"Why would Edgecombe need an alibi?" Ness wondered, his tired brain desperately trying to piece together the answer but failing as the pieces imploded after a few seconds of thinking. Perhaps trying to solve a puzzle after having a nightmare about Umbridge finding out he was a PSI user wasn't such a good idea.

"Maybe to help hide the fact that she's planning to sneak into Gryffindor tower again? It has been a week since her first attempt after all." Cloak offered, tightening as they entered the Great Hall for breakfast.

"I guess…but I feel like it's something else, something more important." Ness replied, "After all, it's April and the end of year reviews are preparing to begin. She won't have time to sneak around if she's focusing on getting a good grade."

"So…something more desperate." Cloak murmured, shivering a little as Ness glanced at the Teacher's table, where Umbridge was looking oddly content. "Great, she has something else up her sleeve." Ness grumbled.

"Maybe a new rule?" Cloak offered, tightening around him as Nagini hissed, "Sssshe couldn't have made a new rule, sssshe'd get blocked by the other Minissstry professssorss if ssshe tried."

"So…not a rule… But what else could she be planning?" Ness wondered, sitting down to start eating breakfast as Nagini and Cloak gave wordless shrugs of their shoulders... or thought about a shrug since Nagini had no shoulders.

"We'll probably have to play the long con and wait." Ness grumpily sighed, irritated at how waiting seemed to be their best answer. Normally it wouldn't have bothered him but with how underhanded and conniving Umbridge was, giving her more time meant having to clean up an even bigger mess. Plus, if they waited too long, she would probably figure out a way to sway the public back on the Ministry's side. So far, the Ministry was playing it extremely safe by doing what the public wanted. Which meant admitting that Voldemort's return might be possible, but that they were looking into it to be sure.

After all, one couldn't completely trust the words of children or Dumbledore given his track record of the professors he'd hired in the past.

It seemed to be soothing the public's ire since Ness hadn't seen any more reports of protesting or people proclaiming that they saw the Dark Lord outside their window or down the street before admitting it might have been the trick of the mind or light in the Daily Prophet, which had also been hit with the 'tell the truth' stick or be eaten alive by the public's anger.

"I can't tell if it'll be a good or a bad thing when this school year is over." Ness mentally sighed, focusing on his toast and reluctantly focusing on what classes he had today. After all, he still had exams to deal with even if he didn't want to become a full-fledged wizard. How long would he be stuck playing this charade until he could just go home and get a normal education? Probably not until Voldemort was defeated or until he could solve the mystery of those weird dreams, he had early in the school year.

A shiver ran down his spine at the mere memory of someone calling his name using Giygas's voice and calling him…something, he couldn't remember now but he knew it was an important name and scared the heck out of him.

"Not to mention…there's the fact that everyone connected to defeating Giygas has weird memory gaps of locations and events." Ness recalled, annoyed with himself for forgetting such a crucial problem given how not even Jeff could remember New England despite living there. What was going on? Did dealing with wizards unleash this magical drug that had affected his friends the longer he stuck around Hogwarts and the land of magic?

"I don't think that's the case." Cloak pointed out, "Now come on, you're going to be late for Charms."

"I should REALLY swap magic based classes out for something else." Ness noted, his previous thoughts forgotten as he fell into the routine of acting like a wizard in training. "It'd save everyone a lot of grief."

"That it would," Cloak agreed before it fell into a peaceful silence, allowing Ness to whisper to Ginny about anything magic related he needed to watch out for today.

"Well, other than the DA meeting." Ginny murmured purposely trailing off then frowning as Ness shot her a blank look. "The what now?"

"I'll tell you after lunch." Ginny sighed, opening her Charms book as Ness pouted then did the same, prepared to do his usual reading of the charm everyone would be studying, take notes and to not use his fake wand to prevent giving Professor Flitwick another heart attack.

All in all, it was a boring class. Allowing Ness to ponder on what DA meant. Did it mean Defense Against the—oh wait, didn't Potter have some class nicknamed DA? What was it again… Deterrence Aegis?

That was probably want Ginny meant, so that meant that the DA was going to meet up soon to practice some new defense and attack spells. Neat, with that mystery out of the way Ness focused on Umbridge's oddly content look. He knew it probably had something to do with Edgecombe informing her of his Occlumency lessons with Potter, but what could she possible gain from that? Discrediting him as a PTSD victim?

Using it to try and snoop around in his mind at night? Probably not, Edgecombe had tried and had gotten a snake bite for it. Plus, he really hoped that Umbridge wouldn't force her to try again.

Magicant was still messed up and distorted. Sure, it was getting better as time passed, the waves calming and the broken buildings slowly repairing themselves if they weren't connected to Potter or Wizards. But he didn't trust his subconscious to guide Edgecombe or anyone else to the lighter layers of his mind like he tried to do with Snape.

After all, at the start of the year it had been lashing out and summoning creatures to his side to protect him from Wizards. He really didn't want to wake up and find Umbridge comatose beside his bed, he especially didn't want to wake up and find Edgecombe writhing on the ground.

She still hadn't gotten the poison out of her system, despite it being a week which was…worrisome. Normally being poisoned would leave your body and mind alone after a couple hours if you didn't keel over from the effect. But Edgecombe just seemed to be getting worse, and he'd heard rumors of Edgecombe's magic getting weaker and weaker thanks to some weird cold she had gotten.

"Is the PSI poison just…eating away at her magic?" Ness wondered, feeling sick to his stomach as he tried to write down a magical term for the Feather-Light charm they were practicing.

"It is a possibility…" Cloak murmured, "After all…PSI and Magic don't work well with one another."

Knowing his luck, that probably was the case. Which meant they he was going to have to confront Edgecombe sooner than later. But how? She was a year above Luna and there was no way Ron would willingly let him near her. He could try and heal her when he spotted her in the Great Hall, but he would rather be right in front of her to see if her condition worsened from the effect suddenly being removed from her.

"On a scale of one to ten, how likely am I to talk to Edgecombe?" Ness asked as he and Ginny walked to their next class, Transfiguration.

"Negative 10," Ginny answered, "Why do you ask?"

"I was um, hoping to give her a home remedy for colds." Ness replied glancing around the crowd of students hurrying to their next class to ensure that no one was trying to eavesdrop "To try and see if that helps with her weird cold."

"Well, if you could get past the Ron shield then maybe." Ginny offered, hesitating before adding, "You might have a chance. I think he figured something out during his chat with Edgecombe since he seems a lot more…sullen lately."

"…Maybe," Ness agreed, "But…I really don't want to chance it."

Ginny pursed her lips but didn't argue, she merely nodded her head. "Maybe Luna has an idea?"

"I was thinking that as well, but Edgecombe's a year above her so…" Ness trailed off and shrugged, "Maybe we'll figure something out later?"

"So, it seems." Ginny hummed, "Selvis probably has an idea.

"He definitely has one." Ness agreed, quieting as they entered Snape's classroom and sat down in their usual seats. Selvis glanced at Ness as he sat down but didn't say anything, he merely grimaced and glanced at the other Slytherins around the room.

Which was…sort of odd since some of them kept glancing around as well, only they were more focused on Ness and Ginny and some of them had grimaces or painted sneers on their face. As if they knew something but were trying to hide it under the facade of 'All Slytherins are evil' attitude.

It stopped once Snape started class, instructing everyone to create this potion that would convince people to subtly ignore you. but Ness still found the entire ordeal weird as he copied the list of ingredients from the chalkboard.

"What do they know that we don't?" Ness wondered, the question burning on his tongue as he carefully ground forgetful lilacs into a fine powder to add to his cauldron. "Are one of the older Slytherins planning this massive prank on the Gryffindors? Or is it something else? Something related to Umbridge?"

He glanced at Ginny, but she was distracted by trying not to turn her forgetful lilacs into a fine powder instead of a fine mist. She was horrible with making potions and often spent most of class focusing on not screwing it up or blowing up her cauldron…or blowing up the Slytherin girl next to her who had taken to hissing at her to be careful and mumbling instructions to stop a possible explosion.

He moved onto Henry who seemed a little confused and stealing glances at his neighbor—Diana Rose, who had her shoulders hunched and her head turned to a pair of Slytherins sitting across from them. Today was probably the weirdest Potions class ever since Snape gave them all a steely glare, trying to figure out what was going on with the sudden change in class dynamic before he dismissed them for lunch.

Ness quickly glued himself to Selvis's side and tried to ask what was going on when he was interrupted with a sharp but hushed hiss of, "Edgecombe is a giant sneak." And speed walked to lunch while Ness stood there, dumbfounded.

"Don't we already know that?" Cloak murmured, its arm—well, sleeve—tightening around Ness's arm to remind him to keep moving, "Why would Selvis repeat old news?"

"Who knows?" Ness replied a pit forming in his stomach as he glanced at Umbridge who still seemed content about something, "But I bet Umbridge knows."

Ness flinched as a soft wooden voice whispered, "Ginny wants to know why Emily Evens knew that Edgecombe is a sneak." And glanced at Ginny who had her hand in her bag, probably petting Sawdust as she waited for an answer.

"I have no idea. Selvis warned me that as well. Do you think the other Slytherins forced him to spill about Edgecombe?" Ness answered frowning when Ginny glanced at Luna who was eyeing the Slytherins from her table, "Ginny whispers, no…it only seems to be the DA Slytherins who know. Everyone else seems confused as to why so many eyes are on them. Well, eyes that aren't glaring at them."

"True…Maybe Edgecombe did something that ratted her out to the others?"

"Ginny whispers, But what? Wait, you don't think that alibi was made so she could squeal on the Deterrence Aegis. Do you?"

Ness looked at the Ravenclaw table, trying to find Edgecombe as he mulled the thought over. "Well, between Harry and I's secret Occlumency classes and the DA…I guess squealing about the DA is morally safer."

"Ginny gives a frustrated grumble of, how is that safer than ratting two people out compared to a whole school? I mean, I know it's probably because of THAT but…"

Sawdust trailed off with a sad hoot as Ginny struggled for the right words before giving up, sighing, "We need to warn Hermione and Potter."

Joy. But how were they supposed to do that before the DA meet up? "Being a year below someone is REALLY annoying." Ness mentally grumbled as the school day resumed and the countdown until it was time for the DA to meet began.

It was agonizing trying to reach Potter without skipping a class to try and confront him just as he left the classroom. He and Ginny spent the entire second period tossing ideas back and forth, ranging from using Sweepy or Bearable to planting one of Selvis's magical stones on him to warn him to creating an event that would force classes to stop for the day. But they all had massive drawbacks to them, prompting Ginny to state that during the DA she would drag Potter aside and warn him if she didn't see Edgecombe attending.

"It's our only chance outside of waiting for him in the common room." Sawdust gloomily relied, "You try and keep a look out for Egdecombe, just in case she really does skip."

Well, as dinner ended that was easier said than done since even with Sweepy, Cashino and Sister Mary's help Ness was still unsure of where she was. Forcing him to lurk in the library and pretend to be trying to cram for a non-existence test as they gave him their reports.

"It's really annoying! I haven't seen her all day!" Sweepy huffed, "Which is quite weird since normally I see everyone at least once!"

"Perhaps she's hidden herself away in a room you can't access?" Sister Mary offered, sounding very annoyed as Cashino murmured, "What a washout."

"But what room would you NOT take a broom into?" Ness asked, turning a page in a random book he had picked up as he waited for the others' answers. "This is a huge castle! And Flitch probably has hundreds of storage closets to make up for the fact that he's a squib."

"Who is still somehow working here." Sister Mary grumbled, but Ness ignored her in favor of listening to Sweepy huff, "Well, the only rooms I don't normally go into are the teachers' personal office. They all use magic to clean up their messes so I'm not needed there."

"So…she's hiding in a teacher's office…" Ness murmured the pit growing even deeper as he mentally groaned, "She's probably hiding in Umbridge's office! But…why? That would get everyone suspicious."

"Maybe she didn't have a choice-," Sister Mary started when Cashino yelled a slew of casino terms in the form of curses before babbling, "The Aegis has shattered! The Professors found the room! The clubhouse!"

The pit evolved into a chasm as he stood up, hearing yells and cries from the floor above him. "Merlin's beard!" the stuffy librarian muttered, not even letting the sound of a chaotic commotion break her rules of absolute quiet, "What is going on up there?"

"Probably Umbridge stirring up more trouble." A Hufflepuff grumbled their attention drifting back to their book as Ness hastily shoved the book back where he found it and hurried up to the source of the noise.

"Cashino, what's going on!"

"Oh er. Lots of magic flying around, had to pull out of the game." Cashino whispered, the doll's voice squeaky and high pitched as Sweepy muttered, "I'm not even there and I can hear the stunning spells flying around up there."

"Umbridge is leading the pack." Sister Mary warned, "She has some Slytherins—er, older ones with her and the Ministry appointed teachers helping her."

"Are Ginny and Luna okay?!" Ness demanded, slowing down as he entered the hallway swiftly stepped back into the stairwell. It wouldn't do him any good to get himself caught as well, not when he could hear Umbridge was cackling like the Wicked Witch of the West as magic and angry shouts exploded around the black robed crowd.

"Ginny got stunned, but Luna managed to mess up Umbridge's hair with a color changing spell before switching targets." Sister Mary reported, "Oh, Umbridge is taking Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny to the Headmaster's office."

"Not Luna?" Ness asked, frowning as he spotted Luna struggling against a sixth year Slytherin who didn't seem thrilled about getting his hair dyed neon purple. "No, just the Gryffindors." Sister Mary stated, "Seems she thinks they're the leaders."

"Alright, Sawdust. Can you rely what's going on?" There was a long pause before Sawdust mournfully hooted, "Can't, bag forgotten in the room. Very worried, very sad."

"Granger has her bag." Herbo reported, "I can listen in."

"Thanks, don't worry Sawdust. I'm going to get you out of there." Ness promised, glancing back at the crowded hallway now filled with Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws casting spells or trying to leave said hallway before amending his original statement. "Well, as soon as I can get in the room without alerting anyone." Sawdust gave another sad hoot but didn't protest.

"Edgecombe is already in the headmaster's office. As well as Professor McGonagall and two weird looking fellows." Herbo reported, "The girl must have informed them well before the school day started."

So, this entire event was just to confirm what Edgecombe already knew. Something that the Slytherins had gotten wind of and bailed after it became apparent that Umbridge was going to turn this into a witch hunt.

"No wonder she looked so content." Ness growled, "She just had to wait for everyone to fall into her trap."

"Um…We have a very big problem." Herbo said, sounding very confused as Ness glanced back towards the hallway, "We do?"

"Umbridge just revealed how much leeway he gives Potter and uh…how he included you in the lesson so…the adults are thinking that this means he groomed Potter to overthrow the Ministry and have you be plan B if Potter failed."

Ness blinked, why did the Ministry think that Dumbledore was trying to overthrow them and going so far as to manipulate two students?

Sure, it was a plausible guess given how close Potter was to Dumbledore and how he had told Snape to teach them both Occlumency but again, why would Dumbledore leave a student in charge of overthrowing the Ministry? In fact, why would Dumbledore even want to take over the Ministry? Then again, Ness still had no clue why the old coot brought and forced a PSI user to attend Hogwarts despite knowing what he could do so perhaps Umbridge and the others weren't wrong to think Dumbledore might overthrow the Wizarding World—

Wait, overthrow the Wizarding World?

"Ness! I think Dumbledore jumped out a window!"

Ness barely had time to process that when he heard someone yell, "Hey! Look out the windows!" and someone else exclaim, "Is that Dumbledore?!"

"Why the hell is he flying outside!?"

"Is that a flaming chicken?"

"It's a phoenix, nimrod!"

"What the hell."

"…What the heck is going on?" Ness asked, slowly peeking out of his hiding spot to see the once fighting students swarming the windows to get a good view of the flying Dumbledore.

"I…have no idea." Herbo admitted as someone asked why the hell Dumbledore was flying outside instead of breaking up the massive fight happening in the hallways.


5 out of 12!

So uh, this is probably a good time to state that despite my dislike for Dumbledore's cannon character I have been doing my best to only show my personal dislike of Dumbledore from Ness's point of view since Ness hasn't seen the greatness that every other wizard sees and just wants to go home and never have to deal with wizards ever again.