a relaxation of the custom of only playing second years and above since it was just to give the kids experience.
Slytherin had never taken any notice of that custom anyway any more than Gryffindor had; and Hufflepuff were pragmatic enough. Their first years seemed divided between those who were rather good and those who couldn't even stay on brooms.
Lionel actually thought that the informal knockaround matches were in some ways more fun; and having the second seven involved certainly sorted out which houses had depths to their quidditch talent! He thought of suggesting the retaining of a second team's results for the ordinary shield to Madam Hooch. It gave incentive to those who were not QUITE good enough to make the first team, both to stay good enough to remain on the second team and also to strive towards promotion.
Like Mortimer Bane; who had never had the experience to get really good but who had some good instincts and was certainly an asset to the second team, as he was to the school hurley team.
And one of his own team mates had already been scouted; Kate Rosier had been offered a definite job by the Holyhead Harpies after she finished school in July and in consequence was busy signing autographs for small quidditch fans who wanted her name inscribed in their autograph books before she became famous. The more enterprising had taken her photograph in Slytherin Quidditch robes and asked her to sign the photo.
Kate had agreed indulgently.
If one could not do favours for schoolmates, as she said, then one was a pretty poor prune.
Mei Chang, like Lionel, was glad to get back to do some work; but she also had an eye out for other organisations in the school.
The first year were settling down into having a possible group suitable for being the next layer of marauders. The second had two efficient and co-operative gangs; but they were sufficient unto themselves, besides the SAS having its specific goals of fighting slavery.
They would work with marauders no doubt; but they were of themselves and not of the marauders.
The year below was different.
U-may was already blooded; and she, Nathan Malfoy and Charis Rawlins had already patronage from Bella Black and the Belle Marauders. Into that group also fell Isambard Cooper, Jingjie Chang and Wanda Waffling.
Isambard and Wanda would be new blood; but that was not necessarily a bad thing. And six was a good number. They needed careful watching and guidance.
It would be nice too if Stripes would get around to doing something about the nagging toothache the rest of the Blood Group were aware of.
It was Bella who went to see Assim Khan.
"Stripes, who have you got stuck in your teeth?" she demanded
He gave her a look.
"That is not a remark in good taste o best beloved" he said.
"What you didn't bite the storm wizards you mopped up?" asked the irrepressible Bella "Anyway, SOMETHING has to be done about your bad tooth. If you go tiger I can probably get half inside your mouth and see if I can't heave it for you."
Assim gave her an inscrutable look.
"You have much courage my Bella" he said "But unfortunately I have not that much! I would fear to hurt you….. yes it is bad, and I fear to go to Pepperup Poppy since she poisoned me a bit over the fairy flu business."
Bella giggled.
"Get Hagrid to do it then" she said "He's awfully gentle with the animals; and people aren't that much different in the mechanics of how we grow, are we?"
Assim put his head thoughtfully on one side.
"There is much in what ye say" he said. "Thou hast given much thought to my discomfort. I shall speak to Hagrid."
It may be said that the rest of the blood group experienced, and dissipated, a small amount of sharp pain and then intense relief.
Hagrid had never treated humans before; but was quite happy to work on Stripes' tooth if he was in tiger form.
And Assim vowed always to come to Hagrid for healing in future since for all his size he was infinitely more gentle than any other healer he had known!
And Bella squealed with delight that Assim felt better and hugged and kissed him and was playfully cuffed for her pains.
"Assim, why is it snakes that have a special language not tigers?" she demanded.
"Hrrrr" said Assim "Snakes have a long history of wisdom and knowledge; how they are perceived, good or ill, depends from culture to culture. But they have that tradition. They are not the only ones; tigers DO have their own language; do thou but search in thy bloodsong, o best beloved and thou wilt find it; buried. For only on formal occasions do we use it, when it rises in our instinct; or for controlling tigers that are but brute beast. I have never tried it on other cats" he added. "It is…..almost a sacred language with us. Not for everyday use. I believe owls too have their own tongue; that they use to educate each other about where to go to carry messages. I suspect that few wizards have found speaking the language of owls as hrrrrr sexy as that of snakes; and we tigers do NOT advertise out secret tongue. There is said to be a tongue of all birds of which the owls speak but a dialect; the ancient witches Cliodne and Morgana la Fey are rumoured to have spoken the language of birds, and the wizard Lugh of the Sure Hand. And I have heard tales that Rowena Ravenclaw could also speak to birds. Gulliver Pokeby, the famous expert on magic birds may have been able to talk to birds; but it may be that he was merely an expert; and it is unknown too if the first recorded animagus, Falco Aescalon learned how to do so by studying birds or chatting to them. I suspect it is a skill as rare as Parseltongue but exists just the same."
"Gosh, how exciting!" said Bella "Why don't we hear anything about them then and why doesn't it have a name like Parseltongue?"
Assim laughed his big purry laugh.
"Because, my dear one, Parselmouths are scary and dodgy and darkish magicians, as everyone knows; and so they get more of a press! Talking to birds is clever enough, but talking to scary things like Ashwinders or Basilisks… that's news!"
"Hrrrrrr" said Bella disapprovingly.
The MSHG took advantage of the last of the good autumnal weather to have a campfire singsong in their cover as Scouts and planned to put photos up on the school web site to advertise the school mixed scout troupe.
It made more things to look utterly normal with.
The Belle Marauders particularly took their Scouting very seriously and Bella leaned happily and daringly against Assim, who had come in tiger form. Somebody started 'I had a little chicken' with the conventional first verse; and then Bella jumped up and sang,
"Oh I had a little chicken and it wouldn't lay an egg so I rubbed our Padfoot up and down it's leg
oh I rubbed our Padfoot up and down it's leg and that darned old chicken laid a POOCHed egg"
There were groans as the rest sang the chorus at that horrible pun; and Bella, nothing loath, went on to sing that she rubbed Professor Khan up and down her chicken's leg for a curried egg.
For this she was swiped into a more convenient position for a salutary washing by a big velvet paw and Sirius applauded.
Bella subsided into a splutter of squirming and giggle.
"Serve you right" said Drusillina unsympathetically.
Bella, duly chastened, snuggled up between Assim's great paws with her head on one of them; in utter content and comfort.
The end of October brought the Hallowe'en celebrations with Hagrid's outsized pumpkins.
Hagrid had less outsized pumpkins than he had intended; one had fallen prey to one of Kevin Slugworthy's outsized slugs. Kevin had apologised abjectly to Hagrid who had forgiven him.
Hagrid had a weakness for children who kept unusual pets after all.
As Kevin was also trying to breed a multicoloured slug by crossing his outsized slugs with a streeler Hagrid took quite an interest in the boy. It should be an easy thing to do; after all, streelers were snails, albeit rather exotic ones with their venomous slime and colour changing properties; and slugs were snails without shells. Kevin was indifferent to whether the slime was poisonous or not; he just wanted multicoloured slugs..
Apart from being a pumpkin short, the celebrations went with a swing, though the school wondered what it was that Madam Black, joining the staff for the feast, had whispered in Professor Black's ear to make him go so red.
Willow had reminded Padfoot of the Hallowe'en when they first got together physically.
She was graphic.
Willow had plans for her Padfoot; and wanted to get him into the right frame of mind.
.
After the party it was time to settle down to hard work again for the end of term tests; and Mafalda Prewett, after having opened up somewhat the year before was back to doing her best to make snide comments and outdo everyone else.
"You're a fool, Mafalda" said Bella "You're only going to bring those migraines back. Or make yourself into a squib by overwork. Your parents are guilty of cruelty to you if they can't accept that you're as good as you are and aren't Hermione Granger. Look, if you stop making an ass of yourself I'll ask you to stay at Malfoy Manor for Christmas. And if your parents want Lucius to solemnly swear that you've carried on studying he'll tell them that you've done as much as was necessary and what's more he'll be sure you learn something to tell them 'cos he's a great gun with stories that you learn stuff from without actually having to strain your brain."
"Yes it was good coming in the long hols" said Mafalda "Only mum and dad said I had to put in five hours study a day instead of four the rest of the time to catch up."
The Belle Marauders exchanged looks.
"Padfoot" said Bella.
They promptly dragged Mafalda off to see Professor Black; and managed to get out a more or less coherent tale of how Mafalda's parents expected her to study daily in the holidays because she shouldn't be below a house elf in class.
"But Mimi's a ruddy Snape, they were born swots with dickers to suckle on!" said Padfoot.
"EXACTLY" said Bella "But according to those prize prunes, if I recall rightly she must only be 'parroting back what her master has said'."
"Hmmm" said Padfoot. "Well having a kid subjected to that is a clear case of abuse; I'll take it to Professor Dumbeldore. And I'll also write a stiff letter to these precious parents of yours about how I dislike hearing their racist comments second hand about the daughter of my best friend allied with some foolishness designed to make a delicate and highly strung child ill with brain fever. Are they actually sane, Miss Prewett?"
Mafalda shrugged.
"I think they just have fixed ideas" she said "They're painfully, embarrassingly racist and they won't listen to facts because they've made up their minds and a kid can't know anything regardless that I've talked to more goblins than they've ever even SEEN."
"Well, leave it to Albus Dumbledore" said Sirius. "And don't you go fretting yourself into a fever; you're one of the best geomancers I've ever had, and if you get a 'T' in every other subject you'll still get a grade to walk into a job as a guide with your excellent place sense. It's as uncanny as David Fraser's; and he's the best pupil I've ever had before you! Just come back to the MSHG and do as much homework as you need to; and you'll be fine."
"If I could equal Mimi I guess they wouldn't mind so much" ventured Mafalda.
"If you don't get a break, my girl, the only house elf you'll be equalling is poor stupid Winky" said Sirius grimly. "Bella, you lot keep her nose AWAY from the grindstone. I'm going to get the head to issue orders that only a certain length of time of revision is permitted daily on top of normal lessons; and it won't be long I assure you!"
"Thanks Padfoot!" said Bella.
Sirius sighed.
Breaking Bella of calling him affectionate nicknames in school when she wanted to show her approval of him was going to be harder than it had been getting Willow not to do so.
But then Bella was an original; and quite a law unto herself!
Dumbledore went to see the Prewetts; and managed to terrorize them suitably. Apart from pointing out that Professor Snape had a law suit just waiting for their racist remarks about his adoptive daughter HE had a law suit just waiting for parents who thought that cruelty to children was a good idea; and that schools had holidays for a purpose and that was for the good health of the students. He asked if they wanted their only child confined in a mental ward from being driven into a total breakdown; because if they did he would immediately institute proceedings to have her taken away from them. And if not, he would suggest that they acted more like parents and less like slaver drivers. He was biting and angry; for Albus Dumbledore hated parents and guardians who stood in the way of the health and happiness of his pupils. And that Mafalda was scarcely one of his favourites did not weigh with him.
Indeed if the Belle Marauders were getting involved, it was likely thatit was the parents who had made the child unlovable.
The Prewetts were induced to make an unbreakable vow not to make the child do extra schoolwork than set holiday assignments as a test of good faith; Dumbledore did not trust them not to 'forget' without that added incentive.
And meanwhile the Belle Marauders sicked Mafalda onto Gorbrin and Meliandra who were also book lovers with the suggestion that they form a bookworm club or something and share story books around.
Not that keen at first to have a younger child wished on them, Meliandra and Gorbrin were nevertheless kind enough to Mafalda; and found her to fit in with them well enough once they found out that she was quite content to just be handed a book she had never read before and left to get on with it in companionable silence in some secluded den.
"Not like ruddy Mimi Snape who will ARGUE with the books she's reading!" said Gorbrin with feeling.
Mimi giggled.
"You should hear Mother Krait when she's reading 'Transfiguration Today' on some of the fatuous writers about what is and what is not impossible!" she said.
Gorbrin grinned.
"That might actually be entertaining; but listening to you argue with a detective over how stupid he's being isn't" he said.
"Some of them are" said Mimi.
"Some writers are better than others" said Gorbrin "We don't generally read those authors who use built in variable stupidity to advance their plots; you picked a bad batch because you WOULD assume that because Witch Weekly heralds Agate Crystal as the Wonderwitch of Whodunnits that she can actually write. She cheats. She doesn't put in clues and she has her auror do things like make a visit to the ministry to look things up in 'a certain office' without giving you any clue what he's looking up; then has him pull all these extra facts out of he air at the end. After having firmly ignored all the facts introduced earlier, most of which are spurious or should have led to him realising who's boffing whom or whatever – which is what you were arguing with. Her Polish auror is a wild mix of the socially inept and stupid and too meticulous to actually bother to record his facts in case the reader finds out about them. Sorry, rant over!"
Mimi grinned.
"All right, I'll try some of your books in the next hols" she said equably.
All of which made Mafalda much happier though she did get a letter from her parents couched in rather hurt tones that they hoped she did not think that they had anything but her best interests at heart and that they never meant anything but well by her and that they hoped that she was well. They managed to hint at how hurt they were too that the elf's supposed parents were so litigious and hoped that their darling baby had not had to suffer from those who were ridiculously swayed by the more lunatic of rights movements.
Mafalda, who actually rather liked Mimi for her readiness to help and be kind, balled up the letter and threw it at the wall.
Bella, who had no shame, retrieved it and read it.
"Crumbs!" she said "They write to you the way one writes duty letters to maiden aunts who sent you either something knitted that you can't identify or a baby doll suitable for a much younger child for Christmas. Almost makes you want to start a letter 'Dear Mr and Mrs Prewett' rather than 'dear mum and dad' doesn't it?"
Mafalda sighed.
"I guess they just don't live in the real world; they have their little fantasy life of how the world is. They started it I think to avoid worrying about Voldemort; I'm still not sure they believe he ever existed or think he was a figment of the ministry imagination or even an invention to get political change. The only paper we have is the 'Quibbler'; dad's a friend of Xenophilus Lovegood."
"Crumbs!" said Bella "He's a nut he is; no wonder your parents are weird! I say, you're tremendously lucky not to end up like Luna Lovegood who's almost as bad!"
"Well at least she talked about fighting Voldemort sometimes when I saw her" said Mafalda "And I used to read the 'Prophet' and now I read the 'Times'. And we had a daily charwitch who talked to me so I knew a bit more than I might otherwise have done. Luna has a baby girl called Artemis who's three and Luna reckons she was fathered by a moonbeam. By comparison to that I guess my parents are almost normal."
"Crumbs!" said Bella again. "Hrrrr. Poor little sprout. Do you see much of them?"
"A fair bit" said Mafalda.
"Then it's your plain and bounden duty to try to give the poor brat some kind of stability and reality to break the mould of nuttiness, even as your charwitch helped you" said Bella.
Mafalda pulled a face.
"Must I ?"
"Well you don't want her tagging after you and being embarrassing when she's old enough to speak clearly, do you?" said Drusillina "If she's brought up daft she will you know. If you teach her what's what she'll be less embarrassing when she follows you about. Far better to have her asking if you'll play quidditch with her than asking if you'll take her to ride crumple horned snorcracks."
"Crumbs yes!" agreed Mafalda with feeling. "I take your point. People might think I was teaching her that crap!"
Mafalda had a selfish streak – which was scarcely surprising as she had needed to take care of number one rather more than a lot of kids – and that could be manipulated.