Catch The Snitch

[[Continued from the Entrance Hall]]

Leading Rhysln down a flight of stairs, they arrived as a broad and brightly lit corridor. Several paintings, mostly depicting some kind of food, adorned the walls, and a few barrels were stacked neatly against the wall in a nook.

“Come on,” he beckoned before heading straight towards the barrels without waiting for Rhysln. With his back to her, he allowed himself a stupid grin as he passed a painting of a fruit bowl. There was a prank that he had pulled off multiple times before… but he didn’t know if Rhysln remembered enough of the Kitchen’s secret entrance to see through his trick.

Suppressing his grin, he stopped a couple of steps after the painting and turned around to check on her, and suddenly he found himself having second thoughts about proceeding with the prank. Should he? Or should he not?

Rhysln followed after him, looking around as they went. She hadn't spent too much time down here in her last couple of years, focused more on her studies than anything else. She looked at the barrels, remembering the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room was nearby. She looked over at the painting as he passed it and stopped, giving a hum, "Now, I have a feeling you're having a go at me," she said, putting her hands on her hips, "Isn't this the painting?" she nodded to it, "And you like... tickle the pear or something, I don't remember if that's exactly it, but it's something to do with that bowl," she pointed at it before looking back at Louis, giving him a look that said, "tell me I'm wrong" as she put her hand back on her hip.

She didn't mind a good prank every once in a while, so she wouldn't have been upset with a prank, but she was fairly sure she remembered the doors to Hufflepuff's common room would douse you in vinegar if you tried opening them the wrong way or weren't in Hufflepuff trying to open the door.

When Rhysln stopped at the painting of the fruit bowl, Louis knew that there was no way he could fool her. Despite her earlier claim about barely remembering how to access the kitchens, she was still able to describe broadly how one could reveal the secret entrance. Aborting his plan, he faked an innocent smile instead to cover his ruse. “Why would I do that?” he asked, pretending to be surprised for a few moments before dropping the act completely. “All right, all right, I admit, I was thinking of messing with you for a bit. My mentor used to do that to me when I least expected it. Called it ‘a test of your reflexes’,” he said as he mimicked in an exaggerated manner his mentor’s way of speaking. “But you’re sharp. Sharper than I was back then.”

“You’re right about that painting,” he continued, turning his gaze to the painting that had caught Rhysln’s eye earlier and walking over to join her. “You tickle the pear”—he gently prodded it, causing it to giggle and morph into a green doorknob—“and Bob’s your uncle.”

Taking hold of the green doorknob, Louis turned it and opened the secret door, revealing the Hogwarts kitchens that lay on the other side. To him, the spacious, high-ceilinged room was like some alternate universe version of the Great Hall. Four massive tables, in the exact same position as their counterparts upstairs but without the accompanying benches, dominated most of its interior, and a fifth one mirroring the High Table for the staff was set perpendicularly to the other four at the other end of the room. Positioned off to the sides were the stoves, ovens, cabinets and counters, while pots and pans hung from the stone walls. A handful of house-elves were hard at work, cooking and cleaning. If they were aware of the two Aurors’ presence, they made no indication of it as they continued with their chores.

“Let’s see…” Louis’ gaze jumped from house-elf to house-elf, until he finally spotted a familiar face. “Bibmy!”

The sudden sound almost made the house-elf drop the large mixing bowl she was holding. Turning to investigate the abrupt interruption, her eyes widened in surprise as she recognised the older Auror. “Master Lou?” the house-elf asked. “Do Bibmy’s eyes deceive her?” Hurrying over, she took a good look at Louis and broke into a warm smile. “It really is you, Master Lou.”

“It’s been too long,” Louis replied as he hunkered down, his cheeky grin softening as he beheld his old friend. Without warning he pulled her into a firm embrace, but Bibmy didn’t seem too startled by it. Perhaps she had been used to Louis’ antics by now.

Louis pulled away from the hug to take a proper look at Bibmy. The years had certainly taken their toll on the house-elf who had served at Hogwarts for so long and taken great care of numerous batches of students. “How have you been?”

“Bibmy is doing well,” she said, even though the understaffed kitchen suggested that things were not as the house-elf had described. “Bibmy is absolutely delighted to see Master Lou again!”

“I’m just as happy to see you again,” he replied, before gesturing towards Rhysln to introduce her to Bibmy. “Oh, I brought a friend today. This is Rhysln.”

Rhysln watched him, nodding in remembrance of having seen that happen before when she was a student, "I've always found it better to try and be aware of my surroundings than let myself get made a fool of," she explained to his comment about her being sharp.

When they entered the kitchen, she looked around, "I wonder if we ought to try and hire more elves for the school," she murmured before Louis started to talk with one of the elves there. Smiling, she stepped over as well, waving a little, "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, "I apologize for intruding, if we're in the way, we can certainly not be," she looked around again, noting the understaffing and how hard they were all having to work to take care of everything.

"Do you all need more help? I know house-eleves weren't exactly eager to come back here after everything, but there's means to hire more, or do what we need to to help," she looked back to Bibmy

Louis scratched his head and gave a rueful grin, admitting defeat at the hands of Rhysln who was, in her own words, alert enough to not fall for his tricks. “Fair play,” he said. “Always a good thing to be on your guard for anything. You’d make for a fine Auror, I’m certain of that.”

As they entered the kitchen together, the lack of house-elves at Hogwarts was obvious enough for Rhysln to notice it immediately. “They’ve probably tried and failed,” Louis noted solemly despite his cheerful expression, keeping his voice low so the house-elves wouldn’t overhear his words or suspect anything.

Bibmy gave a little curtsey as Rhysln introduced herself. “The pleasure is Bibmy’s,” the house-elf replied. “Mistress Rhysln is not in the way at all. Few students visit the kitchens these days, and your presence and Master Lou’s is very much welcome!”

“Bibmy remembers Mistress Rhysln well,” the house-elf added as she looked the trainee Auror up and down. “Mistress Rhysln was still a young student back then. But now Mistress Rhysln has grown so tall and beautiful.” There was a sense of pride in Bibmy’s voice; after all, it has been her and her fellow house-elves that took care of all the students at Hogwarts, especially during the difficult years during and immediately after the Second Wizarding War.

“You’ve never said anything as nice to me before,” Lou grumbled, pretending to be jealous of all the attention Bibmy was giving Rhysln as he quickly changed the subject back to the reason why they were here. “Anyway, we decided to drop by to thank all of you for your hard work.” As Rhysln asked if the house-elves needed more help, he nodded to show that he too shared her concerns.

Bibmy fell silent for a moment as she considered her words very carefully. That alone was more than enough to drive home the gravity of the situation, even before the house-elf gave her reply. “Headteacher Rossi did his best to convince as many house-elves to return to Hogwarts…” she said, and her voice trailed off as she turned to look at the small handful of house-elves behind her. “Some scars run deep.” The way Bibmy’s voice trembled slightly suggested that she had her fair share of trauma (or perhaps more) from the war, but she did not elaborate further. Instead, she forced a smile. “But don’t worry, Mistress Rhysln and Master Lou, Bibmy will do everything she can to make sure the students are well taken care of.”

That brave front was not what Louis wanted to see from Bibmy. Looking at Rhysln, he waited for her to speak her mind first before he added in his own views.

Rhysln made mental notes of the situation as they spoke, though she blushed a bit as Bibmy complimented her, "O-Oh thank you very much for those kind words," she said, putting a hand to her chest. When she spoke of the scars that run deep, Rhysln frowned a bit. She shook her head sadly as the house-elf spoke of trying to take care of the students.

"Of that, I have no doubt," she smiled sadly, "But alas, worrying is still something I will likely be doing. I'm not fond of standing idly by while anyone struggles unnecessarily. It may take some time, but I will find some means to find you some help, Bibmy. Though I'll make sure anyone I find gets your approval first," she said, not wanting to just throw random other house-elves into the mix and make things harder as opposed to better.

"But being short-staffed as you are, I would hate for us to be in the way. Is there anything we can do while we're here to be of assistance?" she asked, tilting her head. Her own family didn't have house-elves, her father finding them a bit unnerving, though her mother had tried to convince him. As such, Rhysln and Nautica were quite capable of fending for themselves in most matters of the home, even though they did have a human maid for the cleaning portion.

Bibmy’s eyes lit up as Rhysln promised to find a way to help the house-elves. “Bibmy and Gabdey and Hinkey and the rest cannot thank Mistress Rhysln enough!” The trainee Auror’s offer to assist the house-elves was, however, declined politely. “Mistress Rhysln has been too kind to us already,” Bibmy replied. “Bibmy dares not impose upon Mistress Rhysln any further.”

“Maybe we could help by not holding Bibmy up for too long,” Louis helpfully suggested, but the subtle wink he gave Rhysln seemed to imply that he had another idea in mind. “Oh, and before I forget… was there something you wanted to ask the house-elves?” Initially, they had come to the kitchens to further their investigation into the boggart incident, and at the same time thank the house-elves for their hard work. But after seeing firsthand how the house-elves were doing and the difficulties they were facing, they simply could not help but be distracted from their original purpose.

Rhysln smiled hearing Bibmy's response. She'd have to write to her mother about securing help for the school. It wouldn't do to have things be a strain at the very base level of function within the school. She looked at Louis as she asked the question and almost seemed confused for a moment before remembering, "O-oh yes, of course," she said. She looked back to Bibmy as she clasped her hands together, "I was wondering... the house-elves have access to various places within the school and see things that others often have no idea about. After the incident with the Boggart, I was curious if you happened to notice anything... off or strange leading up to that... or if you might have seen anything to do with how that cabinet ended up out there in the first place," she explained her thought process.

"If not, that's fine, but I thought asking couldn't hurt. I simply wish, as I'm sure the other Aurors do as well, to make sure we don't leave any stones unturned in trying to secure the school and the local area to keep everyone safe," she said, her brows furrowing a bit, a sort of visual to indicate her concern.

Bibmy listened intently as Rhysln inquired if the former had noticed anything out of the ordinary before the boggart incident occurred. For a few moments the old house-elf was silent, deep in thought as she scoured her memory of that particular day.

It seemed to Louis that she might indeed know something, and it was only when she spoke up that he realised he had been holding his breath. “Bibmy does not know if what she saw was unusual,” she began, but judging by the fact that she was mentioning it, it must have been unusual enough. “Bibmy dropped something at the paddock the day before so she went back early in the morning to look for it. Bibmy was walking back to the castle when she thought she saw a shadow by the Great Lake. It was dark and Bibmy could not get a good look before it disappeared.”

That definitely sounded suspicious to Louis. “Was that person carrying a cabinet or anything? What time do you reckon it was when you saw that person?”

Bibmy shook her head. “Bibmy does not think so. And Bibmy is sorry she does not remember what time it was exactly.”

Rubbing his chin as he tried to fit the new information into what he knew, the older Auror began to think aloud, as he tended to do. “We haven’t ruled out the possibility that the cabinet was deliberately planted by the Great Lake. Maybe someone did sneak into the school grounds under cover of darkness to do so… but why?” That was perhaps the greatest mystery: their adversary’s motive.

“What do you think, Rhysln?” he asked, hoping she might have some ideas.

Rhysln listened as well as Bibmy explained what she'd seen, seeming to have some thoughts of her own, but she didn't speak them aloud as Louis spoke his own. She hummed a bit as he tossed the question in her direction, "It could be a tactic of trying to remove the sense of safety and prove that Hogwarts and Hogsmeade are not so impervious to the issues and threats of the rest of the community," she suggested, crossing her arms, "I mean, that was proven well enough before, but the sense of the school being safe was just starting to return," she sighed, reaching up to her her temples.

"That or someone who's here has some bad blood with someone willing to do something so heinous and reckless," She added, putting her hands on her hips, "I say a trip to the lake might be on the list of places to investigate. Both where the cabinet was found by the unfortunate fellow who opened it and perhaps in the boathouse. Surely whoever left it here didn't intend to not see the results. How else could they be sure that they got the results they wished for?" she mused before turning back towards Bibmy.

She smiled effortlessly, a gesture that softened the features that had been hard and focused the moment before, like it was a mask she knew how to put on in a flash, "Thank you so much, Bibmy. I promise to look into your staffing situation as well. Perhaps we can find a way to make it beneficial for all involved," she added, bowing her head before turning and starting back out of the kitchen. She never had been one to rest on her laurels.

Rhysln’s reasoning was sound, and Louis nodded as he listened. It had been quite a while since the Second Wizarding War ended, and while the wizarding world had generally been peaceful since, Louis did not doubt that there were malicious individuals and factions working in the shadows, sowing the seeds of discord in anticipation of a crimson harvest. But ultimately the question was a direct “why?”, and if they could answer that, it would be much easier to identify and hunt down the perpetuator.

Bibmy gave a grateful, somewhat weary smile as she curtseyed. “Thank you so much, Mistress Rhysln,” she said. “But please do not feel obliged help. Bibmy and Gabdey and Hinkey and the rest are managing well.”

“Besides, it’s the Headteacher’s job to resolve such matters, not ours,” Louis chimed in, earning a giggle from Bibmy. 


“Bibmy must return to her chores now. Many rooms and corridors in the castle to be cleaned.” the house-elf continued with a bow. “Farewell, Master Louis and Mistress Rhysln.” With that, she excused herself and left the kitchens.

Once Bibmy was out of earshot, Louis’ mind returned to their investigations. Given their lack of leads, the alternative interpretation that Rhysln had raised earlier was equally likely. “As much as I don’t like the sound of it, we can’t rule out the possibility of bad blood… but with who?” he asked as he verbalised his thoughts. “As far as we know, the unfortunate fellow, Kyle Winters, woke up late and deviated from his usual running route. He wasn’t supposed to be at the Great Lake, but there he was.”

The easiest way to find out was, as Rhysln had pointed out, to visit the lake again. “Shall we head over to the Great Lake then?” he asked. “Although we’ve combed the area fairly thoroughly already, a fresh pair of eyes is always welcome. Who knows, you might find something we missed out.”

"Just because it's someone else's job doesn't mean I can't help," Rhysln said simply, giving Louis a look as she said it, "The world need not be so black and white. It would be better to see it more as a see wat you can do to help and do it."

She was already walking when Bibmy excused herself, starting towards the Great Lake, "As far as we know? I'm assuming that means that all that's been done to verify that is a conversation with the student in question?" she asked as she walked, the gears turning in her head. She'd learned a thing or two about how to sort of discuss things like this from watching some older Aurors when she'd gone to the ministry for some training and shadowing.

"And perhaps I can be of help there. Looking at it from a different perspective," she nodded then looked over her shoulder as she walked, "Did anyone look in the lake?" she asked.

It was back to work for the two Aurors as they headed towards the Great Lake to resume the investigations. “Quite a lot more actually,” Louis replied. “But the talk with the boy’s the only front where we made any meaningful progress.” Shaking his head, he began to rattle off the long list of things they had already done. “Searched the incident location for any clues and traces of magic. Widened the search area to include the Forbidden Forest. Checked the cupboard for any irregularities. Questioned the residents of Hogsmeade and a few students.” He threw up his hands in exasperation. “Zilch. Nothing but dead ends. It’s as though our mysterious perpetuator Apparated in and out of the school grounds, which shouldn’t be possible.”

As Rhysln asked if they had looked inside the lake, the older Auror gave a hesitant half-nod. “Sort of. We only did a cursory check before realising how ill-prepared we were to plumb the dark and murky depths.” Right then, something else occurred to him. “Come to think of it, we could have just asked the merpeople if they noticed anything unusual. Although that’s easier said than done.”

Rhysln quietly considered the information as Louis presented it, putting her hands on her hips as she thought, her brow furrowing, "I see," she drawled, to make it clear she was listening even though she was thinking still. There were so many different ways it could be considered and all her training and education were competing for a voice.

"Considering everything we know, and thinking about the complexities of magical security at Hogwarts, I wonder if we've overlooked something simpler, yet hidden in plain sight," she began, "Could the cabinet have been concealed within Hogwarts long before being moved?" A look for horses rather than Zebras kind of thought process, "Perhaps we should consult the castle's ghosts. Bibmy's mention of a shadow—could it have been someone familiar with Hogwarts' secret passages or someone with knowledge of concealing their actions, even from house-elves?"

"I wouldn't discount asking the merfolk, though we'd need a translator and a way to negotiate a conversation with them. Also, no barrier is truly infallible, with the right combination of artifacts, any can be bypassed if one is determined enough. I've read of a few, but they're rare," she mused.

Continuing to walk and think, those brows not lifting, "Was the Headmaster also questioned? Or any professors?" she looked to him, trying to consider all angles of the puzzle. That's what this was now, a puzzle. The immediate threat had been removed, but any number of these issues could arise to be a different issue in the future. She then flushed a little, "Oh, I'm not overstepping my bounds, am I?" she asked, drawing up short, "My apologies if I have. Nautica always tell me I get a bit carried away when I'm interested in something."