The entire school was abuzz with the attack. Namely the fact Helen sent all (barring one) of her attackers to St. Mungo's for some pretty extreme treatment. Pansy just barely avoided being expelled, but now there was no chance Slytherin would win the house cup this year.

As a consequence, she had dropped from the top girl in Slytherin to the bottom. Things would be very rough for her for the next three years.

Helen, however, was now unequivocally on top. No one would dare challenge her power now, especially when she openly admitted that she had learned most of what she did to the boys from her 'Uncle' Alistair.

It had been Moody who clarified that the Alistair she was referring to was in fact Alistair, hell's chief torture master.

After hearing that. Dumbledore was forced to concede Helen could have been much, much worse. She could have done permanent damage instead of just emotional and psychological.

Helen growled. If she heard one more request from these idiots to be her date, she was going to start spitting fireballs instead of subtle dismissal. Or in the case of Ronald Weasley, who had asked her out after he tried Fleur first, mocking laughter and several quick stabs at his personal hygiene.

The boy rarely bathed, his manners were deplorable, and he was one of those who spent far too much time staring at her bust or ass during classes. And the less she said about his personality, the better.

She even heard he tried his friend Hermione, who she knew for a fact was going with Viktor Krum. The Bulgarian didn't even remotely consider asking Helen, because he disliked her personality towards men.

Helen had her own plan, one that amused her greatly.

In order to get maximum enjoyment and not have to deal with some hormonal boy trying to get in her pants, she asked Fleur if she wouldn't mind being her date.

Of course she had to explain why she asked a girl instead of a boy.

"Let's face it, between our looks and the fact you're part Veela, we'd have to deal with a boy having to keep from drooling and stepping on our feet all night. However, if we went as each others dates, then we could have a fun dance and you could pick a partner from the drifters who won't bore you to tears for the night. The rules said we had to have someone to dance with, but there's no reason we need to deal with some hormonal boy drooling over us while we're trying to eat."

Fleur looked like she was considering the offer.

"If you go as my date, I guarantee I will drop most of the Queen Bitch act around you," said Helen.

"Deal."

To be honest, the agreement would work for both parties. This allowed her some decent conversation for the ball, kept them both from having to deal with the drooling apes that littered this school, and best of all Helen would be much nicer to her personally.

The only person who didn't get their head bitten off was Luna, from what she had seen.

Besides, it would be interesting to see how Helen did the music. After hearing these... Weirding Sisters, Helen had been so appalled that she insisted that she be allowed to do the music.

Dumbledore, in the hopes this would get Helen to bond with her fellow students, agreed to let her provide the music.

Which was why a week before the event there was a section of the Great Hall cordoned off with multiple spells. From what the students could see, it was a set of boxes.

Muggleborns had a decent idea of what Helen was going to do, especially after hearing a small fraction of the music she listened to.

They honestly couldn't wait.

More than one teacher was dreading what Helen would wear to the ball. Seeing her idea of an acceptable 'school' uniform, they were honestly terrified she would wear something that was more string than cloth.

As a result, they didn't even recognize her when she came down in a rather conservative (by her standards) dress that seemed like it was fire that had been stitched into a dress. Her hair was in a tasteful set of braids, with liberal gold and black streaks. She wore a pair of comfortable black slippers.

Fleur was honestly impressed.

"Why don't you dress this way more often?"

"Because the complete bitch act and the skimpy clothing are a test. One which many fail. If they don't make the effort to get past the rough exterior, then why should I grace them with who I really am? Most people base others on appearances and never bother to look underneath. Besides, it's hilarious to watch men walk into walls because they were watching the wrong thing~!" chirped Helen.

Fleur snorted in agreement. As much as she hated to admit it, it was hilarious to watch the small men crash into walls.

It took Hermione twice to be sure she was seeing things right.

"Helen?!" she said openly incredulous. It was like the other girl was wearing fire. Then she realized where she had seen that particular dress. "Isn't that the dress from the new Frozen movie?"

"Well I'm no fan of the cold, so I chose to go Fire Queen instead of ice," she explained.

Hermione snorted.

However, once alerted to her presence, McGonagall did a double take when she saw Helen.

"Ms. Crowley, where is your date?" she asked.

Helen immediately pointed at Fleur.

"No way am I risking some idiot smashing my feet because he was looking at my breasts instead of at my face," said Helen flatly.

"It will be nice not to have to worry about my date dancing on my feet because of ze allure," added Fleur.

McGonagall would have asked why Helen didn't dress this normally all the time, but unfortunately the ball began. Several people did their own doubletake at Helen's outfit, and even more stared at the fact she had come with Fleur as her date.

Once the three required dances were over, Helen vanished for a moment. It wasn't until everyone had eaten that the beat started.

The covers had been vanished, revealed a large DJ booth, not that the teachers or the pure bloods knew what it was.

Helen had switched her outfit. Or at the very least adjusted the shoulders and hem of her dress. It showed a bit more skin, just barely keeping the sleeves of the dress from slipping. The hemline of the dress reached her knees, but didn't show more than that. The cloak attached to the back was shorter too, just barely touching the floor. She had a pair of cherry red shades that tinted her face just right. On her head was a pair of headphones, also matching the fire theme.

"You all ready to party?" she called out.

She slapped on a record and started the music.

Above, where the night sky usually showed, were now bright flashes of fireworks.

Further inspection revealed that the fireworks were all on the ceiling, and not outside.

Helen had dropped her bitch act to enlist the aid of the Weasley twins, who she heard had been developing some new fireworks. She had asked if they were interesting in showcasing some of their work, in order to generate some potential revenue later.

The second they mentioned their joke shop, Helen had offered to become their partner in exchange for equal ownership. She would supply the funds and pay for advertising in England, America and other countries, and they would supply the inventory and ideas. They could buy her out after five years, or pay her off if the store didn't take off.

Helen wasn't a fool. She had seen some of their work and realized it was much more entertaining than Zonko's. They were quite the innovators. And as the daughter of Fergus Crowley, she knew when the seize the moment.

Sure she would have to pony up 20,000 galleons, but compared to the amount she had in her vault and the potential profit, she would be a fool to pass this up. The only problem being the twin's mother learning of it before they set up the shop and somehow stopping it.

Helen agreed to come and help them find some trustworthy employees to man the shop until they graduated next year.

And by trustworthy, she meant potential crossroad demons who would learn how to manage contracts while running the shop. What better way to insure they learned Latin than by forcing them to endure translating spells? Most demons didn't learn that language until they had been around for fifty years (hell time), if that. And in exchange she would put in a good word with her father if they made a lot of money.

Most of the muggleborns were thrilled to hear more modern music as opposed to the 'music' that the pure bloods allowed in the school.

Helen played artists like Evanescence, Nickelback, Linkin Park, Demi Lovato, Fall Out Boy, Maroon 5, Three Doors Down, Three Days Grace...all the more popular bands from America. She even threw in a few artists she had never heard of that were recommended by the French and Bulgarian students. Only ones they could all agree on.

Once the teachers got over the shock of hearing more modern music, they quickly agreed on one thing.

They were glad that Helen had at least covered up a little more than she normally did. Who cared what the music sounded like?

The only snag she hit was during one of the breaks, she accidentally overheard Hagrid mentioning he was half giant out loud. Spotting an unusual beetle, Helen grabbed it before it could fly off, and shoved it into a bottle she had handy. The thing chittered at her angrily, but she gave it cold glare.

Rita was a fool if she thought that Helen wouldn't recognize those hideous glasses of hers. One of the perks of being the Rider was being able to see souls, and there was no way she missed the fact that the 'bug' had a human one. Hence why she had started carrying larger than normal bottles in the subspace her dad showed her how to use. It made carrying things so much easier.

Or in her father's case, storing snacks so the demons who tended to hang around the kitchens didn't have to chase him out. Most of them watched him like hawks in the event he tried to cook again.

He wasn't that stupid, but it was a bit of an ongoing joke duty. One instigated by Helen. That they took great glee in when it came time to chase their boss out.

Rita would be stuck there until Helen was ready to make the woman's life hell.

And she would make Rita suffer for the article she did on Helen shortly after her arrival.

Rita was both pissed and terrified.

She was pissed because the Crowley girl had her trapped in a magical dead zone, which meant her animagus form wasn't going to do her much good to escape. She had a story to write about that half-giant oaf Hagrid!

But she was also terrified because word had spread about the Slytherin boys Helen had put in St. Mungo's for some extreme damage and it would take years, even with magic, for them to recover. She did not want to get on the wrong side of a girl trained by Alistair, Hell's Top torture specialist.

Helen looked at Rita with a cruel smile on her face. She had perfected it along with her bitch laugh while helping Alistair torture the damned.

"So what do you want, brat?"

"How rude. And here I was planning to offer you the biggest scoop of your career," said Helen.

"Bigger than Hogwarts having a half-giant on staff?" sneered Rita.

"How about your so-called boy savior not being what everyone thinks he is?" said Helen with a purr. "Or perhaps you would like the story of how the bastard child of a squib and a muggle became the dark lord everyone now fears to speak the very name of?"

Rita's eyes glinted.

"Or perhaps I should call Madam Bones in to use the animagi revealing spell?"

"Let's not be too hasty now. I'm sure we can come to an...arrangement," purred Rita. Helen smirked.

With a slight movement of her hand, a scroll appeared. She tossed it to Rita. The witch read it over.

In exchange for the biggest scoops of her career and the guarantee that she wouldn't be arrested by the aurors, she would have ten years of working as Helen's personal spy. Very few were aware Rita was an animagus, and Helen wanted to capitalize on it. A weasel like Rita made a very good spy, and so many read her stories that Helen could use her to manipulate the magicals.

Rita had no idea how powerful she could be if she worded things just the right way. Helen, as the daughter of a crossroad's demon...particularly the King of the Crossroads, did.

The second Rita signed the contract (without reading the full thing, Helen was delighted to note) Helen smiled so innocently that Rita knew she would be trouble later.

"Let's get started shall we? With what I know, Hagrid's lineage will be the least juicy bit of gossip you get to spread," she purred.