Professor McGonagall watches Anders and Snape leave shrugs and mutters something about 'men and their little games'

She turns to Asriel and crosses her arms. " Now my boy. Try and stay calm, we'll get you out of there… whichever one of you is supposed to be in there anyway."

She sounds flippant, but only to try and calm him down. Inside she is rather worried about what was going on. And how the Ministry Wizards knew this boy when she wasn't sure she had seen him about before.

She didn't like these 'WIBS' as they had come to be called. She hated the Dementors more of course, and she understood the Ministry needed such 'agents'. 'Failed Auroras' she had heard, good with Magic, and trained to obey orders, but they lost something of their 'humanity' in that training.

When they asked… no TOLD her to find the boy called Asriel. She almost told them where they could go! But she knew that the Headmaster would not have been pleased with that. But… to hell with them. Whatever this boy was wanted for, he was still child. And a pupil of Hogwarts, so they could just wait, and SHE would decide when, or if, to get them.

She shuddered and looked to the door, hoping Professor Snape would not be long.

Asriel rocked back and forth in his chair, his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Sweat dripping from his face, he looked as if the devil possessed him. Snape had tied his hands tightly behind the chair before he'd left with Professor Grimalkin

"Mineeeeeerrrrrrrrvaaaaaaaaaaaa," he said half singing. "Untie me, Minerva. Untie me now. We can be friends."

He continued to rock back and forth, giggling. Occasionally his eyes would cross the room in a confused fashion. Obviously it was Andy trying to find out what the hell was going on. They awaited for Snape to return.

After depositing Anders Grimalkin Professor Snape made his way back through the corridors. On the way he encountered Marcus Falconer on his way back from Gryffindor Tower.

"A timely meeting I think, Marcus. Would you come with me to the teacher's lounge? There is a problem involving transfiguration. Your speciality I believe? Professor McGonagall is there now with a student."

"I had hoped to see you Professor" said Marcus talking as they walked briskly through the halls.

"I am a little concerned about my charge, Nimue Hawkwood. I may be overly concerned but she seems to have formed some attachment to our new DADA professor whom I believe she first encountered in your office when she was there unattended. It's probably just a school girl crush but given her temperament and that she sometimes works unsupervised in your office...."

"It hadn't escaped my notice." replied Professor Snape, "she is very like her aunt whom attended Hogwarts when I was a student. Always one for adopting the outcast...." He paused for a moment then continued:

"However, your concern echoed my own and I have spoken to Professor Grimalkin quite frankly about it and he assures me it goes no further than he finds her a sweet child so we will leave it at that. I will take extra care to make sure any work she does in my office is supervised and I would be surprised if once the term begins she doesn't find some admirer of her own age and class among the new students."

Moments after this they arrived at the Teacher's lounge and entered to assist Professor McGonagall with her problem.

************

Hyacinth should have been asleep, but she wasn't. She was instead fully dressed and drifting, silent as a ghost that doesn't inhabit Hogwarts.

Why she was doing this was simple...She had had one of those dreams again, the kind that tended to disturb her. It had involved a lot of people dying, and somehow, she had been the cause of it. She had woken up in a cold sweat, and spent a rather non-productive half hour staring at the ceiling, trying to stop shaking. Now, wandering the quiet, benighted halls of the old castle, she began to relax. Here, in the quiet silence of the evening, only the ghosts would bother her, and they generally didn't. Enough things bothered her as it was.

She had existed for two full years now at Hogwarts, simply one of those permanent but quirky fixtures. She was a small, pixie-ish girl with long, thick black hair that usually managed to fall into her face and large, intense dark eyes that seemed to miss little of the world around her. The thing that made it so easy for people to simply ignore Hyacinth was that she never spoke. Not once. People had tried, both teachers and students, to get her to talk, but she just wouldn't. Some people thought she was mute, but then, how could she possibly work her wand? Sometimes, people would whisper that every time she did speak, slugs would fall out of her mouth because she was cursed.

The simple fact was that none of that was true. The truth was far less sinister. The truth was that Hyacinth had a horrible stutter, which, added to the fact that she was afraid of her own shadow, kept her silent. If she didn't speak, she reasoned, no one would laugh at her for her speech impediment.

She had managed to keep the teachers from being overly concerned by simply sitting in a back corner of whatever classroom she was in, her head hidden in a book...After the first few times teachers called on her in class and she *tried* to open her mouth to force words out, they simply quit trying.

As she drifted along, the sound of voices--louder and somehow less ignorable than the usual voices that inhabited an old building like Hogwarts--brought the young girl to a dead stop.

Quickly, she scampered into a nearby alcove, where she could be hidden and not be seen. She saw them--Professor Snape speaking to some man about a girl who apparently had a crush on the latest DADA teacher...Flattening herself further against the wall, Hyacinth held her breath until they passed. Wouldn't do to be caught out at night--especially not by--a teacher!

She had never been caught at her one constant breaking of school rules--this constant drifting around the castle--and she didn't want to get into trouble...That would mean people would notice her, maybe some of them would try to make her talk...and they would find out! To her relief, the voices passed out of earshot, and she quickly came to the decision that she'd better not be there in case they came back. Scampering out of the alcove, she started back toward the Ravenclaw quarters, trying to calm her racing heart.

Sarah had left the dining hall as soon as possible after Dumbledore's speech. Dance cool - she'd already lined up a date. She was alcove hiding as usual trying to find a corner for a smoke.

She'd enjoyed her lessons though was somewhat disappointed when Arcadia and Katia had appeared as new Slytherin House members. Drat she was stuck in Ravenclaw and although she liked Kat Black tremendously there was little chance she's replace the - *what was it Tish had said her sister who was also called Nimue had been called - oh yeah Ninny - perfect* - the 'Ninny'.

Sarah spotted Hyacinth Rose's progress as they both had 'hid out' to avoid Snape and the Ninny's pretty bird-boy..oh yeah Falconer *Gosh, did no one see that one coming* passing by. Hyacinth Rose was exactly the kind of kid Sarah liked. Definite possibilities...

"Hey kiddo, you're pretty brave wandering about. You're the quiet one aren't you? I thought you were Joss for a moment haunting the place. But she hasn't been seen since the Ball - and you don't float."

Sarah's spiky short hair and cheeky grin was at odds with her neat robes. She was making an 'effort' this year to not look like too much of an outsider plus she was sick of being told off. She now had a Fifth Year prefect for a 'boyfriend' and he had 'standards' - yawn.

"Heading for Ravenclaw? You can just nod if ya don't want to talk. I've got enough talk for the both of us."

Hyacinth was momentarily startled by the other girl's approach. She recognised her, of course. They were in the same year. She was the kind of girl Hyacinth would dearly have loved to approach herself but hadn't ever dared to.

She nodded her head as Sarah asked if she were heading back to Ravenclaw...she wanted to ask how the other girl had come to be in the same situation as she was now, but didn't dare... She walked along, listening to the stream of chatter and allowing herself to relax...just a bit...

"Not a lot of chat in you is there?" enquired Sarah a somewhat rhetorical question, "Anyway, here we are back at Ravenclaw. You'd better stay down for the night as ole Argus Filch might be on the prowl and we have DADA at last in the morning!" There had been no DADA teacher or classes in the first term of this year.

Hyacinth shook her head at Sarah's question, and shot the other girl a tentative smile as she made her way back to her bed. Once in the relative quiet of the dorm, she closed her eyes and tried, at last successfully, to fall asleep.

Term started in the morning...She could feel her stomach doing wild flip-flops. And DADA was the first class! Oh, dear...what would this new teacher be like? Maybe...she hoped...he would just let her sit in the Don't-notice-me-please corner of the room, and leave her alone...Please, let him leave her alone, she prayed to any deities listening. She fell asleep, however, with a sinking suspicion that her days of simply hiding in corners were about to come to an end.

*************************************

The professor was relieved that Severus had Finally remembered her. She didn't want the anger of the WiBs about the time she was taking, and if they didn't do this soon then they would find her again. And she REALLY didn't want that.

As Asriel was tied to a chair she beckoned Snape and Marcus over to the other side of the room where she scribbled on a paper, so that Asriel could not see what she was planning.

The paper said: "Marcus, help me transform the child back into Andy Warden, I hope you remember him... Severus, when he is back, take the amulet from his neck as fast as you can. Use the window opening pole to remove it, and don't touch it."

The two gave her strange looks, but complied. She and Marcus concentrated on Asriel and built a spell that made him start to transform...

Professor Snape had trusted Professor McGonagall realised that his 'errand of mercy' with respect to Anders hardly was of his choice and the slight delay seemed to have allowed her to get matters 'in hand' with respect to the boy. Plus, he had picked up assistance in the form of Marcus which he expected made some recompense for the delay.

She knew what she wanted and he stood ready to follow her instructions and then attempt to salvage something of the rest of his evening!

He intended to write to Hades Lagrand about his removal of his children from Hogwarts. Severus didn't think children of wizarding folk should be wrapped up in cotton wool and 'protected', any student taking his Potions class would realise this.

"Just take off the amulet. Don't write a spell. Don't..." he said.

None of them knew why Andy didn't want his old body back, but they knew he had something up his sleeve.

"Professor, I suggest we ignore anything this boy says and get on with your plan." said Professor Snape with some harshness.

Professor McGonagall gave Snape a dirty look while she was struggling with the transformation. Between her and Marcus they managed to return the body to the form of Andy. It looked painful, but they were not going to stop and let the 'other side' of him escape. Little bits of the two body's seem to be in the same place at once for a while, but they managed to stabilise his normal form.

"Snape take the amulet quick." She was showing perspiration across her brow with the effort to hold him in the correct form.

Snape leant over with the stick - the one that would normally be used for opening and closing the windows that could not be reached - and carefully removed the amulet from the boy's neck.

Prof. McGonagall left out a sigh, and released the spell that she and Marcus had woven. "Thank you," she sighed at Marcus and Severus.

"I will take that." She took the amulet, now harmless even though it had allowed Andy to transform. She held the amulet for Andy to see.

"Ok, you will be safe now. I will hold onto this for you as I do not think it is safe for you to have. It is no good trying to find it or steal it as it will be well hidden behind various spells in a very safe place. Prof. Snape will release you from those bonds in 10 minutes, and then he and Marcus will escort you to where some very angry WiBs are STILL waiting for you."

"Thank you professor, Marcus." She left taking the amulet with her, and leaving the Andy that everyone would recognise, back in his normal state, it looking a little flustered.

After thanking the professors and Marcus, Andy walked down the corridor with a pain in his leg and a thought in his head. He was upset. Evil thoughts in his head wouldn't go away. He could feel the absence of Asriel. He felt...alone. Again. Tears streamed from his face. He walked five more paces and with a big thump, he fell to the floor. His legs had turned to rubber. Seriously. And to only make things worse, hovering over him were two large WiBs, one holding out his wand.

The one holding the wand said, "You got away from us once, Asriel. You're not going to get away again."

*************

London

Later that same evening Emrys Hawkwood was catching up with some paperwork in his study at home when Nimue's owl reached him. He read through the impassioned letter with interest taking in the points raised by his fourteen-year-old daughter.

The revelation last November of her parents' long-term plan to arrange a marriage between Nimue and the son of Titus Ward, seemed to have had an extraordinary effect on his naturally quiet and reserved child.

"This betrothal has done Nimue the world of good" he remarked to his wife, Viviane, who had come in to enquire about the owl, "here look she's almost demanding that we release them from it!"

"That's so unlike her" said Viviane, examining the letter. "I expected she'd play out the dutiful daughter without any trace of this sort of rebellious streak. Looks as though you may have been right that there's more spirit in her than I imagined. Or it may just be a phase testing us against her own will-power."

"I think not. We both know the real reason behind this." His wife nodded her ascent, " What do you intend to answer?" she asked.

"I'm unsure but I'll consult the Oracles and see what is the best course of action. "