Peter Pettigrew and Emmett Blackford had remained quiet for months, mostly due to the fact that they had a new headmaster who was very good at catching students who did something wrong. He had even expelled Lucius Malfoy, which made it clear that they couldn't just simply attack other students like they could when Dumbledore was in charge. But they were ready to try again. This time, they would just have to do it quietly.
They decided they couldn't target the Black family because they would be caught for sure, so they decided to target someone new. Macklemore Macmillan was a perfect choice.
The plan was to have Peter stun Macklemore, and once they were in an unused classroom, both boys would start attacking Macklemore. When they were done, Emmett would cast a memory charm on him so he wouldn't be able to tell anyone.
The first part of their plan worked perfectly. Peter was able to find Macklemore in a corridor by himself, and stunned him. He levitated him to the unused classroom.
When Macklemore woke, he realized he was in the presence of two of the worst school bullies. Immediately upon seeing that he was awake, the two boys started throwing spells at him.
Macklemore realized his wand had been taken from him, so he was defenseless. However, there was still one thing he could do. The Heirship ring to the House of Macmillan gave him the ability to think telepathically. Anyone could do it with some practice, but the Macmillan family had the gift for it, and the Heir ring just made it easier. He had never been very good at doing it until he became the Heir.
Melania was teaching a fourth year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw class. She was talking about the Muggle second world war, and comparing and contrasting to the war that had been active in the Wizarding World at the time.
"Then, in 1945," she was lecturing when suddenly, she felt a connection click into place in her head. She and Arcturus would often communicate this way, because he knew how to communicate telepathically with her. He had learned how to do it after they married. But this definitely was not Arcturus.
"Help! Pettigrew and Blackford are attacking me!" Macklemore's voice said in her head. "Third floor unused classroom."
"Class dismissed!" Melania called out. She did not explain further. She was out the door within seconds.
Melania sent a patronus message to the rest of the staff while running as fast as she could to the unused classroom. When she was about to enter the room, she heard Emmett saying, "We will put a memory charm on you so you won't be able to tell on us."
"Oh, no you won't!" Melania said angrily. Peter and Emmett spun around.
"Professor Black!" Emmett exclaimed.
"Silence!" Melania snapped. The two bullies realized this wasn't the kind Hufflepuff History professor they were used to. No, she was fuming.
"But professor!" Peter tried.
"I SAID SILENCE!" Melania yelled. She had not felt this angry since Sirius was almost poisoned. "You two have once again targeted a student! This is the FIFTH student you've targeted. You have attacked two Blacks, a member of the Bones family, and attempted to poison Heir to the House of Black. Now, you have attacked the Heir to the House of Macmillan! Mr. Pettigrew, while you may not have been involved in the first two attacks, you were involved in everything else. This cannot go unpunished!"
"Agreed," McGonagall said, walking into the room. Madam Pomfrey saw Macklemore and took him to the Hospital Wing.
"But Professor McGonagall, we didn't do anything!" Peter whined.
"Do not lie to me!" McGonagall said angrily. "The headmaster's at the Ministry in a Wizengamot meeting, so I am in charge while he is away. This means, I will be the one handing out your punishment. I had promised expulsion if you two put another toe out of line, but the headmaster has to be present in order to expel a student. So you can consider yourself lucky that you are only getting suspended. You will be suspended for two weeks. Your wand will be taken from you during this two-week period."
Both boys looked horrified. "But, but!" they protested.
"Hand over your wands," McGonagall demanded.
"You cannot take our wands!" Emmett cried.
"I can and I will," McGonagall said, wishing at that moment that she could use the kind of tone the headmaster used to make the students comply without protesting.
Melania decided to disarm the two students. She handed their wands to McGonagall. The students were then given an hour to pack. While McGonagall saw the students out, Melania wrote to Macklemore's parents.
When word got around the school about what had happened that day, everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before Peter and Emmett did something else, and they hoped that they would be expelled next time.