AN: So I made my move across the country and only left one thing behind… My flash drive! I left it at work and my boss mailed it to me but guess what? IT GOT LOST IN THE MAIL! THE FLASH DRIVE FELL OUT! Now normally I wouldn't be so flustered about this but that thumb drive had the only copy of my notes for this story, as well as tons of art work and personal photos. BUT I LOST ALL OF MY UNPUBLISHED STORY! I am talking over 80K words from year 3 and 4. I have cried, I have prayed, I have called several post offices, I have sworn off ever continuing this story, and I have cried some more. But here I am. Most of it I know I can just rewrite, but there were so many big chunks I don't think I have it in me to re-do, like the story of Sirius Black while he's in AZ… Anyways, it has been 2 weeks but hopefully the Post office will still find it… Your Prayers and encouragement are always welcome.

I would like to dedicate this chapter to a few reviewers who make my day every time they comment.

First off to the new arrival Marauders-Fred and George XD – I LOVE Gabe too! I'm glad you like him! Thanks so much for joining the story!

Cole the Demon Hunter, Luli Cullen, Ali, flourish1998 – You guys make me so happy with your faithful reviewing and reading!

Phoenixgrl15 – Patience! Patience! I have a lot in store but unfortunately we have to get through year 2 before the real fun begins!

viper marie Cahill – I don't really like Movie Ginny very much, but unfortunately Mia and Harry will not be getting married, she is destined for another :) and her and Harry are God brother and sister. Gross.

TheSixthQuill – Thank you so much for your thoughts, you really encourage me and make me want to write 3

Thank you so much to all of my readers, I really do appreciate you all. And thanks to my beta Mira. Also, HOW HAPPY IS EVERYONE THAT POTTERMORE IS OPEN? You all should add me and give me your screen names to add! My name is RoseAsh5020!

I own nothing!

6/18/16

Chapter 21

Herbology was reasonably uneventful. Mia got a ton of glares and people were back to whispering about her with fear in their eyes. At the beginning of term she had been randomly paired with Dean Thomas and two Hufflepuffs who seemed to have heard the new rumors. Hanna Abbot had already known Mia and was scared to death of her. Now she wouldn't even look at Mia. The other girl, a brunette named Kadi was a half blood and had felt the need to tell this to Mia the moment they sat down, in a frantic voice. Dean just seemed oblivious to the whole thing. After Herbology Mia decided to skip lunch and go straight to Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall wouldn't be there yet, so Mia would have a chance to start her Herbology essay. Mia was in the middle of explaining the chemical properties of dittany when Professor McGonagall entered her classroom. "Miss Black, were you planning on eating at all today?"

Mia smiled to herself. Her head of house always tried to watch out for her, even if she tried not to be noticed in doing it. "No Professor, I believe I have lost my appetite this morning."

"That's understandable. I myself often find it difficult to eat when the whole school is looking at me." Mia looked up at the professor and caught her eye. She wondered to herself just how much the teacher knew. "What are they saying now?"

Mia knew the old witch was aware of Mia's less than friendly relationship with her school mates, but Mia also knew that McGonagall's usual approach to opposition was to let the person sort it out for themselves. Mia looked down at her parchment as she answered. "They think I opened the Chamber of Secrets."

Mia heard a book slam onto the Professors desk and looked up. Professor McGonagall had a look of pure shock on her face. "Of all the foolish things! Why on earth would anyone suspect you?"

Mia laughed. "Really Professor, It's ok. They need someone to blame and I'm already the Murderer Heir so it's just convenient for them to put all of their fear and hatred in one place."

Professor McGonagall looked at Mia with a strange look. "You know you are a wise girl for your age."

Mia smiled sadly. "I'm not as smart as I sound. I know why they hate me, but that doesn't mean I know how to deal with this."

"Miss Black, you are more of a Gryffindor than you even know. Courage isn't about having all the answers; it's about facing our challenges especially when we don't know how." The classroom door opened and a few Ravenclaw students walked in and found their seats. Professor McGonagall nodded reassuringly at Mia and smiled thinly as the rest of the class filed in.

There were still a few minutes before class started and there were still a few students who hadn't yet arrived. Gabe was one of them. Mia hadn't seen Gabe since the forbidden forest when she was a tiger and he had followed her in. More than being frustrated about the rest of the school hating her, Mia was worried about Gabe and what he knew. Had he been avoiding her? Did he know she had been lying to him? Had he figured out she was an animagus and now he was angry at her for not confiding in him? Mia looked around, everyone was in class except for Gabe. He was avoiding her. And now he was going to ditch class.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward and began her lecture. Today we will be working on…" The door opened and Gabe slipped in. "You are late Mr. Adewumi."

Gabe slipped into the seat next to Mia. "Sorry Professor." McGonagall continued her lecture and Gabe leaned into Mia and whispered to her. "Where have you been? I have been looking all over the place for you!"

Mia leaned back into her chair and tried to focus on Professor McGonagall. She would catch them if they talked so Mia knew to wait for the practical part of class to begin. Mia was glad to see Gabe wasn't avoiding her, she had just been avoiding everyone so it made sense he couldn't find her. Why was Mia being so paranoid? She was used to everyone in the school hating her, but she didn't know how to have a friend who wouldn't turn his back on her for anything. This would take some getting used to.

When the class was released to practice transfiguring objects into animals Gabe tried to start their conversation but Mia was distracted by the lesson. "You don't think they are real animals do you? I mean you can't create something living." Mia leaned forward with her elbows on the desk looking at the rat that used to be a snuff box sitting on the Professor's table. "You can't just transfigure a snuff box and have it become a real life person with a thinking mind." Mia hesitated, "Can you?"

Mia looked at Gabe with a gleam of curiosity in her eyes. He had seen that look before every time Mia found a problem in a text book that she needed to solve. She couldn't be distracted until it was solved. Gabe sighed to himself. "Let's find out." Gabe pointed his wand at the snuff box in front of him and spoke the incantation. The box transformed in a swish and Gabe was left with a fluffy white bunny. Gabe smiled.

"Oh Gabe, that was fantastic." Mia reached out and petted the bunny.

"I like the color." Gabe looked at Mia and she blushed and looked back at the bunny. How much did he know about the white tiger? "Anyways, it looks like a real bunny."

Gabe was right. The bunny was sniffing her book, then it would hop over and sniff her quill, but she didn't hear it talking. "How about it little guy, are you real? Can you hear me?"

Food. Safe. Quiet. Burrow. Food. Safe.

"Food, are you hungry? I have some food right here." Mia held up a scrap of parchment for the bunny to sniff. It sniffed it before hopping over to Gabe's book and sniffed that as well. It clearly wasn't convinced by her words.

Food. Safe. Burrow. Food.

"That's so interesting." Mia focused on the bunny while Gabe sat in confusion.

"What? What's interesting? The bunny didn't want to eat the paper. So what? It just means it's smart."

Mia laughed. "No it's more than that. It's like this animal is just instinct, it's only concerns are to find food and to find a safe quiet burrow. It has no mind, no voice; it's just an impression of an animal. A shadow of the original thing."

"Now how could you possibly know that? It's an animal! Animals don't have personalities."

Mia looked at Gabe like he was insane; luckily Professor McGonagall took that opportunity to round their table. "Mr. Adewumi, great work here! And must I say, I loved your display of Gryffindor pride at the game yesterday." Gabe sunk his head in the memory but Mia held hers up with pride. "And Miss Black I applaud your use of the book I gave you. Ten Points to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw." McGonagall had a thin smile on her face. "Alright, now perform the reversal charm and it's your turn Miss Black." Professor McGonagall began walking to the next table.

"Professor?" McGonagall turned back to Mia. "Professor, is an animal created with this charm a real animal?"

"Well of course it is Miss Black. Just because it isn't born doesn't make it any less living."

"I didn't say it wasn't living, I asked if it was real. You know, normal. It doesn't think like a normal animal, it doesn't have thoughts other than instinctual actions."

Now Professor McGonagall was giving Mia the same look that Gabe was. "Miss Black, what makes you think it thinks differently?"

"Have you ever tried to talk to an animal you transfigured?" McGonagall and Gabe both gave Mia the same look again. "I mean as an animagus." Now Gabe and McGonagall were giving Mia a different look. Mia was getting flustered. "As an animagus you have spoken to other animals, correct?" McGonagall nodded encouraging Mia to continue. "And when talking to them you know that they have sentient thought. They talk like real people. Owls are gossips, rabbits are happy and joyful unless they smell a predator, cats are sarcastic and sometimes rude and wolves are loving and loyal. Animals: They have personalities, you can tell one from another when you speak to them. You have spoken to one haven't you?"

"Yes, yes Miss Black, I have spoken to them before. But really, how can you know this?"

"It's complicated, but my point is, this animal doesn't think like that. Trust me, try it sometime. Its thoughts are purely instinct, not an ounce of self in its mind." Mia was fascinated by this discovery, so fascinated that she was revealing too much to Gabe and McGonagall. But she did trust both of these people, more than anyone else. She was just glad that the rest of the class was too distracted to pay her any mind.

"That is a very interesting theory, something I will look into in the future. Until then, try practicing the lesson Miss Black." Professor McGonagall swiped her wand and turned the rabbit back into a snuff box, and then she promptly walked off.

Gabe looked at Mia. "What was that?"

Mia put her face in her hands. Why did she say all that? She looked up and grabbed her wand, pointed it at the snuff box and spoke the incantation. The snuff box grew black fuzz. She sighed and put her face back in her hands. Gabe spoke, "well at least it has fur."

Mia laughed. "Gabe, can you keep a secret?"

Gabe sighed, "Always".

"I can talk to animals."

Gabe blinked. He blinked again, "What?"

"Am I speaking English? I can talk to animals." Mia lowered her voice even more. "That's why I went out to the forest last night, the wolf pack, they are my friends. I was angry and I felt betrayed and hated so I was going to spend time with my pack. That was until some foolish boy decided to go crashing through the woods after me!"

Gabe looked at Mia with confusion then astonishment and finally resting on accusation. "You let them attack me!"

Mia laughed. "They weren't attacking you! They just really love messing with people, and you wandered into their territory! They are big pranksters. Fleetfoot, that's the big grey and black one, he loves chasing stray students out of the forest."

"But what about that tiger?"

"Tiger? What tiger?"

"There was a white tiger. It jumped out of the tree at me!"

Mia looked at Gabe with a look of confusion. It was taking all of her concentration to keep the look of confusion and not a look of guilt. "I've been spending most of my free time in those woods for the last year and a half, and I've never seen a tiger in there."

Gabe shook his head and did a reversal spell to turn the snuff box back completely to its original form. "Close your eyes this time and try again. So what sort of things have you seen in the forest?"

Mia pointed her wand at the box and closed her eyes. "Rabbits, wolves, birds, squirrels, other rodents, nothing fancy. The wolves usually protect me from anything dangerous and they stay away from the centaurs." Mia spoke the incantation and opened her eyes. The box had ears, and no fur. She sighed and Gabe reverted the box back. "I saw a unicorn once." Gabe perked up and looked at Mia. "He was amazing."

"What did he say?"

"Did you know unicorns can tell when you are lying?" Gabe looked on with awe and shook his head. "He helped me admit truth to myself that I was avoiding. He also warned me that You-know-Who was in the forest. You remember how Quirrell was feeding him unicorn blood? He warned me to stay safe. Then he gave me a hair from his mane." Mia tried the spell again and ended up with a snuff box with mice legs. "That was the first night I met the wolves, my first time in the forest. You-Know-Who killed several more unicorns in the forest after that. I often worry that he was one of them."

Gabe reverted the box back. "Why haven't you tried seeking him out?"

Mia smiled sadly. "You don't find a unicorn, they find you. Unless you are a soul sucking demon."

Mia pointed her wand at the box again. This time Gabe reached out and grabbed her hand. "Focus. Close your eyes, take a deep breath. Feel the power rise up inside of you, shape the magic with your words and with your imagination and put it into the box."

Mia closed her eyes and did as she was told. She opened her eyes and before her was a brown mouse. Its fur was in the faint pattern of the wood grain of the snuff box. Gabe closely inspected the mouse. "Close enough." He smiled at Mia. "I wanted to apologize. That's why I followed you. I wanted to apologize for not standing up to those stupid girls sooner. I did yell at them, it was just a bit delayed." Gabe smiled again. "Though I do have to admit, going from Murderers Heir to the Heir of Slytherin in one night, now that's impressive!"

Mia shook her head and punched Gabe in the arm. "So you have heard?" Mia laughed. "I just don't get it! People would know if the Black family was a direct descendent of Slytherin! Besides, I'm in Gryffindor!"

Gabe laughed back. "Teenagers never were the smartest bunch. Don't worry; I'm sure the masses will be pointing their fingers at someone else soon enough. Just don't antagonize any muggleborns in the meantime."

"I didn't even know he was a muggle born! He was just super annoying!" Gabe laughed. "Keep your voice down or people will be sure to convict you." Professor McGonagall returned and pointed out Mia's flaws in her spell work but awarded her a few points for her success.

Mia petted the mindless mouse. "How long have you been able to talk to them?" Gabe asked.

"As long as I can remember. I grew up in an orphanage, and I was never like the other kids. Now I know it was because I was a witch, but before that it was hard." Mia smiled up at Gabe. "Sort of like my first year here, no one ever spoke to me. I was an outcast, so I would make friends with the stray cats. That only made the other kids make fun of me more. As soon as I was old enough to climb I would spend my day in the trees reading and talking to the birds. Finches may not be too bright but they were welcomed friends."

"You never talk about where you were before Hogwarts. I knew you didn't have any family but I guess I never really thought about it." Gabe was curious but he knew Mia wasn't very open so he didn't want to push for answers.

"It was difficult, but I never knew anything else. I was a year old when I was placed there. I would have dreams sometimes about things I must have seen before the muggle orphanage but talking about that was never really an option." Mia could tell Gabe was curious. "I know I don't talk much about anything personal, but it's only because I'm more of a suffers in silence type. I trust you and don't mind if you have questions. The orphanage feels like so long ago, like some bad dream. Those memories aren't painful anymore so never feel like you can't ask. I know your thirst for answers Ravenclaw boy."

Gabe and Mia laughed for a bit as they took turns turning the box into animals. Mia slowly improved until her mouse was completely normal looking, but still smelt a tad like tobacco. Gabe decided to risk another question. "So the first time you went into the forest. Why did you do it?"

Mia thought for a moment. "Honestly, I felt the itch to break some rules." Gabe laughed. "Really, I felt trapped in the castle and you know me, I hate playing it safe. That's why I climbed trees every day of my childhood. I was lonely and didn't want to be trapped any longer, so I went in over Christmas break and met the wolves. They welcomed me immediately into their pack, let me play with the pups, explore with them. They have been the closest thing to family I've ever had over the past year."

Gabe looked intrigued. "Why were they so welcoming? Was it just cultural or because you spoke to them? I know they weren't welcoming to me!"

Mia smiled, "It was strange, it was like they were watching out for me. Fleetfoot said someone they called Moonwalker told them to look out for me. They were calling me with their pack songs over the first few months of the year. They wanted me to come to them so they could look after me better. I still don't know who told them to do it."

They talked for a while longer. Mia told Gabe all about the different members of the Pack and their different personalities. It was soon time for Mia and Gabe to part ways. "Uhg, I have Herbology with the Slytherins next, and guess who is in my table group?" Mia shook her head. "None other than your annoying cousin.

Mia laughed. "Good luck with that! I on the other hand get to go to potions now!"

Gabe shook his head. "You are the only one in the world who gets excited about that."

"I am going to ask Professor Snape about my potion today, find out why your arm hair didn't turn gold."

Gabe burst out laughing in the middle of the entrance hall and a few first year Hufflepuffs ran away frightened. "Wow! Good luck with that. Hope you don't get detention out of the deal!" Gabe started walking towards the green houses and Mia disappeared down to the dungeons.

Class was slow and painful. Slow when Snape didn't allow half of the room to brew their own potions, and Painful when Goyle spilled some of his potion onto Mia's arm. This seemed to brighten Snape's mood so Mia took it as a sign that today was the right day to ask him for help.

Finally class ended and Mia waited until the rest of the class had filed out of the room as she packed up her bag. As the last student escaped to the freedom of the outside corridor, Mia approached Professor Snape at his desk. He was checking papers and promptly ignoring her. "Professor Snape? May I ask you a question regarding experimental potion brewing?"

Professor Snape looked up at Mia with the same look Neville had used towards his flooberworms earlier. Mia decided to just go for it. Maybe if she intrigued him enough he wouldn't send her away with a detention. "Right well, I was just trying to figure out if there were any outside variables that could tamper with the localization properties of a potion."

Snape looked at her as if she was speaking nonsense. "Explain yourself properly Miss Black or do not speak at all."

Mia took this as an open invitation to explaining her potion and problem. "Well Sir, I created a potion using a varied recipe to alter the pigment of a person's skin and hair. The potion was a complete success and fulfilled my need fully but I was caught off guard by an unpredicted factor. The potion was to change the subject's skin one color and the hair another color, which it did. But upon further observation I discovered that the subjects arm hair remained its natural color. For the purpose of my potion this factor does not matter in the slightest, but the principle tells me that there was a variable I didn't take into account, and on an academic level I know this is unacceptable and could lead to unforeseen problems in future experiments."

Mia finished her explanation and waited, keeping solid eye contact with her professor the whole time. Severus Snape stared back at the bold twelve year old girl in front of him. He couldn't believe what he had just heard her say. He knew for a fact that this girl was sharp and had great natural talent in potions but being that she was a Gryffindor and a Black he chose to ignore this fact. What she was telling him now caught him off guard. There were many students in this school who had the brains and skills to do what she was describing, maybe even a few her age. But he didn't know another student who would see a side effect like non dyed arm hair and see it as a warning sign that they had missed something, and then to seek him out and ask about it? Severus made it a point to make himself very inaccessible to his students. He even tried to deter this student in particular rather often, but to see that she had defied the status quo and her own self preservation in the desire to make herself better in a field and a classroom where she was hated and unwanted impressed him. He never would have done such a thing as a child if for nothing else his own pride. Of course that didn't mean he was going to make it easy for her.

"Miss Black. Are you telling me that you have been practicing unsupervised experimentations in my field without my permission?"

Mia blinked. That wasn't the answer she was expecting. But two could play that game. "Yes Sir I am." Snape's eyes grew dangerous, but before he could respond Mia continued. "Sir, Professor McGonagall is aware of my research and practice of Potions, and has often encouraged me to do so. I am sorry if you feel this was disrespectful towards you or your class, but I wished to learn and felt this was the best opportunity to do so."

Professor Snape stared Mia down for a moment but she didn't waver. Finally he spoke. "May I see your recipe?" Mia quickly opened her book bag and pulled out her potions note book. She turned to the page where she had written out the final recipe and procedure for her potion and handed it over to the potions master. Snape took a moment reading through the page, an almost invisible smile crossing his face as he realized the true product of the prank. Finally with a blank face he began to assess her work. "This is a very adequately created potion. I see nothing in the ingredients or brewing process that would account for any flaw. How was the potion administered?"

"I dried it to a powder and applied it to a scarf. I had an upper classmen add a charm so that the potion only activated when the scarf was tied." Professor Snape looked down at the page again to hide his smile as the full prank was laid out for him. "But I read somewhere that once completed a potion is bonded. The ingredients used can no longer be individually affected by an outside source because the ingredients as individuals no longer exist, only the potion as a whole. So if I had made the silkworm a powder before it was added to the potion it could have caused this, but once the potion was made nothing could have affected the silkworm to do this."

"That is only a half true assessment." Professor Snape addressed her as an academic, not as a teacher who hates his student, and this student in particular. He seemed to come alive in a very confined way as he spoke about real potions work. "It is true that most substances, once bonded in a potion cannot be effected by an outside source, but there are a few more volatile ingredients not commonly used that can be affected this way. I see you used Thorbskin instead of flobberworm. This was to prevent the walkeni paste from reacting to the flobberworm. This was a very wise choice, although I am not quite certain where you procured the Thorbskin from." Mia immediately looked down; she had harvested the Thorbskin from the forbidden forest. Thankfully Snape did not notice and continued with his assessment. "Thorbskin is one of few ingredients that does allow some of its properties to be influenced once a potion is bonded. Although nether powdering or an activating spell would cause this. Tell me, what did you use as an antidote? I see you did not build any fading properties into your potion and I have not seen any red and gold students wandering the halls."

Mia smiled to herself, she wasn't sure if Snape would be able to tell the colors from her recipe. "I had an upperclassmen help me with a wearing spell so that it would fade after a few hours."

Snape snapped the book shut and handed it back to Mia. "There lies the problem." He pulled out a scrap of parchment and scrawled a few words on it. "The corrosive properties of the wearing charm would have reacted with the thorbskin causing it to act as a localizing ingredient. Similar uses can be made of the plant if it is roasted before the brewing process occurs. If the wearing charm had been extended to last say a few days or even weeks the results would have been greater and the subject would have most likely had large blank spots on his skin as well. There are a few ways to prevent this from happening. The most obvious would have been to use a fading charm instead of a wearing charm. Obviously you did not do this as it would have caused the potion to gradually fade through the day instead of loose its color all at once like the wearing charm caused. The second way would have been to build the antidote properties into the potion. This is much more complex on the front end, but always provides more accurate results in the end." Professor Snape handed Mia the scrap of parchment. I have written a few titles of books that would adequately explain this form of potion brewing. They will not be something you can find in the school library and may have to owl order them if you are really determined."

Mia looked down at the paper and couldn't believe what she had heard. She never expected Snape to be so helpful and forthcoming with information. "Thank you for your help Professor." Mia turned and started to leave the classroom.

"One more thing Miss Black." Mia turned. "To ensure you do not make such mistakes again, I would like you to write me a fully researched paper on the different substances that have post brewed reactivity. It will be due before the Christmas holiday."

Mia smiled though the professor did not look up. Just like Snape to turn a learning opportunity into punishment. "Thank you Professor." This time she left the dungeon, happy that for once her Potions teacher was actually challenging her instead of ignoring her. Mia ran up to the great hall, ignoring the faces and the whispers and walked over to Gabe. She snatched a sandwich off of the table and whispered to Gabe in an excited voice. "He gave me homework!"

Gabe shook his head. "You are so weird." Mia nodded and left the room eating her sandwich smiling the whole way to her dorm. She found some of Hermione's owl order forms and filed them out for all of the books Snape had suggested. She would take them up to the owlery in the morning. In the meantime, Mia decided to catch up on some of her sleep from the previous night. She changed into her PJ's and cleaned her teeth. She climbed into bed and snuggled down with her Mooney Bear falling asleep almost instantly.

AN: Hope you liked it! Please review if you did. I'm going to try to blow through year two now so hang on!