Chapter 7 – Troublemakers

"Ethan, you really hit it off with those wizards," said Varun to Ethan during lunch on Wednesday. Lorcan and Lysander had just waved to him as they passed by the Squib table to the Ravenclaw table. Ethan spent a fair amount of time at the Chess Club every day, and had a lot of friendly games and conversations with its members about chess, Muggle school, and other miscellaneous topics.

There was a slight cautionary tone in Varun's voice. "Something wrong with that?" said Ethan.

"Nothing. Just remember not to get your hopes up. They'll never see us as one of them. At most, you can only be 'that interesting Squib' or 'my one Squib friend'. Nothing more,"

Ethan didn't need Varun to remind him about the dangers of hope. "I'm okay with that," He replied.

After lunch, they had D.A.D.A, followed by Muggle Studies. Muggle Studies was an eye-opening class. What was eye-opening was how extraordinarily simple was the material that was meant to educate students on human society. Granted, most humans were hugely ignorant and misinformed about magic society, but they had only just learnt of its existence a year ago. Ethan knew that men at the top like Potter and Lowther were much more knowledgeable about humans, but this fifth-year class was just painful to hear.

"Most Muggles do not own guns. Only police and the military are allowed to carry guns. Bullets do not stun, they go straight through your body – so these Muggles use lethal force against every criminal, no matter what their crime,"

The Muggle Studies professor was a thickset middle-aged man with a tawny comb over by the name of Herbert Crawford. He went on exclusively about the uncivilized, savage ways of human society. Throughout the lesson, Ethan resisted a great urge to correct his every sentence, for he was egregiously misrepresenting where the uncivilized savagery of humankind lay.

On Thursday, his first lesson was Transfiguration, taught by a gaunt man in his forties with a short crop of salt and pepper hair. Professor Wayne Scrooby hated his job and let every student know it. He trudged into class like a man sentenced to pick litter for community service and regarded everyone at all times with the same bored face that was pulled long from a lifetime of sourness.

"I have the results of Monday's test," Scrooby drawled listlessly. "I see a lot of you have emptied out four years of Transfiguration knowledge to make room for this year's. That won't do, obviously, as you'll be tested on all five years of material for your OWLs. I'll be handing back your tests in order of highest to lowest score,"

What kind of teacher does that? Yesterday, Scrooby had sprung a test on the class for their first Transfiguration lesson of the new term. Ethan could not answer a single question, such as 'Illustrate in casting notation the wand flourish for the Bird-Conjuring Spell.' So he left his entire test paper blank, save for his name.

With each name and score Scrooby called out, the offending student got up from their desk and walked to the front of the class to receive their test paper and a demeaning glare. Not only was this a great waste of time, it was also not the kind of pressure that contributed to a healthy learning environment. As the scores went lower, the atmosphere hardened, until it was thick as granite when he came to the failing grades. Each student here took their paper with their heads bowed, and Scrooby tightened his hollow cheeks at them – he wanted to make some snarky comment for each failure, but was restrained by the forces of parental complaint.

Finally he came to the last paper. "Ethan Chen. Zero,"

Ethan calmly stood up and crossed the centre of the classroom towards Scrooby. As he faced down the man's disdainful gaze, Ethan wondered what legitimate grounds were for dismissing teachers in wizard school. If the process was anything like the bureaucratic labyrinth of New York City's public schools, maybe he could understand why this teacher was still around.

"Were you sleeping during my test?" Scrooby asked. He was waiting for this moment. Ethan couldn't wait to hear what great lines he had prepared for him.

"No, sir," Ethan looked down submissively like the rest of the students. A part of him wanted to act cocky and provoke a confrontation, but given his need to stay low, he wasn't about to stir up trouble for nothing.

"Then why is this blank?" He raised his paper to show the class all the unanswered questions.

"I went to a Muggle school. I've never studied Transfiguration before,"

"Then why didn't you say so when you took the test? What a waste of parchment. I do not want to see this again. If you force me to set up a remedial class, you will regret it," Scrooby shoved Ethan's paper into his chest. "If you Squibs had House points I'd take twenty from you. Go,"

Ethan returned to his seat. What annoyed him wasn't Scrooby's selfish contempt, it was the smirks on some of the students who thought they were looking at an idiot.

Scrooby went over the answers of their test. It appeared about as torturous for him to teach as it was for them to listen. Halfway through his droning, a gleeful shrill cackle filled the classroom. Everyone's eyes darted about the ceiling, some instinctively lowering their heads and shielding them with their arms.

A squat, miniature man emerged from invisibility, floating over Scrooby's head like he was lounging on a couch. He was dressed in a ruff-collared tunic and breeches of the most garishly clashing colours and patterns imaginable, like a sixteenth century jester. He had a squashed face half-filled with a Cheshire grin, orange eyes squinting evilly, and a stocking cap tipped with a bell to cover stringy black hair.

Just as Scrooby looked up to behold this intruder, the tiny man squeezed a bottle of ketchup onto his face, applying an ice cream-like swirl.

With an angry swipe of his wand, he Vanished both the sauce and the ketchup bottle. "Peeves!" He pointed his wand upwards and fired a jet of white light, but the tiny man cartwheeled out of the way, snickering.

Peeves, Hogwarts' resident poltergeist, floated over the class and made a mocking face at Scrooby, pulling open his mouth and wagging an elongated tongue. Scrooby pulled a flask of clear liquid from his robes and threw it at Peeves. Peeves swiftly dodged it and students flinched as the flask shattered on the other side of the classroom.

Peeves glanced back at the clear liquid. "Is that Dispel Water? You have to do better than that, Scroogey," His voice was sharp and greasy.

"I'll exorcise you myself, you disgusting spirit," Scrooby fired another white beam at Peeves. Peeves dodged and cackled madly, then flew out of the classroom, passing straight through the door. Scrooby, completely neglecting his teaching duties, stormed out the classroom after the poltergeist.

The class was apparently quite accustomed to this, as they wasted little time in moving to their groups to chat. Ethan was about to go over to Timothy to look at his test answers, when Baldur Farley and his goons surrounded his desk.

Farley snatched Ethan's test paper off his desk and smirked at its pristine pages.

"So you went to Muggle school, American Squib? They don't teach you how to write over there? What do you learn, how to make burgers?"

Ethan honestly couldn't come up with a lamer insult if he tried. Farley also had a lot of gall to make fun of his test when he had failed his as well.

"We learn advanced mathematics, geography, physics, chemistry –"

"I don't give a fuck what you learnt from fucking Muggles," Farley kicked Ethan's chair, sending both him and it toppling over. "Filthy animals that only eat and take up space. Like roaches. And you Squibs are the same,"

Students who were furthest watched casually while those who were closest did their best to act like nothing was happening. Ethan stood up, holding down his rising anger under a controlled expression. He couldn't fight back, he couldn't take revenge with tools or magic, but he could burn him with words. He could show these amateurs what real verbal abuse sounded like – but it would be a foolish move to make. With his non-existent clout, all he would achieve was raise Farley's ire. There was little Ethan could do but take it until Farley grew bored.

"Hey!" One girl stood up from her desk. "Fuck off, Farley,"

Farley and his goons turned their heads to her. "Potter. You defending Squibs now?"

Lily stared down the three burly Hufflepuffs from across the room. "You're a coward, Farley. Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" She raised her wand, and the three goons reacted by pulling out their own. The air thickened – those who were seated between Lily and the Hufflepuffs tensed up, prepared to bolt out of the way any second.

"Your father's the coward, Potter. Running and hiding, even when he's bloody immortal. And protecting Muggles – he should let the Knights kill them all,"

Delfina stood up beside Lily. "Gobshites like you are why the Aurors can't find the Knights,"

Farley threw a venomous sneer at Delfina. "And they never will. The Knights are the only people really fighting this war. If you love Muggles so much, why don't you just join them and die?"

Jessamine now stood up beside Delfina. "You take that back now, Farley, or we'll make you,"

Just then, the classroom door opened and Scrooby returned. His hair was flat and wet. His eyes swept over the audience of students all turned towards six students with their wands raised. His gaze passed over Ethan like he was a dead roach.

"The bloody hell are you all doing? Fighting in my classroom?" He rounded on Farley who was closest to him.

"No, sir," He said thickly.

Scrooby next glared at Lily.

"Farley was having a go at, um –"

"Ethan,"

"Ethan. And I told Farley to knock it off,"

"Did any of you throw any spells?" Scrooby directed at the six standing students with wands drawn. They all shook their heads and said 'No' softly.

"Then I don't care. Get back to your seats,"

For the remainder of the lesson, Ethan was fuming. Most wizards seemed to be under the impression that Squibs and humans were stupid, less evolved. They think wizards were to humans the same way humans were to Neanderthals. Us, more primitive? When they use owls for communication? The irony was staggering.

If Lily hadn't intervened, would the whole class have just watched Farley jinx him, practice transfiguration on him? And when Farley called the Knights of Walpurgis heroes, more than a few faces nodded in consent. Wizards suppressed the rights of goblins for centuries, they think nothing of bodily danger, they alter memories and subjugate minds without a second thought. And yet humans were the uncivilized savages?

For the past few days, Ethan had not been paying much attention to lessons; he had focused on examining the teachers and his fellow students instead. But now, he could no longer leave them afflicted with the misconception that humans were lesser. They thought he was an idiot for failing one test – they had no idea. Ethan was one of the most notorious black hat on the U.S. government's cyber watch list. He hacked into U.S. businesses and the correspondences of executives and politicians, and broadcast all their dirty secrets to the world. He entered ninth grade of high school at twelve years old. Harry Potter didn't kidnap some ordinary boy for the Ministry – he kidnapped a genius with a criminal record.

I'll show you who's primitive. I'll show you what real intellect looks like.


Rose was the first Weasley in all history to be Sorted into a House other than Gryffindor. When the Sorting Hat fell over her head, it mumbled to itself 'Hmm, it's about time!' and declared her a Ravenclaw. She was so faint, she could have died right on that stool. She could not sleep that first night, fretting that her parents would disown her. But they visited Hogwarts the next day to congratulate her – her mother was extremely happy for her, and told her that Ravenclaw would help her to great things. When Hugo was Sorted into Hufflepuff two years later, they said the same thing to him.

Now her parents were ambassadors to the Muggles in London, with the whole wizarding world believing they were traitors. She and her brother wanted to go with them, but they wouldn't allow it. Soon after the U.S. military entered Britain in force, her parents started calling for the Ministry to stand down. Did they learn something that the Ministry didn't know? Were the Muggle allied forces with their technology truly greater than magic? Rose couldn't make any sense of it without more information, but her uncle took the same stance as Professor McGonagall in her Start-of-Term address – this was the business of adults, and students should focus on their studies.

Yet it was getting harder to focus on tests with news of the world war against wizards growing direr every day. Was sitting in class even the right thing to do? Was there a point to passing exams if they couldn't win this war? Perhaps she ought to spend more time in Hogwarts' Army, crafting supplies for the militia. The Ministry said they didn't need more supplies, but James still wanted to create a larger stockpile for Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, as well as form a team to develop new potions and artefacts that could turn the tide of the war.

So here Rose was in the school library during what was supposed to be lunch time; she pored through towers of books on advanced potion and artefact crafting, scribbled and then scratched out half-baked ideas on sheets of parchment. She doubted she could come up with anything the Department of Mysteries hadn't already passed over, but she made the effort anyway to ease the guilty restlessness in her chest.

There was only one other student along Rose's row of study tables, seated far away on the opposite end. He was an Asian Squib, perhaps fourth or fifth-year, with as many books piled around him as she had. He was definitely studying with much more focus than her, never once lifting his eyes off the table. He wasn't cramming or slogging through the pages for a looming test; his face was alight with fascination, and he took notes like he was on the verge of a great discovery. The last time Rose was so engrossed seemed so long ago.

Quite unexpectedly, her brother Hugo emerged from an aisle and sat next to him. Hugo noticed her and waved – the boy lifted his head towards her and Rose quickly pulled her head down like she hadn't noticed anything. Rose covertly watched Hugo chat with the boy, only dimly processing any more of her research. A few minutes later, Hugo came over and sat across her at the table.

"Rose, do you mind if I give a copy of your first to fourth-year study notes to a friend?"

Rose had given Hugo a copy of her own notes for use. "What subject?"

"Um, all of them,"

"I don't mind," It was a peculiar request though. It was definitely too early to be revising past-years' material for OWLs.

"Thanks," Hugo left the library, presumably heading to his dorm room to retrieve the notes and duplicate them. Rose tried her best to return to brainstorming. Intermittently, she sneaked a peek at the boy to see if he was still powering through his books like cake. Once, they looked up at the same time and made eye contact – then immediately dropped their heads back down. She didn't dare look up again, else the boy might do something crazy like come talk to her.

Hugo returned and handed a stack of parchment sheets to the boy. Rose couldn't tell what his reaction was to the notes as she was keeping her sight glued to the table. Soon, Hugo came back to Rose's table.

"He asked me to thank you. He says the notes are very helpful. Very concise and organized,"

"Oh. He's welcome. He's revising a little early though, isn't he?"

"He's not revising. He just came into Hogwarts this term. He went to a Muggle high school before here,"

That sounded difficult in many ways. Rose was curious but also slightly disappointed; so he was only catching up on early-years material, not on the verge of a great discovery.

"He's quite interesting to talk to. He's not scared of us like most Squibs,"

"How do you know him? Is he a new classmate?"

"No, he's in fifth year. He's the newest member of the Chess Club,"

So he was possibly like the other two Squibs Hugo invited to use the clubroom as a sanctuary against bullies. Rose didn't mind, but she heard some of their members left angrily when Scorpius let them stay. Besides the two Squibs, the club only had Hugo, the Scamanders and Scorpius left.

"He's a very good chess player," said Hugo. "Better than Scorpius,"

Rose took this claim with a grain of salt. "Really?"

"Yeah. Want to challenge him to a game?"

"No. Not right now," Rose wasn't in the mood to deal with new people.

"Okay then," said Hugo diplomatically. After a careful pause he said, "You should come back to the club some time,"

She was afraid he would bring this up again. "I'm really busy. I'm doing four NEWTs this year, I got Duelling Club, I'm in Hogwarts' Army, and I have prefect duties. I'm also helping Lily pick up in Transfiguration and Potions,"

"And when you're done with all that, you can drop by the clubroom to relax. We're not training for tournaments or anything,"

"It won't be relaxing," said Rose softly.

"Because of Scorpius? What are you worried about? Help me out here,"

Rose's chest gave a painful twinge. "It's complicated. You wouldn't understand,"

"I won't understand that he confessed to you, you rejected him, and you've been avoiding him ever since?"

Rose whirled her head around to confirm that no one had overheard that – there was still no one else nearby, and the boy should be too far away to hear them.

"I'm not avoiding him," It would have been hard to do so anyway since they had prefect meetings and took many classes together. "We still talk to each other,"

"But you don't hang out like you used to,"

"It's none of your business," she said, an edge rising in her voice.

"It's been months. Surely you can go back to being friends? That's all that Scorpius wants,"

"Can we stop this? This is a library," Rose stated curtly. She knew he meant well, but she didn't appreciate her little brother trying to interfere with her personal life.

"All right then," Hugo backed down. "See you, sis,"

He left the library again, glummer than when he entered. Rose felt wretched; there was no way she was going to accomplish any quality of research or study. She thus returned the books she'd read to a trolley, borrowed the rest, and headed to the Great Hall for lunch.

Lunch time was almost over with relatively few people left in the Hall. Rose took a space at her House table; the group of girls that was nearest noted her arrival and dropped their conversation to a whisper. A couple of them threw her irritated looks for deigning to sit so close, even though she was fifteen feet away and at the edge of the table.

Most of the meat dishes and pies were gone, though that suited Rose just fine – she took a bowl of pasta salad and scooped some into a smaller bowl that automatically appeared before her. She always thought that Hogwarts' kitchens overdid the number of heavy dishes, which were liable to make students drowsy during class. She forwarded a suggestion to Professor McGonagall to have the kitchens provide a healthier variety, which she did. That suggestion earned her some ire from fellow students, especially after someone exaggerated the details to make it sound like she was trying to put the school on a vegetarian diet. It was just one of many circulating rumours that made people, at best, reluctant to approach her within eyeshot of others.

"Ah, Rose. Eating alone again?"

Three Slytherin girls had stopped in front of her, all sixth-years like herself. Heading the group was the elegantly beautiful Iris Lascelles. Like Rose, she too had a prefect's badge pinned to her robes. She was svelte and carried herself with a finely tuned grace like a court-mannered princess. Her pale blonde hair was tucked behind her ear on one side and fell like a silken waterfall to her mid-back. Her skin was delicately fair and her eyes a frosty grey to complete her aura of ethereal, untouchable beauty.

"Poor thing. Why don't I join you?" Iris turned to her two friends. "Daphne, Clytie, can you go on ahead, I'd like a little chat with Rose,"

"Sure, Iris," The two of them exited the Hall with barely hidden smirks, and Iris sat down across from Rose.

It was implicitly understood that sitting at another House's table was something one could only do if invited, and even then, should not be made into a habit. An acceptable period between such occasions was two weeks for those of average social standing. Iris had no worries in that regard, as she was widely considered the prettiest, most popular girl in school, with only Lily possibly coming close.

"How are you, Rose?" Iris's voice was smooth and naturally sultry. "It can't be easy, with so many directing anger at you for your parents' wrongdoing," She laced her manicured fingers together and rested her chin on them, watching Rose poke at her salad.

"I'm fine, Iris," She tried to say as peacefully as possible.

"That's good. I hear you turned down Andrew McCormick yesterday,"

"You hear things fast,"

Rose should have run away right then; she knew she could never win any verbal contest against Iris. Yet a foolish sense of pride blinded her from recognizing the situation at that time.

"What can I say? I'm a glutton for gossip. So why did you reject him?"

"I wasn't interested,"

"You mean you didn't find him interesting? My, Rose," Her voice lifted with faux surprise. "People say you're cold and arrogant, but I didn't believe them,"

Rose was almost certain it was Iris who started those rumours about her, but she was never able to trace anything to her directly.

"That's not what I said,"

"No? Why then? Is it because he wasn't smart enough for you?" Iris's courtly tone rose with the slightest tinge of bitterness. "Or you're too busy with your studies? How many guys have asked you out now?"

"I don't know," Rose honestly did not, and did not want to keep track.

Iris's frosty eyes sunk into her, examining her honesty. "A lot," She knew the answer, but did not want to tell her. "That salad looks far too plain. Here, have some more dressing,"

Iris took a sauce boat of vinaigrette dressing and emptied its entire contents into Rose's bowl, drenching her salad.

"It baffles me why so many guys fancy you. It really does," Iris's voice fell low. "You don't even do anything,"

Rose was so tired; every sector of her life was caving into her, and she was so woefully ill-equipped to deal with any of these problems. She longed for the simplicity of her earlier years at Hogwarts, when life was only about doing well for tests and earning her parents' praise. When she could sate her endless curiosity for everything from Arithmancy to Transfiguration with the safety of believing it was the most important thing in the world. Now it seemed as though she spent most of her life learning nothing of import.

"What do you want, Iris?" Rose asked wearily. If she had just one full answer to one of her problems, she could work towards solving it.

"What do I want?" Iris echoed, her eyes widening. Maybe Rose imagined it, but even she revealed a hint of uncertainty. "I want you to not exist. I want you to stop being you,"

Iris stood up and left the Hall. Rose ate the rest of her salad, powering through the sourness, and soon left for her next class.


It was Saturday morning, and the day of the first Hogsmeade weekend of the term. Every fortnight or so on a weekend, students of third-year and above were allowed to visit Hogwarts' neighbouring village to browse its stores from morning till evening. Despite living there now, Lily enjoyed every Hogsmeade weekend no less than anyone else. They used to live in the town of Ottery St Catchpole, but they had their house teleported to Hogsmeade about a year ago, just before the town was attacked. She got to know the village a lot better since, and made friends with almost all the shop owners along High Street.

"No, I can't accept extra sweets, I have to pay for them," said Lily, fishing in her purse for more coins.

"Just take them dear, we have too much stock," said Mrs. Flume, pressing a carrier bag into Lily's arms.

Mr. and Mrs. Flume were a really sweet elderly couple who ran Honeydukes, a candy store with a dazzling variety of the most delectable treats imaginable. Entering the store was like stepping into a kaleidoscopic dream; there were barrels full of Every-Flavour Beans; on the walls were large tube dispensers of Exploding Bonbons, Tongue-Twist Toffees, and transfiguring White-to-Dark Chocoballs; on the shelves were colourful jars and packages of Chocolate Skulls, Canary Shapes Bubble-Gum and Volcano Bars, which had the address of St. Mungo's Hospital on the wrapper.

"Thank you," Lily eventually accepted the bag with a grateful smile. "How's your family? Can you still contact them without owls?"

"Oh yes, I still contact my son by fireplace," Mrs. Flume answered, glad for the conversation. "But it's a bit of a waste of Floo powder when he's not home. Though I'm sure I hear him running outside every time I call…"

Lily chatted with Mrs. Flume until she felt Torrian's ring turning on her ring finger. Lily lifted her left hand to inspect it.

"What is he saying?" asked Rose who was beside her.

Lily frowned in concentration. "Half turn left, quarter turn right, left, right…I have no idea," Torrian gave her a sheet of the codes he invented, but she didn't bring it out with her to Hogsmeade.

Mrs. Flume was positively agog at the sight of the ring. "My dear Lily, is that an engagement ring?"

"No, no!" Lily quickly waved her arms, shooing the notion. "I-It's just a, a…"

"Pre-engagement ring?" said Rose.

"Y-Yeees," said Lily, reluctantly accepting the term. Then she remembered. "Oh fudge, I'm supposed to decide what we're doing today. Umm, I have to go now, Mrs. Flume. Thank you so much for the extra Frogs!"

Lily and Rose exited Honeydukes. High Street was currently bustling with a healthy stream of black-robed students, replacing stationery at Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, having their hair done at Fairbairns's Hairdressing Salon, or enjoying a drink at the inn and pub of the Three Broomsticks

Lily took out her multi-mirror, held it up at face level and pressed the lowest button mirror to connect to Torrian. His face appeared promptly in the mirror, before a dimly-lit pub that was the Three Broomsticks.

"Lily, did you get my message?" His voice emanated from the pane. Rose stood to the side, out of his line of sight.

"Um, what was it?" Lily asked sheepishly.

"You haven't learnt the codes yet?" His slightly wounded tone made Lily queasy with guilt.

"It's too complicated to be useful," said Rose, stepping beside Lily. "You can just write on the multi-mirror if you want to send Lily a message,"

"You aren't always able to reach your multi-mirror," defended Torrian, his expression turning stiff at the sight of Rose. "The ring is in case Lily's in danger,"

"She's hardly in danger here or at Hogwarts,"

"Ah, okay!" said Lily loudly, before a fight started. "Torrian! Where do you wanna go?"

"You're deciding this weekend, Lily,"

"Okay, erm…" Lily mentally ticked off the list of attractions in Hogsmeade she already went with Torrian. "How 'bout we go for a walk around the Shrieking Shack?"

"A walk?" He sounded somewhat disappointed. He usually chose a café or a shop where he could buy Lily something. "Okay, I'll see you in front of the Shack,"

"Bye," Lily pressed Torrian's button to deactivate the mirror and returned it to her robe pocket.

"Do you like Torrian?" asked Rose flatly.

"W-What? Of course I do," Lily replied immediately. "He's really sweet, and kind, and really cute…he's like a knight, always looking out for me," She looked pensively at her ring and idly wiggled it with her thumb – in code, that was 'thinking of you'.

"What's wrong, then?"

Lily continued playing with the ring; she couldn't take it out though, even if her finger itched, as Torrian's ring would move, too. It wasn't a code, but it definitely would have sent a bad message.

"I don't know…we go out nearly every Hogsmeade weekend and…I guess it's wearing a little thin," They also saw each other every other day at Duelling Club, ate together on the school lawn on Sundays, and spoke every night on the multi-mirror. Lily heard from Jessamine that was considered light for most couples.

"Rose, could you come with me please?" If Lily could change things up a bit, it could be more enjoyable.

"What? I can't do that. It's a date," said Rose. "The last time I tagged along, I could feel the air heat up around him,"

Lily would much prefer to spend the day with Rose; they didn't do that enough at school. They repaired much of their closeness over the summer break, but since returning to Hogwarts they were drifting apart again. Rose was growing sadder, more distant, and acting more like a senior, even though their age was never a factor when they were growing up. The war and stupid gits treating Rose like a criminal were to blame – Lily wanted to cheer her up, but there was only so much she could do without treating the cause.

"What if I gave you these Jelly Slugs?" From her Honeydukes bag Lily pulled out a small bucket of wriggling translucent slugs and dangled them enticingly before Rose. "Will you come with me now?"

"Tempting, but no thanks. I'm going to prepare questions so you can do better in Transfig,"

"Well, take them anyway. Have them while you're preparing those questions,"

Rose accepted the bribe and put one large lime-coloured slug in her mouth. Its tail wriggled outside of her mouth for a moment before she swallowed it whole.

"See you, Rose," Lily stepped forward and clasped her in a hug, pouring all of her love into the squeeze. Rose returned the hug tightly – she really needed it.

"You too, Lily,"

Lily headed over to the Shrieking Shack. Legend has it that it was the most haunted building in Britain, but her father said that was nonsense; it was merely a boarded up, run-down cottage sitting lonely between the edge of Hogsmeade and the mountains. A little beyond the Shack, the whitish barrier doming the village turned visible as she approached.

Torrian walked up to Lily when he spotted her.

"Hey Torrian. Sorry about earlier," Lily pre-emptively apologized for forgetting about their date – again. "I was at Honeydukes, and I got caught up chatting with Mrs. Flume,"

"It's okay," said Torrian softly. "Though I wish you would think of me more often, seeing as we're together,"

"I do think of you," Lily said hastily.

"You were with Rose as well, right?"

"Um, yeah, we were just shopping,"

Torrian had such a gloomy look it was making the Shrieking Shack look cheery. "If you rather spend the time with Rose, it's fine. I'll just try to come up with something better for our next date,"

"No, it's fine! This was my idea, right? C'mon, let's go. There's a great view of the village this way," Lily quickly took her hand in his and led them up a hilly path. Their trail would take them on a scenic route along the mountainside edge of Hogsmeade before turning inside.

They started off with some typical chit-chat about what each had been doing since they last talked, which would be Friday night. There wasn't much to say though, so they were quickly struggling to fill the silence. Lily offered Torrian some sweets from Honeydukes; Torrian declined, but at some insistence he took a Squeaky Chew and ate it. They were supposed to make one talk in a high squeaky voice, but Torrian's innate magic resistance due to his dragon blood made it very difficult for any charm or potion to affect him.

"I heard you almost fought Farley and his friends on Tuesday," Torrian said after another lull in conversation.

"Oh, yeah," said Lily in a high squeaky voice.

"Why didn't you tell me about this? Why did I have to hear about it this morning at the Three Broomsticks?"

"It wasn't a big deal. Jess and Delfi had my back. We would have torched that prick and his prick friends if Scroogey hadn't showed up," Lily popped in another sugary Squeaky Chew. She had to be careful not to eat too much of these, or it will be harder to dodge James's light beams in future.

"I just want to be informed about what goes on with you. Can't you take the time to do that?"

Lily sighed. "Okay, okay," If there was a Good Girlfriend Competition, Lily was pretty sure she would be near the bottom rank. Being attached was turning out to be a lot more work than she thought it would be.

The air was bracingly chilly and the wild smell of alpine grasses and shrubs was always pleasing. From the highest point of their hillside path they could see the whole of Hogsmeade; a tiny collection of cottages sitting under a great arc of trees and mountains. In the distance was Hogwarts Castle, perched on a cliff overlooking a lake, and surrounded by high stone walls. It never ceased to awe Lily how big and small Hogwarts was, taller than the trees of the Forbidden Forest but completely dwarfed by the mountains. It was hard for Lily to imagine anything bigger, but she heard often from her father that the Grampian Mountains were absolutely nothing compared to the mountains he climbed for Auror training.

"Your house is around there isn't it?" Torrian pointed somewhere down at Hogsmeade.

"Eh, around there, yeah," Torrian's finger was a little too vague for Lily to tell if he was pointing at the right end of Hogsmeade. Torrian couldn't see or otherwise perceive her house anyway due to the Fidelius Charm her father cast on it. Only her father could reveal the house's location and thereafter allow someone to perceive it.

"Are your parents in?"

"Probably not. They're busy every day,"

"My mother was always busy as well," Torrian spoke in a wistful voice. "Even when she was home, she spent all their her researching or conducting experiments,"

Lily's longest and deepest conversations with Torrian were about the family they lost. Torrian's father, according to his mother, a heartless monster who left when Torrian was born. Torrian's mother died when he was ten, from a magical experiment gone wrong. A few weeks later, Torrian displayed the ability to morph into a dragon. However, the Ministry released a statement saying that the two events were not linked, as Brianna Fraser had been experimenting on acids and poisons, not Animagus transformation. Torrian himself told the Daily Prophet that his mother never experimented on him. But despite his denial, everyone in school talked about it like it was fact. Torrian appreciated that Lily withheld from making the same conclusion, yet she also found it hard to accept Torrian's explanation that his Animagus ability 'just happened'.

They chatted at length about their parents as they strolled downslope. When they returned to level ground they sat down for a short break on a bench. Soon the topic gravitated to Albus.

"My parents argued about where to bury Albus. My mum wanted him near our old place at Ottery St Catchpole, but my dad said Godric's Hollow was safer. We buried him at Ottery, but in the end both places got attacked," Albus was likely still at the cemetery at Ottery, currently occupied by Muggle forces.

"I never talked to Albus much, since he was a year below me," said Torrian. "But when I first met him at the lake, he said hi and went straight back to drawing. He never asked me to transform or breathe fire on something. He treated me like a normal person,"

Lily reached into her robe pocket and pulled out Albus's sketchbook. She usually carried it with her when visiting Hogsmeade or idling on the school lawn. She turned to the one page she lingered on the most.

"That's Albus," said Torrian. She hadn't shown him the sketchbook before.

It was the only self-sketch Albus ever made, of him sitting on the shore of Hogwarts Lake. She remembered Albus drawing by the Lake hundreds of times, in the exact way the sketch Albus was now doing. Watching him filled Lily with a mellow comfort and sadness, bringing her back to a time when her biggest worry in life was passing exams.

Every time she took out the sketchbook, she tried saying different things to sketch Albus to see how he would respond. He either waved silently, didn't respond, or turned the sketchbook around to show a motivational line. Lily could spend up to twenty minutes saying random things, hoping foolishly for sketch Albus to do something different, or for something new to appear on the sketchbook than the same few sayings.

"How are you?" Lily asked.

The sketch Albus turned his little sketchbook around. Written on it in plain thick letters was 'The best way to cheer yourself is to cheer someone else up,' Lily once found Albus jotting down quotes from library books. She was thirteen and didn't know what they were for then, and laughed with James when he called them corny.

She explained to Torrian what the sketch did. "I see," said Torrian, impressed. "So your brother was experimenting with functional portraits. This is pretty good,"

It wasn't nearly as advanced as the portraits at Hogwarts though, which were almost human in the way they could behave. Most of them were enchanted by Helga Hufflepuff herself a thousand years ago. Few painting enchanters since have come close to producing the level of intelligence Hogwarts' portraits could display.

Just then, Lily spotted someone walking past them – it was Hugo, and his hair and robes were stained with a dirty yellow liquid with thick black and brown chunks.

"Hey, Hugo!" Lily ran up to Hugo. She recognized that liquid and its awful, stomach-lurching smell; it was patented fake vomit from the Puke Sacks buyable at Zonko's Joke Shop. "Who did this to you?!"

"Oh, hi Lily, hi Torrian," Hugo sounded unhappy to have been spotted. "It was Farley and his friends,"

"This is too far!" Lily screamed. Even before everyone started calling Hugo's parents traitors, Farley was always picking on Hugo. "We're going back to the castle! Those bastards should be expelled for this!"

"You need approval from the Board of Governors to expel someone," said Hugo plainly. "The ones who want Professor McGonagall gone will barter for more regulations on the school in exchange for their vote. I don't want to cause her trouble for my own sake,"

Every time Lily heard about the Board of Governors, she wanted to stomp something – did they ever do anything good? What on earth were they for, anyway? "Well, we can still have them get detention. Let's go,"

"Hold on," said Torrian. "You should get cleaned up first," He said to Hugo.

"I've tried all kinds of cleaning spells, but this thing is proofed against them," replied Hugo.

"You should be able to wash it off with dragon blood," Torrian pulled out his wand – oak, twelve-and-a-half inches, and custom-made with a string of his own heart for an unparalleled synchrony between wand and wielder. He conjured a bath sponge and grasped it in his right hand together with his wand. With a swipe of his wand, he then slashed his left wrist open and poured the gushing blood into the sponge.

Both Lily and Hugo winced. "Torrian, I'm fine, there's really no need –" said Hugo.

"It's no problem," said Torrian calmly. "I regenerate quickly," He had to slash his wrist again every few seconds to keep the wound from closing. Lily and Hugo had seen him do this before to donate dragon blood to Hogwarts' Army, but that didn't stop it from being hard to watch.

Once the sponge was soaked red, Hugo gingerly accepted it and dabbed it over his head; the blood oozed out and bubbled as it mixed with the fake vomit.

"You can wash off the blood with normal water,"

Hugo pulled out his own wand – ten-and-three-quarter inches, willow, and core of unicorn hair – and bowed his head low. He aimed his wand at his own head. 'Aguamenti.' A jet of water sprayed from his wand and rinsed off both blood and vomit from his hair.

"It works! Thanks Torrian," said Lily.

"I'm glad to help," Torrian's kind smile could warm a house.

Hugo thanked Torrian as well and continued to pat himself down with the sponge. "I didn't know dragon blood could do this," said Lily.

"Dragon blood can get rid of most stains," said Torrian. "It has many other properties as well,"

Three brutish figures appeared, entering from an alley behind Hugo. Farley and his goons first approached, spotting Hugo, but stopped when they recognized Torrian. They immediately turned tail and stalked back for the alley.

"Torrian, quick, let's get them!"

"What–"

With a bit of wandless summoning, Lily's wand shot into her grip from within her sleeve. She thoughtcast the Rocket Charm as she leapt forward – the soles of her shoes spewed fire and she soared after the goons. Shifting her feet to steer, she turned the corner into the alley, flew over their heads and twirled in the air to land in front and facing them.

The three of them whipped out their wands – Lily was sure she could take three unskilled meatheads with ease – but before they could cast a spell, a great black tail swung from above and knocked the three of them down like bowling pins. Their wands clattered over the floor and Lily quickly summoned them to her. The great dragon tail shrunk back into Torrian and he closed in, blocking off the alley from behind.

"You're going to pay for what you did to Hugo," growled Lily as the goons rose to their feet.

Farley said nothing, only reached into his robes to pull something out. She summoned it right out of his hands – it was a Puke Sack, still contained in its transparent sac.

"Wow, that's perfect," Lily threw it back in his face. Farley howled as the putrid liquid coated his face.

A raging fire burned in Lily – this was not nearly enough. "Levioso Puke Sacks," Six more sacs floated out the bullies' robes and into the air above them.

"Lily, wait," Torrian called. "You'll be punished too,"

Lily heard, but it didn't register. She was too full of anger and frustration at so many things. With such a chance to let it out, her body moved automatically.

"Finite," The Puke Sacks fell and splashed all over the goons. Just moments later, someone entered the alley from behind Lily.

"What is the meaning of this?" exclaimed Professor Slughorn, looking aghast at the puke-splattered scene.

Lily's shoulders slumped. "Oh bollocks,"


Lily's time at Hogsmeade was cut short. After a series of explanations and a written report, Lily was sentenced by Professor Slughorn to detention with him in his office. It was by far the roomiest and comfiest teacher's office Lily had been in, with a fireplace, plush couches, a dining table for ten, and a private balcony.

"And then your grandfather said to me: 'But Professor, I didn't jinx him – that really is his nose,'"

"Oh God, that's so mean," cried Lily between her chuckles.

"Yes; Severus then threw a hex at James – he deflected it and it hit me. My nose inflated like a balloon and didn't stop growing. James and Severus started duelling. I couldn't do anything to stop them as I was trying to deflate my nose to get off the ceiling. I didn't see much of their duel, but what little I did see was the fiercest duel I had ever witnessed at the time. Those two hated each other, but they had no other equals during their time as students here,"

"Wow," On a number of occasions, not all of them detentions, Professor Slughorn had regaled Lily with stories of her paternal grandfather, the first James Potter, and his friends and enemies at Hogwarts.

"What was the fight like? How did you stop it?" Lily asked excitedly. She sipped some more of the tea they were having at the dining table.

"Oh, I didn't stop it. Your grandmother did. Lily Evans. She yelled at them both and they stopped in their tracks,"

Just as her brother was named after their grandfather, Lily was named after her grandmother, but she knew little about her. Her father had little to say, as she had died when he was a baby.

"What was she like?"

"Ah," Slughorn sipped his tea reminiscently. "She was a little like you, but ultimately very different. For one, she was a bit more studious. One of my brighter students,"

"Ha hah."

"She was feistier as well, like your mother. Always quick to defend others,"

"Also quick to scold others," remarked Lily.

Slughorn chortled, his round belly waggling. "Hoho, yes. A greater stubborn and judgemental side. But I think, most importantly, your grandmother had…good eyes,"

Lily was confused. "Good eyes?"

"Yes. She could see the good in people where others could not, even where the person in question could not see it himself. It gave her quite an affinity for…shall we say troublemakers,"

Now this was juicy information. She was really glad to have gotten detention today. "Woah. She liked bad boys?"

"And 'bad boys' liked her. You have eyes like your grandmother,"

Lily gave a little sigh. "Yes, people tell me I have my father's eyes," She had heard more than a few lines from guys about how gorgeously beautiful her emerald irises were. Torrian used to tell her about them every time they met until she told him to stop.

"No, Albus had your father's eyes. Yours are much brighter. Brighter than your grandmother's, I think,"

Lily sipped more tea to hide her embarrassment. "My grandmum sounds like a smarter, cooler version of me,"

Slughorn set his cup down quietly with a forlorn look in his eye. "Unfortunately, no one is perfect. Your grandmother could see the good in people where others could not. But she lacked the cunning required to draw it out. It left her quite frustrated with those two men in her life. Everyone had a hand in the tragedy that followed…a lot could have gone better…I wish I had done more myself…"

"You're getting cryptic on me, Professor,"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Slughorn snapped back with a smile. "At my age it becomes a habit. Ah, and I'm afraid detention is over, Lily. In future, do try to stay out of as much trouble as you can,"


Yesterday Ethan got to tour Hogsmeade, the town neighbouring Hogwarts, and browse its many fascinating stores that provided all wizard needs. He was not, however, able to buy anything as he had no wizard money, which was going to be a problem once his supply of ink of parchment ran out. Hugo was kind enough to buy him a Butterbeer and introduced him to most of the stores, until they were suddenly hit with unwashable fake vomit.

Had Harry Potter forgotten about him? Ethan had not heard from him since the man dumped him in this school. He didn't really mind; in fact he was rather enjoying his stay. He would enjoy it much more if there was some day he could get rid of Baldur Farley, who was the most enthusiastic in school on bullying Squibs and Hugo. Maybe Ethan could arrange an accident to have him hospitalized for a reasonable time…or e could have him framed for a serious crime and arrested…but he still needed more research into wizard society to pull such a thing successfully. Whatever he came up with, it would have to be soon…he was starting to reach the end of his tolerance.

"Ethan, I don't understand this part," said Varun, pointing at a line of Ethan's essay parchment over the Squib table. "What is 'doped silicon', and why do you need it in the electrolysis circuit for disassembling this potion?"

Ethan dashed some ground pepper on his scrambled eggs as he answered.

"Because, splitting the desired alchemical compound from a potion requires applying a specific voltage through it which has to be maintained over time. Powering a circuit with a magical battery or electric spell will have fluctuations in the applied voltage, so a voltage regulator is required to reduce impurities, which can be built with semiconductor devices,"

"…Okay…but what does that have to do with 'doped silicon'?"

"Silicon is a semiconductor: its electrical conductivity can be manipulated between conductor and insulator by creating junctions of different types of doping. Doping refers to adding impurities to a semiconductor material in order to –"

"Okay, never mind," Varun returned to roughly paraphrasing Ethan's essay in his own words.

Magic, Ethan had learnt since studying it more in-depth, was astounding. Literally nothing was impossible with the power to alter the laws of physics and create phenomena with one's designed set of properties. The only limitation was magical energy and the ability of a wizard to construct and hold in his mind the totality of a spell's effect. The things they would be able to do with magic and technology…Alas, just as electricity disrupted magical energy and vice versa, humanity and wizardkind were ultimately doomed to clash until one or both were destroyed.

Breakfast was in a tense, foul mood at the Hall. Last night, the Irish Ministry of Magic was overrun and most of its leaders captured. Its militia was still active, but currently scattered and disorganized. Hermione Weasley made a public statement through the BBC for the Irish Ministry's militia to stand down rather than counterattack. She also condemned the Knights of Walpurgis for their retaliation of killing thirty civilian Muggles in Dublin before British and Irish Aurors were able to force their retreat. The comments Ethan overheard from the House tables and even the Squibs suggested that the Knights' massacre was supposed to be the silver lining.

Timothy ran into the Hall and scanned wildly at the staff table, which was empty. He hurried over to Ethan, his face distraught. "Ethan, where are all the teachers?"

"They all left a while ago, probably a staff meeting," answered Ethan.

"But I couldn't find anyone in the staffroom!" cried Timothy. "Where are they?!"

"What's going on?" asked Varun.

Timothy pointed back through the doors. "T-There's Farley and twelve guys outside. They got Hugo – they're going to strip him naked and throw him out the school!"

The Squibs around them that overheard traded looks, then went out the doors to bear witness to this happening. As the doors opened for them, Ethan did spot a crowd gathered at the Entrance Hall. The news carried swiftly across the Great Hall, and from the front to back of the hall every student stood up like a stadium crowd wave and joined the mass departure.

"I'm checking all the offices!" Timothy shouted and left.

"Fucking wizards," said Varun, sitting amidst the throng of students rushing out like there were free cars outside. "Are you coming?"

Ethan picked up a goblet of orange juice and drank it slowly. "Not yet,"

Varun shrugged and left with the swarm. Soon Ethan was literally the remaining person in the Hall. Ethan finished his goblet and mentally gathered himself for what was to come.

"Well, here we go,"

The Entrance Hall, which itself larger than a ballroom, was packed to near capacity, even filling the marble staircase and the balcony above like they were high seats at a theatre. Ethan wormed his way to the front of the crowd and beheld a dramatic standoff. Twenty feet from where the castle front doors should be, was a genuine mob of thirteen students, with Farley at the fore, all with their wands out. Behind him was Hugo, hanging upside down in the air in only his trousers – his robe, jumper and shirt were on the floor, slightly torn from when they were pulled off him.

Standing in front of where the castle front doors should be, were Lily, Rose, James, Scorpius and Torrian. The first four were ready with their wands as well, but Torrian was lying face-down unconscious on the floor, with Lily half-crouched beside him, trying to shake him awake.

"You think he's still alive?" whispered someone behind Ethan.

"– thirteen Stunners to the chest, and he wasn't morphed,"

"Take down that illusion, Weasley, and we'll let you just walk out," Farley looked half-rabid this morning, his eyes wide and his teeth bared like a deranged street dog.

"Put Hugo down, Farley," said Rose, firm but also distressed. There were no oaken front doors behind them, only a solid stone wall, or the illusion of one.

"Farley, when this is over, you are dead. The only one getting kicked out of school will be you," shot James bitterly.

It was generally not a good idea to call the hostage-taker 'dead' in a hostage situation, but Ethan supposed it didn't matter here, with Farley so clearly off his handle.

"You have three seconds, Weasley," snarled Farley. "Or when we take that thing down, we'll throw you out the gates same as your brother,"

"One…" The crowd started to shuffle back, bracing for a fight.

"Two…" Lily straightened up and with the other three shifted into stance. No matter how formidable they were, they were not going to last long against thirteen.

"Thr –"

"Wow, what is going on here?" Ethan stepped forward and spoke in the loudest, most falsely intrigued voice possible. With about the entire student body watching him, Ethan strolled from behind the angry mob of thirteen and stood between them and the noble defenders.

"Ethan?!" Scorpius exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

Ethan whispered to the group over his shoulder. "He's probably going to Stun me, so I'd appreciate some protection,"

Farley immediately threw a Stunner at Ethan. James and Lily both reacted and their Shields deflected Farley's attack. Ethan maintained his air of total nonchalance, but inside he was immensely grateful he wasn't currently unconscious.

"I don't know who you are, but you should get out of the way," said James.

Always in the way, Squibs, like hunks of litter. Ethan addressed the entire Hall. "Oh, there's no need to know who I am. I'm just a lowly Squib. I hate to interrupt this epic battle you're all about to have, but I'm a curious person and I must know –" Ethan pointed with a lazy arm over at the mob. "What exactly are you planning to do with Hugo over there?"

The rabid energy of the mob was high, but they were starting to cool from the sheer strangeness of this clearly suicidal Squib. Farley shouted for all the crowd to hear. "The Daily Prophet wants to ask Weasley's opinion about his mother's statement, but they can't enter the school. I say he should stop hiding around and face the press. Am I right?" Farley bellowed to his mob and they bellowed back, 'Yeah!'

"Ah," said Ethan, nodding thoughtfully. "So you're saying that you'reaware that that's Hugo Weasley you got over there, not Ronald Weasley or Hermione Weasley. Just to confirm – are you aware of that?" He asked in a patient tone.

Farley ground his teeth at him. "Get out of the way, Squib,"

"I take it from that response that you understand the point I'm making here. Even if Hugo's parents are traitors to all wizardkind, surely bothering Hugo won't achieve anything. No, why don't you tell us the real reason you're so obsessed with Hugo?"

All snide whispers and muttering had stopped, filling the Hall with a cavernous silence. All spectators were watching the proceedings like a movie.

"What?" said Farley.

Ethan's calm, condescending delivery was going to be key to pull this off successfully.

"You say you're doing this because, by association, Hugo is a traitor, but you troubling Hugo didn't start this year. No, you've had it in for Hugo for quite some time, long before his parents even went to London. You know, many bullies try to disguise their feelings by acting aggressively towards the target of their affections,"

The pressing silence of the Hall became more like a vacuum due to the crowd's collective intake of breath.

"What?" said Farley.

"Was that too difficult to understand?" said Ethan, grinning at Farley. "You see, when a guy likes another guy very much –"

"Did you just call me a faggot?" The red was rising on Farley's thick face.

"I didn't say anything. But the preponderance of evidence would suggest you have greater inclination towards the male sex,"

There was murder in every syllable of Farley's voice. "I am not a fucking faggot,"

"Explain to everyone then," Ethan raised his voice to the crowd. "Why you are trying to strip Hugo naked. I mean, he's a good-looking fellow, but come on, at least buy him a drink first,"

The tension among the spectators was dropping, and there were murmurs, some snickers. Ethan could see Hugo trying to pull his upper body up, but Ethan couldn't see his face.

"We –" Farley turned back to his mob, looked around at the crowd. "We were making sure he doesn't pull anything out of his robes,"

"You know our jumpers and shirts don't have pockets, right?" said Ethan. "So what are you going to do with his clothes? Actually, no, don't tell me, I don't want to know. If you plan on returning them, just wash them first, all right?"

More smiles were creeping up among the audience. Farley was dumbstruck, so Ethan pressed the attack.

"How is it that you're always meeting Hugo outside the Chess clubroom, and then trying to pass it off like it's a coincidence?" Ethan threw out an effeminately limp wrist. "'Oh hi, Hugo, fancy meeting you here. I hate you so much, I can't stop looking for you. Oh, what is this feeling?'" Ethan clutched tenderly at his heart. There were audible chuckles around them now.

"Do your friends get tired following you on your stalking expeditions?" Ethan addressed the mob behind Farley. "You guys ever want to do your own thing? Why take orders from this pansy? What kind of leader needs twelve wingmen to approach one guy?"

The mob exchanged looks with each other. Whatever patriotic indignation they had was forgotten; they started backing away like they were spectators who accidently stepped into the scene. Hugo dropped onto the floor and picked himself up; someone behind Ethan must have thoughtcast Dispel on him after no one was repelling it any longer.

"There's no need to get others sucked into your sexuality crisis. After you throw Hugo out, what if your feelings don't change? Even if you do get over Hugo, what if you fall for someone else? Are you going to throw out every good-looking guy in school? Soon it'll just be you and me – and before you say anything: I'm very flattered, but I'd think the Giant Squid would be less clingy,"

"You fucking lying Chinese Squib," spat Farley, turning purple with rage amid rolls of laughter. "I'm going to fucking kill you,"

"Okay, but in what order? This is important,"

Farley raised his wand to attack – but what was important was that he had no one backing him up. Someone behind Ethan should be able to take him down, and this whole show should be over –

A bright red Stunning Spell struck Farley, not from the front, but the back. Farley dropped unconscious, and an older student from the mob stepped over his back. Ethan recognized the slicked-back dark brown hair and smooth-faced sneer – he was the Slytherin that hoisted him over the Grand Staircase on his first day.

"You've wasted enough of our time, Squib," the guy spoke with a low and serious viciousness. "But that ends now,"

He addressed the shocked crowd. "All of you! Have you forgotten what the Muggles have done to us?! They won't stop until they take our wands and have us all in chains! And Squibs like these –" He pointed at Ethan. "Are just waiting for them to invade Hogwarts so they can join their side! Don't listen to anything coming out of his mouth!"

Damn it. Ethan tried so hard to isolate the scapegoat and give the rest the chance to walk away. He didn't expect a serious goddamn fanatic among them. Talking down someone like that would be difficult, if not impossible.

"The Weasleys are traitors! Right now they are selling information to the Muggles for their own safety! We need to show the world that we will not tolerate treason! Forget the Daily Prophet! These Weasleys should be given to the Knights, so they can force the traitors back from London!"

Ethan got his first estimation of just how many students supported the Knights – it was about two-fifths of the school, and that was only those who were currently being vocal about it. The mob was back in full gear, with students of all houses cheering them on in a monstrous din, first-years screaming 'kill all the Muggles'. Ethan looked up at the high-hanging portraits that all the while had been watching this madness; all of them looked down with faces painted in astonished fear.

Ethan tried to engage with the Slytherin. "Well, you seem slightly more intelligent. What's your name?" Ethan's plan was to appeal to his arrogance to get him talking, and eventually find an angle to bring him down as well.

He didn't take the bait. He aimed his wand at Ethan and incanted something he couldn't hear over the noise. Something rammed into Ethan's left shoulder, knocking him to the floor. Ethan looked over his shoulder and it was Lily – she had shoved him out of the way and hit the ground with him. The effect of the Slytherin's hex was reduced by her Barrier, but her whole left arm was covered in boils that continuously grew and popped like the surface of boiling water.

After that was pandemonium. The Slytherin threw another hex at both of them, but it was counterspelled by Scorpius. James returned fire on the Slytherin, and had to leap into the air to dodge six Stunners. Rose channelled a sonic cone on the mob, disorienting them, but was quickly forced to drop it to deflect multiple attacks. James, Lily, Rose and Scorpius started duelling the mob students, each taking on three at once. But they couldn't last long; Scorpius was flung into the wall and Rose was struck in the arm by a stone mallet; James's and Lily's Barriers were about to break any moment –

"He's getting up!"

Upon realizing what was happening, the mob yelled to one another to ready a simultaneous Stunning. But it was too late – after all, he only needed two seconds.

Ah, the hero arises, thought Ethan. About bloody time.

Torrian's tail destroyed Rose's illusion magic with raw force, reducing the oaken front doors to splinters. One clawed arm reached out and flattened two mob students – when he raked his arm back, his obsidian claws gashed the stone floor like it was polystyrene foam. All manner of beams and conjured attacks bounced off his armour-like scales. Another sweep of an arm and three more were knocked cold. The morale of the mob evaporated and they pushed into the crowd scurrying for the marble staircase.

Once the Slytherin and his mob was routed and gone, the masses cheered. Everyone cheered, which made Ethan sick. Torrian returned to human form and held his head in one palm, probably still woozy from the Stunners. James, Lily, Rose and Scorpius rushed over to Hugo and handed him his clothes. The crowd was chatting merrily like they'd just watched the greatest blockbuster play ever. Ethan decided he wanted some fresh air, so he got up from the floor and walked out onto the grounds, largely unnoticed.

Ethan travelled down the slope and went around the castle's left. He arrived at the calm, serene shore of Hogwarts Lake. He slowly lowered himself and laid back upon the clean, fresh-smelling grass. The sky was blue, and the only sound was the gentle lapping of water on the lake shore and the occasional whistle of a breeze in his ears. Ethan didn't think he actually heard a breeze before; there was nothing quite like this in New York City. In that particular moment, Ethan wanted nothing more than to rest down here for a few centuries and let the world go sort itself out.

He heard the rustling sound of several people approaching him. "Hey. Um, Ethan, is it?"

Ethan sat up and turned behind him. It was the superstar gang of Hogwarts: Lily, James, Rose, Hugo, Scorpius and Torrian.

"Thanks for your help back there. I'm Lily. Lily Potter,"

Ethan had only observed her from a distance for eleven days, but somehow felt like he had known her for much longer. It felt strange then that this was their first conversation. He was pleased to notice that the hex over her left arm had been dispelled.

"Was that really helping?" James eyed him darkly. "It looked to me like all he did was accuse someone of being gay in front of the whole school. Who are you? You're no ordinary Squib,"

James was immediately distrustful of him. Smart guy. Ethan stood up and faced the group.

"Depends on what you mean by ordinary," There was little use playing it low-key anymore, not now that they had seen his true colours. From now on, he was going to speak however he liked.

"He just entered school at start-of-term," said Scorpius to James. "He attended Muggle school in New York City before coming here,"

The way Scorpius put it, one might get the impression that everyone educated in NYC was like him.

"What do you mean that wasn't helping?" said Lily. "He pretty much destroyed Farley and stalled things long enough for Torrian to get up,"

"Rose's illusion-barrier would have stalled them just as long," rebutted James.

"I don't know about that," muttered Rose. Her arm was healed, but she still looked rather shaken by the incident. When close to half the school chants to hand you and your brother over to terrorists, you don't recover from that quickly. "O'Neill might have been able to dispel it,"

"Torrian woke up from the noise of the duelling anyway,"

"Err, not really," said Torrian. "The force of the Stunners destroyed my organs. I woke up once they healed. I couldn't have gotten up sooner,"

"Yeah, I was kicking him the whole time trying to wake him up," added Lily.

"So that's what it was…"

Rose turned to Ethan. "So you're Ethan, right?"

"Yes," It was odd to experience her speaking to him as well. His first encounter with Lily and Rose under the Invisibility Cloak was quite imprinted in him.

"About Farley…he's not gay, is he," she stated.

Ethan answered plainly. "Not as far as I know – it was just baseless slander on my part. I wouldn't be surprised if he was, though,"

"So you were just spewing lies," said James.

"You shouldn't have done that," said Hugo softly.

Lily whirled on Hugo, incredulous. "What? Hugo, he saved you from getting stripped naked and tossed out the gate!"

"I know, but what about Farley?" He looked to Ethan with a conflicted expression. "You made everyone laugh at him for being gay. There's nothing with being gay,"

"I agree," said Ethan. "But many people don't. And he didn't. He could have deflected my attacks, but he let me run over him,"

"You're still encouraging people to see it as something shameful," Hugo looked away sadly.

Ethan admired the heart Hugo had to have to sympathize with someone who had tormented him for years. Ethan doubted it was something he would be capable of.

"I suppose what I did also qualifies as bullying," he spoke calmly. "I see two prefects and the Head Boy here. Go ahead and give me detention if you want,"

"Maybe we should," said James.

"The hell is wrong with you?" Lily exclaimed at her brother. "Rose, Scorpius – don't tell me you're going to do that?"

Scorpius shook his head. "Technically we're supposed to…but I'd let this one slide. If Ethan hadn't stepped in…we'd all be in a bad state right now,"

Rose addressed Ethan tentatively. "I…I really appreciate the help, and I understand what you were doing. That said…maybe there was a better way to isolate Farley,"

Ethan felt strangely appeased by this answer, impressed even. Even so, he was tired, and didn't feel like spending any more time defending himself to this group.

"…there's always a better way. But I do what I can with what I have. I don't have magic to solve all my problems like you people do. If you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my common room," Ethan walked around them and headed to one of the castle's side entrances. He'd had more than his fill of trouble for one day.

He was at the base of the castle slope when someone called after him.

"Ethan!"

Ethan turned around to see Lily jogging up to him. She caught up to him and offered an apologetic smile, brushing back her flowing hair.

"Hey. Really sorry about James. He's a dick,"

"I'm not bothered. I can relate,"

Lily chuckled. "Hah, you were really ruthless back there. Thanks again," She then turned a little sheepish. "Um, this was all actually sort of my fault – I kind of attacked Farley yesterday and I guess that made him go berserk. None of this would have happened if I hadn't, um, lost my temper,"

"That's not true," refuted Ethan. "What happened back there had little to do with Farley. It was today's news that triggered it, and it was always going to happen eventually. If anything, you helped us all get through it easier by softening up the target,"

"Um, I'm not sure if I did that much," Lily replied modestly, though she immediately seemed more at ease.

"There's something else I have to thank you for. You protected me back there. Twice," For some reason, Ethan found that he was speaking in an awfully formal way.

"Oh, that's nothing," Lily waved it away lightly.

"I also haven't thanked you for Tuesday,"

"Tuesday? Oh, that! Hey, what classes do we take together?"

"Herbology, Potions, Transfig and Muggle Studies,"

"Oh. Well, see you tomorrow then," She smiled at him again. It was an enlivening sight; his earlier weariness was slipping away. From the Great Hall during the Welcoming Feast, to the starlit sky, to the great lake and to the mountains, nothing he had seen in or around Hogwarts was as breathtakingly beautiful.

Ethan cracked a smile back. He was not used to doing one that wasn't evil or condescending, so he hoped it was coming out right.

"Yes. Bye,"