Snape vs. Avery
The morning of the all-important trip to Hogwarts, Claudia overslept and had just enough time to brush her teeth and throw on some clothes before apparating to the Ministry and taking Floo to the snow-covered village of Hogsmeade.
The team that Agrippa and Claudia handpicked was assembled there, and consisted of Birog, Griffin and couple of his people from the Beasts and Creatures Room, people from Division Twelve and some from the Weapons Division. All in all, there was no puzzle in the world too difficult for them to solve.
The fresh snow was crunching under Claudia's feet as she walked up the castle with Birog, the druid in charge of the Indigenous Magic Room. Birog huffed and puffed as their conversation turned to Professor Binns. "He's an ignorant fool," she scoffed. "He wouldn't have taught you anything useful. I presume you had to learn about the true ramifications of the founding of Hogwarts from somewhere else. Binns would have left out the controversial stuff-"
"What controversial stuff?"
"You don't know…" she whispered in a dismissive tone that Claudia did not enjoy. "Why did you ask me here, then?"
Claudia was baffled. It was actually Agrippa's idea to take Birog on the mission, and she had no idea what was going on. "You could just tell me what you mean," she said through gritted teeth.
"The establishment of Hogwarts wiped out any diversity of magic we had in this country," Birog replied. "Before that, people used to teach their children at home. Some used what you know – Latin incantations and wands, but others used the old ways."
"The old ways?" Claudia was beginning to feel like a right idiot.
"The ways that were practiced on these isles long before the Romans showed up with their fancy wand work. In the early days of Hogwarts, the old magic was still rife. Slytherin understood its power better than the rest of the founders; but even he sold out. Making his own wand just to fit in with the modernisers. Within a generation, the old magic was gone, replaced with whatever they taught at Hogwarts."
"Is old magic what you do?" Claudia asked. "As a druid…"
"My people kept our traditions going in secret, but I'm the last one. They will die with me. But-" Birog straightened her back and pick up pace. "While I'm here, I can still be useful. The brightest in the land-" she gestured towards the group of Unspeakables walking up the patch to the castle. "Not one of you knows how to cast the Celtic revealing charm."
"Could you teach someone?" Claudia asked, now more in awe than irritated.
Birog shrugged. "Takes a lifetime."
"Doesn't matter, pick someone, anyone and spend the rest of your time in the Department teaching them the old ways. Or write it up."
Birog shook her head. "Doesn't work like that – the old ways cannot be written down, they cannot be taught, they have to be grown within. It takes decades."
The irritated Claudia was back. She was just about to tell Birog she had no choice but to try take on an apprentice, when Griffin caught up with them.
"I manage to find this rare book about Basilisks, and it did mention that-"
"Sure, Griffin," Claudia replied, not really listening. They were at the castle gates now and no one, not a single person, thought a Basilisk inside the castle was a plausible explanation for what has been happening.
Just as all the Unspeakables piled into the courtyard, the door to the castle swung open and, on the threshold, stood Headmaster Dumbledore.
"Birog!" he said jovially. "My old friend! How long has it been?"
"Too long, Albus, too long."
Dumbledore embraced the old druid. "Come, have tea with me."
Claudia cleared her throat. While it was lovely to see old friends reunited, pleasantries will have to wait, she really needed to speak to Dumbledore first. "Headmaster, we need to discuss arrangements-"
"Of course, Miss Avery," Dumbledore said, the warmth in his voice gone. "Who am I to be liaising with on all of this?"
"Me."
"What a pleasant surprise," he said and extended his arm as to show her in. Briskly, they walked through the castle side by side. Despite Dumbledore's age, Claudia struggled to keep up with his much longer strides. At least, the physical exertion made it easier to ignore her surrounding. She did not need a reminder of Sirius everywhere she looked.
"I will be honest with you, Claudia." Dumbledore began once they were in his office. "Since you are an old friend. I have my reservations about yet more people coming into the castle. I do not want the students' daily life getting any more disrupted."
Claudia was very tempted to point out that muggleborns getting petrified was plenty disruptive but decided, the great professional that she was, to hold her tongue. "It works for us better to work at night anyway," she replied. "I have secured rooms for everyone in the Three Broomsticks already, so they will stay there."
"Good."
"I was only wondering," she continued. "If we could borrow some school brooms, or even a carriage or two, so the team don't have to trudge up and down every day?"
"I will ask Hagrid to arrange a couple of carriages."
"Thank you. I would like them to be picked up after dinner, so they reach the castle right at curfew."
"Settled," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Are you staying?"
"No," she said with a slight shake of the head. "I'm of little use here unless you need a Legilimens. I'll come and check on things every now and then, but they are all ten times the wizards and witches I'll ever be."
"Everyone has their skills."
Claudia smirked. "According to Agrippa, I'm the politician…"
"Agrippa has always been a very good judge of character."
"Right-" she paused. "I'll just-" But before Claudia could excuse herself and end the awkward conversation, the door creaked open and a woman entered the Headmaster's office. Claudia had never seen her before. Or anyone quite like that. It was hard to distinguish any of her physical features due to the sheer number of scarfs and necklaces hanging off her body.
"Ah, Sybill!" Dumbledore said before turning to Claudia. "I presume you two have met."
"We have not," Claudia replied, slightly unnerved by how big the eyes of this Sybill woman looked from behind her ginormous glasses.
Dumbledore smiled. Claudia knew this look well - smugness. He knew something others did not, and it made her blood boil. "Claudia, your mother is a Trelawney, isn't she?" the Headmaster said.
Claudia nodded. "Although she does like to keep that quiet. Not quite as pureblood as she, or my father, would have liked."
Dumbledore looked to Sybill who scoffed loudly. "That was said in jest, Sybill. Claudia does not mind, she's open minded. Unlike the rest of her family-" then he turned to Claudia again- "you see, Sybill is a Trelawney also. In fact, her father is your mother's older brother. Which makes you two first cousins."
"Nice to meet you," Claudia said quietly, really not entirely sure what to make of the situation. A cousin? She did not have any cousins. Certainly none that looked like this!
"Do you too have the gift?" Sybill said eerily.
"What gift?" Claudia asked, half expecting a row over some family silverware.
"The gift of the inner eye."
"I doubt it," Claudia laughed.
"Claudia is a very skilled Legilimens," Dumbledore interjected. "From what I hear."
Sybill scoffed again. "Cheap tricks-" the jewellery on her neck rattled while her body shook uncontrollably. "You people are the reason why seers are not taken seriously these days. Posing as fortune tellers, defrauding people-"
"I haven't thought of doing that," Claudia forced a smile, not exactly delighted to have her craft questioned by some weirdo. "Maybe I could make some good money. The Department of Mysteries pay is lousy…"
"They Department of Mysteries? You work in the Department of Mysteries?" Sybill's voice was getting more high-pitched with every sentence. "That Shafiq woman is convinced the world that the inner eye can be commanded. When it fact it cannot-" she huffed. "Treating the rest of us like frauds! And to think that-"
But Dumbledore silenced her with a gesture. "What can I do for you, Sybill?"
Sybill glared at Claudia, clearly not ready to share whatever it was in front of an outsider.
"I was on my way out anyway-" Claudia mumbled and said her goodbyes, quite unable to resist an eyeroll on her way out. If her mother's entire family were like that, she thought, she did not blame Cassandra for keeping them secret.
Days and weeks went by, and the Department of Mysteries' team searched the castle, flooding Claudia with report after report. They would have saved her a lot of time, if they simply wrote – 'found nothing, will try again tomorrow'. The endless report, combined with her other duties at the helm of the Department of Mysteries, and the second-hand effect of Dementor attacks left Claudia exhausted and on edge. So much so that Auberon stopped making jokes in front of her, a sure sign that she was no fun to be around.
On one Sunday in February, Claudia finally found the time between mountains of reports to start clearing out her old Mind Room office. But she quickly realised that it was a task she was not equal to.
Her arms resting against her hips, she stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by piles of papers and boxes of magical object and memories. Most of it, she would pass on to whoever succeeded her, but some of it was hers, and some of it was too good to simply leave behind.
She kneeled to open one of the larger boxes and lifted one of the memory vials.
'A survivor of the battle of the Somme, collected in 1924.'
This could be useful, she thought, and pointed her Legilimency wand right at the vial. She closed her eyes and let the memory flood her. Instantly, she was surrounded by screams that made her blood run cold. Her chest tightened. Her heart began to pound.
Claudia took a deep breath and broke the connection. Then, her face twisted into a menacing smile. Her father will enjoy that one… She picked another three or four particularly traumatic memories and hid them in her bag. With her new job, these were the last ones she would be able to take. From now on, she would have to source her own.
As she was putting the box back on the top shelf, she noticed a thin black notebook lying there in a thick layer of dust.
"There you are," she sighed out in frustration once she recognised it as the notebook where she took notes about telepathy. "I've nearly destroyed this office last year looking for you..."
Claudia took the notebook, sat on the floor, and spent the rest of the morning going through her notes, completely ignoring the mess she made all around her.
The clock tore her out of the trance when it struck one.
"Shit," Claudia hissed as she realised that she lost track of time. She was meant to be meeting Moody in a pub. Luckily, this one was not far from the Ministry- She threw her notebook into the bag with the memories and run out of the Department.
"You're late," Moody growled when Claudia appeared breathless in front of him.
"Only by fifteen minutes-" she whispered between the heavy breaths and collapsed into the chair. "How have you been?" she mumbled, hoping Moody will talk long enough for her to catch her breath.
Moody shrugged. "A mixed bag… Oscar passed me a cold case of some bloke that got tortured during the war. Oscar thinks Voldemort did it himself, but the case got deprioritised." Moody cursed under his breath. "Best not to reopen old wounds, apparently-"
Claudia started to search through her bag. The mention of people being tortured only reminded her of Alice, and she found herself in a desperate need of a cigarette. "Who were they?"
"O'Doherty. This happened in Ireland, but he's in St Mungo's now. Like, you know-"
Claudia violently shook out the content of her bag on the table to speed up the process. Finally, the pack of cigarettes was in her shaking hands. "I know," she sighed and lit one.
"What about you?" Moody changed the subject.
"Same old, same old." She puffed on her cigarette. "Work is busy, you know. The new job is-" she paused. "I don't even know how to describe it."
"What about life outside of work?"
Claudia sneered. "What life outside of work?"
"Haven't you spoken to Oscar? I thought since you made up at Christmas…"
Claudia's eyes narrowed. "You set it up, didn't you? Taking us to Aiden's grave. You knew we'd patch things up."
"You're getting more paranoid than me." Moody gave her a wry smile, and picked up the old, battered notebook that Claudia left on the table. "What's this?" he asked as he opened it. "Your handwriting is atrocious," he added with a squint.
Claudia decided to let him get away with the change of topic. "Research." She blew out smoke towards the ceiling. "Was thinking about learning telepathy again. Didn't quite manage it the last time I tried."
"Try me," Moody said casually.
"Alright." Claudia took a deep breath and fixed her eyes onto Moody's real eyes, desperately remembering the complex wandless charm and breathing techniques this required. 'I know you set me and Oscar up. Avoiding the topic won't save you.'
Moody just stared at her. "I thought you were meant to be good at this mind stuff…" he said after a while. It clearly has not worked.
"Do you know how hard it is to telepathically speak to someone without using a wand?" Claudia snapped.
"Why would you want to do that anyway?"
"Because it's awesome," she replied with a shrug. "I know I will never be able to do it long-distance, or even when I'm not looking at the person. But it's a challenge, you know. Even if it's useless."
Moody chuckled, reached for his bag and took out a sandwich. "Not letting anyone poison me again," he said and took a bite.
Claudia caught his eyes. 'This is so embarrassing.'
"What did you say?"
"You heard me?" she exclaimed, half horrified, half delighted.
"Not clearly, no. I just got this distinct feeling you thought my sandwich was embarrassing."
Claudia grinned. "Oh, this is so exciting." She had not focused anywhere near as hard as the first time. It was almost unintentional, easy. Maybe this was the way to go! Relaxing into it.
But she did not get to try again. Moody got them kicked out of the pub for eating food from the outside, and Claudia found herself back home, in the attic, putting away the few memories that she took away from the Mind Room.
She glanced at the sky through one of the small roof windows. The sun was still shining, suggesting that there was plenty of time for a quick trip to Frognal Gardens on the off chance that Frederick was going to make it to his study on a Sunday. Claudia grabbed her cloak and some memories and set off.
She waited under the cloak for over an hour, but it was not to be. Her father was either away or had decided to give work a miss. Maybe two more minutes, five more, let's give it half an hour. But nothing had changed. With every passing minute, the rage inside Claudia was growing, even forcing tears into her eyes. She was furious with herself. She needed to prioritise this more! Her father was quite literally getting away with murder, while she let Ministry politics distract her. It was shameful.
Glimpses of stars were now appearing in the darkening sky. It was time to pack it in for the day. But just as Claudia was about to give up, go home and cry herself to sleep, something happened-
She saw the curtains open in the room above her father's study and Marcus' miserable face appeared in the window.
Seeing a good opportunity to practice some more telepathy, Claudia drew a few circles with her shoulders to relax. But before she was ready to try, Marcus turned his back to her and sat down in an armchair. 'I'm watching you.' She tried anyway, but there was no discernible reaction from her brother.
'Your sister was better at Quidditch than you.' Nothing. He kept drinking his tea.
Claudia was getting frustrated, ready to give up, when Marcus stood up and slowly walked over to the window to shut it.
She gazed into his eyes. 'You will pay for your betrayal.'
Marcus' head flew upwards, and he manically looked around. Has it finally worked?!
'You're a coward!' Marcus' hands were now pressing against his ears.
It was working! Finally! But then, sadly, he disappeared from view and Claudia's fun was over. But it did not matter, it served its purpose and cheered her up a bit.
But, as she was sat on the sofa at home, her smile had slowly disappeared. Sure, it was fun tormenting Marcus for a few minutes, but what good was that? She failed in what she really wanted to do, again. There was nothing she could do to stop angry tears flowing down her cheeks. Eventually, she allowed her head to rest on the sofa cushion and close her eyes. Going to bed required too much energy…
Claudia shook off her tiredness with a few cups of strong coffee, and was back at her desk bright and early the following day. Her failure to do anything about her father pushed firmly to the back of her mind. She needed to focus. It was time to finally make the decision about her successor at the helm of the Mind Room.
She picked up the first personnel file on the pile. It was Shivali's… Claudia was absolutely sure that Shivali would be the Head of the Mind Room one day, probably the Head Unspeakable too, but first she needed to learn to say no to people.
"Hortensia," Claudia mumbled and looked at the next file. Hortensia was out of the question due to her memory, or rather lack of it. And she had a feeling that Marcin would rather resign than take on that responsibility (as it meant he could no longer hide from the Head Auror). This left Beresford…
Claudia would rather chew her own foot than give that man the job, but who else would do it?
Just then, there was a knock on the door and Marcin strode in without an invitation, not really giving Claudia enough time to discreetly put those personnel files away.
"Just came to let you know the new veritaserium is ready and works like a dream. In case you wanted to tell the Head Auror." He paused. The panic in his eyes suggested he just realised what he interrupted. "I left a full report and a sample with Auberon," he added sheepishly.
"Thanks," Claudia sighed and picked up an update report from Hogwarts that was next on her list. "I'll add it to my pile of million other things to do."
"I'll get going then," Marcin said but then proceeded to shuffle awkwardly on the spot.
"What is it?" Claudia hissed.
"You know I am pretty easy going," Marcin mumbled. "But if Beresford gets the job, I will quit-
She raised her head.
"I'm not joking…" Marcin continued.
"Then, you will have to do it," she replied.
Marcin puffed up his chest. The aura of insecurity gone in an instant. "Fine."
"But that would mean turning up to meetings with the Head Auror."
"I rather do that then report to him."
Claudia's eyes narrowed. "Alright. You can start by telling him about the veritaserum then."
"Happy to," Marcin said confidently and began to leave.
"Just make sure he understands it's a one off!" she shouted after him.
Claudia spent the rest of the day combing through frustrating reports from Hogwarts, hoping that she will stumble upon something interesting that would prevent Umbridge from ripping her head off at the next Board meeting. She found nothing. Feeling almost desperate, she even took a quick trip to the Three Broomsticks and spoke to the team before they embarked on another fruitless night in the castle. But there was no putting spin on it. They had nothing she could use.
It was time to face the music. Just prior to the next Departmental Board, Claudia had to fulfil her obligations and update Fudge personally on the (lack of) progress of the Department of Mysteries' investigation.
"I'm sorry to tell you, Minister," she began, having decided that honesty was the best option. "The team have found absolutely nothing of interest. No secret chambers, no monsters, nothing out of the ordinary at all."
"What does that mean?"
"That either it is exceptionally well-hidden, or that this is in fact the work of a copycat. Or some twisted dark wizard."
"Dumbledore believes the chamber is real." Fudge twitched when he mentioned the Headmaster's name, and an angry shadow crossed his face.
"Thinks are never straightforward with him, are they?" Claudia quipped, managing to extract a chuckle from the Minister. "I'm not saying he's wrong," she continued. "But do we really just accept some monster is creeping through Hogwarts?"
"You mentioned a Basilisk in one of your earlier report, is that really an option?"
"Theoretically, yes."
"How long do they get?"
"Fifty feet, Minister."
"I'll eat my hat if there is a fifty feet serpent slithering around the school without anyone noticing."
"I think your hat is safe, Sir."
Fudge laughed but was soon interrupted as his Principal Private Secretary stuck his head into the room. "The rest of the Board is here."
The Minister nodded and then turned to Claudia. "Shall we cover the next steps there?"
"Of course, Minister."
"I'll let them in, then," the private secretary said and opened the door widely.
"Oh, one more thing." Fudge steered Claudia to the corner of the room, as the rest of the board flooded in. "I received Agrippa's request about your Wizengamot seat." He paused. "There are a lot of people telling me not to grant that request. Because of your-" he stuttered.
"Because of what happened twelve years go…" she finished his thought for him. "I'm sure they are, Minister." Claudia smiled and took a moment to steady her voice. This pretence she was agreeable was getting harder by the day. "It is your decision. I wouldn't be so bold as to try make a case for myself. I prefer my actions to speak for me."
"Very well," Fudge said with a slight smile. "Let's get to work, shall we?"
The first item on the Board's agenda was a proposal by Dolores Umbridge's to introduce new, tougher anti-werewolf legislation. The new law made it almost impossible for werewolves to live within the wizarding world, get a job even. There was some opposition among the Board members, interestingly from the man in charge of regulating magical creatures, and – to some extent – from Amelia Bones. But Umbridge was relentless, and the Minister seemed inclined to agree with her. The legislation was unfair, but here was no point in Claudia sacrificing her standing with the Minister if she was sure she would loose. And she was sure, fighting this was a lost cause. Besides, she was still in no mood to do Remus any favours.
Once the Minister agreed that Umbridge could put this in front of the Wizengamot for final approval (something which was almost always a formality as Fudge has made sure it was stacked with his allies), the Board has moved onto its next topic – the situation in Hogwarts.
To Umbridge's visible displeasure, Claudia gave the Board the same update as she gave to the Minister.
"If this could be a work of a dark wizard, we need to wake these kids ups, know what they saw," Amelia Bones interjected and saved Claudia a grilling. "Is there really no mandrakes we can get our hands on?"
Claudia, keen not to reveal the Department of Mysteries' secret Mandrake stash, intervened again. "We don't need to wake them to find out what they know."
"How?" Bones asked.
"Legilimency."
Claudia could hear Umbridge clear her throat, a sure sign that she was about to be told she was wrong. "Easier said than done. It's inaccurate," the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic said.
Not if you know what you're doing, Claudia thought but remembered she was meant to be agreeable. "It has been not accurate enough in criminal proceedings, impossible to find the truth with absolute certainty," she said through gritted teeth. "But it is worth trying here, even if we just get a snippet. Something to go on."
"I agree with Claudia," Amelia Bones chipped in. "Anything would be helpful at this stage.
"We would need permission from the Headmaster and the boys' parents, of course." Fudge said and scratched his chin. But before he could voice his agreement-
"Who would do it?" Umbridge spoke again.
"I would," Claudia said firmly.
"Minister," Leopold Sallow interjected. "Surely, one of my obliviators would be more than capable-"
But Claudia did not even let him finish the thought. "All an obliviator needs to do is to find a memory and wipe it," she said in the least patronising voice she could fashion. "This memory they're looking for is likely to be very distinctive, correct? Muggles don't often see a flying car."
"Yes, so?" Sallow said and folded his arms against his chest.
"There is lot more to Legilimency than that," Claudia continued. "You need to distinguish between memories and dream, find threads and put them together. We might be talking a split second here. An obliviator, no matter how skilled, could never perform the task with enough precision-"
Sallow seemed defeated by Claudia's argument, but same could not have been said of everyone-
"And you have that kind of experience?" Umbridge said, almost mockingly.
"Yes."
"How?"
"By training in the Mind Room for ten years."
Umbridge chuckled. "That means nothing to us, dear."
"I could show you," Claudia said, narrowed her eyes and bore them into Umbridge. 'Give me ten minutes in your mind and you will see what I'm capable of.'
"I think that's hardly appropriate..." Umbridge replied, visibly unsettled by Claudia's use of telepathy.
Claudia chuckled, kicking herself for not mastering even the most basic telepathy a little earlier. It was fun. "Then, you will just have to take my word for it."
"That settles it, Claudia will do it." Fudge said. "I'll speak to Dumbledore."
With that, the meeting was over and not a week later, Claudia found herself in a Hogwarts classroom, waiting to be introduced to the parents' of the children whose mind she was about to read. Except she was not alone. Dumbledore only agreed to Fudge's proposal on the condition that someone else would be involved in the process.
Someone who Dumbledore considered to be Hogwarts' best legilimens.
Severus Snape.
Claudia could not even look at her all classmate. She stood, her arms folded across her chest, with her back to him. He was the reason James and Lily were hunted by Voldemort! He was the reason Neville was miserable! They were there for barely fifteen minutes, and Claudia already wanted to break the silence about ten times to yell at him, or worse, but stopped each time. You are supposed to convince Fudge, you are worthy of a Wizengamot seat, she kept thinking. Keep it together!
She was digging her fingernails into her palm to keep control of her anger, when the door flew open and in walked none other than the now famous Gilderoy Lockhart, looking just as pompous as he did when Claudia met him that one time at school.
"I heard that the greatest legilimens in the country were assembling in this room, so I thought I would join…" he said with a beaming smile. "Have I ever told you that the Master of the Guild of Legilimens in China granted me an honorary position as the-
"Save these stories for your fans, Gilderoy," Snape growled, interrupting the newcomer.
"Oh, Severus. I-
"What he means…" Claudia – already in a terrible mood before Lockhart arrived – hissed, " is shut the fuck up."
Lockhart's face inflated with self-importance. "I would ask for some civility, please…"
"From her?" Snape sneered. "Good luck."
"At least I don't take my frustration out on children-" Claudia hissed.
"Do you mean that idiot godson of yours?" Snape barked back. "He's lucky to still be here-"
"He's not an idiot. And if you spent a second talking to him, you'd know-"
"A second?" Snape smirked. "He couldn't get a sentence out if I gave him an hour."
She was not entirely sure how, but Claudia had suddenly found herself with her wand drawn and pointed at Snape's heart…
"Let's all be friends here…" Lockhart stepped between them. "Whatever it is that is troubling you, I am sure I can be of assistance. One time, when I was travelling in Kenya…"
"SHUT UP!" Both Claudia and Snape shouted in unison, and Lockhart's mouth snapped shut.
Claudia turned around again and stared at the wall. She took a deep breath. Keep it together! But the silence did not last long-
"Speaking of Kenya…" Lockhart's voice carried through the classroom. "On another occasion, I learnt Occlumency techniques there. The mage that taught me said he never saw such raw talent. I would simply–" he clicked his fingers "–and my mind was like a fortress. With no effort at all-"
Claudia could hear Snape scoff and slowly turned around. "Do you want to show me?" she hissed at Lockhart. Just then, she caught Snape's eye; they were twinkling. He knew Lockhart was talking rubbish, just as well as she did. "I'm sure Severus wouldn't mind putting your skills to test either."
"I would love to," Lockhart replied and theatrically lifted his left wrist to his face. "But unfortunately, I have just realised that I urgently need to-" he stuttered. "That I need to speak to Professor Sprout about a thing. You know-" He walked backwards towards the door. "Pleasure to see you both."
"Clown," Snape mumbled as Lockhart shut the door behind him. "He thinks that-"
But Claudia was no longer listening. She turned her back on Snape again and pretended with all her might that he did not exist.
Mercifully, Claudia was soon put out of her misery when Dumbledore and Fudge entered the room with, what Claudia could only assume were, the boys' parents. One couple looked like a muggle version of Claudia's parents, while the others were quite possibly the beigest, most muggle people she had ever seen.
But before she could examine them any further, Fudge nudged the rich-looking couple towards Claudia.
"These are Mr and Mrs Finch-Fletchley," he introduced them.
"Claudia Avery," she said with a slight nod.
The father looked at Claudia for a couple seconds longer than was comfortable. "The Minister assures me you are very capable, but you seem awfully young-" He turned to his wife. "Maybe we should have gone with the Professor too…"
"The Professor is the same age as me," Claudia said as pleasantly as she could, while Édith's remarks about dressing like a muggle teenager flashed through her mind. "And I have formal training-"
"Miss Avery is highly capable, let me assure you." Fudge jumped in. "One of the Ministry's rising stars."
But Mr Finch-Fletchley seemed far from convinced, so Claudia had to change tactic. "I promise this is safe," she spoke to the woman. "I wouldn't do anything to harm your son. I won't alter or twist anything in his mind. Just read it…"
"That's all that matters, Ethan…" The wife whispered.
"Alright. But I will want to be there."
"Sure," Claudia said quickly, choosing to count this as a victory. "If you're quiet… Now," she changed the topic before the Finch-Fletchley couple changed their mind. "Can you tell me anything about when he was found? Anything unusual on the scene that day?"
"The Headmaster said," Mrs Finch-Fletchley began, "he was frozen-"
"Petrified," her husband corrected her. "Petrified near the Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost."
"Alright," Claudia replied. "Let's go then."
The first thing she did when she arrived in the Hospital Wing was to put her palm on the boy's forehead. Instantly, she felt his mind pulsating with memories, and thoughts. That was good. She would look like a right fool if it turned out you could not read the mind of someone who had been petrified. But his mind felt a bit-
"What are you doing?" Mr Finch-Fletchley interrupted.
"Working," Claudia hissed. This man was really beginning to stretch the limits of her patience. "Now, I need you to be quiet."
Mr Finch-Fletchley did not apologise, merely folded his arms against his chest and continued to glare at Claudia.
Trying her best not to kick him out, she took out her silver lime wand and pointed it right at the boy's forehead. She pictured Nearly Headless Nick, and allowed herself to get lost in the boy's mind. The memories, however, were sluggish – clearly the petrification has affected him. No matter how hard Claudia tried to guide the search, the boy's mind kept throwing all kinds of stuff at her – memories of other ghosts, other traumatic incidents… The boy being belittled by his father, falling off a broom, failing a test.
But then, for a split second… She felt a huge surge of energy and saw eyes. Big, brown serpent-like eyes…
It sent chill down Claudia's spine and the connection broke. She exhaled and put her wand back into her sleeve.
"What happened?" Mr Finch-Fletchley barked. "What did you see? Tell me!"
His face was full of anger, just as it was when Claudia saw it seconds ago in the boy's mind. Her willingness to play nice vanished.
"I report only to the Minister," she hissed and turned around. "Have a good day."
It turned out, however, that Claudia did not have to rush out of the door to give the Minister her report, as Dumbledore and Fudge were nowhere to be seen. She slumped to the floor, just round the corner from the Hospital Wing and waited. She was sure that those eyes had something to do with the petrification. The feeling that she got when she saw them; it felt like death was imminent. She exhaled. So, there was a monster after all. Or maybe not, her brain began to spin. Human hybrids, concealment charms, Polyjuice Potion; there were dozens of explanations why a dark wizard's eyes could look like those of a serpent.
"You're finished, already?" Fudge exclaimed excitedly when he emerged from round the corner about fifteen minutes after Claudia had finished, Dumbledore in tow.
"Yes." Claudia jumped to her feet, then looked around to make sure Mr Finch-Fletchley was not around to overhear. "I saw a glimpse of the incident – a pair of brown eyes."
"Yellow!" someone hissed from behind her. Claudia turned to see Snape had emerged from the hospital wing also.
"Brown."
"Yellow."
Dumbledore silenced them both with a gesture. "Claudia could have seen them through the ghost, correct?" he said, in a somewhat impatient tone. "So, they may have appeared brown to her, even if they were in fact yellow."
The silence suggested that both Claudia and Snape accepted this as the probable explanation.
"That settles it," Snape said, looking intently at the Headmaster. "It is as we suspected – a basilisk or a gorgon."
"Or a dark wizard… we cannot rule anything out," Claudia said.
"What wizards have yellow eyes?" Snape sneered.
"Madame Hooch?" Claudia said flippantly.
"Madame Hooch is not under suspicion, I hope, Cornelius," Dumbledore said quickly, with a side-glance at Claudia.
Fudge did not reply immediately, which caught Claudia's attention and made her look at him. He looked frozen. And she instantly knew why – a few days ago he told her he would eat his hat if it turned out to be a basilisk. It was very clear what was coming…
The Minister cleared his throat. "This is a criminal case of the utmost importance now. I'll speak to Amelia. I want you to prepare rooms. All students and staff will be interviewed. Teaching will be suspended. All possessions must be searched."
Just as I predicted, Claudia thought, a desperate overreaction.
"Cornelius," Dumbledore said gently but firmly. "I've let the Ministry do that once before, and it did not yield any results. I will not let you turn this school upside down again."
Fudge looked at Claudia, then Snape. "A word, Dumbledore, in private."
Dumbledore gestured down the corridor and they left, leaving Claudia and Snape alone.
"What?" Claudia barked when she noticed Snape was staring at her with a smirk on his face.
"It's staggering how little you've changed- Still the same petulant little girl…"
"Shut your Death Eater mouth!"
Snape scoffed, turned on his heel and floated away.
"Bastard," Claudia muttered and slid to sit on the floor again. She searched her pockets for cigarettes but found none- "Fuck…" she hissed. How was Snape still walking free? While Sirius rotted in that place! One word from anyone, Dumbledore or Fudge and their fates could have easily been switched. And there was nothing she could do. Or maybe-
But before she decided to follow Snape and end his miserable life, Fudge emerged.
"We're leaving," he huffed. "On his stubborn white head be it."
"What happened, Minister?" It took all of Claudia's composure not to blow up on Fudge also. He too was responsible for Sirius' misery. Worse still, he was a fool. Suggestible, impressionable fool…
"He quoted some thirteen century bylaws at me," Fudge interrupted Claudia's rather disloyal thoughts. "Apparently, we don't have jurisdiction here and have been politely requested to vacate the premises," he mimicked Dumbledore's voice.
"Is that true? About the bylaws?"
"I'm going straight to the legal department to check."
But Dumbledore was right about the bylaws and the Ministry was unceremoniously thrown out of Hogwarts. It fell to Claudia to tell the Department of Mysteries' team, who were now assembled in her office.
"I know it's a disappointment to us all-" she concluded her recounting of what she saw in the boy's mind and Dumbledore's decision. "But it's a decision we need to live with."
"It makes no sense," Griffin grumbled. "You saw something, a monster. Why throw us out now when there is finally proof?"
She thought for a second about telling them the truth, that Fudge went overboard and threatened to turn Hogwarts into an interrogation camp. But in the end thought better of it. Afterall, Gordon was at this meeting. And the last think she needed was that her disloyalty would get back to Fudge. She bit her lip to think of something else to say. "Dumbledore wants to handle it himself. And let's face it, if there is anyone who can find the monster and defeat it, it's him."
There was a murmur of agreement.
"That's not to say," Claudia continued. "That we lose interest completely." She turned to Griffin. "I find it improbable that a full gorgon would be roaming Hogwarts. But could someone appear human, and have a little gorgon blood in them? Or control it in any way?"
"Maybe with a potion?" Griffin shrugged. "But it's unlikely."
Still more likely than a basilisk, Claudia thought. "Look into it."
Once she ended the meeting and everyone dispersed back into their respective rooms, Claudia noticed that K.P., the Head of Division Twelve, was lingering.
"Anything you didn't want to share with the rest of the class?" she asked jokingly.
But K.P. did not laugh. Instead, he straightened his glasses and began speaking in a quiet, low voice. "Back in the eighteen-eighties, the Division did some experiments to see if the powers, or the essence, of various magical creatures could be contained in inanimate objects."
He paused and looked at Claudia, as if he was expecting her to ask a question. But she did not. She did not even dare to think about where this was going-
"One of the experiments was to do with gorgons and an artefact was created." K.P. paused to take a breath. He was fidgeting with his notebook. This was very unlike him. "And it's missing."
Claudia swallowed dry. "Are you telling me we could be responsible for this? Since when has it been missing?"
"We don't know exactly." K.P.'s usually steady voice was shaking a little. "But we know that Augustus Rookwood worked in the section that would have had it-" he trailed off, looking at his feet.
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Claudia barked. "And you're only telling me this now?"