Chapter 4

I looked skywards at the looming mountain before me, despite already knowing what was atop the peak. Sure enough, the two faceless girls clad in pink and blue dresses were yelling my name, over and over. Leaping onto the cliff face, I hoisted myself up, scrambling across the many handholds embedded in the mountain. As I neared the top, the girls stepped away from the edge and their screams were abruptly cut off.

"No!" I shouted. "Please, what do you want? Why do you keep coming back? Who are you?"

A sudden gust of wind caused me to lose my balance, sending me head over heels in midair. Just before I struck the ground, two soft voices, carried by the breeze, whispered in my ear, "You know perfectly well who we are, Victoire."

I bolted upright with a gasp. My hair clung to the back of my neck, and my pajamas were soaked in sweat. After quickly confirming Judy, Fatima, and Eleanor were still asleep, I gulped in great mouthfuls of air, breathing heavily.

My sleep had started off with the same nightmare I'd had for the past year, but the ending was different; I still fell off the mountain, but this time the girls had spoken a full sentence to me. I was wondering what had triggered the change in the dream, but the worse part was that after hearing their voices, I had an awful inkling that I did know who they were. If I was being honest, I think I'd always known, but I kept ignoring the facts because they were, quite frankly, terrifying to consider.

I glanced down at my bedside cabinet, where I had locked away the bottle of the luminous purple Dreamless Sleep potion. I had followed Madam Pomfrey's advice and only drank a single mouthful last night, but obviously it hadn't worked-I had been able to sleep till past dawn, but still had the horrible nightmare. I resolved to consume more from now on before going to sleep, regardless of Madam Pomfrey's warning.

Raking a hand through my disheveled hair, I swung my legs out of bed and padded into the bathroom. As I brushed my teeth, I glimpsed myself in the mirror and grimaced. Despite the two nights of sleep I'd gotten, the dark bags under my eyes remained. It contrasted sharply with my brightly highlighted pink-and-blue hair, making me look like a Muggle clown. My pale skin was nearly translucent, with the blue veins showing, and when I attempted a smile, it looked very fake.

A loud groan sounded behind me. I took a step backward and looked back into the dormitory. Judy was sitting up, glaring right at me. Her long brown hair was tousled from sleep, but her eyes were alert, shards of frigid green glass.

"Why are you awake now?" she howled. "You're always either gone or still sleeping."

The only time I was still sleeping was yesterday, but I supposed that was irrelevant. "If I knew you were going to be awake soon, I wouldn't have gotten up," I said scathingly, rinsing my mouth and placing my toothbrush back on the counter.

"Pity, then I wouldn't have had to deal with you!" she snapped, rolling out of bed.

"You'd still have to deal with yourself," I pointed out. "But I reckon that's bad enough-"

"Move!" Judy cried impatiently, shoving me out of the bathroom. I tripped over a stray shoe and nearly fell onto the floor. I shot a glare her way, but she had already locked herself inside. Exhaling furiously, I changed into my clothes quickly, desperate to escape the dormitory. After all the wailing she'd already done, I was amazed Fatima and Eleanor were still asleep.

The toilet flushed and Judy stepped out, catching me half-undressed. She gave me a once-over and sneered. "Might want to watch what you eat, Victoire."

I made a face as I tugged my robes on. "You're plumper than me, did you not know Judy? I reckon you haven't looked in a mirror lately, otherwise you would never leave the dormitory with a face like that. Makeup alone can't hide the imperfections."

She shrieked in anger and her hand moved towards her pocket, but she didn't take out her wand. I knew she knew I could easily outduel her. Instead, she said loudly, with a vindictive smirk, "At least people like me. People who aren't dead."

My self-control snapped and I whipped out my wand. Pointing it at her, I screamed, "Densaugeo!"

The spell hit her directly in the mouth, causing Judy to stumble backward. Her two front teeth started growing at an alarming rate, rapidly extending past her bottom lip. In the span of a few seconds, they looked more like elongated fangs than human teeth. She raised her hand to her chin, felt the pointed tips, and whimpered.

Bedcovers rustled behind me. I turned around to see Fatima and Eleanor sitting up in bed, staring at their friend in paralyzed horror.

"If you don't take her to Madam Pomfrey soon, her teeth are going to smash into the floor and break off. Which she deserves," I spat at them.

Before the two could move to help her, I dashed out of the dormitory, not wanting to be in there once the inevitable screaming started. Maybe I'd been overly hasty in cursing Judy, but we'd lost to Slytherin in Quidditch last night and I'd gone to sleep in a bad mood, thanks to 'accidentally' being ran into by David Parker, one of the Gryffindor Chasers. Judy has chosen a bad time to provoke me. My sudden appearance in the common room startled a pair of first-years playing chess near the fireplace, who yelped in surprise.

"Whoa, you scared us!" one exclaimed.

I glanced at the speaker and realized it was Fred. My cousin grinned at me impishly before saying, "Knight to E6."

The black knight advanced two spaces forward and one to the left, stabbing its tiny sword into the white king sitting in that spot. The king emitted a cry of pain and crumbled to pieces.

"Checkmate!" exclaimed Fred triumphantly.

Fred's opponent, who I now identified as his partner in crime, Kyle Quinn, sighed in disappointment. "Man, when's the last time I beat you?"

"First day of school on the Hogwarts Express," replied Fred. He turned to me and said cheerfully, "Morning, Victoire! Where are you off to?"

"Anywhere but there," I said, jerking a thumb towards the third year girl's dormitory.

"What happened?"

"Judy was being a git, so I hexed her."

He looked unsurprised. My ongoing feud with Judy and her cronies was near legendary in Gryffindor. "Oh. With what?"

As if in answer, the door swung open at that precise moment. Fatima and Eleanor were supporting Judy, who had her arms flung over their shoulders. They were practically dragging her out of the dormitory and through the common room. Her front teeth were now hovering just above her bellybutton, curving inward so as to brush the hem of her shirt. She gave me a dirty look as the trio slowly passed by us and exited the common room.

"Normally, that'd be downright scary, but since I suspect she deserved it, I'm impressed," said Fred finally.

"She did deserve it," I said harshly.

They waited. When I didn't volunteer any more information about why Judy deserved having her teeth hexed, Kyle said, "That's the Densaugeo hex, right? Fred, what if we incorporate it in the cat prank?"

Fred's eyes brightened. "That's brilliant!" he declared, taking a small notebook from inside the folds of his robes and adding a short footnote. I rolled my eyes; only Fred would keep a notebook on planned pranks. He eyed me and asked, "Won't Judy tell the professors about you hexing her?"

"I don't think so," I replied. "Otherwise I'd tell them about all the times she'd attacked me. We have like an unspoken code not tattle to teachers."

I perched on the edge of Fred's armchair as my mind drifted back to the fire tattoo on my hip. "Hey, about the Halloween prank-what exactly did you two do? I heard from Headmistress McGonagall that Uncle George asked you to test his new product."

"That's partially true," Fred admitted. "Dad made a powder similar to Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, except it covers a much bigger space and lasts longer. He also gave me a Hand of Glory and said to try using the powder at Hogwarts. He said to not let anyone know we had it, though."

"You sucked out all the lights in the Great Hall," I said. "And you didn't think anyone would notice?"

"We were hoping everyone would think the light just died or something," said Kyle. "But the teachers caught us sneaking away with the powder and the Hand of Glory."

I snorted in amusement.

"Hey, we almost got away with it!" said Fred indignantly. "We just-er-tripped over Mrs. Norris in the dark. She wailed loud enough to attract the entire Hogwarts staff. If Professor Longbottom didn't get to us first, I think Filch would've murdered us."

"You better not get yourself killed," I warned. "I'd hate to have to write a letter to every single Weasley explaining the details of some failed prank, and the extent of Filch's wrath."

"If that ever happens, can you write to my parents too?" asked Kyle, eyes wide. I couldn't tell whether he was serious or not, so I made a noncommittal grunt. I barely knew Kyle, plus the Quinns were Muggles, so I'd have no idea how I'd go about sending them a letter the Muggle way.

"At least we know the powder worked," commented Fred, standing up. "Nearly all the lights in Hogwarts went out for almost half an hour. Dad's preparing to stock it in the shop-he decided to call it Peruvian-Weasley Instant-Lengthy Darkness Expert Powder, or Pwildep for short."

The two of them began clearing their battered chess game. Most of the pieces were damaged beyond repair, and after collecting all the fragments they simply chucked them into the fire.

Kyle checked his watch. "9:00. It's time," he said to Fred, who nodded and extracted his wand.

"Time for what?" I asked, confused.

"Oh, we're just trying another prank," answered Fred. "You might want to avoid the area outside the trophy room for the next few hours."

Deciding that would be a good idea to keep in mind, I bid the pair good-bye and strode out of the dormitory. Since I didn't have anywhere in particular to go, I walked down several flights of stairs to the Hogwarts back entrance, and stepped outside.

Dry leaves crunched underneath my shoes as I walked across the expansive green, which I knew would be covered in a thick blanket of white snow in just a few short weeks. The heavy tang of pine stung my nose. The crisp air floated around me, bitter but calm. When I breathed out, a spherical cloud of oxygen puffed in front of my face, a sure sign of an approaching chill.

Since it was Sunday morning, I didn't expect to see anyone during my impromptu morning stroll. So I was unpleasantly surprised to see a figure lying near the edge of the Black Lake. As I approached, I recognized it as one Edward Lupin.

He was curled up on one side, snoring softly. His hair was brown, but whatever he was dreaming about must have been depressing because it was gradually turning navy blue. A sheaf of parchment was stacked beside him, threatening to blow away into the water. It probably would have done so already had it not been partially covered by a Potions textbook. His inkwell was on top of the textbook, but his quill was nowhere to be seen.

I was tempted to turn around and walk away, but Edward was dangerously close to the edge and no matter how much I hated him, I didn't want him to drown in the Black Lake when it was this cold. I also needed to be on his good side when I asked him for the favour Connor requested, and this seemed like as good an opportunity as any. After deliberating for a few seconds, I kicked him in the shin as hard as I could.

A groan sounded from him, and he pulled his leg away from me. His eyes, navy blue like his hair, fluttered open and locked onto mine. A confused look crossed his face and he quickly sat up as he absorbed his surroundings.

"What?" he said groggily. He squinted at my face. "Victoire?"

"You fell asleep," I said. "And nearly rolled into the lake."

Edward turned around. He peered at his proximity to the water until his gaze was snagged by the pile of parchment by his side. He swore under his breath.

"I came out here to work on my Potions essay! I must have fallen asleep," he cried, looking utterly distraught.

"No, really?" I said sarcastically. "Why didn't you work inside the castle like a normal student?"

"Because the warmth was making me half-asleep," he muttered.

"You're the one who lectured me a couple days ago on sleeping properly. Follow your own advice before telling me what to do!" I growled.

He muttered something under his breath, likely another swear word. I looked him over and realized he was wearing a thin cotton shirt and slacks-certainly not fall attire. "Besides, you fell asleep in the cold too. Never mind drowning in the lake, you would have died of hypothermia. Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"I know you'd love it if that was what I've been trying, but no." He bent over to gather his belongings in his arms, frowning when he couldn't find his quill, and shivering the entire time. Taking pity on him, I waved my wand at him. A large blast of hot air descended around us, instantly raising the area temperature by several degrees.

"What?" I asked, irritated, when he stared at me in bewilderment.

"You stopped me from falling into the lake, and you just used the Hot-Air charm on me," he said slowly. "Why are you being…nice? It's not like you."

I grimaced. No point in denying it now. "Okay, you caught me," I confessed. "Connor and I wanted to ask you a favour."

"I didn't realize you two were friends," he commented.

"Let me finish!" I snapped. "During the Halloween prank, when you, me, Connor, and Maia were all struck by those light beams, where were you hit?"

He looked up, trying to remember. "I think it was my right shoulder."

I moved around to his right side and yanked down his shirt from the shoulder, revealing a black jagged triangle that looked remarkably similar to a pointed rock. Ignoring his protest, my mind whirred with this new information. Edward had been branded with the symbol for, presumably, earth, which meant Maia likely had the water tattoo. It must be true, everything Connor and I had hypothesized about the element rune being invariably connected with the symbols branded on us by the light beams.

Edward looked down at his shoulder. "What the-what in the name of Merlin is that?" He looked up at me. "Victoire, what's going on?"

"On Halloween night, the rune on the ground that disappeared meant 'element'," I explained, adjusting his shirt back into place. "Those light beams from the wall marked us with different elemental symbols. You've apparently been branded with the symbol of earth."

He looked at me in disbelief. "Seriously? And you have an elemental mark too?"

"Fire," I said, pulling the side of my pants down slightly to show him the engraving. "Connor's is air. And we reckon Maia has a water one."

"Wow," he said, almost reverently.

I fixed my pants and said, "So, Connor and I checked the library for more information on the four elements, but the books we read didn't-"

"You can read?"

"Ha-ha. Anyway, we couldn't find anything useful and Connor has some blasted idea that there might be useful books in the Restricted Section, but since we'd need a permission slip and you don't, he wants you to fetch them."

Edward blinked. "The Restricted Section? I've never been in there."

"But you're allowed to, which is why I'm bothering to ask you in the first place," I said with a sigh.

"Did Connor force you to ask me?" he questioned. "You sound pained."

"Sort of; in return he's going to talk to Maia and see if she has the water tattoo. Speaking of which, how the hell do you know her?" I was remembering Halloween night, when Edward was the last one to burst into the room and he'd greeted Maia by name.

"Maia Milden? She's also a fifth year, so she's in a few of my classes. Plus she's the adopted daughter of the Malfoys."

"Really? That's her?" I asked, stunned. I'd heard years ago from my uncles and aunts that Draco and Astoria Malfoy had taken in a girl whose parents were killed during the Second Wizarding War, but I had never learned her name.

"Yes, her parents were Branwell and Elaulka Milden. They weren't Death Eaters, but they were purebloods and major supporters of Voldemort during both wars. She does go by their name, though; her professors refer to her as Miss Milden."

Interesting. I made a mental note to tell Connor all this information, hopefully before he talked to Maia. Then I wondered whether Maia had inherited any of her parents' anti-Muggle views like the Slytherins who bullied Connor; maybe it wasn't such a good idea for Connor to talk to her, especially if she knew and perhaps even approved of her housemates' bullying. Now that I thought about it, she'd barely spoken to him.

"Will you go to the Restricted Section, then?" I asked.

Edward thought about it. "Will you kill me if I don't?"

"No, but I might consider torture to persuade you," I said thoughtfully.

He looked at me quickly, an uneasy expression flashing across his face. "I'm joking!" I said in an exasperated tone. I didn't hate Edward, or anyone, to that extent. Not even Judy Fisher. "I don't practice the Cruciatus curse on Crup puppies in my spare time!"

"Right," he said sheepishly. "Er…so I'd be looking for books about the four elements?"

"Yep."

Edward gave me a tentative smile. "Alright, I'll go this afternoon," he conceded.

I blinked. I honestly hadn't expected it to be that easy-I had been expecting him to tell me to go away. "Oh, okay. Great." The word thanks bubbled up in my throat, but I couldn't force it out. I didn't want Edward to think I was indebted to him-that wasn't the kind of power I'd like one of my enemies to have over me.

Edward stood up, hugging his belongings to his chest like a shield. He cleared his throat, and it suddenly dawned on me that it was the first time in a long time that we'd had an almost civil conversation, without any screaming and just a little sarcasm. I had to force myself to maintain eye contact with him, and noticed his blue hair was turning a…more feminine colour.

"Your hair's pink," I said, effectively breaking the awkward tension in the air.

His eyes widened, and he automatically reached a hand to his head, as if to cover all his hair. "Oh, damnit," he cursed. "I've got to go fix this…I'll find you when I have the books!"

Edward sprinted across the field, back inside Hogwarts castle. I vaguely wondered why he had to leave to change his hair colour: he was a Metamorphmagus, weren't they able to change their appearance at will? I rolled my eyes-he was a prefect, no one was going to dock him points for having pink hair. Hell, I had pink and blue highlights and the worse I got was derisive looks from my fellow students. My stomach growled and I trudged back inside, now intent on getting to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Okay, so we may have…lost…to Slytherin yesterday," said Selma, choking out the words. "But we've still improved, and if they hadn't resorted to playing dirty then we'd have beaten them for sure! We should be proud of ourselves for not committing a single foul when they performed more than a dozen."

She was hovering above us on her broom, just above the goal hoops. The rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, including myself, were suspended a few feet below, listening to her rant about the Slytherin's dirty tactics. As if we hadn't expected Slytherin to play unfairly.

"Does 'they' also apply to members of our own team?" I asked, shooting a glare at David. "Because the last time I checked, blatching was a Quidditch foul."

He held his hands up defensively. "You were in the way, Weasley. I didn't fly into you on purpose."

"Sure you did," I retorted. "If you'd managed to knock me off my broom, you'd be hailed as the hero of the team. Why would anyone resist the temptation?"

"Maybe if your attitude towards us improved, no one would want to," he fired back.

I opened my mouth, but Selma cut in. "Hey, hey, hey! My rule for Quidditch is no fighting amongst team members, regardless of personal feelings. Is that clear?"

David and I nodded, mine coming rather reluctantly. Selma fixed her gaze on David and said, "David, I'm not going to ask whether or not you flew into Victoire on purpose, but either way, we are a team and teams don't ram into each other. We should all be aware of everyone's general location at all times, both for safety and strategy."

Karla yawned discreetly. Selma was busy spouting the team rules and missed it, but I caught her and silently fumed.

Selma clapped her hands together. "Okay, let's get to practicing! I want to see the drills performed with more ease and swiftness today. Jeremiah, I know yesterday it was raining and it was difficult to see the Snitch, but there will be other matches where it's raining and you're going to have to adapt. Nellie, keep an eye on all three opposing Chasers during matches, even if one's on the other side of the pitch-you never know when they might fly over to assist their teammate. Victoire, Karla, David, and Elliot, you all did great. Just please try to get along." Her tirade ended with a pleading note.

I exchanged mutual looks of loathing with the three as we flew off down the pitch. We wouldn't be getting along anytime soon, that much was certain. Jeremiah and Nellie looked away nervously as I flew past them, and I exhaled in frustration. Was I really that terrifying? According to Connor, I was to everyone but him. I tightened my grip on my Beater's bat as Selma released the balls into the air.

One of the Bludgers came straight towards me. I swung my bat at it, producing a satisfying cracking noise as it swerved to intercept Karla, who had caught the Quaffle. It clipped her shoulder and she cried out, dropping the Quaffle. I smiled viciously and flew off to find the other Bludger. It was zooming near the goal hoops, hurtling towards Nellie.

I raced over to her side. She was dodging it, but the constant movements were clearly tiring her out and she wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer. I positioned myself in front of her and smashed my bat against the Bludger, sending it towards Elliot.

I turned around to find gazing at me in surprise. A light tinge of pink was covering her cheeks. "Th-thanks," she stuttered.

"Don't mention it," I said, carefully watching the drill. Elliot barely avoided the Bludger by rolling underneath his broomstick, which seemed to be his trademark move. Clutching the Quaffle tightly, he whizzed closer. Selma aimed a Bludger at him from near the edge of the pitch, but it missed by a couple feet. Out of desperation, I hurled my bat at the projected trajectory of the Bludger.

As my bat started to fall, the Bludger crashed right into it. The bat was sent spinning, flying out of the pitch and fading from sight. The Bludger collided with the speeding Elliot, who didn't see it until it was too late. It struck him in the side, pushing him off course by several feet, and he let out an audible "oomph". The Quaffle fell from his limp hands. David tried to catch it, but he didn't make it in time and the red ball plummeted onto the ground.

Selma stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled sharply. "Time!"

We flew over and congregated around her. She grinned at me. "First off, Victoire, I wouldn't advise that during a game, but that doesn't diminish how amazing that was, not to mention the fact that your unorthodox method actually worked."

I grinned in response-I couldn't quite believe it, either.

"You might want to retrieve your bat, though. As for the rest of you…"

Selma continued talking as I sped out of the pitch. Spiralling downwards, I found my bat resting atop a clump of evergreen trees. I braked beside it and picked it up, running a hand along its length. Additional scratches now marred the surface and it was slightly dented on the left side, but it was worth it to see the look of astonishment on everyone's faces. Besides, the bat didn't even belong to me.

I tucked it under one arm and rejoined my team in time to hear Selma ask, "Elliot, do you need to go to the hospital wing?" Only then did I notice he was wheezing, drawing in painful-sounding breaths. He was being supported by David and Karla, who were pressed against his sides, keeping him upright.

"Maybe…got the wind…knocked out…of me," he rasped unsteadily.

"Go," said Selma, sounding concerned. "I'll call off the rest of practice for today."

Elliot nodded. Karla and David began slowly nudging him lower, in the direction of the castle entrance. As they passed me, Karla hissed quietly but angrily, "You're a sadistic b-!"

"Sod off!" I snarled.

Selma coughed, drawing my attention away from the trio of Chasers. She looked at me intently and said with some concern, "Victoire, Elliot's injury isn't your fault. You didn't know the Bludger would hit him that hard."

"Yeah, whatever," I muttered. "I don't care."

From the look on her face, it was obvious Selma didn't believe me, but she thankfully dropped the subject. "Well, you're all dismissed. I've booked the pitch again for this Thursday afternoon, at 2. See you then."

"Isn't our next game on Wednesday?" asked Jeremiah.

"It is, we're playing Ravenclaw," confirmed Selma. "But they've booked the pitch for tomorrow and Tuesday, and Hufflepuff snagged the Wednesday slot. It doesn't matter-we're ready. Ravenclaw doesn't play dirty like Slytherin."

With that said, the four of us flew back down to earth. Selma picked up the Quaffle, which had landed in a mud puddle and was now dripping brown earth. She extracted her wand and said calmly, "Scourgify."

Soap and water immediately splashed onto the Quaffle's surface, magically scrubbing the ball's surface. After a few seconds, its veneer was polished and reflecting the sun's rays with a lustrous sheen. Selma managed to conjure all the balls back into the trunk before levitating it back into its rightful place.

We headed back inside the changing rooms. I finished pulling off my Quidditch robes first, stuffing them inside the nook in the wall. After shoving my Beater's bat inside the wardrobe, I slung my bag over one shoulder and my Firebolt over the other.

"See you around, Victoire," said Selma as I opened the door, nodded at her, and left.

After trekking back up to Gryffindor Tower and depositing my broomstick, I decided to get started on my Charms essay. Hopefully I could finish it in time to have Connor revise it for me before Charms class next Friday. I retrieved my Charms textbook from my trunk and left the dormitory. The common room was bustling with students, and the noise level was steadily increasing. Realizing I wouldn't be able to concentrate in there, I left through the portrait hole.

I descended the stairs to the third floor and walked into the library. Since there were no classes on Sunday, most of the larger tables were full. I scanned them and found one in the corner with only one person sitting there. Crossing the room in quick strides, I sat down and dropped my Charms book on the table. I briefly glanced at the lone person sitting with me and with a start, I recognized her as Maia. I double-checked her robes-green and silver-before focusing on her face. She was absorbed in her own essay writing, occasionally brushing a strand of black hair from her face.

"Maia!" I hissed.

Her quill stopped moving and she looked up. "Weasley," she said curtly.

"Did Connor talk to you yet?"

"Why would Adler talk to me?"

"We needed to ask you something," I said urgently. "It's about Halloween night-"

"Oh, please," she snorted. "Are you going to whine about how I landed you two in detention?"

"It's not about that! You know the light beams that burst out of the wall and hit us?"

"I'd like to forget that ever happened," she said, tapping her fingernails against the wooden table.

"But it was important! It marked us-Connor, Edward, and I, probably you too-with symbols of the elements, and Connor thinks there may be side effects to having been branded by it. That rune that was on the floor apparently means 'element' and since there's-"

"I'd like to forget that ever happened," Maia repeated. She stood up, the chair's legs scraping against the tiled floor. The unexpectedly harsh sound made me flinch. "We were all tired and panicked, and thought floor lines-not runes-were moving, and lights were attacking us."

"You think it was all a hallucination?" I asked incredulously.

"The events that took place in there were merely figments of our overactive imaginations," she said.

I stared at her. Her brown eyes were narrowed at me, and I could tell she believed what she said, despite the absurdity of her claim. I fought the temptation to reach across the table and slap some sense into her, and instead whispered harshly, "Then how do you explain the wrecked room afterwards? You know something happened that night, and trying to convince yourself otherwise isn't going to work!"

"This conversation is over," said Maia blandly, ignoring every word I said. She grabbed her parchment and quill, neatly packing them in her bag. "I must be going. See you later. Or not-I don't care either way."

She turned on her heel and marched out of the library, leaving me sitting there, simmering in frustration. I had also wanted to ask her what her views on Muggle-born wizards were, but if she didn't even believe her recollections of Halloween night, I didn't see the point.

I wanted to scream after Maia, make her see reason, but Madam Pince would no doubt give me detention for the rest of the year. All I could do was pray that she would find the mark on her own and realize that the events of Halloween night weren't delusions-I feared that they were much more real than we thought.