alt_pansy | I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good

So.

Sally-Anne and me met Professor Siz at the Archetype yesterday and had dinner. The food was really good, and she said the restaurant was very secure and discreet. And she set up additional charms for safety too.

She seemed sort of stressed. Well. I mean, she was supposed to be married over hols, only that's been put off, which makes it very understandable. But she looked less tired than she had before hols, so that's something.

And she mentioned that she'd be leaving notes and books for Charms and and Arithmancy and Runes just sort of laying around the Astronomy tower for people to use even though she couldn't directly teach us, and that if we needed a space to revise, the tower would give us some advanced warning if anyone was coming to check up on things. And she asked after people who were having a difficult time in her class, like Milli, to see if we knew if she'd got a tutor. And she said that Umbridge has been searching the staff rooms, so we ought to expect our rooms and trunks and things to be searched as well.

Anyways. After we got our food, we asked her about the blackmail. She said that Umbridge has threatened her job and her mother's job if she steps out of line, and her mother's job is the one that worries her the most, so her hands are sort of tied. And then she seemed to be a bit hesitant to talk beyond that. So what we told her was that our hands weren't tied like hers were, that we could do things she couldn't because of it, and weren't afraid to break the rules a bit to get things done. And that we were working with Harry and Cedric (she likes Cedric, and he has a Galleon, so it's not that much of a stretch), and that the Governors were in a stalemate and weren't going to do anything unless something happened to change things. And then we said that Umbridge was putting the lives of the students at Hogwarts at risk, and she looked really super guilty and sad about that.

And then, Sally-Anne looked like she'd just realised something and asked if it was Cassie. Cassie Calderwood. We'd been talking over the last few days about who it could be, and she was on our short list, and by the look on Siz's face, we hit the target head on. She actually left for a bit, and then came back and drank practically a whole bottle of ale before answering, and she said that yes, it was Cassie, and that there've been inconsistencies in the evidence.

There's a memory where Cassie's doing something with Raz. In a specific place. I think it's a place people go to have sex, but not like with prostitutes or something, because Cassie isn't one. I'm not entirely sure, she didn't want to talk about that part. Maybe it was a hotel?

Sally-Anne asked if Siz thought Raz had been Polyjuiced, and she said she wasn't sure.

Anyways, she'd seen a small part of the memory in a Pensieve, and then later thinking back she could tell that the person in it looked like Professor Raz but definitely wasn't actually him. And Professor Raz said it definitely wasn't him, only they can't sort out how Cassie's memory got like that.

And that was pretty much all of it. I mean, we expressed our sympathies about her delayed wedding, and gave them our best, and told her we'd see what we could do to talk with Cassie. I think it was really hard for her to talk about it. But I'm glad she did. And she also said that if we ever needed anything, she'd try her best to help us out, and she'd be willing to bring things in we didn't want searched if we got them to her by Saturday. And that she'd try to help a bit with food when we got back to Hogwarts, which is good to know. She also mentioned that some of the professors got together during hols and were coming up with ways to get around the decrees, but hadn't settled on anything yet. And then Sally-Anne and me went back to our flat and had cocoa.