Chapter Fifteen

"Raw Magic"

Jane spent the day after the battle in a feverish state between dream and reality. She was tossing and turning and drank at least a few times from the potion that matron Madam Pomfrey gave her, but it didn't produce any quick results. When she woke up, she was surprised at how exhausted she was from some simple curse. Her first order of business after finally regaining consciousness was to ask the matron if Professor Snape had been involved in her treatment.

'He just came and told me the name of a potion,' Poppy Pomfrey answered angrily. 'Then he turned on his heel and walked out. I don't know who he thinks he is, not wanting to help treat my patients, especially during an emergency?!'

Jane sighed inwardly, and wondered aloud, 'And what was the potion you used to cure me?'

'The simplest strengthening potion. Makes one wonder how it ever worked in a condition like yours.'

"How about that," Associate Professor Undead thought to herself. "So Professor Snape wasn't all that nasty." She thanked the matron for the treatment as well as Snape but through clenched teeth. She knew Snape had taken her classes today, but she wasn't going to thank him for it – he'd take her whole position if he only could.

She was the only patient in the hospital wing, apparently, the others were much more lightly injured, Jane thought, and instantly felt shame. If anyone else had been hit by the spit that had knocked her to the ground, he probably would have just shaken his head and continued fighting. She had heard from the matron that the battle had ended with the victory of the Order and that the stunned Death Eaters had been turned over to the Aurors' service.

While Jane was wallowing in thoughts about her bad heredity, there was a commotion in the hallway.

'Just five minutes,' Madam Pomfrey ordered sternly, and someone's thin schoolgirl voice promised everything, just to be let to see her.

It didn't take long for the teacher to recognize Lily Smith's voice, and she wasn't at all surprised to see her enter the hospital wing. How astonished she was, however, when all five members of the band appeared in the room.

'Happy New Year, Associated Professor Undead!', Lily greeted cheerfully and handed a bouquet of violets to her teacher. 'Mother's sending you some Christmas pie, too.'

'And this is from us,' August added, placing a huge bouquet of white roses on her bedside table.

Jane thanked them for the flowers and waved her wand at them to soak in the large beaker she conjured.

'Was the battle very difficult the other day?', Euphem asked.

'No, not at all,' the teacher answered. 'Except I was a bit injured.'

'What happened?', Jerry asked.

'I think someone used the bleeding curse on me,' Jane barely flinched as she lied. However, the other option, admitting the truth that she didn't know what curse was tormenting her, didn't sound very professional.

'I've read that it's very unpleasant.' August shook his head.

'You read right,' Jane laughed. This boy devoured books like candy.

'That "Raw Magic" sounds great!', Lily exclaimed. 'Did Mr. Langfield recommend us?'

'Yes, he did.'

No one asked what "Raw Magic" was, and if even muggleblood Lily knew, then everyone was aware.

'Is it true that he stayed in the castle for several days?', Jerry asked. 'And that he slept in your room?'

She was saved from having to answer by Madam Pomfrey, who entered the room and angrily said, 'All visitors out. I told you only five minutes!'

Merlin save her from explaining to her students if and why she was sleeping with Carl Langfield, even if only from time to time.

January rolled around much faster than expected. On the ninth, the teachers half-heartedly celebrated Professor Snape's birthday and three days later her own. Lily and the boys had learned about the holiday from somewhere and gave her a silver guitar tuning fork. Jane protested and refused to take it, but the students got so angry that she was finally forced to accept the gift.

The frequent rehearsals tired both the band and her. She didn't know how the kids were hanging on but she was definitely having a hard time balancing them with her other responsibilities. Good thing that at least the kids didn't have N.E.W.T. exams this year.

On the twenty-fifth of January the six of them put on their thick mantles and heavy cloaks and set out for London. Carl and the driver, Pierce, came to pick them up – their bus was now flying and invisible, which had cost them a fortune, but the upgrade was worth it. The weather was cold, but clear and the snow-covered villages and towns were visible from above. The students were very curious and kept staring out the windows, practically glued to the glass. On the way, Lily was talking to Carl again, and Jerry was discussing something with Euphem. Glory to Merlin, as far as Jane was watching his mind, he didn't dare inquire further about her personal relationship with the guitarist. Carl started to pull out some Fire Whiskey, but Jane gave him such a glare that he immediately put it away and offered his guests pumpkin juice instead.

At dusk, they arrived in London and landed in an empty parking lot near Diagon Alley. Looking around and seeing that the muggles weren't watching them, they turned off the invisibility of the bus, locked it, and headed towards the Leaky Cauldron. Outside the pub, Carl bid them goodbye and said he was leaving Pierce and the bus to take them to Hogsmeade after the concert. Pierce, on the other hand, remained waiting for them in the Leaky Cauldron, after admitting that he didn't like neither the cacophony nor the stupid fights of 'Raw Magic'.

There were quite a few people on Diagon Alley tonight, so they had to push through the crowd with all their musical instruments. However, they had one convenience – the vast majority of people were rushing to the same place they were going, dragging the rest with them. Pretty soon the crowd turned off the main street and everyone was in front of the warehouse or whatever it was, where the tournament was going to be held. The stream of people was flowing into the sea of the already arrived, which was crashing into the railings around the entrance. A few places around the building sold beer – not butterbeer, just regular muggle beer. There were pretty decent lines in front of the beer stands, and the people around them were drinking, talking loudly, and having all kinds of fun before the tournament started. It was now quite dark and the only light came from the gas lanterns around.

The six of them made their way, sometimes with words, sometimes with the occasional elbow, and finally reached the wizard guards. After introducing themselves as the opening band, someone went to bring Mann and O'Reilly, and it wasn't long before they were invited inside.

They found themselves in the middle of a huge terraced hall full of seats, and the stage in the middle was surrounded by small ropes. The only tables inside were the commentators' table and the betting tables near the stage.

The wizard technician who had taken up the task of carrying the instruments smoothly placed them on the stage. However, Seth looked at his drums in dismay as they clattered on the floor. Mann brought them a beer each, saying it was from him and O'Reilly. He held a mug and occasionally took large gulps from the dark liquid inside. Then he went to check the books in which they recorded the bets, while Jane advised them to save the beer for after the performance. Lily agreed with her, adding that the band "Drillmashine" got sloshed on something just before their first gig and then almost got into a fight with some student because he had looked at them the wrong way.

While Associated Professor Undead toyed with corking their mugs, shrinking them, and pocketing them, the students helped the technician get the rest of the instruments onto the podium. Then they started setting them up and doing the sound check. They were going to play with the sound amplification spell that August had discovered, but Jane made it for them because the students had promised not to do magic while in London. Soon they began to let in the audience and waves of people poured into the hall. Fortunately, there was no disorder, only enough people were let in at once that they could safely reach their seats without having to jostle with crowds. By this time the band and Jane had retired to the backstage, which was accessed by a corridor between the seats.

Inside they had a dressing room with huge mirrors, a fridge stocked with an insane amount of beer and pumpkin juice, and plenty of soft couches that could comfortably fit two people each. The students sat down to rest and Jane arranged the mugs on the refrigerator door and then settled into an armchair where for some strange reason no one wanted to sit. Lily rummaged through her backpack, which she carried even here, and soon handed her teacher a camera. 'Could you take some pictures of us, because our folks will want to see us.'

'Okay,' Jane smiled, 'and if someone gets drunk, I'll take a picture of him in that state and then hang it on my wall for the cat to laugh at.'

'Just don't show them to the headmaster,' pleaded Euphem in a pitiful voice.

'I won't,' she promised. 'And let me remind you: no bets, I plan to watch over you personally. If someone gets wasted, the others are responsible for him not to do something foolish.'

'Don't worry, Associate Professor Undead, I'm a teetotaler by conviction and I'll take care of the others,' August said.

'Fine, I'm counting on you. As for the rest, before we leave here, you will be sobered by me. With magic. I can tell you from experience that the more you drink, the more it hurts. The headmaster said he wanted to see you after the tournament, so I'll have to present you in your most sober state.'

While this tirade was going on, Aurora Sinistra hesitantly entered the backstage, guided by O'Reilly, who was once again glued to her.

'Ah, there you were,' she exclaimed. 'That tunnel was as narrow as a catacomb.'

'The dressing room is nice, though,' Jerry remarked. 'Would you like a beer, Professor? Or some pumpkin juice?'

'Do I want what?'

'Beer. Muggle,' Jane called.

'What about you, Associate Professor Undead?'

'Just pumpkin juice, thank you. I don't like beer.'

'Then I'll drink pumpkin juice, too,' decided Aurora after a moment's thought. Jane recalled a story involving her, drinking, a stiff waist, and some Ministry clerk, so just nodded in understanding –ever since that incident, Aurora had been pretty careful with alcohol at parties.

The whole company decided they were going to drink pumpkin juice and Lily went to fetch glasses from a nearby cabinet. For the next ten minutes they drank juice and talked a bit, and then it was time to go on stage.

'Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to this year's edition of the "Raw Magic" tournament!' came the magically amplified voice from outside.

'Drink up quickly, we're next,' ordered Lily, and the others obeyed. The crowd could be heard roaring in the hall, then the voice continued to recite more opening words.

'And now, I present to you the 'Magical Wind' band!', the voice shouted and the young musicians got up from their seats.

'Good luck!', said Jane and patted each of them on the shoulder.

'Come on, fingers crossed!', Aurora added.

The five students came out one after the other, the first was Lily, followed by August, then Jerry, Euphem, and Seth. The audience clapped and whistled. Soon the noise died down and the band started their first song.

'It's time for us to go, too,' Jane said, and the two teachers headed down the tunnel. They soon reached the stage, where Jerry was already waving his hair and singing, and the others were hunched over their instruments. The two women's seats were in the front row, right next to the commentators' table, and there were five more empty right next to them – apparently saved for the band.

After the first song, the audience roared in approval, only to Jane's right could be heard a loud "Booo!", whistling and shouts "Go home!".

A few songs later, the crowd was still cheering for the band, but the hooligans on the right continued to boo and added, "Go back to school!" to their lines, realizing how young the musicians were. Jane eventually got fed up and conjured a stream of water that fell silently on top of them. Suddenly the shouting and whistling stopped.

'That's much better,' Jane called over the noise of the crowd, and Aurora smiled at her. 'I'm going to take a picture of them, they've just stopped waving their hairs.'

Just as Lily had stepped forward for her solo, Jane pointed the camera at the scene, focused it and pushed the button. The light flashed for a split second and the front row blinked. She got up from her seat and took a few more pictures of the students, together and separately. They were playing in their school concert costumes and they sure looked good. Jane stood a little longer to admire them, the five of them playing and singing, totally devoted to their audience, Jerry giving all his voice, and Lily had let down her long hair and occasionally twirled it like a helicopter blade. Jane looked at them for a while, then headed back to her seat and started putting the camera away. Before she could put it in her bag, however, Aurora interrupted her, 'Let me take a picture of you, too." She waited for Jane to fix her hair and snapped her.

'Now I'll take your picture.' Jane tried to take the camera from her hand.

'No, don't do it. I hate being photographed Go to the stage again, I want to take a picture of you with them.'

Jane let out a sigh that wasn't heard at all and took a few steps towards the stage. She turned to Aurora and she gave her a thumbs-up then pressed the button.

When the band stopped playing half an hour later, there were cheers and ecstatic cries. Jane and Aurora were the loudest, whistling and shouting as they warmed their hands from the applause. There was no encore scheduled, so the group went back to the dressing room, and after a while the two teachers followed them.

'Well, did you like us?' Jerry turned to the teachers after plopping down on a couch.

'You were great!', Aurora shouted, still high from the concert, her voice echoing in the dressing room.

'Yes, you did very well,' Jane said, walking over to the other couch to hug Lily and Euphem, who was sitting next to her. Then she hugged the other three students, one by one. During this time, the wizard technician appeared, carrying the instruments high above his head.

'Leave them somewhere here, thank you,' Lily said when she saw he was wondering where to put them. The wizard lowered them one by one into the corner of the room, then withdrew.

'So who wants a beer?', called Jane, who was just peeking into the fridge. 'There's no more pumpkin juice anyway.'

'I!', Jerry shouted.

'Me too!', Lily hastened to shout.

'I wouldn't refuse one either,' Seth said shyly.

'Aurora, how about you?'

'I'll miss it. But we can back ourselves up with something stronger.' Professor Sinistra produced a bottle of gin from her purse, causing Jane to stare at her for a few seconds. 'However, I don't know where the glasses went.'

'Give it here, don't explain yourself,' Jane finally said. 'Students, does any of you want some?'

Jerry poured some brew on himself in surprise and Lily gasped and shot a fountain of beer in front of her.

'Seth, are those our teachers offering us to spin a bottle of hard liquor with them?', Jerry asked as he tried to brush the stain off his costume.

'Enough snickering,' Jane laughed and waved her wand at the spot, which dried immediately. 'I'm sorry, but it'll leave a little stain. We'll have to wash it at the castle.' Then she turned to the others, 'It's a hundred times better to get sloshed under my watch than some other time when you go to Hogsmeade and be found wallowing in a ditch in the morning.'

'But you said you'd take pictures of us if we got drunk, didn't you?', Lily objected.

'Unfortunately, there's no film left.' Jane grinned at her.

Lily then asked for some gin, saying she wasn't going to get drunk anyway, and the others continued with the beer. After the short alcoholic break, everyone put down their drinks and went to watch the tournament, which had already started.

There were two wizards in the ring, one on all fours on the ground trying to croak, the other just bouncing off the elastic ropes.

'And now – the suffocating splash!', the commentator shouted. 'Toad goes strong, but Mosquito ducks and Toad stops into the ropes!'

'So the one pretending to be a frog is Mosquito and the other one is Toad, right?', Aurora asked confused.

'They call him Toad because he charms others into frogs,' Seth explained.

'Mosquito bounces away, but Toad casts a blocking spell on him... And Mosquito falls onto the commentators' table!'

The crowd watched intently, and a lot of it had congregated below at the betting tables. The two fighters continued with the elaborate choreography, periodically pushing off the ropes and struggling to hit each other, twisting each other's ankles and often pushing each other out of the ring.

Jane looked out into the audience for a moment and thought she saw Professor Snape somewhere towards the top of the hall. She looked more closely, but the wizard standing in that place already had his back to her and was walking away towards the exit. Snape at 'Raw Magic'? That was funny. He was always sullen, with furrowed brows and a haughty expression, and he disliked entertaining events, especially when they involved fistfights between two people. In that case, he might have come to the concert. But who had told him and why had he decided to watch them? He thought of them as some dumb kids pretending to be musicians, as he had told her once, and of her as their nanny.

'And now, a frog strumming from the ropes, Toad greets him with a laughing spell... Mosquito lands on Toad, bursting into laughter... He disenchants himself from the curses and stands up... He holds out his hands to Toad and – oh, no! – he applies the leg-jelling curse.'

'Are we going to watch more of this?', Lily asked Euphem who was sitting to Aurora's right.

'I'm already feeling a bit bored,' August called before Euphem could answer.

'Hey, look, Quickie intervenes on Toad's side!', Euphem said happily.

'And the Iron Wizard came to fight next to Mosquito!', Seth joined in.

Jerry was watching the show, leaning on one side of his chair and tapping his fingers on his cheek.

'I suggest whoever wants can stay and watch, and the rest of us can go to the backstage,' Lily decided.

'And then I have to split in two, so I can watch you both so you don't get wasted and lose your money betting. No, we'd better not split up. Aurora, take August and Jerry…', Jane began.

'...And Lily,' the girl interrupted. 'To bring the drinks. In a second, Associate Professor Undead.'

"That girl is reading my mind again," Jane thought to herself but didn't say anything out loud.

Aurora, Lily, and the two boys got up from their seats and headed to the backstage. They soon returned with the gin and the beer and the drinking began.

After Mosquito and the Iron Wizard managed to defeat Toad and Quickie, whom they had to hunt around the stage for at least half an hour, the Conjurer and the Prophet entered the ring, and didn't move from their places at all during the entire fight, only throwing spells at each other. In the end, the Prophet lost, apparently he wasn't much of a clairvoyant.

By this time Euphem and Lily had gotten quite drunk and were just laughing at the two warring wizards, and when the Iron Wizard and Mosquito came back and began fighting each other with simple spells and a kick here and there, they were practically giddy with laughter. The Iron Wizard finally managed to pin down Mosquito's frail leg with the Iron Grip and, pinning him to the ring with his weight, won the match. Jane, however, paid less and less attention to what was going on there and devoted more and more time to her students. When Euphem staggered out to go to the lavatory, she had to watch the betting tables all the time, never mind that there were no such thoughts in the boy's head. A drunken person could do anything.

The show degenerated more and more until finally none of the participants even tried to use magic anymore. A few thousand kicks, slaps, and other figures later, it was finally over for the night, and the already-drunk Jane laboriously herded her inebriated students to the dressing room. At least Aurora was able to walk on her own, which was a big plus considering Jane's hands were busy supporting the two blond students and August used all his strength dragging Jerry around. Once they reached the dressing room, Jane laid her two wards on the couch and pulled out her magic wand. How surprised the students were, however, when she directed it at herself instead of at them. There was a brief flash of light and Jane shook her head.

'Associated Professor Undead, why you?', August, who was the only sober one around, asked her.

'I'm no stranger to drunkenness, Ripper,' Jane replied with her eyes shut and felt her way into the armchair. After a few minutes, she felt like herself again and said more cheerfully, 'But you don't need to hurry. I just want to make sure I'll get you to the Leaky Cauldron without making any mistakes. However, if anyone wants to get sober, just tell me.'

However, there were no volunteers.

A moment later, O'Reilly came into the dressing room, grinned at Aurora, then said to Jane, 'We've had a few inquiries about band T-shirts. What do we tell the fans?'

'Tell them to come back the day after tomorrow, then we'll be selling T-shirts in front of the hall.'

'Very good,' the organizer left the room, and Jane allowed herself to drink some gin for courage.

'But we don't have any T-shirts,' Lily said faltering and, as she stood, fell into Eufem's lap.

'We will until then,' Jane replied. 'I'll order the T-shirts from the wholesale warehouse tonight, and tomorrow you'll help me put some logo on them.'

'We'll all be hungover tomorrow,' Euphem remarked, pointing at something on the far wall with a wandering index finger while barely holding onto Lily's waist with his other hand.

'Oh, no, you won't. I'm already as cheerful as a daisy. And even if I want to, I could get drunk again, as I will do on the bus.'

O'Reilly came back and sat on the couch next to Aurora, and Jane went to check that the instruments were still intact. Then Lily decided to go to the restroom and she got up to accompany her; August took the boys.

When Jane returned, supporting Lily, they were startled by a strange sight – Aurora making out with the Irishman. At first, the students gave them rather surprised looks, but then they got used and didn't notice them. August was trying to entertain Lily with something, but it wasn't working. Euphem kept her from falling off the couch. Jerry and Seth told each other jokes that weren't particularly decent, and Aurora giggled at them when she managed to unglue her mouth from O'Reilly. Jane was pulled out of her musings on how to deal with her totally degenerate charges by Mann, who came along with one of the wizard guards.

'It's time to close now because the security has to leave,' Mann told O'Reilly. 'Besides, we have to pay them, Jason,' and he pointed to the band.

'All right, all right,' the Irishman threw up his hands. 'Come on, darling, let me go for a while.'

The two organizers and the magiguard went out for a bit, apparently to get to the money, wherever it was. Meanwhile, Jane walked up to Aurora and asked her, 'Are you okay?'

'Yes, I'm fine.'

'And that Irishman who has been clinging to you, are you sure that you want him? From the looks of it, I wouldn't wonder if he takes you home.' Jane had looked into both of their minds – it was clear what O'Reilly wanted, but her friend's brain seemed pretty foggy from the drinking.

'Please get him off me.' He's annoying, but I'm so lonely... I have a feeling it's going to be like last time.'

Only August pricked up his ears to hear what happened last time, everyone else was too wasted.

Mann and O'Reilly soon returned, counted them twenty gold galleons, and Jane arranged with them when to bring the T-shirts. Everyone left the dressing room and Jane picked up the instruments and left along with the others. Mann and the guard left them at the exit, but O'Reilly walked with them to the Leaky Cauldron. In front of the pub, he and Aurora stopped and Jason began talking her into something. Jane led the students inside, put down the tools, and returned to them.

'Come on, Aurora, we have to go,' she urged.

'Just a second,' the teacher answered, but she couldn't seem to tear herself away from her suitor.

'Mr. O'Reilly, the headmaster expects us all back, including Aurora,' Jane lied.

'Aurora, honey, can't you get away from this tyrannical headmaster of yours?', he pleaded.

'I'm sorry, I can't.' Aurora tried to break away. 'I have to get back.'

'Come with me, just for a little while.'

'I can't,' Aurora repeated but didn't pull any further.

Jane was already getting sick of so many drunken students, and now she had to deal with her wasted friend.

'Come on, let's go.' Jane put a hand on her shoulder.

'All right, all right.' Aurora slowly let go of O'Reilly's arms, then took a step back and almost fell, but Jane caught her. 'Good night!'

'Good night, honey!', Jason answered her.

Aurora then turned around and helped Jane walk her back to the Leaky Cauldron.

There the students were half-lying on the tables, including August, who was clearly sleepy. With great difficulty, she and Pierce woke them up and loaded them onto the bus. Good thing he helped her with the instruments because Jane was already tired of levitating them. Inside the bus, everyone lay on the couches along the walls, and Jane and Aurora settled into the hammock tied in one of the corners. To help them sleep better, Jane sobered them up one by one, waking them up first, so that they wouldn't wonder where it all came from. Jane took another swig from Aurora's bottle, but decided not to drink any more – there was no one to keep her company. She put the bottle in Aurora's purse and wrapped herself in a blanket. Soon everyone was fast asleep.

By the time they reached the school gates, they were all able to walk on their own, and they reached the principal's office, yawning. Aurora wasn't very coordinated, but she managed to bid them a good night before heading off to her room in the Astronomy Tower. Jane looked after her friend for a moment and let her go home. Aurora should be able to get there, Jane told herself and decided that now that she had gotten Jason off of her, she could let her colleague fend for herself.

Professor Dumbledore congratulated them on the concert and gave them a short speech about how glad he was that they were all back sober (at that point he looked at Jane) and how well they had represented the school. He awarded a hundred points to Ravenclaw House and, as the students yawned widely, quickly dismissed them to their rooms.