Fic: Hogwarts: All Sales Final - 14/34

[fullmoon_dreams]

Start of the story, including summary, full ratings, warnings, pairings etc. Here

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise. J K Rowling retains all copyright.

Chapter 14

The term progressed and gradually each of the founders got used to their new professions. The students were, for the most part at least, eager to learn although there were several troublemakers who were making it their mission to outdo each other with spells, jinxes and hexes in the evenings and between classes. If it wasn’t someone conjuring a dozen rats in the Hufflepuff common room it was someone else hiding all the school brooms on the roof of the Astronomy tower. Someone was always up to something.

“Do you think one of the students has tampered with it?” Helga asked as she looked at the Ravenclaw hourglass in the Entrance Hall.

“Must have,” Godric replied. “There’s no other explanation for this.” He waved his hand towards the hourglass that was repeatedly adding feathers to the Ravenclaw house points total. Every minute or two another couple of feathers drifted down.

“I think someone tried to add a few and the spell stuck so that more are added all the time,” Helga suggested. “It’s a Sunday so there can’t be that many students earning points. There aren’t any classes today.”

Godric took out his wand and tapped at the hourglass, muttering an incantation under his breath to try to establish how it had been tampered with.

“Nothing?” asked Helga as Godric continued to frown at it.

“I don’t know what they’ve done to it but it must be very advanced magic to cover it so completely that I can’t see what they’ve done.”

“But our oldest students are only fourteen,” Helga pointed out. “How can they manage something like this?”

“Something like what?” Salazar asked as he emerged from the staircase leading down to the dungeons.

“Someone seems to have tampered with the Ravenclaw hourglass,” Helga informed him. She pointed to the hourglass that was even now adding a couple more feathers to the total.

“I thought we’d put spells on them so they can’t be messed with?” Salazar asked as he took a closer look.

“We did!” Godric confirmed. “But someone has managed to bypass them so that every couple of minutes the Ravenclaw glass is added to.”

“And you think a fourteen year old could manage that?” Salazar sounded extremely sceptical and Helga nodded in agreement.

“What other explanation is there?” Godric asked.

“I don’t suppose you’ve asked Rowena about it?” Salazar replied. “It is her house that is racing into the lead here.”

“Rowena wouldn’t tamper with the hourglass!” Helga looked aghast at Salazar, shocked that he would even suggest such a thing.

“I’m not saying that she would,” Salazar replied. “But could she be awarding points to someone in her house? Perhaps someone has put her under a spell to force her to award them?”

“Don’t you think that something like that is perhaps just a little extreme? The only spell I can think of that would do something like that would be the Imperius Curse and I don’t think…” Helga’s voice trailed off. The thought of a student being able to perform one of the Unforgivable Curses was disturbing to say the least.

“I think we should find Rowena and see if she can shed some light on this,” Godric agreed. “Do you know where she is?”

“Why are you looking at me?” Salazar asked. “I don’t monitor her every move.”

“Well it is her birthday so I thought you might be spending the day together.”

“I’m taking her out for dinner tonight as a surprise, but I’ve no idea where she is right now.”

“Where are you taking her?” Helga asked curiously. “Rowena never mentioned anything.”

“That would be because it’s a surprise,” Salazar replied with a roll of his eyes. He hoped she didn’t notice that he’d failed to answer her question about where they were going. He and Rowena had managed to keep their secret chamber a complete secret from everyone else in the school and he intended to keep it that way.

“Let’s go see if she’s in her office,” suggested Godric, inadvertently cutting off Helga as she repeated her question and thus saving Salazar from having to lie a second time.

“Good idea,” Salazar agreed as he led the way to the base of Ravenclaw Tower where Rowena’s office was situated opposite her rooms.

Unfortunately she wasn’t in there, nor was she in her rooms.

“Salazar, why are your spare robes in here?” Godric asked as they looked around Rowena’s rooms.

Salazar looked guiltily towards the robe hooks near the door. “Laundry?” he suggested innocently whilst Helga giggled behind her hand at the thought of Rowena doing anything even remotely domestic.

Godric rolled his eyes and went to open the wardrobe.

“I don’t think she’s hiding in there,” said Salazar as he stepped in Godric’s way and closed the door shut with a bang.

“How about we try the Transfiguration classroom?” Helga suggested. “Maybe she’s setting something up for her class tomorrow morning?”

“Or we could just wait here for her to turn up?” Godric countered. “She has to come back here eventually. Or maybe we should go check Salazar’s rooms and see if she appears there?”

“Maybe we should split up and search for her?” Salazar suggested instead, pointedly ignoring Godric’s comments. “It’s a big castle and she could be anywhere.”

“She’s not lost,” Helga pointed out. “Do we really need a search party?”

“We need to find her before the problem with the hourglass gets much worse,” said Salazar.

Five minutes of debating later and they had decided to go and search for her. Another five minutes of arguing and they had finally decided who was going to look where.

They had just finally come to an agreement when the door opened and Rowena herself walked in.

“Is something wrong?” she asked upon seeing the rest of the founders gathered in her room.

“Yes!” said Godric.

“Just a little thing,” added Helga.

“Someone’s tampered with the Ravenclaw hourglass,” Salazar informed her.

“You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” Godric asked suspiciously.

“Rowena wouldn’t tamper with it!” Salazar snapped at Godric.

“I haven’t,” Rowena confirmed with a vehement shake of her head.

“Well someone has,” Godric said. “It’s been awarding points to Ravenclaw every couple of minutes since mid morning.”

“Oh, is that all?” Rowena asked with a sigh of relief. “That was me.”

“What?” The others looked at her in shock.

“But you just said you hadn’t tampered with it,” Salazar pointed out, a hint of disapproval and disappointment in his tone.

“I haven’t tampered with it,” Rowena replied. “But I have been awarding points this morning.”

“But what for?” Helga asked. “It’s Sunday, there aren’t any classes or anything.”

“I was awarding points to those students who had learned through the password to Ravenclaw Tower,” Rowena said with a shrug. “You know I altered the password at the start of October. Well I wanted to see how many remembered my birthday now it’s here and so awarded a couple of points to everyone who remembered.”

“Let me get this straight,” Salazar said, holding up his hand for quiet from the rest of the room. “You’ve been giving house points to everyone who wished you a happy birthday today?”

“Well, yes,” Rowena said. “And not just Ravenclaw students. I gave some to students from other houses who remembered too. Just to be fair.”

“But most of the students in the other houses won’t have had a clue it’s your birthday,” Helga pointed out sternly, though a smile was threatening to escape.

“And there aren’t that many students in Ravenclaw to account for all the points that have been awarded this morning,” Godric added.

“Er, Rowena,” Salazar started. “You don’t think that perhaps you could have been awarding some students points more than once, do you?”

“Erm…well I thought perhaps one or two faces looked familiar…”

“Clearly some of the Ravenclaw students have realised what Rowena was doing and decided to take advantage of her forgetfulness when it comes to names and faces,” Salazar said. “It would just take a handful of troublemakers to keep trailing her around the school wishing her a happy birthday over and over and over and over…”

“Oops,” Rowena said with a guilty smile.

“It sounds to me like some of our students have far too much spare time on their hands,” Salazar said.

“I’ll set them extra homework for the weekends,” Rowena said.

“Or we could just track down the troublemakers and put them in detention,” Salazar suggested. “It’ll save on marking extra homework.”

“I’ll get them helping out in the herb garden,” Helga added. “And I’m sure Augustus can use some help in the stables.”

“I have another idea actually,” Godric said. “One that should not only keep the students out of trouble but also help the school.”

“Do tell,” said Salazar as they all sat down to hear what Godric had to say.

“Well you know most of the troublemakers are in the third year,” Godric said. Everyone nodded in response. There did seem to be an unusual amount of mischief makers in that particular age group. “Well I think that I’ll give them an extra class project for Care of Magical Creatures.”

“Isn’t that the same as extra homework?” Rowena pointed out.

“No, this won’t require any marking. I’ll have them breeding, rearing and training owls for the school.”

“Don’t we have enough owls already?” Helga asked. “We purchased loads in the summer after we realised we were short.”

“And next summer when we have a more students we’ll be short again, and the following year and the one after.”

“It might keep them out of mischief,” Salazar agreed.

“I know a man who can get us some eggs…” Godric started.

“Uh oh,” Helga muttered.

“What’s wrong with that?” asked Godric, sounding thoroughly offended.

“What’s right about that?” Helga retorted. “You’ll either be charged a fortune for eggs that are already cooked or you’ll pay for them dirt cheap and end up with dragon eggs or something.”

“You think I can’t tell the difference between dragon eggs and owl eggs?” Godric was sounding more offended by the minute.

“Do we need to remind you about that incident with the horse that some charlatan had convinced you was a unicorn?” Salazar asked with a smirk.

“That was one of the best permanent sticking charms I’ve ever come across,” Godric replied. “Anyone would have been fooled by such a brilliant fake.”

“Wasn’t it a Shire Horse though?” Rowena asked with a wicked grin.

“That’s not the point,” Godric muttered. “I think I can manage to get owl eggs for the school without too much trouble.”

“I’ll come with you,” Helga said. “Just in case.”

“But you don’t know anything about different types of eggs,” Godric pointed out.

“But I know the going rate for owl eggs, which is more than can be said for you!” Helga folded her arms and glared at Godric, daring him to contradict her. Finally he nodded his head in agreement.

-o-xXx-o-

“Professor Gryffindor, Sir? I think there’s something wrong with my egg?”

Godric groaned mid-lecture at the question and the resulting snickers from the other students.

Until the eggs hatched there was little that could be done by the class other than monitoring them. The real work would be rearing them and training them to deliver post. Consequently each and every lesson involved one student or another finding something ‘wrong’ with their egg.

Eggs mysteriously changed colour or developed strange markings. Some even started flying around the Owlery at high speed.

It was something of an achievement that none of the eggs had thus far been damaged.

“I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with the egg,” Godric assured the girl who had raised her concerns this time.

“I think it’s hatching,” the girl next to her said excitedly as they peered at the egg.

“Are you sure? It’s a little early to be hatching,” Godric said as he hurried across the room to see. “Ah, yes, it does appear to be moving. You didn’t bring your wand to class did you?” he asked. After the incident with the flying eggs he’d decided to ban wands from this particular class for the time being.

The girls shook their heads and one of them leaned forward to give the egg a prod with her finger.

“Um, don’t do that dear,” advised Godric, resisting the temptation to slap their hands out of the way. “And whose toad is that?”

“Looks like Reginald’s. He said he’d lost it last week. I guess he lost him up here when he came to post something.”

“Well if someone could take him and give him back to his owner.” Godric picked up the toad and passed it to the nearest set of hands waiting to carry out his request.

“What sort of owl is it going to be?” asked one of the boys from the back of the group that was now crowding around the egg, waiting to see what hatched.

“Five sickles says it’s a Tawny,” said another boy.

“Three sickles it’s a Snowy,” said another.

Godric turned to scowl at them but no one took any notice as money started changing hands. Soon the class was divided between those crowding around the bookmaker and the rest crowding around the egg.

“Look it’s really hatching!” the girl who’d first spotted the movement declared as the egg started to crack.

Everyone leaned in again and held their breath as they waited for the first sight of the new baby owl.

Slowly and determined the egg was certainly hatching, and the students waited to see the results, their next class all but forgotten in the excitement of something actually happening after all their waiting.

Finally it was hatched.

“Erm, Professor, that’s a bit of a funny looking owl.” The girl cocked her head to one side in confusion.

“What sort is it?” the bookmaker asked from where he was waiting to find out how much was going to be paid out and to who.

“Is it well?” another voice from the back asked. The lack of aaahing and ooohing from the girls in the class had alerted the boys at the back to the possibility that all was not as it should be.

“It seems that Professor Hufflepuff might have accidentally been duped into buying an egg that wasn’t an owls,” Godric informed the class.

“I thought you said you’d bought the eggs?” a voice from the back piped up.

“Yes…well…erm…”

“What are you going to do with it?” the girl whose egg it was asked. “I can’t train some stupid snake to deliver post. I’ll fail if you make me do that. You can’t make me train a snake. I don’t even like snakes.”

“Oh don’t be silly,” Godric said. “You can train one of the others once they’re all hatched. We’ll just release this somewhere when it’s a bit older and able to take care of itself.”

“Can’t you just kill it?” the girl asked again as she tried to edge her way back from the snake. She had little success in her endeavour because she was effectively penned in by the other students, most of which were pushing forward to see even as she tried to step back.

“Certainly not,” Godric replied. “Just because you don’t like snakes doesn’t mean they don’t have their own functions and place in this world.”

“Here you all are,” Salazar said from the doorway to the Owlery. “Is there anyone who’d care to explain the reason why I’ve had to come all the way up here to fetch the students who should have presented themselves in my Potions class some fifteen minutes ago?”

“Sorry. My fault,” Godric said as he waved Salazar over. “Our first egg hatched and we lost track of the time in all the excitement.”

“Of course,” Salazar said with a sigh of impatience. “I just hope that when the rest of your owls hatch it won’t result in the same thing every single time.”

“Yes…well…run along now class,” Godric waved the students out the door. Several moved rather reluctantly because they hadn’t got a good look at the snake. The girl whose egg it was practically ran for the door, crushing Godric’s right foot in her hurry.

“I want my money back…” a complaining voice drifted up from the staircase.

“It’s not even an owl…”

“All bets are final! What hatched was different to what all of you bet…”

“But no one could have guessed it was going to be a snake…”

“All bets are final!”

“Did I just hear correctly?” Salazar asked Godric as the students filed past him.

“Just a little harmless wager,” Godric said. “It’ll probably serve as a lesson to them not to get involved in the evils of gambling.”

“I meant about the snake,” Salazar said. “You really bought a snake’s egg instead of an owl’s?”

“Must have slipped in there.” Godric shrugged and gestured to the egg. Salazar stepped nearer for a closer look.

“Er…Godric…do you know what this is?” Salazar asked as he looked at the snake.

“I believe it’s a snake,” Godric replied. “I thought we’d already established that.”

“Aren’t we amusing today,” Salazar said as he shifted bits of shell out of the way to get a better look. “I think you need to get rid of this animal real quick.”

“I thought you liked snakes,” Godric said. “You once said you had more intelligent conversations with snakes than you had with me.”

“Well you were talking rather incessantly about that young witch from Oxford at the time. But this isn’t just any old snake.”

“It isn’t?” Godric asked as he bent down to look closer.

“I could be wrong, but I think this might be a Basilisk.”

“Really?” Godric asked in awe as he continued to gaze at the creature. “Isn’t it amazing?”

“Fascinating,” Salazar muttered. “Do you even know what a Basilisk is?”

“A type of snake.”

Salazar rolled his eyes. “Maybe I’m wrong. I ruddy well hope so. Er…there weren’t any toads up here were there?”

“Reginald’s toad had escaped from him and was lurking around this egg,” Godric confirmed. “But I thought you needed a chicken’s egg.”

“You do,” Salazar replied. “Looks like someone was pulling a fast one when they sold you the eggs.”

“Didn’t they outlaw breeding Basilisks a few years ago?” Godric asked.

“With good reason,” Salazar nodded. “They’re deadly. The fangs are venomous and if you look in its eyes it will kill you instantly. Like most animals they’re born blind but it won’t stay that way. You need to get rid of this thing before it gets its vision. Someone in Hogsmeade probably has a rooster we can borrow. They’re cries are deadly to them.”

“Can’t we keep it a while?” Godric asked. “You can speak Parseltongue, can’t you keep it under control?”

“I’m not babysitting some deadly snake,” Salazar replied. “We’ve got more than enough trouble with the students without adding killer snakes to the list of issues.”

“I don’t mean keep it forever,” Godric said. “Just long enough to study it for a while. I mean, look at the opportunity we’ve got here.”

“If anyone finds out we’ve got this here, they’ll shut the school and we’ll probably be arrested for breeding it.”

“But imagine the chance to study it up close!”

“I’d really rather not. And you’re missing the point here. We can’t keep it!”

Godric looked thoroughly crestfallen at this. “Can’t we find somewhere nice to let it go? Somewhere it can roam free?”

“They grow up to fifty feet long and kill people,” Salazar snapped. “Where do you suggest we turn it loose?”

“You could ask it not to kill people,” Godric suggested. “You could train it.”

“Ignoring the fact that you can’t train these things, where would I keep it exactly? In my quarters?” Salazar asked. “Besides, Rowena doesn’t like snakes much and she’d never set foot in my rooms again if I had that thing in there.”

“That’s settled then,” Godric smirked.

“I’m not keeping it in my rooms, it wouldn’t be secure anyway.”

“There’s got to be somewhere in the school where we can keep it. What about that room that comes and goes and changes?”

“We still haven’t figured out exactly how that room works,” Salazar pointed out. “What if it got out?”

“You can’t just kill it,” said Godric in a tone that sounded rather pleading. “There’s got to be some other option.”

“We’ll discuss this later,” Salazar said. “My class will be over by the time I get down to the dungeons if I don’t leave now. In the meantime move that snake somewhere out of the way of the other animals. And don’t lose it!”

With that Salazar turned to leave the Owlery, shaking his head as he walked. He knew of one place that was secure enough to keep the Basilisk. It would even be large enough to keep it in if it grew to full length. It would never be able to get out and he should be able to control it when he was down there.

The only problem was that he was quite sure he didn’t want Godric knowing about the private chamber he’d created for himself and Rowena.

-o-xXx-o-

By the end of the day Salazar had secured the baby Basilisk in the secret chamber and had told Godric that he’d let him study it until such time as it became too dangerous.

“So where have you hidden it?” Godric asked.

“Somewhere safe, where it can’t get out,” Salazar replied. “You let me know when you want to see it and I’ll fetch it for you to study. But I’m not leaving you alone with it again. It’s too dangerous.”

“But where is it?” Godric asked again. “Have you figured out how to work the room that disappears?”

“No. That room is as much a mystery as ever.”

“You’ve not hidden it in your own quarters?”

“Of course not.”

“You’ve built some secret room into the school, haven’t you?” Godric asked. “Where is it? Can I see it?”

“If everyone knows about it, it won’t be a secret,” Salazar pointed out.

“I bet you’ve told Rowena,” said Godric. “I’ll just ask her.”

“She won’t tell you.”

“She will if I tell her you’ve hidden the Basilisk down there.”

“She already knows.”

“And she agreed to that?”

“She knows, as I do, that there isn’t really any other option apart from killing it.”

“You can’t just kill it!”

“Which is why it’s now confined somewhere only I can access.”

“And you’re not going to tell me where?”

“No.”

“And you’re sure Rowena won’t tell me?”

“Absolutely.”

“And the students are completely safe.”

“As safe as they can be in a school of magic.”

“And you’re definitely not going to kill it.”

“As long as I can control it, I’ll let it live. If it ever gets out of hand so even I can’t control it then I’m sorry but…”

Godric sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. “So what are we going to call it?”

Chapter 15