The Darkwood Wand

Judgment

A quick note: In case you missed it in the comments, no belladonnas were killed in the writing of this story. I just needed a reason for Isobel to be on the grounds so she could talk to Hermione and direct her to the greenhouses. It's a tough little plant and Isobel has provided much-needed support so it can survive. Looking back, I should have been more explicit because the discussion does sound grim.

Draco didn't know why he ever bothered making plans. Like his good deeds, his plans never worked out. He'd planned to spend Monday night following Granger as she followed Tennant. That was his fatal mistake.

Monday had started off well enough: No classes, and Tennant had spent the morning sleeping off his busy night. After lunch Tennant headed to the library to confront Granger and got a book dropped on his head for his trouble. Draco couldn't hear what was said, but Granger stormed out of the adjoining section soon after and she looked alright.

Draco then followed Tennant and Granger back to the dungeons and waited. Tennant was always more active at in the evening but Draco was ready for anything.

Alas, it was not to be; Draco's plans were thwarted by Granger's ongoing feud with Trelawney, of all things. The two witches' mutual disdain had come to a head in Friday's Divination class, with Trelawney announcing that Mars was in retrograde and Granger insistent that it was not. The professor's star charts were the stuff of fiction, the Gryffindor had lectured. The planet in retrograde was Jupiter, which according to her calculations meant everyone in the class should either be dead or embroiled in a property dispute.

Trelawney was incensed and spent Monday's staff security seminar plotting revenge. That very afternoon she cast a ward on her Divination ladder, one designed to reject "lost souls devoid of an Inner Eye." Unfortunately for the professor, the ladder included Trelawney in that category and wouldn't allow her to enter the classroom. The Seer showed up to dinner hysterical, claiming that dark spirits were barring her literal path to enlightenment.

"Now Sybil, of course the ladder welcomes your Inner Eye," McGonagall said in a rolling tones to be heard over Trelawney's sobs. "And I'm sure one of your Advanced Divination students can help you sort it out."

The Headmistress' pale, spectacled eyes scanned the four House tables. "Mr. Malfoy?" she called. "I assume you are available?"

Draco choked on his tea as murmurs swept the Great Hall. Trelawney stopped crying immediately.

"Yes, yes, we shall appeal to the Spirits together, Mr. Malfoy," the Seer crooned, "as Mars meets the moon. In retrograde."

The entire Slytherin table was snickering now. Only Granger, the dark catalyst of it all, paid the scene no mind; she was too absorbed in a huge grey book embossed with silver. Draco managed a quick look at the title as he left the hall after Tennant, his appetite gone. Granger was reading "Durmstrang: A Directory." Brilliant. That didn't look suspicious in the least.

Tennant returned to the Slytherin common room, where he dragooned the best sofa for himself and his little fan club. Draco settled in a nearby corner to read the Prophet and ignore Trelawney's increasingly desperate owls until a stern message from McGonagall sent him to the Divination Tower. There Draco found Trelawney throwing flower petals at her ladder and speaking in tongues.

"Accept me, O Merciful Spirits!" the professor sobbed. To no avail, however; every time she touched the ladder, its surface glowed and pushed her away.

Annoyed, Draco opened a tall window to dissipate the smell of lavender and gestured to Trelawney to step aside. Then he climbed a few creaky rungs (apparently his own Sight passed muster) to inspect the joints.