Chapter 16

..... Left with Lorelei Zephyr and Snape in the infirmary, Harry looked around for something to do. Lorelei had returned from behind the curtain. She seemed to have some color back, but was still unsteady. She sat next to Snape’s bed and they discussed the whole situation in soft voices. Occasionally, Snape would remember to give Harry a glare. Bored and uneasy, Harry still wanted to see Sirius and Dumbledore so he waited. Eventually, he wandered over to a window to look out.

..... The sun had come out from behind the clouds, casting the skeletal shadows of trees up on the castle walls. The biting wind made them sway and leaves spun around the trunks. Whole patches of the ground below seemed to move with the sliding leaves. A much larger blur of motion caught his eye, and Harry leaned closer to the glass for a better look. There was a black flicker like ravens’ wings in between the trees, and Esme darted into view.

..... Harry recognized her as the delivery witch, but she was no longer dressed in witch’s robes. She was in dirty blue jeans with the knees torn out, tennis shoes, and a black t-shirt. She looked cold and dirty. Harry watched as she ran carefully to the corner of the wall, where he knew a door to the lower hall was.

..... “What is it?” Lorelei asked suddenly. She had come up behind him and leaned to see what he was staring at. Esme was already out of sight.

..... “I...thought I saw the woman,” he admitted after a moment. “Esme.” He heard her suck in a breath and could practically fell her muscles tense.

..... “Show me where,” was all she said, and with Snape’s fiery eyes on him, Harry nodded. He led the way down the hall toward the lower door. They picked up speed as they went, breaking into a jog.

..... The corridor they were in and the lower hall Esme had entered joined into another hall from the upper levels. The three halls met at a large round chamber that had an also large painting of three horses and an even larger trophy case. Harry and Lorelei hit that chamber at the exact moment Esme burst into it from the other side and Headmaster Ficus entered from upstairs. Harry was the only one that did not yell “You!” in surprise or anger.

..... “Esme!” shrieked Lorelei. The sisters stared at each other for maybe an entire second of frozen shock. Then, Ficus began to cast a spell and Esme turned on him. She cast a gust spell that blasted him up against the stairs behind him. Stuff scattered out of his pockets and his thin legs swung comically into the air. Esme ran past him and was gone up the corridor. Lorelei gave chase, leaving Harry to help Ficus up. The Elmskill Headmaster was furious and swearing under his breath.

..... “This time she’s gone too far!” he muttered. Puzzled, Harry reached for the carved cane to hand it to him. Ficus snatched it away before he could touch it.

..... “Are you hurt, sir?” Harry asked. Ficus shook his head. Harry began to help him pick up his scattered belongings. One of them was a small picture of a girl. It was the same picture he had seen in Weiss’ den, only cleaner. It wasn’t a wizard photograph, though. It didn’t move. Ficus took it from him, his angry face softening at the sight of it.

..... “Your daughter?” Harry guessed, stooping to pick up a ring of keys that had been dropped.

..... “Granddaughter,” Ficus mumbled. “Was.”

..... “Oh....” Harry didn’t know what to say to that, but could sense the anguish there. “Sorry. What’s going on with, um, Ms. Zephyr and-”

..... “It’s amazing what you’ll do for family,” Ficus told him. “Or to them, for that matter.” He put the picture in his pocket and held out his hand for the keys. Harry noticed for the first time that he was wearing thin, flesh-covered gloves. Remembering the reflection’s oven mitts, he wondered briefly if Ficus was intangible too. Then a new blast from outside made them both spin around. Cries of surprise came from other parts of the castle and Ficus growled.

..... “Those two...” he spat and went up the stairs two at a time after the Zephyrs. Not knowing what else to do, Harry followed. He noticed that Ficus didn’t need the cane to run. He carried it easily as he went. Another deep boom vibrated through the walls and all the windows flashed with green light. Harry and Ficus came out into an open corridor to see Esme and Lorelei facing off on the roof. All the windows were crowded with faces and people had gathered in the courtyard to see what was going on.

..... “What is this?” sputtered Professor Flintwick, who had come at a run from his classroom. A shower of golden sparks rained down, pinging off the walls like needles.

..... “Battle magic,” said Professor Dormire, also appearing. He clapped a hand on Harry’s shoulder and squinted up at the sisters. “Is Zephyr giving some kind of demonstration?”

..... Lorelei cast a fireball that sent a blast of heat all the way to where they were standing. Esme deflected it. A flare of light shone from her fingers and the flames parted to either side of her, scorching a few chimneys black. (“Oh, nicely done!” said Dormire cheerfully.) Then, she cast the same gust spell she’d used on Ficus back at Lorelei. The Defense witch’s robes were flattened backwards. Leaves and loose shingles went flying off into space and Lorelei slid backwards a few steps, but she was able to recover and hold her ground.

..... As more spells flickered between the women, other people gathered around Harry. A noisy “Wow!” made him look up to see Fred and George Weasely pushing their way forward for a good view. Ficus was gone, he realized after a quick glance around. Professor McGonagall stood where he had, looking aghast at the battling witches.

..... “On school grounds??” she sputtered. “Does this sort of thing happen often at Elmskill??” That last was directed at Dormire, who was politely applauding a cage capture spell cast by Lorelei.

..... “Beautifully executed!” he said. “Almost had her. Good use of the Deflecting Charm too. Oh yes, ma’am. Students often find a big, noisy demonstrations inspiring. Those are all very difficult battle spells. You have to study hard to learn those and it may not seem worthwhile unless you can see firsthand how impressive they are in action.”

..... McGonagall didn’t get to say what she thought of that because the shockwave of another explosive spell shook the castle walls. Everyone one watching was knocked back a pace. Ever the gentleman, Dormire held out a hand to steady McGonagall. Harry bumped into someone behind him and turned to apologize. It was Sirius, hooded in the crowd.

..... “What’s going on??” he shouted over the noise. Harry just pointed. The Zephyrs had destroyed a good part of the roof. Lorelei was perched on a chimney and Esme was using a levitation spell to hover over the ruined rafters. They had paused in the spell-flinging. Harry guessed they were just shouting at each other now, but was out of hearing range. Then, Esme tilted her head just enough to glance in his direction.

..... Harry blinked in surprise. Was she looking at him or Sirius? It was over in a flash though, and just as suddenly, Esme retreated. She bounded off over the rooftop. Lorelei followed her in a cloud of black fabric, leaping like a ghost from chimney to chimney. Sirius gripped Harry’s shoulders and pulled him backwards. Once free of the crowd, they ran down the hall.

..... “They have to be heading for the far tower,” Sirius said as they ducked up a flight of stairs. “It’s the only place they can get back into the castle from the roof on that side. Did you ever find the secret passage that leads to the top?”

..... “I saw it on the Map,” panted Harry. “Never used it though.”

..... “Then follow me.” Sirius slid to stop by a bare patch of wall.

..... “Oh, not you again,” sighed the old woman in the painting across from it. She waved a large ostrich plume fan under her nose with a weary sigh.

..... “Didn’t you miss me, Abigail?” Sirius asked, not even looking at her as he counted the stones down the wall. The painting snorted.

..... “You? Not especially. You never had a polite thing to say to anyone, not like that sweet Lupin boy...”

..... “Well, I’ll do it now,” Sirius said. “Please, Ms. Abigail of the Heatherdowns, would you be so kind as to say the password to open this passage?”

..... “Perhaps just this once,” the painting sighed again. Sirius rapped a certain stone with his knuckles and Ms. Abigail said. “Juggernaut.” The entire wall opened like a revolving door. Sirius was gone inside it and Harry thanked the painting, just to stay on her good side. She nodded and rolled her eyes and Harry ran into the darkness as the door shut behind him with a grating sound.

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