I kept an eye on the Goblet on and off over the next day; I had a sneaking worry that someone might try to put my name in the cup and I wanted to forego that.

Having my name not disintegrate when it entered the cup would be tantamount to an admission that I was already an adult. Furthermore, being involved in the Tournament would increase the opposition's chances to come at me.

I'd have expected Karkarov to try it, but I kept a close eye on him and all of his students. He put twelve names into the Goblet, matching the twelve students that he had.

Reading all the names hadn't been possible, and if he'd been willing to sacrifice one of his less capable students, he could have easily put my name in the cup.

Still, I wasn't able to watch it every second of every day. I slept, after all, and the middle of the night would have been the best time to put a name in.

The Halloween feast began almost before I knew it.

I'd have enjoyed it more if there wasn't the lingering worry about who was going to be chosen for the cup. I couldn't help but have a nagging feeling that the whole thing was a setup.

Everyone kept watching the Goblet, which had been placed in the center of the professor's table, almost as though they expected it to randomly start spewing out names at any moment.

The feast dragged on until finally the food was dismissed with a gesture, and Rowle stood up.

"The twenty four hours are almost up," he said. "When the Goblet reveals the champions' names, I would ask them to come up to the head table, turn, and head into the next chamber, where they will receive further instructions."

There was an excited chatter from the crowd that died down as Rowle spoke again.

He gestured, and all the lights except those in the pumpkins went out, leaving us in semi-darkness. I carefully aimed my wand at the Durmstrang student nearest to me, just in case he tried something.

The blue fire of the Goblet had everyone's attention; I kept careful watch that no one tried anything while the crowd was distracted. I saw that Moody was watching the crowd carefully too, his eyes scanning back and forth.

There were eight aurors in the room, two at each corner. One was Tonks, who noticed me watching her and gave me a small smile.

The fire changed color to red.

Rowle plucked the charred paper out of the air and looked at it, quickly turning and handing it to the other two Headmasters in turn. Once they'd nodded, he turned and said, "The champion for Durmstrang is Alek Wronski."

I could hear the Durmstrang boys muttering under their breath as Alek rose to his feet and sauntered toward the head table. He seemed to enjoy the attention, even though the crowd was mostly silent. No one knew him, despite his uncle's fame. It didn't seem to bother him, though.

A second piece of paper, and a second verdict.

"The champion of Beauxbatons is Elena Marchand," he announced finally.

A beautiful blonde girl rose to her feet. She'd barely talked to any of the Hogwarts students, preferring to spend all of her time with her classmates.

She walked gracefully, and it looked as though her head hardly moved even when she walked.

She didn't look at any of us, and she quickly vanished through the back door. The other girls seemed to take their loss in better humor than the boys from Durmstrang, although some of them looked as though they wanted to cry.

The Goblet lit up a final time.

"The champion for Hogwarts is Edmund Walker," he said.

Everyone grew silent.

Edmund had grown out of being overweight over the summer; apparently he'd been taking training very seriously. I wouldn't have thought he'd have been old enough, but he hadn't started school until late, possibly because of his birthday.

Furthermore, my suggestion that he pretend to date an older girl had seemingly led to social opportunities. He was now a lot more confident than he'd been last year, even if his tastes were still on the feminine side.

The fact that the Goblet had chosen him of all the applicants was impressive. Had he gotten that much better over the summer?

He rose to his feet, and the Gryffindor table erupted in cheers. The muggleborn at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables cheered as well.

Me and Millie were the only Slytherins who cheered; there were a lot of sour looks at our table for some reason. Presumably some of them had hoped that I'd get selected despite my age.

I thought for a moment that the Goblet started to flare again, but Rowle vanished it so quickly that I couldn't be sure.

Everyone seemed reasonably pleased with the turn of events, and the banquet was over. Everyone around me was chattering about the results, even as I listened in on what was happening in the other room.

There was an exchange of pleasantries, and a basic recitation of what was expected of each champion. Apparently there was no backing out now that they'd been accepted.

Edmund seemed confident, and I planned to do what I could to help him through the next few tasks; not because I cared anything about glory, but because I wanted to keep him alive, and because a thousand galleons sounded like it might be useful.

It wasn't necessary, really. The car repair business we were running through a squib probably made that much profit every two or three months. Unfortunately, our expenses were even higher than our income some months.

Potion ingredients were expensive, after all.

It was possible that he might want to keep the money for himself, but I didn't think so. Edmund was more of a team player than that, and he was deeply concerned about the fate of his friends.

I was so interested in listening to the nothing that was going on with the champions that I almost missed Draco pulling Hermione into an alcove.

"You want me to what?" Hermione asked, scandalized.

"Let me curse you," he said, as though what he was saying was reasonable.

"Taylor would kill you," she said, and from the look on both of their faces, they both believed it.

"Not if she agreed to it beforehand," he said. He saw me and gestured me over.

"Why do you want to curse Hermione?" I asked tiredly.

"The Headmaster of Durmstrang is a former Death Eater," he said. He must have seen my lack of surprise, because he followed with, "And the boys from Durmstrang are not in favor of the muggleborn."

"You want me to let you curse me so that you can make Quidditch buddies?" Hermione asked.

"I'll cast a teeth growing charm," he said. "In front of some of them. That way I'd get their trust and be able to ask them about their master."

Hermione shook her head.

"Taylor already knows everything anybody says in this castle. What can you possible think to gain from..."

"When you go to the infirmary, you don't have to be truthful when they start to shrink your teeth," he said.

Hermione frowned.

"I've heard your parents are muggle teeth healers," he said. "Why haven't they taken care of...?"

"They wanted to wait until my teeth were fully grown before... what do you mean, lie?"

"It's a permanent change, the teeth shrinking," he said. "I heard Ron Weasley making fun of your teeth the other day."

I was fairly sure he was lying, but Hermione flushed and she looked angry. "It's none of his business what I look like."

"You're a Ravenclaw," Draco said. "So your brain is your primary interest. But you're a girl too. If there was a spell to make you taller, there are guys who'd happily take a curse."

"So you get a reputation with the Durmstrang kids," I said. "And Hermione gets a makeover. Won't they expect retribution from me?"

He nodded and sighed.

"It'll have to be gruesome, too. I'd prefer something that's less painful than it looks."

Hermione stared at him as though he'd gone crazy, and maybe he had. What she didn't know was that he was serving Voldemort. Presumably he'd been told to get close to Karkaroff's students, even if it cost him.

What he'd been threatened with I didn't know, but there was a strained look about him; a tension in the way he held himself that suggested that this was important.

"I've got my reputation to maintain as well," I said mildly.

He nodded miserably.

I glanced at Hermione, who looked confused. Finally, I nodded. "If she's up for it, we can arrange for it to happen tomorrow. You should know that if you do more damage to her than you say, I will of course make your punishment ten times as bad as whatever you do to her."

"So don't kill her," he said.

"Right," I said. "I'd hate to have to kill your entire family."

He paled and then nodded.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked as he rushed away. "Why did you say yes?"

We were in an area without portraits; presumably Draco had been careful in where he made the proposition.

"Draco's under pressure from his family," I said. "He has to get results, or bad things will happen."

"His father wouldn't...?"

I shook my head.

"His father's boss," I said. "They're holding his family hostage."

It took her a moment, but she got it.

"How can you trust him?"

"I don't," I said. "But he's the one Slytherin I know who has actually tried to get better, and I want to encourage that."

"What about Millie?" she asked. "Or Tracey?"

"They weren't ever all that bad," I said. "It's incredibly hard to overcome racism that you've been raised with your entire life. I doubt that he's nearly as moderate as he pretends to be, but at least he's tried to get better."

She frowned, then nodded.

"It'll take people like him if things are ever going to change," I said. "People who are willing to go against their upbringing."

"So you think I should do it?"

"Well, it might shut Ron up," I said, lying.

It was a lie both because I doubted Ron had said anything about her hair, and also because I doubted that anything would shut her up.

"I'm going to have to think of some adequate punishments bad enough to impress the Durmstrang students, but not as bad as I usually do," I said.

Hermione smiled fleetingly, although she looked as though she was still processing the revelation about Draco.

"I could help you with that," she said.

By the next day, we had it arranged.

Hermione wandered down to the lake; normally we avoided going outside due to possible Death Eater attacks, but the Durmstrang students didn't know that.

I was alert, of course to the possibility that Draco might be trying to set us up for just such an attack, even if he didn't know it himself. He was a decent occlumens, so I wouldn't know.

As a precaution, I had ten disillusioned upper years waiting around us, and I was disillusioned as well.

"Why are the muggleborn allowed to walk around?" I heard one of the boys sniff. "They are like vermin."

While I doubted that most Durmstrang students held similar views, if Karkaroff was going to use these kids to attack me, he needed to recruit the worst of the worst. He didn't need anyone who was likely to have moral qualms about attacking a muggleborn.

"Back off," Hermione said. "I have as much of a right to walk here as you do."

"That's what you think, mudblood," Draco said. He smirked at her shocked gasp. "You think that just because your precious Taylor has commanded it that I won't call you what you are?"

"You'll regret saying that," she said.

There were six hulking Durmstrang boys and Draco, who seemed tiny beside them. Hermione was smaller than any of them.

"Who will make us?" one of the boys asked. I didn't see Alek there; these were the boys who didn't make the cut. "Our Headmaster doesn't like your kind any more than you do."

Draco lifted his wand, and Hermione's snapped up as well.

Unfortunately, his wasn't the only wand to rise. I snapped into motion, but it didn't matter. Hermione stunned two of the boys in quick succession.

I hit the other four from behind, paralyzing all of them.

Hermione stopped just long enough to allow herself to be hit with the tooth enlarging spell.

Her teeth began growing at a rapid rate.

She stunned Draco before she could no longer speak. It was really an effective spell; I supposed that you could kill someone if their teeth were allowed to grow too large.

"Get to the infirmary," I said. I looked over the boys.

I'd only intended to punish Draco; punishing the boys could lead o an international incident. On the other hand, if it meant that they'd be likely to hesitate before attacking me, it might be worth it.

I levitated all of them over the water.

Draco was the first to wake. I cast a bubble head charm on him, then disillusioned the effects of the charm, but not his head. That was a neat piece of spell work, and I was pleased with myself. I leaned forward.

"Struggle," I whispered in his ear, "Or I'll give you the same as I give them."

I waited until the others woke.

They were all floating upside down over the side of the lake.

"What are you doing, you crazy bitch!" asked one of the boys.

I gestured with my wand, and I dunked his head in the water. He was still paralyzed, and so he couldn't even try to lift his head out of the water.

He struggled in the water, and the others stared in horrified silence.

I left him in for more than a minute before finally pulling him out of the water.

"I protect the muggleborn in this castle," I said. "And frankly, the purebloods too. When people try to attack the people close to me, I don't particularly care for it."

"We didn't..." one boy said. "She lied."

"I'm a Seer," I said. "I know everything around here. I especially don't like it when people lie to me."

I stared into the eyes of the boy who had just spoken and I pushed into his mind. He screamed; I wasn't being particularly subtle.

"Your Headmaster wanted you to poison me," I said. "Blaming the house elves. That's not going to happen."

He paled, and then I dunked him in the water.

As he struggled, I delved into the next mind.

One by one they screamed and they were dunked. I saved Draco for last.

I stared into his eye; he hesitated a microsecond and then started screaming and writhing. I dunked him in the water longer than I had the others; he struggled dramatically.

One minute, two minutes. After three minutes his struggles slowed. He could breathe, of course, due to the bubblehead charm, but he was a decent enough actor to sell it.

I dismissed the charm a moment before pulling him up.

He was gasping and heaving up water.

"Ossio Dispersimus," I said.

The bones in his right forearm vanished, and his arm suddenly flopped uselessly.

"Ossio Dispersimus," I said again. The bones in his left forearm vanished.

"Ossio Dispersimus," I said, vanishing the bones in his right leg.

I walked up to him, and pointed my wand at his skull.

"If I vanish your skull, I wonder what would happen to you?" I said in a sing song voice. I poked his head with a finger. "Just doing that would cause brain damage."

"Miss Hebert," I heard Snape's voice from behind me. "Kindly tell me why you have six students from another school and Mr. Malfoy hanging over the lake?"

"It looked like a good day for a swim," I said. "So they jumped in."

"They seem to be dry up to the neck," he said.

I shrugged.

"It's magic, I think," I said. "But I'm afraid someone has cursed Mr. Malfoy and he needs to go to the infirmary."

He stared at me.

He was aware of Malfoy's mission; I'd overheard him having veiled conversations with him. He knew I could hear everything within the castle, and he wouldn't have talked about anything he didn't want me to know.

I gave him a cheeky smile.

He nodded slightly, and then said, "Whatever they were doing was foolish. I'll have words with their headmaster. In the meantime, please put them down."

I heard words of angry protest from the boys, but I turned and looked at them and they quieted quickly.

As I gestured, and the boys one by one returned to shore to be dumped on their heads, Snape looked confused.

It was likely that he didn't know a spell to levitate six people at once.

The fact that I wasn't actually levitating any of them, only letting the invisible members of my party know through gestures of my wand like a conductor wasn't something that I intended to let anyone know. It was good to develop a mysterious reputation.

As the last of them staggered to their feet, while Draco remained lying on the grass, I said, "I suppose the boys in Durmstrang have a habit of swimming in cold waters."

"Much more likely than a muggleborn girl getting the best of them?" Snape asked me, with an eye raised.

"Yes," I said. "Something like that would be humiliating. Besides, a little swim isn't nearly as bad as other things they might have ended up doing."

"Things like Mr. Malfoy here?"

I shook my head.

"I actually like Mr. Malfoy," I said. "Whoever did this was clearly going easy on him."

"Oh?" Snape asked.

"Well, did you know it's possible to survive the entrail exploding spell?" I asked. "Having your guts on the outside leaves all sorts of possibilities, don't you think?"

He frowned.

"Artistic possibilities," I explained.

All of them paled, Draco most of all.

Snape didn't, but he looked a little repulsed. It was a tantamount admission that I was the person who'd decorated Hogsmeade, but I doubted he'd turn me in.

"Please try not to be creative for the next few months," he said. He glanced at the boys. "And I would remind you that in a foreign country not all is as it seems. It would seem your Headmaster has been remiss in teaching you to avoid common dangers. Miss Hebert is the foremost of them."

He pointed at one of the boys.

"Take Mr. Malfoy to the infirmary. If you cannot find it, ask one of the paintings for direction."

After they all left, Snape turned to me.

"You play a dangerous game," he said.

"Kararoff wants me dead," I said. "I thought he might use his students. I wanted to make that a little harder."

"You won't be of use to anyone if you are dead," he said. "And even an idiot can get lucky."

I nodded.

"I've got people watching my back," I said.

I gestured, and five of my people appeared. He looked startled.

Of course, he didn't know that five more were still disillusioned. After all, I'd learned my lesson well.

Trust no one.