Ticking of the Clock

There was something about an Auror's uniform that always stood out. Black jackets, black pants, black boots, occasionally the billed cap, it made even the shortest look menacing. Aurors had a presence that forced its way into a room and stopped all movement and conversation. The silence was the first hint.

The kitchens were split into frenzied action. Any holiday required additional cooking and each fête demanded certain foods. Despite the line of cooks and helpers, all working, the staff felt the time burden. Regular meals still needed to be prepared and yet there was a menu for the next day's festivities. The area resounded with cleavers chopping huge sides of beef and several entire pigs into the cuts for the next two days' meals. Bread rose on every flat surface large enough to hold a bowl. Enormous cauldrons of soup made colorful belches as they simmered. Wading through the chaos, Bette, armed with a long wooden spoon and a carving knife, poked, prodded, tasted and critiqued every one of her staff's creations. It was a sultry mad house.

No one had been allowed to shirk. Still half-asleep over her first cup of coffee, Loup had been informed that her presence was required immediately. It gave the professorial gathering a chance to feel superior as she gulped down her coffee and grabbed up her cloak. Huge crates of potatoes and turnips waited for the peeling spells. Sack after sack of flour and sugar had to be summoned up the long flights of stairs. There was little time to do anything except what Bette yelled for her to do. As the level of noise rose with each passing hour, Loup's duties took her further and further into the pantry area to store the incoming supplies and to summon those boxes and crates required. The pantry provided a buffer between her and the line of irritable women.

Moving yet another sack of flour onto the shelves, it was the lack of background hum that caught her attention. Loup peered out the door, expecting to see a broken bowl of dough that had crashed onto the floor. Instead, she saw a picket of bodies, all turned towards the door leading to the Great Hall. The aura of power alerted her to Massys immediately and, without thinking, she shifted to her wolf form. The wolf's nose was assaulted by the odors of cooking and sweat. With a little effort, she sorted through the scents, identifying cooks, scullions, Bette, and the Aurors. One deep inhalation and the other Auror was Baldung. All concentration was fixed on what her nose told her. When bodies shuffled away from the door, Loup realized she had missed a dialog between the Aurors and the staff. Ears perked, she tried to catch what was being said.

"You. Come with us." The voice sounded like Baldung, but it sounded strangely muffled. A path cleared to the door and Loup felt a cold thread of fear coil around her. Greta shuffled forward, looking glazed. The cook's hands were full, as though she had forgotten what she was doing to obey the commands.

They knew! She'd seen their work in the cemetery and their encounter with Gregorov. There must have been something to link her to her earliest attempt. They'd be able to accuse and convict her of illegal Dark Arts work! There was no Mâitre to protect her and she doubted that the Headmaster would stand between the Aurors and herself. As soon as the door shut, she slunk forward and scurried towards the door that led to the back stairs. A long, black shape raced down the endless flights of stairs to run along the tall stone walls. She ran until she grew winded and then hunkered down in the midst of a cluster of bushes. The bells tolled for lunch, but there would be no pleasant interlude of food and conversation for her.

There was no tingle of a searching spell nor did her Binding spell itch and pain with a summons. With only her growling stomach to plot with, she made her way back to the Dark Arts building, knowing it would be the first place they would hunt for her. Time was of the essence and she needed information.

The building was empty, as expected. Everyone would be sitting around the table. Eating. Eating sounded wonderful, but more dangerous than it was worth. Feeling very much as if she were at bay, she entered the storage closet she used as her personal office. There was no room for stupidity. Calling on memories almost forgotten, she created a darkness that consumed the already dark place. The darkness was forced towards the door and then locked there. Not one, but two silencing spells were set. With that done, she pulled out her wand and whispered, "Lumos." In the wan light, she unburied her stolen library treasure and began her search for answers.

The text had not lost any of its ambiguous word play. The author took great pride at allusion, misdirection and cunning descriptions to hide the information within. It was, Loup sneered, exactly the sort of thing that Gregorov would have loved. The chase was only entertaining for the first hour; soon, she hungered for the kill, an answer. By the pale light, she scanned through the chapters, finding hints scattered throughout. What she searched for were the clues the Aurors could use against her. What would confirm the spell and how would they link it to her? There were, she discovered, a multitude of methods that could do either. Her best defense was that she had not used a wand. They would have to force her to cast the spells to be able to prove anything.

The sigh of relief whistled from her, sounding loud. Loup closed the large book, heaved it to her chest and then hoisted it onto the shelf above where she had last hidden it. Secreting it took effort, but soon there was little sign of the enormous book. Boxes of old papers and a large mat of moss covered most of it. She arranged a selection of leaves and bark, useful for a variety of work, until it looked as though no one had bothered with the contents for years.

Regretfully, she undid her safeguards. With the last of the silencing spells cancelled, sounds filtered in. The building was no longer empty. With the wolf's nose hard pressed hard against the door, she sorted out the identities. The cigarette smoke was Jones' signature. Loup realized that the personal scent was still unknown as it was masked under the cigarettes. There were others there, too. Others that didn't belong. Risking the sound of the loud snuffing, she tried again. There were several others there. The slightly acid smell of Josef Baldung sent her backwards a step. Aurors. Another sniff brought the scent of Johannes Werner. Ears flicking, she listened for voices, but the only one talking was Jones, whose end of the conversation was interspersed with the occasional hacking cough and throaty laugh. The throb of energy alerted her to Jan Massys and a deep rumbling sound filled out the roster with the presence of Hans Mueller. The entire senior staff from the local office was present. Were they that worried about controlling her?

It was difficult to tell exactly where everyone was. Jones, no doubt, had settled into her chair at the back of the room. The rest could be anywhere. Loup cautiously cracked the door, cringing at the soft click it made. With the door ajar, the identification of the men was easier. The smell of Massys was particularly strong, indicating that he probably loitered at the door to the staff room.

"How about some coffee?" Jones asked. "I can make some. I know where Rabe hides it."

There was a round of neutral, sliding to affirmative sounds followed by the scrape of chairs being pulled out from around the table. Loup counted three chairs, cursing when she knew one man remained standing. There was a squeak of a spring. Her shoulders relaxed. Someone had sat in Wronski's place, someone large. Mueller, no doubt.

Loup slid around the door, intending to race from the building. A quick glance at the staff room, revealed that the door was half closed. There were things in her quarters she didn't want to leave. Expensive things. Items that would be difficult to replace if she had to run. The wolf was far shorter than the woman and she slunk across the narrow space between the storage room and Gregorov's door. Gratefully, she crossed through her wards and then allowed herself to sag on the other side. If they came for her, they would have to fight and they would have to break her wards.

Pulling her anthame free, she slit a long, thin gash by her thumb. Messy. Not the way she liked to work. All of the markings around the door were renewed, every symbol, every rune, and a large enough offering to the Dark to hold fast. Tricky work when trying to mask her own power. Pressing the cut to her lips, she raced back to the living area.

The two long walls of the room were lined with bookshelves. It had taken a long series of fights, but half the shelves held her grimoires. Choosing which to take and which to leave would be difficult. There was also her collection of herbs and philters. The silver chalice had to come with her, the collection of amulets... Loup came burdened with a great deal of tools of her trade.

"Little wolf? Where were you at lunch? It is not like you to miss a meal."

Loup bobbled the three books she had been deciding between, dropping one to bounce off her knee. "I might need to leave."

Gregorov's eyes closed to merest slits. Silently, he set his satchel down and joined her. "Aurors?" He didn't wait for an answer. "First, we should know of what they speak. Describere vox adiacere." Darkness spread over the wall that separated his room from the staff room and different colored words began to scroll.

Eyes wide, Loup turned, ready to ask questions. With a sniff of disgust, Gregorov made it plain that he would answer none.

In a harsh bright blue: "That was a great demonstration. I know my Special Projects class really enjoyed it." The "Special Projects" was the clue that the blue signified Jones.

Dull golden yellow: "I only wish we had more opportunities. Still, it was an excellent change to demonstrate various techniques." Loup and Gregorov exchanged a shrug. It could have been any of the Aurors.

"Do you think it may have dissuaded any of the applicants?" This was in a bright green. Another shrug.

"Nah. I thought you should have let that one guy give it a go. I think he's lying about his experience." Jones' sneer could be imagined over the words.

"Herr Mitchell? Perhaps. His curricula vita is very impressive. He was involved in private research for years." The dull yellow. "My wife knows his cousin. The Ministry of Magical Enforcement sponsored two of his studies." The only married Auror was Baldung.

"Have you met all the guys yet?" Jones, obviously. The slangy tone alone marked her without the confirmation of the color.

"Most. The qualifications are impressive. The gentleman from your country claims to know you. He wished to know when we would send you back for trial." A dark red color that, with the jibe, marked the speaker as Werner.

There was a dark, fuzzed blue line and then: "Not one of the witch hunt. Oh, come on, Jo, you wouldn't do that to me. I haven't done anything wrong since I've been here. Not one thing! I'm a teacher now." Loup sniffed in disgust. Gregorov permitted himself a tight smile, still riveted to the display.

"What does it matter if they chose the American? There is no current plan to extradite you." Dark brown. Mueller or Massys.

"You looking to get rid of me? Who would you play pool with?" Loup wondered if Jones had replied teasing or petulant. The allusion to pool made the brown Mueller.

"Does Professor Rabe have enough of the qualifications required for one of the positions?" The green, and therefore Massys, asked.

"Professor Rabe," the red letters stopped as Werner formulated a politic response, "has qualifications that are difficult to assess."

"You mean he doesn't know a lot about defending against the Dark Arts?" Blue.

A fuzzed red swath. Then dark. Gregorov muttered, "The red is a sigh. There is no good response so he says nothing." Loup smirked.

"So don't answer me. Are any of you coming to the party tomorrow? You really should. It's usually a good time. A great chance to watch people make asses of themselves. You ought to like that, Jo." There was a jagged blue line following. ("Laughter", Gregorov said.)

"My wife's family has an annual dinner. We will, of course, attend that." The golden letters seemed to lilt in a superior tone.

"I would like to attend." Green.

"No. You have the night duty, Jan. Do you not remember?" The dark red letters appeared almost before the green faded.

"They don't want him to get drunk and do something stupid," Loup sneered. Gregorov frowned and held a finger up to shush her.

"We have reports to finish for the main office in Brussels. You and I will attend to them tomorrow. When we're done, perhaps then we will have a toast for the season." The dark red letters burned alone for several heartbeats.

"That leaves you. You ought to come up. You can be the official presence of law and order."

There was a swath of brown as Mueller no doubt cleared his throat.

"Go. She is correct. One of us should be present." The dark red letters had a sharp jig down and then a small swatch. ("Suppressed laughter.")

"Hey, I didn't expect to see you here on a Friday. Isn't your game tonight?" Blue letters hung.

"Yes. I was looking for my wife. Have you seen her?" Metallic gold letters sparked on the darkness. The only person who would be looking for his wife at the Dark Arts building would be Ludwig Lowenstein.

"I haven't seen Magda except at dinner for days. It's been really quiet around here. Usually, I hang out with Paul and I haven't seen him, either. I know Siegfried's busy with his usual antics. Sheesh. Wish that guy would grow up. Aren't there any laws that protect those kids from him?" The blue letters seemed to chase each other over the display as Jones' rapid-fire chatter spewed.

"Ah, Professor Wronski is missing as well. Perhaps he has seen her." The glittering gold letters came out in an odd timing, as if the words were spat out.

"I think Paul has a girlfriend. He's been smiling a lot lately. About time. Poor guy." Jones' blue scrolled across.

"It does not disturb you that the likely object of his affection would be a student?" Werner's dark red danced. Loup could hear the sarcasm in the words.

"Yeah. It does, but Paul's single. Siegfried's got a wife. At least I think he does. He's also in his fifties and Paul's just a kid."

"Our records record a birth date that would place Professor Wronski in his mid thirties. His age would be twice that of the students." The red letters stabbed back in response.

Dark blue smudged. ("Comments not fully vocalized.") "Is there a message for Magda? I'll probably see her before you do." Loup winced. Jones' dig at Lowenstein surprised her. It seemed to be understood that everyone turned a blind eye to the various philanderings of the far too handsome, golden man.

No other words appeared for several minutes. Loup chewed at the corner of her lip, wondering if she could dare an Aperio spell to peek. Maybe open the door and take a sniff.

"It is time to leave. Thank you for your hospitality." Werner's dark red appeared.

"You guys could stay for dinner. I'm sure no one would mind." Both Loup and Gregorov growled, but Jones was too far away to hear nor would she have cared.

"It is very kind of you to offer, but we have already imposed upon the Institute for luncheon. I doubt we would be made welcome in the Great Hall for two meals." The dark red letters faded.

"Are you coming with us?" Brown. Loup raised an eyebrow at Gregorov and allowed herself a feral grin. "You won our last match and it is my turn to buy the next pitcher of beer."

Surprisingly, there was no response.

"Rose." Brown letters, but nothing else.

The darkness held nothing. No other words or smears of color. Gregorov terminated the spell with a brusque wave.

"Where did you learn how to do that? I've never seen you do that before. Is it related to the Spectaculum where your own words are displayed?" Loup waited for Gregorov to reply, but the big man seemed to be wearier than a day of teaching should make him. "Yuri?"

"It is nothing. A mere trick of my former life." As it to make light of it, he forced a smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes.