Zayne and I were paired up to do a Transfiguration project. The task was: begin with one sheet of parchment and with a limited series of Transfiguration spells, construct a pair of opera glasses that act as kaleidoscopes.

The piece of parchment lay Zayne's bed, looking quite innocent. But we knew, in the realm of Transfiguration, nothing was 'too safe'.

"Shall I go first?" Zayne said, drawing his wand and pointing it at the piece of parchment.

"Mauris opera vitra!"

The paper folded itself into a pair of paper opera glasses.

"Well?" Zayne said. "What's next? You reckon the dimensional inner work comes first or the outer transmutation of material?"

"Most likely the outer work first, to give the paper some sturdiness before we add the dimensions," I hypothezied.

"Yeah? Well, I thought the inner work first, because it's easier to fold the paper eight-six times and turn it into glass than turn it into metal and then attempt to fold it and reverse it into glass," Zayne said.

"I'm pretty sure it's the outer work first," I disagreed.

"Inner, I think," Zayne replied.

"Fine," I said. "Give it a go, then."

"Right"," Zayne pointed his wand again. "Quartus modus!"

Boom!

We both ducked just in time to see the remains of the smoldering opera glasses and watch the flames run up his curtains.

"Oh," Zayne's jaw dropped. "Not good!"

We magicked streams of water on his bedroom curtains as furiously as we could but by the time we'd gotten the flames drenched properly, all that was left of his curtains were tattered little flutters hanging on top of his bed like a little lace doily.

"Right," I said, brushing the soot off my face, "so the outer work comes before we add the dimensions."

"Apparently," Zayne said, looking at his bed with a half-amused, half-exasperated face. "Who knew?"

I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath.


During afternoon of that dreary day, I had my lessons with Ollivander. By the time I'd made to it to the wand shop, it had begun to drizzle.

He began our lesson with another chapter in the history of wands.

"There is a wand known as the Four-Point Wand, also known as the Crowned Wand, or King's Wand. The theory goes that if you collect the four swords that represented the four largest blood kingdoms during the Medieval Times, two wizards and two incredibly powerful Muggles, who took it upon themselves to protect nearby Muggles from the constant warfare for land going on at the time, and laid all four of these swords in a four-point cross, a wand of Kings would appear to you if and only if you were worthy of it. Rumor has it that this wand is equally powerful in its ability to channel Dark Magic as the Elder Wand is."

"What are the four swords, Mr. Ollivander? Do they actually exist?"

"Oh yes." Mr. Ollivander nodded. "Arondight, Sword of Steel. Ragnarok, Sword of Mithril. Excalibur, Sword of Adamant. Joyeuse, Sword of Gold."

"And have any of them ever been located?"

"Only one. Joyeuse is said to be found in Lower Saxony, Germany where the Massacre of Verden happened. Unable to protect the Pagans from Christian revolt, the king Charlemange left his sword there by the graves of those who died out of loyalty to him before he chose a path of exile..."

An hour and a half later, our lesson had ended and I gathered my things, pulled on my bag and cloak and exited the shop.

It was properly raining by then, with the rain coming down in great sheets. Everything was eerily misty and looked quite damp and desolate. I pulled up my hood and began to walk down the alleyway towards the Leaky Cauldron.

But I had only taken a few steps when I thought I saw somebody slip out beneath the shadows of a nearby store. Sure it was only my mind playing tricks on me, I ignored it and began to walk again, when I was certain I saw a dark hooded figure in the alleyway just to my left. My breath caught slightly and I began to walk faster. Another hooded man from my right was coming down the adjacent alleyway. I grasped my wand in my cloak. I was a quarter of the way to the Leaky Cauldron, when I heard a voice shout out behind me. "Stupefy!"

I shouted and ducked as a red streak of light flew just over my shoulder. I ran for it, racing out of the main street where I was completely visible. I ran into an alleyway between two shops where all sorts of trash bins were located. I splashed through the puddles and hid behind a large dumpster, wand drawn. My heart was thundering. Rain continued to pound around me, restricting my vision and my hearing. Only silence, mist. Only my own breath and heart pounding.

"Stupe-"

"Protego!" I shouted, deflecting the spell, and then I yelled, "Bombarda Maxima!"

All seven trash cans went off with a bang. I could hear men shouting as they avoided the metal cans and trash flying everywhere. I took off, leaving that alleyway for another one, one without any lighting.

As soon as I stepped foot into that alleyway, I knew I had made the wrong choice. I heard someone's breath just behind me and then ferociously strong arms grasped my neck, choked me.

I whimpered and tried to stay conscious, continuing to hold onto my wand.

"I'm going to bite you," the man whispered in a voice that made goosebumps rise all over me.

"Fenrir!" Another voice from further away cried out. "Where the hell are you?"

Then, I felt a hot, wet breath on my neck.

And the recognition of werewolf came to me like a piercing scream.

I gathered all my strength and non-verbally cast a basic spell. Petrificus Totalus!

I failed to produce anything like a full Body-Bind, but ended up creating some sort-of jet of boiling hot water which hit his leg. He howled in pain and loosened his grip on me. Whimpering, I managed to get out of his clutches and raced down the alleyway back towards the main alleyway where the Leaky Cauldron was in sight.

My heart thundering and close to tears, I was still absolutely frantic when I entered the Leaky Cauldron.

"Ah, Ms. Kingsley-", Tom began, but I cut him off. "Tom, the Floo Powder! Now!"

Startled, Tom presented me with the Floo Powder which I grasped in my hand and threw into the fire place. As I stepped inside, the door to the Leaky Cauldron opened and I could clearly see the face of three rough, hardy men.

"Hog-Hogwart-"

Unfocused, I realized too late that I had spoken aloud the wrong place and who knew where I was going to end up. I shut my eyes as the spinning began.


The fireplace spat me out and I unceremoniously hit the back of a black leather couch. Sounds of various people talking could be heard.

"Yeah, but she's Bellatrix Lestrange. She's a completely psychotic lunatic. Must I elaborate any further?" a voice sighed impatiently.

I carefully peeked out from behind the couch, afraid of what I was going to see. What if I had ended up in some Muggle living room? How was I going to explain why I was in their home? I hadn't learned Apparation yet, those lessons would begin next month…

I peered from behind the couch.

Richly woven tapestries, intricately carved dark wooden bookcases, ornately decorated silver tables, and clawed-feet leather sofas chairs, and overall, the aura of some sort-of mysterious, underwater shipwreck with a slightly luminous green glow. And hanging amidst heavily jeweled but dim-lighted chandeliers was a banner inscribed with 'S'.

The Slytherin common room.

"Bloody hell," I muttered, and then I bit my lip to keep from groaning aloud. Of all the luck in the universe!

Luckily, nobody had seen me yet, but how in the world was I was going to get out of here unharmed.

My heart was still pounding from the incident in Diagon Alley and I was still completely soaked through from the relentless rain.

Think, I tried to tell myself, forget your fear. Forget that you were almost bitten by a werewolf. Think!

Knowing that I did not have a lot of time before someone happened to spot me, I reached into my pocket and pulled out an empty Chocolate Frog wrapper.

How would Flitwick have me do this in Magical Theory?

"Transmutae papilionis." I murmured, pointing my wand at the paper.

The wrapper folded into thrice and then opened as a butterfly wings, ready to fly.

"Volare ignis," I whispered, and the butterfly's wings began to steam, spark, and then flame.

I blew the paper out of my hands and it flew straight above the sofa, it's wings trailing fire behind it. It soared high into the ceiling where it caught upon the Slytherin banner, which caught on fire and burst into flames. It was a few seconds before the fire was large enough for others to notice, but once they did, everyone did.

I made a dash for it, knowing my chances for escape were quite slim. I had made it all the way to the front door, ducking under tables and behind bookcases as the Slytherins furiously took turns attempting to jet water high enough to hit the banner, without anybody noticing. I made it to the entrance with a sigh of relief, only to notice just as I exited, a boy's eyes pass by me, and then suddenly double-take and realize what was happening.

I hastily made a run for it, flying down the hallway despite not knowing where I was going.

"Wait!" I heard someone shout, but I sprinted down the hall before I could be cursed again. I ran hard until I ran smack into a wall. I cursed profoundly. It was a dead end.

"Raylynx!"

I drew my wand and turned, breathing hard.

It was Regulus. His own wand was already drawn, pointing straight at me.

I snarled. "Get away from me."

"Don't be stupid. I can show you the way out," Regulus said. His calm voice sounded insolent to me.

"I don't care," I retorted. "Get out of my way." I pushed past him, heading the other direction. My head began to feel quite light.

I found a flight of stairs and began climbing down them when my leg collapsed and I started trip over. Firm hands gripped my shoulders as Regulus held me upright.

"You're frozen," Regulus commented in a clipped voice. "What the hell were you doing?"

"Don't touch me!" I shouted, throwing back his arms. "I don't need your help!"

"But I'm offering it to you anyways," Regulus said shortly.

A moment later, he said in an irritated voice, "And you should take it. You're going the wrong way again."

I ignored him and continued on my way.

"You keep this up, you'll get us both caught!" Regulus hissed, following after me. He attempted to guide me again, grabbing my shoulder, but I threw him off and headed down the dark corridor.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs just a few feet away. My breath caught and I froze, uncertain of what to do. Regulus grabbed my shoulder firmly and dragged me away, sighing in exasperation and clasping a hand over my mouth when I protested yet again. He shoved us into some broom cupboard of some kind, or something like that. Anyways, it was awfully tight. We both held our breaths as they began to pass us.

"Finally heard her make a sound-"

"Haha, that's right, that stupid girl was always so damn quiet."

"She definitely shrieked today when I hexed her with that Fire Curse though."

"It was a good one. Now that we've used it on Baker, we should use it on that Mudblood Evans some time-"

The spots, the exhaustion, the dizziness- all of it went away. I was furious, and my mind was deathly sharp and clear. They had dared to touch Alice, they had dared to harm her.

I immediately made to burst out of the cupboard and strangle them until they had died begging for mercy but Regulus fought back, restraining me. I attempted to smash my head into his, but he ducked just in time and restrained me from behind, his arms wrapped around my torso in an attempt at stopping me from murdering the Slytherins mere yards away from me.

In a battle of physical strength, though, I couldn't win against Regulus. Finally, though, I managed to push his heavy arms off of me and shouted, "Get the hell off of me, you damn Death Eater!"

We burst out of the broom cupboard as I shoved him away from me, hard. He hit the wall with a slight thud.

Regulus looked at me with unreadable eyes.

"You tell those bastards," I breathed out, heaving, "you tell them I'm going to find them and I'm going to kill them."

And then I unsteadily began to run down another hallway. I must have been going the right way, because Regulus didn't come after me again.


"Alice! Alice!" I shouted as I burst into the Gryffindor common room. "Alice Baker, where the hell are you!?"

"Will you keep your voice down?" somebody scolded me.

But Riley Smith stood up from a table in the corner and told me,"She's at the Hospital Wing with Frank, Lily, Marlene, and Dorcas."

I raced out again. By the time I made it to the hospital, I was shaking from anxiety and exhaustion.

But I saw the others gathered around her. I went up to them, to see her sleeping peacefully.

"Is she- is she all right?" I tried to keep my breathing down.

The others frowned when they saw me there, soaking wet and frantic, but Frank answered, "Yes. Pomfrey healed her arm and she's just sleeping now. She was hurt and crying, but Pomfrey says she'll be okay."

"Thank- Merlin-", I breathed out and collapsed in a chair next to Alice's bed.

"Bloody hell. What happened to you, Ray?" Marlene asked, frowning at me.

I just shook my head and closed my eyes, laying my head down besides Alice's arm. I gently grasped her hand and finally, finally felt at peace. Warmth shot through my heart and the ground felt stable again. I felt my clothes become warm again as Dorcas performed a Drying Charm on me and Lily took my book bag off my shoulder and laid it on the ground next to me. But I was already half-unconscious, finding a refuge for sleep besides Alice, finding a refuge for my heart in knowing that at least she was all right. That we were all all right.