...and the Root of All Evil XI

[subplotkudzu]

Chapter 11: Heard and Herd

Juliet and Jasmyn return to their room after class and learn to their horror that it has been ransacked. A quick search reveals that all of their Gambol & Japes supplies have been stolen! They inform Daisy of the break in, who then informs Professor Flitwick. The house head goes to work on an investigation and all evidence points to it having been Juliet. No one else has been in or out. Wolf Rhyordan remembers letting Juliet in because she couldn’t answer the riddle. Aldeberon Ames recalls seeing Juliet on the stairs looking confused until she finally found her room. Dan Zylberstine endured her insults when he asked her advice on potions. It looked absolutely like her, down to her currently blue hair (she has taken to changing hair color daily as an identifier; apparently it hasn’t worked).

The girls try to make the case for the existence of a duplicate Juliet but given the general sentiment about them being arrogant and vainglorious and possibly in control of a monster this gets little traction. Still, Flitwick only docks them 5 points for having the Gambol and James stuff at all.

Juliet, knowing she’s the target of a conspiracy now armed with stuttering serum and belching mints, layers herself with defensive spells. The whole gang chips in with abjurations, charms and protections, including Daisy providing a complex precognitive astrology spell that might warn her of danger before it happens.

The school turns out in force for the band and chorus concert this year, in part because of the promise of Daisy’s music. Plus questions about Juliet and her chaotic behavior does she have a solo scheduled? Will she do it? All the Ravenclaws, at least, are in attendance to hear their own Ms. Fontaine’s creations.

The concert goes swimmingly. The band opens up with a pleasing series of crowd rousers that they carry off perfectly. Then the chorus goes on and Flitwick beams as they hit every note with just the right feeling. Finally the two groups merge, with Juliet staying in the chorus, for the final round of numbers. Shortly before the finale Juliet feels her danger sense charm tickle the back of her neck. Something really bad is about to happen to everyone around her!

She shrieks a warning, her voice magically cutting through the other musicians and, surprisingly, mingling with an unearthly shriek from above them. Everyone covers their ears against the din, and when it ends thunders out into the hall to see what was going on. Theo Trindle tracks the sound to the Ravenclaw dorms, directly above the auditorium. The door’s riddle quickly answered, the Ravenclaw’s find their front hall besmirched with muddy footprints and their house ghost floating insensate above the floor, face twisted in agony, hands to her ears.

Theo painstakingly tracks the mud back to its point of entry, a tower window, and Castor uses the cleaning charm to confirm that the dirt came from the garden. Flitwick begins floating the Grey Lady to the infirmary and Hank Wilkerson (Daisy’s counterpart) asks Errod, the tower’s house elf, to clean up. Errod proudly announces that yes, he’ll have this place ship shape or his name isn’t Errod Dumbledore! This prompts a question from Jasmyn on house elf names, giving Theo an opportunity to ponderously explain how a house elf will take the name of their master as their last name, but do not often publicize it. Indeed, there is some question as to whether the school’s house elves should have the last name of the current headmaster, or of the school, or Hufflepuff because she was the one who invited them into the school.

Undeterred by these events the movie production people are going ahead with the auditions. Everyone is now over their fatigue (given that there have been no monster attacks on the candidates in months) and things are more or less equal. The students are all being put through their paces in front of the panel of judges.

On the day of the sword & acrobatics audition Rex arrives with a limp, a note from Madam Pomfrey and a glare at Jasmyn. Outside Juliet is cornered by Gregory Gregorian & Julian May, Rex’s roommates, threatening her for her tripping of Rex on the stairs this morning before practice. Right in plain sight, hexing his shoe laces into snakes! They were clearly ready to pummel the tiny 2^nd year for this assault until Daisy steps in. Laces to snakes? Peri knows that curse!

With Rex unable to compete, Jasmyn and Robbie Mardling are the best performers. With a bit of a smirk Peri tells everyone to prepare for next week’s audition – romance! Jasmyn and Juliet intend to ask Professor Snape for the antidotes to stuttering serum and belching mints, figuring that those would be Peri’s next attack.

Upstairs in the Astronomy Tower the Wizard’s Chess and Battles club engages in the fifth battle of Ragnuck. The twins surprise everyone when their miniature wizards summon a small army of ghosts that rout the goblin forces. Afterwards they explain that their studies for the Witches Bowl revealed the fact that Goblins can’t discern a difference between Wizards and Ghosts – to Goblin minds if it can talk freely it is still alive. Armed with that Pollux learned a witch doctor’s spell to summon ghosts from Professor Night, and victory was theirs! Professor Lippersy gives them full marks for this, 10 points each to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and then casts a terraforming spell to reset the field of battle so that they might try it again without the ghosts.

Wearing her heaviest cloak against the unseasonal chill, Daisy heads into the forest to attend the Centaur’s herd circle and break any number of school rules while doing so. Firenze guides her carefully through the trees with last minute tutoring on Centaur protocol. She finds it hard to concentrate on this, as at points he has to lift her into his strong arms and carry her over rough patches on the ground. Such moments drive protocol from her mind. Upon her arrival she sees scores of centaurs, the females bare-chested but having practiced the Amazonian tradition of burning off their breast to improve their archery.

Her presence is clearly controversial, but she is able to talk to Chiron, asking him about the origins of the school. Godric Gryffindor won the service of a fragment of Ragnuck’s army for the four founding wizards. The goblins were tasked to build the skeleton of his castle in a gambling match – 100 years of his service wagered against 10 years of theirs. The school has been able to grow and change configuration from there due to the secrets of goblin construction.

Chiron then reminds her of the nature of Goblin property inheritance (Daisy remembers this from her OWLs: that physical items should be returned to the creator upon death, and that houses and land are grants until the last heir dies. This is why the gobins burned Ragnuck’s castle when the great leader’s last heir died, because claims of ownership would have ripped Goblin society apart), and asks her to remember who else died recently. “Voldemort?” she thinks. “But what does he have to do with anything?

Chiron was alive when school built. He considers Dumbledore to be a good man, but not an heir to the founders. Wizard lives are short, and they forget things. Goblin lives an eyeblink, but Goblins don’t forget. They track and know bloodlines, children and heirs.

Chiron wants to know why Daisy is doing this. “Fear,” she responds, “for my family, friends, culture and school. I want to help.” The old centaur nods at the impulse. “I have wanted to help in the past as well. Go in peace, daughter of man. And be careful.”