Author's Commentary: We did it, folks. We've escaped the insanity of 1993! From Honey Badger vengeance, to psychokinetic possession, to Azkaban (Exploding), to time-travelling mind-fuckery, we've been through a lot!
As I said before, I've finished up writing 1994, and it's funny to make comparisons. This year we delve more into divination (where method-writing had me realize I am creepily talented at tarot cards, to the point where I've scared myself more than once and last time shouted "WHAT THE FUCK?!" on repeat before ending up in a stupor for 20 minutes.) We also have loads more slice of life fluff and drama about friends, family, and romance. There will be some dark undertones throughout, resulting in a hurt/comfort vibe at times, but overall this year is way more fun and light-hearted. A nice return to the story's original vibe.

Sunday January 2nd, 1994

Sierra was the first to notice her on the platform.

"You're here?!" Sierra swept Melissa up in a hug. "I thought you said your parents were making you drop out?!"

"Believe me, they tried," Melissa gave an annoyed sigh, "but with the dementors gone from the school I managed to needle them," (and called in Dumbledore for extra help,) "until they gave in and let me come back."

"Well that's a relief!" Sierra grinned. "Hogwarts just wouldn't be the same without you! OH-! CORIN! GEORGE! FRED! LOOK WHO CAME BACK!"

The three boys, hearing their names called, walked over and greeted the girls. Pleasantries were exchanged, and Melissa moved quickly to more entertaining topics. "So how did your showcase go? Did you 'Wow' the DMLE with your inventions?"

"Wow them, we did!" Fred answered. "Near disaster, though, after that crash messed with the prototypes."

"-But we got them ready in time," George added. "Good thing, too. They're buying all of them!"

"ALL?!" they exclaimed.

"All!" the twins answered. Fred added, "Plus we brokered a deal with a manufacturer to make the bigger sales in bulk."

"Nice! Look at you two, rising entrepreneurs!" Sierra grinned wide and gave George a light punch on the arm. "Be sure to remember us little people when you become big-time celebrities!"

"Ha! Celebrities, she says!"

"Has a nice ring to it."

"That it does. Of course, we'll absolutely remember you all."

"You'd better!" Corin teased. "I'll be first in line for getting any metal-rune tech you guys make."

Melissa added in, "Plus I want a cut of the profits for being your guinea pig."

George pointed a finger at her and playfully retorted, "You already got a cut out of me!"

"Oh! Touché!" Melissa laughed loudly, shouting, "JERK", before bumping his shoulder.

"Hey! Why are you witches all beating me? I'm the innocent brother, you know!"

Sierra snorted at that. "As if either of you can be called innocent!"

"They did knock me unconscious," Melissa 'helpfully' added.

"And you're welcome for that," Fred fired back.

The group laughed and ribbed each other as they got onto the train. Corin broke away soon after to find his other friends, while the girls joined the Twins in searching for a compartment. As they loaded up their trunks, a pair of small heads poked out from the Twins' pockets.

"Greetings, female speaker!"

Melissa smiled at the odd-shaped familiar faces. "Greetings, serpent brothers!"

The sudden use of parseltongue caught the other three off guard. "Wait a tick, have you seen our snakes before?"

"Yeah," Melissa gave a casual shrug. "Found them in Greenhouse Six a while back."

Sierra did a double take at the snakes. "You're right! Those are the same snakes, aren't they? Hello beautifuls!" The snakes preened once Melissa translated the greeting for them. "Though, what's up with those horns? Those aren't normal, are they?"

"They're not normal snakes," Fred answered. "They're horned serpents."

"Horned serpents?" After a pause, Sierra shouted, "HORNED SERPENTS?! Like the ones from America?!"

"That's right," they answered. "Got them from a market in Marrakech."

"That's incredible!" Sierra knelt in closer, trying to encourage one of the black-scaled snakes onto her hand. "Is it true their horns can make them fly or turn invisible?"

The boys chuckled. "That's what our textbook says, doesn't it?"

Sierra blushed. "I know that but-"

As they talked, Melissa's jaw dropped. That explains how they did that!

Somehow that's cooler than the snakes being some concocted hybrid, like she theorised. No wonder the Twins have managed to keep them a secret this whole time. That is awesome!

After the train got rolling, Sierra dramatically gestured to the others in the compartment. "So… can you three tell me what actually happened that day with the dementors?"

The serpents were, thankfully, unable to understand the question; and the three humans only gave vague answers about the crash and seeing a light. None of which Sierra took with grace. "Come on! There's got to be more than that!"

Melissa laughed. "You just want something to gossip about, don't you?"

"Can you blame me?" Sierra gestured wildly towards the rest of the train. "The only decent bit of gossip I've gotten all Christmas is that Vance dumped Strickland for Sykes since he wasn't 'honey badger enough', and that's nothing!"

Melissa nodded. "Fair. Prefect love triangles are pretty low-stakes."

"Exactly! Now, a dementor attack, on the other hand, that's much more interesting! Especially with all that talk about your book, Mel." She leaned in conspiratorially. "So, be real with me. Is that stuff about angels real?"

Melissa's answer was surprisingly casual. "As real as getting possessed by the Devil. Had a lot of fun chats with him those few months." That answer weirded out the other three, but Melissa kept it going. "Hey, don't look at me like that! He's a cool guy once you get to know him! Just avoid all the God-talk, and the conversation's golden!"

George gave a wry smile. "You know, the sad thing is, I can't tell if you're being serious or not."

"Hey, believe what you want. I'm the one living the supernatural existence. That's my curse to bear," she said with a dramatic swoon.

"I thought the book said that you're a blessing."

"It's a matter of perspective." A playful smile tugged at her lips. "Personally, I'd rather take a page out of Luc's book. Let's skip all the God-talk and focus on having a normal year, shall we?"

"Ha! As if any of us know what 'normal' is like."

"Speak for yourselves," Sierra grinned as she turned to Melissa. "You should stick around us Puffs this term, Mel. Maybe then some sense of normal will rub off on you."

"And if it doesn't," Fred added, "at least no one will risk any 'Honey badger' wrath to get to you."

Melissa laughed loudly at the idea. "That's a great point. I just might take you up on that offer!"

The first day back at school was a gossip-filled affair. For most it was to catch up about the holidays, while Melissa and select others were prodded over about the dementor attack, Lockhart's book, and the subsequent book signing. Barely anyone seemed to care about classes at all, even as the professors pressed hard about the upcoming O.W.L.s. By the second day the students had settled their energy down; which was useful as the day proved to be interesting.

For their morning of double-potions, Snape had them brewing an Erumpent Potion which, as the name suggests, put everyone on edge at the risk of accidentally causing an explosion. Melissa had to be especially careful during this class, as the hairs on her neck raised every few minutes, only to find Snape watching her with a darkly pensive expression. Fortunately, everyone survived brewing the potion with all limbs intact, and Melissa was all too glad to leave the classroom once it was over.

The afternoon was a loop-day for Melissa and Hermione, with her first go as a full slate of divination. The fifth year class was introduced to the concept of heptomology - meaning the study of how the number seven can influence the future. That seemed a silly concept, in her opinion.

After all, numerological values are different in each culture, aren't they? She mused. Not to mention that a topic like this can lead to someone going crazy, like in The Number 23, or with Voldemort going for making seven horcruxes. …Meh, maybe I should scribble some poetry or song-writing in that divination journal? That way I can pretend I'm doing schoolwork instead of all that nonsense.

The next class was the third years', where they were introduced to palmistry. Funny enough, Melissa actually looked into palmistry when she was younger. Some friends from primary school had been looking into it and, in a moment of morbid curiosity, she had taken a look at it, too. Of course, that had been before learning which world she was reborn into, so she hadn't quite put together the full hilarity of what the art revealed.

"Wow! Your fate-line is so deep!" Lavender Brown gushed over Melissa's palm.

That's what she said. She gave a snort, ignoring the subconscious thought scolding her that Brown and Patil are 13ish year old girls.

"-and it's touching one of your life-lines. That means your fate is tied with someone else's!"

"Wait," Patil furrowed her brow, "what do you mean one of her life-lines?"

"She has more than one! See?" Brown practically dragged Melissa's arm around the table for Patil to see, as if Melissa were nothing more than a doll to be manipulated.

She was starting to regret accepting Brown's invitation to sit with them today.

Patil went wide-eyed. "You're right! That's so strange! But what does that mean?"

Melissa answered casually. "Something about being energetic, as I recall."

Brown compared that comment with her notes. "It symbolises extra vitality. The line is curved, too, for having a lot of energy. Which makes sense, considering the extra lines."

Extra energy, extra lives lived, I can go with either interpretation.

"Soooo," Brown gave a teasing smile, "whose fate is your life tied to?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," she purred. That comment emboldened Brown to dig into the question, curious if it was love-based or not. Melissa skirted around the idea, taking delight in riling up the younger teen. Though that ended when Patil looked over her book.

"That's not right," she said. "It says here that joining the life-line means "one's interests must be surrendered to those of others". That's different."

She and Brown frowned at the correction. "That's fair. That's pretty much what my life's been like for the past while." She clicked her tongue. "So what does the rest of it say? We kind of got distracted talking about deep and long things."

From the next table, Dean Thomas made a snort at that joke, an act that caused the girls to catch on and giggle in the process. Hearing this, Ron looked between the three in confusion. "What's so funny? They're just hands, right?"

Melissa shot him a grin. "I think you'll find that hands aren't the same as long and deep appendages."

The comment elicited more laughs from the tables. Ron looked on, befuddled. "I don't get it."

Brown giggled. "I can explain it to you later, if you'd like?"

Brown batted her lashes at him, and it took all of Melissa's composure not to laugh hysterically as she asked, "Explain it, or demonstrate it?"

"Well depends entirely on how he reacts, doesn't it?" She flipped her hair back and grinned knowingly.

Dean's eyes went huge at the answer. Even Patil wasn't sure whether to laugh or be shocked by her friend's daring comments.

Ron remained as naïve as ever, but seemed to understand that 'something' important was going on. "Um, sure. Thanks, Lav. I really appreciate it."

She grinned brightly. "I'm happy to help."

"By giving him a helping hand!" Melissa wheezed under her breath, causing hysterical laughter between the three girls. All three were laughing so hard that they barely minded as Trelawney came over and tried to chastise them for 'disturbing the energies'.

With a twist of the dial, Melissa left Granger to attend her Defence class (and subsequent Mind Magic tutoring). The class itself went about as expected. As it drew to a close, however, Professor Torrero-Ramirez had an announcement to make.

"To prepare you for your exams, as well as provide extra credit, I will be running a defence competition in April which students can compete in."

Excited murmurs ran through the classroom, and one excited voice shouted, "A duelling tournament?!"

"No," Luisa corrected, "Though some duelling will be involved, this contest will encompass all levels of defence. Sign-ups will be posted at the end of next week, with groups of four to five people, and can range between third and seventh years. No exceptions. Any questions? Yes, Miss Cromwell?"

"Two questions, professor. Will this be an elimination contest? Also, what will the prize be?"

"Some contests may have eliminations, but all groups will compete in each part of the competition. The prize, as I said, is extra credit towards your O.W.L.s," Torrero-Ramirez gave a disdainful look at the few that grumbled against the idea, "along with the benefit of better preparation for said O.W.L.s. I suppose one can include 'bragging rights' for your schoolmates. As I said, this competition is strictly voluntary, but I encourage you all to sign up and do the best of your ability."

A couple other questions were asked before the bell rang. Most students got up and ran to each other, whispering conspiratorially to decide on groups. Melissa managed to exchange words with a couple of her friends, but ultimately stayed behind as her classmates left the room.

"I trust you will be signing up as well, Miss Bennett?"

"Sounds like a fun idea," Melissa answered. "Though I'm a bit surprised. This seems like a lot of work for you to set up, isn't it?"

Luisa's expression seemed strained. "It is work, yes, but I have decided that it is necessary."

"Necessary?"

Luisa nodded. "I read through Lockhart's book during our time off; and, from what the Devil told him, I believe that the author of those books you read in the future was angel-blessed, as you were."

Melissa went mute for precious seconds. Did… does she not realize that my "Lucifer" was a film character? …Oh my god, she doesn't know Lockhart pulled that out of his ass!

"...You think they gave her seer abilities?"

"It's the only reasonable explanation," she answered. "How else could a muggle woman know about future events in the magical world?"

"Well you got me there," Melissa answered. She forced her face into a 'pondering' expression. "Huh, can't believe I never connected that, but that would make sense, right?! But what does that have to do with the contest?"

"You children need to be prepared for what's to come," Luisa answered. "She predicted a war, a war that begins with the Triwizard Tournament."

Melissa gasped as the thoughts connected. "-and your challenges are going to match it, aren't they?" The question was answered with a nod, but Melissa wasn't done. "But that might not happen. Things have changed. I've changed things-"

"Yet Peter Pettigrew has still escaped to the continent. He is seeking out Voldemort and will find a way to resurrect him." Luisa's look was sharp. "Just because events are not the way you recall them does not mean they are not still happening. The war will come, and you all need to be prepared if you hope to survive."

She wanted to contest the point. After all, those Pettigrew "tips" were just a part of Mal's attempts to get her back into Hogwarts, weren't they? Of course, to admit that would lead to a one-way trip back to Azkaban. Instead, Melissa swallowed her arguments and answered with a chastised, "I understand, Professor."

"Good. Then you'd best find a wise team for these challenges. For now, let us test the changes made to your mental defences."

When her lessons finally ended for the day, she was greeted outside of the room by Garrick, who was operating as her 'prefect guard' for the day. She greeted him casually, commenting on looking forward to dinner (after 4 lessons in a row, who could blame her?) Despite the friendly exchange, Garrick slowed his pace and spoke in a guarded tone.

"What would it take to convince you into joining my team for the defence competition?"

"Your team?" She asked with confusion. "What's the current divide?"

"Cassius, Jacinth, and Rusalka are together, of course-"

"Of course."

"-and are seeking out members from the pool of N.E.W.T. students. Amy, Jacqueline, and Adrian have promised to work together, while Domonkos is undecided."

"Why not join them as a fifth, then? Or with the others, for that matter?"

Garrick gave a light scoff. "Amy and I will fight for leadership, and Cassius' team will be completely disorganised. Honestly it ought to be Rusalka leading them, but that's their loss…" He gave her a shrewd look. "Besides, they're picking teams based on friendship, not on tactical advantage."

The seriousness of him discussing 'tactical advantage' made her want to laugh. "And I'm a tactical advantage?"

"You've had private lessons from two of our sole good defence professors," he noted, "and that tutelage has paid off; you're skilled with charms; are good at thinking outside of the box; and, most importantly, you may gain knowledge that can prove useful to navigate the challenges."

Melissa gave a hum of agreement. "Those are a lot of good points."

"Does that mean you will accept my offer?"

"Technically you haven't given me an offer yet." Her Slytherin grin was full of cheek.

Garrick gave a short, knowing laugh. "Let me guess, you want an offer of galleons?" He laughed again. "Alright then, what's your price?"

"That depends. Who else is on your team?"

He gave an odd smile. "I was hoping to gather your insight on who to ask."

"Ooo," her grin went shark-like, "that's going to cost you extra, Mister Orpington."

"I expected nothing less, Miss Bennett."

They stepped into an abandoned classroom to negotiate a price. Once it settled under shaken hands, the team-building continued. "So, who should we approach for our team?"

She didn't have to think twice. "Cedric Diggory. If my hunch is right, he will be the right man for the tournament."

Garrick gave a nod of acceptance and didn't question it further.

"Next, I'd ask Willamina," The MacFusty family works with dragons, after all. "For a fifth, I'd say Eloise."

"I doubt Eloise will join us," he said. "There's a good chance she and Domonkos will team up together, and he's a liability."

Melissa snorted at his commentary. "Rude. Well, I suppose if she doesn't say yes, we can try Roberta?"

He seemed grim with the choice. "Hawkworth is a skilled duelist. She'll be sought after by the other teams."

"You can always bribe her the way you bribed me." That comment was met with disdain. "Or you could wax poetic about how we have the best team and are sure to get the highest respect from our professor. Maybe if we perform well enough our team members will attract the attention of the duelling circuit or get commended by our Captain-Professor to like-minded organisations?"

A sly smile rose on Garrick's face. "I'm sure I can get her to see reason. Talk with Diggory and MacFusty over supper. I will reach out to Hawkworth."

"Perfect!" Melissa cheered. "I think this is the start of a beautiful partnership!"