Hermione locked herself away in her room all weekend under the guise that she needed to rest and recover from final exams. She was pretty sure she wasn't fooling anyone because her friends and family were taking turns leaving her meals outside her door and Senhora Roque reached out to her saying if she needed to talk her office was always open. Hermione didn't want to talk to her friends or her family or her guidance counselor. She wanted her best friend. She wanted Cedric. She wanted to do what they always did after finals. She would fret about her scores and he would laugh and assure her that she did wonderfully and then he would distract her with games and puzzles. Part of her was still holding out hope that he had changed his mind and was hiding out in Luesma, but when she called, Tía Manola broke it to her that he wasn't there. So she took a shower, drank some water, and went to the nearest bodega to buy herself some ice cream before returning back to her room to start her next round of crying. At least this time she managed to climb into her bed, but then she had to stare at all the photos she had pasted and a good number were of her ex.

She ended up staring at his Yule Ball photo. He looked right back, his brow furrowed in concern and he seemed to be asking why she was crying. Damn wizards and their living photos.

A sharp knock came at her door.

"Go away!" she yelled.

The knock came again, more insistent. Hermione pulled her pillow over her head and turned up her music to drown it out.

On the seventh repeat of Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me her patio door slid open. She didn't feel like rolling over to see who it was.

"I said I would leave my room tomorrow," she said. "It's still Sunday."

"Well, then. We'll just hang out in here with you until we have to go back to the hotel."

Hermione rolled over and fell off her bunk, landing heavily on the floor. She scrambled to her feet and flung her arms around her papá. Hana and Amalea joined the hug.

"I thought Tía Constanza was coming," she said.

"She thought you might need us," said Hana.

Hermione sniffled and heaved a shuddering sigh. She told them about Cedric in a letter to home. She kept up the lie that he was entirely innocent, she couldn't have someone reading her mail and coming away with evidence. She also told them that he'd broken up with her. At the time, she thought that he was going to change his mind, but clearly that was becoming less true with every passing day.

"I don't understand," she croaked. "I told him we'd take care of him and hide him until I could clear his name, but he said it was too late! He said he didn't want to drag me into his problems and that breaking up was the best thing for me. But how can it be the best thing if we're not together?"

"I feel the sense of déjà vu," Manuia muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"Hana, Lea, can you give us a moment?"

"Sure," said Hana. "Amalea wanted to see her cousins anyway."

"I did?" Amalea blinked and then nodded vigorously. "Oh, yes! I did! They're all in Noa's room."

When they cleared out, Hermione plunked down on her couch and her papá sat down across from her in her office chair.

"You know… the stuff Cedric said to you… That's a lot like what Nachelle said to me," he said. "That was when she knew she was pregnant with you. She was scared of losing me to her family's curse so she broke up with me and distanced herself. It hurt. It cut me so deep I had to change my party clown makeup from happy to sad. Rule one of clown school, faking it terrifies people; if you're a sad person be a sad clown, if you're a happy person be a happy clown." He made a face. "Oh… maybe the curse stuff was a cover up and she didn't want to marry a guy who was a bartender during the week and a birthday clown on the weekends."

Despite her feelings, Hermione laughed. She sniffled and scrubbed her cheeks.

"But this isn't like you and Mamá," she said. "You only knew her for a few months. I've known Cedric pretty much my whole life! I didn't just lose a boyfriend, I lost my best friend."

"I lost my best friend in the whole world, too."

"You did?"

He nodded. "Her name was Amalea Zhou. She was the kind of friend I knew would always be in my life. Best Person at my wedding, future godmother of my children, two old farts who got together on the weekends pretending to know how golf worked, every milestone she would be there. I think I spent more time at her house growing up than mine.

"And you know… the last time I ever saw her we had a huge fight. Probably the biggest fight we'd ever had. Some things were said. Hurtful things. We were both hot-headed teenagers with too much stress. After my shift at work I decided to make it up to her. I was waiting for her at her house and that's when the police came by. She was walking home from work and…" His jaw clenched from anger and he shook his head.

"But from that day on, I vowed to never get angry or fight against the people I loved. I also never had a best friend like her again. I have good friends and Hana is the love of my life and the person I consider my best friend, but I'll never be able to replicate the bond Amalea and I had. I think if I said that it might hurt her feelings, so let's just keep this between us."

"Yes, Papá." Hermione rested her head on his shoulder. "So you named my sister after your best friend?"

"Mmhm. I wanted to name you Amalea, but Nachelle didn't really include me in any major baby decisions. Of course, she didn't know what Amalea meant to me. Even five years later, I couldn't talk about it." He hugged her tightly. "Whatever you need to survive this heartbreak, I'll support you."

"Let's just… get through presentation week. I have something I need to talk to you about, but not right now."

"Okay," he said and swiped the tears from his eyes. "I want to meet these friends you've been telling me about."

"I'll send them a message." She tapped her wand against her bracelet. Quripuma had made all of them friendship bracelets with a modified protean charm so they could send little messages with meet up requests or words of encouragement.

Dinner at usual place? Half an hour?

The five beads representing her friends spun once revealing a yes. Manuia left so Hermione could change into clean clothes. Her hair was a mess, so she wrangled it into a bun and pulled a cap on. She let her family back into her room just as a knock came at the door.

"That's probably Alejandro," said Hermione, answering it.

"Hi, Nia," he said. "Feeling better?"

"Auwe!"

Hermione waved her family over. "Everyone, this is my friend, Alejandro Laguna. I visited his family over the break at the Troll Hearthstone. Alejandro, this is my papá, my mom, and my little sister Amalea."

"Aloha," said Amalea, stepping forward to shake his hand. "Wow! Are your horns real? Can I touch them?"

"Um… okay." He lowered his head and raised an eyebrow at Hermione who shrugged.

"Huh! I didn't expect them to be fuzzy."

"Come on, we'll want to get a table," said Hermione.

"So, Alejandro, where are your parents?" Manuia asked, recovering from the initial shock. Sometimes, Hermione forgot that the wizarding world wasn't his world.

"The sunlight would literally kill them," he said. "But that's okay. I've never actually had anything to present to them this week anyway and Nia gave me copies of some of the performances for them to watch."

"And what do you like to do, Alejandro?"

"I'm in the geology club on campus," he said. "I applied to be captain for the past two years, but never got any votes on account that I'm half-troll."

"What?!" Amalea exclaimed. "You're a troll?! How can people even tell?"

Alejandro looked stunned for a moment then laughed. "I like you. You're cool."

"I am?"

"Hm, you are related," he said, looking at Hermione.

"Shut up," she said.

They managed to get a long table at the restaurant Hermione and her friends frequented. Bernice and her mom, Adriana Sousa, were the next to arrive.

"Bernice, this is my papá and my mom and my sister," she said. "Mom, Bernice is the girl whose application I sent you."

"Wow!" Bernice shook Hana's hand. "Senhora Mun, your work on shelf-life potions is unparalleled! I've read all of your papers and I am shaking your hand way too long."

She stepped back, looking no less star struck.

"Thank you. I was impressed with your resumé and your thesis on ingredient substitution," said Hana. "You have a unique perspective and I'm always looking for that. You're graduating, right?"

"Yes, I get my Level Three scores back at the end of the week, and depending on how those are, I can resubmit to the other Potion Masters for them to ignore."

"Don't bother. It's a waste of your time and they won't even pay you. I can't tell you how hard it was for me to find a Master to study under and the guy threw a cauldron at my head every other day. It's even tougher to find a Master who won't treat you like dirt and will make you do his chores while you're also working to support yourself. No, no, I won't allow it. How does a test run sound? I'll apprentice you in my shop in Kilokilo for…" she wobbled her hand… "let's say six weeks. I'll pay you for your time, teach what I can, and in the end we can decide if we're a right fit. When can you start?"

Bernice blinked. "Huh?"

"Mom wants a six week trial period with you so that you can see if she'll be a good fit as a mentor," Hermione summed up.

"Oh!" she blinked and nodded. "Yes! Um, I can start right away! Right Mãe?"

Senhora Sousa looked just as stunned and nodded.

"Great. Well, she is more than welcome to take the Portkey to Kilokilo with us, or if she needs a couple weeks home to spend time with you and get her things together then that's fine, too."

"I'll need a few days home to make sure I have everything I need," said Bernice. "Excuse me a moment."

She went outside, and through the window, everyone could see her jump around in excitement. When Quripuma, Cássia, and their mothers walked up, Bernice could be seen telling them the news and the three of them squealing in excitement.

"I think she's excited," said Alejandro.

"Yeah. Don't let her know we saw," said Hermione. "I don't wanna embarrass her."

Bernice came back in with the others where they were introduced to Quripuma's mother, K'antu Huamani, who carried her plant in a basket on her back just as her daughter did, along with Alzira Silveira, Cássia's mom. After they had taken their seats, Márcia and Ivete came in and a family screamed and left in a panic.

"Ei! You didn't pay your bill!" Márcia called after them. "Hi! You remember my mãe, Ivete?"

"I thought your dad always visited," said Alejandro.

"He's not feeling well," said Ivete. "I volunteered to come instead."

"I've seen a lot more M.B. parents than the previous years," said Alzira. "Most of them avoided it. You know, people tend to feel…"

"Uncomfortable," Ivete finished. "But I think they all want to meet Nia and learn more about her organization."

"Well, good news is that I'll be at the booth for most of the week," said Hermione. "So I'll be able to meet with everyone. The only exceptions will be my performances with the salsa club and the capoeira club. Oh! I also want to watch the performance for the Carimbó Club. It's fine recorded, but I like watching it live. I wish I would've known about it when I started because it has my favorite things: fun music, swishy skirts, and twirling. Oh and, of course, we'll have to see Márcia's paintings. You got two up this year, right?"

"Yes, I did!" she said proudly.

"All my things are on Thursday, so I'll just let that be the day that I'm not at the booth," she said decisively.

"I wanna see everything," said Amalea.

"So see them. I won't tie you to my booth," she said. "I can always sit you down at home and show you all the documentaries I made."

"No."

"Oh and I've got photos," she said. "Thousands."

"No…" Amalea slumped in her chair.

"And we will go over them in excruciating detail!" she gestured to an invisible powerpoint and made her voice as dull as possible. "And this is the bus we all took. Here's seat six, and seat five… and seat four… Here's the lunch we had. Here's me on the bus. And here's me belching flames in a flame belching contest."

"You did what?"

"You'll have to sit through the pictures to get to that point."

Amalea clicked her tongue and snapped her fingers. "Isn't that the way?"

"It's okay. Afterwards you can tell me all about your jewelry-making class."

"Yes!"

Hermione was glad for the distraction of being around her friends and family. If she just kept on moving then she wouldn't have to think about Cedric. She had a million and one hobbies, and then when she was too exhausted to stay awake, she could sleep for sixteen hours and do it all again. She'd fill her emptiness with activities and social events and she wouldn't have to think about how everything that happened to Cedric was her fault.

~o0o~

Hermione was up at dawn the next day and had quickly dressed in more professional attire. Slacks, blouse, and she charmed her hair a solid color (though the white part didn't hold it for longer than five minutes), before gathering everything she had prepared. She was the first to arrive to her designated area, but Cássia was next and then the other volunteers arrived to help her set up; they all were wearing the S.A.M.B. t-shirts. Their team had worked together to make a table, banners, flyers, t-shirts, buttons, donation tins, and Cássia donated the mirror in her room for them to show their Meet video.

Once that was set up, Hermione went by all the other booths to make sure that they received boxes containing their videos. A member from S.A.M.B. would be present at each to make sure that nobody was pocketing the cash or giving away the videos for free in order to take away money from the clubs. She didn't think that would happen, but she wanted to be sure that there wasn't an opportunity for it.

"What do we do if we sell out?" the captain of the drama club asked.

"Tell them to place an order and I'll make copies for them to pick up the next day," said Hermione. "Just let me know, okay? Next year, we'll offer sign-ups ahead of time."

"Okay. Thanks!"

"Yeah, no problem." She returned to her booth.

By then, the first groups of the day were starting to arrive to check out the booths and performances, so she set up the video and started playing it. She didn't like her awkward opening, but that was why she was starting it now, so people could see the interviews about the others.

Her parents and sister came to her booth first to visit with her and see what she had been up to.

"You've really expanded this a lot, haven't you?" said Hana, noting the multiple pamphlets.

"Yes, and I met a lot of really cool people in the process."

Another parent wandered over from the previous booth.

"And what is your club about?" he asked.

"This is S.A.M.B.," said Hermione. "Society for the Advancement of Magical Beings. We are an activism group that is geared towards equality and equity for all magical…"

He walked away and she lowered her pamphlet.

"…people." She hummed and moved on to the next person. She looked at her family when they quickly left, too. "It's going to be like this for the entire time, you can go and check out the other clubs."

For the next three days, only half of the crowds stopped to listen for longer than fifteen seconds and a small fraction of that actually took pamphlets or documentaries. Hermione was sure that most of those would be in the rubbish bin before the day was out. But she knew this wouldn't be easy.

"I knew we should've put together a routine to that song in the video," said Tomás.

"This is not a teen movie, we can't do a little musical number and change their minds," said Hermione.

"Also, I can't dance," said Óliver.

Hermione smiled. "Yes. That too." She sighed and shifted from foot to foot. "Maybe I'm too aggressive?"

"Actually, this is the least aggressive I've seen you," said Márcia. "I think we're just expecting too much from our first presentation."

"Right," Cássia agreed. "You said persistence is the key. Each year will attract more students, and of course when we all start graduating, we can bring in our communities and reach out to others."

"I know," said Hermione. "Part of me does wish for a miracle like in movies where an impassioned speech has a significant impact rather than two thousand impassioned speeches."

"The final blow of the hammer doesn't split the rock, all the blows leading up to it did the work," said Alejandro.

A rather official looking wizard with a clipboard stopped in front of their booth. Hermione plastered on her fake smile.

"Hi! We are the Society for the Advancement of Magical Beings where we serve as a community for Magical Beings while also raising their voices."

"What do they have to complain about?" he asked. "They're getting an education aren't they?"

"But that education does them no good if the laws continue to allow job discrimination based on race," Hermione countered. "So far, the only place a Magical Being can get a job is here at Castelobruxo, but not everyone wants to pursue a career in education."

"And what exactly are these grievances?"

"Well, this video playing behind me lists many of them," she said, offering one of the packets. "You are absolutely welcome to one, viewing instructions are included, and it goes into further detail about the interviewed M.B.s lives. Common grievances, however, often include bodily mutilation in order to make others "comfortable" as well as experienced microaggressions by peers and staff. Magical Being students are more strictly graded than non-M.B. students, are given fewer accommodations, and more frequently experience violence on campus. Nobody should have to choose between safety or an education."

"Nobody will support it," said a witch who had stopped to listen. "No one cares about Magical Beings."

"Are you familiar with Viktor Krum?" Hermione asked, speaking a bit louder to get attention.

"Yes."

"Well, he started a division in Bulgaria," she said, tapping the newspaper and magazine clippings about that particular division. They all credited him with founding the organization, but she knew that wasn't Viktor's fault. "He's supported this from the beginning and is an active member. We also have endorsement from Esperanza Sanchez who wrote a special, exclusive song for us, which can only be heard on this documentary. Magical Beings and Wixen both fall under the same broad umbrella. We all have to hide who we are because our numbers are small compared to the Non-Magic world. Can we really call ourselves progressive if all we do is perpetuate cycles of inequality within our circles? Racism is racism. Bigotry is bigotry. I think our community will be stronger if we all work together."

"We love the opportunity to study here," said Márcia. "We want the same opportunities everyone else has when we finally graduate."

"We want to collaborate," said Óliver. "We have so much to offer."

"And even if we didn't, we should still receive the same rights as anyone else," said Alejandro.

"Will you support us?" Hermione asked, holding out the support sheet. It was different from the volunteer sheet, it was just something they could present like a petition to show that even if they couldn't physically help they at least backed up what was going on.

"I'll think about it," said the main wizard while a couple people went up to sign the sheet or grab a button, a couple pamphlets, and a documentary tape.

Hermione suspected that most of them just wanted that Esperanza song, but they would still have to sit and watch the video in order to get to it.

"You're also that club who created these new videos, yes?" asked the Main Wizard.

"Yes. The process was actually invented by a werewolf," said Hermione. "He's… he's not a student here."

This is exactly what she had wanted to avoid. She couldn't break down here. Using a bottle of water to swallow her tears, she focused on the people in front of her. Some asked questions, others just grabbed a pamphlet and left, a couple dropped some money in the donation tin.

"What's your name?" the Main Wizard asked.

"Herminia Lotulelei-Sanchez y Granger." She offered her hand and he just stared at it, wrinkling his nose slightly.

"Have a good day, Senhorita," he said and moved on to the next booth.

Hermione shook off the encounter and moved on to the next. That's all she could do. She liked meeting all the M.B. parents. They seemed pretty excited about the organization and paid the small fee to join, gaining a button. The higher donors got t-shirts.

~o0o~

The next day she had to get up early to meet up with the salsa club so they could run a quick rehearsal before the performance. She was pleased that they considered her one of their top dancers and so she would have a small section in the dance where she was center stage with her partner Nicolas and they were able to show off some neat tricks. If she had wanted to participate in competitions, then she would've had to be in the club for at least another year. That was okay. She wanted to dance, not get more awards.

For the capoeira performance, they were divided up into the different levels. The class Hermione was in was the third to perform and each performance was relatively the same set up. Five students would come up on stage to play several instruments and the rest stood on either side of them in a semi-circle to add on by clapping and singing. Then, they would take turns going into the center of the stage to show what they had learned. The intro class, which was mostly first and second years, was pretty basic and with each level the moves got more complicated. To save time, six students opted for a mock fight where they would choreograph moves that could also be used in a real fight, sort of like what stunt people do. They made little clouds of color to represent actual spells that might be used in combat. As Hermione couldn't really use her hands, hers were "bound" in a silver scarf to represent the origins of Capoeira. A fight one could do when shackled, but also disguise as a dance for prying eyes.

Hermione and Bianca paired up for their mock fight since they were experienced with sparring with one another. Bianca had the tendency to go all out when she was sparring with people outside of her family.

For their section finale, Bianca bent over backwards and Hermione belched out a jet of flames. It wasn't as big or hot without the fire salt, but it did make people in the crowd gasp and scream.

"EY! That's my sister!" Amalea yelled.

Hermione smiled and returned to the line up so the last two could do their performance. Once off-stage, she found her parents and sister, Bianca not far behind.

"Guess I know why you like Pele stories the best," Manuia teased. "You've really gotten good at that."

"Can you teach me to breathe fire?" Amalea asked. "I want to psyche out some kids at my school."

"You might have better luck," said Bianca. "I've been trying it for months and I still can't even get smoke."

"How do you do it, Nia?" Roberta from class asked.

"Well, you know how I'm full of rage?" she said calmly. "I think that might have something to do with it."

"I don't think that's it," said Bianca. "Esperanza was ten times angrier than you around our age and I've never seen her breathe fire."

"Hm…" Hermione shrugged. "Whatever. Let's go see Márcia's paintings. I've been dying to get a look and she's one of those who only shares her process with other art folk because 'it looks nice as it is' is not a proper answer."

Bianca went off to go see the boy she'd been flirting with, so it was just Hermione, her parents, and her sister. They went to the art building, which had turned every spare surface into a gallery. Though she was there to see her friend's pieces, Hermione took her time walking along the gallery, pointing out interesting pieces and refraining from making rude remarks about others. Not the bad ones, she knew she couldn't do much better, but there were a few black and white photos that she knew were taken by dudes. Márcia had made some scathing comments about them when they were put up. And then there was one particular sculpture that had her parents cracking up.

"A vase," Manuia snorted. "Who do they think they're kidding?"

There were plenty of paintings, photos, and sculptures that were absolutely stunning. Hermione really liked the ones that used a lot of color. One of Márcia's paintings was in the classroom where they first met. The artwork tended to be with similar classes. This one was a poster she had made.

"Oh, wow!" Hermione made a beeline for the poster.

It was gouache paint and the poster was art deco style. An abstract witch who suspiciously had Hermione's hair was at the bottom of the poster with her arms outstretched. Standing along her arms were silhouettes of magical beings and S.A.M.B. was in big bold letters at the top. The plaque beside it read:

This poster is for the Society for the Advancement of Magical Beings, where witches and wizards use their privilege to uplift and amplify the voices of those ignored.

"This is brilliant," said Hermione. "Would it be boosting my ego if I bought this? I'm gonna buy this."

"She's your friend, can't you just ask for it?" Amalea asked.

"You can't expect artists to give you stuff for free, Lea," Hermione replied, digging around her purse for her money bag.

"Save your money," said Manny, looking at the price. "I'll buy it for you and we'll call it an early birthday present."

They waved down the teacher and purchased the poster.

"You can pick it up tomorrow at five," she said. "That's when we close everything."

"Mahalo," said Manuia. "Let's go see this other painting."

They had to go up a floor for it to one of the painting studios. Tall, metal easels were arranged in the middle of the room, presenting paintings while the rest were cluttering the walls. Márcia was there with her mother, chattering away.

"Oh! Nia!" she called, spotting her. "Mine is over here. Did you see the other one?"

"Yes, it was so brilliant we bought it," said Hermione.

"Oh. I would've just given it to you. Especially since I sold this one."

"No. You put a lot of work into that, you deserve to be paid for it," said Hermione. "Now you've sold two paintings! What's this one?"

She walked around the easel.

"Oh."

"I hope you don't mind," said Márcia. "You just have such a great face! It really makes me want to paint."

"It's fine," said Hermione. "Mamá liked to use me in her photos."

It was her, but all of the her she didn't think she was. She looked… beautiful. The colors used to paint her were vibrant and the girl in the painting looked freer than she had ever felt in her life. One arm was outstretched to an unseen goal, her star eye facing the audience, a smile as serene as Luna's on her lips, which had been painted the same blue as her hair for artistic composition purposes. She was also surrounded by a galactic swirl of stars.

"I think Nachelle knew something when she named you after the Tenth Muse," said Manuia, patting her on the head. "You seem to have a knack for inspiring people."

Guess she did.

"Your daughter is very skilled," said Hana to Ivete.

"She practices every day," said Ivete proudly. "She's loved it ever since she was a baby. Of course, her first medium was baby food."

"Mamãe," said Márcia in embarrassment.

Hermione hugged her friend. "You're awesome, you know that?"

"Aww, Nia!" Márcia hugged her back. "I'm gonna miss you! Any chance you can visit over the break?"

"What if you came to visit me? You said you have a disguise for humans, right?"

"Can I?" Márcia asked, turning to her mother.

"Well… I would like you home," said Ivete. "Where would you be visiting?"

"Depends," said Hermione. "I spend part of the time in Hawaii, part of the time in Dominicana, and part of the time in England. I don't recommend she visit England just yet."

"Because it sucks," said Amalea.

"Dominicana is closer, but Bernice is also going to be in Hawaii and that's where I'm going first."

"Mm… I would like to have her home for a few days. How about we send her over the same time as Bernice?" Ivete turned to Manuia and Hana. "If you're okay with that."

"Sure, we've always got room for friends," said Hana. "She can stay as long as she likes."

"Yes!" Márcia wiggled from side-to-side in a happy dance and Hermione flapped her hands, sending a shower of colors.

~o0o~

"How come everyone else got their packets and I didn't?"

Hermione seemed to be the only student, or rather, the only one in her friendship circle, that hadn't gotten a packet in the mail. The packets contained grades from classes, E.D.A.M.s, a list of classes you could take after passing current classes, and, for those it was applicable to, licenses from transportation class.

"You wrote a lot," said Noa. "Maybe they're still grading your exams."

"I didn't write that much. I didn't even need scratch paper for my last two exams."

"Senhorita Lotulelei-Sanchez y Granger?" Senhor Luna called.

"Here."

He approached her. "Doña Claudia would like to see you and your parents in her office."

Well, that didn't sound good. Amalea decided she wanted to hang out with Hermione's friends, so they left her showing Alejandro her bracelet making techniques.

They didn't speak much on the way to the administration building. Hermione was wondering what it could be. An academic award seemed unlikely, especially since she had been in trouble for not turning in her work on time and focused more on her extracurriculars over her homework.

This time in Doña Claudia's office were Senhora Roque and the wizard from Wednesday who asked her all those questions. Doña Claudia herself looked agitated and was refusing to look at the wizard.

"Senhora and Senhor Lotulelei," said Doña Claudia. "This is Senhora Roque and Senhor Flores. Senhor Flores is Chairman of the School Board."

"May I ask what this is about?" said Manuia.

"Are you aware of your daughter's extracurriculars?" said Senhor Flores.

"Of course," said Hana.

"Really? Including the one involving horcruxes?"

The reactions from both parents were minimal. Hermione wouldn't have been nearly so composed.

"Yes," Manuia lied easily. "She's been taking extra lessons with her Curse-breaking teacher to handle that, right?"

"Yes," Senhora Roque cut in. "The video she made has been very useful in training future curse-breakers."

"Ah, so this is another award, yes?" said Hana. "She's already got an Order of Merlin and an Award of Service to the School. She cares so much about helping others. Obviously you want to congratulate her on opening everyone up to a new kind of learning!"

Doña Claudia and Senhora Roque hissed through their teeth and hummed. Well, that definitely wasn't good. Hermione grabbed onto her parents' hands.

"Senhora Diaz," said Senhor Flores.

She shook her head. "This was a school board decision, the Chairman should say it."

He didn't seem happy about that, but didn't protest.

"As no rules have been broken, we can't dismantle S.A.M.B.," said Senhor Flores. "However, subhuman—"

"Magical Beings," Hermione corrected crossly.

"Fine. Magical Beings wanting the same rights as witches and wizards makes people nervous. We're pushing it as it is by having a Vampire on the staff, but Vampires are useful and werewolves are fine as long as they are medicated. But do you seriously think that wizards and trolls are equals?"

"Yes."

"And what makes you think that?"

"Well, what makes you think they aren't?"

He spluttered. "Why, they're trolls!"

"Yes, that's what we're talking about, but you haven't given me a good reason."

"They're stupid and slow."

"So are some wixen. What, are you going to expel the bottom ten percent of students on the basis that they learn things differently or can't learn at all?"

"I don't like your tone."

"That's just something adults say when they know they're wrong."

He turned pink and Manuia turned away to cough. Hermione jiggled her leg.

"I have celebrity support backing my organization," she said. "If you take it down, that's going to draw unwanted attention."

"That's why we're not getting rid of S.A.M.B. we're getting rid of you," he spat.

"Excuse me?!" Hana stood up. "How dare you speak to my daughter that way."

"It's okay, Mom," said Hermione. "Why are you getting rid of me?"

"Doña Claudia is too well liked," he said. "And we can't overturn the Right to Education law. That would cause a riot. If you were a prophecy child or subhuman yourself, things would be different, but people don't understand others who do good simply to benefit others. It scares them."

"To be clear, you aren't worsening things for the Magical Beings on campus, right?"

"Correct. However, it's clear you're the leader and these things usually fall apart without a strong leader."

Now was not the time to defend the strength of her friends. Hermione tapped her fingers against her lips. There had to be a way she could change something.

"Not good enough," she said. "Do you really want it getting out that you expelled a student for being too good? How would that make you look?"

"Not good," said Manuia.

"I won't make you go back on the agreement," said Hermione. "Especially since it sounds like if it's fought for me to stay, then steps backward might be taken. I won't do that to my friends. How about this? I desperately want to remain at Castelobruxo, but given past incidents, I fear for my safety. So, as a gesture of goodwill, you took the first step."

"And what step is that?"

"Collaborate with the centaur herds," she said. "They have observations that go back for millennia. Just…" she waved her hands. "Put them with the library or something. Maybe offer a centaur history lesson as an elective. Anyone complains, say it's to look good in front of the others. And, really, wouldn't it be great for the school to have the approval of alumnus Esperanza Sanchez and world-famous Seeker Viktor Krum? I'm thinking…" She made a square with her fingers. "Photo-op. And everyone would say 'Wow! That Chairman has the approval of famous people! He must be a great chairman!'"

Senhor Flores rubbed his chin and grinned. "I do like the sound of that. We're… outreaching. Who would you recommend as an ambassador for this program? Remember, they have to be legally recognized as a witch or wizard."

"Óliver Cespedes," said Hermione. "He's a volunteer through S.A.M.B. and I know for a fact that he is a half-blood."

"Perfect. Senhora Diaz, I trust you'll make the arrangements?"

"Absolutely," she said, looking at Hermione with interest.

"Wonderful," said Hermione. "It's all settled then. I will go quietly and we bring Centaurs into the archives and lesson plan. I would like this in writing, please. For documentation purposes."

"Ah, yes, yes, of course."

Hermione brought out her dictaquill and Doña Claudia gave her a clean scroll. She drafted the contract, leaving no room for loopholes or backing out, everyone present signed, and Senhor Flores left to go tell the others of his "success".

"Sucker," said Hermione, sticking her tongue out after him once the door was shut.

"Well… you certainly didn't get that from my side of the family," said Manuia.

"Isn't Óliver Cespedes a centaur?" asked Senhora Roque.

"Biologically, yes. But magical law required him to renounce his centaur side in order to carry a wand. As far as records are concerned, he's a wizard. I wasn't lying when I said he was a half-blood and he already agreed to be an ambassador for the herd."

"You are devious, precious!" said Hana. "Oh, but I'm sorry you can't come back next semester. All your friends..."

"Mm… it's okay. I think our friendship is stronger than distance. I'm disappointed about missing out on the variety of classes."

"Speaking of, here is your packet," said Senhora Roque.

Hermione took the manila folder and handed it to her papá to open since she couldn't. He gave it back and she brought out the sheets. Her grades were fine. Low 90s, and according to the chart included for her E.D.A.M.s, she had received Outstandings and Exceeds Expectations on all of them. She knew her grades were slipping, but she was relieved that it wasn't as much as she feared. Though, that was probably due to all the extra credit assignments she turned in. She also got her license, which was pretty cool, and her picture didn't turn out so bad either.

"With those scores and the letter of recommendation I included, you should have no problem finding another school to take her," said Doña Claudia. "As she is a dual citizen, she might be accepted into the Salem Institute of Sorcery in Oregon."

"Her sister goes to Uluru, so we'll send in a transfer request straight away," said Hana. "I guess we're lucky Nia is so clever because I was about to give that guy a piece of my mind."

"I think a year ago I would've raged too," Hermione admitted. "But since I didn't make things worse, my friends have a chance to make things better. We've got a long way to go and, really, the short-term goal is to just give everyone a sense of community and people who understand what they're going through."

"I am sorry that it ended with you leaving," said Doña Claudia.

"Eh, at least I didn't get my whole family a lifetime ban," she said. "If it's alright, I'm going to go make sure I have everything packed up in my room."

They headed to Hermione's room. Once inside, her parents turned to her with horrified expressions.

"HORCRUX?!" they yelled.

Hermione flinched and held up her hands.

"How long have you known you had a horcrux?" Manuia demanded.

"I knew about it since February and took care of it in March," said Hermione, bringing the tape out and setting up her mirror. "I was planning on telling you everything back home, but since the cat is out of the bag, you get to watch this now."

Her mom and papá sat on the couch and she sat down in her desk chair while the footage of the horcrux destruction played. They sat quietly as they watched the footage and her little documentary about what she knew so far and what she felt she needed to do.

"So you want to go back to Hogwarts," said Hana.

"Want is a little strong," she said. "I feel more like I need to. I… I can't let anything else horrible happen to my friends." Tears flooded her eyes. "If I had been there then none of that awful stuff would have happened to Cedric and instead of being a fugitive, he'd be here excited for his new job."

"Oh, honey." Hana hugged her tightly. "Can we have some time to think about it? Your safety matters too."

"Okay. But I doubt my mind will change."

End of Book Five.