Ticking of the Clock

Any hope of testing her new knowledge ended with the second cup of coffee. Loup's first cup had been spent waking up. The night had been a long one and not what she had expected. Still swathed in a warm feeling of peace, she leaned against Gregorov while he dropped the required two cubes of sugar into his tea. There was grading to be done and she planned a post-lunch trip to the village to find another test subject. If everything worked out, she could do a test run on Wronski tomorrow afternoon.

Gregorov changed position, forcing her to sit up straight. She smiled sleepily and refilled her mug. Finding a new subject shouldn't be too difficult. There was an area by the railroad station where transients sometimes stayed. One of them would do. She would shift into a wolf and listen to them talk. It was necessary that she could understand them when she searched for something to alter. The actual testing of the spell was still a hazy point. Her imagination wasn't geared towards creation.

"Yes? Are you listening to me?" Gregorov broke her musings. "No. You are not. Today, you will come with me. You will stay with me. I want you to demonstrate some spells."

She took a sip of her coffee and forgot to swallow for a second. "Demonstrate? You want me to demonstrate?" Setting the mug down, she looked up, seeking confirmation. "What sorts of spells?"

Gregorov huffed, but smiled thinly. Dragging out his folders of lecture notes, he leaned forward until head touched hers. Loup was suitably distracted as well as flattered. Soon, her plans for practicing her new knowledge were dropped in favor of an entire day of showing off. The topics for the day's lectures had several good possibilities for examples. Fully occupied with the pleasant thought of parading her abilities, she missed Gregorov's measuring look and the silent messages passed between him and someone else.

By the middle of the first hour, it became clear that including any kind of demonstrations in the courses hadn't been planned. Gregorov lectured on, ignoring Loup's raised eyebrow, drumming fingers and increasing slouch. Knowing her ego, he shrugged her questions off at the end of the first class, telling her the subject matter being presented was too simple to waste her energies. Her talents would be required for the rest of his classes. It worked, but she already suspected that the real purpose of her presence was to keep her from disappearing from the school grounds.

The second class dragged, bogged down by students' questions on the last homework assignment. The lack of commentary confused many of them. Gregorov remained stone-faced as one of the better sixth-year students stood and requested more information on parts of the homework. With a barely concealed snigger, Loup rose from her place behind Gregorov and reveled in elaborating on the spell presented.

The topic for the last two lessons had been on inducing trance states, required for any number of control spells. The opportunity was too good to pass up. Before Gregorov had a chance to seize control of his class, Loup offered to demonstrate one kind of procedure.

The students settled back at their desks, pens, pencils and quills poised to take notes. Gregorov, heaving a loud groan, sat down in the seat Loup had occupied.

"I will need a volunteer." She stepped up to the front row of desks and looked at the line of students. None there volunteered, nor did the next row. The lack of a response did not surprise her particularly. Preening at the chance to show off, she stepped back and spread a hand towards an empty desk near the door. With a showy crook of a finger ("The Dark does not need unnecessary gestures," de Rais intoned icily in her mind. "However, if it is a crutch for you to focus, the lesser powers do seem to find such things useful.") Loup flinched at the memory, but chose to ignore it. She pulled the desk forward until it stopped in front of her and then called a second to line up with the first. Perhaps too smugly, she turned her attention back to her audience. Eyes huge and paler than usual, the entire class held very still, hoping she would not see them. For her, the choices had narrowed down to a handful. While she was unable to place names to faces, she knew each one's abilities. Gregorov rarely graded any of their homework assignments, but she did. She knew whose homework was done well and whose had little drawings of anatomical parts or doodles of brooms and Snitches. One of the artists, particularly one who had drawn a wolf doing something quite rude and physically impossible, would be her subject.

"Axel Johannsen." Loup called the name and scanned the startled faces, seeking out the one that tried to hide. Axel attempted to slide down in his seat until he was hidden behind a black-haired boy who also slouched at the same time. Loup caught Axel's eye and the temptation to show off was too great. "Dicto Parere," she hissed, shoving far more power into the spell than was needed. She wanted the class to feel the pulse of energy. Axel seemed to go rigid, eyes glazing.

Enjoying her moment, she paced slowly around the two desks, wishing she had dressed appropriately for the display. Her snow-worthy slacks and sweater hardly had the effect her working robes would have had. With a small sigh at their lack, she cocked her head and evaluated what to do with her subject. Gregorov coughed into his hand, reminding her to finish. Shooting a quick glare over her shoulder, she called out, "Come!" Axel shambled his way to the front of the desks, sweat pouring down his face.

There were several possible ways to demonstrate drawing him into a receptive trance, but the opportunity to practice her new technique and have Gregorov, if he didn't lose his temper, correct her was too tempting. "Lie down." She patted the desk and Axel slowly climbed up and then reclined.

Taking a deep breath, she circled back behind the desks, preparing to launch into a lecture about what other techniques could be used when Gregorov interrupted. "No. Do not. The most common one only. Do not confuse them."

Grumbling under her breath, she tried to realign her thoughts. "This is one method," she pointedly glanced back at Gregorov. "There are many way to achieve the trance state. For example, Succombo Tui Mors. This places the subject into a receptive state for…" Gregorov sighed heavily and heaved himself to his feet. Loup looked quickly down at the boy, trying to see if the spell had worked. The eyes were blank, but they'd been that way before. Were the features more relaxed?

"You have succeeded in finding the correct procedure to induce the first state. Do you know what you are doing next? How it will affect him? Do you?" Gregorov leaned over her, muttering into her ear. "This is not something you can force. A mind is fragile and you are only for strength. Do not." Louder now, for the class, he instructed, "This is not what you will need to know for the examination. For you, it is the Cedo spell that we will practice. You will pair off and will take turns casting the spell on your partner." He moved to block the door and watched as the class crumbled away into uncomfortable pairs of students. "Loup, come." He opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

After one last look to see what if anything looked or seemed different from the more familiar Cedo, she straightened and followed him at a leisurely pace. Gregorov had walked to the end of the hall where he waited. From the scowl, she deduced that, if she were lucky, she would get a lecture. If unlucky, it would be a fight. Either way, delaying it would only result in a week or more of silence or venomed barbs about everything she did.

When she finally finished making the short walk long, what she found was not what she expected. Instead of anger, she found a sad sort of resignation that was far worse. "Why, little wolf? Why do you persist? This is not something that is for you."

"How do you know?" she shot back automatically.

Gregorov looked away for two heartbeats, calming himself and then looked down again. "A mind is fragile and complex. You cannot beat something into it without something else breaking. This I have seen."

"Why do you think I would have to force it." Loup crossed her arms and leaned against the wall next to him, assuming the attitude of someone being punished.

"It is your way." Gregorov sighed again and pushed his hair back. "You are impatient. This, this is not something that can be rushed. You have proved you could send the boy into a receptive state. That is the first step, yes. That is the only step that is simple. What were you trying to prove?"

Loup frowned and examined her boots as if looking for an answer. "I just wanted to see if I could do it."

"You have proven your ability. Does that please you? Does it? Do you need to do more?"

"You don't have to say it that way. I need to learn new things."

He reached out and cupped her face with a hand. "There are many things you do well. I have never felt such power before. Your studies with de Rais should satisfy that need."

"I thought you didn't like that." Loup tried shifting the discussion, hoping he could be distracted.

"I do not. You are correct." Gregorov ran a thumb along her cheek as he tried to catch her eye. "If it is money you seek, then perhaps a position of sorts could be found. You do not need to acquire this skill nor any other Dark Art. There are other ways."

She jerked her head away, afraid of being smothered by the offer. "Maybe you're right. Maybe there are other ways to make money, but this is the only way I know how. I've spent my entire life serving the Dark. What else can I do?"

In response, he pushed away from the wall. "I have a lecture to finish. I would hope that you consider your options. There are more than just the one. The skills you seek offer only limited employment." Seeing something long past, he stepped forward to leave. "I cannot see you caged in a room, working to break a man's mind and then slowly rebuild it. The breaking, yes, that I can see. But, little wolf, you have barely the patience for rituals that take mere hours. A mind may take days, weeks perhaps if disciplined. It is no work for one such as you. I could far easier see you in the employ of the Aurors than doing the work that I once did."

She watched him walk down the hallway, annoyed that he was correct in his assessment and wondered if he knew that the Mâitres des Sorciers in Paris were a subset of the Aurors.

After days of avoiding Magda, Loup spent an hour trying to locate her. None of the usual rooms held the little Romanian woman. The greenhouses, a favorite haunt, yielded no Magda, but the drying room was hung thickly with drying herbs other things used in potions and ritual magic. Loup took a slice off a leathery chunk of wyvern skin that had almost cured. The distillation room held only two students, more interested in feeding the blue, conjured flames bits of a fuzzy leaf that set off showers of sparks. Greenhouse number six, the last one set next to the curtain wall for shade-loving plants, was inhabited by Ewa Krakow, one of the Herbology professors, who passed along the information that Magda had been by earlier.

The Dark Arts building was empty. Just in case, Loup knocked twice on the Lowenstein door. She walked into the staff room and checked for any sign there. The couch looked particularly inviting and Loup flopped down on it, pretending she had time for a nap. There, sprawled on the sagging divan, she stared at the ceiling and plotted out her schedule. More testing had to be done. Gregorov affirmed her ability to get through the first step. The warnings were ignored in favor of a decision to only access the most recent levels of memory. That was all the training document had in it. There were several points at which she would need to make decisions. The first would depend on Magda's story. Magda. The optimum time for her had passed. Having never not had some sort of contraception spell placed on her, Loup found herself wondering if the window of opportunity was shut until the next month. The thought cheered her immensely. Another month of practice and she'd have the process mastered. Although she was positive she could direct the magic, Gregorov's warnings dimmed her enthusiasm slightly. What if she did something wrong and Wronski's mind was befuddled? Gregorov was right. She was all strength. Mâitre Faucon had said so many times, usually sounding proud, but she'd heard the same words used as a slur against her abilities. There were ways to tone the enchantment down, to skim lightly through the top layers of memory and only touch certain paths. The document had only mentioned those, presenting an established routine to use in most cases.

Eyes closed, Loup recalled the text as she tried to outline the least possible path to ruin. The building was eerily quiet. The dripping faucet made only a soft thunk sound, soothing rather than irritating. Lulled by the background sound, she slipped into a nap and dreamed of chasing rabbits that turned into thoughts that raced always ahead.

"This way, Professor!" an angry voice snapped. Loud boot heels thudded in the hallway, barely preceded by a blast of cold air. Loup jerked awake and, without really thinking about it, shifted into her wolf form. The wolf jumped off the couch and slunk into the only shadowy spot in the room, behind the chairs at the table.

Gregorov entered the room. His rigid posture warned of an unpleasant end to his day. He started to walk towards the table to take a seat, but stopped when he spotted her. The scowl that flickered across his face warned Loup that she was to blame for what came next.

Gregorov turned and stood facing the door, hands behind his back balled into fists. Auror Johannes Werner followed with his lieutenants, Massys and Mueller in tow. A junior Auror stood at the door, notepad in hand, ready to take notes of the proceedings. Werner was in his element. He circled Gregorov, eyes traveling over the much larger Russian as if looking for clues. Loup saw the Auror's grin when he sighted the clenched hands.

"Professor Gregorov, where were you yesterday?" Werner asked as he finished his circle.

"I was here, teaching my classes until 1500. Then, I returned to my quarters until dinner was served."

"Can your position be confirmed?" Werner motioned Massys forward.

"You may question any number of my seventh-year students. Would you care to see the list of names?"

"And, at lunch, Professor, where were you?" As Werner posed the question, Massys had begun to cast a spell.

"Here."

"Interesting. No one saw you at lunchtime. I have testimony from several of the staff members that you did not take your meal with the rest. They seemed to find it odd. Where were you at lunch, Professor Gregorov?"

"I was here, in my quarters."

"Were there any witnesses?"

Gregorov noticeably tensed. "No."

Smiling, Werner stepped forward to stop toe-to-toe. "And why would you prefer to stay here alone, Professor? Did you prepare your own lunch here? Should we examine your quarters?"

"I came here to find," Gregorov stopped and stood straighter. "I came back to my quarters."

"Alone?"

"Alone. I needed the assignments for my next two classes."

"And you spent the entire time here? Alone?" Werner's grin had a sadistic, knowing look to it. "That is not what a witness told me."

"Why am I being questioned? Am I being charged with a crime?"

Werner nodded at Massys who stepped back and, with a snap of his wand, activated the spell. A sheet of color swam in front of Gregorov, fluctuating between the reds and into a darkness. "Do you know how to induce a person into the receptive trance state?"

"Yes."

"I understand that you were trained how to do this. That you are considered a master of these techniques. You records are very vague, Professor. One would think you perhaps Apparated here from nowhere, but your second year here, you were most indiscreet." Werner extended a hand towards the junior Auror. The man strode forward and presented a fat file folder to the Chief Auror of the Northern District. Looking thoroughly pleased with himself, Werner took his time leafing through the pages, tsking now and again when he paused to read an entry. "Approximately ten years ago, there was an incident in the village tavern. Quite impressive. You violated not more than," Werner counted aloud to himself, "seven laws and were almost removed from your position. As you sobered up, you revealed a past we had not known of before then, one that we confirmed with the equivalent Russian offices. You were employed in their intelligence department. An odd choice for someone like you, do you not think? I myself would not have believed it had they not sent your records. Frankly, I amazed that you were allowed to live, but here you are. A master of the technique according to your records." Werner closed the file dramatically and slapped it gently against the fingers of his other hand. "Tell me, Professor, what steps would you use to induce the first stage, the receptive trance, in a subject?"

"I no longer do that work. I am now a teacher."

"A teacher? That would be your official title. The title I hear most often with your name is that of drunk or bully. Answer my question, what steps would you use to induce the receptive trance?"

Loup barely stifled her growl. Gregorov rarely drank any more. She'd only seen him lose his temper a few times in the last few years and then mostly at her.

Gregorov looked down at Werner and recited a long passage in guttural Russian. It was clear he thought that no one would understand.

Massys looked over at Werner. "I was not able to understand all of it, but it sounded like what we understand the standard Soviet procedure to have been last decade. The color spectrum confirms it."

Looking slightly disappointed, Werner leaned back, glaring. "Tell me," he paused, "Professor, is this the only technique you know? Would you always use this or are there others you would employ?"

"I know many. I prefer the one I spoke of. It is fast and efficient."

"Many?" Werner raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I myself know perhaps two. The District would be fascinated, no doubt, to learn the variations. Perhaps your Headmaster will arrange some of your time to be available to us?" With an ugly laugh, Werner nodded to Massys.

Tearing himself away from the colorful display, Massys stepped forward to face Gregorov. Shorter than Werner, Massys had to crane his neck from the short distance. "Herr Professor," Massys said politely, "explain to me the uses of the Docilis variant used with a Somnus or Stupor spell?"

Gregorov made the mistake of sighing, a sign of recognition that Werner leapt upon. "You know of this? You used it? You!"

Startled, Gregorov took a step backwards. "No. It is archaic. To reach the mind after the subject has been placed into a sleeping state is difficult and the results are not as predictable as when they are approached using other methods."

"Archaic?" Werner and Massys exchanged looks. "Auror Massys, you will demonstrate our procedure to the professor and," Werner laughed, "master of this work."

Massys drew his wand as Gregorov lunged for Werner. The two collided and crashed onto the floor. From her shadowed corner, Loup watched as Gregorov's hands closed on Werner's throat. Her growled cheer was lost in the shouts from the other three Aurors. Massys dropped his wand as he grabbed onto a forearm and Mueller jumped into the fray. The black uniformed men swamped the Russian as they fought to free their superior. The junior Auror had the presence of mind to end it with a Stupefy spell that caught both Werner and Massys as well as Gregorov. Mueller managed to disentangle the bodies.

It wouldn't take much, Loup thought, to kill the lot. It wouldn't help the problem. At this point, nothing would except for the Aurors to finish their interrogation. She was surprised that they hadn't decided to use Durmstrang's Binding Spell, that awful mix of the Cruciatus and the Imperius Curses worked into one. Revealing herself as the one who cast the spell was impossible now, not that she had ever planned to do so.

Mueller sent the junior Auror out, ostensibly to get a mediwizard, but actually to wake his superior. Werner's wits returned as he was helped to a sitting position. Rubbing his throat, Werner was subjected to a near-silent grumbling from his lieutenant. Even with the wolf's improved hearing Loup only caught "not procedure" and "complaint" out of the mumbling. Werner held up a hand, indicating he'd heard enough.

They woke Massys next. Massys looked pale and a little bit ill. "He did not cast the spell. Of that, I am certain. They," Massys waved a hand towards Gregorov, "always use the proscribed methods. Why shouldn't they? The well-trained ones would not leave a trace. What we saw was clumsy, clearly the work of an amateur." Massys tottered over to the sink and filled a mug with water. After a few sips, he turned back to the others. "It is not my place to remind you this, but it is against our regulations to delve into a man's mind as you instructed me to do unless there is sufficient cause."

Looking annoyed, Werner nodded as he stood over the unconscious Gregorov. "You are correct. He was not the one to have cast the spell. I had hoped he would give us a name of a student."

"Why was he here?" Massys asked.

Werner quirked an eyebrow in response and then bent to retrieve the scattered file.

"You said he came back here during the lunch hour. Why is that significant?"

"I had thought he met one of his students here. His file has a list of young women he consorted with. The staff member said that he entered and then was not seen until just before the bells tolled. I had assumed that was how he spent his time that day."

"Shall I wake him?" The junior Auror had returned, a grumpy-looking woman trailing behind him.

Werner shuffled the papers back into the folder, tapping the spine against the tabletop to settle the papers. "No. He will awake in time or someone will rouse him." He motioned his men to follow him out the door, where he paused long enough to bow slightly to the woman who had been dragged from the castle.

Loup waited until all had left before creeping from her hiding place. Still in wolf form, she buried her muzzle into the crook of Gregorov's neck, breathing deep of his scent. Then, she padded to their quarters, awkwardly jumping up several times to open the door. She wanted all of the heightened senses working as she cast for foreign scents. Zigzagging over all three rooms and the bathroom, she searched for it. As Gregorov suspected her, she suspected him of infidelity. She checked the couch, the bed, the floors, nosed through the laundry and the small bathroom, giving the latter only a cursory sniff. The only scents in the rooms belonged to Gregorov, herself and Kessler. Her mind took a sordid turn for a moment that she discarded quickly.

Gregorov was still sprawled face down unconscious when she reentered the staff room. She resumed her own body and knelt next to him. Werner had cushioned his fall when the spell struck. Still face down, she had difficulty turning him over. Even relaxed in unconsciousness, he looked angry, an anger that would not grow any less once she revived him. While debating whether to leave him to wake by himself, a familiar voice called out his name and raced over.

Magda leaned over him, lightly touching throat and forehead. "What happened? Is he hurt?"

"Aurors," Loup spat. "They questioned him about…" Loup let the thought trail off.

Without another glance at Loup, Magda had drawn her wand and cast a glowing mist over the unconscious man. "This will ease him into consciousness. Much easier on the system than the Ennervate spell. It will also give you time to explain to me why this happened. It is clear that you know, so do not lie to me."

She stood slowly, dusting off her knees and then pulled her hair back, buying time while she tried to figure out how to explain what happened. "Yesterday, I went to the village," Loup began, sounding flat and distant. "I needed to practice what I had learned from that accursed book. I found one. I put it into a deep sleep first and then tried to place it into the receptive state. The combination put it into a deep trance that I couldn't access. I thought the spell would end in an hour or so."

"It did not. Ah. I see. The Aurors were called in, no? Of course they were and they surmised that Yuri might be to blame." Magda sounded cold as she also stood, her eyes never leaving Gregorov. "Then that was where you were yesterday. He searched for you."

"I didn't realize that the spell was that strong. I thought the subject would wake shortly. It wasn't a total loss. I found out that the spell I used was an archaic form and that there were better ways to do the work." Loup looked back down at the now-twitching man. "He was looking for me?"

Magda gave her a dark look and then turned to go. "Your experiment was a failure then?"

Distracted by the awakening Gregorov, Loup muttered, "Not really. Kessler let me read a document he used to use when he worked in East Berlin. I managed to put a student into the receptive state today. Worked perfectly."

Magda wavered at the doorway. "I thank you. It is too late though. I must wait until next month." She sounded both angry and sad.

As Gregorov's eyes fluttered open, Loup knelt down, quite unsure of what to do next.

"Perhaps the Dark Arts are not the path to take for this. It would be too simple."

"Simple? Why would it be simple?" She ran a hand over his head, checking to see if there were any swellings or cuts.

"I had thought that you could do anything," Magda sighed as she turned to leave.

"If you're so damned good, you could at least help," Loup snapped. "You didn't give me much time to prepare. Why can't you get yourself ready? You must know something to speed up the process. Or, would that be too simple?"

Magda stopped and turned around. "It is not wise to alter nature's will."

"Nature's will," Loup sneered. "You have a Non Concipere spell on you and you talk about nature's will. It's fine for you to stand there and sound like it's my fault that you're not pregnant. I think I've managed a lot. I can send someone into the first state. I managed to memorize the procedure that Kessler had. I can do the work. You could at least do your part."

With a sniff, Magda turned and left. A fuming Loup turned to find Gregorov had risen to his elbows and lay there staring at her. Long seconds passed while he remained there, seemingly in thought. At last, he said, "I am surprised. I had thought this was only to increase your store of tricks to gain money. I am not certain whether you wear altruism any better than greed."