Chapter 5 - Talks in the Ravenclaw Table

Hogwarts Castle, Somewhere in the Scottish Highlands

November 22nd, 1992, 7:20 PM

Ignoring the murmur that just started with the revelation of his identity, Erik turns to the people supposed to accompany him to the medical wing and says.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you will accompany me, we have a student and a kitten to revive."

Saying that, he turns and begins to walk to the exit of the Great Hall, with Leona by his side. Being woken up from the shock they just had, Madam Pomfrey, Mr. Filch, and Professor McGonagall just nod absentmindedly and start to walk to the exit of the Great Hall accompanying the 1010 year old 'boy' and the woman now known as Leona.

As they were almost out of the Great Hall, Erik hears the Headmaster, again.

"Lord Ravenclaw, wait please, just a moment."

Stopping and turning back, he addresses the Headmaster.

"Yes?"

Recovering from the last metaphorical slap, and with a lot of tough skin, the Headmaster insists on his tirade.

"As I was saying, I have to be there, I demand to accompany you to the medical wing."

Looking again at the 'old boy' Headmaster in amusement, like he had heard another great joke, Erik answered to the man's demands, trying to entertain him a little. He talked in a loud and clear way, like trying to make a child understand a very easy subject.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, you have no basis whatsoever to demand anything from me. That you had your chance to act, more than 40 years to investigate the attacks, and your 'wait and see' politics that could have turned into the death of another student just increased my vision of your incompetence as a Headmaster of this school."

Albus Dumbledore was taken back by that. Nobody in his almost 50 years as Headmaster dared to call him incompetent. He was ready to explode at that, and hearing the snickering from some students, mainly the ones from the Slytherin table, didn't help to reign his temper. But he didn't get where he was today by blowing up at people. So he took a deep breath, analysed his paths, chose one and acted on it.

"Very well. If I can't participate in my paper as Headmaster, I will participate in my paper as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot."

Talked back Dumbledore, now with a smug smile hidden under his beard and his blue eyes twinkling like saying 'I dare you to dismiss me now!'. Erik, hearing that, lost all the amusement in his face. And suddenly the atmosphere in the Great Hall seemed to solidify. Erik's face turned thunderous.

"You are telling me, that even being the Headmaster of Hogwarts, you are the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot too? Do you have any more political positions that I have to know?"

Not really expecting anything more, he heard a small voice from a student in one of the tables, not really identifying the owner of it.

"He is the Supreme Mugwamp of the ICW too!"

Not really believing in what the little voice said, he looked back to the Headmaster's now even more smug face. And Erik let a groan out like someone that just got up with the worst hangover yet. The solidified ambient in the Great Hall seemed to turn back to normal when he let the groan out.

*groan*

"You shitheads don't seem to understand anything do you… It's all the seventeens forties again..."

Erik said, closing his eyes and taking his finger to his temples, initiating a slow massage in small circles.

"Effing politics… They want to have power but don't want to obey the rules that come with it…"

Headmaster Dumbledore, the Chief Warlock, the Supreme Mugwamp, didn't like Erik's tone. It seemed that he had just been tripped during a power walk. Hearing a sigh coming from Lord Ravenclaw's mouth, he gulped, fearing what was coming for him.

*sigh*

*gulp*

Erick stopped the self massage, opened his eyes and looked at Albus' eyes.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, according to Hogwarts charts, dating from the time of their creation, more than 900 years ago, the person that accepts the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts can not and will not accept any other kind of position that denotes political influence of any type. The exceptions to this rule are for Lordships inherited after the acceptance of the Headmaster post, and positions accepted in temporary character that will not exceed the time of three months or the next voting for the position, the one that lasts the least. That rule applies too to any members of the Board of Governors of Hogwarts. The objective of this rule is to stop any power play, or political play, from happening inside the School, and putting students' education in jeopardy. This is to protect the Professors too, so they can teach their classes without the fear of being repressed by some stupid child that thinks that they own the world because of their parents political position."

The Headmaster's face is ashen white. He didn't know that. Taking in account that he really didn't read the entirety of the charter, it is nothing new. But that coming out would generate waves in Magical Britain, huge waves. The Great Hall was silent. The quicker students are already studying in their minds the ramifications of what they have just heard. The same could be said to some members of the staff. The people in the Great Hall turned their attention back to Lord Ravenclaw, when he continued talking.

"I already had in mind to do this soon, but hearing this tidbit of new information, that I thank you for providing me, just cemented and expedited the result. I, Lord Erik Ravenclaw, in accordance with the Hogwarts Charts, suspend you, Albus Dumbledore, from your position as Headmaster of The Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and together with it all the privileges that come, for breach of the chart. So I say, so mote it be."

And Albus felt. He felt all the command of the wards shift from him. He felt his magic being removed from the ward's whitelists. Seeing the Lord Ravenclaw turn to exit the Great Hall, again, he talked in a semi-desperate tone, almost yelling.

"You can't do this to me!"

Without stopping to answer him back, Erik answered him.

"Yes I can, in fact, I just did. Consider yourself in 'house arrest' until the initial investigations are finished."

And with that, following his companions, Erik exits the Great Hall, taking the great stairs to the medical wing floor and disappearing from the view of the Great Hall population.

"Well, that happened… And you would think that they would learn the lesson after what happened in the 1740s... Let's start this feast, shall we?"

Exclaimed Lady Ravenclaw, Selena, while turning and walking to the head of the table of Ravenclaw house. Just to stop in her way when she hears an exclamation of pain coming from the doors. Albus Dumbledore, suspended-Headmaster, was on his butt on the floor of the Great Hall. She lets a giggle out at the visage of the old man on the floor, and turns back to walk to the head of the table, where a high back chair with the Ravenclaw shield was now located.

Moments before, Albus Dumbledore tried to chase after Lord Ravenclaw, but crashed head first into an invisible barrier at the doors, bouncing back and dropping on his butt on the floor letting an ugly 'ouch' of pain from the impact. That earned him a laugh from most people in the Great Hall. Joan, that is just the nearest one to the old man, snickers at his situation and comments.

"You are lucky that Lord Ravenclaw put a bouncing barrier up and not a solid one, or else you would have broken your nose again."

Selena just calls Joan after that comment.

"Joan, come, sit with us to feast."

Joan quickly approaches the head of the table, her armored boots echoing in the stone floor with 'clacks' in each step. Arriving, she waits for her to sit and sits too on the bench on Selena's right side. Helena approaches her sister and is invited to sit on her left side.

"Come on sister, sit with us. I brought you and the other ghosts a treat."

She says while touching the bench by her left, generating with the touch a momentary dark blue magic circle. And seeing that, Helena sits, physically, on the bench.

"Let's eat!"

Taking that as their cue, the elves start the feast, sending the food up to the tables. And it seems that the elves went all out to welcome their Lord and Lady back. The feast has more diverse plates than the normal.

The students at Ravenclaw table don't even seem to notice the start of the feast. Their little mind seems to be broken by seeing something that they thought impossible, a ghost interacting with an object at the physical level. With a snap of Selena fingers, another dark blue magic circle appears on the floor, this one bigger than the last one, and from it a chest appears, letting the magic circle fade out.

*snap*

"Dimpy, can you please take the chest to the kitchens and serve the fruits inside to our friend ghosts? Be sure to use the enchanted silver trays and picker to serve the fruits, or you will not be able to interact with them."

With a pop the chest on the floor besides Selena disappears.

*pop*

"Thank you~"

Selena thanks the little house elf, and starts to serve food on her plate. The student seems to wake up with that, and they start eating too. And that seems to start a low murmur of the students discussing the things that happened. The other members of the staff seemed to have woken up too, as they went back to the main table to dine and talk between themselves, with the exception of Albus Dumbledore, who is trying his best to bypass the barrier.

"That was a nice piece of magic, and a beautiful magic circle too~"

Selena hearing the compliment looks at the originator of it. What she sees is a little girl, with free blonde hair that reaches the end of her back and big clear eyes, that is serving a good portion of mashed potatoes on her plate. The little blonde is seated just beside her sister, and on the other side there is some blank space that indicates that no one wants to sit there.

'Sigh, the price of intelligence is the same, it doesn't matter the time...'

She smiles at the little girl, a first year probably, and thanks her.

"Why, thank you! It's good to see someone so young that recognizes a magic circle for what it is. You have a nice necklace there, little one, what is your name?"

Selena asks the little blonde, after complimenting on her apparently homemade necklace made cork caps of some kind.

"Thanks. My name is Luna Lovegood, and I made the necklace myself using butterbeer caps. They are a good help at repelling the Nargles."

Some of her housemates that were hearing the conversation chuckled, thinking that was funny, but they shut up the next moment with Selena's answer.

"That seems to be a very convenient necklace, Luna. Even more now that some past Headmaster seems to have thought that was a good idea to meddle with castle's wards."

Luna, not used to someone taking her seriously, looks at Selena and asks.

"There's a ward to help repel the Nargles? That's amazing, what about the Wrackspurts?"

Her housemates are kinda lost now after hearing someone confirm the existence of Luna's creatures. And that the person that did is the daughter of their house's founder doesn't help.

"There's one for them too, but it's deactivated right now. Probably before the night is finished, they will be turned back on again."

Hearing that, Luna happily went back to eat her food. At that moment a silver tray with a dozen of gray fruits the size of big green grapes appears in front of Helena. And other similar trays appear floating over the tables. Helena was going to ask what those are, but stops when the strange fruit fragrance hits her.

"H-How is this possible? The smell of it is so appetizing for me…"

Selena snickers at her reaction, and observes the other ghosts reuniting around the floating trays.

"Go on, Helena, pick one and try it… Be sure to savor them fully."

Helena slowly extended her hand to try and pick one of the fruits. And she manages to do it. Taking the fruit to her mouth, she gives it a bite while being watched closely by the other ghosts and the occupants of the table. Biting off half off the fruit, she chews it slowly and with closed eyes lets out a small moan.

*Hmmm~*

"So good~"

That seems to give the other ghost the go ahead signal and they start to pick the strange gray fruits to take a bite. The next thing that happens is a bizarre scene. All ghosts let out small moans of satisfaction while they chew the fruit. Even the Bloody Baron lets a moan out, which weirds out the students in the Slytherin table under him.

"How come I can't smell anything of the fruits?"

Luna Lovegood asks, while looking at the silver tray containing the fruit with her head cocked to the side. Selena smiles at the little blonde curiosity, wipe her mouth with a napkin, and answers her.

"That's because these fruits are special ones, Luna. They are called the Ghostly Grapes. And are a fruit produced exclusively in Persephone's Garden. These grapes have no appeal to the living and we can't even pick them, but they are a delicacy to ghosts and other spiritual beings. One of the few foods that they can eat."

Understanding the explanation, Luna went back to eat. One of her housemates, an older girl with curly reddish-blonde hair, seemed to have her gasket blown with that, and exclaimed loudly.

"B-But… That's impossible! Everyone knows that ghosts can't eat!"

Selena let a melodious laugh with that phrase that shuts up the conversation around. Then she looks at the girl right into her eyes and says something that would let Selena be remembered for ages to come inside and outside Hogwarts walls.

"Girl, you have no idea of what is possible~"

And turns back to her plate to continue to eat.

Joan, still thinking and not recognizing the creatures that the little blonde Luna and Selena talked about, resolved to ask about them.

"So, Selena, what are Nargles and Wrackspurts? I don't remember hearing about them."

"I'm not surprised that you have not heard about them, Joan, because they are extra dimensional little creatures that have the ability to mess with people's heads. The Nargles goad people to take things that don't belong to them, commiting thievery, and the Wrackspurts leads people to make stupid decisions. The suspended-Headmaster seems to have an infestation of them for having made such bad decisions for the school."

Humming in understanding, Joan asks her a little more.

"And how do you know about them?"

Selena just directly answers her.

"Indeed, the knowledge about them is very obscure, and most people that see them are taken as crazy. You have to have the gift in the vision to see them, like little Luna seem to have, or my mother had. That, or know the spell that makes them visible around you. And yes, I know the spell, but no, I will not use it now. Or the people around will lose their appetite."

Luna nods at the last comment, going back to 'attack' her mashed potatoes with gravy.

Joan just shrugs it after hearing and goes back to eat her food while keeping her senses open to everything happening in the Great Hall.

Helena was slowly savoring the grapes.

And Dumbledore… Dumbledore is still trying to bypass the barrier, with no success whatsoever. Not even Fawkes answering his calls.

Dumbledore is not a happy camper.

-------------------