Chapter Fourteen: January Blues

New Year's Day dawned cold and grey, and most of the Gryffindors were even later getting up than usual. There was a definite sense of deflation that afternoon, as everyone flopped about on the sofas, eating the last of their Christmas sweets, drinking tea and feeling like they had no energy to move. It was generally agreed upon that the night before had been wonderful (James had some minor quibbles with this) but, now it was over, there was nothing to look forward to - and that left everyone feeling a little depressed.

Worse still, from this side of the dance, the encroaching term seemed to loom up towards them far nearer than they realised, and the fifth year's mountain of homework - which had gone ignored for the last ten, magical days - was now calling to them, demanding that they get a wriggle on, or else face the consequences.

With groans and sighs and sincere wishes that they could go back in time to last week, text books were heaved from bags, parchment pulled out and unfurled, quills dipped in ink… and everyone began to study.

On the day the rest of the school were due to arrive back, matters were worsened by the grey skies suddenly opening and pouring with rain, which fell steadily for hours and hours until all the crisp, white snow was washed away and everything felt damp and cold and miserable.

After the late nights and lazy days of the past two weeks, getting up on that first Monday morning, ready for breakfast and Muggle Studies, was a painful experience. 'I wouldn't mind if it was just this once,' James grumbled - his bedhead making him look as rumpled as if he had just stepped off a broom, though he had not ruffled it up himself this time - 'but it's ages to Easter and our next proper break. I wish we could just skip over the next couple of months.'

But Remus shook his head. 'Don't wish those weeks away,' he warned. 'By the time we get to Easter, our OWLS will be just around the corner… I'm not ready.'

They trooped downstairs, rather glumly, expecting a day of noses to the grindstone - only to be met by an unexpected kerfuffle going on in the entrance hall - where a large crowd was gathering around Ikeda Daiki, the Mahoutokoro beater.

Daiki was barefoot and still in his jinbei, and was yelling very loudly and very fast in Japanese. The boys elbowed their way through the crowd to see what was going on and - though they could not understand a word Daiki was saying - they could tell he was very upset or very angry or possibly both.

'What is it?' Peter murmured, looking worried. 'What is he saying?'

'And why is he still in his jim jams?' Sirius asked.

'I think that's what he's yelling about,' Kai Huang of Yeperenye told them; he was standing beside them in the crowd, his arms folded across his chest and his eyes narrowed. 'I'm Vietnamese not Japanese, so I don't actually understand him, but… from what I can work out, he's saying his robes have been stolen… or lost in the laundry … I'm not sure which.'

There was murmuring and mumbling among the gathered students; Daiki continued to yell - tugging at his hair and sounding most distressed - and then the crowd parted, and Dumbledore strode through to the middle. 'Mister Uragirimono,' he addressed the Mahoutokoro coach, 'I have spoken with the Head House Elf - she is most upset and has set all the House Elves to searching through the laundry piles, but she is adamant they do not have Mr. Ikeda's robes and that they sent them back to your camp along with all the others.'

'Then perhaps she should come here and explain that to us herself,' Mister Uragirimono suggested.

But Dumbledore gave an ever so slight shake of his head to mark his refusal. 'It will do my House Elves no good to question them in front of a large crowd, when they are already upset… I had to forbid her from ironing her own hands in punishment, I will not allow her to be made to feel at fault. I have complete faith in her and all our House Elves. If she says they sent the robes back, then they did. Mr. Ikeda's robes are not lost, but stolen.'

'And who would do a thing like that?' Mister Uragirimono asked, disbelievingly. But Dumbledore had no answers for him.

'We can only hope that time will tell.'

…

'Of course it's a much bigger deal for the Japanese students, losing their robes, than it would be for us,' Mandy told the girls, as - once Dumbledore had shooed everyone away - they sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. The boys took a seat beside the girls, and listened in. 'They get given those robes when they start school, and the robes grow with them - and they change colour as the students get more proficient in magic. Daiki's were gold, which is the best you can get, only one other student and Mister Uragirimono himself had gold robes. Daiki's lost his proof that he's a master wizard.'

'I hope the House Elves are alright,' Lily said, buttering her toast and looking thoughtful. 'How awful that the poor thing wanted to iron her hands… I hope she doesn't find some other horrible way to punish herself. I'm sure the House Elves aren't to blame.'

'But if not them - then who?' James interrupted her - and he looked around at his fellow fifth years. 'If someone has stolen those robes, who was it and why did they do it?'

But the rest of them had no more answers than Dumbledore.

…

Later that day, the fifth year Gryffindors all sat in Defence Against the Dark Arts, alongside the Ravenclaws, staring stupidly at their cursed snuff boxes and wishing it was time for lunch.

There was a bit of excitement when Sirius grew frustrated and simply tried whacking his snuff box with his wand, only for there to be a flash of light, a sound like the cracking of a whip and Sirius was knocked off his stool backwards, and lay on the floor with smoke pouring out of his ears.

'That's why we need to be careful when curse breaking,' Professor Carnarvon said mildly, from up at the front where she was reading her own large and ancient textbook. She turned another mildewed page. 'Get up now, Black, stop milking it.'

When the bell finally rang, everyone gratefully collected their things and made a dash for the door, stampeding down the stairs and crushing into the Great Hall.

'You know,' Lily said thoughtfully to her friends, as she ladled stew onto her plate, 'I've got that note from Slughorn letting me into the Restricted Section - there might be something in there that will help us with those stupid snuff boxes… I'll go and have a look once I've eaten.'

' Or ,' Mary looked around at the others with a significant glance, 'I bet the answer is in that book Carnarvon's always reading. We need to get our hands on it.'

'You mean pinch it?'

Mary shrugged.

'How would you do that?' Petra asked, with the air of a person who was not discounting the idea but would like to hear more before she committed.

'I dunno, distract her somehow and swipe it - we could reuse some of those old Malory Towers tricks, make her sneeze or something.'

The girls looked at each other, weighing up their options, and then Lily said, 'Alright, I'll check the Restricted Section after lunch, but if I don't find anything, we'll go with Mary's plan. We'll try to do it in a way that won't incapacitate a teacher though.'

So, once she had scraped up the last of her treacle sponge and custard, she headed up the stairs to the library and was soon lost among the teetering shelves of the darkest and most ancient books Hogwarts had on offer.

Absorbed in the musty pages, flicking through from cover to cover, and discarding, until she had a small pile of books by her feet and another one in each hand, she was jolted from her reverie by Mulciber's unpleasant voice suddenly drawling from the other side of the bookshelves. 'Well, you had better go in there alone, Snape. It wouldn't do for me to be seen among the dark books since I cursed that McDonald mudblood.'

Lily turned bright red and seethed. She quietly dropped her two books to the floor and then moved the ones left on the shelf a little to the side so she could peer through. She could just make out Mulciber's smug and sneering face, and Sev standing beside him. She was filled with the utmost loathing for Mulciber, and her hand twitched, as if wanting to grab her wand and start firing off hexes.

'I might be a while,' she heard Sev reply. 'Spellcrafting takes a lot of studying.'

'But when it's done, this new spell, it can be used to curse mudbloods?'

'Mudbloods, muggles, blood traitors… It can be used on anyone unworthy,' Severus said with a nasty little laugh.

Blood rang in Lily's ears, as she heard Sev speak; her fury was now shot through with hurt and her hands trembled. She could feel the tears pooling in her eyes and threatening to spill over. Beyond the bookcase, the two boys went their separate ways - not knowing they had been overheard - and, in a moment of panic, Lily realised that Sev was heading straight into the Restricted Section; that he would turn the corner and bump right into her.

She fled, vanishing down into the next aisle before Severus could spot her and then - still flushed and flustered and angry, still fighting tears (though she was not sure if they were of rage or heartbreak) - she edged some of the books on the next shelf aside and watched as Sev, still totally oblivious to her presence, entered the stacks and found all the books she had left lying on the floor. He picked them up, frowning, and began to shelve them again - carefully and methodically.

Knowing he wouldn't see her now, she ran for the exit, leaving the library and ducking behind a tapestry where she took some deep breaths and tried to calm the frantic hammering of her heart. And then her rage turned inwards.

She should not have run away. She should have stood her ground, and looked Severus dead in the face, let him work out for himself that she had heard him and then watch him work out what to do next… But he would have apologised, she thought to herself fiercely. Of course he would.

Sev - her oldest friend - her best friend - could not look her in the face, after saying… that word … and not know how wrong it was. He did not think of her that way, he had said - a hundred times, a thousand times - that she was a brilliant witch, that she had loads of magic, that she belonged at Hogwarts. He had told her once, on a long ago summer's day, that it did not matter that she was muggleborn… And he was intelligent enough to know that if it was true of her, then it was true of all the other muggleborns - and when he was faced with her, he would have to admit that.

Which was why she was furious with herself for running away. She should have stayed there and forced him to think. She owed that to him.

Lily and Severus had been slowly pulling apart for years; they were in different houses, had different friends, they were on different paths… But she was so afraid of where Severus's path was leading him and she knew it was up to her to make him see reason. He needed her. It was like she was trapped in a terrible battle to save Sev's soul - with her pulling at him on one side, and Mulciber and that stupid, detestable Dark Lord pulling on the other. When Severus was with his friends, he said what he had to to fit in - that was all it was. But she needed to teach him to be braver than that, for her sake if not his own.

She should have stayed.

Still flustered and furious and far too hot, unsure if she was going to run back to Gryffindor Tower or straight back to Severus, she yanked the tapestry back and immediately crashed into Alice Law, and the pair of them tumbled to the ground.

'Sorry!'

'Sorry!'

'Why were you behind the tapestry?'

'I - er - I was fixing my lipstick.'

'Right,' Alice started to clamber back to her feet. 'Well, Professor Slughorn asked me to give you this.' She held out a neat little scroll tied up in a black ribbon. Another Slug Club invite.

Lily took it, thanked Alice, and wandered away - looking at the invite in her hand. At least she would have a chance to spend time with Sev, to try and get through to him, without any of their other friends there to get in the way or disapprove of their friendship, when they were together at Slughorn's party. Eagerly, she unfurled the scroll and checked the date.

By the time she met up with Petra and the others, she had totally forgotten why she had left them in the first place.

'Did you find anything?' Mandy asked her.

'Er - what?'

'In the Restricted Section - did you find out anything to help us with our snuff boxes?'

'Oh - er-' she flushed. That had all been driven from her mind. 'No.'

'Well then,' Mary smiled in satisfaction. 'Operation "Steal Carnarvon's Spellbook" is on.'

…

After a gruelling first week back, everyone was looking forward to the first match of the second round of the tournament on Saturday morning. Lily had spent much of the week redoubling her efforts to be a better friend to Severus and win him over to her way of thinking. She had sat with him in Potions again (which he had seemed very pleased about) and invited him to study in the library. They had worked together on Arithmancy problems while in prep and agreed to meet up before Slughorn's gathering so they could spend the whole evening together.

And the whole time she never let on what she had heard him say. It might have been annoying her girlfriends that she was spending this much time with him, but she couldn't tell them why either (she had a horrible feeling that if she admitted the truth they would tell her to sack him off and have no more to do with him, rather than encourage her in her efforts). But she owed it to him to save him, and there were moments when she really thought she could. The way he looked at her - it was so intense it made her blush and she didn't always like it - but it proved to her that he did not - could not - believe she was a … well, that word . And so she persevered. Winning him over was surely just a matter of ensuring that he spent more time with her than Mulciber, so that was what she did.

Saturday, however, was Ilvermorny's match against Mahoutokoro, and Lily carefully wrapped herself in a pale blue scarf and carried a flag with a puckwudgie on it, ready to support Diego Di Marco.

James nearly threw up in his porridge when Diego asked Lily for a kiss for good luck before he left to get ready (and she gave him one! Right there in the Hall! In front of everyone!) and, despite the fact that Chester was sitting right there with Remus, he transfigured his scarf from Ilvermorny blue to Mahoutokoro pink, in a fit of pique. Over on the Slytherin table, Snape looked no less sour and was spreading marmalade on his toast in a manner which suggested the toast had personally insulted him.

It was a cold, crisp sort of winter's day - the grey and the drizzle had cleared up, the sky was clear and the air was freezing, a thick layer of frost lay on the ground and everyone huddled deeper into their cloaks and mittens as they took their seats in the stands. The screens lit up to reveal the Japanese and American crowds, who cheered, and waved their flags and waved at the Hogwarts students - and then the two teams marched onto the pitch, Ilvermorny in blue, Mahoutokoro in pink, and followed by Madam Arara of Castelobruxo, who was refereeing.

On her whistle, the fourteen players rose into the air, Chester - who had won the sickle toss - threw the quaffle towards Bertram Aubrey, 'AND THEY'RE OFF,' Jacob Scrabble yelled at the gathered crowd. 'AUBREY IN POSSESSION, YAMAMOTO COMING IN TO CHALLENGE HIM, BUT HE PASSES TO DI MARCO AND… WHAT WAS THAT?'

There was a sudden intake of breath from all three watching schools, as Diego was unexpectedly slammed off course by a bludger and dropped the quaffle. Although getting hit by bludgers was a hazard of the job for those who played Quidditch, what made this unexpected was that neither of the Japanese beaters had sent it Di Marco's way.

Even more unexpectedly, the bludger squealed to a halt mid air and then flew straight back the way it had come, thundering towards Diego and slamming into him again, despite his no longer having the quaffle. The crowd made the same hissing noise; Lily squealed. But Diego righted himself, waved to his home crowd, blew a kiss to Lily and flew off with a determined look on his face.

But he had barely flown five feet before the bludger was hurtling back towards him, he ducked and dodged and it whizzed past his nose; Chester Chadwick threw the quaffle to him, which he caught one handed, before the bludger smashed into his outstretched arm. The crowd groaned, Lily screamed, Diego slumped on his broom and seemed to pass out from the pain - Chester and Bertram converged on him and guided him safely down to the pitch, where Madam Pomfrey could fix him up. But even as they flew to the ground, the whistling sound through the air heralded the bludger rocketing towards them once again.

It seemed like the whole group were about to get hit, until Ikeda Daiki (who thankfully still had his Quidditch robes, even if his school robe was still missing) swooped out of nowhere, swung his bat as hard as he could and sent the bludger hurtling away - giving the three Americans a chance to reach the safety of the ground.

'AND THAT WAS A WONDERFUL BIT OF SPORTSMANSHIP,' Scrabble boomed at the crowd. 'THIS IS WHY QUIDDITCH IS THE BEAUTIFUL GAME, A NOBLE SPORT. WITH DI MARCO INCAPACITATED, IKEDA STILL STEPS UP TO MAKE SURE HIS OPPONENTS REACH SAFETY… BUT WHAT IS THIS, EVEN ON THE GROUND THAT BLUDGER IS STILL AFTER DI MARCO…'

And it was true. As the three American chasers stood huddled in a little group with the Hogwarts Matron, who was tapping Di Marco's shattered arm with her wand, the bludger thundered towards them once more, and they were only saved from being hit by Madam Pomfrey herself turning around and blasting the rogue bludger with her wand. It fell from the air and landed on the ground with such force, like a meteor falling to earth, that it tunnelled into the pitch, the grass and mud flew everywhere, spattering the little group and eventually the possessed ball came to a stop in the middle of a large crater.

But no sooner had it come to rest, then it was up again and headed back to Di Marco.

'Someone must have jinxed it!' Lily squealed from her seat in the stands.

'Money on Sniv,' Sirius muttered in response.

'Money on James,' Remus corrected him. Sirius laughed.

Meanwhile, Madam Arara had called a time out and was discussing options with Mister Wright and Chester Chadwick. There was a lot of wild gesticulating, Mister Wright stabbed his finger towards the sky as if to emphasise some point that the crowd could not hear. Chester was vehemently shaking his head, while Madam Arara spread her hands as if to say there was nothing more she could do. And then Diego, who was finished getting patched up, joined the little group and joined in the argument.

Eventually, the furious pantomime of pointing and yelling was finished, and Madam Arara approached Mr. Scrabble so he could announce the verdict.

'WELL WITCHES AND WIZARDS, THIS IS YET ANOTHER TWIST IN THE TALE OF OUR TOURNAMENT. IT SEEMS THAT THIS ONE BLUDGER HAS BEEN TAMPERED WITH… I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE GO FOR JUST ONE PLAYER LIKE THAT. BUT IF ILVERMORNY STOP THE GAME TO CALL FOR AN INVESTIGATION THEY WILL FORFEIT THE MATCH - AND THIS THEY ARE NOT WILLING TO DO. THEREFORE DI MARCO WILL SIT THIS ONE OUT, AND ILVERMORNY WILL PLAY ONE MAN DOWN.'

'But that isn't fair!' Lily cried (though James snickered happily to himself, in the row behind her) but Madam Arara was blowing her whistle, and the other players were headed back into the air - leaving Di Marco grounded, with only an old beaters bat to protect himself from the bludger that still seemed determined to knock his block off.

…

Playing one man down, as they were, it came as no great surprise to anyone that Ilvermorny lost - though the Americans remained in good spirits and said they were sure they would win the second round play off and make it through to the semi finals. Time turned, as it always did, and less than a week after the match, the full moon was upon them and Remus was suffering through his usual aches and pains.

Now they were used to the process of sneaking off to the shack, the other boys arrived after the moon had risen, and crept inside without a hitch; Peter transforming into a rat in order to press the knot in the willow and Sirius transforming into a dog in order to subdue the wolf before James entered the house.

They had great fun, tearing through the shack, destroying the furniture, bouncing on the bed, playfighting and wrestling, romping and racing. Sirius had brought a lump of uncooked meat with him, which he had thrown at Moony when he first entered the shack and which Moony had devoured with great enthusiasm.

I think he's more sweet tempered when he's not hungry Sirius said to James, once James and Peter had arrived. James watched Moony howl at the moon and attack the curtains, and assumed he must have misunderstood what Sirius had said.

Sirius was not the only one who had thought to bring something to brighten up Remus's transformation. James had smuggled a bright red, quaffle into the shack - though he was rather disgruntled at the way the wolf and the dog ran off with it, tossing it between each other, head butting it through the air and running away, leaving poor James clip clopping behind them unsteadily on his thin, deer legs, unable to keep up and join in.

The game came to an abrupt stop, however (and rather to James' relief) when Moony pounced on the quaffle, wrestled it to the ground, got it gripped between his jaws and succeeded in puncturing it with his sharp teeth.

I'm not sure how I'm going to explain that to Madam Hooch James bleated.

What was that about a pooch? Sirius barked, feeling he was getting blamed for something that was not his fault.

No I said… Never mind. Understanding each other, while in their animal forms, continued to be an uphill struggle.

Eventually, they all wore out and settled down to sleep (this was no less uncomfortable for James than it had been the first time), and Moony whimpered and whistled in his sleep until the sun rose and he went stiff, his whole body juddering and shaking, before the fur vanished, the claws retracted and Remus was left lying on the floor.

Sirius carried him up to bed and tucked him under the covers and then the three of them waited until it was safe to head back to the castle.

Fortunately, that day was Saturday, and the boys were able to stagger back to their dorm, crash onto their beds and sleep through until Remus returned to them later that afternoon. They stayed hidden upstairs together, watching the early sunset through the windows and munching on what remained of James' Christmas chocolate (it seemed like he had enough to last him until Easter). Remus read over an Ancient Rune translation he needed to complete for the next week, Sirius fiddled with the Magic Cube he had stolen from his first year friend and James examined the punctured quaffle rather sadly and kept tapping it with his wand in an attempt to fix it.

Meanwhile, Peter had taken out his comic and quill and was working at adding in the new animal characters to go along with Moony. 'I'm having trouble coming up with names for each of us,' he said eventually. 'Moony's "Moony" - obviously, that's set in stone… but I'm trying to come up with a name for each of us that relates to our animagus forms. What do you think about "Moony, Rat Boy, Dog Face and Spindle Legs"?'

'I'm not being called Dog Face!'

'Who are you calling Spindle Legs?'

The indignant responses were immediate.

'I don't wish to discourage,' Remus said, rather more kindly, 'but Dog Face and Rat Boy seem rather on the nose. It would be like if you had called your Moony character "Wolfy McWolf".'

Peter scrunched his face up in thought. 'OK, how about "Moony, Whiskers, Fur Face and Antlers"?'

But there was further uproar, and he was sent back to the drawing board, as it were.

…

On Sunday they decamped to the common room, where the girls were huddled together by the fire, discussing something which appeared to be a great secret. James cast them a few glances, as if longing to go over and ask what they were being so furtive about. 'Mary told me they had plans to hex Mulciber,' he said to the others. 'I told her not to leave us out of hexing them… I hope she hasn't forgotten.'

'You hope you've got an excuse to go over there and talk to Evans, you mean?' Sirius said. He shook his head, 'let them have their secret - I've got something secret I want to discuss with you lot.'

James immediately forgot the girls, Remus and Peter looked up from their game of chess, intrigued and - pleased with the effect he had had - Sirius leaned forward and began to mutter at them.

'Look, it's all very well and good, us going to the shack and taking care of Remus and all… but don't you think it's getting a bit… boring?'

Remus tried (and failed) not to look hurt. 'You don't have to keep coming if it's boring you - I don't want you to get in any trouble. And if you're not enjoying it…'

'That's not what I meant! I just meant… Look, it's not right keeping a … well a…' he looked around in case anyone was listening.

'Someone with a furry little problem,' James interjected smoothly.

'Right, yeah - it's not right keeping an FLP all cooped up inside like that.'

Peter scrunched his face up. 'The alternative is a lot of dead people,' he said.

'Not with us around!' And Sirius smacked Peter around the back of the head.

'Ow.'

'Look - all I'm suggesting is that, instead of tearing around in the shack all evening, we go outside, tear around in the forest for a little bit. Let Moony smell the fresh air.'

'And what if I smell the fresh meat - of humans?'

'No one's going to be out and about.'

But Remus shook his head. 'It's a terrible idea.'

'It's not - it's a great idea, James, what do you think?'

But James was watching the girls again. 'I think I'd like to know what they're talking about,' he said.

…

Contrary to what James believed, the girls were not, in fact, discussing how best to get back at Mulciber (though their plans to hex him were never far from their minds). Right now they were busy, putting their heads together and coming up with a plan to swipe Professor Carnarvon's spellbook, so they could look through it and hopefully find an answer to their snuff boxes.

They had had a stroke of luck when Professor Slughorn had informed Lily that the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher would be joining them at his upcoming Slub Club soiree - which was to be next weekend, after Durmstrang had played Koldovstoretz in the tournament.

The plan was for Lily to keep an eye on the professor while they were both at the party, Petra and Mandy would stand guard outside Carnarvon's office, and Mary herself (well versed in the art of pilfering lipsticks) would be the one to go inside and steal the book. They would then take it back up the dorm, and meet Lily there.

…

The Quidditch match was on Friday morning, which meant more cancelled lessons ('I don't want to sound like a man looking a gift hippocampus in the mouth,' Remus said to the others, 'but I'm starting to think - this close to the OWLS - we could do with a few less Quidditch matches and a few more lessons…' but James pelted him with chalk and called him a swot and a buzzkill and so Remus said no more).

It was raining this time, a light but steady drizzle which seemed to soak everything through and both the Durmstrang and Koldovstoretz teams looked rather grim even before they had started. They marched out onto the pitch, faces screwed up against the rain, their robes already sodden and heavy. But their stony faces was nothing compared to the harshness of Mister Karkaroff, the Durmstrang coach's, expression. His little goatee looked rather bedraggled in the downpour, but his lips were a stern line, his eyebrows forbidding and his sharp eyes were unusually hard.

'Blimey,' James said, peering through his omnioculars at him, 'looks like Karkaroff could do with having another chat with Scrabble - about good sportsmanship and the importance of friendship across borders and whatnot. He looks ready to kill.'

And his face did not let up as Madam Jadu blew the whistle to start the match and Rabanus Klaue, the Durmstrang captain, threw the quaffle to Ingeborg Rasmusdottir.

Just as it had been last time, watching the Koldovstoretz players manoeuvre through the skies on their mighty tree trunks was like watching mountains move, and - though Lev Zograf was a world class keeper - even he pulled up short on occasion when faced with the three chasers bearing down on him, riding their entire oak trees.

Which isn't to say that Durmstrang were outmatched. They were not. Able to move much faster, they managed to take a good few shots on goal and even get some through the hoops - and it seemed like, having watched Zarr Sagal falter against the Russians, the Durmstrang team had worked on overcoming the psychological impact of their massive opponents during training. Zograf himself was able to pull off a number of fantastic saves (Mary started to wolf whistle and applaud in the stands - but then she remembered what had happened to the last keeper she had taken a shine to, and fell quiet); Danica Dobó clutched the quaffle under her arm, put her head down and flew through the Koldovstoretz chasers as if they were not even there, and they had all worked on dodging bludgers sent their way by the Russians beaters, so the force behind them counted for nothing.

All in all it was a pretty evenly matched game.

'AND A LOW SCORING ONE AS WELL,' Scrabble told the crowd, having just commented something similar. 'WE'VE NOT SEEN A MATCH WITH SO SLOW A START YET.' Sitting beside him in the commentators box, Mister Karkaroff looked rather sour. 'AND RASMUSDOTTIR HAS THE QUAFFLE, SIRENKO OF KOLDOVSTORETZ IS FLYING IN TO INTERCEPT… BUT RASMUSDOTTIR DODGES. SIRENKO IN PURSUIT… BUT WHAT'S THIS? IS SIRENKO… SLOWING DOWN? '

It was hard to tell at first, the tree trunks moved so slowly through the air and the broomsticks were able to zip around them, but - as the whole crowd watched - it did seem like Sirenko was suddenly having trouble getting her tree trunk to keep going. She was falling further and further behind Rasmusdottir, who zoomed up the pitch headed for the Russian goal. Boleslaw Mecyzwor, Koldovstoretz keeper, flew out to meet her but it soon became clear that - like the chaser - he was suddenly struggling to fly his tree trunk. It was slower to move than he was used to, its manoeuvring even clumsier than usual and - with no great difficulty - Rasmusdottir dodged around him and put the quaffle away through an empty hoop.

On the screens, the Durmstrang crowd went wild, while the Russian crowd groaned.

And they had a great deal more groaning to do as the game went on. Minute by minute the Russian players were finding flying more and more difficult…

'THIS IS LIKE WATCHING THEM WADE THROUGH TREACLE,' Scrabble yelled. 'THEY'RE SLOWLY COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP!'

And he was proved to be more or less right. While the Durmstrang players continued to shoot through the air, their Koldovstoretz counterparts were marooned; stranded and drifting through the sky, unable to steer, unable to move in one direction or another.

'It vos like our brooms ver getting heavier and heavier,' Estella Vasile reported, after the snitch had been sighted, and caught by Turul Terek before Konstantin Grigorovich Smirnov had been able to turn in the sky to face the right direction. The match was over, Durmstrang had won 220 - 30.

'It vos like our brooms ver soaking up all the rain. They vos vaterlogged and so ve could not move them.'

'Of course a thing like that shouldn't be able to happen,' the boys overheard Scrabble explaining to Flitwick and Big Macca that evening at tea. 'Special charms are put on the bark to stop them soaking up the rain - well you have to when you're living in the Ural mountains.'

'Do you suspect foul play?' McGonagall asked.

Scrabble began to choke. 'My dear woman, why would you suggest a thing like that? Still… Karkaroff got what he wanted, eh?…'

…

The following evening was the Slug Club party; Lily left the common room early and headed downstairs to meet up with Severus down in the dungeons. She passed Jacob Scrabble shaking hands with Dumbledore in the entrance hall: 'Always a shame to leave dear old Hogwarts after a weekend of Quidditch,' Scrabble was saying. 'Do give my congratulations to Karkaroff and Uragirimono on getting through to the semi finals. Hogwarts next, eh?'

Meanwhile Mary, Petra and Mandy were sneaking out of Gryffindor Tower and creeping their way towards Professor Carnarvon's office in the hope of stealing her textbook, only to be disappointed when Mary peered through the keyhole (and it was lucky that she did) to find Carnarvon still seated at her desk, still seemingly engrossed in her book.

'What's she doing? She's going to be late.' Mary hissed. But Mandy and Petra had no more idea than she had and so there was nothing for it but to hover awkwardly in the corridor, Mary keeping watch over the keyhole and Mandy and Petra keeping watch over Mary's back so they were not discovered.

Lily was every bit as disheartened to find Carnarvon missing, when she reached the party but - not wanting Severus to suspect anything - she swallowed down her feelings, smiled brightly, tried not to keep checking her watch and decided to find out from Slughorn where the Defence professor was.

…

Upstairs, Mary tapped her foot impatiently, as Professor Carnarvon turned another page.

…

'She should be here, m'dear,' Slughorn boomed, spraying Lily with pastry from his crab puff as he spoke. 'I'm sure she just got held up.'

'It's just … I wanted to discuss my cursed snuff box with her.'

But Slughorn wagged a pudgy finger in jovial disapproval. 'All work and no play makes Lily a dull witch, m'girl. Come now, have a crab puff,' he offered her the silver platter heaped with them. 'Got 'em in specially; Keket said they were her favourite, and now she isn't here - so let's at least reap the rewards of her absence.'

Lily took a crab puff and bit into it (more carefully than Slughorn had done, and keeping her neighbours' pastry crumb free), though Severus declined when the platter was offered to him.

'You sure? they are damn good, Severus m'boy. Say what you will about House Elves - they make a good crab puff.'

But Sev muttered something about being allergic to shellfish and pulled Lily away. 'We don't want to talk to him all night!'

Lily swiped another crab puff from a floating platter, as they headed deeper into the party, and frowned as she bit into it. 'Does this taste funny to you?'

'I dunno - I told you, I'm allergic to shellfish.'

'I've never heard you say that before now.'

Severus flushed. 'Well - I just don't like crab, OK? Or lobster. The idea of eating creepy crawlies from under the sea disgusts me. But people like Mulciber eat them at their fancy parties…'

'And you're too afraid to admit to your poncy pureblood friends that your half blood palate is too unrefined for the food they eat,' Lily said witheringly.

Severus only gave her a dark look. She swallowed the rest of the crab puff, 'Definitely not right, whatever Slughorn says.'

'Maybe your mu - muggleborn palate's more refined than his?'

It was Lily's turn to give Sev a dark look.

…

Much higher up in the castle, Professor Carnarvon turned another page and glanced at her watch, before making a short "oh" sound of surprise.

Still peering through the keyhole, Mary watched as Carnarvon got to her feet, lifted the lid of her desk and stored the spellbook securely inside before heading for the door.

'She's coming - hide!' Mary hissed, and all three girls fled off down the corridor, rounded the corner and then dove beneath a tapestry, trying not to breathe too loudly as they heard a pair of heeled boots tap their way in their direction.

Once the footsteps had retreated, the girls waited for a few minutes more, before deciding the coast truly was clear, and then they ducked out from beneath their hiding place and returned to Professor Carnarvom's office.

Once more peering through the keyhole to check the room really was now empty, Mary declared that stage one was finally over and it was time for her to go inside. 'Keep watch, whistle if anyone comes, and I'll hide behind the curtains. Alohomora. '

Casually unlocking the Professor's door with her wand, Mary slipped inside the office and tiptoed her way across to the desk. It was just as she was about to open it that it suddenly occurred to Mary that Professor Carnarvon might have put a curse inside her desk in case anyone but her opened it but - praying that whatever it might be it would be nowhere near as bad as the Three Wise Monkeys - she figured she had come too far to back out now and, with her breath held and her eyes squeezed tight shut, she threw open the lid…

…

'I just don't understand why you want to go out with this American,' Severus said, raising his voice so he could be heard over Slughorn's gramophone. He had been wanting to say these things ever since the dance, and now was the perfect opportunity - now he had her alone, to tell her what he really thought. And what other people might be thinking.

'He's - he's nice,' Lily said.

'I'm sure… And he lives how many thousands of miles away? Lily, I'm only thinking of you when I say you're opening yourself up to unnecessary pain if you get too attached, he leaves, and you never see each other again. Besides … going around kissing him in public. You don't want to get a reputation for yourself…' He faltered to a stop, realising this was exactly the sort of thing that would make Lily furious, and blinked awkwardly in the silence - waiting for her to turn red and explode. Except she didn't say anything, it was as if she had not heard and - now he looked at her - she seemed to be turning green rather than red. 'Are you alright?' he asked her.

Her eyes looked glassy. 'Sev… Could you - could you get me a glass of water? I… I feel… funny.' Lily raised a hand to her forehead, rubbing her brow and screwing her eyes closed as the room seemed to spin, but it did not help and she swayed perilously on the spot.

Alarmed Severus ushered her into a seat.

'Don't fuss,' Lily murmured, as he asked her how she was. 'Just … get me some… water.'

'I will - I'll -' he turned and scanned the dungeon, looking for something that could help. 'Professor Slughorn - ' he made his way to the Potions Master, 'Sir, is there any water - Lily needs…'

He came to a stop, as he saw that Slughorn too had turned a sickly pallor and was none too steady on his feet.

'Severus, m'dear boy…' Slughorn mumbled, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell, like an oak tree being chopped down, and landed heavily on the dungeon floor, his whole body convulsing.

…

The lid hung open - nothing exploded and carefully, still not trusting it, Mary pried one eye open. Everything looked normal, and there was the book - ancient and mildewy and covered in stains, which might be blood. Trying not to think about that, Mary grabbed it, slammed the desk shut and then scarpered back to the door.

'I got it,' she whispered triumphantly as she fell out into the corridor, nearly knocking Mandy and Petra to the ground in her haste. 'Let's go.'

And, congratulating themselves on a job well done, the three girls raced back to the Gryffindor Tower, with the book shoved down the front of Mary's robes, and rushed right up to their dorm without speaking to anyone, collapsing breathless but victorious on their beds - where they waited for Lily to come back.

…

Severus hastily backed away from the fitting Potions Master, spinning around in alarm as he heard another loud thump and saw - across the room - Lily had fallen from her seat to the ground and was now too lying prone and convulsing on the floor.

'Lily -' he made to rush towards her, but all around him people were groaning and sweating and mumbling and slumping to the ground - some slowly, some like puppets whose strings had been cut; their bodies were shaking, foam was forming around their lips, and their eyes were rolled back while their eyelids fluttered rapidly.

Not quite sure what to do, Sev stood frozen for a moment - and then he came to his senses and dashed across the dungeon, wrenched the door open and ran out into the hallway, screaming for help over the loud echoes of his frantic footsteps.

It was with a feeling of great relief that, having only rounded one corner - and with the groans from the dungeon still within earshot - Severus ran headlong into an adult who was coming from the opposite direction.

He pulled up short, 'Professor Carnarvon,' he gasped. 'Quick - something has happened at the Slug Club. I think everyone has been poisoned.'