The Bear and Barnacle

From the Kent Chronicle

MAYORS INJURED IN AUTO ACCIDENT

The mayors of Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs were involved in a single car accident on the A255 yesterday when their car suffered a blowout and careened into a ditch. Margate Mayor Brian Wilson suffered a broken arm and various contusions and abrasion. Ramsgate Mayor Liam Butler broke a finger trying to get out of the car. Broadstairs Mayor Tom Shaw, who was driving, sustained the most serious injuries including a dislocated sternum and fractured ribs when he was thrown into the steering wheel. The car was equipped with airbags, but they did not deploy upon impact. The three were on their way to a charity golf outing at the Dyke Golf Club in Brighton.
When he was available for comment at East Kent Hospital, Mayor Shaw said the accident was a complete mystery. “I don’t recall running over anything that might have caused a puncture,” he said. “And I had new tyres put on just last month.” When asked about the airbags, the mayor had no comment, saying only that the matter would be thoroughly investigated. “I just thank god none of us were more badly hurt,” Mayor Shaw said fervently. Mayor Butler said he didn’t recall running over anything either. “All I know is one minute we’re sailing along, laughing and the next we’re all over the road screaming.” He expressed wishes for a speedy recovery for Mayor Shaw. Mayor Wilson, who was sitting in the back seat, said he didn’t notice anything unusual. “Funny about those airbags though,” he said. “I’ve never known them not to work.”

While Mayors Wilson and Butler will be able to perform their duties on the Thanet District Council, Mayor Shaw will be out indefinitely recovering from his injuries. The deputy mayor, David Jones, will assume mayoral duties on a temporary basis.

When he sees the paper that morning, Severus snarls wordlessly to himself, state of mind throwing itself back several years in an instant, and leaves a note for Q asking him to take care of the day's brewing (except for the copper cauldron, which he should just throw a stasis spell on). Twice is coincidence? Sod that. He's still not going to write the 'all afire to be on campaign' note that he's been dying to for weeks, or call in the cavalry, but it is time to do something else. Just because no one's been actually killed yet means... enough to matter, but not to reassure; it's early days of a very familiar pattern.

( Some of the spells, he'd learned from Moody, once they'd resolved their differences.* )

At four o'clock, utterly drained from so many nearly permanent spells, letting the small presence-concealers and deceptions melting away slowly as he's nearly too tired to banish them, he presses Holmes's doorbell. Here's hoping that Albus isn't off having tea in a shop somewhere and can remind him of protections he's missed, that Holmes isn't and can tell him where people who need more protection than he's been able to lay on today live. Not having said a word to anyone all day, when the door is opened, he's not quite too weary to be startled by what comes out of his mouth.

* This had involved a two-hour duel, evenings on end of grading and reading through the Albus And Alastor Knitting And Comedy hour, an ambush on an attempted ambush (wherein Alastor got petrified and his wand stolen and sent up to Albus but not hurt, which Moody found persuasive, although not convincing), and a really dreadful pun involving cocaine and hallucinatory alligators, which had gone on for nearly ten minutes before someone failed to keep an entirely straight face. The final blow had been when Moody, during his recovery period from Crouch's box, had been cajoled by one of Severus's all-time favorite pupils into flying a kite outside, and then taught her a few charms to stop other students stealing her books and shoes. Severus had sent him an obviously-hexed card which, when the hex was disabled, manifested a bottle of really good lubrication for Moody's false leg, and Moody had smacked him so hard upside the back of the head on the way to the Great Hall the next day that he'd thought it was Hagrid. And that was that.