The Staff Room

THE STAFF ROOM

By A.A.Yarrum

Chapter 3:

 The Hallowe’en Feast

Everyone settled into the same old routine within a week of returning. First Years had acquainted themselves with the castle by the middle of October. After the drama of last year with the horrors of the Chamber of Secrets and the near closure of the school, the whole place seemed relieved and calmed. The presence of a proper Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher, as opposed to the loud and annoying Gilderoy Lockhart also made the place seem far more serene. The very building seemed to be glad to be rid of him.

Nowhere was the lack of Gilderoy Lockhart felt more than in the Staff quarters. Even a werewolf could not replace the intense loathing of the blond haired wizard, which had, in the previous year, practically pounded off the walls.

The episode on the third day of term, when Minerva had taken the face off Phillip Flitwick, was not forgotten, but it had not affected the working relationships. Minerva always asserted her authority in the first few weeks of term, being very strict and severe at the start, publicly taking people on and metaphorically dismembering them in front of everyone, and even although she loosened up later in the term, the memories of prior attacks kept everyone in their place. It was an age old teaching trick, which Minerva used to its full capacity in the classroom and outside. It was for this reason that every one thought her to be very strict and straight laced, when in fact she wasn’t like that at all.

Improvements were being made to the castle defence system, which was extremely antiquated and in need of upgrade anyway. Dumbledore had hired in experts from Diagon Alley to got through every inch of the castle, making sure there were no holes in the defences.

The Halloween Feast was approaching, and the teachers had put an awful lot of effort into the preparations for the feast, and when Minerva received an owl while she was in the middle of a first year class asking her to come to Dumbledore’s office, she assumed it was to do with the feast, which would be taking place that evening.

‘Hello,’ she said, as she reached the top of the turning staircase and walked across the outer chamber that led to Dumbledore’s office. ‘It’s Minerva!’

She pushed the door open, and her face fell. Sitting in front of Dumbledore was Fred and George Weasley.

‘What is it?’ she snapped.

‘Have a seat,’ said Dumbledore, motioning to one of the chairs.

‘I’m fine,’ she snapped. ‘What is it?’

‘I was just about to tell Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley that, next week, they will be taken down to London to the offices of Newton and Clamps, the company which are running the re-security programme. You’ll be staying overnight at the Merlynne Hotel in Diagon Alley.’

‘Who’s paying?’ said George Weasley swiftly. One thing was for sure, thought Minerva. Those two aren’t afraid of anyone. They certainly aren’t inhibited with powerful people.

Dumbledore chuckled before answering.

‘You really are the realist, George, aren’t you? That’s a good question, and of course we do not expect your parents to finance the trip. You’ll both be travelling at the expense of the Headmaster’s Office.’

Fred and George exchanged an identical expression- glee. Minerva shook her head. Albus really was exceptionally naïve at times.

‘You’ll leave next week, on Friday, taking the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley. You’ll go to the offices of Newton and Clamps, and then return to the Merlynne Hotel for dinner. You’ll spend the night there, and return to the office the next morning. The Knight Bus will have you back in Hogsmeade by six o’clock on Saturday evening.’

‘Thank you,’ said Fred.

‘Ditto,’ said George.

‘You can go to Lunch, now,’ said Dumbledore, smiling at them.

The minute the door had closed, Minerva started shouting.

‘What on earth were you thinking, Albus? At your expense? They’ll go mad! I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if they spend two hundred Galleons on Room Service alone! Really, I don’t know…’

Dumbledore motioned for her to shoosh, and moved towards the door. Pulling it open quickly, Fred and George tumbled through. Obviously, they had been eaves dropping.

‘Weasley!’ said McGonagall.

‘And Weasley,’ said George. ‘There are two of us, you know.’

‘Sometimes I feel like there are twenty of you!’ said McGonagall ruefully.

‘You should be so lucky!’ said Fred.

‘Well, bye then!’ called George, and the twins made for the door hurriedly.

***

’Has anyone thought to consult the governors?’ asked Severus Snape, as he sat in the chair in his office, looking at the face of Remus John Lupin, who’s head was sitting in the fireplace.

‘Not yet, we’ll have to get Albus to work on them…’

‘The Governors will say no, Lupin,’ snapped Snape. ‘And they’ll be absolutely right. To lead any pupil, even seventh years, into the forest would not only be criminally negligent, but quite probably psychopathic.’

‘But think of the opportunities! They’d learn so much.’

‘They’d certainly learn never to go back into the Forest again,’ he said icily.

‘Severus, you shouldn’t be so predictable! Imagine what it would be like for the seventh years to actually practice Defence Against the Dark Arts as part of their course.’

‘Lupin, the idea is out of the question. It would be completely irresponsible. I’m sure Professor McGonagall feels the same.’

‘Very well,’ said Lupin, finally.

‘About time you saw sense,’ said Severus. He found it difficult working with his former fellow pupil.

‘I need to talk to you about the fifth …’ started Lupin, but Severus cut him off.

‘I’m busy,’ said the Potions professor swiftly, and threw the water from a glass, which had been sitting on the desk next to him, into the flames, quickly extinguishing Remus’ face. It was not unusual for Severus to be so uncouth and sharp. Rising from his chair, he made for the door- he had to speak to Minerva before Remus did, and make sure she convinced the Headmaster against his ridiculous scheme.

He caught up with her just as she was walking along the first floor corridor, holding a pile of papers she had just taken from her office.

‘Minerva,’ he said, joining her at the bottom of a staircase he had just descended and walking beside her. The corridor was full of students chatting and gossiping about each other and the teachers as they slowly made their ways back to their houses before the feast, which would be in an hour and a half.

‘Albus really is ridiculous sometimes,’ she fumed, as she veritably tore along the corridor, her tight bun coming undone, and patches of rose colour in her cheeks.

‘I’ve been saying it for years,’ remarked Severus dryly.

‘I know he’s brilliant and everything,’ she said, ignoring him, ‘but he has the mental age of an adolescent male- and I deal with quite enough of those already, thank you.’

‘I was just wanting to alert you to Lupin’s latest brainwave,’ he said, as they both turned a corner. ‘He wants to…’

‘Forty points from Hufflepuff,’ barked the Deputy Headmistress by way of greeting to Cedric Diggory, who had been kissing another Hufflepuff while sitting on the stairs. ‘This is a school, not a brothel. Let’s keep it that way,’ she snapped at them.

‘Professor, we were only…’

‘I’d be happy to go over the school guidelines with you, Mr Diggory, but I think you’ll find I’m quite correct in my appraisal of the situation and my deduction of house points. I’m sure if I owled your parents and asked their opinion they’d have a similar viewpoint to me.’

‘Yes, professor,’ said the fifth year, bowing his head. The girl beside him blushed nervously in embarrassment.

‘See that it never happens again, Diggory,’ she said, before sweeping off down the stairs. Severus followed.

‘You really are in a good move today, aren’t you?’ he said, smirking.

‘Don’t,’ she said, shaking her head and striding along to the entrance hall. ‘I’ve had an awful day. And to top the whole lot off, there’s a problem in the kitchens I’ve got to deal with.’

‘Have Phillip deal with it,’ said Severus. In the Hogwarts Hierarchy, Under Dumbledore came McGonagall, and under her was the assistant headmaster, Flitwick, although Severus was the unofficial deputy.

‘I can’t, he’ll just mess the whole thing up as usual. I’ll do it myself to avoid any more catastrophes. Anyway, you were saying?’

‘I just want you to make sure Albus doesn’t give in to Lupin’s latest scheme.’

‘Which is?’ she asked.

‘Taking the seventh years into the Forest and let them practice their defence skills first hand,’ he said.

‘Absolutely not,’ said Minerva, as they reached the staff room door and she pushed it open.

‘That’s what I thought you’d say.’

‘See you at the feast, Severus,’ she said, and walked briskly across the elegantly decorated room as the Chinese clock chimed seven o’clock. Only one hour and fifteen minutes to the feast.

***

Remus Lupin was his usual jumpy self. At seven o’clock on Hallowe’en night, he sat at his desk in his office, a Kappa glaring at him from its glass case in the corner. In front of him, on the stained, chipped wooden surface, sat a glass goblet, steaming slightly. Gulping horribly, he lifted it, and took a series of deep gulps. The foul tasting potion washed down his throat, covering it in some kind of mildew. He could taste the earth worm, and suspected that Severus had been liberal when adding them. As it happened, he was right- the potions master had made the potion deliberately ill tasting specially, purely out of spite.

Lupin stood up, and took his cloak from the stand beside him, whipped it around his shoulders, and made his way down stairs.

The cold night air whipped through his greying hair and slapped his face. Although it was only October, it was extremely cold. He hurriedly crossed the grounds, his feet patting softly on the damp grass. The Forbidden Forest loomed at him- even in first year he had been fascinated by the forest, it’s complete unknown. He hadn’t a clue what was in there, didn’t know what he could find. He heard all sorts of wild stories about it, but he had never been in there himself. He prodded the willow with a stick, and it froze, motionless, allowing him entry. A shiver passed through him as he saw some kind of animal whip through the trees at the edge of the woodland. He hurried into the passageway, and made his way towards the forbidden forest.

Even although, with the aid of the Wolfsbane potion, Remus was entirely docile during his transformations, he still came down to the Shrieking Shack, to make assurance doubly sure. This was only his second time using the potion- he was still rather nervous about it.

As the Whomping Willow whipped back into life, the black dog that had been watching Remus stepped back into the clearing he had been living in. Feathers littered the floor from the birds he had caught for dinner, as did several rabbit feet. The ginger cat lay, surveying the monstrous dog, deciding whether to remain here with it or go off hunting.

The dog lay down beside the cat, watching as the moon rose steadily higher in the dusk sky, feeling great sympathy with his friend, wishing he could be there to support him in his hour of need. His friend, however, in the shrieking Shack, felt nothing but repulsion for that which he had once called a friend.

***

Minerva pulled on her blood red crushed velvet robes, and fixed her ruby ear rings in place. The clock on her dressing table reported it to be five past eight. Looking out the window, she saw Hermione Granger, the third year’s cat and a large black dog slink through the bushes beside the Lake. For a moment, her heart stopped. How ridiculous, she thought, as she sprayed some perfume on her neck. Almost embarrassed, she turned to face away from the window- away from what she had initially thought of as the Grim. Really, she scolded herself inwardly, she was acting all flustered that night. Smoothing the material of her robes and adding a dash of lipstick, she stood up, and, after making sure her hat was in the right position, left her rooms.

‘Minerva,’ said Albus, embracing her when she finally reached the Great Hall. All the other teachers were adding last minute touches to the Hall. ‘You look radiant.’

‘I’m still furious, Albus,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe it.’

Dumbledore chuckled awkwardly, looking at McGonagall’s thin lips. ‘Did you sort that little problem in the kitchens?’

‘As usual, I was left with thirty one things to do, and yes, I did manage to sort it out.’ Her lips were barely visible as her eyes scanned the room ferociously, the cat like killer instinct never more obvious. ‘Peeves, as usual.’

‘Ah, yes,’ said Dumbledore. He turned to face the rest of the hall. ‘Places, Ladies and Gentlemen!’

Minerva walked across the room to the tapestry, which hung in one corner, and pulled it open. Hundreds of bats streamed through from the cupboard they had been in all day. With a casual flick of Phillip’s wand, the long orange streamers that had been floating overhead began to wind through the sea of candles.

The teachers all sat down, and Dumbledore directed his wand to the doors. They slowly opened, and the Hogwarts populace walked in.

***

Norah Millen turned the sign on the door of Honeyduke’s Sweet Shope around from “open” to “closed”. Blowing out the last candle, she headed up the stairs to her bed, which was in the small flat above the shop. Nobody bothered to lock their doors in Hogsmeade. If anything was stolen, they could just use a variety of magical trinkets to find the culprit.

As Norah tucked herself into bed, the door downstairs in the shop creaked slowly open. A large, hulking black dog snuck in and scurried across the room. Outside the shop, bathed in the dim yellow glow of the oil lamps, sat upon the cobbled street, was Crookshanks the cat, keeping guard as the dog snuck through the shop. With a superior look in his eyes, he sat, like the Egyptian goddess Bast, his small orange eyes flick from here to there, registering every movement.

While Crookshanks kept guard, the dog was bounding along the earthy passage, which led to the heart of Hogwarts School.

***

The last of the students made their way out of the Great Hall at eleven o’clock that night, all full to the brim with the very best of Hogwarts cooking. The teachers began to clear up, which, with the aide of magic, was extremely easy. Barely five minutes had passed before all the orange streamers and bats were back in their boxes. The teachers were just about to leave for the Staff Room, when Ginny Weasley came hurtling into the hall, her face bright red and breathing heavily.

‘Professor Dumbledore…’ she heaved. ‘Come quick… Fat Lady…attacked.’

Dumbledore looked at Ginny, as if for one second questioning her integrity. Then he strode past her in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. Without thinking, Minerva and Severus followed.

***

’He’s got a nasty temper, that Sirius Black,’ crowed Peeves the Poltergeist, before shooting off down a corridor, howling with laughter. All the students stood in complete shocked silence. Minerva felt her hand tremble slightly, but hid it quickly. Severus, of course, showed no kind of emotion whatsoever. Out of the corner of her eye, Minerva saw Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, move closer to Harry Potter, almost in defence. Later, she would realise this meant they knew about Potter’s involvement in the Black situation.

Dumbledore stood motionless for a moment, before deciding what to do.

‘Prefects! Escort your house down to the Great Hall. You will all stay there tonight. Minerva, all students must be in the Great Hall within the next three minutes. Severus, please assemble all ghosts, teachers and other staff in the antechamber off the Hall. I ask you all to act with the utmost responsibility at the moment. As you doubtless know, we are in very great, and very real, danger. Please stay with the group, and do not wander off on your own. Please remain clam, and keep quiet. Anyone acting out of line will most probably find himself or herself expelled by tomorrow morning. You all know what I expect of you.’

He swept off, leaving them all.

‘Come along now,’ barked Minerva. ‘You all know what to do.’

‘Percy, will you please lead them down to the Great Hall, and once you are there, will you and Miss Clearwater please try to keep the situation under control. I’m sure you appreciate the danger we are all in,’ said Snape softly to the slightly pompous but very able Head Boy.

‘Certainly, Professor.’ Percy clapped his hands, and began to make his way downstairs. Minerva and Severus gave each other a glance, each reading the others expression instantly, before hurrying off to organize the school.