Waking up, I saw Madam Pomfrey leaning over me, staring into my eyes intently. I'd lost consciousness at some point, presumably when I was still in the air, which had likely caused even more damage than I'd already suffered.

I couldn't tell from her expression how much trouble I was in. Was I under arrest for the bomb?

"What's going on?" I asked, with as innocent an expression as I could manage. Even with Wizardly healing my entire body ached, but I ignored that. I didn't push it into my bugs because I needed to show those small indications of pain, both as proof that I was normal, and possibly to gain small amounts of sympathy from the adults.

"As if you didn't know," Pomfrey said. "Found out on the lawn with body parts left all over Hogsmeade...second time since you came here, if I recall."

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence," I said. "You could say the same thing about everyone in my year."

She gave me a look that said that she didn't believe a word I was saying.

"I've seen aurors who have taken less damage," she said. "A blasting spell wouldn't do the kind of damage you had to internal organs, not without simply killing you. The damage you suffered was similar in kind, if not extend as that suffered by those unfortunates who were in the Shack."

"There's a simple explanation,' I said.

"But not a truthful one, I think," she said. She stared at me with a gimlet eye. "I suspect there's a lot of things you aren't telling people, Miss Hebert. Everyone has a skeleton in their closet, or two. I think you have a mansion full."

If she'd known about my old life, she'd know that I had enough dead in my past to fill entire cities.

I shrugged.

"I know what I've done," I said. "There are things that I regret, but I never did any of them without a good reason."

"Children often don't see the horror of what they've done until they are older."

Miss Militia had seemed to think that; in part because she'd been an actual child soldier. I'd never been that; I'd been a teenaged soldier, which was entirely different. I'd had a childhood, as short as it had been, a time to be happy, and to feel loved. I'd had people I'd trusted, and if that trust had later been betrayed, well, at least it had been there once.

"Some people never get to be a child at all," I said. "Through no fault of their own."

She didn't have a response to that, and I nodded.

"How much damage do I \still have," I said. "And what do I need to do to stay relatively healthy."

"If it were up to me," she said. "I'd have you in bed for at least three days. Wizardly healing is amazing, but it is not miraculous. You have put your body through something that would result in lifelong pain and disability if you were a muggle. I had to completely regrow your spine, which is tricky because of all the nerves their. If I'd made a mistake, your breathing or heart could have stopped, and that would have been the end of you."

My shield spell was reasonably strong, and it hadn't done that much to protect me. Did that mean that I had to work on making it stronger, or were shield spells just innately weak against enough physical force?

"However," she continued. "The aurors wish to speak to you. This time, they seem as though they have real questions."

Under the Bones administration, I doubted that I'd be able to dance around their interrogation like I had in the past. These would probably be better men, and better interrogators than I'd met in the past.

There were aurors waiting outside the Hospital wing, waiting at all the doors. My wand had been taken from me, and my fanny pack.

I had wands available in the vent system, both here and at the Ministry. I wouldn't be helpless. However, Moody's eye had the ability to see through things, and I could hear his distinctive footstep coming toward us.

I'd leave myself vulnerable only as long as I had to.

"You'd had a concussion," Pomfrey said. "I can give you an extra day at least."

I shook my head.

"I'd just as soon get this over with and get back to work," I said. "You don't have my wand, do you?"

"They took it for examination," she said. "Your second wand as well."

I shrugged. There was nothing I could do about it now. Even if I'd brought a third wand I'd have been caught out.

Maybe I should take Black up on his offer of teaching me to turn into an animal. Hopefully I wouldn't turn into something stupid like a large sea turtle. Most Wizards didn't bother with it because it wasn't really something that was useful in their lives.

It was good for spying and stealth, and otherwise didn't give any real advantages. Turning into a bear might terrify a muggle, but it only made you a bigger target for a killing curse. It'd be different if you were able to choose your form... or to have more than one. It sounded like it was a grueling process too.

I'd had another student ask McGonagall about the basics, and they sounded time consuming.

The doors opened, and Moody strode into the room.

"Hebert!" he snapped. "I hope you have some answers for what happened last night!"

"The Death Eaters tried to kill me again," I said. "And I escaped...mostly."

"And what about the barrel of hell fire that scattered Death Eater parts all over Hogsmeade?" he asked. "It's got your handiwork all over it."

"I was hurt as much by thing almost as much as everybody else," I said. "Whoever set it, I don't think they knew just how strong it was going to be."

"What were you doing out there anyway?" he asked.

"Should I have an advocate with me?" I asked. "I've had these kinds of kangaroo courts in the past with the last administration."

"Clear the room," Moody said.

Everyone obediently did so, including Pomfrey. I tensed; if he was a Death Eater plant I'd be in trouble. There were things I could do; throw the bedpan at his head, roll under the bed; none of them were likely to do much to a duelist as strong as Moody.

Insects began to flow through the vents; with any luck I'd be able to keep him talking until I could kill him, if I had to.

"Why were you out there?" he repeated.

"I was going to meet with Sirius Black," I said.

"He's a murderer," Moody said. "And a Death Eater. Why would the likes of you meet with the likes of him, except to kill each other?"

"He claims not," I said. "Said he was set up by Peter Pettigrew... Pettigrew was the secret keeper, not him."

"Pettigrew's dead," Moody said. "The man's insane."

"He's not my enemy," I said. "I checked."

"That foe glass of yours?" Moody asked. "You think I didn't know? I've already been through your rooms. Problem with a glass like that is that somebody like you has so many enemies they make a crowd. He could have been somewhere in the back of the crowd and you'd never have seen him."

"He wasn't much of an enemy then," I said. "Nowhere near the front. That makes me wonder if maybe he wasn't a Death eater at all, because I see a lot of them in my mirror."

"Where is he now?" Moody asked.

"I have no idea," I said, truthfully as it turned out. I had no idea what they'd done with my stuff, including the Rock that had once been him.

"He's a tricky one," Moody said. "Was clever during the last war. Too clever if you ask me... much like certain other people."

"I'm good at not dying," I said. "Whether that makes me clever or not is up for discussion."

Moody leaned forward.

"You think other Wizards haven't thought of using muggle explosives before?" he asked. "Some of us saw the muggle world wars... we saw what mustard gas and bombs do to people. Not all of us hid in the

countryside when the bombs started to fall during the blitz. Some of us fought back."

"So why didn't you take care of Hitler, then?" I asked.

"We were busy with Grindlewald, and Hitler had his own Wizards," Moody said. "We tell Wizards that the reason that we don't help muggles with magic is because they'd expect us to solve all their problems for them, but that's not it at all."

"Why, then?"

"Because the things Wizards and muggles could come up with working together could destroy the world."

I frowned.

"I'm not sure I see how," I said.

"Try that trick of yours on a bigger one... like the ones the muggles dropped on Japan," he said. "Use a spell to replicate whatever hell-stuff those things use for power. The Department of Mysteries has a division devoted to thinking about just what might be done, and about how to stop it before it becomes a problem."

"It'll happen eventually," I said. "I'm sure every Wizarding government isn't as stable as the one here."

We stared at each other for a moment and then we both chuckled.

"If you start doing things like this, eventually the Death Eaters will be forced to reciprocate by doing similar things. That is a line that none of us want crossed because it means that the death toll will go far higher."

They didn't want me to start an arms race. That meant that I'd have to be more careful about my methods being discovered. I'd been sloppy leaving the impenetrable barrel; I should have found a way to have it destroy itself, or at least positioned it so that it flew up like a rocket and maybe into the lake.

"I could have you picked up for this," Moody said. "But we've already held you up as a hero of the realm. The official word will be that Sirius Black blew the shack up in a disagreement with the Death Eaters."

"And if Black is innocent?" I asked.

"Then he had a heroic disagreement with the Death Eaters," Moody said. "We'll cover up your injuries ; you were discovered by house elves and brought here last night, and no student has been allowed in the infirmary."

I nodded.

"You've got the weight of the entire muggleborn movement on your shoulders," Moody said. "And the Ministry is invested in making you look good. But there's a limit past which I won't be able to look the other way. This isn't Umbridge's administration."

The fact that they were letting me off made me think a little less of Bones, whatever the political considerations. Still, I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Well, I'll do my best to not get caught doing anything you'd have to arrest me for," I said.

"Do you think this is funny girl?" he asked, taking a step toward me.

"I mean what I say," I said. "And I honestly don't like having to do things that are morally gray."

"Gray," he said. He chuckled. "I think you left black behind the first day you stepped into this school."

"Protecting myself and other people isn't black," I said. "I've seen black. Black is why I'm here... you think any of this would have happened if they hadn't done what they did?"

"Dark magics wound the soul," Moody said. "And so does murder. The sad thing is that the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Maybe it's because you have less of a soul left each time you do it."

"You've killed people, Mr. Moody," I said.

"I've regretted every time I've had to do it," he said. "Somehow I suspect that you don't."

"Imagine that you could have killed Hitler," I said. "Maybe not as a baby, but later, before he became dangerous. Or Grindlewlkd, or Voldemort, or any of them... wouldn't you take that chance?"

"What would give me the right?" Moody asked.

"The people I've been fighting are already dangerous. They've already killed children, murdered families. These people aren't Grindlewald as a baby... they are Grindlwald, just dumber."

"He's going to come after you himself one of these days," Moody said. "And when he does, all your tricks won't save you."

"I plan to face him eventually," I said. "As good a Wizard as he may be, he'll die just like anyone else."

"Don't be so sure," Moody said. "There are rumors that he's found a way to make himself immortal. There's nothing definite yet, but Death Eaters we've interrogated seem to believe it."

"There's ways to deal with immortals too," I said. "Things worse than death."

I'd seen some of them. Gray Boy's victims alone would create a lifetime's worth of nightmares. There were other things I could think of as well that would make an immortal impotent while keeping the rest of the world safe.

Moody stared at me for a long moment.

"You really believe that," he said.

"I know it,' I said.

"There are a lot of things about you that don't add up," Moody said. "The things you know..."

"I'm a seer," I said. "And I read a lot."

"You have practical knowledge," he said. "Not the kind of things that a child would know from reading a manual."

"Maybe I was trained from infancy to be a child soldier and secret agent by muggles," I said. "Or maybe I have the memories of a past life as a soldier. It could be that I'm not actually a child at all, but a boggart made flesh. I've heard all the rumors, Mr. Moody, and I'm not interested in creating more."

"You could tell the truth," he said.

"In this world?" I asked. "I need every advantage that I can just to stay alive. Contrary to what some of the kids here seem to think, I'm hanging by the skin of my teeth. One mistake, with a flash of green and its all over for me."

"You've seen the killing curse," he said.

"I've fought Death Eaters," I said. "And I'm not sure they even know any other spells. I've never cast it myself, of course."

"Not that you'd tell me if you had."

"You have my wands," I said.

"Death Eater wands go missing every time you kill a few," he said. "And I didn't find any in your room. You have to have a stash of them some place."

"I don't use that spell," I said. "Not that I don't have the motivation, but I have no interest in going to Azkaban just yet."

"Just yet?"

"I'd have to seriously reconsider my alliance with a Ministry that sent me there," I said. "And right now I'm busy fighting the Death Eaters."

"And if you should finish fighting the Death Eaters?"

"It depends on how things are run," I said. "I sincerely hope that the Ministry works towards the causes of justice and fairness for everybody. If that happens, I suspect that I'll retire. I might become an auror or auror trainer."

"And if the Ministry doesn't meet up to your high standards?"

"Depends on how bad it is. If it's just a little bad, then I'll work to replace the problematic politicians with better ones. I think my friend Hermione Granger would make an excellent Minister for Magic when the time is right."

"And if the transgressions are worse than that?"

"I don't think we'll have any problems with Madam Bones," I said. "I'm pleased with her performance. Should another Umbridge come into power, I'd have to seriously reconsider my position."

"So you're telling me that you'll rebel against the government."

"I didn't say that," I said. "I'm just saying that I'm happy with the current government and would be unhappy having to fight a war on two fronts."

Moody shook his head.

"A year ago I'd have had a child speaking like you sent to St. Mungos. I'm still not entirely sure I shouldn't, but I don't want to have them to deal with a Death Eater attack that will doubtlessly end up with a wing being destroyed and innocent people being hurt."

I shrugged.

"I have a right to defend myself."

"But you don;'t have a right to kill or involve innocent people," Moody said. "That's beyond the bounds."

"There are no innocents in this war," I said. "Except possibly children too young to go to Hogwarts. Do you think the Death Eaters will let anyone remain neutral? Everyone able to lift a wand is involved whether they like it or not. All pretending to be neutral means is that you are stepping aside to allow the Death Eaters to do whatever atrocities they can manage."

"Or letting an insane young girl continue to escalate?" Moody asked quietly. "You haven't killed any innocents yet, but if that changes, I won't be able to justify not putting you away. My gut screams at me that you should be in a locked cell somewhere that you can't infect people with your ideas."

"Ideas are the most dangerous thing," I said. "But the people screaming the loudest against change are usually the ones most deeply in the wrong."

"You asked why we didn't stop Hitler," Moody said. "There were seers who predicted his rise, but we didn't think it was any of our business. When I look at you, I see a charismatic fool with radical ideas who believes that only she is in the right. You've got seventh years following you in the second year. Even You-Know-Who didn't rise so quickly. You talk casually about overthrowing the government at the age of twelve. At the age of twenty one do you think it won't be more alluring? If I live that long, people may be asking me why I didn't stop you know."

"Because I'm like a lightning rod," I said. "All the horrors that are happening to me would be directed at the Ministry or at the voters if I was gone. I'm useful for right now, which is why your bosses want me around."

"If you were a real twelve year old you wouldn't know that," he said. He turned and headed for the door. Without turning back toward me, he said,"No more explosives, or it won't matter how useful you are."