Chapter 15

Vivienne was keen to hear about the ideals of Marauding; she had spoken up in half sleeping impulse, rather than guarding what she said, as she had been doing hitherto.

"I got some bad ideas through being cursed" she explained "And Viridian says I'm a bit spoilt and need to learn not to be or I shall be told all about it; and I still have an awful bad temper. I couldn't make up my mind whether to ask to join you or not."

"Well look here, Vivi, you will have to LEARN to make decisions if you want to be a marauder" said Hiob "Because the point is that though most marauder groups have one or two who tend to do a lot of the leading, any one CAN lead, or can take a group of non marauders and lead them. And if you can't learn I guess you won't make the grade."

Vivienne flushed and scowled; decisive and forceful full blood goblins were not what she was used to; but she managed to bite her tongue.

"I guess maybe the curse has left you a bit confused and befuddled, or possibly befused and confuddled until you have enough time of being amused and becuddled" said Grace.

"That's likely enough" said Hiob "And you know, until Madam Breuer Bane arrived in our lives and healed my club foot I guess I shouldn't have had any chance of growing up decisive and able to lead. Our childhood does shape us."

"And if I hadn't had to learn patience through being crippled I doubt I'd have been as good a marauder" said Law. "I say, Vivi, why don't you knock around with us and see how it goes and if you feel able to go the whole way and swear eternal brotherhood with all marauders then you can be brought in, and if not, well you'll still be a friend?"

"All right" said Vivienne.

oOoOo

Vivienne spoke to her brother about Marauding and asked if he knew anything about the older marauders in the school.

"I should say" said Viridian "I'm one of them."

His sister stared.

"You are? Then – then you'd be pleased if I was one too?"

"Certainly I should" said Viridian "You were not at the ceremony however."

Vivienne flushed.

"I – it took me that long to ask if I could join them" she said.

"Well it won't be the first time" said Viridian "Two professors were inducted as well, and one of them might have joined when she was my age, or so I understand, but never actually asked. People do get brought in later. Make sure you are REALLY sure; it's not a gang that you join or leave; it's for serious purpose and it's a lifelong commitment. You are tied to all other marauders by ritual; and there's no way to stop that except by dying. It's the most wonderful thing in the world; but only if you can accept all the concepts of taking risk for each other, taking pain for each other and if need be dying for each other for the good of the whole of the sentient races. And your bunch will think more of you, if they've any sense, if you take as long as you need to decide rather than rush in just because. Naturally I should be very happy if you too maraud; but I should hate my kid sister to make herself miserable if it isn't for you."

Vivienne gulped.

It was more serious than she had realised; her taste for the romantic having drawn her to the secret society.

"They protect people like me who are cursed, don't they?" she said. "Because that's an attack by a dark wizard."

"Well, Darryl Zabini who did the chanting DOES belong to the group" said Viridian "I was inducted with a few others back in Beauxbatons actually! But essentially, yes; anyone who needs aid the Marauders are sworn to aid. But don't go into it solely to give back what you have been given; you can do that in other ways. Go and think about it; for at least a couple of weeks. Tell the others in your group that I told you to reflect on it until the end of term. Most people aren't inducted until they're thirteen in any case; this bunch were only brought in because the ritual prevents Law from being used by others to give visions THEY want. And I don't understand how it all works and I shouldn't tell you if I did."

Vivienne took herself off soberly and explained what her brother had said to the Questing Marauders.

"He's talking sense" said Law "It is an awfully sobering business realising how much there is to Marauding; not that we weren't willing to dive on in, because we were; but it's a big thing."

"I think I want to; but I need to prove that to you and to me" said Vivienne.

They gave her approving thumps on the back.

oOoOo

The Ubiquitous Marauders were however on mischief bent to celebrate the new layer of marauders and had pestered Silvina to help them read scores so they could incorporate musical notation with their chosen runes – Oghams – to enchant a short length of corridor to bestow on anyone undertaking the act of walking on the stones involved with the honky-tonk twinkletoes curse and the boogie-woogie bogey bugle curse to play an interesting musical concatenation of 'Colonel Bogey' and 'Hieland Laddie'; Seagh's influence being still much felt in the school.

They were unaware that they were to catch a victim of a slightly more illustrious nature than the Questing Marauders.

Severus had taken a letter by Grisha Dmitrievitch Spetzcharovanov, and had written a letter on his own account to the Order of the Dragon, explaining that he felt that they had been under a few misapprehensions and were being used by the Sons of Zirnitra. He had sent the letters after the same manner as he had sent the letters to the new group of marauders save that he had also sent ritually a column of fire that changed into a waterfall, the letters seemingly fluttering down from the top of the column of water as it subsided. He DID after all want to get the attention of the Great Snake.

He got it.

And Great Snake Mihail Solvejov decided that Severus Snape was worth a visit in person.

oOoOo

Solvajov was impressed by the security of having an approach only by cable car through the anti-apparating zone. The Goblin in charge asked him his name and business before he was permitted up; and told him to wait while he contacted the Headmaster. This was fair protection for the children in a school, one had to grant that, even if it was irritating.

And then he was mounting on the rather frightening device; trusting to, he presumed, goblin magic. He had no idea of muggle technology.

A tall pleasant looking girl in the school's brown and flame curtseyed – how pleasant! – and smiled when he got to the top.

"Strang has asked me to see you to the headmaster's office; I am Flo Visick, the head girl" said Flo. "There will be refreshments in the head's office and you may clarify any matters with him before you see Grigori Dmitrievitch."

He shot her a look.

"How much do you know of what has happened, young lady?" he demanded.

"Pretty much everything, sir; I AM the head girl after all" said Flo "And all the prefects are kept in the loop about such things. After all, everybody over the age of fifteen fought against the invaders; the Sons of Zirnitra sent a large contingent. It was quite interesting to have a practical problem to deal with; I was only a junior for the last big assault by Odessa and so did no more than fetch and carry. It was, too, interesting to see the Zilanti; the NEWT class have been permitted to dissect one of them for information though they are doing their best to preserve such parts as they may for potion making ingredients of course. And those who are best at it will help the head and others harvest such other parts as they may; for now, of course, the carcasses must be stored in a preserving bubble in wizarding space. It was a tricky little ritual to create the preserving effect as well as opening the bubble; we of the sixth were permitted to be a part of it while the professors and the post graduate students undertook the major part of it. There are nine of us in the lower sixth who study chanting; and only three in the upper sixth. The upper sixth you see are the last year who were at the old school for girls, without any selection process for ability. It is however the last two intakes that have been tested to the level Professor Snape deems adequate; for there is now a European school for those not eligible for Durmstrang that has no such entry requirements. It will be very exciting and I look forward to watching the Triwizard after this approaching one" she added.

Solvejov was impressed by the idea of a ritual that added a preserving charm to a volume of wizarding space; he could see how to do it, but for young people just out of school to do it was impressive.

"Were you permitted a chance to give your ideas on the ritual?" he asked.

"Oh yes" said Flo "Professor Snape encourages us all to undertake practical projects; and our ideas were taken seriously. I suggested using a repeat of thirty six to account for the number of parcels of heritable material within the Zilant – well, I asked how many there were and said we should do it that many times – to make a more specific preservation of the potion ingredients and of course hide for gloves and so on. The Sons of Zirnitra may be a nuisance but at least they have brought us some useful supplies."

The English professor was practical AND academic and trained his pupils far beyond the level anyone might expect!

Flo thought he seemed more reasonable than she might have thought bearing in mind the fact that Grigori Dmitrievitch had, since giving his parole, been sneeringly condescending and likely to irritate some of the wilder spirits into showing their displeasure. This wizard, who was well into middle years, with a white streak at once side of his black mane that continued into his full Russian beard, seemed more serene, which gave him the same sort of agelessness that Professor Snape had.

This was the point at which Flo and the Great Snake walked into the enchanted area, since Flo was taking him via one of the short cuts, and their noses declared the singularity of Hitler's testicular appendages while their feet managed a bizarre honky-tonk bagpipe noise that rather tended to explain why the bagpipes might be considered weapons of war. Solvejov jumped – making his Hieland laddie squawk – and he went for his wand, wondering what sort of attack this was.

"Oh DEAR!" cried Flo over the noise "I should have noticed the runes – walk fast to the other side" and she proceeded to do so, taking her charge by the arm to hurry him.

There was blessed silence.

"Whatever happened?" demanded Solvejov.

"Japes" said Flo "it's what you get for being in a school; see the runes? Little horrors have enchanted a section of corridor to murder music; and I wager by the style of spell I know exactly who it is; and if Zhenga, Wilhelm, Serrik, Fyra, Alrik and Bruno are in earshot come here right NOW"

Six rueful children emerged, and duly bowed or curtseyed.

"I say, we're awfully sorry" said Wilhelm.

"We weren't expecting visitors" said Zhenga.

"And we certainly wouldn't expect visitors in the corridor to the junior common room" said Bruno accusingly.

Flo shrugged.

"It's a short cut" she said "And now proves the maxim that short cuts make long delays. Well you have apologised nicely enough so I shan't have to impose that with your punishment; you may each write me a poem on the beauties of music."

Six faces looked dismayed.

"No, I ask you to let them off!" said the Great Snake "You enchanted this section of corridor to do this – using runes? And some of you are goblins or half goblins too!" he added, slipping into his native Ukrainian for the second sentence.

Zhenga replied in the same tongue.

"Sir, those who have been taught that goblins are intellectually inferior to humans have been taught a fallacy promulgated by those who are so intellectually challenged that they need to find SOME persons to look down on; and since goblins are traditionally second class citizens living in poor neighbourhoods, they tend to have depressed intellects due to malnutrition and ill health" she said "The English prove over and over that the range of intellect between wizards, goblins, elves and muggles are exactly the same – if reared in the same environment. It is circumstance that may depress the abilities of some more than others."

"Amazing! You are Ukrainian?" he asked.

"Yes sir" said Zhenga, with a toss of her fiery locks "My mother is a self-taught potioneer who impressed a potioneer so much that he first promised to see to my education and is now my step father. He used to teach at Durmstrang and now teaches at Schloss Adler, the free school. I am a potioneer by trade but of course runic magic and chanting and arithmancy are also among the subtle arts so of course they are the most important to study."

"Professor Snape then emphasises the subtle arts?" asked Solvejov.

"Yes sir; nobody does the subtle arts like HIM" said Zhenga "Of course one must learn charms and transfigurations – I'm quite good at transfigurations – in their raw forms too, or understanding the spell form is impossible and so one cannot use them with chanting."

"And how old are you?" he demanded.

"Almost thirteen, sir" said Zhenga. "Too young for the Triwizard next year; and as it's in France I don't think we have much chance of getting our names in the goblet. Confusing the age line wouldn't be too hard but I don't think we could manage that whilst banishing our names into the goblet even with a massive chant. Still, we have some good seniors" she beamed at him.

"Almost thirteen…. Part goblin….a girl too…..and so clever an enchantment with a component to tie it to the place only…." He breathed.

"We all did it" said Zhenga "And what's being a girl got to do with it? This isn't the middle ages!" she added indignantly.

He blinked.

"My order has traditionally barred females for failing to have the ability to concentrate in order to produce any reasonable level of ritual" he said

"Oh" said Zhenga "But then the upper class females of the Ukraine are rather, well, FLUFFY, aren't they? It's the fault of their upbringing I suppose" she added kindly. "If you sent your daughters to Prince Peak they wouldn't be allowed to be fluffy; dreaming in class gets you gutting horned toads for more than one professor or learning screeds of difficult poetry to make sure you HAVE to concentrate" she grinned suddenly "Like if you get caught at mischief when the screeds of poetry is to occupy OVER fertile brains" she added.

"Have you learned to do this level of ritual in class?" asked Solvejov.

Zhenga grinned.

"Oh no sir! But that's what libraries are for, isn't it?"

"Er…. Libraries are for research…. This was then an experiment?" he asked.

"Oh no sir; a jape to catch some first years to celebrate them being accepted as Marauders – it's a not-very-secret secret society. We're the Ubiquitous Marauders, us six; we swear to uphold truth and justice and fight bullies and hold eternal brotherhood" she said "And get into trouble with the object of practising how to do stuff out of our age group."

"And what do you mean by 'eternal'?" he asked.

"Well until we die, of course" said Zhenga. "Though having said that, there is a dead marauder who was a marauder with Professor Snape in his time and he chats through his portrait. It was started to protect a schoolchum who was a werewolf you see; and kind of went on to fight Voldemort and Odessa and these Sons of Zirnitra" she remembered the proper name "And I say sir, are you a member of the Order of the Dragon to negotiate with Professor Snape? I do hope you'd rather be on our side because it would be embarrassing to fight someone we've met and think we sort of like. Well I think I like you and the rest haven't a clue what we're saying because it's nice to have a chance to speak my own language so I'm being a bit logorrhoeaic."

"So you consider your oath a serious and lifelong undertaking; what happens if you break it?" he asked.

"Can't be done; the ritual of our initiation precludes it" said Zhenga. "One of the original marauders betrayed his fellows; but that will never happen any more. I think if you tried you'd first go mad and then probably either just die or kill yourself. We don't take it lightly you know; any more than we take training as warriors against dark wizards lightly. And the sons of Zirnitra are dark wizards. Sending wyverns against a school and planning on enslaving us is dark; and I think perhaps your order hadn't realised that we're people too or Grigori Dmitrievitch would not have come. He is too academic to be clever as well I think" said Zhenga contemptuously "And too keen to experiment to think about consequences; like, even if they'd won, irritating Lucius Malfoy who has relatives here, or Duke Eduard Von Frettchen whose brother-in-law Wilhelm here is, and Serrik is his ward; and Jade Snape Luytens who IS the Jade Wolf of prophecy and Harry Potter and loads of dead hard people who learned their ritual from Professor Snape and so know how to do it properly. WE supported the group that broke the curse on House Elves to self punish; and one day we'll be part of a group that is big enough and powerful enough to do it world wide; but there are plenty who were the principals in that who aren't here who'd be well irritated to think someone was trying to do something similar to their relatives, friends, and kindred of marauding. We are one and indivisible."

"You have used group blood magic!" he gasped.

"Yes" said Zhenga. "And no we DON'T use it for competition or exams; that's cheating."

"I never for one moment considered…. And you can feed power to Snape?"

"Or anyone who is the focus" said Zhenga "And I've pulsed him to let him know I need to tell him that you're the only person in the world clever enough to figure it out with so few clues so he's forewarned. And I rather think I've taken up enough of your time; so thank you for the discussion and I hope when I next see you, you will be an ally, Mihail Vasylovitch."

He gasped.

"I did not tell you my name" he said.

"Oh, I apologise; surface thoughts about such things as identity are not hard to pick up almost accidentally with legilimensy" said Zhenga, who had been practising lately on general principles.

"I – let us get on our way to the head's office" said Solvejov to Flo in German. "And I pray you still to let these younglings off punishment; the enchantment is too efficient to permit punishment over."

"You are a bunch of lucky brats" said Flo sternly "And when you've caught the juniors it was intended for you can jolly well take it down; Hieland laddie in honly-tonk bagpipes forsooth! Preposterous!"

They all giggled and chorused thanks to the visitor.

oOoOo

"That Ukrainian girl – she is extraordinary!" cried Solvejov to Severus as soon as he was in the office.

"She's one of our brighter little sparks certainly" said Severus "A born potioneer; and reasonable at her other lessons. A good instinctive grasp of timing too, which stands her in good stead in chanting also. She and the other Marauders of her year are hard workers, but sometimes I wish they'd put as much effort into their classwork as into their jokes and pranks. Especially Wilhelm and Serrik who effectively live together in the holidays and spend the time plotting. But you're not here to discuss the shortcomings of my naughtier children; even if you are fascinated by the use of blood magic."

"I am, Severus – I may call you Severus? I am Mihail, and it is foolish for two powerful people such as ourselves to be bound by an excess of meaningless civility."

Severus gave a thin smile.

"In England we tend to cling to meaningless civility because on an island it can mean the difference between managing to preserve a civil front or killing our neighbours" he said "But under the circumstances I take your point, Mihail. Did you want Grigori Dmitrievitch back?"

"Is it as simple as asking for him?" said Solvejov, surprised.

"Well to be quite honest with you I don't really want him" said Severus "He's not a very nice man; no connection with people at all and very willing to experiment with his nasty little ritual."

"I was not a little shocked to hear the child er, Zhenga, speak of it" admitted Mihail Solvejov "The Sons of Zirnitra told us that the whole Slavic way of life was under threat from the combined efforts of Germany and England who wanted to erode all our rights and take our lifestyle away and make us like Germans. We had enough of that from Odessa; and we had taken steps to make sure Odessa did not actually interfere with our order. They asked for a ritual expert who knew control spells; I offered them the choice of two and they picked White Snake Grigori Dmitrievitch. I personally consider him a little limited in terms of his relationships and strongly believe that his reasons for pursuing mind controlling ritual to be a little suspect; because he has trouble forming normal relationships. Which affliction is not unusual in an academic; few women will enter into the interests of a scholar, and really I cannot believe a relationship without equality could ever last. You are married I believe?"

"I have three wives" said Severus "Two academic and the other my equal in other ways because she is an expert in her OWN fields; which answers as well as an academic equal. Not all academics like an academic equal either; two of my staff who are married are happy because they are NOT academically equal. HE adores HER and admires her; she revels in not having to prove anything to him or fight to be better than anyone else inside the relationship. She has self doubt issues; he is her prop and stay and though decidedly not academic – I forget how many cauldrons he burned to a cinder in my class when he was at school – he is the stronger of the two in the relationship. I'm an intellectual snob and I should hate to be married to someone I could not discuss my work with."

"Well that's very interesting" said Solvejov "It explains one of my stabler White Snakes who is married to a peasant woman and apparently very happy. She is a nice enough woman and a fabulous cook by all accounts but I had wondered…. If she is happy to admire and he needs the admiration…. I recall he was rather defensive and ill natured until he met her though."

"Well it sounds like a similar situation" said Severus, hoping that he would not be called on to psychoanalyse the Order of the Dragon in the same way as he felt as though he seemed to be on tap for Eduard Von Frettchen to help out with the lives of ministers and nobles in Germany. "Well if you'll take him away I shall be glad to get rid of him; the kids consider him creepy. I took his parole and so I had to give him freedom of the castle bar common rooms and dormitories and staff quarters. He peers at the goblin, part goblin and elf children as if he wants to experiment on them and he's going to end up being jinxed into a ball."

"Do you think so? I should have thought that Grigori Dmitrievitch was capable of taking care of himself" Solvejov was surprised.

"I don't think, pardon me, he's ever encountered the ingenuity and imagination of small children before nor the subtle and devious plans that they can formulate if they feel someone is a threat to them" said Severus "Whether that's a prefect who assumes they want to practise quidditch during all the hours of daylight or an actual real threat. And some of the more sensitive children will NOT like being stared at; and most of them have partisan friends who will take it unkindly. There are five layers of marauders in the school right now; no, six, because one group split into two for having grown with new children. I take the brightest and the best in the wizarding world and as such there is much marauder material" he explained.

"And you find that goblins may be amongst the brightest and the best; we may be wasting brains for the want of training!" cried Mihail Vasylovitch.

"Indeed" said Severus. "Which being so, I should have thought that you should be considering setting up a school in the Ukraine for the blood taints and goblins and half breeds and free elves to train; and the brightest and the best might then join your order; and others work for the order in lesser capacities; or teach others, perhaps increasing the number of schools."

"MARVELLOUS!" admired Mihail Vasylovitch in admiration "And then we may test out Zhenga's concept that women trained in concentration from girlhood might perform as well as men! She is a living example; unless goblins are different?"

"Not noticeably" said Severus. "When I took over the girls' school here I found most of the inmates to be feather headed moronic little dunderheads; it's why I brought in my daughter and her friends and as many boys as I could muster. It helped. I've a couple who are still a little flighty in the top year but on the whole the younger ones of such poor previous training – and some of the older ones – responded well to training. One of the then fifth years is now a healer in the free hospital specialising in chanting for otherwise incurable problems. It's a subtler and often less painful way to use transfiguration in any case. She has done very well; I have her three half brothers. All marauders I may say" he gave a half smile.

"Tell me about the blood magic; what you have found about it; I am fascinated!" asked the Ukrainian.

Severus went to his bookshelves and fetched down a copy of his book 'Blood Magic, Love Magic'.

"I suspect if you picked up on the ritual from a few clues as Zhenga tells me you'll extract more from this than most" he said. "It was originally to defeat Voldemort and protect Harry; it sort of grew. The Marauders – well, Zhenga said she told you about their origins; we original ones never came up with the idea of blood magic and just as well; or we'd all have been howling at the moon with Remus and maybe I'd never have developed the cure."

"It is true then that you can actually cure the vucari – the how do you say, werewolves?" said Solvejov.

"Yes" said Severus "And we brought down Odessa really in order to rescue and cure the werewolves in its thrall. Otherwise I might just have left it to fall apart for itself. I don't actually interfere willy-nilly in the affairs of other countries, whatever you have been told. And the only thing I should like to force on the other peoples of Russia, Europe, the world, is a few facts; the fact that the study of heritance makes a mockery of the pure-bred or muggle-bred arguments; and that all sentients should be treated equally. I also wish to see slavery outlawed; and elves taught to accept freedom, and to be free of curses."

"You spoke of elf pupils; and there are those bright enough to be marauders?"

"Few enough as yet" said Severus "A girl born free, and my adoptive daughter are the only two elf marauders, though there's a half elf and my adoptive son, Mimi's brother, supports. As some do; by blooding without taking on the whole business of marauding. It takes some doing to learn to be free. One of my wives is an elf – she has a large form for practicality's sake – and I'm interested to see how well our children together do. Mimi and Sevvy are essentially my step children. I tell you personal details because I believe you are genuinely interested."

"Zhenga has challenged every belief I have held concerning goblins and girls; and I must be led by facts not belief.. If anyone had told me I should spend time enjoying chatting with a little girl, and a part goblin at that I should have laughed in his face. I cannot leave such questions unresolved. And I am intrigued by a ritual to remove the compulsions in elves; I had supposed them to be naturally part of their makeup, what they are as a race."

"It was a curse laid in them by their relatives the fey" said Severus "A deal cut with humans; as was their tiny size. Why don't you take Grigori Dmitrievitch away and return to argue out the details of our future alliance and you may learn by watching and getting to know people? You're welcome to sit in with my post NEWT classes on advanced ritual if you like; I don't know the approaches you use but I found Grigori a bit of an amateur."

Solvejov flushed.

"He's usually accounted rather good; if a bit reptilian" he said.

"I almost object to that; I'm a snake animagus" said Severus. "Gives us snakes a bad name if he's reptilian. I find his insistence that you can't perform a proper ritual without a lot of paraphernalia and preparation rather risible; a competent chanter can pull of on the fly a chant that has the same effect it would take six performers of traditional ritual to achieve. And yet he says you chant."

"It sounds as though I have much to learn in the field of extempore chanting" said Mihail Vasylovitch ruefully "I considered myself the leading expert in ritual in Europe; but only a fool or a small man says that he knows all there is to know and does not accept that there is more. I think I am not a fool; and I should hate to be a small man."

"Spoken by one who shows the mark of greatness" said Severus "You're going to want to meet Dumbledore; he has a few insights into ritual too, though he's generally too lazy to use it. He tends to rely on raw power. I love him like a father but sometimes he exasperates me" he grinned "I suppose that's how you're supposed to feel about family though. His theory is very sound though; he usually understands WHAT I'm doing even if he couldn't work out how to do it himself. It's nice to have him to talk things through with; my wives and I are too close and tend sometimes to look at a problem from the same points of view. Albus has his own rather querky view of the world. As does Lucius; though you could never fault Lucius on either industry or thoroughness. And the only Germans capable of ritual and subtlety are the ones my daughter trained when she was teaching for a year in Durmstrang. Some of whom have come to me for post graduate studies" he added. "Though to date even so none of them are ethnic Germans; only survivors of the Durmstrang experience."

"I shall take you up on your offer" said Solvejov "Because I want to know more; and I fancy you and I could be friends, Severus. The Sons of Zirnitra are a danger to us as to you; and we should combine against them. Let us fetch Grigori and I shall take him away; and then return as soon as I may arrange a prolonged absence."

oOoOo

Grigori Dmitrievitch was floating.

As his backside was the highest point of him, Severus thought it was a fair guess that he was under the influence of the dirigible fart curse.

The elves had produced rather bean heavy meals over the last twenty four hours too.

The ritual wizard was also swearing.

Severus absently dropped a saponification spell on him without resorting to word or wand.

"Language like that in front of children is disgusting" he said coldly "And there is no excuse for it. You are not hurt; merely suffering from a minor corridor curse."

"Gwet mr dwown!" bubbled Grigori Dmitreivitch.

"Not when you have manners like that" said Severus "Why haven't you cancelled the spell yourself if you're so good at ritual?"

Grigori Dmitreivitch was understood to bubble that finite incantatem had not worked.

"Then perhaps you should have tried a chant" said Severus. "And cursebreaking Arithmancy."

Grigori Dmitreivitch might be made out to declare that brats were incapable of a level of ritual that required cursebreaking ritual and chanting.

Severus leaned weakly on the wall laughing uproariously.

"I only pray it wasn't your first year new marauders" said Mihail.

"I should think it probably is beyond them" said Severus.

"It was me, Sir" said Vava Breuer "Because he made Kizzy cry, asking her nosy questions about how many of the compulsions she had as a part elf and saying that her brain should be dissected."

"DID he" said Severus grimly.

"Yes sir, he did" Hette backed up her twin "And we were all discussing it and then Vava pointed out that we knew his name and it was her chant but we all thought it was a good idea."

"And I did some counterpoint" said Viridian.

"And I would have if I hadn't mucked up my voice crying" said Kizzy.

"And Hette and me just chanted his name" said Jo "So all he has to do is to use Finish naming magic to undo himself and he thinks he's so great at ritual but he's just an inadequate little…"

"Thank you Jo that will do" said Severus quickly. "Well, I think I shall permit the inadequate little fellow to find out how long it takes for the effects to wear off for himself; and meantime I shall also tie something to his name too because I think that people who torture children are the lowest; unless you wish to discipline him yourself, Mihail?"

"Oh go ahead" said Mihail cheerfully "I look forward to seeing your methods."

Severus wandered around the floating wizard, murmuring his name over and over; anyone who was counting would have found it was said twenty three times. Then he said a short Russian word that had Mihail blench slightly; and it was inscribed on Grigori's forehead in zits in Cyrillic; the word 'Govniuk'.

"Good grief, Severus, that's truly offensive" said Mihail.

"True though" said Severus who reflected that 'Shithead' was a mild epithet for Grigori but did not want his pupils resorting to dictionary work over something more offensive. Vava was already absently noting it down to look up.

"And how long will that remain there?" asked Mihail.

Severus smiled seraphically.

"Until he figures out how to dejinx himself" he said. "The other will wear off within twenty four hours; depending."

"On what?" asked Mihail.

"How much he farts" said Severus "Come back to my office and I shall explain to you the intricacies of the dirigible fart curse; one of my favourite jinxes. I wish I'd known it when I was at school!"

"I wish I'd gone to your school and learned any of these jinxes" said Mihail.