Confused Memories

Chapter 6

"Good morning, Tom," Hermione greeted the proprietor of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Morning, Professor. Here to do some shopping today, I take it?" the older man replied, smiling.

"Yes, we are. Sarah, I'd like you to meet Tom. He's the innkeeper here. Tom, this is Sarah MacKenzie. She's come over from the States to be our new Divination professor." 'Well, that should get the word out quickly enough,' Hermione thought ruefully. 'The only way it would be quicker is if it had gotten to Lavender or Parvati. And the two of them would be too busy fawning over Sarah to talk to anyone.'

"It's nice to meet you, Miss. Enjoy yourselves," Tom said, nodding to them.

"Thank you, Tom." Hermione led the way into the small enclosed courtyard behind the tavern. Pulling out her wand, she tapped twice on the third brick from the top, just above the garbage can. An archway opened in the wall, and the two witches stepped through.

"All right. Our first stop--Gringotts," Hermione said, consulting the parchment she held in her hand.

"But I don't have an account here." Sarah frowned.

"Didn't you hear Albus? Hogwarts will pay for anything you need." Sarah opened her mouth to argue, and Hermione said, laughing, "If you don't like that idea, I'm sure the Headmaster will dock your pay until everything is paid off."

Sarah nodded in agreement, and they continued to the wizarding bank.

After Gringotts, where the desk goblin had looked at the women suspiciously when presented with the Hogwarts vault key, they headed for Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. The seamstress was delighted to meet Sarah. She immediately dove into the task of selecting proper robes for a professor. Hermione tried to object when Sarah selected a set of dark green dress robes. Madam Malkin said, "But dear, they fit her so well." When Sarah said simply, "I like green," Hermione subsided grudgingly. When Sarah also selected a set of crimson dress robes edged with gold, Hermione warmed up considerably.

After placing Sarah's order, she and Hermione made their way next door to Flourish and Blotts. Hermione stopped just inside the door and smiled. She loved the usually quiet bookstore.

"Hermione?" She opened her eyes to see Sarah looking at her bemusedly. "We should probably move out of the doorway."

Hermione blushed. She could hear Mad-Eye now. "Never stand with your back to a door or window. It presents a perfect target for the enemy. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

They went into the stacks. "All right, you'll need to pick up copies of the books your students are using." Hermione handed Sarah the list.

Sarah looked at it in disbelief. "This is ridiculous. You can't learn how to use the Sight from a book! You either See or you don't. These books were written by money-grabbing--" She cut herself off. Breathing deeply, Sarah said, "I'm sorry. But I need to speak with the Headmaster when we get back. If I'm going to teach this course, I'll do it my way."

Eyebrows raised, Hermione said, "All right. Then we'll just get you some quills and ink for correcting papers over at the stationery shop."

Purchases made, they headed in the opposite direction, towards the shop that Sarah had been itching to find since they first set foot in Diagon Alley--Ollivander's.

Hermione opened the door to the wand shop. Mr. Ollivander was just finishing up with a Hogwarts first year. "And use it wisely," he said to the wide-eyed child. The mother ushered him out, nodding at the two witches who had just entered.

"Ah, Miss Granger. Apple, unicorn tail hair, 10 1/4 inches, I believe?" Ollivander said, spotting Hermione.

"Yes, sir," Hermione replied.

Ollivander peered at Sarah. "I don't believe I've ever sold you a wand," he said.

"No, sir, you haven't. This is Sarah MacKenzie; Sarah, Mr. Ollivander. Sarah will be joining the staff at Hogwarts for the term. Her wand broke on the way over from the States, and--"

"You're from the United States?" Ollivander asked. "Then you must have a Liu wand! I've wanted to get my hands on one of those for years. He does amazing things with maple/oak hybrids. Do you have it with you?"

"Actually, I don't. I'm sorry. My wand was a family heirloom, so I'm not sure where it came from, either, to tell you the truth."

"Oh. Very well," Ollivander said disappointedly. He brightened up. "Well, let's find you a new wand, then!" He pulled out a tape measure, which began to take a series of measurements. Ollivander turned to the shelves and studied them. "Tell me, Miss MacKenzie, what kind of wand was your previous one? I assume it was a hardwood."

"Yes; yes, it was. It was hickory and raven feather, 11 inches long."

"Ah. A nice stable wand. Wonderful for potions, as I hear."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Sarah, I'm beginning to believe you belong in Slytherin. You like green, you had a raven-feather wand..."

"Yeah, yeah," Sarah laughed. "It was my great-grandmother's wand. She was a Cherokee Indian. My father didn't want to give it to me, but before my grandmother died, she insisted that I get it. Fortunately, my father respected her too much to refuse."

"Now I most certainly wish to examine your wand, Miss. Try this one first," Ollivander said, handing Sarah a walnut and phoenix feather wand.

Sarah picked up the wand and gave it a swish. "No, no, no. This one," Ollivander shook his head, grabbing the first one and shoving another one into Sarah's hand. "That's not it, either. Here." Sarah barely had time to touch this one when Ollivander said, "Here," grabbing it away and giving her another one. "No. One moment." Ollivander walked over to one side of the shop and studied the stacks of wands. Finally, he nodded. "This one," he said, certainty ringing in his voice. He handed Sarah the wand. As soon as she took it, sparks shot out of the end. "Wonderful!" Ollivander exclaimed. "Cherry and dragon heartstring, 9 inches. A nice one for Divination work."

"How do you--" Sarah began.

"It is my job to know. That will be 12 Galleons." Hermione paid the odd old man. "Welcome back," he said before disappearing into the back of the shop.

"Welcome... how did he know...?" Sarah wondered aloud.

"I don't know. He's always been a mystery to me. He and the headmaster must get along famously," Hermione said dryly. "Come on--your robes should be ready by now."

The two made their way back to Madam Malkin's. After getting Sarah's new robes, they shared a sundae at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, then headed back for Hogwarts, exhausted. Neither noticed the man nearby, listening closely to their animated conversation.

---

Chapter 7

"Damn it, Coates, have you gotten MacKenzie on the line yet?" Admiral AJ Chegwidden asked his yeoman impatiently.

"No, sir. I've tried her home, cell, and pager numbers. I'm calling Dulles now; perhaps her plane was delayed, sir."

"Good. Tell me as soon as you get her." AJ sighed in irritation and ran a hand over his bald head. His Chief of Staff was supposed to have returned from her leave the day before, and he could count on one hand the number of times she had been late for anything. Well, hopefully Coates would find her.

Fortunately, Ops had been a bit slow lately. Apparently, the sailors had decided to behave themselves for the summer--he was down to disturbing the peace charges to assign his staff. Sighing, he picked up the thin stack of files and headed for the conference room.

"Keep your seats," AJ said brusquely as he entered the room. "As you can see, Colonel MacKenzie has not yet returned. I will deal with that when she reports back. However, we still have work to do."

An hour later, the staff filed out of the room, whispering amongst themselves. AJ could hear Lieutenant Roberts say to Major McBurney, "Do you think I have a death wish?" AJ smiled grimly. Probably not, seeing as he hadn't yet asked if AJ knew where Mac was.

AJ strode past them, wanting to get to his office as quickly as possible. "As you were," he barked as the personnel in the bullpen came to attention. He entered his outer office. "Coates, have you heard from Mac yet?" he asked in a low voice.

The petty officer turned to him. Her brow furrowed quizzically, she said, "No, sir. I called Dulles, and they said her flight got in yesterday. I asked them to check the manifest, and she wasn't on it."

AJ frowned. "What about her hotel?"

"I called there as well, Admiral. No one's seen her for over a week, sir."

AJ restrained the urge to curse. "Thank you, Petty Officer. If you don't hear from her by the end of the day, let me know. In the meantime, keep calling her apartment. Maybe she fell asleep from jet lag and hasn't heard the phone ring." Even as he said it, AJ knew it was a long shot.

"Aye-aye, sir." Coates picked up the telephone and began dialing as AJ entered his office, slamming the door behind him.