Stacking the Deck

Chapter 5

"Four more days until classes start," Jones mumbled. Today, it was as if the grounds were deserted. She sat in the shade of the Dark Arts building, trying to find a comfortable way to sleep at the long wooden table there. Old and weathered, it was either a pleasant place to nap or an adventure in avoiding splinters. Positioning a few magazines in front of her, she pillowed her head on her arms and looked without seeing at the endless green lawns that surrounded the castle.

"Keeping a count?" Wronski sounded sleepy. He lay on the other bench, just out of the sunshine. Two journals of chemistry, a novel and a magazine arced on the ground beneath him.

"Yeah. I guess so. I keep trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with this class thing." If she lifted her head a little, she could just see his white sneakers.

"Better figure it out soon." The last word disappeared into a loud yawn. "How often does it meet?"

"One day a week. Guess I should consider myself lucky. It could be three times a week or even once a day. The topic is kinda specialized. I just don't know what to do with it." A warm freeze fluffed her hair forward to tickle her nose. Too lazy to dislodge her head, she tried blowing it out of her eyes with limited success.

"Weren't there class notes? I saw a bunch of boxes in his office awhile ago. He must have left files."

"Yeah. Sorta. Heiniger dropped them off. Lester's notes were very cryptic. Well, to me at least." Closing her eyes, she recalled what had been given to her to review. It had looked like a relic of the past: several rolls of parchment, all hand-lettered in a script that looked like a practice piece for some sort of Victorian diplomatic charter. The penmanship had been exquisite and remarkably legible, but none of the contents had been very useful to her. She'd only recognized a few of the spells listed. The assignments sounded straightforward enough: cast different sorts of spells, disperse some of the energies, and have the students accurately detect whether something had been done. That part she could handle. It was the concept she still wrestled with. "I guess I could teach them wrong."

Wronski pulled himself upright in a flutter of paper as a magazine slid off his stomach. "That could be fun. Think that our boss would like it when he hears about it? He doesn't seem to have our sense of humor."

Jones muttered under her breath what she thought of the Headmaster, hoping there were no auditory "ear" spells present.

"Chicken." He mirrored her position at the table. "How many classes are there until the holidays? Maybe you could blow the first month in theory."

Resting her head in her hands, she stared at the top of his head, noting his ragged part. "Maybe. I could rattle on for at least an hour about theory, but the class meets for two." Wronski's sandy-colored hair rippled in the breeze. When the next wisp of a breeze teased it, she reached over and pulled one free.

"I'd yell, but I'm too sleepy. Are you planning an evil spell or something using it?"

"You're no fun. You should at least offer to negotiate a truce or something." Grasping the fine hair in her hands, she tugged on it, watching it stretch until it broke. "You should be properly scared of what I could do with this."

"There are bits of me all over the place. I probably should be more paranoid, but I'm not." Slowly stretching, he pushed himself upright. "Besides, I think only you and Loup are weird enough to worry about that sort of thing. I see her do that summon yourself spell regularly. Wonder if she does it for Gregorov."

"Lowenstein casts them, too. He doesn't do it the same, though. I should ask him about it some time. He does a lot of things differently. I know there are a lot of ways to achieve the same result, but it's always weird to actually see someone actually use a different spell."

"There you go. Thinking again." He leaned over and began collecting his reading material. "Why don't you ask them?"

The shift in subjects caught her off-guard. She tried replaying the last few moments of conversation and felt as though she'd missed something. "Ask them what? Who them?"

"This class is supposed to be for the seventh years, right?" Wronski paged through a rumpled magazine, his eyes unfocused and dull. "It sounded to me like it was some kind of special class that the Auror wannabes would take."

Jones felt stupid, unable to see what his point was. "And?"

"Why don't you ask one of 'the boys' some questions." His blue eyes sparkled with mischief. "I'll be old Hans would have some ideas."

"Bet not." A sudden need for nicotine struck. "He doesn't like to talk shop with me. I've tried. Thought it would be sort of a way to, you know, break the ice. He'll only talk about general stuff."

"I thought you said he talked all the time. Seems to me like he only sorta talks." Wronski looked up in time to see that he had scored an unwanted point. "Hey, well, maybe he's just really quiet."

Lighting the cigarette demanded her attention. Using it as a focus, she struck the flame and then stared into it. He had a point. "It's not a bad idea. Maybe they don't really know that much. Just because there are a lot of things in the lecture notes, that doesn't mean he actually taught any of them. There never seems to be enough time to cover all the material you have planned." She lit the cigarette and inhaled. The smoke burned its way down into her lungs and fired her brain. "Good idea, Paul. You're absolutely right. Let's go chat up our friendly neighborhood Aurors."

"Let's?" Wronski shook his head as he restacked his pile of magazines and positioned the novel to line up with a corner. "No reason for me to barge in, too."

"The local theater is showing the new Bond movie?" Wreathed in a halo of smoke, she tried to look innocent. "I'll buy tickets if you go with me."

* * *

Seeing the movie was weird. Feeling torn between the English dialog and the intrusive subtitles, she eventually gave up and just watched the movement across the screen. By the end of the first half-hour, she determined that all of the Bond films looked enough alike that it didn't matter whether she paid attention or not. Wronski slouched in the seat next to her, a huge grin plastered over his face. Each new gadget got an "ooooh" and every shot of the new "Bond Girl" appropriately disrobed got a gravely "ah". She decided that he was more entertaining than the movie itself. The only annoyance was that he wanted to stay and read all of the movie credits. The theater emptied out around them while the theme music swelled.

"Now what?" he asked once the audience was reduced to just the two of them.

"Now, we find an Auror."

Wronski didn't move. A slow smile spread across his face. "Any Auror? How about a really big one who doesn't talk much?"

"Actually," she said, as she stood up, "I was thinking your new best friend, Jan, would be the best bet."

Looking puzzled, he rose. "Ok. I guess so. Why not Mueller? You suddenly off of him?"

"I think I can get more useful information out of Massys."

"Oh, yeah. If he's not being monitored, he'll tell you anything."

They walked out into the still bright evening. Jones longed to cast a Tempus spell to check the time; however, the large clock perched in the middle of the square said it was a bit after seven.

"They should be off shift by now," she said around a cigarette. Leaving a trail of smoke behind, they began the walk up the hill towards where the Auror offices were situated and, beyond them, the more likely place to find Jan Massys, the tavern.

The tavern was its usual not-weekend self. A crowd of the veteran barflies clustered around the long dark wood bar while a pair of old men sat close by the door, bent over a chessboard. The players seemed frozen as they stared at their pieces, pondering movements to the tick of a timer. The place was fogged with cigarette smoke and the smell of food from the kitchen. Wronski slowed a step to sniff at it. "I think they've got chicken on the menu tonight and, of course, some sort of ham dish." He stopped at the corner of the bar to read the chalkboard and then dug out his wallet to check how much money he had. "Can I borrow some?"

Jones didn't hear his question, just his voice. She hesitated in front of the door of the backroom, wondering if she felt brave enough to walk in without an Auror escort. She'd spent a fair amount of time there, but it wasn't for people like her.

"Rose, can I borrow some? I'm short of cash and you know they won't take the other money."

She turned around to see Wronski holding his wallet open behind her. He made a point of looking up through a shock of hair. She fought the laugh, but it won. Her wallet contained a mix of denominations. Shuffling over to one of the lamps, she sorted through what was there. "They probably won't take Canadian money. I have a few British pounds. I wonder why I haven't exchanged those? A couple of Galleons, not that they're any use here. Plus, I have…" She counted out the colorful currency local to the area. "Some of this stuff. We could split a plate, I guess."

"They will take Galleons," a new voice said next to her ear.

Jones jumped sideways and fell against Wronski who promptly dropped his wallet and its contents all over the floor. Jan Massys, looking much younger than usual in street clothing, grinned down at Wronski. On his hands and knees, Wronski hurriedly scooped up currency, slips of paper, ticket stubs and, much to Jones' amusement, a square foiled item.

"Hope springs eternal?" She grinned at Massys who arched his eyebrows. "What's the exchange rate? I didn't stop to change any money with the Bursar and the movie tickets took most of my spare cash."

"Come," Massys called as he opened the door, "we will figure it out later. I had not thought to see you before the weekend, but school has not yet begun, no?"

She reached a hand out to help Wronski up. He barely gained his feet before she whispered, "What else do you have in there? Your library card from college? Old girlfriend's phone number? Ribbed?"

"Shut up," he growled and shoved his wallet back into his pocket. "None of your business although I think I do still have a student ID card."

The room had only a handful of people in it. Most glanced up when Massys entered and a few waved. Wronski stopped at a table near the door. "How about something in a corner. I don't think I'm up for any games right now."

Massys' smile changed slightly. In a single sweep of his eyes, he made a quick analysis of the situation. "You do not need to worry about being seen. Johannes is in Oslo. Josef is following up a case in Oklebo and has ordered Hans to accompany him. I am alone. It would be my pleasure to speak with you."

"Really?" She turned towards Wronski who slouched and looked around the room, not focusing on anything.

"I understand that you did not find your new assignment a pleasant surprise. Josef returned from the school quite worried that things will not proceed well. Johannes has a special interest in ensuring that the Defense Against the Dark Arts group has enough teachers so that all of the courses may be held. Most of our current staff are graduates of the Institute."

"Really?" she echoed again. "I didn't realize that. Did you graduate from Durmstrang, too?"

The question struck a nerve. "No. I did not. The Institute does not admit people like me." He held up a hand and gestured rapidly. Before he pulled out his chair to sit, the bartender arrived, carrying a pitcher in one hand and three glasses pinched together in the other. Massys filled all three glasses and downed his in a draught before refilling it.

"Yeah. That's right." Wronski cleared his throat. "Forgot about the admissions qualifications. I keep forgetting about that sort of thing since I teach there. It's amazing they hired me at all." He took a sip, winced slightly and put the glass down. Beer didn't taste very good yet.

"So, if you didn't go to Durmstrang, where did you go to school?" Jones flashed a grin at Wronski's expression and then cautiously tasted her own glass. Tasted fine so she allowed herself the pleasure of a nice, long swallow.

Leaning back in his chair, Massys tapped his half-full glass and watched the waves travel through the beer. "I do not have the typical education, as you might expect."

He sat quietly until she leaned over. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I was just curious. I never went to a school like Durmstrang at home. If there is an American version, I never heard about it. Instead, I used to go to an aunt's house once a week and she'd teach us what she knew. There were a few other kids with some power. We all learned the basics, but nothing like what these kids get taught." She shrugged and looked around at the men and women lounging in the room. The light caught the dull gleam of a wand as a towel was summoned to a table. "These guys all got a much better background than I did. I learned what I could from my aunt and then picked up more from books. It's amazing what all's in print. Heck, there are even a couple of very Dark Arts type grimoires that have been reprinted in paperback no less. You can order them at any bookstore. Self-study is a very good thing. I've taught myself a lot."

"They found me," Massys sighed. "I was fifteen and a man came to visit my parents. They had sensed my energies while searching for something else. My mother did not believe them and my father threatened them; however, my family's objections were overruled and I was taken away to be trained." He drained his glass and refilled it again. "They were right, of course. I would have been a danger to everyone around me had I not been taught how to control my magic."

"They took you away from your family?" Wronski looked shocked.

"For a time, yes. I was given the opportunity to absorb as much as I could over two years. Once I had achieved that goal, I was allowed to make a choice. I could remain and receive advanced training or I could return home. They were quite fair. By then, I wanted to learn more. It was quite exciting, as well you can imagine, and I was no longer required to attend classes in topics that seemed very, well shall we say, mundane."

"So, what was it like? The training and all? You were already behind, right?" Mouth set in a hard line, Wronski hugged himself tightly.

"I did not attend something like your school. I had a tutor, paid at the Ministry's expense." Massys stared back at his past and a slow grin emerged. "It was exciting. To go from being just another teenager to a wizard! It did not feel like work at all. Of course," he added, drawing a finger across the table as if striking something out, "I did not have a fully rounded education. My training was concentrated at first on control and then I was taught practical magic. Because they found me so late, I had chemistry in school, but never Potions, mathematics instead of Arithmancy, and there was nothing on such wonders as Quidditch."

"How long did they teach you?" Jones refilled his glass, draining the pitcher.

"For five years. The first three concentrated on spells only. The last two, I was allowed to request fields of study." Massys drained the glass in a long, slow swallow.

"Like what?" Hoping for more information she pushed Wronski's almost untouched glass over to him.

"I was quite taken with magical creatures. My mother would have never allowed me to keep any, not even a fire salamander. Therefore, I studied what you would call Defense Against the Dark Arts. I was introduced to a wide variety of imps, pixies, wyrms, faeries and the like." Massys picked up Wronski's glass and stared into it. "Would you prefer that I cleaned it so nothing could be done with your saliva traces?"

"Why?" Wronski asked. If anything, he hugged himself tighter and shoved himself back from the table as far as his legs would move the chair. "What would you do with it?"

"Paul," Jones laughed. "He wouldn't do anything to you. Saliva isn't the best agent, anyway."

"It works quite well for many enchantments." Massys put his hand on the glass' rim and whispered something under his breath. "There, I could do nothing with it. I had no plans to do so, but I understand that many of your kind worry."

"I'm not anybody's kind," Wronski muttered. "I just work here."

"We are similar then." Massys saluted the uneasy Wronski and finished half the glass easily.

"How long did you train to be an Auror?" The question was muffled as Jones glanced over her shoulder and waved a hand over her head.

"What are you trying to do?" Massys stared off in the direction she was looking and then quickly smiled. "Ah, you wish to order another? To do that, you should hold you hand thus." He held his above his head and extended an index finger, crooked it and, with a flourish, held up three fingers before letting his hand fall back to the table. "Quite a clever spell, really."

The door opened and one of the off-duty Cerebors entered, carrying a pitcher of dark beer in one hand. "This is for you?" At Massys' nod, the Cerebor set the pitcher down. "The bartender handed it to me as I passed the bar. He has added it to your bill."

Massys waited until the last glass was full before speaking. "The Auror training is traditionally three years. The first year is mostly theory. From what some of the local police officers have told me, it sounds very similar to what they undergo. The elements of the law are introduced and then the variations within each country that the Aurors work. Some areas are very complex. That training fills an entire year. Then, the other two years are more practical."

"Wait," Jones interrupted. "So, when Auror training starts, how much are the trainees supposed to know?"

His face lit up at the question. Covering his mouth to either hide the grin or to prevent himself from laughing out loud, Massys looked down at the table. "Ah, now I understand. You wish to know how much to reveal to your new students." Nodding repeatedly, he cupped his beer glass between his hands while he thought about the question. "In truth, I would say that most know very little. Why should they? Depending on which school they had studied at, they would probably know how to cast an Exhibeo and perhaps a Discerene. I would be very surprised if any knew how to disperse energies. I do understand your reluctance in that area even if Josef and Johannes do not. I had thought that was asking a great deal."

"What did Lester teach? Rose has his notes, but she says she can't figure them out." Still hugging himself, Wronski straightened up from his slouch.

His body language gave the answer away. Massys' eyes flickered away as he looked at the table, trying to compose a response.

"He didn't! I knew it!" Jones crowed. "He didn't really ever teach that class, did he?"

"Well," Massys began, "I have heard that he planned on teaching a course on the topic starting this school year."

"Aha!" She turned to Wronski, grabbed his closest arm and shook him. "He never did it! That's why those notes are so pristine. He was thinking about how to do it, but he never did! I have a way out." Grinning hugely, she glanced at Massys. "You'll confirm that, right?"

"No," Massys replied, now scratching his head and still looking at the table. "I will not confirm any such thing. While I do not have such grand aspirations as Josef does, I do not wish to destroy my career."

"Well, maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe, if I can prove the class never got taught, then I can get out of it."

"Perhaps, but, if it were me, I would look at this as an opportunity, not a punishment."

"An opportunity? An opportunity to get myself in a lot of trouble with the rest of my group you mean! They don't trust me as it is. If I actually taught this stuff, I'd have to watch my back all the time." Jones glared at Massys while he continued to scratch and stare at the inoffensive table.

"I don't think anyone would really do anything," Wronski said, not sounding at all confident.

"Because I'm not going to do it, that's why they won't. I just won't." Stubbornly, she crossed her arms and sulked.

"Ah, you are truly missing an opportunity." Massys quit scratching but kept his eyes focused on the table. He resumed his hold on his glass and began to turn it, wiping a long spiral of condensation.

Both turned towards Massys, waiting for elaboration. Jones looked suspicious, but Wronski leaned forward.

"What do your American 'magic cops' use for detection?" Massys asked.

"Well, depends." A furrow dug itself between her eyes as she tried to recall details. "The Exhibeo, of course." Thinking harder, she scratched her nose and then her head. "You know, I wasn't exactly working with them. I haven't really seen them detect spells. Well, except once. Twice," she corrected herself. "Usually, I wasn't around for that part. Now, I could talk more about how they question… Oh. I see." A smile grew across her face, mirrored by Massys' grin.

"See what?" Wronski finally released himself, relaxing enough to slouch ever so slightly in his chair.

"You're right. It could be fun." Pursing her lips, she squinted at the ceiling. "I could teach them anything I want and they'd never know if it was real or not. Why yes, I think the, uh, Evealray and the, uh, Glowingus Spellus charm would be useful. I'm sure there could be a potion used to help, too." She looked at Wronski. "A really smelly potion."