lilacsigil (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lilacsigil) wrote2014-06-15 12:54 pm
lilacsigil) wrote2014-06-15 12:54 pm
Entry tags:
- big bang,
- fic,
- gen,
- harry potter,
- x-men
Fic: The Getting of Magic (X-Men First Class/Harry Potter fusion) Chapter 6
Back to Chapter 5
The next morning, Charles awoke to Filius knocking on the door.
"I'm sorry to wake you so early," he said, as the Ravenclaw boys stirred, "There's a student missing and I was wondering if any of you had seen her? It's Gabrielle Haller, a Gryffindor in your year."
"What happened?" Hank was alert, even if Charles was still too sleepy to ask the right question.
Filius shrugged. He looked extremely worried – so much so that he hadn't shaved, unusual for such a neat student – though his voice remained calm. "She went to bed last night and when her roommate woke up this morning, she was gone. We can't find her anywhere in the castle."
Another Seventh Year boy ran up to Filius and whispered something to him before dashing off again.
"I'm sorry, there's now two Gryffindor First Years missing."
Charles and Hank exchanged a glance, sure that he was about to say Erik Lehnsherr. He did act strangely around Gabrielle Haller – he avoided her with great determination, and she avoided him.
"Karl Lykos is the other. He left the dormitory early this morning to, uh, go for a run, but he hasn't returned and now can't be located."
All three boys shook their heads, bewildered. Karl was a very quiet boy who tended to score well on class quizzes, but no-one really knew much about him.
Filius nodded. "Well, make sure you stick with your classmates today, all right? Don't go wandering off. Just in case."
"We won't!" Hank said heartily, and both Larry and Charles shook their heads emphatically.
"Good, good." Filius hurried out again, heading up to the next dormitory.
Hank and Charles had to wait until Larry went to the WC before they could talk freely.
"Do you think it's Shaw?" Hank's eyes were wide, magnified further by his glasses.
"It's a bit of a coincidence if it isn't!" Charles was getting dressed as quickly as he could, hoping to duck over to the Gryffindor dormitory before breakfast. Hank followed his lead. Unfortunately, as soon as they got to the Common Room, it was clear they weren't going anywhere. Two Seventh Years were at the door, keeping everyone inside. The Quidditch team and their most ardent supporters were complaining loudly that they were missing practice and Slytherin would defeat them for sure on the weekend.
"Slytherin's not out practicing, either," said one of the older students sternly. "Go get changed – we'll go down to breakfast together in half-an-hour."
Charles and Hank – now joined by Moira – took seats in the farthest corner they could.
"Shaw's not here yet!" Moira hissed at them.
"I know! Unless he showed up early – Dumbledore would only tell Erik, not us."
"Good theory!" Hank nodded seriously, though this was just as speculative as anything else.
"I wish there was a telephone service or something between the dorms," Charles muttered. "At home we had speaking tubes."
"Oh!" Moira's face lit up. "I was thinking about it last night, and I can make one. What's something small and harmless we can carry around with us?"
"A quill?" Hank was nervously fiddling with one.
"A pocketknife," Charles offered. Everyone had one to sharpen their quills and they were easy to hide in a pocket.
"That's smaller, it'll do." Moira jumped up and ran to the girls' dorm, pushing through crowds of complaining, hungry Ravenclaws, and returned with her ubiquitous notebook.
"Right then. People out in the Hebrides use this spell to talk to each other more than they use Floo powder. It's like a radio. Aossala!" She touched her pocketknife to Charles' and repeated the charm, then Charles did the same to Hank's.
"Got it? Whenever we see the others, we should pass this on so we can all talk in emergencies."
"Can we choose who we talk to?" Hank asked.
"No." Moira held her closed pocketknife near her mouth. "Anything you say will be heard by everyone in the chain." Her voice came out of the boys' pocketknives, tinny and soft. "Sorry, I don't know how to do it any other way."
"All right, everyone!" called one of the older students. "Time for breakfast! Try not to trample the little Firsties on the stairs!"
Moira made a nasty face in his general direction, and Charles had to laugh despite his tension.
There were teachers and prefects everywhere as they went down to breakfast, and Charles and Moira were nearly knocked down by Professor Merrythought swooping past them up the stairs.
"Is there anything we can do?" Charles asked Moira.
"We should talk to – oh, there's Armando and Alex. Let's ask them."
Armando was seeking them out too, and waved at them. They eventually all managed to make it out of the crush of four Houses all coming in to breakfast at once, and Sean, Hank and Angel made it to their little huddle as well.
"Dumbledore wanted to talk to Erik," Armando said, his words falling over each other in his hurry. "We were on our way down and Dumbledore came barging through us and grabbed Erik by the arm and marched him off the other way!"
"We should have gone back, but we were being pushed along," Alex added.
"I saw Professor Dumbledore going by," Angel sounded worried. "He looked as if he was about to kill someone, he was so mad."
"Before we go searching for Erik, Moira has a useful spell for us," Charles announced, and Moira quickly explained about the pocketknives. Everyone had theirs, so she, Charles and Hank quietly passed the spell on to the others, adding them to the link. As the finished, Dumbledore and a very surly Erik entered the Great Hall. Dumbledore pushed Erik towards the Gryffindor table, and he took a seat there, though as soon as Dumbledore moved on to the head table, Erik scrambled over to sit by Armando.
"Sit down, please!" Headmaster Dippet's voice boomed through the hall and everyone scrambled for their seats.
The Headmaster continued. "As most of you are now aware, two of our youngest students are missing. Miss Haller and Mr Lykos were last seen early this morning. Staff will continue to search for them, but in the meantime, classes will proceed as normal. All students are required to stay with their Housemates until the students are found." Dippet wiped his glasses on the checked scarf he had tucked in to the collar of his robes. "And of course, I must remind you all that jokes and japes of this nature are absolutely forbidden. Those of you who enjoy attention, please remember that when the missing students are found, they will be in a great deal of trouble."
Several of the teachers frowned at that, and both Dumbledore and Merrythought looked as if they were about to get up from their seats, but Dippet hadn't finished.
"Finally, we are expecting a guest today from the Ministry of Games and Sports, Mr Sebastian Shaw. He will be bringing his three wards with him, and I expect you students to be very welcoming to them. Now, on with your breakfast." Dippet pulled his robes around him and left the room.
Charles was most startled by the announcement of Shaw's companions, and it appeared that Dumbledore was, too. Charles poked Moira in the side and she slapped his hand.
"Don't poke at me! I heard what he said."
Charles put his hand up to his mouth, pocketknife hidden in his palm. "Erik, do you know anything about, well, anything?"
Erik's answer came swiftly. "I told Gabrielle that a man from the camps would be here. I didn't realise she would run away." He sounded offended. "He wasn't even from her camp."
"Yeah, well, she did lose her whole family." Armando joined in the conversation. "At least you're aware of what you're facing. And you have friends to help. She's not really friends with anyone."
Erik made a noise that might have been irritation, acceptance or possibly chewing. Charles was always impressed by Erik's ability to eat vast amounts of food while holding a perfectly normal conversation.
Moira asked, "So she's all right? Just hiding?"
"Yeah. And Karl goes out early every morning, so he's probably helping her."
A moment after that, Karl Lykos walked into the hall, escorted by Professor Shomron. The Gryffindor table burst into applause, which soon died down as Karl was marched right past them, up to the teachers, and away through a side door with Dumbledore. The very second the door closed, the Great Hall was alive with speculation and gossip.
"To your classes, please!" Professor Slughorn bellowed over the noise – he certainly didn't need to magically amplify his voice – and everyone scattered for their first class. As it was Wednesday, all the first years were sharing a class: Defence Against the Dark Arts. They banded together to make their way through, Cain Marko and Fred Dukes leading the way, and eventually made it to the big classroom.
Charles had hoped to have some time to talk to Moira, but Professor Merrythought was already there, arranging supplies on a long table.
"Good morning, students," she said, hurriedly, and the students replied, shuffling into their seats. Karl Lykos was not among them.
Suzanne Chan from Gryffindor put her hand up and waited for Professor Merrythought to see her. "Professor, shouldn't we be out searching for Gabrielle? We can do classes any time."
Professor Merrythought shook her head. "Suzanne, I understand you're worried about your roommate, but sending students out is a terrible idea. If Gabrielle is just hiding or has run away, it's unlikely that any of you will catch up to her. If something has happened to her, the exact same thing could happen to any of you. If you have anything particular to add – " she glanced at Erik at this point "- you should tell the Headmaster or Professor Dumbledore at once. Is there anything more you have to tell them?"
"No, Professor." Suzanne's eyes were puffy from crying and her hanky was so wet that Tanya Trask had to give her another.
"Now, on with today's lesson. We reviewed the chapter on counter-charms earlier this week, so today we'll make one. This is an Intregity Charm: it will tell you if any spell is being cast on you, and will continue to remind you as long as the spell is active. Now, does anyone know the downside to this object? Mr Faroukh?"
"It doesn't detect spells you cast yourself."
Larry Trask waved his hand. "And it doesn't make a difference if the spell is helping or harming you!"
"Well said – five points to Slytherin and to Ravenclaw. The Integrity Charm, like most Dark Detectors, is an inelegant thing that detects far more than you would want it to detect. For example, the stone will change colour when you walk into your dormitory because of the protective charms cast over the doors. Please form a line and take one bundle each, and I will show you how to weave the charm."
Halfway through the class, Professor Dumbledore hurried in and retrieved Erik, taking him away in a flurry of robes before Charles had a chance to say goodbye. He planned to wait a few minutes before taking out his pocketknife to ask Erik what was going on, but it was Erik who spoke first.
"Hey, is this too loud?" A hoarse whisper came from the pocketknives.
"No, it's fine," Charles whispered.
"Shaw's arriving early so Dumbledore sent me to the dorm. Shaw has three kids with him, the girl from the photo Hank found, and two boys."
"Will he be hurting them?" Armando asked.
"Definitely. But Shaw always makes you feel loyal to him, so they'll probably fight for him if they're around when the plan goes ahead."
Angel's voice was calm and assured. "There's more of us than them, so we can keep them away from Dumbledore's office if we have to."
"Keep an eye on them when you see them," Erik added, then everyone went silent: there was nothing more to say right now, and they couldn't risk having the pocketknives confiscated.
Moira and Charles finished Erik's Integrity Charm for him so that he'd have something to be marked on at the end of the class, and hurried down to lunch in great excitement. Despite all that Erik had told them about how dangerous and evil Shaw was, it was thrilling that they were secretly helping Dumbledore fight him.
Shaw was already in the Great Hall when they arrived, seated at the head table and chatting with Professor Slughorn. Shaw looked exactly like his photograph: a middle-aged man with wire-rim glasses, wearing slightly travel-worn robes, though he no longer had a moustache. Seated beside him was the girl from the photograph: a pretty, delicate, blonde girl about Charles's age, with a white fur trim on her ice-blue robes. The others that Erik had mentioned were there, too: a tall, saturnine young man with a short beard who must surely be sixteen or seventeen, and a younger boy with long brown hair and olive skin. The younger boy sat quietly, staring at the table, but the other boy and girl looked openly about the hall. The girl occasionally bestowed a smile on someone, reminding Charles of Princess Elizabeth on a tour.
Charles took his seat and whispered to Moira, "I'm going to try to find out how they feel – not Shaw, the others. If there's one who wants to get away from him, maybe they'll help Dumbledore."
Moira frowned. "Will you be all right? It's very noisy here and you need to concentrate."
"It's important! Knowing that helps." As soon as the tureens of soup arrived to distract everyone, Charles closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling out the location of the high table. It was easier than he'd thought: all the adults were grouped there, with their powerful, shielded minds, so he just had to slide across from them until he found one that was different. He observed it carefully, then, to his shock, he felt someone look back at him. He and the new presence reached out to each other, though Charles wasn't sure if that was a friendly gesture or an attack. Their minds touched, and the other person shoved Charles away, hard. He grabbed at the other mind, determined not to be pushed out against his will, and, with a terrible noise like distant thunder, everything went black.
---
One moment Charles was sitting perfectly still, his fingers pressed to his temple, and the next he collapsed off the bench. Moira managed get an arm under him to slow his fall, ending up tangled on the ground with him.
"Help! He's fainted!" she called out, and people rushed over. Raven shoved through the crowd to crouch by Charles' side, then Professor Merrythought was there, waving her wand over Charles' unconscious form.
"There's no sign of a spell. Let's get him to the infirmary with the girl."
Chava Prydeman helped Moira up, getting between her and Professor Merrythought before she could ask "What girl?" Before she could try again, she saw who they meant: the girl at the high table with the fur-trimmed robes was unconscious in the arms of Groundskeeper Ogg. Professor Merrythought floated Charles' still body alongside her, and they, along with Shaw and Dumbledore, all hurried off towards the infirmary. Moira watched them go, then realised that Charles would be with Shaw and none of them would be there to protect him: Shaw might get Dumbledore's entire plan out of Charles' head, given the chance!
Moira grabbed Raven's hand. "You have to go with Charles, Raven – they'll let you in because you're family. I'll come along with you."
Raven was in tears, and let Moira pull her out the door without argument. They caught up to the teachers and the two patients just as they all entered the infirmary, greeted by Healer Yaxley. The Healer was a great big man with an intimidating beard, very much resembled the pictures of Druids in the History of Magic textbook. The First Years had been thoroughly warned that his favoured treatment for everything was a good dose of the salts, whether you had earache, were cursed bald or had a boil. Today, though, he seemed competent and quick, directing the adults carrying Charles and the girl to place them on two of the beds, and casting several spells over them.
"Their names, please?" His voice was authoritative.
"Charles Xavier and Emma Frost," Dumbledore supplied.
"And have they ever met before?"
"They've both lived in America, but as far as I'm aware, they've had no contact," Dumbledore frowned and glanced over at Shaw. "Sebastian?"
"I can't speak for Emma's life before she became my ward, but they certainly haven't met in the last year." Shaw leaned over Charles in a proprietary fashion and Moira wanted to beat him away with her wand. Instead, she held Raven's hand firmly. Raven had stopped crying and had a snarl on her face instead.
"Hmm. It appears that they've worked the same spell on each other at the same moment. When the wielders are at similar levels of skill, power and intent, a backlash can sometimes ensue. Fainting is a protective response from the body – I've never known spell-lock to continue for more than a day, especially in children so young. I would expect a full recovery by tomorrow."
"I am most delighted to hear that," Professor Merrythought said, and Dumbledore, too, looked intensely relieved. Shaw, however, was staring at Charles with a renewed interest and something in his face that closely resembled greed.
"And who are you two?" Groundskeeper Ogg, who'd carried Emma Frost, pointed a bony finger at the two girls.
"This is Charles's sister and I'm his friend," Moira replied, in her best no-nonsense voice. If she didn't convince them that she should stay, Charles could be at the mercy of Shaw. Healer Yaxley was a strong man and must be a skilful wizard, but Shaw had something predatory about him that spoke of confidence and ferociousness. At the mention of Raven being Charles' sister, he'd turned his bland but penetrating gaze on her. Moira was glad Raven was wearing a smooth, pink skin today, with blonde hair, bearing a close resemblance to Charles: Shaw shouldn't see her blue.
"Sister, eh?" Yaxley came over to Raven. "Has anything like this happened before?"
Raven had stopped crying and was watching Shaw cautiously – she must have picked up the same idea as Moira – but responded politely to the Healer. "Yes, sir, a few times, but it was just him. We used to live near New York City, and sometimes when we went into the city he'd feel overwhelmed and faint. Not for this long. Just a normal faint."
"Thank you, Miss Xavier."
"Darkholme." At Yaxley's curious look, she explained, "I'm adopted."
Yaxley turned to his patients, as did Shaw: his interest in Raven seemed to have diminished as soon as she mentioned she was not Charles' blood relative. Moira breathed such a sigh of relief that she quickly had to turn it into a cough to disguise it.
The adults spoke amongst themselves, and Professor Dumbledore came over to Moira and Raven. "Would you two girls stay with Charles? I'm sure he would find it comforting to have someone familiar here when he wakes."
"Thank you, Professor," Raven answered.
"Only if you can stay quiet!" Yaxley added.
"I'll leave Emma in your capable hands, Healer," Shaw said, and he swept out of the infirmary with Dumbledore, Merrythought and the groundskeeper. As she and Raven sat by Charles's bed, Moira had a terrible urge to poke her tongue out at his retreating back, but resisted in case Yaxley threw them out.
Her pocketknife had been buzzing ever since she left the Great Hall with Raven, and finally she had a chance to update everyone. She hesitated for a moment, since Raven was there, but thought that it probably wouldn't matter – it wasn't actually part of Erik and Dumbledore's plans and it certainly wasn't suspicious for her to find a way to talk to her friends.
"Raven, do you mind if I tell Erik and Hank what happened? We have these to talk to each other." She showed Raven the pocketknife, and as she did, Hank's voice emerged from it.
"We need to calm down," he was saying.
Raven giggled nervously. "That's a good idea! I'll tell you if the Healer is coming."
Moira spoke quietly into the spelled pocketknife. "Everyone, this is Moira. I'm in the infirmary with Charles and Raven's here too. The girl's name is Emma Frost and the Healer says that she and Charles will be fine. They must have cast the same spell at the same time and that can make you faint for a while."
"Charles was casting a spell?" Armando sounded puzzled.
"No, he was doing that thing, where he can feel how a person is."
"He shouldn't have done that!" Erik's voice was louder, and angrier. "He didn't know anything about them!"
Raven leaned over to join in. "He didn't know anything about you, and that turned out all right!"
Moira stepped in before an argument started. "Anyway, that must mean she can do it too – the Healer said it has to be the same spell. And Shaw was really interested."
"What about Raven? Was he interested in her?" Angel asked.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Does everyone have one of these except me?"
"Shush, Raven. No, he was only interested in her for a moment when he thought she was a blood sister to Charles. As soon as he knew she wasn't, he didn't care anymore."
"Well, good." Alex was as gruff as ever, but Moira could hear the relief.
"Wait, wait!" Raven gestured with Charles' limp hand, which she was holding. "Is this about Professor Black's prediction? Do you think Shaw is the one who might want to hurt me?"
Angel laughed over the link. "Yeah, Raven, you're too smart for your own good."
Erik spoke over her. "Shaw hurt me, during the War. It wasn't much of a jump to assume he might hurt you. And here he is, with three more children in tow."
Raven was about to reply, when Moira hushed her."Shh, someone's coming towards the infirmary."
Everyone on the link went quiet and Moira dropped her pocketknife in a deep pocket of her robes.
Shaw strode into the room, his long, elegant robes swirling around him. "Healer Yaxley," he called out to the Healer at his desk at the other end of the room. "I've come to check on Miss Frost."
Yaxley nodded, and Raven quickly scrambled around to Moira's side of the bed, away from Emma Frost and Shaw.
"Young ladies," Shaw nodded to them politely and sat down in between Emma and Charles' beds. He took both Emma's hands in his. If he wasn't genuinely concerned about her, he was doing a fairly good impression. Moira kept an eye on him, but it didn't seem that he was doing anything apart from guarding Emma, so she watched Charles as well.
Charles had looked half-dead immediately after the spell-lock happened but colour had come back into his face and now he appeared peacefully, if deeply, asleep. He was definitely improving, for all he was very still. Something caught Moira's eye: Charles' pocket was glowing. She angled her head to draw Raven's gaze to it and Raven, who was holding Charles' hand, silently reached in and drew out the spell-detecting amulet they'd made in class, keeping it shielded in her hand so that Shaw couldn't see it. It was glowing brightly and Raven glared at Shaw so furiously that Moira was surprised the man didn't burst into flames on the spot. The skin at her hairline was flickering blue.
Moira pressed Raven into her seat before she leapt across the bed and attacked Shaw – that would really be a give-away – and instead called out in her clearest, loudest voice.
"Healer Yaxley! I think someone's casting a spell on Charles!"
Shaw's pleasant mask dropped for just a moment, revealing a vast and seething anger, and Moira quailed. By the time the Healer had made it to Charles' bedside, Shaw looked mildly concerned instead.
Yaxley waved his wand over Charles and nodded. "Now, how did you pick that up, lass?"
"We made amulets in Defence Against the Dark Arts," she told him, and Raven held it out for his inspection.
Yaxley frowned. "I'll have to move Mr Xavier to the Dragon Pox ward." At the expression of alarm on the girls' faces, he explained, "The lesions of Dragon Pox are inflamed by the presence of active magic, so Hogwarts has an isolation room. You'll be able to observe the patient from outside the room."
He picked Charles up – this time he stirred slightly at the movement – and carried him to the far end of the Infirmary. Shaw's face turned thunderous the moment Yaxley turned away, not caring that the girls saw.
"I don't know what your game is," Shaw hissed at them, "But your interference will be punished."
"Only if you admit you were casting a spell on my brother!" Raven snapped, and with a flip of her long blonde hair, headed to the isolation room. Moira glared at Shaw and followed, impressed by Raven's bravery.
Shaw patted Emma's hand and walked out of the infirmary just as Yaxley returned.
"Healer, it was Mr Shaw casting the spell," Moira told him.
"I'm not about to accuse guests of such things without solid proof, and you'd do well to learn from that, lass. Now sit down by the window, here, and I'll get you both a cup of tea."
Moira couldn't argue with that – not even Raven could – and took her seat with a sigh. She could easily see Charles and there was no way Shaw could do anything to him while he was safely locked up in there. As soon as she could, she'd explain everything to the others. Perhaps they could watch in shifts.
---
Erik was furious. Charles had not only been injured, somehow, but had attracted Shaw's attention to himself. It was only a few more hours to the meeting in Dumbledore's office, though, so Erik had to hold on to the hope that Shaw would not be around to hurt Charles, but instead having his life drained away in Azkaban.
Armando, Angel and Sean had gone to the infirmary as reinforcements for Moira and Raven. They'd been prepared to argue their way in, but Healer Yaxley had simply sat them on the long padded bench by the observation window and brought them each a strong cup of tea. Afternoon classes had been cancelled except for the students taking OWLs and NEWTs this year, as more and more of the teachers were out searching for Gabrielle Haller. Various prefects came down to check on the students in the infirmary, but even bossy Tessa Prewett seemed happy to leave them under the watchful eye of Healer Yaxley.
Hank had been sent over to the dorm he shared with Charles to watch out for Shaw sneaking into the Ravenclaw dorms to go through Charles' things, but so far his watch had been uneventful. Alex had stayed in the Gryffindor dorm as Erik's line to the outside world, bringing him lunch and keeping him company. All the students not in classes had been sent to their common rooms and only moved about Hogwarts in supervised groups, so it wasn't hard for Alex to duck in and out of the dorm.
Dumbledore hadn't been entirely clear about the effects of the spell he cast on Erik: his friends had indeed remembered him, but other students in the dorm didn't seem to notice him at all. Shiro had walked in to get a book from his trunk and completely ignored Erik, who was sitting in plain view on his own bed. Erik wouldn't have thought much of that – he and Shiro frequently argued – except that Shiro painstakingly checked his appearance in the mirror before leaving. There was no way he would have done that in front of Erik, who often mocked his fastidiousness.
Alex and Erik were playing yet another game of rolling checkers – with frequent pauses to talk to the others who were with Charles – when Karl Lykos shuffled into the dorm. He looked as if he had been crying, and there were scratches on his face and arms. Erik nudged Alex, who glared at Erik but then realised what Erik meant. Erik wasn't meant to talk to people if he could avoid it, so that left Alex.
"Hey, Karl. You okay?" Alex asked, in a deeply unconvincing attempt at a friendly voice.
Karl jumped. "Yeah, sure, fine, leave me alone."
Erik sighed. Alex was hardly the person to reassure the always-reticent Karl. He'd just have to ignore Dumbledore's instructions in the safety of the Gryffindor dorm.
"Karl. Where's Gabrielle? I'm really worried about her."
Even more startled at Erik's sudden appearance, Karl snapped at him. "Well, you shouldn't have scared the life out of her then! This whole thing is because of you!"
"What whole thing?" Erik snapped back, trying to keep his temper under control. "I mean, is she all right? Did you help her?"
Karl sidled over to Erik, watching Alex cautiously until Alex threw his hands up and went off to the common room.
He spoke in a low voice, barely above a whisper. "I promised not to tell the teachers. She said it wasn't safe. But I guess you can't be a Nazi. Are you hiding out in here?"
Erik seized the opportunity. "It was me that warned her. Is she somewhere safe? You don't have to tell me where." It was a surprise to Erik that he was genuinely worried about her. He hadn't really thought through his warning of the night before, only that that he couldn't let Gabrielle go unaware.
"Yes? No? I'm not sure. Did she tell you about my curse?"
"You have a curse?"
Karl shook his head. "You're Muggle-born, aren't you? No wonder you don't know about this. I mean that there's a curse on my family. Over five hundred years ago my ancestor was cursed so that every day, the eldest male in the family turns into a great leathery bird. Over the generations, various wizards have managed to reduce the curse so that it doesn't last all day, just an hour or so. And it doesn't make you mindless and violent, now. Plus we can trigger the transformation ourselves rather than having to transform at first light, unless we leave it too late in the day. So when my dad and granddad were killed in the war…"
"It fell on you." It made sense now, Karl's early morning absences and that the prefects knew about them. "So they organised for you to go out every morning instead of turning into a giant bird in class. How did Gabrielle find out?"
"She followed me one day and saw the whole thing, but once I was in the air I spotted her watching. She said she doesn't like people having secrets." Karl made a face. "I said she should go follow you and those two Ravenclaws, then, you're always sneaking around."
"And did she?"
"No, she said she already knew all about you. Guess she was right. So this morning, she followed me out and asked me to fly her over the Forbidden Forest so she could get out of here."
Erik clenched a fist. "You just left her there?"
"Not exactly. When we were flying out, we saw one of those big black skeleton horses bringing an open carriage up from Hogsmeade."
Erik nodded. He'd seen the skeletal horses wandering around the edge of the Forbidden Forest, looking like ghastly animated corpses, but they seemed happy enough, and friendly with the groundskeepers, Hagrid and Ogg. "Did you see Shaw? The man who was at the teachers' table this morning?"
"Yeah. And Gabrielle, she saw him, and made a weird little noise and I thought she was going to say something. But then she turned into solid gold." Karl shook his head. "She was way too heavy for me to carry, and we sank straight down behind the trees. I doubt Shaw saw us, but I flew as far as I could so that he wouldn't find her. Then I put her down in a glen and covered her up with some leaves. And then I flew the long way around the forest so that no-one would see exactly where I'd been."
"You can tell Dumbledore," Erik said, firmly. "He hates Shaw and people like him. Or Professor Shomron. He's a Jew, the same as Gabrielle and me. I don't really know him, but I'm certain he wouldn't tell Shaw."
Karl pressed his lips together. "No. I promised not to tell teachers. And when I came in from the grounds with Professor Shomron, the first thing I saw was the Headmaster practically embracing Shaw in the courtyard. Gabrielle will be okay where she is, at least until Shaw is gone. It's an impermanent transfiguration, human to gold."
"You should try to smuggle her some food and water in case she changes back before Shaw is gone." Erik couldn't argue with Karl's logic. Even if Dumbledore could help her, he would only be bringing her into Hogwarts with Shaw.
"I'll try tomorrow. I've been confined to the dorm and common room for now, but there'll be plenty I can pack up from the sideboard. Fruitcake is her favourite. And they can't keep me inside forever, unless they want the curse to go into effect right here in the dorm."
Erik nodded. Gabrielle was safe and he had no doubt that she'd survived without food or proper shelter before and could do it again.
---
Charles's head hurt. It felt as if he'd bitten into ice-cream, a sharp, cold pain. He opened his eyes slowly to see a plain white ceiling rather than the familiar canopy of his bed, and when he turned his head there was a window rather than Hank's stack of books. He had to blink again to focus, but when he did Armando and Angel were waving at him through the window.
"You're in the infirmary!" Armando called out, his voice muffled.
Before Charles could reply, Healer Yaxley strode through the door. "Good to see you awake, lad." He lifted Charles to a seated position, watching him closely.
"I feel fine!" Charles protested.
"Pleased to hear it. You and Miss Frost caught each other in a spell-lock, and what you were doing casting spells at each other in the Great Hall is beyond me."
Charles blinked. He hadn't been casting a spell: Miss Frost must have the same early magical abilities as he did. No wonder Shaw was interested in her. He could see Armando frantically making shushing gestures behind the Healer's back, and nodded in response. "If I'm feeling better, can I go?"
"There's no reason to keep you," Healer Yaxley told him, lifting a large brown glass bottle from the side table and pouring a bitter-smelling medicine onto a large spoon. "Now, have a spoonful of this tonic and you can be on your way."
The spoon was at his lips just as he opened his mouth to protest, and in it went, tasting as bitter and oily as it had smelled. Charles spluttered, and the Healer was satisfied.
"There you are, right as rain. Miss Frost should be stirring soon, so off you go."
Charles might not have tried to leave if he'd known there was a chance to talk to the strange girl, but it was too late now. He got up, feeling more debilitated by the nasty taste of the tonic than by the whole spell-lock affair, put on his shoes, and re-joined Armando. The girl was still tucked into bed, her blonde hair spilling across the pillow, but Charles could have sworn that her eyes were open, just a fraction.
"Erik found out where Gabrielle Haller is – he says she's safe there, Shaw doesn't have her," Armando whispered.
"And it doesn't look like Shaw is interested in Raven after all, but he's certainly interested in you now," Angel added, sounding disturbingly cheerful about the turn-about. "Did you find out anything?"
Before Charles could answer, Chava Prydeman, Druella Rosier and Ignatius Prewett appeared at the door: one prefect from each of their houses.
"Right then," Chava said, "Off to your dorms. No need to bother the Healer anymore."
Armando patted his pocket and Charles remembered they had a way to communicate anyway. He went with Chava without protest, waving to the other two as they parted at the stairway.
"Whatever you were up to, it really wasn't the day for it," Chava told him. "Dippet took ten points from Ravenclaw once the Healer told him about the spell-lock. Honestly, Charles, you should know better than to cast spells at visitors, no matter how curious you are about them."
Charles hung his head. "I'm sorry. She's American, so I thought maybe…" he trailed off, hoping Chava would fill in the rest herself.
"Director Shaw isn't likely to let you two go on a date, or whatever would happen in America. We haven't seen hide nor hair of the two boys since your little stunt, and when Emma wakes up, I'm sure she'll be hidden away just as swiftly."
"Sorry," Charles said again. He really was sorry about the house points, and about ruining their chances to make contact with Shaw's three wards.
Chava must have picked up on the sincerity, because she ruffled his hair before answering today's riddle and herding him into the Ravenclaw common room. "Don't cause any more trouble, hear?"
"I won't!" Charles could see Hank hovering in the doorway that led to their dorms and practically ran over to him, desperate to hear what had gone on while he was unconscious.
Moira was in their dorm, too, with Larry Trask nowhere to be seen. She gave Charles a brief and surprising hug, then cleared her throat, embarrassed to be so emotional.
"Right, then. What did you find out? Shaw tried to cast a spell on you, but Raven and I told Healer Yaxley and he had to pretend it wasn't him. That's why you were in the isolation room, so no-one could get at you."
"You'll be safe in the dorm as long as Shaw doesn't actually come in here," Hank added earnestly. "Ravenclaw Tower is heavily protected, and so are the other dorms."
"Good!" Charles finally managed to get a word in edgeways. "Is everyone else all right? Is Erik still in his dorm?"
"He's staying put," Moira told him, with an eyeroll.
"Did Angel or Armando tell you about Gabrielle Haller from Gryffindor?" Hank asked. "Erik talked to Karl Lykos, and apparently she's hiding somewhere but she's safe. That's all Erik would say about her – he's sworn to secrecy or something." Hank didn't seem too impressed that there was a secret being kept from him. "So what did you find out about Emma Frost?"
Charles sat on the edge of his bed and tried to remember. He'd only been in contact briefly, but it had been more intense than he expected. "She doesn't like Shaw very much, but she's not fond of anyone else either. Except the two boys, she doesn't mind them because they do what she says." Charles frowned. It was surprisingly difficult to retrieve solid information from their connection; his eyes hurt as if a light had been shone into them. "Um, Shaw definitely tells her she's important and better than everyone else, and they're here to establish themselves."
"Erik?" Moira asked urgently.
Charles was much clearer about that. "No, she doesn't know about him, nothing at all."
"That could just mean that Shaw hasn't told her."
"No, she's aware of what they're here to do, I'm sure about that." Emma's certainty in herself had been very clear.
Hank had been relaying Charles's comments into his pocketknife, and Erik's voice interrupted.
"So what did she get out of you, Charles?"
"She was very surprised, so I don't think she got much…"
Erik's scorn was palpable through the faint, scratchy sounds of the spell. "Yes, but what? Much is not the same as nothing."
Charles glared at Hank's pocketknife, even though he knew Erik couldn't see it. "I'm getting there, all right? She got my name, definitely, and that Raven and Cain are my relatives and we came from America. She was interested in that. Oh! She's from Boston. There's lots of Boston Frosts, she must be one of them. I think we're distant relatives."
"What does that mean?" Moira snapped. She hated it when Charles was vague.
"They're a well-known wizarding family. My mother knew them and said she nearly married one. They're very wealthy, very traditional, so I have no idea how Shaw would get Emma Frost away from them."
"I have some ideas," Angel interrupted, darkly. "Families like that always have secrets. Also, I found out where Shaw is right now. Our Quidditch captain just took him out to inspect the playing fields, along with Madame Sykes and Headmaster Dippet. And he was talking about coming to work here."
"Dumbledore would never let him!" Erik and Armando talked over each other.
"Dumbledore's not the Headmaster, is he?" Alex made his first contribution. He sounded cranky, but that was nothing unusual, especially if he'd spent all day running errands for Erik. "And Headmaster Dippet was his new best friend."
Moira shook her head "Don't worry. Shaw won't be around long enough to take up a position. He can get as cuddly with the Headmaster as he wants."
Sean agreed. "No need for us to go borrowing trouble. Now, I have to ask, Professor Black has requested to see Raven. Is it all right to let her go, or should I tell her not to?"
"Can you go with her?" Charles asked.
"I doubt I'll be allowed…"
Charles didn't think so either. "Still, Raven knows about all of this now, since being in the infirmary. We should make her her own pocketknife so she can keep in touch. And Moira said Shaw didn't seem interested in her."
"All right, Sean, here's how to transfer the charm." Moira gave Sean instructions, and shortly afterwards Charles was delighted to hear Raven's voice coming out of Hank's pocketknife.
"Hello, hello! Can you hear me?"
"Yes, Raven! Hello! You don't think Professor Black is involved with Shaw, do you?"
"No way. He's a terrible snob about people who aren't in his family. He's probably just got the potion ready to see if I'm related to him or not."
"Oh yes, of course. Well, make sure there's a prefect with you, just in case."
"We have to have prefects with us every time we go anywhere, Charles, there's no escape! And I'm still mad at you for keeping secrets from me, by the way."
Shortly after that, it was dinnertime and everyone rushed down the steps to the Great Hall. They hadn't heard anything from Raven since she'd arrived at Professor Black's study, so it was a bit of a relief for Charles to see Shaw and his students ensconced at the teachers' table, safely away from Raven. Shaw was sitting next to Headmaster Dippet, and they seemed to be getting along beautifully. Professor Merrythought, on the other side of the Headmaster, seemed extremely put out, with frequent barely-disguised glares at both Shaw and Dippet. Dumbledore and a few other teachers were nowhere to be seen: they must still be out searching for Gabrielle.
Headmaster Dippet stood up to speak and everyone fell quiet, waiting for news of the missing student.
"Good evening. I am pleased to inform you that the disruption to today's classes that most of you suffered will not be continuing tomorrow. Aurors are on their way to Hogwarts to continue the search for Miss Haller and I am sure that we will find her safe and unharmed. There is no evidence of a threat to other students." He seemed quite dubious about this, but as far as Charles could tell, that was the Headmaster's usual expression anyway.
"Additionally, the Ravenclaw-Slytherin Quidditch match scheduled for this Saturday will be going ahead." This brought scattered cheers from the students, which Dippet quickly shushed. "In the meantime, I'm sure you will all continue to follow the leadership of your House Prefects and travel only in groups between classes. Now, Third Years, you'll need to be on your best behaviour tomorrow morning, as Director Shaw here will be visiting your Defence Against the Dark Arts class and assessing the curriculum."
This was obviously a surprise to Professor Merrythought, as she abruptly pushed away from the table and stood up before remembering herself and sitting down again. Her face was flushed an angry red, but she said nothing. Charles couldn't see any particular reaction from the Third Year students beyond mild annoyance – and why would there be, since they didn't know Shaw? – then dinner arrived and everyone tucked in to their venison and piles of roast vegetables with gravy.
By the time Charles was eating his trifle with strawberry jelly, he was starting to get worried about Raven. She hadn't shown up for dinner – and Raven loved her dinner – nor had she sent a message through the pocketknife.
"Have you heard from Raven?" he asked Hank and Moira, but neither of them had. A few minutes more, and Charles couldn't think about anything except that Raven might be in trouble. Shaw was right there at the table but that didn't mean he hadn't done something terrible first. Or maybe Professor Black had – Charles didn't quite trust him, for all he said he would take care of Raven.
"Moira, I'm going to contact Raven. She can at least tell us she's all right."
Moira nodded, and Charles reached into his pocket. The knife wasn't there. He reached into his other pockets, more and more frantic, but it wasn't in any of them. Hank and Moira turned to him as he search, both with dawning horror on their faces.
"I can't find it!" Charles looked on the floor under his seat as if it might have fallen down there, despite the depth of his robe pockets.
"Shaw must have it," Moira whispered, her face white. "He must have taken it in the infirmary. And if he has it, he could have heard every single thing we said this afternoon."
"We have to check on Raven!" Hank said, frantically, pulling out his own pocketknife.
"Go ahead!" Moira was already diving under the table to crawl over to the Gryffindors without being spotted by the teachers or prefects. "It won't make any difference now!"
Hank handed Charles his pocketknife, and stretched one long arm backwards to grab Sean at the Hufflepuff table and pass on the bad news.
"Raven, are you there?" Charles whispered into the pocketknife. Alex glared daggers across at Charles, but Armando was patting him on the shoulder and preventing him leaping across the room.
"Excuse me, I'm talking to Professor Black," Raven replied crossly. "Did you know that his second cousin married a Frost?"
"Raven! You're all right?"
"Yes, of course I am. Professor Black and I are having supper and he's telling me about being a metamorphmagus. But he says if you don't stop talking to me he'll to confiscate all the pocketknives in the school!"
Charles's mind raced. If Shaw did have his knife, it would mean he could hear everything Charles said. But if he didn't do anything, Raven wouldn't be aware that she shouldn't talk. Maybe he could at least distract Shaw from Raven and turn his attention to the rather terrifying Professor Black. "Last thing, then. Why don't you ask Professor Black to invite Miss Frost to supper, since they're related by marriage? I'm sure I'll shut up now." He emphasised the word "sure" and "shut up" as strongly as he dared, hoping that Raven would pick up that he meant "Shaw".
"That's a good idea! I'll tell him! Now, no more talking." Raven's voice cut off – she must have dropped the pocketknife into her book bag or pocket – and Charles was left trusting that her final words meant that she got the message.
One of the Slytherin prefects, Orion Black, jumped to his feet as if someone had shouted in his ear, and approached the main table. He was Professor Black's son, Charles remembered, so it shouldn't be surprising that he was the messenger boy. Cain and Charles had been the go-betweens between their respective parents often enough. Orion approached the main table and spoke briefly to Headmaster Dippet, then politely walked around to pull out Emma Frost's chair, take her arm, and lead her out of the hall. Without meaning to, Charles's gaze slipped across to Shaw, the exact person he wanted to avoid, and Shaw met his gaze with a brief, pointed smirk. Charles was certain now: Shaw knew about Erik.
Armando seemed to have things in hand, though. He was speaking to one of Gryffindor's red-headed prefects, his hand still on Alex's shoulder, and the prefect escorted them from the Great Hall.
Moira popped up beside Charles, back from her under-the-table journey. "Armando is going to talk to Erik and make sure he's not doing anything dramatic," she said.
"I don't think Erik's going to…" Charles couldn't quite complete the sentence, even out of loyalty to his friend. Erik was a pretty dramatic person once he got wound up, and Shaw spying on their private conversation and potentially ruining Dumbledore's plan was more than enough incentive. "Well, I'm glad Armando and Alex are heading up to the dorm," he finished, weakly.
"We'll all meet in the library after dinner," Moira whispered. "They'll never let us go off to the Astronomy Tower with Gabrielle still missing."
"That sounds good," Charles agreed, but his thoughts were with Raven and Erik, hoping that they were safe and out of Shaw's way.
On to Chapter 7
The next morning, Charles awoke to Filius knocking on the door.
"I'm sorry to wake you so early," he said, as the Ravenclaw boys stirred, "There's a student missing and I was wondering if any of you had seen her? It's Gabrielle Haller, a Gryffindor in your year."
"What happened?" Hank was alert, even if Charles was still too sleepy to ask the right question.
Filius shrugged. He looked extremely worried – so much so that he hadn't shaved, unusual for such a neat student – though his voice remained calm. "She went to bed last night and when her roommate woke up this morning, she was gone. We can't find her anywhere in the castle."
Another Seventh Year boy ran up to Filius and whispered something to him before dashing off again.
"I'm sorry, there's now two Gryffindor First Years missing."
Charles and Hank exchanged a glance, sure that he was about to say Erik Lehnsherr. He did act strangely around Gabrielle Haller – he avoided her with great determination, and she avoided him.
"Karl Lykos is the other. He left the dormitory early this morning to, uh, go for a run, but he hasn't returned and now can't be located."
All three boys shook their heads, bewildered. Karl was a very quiet boy who tended to score well on class quizzes, but no-one really knew much about him.
Filius nodded. "Well, make sure you stick with your classmates today, all right? Don't go wandering off. Just in case."
"We won't!" Hank said heartily, and both Larry and Charles shook their heads emphatically.
"Good, good." Filius hurried out again, heading up to the next dormitory.
Hank and Charles had to wait until Larry went to the WC before they could talk freely.
"Do you think it's Shaw?" Hank's eyes were wide, magnified further by his glasses.
"It's a bit of a coincidence if it isn't!" Charles was getting dressed as quickly as he could, hoping to duck over to the Gryffindor dormitory before breakfast. Hank followed his lead. Unfortunately, as soon as they got to the Common Room, it was clear they weren't going anywhere. Two Seventh Years were at the door, keeping everyone inside. The Quidditch team and their most ardent supporters were complaining loudly that they were missing practice and Slytherin would defeat them for sure on the weekend.
"Slytherin's not out practicing, either," said one of the older students sternly. "Go get changed – we'll go down to breakfast together in half-an-hour."
Charles and Hank – now joined by Moira – took seats in the farthest corner they could.
"Shaw's not here yet!" Moira hissed at them.
"I know! Unless he showed up early – Dumbledore would only tell Erik, not us."
"Good theory!" Hank nodded seriously, though this was just as speculative as anything else.
"I wish there was a telephone service or something between the dorms," Charles muttered. "At home we had speaking tubes."
"Oh!" Moira's face lit up. "I was thinking about it last night, and I can make one. What's something small and harmless we can carry around with us?"
"A quill?" Hank was nervously fiddling with one.
"A pocketknife," Charles offered. Everyone had one to sharpen their quills and they were easy to hide in a pocket.
"That's smaller, it'll do." Moira jumped up and ran to the girls' dorm, pushing through crowds of complaining, hungry Ravenclaws, and returned with her ubiquitous notebook.
"Right then. People out in the Hebrides use this spell to talk to each other more than they use Floo powder. It's like a radio. Aossala!" She touched her pocketknife to Charles' and repeated the charm, then Charles did the same to Hank's.
"Got it? Whenever we see the others, we should pass this on so we can all talk in emergencies."
"Can we choose who we talk to?" Hank asked.
"No." Moira held her closed pocketknife near her mouth. "Anything you say will be heard by everyone in the chain." Her voice came out of the boys' pocketknives, tinny and soft. "Sorry, I don't know how to do it any other way."
"All right, everyone!" called one of the older students. "Time for breakfast! Try not to trample the little Firsties on the stairs!"
Moira made a nasty face in his general direction, and Charles had to laugh despite his tension.
There were teachers and prefects everywhere as they went down to breakfast, and Charles and Moira were nearly knocked down by Professor Merrythought swooping past them up the stairs.
"Is there anything we can do?" Charles asked Moira.
"We should talk to – oh, there's Armando and Alex. Let's ask them."
Armando was seeking them out too, and waved at them. They eventually all managed to make it out of the crush of four Houses all coming in to breakfast at once, and Sean, Hank and Angel made it to their little huddle as well.
"Dumbledore wanted to talk to Erik," Armando said, his words falling over each other in his hurry. "We were on our way down and Dumbledore came barging through us and grabbed Erik by the arm and marched him off the other way!"
"We should have gone back, but we were being pushed along," Alex added.
"I saw Professor Dumbledore going by," Angel sounded worried. "He looked as if he was about to kill someone, he was so mad."
"Before we go searching for Erik, Moira has a useful spell for us," Charles announced, and Moira quickly explained about the pocketknives. Everyone had theirs, so she, Charles and Hank quietly passed the spell on to the others, adding them to the link. As the finished, Dumbledore and a very surly Erik entered the Great Hall. Dumbledore pushed Erik towards the Gryffindor table, and he took a seat there, though as soon as Dumbledore moved on to the head table, Erik scrambled over to sit by Armando.
"Sit down, please!" Headmaster Dippet's voice boomed through the hall and everyone scrambled for their seats.
The Headmaster continued. "As most of you are now aware, two of our youngest students are missing. Miss Haller and Mr Lykos were last seen early this morning. Staff will continue to search for them, but in the meantime, classes will proceed as normal. All students are required to stay with their Housemates until the students are found." Dippet wiped his glasses on the checked scarf he had tucked in to the collar of his robes. "And of course, I must remind you all that jokes and japes of this nature are absolutely forbidden. Those of you who enjoy attention, please remember that when the missing students are found, they will be in a great deal of trouble."
Several of the teachers frowned at that, and both Dumbledore and Merrythought looked as if they were about to get up from their seats, but Dippet hadn't finished.
"Finally, we are expecting a guest today from the Ministry of Games and Sports, Mr Sebastian Shaw. He will be bringing his three wards with him, and I expect you students to be very welcoming to them. Now, on with your breakfast." Dippet pulled his robes around him and left the room.
Charles was most startled by the announcement of Shaw's companions, and it appeared that Dumbledore was, too. Charles poked Moira in the side and she slapped his hand.
"Don't poke at me! I heard what he said."
Charles put his hand up to his mouth, pocketknife hidden in his palm. "Erik, do you know anything about, well, anything?"
Erik's answer came swiftly. "I told Gabrielle that a man from the camps would be here. I didn't realise she would run away." He sounded offended. "He wasn't even from her camp."
"Yeah, well, she did lose her whole family." Armando joined in the conversation. "At least you're aware of what you're facing. And you have friends to help. She's not really friends with anyone."
Erik made a noise that might have been irritation, acceptance or possibly chewing. Charles was always impressed by Erik's ability to eat vast amounts of food while holding a perfectly normal conversation.
Moira asked, "So she's all right? Just hiding?"
"Yeah. And Karl goes out early every morning, so he's probably helping her."
A moment after that, Karl Lykos walked into the hall, escorted by Professor Shomron. The Gryffindor table burst into applause, which soon died down as Karl was marched right past them, up to the teachers, and away through a side door with Dumbledore. The very second the door closed, the Great Hall was alive with speculation and gossip.
"To your classes, please!" Professor Slughorn bellowed over the noise – he certainly didn't need to magically amplify his voice – and everyone scattered for their first class. As it was Wednesday, all the first years were sharing a class: Defence Against the Dark Arts. They banded together to make their way through, Cain Marko and Fred Dukes leading the way, and eventually made it to the big classroom.
Charles had hoped to have some time to talk to Moira, but Professor Merrythought was already there, arranging supplies on a long table.
"Good morning, students," she said, hurriedly, and the students replied, shuffling into their seats. Karl Lykos was not among them.
Suzanne Chan from Gryffindor put her hand up and waited for Professor Merrythought to see her. "Professor, shouldn't we be out searching for Gabrielle? We can do classes any time."
Professor Merrythought shook her head. "Suzanne, I understand you're worried about your roommate, but sending students out is a terrible idea. If Gabrielle is just hiding or has run away, it's unlikely that any of you will catch up to her. If something has happened to her, the exact same thing could happen to any of you. If you have anything particular to add – " she glanced at Erik at this point "- you should tell the Headmaster or Professor Dumbledore at once. Is there anything more you have to tell them?"
"No, Professor." Suzanne's eyes were puffy from crying and her hanky was so wet that Tanya Trask had to give her another.
"Now, on with today's lesson. We reviewed the chapter on counter-charms earlier this week, so today we'll make one. This is an Intregity Charm: it will tell you if any spell is being cast on you, and will continue to remind you as long as the spell is active. Now, does anyone know the downside to this object? Mr Faroukh?"
"It doesn't detect spells you cast yourself."
Larry Trask waved his hand. "And it doesn't make a difference if the spell is helping or harming you!"
"Well said – five points to Slytherin and to Ravenclaw. The Integrity Charm, like most Dark Detectors, is an inelegant thing that detects far more than you would want it to detect. For example, the stone will change colour when you walk into your dormitory because of the protective charms cast over the doors. Please form a line and take one bundle each, and I will show you how to weave the charm."
Halfway through the class, Professor Dumbledore hurried in and retrieved Erik, taking him away in a flurry of robes before Charles had a chance to say goodbye. He planned to wait a few minutes before taking out his pocketknife to ask Erik what was going on, but it was Erik who spoke first.
"Hey, is this too loud?" A hoarse whisper came from the pocketknives.
"No, it's fine," Charles whispered.
"Shaw's arriving early so Dumbledore sent me to the dorm. Shaw has three kids with him, the girl from the photo Hank found, and two boys."
"Will he be hurting them?" Armando asked.
"Definitely. But Shaw always makes you feel loyal to him, so they'll probably fight for him if they're around when the plan goes ahead."
Angel's voice was calm and assured. "There's more of us than them, so we can keep them away from Dumbledore's office if we have to."
"Keep an eye on them when you see them," Erik added, then everyone went silent: there was nothing more to say right now, and they couldn't risk having the pocketknives confiscated.
Moira and Charles finished Erik's Integrity Charm for him so that he'd have something to be marked on at the end of the class, and hurried down to lunch in great excitement. Despite all that Erik had told them about how dangerous and evil Shaw was, it was thrilling that they were secretly helping Dumbledore fight him.
Shaw was already in the Great Hall when they arrived, seated at the head table and chatting with Professor Slughorn. Shaw looked exactly like his photograph: a middle-aged man with wire-rim glasses, wearing slightly travel-worn robes, though he no longer had a moustache. Seated beside him was the girl from the photograph: a pretty, delicate, blonde girl about Charles's age, with a white fur trim on her ice-blue robes. The others that Erik had mentioned were there, too: a tall, saturnine young man with a short beard who must surely be sixteen or seventeen, and a younger boy with long brown hair and olive skin. The younger boy sat quietly, staring at the table, but the other boy and girl looked openly about the hall. The girl occasionally bestowed a smile on someone, reminding Charles of Princess Elizabeth on a tour.
Charles took his seat and whispered to Moira, "I'm going to try to find out how they feel – not Shaw, the others. If there's one who wants to get away from him, maybe they'll help Dumbledore."
Moira frowned. "Will you be all right? It's very noisy here and you need to concentrate."
"It's important! Knowing that helps." As soon as the tureens of soup arrived to distract everyone, Charles closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling out the location of the high table. It was easier than he'd thought: all the adults were grouped there, with their powerful, shielded minds, so he just had to slide across from them until he found one that was different. He observed it carefully, then, to his shock, he felt someone look back at him. He and the new presence reached out to each other, though Charles wasn't sure if that was a friendly gesture or an attack. Their minds touched, and the other person shoved Charles away, hard. He grabbed at the other mind, determined not to be pushed out against his will, and, with a terrible noise like distant thunder, everything went black.
---
One moment Charles was sitting perfectly still, his fingers pressed to his temple, and the next he collapsed off the bench. Moira managed get an arm under him to slow his fall, ending up tangled on the ground with him.
"Help! He's fainted!" she called out, and people rushed over. Raven shoved through the crowd to crouch by Charles' side, then Professor Merrythought was there, waving her wand over Charles' unconscious form.
"There's no sign of a spell. Let's get him to the infirmary with the girl."
Chava Prydeman helped Moira up, getting between her and Professor Merrythought before she could ask "What girl?" Before she could try again, she saw who they meant: the girl at the high table with the fur-trimmed robes was unconscious in the arms of Groundskeeper Ogg. Professor Merrythought floated Charles' still body alongside her, and they, along with Shaw and Dumbledore, all hurried off towards the infirmary. Moira watched them go, then realised that Charles would be with Shaw and none of them would be there to protect him: Shaw might get Dumbledore's entire plan out of Charles' head, given the chance!
Moira grabbed Raven's hand. "You have to go with Charles, Raven – they'll let you in because you're family. I'll come along with you."
Raven was in tears, and let Moira pull her out the door without argument. They caught up to the teachers and the two patients just as they all entered the infirmary, greeted by Healer Yaxley. The Healer was a great big man with an intimidating beard, very much resembled the pictures of Druids in the History of Magic textbook. The First Years had been thoroughly warned that his favoured treatment for everything was a good dose of the salts, whether you had earache, were cursed bald or had a boil. Today, though, he seemed competent and quick, directing the adults carrying Charles and the girl to place them on two of the beds, and casting several spells over them.
"Their names, please?" His voice was authoritative.
"Charles Xavier and Emma Frost," Dumbledore supplied.
"And have they ever met before?"
"They've both lived in America, but as far as I'm aware, they've had no contact," Dumbledore frowned and glanced over at Shaw. "Sebastian?"
"I can't speak for Emma's life before she became my ward, but they certainly haven't met in the last year." Shaw leaned over Charles in a proprietary fashion and Moira wanted to beat him away with her wand. Instead, she held Raven's hand firmly. Raven had stopped crying and had a snarl on her face instead.
"Hmm. It appears that they've worked the same spell on each other at the same moment. When the wielders are at similar levels of skill, power and intent, a backlash can sometimes ensue. Fainting is a protective response from the body – I've never known spell-lock to continue for more than a day, especially in children so young. I would expect a full recovery by tomorrow."
"I am most delighted to hear that," Professor Merrythought said, and Dumbledore, too, looked intensely relieved. Shaw, however, was staring at Charles with a renewed interest and something in his face that closely resembled greed.
"And who are you two?" Groundskeeper Ogg, who'd carried Emma Frost, pointed a bony finger at the two girls.
"This is Charles's sister and I'm his friend," Moira replied, in her best no-nonsense voice. If she didn't convince them that she should stay, Charles could be at the mercy of Shaw. Healer Yaxley was a strong man and must be a skilful wizard, but Shaw had something predatory about him that spoke of confidence and ferociousness. At the mention of Raven being Charles' sister, he'd turned his bland but penetrating gaze on her. Moira was glad Raven was wearing a smooth, pink skin today, with blonde hair, bearing a close resemblance to Charles: Shaw shouldn't see her blue.
"Sister, eh?" Yaxley came over to Raven. "Has anything like this happened before?"
Raven had stopped crying and was watching Shaw cautiously – she must have picked up the same idea as Moira – but responded politely to the Healer. "Yes, sir, a few times, but it was just him. We used to live near New York City, and sometimes when we went into the city he'd feel overwhelmed and faint. Not for this long. Just a normal faint."
"Thank you, Miss Xavier."
"Darkholme." At Yaxley's curious look, she explained, "I'm adopted."
Yaxley turned to his patients, as did Shaw: his interest in Raven seemed to have diminished as soon as she mentioned she was not Charles' blood relative. Moira breathed such a sigh of relief that she quickly had to turn it into a cough to disguise it.
The adults spoke amongst themselves, and Professor Dumbledore came over to Moira and Raven. "Would you two girls stay with Charles? I'm sure he would find it comforting to have someone familiar here when he wakes."
"Thank you, Professor," Raven answered.
"Only if you can stay quiet!" Yaxley added.
"I'll leave Emma in your capable hands, Healer," Shaw said, and he swept out of the infirmary with Dumbledore, Merrythought and the groundskeeper. As she and Raven sat by Charles's bed, Moira had a terrible urge to poke her tongue out at his retreating back, but resisted in case Yaxley threw them out.
Her pocketknife had been buzzing ever since she left the Great Hall with Raven, and finally she had a chance to update everyone. She hesitated for a moment, since Raven was there, but thought that it probably wouldn't matter – it wasn't actually part of Erik and Dumbledore's plans and it certainly wasn't suspicious for her to find a way to talk to her friends.
"Raven, do you mind if I tell Erik and Hank what happened? We have these to talk to each other." She showed Raven the pocketknife, and as she did, Hank's voice emerged from it.
"We need to calm down," he was saying.
Raven giggled nervously. "That's a good idea! I'll tell you if the Healer is coming."
Moira spoke quietly into the spelled pocketknife. "Everyone, this is Moira. I'm in the infirmary with Charles and Raven's here too. The girl's name is Emma Frost and the Healer says that she and Charles will be fine. They must have cast the same spell at the same time and that can make you faint for a while."
"Charles was casting a spell?" Armando sounded puzzled.
"No, he was doing that thing, where he can feel how a person is."
"He shouldn't have done that!" Erik's voice was louder, and angrier. "He didn't know anything about them!"
Raven leaned over to join in. "He didn't know anything about you, and that turned out all right!"
Moira stepped in before an argument started. "Anyway, that must mean she can do it too – the Healer said it has to be the same spell. And Shaw was really interested."
"What about Raven? Was he interested in her?" Angel asked.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Does everyone have one of these except me?"
"Shush, Raven. No, he was only interested in her for a moment when he thought she was a blood sister to Charles. As soon as he knew she wasn't, he didn't care anymore."
"Well, good." Alex was as gruff as ever, but Moira could hear the relief.
"Wait, wait!" Raven gestured with Charles' limp hand, which she was holding. "Is this about Professor Black's prediction? Do you think Shaw is the one who might want to hurt me?"
Angel laughed over the link. "Yeah, Raven, you're too smart for your own good."
Erik spoke over her. "Shaw hurt me, during the War. It wasn't much of a jump to assume he might hurt you. And here he is, with three more children in tow."
Raven was about to reply, when Moira hushed her."Shh, someone's coming towards the infirmary."
Everyone on the link went quiet and Moira dropped her pocketknife in a deep pocket of her robes.
Shaw strode into the room, his long, elegant robes swirling around him. "Healer Yaxley," he called out to the Healer at his desk at the other end of the room. "I've come to check on Miss Frost."
Yaxley nodded, and Raven quickly scrambled around to Moira's side of the bed, away from Emma Frost and Shaw.
"Young ladies," Shaw nodded to them politely and sat down in between Emma and Charles' beds. He took both Emma's hands in his. If he wasn't genuinely concerned about her, he was doing a fairly good impression. Moira kept an eye on him, but it didn't seem that he was doing anything apart from guarding Emma, so she watched Charles as well.
Charles had looked half-dead immediately after the spell-lock happened but colour had come back into his face and now he appeared peacefully, if deeply, asleep. He was definitely improving, for all he was very still. Something caught Moira's eye: Charles' pocket was glowing. She angled her head to draw Raven's gaze to it and Raven, who was holding Charles' hand, silently reached in and drew out the spell-detecting amulet they'd made in class, keeping it shielded in her hand so that Shaw couldn't see it. It was glowing brightly and Raven glared at Shaw so furiously that Moira was surprised the man didn't burst into flames on the spot. The skin at her hairline was flickering blue.
Moira pressed Raven into her seat before she leapt across the bed and attacked Shaw – that would really be a give-away – and instead called out in her clearest, loudest voice.
"Healer Yaxley! I think someone's casting a spell on Charles!"
Shaw's pleasant mask dropped for just a moment, revealing a vast and seething anger, and Moira quailed. By the time the Healer had made it to Charles' bedside, Shaw looked mildly concerned instead.
Yaxley waved his wand over Charles and nodded. "Now, how did you pick that up, lass?"
"We made amulets in Defence Against the Dark Arts," she told him, and Raven held it out for his inspection.
Yaxley frowned. "I'll have to move Mr Xavier to the Dragon Pox ward." At the expression of alarm on the girls' faces, he explained, "The lesions of Dragon Pox are inflamed by the presence of active magic, so Hogwarts has an isolation room. You'll be able to observe the patient from outside the room."
He picked Charles up – this time he stirred slightly at the movement – and carried him to the far end of the Infirmary. Shaw's face turned thunderous the moment Yaxley turned away, not caring that the girls saw.
"I don't know what your game is," Shaw hissed at them, "But your interference will be punished."
"Only if you admit you were casting a spell on my brother!" Raven snapped, and with a flip of her long blonde hair, headed to the isolation room. Moira glared at Shaw and followed, impressed by Raven's bravery.
Shaw patted Emma's hand and walked out of the infirmary just as Yaxley returned.
"Healer, it was Mr Shaw casting the spell," Moira told him.
"I'm not about to accuse guests of such things without solid proof, and you'd do well to learn from that, lass. Now sit down by the window, here, and I'll get you both a cup of tea."
Moira couldn't argue with that – not even Raven could – and took her seat with a sigh. She could easily see Charles and there was no way Shaw could do anything to him while he was safely locked up in there. As soon as she could, she'd explain everything to the others. Perhaps they could watch in shifts.
---
Erik was furious. Charles had not only been injured, somehow, but had attracted Shaw's attention to himself. It was only a few more hours to the meeting in Dumbledore's office, though, so Erik had to hold on to the hope that Shaw would not be around to hurt Charles, but instead having his life drained away in Azkaban.
Armando, Angel and Sean had gone to the infirmary as reinforcements for Moira and Raven. They'd been prepared to argue their way in, but Healer Yaxley had simply sat them on the long padded bench by the observation window and brought them each a strong cup of tea. Afternoon classes had been cancelled except for the students taking OWLs and NEWTs this year, as more and more of the teachers were out searching for Gabrielle Haller. Various prefects came down to check on the students in the infirmary, but even bossy Tessa Prewett seemed happy to leave them under the watchful eye of Healer Yaxley.
Hank had been sent over to the dorm he shared with Charles to watch out for Shaw sneaking into the Ravenclaw dorms to go through Charles' things, but so far his watch had been uneventful. Alex had stayed in the Gryffindor dorm as Erik's line to the outside world, bringing him lunch and keeping him company. All the students not in classes had been sent to their common rooms and only moved about Hogwarts in supervised groups, so it wasn't hard for Alex to duck in and out of the dorm.
Dumbledore hadn't been entirely clear about the effects of the spell he cast on Erik: his friends had indeed remembered him, but other students in the dorm didn't seem to notice him at all. Shiro had walked in to get a book from his trunk and completely ignored Erik, who was sitting in plain view on his own bed. Erik wouldn't have thought much of that – he and Shiro frequently argued – except that Shiro painstakingly checked his appearance in the mirror before leaving. There was no way he would have done that in front of Erik, who often mocked his fastidiousness.
Alex and Erik were playing yet another game of rolling checkers – with frequent pauses to talk to the others who were with Charles – when Karl Lykos shuffled into the dorm. He looked as if he had been crying, and there were scratches on his face and arms. Erik nudged Alex, who glared at Erik but then realised what Erik meant. Erik wasn't meant to talk to people if he could avoid it, so that left Alex.
"Hey, Karl. You okay?" Alex asked, in a deeply unconvincing attempt at a friendly voice.
Karl jumped. "Yeah, sure, fine, leave me alone."
Erik sighed. Alex was hardly the person to reassure the always-reticent Karl. He'd just have to ignore Dumbledore's instructions in the safety of the Gryffindor dorm.
"Karl. Where's Gabrielle? I'm really worried about her."
Even more startled at Erik's sudden appearance, Karl snapped at him. "Well, you shouldn't have scared the life out of her then! This whole thing is because of you!"
"What whole thing?" Erik snapped back, trying to keep his temper under control. "I mean, is she all right? Did you help her?"
Karl sidled over to Erik, watching Alex cautiously until Alex threw his hands up and went off to the common room.
He spoke in a low voice, barely above a whisper. "I promised not to tell the teachers. She said it wasn't safe. But I guess you can't be a Nazi. Are you hiding out in here?"
Erik seized the opportunity. "It was me that warned her. Is she somewhere safe? You don't have to tell me where." It was a surprise to Erik that he was genuinely worried about her. He hadn't really thought through his warning of the night before, only that that he couldn't let Gabrielle go unaware.
"Yes? No? I'm not sure. Did she tell you about my curse?"
"You have a curse?"
Karl shook his head. "You're Muggle-born, aren't you? No wonder you don't know about this. I mean that there's a curse on my family. Over five hundred years ago my ancestor was cursed so that every day, the eldest male in the family turns into a great leathery bird. Over the generations, various wizards have managed to reduce the curse so that it doesn't last all day, just an hour or so. And it doesn't make you mindless and violent, now. Plus we can trigger the transformation ourselves rather than having to transform at first light, unless we leave it too late in the day. So when my dad and granddad were killed in the war…"
"It fell on you." It made sense now, Karl's early morning absences and that the prefects knew about them. "So they organised for you to go out every morning instead of turning into a giant bird in class. How did Gabrielle find out?"
"She followed me one day and saw the whole thing, but once I was in the air I spotted her watching. She said she doesn't like people having secrets." Karl made a face. "I said she should go follow you and those two Ravenclaws, then, you're always sneaking around."
"And did she?"
"No, she said she already knew all about you. Guess she was right. So this morning, she followed me out and asked me to fly her over the Forbidden Forest so she could get out of here."
Erik clenched a fist. "You just left her there?"
"Not exactly. When we were flying out, we saw one of those big black skeleton horses bringing an open carriage up from Hogsmeade."
Erik nodded. He'd seen the skeletal horses wandering around the edge of the Forbidden Forest, looking like ghastly animated corpses, but they seemed happy enough, and friendly with the groundskeepers, Hagrid and Ogg. "Did you see Shaw? The man who was at the teachers' table this morning?"
"Yeah. And Gabrielle, she saw him, and made a weird little noise and I thought she was going to say something. But then she turned into solid gold." Karl shook his head. "She was way too heavy for me to carry, and we sank straight down behind the trees. I doubt Shaw saw us, but I flew as far as I could so that he wouldn't find her. Then I put her down in a glen and covered her up with some leaves. And then I flew the long way around the forest so that no-one would see exactly where I'd been."
"You can tell Dumbledore," Erik said, firmly. "He hates Shaw and people like him. Or Professor Shomron. He's a Jew, the same as Gabrielle and me. I don't really know him, but I'm certain he wouldn't tell Shaw."
Karl pressed his lips together. "No. I promised not to tell teachers. And when I came in from the grounds with Professor Shomron, the first thing I saw was the Headmaster practically embracing Shaw in the courtyard. Gabrielle will be okay where she is, at least until Shaw is gone. It's an impermanent transfiguration, human to gold."
"You should try to smuggle her some food and water in case she changes back before Shaw is gone." Erik couldn't argue with Karl's logic. Even if Dumbledore could help her, he would only be bringing her into Hogwarts with Shaw.
"I'll try tomorrow. I've been confined to the dorm and common room for now, but there'll be plenty I can pack up from the sideboard. Fruitcake is her favourite. And they can't keep me inside forever, unless they want the curse to go into effect right here in the dorm."
Erik nodded. Gabrielle was safe and he had no doubt that she'd survived without food or proper shelter before and could do it again.
---
Charles's head hurt. It felt as if he'd bitten into ice-cream, a sharp, cold pain. He opened his eyes slowly to see a plain white ceiling rather than the familiar canopy of his bed, and when he turned his head there was a window rather than Hank's stack of books. He had to blink again to focus, but when he did Armando and Angel were waving at him through the window.
"You're in the infirmary!" Armando called out, his voice muffled.
Before Charles could reply, Healer Yaxley strode through the door. "Good to see you awake, lad." He lifted Charles to a seated position, watching him closely.
"I feel fine!" Charles protested.
"Pleased to hear it. You and Miss Frost caught each other in a spell-lock, and what you were doing casting spells at each other in the Great Hall is beyond me."
Charles blinked. He hadn't been casting a spell: Miss Frost must have the same early magical abilities as he did. No wonder Shaw was interested in her. He could see Armando frantically making shushing gestures behind the Healer's back, and nodded in response. "If I'm feeling better, can I go?"
"There's no reason to keep you," Healer Yaxley told him, lifting a large brown glass bottle from the side table and pouring a bitter-smelling medicine onto a large spoon. "Now, have a spoonful of this tonic and you can be on your way."
The spoon was at his lips just as he opened his mouth to protest, and in it went, tasting as bitter and oily as it had smelled. Charles spluttered, and the Healer was satisfied.
"There you are, right as rain. Miss Frost should be stirring soon, so off you go."
Charles might not have tried to leave if he'd known there was a chance to talk to the strange girl, but it was too late now. He got up, feeling more debilitated by the nasty taste of the tonic than by the whole spell-lock affair, put on his shoes, and re-joined Armando. The girl was still tucked into bed, her blonde hair spilling across the pillow, but Charles could have sworn that her eyes were open, just a fraction.
"Erik found out where Gabrielle Haller is – he says she's safe there, Shaw doesn't have her," Armando whispered.
"And it doesn't look like Shaw is interested in Raven after all, but he's certainly interested in you now," Angel added, sounding disturbingly cheerful about the turn-about. "Did you find out anything?"
Before Charles could answer, Chava Prydeman, Druella Rosier and Ignatius Prewett appeared at the door: one prefect from each of their houses.
"Right then," Chava said, "Off to your dorms. No need to bother the Healer anymore."
Armando patted his pocket and Charles remembered they had a way to communicate anyway. He went with Chava without protest, waving to the other two as they parted at the stairway.
"Whatever you were up to, it really wasn't the day for it," Chava told him. "Dippet took ten points from Ravenclaw once the Healer told him about the spell-lock. Honestly, Charles, you should know better than to cast spells at visitors, no matter how curious you are about them."
Charles hung his head. "I'm sorry. She's American, so I thought maybe…" he trailed off, hoping Chava would fill in the rest herself.
"Director Shaw isn't likely to let you two go on a date, or whatever would happen in America. We haven't seen hide nor hair of the two boys since your little stunt, and when Emma wakes up, I'm sure she'll be hidden away just as swiftly."
"Sorry," Charles said again. He really was sorry about the house points, and about ruining their chances to make contact with Shaw's three wards.
Chava must have picked up on the sincerity, because she ruffled his hair before answering today's riddle and herding him into the Ravenclaw common room. "Don't cause any more trouble, hear?"
"I won't!" Charles could see Hank hovering in the doorway that led to their dorms and practically ran over to him, desperate to hear what had gone on while he was unconscious.
Moira was in their dorm, too, with Larry Trask nowhere to be seen. She gave Charles a brief and surprising hug, then cleared her throat, embarrassed to be so emotional.
"Right, then. What did you find out? Shaw tried to cast a spell on you, but Raven and I told Healer Yaxley and he had to pretend it wasn't him. That's why you were in the isolation room, so no-one could get at you."
"You'll be safe in the dorm as long as Shaw doesn't actually come in here," Hank added earnestly. "Ravenclaw Tower is heavily protected, and so are the other dorms."
"Good!" Charles finally managed to get a word in edgeways. "Is everyone else all right? Is Erik still in his dorm?"
"He's staying put," Moira told him, with an eyeroll.
"Did Angel or Armando tell you about Gabrielle Haller from Gryffindor?" Hank asked. "Erik talked to Karl Lykos, and apparently she's hiding somewhere but she's safe. That's all Erik would say about her – he's sworn to secrecy or something." Hank didn't seem too impressed that there was a secret being kept from him. "So what did you find out about Emma Frost?"
Charles sat on the edge of his bed and tried to remember. He'd only been in contact briefly, but it had been more intense than he expected. "She doesn't like Shaw very much, but she's not fond of anyone else either. Except the two boys, she doesn't mind them because they do what she says." Charles frowned. It was surprisingly difficult to retrieve solid information from their connection; his eyes hurt as if a light had been shone into them. "Um, Shaw definitely tells her she's important and better than everyone else, and they're here to establish themselves."
"Erik?" Moira asked urgently.
Charles was much clearer about that. "No, she doesn't know about him, nothing at all."
"That could just mean that Shaw hasn't told her."
"No, she's aware of what they're here to do, I'm sure about that." Emma's certainty in herself had been very clear.
Hank had been relaying Charles's comments into his pocketknife, and Erik's voice interrupted.
"So what did she get out of you, Charles?"
"She was very surprised, so I don't think she got much…"
Erik's scorn was palpable through the faint, scratchy sounds of the spell. "Yes, but what? Much is not the same as nothing."
Charles glared at Hank's pocketknife, even though he knew Erik couldn't see it. "I'm getting there, all right? She got my name, definitely, and that Raven and Cain are my relatives and we came from America. She was interested in that. Oh! She's from Boston. There's lots of Boston Frosts, she must be one of them. I think we're distant relatives."
"What does that mean?" Moira snapped. She hated it when Charles was vague.
"They're a well-known wizarding family. My mother knew them and said she nearly married one. They're very wealthy, very traditional, so I have no idea how Shaw would get Emma Frost away from them."
"I have some ideas," Angel interrupted, darkly. "Families like that always have secrets. Also, I found out where Shaw is right now. Our Quidditch captain just took him out to inspect the playing fields, along with Madame Sykes and Headmaster Dippet. And he was talking about coming to work here."
"Dumbledore would never let him!" Erik and Armando talked over each other.
"Dumbledore's not the Headmaster, is he?" Alex made his first contribution. He sounded cranky, but that was nothing unusual, especially if he'd spent all day running errands for Erik. "And Headmaster Dippet was his new best friend."
Moira shook her head "Don't worry. Shaw won't be around long enough to take up a position. He can get as cuddly with the Headmaster as he wants."
Sean agreed. "No need for us to go borrowing trouble. Now, I have to ask, Professor Black has requested to see Raven. Is it all right to let her go, or should I tell her not to?"
"Can you go with her?" Charles asked.
"I doubt I'll be allowed…"
Charles didn't think so either. "Still, Raven knows about all of this now, since being in the infirmary. We should make her her own pocketknife so she can keep in touch. And Moira said Shaw didn't seem interested in her."
"All right, Sean, here's how to transfer the charm." Moira gave Sean instructions, and shortly afterwards Charles was delighted to hear Raven's voice coming out of Hank's pocketknife.
"Hello, hello! Can you hear me?"
"Yes, Raven! Hello! You don't think Professor Black is involved with Shaw, do you?"
"No way. He's a terrible snob about people who aren't in his family. He's probably just got the potion ready to see if I'm related to him or not."
"Oh yes, of course. Well, make sure there's a prefect with you, just in case."
"We have to have prefects with us every time we go anywhere, Charles, there's no escape! And I'm still mad at you for keeping secrets from me, by the way."
Shortly after that, it was dinnertime and everyone rushed down the steps to the Great Hall. They hadn't heard anything from Raven since she'd arrived at Professor Black's study, so it was a bit of a relief for Charles to see Shaw and his students ensconced at the teachers' table, safely away from Raven. Shaw was sitting next to Headmaster Dippet, and they seemed to be getting along beautifully. Professor Merrythought, on the other side of the Headmaster, seemed extremely put out, with frequent barely-disguised glares at both Shaw and Dippet. Dumbledore and a few other teachers were nowhere to be seen: they must still be out searching for Gabrielle.
Headmaster Dippet stood up to speak and everyone fell quiet, waiting for news of the missing student.
"Good evening. I am pleased to inform you that the disruption to today's classes that most of you suffered will not be continuing tomorrow. Aurors are on their way to Hogwarts to continue the search for Miss Haller and I am sure that we will find her safe and unharmed. There is no evidence of a threat to other students." He seemed quite dubious about this, but as far as Charles could tell, that was the Headmaster's usual expression anyway.
"Additionally, the Ravenclaw-Slytherin Quidditch match scheduled for this Saturday will be going ahead." This brought scattered cheers from the students, which Dippet quickly shushed. "In the meantime, I'm sure you will all continue to follow the leadership of your House Prefects and travel only in groups between classes. Now, Third Years, you'll need to be on your best behaviour tomorrow morning, as Director Shaw here will be visiting your Defence Against the Dark Arts class and assessing the curriculum."
This was obviously a surprise to Professor Merrythought, as she abruptly pushed away from the table and stood up before remembering herself and sitting down again. Her face was flushed an angry red, but she said nothing. Charles couldn't see any particular reaction from the Third Year students beyond mild annoyance – and why would there be, since they didn't know Shaw? – then dinner arrived and everyone tucked in to their venison and piles of roast vegetables with gravy.
By the time Charles was eating his trifle with strawberry jelly, he was starting to get worried about Raven. She hadn't shown up for dinner – and Raven loved her dinner – nor had she sent a message through the pocketknife.
"Have you heard from Raven?" he asked Hank and Moira, but neither of them had. A few minutes more, and Charles couldn't think about anything except that Raven might be in trouble. Shaw was right there at the table but that didn't mean he hadn't done something terrible first. Or maybe Professor Black had – Charles didn't quite trust him, for all he said he would take care of Raven.
"Moira, I'm going to contact Raven. She can at least tell us she's all right."
Moira nodded, and Charles reached into his pocket. The knife wasn't there. He reached into his other pockets, more and more frantic, but it wasn't in any of them. Hank and Moira turned to him as he search, both with dawning horror on their faces.
"I can't find it!" Charles looked on the floor under his seat as if it might have fallen down there, despite the depth of his robe pockets.
"Shaw must have it," Moira whispered, her face white. "He must have taken it in the infirmary. And if he has it, he could have heard every single thing we said this afternoon."
"We have to check on Raven!" Hank said, frantically, pulling out his own pocketknife.
"Go ahead!" Moira was already diving under the table to crawl over to the Gryffindors without being spotted by the teachers or prefects. "It won't make any difference now!"
Hank handed Charles his pocketknife, and stretched one long arm backwards to grab Sean at the Hufflepuff table and pass on the bad news.
"Raven, are you there?" Charles whispered into the pocketknife. Alex glared daggers across at Charles, but Armando was patting him on the shoulder and preventing him leaping across the room.
"Excuse me, I'm talking to Professor Black," Raven replied crossly. "Did you know that his second cousin married a Frost?"
"Raven! You're all right?"
"Yes, of course I am. Professor Black and I are having supper and he's telling me about being a metamorphmagus. But he says if you don't stop talking to me he'll to confiscate all the pocketknives in the school!"
Charles's mind raced. If Shaw did have his knife, it would mean he could hear everything Charles said. But if he didn't do anything, Raven wouldn't be aware that she shouldn't talk. Maybe he could at least distract Shaw from Raven and turn his attention to the rather terrifying Professor Black. "Last thing, then. Why don't you ask Professor Black to invite Miss Frost to supper, since they're related by marriage? I'm sure I'll shut up now." He emphasised the word "sure" and "shut up" as strongly as he dared, hoping that Raven would pick up that he meant "Shaw".
"That's a good idea! I'll tell him! Now, no more talking." Raven's voice cut off – she must have dropped the pocketknife into her book bag or pocket – and Charles was left trusting that her final words meant that she got the message.
One of the Slytherin prefects, Orion Black, jumped to his feet as if someone had shouted in his ear, and approached the main table. He was Professor Black's son, Charles remembered, so it shouldn't be surprising that he was the messenger boy. Cain and Charles had been the go-betweens between their respective parents often enough. Orion approached the main table and spoke briefly to Headmaster Dippet, then politely walked around to pull out Emma Frost's chair, take her arm, and lead her out of the hall. Without meaning to, Charles's gaze slipped across to Shaw, the exact person he wanted to avoid, and Shaw met his gaze with a brief, pointed smirk. Charles was certain now: Shaw knew about Erik.
Armando seemed to have things in hand, though. He was speaking to one of Gryffindor's red-headed prefects, his hand still on Alex's shoulder, and the prefect escorted them from the Great Hall.
Moira popped up beside Charles, back from her under-the-table journey. "Armando is going to talk to Erik and make sure he's not doing anything dramatic," she said.
"I don't think Erik's going to…" Charles couldn't quite complete the sentence, even out of loyalty to his friend. Erik was a pretty dramatic person once he got wound up, and Shaw spying on their private conversation and potentially ruining Dumbledore's plan was more than enough incentive. "Well, I'm glad Armando and Alex are heading up to the dorm," he finished, weakly.
"We'll all meet in the library after dinner," Moira whispered. "They'll never let us go off to the Astronomy Tower with Gabrielle still missing."
"That sounds good," Charles agreed, but his thoughts were with Raven and Erik, hoping that they were safe and out of Shaw's way.
On to Chapter 7