Freddie approached the carriage with her mouth open, her whiskers twitching. This time she could scent Ada on the air and the trail was fresh. The girl must have just come back a few minutes ago. She went to the window Ada had told her was closest to her bed and meowed loudly. A second later her pale freckled face appeared in the window and her eyes lit up. She held her finger up in a 'wait a minute' sign and disappeared.

"Freddie!" Ada said excitedly as she flung open the door to the carriage. "I have so much to tell you! Can you transform back?"

Freddie glanced around the grounds. There were a lot of students out and about, but none of them were close by. None of them were wearing their school robes so she figured she would probably blend in well enough. She flicked her tail for Ada to follow her to a large tree nearby at the edge of the forest. She ducked behind the tree, just to be sure no one saw her, and transformed back.

"I am so glad you're here!" Ada exclaimed, throwing her arms around her.

"What's going on?" she asked, patting her friend's back. "I just saw you last night, I told you I was coming."

"I know, but – well at first I thought you might not show up because of what happened last night."

"I told you I would – you didn't sneak out again after that, did you?"

"Of course not!" she said adamantly, shaking her head. "I take pinky promises very seriously. You know if you break a pinky promise the other person can cut off your finger?"

"You told me that," Freddie chuckled. "So what happened this morning? Severus said he saw your headmistress taking you from the Great Hall at breakfast. Did you get in trouble?"

"That's what I thought at first! I thought Snape must have told her even though you said he wouldn't. Madame Maxime came to me while I was eating and asked me to please come with her. My heart was pounding so loud, I started thinking – could I get expelled with less than a month before graduation? But I shut it down with my Occlumency and followed her out of the hall. Then she told me that Professor Dumbledore wanted to speak with me. Of course then I really freaked out!" she said with a nervous laugh.

"What did he want?" Freddie prodded, though she suspected she already knew.

"He – wait, is it safe to talk here?" she asked, suddenly solemn, looking around.

"Hmm. Maybe we should go ahead to the Shrieking Shack, since that's where we're going to duel anyway. You can be sure no one will hear us in there."

"Good idea," Ada agreed, though she cast a somewhat nervous glance in the direction of the Whomping Willow.

"I'll go ahead first in my Animagus form and freeze the tree. You can follow me after you cast your Disillusionment Charm. Remove it as soon as you're safely in the tunnel. And don't get close until you're sure the tree is frozen."

"Got it," she said with a nod. "What if there are students hanging around there?"

"Hmm... can you cast a Confundus Charm nonverbally?"

"Of course!" she said. "I'm almost offended that you would think I couldn't cast a simple charm like that."

"Okay, okay, don't get your knickers in a twist!" Freddie teased. "You can show me just how skilled you are during our duel."

"Oh I will!" she said confidently.

"Alright then," she chuckled. "The Confundus Charm should take care of anyone lingering around, they'll just wander off. Be sure you move slow with your Disillusionment Charm – it's great, but it's not perfect. Students probably won't notice you but if there happens to be a teacher out on the grounds, their eyes are much sharper."

"Right," she said with a nod.

"Ready?"

"Ready Freddie," she said, then giggled at her rhyme.

"See you in there," Freddie said with a smile, then quickly shifted into her Animagus form.

Ziggy followed along behind her as Freddie made her way towards the Whomping Willow, skirting the edge of the forest so she was less likely to be seen. She glanced over her shoulder but Ada had disappeared. Even with her kneazle senses she couldn't see the girl, she couldn't hear her footsteps. With the slight breeze blowing westernly across the grounds, she couldn't even smell her. Pleased, she continued on her way.

"Mum friend?" Ziggy asked curiously as he padded along behind her.

Friend is following. Magic, she explained to him as simply as possible. He seemed to understand and looked back behind them. She didn't think Ziggy could see through Disillusionment Charms either, though sometimes he seemed to be able to find Freddie when she used hers. Probably he was using his other senses.

"Friend fun?" Ziggy wondered. "Play with Ziggy?"

Oh. Well, maybe we can play a little, she relented, not wanting him to feel left out. She'd have to make sure he was safely out of the way during their duel.

"Fun! Mum play with Ziggy!" he thought excitedly, bounding across the grounds ahead of her.

Wait! She thought frantically, pushing the thought towards him with as much force as she could as he approached the violent tree. Danger!

Ziggy skidded to a halt and looked back at her, confused. She jogged up to him and licked the top of his head protectively. There were three older Gryffindor boys hanging around the Whomping Willow. Two of them she recognized as the Weasley twins Fred and George, though she didn't know which was which, and the third was a dark-skinned boy she didn't recognize. They were throwing large rocks at the tree from a safe distance, trying to get the branches to hit them like they were bludgers.

Freddie watched patiently, trying to see where Ada was, but she still couldn't see the girl anywhere. Suddenly, the three boys faces went curiously blank.

"Hey George, Lee, why don't we go check out the Quidditch pitch? We can see if they've got it back to normal yet and maybe go for a fly," said one of the twins.

"Great idea, Freddie," said the other twin and Freddie's kneazle ears flicked in annoyance at hearing her nickname. Ziggy cocked his head at her questioningly.

Stay, Freddie told him silently as the boys started to walk away. When they were a safe distance away she started towards the tree, repeating Stay Ziggy in her mind as she did. The limbs of the old tree were swaying as she approached and as soon as she got within striking distance it whipped a branch at her. She dodged it skillfully, landing lightly on her four paws, then quickly dodged a second branch before reaching the knot on the tree. As soon as the Whomping Willow was frozen she turned back towards the forest.

Come Ziggy, she called mentally and he immediately streaked towards her. She led him to the hidden passage beneath the roots of the tree. Before following her in Ziggy stopped to sharpen his claws on the tree trunk.

Don't do that, she scolded, swatting at him with her claws sheathed. Don't hurt the tree. It's just doing its job. I'm grateful for it. It'll keep us safe.

Ziggy looked confused again – he didn't understand long sentences – but he sheathed his claws and followed her into the secret passage.