Chapter Thirty-Three

A Stitch in Time

Quintin woke up the next morning quite disoriented, reaching for the chain around his neck only to find he wasn't wearing one. He squinted at the glaring, frosty windows and realized the bright light was sunlight beating down on several inches of new-fallen snow. As he was surveying the room, there was a knock and the door opened. Arcadia peered in.

"He's awake now," she called behind her and entered in her human form, sitting down by the bed. "Did you just wake up? What was your first thought?"

"Um," Quintin said, a bit taken aback by the question. "What?"

"Were you thinking that you were hungry? That you had to go to the toilet? Or did you want to know where the Time-Turner was?" she asked. Quintin's hand went to his neck conscientiously. "Hm," she said when she noticed it, tsking and making a note on her clipboard.

"Dad has it. It's his, after all. I just borrowed it for a bit," Quintin explained.

"Mmm hmm," Arcadia said, making another note before stepping out of the room again.

Quintin heard hooves and some murmuring before Sagittari opened the door and clopped in. His expression wasn't as judgmental; instead, he simply took Quintin's temperature and pulse, listened to his heart, and ran some checks with his wand. A few minutes later, Arcadia returned with a tray and a potion on it.

"What's that for?" Quintin asked suspiciously.

"Magical device addiction. This well help you curb the urge to go looking for it," Sagittari explained, unstoppering the phial.

"I'm not addicted," Quintin protested, but didn't miss the side-glances between them. "I'm not!"

"It is safe for you to take even if you are not," Sagittari informed him, holding it out until Quintin reluctantly took it. "Drink the entire contents, please. We shall let you get up long enough to freshen up, then you may have your lunch."

"Downstairs?" Quintin asked hopefully.

"No, here in the Hospital Wing," Sagittari said, and Quintin slumped. "You will remain until dinner when we give you a second dose and make sure that it's working without any side effects. After that, you will be released to the Headmaster's Study. Professor Snape has requested to see you the moment you are released for disciplinary action." Quintin shrank back in the covers.

"Why did you tell him that?" his wife sighed with exasperation. "How is he going to get any more rest if he's stressed about what happens next?"

"He should be aware that this isn't the end of it," Sagittari said unconcernedly.

"Well, I really think you need to work on your bedside manners," Arcadia informed him, retrieving the empty phial on her way out. Sagittari focused in on Quintin.

"Do not attempt to escape this room. You are under constant observation," Sagittari added for good measure before finally backing out and closing the door. Quintin peeked up at the wall to see that the Rogue Painting was squinting at him suspiciously from the landscape hanging next to him.

Quintin covered his head up with his blanket.

How he managed to sleep between lunch and dinner was due only to boredom, since neither of the centaurs seemed in much of a hurry to give him homework or anything else to distract him. Before Quintin knew it, it was dinner time. After he ate, Arcadia escorted him through the Doorlift to the Headmaster's Study. Curiously enough, his mother and his sister were nowhere to be seen and his father looked even more stern than usual. Quintin glanced over at the Sorting Hat, who watched from the shelf with one eye fold open as if he had been pretending to sleep.

"Here he is! Don't be too hard on him! He needs to come to the Hospital Wing before breakfast every morning for a potion, and he's on a special diet for the next week. I've already sent Sagittari's instructions to Head Elf Francie," Arcadia informed his father.

"Thank you," Snape said simply. Arcadia left, closing the door behind herself. "Stand in front of my desk, please, don't even attempt to sit down, Mr. Snape, I am handling this as a school matter," he informed him.

"Okay," Quintin said, wondering if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He walked up to the Headmaster's Desk warily.

"Mr. Snape, you stole a highly regulated time altering device out of the Headmaster's Study for which you have no license, and then took the liberty of abusing it. What do you have to say for yourself?" the Headmaster inquired critically.

"I just borrowed it," Quintin replied, getting a stare in response. "I wanted to have more time to do my homework. I did use it to do homework, didn't I, Sir Hat?"

"Yes, and some research," the Sir Hat confirmed.

"Should I add that you took a school artifact out of this office without my permission as well?" Severus snapped.

"Actually, Severus, going along was my idea," Godric replied. "When I saw what he was doing and realized I couldn't stop him, I figured I could at least supervise to make sure it didn't go too far."

"Which just proves that it was purely for academic reasons!" Quintin chimed in.

"And what about today?" Severus immediately parried. "Because if I am certain about one thing, today was not about academic reasons."

"Yes, well, he does have a point," the Hat mused.

"Of course today was about academic reasons!" Quintin protested, darting a glare at the Hat and back at the Headmaster. "I borrowed it because I overslept my classes, if you must know! I borrowed it so I could go back in time so that I could attend them."

"Oh? But then why did you go back so far?" Severus frowned.

"I didn't go back that far originally," Quintin admitted. "I borrowed the Time Turner at lunch when Mum was out of the room and put it back before she came back. But then she told me that my grandfather was upset with me and I realized that I forgot to go to forms that morning, so I borrowed it again to make sure I attended forms as well... but he still ended up being mad at me. Other than that, I only borrowed it long enough to study in the library... did you know that Mum lent one of her books to Stephen Maxen?"

"Not relevant to this conversation, unless that is your way of confessing that you also used it to do a bit of spying at some point," Severus said, squinting at him suspiciously.

"That's a bit of a stretch. It could have been a coincidence," Quintin parried.

"Highly unlikely since you knew everything that happened in multiple locations after jumping back so many times that you very nearly did do yourself and likely many others an injury! There were so many inconsistencies after you had been put to bed, I had both students and staff commenting on your strange behavior. Someone even came to me on the suspicion of a Doppleganger in the castle after seeing you eating lunch in the library and the Great Hall at the same time... during a time when you were supposedly having lunch with your mother," he snapped.

"Oh, yeah. I did do that. I was really hungry. I have been all week," Quintin confessed.

"Your body was probably attempting to compensate for the lack of sleep, but that does not excuse your carelessness, or the fact that you stole my Time-Turner-"

"Borrowed without permission," Quintin interrupted.

"That is not for you to decide!" Severus growled at him.

"Nonsense! It's simple deduction based on all known facts, including the fact that I live here and you're my father, so stealing it would serve no purpose since all you'd have to do is go to my room and take it back from me," Quintin snapped. "All I did was borrow it for a minute or two... technically..."

"You know perfectly well it was more time than when you happened to return it," Severus replied firmly.

"And I wasn't stealing it from the Headmaster, I was borrowing it from my father, who is typically fair and generally understanding-"

"Don't you try turning it around on me like that! I've had years of practice dealing with that sort of response from your mother and it isn't going to work.. nor is a plea to logic when we both know that it wasn't your schoolwork that you were worried about yesterday! The real reason was because you wanted to preserve your reputation as a perfect time keeper among your friends. You couldn't stomach the idea of making a mistake and decided to cover it up to save your pride!" Severus accused.

Quintin was taken aback. He attempted to come up with a retort or at least a reasonable excuse, but he failed to find the words he needed to hold his ground. It didn't help that his father was leaning over his desk in a way that made Quintin step back to get out of his shadow.

"I will let your mother handle the parental discipline in this, but it is up to me to consider the school ramifications considering the severity of your actions. You are lucky that I've been coerced into being lenient already once this year, and as an administrator, I feel an obligation to apply my students to the same standards.

"Therefore, you will be sitting detention with me, and you are revoked from all extra curricular activities for the rest of the year, including the upcoming Snow Festival, as well as all sports and clubs. From now on, your focus will be on academics, and not use your time as an excuse to get into trouble," Severus informed him sternly.

Quintin suddenly brightened.

"Really?" Quintin said with obvious relief. "That's the best thing I've heard all week! Thanks, Dad! I knew you'd understand!" This time, it was Severus who was taken aback. "Oh, and don't worry. I promise I'll ask next time!" he added for good measure.

"And I promise that I'll say no, since you're obviously not ready to handle it!" Severus snapped back.

"No, I guess I'm not," Quintin admitted sheepishly. "Can I go back to my room to study to await my impending doom?"

"Sorry?"

"I meant Mum. You said she was going to handle my punishment," Quintin reminded him.

"Yes, fine! And don't touch another magic device outside of Items class for the rest of the term!" Severus threatened.

"Yes, Dad," Quintin said unconcernedly, then exited through the nursery door.

Severus stood in silence with thoughtful, brooding expression.

"Something wrong, Severus?" the Hat inquired.

"Why is it that my punishment feels like I succeeded in doing nothing but giving Quintin exactly what he wanted?" Severus asked in annoyance.

"You did," the Hat confirmed. "But at least he won't feel the need to use that time cheater again this year."

"I suppose that's true," Severus said with a sigh, sitting back down at his desk.

Quintin tiredly walked over to the research corner, waving off incoming questions from his housemates about why he had been in the Hospital Wing. When he sat down at the table, Jeremy and his friends looked over at him questioningly.

"Did you get in a lot of trouble?" Jeremy asked.

"Detention with Father, and I'm banned from sports and clubs," Quintin reported.

"Hey, that's great!" Jeremy replied. At the same time, Jack and Pete both let out a sound of protest.

"I'm missing a player for the next Quidditch game?" Jack asked in dismay.

"I just lost my goalkeeper!" Pete groaned. "And my best defender!"

"You got banned from football as well?" Quintin asked Jeremy.

"I was banned from sports, but not clubs," Jeremy explained. "I got in trouble for not telling anyone what you were up to, so Anna just banned me from sports. I'm sure I'll hear about it on Thanksgiving."

"Well, you'll be going alone this year. My mother's grounded me to the castle and told me that I couldn't go," Quintin informed him.

"Oh, sorry. Well, at least we'll have more time for research," Jeremy said.

"And more time to make mittens," Duncan interjected. "The Snow Festival's going to be this weekend, and Mindy wants everyone in the Owl Room as much as possible to make enough they can go around! You too, Jeremy, the moment you get back."

"I guess you're right, Duncan. The research can wait until after the festival," Quintin replied.

"Great, I'm getting hand cramps just thinking about it," Jeremy complained.

"I have an idea on how to get them done faster, but I have to talk to someone first. Let's meet in the Owl Room at breakfast," Quintin suggested, then went to his room to get caught up on homework.

The next morning, skeins of wool sat in racks by the Owl Room table, and Mindy was suggesting that everyone who had showed up eat faster when Quintin and Jeremy came in.

"There's no need for that now, take your time," Quintin said calmly.

"Don't tell them that! The Snow Festival is on Saturday!" Mindy complained.

"Actually, I have a solution," Quintin explained. "When I went up to the Hospital Wing to take my potion this morning, I asked Madame Potter to teach me her mother's knitting spell. You know enough about knitting to set up the pattern, but after that point, the spell can take over and you can walk away hands free."

"Nan's knitting spell! I should have thought of that!" Olivia exclaimed, hitting herself on the head.

"But then it's not home made anymore!" Mindy protested.

"Do you want these done in time or not?" Quintin said. "As I calculate it, even if you spend five hours a day at this per person, we'd still not have enough to supply the whole school. Even with my proposed method we're still likely to run out of mittens, but at least let's make enough to get us until noon."

"He has a point, Mindy. I say we do it," Kitty said. "Is it a spell that a first year can learn?"

"It might be a bit tricky for you since it's a third year spell," Quintin mused thoughtfully. "But I think I can walk you through it."

"I don't knit," Agatha said evenly. "But I cast well above my level. If Jeremy teaches it to me, I will pitch in."

"Sure," Jeremy said with a shrug.

"There you see, Mindy? Using the spell gets you one more volunteer," Quintin said.

"Fine," Mindy relented. "Jeremy, Quintin, are you both helping out at mittens booth?"

"I'm going to be sitting detention with my father on Saturday, and I'm not allowed to go to the Festival even if I wasn't," Quintin replied.

"That's rough. What did you do?" Olivia asked.

"He nicked something out of the Headmaster's desk," Pete said before Quintin had a chance to reply.

"And he was in two places at once," Duncan added for good measure.

"Do you mind?" Quintin protested.

"Not at all," Duncan said.

"You can take the conversation from here," Pete suggested.

But apparently Quintin wasn't in the mood to talk about it any further, because he reached for some wool so that he could teach them the spell.

"Do you know what I heard?" Zelda said as she sat down to breakfast with her siblings. Most of the other Slytherin had no trouble giving them the end of the table, allowing them to distance themselves from the Maxens on most occasions.

"Nobody hears what you hear, Zelda," Moira pointed out.

"That's true," Zelda agreed, putting marmalade on her toast. "I heard that Quintin is sitting detention this weekend for stealing a time device. He won't be going to the Snow Festival because of it."

"A time device?" Stephen repeated. "I mean, we all heard he got in trouble for something and it had him sent to the Hospital Wing, but I haven't heard anything about a time device. Where did you hear about it?"

"From his friends, of course," Zelda told him with exasperation. "They were thinking he was using it to try and get ahead of his homework and his research."

"So he's afraid that we're ahead?" Moira asked.

"He should be afraid," Bonnibel said knowingly.

"True, but he's also banned from extra curricular activities, so they will be trying to catch up," Zelda informed them.

"Have you learned anything more about that old motto on the box, Stephen?" Zelda asked.

"I know the translation, but I don't know how it applies," Stephen replied.

"Well, what does it say?" Zelda wanted to know.

"The first translation I came up with was, 'Praise be to errors! They open us to humility and wisdom," Stephen recited.

"Praise be to errors?" Zelda said with a scrunched up face.

"I also found out from Professor Craw's book that version of the word open, aperterda, is typically only used when referring to opening doors. It is often associated with magic locks," Stephen went on to explain.

"Does that mean whatever the box contains is something having to do with humility and wisdom?" Broc asked.

"Of course not, it's just the riddle on how to open the box. Maybe the box itself has some sort of mistake in its construction that you have to find," Zelda conjectured.

"Like a puzzle box! Maybe there's a hidden latch or something," Stephen concluded, and Zelda nodded approvingly. "Professor Craw was researching Puzzle Boxes that day she lent me that book. I think it's still in the Research Library."

"Then you know what your next task is," Zelda said, but then Moira leaned over.

"Watch out, Professor Aurelius is heading this way," Moira warned, and everyone pretended to be interested in their breakfasts as Aurelius bore down on them with quick, silent strides like a predator making a move on its prey.

"Zelda, why am I getting the sense that you are attempting to take over their research again? Where is your escort?" Aurelius asked sternly.

Zelda gestured to the side where Ella and Jay were sitting among members of the Quidditch team. Ella raised her hand but didn't look over.

"Ella, if you don't mind, sit closer to the problem from now on and remind them not to share information with her. Zelda, I'd appreciate it if you'd sit with your classmates instead of the research team from now on," Aurelius said.

"But they don't like me, Professor Aurelius. They're all jealous of my power... or they're afraid of it," Zelda said, glancing at the other side of the team only to get glares from the second years she had to sit class with.

"It's not like we can stop them getting together in the Common Room. They'll collude whether we want them to or not," Ella pointed out to Aurelius.

"My father's instructions were clear. If the team keeps allowing Zelda to influence their decisions, he'll call off the research. If you can't do it, maybe they'll do it for self preservation. Keep reminding them, Ella... Jay," Aurelius said, and the two prefects nodded in response. "Have a good day, secure more points for Slytherin. We're still behind Ravenclaw, you know..." he reminded him as he walked off. Stephen glared accusingly at the Ravenclaw's hourglass.

"You heard him, Zelda. If you want us to see this through to the end and find that box, you're going to need to leave us to it," Bonnibel said.

"Fine," Zelda said, then her eyes shifted over to the Dusthorn table. "Perhaps I can help in another way... by tripping up the competition."

"Right now, I think they're already tripped up," Stephen commented, putting his egg onto his toast.

Saturday morning bright and early, Quintin found himself a room just below the kitchen, connected by a open garbage chute that fluted off into different bins.

"You will start in here," Severus informed him, ignoring the fact that Quintin was holding his nose. "Nearly everything in the school is recycled in one way or another, but that means it involves a complicated process to each bin to the correct location. It won't be as easy as sorting the bins at home."

"That much is obvious," Quintin said, noting that most of the bins were taller than he was.

"Vegetable matter gets sorted into two lots, the first going to the compost near the greenhouse, the rest at the farm.

"The farm?" Quintin said, not keen on the idea of lugging smelly food waste all the way across the grounds.

"You may use the tunnels, but if you spill anything, you need to clean it up," Severus said, then continued. "Meat and bone food waste should be separated into two as well, half to the Magical Creatures barn, the other to the farm to be mixed in for the pigs. Glass, paper, and metal bins go to the train station... the station master will let you know where are disposed of."

"I have to go to the train station as well?" Quintin gawked.

"Oh, and do not use any magic other than what you need to sort the bins into piles. No making feet instead of wheels on the barrows or any other tricks. If you do, you will be doing this again tomorrow," Severus warned. "The only rubbish I don't want you touching is the hazardous material bin, that must be dealt with by someone trained in it. Once you are done in here, you will need to go to the main rubbish room and clear it as well."

"This isn't the main rubbish room?" Quintin asked.

"Good lord, no. This one is only for the kitchens. The rubbish room for the rest of the castle is near the laundry. Did you not grow up in this castle, or not?"

"I never played in that section of the castle. The Trade Elves always shooed me away," Quintin explained. He followed his father out of the room and down the stairs, leading to the back section of the first floor where most of the maintenance rooms were. Severus then opened a large metal door next to the laundry room and lit the lanterns with the wave of his hand. Quintin stared inside without a word.

"Typically the Trade Elves handle this duty, but you'll find a ladder hanging on the wall there that attaches to the sides of the bins when you're ready to separate them. It will you take several trips."

"Several trips? This is going to take all day!" Quintin exclaimed.

"Oh yes, it will take time. A lot of time. Try not to treat it like rubbish," Severus said evenly, then stepped out of the room.

Quintin let out a sigh of resignation.