Chapter 32
The Madness of Mrs Clutch
KIARA
Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I went up to the Owlery after breakfast on Sunday to send a letter to Perdy, asking, as my parents had suggested, whether she had seen Mrs Clutch. We used Harold, because I wanted to make sure that he wasn't getting bored with being sent to my grandmothers all the time. When we had watched him out of sight through the Owlery window, we proceeded down to the kitchen to give Dokey her new socks.
The house-elves gave us a very cheery welcome, bowing and curtseying and bustling around making tea again. Dokey was ecstatic about her present.
"Kiara Pride-Lander is too good to Dokey!" she squeaked, wiping large tears out of her enormous eyes.
"No chance of more of those éclairs, is there?" said Chrissie, who was looking around at the beaming and bowing house-elves.
"You've just had breakfast!" said Sian irritably, but a great silver platter of éclairs was zooming towards us, supported by four elves.
"We should get some stuff to send up to Leo and Leona," I muttered.
"Good idea," said Chris. "Give Pig and Cat something to do. You couldn't give us a bit of extra food, could you?" he said to the surrounding elves, and they bowed delightedly and hurried off to get some more.
"Dokey, where's Blinky?" said Sian, who was looking around.
"Blinky is over there by the fire, miss," said Dokey quietly, her ears drooping slightly.
"Oh dear," said Sian, as she spotted Blinky.
I looked over at the fireplace, too. Blinky was sitting on the same stool as last time, but he had allowed himself to become so filthy that he was not immediately distinguishable from the smoke-blackened bricks behind him. His clothes were ragged and unwashed. He was clutching a bottle of Butterbeer and swaying slightly on his stool, staring into the fire. As we watched him, he gave an enormous hiccough.
"Blinky is getting through six bottles a day now," Dokey whispered to me.
"Well, it's not strong, that stuff," I said.
Dokey shook her head. "Tis strong for a house elf, miss," she said.
Blinky hiccoughed again. The elves who had brought the éclairs gave him disapproving looks as they returned to work.
"Blinky is pining, Kiara Pride-Lander," Dokey whispered sadly. "Blinky wants to go home. Blinky still thinks Mrs Clutch is his mistress, miss, and nothing Dokey says will persuade him that Professor Crighton is his mistress now."
"Hey, Blinky," I said, struck by a sudden inspiration, walking over and bending down to speak to him, "you don't know what Mrs Clutch might be up to, do you? Because she's stopped coming up to judge the Triwizard Tournament."
Blinky's eyes flickered. His enormous pupils focused on me. He swayed slightly again and then said, "M-Mistress is stopped - hic - coming?"
"Yeah," I said, "we haven't seen her since the first task. The Daily Squabbler's saying she's ill."
Blinky swayed some more, staring blurrily at me. "Mistress - hic - ill?"
His bottom lip began to tremble.
"But we're not sure if that's true," said Sian quickly.
"Mistress is needing her - hic - Blinky!" whimpered the elf. "Mistress cannot - hic - manage - hic - all by herself ..."
"Other people manage to do their own housework, you know, Blinky," said Sian severely.
"Blinky - hic - is not only - hic - doing housework for Mrs Clutch!" Blinky squeaked indignantly, swaying worse than ever and slopping Butterbeer down his already heavily stained shirt. "Mistress is - hic - trusting Blinky with - hic - the most important - hic - the most secret - "
"What?" I said.
But Blinky shook his head very hard, spilling more Butterbeer down himself.
"Blinky keeps - hic - his mistress' secrets," he said mutinously, swaying very heavily and frowning up at me with his eyes crossed. "You is - hic - nosing, you is."
"Blinky must not talk like that to Kiara Pride-Lander!" said Dokey angrily. "Kiara Pride-Lander is brave and noble and Kiara Pride-Lander is not nosy!"
"She is nosing - hic - into my mistress' - hic - private and secret - hic - Blinky is a good house-elf - hic - Blinky keeps his silence - hic - people trying to - hic - pry and poke - hic - " Blinky's eyelids drooped and suddenly, without warning, he slid off his stool onto the hearth, snoring loudly. The empty bottle of Butterbeer rolled away across the stone-flagged floor.
Half-a-dozen house-elves came hurrying forward, looking disgusted. One of them picked up the bottle, as the others covered Blinky with a large checked tablecloth and tucked the ends in neatly, hiding him from view.
"We is sorry you had to see that, misses and sir!" squeaked a nearby elf, shaking her head and looking very ashamed. "We is hoping you will not judge us all by Blinky, misses and sir!"
"He's unhappy!" said Sian, exasperated. "Why don't you try and cheer him up instead of covering him up?"
"Begging your pardon, miss," said the house-elf, curtseying deeply again, "but house-elves has no right to be unhappy when there is work to be done and masters to be served."
"Oh, for heaven's sake!" said Sian angrily. "Listen to me, all of you! You've got just as much right as wizards to be unhappy! You've got the right to wages and holidays and proper clothes, you don't have to do everything you're told - look at Dokey!"
"Miss will please leave Dokey out of this," Dokey mumbled, looking scared. The cheery smiles had vanished from most of the house-elves around the kitchen, as all of the other house-elves listened with interest; but the house-elves that had stopped smiling at Sian's words were looking at Sian as though she was mad and dangerous.
"We has your extra food!" squeaked an elf at my elbow, and she shoved a large ham, a dozen cakes and some fruits into my arms. "Goodbye!"
The house-elves crowded around Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I, and began shoving us out of the kitchen, many little hands pushing in the smalls of our backs.
"Thank you for the socks, Kiara Pride-Lander!" Dokey called miserably from the hearth, where she was standing next to the lumpy tablecloth that was Blinky.
"You couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you, Sian?" said Chrissie angrily, as the kitchen door slammed shut behind us. "They won't want us visiting them now! We could've tried to get more stuff out of Blinky about Clutch!"
"Oh, as if you care about that!" scoffed Sian. "You only like coming down here for the food!"
"Chrissie has got a point, Sian," said Chris. "I mean, if you hadn't tried to talk to the elves about their status in society, none of this would have happened!"
It was an irritable sort of day after that. I got so tired of Chris, Sian and Chrissie snapping at each other over our homework in the common room that I took my parents' food up to the Owlery that evening on my own.
Piggledon and Catonia were much too small to carry an entire ham up to the mountain by themselves, so I enlisted the help of two screech owls as well. When they had set off into the dusk, looking extremely odd carrying the large package between them, I leaned on the window-sill, looking out at the grounds, at the dark, rustling treetops of the Black Forest, and the dark outline of the Uagadou sub. An eagle owl flew through the coil of smoke rising from Mina's chimney; it soared towards the castle, around the Owlery and out of sight. Looking down, I saw Mina digging energetically in front of her cabin. I wondered what she was doing; it looked as though she was making a new vegetable patch. As I watched, Monsieur Legrand emerged from the Beauxbatons carriage and walked over to Mina. He appeared to be trying to engage her in conversation. Mina leant upon her spade, but did not seem keen to prolong their talk, because Monsieur Legrand returned to the carriage shortly afterwards.
Unwilling to go back to Lion-Heart Tower and listen to Chris, Sian and Chrissie snarling at each other, I watched Mina digging until the darkness swallowed her, and the owls around me began to awake, swooshing past me into the night.
0000
By breakfast the next day, Chris, Sian and Chrissie's bad moods had burnt out, and to my relief, Chrissie's dark prediction that the house-elves would send sub-standard food up to the Lion-Heart table because Sian had insulted them proved to be false; the bacon, eggs and kippers were quite as good as usual.
When the post owls arrived, Sian looked up eagerly; she seemed to be expecting something.
"Perdy won't've had time to answer yet," said Chrissie. "We only sent Harold yesterday."
"No, it's not that," said Sian. "I've taken out a new subscription to the Daily Squabbler. I'm getting sick of finding everything out from the Snake-Eyes."
"Good thinking!" I said, looking up at the owls. "Hey, Sian, I think you're in luck - "
A grey owl was soaring down towards us.
"It hasn't got a newspaper, though," she said, looking disappointed. It's - "
But to her bewilderment, the grey owl landed, not in front of her, but in front of Chris' plate instead, closely followed by four barn owls, a brown owl and a tawny. Chris put down his knife and fork slowly, looking as bewildered as Sian did.
"Did you take out any subscriptions too, Chris?" I said, seizing his goblet before it was knocked over by the cluster of owls, all of whom were jostling closer to him, trying to deliver their own letter first.
"What on earth - ?" Chris said, taking the letter from the grey owl, opening it and starting to read. "Oh, come on!" he spluttered, going rather red.
"What's up?" said Chrissie.
"It's - oh, it's ridiculous - " He thrust the letter at me, and I saw that it was not handwritten, but was in fact composed from pasted letters that seemed to have been cut out of the Daily Squabbler.
You are a WickEd boY. KiARa PriDe-LaNdEr deserves BetteR. gO Find SomeOne elSe to BE wIth.
"They're all like it!" said Chris desperately, opening one letter after another. " "Kiara Pride-Lander can do much better than the likes of you ..." "You deserve to be boiled in frog-spawn ..." Ouch!"
He had opened the last envelope, and yellowish green liquid smelling strongly of petrol gushed over his hands, which began to erupt in large yellow boils.
"Undiluted Bubotuber pus!" said Sian, picking up the enverlope gingerly and sniffing it.
"Ow!" said Chris, hissing and wincing in pain as he tried to rub it off his hands with a napkin, but his fingers were now so thickly covered in painful sores that it looked as though he was wearing a pair of thick, knobbly gloves.
"You'd better get up to the hospital wing," I said, as the owls around Chris took flight, "we'll tell Spud where you've gone ..."
"We warned him!" said Chrissie, as Chris hurried out of the Great Hall, cradling his hands. "We warned him to be careful around Peter Meter, didn't we, Sian? Look at this one," Chrissie said, not waiting for Sian to answer, as she read out one of the letters Chris had left behind, " "I read in Wizard Weekly about how you are the wrong guy for Kiara Pride-Lander, and for your own sake you should stay away from her and let her be with the right guy, for that girl has had enough hardship and I will be sending you a curse by post as soon as I can find a big enough envelope." Blimey, he'd better watch out for himself."
Chris didn't turn up for Herbology. As Sian, Chrissie and I left the greenhouse for Care of Magical Creatures class, we saw Malty, Crate, Gabber and Rea-Bradley who, instead of walking beside Malty as usual was walking behind her, looking sad, as they descended the stone steps of the castle. Parry Parker was whispering and chuckling behind them with his gang of Snake-Eyes boys. Catching sight of me, Parry called, "Pride-Lander, have you split up with your boyfriend? Why did he run out of the Great Hall at breakfast?"
I ignored him; I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much trouble the Wizard Weekly article had caused.
Mina, who had told us last lesson that we had finished with unicorns, was waiting for us outside her cabin with a fresh supply of open crates at her feet. My heart sank at the sight of the crates - surely not another Crab hatching? - but when I got near enough to see inside, I found myself looking at a number of fluffy black creatures with long snouts. Their front paws were curiously flat, like spades, and they were blinking up at my class and I, looking politely puzzled at all the attention.
"These're Nifflers," said Mina, when we had gathered around. "Yeh find 'em down mines mostly. They like sparkly stuff ... there yeh go, look."
One of the Nifflers had suddenly leapt up and attempted to bite Parry Parker's watch off his wrist. He yelped and jumped backwards.
"Useful little treasure detectors," said Mina happily. "Thought we'd have some fun with 'em today. See over there?" She pointed at the large patch of freshly turned earth I had watched her digging from the Owlery window. "I've buried some gold coins. I've got a prize for whoever picks the Niffler that digs up the most. Jus' take off yeh valuables, an' choose a Niffler an' get ready ter set 'em loose."
I took off my watch, which I only wore out of habit, as it didn't work, and I stuffed it in my pocket. Then I picked up a Niffler. It put its long snout in my ear and sniffed enthusiastically. It was really quite cuddly.
"Hang on," said Mina, looking down into the crate, "there's a spare Niffler here ... who's missin'? Where's Chris?"
"He had to go to the hospital wing," said Chrissie.
"We'll explain later," I muttered; Parry Parker was listening.
It was easily the most fun we had ever had in Care of Magical Creatures. The Nifflers dived in and out of the patch of earth as though it was water, each scurrying back to the student who had released it and spitting gold into their hands. Chrissie's was particularly efficient; it had soon filled her lap with coins.
"Can you buy these as pets, Mina?" she asked excitedly, as her Niffler dived back into the soil, splattering her robes.
"Absolutely not, Chrissie!" Sian said indignantly.
"And why not?" Chrissie moaned. "I mean, they find stuff easily, and they're really cute, and - "
But Sian shook her head, rolled her eyes and said, "Mina, would you please tell my dim-witted sister exactly why you don't have Nifflers as pets?"
Mina grinned and said, "There's a reason why yeh sister here won' like havin' one around yeh home, Chrissie, 'cause they wreck houses, Nifflers. I reckon they've nearly got the lot now," she added. pacing around the patch of earth, while the Nifflers continued to dive. "I on'y buried a hundred coins. Oh, there y'are, Chris!"
Chris was walking towards us across the lawn. His hands were heavily bandaged and he looked miserable. Parry Parker was watching him beadily.
"Well, let's check how yeh've done!" said Mina. "Count yer coins! An' there's no point tryin' ter steel any, Gabber," she added, her beetle-brown eyes narrowed. "It's leprechaun gold. Vanishes after a few hours."
Gabber emptied her pockets, looking extremely sulky. It turned out that Chrissie's Niffler had been the most successful, so Mina gave her an enormous slab of The Sugarshack's chocolate for a prize. The bell rang across the grounds for lunch; the rest of my class set off back to the castle, but Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I stayed behind to help Mina put the Nifflers back in their boxes. I noticed Monsieur Legrand watching us out of his carriage window.
Chris told her about the hate mail he had received that morning, and the envelope full of Bubotuber pus.
"Aaah, don' worry," said Mina gently, looking down at him. "I got some o' those letters an' all, after Peter Meter wrote abou' me dad. "Yeh're a monster an' yeh should be put down." "Yer father killed innocent people an' if you had any decency you'd jump in the river." "
"No!" said Chris and Sian together, both looking shocked.
"Yeah," said Mina, heaving the Niffler crates over her cabin wall. "They're jus' nutters, Chris. Don' open 'em if yeh get anymore. Chuck 'em straigh' in the fire."
"You missed a really good lesson," I told Chris, as we headed back towards the castle. "They're good, Nifflers, aren't they, Chrissie?"
Chrissie, however, was frowning at the chocolate Mina had given her. She looked thoroughly put out about something.
"What's the matter?" I said. "Wrong flavour?"
"No," said Chrissie shortly. "Why didn't you tell me about the gold?"
"What gold?" I said.
"The gold I gave you at the Quidditch Friendly," said Chrissie. "the leprechaun gold I gave you for my Omnioculars. In the Top Box. Why didn't you tell me it disappeared?"
I had to think for a moment before I realised what Chrissie was talking about.
"Oh ..." I said, the memory coming back to me at last. "I dunno ... I never noticed it had gone. I was more worried about my wand, wasn't I?"
We climbed the steps into the Entrance Hall and went into the Great Hall for lunch.
"Must be nice," Chrissie said abruptly, when we had sat down and started serving ourselves roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. "To have so much money you don't notice if a pocketful of Galleons goes missing."
"Listen, I had other stuff on my mind that night!" I said impatiently. "We all did, remember?"
"I didn't know leprechaun gold vanishes," Chrissie muttered. "I thought I was paying you back. You shouldn't have given me that Chudley Cannon hat for Christmas."
"Forget it, all right?" I said.
Chrissie speared a roast potato on the end of her fork, glaring at it. Then she said, "I hate being overlooked."
Chris, Sian and I looked at each other. None of us really knew what to say.
"It's rubbish," said Chrissie, still glaring down at her potato. "I don't blame you for getting all the attention, Sian," Chrissie then said, her expression gentling as she looked pleadingly at her sister, hoping that she would understand. "Really, I don't. It's just that, even though I'm the second eldest in the family, I'm always the one who's given the least amount of pocket money. I wish I could make some extra money. Wish I had a Niffler."
"Well, we know what to get you next Christmas," said Chris brightly. Then, when Chrissie continued to look gloomily, she said, "Come on, Chrissie, it could be worse. At least your fingers aren't full of pus." Chris was having a lot of difficulty managing his knife and fork, his fingers were so stiff and swollen. "I hate that Meter man!" he burst out savagely. "I'll get him back for this if it's the last thing I do!"
0000
Hate mail continued to arrive for Chris over the following week, and although he followed Mina's advice and stopped opening it, several of his ill-wishers sent Howlers, which exploded at the Lion-Heart table and shrieked insults at him for the whole Hall to hear. Even Sian got her fair share of it, but she kept her head held high, didn't open a single letter, and blatantly ignored the hurtful words that came from the Howlers and the jibes that the Snake-Eyes sent her way. Even those people who didn't read Wizard Weekly knew all about how Sian and I were supposedly with the wrong people now. I was getting sick of telling people that Chris wasn't my boyfriend (once again, Chris, I'm sorry).
"It'll die down, though," I told Chris, "if we just ignore it ... people got bored with that stuff he wrote about me last time - "
"I want to know how he's listening into private conversations when he's supposed to be banned from the grounds!" said Chris angrily.
"As do I, Chris!" said Sian, nodding in agreement with him. "In fact, I want to ask Professor Grumpy something after Defence Against the Dark Arts ..."
So, Sian hung back in our next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson to ask Professor Grumpy something. The rest of us were very eager to leave; Grumpy had given us such a rigorous test of hex-deflection that many of us were nursing small injuries. I remember that I had such a bad case of Twitchy Ears, that I had to clamp my hands over them as I walked away from the class.
"Well, Peter's definitely not using an Invisibility Cloak!" Sian panted five minutes later, catching up with Chris, Chrissie and I in the Entrance Hall and pulling one of my hands away from one of my wriggling ears so that I could hear. Grumpy says she didn't see him anywhere near the judges' table at the second task, or anywhere near the river!"
"Sian, is there any point telling you to drop this?" said Chrissie.
"No!" said Sian stubbornly. "I want to know how he heard Kopa talking to me! And how he found out about Mina's dad! And I also want justice done for how he treated Chris in that article!"
"Thanks, S.D.," said Chris, smiling gratefully at her.
"You're welcome."
"Maybe he had you bugged?" I said, getting us back on track.
"Bugged?" said Chrissie blankly. "What ... put fleas on him or something?"
I started explaining about hidden microphones and recording equipment.
Chrissie was fascinated and Chris was partially interested, but Sian interrupted us. "Aren't you three ever going to read Dragon Mort: A History?"
"What's the point?" said Chrissie. "You know it off by heart, we can just ask you."
"All these substitutes for magic Muggles use - electricity, and computers and radar, and all those things - they all go haywire around Dragon Mort, there's too much magic in the air. No, Peter's using magic to eavesdrop, he must be ... if I could just find out what it is ... oooh, if it's illegal, I'll have him ..."
"Haven't we got enough to worry about?" Chrissie asked her. "Do we have to start a vendetta against Peter Meter as well?"
"I'm not asking you to help!" Sian snapped. "I'll do it on my own!"
She marched back up the marble staircase without a backward glance. I was quite sure she was going to the library.
"What's the betting she comes back with a box of I Hate Peter Meter badges?" said Chris.
Sian, however, did not ask Chris, Chrissie and I to help her pursue vengeance against Peter Meter, for which the three of us were grateful, because our workload was mounting ever higher in the run-up to the Easter holidays. I frankly marvelled at the fact Sian could research magical methods of eavesdropping as well as everything else we had to do. I was working flat out just to get through all our homework, though I made a point of sending regular food packages up to the cave in the mountains for my parents, and when I did, I enclosed notes to my parents, telling them that nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and that we were still waiting for an answer from Perdy.
Harold didn't return until the end of the Easter holidays. Perdy's letter was enclosed in a package of Easter eggs that Mr Dawson had sent. Sian's, Chrissie's, mine and the rest of the Dawson's eggs were the size of dragon egss, and were dull of home-made toffee - as was Chris', which surprised him.
"But I thought Dad read Wizard Weekly?" Chris said, looking puzzled. "I thought he would be angry with me about the stuff Peter Meter wrote about me ... so why did he - ?"
"Oh, he was angry, Chris," said Sian. "He wrote to me about it, but I wrote back to him, saying that what Peter Meter wrote about you was rubbish, and that he should ignore it. Whether he believes me or not, I don't know, but I'd take that egg as a good sign, if I were you."
Chris looked surprised for a moment, then smiled at Sian and said, "Thanks, S.D." Sian smiled back at him and brushed his gratitude aside with her hand, as if to say, "No big deal".
"Don't you want to see what Perdy's written?" I then asked him.
Perdy's letter was short and irritable.
As I am constantly telling the Daily Squabbler, Mrs Clutch is taking a well-deserved break. She is sending in regular owls with instructions. No, I haven't actually seen her, but I think I can be trusted to know my own superior's handwriting. I have quite enough to do at the moment without trying to quash these ridiculous rumours. Please don't bother me again unless it's something important. Happy Easter.
0000
The start of the summer term would have normally meant that I would have been training hard for the last Quidditch match of the season. That year, however, it was the third and final task in the Triwizard Tournament for which I needed to prepare, but I still didn't know what I would have to do. Finally, in the last week of May, Professor Darbus held me back in Transfiguration.
"You are to go down to the Quidditch pitch tonight at nine o'clock, Pride-Lander," she told me. "Miss Baxter will be there to tell the Champions about the third task."
So at half past eight that night, I left Chris, Sian and Chrissie in Lion-Heart Tower, and went downstairs. As I crossed the Entrance Hall, Georgia came up from the Badger-Stripes common room.
"What d'you reckon it's going to be?" she asked me, as we went together down the stone steps, out into the cloudy night. "Ferdinand keeps going on about underground tunnels; he reckons we've got to find treasure."
"That wouldn't be too bad," I said, thinking that I would simply have to ask Mina for a Niffler to do the job for me.
We walked down the dark lawn to the Quidditch stadium, turned through a gap in the stands, and walked out onto the pitch.
"What've they done to it?" Georgia said indignantly, stopping dead.
The Quidditch pitch was no longer smooth and flat. It looked as though somebody had been building long, low walls all over it, twisting and criss-crossing in every direction.
"They're hedges!" I said, bending to examine the nearest one.
"Hello there!" called a cheery voice.
Lynn Baxter was standing in the middle of the pitch with Outsider and Ferdinand. Georgia and I made our way towards them, climbing over the hedges. Ferdinand beamed at me as I came nearer to them. His attitude towards me had changed completely since I had pulled his brother out of the river.
"Well, what d'you think?" said Baxter happily, as Georgia and I climbed over the last hedge. "Growing nicely, aren't they? Give them a month and Mina'll have them twenty-foot-high. Don't worry," she added, grinning, catching the less-than-happy expressions on mine and Georgia's faces, "you'll have your Quidditch pitch back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we're making here?"
None of us spoke for a moment. Then -
"Maze," grunted Outsider.
"That's right!" said Baxter. "A maze. The third task's really very straightforward. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the centre of the maze. The first Champion to touch it will receive full marks."
"We seemply 'ave to get through the maze?" said Ferdinand.
"There will be obstacles," said Baxter happily, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Mina is providing a number of creatures ... then there will be spells that must be broken ... all that sort of thing, you know. Now, the Champions who are leading on points will get a head start into the maze." Baxter grinned at Georgia and I. "Then Mr Outsider will enter ... then Mr Desjardin. But you'll all be in with a fighting chance, depending on how well you get past the obstacles. Should be fun, eh?"
I knew only too well the kind of creatures that Mina was likely to provide for this event, and I therefore thought it unlikely to be any fun at all. However, I nodded politely with the other Champions.
"Very well ... if you haven't got any questions, we'll go up back to the castle, shall we, seeing as it's a bit chilly ..."
Baxter hurried alongside me as we began to wend our way out of the growing maze. I had the feeling that Baxter was going to start offering me help again, but just then, Outsider tapped me on the shoulder.
"Could I have a word?"
"Yeah, all right," I said, slightly surprised.
"Will you walk with me?"
"OK," I said curiously.
Baxter looked slightly perturbed. "I'll wait for you, Kiara, shall I?"
"No, it's OK, Miss Baxter," I said, suppressing a smile, "I think I can find the castle on my own, thanks."
Outsider and I left the stadium together, but Outsider did not set a course for the Uagadou submarine. Instead, he walked towards the Forest.
"What're we going this way for?" I said as we passed Mina's cabin, and the illuminated Beauxbatons carriage.
"Don't want to be overheard," said Outsider shortly.
When at last we had reached a quiet stretch of ground, a short way from the Beauxbatons' horses' paddock, Outsider stopped in the shade of the trees and turned to face me.
"I want to know," he said, glowering, "what there is between you and my brother."
Now, I must admit, readers, that I expected worse than this, judging from Outsider's secretive manner, so I just stared up at Outsider in amazement.
"Nothing," I said, but Outsider glowered at me, and I, somehow struck anew by how tall he was, elaborated. "Look, I'm not interested in your brother, OK, if that's what you think. In fact, I've never shown an interest in him. I've said the odd word to him here and there, and smiled at him occasionally, but that's it. I swear."
"My brother asks Sian a lot of questions about you," said Outsider, looking suspiciously at me. "Sian answers them, of course, but I think she's becoming jealous of you now - even though she was the one who started to talk about you quite a lot in the first place ..."
"Look, I didn't know Sian talked to Kopa about me until just recently!" I said impatiently. "But Sian and I are friends, so she has every right to talk about me to her boyfriend. And you can tell Kopa from me that Sian's all his, just as he's all hers. And besides that," I added, "I haven't even shown an interest with Chris!" (Sorry, Chris, but as we both know, that did change.)
I couldn't quite believe I was having this conversation with Kovu Outsider, the famous International Quidditch player. It was as though the eighteen-year-old Outsider thought I, Kiara, was an equal - a real rival - and all because of his brother -
"So ... you have never ... you have not ... not even to ..."
"No," I said, very firmly.
Outsider looked slightly happier. He then breathed a sigh of relief, chuckled and said, "I'm sorry I doubted you, Kiara. It's just that I care about my brother's happiness a lot, and - "
"Hey, it's OK," I said, brushing his apology aside. "If I were the eldest in my family, I would have reacted in exactly the same way."
Outsider then said, "You fly very well. I was watching at the first task."
"Thanks," I said, grinning broadly, and suddenly feeling much better myself. "I saw you at the Quidditch Friendly. The Wronski Feint thing, you really - "
But something moved behind Outsider in the trees, and as I had already had some experience of the sort of creatures that lurk in the Forest, I instinctively grabbed Outsider's arm and pulled him around.
"What is it?"
I shook my head, staring at the place where I'd seen movement. I slipped my hand inside my robes, reaching for my wand.
Next moment, a woman had staggered out from behind a tall oak. For a moment, I didn't recognise her ... then I realised that it was Mrs Clutch.
She looked as though she had been travelling for days. The knees of her robes were ripped and bloody; her face was scratched, and she looked grey with exhaustion. Her neat hair was in need of a wash and a trim. Her strange appearance, however, was nothing to the way she was behaving. Muttering and gesticulating, Mrs Clutch appeared to be talking to someone that she alone could see. She reminded me vividly of an old tramp I had seen once when out with my grandmothers. That woman, too, had been conversing wildly with thin air; Grandmother Sarabi bought her some tea and Grandmother Sarafina gave her some money. On the way home, they both talked about how they would both like to help people like that in the future.
"Wasn't she a judge?" said Outsider, staring at Mrs Clutch. "Isn't she with your Ministry?"
I nodded, hesitated for a moment, then walked slowly towards Mrs Clutch, who did not look at me, but continued to talk to a nearby tree: " ... and when you've done that, Fans, send an owl to Crighton confirming the number of Uagadou students who will be attending the Tournament; Kula has just sent word that there will be twelve ..."
"Mrs Clutch?" I said cautiously.
" ... and then send another owl to Monsieur Legrand, because he might want to up the number of students he's bringing, now Kula's made it a round dozen ... do that, Fans, will you? Will you? Will ..." Mrs Clutch's eyes were bulging. She stood staring at the tree, muttering soundlessly at it. Then she staggered sideways, and fell to her knees.
"Mrs Clutch?" I said loudly. "Are you all right?"
Clutch's eyes were rolling in her head. I looked around at Outsider, who had followed me into the trees, and was looking down at Clutch in alarm.
"What is wrong with her?"
"No idea," I muttered. "Listen, you'd better go and get someone - "
"Crighton!" gasped Mrs Clutch. She reached out and seized a handful of my robes, dragging me closer, though her eyes were staring over my head. "I need ... see ... Crighton ..."
"OK," I said, "if you get up, Mrs Clutch, we can go up to the - "
"I've done ... stupid ... thing ..." Mrs Clutch breathed. She looked utterly mad. Her eyes were rolling and bulging, and a trickle of spittle was sliding down her chin. Every word she spoke seemed to cost her a terrible effort. "Must ... tell ... Crighton ..."
"Get up, Mrs Clutch," I said loudly and clearly. "Get up, I'll take you to Crighton!"
Mrs Clutch's eyes rolled forward onto me.
"Who ... you?" she whispered.
"I'm a student at the school," I said, looking around at Outsider for some help, but Outsider was hanging back, looking extremely nervous.
"You're not ... hers?" whispered Clutch, her mouth sagging.
"No," I said, without the faintest idea what Clutch was talking about.
"Crighton's?"
"That's right," I said.
Clutch was pulling me closer; I tried to loosen Clutch's grip on my robes, but it was too powerful.
"Warn ... Crighton ..."
"I'll get Crighton if you let go of me," I said. "Just let me go, Mrs Clutch, and I'll get her ..."
"Thank you, Fans, and when you have done that, I would like a cup of tea. My husband and daughter will be arriving shortly; we are attending a concert tonight with Mr and Mrs Sweets." Clutch was now talking fluently to a tree again, and seemed completely unaware that I was there, which surprised me so much that I didn't notice that Clutch had released me. "Yes, my daughter has recently gained twelve O.W.L.s, most satisfactory, yes, thank you, yes, very proud indeed. Now, if you could bring me that memo from the Andorran Minister for Magic; I think I will have time to draft a response ..."
"You stay with her!" I said to Outsider. "I'll get Crighton, I'll be quicker, I know where her office is - "
"She is mad," said Outsider doubtfully, staring down at Clutch, who was still gabbing to the tree, apparently convinced it was Perdy.
"Just stay with her," I said, starting to get up, but my movement seemed to have triggered another abrupt change in Mrs Clutch, who seized me hard around the knees and pulled me back to the ground.
"Don't ... leave ... me!" she whispered, her eyes bulging again. "I ... escaped ... must warn ... must tell ... see Crighton ... my fault ... all my fault ... Bernard ... dead ... all my fault ... my daughter ... my fault ... tell Crighton ... Kiara Pride-Lander ... the Scarlet Lady ... stronger ... Kiara Pride-Lander ..."
"I'll get Crighton if you let me go, Mrs Clutch!" I said. I looked furiously around at Outsider. "Help me, will you?"
Looking extremely apprehensive, Outsider moved forward and squatted down next to Mrs Clutch.
"Just keep her here," I said, as I pulled myself free of Mrs Clutch. "I'll be back with Crighton."
"Hurry, won't you?" Outsider called after me, as I sprinted away from the Forest, and up through the dark grounds. They were deserted; Baxter, Ferdinand and Georgia had disappeared. I tore up the stone steps, through the oak front doors and off up the marble staircase, towards the second floor.
Five minutes later I was hurtling towards a large, glass elevator, which stood halfway along the empty corridor.
When I reached it, I tried to enter, but the thing wouldn't budge. After a few minutes, I saw the token slot, and I realised that I didn't have any tokens on me to take me up to Crighton's office.
"Move!" I shouted at it. "Come on!"
But nothing at Dragon Mort had ever moved because I had shouted at it; I knew it was no good. I also knew that I would have to ask Sian for some tokens when I got back to the common room. I then looked up and down the dark corridor, wondering if Crighton was in the staff room, so I then started running as fast as I could towards the staircase, when -
"PRIDE-LANDER!"
I skidded to a halt and looked around.
Triphorm had just emerged from the staircase behind the elevator (and for those of you who are reading this are screaming, "Why didn't you just take the stairs?", or have forgotten why I couldn't take them, then I'll remind you now: Sian told me in our second year that even though her mother knew there were stairs leading to her office, she wanted people to use the elevator, so there!), and was beckoning me back towards her. "What are you doing here, Pride-Lander?"
"I need to see Professor Crighton!" I said, running back up the corridor and skidding to a standstill in front of Triphorm instead. "It's Mrs Clutch ... she's just turned up ... she's in the Forest ... she's asking - "
"What is this rubbish?" said Triphorm, her icy-blue eyes glittering. "What are you talking about?"
"Mrs Clutch!" I shouted. "From the Ministry! She's ill or something - she's in the Forest, she wants to see Crighton! Just give me a token for the - "
"The Headmistress is busy, Pride-Lander," said Triphorm, her thin mouth curling into an unpleasant smile.
"I've got to tell Crighton!" I yelled.
I could tell Triphorm was thoroughly enjoying herself, denying me the thing I wanted when I was so panicky.
"Look," I said angrily, "Clutch isn't right - she's - she's - out of her mind - she says she wants to warn - "
I heard a pair of light footsteps coming down the staircase behind Triphorm. Crighton was standing there, wearing long green robes, and a mildly curious expression.
"Is there a problem?" she said, looking between Triphorm and I.
"Professor!" I said, side-stepping Triphorm before Triphorm could speak. "Mrs Clutch is here - she's down in the Forest, she wants to speak to you!"
I expected to ask questions but, to my relief, Crighton did nothing of the sort. "Lead the way," she said promptly, and she swept off along the corridor behind me, leaving Triphorm standing next to the elevator, wearing a rather disappointed frown.
"What did Mrs Clutch say, Kiara?" said Crighton, as we walked swiftly down the marble staircase.
"Said she wants to warn you ... said she's done something terrible ... she mentioned her daughter ... Bernard Jenkins ... and - and Zira ... something about Zira getting stronger ..."
"Indeed," said Crighton, and she quickened her pace as we hurried out into the pitch-darkness.
"She's not acting normally," I said, hurrying along beside Crighton. "She doesn't seem to know where she is. She keeps talking like she thinks Perdy Fang's there, and then she changes, and says she needs to see you ... I left her with Kovu Outsider."
"You did?" said Crighton sharply, and she began to take longer strides still, so that I was running to keep up. "Do you know if anybody else saw Mrs Clutch?"
"No," I said. "Outsider and I were talking, Mrs Baxter had just finished telling us about the third task, we stayed behind, and then we saw Mrs Clutch coming out of the Forest - "
"Where are they?" said Crighton, as the Beauxbatons carriage emerged from the darkness.
"Over here," I said, moving in front of Crighton, leading the way through the trees. I couldn't hear Clutch's voice anymore, but I knew where I was going; it hadn't been much past the Beauxbatons carriage ... somewhere around here ...
"Kovu?" I called.
No one answered.
"They were here," I said to Crighton. "They were definitely somewhere around here ..."
"Lumos," Crighton said, lighting her wand and holding it up.
Its narrow beam travelled from black trunk to black trunk, illuminating the ground. And then it fell upon a pair of feet.
Crighton and I hurried forwards. Outsider was sprawled on the Forest floor. He seemed to be unconscious. There was no sign at all of Mrs Clutch. Crighton bent over Outsider and gently lifted one of his eyelids.
"Stunned," she said softly, as she pointed her wand at the trees, trying to see if she could spot anything moving within them by the light that her wand was providing.
"Should I go and get someone?" I said. "Matron, perhaps?"
"No," said Crighton swiftly. "Stay here."
She raised her wand into the air and pointed it in the direction of Mina's cabin. I saw something silvery dart out of it and streak away through the trees like a ghostly bird. Then Crighton bent over Outsider again, pointed her wand at him, and muttered, "Enervate."
Outsider opened his eyes. He looked dazed. When he saw Crighton, he tried to sit up, but Crighton put a hand on his shoulder and made him lie still.
"She attacked me!" Outsider muttered, putting a hand up to his head. "The old madwoman attacked me! I was looking around to see where Pride-Lander had gone and she attacked from behind!"
"Lie still for a moment," Crighton said.
The sound of thunderous footfalls reached us, and Mina came panting into sight with Gnasher at her heels. She was carrying her crossbow.
"Professor Crighton!" she said, her eyes widening. "Kiara - what the - ?"
"Mina, I need you to fetch Professor Kula," said Crighton. "Her student has been attacked. When you've done that, kindly alert Professor Grumpy - "
"No need, Crighton," said a wheezy growl, "I'm here." Grumpy was limping towards us, leaning on her staff, her wand lit.
"Damn leg," she said furiously. "Would've been here quicker ... what's happened? Triphorm said something about Clutch - "
"Clutch?" said Mina blankly.
"Kula, please, Mina!" said Crighton sharply.
"Oh yeah ... right y'are, Profesor ..." said Mina, and she turned and disappeared into the dark trees, Gnasher trotting after her.
"I don't know where Bea Clutch is," Crighton told Grumpy, "but it is essential that we find her."
"I'm onto it," growled Grumpy, and she pulled out her wand, and limped off into the Forest.
Neither myself nor Crighton spoke again until we heard the unmistakeable sounds of Mina and Gnasher returning. Kula was hurrying along behind them. She was wearing her sleek silver furs, and she looked pale and agitated.
"What is this?" she cried, when she saw Outsider on the ground, and Crighton and I beside him. "What's going on?"
"I was attacked!" said Outsider, sitting up now, and rubbing his head. "Mrs Clutch or whatever her name - "
"Clutch attacked you? Clutch attacked you? The Triwizard judge?"
"Ifu," Crighton began, but Kula had drawn herself up, clutching her furs around her, looking livid.
"Treachery!" she bellowed, pointing at Crighton. "It is a plot! You and your Ministry of Magic have lured me here under false pretences, Crighton! This is not an equal competition! First you sneak Pride-Lander into the Tournament, though she is underage! Now one of your Ministry friends attempts to put my Champion out of action! I smell double-dealing and corruption in this whole affair, and you, Crighton, you, with your talk of closer international wizarding links, of rebuilding old ties, of forgetting old differences - here's what I think of you!"
Kula spat onto the ground at Crighton's feet. In one swift movement, Mina seized the front of Kula's furs, lifted her into the air, and slammed her against a nearby tree.
"Apologise!" Mina snarled, as Kula gasped for breath, Mina's massive fist at her throat, her feet dangling in mid-air.
"Mina, no!" Crighton shouted, her eyes flashing.
Mina released the hand pinning Kula to the tree, and Kula slid all the way down the trunk and slumped in a huddle at its roots; a few twigs and leaves showered down upon her head.
"Kindly escort Kiara back up to the castle, Mina," said Crighton sharply.
Breathing heavily, Mina gave Kula a glowering look. "Maybe I'd better stay, Headmistress ..."
"You will take Kiara back to school, Mina," Crighton repeated firmly. "Take her right up to Lion-Heart Tower. And Kiara - I want you to stay there. Anything you might want to do - any owls you might want to send - they can wait until morning, do you understand me?"
"Er - yes," I said, staring at her. I wondered how Crighton had known that I was going to send Piggledon to my parents and Harold to my grandmothers, to tell them what had happened? But then again, this is Crighton we're talking about here, so what can you do?"
"I'll leave Gnasher with yeh, Headmistress," Mina said, still staring menacingly at Kula, who was still sprawled at the foot of the tree, tangled in furs and tree-roots. "Stay, Gnasher. C'mon, Kiara."
We marched in silence past the Beauxbatons carriage and up towards the castle.
"How dare she," Mina growled, as we strode past the river. "How dare she accuse Crighton. Like Crighton'd do anythin' like that. Like Crighton wanted you in the Tournament in the firs' place. Worried! I dunno when I seen Crighton more worried than she's bin lately. An' you!" Mina suddenly said angrily to me.
"Me? What've I done?" I said, looking at her, taken aback.
Mina shook her giant head, rolled her eyes and said, still angry, "Yeh were wanderin' off with ruddy Outsider, tha's what yeh was doin'! He's from Uagadou, Kiara! Coulda jinxed yeh right there, couldn' he? Hasn' Grumpy taught yeh nothin'? 'Magine lettin' him lure yeh off on yer own - "
"Outsider's all right!" I said, as we climbed the steps into the Entrance Hall. "He wasn't trying to jinx me, he just wanted to make sure nothing was going on between me and his brother, 'cause Kopa's going out with Sian - "
"I'll be havin' a few words with her, an' all," said Mina grimly, stomping up the stairs. "The less you lot 'ave ter do with these foreigners, the happier yeh'll be. Yeh can' trust any of 'em."
"You were getting on all right with Monsieur Legrand," I said, annoyed.
"Don' you talk ter me abou' him!" said Mina, and she looked quite frightening for a moment. "I've got his number now! Tryin' ter get back in me good books, tryin' ter get me ter tell him what's comin' in the third task. Ha! You can' trust any of 'em!"
Mina was in such a bad mood, I was quite glad to say goodbye to her in front of the Fat Lord. I clambered through the portrait hole into the common room, and hurried straight for the corner where Chris, Sian and Chrissie were sitting, to tell them what had happened.
