Aftermath

Darkness swam before her. A cold silence filled the air. Letti's eyes snapped open, and she looked around her.

Everything was completely dark.

That's not to say that she had gone blind. When she looked down, she saw her body just fine, her wizarding robes flowing around her. Her feet were bare, as if someone had taken her shoes off. But everything around her - the floor, the walls, the ceiling - was dark. Empty.

She wasn't even sure there was a ceiling or walls around her. As she stepped forward, wandering the void, she certainly didn't seem to encounter any barriers. Everything was wide-open.

What was going on?

She kept walking. The last thing she remembered was the giant spider. She had figured out how to hurt it - fire, inside the mouth. It was vulnerable from the inside. She thought she had defeated it, stopped it from its rampage around the castle…

...and then it had hit her, and she was dashed against the stones.

Had she died?

She looked around furtively. Sure she didn't die; there was still so much for her to do! She had friends now, and was learning so much magic with them! Professor Malfoy was helping her to understand the Calamity better, to control the power in her mark, to make things safe for everyone. There was Eggsy and her curiosity about what lay inside. There was the mystery of her parents: who were they? Who was her mother? And why had they decided to-

She heard a scream.

For a split second she wondered if she had cried out in sadness. But then the sound came again, echoing out from somewhere to her right. She turned and ran in the direction of the noise. It took what felt like several minutes for her to get there - by the time she had arrived, she was out of breath. The scene before her did not help her regain her sense.

A woman was kneeling on the ground, screaming as if in pain. White, luminous chains were shackled to her wrist, pulling her down to a ground which appeared liquid, like the surface of a dark lake - she resisted them, keeping her wrists just barely above the opaque fluid. The woman herself was difficult to make out - she seemed to have long hair that exploded everywhere, but it was hard to tell because her entire body was black. Not a normal black skin tone, either. Her whole body seemed to be made of oil. Even her clothes, which as best Letti could tell was just a simple dress, were made of the stuff. Letti paused. Should she try to help this woman?

The woman suddenly let forth an inhuman scream, like the cry of a banshee, and she was yanked down into the liquid. Letti gasped. She should have tried to help!

And then another woman burst up from the surface.

She looked more normal. Her hair was brown and disheveled. She wore witch's robes with a red emblem stitched over the left breast. Her breath came in panting gasps - her face was red with the effort. Her wrists were bound by shackles, too; black ones, seemingly made of the same oily material the other woman consisted of.

She yanked herself upwards, slowly bringing herself to a standing position. Her eyes opened, full of concentration and fury. "I...won't...let...you...best me!" she declared, pulling her hands up higher. "I've kept you here for this long, and I will continue to do so for as long as it is necessary!"

Letti gasped, and the woman spun toward her. Fury suddenly gave way to concern. "You…" she said. "How are you here?" Her face softened for just a moment. Then her wrists were yanked down, and she was brought to her knees.

Letti was too dumbfounded to think straight. "You...know me?" She shook her head and stepped forward. "Let me help."

"NO!" The woman stood back on her own two feet. "Don't get any closer, or she'll grab you, too!"

Letti paused. "But-"

"No!"

"Who is she?" Letti asked. "Who are you?"

The woman's face softened again. "Oh, dear Leticia. I wish…" Her wrists fell to her waist. "There's so much I wish to tell you. The other woman, her name is Mor-"

She was suddenly thrust below the surface, her words cut short.

The oily woman returned, her luminous shackles glowing in the empty void. She took one look at Letti and laughed. "Oho, so there's another one." Her eyes narrowed to a sneering glare. "You think you can beat me, girl? You don't stand a chance! As soon as I am free of these chains, you will rue the day you-"

She fell below the surface with a howling scream, and the other woman returned.

"Are you okay?" were her first words as she carefully stood up.

Letti nodded.

The woman smiled warmly. "There's so much I wish to tell you, dear. So much you need to know. Did you find the vault?"

Letti nodded. "There was an egg inside. It's hatched, a little."

"Good. Now, you must remember, the key to properly hatching it is-" Her words were cut short by a tug of the chain. She fought against the pull, her face wet with sweat. When finally she seemed to have a moment of reprieve, she turned back to Letti. "You must be brave, dear. I believe in you."

There was a gust of wind, and Letti felt herself getting dragged away. "No!" she cried, reaching a hand out. "No, I want to stay! I want to stay! Mom-!"

Her eyes snapped open, and she shot up from the bed.

"You're okay," came a reassuring voice. "Lay back down, you need the rest."

Groaning in pain, she obeyed. Professor Malfoy was sitting in a chair nearby, concern etched across his features. She didn't know where she was - the room was big, and there seemed to be many other beds like hers.

"You're in the hospital wing," Professor Malfoy responded. "You suffered some broken bones, more than enough bruises, not to mention a pretty nasty concussion. Though all of those will heal promptly, thanks to the caring hands of our nursing team."

"Wha-happen?" Letti could barely get the words out. Her tongue felt like it was made of lead.

Professor Malfoy sighed. "I only know what I've gathered from others who were there. The Headmistress and I set out with our team to deal with the pack of hellhounds that were wandering the grounds - Seamus was right, they were making a beeline for the castle when we found them. We were just finishing up handling them when some of the castle ghosts found us."

He placed a hand on his forehead. "The creature that was summoned in the castle is not a normal wizarding creature, if you hadn't already figured that out. It's called a Gargantula. Think of it like a corrupted acromantula: bigger, sturdier, and vastly more intelligent. One alone could have wiped out the entire student body - I shudder when I think about the groups of them I encountered in the Calamity. And yet…" Now he looked at Letti with a bemused smile. "Somehow, you figured out how to defeat it."

"I 'id?"

He nodded. "We rushed back as quick as we could, but by the time we got there it was already dead, its inside burnt up. You were unconscious nearby, so we assumed you were the one to deliver the killing blow?"

She nodded.

"Impressive. You should know there are only four individuals in the world known for slaying a Gargantula individually, and three of them are here at Hogwarts." He rubbed his temple. "However, Miss Lunetti, I'm going to have to discourage you from such heroism in the future. You nearly got yourself killed. You must promise me that you won't go seeking out such danger. I've known a few people who did such things, and they inevitably got others hurt."

Letti started trying to speak. "B' I ad 'oo!" She sat back, frustrated with her lead tongue. She noticed a journal in her teacher's hands. She jabbed at it.

Professor Malfoy looked from her to the journal. Then, in a moment of understanding, he handed it and a pen to her. She hurriedly wrote in the journal.

I had to do something, though! It was going to kill people!

He nodded. "I understand, Letti, but that's not what I'm asking - from what your fellow classmates told me, you distracted the Gargantula and saved the lives of many. What I'm asking is-" He paused, choosing his words carefully. "Do not go seeking out danger just because it is there. You are capable, yes, but there are plenty of capable witches and wizards in this building who will gladly take care of threats like those."

A memory of the events raced through her mind, and she hastily wrote down a name. Mister Finnigan!

"He's okay, Letti." Professor Malfoy nudged his chair out of the way, and behind him in another bed she saw Mister Finnigan sitting up, drinking from a bowl of soup. He had bandages all over his body. "He was in much worse shape than you, but he'll make it through."

She sat back and gave a sigh of relief. Then…

I think I saw my mom.

This got his attention. "What do you mean?" he said. "Here? During the attack?"

She shook her head. In..a dream? There was another woman. Dark.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't quite follow. Write it out. Take your time."

So she did, as best she could. She wrote about the void, about the oily-dark woman whose laugh still haunted her, the brown-hair woman who looked at her kindly, who she was so certain was her mother. By the end of it she was nearly in tears.

Professor Malfoy read her words carefully - it took him several minutes to digest it all. Finally, he handed her back the journal. "Letti, I'm sorry, but...I have no insight to offer you. Your description matches a hundred different witches, some of whom very well could have given birth to you." Still, he seemed rattled. "Promise me you won't dwell on it. Dreams can so often just be that: a dream."

He stood up. "I have to go. They said you will probably be released sometime tonight - I urge you to take it easy. Rest. You have earned it."

He was beginning to stride out of the hospital wing when a weak voice called out to him. "Draco."

It was Mister Finnigan. He looked ghastly - his face was swollen and covered in bandages, and his hand, which was outstretched towards Professor Malfoy, was hidden beneath a number of wrappings.

Professor Malfoy stopped and knelt next to his colleague. "What is it?"

Letti could barely hear. "I...I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Seamus. What matters is you tried. You bought precious time for everyone.

"No, no. Listen. I'm sorry for...how I've treated you." Mister Finnigan grabbed a nearby glass and downed the water inside. His voice stronger, he continued. "I kept thinking you were the same old Draco who sided with You Know Who, but...you're better now. And I've been a fool. I...I want you to teach me."

"Teach you?" Professor Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Teach you what, exactly?"

"To...defend. To fight. You did all that fighting in the Calamity, and I just...want to be better."

The white-haired man sighed. "Very well. I can teach you. But we'll do it when you're better, yeah?"

The other man nodded. "Thank you."

After that, the hospital wing was quiet for several hours, with only the nurses to keep her company. They kept fretting over her, trying to make sure her pillow was positioned right, ensuring her bones were healing properly, and chatting senselessly. By the time evening had come around, she was in a sorry mood, though her tongue no longer felt as if it were made of lead.

A cry of joy changed everything. "Letti!" Cassie came bounding into the room, Lorcan and Lysander following close behind.

"You're all okay!"

"Of course we are, you dingus!" Lysander ran in and stole the seat closest from her. "We're not the ones who ticked off a giant spider monster!"

"Yeah, you're the one we were all worried about!" Cassie grabbed Lysander and pulled him off the chair. "Seriously, what were you thinking?"

"It was brave." Lorcan stood at the foot of her bed, ignoring the fight over the single chair. "Stupid, but brave."

Letti blushed. "Thanks." She looked around. "Where's Eggsy?"

"Leashed to my bed," Cassie said. "It's been a right little git since yesterday. It took us over an hour to capture it, running all over the place. This one," she pointed at Lysander, "swears he saw it literally fly."

"I did!" He tried unsuccessfully to shove Cassie out of the chair. "We were following it towards the Grand Staircase, right? One moment, it was right in front of us. The next, it was two staircases above us!"

"That's because you got distracted by them burning the spider," Lorcan suggested. "You were fixed on it for a solid minute."

"Was not!"

"Was too."

"ENOUGH!" one of the nurses rushed over. "You will not be bothering my patients when they need their rest. Out, out!" She waved them away.

Cassie gave Letti a gentle pat on the hand before leaving, and Letti felt her heart flutter. Within a moment, however, they were gone, and she was resigned to silence once more.

A few hours later, after she got a little bit of rest and ate some food all on her own, the nurses felt confident enough in her health to release her. As Letti sat up in the bed, she was surprised by how much better she felt than earlier that day. She was still a little bruised, but no longer ached or felt pain simply from trying to move. She dressed into her robes and was escorted out by a nurse.

The halls were dark, dimly lit by torches. Letti had never wandered the castle this late at night; it was forbidden, and she had never had a reason to do so. She stumbled her way down a corridor she thought would take her back to the Slytherin dormitory.

She had just turned a corner when she heard hushed whispers up ahead.

Panicked, she darted into what she was pretty sure was an empty classroom. Inwardly she knew that she didn't need to worry about getting in trouble - after all, the nurses did release her themselves - but something about the aggressiveness of the whispers made her panic anyways.

"-this whole time?" said one voice. It was masculine. In fact, Letti was almost certain it was Professor Malfoy.

"I had my suspicions, of course, but there's never been any concrete evidence." A feminine voice. It sounded like it belonged to either Headmistress or Professor Patil.

"Why wouldn't you tell me?" The voices were getting closer. Letti shrunk back further into the classroom.

"What does it matter? We have no idea where they are." There was an awkward pause. "Do you think she was already corrupted when…"

"Who is to say? I mean, if she really is her mother, that might mean that-"

"No, you don't mean to say-"

"Think about it, Parvati. It would make sense as to why he's like that nowadays. Imagine realizing that your own wife was corrupted. That you sired a child with...her." The voices were just outside the room now. Letti carefully side-stepped so she was out of sight from the doorway.

"What about the girl? Do you think she's corrupted, too?"

"I haven't noticed anything overt. She seems like a perfectly nice kid. And after the Gargantula-"

"Good point. No servant of hers would have tried to stop it from eating the populace."

"My only concern is that mark of hers. We never did figure out what it meant, and I still can't find anything in any text, anywhere. It's like it only ever cropped up in the Calamity." There was a long pause. "I'm not unconvinced that the mark comes from the enemy. There's something unnerving about it."

Letti held her breath and inched forward. They were talking about her.

"All the more reason for you to focus on getting her to control that mark of hers. From what we know of it, she could wind up accidentally summoning a Gargantula in the middle of her sleep. It's dangerous, Draco."

"Do you regret letting her come here?"

"No, but I regret not asking more questions years ago. That Rebecca Nox woman, she knew more than she let on. I-"

Letti had stumbled into a desk, toppling it. She heard the sound of rushing footsteps, and dove behind a bookcase.

"Lumos Maxima." The room became filled with wandlight. Letti pressed herself against the wall, wishing she could become invisible as she heard the two adults enter the room.

"Just an old desk, look," Professor Malfoy said. "The leg snapped - probably was half-rotten from age."

"Ugh, you needn't tell me twice, Draco, I know: our supplies are running short. The Ministry isn't funding us as much as we need anymore, not since I took over from McGonagall. They think we're too extravagant, too unnecessary."

"Hmm. Well, that's a topic for a different day. C'mon, let's go make sure the Gryffindors haven't gone into full revolt with Seamus out of commission." The two of them left, and the room became dark once more.

Letti remained pressed against the wall for a little longer, partly out of fear of getting caught and partly out of the need to digest everything she had just heard. She wasn't entirely sure she understood everything they had said, but one thing was clear:

The adults knew more about her than they were letting on.