As Harry made his way to Professor Frye's office next to the Herbology classroom, any feelings of fear had all but vanished. Anger coursed through his veins like a fighter jet on the verge of breaking the sound barrier. He had become so consumed by rage that he practically pounded on the professor's door, and paced back and forth as he waited for permission to enter. He clenched and unclenched his fists, unable to focus on anything or anyone besides his nemesis Replogle. For a split second, he wished he knew how to cast the Killing Curse, but was jarred back to reality when he heard his house head's distinct voice: "Come in, Mister Potter."

Harry closed his eyes, and took a series of deep breaths to calm himself before addressing Professor Frye and Madam L. Harry's erratic behavior did not go unnoticed by Frye, who gave him a strange look. "Is everything all right, Mister Potter? You seem to be quite upset…"

"Upset?!" Harry parroted in a harsh, forceful tone. "Of bloody course I'm upset – wouldn't you be a little miffed too, if you got blamed for something you didn't do?" Both Professor Frye and Madam L gawked at Harry with stunned expressions, who regained his bearing before addressing them again. "I'm sorry for that outburst," he continued in a softer, more apologetic tone. "It's not either of you I have an issue with… but I have reason to believe that I was set up earlier this morning."

Professor Frye nodded. "I'll overlook your theatrics this once, young man. You've finally remembered your place, and I hope it doesn't deviate from there going forward," she said softly. "Gwendolyn?" She then motioned for Madam L to hand her Harry's mid-term exam, and another mid-term exam taken by another student.

She gave Harry a stern look. "Your Potions exam is identical to that of Mister Madigan's. I'm not sure what kind of stunt you pulled to bypass the charms placed on the quill and ink you were given prior to taken the exam, but I assure you that we don't find this the least bit amusing."

Harry, completely flabbergasted, barely resisted the urge to raise his voice again. "First of all, why aren't you investigating Madigan too? And secondly, even if I did cheat, Madigan is about the last student I'd want to copy my answers from! He's dreadful at potions!"

"Mister Madigan is a Thunderbird, so I must defer to Professor Goode," sighed Frye. She turned to Madam L. "Now Gwendolyn, have you had any issues with Mister Potter, prior to this morning?"

"Mid-terms nonwithstanding, Mister Potter is a solid student," admitted Madam L. "He's shown that he can be a smart-aleck on occasion, but I've had no real complaints." Harry tilted his head – did Madam L actually wink at him? "And he is absolutely right – Mister Madigan is rather on the daft side."

Harry gulped before addressing the Potions master. "Erm, Madam L? I may be a bit off-base, but I think your coffee might have been spiked this morning…"

Frye and Madam L looked at each other, before returning their gaze toward Harry. "I figured something was up – nature usually doesn't call at that time of day," admitted Madam L. "Do you have any idea who might have done such a thing, Potter, and why?"

Harry nodded. "I think so… I think it was a diversion created by Replogle and his flunkies so he could try and sabotage my exam. Replogle distracted me for a few seconds while one of his stooges must have switched quills. I don't have proof, but you might want to check all the quills if you haven't already – I'm sure at least one of them was tampered with."

Frye nodded at Madam L. "I'll help you check for compromised quills in a bit." She then offered Harry a faint smile. "While you're not off the hook just yet, I would like to apologize for any trouble those miscreants might have caused. Again, while it's Professor Goode's call to make, I'd wager that all three of them will be serving many, many nights of detention, assuming your story and our findings align."

"And what about the exam?" asked Harry. He let out a reluctant, airy sigh. "I have to take it again, don't I?"

"We dismiss early tomorrow, so if you could report to my office immediately after breakfast, you may re-take the exam then," advised Frye.

"And to be on the safe side, we'll be administering a different written test," added Madam L. She shook a long, crooked finger at Harry. "I'm afraid it's going to be a good bit tougher than this morning's exam. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"And what about Madigan?" asked Harry. "I hope he doesn't get an opportunity to retake his exam."

"You needn't worry," Madam L replied dismissively. "I assure you, I've notified the deputy headmistress the same as I did Professor Frye hours ago. Whatever course of action she chooses, is her decision and hers alone – I'm confident she'll make the right choice, so let's leave it at that."

Frye smiled at Harry. "I think you should just relax with your friends this evening, Harry. There's no point in getting stressed out over a subject you seem to know fairly well. I'm sure you'll do just fine." She gestured for Harry to get up. "That's all we've got until tomorrow. Now, off you go."

The next morning at Hogwarts, Daphne sat in the Great Hall, bundled in a thick wool overcoat and earmuffs which preserved her immaculate French braid. She was adding the finishing touches to her letter to Anastasia when thud! Daphne looked up and saw a hardcover copy of Hogwarts: A History smack dab in front of her.

"You forgot Anastasia's gift from upstairs, you big goof," giggled Hermione. "It is a bit on the heavy side, so it might take more than one owl to carry… I'll be honest, even a team of owls might not be interested in lugging a heavy tome across the Atlantic. If you want, I can post it Muggle-style on your behalf when I get home. Did she give you her personal address?"

Daphne opened her backpack, and quickly went through all of the letters she received from Ana. The first four or five letters yielded nothing, but as she approached the bottom of the stack, she let out a triumphant yelp. "Aha! 555 Ticonderoga Trail, South Bend, Indiana, United States." She copied the address down on quill and parchment, and handed it to Hermione.

"Thank you," squeaked Hermione. "If Anastasia is anything like me – which I'm sure she is – she'll find this book positively fascinating. And I'll include your name on the return label so she's not confused." She then glanced nervously at her housemate as she patted her halo braid to ensure it was staying in place. "I'm a little unsure about what my parents will think… you promise I look all right, Daph?"

Daphne offered her best friend a friendly smile. "You look positively lovely. Even when your hair's a frizzy jungle, you're a beautiful girl, Hermione. I'm not just saying that. I know your parents aren't used to seeing you with your hair done up like that, but in the off chance they don't fawn over how terrific you look, I'll eat that other bag of spicy chips Anastasia sent us in one go."

Hermione's cheeks flushed a deep pink, then a small snicker escaped from her mouth. "I'm not gonna lie, I kind of want to see you do it."

"I was rather hoping to give these to Astoria as a bit of a prank," replied Daphne with a shrug, "but I guess I've backed myself into a corner now, haven't I?"

"Now whose fault is that?" giggled Hermione. "Now, let's finish our breakfasts and get that letter of yours off to the owlery – we don't have a lot of time before the carriages to Hogsmeade Station arrive."

"So, where are Parvati and Lavender? I hope they're almost done getting ready," Daphne wondered aloud. "They don't have much longer until breakfast is over."

"Last I checked, they were coordinating outfits," murmured Hermione with a small eye roll. "I've told them to hurry things up twenty minutes ago. If they miss breakfast and the ride back to Hogsmeade, they'll have nobody to blame but themselves…"

Moments later, a pair of well-dressed girls plopped themselves down by Daphne and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. "Sorry for cutting it close," sighed Parvati. "I hope we didn't miss breakfast…"

"You literally had all evening to go through your respective wardrobes," Hermione said, shaking her head. "You're bloody lucky you still have a few minutes before we have to leave for Hogsmeade."

"Sorry, Hermione," Lavender offered. "But you should know how we roll by now!"

"Too right," Hermione replied with a giggle. "But a little planning ahead never hurt anyone…"

About fifteen minutes later, once Parvati and Lavender finished their breakfasts, all four Gryffindor girls got up from their table and began making their way to the owlery so Daphne could drop off her letter to Anastasia. Daphne then led her housemates to the front of the castle, where numerous magical carriages awaited. Before the girls went their separate ways for the holiday break, they took several minutes to exchange gifts and say their goodbyes.

Later that day at Ilvermorny, Harry sat in Professor Frye's office, taking his Potions mid-term for the second time. Madam L was right, he thought. Fewer multiple choice questions, and more essays. He took care to read each question as carefully as he could, and answered everything as best as he was able. About an hour after he started, he handed the test to his house head. "I'm finished, Professor," he declared.

Frye nodded in satisfaction. "Very well, Mister Potter. I'll take the exam to Madam L for immediate grading. Wait here, please. I'd wager it shouldn't take much longer than fifteen minutes or so."

Harry felt the butterflies in his stomach as he awaited the results of his test. He didn't think he did horribly, but he wasn't quite as confident as he was when he completed the first version the day before. He held his breath when the office door opened, and let out a silent sigh of relief when Frye handed him the results with a small smile on her face. "Well done, Mister Potter. Ninety one percent – just shy of an Outstanding."

"I'll take it," replied Harry gratefully.

"I rather figured you would," chuckled Frye. "Few in your year got above ninety percent on theirs. Again, I'm truly sorry you got caught up in yesterday's mess. Giving you the benefit of the doubt would have been justified, but unfortunately we have to stick to our mandatory process of identifying and dealing with academic fraudulence. We didn't mean to make you feel singled out – it's simply a formality. I hope you understand."

Harry nodded slowly. "Between you and me, I hope I never have to go through that again." He let out another sigh. "Replogle, Madigan and Bungus have been on my case since September, ever since I stuck up for Tallulah. It's just that I don't like bullying – in my experience, if a bully pushes, you need to push back. Don't get me wrong – I'm glad they've more or less left her alone since then, but over the past month or so, they stopped harassing me physically and have started resorting to more underhanded ways of giving me trouble."

"The wizarding world can be just as cruel and unfair as the no-maj world, Harry," admitted Frye. "Sometimes even more. I know Professor Goode has gotten on to them in the past about physical altercations, so they're trying to circumnavigate her warnings by using less obvious tactics, such as what happened yesterday."

"I feel sorry for Professor Goode," Harry murmured. "I get the feeling that she wants to do more, but as those three belong to Old Money families, she can't punish them like other students without getting threats of losing her job."

Frye pursed her lips and nodded, knowing the feeling all-too-well herself. "I've been teaching since before you were born, and I've been threatened by more than one irate parent. It… just sort of goes with the territory of being an Ilvermorny faculty member." She offered Harry another smile. "It's students like you that make teaching worthwhile – not only are you strong in the classroom, but you stick up for students that can't stick up for themselves." She let out a soft chuckle. "All right, young man. Unless there's anything else you need from me, I suppose it's time you returned upstairs and finish getting ready, as the carriages will be leaving the castle in just a couple of hours. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas break, and I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

"Sounds good, Professor," replied Harry. "Happy holidays."