Pride

Chapter 6

The Headmaster's call surprised her. If there was a chance to get away from the tensions, she was eager. She donned her best working robes and hoped for another long vacation.

The Headmaster's office was high in the north tower. Loup had never been there before and the long climb seemed to promise very dark work otherwise wouldn't he meet her in the Great Hall? Half a floor below his office, she was shown to a semicircular waiting area furnished with carved, dark wood furniture upholstered in the dark red that Loup thought of as "Durmstrang standard". Tapestries hung along the curved walls retelling a mythos she was unfamiliar with. The tale depicted had the earmarks of the usual dark versus light struggle, only the outcome looked unsure. While she waited, she spun her own version in which the dark side not only won, but employed her, too. The image restored a great deal of her self-confidence. When she was called to present herself, she swaggered in, sure that she could handle anything.

In a repeat of her previous job, her dealings were with one of his aides. The Headmaster read through a scroll, scowling all the while. Loup watched him out of the corner of her eye and was rewarded when she noticed that his lips moved as he read.

The aide announced, "The Headmaster has arranged another contract for you."

Loup brightened, visions of another long vacation beckoned. The aide looked puzzled at the out-of-place smile.

"It is the Headmaster's will that the work be done here." Her smile vanished. "For the completion of this work, you will be paid well." Even the prospect of money didn't cheer her. The aide politely cleared his throat.

With a soft thud, the Headmaster placed a box on the tabletop, pushed it forward and never once looked up from what he was reading. Sounding uncomfortable, the aide continued, "The client has provided everything that you will need. The instructions are within."

Bowing, Loup picked up the box. It didn't weigh much for its size. She was almost certain that the work would take only an hour, two at most.

When she reached the doorway, the aide stopped her. "It is felt that it would be best if you proceed with your work away from the castle. Such work is not for the students to see."

Loup grit her teeth, biting back snide commentary before she turned back. She tried counting to calm herself and slowly bowed again. "How far away would you like me to work? If you want me to remain on the grounds, there aren't that many options."

Looking up from his fascinating scroll, the Headmaster raised an eyebrow. "Speak to Professor Rabe. It seems appropriate that such work be done in that building."

Imaging Rabe's face, Loup grinned and bowed. If nothing else, it would be an excuse to visit. She carried her box over to the Dark Arts building. It took a lot more effort than she had imagined to walk through the door. Rabe's office was at the end of the right hand side of the hall. As she stood before it, she could hear him through the door, arguing with his girlfriend. More like Ewa was lecturing him and he would try to interject a comment only to be shot down. Loup loitered for a bit, listening. It seemed a shame to interrupt the scene.

Her knock was answered almost immediately; surprise showed plainly on Rabe's face. He collected himself quickly and formally invited her inside. She had been in Rabe's office before. Unlike Gregorov, Jones or Wronski's offices, there were few books. The desk was piled high with paper and parchment, but the bookshelves were sparsely occupied. There was no scent of the Dark Arts, only a kind of odd, musky smell that she eventually recognized as cologne, an odd smell in an Animagus' home.

"The Headmaster said you would have a place for me to do this work. He doesn't want me to do it in the castle." Rabe stared dumbly back at her. "The smell," she explained.

Rabe hemmed, buying time. He scooped up a pair of shiny stones and rolled them in his hand while he tried to think. The stones clacked together annoyingly.

"You may use the storage room next to the staff room," Ewa Krakow ordered. Rabe shot her a startled look. "Would you prefer that she work next to your quarters?" It was all Loup could do not to laugh at Ewa's handling of Toadie. She lost the battle and indulged herself in a coughing fit that disguised the laugh. It was worse when Rabe became concerned and offered her something to drink.

Rabe took the hint. The mention of smell was enough to speed the decision. Most of the truly Dark spells had a certain odor and an entire boxful of work suggested a thick miasma by the time the work would be completed.

Having broken the awkwardness, she chatted with Rabe and Ewa. Nothing important was said, all idle chitchat. It felt good to talk to someone who, she could pretend, had a similar background. She was almost ready to go when it occurred to her that she had some information that Rabe might be interested in. Jessup was retiring and they were looking for a replacement. She had seen the paperwork on Lester's desk. Rabe and Ewa exchanged glances as she left.

The next door down from Rabe's, just past the first storeroom, was Wronski's quarters. Almost as if it were magic, Wronski popped out of his door as she passed. "Well, hello, stranger. Haven't seen you around in a long time. I wonder why you're here?" Wronski grinned at her frown. "Oh, come in. Sit down and visit. I have a couple of books you can borrow."

Cautiously, since Wronski was Jones' friend, Loup entered. He started to close the door. "Why don't you leave it open." The last thing she needed was a rumor about her and the Potions teacher. He gave her a crooked grin and left it ajar.

Wronski was in an up mood. Loup secretly wondered if he were a manic-depressive since you never knew what mood he would be in. Today, however, he felt great. Chatty even. He wanted to know what life was like in the castle.

"Warm. Noisy. Crowded." Loup chose each word carefully, knowing full well that whatever she said would get back to Jones.

"Do you like living in there?" Wronski produced a bag of potato chips and offered her some. Loup shook her head. She could pass on those. Chocolate would have been different.

"It's ok." She watched Wronski pick his way through part of the bag, seemingly choosing only certain chips. It began to bother her. Why was he suddenly talking to her?

If Wronski had a reason, she couldn't fathom it. He chattered on about his classes, his students, and his current research projects. He hadn't talked this much to her even when she lived there. After exhausting all those topics, he asked what she had been doing. She paused and carefully talked about biding her time waiting for work and very superficially talked about her last client, giving almost no details. He watched her intently and she knew she was being memorized for a later chat with Jones. Eventually, the nasty side of Wronski's nature kicked in and he asked her how she liked peeling potatoes.

That made her laugh, surprising Wronski and making her feel a lot better. So, they knew about the potatoes. "I was going to tell you about the girl who talked about how cute you are, but now I don't think I will." Loup finally relaxed.

"Who?" Wronski leaned forward, eager to hear.

"Mmm, don't know her name but I could point her out to you - if I were so inclined. I actually got to hear a vote as to whether you were cute or not. Would you like to know how you fared?" Feeling much more like her old self, she wrestled her box into a more comfortable spot on her lap and draped her arms over it.

"Only if the answer is good. Was she old enough to be legal?" He said it with a laugh but Loup caught the interest in the voice. For some reason it didn't bother her as much when Wronski talked about the students. She guessed that he was somewhere in his early thirties, much closer to the student's ages than either Kessler or Gregorov.

"Seventh year, I think." She started enjoying the banter, knowing that she could easily drop the topic because she had no names. "Actually, you got two votes for cute."

"Really? Two? My personal best. Imagine." Wronski leaned back and enjoyed whatever imagery he had. "I saw you out yesterday. Did you have a good hunt?" Standard question number one for Animagi.

"I chased a rabbit and a few mice. Had a great time, though." She smiled at the memory.

Wronski got an odd expression and Loup knew that the conversation was about to change. "So, how are you feeling these days? No pack anxiety? Getting enough hunting in?"

"I'm fine," she lied. "I hunt when I can."

Wronski looked at the ceiling, as if seeing it for the first time. "Want to know how old Yuri is doing?"

"I suspect that you're going to tell me anyway."

"Oh, no. Not if you don't want to know?" He held the question, fishing for a response. She tried to keep a neutral face, hoping that her odd eyes would help. Wronski had stopped looking at the eyes for clues a while ago. He paid attention to the jaw and the hands. They were both tight. He whistled for a bit, making her want to slap him. "OK. He's not doing that well, either. He's been bugging Haken to hunt with him, but Haken is already swamped with homework. Siegfried is willing, but we both know Gregorov needs another dog." He leaned forward grinning. He had a choice bit of news to share. "Guess what?"

Loup took her time, watching Wronski's huge grin slowly collapse. "What?" She tried to appear uninterested, but her voice betrayed her.

"He kicked out the girl that Siegfried picked out for him. Poor kid. Nice looking, too." Wronski watched carefully, trying to see what that piece of news yielded.

"His bed. His choice. I thought she was a seventh-year last year, what happened?"

Wronski's grin returned as he noted the extra information. "She failed two of her courses."

"Oh. She seems like a perfectly nice girl..." Loup tried to think of something to say and was amazed at how stupid she sounded.

"Right. Nice." Wronski continued taking in clues. "What are you here for now?"

In a bored voice, Loup explained about needing a place to work away from the castle. Wronski nodded and suddenly became busy with other projects. She took the cue and left. De Rais' door was open, a rare occurrence, but she made herself walk by his office and by Gregorov's. The staff room had only Haken, already starting up his grading spells. He watched her pass by and she could have sworn he laughed.

The storage room reeked with an herbal smell. Bunches of plants hung from the ceiling, most dusty with age and adorned with spider webs. Loup cast an Illumino spell to light it. It only took one spell to make the small room glow. The entire room was filled with shelving on three sides. On one side, the shelving stopped halfway down. A table piled high with piles of paper, rolls of parchment, a basket of crumbled leaves, a broken bottle smeared with a crusty something and a neatly folded box of bags was crammed against that wall. After some judicious rearranging, she managed enough space to fit her box on to the table. Opening the box was like a miniature Christmas. The big box held several little boxes, each containing a vial or a small bag. She found an assortment of herbs and a pewter cauldron. She frowned at the cauldron; it had such a low melting temperature that it wasn't useful for any advanced spells. At the bottom of the box, there was a cryptic note. Weren't they all obscure? Loup gave it a quick Aparecium to see if anything invisible was written there. It was. "They all do the same thing," she grumbled as she read through the directions.

Supposedly, everything belonged to the same person; however, she had some doubts. She had a suspicion that someone was trying to work extra spells in. Measuring a bit from each vial and bag, she did a Comparare spell to see if everything compared equally. It didn't. She was unsurprised, having run into similar things before. The spell was repeated until she figured out what belonged with what. There were items from three different people in the box. The note talked about one. Annoyed, she packaged everything back up and started to leave. She made it to the door when she heard voices. Silently, she stood and listened, trying to identify all the players.

The Lowensteins were talking to someone. Of the Dark Arts faculty, they tended to keep to themselves the most. Even de Rais spent more time in the staff room than they did. Loup listened hard, trying to find out to whom they were speaking. She couldn't make out the other voice. Ludwig's cultured tones were clearly identifiable. He had a wonderful voice, deep and rich. It was almost at odds with his golden appearance. The face should have a tenor voice, she decided. Magda, on the other hand, had a quiet, low voice that usually could not be heard more than a few feet away. The voice and the small dark woman matched well.

Unable to determine who it was, Loup nullified her light spell and cracked the door to get a sniff. Haken. Of the group, they would probably be the easiest to deal with. She eased out of the door, trying to be as quiet as possible. The curious faces turned to her and she managed a smile and a nod back as she balanced her box on her hip.

"Good day. We have not seen you for far too long." Magda smiled and extended her hand in greeting, a gesture that touched the solitary black mage.

Loup tried to find something to say, but could only nod and duck her head.

"Why are you here?" Haken wore his normal smiling face, but the voice did not match. The dead eyes took in the box and the gloves she had forgotten to remove.

"Client work for the Headmaster. I'm supposed to work here, not in the castle." She watched Haken's face smooth into a mask as he analyzed her words. If she had been unsure to his past before, she had no doubts now. "There are anomalies in the samples. I have to talk to the Headmaster about the fees he is charging." She watched as Haken stared at the box, wanting to examine what she had in there.

The bells tolled four. With a start, she realized that it was time to report to the kitchens if she wanted to have anything to eat. Her shoulders slumped slightly as the last of the peals echoed.

As if reading her mind, Magda said, "There are spells to make some of those tasks quicker. I know a potato peeling spell that works quite well."

Loup felt her face burn as she wondered how well known the story was. Well, let them laugh. "I don't suppose you could teach it to me," she mumbled, the box on her hip digging in as if reminding her that she really was a dark witch, not a kitchen scullion. She looked up to see Gregorov standing in his doorway, watching her discomfort and enjoying it.

Magda followed the glance and, with a mischievous smile, said, "Yuri was the one who taught it to me." Gregorov snorted and retreated into his quarters leaving Loup to wonder what other useful spells he knew. "Come, I will write it down for you. There are many other spells that every good hausfrau should know. I will add them as you need them." Magda laughed and took Loup's free elbow to lead her through their wards and into the Lowensteins' rooms.

Their quarters were the nicest ones Loup had seen. Ludwig had been at the school longer than any of the others, except de Rais, and had put some effort into making it comfortable. The usual sofa and chairs were of good quality and a few nice paintings graced the walls. The corner behind the office had shelving installed that was full of little jars and bags. The whole place smelled like an apothecary. Magda sat down at a narrow table under the shelves and, retrieving a pad of paper and a pencil, began to write the promised spell. Loup was fascinated by the array of herbs. Magda seemed to arrange them by use. Everything was labeled with both the Latin and a common name in a language Loup did not recognize. Latin was enough.

"This is amazing. You have things I've only seen in the largest apothecaries in Paris." Loup wanted to paw through the shelves to see what some of the bags held.

Magda looked up at her shelves, pleased with the compliment. "I use them in my own work." Her face took on a shrewd look. "There is money in these. I have my own business. It pays quite well."

Loup dragged her attention back from the shelves and regarded Magda more closely. She took another look at the rooms, noting the paintings, a fine carpet, bookshelves with expensive, leather-bound books and looked inquiringly at her hostess.

"Ah. You are too polite. I supply many of the Muggle occult shops with amulets, medicine bags and the ingredients for specific spells, all measured and ready to use. They would work if someone with the power to use them purchased them." Her round face broke into a smile as she handed the paper to Loup. "I have missed you. Please visit us. You are always welcome here."

The simple words opened the wound and she choked back what might have been a sob. She tried to say her thanks and leave, but her voice came out thick. Magda's sympathetic face only made it worse. Gritting her teeth, she managed an odd bow and walked out as quickly as she could.

The area around the door had become crowded during her visit. Jones and Wronski lounged by the door. Wronski was filling the short woman in on the earlier conversation. Jones smoked her cigarette, her mouth set in a cruel smile. Loup drew herself up as tall as she could, knowing full well that the much smaller witch would have a barb or two. Jones took her time, watching Loup walk towards them. Jones flicked the ash from her cigarette, inhaled deeply and held the smoke until Loup passed them. The exhalation made Loup gag slightly. The women exchanged glares and Jones took another deep draw before asking, "How's life in the kitchens? Found your calling?"

Loup felt the score and stopped. Her grip on the box tightened as she turned to face her rival. "Life in the kitchens is fine. If you'll excuse me, I have client work to do. You must remember what it was like to practice the craft instead of parroting back basic spells to children, don't you?"

"Ouch," Wronski muttered, enjoying Jones' injury as much as he had the hit on Loup's ego.

Jones shot him a glare and settled herself in for a rebuttal. "How's Lester these days? I hear you two are having a real good time."

Loup dropped her box without even realizing it. Her gloved hands set themselves into fists as she advanced on the smaller woman. Wronski ducked into the hallway, disappearing. Jones, however, was ready for the fight. "What's he like?" Jones sneered. "I hear he has a thing for pain. You two..."

Loup slapped Jones are hard as she could, snapping Jones' head into the doorjamb. Jones' eyes widened, surprised that the attack had happened. Reaching up to feel her head, Jones' hand came back red. "You'll regret that." Jones reached for her wand as Loup reached for her own.

"Expelliarmus!" The wands were yanked from the women's hands. Gregorov stared down Jones who, muttering to herself, stormed off to her own quarters. When the door clicked shut behind her, he turned his attention to the furious Loup.

"Give me my wand back." Loup bit each word and spat it out.

"You will have to earn it, as will Professor Jones." Gregorov tucked the two wands up his sleeve.

"Earn it! What do you mean by that? I need it! I have work to do!" Angry, she forgot any of the past problems as she advanced on him.

He waited until she was almost toe-to-toe with him and then his hand shot out, pushing her back. "Earn it. You will find something. You have another wand. Your work will not be halted."

She growled at him, furious. "How am I supposed to earn it?" She stared up at him and lost all sense of caution. "How's she supposed to earn it? I know how she'd like to. Is your door open for that?"

She regretted it almost instantly when Gregorov stepped forward, his face turning red. He snarled something in Russian and stiffly turned to leave.

"Wait," she called. "I'm... I'm sorry. It's none of my business. Really."

Her long-silent imp awoke. "Are we back to this game again? I thought you forfeited."

Gregorov stopped and turned around, his face still red but the anger gone from his eyes. "Repeat."

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Say it again. That you are sorry."

Not wanting to repeat herself, but seeing a chance to make something right, she looked away and said, "I'm sorry. It was none of my business."

Gregorov nodded and glowered at her. "Agreed. It is none of your business. Now." He looked back into the hallway and seemed to be struggling with something. "Here. Take it." Without looking at her, he held out her wand.

She reached out and took it, trying to feel grateful but mostly feeling like she was wrong again. "Yuri..." she hesitated and then decided to get it over with. "Yuri, I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, my life has been horrible the last few months."

Gregorov turned back to look at her. "Good." With that, he left her standing in front of the doors, her wand still clutched in her hand.