Repercussions
Pauline’s parents arrived at the castle just after 1pm. McGonagall was with them when they arrived. When they entered the Entrance Hall, there were only a few students lingering, chief among them Philip, Lara, Morwena and Umberto. There were no introductions made, however, and neither parent stopped to admire the castle halls and stairs. The Langlets were eager to see their daughter.
McGonagall led them up to the Hospital Wing. Philip and the others trailed behind. They waited in the foyer while the Langlets and McGonagall met with Pauline and Madam Pomphrey.
Pauline was sitting up in her bed, still in her flannel nightgown. She put on a brave face for her parents. “Hullo. Sorry to make you come all this way,” she said. “I know it was a bother.”
Her mother gave her a hug, which made Pauline wince in pain. “We were so worried! When we got the letter, we didn’t know what to think.”
“I thought it was a hoax, at first,” said her father. “But the Headmistress came around later that morning to explain. She said you were attacked.”
Pauline nodded her head but did not say anything. Madam Pomphrey spoke. “Pauline was struck by the cruelest curse I know, I’m sorry to say. The Barren Curse. The spell struck her left side. Her left fallopian tube is scarred, and we believe all the eggs on her left side have perished.”
There was a gasp from the mother. She wrapped her arm around Pauline.
“Fortunately, Pauline’s boyfriend was there,” continued Pomphrey. “He called for help and that help came quickly. Pauline received expert first aid from one of our Healing Arts students, who was able to remove the curse and stop it from spreading to her right side. When Pauline is ready to start a family, she should be able to. Conception will be more difficult than normal, but not impossible.”
“How did this happen?” asked the father, angrily. “We sent our girl here because we thought she would be safe!”
“Eric,” said the mother. “Even at a regular school, girls can come to harm. I’m sure the staff did all they could.”
“Of course, this curse is not taught here at Hogwarts,” said Pomphrey. “How the boy came to know it, I’ll let others say. I bet Professor Gregor knows by now.”
“He does,” said McGonagall. “I don’t want to sugarcoat what happened to your daughter, but I also wanted you to see her, to show you that she has survived, and that she is healing. The boy who attacked her is in the custody of authorities, and I am in the process of expelling him. There is also the matter of civil liability. It may be the case that the father of this boy was negligent in allowing his son to obtain the knowledge that he used to attack your daughter.”
McGonagall produced a sheet of parchment, a list of names. “I took the liberty of drawing up a list of wizard lawyers who specialize in these matters.”
The father took the list and looked at it. “We don’t know anything about any of this. How would we know with whom to speak?”
“Daddy,” said Pauline. “Give the list to my friend Morwena. She will know someone on that list, I bet. She can tell us who to contact.”
The mother looked tenderly at her daughter. “I thought your magic was little parlor tricks, and the nice little things you bring me for Christmas and my birthday.”
“It is those things,” said McGonagall, “but it is many other things as well. Magic, like anything else, can be used for good and for ill.”
“You said boyfriend,” said the mother. “Which boy is this?”
“Philip,” said Pauline. “He called me at Christmas, do you remember?”
“Yes, I do! Is he here? We would like to meet him.”
“All of Pauline’s friends are here,” said McGonagall. With a sweep of her hand, she indicated the small crowd by the door.
Philip, with a gentle nudge from Morwena, stepped forward. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Langlet. I’m Philip Harkenborough.” He and the father shook hands.
“Philip was so gallant that night,” said Pauline. “He insisted on walking me back to my common room. I thought he was being ridiculous, but I guess he had a hunch. He positively routed my attackers.”
“I did my best,” said Philip. “Then, I handed the situation over to Lara. She saved the day, really.”
“The best Healing Arts pupil I’ve ever had,” said Pomphrey, glowing with pride.
Lara, flushed, reluctantly stepped forward. Pauline had cautioned her against using the word ‘exorcism’ around her parents, so Lara said, “I was very worried about the counter-spell. It was big mouthful. I was sure I would say something wrong, and it wouldn’t work. I’m very glad Philip was there. He downplays his part, but it was crucial, when things looked bleak, to have him there.”
Morwena stepped forward. She had met the Langlets several times previously. “Oh Mrs. Langlet,” she said. “I’m so sorry about what happened. I was distraught with worry until I heard the good news.” The two embraced.
The father offered Morwena the list of lawyers. “Pauline said to give you this. She’s sure you would know who to recommend.”
“Oh! A list of tort lawyers.” She scanned quickly through the list and then looked behind her, where Umberto still lingered. “Umberto, can you take a look at this? I believe one of these lawyers is your uncle.”
Umberto stepped forward. “Umberto Calais, at your service.” He shook the father’s hand, and then perused the list. “Yes, Declan Stormkeep is my uncle, my mother’s brother. He would relish the opportunity to rake the Dennisons over the coals. I can contact him on your behalf, if you’d like.”
“Yes, that would be much appreciated.”
Philip stayed by Pauline’s side and held her hand through the rest of the visit. After an hour, McGonagall led them down the stairs and out the main doors of the castle, where she was able to magically whisk them back to London.
Morwena felt a great relief in hearing that Pauline would recover, that the curse did not completely sterilize her. Anger still boiled below the surface of her skin, and she pondered what action she should take against Reginald.
As she and Umberto were walking back to their common room, she said, “There must be something I can do, some action I can take against Dennison.”
“Expulsion plus civil and criminal liability isn’t enough?” asked Umberto, amused.
“He must answer to me as well,” said Morwena, darkly.
“He broke Baingarden’s Oath,” said Umberto. “Look it up in the Slytherin Code of Conduct and see what penalties are available to you. In the meantime, I will write my uncle about this tort case.”
At the end of the evening meal, McGonagall stood and addressed the students. “As many of you know by now, late on Friday night, a student attacked another, wounding her grievously. Please be assured that we are taking all appropriate action with regards to this incident. I will not be discussing those actions here tonight.
“This incident must be reflected in the House Point totals. House Points act as a reward for exemplary behaviour and as a demerit for poor behaviour. The whole House celebrates their victories together, and they bear the shame of punishments together.”
There was nervous looks around the Slytherin table, as they knew now that collective punishment was coming.
“Yet, what punishment,” continued McGonagall, “what penalty is a sufficient response to what happened Friday night? What could possibly be equal to the crime that was committed?”
The Great Hall was very still. No one dared even a whisper. No Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff wanted to draw the ire of the Headmistress at that moment.
“I hereby strip away every point Slytherin has earned this year.” A few gasps and whimpers were heard now among the Slytherins, while the rest of the student body was silent with shock. “And now,” continued McGonagall, “I shall restore 100 points in the name of Morwena Felwich for her leadership during the crisis; 100 points apiece to Claire Quillan and James Clarke for finding a long-sought-for item of contraband; 15 points to Tess Covenshire for being generally helpful; and 5 points each to Aiden Thompson and Terrill Reese for having common sense and decency.”
There was an audible exhale from the Slytherin table. 325 points was still last place, but it was far better than zero, and the chance was before them to at least take third from Gryffindor before the end of term.
McGonagall allowed a thin smile. “And now for some far more pleasant business. I am awarding 100 points to Lara Guishar for some extraordinary Healing Arts work on Friday night; 100 points to Philip Harkenborough for exhibiting the fierce protectiveness which is the hallmark of Hufflepuff House; 100 points to Liam Wren for his calm leadership; 75 points to Benedict Took for being an able assistant to Lara and Madam Pomphrey; and 15 points each to Stacy Hind and Belladonna Took for being generally helpful. Thank you, Hufflepuffs, for keeping Friday night from becoming an even greater calamity.”
The Gryffindors applauded loudly, and there was a smattering of polite applause from the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables. Liam looked to Philip. “How much did we just take in? I lost count.”
“405 points.”
“Were we more than 405 points behind Ravenclaw at the start of dinner?”
“No,” said Philip. “I think our deficit was around 250.”
Liam looked down the table and caught the eye of Richie Parker. “Goonah!” he said. “Go out front and tell me whether or not Hufflepuff is now ahead in points.” Goonah ran out of the Great Hall. He appeared a moment later and gave a leap for joy, punching his arm into the air.
“That’s a ‘yes,’” said Michael.
Liam stood. “Alright, Badgers, listen up! House meeting, common room, straight after dinner. Fifth Years, I won’t keep you long.”
The Hufflepuffs rose and left the Great Hall together. Liam paused only for a moment to look for himself at the leaderboard that showed Hufflepuff ahead of Ravenclaw. As they headed downstairs, Meadows caught up with him. “Liam,” she said, “I’m so proud of you! You’ve really emerged as a leader this year.”
“Thanks, Professor,” he said.
“I could hardly believe that leaderboard,” said Meadows. “We’re never in the lead.”
“Not even when Cedric Diggory was here?”
She shook her head. “No, not even Cedric could do it.”
“Then it’s about time,” said Liam.
“Yes, I think it is.”
In the common room, the Sixth Years enchanted the tables, sofas and desks, and stacked them in a haphazard pile against the wall. Liam stood in front of the hearth while the students made a semicircle around him, the youngest ones in the front, while Meadows stood with the Seventh Years at the very back. Aylie and Rainey, sitting with legs crossed, gazed avidly up at him.
“When I was a wee lad …” Liam began. This caused a fit of giggles among the youngest students. “… I made a rather rash boast. I said that before I left Hogwarts, the Badgers were gonna run the table. We would win the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup in the same year. Now, the Quidditch season has yet to be played, but for the first time in anyone’s memory, Hufflepuff is leading in the points.”
An excited cheer went up, but Liam held up his hand to quiet them. “The trouble is, there’s too much time left in the school year. We’re only 150 or so points ahead of Ravenclaw. You know how they roll. They get points all through the year, but at the end of term, their big projects come due. That’s when they really rack up the big points. If we rest on our laurels, they will pass us, and their banners will be hanging from the rafters again.”
There were boos, now, and Goonah cried out “Not this time!”
Liam held up his left hand, with his fingers splayed. “This is how we beat them. I need five points from everyone in this room, every week from now until the end of the term. We all have a class that we love, the one where we excel. That’s the class to get your points. Get your hand in the air, do that little bit extra on the project. If you have a down week, shrug it off and do better the next week. If you get five points on Monday, help a brother out and get another five by Friday.”
His brown eyes scanned the room, from the avid expression of young Aylie to the wry, bored looks of the Seventh Years at the back. “If we do this, if we keep the pressure on them, scoring point after point, week after week, we will break them. They will give up. We can do this. It’s right here in our grasp.”
Belladonna called out, “We’re doing it! We’re making this happen.” There were nods all around from the younger students.
“Any questions?” asked Liam. “Alright. Fifth Years, go get ‘em.” The Fifth Years quickly left to resume their studies.
The younger boys came up to shake Liam’s hand, and he received backslaps from Michael and Fortney. Stacy, Stephanie and Monique each gave him a hug. Lara held back, but she was gazing fondly at him. “You’re doing marvelously,” she said.
Bart, a Seventh Year boy shook his hand as well. “Good job, Wren,” he said. “Though I don’t know about all that calm leadership stuff. You were unsufferable Friday night.”
The Slytherins made their way down to the Halls of the Serpent. Away from the Headmistress’ presence, they became angry and sullen. “It’s completely unfair!” said Frederica. “How is this our fault? None of us wanted him to hurt Pauline.”
Freddy answered, loud and angry, “There’s nothing any of us could do. Dennison’s a nutter. He had that creepy book he was so impressed with. It was only a matter of time before he did something stupid like this.”
Freya had eased beside Aiden, and the two clasped hands. Alyssa and Meriko came between Aiden and Terrill. Alyssa said, “Last week, I would have said that Freddy Jones was the junior member of your quintet. He seems to be speaking up rather loudly these days.”
“Louder than he ever would have if Dennison were still here,” added Meriko.
Terrill spoke. “With Dennison gone, and likely not coming back, Freddy sees a chance to climb up the ladder a rung or two.”
“I keep thinking back on the Doom of Lara Guishar,” said Aiden. “She predicted Dennison would have no friends, no followers.”
“The Oath!” said Freya. “She predicted he would break it. She had me give you guys the message.”
Aiden quoted the note from memory. “Mind thine Oaths, and know that I shall keep mine. Took is close to Guishar. I wonder what he has to say about these prophecies coming true.”
At the queue to get into the Halls, Frederica turned around and said to Freya, “I heard your sister was making out with Liam Wren on Friday night.”
“I heard that too,” admitted Freya, “but I don’t believe it. Though honestly, I’m probably the last person she would confide in.”
“I wonder if there is any truth to the rumour,” said Aiden.
“Another thing to ask Benedict about,” said Freya. “He was out Friday night later than any of us.”
Morwena had already descended the stairs to the Lower Halls. She had resigned herself to the Headmistresses’ judgment and saw no point in appealing the decision. Morwena sought out the main downstairs bookcase, known colloquially as the Slytherin Library. The two books she had selected earlier were waiting for her on an end table. She sat down in a chair and continued her reading.
Tess and Rhiannon left her to read. An hour later, they found her lost in thought, gazing into the fire, a book closed in her lap.
She looked at Tess and Rhiannon and said, “I know what I’m going to do now. I know how to strike back against Dennison, how to punish him for breaking Baingarden’s Oath. I’m going to kick him out of the House.”