A Little Knowledge

“Those aren’t bad, you know,” Martin pointed out, looking over Sophia’s shoulder at the marks she had received for the the term.

He was hardly surprised to see an Outstanding in Potions nor an Exceeds Expectations in every other class, excluding Transfigurations, where Sophia had earned a very respectable Acceptable, along with the rest of the group of friends. Professor McGonagall was very different from her predecessor, who had routinely given O’s and E’s to his better students.

Not even Corinna nor Martin had gained higher marks in the class, though Martin rather thought that Corinna deserved better as her transfigured kitten was still alive, running around, and making him sneeze. Her marks, he realized, were somewhat disappointing, save for her Outstanding in Herbology and Exceeds Expectations in Defense Against the Dark Arts. She looked rather glum as they sat in the common room sharing how well they had done. Martin imagined that part of the problem was that Corinna had been so distracted by her gift during the latter portion of the term.

“We’ve all done well,” said Sissy, who was smirking ever-so-slightly. She had got an Outstanding from Professor Knowles whereas the others had only received Exceeds Expectations, which were better marks than most of them had received the previous year. Sissy imagined that Knowles had taken their adventures into account.

“Very well in your case,” Corinna acknowleded.

Sissy and Martin had both managed to get rather impressive marks for such an unusual term.

Olivia wrinkled her nose and sighed. She had received her only Outstanding in Charms, though the rest of her marks were quite respectable.

Martin peered over her shoulder and said, “That goes for you too.”

“Not very well, although ... I don’t think my parents will have cause for complaint,” said Olivia.

“Mine might,” Corinna muttered.

“Your father was a Ravenclaw, right?” asked Martin.

“Yes,” she acknowledged, privately deciding that if her mum had been a witch that she would have been a Ravenclaw too, “and he was a prefect and was nearly made Head Boy.”

“A lot to live up to,” observed Sophia.

Corinna just nodded. She didn’t think her parents would be incredibly disappointed, but she knew that they would wonder why she hadn’t receved better marks. They knew only a bit about the vampire situation. Dippet and Dumbledore had both done everything in their power to keep it quiet. They had been largely successful. Now Corinna was beginning to rue that. She wasn’t sure if her parents would believe how awful it had been for her.

“I can’t believe we’re going home tomorrow,” said Olivia, shaking her head. Marks were momentarily put aside.

“It doesn’t seem right, does it?” asked Sophia.

“Inevitable,” said Sissy with a shrug, drawing her feet up in her chair.

“I’m not,” said Martin. They girls all turned and looked at him curiously. “I mean, not right away. Mum and father have loads of things that must be taken care of here before they can leave for the summer.”

“So you won’t be joining us on the train to London?” asked Corinna with a frown.

“No, but I’ll see all of you off,” he replied.

“Then that will have to do,” said Sissy, obviously not liking the idea very much either.

“We’ve been through so much together this term,” said Sophia.

Martin smiled and said, “And maybe next term we can go through good things together.”

“We had our moments,” argued Olivia.

“Like?” he asked her.

She scrunched up her forehead and thought about it for a moment.

“The win against Hufflepuff?” suggested Corinna with a slight smile.

“Didn’t you catch a cold?” asked Martin.

“Suffice it to say that we faced adversity together and through that, we’ve become closer than we would have under ordinary circumstances. I happen to think that’s something rather substantial,” said Sissy coolly.

“As do I,” said a voice from above the hearth.

They all started and looked up at the portrait of Rowena Ravenclaw, which was staring down at them with a cool, imperious expression on her pale face. In the dim light her blue-green eyes seemed darker and less fair, though her face was ever noble and full of a rare sort of dignity and grace. They had never heard the portrait speak before. The five young Ravenclaws did not know it, but very few young witches or wizards had ever heard taciturn Rowena utter a word.

Martin gaped at her, but Corinna managed to stammer out, “Lady Ravenclaw...”

“You have all done well,” she said, and looking at Martin she added, “Even Godric would be proud.” He blushed and quickly ducked his head.

Turning to Sissy, she said, “And Salazar.” This caused Sissy to incline her chin ever-so-slightly.

Then, with her powerful gaze upon Sophia, she said, “And also Helga.” Sophia smiled and blushed demurely, taking the compliment as it was meant.

Lastly, she looked at Olivia and said, “I am proud of you as well.”

With those words, her eyes drifted again toward the window toward which she most often gazed, and Rowena spoke no more.

“I can’t believe it,” Olivia breathed. “She spoke to us!”

“That was ... fantastic,” said Martin with a wide grin on his face.

“Then I suppose it’s about time we go to bed. We’ve an early start tomorrow,” said Sophia with a quiet yawn, though her cheeks were still glowing just a bit.

Martin chuckled and said, “I don’t envy you that train ride. It takes so long.”

“And Black’s going to be on the train,” said Sissy quietly. There was suddenly a hard look in her eyes.

“He hasn’t done anything since you destroyed the vampire,” Sophia pointed out quickly.

“Since Professor Knowles and I ...” Sissy corrected. She always did that, though everyone really felt that she deserved the lion’s share of the credit.

“Still,” said Sophia.

“Worried?” Martin asked.

“Not at all. You can’t lose house points on the train,” said Sissy in an even tone. Her hand was in the sleeve where she kept her wand.

“We’re going to stay out of trouble,” said Sophia with a note of finality of her voice as she left the couch.


The next morning found the girls and Martin standing outside the castle about a quarter of an hour before the carriages were scheduled to take three of them to Hogsmeade and to the train that would take them to London where the girls’ parents would pick them up and take them home for the summer. They should have felt happier. But that simply wasn’t the case.

“I’ll miss all of you,” said Martin.

“It’s only a few months. We’ll catch up on our recreational reading and have some fun. Then before we know it, we’ll get our letter from the school, fetch our supplies from Diagon Alley, and board the train again,” said Sophia in a reassuring tone.

“But it’s going to seem like longer,” said Sissy drearily.

Olivia just rolled her eyes, and Corinna shuffled her feet. They were obviously of similar opinions.

“We’ll owl each other,” said Sophia.

“Zubin is ever your disposal,” said Sissy, poking the cage where the owl slept. Zubin just tucked his head underneath one of his wings.

Olivia glanced at the basket that contained Corinna’s growing kitten, wondering what her parents would think of it.

“Thanks,” said Martin with a slight smile, wondering if Fawkes would mind terribly carrying a few letters here and there for him. He decided that asking mum to send them from the nearest owl office would work out better.

He smiled slightly as he thought of how lucky he was to have both parents around for the summer. His father had yet to locate a replacement Transfigurations’ professor, so unless his luck improved over the holidays, his mother would continue to teach next term. Martin didn’t mind that idea so much anymore.

“We’d better nab a carriage,” said Sophia with a sigh, observing that many students were already climbing into them.

“Wouldn’t want to be left behind,” said Sissy with a slight sneer.

“Wouldn’t want to sit with the Slytherins,” retorted Olivia, watching as Black, Flint, and Bulstrode clambered into one of the vehicles.

“Don’t worry about them. I don’t think any of them are brave enough to face the vanquisher of a vampire,” said Martin.

This made Sissy smile just a bit.

“Good-bye then, Martin,” she said, squeezing his shoulder, which made him grin.

“Take care of yourself this summer,” said Sophia, quickly hugging him and making him blush just a bit.

Olivia ruffled his hair and gave him a playful punch as she told him, “Yeah, and be sure to relax.”

“I’ll write the instant I know anything,” said Corinna with a slightly smile that might have seemed crypric to anyone who didn’t know what she meant. She hugged him too and said something quietly in his ear: “And you had better start smiling more before we see you again.”

Martin blushed and said, “You too.”

He watched as they carried their things to one of the waiting carriages and felt an odd lump in his throat that had not been there when he had wished his year mates well, not even when Julian Woodward had given him a book, one of those Muggle plays, The Merchant of Venice. He was going to miss the girls horribly over the summer. He didn’t know how he would manage, only that had to do so until he would see them again in September. He would be counting the days, maybe even the hours. He sniffed slightly.

Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder. Martin knew without looking that it was his father. He managed a lop-sided smile as he tilted his head to look up at the tall wizard.

“I know how you must feel, Martin, but summer is not half so long as it might seem right now,” he told his son.

“I hope not,” said Martin as the carriages began pulling away from the castle.


High above the castle stairs and the grounds, three professors were also observing the departure of their students with mixed feelings.

“They’ve gone?” asked Knowles, who could hear the sound of the carriages as well as his colleagues’ sighs. His face was expressionless, save for his eyes, in which his colleagues could see, if they chose to look, an unguarded sadness.

“They have, Cyrus,” said Krohn, leaning against the battlement. His hair was beginning to grow back, though his scar was still clearly visible, and he walked with a slower, stiffer gait that before the encounter. He was recovering very slowly, but he was recovering.

“Except Dumbledore,” Professor Mallaghan pointed out for their benefit.

“Of course,” said Knowles.

“At least the castle will be quiet now,” said Krohn, ignoring Mallaghan, which was his prefered manner of dealing with the professor of Divinations.

“For a while,” Knowles agreed with a nod. “Do stop staring at me, Reynard,” he said with a sudden distasteful expression.

“Sorry,” murmured Krohn, who never had any idea how Cyrus knew that he was indeed looking at him. He imagined it was merely intuition. Krohn noted that Mallaghan was regarding them curiously.

“Reynard fusses,” Knowles explained without an ounce of contempt in his voice. Given his expression, it would have been quite superfluous.

Of course, what neither Mallghan nor Krohn knew was that Knowles had spent countless hours by Krohn’s bedside while he had been under the influence of Madam Pomfrey’s Sleeping Draught and other potions. And Cyrus Knowles would have had it no other way.

“Oh, rubbish,” Krohn replied in mild indignation.

“It’s what friends do, boys,” shrugged Mallaghan with a kindly smile.

“Now those five...” said Knowles, shaking his head and thinking of the young Ravenclaws who had just departed.

“Worst bunch of troublemakers,” said Reynard, though without very much conviction. The statement was rather prefunctory. He felt as though he were expected to say it.

“Ah, yes, they’re such good children,” said Mallaghan fondly, obviously unconcerned by the fact that he was contradicting his younger colleagues. Or else oblivious to the contradiction.

Krohn looked at him sourly and made an unpleasant sound.

“Are they really still children after this?” pondered Knowles.

“Aye ... what else would they be, my dear boy?” inquired the much older professor with a curious expression that carried through in his voice.

“I don’t know, but children should never need do what they have done ... especially Miss Howard and young Mister Dumbledore ... nor see the things they all have seen,” he said, shaking his head and gripping his cane harder. There was sorrow and regret in his voice that the other professors had seldom heard.

“You have a point,” Joseph acknowledged with a slow nod.

Krohn cautious patted Knowles’ shoulder and said, “There was nothing to be done, Cyrus. Perhaps they lost some of their innocence, for better or worse, but they survived and possibily gained strength from this nasty affair.”

“I believe that we should expect great things from them,” said Joseph thoughtfully, “though I wish the costs were not so high.”

“Truly,” agreed Knowles, turning from the rampart.

He sighed softly, and as he walked away from Krohn and Mallaghan, he silently hoped that the next year would not bring such trouble or tragedy as this year had brought them all. Cyrus had a feeling that his hopes, as always, would be cheated, but for that moment as he found his way to the stairs, he allowed himself to hope for the sake of Miss Howard, young Dumbledore, and all their friends.

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