Late that evening, Melinda reread her story, published Three Yankees in Dumbledore's Court, to see what had changed. Hopefully the part about Katie getting mugged by one of her Housemates and Liesel getting shunned by her fellow Gryffindors for being a wuss stayed the same. Excellent writing on her part, she thought, and it would be a shame for them to be edited by these writers.

When she first saw the chapter, she smiled. Four reviews already and not a word changed. Katie got mugged, Liesel got shunned, and Alex was too dumb for Ravenclaw. Even that bit about Dumbledore spilling champagne on himself had made it in. Perfect, perfect. Everything had gone according to plan.

Her smile faded.

Everything had gone according to plan.

These past weeks, nothing had gone according to plan. The writers or the characters always managed to change the story after she wrote it. The wording was usually different, too; the prose less elevated, the dialogue less refined. For nothing to change.....well, that meant something had changed, didn't it? Something about the writers or her own abilities.

What if she couldn't influence them anymore?

Melinda drew back from her keyboard, fingers shaking. She couldn't control them anymore? No, that couldn't be it. This was just a fluke. Just a little mishap. She'd write something else and by tomorrow it would be truth.

Swearing, she stood and paced, then pressed her Mark. "Something is wrong, my lord," she said when Voldemort arrived.

He cocked an eyebrow. "And that would be....?"

She drew a breath. "My....abilities aren't working. I can't influence them anymore."

"What do you mean, you can't influence them anymore?"

"I mean what I said. See?" She showed him the screen.

"I thought Dumbledore didn't drink champagne."

"He doesn't, my lord. I put that in as a test." She set the laptop down and paced again. "I need to influence them some other way. Charms wouldn't work...too detectable." Melinda stopped and faced him. "I need to get into Hogwarts."

"Not as a teacher?"

"A teacher would work....if there are any open positions."

"There aren't any."

"Hogsmeade, then?"

"Perhaps." He Disapparated, but Melinda already knew she had won the round.

After the Feast, Katie followed the rest of the Hufflepuffs down the winding corridors. They asked a thousand questions, but this round of interrogation was somewhat enjoyable.

"Why'd you come here?" Susan Bones asked.

She shrugged. "Oh, my mom just thought a change of pace would be nice....she got a job here....and next thing you know, you're moving to England."

"How many siblings do you have again?"

"Six. Liam and Allison were too young for Hogwarts, and Rory got put in Ravenclaw."

"Seven kids? You related to the Weasleys?"

Katie laughed. "Hardly. We're American, remember? Kinda far away to be related."

Ernie MacMillan shrugged. "You never know." They reached a painting near the kitchens. The prefect gave the password, and Katie gave a soft gasp of pleasure as she was led inside. Tapestries hung on the walls, woven in shades of yellow, and fat black armchairs sat on thick rugs. She punched her fist into one, and it was softer than her mother's down comforter back home. Little tunnels led out of the common room and into the dormitories.

"You like it?" Hannah Abbot asked with a grin.

Katie laughed. "It's awesome! It's so....so squishy in here!"

Her Housemates laughed, and several of the girls hugged her. "Welcome to Hufflepuff."

It was late when Liesel reached the Slytherin common room, but she was far from tired. Conversing with her fellow Slytherins was like drinking a triple-shot latte, one she couldn't wait to finish.

Draco sent the younger students to bed, careful to avoid Pansy's gaze. Liesel pretended not to notice.

Soon, the common room was empty of everyone but some of the oldest students. They led Liesel to one of the fireplaces, pulled up some of the leather armchairs and pushed her into a seat. Not that she needed much pushing. One of the seventh years pulled out two bottles of mead, conjured a wine glass and splashed some in. Liesel accepted it.

"You don't have a problem with mead, do you?"

Liesel shook her head. She had heard that mead's acoholic content was sometimes pretty low, and figured students didn't drink anything too terribly strong before the first day of classes. Besides, she could handle it. Ever since Jacob was old enough to drink, he'd allowed her a sip or two of wine whenever he had a glass.

"What's the occasion?" a boy with glasses and a Scottish accent--she'd learned his name was Theo--asked, accepting his glass.

"The successful induction of the rare Slytherin transfer student," he said with a grin.

Millicent raised her glass. "Here, here!"

Liesel laughed and took a sip.