A girl's best friend

[okashihime]

Taylor didn't mind that people were staring and pointing fingers. She'd missed her mum and hugging her again felt like the world was an even better place. She clung to her mum's clothes until Luna and her dad came closer.

Luna looked better. Even though she wasn't smiling, she was holding her dad's hand and looked serene.

"Mum," Taylor said, pulling away and wiping her eyes. She turned to the approaching duo.

Xenophilius was even more eccentric than the normal wizard. He had shoulder length hair that looked like candyfloss. He had a cap on his head and a golden chain around his neck. His robes were a bright green that made it impossible to miss him.

"This is Luna," she said, gesturing at her friend.

"Hello, dear," Annette said.

"Hullo," Luna waved back.

Luna's dad offered his hand. "I'm Xenophilius Lovegood, but please, call me Xeno."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Annette."

There was a moment of awkward silence, broken by someone in the crowd screeching.

"What in Merlin's tits is that?"

Taylor blinked, focusing her many eyes on the crowd. Eight of those eyes were from Arabelle. She was staring at the man who had just done the screeching. The portly wizard looked pale, with a trembling finger pointing at the cage.

"Arabelle!" Taylor gasped, then ran back toward her belongings.

She pushed through the crowd towards where she'd left her trunk and Nap's cage on top of it. She grabbed her trunk and dragged it away from the murmuring crowd and toward her mum. Taylor's dash away seemed to have broken the ice. Luna's dad and her mum were side by side looking at her, and smiling.

Once she was closer, Taylor took the cage, proudly displaying its inhabitant. "This is Arabelle."

Xeno waved at the spider. "Hello there, Arabelle, nice to meet you!"

Arabelle clicked her pincers. Taylor thought the gesture sounded happy.

"It's Luna who takes care of her, but she'll stay with us this holiday."

Annette was looking strangely at him, at the spider, at Taylor. She shook her head and smiled. She waved at the spider, then turned to Xeno.

"Do you want to come with us today? The guest room is ready. Or we can meet up tomorrow, like we planned."

"What do you think, Moonshine?" he said, kneeling in front of Luna. "Do you want to go with them?"

Luna nodded, still muted.

Taylor took the opportunity to push the cage onto Luna's arms.

"Then let's go!" she said, trying to sound cheerful. She also wanted to get away from the wizards staring at Arabelle like she was some sort of monster.

---

It was amusing watching the pair of wizards going gaga for every bit of normal technology they encountered.

"These are amazing!" Xeno said inspecting every inch of the car dashboard. He clicked buttons, turned knobs, tried to open panels. "I've seen them before, but this is the first time I got inside one."

Mum had a mix of annoyed and fond smile on her face. Which turned even more annoyed when Xeno turned off the engine for the third time.

"Stop that," she said, slapping his hand away.

Luna looked interested too, in her quiet way. The back seat was a bit crowded with the addition of Arabelle's cage, but that didn't prevent Luna from opening and closing the window like it was the most marvelous thing in the world, or gluing her eyes to the glass observing everything outside.

The drive home wasn't that long; an hour away. The start of the journey was a bit awkward, until mum turned on the radio, and a song Taylor hadn't heard before started playing. That got the attention of the two wizards.

It was a nice song too, about healing the world and making it a better place. Wizards really needed to hear that one.

---

"Please, come in," Taylor heard her mum say after the clicking of keys.

Taylor was now regretting having told her mum she'd deal with the trunks. She was struggling to pull her and Luna's trunk from the car back compartment. With a final heave, she got one out, then went back to pull the other. Luna was looking at the houses around, a spark of curiosity finally coming back to her eyes.

"We can explore tomorrow," Taylor said, wiping the sweat away. She dragged the trunks towards the house entrance. "There's a park down the street. I played there a lot before coming to Hogwarts."

"I'd like that," her friend said.

"You'll love it. There are these swings, but you need to be careful where to hold the chains or the rust gets everywhere."

The inside of the house smelled, as silly as it was to think, like home. Taylor stopped for a few moments, basking in the sensation of being back. It was like she hadn't left for months. She couldn't see her mum or Xenophilius, but could hear their voices on the floor above, near the guest room.

She left the doorway, pulling the trunks inside. Immediately, she got to work removing the bugs from inside the house. In the months she'd been away, a lot of them had sneaked inside. There was a nasty cockroach nest building under the house that she promptly set all surrounding spiders, wasps and ants to feast on them. No cockroaches in the house!

"Welcome, and come in," she said to Luna.

Luna walked in and peered at everything like she'd never seen a normal house before. She stopped at the photographs hung near the entrance. She had a forlorn look on her face, watching all the pictures from Taylor and her mum over the years.

Taylor walked closer to her friend. "Do you want a hug?"

Luna nodded.

---

Taylor watched as Xeno stood in the living room, looking around, a glint in his eyes.

"Good, your fireplace isn't connected to the Floo Network. Don't let them do it."

Her mum looked at the fireplace, then back at Xeno. "Why?"

"The Ministry intentionally let the network get infested with Wrackspurts to keep wizards pliable."

"Wrack-what?"

"Exactly! They make your brain go fuzzy! Don't let them do it to you too!"

Luna was nodding along with her father's words. Taylor had a wry grin, and gave her mum a 'what can you do' shrug.

"Right," Annette said.

"I'll be going home now," Xeno said, walking to Luna and kneeling in front of her. "You have fun, Moonshine. I'll be back tomorrow morning after making sure the house won't flee in our absence."

"Good night, daddy."

"You sleep well, my Sweet Plum."

There were a few more words of farewell. Xeno apparated from their living room; the snap-like sound loud in the small space.

After that, there was even more work making sure Luna had settled into the guest room. Once everything was done, Taylor managed to sneak a private meeting with her mum.

"Mum, I need help!"

"Is something wrong?" her mum asked, sounding worried.

"I have gifts for everyone," Taylor said, then added, "but I can't show it to you, it would ruin the surprise." Annette was now smiling. "But I need a way to package it, without letting Luna know."

"I can buy some gift wrap tomorrow when I go out to buy breakfast."

Taylor hugged her mum. "You're the best mum in the world!"

It had already been late at night when they arrived at the house. After a deep bug clean-up, helping Luna settle into the guest room, a late night snack, and entertaining Xeno's pet conspiracy theory, and sneaking her stowaways to hide out of view, Taylor was feeling beaten and very tired.

It didn't help that she hadn't slept the night before, and only taken naps on the train ride back home.

But she couldn't sleep. The bed felt cold and alien. She tossed about, turning every few minutes.

A soft knock on her door sometime later disturbed an already restless attempt at sleep. Taylor got up and opened it. On the other side was Luna. Her big, pretty eyes were even bigger in the semi darkness. She was holding a pillow and blanket.

"Can I sleep with you?"

Taylor wanted to roll her eyes. What a silly question. Instead of answering, she pulled Luna inside and led her to the bed. The double blankets and now a warm friend to hug helped stave off the cold and Taylor fell asleep before she could even start counting sheep.

Morning arrived too fast.

Taylor was still feeling tired from the day before, but there was no time to dawdle. Luna was already awake and feeding Arabelle, which was a good thing. In the confusion from the past night, Taylor had forgotten about the spider.

"Sorry, Bell," she said, opening the cage and letting the spider out.

Arabelle crawled out and onto Luna's hand.

"Come, let's introduce you to mum," Taylor said, then had to stop the spider from biting Luna. "And no biting," she chided gently.

Taylor could smell heaven coming from downstairs. They headed down, and a quick glance at the wall clock told Taylor it was almost ten in the morning.

"Good morning, sleepyheads," her mum greeted from the kitchen. "Brunch will be done in a minute. Can you set the plates, Taylor?"

Taylor did as asked, picking up the china and placing it on the table. "Is Luna's dad coming too?" she asked, trying to decide if they needed one more plate.

Annette walked into the room, carrying a lot of food. "I'm not sure, and hello Luna. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you."

Taylor put one more plate on the table. Better safe than sorry. After that, she made introductions.

"Mum, this is Arabelle," she said, indicating the spider on Luna's hand.

Annette glanced at the spider, then Taylor. "I know, dear. You told me yesterday, remember?"

"Yes, but Arabelle is a magical, talking spider. She's just too young to speak."

Arabelle clicked her pincers and waved her forelegs.

"I… see?" Annette said.

"She'll probably grow really big too. Her daddy was almost the size of this house, but don't worry! We have a plan for that. Luna is researching a shrinking solution that we'll use to keep her small."

Taylor glanced at her mum. Annette placed the food on the table, then slumped onto a chair.

And what a spread it was. Mum had cooked a whole weekend breakfast. There was bacon, sausages, fried eggs, baked beans, grilled tomato, grilled mushrooms, and toast.

More than looking good, it tasted divine. As much as Taylor loved Hogwarts food, it didn't compare to her mum's cooking. Luna seemed to appreciate it too, because her dreamy friend ate more than she usually did, even let out a small burp at the end, immediately clapping a hand over her mouth with wide eyes, much to Annette's amusement.

Using that distraction, Taylor snuck a few bits of food from the table. Those she'd give to Dee, Dum, and Bity later.

Taylor helped Luna change into some of her old clothes, so they'd blend in better around the neighborhood. Arabelle went back into the cage. Then they were out exploring, with their first destination the park down the street.

 

[okashihime]

They were not careful with the rust. It spread everywhere. Luna even had a splotch of bronze on her nose and cheek. That didn't prevent them from enjoying the park. First the swings, then the slides. It wasn't as good as it could have been, because the cold metal was a bit uncomfortable, but Luna didn't seem to mind it one bit, and so Taylor decided she wasn't going to mind it as well.

They played until Taylor was feeling tired.

"Let's go back," she said to Luna, who was playing on the swing again. "I'm getting hungry."

Luna hopped off the swing, and Taylor had a brilliant idea.

"Race you!" she shouted and started running.

---

"You're cheating," Taylor said once she got to her house. Somehow Luna had, despite starting later, arrived first.

In a very un-Luna behaviour, her friend stuck her tongue out, then daintily entered the house.

Taylor followed, hot on her heels, only to come to a screeching halt inside.

Her mum was glaring at her.

"Take off the shoes, and go get cleaned. We're going to the movies."

Luna tried to sneak away, but her mum didn't even need to look to see the sneaking thief. She rounded on Luna. "That means you too, young lady."

"Is daddy coming too?"

Annette had a complicated look in her eyes. She shook her head.

"He sent an owl. Apparently, something urgent came up with the latest Quibbler edition. He'll be here on the twenty-fourth."

Taylor wasn't sure if she was seeing things, but Luna looked dejected.

"Which movie are we watching?" she blurted out, trying to change the subject.

"Aladdin," her mum said. "Now, go get ready."

There was no arguing with mum when she was like that. A full bath would take too much time and be too much work, so Taylor opted for a quick shower. Luna did the same and about half an hour later they were ready and on their way.

The shopping centre wasn't that far from Taylor's house. A ten-minute drive. Luna seemed fascinated with each piece of technology they encountered. All the flashing lights, the vending machines, the many tellies on display.

Taylor had to gently tug on her friend's arm to move her along.

Mum gave Taylor a few pounds. "Go grab the popcorn and fizzy drinks. I'll get the tickets."

Taylor did as asked, with Luna trailing after her.

"Do you like it sweet or salted?" she asked Luna.

Her friend seemed very confused, so Taylor decided to buy both. If Luna didn't like the sweet ones Taylor would take them no problem, she liked both salted and sweet popcorn. Together with the food, she got the biggest fizzy drink she could afford. Soon after they were being ushered inside the cinema and trying to find their seats.

---

The movie had been great, and Taylor was glad they brought Luna along. It was awesome seeing Luna swaying to the music, and trying to sing along with the whole new world song, but the fun wasn't done.

Annette gathered the duo, handing over a few bills to Taylor and then to Luna.

"Go and explore a little," she said. "Have fun, but meet me here in two hours."

"What are you going to do, mum? You could come with us."

Annette shook her head. "I have boring shopping to do. You girls have fun."

Taylor turned to Luna after her mum had left. "Want to try the arcade?"

Luna tilted her head, clearly having no clue what Taylor was talking about.

Taylor grabbed Luna's hand and led her toward the arcade. "They are these machines you can play games on. You'll see."

In the end, both Luna and Taylor were horrible at the games. Of the few games available, Taylor tried her hand at Street Fighter, not something she had ever tried before, and got beaten in the second round. Luna somehow did worse. Her dreamy friend had a hard time moving the controls and pressing the buttons in time.

After that, they tried Pacman, Pinball, even those claw machines.

Taylor, like usual, couldn't get a plushie, but Luna somehow managed to grab one, a brown bunny.

"That's amazing!" Taylor said, hugging her friend. "I can never land the claw right."

With what was left of their money, Taylor got them ice cream (even though it was very cold); a shopping trip that didn't end in ice cream was no successful shopping trip.

---

They returned home in the evening after an afternoon of fun. While Luna was in the bathroom, Taylor opened Arabelle's cage and let the critter out.

"You can explore outside, but try to remain out of view," she said holding the spider. "Don't try to leave my range. I'll know and I'll stop you."

There were some pincers clicking that sounded angry.

"And try not to kill anyone's pet. That means cats and dogs."

More clicking.

"Now shoo," Taylor said, placing the spider on the windowsill and cracking it open. "Try to come back before we go to sleep, alright?"

Arabelle didn't answer, she scurried away and into the night. Taylor hoped this wasn't a mistake, but the critter deserved to explore a little. She'd keep an eye on the spider, just in case.

Fortunately, Arabelle didn't cause a commotion. In true predator fashion, she went hunting and that night, no rat was ever safe from her.

---

The next day, the one before Christmas Eve, there was no exploring. It was raining heavily and the girls, plus Nap and Arabelle, spent the whole day on the couch watching the telly. Luna seemed fascinated with cartoons.

Taylor sneaked away while Luna was distracted to package her gifts. She'd have to give her mum an even bigger hug later for getting the wrap and the tape. She packaged the three gifts, then hid them inside her trunk again. She joined her friend under the blankets on the couch. She tried to pay attention to the cartoons, but ended up falling asleep on Luna.

---

Christmas Eve arrived without much fanfare. The rain hadn't stopped and they had been confined to the house. Not that they remained idle. The dinner preparation started in the afternoon and her mum, the cruel taskmaster, kept both Luna and Taylor busy, first with cleaning the house and now with helping with the cooking.

Taylor peeled potatoes and apples; cut the carrots into the perfect cubes; sliced the green beans.

Her mum wasn't doing a normal Christmas dinner this year. There would be roast turkey, but that was it.

Instead of the traditional roast potatoes, gravy and carrots, this time it was some sort of Russian Salad. Taylor couldn't fathom what potatoes, apples, carrots, green beans and mayonnaise had to do with Russia, but her mum was sure of it. Along with that, they'd also have white rice and unfortunately, roasted Brussels sprouts.

Xenophilius arrived with a snap-crack in the living room a few minutes before dinner started. Taylor was starting to get worried, because Luna looked more dejected with each passing minute.

The wizard hugged his daughter, then greeted everyone. "Hello!" He was carrying two small packages with him, oddly shaped. He was also wearing an eye-searing yellow robe. "I hope I'm not late."

"You're just in time," Annette said, carrying the roast toward the living room. "Go wash your hands," she ordered everyone.

Soon after, they were seated at the table and Taylor could admire the food. It looked good.

"This smells amazing," Xeno said.

Annette distributed the plates and people dug in the food. More than the amazing smell, the taste was almost magical. For a moment, Taylor wasn't sure if her mum wasn't some sort of magical cooking wizard.

The clinking of cutlery was soon replaced by small talk.

Taylor talked about school, about Quidditch, and laughed when describing Snape blasting Lockhart in the dueling club. She tried to gloss over the Heir attacks, but Xeno wanted to talk about it.

"Has the Heir attacked again?" he asked before stuffing his mouth with a huge bite of the roast. He turned to Annette. "This is delicious! Are you sure you are a muggle?"

But Annette wasn't paying attention to him. Her eyes were fixed on Taylor.

"Attack? What is he talking about, Taylor?"

Taylor squirmed under her mum's gaze and couldn't see a way to dodge the question.

"Remember I told you about the cat being petrified and the new mystery?" she said finally.

Annette shook her head.

"I told you in a letter, mum."

"Taylor, sweetie, you barely sent me any letters."

Taylor opened her mouth, closed it, trying to understand what her mum had said. "Mum, I sent you letters every day."

It was Annette's turn to blink. "You did?" she muttered. "I… must've forgotten." Her mum looked lost for a moment, then she shook her head, her eyes focused again. "We can talk about that later. Tell me about this heir and the attacks."

Taylor squirmed harder. She wanted to ask about her mum not remembering the letters, but the look in her eyes was enough to know she wouldn't budge.

"The Heir of Slytherin has returned to Hogwarts," Luna said instead. "The Heir unleashed the monster from the Chamber of Secrets to punish the mudbloods and cleanse the castle from the undeserving." There was a moment of silence. "A cat and a boy were petrified. No one knows who the Heir is, or how the attacks happen."

"And why isn't anyone doing anything about it? How come no newspaper reported that?"

Xeno, who had been eyeing the food like a hungry wolf, piped up. "It's the Rotfang conspiracy's fault!"

Three pairs of eyes turned to him.

"The Ministry doesn't want you to know it, but they have shady dealings everywhere. The Daily Prophet only publishes things the conspiracy approves of. You won't ever see it saying anything bad about the government, or Hogwarts for that matter."

"A conspiracy? Are you sure?"

"Yes!" The man said, having gotten up. He gesticulated animatedly. "I've been working on a special edition for The Quibbler for the past few days," he stopped close to Luna and kissed her crown. "That's why I've been so busy, Moonshine. All that information you sent me was crucial to unraveling this conspiracy. I even have undeniable proof from an anonymous correspondent! There's no way they'll be able to deny it!"

Xeno ranted about this conspiracy and that, thankfully derailing all the talk about the attacks, but the glance her mum sent her way told they weren't done with the subject, it was just being postponed.

Once dinner was over, it was time for the gift exchange.

Taylor ran to her bedroom and grabbed all the gifts. When she returned to the living room, everyone was already waiting for her.

"Why don't you start, Little Owl," her mum said.

Taylor grabbed the package in the middle, the one for her mum. She walked closer and pushed it towards her. "I tried my best," she said, barely audible.

Annette smiled, and instead of taking the package, she hugged Taylor for a long while. "Thank you, sweetie."

Under everyone's gaze, she opened the package, revealing a black t-shirt with silvery details.

Annette fingered the fabric, her eyes widening. "This is so soft." She hugged Taylor again.

Her mum got up, left the living room, and returned a few minutes later wearing the shirt. Like Taylor had expected, the cut wasn't a perfect fit, but it looked comfortable.

"I love it, Taylor," her mum said, hugging Taylor again.

Next up was Xeno. His package was the smallest one, because Taylor only thought to make it when Luna asked if her dad could come too. It ended up being a small handkerchief, light blue with a stylized XL sewn in the middle.

Xeno looked at the piece of fabric. "What is this made of?"

Taylor wasn't about to tell strangers, so she just shrugged. "Secret."

Xeno laughed.

Lastly, she took the biggest package and held it to Luna. Her friend took it and carefully opened the wrapping. Luna's gift was a pajama set, woven in silvery silk with light pink piping. Because just silvery was boring, she'd sewn in the shirt and trousers a yellow moon with a white rabbit sleeping on it. The pink details weren't because Taylor's own pajama set was pink and silvery. Not one bit.

Luna held the articles of clothing for a long while, before tackling Taylor into a hug. Taylor didn't miss that her friend was finally smiling again. Totally worth it!

Maybe inspired by Taylor's mum, Luna ran out of the living room and returned wearing the pajamas. The clothing was bigger than Luna's petite frame, but that had been the intention all along. That way, it would last a few years, hopefully, instead of a few months.

Luna was the next to present gifts. To her father, she gave some sort of necklace that looked like a triangle with a circle inside. To Taylor's mum she gave a wizard cooking recipe book, much to Annette's amusement. When it was Taylor's turn, Luna produced big packages from inside a small bag.

"I knew you liked them," Luna said, presenting Taylor with her own magical House hats.

Taylor tackle-hugged her friend. She immediately put on the Ravenclaw animated hat after the hug, and the eagle spread her wings and screeched.

That seemed to be some sort of challenge, because Nap flapped her wings, and tackled the hat out of Taylor's head with an angry hoot.

Annette's gift for both Taylor and Luna was the same. She'd compiled a list of useful every day spells into a small notebook. It had the words, the wand movements, even a small story for each spell transcribed in the notebook.

The tackle-hugs found their next target: Annette, courtesy of two emotional children.

Maybe not wanting to be outdone, Xeno pulled out two books as well. One looked very old, but well preserved, the other new.

"This one was your mum's," he said, handing the old book to Luna, who took it in trembling hands. The other, he gave to Taylor. "It doesn't have all the fancy enchantments from Luna's book, but it does have all the same spells, I copied them myself."

Taylor took the book, reading the cover. The name was promising. Book of Spells, it read.

Xeno endured the hugs, laughing all the while.

---

image reference
This is the image I had in mind when I was thinking the moon and sleeping bunny. Can't find the bigger version, so I apologize.

 

[okashihime]

Taylor really wanted to ditch everything, grab her wand and try the new spells. The book had a lot of useful sounding ones even if several of them she already knew from spying on later year classes, but the ones she didn't know looked really cool. But alas, she was forbidden from practicing at home.

Instead, it was time for movie night. Her mum had rented Home Alone for them to watch.

Taylor prepared the VHS player while Xeno tried to poke at everything.

"Is that what you call a teevee?" he asked. He didn't wait for anyone to answer. "I heard it eats muggles' brains. How fascinating!"

Taylor watched from the corner of her eye her mum guiding the wizard away from the buttons and towards the couch.

"You sit there, and don't touch anything," she said with her stern voice.

Once Taylor was done, she huddled with the others on the couch.

Xeno, as it turned out, was a horrible movie guest. He commented on everything, all the time.

The tape static, the wizard was sure it was Nargles infesting the magical box. Kevin's ability to survive alone in his house was the work of accidental magic, even though there was no magic at all in the movie. The wet bandits, surely weren't bandits, but investigators trying to find out about the Gillyweed trafficking, and wet bandits was their code-name. How did he come to that conclusion? Taylor had no idea. Not even phone calls escaped his commentary.

"And that's why they should have taken a two-way mirror with them," Xeno said after Annette had to pause the movie for the nth time to explain what a telephone was.

After the movie, Taylor fed Nap and Arabelle, then hurried to her room. She got into her pajamas, ready for bed. She hadn't worn those before, and the silk felt really comfortable. Luna arrived soon after, already dressed in her silk pajamas and carrying a pillow.

"What about your dad?" Taylor asked.

Luna just shook her head and crawled into the bed.

"Have you ever had a pillow fight?" Taylor asked.

Luna shook her head again.

Taylor smiled, grabbing a pillow. She hadn't ever had a pillow fight either, but she knew the basics.

"Me neither," she said, then threw the pillow at Luna.

Despite her serene nature, Luna proved to be nimble and a quick study. She ducked out of the way, and after narrowing her eyes, threw her pillow, scoring a hit on Taylor's nose.

"That's cheating," Taylor said. She grabbed the fallen pillow and threw it again. "I'll get you this time!"

She didn't. Luna had an uncanny ability to duck under pillows that left Taylor baffled. Taylor also wasn't having the best of times trying to predict where Luna would move to. She had, without even realising it, been using her bugs to keep track and see where people would move. Now that the house had no bugs whatsoever, she was having trouble following her friend's movements.

The pillow fighting soon delved into wrestling, then pillow fighting again. Their squeals and laughs got louder and louder.

"Girls," Annette said, with an exasperated smile on her face. "It's time to sleep, we don't want to keep the neighbors awake until morning."

"Sorry mum." "Sorry Mrs. Hebert."

Annette shook her head.

"None of that, Luna. Call me Annette."

Luna nodded.

Taylor's mum left, and Taylor decided the game was over. But she was still holding a pillow, it would be a shame to lose the opportunity… so she hit Luna in the back of the head. While Taylor was feeling very proud of herself, Luna tackled her into the bed and started tickling her.

Three minutes later, Annette was at their door again, glaring.

"Sleep, now!"

---

Xeno only stayed the night of Christmas Eve. He left the morning after, saying there was a lot of work to do on the special Quibbler edition. He was also annoyingly secretive about what the article was about.

"I'll send you a copy when it is ready," he said.

The day after Christmas, Annette rounded Taylor for that conversation she knew was coming. Luna was busy watching cartoons with Nap and Arabelle.

"Why didn't you tell me about the attacks?" her mum asked.

"I didn't want you to get worried," Taylor admitted, not looking her mum in the eyes.

"Sweetie, of course I'm going to worry. There's been an attack on school grounds! What if it was you that had been attacked?"

Taylor stayed silent while her mum paced.

"Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

"Yes," Taylor said, and before her mum could ask, she added. "But it was because I couldn't put it into the letters."

Annette nodded. She walked closer to Taylor and hugged her.

"I think Luna knows about my secret," Taylor said, her voice muffled by her mum's clothing.

"Did she see you playing with the bugs?"

Taylor shook her head. "No, but she's very smart. She called me a HereSeer, because she noticed I always know things I shouldn't."

Annette sighed.

"I also had to stop a huge nest of giant spiders from killing us."

"You what?" Her mum's voice rose a notch.

And so Taylor recounted the whole story about the Heir, the spiders fleeing the castle, meeting a centaur (they're so cool, mum!), tracking down the giant spider and learning the horror lives under the castle. Taylor had to explain who Salazar Slytherin was, and how Snape was the head of the Slytherin house. From there, she couldn't help but whine about Snape bullying students and picking on her and Luna, and how she had to hold back the bugs to avoid another ant incident.

"Taylor, is this Snape the one you often complain to me about in your letters?"

Taylor nodded.

"Can you tell me what he has done? I'll complain to the school."

Taylor tilted her head. "Mum, I've told you everything in the letters."

"Sweetie, you barely sent me any letters. After the first one, I spent months waiting until you started sending them again."

"Mum, I sent you letters every day," Taylor said, still not understanding what was happening.

"You did?"

Taylor nodded. "You answered them every day. I have your letters in my trunk."

Annette opened her mouth, then closed it.

"Can you get them to me, please?"

Taylor did so. She grabbed all the letters and gave them to her mum.

Annette read them one by one, her face turning uglier with each letter she read.

"I… don't remember writing any of those," she whispered.

She got up, hurrying to the living room. Taylor followed, watching as her mum opened a drawer and picked up a stack of letters. Then she went up to her room, with Taylor on her heels. There, from the nightstand drawer, she picked up another letter. The first one Taylor ever sent.

"I kept this one here, because it was your first letter."

Taylor looked over the letters and her mum was right. Aside from her first one, all the letters she'd sent in the first months were missing.

"Did anything strange happen to you?" Taylor asked.

Annette opened her mouth, closed it. She closed her eyes. "About a month ago, I was late for work, but when I got there, Miria said I had taken the day off."

Taylor waited, while her mum was still thinking.

"I sent a letter to the school because you were complaining about your professors, and their response didn't make any sense to me. Their letter said I had contacted the school several times before, but I don't remember doing it."

Taylor hugged her mum. The only conclusion she could come up with was that someone, probably from the school, came to her house, stole her mum's letters and erased her memory.

But why? Was it because her mum sent letters to the school? Had her mum discovered something that people didn't want her to know? Could wizards make people forget things? No, that was a dumb question. Of course they could. Otherwise magic wouldn't be a secret.

It made no sense why anyone would do that, and it made Taylor want to set all her bugs on everything. They buzzed and writhed at the edges of her mind and she had to focus so they wouldn't start swarming towards the house.

"I want to tell Luna about my power," Taylor said, her voice flat.

Her mum pulled away from the hug, studying Taylor's face.

"And I blew up Snape's laboratory because he hurt Luna."

"You what?" Her mum's voice cracked on the word. "Taylor. You could have- Why?"

"He hurt Luna," Taylor said again.

"We are going to talk about this, all of it. But right now I need to- just- let me hold you for a second."

Taylor was enveloped by a hug again, tighter this time.

It took some more time to explain why Taylor had done what she did, but aside from looking disappointed, her mum didn't say anything.

"We need to tell the school about this monster under the castle, and this nest of dangerous giant spiders," her mum said.

"We can't," Taylor said.

Her mum searched Taylor's eyes.

"Taylor-"

"If you tell them, the Headmaster will want to know how you know all that. I've… been spying on the whole school."

Her mum stood up, paced to the window and back, arms crossed. "So I'm supposed to just sit on this, knowing there's something living under that castle that could have killed you, and say nothing, because telling the truth would get you in trouble."

"Mum-"

"No, I heard you." She rubbed her eyes. "But I don't like it."

Her mum sighed, heavy and tired.

"… and I might've started a legend about a comeuppance curse, to keep the bullies from hurting the other students."

"Oh, dear," her mum muttered.

---

Luna stayed the rest of the week, returning home for the New Year celebration. Taylor didn't spill her secret yet, preferring to do it at the school. It would be awkward if Luna was creeped out and had to stay in their house after that.

As for the letter mystery, Taylor had no idea who had done it, but her primary suspect was someone from Hogwarts.

Once she was alone with her mum, they went over everything in detail. Taylor told her mum what she remembered from her letters, and they searched the house for any clues, to no avail. They did discover something else was missing. Some of her dad's paraphernalia stored in the basement had disappeared as well.

The new year came and went, and it was time to return to the school.

This time, Taylor made sure to cover Nap's cage, that way, people wouldn't be scared of Arabelle. Nap stayed home. The fat owl would have to fly to the school on her own instead of taking the train with Taylor. The stowaways hid beneath Taylor's robes and she was ready to leave.

She met with Luna and her father in Platform 9¾. Luna looked like her serene self, but Xeno was smiling broadly.

"It's the best edition of The Quibbler yet," he said, handing over a copy to Taylor and another to Annette.

She peeked at the cover, and the subtitle certainly was catching.

THE ROT AT HOGWARTS: A SCHOOL CRUSADE AGAINST MAGIC ITSELF?​

But there was no time to read, and together with other students they boarded the train, ready to return to the school.

In the days she hadn't seen her friend, Luna had gotten better. She was almost like when Taylor first met her in this very same train. They talked, played with Arabelle, ate candies purchased from the trolley witch, The Quibbler edition forgotten.

Taylor told Luna about her mum's lost memories.

"After I returned home, daddy took me to St. Mungo's. He was worried about me and your mum," Luna said. "Your mum is too young to be forgetting things. He wanted to take her to St. Mungo's as well to check if the telly hadn't eaten too much of her brain, but the hospital doesn't accept non-magicals."

Taylor scowled.

"She didn't forget," she muttered. "Someone made her forget. I think it was someone from the school."

That led to another conversation about who, and why the school would want to make Taylor's mum forget things.

Only once there was nothing else to talk about, Taylor remembered the magazine. Luna sat by her side, she also hadn't read it yet, and both started reading.

Taylor read the first line of the article, and it was like a stone had dropped in the pit of her stomach, because she remembered writing those very same words to her mum in a letter.



Hogwarts is a magical school, mum. Why are they trying to kill all the magic from it?

 

[okashihime]

THE ROT AT HOGWARTS: A SCHOOL CRUSADE AGAINST MAGIC ITSELF?

Exclusive to The Quibbler, from an anonymous correspondent

"Hogwarts is a magical school, mum. Why are they trying to kill all the magic from it?"

Click to shrink...

Our readers will recall this magazine has reported the whispers about a certain member of Hogwarts staff. He wore a hooded robe a little too comfortably, and was once suspected, though never convicted, to have served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself. This publication has always believed that where there is smoke, there is very often a Blibbering Humdinger stirring the fire. But what our correspondent has uncovered suggests something far more insidious than old rumors: a slow, deliberate campaign to smother magic in the young before it can even catch fire.

We were given excerpts from correspondences said to have passed between a Hogwarts student and their parents over the course of a disheartening term. We reproduce here only fragments, as our correspondent insists on protecting the family's identity from retaliation.

"...he asks questions that aren't in the [REDACTED] book, and that he didn't explain yet, then takes points away when I can't answer. It isn't fair, mum. How does he expect me to know things if he isn't teaching?"

Click to shrink...

"...when [REDACTED] failed to brew a [REDACTED] [REDACTED]. He didn't explain what she did wrong. Instead, [REDACTED] called her names, insulted her and made her cry."

Click to shrink...

And this problem doesn't seem centered on a single professor, either.

"…doesn't teach us how to defend ourselves, or how to use the spells or even basic knowledge about dark creatures. He keeps asking us to write poems about his adventures, most of which I think are fake, mum. Several of them seemed to have happened at the same time. They are great fantasies, though."

Click to shrink...

Alarmed, the student's mother wrote — more than once, our correspondent tells us — to the school, but no action was ever taken and the complaints disappeared into the great grey nothing with no inquiry, no investigation, and no changes. This editor does wonder who reads the post at Hogwarts these days, and whether it is being read at all, or merely filed somewhere it will never trouble anyone with power to act.

If smothering the desire to learn magic from young wizards and witches wasn't enough, children are being attacked in school grounds and Hogwarts' faculty, alongside with the venal lot at the Ministry have gone overboard to keep it out of the public's eyes.

A first year has been a victim of the foulest dark magic and petrified, but nothing has been done about it. The culprit is still at large, plotting to threaten even more of our children. And yet, no other newspaper or magazine has reported or published anything about the attack.

Readers will not need reminding that this is far from the first occasion the school's walls have failed to keep danger out. The attack on the castle was not an isolated horror. It is not even the first time this same monster attacked children inside the school. Half a century ago the same creature struck, resulting in the death of a student. More recently, just last year, a troll invaded the school and put young students at risk during the Halloween feast.

Rather than a coincidence, a pattern begins to emerge if one only pays a little attention: a school that cannot stop evil from stalking its corridors, staffed in part by those who seem to actively prefer their students never learn to defend themselves.

A frightened wizard who doesn't know his charms can't fight back. A wizard who dislikes magic won't ever try to learn more about it.



The Rotfang Conspiracy, Once More

It will not surprise longtime readers where this leads. This publication has documented, for years, the reach of the Rotfang Conspiracy, though it was not yet known by this name. It is the patient effort by elements within the Ministry to hollow out the wizarding world from the inside, leaving it fangless, and entirely too easy to govern. They tried it with the Floo Network, infesting it with Wrackspurts to muddle our minds, but now they have a better target. What better instrument for such a plan than the schoolroom itself? Bleed the magic out of the next generation slowly enough, and nobody notices the wandwork has gone soft until it is far too late to matter.

A professor who torments his students, and another who refuses to teach magic. A school that can't keep its students out of danger and does nothing when a mother cries for justice. An evil horror allowed to stalk the halls more than once, killing our children.

Individually, these might be dismissed as bad luck, poor management, or overworked professors.

Together, they look like a conspiracy against magic itself.

The Quibbler will, naturally, continue to investigate and report, assuming this issue reaches you at all, and is not quietly redirected en route by more Rotfang-friendly postal owls.

---

The article went on, bringing up details about the attacks and more info about the supposed Death Eater professor, but Taylor wasn't reading anymore.

"What's wrong?"

Taylor didn't notice the voice, only reacting when Luna cupped her face. She almost lashed out, surprised, then had to hold back the bugs inside the train.

It was Luna, her friend. And it wasn't Luna's fault. It might not even be her dad's fault.

Back during Eve dinner, he'd been excited about this new correspondent and the new story he got from them. He also didn't seem to be acting when they met at the train station for the first time. But Xenophilius had gotten a hold of Taylor's letters, somehow.

"I wrote that," she gritted out, "in the missing letters I sent to mum."

Luna looked at the now discarded magazine.

"We can ask daddy who gave them the letters and the story."

"Would he tell us?"

Luna nodded, serious. "Daddy won't keep a secret from me."

Taylor took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

"Not by owl," she said. "We ask him in person."

"You can come stay in my house during the Easter holidays."

"Can mum come too?" Taylor asked, grinning despite the situation.

Luna tilted her head. "I'll tell daddy about it."

The rest of the train trip went about without interruptions. Taylor helped Arabelle back into the cage, and together with Luna, they got into a carriage and returned to the school.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem Taylor would have a quiet start of term. She hadn't even gotten to her common room when she was intercepted by Professor Flitwick.

"Miss Hebert, there you are," he said. He wasn't smiling. "The headmaster wants a word with you. Follow me if you please."

With one quiet glance at Luna, who looked like she wanted to come as well, Taylor followed the professor.

"What is this about, Professor?" she asked, although she could guess the reason.

"Nothing serious," Flitwick said. His voice sounded funny, strained. "Just to clarify some doubts."

Taylor didn't often spy on school faculty, but there were a few bugs inside the headmaster's office. She made sure there were no bugs where she didn't want to spy on, but the few days she wasn't at the school seemed enough for bugs to migrate to places she had kept bug free.

Inside the office, her bugs could see a fuming Snape arguing with McGonagall, while the headmaster sat on his chair. There was no twinkling in his eyes, or an easy smile on his face.

Flitwick gave the gargoyle the password and led her up the circular staircase.

Dumbledore's office was a large and beautiful circular room. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke and tinkling sounds. The walls were covered with portraits of old men and women, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tainted wizard's hat.

Once they were inside, all eyes were immediately on her.

Taylor stared ahead, not looking at anyone in particular. Instead of feeling afraid, or agitated she felt… calm, like this was happening to someone else.

"Hello, Taylor," the headmaster said. "Please, have a seat."

She did as he asked.

A lot of scenarios came to her mind. Had they discovered her bug powers? Was this about the curse or blowing Snape's laboratory? It probably wasn't the bugs. They would have cleaned all the bugs from the castle if that was the case.

"You wanted to talk with me, headmaster?"

"Welcome back to Hogwarts," the headmaster said, his face back in that easy, grandfatherly smile. "I hope you had a good holiday?"

Taylor nodded. "Luna came to visit," she admitted. "We went to the movies, and the arcade. Luna even got a plushie."

"That is lovely," Dumbledore said, still with that grandfatherly smile of his. "I have some questions I'd like you to answer, please."

Taylor nodded.

"At the end of last term before holidays, there was an accident in the potions laboratory. One of Severus' potions blew up."

"It was no accident," Snape growled, looming over Taylor. "It was her."

"Severus," the headmaster said, his voice stern.

Snape backed off.

"Do you know anything about that?"

Taylor didn't have to think too much about it.

"No."

"She's lying," Snape hissed. "She used Boomslang skin to cause an explosion in my potion. She's probably behind those lies The Quibbler is spouting, too."

Taylor finally took her eyes away from the wall. She glared at Snape, staring into the man's hateful eyes.

"I didn't do anything to your stupid potion," she shot back. "Why don't you tell everyone why you think I did it? Or you don't have the guts to admit how you treat us in your class? Are you only brave when tormenting us and making Pippa cry?"

There was a moment of silence.

McGonagall had a hand to her mouth. Flitwick's ears were red. Dumbledore's gaze was inscrutable as ever.

Then Taylor felt something in the back of her head. It was like a squiggling worm trying to dig through her thoughts and memories.

Time seemed to freeze. She immediately understood that Snape was doing something to her head, something he shouldn't be doing.

Taylor had never been so aware of her power like she was now. She always thought of her power as just another part of herself, but now… It was like it had a will of its own, and it wanted to hurt Snape. It wanted to hurt Snape real bad.

Was Snape the one who erased her mum's memories? Was he trying to do the same to her? In the privacy of her mind, Taylor didn't have any regrets when she commanded her power to 'hurt him'.

Several things happened at the same time.

Taylor watched in slow motion as Snape was flung back, his hand going to his head. Blood poured out of his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. There was a crash sound behind Taylor. The portraits on the walls rattled, and the glasses on the shelves trembled. The potions professor crashed against the spindle-legged tables, scattering the paraphernalia and breaking several of the gizmos on top of it.

Taylor was standing too; she didn't remember doing that. The chair she had been sitting on lay a few feet back, a leg broken.

Flitwick and McGonagall seemed too stunned to react, but the headmaster had stood as well, and Taylor noticed he had his wand in hand, although not pointing at anything.

"Severus!" McGonagall cried out a beat later, but the headmaster had already reached the potions professor. The old wizard murmured words, moving the odd looking wand gently up and down.

"He needs urgent care," Dumbledore said. With a pop, both he and Snape disappeared.

Flitwick was looking at Taylor like he'd never seen her before.

McGonagall on the other hand, after staring at where Snape fell for a beat longer, rounded on Taylor.

"What did you do, Miss Hebert?"

Taylor crossed her arms. She had no idea what happened, besides knowing that her power did something.

"I want my mum."

 

[okashihime]

"I want my mum." Taylor said, crossing her arms.

"Miss Hebert, I don't think you understand how serious the situation is," McGonagall tried to press her for details, but Taylor didn't budge.

"I want my mum."

McGonagall scowled, then marched towards the door. Flitwick was hot on her heels, leaving Taylor alone in the office. Or alone in the office with all the portraits awake and watching her every move.

Taylor followed both professors with her own eyes, noticing the perch near the door that she'd missed when entering the room.

It was a golden perch that had been partially hidden by the door. On top of it was a pitiful looking bird which resembled a half-plucked turkey. It looked balefully at Taylor, snagging any bugs that dared to creep closer, making gagging noises. She didn't know what was wrong with the bird, but it looked like it was on its last feathers.

Outside, there was a hushed discussion between the two professors which her bugs didn't miss.

"What are you going to do, Minerva?" Flitwick's high pitched voice sounded strange when he tried to whisper.

"I'm going to fetch the girl's mother."

"A muggle, in Hogwarts?"

"What would you have me do, Filius? We are a decade too late to fetch her father from under the grave."

"The Ministry…"

"Dumbledore isn't here, and a child just injured a professor badly enough that Albus had to dismantle part of the castle's protections to rush him to St. Mungo's."

McGonagall marched away after that, and Flitwick returned to the partially trashed office, breaking Taylor's staring contest with the dying bird.

He swished his wand, said a well spoken "reparo", and the gizmos, tables and chair reassembled themselves. After his spell was over, the office looked like nothing had happened at all.

"Do strange things happen around you often Miss Hebert? When you're scared, afraid or upset?"

Taylor opened her mouth, then closed it shut. She looked away from the small professor, and didn't say anything.

It took about one hour until her mum arrived, escorted by McGonagall. Taylor had spent that hour in her staring match with Dumbledore's bird, and re-organizing her nest on top of Ravenclaw's tower.

Annette arrived looking disheveled, with her clothing crumpled and in shoes that didn't match.

"Taylor!" her mum cried out and hugged her. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened?"

"Mum, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? What happened?"

"The headmaster wanted to talk with your daughter-" Flitwick tried to say.

"About what?" her mum interrupted, still hugging Taylor.

McGonagall cleared her throat. "There's been an accident in Professor Snape's office-."

"The potions professor?" her mum interrupted again.

McGonagall nodded. "Yes, he-"

"The same professor who has been bullying my daughter since the start of school year and none of you did anything about it? That potions professor?"

McGonagall looked away.

Flitwick jumped on one of the chairs. "There was an argument, and Professor Snape got hurt and had to be taken to St. Mungo's."

"He was trying to do something to my head," Taylor said, her voice muffled by her mum's clothing.

"What is it, sweetie?" Annette asked, studying Taylor's eyes.

"He was doing something to my head," Taylor said again. "I don't know what happened."

"Are you sure?" McGonagall asked. Her voice and face sounded disbelieving.

"A professor attacked my daughter," her mum hissed. Taylor had never seen her this angry before. "And you are accusing her of what?"

"No one is accusing your daughter of anything, Mrs. Hebert." Flitwick said.

"What is this, then?" her mum demanded, looking at the office, at the school robes Taylor hadn't had the time to get out of. "Why did you bring her here? Why haven't you contacted me instead?" Her mum's glare would have made Taylor run and hide under the bed if it was directed at her. "Four adults to interrogate a child."

"Why don't we postpone this meeting until the headmaster returns?" McGonagall said, finding her voice. "You're welcome to stay in the guest quarters for the evening, Mrs. Hebert."

"Lead the way," her mum said, still hugging Taylor.

Taylor was sure her mum wouldn't have left even if the wizards had demanded it.

They left the headmaster's office, and Taylor followed the others through the castle until they reached one of the many empty classrooms. It was one of the unused ones, with the same office setup near the professor's desk.

Behind the office's door, there were small quarters: some sort of private room, which had access to a bedroom with a double bed and a bathroom. Everything looked cleaned and new, but Taylor knew this room hadn't seen any use the whole year.

"I'll have someone bring Taylor's trunk if she prefers to stay here with you for the night," Flitwick said.

Taylor was already nodding.

Both professors left, and Taylor caught her mum looking at everything with shining eyes.

"You were right," her mum whispered. "The castle is amazing!"

Taylor smiled, then hugged her mum again.

"Do you think they'll let me show you Hogwarts tomorrow?"

"I don't know."

It didn't take long until Taylor's trunk magically appeared near the bed, along with a set of adult robes in Ravenclaw's colours, presumably for her mother.

Taylor was still hugging her mum, but now she had more than enough reason to spy on everything and everyone. She had her bugs trail the professors, listening to their conversation.

"What do you make of all this, Filius?" McGonagall asked once they were far away from the guest quarters.

"I'm not sure," Flitwick hedged, "but I don't like the implications."

"What implications?"

"A child wouldn't react that violently to a simple stare contest," Flitwick said. "Accidental wandless magic, Minerva."

"You think Severus was doing something to the girl?"

"I sincerely hope not," Flitwick said.

They went their separate ways soon after.

Now alone with her mum, they talked about The Quibbler's new edition. Her mum hadn't read the magazine yet, and she was more shocked than Taylor had been.

"I want to believe Luna's dad wasn't the one who took the letters," Taylor said, since her mum had gone quiet. "Luna said he'll tell us who gave him the letters if we ask. We were planning to talk with him during the Easter Holidays."

"I really hope you're right, Little Owl."

Now that she was back at Hogwarts, Taylor wanted to show her mum all the new magic she had learned. For the next hour she did just that. Once she'd gone over all the charms, Taylor got the Book of Spells, and started reading and practicing the magic she didn't know.

Her mum ooh'd and aah'd with each new sparkle out of Taylor's wand, which only pushed Taylor further.

Dumbledore returned hours later, past midnight. Taylor hadn't slept yet, neither had her mum.

"The headmaster is back," she whispered.

Annette glanced at Taylor, and nodded.

"He's calling all the professors to his office," Taylor said, having seen Dumbledore use a silvery magical bird as some sort of message spell.

Once the staff had arrived, Taylor narrated the meeting to her mum.

---

"What happened, Dumbledore?" Professor Sprout asked once all the faculty was gathered.

"I invited Miss Hebert to talk about the explosion at Severus's lab at the end of term."

"Didn't we confirm the girl was nowhere near the area when it happened? She was in the carriage with three other students, neither did she go anywhere near the classroom since the class the day before," said another professor. Professor Vector, Taylor recalled the name.

"Yes, but Severus was certain the girl was the culprit. I thought it best to clear the confusion instead of allowing it to fester."

Professor Sprout nodded. Flitwick was still as a statue.

"My mistake was not realising young Miss Hebert was more affected by Severus than I believed." He looked each of the professors in the eyes. "They got into an argument, and Severus was injured in a bout of accidental magic."

Gasps filled the room.

"Severus' life isn't at risk," Dumbledore said, and there were sighs of relief around the office. "But the healers at St. Mungo's also don't know when he'll wake up."

"What about Miss Hebert?" Professor Sprout asked again. "Was she hurt?"

"Miss Hebert is unhurt, but she wanted her mother," McGonagall said. "I invited Mrs. Hebert to the castle. Both are in the guest room."

"Thank you, Minerva," Dumbledore said.

"What should we tell our students?" McGonagall asked.

"I'll address all houses tomorrow at breakfast," the headmaster said.

"What do we do about potions classes?" Flitwick asked.

Dumbledore looked tired and old. "I'll convince an old friend to take the position of potions master again."

The meeting went on for a few more minutes, until everyone had left, except McGonagall.

She stared at Dumbledore for a moment, then asked, "What really happened, Albus?"

Dumbledore had his back to her, glancing at the many portraits in the room.

"Severus tried to read her mind," he said.

"Why would he do that and how was he hurt?"

Dumbledore was silent for a beat longer. "I don't know, Minerva, and I dare not look."

McGonagall's face morphed into several different expressions too fast for Taylor's bugs to parse.

"What should we do about her?" she asked, finally.

"Young Taylor?" the headmaster turned. "Nothing."

"But, what about what happened? Isn't she a danger to others?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "I hardly believe she's dangerous to anyone who doesn't try to enter her mind."

---

Mother and daughter stood in silence. Taylor didn't know what her mother was feeling, but the pit of dread in Taylor's tummy told it all. They could read minds, and her mum's wasn't protected. In a fit of panic, Taylor had almost all of the pixies sneaking into the library. She grabbed any book she could find that looked related to mind magic, even if just in passing. She'd been so focused that she didn't notice her mum until she was tucking Taylor under covers.

"Sleep. We can do something about it tomorrow."

"But mum-"

"No buts. Sleep."

Taylor tried to stay awake. She did for a while, but her mum started to sing a gentle lullaby, fingers tracing through Taylor's blonde curls. The last thing Taylor remembered was ordering the pixies to return the books and hide.

---

In the morning, Taylor had to appease an irate Nap. The owl had arrived at the crack of dawn, carrying an envelope and hooting angrily. She tried to pet the bird, but got her fingers nipped instead.

"What's with you, girl?"

The letter was a small note written in her mum's handwriting.



Hi sweetie, hope school is fun this time!



"Oh, Nap," Annette said, once she left the bathroom and saw the owl. "I'm so sorry, in the confusion, I forgot about you."

Her mum tried to pet the owl as well, but also got nipped.

"School is not fun, mum," Taylor said, waving the note.

Her mum shook her head. "I was going to send it in the morning so you'd get it at breakfast." She looked at Nap, considering. "Nap is smarter than I gave her credit for."

The owl ruffled her feathers, tufts up like horns. She hooted.

"But what if," her mum muttered, squinting at Nap.

"What what, mum?"

"What if we send what you heard to someone else in a sealed letter, with instructions they only open it if we don't get back to them?"

"Like a dead-man switch?"

"Without the dead man, hopefully."

Taylor scrunched her nose. "But who do we send the letter to?"

Annette opened her mouth, closed it. "…Xenophilius?"

"But mum, we don't know if he was the one who stole the letters and messed with your memory."

"I know, Little Owl, but who else can we send it to?"

Taylor mulled over that and realised she didn't know anyone else aside from Luna's family. Certainly she was friends with Ginny and Nneka, but they never talked about their families and Taylor didn't know anything about them.

"Are you sure you want to trust him?" she asked finally.

"What choice do we have?"

Her mum wrote the letter. It didn't have any extra words or embellishments. It told what had happened, and the headmaster words almost word for word. In the envelope cover, her mum wrote:

"Only open this letter if we do not contact you within five days."

It took some work to convince Nap to deliver the correspondence. But with only a few more nips and a lot more treats, the owl was on her way to Xeno.

While her mum did all that, Taylor had her pixies continue the research in the library. Once her mum was done with that bit of skullduggery, she led her towards breakfast. It was surreal seeing her mum in Ravenclaw's colors, but it lit a fire in Taylor's chest. She wished Colin hadn't been petrified so she could ask him to snap a picture.

They walked hand in hand, and drew more than a few stares, but Taylor didn't care.

She pointed out the paintings, the moving suits of armor. Taylor advised her mum which stairs to skip, and even had to detour to avoid meeting Peeves. They crossed paths with the Grey Lady who nodded at Taylor, and Taylor respectfully nodded back.

"That's a ghost," her mum whispered after the Grey Lady had gone through a wall.

"I know. Wicked, right?" Taylor grinned.

"A ghost!"

Taylor didn't say anything about the Great Hall either, leaving her mum to gaze and gape at the enchanted ceiling and all its glory.

The duo passed near Gryffindor's table and Taylor saw her two friends. Nneka yawned, like she hadn't slept a lot. She waved at Taylor who waved back.

Ginny looked worse than ever. All the progress in the weeks before holiday had disappeared and the young redhead looked about to fall face first on the table.

Taylor waved to Ginny as well, but the Weasley girl didn't seem to notice the gesture.

Mother and daughter sat near Luna, who got up from her seat and hugged Taylor first, then Annette.

"Hi, Taylor. Hi, Annette."

Much in Luna's fashion, her friend didn't ask what had happened.

There were whispers and questions about Annette's presence, but once food appeared on the table, everyone else was too busy eating to remember the guest in their midst.

Dumbledore made his announcement once everyone had finished eating. He clinked his cup, and the gentle sound quieted the whole room.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts, and I hope you all had an excellent holiday. The castle is still standing and the food is still marvelous!"

Students cheered.

"As many of you have noticed, we have a guest with us this morning," he said, looking at Annette. "I hope you'll receive Mrs. Hebert like one of you."

There was some clapping. It started at the Ravenclaw table, before it spread to the other houses, except Slytherin. A lot of students were craning their necks trying to find this visitor.

"Unfortunately, not everything is good news," he said and a rush fell over the hall. "Professor Snape was injured yesterday night in an accident. He's at St. Mungo's and his life isn't at risk, but we don't know when he'll be fit to teach classes again. Potion classes are cancelled…"

That got a lot of reactions. Slytherins cried out in dismay, while some students cheered. Taylor watched the whole thing, disbelieving.

"…until a new professor arrives," the headmaster finished.

The cheering from Gryffindor turned into grumbling.

There were a few more start of term announcements, like the date for the next Quidditch match, but nothing really important aside from that.

Students dispersed, preparing for their classes.

Except Taylor.

Like she'd suspected, the Headmaster wanted to speak with her mum and her in his office.

Taylor marched towards the office like she was going to her own execution. She hadn't found anything regarding the mind magic yet and had no idea what was about to happen. Then one of her pixies read something that caught her attention. It was a small note about foul, obscure magics to invade someone's mind by making eye contact. The book didn't say what the magic was, or if it was even used to read thoughts. Maybe it even wasn't the same magic Snape had used and that Dumbledore clearly knew how to use too, but she got nothing else.

"Don't look into anyone's eyes," she whispered to her mum. "That's how they read your mind."

 

[okashihime]

Her mum didn't seem impressed with the office, or the many interesting paraphernalia, or the dozens of portraits behind the headmaster, all pretending to be asleep. She wasn't smiling, and more importantly, she was looking directly at the headmaster.

Taylor wanted to pull at her mum's robes, do something so she wouldn't stare at Dumbledore, but her mum gently squeezed her hand. Taylor, on the other hand, kept her eyes on him. She had nothing against the headmaster personally, but if he dared to peek inside her head, it wasn't really her fault if he got hurt.

"Good morning, Mrs. and Miss Hebert. Please, have a seat."

There were two chairs in front of the headmaster's desk. Taylor took one, her mum the other.

"Would you like a lemon drop?"

"No, thank you," her mum said.

"Can I take one for Luna?" Taylor asked. "I think she would like them."

"Of course," he said, offering the candy bowl.

Taylor grabbed a handful and put them in her pockets.

"First, I'd like to apologise," the bearded one said.

Like the previous night, Taylor's mum didn't seem intimidated by the most powerful wizards of Britain.

"For ignoring my letters? Or for allowing that man to bully my daughter a whole term? Or are you apologising for interrogating Taylor when you should have been talking to me instead?"

"All of that," Dumbledore said with his grandfatherly smile. "Things shouldn't have reached this point."

"Right," Annette said.

"But rest assured, such actions won't happen again."

Taylor wanted to point out that they wouldn't happen because Snape was in the hospital, hopefully not waking anytime soon, but common sense prevailed.

"We conducted an investigation about the accident in Severus lab," the headmaster said. "We know young Taylor wasn't involved, but there is still one question that needs answering."

"Ask," her mum said.

The headmaster turned to Taylor. "Do you know why Severus was so certain you were involved?"

Taylor sniffed. "Why was he yapping about the boomslang skin?"

Dumbledore watched Taylor from behind his half-moon glasses. "He found out that his potion exploded because an additional ingredient had been added."

She scrunched her nose. It really had been a horrible idea.

"He asked me about it on the first day," Taylor said, crossing her arms. "He was mad because I had taken Nap with me to his class. I forgot she was on my head."

"Nap was it?" Dumbledore asked. "I've been told she's a delightful owl."

"She is," Taylor said. "Fat too," she added a beat later.

Dumbledore chuckled.

"Professor Snape asked what would happen if you added boomslang skin to a potion. I'd read the books before school started, and I tried to tell him it would explode, but he didn't let me say anything, and then took points away because," Taylor crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out, dropping her voice into sneering imitation, "I couldn't be arsed to read the book before coming to school."

"Language!" her mum said from her side.

"Sorry, mum."

"Ah. That clears that mystery." Dumbledore sounded sad. He grabbed one of the candies. "Are you sure you don't want one?"

Taylor shook her head.

He removed the wrapping and popped the candy into his mouth. He turned to her mum.

"I won't take more of your time," he said. "Minerva will take you back in the afternoon. Meanwhile, feel free to explore the castle. It is not often a Muggle has the opportunity."

He gave them another of his grandfatherly smiles.

By her side, her mum looked ready to strangle Dumbledore. "That's it?"

"Hm?"

"What are you doing about Snape? He attacked my daughter. What about the ghost professor? Or the one who keeps asking them to write poems?"

Dumbledore's smile didn't slip. "There will be a Board of Governors meeting. We'll discuss your concerns there."

Annette stared at Dumbledore for a moment longer. Then she got up. Her smile was the fake one she used when people kept trying to sell her things. "Come, Little Owl. You wanted to show me the castle, right?"

Taylor followed her mother out of the office, casting one last glance at the dying bird. It still glared balefully at her, gagging on any bug it could snatch. It looked even more pitiful today. Poor thing.

Once they were far enough away, and there was no one nearby, she asked the question in her mind.

"Mum, you were looking into his eyes. What if he read your mind?"

Annette stopped and turned toward Taylor. She crouched down, one hand smoothing Taylor's hair.

"If I tried to avoid eye contact, he would probably get suspicious," her mum said. "Yes, he might have read my mind, but If I acted like I was trying to avoid exactly that, he probably would have done it sooner or later."

That… made a lot of sense.

"Sorry," Taylor said, looking down.

"No, you did nothing wrong, sweetie."

Since Taylor was already skipping classes, she was going to try her best to show her mum everything she could. First, it was the astronomy tower. Even in winter, the view of the surrounding area was fantastic.

They hadn't even got to the top of the stairs and her mum was already huffing and puffing, with a hand at her sides.

"Why are there so many stairs?"

"A hundred and forty-two," Taylor said, nodding. She was a bit out of breath, but nowhere as bad as her mum.

"God have mercy."

Taylor helped her mum climb by pulling on her hand the rest of the way.

Up on the tower the cold wind made her shiver, despite the layers of clothing. Her mum wasn't much better, hiding her hands under the fold of her robes.

"I… need… to… sit down," her mum puffed out, then did just that.

Still, it was worth it, seeing the amazed look on her mum's face.

Taylor debated if she was too old for what she wanted to do, then stopped caring about it altogether. There was none here to see her. She plopped on her mum's lap, with her back pressing against her mum's front.

Annette pulled the robes around, covering Taylor from the cold winds.

With her hands hidden under the fabric, Taylor pointed north. "That's the Forbidden Forest."

It didn't look so forbidden right now, with the tops of trees coated in fluffy white snow.

"Can you see the hut?"

"I can," her mum said.

"Hagrid lives there. I think he's a giant. He's so tall. Even his pumpkins are big! He made this Jack-o-Lantern for Halloween that was big enough for me to crawl inside."

"Really?"

"But there were no surprise gifts inside them," Taylor sniffed.

Her mum chuckled.

Next she pointed north east. "That's Hogsmeade. I haven't gone there yet."

"Are there scheduled visits?"

Taylor nodded. "Third years and above get Hogsmeade weekends. The train station is around there," she said pointing across the lake, more east than north. "But you can't see it from here."

"Ah, that's a shame."

Cloth hidden hands pivoted to the opposite side. "That big oval thing there is the Quidditch pitch. It's a shame you can't visit to watch the matches, mum."

"You said there are teams competing in some tournament outside school, right? Maybe we can go watch a match?"

Taylor craned her neck until she could see her mum from the corner of her eye. "Really?"

"Really."

"Thank you, mum!" She tried to turn around to hug her mum, but Annette held her in place, by hugging her first.

"Sweetie, in all the confusion I never asked. How did you get the gifts?"

Taylor shrugged. "I made them."

"You did? How?"

"Do you want to see my spiders?"

Her mum was quiet for a moment, then nodded.

Taylor decided it was a good time to introduce most of her friends. She had Dee and Dum grab some of her prettiest bugs as well a few of the rainbow spiders. Bity trailed behind the duo, looking nasty as always.

"Mum, this is Dee," she said when the pixie showed up, carrying an armful of bugs. "That other one is Dum."

Her mum chuckled.

"And the grumpy one at the back is Bity."

"That's a lot of teeth for such a small… what are they called?"

"Doxy. And he's very nasty. If I didn't stop him, he'd have bitten all of my other pixies."

"The name fits, I suppose."

"And these are some of my best bugs!" Taylor took her hand from under the fabrics, opening it and waiting until Dee unloaded the spiders. "These are the rainbow spiders. They are the ones I used to weave the silk. Aren't they pretty?"

After the rainbow spiders, she showed the other types of spiders she'd been collecting in her nest. They weren't as pretty as the jewelled themed ones, but still cute, in Taylor's opinion.

Between showing one bug and another, several other bugs suddenly popped into Taylor's awareness.

"The secret room!" she said, getting up from her mum's lap. Given how things went last time, she didn't have much time until the room disappeared again.

"What?"

"Come, mum. We have to get there before the room disappears again!"

Taylor had her pixies carry the bugs back to her nest, while she ran down stairs and across corridors pulling her mum's hand.

"Taylor, wait. Don't run."

Taylor was too focused on the secret room to pay attention to that. To make sure she wouldn't lose sight of the room this time, she had one of the bugs which were inside the room leave through the still open door.

It popped up somewhere on the seventh floor corridor, opposite to the tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy and his band of ballet dancing trolls.

They weren't halfway there when the room disappeared again, but this time, she learned something new. It had been one of the house elves that used the secret room. Taylor hadn't caught which one, exactly, since leaving bugs near them was asking for the bugs to disappear, but she was certain it was a house elf.

With the room gone, Taylor lowered her pace. They arrived at the seventh floor corridor with her mum breathing even harder. The wall that was supposed to have a door showed none.

Taylor stopped in front of it. She knocked.

"What are you doing, sweetie?"

"There's a secret room on the other side. Open Sesame!"

The wall didn't budge. Her mum giggled.

Taylor pulled out her wand. "Alohomora!" she cried out next, to no avail. "Mum, help me."

Annette walked closer, touching the wall here and there. "Open up, pretty please?" she asked, still giggling. The wall didn't budge.

Taylor stared at the wall for a moment longer, before pivoting. "Let's go get lunch," she said. "There are students coming."

At the lunch table, Taylor unloaded the candies on Luna, who happily took them, popping one into her mouth.

Hogwarts meals were more like feasts than meals, and Taylor wasn't shy about abusing that.

"Try this, mum," she said, dumping a bunch of different dishes on her mum's plate. They're the ones she enjoyed the most in the past semester.

"Slow down, sweetie, I can't eat that much."

Taylor slowed down, eyeing her mum's plate. There wasn't space for much more food. She placed one last piece for good measure.

When lunch was over, Luna left them for her transfiguration class. Taylor felt bad about skipping, but it was just for one day.

For the rest of the afternoon she led her mum everywhere. From the Trophy room to the dungeons, to the Ravenclaw's tower, but as much as she wanted her mum to see even more of the castle, time ran out and McGonagall found them resting near a moving suit of armor that Taylor was trying to goad into a duel.

The professor looked more stern than usual.

"Good afternoon, Mrs Hebert, Miss Hebert."

"Hullo, professor," Taylor said, looking down.

"Hello."

The head of Gryffindor was all business. "Are you ready? There's a fair distance to walk before we can Apparate."

Annette nodded, then hugged Taylor. "I had a lot of fun, Sweetie. Thank you for showing me around."

Taylor sniffled. She wasn't going to cry in front of the professor. "Let's go," she said.

Her mum hugged her closer. "Only up to the castle's entrance, sweetie. I don't want you wandering the grounds alone at night."

Taylor nodded.

 

[okashihime]

Taylor hugged her mum, sniffling harder. She waved her goodbye, then retreated inside the castle. She kept track of their progress until they were out of her range. She didn't cry, she wasn't going to cry. She meandered through the castle with no destination in mind, until she ran into her friend.

Luna gave her one good look and opened her arms, offering a hug.

Taylor did not cry. There was just some infiltration somewhere that happened to fall on Luna's shoulder. Really.

The duo retreated to their tea-room for privacy. Once it stopped raining inside the castle, Taylor raised her arm to wipe her nose on her robes' sleeve, then paused mid-action. She pulled out her wand instead, warily pointing it at her own face.

"Scourgify," she whispered.

Her mouth and nose filled with soap bubbles. Taylor gagged.

Meanwhile, Luna was preparing the tea and arranging the table. "I like your mum," she said, pouring hot water into a cup.

"Your dad is cool, too," Taylor managed to say, after wiping the soap away on her sleeve.

After she finished cleaning her mouth, Taylor sipped the tea. She'd wanted to tell Luna about her power once she was back, but being ambushed by the headmaster threw that plan out of the window. And this was as good a chance as any other. Once again, she had Dee grab an armful of spiders.

"The headmaster lied. Snape isn't recovering at St. Mungo's. They don't know when he'll wake up."

Luna hmed.

"He was trying to read my mind, but it backfired and he got hurt."

"I think daddy would be very happy if I sent him that."

"I'm not a seer," Taylor said instead.

Luna tilted her head.

Taylor extended her hand. Dee flew in, carrying a bunch of rainbow spiders.

"These are the rainbow spiders. I used them to weave the pyjamas."

The spiders waved.

Luna's eyes were wide.

"And this is Dee," Taylor said, gently petting the pixie's head.

Luna was silent for a long time. Taylor had expected more reaction from her friend and the silence was as dreadful as any yelled condemnation. Was this when Luna called her a freak? When she'd stomp away, telling everybody how weird Taylor was? Always playing with bugs and sitting on the dirt and talking to them like they're people?

"Are you weirded out?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Why," Luna said, her voice still dreamy, with her eyes fixed on the pixie, "haven't you weaved clothes for him yet?"

Taylor didn't understand the words for a moment, and when she did she burst out laughing. She couldn't say when the laughing turned into crying.

---

It took a while to get the waterworks into control.

Taylor brought Dum and Bity to introduce them to Luna as well. Once introductions were made, she recounted the version of events from her point of view, how she knew things with her bugs, how she had started to use the pixies and bugs to trip and get back at the bullies, and how things had grown out of proportion.

Taylor confessed about exploding Snape's lab because of what he had said to Luna, and overhearing Dumbledore's meeting with the staff about not knowing when Snape was waking up. She talked about the secret room, and finding it was on the seventh floor near Barnabas the Barmy, and about the many strange and nasty bugs she saw in Knockturn Alley.

It all tumbled out in an incoherent story.

Luna listened to everything.

"Thank you," she said. She nodded and patted Taylor's shoulder when Taylor was done with her recounting.

Taylor just hugged her friend. What a silly girl. Taylor was the one that should have been saying thank you.

---

After the initial hubbub of Snape not being in the castle died out, things seemed to have calmed down until Wednesday. When they arrived for dinner there was a professor they had never seen sitting at the professor's table. That sent the rumour mill into overdrive once again.

The first thing Taylor noticed was how large the new professor was, and how old he was, and how he was missing most of his hair. He had an immense belly, so large that the buttons on his waistcoat looked about to burst off.

Taylor could imagine him entering a room: first the belly, then the rest of him. That felt uncharitable even inside her head.

The new professor seemed jolly enough. He laughed and chatted with everyone. Even the ever dour McGonagall had a small smile for him.

Dumbledore didn't lose time to make introductions.

"Good evening to you all," he said with open hands, like he wanted to hug the whole Great Hall. "Let me introduce your new potions professor, Horace Slughorn."

Slughorn got up. The new potions master smiled and waved at everyone. He was short too. The top of his head barely reached Dumbledore's chin.

"Professor Slughorn will resume his position as Potions Master and Head of Slytherin house while Professor Snape is still recovering. Please, give him a warm welcome!"

The reception was mixed. Some of the students, especially those from magical families seemed to know the new potions master, at least by name. A few of the Slytherins seemed happy, which left Taylor afraid he was another shade of Snape.

It was no surprise then that Taylor spied on every potions class. What she found left her pleasantly surprised.

Slughorn wasn't perfect by any measure. He did have his biases which were immediately clear, but he was nowhere near as bad as Snape had been.

First, Slughorn seemed to favour rich, famous or talented students.

"Harry, my boy!" Slughorn said the moment Harry walked into his class. "Come, gather around with everyone else, don't be shy."

Slughorn had a table set up with several bubbling cauldrons with many students crowding there already.

The look on Harry's face, even through her bugs' eyes, had been very funny. Taylor had to hold back the laughter.

"Welcome to potions class. Brewing potions requires a lot of attention and dedication," Slughorn said, thumbs hooked into his waistcoat. "And more nerve than people give it credit for." That got nervous laughs out of the students. "Any fool with a decent recipe can brew a Boil-Cure. What separates a master from an apprentice is knowing why and how the recipe works. That will let you adjust any recipe to fit any need." Slughorn's gaze panned over the gathered students.

"Now. I've laid these out for you because I find students learn a great deal more from a bubbling cauldron than a chalkboard." He put his hands out. "Nobody's to touch. Nobody's to lean over. Miss, ah, Bulstrode, that includes breathing on it. Thank you."

Taylor had a beetle on the ceiling beam and a pair of flies working the edges of the room.

"This one first." Slughorn tapped the rim of a cauldron full of what looked like clear water. "Harry, my boy. What do you make of it?"

Harry's eyes narrowed, and said nothing.

"Cautious. Very wise." Slughorn beamed at him. He turned to the rest of the students. "You don't guess at a potion you haven't identified for certain, that's a lesson half my N.E.W.T. students never learned."

Somebody at the back made a small strangled noise. Hermione's hand had been up since he asked the question.

"Yes, yes, go on."

"It's Veritaserum, sir. You can identify it by how it looks: It's clear and odourless like water. It takes twenty-eight days to brew."

Slughorn's eyebrows climbed.

"Twenty-eight days," he agreed, smiling. "And a great deal of stirring nobody warns you about. She's correct." Slughorn looked at the class again. "This is a truth potion so powerful that three drops would have you spilling your innermost secrets for this entire class to hear." He turned to Hermione again. "Five points to Gryffindor, and your name, my dear?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Granger, Granger. Not a name I know," he said.

Slughorn moved on to the second cauldron, a spiralling steam with a shell-pink shimmer on the surface, and Hermione's hand was up before he'd finished turning.

"Amortentia, sir. The strongest love potion in the world. It's supposed to smell different to everyone, depending on what attracts them."

"Quite right, and quite enough about that one for a class your age. But remember this: Amortentia doesn't create true love, only an obsession."

Hermione also knew what the other two potions were by sight, which impressed the professor a lot.

Taylor was surprised to learn the new professor even helped during brewing.

"No, no, Mr. Longbottom," Slughorn said after he approached Neville. "See here," he pointed at the book, "You have to crush them first, then cut, only after that you put them in the cauldron. If you don't crush it, your cauldron is going to melt."

And so, when Friday arrived, Taylor went to the new Potions Classroom (hurray, it wasn't in the dungeons!) to officially meet her new professor.

"Welcome to potions class," he greeted. On display were the same four cauldrons from the lessons Taylor spied on. "Brewing potions requires a lot of attention and dedication…" he said and Taylor tuned him out. She'd heard that same introduction several times already. It wasn't bad, but he repeated it almost word for word.

After the intro, Slughorn asked about the bubbling potions on display, which Taylor also didn't answer, because it would be cheating. Unlike Hermione, she had no clue how to identify any of them by sight or smell. She knew what they were because she'd spied on his class. Most of those potions weren't even first year material.

The class was pleasantly eventful. They reviewed potions they learned in the first term, and in the second part of the class, they were to brew a herbicide potion, which would later be used in Herbology classes.

Luna and Taylor kept to their same arrangement. Taylor gathered and prepared the ingredients according to the book's (and Luna's) instructions, while Luna made sure the brewing and timings followed the book's explanation.

By the end of the class, Slughorn approached their table, checking over the result.

"My, what a surprise!" he said, examining their potion. "What a superb technique Miss Lovegood. Must run in the family. Take five points!"

Luna had one of her rare, small smiles and Taylor's opinion of the man went up several notches.

That good mood carried up for the rest of the day. Luna snuck into Taylor's bunk to sleep.

"What do you think about the new professor?" Taylor asked.

"I like him," Luna said. "He taught my daddy and mum."

Taylor closed her eyes, setting for sleep. Now, if only she could find a way to make Lockhart disappear too, things would be perfect. She snorted at her own thoughts.

Things seemed to settle into a routine after that. She spied on the first house meeting where Slughorn broke out the new order of things. These weren't his exact words, but the message amounted to:

Don't be stupid. Stop being petty bullies. Make connections and friends. Be useful and people will curry favour with you. That's how you go far in life. You bunch are doing the opposite, making enemies instead.

Without Snape to enable Slytherins students, and with Slughorn not shying away from punishing the green bullies, the amount of attempted harassment reduced drastically, and Taylor had to spend less and less effort with the curse.

That gave her more time to spend with the important things, like learning new spells with Luna.

They tried every new magic in their book, some with no success at all. Luna's book was very fancy. It was enchanted by the creator to be capable of projecting text out of the page for simpler reading. The book was also capable of conjuring various objects, even entire rooms, to provide a safe environment for practising the various spells.

There was this one charm, called the Patronus, that no matter how much they tried, there wasn't even a single wisp of magic leaving their wands.

In transfiguration classes, Taylor taunted Nneka about their new spells, as a way of inviting her and Ginny to another tea-party. Nneka showed up, Ginny didn't.

"I don't know what's up with her," Nneka said. "Since holidays, when she's not crying her eyes out, it is like she's not even there."

That left Taylor even more worried about her friend. The bugs also confirmed that when not crying, Ginny had developed a strange love-hate relationship with her diary. She'd throw it away, only to fetch it back the next moment.

That didn't seem healthy and while she didn't want to intrude, Ginny really looked like she needed help.

Taylor went to bed thinking about how to help her friend. Maybe she could involve Luna too. Could they play Quidditch with only four people? Maybe they could invite more students to play? That ought to cheer up Ginny, right?

 

[okashihime]

The next morning started with a dishevelled Mira ambushing Luna. Mira's eyes were red, like she hadn't slept the entire night, and she was holding a book, brandishing it right in Luna's face. The book had a strange creature drawn on the cover, it looked like a mix of a fantasy goblin and a vampire. The title was written in a language Taylor couldn't read. Mira pointed at Arabelle nested in Luna's hand.

The spider had grown in the weeks she'd been living with them, perhaps because Taylor made sure she was constantly fed. That made her so much less prone to biting. If she kept growing like that, they'd need that shrinking potion sooner rather than later.

"That is not—" Mira started, then looked around wildly. She shied away, whispering frantically. "Get away from that! That's not a normal spider, that's an Acromantula!"

Luna tilted her head, and looked at the spider. "Arabelle, you are an Acromantula."

Arabelle raised her pincer-like pedipalps and clicked them.

Mira took a step back. "Why hasn't she bitten you?" her voice raised to a maniacal pitch. "They are XXXXX Class monsters. Wizard killers! They can't be tamed!"

Luna moved a finger along the spider's back. "Arabelle is a gentle girl. She almost never tries to bite me any more."

"Where did you find her?" Mira demanded.

"The forbidden forest," Luna admitted without a shred of guilt in her voice.

"We have to tell someone. The professors!" she said, turning around and about to head off.

Taylor stepped in front of her. "We can't."

"Why? She's dangerous! And she's going to grow a lot more! And there might be more of them in the forest."

"Arabelle has been living with us for months. She hasn't bitten anyone."

Arabelle raised her front-legs and clicked her pincers.

"But they can't be tamed," Mira said, sounding anguished. "The book says so, dad said so."

"I wouldn't say tamed," Taylor interjected, smiling wirily. "But she's behaving."

Mira looked between the three, eyes still wide.

"And I think the professors won't react well if you tell them."

"Why?" Mira asked.

"There's a monster attacking the students." Taylor looked pointedly at Arabelle.

"How do you know it is not her?" Mira asked.

Taylor shrugged. "I don't think she was even born when the first attack happened. She can't speak yet."

Mira blinked, then stepped back even more. "There's more of them?"

"You should see her daddy. He's the size of a house." Luna added cheerfully.

Mira's mouth flapped like she wanted to say something but didn't know what.

"They've been in the forest for decades," Taylor said, glancing at Arabelle. "We talked with their progenitor."

"We need to tell someone," Mira pleaded.

"Hagrid knows about them; He visits them often."

"Hagrid?"

"The groundskeeper," Luna supplied.

"And with everyone scared because of the attacks," Taylor said, glancing at the spider.

Mira looked between them, then at the spider. "They wouldn't."

"Arabelle won't bite anyone," Taylor reassured.

"And we are going to brew a shrinking solution for her," Luna said, walking closer.

"But she's— she's—"

Luna raised her hand, offering the spider. "Do you want to pet her?"

Mira covered her face with both hands, and let out a strangled yell.

There was a moment of silent tension, then Mira sighed. "Fine," she said, glaring at them. She pointed a finger at Arabelle. "If you bite someone, I'm telling."

Arabelle clicked again.

"Dad is going to kill me," Mira muttered, glaring at the spider.

Arabelle clicked again, moving forward. Taylor had to use her power to hold Bell, because, for some reason, the spider had been planning to jump on Mira. It didn't feel threatening. To Taylor, it felt more like curiosity.

"I'll be watching," Mira said, eyes flicking between Luna and the spider.

"She likes you," Luna said, petting Arabelle again. She looked at Mira. "Do you like tea?"

---

Later that day, after breakfast, Taylor asked the question that had been in her mind since the talk with Mira.

"Are you ready to brew the potion?"

Luna nodded, then shook her head. "I'm ready to try, but I don't have the ingredients."

Taylor pondered on that, parsing through everything her bugs had seen. "Snape's classroom has a cabinet full of them, and no one is using them."

Luna stopped and turned to fully face Taylor.

Taylor studied her friend's face. Luna's big, pretty silvery eyes watched her back without a hint of judgement or condemnation. Or so Taylor thought. She couldn't really say what went through her friend's head.

"I'll ask daddy to send us ingredients by owl," Luna said, walking again.

Taylor followed.

"We can borrow from the classroom if daddy can't find everything."

---

The first tea-party after the Mira incident was more crowded than Taylor anticipated. Mira did show up, but she had dragged Harriet with her.

"Welcome, and please come in," Taylor said, repeating the words her mum had often said when receiving friends at her gatherings.

The two girls walked in, looking around. Mira's eyes stayed on the silk strips and all the improved decorations Taylor had added to the place. Harriet, on the other hand, was more interested in the table and the tea and snacks in the centre of the room.

Nneka had arrived before the duo, and had already taken her customary seat. Taylor guessed Ginny wasn't showing up, since she was huddled inside her dorm room, under a pile of blankets.

Mira went straight for the table, sitting across Nneka, who, like usual, was devouring the cake. Harriet followed, sitting with her arms crossed.

"Hi!" Nneka said. Bits of cake flew everywhere.

"Hullo," Mira said, glancing at the tea and cake.

Nneka nodded toward the cake. "I don't know where Luna gets them, but they're amazing."

"What are we here for?" Harriet asked, looking at Mira.

Mira looked away from Harriet, cheeks rosy.

"Quidditch," Taylor answered, moving beside Luna. She didn't have anywhere to sit, because they hadn't been expecting Harriet to come as well.

Nneka glanced up from her cake. "Huh?"

Harriet pointed at the window partially covered in snow. "In this cold?"

Taylor followed Harriet's finger. The weather the past few days hadn't been great. The pitch had been frozen, then mud, then frozen again, and the wind coming off the lake would make flying miserable. Not something she actually wanted to deal with, when she could barely fly as it was.

Nneka sipped from her tea. "Why do you want to play, anyway?"

Taylor sighed. "I wanted to cheer Ginny up. She likes Quidditch, I thought it was a good idea."

Luna took the moment to feed everyone. She sliced cake and served it to Mira and Harriet, got a few strips of dried meat for Nap.

There was a moment of quiet with the only sound being people sipping tea and eating snacks.

Harriet was the first to disturb it. She finished eating the cake, then placed the cup down.

"Thank you for the tea," she said, getting up, "but I have homework to do."

She walked toward the door, and stopped there, looking at Mira.

Mira gave them an apologetic smile. "Sorry," she muttered, finishing her tea and leaving after Harriet.

"What's wrong with her?" Nneka asked after the duo had left.

"I think she's scared," Luna said.

"Of what?"

Taylor didn't want to ponder that. She pulled her wand. "Practice?"

---

It had been a few days since Luna sent Nap to ask her dad for ingredients. She received it that morning, the poor owl struggling to carry the big box, and causing a mess at breakfast.

"I got the cauldron," Taylor said, setting up the cauldron over an improvised fire. They were at the tea room, their go-to place for privacy. "Did we get everything?"

Luna was organising ingredients by the table. "Yes, daddy sent more than I asked for."

"Can I see the instructions list before we start?"

Luna handed over a long parchment. Each step on the list had a number of comments scribbled with Luna's pretty handwriting on the sides.

"Minced daisy roots, peeled shrivelfig, sliced caterpillars…" Taylor read through everything, circling back to the rat spleen part. "Did you find out if it's before or after stirring?"

Luna shook her head. "I'll try before, if it doesn't work, we can try after."

"Right," Taylor said, glancing at the cauldron. "How long is it going to take to brew it?"

Luna looked over the ingredients. "A couple of days."

Taylor glanced at Arabelle, who had grown even bigger. "Right. Let's get started then."

---

Trying to catch Ginny in a conversation proved harder than it should have been. Even if they shared classes Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Ginny managed to slip away before Taylor could ambush her. So Taylor had to cheat, resorting to bugs to track Ginny.

She managed to corner her redhead friend near Myrtle's corridor. Which was good enough, since there was no one near to hear their conversation.

"Ginny," Taylor called out before the girl could slip away again.

Ginny whirled about, eyes wide. Her eyes were red and puffy, which only made the bags under her eyes more prominent.

"Taylor."

"It's been a while," Taylor said.

Ginny nodded. She looked at the end of the corridor, then back at Taylor.

"How have you been?" Taylor pushed on, ignoring the discomfort.

"I'm fine."

Taylor looked at her friend again. Her crumpled clothing, matted hair, slouched posture and sickly pallor. She was hugging her diary like her life depended on it.

"Did something happen during the holidays?" she asked. Better to rip out the band-aid upfront.

Ginny took a shuddering breath. She looked at the end of the corridor again. She opened her mouth, closed it. She took a few more shuddering breaths. "I—" she started to say, then stopped. Soon after, she started crying again.

Taylor walked closer, but stopped short of doing anything. She wasn't sure what to do, really, so she opened her arms and asked. "Do you want a hug?"

Ginny wiped her eyes with her sleeves, and nodded. She stepped into the offered hug. Taylor held her friend, while Ginny sniffled. She didn't ask questions and Ginny didn't seem in a mood to talk either.

That might have gone on for a few minutes, with Ginny getting quieter. At some point Taylor even thought Ginny had fallen asleep standing. Her breathing had turned slow and steady, but of course, her friend hadn't.

Ginny pushed away, blinking. Her eyes were wide awake, unlike the tired look from just a few minutes ago.

"I have to go," Ginny said. Her voice sounded strange. She turned around and walked away without glancing back.

Caught by surprise, Taylor didn't have time to protest.

---

"Are you sure?" Taylor asked, looking at the bubbling cauldron.

Luna nodded. "It is ready."

Taylor glanced at Arabelle, and then at the potion again. "Let's try it on something else first."

Luna dipped the ladle into the cauldron, and poured the liquid over a nearby chair.

Taylor watched, amazed as the chair shrunk and shrunk, until it was hard to see it on the ground.

"Maybe a little less?"

But Luna wasn't really paying attention to that. Luna had a smile on her face. She turned to the spider.

"Do you want to try?"

Arabelle clicked her pincers.

Taylor watched as Luna dripped a few drops onto a plate, and placed Arabelle near it.

"Just a little," she said to the spider.

Arabelle drank from the potion, and shrunk to about the size of a normal tarantula.

Luna picked the spider up, giggling. "You're so small!"

Taylor hugged her friend from behind. "You did it!"

That called for a celebration. An impromptu tea-party was just what they needed after days working on the potion. After making sure the rest of the potion was safely stored, they got snacks and tea.

Unfortunately, the potion didn't seem to be perfect. About half an hour later, the chair grew again, and soon after, Arabelle.

"It was the rat spleen," Luna said, looking at the no-longer-shrunk spider.

"Do we still have ingredients to brew it again?"

Luna nodded. At least that was good news.

---

That night, it was Taylor's turn to sneak onto Luna's bunk.

She'd kept an eye out for anything Heir related, but there hadn't been a single thing that looked out of place for the past month. Most students weren't even talking about it any more, and the panic had died down. Which made sense. It had been months since the last attack.

The one notable detail was that the wonder trio were about to do something probably stupid. From what Taylor had overheard, the trio hadn't got anything with their polyjuice potion quest, aside from trouble for Hermione. The bushy haired girl had been in the hospital wing the whole holidays and been released not so long ago.

In that timespan, Ron had convinced himself that Snape had blown up his own lab to hide evidence. How that logic tracked out Taylor had no idea. Harry seemed on the fence about it but willing to check it out, while Hermione was sceptical about the whole thing, but wasn't about to let them go alone.

So the trio was planning on sneaking out in the night under Harry's invisibility cloak (Taylor really wanted one as well), to investigate Snape's blown office for any clues about the Heir without anyone being the wiser.

"Harry and his gang think Snape know something about the Heir, and that's why he blew his lab."

Luna glanced at Taylor and smiled.

"I know, right?"

Luna giggled.

Taylor pulled the blankets closer, and wished them good luck.

---

Taylor woke up screaming, bile filling her mouth. She didn't even have time to feel sick when a spike of pain drove into her head and she screamed again. The bugs she had stashed near Myrtle's bathroom were gone from her perception. More bugs in the corridors died as soon as they saw something that she couldn't parse. The only thing that made an impression was the yellow colour.

Every new bug's death was like a new needle inside her head.

Taylor could hear a ruckus somewhere far in the castle. Peeves was yelling and trashing a whole corridor. He wasn't the only one. All the professors and headmaster were up, along with a trove of prefects.

In the distance, through the few bugs that hadn't died, she heard hissing and footsteps, moving toward Myrtle's bathroom.

Immediately closer, Taylor could feel someone trying to help her up and failing miserably. Closer still, Taylor felt like her face was filled with gunk, like she'd slept too much and now her eyes were full of crust.

In the corridors near Peeves, the professors and prefects had stopped near a group of three students, who weren't moving. Taylor recognised them through her bugs' eyes. Hero-Harry and gang. They looked as still as statues.

Far from where the trio had been petrified, in that same bathroom where most of her bugs disappeared from, she heard a hiss and the sink, which had never worked, moved revealing a passage down into the castle depths. A long sinuous creature vanished inside.

With the horror gone, her bugs stopped dying, but the pain in her head was still very real.

Taylor heard a hiss, almost like a snake, and the sink moved again, hiding the tunnel below.

 

[okashihime]

What followed next wasn't something Taylor could properly describe if asked. It was a mess of voices, hands, and jostling.

She heard Nap hooting and flapping her wings; she had to keep Arabelle from breaking out of her cage and fleeing the castle. Each time Taylor tried to make her bugs do something, the pain in her head got worse. There were voices far and near and no matter how much Taylor tried to focus, she just couldn't.

"What's going on here?" A familiar, older voice said. Was it Penny?

"It's Taylor, she's—"

"Oh my god, she's bleeding. The hospital wing, now!"

Things turned even more chaotic. Trying to focus on her bugs was like trying to stare at the sun without sunglasses, but she managed to piece together what was happening around her.

Penny was running down a corridor carrying Taylor in her arms, with Luna right behind her. Taylor's face was a mess of blood and bile.

"Professor!" Penny called out once they arrived at the hospital wing.

There were a lot of people there. In one of the corners, surrounded by prefects, Lockhart prattled on about what a shame it was that he didn't get there in time to save Harry Potter and how he knew exactly how to defeat the Heir and the Horror.

Dumbledore and McGonagall were huddled in another corner talking in hushed whispers. McGonagall looked spooked, Dumbledore for once, looked serious and not his jolly grandfatherly self.

Penny's arrival caused even more yelling, and subsequently, more shoving and manhandling. At some point, someone pushed a vial against her mouth and Taylor might have passed out, because when next she could sort out her thoughts, she was in an unfamiliar bed. It was in a cubicle with curtains separating it from a lot of other cubicles. Her bugs felt sluggish to respond when she tried to see through them. She wasn't alone in the room. There were others, mostly faculty members and students. On beds on the other side of the room, she could see the petrified students and cat.

Luna was sitting on a chair by the bed, leaning over, resting her head against the blanket, asleep. Taylor reached out, gently patting her friend's hair.

She tried to make sense of what had happened.

Facts she knew:

The Heir attacked again and this time, it was the wonder trio that got petrified. The horror was some sort of serpentine monster. Her bugs died when seeing the horror.

Taylor stopped, blinking. No, that was wrong. Not all of her bugs had died. Taylor had been in too much pain to make sense of everything at the time, but she'd caught glimpses of the horror, she could even tell it was like a giant snake or lizard. Maybe not a lizard, she didn't remember seeing any legs. The spikes of pain came whenever she saw the yellow colour. The eyes, maybe?

Looking into the creature's eyes petrified people? But Taylor's bugs weren't petrified. She'd checked the first time around.

Before starting on the list again, she sent a few bugs into the bathroom looking for a way into the pipes. It took a bit of trying, but she found a way into the pipes under the sink. That particular pipe was large enough to fit an adult, but not large enough for the creature she saw. Could the horror change size?

One more fact to her list:

The horror had been using the pipes, instead of the tunnels.

Taylor had been too focused on the tunnels because of what Aragog had said. But the big spider never mentioned tunnels. He said the horror lived under the castle and she just assumed that was what he meant.

She sent a few bugs inside the pipe, following the path downwards trying to see where it led. It didn't work like she expected. The pipe was longer than her range, but the direction it went was towards the lake.

Another fact:

She'd heard the Heir, but she hadn't seen them. There had been footsteps in the bathroom, she heard hissing, and she was certain it hadn't been from the horror.

Two things Taylor was forced to conclude from that. The Heir could go invisible (was there a charm for that?) and they could probably talk to snakes, which made sense since Salazar Slytherin could talk to snakes too.

With her initial surrounding exploration done, Taylor paid attention to herself. Her head still hurt a little, her bugs felt sluggish to control and… yes, Taylor was certain, her range had reduced. Not a lot, just a few meters, but she hadn't escaped unscathed from meeting the horror, even if indirectly.

That… wasn't good news at all.

Taylor had been hoping she'd be able to drown the horror in bugs, but if she also got hurt just by them looking into the thing's eyes, she was in a bit of a pickle. Bugs couldn't close their eyes. Snakes had eyes on the side of the head, and bugs often had compound eyes that basically let them see all around them. There were exceptions, of course, like jumping and wolf spiders. While they still had a wide field of view, it was more forward facing than most bugs. But most of her fliers had all around vision.

Even with everything she'd learned, Taylor still didn't know who the Heir was. But at least now, she had a solid clue about the Horror and the Chamber.

---

A few hours later, when morning arrived, Taylor had to endure Madam Pomfrey prodding and asking questions after the woman had shoo'ed Luna away.

Do you know what happened? (No, Taylor lied.) Does your head still hurt? (No, she told the truth.) Does your family have a history of brain disease or cancer? (What?)

Taylor was relegated to staying in bed, eating breakfast alone and spying on everyone else.

Of her friends, the most notable difference was Ginny. Taylor didn't know how that was possible, but she was crying even more than before and looked even more wan. It made sense, somehow. Her brother and her obsession target had been petrified.

Poor Ginny couldn't catch a break.

The school was abuzz with renewed panic. Professors tried, and failed, to keep students' attention in their classes. There was a renewed up-tick in protection charm sales, now that it was confirmed that not even "pure-bloods" were safe from the Heir.

It was about three in the afternoon when half a dozen people arrived at the school, clamouring for Dumbledore's attention.

One of the visitors was a short, portly man with rumpled grey hair and an anxious expression. He was wearing a strange mixture of clothes: a pin-striped suit, a scarlet tie, a long black cloak and pointed purple boots. Under his arm he carried a lime-green bowler.

Another visitor was swathed in a long black travelling cloak, smiling a cold and satisfied smile. He kept whispering words into the portly man's ears. Each sentence made the bowler guy even more anxious.

Taylor didn't know who the guy in the black cloak was, but the bleach blond hair and sneering face made her immediately think of Draco Malfoy.

Another visitor was this imposing witch. She was tall, thin and bony, and wore a hat with a stuffed vulture on it and carried a bright red handbag. The look on her face was severe enough that it might send Professor McGonagall running to the hills.

Another stood with his back straight with an air of gravitas to him, like he thought themselves important, or dangerous.

The other two were a pair of red-heads, with the matron crying in the man's arms. The Weasleys?

The wizard with the air of gravitas around him stood close to the portly man, like he was a security guard or something.

But more importantly, along with these people, there was a beetle. One that didn't feel like a normal beetle. It had hidden itself in the imposing witch's vulture hat. It felt almost like the acromantulas. Taylor could feel a mind behind those bug eyes. A mind that at the moment, was panicking.

Taylor prodded at the bug, and the thing set off in a desperate flight.

That drew a bit of attention, with people looking around and trying to find what caused the noise, but no one looked up to see the beetle flying away.

Taylor kept a few bugs trailing the fleeing beetle until it had left her range and disappeared. Sentient spiders, and now beetles. Taylor grinned. She loved magic!

The portly man, Taylor learned, was Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic. The bleach blond was Malfoy senior, to no one's surprise. Among them were Mr and Mrs Weasley. The witch with the vulture hat was Augusta Longbottom, who had been with Fudge when he was informed of the attacks and decided to come as well.

Augusta and the Weasley pair went to the Hospital wing, while Malfoy, Fudge and the bodyguard met Dumbledore in his office.

Things were spiralling out of control.

Fudge (and his auror) were here to take Hagrid to Azkaban for opening the chamber again. Malfoy, on the other hand, was here for Dumbledore.

"Dreadful thing, Dumbledore," said Malfoy, taking out a long roll of parchment, "but the governors feel it's time for you to step aside. This is an Order of Suspension – you'll find all twelve signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel you're losing your touch. How many attacks have there been now? Three more last night, wasn't it? At this rate, there'll be no students of lower pedigree left at Hogwarts."

"Now, see here, Lucius," said Fudge, looking resigned, "We talked about this. Dumbledore suspended… no, no… last thing we want just now…"

"The appointment – or suspension – of the Headmaster is a matter for the governors, Fudge. I've explained that already." said Malfoy. Even through her bugs, Taylor could hear the sneer in his voice. "And as Dumbledore has failed to stop these attacks…"

"Now look, Lucius, if Dumbledore can't stop them–" said Fudge, whose upper lip was sweating now, "I mean to say, who can?"

"That remains to be seen," said Malfoy senior, with a nasty smile. "But as all twelve of us have voted…"

"If the governors want my removal, Lucius, I shall of course step aside."

"But–" stuttered Fudge.

Dumbledore had not taken his bright blue eyes off Lucius Malfoy's cold grey ones.

"However," said Dumbledore, speaking slowly and clearly, "you will find that I shall only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. I shall be most interested to learn whether the attacks cease with my departure."

After meeting with Dumbledore, the Minister for Magic wanted to see "Harry Potter" with his own eyes before taking Hagrid away to Azkaban.

Taylor had seen the headmaster use that silver magical bird again to send a message, and presumably, Madam Pomfrey had received it, because she was ushering Taylor away.

"Off you go," Madam Pomfrey said, casting one last charm on Taylor. "There's nothing I can do for now, and you don't seem to be hurting anymore."

Taylor got off the bed, looking around. There wasn't anything to carry back to her dorm, so she made sure to stay away from the approaching crowd while she returned to Ravenclaw's common room.

Watching through her bugs, Taylor didn't miss the satisfied glint in Malfoy's eyes while he glanced at the crying Mrs Weasley or the petrified Harry. Nor his sneering face when Fudge's auror took Hagrid away. The whole thing lasted less than half an hour.

When dinner time arrived, McGonagall was filling in for Dumbledore's absence. She told the students what had happened, with Gryffindors feeling dismayed and a few Slytherins puffing their chests out like they had done something important. Taylor decided to keep an eye on those.

That wasn't the only news. Students were now forbidden from wandering the castle alone. They were to be escorted by prefects or faculty from their common room to classes and the Great Hall.

"I urge you," McGonagall said. "If anyone knows anything about the Heir, do speak up. My doors are open to any student that needs to speak with me."

No one spoke up.

Taylor returned to her dorm room thinking about how she could help with things. Listening to the staff conversation was enough to understand things were really dire. If the attacks didn't stop, there was a chance Hogwarts might be closed, permanently.

That wasn't something she could accept. She'd barely gotten magic. There was no way she'd let some maniac use a serpentine horror to shut down the school.

Many other students seemed to instinctively know the same. Bands of friends grouped together, trying to brainstorm ways of finding the Heir.

Taylor pipe investigation was a dead end at the moment. Without being able to freely wander the castle and grounds, she couldn't map the pipes and see if the secret chamber lay at the end. She'd have to sneak out during the night to investigate things, while avoiding all prefects and professors.

So, Taylor turned to Luna, whispering under the blankets. She explained what happened, and what she'd heard.

"What about the cloak?" Luna asked.

"What?"

"You said Harry had one, right? What if the Heir took it? Wouldn't that make sense, since you couldn't see the Heir?"

Taylor went to sleep feeling a dash of hope. She didn't know what an invisibility cloak looked like, but it should probably be easy to find among common clothing, right?

And that was how Taylor spent the next days, sneaking bugs into students' trunks whenever anyone opened one. She got really good at identifying different types of fabric. Taylor also learned that not everyone kept their things clean. More than a few students kept unwashed clothing inside their trunks which made the whole process ickier than it should have been.

On the second day, Taylor got a possible match. One she hadn't been expecting at all.

Ginny had opened her trunk, and grabbed her diary. Taylor took the opportunity to sneak a fly inside. And at the very bottom, hidden by several other articles of clothing, there was a silvery-grey and fluid piece of fabric. It felt strange to the bug's touch, light and slippery, almost like water woven into cloth.

 

[okashihime]

Taylor huddled into a dark corner (of the common room) spying on the whole castle. She liked to think of these times like she was some sort of deadly spider, sitting in the centre of her web, hearing and seeing everything.

From one thread of her weave, she saw a trio of Slytherins, led by Malfoy, posturing and being annoying to everyone else. The lead bully walked (escorted by a prefect) with his head high, pointy chin in the air and bleach blond hair stuck to his scalp. Right behind him were the worse versions of Tweedle Dee and Dum.

Taylor had a pixie ready for the first mudblood out of his mouth, but after weeks of being dunked by mud, it seemed that Malfoy had learned his lesson.

He turned his nose up, sniffed and sneered, but there was no name-calling.

On another thread, at the opposite side of the castle, Flint had managed to evade the professor escorting students between classes and was trying to intimidate a lower year Hufflepuff. That wouldn't do. First, Taylor sent her Itchygnat to buzz into his ear (which ended up with Flint slapping his own face), then she had the bug bit him a several times. This old dog was taking his sweet time to learn the new tricks.

In the hospital wing, the golden trio was still petrified and unreachable. Madam Pomfrey had put her foot down: "No more visitors! They won't even remember it."

Quidditch also got cancelled, much to Taylor's dismay. She wasn't the only one feeling the loss. The day after the announcement, about two thirds of the school was talking and complaining about it.

The professors and prefects were the ones suffering the most. They had to escort students everywhere, do nightly patrols, vigil, and still trying to keep up with their own workload. There must be some sort of magic involved, because Taylor got tired just watching all that.

Getting stuck in each house's common room was not conducive to making friends in other houses.

Not even relationships survived.

Penny broke up with Percy, and the reason wasn't something Taylor was too clear on about. Penny seemed very angry with the Weasley boy. "You care more about being a prefect than me!" Those were her parting words.

The new professor, Slughorn, had been planning a small party for hand-picked students, or at least he was, until Harry got horrorized. Now, she didn't know if Slughorn would still have his party without guest star Hero-Harry and Brightest-Witch Hermione.

Lockhart had become even more annoying as of late. When he wasn't flashing his pearly whites at every student and saying how it was a shame he didn't have the chance to catch the heir before the minister did it, he was telling everyone how he always knew Hagrid had been the culprit all along.

Taylor had the Itchygnats bite him once or twice, just to prove how useless of a twat he was.

"You're not a spider," Luna said, sitting near her, cradling Arabelle.

The Arabelle situation was becoming untenable.

Arabelle had started attracting more attention and she kept growing. People were whispering about the 'giant spider' and it wouldn't take long until more questions came their way. They needed to brew a new potion, but were stuck in Ravenclaw's dorms without access to their private recluse.

"I'd be an amazing spider," Taylor said, grinning.

"Have your webs caught anything new, miss Amazing Spider?"

"Nothing has changed," Taylor sighed.

Taylor had been keeping a closer eye on Ginny ever since she found the possible invisibility cloak inside Ginny's trunk, but there had been no changes. Ginny didn't take it out, nor did she go gallivanting into the night hidden under the cloak. More importantly, she seemed devastated about her brother, Harry and Hermione.

Was it guilt or genuine sadness?

Ginny also didn't fit the Heir persona Taylor had built inside her head. In Taylor's mind (mostly influenced by the gossip of other students), the Heir was some evil mastermind plotting to clear the school out of undesirables, as Draco Malfoy had said more than once to his band of thugs: Mudbloods and blood traitors like Harry and the Weasleys.

"You should just ask her."

Taylor glanced at Luna. Her friend, like usual, didn't seem worried about the situation.

"We have classes with her tomorrow," Luna said.

"But what should I say?" Taylor whispered.

---

On the next day, on transfiguration, Taylor sat by Ginny's side. Nneka gave her a strange look, but didn't complain and sat down with Luna.

Taylor didn't say anything the whole class. She didn't even pay too much attention to the explanation and theory for their next spell. She kept going over and over in her head how to ask Ginny about the possible invisibility cloak.

When class ended, Taylor wasn't anywhere closer to finding how to word her question, but she was also out of time. She held Ginny's hand to keep the redhead from slipping away, and slowed her pace to be as far away from professor McGonagall as possible.

Ginny looked at Taylor with wide eyes and trembling lips.

Taylor gave her a quick hug then just blurted the question.

"Ginny, why do you have Harry's cloak in your trunk?"

Ginny pulled away from the hug, looking very lost. "What?"

"Miss Weasley, Miss Hebert," McGonagall called out from closer than Taylor expected, and both girls jumped. "Do not tarry. You have classes to attend."

Ginny scurried away after giving Taylor one last look.

Taylor's question rattled the redhead more than she thought it would. For the rest of the day, she kept observing her friend and as the day progressed Ginny got even more frantic.

Once all classes for the day were finished, Ginny fled to her dorm room, closed the door and went through her trunk like a girl possessed.

It was unmistakable the moment Ginny found the cloak. She grabbed the cloak like it was a snake out to bite her. She held it at arms length, then threw it into the trunk and locked it shut again.

The waterworks started soon after.

---

"I don't know," Taylor whispered to Luna. "She didn't know I was watching, and it didn't look like she knew the cloak was there."

"You think someone else put it there?"

Taylor turned around until she was staring into Luna's silvery eyes.

"But who, and why?"

That question haunted Taylor until late into the night. She kept trying to find out who could have done it, or even trying to remember if she knew where Ginny had been during the previous attacks.

And she couldn't.

The first attack was during Halloween and she hadn't been paying attention. Colin had been petrified in the middle of the night, and Taylor had awoken hours after the fact with a nasty headache.

On the last attack, she woke up soon after it happened, but given the circumstances, there was no way she could have looked where Ginny was at the time.

Taylor tossed and turned, only falling asleep after Luna pulled her close, mumbling something about nargles. That night, Taylor dreamt about the brunette again.

Brunette-Taylor was in some sort of cell, hands cuffed to a metal table. An older man, with the poise of a career soldier, sat on the chair opposite her. Another, tall and lanky, stood protectively near Dream-Taylor. By the wall, there was a costumed hero: a woman dressed in military fatigues and using a flag to hide the lower part of her face.

In an office somewhere above, Brunette-Taylor worked furiously with her bugs. Roaches clicked on phone buttons trying to send a message to someone who seemed frantic on the other side of the line. Dream-Taylor couldn't understand through her bugs, but Taylor could.

"They're giving you bad info, Boss. They're lying. No one got captured."

A reinforced van pulled into the parking lot. From inside, a group of guards pulled a body bag. They were laughing. At that moment, Dream-Taylor and Taylor believed one of her friends had died. Rachel or Brian, given the size.

"Taylor," the tall man by her side murmured.

"Yes?"

"You're shaking," he whispered.

"Oh."

When the strongest woman in the world returned, flying through a hole in the roof, she didn't get far. Brunette-Taylor had bugs crawl into her mouth, weave silk into her lungs, and block her air passageways. The woman was invincible, but she still needed to breathe.

The heroine shot up, breaking more of the roof, disappearing out of Dream-Taylor's range.

The soldier on the other side of the table suddenly stood, trying to draw his gun. His voice was a roar. "She knows!"

The silk thread that Dream-Taylor had tied to the weapon saved her from being shot.

Brunette-Taylor was trapped and tied to a table, but that didn't save the soldier from being bitten to death by all manner of nasty bugs. Amidst all the ensuing chaos, Dream-Taylor cried for the death of a friend.

Strangely, after the dream ended, Taylor didn't wake up. She was aware that she was still sleeping and was dragged into yet another dream.

Dream-Taylor was dressed in blue and silver instead of black, fighting another of the city destroying monsters. The architecture was familiar yet strange. India.

There was nothing she could physically do to the monster, but Brunette-Taylor's ability to organise and plan carried her and her allies through the fight until that point.

There was a crash, one of the heroes punted into a temple.

Dream-Taylor heard the murmurs as the most powerful woman in the world advanced from where she'd been thrown. The woman who was supposed to be dead found her way to the end of the crowd to the far left of Dream-Taylor. A group of heroes followed in her wake.

The most powerful woman glanced over at where Brunette-Taylor was, and her eyes moved right past Dream-Taylor, not even recognising the girl who had killed her. For the briefest instant, Brunette-Taylor met the eyes behind that steel helmet, and she saw that one had a pink iris.

It wasn't the woman Brunette-Taylor had killed, but someone piloting her body around.

Taylor opened her eyes and was instantly awake. The two dreams burned in the back of her head. She wanted to feel sick at the deaths and all the horror, but she felt detached, disconnected from her feelings. Her mind was drawn to something else that had changed while she slept.

Ginny's bed was empty. Her trunk was open, and the diary and the cloak were missing.

There was a new message by Myrtle's corridor.



HER SKELETON WILL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER.



McGonagall, Flitwick and Slughorn stood in front of the glowing message.

"Which student was taken?" The potions master asked in a heavy tone.

"A Gryffindor. Ginny Weasley."

Flitwick burst into tears. "What do we do?"

McGonagall shook her head. "We send the students home in the morning. This is the end of Hogwarts."

The professors moved fast after that. They gathered all faculty members and prefects, discussing what needed to be done. Lockhart arrived late and dishevelled, and when called out on his bullshit, he fled to his room and started packing.

All the while, Taylor had been running scenarios in her mind. She knew where the chamber entrance was. She knew how to avoid getting killed by the monster. Now, she only needed a bigger monster.

"What is it?" Luna asked, sounding sleepy.

"Ginny was taken by the Heir."

Luna sat up.

"And I need your help to rescue her."

Luna's eyes lost all the sleepiness. They were sharp and serious. "How?"

"Can you fly a broom while carrying someone else?"

 

[okashihime]

Sneaking out of the dormitory wasn't that hard. After packing up what they needed for this trip, Taylor used her bugs to keep track of everyone, making it easy to avoid being spotted. The professors were too busy preparing to send the students home to pay attention.

Taylor guided Luna to avoid tired prefects, gossipy ghosts and even more obsessed caretakers, until they left the castle through one of the side entrances, closer to the broom closet.

The air there was cold and cutting.

"What do we need to save Ginny?" Luna asked, pulling the winter robes closer.

"A bigger Horror," Taylor said.

Somewhere else inside the castle, Taylor had Dee and Dum working to gather the things she would need.

Luna opened the closet door and inspected each broom in turn, often whispering to them. Once she was done, she picked one seemingly at random. She threw her leg over it, and looked at Taylor, who, for her part, climbed behind her friend and hugged her tightly.

"The forest," Taylor said into Luna's hair. "The spiders."

Luna glanced back, her serious eyes meeting Taylor's. She nodded and took off soon after, flying low over the top of the trees. The snow had started to melt, but many of the trees were still covered in white and fluff.

Reaching the hollow by broom didn't take long. Luna dipped into the open area and Taylor alighted in the centre of the hollow yelling for the big spider.

"Aragog! Aragog!"

Arabelle scurried from under Luna's robes to join the gathering tide of giant spiders. The clicking and chittering was almost deafening.

Aragog emerged from his nest ponderously, each giant limb stabbing into the earth.

"Why have you returned, queen? You are not welcome here."

"I need your help. The Horror took my friend. We need to save her."

"Your friend is already dead. There's nothing to save."

"No!" Taylor snarled out. "She's not!"

"I care not for men. Why should I help you?"

"Hagrid has been taken to Azkaban," Luna said, walking beside Taylor. "If not for our friend, help us for Hagrid. With your help, we can prove he's innocent."

Aragog's giant head turned to face Luna. "Princess."

Luna waved cheerfully. "Hullo, Aragog."

"Will you help?" Taylor asked.

"No," Aragog said.

A pit of ice formed inside Taylor's tummy. Her power unfolded, covering the entire hollow and all nine hundred, seventy three giant spiders, Aragog included. All around her, every spider stilled. The hollow became as quiet as a grave.

It would have been so easy.

Taylor ground her teeth. She pulled her power back, turned around towards her friend and tugged at Luna's robes. "Let's go save our friend. We don't need him."

Without Aragog's help, things would be harder, but Taylor was sure she could deal with the Horror, even if it would still be painful.

Luna waved goodbye to the gathered spiders. She threw her leg over the broom and Taylor climbed behind her.

"I'll help," Aragog said before they could take off.

Taylor turned back to the giant spider's ugly face. "What?"

"Not for your friend, but for Hagrid."

"Why the change of heart?" Taylor didn't want to admit how relieved she felt.

"I had to know what type of Queen you were."

Taylor gaped at the spider. "What?"

Aragog ignored Taylor. He turned to face the largest cluster of spiders.

"My sons and daughters." Aragog's voice echoed through the entire hollow. "Tonight, our ancient enemy will be no more."

The spiders clicked and chittered.

"Keep away from men. Do not attack the castle, and respect your new Queen."

Luna walked closer, pulling out the failed potion that Taylor had given her before they left the castle. "This is a shrinking solution. It is not permanent."

"Do it."

Luna removed the stopper and tipped the entire thing over Aragog's head. The house sized spider shrunk until he was small enough to fit inside Luna's pocket.

"Let's go!" Taylor said, knowing now that they were on the clock. They had to reach the Chamber before the potion effect wore off.

Luna grabbed the broom and Taylor climbed behind her. Before they took off, a clicking voice they hadn't heard before stopped them.

"Motherr," the voice cried out, and Arabelle came skittering from the mass of spiders.

"What?" Taylor blurted for the third time, extending her hand for Arabelle to climb on.

"Motherr," the spider clicked again. Then Arabelle jumped onto Luna's head. "Mum."

Luna grabbed Arabelle and hugged her. "Aren't you a cute little baby!"

As much as Taylor wanted to know what was going on in Arabelle's head, they didn't have the time. "Go!" she called out to Luna, who hid Arabelle under her robes and took off flying towards the castle.

Once the castle was in range, Taylor started on the second part of her plan. The pixies had borrowed ink pots from Lockhart's now-abandoned office and were waiting for new instructions. She directed them where to go, while gathering all the spiders (specially jumping spiders) and mosquitoes she could find.

Spiders webbed four flyers together, while others dipped legs into ink and blotted the bugs' eyes. She then used more silk to tie one jumping spider beneath each group of four flyers, with the spider looking down instead of forward. That would limit their field of view, and by flying close to the ground, Taylor wouldn't risk looking into the Horror's eyes.

By the time they arrived near Myrtle's corridor, Taylor had most of her army prepared.

Instead of heading toward the bathroom, Taylor led Luna one floor down, to an unused classroom where the wall hid the pipe.

Taylor drew her wand and turned to Luna. "You should—"

"I'm not letting you go alone."

Taylor studied Luna's determined eyes. She hugged her friend, and when she pulled back, she laced her fingers through Luna's.

"The potion is wearing off," Luna said, looking at the pocket where Aragog had hidden. It had started to bulge.

"Keep your eyes closed at all times, and don't let go," Taylor said, facing the wall. She pointed her wand, preparing a spell.

Taylor hadn't used this spell yet outside training with Luna, but it was the only way she could think to get to the Chamber, since she didn't know how to speak snake.

"Reducto."

There was a flash of blue light and part of the wall vanished, dissolving into dust and leaving a large metal pipe exposed.

"Reducto," Taylor called out once more. Metal shrieked as it tore open, leaving a hole big enough in the pipe for them to crawl through.

Which they did.

Taylor sent her drones in first and followed with her eyes closed, Luna's hand still in hers. Behind them came the rest of her swarm, blotting out the classroom and filling the pipe.

Taylor felt something strange popping up near the classroom. It was the same feeling she often got when asking the castle for things. It was there for just a brief moment, before disappearing in a panicked puff.

It was yet another mystery to investigate once they rescued Ginny.

The pipe led down and down. It was like rushing a slimy underground slide. There were more pipes branching off the main one, but none large enough for a person to fit through. It twisted and curved, leading steeply downwards. The bugs following in their wake picked up many different scents and textures. Part of the pipe had scratches that took Taylor a moment to realise were scale marks. The whole pipe reeked of something acrid and dangerous that made her heart hammer against her ribs. Even the ordinary jumping spiders tied up in their spy-drone formation wanted to flee.

The school and all the bugs still nested inside the castle soon disappeared from Taylor's range.

Just as she began to worry she'd splatter at the bottom, and sent her pixies beneath them to slow their descent, the pipe evened out, and she shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in.

Luna followed, landing on top of Taylor.

"Ow," Taylor said, getting up and helping her friend stand.

Aragog, who had grown so much that he barely fit inside the pocket, scurried away, climbing a nearby wall. Taylor had to gently nudge the spider, because his instincts, even though he was resolved to fight the Horror, were to flee.

Her mass of bugs arrived soon after, like a tide of skittering legs and pincers and wings being vomited out of the pipe.

"Don't open your eyes," Taylor said, spreading her bugs out to explore the place where they had landed.

It was a tunnel large enough for a giant serpent to move through. Her bugs found many small bones littering the floor. Not far ahead, there was something large lying across the tunnel. It wasn't only one thing. Deeper into the tunnel, in branch paths that looked more like holes in the wall, her bugs found more of the same.

They were shed snakeskins, which glowed a vivid, poisonous green even through the spiders' eyes in the quiet darkness. The Horror that shed them must have been at least twenty feet long.

Aragog clicked, pacing around on the wall, but he didn't try to flee.

"I found shed skin," Taylor whispered, squeezing Luna's hand.

"Can we take some? I think Daddy would like a piece," Luna whispered back.

Taylor wanted to be mad at her friend, but ended up grinning in the darkness.

"When we leave this place with Ginny, let's take some as souvenirs."

The path led forward, turning and turning. After another bend, there was a solid wall on which two entwined serpents were carved out of metal, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.

Aragog crawled up toward the ceiling. He moved in the darkness above, out of sight and silent as the grave. The potion had worn off enough that he was as big as a large dog.

The stone wall blocking their path was more resilient than the classroom wall had been. It seemed protected by magic, because no matter how many Reductos Taylor blasted at it, the stone and snakes didn't budge. She was about to start blasting the surrounding walls, when the metal serpents slid apart, revealing the passage on the other side.

Luna squeezed her hand, and together they walked through the open passage.

Taylor kept all her bugs outside the Chamber, having only her prepared drones fly inside. Aragog crawled silently on the ceiling above while surrounded by her pixies and guided by Taylor through her bugs.

Those were the only ones she was willing to risk. Aragog was blind and immune to the Horror's gaze, and the blue menaces could keep their eyes closed and avoid death by Horror.

The Chamber beyond was a very long, dimly lit chamber. The eerie glow could be seen even through Taylor's closed eyes.

There were towering pillars decorated with carved serpents that rose to support the ceiling hidden in the darkness above. The ceiling, almost a hundred feet up, was cracked and old, full of dust but not a web in sight. It was a perfect place for a house-sized spider to hide.

At the end of the Chamber, past the last pair of the pillars, was a statue standing against the back wall as tall as the Chamber itself. It was ancient and its proportions made Taylor think more of a monkey than a man. It had a long thin beard that went down to where two enormous stone feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor.

And between the feet, face down, was Ginny.

Her friend lay on the damp ground, the diary and cloak by her side. She wasn't moving. She was barely breathing.

"Ginny!" Taylor cried out.

Luna squeezed her hand. They both ran, forgetting to keep their eyes closed.

"Ginny," Taylor said again, once she reached the unconscious girl. She shook the redhead. "Wake up. Please."

"She won't wake up."

The new voice sounded close. Worse yet, her bugs hadn't sensed anyone there. Taylor whirled, wand pointed where the voice had come from. A twinkling, shimmering panel of energy formed between them and the newcomer.

Her Protego had come out stronger than she'd been expecting. Faster too. Taylor often had trouble using it without yelling out the incantation name.

The newcomer was a boy, sixteen or seventeen, dressed in Slytherin colours. He had a prefect badge pinned to his robes. He held a familiar wand in his hand.

"Who are you?" Luna asked.

"What did you do to Ginny?" Taylor demanded.

"I'm Tom Riddle."

Taylor aimed her wand at his face. "No, you're not."

"Is that so?"

"Tom Riddle was a student here half a century ago. You're not that old."

"I'm a memory. Preserved in a diary for fifty years."

"What did you do to Ginny?" Luna insisted.

"Poor Ginny poured her soul out to me. All her deepest fears.

"Dear Tom, my brothers won't leave me alone. They keep teasing me about Harry now that I'm at Hogwarts. Dear Tom, I hate this. Everyone else has nice, new clothes, but I have to come to school with second-hand robes and old, dusty books. Dear Tom, I think Harry doesn't like me. He's great, famous, and a hero. How could he ever like someone like me?"

"Stop it!" Taylor brandished her wand, but Tom seemed unconcerned.

"I grew powerful enough that I wasn't just a memory anymore."

In that moment, the dreams finally made sense.

"Expelliarmus!" Taylor yelled. A ray of red light shot from her wand, striking at Tom Riddle. Ginny's wand flew from the boy's hand, clattering in the darkness behind him.

"You are the Heir. You've been possessing Ginny to attack the school."

"Very smart," Tom mocked. "It was very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he went on. "But I was patient. I wrote back, I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me."

"No…" Luna whispered from somewhere behind Taylor.

Taylor kept glaring at the maybe-ghost.

"You two almost ruined my plans.

"Dear Tom, I made two new friends today. I already knew Luna, but we weren't friends before, and Taylor is always with Luna. They are so strange, but I like them. Dear Tom, we had a tea party today. What witch even has tea parties these days? Tom, Taylor is so silly. It's like she never played Quidditch before. She gets so animated talking about it."

Tom walked around the trio, watching them with red-flecked eyes, like he was studying a fascinating new bug.

"She stopped pouring her heart and soul into the diary. Some days, she didn't even write at all. I lost most of the influence I had over her. But thankfully, Harry, Ronald and the twins, insensitive little boys that they are, made sure to ignore and tease poor little Ginny during the holidays. Without her new friends to keep her company, she came back to me."

"Diffindo!" Taylor cried out. Pink light shot out of her wand, splashing harmlessly against the maybe-ghost.

"What a mean little creature you are. Are you sure you shouldn't be in Slytherin? You'd fit right in."

"Shut up!" Taylor snapped, her mind racing.

Something was very wrong here. Tom was… monologuing. Was he such a maniac that he wanted to gloat to two girls he had never met before? Or was he trying to buy time for something? Where was the Horror?

"Imagine my surprise, when I finally managed to pour enough of myself back into Ginny and go out to take care of two little pests interfering with my plans." His face twisted into a scowl. "I met the famous Harry Potter and what a disappointment he was. I didn't even had to do anything, and he was petrified by the Slytherin serpent."

There was a distinct note in Tom's voice that Taylor didn't miss. Luna didn't either.

"You talk like Harry is important to you."

"How could such a powerless boy defeat the greatest wizard of all time?"

That threw a wrench into Taylor's thoughts. When had Harry ever fought Dumbledore?

"Harry never defeated Dumbledore," Luna said, echoing Taylor's thoughts.

"Stupid little thing. Lord Voldemort is the greatest wizard who ever lived."

Taylor blinked. Wasn't that the evil wizard who Harry often mentioned to his friends?

"Who?" she asked, knowing it would provoke Tom. Something had to change here. Spells weren't working against him, and there had been no sign of the Horror yet.

Tom's face turned uglier, and the red glint in his eyes stronger.

"Lord Voldemort. The greatest wizard who ever lived. He was poised to take over the whole wizarding world, until Harry happened."

"Why do you care?" Taylor asked. "This Voldymorte was defeated a decade ago. He's old news."

Tom hissed like a snake. "I am Lord Voldemort!"

The words hung in the air while Tom Riddle glared at Taylor.

"But enough. It was a mistake to think I'd find enjoyable conversation with a filthy mudblood and her loony friend."

Taylor tensed, waiting for an attack. It never came. What came next was a hiss she'd heard once before.

Taylor didn't need to know what the words were to know their intent. Even more so when, from behind the huge stone statue, the giant serpent answered.

"Close your eyes!" Taylor cried out, doing just that.

"It won't save you, stupid little girl."

 

[okashihime]

Taylor would have liked to say an epic battle was fought and won, but the truth was somewhat more anticlimactic than that.

Her prepared spiders caught the moment when the serpent slithered out from behind the statue, a hole in the side opening up in the stone to allow it through. The serpent was enormous, deadly and smelly.

"What will you do now?" Tom gloated.

Taylor didn't have an answer for him. At least not in words.

She'd been feeding information to Aragog, helping him navigate the dark ceiling. Information which he decided to use.

Aragog jumped down without being prompted or nudged. He didn't just let go, but launched himself like a house-sized cannonball toward the snake. The impact felt like it should have shaken the whole room. Both monsters rolled into the darkness beyond the flickering green light.

At the same time, Taylor swarmed the room with all the bugs she'd brought and the ones she collected down here. Strangely enough, most of the bugs living in the depths had adapted to living near the Horror. If they weren't blind and perceived the world through different senses, they had ways to shut down their vision.

She used those, swarming the snake's head, crawling into its eyes, biting and tearing, filling its mouth and trying to choke the thing alive.

Her normal bugs created a wall of chittering death between her and Tom. She sent some of the bugs to bite and crawl on him, but the memory, aside from being spooked by the amount of bugs, wasn't harmed.

She didn't escape unharmed.

Her bugs died in droves before she managed to destroy the snake's eyes. Taylor grunted, ignoring the blood seeping out of her nose, eyes and ears.

"What is this? What are you?" Tom looked around frantically. He tried going towards Ginny's wand, but Taylor had her bugs carry it away from him.

Even Arabelle did her part. The spider jumped at Riddle's face, pincers somehow managing to briefly stun the ghost.

"Get off me!" Tom yelled, flinging the spider away.

The Horror, now surrounded, blind and hurt, changed size, transforming into a noodle-sized snake. Taylor's power did that thing it sometimes did, like it had just found a new toy. It had started to see the Horror not as a snake, but as a worm which she had full control over. Her power latched onto the Horror like a vice and the snake was hers, utterly and completely.

But not everything had worked like she had planned.

Hidden by the wall of bugs, Taylor tried to spirit Ginny away with her pixies, but Tom somehow sensed that.

"Stop!" he growled.

The man changed into some ghostly image of himself, shooting straight toward where Luna was helping move Ginny away.

In a split second, not even knowing why she did it, Taylor flung herself between Riddle and her friends.

The ghostly man crashed through her body. There was a brief moment of agony, and a horrifying laugh echoed inside her head. Taylor blacked out before she hit the ground.

---

Taylor blinked open her eyes.

She was in a place she'd never seen before. It was a place without end, shrouded in grey. Grey fog in the distance, grey stone beneath her bare feet. Grey sounds echoing in the corners of this world that didn't exist. Grey winds rushing through her hair.

In front of her was Brunette-Taylor.

Her alter ego was clad in the black silk-bodysuit, insectoid mask covering her face, and yellow eyes staring from behind a mane of brown curls. Her movements reminded Taylor more of an insect than a person. Parts of her body didn't move at all. They felt and looked like cracked TV static stones. What that was even meant Taylor had no idea.

The third person in this place was the strangest of them all.

It was like a person, cracked and split into seven different pieces, all rotting and decaying. Some of the pieces were close by, while others were far away. Each piece held a fragment of a person and it was like seeing a man changing into a monster. The first shard, Tom Riddle, was the one who looked the most human. The only difference was the red-flecked eyes.

In each shard after, the person became more deformed and monstrous.

"What have you done to me?" Riddle asked, trying to move, but his feet were stuck to the grey floor.

Taylor was curious too.

Brunette-Taylor flickered, like a static image in an old TV. When her form solidified again, she was grabbing Tom's shard.

"Unhand me!" he cried out.

Brunette-Taylor's mask opened like an insect maw. She bit down on the shard's head, and slurped it like one does noodles, gross noise and all. The two nearby shards shuddered, but the faraway ones didn't even seem to notice one of them was no more.

Taylor watched all that in fascinated horror.

Brunette-Taylor flickered again, showing up next to Taylor. Her maw was still open and there were bits of Tom sliding out of her mouth like melted, gooey chocolate. Still, Taylor didn't feel afraid. She knew she should be, but she wasn't.

She opened her arms, and like a kitten, Brunette-Taylor draped over her, pressing her face against hers and rubbing it up and down, like a, well, affectionate cat.

"Hullo," Taylor tried. She didn't think this person in front of her was the same girl from her dreams.

Brunette-Taylor stopped, her face snapping in a direction where there was nothing to see. She looked back at Taylor. A slimy forked tongue extended out, licking Taylor's face and leaving her covered in goo. Brunette-Taylor then shoved her away…

…and Taylor was lying on the ground of the Chamber of Secrets, gasping for breath.

"Mother!" Arabelle was crawling all over Taylor, clicking desperately.

It took Taylor a moment to centre her thoughts. Whatever had happened, it seemed important, even if she didn't know why yet.

She stilled her bugs, which had been buzzing angrily and swarming near her, and sent them back into the darkness. Taylor tried to look around, but had to pry her eyes open. The blood had clotted and made it difficult to see. Not far from where she had fallen, she saw Luna draped over a crying, desperate Ginny.

Dee and Dum, leading her troupe of pixies, had positioned themselves around the duo as if to protect them.

Taylor didn't remember ordering them to do that.

Aragog had fallen at the far end of the Chamber. He was hurt and having trouble moving. Taylor knew he'd been bitten by the Horror, but most of the injuries she could feel in the giant spider were self-inflicted from his cannonball entrance.

Taylor wanted to attend to the big spider, but Ginny was her priority. She got up, ignoring the pain in her head, and scooped up Arabelle. She gently petted the spider.

"Thank you," she whispered and Arabelle clicked happily.

When she got to her friends, Ginny was blubbering about how she'd hurt people and how she was the one who opened the Chamber. Her face was a blotchy mess of snot and tears.

Taylor tried to join in the hug, pulling both Luna and Ginny closer, but when Ginny saw her bloodied face, she started crying even more.

"It wasn't your fault," Taylor said, trying to sound firm, like her mum always did. "A memory of Voldemort was possessing you through the diary."

Ginny gasped like Taylor had struck her. "You-know-who?" Her sobs turned to wails. "They're going to send me to Azkaban!"

Nothing that Taylor did or said helped Ginny calm down.

Luna whispered into the redhead's ear and slowly, Ginny stopped crying.

"I think we should take her away from here," Luna said, looking around.

Taylor nodded. "I'll check on Aragog."

She did just that. Taylor gently placed Arabelle on top of Luna's head, then hobbled into the darkness. On the way there, she scooped up the noodle-sized Horror. The thing was as pitiful as it could get. It had lost both eyes to her bugs, had several acromantula bites along its sinuous body and could barely breathe through all the squashed bugs inside it. Taylor wasn't even sure it would survive.

"Queen," Aragog said once she was close enough to hear. "You haven't killed it yet."

Taylor shook her head, wiping away blood from her face. "It's mine now," she said, dangling the Horror by the tail. "If it survives, it won't be able to escape my grasp."

Aragog chuckled. "A fitting end."

"Taylor," Taylor said. "My name is Taylor."

Aragog tried to stand, but his legs gave out and he flopped back down with a wet thud. Several of his legs were broken and bleeding, and Aragog had numerous bite marks along his torso.

"It will take a few days to brew a new potion," Taylor said, glancing at the dying spider. "But I'll get you out."

"Take my body back to the hollow," he said with a rasp. "My brood will be happy to feast on my flesh."

He stopped moving and was no more.

Taylor's throat felt full and her face hot. She hadn't intended for him to get hurt. Her plan had been to face the brunt of the attack, swarming the Horror with bugs and leaving Aragog to finish it. She hadn't even had the chance to start when Aragog threw himself at the Horror.

She leaned forward, hugging the big lump. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

---

Taylor grabbed everything she could from the Chamber, not knowing when she'd have the chance to come back. Her bugs gathered the diary and Ginny's wand. She collected Harry's cloak. Her pixies pried out the glowy emeralds from the serpent's eyes at the door, and a quick sweep with her bugs revealed a room that seemed to have been a laboratory of some kind. It was hidden behind a wall with no visible way to get through. What interested Taylor the most was the bookshelf at the far wall of the hidden room. It looked preserved and untouched by time.

"How do we leave?" Luna asked, still hugging Ginny.

"With help," Taylor said.

She tried to lead them back toward the pipe, but her legs wobbled and Luna and Ginny had to prop Taylor up for the rest of the way. Taylor didn't forget to collect pieces of shed skin on their way back. Dee and Dum leading the troupe of pixies were already waiting by the pipe.

The blue pixies drew Ginny's attention so Taylor made introductions.

"That one is Dee, and this one is Dum." Taylor looked at the rest of the pixies. "I don't have a name for the others yet."

"How are you doing this?" Ginny asked.

Taylor shook her head. "I'll tell you later." Maybe, she added in her head.

She divided the pixies in groups, each flying one girl up the pipe. The blue menaces were stronger than they looked.

The trip up was a lot more boring than the trip down, but at least Luna seemed to be enjoying herself, because she was giggling while petting and whispering to Arabelle.

Maybe a quarter of an hour later, the three girls were crawling out of the pipe.

The castle above was a mess. It was past dawn and a lot of students were already up and panicking. The news they were to go home didn't make things easier.

The pixies took her spoils, except the diary, wand and cloak, and hid them inside her nest. Taylor would split them with Luna later. Dee carried the Horror out of the castle, leaving it stranded inside an abandoned tower.

She looked at the wall, considering what to do. She pointed her wand and whispered Reparo, closing the hole shut.

"If you can, don't tell them where the Chamber is," she said to her friends.

"Why?" Ginny asked, now back to sniffling.

"Aragog's body is in there. I need to go back and take him to his nest. He asked for that, but I can't do it if someone else takes his body first."

"Aragog?" Ginny asked.

"A giant spider. He was very nice," Luna said with a quiver in her voice, petting Arabelle.

"What do I say?" Ginny asked, looking down.

"Just tell them you don't remember where the Chamber is."

Ginny nodded.

Taylor helped both up, then led them towards a professor she hoped wouldn't be like the others.

The group gathered attention. Students pointed and whispered. They were covered in slime and dirt, and blood, in Taylor's case. Ginny, presumably, had been taken by the heir and should be missing.

Taylor ignored everyone, pulling her friends until they barged into Flitwick's office.

"Professor! Professor!" she called out as soon as she was inside the room.

"What is it?" Flitwick came running from the back room only to stop dead in his tracks.

"We found Ginny!" Luna declared.

"To the hospital wing!" Flitwick squeaked, rushing over to where Taylor was.

 

[okashihime]

Taylor found herself some hours later, along with Luna, in the Hospital Wing facing the headmaster.

Dumbledore had returned to the school before students were sent away. After checking that Ginny was alive and well, he put an end to that confusion. With Ginny 'found', he didn't see a reason to send students back home.

Madam Pomfrey hadn't been happy to see Taylor in the Hospital Wing again. She bustled around, feeding Taylor potions that smelled and tasted like washed leather.

Taylor had spent hours trying to figure out what to say when the questions inevitably arrived. There was no easy way to keep the Chamber of Secrets location a secret, so Taylor decided she wasn't going to bother that much about it. That didn't mean she was going to give out all her secrets.

"What do we tell them?" Luna asked.

Her friend hadn't left her side ever since Flitwick dragged the trio to the Hospital Wing.

Ginny had gotten her own cubicle, but Luna was just dirty and not hurt, so she stayed with Taylor.

"The truth."

Luna tilted her head.

"With a few omissions."

Luna nodded.

Taylor whispered to her friend the new version of events, which was very similar to what actually happened. The only difference being that their new story suggested (and just suggested) that it was Aragog who knew where the Horror and the Chamber were and going to him is what allowed them to confront the Heir and the Horror.

The leaving part was the one which Taylor had no good excuse for, so she also told the truth. Pixies carried them out. Before they knew what was happening, they were back at the castle and the pixies flew away.

It wasn't a good enough misdirection, but Taylor hoped it would work.

It didn't take long until Dumbledore arrived at the Hospital Wing. He first went to Ginny, who confessed about everything, saying she was guilty and the one attacking the students and all that. The Headmaster nodded, tried to comfort her but gave up when Ginny didn't stop crying.

Soon after Ginny's, it was Taylor and Luna's turn.

"Good morning, Miss Hebert, Miss Lovegood. I must say, I hadn't thought I'd see you again this soon."

"Headmaster," Taylor said. Luna nodded.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Dumbledore gently asked.

"Luna thinks I'm a HereSeer," Taylor said.

"A HereSeer?"

"She sees the here, instead of then and there," Luna explained.

"Ah, fascinating. Please continue," said Dumbledore.

It was a risk telling the headmaster this much, but Taylor decided she needed to give some ground, or the man would probably be even more suspicious.

"The night Harry was attacked, I think whatever the Horror did affected me as well."

Luna gently patted her hand.

"I see. And how did that lead to rescuing Miss Weasley?"

"You're forgetting the spiders," Luna chimed in.

Dumbledore looked at Luna, then back at Taylor.

"I noticed that whenever the Heir attacked, the spiders would try to flee the castle," Taylor said. "We asked Hagrid about it and he acted all suspicious. So I followed him into the forest and saw him meeting with Aragog."

"The acromantulas," Dumbledore said, nodding.

"Later, we visited Aragog and he told us the Horror lived under the castle."

"And the spiders didn't attack you?"

Taylor shook her head.

"He didn't like me. Said I wasn't welcome."

"But Arabelle is a good girl."

"Arabelle?" the Headmaster asked, looking at Luna.

Luna took the giant spider from under her robes. "Bell, this is Dumbledore, the school Headmaster."

Arabelle clicked her pincers. "Dumbles."

Taylor thought that for some reason, the Headmaster's smile looked strained. "She's very pretty," he said.

"When I noticed Ginny had gone missing, we went to Aragog again," Taylor continued with her tale. "He didn't want to help at first, but he changed his mind later."

"I told him that Hagrid had been taken to Azkaban," Luna said.

"We went with Aragog to some sort of tunnel, very deep underground, that led to the Chamber of Secrets."

Luna nodded.

"We found Ginny there, but she wasn't alone."

"Who did you meet?" Dumbledore asked.

"There was a boy. A Slytherin. He said his name was Tom Riddle. He said he was a memory living inside a diary for fifty years."

Taylor took out the diary and handed it over to the headmaster.

Dumbledore held it in trembling fingers.

"He said he was Lord Voldemort, and admitted to having possessed Ginny to open the Chamber, attack students and write the messages."

"Really," Dumbledore murmured, still looking at the diary.

"We talked, and Tom got angry. He called the Horror to attack, but Aragog saved us."

"In the confusion, we tried to take Ginny away," Luna added.

"What happened then?" Dumbledore asked, finally looking away from the diary.

Taylor shrugged. "Tom became like this ghostly thing. He was flying toward Luna and I…" she trailed off.

"Taylor jumped in front of him."

"My head hurt, I heard someone laughing." Taylor recounted the events. "When I woke up again, Tom Riddle had disappeared and Arabelle was panicking."

Arabelle decided that was the time to jump onto Taylor's lap. "Mother hurt."

Taylor smiled, trailing her finger over the spider's back. "Sorry, Bell. I didn't mean to scare you."

"What happened to Tom, the Horror and Aragog?"

Taylor sighed. "I don't think the Horror will be a problem to anyone else. Aragog died fighting it," she said, looking down and sniffling. "I don't know what happened to Tom."

And she really didn't. Taylor had no idea what the consequences of Brunette-Taylor eating Tom's shard would be.

"May I cast a spell on you?" Dumbledore asked.

Taylor nodded.

He took out his wand, murmured words Taylor couldn't understand, moving the wand up and down along her body. A few moments later, he put the wand away, and his smile wasn't strained.

"And how did you escape the Chamber?"

"Pixies!" Luna exclaimed.

"Pixies?"

"Yes! There were lots of them. They flew us out and put us inside the castle."

"How interesting," Dumbledore said, stroking his beard. "I've sent someone to fetch your parents," he said. "What you girls did was very dangerous, and broke several of the school rules."

Taylor looked down again. It had been worth it to save Ginny.

"It is only logical then, you two receive a Special Awards for Services to the School and — let me see — yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Ravenclaw," Dumbledore said, beaming.

"I get a medal in the trophy room?" Taylor asked, looking up.

"Two hundred points?" Luna squeaked.

"Why, yes. You deserve it, I might add."

Luna flung herself over Taylor in a bear hug.

"I'll leave you to recover, we might talk again once your parents have arrived."

What followed was horrifying in a whole different way.

The first to arrive were Ginny's parents. After their smothering, Ginny told them about the diary.

"Ginny!" said Mr Weasley. "Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic!"

"I d-didn't know," sobbed Ginny. "I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it …"

That went on for a few more minutes and Taylor wanted to leave her bed to rescue her friend.

That sentiment didn't last long, because after traumatising their kid, it was Taylor and Luna's turn.

Mrs Weasley bustled toward their cubicle hugging the two girls without leaving them a chance to escape. "You saved her! You saved her!"

Taylor's mother arrived soon after with Xeno, and before she could even check on Taylor, Mrs Weasley was hugging Annette as well.

"Thank you!" Mrs Weasley said. "You have to come visit in the holidays, it is the least we can do."

After all the kerfuffle died down, Taylor cuddled against her mum, and Luna hugged her dad.

Annette hadn't been happy to know Taylor had been hurt and hadn't said anything in her letters. The look her mum gave her promised another talk later, but for now, Taylor was safe.

Among the many people arriving at the castle, one was of particular interest to Taylor. Not because Taylor thought the man important, but because of who was following him like a kicked puppy.

Malfoy senior arrived with his robes out of place and his hair not immaculately combed. It was like he had been doing something else, and had to stop and come to the castle in a rush. Behind him was a house elf trying to fix his master's clothes.

A house elf Taylor had seen before. Dobby.

The conversation between Malfoy and the Headmaster was illuminating.

In Taylor's mind, it became clear Malfoy was the evil mastermind behind the diary. He even went to the trouble of threatening the governors to suspend Dumbledore. Malfoy left soon after, Dobby trailing behind.

She watched with narrowed eyes and the pit of anger in her tummy grew.

There were several ways she could do something about it. Right now, she had to fight back the bugs wanting to swarm him, eat his eyes out, drown him in.

Taylor took a deep breath. That wasn't her. Malfoy would pay, but attacking him with bugs on school grounds would cause more problems instead of solving them. She had a better idea anyway. Up in her nest, she had one of the pixies write a message on a parchment, then had her bugs carry it and drop the paper on top of Dobby.

The house elf caught the parchment, his eyes growing wide when he read the message.

Malfoy started to turn and Dobby disappeared the paper.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, sir, master, just school paper."

Malfoy kicked the house elf. "Useless," he sneered. "You'll get your punishment when we return."

Taylor had her Itchygnats bite the prat a couple times, just to appease her anger. He'd get his comeuppance, sooner or later.

Fortunately, Taylor wasn't confined to the Hospital Wing for long. In the afternoon an annoyed Madam Pomfrey let the trio go, promising hell if they returned too soon.

At dinner, Taylor sat at Ravenclaw's table with her mum, Luna and Xeno. On the other side of the Great Hall, the Weasleys sat with their children, and Ginny had become the centre of that table, with every Gryffindor having to shake her hand, give her a hug or even a back pat.

Dumbledore was giving yet another one of his dinner speeches.

"What happened today is a secret," he said. "So it is only normal that everyone in the castle already knows about it."

There was laughter.

"Yes, it is true. Lord Voldemort—"

The whole Great Hall erupted in gasps and cries of fear.

"—enchanted a student to open the chamber and attack the school. Fortunately, due to the action of two brave Ravenclaw students, Taylor Hebert and Luna Lovegood, this dastardly plot was thwarted and a life saved."

Dumbledore and the rest of the school were looking at Taylor and Luna.

Ginny was the first to get up and start clapping. The whole school soon followed, some a lot more animated than others.

"With the matter of the Heir put to rest, classes are to return to normal."

A few students started cheering, yelling "Quidditch! Quidditch!"

"Quidditch, unfortunately, is still cancelled for the year."

It was Taylor's turn to join the booing with the crowd. By her side, her mum laughed, shaking her head.

"And for risking their own lives to save a friend. For proving that the bonds we make matter more than the labels we assign them. For showing that bravery, loyalty and cunning are not traits exclusive to a single house, Taylor Hebert and Luna Lovegood hereby earn two hundred points—"

The Great Hall erupted in noise again.

"—each," finished the Headmaster.

The Ravenclaw table exploded in cheering.

Without Snape to dock points from every house, Slytherin had lost its first place in the house cup. Four hundred points placed Ravenclaw in the first place, leading the other houses by a lot of points.

Students that hadn't given Taylor the magic of day, now crowded her and Luna, hugging, patting their backs, offering congratulations. With one announcement from Dumbledore, she and Luna had become Ravenclaw's darlings, at least for now.

Taylor hugged her mum, then Luna. She tried to smile at the people around her, but might have missed the mark, given how people were looking at her strangely.

It hadn't been a bad start of term, overall.

Students (and a cat) were still petrified, there were more mysteries to solve and debts to pay, but finally, Taylor thought things were about to improve.

 

[okashihime]

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

The sun had hidden behind the horizon and it was almost time for dinner.

Albus picked up the diary again. It was the most curious thing. He could feel the dark magic wafting from the cursed object. For all intents and purposes, it was still a horcrux. But there was no soul inside it.

The magic preserving the diary was still active. The thing was as indestructible as it was said to be, but no matter how much he looked, Voldemort's soul had been ripped away.

Freed or destroyed?

He'd quietly examined the three girls. None of them had any hint of Voldemort's soul hidden inside them. Not like Harry.

That didn't mean there were no changes to them. He'd have to keep an eye on Ginevra. Whatever happened to Voldemort's soul left a mark. He wouldn't be at all surprised if the Weasley girl was also a parselmouth at this point.

Luna and Taylor were another matter entirely.

He didn't think they were lying. The story was too chaotic and unpredictable to be a fabrication, but he didn't believe they had told the whole truth either.

Albus had, at some point, thought about peering inside young Luna's head, but whatever protected Taylor had decided Luna was off-limits too. He still remembered the sense of danger, like a mountain looking down on him and waiting until he stepped out of line so the mountain had a reason to squash him like a bug.

Still, there was much he needed to ponder.

Albus was forced to conclude that, somehow, young Taylor had managed to destroy a piece of Voldemort's soul without ever destroying the artifact that housed and protected it.

Was it a fluke?

Could it be replicated?

A sigh escaped him. Albus hadn't even started to consider what implications Aragog's death would have in the coming months. The acromantulas were not friendly neighbours.

He was getting too old for this war.

---

Rita Skeeter

It just wasn't fair.

Rita paced inside the room at the Three Broomsticks Inn. The scoop of the century was happening just over yonder, but Rita didn't have the guts to investigate.

It had been the most terrifying moment of her life, feeling how that… thing, that… monster had utter and complete control over her. Knowing how amused the thing felt, prodding at her mind and chasing her through her full-blown panic escape.

That had cost Rita the front-page news she deserved. Without all the details, her editor refused to publish the story.

And what a story it was.

A half-giant taken to Azkaban for unleashing a monster in the school. Harry Potter a victim of dark magic, with no one knowing if the Boy-Who-Lived was even alive. Lucius Malfoy with a recommendation from the Board of Governors to remove Dumbledore from his position as Headmaster.

And Rita had missed her chance.

Now, there was another scoop: A student had been taken by the Heir, and two other first years staged a daring rescue, braving the Chamber of Secrets, thwarting the Heir's plan and saving the kidnapped girl.

It was the stuff of legends that every wizard and witch would paid to read.

Was it a coincidence that the girl involved was the same one from the letters she stole? Rita didn't believe in coincidences.

Should she pay another visit to the mother? Would the girl have sent any juicy secrets in her letters?

Or perhaps, she should write about that fake, Gilderoy Lockhart?

The girl had been certain in her letters the man was a fake, and a little bird had told her that Lockhart had fled the castle the same night a student was kidnapped. Rita had long suspected the many acts of bravery in his book were a sham a best, stolen credit at worst.

---

Mira Petrescu

Mira was going insane.

That was the only explanation at this point. Or maybe she was hallucinating.

Ever since noticing that Taylor and Luna kept a freaking acromantula as a pet, Mira had decided to pay more attention to them. Hattie didn't seem interested, and even got angry when Mira tried to talk with her about her dormmates. So Mira kept this to herself and now she was going mad.

Mad because there was no way that pixies behaved like that. She'd started to see the blue menaces not long ago. Always hidden in rafters and out of the way corners and hard to see places, carrying things to throw at students that decided they were better than others. There was even a freaking doxy working with the pixies.

Those things didn't work together.

Her father's book about dark creatures didn't have much to say about them aside that they were mischief makers and often considered pests, but Mira was certain that was not normal pixie (or doxy) behaviour.

And if that wasn't enough, Taylor now had a new pet. One she tried to keep hidden from others.

It was a small, vibrant green serpent. The thing was badly hurt and didn't seem to be recovering anytime soon.

Only, Mira was certain it was a basilisk. How could that be? Those were wizard killers. The only saving grace was that the tiny basilisk was blind. Had that crazy duo gone to the trouble of breeding one? The entry in her dad's book even listed the method of its creation.

A chicken egg hatched beneath a toad.

Mira was certain it was illegal to breed them. Should she tell someone about it? Better yet, should she get a rooster as a pet?

---

Xenophilius "Xeno" Lovegood

Publishing that story had been a boon to his magazine. Xeno had his suspicion of who the anonymous correspondent was, but the matter wasn't that important to him. What was important was his magazine's new popularity, the new subscriptions and the influx of Galleons into his account.

He even had a new story lined up. A exclusive interview with a student who found the Chamber of Secrets and defeated the Horror. No one needed know his source was his lovely Moonshine.

Xeno didn't do it for the money. If he did, he would have never kept The Quibbler running this long. Some months he didn't even turn a profit. But the influx of Galleons would help finance his old project. One he'd been putting off for far too long.

Would his little Moonshine want to travel with him to Sweden to search for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack?

It had been a disappointment that the reports of Crumple-Horned Snorkack near Hogwarts were a bust. It wasn't all lost time. He managed to get a picture of a Quintaped, which served well to the story he published at the time.

But there was something that had been troubling Xeno for the past days.

He'd received Annette's letter and as asked, didn't open it. Two days later, Taylor's mother sent another correspondence and as requested, he sent the unopened letter back. Xeno knew people thought him strange, but he didn't think he was stupid.

Neither he nor Luna had missed the conversation between mother and daughter. Nor the fact that Annette was forgetting things she shouldn't. And now this letter? It smelled of another conspiracy. But he also felt like neither mother nor daughter trusted him for some reason, even with Annette sending him the sealed letter.

What a conundrum it was.

Maybe he should invite them to hunt the Crumple-Horned Snorkack in Sweden as well?

---

Rubeus Hagrid

Azkaban was a dreadful place. One which Rubeus hoped he'd never return to. Thankfully, his stay wasn't long. A couple of weeks.

His giant ancestry helped him resist the Dementors effect, but knowing he was that close to all the monsters and madmen of the wizard world made his stomach clench. At least Rubeus didn't share a cell with Sirius Black.

He didn't know if he would have managed to control himself if he ever met that traitor he had once called a friend.

His release letter, when it arrived, came through the eagle owl young Taylor had named Nap. Such a delightful owl she was.

Rubeus petted the bird, then scoured his pockets for treats. Together with his release notice was another letter, one written in Taylor's familiar handwriting.



Hello Hagrid. I'm sorry. I know you don't want to talk with me (or Luna), but we really need to talk.

It's about Aragog.

-Taylor.



A boulder dropped into his stomach. How did she know about Aragog? Had something happened to him? Had the Ministry finally learned about the acromantulas and hunted them down?

Rubeus hurried his steps. He'd need to return to the castle as soon as possible and check up on his friend, and maybe talk with Taylor again.

---

Dobby

Dobby scrubbed the floor with blistered hands and pained knees. The many pains and troubles of being a house elf were things he was accustomed to. What Dobby regretted was not saving Harry Potter and his friends.

Oh, it could have been worse. He could have been dead and not just petrified, but Dobby had failed.

Quintuple failed.

Dobby had failed to keep Harry away by stealing his letters. And by dropping the cake on the muggle. And by closing the platform passage. And by using his Bludger to slightly injure Harry Potter.

His last and most disgraceful failure came through a parchment note, delivered by bugs.



I know about the Diary. I'll be waiting for you at the castle.



Dobby hadn't had the courage to return yet, and had had to punish himself several times for letting someone else know about the diary.

He scrubbed the floor harder.

Dobby didn't want much. He wanted a Galleon a month. No, that was too much. Maybe a few Sickles a month. He wanted to be allowed to buy and wear any clothing he wanted. Maybe he also wanted a family (to do paid work for) that would treat him like a decent house elf.

---

Annette Rose Hebert

Annette hadn't expected to return to Hogwarts so soon. She had expected even less to be called because Taylor had gotten injured and was involved in some kidnapping attempt.

If Annette hadn't been the owner and boss of her own business, she probably would have to give a lot of explanations about disappearing like this. Her co-workers were already looking at her strangely. Miria had even asked if Annette had found a paramour.

Annette wanted to scoff.

She was just too busy caring for her Little Owl to worry about that.

Still, receiving a visit from the small professor, Flitwick, didn't improve Annette's mood any. This time, at least she had enough warning and explanations that she didn't need to rush to the castle wearing unmatching shoes.

She would have never considered that suggesting to Taylor that she could explore and have adventures would lead to this: A full possession plot, a petrifying horror and a daring rescue.

That had been hard enough to accept, but not the hardest.

"Grandma," Arabelle said, crawling all over Annette.

Annette sighed.

She'd need to have the talk (a different sort of talk) with the girls sooner rather than later. Taylor and Luna weren't even twelve yet and they were already adopting talking, man-eating spiders.

"Aren't you precious," Annette said, trailing her finger over the spider's back like Taylor had shown her.

Arabelle clicked and pranced.

She was cute, at least.

---

Severus Snape

Severus awoke with the worst migraine he had ever felt. Not even resisting the Dark Lord's Cruciatus Curse compared. He tried to pry his eyes open, but the blinding light sent him moaning in pain, and caused a flurry of activities around him.

Soon after someone was forcing a potion down his throat. By the taste and consistency, it was a diluted Draught of Living Death.

When he next woke up, Severus didn't try to open his eyes. It was clear he had been hurt, somehow. The noises around, the septic smell, and the rushed conversations all indicated he was at St. Mungo's.

No matter how much he tried to think about it, Severus couldn't recall what had happened. The last thing he remembered was arguing with Dumbledore about the explosion in his lab.

After that, there was nothing.

But whoever had attacked him fortunately didn't finish the job. And now, Severus had yet another enemy to hunt down. Which he would do as soon as he was back at Hogwarts. Once he had found whoever had attacked him, they would wish they had finished him off when they had the chance.

 

[okashihime]

Taylor's mum spent the night at the castle. The talk she was expecting didn't happen, even if Taylor felt compelled to justify her actions.

"I couldn't put it into letters, Mum," Taylor said once they were alone and there was no one nearby to overhear. "What if they stole your letters again? And I couldn't let Ginny get hurt."

Annette pulled Taylor into a warm embrace. "I know, sweetie. But a mother worries."

"I'm sorry," Taylor mumbled.

Annette gently pushed Taylor away until they locked eyes. "Do not ever apologise for doing the right thing."

Taylor nodded, hugging her mum again.

That night, she had a dream.

Dreaming wasn't something new to Taylor. Her dreams were rare and always involved Brunette-Taylor in one way or another, but this dream was different.

The first glaring change was that, unlike her other dreams, she didn't see herself as the person in the dream. The closest Taylor could explain was that she was standing by a huge TV, watching from over the shoulder of the person in the dream.

The second change was that she wasn't alone. Or, she was alone, but it felt like she wasn't. Taylor couldn't put away this impression that there was someone — or something — watching the dream with her. This something felt as big as a mountain, but also simplistic and welcoming in ways Taylor couldn't explain.

The third, most alarming change was that she wasn't dreaming about Brunette-Taylor.

The dream-cinema followed a young boy around. He was about nine or ten, and looked an awful lot like Tom Riddle. Over the course of the dream-movie, Taylor saw young Tom torture other kids with his magic, steal trinkets for his collection and behave like he was twenty instead of ten. The look in his eyes when there was no one else to see him would have sent Taylor running for the hills and screaming for help.

When she woke up in the morning, Taylor had only vague recollections about the dream. She knew she had dreamt about a boy, and that said boy was a nasty piece of work, but not much more than that.

Annette left soon after breakfast.

With classes returning to normal, Taylor didn't have the free time to give her mum another tour. Worse yet, it was only Wednesday. Taylor had three whole days of classes before she had the time to work on her own projects. Still, there were things she could do.

Later that day, Taylor grabbed her loot. She hadn't taken much from the chamber. Four fist-sized emeralds that still glowed. They were probably magic. She took two and gave two to Luna. A few feet of glowing snake skin, which she divided between her and her friend, leaving Luna the bigger piece.

Aside from checking out their loot, they started to brew a new batch of shrinking solutions. Luna would brew the correct version that didn't have a time limit for Arabelle, while Taylor would try to replicate Luna's early work. With a bit of luck and help from her helpers, the potions should be ready by the weekend, and she would be able to deliver Aragog back to his hollow.

The most annoying (and a bit interesting) part for Taylor was her new status among the student population. It was like she had donned a Harry Potter mask and painted a lightning scar on her forehead. Every student, except the usual green standouts, wanted to shake hands, talk, be friends, and ask questions about the Chamber of Secrets.

More often than not, those same students would get angry when Taylor didn't tell them where to find the super secret Chamber of Secrets, like they were entitled to know just because they wanted to explore it as well.

It ended up with the quartet (because Nneka tagged along with Ginny), hiding in their tea room and helping brew the potions.

"What is this?" Nneka asked, looking at the bubbling cauldrons and feeding Nap her due.

"Shrinking Solution," Luna said.

"What for?" Nneka asked. She was petting Nap, after having received permission to do so by means of food bribes.

"For Bell," Luna smiled.

Arabelle scurried from under the table, crawling on Luna and stopping at her head.

"Mum," Arabelle said, her many legs petting the top of Luna's head. "Enka friend?"

"Yes, Nneka is our friend, so no biting, alright?"

"Oh, she talks!" Nneka said with wide eyes.

Ginny smiled, but her smile looked more like she was about to cry. "I wish Ron was here so I could scare him with Bell."

That killed the mood, but it ended up with the girls cuddle-piling Ginny for the rest of the tea party, so it was all worth it.

Aside from spending time with her friends, Taylor also tried to care for the Horror. She didn't know if it was a girl or boy Horror, or even what kind of Horror it was, but it wasn't getting any better as the days passed. The spider bites along its body were festering and had started to smell of rot. Taylor did what she could. She had her smallest bugs crawl inside the Horror and remove the squashed bugs inside it, letting the Horror breathe easier. She even risked discovery by taking it to the bathroom and using the warm water to clean its many injuries. Mira had barged inside the bathroom before Taylor could fully hide the noodle, so she just pretended it was a normal, if very hurt, snake.

Taylor also decided that calling it Horror all the time wasn't going to work. She needed a new name. She went with Noodle, because it seemed gender neutral enough. It would work if it was a boy or girl Horror.

On the school side of things, Lockhart had fled the same night Ginny had been taken and there was no sign he was returning, which meant they had DADA as an official free period now. Taylor said official because it had already been a free period before. Lockhart never taught them anything anyway.

Hagrid arrived back at the school on Friday. The first thing he did was meet with the Headmaster, who broke the news about Aragog. Hagrid went into the forest soon after his meeting with Dumbledore, returning hours later looking like he had had to fight for his life.

On Saturday, when the potions were ready, Taylor had been planning another excursion to the Chamber of Secrets with Luna and Ginny when she received an owl from Hagrid.

"We should talk with Hagrid," Luna said.

Taylor nodded. "But let's get Aragog's body first."

Luna had decided Arabelle's shrinking could wait until they had dealt with Aragog, which was fine for Taylor.

Getting back to the Chamber was a whole production. First Taylor had to blast the wall with a Reducto, then, with the help of her pixies, load the girls into the pipe and use a Reparo to hide their passage. It was very unwieldy, and Taylor was already planning a different way to reach the Chamber.

There was a secret passageway closer to the classroom, and Taylor had been thinking of just carving her way through the stone until she reached the pipe. It would be a lot of work, but better than doing the whole song and dance of destroying the classroom wall every time they wanted to visit the Chamber of Secrets.

She just needed to find out how to open the secret passage. Easy peasy.

Returning to the Chamber left her conflicted. There was a lot to explore and find here. Now with more time to look around, her bugs found several passages leading into different tunnels. Taylor avoided exploring those with her bugs. She didn't want to spoil any more of the surprises. But again, she just didn't have the time at the moment. While Taylor grabbed Aragog's body, Ginny and Luna busied themselves looking around (and collecting more shed skin).

The return trip was the same as before, with the difference that they had to wait inside the pipe for almost an hour. The first hurdle was Myrtle, who had found the hole in the pipe and spent almost half an hour poking around it. Then it was Filch. It was like he had smelled they were up to no good. He hid inside the room, probably waiting for someone to do something they shouldn't so he could try to use his precious chains as punishment.

It was a good thing Taylor had created more than one dose of the shrinking solution, otherwise they'd have been in big trouble.

Thankfully, Filch didn't stay for long. A crash far away and screams of "Peeves!" had the caretaker rushing out of the classroom like someone had lit a fire under his bum.

Taylor didn't waste time. She blasted open the wall, led her friends out, and used another Reparo to hide their crimes. The girls were all covered in dirt and slime, but that wasn't a big problem.

A quick Scourgify dealt with the worst of it, and then the trio was running towards Hagrid's hut, rushing past students who wanted to talk (and probably ask about the Chamber).

Ginny knocked at the hut's door.

Hagrid poked his head out, then opened the door, looking wary.

"Come in, come in," he said.

"We don't have time, Hagrid," Taylor said. "Will you come with us?"

"What fer?"

"Aragog," Taylor said.

Hagrid studied them for a while. "Where to?"

"The hollow."

Not long after, Hagrid and Fang were following Taylor, Luna and Ginny into the forest. And not a moment too soon. The potion lost effect and Aragog grew to the house size he actually was.

As soon as the spider was visible, Hagrid burst out into tears, hugging the dead spider.

They tried to comfort the giant, but nothing they said helped.

Once the man had calmed down, Taylor recounted their version of what had happened and how they owed their lives to Aragog.

"He fought the Horror, and saved us."

Hagrid sniffled, his huge hand wiping away snot.

"Thank yer," he said, nodding. "We gotta bury 'im."

Taylor shook her head. "We can't."

"Why not?"

Taylor looked around. Luna was hugging Ginny, who looked very spooked by the giant spider.

"He asked me to return his body to the hollow. To let his descendants feast on his flesh."

"We can't," Hagrid said, crying again. "That— we, we should bury 'im."

"That isn't what he wanted, Hagrid," Luna said.

After that, with Hagrid's help, they dragged Aragog's body into the hollow. Their passage wasn't unnoticed. In the distance, Taylor saw a group of centaurs watching. From another side, the family of unicorns.

All manner of spiders, giant or otherwise followed their passage.

Hagrid deposited the body in front of the nest, and had to be pulled away by Luna and Ginny.

The hollow was silent, even if they were surrounded by countless spiders.

"Aragog perished vanquishing your ancestral foe," Taylor said to the gathered spiders. Rhythmic clicking was her answer. "He asked to be brought back, so you may feast on his flesh."

She hadn't finished speaking when the tide of arachnids descended on the corpse like a school of starved piranhas descending on fresh prey. Even Arabelle joined in. Which Taylor found disturbing. Bell had had the opportunity to snack on the body several times and hadn't displayed the slight interest in that.

Now, Arabelle charged furiously along with the rest of the tide, trying to get a bite of their patriarch.

Taylor had a mind to stop her, but ended up not interfering. This felt like something important to them.

Fang was the first to react. The huge dog whined and fled for his life, like there was a tide of giant dog-eating spiders on his tail.

Luna held Taylor's hand and pulled her away. She guided them out of the hollow while the eating was still ongoing.

"What about Bell?" Taylor asked.

"She can find her way back on her own," Luna said.

Hagrid had been inconsolable the whole way back. They ended up spending the rest of the afternoon and start of the evening keeping the giant company (and eating a hard-as-rock cake soaked in herbal tea).

"Thank yer," he said, after seeing them out of the hut. "And I'm sorry."

Taylor hugged the big lug, followed by Luna and Ginny.

They returned to the castle to find a pissed-off Nneka.

"Where the hell have you been?" she demanded. "Been looking for you all over the castle."

Taylor looked at Luna and both looked at Ginny.

"Ginny, you take this one," Luna and Taylor said at the same time.

Ginny scowled.

---

School returned to a sort of frantic rhythm that left Taylor with no time whatsoever to work on her own interests, aside from her daily letters to her mum. Those she didn't skip.

A lot of things happened in the weeks that followed.

The first one was that their official DADA free period wasn't free anymore. Two seventh-years, the Head Boy and Girl, took over teaching the class. A Hufflepuff named Ian Pilling and a Slytherin called Octavia Burke.

And what cruel taskmasters they were. It was like the duo was trying to cram a whole year of classes in just a few months.

If Taylor thought she didn't have time before, now she really didn't.

Ian focused on the practical side of the class, often helping them master their charms and protections. The Head Boy kept a meticulous list of every student, with what they could and couldn't do and every practical class, he compared their results, keeping students behind for more practice when they didn't improve.

Octavia was worse.

The girl had an obsession with essays and doled them out like they were sweets. Essay about the history of a particular spell and how it could be used. Essay about dark creatures and how to fight (or flee) from them. Essay about anything and everything under the magical sun.

Arabelle had taken a few days to return to the castle, but once she did, she asked for the potion and drank it with gusto. The spider, now the size of a tarantula, went about taunting Nap for some reason, often perching on Luna or Taylor's head, waving her legs every time Nap was nearby.

Nap, of course, attempted to retaliate. The owl tried to reclaim her perch, but she'd grown so much that Taylor and Luna's head were too small for the owl. She ended up in that awkward position of staying half on top of the head, with the rest of her body precariously perched on the shoulders.

Taylor had to visit the Hospital Wing a few times because of all the literal pain in her neck and shoulders, but she didn't have the heart to deny Nap her pleasures.

Noodle's health didn't improve, but didn't grow worse either. The vibrant green snake's injuries had stopped rotting, but they weren't mending. There was this awkward moment Taylor would have sworn she heard Noodle (and it sounded like a boy Horror) saying he was hungry. She tried to pay attention to his hisses after that, but they were all just hisses.

Still, Taylor took care to feed him every week, maybe more. For some reason Noodle was a fan of eating whole eggs. How could a small noodle-like serpent devour whole eggs was a mystery Taylor didn't want to know the answer for.

The one time she spied on Noodle eating, it was all very yuck.

The Quibbler released a new story, which set the whole school talking again. It was an interview with an 'anonymous' student about the Chamber of Secrets, with never before released information about the events.

Everyone knew the anonymous student was Luna, and they weren't even pretending they didn't know it.

Luna had asked Taylor if it was alright to tell her dad about it and Taylor didn't see a problem. Luna kept her story very close to what they had told Dumbledore and didn't mention any of the secrets they were keeping.

The only snag Taylor found was that Xeno had tied the whole story to the Rotfang Conspiracy. In his words: "Another attempt to smother our students before they can become wizards on their own merit."

The Daily Prophet wasn't far behind. Their new front-page news was an exposé on Gilderoy Lockhart. A reporter called Rita Skeeter had tracked down the source of his stories and discovered that none of them were actually his own feats. Lockhart would track his victim, learn everything he could about their accomplishments, wipe their memories with an Obliviate spell, and publish the story as his own.

That left Taylor very suspicious. Wasn't this exactly what had happened to her mum? Had Lockhart been the culprit all along? Taylor kept that information on the back of her mind, reviewing everything she knew about the fake professor. In the end, she couldn't say he had been the one to tamper with her mum's memories, but she also didn't know that he hadn't. It also didn't make much sense Lockhart would do that. Her mum hadn't done anything that warranted a fantasy book.

Her best clue was still Luna's father and his anonymous source.

And apart from studying, trying to master new spells (including the ones in her mum's handwritten book), advancing her practice with non-verbal charms (Taylor could cast several of them without having to say the incantation), having tea parties with Nneka, Ginny, Luna and sometimes Mira, she tried to find out how to open the secret passage that would let them reach the Chamber of Secrets easier.

With all that, the weeks flew by and before Taylor knew it, it was April and the Easter holidays. Taylor was going to spend them at Luna's house. Her mum would visit on the weekends, but on weekdays she had to return home because of work. The quartet (because Mira wouldn't be able to visit) had decided to meet at Ginny's house. That way, Taylor would be able to see Luna and Ginny's house in one holiday trip.

Ginny even promised they'd be able to practice magic and (more importantly) play Quidditch.

And so, on a Thursday morning, Taylor boarded the train back to London, to meet her mum, then go on with Luna and her dad to their house. She was looking forward to that.

 

[okashihime]

Whatever Taylor had expected Luna's house to be, it wasn't a chess rook.

Maybe she was being uncharitable, but it was a black cylindrical tower with crenellations and all, on top of a hill with a stream at the base of it. Castle or Rook.

The house yard was surrounded by a wooden fence and the gate had signs all over it.

Beware of the Rotfang Conspiracy! Pick Your own Mistletoe. Editor of The Quibbler. Wrackspurts muddle the brain.

That and many other signs hung from the gate.

Past the entrance, the path zigzagged up to the front door, and there was a variety of plants Taylor had never seen before.

Luna named a few while they moved up the path. Snargaluffs, Gurdyroots, a strange bush covered in orange radishes she said were dirigible plums. Two old crab apple trees stood on either side of the front door, bearing berry-sized fruits and white-headed mistletoe.

The front door was thick and black, studded with iron nails, with a knocker shaped like an eagle.

Xeno opened the door, turned around and smiled.

"Welcome to our home," he said.

Luna stopped beside her father. "Please come in," she added.

The front door led straight into the kitchen, a perfectly circular room with stoves, sinks and cupboards, all curved to fit the walls. Everything was painted in bright colours. Among the paintings there were flowers, birds, insects and what looked like some sort of small people that were neither elves nor goblins.

In the centre of the floor was a spiral wrought-iron staircase leading to the upper levels.

"This is brilliant!" Taylor said, trying to look at everything at the same time.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Xeno said, waving his hand. "Moonshine, why don't you show her to the bedroom? I'll deal with the trunks."

"Yes, daddy," Luna said. She grabbed Taylor's hand and led her up the stairs.

The floor above the kitchen was a living room of sorts. Of sorts because it was clearly also a workroom. It was a labyrinthine pile of books and papers covering every surface. The ceiling was dotted with small models of creatures that kept flapping their wings and snapping their jaws when they got closer. On one side of the circular room, a printing press worked without anyone supervising it, churning out page after page.

"Daddy's printing press," Luna said, following Taylor's stare. "He's already printing the next issue of The Quibbler."

But maybe the strangest of all was a bust of Rowena Ravenclaw, wearing a bizarre headdress.

"Daddy is trying to recreate Rowena's Diadem," Luna explained.

"Diadem?"

Luna nodded. "I'll tell you the story later." She pointed at the headdress. "The golden parts are Wrackspurt siphons. The small wings at the top are billywig propellers, and the red one at the centre is a mature dirigible plum."

"Wicked cool," Taylor whispered.

"Come, my room is upstairs."

Taylor followed her friend up yet another set of spiral staircases.

Luna's room, in comparison, looked almost normal.

It had a window overlooking the open terrain around. A pale yellow carpet covered the floor. Her ceiling was painted with images of stars, several moons in different phases, and some strange translucent bird-like thing.

The stair continued another floor up, to what Taylor imagined was Xeno's bedroom, or maybe a laboratory of sorts, since she knew Luna's mum had one for her magical research.

By her bed, there was a picture of Luna and a woman who looked a lot like Luna, hugging. Besides the picture, was the brown bunny Luna had won at the arcade. Opposite the bed was a wardrobe.

"Is that your mum?" Taylor asked, walking closer to the picture.

"Yes," Luna nodded, sounding sad.

"She was so pretty," Taylor said. She turned to Luna, saw her friend's morose mood and hugged her.

The hug didn't last long.

Xeno soon arrived at the bedroom floating their trunks. After depositing them on the floor, he rushed down the stairs again. "Food will be ready soon!" he called out from the floor below.

The next hour saw Luna and Taylor unpacking their things and putting clothes in the wardrobe. Nap arrived not long after. Taylor had sent the owl ahead of time to her mum, and now Nap had arrived with a letter to deliver.

Arabelle scuttled around the room, keeping her distance from Taylor. The spider did that whenever Taylor wore Noodle like a bracelet or carried him inside a pocket. She didn't want to make Bell uncomfortable, but there wasn't a chance Taylor would leave the Horror alone at school to cause more trouble.

Dinner, when served, wasn't something Taylor had been prepared for.

It was a type of soup, freshwater Plimpy soup, Xeno proudly announced, with a variety of garden produce. Some steamed, others roasted, along with roast fish and crab apples. There was also bread, and an awful drink Xeno said was Gurdyroot infusion.

Taylor didn't like the drink, but the rest of the food, although not something that matched normal expectations, wasn't bad either.

After dinner, Taylor had to deal with the realities of a magical house. The bathroom was on the very top floor, under the crenellations. She had to pass through the magic lab, then Xeno's bedroom and only then reach the bathroom. It was bigger than the tower was wide, and had large windows with a beautiful view of the surroundings. Taylor didn't remember seeing windows that big when arriving, so she chalked that up to magic.

After her bath, she returned to Luna's room and got into bed. She crossed her hands under her head, looking at the pretty paintings on the ceiling.

Aside from magical architecture shenanigans, there were the new types of bugs. Not many, but Taylor found two new mosquito species, a bug that looked like a cross between a praying mantis and a moth, even more different types of tunnellers and a crab-like creature by the stream that had the best sight of any of the creatures Taylor could control.

Most of these bugs Taylor had no idea what they were. It was a real shame she had left Hagrid's book at Hogwarts and had no way of checking what their names were.

That, however, gave Taylor an idea. Couldn't she write her own book about magical bugs? She might not know the names, but Taylor knew the monthis (a horrible name for the mantis/moth bug) would flap its wings and disperse some sort of dust that would put nearby bugs to sleep. It was also a fairly brutal hunter, using its scythe-like hands to chop up sleeping bugs for food. Yet, for some reason, the monthis had a preference for earthworms and the like, and could often be found near humid areas, or places where the soil was water-heavy and had lots of earthworms.

"What are you thinking?" Luna asked, pulling the blankets from the wardrobe and spreading it over Taylor.

"Do you know you have a monthis colony nearby?"

Luna tilted her head. "No."

"They're like this mix between a mantis and a moth, and they are super interesting."

Luna smiled. "I call those Snoozlewings."

Taylor nodded. "I'll use that name when I write the book."

Luna crawled into the bed, and laid by Taylor's side, also staring at the ceiling. "I should write one too."

"Really?"

Luna nodded. "There's a lot of magical creatures we don't know about yet."

"Wrackspurts?" Taylor asked.

"And more," Luna said. She raised her hand, pointing at the translucent bird-like thing painted on the ceiling. "That's what I think a Blibbering Humdinger looks like. Although I haven't been able to find one yet."

"You painted that?"

"Mm-hmm."

"It looks amazing," Taylor gushed. "I wish I could paint like that."

"I want to redecorate," Luna said, her voice full of mirth. "Want to help me paint?"

"Yes!" Taylor said, then added, "But I don't know how to paint."

"You just get the paint and the brush, then you paint whatever comes to mind," Luna explained.

There was a moment of silence. Taylor turned until she was looking at her friend's face.

"Thank you for inviting me," she whispered.

"Mm-hmm," Luna hummed. She also rolled onto her side, and pulled Taylor into a hug. "Thank you for not calling me Loony and treating me like I'm crazy."

For some reason, Taylor's throat felt tight. She sniffled, and pulled the blankets closer over her and Luna.

---

That night, Taylor had another dream. Like all her dreams ever since the Chamber, it was about child Tom. In this dream, she watched him find Diagon Alley without help, and purchase school supplies. It was a bit boring to follow, but watching the dream-cinema with her mountain-size invisible partner was fun.

---

Morning arrived too fast. Mostly because Xeno was up before the sun, and his heavy steps going down through the metal staircase woke up Taylor. And once she was up, she couldn't go back to sleep.

Instead of tossing and turning, Taylor dealt with morning ablutions, then girded her loins to take care of her morning obligations.

The first thing was to attend to Her Royal Owlness. Taylor cracked the window open, so Nap could fly out to spread her wings. She knew owls were nocturnal creatures, but it was still very early in the morning and the sun hadn't fully risen yet. Nap opened her wings but didn't go out until Taylor had scratched her feather tufts and even offered a hug.

After Nap had left, Taylor extended a hand to Arabelle, who didn't seem keen on getting closer. "Come on, Bell. I'm taking you and Noodle outside. Don't you want to explore? I'll grab you a meal too."

"Mother," Arabelle clicked. "I don't like him."

Taylor sighed. "I know, Bell, but I couldn't leave him alone in the castle."

"Let me bite him," Arabelle said. "A few bites and I can kill it."

Taylor had been amazed at how much better her pronunciation was in just a few weeks. She also kept forgetting Arabelle wasn't some harmless spider.

"No biting. And Noodle is a he, I think," Taylor chided gently.

"But Mother—"

"No buts, young lady!" Taylor said with her best imitation of her mum's stern voice, but she wanted to laugh. She'd never imagined she'd be copying her mum this soon.

It took a few more minutes of gentle coaxing, but finally the spider crawled onto the offered hand. Taylor went downstairs, going through the living room and watching the still working printing press. In the kitchen, Xeno was cooking breakfast.

"Good morning, Taylor! I hope you slept well!"

"Good morning, Mr Lovegood. I did, thank you."

"No Mr in this house," Luna's dad said, smiling. "Call me Xeno or Xenophilius if you must."

"Right," Taylor looked away. "I'm going out to feed Bell and Noodle."

"Noodle?" Xeno asked, sounding intrigued.

"Pet snake," Taylor shrugged.

"I do have some eggs somewhere," he said, opening drawers and cupboard doors. "Snakes like those, right?"

There was a bit more noise and an exclaimed "Found it!" Soon after, Taylor was carrying a couple of strange eggs in her hands.

"Thank you," she said.

"Well, off you go," he said, opening the door for Taylor. "Don't be long. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

"Alright," Taylor said and skipped out of the house.

She jogged down the zigzagged path, out of the gate and toward the stream. All the while, she gathered the fattest and juiciest crickets she could find. Those were Arabelle's favourites. Once she arrived at the stream, she had the bugs lined up for Bell's inspection and while the spider ate her fill, Taylor washed Noodle in the cold water, then placed the eggs on the ground.

Noodle hissed. "Fooodsss."

Taylor blinked. She was almost certain he had said something, but listening closer, it was just hisses. Still, Taylor could feel he wanted to gobble up the eggs whole, instead of breaking the shell and lapping the yolk. She looked around. There was no one nearby. Taylor prodded at the snake's magic, until he had grown big enough.

Noodle took his sweet time swallowing each egg. After he was done eating, Taylor prodded at his power again so he was noodle-sized once more.

Arabelle had killed (but not eaten) all the crickets Taylor had lined up for her, and was now exploring the surroundings.

"Bell, be careful with birds," Taylor called out. "And don't leave my range."

"Yes, Mother," Arabelle clicked, before scurrying under a bush and out of sight.

Taylor caught Noodle, who was trying to slither away, placed him inside a pocket and returned to the Rookery. Whatever Xeno was cooking smelled amazing.

---

A/N:

I'm using what I think the book's description of Luna's house would look like, instead of the movies.

Book:

Movie:

 

[okashihime]

Breakfast had been awesome. Taylor couldn't tell what it was, aside from how it looked. It was some sort of fried bun/cake/thingy that was probably a mixture of veggies and meat. She passed on the drink (Gurdyroot infusion again), and once she had eaten, she left the house with Luna to explore the surroundings.

"You left the pixies in the castle?" Luna asked.

Taylor nodded. "I put Bity in a different wing, so he wouldn't be tempted to eat my bugs and pixies. The pixies I moved out of the nest to a different tower. I don't think I needed to do that, since last time the pixies and the spiders didn't attack each other, but this is an experiment for the end-of-the-year break."

"And the clothing?"

Taylor scrunched her nose. "It's harder than I thought it would be. I only managed for Dee and Dum."

Luna giggled. "You dote on them too much."

Taylor huffed. "They were the first magical creatures I got, alright?"

"What do you want to do today?"

Taylor considered the question.

"You said we could practice here, right?"

"Yes, if Daddy is in the house, we can use magic."

"I brought my grimoire," Taylor said, looking back at Luna's house. "I've been collecting every charm, curse and jinx people use inside the castle."

Luna's eyes were comically wide.

"There's a lot of spells in there."

Luna grabbed Taylor's hand and dragged her back to her house. "What are we waiting for?"

Taylor laughed.

And so, instead of exploring the surrounding terrain, Taylor and Luna spent the whole day inside the Lovegoods magic lab, experimenting with new spells. Luna's Book of Spells was a godsend for that. They used the book's magic to conjure targets and objects to curse and practice on.

At some point, Xeno went to check up on them and decided he wanted to contribute too.

"Now, listen here girls, you do be careful with this jinx."

Both nodded.

Xeno pulled his wand, did a little twirl that Taylor was sure wasn't going to work for her and said, "Mutus Meditor."

A bright flash of yellow light washed over both girls.

"What do you think?" Xeno asked, beaming.

Taylor tried to answer, but no matter how much she tried, no sound came out of her mouth. Luna looked confused too. She tilted her head, pointing at her mouth.

"Yes. I call this one The Silent Sulking Jinx."

That was a fitting name. She could imagine using that on Malfoy whenever he tried his blood supremacy spiel. He'd probably sulk, and definitely write to his dad to complain.

"Oh, look at the time," Xeno said, looking at a watch he wasn't wearing. "I have to work on The Quibbler." He turned around, marching toward the stairs.

Taylor panicked, waving her hands and trying to get Xeno's attention. He hadn't dismissed his jinx yet.

He took three steps, then turned around and started laughing. "You should see your faces!" He waved his wand and the spell effect ended.

"That wasn't nice, Daddy," Luna said.

"Sorry, Moonshine, I just couldn't help it. It reminded me of my school days."

Taylor decided, then and there, that the next silent spell she would master was Finite Incantatem. That seemed a lot more important than Aguamenti.

Xeno stayed with them for a few more minutes, demonstrating the spell several times. As Taylor had suspected, the wand movement wasn't doing anything for her, because Xeno was like Luna, or maybe Luna was like Xeno. The way he moved his wand for spells was unlike any instruction Taylor had seen in any spell books.

Still, Luna learned the jinx and that was enough.

Taylor copied the new spell to her grimoire, and soon after they were practicing new jinxes. From Jelly-Legs, to Knockback, to Stinging hex. They tried them all. Of course a few hours of practising wasn't enough to learn all of them, but she (and more importantly, Luna) had fun. So Taylor counted that as a huge win.

Xeno left Saturday morning and returned half an hour later with Annette.

Taylor hugged her mum, then went about trying to talk about everything at once: the food, the stream, the animated animals on the ceiling of the living room, the nice painting in Luna's bedroom, the huge bathroom that was larger than the house was wide.

"Slow down, Little Owl," her mum said, patting Taylor's head. "I'll be here the whole weekend, we have time."

But time was certainly something they didn't have enough of.

Annette took one good look at the living room, sent a glare in Xeno's direction, then conscripted everyone, house owner included, for a day of cleaning. Xeno tried to weasel out of work by using magic as an excuse, but Mum put on her angry mum face. She gave him a look that would have sent Taylor hiding under the bed, and Xeno decided he was best served by helping clear the house by hand and with no magic.

That hadn't been how Taylor had expected to spend her Saturday, but Luna seemed to be having fun, somehow, so it was worth it too.

Cleaning took the whole day. They stopped only for small breaks and it was back to cleaning. Taylor used the breaks to feed Nap and Arabelle and care for Noodle.

By the time they were done, the kitchen looked immaculate, the living room had lost its labyrinthine charm, Luna's room looked about the same, the magic lab had no dust or cobwebs in the corners and Xeno's bedroom looked like a whole new room.

When night arrived, Xeno did something to the bathroom. The bathtub was ginormous now. It looked more like a pool, and the water was already hot and steaming.

"You girls go and enjoy," he said, patting Luna's head. "I'll pretend I'm twenty years younger and take a dip at the stream."

Taylor hadn't brought a swimsuit, and by the look on her mum's face, she hadn't either.

Luna didn't seem to think they were necessary. She tossed aside her robes, then slid into the water. Taylor shrugged and followed her friend's example. She luxuriated in the hot water, feeling all the kinks from the day of cleaning the tower washing away. And they were really washing away. The water was somehow enchanted to remove the dirt and grime, and it felt more comfortable than normal water.

That put a huge grin on her face. She loved magic.

But her mum was still looking at the pool. "Mum, aren't you joining?"

Annette sighed. She took off her clothes, and slipped in.

Taylor moved until she was by her mum's side, cuddling. Luna had a longing look on her face, until Annette raised an arm, inviting her to join in.

Taylor sighed. This was nice.

---

Taylor woke up with a start, Xeno's heavy footsteps echoing on the stairs. She looked around. She was in Luna's bed, hugging her mum and Luna at the same time. Taylor thought about getting up and tending to Bell and Noodle, but a yawn and the cosy bed robbed her of that thought. She wiggled closer to her friend, closed her eyes and was asleep before she could count ten spiders.

---

The mood at the breakfast table on Sunday was heavy all of a sudden. Xeno picked up on the mood even though it looked like he didn't know what was going on.

He drank from his cup (still Gurdyroot infusion), placed it on the table and looked at the three serious faces around him.

"Alright," he said, scratching his chin. "What have I done?"

Taylor looked at her mum, who nodded back. Under the table, Luna squeezed Taylor's hand.

"The story you published about the Rot at Hogwarts at the start of the year," Taylor said, looking the man in the eyes. "I wrote those letters, and someone stole them from my mum and wiped out her memories of them."

Xeno sucked in a breath. "And that's why you don't trust me," he said, nodding. "You think I stole your letters and messed with your mother's head."

Taylor squirmed a bit. She hadn't expected him to be so blunt about it.

"We don't think so," Annette said diplomatically, "but we need to make sure. You might know something that will help."

"What is it that you Muggles say? Trust but verify? Very wise." He scratched his chin again. "Wait a spell." Then he was out and going upstairs. He returned a few minutes later with a heavy envelope, placing it on the table. "This is the story I bought from my correspondent. The original version they wanted printed."

Taylor took the envelope, opened it and started reading. She read the first two pages, frowning.

Her mum and Luna crowded closer to read over her shoulder.

The original story had nothing to do with a conspiracy and didn't even focus on her letters that much. The story on the pages was a libel piece against the school, Dumbledore, the faculty, the Ministry and Snape. The writer had even declared Snape a Death Eater trying to recruit followers for You-Know-Who in the school.

But more importantly, Taylor had read something uncannily similar not long ago. It was another hit piece on Lockhart.

"Rita Skeeter?" Taylor asked, looking at Xeno.

He shrugged. "I can't say for certain, but that's what I think. She's a nasty witch and this reeks of her writing."

Taylor kept reading until the end. The story had examples of several letters from the school saying the issue of bullying and discrimination from the staff would be addressed, but Taylor didn't remember anything changing at all.

Xeno peeked at the story, then looked at Annette.

"Would you have tried to contact the press after the school ignored your complaints?"

Annette sighed. "I would," she admitted.

"Is there any way to bring Mum's memories back?"

Xeno shook his head. "Without knowing what was done to your mother, anything we try might be too dangerous. However, there is one option that might be easier and safer."

"What is it?" Annette asked.

"Have you ever heard of a Pensieve?"

Luna nodded, but Taylor and her mum shook their heads.

"You extract a memory, then view it on the Pensieve. There is a good chance that doing so can bypass whatever was done to your mother."

"And do you have one?" Taylor asked, feeling hopeful.

Xeno smiled. "I do not. Those are rare and extravagantly expensive."

Taylor deflated.

"But I do know of someone who has one. In fact, you all know him as well."

Taylor scrunched her nose, not liking where this was going. "The Headmaster?"

Xeno's laugh was answer enough.

After lunch (which Annette cooked instead of Xeno), they went to visit the Weasleys. Unfortunately, Xeno didn't have a fireplace connected to the Floo Network, and he couldn't Side-Along Apparate with three people, a spider, and a snake at the same time.

They could have just taken several trips, but Taylor had a better idea: Flying.

Taylor hopped on the broom behind Luna, but her mum didn't seem keen on joining Xeno.

"Come on, Mum, flying is fun."

Annette shook her head. "You guys go and have fun. I'll wait here."

Xeno smiled and winked. "I'll take the girls, then I'll come back and Apparate with you, how about that?"

And so with Noodle hidden inside a pocket, Arabelle tucked under Luna's robe, Taylor hugging Luna for dear life, and Nap flying overhead, Luna shot up into the air, followed soon after by her father.

Destination: the Burrow.

 

[okashihime]

The Burrow was amazing in a wholly different way. It probably had been, at some point in the distant past, a stone pigpen. New rooms had been added to the house and it was now several storeys tall. The rooms over the base house were crooked and perilously dangling. Taylor guessed that there had to be magic involved keeping the place standing. Five chimneys perched on top of the red roof and a lopsided sign stuck in the ground near the entrance.

Luna dove toward the front door.

The sign read THE BURROW, and around the house's door was a jumble of boots and a rusty old cauldron. Several fat brown chickens were pecking their way around the yard.

Immediately, there was a problem. Noodle was going mad (or maybe panicked) inside her pocket.

Taylor climbed off the broom and took the serpent out. She didn't know what was wrong with him, but she could feel through her power he really didn't want to be here. Which was fine, she also didn't want Ginny (and her family) to see Noodle.

Under Luna's curious gaze, Taylor crouched and placed him on the grass. Noodle shot away as fast as he could, ignoring his injuries. She kept an eye on the snake. She'd stop him if he tried going out of her range or if he attacked someone.

"He's afraid of something," Taylor said, answering Luna's unspoken question.

Luna looked around. "Maybe he doesn't like rubber boots?"

Taylor grinned. That was as good an explanation as any.

Xeno arrived soon after. Lovegood senior had taken his sweet time flying over.

The house's door burst open and Ginny came out running. "Taylor! Luna!"

Ginny's approach was like an uncontrolled bull.

Taylor braced for the impact, closing her eyes, but none arrived. She peeked one eye open, and Ginny was standing in front of her, looking very embarrassed. Taylor wanted to roll her eyes. She stepped up and hugged the ginger-head.

Ginny squeaked, but hugged back soon after.

That hug turned into a group hug when Luna joined in.

Mrs Weasley came bustling out of the house in her daughter's wake, wiping her hands on an apron. "Taylor, Luna, dears. It's so nice to see you."

Taylor peeled away from the hug to offer a hand to the matron, who ignored it and pulled Taylor into yet another hug. "Thank you again for rescuing Ginny. I don't know what I would've done if something had happened to my baby."

"Mum!" Ginny squeaked again, trying to get away from Luna's hug.

More people poured out of the house. First were the twins.

"Hello," said Fred, or George (Taylor wasn't sure which), "there," George (or Fred) finished. "Thank you for saving Ginnykins."

"Fred!" Ginny growled.

Mr Weasley was next. He shook Taylor's, Luna's and Xeno's hands. "Welcome, welcome."

"Isn't your mother coming, dear?" Mrs Weasley asked.

Xeno laughed. "She was afraid of broom flight. I'll Apparate with her in a moment."

"That's why you need the Floo," Mrs Weasley chastised.

"And let Wrackspurts muddle my brain?"

That turned into an argument between the adults, with Mr Weasley trying to play peacemaker.

Fred (or George) snuck up to Taylor, and like the angel on her left shoulder, whispered. "Ginnykins tells us you like Quidditch."

Taylor's eyes went wide.

George (or Fred), was the devil on the right. "Let's ditch the boring adults and play."

---

When her mum arrived, maybe half an hour later, Taylor was screaming her head off trying to chase the twins, who kept flying circles around her. It was girls versus boys, and the girls were losing badly.

Taylor had a scuffed knee, bruises and a lot of grazes. Her hands were caked in dirt and full of splinters, there were leaves in her hair, and more mud on her robes than on the ground, all courtesy of her many falls while trying to catch the twins.

Taylor loved every second of it, even if her flying was horrible.

The game continued for about an hour, and then Fred (or George) caught the Snitch. The end score was something around four hundred and thirty to the boys against fifty (Luna scored once, Ginny the rest) to the girls.

It was amazing!

---

After the game, Taylor was subjected to the twins' 'cleaning' services.

George (or Fred) hit her in the face with Aguamenti. She barely had the time to wipe the water out of her eyes when another spell, Tergeo, sucked the water out. Taylor opened her mouth, but a blast of hot wind hit her in the face, leaving her mostly dry, even if her hair was now a mess.

"What is this?" Mrs Weasley arrived, followed by the adults.

"Nothing, Mum," Fred (or George) said.

"Just a small tussle," George (or Fred) added.

"Look at the poor dear," Mrs Weasley said at the same time Annette gasped. "Taylor!"

The Weasley matron took out her wand and circled it around while saying, "Episkey."

One by one, the scuffed knee, bruises, grazes and splinters disappeared, leaving Taylor without a single injury to honour her first Quidditch game.

Annette inspected every inch of Taylor's exposed skin.

"Mum, I'm fine!"

"You were hurt just a second ago!" Not finding anything wrong (aside Taylor's hair), her mum turned to Mrs Weasley.

"Thank you, Molly. That was some excellent magic."

"I'm not Madam Pomfrey," the matron said, blushing. She pivoted, glaring at the twins. "You should have been more careful!"

"But mum," one started. "She was having fun," the other finished.

Afterwards, the whole crowd gathered in the kitchen for snacks.

The interior was cosy and looked lived in, with a jumbled and cluttered array of furniture and trappings. It had a large wooden table with enough room for everyone present.

The clock on the wall opposite where Taylor had sat had only one hand and no numbers. Written around the edge of the clock were phrases like: Time to make tea, Time to feed the chickens, and You're late.

The mantelpiece was stacked with books. All of them looked so interesting that Taylor wanted to grab one and start reading. The few titles she could read were: Charm Your Own Cheese, Enchantment in Baking, and One Minute Feasts — It's Magic!

An old radio sat near the sink, playing a song Taylor had never heard before.

"The Witching Hour," Ginny whispered. "Mum loves Celestina Warbeck songs."

Near one of the windows there was a perch, and on it, a very old-looking owl.

"That's Errol, the family owl." Ginny supplied.

Nap cast a single glance at the owl, fluffed her feathers and ignored the other bird afterwards.

There were pots and plates in the sink, but all dishwashing was done by magic.

As it turned out, not every Weasley had come home for Easter holidays. Percy had stayed at Hogwarts, his prefect 'job' more important than family, at least according to George (or Fred). Mrs Weasley seemed sad for a moment, before bustling toward the stove and returning with loads of food.

Conversation turned again to boring adult talk. The twins fled as soon as they could, leaving Taylor, Luna and Ginny to suffer alone.

Annette and Xeno were engrossed in talking about school, classes, The Quibbler, and magical society in general with the Weasleys.

"Do you want to see my room?" Ginny whispered.

Taylor looked gratefully at the redhead.

The girls snuck away and passed through the living room.

Taylor didn't have much time to look around, but she saw a cosy sofa and armchair, another fireplace, and yet another clock. This one also didn't have numbers. It had various phrases such as home, school, work, travelling, lost, dentist, hospital, prison, and mortal peril. It had nine hands that, instead of telling time, each hand had the name (and picture) of a family member.

Percy's clock hand pointed at school, while Ron's was stuck at hospital. Two others, Bill and Charlie, were at work. The rest were firmly pointing at home.

A huge wooden bookshelf crammed with books was near the clock, and Taylor looked longingly at the books before being pulled by Ginny up the stairs.

Ginny's bedroom was on the first floor. It was small, but bright. A window on the opposite wall to the entrance overlooked the orchard. There were a lot of posters hung on the walls and ceiling. One was of some music band named The Weird Sisters, but all the members were guys. Another was a picture of a very pretty Quidditch player by the name of Gwenog Jones.

The bed was near the window and a small wardrobe was opposite the it.

Near the window was a desk and above the window was a golden flag.

"It isn't much," Ginny said, looking down.

"This is amazing," Taylor said, skipping in and looking at everything.

The poster of the Quidditch player waved and winked at Taylor. The band members all had knowing looks on their faces, waving at her too. Taylor felt her face burning. She was behaving like a child who had never seen a magical home.

"Do you want to play a game?" Ginny asked.

"Which one?" Luna asked back.

Ginny opened the wardrobe, digging around. She held two different games. One was a singed pack of Exploding Snap cards, the other a battered set of Gobstones.

"What are they?" Taylor asked, never having played a wizard game. She actually knew what they were from all her spying, but she thought it would be strange if she just knew everything.

Ginny looked embarrassed for some reason. "We can play the classic rules for Snaps," she said. "When you see two identical cards, hit them with your wand. Just watch out for the explosions."

"And the other?"

"We put the gobstones in a circle, and you have to shoot and knock other players gobstone out."

"It is a smelly game," Luna chimed in.

Ginny sniffed. "Only if you are bad." Then she sighed. "The gobstones squirt a smelly liquid in your face whenever you lose a point."

Taylor pointed at the cards. "Let's play snaps."

The game was loud, messy and stupendously fun. Taylor had never thought that she'd have to watch out for her hair (and eyebrows), but ducking out of an exploding card was par for the course.

Mrs Weasley wasn't a fan, yelling at them to "Stop all that ruckus up there!" but Ginny mostly ignored her mum.

The game didn't last long. There were only so many times Taylor was willing to risk burning her eyebrows before she called it quits. They sat on Ginny's bed, talking about Quidditch, bands and more.

"How did you save me?" Ginny asked when there was a lull in the conversation.

Taylor had been expecting this question for weeks, but it still set her insides twisting. She wanted to tell Ginny, but it was just too soon.

Her smile was very sad when she said, "I'll tell you, but not today, alright?"

Ginny took a deep breath and it came out shakily. "Thank you."

The visit lasted until evening. Before they left, Ginny called out to Taylor and Luna.

"Nneka is arriving on Tuesday and is staying until Saturday."

"Daddy, can we come visit again?" Luna asked her father.

"Of course, Moonshine."

"I'll look after them," Mrs Weasley promised.

Xeno took Annette back first. While the adults were distracted, Taylor collected Noodle and helped Arabelle sneak into Luna's pocket.

She hadn't even left yet, but couldn't wait for Tuesday to arrive.

---

A/N:
Next one is already written, but I might slice it into two parts, maybe.
It was supposed to be the last chapter (for this book), but right now is sitting at 3.8k words and with each revision, I find something I need to expand further and other plot details I forgot to mention or address.

 

[okashihime]

Taylor gripped her wand, sweat dripping from her brow. She ducked under the ray of red light, brandishing her wand in return. She yelled, "Flipendo!"

There was a cry, then a crash and a pained moan.

Taylor didn't escape unscathed. A spell hit her in the face, and Taylor's mouth was suddenly full. She heaved. A fat, slimy slug flew out, splashing against the grass.

"Rictusempra," her ally's voice called out. There was a flash of silvery light and uncontrollable laughter joined the pained moans.

Taylor spat another slug, then waved her wand and said, "Finite Incantatem." A flash of red light followed her spell. Her mouth was still full of slime, but she didn't puke any more slugs.

The bug she had placed on her enemy warned her of an attack. Taylor ducked out of the way, and without even looking, brandished her wand, launching a ray of white light at her attacker.

There was another cry of pain, soon followed by yelling, "That's cheating! You weren't even looking."

Taylor got up, looking very smug. She wasn't ashamed of using her magic. Marking enemies with her bugs, knowing what they'd do by the bug's movements, targetting her enemies at where her critters were without having to look. It all felt natural to her, like she'd done that a million times before.

"Do you give up, evildoers?" Taylor gloated.

Nneka looked around. Luna had approached from the other side, wand in hand. By her other side, Ginny was laughing too much to be able to do anything.

"Fine," Nneka growled. "You win!"

Taylor cheered. She hushed Luna, catching her friend in a twirling hug. "You're awesome!"

Luna giggled.

"You can release Ginny any time now," Nneka grumbled.

Taylor waved her wand and said, "Finite Incantatem."

Ginny finally stopped laughing. "You lot are no fun."

Taylor helped Ginny up. "It is called practising."

"How do you know so many spells?" Nneka also got up, rubbing her shoulder where the Stinging hex had hit her.

"Oh, I haven't shown you my grimoire yet?" Taylor asked innocently, knowing full well that only Luna had seen it.

"Your what?" Ginny and Nneka shouted at the same time.

---

The second weekend of the holiday took a strange turn when Taylor and her mum, Luna and her dad, visited Diagon Alley. The girls had shown the gems to Xeno and Annette, and Xeno's suggestion was to sell the gems to the goblins.

"Aren't they miserly?" Taylor asked.

"Yes, but they are good on their word."

"So long as you pay attention to the words," Luna added.

That had decided their weekend activities and now Taylor marched into Gringotts still amazed at all the magic involved. She did her best to ignore the many strange new bugs in her range, promising she'd come other day to explore that.

Strangely enough, the same goblin who had helped her mum so many months ago had just finished dealing with a witch and was now free.

"Hello," Annette said, after walking to the goblin. She bowed slightly.

The goblin sniffed, looking at the arrayed party, and nodded his head. "Welcome to Gringotts," he said in his gnarly voice.

"We'd like a room to discuss something private," Xeno interjected before Annette could say anything.

The goblin looked at Xeno, then at Annette. "Is he with you?"

Annette nodded.

"Very well," the goblin said, hopping off the stool. "Follow me."

He led them towards one of the many doors lining the walls. Inside was the same bare setup, with a few differences. The table was bigger, and there were more chairs.

Taylor followed her mum in, and when the goblin was about to leave, Annette stopped him. "What we have to discuss involves you."

The goblin narrowed his eyes.

"Goblins in general," Xeno added. "We have something that might interest you."

The Gringotts attendant entered the room and banged the door close. He marched to the table, taking an entire side for himself. "Very well, you have me."

Taylor sat by her mum, with Luna by her side and Xeno at the end of the table.

"We have precious stones to sell," Annette's blunt assertion didn't faze the goblin.

"We do not deal with inferior cuts," the goblin shot back.

"You'll like these ones," Xeno said, grinning.

He nodded at Annette, who nodded at Taylor.

Taylor took a deep breath, and like they had rehearsed it, she and Luna plucked the gemstones from their bags and placed them on the table.

In the dim light of the bare room, the stones' glow was unmistakable. What was also unmistakable was the goblin sucking in a breath.

"That," the goblin said, rising from his chair and pointing a trembling finger, "belongs to Tharzuk, who sculpted them as part of a work requested by Salazar Slytherin, who," the goblin spat, "didn't arrange the return of Tharzuk's work."

Xeno stood too. "And by wizarding law, they now belong to Taylor and Luna, as spoils of victory."

"Thieves!" the goblin hissed.

Xeno shrugged. He took the gems and handed them back to Taylor and Luna. "If you don't want them, I'm sure we can find a wizard family who'd be interested in genuine founder's era magical gems."

The goblin hissed again, flexing his claws.

Xeno looked composed, smiling at the goblin, but the bug she placed on him picked up his elevated heartbeat.

"Fine," the goblin said, sitting down. "We'll pay you a hundred Galleons for the finding and return of Tharzuk's work."

Annette rolled her eyes. "A pittance for the rescue of historical treasures?" She turned to Xeno. "Dear, how much would you say each of these are worth?"

Xeno scratched his chin. "Why, dear, they're priceless, for the right family."

The goblin growled, his hand going down to his waist like he wanted to grab something.

"A hundred each." The goblin's voice was strangled.

Now even Taylor rolled her eyes. "No," she said, getting up.

Luna followed. "Daddy, you think the Malfoys would pay better? Draco keeps bragging about how rich his daddy is."

"Fine," the Gringotts attendant yelled. "A thousand Galleons."

Annette gasped, but Taylor sniffed. Even with all this acting, the goblin's heartbeat was slightly elevated, not in a way that meant he was angry. It was as if he were excited.

"Four thousand each," she said, having no idea if that was a good price or not.

"Have you gone mad, wizard?" His heart had spiked for a moment, then slowed down somewhat, but not by much.

"No. I just know where I found these." Taylor wiggled the gems, their light casting soft glows over the goblin's face. She didn't know if this was a good gamble or not, but she wanted to try.

"And where did you find them?"

"I'll tell you…"

The goblin leaned forward.

"…for a hundred thousand Galleons."

The growl that came next sounded genuinely angry. Oops.

The negotiation went on for a few more minutes, only settling when Taylor agreed that, if she ever found any other goblin-made treasure, the goblins would have the right of first refusal to pay for the discovery and rescue of those priceless relics.

After much talk, the attendant finally told them his name. It was Shanknok and he got a contract from somewhere for them to sign. Xeno read everything, arguing over several clauses. They had to rewrite the whole contract several times.

It took hours.

One of the clauses that both sides insisted on was secrecy.

They weren't to talk about the gems to anyone. On pain of magical curse. Taylor pushed for that one to be changed. They couldn't talk about the gems to anyone who didn't know about them, which Shanknok agreed to.

Taylor left the bank giddy and five thousand Galleons richer. The final price had been two and a half thousand for each gem, which Xeno kept complaining was a pittance compared to their real value.

---

The return to Hogwarts after the holidays arrived sooner than Taylor expected, and after classes started again, she didn't have much time for anything anymore. Octavia was still trying to drown them in essays, while Ian was focusing more on duels and practical classes than theory. At least Taylor and Luna excelled on those, getting several points to Ravenclaw for their 'Excellent performance for a first year.'

It was also nice to officially be allowed to curse Slytherins.

Because they couldn't beat her in DADA, a few Slytherin students tried to curse her in the corridors. Of course Taylor cursed them back. She just used the comeuppance curse as her method.

Regarding her group of friends, Taylor had gained new shadows.

Nneka kept hounding Taylor all the time asking to see the Grimoire or to practice. The Nigerian girl got even more competitive in the class they shared, trying to beat Taylor at every new spell. Which just wasn't working for Nneka.

For some reason, Taylor had been having an easier time with spells recently. It was like she had cast them many times before. It often took just a brief moment with her eyes closed to visualise the movement and concentrate on the chant and she was ready to cast.

That earned her a lot of points from Flitwick and sometimes McGonagall, which helped with Ravenclaw's lead on the house cup.

The other shadow Taylor acquired was Mira. But Mira was at least trying to be subtle. Not that she had any chance, with all the bugs Taylor kept around to avoid being sneaked on.

But Mira, as it turned out, wasn't the most patient girl. She cornered Taylor in the bathroom while Taylor was trying to clean Noodle's injuries. It might have been wishful thinking, but she thought the basilisk was getting better.

"Why did you breed a basilisk?" Mira demanded, grabbing Taylor's shoulder. Her grip was strong enough it hurt a little.

"Breed?" What was she talking about?

"Don't play games with me," Mira's voice was anguished. "A chicken egg hatched under a toad!" she whisper-yelled. "Those things are dangerous, and illegal. You could go to prison!"

Taylor looked at Noodle. "I didn't breed him. I found him."

"Where?" Mira demanded.

Taylor shrugged. "Here."

She saw the moment it clicked on Mira's head.

"Slytherin's monster," she whispered.

Taylor nodded. "I think so. But he's hurt and not getting any better."

Mira didn't seem to know if she wanted to yell, cry or pull her hair out. Her eyes were a bit crazed when she looked at Noodle in Taylor's hand, then at Taylor's face.

"Let me guess, we can't tell anyone?"

Taylor nodded. "Voldemort—"

"Shh, don't say the name!"

"—was controlling him." Taylor raised Noodle. "And he doesn't have eyes anymore."

Mira looked at Noodle, really looked. She extended a finger and poked him.

Noodle hissed. "Don't touch hiss, human!"

Taylor kept him from lashing out, but was too stunned to even register it. She was sure she heard him talking this time.

Mira poked him again.

Noodle hissed once more, but it was just a hiss.

"It is still a dangerous creature," Mira said, but her voice didn't sound so sure anymore.

"Do you want to hold him?"

"Him?"

"I think he's a boy Horror."

Mira squinted, glancing at Noodle. "That's a female basilisk."

"Taylor looked down as well. "How do you figure it out?"

Mira pointed at the basilisk's head. "Horns, but no feather."

"Feather?"

Mira nodded. "Male basilisks have a single feather on top of their heads."

Taylor opened her mouth, closed it. She inspected the serpent's head and like Mira had said, she saw the horns, but no feather. Well Noodle was a she, then. "If they are hatched from a chicken egg under a toad, why are there males and females?"

"How should I know?" Mira huffed.

"How do you know this stuff, anyway?"

Mira looked smug. "From dad's book."

"Can I see it?"

"I'll ask dad if I can borrow it next year."

The two girls stared at each other for a moment longer.

"Which other legendary and deadly creature are you hiding?"

"None," Taylor admitted.

And that was how Mira became a more permanent member of their tea party, ostensibly to keep an eye on Taylor's menagerie of monsters, but Taylor thought Mira just wanted to study the deadly critters.

---

Taylor snuck out of the castle with Luna to visit the acromantula nest. It was a bit of a production, because she had to take Noodle with her, but leave the basilisk at the edges of her range and that still left the spiders agitated.

"Mum, why are we here?" Arabelle asked from Luna's head.

Luna looked at Taylor. "Ask your mother."

Somehow, Taylor thought her friend was holding back laughter.

"I want to see how they are settling after what happened," Taylor said.

Arabelle clicked, but didn't say anything.

And the answer was, they hadn't settled. There was some sort of civil conflict happening, with spiders grouping and facing off against each other.

On the path to the nest at the centre of the hollow, Taylor saw several groups trying to ambush each other. They'd smack each other in the face before retreating to lick their pedipalps. At first it looked more like play-fighting than anything else, until, in another group, a spider fell, and one of its legs snapped. Both groups descended on it, killing and eating the defeated spider.

"Stop," Taylor called out, briefly taking hold of every spider with her power, and releasing them soon after. That worked better than any signal, because the spiders converged on the nest, leaving a path for Taylor to walk through.

"What is happening here?" she asked.

"Do not interfere. This doesn't concern men." a spider, male by the voice, spoke from among the biggest group.

"But why?"

"A new patriarch is needed," Another voice said from the other group.

There was angry clicking from a third, smaller gathering. "Or matriarch!" a third spider said.

"Can't you just," Taylor waved her hands, "get along."

That seemed to confuse the spiders, and the avalanche of clicking told Taylor she wasn't going to solve this anytime soon.

---

Time marched on without any new disaster aside from worrying about exams. For the last few weeks, their tea party had become more of a study group than a place to relax. Mira joined almost every session now, although she often kept trying to interact with Noodle and Arabelle.

Arabelle didn't mind being handled by Mira too much, more so after Luna had spilled the beans and told Mira where Arabelle liked her scritches. Noodle still hissed and tried to lash out every time Mira poked her, which Taylor found strange. Noodle never tried to attack her or Luna. Was it because of her power?

A few days before the end-of-term exams, Dumbledore had new announcements to make during breakfast.

"The mandrake potions will be ready this evening," he said, pointing to Slughorn and then to the Herbology Professor, "thanks to the efforts of our talented Herbology Professor and Potions Master."

The hall erupted in cheering and applause. Slughorn looked absurdly pleased while Professor Sprout was blushing.

The announcement didn't stop the professors from working the students to the bone that day.

That same night the potion was administered, bringing back the trio. Taylor had sneaked in several bugs into the Hospital wing before the event. She didn't want to miss what was going to happen. Luna was by her side, content in hearing Taylor's recounting.

Harry was the first to recover. He woke up calling, "Ginny, behind you!" only to look utterly flabbergasted by seeing all the professors around him, including the Headmaster.

"It's alright, Harry," Dumbledore said in his grandfatherly voice. "The danger is past."

"But Ginny…" he stopped. "The giant serpent! That's what I've been hearing all this time!"

McGonagall had her stern face. "It would have helped to know that before you got yourself petrified, Potter."

It took a few more moments to explain things. Harry seemed lost, like he never even considered he'd be attacked by the Heir.

Ronald was most of the same, although he was more hysterical than confused.

Hermione was the stand out. She woke up, looked at everyone, then facepalmed. "We were petrified, weren't we?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Right you are."

"Ginny was the Heir?" she asked, her face falling into a sad frown.

"Yes, but also no."

Hermione looked up, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Lord Voldemort used a cursed diary to enchant young Ginevra to open the chamber."

"You-know-who?" Then she blinked. "Is Ginny safe?"

"She is. I'm sure you'll learn all about it soon."

Hermione nodded, looking relieved. Then she gasped. "How many classes did I miss?"

"End of term exams start in three days," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling.

The look of despair in Hermione's face was sad, and comical.

---

Exams weren't as bad as Taylor had feared. Most of them followed the same format. A written test, then practical application. It took the whole week, with written and practical tests spread over the days.

Taylor cheated in the History of Magic exam. She had her pixies reading from the book and checking her answers and she wasn't ashamed to do it. If the professor couldn't be arsed to teach them properly, she wasn't going to lose hair over not memorising every little detail.

For the rest, Taylor did her best without consulting any books on the written part. For the practical segments, she had practised all the spells to exhaustion within the weeks before the exam.

The transfiguration written test was to calculate everything needed for a switching spell. McGonagall had a stern face, but the question was one she'd asked previously in the class, the only change being what was being switched. Other questions were about the transfiguration alphabet, and the theoretical calculus for the transfiguration formula.

In the practical segment she was asked to perform all transfiguration's spell taught that year: Match to needle, switching spell, mice to snufflebox, aviators, and finally Flintifors to turn a small stone into a matchbox.

"Excellent," McGonagall said with one of her rare smiles. "You were always a gifted witch, Miss Hebert, but this was an outstanding demonstration."

For charms, in the practical segment, Flitwick asked her to perform all the spells they learned in the year, which she did with ease. Then he placed a mango on the table.

"Can you make it tap dance?"

That hadn't been a spell they covered in class, but it didn't feel difficult. She considered what to do, then cast the spell. The fruit twirled and danced.

"Marvellous!" Flitwick cheered.

Taylor's smile threatened to break her face apart.

"A little birdie told me," Flitwick said in a tone full of mischief, "that you learned a lot more charms than what I taught you."

Taylor nodded, her face still flushed from the praise.

"You're already got an Outstanding, but would you be willing to demonstrate your wandwork?"

Taylor took a deep breath. If she was going to show off for the professor, she was going all in. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her racing heart.

"Take your time," Flitwick's soothing voice said.

Taylor opened her eyes, and swished her wand. She went through all the spells in the Book of Spells she could cast that weren't already part of the first year curriculum.

She started with a shield charm, followed by Avis. Before the birds could fly too far, she hit them with Impedimenta to halt their flight, and Accio bird to bring them back to her desk. After that, Taylor cast Engorgio and Reducio on the birds, before she finished with the one spell she had learned from Snape, even if he hadn't meant to teach her.

"Finite Incantatem," she said, disappearing the summoned animals.

Flitwick clapped so hard he fell off his book pile.

Herbology exam was easy. Taylor had to mix the soil according to the instructions then re-pot the plant. The hard part would be because there was no book to consult and the instructions were sparse, but that was something they'd done several times through out the year.

In potions Taylor finally hit a snag. She had to brew from memory a Forgetfulness Potion (Slughorn had a sense of humour). She knew all the ingredients and the steps, but Luna was the one who always did the brewing. Which showed. By the end, her potion wasn't perfect as Luna's would have been.

"Very good, Miss Hebert," Slughorn said, but the praise didn't feel as real as Flitwick's. "That's an excellent potion."

Taylor nodded, doing her best to smile pleasantly.

Before she left, Slughorn stopped her.

"Next year, I'm organising a gathering for friends at Halloween. I've also invited Miss Lovegood. Would you like to attend?"

"I'd love to, professor," Taylor said, and now her smile was genuine. If Slughorn was planning parties for the next school year, that meant he'd be teaching next year too.

DADA exam was administered by Octavia for the written part and Ian for the practical segment. Octavia's test was a series of questions about the creatures she insisted they write essays about: Imps, ghosts, hags, gytrashes, vampires, zombies and gnomes. The extra question was regarding werewolf bites and how to treat them.

For the practical segment, she had to demonstrate all the spells Ian had taught: Knockback, red sparks, green sparks, Lumos and Nox, as well the smoke-screen spell. After that, for extra credit, she could duel Ian. Of course Taylor took that chance.

"Are we limited only to spells taught in class?"

Ian shook his head, smiling. "I'll use only the ones taught, but you can use anything you want."

Taylor's smile might have disturbed him, just a little.

Once their duel began, Taylor unloaded any and all jinxes, hexes and curses she could think of. Ian did a good job of getting out of the way of most spells he could see, so Taylor took that away. She filled the room with smoke, then targeted him by using her bugs.

"I give," he yelled after being hit the third time in a row by a stinging hex.

Taylor could have hit him with a Expelliarmus and ended the duel that way. She wasn't sure why she didn't. She dismissed the smoke to find Ian rubbing his wrist. A pang of guilt showed on her face.

Ian smiled, waving her off. "It was my fault for saying I would use only first year spells," his expression was chagrined.

Taylor received the results of her exams just before the end-of-term feast.

She had an (A)cceptable in History of Magic, with a note from the professor saying the answers were textbook. Taylor wanted to squeeze that ghost's neck. Wasn't his class all about regurgitation from the books?

For Transfiguration she earned an (O)utstanding, which she was very happy about. McGonagall's small note saying 'well done' was nice too. Flitwick gave her another (O)utstanding, reaping praises on her wandwork.

Taylor got another (O)utstanding for Defence Against the Dark Arts, with a note from Ian, "Have you considered duelling as a career?" It was a nice comment, but Taylor was just in her first year and too young to think about what she wanted to do with her life as a grown-up wizard.

Surprisingly enough, Slughorn also gave her an (O)utstanding. His note was a reminder of the invite for next year party. Was he trying to bribe her or something? Her potion hadn't been that good.

For Herbology she got an (E)xceeds Expectations, which was less than she was hoping for, but still great.

Luna fared almost the same as Taylor. She got the same Outstandings, but (A)cceptable for Herbology and (E)xceed Expectations for History of Magic.

The end-of-year-feast came and went.

Taylor, in a mirror of her first day, ate until she couldn't anymore. She was too sleepy to catch the end of year speech, but wasn't too sleepy to join in the celebration when the Great Hall's colours changed to blue and bronze.

That night, Taylor wrote her last letter of the school year to her mum. She might have gotten a little sentimental remembering everything that happened in the year. She was also very proud to write down her exam results. She didn't even complain about Binns this time.

After sending her letter, which also served to send Nap back home ahead of time, Taylor snuck into Luna's bunk. Her friend was still awake, playing with Arabelle.

"Mother, why did you take so long?" Arabelle asked.

"Sorry, Bell," Taylor smiled, petting the spider. "I was writing to your grandma."

Luna trailed her finger over the spider's back. "Who do you want to go home with, Bell?"

Taylor could see the gears turning inside the spider's head. "To go with Luna, you have to promise me you won't bite anyone."

"Motherrr," Arabelle clicked petulantly.

"Don't mother me, I'm serious."

There were a few more clicks.

"I'll go with Mum," Arabelle said.

Taylor kept staring at the spider.

"And I promise I won't bite anyone," the spider added, sounding exasperated.

Luna smiled, hugging the critter.

"Thank you, Bell."

Arabelle scurried away, toward her habitat.

Taylor lay on the bed beside Luna, looking at the ceiling. "When is your birthday?" she asked.

"February thirteen."

Taylor sat up. "Why didn't you tell me? I would've gotten you something."

Luna rolled on her side until she was facing Taylor. "But you did."

Taylor lowered back to the bed, this time to hide her burning face. "I'll get you something."

"Alright."

"I mean it."

"I know."

The next day, after breakfast, they boarded the train back to London.

Ginny and Nneka joined in, and even Mira came out to spend a few minutes, before wishing everyone nice vacations. Mira wasn't the only visitor.

The Weasley twins showed up, more to tease 'Ginnykins' than anything else.

"Look George, Ginnykins found a new hero," George said.

Taylor wasn't going to be bamboozled by this again.

"I see it Fred," Fred said, nodding sagely, looking at Luna and Taylor. "Harry is no good for her any more and now she has her sights on…"

Taylor was starting to feel embarrassed for her friend, when Fred took out a huge poster of Gwenog Jones, who waved and winked at everyone.

"Jones!" both said at the same time.

"Fred!" Ginny growled, getting up and trying to tear the poster away from her brother.

"Do you see it, Fred? She wants to hide her crimes." Fred said, passing the poster to George.

"I see it, George," George said, running away and carrying the poster.

Ginny was hot on his heels, yelling. "Come back here!"

Fred waved at the girls in the compartment, winked, then jauntily went after Ginny.

Ginny didn't take long to return, stuffing the poster into her trunk. Her glare told them to not ask questions.

Ron showed up with Harry and Hermione.

"What do you want, Ron?" Ginny's voice started annoyed, and by the end it had mellowed out.

"Hi," he said, waving weekly to Taylor and Luna.

Taylor waved back.

Hermione huffed. "We just wanted to say thank you."

Ron and Harry nodded.

It looked like they wanted to say more, but a sneering Malfoy and thugs came following the trio.

"What is this, Potter?" Malfoy asked.

There was the start of an argument outside with Malfoy, but Taylor got up, banged the door close on his face to everyone's surprise.

"That was awesome," Ron laughed.

Hermione huffed, but looked pleased too.

Nneka was shaking her head, while Luna just watched everyone with her serene expression.

Malfoy made noises outside for a few more minutes. There might have been a lot of 'daddy this and daddy that' hurled around before he gave up and left, followed by his thugs.

The trio stayed for a few minutes more. Taylor had the impression they wanted to ask questions, but ended up not voicing any.

When the trolley witch arrived, Taylor bought everything she could, and shared the spread with her friends.

---

Taylor stepped off the Hogwarts Express in London feeling happier than she ever remembered feeling. She had friends, and a friend who, after knowing her secret, didn't think she was a freak. She had learned a lot of magic, had fun and even had her own magical adventure.

"Will you join us?" Luna asked, pulling her trunk.

"Of course," Taylor said. It took several letters and a lot of whining, but her mum had finally agreed to join Xeno and Luna in their hunt for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack in Sweden. "I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world."

 

[okashihime]

Tilly watched the carriages moving down the path, holding her breath. She had her face pressed against the window glass, in a vain hope that, by watching it leave, it would go away faster.

The minutes dragged, and Tilly's anxiety built. She pulled on her ears to calm down.

Deek tried to drag her back to work. "That's no good no. There's work, too much work, Tilly. No time to dawdle."

Tilly hissed until he went away. She didn't take her eyes from the carriages. To Tilly it felt like two full bells of not being able to do her duties, or of being lazy, until it finally happened.

That ever-present, all-seeing, all-knowing, nudging presence finally left.

Tilly pulled on her ears again, this time to relax. The others didn't believe her, calling Tilly a liar, worse, lazy. She tried to explain, to show. But none of the others could hear the call.

Was it because Tilly was the youngest? This was her first school year working at Hogwarts. Was it because she was the smallest? Being called a runt was no news to Tilly.

Tilly had nightmares when it started. Feeling it watching Tilly was like being a baby elf staring at a Nundu. Only, that Nundu could nudge Tilly's mind and poke Tilly's thoughts… and ask Tilly for coffee and sugar and milk. The pokes happened rarely enough that she could pretend nothing was happening, but then the bugs…

Insects tearing at each other in abandoned corners and inside the secret passages.

Or the tide.

Tilly did not want to remember the tide.

Tilly was a good elf, a hard-working elf.

Tilly didn't believe in god, but maybe Tilly should pray to the Mistress Of All that Skitters for mercy.