AN: ANNNNND WE'RE BACK! Thank you to everyone who fav/followed and bless you those of you who took the time to review – they got me through another stressful few weeks of work. I hope to repay you for your encouragement and time in kind – check out chapter 10, in which the dominos begin to wobble…

This was gonna be longer, but the word count… erupted to 25,000 words and I could not justify containing it all to one chapter, so enjoy a mere 14,000 and expect Chapter 11: "Intelligence Gatherings" this weekend or next.

I'm basing my knowledge of a Quidditch game off of how the muggle equivalent runs. So if the scores seem unrealistic, that's because that's how high I've seen them run in close muggle games. Bludger control also might be a muggle Quidditch exclusive concept. But technicalities…

Disclaimer: See chapter one or nine…

Last Time on Sailor Moon H: All is going well at Hogwarts as the Quidditch season approaches, and Usagi and Neville prove to McGonagall they have what it takes to stay in NEWT transfiguration. The mood of the light side is high after the successful liberation of a Death Eater prison out in the Irish Sea, though some of what was found there is worrisome to them. In particular: a dementor made super powered by Lestrange whose magic could only be neutralized by the Silence Glaive, and a Japanese wizard killed in the conflict who knew secrets about Bellatrix Lestrange new companion, the Wizard in White. The senshi are keen to get that investigation underway, but in the meantime, Slughorn has come through for Setsuna, and on the anniversary of the first war's end, the light plans to take possession of one of Voldemort's strongholds…

The Daimon in the Hino

Just after midnight on November first, the soft sounds of the trees and fields in one magically protected corner of the midlands were disrupted by a soft pop.

Amelia Bones spun round with her wand drawn, peering through her custom, pink monocle to check for any invisible foes or traps… none. She snapped her fingers: a bright blue spark appeared above her head and shot into the air, brightening as it sped upwards, until it hovered fifty feet above the ground and washed the shadowy nighttime-landscape in bright, clarifying blue: showing the acres of fields, the road far off, and, Amelia noted as she turned once more, the great looming form of a manor house sitting just down the well-kept path from her – its ancient iron gates were swung wide open.

She swore as she got close enough to read the inscription carved into the archway over the gates: Sanctimonia Vincet Semper.

Of all the places she'd thought the coordinates that had appeared on Tonks' phoenix pin would take her, Malfoy Manor had not been at the top of the list.

The hell have you got yourself into, Dora? she thought as she conjured a bird and sent it flying through the open gates. Only after it had soared across safely did she step through…

And whipped immediately around again, eyes on the sky as light sprang up over her head – blanketing the night and creating a shimmering dome – powered it seemed by three points of light that had sprung up at the edges of the property: yellow, blue, magenta…

"Wotcher!" her auror's call sent the peacocks and flamingos that strolled through the Malfoy gardens squawking and scuttling away into the bushes. Amelia glared towards the open manor doors. Two figures now leaned against either side of them: Nymphadora Tonks – in muggle jeans and a killing-curse-proof, dragon-hide jacket – and her partner Kingsley Shacklebolt in cobalt blue robes with charm work for woven into every stitch.

She trained her wand on them. "Auror Tonks: your first day of stealth training, I gave you some advice. What was it?"

Tonks grinned. "You pulled me aside and said that 'Fuck the Police' tee-shirts were not ministry approved undercover attire." She shook her head. "No fun."

Amelia nodded. "Auror Shacklebolt: Last year when we dropped the case against Sirius Black, what did I tell you."

"You said I should drop the man a line that he never submitted a two week notice and technically still works for you – which I have done," Shacklebolt added. "And he says when he's finished with his current project, he might be recovered enough from his own partner throwing him in the brink to return your owl."

She nodded. "Well tell him I'll do whatever it takes – his desk still has his name on it."

"We good on identities?" Tonks asked. "Cause you're gonna love what's inside."

Amelia raised her eyebrows and walked forwards, wand ready in her hand. "Either of you want to comment on that light show up there?" she asked as she approached and ascended the front steps.

"A shield," Tonks said. "Just in case Voldemort or Lestrange gets wind of this and tries to apparate back."

"But those aren't wards!" Amelia said, training her monocle on the light dome and wincing. It was blinding through the magical lens.

"They're better than wards," Tonks told her. "And the reason we got done with this in five minutes."

Amelia scanned the atrium as they walked through it towards a hallway of Malfoy portraits.

It certainly appeared there'd been a fight. The walls from the floor to the candlesticks were darkened with water and the whole room smelled like cliffs freshly brined by the tides. And startlingly, the floorboards of the grand stairs had been ripped up and split open down the middle.

"It doesn't go over very well in reports to have Aurors doing undo damage to pureblood property," Amelia said. "Particularly not Malfoy Property. Tonks? Kingsley?"

"On the record, it wasn't all us, but we'll take full responsibility for our part," Tonks said. "Say we got an 'anonymous tip' and arrived after most of this was done."

Amelia shook her head along with Shacklebolt. Tonks excuses still needed much improvement if they were to pass those of questionable allegiance in the ministry without notice. "Anonymous tip of what nature?" Amelia asked as they stopped at a large wood door.

Shacklebolt gave her a slight smile as he pushed open the wooden door. "Our top priority missing person."

Amelia's eyes widened as they strode through, into a sitting room that glimmered in the light from an overhead chandelier. On the couch, a rail thin old man with crooked glasses looked up at them, appearing twice as aged and twice as thin as he had when she'd discussed having aurors guard his wand shop in the summer.

"Mr. Ollivander!" Amelia Bones went up to him and helped him stand. She clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm so sorry it's taken so long."

"I am only glad it wasn't longer," he rasped. "You have very competent people working for you."

"Only the best," Amelia told him, and turned back to her two aurors. "Where are the Malfoys?"

"Under arrest," Tonks said, revealing two wands that had been tucked into the sleeve of her jacket.

"Stunned in the hall closet," Shacklebolt clarified.

"Any chance we can avoid funneling them into the Azkaban-to-prison-break pipeline?" Tonks asked.

Amelia did not seem to have processed the last. She blinked – hard, staring between them. "You're telling me you have Lucius…and Narcissa," Amelia checked. "Red-handed with a kidnap victim trapped in their house?"

"In their dungeon," Ollivander said. "It doesn't seem as if I am the first one."

Amelia could not quite suppress her grin. "You know I believe I have enough questions to hold them a while," she said. "In fact… I have 20 years worth of questions."

"Before we process 'em," Tonks told her, her hair had turned the orange color it did when she was excited. She gestured to the hallway and the stairs at the end. "Suggest you take a look around the rest of the house. Amazing what a mess people will leave out when they're not expecting you to drop in."

Amelia's eyes glinted. "Shacklebolt," she said. "Escort Mr. Ollivander somewhere safe, and inform lock up to prepare two high security cells."

"Any particular place, Boss?" he asked.

She shrugged, training her sharp gaze and one raised eyebrow on him. "Anywhere you can hide Black for two years without detection seems safe enough to me."

Shacklebolt nodded. "And any particular high security cells?"

"Yes," Amelia said. "The animagus-proof ones next to Lush Lock-up." Pettigrew would not be aiding any escapes on her watch, and she smirked, "got a couple lads in fresh off a rager at the Leaky Cauldron. I wouldn't want Lucius to be without the comfort of their scintillating conversation."

That got a smirk out of Kingsley. "I'll let 'em know." He extended his arm to the rescued wandmaker. "Mr. Ollivander."

When they had departed, Amelia looked to Tonks. "The blood wards around the property were inactive," she told her. "Which can only be done from inside."

"What can I say," Tonks shrugged as she led the way into the hall. "I'm just that good."

"They would only let direct, pureblood family through the wards unaccompanied to begin with," Amelia said. "So I take it this was why you needed the bloodline potion."

"Yeah – and yes, my wand had nothing to do with the wards going down. You can check. Officially, Kingsley an' I arrived after someone else got through the family wards and sent us a tip."

Amelia raised her eyebrows. "That'll generate quite the conspiracy theory – a member of the family betraying them."

"Or another half-blood cousin, or a secret love child," Tonks ticked off on her fingers. "I'll quote a friend here: the possibilities are endless, but they all get you the same result." She looked at Amelia. "You did say there's only one place most people can get a bloodline potion."

"That I did," Amelia said. "I suppose the logical course of action would be to conduct an investigation into St. Mungos staff." And if a pretense for an investigation could rout out other corruption at Mungos in the process, all the better for her.

Scrimgeour might be floundering, but, Amelia Bones thought, touching the phoenix pin tucked into her pocket, clearly there are others who are capable of helping me keep this ship afloat.

~SMH~

The headlines of The Prophet and The Quibbler (a surprise, special promotional edition that dropped to every student in the Great Hall at breakfast)had not generated so much excitement on a November 1st since 1981. For the first time all year, many of Hogwarts' students were so stunned they forgot to check the Obituaries.

RIOT ERUPTS IN GODRIC'S HOLLOW! DARK LORD SPOTTED!

By Puck Pevinsee

Friday, November 1st

The scene of tragedy and of triumph 15 years ago once more became the center of violent conflict on the anniversary of the Harry Potter's defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Godric's Hollow was the scene of a riot last night, as Death Eaters reportedly appeared to destroy the Potter memorial and were accosted by a swath of residents upon arrival. The Death Eater's forces were aided by several trolls and dark creatures. Several houses in the Hollow were destroyed. Those gathered to fight the death eaters traded curses with them in the main square for upwards of two hours before suddenly apparating away. It is reported that five civilian casualties resulted from the fight. Death Eaters attempted and failed to destroy the memorial until, one witness reports, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named appeared in person to destroy the statue. It is, at present, sunk well into the ground, but is otherwise untouched. It, and the cemetery it seems, were protected by incredibly strong wards, not the sort that you can throw up in a pinch.

The Dark Mark was flying over Godric's Hollow, but it would seem not to be the spectre of destruction it might otherwise have been. We reached out to the minister for comment. Rufus Scrimgeour had this to say:

"We saw a need to put extra security over the Hollow last night and were right to do so. I commend the residents who fought and those aurors who were at the scene undercover."

Asked why no auror-red robes were seen in the Hollow, Scrimgeour said that the auror office reserves the right to send out undercover agents in such uncertain times. No Death Eaters were apprehended in the conflict, though Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy (who've faced accusations of following You-Know-Who in the past) were arrested last night as part of an unrelated incident.

THE DARK MARK FLEW OVER GODRIC'S HOLLOW LAST NIGHT, BUT VOLDEMORT SHOULDN'T CELEBRATE YET.

By Luna Lovegood

Friday, November 1st

It was like a scene right out of the 1970's in Godric's Hollow last night, the site of Lily and James Potter's murders played host to a battle between the Death Eaters and the Light side's forces on the 15th anniversary of that horrifying event. In total, twenty Death Eaters apparated into the Hollow last night – the largest single gathering of Voldemort's forces since The Battle of the Department of Mysteries last May, Voldemort himself was seen overseeing the battle from a nearby hill. The Death Eaters were accompanied by several dark creatures, including five confirmed trolls, but that was where their advantage ended.

Unbeknownst to the Death Eaters or Voldemort, a contingent of aurors had been placed at Godric's Hollow in anticipation of a conflict, and were aided by fifteen independent freedom fighters. These defenders, protected from return fire by the buildings, kept the Death Eaters mostly confined to the main square. The battle lasted two full hours, at which point the aurors and other light side fighters retreated, but not before they had placed protections over both the Potter Memorial and the graveyard. Both remain standing, albeit the memorial is now several feet shorter. Not that it matters: now we can add messages of thanks and gratitude to the parts of the stone that were too high to reach before. I should think baby Harry Potter's statue could do with "Hero of the Wizarding World" grafittied across his onesie.

Regrettably, several houses were destroyed in the Hollow last night, one cat was killed and four human residents wounded (according to one person who fought in the battle). And Voldemort was able to cast the Dark Mark over the village.

However, let's not leave that as the main news of the morning. For it seems the battle at the Hollow was a distraction. As it was going on, a small team of freedom fighters broke into Malfoy Manor and summoned aurors to the scene, where the missing wandmaker Garrick Ollivander was reportedly found in a dungeon below the building. Several dark artefacts were also found in the house, and Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy have been placed under arrest, on charges of kidnapping and possession of dark artefacts. We are currently wondering whether the ensuing investigation will uncover evidence of their wilful involvement with the Death Eaters and whether that will see charges of terrorism or treason added to their crimes.

We have reached out to Madam Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE, who participated in the arrests. We are awaiting her commentary on the matter and plan to cover the case, and any ensuing conflicts in this war, in subsequent publications.

"Luna!" Ron Weasley shouted as she shuffled into the Great Hall an hour later than usual. He ran up and clapped her on the shoulder. "Blimey you wrote this?" He waved the Quibbler out in front of himself as he ushered her over to the Ravenclaw table, where clapping had erupted up and down the rows and was spreading across Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.

"I –" Luna yawned. "Did." She rubbed her eyes. "I told Daddy he should prepare the press for a special edition. He was hesitant, of course, but he never says no if I ask." She yawned again as Ami and Padma Patil shuffled aside to make room for her at the table, Ami waving her wand and summoning the pumpkin juice. It poured itself into a goblet that landed right in the middle of Luna's plate.

"Thank you," she said.

"Oi! Lovegood!" Marcus Belby, one of the Quidditch chasers, leaned around the five people between them and slapped his complimentary copy of The Quibbler. "This is loads better than the usual rag."

"I always find it entertaining," Hotaru interjected, glaring down her teammate.

"Sure, sure – but this is news. How'd you get this info in a night? Can I get a subscription?"

Luna smiled. "You can – it's a 3 sickle discounted price for all Hogwarts students." And as soon as she said it Ravenclaw erupted in whispers, then neighbouring Gryffindor and Slytherin, and Hufflepuff on the far side of the hall.

"Damn," Ron cursed as he double-checked his pockets. He jumped as Harry came up behind him.

"I'll take… five," said Harry, tossing a galleon to Luna. "Keep the extra."

"I was going to offer you all one for free…" Luna blushed.

"Well get over it – this is brilliant. Everyone should give you money for it." And indeed, across the hall students were rummaging around in their pockets, pooling spare knuts into the centres of the tables, and getting out parchment to write their parents for more allowance. At Slytherin, Theodore Nott had casually taken out his purse only to have it snatched away by a paler than usual and quite furious looking Draco Malfoy.

"How did you put this together?" Ami asked Luna.

"Oh it wasn't much trouble, Luna said, searching around for the honey pot and porridge. "Professor Meioh said it might be an auspicious day to roll out the new article series I pitched to Daddy, and I was quite lucky to have gotten homework from her practicing with the crystal-ball, as well…" Luna shrugged. "I was very fortunate to know several sources who were up for receiving midnight owls."

By their study session that afternoon, Luna had receive a letter from her father reporting that Quibbler subscriptions had nearly tripled following the complimentary special edition they'd circulated across the wizarding world that morning. He expected subscriptions to keep rolling in. "You know Ms. Thistlington says she may not be comfortable interviewing the number of people we'd need to do this new angle," he wrote. "I confess it's never been a direction I envisioned our humble publication taking. But if you want to take point on it, I'll trust you… do you suppose we should hire another writer?"

Luna looked up when she'd finished reading the letter aloud and looked across the two library tables they'd pushed together at the gathering of most of her friends. All save Ami, Hermione, Hotaru, and Rei, had this period free on Fridays, though Ginny seemed to have got distracted on her way to joining them. "I don't know if we could hire another writer," Luna worried to the group of first and sixth years. "I was only able to do it because well… I could scry… and then of course I rushed to catch Professor Meioh as soon as she returned."

"Why not tap the Order," Mina suggested, levitating several, heavy library books off the shelves and strategically stacking them in a wall around Sora Kaioh. "Look at Sirius and Remus: they're already in hiding they might be willing to put their name on an article."

"Try Remus," Harry suggested beside Luna, his nose deep in his Potions book. He wanted to get as much reading in as possible while Hermione wasn't around to nag him about the trustworthiness of the Half-Blood Prince. "He's always writing something, I bet he'd do it."

"Oh that would be wonderful," Luna clapped her hands. "Professor Lupin makes the most astute observations. Daddy might not like it of course. He says too many facts muddle the mood of the piece, but I bet I can convince him Professor Lupin could manage to write both quite well."

"Is it dangerous for your dad to get involved in this though?" Neville asked.

Luna's smile fell. "It is… I thought maybe we should get more security… but our home's not public knowledge, only the editing office is. And Daddy said I'm not to worry about it."

"Ask Dumbledore," Harry said absently, most of his attention on the Half-Blood Prince's book. He'd just found another page with a spell scrawled in the margin. Delerio – for getting away safely. Harry carefully copied it onto the top of his mostly-empty planner.

"Or Haruka and Michiru," Usagi said to Luna. "They're busy – but you're a friend, they'd absolutely help protect your Dad."

"Long as you keep publishing this stuff!" Ron said. He'd been grinning all day, taking gleeful note of every class Malfoy had skipped: "probably worried about which of his dark arts toys the Aurors confiscated."

"Why wasn't the arrest mentioned in The Prophet?" Chibiusa asked. "Isn't it the main newspaper?"

"Dunno," Ron said, looking between his Charms book and his Defence book to decide which one he'd rather start with. "But The Prophet's been trying not to cause a stir according to Dad."

"They're worried about making the purebloods nervous, I bet," Neville said. "Loads of people still think Lucius was set up at the Department of Mysteries."

"Well that isn't right," Akira Hino frowned. "They've got to tell the truth."

The whole table nodded in agreement, Luna adding: "perhaps they've got wrackspurts stuck in their ears."

Sora finally managed to push aside the books Mina'd stacked in front of her. "What's a wracksp —"

She was cut off by the banging of the library doors against the wall and Madam Pince's indignant shout. All of them turned as the slap of trainers against the stone floor rushed towards them. It was moments before a slim, red-haired Gryffindor skidded round the corner of the row of shelves nearest them.

"Ginny?" they exclaimed as she bolted right up to the them, throwing her book bag to the ground and bracing her hands on the table.

"You're not… gonna believe… this," she panted as she caught her breath.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"I was… with Dean."

"What were you doing with him?" Ron demanded.

"Making out – what's it to you. Anyways," Ginny racked her hair out of her face. "We overheard – Malfoy's quit the Quidditch team!"

"What?" the whole table gasped. Ron and Sora grinned.

Harry looked like he'd been hit on the head with a beater's bat. "But the first game's tomorrow!" he exclaimed.

"I know right! We're gonna have the cup in the bag!" Ron cheered.

"Yeah," Ginny said. "That's what Snape was arguing with their captain about! They don't have a reserve seeker trained yet! Evercreech told Snape they're not ready to play."

"Too bloody bad for them, then," Ron chortled.

"But… does that mean they're cancelling our practice tonight?" Harry worried. "If Slytherin needs to find a seeker…"

Just then, an owl screeched overhead, wings flapping loudly across the library. Two letters dropped onto the study table in front of Harry and Makoto.

Harry opened his and sulked. "Mcgonagall's cancelled our practice." And as he said it Makoto jumped out of her seat, face pale.

"Mako-chan?" Usagi worried.

"Sprout volunteered us to play in Slytherin's place!" she exclaimed. She scanned over the letter again. "Crap… crap, crap. Okay. I've got to go." She crunched the letter in her fist and began to stuff her schoolwork into her bag. "I've got to find my players and tell them we've got a game tomorrow." She paused and frowned. "I don't even know where they all are right now…"

"Smith and the beaters have a free period!" Akira piped up. "I can check the common room for them."

"Yes – good," Makoto said, stuffing her last book into her bag. "Tell whoever's there if they're at the pitch by 18:30, I will bring them cookies at the next practice – See you later!" She called as she tore off ahead of Akira, jogging through the stacks in search of her seeker and keeper.

Ron looked at Harry, "So… so we're still playing."

"Er…" Harry checked the note again. "Yes."

"But they're taking our practice." Ginny made a face and plopped into the chair Makoto'd left sticking out from the table. She put her feet up. "Fucking Malfoy."

"WOULD YOU ALL BE SILENT!" Madam Pince shrill admonishment made all of them jump in their seats and glance around to see where their assignments had gotten to.

They were all quiet save for the rustle of parchment and the scritch-scratch of their quills until ten minutes later, when Sora Kaioh realized something. Her quill froze halfway to her parchment. She looked up. "If Makoto's playing tomorrow," she said. "She needs her Firebolt."

"And you've been borrowing it for practice…" Mina realized.

Harry frowned. "Which means she needs a decent…"

"…school broom," Ron and Ginny said at the same time.

All five of the Gryffindor team members' chairs screeched away from the table at the same time.

"Where are you going?" Neville asked as they began to scramble for their books.

"To find a pin in a hay bale!" Mina called as she rushed through the stacks.

"NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK!"

"ARE YOU AWARE YOU'RE IN A LIBRARY!"

~SMH~

The detour to the broom shed took the Gryffindors longer than they'd hoped, for it was well into dinnertime when Harry and his teammates returned to the castle, having tested upwards of half the school brooms before finding one that worked as well as a proper Quidditch player's ought to. Ron and Ginny had been invaluable in their search: navigating through the overflow of used broomsticks with an ease that Harry marvelled at. If only there hadn't been hundreds to sort through, they might have been done in an hour.

They'd secured a battered old Cleansweep Eleven for Sora (one which still knew a roll from a dive and had both foot holds attached) and had tucked it safely away in the Gryffindor locker room. They'd then had to race across the lawn to beat the rain threatening to spill from the looming black clouds, and then run again after dinner to lose Filch (who was after them for tracking dirt through the halls) but the adventure of the day was at last over – just in time, Hermione reminded Harry and Ron, for them to finish their homework.

That had taken another hour before Ron had given up on it and gone to bed. Harry'd stuck around in the brightly lit common room with Hermione for longer, under the pretence of finishing the Defence homework (which he was sure Snape would fail him on no matter what). Still, he continued writing away long after he'd stopped remembering the words he was putting down, until finally (as the clock ticked past eleven) Hermione yawned and wished him luck, shuffling off to bed herself.

Once he'd heard her dormitory door click shut, Harry (with only the slightest bit of guilt) rolled up his Defence essay and traded it out for the Half-Blood Prince's Potions book. He turned to the page he'd found the spell in that afternoon.

Deleriofor getting away safely.

I wonder what that means, Harry thought, imagining it might create a smoke screen as thick as Peruvian instant darkness powder. He glanced around. The common room was empty now, the only sounds the crackling of the fire in the hearth and the steady beat of raindrops on the windows.

"Those could be dark spells Harry," Hermione'd been nagging him for weeks. "You've no idea what they do."

But Sirius and Remus had learnt all sorts of diversionary spells of a harmless nature, had invented many according to their tales. It had been a popular thing in their day, they said, especially at times when they'd fancied irritating Filch a bit more. Surely a spell jotted down by another teenage boy for making escapes would be just as harmless.

It's not like Hermione knows anyways, Harry decided. And if I test one, then I can prove to her these aren't dark. She was someone who appreciated evidence, she'd forgive him.

Harry took out his wand, pointing it towards the portrait hole.

"Delerio," he whispered.

And frowned.

"Delerio!"

Nothing happened.

"Maybe I actually need to be escaping something," Harry muttered. Though for the life of him he couldn't think of why The Prince, who'd taken the time to record this spell clearly intending to pass his knowledge along, hadn't left more specific details about it.

As he moved to put the book back in his bag, he noticed the Marauder's map peaking out.

Perhaps he could test it in a proper escape attempt.

But only for a good reason, Harry decided. He spread the map out across his lap, hunching over it lest anyone happen to come down the stairs and get a look. He scanned over the entire thing as the black ink lines of the castle and the dots of its inhabitants became visible.

He first sought the Slytherin dorms and frowned. Malfoy's dot was missing.

He stuffed the Half Blood Prince's book away and fished his cloak out of his bag, running towards the portrait hole with just it, his wand, and the map.

Surely even Hermione'd agree this was a good reason.

He checked the map as he walked down from the seventh floor, until at last, on the second floor stairs, he caught Malfoy moving through the entrance hall, on his way to the Dungeon stairs.

Harry cursed that he couldn't run fast enough to head him off, even after taking the short cut behind the suit of armour on the first floor. He emerged into the dungeon hallway, panting. But Malfoy's dot was already pacing back and forth within the safety of the Slytherin dorms.

Harry muttered a curse and cast Lumos, feeling foolish, for this certainly wasn't going to help his case with Hermione, when he noticed the odd sheen on the dungeon floor. He walked up to it and knelt. The stones were splattered with mud and water leading all the way back towards the entrance hall.

Malfoy'd gone outside the castle?

Harry frowned, and followed the trail of mud and water through the dungeon and up the stairs into the Entrance Hall, catching sight of a stunned Ms. Norris near the top of the stairs. But while the trail clearly led right out the front doors, the rain was pounding too heavily for him to see any path of footsteps across the grounds.

Would he have done something to the Quidditch pitch? Harry wondered. He thought for a moment of charging out into the rain to check before realizing he would have absolutely no idea what to look for in the expansive Quidditch pitch. And besides, all the locker rooms and the equipment shed were locked, and he doubted the Slytherin captain would have lent Malfoy the key.

Harry glanced at the map. Filch's dot was moving quickly across the third floor towards the stairs. With a sigh, Harry checked that the invisibility cloak still covered his feet, and made his way back up to the tower.

Malfoy was in his thoughts all the way up to the top of the tower, the more he mulled it over, the farther he got from an answer for why Malfoy, of all people, would have gone out in the rain. Malfoy didn't even like getting his gloves dirty in Herbology…

And Harry'd never caught him leaving the castle before. Stalking about the upper floors, sure, and in several secret passages that Harry thought only those with the Marauder's Map would have been privy too… but never leaving…

"Abstinence," he muttered to the Fat Lady.

But she was asleep.

"Abstinence," he said louder, removing the hood of his cloak.

This time the Fat Lady jumped in her portrait, knocking the candlestick in her frame askew. She huffed and glared at him. "What is the meaning of this, waking me up? It is… an ungodly hour of the morning.

"Sorry," said Harry. "I only want to get in."

"Well why ever should I do that?"

Harry sighed. "I gave you the password."

"You certainly did not," the Fat Lady retorted.

Harry frowned, wondering if she'd taken advice from Sir. Cadogen and changed the password out of spite for him. "It was Abstinence a few hours ago."

She blinked. "Was it now? Oh, yes that's right."

Harry stared at her. "You forgot… your password."

The Fat Lady straightened up in her chair and glared at him. "I did not." She lifted her head high. "I have served this house faithfully for 703 years. I have never forgotten a one."

"Right…" muttered Harry.

"Perhaps if you insolent troublemakers wouldn't wake me up at 1:00 in the morning." She shook her head, still muttering, and her portrait swung aside. Harry dashed inside before she could change her mind.

~SMH~

November 2nd dawned chill and damp – the grounds slick and muddy from the rain that had pounded against the roofs and windows into the early hours of the morning. It had had the already nervous Quidditch players from Hufflepuff and several from Gryffindor tossing and turning in their beds, and the hall began to place its bets on the winner of the match at breakfast by noting which players were staring idly at their toast, and which ones had nearly buttered their coffee.

Courtesy of one industrious seventh year, and a whole table's worth of Hufflepuffs working together to pass the fresh vial of pepper-up potion unseen under the table, all seven of their players were recovered from their restless night by the end of breakfast, and headed for the pitch before Ron Weasley had been coached through his second slice of toast. Their whole table cheered and high fived the Hufflepuff team on their way out, and Akira Hino too as she strode along at Makoto's side, carrying the captain's Firebolt. The encouragement significantly improved their nerves, and made Ron Weasley squirm in his seat.

"Oh come on Ron!" Hermione said as Hufflepuff left the Great Hall. "Didn't you say last night you'd gotten in loads more practice than them – and their whole chaser and beater lines are new save for Summerby. Smith only played one game last year. And I've watched him – he's a fairly predictable throw."

"Can't feign worth shit," Ginny agreed. "Ron you can do this – ugh!" She glared at him as he stared at the untouched eggs on his plate. "You are going to eat. You are going to play."

"I'm going to suck." Ron muttered, seemingly more despondent now that the Hufflepuff team had enthusiastically marched out of the hall.

"Oh for Merlin's sake," Ginny said, red in the face.

"Now, now, team," said Harry, who had come up behind Ron and proceeded to clap him on the shoulder. In his left hand, Harry was fiddling with a familiar vial of golden potion. "Don't worry, Ron: I swear you're gonna do great today. I can tell."

"How?" Ron muttered.

"Cause…" Harry said, and Hermione frowned as he glanced at the table and leaned over to pour a goblet of pumpkin juice. When Harry set the jug down, the vial of Felix Felicius had disappeared out of sight. He thrust the goblet towards Ron. "Cause you're gonna drink this pumpkin juice. Just ordinary, normal pumpkin juice – loads of vitamins – you'll be at the top of your game, yeah? And you're gonna get out there and do just as well as you do at practice – better even." He stared at Ron. "Understand?"

Ron's eyes were wide as he took the goblet. Hermione was biting her lip and frowning at Harry from across the table. Next to Ron, Ginny covered her grin with her hand and leaned around Colin Creevey to whisper to Katie Bell.

Suffice to say, it was a much less fidgety Ron Weasley who appeared to make the opening lap of the pitch at precisely 10:00; his mood further bolstered by the cheers of the crowd and the sullen faces of the Slytherins. In particular, Malfoy and his friends glowered up at the excited teams, a stark contrast to the first year Slytherins and Akira Hino (sitting with Chibiusa for the match). As a Hufflepuff, she was more than welcome in the heavily green section of the stands, as it was certainly no secret which team they would prefer to win.

The disruptive sound of someone testing the microphone by tapping on it with their finger quieted the crowd shortly after the teams had flown out of the locker rooms. And then Luna Lovegood's voice drifted across the pitch.

"GOOD MORNING HOGWARTS! I SAY IT IS PERFECTLY DAMP AND DREARY OUT TODAY – PERHAPS THE EXPRESSIVE EARWIGS HAVE SENSED OUR SLYTHERINS FEELINGS AND SUMMONED LAST NIGHT'S RAIN TO EXPESS THEM."

Out on the pitch, Ron Weasley faced off against Makoto Kino for the opening throw. Ron seemed to say something that sent both teams into stitches and Makoto punched him in the shoulder.

"QUITE A BIT MORE FRIENDLY THAN WE'RE USED TO SEEING RIVALS. NOT TO WORRY HOGWARTS – AND RAVENCLAWS, IN PARTICULAR, AS I HEAR YOU FRETTING ABOUT IT MOST – I HAVE IT ON GOOD AUTHORITY THERE'S NOTHING GOING ON THERE. BOTH THESE KEEPERS ARE STILL SINGLE – AND THERES THE THROW!"

The quaffle sailed up into the air and the whistle blew. Ron rocketed up to get it. The tips of his fingers brushed the ball just ahead of Makoto's and he knocked it straight to Katie Bell, who tore off down the field.

"I SAY IT'S A GOOD THING KINO HAS HER FIREBOLT RIGHT NOW, THAT SHOOTING STAR'S QUITE FAST – IS THAT – OH THAT'S 10! 10-0 TO GRYFFINDOR STARTS THE GAME EVERYBODY – AND HUFFLEPUFF'S MAKING UP FOR IT TOO! LOOKS LIKE THRUSSINGTON AND FITTLEWORTH HAVE GOT CONTROL OF BOTH THOSE BLUDGERS! IF AINO AND HINO AREN'T CAREFUL THEY'LL ONLY BE RETURNING VOLLEYS…"

The game continued neck and neck. Gryffindor was up by 30 until Makoto pulled her signature breakaway, startling Ron's confidence and causing him to let through two more attempts at his goals, tying the game at 70-70. Sora Kaioh pulled Gryffindor ahead again by feigning a throw to Ginevra behind the Hufflepuff goals, and then barrelling past Makoto and straight through the middle hoop.

It was clear though that they were evenly matched – "PERHAPS HUFFLEPUFFS CAN WORK TWICE AS HARD AT ONE PRACTICE AS ANYBODY ELSE" Luna speculated. "THEN AGAIN, IT COULD ALSO BE THEIR NATURAL STUBBORNNESS."

It seemed to be the latter in the case of the beaters. Hufflepuff's freshman pair were at loggerheads with Mina and Rei for most of the game. Gryffindor's two beaters seemed much more in sync: flying to exactly the place their partner whacked the bludgers. But Hufflepuff's beaters coordinated better with their chasers. At numerous points while Gryffindor defended, they used their chasers to bait Mina and Rei, swooping in and batting the bludger back to the other Hufflepuff beater. At one point an hour and a half in, Thrussington and Fittleworth had both bludgers sailing in a volley back and forth on the Hufflepuff side of the pitch, successfully blocking four Gryffindor attempts on the goals until Ginny Weasley stole their play, purposefully letting a bludger slam into the bottom of her boot. She knocked it towards midfield and caught a pass from Katie Bell, sending the quaffle sailing towards Makoto, who caught it handily and lobbed it back towards Summerby in centerfield.

"AND HE'S CAUGHT IT! OH BUT NOT FOR LONG! AINO'S TAKEN WEASLEY UP ON THAT OFFER OF A BLUDGER AND SHE'LL HAVE THAT ON HIM IN ANOTHER SECOND. I DO HOPE FITTLEWORTH CAN – OH YES HUFFLEPUFF's… OH THAT'S NOT GOOD AT ALL. I SAY: ANYBODY HURT DOWN THERE?"
The fifth year Amelia Fittleworth had strained the limits of her broom to reach the bludger at midfield ahead of Minako Aino, and her bat had thwacked the heavy bludger solidly down and to the left, away from the pitch and straight through the crowds. The crash sent the Slytherins and Akira Hino scrambling for cover and left a gapping hole in the stands

"Watch where you hit that thing!" Theodore Nott called, pushing himself off of Gregory Goyle. "Stupid mudblood."

"Hey!" Akira Hino rounded on him, wobbling to avoid the pit that had cracked open in the stands (the bludger had sailed right through the first and second years seats and sent she and Chibiusa diving away from each other). "That's a horrible thing to say!"

"Are you offended?" Nott mocked, standing at his full height, on the higher seats with the other sixth years, he towered over her. "Does that mean you're one too?"

"Does it matter?" Mina Aino interrupted, flying down to the side of the stands. Hooch it seemed, had called a halt to the game because Both Makoto and Rei were flying towards them as well. Amelia Fittleworth hovered overhead, biting her lip and clutching her bat close.

"I'm sorry!" she said once the sixth year Slytherins had looked away from Mina, discouraged by the reinforcements who now flew on either side of the Gryffindor beater.

"Save it!" Rei snapped, like the others looking at Akira on one side of the hole in the stands, and Chibiusa on the other. "You alright?"

"Yeah," they chorused.

"They're fine," Malfoy sniffed. "She's probably twisted Theo's ankle."

"Which one?" Hooch remarked. She had sailed directly over their heads. "He seems to be standing just fine on both."

"The left one!" Theo insisted, making a point of stumbling forwards.

Hooch's lips were pursed. "Have one of your friends help you to the locker rooms. Pomfrey is making her way down there. Malfoy, Parkinson," she addressed the two prefects. "I trust you to get everyone safely resituated in another part of the stands."

"So the mudblood can wreck those too!" Theo spat.

"That'll be a detention for your language – ah!" she glared at Theo when he protested. "Take it up with Snape." She looked at Mina, Rei, Makoto, and then at Amelia Fittleworth, still drifting uncertainly behind them. "Return to your positions," she said. "Let's carry on with this."

As they flew back, Fittleworth stopped Makoto. "I'm sorry! I tried to hit it to the right! I don't know what happened!"

Makoto shook her head. "First game, don't worry about it. Everyone knows it was an accident." She pointed upwards. "Let's get started again. You'll get the next one."

The game resumed quickly, Gryffindor was given the go ahead to chase down the spare bludger and easily nabbed another goal in the process, making the score 90-110. It was 130-110 before the Slytherins had been resituated in the empty stands across the field, and Amelia Fittleworth was hovering uncertainly near the Hufflepuff hoops, hesitating to bat a single bludger away.

"You've got to get back out there!" Makoto told her. "Don't let one incident ruin your game – you were doing great."

Fittleworth nodded, and flew away from the hoops, hovering high over the pitch near Harry Potter, who'd already dove once for the snitch and missed. It had been a near thing. Makoto spied her seeker making a lap of the pitch and flagged him down. "We need a catch," she told him, certain Fittleworth's effectiveness would only continue to impact their score. I'll need to give her a pep talk, Makoto thought.

Three Gryffindor attempts on the goal later, Makoto wiped sweat from her brow, noticing several other players doing the same. They were nearing two hours in. She spotted Sora Kaioh dropping down from above, catching a midfield throw from Ginny and moving to pop it through the right-side hoop. Makoto shot across all three goals and punched the ball away. Sora, red faced, dove to fetch it. Makoto sighed. She moved to rest her arm on the side of the hoop and jerked it away, startled.

The metal was hot.

"I WAS ABOUT TO SAY IT HAD GOT A BIT STEAMY OUT HERE BUT… HOLD ON," Luna Lovegood's dreamy tone turned grave. "PROFESSOR… WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE GROUND?"

Makoto looked down, the grass below had wilted to brown and the whole area around her hoops was a sea of mud… bubbling mud, she realized. Is it…boiling?

"Sora!" she called down to the first year, flying very low to the ground. "Get up here!"

"I THINK…" Luna's voice waivered. "THAT LOOKS LIKE A FIRE MIDFIELD…"

On the Gryffindor side, Harry Potter was circling the players from both teams, urging them to move higher. All the teachers in the box were standing up.

The ground midfield had caught aflame, Makoto noticed, not a normal flame though, for it seemed the mud beneath it was turning red as well - red and bubbling like a soup.

Magma…

"Akira," Sora whispered. Makoto looked back at her. She had fished her communicator locket out of her robes. "Akira where are you?"

Makoto's eyes widened, recalling how Akira'd escaped the Wizard in White just weeks ago:

"I sort of melted everything."

Luna shouted and then a roar drowned out all other sound on the pitch as the molten red ground at midfield burst upwards – a ball of magma shooting right up towards the teacher's box. Makoto shot towards it.

In the box, Dumbledore waved his wand, conjuring an ice-blue wall between the magma and the teachers. The ball of magma burst right through, shattering the ice and sending small bits of ash raining down on the field and the lower stands. It raced straight for the teachers, straight for Dumbledore, standing (quite shocked) in the center of the box…

A magenta shield sprang up around the teachers when the magma was inches above Dumbledore's head, and the magma hissed as it slammed into it. The liquid rock oozed across the sides as Makoto and several of the other Quidditch players flew near. Setsuna had cast a Garnet Ball it seemed – using only her wand, and untransformed. Makoto wondered how long her shield would hold.

And then did not have time to wonder. She heard a whooshing sound, and dove to the side as three smaller, faster, balls of magma slammed into Setsuna's shield.

"What is this?" she shouted. But through the shield several teachers shook their heads, Around her, Ginny, Mina, and Rei had all drawn their wands.

Behind Makoto, Sora was still shouting into her locket. "Akira?"

Makoto looked at the first year's pale face, and then across at Rei, whose complexion had turned a similar, ghostly shade.

Another blast of lava shot out of the ground. Ginny tried to freeze this one, creating a rain of pebbles that pelted the garnet shield around the teachers box. "Wha…" Her voice trailed off even as the shouts and confusion circulating the stadium increased. The magma pool that had appeared in the centre of the pitch frothed and glowed a brighter and brighter shade of orange.

And then a jet of magma launched up into the air, a small figure balanced on the top. She was coated in the molten rock. Fire sprang up around her, filling her hair and taking on the appearance of a skirt, bows, and a sailor collar

A red and turquoise blur shot past Makoto, streaking towards the figure riding the geyser of molten rock.

"SORA!"

The first year soared right up to the sailor-like figure, getting between her and the teacher's box. Sora shouted something, holding her wand out in front of her. The sailor in the magma raised one hand and a jet of molten rock shot towards Sora. She dodged it. Then a second took off the end of her broom handle. She scrambled back and cast an Aguamenti against the next attack. The magma turned it to steam and sailed straight for her.

Another player in red and gold knocked her out of its way, the magma ball lighting the end of their Firebolt aflame. Another Aguamenti put it out swiftly, but not before half the bristles had falled into the molten pool below.

The sailor-like figure controlling the magma seemed unperturbed by the growing opposition, She maintained her assault on the teacher's box. The garnet shield was holding strong, though the wood and fabric of the tower caught fire with every fresh blast. Even those in the box with enough sense to cast Glacius saw the protection work only as long as it took the magma to turn the ice to steam.

"Is that Akira?" Minako gaped along with the rest of them who hovered in the air.

"Yes!" Sora said, wobbling on her shortened broom. She tried to shoot another Aguamenti from her wand. It was steam long before it reached Akira. "There's something wrong!"

It was hard to get a good look at her, the brightness of the molten rock around her as hard to look at as direct sun. Mina squinted across the way at Rei, who was pointing to Akira and then to her neck.

Mina could just make out the golden chain and the large stone in the centre of it – one that was perhaps black or green, for it seemed to give off many colors. But it certainly wasn't melting as she would expect metal and rock to do right now.

"It doesn't feel right," Sora said. "I think it's controlling her."

"Not for long," Mina assured her, sending Auguamenti Maxima and Glacius together towards Akira. The linked spells were cold enough to outlast the spout of magma a few seconds, forcing Akira back several feet and causing the spout of magma supporting her to dwindle. The same spells from Rei, Makoto, Harry, and from Ginny helped to keep Akira back, soon they were aided by the other players too as they shot jets of water from high above. Several jets of water began to erupt from the stands below the teachers as the spectators recovered from their shock.

Doubt it will hold her back for long. Mina bit her lip. There was no easy way for them to leave the pitch to transform, and she was not keen to have the whole student body learn they were the same mysterious witches who had fought at the ministry in May…

She looked towards Rei. "Where's Saturn?" she signalled with her hand.

Rei's reply was fast, even as her right hand shot another Aguamenti Maxima towards Akira. "Getting out of the crowds. Mercury too."

"MOVE!" Sora shouted, dragging the handle of Mina's broom downwards just as a searing heat rushed over her head. She deflected another attack with Glacius and Protego and shivered as the magma melted her shield in seconds, until all that was left were steam and a whistle echoing in her ears from how quickly the ice had boiled.

It seemed Akira had decided that to get to the teachers box, she'd have to deal with them first.

"GUYS – CIRCLE HER!" Mina shouted, noting that it wasn't just those close to them that followed the order. Ron Weasley and Katie Bell were circling down from above and she could even see the two Hufflepuff Beaters moving in with the bludgers volleying between them.

Shit! Mina checked that she still had a grip on her bat and then shot up to meet Thrussington and Fittleworth.

"Don't hit her!" she called. "She's a first year!"

Fittleworth stopped first, lightly tapping the bludger that was sailing towards her and then grabbing it in both hands. "What?"

"And she's a Hufflepuff," Mina added, for Thrussington still looked more than willing to lob her bludger down at Akira.

Fittleworth took another look at the first year, and her eyes widened. "She was in the stands earlier!"

The Slytherin stands, Mina recalled. She and Chibiusa got separated. Her mind flitted over the faces she remembered: Nott, Malfoy, Goyle…She looked down in a vain attempt to see if she could spot them in the ant-sized faces below.

And saw the pool of magma on the ground spreading, edging towards the crowded stands.

The wooden stands.

Shit.

"Hand me a bludger!" she shouted to the beaters. Fittleworth passed her the one she had wrangled and Mina tucked the struggling ball securely under her left arm. It thumped against her ribs and the handle of the bat in her fist. "Come on!" She dove downwards again, towards the Quidditch players who were circling Akira and the magma spout, trying their best to deflect her attacks from the teachers box and now from all the students in the stands. We need Saturn and Mercury, she thought. And Moon

Usagi had said she would be sitting with the Gryffindors, all the way down by the Gryffindor goals. She hoped she could get out of the crowds soon.

She flew into the formation circling the lava spout, well below Akira's level, and turned her wand on the bludger in her hand. "Engorgio," she whispered. It expanded to twice the size of a volleyball. "Glacius Frigidius" she had to release it as the black ball took on an icy sheen cold enough that it turned her fingers instantly blue. She now knew why Flitwick had said never to cast that variant on a duelling floor. She readied the bat on the floating bludger and took aim at the magma spout. Could she aim upwards without hurting Akira?

The first year still covered in the magma glanced down. Her eyes were abnormally large and vacant. But there was no mistaking that she'd spotted Mina. A giant ball of magma was growing in her hand.

Mina gulped. She swung the bat. It broke in two as it hit the bludger. The frozen ball streaked upwards. It missed the attack Akira lobbed down at Mina by a hair's breath and plowed straight into the magma spout.

Everything was calm for a moment.

And then the magma roared, turned a brighter orange, and spewed upwards. The Quidditch players above scattered. The upset knocking Akira off balance. She fell from the spout just as Mina'd hoped, and Rei was already near the ground on the opposite side, She waved her wand and Akira was jerked upwards by the ankle, molten rock still coating her even as Levicorpus held her aloft.

Mina flew towards her, and reached the two just as Sora did. She waved her own wand and Akira's arms flew to her sides. The magma spout collapsed into the pool still spreading across the pitch. Akira writhed against her restraints. The strange necklace was caught around her neck: its gold chain stood out, reflecting the light from her flaming hair. This close, Mina could see the stone in the necklace was glowing.

"Akira!" Sora shouted to her, hovering closer than even Rei and Mina dared to. "Akira snap out of it!"

"Something's possessed you!" Rei tried. But it was clear they weren't reaching her.

Mina saw Sora reach towards the necklace.

"Wait!" she said. "Don't touch it." Mina waved her wand. "Accio necklace."

It jerked forwards, and then jerked back, fighting against her spell.

She tried again. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The necklace began to float as she tried to drag it free from Akira's neck. Then it began to shudder, and try as she might the chain resisted Mina's pull. Mina growled and wiped her brow. It felt as though the heat were increasing.

"Here!" Rei shouted. The bat in her hand turned to steel and grew several feet long. She reached out to hook it around the golden chain.

And jerked back as the magma on the ground and the molten rock round Akira both began to glow a rich orange. Rei dropped the metal bat as it turned red-hot and spilled as liquid towards the ground. Akira's limbs sprang apart as the charms restraining her burnt out, and before they could recast them she had splashed into the magma pool below, it bubbled calmly for a few moments.

Then Akira shot upwards again, gathering a larger ball of magma in her hands. She sent it careening towards the teachers box. The Quidditch players scrambled out of the way. The attack hit Garnet Ball with a ringing sound that echoed across the pitch, followed by a chime, as Setsuna's the magenta shield shattered. Akira was already growing a new ball of magma in her hands. She lobbed it towards the teachers.

It slammed into a new energy shield. One comprised of black and purple lightning that held firm against the assault of molten rock. It surrounded the whole midfield of the pitch in a perfect dome.

Silence Wall. Mina grinned, flying down towards Sailors Moon, Mercury, and Saturn: all standing together on a freshly cooled strip of earth that stretched towards the center of the magma pool. Saturn's face was stern and her glaive steady as she concentrated on her shield. Beside her, Mercury pointed her staff towards the magma, sending Aqua Rhapsody racing across it and towards the magma spout in the center. It created a fresh strip of land through the treacherous sea.

"If this gets much bigger it could destabilize the pitch," Mercury explained. "We need to keep it contained before anything starts sinking." She squinted up at the magma spout where attacks were being relentlessly thrown against Silence Wall. "Is there a person up there?"

"Akira," Mina confirmed. All three of them gasped. "Mind controlled. Magic necklace. Can't figure out how to get it away from her."

They didn't have time to respond. Frustrated with Silence Wall, Akira (or whatever had possessed her) was turning her ire on the Quidditch players.

"Keep the wall up as long as you can," Mina told Saturn. "Mercury."

"I'll try to keep the magma contained to the centre of the field," Mercury said.

Moon raised her sceptre. "And I'm coming up with you." She flexed her wings and leapt up into the air ahead of Mina, matching the Firebolt as they raced upwards.

Akira'd done away with the large balls of magma now. Instead, tongues of it whipped away from the tall geyser she stood on, lashing out at the surrounding fliers. Makoto had gotten most of her team to stay back near the edges of the shield, though her single, seventh year chaser doggedly zipped around Akira, having some luck transfiguring the magma into more harmless variants like pebbles, ash, and sand. The remaining bludger had disappeared it seemed, or more likely been melted. Sailor Moon raised her sceptre against a large arm of magma, deflecting it away from Rei, Ron, and Katie Bell.

The explosion of rainbow light from the scepter drew Akira's notice, and Sailor Moon shivered as Akira trained her vacant expression on she and Mina. The first year raised her magma covered arms and the tongues of molten earth that swarmed around her bulged and flexed as they prepared to strike.

"I suddenly miss Black Lady," Sailor Moon muttered, putting herself slightly in front of Mina. Her sceptre began to glow. "Starlight Honeymoon Therapy KISS!"

The attack slammed into an advancing tongue of molten rock, creating a hissing sound as the attacks crashed together in the air. Sailor Moon's rainbow attack burst through the magma, leaving ash in its wake, and sailed right into the magma spout, knocking Akira off the top. All of the senshi in the air dove towards the falling first year.

Just as Mina cast another Levicorpus ready to try grabbing the necklace once more, Akira's magma glowed an intense orange. All of them skidded to a halt in the air as a new magma spout roared out of the ground. Sailor Moon had to grab the back of Mina's robes when her Firebolt, its tail burnt away, failed to stop in time.

"Mercury!" Ginny shouted, directing their attention down. The magma pool was glowing once more, and the heat around them increasing. They gasped as the ice and cooled rock Mercury'd been building up around the magma pool melted away. It began edging up on the bounds of Silence Wall and eating away the islands under Saturn and Mercury's feet.

"Hold on!" Ginny shouted, she and Harry dove towards the senshi on the ground as Sailor Moon parried another of Akira's molten attacks. Ginny got Mercury onto the back of her broom just as the small island of rock under her feet melted into the magma pool. They flew to Saturn, who had barely a foot remaining between herself and the magma. She was shaking her head as Harry argued with her. She could not move and maintain the wall.

"We need that necklace," Mina muttered. She looked over at Rei, hovering far away from the fight. The other senshi was a lone unmoving figure in the chaos of fliers and spells being launched invain at Akira and the magma spout, which, Mina now realized, was continuing to get hotter.

Her eyes jumped to the three scarlet-and-gold clad figures above: Sora with Katie and Ron. Someone had taught Sora the Glacius spell, it seemed, for she was coating her broom and her robes and even her hands in the ice.

And then she dove.

"Look up!" Mina shouted to Sailor Moon. They both streaked upwards, the rising heat on their left signalled another attack on its way. Mina flew into Sora from the side as Sailor Moon conjured another Therapy Kiss to combat the next attack. This time the magma, and her power, both crumbled to ash, the intense heat had already melted the ice around Sora.

"What are you doing?" Mina demanded of the first year.

"If she keeps making it hotter it's gonna hurt her!" Sora shouted back. "I need to…" she clutched the locket swinging in front of her robes. "Do something."

Mina felt the same, wondering how much longer they would be able to hold off transforming in front of all of Hogwarts.

She spotted Rei, still unmoving several meters away from the magma spout. Her eyes were closed; her hands, at her temples.

"Sailor Moon, Sora: can you distract her?" Mina asked, nodding towards Akira.

Sailor Moon nodded solemnly. "I don't have a plan," she confessed.

"I might." Mina flew down to Rei.

Rei's eyes opened as Mina approached. "Setsuna was talking to me," she explained. "She was saying we've got to be very careful. If anything goes wrong we could cause a paradox or..." She looked towards the figure in the magma. "She might disappear."

Mina frowned. "We can't let that happen." She looked down. Even with Ginny and Harry to help her, Mercury's ice was not doing nearly enough to maintain the island Saturn stood on. Then she looked over at Akira. The intense power of the magma was now an even match for Therapy Kiss, and Ron, Katie, Sora, and Makoto were not gaining any ground either.

But she won't outright disappear, Mina thought, recalling another time a paradox had affected one of their time travellers. When Mamoru had been abducted by Nehelenia, his future with Usagi put in jeopardy, Chibiusa's powers had briefly failed.

Mina looked at Sailor Moon again: she and Makoto were wearing gloves.

"Come on!" Mina ordered Rei.

"What?"

"I have a plan." She shot up ahead of Rei, struggling to control her flight on her battered broom. But she did easily get Moon's and Makoto's attention. She signalled them over.

"We're gonna distract her," Mina told them. "Get close behind her and grab the necklace. It isn't responding to Accio or anything. You'll have to grab it by hand."

"What are you planning?" Rei demanded.

Mina winked at her. "Follow my lead."

The two of them flew up until they were level with Akira, Mina held her hands palm out and stared right at Akira's vacant eyes.

She really hoped this worked like she thought. Or else Setsuna was going to be very pissed at her.

"REI!" Mina shouted. "I'M BREAKING UP WITH YOU!"

Rei sputtered and flew into Mina's side, grabbing the sleeve of her robes: "Is now really the time?"

The magma lashes around Akira stilled. Mina felt the heat lessen. "YES!" Makoto and Sailor Moon were cautiously circling closer and closer. Mina cupped her hands over her mouth. "DO YOU HEAR THAT FUTURE CHILD: BREAKING. UP."

Rei's eyes widened. "Oh!" She jerked them both down to duck a ball of magma. "Right… we're breaking up," Rei echoed, closing her eyes and concentrating, hoping by visualizing it, it might become truer. "Which means… no getting married."

"No having a family."

"No sex or… or magic what so ever…"

For a moment the magma around Akira dimmed and dwindled, and Mina thought she felt a whisper of cold air. She squinted. It almost appeared Akira had turned translucent. Moon and Makoto were nearly close enough…

Absently, Mina grabbed Rei's hand.

The heat returned, intensified. The spout around Akira roared up as though outraged, forcing Moon and Makoto back.

Rei jerked her hand away. "Keep going," she urged Mina.

"Right." Mina flew farther from her. She shouted again. "STILL BROKEN UP. WHICH…" Mina bit her lip. The magma no longer seemed to be dissipating, "WOULD REALLY MAKE THIS WHOLE SITUATION PRETTY IMPOSSIBLE…" Below them Mercury's ice had begun to lose its battle with the magma. And Saturn's arms were shaking.

"Come on…" Mina muttered, something had happened, briefly.

Rei came up to her again, and put a hand on her arm. "Let me."

Mina nodded.

Rei cleared her throat. She flew away from Mina, speaking as she did. "You know what," she said. Her eyes were closed. "That's not enough – I don't trust us. What if we get bored in 50 years and have some relapse." She turned all around, looking at everyone currently flying overhead. And at Mina last of all. Trust me, she prayed. "And I absolutely don't want to get back together with you… ever." She turned her broom around, facing Akira. "SO…" please work, Rei thought "Just to be absolutely sure," she stood up on her broom, "I'm going to make sure this never, ever happens."

"REI!"

Rei spread her arms as she fell, backwards, off the Firebolt, nearing the intense heat a hundred feet below. She stared up at the figure atop the magma spout and at Moon and Makoto, once again nearly close enough. Come on…

Suddenly the air around Rei chilled from boiling to freezing as a clap like thunder split the air. Overhead, Akira's form flickered, the magma spout around her turned translucent and collapsed.

"LEVICORPUS!" Ginny shouted. The spell caught Rei's ankle, jerking her up into the air. The tips of her hair hovered inches above the once again cool, muddy ground.

Akira was falling. Makoto dove and caught her as she turned solid once more (back in her normal, Hufflepuff robes). Makoto tore the still red-hot necklace off of Akira with her gloved hand and tossed it up into the air. "Sailor Moon!"

The Moon Sceptre glowed as it spun, its rainbow power slamming into the dark stone in the centre of the necklace. And as Saturn at last dropped Silence Wall, the whole, crowded pitch heard the necklace shatter.

For a moment all was still, as they lowered their weapons and flew up to Sailor Moon… and up to the small pink shard, like glass, hovering where the necklace had been.

There was a screech. Dark power exploded out from the shard, creating an amorphous, black mass of energy just like the one that had arisen from the slain dementor a short month ago. Sailor Moon readied her sceptre again.

"STARLIGHT HONEYMOON THERAPY KISS!"

The rainbow attack slammed into the mutated energy and they watched as it warped and flexed, shrinking.

For just a moment, it seemed to take humanoid form.

And then a shriek split the air and their ears as the dark energy flared up again. It stretched out to all sides, and rushed towards the edge of the pitch, towards the forest.

Saturn flew on the glaive to meet it, touching the point of the weapon to the cloud of energy. It jerked to a halt, as the one from the dementor had weeks before.

"Silence Glaive Surprise," she whispered

At once, the energy disintegrated.

~SMH~

With Setsuna's help, all of the Quidditch players were able to make it to the hospital wing before the chaotic mass exodus of the students from the pitch. The weary Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs sporting singed brooms and robes shuffled out of the Time Doors and into the empty hospital wing. They shuffled to the sides and whispered to each other as three Sailors escorted the Hufflepuff captain and several Gryffindor players across the ward.

"They're back!" Katie Bell whispered to her fellow Gryffindors. Her hair was shorter by half an inch, a testament to the magma that had taken off the hood and shoulder of her red robes. Harry Potter only looked slightly less battered, and Ron and Ginny were redder than they had been the summer they'd gone on vacation to Egypt. All the Hufflepuffs who milled about nearby and even the three Sailors had the same reddened faces.

"They are," Ginny confirmed. "They… come help Professor Meioh out a lot." Said Professor was currently walking with the Sailors and her exchange students, leading them to the end of the ward.

"And we should..." Harry began, and realized Katie was the only one of them not in on the secret. "Er…"

Katie shook her head. "Just tell me when I need to know," she said. "Go – see if their first year's alright."

They did, moving to the bed in the far right corner of the ward as Setsuna drew the curtain closed around it. Several colored lights flashed as they approached, and when Harry, Ron, and Ginny looked in, the Sailors had transformed back into Usagi, Ami, and Hotaru.

The only one of them who did not appear to have baked too long under the sun was the first year Makoto was settling onto the hospital bed. By contrast, Akira Hino (lying still and unconscious on the crisp, white sheets) was unnaturally pale.

Professor Meioh turned away from the cot and walked up to the three Gryffindors lingering in the entryway to the ward. "You were all very brave out there," she told Ginny, Harry, and Ron. Despite being spared the brunt of the attacks, she appeared downcast and weary. "I suppose points should be awarded to you all." She looked back at her students all standing close to the hospital bed. "Excuse me," she said. She breezed past Harry, Ron, and Ginny. They watched her walk the length of the ward, check each of the players lingering in the middle, and then summon her doors again, disappearing.

As she left, Ami checked that the curtain was drawn as far as it could go around the hospital bed, moving around Makoto, who stood at the end, and then Hotaru, Sora, Usagi, Rei, and Mina who were crowded together on the bed's left side. Mina held Rei's hand in a vice grip.

All of them watched Ami take a breath and draw her Alder wand. She waved it in a slow circle, muttering. A pale blue sphere glowed over Akira's head for a moment. Ami smiled. "Nothing to worry about," she assured them. She heard one of the players outside hiss in pain. "I think it'd be best if I go help the other players."

"I'll help too!" Hotaru said, healing glow filling her hands.

"Can I come with you?" Makoto asked, feeling jittery without anything useful to do. She could feel her wand sparking in her pocket. "Should make sure Kwame's not sore about missing his first snitch."

When they had ducked out, Sora Kaioh dashed across the narrow, open space and hopped up onto the nightstand on the other side of Akira's bed. She began twisting her locket in her hands, staring down at her friend.
Mina glanced around and spotted the small three legged stool tucked away under the windowsill. She let go of Rei's hand and walked to it, picking it up and moving it close to the bedside. She offered it to Rei.

Rei shook her head though. And Mina sighed and sank heavily onto the stool.

Usagi settled a hand on Rei's shoulder. The dark haired Gryffindor stared at the floor for a few minutes. In the doorway, Harry and the Weasleys watched Hotaru, Makoto, and Ami move between the fidgety Quidditch players, healing each of their scraps, burns, and in two cases, twisted joints and fractured bones. Ginny held her weight on her left foot, her right ankle injured from before the mess with the cursed necklace had even started. If Harry realized that was why she was leaning heavily on his arm he didn't say anything. And neither did Ron for once.

"Rei?" they heard Usagi ask.

The fiery sixth year still stared at her charred shoes. "Is this how it feels every time Chibiusa's hurt?"

"I hope not," Mina whispered. "How do you stand this?" She could not sit still in her seat – a discomfiting contrast to Sora Kaioh (who had yet to move or make a sound other than to draw her knees up to her chest).

Usagi took her time replying. "It does… even when I hadn't known her long." she looked at Rei and then at Mina. "It's like… like I've failed at something important every time… and sometimes like I've failed before I've even started."

Rei nodded and closed her eyes. "Who did this?"

"One of the Slytherins in the stands," Harry Potter said. "Malfoy was down there wasn't he?"

"He was," Mina confirmed. "He…"

The slamming of the hospital wing's doors interrupted her and then the hurried clack-clack of Madam Pomfrey's shoes across the tile floor. "What are all of you doing!" they heard Pomfrey exclaim. "Get. In. To. Bed." There was the sound of many shuffling feet and then the bounce of mattress springs as the Quidditch players sank heavily down onto the hospital beds. "Tomoe – bed!" Pomfrey ordered next. "Ah, ah, ah – the last time I had you in here, it was for doing too much of that healing. And look at what you're doing now! You are going to drop where you stand, and it won't just be you having to deal with your mothers. Look at you: your arm's as red as a tomato. Bed - now. Potter!"

"I'm fine," Harry said, though he, Ginny and Ron turned and walked to the two empty beds across the ward.

When Pomfrey at last got to them, her healer-blue robes pristine though her face had soot streaked across her nose, she braced her fists on her hips and sighed.

"Well heaven knows how you lot got out of there with little else, but a sunburn," she said, surveying them. "Or how you got here so quickly, Miss. Tsukino, as I didn't see you flying around that... that." she scowled "I hardly want to think what sort of business has a volcano opening up on the grounds.

"A cursed necklace," Mina said. "We think a Slytherin student slipped it to Akira after the stands were destroyed."

"I saw nothing of the sort on any of they," Pomfrey said "That's a heavy thing to accuse your peers of, Miss. Aino."

"Well how else would it get here, huh?" Mina fired back. "You either have a rat or an invisible death eater's lurking about."

Pomfrey shook her head. "Impossible" she insisted. "I mean it's just..." her voice wavered and her hands became restless. She lifted them from her hips and flexed her fingers, glancing about for something to do. She bustled to the heavy white curtains hanging on the side of the window and snapped them shut. "They're only children."

"Somehow that doesn't reassure me," Makoto said, hands white knuckled as she held onto the bed frame. "Seems like they just got more to prove."

"Yes well —" But the clatter and squeak of many muddy boots across her white tile floors distracted her. Pomfrey dashed away with an order for them to sit down. She bustled out into the ward, summoning new beds and opening up an adjoining room as she wove through the mass of students returning from the pitch. She hunted down those who had burns and directing them to sit themselves on a free cot, whilst dragging those interrogating their Quidditch teams away by the backs of their robes.

Amid the ever more organized chaos, several students managed to get past Pomfrey and to the end of the ward. Two first years (a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin) wove through the crowds the fastest and skidded into the curtained off area.

"Akira!" Megumi and Chibiusa gasped at the same time, plowing into the iron end of the bedframe on either side of Makoto. The metal bar of the headboard rattled against the wall.

"Easy," Makoto warned.

"Here." Usagi raised her wand and pointed it at the rubbish bin in the corner nearest her. She mouthed a spell. The rubbish bin widened and collapsed, metal turning to something like liquid, and reformed a minute later into a sizeable cushion that still sported a metallic sheen. Usagi waved her wand again and the whole thing floated to the end of the bed. It settled with a thump onto the floor. "You should sit." she smiled at the first years.

Chibiusa did, and Megumi only after she had.

"Megumi," Sora asked, the first they'd heard from her in a while. "Will she be okay?"

Megumi closed her eyes and thought. "Yes," she said after a minute. "I don't think… anything's gone wrong." She looked at Chibiusa. "The opal necklace wasn't supposed to work like that," she whispered.

"Is that Lestrange's fault?" Mina interrupted, her gaze sharp as she stared down at them. "It is isn't it?" She might not have gotten much of sense out of most of Setsuna's timey-whimey mumbo-jumbo, but she could figure out this much.

"Yes," Megumi whispered. "She's becoming a change maker."

"It was just like her dementor last time," Usagi added, raising the hand that was not gripping Rei's shoulder and staring at her palm. "My power… it barely affected it." She closed her eyes. "What are these things?"

Across the way, Luna, Neville, and Hermione had at last made it through the crowded ward, and were all huddled together with Ginny, Ron, and Harry between two beds they'd dragged close together.

"It's got to have been Lestrange, hasn't it?" Ginny whispered. "We know Professor Meioh's had trouble tracking her."

"Yeah," Harry said, clenching his fists. "I bet it was Malfoy as well – he snuck out of the castle last night. Bet you anything he went to see her."

"But you said Snape's been trying to get him not to do anything," Hermione said. "I mean… you really think Malfoy could have given Akira the necklace?"

"It makes sense, doesn't it?" Harry insisted. "And his parents just got captured – bet you anything he's mad enough to ignore Snape."

"I mean, I hear you mate, I do," Ron whispered back. "But that kid got away from Lestrange herself a few weeks ago – how's Malfoy get to her."

"I don't know – maybe he surprised her," Harry frowned. "I just know it was him. He was outside the pitch with the others it would have been the perfect opportunity.

"And he stayed afterwards too," Hermione said. "Why'd he do that if he knew what it was going to do?"

"Maybe… maybe he didn't" Harry said, and sighed. "I don't know how he did it," he confessed as Ginny put a hand on his shoulder. "I just know it was him."

All of them fell silent, staring at the molding between the white tiled floor.

"I don't suppose anyone else noticed," Hermione whispered. "And I mean… maybe it's nothing." She looked up and found all of them staring at her. "Dumbledore tried to stop that magma first, and he failed."

"So did everything else," Ron said. "I mean it was magma."

"Yes… but all the rest of you were using Glacius. That wasn't what Dumbledore did. I mean it was a huge ice wall… and it just shattered like nothing. Didn't even turn to steam." She clenched her hands in her lap. "It looked weak is what I mean."

"Hermione's right," Luna whispered. "He was sitting right next to me. He was really surprised when his spell failed… He didn't use magic again the whole time…"

"Well… that don't mean anything, does it?" Ron asked with a nervous chuckle. "I mean that was like a bloody volcano… and it caught him by surprise."

"But…" Neville interrupted. "Well it's just he's got to have been surprised before. And he's still won every time. He's the greatest wizard alive… L-lestrange," he gulped. And when he spoke again his voice was hoarse. "Lestrange can't be more powerful than Dumbledore."

Dimensions away, determinedly staring into the depths of the Time Sands, Sailor Pluto echoed her students worries, all of which formed a repetitive din alongside growing worries of her own.

Lestrange had a strange new magic resistant to Sailor Moon's best efforts, that they seemed weak to Saturn failed to ease her worries.

What's more, Sailor Pluto clenched her hands tighter around the Garnet Rod, if what Harry Potter and Minako suspected was true, then Malfoy had also taken whatever potion obscured Lestrange from her sight.

You don't know that for sure, she lectured herself, You don't even know if her was involved yet.

But surely some student had been. And she'd already gone through the recent pasts of every student above the fourth year. None of them turned up anything unusual.

And if Lestrange could get whatever potion this was into Hogwarts, there was no telling how many loyal death eaters had access to it too.

What are you planning? She thought, trying and failing once more to see anything accurate of Lestrange in the fog.

And of the Wizard in White, little more than a shadow or a ghost amongst the eternity of Time, the one whom Crystal Tokyo seemed heavily concerned with as well.

She could see only that Luna and Artemis would finally have some information for her next weekend. With any luck, she would have a name for the strange wizard soon.

~SMH~

SUPER SECRET SPECIAL OPS SAVES HOGWARTS

Sunday, November 3rd

Chaos erupted on the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch yesterday when a pit of molten rock opened up in the middle of the Hufflepuff /Gryffindor opening game. What looked at first like a prank gone overboard swiftly turned dire as what can only be described as a fire-spirit launched itself out of the magma and began to attack the teachers' box. We should note here: it bested Albus Dumbledore's defense in seconds. Only the quick thinking of his foreign hire, Setsuna Meioh, saved the Hogwarts faculty from an extensive stay in Mungos burn ward – and that's if they'd been lucky. The heat from these attacks was enough to liquefy the entirety of the ground under the pitch. The hoops are now several feet below regulation height!

What saved the day was not the professors, nor the students, but more of the mysterious witches who were dispatched to the Department of Mysteries in May. These young ladies wield elemental spells and together with the Quidditch teams successfully destroyed the fire-spirit.

The culprit seems to have been some sort of malevolent poltergeist or perhaps a curse brought forth by a necklace that was destroyed on scene. Thank Merlin. I'm presuming it may have been opal, given how often you see those winding up in nasty business like this.

Harry Potter, who captains Gryffindor this year, was also seen fighting alongside the Special Ops team. We can't help but wonder if he knows them some how (we still don't know where he spends his summers or for that matter how he has survived He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named so often in the first place. It is perhaps no coincidence that these witches are appearing now, as he repeatedly throws himself into the conflicts breaking out across our community. I can't help but wonder if these witches aren't the reason why we even celebrate Halloween 1981…

"Potter, Potter, Potter." Bellatrix Lestrange sneered as she cast the paper aside. "Always have to mention him."

"Who is this Harry Potter you and your Dark Lord are so interested in?" The voice in her ear failed to startle her as the Wizard in White materialized from flecks of ash onto the carpet in front of her chair.

Bellatrix glared. "You said I would be able to do that!" she said.

"I said eventually… the circumstances that helped me acquire this…" he held out his hand. It momentarily dispersed into ash again. "…unique ability will present themselves to you in time." He smirked. "Provided of course you lean into those things we all fear."

"I don't fear anything," she sneered. "Not really." She scanned the paper again. So they'd determined the stone was an opal, but that hardly helped them – so long as the Time Lady and Dumbledore remained oblivious to its true nature. "Fear's for the weak," Bellatrix told the wizard. "It's like pain – it ceases to do anything except limit your potential." She tore out the front picture of The Prophet of the players from the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor teams. She set about vanishing the faces of the purebloods. She was running out of pictures to use in her target practices. "Some things I find particularly irritating," Bellatrix continued. "But I do not fear anything." Credit to the ministry and their prison: they new how to inure someone to terror.

The Wizard chuckled. That irritated her. "What?" Bellatrix snapped.

"I understand," he said. "How you could be so incredibly foolish now."

She was out of her chair with her favoured dagger under his chin before considering it would have no effect on him. "I have not been foolish."

"Bella, Bella," he shook his head, gliding around her. She whirled to keep glaring at him. "I teach you the technique I have perfected in a mere thirty years where lesser wizards have been driven mad or settled for crude, uninspired castings like your Tom Riddle has – I teach it to you and within a month, you have made and lost two against threats I warned you about in advance." He was surely staring at her under the low hem of his hood. As always she could only see the lower half of his face, now permanently pink from where the brat in the woods had burnt it. He was smirking. "It is more than just the Time Lady who are a danger."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Considering I found you locked up in playground of a prison compared to where I sat fourteen miserly years, I'd say your judgement of threats is relatively flawed."

His ever present smirk twitched for a moment. "We all suffer setbacks… and betrayals. I have learnt my lessons since then, and thanks to your Dementor pet there, the one who put me away has more than paid for that. And before he could speak to any of the White Moon's agents as well. I must commend you. I will admit to having been foolish not removing him myself." He hovered closer. "I suppose we all want those who've wronged us to be there to watch when we rise."

She chuckled. She could agree with that. "Then you admit it was not foolish of me to contribute our experiment to guarding that prison?"

"Yes," he said. "That was wonderfully strategic of you." Her crooked smile grew at the praise.

And he was quick to snatch it away. "Which makes your decision with the necklace doubly disappointing."

She glowered at him. "Considering my sister has now been arrested by the ministry with the help of this Time Lady and her friends, I'm sure, you'll forgive me if I acted hastily." She shrugged. "Draco impressed upon me that he was ready to act. I thought that might be his best chance." She crossed her arms. "At least now you know what the new senshi brat can do."

"That is some comfort." He tucked his hands into the wide, white sleeves of his robes and drew out a crystal ball that reflected the flickering lights of the surrounding candles. She leaned closer to see in. "And we have confirmed..."

There was the one he called the Moon Queen, taking her sceptre to the necklace. Bellatrix shivered in excitement as it exploded and grew into the mammoth, monstrous ball of energy, one that resisted the girl's pathetic rainbow attack.

"Had you told me this was happening I could have observed in person," he said. "But this will do." The scene played out, the smallest senshi felling the peak achievement of her magic with barely a prick of her glaive.

"It's always the short ones," Bellatrix muttered.

"Indeed," he hummed. "It pleases me to see this actually. I have long mulled over the problem of the Moon Queen's magic. It is pervasive and far-reaching, to say nothing for its might." He hummed and waved his hands, the image of the smallest senshi shimmered in the crystal ball. "She is new."

"Like the volcano brat?"

"No… this one was new years ago, but they were years where my sight was limited by the confines of my cell. I have not gotten to observe her as I have most of the others." He cocked his hooded head to the side. "Perhaps the sacrifice of your second was not entirely in vane… but do not bandy them about like toys." He stowed the crystal ball away. "Your Tom Riddle had that much sense at least."

"But these are better – you said I'd be better than he's ever dreamed."

"And you will, Bella. I have great confidence in your potential." He turned briefly to ash again and reappeared pressed close to her back. His breath was cool in her ear. "You have the emotion and the power to carry you a great distance."

"Good." Bellatrix felt him turn to ash again, breezing away to the other side of the room where he poured himself a wine. "How many until I can do that?"

He chuckled again. "Tis' not about quantity. Patience," he teased.

She stalked back to her armchair to ponder their conversation and to stare at him as he drank his wine like any other mortal. She was only briefly interrupted by the fire crackling. It turned green and a burnt bit of parchment shot out. She raised her hand and crumpled it when it met her palm.

Usually he did not write so long before. She smirked as she read.

Little Flamingo nearly proved to be an Icarus today. I wonder if you aren't encouraging him to abuse his protection… as you clearly are.

Parcel on the ides

~S.P.

~I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good~