CH 82

Snape kept his face impassive, "Believe me, they will be disciplined for that." Snape was actually pleased that they had been caught in the act. He and Dumbledore could discipline them without worrying that they would take it out on a specific member of Slytherin House. Assuming of course that the perpetrator of the wards remained anonymous.

But Dumbledore partially cut Snape off with a wave of his hand, "I had already managed to pick out the intention ward. As for the students, I'm sure they had the intention of pranking the first years."

Harry's jaw clenched briefly at that, but he managed to keep control of his temper. He knew Dumbledore's tendency to excuse actions because of youth or mistakes would come back to bite Dumbledore. But Harry was determined not to let it affect himself. Bathsheda glared for a few more moments before turning back. "And that's where the genius begins. The intent wards activate everything else. If there is no ill intent the entire ward remains inactive. After that, a number of things are activated. Though I can't determine in what order they're activated in."

Seeing her audience well and truly entranced, she continued. "One ward snaps up and immobilizes them. Sort of the same as a petrificus totalus. They're aware of the passage of time but unable to move. One spell locks them down in place so they can't be moved from that spot. Another ward produces some sort of… shield. So they can't be easily hurt. Another ward is some sort of… sound ward." Babbling broke off thoughtfully at that. "A ward that prevents them from hearing us?" Dumbledore frowned curiously at that. If they were completely immobile, he wondered why it was necessary to cut them off from sound as well.

But Professor Babbling shook her head. "No, they aren't completely cut off from sound. It's not a silencing ward. It's producing some sort of sound. I'm not sure what. But it's producing it for them to hear."

"But it's not physically harming them at all?" Dumbledore clarified quickly, wanting to make sure he understood the entire picture.

Babbling quickly shook her head. "Not at all. At least as far as I'm able to tell."

"I'm curious Professor, where else have you seen this?" Dumbledore asked, his fingers stroking through his beard. "The only place I've really seen this is with goblins and their master cursebreakers. They're experts at tying wards in together, though I will admit that this would be considered a fantastic job, even for the goblin masters." Babbling frowned thoughtfully as she tapped her lips.

"No matter where you've seen it, is it possible to undo it?" Snape asked irritably.

Babbling shook her head, "I wouldn't even know where to begin truth be told. However!" She held up her hand to forestall complaints or protests. "I would say that it's unnecessary." When Babbling was sure that she had cut off both professor's protests, she continued. "There's also a timer tied into the wards. If I've judged it right, within a matter of twenty or so minutes, the wards will reset, releasing them for us." Harry had to keep the expression off his face. He had never taken class with Babbling in the previous timeline, which made his learning curve far steeper when he worked with Bill Weasley. But Harry had to admit she had pretty much hit the nail on the head with her analysis. She had even caught the sound ward, which he had tied right in with the petrifying ward. She had missed three wards that he had tied into one, but since they weren't active at the moment he wasn't surprised.

Dumbledore looked somewhat at a loss for a few moments, before speaking, "Well, then we shall simply have to wait to see if they're released shortly. Will the wards dissolve completely or will we have time to study them further?" He asked Babbling curiously.

Babbling shook her head "Oh no, you misunderstand. The wards won't be gone. They'll merely reset. Allowing those captured free, then they'll be back to full strength."

Dumbledore frowned at that. "I guess we'll have to work out some other place for the first years to stay until we can untangle these wards."

"Why would we have to do that Headmaster?" Babbling asked with a puzzled frown.

"We can't have our first years at risk for being trapped every time they venture into their rooms." Dumbledore replied with a puzzled frown of his own.

"Then there are no worries. As long as they don't intend to hurt the residents of the room they enter then the wards remain completely inert. In fact these are probably the safest first year rooms in the castle. And since the Slytherin's are encouraged to ward their rooms as practice, I see no problem with the protection." Babbling stated with certainty.

Dumbledore frowned thoughtfully at that, and then nodded, "Good point." Though Dumbledore was still clearly looking thoughtful as he considered who might have put up such a detailed and complex ward.

Snape's face was blank though he was wondering the same thing. However anything he might have said was cut off by the sound of a loud a nasal child's voice singing a familiar children's song that never ended.

The song repeated twice as everyone looked around at one another in shock, before it faded off after the verse. There was silence for several long moments before the silence was broken by a scream. First one scream, and then another and another joined as the sixth and seventh years came scrambling out of the first floor hallway as if being chased by a pack of wild dogs. They tripped and stumbled over one another in their haste to get away from the first year rooms and into the safety of the common room.

Everyone seemed caught off guard, and even Draco seemed surprised as he glanced at Harry. Harry however remained completely impassive, the only sign of any sort of change was the slight quirking of his lips into a small smirk, though that was gone in a flash.

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