Last time...

It was strange to note that Gilderoy was not at the Head Table, though Minerva was guiltily thankful for the reprieve. They would later come to find that the man in question had disappeared. It seemed that the curse of the DADA position had struck early.

Chapter 11

1993/3rd year

Hera was thankful that she had stressed to Ron and Hermione that the Dursleys would not appreciate phone calls being made to their home. She could imagine Ron screaming into the phone, thinking that he had to shout to be heard, seeing as how they were so far away. Hermione understood, as her parents were muggles, but they couldn't seem to get across how phones work to Ron. So she just stressed that letters were better, to arrive silently at night if at all possible. As luck would have it, she'd sent Hedwig off with letters for her friends the night before, because Vernon had decided he was going to 'do something' about all this 'funny business' being in his home.

After that stunt last summer, to which she assumed he was talking about the 'rescue' via invisible car by the Weasleys…not that he actually knew that part, he had called in a contractor to put bars on the windows; like the kind you see in prisons. There was also the nice little addition of a cat flap on her door. It was a good thing one of the prefects had explained (when they saw her struggling to maneuver the thing down the stairs) how the shrinking and expanding charm on her trunk worked with just a tap of her wand, and that she wouldn't get in trouble for underage magic. The information had saved her this summer with homework. The Dursleys kept her locked up the whole summer, convinced that if they could keep her locked away, they could keep magic out of their lives.

The only times Uncle Vernon would ever let her out were when she had to do chores, or wash herself up. They actually fed her food through the cat flap, and if it hadn't been for the Weasleys and Hermione sending her things that could fit through the bars, she would have starved in there. Hera thinks that's one of the things Vernon hoped for, because he always seemed so disappointed when he saw her awake. She'd been trying to figure out how to escape her prison, if it had ever been a home, for weeks now. Hermione had been a fountain of information, and Ron kept suggesting things that involved magic; not that either were really helpful at the moment.

How was she supposed to freeze steel to the point it would shatter during the heat of summer? This was literally the hottest part of the year. Sure her magic ran cold, but…she couldn't just pour magic into it could she? The Ministry looked for underage magic use via wand, but that wasn't how they started using it. That could…could that really work?

Hera had vague memories of wishing for things, and then they were there. Conjuration? She could do that? If she could do that, could she make their lives as miserable as they were making hers? It was certainly worth thinking about, but for now she just wanted out of this house. Hera closed her eyes and concentrated. She wanted the bars to be so cold, that they just shattered on their own, but she may have overshot it. When she opened her eyes, everything was covered in a heavy frost.

Surprised that that had even worked, let alone to the extent that it had, she raced over to shatter the bars on the windows, when they just…came off at a touch. Chalking that one up to extreme frost damage, she wondered if the rest of the house was like that. She'd rather not climb out of the window if she could help it. The door opened at a touch, where she discovered the rest of the house was indeed just as frost covered as her room. Grabbing some food to put in her own beaded bag, Hera left the house quickly, only to be scared by a large black dog, though the whining clued her in to why it had zeroed in on her.

"I don't have much to spare, I'm afraid, and very little time." She whispered, as she pulled a bit of last nights roast out of the bag. "Here you go."

The large black dog quickly ate it up, and kept following after her. She didn't have the time to stop now, but maybe later she could give it more. It seemed content enough to follow her without food. As she walked, she thought about the things Ron and Hermione had told her. Ron had gone to Egypt, due to his dad winning a Ministry Lottery, and would be coming back to London soon. Hermione was in France, and apparently still hadn't learned to be succinct with her essay writing, something the girl complained about at length oddly enough. Hera had had to learn, but that was because she was always afraid of being caught doing her homework by the Dursleys.

Looking around, she noted that Mrs. Figgs wasn't in her usual spot at the window. Then again, given how late at night it was, the odd but kindly woman was probably asleep. Hera was never certain why she sensed magic coming from Figgs' home, but the woman didn't seem to have a speck of it in her; a later problem, Hera decided. It did remind her, however, that it was rather a long way to London and the Leaky Cauldron. Someone was bound to see her, and then place her right back with the Dursleys.

A stray piece of information from one of Ron's letters came to the forefront of her mind. There was something a stranded witch or wizard could do when they were without transportation, and couldn't apparate. Even though Hera was fairly certain she could apparate at will, Mrs. Weasley had insisted it was illegal to do so on purpose before a certain age, due to the danger to her magical core or something. Though Hera was sure that was a load of crap fed by the Ministry, she didn't want to have to deal with them either. The Knight Bus was a service she could use, if she held out her wand hand, they would come and take her wherever she wanted to go.

She wasn't really sure if the large black dog was of the magical sort, but it felt like it. So, wrapping one arm around it to keep it calm, she did as Ron had instructed. It was a good thing too, because she could hear Vernon bellow and Petunia shriek from here. The freak was gone again. It was a wonder the rest of Little Whinging didn't know exactly what she was, and how that family treated her, what with the way those two noisily lost their wits like that. Right about the time Vernon was bellowing in outrage, signaling that he had discovered the window no longer had bars on it, both she and the dog were already on the bus and gone.

The Knight Bus was unlike anything she had ever seen, chaotic and amazing all at once. She loved it instantly, and set in one of the seats along the sides. There were beds in the back, but given how fast they were going, she didn't think they would be there long. Shunpike promised as much, before handing her a newspaper. The large black dog had flattened himself against the floor, but upon seeing the newspaper, looked like he was trying to read it too.

No one on the bus gave a second glance to the dog, and their trip to the Leaky went off without a hitch. As it turns out, The Leaky Cauldron had rooms to rent, and she set it up with Tom so that she could stay there the rest of the summer. Gringotts was easy to work with, charging the expenses of the room to her Vault. Getting the stone back to Flamel before things could go wrong had placed him in her debt apparently, and Gringotts was grateful to keep one of their most valued customers with them. For the rest of the summer, Hera did as she pleased; doing her homework out in the open, wandering the alleys with a cloak so no one noticed her scar, getting Mr. Wiseacre to add some more compartments to her trunk (expanding the living quarters and adding gardening areas), visiting Muggle London for supplies, writing letters to her friends telling them that she was safe, and eating ice cream while watching the large black dog she called Grimm try to do the same.

Only once did someone enter her room. She had a split second warning thanks to Grimm, and before he could stand to defend her, she'd covered both of their bodies with the invisibility cloak. She was not expecting Minister Fudge to come stalking into her room, looking shifty and nervous. Tom explained to the man that she was safe here, in no danger from Sirius black, but Fudge was not convinced. The man cast a spell, something he must have hoped would reveal her presence to him were she in the room, but the invisibility cloak didn't even budge.

When he was gone, the two huddled there for at least another hour, not that Grimm ever left his post by her side. She was too afraid someone else would come in, and she wouldn't hear them in time. Eventually, she felt safe enough to reveal herself, sending a letter to Gringotts via vanishing box that she would need to retrieve some money for school shopping soon, but that she was worried about being spotted by Fudge before she could get there. Their response was to send the large sum she'd told them she'd wanted to withdraw through the vanishing box, and told her not to worry about it. They would take care of one of their most valued customers, knowing that the Minister was sniffing about; for a fee, of course.

The following week, the Weasley Matriarch was ecstatic to see her, along with the rest of the Weasley family, and Hermione. She'd already done her shopping, so she agreed to wander with them, as long as they let her buy Ron's new wand. The only reason why she won that argument was by virtue of the fact that she had forgotten his birthday, and didn't feel right not getting him a gift. Grimm did not like Scabbers at all, something that pinged for Hera, and perhaps that particular later problem was becoming very much a 'now' problem.

"Ron." She wondered while Hermione went in search of a familiar of her own in the Magical Menagerie. "How long have you had Scabbers? He's not magical, is he?"

"Been in the family for twelve years now." Ron shrugged, patting his pocket where Scabbers rested. "Percy gave him to me. He's not magical or nuthin."

"Ron, common rats live for three years tops." Hera stated calmly, then looked to Arthur. "Mr. Weasley, is there a way to reveal if a wizard is hiding as an animal or something?"

That's how they find themselves in the store with a scared wizarding public, one rat man named Peter Pettigrew; Grimm had disappeared shortly before, but that was a later problem. The Minister, having been called, was beside himself, because this meant that Sirius Black was innocent. She wasn't sure who that was exactly, though she soon finds out that he is her godfather, and there had been no trial for him; which was highly illegal. Susan Bones happened to be there as well with her aunt, who was more than thrilled to look into this, considering that was her job. The whole day ended with Hermione getting her own familiar, a rather large squishy faced half kneazle, and Ron with an overly excited owl that was so tiny no one was sure it could actually carry mail. Everyone ended up at the Three Broomsticks that night, trading stories over dinner, and the next morning they were off to Kings Cross.

"It's too bad Grimm ran off." Ron remarked, once they were all on the train.

"I have a feeling he'll find me at Hogwarts." Hera shrugged. "Sorry about Scabbers…again."

"Do you think it's true about Sirius Black? If he's innocent, you could leave the Dursleys." Ron mused.

Hera shook her head. "He's been in Azkaban for at least a decade. He'll have to get his mind right first. At least he'll actually get a trial this time, if he shows up for it. Not sure I would bother."

The two chattered on, Hermione listening as she read her latest book. A raggedy looking man slept in the corner seat of the car, with the case stamped with R. J. Lupin next to him. They left him alone, figuring he needed the sleep. Everything was fine till the train started slowing down. It was nowhere near time to arrive, so even Hermione was looking around as if trying to figure it out before there were answers. Hera noted how cold it was becoming only when Hermione and Ron started shivering. Even her own breath began to show with the cold, and she had a bad feeling about this.

"Move towards the window, and keep your wands handy." Hera whispered in a tone that brokered no argument, seeing a figure reach towards the door to their car. "Now."

The two moved, shuffling towards the window without getting up, and just in time too. An eerie skeletal figure, mostly hidden beneath a cloak, floated into the room. No one had raised their wands yet, and somehow the sleeping man remained just so. The floating figure stared at Hera before moving towards Ron and Hermione. No one was expecting Hera to reach out with Seeker reflexes to stop the creature from reaching for them, not even the suddenly-no-longer-sleeping man behind her.

"What do you think you're doing?" She demanded angrily, her own magic forcing the creature's frost to travel up its own arm. It looked…shaken somehow, because of that, though Hera could not see its face. "I suggest you leave this car, and get off of this train. You aren't supposed to be here."

~We seek Sirius Black~ The creature sent to her mind ~We guard Azkaban~

"Sirius Black was never meant to be in your care, as he did not receive a trial, and is therefore no longer your responsibility." Hera snapped. "Who sent you?"

~Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge under the order of Minister Cornelius Fudge~ The creature answered. ~We are to guard the school~

"This is not the school, it's the train." Hera scowled. "I would ask that you keep a respectable distance from the other students. My friends appear susceptible to your chill, so I assume the others will be as well."

The creature nodded, and Hera let go. Within moments, it was gone. She turned to check on her friends first, and other than the cold shivers, they seemed no worse for wear. Ron whimpered a bit, but Hermione made the effort of a tiny smile through clattering teeth. The no-longer-sleeping man was staring at her as if he had never seen anything like her.

"What? It was about to attack my friends." Hera huffed after a while.

"It seems your father named you well." The man replied, with a kind smile. "You truly are your mother's daughter."

Hermione gasped. "Hera, your hand!"

Indeed, the inside of Hera's hand was blue where it had touched the creature. It was slowly turning back to normal, however, and that was what mattered.

"It's fine, Hermione. See? It's already turning back. Maybe it's a reaction to the extreme cold." She assured her friend. "I mean, are there even studies about the effects of touching one of those things?"

"You aren't shaking like us, Mate." Ron objected rationally, which was surprising considering how freaked out he'd been a moment ago.

"I'm used to the cold." Hera shrugs nonchalantly. "You forget who I live with."

"Oh good, you see them too." A dreamy voice sighed, standing just a ways away from her. "Hello, I'm Luna Lovegood."

"Hera Potter. We met briefly at Sir Nicholas' Death day party last year, but we didn't get to talk much, I don't think." She replied, reaching out to accept the proffered hand, causing the girl to grin widely. Students were boarding the carriages, but no one seemed to see the odd skeletal horses. "What are they? Why can I see them, but the others can't?"

"What are you talking about, Hera? There's nothing there. The carriages pull themselves, like always." Hermione objected dismissively.

"They're called Thestrals, and can only be seen by those who have seen death." The girl replied with a dreamy smile, as if Hermione had not spoken. "You can read about them in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I suspect that the reason your friends can't see them is because they have not seen death, not like you."

"I had to kill our first year DADA professor. Turns out the guy was possessed, and had a manifestation of Voldesnort on the back of his head." Hera admitted. "Ron and Hermione weren't there for that last bit, but I didn't see them last year…Maybe I hadn't fully processed it till now."

It could have something to do with the fact that she'd handed Lockhart to Jör on a silver platter, but she wasn't going to mention that.

"My mother died in front of me, an experiment gone wrong." Luna continued. "She was a brilliant witch, but there was a mistake in her formula, and she didn't catch it in time. I shouldn't have been in there, but I'd wanted to show her something, and then…well…"

"You wanna ride with us?" Hera asked earnestly.

"Wut?" Ron whined petulantly. "Not Loony Lovegood."

"Shut it, Ron. I've offered. It's her choice, not yours." Hera snapped crossly at him.

"I've never had someone defend me before. It's quite nice." The young blonde marveled, in what Hera was quickly coming to realize was her normal self, dreamy and easy going. "You must have Moon Frogs visit you in your sleep."

"Might explain the glitter in my hair some mornings. I have no idea how it gets there otherwise." Hera found herself replying easily. Hermione was going to object to something, but thought better of it. Hera suspected it was because she'd not heard of Thestrals before, and wouldn't believe they existed until she knew absolutely everything about them; or it could be the moon frogs. "I like your turnip earrings. Did you make those?"

"I can teach you to make your own, if you like." Luna offered, happily.

"Really?" Hera asked, excitedly. Luna nodded. "Wicked!"