Reunions

REUNIONS - Part 2

By Crazy Taxi

Chapter 3

Harry was fuming. It was Potions, and yet again he had lost Gryffindor twenty points because of that Malfoy brat. He could see him grinning now while Snape had his back turned. Bastard, he thought to himself.

It was the usual stuff. Mumbled insults and then the 'M' word. Harry had had to restrain Ron. Unfortunately in so doing he had tipped backwards and knocked Pansy Parkinson's cauldron over. That had stopped Ron in his tracks and brought Snape's wrath down on them.

He had taken particular delight in taking away points and issuing a detention. Still smarting from the Quidditch match he supposed.

Now Harry was back by his cauldron again and the Slytherins were still smirking. Well, actually, now he came to think about it, they weren't all smirking. Tracey Davis had returned to her work and Blaise Zabini was smiling rather weakly as Crabbe poked him in the ribs. Maybe...maybe.

"Why do you always have to make a scene?" Harry heard Hermione whisper.

"I wasn't making a scene," Ron hissed back.

"Oh really. Look, if I can take an insult with grace..."

"You don't understand..."

"I understand perfectly well..."

Harry tuned out the argument, putting his mind back on the Slytherins. How he hated them. They seemed to exist only to make his life miserable. How could Professor Escoban really expect him not to hate them? He sighed quietly. Alright, so maybe they weren't all utter bastards but he was not about to trust any of them further than he could throw them.

An image of Malfoy flying off the Astronomy Tower came to mind. That cheered him up a bit and somehow he got through the rest of the lesson with out hitting anybody.

*****

Ron had found himself watching Harry very carefully this year. He knew something was wrong. He thought he knew what it was but he didn't know if he should bring it up or wait for Harry to. He sighed quietly to himself as he tried to pay attention to the endless ramblings of Professor Binns. Sadly his monotone descriptions couldn't even make the Salem witch trials sound interesting.

Ron looked over at his friend who was almost asleep in his chair. Ron knew he hadn't been sleeping well; Harry had woken him up often enough in the middle of the night. He wondered what Harry dreamed about, but then realised he didn't really want to know.

Shit, some friend I am, he thought. But the fact was that he was scared. Harry had had premonitory dreams before and he didn't think he could cope with knowing what was in store for them. It was different for Harry and Hermione. They hadn't grown up surrounded by talk of the dark days. They hadn't been scared half to death by malicious brothers telling tall tales in the middle of the night. Then again, they probably weren't tall tales. From what little he did know about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the Dark wizard was capable of pretty much anything.

Damn, why can't I even say his name?

Ron scribbled down a date and a name Binns had mentioned, unsure quite where they fitted in, but at least it kept his mind from wandering.

He ought to be able to ask Hermione's advice but she'd been acting bloody oddly as well. All they ever did was argue. What the hell was that about? Ron frowned to himself. Was this growing up? He hoped not because, quite frankly, it sucked. He'd thought that he had the best friends in the world and now he didn't know anymore.

He bent over his parchment and wrote furiously not noticing the odd look Hermione gave him. After all, he never took notes in Binns' class.

*****

Harry was almost looking forward to his lesson. Professor Escoban had grown on him. She was certainly a little freaky but her lessons were good, almost as good as Lupin's had been. Of course those eyes still didn't seem right, they almost seemed to shift colours as you looked at them. Oh well, he thought to himself, mentally shrugging as he turned the corner to the Dark Arts classroom. There he paused. He could hear music.

He didn't recognise the tune, but knew it was classical. And it seemed to be coming from Professor Escoban's classroom. He listened for a moment. It was a woman was singing in a language he didn't understand. She sounded so desperately sad. Another woman started to sing, a high soprano. Harry knocked. There was no answer so he pushed open the door. Professor Escoban wasn't in her classroom but the door to her office stood open. She was sitting in a large armchair, her eyes closed.

"Er...professor?"

She slowly opened her eyes and muttered a spell. The music stopped abruptly.

"What was that?"

"Wagner. Die Walküre. Sieglinde has just witnessed Siegmund's death at his father's hands."

"Oh."

She sighed slightly at his blank expression. "Sit down Harry, I've made a little space in here so we may as well use the comfy chairs...and the soft cushions." She smiled slightly to herself.

Harry looked a little bemused but sat all the same. He glanced around the room. It was still full of unpacked boxes and papers lay everywhere. It didn't look that different from her classroom, so he wasn't sure if this was the effect she was going for or if some of these items might be put away someday.

Then something caught his eye. On the wall above her desk was the Slytherin crest. He was sure it hadn't hung there the last time he'd been in this office, when Moody had been the Dark Arts professor. He frowned as he stared at it.

"Were you in Slytherin?"

"Yes I was Harry." She looked at him for a moment. "What of it?" She sounded a little put out.

"Er...nothing." Harry shrugged.

Professor Escoban sighed. "Just because I was in Slytherin doesn't mean I'm necessarily the devil you know."

"Well, no, I didn't mean that. It's just you never said."

"I never said I was in any other house either. Besides I sat in the Slytherin box the other day at the Quidditch match. I don't suppose you noticed though, you were too busy catching the Snitch."

"You support Slytherin then?"

"Of course I do. I mean I enjoy watching you fly. You're very good. I just don't enjoy watching you win." She grimaced slightly.

Harry smiled sheepishly. He supposed that was fair enough. Still it surprised him, Escoban didn't favour Slytherins particularly, nor was she cruel to Harry and the other Gryffindors. Then again Professor Sinistra was Okay so maybe it was just Snape who was a mean old bastard. Yes, that seemed more likely.

"Well Harry, I think we could do with a walk." She got up and proceeded out of the room, Harry followed her lead. They walked along the deserted corridors and up the stairs. Then out of the front door and across the grounds. There was no doubt where they were going. They passed the clearing where she'd set the trap for the fifth years in their first lesson and then she stopped.

"Do you feel anything?"

"Er...nervous?"

She smiled. "No, I want you to try to relax and clear your mind."

"Okay."

"Nothing?"

"I'm not sure what you're asking for."

"Fair enough. I'm hoping that you can sense magic. It's not something everyone can do, far from it, but your father could and it tends to run in families."

"Can you?" Harry asked.

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be standing in the middle of the Forbidden Forest with a student. You are perfectly safe by the way."

"Are we inside the wards?"

"Of course, although some magic can pass through them so don't be thinking that you're completely safe when you're here. It's just that there's no one around at the moment."

Harry was rather relieved.

"You see magic gives off a discharge. Some people can detect it. It tends to create a resonance in the person's head, although sometimes you can feel it in your chest. It feels like a buzz or an itch sometimes."

Harry nodded.

"You don't feel anything?" she asked.

Harry shook his head, disappointed.

"Recludo."

Harry gasped as a swirling mass of colours appeared just ahead of them stretching in both directions.

"It that the boundary of the wards?"

"Yes. Obscuro."

It disappeared.

"Remember where the boundary is Harry. It could come in handy someday."

Harry nodded.

"It's giving off a huge amount of discharge, but we may have to try something different if you're not feeling it."

She turned and headed back out of the forest. Harry followed in silence as they finally emerged from between the trees and began to walk towards the lake. He was rather disappointed. If he couldn't feel all that magic what hope was there? Maybe he just couldn't do it. After a while they stopped. They were near the lakeshore behind a stand of trees that shielded the castle from view.

Professor Escoban turned to Harry. "Now, certain types of magic are easier to detect than others. Dark magic to be precise. It's not that it's more powerful, simply more violent. It creates a bigger resonance so it's easier to pick up."

Harry nodded, he wasn't sure he liked the direction this was going and he now thought he knew why Professor Escoban insisted on meeting so late in the evening. If she was about to cast Dark Magic, it would be best if the other students were locked away in their common rooms.

"I'm going to cast some curses on those trees and we'll see," she continued.

She took out her wand and thought for a moment.

"Incendo cutis."

"What did that do?" Harry asked.

"If it had been a human it would have burnt their skin off."

"Oh. Er...no I didn't feel anything."

"Okay. Os dissolvo."

Harry shook his head again.

She tried a few more spells. Nothing.

"Oh this is hopeless." Harry kicked a stone into the lake.

"Not at all. This might take weeks."

"If I can do it at all."

"I have every confidence." She smiled. It wouldn't do for him to become disheartened so quickly.

"Alright, I'll try again," Harry mumbled.

"Try not. Do, do. Or do not. There is no try." She was talking in a strange, cracked voice.

"Why are you talking like that?"

Professor Escoban was smiling to herself. "Er, never mind."

She sobered up.

"Okay, now this one's pretty nasty. Effervesco sanguis."

Harry didn't look up. "What was that?"

"It boils blood."

"Have you actually cast any of these spells on people?"

"No, I haven't. The last few were all deadly. Of course I would have to boil xylem to affect that tree over there." She tried to lighten his mood. After all it was downhill from here.

"I'm afraid there's only one way to go now and that is most definitely down. Now, Professor Dumbledore has given me permission to cast the Imperius curse..."

Harry looked up, a fearful look on his face.

"Not on you Harry! We need to find a bug. It will experience a blissful, carefree existence for a moment and then it will be a bug again. I promise not to make it dance. It's just a pity I couldn't catch one of Bella's cats." She smiled a rather wicked smile. Harry wondered if this was her attempt at making him feel better. Oddly enough though, Harry wasn't particularly reassured.

"I recommend that you ask Dumbledore later about this, but you mustn't mention it to anyone else."

Harry shook his head.

Once she'd located a large black beetle Professor Escoban composed herself for moment.

"Imperio," she said, her voice tense.

And there it was, a strange tingle up the back of his skull. Was that what she meant?

"You felt it didn't you?" she asked immediately.

He nodded.

"I'll do it again so you have the feeling fixed in you head."

She cast Imperio several more times and each time the feeling was stronger, easier to sense.

"Okay, back down a notch. Effervesco sanguis."

"Yes, I could feel that this time!" Harry was excited by now.

"Cerebrum dissolvo."

Harry shook his head. She tried it a few more times but he couldn't feel it.

"Well, that's alright, in time I expect you'll be able to detect them all." She seemed extremely pleased and somewhat surprised.

"I never realised there were so many ways you could dissolve somebody's innards."

"Yes, well we're going to be working on duelling soon so I'll have to show you how to block those. A counter-curse is no good if your brain has already run out of your ears."

Harry tried not to picture that and failed. He suspected he'd gone a little green.

"Now, when you get better at this you'll be able to detect the spell just before it's cast which gives you a precious split second to duck. You can also tell when somebody's Apparated nearby, although it's not directional."

Harry nodded. He could certainly see the point.

"Do you think that's why I feel pain from my scar when Voldemort casts spells?"

"It's possible, though it's probably to do with the link you have with him, whatever that is."

"I wish I knew what it was."

"Don't we all? Anyway, that's all for today. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. Well done Harry."

They walked back up to the castle and as they did they discussed Quidditch. It turned out that Professor Escoban had been a Beater when she'd been at school. It also appeared to Harry that she didn't wholeheartedly agree with the Slytherin team's tactics, which was a relief. Harry felt a whole lot better about the lesson by the time he got back to the Gryffindor common room. He couldn't wait to tell Ron and Hermione about his new ability to sense magic. Then again he'd have to tell them the edited version. Still, pretty bloody exciting.

*****

Chapter 4

Early on Monday morning Harry groaned as he stepped out of bed. He shivered violently as he put his clothes on and then crept out of the dormitory. Ron mumbled something and turned over, but didn't wake up. I'm not bloody surprised, this is ridiculous, Harry thought. Pulling on his cloak, he made his way out of the common room, through the castle and out into the grounds. The grass crunched under his feet as he walked briskly down to the Quidditch pitch. Sadly, he was not there to play.

Under one of the goal posts a figure stood looking towards the lake. He ran the last hundred yards.

"Sorry. Am I late?"

The figure turned.

"Oh. I was expecting Professor Figg."

"Yes, well she decided that I should have the honour of running your workouts." Professor Escoban didn't sound too thrilled.

"Well, I suppose she's....er...."

"Getting on a bit?"

"Um."

"I'd take off your cloak if I were you."

Reluctantly he did so as she did the same.

"I may as well come with you, or I'll freeze to death."

"Right."

They set off. It wasn't too bad at first but pretty soon Harry realised just how unfit he was. He supposed that all that enforced rest, locked in his room at Privet Drive, had done him no good. After about ten minutes his lungs were burning and his legs felt like lead. They were nearing the Quidditch pitch again and he prayed that there wouldn't be another lap. Mercifully, Professor Escoban stopped. Harry was dismayed to see that, while she was breathing hard, she didn't seem to be any pain at all. Harry meanwhile was doubled over gasping for breath.

"Stand up straight, it's easier to catch your breath."

He stood upright, holding the stitch that had developed in his side.

"You're what, fifteen? You really should be able to run rings around me you know." She didn't sound impressed.

Harry attempted to defend himself between breaths.

"I spent...most of the summer...inside."

"I see. Well, I think we might as well pack it in, I don't want to kill you. I'd be in awful trouble."

She picked up her cloak and started back towards the castle. Harry followed.

"We may as well start fifteen minutes later on Wednesday."

"You don't mind?"

"Believe it or not getting up at six thirty in the morning is not my idea of a good time."

"Sorry."

"That's alright, it's not your fault."

They walked on in silence until they were finally inside.

"Well, I don't know about you, Harry, but I need some breakfast."

Harry followed her into the Great Hall, which was usually always vacant at this hour.

Two house elves immediately appeared and then promptly disappeared again looking rather startled.

"Oh dear, we've probably upset them," Escoban said with a sheepish smiled.

Harry sat down at his usual spot at the Gryffindor table. Escoban sat opposite him.

"Well, this is a first." She half shrugged. "Not much point being anti-social though, I suppose."

As plates of food appeared around them Professor Escoban's mood improved. Pretty soon the conversation got around to Quidditch.

"So you played Quidditch for Slytherin then?"

"Yes, that's right," Escoban replied buttering her toast.

"Were you at school at the same time as my parents?"

Escoban looked up, surprised by the question.

"I was six years older. I didn't know them."

"Oh." Harry thought for a moment. "You don't look that old."

"Thank you Harry. I'll take that as a compliment."

Harry didn't notice her amused expression, he had just thought of something else.

"Did you know Snape...I mean Professor Snape?"

She looked at him hard for a moment before answering.

"Yes."

"What was he like?"

She leant back in her chair.

"I don't think it would be appropriate for me to discuss a colleague with a student, do you?"

"Er....no, probably not. Sorry, I didn't mean to....well...." Harry floundered.

"That's alright...oh, speak of the devil."

Harry turned to see Snape striding between the long tables that ran the length of the hall. He stopped behind Harry and peered at Escoban with one eyebrow raised.

"Good morning Professor Escoban."

"Good morning Professor Snape, you're up rather early."

Harry kept his head down, hopefully he could stay out of this.

"As are you. What on earth are you doing here with Potter? Not tutoring him this early in the morning are you?"

"No," Professor Escoban replied. "Professor Figg arranged a little morning athletics."

Snape laughed.

Harry's head jerked up, he was certain that was a laugh.

The supposed laugh quickly turned into a cough as Snape attempted to cover it. Escoban looked rather pleased with herself.

"You can join us if you like," she said.

"I think I'll pass."

Snape stalked off and took his usual chair at the staff table. Escoban returned to her toast and fried eggs. Harry sat staring at the table not quite believing what he'd just heard.

*****

Four days later Harry trudged along the corridor listening idly to his two friends chatter. As ever, he was not looking forward to his next lesson. Potions. Ah, what thoughts that single word conjured up. Thoughts mostly dominated by images of his hands wrapped around Snape's neck as he slowly throttled him. Slightly cheered he walked into the dungeon and slammed straight into Ron's back.

"What's going on?" He peered over his best friend's shoulder.

"Oh joy of joys," Ron voiced his own thoughts as he saw Professor Escoban standing behind Snape's desk.

They hurried to sit down.

"Settle down." Escoban looked up as the last of the students sat. "Professor Snape is feeling unwell so I will be taking his lesson."

"Thank the lord!" Ron whispered under his breath.

"What was that Mr Weasley?"

"Er, nothing Professor."

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she continued. "You will be brewing numbing potions today, the ingredients are on the board. Try not to get it on your skin, as it is rather unpleasant. Ask if you need any help. I shall look very unfavourably on anyone who blows up this lab. Trust me, I shall not be the one who will be explaining any incidents to Professor Snape. Now, begin."

While Escoban got back to her marking Harry copied down the ingredients list.

"So, where do you think Snape is?" Ron whispered.

"Shh!" Hermione glared at him.

"Oh, right." Ron grabbed a lump of weasel liver and began to dice it into smaller pieces. How he hated potions, it was all so bloody disgusting.

"Hermione," Neville whispered frantically. "Which one is the snake oil?"

She pointed at the small, clear vial.

"Thanks." He grinned sheepishly.

Thankfully the rest of the lesson went well. It wasn't too taxing, even Neville managed to make a passable potion. In fact, Escoban had been nicer to him than anybody else in the class. Soon they were hurrying back to the common room, keen to speculate about Snape's disappearance.

"So, what d'you reckon then?" Ron was the first to speak once they'd found a quiet spot. "I bet he's not ill."

"But what exactly could he be doing? You think he's gone back to spying?" Hermione suggested.

"Could be." Harry still found it very hard to trust Snape.

"He couldn't go back to supporting Voldemort. Not without Dumbledore knowing," she continued.

"You think?" Ron sounded even more suspicious.

"Dumbledore trusts him..." Hermione pressed on.

"God, you always say that, but he's still a bastard. You seem to forget that."

"No I don't. Just because he's a bastard doesn't mean he's not on our side," she countered.

It was a familiar argument. Harry only half listened. He was intrigued though. What could Snape be doing? Was he in Voldemort's ranks again spying for Dumbledore? If he was, surely he must have told his old master that he would spy on Dumbledore for him. After all he would have never been accepted back otherwise. But if that was the case, what sort of information was he giving him? Was it his decision what he told him or was Dumbledore feeding Voldemort information through Snape? Information about attacking Hogwarts perhaps. Surely that was a dangerous game. Still, there was no point worrying. Perhaps Snape wasn't spying at all. Perhaps he was just gathering information, maybe running a spy network. Harry shook his head. No point speculating. Perhaps he was truly just ill.

*****

The next day was his private lesson with Professor Figg. Harry wondered if she knew where Snape was. He was still not attending his classes as Fred and George had told him gleefully.

Warily Harry stepped into the Muggle Studies classroom. You could never be quite certain you weren't about to be attacked by a stray cat, or a rabid kettle.

"Er...Professor Figg?"

Harry could hear singing from the office at the back of the room. He approached the door.

"Professor?"

"Come in, come in," she sang.

Harry pushed the door open and was immediately assaulted by a tabby.

"Winston! Come back here."

But the cat had already bolted out of the office and was now tearing around the classroom. Harry sighed; knowing Professor Figg they'd have to catch it before their class could begin.

Ten minutes later they had it trapped under a bookshelf.

"Why don't you just use magic?" he asked.

"That would be impolite," Professor Figg replied as if that made perfect sense.

"Oh...right," Harry replied uncertainly.

As Harry waved his arms about, the tabby flew out and was caught by Professor Figg.

"Whose a naughty puddy cat," She crooned as she took him back into her office.

Harry followed, relived to get going.

"So," Professor Figg began as she sat, "we need to continue with the Invisibilis spell."

"Okay." Harry took out his wand.

The difficulty was not the spell, but the angle. Casting Invisibilis on yourself required a certain movement of the wand and the timing had to be just right. During the last lesson he had managed to turn almost everything in Figg's classroom invisible except himself. Poor Professor Figg had had to spend an hour turning everything back. She still hadn't found her Sneakoscope and had decided to move into her office this time since her pupils had been rather alarmed the next day when several chairs had spontaneously reverted to their invisible state.

Harry prepared himself and cast the spell. He was a little early, his wand still pointing over his shoulder as the spell fired. He heard a muffled meow and spun round.

"Oh my!" exclaimed Professor Figg, looking at the back end of one of her cats.

Quickly she reversed the spell and the cat's head and front legs reappeared. The ginger ball of fluff looked at Harry with an evil glint in its eye. Harry mumbled an apology.

"Try again dear."

He did so and this time the corner of a coffee table vanished.

"Damn it! Why is this so hard?"

"Just have patience Harry."

He took a deep breath.

"Invisibilis"

There was an odd sensation, as if all the particles in his body were jiggling around with more energy than usual. He looked over to Professor Figg who was smiling broadly.

"Excellent Harry. Admittedly I can still see you shoes, but that's very good. Conspicuus."

Harry felt normal again.

"Now Harry, I warn you that if I ever hear that you have used that spell for anything other than defence I shall be unbelievably angry. Is that clear?"

Harry gulped. Generally she looked like a kindly old grandma. Now, however, she had a look in her eye that left him in no doubt that she could follow through on the threat. She reminded him of Dumbledore. Generally a benign old chap, but occasionally bloody terrifying. Harry nodded.

"Good, now let's try that again." She was back to her old self.

Harry continued to cast the charm until he could reliably make his entire body disappear. Finally the old woman seemed satisfied and she conjured a cup of tea for herself and a mug of butterbeer for Harry. They both sat and relaxed.

"So, tell me Harry, how are your classes going?"

"Er...okay I suppose. I usually do pretty well in Transfiguration and Charms, and I like the Dark Arts...I mean, well you know what I mean."

Professor Figg smiled as she sipped her tea.

"Do you want to see what I've got?" she asked suddenly, springing up from her chair.

"Sure."

Professor Figg opened a cupboard behind her. In it was what looked like the CD player he had helped her unpack the other day. She slipped in a disc and it began to play.

"Bet you thought I couldn't get this to work, didn't you?"

Harry shrugged. "How did you do it?"

"I had to cast a rather complex spell on it to shield it from Hogwarts' influences."

The music was classical, but lighter than Professor Escoban's tastes.

"It's Bach Harry."

"Oh, right."

"What sort of music do you like?"

"Er...I don't know really, I don't listen to music."

"Oh, I thought all you young folk liked music."

"Well I don't get to listen to any, I thought you might have known that." The comment came out a little harsher than he'd intended.

Professor Figg regarded him in silence for a moment.

"How is it at home Harry?"

"Don't you know?"

"Well, I can guess."

"Well then, everything is just peachy." He was getting rather angry now, realising that this had been building ever since he'd seen the old woman in the Great Hall that first night.

"Harry, I'm afraid I couldn't intervene."

"Really," he replied flatly.

"You know how your relatives would have reacted. Thank god they never knew I was a witch or there would really have been some trouble."

"Not sure it would have made much difference." Harry realised he sounded sulky but he didn't care. Why had she stood by all those years doing nothing? Why hadn't she been nicer to him when he had to stay with her? Then again, maybe she thought looking through thousands of pictures of her cats was being nice.

"I am sorry Harry. It was really very hard. But I couldn't exactly come round for a visit, your relatives were never very welcoming, and if I'd used magic it might have been detected by god knows who. It was just too risky."

"So you were there to protect me?" Harry had avoided asking that before now.

"Yes, Albus thought that Voldemort's supporters might try to find you. They did of course, but they never got close."

Harry had always suspected that that was the case, but it was quite another thing to hear it.

"How come I have to stay with them? Wouldn't I be safer here?"

"Well, you could stay at Hogwarts, but Albus is not here all the time. You're safer at the Dursley's I'm afraid."

"That's debatable," Harry said bitterly.

"Harry, have you ever talked to Professor Dumbledore about this?"

Harry shook his head.

"Well, if it ever gets too bad you should."

Harry thought about that. How much worse could it get? He downed the rest of his butterbeer and stood.

"I'd better be getting back."

"Right. I'll see you in a fortnight. Oh, by the way, how have your fitness sessions been going?"

"Oh, fine I suppose. Don't think Professor Escoban is enjoying them much though."

"Oh, it'll be good for her."

Harry could have sworn he saw the hint of a smile on her lips, and there was definitely a twinkle in her eye.

"Right...er, see you then."

Arabella Figg watched him go. He really was a very talented young man. That charm was not at all easy.

She let her mind drift to the music. She had known that, in the end, he was going to bring up Privet Drive. She had rather been dreading it. Considering what she knew of his home life his reaction had been quite mild.

Arabella detested the Dursleys almost as much as Harry did. She had known Lily, she'd taught her for seven years, worked with her after she graduated, so she had been truly shocked when she'd met Petunia. Two people could not be more unalike. Lily had been quiet, charming and a brilliant student. The only ones in her year to come close in their exams were James, Sirius and, of course, Severus. Now that had always been an interesting year group.

Generally she tried not to think about past students, too many of them were dead. She particularly tried not to think about Lily and James, two of her favourites. She had gladly taken on the duty of Harry's secret keeper, it was the least she could do, even if it did mean cutting herself off from the magical community for ten years. But that hadn't been the hardest part. The hardest part had been sitting by while she watched them abuse the poor boy. She'd argued with Albus about it but in the end she knew she couldn't do anything. Well, that wasn't strictly true; she had surreptitiously stepped in a couple of times, although no one was aware of that. Again, that was the least she could do.

Arabella closed her eyes and let the music wash over her. She was beginning to feel more relaxed when a large black and white cat landed on her and bounced on to her desk. Tidying up the mess at least took her mind off everything.