academic curiosity

        Lily chewed on a mushroom, listening to Ada and Dale.

"So exactly when in this chain of events did she summon the undead to rise, again?" Dale asked with a perplexed frown.

"Look, we´ve gone over it a million times," Lily spoke with her mouth full. Dale grimaced and waved her away from him. She swallowed and continued, "I read it in a book."

"Oh, what book was that? And where is it´s location in the library? Probably in between Anatomy of the Unicorn and Spell-o Tape for Dummies. Let´s just get this out of the way, Lily! Are you or are you not just completely evil?!" Dale pointed a accusing finger at her.

"Um, the first one?" She slapped the table. "No!! I meant the second one! Yeah!"

"Oh, well. I bet Lord Voldemort would think it was cool," Ada sighed. The impression of their mishap two weeks ago had faded upon Ada´s mind and because Remus and Peter were naturally tightlipped people and Abraham Canard was too busy with fiction it seemed no one had gotten word about the raising of the dead yet. This, Dale told her was a good thing because it would gain her no good reputation to be known as the zombie girl. Ada got up and burped little bubbles of pumpkin juice. "Any road, I got to get packing for the holidays. I´ll see you Dale and you Madam Zombie, later."

"We don´t get to choose the people we love!" Dale moaned and rubbed his temples.

"What?" Lily asked.

"Just something someone said on night time telly."

"Oh," Lily mouthed. She turned and saw that Remus, next to her had fallen dead asleep. She poked him just as his nose was about to dive into his soup.

"Hrmuph!" he remarked, irritated.

"Are you feeling well? Perhaps you should retire early?"

He looked at her sheepishly and shrugged. "I am feeling a little exhausted lately. What with with Defense and Transfiguration tests coming up. And someone keeps leaving little bowls of blood by my bed..."

"No worries Remus, I´m getting them too!" Alia came up from behind them and patted his shoulder reassuringly. He looked at her with relief.

"Really? That´s reassuring! I think..." He got up and trudged out of the great hall.

"Really?" Lily asked trying to recall a time when she last saw bowls of blood in their dormitory, or anywhere for that matter.

"No," Alia shrugged.

~*~

"Can I borrow your essay on flesh-eating slugs?" Ada asked Lily from across the dormitory.

Lily conceded, "I got a depressingly low score on that. I think my slug, Norman, killed itself because it had to be separated from its girl friend, which was Alia´s slug."

"That´s disgusting and sad all at once!" Ada commented.

"What happened to Alia´s slug once Norman croaked?" Marva Sequim, their dorm mate asked.

"Oh, actually it started a mating pattern with Peter´s slug if I recall accurately."

"That´s cheap!" Ada replied. "But any ways, I still wanna borrow it. Fa would be worried if I looked too smart anyhow."

"I´m bored," Lily sighed.

"How can you be bored? Aren´t you excited for Christmas? I mean, think of the loot! Think of the candy!" Ada punched her huge trunk closed and secured the strap around it´s bulging sides.

"I guess. But what´ll we do `til then?!?"

Ada turned from her trunk and smiled.

~*~

"Where did you say we were going again?" Lily asked as she followed behind Ada past the groundskeeper´s cabin.

"I didn´t say," Ada replied and quickened her pace as they heard Hagrid´s flute coming around the side of the cabin.

Lily moaned as she saw they were heading directly into the Forbidden Forest.

"Hasn´t a week of dungeon fungus imbedded in your finger nails taught you anything?!" Lily shouted.

"Hush you!" Ada turned and grabbed Lily wrist. "I got a proposition I couldn´t refuse..."

Ada led Lily forward and under a berry bush, where a narrow but deep and well packed path led up and over several steep, leafy hills. As they came to the crest of the final hill Ada turned round and spoke again, "Promise I´ll give you thirty-five percent of the proceeds! The rest I need to send away to the Death Eaters for a official badge and decoder ring!!"

"What???" Lily was confused.

Ada thrust her before a small band of first years. A few more stood up behind them and she saw to her horror that a few second and third years were there as well.

"Bout time, Mac Fusty!" a Second year named Toggie Booth complained and sat on a rock with a few other Slytherins.

The others seemed to think there would be a show or something as they all sat in a semi circle with Ada and Lily at the head.

"So? What d´ya all think this is? Money up front! And cash only please!" Ada pulled out a little bucket and Lily listened to the plings of many sickles hit the bottom and Ada took up the bucket and it disappeared into her robes again.

"Um. Ada," Lily tugged the hem of her robe. She grinned nervously to their audience with a very bad feeling. She began to back away. When her eyes met with Potter´s she nearly turned tail and ran away full tilt. She would have, had not Ada grabbed at her and forced her forward into the witches circle.

"Well. It all started with a frog!" Ada began her recital, taking a turn about the circle with an air of confidence. "This frog had a name. Her name was Petunia."

"WHAT?" Lily began cracking up hysterically. "You named your frog PETUNIA?" Lily sighed with glee. "Did you know my sister´s name is-"

"Petunia!" Ada glared at Lily. "Was a gentle creature. She loved and lived very simply never asking anything from anyone. Only a nice bowl of water and maybe a lily pa-"

This time both Lily and Potter were laughing. Ada spun around and Lily was not able to see the look she gave him but the grin came off his face quite fast.

"As I was saying, Petunia was a wonderful pet. She was lost my first week here, which is why most of you don´t remember her. She had a hard time adjusting to Hogwarts and I promised her that I would send her away but the prospect of a life without me sent her into deep depression. She died of unknown causes September 3rd."

Ada pointed to the earth below her feet and then bent over. She wiped away a thin layer of dirt and revealed a box. It was labeled in Ada´s lazy scrawl: Petunia Alfieda Stevie Nicks III.

"She actually was the first. But I thought adding `the third´ would add a touch of class to her title," Ada mused.

Everyone bent down to see the tiny coffin lid, only Lily seemed to not understand the point of this viewing.

Ada dusted off more dirt to reveal: October 1965 ~ September 1971. She carefully lifted the lid of the box and set it aside. Everyone leaned over curiously as she lifted a tiny shroud and the remains of the dead were revealed. The Hufflepuff Henrietta Borg gasped first followed by Kesmit Owens and Starla Lark.

Lily raised an eyebrow. The frog, or Petunia if you will, despite allegedly being deceased for upward of four months, appeared fresh. She could have croaked (literally and figuratively speaking) an hour ago.

"Wow!" Elaine Philips pointed at the little green corpse.

"It is what they call a miracle!" Hufflepuff second year Lisanne Harris cried in her Algerian-French accent.

"No way did that frog die in September!" Flavia Ire protested.

Ada looked as surprised as everyone else. She studied the inside of the box carefully and finally gave Petunia a confused poke.

"No! I remember that Ada had a frog that died the first week!" A round-faced curly haired subject pointed out.

"Thank you, Bertha!" Ada replied, smiling benevolently.

"I´ve `eard of wizards and witches who do not rot away!" Lisanne continued.

"Me too! The frog must be powerful magical!" Amos Diggory added.

Ada unearthed the box to present the body to everyone.

"You can clearly see, that this is a dead frog."

Everyone sat back in their impromptu seats and seemed satisfied. Lily was more baffled then ever. She stood behind Ada awkwardly and drew hearts in the dirt with the toe of her maryjanes.

"Now, as per request from a few inquiring minds," Ada nodded to Flavia Ire, Eddie Carmichael and Toggie. "I will present my companion´s strange and unique gift. I ask that anyone with a weak constitution please leave now as I forgot to bring sick bags."

"Wait!" Lily pushed Ada. "You don´t mean-"

"Yes! Madam Evans will perform her spell of wonderment! Please, Lily, if you need anyone to move back farther just let me know."

Lily looked at Petunia in the box. The frog was lying on it´s back, limbs spread out in a determinedly dead fashion. It´s huge round belly stuck out above it. Lily laughed and shook her head.

"You think I can revive this thing?"

Ada cleared her throat and shot Lily a secret glare.

"Sorry, you think I can revive Petunia here? You got to be smoking something."

"Oh, good! Does that come with the admission price?" Toggie exclaimed excitedly. Eddie smacked him and Ada rolled her eyes. She whispered into Lily´s ear, "Just give it a go! If you can bring life to a bunch of slimy bones you can bring it to a frog! I loved Petunia, but she wasn´t a member of what you´d call an advanced race!"

Lily forced the corners of her mouth down and tried to appear solemn. She took out her wand and waved it for show. Ada backed away and took a seat between the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins as she hated Ravenclaw still and disliked Potter for no reason in particular.

Lily stood poised above the box feeling absolutely ridiculous. "This isn´t the first time, and it won´t be the last!" she muttered in reply to that thought.

"What did she say?" Flavia hushed to Ada.

"She´s possessed or something!" Bertha hissed and Henrietta Borg gasped again.

Lily tried to force down laughter and made a unnecessary flourish of the wand. She found her eyes lifting irresistibly to Potter´s and found he was smirking appreciatively. She looked away and recited, "Exitiabilisium vivre age dum!"

She felt the pull of the wand but no silver mist appeared and the contents of the box remained unanimated.

Lily made brief eye contact with Ada. She heard a jangle of sickles in a bucket.

Lily made an eerie smile she had once seen a fortune teller use on the telly and carried on as if she was not finished with the spell.

"Exitiabilisium vivre age dum!" Lily repeated and this time a faint whisp of silver drifted from the tip of her wand but Lily could tell that the necessary pull wasn´t there and would likely not ever be. Maybe the spell only worked for certain dead. Lily was not done though. These people had paid four sickles each for a show and she intended that they at least get that.

She made more pointless but attractive wand flourishes and began stomping the ground and spinning around the box. This gave her enough time to think up how she would get them both out of this. She decided that she would do a few simple but showy charms affecting the air and wind around the tiny cove. Then after a few minutes of this she would conjure up a spell that would cause the frog to jig as if it were alive. A simple spell that they had just been taught in Charms, but likely no one in this bunch remembered or mastered. She carried the plan out and as she was releasing Petunia from the grip of the spell a funny thing happened.

~*~

PETUNIA!" Ada shouted with honest glee and rushed forward before the box. As the spell came off the frog, it landed upright and it´s big greasy eyelids opened.

Lily was as shocked as anyone when it registered a somewhat hoarse, "ribbit!" and hopped from the box to Ada´s hands. She clutched Petunia in one hand and looked upon Lily with starry eyes.

Lily looked upon the scene with doubt but as everyone became excited she shrugged and tucked her wand away.

"How did you end up in Gryffindor?" Toggie Booth asked her.

"Yeah. That´s what I´d like to know!" James Potter added. He looked at the frog with disgust.

"Seems like there´s more than one dark arts lover in that house," Nathaniel Corner observed looking from Ada to a suddenly alert Lily. This was not the response she had been expecting. Sure, she wasn´t as full of herself as to expect awe or admiration. But it seemed that the living dead was viewed with the same prejudice as it was in Muggle society. Lily felt very dumb. Of course! Dark magic was either revered or dreaded. Dale Percy had warned her in so many words but Lily hadn´t been paying attention!

Flavia Ire smirked and took Lily by the shoulder, "Your a lot cooler than I thought, Evans."

~*~

The party had broken up pretty quickly after that as it was dead cold outside. Lily went to the castle with a sinking feeling in her stomach. The others had rushed to the castle murmuring and whispering, flicking nervous glances in her direction. Ada was above it all and happy to have Petunia back in her life. She threw the frog into the former coffin and marched next to Lily, letting the money jangle musically in her pocket.

When they got back to the girl´s dormitory she dumped the bucket over and counted out their profits.

"There´s nearly three Galleons worth here!" Ada cried. She divided it into tow uneven portions and motioned for Lily to accept the smaller.

She gave Ada a look and she sighed. "Okay, okay! Fifty/Fifty it is!"

Lily took her money and deposited into a pocket in her trunk for safe keeping.

"This will almost pay for a silver skull badge!" Ada clapped and pulled out a little pouch filled with more loose change. She leaned over and kissed Voldemort´s likeness, posted on her headboard.

Lily sat at the edge of her bed, withdrawn. Ada put her money away and with a few salutations that Lily ignored she went out and met with Dale and Alia to share early farewells. They would all be leaving for their families tonight.

After a half hour Lily came to a conclusion and got up and stealthily exited the portrait, heading in the direction of McGonagall´s office. It was empty, so Lily took a seat and waited.

~*~

"Well, I don´t see the need for it now... I- Oh! Miss Evans. Is anything wrong child, why aren´t you packing?" McGonagall had been in the process of coming in, followed by the head master. Lily perked up nervously and felt her stomach plunge even further.

"I did something really stupid!"

McGonagall took a seat behind her desk and Dumbledore sat in a wooden chair in the corner with a serene smile. Lily watched him unwrap a yellow piece of candy and pop it into his mouth.

"I, uh... I think I brought a dead frog back to life."

Professor McGonagall sat primly and shrugged, looking at Dumbledore.

"You´re referring to the dearly departed Petunia, I believe?" he smiled.

"Yes, actually. How did you know Head Master?"

"I make a habit of keeping a list of the students who frequent the Forbidden Forest." He looked at McGonagall. "We must come up with a name that more clearly describes that the woods are off-limits."

"But... Head Master! Do you know about Ada´s frog then?"

"Oh yes, yes. She loved the simple life and lily pads. Buried ninety paces from Rubeus´ cabin." Dumbledore smiled over his half-moon spectacles at her. "The young Severus Snape tested his first Potions assignment on Petunia. Draught of Living Death, or something like it. He and the Potions Master were bent on advancing the class work. Quite impressive really, we all must keep an eye on that young man. I expect to see amazing and admirable feats from him in the future. That is, if he learns a kinder way to learn about his concoctions."

Lily made an `O´ with her mouth. "So... It wasn´t dead, then?"

Dumbledore deposited another lemon drop into his mouth. "Only in a deep sleep. What ever you did must have woken the frog."

McGonagall shrugged, "I´m happy to hear that it was retrieved before Winter set in! I doubt she would have survived it!"

"But..." Lily continued feebly.

"The skeletons?" Dumbledore smiled. McGonagall shot Lily a look.

"Yeah..."

"I don´t have a answer for you on that, unfortunately. All I can say is that every student I see come through these halls tends to each be specially gifted in some small, or in yours and Severus´ case, big ways. You seem to be particularly skilled with a certain kind of magic. What kind you will figure out someday I´m sure. However, apart from that you seem to also be prodigal in returning a life into otherwise completely dead objects. Maybe in a twisted way it is related to your former gift... A negative aspect to compliment the positive." He seemed to be giving this some thought.

McGonagall hung at the edge of desk and Lily followed his words carefully.

"Of course, you don´t seem to be returning the soul or former life to the object. The skeleton´s are not alive in the way they were when they were a part of men and women. Even so, that sort of spell is obscure. And extremely difficult. In fact... I´ve only seen it performed a hand full of times in my life." His face fell slightly and he met Lily´s eyes.

McGonagall spoke then, "It´s the sort of magic that a depraved individual would try and use to bring back a dead loved one. Very unfortunate."

"But the frog in the box didn´t revive. I couldn´t even get the spell to work..."

"Stress helped you perform it the first time I expect. But as you perfect your skills will be able to conjure a kind of life into many things. The question you´ll have to ask yourself though may be more difficult."

"Question?" Lily asked, looking at the knowing expression on McGonagall´s face and back to Dumbledore again.

"The question of what the ramifications of a spell like that could be."

~*~

Lily went down and met Ada and Dale outside the great hall. They were soon joined by Alia and Joe Leary. The latter person was improving from his own draught of living death situation but Lily detected that he had changed in some permanent and sad way. She had a hard time feeling terribly bad about slipping Glint poison in his coffee that time.

"Will you owl me then?" Alia asked them all as she performed a spell on her luggage to lighten the load.

"I don´t have an owl," Lily answered.

"I don´t like you, so no," Ada sighed.

"I´ve already sent out my Christmas cards," Dale replied.

"My owl´s name is Bob," Joe remarked.

Alia smiled and two second years from Ravenclaw came and carried her things for her.

~*~

Lily´s first night home she heard a tap at the window. She got out of bed and realized with a start where she was. She wasn´t used to sleeping in a room by herself. She had become accustomed to Ada´s snores, and Alia Bashir´s dreamy chatters.

She saw through the foggy glass, two glowing owl eyes. She jumped and squealed with excitement and flung open the window letting the owl hop in along with a gust of freezing wind.

"Poor thing!" Lily cried taking up the owl. But it leaped from her and stuck out it´s leg imperviously.

She obediently took the rolled parchment letter attached and the owl flickered it´s wings and stood still atop her bureau for several moments, apparently waiting for her to do something.

She wondered if it should be tipped. She had never received a owl after the Hogwarts letter came to her last August. She opened the letter and scanned down to the signature. But there was none. The handwriting was slightly mechanical as if it was the work of a charmed quill.

Lily Evans,

I know of your trick today and wanted to commence a communication, perhaps one that will become long term. I will have my eyes and ears on you in the future and thought it would only be fair to warn you of this. Act with caution, and use care in how your speak, especially around Hogwarts staff and most especially around the Head Master. You can´t trust anyone. Even your closest friends may be Ministry spies. Heed my warning and as long as you remain perfectly silent on the matter of my writing to you I will continue to do so.

Stay safe and stay at home.

X

She folded the letter back up and stared at the owl. It blinked and took wing. It disappeared out the window and she slowly shut it up and drew the curtains tightly, suddenly afraid.