I stepped onto Platform 9 and 3/4, feeling conspicuous despite the fact that no one was looking at me. Then again, I'd transfigured myself to look taller, to have this short red hair, and big feet, and a prominent nose. I had chosen a rather attention-drawing disguise, but as Mara, I'd have to draw a bit of attention, so why not? I was more conventionally attractive, for one thing, and I had a more commanding presence, for another, in my opinion.

I'd also used a spell to modulate my voice, to a lower range, with a Scottish accent. You'd never know that I was Alice Potter. I really did seem like the home-schooled Mara Jade.

I dragged my trunk, which had some stickers removed and replaced with travel ones, and looked a bit more beat-up, into the luggage rack, and grabbed the files I'd kept with me. This part made me a bit nervous. Integrating myself into the chain of command.

I walked into the compartment where I'd seen my former co-leaders, and I knocked. Hayden stood and opened the door.

"Yes?" She asked, a bit annoyed as to being interrupted.

"The name's Jade, Mara Jade," I said, and I leaned in. "Alice wanted me to talk to you," I whispered.

Hayden nodded, and let me in, and all of them drew their wands as Hayden shut the door behind me.

"How do we know that you aren't lying?" Luis demanded.

"I'll explain everything. Alice can't come back to school, so since attendance is mandatory this year, she established me as the new leader in the school. She gave me these." I held up the files.

"Makes sense so far," Teddy said.

"How do we know that this isn't a trap?" Luis continued. "Excuse me, but we've had a few betrayals." He glanced meaningfully at Lux.

"Hey, don't blame me for my bone-headed brother's relapse!" Lux snapped. "He's cut off the twin connection, and stopped contacting me and my sister! All I know is that he's going to be teaching at Hogwarts this year, and I've got a few choice words for him."

"You'll have to just trust me," I said, not missing a beat. "I promise, you'll find it worthwhile. It's all you can do. Besides, this is a message from her." I had my titanium wand, which had disguised itself as a regular wand play out a message I'd recorded.

"Hello, Hayden, Teddy, Korr, Lux, Luis, Alex, Ellie. If you're seeing this, you've met Mara Jade. I appoint her as the one who will lead the army at Hogwarts. I didn't tell you sooner because I needed to keep this a secret. And a good thing, too, since Ky betrayed us," my recording said cheerfully. "Send a Patronus to me with a message if you need it. Potter out."

The translucent form of me vanished. "Are you willing to give me a chance now?" I asked. They all nodded, and I put my wand in the sleeve pocket inside my denim vest.

"Let's start working on our plans," I suggested.

At Hogwarts, it took everything I had not to put one of the green ties that I had back on. I couldn't let myself go into Slytherin again, though. I had to get a different house to lead from. Gryffindor preferably. It had more of a reputation, so maybe people would listen to me even better from there.

The older kids who had been home-schooled, like the girl I was impersonating, lined up with the first-years. I noticed that Ky was leading this instead of Hagrid. So the giant's already on the run or he's been demoted, I noticed. This ought to be interesting.

"Follow me," Ky said in a cold voice. I, like some of the others, nodded, and put on a nervous, wonder-filled expression. I got into a boat, with three of the other seven home-schoolers, and got ready to go. The view of the castle from the boats were just as dazzling as it was during my first year, but my heart pounded at the idea of this infiltration. I was going deep into enemy territory- one slip-up, and I'd be deader than Wesley.

The Carrows were standing at the doorway, where the last of the older students were trickling in.

"Boys to Mr. Carrow, girls to Madam Carrow," Ky announced, before jogging up the steps. I went to the end of the line in front of the prim-looking redheaded witch in a black dress reminiscent of those movies about the Salem trials.

"Name?" Alecto Carrow asked coldly with a twinkle of spite in her eyes.

"Mara Lee Jade," I said, remembering my full pseudonym proudly.

"Date of birth?" She asked.

"October 31, 1979," I declared.

"Blood status?"

"Half-blood, ma'am, daughter of muggle Benjamin Luke Jade, and the witch Vesper Leia Jade, née Brown," I answered, referring to the woman who'd gone into hiding so many years ago that would make me Lavender's distant cousin. This was the most difficult part of the test, from what I saw.

She hesitated, then looked up, with some surprise on her face. "It all checks out. It says you have an Apparition license. I need to see it."

I handed it to her smoothly.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Miss Jade," she said, and I took my license back, put it in my wallet, shoved it down my back pocket, and got into my position at the front, near the older initiates, in my alphabetical order. It took a bit of concentration to not accidentally go immediately for the P's.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Ky said, standing at the doors as the Carrows went ahead. "I am Mr. Emrys, the school's supervisor and one of the co-disciplinarians, that will be making sure all of you have correct magical educations. We adhere to principles of tradition," he announced. "Of keeping the magical world pure of any taint from the muggle world. Refuse to comply with that simple ideology, and this year at Hogwarts will be very difficult for you, I promise."

The little kids started muttering along to themselves, and I kept my expression as blank as possible. I wasn't going to start trouble yet. Not on my first day undercover.

"There are four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, for those who didn't know," he continued with an obvious tone of contempt. "Each has their respective qualities. You will earn points for your house when you do something right, lose points when you do something wrong. Even a simpleton can understand that one, correct?"

There were nods and indignant looks. Ky smirked. "Good. Let's get sorted then?"

All eyes were on us, particularly the older students as we went in. Candle wax dripped down on occasion, and there was something to seeing my traitorous godfather in the headmaster's seat, watching us like a bird of prey, ready to swoop down upon the muggle-borns.

Then the hat began to sing:

"Oh poor Hogwarts

What it has become now

Poor Godric, poor Helga,

Poor Rowena, they wonder how

We got to the place

Where Salazar rules

And muggle-borns

No longer in their school.

You must unite, Hogwarts

Or else comes your doom

Descending like death

That will explode in this very room.

Green and red must

Repair the bond.

Yellow and blue must

Make amends ere long.

You cannot hold on

To your grudges now.

Mend the rivalries

And you defend us from how

Salazar's influence has spread.

Please, I'm a begging hat,

It'll be you next if you don't-

Remember that."

The hat went silent, and the Death Eater-involved individuals shared glances of unease. The Sorting Hat had just told all of us to rebel. I let a smirk cross my face. This is our turn now.

"Let the Sorting begin," Severus announced. The first name of the older students got called up.

"Jade, Mara!" I heard. I sat down on the stool, and the Hat was placed onto my head.

'Ah, a Slytherin through and through,' the Sorting Hat said in a voice only I could hear.

No! I thought fiercely. I'm undercover, I can't go into Slytherin; they might get suspicious.

"SLYTHERIN!" The Sorting Hat screamed out anyway. Well, that part of the plan's shot, I thought as I joined the table of my junk sitting on the side I knew to belong to the members of the Spark.

Finally, the Sorting was done, and I noted a little bit of note-taking from Amycus Carrow. The muggle-borns, I realized, and my heart stopped when it had hit me. The meal appeared on the table, but I didn't eat much.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Severus announced. "We're pleased to have new students, and are equally as pleased to have returning students, despite the fact that some of you are missing.

"At Hogwarts, we are trying to push the ideals that magical is better than muggle. The mudbloods are thieves of magic that rightfully belong to witches and wizards. We were given this gift for a reason. We need to use it to fulfill that reason."

The houses were then dismissed, and I remembered the password the prefects had mentioned. Draco Malfoy was going about with his chest puffed out, since he was Head Boy, something he didn't need to inflate his ego, although you could see regret and such. He was in too deep.

There was something sad about seeing him that way, even though he had swaggered straight up to me.

"Hey, Jade. I was wondering if you were interested in a drink in Hogsmeade," he said.

"Excuse me?" I arched an eyebrow perfectly.

"Ooh, icy are you," he said, and it made me uncomfortable.

"I'm engaged," I lied.

Some heads turned at that.

"To a muggle boy in my village," I explained.

"Muggle-lover!" A prefect shouted at me.

I stretched my arms out and laughed coldly. "Fire away, idiot! I know there are others who are with me!"

"The Carrows are going to give you a hard time," Draco said. "And Emrys."

I gave an extravagant bow. "Let them. I'm not easily broken." That's true.

"You're going to get yourself killed, Jade," another person said with distaste.

"You wish," Ellie snorted.

Suddenly, all wands were drawn. The duel we'd been waiting two years for had finally come. With yells, spells began to bounce around the common room, and I was grateful that the windows were protected, or else we might've drowned within the first minute, we were battling so fiercely.

Heat and colors flashed by, and the ground cracked beneath our feet. The fire in the fireplace had been inflated, and then it got so much worse. Everything was destroyed, and people were injured, and rapidly healing, only to get hit again. There was no stopping the inferno that Slytherin had finally come to.

"What the hell is going on in there?" I heard voices shouting outside the common room, but I was busy dueling Draco, rebounding spells. I was originally holding back to hide my true talents, to hide my identity, to save my old friend, but I was driven to fight my hardest. He was already getting overwhelmed, and was starting to conk out. Finally, he fell to the floor, and the wrong side was starting to get overwhelmed.

"SILENCE!" Ky's voice shouted, and sparks shot into the air, and the fighting abruptly stopped, and smoke billowed out of the common room. The shattered com,on room really did represent Slytherin.

Severus and the Carrows stood behind them. "What are you, a bunch of children?" He sneered.

All the wands, in perfect synch on the Spark trained towards the group of administrators.

"This is our fight," Ellie snarled. "Not yours. It's been coming for two years. You can't stop the fight now, for even the house of water has caught fire."

"Put your wands down," Alecto Carrow ordered. All of the Death Eater kids were now pointing their wands at us. We were outnumbered.

None of our side moved, though. The fight had already begun.

"Put your wands down," she repeated.

"Don't force this on yourselves," Ky jumped in.

I smirked. "Don't kid yourself. We chose this," I said, and the fight began again with bangs and sparks. I immediately went for the Carrows, and turned on the earbud Ellie had given me that had the same frequencies as the one I'd told everyone to wear.

"This is Jade, get in the Slytherin common room, now!" I ordered.

Ellie looked at me, and I knew instantly that she suspected who I was. I nodded at her, and we started towards the Carrows, Severus, and Ky, when Neville Longbottom's cell approached from behind with Lux, Korr, Hayden, Alex, Teddy, and Luis.

Longbottom's cell rushed past into the fight, and Korr had the common sense to close the door behind her. The administrators were trapped.

"Avada Kedavra!" I yelled, and the green jet hit Amycus Carrow. He fell over, and Alecto howled, and raised her wand. "Avada Kedavra!"

It then hit me. I'd used the ultimate Unforgivable twice. It caught up to me, and suddenly I was the one gasping for breath.

Severus raised his wand, and I waved my wand over my appearance, melting off the Transfigured mask.

"Alice," he said slowly, but I wasn't willing to listen.

"I trusted you!" I yelled as I stepped forwards. "My mum trusted you! Enough to make you my godfather! This is how you repay her?"

"Put your wand down," he attempted to order, but if there's anything anyone had learned in the past three years, I was the one giving orders now. He was now pressed against the wall, my wand at his throat.

"Any last words, traitor?" I hissed.

"I would never hurt your mother, Alice, I promise you that! It would be a mistake to kill me," he explained.

"Prove it to me."

"Expecto Patronum!" A doe leapt out of the wand, exactly the same as my Mum.

"After all this time?" I asked.

"Always," he exhaled.

I put my wand into my holster, and realized that all of my other clothes had returned to their original state, too.

"Keep an eye on him," I ordered. "Come get me if he tries anything cute."

There was still battling going on, and I knew what we had to do.

"Organize a retreat to the room of Requirement," I ordered.

"It will be done," Ellie promised.

"What are we going to do with him?" Luis demanded, placing a wand to Ky's head, and forcing him to his knees.

"He's coming with us- don't kill him," I commanded.

Luis let him up reluctantly, as our half of the common room started running out. I followed, and we ran up to the seventh floor, where other parts from houses were joining up. Some of us paced the wall in front of where you could find the Room of Requirement, and a door opened. People poured in, and I waited until Luis with Ky had come in, the last person, and shut the door behind it, thinking about how I didn't want any Voldemort supporters to be able to come in.

Finally, when I was sure we were safe, I looked at the state of the place, where banners and hammocks were everywhere, with a washroom and a corridor that looked like it lead to the kitchen.

"Now can we kill him?" Luis asked.

"No," I answered. "He's a double-spy, and he's on our side. I ordered him to fight for us. I told him to spill some acceptable secrets and plans, so he could get information on the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord."

Ky looked up at me gratefully. "Thanks, Princess," he said.

"No problem," I said, eying my co-commanders. "I'm sorry for the deception but I needed to do it to get in," I explained. "I promise, I am pledged to making sure that you eight survive this war."

"We're pledged to you," Hayden, Korr, Luis, Alex, Lux, Teddy, Ellie, and Ky chorused, and they all knelt, something I felt uncomfortable with.

"Thanks," I replied. "I appreciate your efforts. We've come a long way."

"Of course," Hayden said. "We're your best friends."

I smiled. "Now let's go send our double-spy back. Ky, explain that Hogwarts is now in a state off battle, and the rebels were a bit too kind-hearted and let you go. The Dark Lord should be pleased with that excuse. Tell them that the Carrows have died, and Snape is captured. Got it?"

"Why aren't you sending him back?" Ky asked.

"You're young and reckless, so we were more forgiving," I said. "Besides, I trust you more. I can see it in your eyes, the guilt at having to do those things. The idea of treating people who you were once like sickens you deep inside. You have a conscience, and I can see that you're on our side."

He nodded, his eyes full of the things I'd named and a different, sweet emotion. I handed him a magical book, where you could see what the other person had written, but what you'd written would disappear, one I'd charmed over summer break.

"Write in it- I want daily reports," I said.

"I expect the same from you," he replied. "Take care, Princess." He bent over and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and then walked out of the Room of Requirement. Focus Alice, focus.

I turned around to see Luis and Alex grinning, and a shocked expression on Lux's face, as well as Hayden and Teddy exchanging smirks, and a look of concern on Ellie's face.

"What?" I barked. "We've got work to do if we're going to make a barricade."

"A barricade?" Teddy asked.

"We're not letting the Death Eaters retake the school," I said firmly. "We're gonna fight this ourselves."

"What about the teachers?" Alex asked.

"They'll join us, or they'll try to stop a population of about 560 kids, half of whom are trained in the Dark Arts and the other half in defense techniques only taught by the Dark Lord himself," I said. "They don't really have a choice in the matter. And they're all with the Order of the Phoenix, so if they pick a side, they'll choose to fight with us."

They all stared at me. "Who am I kidding? They'll try to stop us from fighting."

"Well, I guess that means that we should give the teachers an ultimatum," Hayden said.

"Better yet, let's make this a power-play," Ellie said, thinking hard. "Particularly in Slughorn's case, since he's a bit of a coward and might side with You-Know-Who."

"I'm listening."

"You've got a bit of power, so you shouldn't go out into the hallway. We send out some other students, and that would display your power to Slughorn in particular. The rest of the teachers won't be too affected, but Slughorn will recognize the Slytherin game behind it," she explained proudly.

"I knew there was a reason you were in Slytherin," I teased, and gave a clap. "It's bloody brilliant, Ellie!"

"Was there any doubt?" She said, rolling her eyes.

"Good, let's send Longbottom's cell, since he'll command enough respect, but not too much," I said.

"Perfect," Ellie replied. "I'll go get them."

"Thanks, Ellie," I said, and she smiled and nodded, and walked off.

The Siege of Hogwarts had begun.