Witch Way?
She felt the locker close around her. Felt the disgusting things around her. Felt trapped and pleaded for release.
And then she was.
She was in a forest with a little dirt trail that led through it.
Sitting on a tree branch was a cat with a wide grin.
"Oh, you want out?" asked the Cheshire Cat. "Well now, out is out but it is also in, you see."
"No, I don't see. You're the Cheshire Cat? From Alice in Wonderland?" asked Taylor.
"Yes and no, no and yes, it all can change in a moment," said the cat, looking thoughtful. "Or is it the other way around?"
"So I'm Alice and this is Wonderland?" asked Taylor, noting she was now wearing an outfit that wouldn't have been out of place in Victorian England.
"You're Taylor Hebert, recently of Winslow High School, and a seriously bullied young girl," said the Cat. "Something different this time is that you asked for help and not of one specific person. Also different - someone heard and so - here we are."
Jeff Goldblum walked past her muttering something about Chaos Theory.
"Was that Jeff Goldblum?" asked Taylor, pointing as the actor vanished behind a tree.
"I'm allowed a certain number of cameos," said the Cat in a defensive manner.
"So, your world is in trouble, you're in trouble, and you need a different school," said the Cat, saying nothing that wasn't true but not exactly saying that all three things were actually linked. "So, how would you feel about going to a different school? One where you could learn things that would actually come in very handy in your current situation?"
"Uhm, yes, thank you," said Taylor.
"Okay. Keep in mind there are some time and space and alternate universe things going on," said the Cat.
"Wait, wha-" managed Taylor before vanishing.
"Easy peasy lemon squeezey," said the Cat with a nod. "Just a little tweak there so she's got some magic. A bit more. A bit more. Oh, and maybe some fighting skills - that seems to come in handy. What style though... Ah, perfect. Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū. Just the basics, but leave some of those scroll things for training and advanced techniques. Yeah, that'll work. Should I give her a sword?"
The Cat was silent for a moment, trying to figure out what would work best. He had it on good authority that "swords were cool" and that katanas especially were cool. Simple enough to use one. Still, it didn't seem quite right or fitting for Taylor even considering how out there some of her other-selves got.
A gun maybe? No, couldn't carry one about in the country she was going to. Pity about that as an Element Gun or Caster Pistol or Dimensional Disruption Device would tend to come in handy. So would a giant mecha but that might be a bit too over the top.
Well, if he just added five levels of Artificer to begin with. There we go. Now if she wanted one she could bloody well build one.
"Put together a background for her. Part of an old family, I think. One of the not-in-line-to-inherit types, result of the mother fooling around with a dashing young man-shaped alien being who travels space and time in a blue box. Been awhile since I pranked him. Not quite human. Raised by the family and shuffled off to a boarding school out of the country for political reasons. Good, good. Learned a few things during an adventure in time and space. Nice. Good chance of survival even with everything. Regress her age a bit, give her a slightly different appearance because of the new/old genetics. Also because she's been learning the Anything Goes Style of Martial Arts due to being vaguely related on her father's side to the Tendo family. And... done."
[Added Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū, Basic.]
[Added Artificer, Level 5. Specialization: Artillerist.]
[Added Runic Arrays, Basic]
[Added Arithmancy, Basic]
[Added Gallifreyan Science, Basic]
[Added Mage Sight, Basic - Inheritor of Bloodline]
* Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry *
"Oh, you're a tough one," said the Sorting Hat. "Time and Space travel. Otherworlds. Menaces From Beyond. Epic Destiny stuff here. But where to put you?"
"I'd appreciate it if you kept that sort of thing under your... brim, as it were," said a very young Taylor Hebert.
"Oh don't worry, unless you're a danger to the school everything here is private as private can be," said the Hat. "Epic Destiny leads me to think Gryffindor or Slytherin because you definitely need courage or cunning to get through such a thing."
"Or both," pointed out Taylor.
"Indeed," agreed the Sorting Hat. "Hard work. You have no trouble with that or with studying."
"Again, both are required for the sort of grades I'm aiming for," put in Taylor.
"True, true," agreed the Sorting Hat. "I think, based on what I'm seeing, that you're best bet would be... HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Why Hufflepuff?" asked Taylor as she reached up to take the hat off.
"Because you need social skills and dependable friends, which are founding principles behind that particular House," said the Hat. "Do visit sometime in the future though, I have a feeling yours is going to be a fascinating tale."
* Winslow High School *
Sophia gave a final twirl of the lock on the locker, slammed her hand down on the door, and turned to walk away with a smirk.
Leaving her in there a day or so certainly should get the little dweeb to give up and get out. Then she could turn her attention to the next lowest prey. Maybe that Veder kid, he certainly seemed bully-able.
* Hogwarts *
"Very good, Miss Hebert," said Filius Flitwick, turning the essay back to the First-Year. "I think we may expect exceptional things of you in the future."
"I hope so, Professor," said Taylor. "I'm a little unclear as to what to do over the summer holidays though."
"No plans at all?" asked Professor Flitwick. "Not heading back to the Colonies to your family?"
"My family situation is... complicated," said Taylor. "I doubt I'll be going back until sometime after graduation."
"Hmmm, have you talked to your Head of House about it? Professor Sprout is quite connected in some areas and may have some suggestions."
"I've checked and she said she'd get back to me sometime after end-of-year exams have finished," said Taylor, shrugging a bit.
"Well, I'll keep an ear out," said Professor Flitwick. "Though with end-of-year exams just a few days away - it's going to make time a bit hard to find."
* Winslow High School *
Sophia sat down, smirk from her little "prank" still in place.
From the looks she was getting, everyone present was a little in fear of her - as they should be.
Yes, all was right in the world and the top predator was sated - for the moment at least.
* Hogwarts Express *
A nice summer it had been, and Taylor renewed her pledge to thank Professor Pomona Sprout for the opportunity this little vacation had gotten her.
While she was neither particularly motivated towards doing great at either Herbology or Potions (pointing out that "back home" there were different plants and potioning available had helped explain it to Professor Sprout) (not her fault everyone thought that meant Magical United States and not Brockton Bay) but she'd been doing work well above First Year level in the basics of Enchanting, Charms, and Transfiguration.
So a summer apprenticeship with the workshop of Nimbus? Taylor thought the British phrase of "brilliant" entirely appropriate.
She thought, and not for the first time, that the Hogwarts Express was kind of pointless. Especially for those who didn't live along the route.
Still, she'd found a nice berth. She'd not made much in the way of friends, despite being in Hufflepuff, but her guard wasn't nearly up to the extent it had been the previous year. Maybe this year.
There was a weird tension in the air though.
The door rolled open. "Oh. Sorry, I didn't see anyone."
"It's okay, plenty of room. Need any help with your case there?" asked Taylor.
"Uhm, maybe," agreed the First Year. Something familiar about the boy though.
"Wingardium Leviosa," cast Taylor, levitating the trunk up into the place for them.
"Wow. Haven't had the chance to see much of any magic," said the boy.
"You'll be learning it, it's a first-year spell and quite handy," said Taylor. "Taylor Hebert. Starting my Second Year. Hufflepuff. You run into any problem or have any questions just say so. I've gotten pretty decent at sorting out problems. Muggleborn?"
"I'm sorry, what?" asked the boy as he took a seat.
"Meaning you come from non-magical parents and don't have a lot of experience with magic," explained Taylor. "I've seen a few flounder about a bit while trying to get used to everything."
"Something like that, raised by - well- they don't have much tolerance for 'freakishness'," said the boy, his voice trailing off. "My name's Harry."
"Well, Harry, I'm Second-Year, so I went through it all last year," Taylor assured him. "Offers still there, if you could use a friend."
[Achievement Acquired! Befriended Harry Potter!]
Taylor blinked. Those pop-up screens were quite annoying. Though wasn't 'Harry Potter' one of the local celebrity kind of things?
"Well, I do have a few questions," admitted Harry.
* Winslow *
"Taylor Hebert is absent today?" asked Mister Gladly.
"What do you expect? She's probably giving blowjobs to bums," stage-voiced Madison.
* Hogwarts *
"We shouldn't be here," protested Hermione Granger.
"Maybe, maybe not," offered Taylor. "Honestly, if they actually wanted to keep people out - there's much better ways. A door with a simple lock that a First-Year spell could undo? A three-headed dog that anyone who's read Greek mythology would know how to get past?"
"Well..." said Hermione, not really buying it but admitting the point to herself.
"Now if I wanted to keep people out," said Taylor. "Shrieking Charm on the door as an alarm, anyone opening it would get an earful and you'd also let everyone else know. Hidden so it isn't obvious, maybe layer it with an Obscuring and set up a linked overpowered Lumos to disorient the trespasser. For the room itself I think I'd use an Animation Array. A bit complicated but a stone dog or a skeletal warrior ready to attack intruders would be better and you don't have to clean the poop or feed and water the guardian."
"Why are you taking notes?" asked Ron.
"Because I think it's some kind of test," said Taylor. "I'll go over the notes with my Head of House afterwards, suggest improvements, and so on. If this was supposed to be real security, a couple of warding lines like an age line at the door would be a bare minimum."
"A test?" asked Hermione. She blinked a couple of times and went from hesitant to determined in a few seconds.
"The Devil's Snare was more like child's play," said Taylor, jerking a thumb towards the ceiling. "Lumos is the very first charm you're taught, for crying out loud."
"So what now?" asked Harry as he looked up at the keys flying around.
"Accio key," said Taylor. "Huh. At least they guarded against that. Maybe a sticking charm on the end of a string and then reeling in a key with it? Or the broom and catch it but I'd expect the rest of the keys to attack as soon as that happens."
"Who is being tested?" asked Harry.
"Sorry, but it's probably you," offered Taylor. "Boy-Who-Lived and all. Someone wants the measure of a hero? Or maybe they're testing to see how stubborn we are?"
"Right," grumped Harry, heading towards the broom.
* Winslow *
"There does seem to be some evidence that volcanic activity caused reduced harvests and thus starvation. It most definitely was not a case of crotch itch on the part of the French ruling class at the time..."
Class was boring. This was normal.
Sophia sighed. The sad thing was when the highlight of your day was shoving someone into their locker.
Maybe Gallant was right for a change and she DID need a hobby.
* Hogwarts *
"No, Harry Potter, I expect you to die."
"Abscinde Malum!"
Quirinus Quirrel and Lord Voldemort both screamed as if felt as if someone was doing open heart surgery on them without anaesthetic.
"Come on, Harry, get your ass up!"
"Stop him, you fool! THEN kill that annoying girl!"
"Arghhh!"
"Abscinde Malum! Abscinde Malum!"
* Winslow *
"-which brings us to the War of the Roses. Which, oddly enough, had very little to do with roses. Speaking of which, why is it called a ROSE parade anyway?"
Sophia briefly wondered if World History was EVER going to end. At this point it felt like it had been going on for MONTHS.
Mister Gladly had dropped into that pedantic almost-bored tone when he actually had to do a lecture. Any good mood she'd had from this morning's events had been utterly drained away.
"I mean, really, giant Snoopy balloons? What has that got to do with anything? Much less roses."
Honestly, she almost envied Taylor being able to miss this class.
"And if you look at page 394, there's a picture of a duck. I have no idea why a duck. Why it's in a section to do with a battle for the throne of England. But if you can tear your eyes away from the duck there's some pictures of the major players or factions in this war."
* Hogwarts *
"Miss Hebert, you should refrain from studying and then casting spells that are not on the curriculum," said Minerva McGonagall.
"What? But there's so many interesting ones!"
"At least stop teaching them to anyone else. It's entirely too easy to stray into dark magic that way."
"What about the exorcism spell? I've had requests for that one."
"Why would anyone have a use for such a thing?"
"Professor Quirrel was possessed. I used 'Abscinde Malum' but it wasn't completely successful so I've been looking for a stronger one."
"Where did THAT spell come from?"
"I ran across it in a primer of Japanese spells, had to rework it a bit to be easier to cast since I can't always carry around a bunch of ofuda."
* Winslow *
It had been a waste of time. Required of her as a student, but still a waste of time.
Sophia walked by the locker, not hearing anything since there was enough background noise, but at least the wuss wasn't screaming or something. She smirked a little as she put a hand on the locker door, then snatched the hand away and took two steps back. Why was it so cold?
* Hogwarts *
"Now, Minerva, I'm quite aware of Miss Hebert's experiments and research. Honestly, I'm surprised she isn't in Ravenclaw with the amount of work she puts in," said Albus Dumbledore as the monthly meeting went on.
"You are?" asked Minerva McGonagall.
"Oh yes, the attempt to localize a version of the 'Akuryo Taisan' or 'Evil Abjuration' spell was quite interesting. Loses quite a bit of power when not using the additional ingredients and it is truly meant as a ritual casting, but quite intriguing." Albus Dumbledore smiled a genuine smile. "I hadn't realized that some of the other schools of magic specialized to such an extent. It was intriguing enough that I've written to Mahoutokoro to see what other innovations they've made to protecting students from the Dark Arts."
"Miss Hebert, unfortunately, lacks a drive to excel in Herbology or Potions from what I've seen," said Pomona Sprout. "However she is an insatiable learner in every field that does catch her interest. The other day she was attempting to make a 'rune-gun' that would fire off spells as an alternative to having a wand. She said that it was always good to have a 'backup plan' - I do have to wonder what her home life was like from such little tells."
"I'm thinking old school muggle nobility," sniped Snape. "She pays attention and at least is not some complete dunderhead. When I asked for a paper on three other uses for an engorging potion... it revealed a rather creatively cutthroat approach. Two which would likely be fatal to whomever she fed the potion to, and the third would certainly have damaged their reputation."
"What about Mister Potter? I've noticed that his little study group now has members of all four houses," said Minerva.
"'His' study group? I believe that Miss Hebert and Miss Granger were the instigators of that. They've been thick as thieves since the Coleslaw Incident." Professor Flitwick shook his head at the memory.
A brief shudder went through both Pomona Sprout and Minerva McGonagall, whose memories of that event were rather less distanced.
"Sometimes a shared misadventure can bind people together more than simply being of the same House," opined Albus Dumbledore. "Did the Venomous Tentacula ever recover from that, by the way?"
"Yes, up until vinegar is brought anywhere nearby, it seems to suffer flashbacks if that happens," said Professor Sprout.
* Winslow *
"What the hell is this?" asked Sophia, reaching out and touching the locker again, then touching the door two away from it. "Why is there frost forming on the wimp's locker?"
(drip) (drip) (drip)
"Uhm," began Madison, backing away as she saw drops of blood beginning to seep out of the locker. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
* Elsewhere *
The Cheshire Cat glanced at the readers, winked, and confessed. "I was bored. Haven't seen this before. So... yeah."
A woman in red briefly looked in from the side and complained about trademark infringement.
* Hogwarts *
"'Enemies of the Heir, beware.' Okay, what do we know of this 'Heir of Slytherin' and his 'Chamber of Secrets'? Other than a love of the dramatic?" asked Taylor of her study group.
Hermione started, immediately drawing smiles from the rest of the group. Some affectionate, some tolerant. "Birth and death date uncertain, lived one thousand years ago alongside the other Hogwarts founders. All of whom had alliterative names due to a fashion among purebloods at the time. Distrusted muggleborn and stated his desire to ban them from Hogwarts. Born and raised in Ireland by a Spanish family near some peat bog, but the exact location is unknown. Was apparently great friends with Godric Gryffindor until the falling out regarding muggleborn and he left Hogwarts."
Daphne Greengrass spoke up next. "Skilled legilimens and parselmouth. Word from some sources is that he was one of those that obsessed over his own accomplishments and if he couldn't manage something he trivialized it. The example given was he tried once to become an animagus, failed, and then dismissed it as an unworthy pursuit. Made his own wand of basilisk horn and snakewood, because he felt that a wand made by his own hand would be superior. He not only felt that muggleborn were unworthy of being taught at Hogwarts - halfbloods were almost as bad."
"How could Slytherin and Gryffindor be such good friends if their differences of opinion were so great on the matter of muggleborn, muggles, and half-bloods," pondered Padma Patil.
Daphne was the one to answer that. "Apparently there were magical menaces at that time roaming about. They met and bonded over fighting off a legion of skeletal undead."
"Oh, that'd do it," said Padma with a nod. "Think a couple of my ancestors had a history like that."
"So there's a prejudice against skeletal undead and not ghosts?" asked Taylor.
"Depends on the ghost or skeletal undead type. Some are quite easily tolerated, I think there's a skeleton working in a library in magical Paris," offered Cho Chang.
"Oh yeah, 'Amber Bones', I read about her," said Padma Patil. "What about the Chamber?"
"Rumor has it that Slytherin's most-favored students all were taught dark arts there. Which I personally think is codswaddle because the more people know a secret, the less likely a group is to keep it. Even with Unbreakable Vows and the like," answered Daphne.
"I thought Unbreakable Vows were unbreakable, hence the name," said Hermione.
"There's always a penalty, but the Vow only enforces a knowing break and mostly lets you know when you're about to break it," said Daphne. "With a group as varied as wizards tend to be, you honestly think no one has ever tried to find a way around the terms?"
"Point," acknowledged Hermione.
* Winslow *
The crowd had gone mostly silent as the puddle of what-looked-like-blood slowly spread in front of the locker.
"Oh my god, they killed her!" exclaimed someone, causing Sophia and her two compatriots to start looking around for the girl whose voice that had been.
What they saw were at least ten cellphones all pointing in their direction and nobody wanting to be at all close to that locker.
Then a pale-as-paper hand reached up out of the blood puddle and grabbed Sophia's ankle.
Sophia screamed.
At least half the crowd screamed.
"NOPE!" said Greg Veder, turning and running.
That became a signal as practically everyone else turned and ran. Not Sophia as she desperately tried to free her ankle. Not Madison as she'd collapsed in a faint.
Emma? Emma Barnes was trying to shove her way through one of the fleeing crowds because they weren't fleeing fast enough, damn it! She knew how these movies went!
The blood puddle seemed to shimmer and Sophia saw into its depths. Sophia screamed again, turned to shadow, failed to get away, then reached down and physically pryed the cold dead fingers away from her leg so she could get the hell out of Dodge.
* Chamber of Secrets *
Taylor threw the Conjunctivitis Curse at the basilisk's eyes, or at least where she was pretty sure they were, then ducked and rolled and weaved to avoid the strikes. There was a reason she'd been given knowledge of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts after all, and it wasn't just for the exercise program.
"Let Ginny go!" demanded Harry Potter, throwing his own spell at the basilisk only to watch it bounce off.
The shade of Tom Riddle laughed. "Pathetic, Potter. It's a pity you will die first, because letting you watch her die because you're too weak to protect..."
"Akuryo TAISAN!" cast Harry Potter, the handful of paper slips he'd pulled out of a pocket suddenly rocketing towards the ghost and surrounding it.
Fire. A whirlwind of flame that surrounded ghost and book and struggled to destroy both. Tom Riddle screamed in pain.
The phoenix carrying a hat noted that and thought it looked pretty spiffy before getting on to the business of clawing at a basilisk's eyes and then dropping the hat off.
A short fight, and Harry Potter ended up sitting against a wall while Taylor cast diagnostic charms on Ginny.
"Pretty severe drain on her magical core, but she should be okay," said Taylor finally. "Might have to monitor her for after-effects from the possession."
"I hope this isn't an indication of how my school life is going to go," said Harry. "Two years in a row I've had to deal with HIM."
"Just remember you're not alone, Harry Potter," said the Sorting Hat. "You have accumulated friends in all four Houses now. They bring many skills to your table. Do not shut them out."
"Yeah, what the hat says," said Taylor. "Speaking of. Potter is an ancient house tracing back to before the Statute of Secrecy. Have you considered seeing what resources you've got available?"
"I'm a minor, same as you, and I doubt there's anything I can do that way," pointed out Harry.
"You're going against the Death Eaters at the least, and they've apparently got money and influence despite being magic-Nazis." Taylor sighed as she stretched out where she'd banged an elbow against one of the stone columns. "Any advantage of theirs you can counter is a plus."
* McDonald's Restroom *
Sophia splashed water in her face as she gradually got control of herself. No, she was a top predator and some horror-movie crap wasn't about to-
She stared in the mirror as a stall creaked open behind her. As a girl with long dark hair obscuring her face, paper-white skin visible as she slowly left the toilet.
Then the vision turned its head upward and she could see no face. Just a blank expanse of...
"...confess..." whispered something way down the sink.
Sophia whimpered just a bit and very deliberately did NOT turn and look. That was when they got you.
No, she was going to calmly and quietly go to the door and open it and... RUN!
* Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry *
Taylor was sitting back at the Hufflepuff table and smirking.
"What's up with that?" asked Harry, who knew well enough that it meant that Taylor had a Plan. Some things were eternal. Rain is wet. Snow is cold. Falling off the stairs hurts. Taylor has a Plan. And usually a Plan B. And may be working on some odd magic or magical device that could explode with very little warning.
Sometimes the plan worked out. Sometimes you had the Great Coleslaw Incident or the Snack Attack. Therefore, Taylor smirking meant something was up.
"Oh, that. She was just paranoid," said Hermione dismissively. "Thought there was a chance of someone sneaking your name into the cup."
"Dumbledore said he was taking precautions," said Harry.
A scrap of paper came flying out of the flaming cup. "For Durmstrang: Viktor Krum!"
There was a fair amount of cheering at that, so Hermione had to wait a moment to whisper to Harry. "Yes, well, Taylor had a plan where if someone crossed an inner rune line with your name on some paper - then a switching charm would activate and change the piece with your name to someone else's."
"For Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour!"
More applause, but a bit more quiet than Viktor's announcement.
"Well, she does have a point," said Harry. "I mean, we KNOW someone's out to get me."
"I'm sure the teachers have it all under control," Hermione assured him.
"Bets?" asked Harry. "If I win... hmmm. What would I want?"
Fred Weasley leaned close. "Traditionally she has to kiss you if she loses. If she wins you have to help her on a shopping trip."
Hermione slapped Fred's shoulder to show how much she disapproved of that idea.
"For Hogwarts... Cedric Diggory!" Much louder applause greeted this.
"See, nothing wrong," said a smug Hermione.
"Thank Merlin," breathed out Harry.
The goblet flamed again, and a name came flying out.
Dumbledore grabbed it, read it, and then looked very puzzled. "Emma Barnes?"
Everyone was confused by that, except for one person. Taylor met Harry's eyes from across the room and nodded once.
* Barty Crouch Junior *
He couldn't keep some shock off his face. Well, technically, it was Moody's face.
Somehow, someway, someone had screwed up his careful plan to get Harry Potter into the Tri-Wizard Tournament. But how?!
"Is there an Emma Barnes present?" asked Albus Dumbledore, who apparently wasn't as observant as he'd feared.
There wasn't, apparently. How had this been done? He could think of three ways the ink might have been shifted around to read another name. Two ways the paper could have been swapped out for another. One transmutation method.
The Confundus he'd used on the Goblet would have overrode the very measures that would have caused the paper to be rejected.
Someone was too clever by half.
But who and why? Wasn't Potter or that clever little mudblood of his. He'd been watching their table and Potter had been nervous like he'd half-expected...
Damn it, that was it. Potter wasn't as oblivious as the Headmaster and three-quarters of the staff. Potter had actually expected things to go pear-shaped instead of being a tractable little sheep blindly stumbling into a trap.
All it would take is him mentioning it to a member of the staff and that staff member humoring him by layering in another protection.
Heh. Potter would die eventually, his Master demanded it, but he actually have to give Potter credit for not being as blind and clueless as the rest of these sheep.
* Taylor *
The old phrase, as near as she could remember it, was: "once is bad, twice is coincidence, third time is enemy action" or maybe "its not paranoia if someone is actually out to kill you" or something to that effect.
She was here in Hogwarts learning magic to prepare her for returning to her own world. According to the pop-up screens that would mark achievements and goals, she was participating in Harry Potter's story. Which, for some reason, still tickled her memory as something she should know but for some reason couldn't quite place it.
She wasn't sure what all she would be taking with her back home, so she was trying to learn everything she could. Some stuff, like Quidditch (which still sounded like an STD to her), was completely useless and she wouldn't bother with. Some things were potentially useless, like Herbology, because she wasn't going to be taking back a greenhouse or something. Potions relied a lot on magical plants, which were not something she'd expect to find in Brockton Bay. She was learning to do it, but she was also learning as much she could about "muggle substitutions" which were damn few and far between.
Supporting Potter, getting him friends that were going to stick around past her own leaving among other things, was helping her as well. Just that book rewarded for completing the "Acquire Hogwarts Supplies" accomplishment that had a translation of the Mahoutokoro Defense Against The Dark Arts textbook had been invaluable.
She wasn't talking about any of that right now. Wasn't talking about much actually. That mandrake leaf in her mouth was pretty foul and she kept having to renew the sticking charm that kept her from swallowing the dang thing.
* PRT ENE HQ, Director Piggot's office *
"There was no blood, no sign of any disturbance, and all the videos showed were lockers and people reacting."
"Master situation?" asked Director Piggot.
"No, Shaker. Some sort of mass delusion. Even the details differed from person to person," said Armsmaster. "We did pull Miss Hebert out of her locker, she is currently in a coma. We've contacted Panacea as a favor to us to come in and heal Miss Hebert otherwise she may at the very least lose an eye to infection."
"Was it Miss Hebert who was responsible for the event? It still sounds like a Master situation to me," asked Director Piggot.
"No, she's not a parahuman, that was checked shortly after she arrived at the hospital. No Corona Pollentia." Miss Militia stirred as she finished speaking. "What of Shadow Stalker?"
"She's confessed to breaking parole repeatedly, has killed four gang members since she joined the Wards, and was part of this prolonged bullying campaign," said Director Piggot. "She still claims to see Miss Hebert's corpse watching her in the background of every mirror she looks in though it's less frequent since her confession."
"At the very least she needs to be moved to another area, perhaps Anchorage," suggested Miss Militia.
* NOTE *
Not finished, may update this, but will be without a computer for a few days and wanted to get it out there since there was a chance of losing it entirely otherwise.