Willow hung onto Fred's and George's arms for support. Lee stood behind her, tense and ready to catch her if she fell. Willow felt like her asthma was back again. Her lungs burned with each rapid breath. Her head was pounding with too many senses being activated at once. Her legs felt like they'd been hit with the jelly-leg jinx. She hoped she wasn't digging her nails into Fred and George, but based on their pained expressions, she didn't hold out much hope.

"What is Ron doing here?" Lee asked.

Willow blinked, and she realized Harry, Hermione, and Ron were standing next to the cat, eyes flashing like cornered animals as they gazed out at the crowd converging from either hallway. Fred shot Ron a quizzical glance. Ron only returned a fearful expression. Willow found strength in her legs and broke away from Fred and George, nearly collapsing into Hermione.

"Did you see what happened?" she gasped. "Were you guys here when Mrs. Norris was attacked? Please tell me you weren't!"

"No, we arrived just after," Hermione whispered. "Harry heard something after the party, we followed it here, and- "

Suddenly, Filch shouted at the crowd to let him through. Hermione shoved Willow back into the crowd, glanced over her shoulder to make sure she was safe, and returned to the problem at hand. Fred, George, and Lee were back upon her.

"What happened, Willow? Do you know?" George asked.

"Was this what your visions was all about?"

"Yes," Willow said. "Something horrible happened here. I don't know what it was, but something huge, not human, and very dangerous just passed through. It attacked Mrs. Norris." She lowered her voice. "I don't know why it's driving my senses nuts. My powers never act up this bad. Whatever it is, it must be extraordinarily powerful to make me- "

Willow was cut off as her head swam with more electrical signals. Her vision blurred, then returned. She stumbled a few paces. When Fred tried to support her, she shook her head.

"No, I can't act so weak when this is meant to make me stronger," she insisted. "I need to be able to rely on myself to get out of these situations. My own two legs just need to cooperate."

"Willow, do you realize how dumb that sounds?" Lee chuckled. "We all know you're strong. You can't force your body to cooperate with you. All we're doing is making sure you don't crack your skull on the bloody floor."

Willow smiled half-heartedly. "Thanks, Lee. You're right."

Suddenly, Filch yelled at Harry and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Willow almost panicked when Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived on the scene, Snape and Lockhart following not far behind. They separated Harry and Filch quickly. Willow's heartbeat slowed a bit, but she was still on edge. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were told to follow Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall sent everyone else back to their dormitories.

"We know what you're thinking," Fred said as Willow tried to break away from them. He surprisingly let her go. When she gave him a quizzical glance, he scoffed and said, "Don't look at me like that, you know you should go with them!"

"Besides, the staff room might be a good place for a prank when we get tired of our same old professors," George said, a mischievous light in his eyes. "Stake out some good spots to fire off some fireworks, got it?"

Willow laughed. "How could I refuse?"

Fred shoved her in the direction of the staff room, a big grin on his face. "Go on, don't lose our chance!"

"Our chance?"

"Just go already!"

Willow shook her head, a smile playing on her lips, and made her way upstream until she caught up with Hermione, who was lagging a little behind. She let out a relieved puff of air and hugged Willow tightly.

"I was hoping you'd follow us!" she said. "I'm worried about what's going on. Harry was acting kind of funny, and I don't know what all this is about, but I think there's a real danger here, unfortunately, especially to Muggleborns like myself. Did you see anything?"

Willow bit her lip. "No, just an unhelpful but frightening vision. All I saw was a giant shadow looming over Mrs. Norris. Nothing more."

Hermione caught the gleam in her eye. "What else, Willow? What are you hiding?"

"There was this creepy voice," she admitted. "It didn't make any sense. I thought it was a ghost, but I can't hear or sense ghosts, only living creatures. Whatever this thing is that attacked Mrs. Norris, it's alive."

Hermione bit her lip. "Willow…Harry heard a voice, too. He kept saying the creature was going to kill someone. Did you hear the same thing?"

"Yes!"

Hermione got cut off when McGonagall sharply told the girls to hurry inside. They ran into Lockhart's office to find Dumbledore already inspecting Mrs. Norris, Professor Snape pacing slowly in the corner, Lockhart admiring himself in front of a mirror, and Harry and Ron cringing against the wall. Willow ran up to Harry and hugged him tight. He squeezed her back in response.

"You didn't get hurt, right?" Willow hurriedly asked.

"No, did you?"

"No, thank God." Willow turned to Ron and hugged him, too, much to his surprise. "You're okay, then?"

Ron shrugged, his ears pink. "Yeah, I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

Willow quickly caught him up. Harry listened in, too, and he appeared troubled by the fact that Willow could hear the voice, too. He didn't question her, though, so the topic was skipped over entirely. The professors began speaking to the trio after a little while, and Willow stuck to the edge of the office. Eventually, the trio was dismissed, completely free of punishment, and there was apparently hope for Mrs. Norris.

Suddenly, Willow got the wind knocked out of her. She choked on her own air and wheezed involuntarily. Her vision flickered again, and the voice was there once more, in the back of her mind, drowning out her own thoughts, ringing in her ears until the roaring ocean of horrible, gut-wrenching sounds was all that she could hear. Willow covered her ears, but it did not good. It was inside her head. There was nothing she could do about it. The sound only got louder. Willow was brought to her knees. She screwed up her face in pain. The voice got louder. Willow thought her head was going to explode. Her vision tunneled. When she was on the brink of passing out, the voice came clearer to her than it had ever been before, as if it were speaking directly to her.

I must rip…Must kill…so many Mudbloods to choose from, oh yes…so many little ones ready to die…so much blood ready to be spilled…No, we cannot eat them all at once, no, we must spare a few…But it can't hurt to try for another one…

The voice faded into the background, a jumble of vowels and consonants once again. Willow slowly uncovered her ears, her mouth open in a silent scream, as the cold, murderous voice moved away, leaving her trembling on the floor. She got up at once, regretted it, and regained her balance using the wall. Willow found all the teachers staring at her. She had piqued their interest by now. Dumbledore watched her with critical, piercing eyes, then stepped towards her.

"What did you hear, just now?" he asked.

"The same thing that Harry did," Willow choked out. "It's that chilling voice that gets louder and louder, then moves away."

"What did it say?"

"The same thing. It- it wants to- " Willow could barely say it. She grimaced. "It wants to kill all the Muggleborns."

Dumbledore nodded. "And did it say anything else?"

"No, nothing," Willow said. She nervously played with her fingers. "But…there was something else, earlier- "

"Another vision," Dumbledore said before she could continue. "I noticed your rush out of the Great Hall." He looked directly into her eyes, as if analyzing her very thoughts. "What did you see? Was it the attacker?"

"No, it wasn't," Willow said. She gulped. "I only saw Mrs. Norris. She was hopping onto the torch bracket when something went wrong. She started hissing. Then, a giant shadow- I think it was the thing with the voice- covered her." Willow's shoulders sagged. "I didn't get to see the attacker, only its shadow, which had no shape. It was simply enormous." A sudden thought occurred to her. "Hang on a second! Earlier this year, I had another vision like this. There was this sort of cave. It had a lot of water in it, and there was a sculpture of some Greek god or something towards the back. There were lots of tunnels in it too. Towards the end of the vision, a giant shadow covered me, and I think it was about to attack me when I left the vision right in time." Willow fearfully glanced at Dumbledore. "Do you think those two are connected, somehow?"

"Unfortunately, they might be," he whispered. Dumbledore paused for a moment in thought, considering this new evidence, then turned to McGonagall. After conferring with her for a moment, he glanced back at Willow, seemed to come to a decision, and finally returned to her.

"We need to be able to see these visions to confirm our assumption," Dumbledore said. "It's not that we don't believe you. We simply need more intricate details. My apologies, Miss Guerrero, but we need to go into your mind."

Willow's heart stopped. "What?"

"Have a seat, please. This will be quick, then you can go back to your dormitory immediately."

She gripped the wall, her fingernails beginning to scrape away at the stone. "Please, don't do this."

"It will be over in five seconds," Professor McGonagall reassured her. "Just do as the Headmaster tells you."

"Please, don't!" Willow pleaded.

"Seriously, Miss Guerrero. I will extend your detention sentence. Cooperate. We need to know for sure."

"Stop it!" she said as the teachers advanced a step on her. "Don't do this!"

"You'll be fine, Miss Guerrero."

Vine tendrils wrapped themselves around Willow's feet and began to climb up the walls. She glanced around in a panic, her heart racing when she realized there were a lot of potted plants in the room. Leaves showered the floor and more stems and branches twisted around the space. The vines tried to wrap around the teachers, but they simply shot a few spells at them. They grew faster and faster as the teachers advanced.

"Miss Guerrero, will you please- " Professor McGonagall slapped away a spiky plant- "Willow, this is not the time to be ornery. This is serious business. Just sit down. It will be over in a moment."

"Don't come near me!" Willow warned, her eyes wild. "I don't want to hurt you!"

Lockhart stared in wonder at the plants rapidly expanding in size around him. Even his portraits were enthralled. "This is extraordinary! How are you doing it, Willow? I've never seen this, in all my travels- it's all very interesting- " He untangled a piece of greenery from around his mouth- "Hah! It has an attitude, too. What sort of spell is this?"

"Silence, Gilderoy," Snape commanded.

Willow's pulse was racing out of control. Her hands shook excessively, sweat dripped down her forehead, and she collapsed a little into the wall. She felt like someone had stuffed a cotton ball into her mouth, it was so dry. Her senses slammed into her like a gale force wind. The Ravenclaw Tower, though several floors and hundreds of meters away, had two crackling fires with groups of students chuckling around them. A few Slytherins were dueling in their common room. Some Hufflepuffs were tickling the pear portrait to enter the kitchen. Gryffindor Tower was buzzing with a game of charades involving nearly every fifth year. Every sound within a mile radius invaded her head, crushing her eardrums. Her vision was defined even more so than normal. The smells of the castle washed over her as maverick wave. Willow could feel herself drowning beneath it, tumbling uncontrollably into the deep, dark depths of the ocean, scrambling for the surface, her muscles burning, just as her last ounce of oxygen leaves in a scream of bubbles...

"Willow, come on now," McGonagall said, setting Willow into a chair. "You're being ridiculous." Her voice was magnified to ten times its normal volume, lingering in her ears and ringing. "Go ahead, Albus."

Willow felt Dumbledore invade her mind. He began poking around, delving further and further to where she kept everything hidden. Memories shot to the surface and threatened to be revealed to him. Willow covered her ears to shut the voices out, screaming and throwing the Headmaster out of her mind. She was breathing heavily now and her heartbeat was anything but regular.

"Please, stop," she croaked, on the verge of tears. "Please."

McGonagall's expression softened. She paused, visibly weighing out something in her mind's eye, then turned to Dumbledore and whispered something to him. He shook his head and his wand remained pointed at Willow.

"We need the information," he explained gently. "Just let me have a quick look, and you're free to go. It only takes a moment. I will not search for anything else. I promise, Willow."

"Wait, please, no!" she cried.

Dumbledore had already cast the spell. He was back in her mind, this time more quickly digging into the deeper part of her mind. Willow panicked and threw up a wall against him. He pushed against it, but not hard enough. Dumbledore was holding back. Willow successfully threw him out again.

"Stop it," she whimpered. "Not again."

Quirrel's black eyes swam in her vision. His laughter rang in her ears. The cold, sinister voice wouldn't leave her alone. Every time Dumbledore spoke, it was Quirrel's voice again in her head, torturing her. The snap of her old wand splintered her senses. As much as she tried to convince herself it wasn't real, there Quirrel was, standing in front of her, breaking her wand and laughing at her misery. A tear dripped off Willow's cheek.

I told you, you're weak, pathetic.

Your friends aren't coming soon enough to save you.

"No," Willow whispered. "No, I'm not weak. I'm not pathetic. My friends don't have to save me."

You'll die in here, all alone, in the dark, where you belong.

"I don't deserve to die in the dark!" Willow shouted at the image. "I don't belong with the scum of the earth! I'm not going to die for nothing! You're wrong! You're always wrong!"

Quirrel laughed at her, then turned around, revealing Voldemort's red, glowing eyes. Fear drove a knife into Willow's heart. Her chest physically hurt. She wheezed and dropped to her knees, feeling weak.

"Willow," McGonagall said. Her voice sounded so far away. "Willow, stand up."

"Stand up," she repeated. "Stand up." She convinced herself this time. "Stand up!"

Willow rose to her feet, using the wall for support. She closed her eyes and focused. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. Quirrel was dead. Voldemort was gone. She was safe, at Hogwarts, with her friends. She wasn't trapped in a dungeon, waiting to die, hoping her friends would remember her, watching helplessly as Snape rescues her...

"Legillime- "

"No!" Willow shouted. Her senses cleared. She realized she was pointing her wand at the teachers. Willow lowered it, her hand still shaking. She had a sudden moment of clarity. Glancing between each of the teachers, she stuttered, "Let- let Professor Snape do it."

Dumbledore and McGonagall exchanged a surprised look, then turned to stare at Snape. Though he was hiding it well, Willow's senses had bubbled up around her, and she sensed enormous surprise. Dumbledore lowered his wand and stood up straight.

"Professor Snape, if you would, search Miss Guerrero's mind, please," he ordered.

Snape stood there a moment, then slowly stepped forward, raised his wand, and said, "Legillimens."

Willow tried not the shut him out of her mind. Her heart rate spiked again, and another bead of sweat dripped off her nose, but she remained as calm and collected as possible. Willow offered up the two memories to him and he took them immediately, then retracted the spell as soon as he had seen enough. The vines had grown up around her again. Willow panted softly, looking up at Snape with strained eyes. Professor Snape only stared back for a moment, indecision and interest conflicting, then turned away. Willow dropped her eyes and stared at her shoes, willing the plants to return. Lockhart appreciatively smiled with that winning grin of his that didn't win Willow over at all. She patiently waited in the chair while the Professors conversed, suppressing the memories that kept threatening to surface. At last, they turned to face her.

"Thank you, Miss Guerrero," Professor Dumbledore said courteously. He nodded towards McGonagall. "Professor McGonagall has a favor to ask you before you go."

"You are to come to my office tomorrow evening at eight o'clock," she instructed. "There are a few things we need to discuss."

Willow simply stood there, unresponsive. She felt like a deer caught in headlights. Professor McGonagall wanted her...to talk? She couldn't tell her everything! There simply was no way! She was not about to talk out her feelings to someone. That only made them worse in the past!

"Miss Guerrero, did you hear- "

Willow would never understand why she did it. Before McGonagall could even finish, she bolted from the room, leaving the Professors to stand in a stunned silence. She tore through the corridors, sobbing more than ever before. For once, she ignored the pitying glances she got, ignored the fact that it would be all over the school the next day that Willow Guerrero had been seen expressing emotions. Willow wiped her face and sprinted across the courtyard. She galloped down the hill and into the Forbidden Forest. Willow didn't stop or even find a trail. She ran and ran and ran until she couldn't run anymore. Willow finally collapsed against a tree, unable to hold herself up anymore. She banged her fist against the trunk and sank to the forest floor in a heap.

"Why does this have to happen to me?" she yelled. "Why me? First, you take away my family. Then, you take away my life. Now you're taking my mind, too? What else do I have to give? I hate you! I hate you!"

Cebba appeared in front of her, the sensation hardly noticeable this time. "Willow- "

"I don't want to talk to you right now!" she shouted. "You're the one who did this to me!"

"Willow, I didn't- "

"Get out!" she screamed. "Get out of my life! I never want to talk to you again! All you do is mess with my life until there's nothing left of me! Your only purpose is to hurt me! Get out!"

Cebba disappeared back into Willow's head. Willow hit her head against the tree, but it didn't make her fell any better. She crumpled her hands into balled fists and pummeled the tree, then kicked it as hard as she could, turned into a small dragon and tore up half its roots, and finally collapsed to the forest floor, screaming out everything she had. Then, Willow laid on the ground, completely alone in a world teeming with life, and hiccuped with emotion. She stared at the stars through the canopy.

You were they only one who truly understood. You were the only one who could calm me down. Why did they have to take you away from me? Why you, of all people?

They can never take me away from you. I will always be a part of you.

Willow sniffled. Why do I always cause pain to everyone else?

Because those that truly love you are never afraid of the pain you might bring.

Her tears watered the forest floor. Willow had never been more lonely in her life. There was so much life around her, though. The frogs were singing in their chaotically organized chorus, the cicadas and grasshoppers were chirping long-windily, and every so often, an owl would hoot. Willow could hear the faint bellowing of a beast off in the distance. She wished she could just stay in the Forbidden Forest forever. No more disappointed looks on her friends' faces, no more worrying from her dad, no more pain to others. Just peace and love and knowing that her friends were more safe because of her absence...she could think of nothing better.

But it could never happen. She knew that that would solve nothing. She had to bite the bullet and go back. There was still so much left to fight through. Willow slapped herself. She was being a baby again. There was a reason for her pain, right? She was supposed to be tested in this way. If she couldn't make it through this, how was she supposed to make it through the even harder trials? Willow gritted her teeth and rose to her feet. It was time to grow up a little and deal with these problems. She had run away enough.

"Mrr?" Fidget chirped.

"Oh my God, Fidget!" Willow cried, taking out the little bowtruckle and examining him on the palm of her hand. "I forgot you were in my pocket! Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Fidget playfully saluted her. "Mrr!"

"Oh, Fidget," Willow said, cuddling the bowtruckle against her cheek. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't get angry like that. You shouldn't have to deal with my temper tantrums. That will never happen again, okay? I promise."

Fidget snuggled against her cheek. "Mrr."

A twig snapped nearby. Fidget tensed up, unsheathing his little claws, grumbling agitatedly. Willow sensed a group of creatures. She drew her wand and readied her powers, letting the electricity flow beneath the surface. Nothing was coming between her and her bowtruckle. She'd go down in flames if that was what it took. Willow steadied herself and locked her eyes on the rustling bush. She counted to three, then jumped it. Willow yelped and drew back immediately.

A group of four magical creatures cowered underneath her. Willow recognized each one. First she saw the knarl, a hedgehog-like creature. It glared at her with beady eyes. Then she saw the jarvey, which was muttering under its breath. Finally, she saw the jobberknoll, perched atop the largest, but youngest creature, the baby griffin. They formed a tight defensive circle with the griffin seemingly behind the other three. Willow's mouth dropped open.

"Oh my God," she breathed. "You're a small little family. You guys are traveling together, aren't you?"

The creatures, of course, did not respond. Willow wished the griffin was a little older so she could speak with it, as it was the most intelligent creature present, but the jobberknoll was the next best thing. She unnecessarily cleared her throat and hoped her rusty skills would do.

Are you traveling with these three? she asked.

Travel to protect, the jobberknoll answered. Must take care.

Okay, Willow said. Can you come closer? I won't hurt you. I just want to make sure you're not hurt.

Me, yes. Others, no.

The jobberknoll flapped its wings and landed on the ground in front of Willow. It cautiously approached her. Willow crouched down and held out her hand for the jobberknoll to come to. It took some time, but eventually the jobberknoll touched its beak to her finger. It hopped a pace back after that. Fidget curiously poked his head out of her robe pocket, and the jobberknoll spotted him right away. She scolded it before it could try to eat her bowtruckle. Fidget sensed the tension and blew raspberries at the jobberknoll. It silently twittered back.

"Alright, I should probably find some food for you," Willow said to herself. "You guys must be starving!"

The jobberknoll flitted to a nearby tree, where a bunch of grubs were hiding under a broken piece of bark. It ruffled its feathers and picked up the smallest bugs, eating them one by one.

"…Or you can do that." Willow chuckled. She moved onto the knarl. It cowered under her gaze at first, then bristled and took a threatening step forward, as if trying to cover for its fear. Willow sighed.

"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" She crossed her arms. "I know better than to offer you food. You're too stubborn to take it." Willow crouched down. "Will you please let me check you for injuries, though? I know something hurts."

The knarl bared its teeth and backed up, its thorny covering rising. Willow rolled her eyes and grew a small patch of wild daisies as she turned away. The knarl begrudgingly began eating away behind her back. Willow turned her attention on the jarvey now, which was still muttering the same phrase.

"You have to speak up for me to understand you," she said.

"You're a piece of rubbish! You're a piece of rubbish! You're a piece of rubbish!"

"I'm seriously wondering who taught you how to say that," Willow said. "You need a lesson in saying nice things, buddy."

"You're a piece of rubbish! You're a piece of rubbish!"

"I'll have to ask the Weasleys for some of their gnomes for you. You'll love that."

The baby griffin squeaked and squawked for attention. Willow giggled and slowly approached it, still in a crouching position, holding out her hand gently. The knarl bristled and scuttled out from its patch of daisies, taking up a defensive position. Unfortunately for the knarl, the baby griffin was too curious and batted it out of the way, sending it flying into the daisy patch, where it poked its head out and blew a few petals out of its eyes. The baby griffin ran into Willow, and much to its delight, knocked her backwards. Willow laid there and let the griffin search her. It sniffed all over her robe, found Fidget but left him alone, then finally ran backwards and tripped over its own feet. Willow chortled and sat up, holding out her hand for the baby griffin to come to. It was so excited it accidentally nipped her. Willow recoiled her hand as the blood flow was stopped by her powers.

"No, we don't bite," she said, waving an accusatory finger at the baby griffin. "Nibbles are okay, but biting is a big no no. Can you try again?"

The baby griffin was uncomprehending of this command and ran at Willow again, bowling her over and rolling to the far side of the clearing with its momentum. Willow got a few cuts from its claws, but they didn't hurt long. She waited for it to get to its feet before standing up. For the first time, she noticed some fresh scarlet stairs on its hindquarters.

"You're hurting a bit, aren't you?" she asked. When the baby griffin didn't reply, Willow got a bit closer and reached out with her senses. There was some damage to its hind legs and one of its dewclaws. Willow bit her lip. She couldn't just leave this group of creatures to possibly get infections and die, but she had to get to know them a little better before they would let her touch them, especially the knarl. They belonged in the Forbidden Forest, but they might leave if she left them here, and that wasn't an option, either. Willow sighed.

"You're lucky you're cute, because you're going to get me into a lot of trouble." Willow broke off a branch from a nearby tree, wound its leaf stems into a small rope with her powers, and levitated it over the baby griffin's head. "Come on, you, and make sure your friends follow."

The baby griffin flapped its wings and squawked, then followed Willow through the forest, every now and then running through a bush and showering leaves all over the trailing knarl and jarvey. They didn't seem to mind. They might have been used to it at that point. The jobberknoll silently flew overhead, every now and then landing on Willow's shoulder to survey the scene. So far, it was becoming the friendliest of the four. She might be able to get to work on the jobberknoll before the others if she was lucky.

By the light of the moon, Willow wound her way through the forest, tracing the trampled path she had made in the undergrowth until she found the real path, then followed it to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. A far-off werewolf howled at the moon. Though it should have scared her, it didn't worry Willow. She wasn't going to have yet another mental breakdown tonight. She'd had enough for one day.

Willow peered up at the castle. There weren't any visible teachers on the prowl tonight. Good. Willow snuck up the hill and stopped in the corridor that branched off from the courtyard. She listened, but there was no one. Her luck was holding for once. Willow quieted the four creatures the best she could and practically sprinted to the common room. She gave the password and slipped through the portrait hole before the Fat Lady even opened her eyes. Thankfully, there was no one in the common room, but as it was half past one in the morning, she'd been counting on everyone being in bed.

Willow paused in the common room. The jobberknoll flitted about, checking out the couch, then the fireplace, then the large window, and finally perched on Willow's shoulder. The jarvey and knarl suspiciously stayed by the baby griffin's side, bristling at the new surroundings. Willow suddenly realized the error in her plan. She swore in Spanish.

"Now I've done it."

Willow kicked over a chair and winced when it landed on the floor with a bang! She fearfully glanced upstairs, hoping no one heard it. No one so much as cracked open their door. Willow put her face in her hands.

"Why am I cursed to never think anything through?" she groaned. Willow glanced at the baby griffin. "Do you know?"

The baby griffin responded by padding over to the other side of the room. Willow let go of its lead and watched it sniff the air. It stopped in front of a door, touched it with its claw, quietly squeaked at her, then sat down, cocking its head. Willow stood up and sauntered over to it.

"When did this door get here?" she whispered to herself. "I don't remember a door being here…at any party…ever…and there's been lots of those…" She shrugged. "Then again, I'm oblivious to half the Earth. Let's see what you found."

Willow braced herself, then ran at the door and kicked it down only to have it swing forward, fully on its hinges. It was unlocked. Oops. Willow stepped into the room and coughed with the amount of dust that flew up. The griffin simply walked further into the dark room.

"A bit old, don't you think?" she wheezed. "Lumos!"

The tip of her wand lit up, illuminating the surprisingly large space. It must have had one of those undetectable extension charms on it. Willow reckoned that it was the size of her living room, high ceilings and all. There were a few odd quills, textbooks, and forgotten items scattered about, but other than that, the room appeared empty. Willow kicked the random items into the corner of the room.

"Okay, what was it that drew you into this dusty old broom closet again?" she asked.

The baby griffin purred and chirped excitedly. It jumped up and down near a light switch in the corner of the room. Willow ran over to the griffin and calmed it down before it could do any more damage to its legs.

"Easy, easy, easy!" she cried. "The last thing I need is for you to wake someone up by screaming about your legs. I'm turning the light switch on, see?"

Willow flicked it on, but nothing happened. Figures. There was no light or chandelier in the room, anyway. She didn't know why she expected something amazing to happen.

Suddenly, the griffin bounced up and down, jumped at the wall- and went through it.

"Wait, what- " Willow flicked the light switch off. "Come back! Come back, please!"

She tried to put her hand through the wall, but nothing happened. Willow frantically tried to kick through the wall. The stone held strong and nearly broke her toes.

"No, no, no!" Willow flicked the light switch back on. "Hogwarts, do something! You swallowed a freaking griffin! Fix this!"

Just then, the jarvey plunged through the wall, the knarl and jobberknoll directly behind him. Willow stared open-mouthed at the wall.

"What the…"

She placed her hand on the wall, and it sunk straight through. Willow retracted it and flicked the light switch off. When she tried to go through this time, the wall was sealed. Willow flipped the switch again and her hand went through the wall once more.

"That's totally not strange…perfectly normal thing to discover in your own common room…nothing crazy…at all…" Willow inhaled deeply. "Well, here goes nothing."

Stepping through the wall, she shut her eyes, bracing for impact. But nothing happened. Willow's eyes fluttered open, and her jaw hit the floor.
The new room was a deciduous forest. There was a visible end to it, in the distance, but the ceiling was nowhere in sight. It sprawled out before her, beautiful, natural, and most importantly, big enough to accommodate her new patients. Willow stood on a concrete platform, which was home to storage bins and the opposite side of the wall she'd just walked through. There was a light switch just like the one on the other side. Willow flicked it off to bar entry just in case. The baby griffin excitedly sniffed the new territory. The knarl and jarvey disappeared into the landscape immediately, and the jobberknoll flew into the nearest tree, where it began to gather supplies for a nest. Even Fidget climbed out of her pocket and happily scaled a small tree. Willow blinked in wonder. Where had all this come from? Had it been here before?

Her answer was lying in wait on the nearest storage bin. Willow walked over and picked up the note, reading it over twice before the message sank in.

You're going to need a hidden space for your collection soon. I hope Fidget appreciates the change.

Anonymous

Willow let the letter slip from her fingers. One of the professors…had given her this entire space? This had been created…for her? Willow teared up a little as the realization that this was really all for her finally hit. She dried her eyes before she could really start crying and walked over to where Fidget was hanging upside down, playing with the leaves.

"You are the biggest little miracle ever!" she said, letting Fidget rub against her knuckles.

The jarvey reappeared a few feet away, carrying a bloody gnome in his jaws. He laid down not far from the baby griffin and ripped into his meal. In between bites, he kept repeating the same rude phrase from earlier. Willow looked away. She was hardly going to question how a gnome was in the middle of the Gryffindor common room. The knarl had reappeared, too, though it stayed much farther away from Willow, carrying a few wild daisies in its mouth. A cascade of leaves showered her. Willow glanced up to see the jobberknoll victoriously digging into a piece of bark covered in wood lice. Fidget clambered up the tree and caught a few before the jobberknoll could notice. Hopefully the two wouldn't get into fights over their favorite food in the future. The baby griffin longingly stared at Willow, its stomach audibly growling. She realized with a start that griffins didn't eat plants.

"Oh, man, I'm sorry, little guy," Willow apologized. "You caught me unprepared. I don't think you can hunt yet, can you?"

The baby griffin whimpered and collapsed to the ground with a weary huff. It raised its fuzzy eaglet head and blinked slowly at her with lonesome eyes. Willow's heart broke in two. The baby griffin was skinny as it was, and if his little family had been feeding him at all, it couldn't have been much. A jarvey could only catch so many rodents in a day. He needed some major TLC, and fast. The only problem was...would he trust her enough?

"Okay, before I can even get anywhere with you guys, I have to name you." The creatures perked up at the sound of her voice. Fidget appeared on her shoulder and nuzzled her cheek for emotional support. She smiled before continuing. "I'm going to do my best, so don't throw a fit unless it's actually that bad, okay?"

Willow looked over the jobberknoll first. His flawless, impeccably blue and speckled feathers stood out the most, but she didn't feel like naming him based on his appearance was right. Every jobberknoll was a pretty blue. His personality so far had been mostly sweet and trusting, so he must be one of the sociable types. He was far from noisy, though, being incapable of sound until the time of his death. Willow shrugged. She couldn't think of much else.

"Can I call you Felicity?" she asked.

The jobberknoll opened its beak to reply, but no sound came out. It appeared as happy as a bird could, so she took that as a yes. Willow moved onto the jarvey, and since it was still tearing into its gnome, she didn't want to spend much time staring at him. She wouldn't figure out much about his personality for a while. Thankfully, she had already thought of something during her walk.

"I'm going to call you V, okay?"

The jarvey looked up. "I'm going to call you V, okay! I'm going to call you V, okay!"

"I'll...take that as a yes..." Willow trailed off. She cleared her throat, turning her attention to the knarl. "Onto you then, you little stinker."

The knarl didn't react. It purposely ignored her and munched on its wild daisies, keeping a close eye on the motionless baby griffin. The knarl had been stubborn and refused any help or offers from her so far. There were quite a few names she could have used for him, but she was feeling positive tonight, and he might brighten up eventually.

"Your name is going to be Patch," Willow said. "I will make sure you brighten up eventually, you grumpy little thing. It's my job to be all depressing."

The knarl groaned quietly, then shuffled even further away from her so that his rear end was facing her. Willow let out a laugh, which made the baby griffin perk up. It cocked its head at her, then, once he realized she still had no food, laid down again. She didn't like how lethargic he was becoming already. He was rapidly slipping away from her. Willow bit her lip. She didn't have time to give him a proper name, she was beginning to realize. She was wasting critical time to rehabilitate him.

"Sorry, little guy, but I'm going to call you Griffin for now," she said. "Griffin the griffin. It might stick, might not, but all that matters right now is getting you some food." Willow stood up. "I'll be right back, okay?"

The baby griffin softly squawked, much weaker than before. It slipped into unconsciousness. Willow hoped dearly it was because of exhaustion and not because of starvation. She hastened to the wall, flipped the switch, walked through it, sealed it behind her, and quietly made her way into the common room, which was still empty. Willow wasn't going to take any chances tonight, though. She transformed into a cat and bounded through the corridors, steadily descending, padding her way through hallways, inconspicuously making her way past Mrs. Norris and Filch, and finally reaching the dungeon level, which was still lit by torchlight. Willow checked her surroundings thoroughly before transforming back into a human. She stopped in front of the kitchens and tickled the pear. It laughed a painstakingly long time, then finally disappeared to form the door, which swung open for her immediately. Willow whispered, "Lumos!" and made her way through the darkness.

The kitchens were very empty at night. Without all the house elves bustling around, it was almost too big of a space. A shiver went down Willow's spine as she glanced at the rows of clean cutlery. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away. There was no time to remember the horrific events of last year's Halloween, nor was there going to be a repeat issue. Willow was solely focused on getting a slab of meat for the poor baby griffin dying upstairs.

Continuing further into the void, she finally found the fridge and opened it, only to jump back in surprise. Unlike the last time she had been here, this refrigerator was full of meat, completely devoid of leafy greens and fruit. The smell was...interesting, to say the least. Willow shook her head. This served her purpose well, anyway.

"Winguardium Leviosa!" she whispered.

A large slab of meat floated out of the fridge. Willow shut it behind her, hoping she could maintain both spells at once, and quickly exited the kitchen. She turned off the light at once. Now came the hard part- getting the meat back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Willow?" a small voice called.

Willow scrambled to hide the meat behind her. "Yeah?"

Oliver was standing in front of the Hufflepuff common room entrance, rubbing his eyes blearily. "What are you doing up at this hour? I thought you were a morning person, not a night owl."

"Sometimes I can't sleep, that's all," Willow said.

"What are you hiding that piece of meat for? It smells kind of funny."

Willow sighed. She stepped away from the meat. "I can never hide anything from you, can I, Oliver? You're too good." She shook her head. "You're never going to believe what happened tonight."

Oliver perked up. "Did something happen to you? Were you attacked?"

"No, unless you count play fighting with a baby griffin an attack," Willow chuckled. A grin spread across her face as Oliver's lit up. "Yes, Oliver, I rescued a baby griffin tonight. And a jarvey. And a knarl. And a jobberknoll. They were all traveling together, you see. I found them in the Forbidden Forest. They're all hurt and malnourished, especially the griffin. I couldn't just leave them there, so I snuck them in the castle, and now I found this wonderful place to take care of them." Fear struck Willow in the stomach. "Ay dios mio! I've got to hurry. There's no time to waste. The baby griffin is already showing signs of collapse. I've got to get this back to him ASAP."

Willow turned to go, and Oliver ran to catch up. "Wait! I'm coming with you."

"What? No, I don't want to get you in trouble, especially- "

"Willow, I'm not passing up an opportunity to meet a baby griffin," Oliver cut in. His face reddened. "I mean, only- only if you think it's okay- I don't want to upset you- "

"Oliver, if I were you, I wouldn't pass up the opportunity either," Willow said. "Come on. You're going to love this."

The piece of meat levitated behind them while they ran through the corridors. Every once in a while, they paused to listen, but surprisingly, no one was out tonight, and Filch had finally gone to sleep. Willow and Oliver reached the Gryffindor common room without trouble. They passed through the portrait tunnel and made it into the common room. There was one problem, though.

"The door's gone!" Willow cried.

She ran to the spot where it had been before. There was only blank wall. Willow felt around the area with her hands, frantically searching for the knob. But it was gone. She almost burst into tears when it suddenly melted into existence. Willow stared at the trace of her hand that was magically drawn into the door. She blinked in surprise.

"There's some serious security measures on this thing," she commented. "Nice. Let's go in."

Willow lead Oliver through the door and through the wall, much to his surprise, and watched as his face lit up at the sight of the beautiful deciduous forest. He put a hand over his heart when his eyes fell on the baby griffin. Willow ran to its side, startling the other creatures, but barely even waking up the baby griffin. She worriedly scanned his injuries. Was there infection working its way through his body already? She really hoped not.

"Come on, Griffin, wake up!" Willow urged, shaking the baby griffin. "You need to get up!"

Griffin lifted his head and sniffed the air. It perked up and rolled over, eyeing the juicy piece of meat Willow had brought, but not getting up. Willow gently rolled him a little farther until he was sitting upright. Oliver intently watched her from behind. She used a severing charm to cut up the meat, Griffin hungrily staring at it. Willow held out a piece of meat.

"Okay, you need to take this gently," she said. "Don't you dare inhale it. You'll make yourself sick. Ready? Here we go."

Willow offered the meat to Griffin. To her surprise, he delicately took the meat and chewed it slowly, almost suspicious of the new food. Once he decided it was fine, however, he swallowed it in a single gulp, greedily eyeing the rest of the meat. He made a move to get up, but fell to his knees. Willow held out a hand to stop him.

"Whoa there, buddy, don't go crazy on me now," she said. "You're not listening to me. Easy. I'm not cleaning up your vomit if you decide to not take my advice."

The griffin squeaked quietly, giving Willow the puppy eyes. She looked away before they could affect her. She had a particular weakness for puppy eyes. Willow cut the meat into even smaller portions, then fed another one to Griffin, who inhaled the meat yet again. He accidentally bit her the next few times in his big hurry to swallow the food. Her hand was almost as bloody as the meat by the time Griffin finally ate the last piece. Willow stood up, nursing her injured hand, and silently watched the baby griffin drift off to sleep again, this time much more stable.

"Aguamenti," Oliver said.

A cool stream of water wrapped around Willow's hand and rinsed it off. Oliver stepped closer, making sure the spell hadn't missed a spot, then flicked the water into the bushes.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Willow replied, rubbing her still bleeding hand. "Griffin's just a baby, that's all. He'll learn not to bite soon. Thanks for cleaning me up, though. I've dealt with enough things today."

Oliver sat down next to the baby griffin, stroking his fuzzy eaglet feathers. "I like his name. It suits him."

Willow smiled. "Gee, I wonder why."

Oliver's brow furrowed. "Hey, can you come take a look at this?"

Willow crouched down, her eyes widening. "Oh, sweet Jesus...That's a lot worse than I thought."

The baby griffin had not one, not two, but four claw marks running down his hide. They were oozing a sort of puss and still bleeding some. Unfortunately, they weren't fresh, given the evidence of the half-opened scabs marking him here and there. There was a lot of dried blood on his lion cub fur. Willow could smell what was most likely an infection of sorts.

"This isn't good," she said. "This isn't good at all. I didn't know...I should have checked..." Willow sighed. "Well, there's nothing I can do about the past. He's here now, and he's conveniently passed out, so I might as well fix him."

Oliver nodded. "What can I do?"

"Help me get some water on him. We need to clean this and drain it, and fast. The longer we do it, the higher chance he wakes up, and we lose our opportunity the moment he opens his eyes."

Oliver summoned some water, as did Willow, and they soaked the baby griffin. Fidget poked his head out of her pocket to watch. V, Patch, and Felicity watched from a distance. Oliver kept the stream of water going while Willow poked and prodded the wound, scraping away the substances oozing out until there was a watery red substance leaking out. She stepped back to let it drain. Oliver swept to gross water away to where an apparent cleaning station with a drain was in the middle of the floor. The smell instantly got better. That was a good sign. Willow hit the wound with another round of fresh water. Then, once the wound was done draining, she wiped off the remaining leakage and finally got to using her powers.

Oliver watched with wide eyes from behind her. Willow's hands glowed a warm yellow-white color. She placed them across the wound, which began glowing yellow-white as well. A few bits of dirt were drawn out. Some new blood circulated around the wound. The cuts healed themselves into near-scabs. Willow's hands stopped glowing, and she removed them.

"I wish I could heal him all the way..." she trailed off. Willow shook her head. "Well, we've done what we can, Oliver. Griffin should be healing up sometime soon. I hope the others will let me tend to them at some point."

Oliver approached the baby griffin and put his hand over its chest. He held it there for a few seconds, then backed away, breathing a sigh of relief. "Me too."

Willow motioned with her hand. "Come on, let's let him rest. It's the best thing we can do right now."

With one last, longing look, Oliver turned away from the baby griffin and followed Willow into the Gryffindor common room. He plopped down on one of the couches in front of the fire.

"Your common room is much colder than Hufflepuff's," he said.

"Duh, we're in a tower made of cold stone. Your common room is half underground, where the heat stays in. We have zero insulation up here." Willow smiled. "Personally, I love it, but the rest of Gryffindor typically complains."

"You are very warm-blooded."

"And cold-hearted," Willow joked.

Oliver threw a pillow on her. "Don't break your promise to Sally. Remember? We're not going to put ourselves down anymore."

"Ugh, fine. I'll try."

"That was very noncommittal."

Willow threw the pillow back at Oliver. "You're right, that was. I will actually try to be positive, though. Being an optimist sounds hard, but being a pessimist is overrated at this point.

"You don't have to be an optimist to put yourself up," Oliver pointed out.

Willow glanced at him. "Did I ever tell you that you're incredibly intuitive?"

"No, but thanks for telling me." Oliver closed his eyes, shifting into a comfier position. "I think I'm too tired to dodge Filch tonight. I'll just...sleep here..." His voice drifted off. "Good night, Willow."

"Good night, Oliver."

Willow fell asleep to the crackling of the fire, the smell of the oak wood lulling her into sweet dreams.