Chapter Ten

As the sun peaked over the forest, Rebecca snuck back into the hut, careful not to disturb any of her sleeping companions. Slipping into her warm bed, she decided to sleep, even if it was for only an hour. Shutting her eyes, she fell into a deep slumber.

Rebecca stood in the middle of a dark clearing; a full moon overhead. The sounds of owls and rustling of bushes filled her ears. The clearing grew smaller and smaller. Towering trees came closer and closer.

She tensed as the rustling sounds came closer.

And closer.

And closer.

She felt a figure behind her, and a hot breath on her neck.

She whirled around…

And looked into blue eyes.

She opened her mouth to speak…

"Reb, WAKE UP!" shouted Diane, shaking Rebecca violently.

Muttering a grumbled curse, Rebecca groaned, turning over onto her other side. "What time is it?"

"Seven!"

Jolting up, she turned and glared at Diane. "Are you kidding me? Hun, we're witches, we can magically get ready."

"Well, yeah, but we might get lost along the way, like last time. Unless you want to get 'Mr. Malfoy' to lead the way." She smirked evilly. "Which, now that I think about it, you probably do."

Easing out of bed, she winced, sore everywhere because of the fight with Blood last night. "Yeah well, whatever. It doesn't matter. Wake up Iva and Ashley—"

"Already done. Actually, we're all ready so it's just you we're waiting for."

"Why didn't you wake me before?"

"Oh, we tried, honest, but you have no idea how hard it is to wake someone up when they're shouting hexes at you!" She said earnestly, making her eyes wide.

"Uh-huh." Said Rebecca as she made her way to the bathroom to take a reviving shower. "Sorry about that."

Thirty minutes later, the group of four made their way toward the school. "Do you think Professor Dumbledore will mind us wearing these? I mean, we don't have the school uniforms so…" Iva trailed off, looking at Reb. "What do you think Rebecca?"

Rebecca, who had her hands in her grey hoodies pocket, hugging herself slightly, was taken by surprise when Iva asked her what she thought. "What I think?" she restated as they made their way into their school, easily spotting the Great Hall. "I think its way too damn cold this far up north."

"Rebecca," said Iva, exasperated. "Watch your language, please."

There was a familiar laugh behind them and Diane elbowed Rebecca. "Huh, looks like the Americans don't like the cold too much. Of course, I'd be cold too, if I was wearing a flimsy sweater."

"You just seem to pop up everywhere, don't you Draco? And it is NOT a sweater, it's a HOODIE."

"Same thing; hoodie, sweater. And I don't really just pop up; even wizards need to eat." He walked by her side, as passing Griffindor's gave them dirty looks. "Where are you guys planning to eat, or have you not thought it through that far?"

Iva looked Draco up and down, batting her eyes at him slightly. "Hey Draco."

Draco glanced at her for a moment, a flicker of confusion in his eyes; as though he couldn't quite recognize who she was. "Um, hi." He turned back to Rebecca. "So, when are you guys going to be sorted?"

She shrugged. "Psh, like I know. All he said was when the Durmstrangs and the Beauxbatons arrive—"

Rebecca was cut off by Ashley's insane pointing. "OMG"—no lie, she actually said that—"Dumbledore wants us!"

Draco let out something that sounded like a cross between a snort and a laugh while Rebecca looked warily at Ashley. To Draco, she said, "Well, we should probably go. Have a good eatin'"

He smiled at her easily. "Good luck."

She smiled back slightly as Iva dragged them to the Head Table where the teachers and Dumbledore ate.

"Girls!" Dumbledore greeted them enthusiastically. "Today, you are to be sorted. Would you like to be sorted now, or wait until tonight?"

"Whichever is more convenient for you, Professor," Iva replied politely.

However, Rebecca replied differently. "Now, if you don't mind, sir. It'll make it easier for us for the rest of the day."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, yes, it would." He turned to the woman next to him. "Minerva, would you please get the hat?" She nodded curtly, got up, and left.

Rebecca and Diana watched as the Great Hall began to fill up. McGonagall came back shortly with Merlin, the hat.

Good day Ms. Sylfaen.

Good day Merlin.

How are you this fine morning?

Fine, I guess. I'd be better if I actually got some sleep last night. How are you?

I'm a hat, what do you think?

Oh, yeah.

Dumbledore stood up before the Great Hall and called their attention. "Students, may I have your attention? As you know, Hogwarts has recently admitted four students who were in critical, medical condition. Now that they are healthy, they have decided that they would like to stay and continue the rest of their school year here. Therefore, we would like to sort them into their houses now."

Merlin was sat on a three legged stool facing the rest of the Great Hall. As McGonagall was ready to call out the first name, he began to speak. "Students!" he called. "Before we begin, I'd like to request that you treat these four girls equally and fairly. I don't usually do this, so girls, take this as an honor. These are not the type of girls you'd want to make enemies with…" he trailed off thoughtfully. He broke out into song.

Since days of old

She pondered

Wondering how to make

A school so great

A school for girls

Of strength and will

A school where no male

Would be able to walk its halls

A school that housed

Witches of power

Of great strength

Of great will

Witches that had the power

To bring the world crashing down

But she made sure

That magic wasn't the only thing the girls learned

She taught them self defense

And that magic couldn't solve everything

She taught them how it was like

To be powerless

She made sure they knew

What it was like

To be weak

And alone

She knew the day would someday come

As the prophecy foretold

Of her heir rising to power

And thwarting her attempts

For her intentions were not so pure

As was brave Griffindor's

Sly Slytherin's

Humble Hufflepuff's and intelligent Ravenclaw's

She wanted to build an army

Of beauty and strength

She kept it hidden

In a land not yet discovered

From all over the world hoarded witches

From India and China

Russia and Arabia

But most of all England

Using the strength she possessed

She built it using magic and control

And vowed that as founder

She would always protect it

To this day her sprit wanders

Making sure that one day

When the time comes

Her army will be ready

Waiting

For the perfect vessel

To hold her soul

Waiting

For the heir that would come

And put a stop to her plans

Because this is no urban legend

This is truth

She would ride into battles astride a pure black stallion

Raven black hair streaming

Emerald green eyes glistening

The raven flying above her head, crowing

Fearlessly

Carelessly

Viciously

She stomped over her enemies

Killing all that opposed her

All that threatened her

All that could thwart her

And yet still

She was admired

Hero-worshipped

Statues were made honoring

The great Morgan LeFay

The hat came to an end and the Great Hall was silent, awe-struck. Rebecca swallowed hard at the mention of Morgan LeFay. She knew where she was going to be sorted already.

Composing herself, McGonagall called out the first name. "DaVin, Iva!"

Giving Rebecca's wrist a tight squeeze, Iva went, sat on the stool, shutting her eyes as McGonagall placed the hat on her head. After a few minute's wait, the hat announced "SLYTHERIN!" The table's boys—but not Draco, Rebecca was oddly happy to see—roared with applause and shouts.

Turning to each other, Daina and Rebecca shared shocked glances. Taking on the hat, Iva walked calmly toward the Slytherin table, taking the seat diagonally across from Draco. "Parker, Ashley!"

Excitingly, Ashley practically skipped to the hat, jamming it on her head. Within a second, the hat announced his--its?—decision. "HUFFLEPUFF!" Taking the hat off slowly, she stood up and put the hat back on the stool. She stared at disbelievingly, shook her head slightly, and walked over to the Hufflepuffs' table, who were clapping moderately.

"Setterfield, Diana!" called McGonagall. Calmly, as if it made no difference to her, Diana sat on the stool and placed the hat on her head, making sure it tilted slightly. "GRIFFINDOR!"

The Griffindor table bursted with applause as Diana went to join them, but not before giving an encouraging glance at Rebecca. "Sylfaen, Rebecca!" Taking a deep breath, Rebecca went and sat under the hat.

Welcome dear.

Hey Merlin.

I believe you already know where I'm going to put you?

She thought for a moment. Yeah, I do.

And that is?

S-wait! Is that a trick question?

Whatever do you mean?

Are you going to put me into the house I say?

No. I was going to put you into Slytherin regardless. I do believe that was what you were going to say, since we only have one House that starts with an S.

I know. That's what I was going to say anyway.

Well then, is there anything else?

Nope.

Okay then—

NO WAIT!

What?

Why did you put Iva in Slytherin?

Darling, do you really think I would tell you?

Not for a second.

Then why did you ask?

In case I was wrong.

Yes well.

Merlin?

Yes?

Are you, by any chance, the magician Merlin? The one that helped King Arthur?

I believe you've asked enough questions.

Merlin! But I—

"SLYTHERIN!" He announced to the rest of the Great Hall. Taking off the hat, she practically threw it back on the stool.

"Thanks a lot Merlin." She muttered, just so she could hear.

There was silence and then, with a start, Rebecca realized she fit the description of Morgan LeFay perfectly. Black hair, green eyes. Vicious when provoked…

She tried not to think about it. Finally, someone at the Slytherin table began clapping. Then another. And another. Then the whole table. Rebecca almost couldn't stand from trying not to burst out laughing. Making her way to the table, she saw that there was an empty seat next to Draco. But across from Iva.

Messing up Diana's hair as she passed she looked her best friend in the eyes. Their message was the same: we'll still be friends. We won't let the different house get in the way.

Taking the seat next to Draco, he smirked at her. "Well, aren't we lucky? We got stuck with you."

"Excuse me? Stuck with?" she questioned, mocking being insulted.

He smiled slightly, and then tilted his head to the right. "Is it true? What the hat said about your school teaching all that stuff?"

She hesitated, and then nodded. "Yeah, It is. We're a lot more advanced. As in, most of the things we learn isn't really what our dear old president would want us to learn."

"Such as…?"

She stole a piece of untouched buttered toast from Draco's plate and took a bite out of it. Swallowing, she replied. "Like…how to disable Muggle technology that we shouldn't be able to disable."

"By using magic?"

She shook her head. "No, without it. Especially with the self defense. Last year, me, Diana, Iva, and Ashley were paired up in a group to for this thing…I guess you could call it being undercover or whatever. Does that make any sense?"

He half smiled. "Nope, not really. I can't believe you stole my toast."

She smirked. "If it makes you feel any better, it tasted really good."

He rolled his eyes at her and glanced around for a clock. Not finding any, he looked at Iva. "Do you have the time?"

She smiled slightly. "Yes I do. It's seven forty."

He looked at Rebecca. "Classes start at eight. You're lucky though. Since its Friday, we only have Transfiguration, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, and Defense against the Dark Arts."

She nodded. "And the teachers? Who are they?"

"McGonagall for Transfiguration, Flitwick for Charms, Hagrid for Care of Magical Creatures, and Moody for DADA."

"Draykey!" exclaimed Pansy, who was behind them. As the two of them turned to look at her, Rebecca saw Harry and a red-headed boy duck their heads laughing and Hermione politely hide her laugh behind her hand. Even Rebecca couldn't help but crack a smile.

Diana caught her eyes. "Is she for real?" she mouthed.

Rebecca smirked. "Yes. Isn't that so stupid?" she mouthed back her reply.

"YES!" Diana mouthed out her yell.

Pursing her lips together so as not to laugh, Rebecca turned back to the conversation Pansy and Draco were having, mainly because of the next few words that came out of Pansy's mouth.

"…and what are you doing with that bitch?"

In a quick move, both Diana and Rebecca were up, wands out, closing in on Pansy. "'Scuse me Pansy, what was that?" asked Rebecca. "I didn't quite catch that last bit. I'm sure you'll repeat it, though."

Pansy began to back up as owls flew overhead, feathers flying over the place. All eyes—or so it seemed ---were on them. She stuttered. "I-I-I didn't do anything."

"Bull crap." Diana spat out venomously.

"Next time you want to say something like that, say to my face." Rebecca continued. "That way, it'll be more fun to hex you into the middle of next week."

A hand fell on her shoulder. "Is there a problem here?" asked a greasy voice.

Turning around, Rebecca smiled sweetly. "Of course not, Professor, there's no problem here."

His beady black eyes darted from Pansy to Draco to Rebecca to Diana and back around again. "Very well." He said shortly. "Go to class."

Draco crept up next to her and, catching Iva's eye, Rebecca motioned for her to come; she knew that if Iva came, Ashley would follow. Sure enough, soon, both of them were at her side. "C'mon. We have transfiguration."

Turning heel, Rebecca led her group out, ignoring the eyes of everyone else in the Great Hall.

---

"Transfiguration, class, is all about keeping things hidden." Began Professor McGonagall. "If you don't want something to be seen for what it is, then I advise you to learn how to transfigurate."

From where she was sitting (next to Draco!), she could see Harry and the red-head holding their chin in their hands, and Hermione taking notes. A few tables down the row sat Iva and Pansy, passing notes. Diana sat next to Hermione, using magic to origami some paper.

McGonagall was trying to teach them how to transfigure their neighbor into inanimate objects. Needless to say, Draco was getting a little nervous. "So," he muttered to her. "How well can you transfigure someone?"

She smirked. "What, are you getting nervous?"

"No!" he shot back. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by McGonagall.

"Okay, now, the spell is Mutopli. Say it with me, no wands. Mutopli." The class chanted the spell a bit after her and then she stopped them. "Okay, now, the wand movement is a simple flick of the wrist. Any volunteers?"

No hands went up. "Oh come on, someone must want to go." She looked around. "No one? Very well, I will call two of you up…" she scanned the classroom and Rebecca felt her eyes rest on her. Looking up, she involuntarily locked eyes with McGonagall.

"Oh no," she murmured.

"Ms. Sylfaen, I understand you're one of the new students. Why don't you demonstrate how well you can transfigure?" Her eyes next rested on Pansy. "Ms. Parkinson, why don't you come up here as well?"

"Oh, well, that's not good." Draco muttered, shaking his head.

Glaring at each other, both Rebecca and Pansy got up, walking over to the front of the room. "Ms. Sylfaen, would you like to go first?"

"Nope." Rebecca said bluntly.

Professor McGonagall gave her an exasperated look. "Very well, Ms. Parkinson, you first."

Turning to face each other, Pansy drew out her wand, a satisfied smirk on her face. "Mutopli!" she shouted…and nothing happened.

Rebecca raised her eyebrow. "God, is that all you can do?" She pulled out her wand and concentrated on a rodent. "Mutopli!"

This time, something happened. Where once stood a pug faced girl, now sat a pug faced rat. There were laughs all around the room and now Rebecca was the one with a satisfied smirk. As McGonagall turned Pansy back, she told Pansy to try again.

And she did try again, only the transfiguration spell wasn't what came out of her mouth. "Furnunculus!"

Eyes widening, Rebecca ducked the spell. Don't turn into a wolf. She thought. Don't, don't, don't!!! Ugh, if this was my old school, I'd be able to pounce on her right now.

She shouted the first spell that came to mind. "Avolo Averto!" Pansy flew back into the far wall, mimicking what Crabbe and Goyle had done, only, sadly, not hitting her head as hard.

"ENOUGH!" bellowed McGonagall, getting in the way of Pansy and Rebecca's wand reach. "One hundred points from Slytherin for the both of you."

"But-but Professor!" protested Pansy. Rebecca just shoved her hands in her hoodie pocket and hummed slightly; she'd been in worse trouble.

"I don't want to hear it, Ms. Parkinson! Now, both of you go back to your seats." Rebecca shrugged indifferently and slipped back into her seat next to Draco. Pansy, however, went down differently.

"But, Professor McGonagall, it was her fault!"

"Well then you can battle it but without magic. And not on school premises."

Grumbling, she went back to her seat. "Gee, thanks for losing us two hundred House points Rebecca." Draco said, leaning in to whisper to her.

She smiled. "Oh that? You haven't seen anything yet, Draco dear." Taking out a plain piece of paper (which she stole from Draco), Rebecca began to sketch a scene. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Draco looking at her with a look she couldn't exactly place. When she glanced up at him, he looked away.

Finishing it up, she smiled in praise of her drawing. He leaned close to her again. "What are you drawing?"

She pushed the drawing to him. It was a black, white, and grey drawing of a dark forest with a lone black wolf on a sloping rock, howling at the full moon above. It was considerably good, and he told her how great he thought it was. Blushing slightly at the praise, she was confused by why he was pulling out his wand.

He murmured a spell and colors flowed out of his wand, gently slipping into the picture. The moon was now casting a slivery glow over everything and the forest was now a black-purple. The bushes near the rock were a deep green, lavender flowers growing on it. The wolf's pelt was a darker black and the colors of its eyes were slightly visible; they were an emerald green.

Taking out her quill—or rather, Draco's since she had stolen that from him too—she signed her name and then indicated Draco to sign. Looking at the paper, she saw their names side-by-side. Draco Malfoy and Rebecca Sylfaen. She tried not to think of the names together.

"Wingardium Laviosa." She muttered under her breath. She guided the paper across the room when McGonagall had her back turned. It landed gently in front of Diana and she looked over it. When she finished she glanced at Rebecca at grinned. "Very nice." She mouthed. Rebecca smiled and Diana sent the picture back.

As Rebecca tucked the picture into a spare notebook (which she actually didn't steal from Draco, she got it at the hut), the bell signaling to go to the next class rang.

---

As Rebecca and Draco sat together through Charms (Diana had headed off to Herbology) she couldn't help but be bored. Apparently, today no wand work was going to happen. She couldn't exactly say she was disappointed; she had enough of it last class.

"God, this is boring." Draco muttered.

Rebecca was ready to agree when she had a coughing fit. After two minutes, she still didn't stop and the class was beginning to get aggravated. Annoyed because she hated to cough, she summoned a bottle of thick, clear, and liquid medicine, taking it in between coughs.

The teacher, whose named escaped her, ask squeakily, "Are you okay Ms. Sylfaen?"

She nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that, Professor. The side effects of the fire, I guess."

He nodded, and waddled away, leaving the students to the bookwork. As they were looking for the answers to number six, Draco glanced at Rebecca. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, and no. Something's bothering me; it's just not the cough."

He nodded. "What bothering you?"

"I…don't know if I could tell you. Dumbledore…"

He just nodded again. "Yeah…okay." For the rest of the class time, it was quiet.

---

Draco and Rebecca, along with Iva, headed outside and down a sloping lawn toward a small, wooden cabin that stood on the end of the Forbidden Forest.

As they were walking up to join the class, they heard the giant man—who Rebecca presumed was Hagrid—tell the Griffindor's that whatever they were going to be taking care of, had just hatched. "Why would we want to take care of them?" Draco asked in disgust as he looked into the wooden crate that had been rattling.

Rebecca took a look in it too and practically jumped back. "That's nasty; do we really have to take care of that?" What she was referring to was what seemed like a pale, shell-less, deformed, lobster with no heads that she could see and legs sticking out all over the place. Not to mention they were slimy.

"What do they do, exactly?" Draco continued. "What are they good for?"

Hagrid thought for a moment, opened his mouth, shut it, then opened it again said, "Tha's the next lesson Malfoy. Yer jus' goin' ter find out what they eat. I've never had 'em before, so I'm not sure. The foods in the other crates now get goin'."

"Um," Rebecca started. "What exactly are they?"

Hagrid looked at her. "Yer a new one, what's yer name?"

"Rebecca."

"Right, well, these are Blast-Ended Skrewts!"

She looked down into the crate again. "Blast ended?" she whispered to Draco, who just shrugged.

Ten minutes of picking up frog liver and trying to feed it to the Skrewts led Rebecca to think that this was incredibly pointless, seeing as though you couldn't even see their heads, much less their mouths. "Draco, can you by any chance see their mouth?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't think anyone can."

Looking around, Rebecca could see that he was right. "OW!" shouted a black, Griffindor boy. "Its end exploded!"

Hagrid rushed over and the boy showed him his hand, which had a burn. "Oh, yeah, that happens when they blast off."

"Eurgh!" said a girl for the umpteenth time. "What's this pointy thing on it?"

"Oh, some of 'em's got stingers. I reckon those are the males. The females have a sorta sucker thing…I think it might be ter suck blood."

The girl squealed and jumped back. "Well, now I see why we'd want to keep them alive." Draco said sarcastically. "Why wouldn't we want something that burns, stings, and sucks blood?"

Hermione whirled around, glaring at him. "Just because they're not the most beautiful thing on earth, doesn't mean that they're not useful. I mean, dragon's blood is extremely magical, but you wouldn't want a pet dragon, would you?"

Rebecca tilted her head slightly to the right. "Well, I dunno Hermione. I don't think I'd mind having a dragon. Could be fun, and if you think about it, it's an unlimited supply of dragon's blood, isn't it?" Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I don't think they really eat anything. I can't find their heads; can any of you?"

Even the Griffindor's had to shake their heads, admitting that even they couldn't find it. Hagrid spoke. "Well, they've got ter eat something."

"Blood," Rebecca said simply. "Why else would they have suckers and stingers? They're a lot like leeches and mosquitoes, if you think about it."

Hermione nodded. "That makes sense…and if it's true, then we could have been feeding them this whole time without realizing it." With that, the few people that had their hands in the crates withdrew them quite quickly. Thankfully, the bell for the lunch rang and the class departed the Skrewts happily.

---

Sitting in the Great Hall, Rebecca slowly are her chicken sandwich and French fries. She turned to Draco. "How many other classes do we have today?"

He swallowed what he had been chewing. "Only one; Defense against the Dark Arts."

She nodded, knowing that that was going to be interesting. Glancing a few seats down, she saw Pansy and Iva talking energetically. She felt a twinge in her gut and knew that those two together would not make a good combination.

---

The stout man that had helped wake Iva hobbled into the room, his electric blue eye whirling. As the students began to take out their books, he snapped. "You won't need those, put them away."

He called roll, his magical eye whizzing to look at the students while his normal one stayed fixed on the list. When he finished, he said, "Well then, I received a letter from Professor Lupin of the things you've covered in his classes; boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves. But you're far behind in dealing with curses. Or, rather, those of you who were here last year are." His eyes rested on Rebecca. "The ones who aren't, I got a letter from your old headmaster. It's very impressive, if I may say so myself. Not surprised though, after hearing the hat's song. But anyway, I've only got one year—'

The red-head next to Harry cut him off. "You're not staying?" he asked, slightly surprised.

Moody looked at him, at first frowning, and then he smiled. "Your Arthur Weasley's boy, aren't you? Your father helped me out a few days ago…but yes, I'm only staying for one year. It's as a favor for Dumbledore. One year, then I'll be back to my retirement." He laughed almost manically and then clapped his hands together. "Ok, curses. They come in many forms and, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm only supposed to be teaching you counter curses, and that's it. I'm not supposed to demonstrate illegal Dark curses until you're in your sixth year, which is when you're supposedly old enough to deal with it. But Dumbledore thinks you can handle it, you can cope. I say that the sooner you learn the better."

"You can't defend yourself against something you've never seen before, can you Ms. Sylfaen?" Rebecca nodded. "When a wizard's about to perform an illegal curse on you, he's isn't just going to warn you which spell he's going to use, is he Mr. Potter?" Harry shook his head. "You need to be alert and watching. You also, Ms. Brown, need to put that away when I'm talking."

The girl from before blushed. She had been showing the girl next to her something under the desk. Rebecca was amazed to see how strong that eccentric blue eye was. "So," Moody continued. "There are three illegal curses. Can anyone name me one?" The red-head raised his hand slowly. "Yes Weasly?"

"Um, my dad told me about this one. Is it called the Imperius Curse or something like that?"

Moody nodded, taking out a spider. Holding it in the palm of his hand he muttered, "Imperio."

The spider did a series of acrobatics and the whole class began to laugh as it did the tap dance—the whole class except for Moody, Rebecca, Diana, and Iva.

"You think it's funny don't you?" he snarled. "Would you like it if I did that to you?"

The class was silent instantly.

"It's total control." He said softly. "I could make her jump out the window, drown herself, and jump down one of your throats…whatever I want it to do."

The class was horror-struck, all eyes in the spider. "A lot of witches and wizards have been controlled by this in the Dark Ages of Voldemort" –the class flinched—"but there is a way to fight it. But not magic." His eyes rested on Rebecca. "Some of you are experienced with self-defense without magic. Others however," he looked around the room, "aren't. I suggest you change that."

"Anyone else know one?"

A nervous looking boy raised his hand and Moody called on him. "There's the-the Cruciatus Curse." He said in a small voice.

"Your name Longbottom?" The boy nodded but Moody said nothing further. "The spider needs to be a bit bigger…Engorgio." The spider began to swell up and now it was bigger then a tarantula. "Crucio!"

The spider's leg bent in on its body and it rolled over and began to twitch horribly. Rebecca looked away when Moody still did not move his wand from the creature; it had begun to shudder and jerk violently…

"STOP IT!!" Hermione shrieked, disgusted in the spell. Rebecca look at her, and saw that her eyes where not on the spider, but on the boy, Longbottom. His hands were clenched on the desk in front of him, his knuckles white, and his eyes scared, horrified, as though the distant past had come rushing back at him. He looked just about how Rebecca felt.

Moody removed his wand and, while the spider relaxed, it still continued to twitch. "Reducio." The spider shrank in size and he put it back in the jar. "There's one other. Ms. Granger, would you like to tell the class what it is?" Hermione shook her head, close to tears. "Very well, Ms. Sylfaen?"

The class looked at her and she wondered slightly if they knew. Deciding not, she spoke. "Avada Kedavra," She whispered.

He nodded. "Yes, the killing curse. Would you like to demonstrate it for the class?"

She looked at Diana and her eyes said it all: he knows. Rebecca shrugged. "I dunno if it'll work if I do it…after all, it only works if you want to kill something…"

He looked at her. "No, its fine, come up here and perform the curse. Just don't miss and hit Ms. Parkinson."

Everyone who had been in her Transfiguration class sniggered and she hesitated. "Okay…I guess I'll do it."

Taking her wand she went up to the front of the class. The spider sat on the table, unsuspecting. Pointing her wand at it, surprised to see that her wand hand was slightly shaking, she said, "Avada Kedavra." There was a blast of green light and rushing sound. Instantly, the spider was dead. Several classmates stifled cries and Weasly fell of his chair trying to get away from the dead spider that had coming skidding toward him.

"Not nice, not pleasant. There's no counter curse, not way to avoid it, no way of blocking it. The only one that's survived it is sitting before me." His eyes rested on Harry. As he went to gather the spider and throw it away, Rebecca, to her surprised, stopped him.

"There's a way to reverse it."

The class looked at her in surprise and she continued. "It doesn't work for everything, and it really depends on what you're reviving. If you revive another human, you risk killing yourself. If it's something as small as a spider…then it's just a headache, or a dizzy feeling."

Moody whirled. "How do you know that?"

She looked away guiltily. "We…um…tested it out last year. We didn't know it'd work. That's how we lost one of our friends; she wanted to try and revive a human after we told her what might happen if she does. She didn't listen obviously. But if you want the spell to work, you can't wait too long to use it."

She walked over to the spider and pointed her wand at it again. "Arvadek Adava." She muttered under her breath so not even the closest person could hear her. This time, there was no flash, no rushing sound. The spider rolled back and forth, back and forth; all eyes on it. As it rolled onto its natural position, Weasly shrieked and fall backwards in his chair, again.

The spider seemed to look up at Rebecca, wink, and then scuttled out the window, onto the side of the castle walls. The class was silent as Moody surveyed Rebecca carefully. She stood before him, her hands in her back pockets. "Go sit back down Ms. Sylfaen." She nodded and slipped back into her seat next to Draco.

"That was wicked." He whispered to her.