Disclaimer: The Aurors are working from within to bring down the Ministry of Magic with a combination of JK Rowling and Roald Dahl.

A/N: Double chapter! If you haven't read Chapter 7 yet, you've gone too far. There's one chapter to go, which is half-done, so expect that soon.

Chapter 8

One night near the end of term, Matilda was working on some study problems that Slughorn had set the third-years. It was mostly simple stuff, but she was having trouble with the Wiggenweld Potion.

Just finishing the sentence she was writing, she winced as she felt a burning sensation on her leg. Something in her robe was burning her! She dug in the pocket to find the Dumbledore's Army galleon that she had nearly forgotten, the letters changing from their previous configuration of the last year, to a new message

HARRY NEEDS US

7TH FLOOR

COME QUICKLY

Matilda bolted from the Common Room. She didn't know what was happening, but it sounded urgent, especially given that the DA hadn't been called for anything since they were busted by Umbridge over a year ago, not even the night they went to the Ministry. Plus it was already past curfew, so they wouldn't put out a call unless it was important.

Even after three years climbing up and down the staircases at Hogwarts, climbing the eight floors to the Room of Requirement was a long slog, so she used a bit of wandless magic to help her. Keeping her hand on the railing, she pushed off with her feet, unsteadily at first, but then with growing confidence.

What she would once have thought of as an unusual use of her "power" Matilda now understood as enchanting her shoes to step with the correct rhythm and force to propel her up the stairs until she was taking them a fleet-footed three at a time. Once again, she was surprised that other wizards never did that...or maybe some of them did, and she just never knew it. The teachers seemed to be able to respond to emergencies on a different floor pretty quickly.

Either way, she made it to the seventh floor just in time, as Hermione was already discussing the situation.

"—so we need to set a watch on the—Matilda?" she said in surprise.

"I got the message," she answered, panting for breath. It was then that she looked around and saw how small the group was. Besides Hermione, the only people there were Ron and Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood. Harry nor anyone else were nowhere to be seen. "Where is everyone?"

"This is it," Hermione said. "It looks like you three are the only ones who kept your coins with you."

"Well, should we find some more people? And where's Harry?"

"Out with Dumbledore. I can't tell you any more than that. And no, it would attract too much attention. To be honest, I'm not sure you should be involved in this, Matilda."

"Why not?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

Hermione let out an annoyed sigh. "Personally, I think nothing is. But if Harry is right, it could be dangerous."

"What's happening?"

Ron spoke up: "Harry thinks Malfoy's a Death Eater."

Matilda's mouth snapped shut. That was...not surprising that Malfoy would want to be a Death Eater, especially as his father was a confirmed one, but for a Death Eater to get into the school would be a major feat. "Could...he get inside Hogwarts without being noticed?" she asked.

Ron just shrugged, but Hermione said, "Maybe, but I don't think he would be. Malfoy's only just now seventeen, and I don't think Voldemort would take someone underage, but Harry thinks he's up to something."

"Like what?" Matilda asked.

"We don't know. All we know for sure is that Malfoy has been spending a lot of time in the Room of Requirement."

"He reckons Malfoy's been trying to mend something," Ron added, "and he's finally got it sorted."

"What's he been trying to mend?" said Matilda.

"We...don't know," Hermione repeated, "but Harry thinks he's going to use it to try something tonight."

She furrowed her brow. "Something like what?"

"We really don't know, Matilda—if there's anything. We've been telling him all year that it doesn't make sense, but he's really worried, and he wants us to keep an eye on Malfoy and Snape tonight."

"Snape?" she said in surprise. "What's Snape got to do with it?"

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny looked at each other awkwardly.

"Er…"

"Well, you see…"

"We can't tell you about that," Hermione said. "Not all of it. Harry suspects him. He has...reasons that might have something to them, but Dumbledore trusts Snape, so…"

Matilda rubbed her head. This was rapidly feeling out of her league. "Should we tell some of the other teachers?" she asked.

Ginny shook her head firmly. "No, Honey. There's already extra security—Aurors and stuff—but Harry wants someone watching who Snape doesn't know about, so we can call for help if he's ready for them."

"So we're just on the lookout for trouble? I can do that."

Hermione sighed: "Fine. It doesn't look like we'll get anyone else, and I suppose with two groups of three, it'll be easier to send a runner with a message without leaving anyone alone."

"Right," Ron decided. "Me, Ginny, and Neville will watch the Room of Requirement in case Malfoy shows up. Honey, you go down with Hermione and Luna to stake out Snape's office. Don't let him know you're there. Just be ready if he tries anything. Let's go."

Hermione, Matilda, and Luna were watching outside Snape's office for about half an hour before they started to wonder if this wasn't the best plan.

"This is ridiculous," Hermione whispered. "We don't even know if something's going to happen. And what are we supposed to do if Snape does try something? Pretty much everyone who could help is already involved."

Matilda shrugged. "We could try waking up the rest of the DA."

"Maybe," she said. "You three are the only ones who still paid attention, though. For a lot of them, I think it was still a study group up to the end." She sighed and slumped against the wall. "I wish we knew what was happening upstairs. Who knows if Malfoy's tried something after all?"

"Maybe we can find out?" Luna suggested.

"No, I left the Marauder's Map with Ron so he could watch Malfoy. There's no way to talk to anyone down here."

"But what about Matilda?" she asked.

Matilda perked up. "That's right. I could run up and check on them. I can be fast on the stairs."

Hermione sat up. "Really? That would be great, if you don't mind."

"It's no problem. I'll be back soon." Once again, she took off running, soon reaching the Grand Staircase and flying up the steps three at a time. She was panting again when she reached the top, even though she'd refined her technique. That climb took some actual magical effort. Come to think of it, she didn't think she'd even used wandless magic with that much weight for that long before. She didn't think she'd be able to do this all night, but she should be fine for now.

She found Ron, Ginny, and Neville again and flagged them down, explaining that they wanted to know what was happening. Unfortunately, the answer was nothing. Ron told her they hadn't seen Malfoy on the Marauder's Map, so they assumed he was still inside the Room of Requirement.

"What about Snape?" she asked.

He checked the Map. "Still in his office. You're good there."

"Alright. Thanks, Ron."

She turned around and returned to the stairs. She started descending normally, since that was easier than climbing, but debated to herself whether it would be faster to slide down the banister or try to hopscotch down them. She only got to the sixth floor, though, when she rounded a corner and nearly ran into a woman who grabbed her and spun her around, pushing her back against the wall.

"There you are," the woman said, sounding out of breath. "How are you so fast?"

"Excuse me?" Matilda said in confusion. Now that she got a good look, the woman was wearing Auror robes, though she looked young and had hot pink hair.

"I saw you running up the stairs a minute ago. How are you so fast at that? I got good at running away from teachers when I was here, but I was never that fast."

Matilda gave her a toothy grin. "Magic?" she said.

"Right…" The Auror drew out the word, eyeing her skeptically. "You know it's after curfew, right, kid?"

Her smile vanished. "Yes, sorry...Are you part of the security for tonight?"

"Well, I'm not about to go back to class. The name's Auror Tonks."

"Matilda Honey."

"Wotcher—ooh, hold on a sec." Auror Tonks pointed her wand at Matilda and said, "Revelio." When nothing added, she said, "Okay, you're probably legit. So, what are you doing out after curfew, Honey? Mind, I won't tell the teachers if you're not hurting anyone. It's the least I can do for a fellow Hufflepuff, but I need to know."

Her words twigged Matilda's own suspicions. Could she be completely sure Auror Tonks was legit? Ah, but Ron would have said something if he saw anyone suspicious on the Map. She looked around to make sure no one else was listening, and then spoke in a low voice, "Harry Potter thinks something's going to happen tonight."

"Oh? You know Harry?"

"Uh huh. Some of us are keeping a lookout in case it does."

"You should leave that to the professionals," Tonks said, suddenly all business. "What's supposed to happen?"

"We don't know. Something involving Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape. In fact, I need to get back to Snape's office." She started off down the stairs.

"Snape?" Tonks hurried to walk alongside her. "What's up with Snape? He's on our side."

Matilda just shrugged. "Harry doesn't trust him, I guess."

"Where is Harry, anyway."

She hesitated. Hermione seemed to think that was a secret. Should she say he was with Dumbledore? "He wasn't available," she answered. "That's why we're helping out."

"You should still let the professionals handle it," Tonks insisted. "This isn't something for kids to get mixed up in."

"We're just keeping an eye out so we can warn people, Auror Tonks. Harry was worried that if Snape was in on it, he'd know how to bypass security."

She sighed: "Fine. But if something does happen, you stay out of it, you hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Hermione verified that Tonks was on the level and was glad that she was willing to listen to Harry's concerns, even though Hermione herself still didn't put much stock in them. They waited another half hour without any information before they decided Matilda should maybe make another run upstairs.

She ran up the Grand Staircase a third time, rested enough that she made the run with little trouble, but this time, something was wrong. As she approached the Room of Requirement, she heard incoherent shouting and saw an inky, black cloud filling the corridor with tendrils reaching out toward her.

She skidded to a halt, staring with wide eyes. That definitely wasn't normal. Almost certainly Malfoy's play. Should she get closer and try to figure out what was going on?

"Hey!" There was a shout, and a bolt of red light came out of the darkness, aimed at her with startling accuracy. She dodged it, then turned and ran.

"The mini-mudblood's out there! Stop her!" She recognised the voice as Draco Malfoy's, and her pulse quickened. He was really out to get her this time. She knew too much. She heard a thudding of heavy, running footsteps behind her. With a flick of her wrist, she toppled a suit of armour as she ran by, hoping to slow down her assailant and attract some attention.

She was rewarded by a loud clatter and swearing behind her, but it didn't slow her pursuer down for long. With whoever it was gaining on her, Matilda reached the Grand Staircase, but the stairs had moved. She'd have to run around to the other side of the stairwell to find a way down. She turned around and saw her pursuer. He was a big, burly man in tight-fitting black robes, with an unnaturally hairy face and pointed teeth, running straight for her. She knew his face from the Wanted posters: Fenrir Greyback, the most vicious werewolf in Europe.

Well, no doubt what Malfoy's plan was now. And no time left. She did the only thing she could think of, climbed up on the railing, and jumped.

Matilda flailed her arms and legs as she tried to direct her magic to carry her across the oversize stairwell. She finally caught herself on the sixth floor railing on the other side with a hard impact against her chest. She grabbed hold, hanging on the outside of the railing, and looked up at Greyback.

The werewolf snarled at her, quickly getting over his shock. She prayed he wouldn't just try to make the jump himself. She didn't think she'd be able to levitate that much weight. Instead, he did something even more unsettling. He dropped to all fours to run to the other side of the stairwell and come after her.

Matilda made another jump, steadier this time, and grabbed onto the fifth floor railing without bruising a rib. Looking down the hall, she saw another suit of armour and toppled it over to make another crash. She saw another Auror run into the stairwell to investigate as she made the next jump.

"Death Eaters in the castle!" she shouted. "Death Eaters on the seventh floor! To arms! To arms!" Okay, that sounded silly, but she kept going. She felt like that American bloke, Paul Revere. It would have been funny if it weren't so terrifying.

Finally, after jumping the rest of the way to the dungeons, she ran back to Hermione and Luna, who were standing tense in the corridor. Snape was nowhere to be seen.

"Matilda, what happened?" Hermione hissed. "What's all that noise."

"Death Eaters!" she said in a low voice. "There was a black cloud outside the Room. Greyback was there, and he chased me. I alerted the castle. What should we do about Snape?"

Hermione bit her lip and stared at the office door. "He's really just been in there the whole time?"

"He was half an hour ago when Ron checked the Map."

"Then I think we need to tell him. He'd be upstairs if he were in on this." She walked up to the door and knocked.

Snape opened the door moments later. "What?" he demanded, looking cross.

"There are Death Eaters in the castle, Professor."

His cross expression snapped to tense and alert in an instant. "Where?" he said, even as he strode forward and shut his door behind him.

"The Room of Requirement, sir," Matilda said. "Fenrir Greyback chased me down the stairs."

He paused in mid-stride to look at her, apparently inspecting her for injuries. "Return to your dormitory, Honey," he said. "Take these two with you until it's safe." And he left without another word.

The three girls looked at each other. "I'm still not comfortable about it," Hermione said. "You'd think the Felix Felicis would give me a clue what to do. It worked great for Harry, but I've got nothing."

Luna frowned. "Maybe it's telling you there aren't any good options," she said thoughtfully.

"That makes me even more worried...I think we should follow Snape, just in case. Matilda, you really should go back to your dorm. It's too dangerous for a third-year."

Matilda straightened and nodded. Being chased by Fenrir Greyback had made that clear enough. "Good luck," she said. The other girls ran after Snape while she returned to the Hufflepuff Common Room.

Hannah Abbott jumped up as soon as she came in the door. "Honey!" she said. "What's happening? Your roommates said you sneaked out, and then we heard all that noise—"

"There are Death Eaters in the castle," she repeated. Hannah let out a gasp, but Matilda pushed on. "They were on the seventh floor. There are Aurors and the teachers fighting them, and a few of the D.A. people, but I don't know any more than that."

"What do we do?" Hannah said in horror.

Susan Bones came up and joined them. "We should be prepared to defend the dorm, Hannah," she said. "We won't gain much by going on the offensive, but we need to protect the younger students."

Hannah took a deep breath. "Right. Where's Ernie? Ernie! Round up the other prefects, and do a head count. Make sure no one else sneaked out. Honey, can you help barricade the door?"

Matilda jumped up from where she had just sat down. That was something she could help with.

It felt like ages, but was probably less than an hour, before Professor McGonagall's voice sounded through the castle and sounded all-clear. Of course, seeing as it was past midnight, no one was supposed to be out in the corridors regardless, but this was Hogwarts. No one was going to pay attention to that. The older Hufflepuffs pulled down the barricade almost before Matilda could blink.

When the door opened, Matilda raced through the hallways as she tried to find out what had happened and searched for her friends. The hardest part of the ordeal had been not knowing what had happened to them.

The school looked better than it might have. There were scorch marks on the walls and floor, and there was quite the mess in the Great Hall, but there was little other damage—no collapsed walls or bleeding students or teachers lying in the corridors. She hoped that meant everyone had got out under their own power. The crowd swelled with members of other houses as they approached the front doors, following the trail outside. There was more damage out here. Fires burned around the grounds, but the Death Eater's did seem to have been repelled.

But then, the horrible news started drifting through the crowd. "Dumbledore's dead!"

"No," she whispered.

Matilda shoved her way through the crowd. She was taller now, but she still had trouble getting a clear view around the older students. She spotted Hagrid first, standing at the base of the Astronomy Tower, where people seemed to be congregating. A loud howl sounded over the crowd from his dog.

When she pushed through far enough to see, she recognised Ginny Weasley—and Harry. Of course, if Harry had been out with Dumbledore, he would be back now. Ginny and Harry both were tear-stricken as she led him by the hand back to the castle. That had to mean...Beyond them, Matilda saw a dark shape on ground and soon placed the midnight blue robes, long grey beard, and half-moon spectacles. It was Dumbledore, and he wasn't moving.

"He's dead," she whispered to herself, taking in the scene. It was unbelievable. Dumbledore being dead was like saying that Hogwarts didn't exist anymore. He was almost as much a fixture as the castle itself, besides the fact that everyone said he was the most powerful wizard in the world. And yet, the proof was before her. She had no details on what had happened, but the fact of the matter was that Dumbledore would no longer walk these hallways.

She stood there a while, lost in the moment, much like most of the students. Even some of the Slytherins looked sullen. A few were even scared. Slowly, however, she remembered her other friends. She'd only seen Ginny out here. Hermione and the others were nowhere to be seen.

Without much thinking about it, she let her steps carry her to the Hospital Wing. Harry's friends had been in the thick of it. They would surely be in the Hospital Wing…if they were still alive.

But she only got halfway there when the song started, and she stopped where she stood. It was a song like nothing she had ever heard before, that seemed to be more magic than notes. It seemed to come from as high above her as the stars and ringing from the walls of the castle and inside her own chest all at once, and it was a thing of indescribable beauty. Matilda knew, by instinct more than logic, that this could only be the song of Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, mourning for his…master? No, friend. And when she heard it, she sank to the floor, back against the wall, and cried.

Matilda didn't get to the Hospital Wing until the next morning. She didn't remember going to bed. She only had vague memories of one of the older Hufflepuffs finding her and leading her back to the Common Room after assuring her that no one else had died.

Neville and Luna turned out to be the only ones of her acquaintances who still needed the Infirmary, and even they were on the mend, but as luck would have it, the rest of them were visiting when she arrived.

"Hermione!" she exclaimed when she saw them surrounding Neville and Luna's beds, and ran over to hug her friend. "I was so worried!"

"I'm fine, Matilda," Hermione saw through red eyes. "I'm just glad you stayed in your common room…You did stay in your common room, didn't you?"

Matilda nodded. "Susan, Hannah, and I rounded up the other prefects and barricaded the doors. We were on guard in case someone got past you and tried for the students."

Hermione relaxed. "Didn't expect less of you. I just can't believe…" she let the sentence trail. "I mean… he's gone."

"How did it happen?" Matilda asked as gently as she could, looking to Harry

"Snape killed him," Harry spat.

"Snape? But…" They had spoken to him just last night. They had tipped him off. "I never would've thought—"

"Am I the only one he didn't fool?"

She flinched back. "I'm sorry, Harry. I know he could be unfair, but I just…didn't think he was that bad. I've seen cruel, violent, evil teachers…teachers like Umbridge. But I guess I never saw Snape like that. He was mean sometimes, but mostly, he was just a teacher."

"Well, he wasn't so good at that, either."

Matilda shrugged.

"Harry," Hermione tried to help. "Even you only had suspicions about Snape. There was even less evidence against him than there was against Malfoy."

"Yeah? And look where that got us," he snarled.

"What happened with Malfoy?" Matilda asked.

"Malfoy was supposed to be the one to kill Dumbledore. He's been working on it all year. Katie Bell being cursed? Ron being poisoned? Those were him trying to get to Dumbledore. And he's the one who let the Death Eaters into the school last night. He had Dumbledore cornered on the Astronomy Tower. Disarmed him. But he hesitated. Guess he got cold feet when he had to cast the curse himself…so Snape did it for him."

That was maybe even more shocking than Snape's actions, she thought—that a student was plotting to kill the Headmaster. Maybe it was because Jenny was a headmistress herself that she felt that way, but even the Trunchbull had never got that treatment. "So…Malfoy was ordered to kill Dumbledore?" she said hesitantly.

"He's a Death Eater, Honey," he snapped. "Dark Mark and everything, not that anyone listened to that either. Voldemort wanted him to…well, it's not important. Snape was always supposed to really be the one to kill Dumbledore. He made an Unbreakable Vow."

An Unbreakable Vow? That really was serious. "And Dumbledore didn't know?"

"He should've," Harry said. "I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen." He sighed. "I guess Snape did have to have Dumbledore fooled," he admitted. "Or…I don't know. He gave the lamest excuse ever for why he turned good, and Dumbledore believed it."

"What do you mean?"

Harry hesitated like he wasn't sure he wanted to talk about it. "When Voldemort came to kill my mum and dad…" he started. "Er, well, I can't tell you everything, but I found out last night it was Snape who gave him the information that led him to them. I told Dumbledore he couldn't trust Snape, but he wouldn't listen. He said Snape was sorry it got them killed—like them in particular, which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Snape hated my dad. And he called my mum a mudblood, so he didn't think she was worth a damn, either."

Matilda stared in horror. From what she'd seen, it was only the true bigots who said that word. Was Snape a true believer the whole time? Was he hiding his hatred of muggle-borns underneath general misanthropy? But it didn't make sense! This was Dumbledore they were talking about.

"Dumbledore wasn't stupid," she said, almost automatically. It was true. The few times she'd talked to him, he seemed like one of the shrewdest men she'd ever met.

Harry sighed again. "No, he wasn't," he admitted, "but he always had to believe the best in people…I think he believed it of my aunt and uncle, too. And Snape is…" He trailed off and exchanged a look with Hermione and Ron. "Well, he's a really good liar—like, magically good at it…I dunno, maybe you're right, Honey. He really could fool almost everyone."

That…that actually made a weird sort of sense. She didn't want it to. She wanted to protest—wanted to find anything to make it right. Could it have been a trick somehow? She couldn't see how. Or could Dumbledore have been sick and not told anyone? He did have that withered hand all year. But deep down, she knew she was just grasping at straws, hoping for anything that would make things okay again.

"So…what happens now?" she asked in a small voice.

Harry exchanged another look with Hermione and Ron. "Well, we have things we can do, but that's really secret, like, James Bond stuff. For everyone else, McGonagall was saying they'll hold the funeral, and that's it. End the term early. After that…listen, Honey," he said. "You'd better keep an eye out this summer. I don't know what's gonna happen, but it'll be a lot easier for Voldemort to take over. And if that happens, all the muggle-borns are gonna be in big trouble."

"Might be better if you leave the country, to be honest," Ron suggested. To her surprise, all of the others nodded.

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "I know I'm not one to talk, but I'm of age—"

"And top of our class," Ron added.

"Yes, Ron." Hermione rolled her eyes. "But for younger muggle-borns like you, you're not going to be able to stand up to the Death Eaters if they're given free rein. You'll be a lot safer if you leave."

"That serious?" Matilda questioned.

Harry nodded. "Yes. Get out quickly, while it's still a possibility. It's only a matter of time before things hit the fan. When they do, you won't be safe. Especially you. You were involved last night, and you're friends with us. The Death Eaters might think you know something about where we're going, so…" She didn't need to finish the statement.

That properly scared Matilda. "All right. I'll have to convince Jenny. We thought it would just mean transferring to Beauxbatons while staying in England, but I know she'll understand." She levelled the trio with a firm gaze. "Just promise me you three will keep yourselves safe as much as possible. I know you're trying to save us all, but think of yourselves too."

"Absolutely," Hermione agreed.

Ron nodded. "Think we'd let this git do things that are too crazy? Nah."

Matilda smiled at them. "I know. I'll miss you guys."

"I can't wait until this is all over," Harry sighed.

Matilda chuckled. "No kidding. Maybe once it's done, you guys, Jenny, and I can do something to celebrate."

"Looking forward to it," Hermione said. "It'll be nice to have something to look forward to."