'All right. Zane, Ralph, help me out. Fill in any bits I miss. It's going to sound pretty mad, but here goes.' Between the three of them, they explained the entire story of the Merlin conspiracy, from the first glimpse of the shade of Madame Delacroix on the lake to the adventure at the Grotto Keep to Ralph and James' mysterious confrontation with the creepy dryad demanding the Merlin robe. They had to back up then, and explain how they'd come to capture the robe from Professor Jackson. James was worried that the story had become so fragmented that the Gremlins wouldn't be able to follow it. Ted listened intently the entire time, simply eating and watching whoever was speaking. The rest of the Gremlins asked clarifying questions and responded with a mixture of skepticism, awe and excitement.
'You've been working this whole plot out all year and you're only now telling us about it?' Damien asked, narrowing his eyes.
'Like I said, McGonagall warned us not to tell anybody about the Grotto Keep,' James said sincerely. 'And we were worried that you wouldn't believe the rest of it, anyway. We had a hard time believing a lot of it ourselves. For a while, at least. So what do you think?'
'I'm confused,' Sabrina said, frowning. 'The whole thing seems pretty patched together. It's one thing to shoot off Weasley fireworks during the debate, but it's something else entirely to go and steal the broom of one of the most prominent, and frankly, scary witches in the school. That's thievery, that is.'
'It's only thievery if what we're saying isn't true,' Zane reasoned. 'If Tabitha's broom is the Merlin staff, then it isn't hers, really. I don't know whose it is, but no matter what, she had to have stolen it somehow herself.'
Damien didn't seem convinced. 'Even if she did, we'd be the only ones who knew that. If she hauls us all into the Headmistress' office claiming we stole her broom, what would we say? It's all right because she stole the broom herself from somebody, we don't know who, and besides, the broom is really the magic staff of the most powerful wizard ever, so we were really just doing the world a favor taking it out of Corsica's hands? That'll fly like a dead owl.'
'Well, why wouldn't it?' Ralph interjected. 'If it's true, it's true.'
'And that came from the mouth of a Slytherin,' Noah said, grinning crookedly.
'What's that supposed to mean?' Ralph said, firming his jaw.
James shook his head. 'It's all right, Ralph. He's ragging you. The point is, yes, even if it is true, we might not be able to prove it. I won't tell you we might not get in trouble over this. I can only tell you that if it is true, then being hauled to McGonagall's office and called a thief is the least of our worries. I can't ask any of you to get involved if you don't want to. It's risky. We could all get in loads of trouble. We could even fail despite our best efforts.'
'Now wait a minute,' Noah said, 'this is the Gremlins you're talking about.'
Petra sat up straight and looked around at the group. 'The thing is, if James, Zane, and Ralph are wrong, we'll know by tomorrow. If we did 'borrow' Corsica's broom, we could return it, somehow. Probably anonymously. No harm, no penalty. Everybody will just think it was a Quidditch prank, right? But if this story is true, and the broom really is the Merlin staff, then nobody will be dragging anybody to the Headmistress' office.'
'Why not?' Sabrina asked, interested.
'Because Tabitha will have bigger fish to fry,' Noah answered thoughtfully. 'If she's part of some big Merlin conspiracy and she fails to come through with the staff, she'll be in some serious outs with her cronies. People like that don't tend to be very forgiving, you know. Why, we might never even see her again.'
'One can only hope,' Petra muttered.
Ted stirred. 'Look here, all of you. This is all well and good, but as far as I'm concerned, there's only one thing to decide. Can we trust James? I don't know Zane and Ralph here all that well, but I grew up with James. He may have sometimes been an obnoxious little squitter, but he's always been honest. And besides, he's the son of my godfather. You remember that guy, don't you? I'm willing to take a little risk for him. Not just because he's family, but because he's a Potter. If he says there's a battle worth fighting, I'm inclined to believe him.'
'Well said, mate,' Noah said gravely, slapping Ted on the back. 'And besides, let's not forget that this does have the fringe benefit of pulling one over on Tabitha Corsica.'
'And perhaps balancing out tonight's Quidditch match,' Sabrina admitted.
'And maybe we could somehow snatch her broom when she's nice and high in the air!' Damien grinned nastily.
'That's what I said!' Zane exclaimed.
'You're both mad,' Petra said reproachfully. 'You're as bad as she is.'
'We don't want to kill her,' Zane replied in a wounded voice. 'We just want to see her drop a few hundred feet in terror. Ridcully would levitate her at the last moment, just like the Ralphinator did for James. Honestly, you must think we're monsters.'
'So are we all agreed, then?' Ted asked the group. Everyone nodded and murmured assent.
'That's wonderful and all,' Ralph said, 'but how are we going to do it?'
Ted leaned back and stared up at the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall, stroking his chin. Slowly, he smiled. 'Does anyone know what the weather is supposed to be like tonight?'
There was very little that the group needed to do to prepare. After lunch, Sabrina and Noah headed off to the basements to talk to the house-elves. James and Ted, both of whom had an afternoon free period, spent some time in the library studying a collection of gigantic books about Atmospheric and Weather Charms.
'This is Petra's thing, really,' Ted lamented. 'If she wasn't busy all afternoon with Divination and Runes, we'd be a lot better off.'
James looked over their notes. 'Looks like we've got what we need, though, doesn't it?'
'I guess,' Ted replied airily, flipping a few huge pages. A minute later, he looked up at James. 'It was really tough for you to ask for help, wasn't it?'
James glanced at Ted and met his eyes, then looked out a nearby window. 'A little, yeah. I didn't know if I'd be able to explain it. I wasn't sure any of you would believe it.'
Ted furrowed his brow. 'Is that all?' he prodded.
'Well…,' James began, then stopped. He fiddled with his quill. 'No, I guess not. It just seemed like… like something I was supposed to do on my own. I mean, with Zane and Ralph's help, sure. They were along with the whole thing from the start. But still. I kind of figured that, between the three of us, we'd be able to manage. We'd work it out. It felt a little like…' He stopped, realizing what he was about to say, surprised by it.
'Like what?' Ted asked.
James sighed. 'Like a failure. Like if the three of us couldn't do it on our own, we'd failed, somehow.'
'The three of you. Like your dad and Ron and Hermione, you mean.'
James glanced at Ted sharply. 'What? No… no,' he said, but suddenly he wasn't sure.
'I'm just saying,' Ted replied. 'It makes sense. That's how your dad did it. He was a big one for taking on all the responsibilities of the world and not sharing the load with anyone else. He and Ron and Hermione. There were always loads of people around who were ready and willing to help, and sometimes, they did, but not until they'd pretty much forced themselves into the action.' Ted shrugged.
'You sound like Snape,' James said, keeping his voice level. He felt uncomfortably vulnerable all of a sudden.
