Chapter 6
The pearlescent potion gave off lazy spirals of steam.
"Would anyone care to identify this potion and give me three reasons why brewing it is a damned foolish idea?" said Professor Rebet. His previously wheezing voice was now incisive. Bertel, Lazlo, Traudl and Rodica had been expecting a change; Cacilia and Jade had shared their late night foray with the more senior members of the ECC. Clovis Gierek looked startled. He was the odd one out in this class, the only one of Nachtigall's gang; the one who Jade recalled being told liked poisons.
Her hand was up.
Rebet smiled with the gentle malice that passed in him for pleasure.
"Very well Fraulein Von Strang; let us see how much you know."
"It is Amortentia, the strongest known infatuation potion there is. And that is one of the three reasons it is stupid to brew it; because so-called love potions are no such thing, they are merely infatuation potions. They make people act foolishly and uncharacteristically maybe ruining good friendships and relationships into the bargain; they leave the recipient embarrassed at their own foolishness once they wear off; and they bring false hope to the idiots that would brew them of influencing the object of their lust. Nobody who was truly in love would seek to influence the object of their affection in a like way. They have some limited use" added Jade.
"A full and well reasoned answer" said Rebet "And what are their USES? I confess I am unable to think of one."
Jade shrugged.
"Within the context of marriage, where hormonal difficulties such as are associated with birthing it would perhaps be beneficial for consensual stimulus to be employed; such that it should be seen as a medical potion for psychological problems rather than as a means to make a boy notice the potato-headed girl who would wish to get his attention. It's almost always girls who hand out this rubbish" she added.
"Hmm, yes, I concede the medical use" said Rebet. "It is a potion of a degree of difficulty such as you are required to brew; the only reason I teach it. Fraulein Von Strang, what would you suggest as a counter to Amortentia?"
"The Liberamore Major potion sir. The eye-opener potion works well on all other Love Potions but its actions are sluggish on the Amortentia victim and it is less easy to adjust according to Golapott's second law should the brew have aged and gained in intensity. Liberamore Major can be easily enhanced by distillation and its increase in strength is easy to regulate."
"Hmmm, well you know the theory well enough. Today we brew Liberamore Major to make sure you can make the antidote before I let you loose on the noxious toils of Amortentia. Tell me, Fraulein Von Strang, can you brew it from memory?"
"Yes sir" said Jade "I believe so."
"Then I shall leave you to do so; I suppose it is inevitable that Professor Snape and I have covered things in a different order. The rest of you will find the recipe on page fifty one."
Jade grinned.
"Professor Snape likes to get Amortentia and the attendant giggling out of the way quickly sir; he took over a girls' school remember."
"Ah yes; and I commiserate with him on that score" said Rebet.
Jade got on with brewing; and had decanted while most of the rest, even Cacilia, were struggling through the half way stages.
Rebet observed her with both approval and something of a malicious glint in the eye.
"Similar cutting and stirring styles to the Snape girl I see" he said.
Jade looked up indifferently.
"Oh almost inevitably I suppose" she said "Malfoys tend to be similar to the point of mannerism; and she IS a Malfoy. Also one tends to pick up, I suppose, the foibles of one's teacher; and our previous potions mistress is great aunt to Professor Snape. It was how he got involved I believe. Scholastically rather incestuous I suppose; I shall be interested to learn very different techniques and styles of working from you sir; it can only increase my own versatility to observe a wider variation of style."
He nodded.
It was quite reasonable; and she showed not a trace of concern or guilt. Not that he had really expected it; but it was amusing to push buttons and see if the clockwork sprang into action.
And then he noticed that Clovis Gierek was using a self stirring cauldron.
There was a tirade of Russian – which made Jade wince – and the boy was belaboured about the head and shoulders with a ladle.
"Ow! Sir, I don't understand you!" squealed Clovis.
"He said 'dolt, double dyed dolt, you who were born in a pit of asses dung from the misbegotten turds of asses and oxen who has no skill nor artistry and who knows no better than to maudle'– I think I got the translation right there it's a dialect word he used – 'your potion with an abomination fit only for the stinking pits of stinking kobbolds without education or artistry who had the misfortune to be born in St Petersberg where only the maggots have a good time.' Then he lapsed into Ukrainian and I only got the gist which was less complimentary. He doesn't like your self stirring cauldron."
"I do not" growled Rebet. "I ban them; and I ban them for good reason. They make the lazy person of the potioneer. They do not always even give mediocre results, let alone optimal! If you use such again Herr Gierek I shall poison you!"
"Yes Herr Rebet; I apologise" said Gierek, chastened.
After the break they had a class in study of Magical Beasts; a sparse class, including only Cacilia and the Swiss boy Seppi. Evidently it was the concept of having to handle large, dangerous beasts that put people off rather that it being entirely Hagrid's fault at Hogwarts; one would have to see how things went with the exam split in two, care of domestic and care of wild beasts; and see how David did at Prince Peak when more people had actually studied as far as OWL in the subject.
"We shall go today to observe some Graphorn. How would you deal with graphorn, Fraulein Von Strang? He asked.
Jade pulled a face.
"A well executed veronica with a cloak to draw the creature to smash its head on a convenient rock might still be the best tactic of all" she suggested.
Señor Carcano beamed.
"And I thought most English knew but little….ah that English boy! What verve! What élan! I kiss my hands to him!"
"They are resistant to magic as well as having tough hides, aren't they?" said Cacilia.
"Indeed yes, Fraulein Von Freyer; even trolls have trouble with them. Collecting their horns is very difficult. We tramp a way into the forest; and stay downwind of the ones I have been observing."
It was a pleasant autumnal day though the bite in the air certainly heralded winter to come. Carcano led them sure-footedly up a valley track and onto a small ledge not large enough to qualify as alpine meadow where they might overlook a canyon to where there were a small herd of graphorn grazing. Carcano handed round omnioculars much like those on sale at quidditch matches; and Jade found that the overlaid commentary was set to recall facts about graphorns. It was a jolly good idea and one she intended to suggest to David.
"This is brilliant, sir" she said "With the replay facility even fast moving beasts can be studied in detail; how long are the replay actions retained?"
"Until wiped" said Professor Carcano throwing out his chest. "It is I who have come up with the idea of using useless toys for proper research. I who have the seriousness on my subject to wish to have my students view beasts and learn their habits in relative safety. You must choose what to record to replay because of the limit of the time that can be recorded."
"It's brilliant" said Jade again "You should perhaps write to Lucius Malfoy and offer to lecture on the new Wizarding Wireless Vision with replays taken from omnioculars to show the world; for such an idea you deserve fame."
This was evidently a new idea to Carcano; but one he liked.
"Fame? Well I should be remembered for thinking of this; I will do as you suggest and write to Lucius Malfoy. He is your relative, no?"
"My grandsire; but he prefers not to be reminded of it too often" said Jade "If you mention my name I'd just say his er, connection. We have a civil rather than a friendly relationship."
"Ah, yes, I comprehend perfectly!" said Carcano. "See the female, she is ready to mate; I thought we might be in luck. If we wait long enough we may see a mating ritual. Now you know why I told you to wrap up warm; I have had elves prepare us a packed lunch which they will bring presently, and much hot coffee."
"Now that's an ace way to run a study of magical beasts lesson" approved Jade.
Carcano might even actually be a better teacher than David in this subject; he had all the enthusiasm of Hagrid with a goodly dollop of common sense and a sense of his students' comforts too.
She'd drop some hints to David; he was always happy to learn more!
The mating ritual was frightening; the sound of the crashing horns as males fought over the receptive female could be heard clearly clear across the canyon in the dry clear mountain air; and Jade winced. In common with most horned beasts however it was not meant to be a duel to the death; as soon as one male started to get hurt it raised its head before another pass could take place, pointing its formidable horns backward and exposing the throat.
The victor stamped and pawed the ground noisily to drive the point home then approached the female and began a series of intricate springs into the air, much like the pronking of springboks but on the spot; some of the jumps, as she started to show interest, with turns in them.
"Wow, love that three-sixty!" murmured Jade.
So did the female; after a few more callisthenics she turned her back and presented.
After that, one ruminant consummating sexual passion is much like another and Jade went back to the replays of the gymnastics.
"Sir, that's not in any books I've ever seen" said Jade "Is this your own discovery or is it commonly known on the continent?"
"I believe it is my own discovery" said Carcano "I took replays last year; and kept them. But this was an even finer display."
"Sir you MUST show this on Wizarding Wireless Vision" Cacilia agreed with Jade "For this sort of study you would be justly famous!"
Carcano was delighted.
"Well, with your co-operation my children, to record a few more such incidents with animals I shall be ready to show a goodly series of demonstrations on this new medium; it has come at just the right time!"
It had indeed; and Jade was glad. For this work – and he spoke too of journeys he had made in the holidays to study other creatures and record their behaviour – he deserved every recognition.
She was also very glad of the food and smiled a 'danke' to the house elves for coming out here with it; as did Cacilia. As the elves belonged to the students they would not feel so great an urge to punish themselves if it was their own students who thanked them.
"Sir, why not send one of our Omnioculars to Grandfather with a covering note?" she said "An elf would take it."
It would be one elf freed from the compulsion.
If regular correspondence took place, Lucius would hint to any elf that a different one come each time.
"What an excellent idea!" said Carcano "Elf, would you be prepared to carry something to England for me?"
"I am at your orders, Master!" squeaked the elf.
Carcano went up again in Jade's estimation that he asked. He was a bit self opinionated and arrogant in manner – somewhat justly actually – but he knew what was due to underlings.
"Good; come to my study half an hour after school ends to take a package and a message" said Carcano. The elf bowed low.
They showed HIM real respect, Jade noticed. There was a gratitude in their humility towards those who were fair and reasonable; they had it too towards Cacilia and warily towards herself.
Given time she would find errands for most of them.
Jade opened up communications to any of the bloodgroup who were interested, saying,
"I just watched the world's craziest blue movie"
It got several people's attention.
David was, as she had expected, fascinated; and ready to demand, beg or tickle Lucius into submission over getting this televised; and also to arrange an international conference of naturalists including such as Hagrid, Charlie Weasley, and Newt Scamander as well as the various teachers of the subject. Whilst David agreed wholeheartedly that Orlando Carcano should have credit for using Omnioculars in this fashion, everyone had their own field of expertise and others could contribute what David described as footage. Being recorded magically of course it would transmit directly; without the considerable technical difficulties of transferring film to globe and so bypassed a lot of expensive work. And the omniocular could be adapted to record more and be the basis for the Wizarding Wireless Vision camera rather than the slightly distorting vision globes Lucius was using at the moment.
"I'll go to see Lucius" said David "He IS a friend of mine after all; I'll suggest to him that if he likes the idea of adapting omnioculars, as well as having to pay through the nose to use their patent he should drop a few shares the way of Carcano in gratitude."
"Only fair" said Jade.
It would open up the educational side of Wizarding Wireless Vision no end too; so far Lucius was filming Severus for potioneering classes and McGonagall for transfiguration and Flitwick for charms; as well as Sirius and Assim for Geomancy and Comparative Magic. It was basic; but it was a start.
The afternoon brought herbology; Wednesdays were very full. There were six other members of the class, Cacilia, Traudl, Bertel and Rodica of her own set, Clovis from the viewpoint of a potioneer and the girl Xia Xuang who was sufficient unto herself, rarely addressed a remark to anyone and did not even have a fag. Frau Kunigunde Kluba, a Polish woman, was tall, spare, brisk and Jade somehow pictured her in tweeds. Her words were well articulated but her speech was quite clipped in sound as though she were hurrying them. Cacilia had intimated that under cover of academic exercises she was not above having the students harvest profitable ingredients to her own enrichment.
This lesson was by way of revision, Madam Kluba told them brightly, handing out goggles and gloves and leading them to a greenhouse full of gnarled stumps.
Jade pulled a face. She disliked Snargaluffs intensely; and as they were so far her only experience of NEWT level Herbology she had hoped for something else.
Still there would be more to do in the year.
She got down to the task in hand, tying together the thorny tentacles that lashed out and extracting the obscene squirming green pods that formed in the knots, and expertly juicing them with a sharp knife, squeezing out the wriggling slimy tubers that were of use to the potioneer in the Draught of Invigoration as well as in various antidotes to love potions. It was all in the preparation.
"Excuse me, Frau Kluba, how do the plants produce seed pods when there are no students to knot them together?" she asked.
"A good question; the first time I think I have ever been asked that" said Frau Kluba, pleased "The thrashing branches are there to catch unwary animals and, having done so wrap around them to draw them in to digest. As the limbs tighten on the dwindling body of the prey the same effect occurs as knotting them and a pod forms. The plant retains the pod until some other animal approaches – they smell very attractive to herbivores – and ejects the pod, which will then engulf the prey, which in its panic and subsequent death throes runs far enough away from the parent to give new snargaluff room to grow. The tubers wriggle into the body and digest it from within before it has a chance to rot, feeding them and starting them in life."
"That's fairly repulsive; but thank you ma'am" said Jade turning faintly green at the cavalier way she and Lionel had lobbed snargaluff pods at the fey in the Triwizard maze. "Can they then kill something large?"
"Oh, not usually" said Madam Kluba "If a wizard – or even a goblin – was to find himself engulfed he could probably with some effort force the thing off before suffocating. A small child would be at risk but a grown adult, probably not. And even if a tuber wriggled into the mouth and was swallowed, the living stomach acids of a human would provide sufficient competition to make no worse problem than some indigestion, maybe a stomach ulcer if a powerful stomach settler is not taken. It likes prey of up to about four stone in weight; no more."
"Thank you" said Jade. "How do we sustain the level of energy required to throw out vines and produce fruiting bodies?"
"The kitchen saves all its blood from the food and also meat scraps" said Madam Kluba "As the sustenance from its prey is absorbed via the vines, I stand at a safe distance and spray re-liquidised dried blood on it, and feed it with flesh and bone meal fertiliser. I also feed it rats."
"There is then no truth in the rumour that you feed it first years who have mucked about in your class, Ma'am?" teased Bertel. She was in a good mood from sensible questions; a little levity was, he knew from experience, permitted. She boxed his ears lightly.
"You are a bad boy Herr Elstrup" she said.
Jade had learned a lot about Snargaluff; she had never bothered to ask Ellie what the two stumps at Prince Peak were fed on; since it was probably dead werewolf and Stuurmzauberern. Waste not want not, after all.
Homework was ten inches on flesh eating plants; Jade did not look forward to it but would work manfully.
Frau Bacsó wished to see Jade that evening.
"How are you settling in, Fraulein Von Strang?" she asked.
"Very well, thank you Madam Bacsó" said Jade, who had greeted the head with a curtsey. Madam Bacsó approved.
"I believe you have formed your own coterie of friends already" said Bacsó. "And have left some other people less than friendly."
Jade shrugged.
"I have assessed the way things are apparently done and attempted to follow custom accordingly" she said. "As to putting Madam Schrempf right about my abilities with the Dark Arts I suspect that she was not your first choice as teacher and that you resent her being wished onto you anyway."
Bacsó started.
"I have received no report from Madam Schrempf concerning the first lesson you have had with her" she said "In what way have you 'put her right'?"
Jade smiled brightly.
"She wanted to punish me for being English using the cruciatus curse; so I made her crawl on the floor and kiss my robe. She is inefficient, unsubtle and ODESSA has, in my opinion blundered – once again – in placing such as her in a position of recruitment. The only ones SHE will attract are those of her own kind; sadists and thugs. ODESSA has put a stinging hex through its own foot. It must be very galling for you having to accept inadequates from an organisation that is so ridiculously inefficient that it is risible in even a small school like Prince Peak where jokes are made even amongst the very young about what silly games the Prince of Pusillanimity will play next. When you have the opportunity to mould young lives and have at your disposal all those who have passed through your hands – as Dumbledore and Snape do – to have to pass them up for the ambitions of a failed organisation that has only a few alleged ideals in common must be galling in the extreme."
"You are insolent to make assumptions about me!" said Bacsó in horror.
"Oh, I am sorry; it is a matter of common discussion amongst the older ones at Prince Peak, pray forgive me" said Jade.
"Common discussion?" Bacsó was even more horrified. "I – I will not judge you them as insolent; pray tell me what else is said."
"Well ma'am, it is generally reckoned that if Durmstrang is seen to be too closely allied to ODESSA , when ODESSA finally falls Durmstrang will fall with it. The girls talk about whether Snape will expand the school on the Horn or whether he will put in a bid for Durmstrang and reopen it. The boys complain that his policy is to let ODESSA fall on its own and will not let them push. They sent a hundred dementors and two hundred troops to Prince Peak during the Triwizard; and at least as many I believe to Hogwarts. The assumptions made by Madam Schrempf as we heard later she made over the communications globe were that this was sufficient. We all fought dementors and destroyed them; and as for the storm wizards, Snape had called in a favour from an old pupil and had borrowed a couple of dragons and a dragon handler."
"DESTROYED dementors? That's impossible!"
"Well we all suffered mass hallucination then; it's not hard if you can keep yourself together. You make them laugh themselves to pieces; literally. They explode" said Jade. It would get out sooner or later; and it was fairly common knowledge in England. Give her information that would become worthless as an act of good will.
"Donner und Blitzen! Laugh to pieces! Yes I can see that it would….. and how many storm wizards were defeated? Enough to make the rest feel it not possible to take the castle, obviously…"
"Madam Snape was of the opinion as many as a dozen may have got away" said Jade. "We were told that the policy was total annihilation; so that none should even report. It was a command decision on Snape's part to spread terror in the Prince's camp and to start the possibility of mass desertion of his troops when it was seen that those who went on missions never returned. He is quite ruthless; as is Dumbledore I believe. He says, and I have to say with considerable truth, that ODESSA started the game and if they did not like the rules they should not play."
"Ruthless! Yes, utterly! How Schrempf has underestimated him for his quiet manner! And Dumbledore with his jocular one! Yes, assuredly I must distance myself…. They have blundered too often, and now finally I find out the extent of the blunder. A hundred dementors and two hundred wizards… why they must be down to a bare few!"
"Snape says they will use Slavic troops next who have no knowledge of the losses of their German counterparts" said Jade. "I overheard him discussing it when he returned. He and his son had used some ritual to travel virtually to where Gerhardt was and thrashed him with a switch; presumably one formed out of pure energy. The level of transfigurational ritual that Snape is capable of transcends the comprehension of most of us I think. And I consider myself not entirely a novice in ritual since I have watched, learned and assimilated much of what has occurred during battles so that my knowledge of chanting is more advanced than my OWL in it suggests."
"Thank you; I believe I must think hard about what to do next" said Bacsó. "And you, who can force Schrempf to kneel; what do YOU plan to do? Do you wish to force ME to kneel?"
Jade grinned.
"Oh Madam Bacsó! Such charades are only for the childish – which you are assuredly not! You are a survivor and a wise woman and I would never dream of being so contumelious! I was wondering if you wished to use me to infiltrate this ODESSA and find out how much of a risk to your school it is; and how far it has penetrated the ministry in order that they might also cause you trouble. And then you would have an opportunity to be the heroine that overthrew it and brought in a New Order as Dumbledore and Harry Potter did in England" she added.
Bacsó regarded her thoughtfully.
"You're not Harry Potter" she said.
"No; he had the Blood Bond from his mother and had inborn luck. I'd have to rely on being good. But Harry Potter was a reluctant hero; I rather think it might be fun – and the results well worth it. I'm not bound by one of Mr Potter's handicaps; I'm not naïve. And nor" she added "Am I unduly modest. Will you have me do it, Frau Bacsó? If you will, I fancy you may have to be prepared to make some concessions to those blasted kobbolds in order to get support from Dumbledore and Snape; which we could do with I confess: and to get their numbers on your side. It need NOT go so far as England has gone of course; I cannot see goblins ever attending Durmstrang!" she laughed gaily "Why the very keep would fall down in horror!"
"Quite" said Madam Bacsó "This is going a little fast. Leave me, Nefrita my dear; I wish to think hard and consider your suggestions deeply and objectively, without being swayed by your enthusiastic rhetoric."
Jade curtseyed deeply.
"At your command, Madam Bacsó" she said.
That had not been planned either; she had meant to poison Bacsó against ODESSA – if their manifold blunders had not already done so, which seemingly they had – and pave the way towards talking to Dumbledore or dad.
Suggesting to Madam Bacsó that she be in the same position as Dumbledore after the Second Wizarding War had been very tempting for the woman; who was sufficiently like Lucius to be able to second guess quite easily. As a Hungarian she was taken less seriously by the German Ministry even though its sphere of influence covered the combined German and Austro-Hungarian regions, despite local Ministries being in nominal control. And she would not want an Anschluss any more than those of Prince Peak did if the German Ministry felt that it was losing power as Gerhardt lost HIS grip. Jade might privately refer to Madam Bacsó as 'the Hungarian Horntail' but she had a lot of brains in her cool, hard, calculating head.
And it was well worth subverting them.
Technically Jade had Thursday free to do her preparation; which being self disciplined she had almost completed, and so decided to go along with Traudl and Bertel to their Ancient Runes class and ask if she might sit in.
"Why?" demanded Frau Agalisse Schreiber.
"Because I was studying the subject before I came here and as I have completed all preparation I should like to keep up my studies."
"Why did you give it up?"
"Because Madam Bacsó did not have faith in my ability to complete all the studies I had started and required me to give up one; I chose one that I could continue to study with library work" said Jade.
"Why, how many were you studying?" demanded Frau Schreiber.
"Seven; it is difficult for me being bored without enough studies to stretch me"
"Then you may sit in and do the preparation but if your other grades fall and if you drop below an 'A' grade in my class I will require you to leave."
Jade looked outraged.
"I have dropped once to an 'E' grade but I have never been grades so poorly in any of my studies!" she said.
"And what grades have you and how many ZB's?"
"I have eleven OWLs at 'O'" said Jade; Nefrita had been given much the same subjects as she studied; save that for verisimilitude she had not been given muggle studies. "I was able to study some on my own time with correspondence tutorials with appropriate Hogwarts professors."
"Very well; take your place. Have you examined the text book?"
"Yes ma'am" said Jade; who had read it all through whilst waiting at the lodge. "I am already quite fluent in Finnish; I learned it for fun a couple of years back. The relationship to Hungarian is fascinating; and I have also drawn some astonishing parallels with the construction of Japanese, so I find the conclusions in the text fascinating. I have never before studied ancient Persian nor the Indo-Aryan languages."
"Well you seem to be knowledgeable and keen. Very well, class, we shall begin our studies this year with the writings of Ctesias and from their reference we shall work on the translation of the only texts of the Bactrian and Assyrian cultures, the copies of a letter from a wizard of Zoroaster's time to a colleague under the empire of Ninus. The script is fascinating in its primitive forms and the suggestions to be found of how later scripts may have developed from it. We must bear in mind that this is four thousand years old; and the text is exciting in that it appears to be covering the discovery of something akin to the Fire Protection Potion, which appears so similar it enabled scholars to decipher the majority through using the identity of the ingredients. There is also a tantalising glimpse of trouble one of the writers is having with Ashwinders in his cauldron fire. As we are now even in numbers you may work in pairs to make your own translation with the glossaries given in the text book."
Jade nodded to Traudl and Bertel to work together; Antonina Kotina would prefer to work with someone else high born and would make less fuss if she was partnering Nefrita Von Strang. Franziska Schiff and Thom Bilkvam were Nachtigallites anyhow; and deserved each other.
They got well under way; and Jade raised a hand.
"Fraulein Von Strang? Needing help already?" asked Frau Schreiber.
"Oh! No, ma'am; I wondered how far we were permitted to extrapolate in the passages marked in brackets as unclear" said Jade.
"Show your reasoning and extrapolate all you like" said the Professor.
"How will you do that?" asked Antonina.
"Well, I know this potions backwards and I also know that it is able to be extended by the addition of peppermint and frozen ashwinder eggs; if the passage here that he did [something] about [snakes in the fire] it could be that he encouraged them for the eggs and got a little more than he bargained for leading to [and they came so thick and fast I had trouble containing them] which means this term here, which has the suggestion of an egg with a snake squiggle on it refers to Ashwinder eggs; and this one here then almost has to be peppermint or at least some specie of the mint family."
"I see; that looks plain when you translate it so" said Antonina "Which being so this passage here with the same ashwinder egg word is about collecting them perhaps?"
Jade had a look.
"Seems logical" she said "And he is putting them [somewhere] and if you ask me that's going to be either a jar of ice or an ice house; more likely a jar of ice for the speed at which he has to work."
Frau Schreiber came over excited, though controlling it.
"Fraulein Von Strang I believe that you have a correct translation of a passage that has been troubling scholars for centuries; you study potions to the Higher Level?"
"Yes ma'am I do; but this extension is not in any text books, it is one of the improvements Professor Snape himself made, that he teaches. Which means that unless a previous translator had himself made that improvement and did not publish it, then it seems unlikely that the passage could be clear. I should reference the correct issue of 'Transactions of the learned society of Potioneers'; I THINK it was one of the summer issues nineteen ninety eight."
"I will see if I can find the reference; this must be written up for publication, Fraulein Von Strang" said the Professor "I will endorse your findings. Dear me, how very exciting to have a NEW translation take place in my class!"
"It should perhaps be published as a class discovery?" suggested Jade.
"Certainly not Fraulein Von Strang; the discovery was yours. Fraulein Kotina added to it; but without your knowledge she could not have done so. This is excellent!"
The woman was genuinely glad that something new had come out of her class; and ready to assign credit where it was due. Many of the teachers here seemed very good, very professional. It was the traditional assignation of the Dark Arts teacher to be some kind of gestapo agent or – or – here Jade resorted to Russian to find the only word that fitted – zampolit that caused the problems. That and runaway privileges for those of high social rank and institutionalised bullying in the fagging system. It could be fixed without having to change all the staff.
And THAT was good.