Grace had her first detention after dinner the next day. Merula had avoided her the entire day, and she and Ismelda were nowhere to be seen during dinner.
After dinner, Rowan gave Grace directions to the trophy room- she seemed to have memorized every inch of the castle.
Detention was overseen by Filch, the caretaker. There was also another student there, Ravenclaw Tulip Karasu.
"You're to clean the trophies until I say you can leave," Filch said. "No magic."
Tulip groaned. "You should be grateful that the headmistress did away with the old punishments. If I had my way every troublemaker would be hanging in chains," Filch grumbled. "Start cleaning. I'll be watching you, so don't try anything."
Grace and Tulip started polishing the trophies, leaving Filch mumbling about someone called Umbridge and how much better things would be if she was still headmistress. Grace decided that she never wanted to meet Umbridge, or anyone else that Filch liked.
"How did you get detention?" Grace whispered.
"I set off a Dungbomb in Transfiguration. Well, actually, my toad did. His training is going very well," Tulip whispered.
Grace had a lot of questions about that. Before she could ask any of them, Filch interrupted their conversation. "No talking. You're here to be punished, not to socialize," he snapped.
Grace and Tulip worked on polishing the various trophies and shields for what felt like hours. Several times, Filch made them go back and clean something again when he wasn't satisfied with the job they'd done the first time.
Finally, Filch let them leave. The two girls separated after leaving the trophy room, returning to their common rooms.
When a familiar owl delivered a letter to Grace at breakfast one morning in late November, she ripped it open eagerly.
Dear Grace, the letter began,
Your mother and I will be traveling to Mahoutokoro in Japan next week. We won't return until January, so you will have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas.
The surname "Snyde" was shared by two Death Eaters that I helped arrest four years ago. If this girl is related to them, then her behavior doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Don't worry about your promise to stick together; she has already broken it. Don't be afraid to use force if it's the only way she'll respect you.
Here the handwritten changed. The first part of the letter had been written by her father, but her mother had finished it.
Fear is more powerful than force. Using force against her will only make her want revenge. Find out what she is most afraid of and use it against her.
Grace felt more inclined to agree with her father's approach, but her mother also brought up some convincing points.
She showed the letter to Ben and Rowan. "What do you think? Would force or fear be better?"
"Are you sure we need either?" Rowan asked. "Merula hasn't done anything since you got detention. Maybe she's learned her lesson."
Grace shook her head. "She's just waiting for the best opportunity."
"I think we should scare her," Ben said. "It would make up for all the times she's scared me."
"We can't do anything to her," Rowan said forcefully. "If you do anything, you'll be expelled, Grace. And I'm not going to help get revenge."
"I can do it by myself," Ben said, but he didn't seem thrilled by the idea.
Grace shook her head. "No, Rowan's right. We can't do anything to Merula... yet."
"If Merula bullies any of us again, I'll do whatever we need to do," Rowan promised.
"My parents also said I have to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas," Grace said.
"I'll write to my parents and ask if I can stay with you," Rowan offered.
"Are you sure?" Grace asked. She knew Rowan had been feeling homesick, even though she loved Hogwarts.
"I'm sure they'll understand. Besides, I'll be home for the whole summer," Rowan said dismissively. "And I know Merula's already signed up to stay. I can't leave you alone with her."
Grace shuddered at the idea. "Thanks."
"I'd offer to stay, too, but our family's having a big Christmas party, and my parents won't let me miss it," Ben said.
"That's fine," Grace said. Ben was even more homesick than Rowan.
There were only a few weeks left before the start of the holidays, and no one could wait for classes to end. Even the professors got into the holiday spirit. Professor Flitwick took them outside and taught them a charm to cause a snowstorm. Professor Wilkins quizzed them on everything they'd learned so far. Grace and Ben did the best, so he gave them a large bag of candy as a reward.
Professor Binns could have given a Christmas-themed lecture, but even Rowan had stopped paying attention to him. She complained that it was too hard to listen when everyone else was talking.
Only Merula was immune to the holiday cheer. If anything, she grew angrier the closer it got to the holidays. She snapped at anyone who got too close to her, and was likely to throw the nearest object at the unfortunate student.
Finally, the start of the holidays arrived. Grace and Rowan said goodbye to Ben and helped him carry his trunk down to where the horseless carriages waited to take him to Hogsmeade Station. Packed in the trunk were presents from her and Rowan, which they had instructed him not to open until Christmas day. Grace had gotten him a star chart, since Astronomy was his favorite subject. Rowan's present was quite a bit heavier and she had a suspicion that it was a wizard chess set.
Only a handful of first-years had stayed at Hogwarts- Grace, Rowan, Merula, Penny, Tulip Karasu, and a Gryffindor boy named Corey Hayden. Every day, Penny gathered the first-years and talked them into playing a game. One day they held a Gobstones tournament, and another time they made ornaments.
A few days after the start of vacation, nearly a meter of snow piled up on the grounds. The first-years had planned to go for a walk outside. Instead they clustered in the Great Hall to come up with another plan.
"We should play hide-and-seek," Merula said. Everyone stared at her. Merula hadn't joined in any of their previous games, scowling and vehemently rejecting any invitation extended to her.
Penny beamed. "Are you going to play with us, Merula?"
"Fine. But I'm not going to be the seeker." Merula stood up from where she had been sitting at the Slytherin table and slowly walked over to them.
"I'll be the seeker first," Grace offered.
Penny nodded. "We should limit the game to a certain area, otherwise Grace will never find us all."
"How about the dungeons?" Merula suggested.
Grace looked at her suspiciously. She still thought Merula was planning something, and she didn't trust her sudden enthusiasm. Merula glared back at her, but Grace was sure that she glimpsed a smirk when she looked away.
When everyone had agreed on the rules, Grace covered her eyes and started counting. "One, two, three..."
...
Rowan hurried into the dungeons. Where could she hide? Maybe in a dark, forgotten classroom?
"Khanna, wait." Merula fell into step beside her. "Let me show you a good hiding spot. You're predictable. Prickle will find you immediately."
"All right." Rowan followed Merula through the shadowy corridors. She had been right. Merula had changed since getting detention.
Merula came to a stop in front of a door in a corridor lit by a single flickering torch. "It's a Potions storeroom," she explained.
Merula pulled the door open and gestured for Rowan to go in. She peered into the room. It was pitch black. She took one step forwards, then another, and another. Something brushed against her ankle and she pulled her foot away. The hairs on her arms were standing up.
The door slammed shut.
Rowan jumped. Something touched her ankle again, this time wrapping tightly around it. She couldn't pull away.
"Lumos." The light from her wand revealed a mass of dark tendrils, several of which were uncoiling and reaching for her. "M-merula?"
"It's Devil's Snare. Any Ravenclaw should know how to beat it," Merula said.
Rowan's heart sank like a stone, settling in her stomach. She'd been wrong. Merula hadn't learned her lesson. She'd just been biding her time.
The sound of footsteps grew softer until they were impossible to hear. Merula had left her trapped.
Rowan struggled to pull free of the many vines now wrapped around her legs. She tried to remember what she'd read about Devil's Snare, but only useless facts came to mind, such as the fact that it grew only in cold spaces underground.
Maybe that's not so useless. What's the opposite of cold and dark? Warm and bright! Rowan lowered the tip of her wand. The light flared a brilliant red as she concentrated. Her theory had been correct; the Devil's Snare immediately retreated. But there were too many vines, and as soon as the light of her wand wavered, they crept higher, up her legs towards her left hand.
"Help!" Rowan called. "Someone, help me!"
She lost track of how much time she spent in that room, struggling in the Devil's Snare and calling for help.
Eventually, light entered the room as someone pulled the door open. Rowan nearly started crying, she was so relieved.
"Rowan?" Grace frowned as she took in the situation. "What is that stuff?"
"Devil's Snare. Cast Lumos, but don't get too close."
"Lumos." The added light from Grace's wand was enough to persuade the Devil's Snare to let go of Rowan. It curled up on the far side of the room, appearing utterly harmless.
Rowan tugged herself away from a few stray tendrils. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
They walked out of the room. Rowan closed the door behind her, wishing she knew a spell to lock it.
"How did you get stuck in there?" Grace asked.
"Merula suggested it as a hiding spot."
Grace's hands twitched. "We should tell a professor."
"They won't believe us. Not without proof."
"Then I'll duel her. After I beat her, she'll listen to me when I tell her to leave us alone."
"No!" Rowan said forcefully. "If you're caught dueling her, you'll be expelled."
"Then I won't get caught. Unless you've got any better ideas?"
Rowan bit her lip. "I don't know... half the time in books, the main character makes new friends, and then they stop caring about the bully."
"And the other half?"
"The other times, they figure out that there's a reason for the bully being so mean. Like in The Howling Forest, Ariadne has to stay with her horrible cousin, but then she finds out he's a werewolf and then he doesn't feel so lonely so he stops lashing out at everyone." Rowan stopped, aware that she'd been rambling.
"Well, you can try talking with Merula if you want, but I'm going to train to duel her," Grace said.
"I'll help you train," Rowan offered. "I can pick out some spells for us to practice."
"Thanks. But before you do anything, you should get changed. I still need to find everyone else."
Rowan looked down at herself. Her robes were torn and she felt sore where the Devil's Snare had grabbed her. "I'll see you later."