The only animal Pomona could think of that was hidden in the Forbidden Forest, as large as a Muggle car, and threatening to young wizards was Professor Ruse's "pet," Spark—a vampire that looked very much like a moose.
As long as it was full, Spark was actually fairly docile, though its eyes glowed red at night rather than the green glow of ordinary animals.
"Could someone have tipped them off?" Grubbly-Plank said as she smoked her pipe after finishing her pie.
"Tipped them off? Who? Why?" Pomona asked.
Grubbly-Plank silently drew on her pipe.
Pomona began to think as well. Charlie, Hagrid, herself, and Snape had all gone to see Spark. It could not have been her, so the most likely person to have informed on them was...
"That's impossible," Pomona said.
"What's impossible?" Grubbly-Plank asked.
"Dumbledore is protecting him. Without Dumbledore, he wouldn't just face an inquiry—he'd be sent to Azkaban. He has no reason to do that," Pomona said.
"You suspect Severus?" Grubbly-Plank asked.
"Who else do you think it was?" Pomona asked.
"That girl called Émilie. She seems rather fond of prying into things," Grubbly-Plank said. "Could she have found out by accident?"
"How could she possibly know?" Pomona said, though she did not rule it out completely. After all, it was not impossible.
Grubbly-Plank smoked her pipe and kept staring at her.
"What?" Pomona asked irritably, growing uncomfortable under her gaze.
"Why do you suspect Severus? I thought you two were friends," Grubbly-Plank said.
"Does being friends mean you can't suspect each other?" Pomona retorted.
"If you can't trust each other, how can you still be friends?" Grubbly-Plank asked.
Pomona did not want to continue that topic. Just then, she remembered her original purpose and began discussing Leeds with Grubbly-Plank.
In October 1604, a nova