"So let me get this straight." Tony was saying as the trio walked to Kings Cross Station from the park across the street, the Sky Runner hidden in the woods to avoid another collection of odd and confusing stares. "Wizards have to walk through a hidden wall to reach the actual platform?"

"Yup, it's the easiest way to hide the group of people all wearing black robes." Ness explained, biting back a laugh as Jeff grumbled, "And no one notices people running into walls to accomplish this. Unbelievable."

"Magic." Ness answered, grinning as Jeff glowered at him, "Right, so it's magic's fault that everyone looks at me like I'm the devil when I park the Sky Runner."

"Maybe, this place is…normal, enough to be wary of aliens."

"Of course it is. Of course." Jeff huffed, slouching a little as he pulled a small box out of his pocket and began fiddling with some knobs. "Well, magic aside, you understand the plan, right?"

He nodded and looked up at the smoggy sky, "End this madness by confronting the castle source and figuring out a way to get a certain teacher benched."

"Can't you just—complain to the school board about this?" Tony asked, slowing down for some reason as they grabbed a bench near the barrier to bide their time before bolting through the barrier, "I mean, she's denying you health care, breaking school rules and abusing her powers."

"True, but from what little politics Selvis told me about the school board is run by fellow Slytherins and a Ministry determent to keep the truth from leaking out." Ness replied, huffing in frustration at the walls locking the students from getting help or proper teaching. "For now, we're working on public opinion since this is effecting everyone."

"Hence the Mystic Informer and their strong push of informing everyone what's going on when the students cannot." Jeff added, fiddling with some sort of radar that was making a steady string of ticks as he turned a knob and tapped the screen. "Hogwarts may have the greatest headmaster ever, but that doesn't matter when you have worried and angry parents."

"Huh…This really bites then." Tony murmured, frowning at the unfairness as Ness poked the radar, "So what's this? Some sort of tracking device?"

Jeff nodded and switched it off, looking at the wall where the magical barrier was. "Since magic seems to be abundant in England I thought it would be best if I created a device that would show me the general area of wizards to try some…experiments."

"Uh…" Jeff quickly flushed and stammered, "Nothing illegal or dangerous of course! Just a way for me to combat wizards if they come after me or Tony!"

Tony eagerly nodded in agreement as Ness glanced around, searching for people uncomfortable in winter coats or wearing black hats before he risked asking, "How?"

"Electromagnetic waves turned into a high pitched noise to disrupt thought process or, magic." Jeff replied, looking a little excited, "I've been wondering how electronics would break the moment it came into Hogwarts barrier and why wizards would want that for simple radios, cell phones and other handhold items and I figured it out. Mostly." He pulled a small notebook out and showed him a picture of purple waves growing distorted as they crashed into what appeared to be electric signals.

"Distortion and interference." Jeff supplied, "Every electronic object or device that heavily relies on certain electromagnetic waves leaks some radiation or white noise that can be deemed irritating for those who are sensitive enough to sense it on a daily basis. But for wizards it must be more so since there so insistence on staying in the dark ages, taking electronic devices and creating magical alternatives for personal use or comfort. Especially so if your basic means of communication is letter writing and owls. Tell me, do you hear any beeps at Hogwarts?"

"…No. Nothing. But that's because they don't need electricity." Ness pointed out, now feeling weirded out at how utterly devoid of electronic white noise the castle was. He hadn't noticed it before since it was such a small thing but…yea, the castle was eerily quiet at night with only the snores and sounds of nature to keep him company at night.

"Don't need electricity and can't handle it." Jeff corrected, "Think about it, Hogwarts is a school for young teens to study and learn magic. And what would be more distracting than a constant stream of electromagnetic white noise that could get locked within the castle walls? It would disrupt focus and increase distractions. And focus and a sound idea of what you want is a key factor for magic and PSI. Only more so for wizards since they aren't used to being disrupted by white noise produced by machines!"

"Er…"

Jeff sighed and deadpanned, "I'm creating a gun that creates shrill beeps that utilizes an electromagnetic field and waves to force the target to falter and recollect their thoughts or better yet, gain a headache from the forcibly exposure and allow the user to disable their only means of attack."

"Ohhhh…Thanks."

Jeff rolled his eyes in disbelief as Tony laughed and glanced at the barrier before he frowned, "Hey Ness, do wizards have a spell for persuasion?"

"Yea, it's so muggles get distracted and leave a magical secret to protect wizards. The barrier probably has one to avoid people bumping into and tumbling into 91/2 platform."

"Huh…It isn't working very well." Tony noted, "I can still sort of tell where it is."

Weird, but that might be because he was indirectly exposed to PSI thanks to Giygas…Perhaps that gave him a second sense for this bit much weaker than Jeff's who was easily focusing on the barrier as he resumed fooling around with his radar.

"Well, there's no time like the present." Ness sighed, getting up and grabbing his trolley as Jeff and Tony followed suit, "Don't worry, I'll be sending you cookies through S-mail." Tony assured him, grinning as Ness faltered and repeated, "S-mail…" before he snickered at their idea.

"You might have to bribe her to do that, she didn't seem pleased about Tracey's idea of mailing a cake to me." Actually Nagini was furious by the idea and threatened to drop the cake out of a window if someone tried to make her do it. It was sort of funny to watch her indigently slither around Jeff's room huffing and hissing before she teleported back to Tracey to glare at her for a bit.

"Of course not. It's a dumb idea." Jeff stated, "I mean, who would want to eat a cake delivered by a toxic monster?"

"Dude, we ate magic cake. Your argument is null." Ness reminded him, laughing as Jeff turned a bright red and tried to argue as Tony asked, "What is magic cake and should I be worried?"

"Why are we friends?" Jeff asked as they glanced around the busy station before charging into the barrier. The feeling of cold water being dumped on his head sending shivers down his spine as they stumbled out on the other side.

Breathing heavily from the magic that had tried to stop the two 'Muggles'.

"Bloody…you do this every time?" Tony wheezed, leaning on the trolley as Jeff adjusted his glasses, looking a little pale as Ness slowly pushed the car forward into a small corner. Surprisingly, they were earlier than expected since they train hadn't arrived yet. Which was a little unsettling but understandable since Jeff insisted on waking up early to snoop around the magical platform before he had to leave.

"Yup. And it never gets any better." Ness replied, eyeing the small groups of parents waiting with their kids as they chatted. An air of nervousness and fear in the air that left a churning sea of guilt in his stomach. "Eating food prepared by magic is even worse."

"Probably because it's been coated in a form of magical radiation." Jeff murmured, studying the platform with a blank expression, thoroughly underwhelmed by the 'secret platform' the wizards had.

"You're really determent to make sense out of magic." Ness noted, prompting Jeff to shoot him an unamused look that asked 'And you aren't?' that quickly killed his up coming joke, "That's what I thought." Jeff huffed, "While life may have some mysteries that may never be solved, I'm at least going to solve this mystery. This...anomaly."

The one that was messing with time and space it seemed, 'deflating' certain places from his mind or filling the void with something that didn't belong. Like Hogwarts. Or magic. Or wizards— Okay basically everything he was forced to deal with. And return to.

The thought leaving a weight on his mind as he heard the train whistle off in the distance and a plume of white smoke floating into the early morning sky. "Looks like it's nearly here…" Tony murmured, looking a little disappointed as more families trickled in through the barrier."

"So it seems." Jeff hummed, now fiddling with a collection of wires and metal screws as Ness adjusted his hat and looked at his friends, "You know, you guys didn't have to walk me onto the platform. Preeety sure you guys are skipping a day of school for this."

"And we have near perfect grades. You're point?" Jeff retorted as Tony casually placed his hands in his coat pockets, "I think my parents would understand that helping a friend is much more important than a day of school."

"Exactly."

"Guys…" Ness smiled and fought back tears, before he settled on lightly punching them, "You guys are awesome."

"Why do you show us this by delivering pain?" Jeff asked, rubbing his arm as Tony teased, "Karma for mauling us with snowballs."

"You two had it coming."

"I beg to differ."

"I still have the snowball launcher on me."

"Jeff, we don't need to explain to the cops why there are so many wizards passed out on the station." Jeff shot him a glare as Tony snickered, "I'm sadly not that good an alibi."

"Remind me. Why do I hang out with you two?" Jeff dryly asked, fighting a smile as Tony and Ness laughed at his reply. A small moment of peace and happiness that was ruined by a roar of, "You bastard!" and a cry of, "Look out!" that sent Jeff and Ness into battle mode.

Jeff reaching for his snowball launcher as Ness brought his arms up to defend himself from the surprise attack, frowning at the lack of effort put into the clearly furious attack. Perhaps it was a throw?

"Oy! What are you doing!?" Tony yelled as he lowered his arms, surprised to see that Ron had attempted to punch him. His face a twisted mess of anger and something else…something darker.

"R-ron?! Er, could we talk this out?" He paled as he glanced around to see people watching them, some in surprise and others in confusion as Mrs. Weasley gripped one of the many trolley cars, trying to collect herself as she looked away. Trying to hide the grief and anger on her face that twisted his heart into an upside-down knot.

"Talk this out? Are you out of your mind!?" Ron snarled, moving to punch him again when Tony grabbed him, "Well it's a better alternative than starting a blooming fight!" Tony yelled, jerking him back and looking a little surprised that he couldn't pull Ron away.

"Ron, I understand you're going through a painful moment but attacking Ness isn't the answer." Jeff tried, stepping in front of him with his hands out. "Oh but attacking Saint Mungos is?!"

St. what now? Although…that name sounded oddly familiar. "Ron, I don't even know what that place is and—wait, what do you mean attacking?!"

"Ness hasn't left the house! How could he attack a church?!" Tony demanded, grimacing as Ron yanked his arm free and tried to go for another punch, snarling. "Oh sure, play dumb! But you're the only one who could have done it!"

"Done what?!" Ness demanded, bringing his arms up for another block as Ron tried to fight smart. Aiming for high and low blows as people realized this was serious and tried to figure out what to do. "Ron I can't attack people if I can't see them!"

"Oh yea?! So you didn't attack Dad by using that doll!? The doll that rampaged through Saint Mungos hours later?!"

"What?!" how had it—a thought chilled him to his core, his arms lowering in slight horror as he remembered that he never gave her an order to hide in the Ministry, that he had left her body somewhere on the first floor. Giving her a chance to hitch a ride on a rushing paramedic and hide at the hospital.

And somehow, trigger her into attacking the hospital. But why? Why would she-, a flicker of pain forced his thoughts to jump into Attack mode, filling his vision with chaotic fire red lines swimming over a dried blood and black colored background as Ron relentlessly attacked. His blows while weak and merely chipping his health down, aggravating and garnering more attention from the growing crowd loosely beginning to move towards them.

"Will you stop screaming and listen!?" someone yelled, maybe Jeff since he appeared beside him, his name popping up in his 'party box' as he slammed into Ron. "We don't even know what your talking about!" Jeff snapped, breathing heavily as Tony slowly appeared in the fog, pulling him forward and away from something, maybe a wall.

"Perhaps show us some evidence and explain yourself before you began howling like a child!"

"I'm the child?!" Ron demanded, "I'm not the one who tried to murder someone twice!"

"I didn't even mean for that to happen!" Ness replied, feeling sick. "It was wrong place wrong time Ron! Now please calm down so we can talk somewhere private? And er, without painting ourselves as nutjobs?"

"Should have thought of that before you came to our school—before you entered our lives!" A spark of anger appeared through the growing migraine and waves of guilt as Ron hatefully glared at him. Probably wanting to kill—oh jeez…was that what that dark feeling was? That dark shadow painted over Ron's face?

The intent to kill? Or dish out some 'revenge'? "Last time I checked Ness didn't ask for this." Tony retorted, stepping in front of him to try and act like a shield. Something he was a little grateful for since he wasn't sure how long he could just defend before he panicked and unleashed a Rockin' Beta on Ron. On the entire platform of wizards.

"He didn't ask for any of this! I know it's hard to see a loved one hurt and then see the place there supposed to be safe at somehow attacked but will you think for the love of god?! You're just making it worse!"

"No, I am not-," Ron started when a voice drawled, "Really Weasley? Since I'm starting to consider rewriting some lyrics to being changed to 'raised in a cave'."

"Who the hell-," Tony started when Ness murmured, "Draco Malfoy, he's er, a classmate of mine."

"Well he better be trustworthy before I blast both of them with my gun." Jeff returned as the chaotic battle scene faded, revealing Malfoy looking at Ron as if he was a forgotten wad of gum found under his seat. "And here I thought you Gryffindors were supposed to be buddy-buddy gullible lions of bravery." Malfoy sneered, "Did you take that blow of pride so badly that you decided to try and lash out against the only person who merely wanted to help your pathetic brothers?"

Ron stiffened, a growl emitting from his throat as Malfoy paused and corrected himself, "Sorry, I meant slightly better trained attack dogs."

"Are they really…?" Jeff asked, letting the question die as Ness merely shook his head, stating that it wasn't the time or place for that. "Shove off, this doesn't concern you." Ron snarled.

"Oh contrary, I think it does since as a fellow prefect it's my duty to detain and report troublesome students to the head of house." Malfoy smoothly replied, "And, even though Earthbound is your problem, I doubt McGonagall would be thrilled to hear her prefect assaulting a classmate over that scuffle at the hospital. One caused by a wild spell that had harmed no one despite the terror and fear it left behind."

"What happened?" Jeff asked, evenly staring at Malfoy who seemed surprised by their lack of knowledge before asking, "You didn't even know about it? It was in the news."

"I'm from America and don't really care about the news here." Ness deadpanned, hastily added, "Tony and Jeff haven't got a chance to read the Prophet yet, we got here early."

"Well, attacking oblivious students—two of which don't even go to Hogwarts—over a petty grudge." Malfoy glanced at Ron in mock horror, "Nice going Weasley."

"He knows-," Ron started when Ginny yelled, "No he does not you git!" and Selvis joined them, looking a bit winded and sick as he shoved a paper into his hands. The headline screaming 'Fiery attack on St. Mungo's!' with a moving picture of sooty but thankfully uninjured wizards moving around a black and white hallway, cleaning up the burned rubble.

"As Christmas came to a close so did the infamous St. Mungo's. Around 4:36 the fourth floor lit up with a spell akin to Oppungo but much worse as items and furniture effected by it burst into flames and flew around the hallway, slowly making it's way to the second floor before the wizards on hand could douse the flaming objects and work on the fourth floor which was heavily damaged.

No one is sure what set if off or why but witness report that no one was dangerously harmed and the only proof of the incident were people reporting feeling lightheaded from smoke inhalation and ill patients fighting against the staff to get closer to the chaos. The Research Committee and Auror office of the Ministry are working to solve this mystery and ensure that this won't happen again. Oddly enough witnesses recall hearing a child giggle which leads us to believe that this is an improper use of magic by a possibly deranged child despite there being no reports of a young girl separated from her mother missing from the headcount of visitors. Speculations and official report from the Ministry on pg. 5."

"Bloody…" Tony started, trailing off as Jeff gingerly took the paper to read the speculations on the case. All Ness could do was try not to have a meltdown from the guilt of leaving Sister Mary unaccounted for.

Even if a small rational part pointed out that he had no clue Sister Mary would follow Mr. Weasley to the hospital or attempt to burn the place down…or maybe escape. Actually, escaping seemed more believable if she hated wizards like the others.

"So Weasley, what's your proof that Earthbound attacked the hospital?" Malfoy asked, lazily studying Ron who was fuming in anger. Probably not able to think coherently as he spat, "He controlled the doll! The same one that attacked Dad at the Ministry!"

"Right, the doll that no one has seen but you apparently." Malfoy pointed out, "Seems like you lost a few sickles over the holidays Weasley. Was the pressure of being the weakest link on the Qudditch team getting to you?"

"Shut up-,"

"Ron. Stop it." Tony ordered, "You're making it worse."

"And walking into a trap but who cares?" Selvis muttered as more students broke away from their parents, either emboldened by Malfoy's approach to stop the fight of wanting to stop Malfoy from making it worse.

"Me?!" Ron spluttered his hand curling into a fist when someone grabbed him—Longbottom if Ness remembered correctly and pulled him away, "Ron, breath. You're just causing a scene." Longbottom murmured, glancing uneasily at Malfoy then at him.

"He started this-," Ron started when Longbottom hissed, "No he didn't. I was there. I know what happened. Stop it."

Malfoy debated on saying something but didn't, weird. Perhaps he thought the situation was better if diffused before he tried to annoy Longbottom.

"You can't seriously be siding with him." Ron stated the anger morphing into one of horror as he angrily gestured at Ness, "He's behind the attacks at school! He's the reason why we can't go three steps without something blowing up! He attacked my dad and sent him a bloody muggle hospital-"

"Proof."

Ron spluttered and looked at the source of the voice, his voice falling him as he saw a Ravenclaw girl—a fellow prefect judging by how she was asserting herself with pride and control. "Where's your proof?" the girl repeated, looking at Ron with a hint of disappointment.

"It's because he's a PSI user or something!" Ron yelled gesturing at Ness who watched, feeling numb to it all as his head pounded with a rush of emotions and an overexposure to magic.

"PSI what?" the girl repeated, her image cracking a little as Malfoy rolled his eyes, "Trying to wriggle out of this with lies? Hasn't Professor Umbridge informed Harry of the consequences of that?"

"Harry can-," Ron started when Selvis interrupted, "Oh sure, your best friend, known for getting in and out of trouble without any consequences can get you out of your mess. Shove off Ron, you're angry and trying to make a problem where there is none."

"I am not-," Ron tried when Longbottom jerked on his arm, hissing, "Come on." And dragging him back to Mrs. Weasley…who appeared to be getting glared at by a couple mothers as they hugged students' years one and two close to them.

"Git." The girl grumbled before she returned to a girl who looked exactly like her, perhaps she was a Patil?

"You okay?" Tony asked, gently nudging him as Ness blinked and forced himself to breath. "Define 'okay'." Ness dryly replied, feeling sick under the weight of 'it's my fault' playing over and over again in his head.

"Better than dead." Selvis replied with a small nervous scowl, glancing at Ron who was fuming and being glared at by Ginny and a baffled Hermione who was yelling at him for attacking a fellow student. Blissfully out of the loop as Harry tried to explain what happened but couldn't. Looking sick as he tried to decide what to do.

"Is he always a jerk?" Jeff suddenly asked, looking disgusted as he stared at Ron, "I mean, it's understandable that he's grieving over such a big change. But really?"

"The saying 'Gryffindors attack first ask other questions later' is coming true." Selvis mused, "But yes, Ron almost always seems to act like this, he abandoned Harry for somehow putting his name in a magical cup that lead to him and Ness nearly dying."

"He did what." Jeff looked at Ron then at Ness who forced a small smile, "See? And you thought your people problems were bad."

"What is wrong with this school." Jeff muttered, jumping as the train whistled, reminding everyone that it had pulled in amidst during the verbal and physical fight. "Everything." Ness offered, barely registering that he was grabbing the trolley cart as Tony grumbled, "That and the fact that Ron is a blooming prick."

"Ginny would be glad to hear that." Selvis stated, glancing at the girl in question who had oddly not come to his aid. Had Mrs. Weasley stopped her? Or did she think her presence would worsen the fight?

"Well, come on, we have torture to resume attending." Selvis stated, nudging him forward as Jeff and Tony glanced at the train before exchanging good bye hugs and promises to stay in touch with their S-Mail.

"Do I dare ask…?" Sevlis asked, glancing at Ness who murmured, "Later." As he pushed his trolley into the train, a little surprised to see Malfoy following them. His smug and cool demeanor flickering a little as he debated something.

"Hey, Malfoy." The boy glanced up as Ness shoved his cart into the first empty room he saw, "Thanks, for the help. I probably would have shut down and made it worse if you and Selvis didn't step in."

Malfoy sneered but the cold energy behind it seemed forced, "Don't be, I'm merely repaying you for protecting me from getting pummeled to death by those brutes."

"It's no problem, I mean, yea it was really low of you to do that but them beating you up would have just proved your point." Ness replied, a small smile appearing before it faded at Malfoy's quiet, "It…wasn't entirely my idea."

"What do you-," he started when he paused and thought who would benefit from Harry getting kicked off the team, someone other than the Slytherin Quidditch team in getting a better chance at winning. "Did…Umbridge?"

Malfoy glanced away, his eyes sharp with an emotion he desperately wanted to hide as he muttered, "She overheard me…talking to Gregory and Vincent about the upcoming match and how pathetic it was to see Weasley trying to play without a lick of confidence and started humming, we didn't know she was listening in since we were to wrapped up in talking about how great it would be to see Potter's best friend make a complete dunce out of himself. We asked why she was humming and she told us it she heard a song someone had once sang at the Quidditch World Cup to increase everyone's morale. That gave us the idea to create a song and have everyone sing it at the match."

"She manipulated you into nearly getting beat up." Selvis breathed, looking sick as Malfoy scowled, "I didn't think that far ahead, I just got caught up in the moment of having a small victory over Perfect Potter."

"She's just messing with everyone." Ness murmured, feeling angry that Malfoy had been taken advantage, a fellow Slytherin who merely wanted to settle a score he believed he had with another student only to be turned into a scapegoat for Ron's public embarrassment.

"Well it wasn't that hard sadly." Malfoy grumbled, the train lurching to life under their feet, "Everyone was sick and tired of hearing Lee Jordan bashing us during games, of how outclassed we are seemed compared to Perfect Potter. They didn't think twice when I revealed the idea."

"I thought it was pretty good until I remembered Ginny." Selvis sheepishly admitted. As Ness leaned against the door, adjusting his hat for a semblance of calm of Malfoy coughed and turned to leave, "Anyway, just wanted to tell you that. Thought it would make us officially even."

"I never even-,"

"Officially. Even." Malfoy repeated, a warning edge in his voice before he left to join his friends. Leaving him and Selvis to watch him leave before they stepped inside and closed the door behind them.

"Are you alright?" Selvis blurted out, looking worried as Ness collapsed on the couch, "I came through the barrier just in time to see Ron try and pin you up against the wall."

"I'm fine. Wizards don't excel in hand to hand combat, plus. I was defending until I could figure out what to do." He gingerly tapped his lightly bruised stomach and mumbled, "Wasn't sure if I would make it worse if I attacked back."

"It wouldn't have mattered. Everyone could hear Ron yelling before Malfoy and Patli went to confront him." Selvis assured him, "Little surprised to see Glasses try and fight him though."

"Ron should be thankful he didn't blast him with the snowball launcher. That thing hurts."

"Snowball-,"

"Jeff fights with guns and other weapons he's created." Ness explained, "And yesterday, we were playing an intense snowball fight to the death before we got…guests."

"Guests? Good lord just how out of the loop am I?"

"Not that out of the loop." Ness sighed before he explained his newest discoveries, how Mr. Weasley was doing then with a nervous glance around the room Nagini.

Selvis looked at him in mute horror before whispering, "Is it possible…for me to pet her?"

"…Really?"

"I've wanted a pet snake since I was five alright!?" Selvis retorted, flushing a bright red and looking away, "Besides…S-mail? That actually sounds useful."

"It will be." Ness replied, "She's going to drop off letters in my bed and wait for me to hand her any to send back. As long as no one opens my curtains no one will know. Hopefully."

"Giving you a breather to send mail without the fear of a certain toad reading it."

"Yea…Not sure how Ginny's going to react to it."

"Er…yea."

He glanced up and frowned at the sight of Selvis squirming a little, "What? What is it?"

"Well, she might get over her dislike soon enough since er, according to a letter Luna sent me she's been er, banned from seeing you again."

"Wait—they don't think I'm her boyfriend to they!?"

"No? I mean, maybe? I don't know—no wait, not seeing you like that! Like, interacting!" Selvis spluttered looking at him in disbelief as before he clarified himself, "I mean she's forbidden to see you as a friend. Like how it was taboo to see a Gryffindor and Slytherin having friendly conversation before you showed up!"

"Oh…OH." He leaned back, unsure how to feel as he managed a weak chuckle, "Makes sense…I did attack her husband."

"Indirectly." Selvis snapped, "Now stop having a pity party and cheer up, there's something to look forward to now!"

"…Who are you and what have you done with Selvis?"

"I will gladly resume ignoring you once Luna shows up to spout random nonsense."

"Ignoring? Don't you mean looking at me in disbelief and horror at my 'crazy' life?"

"That too."

That got an actual smile to form before Selvis took his revenge by grilling him about Paula, asking if they finally tied the knot as Ness flushed and yelled at they weren't even dating. Prompting Selvis to try playfully guilt tripping him.

"If you don't hurry up she might find someone else to coddle to death~!" he teased, cackling as Ness reached for his coat to throw at Selvis, "Keep talking Dad! I've got plenty of ammo to throw at you!"

"And this is why I hate you." Selvis deadpanned before he changed the topic, "So, how do you plan on solving the castle problems?"

"Simple, grab the Room and try and summon all of them."

"And if that doesn't work…?"

"…"

"You're hopeless." Selvis deadpanned as Ness spluttered, "Well it's better than nothing!"

"Sure, sure." He scoffed.

The rest of the train ride went smoothly, as did the ride back up to the castle where the few brave students who had stayed over the holidays greeted them with small smiles. Bags under their eyes as they caught their friends up with what had happened before dinner.

"So…are you doing it after…?" Selvis questioned, grimacing as Ness nodded yes, there was no better time than the present. And it would be better to clear up this attack mess now before it got worse.

"Alright, I'll try and give Luna a heads up." Sevlis murmured before he followed his fellow Slytherins to put his luggage up. "Hopefully things haven't been to crazy…"

Nothing seemed out of place as Ness organized his trunk and peered inside his bed, a small bubble of warmth forming as he saw two letters peeking out from his pillow. Most likely from Paula and Tracey. It was tempting to read them but that could wait.

Dinner was…morose, and for once it wasn't because of the castle. No, it was because Ginny was stuck sandwiched between Fred and George who were having a hushed conversation with one another. Ron was, well, glaring daggers at him but was greatly subdued.

Harry was looking at him as well, but with a blank expression as if he wasn't sure what to think about him at the moment while Hermione seemed…very uptight about something as she hissed and jabbed at Ron, gesturing around them at the students whispering around them.

His stomach dropped as he heard a flurry of whispers bouncing around him, "Weasley—the younger one went completely bonkers on the platform."

"I thought he and Earthbound were buddies!" and, "I heard Ron lost his prefect status!"

Followed by murmurs talking about the story in the Daily Prophet and asking if anyone they knew had been there in the accident. He tuned those out, choosing to look up at the teachers. Kale was chatting Professor Trawlany about something, Professor Snape was as usual, glowering at the Gryffindors in-between saying something to Dumbledore. Everyone else was chipper and happy while Professor Toad…huh, she actually looked like she had swallowed a toad.

"Wonder what happened over the holidays…? Did she finally get a warning letter from the higher ups?" Maybe, but that would be to much to hope for. So instead he pictured that the words of Mystic Informer finally got to her and resumed his dinner.

"Alright…Now to actually figure a way up to the Room of Requirements-,"

"Earthbound," he jerked up, surprised to see Professor McGonagall waiting beside the Great Hall door, "Oh uh, Professor, what is it?" Had Ron somehow convinced her the truth? He doubted it given Ron's temper but…it was still a valid fear, especially if Harry got in on it.

"The Headmaster wants to see you."

"What for?" Oddly, Professor McGonagall didn't answer, she merely pursed her lips and dodged the question, "Follow me."

"But-," he trailed off and swallowed his complaints. Ron had already made a scene because of him. He didn't want another all because Professor McGonagall was being weird. Surely she knew what he truly was. Was she acting odd because she was scared of him?

No, put that thought out of your mind and focus on something else Ness. He had a mission to do, and that meant dealing with the man who had sentenced him to this castle of doom and despair.

"He's here." Ness shot her a worried frown as the door closed before Dumbledore could turn around to think her. "Mr. Earthbound, please sit down." He warily eyed the chair before doing as told.

Trying to force himself to relax as his migraine worsened, his good mood rapidly crumbling away as he found himself looking at the man who had sentenced him to these daily nuisances and endless questions.

A surge of anger formed as Ness swallowed the angry scowl that wanted to appear on his face. "I trust you had a good Christmas?" Oh lord he wanted to do small talk. Was this a trap? Should he be prepared for something?

Guarded he slowly answered, "Depends on the person. Why do you want to know."

"Merely curious." The man replied with a light hum as he prepared a cup of tea, "Would you like some? It's peppermint."

"I don't drink tea. Now what do you want?" Dumbledore didn't seem fazed by the anger lingering in his tone as he took a small sip from his cup before lowering it. His foggy eyes locking with his as Ness's scowl broke free.

"Straight to the point I see…" Dumbledore mused, "Although, given how exciting your Christmas has been I can see why."

"You know, don't you?" Did Dumbledore somehow set up a information network of his own? If so, then with who? Oh wait, that was an obvious answer. Probably every friendly adult Harry had ever met. After all, he was the man who put Mr. Weasley in a precarious predicament.

"Know what? You have to be a little specific-,"

"Mr. Weasley. You know everything that happened since you put him there!" Dumbledore didn't even flinch when the tea cup and kettle rattled on the desk, a spiderweb of cracks forming as Ness glared the man down. "Why did you put here them? Why him!? Don't you have trained wizard guards on your payroll?"

"I don't hire anyone to-,"

"To what?! Act like a scapegoat?! If it wasn't for Harry-,"

"And you,"

"And me—SO YOU DO KNOW!" Dumbledore gently tapped his cracking tea cup and took another sip, the warmth never leaving his eyes as he studied him. Making him feel small and almost…vulnerable as Ness glared back at him.

"Yes, I do know." Dumbledore finally answered, figuring out that being vague wasn't the answer. "Harry informed me everything that happened with a letter the night before."

Great, "So, what do you want from me?" Ness asked, forcing himself to calm down a little and try and predict where Dumbledore would take the conversation.

He would either ask how Ness got into the doll, how much Ness knew or where the doll came from. Questions he only had one truthful answer to and wasn't planning on sharing.

Not until Dumbledore started telling the truth. "I merely wish to help you," Dumbledore informed him, his words earning a small snort of disbelief, "It's worrisome to hear that you and Harry managed to take a backseat to another being's thoughts and body. A rare case of a telepathic connection to another being, Legilimency."

"Legil…what?" He didn't…have that, right? Wait, no of course not! He was merely influenced by Giygas and his fears which required an entirely different route to remove the alien's power over him! Also, why did Dumbledore believe he and Harry had the same problem?

It wasn't his mind and soul that had been transferred like it had to safely reach Giygas, but his soul allowing him to retain his state of self but not his abilities which had been tied into muscle memory and the subconscious. Was this something Dumbledore wasn't knowledgeable about?

If so, he wasn't going to correct the man. This would stay his little secret to ensure that the wizards didn't discover that the soul and mind could be separated.

"Legilimency is a spell that allows the user to travel the planes of another person's mind. Some refer to it as 'Mind reading' even though it is much deeper than that." Dumbledore was saying, oblivious to how Ness had been tuning him out for almost a full minute. "Harry somehow has a telepathic connection to Voldemort's mind which allowed him to see Voldemort's will being carried out by his pet snake."

He focused all of his thoughts on Voldemort to avoid his own mind being read. Just in case. But that explained why Harry could see but couldn't act while was trapped in the snake's mind. He was an observer, not a pilot.

"And now you want Harry to try and get rid of that connection before it goes both ways." Ness guessed, his stomach dropping when Dumbledore nodded and said, "And you."

"I don't have a telepathic connection to Voldemort."

"And yet you still ended up in the doll's body and mind."

He wasn't going to wriggle out of this one without revealing something vital, was he? "And while as weird as that is, need I remind you that I don't have magic?"

"True, but you share a form of mental powers. One that could easily be turned against you if someone could corrupt your mind."

"Hah. Already happened gramps."

"I can protect my own mind thank you very much." Ness stated getting up to leave when Dumbledore stopped him, a weird…edge in his voice, "Ness, I understand you wish to distance yourself from all of this chaos but it is vital that you join Harry in his private classes with Snape to learn Occlumency."

"I'll consider that when you explain to the Weasleys' why their father and husband was keeping guard at his job." Ness retorted, feeling uneasy as the warmth seemed to…die in Dumbledore's eyes.

"Ness, do you know what happens if one is unable to protect their mind?"

"Yea, they lose their power if their gifted and die." Dumbledore didn't seem prepared for that as his body stiffened, his eyes widening by a millimeter before relaxing. Did…did he not know what happened when magic and PSI were overused on a wizard or PSI user?

"I can protect my mind. I protected it from Barty Crouch Jr. when he tried to use Impero on me." And that had ended up with the man following his own commands thanks to his resistance. He doubted Snape wanted to endure something as embarrassing as that.

"I see…at least take it into consideration then." Dumbledore said.

"If it helps you sleep at night." Ness grumbled, leaving without another word as he teleported the Room of Requirements where his friends were waiting. "Oh good. The castle didn't eat you up." Selvis joked as Ness stumbled and nearly tripped over a random chair.

"I doubt the castle's that evil." Ness retorted, pushing himself up as Luna hummed, "Who knows? Hogwarts is growing darker and darker by the second."

"It wouldn't be so dark if you took the shades off." Selvis pointed out as Ness looked around, a little relived to see Ginny standing beside Luna, her arms tightly wrapped around her "So er…" he started faltering when he realized he had nothing to really say to Ginny. "Er, how's Ron?"

"Hopefully realizing that he's a giant git." Ginny growled, her grip on her arms tightening as Selvis scoffed, "He'll never realize it."

"Er…right, sorry about bringing it up." Ginny's grip seemed to loosen a bit as she mumbled, "It's alright, you're worried and feel like its your fault my family's lost it."

"The attack was that bad?" Selvis asked, "No one was hurt according to the papers."

"Physically, hurt." Ginny corrected, "Everyone was scared out of their minds. It was just confusion and terror happening until they managed to put everything out."

"That must have been awful." Ness murmured, remembering how quiet and solemn Longbottom seemed as he pulled Ron away.

"It was. Not as awful as the night after that. Pure chaos." Ginny grumbled before Luna changed the topic, "So, you're going to try and summon whatever is haunting the castle?"

"Yea, Jeff wants me to try and create an information network so we can get some answers around here." Ness glanced around the mostly empty room, feeling a bit nervous as he went on, "I'm sick and tired at drawing at the straws for nothing so…yea."

"I'll be hiding behind this table." Selvis informed him, ducking behind a turned over table as Ginny scoffed, "How is that going to help?"

"It'll bring me comfort Weasley. That's how it'll help."

"You should get a three sided table then-,"

"Luna." Luna merely smiled as Ness looked at the center of the room and moved towards it, their bickering and bantering dying as Ness stopped and closed his eyes.

Feeling uneasy as he focused, searching for something in the sea of magically charmed items before he cautiously called out in his mind, "If you can hear me then…please appear in the room I'm standing in."

…

…

Nothing. Perhaps…perhaps he wasn't influenced by Giygas after all, or…maybe they stopped seeking him out. "Hello? Is…is anyone there?"

…

…

"We heed your call Master."

A shiver ran down his spine, a comforting one as he opened his eyes to see random items falling from the ceiling or appeared on the walls. A ragged teddy bear, the painting that had upset all the other paintings at the start of the year, a floating robe with patches and rips from overuse and lack of care, a trio of spell books with the titles scrambled into gibberish, a broom with wooden arms that carried a stuffed owl, a Jester doll with a dice design and finally, Sister Mary.

The objects quickly shifted, electingg yelps from his friends as they scrambled into a line with Sister Mary and the jester doll at the front. Their leaders.

"Who are all of you?" Ness asked, gesturing that it was okay as the Jester doll shifted from foot to foot, seemingly excited as it dropped into a bow "Friends call me Cashino! Yes, yes! I have been very, very busy gathering supports for the cause Master!"

"Gathering…?"

"Of course, of course!" the fixed smile on the doll's face seemed to tighten as they straightened, "A wizard cast a spell on me, a nasty one, a spell that was supposed to duplicate me to fool his friends! But it failed, oh so failed. Gave me a royal flush of attacks to us and friends to create!"

"So, you used those powers to create people who would follow my commands." Ness guessed, noticing how eager all the objects were.

"Yes! Yes! Perfect roll!"

"Which means you guys have been attempting to close down Hogwarts."

The painting gave a deranged giggle followed by a rush of jarring noises before floating robe translated, their voice faded and worn like their body. "Paint says, of course. You wished for it to close, deeming wizards troublesome and dangerous. So, we did just that. Attempt to close the school by pulling tricks on everyone."

"No one seemed to care about the messes we maid! I bent my straws trying to create wonderful messes!" the broom huffed, its hands twitching in frustration as Cashino eagerly nodded, "But it appears Master has a new job for us! Snake eyes! Snake eyes!"

"Yea…something like that." Ness answered, wondering if this was a bad idea as he eyed the bouncing objects, "But first, what are you names? I know Cashino and Sister Mary but…"

A chorus of, "Oh of course!" and gibberish rose up before Cashino dutifully introduced everyone with a relaxed smile. Making his head swim a bit as he processed the names.

The broom was Sweepy, the trio of books were Defe, Potio and Herbo, the painting was…Paint, the robe was Cloak, the owl was Sawdust and the teddy bear was Bearable.

"Pleasure to meet you Master!" they chorused, looking thrilled as Ness glanced at his friends one last time before replying, "Nice to meet you all." And turned to Sister Mary, who was waiting with her hands 'clasped' and her eyes glowing with pride.

"So er, Sister Mary did you attack St. Mungo's? The hospital?" he quickly reached out so the others could hear her answers as Sister Mary gave a surprised titter of joy, "W-well! I wouldn't go as far and say ATTACKED but, to be frank. Yes, I attacked."

"Why?" Ginny blurted out, cringing as the objects stiffened and looked at her, clearly not pleased by her presence, "Why did you try and hurt so many people?"

"…"

"Please answer Sister Mary," Ness prompted, hating how obedient the doll was, "She's a friend. They all are."

"Oh, very well. I wasn't trying to HURT anyone, heavens above no. I was merely trying to flee before that wretched multicolored witch attacked me for spying on them."

"Multicolored witch?" Luna murmured frowning when Ginny clarified, "She probably means Tonks, she showed up just as we left to meet up with you and your dad."

"Hold on, you were spying on them? Why?" Selvis asked prompting Sister Mary to huff, "Why wouldn't I? I was stuck in that room thanks to those Healer blokes and deemed it an excellent time to get more information from such high ranking wizards. And before you say it's rude the bear was listening in as well!"

"Bear?" Ness questioned, glancing at Ginny who paled and whispered, "Some sort of American Doctor helper left one on Dad's bedside table."

"American doctor? Did you get a name?" Ness asked.

"Sort of…? I know her last name was Jones and that she managed to cure Harry's paralysis with a lollipop. She never really said she was American, I just guessed." Ginny admitted, scowling at herself for not paying closer attention as Sister Mary coughed and brought the focus back on her.

"Anyway, I wouldn't worry about the bear, they happily informed me they were working with the nurse to observe and gain information. They don't have a single attack move."

"Teddy bears can tank a lot of damage from any enemy attack." Ness deadpanned when Selvis shot him a baffled look, "That aside, what do you mean, 'information'?"

The room dropped in temperature as Sister Mary's clasped hands tightened in anger and disgust, her comrades all growing uneasy or angered as she murmured, "Yes, information…very, very important information."

"Was…was it bad information?" Luna gingerly asked, cringing as they heard a small creak of wood, "No, no…just…horrific information." Sister Mary replied, her voice shaky and hollow as she dropped her hands to her side and straightened. Her eyes seemingly dimming as she started speaking.

"They first started talking about you and this Harry fellow somehow forming a link, a link that was forged during the events of a 'graveyard' that might have allowed you to follow him to the Ministry and Nagini. They were worried about your appearing in that…ROOM but soon moved over to something more troublesome…deadly."

"A bloody secret?" Selvis pressed paling as Sister Mary went on, seemingly in a trance, "The blonde man was worried that the reason you went after Harry was to find out what happened to the 'others'. The other children blessed with PSI. He was worried…you would find out about the purge."

"Purge." Ness repeated, feeling sick as Sister Mary dully continued, "'Aurors' were ordered to track down and exterminate all PSI 'infected' children in Europe. To prevent another incident happening I believe. A woman with red hair, one who I do not care to name was shocked for a mere moment before she resumed ranting about you being a danger and wishing you were back in a America. That was all I found out before the blonde man sensed my anger and outed me to the bloodstained witch."

"Uh…" Ness managed as Sister Mary quickly corrected herself, "Fine, Witch scum. Although I think this German name would be a lot better for her and her group-,"

"Moving on!" Ness interrupted, "Did…did they mention anything else? About the purge?"

"Ness," Ginny started, looking torn with pity and unease when Sister Mary nodded, "Sort of, the man also mentioned that Unspeakables took them into custody but…only they know what happen to those children."

"Oh my god…" Selvis breathed as Luna murmured, "So that's what happened to Belinda…she was…"

"Wizards are truly the scum of the earth…" Cloak rasped, "They solve their problems with simple minded actions and don't work to see their fruit blossom. I've heard rumors…stories from other robes stored from the War…About how they created a solution to protect themselves but never watched tended the seeds after planting them…never seeing the flowers bloom…creating a giant mess."

"Did…did they mention what mess it was?" Ness asked, really hoping Cloak didn't as he found himself struggling to breath. Singling that he was about to have another panic attack.

"No…they all say they 'forgot' it's…quiet sad." Cloak admitted as Defe rustled its pages, "Master, if the wizards are worried about you forming a link with Potter then they might force you into Occlumency, a mental form of torture."

"Torture?!" Ginny exclaimed as Luna mused with a small frown, "Occlumency is supposed to teach one how to close their mind from a dangerous type of magic, but since it's magic reaching into one's mind…"

"Yea, Dumbledore brought it up." Ness croaked, the room swaying a bit as he forced himself to sit down and breath, "He was really, really insistent on it, I think he actually got angry at me when I refused."

"Angry—Hold on, what if he wants to use to gather more information about you?!" Selvis exclaimed flushing as Luna mused, "I never thought you were one for paranoia theories Selvis,"

He glared at Luna before continuing, "Think about it, the best way to defend yourself against is to experience it over and over again! Which means someone could just rummage around your mind!"

"They can try." Bearable growled, it's buttoned eye spinning in a slow circle as the other stayed still, "I've experienced Occlumency, or better named Legilimency. The wizard who'd done it gained a massive migraine trying to rummage through my thoughts. It was brief, but they managed to disable my Shield attacks in their haste to close the link."

"Oh, this just gets better and better." Ness managed before he passed out. The idea that wizards had exterminated…killed kids like him just because they were unknown and powerful making him sick beyond belief. He felt even worse when he could see the justifications behind it, the struggle wizards had against people like him.

Why oh why was he so easy going? Able to see the problem usually from both sides? Those questions never got answered, no, instead they derailed him into the past. Allowing him to see children—happy, innocent, oblivious children—running around as a blood stained wizard slowly approached them, a wand out and preparing to cast the spell.

The spell that left a sickly green haze, the smell of death, the inhuman screams as it bared down on the victim, over, and over an r—

"Master!" With a sharp gasp he sat up, or tried to. Nagini was resting on his chest, her tongue rapidly flicking in and out of her mouth in a worried gesture as she poked his forehead with her snout, "Are you alright master? Do you require comfort cookies from 'mother'?"

He opened his mouth to speak when he noticed a wall of soft red around him and the subtle movement of people getting ready for something around him with a soft glow of something bright peeking through the cracks in the walls.

He closed it and looked back at Nagini, noticing the small bundle of letters gently tied around her stomach and the small mailhat on her head, "Nagini, am I in bed?"

"Yes, you sort of just…fell from the sky wearing that robe into bed." Nagini glanced at the robe before huffing in annoyance, "You nearly landed on me."

"Er…sorry, I fainted from shock."

"Understandable, a red head came to check on you after a bit, looking relived that you were in bed."

Ginny hopefully, he really didn't want to discover it was actually Ron—who might strangle him in his sleep at this point—or one of the twins. But how did he even get into bed in the first place? No one but him knew how to teleport—

"Good…morning." Nagini had to wrap around his head to muffle his screech as he felt the robe move around him, the sleeves and back stretching as he was forcibly sat up. "Oh dear…it seems you've had a nightmare." Cloak murmured as Ness went through a long panicky list of, "BROWHATTHEHECKWHATHAPPENEDANDWHYAMIWEARINGYOU?!"

As Nagini nervously looked around, watching for helpful 'neighbors' worried about someone being late for breakfast. "Ah, we deemed it the best action since you were knocked out cold. My old master used to apperiate quite a lot, and that transferred into a Teleport Beta with less spinning. Very useful."

"Okay…so, they used you to get me here?"

"Yes,"

"And er, the others?"

"Well, Paint is off harassing people as usual, Sister Mary is inspecting everyone for wounds, Sawdust is enjoying haunting 'Ginny', the books are dozing in your bookbag—they like to be close to people you see—Sweepy and Bearable and setting up an attack on the toad and let's see…ah yes, Cashino decided to watch Dumbledore, deeming him a worrisome foe."

"I see…Um, do you think the others would be up for less destruction and more spying?"

"We would…" Ness jumped out of his skin as Defe gave a yawn only a book could produce and sleepily murmured, "No one suspects a book forgotten by a first year. We can easily lie around classrooms or relax in the library."

"Indeed," Potio agreed, "Although, I hope more vital information comes from the library, I do enjoy learning from other potion books."

"Learning?" Ness questioned, pleasantly surprised as Herbo explained, "Yes, yes, we were made for school and our powers revolve around those barbarians' spells. I'm quite skilled with earth Psy-Magic—it's what we like to call our chaotic powers—and knowledgeable on plants and their life span."

"That…might come in handy later." Ness decided before he glanced at Nagini and her bundle of letters sent by Paula, his mother and Jeff. Jeff was probably a reminder so he ignored that and focused on the one from Paula which was a brief check up on him and insisting that he didn't leave anything out from his school weeks.

"Thanks Nagini, I'll have some letters for when you get back." Ness promised, smiling as Nagini huffed, "You better." And teleported away. Leaving him to scramble to get ready and look as if he hadn't slept in his clothes from the day before as he rushed to breakfast.

"Hmm…Looks like the toad is happy about something." Cloak mused as Ness sat down, a small pang of loneliness hitting him as Ginny was once again stuck by her brothers. The pang morphed into anger as he glanced up at Umbridge who seemed happy about something she was readying in the news. "That's never good." Ness thought, glancing at his neighbor—Neville who looked stunned.

"Hey, what's going on in the news?" Ness asked, "Is it something big?"

"Er, well, not really." Neville murmured, glancing up from the paper, "But er, it appears that the Death Eaters have attacked a magazine company after a massive break out from Azkaban."

"What?"

"This doesn't sound good."

"Yea, it's called the Mystic Informer and the reason behind it was because they support muggles." Nevile was saying, but his words turned into a blur of static as he looked at the toad, the smug toad who had found a way to attack the few people printing the truth and supporting him at Hogwarts.

"That slimy little-," Cloak started as Nevile said something, "Sorry, I sort of blacked out." Ness lied, swiftly focusing on the confused boy, "What was that?"

"Oh, I was just saying that no one was really hurt." Nevile repeated, glancing at Ginny then back at him, "Er, are you and Ginny okay?"

"Fine, I just…" indirectly attacked her father and got banned from talking with her without the fear of death. But of course, he couldn't say that. So instead he fibbed feeling awful as every foul word left his mouth, "She's just trying to keep a closer eye on Ron. Worried he might try and take it out on me again."

And Neville gullible believed it, giving him a pitying smile and assuring him that Ron merely needed time to cool off and focus on healing instead of attacking others out of grief. Not even asking why Ron blamed him in the first place as he resumed eating breakfast.

Leaving Ness sick as he did the same, trying to build up some strength before he had to face the smug toad in class today. Of course, that all flew out the window. As usual.

"So, you're stuck with Snape?" he perked up and glanced at Cloak who swiftly answered, "Sawdust, he's more of a parrot than an owl. Sorry."

As Sawdust continued, "Yea…and apparently Dumbledore wants me to try and persuade Ness about needing Occlumency."

"I suppose, kicking him out of school isn't an option?"

"Ron, drop it, Ness wasn't in control of his actions!"

An angry scoff but no follow up from Ron.

"Besides, both you and Ness need this!"

"No we do not! I'm perfectly fine-," Harry abruptly stopped, probably recoiling from a fierce glare as Hermione picked up the conversation, "One class. Both of you. It's bad enough if…You know who gets into your head but we can't let Ness suffer and make a horrible mistake!"

"Why are acting like HE'S the victim?! HE started this whole mess!"

"Ron-,"

"Don't you lecture me Hermione! You weren't there!" At this point Ness didn't even need Sawdust giving him the play by play since he heard Ron's voice trying to rise over the din of silverware meeting plates and people happily chatting to their neighbors and friends.

"Ron, please. You're going to make another scene." Harry begged, seeming tired of this whole thing. Ness was about to thank god for Harry trying to curb another attack when Sawdust recorded Harry's muttering, causing his heart to sink and implode with an icy chill, "Even if I AM having my doubts about him…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Dumbledore called me in after Ness left to tell him about the importance or whatever, so I went to look for him but he er…left faster than I could keep up. And I didn't see him at all that night. Just Ginny, and she didn't really seem eager to talk to me."

"Cause she's working with HIM."

"Ron she's sitting literally three seats away from us."

"And?!"

"ANYWAY. I went up into the Fourth Year dorm rooms to try and catch him before bed but…I didn't see him, but I did hear a snake grumbling about being stuck waiting for him to follow 'Paula's instructions."

"…A snake?"

"Was it—did you-?!"

"No! No… I just left, didn't want to stir up more trouble than it was worth." He didn't leave. He saw. Somehow, without Nagini's realization, he had spotted her waiting for him on the bed. What else could explain that small tremor in Harry's voice as they moved onto a different topic to avoid Ginny's ire of talking behind his back?

He saw. And now he wanted answers, answers he couldn't give without confirming himself as the true culprit behind this mess. Although…he sort of WAS behind this mess.

In his shock and grief he didn't process Sawdust's next 'replies' of Hermione asking Ron why he was out so late, or Ron's oddly chipper and dead end reply of, "Merely meeting with a kindred spirit." Before they were rushed away to class.

None of them noticing the Toad's eyes on them as they left the Great Hall for classes more torture.

Merry Christmas everyone! Hopefully you're all having a better Christmas than Harry and Ness! :D (Although that's probably a given since I doubt many people own or know a murderous doll.)

Onto reviews! :D

M1nhTre37: Umbridge is going to be buried under hell at this rate given how much trouble she's stirring up. And she hasn't even become headmistress yet! As for prophecies that's going to be a giant mess since technically Ness has completed his quest with his friends, or has he? Dun dun dun! :3

HelenTheMoon: 'Glances at chapter' Yea...We might not have a situation at the end of Book five given how quickly and chaotically everything is spiraling out of control for our heroes. It might be a war problem next time.

Also, does revoking Ron's prefect badge seem like a good punishment? I sort of made it up on the fly since I completely forgot about consequences for assaulting a student who has claimed to having PTSD, on school grounds (Sort of.), and having to be stopped by two fellow prefects and a fellow student when he refused to stand down and was willing to injure to non-students to get to the first student. (Typing this out makes me realize just HOW badly Ron has screwed up, and how I probably should have made Fred and George react. But I like the idea of them being stunned/torn about what to do since they agree with Ron but don't and also don't want to make it worse.)

It's so weird to think about Harry and the crew actually having detention or punishments for legitimate reasons that weren't forced into play by teachers or students who hates them. o-o

Thanks for Reading! :)