"That's his sister."

"Poor thing. Gets out of one tragedy and now she's in another."

"Does she believes what he's saying?"

"Maybe crazy runs in the family."

The gossip among the students had shifted from her 'confrontation' with Snape to Harry's outburst in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Katrina listened to their ill-informed mutterings about his mental state and his rantings about witnessing Cedric Diggory's murder. No one was inclined to believe Harry's version of events, the Ministry's barrage of attacks through the Daily Prophet, whether blatant or buried within random articles, proving effective in painting her brother as a delusional attention-seeker. If any of them gathered the courage to confront her, she would say the same thing she did to Lavender on the first night. What did Harry gain from stirring up a panic? Did his peers believe he thrived from their taunts?

On the third floor corridor, she spotted Draco with Crabbe, Goyle, and that stringy boy.

"That's a terrible idea." Draco told the boy, resting on a bust of a witch. "Sure, I'll just say 'My father allegedly works for the man who wants your brother dead but why shouldn't we get to know each other?'. In what twisted world would that work?"

Using the older Ravenclaw boys passing by as a cover, Katrina turned in the opposite direction towards the door to Gryffindor Tower. As she reached for the iron handle, it slid to the opposite side of the door then to the top. Still woozy from Kane's spell, a common side effect, she would rather not speak to who she assumed to be the culprit but the hand pressing against the door, a silver ring bearing the Slytherin crest glinting in the light, made the choice for her.

"Katrina, wandering the halls all alone?" asked Draco, feigning concern.

"I had meeting with Dumbledore," she said, plainly. "Curfew isn't until nine. I was on my way to the common room."

"Well, I wouldn't be doing my duty as a prefect if I didn't accompany you." His generosity would have seemed genuine, if not for his friends observing them from a distance. "People aren't very fond of your brother at the moment, with his ramblings, and someone with bad intentions could take it out on you."

Katrina let out a quiet sigh. "Please get out of my way, Malfoy."

"Why don't you make me?" he asked, mockingly.

"You really don't want me to," she said, feeling her wand beneath her sleeves.

Continuing to block her path, he grinned. "You're adorable when you try to be intimidating. You did say I'm a glutton for punishment and maybe I like this game of cat and mouse between us."

Standing on her toes, she waved behind him. "Hi Pansy!"

At the mention of the possessive Slytherin girl, he whipped his head around, resembling a meerkat popping out of its hole. Using the distraction, Katrina repaired the door and slipped through, casting a locking charm before hurrying up the staircase. She second guessed her decision to flee when she entered the Gryffindor common room, to Hermione yelling at Fred, George, and their Lee, surrounded by unconscious first years slumped in their chairs or flat on their backs.

Shaking a clipboard and a paper bag, Hermione lectured the three boys about testing their joke products, created by the twins, on students. Around the room, people were watching the increasingly loud argument, even Purrsephone and Crookshanks frozen by the staircase. Harry and Ron were sitting by the fireplace, potions books on their laps and Ron struggling to hide his lanky frame. Staying in the archway, Katrina listened to their arguing, Hermione trying to assert her authority and Fred and George teasing her.

Their laughter stalled at Hermione threatening to write to Mrs. Weasley, the one person able to reign in their hijinks. Shoving the clipboard and bag into a thunderstruck Fred's chest, Hermione returned to her chair, throwing an acidic look at a cowering Ron. George begrudgingly ushered away the drowsy first years, after giving them a few sickles.

"Is everything okay? I heard Umbridge wanted to talk to you after class and you went to visit Dumbledore," said Harry, as she joined him by the fireplace.

Purrsephone jumped into her lap. "He was checking on my first day and asked me to taste his lemon bars." The three Gryffindors looked at her curiously. "I got him into baking. He's getting better. What happened with McGonagall?"

Umbridge extended his punishment from a single day of detention to an entire week. McGonagall refused to reverse the decision, citing that Umbridge, being a professor, had the right to give him detention for what she perceived as poor behavior in her class. She further warned him to control his temper, detentions on the low end of how Umbridge, with her connections to Fudge, could ruin his school year.

Fussing over her argument with the twins, Hermione gave up on her Potions essay and wrenched her bag open, pulling out two misshapen pieces of wool. She had knitted the hats during the summer for her crusade in house-elf rights, hoping to free the ones employed at Hogwarts. Ron reacted angrily when she covered the hats with bits of parchment and broken quills, prompting another spat.

He waited for her to disappear up the staircase and removed the rubbish, claiming it was unfair to trick the elves who may not want freedom. Choosing to work on his essay another night, he traipsed up to the boys' dormitories and Harry was about to join him until he brushed his fingers over his lightning bolt scar.

"Harry?" asked Katrina, worried.

"It's nothing," he mumbled, picking up his bag. "My head's hurting from having to argue with that toad and hearing everyone call me a nutter at dinner. Are you coming?"

"No, you go ahead." Petting behind Purrsephone's ear, she eyed him as he walked up the stairs. "I have a potentially bad idea, Seffie."

Katrina spent the night working on her assignments. By midnight, the common room had emptied, aside from her, Fred, George, and Lee, the three seventh years testing their products on themselves. It provided her some entertainment to see one of them pass out and wake minutes later on the floor. She declined their attempts to include her as a tester though she advised them on how to improve their fainting fancies, to leave the person lucid enough to chew the other half of the sweet.

At five o'clock the next morning, Katrina repeated her morning routine, moving around her bed and trunk without waking the other girls, but instead of heading to the exercise room, she sneaked up to the boys' dormitories. The fifth year room was similar in design to the girls' side, except messy and permeating the blended stench of cologne and dirty laundry. Stepping over a pile of books, she tiptoed to Harry's bed and tickled his chin with a quill.

Harry shot up, panting heavily. "I'm u—Katrina? What are you—"

Reaching for his glasses on his nightstand, he glanced out at the blue-bronze sky then to the clock by a snoring Seamus. She gently placed his bag on the bed and pressed a finger to her lips.

"Get dressed into something comfortable, get your stuff for the day together, and meet me in the common room," she whispered to her baffled brother. "You have five minutes. If you take a second longer, I'll send Cho a love letter from you."

"Why—" he started.

She tapped her wrist. "Four minutes, fifty eight seconds."

Harry stumbled down the staircase, tying his sneakers. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she left the common room, deflecting his questions with a warning about Mr. Filch. They walked in silence to the first floor corridor.

"Katrina—" She opened the door to the exercise room. "Why are we in here? We should be sleeping."

"You need to control your temper," she said, taking a pair of training gloves from her bag. "You can't blow up at Umbridge or anyone who doesn't believe you. I have a solution. What happens in here stays between us."

"What are you on about?" he croaked. "I'm f—"

"You're not fine. Your mood changes at the drop of a hat," she said, tossing him the gloves. "Kane didn't have me sit in my room for fifteen years. He put me through training drills and as intense as they are, they'll help you get through the day without wanting to explode at a sixth year calling you a basket case."

"I appreciate what you're trying to do but I don't think a punching bag will work," he said, as she sifted through her bag. "What I need is everyone to understand what's right in front of them instead of reading that garbage Daily Prophet but sadly, that won't happen anytime soon so I will resort to saying mean things about them in my head and imagining people like Malfoy getting eaten by the giant squid."

She handed him fighting sticks. "No punching bags. You're going to channel the anger into those and come at me. Don't hold back."

He pinched his nose. "Kat—"

In two seconds, he was knocked to the floor. She poked his side with her foot, hinting for him to get up for another round. His eyes wide, he stared at her like she was a ghost. Picking up the sticks, he stood up, clutching his ribs, and Katrina started again, before he could say a single word. It was tamer than her usual drills but she believed helping Harry was more important. They spent the next two hours sparring, her brother blocking a couple blows but never able to get the upper hand. As he dodged her swing, she jabbed him in the stomach and swept his leg, sending him to the floor for the twentieth time.

He rolled onto his side. "I need a minute."

"This was me going easy," she said, crossing her arms. "Do you feel better?"

"Well now instead of thinking about my anger, I can think about my broken back courtesy of my ninja sister," he replied, clutching his lower back.

She threw him a playful glare. "Ha ha. Maybe if you paid attention to Kane's lesson at Grimmauld Place, you would've known how to block my move."

"Seriously. Where did that come from? I don't see the connection between this…" Getting to his feet, he motioned his hand over her. "And you tossing me around like a potato sack. Are we triplets and you two switch every hour?"

"Kane's made enemies throughout his life and if they ever broke into the manor, he wanted me to be prepared," she explained. "I knew keeping me cooped up kept me safe but there were times that I would get frustrated and this gave me an outlet. If Umbridge is serious about her no defensive magic rules, it might not be so bad to learn other ways of defense. You'd be impressed by what the task force can do without magic."

In the Great Hall, Harry continued to be the main topic of conversation. The Slytherins openly ridiculed him, acting out his outburst with Umbridge. Draco's imitation, placing his circled hands over his eyes like glasses, elicited a shriek of laughter from the table, Pansy and her clique particularly obnoxious. Katrina stopped Harry from reaching for his wand, telling him to ignore the immature stunt. It was vexing to hear people from the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor tables snicker at Pansy calling them 'the psycho Potter twins'. Staying by his side, Katrina brushed off their remarks as childish and not worth a response.

"Stupid gits," hissed Ron. "Where were you two?"

"Went for a walk to clear my head." Harry rubbed his back. "We bumped into Mrs. Norris and I fell into a knight. What's the chance I can use that to get out of class today?"

"Don't let them win," said Katrina, adding honey to her tea. "Hiding in your room proves them right. The best they've got is bad impressions and nicknames. By lunch, it'll die down and something else will be on their feeble minds."

"That's so wise, Katrina." Sophie slid across the bench, holding her clipboard. "Do you want to help me get signatures? It'll look good if we have support from the other houses."

Fay was reading a quidditch magazine. "She's saying that because Anthony Goldstein has been looking over at you the past ten minutes. It's a miracle he hasn't flooded the Great Hall yet."

Harry choked on his pumpkin juice. "What?" asked Sophie, her voice going up several octaves. "That's not—come on, let's talk to them. It'll broaden your horizons, meet new people…"

With Harry struggling to move, thanks to his pain from training drills, Sophie brought her over to the Ravenclaw table. Many of the students reacted similarly to the Gryffindors, who signed to end Sophie's incessant campaigning rather than an actual enthusiasm for the arts, but after awhile, Katrina noticed that the boys were more eager than the girls, not even needing the basis for the petition. Some offered to sign as Sophie mentioned that Katrina was part of her endeavor or after a short introduction, Sophie giving her a supportive smile with each new signature.

"Let's get a few more before Charms," said Sophie, swapping out the filled parchment with a new one. "Ginny's dating Michael Corner so we can use that. He and his friends won't need much swaying. Hi!"

Katrina followed her over to a group of fifth years. One of them looked exactly like Parvati, Katrina vaguely recalling Hermione mentioning that she had a twin. Another girl, with eye-catching pink tips at the end of her ponytail, wrinkled her nose at the peppy Sophie. The boy on her right was subtly fixing his golden blonde hair, mumbling to the boy beside him.

"Michael, how would you like to sign a petition for a fun activity at Hogwarts?" she asked the amused boy. "It's something Katrina and I are very passionate about…you haven't met Katrina, have you? This is Michael, Anthony, Terry, and Stephen."

"Can you be more transparent, Roper?" interrupted the girl, rudely. Sophie's manicured nails scratched the back of the clipboard. "Why put yourself through the pain of convincing Dumbledore when we both know that I'll get the lead and you'll be lucky to get a bit part?"

"Oh, spare me your delusions, Li," Sophie retorted. "You and Runcorn can't carry a tune."

As both girls slung insult after insult, their friends apparently used to the fiery barbs, the golden-haired greeted Katrina. "I'm Anthony." He appeared to mentally scold himself. "But you knew that already because…Sophie said so. How are you liking Hogwarts so f—"

Anthony trailed off, his friends, previously pretending to not listen, sharing fearful expressions. Harry was behind her, grasping the strap of his bag so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Apologizing to Sophie, who was busy calling the Ravenclaw girl a 'tone deaf hag', he reminded a confused Katrina that she left her Charms book in the Gryffindor common room.

"I have my books in my bag," she said, as he led her out of the Great Hall.

He nodded, guiding her to the marble steps. "My mistake but the bell's about to ring so why not get to Charms early?"

Katrina shot her brother a side-eyed glance. "Is this about Anthony and his friends?"

"I'm your brother, Katrina. It's my job to scare off any git who so much as smiles at you. I'm a 'madman', remember?" he said, puffing out his chest. "I saved you from those duffers. Goldstein's…we've barely talked but he's an idiot."

"So I'm not allowed to talk to boys?" she asked, entering the Charms classroom. "You let me talk to Ron."

"Because Ron wouldn't—that's—Katrina, I know how teenage boys think." The way he spoke, he considered it a valid defense. "You're—some might—you're very…nice-looking. It starts with Goldstein and then if I'm not around, it'll be a Slytherin goon with no manners. I just want to protect you."

"I'm not some defenseless doe, Harry," she said, sitting at a desk. "Pretty sure I proved that when I knocked you down twenty times this morning."

During Charms, which was unfortunately with the Ravenclaws, Katrina tuned out Harry's pleas, listening to Flitwick's lecture on their OWL exam and summoning charms. His apologies rang hollow when his shrewd eyes followed an innocent Anthony, to deter him from choosing a seat anywhere near her. Katrina's frosty attitude towards him persisted into Transfiguration, where she chose to sit with Sophie and Fay. Sophie was complaining about the Ravenclaw girl ("Sue Li. I'd love to set her precious hair on fire"), McGonagall silencing her with a severe look. At the desk in the front of the room, Hermione, sensing the friction, chewed out Harry for his boorish behavior while scribbling notes on vanishing spells.

"Did we activate a time turner and we're in the 1950s?" muttered Fay. "He shouldn't have an aneurysm if a boy looks at you. Boys are dumb. This is why I'm glad I don't have any siblings."

"Miss Dunbar, pay attention!" McGonagall passed around a box of snails around the classroom. "Vanishing spells require the utmost concentration on the proper wand movements, as displayed on the board."

Sophie gagged at the slime dripping from the snail. Taking out four pieces of parchment, she boxed in the snail to minimize the risk of touching it when casting the spell.

Katrina pointed her wand at her snail. "Evanesco."

The snail vanished from the desk. "Excellent work, Miss Potter."

People swiveled in their seats, momentarily forgetting that they were supposed to be practicing the spell. McGonagall awarded her ten points for casting it on the first try. As Sophie recoiled from her snail, an exasperated McGonagall advised Katrina to assist her. It was easier said than done, with Sophie fighting to not have her wand within an inch of the slimy creature. By the end of the lesson, Hermione was the only other student who managed to completely vanish their snail, the rest of the class given homework to practice the spell. Sophie happily levitated her snail back into the box, pleased that she vanished its backside.

"Watch your back. Hermione might hit you with a bat bogey hex," joked Fay.

"I won't do that," assured Hermione, pushing in her chair. "I like the competition. It's refreshing to have someone challenge me after all these years."

They left the classroom. "We should use that spell on Li," suggested Sophie. "Can we say for certain that her family would miss her? I've seen her getting dropped off at the train station and her father looks like he could go either way."

"Sophie!" said Katrina, as Fay snickered at the idea. "She can't be that b—"

"YOU'RE DEAD, POTTER!"

A Ravenclaw boy, a friend of Roger's, stormed down the grand staircase, shoving through the crowd. Looking like a speeding train, he showed little regard for a first year Hufflepuff girl who smacked her head into the marble railing, his dark eyes on a paralyzed Harry and a letter tucked into his balled fist. A silence fell over the corridor, no one willing to interfere out of fear or interest in a possible duel. Knocking aside a defensive Ron, he was about to grab ahold of Harry's robes when Roger, squeezing through the frozen crowd, moved between them, in hopes to deescalate the situation. The Slytherins egged his friend on, acting like it was a form of entertainment.

"Shut up, Pucey. Liam, relax. Don't do anything stupid," said Roger, calmly. "Let's talk it out in the common room."

"No. He deserves it!" he barked, brandishing the letter.

While sitting in the common room for break, Liam had received the letter through the fireplace from his mother. His father, an employee of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was arrested at their home for treason against the Ministry, officials, including those in his own department, reporting his activities. Supportive of Dumbledore, and by extension Harry, he believed him at his word about Voldemort and his involvement in the death of Cedric Diggory, Cedric's father and Liam's close friends, reportedly accusing Fudge of 'burying his head in the sand' to appease the aristocrats who filled his pockets with 'donations' and maintain his power.

His father was taken to Azkaban to await trial, Liam's mother an emotional wreck over her husband's potential imprisonment. Equally upset over the arrest, Liam blamed Harry's insane stories, targeting a younger student over a powerful wizard like Dumbledore. Roger and another Ravenclaw boy named Finn kept him from doing something he would later regret but harsh words from Liam were enough to set off Harry's wavering temper. Ron was holding onto Harry, ready himself to fight the antagonistic Ravenclaw.

Solely focused on protecting Harry, Katrina broke away from the group hiding by the Charms classroom. "Come on, Potter. You beat you know who, didn't you?" goaded Liam. "Dazzle us with your skills!"

"Don't," whispered Katrina, stepping in front of an enraged Harry. "Remember this morning. Don't give Umbridge a reason to give you a bigger punishment. All that matters is you know you're right."

Liam was beginning to break free from his friends. "Aw, are you going to run off and cry to Dumbledore?"

Harry gritted his teeth. "You have every right to be upset but don't put the blame on my brother," said Katrina, her composed tone in contrast to Harry's volcano-like anger. "Your father is an adult capable of having his own opinions and decisions."

"Stay out of it. Is your sister fighting your battles for you, Potter?" he taunted. "I didn't peg you as a coward."

Mouthing for Ron to help her, they directed Harry towards the staircase, despite his desire to duel 'that mouthy git'. Feeling a light breeze, Katrina raised her wand, catching the end of a golden whip attached to the end of Liam's wand. Golden sparks from the whip bounced against her fingertips, giving her a tiny boost of energy. Disintegrating the whip, she sent Liam flying with a spiraling gust of wind, his body slamming into the nearest wall. In stunned silence, people looked from her to the barely conscious Liam. Roger had his wand out to quell further dueling, from his friend or any student wanting to join in for fun.

"If anyone is a coward, it's you for attacking a person behind their back," she argued. "Instead of engaging in pointless fights, maybe you should be talking to your mother. I'm sure she'd be very proud of you."

Liam staggered to his feet. "You snotty b—"

"Mister Chambers, you will not finish that sentence." The crowd parted like the stairs were made of lava, revealing Snape. "Get to Professor Flitwick's office. Your head of house is already aware of your antics. Davies, escort him to ensure he does not get lost. Miss Potter, with me."

There was an instant uproar, many insisting that Katrina was defending Harry. "But sir, she didn't—"

Snape held up his index finger. "Mister Davies, I can request that you are given Mister Chambers's punishment. Do not have me tell you again."

His office, its shadowy walls lined with shelves of glass jars of potions and ingredients and dimly lit, suited the surly potions professor perfectly. As Katrina sat in a chair, dreading her punishment, Snape examined the shelves. Would she be joining Harry in detention or did he have a different idea in mind?

"Hold out your hand. The one that was struck by Chambers's weakly executed spell," he said, uncorking the vial of a silver potion. "It will reverse the effects caused by your abilities."

Katrina removed the glove from her left hand, golden sparks traveling between her fingertips. Snape tilted the potion over her hand and as it poured over her fingertips, the sparks faded into the air.

"To err on the side of caution, you may stay in here for a few minutes," he said, resealing the vial.

"A—am I getting a detention?" Snape turned towards her. "Magic in the corridors isn't allowed. I shouldn't have retaliated but he was getting under my brother's skin and I thought it was better for me to act than him."

"You are not being punished, Miss Potter." She glanced up at him, her hands curled under the chair. "There are exceptions to the rule and as your peers will attest to, it was self defense. Do not take Mister Chambers's words to heart. His tantrum would be better suited at the Ministry for their actions. His father isn't the first to be unjustly arrested and in these times, he won't be the last."

Opening his desk drawer, he handed back her Potions book. "His other books were better," she admitted. "He spent half of this one criticizing that modern potions are less innovative but then contradicted himself with saying that experimenting was harmful. Every other paragraph mentioned his potioneering awards too."

"Awards he received ironically for modifying ingredients," he replied, with an almost perceptible amusement.

After such a tense encounter, it uplifted her to have a normal conversation with someone equally or more knowledgeable about potions. If she had made the same criticism around Jace, he would either reply with a silent nod or move on to a new topic. It was odd that while he treated her brother horribly, he did not seem opposed to her company. Thanking Snape, she headed out of the dungeons.

"Which do you like? Draco."

Draco tore his gaze away from the double doors of the Great Hall, perking up when he noticed a head of red hair but then disappointed at the sight of the youngest Weasley or some other student. He was not the only one searching for any sign of Katrina, several Gryffindors eyeing the doors. After Snape disrupted the fight between Potter and Chambers, which essentially ended when Katrina intervened with her spell, he ordered her to his office, no one certain of her fate. Being a Gryffindor and Potter's sister both worked against her, in regards to Snape. If Draco was not afraid of drawing suspicion, including from his house, he would have followed them to the dungeons, to plead on her behalf.

Pansy, engrossed in less pressing matters, looked at him expectantly, displaying two red cards on the table. His father told him to be respectful and cozy up to her so often that Draco jokingly considered it part of their family motto. The Malfoys and Parkinsons were longstanding friends for centuries and to pair him and Pansy together, a choice from the day they were born, was both a calculated move to assert their dominance in the wizarding world and a celebration of that tight-knit relationship.

Draco never objected to Pansy's affections and constant attention but over the summer, that had changed, from the moment he met Katrina in Flourish and Blotts. Before he knew that she was a Potter, dominating more headlines than her annoying brother, he found himself attracted to her obvious beauty and soft-spoken nature. He enjoyed the challenge of cracking the mystery of her, not just to please his father but to satisfy his own curiosity.

"They're both red," he said, lazily taking a bite of his chicken.

Pansy patted his arm. "You're so silly. This one is garnet and this one is wine." Theodore snorted into his goblet. "I prefer the garnet. It would go good with both of our complexions. It's important for us to match for the Ministry party."

"Who cares about a lame party where we get paraded around by our parents to old Ministry ladies that gush over how big we've gotten?" said Adrian, reliving that nightmare in his head. "How did she do it?"

"What are you on about?" asked Aria, curling her auburn hair with her wand to match a model in Witch Weekly.

He lowered his voice as McGonagall passed the table. "Katrina Potter, who else? You saw how she flattened Chambers with one hit." Pansy scoffed, resting the cards against Draco's cheek. "She spent her whole life holed up with no one else around except for a lunatic. I doubt he was teaching her magic."

"Probably learned it from Granger," said Daphne, uninterested. "The mudblood can't help showing off."

Graham shrugged. "The spell, maybe, but those reflexes? She blocked Chambers without looking and then hit him pretty fast. It is weird. We don't know what Lee was really doing with her. The Daily Prophet said that he wanted to train her up for the Dark Lord. Maybe it's an act."

"Or just luck," said Blaise, a rare participant in their conversations.

That speculation was what prompted Draco's father to have him befriend Katrina, an admittedly difficult task when she had her perceptions of him painted by Gryffindors and overpraised idiots like Jace Moore. The Daily Prophet articles had pegged an old acquaintance of his father's as her kidnapper but the Dark Lord had never tasked him with that mission. It raised the question if Lee had done it of his own accord, to curry favor with the Dark Lord, or it was all an elaborate lie.

Katrina entered the Great Hall, behind a trio of third year girls. Her hands, partly concealed by black fingerless gloves, were further hidden by the sleeves of her robes. It had not gone unnoticed by the Hogwarts students that she wore the gloves, rumored to be a fashion style in America, and avoided physical contact, even wrapping up her hands before touching Potter's back to lead him away from Chambers. With her tragic past, it was understandable that she was not used to being around people.

Judging by the cheers from the Gryffindor table, as she sat beside Roper, she had not received a punishment. Pretending to care about matching attire, absentmindedly nodding his head to Pansy's gibberish, Draco watched the redheaded Gryffindor, thinking of ways to get closer to her.

"How did you convince Snape not to punish you?" asked an astonished Parvati.

Katrina was waiting to exit the Great Hall, the crowd sluggishly moving through the doors to enjoy seconds of freedom before their next class. The Gryffindors were relieved that she had not received detention and surprised by Snape's lenience.

"He said it was self defense," said Katrina, keeping her guard up in case Liam wanted revenge. "It was probably a one time thing."

Dean caught her peeking at a knot of Ravenclaw boys ahead of them. "Chambers won't try anything. If he's that dumb, he shouldn't be in that house."

"Katrina!" Roger walked down the staircase. "Could we—I wanted to check on you. I won't make you late to class."

"Take all the time you need," said Sophie, graciously. She nudged the Gryffindors forward. "We'll be…where we're supposed to be. Bye, Roger."

Katrina was unsure of what to expect from him. Though he attempted to defend her to Snape, what if he blamed her for whatever Flitwick had decided to do with his friend?

"Snape wasn't too harsh, was he? If he gave you detention, I'll get you out of it," he said, looking guilty. "Liam swore he wouldn't actually do anything but then Harry came by and—"

"I—I didn't get in trouble," she replied. "I'm sor—"

"Don't apologize," he insisted. "Harry isn't the reason his father was arrested. You're lucky you blocked his spell."

"Yeah, lucky," she mumbled to herself.

"Flitwick gave him a week's detention for threatening a student but he let him leave to visit his mother." He waved at passing Ravenclaw girls, who threw Katrina nasty glares behind his back. "The Slytherins are probably getting ideas now to go beyond their usual insults and I don't want them to give Snape a reason to have you back in his office or Merlin forbid, sent to Dumbledore. Until this settles down, why don't you come to the Ravenclaw quidditch tryouts during dinner? If it ends early enough, I could teach you to fly."

"Sure," she agreed, seeing that he was torn up over the incident. "N—no promises on the flying though."

Roger grinned. "It wasn't an outright no so I will take it as a win."

Harry and Ron were halfway down the sloping lawn toward Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, speaking in hushed whispers. Their references to 'that lunkhead' and 'showing him a real nutter' suggested that they were discussing the fight with Liam. Katrina had hoped the hour spent in the library, working on his potions essay, would have calmed him down but he was as incensed as ever, mostly about Liam calling him a deranged lunatic with a bed reserved at St. Mungo's.

"It's always the quiet ones you have to look out for, mate. Best not to get on their bad side," muttered Ron. "Oh, hi Katrina. We weren't—how long have you been there?"

"I heard Chambers went home for the day," Harry said, as they reached the bottom of the hill. "Shame Snape was the one to catch him. He'd chew off his arm before giving a Gryffindor points they deserved."

Katrina frowned at him. "I'm not proud of it. How would you have reacted if Sirius was arrested and it was connected to what Malfoy and Snape said? You'd rather go after a student than a professor. Hopefully, his father doesn't go to prison."

"Who knows? The Ministry's not exactly listening to reason," said Ron, uneasily. "They'll use him as an example. Fall in line or it's straight to Azkaban."

Grubby-Plank was standing by a trestle table laden with wiggling twigs. Katrina recognized them as bowtruckles, tree-dwelling creatures that used their stick-like appearance as camouflage. Pansy's high-pitched shrieks pierced the misty air. The Slytherins strode towards the cabin, sniggering at a joke told by Draco and briefly glimpsing over at Harry and Katrina. She elbowed Harry in the ribs, to prevent him from casting a hex.

"Everyone here?" barked Grubbly-Plank, the Slytherins hiding their sniggers. "Let's crack on then. Who can tell me what these things are called?"

As Hermione raised her hand, Malfoy imitated her with a rude buck-toothed impression, hopping up and down. The bowtruckles leapt, causing Pansy's giggle to turn into a scream.

"Ooooh!" chorused Parvati and Lavender.

Grubbly-Plank shushed them. "Miss Granger?" Hermione correctly identified the creatures. "Five points for Gryffindor. Yes, these are bow truckles and, as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wand is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?"

"Wood lice or fairy eggs," answered Katrina.

"Good girl. Another five points to Gryffindor, Miss Potter," she said, scattering wood lice on the table.

Grubbly-Plank beckoned the class forward, assigning them to break into small groups and sketch a bowtruckle. Instead of the table, Harry circled to the back, asking her about Hagrid. Brushing off his concerns, she assisted Lavender with grabbing a bowtruckle.

"I know what you're going to say," he grumbled to Katrina. "But I'm worried about him. She probably has no idea but it was worth a shot."

Draco leaned across the table, seizing the largest bowtruckle. "Maybe the stupid oaf's got himself badly injured."

"Maybe you will if you don't shut up," said Harry, through the side of his mouth.

"Maybe he's been messing with stuff that's too big for him, if you get my drift." His smirk widened. "You're welcome to join my group, Katrina."

"Don't," she whispered.

She cast a shield charm over the pocket of Harry's robes, before he could take out his wand. Satisfied with angering her brother, Draco returned to his friends sitting under the shade of an oak tree. Pansy scooted over to him, practically on his lap. With an imploring look from Katrina, Harry grumpily followed her over to Ron and Hermione, who were having issues with a restless bowtruckle. Katrina cast a freezing charm, allowing them to begin their sketches, and Harry, schoolwork the last thing on his mind, relayed Draco's taunts to his best friends. Hermione believed that Draco was toying with Harry to get under his skin.

"It doesn't take a genius to notice that Hagrid's missing," said Katrina, drawing the bowtruckle's limbs on her parchment. "He's as right as the fake seers down in New Orleans who say the worst possible thing to get more money out of tourists."

Harry picked up the bowtruckle, facing it towards Hermione. "But he could know something. The Order likes to keep us in the dark but who says it's the same for death eaters and their kids? The ones who are of age could be privy to Voldemort's plans."

His paranoia was exacerbated by Draco continuing to mock Hagrid. Fully aware that Harry could hear him, he bragged about his father's ties to Fudge and the Ministry's hopes of rectifying substandard teaching at Hogwarts, implying that Hagrid, or that overgrown moron in his words, would be fired from his position. Harry unintentionally squeezed the bowtruckle and the creature swiped at his hand with its sharp fingers, running off to the forest.

As the Slytherins laughed, Hermione handed him a handkerchief for his wound. Katrina dug her wand tip into the dirt and twirled it counterclockwise. The bowtruckle zoomed out of the forest, falling into its original spot.

"How did you do that?" asked Ron, in awe.

Katrina slipped her wand into her robes. "It's like an advanced summoning charm. It's useful if you can't see the object."

At the end of the lesson, they handed in their labeled sketches to Grubbly-Plank and headed to the greenhouses for Herbology. Harry was still bitter over Draco's insults about Hagrid, goaded by the whispering Slytherins.

Hermione was trying to keep her composure. "Harry, don't go picking a row with Malfoy. Don't forget he's a prefect now. He could make life difficult for you…"

"Wow, I wonder what it'd be like to have a difficult life?" he replied, sarcastically.

"Ten galleons says he cries when that oaf—"

Fed up, Katrina spun around, not realizing that Draco was inches away from her. He seemed surprised by the sudden move, almost backing into the stringy Theodore Nott.

"Leave my brother alone," she said, her tone soft yet resolute.

"Or what, Potter?" spat Pansy, resembling an angry dog. "You think you're so tough because of Chambers? It was a fluke. Walk away before I make you."

"Such a snippy little chihuahua." Lukas was outside the greenhouses. "Do you need me to conjure up a chew toy, Parkinson?"

The older boy stood out due to his lack of a Hogwarts uniform, wearing a black leather jacket, a white muscle tee, and black jeans. Based on his attire, Katrina speculated that he had been spying in the muggle world. The muggle and wizarding worlds were not as heavily divided in the United States, meaning the MACUSA aurors and Kane's task force needed to be well-versed in muggle culture. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses but deep down, she knew he was staring at her. She maintained a passive expression while internally screaming at the top of her lungs.

Lukas approached the Gryffindors and Slytherins, Harry, Hermione, and Ron pretending to not know him like Katrina, though it was easier for them. Draco and his friends appeared to be acquainted with him, not in a good way if their disdainful glares were any indication. Katrina imagined that they had met at the ritzy pureblood gatherings Jace whined about attending with his parents, preferring to spend time with Katrina. Sophie and Lavender were secretly drooling over him.

"I came here to check up on Miss Potter since MACUSA is very thorough with checking on past cases. Shouldn't you be slithering off to class?" he asked, taking off his sunglasses. "No one wants to hear your bitching."

"You don't tell us what to do, Carlisle," sneered Draco. "You don't have that kind of power."

"Course I do but go ahead and test me." He patted his cheek. "A Carlisle trumps a Malfoy any day of the week. Get to class or you'll find yourself being questioned about why you assaulted an auror."

With a tilt of Draco's head, the Slytherins departed for the castle. Katrina wished she had a mental connection with Harry, to beg him to stay with her.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed, once the Gryffindors were a considerable distance down the path. "I'll tell Kane."

Lukas placed his hand over his chest. "So quick to judgement, Kitty Cat. You think so horribly of me. He heard about your mini duel and I chasing a lead in Dufftown so I offered to come since he's tied up in meetings with Fudge and Kowalski. If you don't believe me, you're welcome to peek inside my head though my sexy schoolgirl fantasies of you pale in comparison to the real deal."
"You're a pig." As he stepped closer, she stepped back. "Leave or I'll talk to Kane myself about your lack of boundaries and how you attacked Jace."

"Snape told me you got hit with residual magic." Her stern glare faltered, making him smirk in response. "I bet it felt great. Pity he took it away. You must've been really happy when my uncle had you torture Andrews."

"Who's that?" she asked, playing dumb.

"Don't be coy. Alaric scrambled his brains with a memory charm but in his sleep, Andrews was crying about his skin turning grey and being so tired," he said, pouting. "It's like a game to my uncle. Give you something good then snatch it before you can enjoy it. You're wasting your time here. I can give you what you want."

She pointed her wand at him. "I don't want anything from you."

"Soon, you'll take me up on my offer. You'll be begging me to take you away from this place…to let me give you everything you're craving…but until you admit it to yourself, I'll let you go." He straightened his jacket, a new tattoo partially visible on his wrist. "Wouldn't want you to miss out on playing with plants. Be careful with your pillows though, Kitty Cat. You can only burn through so many before you get caught."

Katrina entered the greenhouse in the midst of Professor Sprout's lecture on OWLs. All the noise around her sounded twice as loud, like it was being shouted into her ear. Sprout's voice mixed with the thumping of Katrina's heartbeat. How could Lukas have known about her burning her pillow? It was possible that he used her two-way mirror as a spying tool but it would not allow him to see through her bag.

"You should put on your gloves." The blonde girl beside her smiled, dropping a snippet of self-fertilizing shrub onto her tray. "I'm Hannah. My cousin Jace is the one who rescued you. Technically, we're step cousins but who cares about that? He said he told you about me so you'd know at least one person besides your brother."

Katrina slipped on her dragon-hide gloves. "He did. I feel like I've known you my whole life already."

As they worked on the shrubs, avoiding its sharp teeth, she and Hannah spoke quietly, the kind blonde introducing her to other Hufflepuffs in the class. The sorting hat's conflict over where to sort Katrina made sense the more she got to know the Hufflepuffs. Katrina would not have been offended if the sorting hat chose differently, despite the disparaging it received from the other houses. Ernie Macmillan, a stout, rather pompous boy, emphatically declared his support for Harry and Dumbledore, praising her for standing up to Liam.

"So…" said Sophie, waiting behind her in the line for the sink. "Is that auror going to stop by again?"

Fay rolled her eyes. "He was here to do his job, not flirt, Soph. I did enjoy him slapping around Malfoy."

The mention of Lukas renewed Katrina's anxiety. Her hands quivering inside her robes, she tensed at a wilting flitterbloom, its tentacles falling over the side of its pot. In a split second, the entire class and Professor Sprout collapsed to the floor and Katrina was subsequently hit by a massive energy. Gazing at the plants around the room, she cast a hex at a pot containing valerians, the flowers emitting a pink dust, and mimed her classmates.

"Katrina!" she heard moments later.

Feigning waking up from a sudden nap, she sat up to see Roger kneeled beside her. He stopped himself from reaching for her when she flinched, an unintentional part of her act.

"W—what happened?" she asked, the magic coursing through her veins.

"Someone must've bumped into the valerians. They release a sleeping powder as a defense mechanism." The craving within her reminded her of the encounter with Andrews. "They'll start coming around. See?"

As Roger tended to Professor Sprout and the students slowly stirring, she sneaked out of the greenhouse. "He's not right. Don't let him be right," she whispered, hastily mixing her golden powder in a vial with water squirting out of her wand tip. "I can do this."

Katrina downed the mixture, stashing the vial into her bag, at the sound of a door creaking open. Students dizzily stumbled out of the greenhouse, some rubbing their heads.

Harry hurried over to her. "Do you need to go to the hospital wing? At least sit—"

"I'm okay," she said, taking her bag from him. "I didn't get a full blast. You should get something to eat before your detention. Roger asked if I wanted to watch his quidditch tryouts."

"Wh—Davies?" Roger was helping Professor Sprout out of the greenhouse. "You're not in Ravenclaw! Why would you go? It could be a trap. He's friends with Chambers."

"Roger tried to stop it," she pointed out. "He thought the Slytherins might want to finish what Liam started and he's Head Boy so they wouldn't risk attacking me around him."

Harry scoffed. "Oh please, that's the best he could come up with? He doesn't care about your safety. He wants to—he's—he obviously likes you in a…more than friendly way."

"I've known him for two days," she said, thinking he suffered a concussion.

"It doesn't matter," he muttered. "What, do American boys have a specific time frame before they can shove their tongues down a girl's throat?"

Katrina smacked his arm with her bag. Stomping past a stunned Ron and Hermione, she followed Roger to the quidditch pitch where he set up for the tryouts. More people approached the pitch, either part of the team or hoping to become its newest member. Katrina sat in the stands, along with Cho, dabbing at her bloodshot eyes with a tissue, and a dozen other girls, Katrina recognizing some from her earlier conversation with Roger.

Watching the tryouts distracted her from the disaster in Herbology. Though she wanted to blame it on Lukas, questioning if he had hexed her when she passed him, she knew it was not that simple. Her internal battle led her to decide to speak with Dumbledore after the tryouts. Waving back at Roger, who was observing prospective keepers, she felt a searing pain in her temple. It was a pain she experienced in the past, when Kane was teaching her about occlumency and legilimency.

Fighting against the unseen intruder, she closed her eyes, the darkness replaced with the scenery of her bedroom. Katrina saw her younger self, about four years old, sitting on the floor with a dark-haired teenage boy. He removed her pink gloves and opened a purple jewelry box, pulling out a remembrall. Just as he instructed her to touch it, the door slammed open and a furious Kane separated them with his wand, dragging the boy out of the room. Her bedroom vanished as she opened her eyes, her invisible assailant abandoning their pursuit.

"Katrina?" Cho had moved from the upper rows of the stands. "Are you feeling all right?"

"J—just a bit cold," she lied.

Returning her attention to the players zipping above her, she wondered about the identity of the boy in the memory and why he was attempting to get inside her head.