Professor McGonagall's lips were pressed into such a thin line that they nearly disappeared into a face that had gone white with anger.
"Miss Prickle, you will report to my office after you have changed," she said stiffly.
Everyone around Grace started talking all at once.
"That's not fair, Professor-"
"It was all my plan-"
"-brewed the Sleeping Draught-"
"They dragged me into this!"
Grace glared at Merula. "We did not-"
"That's enough." Professor McGonagall didn't shout, hardly even raised her voice, but she was audible just the same.
"Get changed. Miss Prickle, I will see you shortly. Only you."
Grace started down the stairs as slowly as possible. Her friends gave her sympathetic looks when they parted ways.
"Don't try to get us out of trouble. We all helped," Rowan said.
Penny nodded. "We all knew the risks."
"It's not fair that she's only talking to you," was Ben's comment.
"It'll be fine," Grace assured them, but she wasn't sure it would be. They'd gotten Tulip to ruin the Quidditch match, drugged Mrs. Norris, and broken into a forbidden room. Would Professor McGonagall try to expel them? If that happened, Grace decided that she would say that she had forced her friends to come with her, no matter what they had said.
Thankfully, the Quidditch match hadn't ended yet, so Grace didn't have to face the rest of her house covered in ice. She changed and left the Slytherin common room.
She had a vague idea of where the headmistress's office was from Jacob's stories. Jacob had described a particularly ugly gargoyle on the third floor, which Grace now searched for.
As it turned out, this landmark was unnecessary. The headmistress herself was standing in front of the gargoyle, wearing a stern expression.
Some of the ice from Grace's robes seemed to have found its way to the pit of her stomach.
"Queen's gambit," Professor McGonagall sharply told the gargoyle. It sprang aside, revealing a spiral staircase.
Professor McGonagall started up the steps, so quickly that Grace nearly had to run to keep up. Part of her wanted to drag her feet and climb slowly, but she knew putting off her punishment wouldn't make it any better.
Professor McGonagall's office was circular, with walls covered in paintings. Two of the paintings appeared to be having an argument, but they fell silent as Grace and Professor McGonagall entered.
Professor McGonagall took a seat behind an enormous desk. Grace sat down in an uncomfortable wooden chair in front of the desk.
In the center of the desk was a chessboard, with the black pieces lined up in front of Grace.
"Have you played chess before, Miss Prickle?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"A few times. Rowan loves to play," Grace said, and then cursed herself for mentioning Rowan. She wanted Professor McGonagall to forget all about her friends.
Professor McGonagall nodded curtly. "We are going to play against each other."
"Why?" Grace asked.
"I find that you can learn a lot about people from their strategy," was her explanation.
Grace nodded, though she was still confused.
"I make the first move," Professor McGonagall said. One of the pawns slid forward at her instruction.
Grace had never understood the complex strategies that Rowan used the few times they had played chess together. Normally, she just tried to move her pieces across the board while staying away from Rowan's pieces. Rowan had always defeated her easily.
Grace had expected that the game would be over quickly, but as they continued playing she got a feeling that Professor McGonagall was going easy on her.
"Have you learned anything yet, Miss Prickle?" Professor McGonagall asked after several minutes.
"You aren't playing as well as you could be," Grace offered.
"No. I have won five national tournaments. If I'd wanted to, I could have defeated you in five moves. Do you know why I didn't?"
"Because you wanted to keep playing?"
"Not quite." Professor McGonagall paused for a moment. "We will discuss your actions this year, and then perhaps you will understand my strategy."
Grace asked the question that was tormenting her. "Am I going to be expelled?"
"Why did you enter the forbidden room?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Grace squirmed. She was tired of the headmistress's deflections. She wanted to know what her punishment was. "My brother Jacob disappeared during the summer. I was trying to find him."
"I am aware of Mr. Prickle's unfortunate disappearance. However, this does not excuse your actions. This year, you have fought with other students and broken into a locked and dangerous room."
"I don't care how you punish me, unless you expel me, but please don't punish my friends too much, they never would have gone if it wasn't for me," Grace blurted all in one breath.
"Your friends made their own choices, just as you did," Professor McGonagall said. Her lips were pressed into a thin line.
Grace's heart sank. She had a feeling no one would be shown any leniency.
"The staff was keeping the ice contained in that room. By entering it, you unleashed an ancient and dangerous magic on all of Hogwarts."
Grace flashed back to her vision of the Ice Knight. She had unleashed the cursed ice on Hogwarts even before today.
"Now we come to the matter of your punishment."
Grace stopped breathing.
"Fifty points will be taken from everyone who entered the room."
That was fifty points each from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor, and one hundred points from Slytherin.
"Now, have you figured out my strategy in the chess game?"
"You wanted to keep me in the game," Grace said.
Professor McGonagall nodded curtly. "I dislike expelling first-years, even when they have made as many mistakes as you have. I am giving you a chance to fix those mistakes. You must get rid of the cursed ice next year, or you will be expelled."
Grace wasn't sure what to make of this ultimatum. On one hand, she had been planning to continue investigating the ice next year anyway, and now she wouldn't have to break any rules to do so. On the other hand, if she was expelled, she'd never be able to find Jacob.
A Prickle never fails, Grace thought. She balled her hands into fists and lifted her chin. "I won't let you down, Professor."
"See that you don't," Professor McGonagall said. "You may go to your friends now. You have a lot to tell them."
"Wait, what about Merula? Do we have to work with her too?"
"Yes. You should learn to get along with your Housemates."
Grace scowled as she left the office. So that was her real punishment. She couldn't see any way trying to work with Merula would end well.
By the next week, everyone at Hogwarts seemed to know that Grace, Rowan, Ben, Penny, and Merula had entered the forbidden room, unleashed a curse on Hogwarts, and lost large amounts of house points.
As Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff had lost the same amount of house points, Slytherin was the only house to have really suffered. They were now a distant last, with no chance of moving into third.
Worse, Merula had told everyone in Slytherin that she was to blame for Tulip's prank- though how Merula knew this, Grace never found out. Tulip had set off fireworks in the stands, distracting the Slytherin Seeker and causing her to lose the Snitch.
The four friends had continued eating in the Artefact Room, away from the judgement of their houses. Unfortunately, they were required to enter the Great Hall for the end-of-year feast.
Grace reluctantly took a seat at the end of the Slytherin table. Merula scowled at her, but she looked just as uncomfortable as Grace.
"We all have a duty to our house, and you failed," Ethan said.
"Shut up, Kane," Merula snarled. Liz edged away from her. Ismelda was sitting farther down the table, staring moodily into a bowl of soup. Grace had seen her arguing with an older girl that she guessed was her sister outside the Great Hall.
"You have a responsibility to make up for your mistakes," Ethan continued.
Grace's hands twitched. "I'm going to hex you if you don't stop lecturing us," she threatened.
Ethan took a breath, probably to continue lecturing them, but thankfully Professor McGonagall chose that moment to rise to her feet.
"It is time to announce the House Cup standings. In fourth place, Slytherin with 3,470 points."
Grace could feel the glares of the other Slytherins without even looking. She stared down at the top of the table.
"In third place, Ravenclaw with 3,560 points. In second place, Gryffindor with 3,842 points."
Everyone had known the winner of the House Cup as soon as they entered the Great Hall. Black and yellow banners hung from the ceiling, marking Hufflepuff's first victory in nearly twenty years.
"And in first place, Hufflepuff with 4,050 points."
The Hufflepuff table erupted into loud cheering. Grace tried to spot Penny in the cheering crowd, but failed.
"Don't you remember our promise?" Sam whispered once Hufflepuff's celebration had started to die down.
She looked at him, startled as much by the fact that he had actually spoken as by what he had said.
"At the beginning of the year. We promised we would stick together." He glanced at Ethan. "Ethan's right. You let us all down."
Grace turned away from him, silently fuming. How dare he judge her when he didn't even know the whole story?
Thirty minutes later, she was in the Room of Requirement, hitting a line of dummies with the Knockback Jinx over and over.
"I thought I might find you here."
Grace turned to see Rowan. She lowered her wand and slipped it into her pocket.
"I've been trying to get in for a while. I couldn't figure out what you'd asked for," Rowan continued. "You might want to lock your trunk. Someone hid all of my stuff around the common room. I still haven't found my Transfiguration textbook."
Grace was reminded of when Merula had done the same thing a few months ago. "Thanks. I'll go do that now."
She hesitated. "Thank you. For coming with me. You didn't have to."
"Of course I do," Rowan said. "I'm your friend."
Upon returning to the Slytherin common room, she discovered that, thankfully, her trunk had been left untouched. She locked it just in case.
The next morning, it was time to leave Hogwarts. Grace was sad to be leaving the castle, but she was also excited to return home and tell her parents about what she'd discovered.
The four of them found an empty compartment near the end of the train. Penny took out a deck of Exploding Snap, and they spent the train ride playing.
Finally, the train pulled into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The four of them stuck together. Ben wanted to introduce them to his parents, who he said had been even more nervous about Hogwarts than him, which Grace hadn't thought was possible. Grace also wanted to introduce everyone to her parents.
Grace's parents were the first to arrive. "This is Ben, Penny, and Rowan. They helped me search for the Cursed Vaults," she explained.
"You are all welcome at our house anytime this summer," Grace's mum said. To Ben, she added, "We must show you how wizards live. It is not so different from Muggles, I think."
Her dad shook hands with all of her friends. "I knew your parents. They were a year above me. Your mum was Head Girl," he said to Rowan.
Penny and Rowan's parents soon found their way over, starting another round of introductions. Ben's parents were the last to arrive. As soon as they saw Ben, they rushed over and started quizzing him about everything that had happened since Christmas.
Finally, the introductions were finished and the Prickles left the station. Grace held on to her Mum's hand, scrunching her face with distaste as they Apparated.
Her mum laughed when she saw Grace's face. "In a few years you will learn to Apparate by yourself. It will not feel so unpleasant then."
Her mum directed her to a chair at the same table where they had eaten breakfast on the day Jacob disappeared. Her parents sat across from her. The fourth chair remained glaringly empty.
"You must have a lot to tell us," her mum said.
Grace told them everything, starting with her duel with Merula ("You were right, Dad, force was the only thing she would listen to-"), to her vision in the abandoned room ("The knight was massive, but he didn't move very well-"), to their sneaking past Mrs. Norris ("There was ice everywhere, and it was spreading really fast!"), and finally McGonagall's ultimatum.
"So I have to work with Merula, or I'll never be able to find Jacob." She made a face as if she'd just eaten a lemon. "How am I supposed to do that? She'll never cooperate with us."
"She will have to try to work with you. I doubt she wants to be expelled any more than you do," her dad said. "All you have to do is show her that you're the one in charge."
Her mum nodded, meeting Grace's green eyes with her own level blue gaze. "You will find a way. Remember, a Prickle never fails."
Grace nodded. Already she felt more confident. She would find a way to work with Merula- hadn't she already found a way to get her to back down? Then she and her friends would find the Cursed Vaults, and eventually Jacob. It would take a long time, but she wouldn't quit.
After all, a Prickle never failed.
So that's the end of year one! I apologize for not updating last weekend, I didn't have access to my phone. I'm about halfway done drafting year two, and I'd like to have it completely written before I start publishing, so it will be a few weeks before year two starts.