It was the day of graduation. Hogwarts was bustling on the main floor, but it was quiet up near the Ravenclaw rooms. Gray and Levy were walking down a hallway headed to the ceremonies. There was only one other person around, and unfortunately it was Flare. She bumped into Levy as if she didn't see her, then looked down at her. "Out of my way, McGarden. Witches and wizards only in this hall."

Gray turned to her with a hard look in his eyes. "Do you know where the word 'garden' comes from? It was derived from Levy's family name. They've been herbologists since before the Romans. I forget, what's your last name again?"

Flare was speechless. No one talked back to her. She tried to think of something insulting to say, then huffed and exited quickly. Gray and Levy proceeded down the hall, reaching the door. As Gray grabbed the doorknob, Levy put her wand up against his throat. Her hand was shaking.

"Gray Fullbuster has never cared about bloodlines. He would never say that to defend me. Who are you?"

Gray spoke, his voice different, huskier. "Well, your Gray is a simpleton if he doesn't understand the power of the old blood. Look at you – a McGarden! That family bloodline is still so strong. You could have become a great wizard one day. Expelliarmus!"

Levy hadn't seen him pull his wand from his sleeve. Her own wand flew down the hallway. He – whoever he was – slapped Levy across the face. She fell to the ground.

"Tell me, girl, have you ever heard of Zoldeo Black? Of the Kin of Purgatory? We might be too frightening for children to hear about. I am Zoldeo Black, master of subordination magic. Old magic. I was once a Ravenclaw like yourself. I came here thinking that I could learn about magic. The Dark Lord taught me that everything I need to know about magic runs through my veins."

He looked down at his free hand, flexing his grip. "I was able to sustain myself for a year within the body of Godric Gryffindor in that stupid painting. Do you have any idea what it's like to be trapped in a painting? But it was worth the wait. You see, I swore an unbreakable oath to kill Harry Potter. And now he's coming back. He's going to be in this building. And your friend Gray is going to walk right up to him and cast a killing curse in his face."

He kicked her in the chest. "I wish I had time to enjoy myself some more", he said, "but I have more urgent things to attend to."

Levy was helpless, but she had to do something. What could she do without a wand, or a rune, or potion, or plant? She needed something. She was panicking, but another part of her brain was rationally, systematically considering all possibilities. A thought came to her: she had elvish blood, and elves can wield magic without wands. But how? She had never tried it before. There were only a few spells she could cast well, even with a wand. What spell could she use?

She thought hard. Expelliarmus. Zoldeo had just cast one. She knew that spell. If he were disarmed, she'd have a better chance of stopping him. She thought back to the sound of his voice as he'd cast it, the way the air felt when he said it, the impact it had when it hit her wand. She remembered how it felt to cast it herself. It was a word. Levy understood words. She could release their power. She could do this.

"Expelliarmus!" she shouted, and Zoldeo's want flew out of his hand. That rational part of her mind considered her next options, and remembered Gray saying that Fairy Tailers were brawlers. She drove her knee into his crotch. He grunted hard, hunched over. She jammed her left thumb into his eye, and he screamed. She could blind him, she realized, but in a moment of weakness she thought of this person as Gray. If he could get back control of his body, could she live with herself for destroying his eyesight?

He jerked his body away, wrenching her thumb. Before she realized it, he had connected a fist to her jaw. She was fortunate – if he'd had better footing he would have knocked her unconscious. As it was, she was barely able to stay on her feet.

She made a decision. She ran. She knew if he retrieved his wand, she'd be dead, and so would Harry Potter. She had to move now before he had a chance to rearm himself.

She took off toward the door, pulled it open, and ran toward the next one. She realized that she was headed toward the main stairs. If she could find someone, she might make it through this. Or if she could hold a door against him – but all the doors along this level opened inward. She couldn't brace herself on the other side and block him.

It was worse than that. He was in close pursuit, down hallways and through doors, and each doorway slowed her down. If she could cast some spell – but there was no time. She was fast, but Gray had long legs. She opened the next door with Gray's footsteps just behind her.

She'd reached the main staircase! But no one was in sight. She ran at full speed toward the stairs and downward, shrieking for help. She looked ahead and in horror saw that the staircase ahead of her was moving. At her speed, she was going to run right off the next platform and through the air to her death.

But Zoldeo was right behind her. He wasn't focused on the stairs, only on catching her. He too would plunge to the stone far below. She found comfort knowing that she would at least defeat him.

A few steps to go, when in response to her shouting, charged spells shot through the air from three different directions, impacting Zoldeo, knocking him backward and off his feet. He had been stopped. But Levy's momentum carried her forward, past the edge, and downward. She was plummeting through the air. She saw other moving stairwells – would she be shattered against the sharp edges of a stair, or smashed into the floor at the bottom of her fall? In a moment, she saw Professor Flitwick on a level she raced past. Faster than she could understand, his wand was out, but a section of stairwell was fast approaching. It was too late.