Frisk awoke, staring up at the canopy of the bed, not quite managing to believe what had happened the previous evening. Normally, she didn't get teachers in trouble like that until the end of term. Frisk rolled out of bed, changed from her pajamas to her robes, and headed down the many steps between her bed and food in the great hall.

Not for the first time in her Hogwarts career, she envied both the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. Both of whom had their dormitories on the lower level, and had a much shorter walk to breakfast... probably, anyway. She wasn't actually sure where their common rooms were, but Steve and Opal always went down the grand staircase in the evenings.

Frisk had barely made it down the seven flights of stairs, and taken a seat in the great hall, when Chara tapped her on the shoulder, nodding toward the staff table. It appeared that the fallout of the Headmaster's confiscation of Ms. Umbridge's pen was going to be immediate.

Frisk turned her head, and saw Ms. Umbridge staring down at her, a positively venomous expression on her face. Frisk, not feeling particularly intimidated, looked back up at the staff table with her most determined gaze. When Ms. Umbridge realized that Frisk was looking back at her, she adopted a rather vapid looking smile, though the rest of her face appeared no more pleasant. After a moment, the instructor turned her attention elsewhere.

"Good Morning Fr..." Ginny began, sitting down near her. "Uhm, wait. Why was Umbridge looking at you like that? Frisk, does she know you encouraged Opal to go to the hospital wing? How would she even know that? I can't think Dumbledore would have told her."

"That is a very good question," Frisk admitted. "But I'm not sure I care. She was hurting Opal as a form of punishment. So she can think what she'd like about me. I'm not going to let her stare me down."

"Cheers, Frisk," Ginny said, though Frisk could detect a note of worry in her friend's voice. They ate quietly for a minute or two, as the mail owls covered the room with deliveries of letters, packages, and the occasional newspaper. Each of the Dreemurr children got a letter from home, saying how much they were being missed already.

Frisk swallowed a bit of orange juice, and glanced back at Ms. Umbridge. An idle thought crossed her mind, one that she found she couldn't keep to herself. "You know, though, I can't help but be curious," Frisk said, she kept her voice low, "What would her soul look like?"

As Ginny's eyebrows raised thoughtfully, Asriel choked on his oatmeal. "I do not know, and I do not want to know." He shuddered. "She's hurt people, and that's not good for your soul. It can't be..." Frisk could see Chara's eyes going wide, and nudged her brother under the table, "...not if you keep doing it, anyway," he finished quickly.

"Have you had a chance to look over that book Mom sent you?" Chara asked, eager to change the subject. "The one on soul magic?" she clarified.

"Only a little bit," Frisk admitted. "There's some theory, but mostly it's practical stuff, at least in the first few chapters. It starts with focusing your soul, which I picked up in the underground, and the reading of other people's souls. Then it goes on to cover magical attacks, and shielding from magical attacks, I mean, other people's soul attacks. So... there's not really a lot to read."

"Well, does that mean you would want some partners to study with?" Ginny asked. "I mean, not that I really want an extra subject to study, but this sounds different and fun."

Asriel and Chara both looked enthusiastic about the idea. "Well, okay," Frisk said, nodding. "I'd bet Luna would like to join us as well," Frisk predicted. "She was very good at it the first time she tried it. I can ask Professor McGonagall if we can use the Transfiguration classroom."

"You should ask Steven, as well. And maybe Hermione, Ron, and Harry?" Chara suggested.

"Uhm," Frisk said. "Maybe not them. I think that's just too many. Steven, yes. But, well, if you're willing, I'll see if we can get somewhere to try it."

"Neville, at least," Ginny suggested. "If he's up to it. Though he might not want to take on any more work in his OWL year. It's only been a few days, and they're already looking frazzled."

"That's fine," Frisk said, though that was starting to sound like a lot of people. "Can you ask him, please? I can find Steven and Opal."

Ginny nodded as the bell rang, indicating they had five minutes to get to class. "See you at lunch, Frisk," Chara told her, as their friends departed for their separate classes. "We have our first class with Umbridge this afternoon," Asriel said. "Wish us luck."

The subject on Transfiguration that morning was on Animagism – the specific talent of a wizard to transform themselves into a particular animal, which Professor McGonagall promptly demonstrated by transforming herself into a cat and back.

"The only witches I know that have managed it," she explained, "Are those have a specific affinity for a type of animal." A titter of amusement rippled through the class. "Yes, I have a certain fondness for felines," she said, arching a single eyebrow. "Do you think this says something about me?" she asked.

The giggles promptly stopped.

The rest of the lecture was devoted to the other ways one could transfigure humans, and the associated dangers of all of them. There was a brief aside into metamorph magic, those rare magi who could change their appearance at will. "I've only known two of those, and they've had the ability since birth. Let us just say it is a skill the Aurors prize highly."

After their homework was assigned and the bell rang, Frisk stayed at her desk. "Pardon me, Professor?"

"Ah, what is it, Ms. Dreemurr?" the professor asked.

Frisk detailed the idea of having a small group to study soul magic together, after regular classes were over. "I guess it would be a soul magic club," she concluded. "Can we use the Transfiguration classroom for it? Maybe even this afternoon?"

Professor McGonagall studied Frisk for a moment, then came to a decision. "I shall have to ask the headmaster," the professor decided. "I suspect he will say yes, especially after the success of soul magic in your first year, but he will need to give his permission. I shall have an answer for you at lunch time. If he gives his ascent, then you certainly use the Transfiguration classroom."

Frisk smiled, "Thank you, professor."

Then it was outdoors to her first Care of Magical Creatures class. It was pretty well known, by that point, that Professor Hagrid had taken some sort of leave of absence. The substitute, Professor Grubbly-Plank, was reportedly less exciting than Professor Hagrid, but also held a calmer class. Whether or not that made her better was up to the opinion of any given student.

On this particular Wednesday, Frisk arrived in the field near Hagrid's unoccupied hut to see what appeared to be a small army of small animals in a gated pen. "Gather round, gather round," the professor called the approaching students.

Joining the Gryffindors on that Autumn afternoon was, not the Slytherins, as she expected, but rather the Ravenclaws. Just not her friend Luna Lovegood, who was a fourth year. "Now," the professor said, getting the attention as the students before they could crowd around the pen. "Does anyone know what these are?" she asked.

Frisk, and the rest of her classmates, turned towards the creatures. They were small, furry, with pointy quills on the back. She'd seen them before, in gardens and such, so, along with a few others, she put her hand up.

"Yes, Ms. Dreemurr?" Professor Grubbly-Plank, after a moment of reading the name stitched into her robe. "What do you believe we are looking at?"

"Hedgehogs, aren't they?"

"They do look like hedgehogs, don't they?" the professor noted, turning to look at them herself, as the Ravenclaws began to snicker slightly. "But I do not believe hedgehogs would make an appropriate first lesson in your Care of Magical Creatures class. Now, does anyone else have a guess?"

"She got klaxoned," whispered one smirking Ravenclaw to another.

Frisk had no idea what 'Getting Klaxoned' meant, (and there were a few other students around giving them quizzical looks) but it didn't make her feel any less like an idiot. Of course they wouldn't have actually been hedgehogs.

Another Ravenclaw put up his hand, "Are these knarls?"

"That's correct! Take five points for your house. Now, as Ms. Dreemurr noted, they look nearly identical to hedgehogs, and are similar in other ways as well. While both are omnivorous, meaning they eat plants and other animals, hedgehogs tend towards meat, such as small insects. A knarl, on the other hand, prefers to eat plants, and will consume insects and such to supplement its diet."

Prof. Grubbly-Plank might have been a straightforward teacher, but she was more enthusiastic about her subject than Professor Binns was. So despite the initial embarrassment, Frisk enjoyed her class. She would enjoy the half roll of parchment she was to deliver by next class less, but that was to be expected.

Then it was back to the great hall for lunch, but before she could sit down, she was intercepted by Professor McGonagall. "I am pleased to tell you, Ms. Dreemurr, that the headmaster has approved your request for a 'Soul Magic' club, on a trial basis. He would like me to act as the club's adviser, so I will be present for your meetings. I assume that will be alright with you."

"Yes, professor, and thank you."

"Very well. I will see you after last bell this afternoon," the professor said with a nod, and headed up to the staff table for her own lunch.

Now it was just a matter of getting the word out to the others. Frisk did note, out of the corner of her eye, that Ms. Umbridge was once more taking careful stock of her.

When Frisk arrived in the Transfiguration classroom, she found Professor McGonagall already there, sitting at her desk, reading through some essays. Opal and Steven arrived first, and they made small talk as Ginny, Luna, Asriel and Chara filtered in. While the group was mostly in good spirits, Chara was sporting a grumpy, almost angry look, and Asriel was looking haunted.

"Hey, uhm, you two okay?" Steven asked.

"We're fine," Chara said shortly, her eyes resting on the professor a moment before turning back to Frisk, and giving the second most fake smile Frisk had seen that day.

"Are you sure? Asriel, you really don't look..." Frisk began.

"We're fine now," Asriel insisted. "We can talk about that later. I'd rather we talked about soul magic, it's why we're here." This thought was punctuated with Neville arriving, red faced and out of breath.

It was why they were all there, so Frisk, despite her misgivings, relented. "Well, okay. I thought we should start with what we did a few years ago. The book calls it 'The Soul Call'," Frisk pulled the book out of her bag, putting it on the desk. She opened it, flipped a few pages, and began to read: "The soul call is the most simple of all soul magic of monsterkind. Yet the call is the building block of all other magic, be they soul blessings, other readings, or (though hopefully you never need it), magical combat. The key to the soul call is opening yourself to the souls of others. This encourages them to open themselves up to you."

"There's more to it then that," Asriel said frowning. "It's like..." he frowned, "I'm not even sure how to put it so humans would understand it, it's like..." He fumbled at the words. "It's like tensing your soul, which I'm sure sounds strange to you. But it's how I think of it!"

"Well, I understand," Frisk said. "But that's because I've felt it so often."
"I understand too," Steven agreed. "I remember when you had us practice before going on," his voice stumbled slightly. "The rescue mission," he finished, somewhat embarrassed.

It was hard to tell with the fur, but Frisk thought Asriel flushed slightly at that.

"Then let's make that the goal of our first meeting," Frisk said, smiling. "We can practice the soul call. Would you like to demonstrate it for us, Asriel?"

"What? Oh, sure. I can do that," Asriel said. There was no outward sign when his soul call began, but his call was stronger than her own. On par with the calls Frisk had faced in the underground, and it didn't feel like he was putting effort into it. She could remember Flowey's soul call, and this didn't have that strength, or feel to it. It was certainly stronger than Frisk's own soul call. All around the room, the souls blossomed into view, mostly ones Frisk had seen before, Opal's light blue soul, Neville's yellow soul, Steven's purple soul, and Ginny's green one.

There were a couple that Frisk hadn't seen before, though. That Chara's soul was as red as Frisk's own didn't surprise her. Asriel's, on the other hand, while it was still predominantly silver, also had... 'patches', for lack of a better word, of just about every color that Frisk had seen in a soul, except black and pink.

The surprise was, almost, enough to keep Frisk from realizing there was one soul she hadn't seen – the professor's. But maybe Prof. Lupin had told the Headmaster what they'd learned the first time they had done this, and he had made sure Prof. McGonagall knew.

"What is that?" Ginny asked, looking at Asriel's, startled.

"He's got part of us with him," Luna deduced, before Frisk could speak. "When we offered our soul to help him not be a flower any more, he had to keep a small part of them."

The professor looked up from the Essay she was grading, looking toward Frisk with a single raised eyebrow, presumably for some sort of explanation.

"I think Luna's right," Frisk told them. "But I've seen damaged souls. Well, one anyway, Chara's, in the past. I was carrying the other part of it with me at the time. But look around us now, nobody has any damage to our souls."

"So," Steven asked, "What actually does cause damage to someone's soul, causing it to break like that?"

"I know soul magic attacks can do it," Frisk said, though this was leading her down a subject she'd prefer not to think about. She'd been subjected to enough of those in the underground, but that wasn't what had...

"Does that mean Chara was attacked by monsters?" Opal asked.

"No. No monsters ever attacked me," Chara said quickly. "Please, I would rather not talk about what I," she broke off. "What happened to me."

Frisk actually had a theory about what had shattered Chara's soul. She may have not had proof, but she was really confident in it. And she didn't want to talk about it either. "That's not what why are here," Frisk said firmly. "We are here to learn soul magic."

During the conversation, Asriel had let his concentration lapse, and the souls had winked out from view. So they went around the room, each showing their own ability at the soul call. Frisk, naturally, had the easiest time of it after Asriel. Of the actual beginners, Luna had the easiest time managing the soul call, which matched with their previous experience, and Steven had the hardest.

The other person that had a hard time other person who had a hard time with the soul call was Chara. This shouldn't have surprised Frisk as much as it did. Her sister wasn't practiced with soul magic, and her previous unfortunate choices had made her resistant about sharing her life with others. This made it hard for her to share her own soul. In the end, she managed it, but it was one of the weakest soul calls Frisk had felt.

"So where do we go from here?" Ginny asked as they finished. "What else do we do with soul magic?"

"I'm actually not sure," admitted Frisk. "I hadn't gotten that far in the book. The introduction said something about soul blessings and other readings, so maybe we something about that?"

"What about changing your form, like what Asriel did?" Steven asked.

One of the first things Frisk had looked up when she'd received the text book. "It's one of the theoretical things that it talks about if one is possession of multiple human souls, since monster souls don't persist after death," Frisk replied. "But the book was written before the barrier came down, so it comes to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter," she finished. The other thing she'd looked up was any theoretical time traveling, but that had come up empty.

It had been about an hour since she arrived, so Frisk decided to call it there. "I think that will have to do it for today. Dinner will be soon, after all." There were some nods over this, and people began to stand. "If it's okay with everyone, we can just do it again at this same time next week. What I'd like is for someone to share something about themselves, which might encourage all of us to be more open. But I've told just about all of my good stories already, so is there a volunteer who might go first?" Frisk asked.

Ginny raised her hand. "I will, I can think of something to share."

Frisk beamed at her. "Thanks, Ginny! Okay, I'll see you all at dinner, classes, wherever, and we'll meet here next week, if our adviser is willing to share her room again?"

From the desk, the professor nodded to them. "That will be fine." With that, most of them headed out of the classroom.

Frisk waited for her siblings before walking out of the room with them. Once she's was sure that there was no one else in earshot, she asked in a low voice, "Now, what was the matter when you walked in?"

Asriel looked away, but Chara's face darkened. "Umbridge does not think monsters should be at Hogwarts. Maybe even on the surface."

(I'm back, again. I swear. Part of my problem is figuring out exactly what 'Soul Magic' could be. I'd appreciate your input... send any ideas in a PM, please! See you soon.)