A Little Knowledge

Martin had a lot on his mind that morning even before Olivia gave them all the news about their professors and the 'vampire situation'. He tried in vain to clear his head as he left the Charms' classroom to go and have lunch with his father. Flying class had been less fun that morning because of all the unpleasant thoughts rushing around in his brain. He had nearly flown into another student. Then he was utterly hopeless in Charms as they practiced levitating heavier objects, like blocks of wood and so forth. Professor Flitwick had shaken his head in disapproval when Martin failed to lift the two kilo block of oak. All of his classmates had managed it by the end of the lesson.

Martin sighed softly as he knocked on the office door. It opened to reveal Professor Dumbledore and a house elf that was setting the table by the window.

"Come in, my boy," said Dumbledore, giving Martin a genial pat on the shoulder.

"Lunch is prepared, sir," said the house elf.

Martin frowned for a moment as he recognized the elf as Inky, the house elf that the girls knew. Inky gave Martin subtle wink when his father wasn't looking.

"Thank you," said the professor, motioning for Martin to have a seat.

"If you is needing anything, just call," said the house elf before disappearing with a soft pop.

"So, how are your classes?" asked the elder Dumbledore as they began to eat.

Martin shrugged and said, "Not bad, but ... I never imagined that Charms would be so difficult nor the History of Magic so tedious."

"Professor Binns is a treasure trove of knowledge, but the way he chooses to impart that knowledge might be found a bit lacking at times," admitted Dumbledore with a chuckle. "But I never imagined you having trouble with Charms," he added.

"Mainly just today ... lots on my mind."

"Really?" questioned his father.

And here was the crux of the problem. From what Olivia had told Martin and the others, many of the professors, including perhaps even the headmaster, did not believe his father when he had informed them that there was a vampire in the school. Martin certainly didn't have any doubt that his father believed him, which was a great comfort to be sure, but what about these other people? He was somewhat miffed and offended that anyone should doubt his father, who was, he knew, a well-respected wizard and noted for his fight against the forces of darkness. In fact, it irritated Martin to no end.

But he couldn't tell his father that without revealing that Olivia had eavesdropped on the discussion in the staff room.

"It's nothing," shrugged Martin, staring down at his plate.

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully as he looked over his spectacles at Martin. He was always so easy for the older wizard to read. He knew that something was bothering Martin whether he would admit it or not.

"Are you still concerned about what you saw in the corridor last week?" questioned Professor Dumbledore. Martin looked up sharply, which was as good as any spoken affirmative. "The matter is being taken care of," he assured him. "But I imagine you already knew that," he added.

Martin was stunned.

"How did you ..." he began to ask.

"I was quite aware that one of your friends ... overheard a conversation this morning," he answered with a twinkle in his blue eyes.

"Is she going to be in any trouble?" asked Martin.

"None at all, though perhaps you might warn her to be more cautious next time," replied Dumbledore with a chuckle.

"Thanks," said Martin quietly.

"No need to thank me. I'm rather pleased that some of the students know. It might make them think twice about reckless after hours exploits," said Dumbledore. "At least until we settle this matter," he added with a somber expression.

"Olivia said that ..." he began before thinking better of it.

"Yes?"

"She said that you and Professor Flitwick were the only ones taking this seriously," he said uncomfortably.

"Then she must not have been listening very carefully," answered Dumbledore. Martin gave him a puzzled look. "Oh, certainly some of the professors don't believe that Hogwarts has been infiltrated by a vampire, but that doesn't mean they don't take the matter seriously. Quite to the contrary," he explained.

"Really?" questioned Martin.

"I assure you that any threat to this school or its students is always taken very seriously," said Dumbledore.

The professor frowned for a moment as he remembered a crisis in midst of the war years involving the death of student who was killed by a mysterious creature. That had been regarded with the utmost gravity, but they had not been able to save poor Myrtle Meeks, the young Ravenclaw who had died. Maybe that was why Flitwick was so quick to believe the prefect who had seen something strange in the third floor corridor.

"Do you think ... it will be caught?" asked Martin after a pause.

"Or else it won't come back once it figures out we're on to it," said Dumbledore.

"But aren't vampires supposed to be very clever?"

Dumbledore raised a graying eyebrow and asked, "Have you been reading up on the subject?"

"Er ... yes," he replied.

"Of course you have," chuckled Albus, reminding himself that his son was a Ravenclaw, and so were all of his friends.

"There isn't very much information on vampires in the library," Martin told him.

"You didn't manage to find a way into the restricted section then. All of the specialized information on vampires is in there. But I'm sure than the first year Defense Against the Dark Arts text has a small article in it."

"Really?" asked Martin, looking mildly chagrined. He had never considered looking there, but then, defense was hardly his favorite subject.

"Unless Professor Knowles has changed books, and I find that prospect unlikely," his father replied. "Of course, he does not cover such ... impractical subjects in his classes." he added, meaning that Knowles didn't think much of the study of vampires, werewolves, and Dark Creatures in general.

"It hardly seems worth taking a defense class then," Martin muttered.

"I remember thinking the very same thing ..." mused Dumbledore thoughtfully. "As it turned out, much of what I learned was quite useful."

Martin shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the thought of actually applying what he was being taught in defense class, although it was mostly theoretical so far. He didn't like the idea very much. As a child he had often had nightmares about Dark Wizards and other things of that nature. Hence his preference toward Ravenclaw and not Gryffindor.

"But you don't want to hear about that," said Dumbledore. "And we both have class in just a little while," he added, taking out his strange watch and looking at it for a moment.

Martin smiled as he tried to make sense of it. He was almost certain that only his father could read that timepiece properly.

"I need to drop by the Aerie for my defense text beforehand," said Martin, leaving his seat.

"Then you should hurry. You wouldn't want to be late for Transfigurations," said Dumbledore, rising and showing him to the door.

"Of course not, father," said Martin mock-indignantly, "and I wouldn't want to lose house points."

Dumbledore chuckled and watched him move quickly down the hallway in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower. He was very glad to have his son around and hoped they could make up for any time lost between them over the years.

"We'll see," he murmured distractedly before locking his office and starting toward his classroom.

Later that afternoon, after classes had ended for the second years, but before Corinna's Quidditch practice began, the girls had agreed to meet Martin in the library to recommend some supplemental reading for Transfigurations. He was anxious about his ability to perform adequately in the class, and Corinna, who was quite skilled in that area, claimed to know just the books to assist him with his difficulties. Sissy had commented that confidence could not be found in a book, but she was summarily ignored, though Olivia smiled secretively to herself as she had found a charm to give confidence the previous spring. She was also ready to ridicule publicly anyone who would use such a charm, but that was beside the point.

As they reached the corridor that more often than not connected the dungeons with the main level and the library, they heard the sound of a familiar annoyed voice, yelling, "Hey! Put me down!"

"Martin," said Corinna, breaking into a run in the direction of the shout with the others hot on her heels.

They rounded a corner to find three Slytherins, two with wands drawn, holding Martin Dumbledore upside down and about three or four feet above the floor. Martin was fighting his robes, which had covered his face, and having words with his assailants.

"You big bullies! Put me down! Right now!" he insisted, swatting at the robes as though he were trying to get at the Slytherins.

"Look! The bratty little know-it-all wears short pants under his robes!" laughed the Slytherin who was overseeing the proceedings, pointing at the garment and the young wizard's skinny legs.

"Get Martin," said Sissy quietly, drawing her own wand. "Jelly Legs on three, Corinna," she instructed smoothly. There was not even a hint of panic in her voice, though the cold anger she felt carried through her tones just fine.

"Right," said Sophia and Olivia, understanding what Sissy meant for them to do.

A split second later the corridor was alive with jinxes and others spells.

"Mobilicorpus!" cried Sophia and Olivia in unison, having used Sissy's count as their own.

Meanwhile Sissy and Corinna cast a Jelly Legs Jinx on the two boys who had levitated Martin, which confused them, but did not stop them nor their companion from acting.

Of course, Sophia and Olivia had more important things on their mind that swapping hexes with the bullies as Martin, thanks to their spell, was hurtling through the air toward them, flailing his arms madly as he did so. They weren't quick enough to get out of the way and were bowled over, landing in a jumble against the far wall of the corridor.

Sissy attempted to stun the boys, but she just wasn't strong enough, although she was slowing them down, unlike Corinna, who had succumbed to Rictusempra and was fighting desperately to say the counter spell between giggles.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" shouted a voice that stilled all of the action in the corridor almost instantly. It was Professor Krohn, making his way up from the dungeons, and he was positively livid.

"Professor ... we can explain," stammered the ringleader, a pale and dark-hared third year not especially known for his skill in dueling as he had lost to Chang the year before.

"Black, Bulstrode, Flint, I certainly hope so," breathed Krohn as his voice dropped to hardly more than a hiss. "And the rest of you, what have you got to say for yourselves?" he asked, whirling on the Ravenclaws with a very angry expression on his face.

Corinna had just managed to remove the tickling spell and clambered to her feet, blushing a brilliant shade of red as she smoothed her robes. Sissy was still panting for breath, but otherwise composed, given the circumstances. The fire of battle remained in her normally chilly gray eyes. Olivia had just managed to haul Martin to his feet. He was very disheveled and ruddier than usual. He looked more embarrassed than they had ever seen him. Olivia on the other hand looked simply furious. But Sophia remained on the floor ... clutching her right wrist and biting her lower lip, willing herself not to cry.

"Well?" asked Krohn impatiently as he muttered counter spells to removed the mostly harmless jinxes placed on his students. He seemed almost reluctant to do them that kindness.

Sissy pursed her lips and prepared to answer him, which would certainly have been the end of them as she had a very sharp tongue, but at that moment Professor Krohn spotted Sophia.

"You, Colville, get up and tell me precisely what happened here," he ordered, striding purposefully toward her.

She managed to pry her eyes open and looked up at Krohn, but no words emerged from her mouth when she opened it.

"Professor, they were just demonstrating some spells," said Martin in an attempt to defend the girls. "There was simply a misunderstanding with some of your students," he added.

"Silence! Speak when you're spoken to," Krohn snapped, kneeling on the stone floor next to Sophia, who was able to sit up, but continued to clutch her wrist. "Let me see that," he said, narrowing his eyes slightly at Sophia as he reached for her wrist.

"Broken ..." she managed hoarsely as he gently pried her fingers away from the injured appendage.

"Cripes!" muttered Olivia, looking over Krohn's shoulder at her friend.

"Don't be foolish," said the potions' master. "It's only sprained at worst. A good lesson to you, I might add."

"Shouldn't we get her to the hospital wing ... sir?" questioned Olivia, gritting her teeth as she glanced from the bullies, all three of whom were smirking, to the obviously very callous Professor Krohn.

"In a moment ..." he said quietly, removing his wand from his sleeve. "I believe I can take away most of the pain," said Krohn to Sophia before knitting his brow in extreme concentration and speaking a quiet incantation.

She relaxed slightly as the pain all but vanished. Her lower arm felt very stiff, but it was a vast improvement.

"Thank you, sir," she said as he helped to her to feet with a look of profound irritation.

"Now, I expect an account of what happened here, Miss Colville," he said, ignoring her thanks.

"I don't want to be a tale-bearer, sir," she began.

"Don't worry," he said, shooting a withering, disappointed glare at his own students, who shuffled their feet accordingly. "They will have opportunity to defend themselves."

"We were going to meet Martin at the library and heard him yelling ... so we ran to investigate. Your students were holding him upside-down and taunting him," said Sophia.

"Go on," said Krohn, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, Olivia and I tried a Mobilicorpus spell to get him down while Sissy and Corinna ... handled the bullies," said Sophia.

"Black, is that correct?" asked Krohn, turning toward his students.

"We were only showing him how it's done. I've heard some of the Gryffindors say that he can't levitate anything heavier than a brick, sir. Thought he might like a demonstration. We didn't mean any harm," said Black, trying to look innocent and confused. As he was very well-practiced this didn't work half so badly as one might think.

Krohn's shoulders slumped slightly, and he said, "That will be five points from all of you. You three should certainly know better."

"We're sorry, professor," said Flint, who had obviously been coached to respond in that fashion.

"What about them, sir?" asked Black. "They hurled the first hex," he added.

"Five points from each of them as well," sighed Krohn.

The curl of Black's lip was enough to let Sissy know that he considered it a victory: Slytherin lost fifteen points; Ravenclaw lost twenty-five points. She imagined that Krohn found the tally quite acceptable as well.

"Now get your friend to the hospital wing, and if I ever have to deal with any of you again, it's detentions with Mister Pringle," he threatened. The girls shuddered. "And, you three, come with me. I think we need to have a serious talk," he told the Slytherins. They hung their heads accordingly and followed him into the dungeons.

"We got off lightly," said Sophia with a weak smile.

Olivia put an arm around her waist and said, "You poor thing! We must get you to Madam Pomfrey and let her have a look at that arm!"

"It's not bad ..." Sophia told them as they all gave her sympathetic looks. Even Sissy was beginning to cool off.

"Ugh! And that great brute! What did he do to your wrist?" asked Sissy, who almost wanted to examine it for herself to find out.

"Just immobilized it or something, I think, and Professor Krohn isn't a brute," replied Sophia.

"Still your favorite after that? I thought he was going to give it a twist for a minute there," scoffed Olivia.

Sophia colored and said nothing. She had expected the acerbic potions' master to be rough as well, but he had acted quite the contrary.

"The rest of the house will be very displeased when they hear how many points we lost," commented Corinna as they walked.

"Tell me about it!" said Olivia.

"But ..." Martin began before stopping and shaking his head. He was going to say it wasn't their fault, but he didn't think it would help as they had risked their necks to help him.

"We'll get them back," said Sissy confidently, "and everyone knows that."

Whether she was referring to exacting vengeance on the three Slytherins or recouping the points, no one could say for certain. Martin rather hoped it was the latter.

The hospital wing wasn't very busy that afternoon. They spied the school mediwitch, Madam Poppy Pomfrey, bustling about the ward as soon as they entered. She was a rather young witch to have such a position of responsibility, having graduated no more than ten years earlier. She had been on the job since the retirement of Madam Plummer, or for about five years that term. Although Pomfrey had been a Gryffindor in her school days, the girls could not help but to admire her vast medical knowledge and her cool demeanor. Sophia was considering applying for one of the sixth or seventh year internships under Pomfrey when she reached the appropriate age, assuming she received the required number of Owls.

"Madam Pomfrey! We have a problem," called Olivia as they guided Sophia toward a bed.

Poppy looked up from what she was doing and crossed the ward quickly.

"What's the matter?" she asked, looking at Sophia, who was obviously the student in question.

"My wrist ..." said Sophia, holding out the stiff appendage.

"Oh, dear," said Pomfrey, "it seems to be rather severely sprained. Which one of you immobilized it?"

"Professor Krohn," said Sissy warily.

"For a man without much formal training ..." she began. "But never mind that ... I'll have to take the spell off to mend it. It might hurt a bit," she warned. "A dueling injury, I imagine? But I must say it is rather early in the day for one," commented Pomfrey as she drew her wand.

"It wasn't really a duel," said Sophia, biting her lower lip.

"No need to explain. I find that most of the time I would simply rather not know," said Poppy, pursing her lips. "And the rest of you," she said, looking at the other four students, "should clear out of here. I don't need you crowding around."

"But shouldn't one of us stay with her?" asked Olivia.

Pomfrey thought about it and said, "Just one. The rest must go."

"Corinna, I know you've got practice, so you should go," said Sophia before she could volunteer.

"All right," Corinna agreed reluctantly.

"I should go with her then," said Sissy, who really did not wish to see Sophia's arm mended. Such things sometimes gave her a slight turn, though she was trying to get over it.

"Erm ... I don't suppose you need me around," said Martin.

"Then I'll stay," said Olivia, squeezing her best friend's hand.

"Good luck!" said Corinna before the other three were off.

"So much fuss over a little sprained wrist," said Madam Pomfrey with a shake of her head before taking off the immobilizing spell and mending the injury.

For the record, it didn't hurt nearly as much as Sophia imagined it would, although it did seem to take a very long time.

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