"Allow yourself to focus on the horcruxes here before moving on," Professor Dumbledore's voice directed.
Rachel exhaled and hovered in the middle of the dark room. The four horcruxes were there. She could even distinguish each one. The diary didn't glimmer quite as brightly and she got the sense of paper when she waved her hands over it. The locket shone the brightest and there was a strong sense of metal. The diadem shimmered rather than glittered and there was still a sense of metal, but different. There was something wrong with the ring. Rachel didn't know how to describe it more than a sense of wrongness.
"Recognize them through your connection. Like reaching out to like. Imagine strings connecting them to each other and to you. These strings also reach out to the two other horcruxes and to Voldemort himself. Let me know when you are ready to move on."
She exhaled again and imagined herself opening her connection. She had to make this work somehow. It was just like when she tried to sense the Dark Lord's location. She closed her eyes - mentally, as her physical form was still sitting in Professor Dumbledore's office with her eyes already closed - and pictured following her connection to the Dark Lord. She felt…she wasn't sure what she felt. There was something there though, and it wasn't like when she tried to sense the Dark Lord's emotions. "I should follow it?" she asked.
"Yes, follow what you're sensing," Professor Dumbledore agreed.
She left her eyes closed and tilted her body so she could hover up high above the castle. Actually, she needed to go higher than that. She needed Britain to look like a map. And she needed to move fast, far faster than would be possible in the physical world. She held onto the tenuous feeling that she couldn't describe. It wasn't exactly a presence. Or an emotion. It was like a trail, maybe. Or a sound that was echoing. Except it wasn't those things either.
When she had followed it as far as she could she opened her eyes again and peered down at Britain below her. "There's three things down here," she told Professor Dumbledore, imagining she was looking over a map of Britain in her primary school and labeling the counties. "Two are moving. Living. The Dark Lord and the snake."
"Good. And the other?" he asked.
Rachel twisted around high in the air. It was hard to tell exactly where things were when all of the land was dark shadows. "Those are the strong ones. The third…the third is further away. I can't tell what it is, but I think we can assume it's the cup. Do you have a map of Britain? One that shows the contours of the land?"
"Yes, I have several maps. Try to get closer to the cup," he instructed.
That was harder. The trail had led her here to the Dark Lord. She reached out again, trying to sense the four horcruxes back at Hogwarts and got a general direction of north from them, though the tendrils weren't as strong. She found the cup's tendril again and followed it. She was going east, but not quite to the darker water. "London. The cup is somewhere in Greater London."
"Good. Come back to your soul now."
Rachel didn't want to go back just yet. She was so close. She tried to follow the tendril, searching for the cup itself, but the land just grew black and weird as she got closer. Something was wrong with London. Not the same wrong as with the ring, but still wrong somehow. She flew back up, trying to tell where the tendril left off, but she kept losing her grip on it.
"Rachel. Are you having difficulties?"
"No."
"Then it's past time to return to your body."
She tried not to sulk but reached again for the path back to the horcruxes at Hogwarts. It was harder to hold onto them now. She closed her eyes again and imagined herself flying quickly back to Hogwarts. The trail wanted to bring her back to the Dark Lord, but she kept pushing herself north. It felt like it took a long time, but she finally reached Hogwarts, finding that almost all the soul lights had settled into groups, and she went back to the Headmaster's office to her own soul.
Not sure if she needed to, she imagined shutting the connection between her and the horcruxes and the Dark Lord, just in case. Then she closed her eyes and allowed the ocean's waves to wash her back to her own mind. She went through her doors and then back into her body. She could barely open her eyes.
"Rachel?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
"I'm back," she managed to say. She was pretty sure she could fall asleep right there, she was that tired. "What time is it?"
"After midnight. Did you struggle to return?" he asked.
"A little bit. The tendrils kept dropping, they wanted to lead me back to the Dark Lord. You said you had a map?" she said, forcing herself to fully sit up.
"Let me get it," he said, standing and moving away.
Rachel blinked a few times and tried to push back the wave of sleepiness. She just needed to get into her bed and then she'd be okay. She couldn't believe they'd been in there for five hours.
"Here we go," he said, setting the atlas on Rachel's lap.
She peered at it, trying to match it to what she'd seen. "The Dark Lord and his snake are about here. Near the edge of Wiltshire, moving on into Oxfordshire. The cup is in Greater London. I tried to get closer but it kept slipping from me." London was a big place.
"Thank you. That rules out a number of possibilities," Professor Dumbledore said, using his wand to make small circles around the areas she'd indicated. "I'm going to send you by floo to Severus' quarters so that you can rest there. We should not have gone on as long as we did."
"I think he's asleep. I'll wake him if I floo in there," she objected, though she wasn't absolutely certain she could make the walk to the dungeons.
"He's not asleep. I always let him know when we are finished. He will still be awake and waiting to hear from me," he assured her.
Rachel covered a yawn. "If you're sure."
"I'm certain. Can you stand?"
She managed to stand, though she was a little wobbly. She was very intent on getting to the closest bed and climbing directly in. Following Professor Dumbledore, she went to the fireplace.
"Severus Snape's quarters," Professor Dumbledore said after he threw in the floo powder. "Severus, I'm sending Rachel to you, she needs to go to bed and get some rest."
"I'm here. Send her to me," came Severus' voice.
"Go ahead. Rest well," Professor Dumbledore said.
"Goodnight," Rachel said and stepped into the fireplace. She felt particularly banged around, as if the floo knew that she was too tired to resist, and then stumbled out into Severus' quarters.
"Rachel. Why did he keep you so long?" Severus asked as he moved closer and made an aborted attempt to reach for her.
"It took me a long time to get back to my soul, it was kind of difficult," she said, covering another yawn.
Severus looked concerned. "Do you want to stop doing this?"
"No, we're finally making progress. If there's anything I need to keep doing it's this. The cup is in London. Now I just have to find it," she insisted. "I need to sleep now."
"Alright, we can discuss it further later," he said. "Do you need anything?"
"Just sleep. Let me sleep until eight thirty please. I can join my friends for animagus practice at nine," she said, making herself walk in the direction of her bedroom.
"I'll let them know. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Rachel closed her door behind her and went directly to her bed. She pulled off her shoes, placed her watch, her wand, and her glasses on the bedside table, collected her pillow bunny and then slid under the covers fully dressed. She'd regret that tomorrow, but she didn't trust herself to cast a teeth cleaning charm when she was so tired, let alone actually manage to change her clothes. She was asleep within minutes.
She was vaguely aware of her breathing, but more aware of her pressing need to go back to sleep. This was not a very successful meditation session for her, she kept losing her hold on her magic.
When Severus had woken her at eight thirty she'd been very tempted to skip animagus practice today, but that simply wasn't an option. Professor McGonagall needed to know that she was committed to this. Severus had also said that he would talk to Professor Dumbledore about not keeping her so late and Rachel had not protested, though she planned to tell Professor Dumbledore that searching for the horcrux was the most important thing she was doing and they could take as long as it took.
Stifling a yawn, Rachel tried to refocus and gather her magic again. They were at the point where they were holding their magic while keeping an awareness of their physical forms and their thoughts. Professor McGonagall had explained that it was very important that they knew what they felt like in this form, as their senses would change a great deal in their animal forms. In order to change back, they had to know what they were changing into.
She'd told them that in time they would feel as comfortable and natural in their animal forms as they did in their human forms and that changing back and forth would be as simple as willing it to be so. But at first they would have to concentrate and focus their magic on the transformation, both to their animal forms and back to their human forms.
"That's enough for today," Professor McGonagall said.
Rachel opened her eyes with some relief. Her focus was completely shot today.
"We've reached the point where you are close to being ready to take the animagus potion and reveal your forms. Professor Snape has agreed to supervise you while you brew. Miss Snow, would you mind letting him know that you should prepare the vials of mandrake leaves and saliva this week so they have a month to sit? There are also other ingredients that need to be prepared in advance. Once the potions are brewed, I will take you one at a time and you will experience your form for the first time. After that the work will be on returning to that form and then returning to your human bodies. Expect that to take several months of practice," Professor McGonagall said.
"May I ask a somewhat related question, ma'am?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, please do."
"Is this considered wandless magic?" she asked, since wandless magic had been something she'd been curious about for a while now.
"Yes, technically both apparating and changing into your animagus forms and back is considered wandless magic, though both are very specialized forms of magic. Most people who are animaguses have at least some advantage with working with wandless magic, though in general, what people can do with wandless magic is limited. I don't recommend that you add learning wandless magic to your schedules at the moment, as I know your workload is intense, but learning small things like the Locking and Unlocking charms, charms to open and close things, and the Levitation charm is something people who are relatively powerful can learn with some effort. The Summoning charm is more difficult to master wandlessly, but is also a very useful spell to have," Professor McGonagall explained.
"How long does it take to learn wandless magic?" Hermione asked.
"The first spell you do with it will be the most difficult. That can take anywhere from six months to a year to really master it. From there, you can add other lower powered spells, usually with mastering them in two to three months effort. Typically people begin with the Levitation charm as it's one of the simplest and low powered spells that is somewhat useful."
Hermione and Theo both looked thoughtful and Rachel somewhat suspected she'd just given them a new project.
"I'll let you get to lunch, if you have no more questions for me at the moment," Professor McGonagall said.
"Thank you," Rachel said, the others chorusing their thanks as well. They got a nod from Professor McGongall in return and they left her classroom.
"I think this is a little like the Patronus charm," Hermione said as they walked down the corridor. "If we spend ten minutes practicing every day, we should be able to learn it quite easily. I'm going to find some books on wandless magic and see if I can figure out the best one for us to read."
"I can definitely see the value in practicing wandless magic, even if we only get a few spells out of it. If we can manage the Summoning charm, then we can summon our wands and that sort of takes care of any problem there," Theo said.
Millie sighed heavily. "I think it's a good idea, but I'm not sure I can manage anything else right now."
"Same here," Neville said.
Rachel nodded. She didn't think she could fit anything else into her schedule, though she supposed an extra ten minutes a day of practice might not be too bad.
"Well, we can at least lay the groundwork now. There's nothing saying we have to learn it before the end of the school year and we'll definitely have time over the summer," Hermione said. "I'll figure out the book end of things."
"When do we want to go to Professor Snape about the ingredients for the potion?" Theo asked.
"I have dinner with him tonight, I'll ask him then when he wants us," Rachel said. She also had a mirror call with Sirius tonight. But first lunch, Quidditch practice, and then Defense training. She intended to go directly to bed after her call with Sirius and sleep for nearly twelve hours. She was going to take her modified Dreamless Sleep potion tonight as well so that she actually got a decent night of sleep.
"If it takes a month, then we have enough time for me and Millie to take the potion before we go home for the holiday, if that's alright with the rest of you?" Hermione asked.
"That's fine with me. We can do it either over the break if Professor McGonagall lets us, or after," Theo said.
"That's fine for me too. I'm not planning on going home for the holiday," Neville said.
Rachel glanced at him. He hadn't really talked much about the situation with his family since they'd returned to school. "If you don't want to stay at Hogwarts for the holiday, I know Sirius would be happy to have any of you," she offered.
"I'd rather stay here with you," Neville said.
"Me too," Theo agreed.
"I wish I could stay here for the holiday but there's no way my mom would go for that," Millie said, looking annoyed.
"It's probably good to spend time with them while you can," Theo said with a somber look.
Millie's expression immediately changed from annoyed to contrite, her mouth pulling down for a long moment. "I know. I'm sorry. My family isn't bad. I just feel that they don't understand me. My dad better than my mom, but even then. I do love my family, I really do. I just feel more comfortable with all of you."
"It's okay, I didn't mean anything by it," Theo said. "I know your family isn't perfect. I don't think there's such a thing as a perfect family. But this will probably also be your last Christmas living at home. I can understand why your parents would want you there."
She nodded. "I know. I can understand that too. I just wish things were easier."
"That's understandable, and no one wants you to do something you don't want to do," Hermione said. "If you really wanted to stay at Hogwarts for the holiday, you're an adult and they can't stop you. But you also might not want to burn that bridge with them."
"I definitely don't want to do that. I think it will be easier when they understand that I am an adult and I get to make decisions about my future. My mom still thinks she can decide what I do, everything from what I eat to what I'm going to do as a career. Sooner or later she has to learn that she can't do that," Millie said, frustration edging back into her tone.
"They're going to learn that pretty soon, once you start your Charms Mastery," Theo said. "I'm not suggesting you tell them right away, no need to make Christmas harder than it has to be, but eventually you'll have to tell them."
Millie nodded. "I'm waiting for my NEWT scores first. And maybe even a tentative acceptance for an apprenticeship."
"When are we writing our letters?" Hermione asked, sounding nervous.
"Severus says that they expect letters around Easter, so we can probably write them the first week of the Easter holiday," Rachel said. "But we should tell professors sooner than that, so we can get letters of recommendation to send with them."
"I can't believe it's happening already. That we're going to leave Hogwarts in seven months," Neville said.
Rachel couldn't believe that either. Time was simultaneously dragging by day to day and leaping forward in great bounds.
"We'll be alright," Theo said. "We're doing really well."
"We are," Hermione agreed as they reached the Great Hall. "We'll see you after lunch."
They split to go to their respective tables and Rachel sat down across from Draco, Pansy, and Daphne and between Millie and Blaise.
"Where do you go on Sunday mornings?" Draco asked. "I checked the study room but no one was there."
"We have advanced Transfiguration lessons from Professor McGonagall on Sunday mornings," Theo said, serving himself a sandwich.
"Why?" Draco asked.
"Because we wanted them and she was kind enough to agree to mentor us," Theo answered easily.
"I think you're all crazy to want more classes," Draco said. "That being said, can I join you for some of your Transfiguration and Ancient Runes NEWT reviews? I don't need the other subjects, I don't need these ones actually, but I suppose I could use the review time."
"Sure," Rachel said, recognizing that Draco didn't want to admit he could use some help. "We do Ancient Runes reviews on Thursday afternoons and Transfiguration reviews on Saturday afternoons."
"We're doing an Arithmancy review tomorrow evening in the dorm, right?" Pansy asked.
"We are," Millie said.
"I swear they are actually trying to kill us with homework," Daphne said.
"They're making a good effort at it," Blaise agreed.
Rachel took a turkey sandwich and a few carrot slices. Homework was the least of her concerns right now, but she could understand why they were feeling stressed about school. She'd experienced plenty of school stress in her life to empathize with that. Right now she was mostly using school work to banish everything else from her mind. She covered another yawn. She just had to make it through eight more hours and then she could go to sleep.
"Down!" Kingsley shouted.
Rachel dropped to the floor, rolled to the nearest wall, and shielded her eyes from the flash. It was supposed to simulate an explosion, but was just a bright light that would hurt to look at. They'd moved on from practicing retreating and confronting to full combat situations in their Defense training. They were now in two or three teams, though the teams changed up every time, and they had stepped up their training spells so that being hit with one was a little harder of a slap and it knocked them to their knees instead of just pushing them back.
Rachel was getting very used to having bruised knees.
Draco crawled up beside her, his eyes wide. He silently cast a small privacy ward around them. "Tonks and Kingsley are straight ahead. I saw Ron retreating over there, he and Millie are about to be cornered. We can press Hermione, Ginny, and Neville that way," he said, pointing.
"Where's Theo and Luna?" she asked, taking a peek over the low wall. Kingsley had made the Room into some sort of small neighborhood with two houses, two more house fronts that didn't go anywhere, and several small walled off gardens.
"Didn't see them," Draco said.
Rachel frowned. Luna was on their team and they'd lost her in the last attack. Their priority should be finding her, but there was no way to call to her without alerting everyone to where they were, and a Patronus message would lead the other teams to Luna.
"We should press Hermione while we can or she's going to sneak up behind us," he insisted.
"Alright," she agreed reluctantly. She didn't like the idea of attacking directly but staying here was not an option with Tonks and Kingsley incoming. She wanted to disillusion herself, but Kingsley had told them that was an excellent way to get themselves killed by friendly fire, or, while they were training, get them hurt unintentionally.
"You go left, I'll go right," he said, pointing to the furthest garden wall, where presumably Hermione was hiding with Ginny and Neville.
Rachel peeked up behind the wall again, but it seemed like Tonks and Kingsley were occupied elsewhere. "If we're going, let's do it now."
Draco dismissed the privacy ward and they both scurried to the furthest wall.
Rachel cast the training spell at Ginny, knocking her down and then shielded when Neville cast it back at her.
Draco was confronting Hermione, but before she was knocked down, Hermione pointed her wand straight up and shouted "defatigatio cladem!"
A bright white light burst from her wand and shot out in a shockwave that shoved everyone in the room roughly to the ground.
Rachel felt slightly dazed, wondering what the hell had just happened.
"Take cover, when you're knocked down, reorient yourself and take cover!" Kingsley shouted.
She managed to roll over and drag herself onto the opposite side of the wall, but Hermione, Neville, and Ginny all looked equally dazed. This was a bad position to be in, they were exposed to anyone coming in their direction and Draco was on his elbows and knees looking more than a little shaken.
"What the fuck was that?" he asked.
Rachel shook her head and arranged herself so that her back was against the wall so that she could at least cast a Shield charm to protect herself if someone came at her directly. If this had been a real battle it would have been a race to see who could recover first.
"We're done. We're done. Everyone take a few minutes and we'll discuss what happened," Tonks called.
"Hermione, what was that?" Ginny asked from the other side of the wall.
Hermione made a small moaning sound.
"Hermione?" Neville asked.
Rachel tried to move, suddenly more worried about what that spell had done to Hermione. "Hermione? Are you alright?" she called, unable to get herself back to her feet, or even to her knees. Her body sort of ached.
"I…I'm alright, I think. I just didn't expect it to be like that. I feel like I had my magic ripped through me," Hermione said, sounding shaken.
"Is your magic alright?" Neville asked.
"I think so, I'm just exhausted. I don't think I could even cast a Wand Lighting charm right now," Hermione said.
"What the hell was it? You didn't just test an experimental spell on us, did you?" Draco asked.
"No, I wouldn't do that, I'm not that reckless. I found it in a book in the Restricted Section. You're supposed to use it as a last resort if you're cornered, it's supposed to level the playing field. I didn't expect it to do that," Hermione said, sounding a little more like herself and also slightly defensive.
"That's all the description it gave?" Theo asked from somewhere nearby.
"It said it would push your enemies away from you, to give you more time, and that you should use it if you were cornered and expecting reinforcements," Hermione explained.
"Theo? Where are you?" Rachel asked.
"Down here. I got separated from Millie and Ron and couldn't reach them without getting past all of you," he said from somewhere to Rachel's left. "Hermione. Promise me that you're not going to use another spell from the Restricted Section without asking someone first."
"Any idea how long it lasts or the countercurse? I feel like I can barely move," Ginny asked.
"I promise. I can see that I made a mistake. I didn't mean to hurt anyone," Hermione said, sounding upset. "It didn't list a countercurse. I didn't think it would do this. I can't even sit up."
"I don't think anyone's hurt, we've just got to figure this out," Theo said.
Rachel looked up at the sound of footsteps and saw Kingsley and Tonks coming towards them.
"Hold still, we're going to cast a Revitalization charm on all of you," Kingsley said.
"I assume that does what it sounds like it does?" Draco asked.
"It helps restore energy for a period of a few hours, but it takes it from your body and your magic, you're going to feel a bit weak today and tomorrow. This isn't a spell you want to use frequently or lightly. Only use it if you know you can get some rest in the immediate future and if there's no other resort. Eat a full dinner and go to bed early. Eat full meals tomorrow. They don't teach this one at Hogwarts because it can make you badly ill if you misuse it," Kingsley said as he paused and tapped his wand against Rachel.
Rachel felt a weird tingling sensation go through her entire body and she found that she could now move her limbs a little easier. "Thank you," she said, pushing herself back to her feet.
Tonks finished with Draco and Draco stood up.
"Theo, where are you?" Rachel asked again, still unable to see him.
"Back here. I'll stick my hand out," he said.
"Got him," Tonks said, leaving Kingsley to help Hermione, Ginny, and Neville.
"Alright then, let's have a short meeting and then we're done for the day. Over here with everyone else," Kingsley said, leading them back to the rest of the group once everyone was standing.
"I'm sorry," Hermione said once everyone was together. "I should have learned more about what that spell did before I cast it. Is everyone alright?"
Everyone looked a little weary but they nodded or said that they were alright.
"So, this is something that is taught to young kids in the magical world but people sort of assume you know it by the time you get to Hogwarts, so muggle raised kids don't get all the lectures," Tonks said. "Never ever cast a spell at someone if you don't know what's going to come out of the end of your wand. Just like you never ever take a potion that isn't from a trusted source and you know what the potion does. Magic can have really serious consequences and it's easy to hurt someone by accident."
Kingsley nodded. "This is a good way to learn that lesson, because no one here is seriously hurt. We see this too often in the MLE when we're called to a scene, where someone reads about a spell or is told about a spell, and then they get into a situation where wands are drawn and they think to try it, and someone gets hurt or killed. Books are repositories of knowledge, but that information came from someone. If you wouldn't trust some random person telling you to try out a spell or a potion, then apply that same distrust to books. Some things you know are pretty safe. The standard spell guides and potion recipe books are vetted and are reliable. You get some random person's spell book, and then you start having problems. You've got professors here who you can ask about spells and potions and you can also ask us. The particular spell you used, which is known as The Final Defeat, is a military combat spell and is not typically used or taught anymore. The idea is that you can sacrifice yourself and any remaining allies to stop an overwhelming force just before your reinforcements arrive. It is also sometimes used for someone under the Disillusionment charm to make their way into enemy groups and bring down the whole group before the rest of their team comes in. Basically, if you are alone, outnumbered, and about to be killed, it's a useful spell as long as you have a way of getting help before they do. Now, what else did we learn today?"
"Don't get separated from your team," Luna said, Theo nodding.
"Where were you?" Rachel asked.
"Hiding from Millie and Ron. I couldn't get back to you without crossing in front of Tonks and Kingsley," Luna said.
"Wouldn't a Disillusionment charm be useful in those circumstances?" Ron asked.
"Unfortunately, it's still a good way to get killed. We're still moving pretty slowly, a battlefield or an attack is going to be more dynamic than this. Sometimes, if you're separated, your best option is to hide or retreat," Tonks explained.
"Why do we split into small groups instead of only two? There's only going to be one set of people attacking us," Draco asked.
"Because it's not going to seem like one set of people attacking you. Death Eater coordination is limited. Most fights are going to take place in small pockets like this. You're going to have to be willing to move around the field, both attacking and retreating when the situation calls for it," Kingsley said. "Also, you're going to be more effective in small teams. Aurors generally work in pairs, the Order usually works in threes. Even if you start as a larger group, you're going to get scattered pretty quickly. Alright, if that's everything tonight. Remember, eat and rest. You need to replenish your bodies from what they just went through. We'll walk you downstairs."
Rachel decided she wanted to know both The Final Defeat spell and the Revitalization charm. Obviously they weren't good for everyday use, but if they'd known The Final Defeat last year in the first floor corridor they could have taken down everyone and then she could have called Professor Dumbledore for help, and no one would have been killed.
She yawned as they left the Room of Requirement as a group. Now she had dinner with Severus, then a mirror call with Sirius, and then she could go to bed. And then she could start the whole week over again tomorrow.
"And then you put this answer into the equation, solve, and then plot the answer," Rachel said, perched on the edge of Pansy's bed while they worked through the Arithmancy review problems they'd been given.
"Give me a second," Pansy said, bending over her parchment as she worked.
"I think I've got it," Daphne said from her bed. "What do you think?" she asked Millie.
Millie leaned in. "That looks right. Now where does the Othala rune go in the ward sequence?"
Daphne pressed her lips together in a thin line as she looked at the problems. "I have to graph that, right?"
"That's right," Millie said.
Pansy sat back up again. "Okay, now same thing, I have to graph the location where the rune goes."
"Yep," Rachel said, pausing to fill in her own answer and then switching quills to draw the Othala rune in the correct location.
"I do not know why I am taking this class," Pansy said, her eyes still fixed on her equations. "I'm not ever going to use it after Hogwarts."
"We're doing alright at it. And if we don't do well on the NEWT, it's like you said, we don't need it for anything," Daphne said.
Pansy made a frustrated sound but drew the Othala rune in the correct place.
"What are you doing after Hogwarts?" Millie asked.
"It's kind of stupid," Daphne said, looking away.
"It's not stupid," Pansy said, turning to look at Daphne. "Someone's got to do it, why not you?"
"What?" Millie asked.
"I want to write for Witch Weekly," Daphne said, her face flushing slightly. "And maybe for the Daily Prophet. I know it's not exactly a career that our professors would say is a good thing. But I don't really want to do a Mastery, or work in the Ministry, or work in a shop."
Rachel shrugged. "If you want to do it, then why not? I mean, I want to play for the League, that's not exactly a goal that any of our professors would support either."
"I thought you were doing a Potions Mastery?" Pansy asked.
"That too, I want to do both, but neither is really an option while the war is on. I can't play in a game in a public stadium. It's too dangerous. People might get hurt while the Death Eaters are trying to get to me. And I won't endanger a Master or a Mistress just because I want to do Potions," Rachel explained.
"Well, the war can't go on forever, I suppose. Professor Snape is alright with you playing Quidditch?" Daphne asked.
"Yes, as long as I'm doing something else with it. What are you going to do, Pansy?" Rachel asked.
Pansy's shoulders slumped. "I'm not sure what I can do. The idea was Herbology and having my own greenhouses, but that was before the situation with my parents. I can't go home after I finish at Hogwarts. I'm not sure where I'm going to go."
"You're coming home with me for Christmas, right?" Daphne asked.
Pansy nodded.
"Then there's no reason you can't come home with me over the summer as well while you figure things out. Or I'm sure Draco would want you with him," Daphne said.
"I think Draco is planning to go back to Sirius' house. I'm not sure I'd be welcome there," Pansy said, looking worried.
"I don't see why you wouldn't be. Sirius has thirty flats in his attic. Assuming they aren't full by this summer, I don't see why you and Draco couldn't have one," Rachel said. "It would also be safer for you and Draco. Sirius' house has really good wards."
"Is that where you're going to wind up?" Daphne asked.
"I'll at least spend the summer with Severus. I'm not sure what's going to happen after that," Rachel said, uncomfortable with lying, but she couldn't exactly tell them that if all went according to plan she would be dead by next September.
"I might wind up at Sirius' house. I don't think it's a good idea for me to live at home after I finish at Hogwarts. My mom and I would argue all the time, especially after she learns I'm applying for a Charms Mastery," Millie said.
"What's Sirius like?" Pansy asked.
Rachel glanced at Millie. "He's a little intense, but he's very caring. He believes in standing against the Death Eaters. He fought in the first war too. He's opened his home to a lot of people, helping them get to safety."
"He reminds me some of the Weasley twins. He likes a good joke and he likes to tease, but he also seems to have a lot of bottled up anger from his time in Azkaban. He doesn't really like to talk about that. Understandably so," Millie added.
"Can you imagine spending twelve years in Azkaban for something you didn't do?" Daphne asked, looking horrified at the idea.
Pansy shook her head. "It's awful. I don't know how he came out sane."
"I don't think anyone should go to Azkaban. I know we need a place for people to go when they are a danger to other people, but I think subjecting people to Dementors is wrong and it's torture," Rachel said firmly. "It's not even escape proof. Sirius got out, so did Crouch Junior, and a bunch of other Death Eaters were freed from there."
The dorm was quiet for a moment. "You don't want the people who hurt you to be in Azkaban?" Pansy asked.
"No. I know Leander and Umbridge and Hestia are in there, but I wish they weren't. Obviously they can't be free to go around doing the things they were doing, but I don't want them to be tortured. I don't want anyone to be tortured," she reiterated.
The room was quiet again, everyone seeming to sit with their thoughts. Rachel wasn't sure why not wanting people to be tortured was so controversial. It seemed very basic to her.
"I'm not sure what the answer is," Daphne finally said. "I don't know that Azkaban can be changed. What else would they do with prisoners?"
"How do other countries keep their magical prisoners? I bet they don't all use Dementors, Azkaban is supposed to be the largest gathering of Dementors in the world," Millie asked. "And Rachel will have a seat on the Wizengamot in August. Maybe she can propose a change to how we deal with prisoners."
It was a nice idea, but Rachel didn't think she'd reach the point of taking her seat. Even if she was still alive in August, the Wizengamot and the Ministry were sure to fall by the elections.
"If they don't all use Dementors, then there has to be other ways, doesn't there? I wonder how you'd find something like that out," Pansy asked.
Rachel didn't know, but there did have to be a way. Maybe she could make it known that she wanted the prison system to be changed and have that be her final wish. She expected that if people understood that she'd died to stop the Dark Lord, that they would want to do something that she'd wanted. Maybe she'd put that into her letter to Severus. Or she could write a letter to Professor Dumbledore. Or to the Minister or the Wizengamot.
"It's getting late, we've got three problems left," Daphne said.
Rachel nodded. "Let's refocus, we're almost done then we can rest for the evening." She still felt tired from the weekend and she wanted another early night. Hopefully the Dark Lord would leave her alone tonight.
"Okay," Pansy said, looking back at her piece of parchment. "I solve for the variable first?"
"That's right," Rachel said. She picked up her quill again and got to work. It was better to focus on the things she could do instead of the things she couldn't.
Rachel stared at the front page of the Daily Prophet on Tuesday morning. The feelings of fear, frustration, and guilt were very familiar to her now. There was a picture this time. Not of the dead bodies, thankfully, but of the Dark Mark over the home of Wizengamot member Miranda MacQuoid. She, her husband, her two siblings and their spouses, and their adult children had all been murdered on Sunday night.
"That puts the Wizengamot at fifty three, right?" Theo asked, looking grim as he read the front page.
"Yes, I think so," she said. The Dark Lord was working quickly. She didn't understand why he couldn't just wait for the election at the end of July. That wasn't far away. Then again, most of the people he'd killed had held inherited seats, not elected seats. And he'd killed their families, meaning those seats would be open at the next election. She wondered how many families were like her and Neville and Draco, where they were the last available heir in their line. She supposed the Snow seat would be an elected seat as well, the next time there was an election.
"What's below the fold?" Theo asked.
She realized she'd been staring at the article without really taking anything in and opened the paper further so they could see the rest of the news. The upcoming Wizengamot vote on Saturday was the next article. Then an article about job opportunities in the MLE. They must be getting desperate for people who were willing to fight.
"Breakfast," Millie reminded them. "The world is a terrible place, but we still need to eat."
Rachel sighed, but opened the newspaper to the next page and set it between her and Theo and began to serve herself breakfast. She went with porridge with blueberries today, she didn't think she could stomach eggs at the moment.
She ate mechanically, trying to ignore the fact that she was eating, and skimmed the articles in the paper for anything she should know, while also thinking of what her day brought. She had three classes today, then homework, then two NEWT study sessions and that should put her finished by around eight this evening. After she finished with the paper, ignoring the business and the culture sections - the sports section didn't much exist outside of Quidditch season - she checked the Dark Lord through her connection.
He was busy and thoughtful. Working on something. She tried to narrow that focus on what he was doing. She could tell he wasn't reading or writing, because she could tell when he was doing that, and he wasn't working with his wand either. She closed her eyes and imagined being there in the same room with him. It should be as simple as just looking at him. He was…manipulating something. Whatever it was, she didn't recognize it, though it reminded her a bit of all the weird instruments Professor Dumbledore had in his office.
Opening her eyes again, she imagined closing the connection. She didn't think that really helped, but the idea of leaving it open was unnerving. She pulled out her two-way book from her bag, glad the one that Professor Dumbledore gave her was much smaller and thinner than the one she kept with her friends, and made a quick note after consulting her watch. '4 Nov 1997. 8:33 am. Dark Lord busy and thoughtful. Manipulating some sort of magical instrument. Didn't recognize it. Couldn't get a strong enough image of it to describe it. Silver, maybe, or other similar metal. About the size of a breadbox.'
She knew Severus would caution her against trying to find out more this way, but she had to try. They had to know what he was doing. Even if she didn't recognize the instrument, maybe Professor Dumbledore would have some idea from her description. She didn't know what was important, so she simply wrote down whatever she got.
"Ready to go?" Millie asked. "I see Hermione and Neville."
Rachel put her book and quill back in her bag and stood. "Ready."
"Should be a quiet day," Theo said as he stood.
She nodded. Tuesday, Thursday, and Fridays were their easy days.
They joined their friends and started up the staircase to the second floor.
"Padma said they did the Patronus charm in Charms for the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws yesterday. Apparently Professor Flitwick was very pleased that a third of the class had corporeal Patronuses. He gave them twenty points a piece, and they didn't have to do any of the Patronus charm homework," Hermione said.
"Well, that will be a small break from Charms homework at least, not that Charms homework is ever particularly arduous," Theo said. "I wonder how long he plans to spend on it."
"It will be nice to show that we already know the lesson," Neville said.
"I like doing that too. It makes me feel extra prepared," Millie said with a smile.
Rachel did like coming prepared to class already knowing the spell they were about to learn. She was a little bit worried about producing a corporeal Patronus on demand at the moment. She supposed she needed to start practicing that every evening again until she could do it without worrying.
As she'd grown older it had become more difficult to hold onto that feeling that came with happy memories. Her life had gotten more complicated as she'd gotten older, which she supposed was true for everyone, but she also felt that something had sort of ended for her when she learned the prophecy and understood what it would mean for her life.
Pushing down the feeling of anxiety in her chest, Rachel focused on recalling moments that did have happiness for her. Spending time with her friends. All of their birthday parties. Sitting at home with Severus. Flying. Listening to Sirius and Remus recount their school days. As hard as things were, she still had a lot of good things in her life and she needed to hold onto that.
They settled into the Charms classroom, which had two rows of desks on either side facing each other, and Rachel dug out her completed essay and her textbook in case Professor Flitwick wanted them to refer to it.
The rest of the class joined them over the next few minutes. Ron sat down next to Neville. Parvati and Lavender sat together on the opposite side of the back row, Blaise sitting nearby, and Draco, Pansy, and Daphne taking up the front row on that side.
Rachel realized that everyone in their classroom except Parvati and Lavender had a corporeal Patronus. With Dean, Seamus, Crabbe, and Goyle gone, their class was now quite small.
"Good morning everyone, I'll just take your homework and we'll begin," Professor Flitwick said, moving his wand in a sweeping motion that sent all of their homework scrolls to him where they neatly piled onto his desk. "Today we are going to work on the Patronus charm. Difficult to cast, but a very useful charm overall as it can repel Dementors. Now, I'm aware that some students this year already have a corporeal Patronus charm, which is when the charm takes the form of an animal. These animals are connected representations of us, though they can be influenced by a number of things, including strong and persistent emotions. For those of you with a corporeal Patronus, go ahead and cast it now and let's take a look."
Rachel drew her wand and refocused her mind on happy memories. She closed in on Severus and him taking care of her and spending time with him and brewing potions with him. She remembered his look of pride at the certificates showing that she had potions registered with the guild and Madam Pomfrey telling her that he was bragging about her to the staff. Severus was proud of her. She pointed her wand, directing that feeling down and out of her wand and her doe appeared. It was a relief that she could still cast that, even if she had to tweak the memories she was using just a bit.
Nearby Theo's shark hung in the air, Hermione's otter was lounging on her desk, Millie's zebra was sniffing Rachel's doe, Neville's hedgehog was scurrying around on the desks, and Ron's terrier was playing and wagging its tail. Across the room, Pansy and Daphne's birds were perched together and Draco's ball python was coiled up on his desk. Blaise had stood and his rottweiler was to the side.
"Wonderful, just wonderful," Professor Flitwick said, clapping his hands. "In all of my years of teaching I've never seen a display like this. Usually only a handful of students a year achieve a corporeal Patronus. I was told by my other seventh years that you teach this spell in your Defense club."
"We do, we've been teaching it for the past two years, sir," Hermione said, looking pleased. "Each year some of our third and fourth years can cast it."
"Truly remarkable," Professor Flitwick said. "Now, I traditionally give twenty points to whoever achieves a corporeal Patronus, so that's one hundred and forty points to Slytherin and sixty points to Gryffindor. All of you with corporeal Patronuses are excused from the homework this week and next while we study the Patronus charm here in class. Go ahead and dismiss your Patronuses and we'll begin with what we know about the history of the Patronus charm."
Rachel waved her doe away and pulled out a piece of parchment for her notes. It was nice when things were easy, as rare as that was.
She felt like her mind was buzzing with all of the things she was trying to keep in her head. The morning paper had been full of speculation about what would happen at today's Wizengamot meeting. Theories ranged anywhere from the plausible, such as a curfew in magical areas, to the very unlikely, such as the Unspeakables being drafted to read the minds of anyone who entered the Ministry. Rachel intended to call Sirius on her mirror tomorrow evening, even though they typically only spoke every other weekend, but she wanted to hear what was happening first-hand rather than rely on the sometimes less than factual rehash in the Daily Prophet.
She had therapy this morning, four NEWT review sessions, tea with Hagrid, and a lesson with Professor Dumbledore. Then tomorrow was her busy day. Her mind kept clamoring for her to drop something so that she could have some private time to herself away from everything, but she couldn't see what she could possibly drop.
Following finishing breakfast, the Great Hall was a little quieter than usual because most people didn't emerge for breakfast until eight thirty or so - if students came out at all on Saturday morning - they joined the rest of the study group in the entrance hall.
"Neville?"
They turned as a group and found Hannah looking tearful as she came down the stairs.
"Hannah, what's wrong?" Neville asked, stepping forward.
"Professor Sprout came for Susan this morning. Her parents were killed last night. Susan is being sent to her aunt for a little while," Hannah said, coming close to Neville.
Neville put his hand on her shoulder and the group gathered around protectively. "I'm so sorry. Is there anything we can do for you or Susan?"
"I just don't want to be alone right now and I don't want to be with the rest of my House. Everyone is talking about Ernie again and who might be killed next. I was thinking, maybe tonight or throughout the week, we can send our Patronuses to Susan with messages just that we support her and care about her," Hannah suggested.
"We can definitely do that and we can ask the others in the DA with Patronuses to send her messages too if they're comfortable with that," Hermione said.
Rachel nodded. She didn't know how much that would help Susan, but at least she'd know that people cared enough to send messages.
"And you can stay with our group for as long as you want to," Millie said, touching Hannah's forearm gently.
"Absolutely, and if you don't want to be in the Great Hall right now, we can take care of that too. The DA takes care of our own, and we take care of our friends," Theo said.
"We do," Ginny agreed, though she looked a bit shaken.
"And if you and Susan want to stay with us after she comes back, that's fine too," Luna added.
"Thank you," Hannah said, her expression a mix between gratitude and sadness.
"Neville and I have a prefect meeting in about twenty minutes, but the rest of the group can stay with you for now. Do you want breakfast? We can drop by the kitchens and get you something," Hermione asked.
"I can't eat right now," Hannah said, her voice wavering. "I knew Susan's parents. Susan and I would visit each other's houses over the summer holidays. I can't believe they're gone just like that."
Rachel bit her lip. All the people who she'd seen die in her visions, it left friends and families like this. She had known that, of course she had, but it was different to be confronted with the reality of that grief. She remembered Mr. and Mrs. Weasley tentatively asking her about Percy, their pain and loss open for anyone to see.
"I know. No one should have to deal with this," Neville said. "Let's go to our study room where we can have some privacy."
"I'll see all of you a little after ten," Rachel said, moving to go back down to the dungeons to meet with Severus.
"Can I walk with you?" Ginny asked.
"Sure," Rachel said, though she could definitely make it to Severus' office from here by herself.
They walked quietly for the first few minutes. Rachel was thinking about Susan and what, if anything, they could possibly do to help. She didn't see what would help other than just being there for her. Death was kind of one of those unsolvable things. All you could do was go forward.
She wondered briefly about what would happen when she died. She knew that was going to hurt Severus and Sirius and her friends. She didn't know what to do about that either. She didn't know how to prepare them for that without telling them the truth. There was a part of her that wanted to tell them, just so she wasn't carrying it alone, but she knew that was selfish.
"Rachel?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah?"
"A while back, you said you'd be okay talking with me about Percy and what you saw. Is that still true?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, of course," Rachel said, looking at her.
Ginny looked drawn and her mouth was in a thin line. "I think I need to hear it. Not today. I want to be with Hannah today. But when we're not with Hannah and Susan, I think I need to hear it."
"Okay. Just let me know when and we'll go somewhere private," Rachel said. If it would help Ginny, then she wanted to do it.
"Do you think it's always going to feel like this?" Ginny asked.
"No," Rachel answered, though she didn't know exactly how Ginny felt. "For me, at least, how I feel about things that have hurt me have changed over time. Some of them aren't so strong anymore. This only happened a few months ago. I think it's going to be a while before it feels different."
Ginny's throat bobbed as she swallowed. "I think you're right. I still think about the diary sometimes, but it doesn't feel the same now as it did a few years ago."
They reached Severus' office door and Rachel waited with Ginny.
"I think for now we just be with Hannah, and then when Susan comes back, we see what she needs," Ginny said, meeting Rachel's eyes.
Rachel nodded. "I think that's the best we can do right now. It's understandable if what they're going through is bringing up stuff for you too. It would for anyone."
Ginny's nod was a little jerky. "Yeah. I guess it makes sense. I just want this to be over. I want the Death Eaters to stop."
"I do too," Rachel said, feeling the weight of that responsibility settle on her. "We have plans. We're working on them. We can't kill him yet, but we're working on it."
Ginny looked at her for a long moment. "How bad is it?"
She hesitated, not really sure how to answer that question. "There's things we have to put in place. We can't move forward without doing these things. We're trying. I wish I could make it go faster, but I don't know how to do that."
"I suppose Professor Dumbledore knows what he's doing. If he could make this stop sooner, he would have," Ginny finally said.
"Yeah, I'm sure that's true. He wants this to stop as much as anyone. Probably more, he seems to feel that he's the one who has to lead the war against the Dark Lord." She was sure that if they could end the war sooner, Professor Dumbledore would be doing that.
"You probably need to go before you're late," Ginny said.
"Yeah, I do. Are you okay to get back to the rest of the group?" Rachel asked.
"I am. I'll see you in a little over an hour. I hope it goes well," she said, backing away.
"Thanks. Use your Patronus if something seems wrong," Rachel reminded her before going into Severus' office and then entering his quarters.
Severus looked up from where he was sitting at the table with the remains of his breakfast. "Is something wrong?"
She supposed she must look a little grim. "Susan's parents were killed last night."
He set down his teacup with a clunk. "Did they say anything about her aunt?"
"Just that Susan was being sent to her for a little while," she said.
Severus' shoulders relaxed slightly. "No doubt they attempted to get to Amelia last night as well. As unfortunate as it is that Susan's parents were killed, we are fortunate that Amelia is alright. If we had lost the head of the MLE right now, that would be another big step towards losing the Ministry and the war."
"Will Susan be safe with her aunt?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, if they could not reach her last night, then that means our defenses are working. Amelia, Scrimgeour, and the new Head Auror Robards are three of our most closely guarded people and they are all essential to our war response. I can promise you that Susan is well guarded while she's with her aunt," Severus said, looking at the clock. "We should get going."
"Is there nothing we can do to stop the Dark Lord sooner? Couldn't I tell him to meet me somewhere and Professor Dumbledore and I ambush him? Do we have to wait to find the horcrux?" she asked. "It might take him a while to get back into the body, but couldn't we use that time?"
Severus shook his head. "If getting the horcrux within the next six months proves impossible, then we will consider that as an option to prevent him from taking the Ministry. For now we need to focus on repelling the Death Eaters and getting the cup horcrux. Let's be on our way."
Rachel nodded reluctantly. She'd sort of already known the answer, but it still wasn't the answer she'd wanted to hear. She had to find the cup horcrux or deaths like Susan's parents and Percy were going to keep happening. She wondered if she could convince Professor Dumbledore to let her do Looking through space twice a week. It was worth at least asking. In the meantime, she needed to refocus and start on her day.