Briallen Bevin and the Snatcher's Cave

Chapter 26: The Final Mission

"Ignis Tempesco!" said Briallen confidently, as she pointed her wand at the thin, but long rectangular area on the floor covered in bright flames. She then proceeded to walk, bare footed, across the flames, not once flinching.

"Oh, very good, Briallen! Very well done!" said Professor Conleth as she applauded. She made a note on a sheet of paper she held in a clipboard in her arm and smiled at Briallen. "That was the last practical assessment for your Elemental Magic final and, just like on the previous, you received perfect marks. I've already looked at your written portion as well, and I think it's safe to say you've received an A for the year! Not that I expected anything less than that from you."

Briallen smiled broadly and ran over to Marisol who held up her hand for a high-five. Marisol clasped Briallen's hand in hers when their hands met in the high-five, and then proceeded to take a hold of her friend's arm as the two left the classroom together. Briallen had explained everything about the cemetery and Lucan to Marisol but, unlike Toby, she wasn't as eager to place herself in trouble again. Instead, her friend refused to give her a straight answer and requested that Briallen give her until their End-of-the-Year Picnic to make a decision. Today was finally the day of the picnic, however, Marisol gave no hints as to what her decision was. Briallen was careful about what she said around Marisol, not wanting to accidentally push her friend to say 'no.' Instead, Briallen acted as if everything were normal and she had nothing planned.

Dax Rieger was next in the line in the hallway to enter the room; he looked more queasy than his usual confident self, and was sweating around his temples. Briallen nodded to him and he smiled meekly at her in return before he squeezed through the open door and shut it lightly behind him.

"First A?" asked Marisol.

"Probably my only A!" said Briallen with a laugh, as they made their way to the portrait hall. "What's next for you? I have a practical for Potions."

"Ugh, Care of Magical Creatures. I don't think I'm going to do very well. How are we supposed to be able to tell the difference between a Crup and a Jack Russell terrier when the dog has its tail cut off? And it's so cruel..."

"Throw a gnome in the pen, and whichever one goes after it is the Crup."

"Really?"

Briallen laughed. "Have you even opened the book for that class?"

Marisol pretended to look hurt. "Of course I have! I am a Wenlock! I just don't like that class very much."

"Anyway," said Briallen, playfully rolling her eyes. "I've got Potions down pat. It's just like cooking but with weirder ingredients. And luckily, we don't have to do our practical with our partner... I just feel kind of bad for Abe, because without me to correct him he probably won't do so well. It's Herbology I'm worried about."

Marisol frowned. She had that class with Briallen and knew exactly why her friend dreaded the final exam for that class. "Why'd you have to mention you-know-what? And I was in such a good mood... Do you have any idea what Stalkes is making us do?"

"I heard he's going to set up a bunch of stations with different plants, and all we have to do is name them."

Marisol's jaw dropped. "We have to name them? Oh, great, all plants- "

Briallen cut her friend off, finishing her sentence for her. "Look exactly the same? I know. Just look at it this way: after today we won't have another class with Professor Stalkes for a whole summer!"

"Thank mighty Merlin!" The two girls laughed as they walked into the library. Mrs Shan quickly silenced them, however, with just one, penetrating, glare.

Briallen had never had to really study for exams before, when she went to Surry County Elementary, because the tests there hadn't actually been very difficult. And she was pleased with just a perfectly average B in a class, and never cared to push herself harder to earn a higher grade. She felt the same way at Bergamot, except the effort she put in at SCE for a B, she quickly learned, would only earn her a C at Bergamot; so Briallen allowed Marisol to drag her to the library before, between, and after exams to cram in all the studying she could, even when she would rather be outside playing.

I just have to focus for a few more days and then it's all over, thought Briallen as she and Marisol took their seats in their usual study room, where Toby was already waiting for them. She pulled her Potions book out of her book bag and began to diligently study for her next exam, with Toby, while Marisol reviewed her notes for Care of Magical Creatures.

They were all exhausted when they met later in the dining hall for lunch.

"Just one more exam," moaned Toby as he gingerly placed his hands on the table. He had several bandages on his fingers and his hands were stained green and blue, with bits of color other places on his body. Marisol helped him by making him a plate with a ham and cheese sandwich and pouring his drink.

"Why are you hands a mess, but Briallen's aren't?" Marisol asked, placing a cup of lemonade in front of Toby, who was wincing.

"He was rushing the whole time, and made this huge mess, because he thought he wouldn't be able to finish all his potions in time," explained Briallen for her friend. "His cauldron exploded a few times too... and poor Tiffany was in the seat next to him! She was covered in all sorts of things by the end of exam."

Marisol choked on an onion ring and, after washing it down with a drink, she said, "You kidding! Was Professor Alembic furious? Did she still accept your potions?"

"Yeah," mumbled Toby. He still hadn't touched his lunch. "But I had to test them all on myself."

"You should have seen him after he took his Hair Restoration Draft! He had such gorgeous long hair, all the way down to his knees!"

Toby grumbled and poked his sandwich. The girls laughed for a while, but the humor eventually wore off. Marisol began quizzing everybody on plants to prepare them for their Herbology exam, which was just after lunch. Briallen was pass the point of caring about her grades, though. She just wanted to get her last exam done and over with so that she could get an answer from Marisol on whether or not her friend would go with them to the north wood later that night. Briallen didn't want to return to the cave without a plan, either.

She glanced across the table at Lucan, who sat with Cora and Christian. He was absorbed in explaining something in a book to his friends and didn't notice her. Briallen smiled. She was glad he was going with them that night.

* * *

Three very long picnic tables were placed parallel each other inside the Quodpot pitch, and on the tables there was every kind of food one could find at the typical American barbeque: hotdogs, hamburgers, ribs, potato salad, casseroles, cupcakes and pies, lemonade, iced tea, and more. In celebration of the end of the school year (every year), the dinner on the last day of classes was a huge outdoor barbeque known as the End-of-the-Year Picnic. Not far from the tables was a row of large gas grills, each one manned by two or three house-elves in white aprons and chef hats, while students and teachers alike were helping themselves to the large amount of food at the tables and then sitting in the grass or on the bleachers surrounding the pitch. (And a small group of house elves sat, hiding, under one of the tables, enjoying hot dogs and pumpkin juice.)

Some kids were playing air-tag on brooms, or tossing about Quaffles. Others were splashing about in the lake, still in their uniforms, but most students were lounging lazily on the bleachers, or under the shade of trees, discussing their plans for the summer. Even the house-elves were enjoying themselves, chattering in high-pitched voices to each other about next year's menus and a redecoration of some of the classrooms.

Briallen saw Marisol and Toby sitting under a large willow tree, just outside the pitch fence, and motioned to them that she would be with them momentarily.

"And Professor Black said that if you just applied yourself and paid better attention, then you would do much better in Astronomy next year," explained Cal Bevin. He sat on the short fence that surrounded the Quodpot pitch as he spoke to Briallen, who stood in front of him. Earlier, Briallen had spent the better part of a half hour looking for her grandfather at the picnic, when she had realized that he was the one in the khaki Bermuda shorts and red linen t-shirt. She had been shocked by his very Muggle-like apparel because she had never seen her grandfather wear anything other than dark suits and dress robes.

"I will do better next year, grandpa," said Briallen, just before taking a sip of her iced tea. Briallen had thought it would be great, going to a school where her grandfather was in charge. What she hadn't realized, however, was that he would be informed of her grades immediately after her exams, instead of a few days later like everybody else, and that her teachers would tell him every little detail about their experience with her in their class, since he was their boss.

"And I can't believe you did so poorly on your Herbology exam. Professor Stalkes wrote a note here that you confused the knotgrass for a common garden weed! That's a very important potion ingredient."

"I'll do better next year, grandpa."

"Not to mention, you wrote 'don't know them' under several goblin names on your History of Magic exam. You must not have studied at all for that final, because Professor Trajan is an excellent teacher."

"I'll do better next year, grandpa."

Cal Bevin turned to look at his granddaughter. She was watching, intently, the war of words going on between Grace Daniels and Mindy Price, who were only just a few feet in front of them. "Briallen, are you even listening to me? Or do you consider Miss Price's love-life to be of more importance than your school grades?"

Briallen grinned guiltily at her grandfather. "Sorry, grandpa. I really will do better next year, though, I promise you. I'll spend at least ten hours a week in the library!"

"Plus Quodpot practices and games, if you make the team, and attending your duties as a Student Aide for Professor Conleth?"

Briallen's grin turned to a frown. "I'll manage."

"I hope so, Briallen. You need to be adept at time management in order to succeed in today's world. I fully expect you to earn the position of prefect by your fifth year, and to be a good role model for those students younger than you from now on. I know that this was only your first year, and everything was new and exciting, but from here on out you need to buckle down, Briallen. Understand?"

Briallen nodded. "Can I go sit with my friends now?"

"...Yes, go on," said Cal Bevin as he waved his granddaughter away with a smile before standing to go break up the fight between Grace and Mindy.

Briallen ran over to Marisol and Toby, where Marisol handed her a plate piled high with food. "What was that all about?" asked Marisol.

"Apparently he asked all my teachers to give him my grades early."

"Oh, no... "

"Oh, yes. And I didn't do the fantastic job he expected me to do. I got a couple of A's, but mostly B's and C's and, of course, a D in Flying. Big surprise there."

"Hey, a D is still passing. I'm surprised Miss Winsome didn't fail you," said Toby before he shoved a handful of potato chips in his mouth. Marisol and Briallen laughed as they watched Toby try to chew; chip crumbs exploded from the corners of his mouth. Once he had successfully swallowed, he took a large gulp of lemonade and belched. "Excuse me. So what'd you get an A in, other than Elemental Magic?"

"Ancient Runes, but that was only because I studied with Marisol, the super-student," explained Briallen, as she waved to Marisol, who was trying, unsuccessfully, to remove a twig from one of her thick curls.

"This is why I straighten my hair!" Marisol complained, before ripping the twig from the ringlet as hard as she could. She gasped in pain, rubbed her head, and mumbled something in Spanish before turning her attention back to her friends. "So, let's go over our plan for tonight."

Briallen went from care-free to serious in less than a second, thrilled that Marisol had agreed to accompany them on their last mission. "We're meeting Lucan next to the grand staircase at eleven sharp. From there we're going to go through the kitchen and out the back door. We need to wear all black, though, so that nobody sees us, and Lucan said he's been practicing the Disillusionment Charm, and he'll cast it on all of us."

"Disillusionment Charm?" asked Toby skeptically. "That's a bit out of his league."

"We have to try it, though, so that if we do walk in front of somebody, or someone looks out a window overlooking the cemetery, their eyes will pass right over us without even noticing. If he does it right, at least."

"But what if he's only saying that that's the spell he's doing and then he knocks us all out? And then he floats us to the cave and hands us over to the snatcher? It seems exactly like the type of thing he would do."

"Lucan's not like that, Toby."

"Of course you stand up for your boyfriend," said Marisol teasingly.

Briallen smacked Marisol in the arm before continuing. "Anyway, after he disillusions - disillusions? - after he casts the spell on us, we're going to sneak out to the Dean's Mausoleum, go through the sarcophagus, and the tunnel should lead us to the cave."

"Why can't we do this during the day?" Marisol whispered as a group of students ran past them.

"Because somebody would notice then. At night we have the darkness on our side."

"I think the darkness is more on the side of Miss Hoody. Remember Halloween?"

"Lucan will be with us," assured Briallen. It only just occurred to her that she should have asked Lucan to teach them all the shield charm he had used on Halloween night. It was too late now, however, and they'd just have to cross their fingers and hope they don't run into the snatcher.

Marisol sighed and shook her head sadly. "But he won't be able to shield us all."

"Which is why I really need to ask you guys this question: are you absolutely sure you want to do this? I'm telling you right now, it's definitely going to be dangerous. There might be a fight, and someone might get hurt," explained Briallen. She remembered all too clearly the last lecture she received from Cal Bevin, after sneaking into the north wood with Marisol and Toby. She didn't want anything bad to happen to them but she didn't want to do this by herself either.

"I know," said Marisol, suddenly excited. "I've been practicing a few defensive spells. I know a push spell, and I know a bunch of hexes and jinxes, after doing all that research when we wanted to have revenge against Dante."

"Marisol, we know for sure the snatcher can cast the Killing Curse," said Toby. "There's no way a hair-pulling jinx or the Butt-Clap Curse can even compare to what the snatcher can do."

"A distraction is a distraction. If it comes to it, we'll let Lucan deal with the bad guy. He seems to know all sorts of scary spells."

"If he's even on our side!" Toby threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "I don't like that we're counting on him to protect us! We don't know that we can trust him!"

"Yes, we do!" shouted Briallen, suddenly. She paused to collect herself. "He saved my life, Toby. Look, if one, or both, of you isn't at the meeting place at eleven, I won't be angry with you. And I definitely don't want you coming if you're going to fight with Lucan, Toby. This is a serious mission, and we need to be mature and clear-headed."

Marisol and Toby looked at each other, embarrassed by their little fight. They all ate in silence for several minutes before Toby finally spoke up. "We're with you, buddy."

* * *

Briallen looked herself over in the bathroom mirror. She only had twenty minutes to get ready, as her roommates had taken longer than she expected to fall asleep. She had on a pair of dark-blue jeans, a black button-down shirt (which she'd borrowed from Chante, since she didn't own any black clothes herself), and her dad's old all-black White Sox baseball cap. She wasn't happy with how she looked but it was the best she could come up with.

Wand in hand, she quietly snuck down the staircase from her bedroom to the common room. After taking a quick peek around the archway, and not seeing anybody there, she ran as silently as she could to the portrait hole. Luckily, the barbecue had made everybody sleepy and almost all of the students had turned in earlier than usual.

"Another one, eh?" asked Sir Lawrence of Woodcroft. He swung his portrait shut once Briallen was on the fourth floor landing. "Is there some sort of party tonight?"

"Yes, and it's for a secret club, so I need you to promise me you won't tell anybody you've seen us, okay?"

Sir Lawrence smiled and then cupped his hand to his mouth conspiratorially. "Not a soul."

Briallen grinned at him as the staircase attached to the landing and then ran down it and waited for it to move again. She had purposely worn her oldest pair of tennis shoes, as they made almost no noise when she ran, even though they were so worn they were in danger of falling apart at any moment. She made it to the hall lined with suits of armor in less than a minute, and had nearly ran straight through when she heard a strange squeak. Briallen froze mid-step, afraid that she had been caught, when she heard the squeak again and realized it was coming from a suit of armor. She turned around and looked at each suit before she recognized the squeak was coming from the armor in the middle on her left side.

I'd forgotten he could talk, thought Briallen as she watched the suit of armor try to open his mouth piece so he could speak. The magic keeping his mouth shut must be wearing off. Let's see, I had to've learned something that could help him talk again...

Briallen rolled her wand over in her hands as she thought over all the spells she knew. Then she remembered one that she had not learned in class, but from Benjamin Beauvais during The War of the Flowers. Briallen smiled broadly and pointed her wand at the suit of armor. "Finite Incantatem!" She paused and then raised her wand again. "Deffigare!"

At first nothing happened. Then the mouth piece opened only a fraction. The suit of armor coughed, and dried aco-plaster blew all over Briallen, who then also began to cough.

"She's a hag! She's an evil hag!" sputtered the suit of armor in a scratchy voice.

"What?" asked Briallen. "I don't understand - who's a hag?"

"In the cloak!"

Briallen looked sadly at the suit of armor, believing that being silent for so long had driven it insane. She shook her head mournfully and then made her way to the entrance hall.

"What took you so long?" asked Lucan, worried. "We thought you might've been caught... what's that all over you?"

Briallen wiped at the front of her shirt and shrugged. "Just aco-plaster dust. Remember the suit of armor that used to recite poetry, but somebody stuck his mouth shut? Well, he can speak again."

"Really? What'd he say? Did you tell you who did it?" Marisol asked excitedly.

"No, he just kept saying 'she's a hag!' over and over. I think he's a few cards short of a full deck, if you catch my drift."

"He wasn't playing with a full deck to begin with," mumbled Lucan as he pulled his wand out of his back pocket. "All of you in a row, now."

Briallen, Marisol and Toby lined up shoulder to shoulder in front of Lucan. He then tapped each of them on their heads and said the Disillusionment Charm. Briallen could tell Toby wanted to say something but he did as she had asked earlier and didn't speak. After Lucan had cast the spell on all of them, he cast it on himself.

Briallen was irritated as looked at her friends and at Lucan: she could still clearly see all of them. "I don't think it worked, Lucan. We're still visible."

"It worked, believe me. The only reason we can see each other is because we know we're all here. Now let's go." He turned toward a portrait of a banquet hall table filled with food and tapped the golden goblet in the center with his wand. The goblet fell over and the wall slid backwards and to the side to reveal a staircase shrouded in darkness. The sound of many voices floated up to them.

"Whoever's down there is going to catch us!" said Toby as he glared at Lucan. "Wonderful idea, Stone."

"They're just house-elves! They won't tell anybody what we're doing. And if they notice us somehow and ask you if you want something, just say 'no, thank you,' and keep walking. Don't stop or you won't get out... actually, let's just run through. It'll be faster that way. On the count of three: one, two, three."

The four kids ran down the staircase on 'three.' When they reached the bottom they came across a large kitchen (even bigger than the massive dining hall directly above it), full of house elves. They did as Lucan suggested and repeated 'no, thank you,' several times before running through a doorway in the back of the kitchen, through a winding hallway and up another flight of stairs where they came out, exhausted, behind Bergamot and directly across from the cemetery.

"Like. I. Said," huffed Toby, still glaring at Lucan. "Wonderful. Idea. Stone."

After they were all breathing normally again, Lucan led them into the cemetery. "The mausoleum is in the center... "

"This is really creepy," said Marisol as she looked warily at the full moon looming over them in the sky. Unlike the others, this was her first time in the cemetery. There was no fog that night, but there was nothing else either: no crickets or toads, or creaky branches swaying in the wind. Just silence. Briallen remembered what Jessica Marriot had said about the day Christabel disappeared, about how there was complete silence. She shivered. "You know, Briallen, your grandfather never specifically said there aren't any werewolves in the north wood."

"Relax," whispered Briallen as she stumbled over a fallen tombstone. "I was talking with Cass the other day and she said that the werewolves would congregate up in the mountains, away from the town and the school, if there were any here."

Most of the cemetery was in great condition and very clean, because of the care given to it by Mr Eldred, the groundskeeper. However, many of the tombstones were centuries old and had begun to fall apart, due to either weather or the clumsiness of visitors, or the overgrown roots of nearby trees, all of which made their progress slow-going.

"Werewolves? As in the plural? As in there's more than one around here?" asked Marisol, now sounding quite frightened.

"I don't know. I'm just repeating what Cass said."

"I really doubt there are any werewolves here. Not that it would matter. You just stupefy the beast and move on," said Lucan sharply.

"Stupefy? We don't learn that spell until our fifth year! What are we supposed to do for tonight?" demanded Marisol as she waved her arms wildly.

"Play dead," joked Toby.

"That's for bears, not werewolves," said Briallen. "Wolves are scavengers. If you play dead, they'll eat you."

"Oh, fantastic, so there's nothing I can do if I suddenly come across a werewolf?" muttered Marisol, kicking a clump of grass.

"Just cross your fingers and pray they don't kill you."

"Actually," said Lucan as they all reached the large, marbled mausoleum. "You should cross your fingers and hope they do."