"Don't be too loud. I'm sure Blaze is already asleep" Mari-An said as Coral went into her room. The boys thought this was unlikely, they would all bet anything that Blaze was not waiting until tomorrow morning to know what they all found out. Silver shared a room with Razor who like at his own room was holding Crusher as well as Lily. He threw them some treats "Can't let them out too much. Locke says they'll attract too much attention". Silver then noticed him locking the door "What're you doing that for?" "Ghana. He wonders around in the middle of the night. First night I was here he came in here at three in the morning. Trust me, you don't want to wake up and find him prowling around your room". The light went out and they got into their beds. After a few moments Razor said "Didn't tell us much we didn't already know, really. I mean all we-OUCH" "Keep your voice down" Mighty and Ray said together. They had apparently Chaos Controlled into the room and landed on Razor's knees. Silver saw the dark outlines of Mighty and Ray climb off of Razor's bed "Sorry, it's harder to aim in the dark" "So what do you guys think?" Ray asked. Silver sat up "The weapon Elias mentioned?" "Let slip more like. We haven't heard that with the Spybot" "What do you think it is?". Mighty and Ray both tried to think "Maybe it's something that can kill a lot of people at once. It would have to something like that. He's already spells for everything else". Razor was massaging his legs "What I don't get is if he doesn't have it who does? And why aren't they using it?" "If Locke's got it, he'll be keeping it at Soleanna. That's where he hid the Chaos Drive" "If it's a weapon it'll be bigger than that". Ray shook his head "Not necessarily. Size is no guarantee of power. Look at Blaze" "What do you mean?" Silver said. Mighty sighed "You haven't been on the receiving end of one of her hexes" "Shh! Listen". Ray went up to the door and heard footsteps "Mum". He and Mighty immediately disappeared. They heard Mari-An at the door presumably checking that they were asleep. Crusher and Lily started making noises which seemed to convince her the noise was just them. She walked away "Doesn't trust us at all" Razor said.
Silver found himself dreaming about the day of his hearing. Going through the large entrance with a golden statue. Going deeper down to the lower levels. Just as the lift opened for him to get out he was shaken awake "Mum wants us down for breakfast". It was Mighty "We need to quick. She needs help with the drawing room". Silver and Razor got up and enjoyed a quick bit of toast in the kitchen before entering the drawing room. Mari-An, Coral, Blaze, Mighty and Ray were already there wearing masks and holding bottles with a black liquid inside. Mari-An handed them masks and sprays as well "We've got an infestation of Eosimias. Never seen one this big before. What's that Marmolim been doing for ten years?" "He's really old. He probably couldn't do it himself" Coral said defensively. "You'd be surprised what that Marmolim can manage on his own, Coral" Elias said now standing at the door. He smiled when Silver's eyes widened at the sight of the bloodied bag he was holding "I've been feeding Volt" "Volt's here?" "I've been keeping him in my parent's old room. It's the largest one". Elias then pointed at a cabinet on the other side of the room which shook slightly "Mari, I'm sure that's a Mimic but you should let Striker check first. Knowing my mother, it might be something worse" "Right you are, Elias". They were both speaking in carefully light, polite voices that told Silver quite plainly that neither had forgotten their disagreement of the night before. They then heard the familiar screams of Elias' mother down stairs "I keep telling them not to ring the doorbell" he said exasperated before running out. They heard "Stains of dishonour, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth!" before he closed the door behind him. Silver desperately wanted to know what they were talking about. Once the screaming from the portrait died down, he could hear Espio's voice but he could feel Mari-An's eyes on the back of his head. He turned back around and saw her now looking through Goeffrey St John's old book, Guide to Household Pests "Right, you lot, you need to be careful, because Eosimias bite and their teeth are poisonous. I've got a bottle of antidote here, but I'd rather nobody needed it".
She moved over to the window and grabbed the curtains "When I say pull the curtains open, start spraying immediately. They'll come flying out at us, I expect, but it says on the sprays one good squirt will paralyze them. When they're immobilized, just throw them in this bucket… Ready… NOW!". She pulled the curtain straightening it out revealing all the small creatures inside. Eosimias were like Mobani Monkeys but very small, about the size of a finger. They all started leaping out at them. The group all sprayed at once managing to keep them at bay before getting bitten. Once it died down and Mari-An had her back turned Silver noticed Mighty pocketing one of the paralysed Eosimias "Been wanting to experiment with their venom. For Skiving Snack-Boxes". He turned to take down two Eosimias were tried to leap at him. Silver instead turned to Ray "What're Skiving Snack-Boxes?" "Range of sweets to make you ill". Ray kept a wary eye on Mari-An's back "Not seriously ill, mind, just ill enough to get you out of a class when you feel like it. Mighty and I have been developing them this summer. They're double-ended, color-coded chews. If you eat the orange half of the Puking Pastilles, you throw up. 'Moment you've been rushed out of the lesson for the hospital wing, you swallow the purple half which restores you to full fitness, enabling you to pursue the leisure activity of your own choice during an hour that would otherwise have been devoted to unprofitable boredom.' That's what we're putting in the adverts, anyway. But they still need a bit of work. At the moment our testers are having a bit of trouble stopping puking long enough to swallow the purple end". Silver narrowed his eyes "Testers?" "Us. We take turns. The Nosebleed Nougats didn't go well. Mum thought we'd been dualling" "So the joke shop's still on then". Mighty came back over pretending to adjust his spray can "Oh, yeah. We haven't got a premises yet, but we put a mailing order in the Daily Prophet. All thanks to you, mate. Don't worry, though. Mum doesn't read the Daily Prophet anymore. Not after what they've said about you".
Eventually Mari-An was satisfied that there were no more in the curtains. She fell back into a chair and removed her mask "I think we'll take a break for now. We can do the cabinet later". She gestured to a glass cabinet which contained many dark looking objects. A selection of rusty daggers, claws, a coiled snakeskin, a number of tarnished silver boxes inscribed with languages Silver could not understand and, least pleasant of all, an ornate crystal bottle with a large opal set into the stopper, full of what Silver was quite sure was blood. They heard the doorbell again which thankfully didn't wake up Elias' mother "Wait, here, I'll bring up some sandwiches" Mari-An rushed out of the room. Everyone looked out the window not noticing Aquarius had wondered into the room and was now eyeing the bucket of Eosimias. They saw Farrel at the door carrying cauldrons "What's he doing with those?" "Probably wants a place to hide them" Silver said remembering Farrel's excuse for leaving him at Penders Drive. Blaze shook her head "Mum's not gonna like that". At that very moment the muttering that could be heard between Elias and Farrel was drowned out by Mari-An "WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HIDEOUT FOR STOLEN GOODS! COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE, AS IF WE HAVEN'T GOT ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT WITHOUT YOU DRAGGING STOLEN CAULDRONS INTO THE HOUSE". Ray smiled "I love it when Mum yells at someone who isn't us".
Mighty shook his head "The idiots are letting her get into her stride. You've got to head her off early, otherwise she builds up a head of steam and goes on for hours. And she's been dying to have a go at Farrel ever since he sneaked off when he was supposed to be following you, Silver and there goes Elias' mum again". Mari-An's yelling had indeed woken her up again and now the voices were completely incomprehensible. Razor went to close the door but then something new entered. It was a Marmolim like Lue except this one was very old and a very dull green with a grey Mustache. He took absolutely no notice of Silver and the rest. Acting as though it could not see them, it shuffled hunchbacked, slowly and doggedly, toward the far end of the room, muttering under its breath all the while in a hoarse, deep voice like a bullfrog's, "Smells like a drain and a criminal to boot, but she's no better, nasty old blood traitor with her brats messing up my Mistress's house, oh my poor Mistress, if she knew, if she knew the scum they've let in her house, what would she say to old Ghana, oh the shame of it, Mudbloods and Zillas and traitors and thieves, poor old Ghana, what can he do". Razor closed the door behind him and said loudly "Hello, Ghana!". Ghana froze and turned back to Razor in fake surprise "Ghana didn't see the young master". He bowed low and said an whisper "Nasty little brat of a blood traitor it is" "Sorry, didn't catch that" "Ghana said nothing". He then turned to the others "And there are the twins. Nasty little beasts, they are". Silver didn't know whether to laugh or not. Ghana seemed completely convinced they couldn't hear him "And there's the Mudblood, standing there bold as brass, oh if my Mistress knew, oh how she'd cry, and there's a new boy, Ghana doesn't know his name, what is he doing here, Ghana doesn't know" "This is Silver, Ghana. Silver the Hedgehog" Coral said pleasantly.
Ghana's eyes widened and he spoke angrily "The Mudblood is talking to Ghana as though she is my friend, if Ghana's Mistress saw him in such company, oh what would she say" "Don't call her that!" Razor and Blaze said together. Coral shook her head "It's okay. It doesn't matter" "Don't stick up for him, Coral. He knows exactly what he's doing" Mighty said glaring at the little Marmolim who was now looking at Silver "Is it really? Ghana sees the eyes turn gold, maybe it is. The boy who stopped the Dark Lord. Ghana wonders how he did it" "Don't we all?" Ray joked. Razor crossed his arms "What're you doing here?" "Ghana is cleaning" "A likely story" Elias said standing in the doorway giving Ghana a look of extreme dislike. Ghana gave a very low bow which made Elias role his eyes "Stand up straight. Now what're you doing in here" "Ghana is cleaning, Master. Ghana lives to serve the most Ancient House of Acorn" "Having been serving it very well, have you? This place has been filthy for years". Ghana gave a very bitter laugh "Master always liked his jokes". He gave a bow and said "Master is an ungrateful swine who broke his mother's heart" "My mother didn't have a heart. I think spite alone kept her alive" "Whatever master says. Master is not fit to wipe slime from his mother's boots, oh my poor Mistress, what would she say if she saw Ghana serving him, how she hated him, what a disappointment he was". Elias crossed his arms "I asked what you were doing here. Every time you show up pretending to be cleaning, you sneak something off to your room so we can't throw it out" "Ghana would never move anything from its proper place in Master's house".
He then muttered under his breath "Mistress would never forgive Ghana if the tapestry was thrown out, seven centuries it's been in the family, Ghana must save it, Ghana will not let Master and the blood traitors, and the brats destroy it" "I thought it might be that. She'll have put another Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of it, I don't doubt, but if I can get rid of it I certainly will. Now go away, Ghana". Ghana could not disobey and headed for the door muttering all the way "Comes back from Prison Island ordering Ghana around, oh my poor Mistress, what would she say if she saw the house now, scum living in it, her treasures thrown out, she swore he was no son of hers and he's back, they say he's a murderer too" "Keep talking and I will be a murderer". Coral stepped forward looking sympathetic "Elias, you shouldn't talk to him like that. He doesn't know we can hear him. He's been alone so long" "That's no excuse. He was always a foul little-" "Can't you just set him free?". Elias looked as if he wanted to be rid of the Marmolim more than anything "Can't. He knows too much about the Order. And anyway, the shock would kill him. You suggest to him that he leaves this house, see how he takes it". He then walked over to the tapestry Ghana was referring to. It looked really old. It was faded and looked as though Eosimias had gnawed it in places; nevertheless, the golden thread with which it was embroidered still glinted brightly enough to show them a sprawling family tree dating back (as far as Silver could tell) to the Middle Ages. Large words at the very top of the tapestry read:
The Noble and Most Ancient House of Acorn
"Toujours Pur"
Silver scanned the bottom of the tree "You're not on here". Elias frowned and pointed at a small part of the tree that looked to be burned off "My mother did that after I ran away. Charming woman. I was sixteen" "Where did you go?" Silver asked. Elias smiled "Your father's. His parents took it well. I was always welcomed. I stayed at Soleanna most of the year and stayed at there's over the summer. When I was 18 my Uncle Reginald died and had left me some money in his will. I was able to buy my own place". He looked around the tapestry "He's not on here either. He didn't disown me like the rest of them. He always invited me and Shadow to Sunday lunch" "Why did you-" "Leave?". Elias looked around the portrait again and stopped on the image of his mother and father "Because I hated them. Their obsession with purity. Thinking that if your were an Acorn you were practically royalty". He then looked down at a picture next to the one that previously held him "And my brother who was soft enough to believe it all". The picture was of a yellow male Thylacine "Maw the Thylacine". Under his picture was his date of birth and date of death which was fifteen years ago "He was younger than me and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded" "How did he die" "The idiot joined the Nocturnus". He scoffed "You should have seen my parents when he told them. They were supporting Finitevus for years. Going on about how he would purify the Wizarding race. Get rid of the Mudbloods. They were so proud of Maw" "Was he killed by a Diamond Cutter" "No. He was murdered by Finitevus. Or on Finitevus' orders, more likely, I doubt Maw was ever important enough to be killed by Finitevus in person. From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you don't just hand in your resignation to Finitevus. It's a lifetime of service or death".
The door then opened and Mari-An walked in carrying a tray of sandwiches "Lunch". She still looked very angry over Farrel brining his stolen cauldrons here. Everyone else ran over eager for some food but Silver stayed with Elias. He continued to stare at the names "I haven't seen this for years. You see that one there". He pointed at a picture of an older looking Chipmunk "Silvanus Acorn, my great-great-grandfather, see? Least popular headmaster Soleanna ever had and Alicia, cousin of my mother's. Tried to force through a Ministry Bill to make Muggle-hunting legal". He looked around at the other burnt parts of the tapestry "Anyone halfway decent was removed. Su's mother isn't here" "You and Su are related" "Oh, yes. Her mother is called Floren-Ca. She was one of my cousins. Her sisters are still here. They married into other respectable Pure blood families, but Floren married a Muggle born, Simon". Silver was staring at the pictures of Andromeda's sisters. He had seen them both before. The first was Fiona Fox, Silver remembered seeing her in the Phantom Gem and the other was a familiar female echidna. One whose picture was linked by a golden line to a name, Clutch the Opossum "You're related to Clutch's family". Elias casually shrugged "I'm related to most Pureblood families. There aren't many Purebloods left. If your family's obsessed with purity, there isn't much of a selection. Even Rob and I are related. He's my second cousin once removed. No point of looking for him on here. If there's one family my mother wouldn't want on here it's the O'Hedges". He noticed Silver staring at him "Does it matter?" "No, of course not". He gave Silver a slightly bitter look "Good. As far as I'm concerned, they're not my family". He pointed at Fiona "She's certainly not my family. I haven't seen her since I was your age, unless you count a glimpse of her coming onto Prison Island. D'you think I'm proud of having relatives like her?" "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I'm just surprised as all". Elias stared at him for a moment before apologetically patting his shoulder "Don't apologise".
He looked away from the tapestry "I jus don't like being here. I never thought I'd be stuck in this house again". Silver understood completely. Elias then shrugged trying to downplay his frustration "It's perfect for headquarters, though. My father put every security measure known to Wizard-kind on it when he lived here. It's Unplottable, so Muggles could never come and call, as if they'd have wanted to, and now Locke's added his protection, you'd be hard put to find a safer house anywhere. Locke's Secret-Keeper for the Order, you know. Nobody can find headquarters unless he tells them personally where it is, that note Striker showed you last night, that was from Locke". Elias gave a short, bark like laugh "If my parents could see the use it was being put to now, well, my mother's portrait should give you some idea". He scowled for a moment "I wish I could get out more. I asked Locke if I could come with you to your hearing. As Chomps, obviously. For moral support". Silver felt as though his stomach had sunk through the dusty carpet. He had not thought about the hearing once since dinner the previous evening; in the excitement of being back with the people he liked best, of hearing everything that was going on, it had completely flown out of his mind. At Elias' words, however, the crushing sense of dread returned to him. He stared at Coral and O'Hedges, all tucking into their sandwiches, and thought how he would feel if they went back to Soleanna without him "Don't worry. I'm sure they're going to clear you, there's definitely something in the International Statute of Secrecy about being allowed to use magic to save your own life" Elias said. After hearing about the Ministries recent opinion of him Silver wasn't convinced "But if they do expel me…Can I come live with you?". Elias smiled sadly "We'll see" "I'd feel a lot better if a I didn't have to go back to the Penders Drive" "Must be hell if you prefer this place". They shared a quick laugh before joining the others for lunch.
Cleaning the Drawing Room cabinet was not fun. It took them all night and was very unpleasant due to a lot of the objects having curses on them. A snuff box bit Elias' hand, a goblet released smoke which knocked out Coral, a music box played a tune which made everyone dance. A few of the items Ray and Mighty smuggled out for future testing. Elias took out an old trophy belonging to his grandfather "Order of Merlin, First Class. Services to the Ministry" "Means he gave them a lot of money" he threw it in the rubbish. Every now and then Ghana would sneak in to try and save something. He cried and ran out of the room when Elias wrestled an old locket out of his hands "It was my brother's" Elias said when every stared at him. He didn't throw it out though.
After a few days the drawing room was mostly cleared out. The only things they couldn't remove was the tapestry as it was magically protected and the cabinet with the possible Mimic inside (Striker hadn't visited yet). After the drawing room they made their way down the house into different rooms. At this point Silver didn't consider this cleaning. With all the protection the rooms had it felt like they were waging war on the house. Every so often through the days people visited, occasionally waking up Elias' mother. Silver and the others would try and eavesdrop on the conversations, but they didn't get much from the fleeting talks before they visitors went into the kitchen. Infinite visited more than once but thankfully Silver and him never came face to face. Echo the Dolphin even came over once although she didn't stay very long. Julie-Su and Knuckles were kind enough to help with the house whenever they visited. Even Farrel managed to redeem himself slightly in Mari-An eyes when he saved Razor from being strangled by a cursed old pair of robes. Silver was happy about the workload honestly. It kept his mind of the hearing. He kept dreaming about it. Every night he dreamt about walking through the halls of the Ministry to the deeper levels where it would be. Silver became so good at keeping his mind off the hearing that his stomach sank on Wednesday when Mari-An said "Rob will be taking you tomorrow, Silver. And make sure to wash your quills before you go. A good first impression can work wonders". Razor and the others all went quiet, they knew Silver didn't want to talk about the hearing and seemingly almost forgot about it too. Silver casually kept eating and simply nodded. He didn't want them to know how scared he was. Rob smiled encouragingly "We'll go a bit early. You can wait in my office. Make sure noting goes wrong". Silver looked over to Elias but before they could talk Mari-An said "Locke doesn't think it's a good idea for Elias to go with you, and I must say I think he's quite right". Elias said nothing, he just gave his plate of food a bitter look. Silver finally looked up "When did Locke say this?" "He came here last night when you were in bed" Rob answered. Silver dropped his eyes back to his plate. The thought that Locke had been in the house on the eve of his hearing and not asked to see him made him feel, if that were possible, even worse.