Harry Potter and the Mysterious Stubbardmans

It was only four months ago that Hermione Granger first walked into the Forensic Criminal Investigator training laboratories. At one time, all of the different equipment, instruments, and chemicals were just things she had read about in a text book, but now, after having completed the summer's intense training, Hermione had hands-on experience.

Unfortunately, as far as Hermione was concerned, many of the books containing information about the laboratory were considered highly confidential and unavailable in the wizarding world's libraries, including the restricted area in the library at Hogwarts. It was mandated by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that all information about the Criminal Investigator laboratory's practices remain a secret.

Hermione signed a paper prior to entering the training program that stated: Any student that is incapable of completing his/her training will submit to memory erasure in order to protect the secret practices of the Forensic Criminal Investigators Division. Dori told Hermione that all terminated employees from the division were forced to submit to the same treatment.

As she sat on one of the lab stools by the Foreign Substance Separation Blood Analyzer, Hermione flipped through the pages of the user manual, studying all of the chemicals that could be differentiated. She came across the ingredients of the Grimm Berries. She read which settings the analyzer would have to be set to and which potions would have to be mixed to get confirmation of the presence of such poisons in a blood sample.

These analyzers, when operated with the expertise of a skilled and experienced Forensic witch or wizard, not only separated out the unknown foreign chemicals in the blood but also deciphered what they were. After Hermione finished reading the guide, she picked up the enormous, unabridged reference book, containing all of the magical patterns that could be formed on the readouts from the analyzer. Each tested chemical's readout was a unique pattern, shared by no other. This made it easy to determine the unknown substances. This analyzer reflected the modern day magical practices in the wizarding world's investigation of homicide.

Hermione opened the massive text to the page that showed the readouts of the toxins found in Grimm Berries. The patterns on the pages seemed to take on shapes of evil creatures, or so the young apprentice observed. How fitting, that such dangerous toxins should take on such hideous configurations, she pondered. Just as she was about to turn the page to look at the next readout, Dori walked into the lab.

"Well Miss Granger, ready to take on your first case?" Dori inquired with a broad smile.

"Huh?" Hermione replied her mouth agape with happy surprise.

"What's the matter? Changed your mind?" the mentor teased.

"You're joking, right? How did you get permission to take me with you?"

"I have friends in high places, and that's all you need to know for now," Dori answered feigning a mysterious tone.

Hermione sat on the stool with a look of shock on her face. How can it be? I'm not even a Senior Apprentice yet, she wondered. Her mind quickly whirled for possible explanations.

"Well, are you just going to sit there? Come on! Gather the equipment we're going to need. You'll find the list in one of those notebooks on Standard Operating Procedures over there." Dori pointed in the direction of a large bookshelf that contained numerous black loose-leaf notebooks of various sizes.

Hermione hopped off the stool and quickly walked over to the shelf. All the notebooks looked the same except for the fact that they had been labeled in numerical order. In order to figure out which number procedure to read, one had to look up the title of the procedure in an index.

"Look up, 'Procedures For Investigating a Homicide Site: Phase Two'," Dori recommended.

Hermione did as Dori suggested. The information from the index led her to a notebook marked, SOPFCI10031988-02 to FCI03181993-07. Hermione pulled it off the shelf and opened it to the document, SOPFCI07231989-10. The actual title of the document was just as Dori had said.

As Hermione read through the list in the procedure, her eyes began to widen. "We need all of this?" she asked in amazement. "And a Precant Recorder?"

"No, we probably won't need everything on that list, and we won't need the Precant Recorder," Dori answered.

"Pity, I was looking forward to that," Hermione said.

"You'll get your chance in your Senior Apprenticeship, when they teach you about on site preparation and investigation.

"After reading about them I can't wait. Can they really register all of the spells cast from a wand within a seventy-two hour period?"

"Yes, a Precant Recorder can determine what spells or curses were shot, and how many wands shot them. It can even record the energy patterns and printout a reading. No two wands shoot exactly the same way. Two different wands could shoot the Killing Curse and you would get two separate patterns. There would be some resemblance, but there would be distinguishing features as well," Dori explained. "The newer models have been know to detect spells cast after ninety-six hours."

Hermione continued to listen to Dori's lesson in awe. The more she heard, the more she realized that this was the work she passionately wanted to do.

"We're certain Megan wasn't killed with any curses shot from a wand, so we can leave the Precant Recorder here."

Hermione assisted Dori in gathering the tool kits and supplies used for evidence collection. As she helped, Dori decided to give Hermione more instruction. She walked over to a part of the lab that contained the microscopes and staining stations.

"Hermione, come here for a moment. I want to show you something."

The frizzy-haired apprentice walked over to Dori and sat on the stool next to her. She watched her mentor, who was looking through the lens of another microscope, making the stage of the instrument rise up and down. Dori was trying to focus on a part of a slide carrying a sample of Megan Corner's blood, tainted with the Grimm Berry poison. It was a few minutes before she finally had the slide set in place and the evidence visible for a student's eye.

"Hermione, I want you to look through this eyepiece and tell me what you see," Dori ordered as she stood up from the stool to make room for her student.

Hermione nervously moved over to the microscope, sat on the stool, and leant into the eyepiece. Using the fine adjustment knob, she focused in on the area in question. It contained very beautifully stained blood cells. The colours were brilliant purples and fuchsias, mixed with light blues and rich oranges.

"Well, Hermione, what do you see?" Dori prodded.

"Well," Hermione hesitated. "I see many blood cells that all appear normal in size. Some have regular colours while others have these beautiful oranges and blues."

"And what does that tell us?"

"That...there was definitely something in Megan's system that's not supposed to be there."

"And what does that tell us?"

"That Megan may have been murdered?"

"Yes, it does support the possibility, but it's not definite. It tells us that somehow, Megan ingested something poisonous. If we had that slide exclusively to base our decision, our answer would be inconclusive. Yes, it shows that Megan ate or drank something toxic, but it tells us nothing about whether or not she ate the toxin in its natural form, or if she mixed it with something else. It also does not tell us if she ingested it on her own, or if it was forced into her body."

"So, how do we know if she was murdered at all?" Hermione asked.

"An excellent question. What did we find out through the readings of the Foreign Substance Separation Blood Analyzer?"

"It said the toxin was from the Grimm Berry."

"Yes, and what did your old school chum, Neville, tell us about the berries?"

"They were very dangerous to handle."

"Do you think the faculty would allow such berries to grow on school grounds?"

"No, certainly not."

"So, someone would have had to go elsewhere to get the berries, and I doubt it would be at their local grocer. I doubt that Megan wandered off school grounds, willingly picked Grimm Berries, and ate them. Perhaps, someone skilled in handling them gave them to her." Dori watched Hermione's reaction to this statement.

"Do you think someone might have poisoned something she was eating or drinking?" Hermione inquired.

"That's a very good possibility," Dori replied, smiling at her pupil.

"Perhaps, someone put the berries in her drink at dinnertime," Hermione speculated.

"No, the other students having dinner would probably have witnessed that. Recall the time of her death," Dori instructed.

"Approximately half past ten," Hermione stated, clearly disturbed at having to remember the sad event.

"So let's say, just before turning in, Megan got a drink and then went to bed. She lay down, fell asleep, and never woke up. Rather peaceful way to go, don't you think?" Dori asked coldly.

Hermione glared at her mentor, but remained silent.

"So, what do you think we are going to do during phase two of this investigation?"

"Look for clues that would support our hypothesis?"

"Precisely! With that in mind, what do you think our next step should be?"

"To look for proof that she ate or drank something at sometime between nine and nine-thirty P.M."

"Very good. Are you ready?" Dori inquired, lifting some of the equipment and a tool case.

"Yes," Hermione answered eagerly, picking up another box.

Both mentor and student journeyed to Hogsmeade station where they picked up a Thestral-pulled carriage to take them to the school. When they arrived, they approached the front entrance of the school which seemed to appear deserted on the first chilly Sunday of November. Dori was about to pull at the doors when they began to open themselves. As they continued to move slowly ajar, Dori and Hermione could see Headmaster Candelier waiting on the other side.

"Titus," Dori greeted her cousin.

"Dori. Miss Granger." The professor acknowledged their arrival stiffly, barely cracking a smile. It was only a few days since the murder and Headmaster Candelier was already showing signs that it had taken quite a toll on his mental state.

"You do know why we're here, Titus?" Dori firmly asked.

"Yes. Her bed and things have been left untouched, as you required."

"Very well. Hermione, follow me," Dori ordered, walking past Headmaster Candelier.

They both walked to Ravenclaw Tower, escorted by one of the Ravenclaw prefects.

Inside the dorm room where Megan Corner once slept, Dori and Hermione began their work. Dori opened the tool kit that contained Malphigian solution, a solution that was used to reveal fingerprints. She set aside some evidence bags, containing chain of command information. Hermione searched for clues about Megan's bedtime activities that fateful night.

"Look, Dori!" Hermione squealed with excitement, using rubber re-inforced tongs to carefully hold up a small juice bottle that she had found under Megan's bed.

"Careful, Hermione," Dori cautioned. Using another pair of tongs she placed the bottle in an evidence bag.

"Dori, it looks like there's still some juice in it," Hermione noticed.

Dori carefully reopened the bag, took a small metal spatula, and dipped it in some of the residual juice droplets. She brought the spatula close to her nose and sniffed it. "Ah, pumpkin juice," she declared.

"Pumpkin juice?!" Hermione asked concerned. Her frightened expression alerted Dori.

"Why? What's the matter?"

"Well, I was just thinking."

"Yes?"

"That's Harry's favourite drink," Hermione informed.

Dori smiled calmly at Hermione. She decided to redirect the investigation to another part of the castle.

"Hermione, I think it's time we pay a visit to the kitchens. If the pumpkin juice in this bottle is tainted, it's better that we check out the source from where it came. Pack up."

"Do you think someone is after Harry?" Hermione asked concerned.

"Not yet. I prefer to keep my options open. It will do you well in this training to do the same." Dori winked.

Hermione did as she was told, and the two hurried out of Ravenclaw Tower toward the kitchens. As they came closer to their destination, Dori stopped abruptly, placing the tool kits and evidence bags on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked in a confused tone.

"Haven't you forgotten to do something?"

"Yes, of course," Hermione recalled from her training. "Before we can look in the kitchens we need permission from the headmaster. Any evidence we collect will not be admissible in court, if we collect it without permission."

"Well recited, Miss Granger," Dori praised with a touch of sarcasm. "You head on over to the headmaster's chambers and let Titus, I mean, Headmaster Candelier know about our findings so that he can grant us permission to check the kitchens."

Hermione did as Dori instructed and walked as fast as she could to the headmaster's chambers. Ten minutes later she returned with Headmaster Candelier.

"Dori, Hermione tells me you two might be onto something that might help break the case."

"Yes, that's true, but we need your permission to check the food and drinks in the cooling units."

"That's quite an undertaking. You want to check the food and drinks in all of the cooling units?"

"Yes. We can't be too careful," Dori cautioned.

"Dori, it's been four days since Megan was found. Don't you think if these drinks in the cooling units were tainted, other students would have died by now?" Hermione inquired.

"Well that depends," Dori replied, as she, Hermione, and Headmaster Candelier entered the kitchens.

"Depends on what?"

"How many bottles of pumpkin juice are in the cooling units? Perhaps the one that tainted the juice hid that bottle." Dori proposed. "Titus, just how many cooling units are there?" she asked.

"There are several cooling units and four freezers," the headmaster replied, gesturing his hand in a circular motion around the large room of stoves, cooling units, sinks, counters and cabinets.

"Why are there so many cooling units?" Dori inquired.

"Each cooling unit is used to store somethin' different," Ogner, the chief kitchen elf, chimed in. "There's one for fruits, one for vegetables, one for dairy, and one for drinks. The freezers are used to keep meats and fish. We're a highly organized facility," the chubby elf bragged.

"So which cooling unit would have the juice drinks?" Hermione inquired.

"This one here," the elf answered, pointing to the cooling unit closest to them.

Dori walked over to the enormous metal cooling unit and opened the door as Hermione, Headmaster Candelier, and Ogner looked on.

"None of these bottles of pumpkin juice have been opened," Dori shared with the others as she pulled one out to examine. It was cold and wet to the touch. The seal on the lid was still intact.

The others gazed at the yellow-orange liquid.

"Well, of course not," Ogner replied indignantly. "Do you have any idea how much pumpkin juice the students drink at one meal? We're constantly replenishing the cooling units with new bottles."

"A lot of students would be sick or dead by now if they drank from a tainted jar," Hermione said.

Dori carefully placed the unopened bottle back in the cooling unit. "No. You're right. Whoever gave her that bottle of juice put the poison exclusively into that bottle," Dori deduced.

"Well, who else, besides the elves, work in the kitchens?" Hermione questioned.

"Perhaps, our spy is an elf," Dori suggested. "I guess our next step is to interrogate all of the elves that work in here."

"Dori, that would be unjust. You can't accuse these innocent elves of something so terrible. Besides that would take too long, wouldn't it?" Hermione argued. "By the time we get halfway through our interrogation, the elf responsible will have probably vanished."

"First of all, Miss Granger, I appreciate your concern for just treatment of house elves, but we're criminal investigators, not civil rights defenders. Unfortunately we have no choice but to question the elves, unless something happens to speed up this investigation? Whoever was responsible for giving that bottle of juice to Megan, was the one responsible for tainting it. It doesn't seem like any of the other bottles of juice were poisoned."

"But why poison Megan, if you're really after Harry?" Headmaster Candelier asked.

"Who said anything about anyone going after Harry?" Dori asked with a suspicious tone.

"Well, isn't that what this investigation is really about?" Headmaster Candelier asked.

"With all do respect, Headmaster, I'd prefer not to jump to conclusions," Dori said. "But let's say someone is after Harry. Obviously the one trying to kill Harry didn't want anyone else to know. According to Neville, Grimm Berries are not very juicy. It takes a lot of them to make a little bit of juice, and you have to prepare the poison by using freshly crushed berries. Megan saw whoever it was preparing the poison, when she went to get her bottle of juice. The killer must have poured some into her bottle. She wouldn't know it was poisoned, and she wouldn't suspect anything if one of the elves gave it to her," Dori concluded.

"Megan would have seen the berries, but not think anything of it. She would think she was just drinking berry-flavoured pumpkin juice," Hermione added.

"By poisoning Megan, they got rid of a witness," Dori explained.

"But it's been a few days, now, and none of the other students seem sick," Headmaster Candelier nervously reported.

"This murderer is clever. If he or she is after Harry, they're waiting for the right moment to poison him," Dori ascertained.

"So when do you think the right moment will be?" Hermione inquired fearfully.

Seconds later, Madam Pomfrey rushed into the kitchens.

"Headmaster, you have to come to the infirmary now. Something terrible has happened!"

"What is it?" Headmaster Candelier inquired concernedly, allowing Madam Pomfrey to pull him by his hand out of the kitchens. Hermione and Dori followed close behind.

"I believe it is food poisoning, sir," Madam Pomfrey crowed.

"Food poisoning!" he echoed, glancing back at Hermione and Dori.

The four reached the infirmary and hurried inside to find Harry, Ginny, Ron, Dean Thomas, and Dennis Creevey lying in the beds. Headmaster Candelier rushed over to Harry. He touched Harry's forehead then gazed up with a fearful look in his eyes.

"Ron!" Hermione gasped, hurrying to Ron's side and caressing his face.

"Have the others' parents been notified?" Headmaster Candelier inquired.

"Yes, but Mrs. Weasley said she would have to come later because, she didn't want to leave St. Mungo's until her daughter-in-law's parents arrived."

"What?" the headmaster asked.

"My dad and two brothers got sick, too," Ron moaned while lying in a foetal position, clutching his stomach. His colour was pale and his eyes appeared bloodshot.

Sensing that Harry and Ron had something to do with what had happened, Headmaster Candelier demanded, "Someone had better explain to me what's going on here and they had better do it now!"

"It's my fault, sir," Ron confessed.

"What?" Hermione gasped.

"Ronald, tell me what happened, and I want to know the truth!" the headmaster growled, walking over to Ron and inadvertently pushing Hermione to the side.

"I snuck some pumpkin juice over to George's joke shop. He has these things where you can make ice lollys from your favourite juice drinks. I guess the pumpkin juice went bad over night. I went the next day after class. I got back before dinner."

"Wait. When did you do this?" Dori cut in.

"When did I sneak the juice, or when did I go to my brother's?"

"When did you go to the kitchens to get the juice?"

"Thursday afternoon, during break."

"How could you have done that? That was the day we found Megan. All of the students were being escorted by teachers and prefects. You were being watched every minute."

"Not every minute, sir," Harry groaned. "And you can't watch someone, if you can't see them."

"The Invisibility Cloak!" Hermione thought out loud.

"The what?!" The headmaster asked with a raised eyebrow.

"They used Harry's Invisibility Cloak," Hermione tattled.

"Hermione!" Ron moaned.

"Okay, okay. So after you snuck into the kitchens with Harry's Invisibility Cloak, then what did you do?" Dori prodded.

"I tried to take one of the bottles of pumpkin juice and stuff it into my book bag, but one of the elves caught me in the act."

"Do you remember which one it was?" Dori asked.

"No, but she was very nice. She offered me one of the large bottles."

"Then what did you do?" Dori continued to interrogate him.

"I hid it in the closet in our room so that I could go over to my brother's shop after classes the next day. Right after my last period class, I used a Portkey that George gave me if ever I wanted to go to his shop to visit him. He's been feeling lonely since Fred was killed. I've been secretly visiting him on Sundays, since the school term started. I brought the juice to him, and he used the frozen ice lolly makers to freeze the juice. I snuck over to his place earlier this morning to pick up one of the packs. They make six frozen ice-lollys each. George had enough juice to make two packs. I guess he brought the other one over to the Burrow."

"Well, that's just brilliant," Headmaster Candelier said calmly with a touch of sarcasm. "I don't suppose you boys know how lucky you are to be alive? All of you lying in these beds could be dead right now."

"Why's that?" Ginny asked as she struggled to sit up.

"We think that the juice was tainted with the Grimm Berries," Hermione explained.

"But that doesn't make any sense," Ron argued, rolling over on his back and propping himself up on his elbows.

"It does, if you know that the poisons from the Grimm Berries weaken when they are stored in very cold temperatures," Dori explained.

Headmaster Candelier gave Ron a stern look. "Ron, once Madame Pomfrey releases you, you are to report to my chambers." He turned on his heels and exited the infirmary.

"You guys are in a lot of trouble right now. I hope you recognize the gravity of the situation you caused. Not only did you almost kill yourselves, you almost killed Mr. Weasley, Bill, and George, not to mention Ginny, Dean, and Dennis," Hermione preached.

"Not now, Hermione. Can't you see we're sick?" Ron groaned.

"Hermione, you stay here tonight. I'll go check on the Weasleys at St. Mungo's," Dori planned. "I'll take our kits and gear back to the lab."

Dori left the infirmary and went back to the kitchens where they had left the investigation equipment. She gathered everything together then made her way back to the lab. She would eventually visit St. Mungo's.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Many weeks had passed since the poisoning incident. It was now close to the Christmas holidays. Dori and Hermione were no closer to finding out who tainted the pumpkin juice than they were the last time they were at Hogwarts. Attempts they made to retrieve any information from Ron's memory, via a Pensieve, proved hopeless. Hermione had her mind on other things. She was eager to enjoy the holidays with Ron and spend time with Harry and Ginny.

Ron was given kitchen duty as part of his punishment. Headmaster Candelier was a firm believer that detention was a waste of time, and that Ron would benefit from the hard work. It meant that Ron would miss many Quidditich games, but it was far better than sitting in a classroom and having some old professor looking down his or her nose at him for hours on end. It was also better than being expelled.

Harry requested that Headmaster Candelier allow him to help Ron. He couldn't bear the thought of his best mate taking the punishment alone.

Headmaster Candelier had taken quite a verbal and literary beating from concerned parents over the recent events at Hogwarts. Some petitioned the Ministry to have him removed from his post. These incidents tested his and Harry's bond on several occasions, many times ending in arguments, which placed additional strain on their relationship.

In spite of this, Harry continued his efforts to keep from caving in to temptation. Now it wasn't just Harry that had to behave himself. Due to Ron's transgression, he, too, had to walk a very narrow line. Ginny, on the other hand, was free to do whatever she wanted. She chose, however, to help Hermione gather clues to help solve the case of the tainted pumpkin juice. She teamed up with Neville Longbottom and Michael Corner. This news, while it satisfied Dori and Hermione, did not please Harry. Having his girlfriend partner up with her old boyfriend did not come as a comfort to him, especially since he was up to his elbows every night in dirty dishes.