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The Great Snape-Deveroux Grudge Match - Part II: Watcher and Hunter by Pigwidgeon [Reviews - 2]

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The teen shivered a bit, adjusted his glasses, wrapped his red and yellow scarf tighter around his neck, and shifted his weight from one leg to the other, the inch of snow on the ground crunching underfoot as he did so. While there was some intermingling, Harry noticed that the students were clumped together by their houses. To his right, he saw Ernie MacMillan, Justin Fitch-Fletchly, Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott among the Hufflepuff students, and noticed a tall, angular boy with reddish-brown hair that looked strikingly like a square-jawed, more masculine version of Jaspine Greggs. Her older brother Matis, perhaps?

Cho Chang, Gloria Hyran, Roger Davies, Argyle Greytalon, Padma Patil, and other Ravenclaws milled about behind the knot of Gryffindor students, shivering and complaining about the cold. Harry tried to catch Cho's eye, but finally quit in embarassment when it was Deena who looked his way and giggled loudly instead. Ron started sniggering behind him, and Harry irritably whispered "Oh Deveroux, oh Deveroux.…" The sniggering stopped.

Finally giving up on Cho, Harry looked toward his left, and he noticed that the Slytherins had grouped together into two separate factions. He saw Malfoy, Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, Bulstrode and most of the members of the Slytherin Quidditch team and their siblings in one group, and he saw Jaspine Greggs, Blaise Zabini, Malcolm Baddock and several other Slytherins in another group. Harry recognized some of the Slytherins, including Baddock, in Jaspine's group from having seen them in the library that day he, Ron and Hermione met Jaspine.

"Harry! Ron!" the teen heard Hermione whisper to him. "Look up there! I think they are going to start soon!"

Harry and the other students looked up to see Professor Deveroux and Flitwick coming down the stairs towards the railing at the front of one of the box seat sections. Deveroux carried a large blue and bronze bag which looked as if it were filled with glowing Gobstones.

Deveroux was dressed in a heavy blue, hooded outdoor cloak with silver buttons down the entire length of the front. She also wore a dove gray muffler around her neck, and her cheeks and nose were turning a rosy pink in the cold air. Flitwick seemed almost lost in a blue and brown muffler which wrapped around his neck twice and hung clear down to his feet.

"Sonoro," Harry heard Deveroux chant as she tapped her throat with her strange, silvery wand.

"Greetings, everyone!" Deveroux said, and her clear, commanding voice reverberated across the pitch. "I must say I am impressed with the turnout today. I thank you all for coming out for the first -- but certainly not last -- wizarding skills competition."

"We've only come because it's an easy 50 points for Slytherin, Mudblood," Draco sneered. Goyle chuckled trollishly, Crabbe smiled, and Pansy giggled. Harry glared in Draco's direction.

"Today we are having a target-practice competition," Deveroux said as she and Flitwick turned the bag upside down and waved their wands over the colorful, round spheres which emerged and hovered in mid-air. "There are five sizes of spheres," Deveroux continued as Flitwick started sorting the spheres by size and dividing them into four groups -- one for each House. "These largest ones," and here the Defense teacher pointed her wand at a red-and-orange sphere the size of a softball and silently Summoned it to her hand, "will be worth five points."

Deveroux lowered her hand and the red and orange sphere floated back to its group. The Defense teacher Summoned another sphere -- this one blue-and-white -- into her hand. This one was the size of a tennis ball. "These are worth 10 points."

The Defense teacher did this three more times with different sized spheres -- one the size of a small plum, which was worth 20 points; one the size of a gobstone, which was worth 40 points; and the final sphere, which was the size of a pea, and was worth 60 points.

Flitwick waved his wand back and forth over the platform and muttered something Harry couldn't make out. The velvet bag disappeared and a large scoreboard appeared in its place. The scoreboard had the House names across the top, and three zeroes underneath each House name. He then pointed his wand out over the Quidditch pitch and drew four circles in different sections. Immediately, four large circles of light appeared on the pitch: one blue, one yellow; one red; and one green. The students automatically regrouped inside the ring that corresponded with their House color. Harry felt a bit cramped in the smaller space with Ron, Hermione, Neville, Angelina, Ginny, Colin, Dean, Seamus, Justin, and a dozen other Gryffindors beside him.

"The first contest will be a qualifying round to determine who will actually compete for the house points," Deveroux continued. "When Professor Flitwick and I give the signal, you will all begin trying to hit the spheres with a Stupefy spell, and you will have individual points tallied depending on how many you hit and what size of targets you hit. The top five scorers from each House will then move on to the final round, where you will then compete for House Cup points. The winning team will receive 50 points toward the House Cup, and second place will receive 10. Also, 20 points will be awarded for the highest individual score, and 10 points for the second highest."

Flitwick nodded in agreement.

"But this is useless," Malfoy called out. "Why are we here practicing on little glass baubles? Wouldn't it be far more useful to practice on each other, or on some sort of dark creature? And those things are small -- they'll be nearly impossible to hit!"

Deveroux stared at Malfoy for a moment before responding. "I suppose that is a fair question, Mister Malfoy," she said at last. "Can anyone tell me why we are practicing on these glass targets instead of other wizards or magical creatures?"

"So we don't kill each other?" Harry heard Susan Bones mutter.

Hermione's hand shot up in the air, and Deveroux called on her.

"Because," Hermione said as she glared at Malfoy. "Not everything we may have to fight someday will be human -- or living for that matter! Supposing we had to defend against vampire bats or man-eating spiders, or animated statues, for example..."

Ron shuddered at the mention of the spiders, while Harry thought that life-sized wizard chess-pieces counted as animated statues as far as he was concerned.

"Oh yeah, like that will ever happen," Malfoy sneered. "My father..."

"Also, because the targets are small, we will have to practice aiming very precisely," Hermione continued, cutting off whatever Draco had been planning to say.

"What's wrong? A little too challenging for you, Malfoy?" Ron asked nastily. "Are you scared?"

"Please, Weasel-ly," Malfoy retorted. "I'm going to win. I'd bet you Galleons on that, but what would be the use? You could never pay up!"

Ron's ears turned bright red. "Why you ...!"

"That will be enough Mister Malfoy and Mister Weasley," Deveroux reprimanded sharply. "Miss Granger, you are correct on all counts. Not everything we could find ourselves fighting someday will be human, and the purpose of this drill is to encourage all of you to improve your precision and accuracy," and she idly scratched the back of her head. "Now pay attention. A couple more very important notes before we start. Remember, you are to use the Stupefy spell only, and if you accidentally hit another student and knock them out, you will have five points deducted from your final score."

"But if you get knocked out, you could lose a chance to gain points," griped Draco.

Deveroux smiled thinly. "Well, then it looks as if you not only have to practice your aim, but watch your back and use your shield spells as well, Mr. Malfoy. However, this is not a license for you to begin turning your wand against the other teams. Anyone who deliberately tries to stun students from other houses will be disqualified, is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am," most of the students replied reluctantly. Draco and his chums merely scowled.

"Ready, Professor Flitwick?" Deveroux prompted.

Flitwick nodded and both professors raised their wands over their heads.

"You will have two minutes starting on the count of three, so make each spell count," Deveroux said. "One .... two ... THREE!"

The colored spheres flew towards the ringed students, and soon the air was filled with red sparks, shouts and hovering glass.

"Stupefy!" Harry shouted as a marble-sized sphere came directly towards him. His spell hit the glass, which turned a smoky gray and fell to the ground. He noticed that some of the younger Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students seemed to have a bit of trouble dealing with the spheres -- they had never practiced casting Stupefy before. He also spied one or two of the younger students lying Stunned on the ground, including Dennis Creevey.

Whap! A grape-sized sphere smacked Harry in the back of the head, making him wince sharply. The teen turned his attention back to his own target practice skills. Carefully concentrating, Harry aimed his wand first at a tennis ball-sized yellow sphere.

"Stupefy!"

He watched with satisfaction as it turned cloudy and fell. He then concentrated on a plum-sized sphere, then two larger ones. He hit these, but while tracking a fourth sphere, his target unexpectedly moved down and his spell streaked towards Dean Thomas instead.

"Chiel Ahmi!" Harry shouted as he pointed his wand at Dean. His errant Stunning spell bounced off of Dean harmlessly.

Zing! Harry had to duck to avoid being knocked out by another stray Stupefy.

He noticed that Hermione was handling her targets with apparent ease. Ron seemed to have a harder time; he seemed to miss one out of three, and one of his shots Stunned Neville Longbottom.

"Sorry, chap," Ron said. "Ennervate! "

Neville sat up again and shook his head to clear it -- and was promptly brained by a softball-sized sphere. He fell to the ground again.

Harry returned his attention to the task at hand, dodging two more incoming spheres. They were like tiny, vicious, shimmering Bludgers, he thought, as he aimed at and hit several more. He was proud to note that he only missed two spheres altogether.

Suddenly, all of the spheres in the air and on the ground flew back toward Deveroux and Flitwick, just as Harry had finished hitting another tennis ball-sized target.

"Time's up," Deveroux called out.

Harry found himself to be slightly winded, as he exhaled small puffs of vapor into the cold, mid-January air. He was relieved to note that he wasn't the only one breathing hard, as he looked around at the other students. He noticed that some of the older students were going over to their Stunned house mates -- mostly first- and second-years -- and reviving them.

Madam Pomfrey would be very busy treating bumps and bruises this evening, Harry thought.

The top of the scoreboard produced a small sheet of white parchment paper, which Flitwick took and read over. He tapped his throat with his wand and chanted "Sonoro!" and started reading from the list.

"For Hufflepuff," Flitwick began, his squeaky voice echoing strangely across the pitch. "We have Matis Greggs, Susan Bones, Justin Fitch-Fletchly, Michael Corner and Algernon Heddler. Would the rest of you please take a seat in the stand."

So, that is Jaspine's older brother, Harry thought as the Hufflepuff students cheered their representatives. He noticed that the glass spheres were now hovering slowly in front of the stands where Flitwick and Deveroux stood side by side looking down at the students.

"For Ravenclaw," Flitwick continued after the cheers died down. "We have Cho Chang, Gloria Hyran, Roger Davies, Argyle Graytalon and Kevin Erstwhistle. The rest please take a seat in the stands."

More applause followed as the majority of the Ravenclaw students left the ring, leaving the top five scorers inside.

"For Gryffindor, we have Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Angelina Johnson and Colin Creevy."

"I did it!" Colin squealed with delight. "Harry, I did it!"

"Yeah, you did, Colin," Harry replied idly. He was too busy watching Ron's disappointed reaction to the news that he hadn't made the final cut -- and his younger sister had.

"And for Slytherin, we have Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Jaspine Greggs, Malcolm Baddock and Tobal Montague."

Harry stared in surprise at Baddock, the youngest student to make the final cut as a second-year.

"Stand back to back in a circle when the contest starts again," Angelina whispered. "That way, we have less of a chance of hitting each other, and then we can help each other out."

"Good idea," Hermione whispered back, and Harry nodded.

"The finalists will have five minutes to hit as many targets as possible," Deveroux said, her voice still booming across the pitch. "Remember, five points will be deducted if you should hit another student. On our mark...."

And Deveroux and Flitwick chanted together "Five ... four ... three ... two ... one ... GO!"

Once again, the multi-colored spheres flew in groups at the students. Harry braced himself for the assault. Was it his imagination, or were the spheres moving more quickly?

Harry quickly joined Angelina, Ginny, Colin and Hermione in a tight circle in the center of the red and gold ring. He and the other Gryffindors took aim at the swift, circling spheres. Harry narrowed his eyes and concentrated, and he began casting several rapid-fire shots in quick succession, and was again pleased to note that he was easily getting five out of six or seven shots on average.

"Oww!" Colin shouted as he rubbed the side of his head.

"Watch yourself there, Creevey," Angelina said as she aimed a Stupefy spell at a marble-sized target.

Harry glanced over at the Slytherin ring and noticed that the young Baddock seemed to be having some problems with the faster pace and more intense competition. The teen twice saw the second-year nearly hit his teammates with stray Stupefy spells, which were deflected both times by Jaspine, who seemed to be watching out for her teammates as well as the spheres. Malfoy turned on Baddock, enraged.

"Stupefy!" Malfoy shouted as he pointed his wand at Baddock, and the younger boy hit the ground, stunned.

"What are you doing Malfoy? He's on our side!" Jaspine hollered.

"He's a liability!" retorted Malfoy as he again concentrated on the airborne spheres. "If you revive him, I'll Stupefy you, too! So don't even think about it, Greggs. You are outnumbered here." Malfoy, Goyle and Montague glared at Jaspine. Crabbe deliberately turned away and started hitting the spheres again, and soon the other Slytherins -- save Baddock -- continued with the task as well. But Jaspine cast occasional dark looks over her shoulder in Malfoy's direction, and Harry had a feeling Malfoy would come to regret threatening the tall Slytherin.

"Did you see that!?" Harry whispered, outraged.

"Concentrate, Potter,"Angelina ordered. "Yeah, I saw that, but we can't do anything. It just proves how dumb Malfoy is. If that move loses him points or gets him disqualified, that'll be the least of his worries. That Greggs girl puts a new meaning to the term vengeful."

"Malfoy will lose at least five points for hitting that second-year," Hermione said as she hit three spheres. "But the rest of them will probably be able to make up the difference. You know, they should have restricted this contest to third-years and up. Maybe even fourth-years. Baddock might have been a pretty good shot, but then again, maybe he just got lucky .... agh!" Hermione quickly ducked a sphere that zoomed straight toward her face. Ginny hit it before it could fly over to hit Colin.

Aren't the five minutes up yet? Harry wondered as he started to sweat, even in the wintery air. He tried to keep focused, ignoring his weariness and the increasingly loud chanting from the Quidditch stands. It was a relief when Deveroux finally shouted "Time's Up!" and the spheres again rose out of sight.

Harry saw Jaspine revive Baddock as another white sheet of parchment paper appeared out of the top of the scoreboard. Both Flitwick and Deveroux looked over the sheet and nodded slightly.

"Not too bad, considering this is the first time we've done this," Flitwick said appraisingly. Deveroux's thin-lipped smile, however, made Harry wonder if the Defense teacher had hoped to see higher scores.

"In fourth place is Hufflepuff, with 1,320 points," Flitwick continued. "In third place is Ravenclaw, with 1,690 points. In second place...."

Harry held his breath. He saw Angelina and Ginny squeeze their eyes shut and cross their fingers.

"Is Gryffindor, with 1,750 points...."

Harry's shoulders sagged. They were second. He glanced over at the sneering Malfoy and knew the pointy-faced blond teen would be impossible to put up with for the next week.

"And in first place, is Slytherin, with 1,880 points," Flitwick continued.

The Slytherin students erupted into cheers as the zeroes under "Slytherin" changed to 50.

"Slytherin wins 50 points toward the House cup total, and Gryffindor receives 10,"
Deveroux announced as the cheering died down, and the zero under Gryffindor changed to 10.

"Now, for the top two individual scores. Second place among the students is Jaspine Greggs with a total of 380 points."

The Slytherins again cheered, although not as loudly. Harry couldn't miss the dark looks, the murmurings and the thin smiles on several Slytherin faces. Only about half the Slytherin students applauded with gusto.

"And first place, with a total of 470 points...."

Harry crossed his fingers again. He knew he had hit a lot of those ubiquitous spheres ....

".... Goes to Draco Malfoy!" Flitwick continued.

Harry slumped again. This meant that the Slytherins had completely dusted everyone else in the competition. The scoreboard now read: Ravenclaw-0, Hufflepuff-0, Gryffindor-10, and Slytherin-80.

"However," Flitwick added in a disapproving tone, "Ten points will be deducted from Slytherin for Mr. Malfoy's unsportsmanlike conduct. Ten points will be awarded to Gryffindor for commendable use of teamwork. Congratulations to you all, and I hope you come back for the next workshop, which will take place in two weeks."

"Well, at least we got ten points for second and ten for working together," Ginny said half-heartedly, looking at the scoreboard. "Twenty points total."

"Yeah, but Slytherin still trounced us," Colin said, discouraged. "Even with them losing points at the end, they still earned ...."

"Seventy points," Hermione replied flatly, pointing at the scoreboard before Colin could finish the math.

"Malfoy is going to be an unbearable git," Ron said as he rejoined his friends from the sidelines. "I was hoping you'd get the top score, Harry -- you were pretty impressive out there. And I can't believe what Malfoy did to that younger chap!"

"I think I did pretty well, too," Ginny said, taunting her older brother.

Ron scowled. "Yeah, I suppose. You beat me. I just couldn't focus, I guess. How do you guys do it?"

"Well, I just thought of your brothers' dartboard, and pictured Snape's face on each target, and it was easy," Harry replied. The others laughed heartily.

"That's great, Harry," Angelina said as she caught her breath.

Ron said,"I'll have to remember that trick."

The other Gryffindors started heading back to the castle, but Harry stopped and turned back as he heard Crabbe approaching Jaspine Greggs on the Quidditch field.

"Ni ... nice going, Greggs," Crabbe said timidly.

Harry ducked into the Quidditch stands so he wouldn't be spotted. He saw Jaspine look at Crabbe with a cold gaze, and she folded her arms across her chest. He could see Draco and his gang talking several feet from Crabbe and Greggs.

"Thanks," Jaspine said in a cold tone.

"We ... we did pretty well, didn't we," Crabbe continued, his voice cracking.

"Yeah, I suppose," Jaspine replied, her tone even colder.

"Vincent Crabbe!" Draco suddenly shouted. "What are you doing over there?"

"Just talking," Crabbe replied, a bit sullenly.

"Well, get back over here," Malfoy snarled. "You don't want to be seen hanging around with her. How many times have I told you that you are known by the company you keep, and you don't want people thinking the wrong things about you."

"Yes, for example if you keep hanging around with the likes of him, then people might think you're a two-faced, backstabbing, opportunistic..." Jaspine retorted.

"Watch your tongue, psycho. My father knows all about you and he'll ...." Malfoy interrupted, but Jaspine fixed her cold, green-eyed gaze on Malfoy. There were about 20 feet of distance between the two rivals, but the tall Slytherin was still very imposing, and Jaspine's gang had all grouped behind her. The words froze in Malfoy's throat.

"But your father isn't here right now to protect you, is he?" Jaspine replied menacingly.

"Look, we were just talking about the contest, Draco," Crabbe said in a placating tone, obviously trying to head off the confrontation. "That's all. Besides, we're all Slytherin aren't we? We're all on the same side, aren't we?"

"Obviously, some of us know better than others what it means to be Slytherin, what it means to be a wizard," Draco said, his cool gaze fixing on Jaspine, then on Crabbe. "Don't you forget that."

"But I thought ...." Crabbe protested.

"Don't think, Vincent," Draco sneered. "It doesn't suit you. Leave me to do the thinking, and everything will be all right, remember?"

Crabbe flushed, and was there a brief glimmer of anger in his eyes? But the look quickly faded as Draco stared him down.

"One of these days, Malfoy, that big mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble," Jaspine hissed, then she looked at the rest of Malfoy's cronies, who shifted uneasily. None of them liked her, but none of them -- except perhaps Goyle -- were dumb enough to challenge her in a physical fight. Not with the odds against them. "And if you keep insulting your friends," and here she shot a quick look at Crabbe, "and keep spouting off about how much better you are then everyone else, one day you are going to find yourself with no one to watch your back when you most need it. You will find yourself standing alone."

"I'm not afraid of you, Greggs," Malfoy hissed, although his eyes betrayed his fear. "If you want to fight, I can take you on in anything. And I can take on whatever ragtags you talk into siding with you. I don't need anyone else, but I'll always find help if I need it. The Malfoy name commands respect in the wizarding world. What has your family of Hufflepuffs done to distinguish themselves?"

"You are so full of dragon dung," Jaspine said with a sharp laugh. "Do you think for a moment that I care what the likes of you think of me or my family? I'm just glad I'm not related to you. You only command 'respect' because your daddy bribed or threatened people to get you where you are," Jaspine retorted. "Like the way he bribed your way onto the Quidditch team."

Malfoy's pale eyes flashed with fury. "And you never do any of these things?" he hissed. "Are you implying that you have never bribed and threatened anyone to get your way? Because if you are, then you're a liar!"

Jaspine flushed with anger. "Don't you dare call me a liar!" she shouted.

"Sure, Greggs," Malfoy said. "Whatever. Your day will come. Come on, the lot of you, let's go. I'm not wasting my time on the likes of her."

Goyle, Montague and most of the other Slytherins followed Draco back to the castle. Crabbe hesitated, and Jaspine fixed him with a look that was part pity, part contempt. After a brief pause, Crabbe went after Draco.

"You don't have to follow him, Vincent," Jaspine said softly. Crabbe stopped and turned back to her. "Why do you go running every time he calls?"

"He's my friend," Crabbe said, a bit defensively. "That's what friends do. They stick together."

"Your friend?" Jaspine said with a snort. "He uses you as a doormat. Friends don't use and manipulate each other."

"How would you know, Jaspine? You like fighting and arguing with people, and you don't have any friends you can trust to back you up," Crabbe retorted. "When Draco comes after you--and he will, trust me, I know him--who will fight alongside you? Do you think you will be able to count on those first and second-year wimps when the odds are against you? They'll desert you, Jaspine. I know. I've seen it happen before."

"Then I'll take my chances. I won't let Malfoy tell me what to do and neither should you. You deserve better, Vincent," Jaspine said, her tone soft, regretful. "You are smarter than he would let you think. You don't need him."

"Vincent!" Draco thundered angrily. He stood in the field, a distance away, glaring at Crabbe. Crabbe looked at Jaspine a second longer, then turned and meekly followed Malfoy back into the castle, looking very much like a pet dog that had just been caught digging in its master's garden.

Jaspine watched Crabbe go up with a look of disappointment. "You're so wrong about my friends, Vincent," she murmured angrily to herself before heading back. Her friends mutely followed her back to the castle.

But Harry wondered if she was having second thoughts herself. After all, it was Jaspine who had brought up the question of whether or not Hermione could be trusted to keep her word. After a moment, Harry emerged from where he'd been eavesdropping behind the stands and headed back indoors, mulling over the conversation he had just overheard.

I've been watching Draco's buddies, and I think that Crabbe is smarter than he lets on. He's tough to figure out, but I don't think he's quite as enamored with Draco as he used to be.

Indeed, Harry thought. It looked like the divide in the Slytherin House ran deeper than anyone suspected.

****


Harry and Ron paced the third floor wing impatiently, trying to ignore the long shadows, the cobwebs and the creepy statues. After what seemed like an eternity, Jaspine came running in, out of breath and muttering.

"Jaspine! Where have you been?" Harry asked, both annoyed and concerned at the same time.

Jaspine cursed under her breath. "Filch. Had to lose him first. Thank goodness the Baron managed to provide a timely distraction. Here it is."

"Nice ... nice going earlier, in the workshop, by the way," Harry said grudgingly.

Jaspine merely shrugged. "I did all right. I probably would have beat ferret-boy if he hadn't knocked out Malcolm." Jaspie's face clouded, and she clenched her fist. "Malfoy will pay for that one, mark my words."

Harry and Ron both exchanged nervous glances as Jaspine produced a corked vial of a slightly yellowish, runny liquid and an eyedropper from her robe pockets. Harry looked at the vial uncertainly. Veritaserum was supposed to be clear ... but perhaps Jaspine's brew would still work.

"Here goes nothing," Jaspine murmured. She uncorked the vial, inserted the eyedropper and squeezed. The dropper filled about halfway with the yellowish liquid before Jaspine withdrew it. She closed her eyes and sucked at the end of the eyedropper as Harry and Ron watched in horror and admiration.

"Blech," the tall Slytherin said, making a face and coughing. Then she sighed. "Great, probably didn't add something right. Veritaserum is supposed to be practically tasteless. This stuff is more sour than the Explosive Sour Grape Gumballs at Honeydukes." She paused a moment, then looked at the other two. "Well, you can ask me something, but I don't think it works."

"Well," Ron said. "Try to lie ... it's supposed to be impossible to lie under the Truth Potion, right?" Jaspine nodded. "Then what's ... two plus two?"

"Three," Jaspine replied automatically.

"What can be substituted in a pinch for porcupine quills in a boils potion?" Ron continued.

"Petunias."

"What is the capital of Ireland?" Harry asked.

Jaspine sighed. "New York. I can do this the rest of the night and not accomplish a thing other than spreading more blarney than the Blarney stone. I'm able to lie, no problem. I guess it's time to pull out the back ups. I'm hoping I can still use them... we won't have time to start from scratch, and even I don't want to think about breaking into Snape's personal stores."

"Hey, if first you don't succeed ... and all that," Harry replied. "I'm sure you can salvage the Veritaserum, if anyone can! We wouldn't even think of trying to make it."

"Hey, thanks Wiz," Jaspine replied, grinning. "You are pretty cool."

Wiz??? Harry and Ron looked at each other and shrugged. It was a Jaspine thing, and by now, they were getting used to her quirks.

"Ok," Jaspine said, seeming to have shaken off the disappointment of the failed Veritaserum. "I'll go back over the books again tonight, see what I can do. And once we have a working Truth Serum, we should run a few drills."

"Drills?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, practice what we are going to do, up here," Jaspine said. "One of us pretend we are Snape, so we can practice aiming and coordinating our Stupefy spells to hit at the same time. Practice tying up, and administering the truth potion, that sort of thing. We don't want to make any errors. We can't afford to."

Harry paled a bit. Jaspine was even more cunning, dangerous and calculating than he had heard.

"Since you two will be in his office, you will need to coordinate your spells more than I will," she continued. "You'll have a clearer shot than I will. I'll provide backup."

"And who is going to be Snape during these drills?" Harry asked.

Jaspine shrugged. "I will, I guess. I'm close to his height, anyway. But you make certain you don't leave any marks on me, or there will be consequences."

Harry and Ron exchanged nervous looks as Jaspine glared at them.

"No marks. No problem," Ron said, his voice cracking.

"Good. Then it's settled," Jaspine replied as she turned to go. "See you tomorrow, then, at breakfast."

"Ok ... Brew," Ron replied, then instantly wondered if he'd put his foot in his mouth, because Jaspine turned back and stared at Ron fixedly. Then, surprisingly, she started to laugh.

"Brew! I like it! We're the Three Avengers ... Carrot Top, Wiz and Brew! That's great!" she said, cackling. Harry and Ron exchanged relieved looks as Jaspine left.

"You know, I wonder about her," Ron whispered once Jaspine was out of earshot. "She's ruddy smart ... but absolutely frightening at times."

End of Chapter 21

The Great Snape-Deveroux Grudge Match - Part II: Watcher and Hunter by Pigwidgeon [Reviews - 2]

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