"HOW DO THEY expect us to keep track of all these names? Half of these goblins are called Ragnuk or Ranrok or something," whined Alex.

"You have no choice but to memorise them," said Luxanna curtly, her own head buried in a Transfiguration textbook, "so stop whining and let me concentrate on my own struggles."

Luxanna and Alex were sitting on a familiar dock which overlooked the castle and the lake, their school bags open wide and their books and parchments inked with notes scattered all around. The snow had melted, making for a suitable day for an outside study session, prompted by Luxanna who desperately needed to get her studies back on track. The books were of no help however, it was the practical part she was having trouble with.

"You're doing it all wrong!" exclaimed Alex with a cheery laugh. He had been standing some feet away, but at the sight of her miserable wandwork he approached and sat down next to her. Lightly cupping her armed hand, he began to trace the motion, showing her how to perform the Switching Spell on the apple that was sitting in her lap. "Just… keep it slow and gentle. Be patient."

Luxanna's stomach bubbled with irritation. Her fingers clenched more tightly around the handle, causing her focus to waver and ultimately snuffing out the spell. "I don't have the patience anymore," she mumbled, chucking her wand away to the side.

"Where'd you find that snake?" asked Alex, pointing at Frost whose face was peeking out from behind Luxanna's bag.

Luxanna's eyes widened and her breath quickened as she searched for a convincing excuse. "Oh, uh, I saw it roaming around the grounds on our way here," she said. "I thought it'd make a good guinea pig for my spell practice— Ow!" In response, Frost bit the finger that was caressing her head, then slid off into the grass and disappeared behind the bushes.

"Guess the little snake didn't appreciate you calling it a guinea pig," said Alex in what he did not realise was a very accurate assessment. After a moment of silence, he asked, "What did you do with Selwyn, by the way? Did you find out what she was up to?"

Right, Triss Selwyn. Of course, Luxanna had spent the better part of February trying to find out about what that mouse-faced girl was up to, but even with all the spying and prying, she hadn't come up with anything concrete, despite how overwhelming Selwyn's insinuations about having witnessed her scene with Weasley that night had been. "No," said Luxanna, still irritated by Alex's courtesies, in an abrupt, almost hostile manner. She sighed in an effort to ease the tension. "What about you? Did she say anything?"

"No, nothing." Alex sighed in his turn. "But I believe Maisie isn't in on whatever Selwyn is planning. She's not like that."

"How adorable… you've found yourself a new friend, have you?"

"What are you on about? I've always been friends with Maisie."

Luxanna clicked her tongue in irritation. Perhaps she ought to tell him to spend his afternoons with 'Maisie' instead, since he so obviously trusted her more. She needed peace and quiet to study, after all, and he'd been nothing but a distraction.

"Alex," she began, fixing him with her gaze, "I have told you the sort of character Triss Selwyn is, haven't I? By extension, anybody who associates with her is not an ally of mine. Why do you intentionally refuse to believe me?"

"But… That doesn't even make sense," said Alex with a laugh of disbelief. "Why are you so keen on blaming her? She's told you that they were just talking about boys, hasn't she? Also, 'ally'? What are we, goblin rebels?"

Just how naive can one be?

"Why are you taking her side, Alex?"

"I'm not taking anybody's side," he argued, mouth ajar. "Lux, come on, you're just being paranoid now."

Paranoid, is it? With a pointed look at Alex, Luxanna quickly began to pack her things, ignoring his pleading voice.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!" he was saying. "I didn't mean it that way!"

"Save it. I want to be alone."

The days flowed like a river, quickly returning to normalcy, and in Luxanna's experience, normalcy meant chaos. The Weasleys returned to school and to their devilish scheming and teasing, with their prime targets being the Slytherin students, namely Luxanna. Her previous encounter with George Weasley clearly had not taught them anything, which was to be expected. Should've left him to rot in that dungeon… Luxanna mused as she paced around the corridors on patrol duty, having narrowly escaped a Pumpkin-Head Jinx. It was the day before the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, and the noise which emanated from the Gryffindor Tower pointed to what was likely an encouragement party being thrown for Potter.

Luxanna strayed as far away from the sound as possible; she had no intention of running into Potter again. Her only solace lay in the miniscule chance that he might not return, but alas, she could already envision the sight of him walking victoriously into the castle, accompanied by his entourage. Please be something deadlier than dragons… Rounding a corner next to the Owlery, Luxanna had to quickly duck behind a statue to avoid a shot of sparks that burst in the corridor following a female voice that had whispered 'Lumos'. As the light settled, Luxanna peeked out cautiously.

Selwyn? What are you doing here…

It took her a moment to piece the scene together: Selwyn, out of bed past curfew, in the corridor leading up to the Owlery. There was no doubt about it; Selwyn was contacting Skeeter with her new scoop, and Luxanna was determined to catch her red handed, whether on grounds of sneaking out, which would undoubtedly earn her a detention, or regarding the slanderous accusations she had been feeding to Witch Weekly as a so-called 'Anonymous informant,' which could earn her a suspension, as it had the Weasleys. And so, Luxanna followed along.

Creeping into the owlery under the guise of a Disillusionment Charm, Luxanna watched eagerly as Selwyn produced an envelope from her robe and tied it to a sandy feathered owl, whispering something before sending it out. She waited a moment until Selwyn was out of sight and out of earshot, then, emerging from her hiding spot, she quickly took her wand out and whispered—and this time with a very distinct description—"Accio the letter tied to the sandy owl!"

The owl was edging closer; despite its reluctance, the note tied to its leg was dragging her backwards, towards Luxanna, whereupon she untied the string and pried opened the envelope following a grievous battle with the bird where she fought to snatch the paper out of its talons, earning her a few nasty scratches. "Bloody owls," she muttered underneath her breath.

The note inside revealed no more than two sentences:

Meet me at the Hog's Head Inn tomorrow after the second task, I have some news that is not safe to send by Owl.

Sincerely,
your daughter

"Interesting…" whispered Luxanna.

"So... no Rita Skeeter thiss time?"

"She's meeting her mother?" Luxanna's brows furrowed as she turned the paper over in her hand. "Well, I know her father was a Death Eater, but her mother…"

"A Death Eater as well, perhapsss?"

Luxanna tied the note back to the impatient owl's leg and freed it, watching it disappear into the night sky before returning to her patrol duties.

The atmosphere of the Great Hall buzzed with excitement. Everybody was awake and on time to watch the Second Task, hurriedly shovelling food into their mouths before the best seats at the stand got occupied. Luxanna remained rooted to her chair, picking at the pie on her plate, while Alex tugged at her robe impatiently. Spinster was quick to dissuade him, however, as she leant in and muttered something into his ear which made him release his grip on Luxanna.

The hall was almost empty when Frost took the liberty of roaming the table for more food accessibility, going straight for the Trifle Cup and diving in headfirst.

"I can never get enough of this," responded Frost, her entire body coated with the sugary mixture.

Heading to the dormitory to prepare for her mission, Luxanna took the opportunity of everyone's absence to search for the missing map once again. She still believed that one of the girls had stolen it. Yet no matter how many drawers she opened or how many shelves she searched and chests she emptied, it never emerged.

"Lux, you'll miss Triss Selwyn's rendezvousss with her mother," warned Frost as Luxanna gathered her necessities together.

"There's still time," responded Luxanna with a quick glance at her watch, grabbing her cloak and storming out of the door.

Once she reached Hogsmeade, the task had already ended, and Luxanna could see students in the distance returning to shore by boat. It was only a matter of time now. However, the inn was proving difficult to locate; with every turn she took, the alleyways seemed to blend into each other, leaving her no choice but to retrace her steps. As she neared the edge of the village, an ugly, derelict sort of wooden structure of dubious character (one she had already passed three times) came into view, and upon it the indistinguishable sign: The Hog's Head.

Now why on earth would Selwyn choose such a filthy place for her meeting with her mother was beyond her comprehension. Luxanna's legs halted in her step once she saw a pair of Goblins emerging from the door.

What's next? Werewolves and vampires? she wondered, disgust written all over her face. She decided on waiting outside by the doorstep of a house a bit farther away where she could observe the entrance, a swarm of questions flooding her mind.

What business did Mrs Selwyn have here, around Hogwarts? Why hadn't Selwyn ever mentioned her? Assuming that the woman was indeed, decent and respectable, as there were a few things to be said about the wives of Death Eaters. According to her father, they were most often avid supporters of You Know Who themselves. But that was not a topic of which Luxanna had the right to criticise, what with her own mother belonging to that same category of women. Not much could be said about Luxanna's family, either. They were fairly private, and if it weren't for Carina being a fairly famous fashion journalist, and often making the front page of Witch's Weekly, the English wizarding community would've never heard of her.

"Lux! What are you doing here?" called a very familiar voice, interrupting her train of thought. Alex walked up towards her, accompanied by Antonio. "Thought you were gonna stay at the castle?"

"Ah, well... I thought it would do me good to have some fresh air." Luxanna straightened up, dusting the dirt off her skirt for good measure. "Hello, Antonio."

"Good to see you again, Luxanna." Antonio extended his hand, which Luxanna hesitantly shook, not wanting to appear rude in front of a person she considered a proper acquaintance from her homeland.

Alex and Antonio quickly got lost in their chatter, and Luxanna strayed a bit farther away from them, waiting for a black bundle of short hair to appear, her leg shaking with anticipation and her fingers finding her lips once again. She was very deep in thought, waiting and waiting, her eyes sliding from the grimy wooden door down to her wristwatch, not noticing the departure of Antonio.

"Who are you waiting for?" Alex placed his hand on her shoulder, leaving her no choice but to avert her attention to him. "He went back to his friends so you can tell me what you're really doing here," he answered before she got to ask the question.

"It's Selwyn. I found her sending a note by Owl to her mother yesterday night, she's meeting her there," explained Luxanna, pointing at the building in question.

"So? What's so intriguing about that?"

"Oh, Alex, why in Merlin's name would a parent come all the way here to... to meet their daughter in secret at the back of a"—she threw a disgusted look at the inn—"a filthy old pub? I saw Goblins coming out of there. Goblins!"

"Oh, you saw Goblins!" exclaimed Alex excitedly. "Oh my God, Lux, lucky you! Did you hear what their names were?"

"You're not supposed to like Goblins! They're vicious creatures, only caring about gold."

"You really need to open your mind about some things, Luxanna, it's as if you learnt nothing from History of Magic, and you're supposed to be good at it. Goblins are cool! Look," his fingers fumbled with his robe's pocket before producing a miniature figurine of a Goblin with a stick in his arms, "I just got it today. Antonio and I went back to the shop."

"See, they're primitives who fight with rocks and sticks."

"Nooo," rebutted Alex, "it's not a stick, he's wielding a mage's staff. Here, have a look," he said, shoving the thing into her hands.

Luxanna shook her head. "That's hardly the point, they—"

But before Luxanna could finish her argument, her eyes laid upon her intended target. Selwyn had finally appeared, making her way around the back of the building, her cloak billowing behind her. Luxanna pocketed Alex's toy and quickly followed suit, Alex on her tail. The two rounded a corner, revealing a small mud ridden dock area decorated with damp barrels, crates, and nets hung haphazardly across the narrow walkway. Selwyn approached the dock, looking awfully suspicious, almost as if she expected somebody to jump out at her.

"Lux..." whispered Alex, nudging her in the shoulder, "don't you think this is supposed to be a private thing between the two of them? We really shouldn't be spying on them."

"Shush! She's never minded my privacy, so why should I mind hers? And aren't you even a bit curious to know who her mother is, at the very least?"

Alex took a moment before he nodded in agreement. Satisfied with his compliance, Luxanna turned her attention back to Selwyn.

"You know very well that he's right, Luxanna. You're being the noisy neighbour—" whispered Frost.

"Shush!"

"I didn't say anything…" said Alex, both hands up in a form of surrender.

"Just... shut up…" she mumbled irritably.

Just then, a figure was seen approaching Selwyn. A woman with short, elegantly curled blonde hair, jewelled spectacles which were glued to the ridge of her nose, and the unmistakable bright magenta robe that screamed only one person—Rita Skeeter. She watched as the woman approached Selwyn, her face displaying a look of disdain. Luxanna furrowed her brows with confusion, but the feeling was short lived, as not a moment sooner, Selwyn spoke.

"Always a pleasure to see you, Mother."

"Don't call me that," moaned Skeeter, her tone dripping with impatience. "I've told you not to contact me this year, haven't I? You'll be the death of my career, girl."

Luxanna and Alex's mouths fell open. Rita Skeeter and Triss Selwyn were related? Rita Skeeter had a child with a... a Death Eater, of all people?

The vast air of secrecy surrounding this unusual meeting made it clear however, that this was a well kept family secret that Luxanna had stumbled upon, and judging by the tone and the disdainful look plastered on Skeeter's face, it was obvious that she held no sympathy for her daughter, perhaps not wanting to hinder her reputation by associating with her Death Eater spawn. Just for a brief moment, Luxanna felt a twinge of sympathy for Selwyn, but it dissipated just as quickly as her sense of rationality returned to her. This was Triss Selwyn they were talking about—this news was huge, and oh so scandalous, as Skeeter would have put it. Luxanna's heart rate quickened with excitement.

"The death of your career?" echoed Selwyn, letting out a laugh that clearly mocked the situational irony of Skeeter not knowing that it was her own daughter all along, who had been the anonymous informant, responsible for some of her most popular articles.

Selwyn continued, "You'll change your mind once you hear what I've got for you."

These words were almost magic, immediately summoning Skeeter's Quick Quotes Quill into her hand. "Well?" she asked, inclining her eyebrows, which were also unnaturally thin, and pencilled just like Selwyn's.

A malicious smirk found its way back to Selwyn's lips, but just as she was about to speak the words, she winced. Then, as if struck by an epiphany, her eyes shot up to the spot where Luxanna and Alex were standing.

Does she have some sort of sixth sense? Luxanna's head quickly darted back, her entire body glued to the wall behind them, her heart pounding in her chest.

"She saw us?" whispered Alex frantically. "Do you think she saw us?"

"I... I don't know, I..." She was about to chance another look, but a sudden, sickly sweet voice sounded in the distance, averting her attention.

Oh, for Merlin's sake...

"Aleeex! Alex, I completely lost you after the task!" exclaimed Spinster, jovially running up the hill towards them. "Sure I half expected to find you locking lips with Antonio in some corner, but I did pass by the Broomsticks and he's in there with the other French boys, which by the way... absolute rides," she added in a lustful whisper. "Honest to God, one of them even winked at me, Alex."

She said all this without pausing for a single breath, so that Alex could only get a word in once she had finished.

"Yes, yes, but Maisie, listen—"

"Alex, you're very friendly with them, you have to introduce me. Preferably after I break it off with Bulgaria, though, I can't be doing with the jealousy."

She kept on talking, and talking, and talking, and Luxanna felt the vein on her temple begin to throb, her forehead wrinkling with irritation. She looked back to the dock, only to find that Selwyn and her mother had disappeared from view.

"Umm, Maisie, I'm in the middle of something, if you—"

"Oh no no, it's absolutely fine, Alex," interrupted Luxanna, her voice sounding higher than usual. "Go. Go ahead with your friend. I don't mind."

"Oh, Black," replied Spinster with a sickly grin, "if we go anywhere, it'll be aaaall three of us. I'm sure Alex here wouldn't want to leave without you, you two are practically inseparable— What is it that you're doing here, anyway? This place is squalid."

"You don't say," whispered Luxanna under her breath.

Spinster nodded her head vigorously, unperturbed by the sarcasm. "Aye, I do. You come around here often, then?"

Merlin...

As Luxanna worked her mind to come up with a satisfactory excuse, Spinster was already pushing her way past them to investigate.

"What's so interesting about the dock, Black, lemme see!"

Luxanna followed suit, just to make sure that the two targets were out of sight; the last thing she needed was to see her name in Witch Weekly once more, this time with the appropriate title: 'Luxanna Black—The Creepy Stalker.'

"Nothing!" blurted Alex. "We came here because I wanted to see some Goblins!"

"Goblins. Oh my..."

The way back to the castle was then spent in her incessant rambling about Goblins, the entire mission having gone to waste thanks to her. The way Luxanna saw it, this was Alex's fault; he was the one who always insisted on keeping the wretched girl around.

Luxanna spent her mornings in bitter frustration, awaiting a drop of Witch Weekly articles about her, and jumping every time a flock of owls flew over her head at breakfast. The sheer anticipation of it loomed overhead like a black cloud, tormenting her. There had eventually been an article, but not about Luxanna. It was to do with Hermione Granger instead, and her vicious 'love triangle' with Potter and Krum. This was somehow even more disappointing; the not knowing was the one thing that Luxanna could not tolerate.

There was a saying in Italy: Marzo è pazzo, meaning 'March is crazy.' Oddly enough, March was Luxanna's favourite month; the weather changed unpredictably, resulting in unexpected torrential rain storms, soon to be replaced by comforting sunshine, and vice versa. As it was, this state of indecision paralleled the volatility of Luxanna's inner turmoil; on edge and chasing a fear that was always out of reach, so that she could never quite focus on one thing at a time.

She awoke early that morning, panicked that she had overslept because the dormitory was empty. A quick look at her watch proved her wrong however, painting the absence of her dormmates as more than slightly unusual. She dressed quickly and made her way into the Common Room, and thought nothing of the unsettling feeling that formed in her gut upon her arrival despite the peculiarity of the scene before her. There were students there, still in their pyjamas and dressing gowns, all huddled around the notice board in murmurous whispering.

Luxanna slowly approached them, and as she did so, the haste in which the students parted the way for her, like she had just split the sea in half, revealed the contents of the message pinned to the top of the board. The room fell silent, the whispers drowned out by the thud of Luxanna's heart. A few tentative steps brought her to the centre of the crowd, before her legs appeared to freeze mid step as her eyes fell upon the words.

LUXANNA BLACK IS A PARSELMOUTH

The colour drained from her face as she reached out a trembling hand to grab the paper, certain that it would burn right through her fingertips. Her worst nightmare materialised before her on a piece of paper; a moving photograph of her in the girls' lavatory by the sink mouthing the implicating words. Another one of her descent into the Chamber. And one more, a particularly close-up one, of her speaking to Frost, her secret exposed.

From behind her sounded the clear voice of vengeance.

"Witches and Gentlewizards," she announced with a wave of her hand, "I present to you the true Heir of Slytherin."