A Little Knowledge

When Friday night came, Martin and the others pitied Corinna as she went to bed sometime just before ten o'clock in preparation for the next morning's five o'clock practice session and they remained in a cozy nook of the common room to continue their studying and what-not.

"It's just indecent," Corinna murmured as she walked up the dormitory stairs.

"Poor thing," said Sissy.

"I know," sighed Olivia, who was thinking that she would be doing the same in just a year's time. The thought made her both anxious and excited.

Sophia picked up her potions' text again and just shook her head. Soon the other members of the quartet returned to their reading. For a long time they were not interrupted. Then they heard the sound of a prefect talking in a worried whisper in a neighboring alcove.

Sissy looked up from her Charms' book with an arched eyebrow and gestured for quiet. Surely the prefect didn't know that he could be overheard. Why not take advantage?

"I saw what I saw," said the firm and steady voice of Michael Hayhurst, the prefect who had reported the 'intruder' to Professor Flitwick, as his voice rose from a whisper to a low, conversational tone.

"I'm not doubting your word, Michael. Denham and I saw something skulking along last night just after eleven. It gave me a turn, and she was white as a sheet afterward," said Ethel Moss, the sixth year girls' prefect, referring to her younger counterpart Irene Denham.

"Same here," Hayhurst admitted grudgingly.

"But thinking about it now ... I'm not sure that it wasn't the caretaker's apprentice. He's a weird one, that Filch," said Moss with a dry laugh.

"If it was him, then why was he skulking?" asked Hayhurst.

"He doesn't like people, especially not students. Probably saw we were prefects and allowed out after hours and wanted nothing more to do with us," said Ethel, but she didn't sound entirely convinced.

"Well ... I do see your point, but what I saw was taller than Filch, or Pringle for that matter, though not quite so big as Ogg," said Hayhurst, lowering his voice ever-so-slightly.

The girls all exchanged glances. The vampire was making frequent visits, and even if the prefects had been paired-up for their patrols, they still didn't know why. Sissy snorted softly. She would have expected them to put the clues together for themselves after three nights of this nonsense.

"All right. I'll give you that. So if it wasn't one of the staff or something, what then?" asked Moss.

But Hayhurst remained silent on the matter.

"Clever lot, aren't they?" asked Sissy in the quietest whisper she could manage.

Olivia peered surreptitiously into the alcove only to find that Moss and Hayhurst had left without them realizing it. She shrugged.

"But it's nice to get current information," she pointed out.

"That wasn't what I meant at all," said Sissy, closing her book. "We figured out what the thing was, so why can't they?" she asked.

"Five heads must be better than two," said Olivia, giving Martin a poke in the ribs as he was staring down blankly at his Transfigurations text.

"I wish ... I wish we could tell them. The prefects, I mean, since they go out there at night," he said with a solemn look.

"I don't think they would believe us," said Sissy with a sniff as she looked out the window.

"Right ..." he acknowledged.

"Well, I hate this," said Olivia, shutting her book loudly. "Something should be done!" she added with a frustrated look on her face.

"There will be plenty of teeth grinding tonight," thought Sissy with a muted sigh.

"Something is being done," argued Martin.

The girls just looked at him for a moment. In the short time that they had known him, almost two weeks, he had almost never disputed anything they had said, deferring to their age and wisdom in almost all matters.

"More then," said Sophia, flexing her wrist, something she had been doing for days almost as though she couldn't believe it had healed so well.

"Maybe," said Martin, staring down at his book again.

"I wish ... we could do something," said Olivia with a serious frown.

"Someone fetch Professor Flitwick. There's a Gryffindor in our common room," said Sissy dryly.

"Very funny," said Olivia, sitting back in her chair and almost pouting.

"It's anything but," said Sophia. "That thing is going to bite or maybe even kill someone eventually," she added very somberly.

"If it hasn't fed ..." began Martin, shuddering violently as he remembered Corinna's warning to him.

Sissy gave a long-suffering sigh and took an overlarge book from her bag, which was next to her seat by the window, and said, "A vampire can go a long time without feeding. If it fed during the summer, it won't be desperate for a while."

"Define 'a while' for us," requested Sophia.

"Five or six months since its last feeding, if it's conserving its energy," she replied in matter-of-fact tones. "It can also drink the blood of animals or purchase artificial ..."

"Please!" interrupted Martin and Olivia with looks of disgust on their faces.

"And if it isn't conserving or doing that other stuff?" asked Sophia carefully.

"Then ... it couldn't go much longer than a month or so before the drive to feed becomes overwhelming," Sissy answered. "And if that happens, then no one in the castle will be safe after dark."

It was half past four in the morning when Corinna hauled herself out of bed. She wanted to cry, and then go back to sleep, especially after looking outside, where it was still rather dark. It was also pouring down rain. She thought she could hear the distant sound of thunder too. Or was that the sound of her heart sinking down to her stomach? Corinna couldn't quite decide. Most probably it was thunder. She sighed softly and began getting ready to face her first Saturday Quidditch practice.

"And then there's tomorrow," she reminded herself hopelessly. "But you did sign up for this, completely willing and everything."

Of course, as a reserve player, she might not have been required to attend early morning weekend practices, which were a nasty idea to begin with. Olivia had explained to her that they were the legacy of the late Eunice Murray, who had captained the Ravenclaw Quidditch team to victory during the last century. The practices were still disgusting, no disrespect intended, in Corinna's opinion as she dressed out in her Quidditch clothes. The official robes in her size had still not arrived. Not surprising really.

She left the Aerie as quietly as possible, not waking any of her roommates, who were going to meet her for breakfast a little after seven o'clock. She imagined that Martin, who was a morning person, would make it, but she didn't see Sissy or Sophia leaving their beds until a decent hour. Olivia, because of her love of the game, was a wild card.

Corinna, much to her surprise, was five minutes early when she reached the locker rooms. The sight that greeted her was rather cheering.

The rest of the team looked just as sleepy and miserable as she felt. Sexton, the insufferable Chaser, was lying on his back on a bench. He appeared to be either dead or sound asleep. The two Beaters were huddled in the floor, nursing cups of chocolate that were being dispensed by two house elves that seemed far too chipper for five o'clock in the morning. Ambrose was splashing water on his face in the back while Manfred North and Helen Parker were tying back their long hair and examining the circles under their eyes in a mirror. The reserve players were no where to be seen. For a moment Corinna envied them.

"Would you be liking some chocolate, Miss Bellew?" asked the house elf. She couldn't recall his name, but Corinna had seen him in the kitchens before, and he obviously remembered her.

"Thank you," she said, taking a steaming mug gratefully. She didn't necessarily need the warmth of it, but the sugar and chocolate were most welcome.

The house elf bowed and continued offering cups to the other players, except Sexton, who very obviously wanted to be left alone.

Ambrose walked into the main portion of the locker room, dabbing his face with a towel as he did so. His hair was already tousled and a little damp, and his eyes were bleary, possibly from lack of sleep as he had had rounds with Hayhurst again just the night before. But he also looked determined.

"Finish your drinks so we can hit the field," he said succinctly, not in the mood to mince his words.

Sexton sat up with a painful groaned and asked, "So you are serious about this?"

"Clearwater wanted us to be in top form," said Ambrose.

"No lie?" asked Sexton with a deadpan expression. He was no stranger to sarcasm. "I'm sure he did, Ambrose, but did he want us to exhaust ourselves before the first game?"

"Who's exhausted?" asked the captain with a steely look in his eyes. The sleepiness was gone in an instant. "Let me know because I'm sure another reserve player would like to get bumped up," he added.

"No one's exhausted yet, but at this rate ... we're going to be, all of us, including you," argued Sexton with a stubborn expression. "David would never've done it like this. He had more sense."

At those words Corinna, who had been watching the display, glanced at the other players. They were all seventh years and were observing the argument coolly with barely a hint of interest. It was like they had a silent agreement not to interfere. Corinna surmised that they were giving Ambrose the chance to prove himself as a leader.

"You want to stand up and say that, Alexander?" asked Ambrose fiercely.

Sexton slowly rose to his feet, planting himself firmly in front of Ambrose, before answering, "You heard me, Iggy."

"I should have you off the team for insubordination," said Ambrose.

Sexton didn't so much as blink.

"You wouldn't dare. We haven't a chance at the Cup as it stands, but without three good Chasers, this team would only embarrass themselves," he stated. "Flitwick did a number on us when he gave David the boot."

"Easy, Sexton, this is between you and our captain," shot Savage from where she was watching them.

Sexton narrowed his eyes at Ambrose, but said nothing more.

"If you want off the team, then you had best say so now or shut up. We don't need your kind of attitude in here nor out there." Ambrose told him, gesturing toward the Quidditch pitch.

The silence was unbearable. For a moment Corinna thought Sexton would either take Ambrose up on the offer or hit him. He did neither. Sexton merely sat down on the bench and began doing up his laces with his jaw clenched.

Ambrose seemed to relax as he knew he had won that match and backed away from his seething teammate.

"Are we going to practice or not?" asked North as the nervous house elves began collecting the empty mugs.

The rain did not let up for the duration of practice, soaking the team to the bone. Corinna was shivering slightly when she returned to the locker room at seven, at which time the Hufflepuff team, fresh from breakfast and whistling a cheery tune, was just taking the field. She was miserable and felt rather like a drown rat. The rest of the team had not faired much better. It was atrocious practice weather.

"Just wait until winter ..." Corinna thought gloomily as she went to clean up and dry off a bit before she could join her friends for a much needed warm breakfast.

"I'm going back to bed," she heard Sexton mutter on his way out of the locker room.

The dull ache that had barely left her alone since she began her training made her long for her soft mattress as well, but she had so much to do. Breakfast, of course. Then she needed to visit the library and catch up her studying, which had been somewhat neglected due to the early evening practices she had endured the previous week.

She could not figure out how the others managed it. Then she remembered David Clearwater and knew that they didn't always.

"Not going to be me," she told herself fiercely as she tried to untangle her hair before going to breakfast.

Martin had been waiting in the common room for nearly fifteen minutes when Olivia came down the stairs of the second year girls' dormitory carrying her shoes and yawning softly. He looked at her questioningly as she paused to slip the shoes on her feet.

"Where's Sissy and Sophia?" he asked.

"Still asleep," she shrugged.

"Don't you think you ought to rouse them?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Olivia always found this somewhat comical as Martin most resembled his father when he did that.

"No," she giggled, "I've already tried, but what with this horrid rain and all, nothing will pry them from their beds before eight o'clock at the earliest."

"Then I suppose we had better go to breakfast then, or Corinna will be all alone," he said with a shrug.

"Or eating with the team," Olivia offered, although she rather doubted it.

Their route from the Aerie to the Great Hall required that they pass through the Entrance Hall of the school. Most mornings the great doors leading in and out of the castle were closed, especially in inclement weather so as to keep out the rain or the snow. But that morning as Martin and Olivia stepped into the hall, the doors were standing open and voices could be heard coming from outside, even above the soft sound of the rain, which had not ceased to fall.

Olivia paused and looked at Martin for a moment with a question in her eyes: "Do you want to see what's going on?"

Martin glanced toward the Great Hall and considered the unspoken inquiry for a moment before answering with a nod and a lop-sided smile.

They crept toward the doors and peered outside. Three of the professors, the headmaster, and Ogg the Gamekeeper were standing near the bottom of the castle stairs under what appeared to be an Umbrellus Charm that prevented them from getting rained upon.

"I don't think a fence would help very much, Ogg," said Headmaster Dippet in a placating tone of voice.

"I'd had that goat for years! It were a goodly creature, professor. Its mother was here when Professor Dumbledore's brother was a student ..." said Ogg, who was obviously quite upset.

"Never mind that," said Dumbledore quickly. Martin had to put his hand over his mouth so that he wouldn't laugh. That must have been the goat that his uncle had been practicing charms on. "I am sorry about your goat, Ogg, but better it than a student," he said.

"And we now have proof that a vampire is in the area," said Professor Kettleburn, who was one of the three professors present, which only made sense given his knowledge of magical creatures.

"Or that someone is playing an elaborate and dangerous hoax on us," interjected Professor Krohn sourly. He was standing too close to the edge of the charm. His left shoulder and sleeve appeared to be soaking. The group had apparently been arguing for sometime.

"I doubt that anyone would kill Ogg's goat just to play a prank on us," said Dippet.

"Perhaps not," said Krohn with a dark scowl. He obviously believed it was possible.

"We are sorry about this, Ogg, but there isn't much that we can do," said Dippet with a note of finality. "Catching vampires ... that is a tricky business."

"Yes, sir," said Ogg, nodding his head. For a moment Olivia thought she could see tears in the tall wizard's eyes. "But I'll have a time of it explaining this to Hagrid," he added. "He's rather fond of animals, you know," said Ogg very sadly.

"Of course," said Dumbledore, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder.

"Let's go," Martin hissed, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping. His father had already given him a warning to pass along to Olivia.

She nodded mutely, and they quickly made their way into the Great Hall to find Corinna and pass along the news.

Martin and Olivia walked into the Great Hall and saw that Corinna was indeed eating alone. The rest of the team had either adjourned to the kitchen, a place often visited by the craftier older students, or to their dormitories, putting sleep before food in their list of priorities. The only other students present were Molly Earnshaw and Arthur Weasley at the Gryffindor table. She was wearing her Quidditch robes, presumably in preparation for her team's nine o'clock practice session. Or maybe just to impress Arthur, who wasn't on the team, but often joined Molly for breakfast nevertheless.

"How was it?" asked Olivia as she sat down and watched Corinna dejectedly eating her bowl of cereal.

"Wet and miserable," answered Corinna, looking up at Olivia and Martin, who had chosen a seat next to hers.

"I can imagine," said Olivia as her breakfast appeared.

"No, you can't," sighed Corinna, plucking at her hair, which was still more of a mess than usual.

"Well, with any luck, I'll be out there with you next year," said Olivia, reaching across the table to poke her in the arm.

"If I last that long ..." Corinna grumbled.

"Not a premonition, I hope," joked Martin with a smile.

"No," she admitted, quickly chuckling. They really knew how to make her feel better.

"You won't believe what you missed because of your Quidditch practice and all ..." Olivia hinted with an almost wolfish look.

They passed along the information they had garnered from the prefects the night before and from what they had just overheard outside, keeping their voices low all the while.

"Then we should be safe for a while," hesitated Corinna, "since it's had a meal, I mean."

"Probably," Olivia agreed with a rather mischievous look, one that Corinna recognized immediately.

There would be trouble for them in the near future. She could depend on that. But she couldn't discourage Olivia. No one could really. So she just glanced at Martin and remained silent.

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