This story is slowly becoming just like a side project of mine, since my main focus right now is on my other Avatar fics but I wanted to get this chapter in now. Let me know what you guys are thinking of the story so far if you're actually reading it.

Magical Revenge

With Christmas break coming closer and closer, Abby was running out of time to prepare herself for when Merula inevitably challenged her again. Rowan had been distracting her by taking her out to the snow every chance that she got. One thing that Abby realised about the snow was that as much as she loved the cold, she didn't like the snow. Abby would much rather be inside around a nice, warm fire while drinking some hot chocolate than playing in the snow.

In that time, Abby also tried learning as much as she could so that she was prepared to face Merula. They still had the duelling book in their possession, which Abby had been reviewing as she taught herself the tickling charm. Abby and Rowan were the only ones in their dorm room as Abby taught herself the spell, and she was now confident that she could use it on anyone to send them into a fit of giggles.

"Do you think you've got it?" Rowan asked.

"I think so," Abby nodded.

"Then let's see it on me," Rowan said excitedly.

"Are you sure?" Abby checked.

"Of course. You've gotta practise it on someone," Rowan encouraged her.

Since Rowan had told her she could, Abby gave her wand a flick as she cast Rictusempra on Rowan. Within seconds Rowan was in a fit of giggles and was finding it impossible to control the magically enforced laughter.

"I can't stop laughing!" Rowan cried with laughter.

"This would be so much better if it was used on Merula," Abby remarked.

"I can't wait to see you use it on her in a duel," Rowan said between laughs.

"Let's go down and see if we can find Felix," Abby suggested.

"As soon as I stop laughing," Rowan replied.

Once the magically enforced laughter had stopped, Rowan followed after Abby as they went off to search for Felix. He had told them to meet him in the courtyard once they had learned some decent spells and were ready to face him, which Abby was confident for.

"There you are," Felix greeted them as they found him alone. "Did you learn any good spells?"

"I learned Rictusempra and Expelliarmus," Abby replied.

"The Tickling Charm and the Disarming Charm? I'm impressed," Felix remarked. "But the best way to teach you both how to duel is have you duel each other."

"Are you okay with this, Rowan?" Abby turned to her.

"What if I get hurt?" Rowan asked.

"I don't want you guys getting hurt either, but that's apart of learning how to duel. Now, let's get started," Felix stated.

"Let's do this then," Rowan proclaimed.

Taking out their wands, Abby and Rowan prepared themselves to duel. Abby first hit Rowan with a sneaky attack and cast Rictusempra on her before hitting her with the Disarming Charm. Rowan managed to sneak in the Tickling Charm as well, but Abby was able to finish her off with Flipendo, which she had also managed to teach herself to catch up with Merula.

"Flipendo!" Abby chanted.

Rowan fell to the ground with a thud, and it was clear that Abby had been victorious. Once Abby checked to see if she was okay, they turned to face Felix to see what he had to say next.

"Well done," Felix praised them. "Now you'll both be able to defend yourselves and properly represent Slytherin."

"And once I'm ready, I'll be able to put Merula in her place," Abby smirked.

"You're already representing Slytherin well with our trademark smirk," Felix remarked.

"This was something I grew up with," Abby replied. She had gotten the smirk from Jacob, something that he always did whenever he got into trouble.

"Well, I'll leave you guys to prepare yourselves for what's next. If you need me again, just come to me," Felix said before walking off.

"What do we do now?" Rowan asked.

"Now, we wait for the perfect opportunity to put Merula in her place. If I'm going to do it, I want to do it for others to see that she's not all that," Abby replied.

That was exactly what Abby did, since she spent the next few days waiting patiently for the right moment to strike against Merula. It wasn't long before an opportunity presented itself after word had spread of a conflict in the courtyard, with Merula as the instigator.

"What's going on, Rowan?" Abby asked as she approached the commotion.

"Merula keeps threatening Ben Cooper. He's trying to get away, but she won't let him go," Rowan explained.

"You're an embarrassment to everyone in our year!" Merula yelled as she held out her wand.

"Just leave me alone," Ben pleaded.

"Disgusting Mudbloods like you shouldn't be allowed at Hogwarts!" Merula seethed. "Leave the magic to real witches and wizards."

"That's enough, Merula!" Abby yelled as she stood in between. "If you want to fight anyone, then fight me!"

"You never learn do you, Selwyn? Why don't you just be like your brother and disappear?" Merula taunted.

"You're the one who everyone wishes would disappear," Abby remarked.

"Make me," Merula growled.

"You asked for it," Abby shrugged as she pulled out her wand and cast the first spell. "Rictusempra!"

"Ha-ha! The Tickling Charm? You'll ha-ha have to do better than that!" Merula said between laughter.

After regaining control of herself, Merula was quick to cast Flipendo against Abby. Rowan called for Abby to be careful, and Abby declared that she wouldn't let Merula hurt anyone else. That sparked another duel between Abby and Merula except this time, they were far more evenly matched.

To start herself off, Abby drank a Wiggenweld Potion to give her an advantage against Merula, who counteracted with Flipendo. Their duel ensued as Abby cast Rictusempra against her and added Flipendo as well. She found it strangely satisfying to see the flustered look on Merula's face as she stood her ground. Despite Merula's best effort, Abby was able to make her mark before she finished her off with Expelliarmus.

"Expelliarmus? That's not fair! How did you learn that spell already?" Merula demanded.

"Great job, Abby!" Rowan cheered from the crowd.

"You can't be better than me! Nobody can be better than me!" Merula exclaimed.

"I beat you fair and square, Merula," Abby crossed her arms. "Now apologise to Ben and stop being such a cow."

"I'll never apologise to you losers and Mudbloods! I'm Merula Snyde, fourth generation Slytherin and the greatest witch at Hogwarts! I do what I want when I want!" Merula declared.

As Merula ranted, the colour drained from Abby's face as she spotted Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick approaching them. The chances were that they had seen what just happened and now, they were about to get punished for it.

"Ahem," Snape interrupted Merula's rant.

"P-professor Snape!" Merula exclaimed as she backed away.

"I'm assuming that this is your fault, Selwyn. Are you not aware of Hogwarts policies regarding duelling?" Snape said.

"Yes…" Abby trailed off.

"Did you cast the first spell in the duel, Abby?" Flitwick asked.

"I only did it because Merula was bullying everyone. Somebody had to stand up to her," Abby replied.

"I warned you, Miss Selwyn. There will be dire consequences for your actions," Flitwick stated.

"And I wonder where she learned the Disarming Charm," Snape glanced at Flitwick. "Clean yourselves up, and see me in the West Towers to face the consequences of your actions, Selwyn."

Snape and Flitwick walked away, with Merula following them as she gave Abby a smirk. The crowd started to disperse, leaving just Abby, Rowan and Ben behind.

"Are you okay, Ben?" Abby asked.

"I'm fine, thanks to you, Abby," Ben murmured.

"Now I've got to go and get yelled at even more. And of course, Merula walked away with no punishment," Abby groaned.

"At least you stood up to her. You were great," Rowan smiled.

"Thanks," Abby said.

Not wanting to get into anymore trouble than she was already in, Abby headed off to the West Towers to face whatever punishment was install for her. As Abby was walking down, she spotted the popular Hufflepuff, Penny Heywood, standing there. To Abby's surprise, Penny went to approach her.

"Hello, Abby Selwyn," Penny greeted her.

"You know who I am?" Abby asked.

"Does that surprise you?" Penny questioned.

"Yeah, I mean, you're Penny Heywood, the most popular girl in our year, and I'm… not exactly popular," Abby mumbled.

"I disagree, Abby. Everyone is talking about the hero who was brave enough to stand up to the bullying of Merula Snyde. Not to mention all of the rumours surrounding your brother…" Penny said.

"Did you want something?" Abby wondered.

"I wanted to say thank you. Hogwarts is supposed to be fun, but Merula was making it miserable. I especially appreciate how you used your wits to stop her from bullying Ben Cooper," Penny smiled.

"Someone had to do something," Abby stated.

"I agree, but you were the one who did. I hope that Professor Snape doesn't punish you for just doing what is right," Penny said.

"You and me both," Abby muttered.

"Let me know if there's anything I can help you with, Abby. It's safe to say I know what word goes around Hogwarts and I'd have to say I'm pretty good at potions too," Penny grinned.

"I'll remember that. Thanks, Penny," Abby replied.

"Thanks again, Abby. I'll see you around," Penny smiled again before walking off.

Up ahead, Abby noticed Merula and Professor Snape standing together. That was a surprise to her, since she had thought that Merula had gotten off without getting into trouble. Based on the look that Snape was giving her, that wasn't the case.

"Now that Miss Selwyn is here, we can discuss your punishment," Snape said once she arrived. "Expulsion seems to be the most logical option."

"I had nothing to do with it, Professor. I was only defending myself after this nutcase attacked me," Merula argued.

"Everyone saw you cast the first spell, Miss Snyde. This, however, does not excuse Selwyn's behaviour…" Snape trailed off. "Since you arrived, you have fought in the corridor, made a mess of my classroom, and duelled on school grounds. This, after the damage your brother did to Hogwarts. Why shouldn't you receive the harshest punishment for your actions, Selwyn?"

"I was standing up for my friends. I didn't do anything wrong," Abby replied.

"Attacking a student with your wand is against school rules. You quite literally did do something wrong. Twenty points from Slytherin," Snape scolded her. "As I said, expulsion is the logical punishment for duelling on school grounds. Unfortunately, our Headmaster is illogical, and believes that expulsion is unfair in this case. If either of you is caught are ever caught duelling on school grounds again, I can assure you that you will not be so lucky."

As soon as Snape said that, Abby spotted Mr Filch approaching them. Abby knew that Mr Filch wasn't exactly the nicest person at Hogwarts, and she had been fortunate enough to not have crossed paths with him yet.

"What is it, Mr Filch?" Snape asked.

"Professor Snape, you must come with me right away. It's about… the vaults," Filch replied.

Snape turned back to face them, "Return to the Slytherin Common Room immediately."

A dozen questions instantly went through Abby's mind. Did Filch just say the vaults? Was he referring to the same vaults that Jacob was searching for? If so, then why was he talking about them?

"They must be talking about the vaults!" Merula exclaimed once they walked away.

"What could she know about the Cursed Vaults? Maybe I should follow her…" Abby murmured.

This wasn't what Abby had wanted to do. She hadn't wanted to get involved in the mess that Jacob did. But if Merula was involved, that couldn't be good. Abby had to make sure that she wasn't up to no good.

So against her better judgement, she followed Merula down the corridor. Abby found her listening to Filch and Snape's conversation, which she also decided to listen in on as well.

"Get out of here," Merula hissed.

"How about you be quiet?" Abby muttered.

Surprisingly, Merula didn't have any snide comment in response to that. Instead, they just sat there and carefully listened to the conversation. Filch and Snape were standing beside some door, a door with ice all around it.

"Who else knows about this?" Snape asked.

"Only me and Mrs Norris saw the ice, sir. Was going to report the incident to the Headmaster, I was," Filch replied.

"I will inform Professor Dumbledore," Snape stated. "This may have to do with the Selwyn situation."

"Is it true that the vaults are filled with gold and powerful prophecies and artefacts from before Hogwarts existed? And that's why the Selwyn boy lost his mind trying to find them?" Filch queried.

"Don't worry about what's inside the vaults. Worry about keeping everyone out. Look this door, and keep it guarded," Snape ordered.

More questions went through Abby's mind. What was the Selwyn situation? Obviously it was referring to her brother, but Abby wanted to know what exactly it was referring to.

"What is the Selwyn situation?" Abby wondered out loud.

"Who cares? This is another clue to the Cursed Vaults," Merula smirked.

"You think the Cursed Vaults are real? And you're trying to find them?" Abby narrowed her eyes. "You always call my brother mad for doing the exact same thing."

"Even if I cared to explain myself to an idiot, I wouldn't do it here, and risk getting caught by two of the meanest people at Hogwarts," Merula replied.

In saying that, Merula walked off and Abby figured that she might as well do the same. At the same time, Abby couldn't help but think about the conversation that Filch and Snape just had. It had left her with a million questions that she knew would keep her up at night.

~*•°•*~

By the time that Abby had got back to the Slytherin Common Room, Rowan was already asleep so Abby had just went to her own bed as well. Sure enough, Abby was kept up all night with thoughts of Jacob, Merula and the Cursed Vaults. The thoughts from Merula were about why she was so interested in the Cursed Vaults and what on earth was the Selwyn situation. The next morning, Abby found Rowan outside the Great Hall. As soon as Rowan saw Abby, she ran up to her.

"Abby!" Rowan exclaimed as she ran up to her. "What happened? Did you get expelled? Are you alright?"

"I didn't get expelled and I'm completely fine. I just lost Slytherin another twenty points," Abby reassured her. "Although, something strange happened after I got my lecture from Snape."

"What?" Rowan asked.

"Filch came up to him and told him about the vaults. Merula followed them, so I followed as well. They were near this corridor that had ice around it and started talking about the Selwyn situation," Abby explained.

"The Selwyn situation?" Rowan repeated. "What's that?"

"I don't know. I'm assuming that it's referring to my brother. But they were talking about the vaults. Filch started wondering if the treasure inside of it was why Jacob lost his mind," Abby said.

"Do you think that your brother lost his mind?" Rowan wondered.

"To be honest, I don't think that Jacob lost his mind. When he said goodbye to me, he was like how he always was. I think that's just some fabricated story to smear my family's name even more," Abby replied.

"Do you think that this is something we should look into?" Rowan questioned.

"Merula appears to be interested in the vaults as well so maybe we should. Considering what things seem like, maybe we should look into it. Whatever her intentions are, I'm sure that they can't be good," Abby said.

"But we don't even know anything about the Cursed Vaults," Rowan pointed out.

"We should start by investigating the corridor where Filch and Snape were talking. Maybe we could find a clue there," Abby suggested.

"What if we get in trouble?" Rowan asked.

"We won't get in trouble if we don't get caught, which we won't," Abby reassured her.

After some reluctance from Rowan, she and Abby went to investigate the corridor. Luckily for them, they had found it unguarded which meant that they could roam around for as long as they could.

"This is where Snape and Filch were talking…" Abby trailed off.

"I'm starting to have second thoughts, Abby," Rowan admitted. "If Snape told Filch to stay on guard, he'll be back soon. The stories I've heard about how he punishes misbehaving children make Snape look like a pleasant Hufflepuff. Are you sure we should be searching this corridor?"

"I'm sure that Snape would be spewing potions if he heard you say that," Abby remarked. "We'll be fine as long as we hurry, and stay aware of our surroundings."

"Okay, I trust you, Abby," Rowan smiled. "Besides, I don't think I could forgive myself for not taking the opportunity to inspect a forbidden corridor in Hogwarts."

"Wait! Did you hear someone at the end of the corridor?" Abby exclaimed.

"I heard something," Rowan gasped. "Based on my research, there are at least twenty-one different entities that could be roaming the corridors at night, and every one of them is potentially terrifying."

"What should we do, Abby?" Rowan asked.

"Let's just search this place as fast as we can and, hope that whatever it is isn't coming this way," Abby stated.

They did just that and searched the empty corridor. There wasn't really that much to find, since it was just a corridor. But Abby knew from the stories that Jacob had told her that there were many secret passages hidden at Hogwarts. Whenever he came home, Jacob always told her everything about Hogwarts although in hindsight, he hadn't told her absolutely everything since he had failed to mention the Cursed Vaults to her.

The first time that Abby had heard about the Cursed Vaults was when she found out that Jacob had been expelled. It had been spread everywhere that Jacob had gone insane because of the Cursed Vaults, and Abby liked to think that Jacob was somewhere out there and wasn't insane. What was insane was how Abby knew that there was something in this corridor, but she couldn't find it.

"We aren't going to be able to figure out what's really going on unless we get inside that room," Abby stated after they stopped searching.

"An impenetrable lock, a mysterious door, and the constant threat of being caught by Filch. Getting into that room seems impossible, Abby," Rowan remarked.

"I'll find a way, but I'll need your help," Abby said.

Rowan smiled, "I'm always here to help, but –"

"Shh!" Abby interrupted. "Someone's coming!"

"Not someone. Something…" Rowan trailed off.

That 'something' turned about to be a cat. And not just any cat, it was Filch's cat, Mrs Norris. Abby had seen the cat with Filch when he was talking to Snape and she knew that Mrs Norris was its name.

"That's Mrs Norris!" Abby exclaimed.

"She alerts Filch when students are misbehaving on school grounds," Rowan added.

"In that case, we better stop misbehaving," Abby suggested.

As Mrs Norris hissed at them, Abby and Rowan ran off so that they wouldn't get caught. Only once they were sure that they were far away from that corridor and back in the Slytherin Common Room did they stop running.

"I don't think we should go down that corridor again," Rowan whispered.

"At least, until after the Christmas holidays," Abby said.

"You want to go back in there again? Why would you want to risk getting caught?" Rowan hissed.

"Because that doors hiding something, Rowan. I don't know what, but I know that it has something to do with the Cursed Vaults. And Merula seems to want to find them and who knows what she'd do with whatever is inside? Besides, this could help me find out what happened to Jacob," Abby replied.

"I thought that you didn't want to get in trouble at Hogwarts," Rowan pointed out.

"I do, but I can't get in trouble unless I get caught, which I won't," Abby insisted.

"You mean we won't get caught," Rowan wrapped her arm around her.

"Are you sure you want to get involved? This could get dangerous," Abby wondered.

"It could be dangerous, but you're doing it. So, I'll do it as well," Rowan nodded.

"Alright, then," Abby said, feeling glad that she had Rowan's support. Anyone else probably would've called her crazy like her brother, but not Rowan.

"What are we going to do?" Rowan asked.

"For now, we'll just sit back and wait for the Christmas holidays. Then when we come back next year, we'll begin investigating the corridor to see what secrets are hiding behind it," Abby proclaimed.

When she first got to Hogwarts, Abby never wanted to get into trouble like Jacob had, but she'd already gotten into plenty of trouble without even trying. So, Abby saw no point in avoiding the drama with the Cursed Vaults because she'd already found herself in the drama with Jacob. Besides, if Merula was after the Cursed Vaults, Abby knew that it couldn't be for anything good.

And the mystery really begins! I've kind of changed these chapters from how they were originally planned, but I think that sometimes it's better to change things than stick to what's planned. This happens all the time with my writing, since there have been plenty of chapters that I've changed from the original outline. Hope you guys enjoyed this one.