Hidden under her invisibility cloak, Holly made her way through the castle. It was entirely quiet, as it should be this time of night, except for when she ran into Professor McGonagall on patrol. Curiously in the company of one Draco Malfoy who was pleading loudly with her that Longbottom was up to no good.

All the good that that did was lose his house a chunk of points along with getting him detention. Good for Holly at least, she grinned.

Having missed spending as much time with Fluffy in the last couple of weeks due to a certain stalking Professor, she hurried down to the forbidden third floor corridor. It seemed like Fluffy agreed with her, not letting her go down the trapdoor until Holly had given him a good petting.

Her light pebble charged and activated, she held her wand at the ready and slipped into the hole. With her boots, it was an easy descent. When she spotted the first Devil's Snares growing along the cave walls, Holly swallowed thickly, the wand in her hand shaking.

She wasn't afraid per se, but knowing what would happen if she cast the fire charm, she was hoping it wouldn't come to that. And thankfully it didn't, her pebbles keeping her safe for the descent.

Holly was embarrassed and a little concerned, when the next room looked exactly like how she left it. The rubble and debris from when she had ripped the enchanted crystal out of the wall was still visible proof of her being there.

She had expected someone to at least check on the corridor from time to time and see if everything was still secure. Was Dumbledore really that careless or did he know and just wasn't concerned?

At least the flying keys were still fluttering around the room merrily, so there was some kind of challenge left. Thankfully Holly wouldn't have to find and catch the key the intended way and could just use her own.

From Fluffy's room to the chess room barely took half an hour. And it only took Holly that long because she was being cautious in case of any nasty surprises since her last visit.

Then it was time for what she'd been preparing for for weeks. A game of chess. What she hadn't noticed the last time, not knowing the rules, was that one piece on her side was missing. The queen.

This was the risk of the challenge then it seemed, getting crushed to death violently by animated stone statues with weapons bigger than her body. A drop of sweat rolled down Holly's forehead. She was a lot more nervous than she thought than she'd be, even after preparing so much and bringing the guide along.

Once Holly had taken the position as the black queen, the pieces sprung to life and the room lit up with flames surrounding the board. The knight's horses whinnying without a sound, pawns playing with the hilts of their swords, the bishop's robes swishing with their every move and the rooks raising their shields, ready to take on their adversary. It was a magnificent sight to behold, the animation transfiguration so smooth and lifelike.

On the opponent's side, the king and queen looked like an imposing sovereign couple, prepared to wage war. On the other hand, her king gazed down at her, uncertain if they were ready to take on this challenge.

Holly nodded to herself, she could , no she would do this. White moved first, and the game was on.

It started out rocky, Holly not recognizing the strategy white was going for from the new perspective she had to look at the board. It was really difficult to adjust from an almost top-down view when playing normal chess, to standing in the middle of the set. It did give her loads of trouble keeping track of what piece was where and one time even missed white's move entirely. Her king had to remind her that it was her turn.

Having long since lost all notion of knowing what to do, she chose what the guide said to do when unsure of the opponents strategy and played defensively. Always trying to take a piece for losing one. The trades weren't always in her favour. Actually, they almost never were.

Should have checked the guide earlier to find what the opponent was planning , Holly chastised herself. Then maybe she wouldn't have misplayed as much, almost a third of her pieces were rubble at the side of the field, while she had only taken a quarter of the opponents at most.

Seeing an opening for her last knight to get into the opponent's back line, she took the risk. But wasn't rewarded, it had been a set up and now it was trapped. Any try to retrieve it would result in a major loss of pieces for her.

The game continued, white steadily advancing on her diminishing 'army'. In what was a really stupid move, Holly herself finally joined the game. Though it also had been stupid to play without utilising herself as the queen until now. She probably wouldn't be in as bad of a shape now if she tried earlier, or dead in the ditch to the side… Better not to think about that.

White slowly started pushing their pawns forward, exposing Holly's position to be taken out by the opponent's bishop. She could run of course, but that would guarantee her loss anyways. Then she spotted it…

The trapped and forgotten knight wasn't as trapped anymore with the pawns gone. With a single move it could now fork white's king and queen. Meaning to threaten the king with check, while at the same time also be able to take the queen afterwards.

The expression on the opponent's king grew severe, he knew he had just lost his most powerful piece. The king moved out of check, Holly took the queen with the knight and it was soon over, white's king crumbling to dust while reaching out his hand to where his queen had perished.

Her remaining pieces cheered voicelessly, but Holly didn't want to celebrate. The remaining white pieces were mourning their lost comrades. This was all way too real, she felt sorrow for the fallen soldiers of both sides.

Holly knew that after she left, the game would most likely reset itself. Was this supposed to be a lesson on the ethics of transfiguring living or lifelike things? If so… Holly didn't know. She'd have to sleep a night or a thousand over these questions.

When Holly stepped off the board she could hear a soft click from the direction of the door, but she didn't go through yet, taking a little break instead. She didn't know how many challenges were left and was already exhausted.

After having her nose assaulted the moment she entered the next room by a putrid smell, sneaking past the sleeping troll was very easy. Especially with her cloak. Holly just had to hold her breath.

Even the room after was easy. Well, easy for her. It was a puzzle involving potions to get past enchanted fire that had covered the doors. A logical puzzle that would stump most magicals. It was obviously set up by her favourite Professor and she had no problem finding the correct potion.

When Holly gulped the disgusting sludge down, it felt like swallowing ice. Then this was probably the same potion the witches of old had used to survive the burnings, as she had learned in history of magic. Or read in the course book, rather. Professor Binns only ever talked about goblin rebellions after all.

With the potion in her system, she stepped through the fire unimpeded, feeling no heat whatsoever. Once she was over the threshold, the flames behind her died down, as if beckoning for her to think twice about actually going on ahead.

But she was determined to see this through, she'd already beaten as many rooms as last time in far less time. And she felt like she was close to the goal.

Peeking into the next chamber, Holly saw a familiar sight. An ornamental mirror was situated at the bottom of long stairs. In fact, the chamber was set up like an Ancient Greek amphitheatre, with the mirror where the speaker would have stood.

Holly took a good look around, and not seeing another exit, began heading down towards the mirror. Whenever she walked past a brazier affixed to the marble pillars, they burst into flame. Lit up, the chamber looked marvellous. Especially the mirror, reflecting the light all over the place.

Standing in front of the mirror once nice again was a weird experience. The last time she'd seen it, she'd been so angry and almost destroyed the thing. Holly liked to believe that she'd grown since then.

What had Professor Dumbledore said, 'the mirror is neither good nor bad, she just encountered it at the wrong time in her life '? And this was probably 'the good' he thought the mirror could be used for, to somehow hide the stone. But how?

The answer to that question came to Holly in the shape of… herself. Her reflection pointed at the pocket where she was carrying the pouch, did it want her to take it out?

Her reflection watched, unmoving, as she pulled the pouch out of her pocket. The pouch was bound tight with a braided string. When Holly pulled, there was a little shimmer and then it opened without a hitch.

Out onto her hand tumbled a small, blood red crystal. It was glowing slightly and pulsing, as if it was alive. Weirdly enough, her mirror image was holding the stone in the wrong hand.

On autopilot Holly slowly lowered her hand, the reflection doing the same, but on the wrong side, and finally put it back in her pocket without the punch. She had to suppress a snort when the reflection winked at her and then vanished.

It took Holly a second to realise, but the weight in her pocket had disappeared. Instead there now was something in the other one. The decoy had been exchanged with the original.

With trepidation, she reached into the other pocket. She gasped in shock when her fingers touched and finally grasped the stone. Magic exploded out of the stone, Holly could practically taste it in the air. The sheer amount was almost suffocating.

Pulling it out to inspect it closer, the difference to the decoy was like night and day. Instead of a blood red crystal, she held a crystal that looked like there was actual blood flowing inside of it. The small glow of the decoy was nothing compared to the shining beacon that was the original. Where the decoy had pulsed, this one practically beat like an actual heart. It gave her the feeling like she was filled with life, like she could lift the entire castle with a single wave of her wand.

Holly could understand how it would be hard to hide this thing, hopefully the pouch would be enough. So she quickly stuffed the stone into the pouch and tied the string back on. She felt lighter, a weight lifted off her shoulders and the air became breathable again.

And with that it was done. Stone successfully retrieved… time to go back. Turning around to leave, she felt like this was far too easy and a little anticlimactic. Maybe the mirror would have been harder for someone who hadn't encountered it before. Well, not that it mattered, now that the stone was safe.

Holly walked back up the steps, a soft wind pushing her in the back and onwards. The flames in the braziers flickered in the breeze.

*thunk*

The wind had pushed the door closed and was getting stronger, actually blowing out a couple of the braziers.

*thunk*

Holly realised then, the sound hadn't been the door, it was coming from behind her and was oddly familiar. She turned back to the mirror just as with a loud crash a claw burst out of the surface, sending shards of glass flying and floating to the ceiling, weirdly enough. Why did she have to jinx herself?

She recognised the creature from the cursed book she'd opened, how had it gotten into the mirror? But before she could think more of it or run away, her mind was assaulted by visions, memories and dreams of pain.

Dropping to her knees, she gasped. Holly froze in fear, she remembered now, nightmares, night upon night. Getting hunted by this vile thing, barely escaping, hurting. The scratches she would wake up with sometimes were the remains of much deeper wounds in her dreams.

Holly didn't notice when the thing fully emerged from the mirror, too occupied with the visions and memories. But when its shrill laugh echoed through the chamber an invisible force pushed her fully into the floor, back grinding into the edges of the steps.

Reality and memories interlaced in her vision, the horrors of dozens of nights were fused with the terror she felt at the thing actually being real in front of her. It slowly approached, in the chamber, in the forest, in the great hall, in her dorms, everywhere.

She whipped out her wand, but was entirely lost for a spell to cast. Holly had seen this happening so many times, it always ended the same. She would try and fight, nothing would work and then it would have fun hurting her.

Hopeless, it was hopeless. The despair consumed her, the dread paralyzed her. Tears rolled down her face, Holly would die, pathetic and alone . She was ashamed to disappoint her parents like this.

The thing's mouth opened wide, displaying its rotten black teeth. Biting at the air as if consuming something, the mouth grew wider and wider, so wide that it would be able to swallow her whole.

When it raised its hand, Hollys own mirrored the movement. When its joints started bending in their unnatural ways, her own mirrored that too. She screamed in agony and dropped her wand. When its head twitched to the side, her own followed. Even with her mind fuddled by pain and terror, she realised that it fed on her emotion, fueling its power over her further.

The pain fueled something else though, a small ember lighting in her chest. Holly was angry , furious , enraged and filled with… with wrath.

Sputtering sparks in anticipation, her wand jumped back into her hand. The ember inside her ignitedand when Holly grasped the handle, the world lit up in flames.

The fire washed over her, it was so bright, almost white. A screech pierced the air, and deep into Holly's heart. On the other hand, the roaring flames soothed the pain, evaporating the tears on her cheeks. The sizzling and crackling drowned out the fear she'd felt before. She was entirely surrounded by flames and she felt safe.

When Holly's eyes had adjusted to the light, she started seeing shapes in the fire. One was clearly the cursed creature. And it was fighting something, a shadow of fire moving to strike at it, making it screech again.

Whatever it was couldn't hold its form, breaking apart after each attack and then reforming. Her wand had long since stopped spouting out fire, so Holly lowered her arm and watched in awe, the mighty battle happening right in front of her.

With each strike, the thing lost more of the shadowy form Holly could see. First one of its overlong nails, the roaring flames got louder and louder. Then another, the entire hand. An arm, a hole in its stomach, a leg. Until finally, with a last pitiful screech, it collapsed into nothingness .

Her flames followed suit, dying down little by little. The shape that had been fighting on her behalf was gone, just wisps in the wind. Holly's robes billowed as she stood in the carnage, some cinders still remaining. They had lost the pretty white colouring, now just the normal orange. She hadn't even realised that she'd stood up again.

Holly dropped onto her hands and knees, exhausted and gasping for air. The oxygen in the room was sparse. Closing her eyes and curling into herself, Holly tried to ignore the pain and recover. Her scars were hurting, feeling like they had been burned to a crisp, just like the last time she had cast a fire charm. It was agony, but far less than what that thing had been doing to her.

Opening her eyes again, Holly looked around the room. The mirror seemed fine, covered in soot, but fine. The last embers had died down, leaving behind black burn marks on the white marble floor and walls.

She slowly stood on shaky legs and fought her way over to the mirror, trying not to collapse again. Grasping the hem of her robe sleeve to wipe the spot off the mirror, Holly noticed her gloves had been burned off. Revealing her scarred skin that had been hiding underneath. Her skin was dry and cracked open, she could probably pull off whole chunks of it.

But that was not important now, Holly concentrated on her task to clean up the mirror again. She had to leave quickly, with as little evidence of her being here as possible. Someone was bound to have noticed the fight.

Holly made her journey back up the corridor as quickly as possible. First using the walls as support whenever possible until she realised she could just use her boots to hover and the wind barrier to stabilise herself. It was still half a struggle.

There were no more surprises on her way up. Fluffy was excitedly jumping around her when she emerged from the hole, but quickly calmed down when he saw the state she was in. He butted a head into her shoulder in concern.

"I'm sorry Fluffy," she whispered. "I need to go, important package to send." Whining, he watched her leave.

Under her cloak, Holly dragged herself up the stairs back to her dorm. Even with her boots as assistance it was a struggle. She was still clutching at her arms when she reached the portrait hole. They were throbbing in pain.

The first time Holly had cast the fire charm, they'd been hurting so badly hat she couldn't even hold a quill anymore. It had taken her over two days to recover from the simple one time cast, she couldn't imagine how long it would take after today's spectacle. She still didn't know what she'd done to be honest, the flames had just exploded out of her wand, no incantation, no visualising, almost as if on instinct.

Dragging herself through the hole, Holly quickly threw her cloak off and stuffed it into her bag. No need to stay hidden any longer. Walking through the common room, she was surprised to find the fireplace still burning brightly. Someone must have stayed up real late.

Just as she was about to ascend the stairs to the dorms, someone cleared their throat behind her.

"And where have you been all night, Miss Potter?"

It was Professor McGonagall! Had she been caught already, would they take the stone back after all she'd been through? She clutched the pouch in her pocket through the fabric of her robes.

"Miss Potter, please look at me when I'm talking to you!" Professor McGonagall sounded exceptionally angry, so Holly promptly followed the instructions and turned around. The professor was sitting in one of the big armchairs in front of the fireplace.

"I was ju-"

"Spare me the excuses!" The Professor interrupted her. "Three of my students sneaking out in a single night. What a disgrace for house Gryffindor."

Wait, what? Hermione and Longbottom had been caught! And now she herself as a result.

"50 points from Gryffindor and detention, let that be a lesson to you. Now off to bed."

Holly nodded and headed upstairs. She didn't much care for house points and another detention. Well, not with Professor McGonagall at least.

The dorm room was quiet when she entered. The light from the staircase was spilling into the room, making her shadow grow long and the darkness inside feel threatening. ' Just shadows, they're just shadows ,' Holly mumbled to herself. It would take her a while to get over the experience with the cursed creature.

After closing the door, she quickly approached her desk, intending to send off Hedwig right away and maybe get a cuddle in before that. But Hedwig wasn't having it, only allowing a couple pets and cleaning her feathers off the soot still left on Holly's clothes right away. Vain bird!

Holly was just about to latch the window shut after sending Hedwig off, when a voice startled her.

"Where were you? Why are you so dirty? What was in that pouch? Why did you bring shame to Gryffindor like this?" Hermione rattled off question after question.

"B-bring shame to Gryffindor," Holly was almost speechless. "Excuse me?! You and Longbottom were the only reason I was caught at all. And don't forget, you were out after curfew too."

She crossed her arms, hiding her exposed, scarred hands in the pits of her arms.

"But I did it for a good cause, unlike you," Hermione whisper shouted. "And it's Neville, not Longbottom."

"And how do you know I wasn't doing the same?"

Hermione scoffed. "Please, I know you well enough by now. Starting fights, your fake friendliness, constant detentions. Not to mention I heard you sneaking out before and was nice enough not to tell!"

It seemed like Hermione was really trying to blame her own misdeed on Holly.

"Fine, whatever. Believe what you will," she waved her off. "I'm going to sleep. Had a long day."

"We're not done here!"

Holly gave her a dirty look, closed her bed curtains and dropped into bed, out cold in seconds. The last thing beforsleep claimed her was Hermione huffing and stomping off angrily.