The High Priestess

The meeting would start any second now, which probably meant they still had to wait a while. Seated comfortably in a chair that bore little resemblance with the standard furniture of Hogwarts - or Drachenfels, for that matter - Clemens Stein used the time to watch the other people in the room.

There was Jesamine Grubbly-Plank, for example, chief executive officer of Groucho Biochemicals. In some sense, the CEO position made her the boss of Hermione, Clemens' own boss, who had caught him fully by surprise when she came to announce this meeting in Santa Monica and that she expected him to come with her. Clemens didn't know why, although he had some feeling.

Considering her rank, considering also that Biochemicals gave the reason for the meeting, this Jesamine was sitting quite relaxed, apparently not caring much whether the official part would start next minute or never. At least, she sat at the front table, which faced the U-shaped round of the other seats.

One reason for Jesamine's relaxed state seemed obvious - there was someone else still higher in rank, this someone had taken charge of the meeting, and this could only be Cho Chang-Potter, the one people were waiting for. Still, somehow it didn't fit. From what little Hermione had told Clemens about this company, he had gained the impression this ex-teacher was doing a serious job - certainly more than warming a luxury chair every once in a while.

Then there was Chrissy Vanzandt, personal assistant of the big boss. Chrissy had one of the audience seats but close to the front row, so she would be ready to jump and assist any time. She was sitting calmly too, which meant whatever was holding her boss off, it didn't need her assistance.

There were further some other people, all of them CEOs of other Groucho branches. Clemens couldn't remember all their names, didn't care either, because some other people in the room took considerably more of his attention.

One of them was Beatrice Chagrin, Hermione Krum's hardest competitor in the field of advanced Potions. At their introduction, Beatrice had smiled and said, "I heard rumours about you, that's why I welcome this opportunity to meet you personally. Hermione's sometimes scarce with detail information."

Clemens had nodded and smiled, still fighting his surprise. Whatever he'd expected - not a young black woman who might raise quite some thoughts in your mind, with Potions as the last of them. But he knew for sure that Beatrice was the unrivaled master of psycho drugs, like his own tutor was the master of pharmaceutical potions.

Well, when Clemens had arrived at Hogwarts, Hermione had taken him by surprise too. She fit the common expectation of a sickle-nosed, grey-haired potions witch no more than this Beatrice. Hermione was even younger.

And then there was still another young woman in the room. She had nothing to do with Potions, so much Clemens knew for sure. Her name was Marie-Christine something - they didn't bother much with family names here in California - and she was an actor, employee of Groucho Spectors, if this term was appropriate for actors above a certain level of fame. Clemens had no idea why Marie-Christine joined the meeting.

But then, according to her expression, Marie-Christine herself seemed to know little more. Clemens had watched how the other celebrity in the room had talked with her, looking more joyful in this conversation than otherwise, and obviously not telling her more.

The other celebrity, that was Harry Potter.

Just for watching this person, Clemens wouldn't mind waiting another fifteen minutes. Well, not the person alone, Harry had arrived with the little girl and the snake, without raising so much as an eyebrow from anyone in the room. And, as if this was the most natural thing of the world, he had placed the snake on the table and the girl on the snake before walking over to said Marie-Christine. This spectacle alone was worth a look.

Then Harry had returned to his seat in the front row, exchanging a short remark with the little girl and - if Clemens' ears hadn't tricked him - another one with his snake. Parseltongue.

Harry Potter looked unremarkable, sitting there. He hadn't looked unremarkable when walking; his movements seemed extraordinarily controlled, though effortless. There hadn't been a discernible difference between the movements with his load - girl in front, snake behind - and those without.

And then his eyes ... too old for such a young man, they were the only trace of his history that could be recognized in his appearance - and very disquieting when he looked at you. Harry had smiled at their introduction and had said, "Hello, Clemens, nice to meet you. I hope we can talk a bit afterwards." At that time, Harry appeared like an ordinary young man with good manners, except that all Clemens could see was the godfather of Rahewa, a person for whom she was ready to kill or be killed. That much he'd found out.

A moment later, Harry's smile had faded. This had nothing to do with Clemens himself or Rahewa, only with the situation at hand. Even so, the effect was that, as if on reflex, Clemens checked his memory whether he'd done everything right.

It would be very unpleasent to find yourself as the reason for this look - worried and piercing at the same time. First because of the person behind, and then of course because of Rahewa.

Rahewa hadn't been invited to the meeting, something for which Clemens felt grateful. The situation was new and exciting enough without this additional thrill.

---

The door opened. Two more people entered the room.

The first was obviously Cho Chang-Potter. In contrast to her husband, this woman looked remarkable every second of the hour, and more than that: very Chinese, even in her business clothes, very beautiful ... and right now she was beaming, escorting the second person to a seat next to her in the front row.

A man, middle-aged. His body language revealed enough to know that this meeting was a very exciting event for him, while at the same time his face looked totally unimpressed, with a pair of cold eyes that scanned the entire room, and back. Next moment, the man's eyes found a focus, and for all Clemens could see, this focus was that other woman, Marie-Christine.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my dear friends - welcome to this meeting, and thank you for your coming, although I know that your curiosity would have brought you over anyway, because all you have in place of an agenda are some rumours."

Cho Chang-Potter smiled into the round. For a short moment, Clemens felt her eyes rest on him. Then she continued.

"So check yourself whether your guess was right when I'm going to announce the planned schedule for today. There was just one topic, and this was the introduction of the new CEO for Groucho Biochemicals - the one who's going to replace Jesamine, because she wants to have more time for her family while keeping Triple-A as her only job here."

Clemens saw indeed surprise in some faces, but the only reply came from Marie-Christine. It was short and wordless - a choked sound, while she kept staring at the only person who could possibly qualify as the new candidate.

"He's sitting right at my side," dissolved Cho any doubt that might be left. "His name is Ramon Garcia, and until some days ago, he was lieutenant of the LAPD. It was a bit difficult to pull him over - for a while, he didn't stop telling me that he's not qualified for the job."

The beautiful face turned into a devious grin. "As you know, I accept such statements only from the person in question, but in this case, I had to break the rule: after I made clear that I won't accept this nonsense even from himself, he finally agreed. And here he is."

Cho paused for a moment, still grinning, particularly so toward Marie-Christine, who looked perplexed. Then she continued, "Well - if you listened carefully, you certainly noticed that I spoke about the planned schedule. While it's still true that we have just one topic, the agenda has changed. The reason is the current situation, more exactly, the spreading disease which is called wizard fever. Groucho Biochemicals is challenged to come up with a vaccine good enough to let the infected people survive, if not more. For this goal, we need a project manager. Due to its importance and urgency, this task leaves no room for anything else. And when considering the mysterious circumstances of this fever, you'll realize that an ex-police lieutenant suddenly is perfectly suited for the job."

Cho turned to the ex-lieutenant, then back to the audience.

"Jesamine agreed to wait a little longer before passing over the CEO job. In a way, it gives Ramon a smoother transit than expected. But there's nothing smooth in the current situation, which only confirms the old wisdom that you get nothing for free. At any rate, he'll take over the planned job as soon as possible - so consider this meeting as his official introduction - and we only can hope that soon is the right term."

With growing excitement, Clemens became aware that his feelings had been right. Little by little, he got an idea why he was here.

---

Cho spoke again. "To put you into the picture and to show you what we're facing, Harry will give a summary of what we know about the wizard fever. It so happens that he's a first-hand witness." The woman turned to her husband. "Harry?"

The young man nodded and looked into the round. "We know how it started, and where - but unfortunately that's the only part for which I can give you detailed information. Some weeks ago, two wizards made a trip to a Crusader castle near Tiberias in Israel, close to the Sea of Galilee, which is also called Lake Tiberias. There's a well in the castle, with an old tunnel that once ran from the castle to the lake. The two wizards went down to inspect the tunnel - and that's where they got their infection. Until the evening of the next day, they were running an extremely high fever, without showing any signs of a normal infection. One of the two was better off because he knew people to help him - among them Hermione here, who was in charge of his medical treatment." Harry looked at the potions witch sitting at Clemens' side.

"So he survived, while the other died. The survival seems somehow incomplete because he lost his magical power - completely. To figure out what happened, we traced his trip back and checked that place. What we found was a strong magical power. Sandra and Nagini" - Harry pointed at the little girl and the snake - "could sense it from a distance that was apparently far enough to avoid an infection. We took measures to block the access to that well. However, when we checked again, a day later, the magical power was gone."

Clemens, who knew a little more about the measures taken and their side-effects, was busy matching his knowledge with the new information.

"From what happened next, we can conclude that this power has left the place and now is moving around. A few days later, a wizard was detected in the Tiberias Linkport who had caught the same fever. They notified us, we brought him to Hogwarts, and saved him. But apparently he wasn't the only one infected, and the others didn't know about us, nor did we know about them. Then came the first reports in newspapers, and since then the wizard fever is known in public. It has spread into the Lebanon and from there into Turkey. The infection is almost always fatal without the proper treatment, and those who survive have lost their magical power ... The spreading of the disease shows a strange pattern - however that's not our main issue here, our goal is to find something that keeps the infected wizards and witches alive. Anything else comes later."

Into the short pause after Harry's speech, and before his wife could take over again, the little girl said, "Fever!" - toward nobody in particular, but at the same moment Clemens felt a wave rush through his mind.

Having witnessed some events in Hermione's treatment center, he knew the origin - Sandra. Glancing around, Clemens tried to figure out whether the others had felt the same, and if so, whether they connected it to the girl.

While Harry bent over his daughter, probably to calm her down, Cho said, "Okay, that's the outline. Anything else is already part of the project, so - Ramon, it's your game."

The man at her side nodded. "Thank you, Cho. Well, ladies and gentlemen, you've witnessed the two shortest introductions that ever took place - one of me as the new kid in town, the other of the wizard fever and how it started. And while the first was quite to my taste, the latter left some questions unanswered. But we'll come to that in a moment."

Clemens registered that the man no longer showed any trace of nervousness. For this ex-lieutenant, directing a group of multi-million managers toward a project goal seemed not much different from sending a bunch of detectives toward a serial killer. Maybe even simpler.

"Cho told me that I can use whatever resources I need from the Groucho enterprise, including all of its branches." Ramon Garcia showed a dry smile, looking into the round. "Since I'm not part of the hierarchical structure, and since I don't even know how it works, I'll do it the simple way - I'll come to you, to the people on top. I'm pretty sure I'll need help from Communications, maybe from Triple-A, and definitely from Triple-P. The only branch that might stay out of the game is Spectors, but don't quote me if I come tomorrow and ask for a camera team or whatever ... Okay, so much for my outline. What will follow now is the kick-off meeting in which Biochemicals plays the major role, and in which Harry will fill in the gaps left a moment ago. For anyone else - you're welcome to stay, and free to leave if some other business is waiting for you."

---

When nobody moved, Ramon Garcia showed a grin. "Just what I thought. I shoudn't have announced that I'll squeeze Harry a bit more. But that's okay, there's room enough here, we're not tramping on each other's feet, and the room isn't leaking."

Some faces looked at him wonderingly. Cho said, "Ramon, I think you should explain what you just were talking about."

The man flushed a bit. "Sorry, some culture shock on my side. You know, I'm used to kick-off meetings in which such a room is crowded by two hundred-odd cops. And because here like there it's about something that kills people, the scene felt quite familiar to me."

"And what did you mean with the room isn't leaking?"

"Oh, that." Ramon looked embarrassed. "A major problem at the police is always that someone's leaking the news to the press. What I meant was, I don't think that's the problem here."

Cho smiled. "You're right in that assumption."

Ramon twitched. "Sorry again. But I'm sure I'll get used to the standard here quicker than the other way around." He turned to Harry. "Let's come to the questions about the events so far. Did I get that right - you've treated two people, and both survived?"

"Yes."

"Then why don't we use that treatment for all of them?"

"Because it's impossible. In addition to conventional techniques, the treatment involves Sandra and myself, and it drives us to the limits of our mental capacity. Maybe we could treat one person a day, but I don't think we could do that for a long time."

"Are there currently other patients under treatment?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Harry's face turned expressionless. "First, because nobody contacted us. Second, because we don't travel down there to fetch the next-best wizard or witch. Whom should we take, whom let die? It would be like playing God." He stared at Ramon. "We keep our capacity for cases of personal interest."

The new task manager nodded with the same lack of emotion. "The conventional treatment - how far does it hold, or help?"

Harry turned to Hermione at Clemens' side. "She's the expert."

Hermione said, "Not at all, that's the short version. What we achieve is to save the patient from dehydration, but we haven't found any means to attack the infection itself."

"Hmm ... Do you have any idea where to find something better?"

"Could be."

Ramon smiled. "That's awfully good to hear. Then let's talk about this could be and make it a will be."

"Certainly - but not in this round."

Hermione seemed totally relaxed while treating some high-ranks like children that were sent playing because the adults had some important business. Clemens, at the same time, was no longer calm and relaxed, although this had nothing to do with the question how many people might or might not listen when the topic was discussed.

Ramon looked at Cho, to see whether she wanted to give the farewell to the others.

When she just smiled at him, Ramon stood up. "Okay - ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention, and for your patience with me - now and in the near future. We'll have a ten minutes break, and unless you're pretty sure our potions witches expect you in the smaller round after the break, the party's over for you."

A woman Clemens only remembered as the head of Groucho Spectors, while not her name, stood up and said, "That was the cleverest push I ever got. Ramon, I'm sure you'll do well." Grinning broadly, she turned to the woman at her side. "Marie-Christine, do you think you're expected in the smaller round?"

Clemens realized that this had to be some kind of insider joke, in particular since Marie-Christine seemed unable to come up with an answer. Looking over, he saw that the reply had caught Ramon on a similarly wrong foot.

Before any of them could react, Harry said, "Yes, she is."

* * *

Marie-Christine Théroux had mastered her initial surprise, had also managed the first words with Ramon since a year or so. Now she was sitting in her chair, calmly to the outside, while her thoughts were racing. Suddenly and unexpectedly, her world looked totally different.

Ramon was back in the picture.

How much, that had to be seen. Although, if Cho was ready to let him run Biochemicals, then there seemed little doubt about her personal outcome. Ramon not being a cop anymore, no longer a slave of the bottle - if there was a problem left, then on her own side ... From one minute to the other, the roles had changed - Ramon counted as the one with an orderly life while her own ...

But Marie-Christine knew that her plans and appointments for the next three days were already past. Glancing over to Cho, who started to beam whenever their eyes met, was enough to know how Ramon felt about her, and that there was more to his appointment as the new CEO than met the public eye.

God bless Cho - ex-lover, still friend, always ready to point at her daughter and explain that Cass was the living sign of a life-long obligation, just because Marie-Christine once had made the right prediction about a sinister plot.

Had Harry played a role in this plot? Unlikely, which didn't mean he had any objections. He felt the same obligation, only that from Marie-Christine's perspective it was long balanced - since the scene which still lurked in her nightmares, when a knife, about to cut through her throat, suddenly fell to the floor, after a green flash had left Harry's closed fingertips.

Why had he said she was part of the smaller round? Maybe just to release her from Sylvie's joke, and Ramon as well. This kind of gentleness would perfectly match his normal behaviour to her. But something in his voice had indicated there was another reason.

The break was over.

Ramon said, "Okay, let's start with our project kick-off. Hermione, you said you might have some idea. What do you have in mind?"

"Just a guess." Hermione grinned. "But I'm ready to bet this year's royalties that Clemens here, the young man at my side, has a very clear perception of what we should do."

Heads turned to the young man, whose cheeks started to flush.

Ramon asked, "Is she right, Clemens?"

"Er - yes ... I mean, I have an idea, and it's more than guesswork, but it has never been tried before - at least not that I know of, so it's still unclear ..."

Hermione said, "Let me tell you why I brought him into this meeting. For sure it wasn't because Clemans was running around shouting, 'I know what to do.' But the other day, I tried an age-old recipe on Bill, an attempt to give him his magic back. I had scanned through the library for quite some time and had found this book I was sure nobody had ever heard of for the last five hundred years - and guess what? Clemens comes in, has a look at the book, and says 'Forget it, doesn't work'." Hermione smiled. "You know, I always try not to be so pushy, that's why I thought this round is the best opportunity to squeeze him a bit."

Clemens' face now looked dark-red.

Beatrice said, "In case you didn't know yet, Clemens, nobody who has challenged Hermione has to wait long for a reply." It earned her some chuckling in the round. Then Beatrice asked, "But you didn't start to investigate this issue last week, did you?"

"No. I started it when I came to Drachenfels."

Into the stunned silence, Harry said, "Another crusader. Hello, Clemens, welcome to the club."

---

For a moment, the young man showed total bafflement, to hear himself compared with Harry Potter, who had spent seven years to destroy Voldemort. Then Clemens said, "I didn't look at it that way. It was ... I didn't fight an enemy, it was just that ... I had a personal reason."

When nobody spoke, he swallowed, then looked at the table while explaining.

"I have a sister, Clara's her name. We're twins, and we did everything together, until - well, when I got the invitation to Drachenfels, I was the only one. It was - I couldn't believe it, and ... well, to make it short, she convinced that I had to go to that school, and I told her that I would ... Well, since then I'm looking for a way how to give someone magical power who should have it but for some reason hasn't."

Ramon said, "It was kind of you to tell us about that background, Clemens. Needless to say that it shoots your qualification here into the stratosphere" - Ramon raised his voice a bit - "and needless also to say that the information won't leave this room."

Harry turned to Ramon. "Unless it's he himself who tells this story to someone else, which I hope he does."

Ramon nodded, looking a bit curious about Harry stating something as obvious as that. Then Marie-Christine saw how Clemens' face, after having settled back to normal during his explanation, was colouring again. It told her enough to know - it was time for a visit to the Chang-Potter house and an exchange of the latest gossip.

To Clemens, Harry said, "At first glance, it looks as if your idea is something to help the survivors regain their magical power. But apparently you think differently. What makes you think it helps to survive the infection?"

"Because there is no infection."

Clemens no longer looked embarrassed, and continued speaking before anyone could protest against his statement.

"If you look at the test results from those patients, you see there aren't any of the effects which normally go with an infection. What happens to them is this, something attacks them, more exactly, their magical power. This power tries to fight back. The effect is a raised body temperature - actually so much so that the patient dies. We've heard about survivors - my assumption is that they just had a weak power which didn't muster enough resistance to make the heating dangerous. So it's all about magical power, nothing else. If you want to call that infection, okay - as long as you don't imply anything else with the term."

Ramon looked questioningly at Hermione, waiting for her comment.

It came immediately. "Don't ask me whether he's right. But it perfectly fits the data we have; there's nothing that would contradict his definition."

Ramon said, "So he's right unless someone can prove otherwise. Then let's come to the big question. Clemens, what's your idea, and why didn't you try before?"

The lonely twin said, "If I tell you what it is, you know the answer to the second question as well: it's unicorn blood."

---

A gasp in the round, while Marie-Christine saw how Hermione nodded with an expression of deep satisfaction. Probably some remark from Clemens, exchanged at Hogwarts, had raised this suspicion in her.

Harry asked, "Hermione, do you remember our detention in the Forbidden Forest?" To the others, he explained, "Someone had killed a unicorn - Voldemort, as we found out later, or Voldemort and Quirrell. And I found it. That was when I met Firenze, the Centaur." He turned to Clemens. "Yes, now it's clear why you're so reluctant to try your idea. Gaining back your magic, only to be damned forever - what a choice!"

Clemens shook his head. "No, my problem was that I had no unicorn blood, and I couldn't move around asking people for that, not without getting a kind of attention I didn't need. But this myth about being damned - like so many others, it's a bit unspecific. We use unicorn hair, unicorn horn; provided we can get unicorn blood without hurting or even killing the animal, there's nothing that would make our action evil. It's - "

"... the intention that matters," completed Harry his sentence with a smile.

"Right - and I don't think we'd need much. The trick is to use it as the controlling agens - " Clemens looked into the round. "Do you know how a transistor works?"

Some heads where shaking, Marie-Christine's own included. Ramon looked as if he'd heard something once, and long forgotten. Hermione simply said, "Yes."

Of course.

Clemens said, "It's pretty simple. On one side, you have a power which is strong but unspecific, unshaped. On the other side, you have the shaped pattern, only it's weak. What you need is a means to put the pattern onto the power, as a perfect duplicate of the original, only suddenly a thousand times stronger. That's what a transistor does."

Cho said, "Harry's a transistor."

Marie-Christine understood her instantly. "Right - and Cass is the power he's shaping."

Clemens' eyes widened. "Yes, exactly - and I saw it with my own eyes when you healed this scar." Then the first grin appeared in his face. "Although I have to say, most transistors are smaller ..."

Laughter in the round.

"... and weaker too."

Into the new laughter, Harry asked, "If the unicorn blood is the shaping agens, what is the power?"

"The wizard's own magic," came the answer. "Remember how the attacked people react - it takes quite a while, it's nothing like a spell that does the job in an instant. That's why I'm pretty sure the defending power is basically sufficient, only the attack somehow corrupts the defense. And here the unicorn blood should come to help."

Beatrice said, "Sounds reasonable to me - and that's the first thing I hear which brings myself into the game. For a normal vaccine, I can't help much, other than listening to Hermione and telling her how brilliant she is." Beatrice smiled at her competitor. "While Clemens' last remark indicates something that's much closer to a psycho drug, which is my own specialty."

Clemens said, "I think it's somewhere in the middle."

Jesamine spoke for the first time. "Clemens, you're the missing link. You must come to Biochemicals."

Hermione said, "Of course - what do you think why I brought him here?"

After the short laughter, Ramon asked, "And how do we find unicorn blood?"

Hermione looked at Harry. "If you could convince Firenze to help us a bit - there are enough unicorns in the Forbidden Forest, and if all we need's a blood sample, for a good purpose ..."

Harry nodded. "I had the same idea."

Ramon asked, "Assume we have it - Clemens, do you know how to proceed further?"

"I have a concept, pretty detailed, but I'd like to discuss it first with some experts." Clemens looked at Hermione, then at Beatrice.

Harry said, "In this case, I suggest splitting this round into two groups, because I'd like to discuss some other aspects of the wizard fever which have more to do with the attacking force. This might be something criminal" - Harry looked at Ramon - "or something of dark magic." He looked at Marie-Christine.

So she had been right. Harry's intervention some minutes ago had been more than simple politeness. Marie-Christine felt her pulse quickening - after all that time as an actor, Harry still considered her as someone whose opinion in this topic mattered. For the second time in this room, a wave of pleasure rushed through her mind.

Harry turned to the young man with the non-magical sister. "Before we split, I'd like to ask one last question, even if it's a bit personal. Clemens, if I understood you right, the unicorn blood is the agens which guides the magical power in the patient. True?"

Clemens nodded.

"Then how could such a potion help your sister?"

The young man had the answer ready. "I always felt sure there's magical power somewhere inside Clara. It's only blocked - don't ask me why, and how, but since this fever is around, since I know about people with blocked power, the last tiny doubt is gone."

Which explained why Clemens was beaming so happily.

* * *

The groups had split. Some doors further down the floor, Beatrice, Hermione, and Clemens were discussing how to mix unicorn blood with other ingredients for an efficient cure. Cho and Jesamine had returned to their normal business. Harry with daughter and snake, Ramon, and Marie-Christine were the ones left in the meeting room. Ramon had moved one of the tables, so they could sit close and look at each other.

Harry said, "Finding a cure for the victims is certainly the most urgent issue, but this can't be all. Something out there does the attacks, and I want to know what it is."

"And then?" asked Marie-Christine. "Assume you know - are you going to fight it?" She looked as though this was a crazy idea, while she nonetheless expected him to answer with yes, and seemed unsure whether she should help under these premises.

"I don't know," replied Harry. "The question implies too much - that it's something you have to fight, that you can fight it ... What I have in mind now is to discuss the known facts with you, and see if this shapeless something can be outlined a bit tighter."

Ramon asked, "Am I here as an ex-cop, as a task manager, or both?"

"All I know is that your job does not include identifying and locating this something." Harry smiled. "I'm not your employer - actually, your employer mightn't be too happy about you sitting here."

Glancing to his side, Ramon said, "I can live with that - as far as I'm concerned, I feel quite happy sitting here."

Harry didn't need his haragei to feel the waves that went between Ramon and Marie-Christine. He said, "Let me tell you the facts and see if they trigger some association. It won't take too long, then we can split this group again."

The two faces opposite him seemed to consider this prospect as equally promising and frightening.

"The first mysterious fact is of course the place where we located this power: a tunnel, deep down in a well, which is placed in a Crusader castle near the Lake Tiberias."

Marie-Christine said, "It triggers so many associations, it's too much. Three major religions, ancient history ... Just add King Lionheart and tell me he was the one who built the castle, then the confusion is complete."

Harry nodded. "Right, and it's just a short jump from King Lionheart to King Arthur, and magical swords - "

Ramon grinned. "Just another six hundred years, if my history's right. And what if the power was there long before the Crusaders came? If it's just by accident that the castle was built at the same place?"

"Then it would make more sense," replied Harry. "Because it seems as if the restauration of the castle, or maybe just what they did down in the tunnel, started the events. Some power, in a kind of sleep for a very long time, is awakened by workers coming a bit too close - "

"They were too noisy," said Ramon.

"Take the joke seriously," said Marie-Christine. "This something had a fixed location, it could be awakened, or activated, and it could change its location." She turned to Harry. "How did the power feel?"

"Nagini says, it was just the strongest magic she ever felt. In a way, Sandy's remark is even more informative - when she felt it, she said Fever. That means, she recognized a characteristical pattern - the same she felt in Bill when we helped him coming through his fever."

"Did it feel evil?"

Harry shrugged. "My two witnesses have very different opinions about that, only neither of them is particularly helpful. For Nagini, evil is an almost unfathomable concept, while for Sandy, Bill's fever and her music are inseparably linked - "

"Hely music!"

After this statement from his daughter, Harry had to inform the other two how a - possibly evil - power had finally led to the fulfillment of Sandy's greatest wish. "You see," he finished, "this very personal perspective won't bring us any further."

Then he described the development after the second victim had been found. The fever wasn't epidemic, it spread only at a certain place, and this place was moving from Tiberias through Israel, through the Lebanon, into Turkey, as if a contagious object affected only those coming too close to its course.

---

"For me that looks very much like a person," said Marie-Christine.

"That's what Laila said - the Israeli army sergeant who was involved in the story. She said, if it can move, it's not something, it's someone."

Ramon grinned. "I know what it is. Harry, this place, this Lake Tiberias, isn't it famous for people resurrecting? Well, the last time we were better off because now, by some bad accident, it was Voldemort who got the ticket for resurrection, and he's come back with a very unpleasant skill."

Marie-Christine looked at him in disbelief. "That's distasteful, Ramon! I thought you were a true catholic - really!"

"Sorry - cop's joke, you know."

"You'd better use your cop's habit and look at the events from a criminalistic perspective. That'd be more helpful." Marie-Christine still looked very upset.

"Okay, okay - what do we have, from a criminalistic point of view? There's someone - I call it a person because otherwise, it's of no interest for a cop. What's his modus operandi? He comes close to people and does something to them which - " Ramon stopped himself and looked at Harry. "What's the purpose of the attack - to kill them or destroy their magic?"

But it was Marie-Christine who answered. "See - you can do much better. That's an essential point! I think the goal is to destroy their magic."

Harry said, "I think the same, and that's why Ramon's joke is still lingering in my mind, because it was Voldemort who tried that the last time."

"No, 'arry." Marie-Christine shook her head. "He tried to destroy the wizarding world, which is not the same."

"Whatever," said Ramon, "and before my joke's haunting us too much - what's the motive? Because that's question number two for every cop."

"Beats me," said Harry.

"Me too," said Marie-Christine.

"Then let's make it simple - for all we know, the motive is to destroy magical power wherever it's found because, for some reason, magic is evil."

"No," protested Marie-Christine, "your statement contradicts itself. If magic is evil, then destroying it is just the method which only proves that there is a higher motive."

A snorting sound came from Harry. The other two looked at him, and Marie-Christine asked, "Don't you agree?"

"No - I mean, yes I agree. I just thought - sorry in advance for my version of a bad joke, but this would indicate it's the Muggle version of Voldemort who's running around."

Ramon raised his thumb, careful not to give any further comment. Marie-Christine asked, "Are you serious?"

"No - because this is also a contradiction in itself. It has magic, there's no question about that, so it's not a Muggle creature."

Ramon said, "There's still something that's bothering me. We said this someone came awake because some tunnel workers made too much noise. And then? Nothing happened at first. Then two wizards came down into the tunnel and got infected - or attacked, whatever. This someone stayed where he was, as we know for sure because that's how you found him. And suddenly, a day or two later, he's gone. Why? Why did he go?"

Harry asked, "Why should he stay?"

"He didn't move after he'd been troubled in his sleep. He didn't move after some wizards had come down. Okay, maybe he's a little slow at coming awake, understandably so after hundreds of years, but you see what I mean - what happened that made him go?"

"Dunno."

"Of course you know." Ramon stared at Harry. "Look at the timetable: you happened. This someone left the place right after you came and detected him."

Harry shook his head. "Doesn't make sense. If it's about hiding, it would have been much simpler to stay down there and just do nothing."

"Maybe he can't avoid attacking people."

Marie-Christine's head came up in a startled movement. "No, Ramon. You weren't quite correct, although I think you've pointed out the crucial point."

Ramon smiled at her. "Now what? Am I right, or am I right?"

"You're right in the question, what happened that made him go? But it wasn't Harry that happened - he never came in touch with that power, he never felt it. It was Cass - she sensed it, and for me that means, this someone sensed her."

* * *

Rahewa had trouble with her food, serious trouble. Not that it would resist - for the untrained eye, the scene looked like an ordinary lunch at Hogwarts, the house-elves had delivered a first-rate meal, and the fork worked fine, thanks. The problem was located beyond the boundaries of her dish. The problem had three parts, each of them easily identifiable.

Part number one was sitting opposite the table - Clemens, who had returned from California so late that Rahewa hadn't seen him at breakfast. Clemens had met people who were very important to her, he had been there for some reason she hadn't figured out yet, that's why it should be only natural to ask him one question after the other, shouldn't it?

Probably so.

Except - part two of the problem was her own self. If there was anything still more impossible than eating at this very moment, then it was asking him these questions. Not now, not here, not in public - why couldn't the rest of the school just disappear?

As if this would enable her to ask.

Part three of the problem was sitting at Rahewa's side - her friend Vanessa, miraculously managing one bite after other and, this was the bad part, one question after the other. Like at this moment.

"Hi, Clemens. How was your trip?"

"Very interesting."

"That's good to hear. Was there anything particular - I mean, worth mentioning at this dull, boring lunch?"

"Actually yes, now that you remind me - the weather there's still hotter than here."

Clemens seemed at ease with the world and smiled friendly at Vanessa, who continued eating and asking, totally unimpressed by the clear message he'd sent.

"What kind of event was it, there?"

"A meeting of Groucho Biochemicals. To be precise, there were people from other Groucho branches too, because someone new was introduced." Clemens looked at Rahewa. "An ex-lieutenant from the Los Angeles police - he's going to work for Groucho."

"Ramon Garcia?"

"That's his name. So you know him?"

"Yes."

Vanessa looked at her friend, whose face had changed colour from these few words. She waited a moment, quite obviously ready to pass the burden of conversation over to the other two. But no such luck. So she asked, "Why did Hermione take you with her to that meeting?"

"To bring me in touch with Biochemicals, I'd say. I met the other star at the Potions sky, Beatrice Chagrin. And I met Jesamine Grubbly-Plank, the head of Biochemicals."

"And?"

"What and? We talked."

"Oh, really?" Vanessa managed not to clench her teeth. "How are they? Did they say something specific?"

"Beatrice was a real surprise. Young, black, and extraordinarily good-looking ..."

This came as nothing new to Rahewa, but hearing it from Clemens was hardly suited to improve her state.

"... and Jesamine said I'd be the missing link for Biochemicals."

Despite herself, Rahewa's head came up, and she stared at Clemens. What did he mean? It had sounded as if, right after lunch, he would start packing to move.

For a split second, their eyes met. His were widening, and next moment, an eternity too late, Rahewa realized why - he'd seen something in her own face he hadn't expected, or not to this extent.

---

Looking at his own plate, Clemens said quickly, "I got an order - no, actually I got two. The first is about a potion; Hermione and I, we'll work together, here at Hogwarts."

The relief was so strong, for a moment Rahewa felt almost sick from the surplus adrenaline still running through her veins. This was why she missed the beginning of his next sentence.

"... tell you something. Can we meet after lunch?"

It took her another moment to realize that Clemens was asking her. She nodded, murmured, "Yes," while her thoughts were already racing ahead. An order to tell her something? Somehow, this sounded like an order from Harry, only she couldn't ... My God - had he tried to play postillon d'amour?

After a few seconds, she calmed down. No he hadn't. Not Harry. Not her godfather, who knew better than anyone else how she was suffering, who knew so well that any intervention from outside would make things worse.

"... an order. Do you get paid?"

Her friend Vanessa had shot her next question - only, somehow, something had changed. She was no longer trying to squeeze Clemens. Apparently, she too had witnessed the five-second drama from a moment ago, and now was doing what she could to steer the conversation toward neutral waters. God bless her.

"I don't know. The question didn't come up."

"Didn't you ask?"

Clemens laughed. "No, I didn't. Somehow, we had other issues to discuss. And besides - the people there didn't strike me as exploiters, really, not the least bit."

"No, probably not." Vanessa dropped her fork. "Since it's obvious that I won't get the answers I'd like to hear, why don't you two stop playing lunch and meet outside, so I can squeeze Rage afterwards?"

"Why don't you return to this old habit of yours - playing pretty and stupid?"

"I'm not playing pretty!"

Clemens grinned. "That's true. And I think what you suggested was a good advice." He looked questioningly at Rahewa. "Shall we?"

She was aware that, a second from now, the entire Gryffindor table - or maybe the entire school - would watch how she and Clemens were leaving the hall together, way before dessert was served.

Be it. She gave a damn.

* * *

Clemens felt surprisingly calm, considering the situation, in particular taking into account what he was planning to tell Rahewa. But then, he'd taken the basic decision already a day before and, in a way, things had accelerated only a bit more than expected. For example from Vanessa's suggestion.

And from this look, of course.

It had been naked fear. Clemens wasn't slow in thinking, not at all, but normally it would have taken him a day - at the least - to cross-check all other possibilities what this could mean, after he'd said something that could be understood as him leaving Hogwarts. Not that there were so many possibilities, other than ...

But he was still running in high-speed gear - an effect that had started in the meeting with Hermione and Beatrice. This black beauty had offered him a drink and had said, "It's a brain booster; take it as my welcome present and as my first contribution to this project."

The effect was terrific, although - as Beatrice explained - this was what she called the retard version, meaning it didn't kick in as strong as another form while lasting longer. During Beatrice's explanation, Hermione had shown one of her diabolic grins. She probably referred to some story from the past, at least she hadn't given any further comment.

Anyway - the result was that their meeting had brought a clear idea what to do, once the unicorn blood was available. As a spin-off, Clemens' own thinking, about more private matters, had made a similar quantum leap.

And so he had interpreted this look in a fraction of a second, had been able to take a decision at lightning speed, to talk in an almost normal voice while his inner self was bending in a storm of emotions. Still, if Vanessa hadn't made it possible for both of them to leave, he'd lost his composure moments later, he felt sure about that.

While now, walking at Rahewa's side, alone with her for the first time, not even her poodles around, ahead of her by a tiny bit of precious information, more than eager to balance out this difference in knowledge, he felt the calmness of determination.

They reached a place near the forest. Clemens saw two gravestones - no, could be three, there was a very small one.

"That's my favourite place," explained Rahewa. "These two are the graves of Hagrid and Flitwick; they died in the Battle of Hogwarts. And this here, that's Lousy's grave."

"Lousy?"

"Yes - a dog; he died in the Muggle attack, and it was my mistake. Harry said it wasn't, but I think it was."

Rahewa's voice was mostly casual, only at the edges Clemens could hear something as though she might burst into tears any moment.

"This Harry says a lot of things ..."

Rahewa wheeled around and stared at him, her eyes suddenly dark - a look that made him continue quickly.

"... but for all I've heard and could hear by myself, he knows exactly what he's saying, and he never lies."

The steel in Rahewa's eyes softened.

"He said something to me that made me start thinking. And that's why I wanted to talk to you."

"I thought you should tell me something."

"Yes, that too, or maybe it's the same ... Er, it's a bit difficult to figure out where to start, because normally, you should start at the beginning, only here ..."

She looked at him with an incredible mix of emotions - a bit of disbelief, hearing him issuing such unqualified speech bubbles, overlaid by an expression as if she could listen to that forever.

Well - a picture told more than thousand words, they said, but Clemens knew something that told still more. So he made a step, took Rahewa by her shoulders, and kissed her.

For an instant, she froze. Then she melted into his arms.

---

A memorizable moment later - could have been two or three, in retrospect - they were sitting in the grass.

Rahewa looked around, then at him again. "That it's happening here, at this spot ... Most of the important moments in my life took place here - that's the best omen I can imagine."

After another moment, or two, Clemens asked, "How come?"

"It was Harry's place. Hagrid was his first friend, and over there - see the black spot? That's where Hagrid's hut stood, only later it was Samantha's hut, until it was destroyed by the Muggles who shot Lousy ... Well, when Harry wanted to talk about something, most often he did it here, and many of the events in my life have to do with him."

"Tell me."

"Yes, I will, only that's a long story, and the lunch break's over soon. But it's time enough that you can tell me what he said to you. How was it?"

"This story is probably not quite as long, but still more than I can tell now, that's why I want to explain - "

"No, please! Tell me what do you think of him ... And of Cho, and Sandy."

"They are ... incredible. Impressive."

"Not scary?"

"Maybe for a moment - until you start talking with them. You know what he did? He compared me with himself - another crusader, he said."

"Really?"

"Of course that's nonsense, but ..." Clemens told Rahewa about his sister Clara, and what was driving him since he was in school, and what had brought him into this project.

Her look was melting his inside. "Poor Clara. But I'm sure you'll find the solution." Then Rahewa smiled. "So Vanessa was right when she said, you know exactly what you're doing."

"Of course she was right - she's very clever, your friend."

"And very pretty."

"So?" Clemens spent another moment or two to make clear how irrelevant that was.

Then Rahewa asked, "Why did you keep it as a secret all the time?"

"Well - for once, you're not running around telling everybody that you're in search for a potion that turns Muggles to wizards. I remember how it was when I mentioned it once - I was a first-year at that time. Since then - "

"Did they laugh at you?"

"Of course. The other students did. The teacher was nice; she said, 'You have a long way to go, Clemens, but I won't be surprised to hear it was you who found it.' I'll never forget that. it kept me steady whenever I thought it's impossible, there is no way to go ..."

His explanation was interrupted again.

---

"And yesterday, in this meeting, of course I had to explain about my background. Then Ramon thanked me and said something like, this information won't leave this room. And then Harry said something - and that's why we're sitting here now, rather than next week, or still later."

A beaming face of expectation. "What was it?"

"He was talking to Ramon, not to me. He said, unless it's he himself who tells this story someone else, which I hope he does ... I heard that and thought, what nonsense is this, of course it's my decision whom to tell. And Ramon looked as if he thought the same."

Clemens shook his head in admiration. "Only a moment later, I realized what he'd done, what he'd told me to do - in full public, not even looking at me, and nobody else had caught the message - "

"Except Cho."

"Yes, probably. But later, when we talked with each other, there wasn't the slightest trace of another hint, no smiling, no grinning - nothing. No, in the middle of the Groucho meeting, with everybody listening, he'd told me, Clemens, go and tell her that you love her, and so I'm here to tell you - Rahewa, I love you."

Another few moments passed. Then Clemens asked, "How did he know?"

Rahewa blushed sweetly. "Remember the day at the lake? When I had to leave for my visit to them? Er - when I arrived, it took him just a minute, then he asked, who's the lucky one? And I told them your name."

"Okay, so he knew about your side of things. But how did ke know - I mean, what if I didn't respond the same?"

"You did, don't you?" After another interruption, Rahewa said, "He has this haragei, he can sense a lot even without his snake." Then she giggled. "Although - I think everybody knows already; remember how I came into the OP with Sandy?"

After some more of these moment full of non-verbal communication, Clemens suddenly laughed. Seeing Rahewa's questioning look, he said, "Yes, of course they know. After the meeting, Cho said, I guess you prefer Hogwarts as the project centre, but even so, I think we'll meet again soon." Clemens giggled. "At that moment, her remark sounded perfectly normal in the situation - only now, in retrospect, I can see what she really said to me."

"What did she say?"

"You're visiting them quite often, right? Well, I think what she said was an invitation with a timer on it - meaning, once you two have settled, just come together before running into a conflict of interests."

Hearing that, Rahewa beamed. Next moment, she turned dark red.

Noticing it, Clemens had a pretty clear idea which thought had crossed her mind. He bent closer and whispered, "There's no need for pushing things. I think she only meant day trips anyway."

Rahewa didn't look at him when she said, "I know for sure that she wasn't drawing any such line ... And besides, who said I'm not interested in weekend trips?"

"We'll handle it as we feel right. At any rate, first it's the other way around - Harry's coming to visit here."

Rahewa's eyes lighted up. "When?"

"Today. He wants to meet a Centaur, to get his help for collecting unicorn blood."