Avoiding the Mutant Land-Whale

''As Sherlock Holmes once said... a good detective always creates his theory based on the facts he has, and never bends the facts so that they can support his theory. You have not given me much, according to you, but that 'not much' is exactly what I have needed to support my theory. What you have just said proves everything I thought was going around the castle. And do not worry about Majere, he may be a bastard, but he won't cause much trouble when the time comes.'', he said with a smile.

''But, let us not talk about that anymore. What I would like to know is your... whatever she is to you, Suzannah Malfoy. What is with that Little Miss Sunshine? She seems to burst with self-confidence and still be equally ignorant.'', Wilson asked.

Narcissa had no idea who Sherlock Holmes was so it was best just to nod from her point of view. Nodding, something that got her by for a few decades. Silent acknowledgement that could have a thousand meanings was what saved her from quite a few scrapes during the height of the Second Wizarding War. Although much of it would have been her own fault she’d managed to save her hide quite a few times with careful planning and figuring out the best way to convince Voldemort that Lucius was the one at fault. Perhaps James was right in a few ways but Vincent Majere didn’t strike Narcissa as someone who would go down quietly with dignity. He’d go kicking and screaming no doubt. She’d probably do the same in that position but she wouldn’t become Headmistress, let alone have the Death Eaters take up residence in the castle.

“My granddaughter?” she raised a blonde eyebrow and smiled. “She is incredibly tactless I must say. She definitely has her head in the clouds. If I didn’t know better I would have said Draco produced Suzannah with the wrong sister but unfortunately it was Astoria birthing the girl.” She smirked a little and shrugged. “She’ll probably amount to nothing. A political influence, maybe, if she marries into the right family but I doubt it. She is quite strange, though.” Narcissa frowned. She was genuinely confused by her granddaughter. She was quite crude sometimes, often questioning her brother’s sexuality because of the lack of a feminine presence in the Manor. But Narcissa was somewhat grateful Scorpius didn’t bring female friends home because Suzannah would be making little jibes for the duration of the poor girl’s stay.

(Ah, this is really overdue. I'll be more prompt with my replies in future.)

''Extremely stupid, egoistic and full of herself. I mean, she dares threaten a professor, and not just me, but also one of my colleagues. A girl that needs to be taught how to behave and then the things we teach them.'', he replied.

''And that girl of yours... that Remy something.... whatever her name is. How did she manage to become a teacher at Hogwarts? How much does Majere know about her?'', he asked.

Narcissa only just managed to stop herself from laughing out loud. Suzannah might have had her head in the clouds half of the time and was probably not going to get away with half of the things she did now when she was out in the ‘real world’ but Narcissa couldn’t deny she had balls. She had heard about a few...problems that the teachers and students seemed to have with her granddaughter through the woodwork and every time she decided to pay a visit to Hogwarts, which was rare, Peeves had something to say about Suzannah. “She will learn eventually. But it will probably be the hard way. I wouldn’t pay her any mind. She has nothing my empty threats in here. I know I won’t follow through on them for her, Lucius won’t because he knows I’ll kill him if he does, Draco doesn’t give a damn and Astoria...well, you could sum her up in one sentence I think.”

Narcissa raised an eyebrow at James. She remembered Remy from when they were all waiting for Majere and Sandra to quit the theatrics and let them into Hogwarts. Yes, Remy was definitely unaware of the term ‘Marriage’ and Draco definitely seemed to have forgotten the meaning. She’d given her a little nudge, a word of warning and side note for her to remember her place although she could see the woman’s mind ticking over at the time. Narcissa knew exactly where Remy wanted to be and she didn’t care who she had to go through to get it. She didn’t want Draco, personally, just anyone with power. She’d probably flirt with a bug if it had some sort of social standing. “Devaul.” She said, remembering the woman’s last name. How could she forget? “I have no idea how she did it. She has no real magical talent from what I can deduce. No, she was worming her way in just like the other Death Eaters who hold a teaching position although not many but she could be under the nose of the Order by teaching. Hiding in plain sight so to speak. Note she teaches Care of Magical Creatures. That doesn’t involve much wand work. That was probably why that Half-Giant taught for so long. I don’t know how much Vincent knows about her, probably very little personality wise but no doubt she’s already charmed her way into getting a little more from him than would be on offer normally. I don’t know. She’s not a woman I’d like to be around for an extended amount of time. So I do not know much."

''I just wanted to check if my evaluation is correct and, as always, it is. People say it is a gift, but I just think I observe well. But, that is only secondary.'', he commented. ''Well, Hagrid was a good teacher, I remember attending his classes, although I have not taken Care of Magical Creatures as a N.E.W.T. class. He was just... interesting and, also, it helped me with DADA, the creatures part. But she, she does seem dangerous in almost every way you can use the word. She even managed to seduce our dear Potter which means two things. First, he is an immature idiot, which I have already said to him and, second, she is good. I have no doubts that she has managed to get into Majere's shoes, he is a man easy to manipulate, especially when you are female. But, that will suffice. I have what I need to work further.'', he said. ''Now, where would you like to go?'', he asked.

Narcissa smiled. He was as modest as ever. James did seem to have a good judgement on people though which interested her to no end. She was intrigued about what he must have thought of her the first time they met. It felt as if it was an age ago now. “Draco caused quite a bit of trouble in his classes but thankfully not as much as he could have. I remember him from my years at Hogwarts. Always kind and ready to help out any Gryffindors. Not so much the Slytherins though but that is understandable.” She raised an eyebrow at this. Surely not. The Great Jess Potter fell to the wily charms of a woman? Well, it was bound to happen as it happens to ever man. Although Majere seemed quite resilient to it which was always a good thing. Narcissa honestly pitied the woman that tried to seduce him. “He’s young, naive to the way women like her work. Majere is difficult no matter what your gender. Or perhaps it’s just his animosity towards me. No, I think it’s just me.” She laughed and shook her head. She didn’t even care. He was a complete idiot anyway. “Well, there are a few small coves not far from here if you were to go through some of the rock. Those seem exciting.”

''Yes, he is young, naive... and immature, but he seems to deny that every time you try to speak to him about that. He even managed to get McCoy angry, which something you cannot do easily. Well, we shall just have to see how that all ends, won't we? I mean, he is not going to end up with her, I am sure, but his life needs to change, his attitude towards life needs to change. But that is less relevant now.'', he said. ''Majere... as I have said, I wouldn't worry about him that much. He hates life and people to that level that it clouds his judgment. You can never let an emotion, not even hatred and vendetta, cloud your judgment because you become much weaker than you are, automatically.'', he explained and stood up. ''Since I am not familiar with these parts that much, always liked urban areas more, you lead the way.'', he said, giving her his hand.

Narcissa raised an eyebrow. She knew of Jess Potter and it seemed as if he wasn’t as pleasant as many believed but everyone had a face, a mask, which other people had to see. Those who carried them day by day let them down while around the company of those they trust. “Maturity comes with age, James.” She reminded him gently. “He is young and naive to the ways of the world outside of a duelling ring. Perhaps all you can hope for is that he gathers some comprehension of the female mind before he finds himself in a precarious position that he cannot get out of.” She didn’t know what to say about Majere. He was a lost soul and had yet to find the meaning in his life. Though, he seemed particularly content in being the brooding headmaster who liked plants more than humans and it suited him well.

She smiled a little and stood up, taking his hand as she did so. “Perhaps I just have far too much time on my hands. I know this beach inside out.” She laughed lightly and began to lead him up the beach towards a large curve of the cliff. Obviously it had just been all cliffs once but due to erosion the middle had been burrowed out so there was a little walkway from the cliff out into the ocean. From there people could jump off into the ocean. Narcissa had never done it and certainly never planned to but she’d watched a few teenagers throw themselves off of the edge in the past. “Maybe we should go camping next.” She joked with a teasing smile on her face. “Maybe then you can get used to the far more beautiful parts of this world.”

''Well, concrete and clay were always my choices, but who knows...'', he said, laughing at her remark. He looked around the cave she had lead him to. It was just a plane seaside cave, something he had seen before... this one may have been special, but to him, a hardcore realist, it was just an ordinary cave. He looked at the cliff that allowed people to jump into the water. ''Would you ever dare jumping from up there?'', he asked.

Narcissa looked up at the cave and glanced at him. “Probably not.” She admitted. “Well, not again.” Although, last time really didn’t count as far as ‘jumping’ was concerned. Actually, Bellatrix pushed her and she was sent off of the side and down into the freezing waters. She was the youngest Black sister and the easiest to tease. Regulus had helped her out of the water and Sirius just sat broodily in its shadow. She remembered flicking her wand at the laughing form of her sister, sending her off of the side. After that she bolted up the other end of the beach before her sister had a chance to get out of the water. She couldn’t remember when that was, years and years ago when they were young and happier. “Maybe if it was on my own terms although I’m not sure if I neither need nor want to throw myself off of it.”