Ron, Hermione, and Neville are eating breakfast together at the Gryffindor table, lamenting the detail that it's a month into the new term without Bloom…when suddenly there's fire in the middle of the table. When it goes out, Hedwig is standing there…in front of the bacon, which she eagerly scoops up.

Hermione's cry attracts the attention of the rest of the school at once, and soon everyone's trying to get a glimpse of the Phoenix. Draco most of all. Ron glances at her in confusion, and asks "Is there…a cord around her neck?"

What they find is a length of cord around her neck, much like a necklace - and its holding a shrunken bag of something. There's also a letter tied to her leg, which Hermione reads.

'First off, unshrink the bag, please. Sorry I haven't written until now, been wrestling with a forest with a spell on it. No matter which direction I go in it, I end up coming back where I began. Worse than the Maze, but brilliant. Still, my sister had better have an explanation ready when I get to her. Turns out magical talent runs in our mother's side of the family. At any rate, how are things at Hogwarts? I haven't gotten any dream-visions about anything happening at school, so I'm cautiously hoping it's been quiet this year. If someone's unshrunk the bag, please don't dump it out all at once - there's quite a bit in there, and Techna would have a fit.'

Hermione then keeps Ron from doing exactly that, instead reaching in and pulling out what looks a bit like a blue cell phone the color of her Bluebell Flames she's come up with, with a book on the back…but its no cell phone she's ever seen before. Brightly-colored, and oddly-shaped, with no numbers on the buttons…

Hedwig suddenly sticks her head in the bag, pulls out a green and silver one, grabs it with her other leg - which also has a letter attached to it - and flies off to the Slytherin Table. Cries of 'Oi, that's our bacon!' can swiftly be heard, even as Hermione keeps reading the letter while the other nearby Gryffindors try to see what's in the bag.

'The phones were made on Zenith, the Technology planet. They'll work in Hogwarts - they actually run on magic. Wasn't easy keeping these from tuning to mine, but I managed it. My number is on the bottom of the letter, and there's an instruction manual installed on each phone. Press the top left button for it, and the middle left and right go…well, back and forth. To automatically register new numbers into the phone, have the other one near and hold the middle button until it beeps. I got phones for everyone in my year at Gryffindor, plus one for Draco as well. Hedwig should've taken that one already. Nev, yours is the green one. Seamus, yours is the one with an explosion designed on it. Ron, yours is the bronze with the Chess Knight on it. 'Mione's is the blue one with a book. Dean's has a football on it. Lavender's is the eye shadow case, and Pavarti's is the perfume bottle. Miss you all, a lot, but I can't say its boring over here. Believe it or not, Alfea's got a rival school named Cloud Tower Castle. Full of - get this - Witches. Not like female Wiccans, either. These Witches can fly without wings or brooms, for one. Also…Fairies use Light Magic, and Witches are the opposite. They aren't necessarily evil, but there are some to watch out for.'

Hermione huffs, shares a glance at Ron, and mutters "Which means she's gone and attracted the attention of the ones to watch out for."

Ron nods, and says "Probably. The world would be ending if there wasn't someone interested in attacking Bloom."

'Hermione, you'd love some of the classes here - Metamorphosis and Magiphysics, if I had to take a guess, are the two I'm in right now that you'd be over the moon for. Metamorphosis is a lot like Transfiguration, and Professor McGonagall and Whiz-Giz would be talking for days if they ever met. Magiphysics is a lot like Arithmancy, and I can practically see you drooling at the thought, 'Mione. I'll send you my notes at the end of the year, we can compare them to Arithmancy for any similarities.' Oh, she can't wait! That's going to be so incredibly fascinating! Who knows how Fairy and Wiccan magic have evolved over time? 'Well, breakfast is almost ready here, and we've got Magic Self-Defense right after. Gotta finish this letter and send it all off with Hedwig. Call me after classes? Bloom.'

Draco grins at Hedwig eating every bit of bacon in sight as he looks at the two objects she gave him - an odd device he'll have to play around with between classes…and a letter. In Bloom's handwriting.

'Draco, first off…I bloody miss you. A lot. You'd think I'd be used to that by now, but no. I meant to send these off at Christmas time, but about a month into term I decided it was far too long a wait. Especially since it seems the Protean Charm on the journals we have doesn't hold up between dimensions. I'll have to work on that, among other things. What else to write? Oh, I'm in Potionology twice a week, and you and Professor Snape would likely drool over it all. New Potions to learn, new ingredients to work with, I'll send some for Christmas. And my notes at the end of the year. What your no doubt holding is a phone from Zenith - it, unlike the books, can handle the distance between Earth and Magix, whatever that distance actually is. And it runs off the owner's magic, just push some of your magic into it to tune it to yours. My number is at the bottom of the letter, and there's an instruction manual programmed into the phone. Press the upper left button and hold it for it to appear. Middle left and right buttons turn the pages, so to…well, write. Ron, Hermione, and the others have some as well, if you want their numbers. Or they'll get yours, potentially, if someone gets everyone's numbers in the room in the Great Hall.'

As if to prove her right, Draco's phone suddenly pings, and he's got seven new phone numbers in his phone. He figures he'll be spending lunch break figuring out which belongs to who, along with how to use this…phone. Still, he'd been wondering why Bloom hadn't been writing - seems she had and it hadn't been going through.

Well, its not like she could've predicted the distance.

Odd, to come up against something Bloom didn't know about, but she found a way around it. And he couldn't be more thrilled about it.

'I'm sorry to cut this letter short, Draco, but I've got to write another one and send it all off with Hedwig before breakfast, as there's Magic Self-Defense straight after. I'm top of that class, thanks to my previous knowledge of defending myself. Pretty sure I terrify even the teacher in there.'

Draco almost snorts at that, of course Bloom would be excellent to the point of terrifying in a self-defense class. He can only pity the poor soul that ends up partnered with her, from the stories he read…most Fairies aren't as tough as Bloom. Not by a long shot. They prefer to fight at a distance and hit people with spells. Bloom would bombard you with spells, and if you were stupid or unlucky enough to somehow make it close enough to be in arm's reach she'd punch you in the face and follow up with a third-degree burn somewhere you most definitely don't want to be burned. Likely the face.

Bloom's lying on her bed, having just finished writing out a list of ideas to use on that damn forest - along with a note to herself to create her own version of Fiendfyre, in case it does come down to burning down the forest altogether, as well as a new version of the Counter-Spell for situations exactly like this - when her phone suddenly buzzes.

A lot.

For eight people - looks like they figured out the phones!

Bloom quickly accepts the call, and gets a huge smile on her face when Hermione's is projected above the small device. Quickly followed by the rest of the Gryffindors and Draco, all of whom get varying reactions to seeing her. From huge grins - Seamus - to their face lighting up in excitement - Draco - the full spectrum of positive reactions seems to be displayed. After quickly setting up a Privacy Ward so she doesn't disturb the others, Bloom gets into an animated description of everything that's happened so far.

Much to Seamus' disappointment, nothing's exploded yet - they've been practicing channeling magic in Magic Invocation, and haven't yet gone on to any spells that could blow up just yet as the point of the class is to prevent such incidents. But the real potential for massive explosions, Bloom's heard, is Applied Convergence - multiple magics mixing, and almost infinite possibilities of damage to the room. Seamus is practically drooling at the description, and Bloom has to promise to send him a video or two of the class. Neville has her promise to collect a bunch of different plants from the forest as well, and Lavender has her send her a link to the latest fashion websites - Bloom also promises to give her Stella's number, after asking said blonde girl if its alright.

Eventually, its Ron, Hermione, and Draco still on the line, and Hermione asks "What's bothering you, Bloom? There's something, I can tell." Comes with living with Bloom for the better part of five years, she can read the red-head easily.

Bloom sighs softly, then says "It's a spell Daphne put on the forest. I wrote about it in the letter I sent with Hedwig."

Ron nods, and asks "Yeah, we read that, but…why's it giving you so much trouble? Your…well, your you, Bloom. You never have trouble with spells."

Bloom snorts, and says "Yeah, well, turns out I come by that naturally. From our mother." It takes Hermione exactly one second to figure out what Bloom means by that.

"So…Daphne's every bit as smart as you."

Bloom nods, saying "Looks to be that way, 'Mione. Whatever spell it is she cast on that forest…its not only insanely powerful, but from what I can tell there's something powering it. Something big, at that. It's a bit like a Confundus, with a few extra features - I keep ending up back at Alfea, no matter what I try. And the spell hasn't weakened in the slightest, so its tied to something that's keeping it at full-strength. Because I seriously doubt Daphne spent half a bloody school year trying to contact me only to keep me from getting to her." She's a Fyre, dammit, she should know just how stubborn they can be!

Hermione frowns, then asks "Have you tried flying over the forest?"

Bloom shakes her head, saying "I'm trying that next weekend, along with going in blindfolded to see if that changes anything."

Ron asks "Blindfolded?"

"The spell messes with your senses, turning you around until you've no idea which direction you came from. I've tried leaving a trail to follow, but it keeps erasing it. And, from what I can tell…it affects you differently depending on your intention. Palladium, for example, can get ingredients from the forest with little difficulty, and people who just want to explore can end up being in the forest for hours. But if someone wants to find the semi-mythical Lake Roccaluce…"

Draco grimaces, and finishes "Its impossible."

Bloom huffs "Exactly."

Hermione asks "Semi-mythical? I thought…"

Bloom shrugs, and says "Apparently, there's a bunch of myths tied to the lake. And the detail that nobody can find it now…"

"Right. Good point."

Ron asks "Well, at least you won't be bored, right?"

Bloom hums, and says "There's that."

Hermione fake-brightly adds "Yes. Between this forest and the attentions of whoever you caught the eye of this time, you shouldn't be bored whatsoever."

Bloom asks "What makes you say that?"

Draco all but deadpans "Bloom, life as we know it would be coming to an end if you weren't being targeted by someone. Who is it now, since Tom Riddle is gone?" And who does he get to violently Curse away from Bloom?

Bloom sighs, having wanted to keep this particular detail from them to spare them worry, and says "There's a Coven system at Cloud Tower, a bit like what you said the Slytherin Hierarchy is like, Draco. And the current top Coven is called the Trix - they've apparently got a reputation of being extremely ruthless and vicious, as cutthroat as their rumored ancestors."

At all three of their looks, Bloom chuckles humorlessly, and says "History seems to like to repeat itself. They have the exact same abilities as the Ancestral Witches, resulting in the rumors that they're direct descendants of the three ladies."

All three of them groan, and Ron says "Only you, Bloom."

Bloom shrugs, and says "Well, they don't seem to be focused on me, specifically. Stella thinks its her they're looking at."

Draco says "That just means your protectiveness will rear its head, Bloom. They're going after one of your new roommates, who, from the sounds of it, you've warmed up to by now."

Ron brightly says "Whelp, they're dead."

Bloom mutters "They would be already, but Faragonda has a thing about killing people before they can become truly dangerous. So, I've got to wait for them to do something people can't possibly ignore or brush off before I can get them out of my bloody hair."

Hermione groans, and asks "Is that from one of your dreams?"

Bloom shakes her head, and says "Haven't gotten any aside from Daphne, yet. That's from experience, actually. I found them spying on us two nights before classes started, the rest of the girls had wanted to get pizza in Magix City nearby. The next night, they were breaking into Alfea and setting a distraction to keep us busy while they searched the school for something powerful."

Another round of groaning, and Hermione asks "Do you know how they were searching?"

Bloom nods, and says "Yeah, these three crystal bottles they'd summoned. Called the Vacuums, of all things. They seek out sources of powerful magic. I took them away before they could find anything, though."

AN: Hey, everyone! Alright, so, before you start yelling at me about burning down the forest...no, I'm not actually planning on burning down the forest. I am, however, going to have Bloom have a version of Fiendfyre that isn't cursed and dark and all that. She's just got to have one, a spell that produces mass amounts of fire that she can control. I've even got an incantation figured out, and its hilarious. 'Draco Ignis' if anyone wants to look it up via google translate.

Anyway, enjoy! More chapters coming soon! Please review, they make my day!