snape and skull

20

The Usual Suspects
I

t was not often that Lena was woken from a sound sleep by someone screaming inside her own head. She nearly slammed face first into the wall when she was jerked from a deep sleep by her aunt screaming loudly. Her body was up and running before he conscious mind even recognized she had gotten out of bed. End result, she almost crashed into the wall of her bedroom. She caught herself in time, putting out a hand and leaning on the wall. Lena had a limited rapport with those of her blood, she could sometimes sense danger or distress with her telepathy. Shaking her head, trying to clear it of sleep, the young librarian took several deep breaths and tried to analyze the terrible nightmare that had woken her.
S

he had been dreaming peacefully when suddenly she had heard Aunt Irma screaming. A wail of grief and denial, abruptly cut off. Tentatively, she lowered her Occlumency shields, something she rarely did, for in a school the size of Hogwarts, her shields kept the press of so many minds at bay, preventing her from going insane by hearing too many thoughts at once. She sent out a gentle probe, with most of the staff and students asleep, she could risk it. She didn't go far, searching for her aunt's thread of subconscious, which should have been asleep and dreaming.
Only she could not find it. It was gone, absent from the web of thoughts nearby. Panicked, Lena slammed up her shields and stuffed her feet into her slippers. Grabbing her wand, she bolted from her room and raced next door to her aunt's quarters. When her frantic knocking failed to elicit a response, she used magic to unlock the door and go inside.
There was a cheery fire in the grate, and lamps lip, but the room was empty. "Aunt Irma?" she called softly, not wishing to wake the older woman over what could have been a garden variety nightmare.
Lena crept over to the bedroom, discovering it too was empty, in fact the bed was made neatly and looked as if it hadn't been slept in yet. "She's not here!" the young woman muttered to herself. She checked in the bathroom, but Irma was nowhere to be found.
"It's half past twelve. Could she still be awake in the library?" Lena spun about and half-ran out the door, her wand clutched in her hand.
Upon reaching the library and seeing what lay upon the floor and the table, Lena gave a soft cry of distress and sank down next to the still form of Irma Pince. Two fingers probed the older witch's pulse, it was still there. The bloody lump on the back of Irma's head told a grim tale. Clearly she had been attacked from behind. Lena gently turned her over.
Irma's eyes were closed, she was pale and unresponsive.
Lena's heart began racing. Who could have done this and why? Irma had never done anyone harm. Who would have wanted to hurt her? The librarian quickly conjured a stretcher and levitated her aunt upon it. She then prepared to use the fireplace to get to the Hospital Wing. But as she walked past the table, she caught sight of poor Pippin, gruesomely displayed amid shredded books and a puddle of blood and feathers.
It was too much. Her stomach heaving, Lena darted over to the wastepaper bin and threw up. Finally, after five minutes of purging, she managed to bring her queasy stomach back under control. Then she called for the Headmaster and Severus using her talent, not trusting herself to speak at the moment.
Some seven minutes later, Lena had been joined by Dumbledore, Severus, Poppy, and Minerva. Poppy bent over to examine the unconscious Irma with her diagnostic spells while a parchment pale Lena explained how she had discovered her aunt lying face down in a pool of her own blood, and also the poor mutilated owl.
"I just don't understand . . . why would anyone harm my aunt? Or her poor owl?" Lena asked, her eyes bright with fear and shimmering with grief.
Dumbledore had gone to peer at the owl, and found the note. "A warning. Whoever harmed Irma intended the death of her familiar to be a warning to her."
"A warning of what? Not to levy an overdue book fine?" Lena asked, giving a high-pitched little giggle, though there was nothing amusing about the situation.
"I'd say it was much more serious than that," said Dumbledore gravely.
"Forgive me, I'm not myself. Is my aunt going to be all right?" Lena asked then.
Poppy looked up from her ministrations. "I'm afraid that Irma has a very bad concussion, Lena. It has caused her to have an internal bleed upon her brain. I cannot treat her here, I haven't the skill or the staff to monitor her. I must send her to St. Mungos, to the Trauma Unit. They can treat her better there." She looked sorrowfully at Lena. "May I have your permission?"
"Yes, of course." Lena said swiftly.
Poppy Flooed Irma to St. Mungos, disappearing with the stretcher into the fire.
When Lena made to follow, Severus gently laid a hand on her arm. "Lena, please accept my condolences. If you need anything—"
She pulled away from his hold, gulping hard. She looked as if she were about to burst into tears. She firmed her mouth into a stern line, her lips quivering. "Forgive me, Severus. I don't mean to be rude, but if you touch me I shall . . . that is, I might . . . fall apart right here. And I cannot afford to fall apart now. Aunt Irma needs me. But I thank you for your offer and maybe later I'll . . . take you up on it."
"I understand. If you need me, I'll be here." Severus offered.
"Again, thank you. One more thing, please bury Pippin. I can't bear to . . . see him like that. He was Aunt Irma's familiar for almost her whole life." Then she tossed down some Floo Powder and disappeared into the green flames.
Minerva looked over at the remains of the poor owl and whispered, "Albus, whoever did this is obviously . . . insane. We must protect the children."
Albus nodded. "I shall wake Filius and Pomona, and we shall search for the culprit."
"I rather doubt you'll fine whoever did this lingering about the castle," Severus pointed out. "This clearly was a warning against learning something the culprit didn't want us to know." He indicated the shredded volumes. "All of these pertain to some kind of alchemical study. Save for the book on augury. Although that could be a ploy to misdirect us. Obviously someone fears what is contained within the library. We need to set stronger wards about the library, and monitor those who come and go closely. As well as the reading material they borrow. We should also make certain no student is left without adult supervision while studying."
"Speaking of the students, what shall we tell them?" asked Minerva. "If we reveal too much, we could start a panic."
"Hmmm, yes, you're right. We should tell the students that Irma was injured and was rushed to St. Mungos, and the library was vandalized. Might I also suggest that you keep an eye on your students in your House? I would hate to think that any of them were responsible, but we cannot afford to overlook any suspects."
Both House Heads nodded grimly.
Then Severus conjured a shroud and draped it over the poor elf owl. "I shall see to the burial of this poor creature tomorrow." He quickly placed the owl into a small coffin Minerva Transfigured from a paperweight. "Trying to perform any kind of burial tonight is asking for trouble. Perhaps, Headmaster, we should inform Mrs. Norris and Argus about this incident? That way we can have an extra pair of eyes."
"That makes sense, Severus." Dumbledore waved his wand and the library was coured clean of blood and shredded parchment. "Poor Irma! She has been through so much this past year. One can only hope she recovers. Severus, you go and tell Argus what's happened and the other professors. Start trying to look for the one responsible." He eyed Minerva and said, "Minerva, I think we need to strengthen the wards again about the castle. Will you assist me?"
"Of course, Albus." The Gryffindor followed him from the room.
Severus picked up the small coffin and carefully locked and cast several more protective wards about the library. He could not help but think that strengthening the wards around the castle wouldn't do much good if the one who had caused the destruction was inside of it. He returned to his quarters briefly to put the coffin in a safe spot and rouse Skull.
The raven was his eyes and ears and would help search. Once Skull was awake, he sent the raven to speak with the school owls, who were all too eager to help find the owl killer, and the avians mounted a hunt of their own through the castle and the grounds.
Filch and the other House Heads were alerted and began to search quickly but efficiently through the school. Their efforts were fruitless, and turned up nothing, but at least they had tried.
Severus hoped that Irma would recover, it would be a great blow if they lost a member of the Society, there were so few of them. He had a strong suspicion that Quirrell was involved in this game of cat and mouse. If not directly, then he probably knew who was. Severus made a mental note to interrogate the Defense teacher as soon as he had a free moment. As he returned to his quarters for the second time, he recalled that he still had Harry's misbehavior to deal with, and all of this had occurred before five o'clock in the morning.