Draco had not felt this awful since he cracked his father's foe-glass but instead of dreading his father taking away his prime seats for an England vs France quidditch match, he was fearing for the life of a girl who could hardly tolerate him unless they were sitting quietly in a library. After what Draco heard over the summer, eavesdropping on the meetings in his drawing room with Theodore, Adrian, and Graham, the chaos in Hogsmeade should not have unnerved him but perhaps it was seeing the violence firsthand, Katrina clinging to consciousness and her blouse soaked with blood, that made it a reality.

Any attempts to visit her in the hospital wing were futile, Madam Pomfrey shooing any visitors, even her own brother, to give her a proper recovery. If not for Granger and Weasley, Potter would have hexed his way through the door, not satisfied with her insistence that Katrina did not suffer serious injuries. Davies was not much help either, his memory of the fight hazy, but to, Draco's disgust, that did not stop a majority of the school from declaring him a hero. For most of Saturday night and Sunday, Draco listened to them praise him for his bravery, girls more infatuated with him than before and treating him like he had effortlessly defeated the intruders. If Draco was not worried about drawing suspicion, having sneaked out of the line being brought back to the castle by shop owners while Snape argued with Potter, he would tell his fan girls that their precious hero was flat on his back and unconscious when he found Katrina.

Sitting in a black leather armchair by the fireplace, Draco stared at the burning embers, lost in thought. He had gotten up early, to be alone and hopefully get five minutes of peace without Pansy hinting that Selene Carrow had been given Graham's family ring to solidify their relationship, though, the way Graham told the story when they were agonizingly waiting outside Gladrags where the girls shopped, it was done after Selene threatened to snap his racing broom in half. An unfinished letter laid on his lap, what was supposed to be the latest update to his father on his progress with Katrina. Her stay in the hospital wing provided him with an excuse for his lack of news, Madam Pomfrey likely putting her in an induced sleep.
f
"Oh, Drakie, you're so handsome," he heard.

Sniggering, Adrian, Graham, Cassius, and Miles walked down the spiral staircase. "Is that a love letter? You can borrow one of Graham's. Swap out Selene's name for Pansy's," suggested Adrian.

"Hilarious," said Draco, sarcastically. He tossed the crumpled parchment into the flames. "It was for my father. He wants weekly reports on everything going on with school and…"

"Your secret Gryffindor girlfriend?" teased Graham. "She hasn't left the hospital wing. Miles and I went by there last night. Snape was guarding the door and said he'd have us scrub cauldrons without magic. Guess he's not happy that it failed."

Draco looked at Graham, confused. "Failed?"

"Did your father not tell you? Maybe he thinks you're too young." Cassius's remark stirred up another round of sniggers. "They were going to separate her and Potter and then snatch her so the Dark Lord could use her as leverage. Apparently, they work for a new ally of his that speaks to him in private and his team is some elite group."

"Can't be that elite if they got beat up by Davies," joked Miles. "Draco, where are you off to?"

He was pulling on his robes. "Haven't seen the latest educational decree, have you?" Picking up his bag, he pointed at the noticeboard in the corner, a large sign covering the Hogsmeade advertisements. "The Ministry's banned all clubs and teams like quidditch and only Umbridge can lift the ban so while you're gossiping, I'm going to her office to guarantee we get to play."

Leaving the dungeons, he headed to Umbridge's office, knowing that he was about to curse those morons he considered friends. How could they not tell him about the attack or that Katrina was the primary target? With what he learned, if it slipped around Katrina, she would assume that he knew it as well, inclined to believe the worst of him.

As he neared the frilly pink office, he heard two sets of voices, one belonging to Umbridge and the other low and gruff. She was speaking to Robards, a broad-shouldered auror who Draco's father once called a 'brainless sheep' for his blind loyalty to Fudge, handing him a stack of memos.

"Hello Draco," she said, her voice overly cheery. "What brings you to my office so early in the morning? No need to hide. You've met Robards at the Minister's home, haven't you? The Minister sent him to conduct a thorough inspection of what happened in Hogsmeade. Draco and Miss Potter are quite close. He's been mentoring her, at my behest."

"Do you know who did it?" Draco asked Robards, not bothering with pleasantries.

"Not by name but we have suspects." Draco was not fooled by his bombastic tone. "I should return to the Ministry to deliver my report to Scrimgeour. I'll keep you informed on any news, Madam Umbridge."

Instead of taking the path Draco had from the grand staircase, Robards disappeared down a different corridor. "How can I help you, dear?" asked Umbridge, sitting at her desk.

He faced her. "I saw the notice in the common room…about clubs and teams? I figured that included quidditch as well and I was wondering if you'd reinstate the Slytherin team."

"Certainly," she said, without hesitation. A piece of parchment appeared on her desk, bearing the official Ministry insignia at the top. "I wouldn't seek to punish you and your hardworking teammates. The law is for organizations that may not have the best intentions or values. It's heartening to see you being a positive influence on Miss Potter. If you'd like to visit her, you may tell Madam Pomfrey that, as High Inquisitor, I'll allow it. I don't want to see her fall down the same disturbed path as her brother. She's been through enough, don't you agree?"

At the mention of Katrina, his stomach twisted into knots. "Yes, of course."

"It's made her guarded, as I'm sure you can tell, and that will make it harder for her to speak about her experiences but my hope is that she would feel comfortable confiding in a friend. It's very fortunate that she escaped that attack relatively unscathed." She held out the official-looking parchment. "If she does tell you more about that day, I'd expect that you could relay that information to me to aid the aurors in their investigation. The Minister could reward you for your efforts, possibly by bestowing your father an advisory role in an official capacity."

"If I hear anything, I'll tell you straight away, professor," he said, tucking the parchment inside his robes.

Umbridge flashed him a smile that was meant to convey warmth but seemed like a creature mimicking human emotion. The Great Hall was abuzz with chatter about the newest educational decree, people panicking over the status of their clubs. As he headed for the Slytherin table, he observed Macmillan, Abbott, and a few Ravenclaws converging towards the Gryffindor table and Granger gesturing frantically at them behind her Arithmancy book. He disregarded the odd scene, thinking they were interested in Katrina's condition but Granger did not want to upset Potter. Katrina and Abbott appeared to be friendly and Goldstein was as subtle as a giant amongst goblins with his crush, Draco accidentally tripping him in Herbology when he overheard him discussing her shiny hair with Corner.

Aria was whining about the choir potentially being cut, thanks to the ban, though Pansy forgot about consoling her when Draco sat beside Theodore.

"Draco, do you like my earrings? My father got them for me in Paris," she said, showing off her diamond studs.

"Yeah, great." He poked Graham's arm, distracting him from Selene. "Robards was in Umbridge's office. He was looking into the attack in Hogsmeade. Whatever you lot know, keep it to yourselves."

Pansy's cheeks swelled like a chipmunk's. "Draco…"

"Not now," hissed Adrian. "The aurors won't tie it to us. They don't believe Dumbledore about you know who."

"Until they do," argued Draco. "What if they capture the culprits? What if they get a confession out of them and instead of going after our parents, they question us because we were across the street from her and Davies? Don't go mouthing off to anyone, especially Potter."

"Or we go up to the hospital wing to alter her memories." Selene shook her head at Graham's idea. "He's bound to talk to her and we don't know if her memory is as foggy as Davies is so what if she uses that opportunity to pin it on our parents who Potter already called out last June? She could be conspiring with Dumbledore. We need to shut her up."

Katrina grimaced as Madam Pomfrey shoved a spoon of healing potion in her mouth. It amplified the bitterness of her siphoning potion, the taste sticking to her tongue as she leaned back on the bed. Being stuck in the hospital wing for days was a nice reprieve from the constant eyes of her classmates, giving her a privacy she could not even achieve in the library. At the same time, she was itching to get out of bed to continue her Cayden research.

Now that it was all but visually confirmed by the Hogsmeade attack, the entire task force was informed of his revival and his new group Chimaera. With everyone in the loop, Katrina could have nightly chats with Jace, who remembered little about Cayden, except for his obsessive personality. According to Jace, he, as Kane had mentioned previously, tended to strive to be the best, no matter the consequences. Briefed on that fateful night in 1984, the two discussed potential methods of him cheating death and whether it was by his own hand or the work of a death eater, who then manipulated Cayden to do his bidding and later Voldemort's.

The night of the attack in Hogsmeade, Kane visited her again to relay what he, Snape, and Dumbledore discovered outside the village. While they were unable to find a clue to her attackers' identities, they found what had triggered her temporary loss of magic. Replaying the scene with a charm, Snape noticed the dragon-masked man press against his belt and then Katrina's shield charm reversed, finding a glass sphere in the dirt where he sloppily apparated with his accomplices.

Kane took the sphere for further inspection, showing it to Katrina who recognized it from her memory of Cayden. It was not a remembrall but a dark magical orb that could contain a specific spell or potion. At first glance, Kane surmised that the orb released a diluted potion into the air as a mist, which explained its increased range over time, and one of its ingredients was the Peruvian Vipertooth venom, the dragon using its venom to immobilize its prey. His theory was that Cayden's potion acted in a similar manner, restricting a wizard's magic.

As Katrina stretched her back, the door swung open and a man strolled into the hospital wing, followed by a furious Snape. He was the auror who was nasty to Jace in the Ministry, when he had begun telling Katrina's fake kidnapping tale.

Madam Pomfrey did not take kindly to the intrusion. "Professor Snape, what is the meaning of this?"

"I'm here on Ministry business to gather the facts in our investigation of the matter in Hogsmeade," he said, sternly. "It's an ongoing case until the culprits are caught and Miss Potter is a key witness. She looks well enough to answer questions, despite what Severus claims…"

"This will be brief, Madam Pomfrey," said Snape, standing beside Katrina's bed. "Dumbledore investigated the scene himself and was willing to share his findings but that does not satisfy the auror office. I will stay with Miss Potter so that Robards does not strain her too much. She is still healing, after all."

With a soft hmph, Madam Pomfrey bustled over to her office. Robards conjured a notepad and a grey eagle-feather quill, both hovering by his shoulder. Katrina had to tell a version of the truth, a narrative that fit the scene that Dumbledore altered that night to conceal Katrina's part in fighting the attackers.

"I'm doing my job, Severus. She isn't on trial." He turned towards Katrina. "Shall we start from the beginning? Professor Umbridge provided me with statements from those who were near the quill shop. Theodore Nott told her that you kicked your twin brother in the back and then knocked two of the assailants from their hiding places. How?"

"A stunning spell," she answered, honestly.

The quill glided across the notepad. "Not that. How did you know where they were?" asked Robards, intrigued. "Your classmates say they were invisible yet you could see them."

"I—I didn't know who it was exactly. Hermione was looking at the quills in the window and I thought I saw a brick move," explained Katrina, the quill scribbling each word on the parchment. "I've read how disillusionment charms work. It's not actual invisibility. You're like a chameleon. I've never been to Hogsmeade so I was looking around everywhere. That's why I saw their wand lighting up on the roof too and I was afraid it would hit Harry so I pushed him."

"Such a keen sense of observation for a teenage girl." There was a hint of skepticism in his tone. "I doubt a first year auror could detect something so miniscule."

Snape furrowed his brow. "Maybe my upbringing has made me highly sensitive to my surroundings," she offered. "If your next question is why my brother and I were attacked, that's obvious. They were working for Voldemort."

Robards stared at her with a hardened expression, his quill lifting up from the notepad. She had derailed his line of questioning that was supposed to lead to a random suspect like Sirius. It was the one answer he wanted to avoid, to fit the Ministry's 'Anti-Dumbledore' agenda.

His cold eyes flickered to Snape, who remained silent. "That's quite the assumption to make, Miss Potter. There's no indication—"

"Isn't that your job?" she asked, politely. "You make assumptions and see if they lead to the truth. Wouldn't it be prudent to explore your options? Their masks were different but maybe that was to throw you off their trail."

"Yes, well, our leads come from facts, not fantasies concocted by children," he countered. "What happened after you were taken? Why did they take you to the mountains?"

She shrugged. "The man who grabbed me splinched himself. I'm guessing it wasn't intentional. I was dizzy from the crash so I just remember Roger scaring them off. The man wearing a lion mask hit him with a spell as they were about to apparate."

The notepad closed with a snap. "We're done, Miss Potter. If the office requests a follow up, I'll be in touch."

Katrina doubted it would be their last encounter. In response to the Hogsmeade attack, aurors were being stationed in the village and the castle grounds, to ward off the masked figures or copycats who thrived from the mayhem.

"Robards is prickly to anyone he deems beneath him. A product of a lifetime of being praised for ingratiating behavior and believing his career gives him a higher value," said Snape, as the door slammed shut. "You handled yourself well."

Katrina picked up her glass of water. "I said what Kane told me to."

"Do you ever feel he burdens you?" Taking a sip, she glanced at Snape. "Carlisle tends to forget that people, including those closest to him, have their limits. You're not obligated to do anything simply because he asks it of you. I don't want you to end up like your—I don't want him forcing you into a battle that isn't yours to fight. Black, Lupin, and I never see eye to eye but on that, we can agree."

On Tuesday night, well past dinner and after a full examination by Madam Pomfrey, Katrina was released from the hospital wing. She managed to get an early release by telling Madam Pomfrey that she was anxious about walking into the Great Hall or a classroom and having hundreds of eyes watching her every move. The Gryffindor common room was completely empty, except for a head of disheveled jet-black hair poking over the top of an armchair by the fireplace. Purrsephone scurried around the armchair and towards her, Katrina taking the tiny kitten into her arms.

Harry was dozing off, his Potions book sliding from his lap with a dull thud onto the hearthrug. At the sound of Purrsephone's purring, he awoke and fixed his askew glasses, jumping up at the sight of Katrina.

"Kat—" She inched back as he moved to hug her. "Don't. I've spent the past four days worried that you were about to be sent to St. Mungo's or that Madam Pomfrey missed something and then McGonagall would pull me into her office to tell me that you were dead. I wasn't allowed in the hospital wing so the least you could do is let me—"

"I can't," she whispered, a tightening in her chest. "I—I don't want to hurt you."

"Are you loopy from a healing potion?" he asked, incredulously. "What are you on about?"

Taking off a glove, she picked up a wriggling white knight from the wizard's chess set on the oval-shaped coffee table and squeezed it tight before tossing it to Harry. The chess piece was stationary, like the ones in a muggle shop.

"Dumbledore didn't send me into hiding because Voldemort was after me. Well, he would have been if he knew what I could do but Kane took me so it would stay a secret," she said, struggling with her words. She held up her glowing hand. "I'm a siphon."

Katrina delved into the truth about her dangerous ability. Dumbledore's reason for hiding her with Kane went beyond protecting her from Voldemort, but from potential persecution by the Ministry. Siphons were extremely rare in the wizarding world, presumed to have died out in the 1800s. Ministries used to track them from birth, shutting them away if they posed a danger to their peers. Unloading one truth led to her bringing up Cayden, his possible alliance with Voldemort, and how he was behind the incident in Hogsmeade.

When she finished, a weight lifted off her chest, she waited for Harry to speak but instead, he threw his potions book at her. "You knew that and to you, the logical choice was to not tell me where those psychos were but to fight them yourself? You could've been killed, Katrina!"

"So could you!" Harry was startled by her matching his volume. "I saved your life and I'm not apologizing for that, Harry! They were spying on us so it's not like I could send you a secret message and to be honest, I'm the better fighter."

He rolled his eyes. "Just because you can throw a punch—"

"I can do a lot more than that," she retorted. "Cayden isn't like Voldemort. He learned from Kane and he's taught that style to his recruits. They have a weapon that restricts our magic so if that happened, what would you do? They'd pin you down in seconds. If Kane didn't train me, I wouldn't be here. I saved you from having your face blown off and I saved Roger. Stop treating me like I can barely hold my wand straight."

"I wasn't…you're right," he admitted. "But it doesn't mean you put yourself in danger. What if they come back or find another way to get near you? Why would Cayden side with Voldemort if Kane took him in?"

"No idea," she said, sitting in an armchair. "Maybe he always was a bad person or he's working with Voldemort for his own agenda. Whatever he's up to, it isn't good. That potion of his has a short time frame because it's a mist but if he perfects it, Voldemort could use to get into the Ministry or into Hogwarts."

"You stopped it," he said, mulling it over. "You were able to take magic from the leader with the dragon mask. What if you absorbed more than his magic? You said sometimes, if your emotions are heightened, you absorb magic around you. It could've happened with that sphere and that's why you were able to siphon him."

"Maybe." Purrsephone nipped on her index finger. "You can't tell anyone. Not about what really happened on Saturday, not about Cayden, and definitely not about my abilities. Harry, this is serious. Are you listening to me?"

Harry was peering at the open portrait hole. Initially fearful that someone heard them, Katrina noticed Hedwig perched atop a stack of Hermione's knitted hats and underneath the brightly colored fabric was a house-elf with eyes the shade of tennis balls and pencil-like nose. Moving from his armchair, Harry addressed the house-elf as Dobby, the former servant of the Malfoys who warned him about the Chamber of Secrets and he later freed in his second year. Dobby had volunteered to bring Hedwig, the snowy owl giving an indignant hoot and fluttering over to Katrina's armchair.

"She showed up yesterday during History of Magic," Harry told Katrina, stroking Hedwig's head. "I'll tell you about that later. This is Dobby. Dobby, this is my sister Katrina."

As Katrina poured water in a bowl for Hedwig with her wand, she waved at Dobby. "It's nice to meet you, Dobby."

The house-elf looked at her like she was a fifty foot giant. "Dobby has heard Harry Potter's sister is alive and well. His old masters spoke of her often. Dobby is pleased that Harry and Katrina Potter are reunited!"

"Thanks, Dobby," replied Harry. "Er…have you been taking all the clothes Hermione's been leaving out?"

Dobby was taking the clothes for himself and another house-elf Harry met named Winky. Though Hermione had good intentions with knitting garments, the other house-elves in the castle viewed it as an affront on their servile nature, uninterested in freedom, and refused to clean Gryffindor Tower. While Harry talked with Dobby, the house-elf eager to aid him, Katrina absentmindedly conjured an owl treat for Hedwig, thinking about Dobby's past connection to the Malfoys. Harry was writing down the location of the Room of Requirement, an enchanted room that altered its interior depending on a person's needs.

"Dobby." The house-elf's ears wiggled at her saying his name. "How long did you work for the Malfoys?"

"Many years, miss," he said, dolefully. "Dobby is most grateful to Harry Potter for freeing him from his masters."

Katrina took out a photo from the pocket of her cardigan. Jace sent it to her during one of their late night chats, the photo of the task force taken by Jace himself when he was sitting in on a training session. In it, the members either smiled, waved, or looked gravely at the camera, true to each of their personalities. A teenage Cayden was swatting Isabel's hands from ruffling his hair.

"Did you ever see this boy in the manor?" she asked, pointing to Cayden.

Dobby looked hesitant. "Dobby has, Katrina Potter. Dobby was tasked with cleaning his wounds. Dobby thought him to be Tristan Parkinson, a friend of Dobby's old master, but as he was healing, his body changed.

"Polyjuice potion," suggested Harry. "Dobby, why was he at Malfoy Manor?"

"To devise a terrible plot," said Dobby, wringing his baggy sweater. "He believed He Who Must Not Be Named was not truly gone, as did the man he worked for during the war. He believed that he would return and informed my master that he knew of a weapon that could harm their enemies. The alliance was borne out of desire to take down the great Kane Carlisle as vengeance for his mother."

"But she was killed by death eaters," said Katrina, puzzled. "Why would he blame Kane and work with a person who was associated with them?"

"Dobby did not hear everything, miss, but the boy claimed that he was denied a gift passed down from his mother because Kane Carlisle wanted to control him." Dobby's ears drooped as he stepped towards her and Harry. "His mother was rumored to be a siphon. Very dangerous, they are, miss."

Taking the latest hats knitted by Hermione, Dobby left the common room. Neither Katrina nor Harry said anything, both taking in Dobby's information.

"It makes sense," she said, tucking the photo in her pocket. "Roger's brother said that their aunt was a taker and under normal circumstances, it could be that she was after their uncle's money and wanted expensive things but what if she was literally a taker?"

"Literally?" asked Harry, crossing his arms. "What, like she sapped his magic? That's twisted."

"It must be why Roger's father and Cayden's were estranged," she replied, putting the pieces together. "In the article I found about their deaths, there was a photo of them and Cayden outside their house. He looked so sickly and there was no mention of him being ill. It was from prolonged siphoning. If we hold on for too long, we can absorb a person's energy. Cayden was obsessed with strengthening his magic and if he thought Kane stifled his abilities somehow, it would explain why he wants revenge."

Harry sat beside her. "And when he was talking to Lucius Malfoy about a weapon, it was you. It's why his men were after you in Hogsmeade. If you siphoned Dumbledore, Voldemort could easily kill him. What if you're the weapon Sirius was referring to? What Voldemort didn't have last time…"

From the moment she awoke on Wednesday morning, Katrina endured people loudly exclaiming that she was out of the hospital wing and staring at her like she survived fighting off a gang of trolls. Sophie, unable to give her a bone-crushing hug when she saw her in their bedroom, settled for happily hopping up and down in her pajamas. With Roger's memory foggy, a result of Snape's memory charm, no one had the full story of what occurred in Hogsmeade, though Roger was being hailed as her savior.

Katrina had to nudge Harry a couple times throughout the day when he was getting annoyed by Lavender and Parvati praising the handsome Ravenclaw for his heroics. She did not mind Roger getting the spotlight, preferring not to have it herself, but she was not as appreciative of people treating her like a damsel in distress. That small quibble was kept to herself, knowing she had to play her part to avoid scrutiny from the aurors or her peers.

Lying that she wanted to speak with her professors about missed lessons, she spent dinner alone in the exercise room, alleviating her stress with training drills. She imagined the dragon-masked man's face on the punching bag as she threw punch after punch. If they were to meet again, she wanted to be prepared for the inevitability of not having magic. Jace had not responded to her message of having intel on Cayden and sending the same to Kane, she received a short reply of Be in touch.

"Katrina?" Quickly changing out of her training gloves, she pivoted from the bag to Draco standing by the door. "What are you doing in here?"

"I was um looking for Harry," she lied, hiding her hands in the front pocket of her hoodie.

"Is he in the punching bag?" he asked, walking over to her.
"Wh—no. My days are mixed up from being in the hospital wing," she said, a reasonable excuse. "He's probably in the common room."

"I know why you're really here." Katrina contemplated hitting him with a stunning spell. "It's about Hogsmeade, isn't it? Graham spoke with aurors this morning on the pitch. They said you got disarmed and it must've been scary, to not be able to defend yourself. Punching a bag isn't going to help you, to be honest. It's not like we're muggles. If you want, I could teach you how to use wandless magic. My father was teaching me during the summer and I've gotten pretty good at it."

"Interesting analysis but like I said, I was looking for my brother." He clearly did not believe her. "I should go find him."

Luck not on her side, his teammates entered the room. Her charm bracelet vibrated against her wrist.

"Katrina, isn't this a lovely surprise?" Adrian's eyes fell to her shorts. "Very lovely. We were worried you wouldn't make it out of the hospital wing. Glad to see you out and about. Is your Head Boy bodyguard not with you?"

"Pucey, leave her alone," muttered Draco.

"Quiet, Draco. Robards interviewed you, didn't he?" asked Adrian. "What did you tell him?"

"It's none of your business," she said, simply.

He kept the door shut with his hand. "Actually, it is…because your brother's got a big mouth and he made up stories to Fudge last year after he came back with Diggory's body. You don't want to cross us. You could end up somewhere a lot worse than the hospital wing."

She met his eyes with a determined gaze. "I told Robards the truth. I didn't get a good look at who attacked me and unlike my brother, I don't make wild accusations without solid proof. If you spent more time thinking with your brain instead of the twig between your legs, you'd be careful about threatening someone because it makes you seem guilty."

"Cute but you better stick to that story," he hissed.

Katrina headed up to the seventh floor, following Harry's instructions to the Room of Requirement. As she reached the corridor, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie were sneaking through a polished door across from a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls ballet. Katrina hurried forward and held the door open, stepping into a spacious room lit with torches. The walls were lined with wooden bookcases and shelves of objects like secrecy sensors and sneakoscopes and silk cushions were scattered across the floor.

"Isn't this place great?" Harry asked her, smiling. "Umbridge thought she'd stop us with that stupid decree but she'll have trouble finding us now. The jinx you and Hermione put on that parchment hasn't hit anyone yet, as far as I can tell, but we'll have to keep an eye out."

By eight o'clock, the rest of the group arrived, admiring the enchanted room. Roger separated from Finn, who was talking to Cho and her friend.

"Hey, how are you feeling? Do you need to sit down? I wanted to visit you but Madam Pomfrey would've chopped off my head," he rambled. "Robards wasn't too hard on you, was he? He's about as nice as a fire crab."

"I—I'm good. What about you? Snape said your ribs were cracked," she said, playing dumb.

"I've been through plenty of pain from quidditch," he said, casually. "When I didn't see you out there, I thought…I should've gotten there sooner. If I had, I could've fought them off before you got hurt. My father said loads of parents went to the Ministry to complain. They were livid that those nutters were able to get into Hogsmeade and Fudge nearly screamed at Liam's mother for suggesting they were death eaters."

Everyone sat on a cushion, facing Harry. Having all eyes on him, he looked nervous at the realization that he had to start the meeting.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I've been about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and—er—what, Hermione?"

Her hand was raised. "I think we ought to elect a leader."

"Harry's leader," said Cho, as though it was obvious.

Katrina tried not to laugh at the pink in Harry's cheeks. "Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," continued Hermione. "It makes it formal and gives him authority."

"Can we have co-leaders?" wondered Hannah. "It could be Harry and Roger. He did save Katrina from being taken by those crazy masked people."

Doing her best to show no emotion, Katrina felt like wasps were buzzing in her chest. "It wasn't that big of a deal," he said, modestly. "I didn't really—it should be Harry. We agreed to take lessons from him and if he was there, he would've done it too."

Taking Roger's lead, they agreed to have Harry as the leader, some putting up their hands half-heartedly while side-eyeing the Head Boy. Katrina shot Harry a subtle look that said Let it go, mentally telling herself to take that advice. Hermione interrupted him again, wanting to pick a name for their group,

After a few names were tossed around, they settled on Ginny's choice of Dumbledore's Army, calling it the D.A. if they spoke of it in public. Writing the name at the top of their list of names, Hermione pinned the parchment on the wall. Harry decided their lesson would be on the disarming charm, a basic but necessary spell.
"I've used it against him," he said, when Zacharias doubted its usefulness. "It saved my life last June but if you think it's beneath you, you can leave."

Zacharias's mouth hung open, incapable of coming up with a retort. Harry instructed the group to divide into pairs to practice the charm.

"Do you want to pair up?" Roger asked Katrina. "Unless you want to rest for a bit…"

Her wand slid out from her sleeve. "Nope, completely rested," she said, her voice constrained. "I'm here to learn, aren't I?"

The room echoed with shouts of 'Expelliarmus!'. Wands flew in every direction and spells ricocheted off the shelves, knocking books to the floor. If Kane witnessed any of this, he would have an aneurysm. It was no wonder they were acting like Roger was an above average duelist. After practicing for a bit with Neville, Harry circled the room to assist the other pairs.

"Ex—" Roger's wand zoomed out of his hand and into hers. "That was great. I didn't even hear you say the spell."

Katrina disarmed him ten times in a row. The tenth time, he walked towards her, looking concerned.

"What's going on? Don't say nothing," he whispered. "Does it have to do with Hogsmeade? It wasn't your fault. No one would expect you to win against three adult wizards. If I didn't catch them off guard, I would've gotten knocked out just as fast. The Slytherins will say they could've beat them but that's not true. They would never have seen those people hiding like you did, Katrina. Don't listen to those idiots. They wish they were half as talented as you."

Harry blew a whistle, signaling the end of the meeting. Already ten past nine, they needed to return to their common rooms or risk getting caught by Filch for breaking curfew. Not saying anything to Roger, whose words should have comforted her but only angered her more, she stowed her wand in her hoodie and stood next to Harry. Roger would have stayed behind, if not for Finn urging him to leave the room.

"Are we finally in agreement that Davies is a git?" he said, checking the Marauder's Map for any nearby professors.

"He's not—I—this is why I didn't want to come to Hogwarts," she mumbled. Harry glanced away from the map. "Kane said I had to act like this clueless girl to sell the story we made up for the Ministry. I know I can't tell everyone the truth but I hate that they're all pitying me. I'm not saying Roger didn't fight but if it wasn't for me, he'd be dead. I'm being stupid."

"No you're not," he assured her. "Who cares if they want to treat Davies like a hero? By tomorrow, everyone will forget it."

Unfortunately, Hogsmeade and Roger's 'heroism' were not forgotten. Throughout breakfast, she endured taunts from the Slytherins, calling him her bodyguard and Pansy teasing that she needed him to open a door for her to prevent her from getting a splinter. She kept her eyes on her plate as Roger waved at her from the Ravenclaw table. Towards the end of the meal, Katrina pretending to listen to Fay's reenactment of disarming Sophie twice, McGonagall moved along the table, handing out fliers, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout doing the same with their houses.

"A dueling seminar? I'm getting Lockhart flashbacks," said Sophie, warily.

"Must be the aurors teaching it because of what happened Saturday," said Ron, reading the flier. "No morning classes? I don't mind. Umbridge doesn't look happy though. She must suspect it's for Dumbledore to show off his secret army."

The first to third years were ushered out of the Great Hall by Professor Sprout and Professor Snape, all having the fliers in their hands or stuffed into their bags and hoping to get an early glimpse at the seminar. Rising from his chair, Dumbledore requested the remaining students to stand against the walls and with a wave of his hand, the four tables were replaced with two long golden stages. Katrina expected one of the professors to step forward, learning from Hermione that Flitwick was a former dueling champion, or the arrival of Robards and the aurors stationed in Hogsmeade. A door behind the teachers' table opened, Katrina's heart racing as Kane, Jace, Lukas, and a few MACUSA aurors, who doubled as task force members, entered the Great Hall.

"Did you know he was coming?" muttered Harry, students beginning to recognize Kane and relaying it to their perplexed classmates.

Fay looked unusually starstruck while some of the Slytherins looked uneasy, Pansy grimacing at Kane shaking hands with Dumbledore. "No. Why do you think I'm making this face?" replied Katrina, her stomach churning at Lukas. "He wasn't answering my messages so I assumed he was out with the task force. He might be using this as a cover to find out if any children of death eaters have met Cayden. Dueling makes them susceptible to legilimency."

"What's—" he started.

Dumbledore silenced the babbling crowd. Umbridge was as visibly uncomfortable as the Slytherins, her face a splotchy purple that clashed with her pink cardigan. Putting her foot down as High Inquisitor against a professor was easier than doing that against a formidable former auror who was as cuddly as a porcupine. As Dumbledore introduced Kane, never overstating their relationship as anything but professional, Katrina could see the gears spinning in Umbridge's head on how to approach the situation.

"That handsome auror's here again. The one next to him is too," Sophie told Lavender, referring to Lukas and Jace. "I should convince my parents to move to the states."

Both girls jumped at Kane's booming voice ordering them to huddle in corners by their respective years. The fourth and fifth years were closest to the teachers' table, Hannah waving excitedly at Jace.

"Mr. Carlisle, perhaps you haven't heard of the decrees the Ministry has in place concerning organizations within the school," Umbridge said to Kane, as students shuffled around to steer clear of the intimidating man. "The Minister—"

"Yes, I've heard of your latest rules, professor." She looked displeased with him regarding her on a similar level to someone like Trelawney. "How quickly he's churned out these decrees when he's spent years dragging his feet to pass legislation that benefits those under his care. Is a case of children sharing a common interest more pressing than ensuring their safety from those who may wish them harm? After the incident in Hogsmeade, I reached out to Albus myself. Your decree does not apply to a private citizen offering his guidance. Don't you want your students to know how to defend themselves?"

Listening to his veiled criticism, Professor McGonagall could not fully hide a twitch of her lip. "Their safety is, of course, a top priority, but what occurred in Hogsmeade was an isolated event, not a common one. Our aurors are on high alert for any suspicious activity."

"As good as you think you are…" Jace disguised his snort as a cough. "They cannot be everywhere at once. Dueling is a fundamental part of our being. I'm not here to teach them how to ruthlessly slaughter an opponent but at least to do better than a disarming charm. If you're finished with this futile argument, I'd like to begin now. You're welcome to write down your remaining grievances for me to read if I ever feel the need."

"That was amazing," whispered Ron, witnessing the verbal slap.

"I want you in pairs for the first lesson," Kane commanded, addressing the students. "You'll partner with the person behind you."

Katrina turned to see Draco, not Anthony who had been behind her. The blonde Ravenclaw was at the opposite end of the line of fifth years, partnered with Zacharias and rubbing his elbow. If they were not surrounded by professors, Harry would have physically forced Draco to switch with Dean, preferring her to be partnered with a friend over his rival. He was about to do just that, despite the chance of receiving detention, until Kane, Jace, and Lukas intervened, the professors, aside from Umbridge, and MACUSA aurors helping to pair up students. Under her sleeves, her fists clenched when she locked eyes with Lukas.

"You'll be watching from the sidelines, Miss Porter," said Kane, acting as if they were strangers. "I don't want you overwhelmed or triggered."

"It's Potter," she replied.

"Is it?" This was Kane's awful humor, designed to entertain himself the most. "You can sit at the staff table."

"Isn't the point for all of us to participate?" Draco's defiance dwindled at Kane's stony demeanor. "She should be learning too since she was attacked."

"I didn't realize you were in charge. Will you be gracing us with your prodigious talents, young Malfoy? Has your father taught you his patented move, to let someone else fight his battles while running away?" Lukas and Jace sniggered, their dislike of Draco prevailing over their hatred for each other. "It's not an effective tactic, a coward's move…"

"He didn't mean it like that," defended Katrina.

The boys were taken aback, as was Kane but her guardian masked it well. "Until I say otherwise, you'll be an observer. Jace, why don't you set up Malfoy with another pair? He can work with your cousin and Tristan's daughter."

Grabbing the back of his collar, Jace hauled him towards Hannah and Pansy, the latter dropping her glare the second Draco, who had been quietly cursing, was near her. "I can sit with Katrina, Uncle," offered Lukas, putting on a tone of faux sympathy. "I wouldn't want her to feel left out."

"She doesn't need a babysitter," said Kane, to her relief. "Go help Aubrey with the seventh years. They'll be overconfident in their abilities and she tends to have a bad temper."

For a moment, Katrina thought Lukas was about to disagree with him. He rarely stood up to his uncle, especially when given a direct order. With an exaggerated bow, he joined the petite brunette in her early twenties who was threatening to shove her wand up Liam's backside if he did not cease his flirting. Katrina sat at the teachers' table, ready to survey the ensuing chaos of Kane's methods versus students with no defensive training, at least to the degree he deemed suitable, and the professors debating whether to step in if they believed he was being too cruel. Robards and two aurors were positioned by the double doors, conversing with a deeply purple Umbridge.

Giving a chipper Hannah a hug, a sickening sight to Draco and Pansy, Jace mimed something to Kane and jogged up to the table. "If Kane asks, I'm giving you something from Hannah that you left in her common room. How are you feeling?"
"Fine, sir," she said, speaking formally to play up the ruse of them being acquaintances.

Jace shivered. "Ooh, sir? Say that again."

"You're going to get us caught," she whispered. "Robards is watching us."

"He's jealous of all this," he said, indicating his body. "But you're right. Wanna bet on how long it takes Kane to lose his mind? I've seen him chew out grown men so he'll definitely be whacking one of these kids upside the head, preferably Malfoy. Five galleons on it happening ten minutes in…"

"You're being generous. I give him two minutes," she joked. "Get back to your group or he'll be whacking you. You and Lukas can compete over how many girls are going to drool over the two of you instead of Roger."

"The Hogsmeade Hero?" he asked, dramatically. Roger was paired with Selene Carrow. "Didn't he fight off three wizards, an army of trolls, a super big acromantula, and a two-headed dragon? I'm kidding. If you want, I'll knock him down a couple pegs. He favors his…"

"His left," she finished.

Having lived with Kane for fifteen years, Katrina knew him better than the older members of the task force. The professors may have been delighted that attempts to disarm had not amounted to anything as catastrophic as a bloody limb or a fire, those in the DA among the least terrible, but Kane's disapproval of such a low benchmark was evident by the tiny flare of his right nostril. Katrina could detect when he was about to explode down to the millisecond, the Great Hall saved from crumbling by him making eye contact with a serene Dumbledore.

The students soon learned that he lived up to his reputation, their excitement over either successfully casting or almost casting the spell fading faster than a demiguise as he called their performance disappointing for wizards and witches of their ages. Even Umbridge, a major proponent of not teaching defense, did not seem prepared for such a savage response.

"He's being nice so he doesn't upset Dumbledore," she said to Snape, as he sat in his chair.

"Is that what he calls it?" Kane was criticizing Draco's posture. "I advised the headmaster against allowing this. If the parents do not send in letters of complaint of Carlisle traumatizing their children, Umbridge will give him an earful."

"Bet she does that on a daily basis anyway. Kane wants them distracted to probe their minds. He's not a patient man," she lamented. "He'd rather get the answers himself than hope for you to get them from Voldemort. Cayden's a serious threat."

Roger ran over to the the table. "Professor, Lee's stinging jinx rebounded off the wall and hit Selene in the back. Graham tried to hex him and Lukas stepped in but he might need your help."

There was a loud commotion amongst the seventh years, spells being shot around the hall. Snape hurried to the growing mass of fighting students, Lee and Graham at its center. As the two seventh years were repelled back by Snape's charm, Katrina felt a stinging pain in her ribs.

"Taking in all that magic and then losing it must make you sore," said Roger, taking Snape's seat. "You're not used to so much though, are you? What you absorbed in Hogsmeade was immense."

Though the pain subsided, her bracelet was now viciously tapping against her wrist. "Roger, I don't want to talk about it. Wait, how did you know—" She glanced at him, noting an odd gleam in his dusty green eyes. "Cayden."

She tensed at his chuckle, its harshness sounding wrong from Roger's mouth. "Impressive. I knew not to underestimate you but you're still surprising me. I wasn't certain if Kane had taken you under his wing but look at you, his new star pupil." His wand pressed into her side under the table. "Don't say anything. I'll be able to tell if you're communicating with him, verbally or not. No cheating by using your bestie Jace either."

"How are you…where's Roger?" she whispered.

"I'm borrowing him, you could say. It's a form of dark magic that lets you puppet another person," he explained. "Typically, it requires you to be in the same room or a touch, if they're being difficult, but my abilities surpass normal restrictions. Using someone in your bloodline makes it easy, embarrassingly so depending on the individual. The Dark Lord taught me that. He could teach you too."

"I'll pass. I'm not on board with his agenda." Cayden smirked at her sarcastic retort. "What do you want? Are you puppeting your cousin so you can kidnap me because your minions failed? Doing it from miles away takes a lot of effort. I doubt you'll make it past the castle's defenses before the link breaks and if this is a desperate attempt to attack Kane, he'll sense you and use that link to find your location. That's pretty sloppy for someone who thinks they're so clever."

"It is but I'm not here for any of that. I wouldn't get you out of the castle without him catching on. Your devotion to him is sweet but misguided. Kane will only hold you back, like he did with me. You have such potential, Katrina. I can teach you things he'd never dream of…to embrace your gift…" Keeping her frozen with his wand, his hand rested on her thigh. "And not be afraid. You deserve the world. Let me give it to you."

"G—get off me," she said, worried that she would accidentally siphon Roger.

He pointed to the crowd, Kane tuning out Umbridge's rant while the professors quelled the students. "Those people out there will never accept you and you know it. Kane wants you broken to manipulate you into doing his bidding." Her head was pounding, that burning feeling from her dreams crawling over her skin. "That's why he kept us apart. He knew that together, we would be unstoppable. I'm all the family you need. You want to come with me."

"Stop it," she pleaded.

The table was shaking. "Katrina?" she heard, as she shut her eyes. "Davies, what are you doing? Shove o—"

"STOP!"

Reminiscent of what occurred in Hogsmeade, something burst out of her. Katrina would not have opened her eyes if not for the heavy smell of smoke. Her heart sank at what was in front of her: a unobstructed view of the grounds, due to an entire wall of the Great Hall reduced to bits of rubble. That destruction was not limited to a single wall, the one behind the teachers' table and half of the wall surrounding the double doors equally shattered and multiple cracks in what was left of the hall's structure. The golden stages were split in two, the torches extinguished, and everyone but her was sprawled unconscious on the debris-covered floor.

She spotted Roger's body under one of the toppled chairs. Unsure if he was free of Cayden's control, she took out her wand and was about to check when something else caught her eye. Draco was on the other side of where the table used to be, a hunk of wood piercing his gut and blood pooling around the wound.

"No, no, no," she mumbled, kneeling beside him. "Draco? I didn't…I don't…I don't know what to do. K—Kane, wake up! I need help! I don't know what to do. Someone help me!"

Instead of their usual red, her hands glowed silver. Feeling a strange pull, she placed her hands by the wound, the glow spreading from her hands to Draco's entire body. The wood dissolved into thin air and somehow, his wound completely healed, all traces of blood gone. She choked out a sob, wondering if she had gone insane.

"Katrina." A disoriented Kane rose to his feet, taking in the destruction. "You did this? What caused it? Stop your crying and answer me."

Picking up a piece of rubble, Katrina chucked it at him with all her might. As he dodged it, she charged forward and began pounding on his chest with her balled up fists, screaming that it was his fault. It had little impact but provided her an outlet for her rage.

"Cayden was here!" Kane seized both of her hands with one of his own, his eyes wide. "He was possessing Roger with dark magic! While you were pretending you give a damn about teaching kids how to duel, he was sitting right next to me! He wouldn't stop! He kept talking and I couldn't—i just wanted it to stop!"

"It's all right. He's gone," he said, looking over at Roger's body. "Your magic severed the connection. You're fine."

"Fine?! How am I fine?!" She gestured to the wreckage. "I could've…I could've killed someone. I almost killed Draco. He wasn't—he had a table leg through his stomach and then I—my hands—I don't—he's all better but what if he wasn't?!"

Kane pulled her close to console her, his free hand on her back. "Shh. He's not hurt. No one is, Katrina. This isn't your fault. All of this can be fixed and it will be like it never happened. Deep breaths and count back from ten."

Her tears stained his robes. "Ten…n—nine…" she said, shakily. "Eight…seven…"

A drowsiness suddenly overcame her and before she could finish, she collapsed against Kane.