Tansy looked at her reflection in the girls' bathroom mirror in horror – she looked completely and utterly mad. After returning to Brooklyn House for the summer she had been told that her room was now occupied by another child and Uncle Paul had grudgingly erected a camp bed for her in the garage; a cold, concrete building ten meters away from the house. The roof leaked and the wind found its way round the edges of the steel door but despite all of its faults, Tansy didn't mind the garage because it meant that she could keep out of the way of Big Tim and his cronies. Unfortunately, she couldn't avoid them for ever; on one of her trips inside to use the loo, during the second week of the holidays, they had cornered her on the landing.

'You're a nasty little bitch who thinks that she's better than all of us because she goes to a posh school...' (Auntie Leigh had told the residents that she was attending a private boarding school, which was sort of true, Tansy thought morosely, as she stared at herself). '…that's why you don't talk isn't it? You think you're above communication!' Tears filled Tansy's eyes as she recalled his words; despite making so much progress during the school year, now that she was back at Brooklyn, her mutism seemed to have returned with a vengeance.

After verbally assaulting her for nearly half an hour and still not getting a response, Big Tim had then decided to teach her a lesson and he had withdrawn the kitchen scissors from the back pocket of his jeans. Whilst his cronies had held her still he had then proceeded to cut away her hair and then her clothing piece by piece until she stood, completely naked, and shivering both with cold and embarrassment, in front of them – only then did he allow her to continue on her way. She blushed at the memory, two bright pink patches appearing on her reflection's cheeks. Tansy suddenly realised that her reflection also had big tears rolling down her cheeks and she reached up to touch her face, surprised to find it wet with tears. Big Tim had reduced her to a sobbing wreck before, but it felt worse this time; as if he had somehow managed to undo all of the good that Hogwarts had done for her over the last year. She now felt like the same scared, lost child who had left a year ago and added to that she looked terrible; Big Tim was nothing if not thorough and he had shorn her head so close that he had nicked her scalp in places.

The next morning Tansy woke, wondering why she felt so miserable, before remembering that she was stuck looking like a scarecrow for the next six months. Last night at dinner everyone had laughed uproariously at her new haircut, (even Uncle and Auntie who thought she had done it to herself for attention), and she knew that it wouldn't be any better today. She rolled out of the camp bed, her back aching savagely because the ancient mattress had lost the majority of its springs and it was rather like sleeping on a very prickly bed of gravel.

As she stood up she felt the familiar soft sensation of hair tumbling down her back and froze. Grabbing a mirror she gasped out loud as she saw waves of her own curly black hair flowing down over her shoulders. The joy at seeing her hair evaporated suddenly and was replaced by fear – she had used forbidden magic and this would surely have repercussions.

Everyone gaped in amazement as Tansy walked into the kitchen for breakfast and suddenly everyone began shouting at her. Blushing at the comments and stares, she fetched herself a piece of toast from the rack and was leaving the room for the safety of the garage when a scream made her turn round. An enormous barn owl had swooped in through the open kitchen window; it dropped a parchment letter at her feet and flew out again. Trembling, she picked it up and opened it.

Dear Miss Laverstock,

We have received intelligence that a Regrowth Charm was performed at your place of residence at seven minutes past seven this morning…

Tansy carried on reading, certain passages stuck out to her as she scanned the letter; 'serious offence', 'official warning' and, worst of all, 'expulsion from Hogwarts'. Everyone was talking at once and jostling her and Big Tim thumped her hard on the arm but she ignored them all – how was she to control the magic she performed accidentally in her sleep? She bit her lip hard, refusing to let the panicky tears take control while she had an audience.

Two magic-free days later she was cornered once more by Big Tim and his cronies. Scared and furious at the trick that she had performed, they demanded to know how she had done it and, when she simply stood there and stared at them, they decided to cut all her hair off for a second time and sit and observe her all day. Nothing happened and they soon grew bored so, after giving her a black eye and a split lip, they finally left her alone. That night, Tansy was too afraid to go to sleep in case her hair should grow back again. She made herself as uncomfortable as possible by sitting in the corner against the cold concrete wall and leaving the light on.

Tansy woke in a panic at the daylight streaming in through the broken window and immediately felt for her hair and, to her horror, she found that it had once more grown back and the familiar black curls were tumbling down over her shoulders. Twenty minutes later another huge owl flew in through the window with a letter clasped in its talons:

Dear Miss Laverstock,

We have received intelligence that a Regrowth Charm was performed at your place of residence at four minutes past five this morning. As you have already received an official warning for a previous offence, this repeated breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand…

Tansy felt her whole body go limp and she closed her eyes briefly, trying to absorb this horrific news. As she slid slowly down the concrete wall to the floor the letter slipped from her grasp and landed upside down in a pool of water. The green ink bled slowly into the water, creating a pretty pattern as she stared at it, trying to processes what was happening.

A loud, echoing crack broke through her reverie and she looked up quickly as a man and woman walked through the door. Both were bespectacled and were wearing purple robes with an embroidered 'M' on the shoulder and grim expressions.

'Are you Miss Tansy Laverstock?' The woman asked snappily and continued when Tansy nodded numbly in reply, not able to answer verbally. 'You have performed illegal magic and have therefore been expelled from Hogwarts – you will surrender your wand.'

Tansy swallowed, fighting against the thing in her throat that seemed to be holding her voice box tightly in its fist. After several seconds of struggling, she finally let out a strangled cough and blushed heatedly as both of the adults raised their eyebrows.

'What?'

Tansy staggered backwards and grabbed a piece of parchment from the floor and the stump of a muggle pencil; it had been a whole year since she had had to resort to writing as a method of communication.

Please, I didn't mean to do any magic. I didn't use my wand or anything. It happened in my sleep. My hair just grew back.

She looked up, her heart thudding, suddenly feeling simultaneously very hot and very very cold. Her head was spinning and the oxygen supply seemed to have dwindled. The two officials looked at each other.

'Have you lost your voice child?' The woman asked, her voice suddenly more gentle. Tansy nodded frantically, grasping at the given explanation.

'The magic was performed without your having any knowledge of it?' The man clarified, frowning at his college. Tansy controlled an absolutely crazy desire to laugh hysterically and nodded again. 'You woke up to find that your hair had grown back on both occasions?' Tansy nodded for a third time, feeling the top of her head distractedly, still not quite believing that it had actually grown back on its own.

'May I see your wand please?' With shaking hands, Tansy rummaged in her trunk and withdrew the ebony wand. The Ministry official placed his own wand, a short light-brown one, on its tip and muttered, 'prior incantato,' and, to her surprise, a shadowy replica of Ron's head complete with bright bubblegum-pink hair appeared between the two wands. As the shadow vanished the man looked down at her in surprise.

'But tell me child, why cut your hair if you didn't want it short?'

Tansy grabbed the pencil for a second time and scribbled:

I didn't! The boys cut it.

Tansy normally didn't condone telling tales but the stakes were too high on this occasion – she had to get back to Hogwarts somehow. The man and woman withdrew slightly and had a whispered conversation. Short snatches of their discussion floated over to her.

'-appears to be telling the truth...'

'-she was forced…'

'-face bashed up pretty badly…'

'-evidence to the contrary…'

Finally they turned back to her, evidently slightly wrong-footed.

'Right, well, we've decided that this is a matter for our head of department… you will accompany us to the Ministry.' Putting her wand in his pocket the man took her by the arm extremely tightly and she winced as the bruises left by Big Tim throbbed painfully.

'We'll be going by side-along apparition, have you ever travelled in this way before?' Tansy shook her head in reply and was rather alarmed when the man laughed humourlessly. 'Well it isn't the most comfortable way of travel.' The man grinned and turned sharply on the spot and Tansy was pulled into a horrible, suffocating tunnel.

Hope you enjoy. Please let me know what you think.