Fall had only begun to settle over the grounds of Hogwarts but by god the lake was already quite cold, even oddly cold, Silas thought. He’d donned canvas waders over his tweed pants and half of his camel hair colored barn jacket before leaving his cottage and heading down to the lake to investigate something he’d overheard one of the student’s talking about not much earlier that morning.

“What are you lookin’ at?” Silas skipped a stone towards a skeptical looking merman that had popped his head above water and assumed a rather mocking attitude while watching Silas try and sort out his predicament.

The creature disappeared back underneath of the dark waves of the lake before the stone made contact and Silas couldn’t help the smug smile that spread across his face. Nonetheless, he was still no closer to sorting out his problem.

It was not a very attractive sight upon approach; the entire cove was filled with the floating carcasses of dead fish. At least seventy by Silas’s closest count and it smelled like twice as many.

He looked around and it was obvious what happened, what was not obvious was why. The entire cove was cut off by downed trees, shrubs, stumps, sticks…anything that could create a dam. Cutting this area off from the fresh water supply the fish used up their oxygen and died.

Why though? Silas thought to himself.

Could it be Centaurs?

He wondered while surveying the area, suddenly a bit paranoid about being alone on one of the lesser frequented coves of the lake. Then, somewhere not too far away a twig snapped. Silas focused in on the direction of the sound.

“Who’s there?” he called out into what remained of the chilly morning fog, the last remnants of what had yet to burn off in the early sun.

Cautiously, he waited for an answer…

Lydia Lockhart

  

If there was one guilty secret Lyddie had, it was likely the fact that she adores spending time outside. Granted, this time is never alone, since her chaperon is always within earshot and has eyes on her at all times, but peace is felt any time Lyddie gets outside for more than a few minutes. Even in the dead of winter, Lyddie can be spotted with earmuffs and mittens, roaming the grounds and making snow angels.

It wasn't quite cold enough for that yet, but the air as she stepped around a pile of rocks nipped at her nose, causing Lydia to tug her cloak around her form more snugly. Though most girls likely wished they had their chaperon gone, Lydia enjoyed talking with the various ones who accompanied her on her walks. Lyddie smiled at Mrs. Corcoran, the woman who had volunteered for this early morning walk near the Black Lake. "Do you mind if we go closer?" Lydia asked in the near quiet morning. There were sounds of fish flopping in the water, but the closer they got to the Lake, the less they heard.

Her chaperon smiled and indicated they could go further and with a burst of energy, Lyddie pushed forward and around a corner. There was a form standing with his back to her, and the smell, though she hadn't really noticed it before, became overwhelmingly strong. And not in a good way.

Fish.

Dead, rotten, stinky fish.

Gross.

She must have stepped on a twig or something because the man in the fog ahead of her started and looked around. He asked who was there and Lydia almost stepped backwards into the fog, but Mrs. Corcoran stepped up to her and another stick snapped underneath her foot. Shooting a wide-eyed glance back at the matronly woman, Lydia cleared her throat and pushed forward up to where Silas would likely be able to see her. "It's just me. Uh, Lydia. Lydia Lockhart. And Mrs. Corcoran, my chaperon. We were just walking and smelled the deadness of the fish. I wanted to investigate so here we are. Is everything okay out here?"

  

It was a student, a female student at that. Silas was not one to pass judgments, but he was a bit surprised. Not a single girl from his day at Hogwarts would have been around this part of the lake. Sure, the small, well-kept promenade on the other side, but not down through the bramble to this cove. He listened to her speak, noting specifically her use of the word investigate.

Intrepid little thing, Silas thought.

He took off his wool cap and stepped up from the muddy bank towards the girl, “Good morning, Miss Lockhart.”

He stopped and cast his eyes down as soon as he caught sight of the chaperone. Logically, he knew the girl would be chaperoned, but it was an unfortunate reminder of a feeling of being bullied over his wealth, or well, lack there off during his days as a student. Silas took a quick breath and shook off the brief moment of anxiety. Being back after almost a decade was turning out to be an interesting psychological experience, especially after so much time in America where social rules were more relaxed.

Nonetheless, Silas hoped he hid his nervousness well and gave a warm nod to Miss Lockhart’s chaperone. Unlike a lot of the boys, Silas didn’t have trouble with the chaperones when he went to Hogwarts and that was mostly because the girls just laughed at him and ran away.

He turned his attention back to the student, “Now, Miss, I appreciate any young Lady who has a curiosity for the natural world, but there is a bit of a situation here and I am not sure if this is the safest place for a student at the moment,”

Just then the merman popped his head above water once more tossing a flat stone that would wallop Silas square in the back of the head.

He whirled around in a rage, “YOU RIGHT FOWL GIT, I WILL HAVE YOUR FINS!”

The merman was already gone by the time Silas started to yell, but he immediately felt the disapproving eyes of the student's chaperone on the back of his neck, so he avoided making eye contact with her and looked straight back to Lydia.

“My apologies, Miss Lockhart,” he said loud enough for the chaperone to hear before lowering his voice to a whisper, “but he has been a right bastard all day.”



Lydia Lockhart

  

It shouldn't have been funny. It really shouldn't have. She was standing there looking at the man, who she assumed to be the new Groundskeeper they'd all heard about, and then a merman's head surfaced and a rock slapped the groundskeeper in the back of the head. He turned about to yell at the merman and she took the brief second to cover her mouth with her hands and snicker. Silas turned back around and she whipped her hands down and beamed at him.

"Oh now sir, I promise you, I'm quite safe here. One doesn't reach NEWT levels without knowing a thing or two about defensive magic. I can use any number of charms to keep not only myself, but Mrs. Corcoran here, safe." Is it really boastful when one is simply telling the truth? Lydia didn't think so.

Although Mrs. Corcoran's face remained disapproving of the entire situation now that Silas had raised his voice in front of a lady, Lyddie didn't mind. She stepped closer to the edge of the rank cove and peered down into it. The water was murky and some of it looked to be the consistency of mud. What would the man do to clean it? She was rather fascinated now, and it would take some serious negative behaviors from her for Mrs. Corcoran to drag her away. As such, the older woman sat down gingerly on a stump and maintained her disapproving looks.

"What are you going to do to clean it up?" she asked. "Would accio help to get some of the debris out of the way so that fresh water can fill in the old stuff? I wouldn't want to pull all the dead fish out by hand, that's for sure."

  

Silas was relieved when the chaperone did not immediately drag Lydia away after he lost his temper with that damnable merman. So, that was a plus. The young lady, as well, seemed unfazed by the situation, another plus. He relaxed a bit hoping MAYBE he would not get fired over this.

The young lady also seemed rather curious about a cove full of dead fish, but if she was not in distress and the chaperone stayed on that stump, Silas did not see the harm in her being there.

“Well, Miss Lockhart, I have a few ideas on what might help the situation, but first thing is first,”

Silas drew his wand and looked around for a moment. Not much was still blooming this time of year. That does not mean nature did not still have its bounty. A young, supple evergreen was coming into its own. He flicked his wand in a Z formation towards the tree and the sweet aroma of wood, pine, and sap filled the air overpowering the dismal odor of the dead fish.

Silas took in a deep breath and smiled; his nose was relieved.

“Now, Accio might be our friend in this situation, but I want to check and make sure there is not anything magical that hurt the fish. If not I know a heard of Hippogriff who would love to clean this up for us.”

He turned from her and took a step back down into the water and getting to about the depth of his knees at the start of the makeshift damn that had caused the problem in the first place.

Examining the debris closely he spoke, “But before we get to that, perhaps you can help me. Where do you think all of this came from?"

Lydia Lockhart

  

Lyddie breathed a sigh of relief as Silas used his wand to soothe the air, filling it with the scent of pine needles and sap. Vastly better than what it was before. And if the relaxed breathing of Mrs. Corcoran behind her was any indication, the matron who was chaperoning her was pleased much more than Lydia was. She watched as the groundskeeper waded into the water up to his knees and shivered delicately. She was getting colder just because he'd entered the water. Sympathetic coldness, was that a thing?

"I'd like to see that," she said, fondly thinking about the hippogriffs that she'd interacted with during her time at Hogwarts. Professor Podmore was an excellent teacher and kept several varieties of magical creatures around the campus and hippogriffs were one of them. "If we get the area clean enough for them to come, do you think Professor Podmore would let me watch them eat?"

Then her attention turned to the dam that Silas was standing beside. How had all of the stuff gotten packed in there so tightly. Hogwarts also home to many non-magical creatures, but she didn't think beavers could have done that much damage without getting caught by now. Maybe it was a combination of magic and beavers? She was interested to learn what the groundskeeper thought, so she caught his eye and delicately shrugged. "I have no idea, honestly, Mr. Groundskeeper, what do you think it could be? Do we have a pack of rogue beavers?"

  

Silas laughed, “If we wait long enough we won’t have to have the professor’s permission. The Hippogriff will smell it and come flying. My masking spell only works on us.”

The water was chilly even through the thick rubber waders. To make the scene more bleak, dead fish swirled behind him with every step he took as he moved back to the shore from standing out by the dam.

“Rogue beavers?” he asked as he stepped back on to dry land.

His waders were covered in muck as he looked out over the cove full of dead fish. The thought of rogue beavers made him want to laugh, but he did not show it as not to offend the young lady. The thing was, even though it sounded ridiculous there was really no other reason for the dam to have been built. Clearly, Silas knew that beavers were not malicious, but something about this sure smelled fishy…and it was not just the piles of dead fish.

“I will need to do a bit more field work, but just to be safe Miss, you should head back to the castle.”

Silas nodded to the girl's chaperone and the lady stood up and started to make her way toward Lydia. As the older woman walked toward her charge, Silas turned away and allowed himself to grin for the first time about the idea of rogue beaver pack...how absurd...

Then, out of the silence, a crack and pop was heard. A large willow tree’s trunk cracked and was falling. It was falling directly onto Lydia.

Silas dove towards the girl and rather unceremoniously tackled her to the ground, but saved her from being crushed under the tree at the same time.

“Well, damn,” Silas said out loud while panting on the ground, “we have rogue beavers!”

In the distance, the sound of flat tails slapping the water echoed.

Lydia Lockhart

  

Lydia opened her mouth to protest the groundskeeper sending her away, shooting a desperate glance at him as Mrs. Corcoran came up and murmured to her that they needed to go. At least the woman wasn't loudly demanding it. She had more propriety than some of the chaperons they'd had in previous years. Lyddie remembered one particularly wicked spinster who was in her thirties who would clap her hands like they were small school children and insist they leave immediately. If they didn't listen to her within her desired frame of time, she'd snatch up their ear and start to drag them away. She didn't last long as a chaperon, thankfully.

And then there was a cracking sound and Lydia went from standing up to lying awkwardly on the ground a few feet away, Mrs. Corcoran staring at her in shock, though it quickly turned to disapproval as she realized what had happened. "Miss Lockhart, I suggest you get up immediately and move away from that man." Her tone was commanding and Lydia had it ingrained in her that you listen to your elders, especially one who controlled your stay in Hogwarts and proper society.

"Yes, Mrs. Corcoran. I do believe I'm ready to go," Lydia said simply, choosing to avoid looking at the groundskeeper. Though the slapping of beaver tails did make her smile slightly. "Mr. Wild, it was a pleasure to meet you, but if you don't mind, let's avoid meeting again under these circumstances. Perhaps during the holidays when you're bringing in the Christmas trees for the Great Hall. Have a good day, sir."