Incident in the Dungeon
On Thursday night, the Fifth Years did not have a late class. After dinner, the prefects met with Mary O’Leary in the library for their next assignment. They met in one of the study rooms inside the library. The library rooms were warm, but outside in the hallways the air was cold, and near the doors of the Entrance Hall it was quite drafty. Everyone wore sweaters and scarves under their black cloaks.
“How are you all doing with your new Firsties? Is anyone giving you any problems? Is anyone quarrelsome or feeling homesick?” No one offered anything. Several people shook their heads, including Liam. “That’s great! I want to pair you up again and send you out on patrol. This time, I’ll be pairing the Ravenclaws with the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs with the Slytherins. Thompson and Evans, I’ll want you to patrol the Gryffindor tower and do a check on the Hospital wing. Krauss and Reuel, patrol Ravenclaw tower and the Astronomy tower. Make sure you poke your head into every study room!
“I’d like Guishar and Calais to patrol the library and the third-floor classroom hallways. Felwich and Wren, patrol the lower parts of the castle – the dungeons and the hallways below the main floor. If anyone is wandering around down there, order them to their common rooms.”
Liam walked side by side with Morwena down the grand staircase to the main hall, and then down another staircase to the level of the dungeon where Professor DeVere held his Potions classes. The stairwells were brightly lit, but the hallways were dim with intermittent torches. Morwena was silent. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, and she kept her chin tucked down so her bangs fell over her eyes.
“You alright?” Liam asked her. “You look cold.”
“Yes, it’s very cold. I should have brought a hat.”
“We can swing by your common room and get one,” suggested Liam.
“No, I’ll be fine.”
They fell into another awkward silence, until Liam asked, “You heard from Kane lately?”
“Yes, in fact, I just got a letter from him. He’s doing really well at Durmstrang. His prestige is climbing since he got that fancy new wand he was telling us about.”
“Yeah, I bet the other kids stopped challenging him after he got his Stilgrevsen.”
She flashed a glowing smile at him and said, “That was certainly the case with you.”
They reached Professor DeVere’s classroom. The door was locked. “There’s an arithmantic lock here, see?” said Liam.
“Yes, and it looks like it was cast by DeVere himself,” Morwena agreed. “Not likely that someone is inside.”
“What do you suppose we do if we find an ‘over-amorous’ couple? This is where we’d find one, I’d bet.”
Morwena laughed, a high, nervous giggle. “Well,” she said, her face brightly blushing, “I suppose we would hear them before we saw them. And, if we made sure they heard us, we could give them time to button up and we could just send them on their way, back to their common rooms. Maybe we’d mention it to Mary and maybe we wouldn’t, depending on who it was and how things went between us.”
Suddenly, the night air was rent by an inhuman wail. Liam and Morwena quickly drew their wands. “What on earth is that?” asked Morwena.
“It sounds like a cat,” said Liam. “And it’s in a world o’ pain.”
The wails echoed against the stone walls. They seemed to come from everywhere at once. Holding her wand out in the palm of her hand, Morwena commanded, “Where is the crying coming from?” The wand spun around and pointed behind them. The two raced down the hallway, stopping at intersections to check with the wand. The wailing of the cat grew ever louder.
They came to a torchlit alcove. Three young boys were standing with their wands drawn. A cat was at their feet, and they were casting different spells upon it. Morwena cried out, “What are you doing? Stop this at once!”
The boys looked up, startled by the sudden approach of the prefects. The cat darted away from them and disappeared into the shadows. The dark-haired boy, Nolan, looked unconcerned, but the other two were wide-eyed and trembling.
Morwena, hands on her hips, wand still clutched in her right hand, said, “Why on earth were you torturing that poor creature?”
Nolan looked up at her, smug and proud. “Lord Mahglin told us to do it.”
“Who?”
“Lord Mahglin,” the boy said again, though his confidence was faltering under Morwena’s furious glare.
From another hallway, there came the sound of running steps. Around the corner and into view came Umberto and Laura.
“What’s going on here?” asked Umberto.
“These boys were torturing a cat,” said Morwena.
Umberto’s gaze became solemn. “I’m disappointed in you,” he said. The young boys looked crestfallen.
Morwena: “They said Lord Mahglin put them up to it.”
Umberto let out an exasperated huff. “The ass!” Lara’s face flushed, and she quivered.
“Who do they mean?” asked Morwena.
“Dennison.”
“I should have known.” Morwena strode right up to Nolan and said, “Listen to me. Reginald Dennison is a Third-Year boy. He knows barely more magic than you do.”
“He said he would teach us Dark Magic,” said Nolan.
“Did he?” asked Umberto. “What exactly did he say?” Nolan immediately recounted the incident. “When was this?”
“Yesterday morning,” said the boy.
“Who was with him?” asked Umberto, sharply.
“Just two others.”
“Carter and Jones?”
“Yes.”
“We are your prefects,” said Morwena. “We are trying to guide and protect you. Reginald Dennison is a fool. Stay away from him! If he tries to speak to you again, come to one of us. Do you hear me?” Such was the power she summoned at that moment, that the boys were all trembling. One had begun to cry.
“Come!” said Umberto impatiently. “Morwena and I will take them back to our common room. We’ll meet you back in the library later,” he said to Liam.
The Slytherins went off to towards the Halls. Lara bent down and coaxed the cat from the shadows. She stroked it and with her hand, cast a healing spell upon it. The cat began to purr. “This is someone’s pet,” said Lara, with a crack in her voice. “How could they do this? I didn’t think he would start so soon.”
“Who? That punk, fancying himself a Dark Lord? I ought to let my brother knock him down another peg. I should give him a bloody nose myself!”
“You may be doing more than that before the school year ends,” said Lara, cryptically.
Umberto and Morwena marched the boys back to the Halls of the Serpent at a brisk pace. Umberto said to Morwena, “Yesterday morning, one of the toilets downstairs . . ..”
“I heard about that,” answered Morwena.
“If Dennison pulled that off, threw off my timing just enough so he talk to these three alone . . ..”
Morwena completed the thought. “That shows a level of planning and sophistication we weren’t expecting from him. Not yet, at any rate. He just served us notice. What do you think of this talk of Dark Magic?”
“I want to tell Gregor about it.”
“I agree. Let’s take these three straight to him.”
Professor Gregor heard the case from the foyer of his personal apartment. He listened to Morwena’s and Umberto’s testimony, then had each young boy describe their contact with Dennison. The young boys were wide-eyed and frightened. Even Nolan had lost his aura of confidence.
“I think your prefects have gotten through to you,” said Gregor. “You need to stay away from Reginald Dennison and his troop. If any of the Third Year Slytherin boys try to speak to you again, go immediately to one of your prefects.” To Umberto, he said, “Get these three to bed, and then come back and speak with me.”
To Morwena, he said, “I apologize for keeping you from your studies, Felwich, but I would like your help in resolving this situation.”
“Do you think he’s bluffing about learning Dark Magic?”
“It could be a rash boast, but we must proceed as if it is not. If I were to suspect anyone of bringing a Dark Magic artifact to school, it would be Dennison. I wish to search his room when he is not there, and I would like your help. Make arrangements tomorrow morning for your charges to be brought to breakfast without your assistance.”
“Maybe Tess could watch them for me.”
“Exactly. Once we’re finished, I will speak with McGonagall. I want to move on Dennison tomorrow morning. I hope to catch him off-guard.”
Umberto returned, and Gregor shared his plan. “It would be helpful to have an extra pair of eyes when we search the room. Do you have a suggestion?”
“Gordon will help,” said Umberto. “He is careful and observant.”
“Any of my coven would be happy to help,” said Morwena.
Umberto said, “What about Claire Quillan? She’s sharp-eyed, and Dennison wouldn’t miss her. He wouldn’t be alarmed by her absence.”
“Good. Felwich, please speak to her tonight. Meet me in the Hearth Room before breakfast tomorrow.”
The next morning, as Aiden Thompson sat down for breakfast at the Slytherin table, he noted that Nolan and the other First Year boys were in the care of Spencer Osgood, and that Tess Covenshire was watching over the First Year girls. He looked up and down the table, but neither Umberto nor Morwena were present. Aiden noted the absence of Umberto’s lieutenant, Gordon Sumner and his top spy, Claire Quillan.
Aiden turned and whispered to his friend, Terrill Reese, “Something’s up. The prefects aren’t here.”
“I don’t see Gregor around, either,” said Terrill.
Aiden caught Tess’s eye, and she gave him a smug smile. This has something to do with Dennison, thought Aiden. Still, he was completely in the dark. Neither Umberto or Q had tipped him off.
Let’s keep him distracted, then, thought Aiden. He spoke aloud to the group: “We have a light Friday. What shall we do until our first class?”
“We should study,” said Dennison, with a wry grin. “I don’t want Stainton sitting on me every night like he did last year.”
“I could use some time to study for Arithmancy,” agreed Aiden. “This is the hardest subject I have by far.” He and Dennison were both taking Arithmancy, while Terrill, Carter and Jones had opted for Divination.
“I didn’t find those first assignments difficult at all,” said Dennison, smugly. “It’s really not difficult if you do the reading.”
“Well, maybe you could help me,” said Aiden, a little flustered.
Dennison countered with a sharp dig. “I thought you were the smart one, Thompson. The ‘almost Ravenclaw.’” The two boys stared silently at one another. “Of course, I will help you,” said Dennison. “The better to keep you out of trouble.”
Down in the Halls, Morwena, Q, Umberto and Gordon gathered outside the boys’ dormitory. Professor Gregor addressed them. “We are looking either for a book or a scroll. It’s likely to be beautiful – a hardcover book with ornate carvings and gilt pages, or a scroll with fine calligraphy or even a full colour illustration. Something that would catch and hold a young boy’s eye.”
The group went through every trunk and looked under every bed, but they found nothing that matched Professor Gregor’s descriptions. The books were all official schoolbooks, and the parchment was just scraps or blank sheets.
Dennison led his troop out into the Entrance Hall. Students were climbing the stairs for the start of their Friday morning classes. The boys lingered in the hall. Since their first class did not start for another ninety-minutes, there was no rush.
McGonagall emerged from the Administrative Office, a room across from the Great Hall. From all sides came the other six prefects, wands drawn. “Dennison!” called out McGonagall. “A moment of your time, please.”
“Of course, Professor,” answered Dennison. Aiden expected Dennison to complain loudly, but he did not.
“Professor Gregor believes it is possible that you have a Dark Magic artifact in your possession, which would be a grievous violation of school rules.”
Dennison’s face was calm, but his eyes narrowed. Carter suddenly looked pale. Liam Wren stepped forward, his right hand outstretched. “Give me your bag,” he said sternly. Dennison briefly hesitated, but then complied.
Liam took the bag, and, with a step backwards, dumped the contents onto the stone floor. Textbooks slammed onto the stone. A few sheets of parchment fluttered upwards and then down again. An inkwell skittered across the tiles. Dave Evans stopped it with his foot.
“Look through every book and every sheet of parchment,” said McGonagall. Alma Krauss bent down and began looking through the textbooks. Aiden’s sister Sadie gathered up the parchment sheets.
At Liam’s feet were three leather-bound notebooks. “Wren, show me one of those notebooks, please,” said McGonagall. Liam bent down, picked up one of the books and showed it to the Headmistress. The pages were blank. “Why do you have parchment sheets and notebooks?” asked McGonagall.
“The parchments are for assignments,” said Dennison, smoothly. “The notebooks are for notes.”
“This one is blank.”
“I didn’t write in that one yet. It’s still the first week of school,” added Dennison with a note of injury.
Still kneeling, Alma looked to McGonagall and shrugged. “We’re not finding anything,” said Sadie.
“Very well,” said McGonagall. “When you have a reputation such as yours, Dennison, false accusations tend to be believed. Let this be a warning to you. If I had caught you with a Dark Magic book, the consequences would have been quite severe.”
“Of course, Professor,” he said. He stooped and swept up the other two notebooks off the floor just as Sadie reached for them. “Now, if I may, I would like to repair to the library to help my Slytherin brother with his Arithmancy homework.” Dennison took his bag and led his troop up the Grand Staircase.
McGonagall handed out passes to the prefects to give to their professors. Liam took one for himself and one for Lara. During the entire episode, she had stared straight at Dennison. Now, her eyes had the unfocused look that indicated she was having a vision.
The group dispersed, but Lara had yet to move. Gently, Liam said, “We need to get to class.”
Slowly, her eyes became clearer. She looked up at him. “We missed it,” she said.
“We didn’t miss class,” he told her. “We’ll just be a few minutes late.”
She shook her head. “We missed Dennison’s book of Dark Magic spells. It was there and we missed it.”
“What do you mean?” asked Liam. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“It’s not time. The Curse that is upon him, it’s protecting him. It blinded us to what was there, right in front of us. The Curse gives him strength and power, but it’s waiting to betray him. It’s only building him up so he has farther to fall.”
She reached out and clutched Liam’s sleeve. “You’ll come, won’t you? When I call for you, you’ll come?”
“Of course. I’ve always come. Every time you needed me, right?” He gave her a pat on the shoulder, his brow creased with worry.
“Yes, you have.” She let out a sigh, and the eerie, distant look left her completely. They walked side by side down the stone steps to Professor DeVere’s classroom.
The rest of the day, she ignored him, as if nothing at all had happened between them.