The Death Eaters hadn't sent their kids to school this year.

When I'd noted that people had been missing from the train; it had seemed natural to me that some parents would hold their kids back, even Slytherin parents. The fact that it was a certain subset of Slytherin parents had escaped me, especially since Draco had come to school.

Was leaving Malfoy a gesture of trust toward me?

Or was Lucius Malfoy on his way out of the organization, and he hadn't been informed of what was going to happen until it was too late?

Apparently he'd passed along my idle threat of killing the kids and they'd taken it seriously.

I was sitting in Dumbledore's office. It was late; about one in the morning. The aurors had gone over my room with a fine toothed comb. There were some of them who had been looking for things to hang me with, but most of them had been angry and upset, which I thought was a good sign.

"What do you intend to do, Miss Hebert?" Dumbledore asked.

He was looking at me quietly. His eyes had lost their usual twinkle.

"That's not the question," I said. "The question is what you will do? They killed a child, and not just any child, but a half blood. They did it under your watch, and if this is allowed to continue, I have no doubt that this school will be closed for good."

Wizards tended to be callous about their children being injured, but death was another matter.

"I have been cautious in applying myself,' Dumbledore admitted. "The allure of power has been something that I have struggled with, and I fear that it would be all too easy for me to fall prey to it."

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing," I said. "Edmund Burke was right, you know. Every time you stay your hand, allow a Death Eater to live, you are responsible for every death they cause afterwards."

He looked much older than usual. His face seemed almost gaunt in the firelight.

"It is a slippery slope," he said. "Who am I to decide who lives and who dies?"

"Who else is there?" I asked. "Look at the world around you. The blood purists are winning. Every time they kill an auror, they replace him with one of their own. Every muggleborn they kill is a life that will not have a chance to contribute to society."

He looked down, and I shook my head.

"Tracey was more of an acquaintance than a friend. She was never really able to get over her initial fear of me. She was Millicent's friend, though, and she came along because of that. Killing her was a message not just for me, but for everyone. Bow down, or have your head removed."

He sighed.

"I understand, and this will be answered," he said. "I will not allow another child to be killed under my watch, not as long as it is in my power to prevent it."

"The only way to stop this kind of thing is to strike back in kind," I said. "Hard and fast enough that they will not want to ever try that again."

"It is not that easy..." he began.

I handed him a list.

"These are people that I know to be death eaters. Some of them I'm sure you know about; some of them you may not know about."

I handed him a list of names that I'd gathered together from my time looking over children's shoulders as they wrote letters, and my time in the Ministry.

"This isn't all of them, of course," I said. "It's a list of twenty five names that I am fairly certain are Death eaters."

"Fairly certain isn't enough to act on, Miss Hebert," Dumbledore said.

"Isn't it?" I asked. "I understood that Wizarding law tended to be looser about the rules than muggle laws. If you were to hit those with seats in the Wizengamot first..."

"Then they'd think that it was politically motivated, and I'd risk turning my own faction against me," he said.

I stared at him, and he had the grace to look embarrassed and look away. I'd had enough of excuses; people always talked about the reason that they couldn't take action, but they never actually did anything.

We were both silent for several long moments. I stared at Dumbledore as he stared at the fire. He looked exhausted and as old as I had ever seen him.

"How did the box get into my luggage?" I asked finally.

"There was an unfamiliar House Elf," Dumbledore said. "No one recognized him."

"They'd make perfect assassins you know," I said. "If the Death Eaters wanted you dead, all they'd have to do would be to have a house elf slip poison in your soup. They couldn't even say no if they were commanded to do it."

"I am taking steps to address this," Dumbledore said.

"Are House Elves expensive?" I asked.

"Very," Dumbledore said. "And you may not have the loan of one of the school's elves."

He'd been talking to Snape then.

I doubted that Millicent's family was rich enough to have one, but I had no doubt that she'd have lent it to me if I asked.

"If you start that kind of warfare, they will retaliate in kind," Dumbledore continued. "So I would ask that you think long and hard before you start it."

"It was just a theoretical question," I said airily.

Dumbledore looked as tired as I currently felt. "Go to bed Miss Hebert. Tomorrow will be a long day."

I nodded.

He escorted me back to the Slytherin dorms, and as he left, I turned to head up to my rooms. Millicent was in the infirmary, under the effect of a sleeping draught. There was talk of obliviating her for her own good, she was so upset by what she'd seen.

I was surprised to see Draco waiting for me.

He was pale.

"My father didn't know about it until afterward," he said. He hesitated, then looked around. "You knew about my father."

I nodded coldly.

"I'm aware of his allegiances."

Draco hesitated a moment. "He told me to tell you that Avery will be waiting for you outside."

"Your father would betray his own people like that?"

Draco shook his head.

"He's going to be killed anyway, after everything he's done," he said. He looked sick and pale. "But this is a gesture of goodwill."

Avery had cost Voldemort, and he had to know that this was going to cost him a lot more than anything else he'd done. Tracey had been a half blood, which meant that a lot of people who'd thought they were going to be safe were now going to reconsider. People were protective of their children, and this was exactly the sort of thing that would turn cowardly wizards into lions.

Malfoy was playing both sides against the middle. He wasn't giving me any information that I wouldn't have known anyway, not if I was the kind of seer I pretended to be. Most likely Voldemort had told Avery to challenge me, and having Draco deliver the message had been a punishment for Malfoy for one crime or another.

The fact that it was going to be a trap wasn't even in question, and Malfoy would assume that I understood that.

"I remember favors,' I said.

He looked relieved. Apparently he'd been afraid that I'd take Tracey's death out on him. The fact that he'd still come indicated a certain amount of bravery or possibly stupidity.

"I hope you didn't have trouble because you lent me your chest."

"I told my father that you took it. He said to tell no one, and he obliviated Crabbe and Goyle before they could tell anyone."

"You've seen how his friends deal with things they don't like," I said, nodding toward my room. He paled even farther. "Your father is likely right."

"They wouldn't..." he began.

"She was a Slytherin," I said. "A Slytherin and a halfblood. You think it would bother them to put your head in a box?"

He paled even farther.

"Go to bed," I said.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"Aurors are going to come to you tomorrow," I said. "And you are going to tell them that you fell asleep here. You never saw me leave, and you never saw me come back. This conversation never happened."

"What?" he asked.

"Or you might find out that your father's friends and I have something in common."

He frowned, then I saw my meaning dawn on him. He nodded.

"Get a blanket and pillow," I said.

He turned and went up the boy's stairs.

Pulling my foe glass out, I stared at it.

Avery was close, along with two others that I didn't recognize. Maybe Voldemort really meant for Avery to die or maybe he wanted to know what I could do against Wizards who were ready for me. Most likely the people with Avery were liabilities to his organization, people who had helped in the murder and so deserved almost as much punishment as Avery himself.

There were more than one way that this could be a trap. It might be more than physical; if they could catch me murdering my enemy, they'd be able to get me sent to Azkaban, and possibly killed on the way.

I'd escape on the way, of course, but they had no way to know that. I'd studied the ways in which the Supervillains in my world always escaped, and I suspected that Azkaban couldn't be as hard to escape as the Birdcage.

It didn't matter.

I had to respond to the murder of my acquaintance in a way that made it clear what would happen if anyone attacked my other friends. Otherwise none of them would be safe.

I closed my eyes and allowed my actual emotions to flood back into me. First came rage. Tracey had been a child; she'd never hurt anyone, and she'd been Innocent. Then came guilt.

Being emotional wouldn't help; I pushed my emotions back into my bugs and I straightened my shoulders.

Before I could think about it too much, I disillusioned myself. I slipped outside, and I headed for the girl's bathroom. A quick hissed command to open, and I was on my way down to the Chamber.

I tied my blindfold on and I closed my eyes.

"Hello," I hissed in Parseltongue.

"Hello, Stupid Speaker," the basilisk hissed. "Is it time to feed yet?"

Apparently snakes were language snobs almost as bad as the French.

I shook my head.

"No. I ask help."

"Oh?" the basilisk asked.

"Need kill egg breaker," I said. "Help me?"

I could almost feel her eagerness.

"The bitch will never be able to resist," Avery was saying. I'd seen his face in the glass often enough to know exactly who he was. "A direct challenge like that. We'll finally be done with it once and for all."

"It'll be over after tonight, yes," one of the men behind him said.

I wondered if they had orders to murder Avery no matter what happened. If Voldemort could kill us both, it would solve a lot of his problems. He'd be able to blame the murder on a rogue faction, and claim that he'd killed him and provided the justice that the Wizarding world couldn't.

"I think so too," I said. I stepped out from behind Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was gone with the aurors, which was probably why they'd chosen this location.

They'd failed to provide hidden people either inside or behind the hut. Most likely it was because with only three of them, they'd been afraid I'd pick them off one by one. I'd been careful to check with every sense my bugs could muster.

Green light flew toward me, but I threw my darkness powder down.

Every one of them had a hand of Glory; I could sense all of them lighting theirs.

That meant that they could see but I couldn't; perfect.

"Coming after me, that I could understand," I called out in the darkness. "But the moment you came after my friends, you sealed your death warrant."

My voice rang out across the lawn, even as they charged around the corner.

"I'd like you to meet my friend," I said in a conversational voice. The basilisk reared up behind me; I could tell from the bugs I had on her.

They dropped dead almost at the same time, even as I dropped to the ground in case or more of them managed to get a shot off. They didn't though.

I'd have preferred to caused more pain; Avery had done enough that he'd deserved a lot worse than a quick and painless death. However, I was tired, and he wasn't worth it.

"Shall I eat?" the basilisk asked.

"No," I said. "Eggs."

The last thing I needed was for the Basilisk to get a taste for human flesh. I had a suspicion that it had tasted it before, but after a thousand years the memory was likely a little hazy.

As it turned out, the Basilisk loved the taste of eggs, considering them a treat, even though I had to make a lot of them to feed its ravenous appetite. Most likely it had eaten eggs when it was small, but once it had gotten large it had no longer been able to find anything with eggs large enough to taste.

When it was satisfied, it slithered away, and I set about the work of sending the message that I'd planned to send.

Getting rid of the tracks was the first task. I'd figured out how to do that a long while back, and I set to it with a gusto, using Avery's own wand.

Next was the massage that I meant to send. I began shrinking bodies, and then I was going to have to hurry to Hogsmeade while disillusioned. I couldn't cast any spells between those locations, so I was going to have to be ready.

De-shrinking the broomstick I'd gotten from the Death Eater from the train, I mounted it and disillusioned myself.

I was going to have to channel my inner Bonesaw for this one.

"Where were you last night?" the Auror demanded. His face was red, and he looked as though he wanted to punch me.

Professor Sprout was the one who was watching us silently from the back. Snape and Dumbledore were still dealing with the aftermath of Tracey's death, and Flitwick was busy consoling students.

I should have been exhausted, but I'd taken a pepper up potion so that I would look fresh and not like I'd spent all night decorating Hogsmeade with body parts while disillusioned.

"In my bed, asleep," I said calmly.

"Is there anyone who can corroborate that?" he asked.

"Dumbledore himself sent me off to bed," I said. "My roommate was in the hospital because of the shock of seeing her friend's murdered corpse. I saw Draco Malfoy on the way up to my room; he was sleeping out in the common room."

"We've spoken to him," the auror said. "It's suspicious that he was there to provide you with an alibi."

"I'm sure the paintings did too," I said. "They were supposed to be on alert last night after what happened."

The fact that I had had known how to sneak by them while disillusioned wasn't relevant.

"Your roommate was so upset at the death that she had to be sedated," he said. "But you went to bed as though nothing had happened. You don't think that's suspicious?"

I shook my head. "I've been in a running battle with the Death Eaters all year. It was likely to happen sooner or later. She wasn't really my friend anyway, she was more Millicent's."

"I think you are lying. We can order Veritaserum," the auror said. "You don't even have parents who can object."

"I'm a natural occlumens," I said. "I wouldn't want you to waste your time. What's this all about?"

"There were brutal murders in Hogsmeade last night," the auror said. "You were the person who had the most reason to kill them."

"Me?" I said. I smiled. "I'm just a little girl. What could I possibly have done?"

"Spread body parts all over town," the auror said grimly.

"Check my wand," I said. "You'll find no killing curse."

"We'll check both of your wands," he said. "Moody told us."

I shrugged.

I'd done most of the cutting work with Avery's wand. I'd snapped all of their wands, and I'd used them to further desecrate the bodies.

Having both ends of their wands shoved into an eye socket was meant to make an impression.

This was about respect.

I needed everyone to believe that not only had I been able to overpower three Wizards, but that I'd been able to torture them without anyone seeing what had happened.

Handing over the wands, I watched as he performed a number of spells on them.

He seemed almost disappointed as he handed them back to me.

"We aren't finished with this," he said.

"You really think I'm capable of something like this?" I asked.

He stared at me. "Dead certain."

"You'd think you'd be more polite then," I said.

He frowned, and then a look of outrage appeared on his face. "You can't threaten an auror."

"I wasn't threatening anyone," I said, lifting my hands. "I was just wondering why you'd threaten someone who could kill multiple wizards. That wasn't me, of course, but you've already decided it was."

"Get out of here," he said.

I left Snape's office, which had been converted into a temporary interrogation room, and turned back to the Slytherin common room.

Everyone was waiting, staring at me.

"You've all heard what happened last night," I said.

From the looks on their faces they had.

"They've been coming for mudbloods for a long time, but no one said anything, because it didn't affect than,' I said. "But what about now? Tracey was one of you; she was a half blood, but she came from a good family. Her entire family was brutally murdered because they wouldn't turn her over."

I'd overheard that from the aurors.

"How long will it be before even being a pureblood isn't enough?" I asked. "When will they come for you or when will they ask you to step aside when they kill your mother, your sister, your brother?"

They were all watching me quietly.

"The smart thing was to keep your head down," I said. "But that was before they started coming after your kind of people."

I paused.

"Sooner or later, you'll have to pick a side," I said. "That's what all this is about. It's not the mudbloods verses the purebloods; you think the Death Eaters will let purebloods rule when they take over? They'll rule and everyone else will kneel."

"Think about it."

I turned and headed for my room before anyone could say anything. The potion was wearing off, and I needed to collapse onto my bed while no one was looking.

Classes were canceled for the day.