Suspicion

Chapter 4

It was late in the afternoon before Kessler and Gregorov were conscious. Jones had never been very good at the caretaker role, she made sure they made it back to their offices and left it at that.

Wronski was not feeling well at all. He still felt nauseous hours later and his lunch didn't stay with him very long. Jones hovered in his doorway, unsure of what to do. He was the closest thing she had to a friend at Durmstrang and his misery upset her. So, she stood in the doorway, listening to him moan and curse.

"I could ask the kitchens if they had any soup. Do you think that would help?" Its seemed to her that Wronski needed to eat something.

"No! No soup! No bread! Nothing! Leave me alone!" Wronski tried to put his head down on the desk, but the room kept heaving. He moaned again and leaned back in his chair. "Why are they so excited? Who died? Why suspect us?"

"Why not suspect us? I would. I don’t know of anyone else versed in the Dark Arts around here except us. Oh, and the Aurors, of course, but they’re above suspicion." She watched as Wronski flailed around in his chair, trying to make himself comfortable. She didn’t like the way he looked – pale and sweaty – but she had no clue what to do to help. When she was ill, she tended to curl up and snarl at anyone who tried to talk to her. Letting Wronski do the same was out of the question.

After several minutes of watching Wronski twitch and make sick sounds, she decided to try and divert his attentions to something else. "Guess what?"

An eye opened and focused in her direction. He grunted in what she thought might be a questioning sound.

"I found an Internet Café in the village. The keyboard is weird, but still it’s a connection. I got to read the Seattle news and sign up for email." She tried to sound cheery.

"Who do you know who has email?" Wronski tried to sit up but quickly returned to a slouched position.

"I’m from Seattle. Everyone has email. I just don’t remember any of their addresses. There are a bunch of new search engines to look folks up. I could find them eventually. Probably could find them on thecraft.com…"

"What the hell is that?" Wronski sipped at the tea Jones had insisted on making for him an hour or so ago. It tasted better now than it had then and he could keep it down this time.

"Listserv. For professionals only. I’m not sure they’ll let me subscribe again. I sent my application into the moderator. Good information. I wish the European witch set were as technosavvy as they are back home. These folks have so much more to draw from than we do. Of course, the whole thing here is so Eurocentric." Jones’ voice started to get the tone she used in lectures. It was a pet topic of hers.

"That’s because we’re in Europe. Last time I checked, we were the most exotic nationality here. Besides, once you hook into the computer stuff, you’re on the net all the time and you never get anything done." Wronski finished the tea and slowly sat upright. "I think I feel better. Maybe something to eat wouldn’t be so bad. How are the others doing?"

"Hmmm. Well, Lowenstein was allowed to walk out. So, he’s fine. Haken is indestructible as far as I can tell. He got up on his own just after the Aurors left. I think Rabe is still out on the couch. They couldn’t have done any real damage to him. He passed out almost immediately." She waited while Wronski choked out a laugh. "The big guys aren't doing well. They both look awful. I think those bastards were making a point with them. I helped Kessler to his office and heard him fall into his bed. He’ll sleep it off. Gregorov changed into a wolf and curled up on his office floor. I know it doesn’t hurt the same when I’m a badger so I guess he must awful."

"How come you’re still walking around? You should feel as bad as I do." Wronski tried standing and quickly sat back down. "Have I ever told you that I really hate the effects of that damn binding spell? I’ve never been hit that long before. I hope they got all of their jollies last time because I’m going to be gone if they show up again." He massaged his head and realized his question had never been answered. "Why do you look healthy? Did they let you walk, too?"

Jones felt her face go hot. "I played the girl card."

Wronski stared at her in disbelief. "Miss I’m-the-toughest-bitch-on-the-planet? Oh, please. I thought you were above that."

"I got scared. They came for me after they had finished with Gregorov. I’ve been through this crap before. It’s bad enough when you’re prepared for it. At least back home I could scream for a lawyer. I don’t even know what the rules are here. If I had half a clue when I went in there, I could have been prepared with damper spells and put a key into my skull to put me out but…" She looked guiltily around her. "I didn’t mean to be a wuss."

"What are you talking about? A damper spell? A key? How many times were you questioned by the police?" Wronski looked at his colleague as if he had never seen her before.

"Were you the only magic one in the family?" She got no answer from him, he just stared back at her. "A damper spell will help numb the pain. I’ve heard it called a bunch of different things. That’s what it was called back in Craft class. You probably never went to those, did you?" He continued to stare at her. "Geez, how did you learn anything? Explains a lot, though."

Wronski’s face began to darken and his posture stiffen.

"I’m not trying to push your buttons like Gregorov. It’s not like we get a standardized education back home. Not like they do here. I would have loved to go to a school like this." Wronski looked skeptically at her. Jones cracked a smile. "No. Really. I went to the full twelve years of regular school and went to Craft classes three times a week after school. Hell on your social life but, if you wanted to learn, you went. At least that’s what it seems to be like where I lived. Don’t know how it was taught where you’re from. I’ve never heard of anything like Durmstrang back home. Someone tried to open a school and get some funding. They tried to do it under the guise of a 'religious' institution, but the state didn’t like their curriculum." She shook her head and smiled, wondering what the forms had looked like.

"What’s a key? And how often did you have to deal with the police?" Wronski was going to be stubborn.

"A key is…well, I’m not sure how to describe it any more. I set the spell to a point where it’s about to go and put an image there. You’re not with me, are you?" Wronski’s eyes had a blank glaze. "I can look it up for you. I’ve done it for so many years that I don’t say the words any more. It’s just there for me. So, I set the spell to the last part, set the image and then, when it’s time, I trigger it. It’s one of the non-wand type spells. Like the transformation and apparition spells. I usually use it to put me to sleep. You can even set it for a time limit. Pretty cool, huh?"

Wronski leaned back in his chair and seemed lost in thought. "I was the only one in the family who had this…thing. No one taught me how to use it. There are things I see you do all the time that I have no idea how to do. I just thought it was a fluke for years. Something you could use for jokes or to help influence someone. It wasn’t until I was working on my master’s degree that I ran into someone who could show me what to do with it. Never had any training. That must have been great."

Wronski allowed himself a brief wallow in self-pity before he started talking again. "I got a bunch of the "Standard Book of Spells" and other texts from an exchange student who traveled back and forth to England a lot. Worked them out myself. He gave me an old wand. It was kinda fun. When he brought the potions books back, I knew I had found my place in this wacky world." He smiled. "I do have a Ph.D. in chemistry, you know. The potions stuff was like a comedy routine for me. Beetle eyes! Bat’s blood! Mix it all together and *poof* magic! I could do that without even thinking. Except for the exotic things, the unicorn horns and basilisk blood, I could get most of the ingredients at school. The biology professors thought I had some kind of sick obsession with their dissection leftovers. Plus, I had access to a first rate lab and all of the equipment. The stuff about having to have a cauldron is crap. You can do the same things in lab ware." He looked positively cheerful and even stood successfully.

"How did you ever conquer the Animagus spell if you didn’t have any training? It’s one of the harder ones to master. Most people never manage it." Jones helped him walk around his desk, kicking a journal under the chair.

"I wanted to impress a girl. She was gorgeous. What a body…" Wronski leaned heavily against his desk and a stupid grin spread over his face. Jones cleared her throat, prompting him to continue. "Any way, her form was a deer. Really cute. Just like her. So, I read the manual, found the spell and worked at it. I didn’t know it was supposed to be difficult. If it’s in a book, it can be done."

"So, you applied the scientific method to magic? Must have worked. You’re a lynx. I’ve seen it myself." Jones wasn’t sure whether she should be amazed or disgusted. It just seemed so wrong.

"Didn’t know you couldn’t pick your animal. I thought I would be a stag and we’d be Bambi and Felina in the forest. When I got the spell to work, I looked in the mirror and saw the cat standing there…. Well, she dumped me before she knew what I could change into so it didn’t really matter." He stood back up and waited to see if the world would spin. "I think I’m OK now. It must be almost dinnertime. I’m starving." He tottered over to where his coat hung on the back of the door. "What about Gilles?"

Jones started to spin that tale, but nothing came out. Odd. It was a great story. She found herself changing the subject. "With Kessler and Gregorov out, there should be plenty of food for everyone. They usually serve chicken on the weekends. That’s my favorite." Her inner voice started yelling, "Hey! What about the Gilles story?" but her mouth couldn’t even form the name. I’ve got to ask Gilles about what happened she mused and, taking Wronski’s elbow, she helped him down the corridor and out of the building.