"Molly! MOOOOOLLLYYYYY!"

"Arthur! For goodness sake! Lower your voice! You'll wake the children!"

"Wake them anyway, Molly! I have news!"

"What on earth are you talking about? What news?"

"Just go get the children Molly! I'll explain when we're all in the family room!"

Molly Weasly gave her husband a quelling look and crossed her arms, following him into the den. Upstairs, woken by his parents loud yelling, Ron Weasly sat up with a start. He heard his father ask his mother to get the children.

Ha, children, he thought to himself. It's only Ginny and I at home now.

Making his way downstairs in his worn pajamas, Ron yawned and nearly tripped over his equally confused and half asleep sister, Ginny.

"RON! Watch those big feet of yours!"

"Sorry Gin. Not awake yet."

"Well anyone with eyes can see that!" Ginny tugged on the sleeves of her outgrown nightgown, looking down on it with disdain.

"What do you think Dad's yelling about?" she asked Ron.

"IIIII...donno," he yawned, stretching his arms above his head. Rolling her eyes at him, Ginny made her way down the stairs, Ron closely behind.

"I wonder if Dad's finally gone completely mad," Ron mumbled, making Ginny giggle as they entered the kitchen. Two loud cracking sounds announced the arrival of their older brothers, Fred and George.

"Honestly Mum, couldn't Dad hold onto his good news for awhile longer? Fred and I have to open the store in three hours."

"George! Your father wanted you all here for a reason, although the reason itself escapes me as I have no idea what's going on!"

Ginny and Ron finally made their way into the small family room of the Burrow and jumped onto the couch before Fred and George could hog it. The old couch groaned with protest as the two of them plopped down.

"Hi George! Hi Fred! How's business treating you?" Ginny asked with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, being only half awake.

"It's going great Gin. The business we drummed up driving Old Umbridge crazy was enough to keep us going for a year!"

Ron and Ginny laughed, remembering the many pranks that had been pulled on their old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Dolores Umbridge had been appointed the previous term by the Ministry of Magic, hoping to keep their friend Harry Potter's story of the resurrection of Lord Voldemort quiet. It had worked, for a while. Dumbledore had gone into hiding after their illegal Defense Against the Dark Arts club had been discovered, making Umbridge the acting headmaster of Hogwarts. If that wasn't bad enough, she'd created the Inquisitorial Squad, comprised of mainly Slytherin students, led by the poisonous Draco Malfoy. Eventually, the truth had been discovered when Cornelius Fudge had seen Voldemort with his own eyes.

"So when are we going to hear this news?" Fred asked, poking his twin who had fallen asleep on his feet.

"Bloody hell Fred, was that necessary?" George snapped, poking Fred back.

"Simmer down boys, we're just waiting for Bill and Charlie," Arthur said, fidgeting with excitement.

"What about Pe-" Fred began to say, but was silenced by an elbow to the ribs from George.

"Shhhh!"

Molly's eyes misted over, but she refused to let herself cry. Even though the truth about Lord Voldemort had come out and Percy knew that Harry was telling the truth, he still stood by all his statements about Arthur being an embarrassment to the Wizard community. Molly had hoped when the truth about Voldemort had come out, Percy would reconcile with his family, but he didn't. He still maintained that if he was to get anywhere in the Ministry of Magic, he'd have to separate himself from his family.

With a twittering screech, Ron's miniature owl, Pig, came zooming into the living room, flying around in circles, twittering madly.

"Shut UP Pig!" Ron exclaimed, snatching the owl in mid lap, holding him in his hands.

"Daaaaaaaad, why can't you tell us now?" Ginny began to whine.

"Ginny, we have to wait for your brothers. I only want to say it once, because honestly, I still don't believe it." Arthur said, glancing at the large clock. Bill and Charlie's hands began to move to traveling, then towards home.

"Ah, here they come!"

With two more loud cracks, Bill and Charlie Weasly appeared, both looking as confused as the others.

"Dad, what's going on? Is it He-Wh-" Charlie began to say.

"No, no boys. It has nothing to do with You-Know-Who. It's great news! Fantastic news! BETTER THAN FANTASTIC!" Arthur exclaimed, his face growing red with excitement.

"WHAT!" everyone yelled at him, knocking him back a step.

"Well, Perkins at the office heard about this muggle game called a 'Loppery'. You buy little pieces of paper with numbers on them, and if they pick the numbers on your paper, you win!"

"I think you mean 'lottery', Dad," Bill corrected.

"And..." Molly prompted Arthur.

"Well, anyways, Perkins and I went into muggle London and bought a couple of the tickets each."

"Ok..." Fred yawned, George's head falling on his shoulder and giving out a loud snore.

"Well... they drew the numbers and WE WON!"

Silence greeted Arthur's news. Fred was standing, frozen in his spot, his mouth hanging open. George had been snapped out of sleep by the announcement and his face mirrored that of his twin. Ron was sitting on the couch, waiting for the punch line. Ginny was glancing around the room, wondering if this was a huge joke and everyone was in on it but her.

"What?" Molly asked, her hands nervously fluttering to her mouth.

"You mean..." Ginny began to say.

"We're RICH!" Arthur exclaimed.

Everyone sat frozen. The silence began to get eerie, then all of a sudden, the news sank in and everyone began yelling.

"Oh my GOD!"

"We can actually buy firsthand goods!"

Molly began to cry and Arthur pulled her into his arms.

"Shhh Molly, we can finally have all the things we want!"

"But Dad," Ron yelled over the noise, quieting everyone down, "Isn't the winnings in muggle money?"

"Yes, I thought that would be a problem as well, but I've already contacted Gringotts and they said there would be no problem in converting muggle money to our money. I had either the choice of getting all the winnings in a lump sum, or payments over the years. I chose the payment option, that way we actually get more of the winnings. This amount makes us richer even then the Malfoy's!"

Ron's jaw dropped. Once he recovered he let out a loud yell, "Oh MAN! I'll bet Malfoy's head explodes when he finds out!"

"Now Ronald," his mother began in a stern voice. "Just because we're now better off than we were, there's no reason for you to brag about it. You'll become the person you detest so much."

"Muuuuuum..." Ron began.

"No Ron, your mother's right. If you brag about the money, you'll become just like Draco and I know you don't want that to happen."

"You're right, "Ron grudgingly agreed.

"Dad, when do we actually get the money?" Ginny asked, the situation finally sinking in. She couldn't wait! First on her list was a new nightgown... one that actually fit!

"I should have the first payment already in the bank. Tell you what, we'll all go to Diagon Alley tomorrow and pick up some new items! New robes for Ron and Ginny, all new books, the works!"

"Gee Dad; don't we get any new robes?" George joked.

"Do you think we'd forget about the rest of you?" Molly asked, raising her eyebrow. "Of course not! We'll replace the items we need to and pick up a few unnecessary ones as well!"

"But Dad!" Ginny yelled, remembering something. "We're supposed to get Harry today!"

"That's right!" Arthur exclaimed, slapping his forehead with his hand. "I completely forgot! Well, no matter! Ron and I will go get him in a few hours and we'll come back here, have a good breakfast, and head off to Diagon Alley!"

Too excited to go back to sleep, Ron sat back on the couch and began to daydream about all the cool stuff he could get now. That even meant...a Firebolt! Ron felt himself begin to drool as he fantasized about zipping around the quidditch field on a brand new Firebolt. He didn't know how long he sat on the couch day-dreaming, but all of a sudden he felt his mother shaking him.

"RON! Quit daydreaming and get dressed! You and your father have to leave soon to go get Harry! Ginny's writing to Hermione now to see if she wants to meet us at Diagon Alley to do school shopping."

"Yeah, yeah... ok Mum. Keep your knickers on!" Ron said as he pulled himself off the couch. Molly gave her son a curt look and he scurried away up to his room to get dressed.

"Kids," she muttered to herself as she picked up some loose parchment paper off the surface of the coffee table.

Meanwhile, over at Privet Drive, Harry was lying awake in his bed. He'd had that strange dream again. For some reason, for the past week or so, he'd had this strange dream of a school in a foreign country blowing up. He rubbed his forehead and groped around the nightstand for his glasses. Before the end of term, Hermione had put an unbreakable charm on them since Harry had a bad habit of constantly breaking his glasses.

"Thanks Hermione, that charm really helped," he mumbled gratefully to himself, swinging his legs over the side of his bed and planting them on the ground. He rubbed his eyes and raked his fingers through his perpetually messy black hair.

God I hope this dream isn't a taste of things to come, he thought to himself as he yawned and scratched his head. He glanced over at the small clock on the nightstand next to his bed. Not trusting that his eyes were telling the truth, he rubbed them and looked again. Nope, they were right. It was 4:00 in the morning. Trying to make as little noise as possible, Harry began to pack up all his school belongings. Books, pieces of parchment and spare quills were scattered all over the small bedroom.

"I really need to learn to pick up after myself," he muttered to himself. His stomach gave a strange jolt. Looking up at the small calendar he'd made to count down to when the Weasley's were coming to get him, he realized that today was his sixteenth birthday.

"Happy Birthday to me!" he laughed to himself. What could be a better birthday gift than leaving the Dursley's home? After what had transpired the day before, Harry couldn't count down the seconds fast enough.

It had all begun at breakfast. Aunt Petunia was avoiding him as usual, annoyed at having been told how to treat Harry that summer by a crazy man with an electric blue eye. She had held her tongue all summer, but she burned to tell Harry what she really thought. Dudley was at the table, as usual, eating roughly three pounds of bacon and a stack of pancakes that were at least 20 high.

"There dinky-diddydums! Mummy will make sure you have enough to eat! We must keep that physique if you are going to retain your title!" she fussed over her massive son.

As he had the previous year, Dudley had won the heavyweight boxing championship at Smeltings, and now neighborhood children ran away from him in terror. Petunia and Vernon had mistakenly interpreted it as how the neighborhood children looked up to Dudley, but didn't know what to say to him.

Harry knew better, Dudley was beating up the neighborhood like he had the previous summer, only this time he wasn't hiding it as well. Piers, Malcolm, Dennis, Gordon and Dudley had nicknamed themselves the Fearsome Five. Harry nearly burst out laughing every time he heard it. Soon after the boys had been released for the summer holidays, the Fearsome Five began to show up spray painted on any surface that was available. Usually in bright green paint. Harry had done his best to stay out of his cousin's way that summer, not wanting to be ganged up on by five stupid, fat bullies.

But yesterday during his daily neighborhood wanderings, Harry had seen Dudley and his crew picking on a seven year old boy, with a little girl crying nearby.

"I said give it up, you little punk!" Dudley sneered, grabbing the boy's ice cream cone. The little girl on the ground began to wail louder.

"Shut your mouth you little brat!" Dennis yelled at her. Terrified, the girl stifled her cries and tears continued to flow down her face.

The other kid had tried to run away, but wasn't fast enough. Dudley's right arm shot out, connecting with the small boy's nose. Blood began to spurt out of it and the boy began to scream.

"Big D! We better scram! The kid's drawing attention!" Piers hissed, snatching the money out of the hurt boy's hand.

Sickened, Harry began to run full sprint at his cousin. Once within tackling distance, Harry leapt at him, surprisingly taking his massive cousin down.

"DUD! POLICE!" Gordon yelled. "SCRAM!" The four other boys took off, leaving Dudley behind with Harry still pinning him to the ground.

"Get off me you freak!" Dudley yelled. "I always knew you were into guys, with your boyfriend Cedric and all, but incest is disgusting!"

"Don't flatter yourself Dud; you broke that kid's nose!"

"So?"

The wails of police sirens began to get closer and before he could escape, a police car pulled up right in front of Dudley, a tall, massive policeman getting out of the car.

"What's the problem here gentlemen?" the cop asked, the two small children still crying in the background.

"Nothing officer," Dudley lied, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

"Why are those children crying?" the officer demanded.

"I don't know. Ask him," Dudley said, jerking his thumb at Harry.

"Son, I know for a fact that he didn't do anything. A concerned neighbor called saying she saw you punch out a seven year old."

"What! That's a lie!"

"Really? Well, this can of spray paint in your jacket pocket matches all those tags we've found of the Fearless Five. You're coming with us son." The officer grabbed Dudley's arm and escorted him to the waiting car. Loading Dudley into the backseat, the officer turned to Harry and said, "You can ride up in the front with me. I'll give you a lift home."

"That's my worthless cousin," Dudley grumbled from the backseat.

"Well that works out better, only one phone call to make."

Harry knew that once his aunt and uncle were called all hell was going to break loose. They would not only find a way to blame him, they'd insisted Dudley was innocent and was just a boisterous little boy out playing with friends. It always amazed Harry how blind his aunt and uncle were to their son.

The ride to the station was short, but the wait for the Dursley's to show up seemed to go on forever. When they finally got there, Vernon had burst through the front doors bellowing, "WHERE IS MY SON?" a sobbing Petunia behind him.

The arresting officer took them into a private room where Harry assumed he told the Dursley's what had happened. The parents of the boy were pressing charges and the boy was in the hospital with several nasal fractures. When they finally left the room, Vernon had his teeth clenched so hard Harry swore he heard them grinding. Petunia was as pale as a sheet of paper. They said nothing as the officer released Dudley into their care. As they began to walk out the door, the officer had yelled at them, "Aren't you forgetting your nephew?"

Vernon had looked at Harry with a look so full of anger and disgust that Harry's blood ran cold. "Hurry up, boy."

Not wanting to make his uncle even angrier, Harry had followed quickly and quietly. He silently prayed that no one would say anything on the drive home and he could slip up to his room and lock the door. He wasn't so lucky. Once in the safety and privacy of their car, Vernon began to yell at Harry.

"Ok Boy spit it out! How did you get this blamed on Dudley?"

"I didn't! He punched that kid in the mouth!"

Petunia was sobbing and embracing her son like if she let him go he'd disappear. "Oh Duddy-kins, we know you didn't do it! We know he did it and bewitched that boy to say you did."

Dudley sneered at Harry over his mother's shoulder and made a swift movement across his neck. Harry felt his anger rising, but kept his mouth shut. All he needed was to make the Dursley's even angrier. The entire way home Vernon ranted about how Harry had done it and somehow blamed Dudley. Once home, Harry dashed in through the front door and up the stairs, taking them three at a time. Once in his room, he locked the door and barricaded it with a small dresser.

"Thank god Ron and Mr. Weasly are coming to get me tomorrow," he said to himself. With an exasperated sigh, he threw himself onto his bed. Not realizing how exhausted he was, he fell into a deep sleep, not even hearing his uncle yelling at him through the door. Which brought him to the present.

Rubbing his hand over his forehead, Harry tried to move the dresser as quietly as possible. Once his door was unblocked, he quietly opened the door and began to take his school trunk down the stairs. Once he'd moved everything to the living room, he sat in a chair and waited. Mr. Weasly said they'd come and get him at 9 o'clock. He sat in the chair by the fireplace, still missing its fake coal fire burner that Mr. Weasly had blown out of the fireplace two years ago. Ron had sent him a message with Pig saying they'd be coming by the Floo network and to make sure the fireplace was clear. A few hours later, the Dursley's began to stir, Petunia made her way to the kitchen to start breakfast while Vernon watched the news and drank his coffee.

The last newscast of the morning news caught Harry's attention.

"And lastly this morning, resources have reported a huge explosion in the United States. Officials say that at approximately four this morning, a devastating explosion rocked the city of Hilton Head, South Carolina. It appeared to happen in a remote, uninhabited warehouse district and there have been no reports of casualties. At this time, it is suspected to be a failed terrorist attack, but no group has come forward claiming responsibility. We will keep you updated as the details come in. Now onto weather, it's going to be a rainy one today..."

Harry tuned out the rest of the broadcast; thinking quickly, he tried to remember his dream. It happened at four am? With a jolt of dread, he remembered the time at which he'd woken up.

"What's going on?" he wondered to himself.

Just at that moment, the fireplace began to grow and the disheveled figures of Ron and Mr. Weasly came tumbling out.

"Hello Harry!" Arthur said cheerfully. "Ready to go?"

"Sure am." Harry replied.

"Ron, you take the trunk, Harry you take Hedwig's cage, and I'll grab the rest of this."

"Harry! Wait until I tell you..." Ron began.

"Not here Ron! Wait until we're at the Burrow!" Arthur told him, smiling.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"Oh man, wait until you hear!" Ron said, dragging Harry's trunk to the fireplace. Taking a pinch of Floo powder from his father, Ron said, "The Burrow!" and with a flash of green light, he was gone.

"Uh... Harry. Where are your aunt and uncle?"

"Avoiding me. Let's just go. I don't want to see them and I'm sure they don't want to see me."

"Well, if you're sure," Arthur assented.

Harry took a pinch of powder from Arthur's hand and stood in the fireplace and said, "The Burrow!" In another flash of light, he was gone.

Lastly, Arthur stepped into the fireplace, giving the Dursley's living room one more glance. "The Burrow!" and he was gone.

After a few seconds, Harry felt himself stop and he fell out of the Weasley's fireplace.

"Harry!" Molly exclaimed, grabbing him and crushing him in a huge hug. "How are you dear?"

"Molly, let him go," Arthur said from the fireplace. "We have a long day ahead of us!"

Ginny giggled from the table and scooted over so Harry could sit down and eat.

"Hey Harry! How are you?"

"Better thanks! Now Ron, what did you want to tell me?"

"Oh man, just wait!" Ron exclaimed.

Across the Atlantic, the situation was anything but jovial. The residents of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina were jolted awake by a deafening BOOOOM and an intense rattling. Alarms began to go off all over the island as cars flipped over and foundations near the explosion cracked and old buildings began to crumble. Buildings close to the explosion site became scored with black soot. Some of the more unfortunate buildings that were already collapsing came crashing to the ground, while a couple others caught fire. The Hilton Head fire department's large fire trucks came screaming out of the night to put the fires out. Police began to arrive in droves as well. Investigating the surrounding areas, they concluded it was probably left over dynamite that construction crews left behind when they had been blasting the new site across the street. No one made it to the actual site of the explosion. Once they got close enough, answers just came out of nowhere. Police and Firefighters both agreed that since there was no housing or residence areas close by, they could come back during the day to investigate further.

Though the site of the explosion looked like an abandoned warehouse district to the normal eye, to the magical one, it was once the grounds of Trinket's Academy of Magic. It was late summer, just a month before the new term started, and a majority of the student body had been at the school for the week long Phonaton Tournament. It was a yearly event where the best Phonaton players, both in school and out, competed in a week long tournament of logic and skill. Phonaton consisted of four members for each participating team. Alone, they would go into the Enchanted Forest, seek out the creatures, get clues on how to catch the next one, and off they'd go. Whomever got the best time for their team, headed onto the finals. There, the clues got harder and more vague, relying on the players resources to get them through. Since the tournament was set to last an entire week, the Academy had been opened so that those who wished it could sleep in the dorms and not have to drive home. There were so many people there that some of the younger attendees slept on the floor in comfy purple sleeping bags that were just as good as sleeping in a bed.

It was a grim sight that greeted Wendy Trinket, headmistress and founder of the Academy. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching her, she stepped past the barrier that made the once beautiful school look like a large abandoned warehouse. Once past the barrier, piles and piles of white marble, some scored black in places, covered the entire foundation of the school she'd loved so dearly.

"Oh my god... it's true!" came a voice from behind.

Wendy turned and saw two of the teachers, Professor Norka and Professor Tirorted standing behind her, grief and shock apparent in their faces.

"Zelda, Serena!" Wendy exclaimed, rushing forward to embrace the two shocked women.

"I can't believe it! All those students... Their families..." Serena began to say, but was overcome by emotion and began to cry. Wendy soothingly patted her back, her other arm around Zelda's shoulders.

"What are we going to do?" Zelda asked, tears streaming down her face as she let her eyes roll over the damage. "How do we even know who didn't perish?"

With a heavy sigh, Wendy said, "I have all the R.S.V.P's at home. First thing when it's a decent hour, I'm going to send word to some of our brother and sister schools, asking if they may be able to take some of the remaining students. No doubt they already know about this anyway."

"Who on earth would be able to help us out?" Serena asked. Zelda nodded in agreement. "We don't really have strong ties with any of the European schools."

"It won't matter. The tie of magic binds us all together. First thing, I'll send word to Hogwarts, Beaubaxtons, and Durmstrang. We'll let the remaining student's parents choose the school they send the children too. Maybe Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would be able to offer scholarship programs to those who can't afford the tuition."

"Wendy, that's asking a great deal, and you said it yourself; we are not on really good terms with the abroad schools."

"No, Serena, Wendy's right. Magic binds us. They'll help us out. They have to. Even if they don't want to. It's the future at stake. With the return of the Dark Lord in England and the fact we've never been able to confirm Jamie Dawson's death, we need to all stick together. Plus I'd feel better if the students were away from this area."

"Yes Zelda. I have a really bad idea that this was the intention of whoever set this travesty in motion."

The three women stood motionless, each with an arm around the other. The piles of marble were still smoking. Thankfully, no bodies could be seen, but they knew once the debris began to be cleared away, a grim sight would await them.

"Come Serena, Zelda. We have much to do."

The three women walked away from the smoldering pile of rubble and back through the barrier. The only person to see them was a homeless man, but no one would believe him anyway.

Wendy saw Serena and Zelda back to their homes and made her way back to her own small house. It was small and simple, that was all she needed. Walking slowly to her desk, she pulled out three pieces of parchment and her old quill. Dipping the quill in ink, she began to write:

Dear Albus,

As I'm sure you've already heard Trinket's Academy was destroyed early this morning. The building has been reduced to a pile of rubble and sadly, many lives were lost. I'm afraid this leaves us with a very big problem. We do have students who, thankfully, were not at the Academy when this tragedy happened. With the school gone, I am beseeching you to extend the hand of friendship and take in some of my students. I am also writing to Durmstrang and Beaubaxtons, so the sole brunt of this inconvenience doesn't fall on you. I am aware that our schools are very different, but I'm hoping that we can put the differences aside and do what's right for the children left. Please respond quickly so we can begin to iron out all the details.

Humbly yours,
Wendy Trinket

Wendy sealed the letter with a bit of letter wax and walked over to her fluffy brown owl.

"Now Kita, please, take this to Albus Dumbledore right away! It's very important!"

As Kita flew away, Wendy proceeded to write similar letters to the headmasters at Beaubaxtons and Durmstrang, two more owls soon flying out the window. Once the letters were gone, Wendy pulled out all the RSVP forms for those that had been at the Phonaton tournament. Each black mark she made on her student list, cut deeper and deeper into her heart. Little over an hour later, she looked down at her revised student list and nearly cried. Only about 25 students were left. Unable to keep it in any longer, Wendy crossed her arms on the desk, rested her head on her arms and cried. She cried for all those that had been lost, until she couldn't cry anymore. Exhausted, she ended up falling asleep on the desk.

When she finally woke, she found Kita back on her perch, a small piece of parchment tied to her foot. Her head pounding with a slight headache, she made her way over to the owl and untied the letter. Walking back to her desk, she opened it and read Albus Dumbledore's neat handwriting.

Dear Wendy,

I give you my deepest condolences. We have heard rumors, but your painful words have confirmed our suspicions. I humbly offer you Hogwarts' complete cooperation in the relocation of your remaining students. We would be honored to take them under our wing. Please let us know how many more students to expect this term, and we will do our best to make the transition as smooth as possible.

I also must ask that if you send us any students with "special" abilities that you notify me immediately so I may prepare my staff. I'm afraid we've never dealt with the element of magic that your school is known for training.

Sincerely yours,
Albus Dumbledore

Within a few hours, she had received similar messages from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.

"Well that's one hurdle crossed," she sighed to herself. "Now where to place the students."

Taking the list of students that remained, she comprised three lists. She already knew where she was sending one student.

"Hogwarts is the only school that will be able to train her up to the Trinket's standards," she mused to herself. After much thought, she'd decided who she was going to send to which school.

With a sigh, she began to draft the letters to the remaining students, informing them of the Academy's destruction, and their transfer directions. Once those were done, she began her reply letters to Hogwarts, Beaubaxtons, and Durmstrang. Seven students to Hogwarts, ten to Durmstrang, and eight to Beaubaxtons. On a separate piece of parchment she wrote another letter to Dumbledore.

Dear Albus,

Enclosed is the list of students that will be transferring to Hogwarts. I've enclosed all their student files, along with their progress reports.

I must ask that you pay special attention to the file I have marked with a red flag. It is concerning that element you spoke of before. The student had impressive control, she just needs to be gradually taken from her wand. If our Academy hadn't been destroyed, it would have been her last year with a wand anyway. Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me.

Sincerely Yours,

Wendy

Using different owls, Wendy sent out her new batch of letters. Sinking down into her chair, the full impact of the days events came washing over her. Shoulders shaking, she lowered her head onto her arms and began to sob.