CHAPTER 13

After leaving the Carrows and their ominous threats about whether I will be attacked viciously by all of the people—and there are quite a few in Slytherin House—that I've pissed off, I'm incredibly relieved to see McGonagall's office door. After a quiet knock, she calls for me to enter. "Rodgers? You should be disillusioned."

"I know. The Carrows were waiting for me to leave Snape's office. They removed the charm. Just wanted to drop by and let you know so you wouldn't worry I was stuck up there."

"Did they harm you?"

"No, but they know I don't have a wand, and it seems likely that they'll mention to a few of the students who . . . dislike me. Not to worry, though. My friends all still have their wands."

She still looks displeased.

"But I need to leave now. I need to find my friends and perhaps alert a couple of them to the situation. Good day, Professor." She says goodbye and does not stop me from retreating.

When I reach the common room door, I hear laughter and shrieks of what I hope is joy coming from inside. "Salazar." The door unlocks, and I push it open to find the common room in complete disarray. The furniture is stacked precariously around the room, some of it enlarged or seemingly missing altogether. Only a few candles light the whole room, making it difficult to actually see much beyond how dangerous this whole area looks right now.

Then, suddenly, a green beam of light soars through the darkness and hits me in the leg. "Green calls Charlotte!" Ella's voice rings out, followed by a groan of frustration from someone in the far-right corner of the room.

"What's happening?" I ask.

A few more candles light up the room, and with the light comes a number of faces belonging to people I hardly ever speak to. First-years and second-years, some third-years, and at least two fifth-years.

"Beams, of course," Christopher says, nudging his way through the maze of furniture and the other students. "And it looks like Ella's team already called dibs on you so whatever."

"How many teams are there?"

"Three," says a third-year I don't know.

I realize a moment too late that my wand is no longer in my possession. "How many on each team?"

"Three for now," Julia says, appearing next to Ella.

What a relief. "Then I'll just watch." My eyes land on a chair, and I go sit in it. "Boost me up." Jacob steps forward and casts a spell at the chair to enlarge it, and it lifts me almost all the way to the ceiling. "What are you waiting for?" I cry out, perching myself as if I am the ruler of a tiny kingdom. "Get to your starting positions!" The rumbling feet is the only sound for almost a minute before the lights go down and the game begins.

Purple lights up the room, followed by a sad whine and what sounds like stifled laughter from Julia. Red is the next color to brighten the room, but the voice of the person muttering in irritation is unknown to me. Some fourth-years trickle into the dungeon and join the game. Some sixth-years as well. Two students open the door, see what is taking place, and turn right back around, but most of the Slytherins who stumble into the room are more than happy to join the game and learn how to play. I just wish the common room were bigger so that it wouldn't be as difficult for everyone to play. Make the players smaller, a voice says to me in the back of my mind. Of course, I can't help them now, considering the lack of a wand, but it's a thought to ponder. Someone shrieks with laughter and room lights up with a bright blue.

Despite everything, Voldemort torturing Severus and taking my wand, the Carrows threatening me and trying to intimidate me, I feel happy right now. Truly happy. There is still goodness in the world, and if these young children prove anything, it's that the world isn't going to end when Voldemort rains down his villainy. People can still learn to appreciate life and the little things. It fills me with a sense of hope.

Voldemort has not yet won this horrible war.

At least, it seems that way for almost an hour before Pansy and Crabbe and Goyle arrive and light the candles around the room. "What the hell?" Pansy growls. "Who did this?" Her eyes land on me. "You let them deface the common room?"

"I didn't 'let' them do anything, seeing as I'm not in charge of them," I say, doing my best to keep my voice somewhat neutral on the off chance that she loses her temper at me and attacks while I have no way to defend myself. "They did this because they wanted to. Last time I checked, it's their common room too."

Pansy waves her wand, and the furniture all goes flying back to its proper place. When only my chair remains out of its usual place, she turns to me with venom in her eyes. "Why don't you come down, Charlotte?"

"I'm pretty good up here, thanks. Why don't you mosey on into the dormitory and let everyone else go back to enjoying their evening without you?" So much for trying to stay neutral.

She aims her wand at me, but I do not flinch. If she's going to hurt me, she will not have the satisfaction of seeing me fear it. "Why don't you defend yourself, Charlotte? You're usually so quick to pull that wand when someone threatens you." Well, the Carrows have certainly told Pansy about my wand situation.

I shrug. "Perhaps I realized that you're just not worth the effort."

A spell flies out of her wand and hits the chair, which immediately vanishes beneath me, sending me hurdling toward the stone floor. I brace myself for impact, but something catches me. I look over at the entrance to the common room and find Daphne and Astoria, both of them with their wands drawn and aimed at me. Unsure which one casted the spell and actually caught me, I find my love for each of them grow exponentially. The spell gently sets me on my feet onto the floor.

Pansy snarls at the Greengrass sisters, then goes to take a seat by the fireplace. It's disappointing to see the amount of Slytherin students who just walk away, seemingly unfazed by Pansy's actions even though she disrupted their fun. Are they afraid of her? Did they come to their sense about playing a child's game? How long would this have gone on had Pansy and the others not shown up to end it?

"When'd you get back?" Daphne asks me.

"A moment ago."

"You weren't in Hogsmeade together?" Ella asks.

"The Carrows came to fetch me early. They wanted me to help them with something." My group of friends and I move to one of the tables, and we start working on homework as Daphne passes around some butterbeer and receives loud cheers from all the second-years.

It's on the fourth day of classes after my wand is taken that I finally begin to notice it—not the missing wand because that's been an irritation this entire time. What I'm just now noticing is that the Carrows are almost always around—even at random times in the corridors when they would normally be in their offices. Usually, they're visible just in the corner of my eye, and by the time I try to catch them, they're gone. This all leads me to one conclusion: the Carrows are following me. And there's no wand in my possession with which to fight back—or attack them, I guess, as that would be the proper phrasing seeing that they haven't actually tried to harm me. They're just infuriatingly annoying and need to be stopped.

From what I can tell though, it's mostly Alecto for some reason. Perhaps Amycus enjoys mentally and physically torturing the other students too much to follow me around. So much of my time has been spent avoiding the Carrows that I don't even know what's going on with the D.A. or anyone, really, outside of my small circle of friends.

Which becomes problematic when I'm walking back to the Slytherin Dungeon from McGonagall's office—I'm surprised the Carrows haven't tried to stop me from speaking with her (I'm grateful, but I'm growing suspicious that they don't care much). It's when I'm walking out of McGonagall's office that I realize I should be putting forth more of an effort to stay in the loop. And it's because I'm attacked. Not by the Carrows, not by the Slytherins, not by the Ravenclaw D.A. members who still seem somewhat unwilling to trust me.

No, I am tackled from behind by none other than Ginny Weasley, who manages to take me all the way down to the floor, her knee on my back, before she gasps out my name and scrambles off of me. "Charlotte, I'm so sorry."

"The hell?" I groan, pushing up to my feet. "What are you doing?"

Light comes from the tip of her wand. "I didn't realize it was you," she says, holding her side, hopefully in as much pain as I am from the fall.

"So you just go around tackling people?" I say, laughter hardly escaping in my voice. I can't help but find the situation comical despite the throbbing in my knees and hands from where they caught me on the stone floor.

"Well, I thought you were someone else. And I thought that person deserved a more physical attack before I used magic on him."

"Him? You thought I was a 'him'?" I look down at myself. "I don't know how to take that, honestly. Who did you think I was?"

"I'd rather not say," she laughs.

"Tell me." My attempt to sound assertive is undercut by the smile on my face.

"Zabini."

"Za—" I shake my head. "I can't—I don't—you thought I was Zabini?" This time, my own fit of silent laughter escapes me.

"All I heard was someone's footsteps," she says in her own defense.

"What did he do to deserve your wrath?"

She clenches her jaw. "Michael Corner was caught releasing students from detention." I didn't even realize the D.A. was still going on missions to rescue students from detention. "Neville saw Zabini talking to the Carrows just before they ran back to the dungeons to catch Michael in the act. I just thought . . . you know, he's a Slytherin. He wouldn't be expected a physical attack."

"And a Gryffindor would expect someone tackling them?"

She smiles. "Good point."

"What'll happen to him?"

"They're going to make an example of him," she whispers.

"Like they did to me when I was Neville?"

Ginny shakes her head. "No, they're planning on making it public this time."

"Merlin . . ." The Carrows are growing more restless, more bloodthirsty each day. And I've been solely focused on trying to get them to stop following me. I hate myself.

"Seamus overheard them and notified Neville."

"Then I completely understand you tackling me," I say, "had I actually been Zabini. Where are they now—Neville and Seamus and the rest of the D.A.?"

"In the Room of Requirement, trying to think of a way to save Michael from this fate, but we see no way to prevent it." Because, honestly, there really is no way to prevent this. I might have been able to adjust the memories of just the Carrows into believing they gave a sufficient detention to Ginny, but adjusting the memories of everyone who would be forced to watch Michael's torture is something far above my abilities—not to mention the issue of not even having a wand to try.

We're both silent for a few minutes, giving Michael the respect that he deserves for his bravery.

She looks down both ends of the corridor. "I would say that you should come with me to the Room of Requirement, but I fear the Carrows are still lurking about. It'd be a shame if they found out that you were actually with us, or if another Slytherin is snooping and finds out you're a part of the D.A."

I swallow. "They've been following me, so it's probably best if I don't linger here too long. I'm not sure where they are or what they're doing."

She nods, now looking up and down the corridor. "And if you can think of anything to help Michael, don't be afraid to come to any one of us, got that?"

"Of course."

"And, Charlotte," she says as I start to walk away. I stop and turn back to her. "Watch your back around the Slytherins. The ones I overhear during the day have nothing good to say about you. They might try something."

"Thanks." That's discomfiting, all things considered, but nothing can be done about it now.

No one could save Michael, it seems. That much is obvious when we walk into the Great Hall that next morning. My friends and I slow down when we arrive, the uncomfortable tension in the air so palpable that it tempts me to turn around and leave. As that would not be a great idea in this moment, I continue walking with my friends to our normal seats, my eyes on the platform that houses the staff table. There stand the Carrow twins with Michael Corner proud and fearless between them despite the black eye and the blood dripping down his arm.

The other Houses watch the Carrows with some form of panic on their faces; only the Slytherins seeming almost indifferent to what's happening. More students trickle in, each of them slowing when they see Michael, their fear mixing with the rest of ours. Even Severus saunters in for this, and in spite of everything, all I feel is relief. Severus is healed, supposedly, enough that he can walk into the Great Hall without so much as a wince or a limp. He sits down, his face calloused and uncaring as he watches the Carrows and Michael. Or so it seems. I'm sure he's just as unhappy as the rest of the professors are.

When at last the Great Hall is filled with students, Amycus smiles grotesquely. "Good morning, children!" he shouts, his voice echoing through the hall. "Last night, someone attempted to free the students who were in detention!" He pauses for a moment, then shoves Michael to his knees. "Here lies the culprit!" His foot rams into Michael's chest, followed by the gasps of students all across the hall. "But this was not the first time this happened, is it? Earlier in the year, Neville Longbottom released students as well! We thought showing Longbottom after his punishment would be enough to deter another such attempt!" Amycus snarls, then pulls his wand. "This was not enough. Now, today, we stand before each and every one of you." He aims his wand at the boy. "Look upon your fellow student! Any attempt to rise against your superiors here at Hogwarts will lead to the same fate."

"No!" comes a cry from the Ravenclaw table.

"Crucio!"

Michael begins shrieking for help and begging them to stop, his body writhing violently under the curse. The horrified cries and gasps of students ring through the Great Hall. The professors all pale. Alecto smiles. I close my eyes for a moment, recalling the pain of that spell when Bellatrix used it against me, when Voldemort did, but as I am unable to help Michael and have to accept that, I unclench my hands and put them in my lap, counting to myself and hoping it ends soon.

"Please!" Michael manages to scream.

"You're killing him!" a voice shouts.

"He's had enough!" another tries.

"We get the point!"

"He's had enough!"

"Let him go!"

Twenty seconds go by.

Slowly, the professors behind the Carrows begin to lose their patience, particularly Flitwick who seems to be reaching into his robes to grab his wand. "Enough!" he yells.

Amycus does not let up.

Thirty-five seconds. I will not cry for him.

McGonagall attempts to stand, but Severus cuts her a glance and says something to her. Her lips thin out, a look so full of hatred on her face that it almost looks like she might try to kill him if given the chance. She probably regrets giving me the potion for him, probably wishes him dead now more than before.

Forty-six seconds.

Michael continues screeching, wailing, pleading for mercy.

Fifty-eight seconds pass, but it feels like an eternity. Most of Ravenclaw House now stand on their feet, begging Amycus to stop hurting their friend, but Alecto has her wand aimed in their direction so it seems that they are unwilling to attack in fear that Amycus will only hurt Michael more. "This has gone on long enough!" Flitwick shouts, his wand raised and aimed at Amycus, no longer able to bite his tongue while a student from his House is tormented this way. Alecto turns and points her wand at him, and with the coaxing of Professor Sprout, he begrudgingly sits back down.

Seventy-two seconds.

Then Severus stands to his feet. Please, Severus, please. No one says anything or makes any acknowledgement of his actions. Slowly, almost gruelingly so, he walks around the staff table and to Amycus's side. Eight-one seconds. He places a hand on the Carrow brother's arm, and Michael's screams go silent though he continues shaking and moaning on the floor. Amycus glares at Severus but says nothing. The headmaster is firm. Then, just as silently as he has been for this whole ordeal, he walks out of the room.

Once Severus is gone, Amycus looks back at the crowd of students. "Ravenclaw, come clean up your filth," he says as he and Alecto leave as well.

Flitwick is by Michael's side in a matter of seconds, followed closely by McGonagall and Sprout. Slughorn stays frozen as Michael's friends rush to his side. The professors surrounding the Ravenclaw boy bark orders at the Michael's friends, and they charge from the room, probably to inform Madam Pomfrey of what has happened.

None of us students really do anything after that. McGonagall and Flitwick remove Michael from the hall. A strained silence settles on all of us. The Ravenclaws are the first to leave the hall, each of them in small groups, whispering to each other, trying to comfort each other. Then the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs stand to leave as well. While a few Slytherins besides my group of friends and me stand to leave as well, the rest stay in their seats, eating happily as if nothing happened just now.

As my friends and I turn the corner to leave the Great Hall, the scowling face of Alecto Carrow greets me. "Rodgers," she says cruelly, "come with me."

"If she goes, we're going too," Jacob declares.

"No, you're not," Alecto says.

Jacob moves as if he is going to attack Alecto, but Julia grabs him and holds him back.

I offer all of them an apologetic glance, then follow the Death Eater, neither of us speaking as we walk through the corridors. Only our footsteps cast any noise around us. We don't stop until we've reached the gargoyle statue leading up to the Headmaster's Tower. She spits out the password, drags me up the steps to Severus's office, throws the door open, pulls me across the room, and shoves me into a chair. "That was rude," I say as evenly.

"Shut up!" she shouts.

Severus sits in his normal chair behind his desk, Amycus leaning against the wall behind him, under the portrait of Dumbledore who seems completely unbothered by the Carrows. Alecto joins her brother behind Severus. "What's this about?" I ask innocently.

Severus's eyes are apologetic.

"Who's leading the D.A.?" Amycus asks gruffly.

"I've already told you that I don't know."

"And we know you're lying," Severus says, an apology still on his face.

"Who is it?" Amycus repeats.

The headmaster mouths a name, and I almost smile as it clicks what he is trying to get me to do. I look up at the Carrows. "Luna Lovegood was in charge. I don't know who took over after her."

"You expect us to believe that they've kept you out of the loop?" Alecto sneers.

"They don't trust me as they used to. So, yeah, I expect you to believe me. I don't know who it is."

"That's not good enough anymore!" Amycus growls. "You've been lying to us for months and if you think—"

Severus throws up his hand to silence Amycus's threat. "If Charlotte learns who the new leader is, she'll report it to us."

I nod my agreement. "I will, I will, I promise."

"Threats will do you no good, Amycus. We all know she cannot be harmed. The Dark Lord's command. The two of you are free to leave."

The Carrows glare at me as they walk toward the door and leave. "Would he have driven Michael to insanity like Bellatrix did the Longbottoms?"

"I cannot be sure what he would or would not have done."

"Thanks for . . . stopping the Carrows. Both from killing Michael and from probably trying to hurt me as well."

He gives me a small nod, and I leave his office, wondering how I can possibly visit him soon without a wand.

At the bottom of the stairs, just outside the gargoyle statue, stand my friends, each of them waiting for me patiently as if I hadn't just been dragged away by Alecto. "Everything all right?" Christophr asks.

"Of course. Snape won't actually let them hurt me. They just like to threaten me and take me to him to see if he can force me to obey them."

"Come on then," Ella says, sliding her arm through mine. "It's been a long day. And classes haven't even started yet. Let's just skip."

"I don't think—"

"Honestly, Charlotte, most of the professors will be understanding of us skipping class," Julia says, taking my other arm. "Did you not witness what we just did? No one's going to class for a few hours. We just want to go sit by the lake for a while."

"In the freezing weather?"

"Why not?" Jacob says.

"What's actually going on?"

"We know you don't have your wand," Christopher says. "And Pansy and her goons have been plotting. Or at least they seem to have been plotting."

"So we're keeping you away from them for a short while," Astoria continues. "So we're not going to the dungeon."

Neither skipping class nor sitting in the cold sounds appealing because what I really want to do is write a letter to my father to let him know of some of the changes here at Hogwarts and to check on his well-being, but that will have to come later, it seems, because they're all determined to keep me away from Pansy for the time being.