Vector's Challenge

Chapter 8

Emmy Vector shook her head as she looked at the graphs of the House points that Monday morning. Something seemed very strange about these newest graphs. She pulled out the master class schedule to check the trends again. The results were clear. The four-color linear graphs of House points versus class time clearly showed that the Slytherins were losing house points during Potions class, and gaining them at every other time. She went to the filing cabinet and pulled out last year's file of House points versus class time. She then took some new graph paper out of her desk drawer. It was always easiest to start the graph by hand first, at lest for her.

"Hmm. Let's see, House points versus professor, - let's make this a bar graph, a bar for each House -- Enscribare Data!" Yes, Snape was taking points from the Slytherins. Fascinating. "And now, let's do it per year. First, Duplicatus." This duplicated Vector's bar graph. "And how long has Snape been here? Thirteen-odd years? Duplicatus Triskadeka." And thirteen copies of the original graph appeared. Changing the data so that she had one graph for each year Snape had been teaching was now a piece of cake. Much easier and faster than in the Muggle world, Vector thought.

She sighed. The trend was clear, but explaining it to Dumbledore was going to take some time. She gathered up all the bar graphs she had made and put them into a separate folder. Then she put the regular graphs of the House points versus class time into another folder. Time for the weekly report. She sighed again, and left her office.

She barely noticed the students as she walked through the halls. "Jelly Babies," Vector said at the Headmaster's door. The statue slid away, and it revealed the stairs. This is going to take a very long time, she thought as she walked up the stairs.

She was right about the time. She had to talk Dumbledore through every single graph, and explain the results to him over and over again. She even had to put all the line graphs together in a marvelous three-dimensional explosion of color, and then explain that to him.

"Are you entirely sure about your results, Emmy?" Dumbledore asked her, after she had shown him all the graphs, done the multidimensional display, spread them out all over his desk, and talked for a solid forty-five minutes.

"I'm sure, sir," she replied. "Snape has never taken points from the Slytherins before, in all the years he's been teaching here. Yet here he's taking points from the Slytherins this year, and the Slytherins are starting to behave themselves and earn more points in the other classes. And there's an absolutely huge spike in the number of points he's taking from the Slytherins in this last week."

"Well, I'm glad to know that, Emmy."

Emmy narrowed her eyes, and then gave him a grin. "Hmm. What have you got riding on my challenge, sir, and with whom?"

Dumbledore's face took on an innocent look. "Did I say anything about betting on Severus's conduct, Emmy?"

"Humph. I know you, Albus. Well, if you do win, let them know that I'm the one who gets your lemon drops for you, now."

"Indeed, I shall."

Emmy Vector laughed. "So what should I do about all these odd trends these past weeks? Slytherin losing points from their own Head of House?"

"Well, why don't you ask him about that, and about why your Ravenclaws are losing so many points in that class as well?"

"What -" Emmy looked at the line graphs quickly again. Both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were losing points like crazy in Potions. "You're correct. I guess it didn't stand out too much. It fit his usual patterns."

"Indeed. Yet it also shows a great increase within the last week. Curious."

"Within the last week. My House knows, and if my House knows...they knew from Gryffindor, and if Gryffindor knows, that means that the whole bloody school knows about the bet!" Her voice increased in volume from conversational to a shriek as she said this. "Curse that man! Accio graphs! Accio folders!" she shouted. The graphs flew toward her, and she grabbed all of them and haphazardly stuffed them, crumpled, into the folders.

She nodded at Dumbledore, "Sir," and then pelted out of the room, her brown dress flapping as she took the stairs two at a time. She had to give a certain Potions Master a ding about the ear.