After supper, Severus called Holly and Harry into the living area and had them sit on the couch.  Harry flopped down bonelessly next to his father, then winced, for his bottom was still sore.  Holly sat down with a wary look on her face, wondering if she had done anything to get in trouble for, but couldn't figure out what it was. 

Severus remained silent for a moment, unsure of how best to proceed.  At last he decided to just say it straight out and cleared his throat.  "I have just received a letter from a former schoolmate of mine, Narcissa.  And it concerns you, Holly." He looked directly at the small girl, who was sitting bolt upright on the couch with her hands folded, her sapphire eyes pensive, she was wearing a soft gray skirt and a Slytherin pullover one of his students had given her. 

"Me?" she repeated, puzzled.

"Yes, you see . . .Narcissa is the wife of Lucius Malfoy.  He was married to her before he . . .ah . . .met your mother.  They have a son, Draco, he is Harry's age.  Narcissa wrote me to say that she had just learned about you and your mother, Holly, and to tell me that she is leaving her husband."

Holly sat stunned for a long moment.  Then she said, very softly, "Is she leaving him ‘cause of me, Severus?"

"No.  She's leaving him because she does not trust him and she is frightened.  She is afraid he will hurt her and her son, since she is aware of how he treated you and your mother.  And she has asked me to help her take Draco away from his father, legally and physically."

"Is Draco a wizard?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Holly's hands twisted in her lap.  "Then I guess  my father likes him better.  I can't believe I have another brother.  And a  . . .stepmother, I guess." She bit her lip.  "I think now I know why he didn't care so much about me, if he already had a wife and a kid. What did he need me for? He already had a wizard kid to love, right?"

"Holly, Lucius didn't care about you because he is a fool and wouldn't know love if it came and kicked him in the backside.  I do not think he loves his son either, only the fact that Draco has magic and is the heir he needed to inherit his name and his property and Galleons.  And that is what Narcissa believes also, which is why she has left and come to me asking for help."

"Are you gonna help her, Dad?" asked Harry.

"Yes.  She and Draco deserve to be free of Lucius's dark shadow."

"That's good, I guess." Holly remarked.  Then she said diffidently, "But Severus, does that mean I have to live with them now?"

"No, little one.  Draco may be your blood relative, but that does not mean Narcissa assumes responsibility for you.  As I said before, you are my daughter and you belong in this family. Unless . . .you wish to live with Narcissa and Draco?" Severus queried gently.

Holly shook her head.  "No, I want to stay here with you.  You saved me from the snow and everything and I like having you for my . . .dad and not Lucius.  And Harry for my big brother. You were what I Saw in the fire that night, not them. I'd like to meet my . . .other brother though.  D'you think he'll like me?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Harry demanded.

Holly gave him a look that said he was being dense.  "You know why not, Harry. "Cause I'm a Squib."

"Oh.  Well, he will if he knows what's good for him.  If he starts anything with you I'll knock him into next week." Harry said, a fierce protectiveness shining in his green eyes.

"Harry James Snape, have you learned nothing from being grounded for fighting previously?" demanded his father, frowning down at his son. 

"I know, Dad, but this is different." Harry argued.  "If I'm Holly's big brother and so is Draco, then that makes him my brother too, sort of.  And if he starts picking on her, I've a right to teach him a lesson, since he's family."

Severus just stared at him.  "Where on earth do you come up with such logic?" he muttered, half to himself, putting a hand to his forehead.  "Harry, if Draco needs a lesson in manners, either I or Narcissa will teach him, not you.  That is our responsibility.  Am I understood?"

"Yeah, but if he starts anything-"

"Harry!" Severus rebuked sharply.

"Okay, okay.  Fine, Dad.  If he starts talking trash about Holly, I'll get you and you can kick his arse. ‘Cause nobody talks that way about my sister, even if he's her real brother or whatever."

"You're my real brother too, Harry." Holly put in loyally.

Severus groaned and shook his head.  "What am I going to do with you two?"

"Uh . . .be nice and don't ground me for a month if I happen to slip and punch Draco in the nose?" Harry teased.

"Nice try, boy." Severus mock-growled.  "You'd better behave, Mr. Snape.  I want you to all try and get along, not be at each other's throats like two jealous dogs."

"We will, long as he's nice to Holly," Harry insisted stubbornly.

Severus fixed him with an uncompromising glare.  "Behave, Harry.  That is not open for negotiation.  I'm proud that you want to protect and defend your sister, but you can't go around letting your fists do your talking.  Self-control, remember? It's one of the most important lessons a wizard needs to learn.  You will always find people who are prejudiced, who think that just because a person is different, they are beneath them, but you cannot pound your beliefs into their heads, Harry. Even if you're right and they're wrong.  It won't work.  Trust me on that."

"How do you know? You try it once?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did." Severus admitted wryly, recalling the many scraps of his youth with the Marauders, who were forever on about a half-blood Slytherin daring to try and go out with a Gryffindor witch.  "And all it got me was a broken nose." He rubbed the bridge of his nose.  "So, if you don't want to spend the rest of this term grounded, my boy, and scrubbing my classroom with a toothbrush, you will take my advice."

"Yes, sir," Harry promised, and gave his father a lopsided grin. 

Severus turned to Holly.  "Is there anything else you would like to ask me, Holly?  I have known the Malfoys for several years, Narcissa went to Hogwarts with me and I have also met Draco several times.  I think . . .though he may resemble Lucius, he is not like him in spirit."

"You do?" there was hope in her voice now.  "Good, ‘cause I don't want him to hate me too, like my fa-Lucius does."

"Oh, child.  I do not think Draco is his father's son," Severus began, putting an arm about her. "There is much of his mother in him."

"And even if he is a jerk and doesn't like you, Holl, you'll always have us.  You're a Snape too.  Dad and I will like you no matter what." Harry reassured her.

She gave him a sweet smile.  "Thanks, Harry." But a part of her still feared that this new relative of hers, the only other blood relation she had save Lucius, would also reject her.  She felt conflicted and anxious and it was then that she recalled her journal.  She wriggled free of Severus's arm and said quietly, "I think I need to go and write in my journal, Sev."

The Potions Master nodded in understanding.  "Go on then.  It's a lot for you to take in at once, I know."

"Yeah.  I just need to be alone for a bit." Holly said, then she turned and ran into her room to write down her feelings in her journal. 

"Will she be okay, Dad?" she heard Harry ask worriedly, as she was shutting her door.

"Yes, I think she will.  It's a shock, but she's a strong girl, Harry.  She'll deal with it. And if she needs us, we're right here."

Holly grinned.  She liked it when Severus said she was a strong girl.  Like her mother.  And Elizabeth the First.  Elizabeth had half-siblings too, a brother and a sister, just like Holly.  The girl pulled out a ballpoint Susan had given her and her blue journal and began to write.

Tonight I learned I've got a brother I never knew about.  He's my father's son, his name is Draco and I hope he doesn't think I'm a worthless Squib the way my father Lucius does.  Except Lucius isn't my dad anymore . . .not since Severus rescued me from the snow.  HE's my dad now . . .even though we're not blood, he's my dad here, in my heart.  Maybe one day I can get up the nerve to call him Dad, like Harry does.  He's the first grown-up since Mum died that's cared about me and I wish I really was his daughter. 

But guess you can't have everything.  And I'm lucky to have him and Harry to be there for me. 

Harry's the best big brother, I think, he even said he'd beat up Draco if he was mean to me.  I really hope that doesn't happen and not just ‘cause I don't want Harry to get in trouble.  Draco's my brother too and I'd like to have two brothers, as long as he's not like Daddy-I mean Lucius-all snotty and full of himself.  Wonder what his mum's like? Will she like me? Hope she's not like the wicked stepmother in Cinderella that I read about in Severus's library.  Least I won't have to live with her.  I really really hope they like me . . .I'm sick and tired of wizards making fun of me and talking trash about me just ‘cause I don't have a lot of magic.  I'm still a person, aren't I?

Sev says I can be whatever I want to be, but sometimes I wonder if that's true.  He thinks it is, and he knows a lot more than I ever will so maybe . . .maybe I ought to believe him . . .

She felt herself drifting off to sleep in mid-word, and she dropped the pen and put her head down on her arm.

That was how Severus found her several hours later, asleep with her head on the open journal. 

He gently closed it and placed it upon the nightstand, waved his wand and replaced her clothes with a nightgown and socks, for it was chilly in the dungeons this time of year.  "Pleasant dreams, little one," he whispered as he tucked her in.  He kissed her forehead and then departed.

He would meet with Narcissa tomorrow morning and together they would figure out a plan to incriminate Lucius, and take Draco away from the manor.

* * * * * *

 The next morning was a Saturday, and Severus rose early to go to Hogsmeade  and meet Narcissa in disguise at the Hog's Head.  He had instructed the children to go down to Hagrid's hut after they woke and ate breakfast in the hall, along with Silver, the gamekeeper wanted to show them how to properly care for the owl that had crashed into Harry, and help him feed and groom the unicorns.

"I should return around early afternoon, hopefully for lunch, but if not, you may either eat lunch with Hagrid or return to the hall and eat with Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall and the rest of the staff," Severus had told Harry just before saying good night to his son last night. 

The Potions Master hurried and dressed in casual wizard attire, not his familiar Potion Master's robes, and cast a Glamour charm upon himself that altered his appearance to a short dumpy man with reddish hair and watery blue eyes, the total opposite of his actual appearance.  He had sent a short note to Narcissa telling her what he would look like and that he would meet her at the Hog's Head.  She had written back saying she would be in disguise also, given him a description, and said she would be at the table in the right back corner.  She had also asked him to please look after her injured owl, Shimmer. 

Severus knew that Shimmer was in good hands with Hagrid, who cared for all living creatures, non-magical and magical, with compassion and competence.  Not to mention outcast students as well, the other thought, hiding a slight smile.  He knew that perfectly well, for he had once been one of Hagrid's outcasts, and the big man had taught him much about the Forbidden Forest and herbs that grew there that helped him immensely in creating potions.  He had also taught the young Severus how to ignore the cruel taunts of his classmates by creating a space inside his head and going there when someone was insulting him.  Make a shell round yerself, Sev, so whatever someone says t'you that's nasty, it'll bounce right off you.  It had worked, for the most part, and he had used it during his days as a spy to distance himself from the horror he was forced to witness.

Confident that the gamekeeper would manage to keep the two kids out of trouble for the time being, Severus tucked his wand in his sleeve and then Apparated to the wizarding village just beyond the borders of Hogwarts, hoping to conclude his business with Narcissa in a timely fashion.

* * * * * *

Holly awoke before Harry that morning, and after she had dressed and combed her hair, using some of the Hair Elixir Mindy, a Slytherin fifth year, had given her, to make her hair soft and silky, she went to shake awake her brother.

"Rise and shine, sleephyhead!"

"Ugghh!" Harry groaned, rolled over, and stuffed his head in his pillow.  "Go ‘way.  It's not time to get up."

"C'mon, Harry.  I want to eat breakfast and then help Hagrid." She shook his shoulder insistently. 

Harry cracked open an eyelid and grumbled, "Who died and made you my mum?"

She rolled her eyes at him.  "Don't be a grouch.  Get up! Before all the good food is gone and all that's left is cold oatmeal."  She grimaced, for she had eaten cold oatmeal before, and while it tasted horrid, it was not half as bad as some of the other things she had scrounged from the trash. 

"That'd never happen here," mumbled her brother.  "Lemme sleep, Holl."

She huffed exasperatedly.  "Harry James Snape if you don't get up in like five minutes, I'm going to . . .pour freezing water down your pants."

Both eyes popped open.  "You wouldn't DARE!"

"Wouldn't I?" she said, an impish smirk on her face.

"You do that and I' ll . . .I'll . . ." he fumbled for a suitable threat, but was too sleepy to come up with one.  "I'll make you sorry!"

"Uh huh.  Sure you will." She stuck her tongue out at him.  "I'll be waiting in the den with Silver.  You've got five minutes."

Then she sashayed out of his room, leaving a rather stunned Harry lying on his bed, wondering if Holly actually had the nerve to do what she had said.  Something about her tone and the way she had looked at him, similar to the way his father sometimes looked, made him think she might actually follow through with her threat.

He yawned and buried his face in his pillow.  Merlin, but she was forgetting who was the older kid around here! It was supposed to be the other way around! Wasn't it?

I'm just gonna close my eyes for a few seconds.  It's so warm and comfy here, and I'm not all that hungry yet, and Hagrid will wait on us, even if we did promise we'd be there around ten o'clock, and it's nine now, he thought lazily, darting a quick glance at the Snitch-shaped clock on his nightstand.  Slowly, his eyes closed and he slipped back into the realm of dreams.

Only to be awakened by a cascade of freezing water hitting his bottom and the backs of his thighs.

"AHHHH!

Icy water ran in rivulets down his legs, his pajamas and part of his mattress were soaked and he was now very wide awake.

He sat bolt upright, his teeth chattering, and yelled, "Holly Amanda Sinclair, you are so-o-o dead!"

His sister was standing a few feet away from his bed, a plastic pitcher in her hand, giggling hysterically. "I warned you, Harry!" She sniggered uncontrollably at the sight of her brother, dripping wet, his hair sticking out every which way, indignant as cat stuck in a bathtub.  "You shoulda believed me!"

"You little brat!" he growled, then yelped as he sat up on something very cold and slippery.  "Arghhh! You put ice down my shorts!"

Holly howled in mirth as Harry jumped up and began doing a strange hopping dance across the carpet, trying to remove the ice from his shorts. 

"It's not funny, you sly little . . ." he cried, wriggling in embarrassment, for his backside now felt tinglingly numb . 

"Gotcha, Harry!" Holly laughed, clutching her sides.

Harry squirmed and twisted about for a few more minutes until the ice had fallen out of his pajama bottoms, then he gave the giggling imp a Snape glare and said, "One night, I'm gonna tip you and your bed into a bath of ice water, swear by Merlin's hat!"

"Wanna bet?" she smirked at him, then she ran, because Harry had a wicked gleam in his eyes and had grabbed up his practice wand.

"Just wait . . .till I get you . . .I'll teach you to prank your big brother!" Harry threatened, pretending to be angry. 

He chased her all around the apartment, finally cornering her in the kitchen against the sink.  "Ah ha! Now you're gonna pay!"

"No! Please! It was a joke!" she half-pleaded, holding out her hands.

"So's this!" Her brother snickered, then shot a jet of water from his wand, soaking her.

"Ahhh! It's cold! No fair!" she shrieked, trying to cover herself. 

"Is too! You started it!" he pointed out.  "Now you look like the Little Mermaid!"

"W-well at l-least that's b-better than looking like a d-drowned penguin!"

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

She imitated the way he had been jumping and dancing about moments before and suddenly Harry quit being annoyed and started laughing instead.  He laughed and laughed, and Holly laughed with him, the two them nearly prostrate on the floor with mirth.

Silver, who had watched the two chase each other with resigned amusement, now padded into the kitchen and cast them a look of mild reproof. 

Seeing it, the two giggled even harder, and Harry said impudently, "Okay, Uncle Remus, we'll be good! Not!"

Silver sat down and heaved a sigh, careful to avoid the puddles on the floor.

At last the two managed to quit laughing and then Holly looked around and said, "Harry, we'd better clean this up, before Severus has our hides.  I don't wanna be grounded for life."

Harry looked at the kitchen floor, which resembled a small lake, and nodded.  "Me either. Okay, now how did that cleaning charm go again?"

* * * * * *

They managed to get down to breakfast around nine-thirty, clean and dressed, leaving the suite spic and span, though Harry was still making sly threats about dunking Holly in an ice-cold bathtub.  Or maybe the Black Lake.  But Holly wasn't fazed, she knew him too well.

They were greeted pleasantly by Albus, Minerva, Professor Sprout and Madam Hooch.  Both children remembered their manners and said good morning politely, then helped themselves to the steaming platters of eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, and pancakes dripping with maple syrup.

The water fight had made both children work up a good appetite, and they ate until they were stuffed, then excused themselves and headed down to Hagrid's hut.  Silver followed a short ways behind, watchful and alert, until the children were safely inside, then he lay down on the porch with his head on his paws and napped for awhile.

"Hiya Harry! Hello, Holly! How's yer morning going?"

"Wet," replied Harry.

Hagrid looked puzzled.  "I don' unnerstand.  It's a beautiful morning."

Harry looked at Holly and grinned.  "It's a little joke," he explained and his sister giggled.  "Where's the owl?  Did you find out who she belonged to?"

"Yup.  Professor Snape tol' me her name is Shimmer and she belongs to a lady named Narcissa.  She's in here," he beckoned them into his small cottage, where the pretty silver owl was perched in a cage, one wing splinted, sleeping.  "There she is.  Cracked a few wing bones, but its nothin' that won't heal in a week or so thanks to yer dad's Bone Knit Elixir, Harry."

"Poor thing!" Holly said, moving closer to peer at the bird through the cage bars.  "She's very pretty, like moonlight on snow." She reached out  afinger to touch the bird, but Hagrid captured her hand.

"Careful, Holly! She might take a nip at ya, since she ain't feeling so well right now, an' she don't know you.  So just look at her for a bit, all right?"

"Oh, sure, Hagrid. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, jus' be careful," Hagrid said gently, not wanting to make her feel bad.

He opened the owl's cage, and removed her water and food, telling the children that owls needed fresh owl pellets and water every day and a sick owl needed more food and water multiple times a day.  They also needed to be kept warm, which was why her cage was next to his black stove and he showed them a soft blue blanket that he placed over the cage at night to keep Shimmer free from drafts.

"Another thing y'gotta remember is that owls don't like loud noises, so y'gotta speak soft and move slow around them, see?"

Holly and Harry soaked up his lesson like sponges and helped Hagrid clean out the owl's cage and refill her food and water dishes and the gamekeeper let them each stroke the sleepy owl as a reward for doing a good job.

Then he gave them soft brushes and currycombs and told them to go out to the corral and start grooming the unicorns.  This was something they had already learned how to do, and they needed no further urging. 

Harry had just finished rubbing Magic's coat with a soft cloth, making the golden hide sparkle like a thousand Galleons, when  suddenly a brown streak jumped up on top of the fence, meowing urgently.

Harry turned around and Magic whickered nervously. "Hey! It's Mrs. Norris."

The tabby meowed again, her tail lashing, pacing up and down the fence. 

"Something's wrong," Holly said, feeling an instinctive tremor of fear flutter through her.  "She hardly ever leaves the castle." She extended her hand to pet the cat, who rubbed up against her and meowed sharply.

"What's wrong? Is it Mr. Filch?" Harry wondered.

Mrs. Norris gave another yowl, then jumped off the fence and  trotted back towards the castle, looking over her shoulder. 

"I think she wants us to follow her, Harry."

"Yeah, but . . .what about Duchess and Dancer? We haven't brushed them yet."

Suddenly, Dancer moved and nudged Harry hard, shoving him toward the gate. 

"Hey! What's with you?"

"She wants us to go with Mrs. Norris." Holly guessed, and Duchess snorted and bumped her too, urging her towards the gate as well. 

The cat glanced over her shoulder and meowed anxiously.

"C'mon, Holly!" her brother said, opening the gate and running after the tabby.

The slender girl was quick to follow, waving goodbye to the unicorns and latching the gate before she raced after her brother.

Silver woke and scrambled to his feet, running after the trio, puzzled but alert.

Mrs. Norris led them rapidly across the lawn and up to the castle proper, then stood meowing and pawing at the great double doors until Harry opened them.  Then she dashed inside and the two scampered after her to the Great Hall.  It was nearly lunch time and several students were loitering about the stairs inbetween periods, talking and exchanging good-natured groans about their classes. 

The cat scratched furiously at the doors to the hall, prompting several students to snicker derisively.  "Look at that batty kitty! Must have inhaled too much cat grass!"

"Yeah, she's high all right.  Either that or just plain stupid."

"Or loony! Crazy cat! She's inhaled too many potion fumes!"

Harry and Holly ignored the mocking jeers and opened the doors.  Mrs. Norris dashed inside.

The two youngsters slipped in right afterwards and then halted, their mouths agape at the sight that greeted their eyes.

Mrs. Norris was sitting in the middle of the floor leading up to the staff table, peering upwards anxiously, mewing in distress.  For there, suspended some forty feet in the air, by what appeared to be a pair of old-fashioned red suspenders, dressed only in his skivvies, upside down, was Argus Filch.

Around the steward's skinny neck was a plaque which read-Come One, Come All and See the Stinking Buzzard!

Silver gave a sharp whine and then growled angrily.  Clearly he didn't find the steward's predicament funny in the least.

"Merlin!" Holly gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "Mr. Filch, are you okay?"

The old man groaned, spinning about like a puppet.  His eyes were glassy and his face a strange shade of purple from hanging upside down like a side of beef.

"How'd he get up there?" Harry wondered, horrified.  "Must have been magic."

Before they could move, the doors opened and several groups of students came in.

They immediately caught sight of Filch hanging in full view, and shrieks of astonishment and laughter exploded from them.  Fingers pointed and several students cackled loudly, clearly enjoying the sight of the Squib on display. 

"Scrawny buzzard!"

"Dirty Squib! Serves you right!"

"Eeew!" shrilled a girl.  "Don't he ever wash his pants?"

Filch struggled, his eyes bulging, and his face turning a slight blue color.  But he could not free himself and even if he had been able to, he would have plunged to his death.  All he could do was hang there, helpless as a baby, half-naked in front of half the school in a humiliating tableau of a trussed bird, for whoever had done this had wrapped the red suspenders about his ankles, they way you would tie a plucked chicken.

The hall rang with the students' laughter, and Holly spun around, furious.  "Stop it!" she yelled, her fists clenched.  "Stop laughing and help him get down! He could suffocate! Look how red his face is!"

But the other students were too busy poking fun at the steward to be bothered listening to her, and she turned to Harry and cried, "Harry, we need help! But all the teachers are in class still."

"I know! We'll go see Professor Dumbledore.  He'll know what to do."

"You know the password to his office?"

"Yes, he told me when we first got here." Harry said.  He glared at the sea of smirking students.  "Stupid dumb gits!"

Then he raced out of the hall, Holly hot on his heels.

Five minutes later, Albus was awakened from his afternoon nap by a strident pounding upon his office door. 

"Huh? Merlin bless!"

"Professor Dumbledore! Professor Dumbledore!" screamed the two Snape children.  "Open up, quick! It's an emergency! Help!"

Dumbledore yanked open the office door to see two very distressed children standing there.  Holly was crying quietly and Harry looked like he wanted to hex someone into the next country.  "What's wrong, children?"

"Professor, you gotta come quick!" Harry grabbed the old wizard's hand.  "Somebody played  a nasty prank on Mr. Filch and strung him up in the Great Hall!"

"On Argus?"

"Upside down and . . .naked ‘cept for his . . .uh . . .underpants . . ." Holly added, blushing.  "And he's all red and purple, like he's suffocating, sir!" She seized his other hand and they began tugging him down the stairs. "You've got to help him! Everyone else is just standing there laughing!"

Dumbledore's eyes flashed cobalt lightning.  Normally, he was tolerant of pranks, having played more than a few himself when he was a boy.  But he had always made certain they were harmless and fun, not wicked and he never played them on those who could not get their own back.  The prank that the two had described was nothing short of malicious, not to mention dangerous, because poor Argus could not free himself without causing grievous bodily harm to his person.

The Headmaster sprinted down the stairs, and Harry and Holly were hard pressed to keep up with him.  They had never known the old wizard could move so fast, nor look so fierce, like a dragon about to go on a rampage. It was positively scary.

Harry shot a glance at his sister and whispered, "Merlin's bloody robe, Holl.  But I'm sure glad we had nothing to do with this prank on Filch.  ‘Cause whoever did is gonna get their arses kicked from here to New York by the Headmaster, or my name isn't Harry James Snape."

"Good! Whoever did this ought to get the hide walloped off them!" cried Holly, sniffling back angry tears. 

The doors to the Great Hall burst open and all heads turned towards the entrance, eyes wide and mouths hanging open.

"SILENCE!" thundered Albus, and power fairly crackled in the air about him, making his hair and beard stand on end. 

Everyone froze and the hall stilled immediately.

It was so quiet you could have heard a mouse breathing.

Albus strode into the hall, his purple robes billowing, his normal congenial expression replaced by a thunderous scowl that Severus would have envied.

Yup.  Somebody's arse is dead meat, Harry thought, unable to suppress both a shiver of dread and awe. 

Albus pointed his wand and the suspenders slipped free of the struts on the ceiling and he gently levitated the stricken Argus slowly through the air and down on to a stretcher.  "There, old friend.  I'm going to Floo you to the infirmary and let Poppy see to you." He took off his moon and stars cloak and draped it over Filch's body, and Mrs. Norris mewed pathetically and jumped up on her master's chest, sitting on him like a furry sentinel.

"The infirmary!" Albus snapped, throwing Floo Powder into the fireplace, before levitating Argus's stretcher through. 

"Albus, what in Merlin's name?" squawked a startled Poppy.  "Asclepius! Oh Argus, what did those miserable children do to you now?"

"Take care of him, Poppy." Albus ordered.  "I'll be down shortly to see how he is.  But first, I have other business to tend to." He turned slowly from the fireplace to face the students gathered in the hall, a look of vast disappointment and stern anger upon his face.

The students trembled, unable to move, and Albus raked them all with his lightning stare before saying softly, in a voice that crackled with disapproval, "Now.  I want to know who is responsible for Mr. Filch's condition.  If you know something about how he came to be here, step forward.  Because all of you will remain here until someone tells me the truth. Well?"

He swiveled his head about, frowning at each and every student in the room.

Not one met his gaze.  They shuffled and coughed and looked at their shoes or the floor, but no one spoke, and Harry hugged Holly and silently thanked Merlin he was not in trouble this time, for Albus's anger scared him even worse than his father's. And now he understood why his father said no one crossed Albus Dumbledore in a temper more than once.

The silence stretched on endlessly until after about twenty minutes a small cough came from a knot of students at the back of the hall, close to the dais where the staff sat.

"Sir? I think I know who did it."