Passing these out along with a like number of brown wicker baskets sealed with doors in their sides, she gave instructions and divided them up into teams, sending Ranko and Ukyo to the Gryffindor common room (Ranko to lead, Ukyo to learn where it was), Cologne and Shampoo to the Ravenclaw suite (Once again, Cologne to lead, Shampoo to learn) and herself took the Patil twins with her to visit the Hufflepuff dorms.
"We are fortunate no one typically stays up past curfew the first night," Nodoka told her charges as they opened the concealed portal and she had them light their torches, which all blazed up with electric blue flames. Once they were burning brightly, she had them open their wicker cages as almost instantly curious pixies poked their heads out, found the light and scent of their torches, and fell into a kind of daze. The little monsters buzzed out like bees to honey, and the Patils were stunned at how many dozens had been held in their little basket cages.
"Pixie dears, heed my cry. Within winks many a weary eye. Find them all, safe and sound. Guide them all to sleep profound. Once they rest safe and tight, see they walk out to the night. Follow me to dreams and rest, where are skills enhanced to best."
A flying tide of tiny, electric blue bodies flooded into the Hufflepuff common room and from thence into every nook and bedroom. Some rare few they found awake, but pixie magic was enough to induce sleep even before being noticed in most cases. The rest the pixies enspelled during their slumber and soon every Hufflepuff was sleepwalking down stairs and out of doors to form a walking line behind Nodoka and the Patils as the professor led them all through the castle out onto the grounds toward a ravine just short of the Forbidden Forest. Along the way they joined up with similar streams of somnambulant pupils coming from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw common rooms, until they had three Houses following the seven figures across the lawn.
"Professor Malfoy, do you know the way to the Slytherin common room?" Padma whispered during one part of the quiet march.
"Of course I do. Teachers have to know those things. But why do you ask?" The redhaired Malfoy blinked in surprise to hear that question asked.
"Well, aren't we going there next?"
"No, dear. We shall not."
"But why? Aren't they students too? Didn't you say that we are going to do something marvelous for everyone?"
Nodoka opened an old drain grating and directed Cologne to lead the procession in while she thought how to answer Padma's question. Ukyo and Ranko stood by, listening on. The pixies helped shepherd the sleepwalkers every step of the way as they passed by. A steady tide of students from every year, in all sorts of slumberwear, streamed past while she was thinking, before she found the words.
"Dear, during the last war so many Slytherins swelled Voldemort's ranks that if any other House gave him recruits it wasn't obvious. Now, as their Head of House, Snape is their role model. He was and is a murderer many times over, and at least once tried rape. Since he remains unpunished for his crimes and still has power he is, in many ways, the ideal Death Eater. Since Dumbledore does not punish him for his bullying he clearly and obviously gets away with it in the students' eyes, every day flaunting the fact that authority is unable to stop him; and that makes him look strong and admirable to his little flock, who look up to him and want to be Death Eaters like him so they can be strong and get away with things too. Or at least some of them think so, far too many really. Granted both those facts, until it can be proved otherwise on an individual basis, all Slytherins are young Death Eaters just waiting to prove themselves to the dark lord and eager to take his mark as far as we are concerned. It's just too great a risk to think otherwise."
The Patil girls went silent, processing this. It was unusual and strange to think in terms of having enemies and things, or at least people who you couldn't trust or help because they might hurt you. Some of the seriousness of their situation began to sink in.
"Where are we going?" Parvati asked eventually, just to break the silence.
Ranko's mother was glad to get off onto another topic. "Well, Quirrel died the first day of the summer break, and Dumbledore hired me not long after," Nodoka told those girls. "That first week he let spill how dangerous a spot this was, with the dark lord still around somewhere and many of his Death Eaters still walking free. From that time to this I have been frantically preparing as best I can to survive the next war. One thing I did was put some heavy study and research into this castle, which is one likely battleground for the future war. I do like to have an advantage by being intimately familiar with my home ground, you know. It's a wise precaution to have in any case, but in this instance even more vital because Voldemort had studied this castle for years and knew some of its intimate secrets. That made it HIS home ground and I had to make up to counter that advantage so I wasn't in a weakened position."
The girls made themselves comfortable as students from every year filed past, getting on to the tail end of the line. "Anyway, once Cologne arrived she was able to share some of her insights. She'd grown up hearing marvelous tales from her elders about the magical school called Hogwarts, and was quite surprised to discover when she got here that we'd lost track of all of those marvelous wonders. They'd been sealed by Oliver Cromwell three hundred years ago and we'd apparently forgotten them entirely."
"What she's leadin up to is that we found this place called a Pool o Stars." Ranko said over crossed arms. "An from that we've been sorta startin ta find other stuff, like a Vault o History an a Riding Barn. Mom's made us hold off on usin' 'em, sure that Dumbledore would notice, an seeing as how we were the only kids at school it would be kinda obvious that we'd come on somethin special. An we didn't want ta reveal that we'd found these things, sure that he'd force us ta use 'em on the whole school."
"Aren't we doing that?" Ukyo questioned.
"No, dear." Nodoka wearily shook her head, tiredness shaking her limbs. "You'll note the absence of House Slytherin, which is part of the point my daughter was getting to. My plan is to hurt Voldemort as much as possible. These devices we've uncovered are supposed to grant enormous skill, bestowing inherent understanding of a subject matter overnight. That benefit could be vital during our next war. Since everyone but Slytherin should have it, that makes the most likely followers of Voldemort comparatively weak, and those who are most likely to resist him stronger in potential than even his current crop of Death Eaters."
Shampoo arrived, leading a sleepwalking Hagrid, who joined the line. "Assistant to Hagrid have too too many dark objects, so no bring. Ukyo, whole war is really about weak versus strong. Dead Munchers feel they strong, so should rule. Others disagree, much fighting and dying. New crop of Dead Munchers grow up, feel too too weak next to other students. Not feel strong, so no act strong. No have courage to join Moldyshorts for fear they lose."
"Moldyshorts?" Several voices repeated Shampoo's phrase. Mother and daughter Malfoy grinned terribly. "I like the sound of that, and may use it from now on." Nodoka mused.
Ranko goggled suddenly as she saw and recognized Kodachi as she walked past in a rose embroidered nightgown.
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(Posted Sun, 07 Aug 2005 04:41)
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