Hazel and Ginny were a little subdued as they put their bags up in the dormitory and went down to dinner. The Great Hall was already busy but there was no sign of Atia at the Gryffindor table or Malfoy at the Slytherin table. There did seem to be something going on though, because a crowd had gathered around Crabbe and Goyle and they were muttering amongst themselves with rather worrying expressions. Hazel sat down and spooned herself some of the steak casserole, but she wasn't very hungry as she kept peering down the hall for any signs of Atia. The longer she waited, the more worried she became. It must be a really serious injury after all.

Someone dropped into the seat beside her in a temper and made her jump. She'd been so busy watching for Atia at the door that she hadn't even noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione coming in and sitting down next to them. Harry and Ron angrily piled food onto their plates while Hermione sat and watched them, looking as worried as Hazel felt.

"Of course he's going to be alright," Ron slapped a ladle of mashed potatoes on top of his pork chops, "Madam Pomfrey probably has him fixed up already, stupid git."

"Malfoy?" Hazel asked. Harry scowled and nodded, "What happened?"

Harry told them everything, from how Malfoy and the Slytherins had been disrupting everything before the class had even started, how he had brought them over to some creature called a 'hippogriff', how Harry had shown everyone how to approach one and then finally, how the creature attacked Malfoy. Hazel found a little of her worry turning to anger. Of course, Malfoy had been trying to sabotage Hagrid's first class. Of course he'd done something stupid to get himself hurt. All for no reason other than to make Hagrid's life as hard as possible.

"So, it was the git's own fault," Ron finished through a mouthful of potato, "Hagrid told us exactly what to do and Malfoy completely ignored him."

"And I bet he didn't shut up the whole time either," Ginny was scowling now as well, flushed with anger, "I bet he was making fun of Hagrid the whole time."
"It's Malfoy," Ron said, "When does he ever keep that fat mouth of his shut?"

"Was Hagrid okay?" Hazel asked and bit her lip again. It wasn't fair! It didn't sound like he'd done anything wrong, but his first class had been ruined because of Malfoy. And he'd been so looking forward to it.

"He was upset, of course," Hermione looked ready to cry, "And he took Malfoy up to the hospital wing straight away. Oh, I do hope he's alright."

"Of course he's alright," Ron snapped, "If anything, that talon will puncture that massive head of his."

"Have you seen the Slytherins?" Ginny nodded over to their table.

Harry scowled even more, "I bet they're making sure to get their story straight, so they can get Hagrid in as much trouble as possible."

"But he won't get in trouble, will he?" Hazel asked.

Everyone looked at one another but didn't answer and they ate the rest of their dinner in silence. There was no sign of Atia as they finished up, Hazel leaving most of her beef casserole behind, and left the Great Hall. They discussed going to see Hagrid there and then to check he was okay, but Professor Sprout was standing by the marble staircase and shooed them back up towards the Gryffindor common room. They would have to go see him tomorrow, during lunch or even before classes started.

There wasn't a lot of space in the Common Room, partly because none of the after-school clubs had started up yet but mostly because people were giving Fred and George a wide berth. The twins were launching a box of Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-start No-heat fireworks as part of their 'We didn't get detention on our first day' celebrations. It was quite spectacular to see the rockets bouncing off the ceiling and the walls, causing chaos and mayhem whenever they landed amongst groups of students, which was fairly frequent. One rocket in particular hit Angelina Johnson's homework and it was quite funny watching her chase the twins around the room with the offending firework in hand, telling them exactly where she was going to put it.

Hazel and Ginny took a table quite far away from the display. Everyone was leaving one corner free because the gobstones club were getting some early practise and the smell was already starting to spread to the nearest tables. All their teachers had given them homework to do and none of it was going to be particularly quick.

"What will we do first?" Ginny asked.

"History of Magic?" Binns wanted a full foot of parchment, and it was definitely going to take the longest.

Ginny's face fell as she pulled her out her books, "What are we supposed to write about again? That convention in 1470?"

"I think it was the other one, the one in 1475?" Hazel looked back through her book for where she'd notes the homework down.

Ginny groaned, "Didn't they get everything off their chest in the first one? What in merlin's knickers was there to talk about the second time?"

As it turned out, not a lot. Hazel had read 'A History of Magic' in the Leaky Cauldron over the summer but even she had skipped this chapter because there was absolutely nothing to it. Scanning through it again with the tip of her quill and trying to find anything to write about was like trying to tickle the Whomping Willow, absolutely pointless. Before she knew it an hour had passed and all she'd written was the title of the essay at the top of her parchment, and her name. Not exactly a good night's work.

"Sod this," Ginny pushed the book away, "Do you want to play Exploding Snap or something? At least until-"

The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and Atia Malfoy stepped in through the circular door. She looked paler than usual, and her eyes were red from where she'd been crying.

"Atia!" Hazel got up straight away, homework forgotten and went to her, "How's Draco? Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Atia said cooly. Her brows were furrowed, and she was trembling with her fists balled tightly, "Madam Pomfrey was able to heal the damage. I can't believe him!"

"I know," Ginny had come over as well, "Imagine the stupid git not listening to Hagri-"

"Don't you dare!" Atia exploded at Ginny. The whole common room went silent, and all eyes turned to the trio. Even Fred and George stopped running and Angelina paused as if petrified with the rocket farting sparks pathetically in her hand, "Don't you dare defend him!"

Ginny's eyes went wide in shock, but she stood her ground and folded her arms, "But it was Malfoy's fault! Hagrid told him what to do and he ignored him!"

"He did what he was told!" Atia was roaring, apparently not caring that everyone was watching, her face was going red very quickly, "He was told to bow, and he bowed! That…thing…attacked him out of nowhere! When he was just talking to it!"

"He wasn't just talking to it though, was he?" Ginny bellowed back, "He was being an ass, like he always is!"

"He was not being an ass! He just said the wrong thing! He was lucky not to be more seriously hurt!"

Ginny scoffed, "He was fine! You said so yourself, Madam Pomfrey fixed him in no time!"

"That's not the point!" Atia yelled, her fists balled even tighter than before, "What if it had caught him in the face? He could have lost both his eyes! What if…what if it had clawed his throat? That…oaf, left him with a creature that could have torn him in two!"

"Don't call Hagrid an oaf!" Hazel said angrily but there was an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, "That's not fair!"

"Fair?" Atia gave a high pitched and humourless laugh, "I will tell you what isn't fair! Seeing your brother's blood on his robes! Seeing the cut in his shoulder and knowing if it was an inch higher then he would be dead! All because that imbecile wouldn't know a dangerous monster if it was ripping his leg off from beneath him! What if it had been Ron who was hurt?"

"Ron wouldn't be stupid enough to ignore Hagrid!" Ginny shouted.

There were tears in the corners of Atia's eyes and she swayed so suddenly that Hazel was afraid she would faint. Instead, she just shook her head and stormed off towards the dormitories. The silence lingered in the Common Room for what felt like forever and then there was an almighty bang! George and set off another firework and thrown it into the fire so that harmless sparks showered the nearby armchairs. The students there, mostly fifth, sixth and seventh years leapt away with yells of anger and fright and everyone else burst into laughter. Everyone except Hazel and Ginny. Hazel looked back up towards the dormitories uncertainly as she bit down on her lip. Her mind raced with thoughts and feelings, each contradicting the last until her head hurt, rooted to the spot with every urge telling her to move.

"I'm going to see if she's alright."

"Fine," Ginny sat back down at the table and pulled her History of Magic book towards her. She was still quite red in the face but she did look a little worried.

Compared to the ruckus in the Common Room, the stairs up to the dormitories were unnervingly quiet. When she reached their room, Hazel hesitated and knocked on the door. She wasn't sure why she knocked but it felt the right thing to do. There was no answer from inside and again she thought if maybe she should just leave Atia alone, but then she hadn't told her to go away either. Another deep breath and she opened the door. If Atia wanted to shout and scream at her then that was okay, she was well used to it with Uncle Vernon anyway.

Atia was the only one in the room, lying on her stomach on her bed with her head buried in her pillow. Her blonde hair spilled out around her shoulders and shone like silver where the lantern light caught it. She was sobbing quickly and her whole body was shaking. Hazel's heart ached at the sound. She looked so sad, so alone. Hazel thought back to the summer, to those long days when Aunt Marge had tortured her, and she had spent the nights crying into her pillow. Was this what she'd looked like?

"Atia?" Hazel asked when she was close enough. When Atia didn't answer, she sat down on the edge of her bed. She wasn't really sure what else to say, it sounded a bit stupid to ask if she was alright when she was lying there and crying.

"What are you doing here?" Atia lifted her head, and she looked at Hazel through bloodshot eyes. Her lip twitched, like she was trying to sneer but couldn't manage it.

"I wanted to see if you were okay," Hazel said a little uncertainly. It felt like Atia was ready to erupt again at any second, if she said the slightest thing wrong, "I'm glad Draco's okay."

Atia snorted derisively and shook her head.

"I am!" Hazel sighed, "I still think he was an idiot, but that doesn't mean I wanted him to get hurt."

"Well, go and tell that to Ginny."

"I don't think anyone wanted him to get hurt."

Atia looked up at her and fresh tears filled her eyes, "What if he had died, Hazel? What if Hagrid didn't get him to the Hospital Wing in time? What would I have told mother and father? How would I…" She broke off and buried her head in her pillow again, her body wracking.

"I know," Hazel patted her shoulder awkwardly. It was only last year that Harry had lost all the bones in his arm, and she remembered that terror only too well. What if he never grew them back? What if he could never play quidditch again? She remembered how angry she'd felt, at Lockhart and at Hogwarts in general for letting Harry play such a dangerous sport. She wasn't sure how to say any of that though and so instead she just patted Atia on the shoulder and hoped that her sitting there would be enough.
Romilda and Theodora came up to bed first. They looked over at Atia and Hazel and began whispering amongst themselves, covering their mouths with their hands. It didn't exactly take a genius to know what they were talking about before they changed into their pyjamas and climbed into bed. Ginny was way later, and she opened the door slowly, as if expecting there to be a bomb on the other side. She looked over to Atia's bed, but it was with a more concerned look than an angry one, and she got into bed without a word. Atia had stopped sobbing and just lay with her face still buried in her pillow, so Hazel stayed with her a little while longer, in case there was anything else she wanted to say. There didn't seem to be so eventually she just got up, climbed into her own bed and drew the curtains. Settling down into her comfortable bed, Hazel stared up at the ceiling of her four-poster with her thoughts racing and listening to Romilda's deafening snores. There was so much going on; anger, fear, sadness all swirling together into one big confusing jumble. It was like she couldn't feel sad without getting angry and when she got angry, she started feeling scared which then made her sad and started the whole thing again. It was a long time before she turned over and she settled to sleep.

She was the first awake this morning but this time she didn't get up. She didn't want to leave Ginny and Atia alone, just in case they started arguing again so she took her History of Magic book out of her bag and propped it up on her knees. She wasn't sure if it was just how boring the book was or something else because she found she was reading the same paragraph over and over again without taking it in, her ears straining for any sound from Ginny or Atia's beds. There was a shifting, the sound of someone getting up and she tensed at once, but it was Romilda's voice.

"Do you want to stay? In case there's an encore?"

"Uh, no?" Theodora answered, "I'm starving, and I need to straighten my hair. Besides, we'll probably hear them from the Great Hall anyway."

Romilda sniggered unkindly and there was the sound of footsteps and the door closing loudly. Hazel wasn't even pretending to read her book now. She was just waiting for any sound from the last two beds. She waited, and waited, and waited. Nothing from either of them. She checked her watch; they were normally up by now. She waited a little longer, still no sign. Were they ever going to get up? It was Potions first thing this morning too and if there was one class you did not want to be late for, it was Snape's. There was nothing for it.

She took a deep breath, "Ginny? Atia? Are you up?"
"Yeah," Ginny said at once.

There was a pause.

"Yes," said Atia.

"Shall we go to breakfast?"

"Sounds good," said Ginny.

"Fine," said Atia.

Hazel pulled back her curtains at the same time as the other two. They glared across at one another but didn't say anything. That was going to have to do for now. At least they weren't roaring at one another like last night. Though perhaps the roaring would have been better than the stony silence that sat between the three of them as they waited at the 2nd year bathroom for Romilda and Theodora to finish. The awkwardness of the situation wasn't making the wait any more bearable than normal. Come on Romilda, hurry up! When at last Romilda opened the door, her hair and makeup were as flawless as ever, she looked between Ginny and Atia as she passed and then whispered intently with Theodora as they headed down the stairs. It didn't take the trio anywhere near as long to get ready, Hazel brushed her hair, brushed her teeth and generally made herself presentable before heading down to breakfast. There still hadn't been a word spoken between any of them. It felt like either of them might erupt at the other at the slightest thing and Hazel could feel the tightness in her shoulders from the tension of it all. Today was going to be a nightmare, she knew it.

As they passed behind a tapestry on the fourth floor, making sure to use that rather than the door because the door squealed in a high-pitched voice if anyone turned the handle, they came out to quite a scene. It was Matilda Tallow, a gaunt, sour-faced Slytherin girl with long, white pigtails and Melba Yaxley, a thick-set Slytherin with rather large eyebrows. Tallow was levitating a book high above them with her wand while Luna Lovegood watched on with her wide eyes.

"I bet this full of dung," Tallow said in a mocking voice, "I can smell it from here, Loony. Or maybe that's just you. What will we do with this? Will we throw in the lake maybe? See if we can wash the smell out of it?"
"Leave her alone!" Hazel snapped as anger surged up in her, fuelled by the tension of just waiting for her friends to start fighting again.

"Oh, look who it is," Tallow grinned horribly, "It's Hogwarts' biggest scaredy-cat. Did you make it down the stairs all by yourself without fainting? That's very good, maybe you deserve a sticker."

Hazel's stomach lurched as Yaxley laughed right in her face, but Atia pulled her wand out in a flash and when she spoke her voice was firm, "Leave her alone."

"Or what? You'll report me to your blood traitor friends? Oh, I'm so scared."

"You heard her," Ginny was pointing her wand at Tallow as well, "Sod off. Unless you'd like bats flying out your nose all day."

Tallow looked between the two of them with a look of utter revulsion, "You make me sick."

She flicked her wand and sent Luna's book flying down the corridor then she and Yaxley headed in the opposite direction, making sure to catch Hazel painfully in the shoulder as they headed down the stairs. Only when the two were definitely gone did Ginny and Atia put their wands away without looking at one another and Hazel went down the other end of the corridor to pick up Luna's book. It didn't look too damaged luckily.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she handed it back to Luna.

"Oh yes," Luna said in a rather airy voice and with a smile, "Matilda likes hiding my books on me, I'm sure she was going to put this one somewhere high up out of the way."

"That's awful," Ginny scowled, "What a cow."

"I don't mind so much," Luna said, "I don't have charms today so I don't need it, and I would have found it eventually. Sometimes it's quite fun, looking for some of my things."

"You should have defended yourself," Atia frowned, "Make sure she doesn't do it again."

"But then someone might get hurt," Luna said serenely, "And my book doesn't have feelings, it's not a Cogiliber."

"A what?" Ginny asked in confusion.

"A cogiliber, it's a spirit from Tuscany that's been trapped as a book. The Ministry doesn't want to admit they exist because it means checking every library in the country in case they've trapped one."

"Right," Ginny looked at Hazel and Atia with a raised eyebrow. It was nice to see Hazel wasn't the only one confused by the idea of a book with feelings. She'd seen a lot of bizarre things in the wizarding world so far but that one seemed a step too far.

Luna didn't seem at all bothered by the lack of support in the plight of the cogilibers and she was instead looking between Ginny and Atia with searching eyes and a curious expression, "Did you two have a fight last night? That's what everyone in the Great Hall was talking about."

Ginny and Atia glanced uncomfortably at one another and looked away again, but Ginny frowned at Luna, "What's everyone saying then?"
"They're saying Atia is very cross at Hagrid, but I think she was maybe just scared for her brother, I know I would be if I had a brother and he was hurt. And they said that you were really cross at Atia, but I think you were worried for Hagrid because he seems a nice man and it sounds like maybe Atia's brother wasn't doing entirely what he was told. It seems a silly thing to fall out over," Luna put her book in her bag, "Thank you for getting this back for me, I'll see you all at Astronomy."

She headed off in the opposite direction to the Great Hall, humming to herself as she disappeared from view. Hazel, Ginny and Atia all looked at once another. No one really seemed sure what to say, or if they should speak at all. In the end, they decided not to speak and just carried on down to the Great Hall, but something had definitely changed. The same tension wasn't there anymore between the two girls which Hazel was endlessly thankful for.

They made it down to breakfast just as most people were leaving. There was a crowd at the Slytherin table but this time it wasn't Crabbe and Goyle they were gathered around but Malfoy himself. His arm was done up in a sling and he was holding it with his arm other as if it was in danger of falling off.

"Does it hurt, Draco?" Pansy Parkinson asked him in a breathless, admiring voice Hazel had only ever heard in romantic films.

"It comes and goes," Draco sighed and looked into the hall as if he were carrying some terrible burden, "Sometimes it'll not be too bad, you know? A little bit of a twinge, and then there's other times where the pain is excruciating, but I don't want to make a fuss."

"What is he on about?" Ginny asked, looking at Atia, "You said Madam Pomfrey healed him."

Atia was watching Malfoy with an expression that Hazel wasn't sure of, was it concern? Or annoyance? Or hurt? Maybe all three? "She did. He was fine when he left the Hospital Wing."

"Of course," Draco said even louder so the whole hall could hear, "I wrote to father first thing this morning to tell him all about the incident. He's very good friends with the Minister of Magic, you know, and he was appalled to hear that half-wit had been given a job teaching students. Doubtless he'll want an enquiry to see how Dumbledore could have been so careless."

"That git!" Ginny tried to march to the Slytherin table but Hazel and Atia stopped her, "He's trying to get Hagrid sacked!"

Hazel glanced to Atia who quickly looked over at the Gryffindor table. She wasn't as angry as last night, that was for sure, but it was hard to tell what exactly she was feeling because she sat very quietly as they ate. All the while they had to listen to Malfoy describe the attack in great detail, though it sounded very different to how Harry, Ron and Hermione had told it. By the way Malfoy was talking, he had just been passing by when the hippogriff had come lunging out of the bushes and tried to take his head off out of nowhere. If that was what he'd told Atia last night then no wonder she'd been so angry, but then how could anyone believe anything Malfoy said? He didn't seem to have a single honest bone in his body.

The Potions class was an absolute nightmare. The subject itself was fine, they had moved on to the Strengthening Solution which was a pretty cool little potion. It gave the drinker incredible strength, but it was tricky to make, requiring at least two stages of maturing before it was safe to drink. The book had gone to great lengths to remind readers that the super-strength only came when the drinker was lifting things and noted the case of Archibald Cribbens in 1850 who'd taken an entire flask and tried to fight the local strong man for muggle money. Not only had Archie lost all his front teeth but when he tried to pick them up he forgot his own strength and flung them into the air, never to be seen again.

No, the class was a nightmare because Tallow would not shut up, constantly whispering and hissing under her breath at Hazel, Ginny and Atia. When she wasn't pretending to swoon to the giggles and hissing laughter of Yaxley and Graves she was pinching her nose as if there was a particularly revolting smell nearby. Eventually, Ginny reached her breaking point and kicked Tallow's chair as she walked past to get some more powdered root. Unfortunately, Snape saw her do it, so that was forty points from Gryffindor and a detention for Ginny.

"It was worth it," Ginny said as they left the dungeon, "Did you see Tallow's face when she spilt that snake bile all down herself? She'll be stinking of that all day, then we'll see who's pinching their nose."

"She will retaliate," Atia sighed, "The Tallows are known for being particularly spiteful."

"Let her try her worst," Ginny snorted, "I'm not afraid of a slime like Tallow. What do we have after lunch?"

"Double charms," Hazel had been thinking about it all morning, so much so that her strengthening solution had gone a particularly strong colour of green. Snape had passed it by without remark, which was odd because he had been very scornful of poor Colin's which was a much healthier colour. She was dreading trying the revealing charm again and had been half-seriously wondering if she should just tie her wand to her wrist to keep it flying away, "Do you want to go down and visit Hagrid first? I want to see if he's okay. You don't have to come."

This part was to Atia who had stopped dead in her tracks in the entrance hall. She ran one hand over the other, seemingly thinking about what to do before she finally nodded, "I'll come as well."

So, they headed through the main doors and down into the grounds. The air was wonderfully fresh but the wind that swept through was bitterly cold and stung at Hazel's face. Normally there would be quite a few students out in the grounds over lunch, taking advantage of the break to get a little fresh air but not today. Today they were the only ones in the entirety of the grounds. The sky above them was, if anything, even darker than the day before and the clouds had turned to the deepest black Hazel had ever seen, almost like the night sky. The gale ran through the Forbidden Forest and the trees rustled and shook as if they were alive, as if they were fighting to break out of the ground. It was an unnerving sight. Hazel pulled her robe tighter around herself and shivered as the gust slapped her in the face. Why hadn't she thought to bring a jacket?

Her hands were numb by the time they reached Hagrid's hut and Ginny banged on the door with her nose having gone pink. There was no answer, but they could hear Fang whining from inside the hut.

"Hagrid!" Ginny called, "Hagrid, we know you're in there! Open the door! Hurry up or we'll freeze to death out here!"

There was a click as the door was unlocked and Hagrid stood in front of them as giant as ever, easily three times the height of Hazel and so wide that he filled the entire doorway. Hazel didn't really notice that though, she was looking into what little of his face could be seen between hair and beard. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot, and she could see silvery trails down his cheeks into his matted beard.

"Hagrid!" Hazel said, "We wanted to see if you were okay."

"Tha's awful kin' of ya," Hagrid sniffed as he wiped at his cheeks, "Didn' need'a do tha'."

"We wanted to," Ginny said as she stepped into the hut, "We just wanted to-"

She stopped dead in her tracks. At first Hazel didn't realise what the problem was but then she saw the shape on Hagrid's enormous bed wasn't Fang, because Fang was sitting by the roaring fire. No, the creature sitting on the bed was massive and had the head, feathers and talons of an eagle but the hind quarters and hoofs of a horse with huge wings tucked in to its sides. It was sitting curled up on the patchwork quilt, fast asleep. Atia let out a sharp squeal and the hippogriff's eyes snapped open. It looked at each of them with beady, yellow eyes and narrowed, unfriendly pupils. Hazel found it very hard to breath all of a sudden.

"I's alrigh'," Hagrid said as he closed the door, "Bow to 'im, jus' bow."

Nevermind bowing, Hazel's first instinct was to throw open the door and run for the castle but her legs had decided to stop working. She shared a nervous look with Ginny and then with a deep breath, she bent forward as far as she felt comfortable with. She forced herself to take her eyes off the hippogriff, which she had noticed hadn't blinked once the entire time, and look down at the floor. She felt, more than saw, Ginny and Atia doing the same, although Atia was breathing like she'd just sprinted here from London.

As soon as they straightened up, the hippogriff looked at each of them in turn, then bowed so low that its beak was touching the duvet, settled its head back into its talons and went back to sleep. He didn't seem particularly dangerous, in fact from certain angles he was actually quite cute. He was sleeping a little bit like a cat, and he kicked his hind leg like he was dreaming.

"Hagrid," Ginny asked uncertainly, "Is that-"

"I couldn' jus' leave 'im ou'side!" Hagrid wailed, "No' when it's so col ou' there!"

He seemed to catch sight of Atia, and he froze on the spot. It would have been almost funny if he hadn't then burst into tears and engulfed Atia in a massive, suffocating hug.

"I'm so sorry!" He bawled, "It's all my faul'! I was such an idio' fer thinkin' I coul' teach! I shouldn' 'ave lef' 'im wit' Buckbeak! An' now yer brother's seriously 'urt and it's all my faul'!"

He fell back into a huge armchair and buried his face in his hands. Hazel went straight to him and rubbed at his shoulder because she couldn't think of what else to do. It broke her heart to see him like this, especially after how he'd been on the night of the Welcoming Feast. She glared at Atia, like it was somehow her fault that this had happened, but she didn't need to. Atia looked quite alarmed and coughed uncomfortably,

"Draco's okay, Professor Hagrid. I was with him last night when Madam Pomfrey cured him. She said there would be no lasting damage."

"I 'eard 'im," Hagrid sobbed, "I 'eard 'im in the Grea' 'all this mornin'. He was sayin' he's in agony and it's all my faul'!"

Hazel went over to the fireplace and took the massive kettle off the flames. There was a teapot already on the table so she held the kettle in two shaking arms and poured the quickest tea she could without scalding herself. As soon as she was done, she dropped the kettle to the wooden floor with a loud clang. Buckbeak's eyes shot open, and he looked around wildly before settling down to sleep again.

"There'll 'ave te be an inquiry," Hagrid sighed as he wiped his eyes and took the tea offered to him by Ginny, who had kindly taken over pouring duties while Hazel tried to get some feeling back in her arms, "Ministry'll get involved. Dumbledore wrote to the board of governors las' nigh' to tell 'im wha' happened. I'll probably ge' the sack for this and I'd ruddy well deserve it!"

"That's not true, Hagrid," Ginny said keenly, "We heard what happened from Harry, Ron and Hermione. They said it was Malfoy's fault he wasn't listening. What were you supposed to do?"

She scowled at Atia who had the decency to look down at her hands.

"Yer brother was down las' nigh'," Hagrid after taking a deep gulp of tea, "Told me the same thing. 'ad a strong word wit' him about bein' out at night. At least you 'ad the sense to come during daytime."

Hazel hadn't really been thinking about that. In fact, if it hadn't been for Professor Sprout then she probably would have come down yesterday evening. Maybe it was for the best she hadn't then, though she couldn't believe she'd be in any danger in the castle grounds. Wasn't Hogwarts supposed to be the safest place in the world, even without the dementors guarding it?

"Anyway, tha's enough abou' me," Hagrid drained his cup and filled it again from the teapot, which he picked up as if he was picking up a leaf, "How was yer firs' day?"

"Oh, it was fine. I'm back to being useless at magic," Hazel sighed and told him all about Charms class.
Hagrid frowned as she finished, "Tha' doesn' sound like yer useless, Hazel. It sounds like yer wand's broken or somethin'."

"Broken?" Hazel's heart skipped a beat. Her wand had once belonged to her mother and the idea there was anything wrong with it was absolutely horrifying.

"Yeah, or it's been jinxed or somethin'. There's no way yer wand would be actin' like tha if ye were just useless." The corners of his mouth twitched as if he was smiling, "And I'd be willin' te bet the daughter of Lily Potter's not too shabby at magic either."

Hazel smiled and blushed. They spent the rest of their visit discussing the forest and how the school grounds had done over the summer ("Ruddy marvellous") before Hagrid led them all back up to the castle.

They had double Charms later in the week and the day didn't get off to the best of starts. They had all gone down to breakfast again that morning to find a crowd of Gryffindors gathered around Seamus Finnegan. This usually wasn't good news, it normally meant Seamus had set fire to himself or something on the table again and everyone wanted to have a look. There wasn't the normal smell of burning though, just tea and coffee as was normal. They ignored the sounds of fainting that came from the Slytherin table and gathered in amongst the crowd. Seamus had the Daily Prophet opened in front of him and was reading from an article out loud.

"The latest sighting came from a muggle who reported him at once through the telephone hotline set up to report sightings of Black. The Ministry confirmed that by the time an auror team had arrived in Berwick-On-Tweed there was no further sign of Black and searches of the area proved unsuccessful. The Ministry refused to comment further on the latest sighting but again urged the public to stay vigilant and to report any sightings via the normal methods."

"That's right on the Scottish border," Lee Jordan said, "He's coming north."

Hazel saw the worried looks Ginny and Atia shared with one another and that fear that had faded during her first week back at Hogwarts came back, stronger than ever.

"It'll be fine," Ginny said as they left the Great Hall, "He'll never get past the dementors, not to mention the aurors in Hogsmeade or the teachers. He'd be thick to even try."
Atia just gave a sigh and shook her head. It didn't take a mind reader to know what her thoughts were.

Charms turned out to be the same as before. No matter how many times Hazel tried to cast revelio, no matter what she changed, her wand just kept trying to jump across the room. It was like it was desperate to get to Magnus, Euan and Colin who were sitting there. The laughter rang in her ears all the way through dinner and into the evening.

"I just don't understand what's wrong," Hazel had said it about a hundred times since Charms, but she couldn't think of any other way to put it. The frustration was bubbling away furiously inside her. She could do transfiguration just fine, and the charms from last year all worked. Why was it just this one spell she couldn't do?

"Maybe Hagrid's right," Ginny had Flying with the Harpies propped up on her knees while she lay in bed. They had decided to take some time in the dormitory as the gobstones club were practising again and all the other tables were taken, "Maybe someone put a jinx on your wand."

"But I've been looking," Hazel glanced down at When Wands go Wonky: A guide to self-repair which she'd taken out of the library, "There's nothing in here that matches what's happening."

"Perhaps it's broken," Atia's quill scratched as it swept across her parchment. Unlike Hazel and Atia, she was having no problem writing about wizarding conventions of the 15th Century. If anything, she had too much to write.

"If it was broken, then no spells would work," Ginny said, "Remember Ron last year? He couldn't even pick his wand up without it attacking him."

It just didn't make sense. Hazel let out a long sigh of annoyance and hurt. Why was her mum's wand acting this way now? Was she going to have to get a replacement? The price wasn't an issue, but this was her wand, her mum's wand! That couldn't be replaced by any amount of gold, just knowing she'd held it, done magic with it, had helped Hazel more than she could mention. It was like an old friend was suddenly playing up on her.

She raised it and thinking about nothing in particular, said with a snap, "Revelio!"

The wand shout of her hand again and she cried out in pain as hit her right in the forehead.

"Hold on," Ginny looked on with a frown, "What just happened?"

"Guess," Hazel rubbed furiously at her stinging forehead, feeling even angrier. It was bad enough when it had been humiliating her but now it was attacking her as well!

"No, I mean, when you do that same spell in Flitwick's classroom it goes flying across the room but here it went backwards," Ginny climbed out of bed, picked up Hazel's wand and handed it back to her, "Try standing sideways and doing it again."

Hazel wasn't entirely sure what this was supposed to accomplish and she was feeling more and more stupid by the second. She was tempted just to throw the wand down and read a book until she calmed down but then, she could hardly be any angrier, could she? So she tried the spell again and flinched in anticipation, but the wand did not try and take her out this time, it flew out of her hand and hit the wall to her left.

"That is utterly bizarre," Atia was watching, ink dripping from her quill tip onto her parchment unnoticed.

"It's always going out in the same direction," Ginny said and went over to the window in the wall, "And that's what it's pointing at."

Hazel joined her and let out a long sigh. Ginny was pointing right at the Forbidden Forest.

They had to be quick. The sun was already getting pretty close to the horizon and soon it would be completely dark. Harry had already been told off once for being out too late and no doubt Hazel would get the same if she was caught. She threw on her cloak and her boots while Ginny did the same and Atia watched them hesitantly.

"Are you not coming?" Ginny asked.

Hazel could understand why Atia looked so worried. The last time she had entered the Forbidden Forest; she had nearly been eaten by a giant spider. Hazel had the exact same worries because the exact same thing had nearly happened to her, twice! But right now, she was more curious about why her wand was acting the way it was than running across another giant spider. The Forbidden Forest was huge, what were the odds they'd run into one again? Her stomach dropped even thinking about it.

"Come on," Ginny shook her head, sending flaming red hair everywhere, "It's only a Forest, what can go wrong?"

Atia gave her a pointed look as she pulled on her coat.

The corridors were quiet as they made their way through the castle and down into the grounds. Hazel was glad she'd changed into her boots as the grass was soaking wet and that same bitter wind was flowing from earlier in the week. The trees were still dancing and waving at them, like they were beckoning them in, and Hazel's heart skipped a few beats but with a deep breath she pressed on. They moved quickly, Hazel casting revelio a few times and letting her wand fly out of her hand just so they knew they were on the right track. Soon they were at the boundary of the forest, just out of sight of Hagrid's hut with its glowing windows.

"It's in the Forest itself?" Atia gulped.

"I think so," Any time she cast the spell, it was still pulling her in that direction. Her heart was starting to beat quite a bit quicker as she looked into the thick and tangled trees until they just faded into darkness. This felt like a very, very bad idea. She shook her head to clear out all those horrible memories of giant spiders and stepped forward.

"Let's go find out," Ginny said cheerful and pulled out her wand, "Lumos."

"Lumos," said Atia though her pale face was even paler than usual. She rolled her eyes at Ginny, but she walked beside both her and Hazel and they walked deeper and deeper into the Forest. Though her mouth was dry and she was keeping a very sharp eye out for any sign of spiders, Hazel noticed there was something strange about the way they were walking. The forest was getting thicker and thicker to either side of them, the trees wider and higher and closer together but directly in front of them was the slightest gap between the trunks. It wasn't wide enough to keep the canopy above from concealing the rising moon, but it was definitely much freer of roots and tangled undergrowth than she would have expected. It was like they were walking down a very narrow path. The sound of the wind rustling all around them was rather unnerving and the smell of soil was strong this deep into the forest.

"Wait," Ginny said and raised her wand as high as she could to stretch the light further. There was something ahead of them. As they approached carefully, they saw what looked like a house, a little larger than Hagrid's hut and made from large stone blocks overgrown with moss. It was cast in a dull light but compared to the forest all around, it was lit up like a lighthouse.

"Why did your wand lead us to this?" Atia asked.

"I don't know," Hazel said as she approached. She cast revelio a few more times just to be sure that this was really where her mum's wand had been guiding her and yes, sure enough, every time she cast the spell, her wand pulled towards the strange building located deep in the Forbidden Forest. She was so close that she could smell the moss and see the trails of water that ran down the walls. Why had the wand led her here? It was strange sure, but Hogwarts grounds were filled with decrepit and disused buildings from over the years. This one looked in the best shape by far, there wasn't even a rooftile out of place. She reached out with her hand without even really thinking about it.

"Hazel!" Atia hissed, "Don't!"

Too late. She placed her palm against the stone. The moss was furry and cold against her skin. A spark ran up her arm like she'd just been shocked, and she pulled her hand away with a yelp.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asked as she held her wand close enough to see Hazel.

"I'm okay," Hazel replied as she shook her arm furiously, trying to get rid of the tingling feeling in her fingertips. Had she really just been electrocuted by a stone building?

"Look, on the door!" Atia was leaning in at the door with her eyes narrowed. Hazel and Ginny joined her and in the glow of her wand light they could see swirling letters glowing a soft blue that looked like they'd just been written into the stone with a quill though they were damaged

"…The Brave, the Cunning, The Clever and the Kind wel e you to Ho r…"

"The charm must be wearing off," Atia said slowly with a frown, "I don't know what it could mean though."

"Isn't it obvious?" Ginny pointed with her finger, "H, O, R? Hogwarts! Who do the Brave, Cunning, Clever and Kind sound like?"

"You mean the founders?" Atia raised a sceptical eyebrow, "Hardly."

"Well why not? What else could it mean?"

Hazel wasn't listening to the two of them bicker, she was just staring at the door. It didn't really matter who had built this house or why it was here, none of that answered why her mother's wand would lead her here when she cast a completely unrelated charm. Had her mum known it could do this? Had she just struggled through her second-year charms, wondering why she couldn't cast revelio? Wait, she looked closer. What was that?

"There's a keyhole," she said and that stopped Ginny and Atia arguing. Sure, enough just beneath the writing was a small and old-fashioned looking keyhole.

"Shall we open it?" Ginny asked and flicked her wand, "Alohomora."

Nothing happened.

"That worked," Atia rolled her eyes.

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"Wait," Hazel cut across them. They weren't doing this again, not in the middle of the Forest, "Something's happening."

There was more writing appearing just beneath the keyhole,

"From where you stand, it's plain to see,

The door is closed, there is no key.

Now the magic mind will surely stray,

But the cunning mind will find a way,

To pass the test I've set for you.

The first trial, this is your clue."

"A riddle?" Ginny groaned, "Fantastic. This is definitely something the Hogwarts founders would be weird enough to do."

"Riddles are not weird," Atia shook her head.

"Riddles aren't. Riddles written on a random building in the middle of the Forbidden Forest are!"

Atia opened her mouth to reply but she closed it at once as there came a loud, grumbling roar through the Forest. Hazel froze, her hairs standing on end. That definitely wasn't a spider. She didn't dare move, she hardly dared breath, listening as hard as she could for another sound, anything that indicated it was getting closer. There was nothing. No more roars, no footsteps, no massive spiders jumping out the shadows, again!

Ginny clapped her hands together, "Well, I think we've had a great time tonight but let's maybe go back to the nice, safe castle?"

"Agreed," Atia nodded vigorously.

"Yup, let's go," Hazel said eagerly.

As much as she wanted to solve the riddle, the building wasn't going anywhere. And on the list of places she wanted to be, the Forbidden Forest as the sun was setting was very, very low down.


AN: This is another long chapter and they'll probably all be this length, I'm just feeling inspired at the moment! This is the first big split from the storyline of the books but I wanted Hazel to do her own thing and let Harry get on with his. I hope people are interested in what's happening. Thanks everyone for reviewing and following, I really appreciate it!