Calla's Care of Magical Creatures class had ended up being cancelled for the week after the Buckbeak debacle, and so they had a free period when they ought to have been in class. As far as Calla knew, Malfoy was still whining and milking it in the Hospital Wing, and Daphne kept talking about it. She seemed quite torn on whose side to take, though Padma insisted Hagrid was in the right. Calla had decided not to join them in the common room after their Ancient Runes class, instead taking a leaf out of Hermione's book and heading up to the library.

After saying a quick hello to Zach and Susan, and waving at Luna Lovegood, she headed to Madam Prince's desk and stood on her tiptoes. The library looked down at her from behind narrow spectacles. "Yes?" she said snappily.

"Good afternoon, Madam Pince," Calla said politely. "Sorry to trouble you, I was just wondering if you could point me in the direction of any books on Magical theory, specifically how magic manifests or fails to manifest itself."

Madam Pince narrowed her eyes and Calla lost a bit of her bottle. Eventually, seemingly after deciding that Calla wasn't planning on destroying any of the books she'd requested, Madam Pince nodded her head to a far corner of the library. "We have a collection of books on the subject," she said in a tight voice. "I'd recommend 'Magical Manifestations' by Ethel Daye to begin with."

"Thank you," Calla said cheerfully, slipping off in the direction Madam Pince had signified. She looked through the shelves and finally found 'Magical Manifestations' along with copies of 'Magic for Dummies' and 'The Inner Workings of the Magical Mind' all of which sounded fascinating and at least semi-helpful.

Her eyes found an empty table nearby and she headed for it, but not before she was stopped by Michael, Anthony, and Terry appearing seemingly out of nowhere to stop her. She gave a small squeak of surprise and fumbled for the books, not wanting to drop any and earn Pince's eternal wrath. "Hey, Calla!" Michael said with a warm smile that was almost too warm, and very unexpected.

"Hello," Calla said awkwardly, keeping an eye on the empty table. The three boys before her looked at each other expectantly. "Is everything okay?" she asked slowly, glancing between the three of them

"We wanted to know if you wanted to sit with us," Michael said easily. "We don't know what to write for this Potions essay, considering we pretty much all just did it wrong."

"Right." She contemplated it for a moment, and pursed her lips. "Sorry, maybe another time, but I think I've got something I need to study on my own." The boys' faces fell. "But if you need a hand I can totally help you later."

"Thanks, then," Anthony said. Terry whispered something to him furiously and he put on a shaky smile that had Calla entirely confused at him. "Good luck with whatever it is you're studying."

And the three of them disappeared behind the shelves leaving Calla standing utterly confused by the entire situation. She took a seat at the table, which was thankfully still empty, and pulled out a new notebook and pen. No one at Hogwarts really used pens, which she didn't understand at all considering the proportion of Muggle borns, but perhaps most only did work for classes. This was for herself, and no one need see what she was studying but her.

Deciding to heed Madam Pince's advice, she started with 'Magical Manifestations', taking notes on parts she thought were relevant. The introduction was long and meandering, with the general gist being that magic presented itself in different ways for different people and could manifest itself in many different forms.

The most common was spell magic with an item to channel it through, such as a wand, but rune magic also worked by placing power within the rune itself. Seeing was a completely different area of magic, focused not on incantation and physical changes but on the mind and mental magic, working in the abstract, much like Occlumency. She wrote down a few examples of seers throughout history - Cassandra, Vina Saxon, Myrna Raon - and of some people who worked with runes. It seemed Runes had gone largely out of fashion in the magical world, since they operated very differently to the wand channeling spells that the Wizarding world had become accustomed to, but as Babbling had said they did have a lot of magical translations to physically channeled spells.

Potions and Herbology, she learned, also worked with a different set of rules to the likes of Charms, but still required magical power in order to energise and bring out the properties of the ingredients and plants.

When she glanced up at the clock next, it was to see that it was almost eleven o'clock and time for her next class. Wishing she'd had more time, Calla hastily checked out the three books and stuffed them into her bag, taking off down the stairs to Transfiguration class; it wouldn't do to be late for Professor McGonagall.

They were studying animal transformations today, and as an example Professor McGonagall transformed into a cat and back again, earning applause from everyone. "I want to be able to do that some day," Padma told her. "McGonagall's amazing, isn't she?"

"She seriously is," Calla agreed, looking at their Professor in awe. Considering how difficult she now knew even simple Transfiguration to be, turning oneself into an animal - or becoming an Animagus, as McGonagall told them it was called - must be quite an impossible feat. She was, actually, quite cool.

At lunch, Calla noticed Malfoy returning to the Slytherin table to a great applause and many sympathetic looks from his fellow students. "He's milking it for all he can," Daphne muttered to Calla and Padma when she returned from sitting with them. "And Pansy's fawning over him. She has a crush, but it's a bit disgusting now." She rolled her eyes. "Actually, it's kind of always disgusting. I'm sure Herbology's going to be awful - Izzy, we need to go in a group of four with you." Isobel blinked in surprise but nodded anyway before she returned to her cheese sandwich. "I'm not dealing with them," she added in a low voice.

"Well, I suppose we can be your last resort," Padma said huffily.

"Don't be like that," Daphne said, knocking into her shoulder. "You guys are always my first choice; I just don't want to be dragged into joining them."

"Mhmm." Padma had another bite of her sandwich. "Fine, then."

"Potter," Lisa called down the table, holding up the Daily Prophet. "Have you seen this?"

Calla frowned, but couldn't read the headline - she'd have to get her eyes tested next time she was back at Privet Drive - so Lisa tossed it down the table to Daphne. "Black's been sighted," Daphne whispered, and both Padma and Isobel gasped.

"Where?" Calla asked, looking sharply over Daphne's shoulder.

"Dufftown," Daphne said, and glanced at Isobel. "That's not far from here, is it?"

Calla's heart picked up. He was nearby, and that meant he might very well be headed for them right now. She shivered, and glanced up at the enchanted ceiling. It was cloudy, unusually so. "They'll catch him, though," Padma said, in a voice that clearly tried to be reassuring but didn't quite manage it. "I'm sure of it, Calla. Come on, we should get to Herbology; that ought to take your mind off of things."

Herbology, though, did not prove to be much fun. Professor Sprout had them potting some puffapods as revision from last year, and Draco Malfoy, despite being on the other end of the classroom, complained about his arm loudly enough for all of them to hear. "Oh, it hurts ever so much," he said to Pansy Parkinson, who cooked over him. "I don't know how I can possibly pot these Puffapods."

"It's your left arm not your right that's injured, Mr Malfoy," Sprout said as she passed him. "I'm sure you can give it a go."

Malfoy scowled at that, and Calla hid her grin. "What a drama queen," Padma muttered. "Has he always been so annoying?"

"I think we all know the answer to that," Calla replied, and Daphne sighed.

"I know he's a nuisance, but he can be decent. At the moment he's just..."

"A pain in the arse," Isobel offered.

"I wouldn't be so rude," Daphne said, "but essentially, yes."

"Professor," Malfoy said weakly, holding his arm limply, "I really don't think I can manage."

Professor Sprout pursed her lips. "Fine, Mr Malfoy. You can write me an essay on puffapods' properties with your good arm instead."

Malfoy was still scowling as they left the classroom. "Just you wait," He was muttering to Parkinson, "I'll see that oaf Hagrid dealt with."

"That's why you're doing all of this, are you, then?" Padma asked. "To get Hagrid in trouble? You're horrible, Draco Malfoy."

"Ooh, worried about him are we, Patil? You off to join your hairy friends now?"

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy," Calla snapped, taking Padma's arm. "And quit your whining, it's doing all of our heads in."

"Ah, Potter," Malfoy drawled. "Don't tell me you're going to faint again. Or be sick." Calla's cheeks flushed hot at the memory of that fateful Herbology class away back in first year. "What, Potter? Can't speak? Dementor got your tongue?"

Parkinson cackled and Daphne huffed. "Knock it off, Draco," she muttered. "You're being ridiculous about it now."

"Now?" Padma muttered.

"Daphne, you have to understand Draco's struggle at the moment," Pansy said imploringly. "His arm may never be the same again."

"It's just a scratch," Padma sniped. "He'll get over it I'm sure." She turned to the others. "Come on, you three. Let's leave him to his whining, no good can come out of it."

They all turned away, marching off, until Malfoy called after them, "Potter! Don't let the Dementors get to you and faint again; I'd hate for you to fall and have to break something too."

Calla was caught between turning to yell at Malfoy and just marching up to the castle; she went for the letter, eyes stinging, which she said was due to the harshness of the cold wind. "We should go and see Hagrid," she said. "I want to speak to him and make sure he's alright. Malfoy can't get him kicked out, I won't let him!"

She stalked towards Hagrid's hut, veering to the left, with the other three following her at a quick pace. Her robes snapped around her legs and she rapped quickly on his door. "Hagrid? Hagrid, it's Calla! Can I come in?"

There was an awful lot of loud shuffling and snuffling behind the door and then it was wrenched open. "You oughtn't be wandering out here on your own, Calla," he said, "not at this time."

"I'm not on my own," she said, gesturing to the three girls gathered behind her. "And it's still light, I'll go back to the castle soon, but I wanted to see you. We heard what happened."

"Aye, I suppose you will have. Well, come in then, but I'll walk you back up myself."

They crowded into the little room; there were a great number of massive hankies lying out on the table. Isobel frowned, looking around. "An' who's this?" Hagrid asked, looking at her.

"Isobel McDougal, sir," Isobel said, nodding her head. "I've been really looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures, it sounds really fascinating! I'm awfully sorry to hear about what Malfoy did, it seems so unfair, but I know they can't get rid of you!"

"Dumbledore says he won't let them," Hagrid said and blew his nose. "Great man, Dumbledore, great man... It's Buckbeak they're going for."

"Buckbeak?"

"My hippogriff." Hagrid shook his head, tears soaking into his beard. "He's a good boy, really. But Malfoy got himself hurt, and the board of governors won't see it that way. They say - they say he could-"

But it seemed Hagrid could say nothing more. "Oh, Hagrid," Calla sighed, rushing to hug him tightly. "I'm so sorry. It's alright, don't - don't cry." A fat tear had fallen onto her shoulder. "We'll help you, we'll clear Buckbeak's name!"

"You're very kind, Calla," Hagrid mumbled. "Your brother and his friends said just the same thing."

"Well that's good!" Padma said, smiling. "If all of us work together I'm sure we can get Buckbeak cleared!"

"I hope so, Padma," Hagrid said tearily. "Beaky doesn't deserve all this." He sighed, shaking his head. "You should all get going back to the castle for dinner," Hagrid said, clapping Calla on the shoulder with enough force to almost knock her over. "Come on, then, with me. You oughtn't be out without an adult, not with Sirius Black running about. It ain't safe, not for neither of you."

Xx

Calla spent much of that weekend reading the books she'd checked out of the Hogwarts library- after finishing 'Little Women', of course - and working on the essay Snape had set them. She supposed it was helpful, because she now knew the recipe for Antidote to Common Poisons better than ever, but it was also incredibly dull. Her optional readings were much better, though.

According to Ethel Daye in 'Magical Manifestations' magic could manifest itself in drawn Runes as well as in verbal spells. A visit to Professor Babbling had confirmed this. "It is incredibly tricky work, though," she warned. "It's not even introduced in the curriculum until fifth year, and even in the N.E.W.T.s it is far from expected of students. The theory of the significance of Runes in the magical world and practices is much more important."

"Can you do it, though, Professor?" Calla had asked, and Babbling had nodded.

"Watch." Calla stood over the desk as Professor Babbling drew a complicated looking Rune on a piece of parchment, in a special deep violet ink, and pressed her hand to it once it had dried. She seemed to be thinking long and hard; and then she withdrew her hand and the parchment burst into flame. Calla stared at it, holding her breath as the flames licked the air. "It is very difficult. It requires great will of character and intent, and pulls on different areas of magical strength than wandwork does."

"It's amazing, though," Calla said, and Professor Babbling smiled.

"Well, I'm glad you think so, Miss Potter. I personally think Runes are never appreciated enough."

She'd spent the rest of the weekend thinking about Runes after that, but when Monday came around it brought a new excitement; her first Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Remus as her teacher. Harry, and everyone else she'd spoken to, had had nothing but praise for his lessons. He'd taught the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs about Boggarts, and though Harry hadn't gotten a chance to fight it (which he confessed to Calla he was a bit annoyed about) most of the others had. She hoped she'd at least get the chance, even if she probably wouldn't be able to do the spell right.

After Charms with Gryffindor, Calla and her friends went to Defense as quickly as they could, everyone incredibly eager to meet the new professor and see what he would have them do. "Do you think he'll do the boggart with us?" Terry was asking.

"I hope so," Isobel said. "They sounds really interesting."

"I wish I'd gotten to see Snape dressed in Longbottom's gran's clothes," Daphne told them, giggling. Professor Snape was still glaring at everyone everywhere he went, looking like even more of a bat than usual.

At that moment, Remus stepped out of his classroom, beaming. He caught Calla's eye and she gave him a thumbs up and a grin before he spoke. "We'll be going to the staff room today. Some of you might have heard about the lesson I held with the other half of your year group, and I intend to do the same today. Tell me, do any of you know about Boggarts?"

Naturally, every Ravenclaw's and some of the Slytherins' - barring Malfoy, Parkinson, Crabbe And Goyle - hands shot up into the air. "Yes, Miss..." He nodded to Lisa.

"Turpin, sir. I know that they turn into your worst fear, but you can sort of control the form they take. They're defeated by laughter and the spell ridiculous."

"Correct, Miss Turpin. Five points to Ravenclaw." Remus said. "Did you all get that? Good. Follow me, now, to the staff room."

"What do you think it'll turn into?" Padma whispered as they passed through the corridors. Calla wasn't really sure she wanted to know, much as she wanted to have the chance to fight it. What if turned into Voldemort? She wasn't sure she'd be able to fight it, but then, she felt like she had to. What had Remus said about her needing to believe in herself? She wasn't weak, she told herself, even though it felt like a lie.

"Right then," Remus said, holding the door to the staff room open for them as they filed in anxiously. He looked around the crowd, eyes landing on Daphne by Calla's side. "Miss Greengrass, would you be so kind as to step forward?"

Daphne, however, had gone very pale. "I - I don't think I want to start," she said glancing around. "Maybe someone else should go."

"Are you sure? I'm sure you would do very well."

"It's not that," Daphne said quickly, shaking her head. "I - I don't want to see it."

Parkinson made a muffled sound and Calla whipped around sharply to glare at her. "Alright then," Remus said gently. "How about you? Is it Miss Davis?" He was looking now at Tracey Davis, a short Slytherin girl.

"Yes," Tracey said, nodding in surprise. "You - do you want me to go?"

"If you will," Remus said pleasantly.

Tracey stepped forward, looking a little flushed, and her friend Lily Moon beamed. They were the two that didn't speak to the rest of the Slytherins so much, except Millicent Bullstrode on occasion. "Now," Remus was saying, and everyone paid him rapt attention, "when I open this wardrobe, a boggart is going to jump at you. It will take the form of your greatest fear. Now, Miss Davis, what do you think that boggart will turn into?"

"I - maybe a dragon, I think."

Remus chuckled. "Well, that would certainly be a fearsome form for it to take."

Tracey chuckled. "I suppose."

"Now, what can you think of to make that dragon less terrifying, even funny?"

"Well, if it didn't exist, for a start," Tracey said, and everybody laughed. "But I suppose, if something came out that wasn't fire." She chuckled weakly. "What about confetti?"

"Confetti would be fantastic!" Remus told her, beaming. "Now, Tracey, when the dragon comes out I want you to imagine that image very clearly, can you do that for me?" Tracey nodded, jaw set in determination. "And then I want you to saw very clearly and loudly, riddikulus! Can we all practice that, now, I want as many people to have a turn as possible. Altogether:"

"Riddikulus!" They all shouted in unison.

"Very good," Remus said, smiling. "Can I get you all to line up behind Tracey for me?" They all shuffled into a line, Crabbe and Goyle elbowing Michael and Terry out of their way. Daphne, Calla noted, hung back. "Are you ready?" They all nodded, gripping their wands tightly. "Here we go!"

Remus opened the wardrobe door and a humongous green dragon burst out. It roared fire and the line scattered, and Tracey ducked out of its way. She held her wand up, eyes wide and terrified. "R-ridikulus!" she shouted. The dragon blew out another burst of flame. "Ridikulus!" she yelled again, and then with a crack the dragon shrank back, turning bright pink, and when it tried to belch out flames all that came out was some purple confetti. Everybody cheered, and Lily hugged a beaming Tracey as they got back into line.

"Alright, now," Remus called. "Very well done, Tracey. Mr Corner, next!"

Michael jumped forward and the boggart transformed into a massive black dog that ran at him. He jumped back, but then yelled, "Riddikulus!" and it turned into a little puppy with a pink bow around it, that ran around a bit before it slumped down into a little pile.

"Good, very good. Miss Patil, now!"

Padma stepped forward, and Calla could tell her hands were shaking around her wand. With a crack, the boggart turned into a pale, tall vampire with blood running down its chin. She whimpered, going pale. "Come on, Padma!" Isobel cheered, and she nodded, looking to Calla nervously.

"Riddikulus!" The boggart snapped into a little bat that very oddly resembled Snape, and it flapped about, making very high pitched and honestly kind of cute noises as it did so.

"Fantastic, Padma! Miss Moon, you next!"

Lily Moon transformed the boggart from a massive snake into a Muggle child's rainbow slinky; Crabbe's went from a menacing troll to one dressed for the ballet; Goyle's boggart turned from a massive ball of fire into a shiny Christmas tree bauble; Lisa's went from a very cross Professor McGonagall to her very cute cat form; Izzy's turned from raging sea that rushed towards her, into a frozen lake with a very big tree sticking out of it; Terry's turned to a burning building and then to a massive gingerbread house; and then it was Calla's turn.

But just as she stepped up, feeling like she was going to be sick, she paused. There was a crack and the boggart turned into not Lord Voldemort, but Tom Riddle. She stared at it, legs turning shaky as she felt herself draining of energy. Her heart pounded louder and louder in her ears, yet it seemed to get weaker at the same time; she struggled to catch her breath, head pounding. She stepped back, nearly tripping over, but forced herself to bring her wand up and point it at Tom Riddle. But she couldn't think of anything to make it less terrifying. "Riddikulus!" she yelled as loud as she could, but with no other image she didn't have something for it to turn into, and she wasn't sure she'd even spoken as loud as she needed to. "Riddikulus!"

She glanced to her godfather and he jumped in, as the boggart's form changed. She tried not to gasp at it, as it transformed into a pale silver orb hangin in the air; the full moon. "Riddikulus!" he shouted, and it turned into a children's rattle that fell into the palm of his hand. He forced it back into the wardrobe and locked it, rattling fiercely, behind him.

"Very well done, everybody," he said, beaming. Calla stared at him; she hadn't done well at all. "I think we'll call it a day there. Miss Greengrass, if I could see you a moment?"

Calla made to say something to Remus, but she didn't have anything she felt she could say. Her cheeks flared hot and she turned around, takin her bag from where it lay on the floor, and left the classroom as quickly as she could, heart hammering.

Anthony called from behind her, "Calla, are you alright?" but she ignored him and ducked into a cool alcove, panting as she fought to get her senses back. Her legs were still trembling and she sank down to the floor, putting her forehead against her knees and trying to catch her breath.

She heard Isobel's muffled voice ask, "Where did she go?" and Padma's reply, "She's probably in Ravenclaw Tower or gone to the Great Hall for lunch. If she isn't we'll come back and look for her."

"Do you think she's alright?" Isobel asked, voice already fading down the corridor.

"Of course," said Malfoy's voice a moment later, "I couldn't possibly be expected to cast a spell on a boggart with my injuries."

"You would have done far better than Potter, at least," Parkinson said, laughing as they passed. Calla curled her knees closer to her chest, feeling a nauseous lump in her throat. "Did you see her? The spell didn't work at all! Though I don't know who..."

They trailed off too. Calla waited until every voice had faded before she considered standing up, but she found herself sitting there longer still, letting herself cry a bit. Maybe it was stupid to cry; not everyone had been had a go, surely she wouldn't have been the only one not to succeed, if everyone had had a turn.

But everything she thought just seemed to make her more upset. She tried to calm herself down but that kept getting her more worked up because, she couldn't, she just couldn't, and she held her knees tightly to her chest and rocked back and forth and shuddered inwards, fighting for her breath as that image of Tom Riddle repeated itself over and over in her mind, as she felt again that cold chill of the Dementors, that feeling of powerlessness. She tried shakily to stumble to her feet, gripping the space between the stones as tightly as she could, trying to stop her crying.

Blearily, through half-fallen tears, she looked down at her blurry watch face, seeing it was almost time for History of Magic. She knew she had to go, and she couldn't bring herself to think what everyone would say about her if she had to miss class because she was upset she couldn't fight a stupid boggart, but she still had to take a moment to collect herself before she could leave; even then she felt like she was about to fall apart, and she was shaking on her way to the Great Hall. She took a ham roll from the stack and ate a few bites of it before she felt like she was going to be sick.

"What happened to you?" Padma whispered. "We couldn't find you after class."

"I just had to go and look something up in the library," she said rushedly. Padma frowned.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine, I just had to run a bit because I ran out of time but I needed to get lunch. I'm fine!"

Her ham roll tasted like sawdust in her mouth but she was sure Padma would just worry more if she didn't eat it. "You don't really sound alright, Calla..."

"I am," she insisted, hands shaking around the roll. "Don't worry, seriously." She forced a smile. "Come on, we're almost late for History of Magic. Where's Daphne?"

"She's gone back to Ravenclaw Tower with Isobel to get her textbook," Padma said. "They'll meet us there."

"Cool," Calla said through the lump in her throat, walking with her. Her eyes were still burning, and she felt tears well up, blurring her sight - she wiped them away hastily, before Padma could see. She'd always hated crying in public; Aunt Petunia always told her she was making a scene, and she always got in trouble for that.

"Calla!" Harry called over as they approached History. "How did Defence Against the Dark Arts go?"

"Fine," she said shortly, and swept inside the classroom, sitting by the wall so that only Padma was beside her. She slumped into her hand and forced herself to listen to Binns' lecture because she knew if she didn't have anything to distract herself with she would just cry, and in front of everyone. It still didn't work very well; most of her notes wound up useless because teardrops would drop randomly onto the parchment at any given moment, and they'd cause the ink to run.

She'd never been more grateful for a lesson to end so that she could run back to Ravenclaw Tower and curl up with Matilda in her arms. When the other girls came in they just gave her nervous looks and disappeared; Lisa had whispered something to Mandy about how they should tell Daphne, but Mandy had shaken her head, saying Calla would probably want to be left alone. And she thought she would, but she didn't really know.

She just wanted to be better than she was. But she couldn't be, and she was useless and everyone had seen just how useless she was and it was only a matter of time before that got her - and even Harry - in real danger. "What am I going to do, Matilda?" she whispered, leaning her cheek on the kitten's soft fur. Matilda just mewed in response. It wasn't long before Moony showed up too, hooting as he flew in through the window and landed on Calla's shoulder. Somehow it was comforting. "Thanks," she whispered to the owl, who nipped her ear a little too hard and made tears spring to her eyes for an entirely different reason.

She swallowed the lump in her throat as Daphne came in, taking her hand firmly. "Come on, you," she said. "I'm not letting you cry up here on your own."

"Well, you should."

"You wouldn't let me," Daphne pointed out. "We can stay here if you want, but I think we both need dinner. And apparently there's chocolate cake, and I know you're not going to just not have chocolate cake when you have the option to have it."

Calla chuckled weakly, and Moony gave a hoot like he agreed with Daphne. "I can't believe you."

"It's not a bad thing, you know," Daphne told her. "At least you could face your boggart."

"Yeah, and then I couldn't do anything about it, Daphne!" Calla retorted, feeling fresh tears. "I was useless!"

"And So was I! So are most people! And you're not going to be useless, are you? Cause when it comes down to it, we all know you're brilliant."

"I'm not," she whispered. "It was a fluke. I was going to die in that chamber, Daphne. You don't understand, how - how that affected me, how that boggart affected me and how the Dementors do too. I felt hopeless. Weak. I couldn't fight. I can't, Daphne!"

Daphne looked at her for a long moment before she spoke. "Well, we're going to do something about that then. Because you are so not weak, Calla. You just need to practice with the boggart. And I've spoken to Professor Lupin because I didn't want to face it in front of everyone, and I didn't want to see it." She took a shaky breath and clasped Calla's hands tighter. "But I will if you do, yeah?"

Calla swallowed that lump in her throat and nodded through her tears. She wiped her flaming cheeks and tried to smile at Daphne as she stood up. Matilda curled up on the bed and licked her hand affectionately. With a hoot, Moony flew off to his perch, and steadying her breath, Calla went with Daphne to dinner.

Author's Note: Hi! Me again! Just wanted to let my readers know that I'm currently in the process of going back through and editing some of the earlier chapters to reflect more of the newer developments to plot and how I see this panning out, as well as to improve the actual writing quality. So if you notice any changes, that's why; just wanted to avoid confusion. I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter! The Winter holidays have been very good to me in terms of allowing for writing time, and I think at the rate I'm going (with chapter fifty almost finished) I could have the rest of third year finished by the end of January, which is pretty exciting. This part seems to have flown by. I hope you're all still enjoying and that those of you who have had holidays recently over the festive period have had a great time! And also thanks again for all the reviews, they really do motivate me to continue and I'm super grateful for all your support! Bye for now!