To Tie Up a Loose End

Nearly every corner, corridor, room, and hall of Hogwarts grew annoyingly warm as the castle crawled into the lazy heart of May. Edelweiss struggled to focus in her classes like many of her magical peers. Yet her reason for distraction differed from theirs. They looked forward to the coming of summer. She awaited the moment of ascension, the final acquisition of power. She thought them foolish, for the OWL examinations resided between them and the summer hols. Edelweiss knew she should be worried about her OWLs. But she did not worry, nor did she truly care.

And she knew her attitude resulted from discovering Ziost Hangar the past June. After her last astral venture into the Department of Mysteries, she waited for a disturbance in the Force. Any sign the time was night. That Voldemort would make his move and fall for the trap she laid for him in the mind of his follower. Unlike Dumbledore, she did not plan to use drawing him into the Ministry as a way to expose him to the public.

No. She would destroy him and put an end to that farce of a dark lord. His time was over.

For now, all she could do was practice her Ataru katas and further develop her powers. Yet what good was it if Edelweiss could fill a chamber with Force lightning or read the feelings of the student body when she could not use her powers against Voldemort? They had to be kept secret still. And all the while, the castle edged ever closer to potential revolution. Inquisitors attacked in the halls. Ministry-backed rules increasingly became ignored or forgotten.

And through it all, the Weasley Twins appeared to be hoarding a small dragon's fortune. Edelweiss had not seen their stash, but she sensed its existence. Part of her wondered how the Force allowed her to know of their growing wealth. Her only guess was that she sensed the emotion poured into every knut, sickle, and galleon they earned.

And that was not all she sensed. Edelweiss knew a flash point approached. A moment when all would change. A moment that would guide her to her ascension and her final victory over Umbridge, Voldemort, and Dumbledore.

On the morning of the Nineteenth, Edelweiss awoke with a feeling in her bones. She closed her eyes, breathed in, and felt as she breathed out. That feeling in her bones grew more potent, speaking to her not in words, but with a feeling of impending victory.

Her eyes flicked open. She glanced across the room and. caught her reflection in a tall mirror. She blinked at the sight of her emerald irises tinged with a ring of sickly yellow. Edelweiss smiled, even after the yellow vanished. She stretched languidly.

She had a strange, good feeling about this day.

Edelweiss hummed as she showered and dressed. She could not name the tune, but somehow it stuck. Any attempt to drop the tune failed. Edelweiss gave in and continued to hum as she descended from her dormitory. She spotted the Twins speaking softly with Lee Jordan across the room. They glanced her way. They waved cheerily, beaming, before returning to their secret conversation.

For a moment, she considered joining them and learning whatever they discussed. But before she could act on that impulse, she sensed through the Force that if she acted so, events would not play out as she would otherwise desire. Her involvement would impair the future she sensed before coming down. Her presence might even be enough to affect whatever was meant to come about this day—assuming it was not the promised day.

Edelweiss departed the common room and made her way to the Great Hall. She would be patient, despite her ever-increasing power in the Force, and how that granted her a limited capacity to peer through the currents of time. Her control was not enough to know with certainty what would come to pass. But it helped guide her course. It was why she allowed the Twins to act as they pleased, though the thought of allowing events to play out without her influence troubled her more than she was comfortable with.

But after her successful plot that removed Dumbledore from Hogwarts, what she had done to successfully eliminate the Dursleys, and set the stage for her final confrontation with Voldemort, being able to sit back and watch others scheme and plot was a luxury. And she could not recall a time she was able to engage in luxuries beyond what she claimed for herself.

She reached the Great Hall and spotted Umbridge trying to sit prim and proper on the golden throne Dumbledore left behind for his successor. Umbridge gazed upon the student body as she sipped her breakfast tea, careful to mask her disgust. Edelweiss sensed the woman's growing hatred for Hogwarts and her students, especially after all that had been done to undermine her rule, day after day. Not even her Inquisitors—whittled down to only a majority of the Slytherins selected for her group—could bring about the order she desired for more than a few hours. Detentions and loss of points were meaningless now.

Umbridge spotted Edelweiss as she neared the Gryffindor table. She smirked at the headmistress. The woman's face bloomed a bright red. Gossip suddenly rippled through the Great Hall. Edelweiss sat to the sound of Hogwarts questioning what she had done.

"You're in a good mood," said Neville Longbottom. He met her gaze easily. No longer did he cower to others, nor did the Sith markings on her face trouble him. She appreciated his growth. He had been like many and struggled to deal with her following that fateful night. But that was months ago, and Neville Longbottom had grown up.

"I am," Edelweiss agreed easily. "I noticed something interesting before I came down from the common room. I have a feeling something… momentous may occur today."

Neville nodded, though she sensed he was left perplexed by her. She did not fear those who suspected her hand in the dissolution of Dumbledore's Army, as they continued to call it. But then, he was not among their number. Edelweiss knew that between her attention earlier in the year and their encounter at Saint Mungo's, she had earned his loyalty strongly enough he dismissed conspiracies against Edelweiss. Yet he did not take her word as law, as she desired and deserved. Her followers should be obedient and unwilling to question her. Perhaps she would be merciful enough to allow the most capable to question her—but only in private, away from prying eyes and ears.

"What do you know?" asked Neville, drawing Edelweiss away from her thoughts.

"Keep an eye on the Twins. Whatever they have planned will come to fulfillment sometime today. Around lunch or shortly after. I'm certain they will act around then."

"Should I tell the others?"

"No. I don't want the Inquisitors catching wind something is amiss today." Edelweiss plated eggs and sausage for herself. "Go about your day as if nothing's amiss, Neville. I have no plan to interfere in whatever they have in mind."

Neville nodded, though there was a confused look on his face. After a few seconds, he asked, "But why tell me?"

Edelweiss blinked. She then speared a carved chunk of sausage. "Because you noticed I was in a good mood. I had no reason to not tell you why." She smiled widely. "I can trust you, Neville Longbottom. I hope you will trust me in turn."

"Of course, Edie. You've been a good friend to me."

She nodded thoughtfully, turning to focus on her breakfast. Her. A good friend. Edelweiss could not recall when she had been a good friend to Neville, though she guessed her work to uplift and make something of him counted. If he had the attitude required to be a Sith, she would consider him for her pupil. Lovegood was likely out; the girl seemed too odd for the dark side, despite possessing enough Force-sensitivity to potentially be worth training.

Maybe she should stop considering Earth when it came to her search for an apprentice. She knew a day would come when she, as Darth Gladiolus, would step out into the galaxy beyond Earth's meager system. Perhaps she would develop Earth into a spacefaring world. She could even prepare her homeworld for the inevitable day some alien traced her course through the cosmos back to this small blue gem in a sea of nothingness.

Hermione and Ron joined them shortly after. Edelweiss listened for any hint they knew what Fred and George planned for the day. When nothing concerning the Twins came up, she tuned them out and continued to eat. She had a sudden moment of intuition: she would not sit her OWLs alongside them. She had grown beyond them. A Sith Lord stood above simple witches and wizards. Their concerns were beneath her. She did not need to prove herself to them.

They attended History of Magic that morning, wasting away ninety minutes. While Hermione and Ron headed for separate electives, Edelweiss snuck away to Ziost Hanger. She had time to indulge in training before the Twins acted.

Actually, I think I will skip their little act, Edelweiss decided with a smirk. Let them act without my implicit approval. I will hear of what they have done when I return to the castle.

Her pulse thrummed when she reached the Chamber of Secrets. She paused and looked around the chamber. Blackened marks covered a wall where she poured too much power into a blast of Force lightning. She could almost taste the harsh influence of the dark side.

"I will miss this place," she whispered. Her voice echoed up and down the chamber. Edelweiss eventually found a dry spot on the floor. After a moment of consideration, she sat and curled her legs beneath her body. She shifted to get comfortable, and only then did she close her eyes. She centered herself in her passions: her need to be greater, her diminishing fears of failure, and the hatred she held for the men she would slay.

Once centered, she slowly reached out through the Force, the dark side her guide. She sensed Slytherins in their common room and the second years Snape berated.

They all froze.

She sensed the Hufflepuffs and the students in the lower levels. They all froze. She reached out further and further, careful to mask her true self as her Force influence infused throughout the castle.

She reached further and further, sensing the Ravenclaws and the Gryffindors in their towers. And she even sensed the professors.

They all froze.

And once Edelweiss had sensed them all, she focused on their reactions. Some reacted positively. They, she suspected, would align with the Sith were they Force-sensitive. Others reacted negatively. They would side with the Jedi. They would be her enemies, the ones she should destroy. Even those she considered her friends. Those traitors—

Her eyes blew open as she breathed heavily. Ron and Hermione had been among those who withdrew from her touch instead of embracing the burning passion of the dark side. Edelweiss sighed and hung her head. At least she had the control to prevent them from recognizing her in the dark side.

Edelweiss shifted her legs so she might kneel instead of sitting on her legs. She closed her eyes once more and slipped into a meditative state.

"Peace is a lie. There is only power," she mouthed, fully embraced in the dark side of the Force. "Through power, I gain strength…"

Hours later, Edelweiss emerged from the Chamber of Secrets, refreshed and renewed. She cloaked her presence in the Force before reaching out once more. She parsed out the mood and attitude of the school. Something had happened while she was meditating, separated from everyone else. Something almost seismic in impact and influence. Enough that without the Force, she would have remained ignorant until someone told her what happened. She sensed a singularity of life upon which everyone's attention was focused. It was potent. Not as potent as her Force touch across the school body, but near enough to be almost comparable.

I need to know what it is!

Edelweiss chased after the singularity. People passed her by, but she did not recognize them. She took no notice of them. They were phantoms in her periphery as she pressed forward. As she came to the corner nearest to what she sensed, she nearly bowled over Draco Malfoy. He started away from her, drawing his wand. He caught her gaze and blinked. His hand clenched tightly around his wand.

"You!" Malfoy hissed, raising his wand into her face. "Where have you been?"

"Wherever I wish," Edelweiss said. She ignored the wand in her face, instead glancing at Malfoy's companions. Parkinson and Zabini watched on. He, unlike the other two, did not wear an Inquisitor badge. "Zabini. Curious to see you here."

He smiled weakly. "Trying to get on Malfoy's good side. Or that's what I've been telling myself."

Malfoy glared at Zabini while Parkinson rolled her eyes.

"Answer Draco's question before we drag you to the Headmistress, Potter."

She glanced at Parkinson and then to Malfoy. After a few seconds, Edelweiss sighed. There was no stopping her ascension. She could let her mask slip a hair or two, especially with these old enemies of hers. "I've been using the Chamber of Secrets as a little hideaway when I don't wish to deal with others. It was very useful last year when I was preparing for the Triwizard Tournament."

Their faces went pale. The look was humorous on Zabini, for his darker complexion left him looking like a statue extracted from the ground. Edelweiss went to step past them. Malfoy stopped her before she could get past him.

"I want you to show me," Malfoy demanded. "The Chamber of Secrets."

She glanced at his hand on her shoulder and then back to his grey eyes. "No. Take your hand off me before I remove it."

Edelweiss easily implanted images of crimson fire slicing away his hand, leaving the wound cauterized. She left the vision blurry enough that Malfoy would think she promised to use a fire whip hex instead of the lightsaber sitting heavily in her pocket.

He recoiled from her, and she stepped past him. Edelweiss ignored Parkinson's attempt to stop her, along with Zabini as he watched on. She pressed forward and finally made her way around the corner. Her gaze fell upon the singularity, expecting something fascinating, only to find the corridor before her flooded by a murky swamp. She paused for only a second before continuing forward with slow, small steps. Tall grasses arose here and there while bubbling bogs coated a great deal of the floor. Croaking and buzzing filled the air. They weren't loud, and yet their presence was great enough that she could not deny their presence. Edelweiss felt the swamp with the Force; felt the totality of life set before her.

It was astonishing.

Jealousy coiled low in her belly. This was what the Weasley Twins had planned. Edelweiss fought back the strain of regret she felt. She should have done something to learn what they plotted this morning. Yet she could not help but stare upon their work with admiration and envy for their handicraft. So many had talked down—even ridiculed—their magical ability. What must those people think now that two "underachieving" boys had crafted a work of magic worthy of being called great?

"Potter!" bellowed Malfoy, coming up from behind her.

She sensed his hand reaching out to grab her. Her efforts to compel him to live in fear of her had failed. A shame. He must learn another way. She turned, wand in hand, and allowed her magic and the Force to mingle in a single fiery blast. Wrath and fury flowed through phoenix feather and holly. There was a loud bang followed by a metallic smell. Edelweiss raised a hand before her face as she waved away a cloud of smoke and dust. A flash of pain then came from her hand, slightly muted. She glanced down and found that her wand had fractured from the power poured through it.

The dark side was too great for that medium. Her wand's death sat heavily on her for a moment. And then she let go of that unnecessary weight. She understood in a heartbeat that the sacrifice of her wand helped to sever who she had been from who she was becoming. A wand of holly and phoenix feather belonged to Edelweiss Potter. Darth Gladiolus needed no medium to bend reality to her will. Her weapon was the Force.

"What have you done?" someone screamed.

Edelweiss blinked and looked up from her fractured wand. Malfoy had been thrown onto his back. He rolled and cradled his stomach, both hands pressed tightly. Blood welled, staining the front of his robe. She stared listlessly as he bled. A small pool formed under him, so thick and potent she could taste the copper. With the Force, she sensed that he still lived. Parkinson kneeled at Malfoy's side, frightened and teary. Zabini stood back a step, his wand raised toward her.

"Take him to Pomfrey," Edelweiss commanded. When they hesitated, she barked, "Now!"

The Slytherins swiftly gathered their fellow and carried him away. Zabini cast a healing spell on Malfoy as they raced to the Hospital Wing. Edelweiss felt how the spell helped stitch up the wound she caused, though it did not begin to undo the damage she inflicted. No spell existed to completely undo the exquisite blend of the dark side and her magic in tandem. Passion and intent maimed Malfoy, able to escape her otherwise conscious mind.

Then again, she had wanted him to fear her. How better to compel fear than to nearly kill the fool?

She turned back to the swamp. Edelweiss stared at it for a little while longer before closing her eyes and reaching out with the Force for the Twins. She did not sense them within the boundaries of Hogwarts. She reached out further. Their presences were distant; so weak around Hogwarts that she had to reach out to England to brush against their guarded minds.

And so they departed Hogwarts in victory to make a new life for themselves, thought Edelweiss as she opened her eyes.

Thank you, old friends. Soon, I too shall taste victory.

The morning after the Twins' grand departure from Hogwarts, the student body held their collective breath. Yet when Umbridge failed to show at breakfast, many assumed the headmistress imposed upon them was in London. Perhaps they would be free of her. Few dared suggest that possibility, and it quickly died out. Most assumed otherwise and kept their heads down as they went about their day. Regardless, all knew something would happen, especially when rumors about Malfoy being hospitalized spread around lunchtime.

The swamp was left in place after Flitwick, McGonagall, and Proudfoot failed to remove it. Edelweiss suspected the trio had failed in their removal because they were impressed by what the Twins had done, not because they were incapable.

Hermione confirmed Edelweiss's suspicions.

"Professor Babbling thinks they might have done something with a runic scheme," she said after they ate lunch. "Since Lee Jordan doesn't have their plans for that swamp, nobody knows for certain how they managed to deploy it and prevent it from being deconstructed. It's nice that people are interested in the swamp since it appears to be helping them stress about their tests less."

"If he wanted to, Flitwick could get rid of that swamp in a heartbeat," Edelweiss said. "They're leaving it in place for when Umbridge returns from wherever she is." She glanced around for unfriendly ears. All she saw were friendly Gryffindors. Some had even formed a shield between Edelweiss and the other houses. "Who knows what she'll do when she returns."

"It'll depend on Minister Fudge's decision," Hermione said pointedly. "Maybe they're thinking about lifting the restrictions—"

Edelweiss nearly choked on a laugh. "Lift their restrictions? They'd be mad to do that now. It'll reveal their weakness and they cannot suffer that now. Imagine what the public might think if Fudge and Umbridge prove to be easily cowed by a pair of jokesters whose wands they cannot snap because they're of age." She paused and waited for Hermione to prepare another argument. "No, they will do no such thing! She'll return to the castle and find someone to make an example of."

And if I'm fortunate, Voldemort will seek to move on the Hall of Prophecy that same day. It's a good thing I've always been so… fortunate.

She wished she could act and thus accelerate Voldemort's timeline. Without the connection from his essence that had been trapped in her fading lightning bolt scar, Edelweiss was left to manipulate her enemy through other actors. Perhaps she would truly get as lucky as she thought and have him move on the very day Umbridge returned.

"Is there something you know that you're keeping secret from me?" asked Hermione. "I had thought we agreed on no secrets."

"No new ones," Edelweiss countered. She glanced about again before shrugging. "I'm the reason Malfoy got injured recently. I suspect the moment Umbridge is back in the castle, they'll come after me."

Hermione blinked and then sighed. "Of course you are. I should have assumed it was your doing the moment rumors began to float around." She sighed again before leaning in close. "What has happened to you? The Edelweiss I know would never willingly harm someone even as foul as Draco Malfoy."

"It was an accident," Edelweiss grumbled. "I only meant to teach him a lesson. Not hospitalize the fool."

Her defense failed to placate Hermione. Her stress and worry spiked, becoming thick and potent enough that it risked affecting Edelweiss. The fact nothing had been said about her absent wand was the only relief she could grasp at that moment. Edelweiss did not wish to think about how Hermione would react to a broken, shattered wand like that which Edelweiss kept on her person.

Then again, I've also taken to carrying my lightsaber. That would cause an even greater disturbance on discovery.

Were it not for the fact Edelweiss expected her ascension every morning since she woke with yellow-tinged eyes, she would leave her lightsaber somewhere safe. For now, she would try to be patient. Something lingered between her and her ascension.

"I'm heading to the library," Hermione said, rising to her feet. She threw her oversized book bag over a shoulder as she shot Edelweiss a concerned look. "You should join me. You've fallen behind on studying for your OWLs. I know you've been using Ron to keep me distracted."

Edelweiss smiled weakly. "I appreciate the offer, but there's something I need to attend to. Something more important than OWLs."

Hermione granted her a confused, almost disturbed look. Her lips opened to speak, but they closed a moment later. She shook her head, bushy hair fluttering about, and stormed off for the library. Edelweiss watched Hermione go before finishing her lunch and rising to her feet. Her destination was Ziost Hanger. The moment of her ascension was nearly at hand, and she wished to speak with her Sith masters about what she should expect. One of them was bound to have useable knowledge to guide her through her final days and hours as Edelweiss Potter.

"Sacrifice?" muttered Edelweiss thoughtfully. She breathed slowly, driving any thought of the hard floor from her mind. "What do you mean when you say 'sacrifice', Lord Salazar?"

The Sith Lord hovered before her, his red gleam filling the chamber with soft light. He bore a pleased cast to his face. "Exactly what the word means, apprentice. You must sacrifice all that you are now. Edelweiss Potter and Darth Gladiolus must be separate beings. You must strip away the falsities that cling tight to you."

Edelweiss removed the fractured wand from her pocket and stared at it, cradled in her hands. "I believe I have started to sacrifice, Lord Salazar," she said. Her gaze returned to the Sith Lord. "But this cannot be enough. Edelweiss Potter is more than a wand."

"Good. You understand. From all you have told me, it is your reputation that restrains you from acting as a proper Sith. Others perceive you not as you are, but as they believe you to be. That must be destroyed, else you be held back from your true potential. All must know the truth."

Edelweiss nodded. She still recalled how she complained of her reputation to Lady Bastila back in the days when being Darth Gladiolus was more a dream than reality. She knew the easiest way to bring everything into sync would be to tear away the mask of the savior and reveal the Sith Lord beneath. She could think of several ways to pursue that method, but they all led to confrontations with those who could block her from cutting down the men she hated most.

She looked forward to destroying Voldemort. The way everyone flinched from his chosen name disgusted her. His servants called him 'the Dark Lord', while the frightened masses of Britain either called him 'You-Know-Who' or 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'. It was pathetic, how unwilling they were to name the monster they all lived in fear of even after he lost his powers. She admittedly knew little of the past war. But did it matter? His soul anchors were destroyed except for whatever shred of essence remained in his body. Once she destroyed him, he would be permanently dead.

Naturally, Dumbledore would need to follow Voldemort to the grave. If she could not kill them both on the same day, then drastic action would be needed. Unlike Voldemort, Dumbledore's reputation rested on both his power and his favorability. Yes, the man had first cowed magical Britain by crossing the Channel and stopping Grindelwald in a single great duel, but he had also shaped the minds of nearly every mage living. Only once he was dead could she begin the work of tearing his influence out of her nation.

But what else could she sacrifice to ensure her ascension? Her friendships? The Weasleys remained useful to her, despite their loyalty to Dumbledore. Perhaps with time, she could break them of that foolish tie. Hermione would be repulsed by the transformation from Edelweiss Potter to Darth Gladiolus. That she knew, and that she almost regretted. Her friend had been the one to popularize the name Dumbledore's Army among those who should be her followers. Those who should be the glorious vanguard of Darth Gladiolus.

They might betray me one day, she thought. Not today. Not soon. But one day. One day they might betray me.

She would let them be for now. Her powers would warn her of when the time came she needed to sever those bonds. Or she might find a use for their betrayal in bolstering her power.

And so her mind came to the inevitable conclusion. Edelweiss would continue down the path set before her. She would ascend through the death of one she already pledged to destroy: Dolores Umbridge.

Edelweiss smiled the moment she made her decision. She had raised the woman to her post as Headmistress for this very purpose. She had always planned to tear Umbridge down from the loftiest height she could reach. To raise her through manipulation had been in service of her training as a Sith. Killing Umbridge would tie off that loose end, and ensure she was Darth Gladiolus when she went to face Voldemort and hopefully Dumbledore.

Her ascension would be glorious. But she could not act immediately. She already awaited the hour of ascension. Umbridge would be unaware of her looming death until it was upon her. Edelweiss would destroy the enemy within Hogwarts before leaving to destroy her enemies beyond. After all, Voldemort had to fall for the trap she laid in the mind of his agent. He needed to be drawn into one last confrontation.

She only needed to be patient, no matter how difficult she found it to be.

Edelweiss gazed upon Lord Salazar and grinned widely. "I know what I must do, Lord Salazar. After it is done, I shall be Darth Gladiolus. You will be unable to deny that."

He smiled and nodded, pride burning bright in his eyes. "Then do what must be done, apprentice. Sacrifice the weak girl of your past. Return to me a Sith Lord."

Edelweiss minded the Force throughout the rest of the day; searching and seeking for sign Voldemort had finally taken the bait she set out for him. Her skin itched whenever she thought of him failing to pursue the trap prepared to destroy him. She struggled to keep those thoughts at bay. She knew Voldemort would take the initiative to destroy her. It was only a matter of time. Yet all she could focus on was her apparent failure. Her enemy remained silent. The Force told her nothing. It remained silent to her desires, which left her on edge.

Umbridge failed to appear at breakfast the next morning, and the morning after that as well. Edelweiss took that as a sign that events were proceeding as she wished, for it bought her more time. More rumors concerning Malfoy spread through Hogwarts. None dared openly link her to his injury, though she knew it was a matter of time. Their hatred for each other was too well known.

She skipped classes and focused on lightsaber training. Had any been able to access the Come-and-Go room while she occupied it, they would have witnessed Edelweiss weaving a pattern of swirling death with her crimson blade. Something in the back of her mind told her that her ability with the lightsaber would dictate her duel with Voldemort and Dumbledore. That would mean the difference between victory and failure.

I shall face both soon, she thought during a moment of rest and clarity. A house elf—Dobby, most like—had delivered food and drink while training distracted her. My plot will work, as I desire. Both shall come for me and I will cut them down in the heart of the Ministry.

She slept well until one morning, she woke to a grey dawn. Edelweiss stretched and then froze—something boomed through the Force. It was a great disturbance, and it announced a single truth: The day is upon you. Today. Today!

TODAY!

Edelweiss took her time preparing for the day. She paused in her morning routine to stare at her face in the mirror. The vivid emerald she had always been accustomed to had faded to a murky color halfway to the sulfuric yellow she knew would overcome her once she ascended. Edges of red stretched out from the pupil, almost like a starburst reaching ever outward into the cosmos. She knew the dark side and recognized its influence on her.

She grinned all the way down to the Great Hall. Her smile fell away when she discovered that Umbridge had still yet to return. As she ate, Edelweiss reached out with the Force and searched out her nearest foe.

Umbridge had returned. Her presence spread through Hogwarts like poisoned miasma seeping from a large gash. But the woman remained away from the Great Hall, her Inquisitors gathered around her.

No doubt she's taking stock of what happened during her absence.

The morning began with Divination. Edelweiss attended for the first time since Trelawney's removal and slowly regretted her decision. The teacher was one of the centaurs of the Forbidden Forest. How Umbridge suffered him was beyond her understanding. He stared at her oddly, as though he knew what she was. What she was becoming.

She was grateful when she was released from class. While en route to the Great Hall, though, Edelweiss felt another, though smaller, disturbance in the Force. She smiled as realization struck home.

And so the Death Eaters will move, to await me in the Hall of Prophecy. Oh, I could thank them!

Edelweiss ate mechanically. Her conscious mind lingered on the currents of the Force, parsing out what she should expect when she went to the Ministry. Yet part of her understood it was inappropriate on her part to be thinking so far ahead. She had yet to strike down Dolores Umbridge, whose death should usher her transformation into Darth Gladiolus.

"…ie. Edie? Edie!"

Edelweiss blinked. She returned to the present to find a worried Hermione staring at her. Her gaze then flickered past Edelweiss. She turned, following Hermione's gaze, and found Umbridge hovering behind her, with Malfoy and Parkinson flanking her. Malfoy flinched when their gazes met, though he did his damnedest to put forward a confident smirk.

"Miss Potter. We need to have a serious conversation."

"What about?" she asked, already knowing the what.

And here it is. The time I have awaited for so long. What I felt was indeed the call to ascend and destroy my enemies.

"I was informed of recent events concerning you and Mister Malfoy. Very concerning events." Umbridge leaned in close. "Would you prefer to discuss this in my office or publically for everyone to hear?"

Edelweiss scanned the Great Hall and took note of how students snuck glances their way. None dared openly watch. But she sensed their curiosity and interest. Her skin itched. She did not desire a public audience for her ascension. It was a private matter. An affair for two.

She smiled at Umbridge, enjoying how the woman recoiled at a flash of teeth, and said, "Your office, headmistress." Edelweiss then rose to her feet and strode from the Great Hall.

"…and so with great reluctance, I must suspend you, Miss Potter," Umbridge said, barely managing to mask her glee under cool professionalism. "You must understand that a girl as disturbed and violent as you needs help. You won't be sent to Azkaban. The public would never stand for that. You are a national symbol, regardless of everything you've been so unfairly subjected to and the damage you've caused to the social fabric. But you cannot be allowed to remain within the walls of Hogwarts nor amongst the regular public."

Edelweiss nodded blankly. None of what she had been told would come to pass. She had spent the better part of twenty minutes listening to Umbridge blather on and on without getting to the point. Malfoy and Parkinson had been dismissed early on, their testimony given and accepted without question or suspicion of lying. They had sneered and smirked at her as they left. Woe to them, for this day would not go as they thought.

"And so I must ask for your wand," concluded Umbridge. She held out her pudgy, grubby hand. "This is for your good."

She glanced at the open hand and then shrugged. Edelweiss retrieved her fractured, burnt-out wand from her left pocket, and tossed it to Umbridge. The woman's eyes bulged with alarm as she reached out, caught the broken wand, and blinked. Her pupils bloomed wide as she stared at the wand. Her gaze lingered long enough that Edelweiss nearly suspected something happened within Umbridge's mind to rob her of her ascension.

"What… What happen—?"

Umbridge squeaked as she was cut off. Edelweiss's right hand had risen. Her fingers closed enough to prevent the woman from easily breathing, but not so tight that she would choke and expire quickly. Edelweiss wanted to savor her kill. To know the moment Umbridge's eyes dulled, it had been completely by her hand.

This was her sacrifice. The death of Dolores Umbridge would be the death of Edelweiss Potter. That girl could not be a murderer. She was born to be martyred for Dumbledore's cause.

From the ashes of their destruction, Darth Gladiolus would be born.

She watched impassively as Umbridge collapsed to her knees, struggling and gasping for air.

"I imagine you are wondering what I am doing to you," she whispered. "Fear not, for you are not alone. Only I know completely of this power. A few have learned figments of it, but only what I have allowed." She smiled sardonically as the dark side filled her. Umbridge's wide eyes bulged. "This is a power only Salazar Slytherin himself knew, for he learned it long before he came to our world."

She relaxed the pressure on Umbridge's throat just enough for the woman to croak out, "World?"

"Indeed. Before he stepped foot on Britain, Lord Salazar was a Sith Lord of Ziost, a world that orbits a star far, far away from ours. For a year now, I have been his pupil. I have dared to tread the path of Sith Lord. The moment of my ascension is nearly upon us."

A ripple in the Force trickled through her. She knew what it meant and grinned widely.

"Rejoice, Dolores, for your suffering is nearly at an end. You are the fortunate one who shall witness the death of Edelweiss Potter and her rebirth as Darth Gladiolus, the Dark Lord of the Sith."

"Dark lord…?" gasped Umbridge. "You?"

"Indeed. This is the path laid out before me, thanks to Lord Salazar and the wealth of knowledge he brought to this world. I am its inheritor, the one who shall bring it forth into the world. I am the one who shall take this world into the grasp of my palm. Soon, Voldemort and Dumbledore shall be no more. Fudge will have his chance to kneel and obey my commands… or perish alongside them." She leaned forward. "I am merciful to those who have done me no wrong."

Umbridge's eyes bulged. She knew what the Sith before her spoke of. She knew now that she would not survive. Her death was inevitable.

"I am grateful you are here in the end, Dolores. I could think of none more deserving to be my sacrifice. Farewell. And if there is something beyond the grave, I hope you suffer until the end of time."

She withdrew her lightsaber from her pocket. She thumbed the ignition, heard the snap-hiss echo through the office, and she raised her terrible crimson blade. Umbridge gasped like a dying fish. The office filled with her fear and terror.

She released her grasp on the Force as her blade descended in a slashing arc. Umbridge had no chance to defend herself. Her head came off with a soft sound as the stump at her neck was cauterized. The head bounced once, twice, and then rolled toward the desk. The Force suddenly coalesced around the young woman born Edelweiss Potter. The dark side echoed with her ascension. Her power rippled out. Any attuned to the Force would know something had happened. Perhaps all would sense something had happened.

Edelweiss Potter breathed out, and Darth Gladiolus breathed in.

"What have you done?" asked one of the headmaster portraits.

She turned to the portraits. They flinched and recoiled, releasing hisses and curses. Sulfuric yellow repelled them. Darth Gladiolus shot them a bloodthirsty grin.

"What I had to," she declared. "You all sat back and allowed her to desecrate this office. None of you have the standing to pass judgment on me."

"And what if I tell your godfather of what you've done, girl?" asked one of the men.

Gladiolus stared at him for a few seconds before spotting the Black features. Her grin fell away as her left arm rose. Indigo arcs of Force lightning flickered between her fingers as she considered whether or not to destroy this particular portrait. Yes, this was an invaluable piece of magical history. But she could not allow word of her actions to spread yet. She needed to destroy her enemies first.

That decided it. Force lightning burst forth and scorched the portrait into ash. A blackened outline was all that remained on the office wall.

She turned her gaze to the others. None had fled to other frames. Good.

"None of you are to leave until I return," declared Gladiolus. "Should I learn that any of you have contacted others, I shall return and finish what I have begun." She scanned them, waiting for any protests or recriminations. None came. She smiled cruelly and cooed, "Good! I am overjoyed we have come to an understanding."

And with that, Gladiolus turned and deactivated her weapon. She pocketed the lightsaber and strolled out of the office, humming the same tune she hummed days ago.

Victory was wondrous. And it suited her oh so well.

A dark mood threatened to consume Hogwarts as afternoon classes stretched on. Many suddenly felt as though they had been filled with every worst impulse that flooded through their mind. Several shook, struggling to hold back the worst impulses racing through them. Nobody could explain the feeling, yet they could not resist the feeling.

Hermione Granger used the master galleon made so Edelweiss could announce defense group meetings to summon the other members of Dumbledore's Army to the Come-and-Go Room the moment she stepped out of her final class for the day. To her surprise—and relief—nearly everyone showed up within ten minutes. Only Zabini and the Twins were absent. A purse-lipped Greengrass explained, "Zabini happened to be with Malfoy when he had his latest run-in with Potter. He couldn't slip away with us, but he will keep our secrets."

"Any clue what happened?" asked Susan Bones, trying to act serious. "We all felt something. The gossip is clear it's affecting the entire castle."

Before anyone could offer a theory—not that anyone had a legitimate one, Hermione believed—Luna Lovegood took a step forward. In her whimsical voice, she announced, "Lord Gladiolus has ascended to her power."

"Who?" asked Lavender Brown. "A pretty name, but I don't know—"

"You're talking about Edelweiss, aren't you?" asked Hermione. Horror roiled in her gut. She thought of how easily her friend had gone with Umbridge. Of the smile that graced her lips as she left the Great Hall, seemingly on her way to a suspension. Could Umbridge still be alive, or had Edelweiss done what she promised? "Edie is this 'Lord Gladiolus', isn't she."

Luna stared at her for a second before nodding. "She has become more. Ascended to a power none know." Her head suddenly tilted. "I know nothing else. She's secretive, and the heliopath that spoke of her power has gone silent. But she is the source of the darkness that has grasped Hogwarts. I believe that to be true."

Hermione glanced around the room, taking in the uncertain or the worried expressions. She wanted to propose they go after Edelweiss—go after Lord Gladiolus, as Luna announced—but her tongue stuck to the top of her mouth. Somehow, she could not act.

She shivered and felt fear pool in her gut.

Hermione Granger tried to grapple with the reality her friend was dead. Not physically, but spiritually. Edelweiss Potter was no more, replaced with someone called Lord Gladiolus. Someone she did not know and instinctively feared.

Around her, she saw others trying to do the same. None appeared to come to terms with what they had learned before they departed, cowed and anxious.

The future had turned dark, and Hermione had no clue how to restore the light.