I woke to a clicking sound.

It took me a moment to remember where I was; apparently the blood loss from the night before had affected me more than I'd been aware of. The fact that I'd survived far worse injuries in the past didn't change the fact that my new body wasn't nearly as durable as my last one.

Passing out in the middle of everything wasn't going to do my reputation much good.

It rook me a moment to recognize the source of the clicking sound. A familiar white haired man was entering the infirmary, tapping his cane on the ground as he went. Was this his way of warning me of his presence? He didn't seem to need the cane to walk.

I turned my head to focus on him, even as I fumbled for my wand in my fanny pack. I'd lost the knife somewhere in the fight last night, and I didn't have another stick to transfigure. Turning the stick into a knife had been a basic modification of the matchstick to needle spell; a matter of visualization. I wasn't sure, however, whether I could transfigure something not made of wood.

In a pinch, I could transfigure my second wand, but that seemed like a bad idea for a number of reasons.

I very carefully kept my wand on top of the covers, pointed in his direction. He ignored it, carefully sitting down beside me.

"Miss Hebert," he said. He was staring down at me like I was an intriguing specimen of insect.

I stared at him silently. He worked for Voldemort, which meant he was possibly here to kill me, but his wand wasn't out. I doubted that he'd try to kill me in any other way, and I had a relatively amicable relationship with his son, although I couldn't be sure how much he had been told about that.

The fact that I couldn't tell where his wand was, despite the fact that he moved with the quiet assurance of someone who was armed worried me. I'd have to rely on his eyes to tell me when he was going to draw, and hope that it wasn't too late.

"You present me with an unusual problem," he said. "Currently the winds of change are blowing against your kind, but you have rendered a service to my son not once, but twice."

Apparently Draco had been keeping his father informed.

"The Malfoys do not forget," he said. "Whether it is a service, or a slight. Yet to support you openly would be to put us at even greater disadvantage."

Ah... he was trying to pretend not to be one of the people who was trying to kill me. There was no reason for me to let him know that I knew otherwise, and many reasons for me not to do so.

"So don't," I said.

"Yet sooner or later you will face someone you cannot simply... dispose of," he said. "Adult wizards who are fully aware of just how...dangerous you can be."

"I'm harder to kill than most people think."

His eyes darted toward the wand pointed at him.

"So it would seem," he said. "One wonders how an eleven year old girl knew how to kill with such... proficiency."

"I lived in a tough neighborhood," I said.

It had the virtue of even being somewhat true. Neither Brockton bay nor Chicago had exactly been walks in the park.

"I wasn't aware that the muggle world was so dangerous," he said.

"You'd be surprised at the things you have to deal with in certain parts of that world," I said. "Even if most of it seems drab and decidedly boring."

"I've heard some foolish prattling that you intend to become a Dark Lord yourself," he said. "That you were able to fool the unicorns through some sort of dark magic, and that you plan to take over all of Wizarding Britain."

"I'd prefer to be left alone," I said. "But if I am pushed, I'll do whatever I have to."

"I can get you a transfer to Ilvermorny," he said. "As an American, you should be there anyway, and you would be assured of being allowed to pursue your education uninterrupted by British politics."

He called murder politics.

I frowned.

My reasons for staying hadn't changed. The authorities in America were almost certain to do a better search of my background than the ones here had; I'd looked it up, and they didn't have an equivalent to Hogwarts book and quill. They'd find out that I was actually Molly Scrivener, and then they'd try to find out why I was pretending to be an American.

I shook my head.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to stay here. There's nothing left for me back at home."

"I will not be able to protect you," he said. "Should you stay, you are only likely to find death and suffering. In the coming years, this will not be a welcoming place for your kind."

"Oh?" I asked. "Why is that?"

He stared at me, then grimaced. "You know why. My son says you seem to know more than you should; more than any child your age should, and I am inclined to believe him."

"What could I possibly know that would be dangerous?" I asked. "The identities of the people who have... questionable affiliations maybe? Ones who have children here?"

"What are you saying?" he asked carefully.

"Just that they have more to lose than I do," I said. "My family is dead, and there is no one in the world that I care about. That leaves me with a certain... freedom to act."

His face tightened.

"You'd threaten children?"

"Not Draco," I said. "Since he seems to be a little more sensible than the rest of them."

"But the others?"

"I don't particularly like hurting people," I said. "I'd much prefer to be left alone. If certain factions wish me dead, maybe it would be wiser to wait until the school year is over."

He was silent for a long moment, his eyes searching my face. I wondered whether he was a legilimens; in case he was, I focused on my absolute sincerity and determination that I meant what I was saying.

"Those aren't the words of a normal child," he said. "Don't you fear anything?"

I stared at him steadily. "If I were a Gryffindor, maybe I'd tell you."

For the first time he smirked a little. "Perhaps you really do belong in this house,"

"I tried to get the Hat to place me elsewhere," I said. "It seemed to think that Slytherin was the only place for me."

He scowled. "In my day, the Hat always gave preference to the wishes of the student. Perhaps it is becoming senile."

"It could use a cleaning," I said.

"The Malfoys do not forget," he said as he rose to his feet. "And neither will I."

"I don't either," I said. "I'm not a threat to anyone who isn't a threat to me. Get people to leave me alone, and I will feel myself amply repaid."

He nodded slightly, and a moment later he was gone.

I closed my eyes again, and it seemed like no time at all before I heard a heavy footstep entering the Infirmary.

It was Hagrid; he looked stricken.

"Did the Unicorn make it?" I asked.

"She's gonna make it," Hagrid said. "But I never shouldda left yeh out there."

I shrugged. "I can handle myself."

"Most of the trolls are in the north side of the forest right now," Hagrid said. "It musta been a male shoved out of the pack, lookin for better huntin by himself."

"What's going to happen to you?" I asked. "Mr. Malfoy looked pretty angry."

"Suspended without pay for a month," Hagrid said. "I'd be out on my ear if Dumbledore hadn't stood up for me."

"I'd imagine that there's not a lot in the forest that's dangerous to you," I said. "Even that troll last night."

Hagrid shrugged. "We'd have batted each other round a bit, then go on our own ways. I'm sorry yeh had ter kill him."

"I didn't have much choice," I said. "Maybe if I'd been a fifth year, but I don't know a lot of magic yet."

"I'm sorry yeh got hurt," he said. He hesitated. "I wouldn't have thought such a little thing like you could kill somethin as big as that troll. It bled out almost right away."

"It was built like a human," I said. I shrugged. "It wasn't that hard."

He looked unconvinced. "The others said you moved so fast they barely saw you."

"It was dark," I said. "And they were shooting flares instead of lighting the path. With the way the lumnos spell probably hurt their night vision, I'm surprised they saw anything."

"I'll do better next time," Hagrid said.

"Just remember that all first years aren't as tough as me," I said. "You have to treat them like they are babys."

He nodded, and a moment later he was gone.

For the first time I became aware of the fact that someone had changed my clothes and bathed me, or perhaps used magic to do it, as I didn't have any troll blood on my body.

I rose to my feet, and I felt a little woozy. Apparently blood replentishing potion wasn't nearly as effective as Panacea, something I was going to have to take into account as I went forward. I couldn't simply push my body to the extent that I had in the past, and not simply because I was out of shape.

In my old world, even after Panacea had become... unavailable, there had been other healers. I'd had a support team that was there should I get injured. Here I was on my own. Learning healing spells needed to be something that I learned sooner than later.

It wasn't just for myself; if one of the others had been injured last night, I wouldn't have been able to help them other than whatever first aid I could render using the materials at hand; and that wouldn't have been a lot.

I managed to reach the bathroom despite my dizziness, and after completing my ablutions, I returned to the infirmary, where I found Madam Pomfrey waiting for me.

"You should not be out of bed," she said.

"I needed to use the bathroom," I said. "And I figured that it would be less dangerous than a troll."

"There is a strong possibility that you could faint and hit your head," she said. "Which very well may be more dangerous to you than a troll."

"You don't seem surprised."

"I'm familiar with your capabilities," she said. "After all, I'm the one who has been treating the people you have sent here."

"They attacked me first," I said.

"I'm sure that's a great comfort to their parents."

I frowned at her; was she giving me shade? She wasn't even looking at me; instead she was mixing something in a bowl on a cart.

As I crawled back into the bed, I asked her, "Is there any chance that I could learn some basic healing magic from you?"

"You should ask Professor Flitwick," she said. "Those spells are generally reserved for upper years."

"I've got more need for them than most people," I said.

"That seems to be true," she said. "I would prefer that you stop sending me patients in the middle of the night."

"I could start waiting until the middle of the day...?"

The look she gave me was not friendly. I closed my mouth and I accepted the liquid she gave me. It tasted like the blood replenishing potion Snape had given me the night before, with something else added.

"This will help you sleep more," she said. "And when you wake, you will need to eat something to help the potion along. You will not feel like eating, but you need to push yourself to do so."

"I'd rather not sleep," I said. "Considering that people know I am here, and there are those who don't wish me well."

Madam Pomprey stared at me and shook her head. "I will be here watching over you, and after last night, I doubt that most of the students would bother to come after you anyway."

She didn't seem to be lying; I'd had some classes on detecting lies from suspects and she had none of the usual tells. Still, it'd be embarrassing to wake up dead.

"Without sleep, you will continue to be weak," she said. "For quite some time. There is only so much magical healing can do. Your blood loss last night was severe enough that I am surprised that you were still standing. I certainly wouldn't have left if I had realized you were in that condition."

I hadn't even been aware that I was in that kind of shape. I was going to have to test my new body more so that I could know what to expect; otherwise, I'd end up bleeding to death over some embarrassing accident without even being aware of it.

"Then it's a good thing you didn't know," I said. "There aren't enough Unicorns in the world."

"There's only one of you," Pomprey said. "And the life of a wizard... or even a muggle is more important than the life of a Unicorn."

Watching her, I wondered if she even realized that she'd just implied that Wizarding lives were more important than muggle lives. It was probably an attitude so deeply ingrained that she wasn't even aware that she had it.

Still, she seemed to mean well.

"Fine," I said. I drank the concoction and grimaced. "I'm holding you to the protection thing. I won't be amused if I wake up and find that one of the Weasley twins has drawn a mustache and goatee on my face."

They'd do it, too.

"I'll do my best to keep that from happening," she said dryly. "Although they do have their ways."

I was feeling sleepy again. The potion worked faster than any medications I'd had, and I was out again.

By the time I woke, the sun was shining brightly through the windows. Hermione was sitting on a chair next to my bed, and I forced myself to keep from grimacing. I'd been alert enough to wake up when Lucius Malfoy had entered, but I'd had no idea that Hermione had come in.

While she was known to be my friend, there were all sorts of situations where she might have turned against me, ones that Pomprey had no idea about. It would be best if I not accept sedating potions in the future, not while I was in a location like this where nothing was safe.

"Taylor!" Hermione said when she saw that I was awake."I was so worried!"

"I'm fine," I said.

"You're in the infirmary!" she said. "You're not fine! People are saying all kinds of crazy things... that you killed a troll with your bare hands, that you killed one of the Slytherin girls... that Hagrid killed one of the girls and you killed him. But I knew that none of it could be true. What really happened?"

"I killed a troll," I said. "With a knife, while the others distracted it with flares."

She stared at me, seemingly speechless. The idea of a child of her age being faced by a real danger was foreign to her; the thought that a teacher would allow something like that was even more so. I'd been doing my best to subtly disabuse her of the notion that adults always knew best.

"H...how did you know how?"

"I lived in a bad place before," I said.

"America?"

"Not all of it... but there are places that are dangerous, just as there are in Britain. Even Wizarding Britain has Knock turn Alley."

"But to know how to use a... where did you even get a knife?"

"It's not that hard to turn a stick into a knife if you know how to turn a matchstick into a needle," I said. "It's just differs in a matter of degree."

She stared at me. "But you'd have to know what a knife is really like to visualize it that well."

"I've carried one before," I said. "We had a real gang problem where I grew up. I was taught how to use one by a good friend... to protect myself."

"I can't imagine that," she said. She looked down. "I must seem silly to you, prattling on about little things when you've had real things to worry about."

If things grew worse for muggleborns, she had things to worry about too. Preparing her for that wasn't going to be easy.

"I saw unicorns last night," I said. I let a little of the genuine wonder that I'd felt leak out onto my face. "It helped me realize that not everything is dark and evil, that there is some beauty still left in the world. I think it's good that I have normal kids around me... it reminds me that I don't have to be kind of person I was back then, that I can be better."

It was even true, to a point.