Given the fact that she had just been stupefied, Enola was on her feet again relatively quickly, requiring no help from those looming over her. Harry had considered offering that support, but had ultimately been too shy to go through with it. The others were simply too dumbstruck to respond. Or too angry in Matthew's case, whose choice not to say anything straight away was probably the smartest choice he could make.

Whilst the new arrival reclaimed her senses, Harry took the opportunity to appreciate the sight of her. The last time he'd seen her had been during a moment of chaos, a conflict raining around them. And all their other encounters had come in the cramped setting of his impromptu setting. The moonlight washing over somehow enhanced her looks, despite the fact that nothing else had changed. She still sported a largely black ensemble, with dark eyeshadow decorating her face, and that light brown hair hanging past her shoulders.

The most interesting thing about her appearance, besides the alluring beauty, was the fact that her arms were exposed. At Malfoy Manor, the clothes she'd worn left everything to the imagination. Now, he could see something for definite. There was no Dark Mark etched onto her arm, one thing that would have proved beyond reasonable doubt who she was working for. Harry saw that as Enola's way of telling them exactly that without having to actually bring it up. Was that her attempt at creating peace before things descended into chaos?

Unfortunately for Harry, Enola seemed to pick up on his rather obvious ogling. He'd hoped that she would have been delirious enough so as not to notice, but nothing ever worked out easily for him. She sauntered towards him, eyes dancing in mirth at his stunned nature. An arm was wrapped around him, her body coming close, and he was reminded of the soft scent that seemed to be uniquely hers, as well as that tantalising power that seemed to be imbued onto her skin. It was a subtle warning that he was more than aware of.

"You look much better in this light, Harry," she purred.

She was looking him up and down, the sort of attention that he wasn't really used to. Every so often, however, Enola would glance in Matthew's direction with a smirk on her face. Harry couldn't tell whether she was purposefully trying to antagonise the other boy, prompting him to act first. Or it might have been an element of nerves that caused her eyes to repeatedly track her old friend, the first time she'd seen him in a lifetime. Harry was very much hoping that it was the latter option.

"You're also no better at receiving compliments, judging by the scared look on your face," she added.

How was he supposed to tell her that his level of fear largely stemmed from how his friends were going to react to meeting Enola in the flesh. When they'd planned for Enola to come to Hogwarts, he'd hoped that she would have done so in a much more muted fashion, not the dramatic light show that had announced her arrival. He was still left wondering why that had happened, concerned that she was planning something that she wasn't yet willing to tell them.

"I don't remember you giving me a lot of compliments to begin with," Harry argued. "When we first met, there were a lot more threats involved."

"It's all about what you want to focus on. I choose to prioritise the more positive chats we shared. Or what happened between us before we were separated."

Harry blanched. He'd known the risk involved in Enola joining their side, and that wasn't just down to the ongoing mystery around her allegiances. She'd kissed him. Yes, it was on the cheek, but it was still Matthew's childhood friend who'd done it. And didn't that go against some sort of 'bro code' that Harry didn't have much experience in dealing with? No wonder Matthew was now frowning, if he was picking up on Enola's subtle remark.

"Will someone do the decent thing and tell me what's going on?" Hagrid complained.

"That's Enola," Hermione said, taking it upon herself to make sense of the mess. "The one we mentioned before, when there wasn't a lot of time to get into detail."

"And you must be Hermione," Enola replied.

Once again, her eyes were flashing with delight, for completely different reasons. Harry was disappointed when Enola moved away, but he was also slightly relieved that someone else was being eyed up as her new prey. To give Hermione the credit she deserved, she didn't back down as the other girl approached. There was a standoff that was playing out before them, the two witches assessing one another's standing.

"I've heard a lot about you," the Gryffindor began.

"I'm hoping to learn even more about you."

"I'm hoping to just learn something," Hagrid butted in. "How does one girl cause all that kerfuffle? You're lucky that we're the ones who greeted you and not some of the professors. And it's only because these lot persuaded me that that was the case."

"It's not my fault that I wasn't told about the wards before I arrived. That feels like something that should have been mentioned."

"Enough," Matthew said quietly, the one person who hadn't got involved up to that point.

Harry didn't really know what he'd been expecting. Maybe he wasn't too surprised that, when he turned around, Matthew was steadily pointing his wand at the unexpected guest. It was the calmness in which he was threatening Enola that was most fearsome of all, as if it signalled that a storm was right around the corner. Harry considered standing in the way, considered defending the girl who he'd backed in the past, but he also got the sense that both of them needed to get this out of their systems.

"Explain yourself," his best friend pressed on. "Now."

Enola could have easily defused the situation, holding up her hands and going into detail about what had brought her to the school at such a late hour without much prior warning. Sadly, she was apparently the sort of person who refused to back down. With a nonchalant flick of the wrist, billowing magical energy surrounded her palm until her own wand was returning the favour, such a familiar sight to behold after being friends with Matthew for so long.

"Hang on!" Hagrid warily interjected. "I thought you said that you were friends!"

"We never mentioned that," Hermione argued, cautiously taking a step back to give the two opponents the room they needed if things were taken further.

"She's not a student. I would have spotted her before now. But what sort of witch doesn't come to Hogwarts?"

"The sort that works for Voldemort."

Enola waved a finger. "Ah, that's a massive oversimplification that'll paint me in a less than ideal light. If I'm trying to impress new people, I at least want a fighting chance to succeed."

"Then explain yourself," Matthew reiterated. "I won't give you a second chance."

"Or what?" she asked in challenge, narrowing her eyes. "What are you going to do?"

"Don't push me."

"It might be the only way to actually get you to talk."

"I'm trying to get you to do exactly that. Don't turn things around on me."

"It'd be nice to know what you want from me. I'm trying to figure out just how deep that anger runs inside you."

"Why don't you tell us how you got here?" Harry suggested, hoping to steer them away from a fight.

"Yes," Hermione concurred, evidently seizing the opportunity Harry was trying to create. "Because we agreed that you could come. There was no need for such a song and dance. We…we thought that the school was under attack."

Enola arched an eyebrow. "And your first instinct was to investigate yourselves?"

Harry shrugged. "We've got a decent track record in that regard. Why change something that isn't broken?"

"I'm impressed."

"Is that enough to get you to answer the question?"

"That depends on whether I'm free to turn my back on one person in particular."

Harry turned to the boy whose opinion mattered most. "Matthew?"

His position was unwavering. More alarming was the fact that tears were beginning to brim in his eyes, and Harry was suddenly wishing that they could return to the steely emotionless he'd been displaying beforehand. If his past resentments took control, then there was no telling what Matthew would do. And, having seen firsthand what Enola was capable of, the consequences weren't something that Harry was looking forward to. They'd been worried that a fight was on their hands when they'd first looked into the ominous situation, and it looked like they were close to getting exactly that.

In the end, it was always going to be Hermione who broke through Matthew's defences. Taking a risk, and potentially putting herself in the line of fire, she slowly stepped towards him. Her hand reached out for his arm, her fingers delicately grabbing hold. Too sudden a movement could have triggered him into action, which explained why she was acting so carefully. And she looked close to crying too, resonating with the pain that was surely driving Matthew towards madness.

"It's okay," she whispered.

He turned his head to look her in the eye, though his wand was still poised to strike. "I…I need to know what she did."

"You shouldn't be having this conversation when everything is so charged." She moved her hand so that she was cupping his cheek, further drawing him under her spell. "Let her tell us what's going on. Let us decide what to do with her. And then, if everything goes well, you can finally get those answers."

"If it's any consolation, I want to give you them," Enola risked saying. "If you give me the chance to present my side of the story."

Almost reluctantly, Matthew stopped threatening her, a defeated look upon his face. Hermione squeezed him once more, a silent show of gratitude for listening to her. Harry released a breath he hadn't even realised he'd been holding, a relieved sigh escaping his lips. The only one who didn't react accordingly was Hagrid, who was still understandably confused. Whilst the half-giant remained, there was an awkward air surrounding them.

"Could you…could you let Dumbledore know what's going on, Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"What are you talking about? I'm not going to leave you!"

The last thing that Harry wanted to do was involve the headmaster in proceedings, given their recent one-sided animosity. The longer he kept Enola from Dumbledore, the better. But that didn't stop the professor from being useful by creating an excuse to steer Hagrid away, something which would hopefully allow the others to open up more. And there was also the point to contend with that they needed Dumbledore's acquiescence to make sure that Enola could stay on the grounds.

"He'll have seen the wards malfunctioning. Hopefully the other students will have been asleep, but all the professors will have spotted it. They might be jumping to the same conclusions that we did. They might be gearing up for an offensive, one that isn't actually real. They need to be stood down, before something bad happens."

"Something bad could still happen, especially if I leave you unattended."

"The creatures living in the forest will still be cautious after everything that's been going on, so we've got a window. I doubt we're going to be here much longer."

"Tell me, Harry…can you trust her? Because I'm sensing a lot of tension. If she's working for You-Know-Who…"

"I quickly put that claim to bed," Enola argued.

Harry briefly glanced at her. "You're not helping."

"I don't have the full picture," Hagrid murmured. "To be honest, I think I'd prefer that to stay the same. I just need to know whether you're going to be safe."

Harry knew that he was supposed to confer with Matthew and Hermione. It would have been more convincing if they assured Hagrid that they trusted Enola not to turn against them. But he couldn't risk them saying the opposite, a likely outcome given how Matthew had reacted up to that point. And so he stubbornly didn't look in their direction, opting to let the decision weigh solely on his shoulders. If people wanted him to be a leader, then making these key choices had to be a part of that.

"I trust her, Hagrid."

"If you're wrong…" The half-giant teetered dangerously close to hysterics once again. "...well, I don't know what I'll do."

"We'll be okay."

"You know that we can look after ourselves," Hermione added. "That's something Enola needs to learn quickly."

Was the other girl finally looking nervous, rather than that confidence she'd been conveying? "I'm sensing that, yeah."

Hagrid looked like he wanted to say something more, like he wanted to argue against the idea one last time, but then he followed their wishes. Harry watched silently until the lumbering man could no longer be seen and, even though, he still waited a few more minutes before speaking again. Now that Hagrid was gone, the forest loomed as a darker presence, serving as an uncomfortable backdrop to what was likely going to be an uncomfortable conversation.

"Thank you, Harry."

Enola was the one to break the silence that had grown, closing the distance. Her movements and behaviour were certainly more cautious, as if she'd been put in her place by Matthew's heated confrontation. Perhaps she hadn't realised just how much hatred there was until she'd seen it for herself, a stark reminder of the damage that had been done. Harry was just waiting to see whether she had any intention of repairing that damage.

"You didn't have to back me like that. It…means a lot."

"Just please don't make me regret it."

"I'll try my best."

"And I don't think I'm the one you need to convince."

The power couple, as Harry often called them, were watching the interaction with thinly veiled suspicion. It was remarkable just how similar Matthew and Hermione were, with their arms crossed and brows furrowed. Harry had been faintly concerned that, as soon as the watchful eye of Hagrid was taken out of the equation, Matthew would revert back to his previous position, preparing for a duel that would no doubt drag them all into the middle.

"I'm waiting for that explanation," Matthew said. "What were you honestly thinking?"

"Wasn't it your idea for me to come here?" Enola retorted. "Weren't you the one who said that you needed me to help Harry?"

"Yes and, despite everything, I still stand by that. But I was under the impression that you'd knock on the door and show your face like that. Sending the wards into overdrive wasn't a part of the plan. We're trying to keep your presence under the wraps. We're trying to keep you under wraps."

"How could I resist the chance for some theatrics? I thought you knew me."

"I thought I knew you too, but you ended up proving me wrong."

It was a dark reply that seemed to put Enola momentarily on the backfoot. "If you must know…I made a mistake."

Matthew didn't bother to hide his surprise. "I didn't think that you were big enough to admit such a thing."

"Are you going to be like this throughout?"

"Yes. And I'd say I deserve to be petulant."

Enola clenched her fist, as if she were debating whether she could take the high road. "And I'd say I deserve the chance to be heard."

"The fact that you think you deserve anything at all is a slap in the face."

"Why don't you tell us what your mistake was?" Hermione asked, once again managing the situation.

"And say it slowly so that I can fully revel in the details," Matthew said.

He got a roll of the eyes in response from his former friend. "I didn't account for the wards when I was landing my Tardis. She wouldn't materialise properly, as if the defences were preventing her from doing so. What you saw was the magic of the wards and the Tardis clashing against one another, until I was finally able to power through."

Matthew was nodding his head. "Okay, I'll believe you. But why would you come at night?"

"That probably worked out for the best," Hermione reasoned. "If the wards had started to malfunction during the day, then everyone would have seen it happen. Even as it is, we'll end up having a school-wide announcement about it, and we'll have to look innocent."

"When everyone will know that we were somehow involved," Harry quipped.

"Because it's always us. One time…just one time…I'd love for it to be someone else."

"Leaving Voldemort was always going to be a dangerous task. Anyone caught betraying him…well, I don't need to go into detail about the consequences. It wouldn't have mattered if I'd already curried his favour. The only chance I had of getting away safely was by using the cover of darkness. Do you blame me for being cautious?"

"Absolutely not. And we really appreciate how you've put your life on the line to see us."

Enola smiled softly. "I knew that I liked you."

"You said that you came in a Tardis," Harry remarked. "I…I don't see it anywhere. Was it forced back by the wards? Did you have to jump out and hope for the best?"

"I may be cool, but I'm not that cool. The Tardis is obviously camouflaged."

"Camouflaged?"

She frowned. "Matthew has his own Tardis. You must know about that."

"You mean it's not a blue box?"

"A blue box?"

"Like, a police box. That's what the Tardis is supposed to look like, right?"

Matthew was scratching the back of his neck. "Well…not exactly."

"What do you mean?"

"A functioning Tardis has the ability to change its appearance so that it fits into whatever location it happens to land in. It's all a part of the perception charm, which you know plenty about. Except my Tardis is broken in more ways than one. As well as the whole time travelling malfunction, it got stuck in its current form and I never bothered to fix it."

"Why not?"

"Why would I? I happen to like its look. I'd be sad if it were to change now."

Harry looked back at Enola. "So you Tardis can look like anything in the world?"

"Precisely," she replied, with that gleam in her eyes returning. "And if a working Tardis was to land in a forest, there's only one thing it'd end up looking like. The problem is…I can't exactly remember which tree it is."

"There's…there's quite a lot of trees."

"Thanks for pointing that out, Harry. I was hit by a pretty powerful stunning spell, so forgive me for being a bit slower than usual."

"You thought the charm was powerful, huh?"

"Remarkably so. Were you the one to fire it?"

"I might have been…"

"And are you trying to brag about its strength to the very person you hit with it?"

She was now running her hand against the closest trunks in her vicinity, caressing each tree she came across as she tried to figure out whether it was her ship. Her movements were entertaining to watch and Harry slowly figured out exactly why that was. Enola was reminding him of Matthew and the way he would walk around, sauntering as if he owned the place whilst also conveying a sense of making it up as he went along. He wondered whether the boy himself was picking up on the similarities, or whether he was purposefully ignoring that connection.

"Ah! There it is!"

She seemed happy enough leaning against one of the trees, smiling invitingly at Harry. How she was able to tell that that was her Tardis, when it looked completely alike to all the other pines surrounding them, he didn't know. He supposed she must have had the same connection to the ship that Matthew seemed to have with his own, akin to the Tardis being alive. Maybe that energy was reaching out to her, the hug of an old friend that couldn't be replicated.

"After you," Enola said as Harry slowly crept forward.

There was one major issue with the Tardis camouflaging itself. A serious design flaw that came with being a tree. There was no door to walk through. Harry must have been showing his confusion at the stumbling block, because his counterpart was smirking at the hesitation. Instead of giving him a clear instruction, which would have obviously been useful, she chose to wrap her hand around the side of the tree, and Harry watched as it disappeared from view.

"Just like magic," she quipped.

Harry still waited a beat. "Is this a trap?"

"It'd be an awful lot of effort to go for a simple trap. What happened to trusting me?"

Harry had made his bed and was now being forced to lie in it. It was one thing telling Hagrid that he had faith in Enola, but it was another matter entirely when he had to act on it himself. The other matter he had to contend with was that, for the time being, he was trusting Enola on behalf of all three of them. If things went south, then it was on his shoulders. He had to find a way of convincing Matthew and Hermione that it was the right thing to do, and the only reasonable solution was to take a giant leap into the unknown.

Stepping from the gloomy forest into a room of glittering lights was a shock to the system. Harry didn't understand how he'd made it inside the Tardis, simply following Enola's guiding hand. He emerged into a chamber that wasn't as large as the console room he was used to, though it was still a relatively cavernous space. Whilst Matthew's Tardis was predominantly made from metal, with a few varnished pieces of wood for decoration, the one Harry was now in was almost a complete reversal.

It was like he hadn't truly left the forest, for the panels and barriers were carved from oak, towering columns reaching up to the ceiling as if they were a part of the tree canopy. The light was warmer than he was expecting, jewels of energy floating up above as if fireflies had made the Tardis their home. There was no raised dais, with the console on the same floor as everything else. It was sleeker than the one he'd clung onto in the past, the most notable essence of machinery that cut through the natural aesthetic.

"What do you think?"
Enola came up behind him and the sound of her voice forced him to look away from his surroundings. Harry was glad that that was the case. As he stared at Enola, it was as if her sharpest features were being soothed by the simple fact that she was home. The light of the Tardis bathed her in a comforting glow, her clothes and makeup seemingly lighter as a result. Harry was sure that he'd never laid eyes upon someone so magnificent.

"I think it's gorgeous," he replied quietly.

"You know, they say that a Tardis is an extension of its owner…so I'll take that as a compliment."

"I think it was meant as one."

"And I think that this is all stolen."

It was Matthew who spat out the words. Evidently, Harry's brazen act of bravery had been enough to convince his friends to go along for the ride. They followed in Enola's wake, laying their eyes on the ship for the first time. As might have been expected, Hermione viewed the location with a gleaming sense of wonder, her joyful gaze a clear indication that she wanted to explore what the place had to offer. Matthew, on the other hand, wasn't hiding his disdain at what he saw.

"This isn't your magic," he said. "The Mormonts created this place. They conquered time travel, and that made them a target. They were people who brought you in, Enola. They were people who loved you. And now you're flaunting the spoils of a war that cost them their lives. Why are you doing it? Why are you doing all this? Are you trying to get a response out of me?"

"I know about everything that happened," she responded, this time refusing to look away from his burning eyes. "You don't need to tell me about what we went through. I…I know what my family did. You were lucky, in a way. You were gone before the war could properly start. You never had to see the fallout."
Matthew laughed harshly. "I'm fortunate? How dare you?"

"It might not seem that way from your perspective, but I saw the horrors that were enacted. Why do you think I ran away? Why do you think I searched for you? The one thing I still had left from a life that was taken from me?"

"Do you want me to applaud you?"

"I want you to listen to me. I want you to hear me out. Because I'm the only one who can make you see the larger picture."
"Which is?"

"This Tardis…this ship you hate so much…could very well be the thing that saves Harry's life."