The Mark of Truth

"Which is exactly why she'd be the last person he'd go to," muttered Flitwick quietly to Pomona who nodded. She didn't like Mr. Potter any more than Minerva did but that was mainly due to the fiasco of last year's Tournament and how the entire thing had resolved only to be about his involvement while her own student who had died was overlooked and forgotten about. Still, even she knew Potter going to Minerva with a complaint about those three would be a pointless exercise.

Irma Pince ignored her interruption. "As for the coughing spasms, he warned them not to betray him in thought, word, deed, action or even by omission. Yet they stood right here and attempted to do exactly that. He specifically told them they would choke on any lie they tried to tell about him or in regards to him. So they even knew the punishment they'd receive for attempting it. And he told them exactly what he requires from them from now until the marks vanish. Obedience, Truthfulness and Loyalty."

"I take it you also witnessed this marking, Inez?" asked Professor Septima Vector. The Arithemancy Professor found the whole matter intriguing and a nice break from the norm. She mainly only interrupted to keep Minerva from focusing on the 'Obedience' part of Potter's expectations but she was curious as well.

She nodded. "Yes, I was just coming up behind them intending to kick these three out for being loud, obnoxious and disturbing the students, including Mr. Potter, who were trying to study. Mr. Potter spends a great deal of his free time in the library now as he has nothing better to do with himself. He seems to enjoy it and often I find myself discussing the great works with him of both the magical and the muggle world. He is surprisingly well read for one his age."

"So when he cast the spell, did you hear the name of it?" asked Professor Flitwick.

"He didn't incant it, Filius. He simply held out his hand and called upon Mother Gaia as he summoned his magic. His magic was met by their own magic and the two mixed and mingled for a few seconds before separating and returning back to their host. There was nothing to hear. A few seconds after it was called forth, the magic would separate, the mark would begin to appear and grow darker as their own magic weighed their guilt."

She turned her attention back onto Minerva as she said, "And I mean exactly that, Minerva. Their guilt was weighed by their own magic. Not by Mr. Potter's. His magic never touched them. The entire time he was calling on magic to judge the two Weasely children, Fawkes was sitting on his shoulder. Fawkes was even singing as he called for judgment on the Weasely girl. That should tell you something about the nature of the spell he used."

"The spell was one that punishes by degree of guilt felt by the accused in their heart, mind, body and soul. How dark their marks are, depends on how guilty they know themselves to be of the charges he leveled against them. Here." She dropped a thin book onto the table. "This will tell you all about the spell used and the law that gave Mr. Potter the right to use it." Then taking another swig of her tea she rose from the table and left the room. Clearly she was also on Mr. Potter's side.

Minerva picked up the thin book, deep in thought while silently appraising the three, now squirming, students she'd felt such deep sympathy for only minutes earlier. "What have you three done?" she whispered as she sat back down in her seat, her meal forgotten as her world rocked on it's axis. She felt defeated and didn't bother to hide her disappointment as she tried to wrap her mind around what she'd heard and learned this morning. "Go. Return to your places and when you decide you're ready to tell me the truth, you know where to find me."

All three opened their mouths to protest but she made it clear she wasn't listening. For the first time since they'd come there and been sorted into Gryffindor House their Professor didn't want to speak to them. That shocked them far more than anything else.

 A wave of a wand sent all three one by one back over to the Gryffindor table though who cast the spell wasn't really clear since all of the staff had their wands in hand except for the Deputy Headmistress who had dismissed them from her presence.

In truth, three different teachers had each selected one member of the trio and sent that particular student back to a free place at the Gryffindor table. None of them would allow their colleague to be browbeaten by their students any further this morning. The staff had done a good enough job of it for the time being.

When the trio tried to get back on their feet each of them found they couldn't do so. So sullenly, recognizing they had no recourse, they began to eat their meal. Each trying in their own way to come up with a way they could get back into the good graces of their favorite Professor while laying the blame for their earlier lie on Harry whom they knew she hated.

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