Neville couldn't decide if he or Susan was more nervous about the deputies' meeting. Malfoy seemed as upset as he'd ever been, but Susan had said they'd be okay, since Cedric was sure to be there.

Sure enough, Cedric, the Weasley twins, Ginny, and Luna were there. Cedric and Ginny had managed to hex their classmates, Fred and George had used dungbombs, and Luna claimed to have achieved victory using "a complicated strategy of smargle-norfing."

Standing by Malfoy, less uniformly but perhaps a bit more intimidating than Crabbe and Goyle, were Flora and Hestia Carrow.

Nearby, but standing apart from both crowds, Zacharias Smith and Melinda Bobbin stood and exchanged nervous glances.

Moments later Lily arrivwed, and the silent tension brook.

"Imagine you needed to retrieve an artifact from the bottom of the Black Lake." She immediately began, with an expectancy of respect that would have done Minerva proud.

"Mister Diggory, how would you use charms to help?"

"A bubblehead charm would do nicely to allow breath underwater." Cedric replied instantly with confidence.

"Miss Carrow, Hestia, how would you use potions?"

She thought. "A potion of water-breathing is obvious. A potion of invisibility might help avoid grindylows and merfolk. The draught of living death might allow you to drop to the depths unnoticed."

"Ten points for Slytherin, for creativity. Your suggestions, however, are all useless. A bubble-head charm will outperform a potion of water breathing, and the merfolk are aggressive toward disturbances in the water, not visible, living disturbances. Mister Smith, transfiguration."

"Hm? Uh." Zacharias seemed dumbfounded.

"Mister Smith?"

"I guess if you had an animagus form of a shark or a fish... not much use to US, though..."

"Corrected and incorrect Mister Smith. Animagus forms can be quite useful. They are NOT, as you all currently believe, outside the reach of Hogwarts students. However, one does not have much control over one's form, again limiting their usefulness. A partial animagus potion could be quite effective, however." Lily paused.

"What else could be used?"

Hermione's hand shot up first, and Neville felt his own hand slowly raise. Cedric's also rose. Fred and George snorted.

"Misters Weasley? Mind telling use what's so funny?"

"Ahem." Said George.

"Well dungbombs, the thing is that..." Fred continued.

"Underwater they don't disperse the same." George concluded.

"Anythig smoke-based, really." Fred added.

"Ten points to Gryffindor. Mister Diggory?"

"Stunning hexes, shield charms, and water jets would be standard."

"Ten to Hufflepuff. Mister Longbottom's hand is still up, yes?"

"Yes ma'am." Neville swallowed as all eyes turned to him. "Gillyweed."

"Gillyweed? What of it?" Lily smiled slightly as she asked. A gentler, more knowing smile than usual, he thought.

"Well, it would be better for swimming than a bubble-head charm, and easier to make than a potion."

"So it would. Ten points to Gryffindor." Nerville drooped with relief.

"Now Miss Granger, if you'll wrap it all up."

Hermione blushed slightly, but it didn't stop her from going off in her classic dictionary style. Neville couldn't hear any of it, his head was still pounding from feeling like he was doing well in a class.

And Hermione finished, as usual, with a question.

"Did you say earlier that Hogwarts students could become animagi? I thought that the yougnest animagus on record was Randall Fleming at age 18 in 1971?"

Lily Potter did not respond with words, not immediately.

What she responded with was the fastest transition Neville had ever seen from an impression of MacGonagall crossed with Snape to an impression of both Weasley twins, Lee Jordan, and Dumbledore, rolled into one gleefully mischievous ubermensch.

"Now's the time to ask..." Lily began. "Why do you think I've brought you all here today?"