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Over the objections of the Hogwarts faculty- including an angry rant from Professor Fisher about 'incompetent bureaucratic morons', little of which was really appropriate for the ears of his young students- Professor Reed is taken away on suspicion of theft.
Anti-American sentiment intensifies, with whispers spreading about "those Yanks spying on us" and "stealing the Silverlight spell." People start eying Professor Fisher carefully, in the halls. (He ignores it, rather pointedly.) People write in to the Headmistress complaining; why did they bring in those Americans in the first place, why does that man Fisher still work there, similar nonsense. She develops a curt form letter assuring parents that Hogwarts hiring standards are of the highest quality, with a strong undertone of none of your business. The letters continue anyway.
Students graffiti the Transfiguration classroom with insulting suggestions for places Professor Fisher can take himself. Filch catches those responsible and they clean it up as their detention. McGonagall makes a displeased speech that night at dinner about respecting faculty and innocence until proven guilty. Some students listen.
After a week's gone by- it feels longer to all involved, particularly Tamara, but only a week- there's a new article.
Gilderoy Lockhart Apprehends Silverlight Culprit
By Russell Peasegood
Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award, has done it again!
Only recently released from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, most wizards would need rest, more time to recover from the horrors of a Memory Charm gone wrong, but not Gildery Lockhart. Known throughout the magical world for his daring feats of magic, Lockhart is back in the game with a bang.
"It never made sense to me," Lockhart told the Prophet. "Why steal a wand of someone you're chaperoning? Of course you'd be under suspicion! She couldn't have hoped to get away with it. So, of course, I had to investigate."
Lockhart used his famed powers of deduction to locate prime Ministry suspects. In the course of interviewing them, he was able to identify the janitor who had stolen the wand. "Poor man wasn't right in the head," according to Lockhart. "Thought the wand made him special, powerful- attacked me when I tried to get it away- just look what he did to my cloak! But I got it back from him, never fear."
The wand is now in the possession of Ministry Officials, and will shortly be returned to its rightful owner, Miranda "Silverlight" Swan. Tamara Reed can be expected to be released shortly.
When commended on his actions, Lockhart said, "Of course, of course. Couldn't let the poor girl go without her wand- couldn't let the Ministry officials bungle it like that- something had to be done!"
Asked about his future plans, Lockhart told us, "Why, doing whatever good I can, of course. Britain needs all the wizards it can get right now!"
If Lockhart's past adventures are any guide, that will be quite a lot of good indeed.
As promised, the next day, Hogwarts sees two arrivals: Professor Reed, released by the Ministry, and Gilderoy Lockhart, Miranda's wand in hand.
Slughorn is currently in his office, making what appears to be snail-speed progress on a large pile of papers sitting on top of his desk, and looking like he dearly wishes he'd stayed retired.
chanuphis
"Hello. This should be pretty quick. I need a dose my size of Veritaserum to test my Occlumency."
This makes Slughorn's eyes widen. He looks rather obscurely pleased. "Occlumency! Looking ahead in our studies, are we?" he says, turning to rustle through the nearby cabinets. "S'pose it's to be expected, of course, you're the Silverlight girl, aren't you? Ah yes, here we are."
Having found the cabinet he's looking for, he taps it with his wand; the doors open and he picks out the vial of Veritaserum. He measures very, very carefully a tiny dose into an empty vial, and offers it to her.
"You'll be careful, won't you, Miss Swan? Strong stuff, this is."
Having found the cabinet he's looking for, he taps it with his wand; the doors open and he picks out the vial of Veritaserum. He measures very, very carefully a tiny dose into an empty vial, and offers it to her.
"You'll be careful, won't you, Miss Swan? Strong stuff, this is."
chanuphis
"I'm trusting your measurements. Do I need to not drink pumpkin juice for a week or something like that?"
"Be careful who you talk to until it wears off?" he suggests, only somewhat facetiously. "No, no, nothing like that. Do tell me how it goes, though! Learning Occlumency so young, very impressive."
She already qualified for the Slug Club, of course, but this is just proof.
She already qualified for the Slug Club, of course, but this is just proof.
chanuphis
"Yeah, I'll just sit with my friends until I'm sure I can fight it off or it's out of my system," agrees Miranda. "Thank you, Professor."
parental_guidance
Once they're out of the room, Emma looks at Miranda- and the bottle in her hand- worriedly. "Do you have, um, questions?" she asks. "That we should ask, I mean. I don't know how it works."
chanuphis
"I can write up a list," Miranda suggests. "I'll try to lie, but if I tell the truth it won't be a big deal."
parental_guidance
"That sounds good," Emma agrees. "I don't want-" to make you upset again, "-to ask something bad by accident."
chanuphis
"Yeah, it'd be a little risky to just have a normal conversation. Do you think we should bother finding anybody else? Karen's probably still madly studying."
parental_guidance
Uh. Decisions. Emma does not like those. She's bad at those.
"What do you want to do?" Emma asks instead. "I mean... you're the one who's doing the test, if something goes wrong- if you want more, or less, or we could even wait for your mom I guess? If she could visit on the weekend, or something, you said she can Apparate."
"What do you want to do?" Emma asks instead. "I mean... you're the one who's doing the test, if something goes wrong- if you want more, or less, or we could even wait for your mom I guess? If she could visit on the weekend, or something, you said she can Apparate."
witch_please
Conveniently for everyone (including Alli), Alli doesn't hang out in her common room much. She's currently tucked in one of her favored nooks, reading a magazine about Quidditch. She is not particularly hard to find.
She waves when she sees Emma and Miranda walking up. "Hi Em, hi Silverlight," she greets them cheerfully.
She waves when she sees Emma and Miranda walking up. "Hi Em, hi Silverlight," she greets them cheerfully.
witch_please
"I always feel like I'm some sort of Slytherin spy when I'm in Ravenclaw," Alli says to no one in particular. "Probably a good thing I don't like Slytherin enough to care. Let's goooo!"
chanuphis
Miranda snorts, and off they go to Ravenclaw, and Miranda finesses the riddle and lets her friends in, and they go up to the unoccupied first year girls' room.
Miranda produces quill and paper and starts thinking up questions, like what is your mother's maiden name and how many braids do you have and what is the title of your transfiguration essay. "You guys can help think of things if you want."
Miranda produces quill and paper and starts thinking up questions, like what is your mother's maiden name and how many braids do you have and what is the title of your transfiguration essay. "You guys can help think of things if you want."
witch_please
Alli provides a number of unhelpful suggestions, all with a grin and in air-quotation marks, such as "least favorite Ravenclaw" and "most embarrassing memory." There's a couple more useful ones thrown in, though, like "what was your last dinner over hols," and "did your mum have a pet as a kid."
parental_guidance
"Anything about Muggles?" Emma suggests. "I don't know much about them, Alli probably doesn't either-"