Chapter 110 - part 3

Chapter 9: Struggle 01Notes:Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!

Chapter TextAN: Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!

Struggle 01

Daphne collected Tracey after the evening meal and they both followed along behind me as I led the way towards the hidden room I had found earlier. I was mildly surprised that my awareness of the castle hadn't constricted back to the pre-Defense Class levels yet…I grunted, suppressing a sigh. Maybe my hitchhiker was enjoying seeing more of the area through my 'eyes'. And yet, if that was true, why had it only expanded my range when I got upset enough to shut down? Or had it just used that justify expanding and simply gotten distracted and forgot that it normally brought things back to the standard level?

"Taylor, is everything alright?" Daphne asked, her hand finding my arm.

I bit back my first response, then shook my head. "I'm trying not to second guess everything. I have a, let's say, better understanding of my magic. The problem is that it's not perfect and the holes in my knowledge are leading me down rabbit holes that don't have bottoms."

"Well then, the answer to that is simple," Tracey said. "You either send an aguamenti or incendio down the rabbit hole. Drown or smoke the little bastard out until he comes up for air." Daphne and I both stared at her. "Or, you know, you could be boring and just leave it alone. That works too, but it doesn't get you answers."

Daphne let go of my arm and frowned at her friend. "Sometimes I forget why you were placed in Slytherin, then you go and say things like that and suddenly I remember."

"Just because I'm a fun-loving, snarky witch with a cute little arse, it doesn't mean I'm not also a ruthless fun-loving, snarky witch, with a cute little arse!" Tracey's smile was both familiar and infectious. I found myself laughing along with her as we turned the last corner.

"Tracey, if we ever go to my home, remind me to introduce you to my friends. I think that you and Alec would get along very well."

"I'm going to take you up on that. Even his name sounds…foreign…uh, Taylor, why are we going to Myrtle's bathroom?"

"Oh bugger, I thought I had miscounted the floors," Daphne muttered. "I withdraw my consent towards this location. Taylor, we're waiting until Hogsmeade."

The bugs that I was using to scout ahead of us suddenly ran into something along the wall coming to an immediate halt. I pushed them forward again, testing the hidden thing. There was no scent from the invisible object, no heat, nothing I could see or sense at all with any of my questing critters. It wasn't firm or rigid, the obstruction had some clear give when the bugs flew against it. It felt like…cloth maybe? Maybe silk? Hmm…interesting.

"What's so bad about here? And who's Myrtle?" I pushed around the edges of the invisible cloth, testing the outlines. It was, oh, that was person shaped. Two - no three - persons.

One of my bugs flew near the top portion of the cloth. One second it was there, and the next, it was just…gone. I knew it hadn't died, but any awareness I had of it had vanished as if it had never existed.

Curiouser and curiouser…

I sent more flies towards where the last one vanished. They vanished as well. The ones I had resting on the top of the cloth shifted, pulling back closer to the wall. One of my flies came spiraling back out of the nothingness, immediately falling under my control again. I sent several flies up to the top of the fabric. One…two…three…Three bumps; three heads? Three heads.

It was a cloak! An invisibility cloak, and it stopped my control! Oh that was awesome!

A bit of a bother sure, but I needed one of those. If I had one of those…Oh but if my control ended where the cloak's influence started, would I be able to exert myself past its confines? Maybe it was one directional? Hmm, something to experiment with later.

"Myrtle is a ghost. This bathroom is hers. She haunts thisbathroom. I should've taken you up here before and I didn't and for that I'm sorry, but we're leaving, Taylor. It's time to go, we'll reconvene later and apologize for wasting the Gryffindors' time."

I just smirked, as my other two flies came tumbling back out of the cloak as well. "You two girls go on ahead. Say hello to Myrtle. I'll be right there."

"Oh man, Daphne, can't you like, dock her pay or something? I really don't want to have to air out my loafers. I like these ones," Tracey grumbled.

"Just go on ahead, I'll be right behind you."

Daphne glared at my back. "This 'secret room' had betterbe worth it, Taylor."

"You're going to love it. Go! Go!" I shooed them both ahead and the two roommates shuffled through the door just ahead looking for all intents and purposes like they were about to go and fight Lung. Oh well, too bad for them. I'd go and rescue them in a moment. But first…

"Harry? Hermione? Are you guys eavesdropping again?"

The cloak shuddered, my bugs were nearly thrown off as the people under it backed all the way away from me. A few moments later, the hood was thrown back. As it dropped, the final fly that hadn't flown back out yet zapped back into my awareness.

"Bugger. How the bloody hell did you do that?" the redhead asked, his eyes wide as he stared at me. That must be Ron Weasley.

"I told you her senses were amazing. She's as good as Dumbledore. Hi, Taylor," Harry said. He pulled the fabric off the trio, the whole thing shimmering like stars. That was…wow that was pretty. I didn't even like pretty things and that was downright mesmerizing. "We weren't intentionally spying, we just have a track record for…being in places that we shouldn't."

Hermione was glaring at my flies with narrowed eyes as I flew them away from the cloak, then her gaze flitted to the rest of the group that I had just swept away from the folded shimmering piece of fabric, following them as they all moved back to the ceiling. The girl's eyes snapped open as wide as saucers, her mouth gaping. Her eyes locked onto mine and she sucked in a breath, taking a half step back. Darn, another Lisa, I'd need to be more careful with my insects in the future. Well, at least she was going to be an ally, I could deal with her tonight before we split up and figure out just how much she suspected. Sending multiple flies directly into their faces and then immediately asking them to reveal themselves probably hadn't been the most subtle move, so this one really was on me.

"I understand. So how much of what Tracey and Daphne were saying is true? Is Myrtle really that bad?" I held Hermione's gaze, lifting my eyebrows.

"She's a menace," Ron sighed. "Not all the time though. Moaning Myrtle's actually really nice; until you say the wrong thing and set her off. Then she floods the bathroom and it's all just awful. The problem is that almost everything is the wrong thing. Nick only ever cares if you mention how he's nearly headless instead of fully headless; Myrtle gets upset about everything!"

"Don't talk bad about Myrtle," Harry snapped. "She's very nice and she helped me a lot last year. She's just sensitive."

"That's just because she had a crush on you," Ron muttered.

"She did not!"

"'Harry! You can share my toilet!'" Ron mimicked a girl in love a little too well - the falsetto was pretty horrible however.

"…She still helped me alot."

"Alright lover boy, you go ahead and help Daphne and Tracey deal with your dead girlfriend. I'll pull up the rear with Hermione to make sure we're not followed."

Harry groaned. "I hate you. Come on, Ron. And don'tupset Myrtle again!"

"That last time wasn't me!"

"You said that she could haunt the lake, Ron! You know she hates the lake. The merfolk pick on her."

The two of them walked a few paces ahead and I stepped next to Hermione, finally breaking our little staring contest as I held out my hand waiting for her to shake it again. Hermione swallowed hard, looking at the extended digits warily.

"Hi, I'm Taylor, promise not to tell anyone about my tricks and I'll explain them a bit better to you later on?" I murmured, soft enough so that the boys couldn't hear as they slipped into the bathroom.

Hermione slowly, carefully, reached out and took my hand. "One question, how many?"

"Let's just say, if you call for me and you're anywhere in the castle, I'll find you in a few minutes."

Her grip tightened around my fingers. "That's…"

"Like you said earlier today, Hermione: I have very good senses."

"Yes," she whispered, "yes, apparently you do. We should get in there before they wonder where we were."

I waved her onward, and she walked past me, her back stiff as a board. Well, that was one issue temporarily solved. Now, to see about this secret room!

I'd need it if I wanted to hide a body…

"I never minded you coming to visit me, Harry. I'm not sure about these other girls though. Why are they going to be here more?"

It took more effort than I would ever admit not to slam my head into the wall as I heard the whines coming from one of the mirrors in front of us. Harry's negotiations with the resident ghost were, apparently, going poorly. Such a fact was totally understandable as the ghost obviously felt like acting like a jealous pre-teen.

God, people were exhausting to deal with. Living, dead, it didn't matter.

"Hey, Myrtle, right?" I said, striding forward. Daphne frantically crossed her arms in an X to the side, just past the view of the mirror. The ghost girl was peering out of it, with just her head poking through the surface. That was a neat trick.

"Yes, and I've heard about you, Hebert. The other ghosts are talking. They say you're creepy." Myrtle twisted to glare at me. The effect was disconcerting since it was just her head that was actually visible.

"Well I certainly don't intentionally try to be creepy. But if you stop making a fuss about us being in your bathroom, I could play it up a little, keep people from wanting to come in here. You like your privacy don't you?"

Daphne jumped in, already seeing the lure. "Yes, a little bit of intimidation goes a long way. She could easily keep people away from this room."

"Or," Tracey commented, dismissively flipping her hand in the air, "convince a few more to use the bathroom instead. Whatever floats your ghostly boat right?"

Myrtle eyed our group, frowning. "Why would you do that?"

"I want to go explore a secret room and I'd rather not get yelled at or have to change my clothes every time I come back," I said shrugging.

"It really would help us out a lot Myrtle," Harry said, flashing her a smile.

"And you'd help with frustrating Umbridge; even if just indirectly," Hermione chimed in.

Myrtle's entire demeanor cracked and she rose out of the mirror snarling, her fists clenched, her hair floating behind her as if it had been splayed out on the ground and forgot she was standing upright. "Umbridge?! That harlot threatened to exorcise me! Exorcise! Oh if I could just! AHH!" She flew past us and into one of the stalls. The door slammed behind her, the toilet burped, and a small fount of water shot up at her passing.

"Well goodbye to you too, Myrtle," Ron grunted. "You'd think we warrant a bit of courtesy by now."

"Leave it be, Ronald," Hermione sighed.

I slapped my hands together and smiled wide. I had left a few doxies in the tunnel under the floor and they were busy exploring. It was huge down there. I couldn't waitto see it myself!

"Okay, now that that's done, secret tunnel time!"

Harry looked at me, his lips quirked into a half frown. "You're really looking forward to this."

"It's a giant secret room in a giant castle built under a bathroom! Fuck yes, I'm looking forward to this. Whoever built this wanted a full-on villain lair and I want to see what goodies they left behind."

"Wait, how do you know it's a villain lair?" Ron asked, his eyes narrowed to slits.

"I'm curious about that as well," Daphne said.

I just laughed. "Guys, come on. You don't build a giant secret room under a bathroom without wanting to keep it hidden. And if you want to keep something hidden like that in a magic castle? Doesn't that just scream 'Evil Overlord's Villain Lair' to you?"

Hermione stared. "We had very different upbringings, you and I."

I chose to ignore her and instead started looking around under the sinks. "So the entrance should be somewhere around here. Everyone start looking for a button or a lever or…wait this is a magic school, the door probably opens through a spell or something…Hmm, that might be a problem."

"Greengrass, your bodyguard is bloody terrifying," Ron murmured.

"I know. It's wonderful isn't it!"

"No, really, she's bloody terrifying. The Chamber of Secrets is under that sink."

For a second I was worried that Daphne and Tracey both broke their necks with how quickly they snapped their heads to the side to focus on Ron, their jaws hanging wide open. For my part, I just groaned and glanced over my shoulder. "Aww, you guys already knew about this place? You could've told me when I suggested it earlier."

"Well, it was a perfect idea for a meeting location," Hermione said, shrugging. "And to be fair, I've never been there. Just these two."

"…What?!" Tracey hissed. "You prats actually found Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets and you didn't tell anyone?! What the bloody fucking hell is wrong with you idiots?!"

"We told, um, Dumbledore," Harry muttered, shuffling his feet. "Looking back, yeah, we probably should've asked someone to go down and explore it a bit more."

"Ya think! Oh my god! The history down there! The spells in his secret library! The treasure!"

"The giant bloody basilisk," Ron said. "Look, we have bad memories of that place; Voldemort kidnapped my sister and tried to kill her down there, okay?! And Harry nearly died. Twice! That's not even counting when Lockhart tried to turn us both into slobbering morons and leave us to die. Lay off."

Daphne swallowed hard, licking her lips. "As the voice of reason. I say we go and explore the Chamber for the moment and discuss foolishness later. Do either of the boys know how to open the door?"

"Parseltongue," Harry sighed. He leaned over the sink above me, nudging me out of the way. As I hurriedly stood, I caught sight of a small carving of a snake on the handle of the faucet. "Hiss." Harry hissed.

The others jumped back as the water fixture started to fold down into the floor, exposing a large hole, easily wide enough for several people to jump down. I was tracking it with my doxies, but I was more focused on Harry at the moment. The way his tongue had moved while uttering that password…I shook myself. Bad, Taylor. Stay focused Taylor, don't let your mind wander.

"We have to jump down? Really?" Hermione grunted. "You would think Slytherin would have built stairs into his hidden retreat."

"You could always ask?" I commented, deliberately looking away from Harry and sidling next to Daphne instead. She stepped between the two of us and leaned over the lip of the hole to peer down, reaching out to grab my hand as she did so. I obliged her and held on tight to make sure she didn't fall.

"I can try. We didn't really experiment the last time. Hiss."

Lo and behold: stairs.

"I don't believe you killed that monster at twelve. That's just not possible." I was really growing to like Tracey. The girl was blunt as all hell and she reminded me of how Emma used to be before high school when things went bad.

It was probably a good thing that Tracey didn't have red hair…

"The snake did pretty much kill me too," Harry said, shrugging.

"I'm sorry, what?" Tracey hissed.

"I got better."

That did not surprise me. It should, it did not. I was going to have to get that story at some point though. "I've seen twelve-year-olds go up against much scarier things," I said, walking away from the giant snake carcass to stare up at the enormous statue along the back wall. Vista had faced off against Bitch's dogs and those were a heck of a lot scarier than just a large snake. The Wards regularly fought the Empire too and so she had to have gone up against monsters like Hookwolf and Kaiser. Hell, the Wards back home were basically just shorter Protectorate members.

"Taylor," Hermione said, slowly and deliberately, "basilisks can kill you if you meet their gaze. They are incredibly fast, and they are only truly vulnerable to the crow of a rooster."

"Oh, so they're really, really easy to kill then. Just grab a chicken and scare the thing when you're a room away so it crows."

All of the others stared at my back like I had grown a third eye. I looked over my shoulder at them, frowning. "What? What did I say? Wasn't that how you killed it, Harry?"

"Um…I stabbed it. With a…sword…of Gryffindor."

"Boys," Hermione groaned.

"I didn't have anything else! Voldemort'd forced Ginny to kill all of the roosters earlier in the year, remember?! And it's not like I can conjure the bloody things."

Hermione turned her glare to Ron. He held his hands up and shook his head. "Don't look at me. I was babysitting Lockhart after the corridor collapsed."

"Okay, enough with the giant, monster snake," Daphne stated. "There's got to be something else useful down here right?"

I pointed to an alcove to the left of the statue. "Few jewelry pieces that way. Small library that way. Don't touch the jewelry with your bare hands - it kills things that touch it. Books were safe though. Also, this path through the mouth has a way out into the forest, but it's covered by a stone slab at the back. Probably another of those magic parsel doors."

Harry nodded. "That would make sense. The basilisk could use it to get out and eat that way."

Tracey had started towards the jewelry, but stopped when I said my doxy had died trying to poke it. She instead came to stand next to me and crossed her arms as she craned her neck to stare up at Salazar Slytherin's face with me. "You know, Taylor, I think I'm starting to get used to how brilliant you are. If Daphne doesn't claim you, I might just jump on that train."

"I'm not that smart, Tracey."

"Huh?" She eyed me, frowning. Oh, she wasn't talking about…man, I needed to find a dictionary with British slang.

A throat cleared behind us and we turned. Hermione nodded once everyone was focused on her. "So, not to cut into the exploration of this fascinating location, but I do believe we had an agenda. Taylor and Harry have rather strong issues with Madam Umbridge. I also have mixed feelings towards her. I would like to take a quick stock of the rest of us."

"Seriously, Hermione?" Ron asked, his eyebrows raised. At her further nod, he just snorted. "Alright fine. I hate the bint. She can go get lost in a Floo for all I care about her."

Harry's slump straightened in an instant, his eyes wide. "Wait, that can happen?"

"Yeah, mate, if you miss the grills and go just spinning off into the flames you're lost forever. Bad way to go; you either die from the spinning or from dehydration. Dad talked to some of the blokes who investigated a malfunctioning grate about a year or two back and the stories he brought home…They can sometimes find the people, but whenever they pull them out, it's way too late."

I joined Harry in paling to a rather extreme shade of white. "Daphne, I vote that your dad Apparates us from now on."

"I think I have to agree," even Daphne looked shocked by that image.

"Moving on!" Hermione shouted. Though even she wasn't entirely unaffected as her skin had lost several shades. "Tracey? Daphne? Where do you stand on our new teacher?"

"The curse'll get her," Tracey shrugged. "Hopefully really, really early. I'd like to pass my O.W.L.s and considering I am one of those half-bloods she despises it's super annoying having to listen to the bint harp on."

Daphne nodded. "While I'm not necessarily an object of her direct ire, I prefer my teachers to be capable and less…directly racist. If she keeps on as she is, she's liable to have an 'accident' before the end of term and no one would shed a tear, not even in my House. On a more personal note, I'd rather not have someone in the school that deliberately tried to ignore the fact that one of our best students was murdered by a madman last year. It's offensive and disgusting, not to mention completely disgraceful."

"Wait, what? This is the first I'm hearing of this," I said.

Daphne grimaced, but it was Harry who responded. He held my gaze, his fists clenched. "At the end of the Triwizard Tournament last year, Cedric and I were both kidnapped by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It was just supposed to be me, but I was a bloody idiot and I convinced Cedric to try to take the Cup with me. Voldemort had Wormtail kill him. I got his body here, but most of the country thinks I'm a lying shite who probably killed him myself to steal the winnings. The Ministry doesn't want to accept that Voldemort is back, so they made up their own story."

Spin doctors and bad PR. That I understood. Hell, Armsmaster had been convinced I was a villain at first, just because I had an edgy costume. "I get it. I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm going to be honest here though, it sounds like you need a good publicist. You're never going to get the idiots on your side, but you can probably get a good chunk of the masses if you have a publicist who can get the story out the right way. I guarantee you that people will be more likely to believe that a crazy old guy murdered a teenager than a fellow teenager doing it. Even where I come from, that's the default assumption."

"Hmm," Hermione cupped her chin. "Actually, that's not necessarily a bad idea. I'll do a bit of research and see what I can find. It would even help our situation here; If we can weaken the Ministry's support, we can weaken Umbridge's power base."

Harry shuffled from side-to-side, eventually nodding.

"What else are we going to do?" Tracey asked. "Taylor, can you keep messing with her in class? That was wicked today! And she can't even punish you because you aren't technically a student."

I scowled, crossing my arms. "No. I can't go back to her classroom again."

"What? Why? You're the perfect agent!"

"Tracey, drop it," Daphne hissed.

"Umbridge reminds me of someone who hurt me before I came here. She's…" I floundered for the right word. "There was this trio of girls where I'm from. I have no idea why they hated me in particular, but they tried to do everything they could to destroy me for almost two years. And absolutely nothing was ever done about it. They…they…"

Daphne stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me as I trailed off. I didn't push her away, but I did manage to continue talking in a quieter, barely audible voice. "The principal helped them cover everything up and gloated about it to my face. Umbridge is…that principal."

"Blimey," Ron muttered. "I see why you hate her."

"Blackwell let the Trio get away with everything. Even when I brought up evidence she just…" I trailed off, grabbing a hold of the doxies and pulling them back out of the insane circles they had been flying while I was distracted. "Yeah, I can't go back. I'm not putting up with that stuff again and it would be bad for me to be in the same room as her."

"Well, damn," Tracey murmured.

"I can still distract her though and keep her attention away from people - within limits."

"Okay, let's go with that then," Hermione said. "In addition, I think we should try to get a study group or something together. We're obviously not going to learn anything in that class and we do need to pass our exams."

"Really, Hermione? More work?" Ron whined. "Who would even teach it?"

"I was thinking Harry would."

The boy in question backpedaled, holding up his hands to ward his friend off, while the rest of us paused to think it over.

"Oh. Okay, I'd be cool with that. Harry's good at Defense," Ron said.

"Wait! I can't seriously do -"

"Actually, I think you would be a good choice," Daphne commented. "You always get top marks in Defense, even when we have a bad teacher. Your other marks don't stand out, but you are easily top of the year in Defense." Harry stared at her, mouth hanging open. "What? Just because I am in Slytherin I can't pay attention to people's marks?"

"Look at this way, Harry," Tracey said, smirking. "You simply can't be worse at teaching than Umbridge, you also have a great arse." She licked her lips and winked at him. "Mmm, your voice is really deep and sexy, your eyes are deep enough to get lost in, and you're the perfect height to catch a damsel falling from a badly blocked spell…so really, it's all upside to anyone coming to your class!"

"We're going to need to find a new room though," Hermione said, completely ignoring Tracey's comments even while Harry turned beet red next to her. "If we're going to invite others, the Chamber simply isn't convenient. Harry would have to open and close the entrance too often and people don't just disappear into Myrtle's bathroom."

"We could ask the elves, they would likely know a decent room we can use that's out of the way." I was about to ask Daphne if she meant real elves or house elves when my attention was pulled back towards the main castle.

Shifting more bugs towards whoever had just murmured my name, I scowled as I recognized it was Umbridge's classroom.

"…What do you mean there are House Elves at Hogwarts!?"

"Well of course there are. Hogwarts takes in the orphans or the released ones to make sure they have a steady magic source. What are the Headmasters supposed to do? Leave the poor things to die?"

I didn't have enough bugs in that area to get a good picture of what was happening. We were too deep for me to call on a lot of the swarm that I had put in the higher, unused classrooms for safe keeping.

"House Elves aren't like goblins or centaurs. They need magic to live, Hermione. They're symbiotic with their families."

"That's - what?!"

I did however, still have the doxies…Their new nest was close enough. Grabbing a hefty number of the drone population from their nest, I started moving them up through the castle towards the classroom.

"…Hermione, I told you that House Elves need to work!"

"Ron, you never explained that it was because they would literally die without being bound to a family!"

"Well, I mean, I'd heard that, Mum says it's not quite like that; but you're the one who reads all the books, surely you'd found that out on your own…"

Doxies could see in color, even if the range of light I could see through them was strange, and their eyes were close enough to human eyes that I could understand the images. That was nice, a very useful feature. It also made things more complicated. Because as soon as I slipped one doxy into the room, I saw Luna inside, sitting at a desk next to two older redheads. They were clearly twins and looked enough like Ron that they were probably brothers. All three were wincing as they wrote on their parchment, Umbridge just smiling away at the front of the room, her grin wider than anything I had seen before.

"…Well, yes, you can abuse the trust that a House Elf has in you, but nobody does."

"But at least some have to want to be free! Don't they?"

"Hermione, have you ever actually talked to a House Elf?"

I got my doxy close enough to Luna that I could see what she was writing: I must act my age.

As she wrote, the words appeared on the back of her hand for a few moments. And my doxy could smell the fresh blood.

My fingers twitched.

"Taylor? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

I shifted the doxy over to the twins. I must not disrupt class.

Their papers were also covered in blood, though the words were leaving a slightly longer lasting impression on the backs of their hands.

"Taylor, is there something we need to be worried about?"

Luna wrote another line, wincing as she lifted the quill. As soon as she did, she whispered, "Taylor, if you can hear me, this is starting to hurt."

"No," I growled.

I called the rest of the doxies from their nests all around the school.

"Taylor?" Daphne grabbed my hand, squeezing hard enough to make my joints pop. I didn't care.

The doxies surged forward, throwing the door to the classroom open under their weight. Luna and the twins looked up, shouted something and dived to the floor. Umbridge's eyes widened. She tried to run to her inner office before the wave of little biting bodies reached her.

She didn't make it.

Chapter 10: Struggle 02Chapter TextStruggle 02

I waited with Luna as the school nurse looked over her hand. The twins were sitting in their own chairs nearby. Both had eyed me as I strode into the hospital wing, Daphne and Hermione hot on my heels. The others had split off as we got back to the haunted bathroom, trying to look at least a bit less conspicuous.

We had all seen Umbridge apparated away by a frantic team of wizards in white robes, her breathing labored and her skin green and covered in small round puncture wounds, each of which were swollen and festering already.

I didn't feel guilty at all. I should. I really, probably, should. I had wanted to be a hero. I had started working with the Undersiders intending to turn them in. When had my morals turned more…flexible? Had there been a point that I had stopped believing in black and white?

Grunting, I shook my head at my silent musing. I knewwhen I had flipped sides. It was when Lisa and Alec had proven they were my friends. Alec cared more about the abuse I had gone through than anyone else ever had - including my father. Lisa had…Lisa had gotten through my shell. They were supposed to be villains. No, they were villains. They were supposed to be the bad guys. None of that changed the fact that they were still my friends, and they had cared about me. They had cared when no one else had.

Black and white didn't exist. If villains could be heroes, then heroes could be villains. No, I didn't care if Umbridge lived or died. Let them try to save her at their hospital. While I hadn't really tried to kill her, not hard at least, I wouldn't shed a single tear if my blind rage brought about her last breath. I had pulled my swarm back when Flitwick came in and I hadn't let them eat her. That was as much of a chance as I was willing to give the bitch. She had abused children. She deserved whatever happened to her.

"You are very broody. Did you know that?"

I smirked at Luna, leaning back in my charge and crossing my arms. "That's pretty much my normal state."

"Hmm," she frowned, then shook her head. "I prefer it when you are hyperactive and chatty. Like when you were telling me the story about the flickering fireflies."

"I used to be a lot more talkative," I said, my face falling flat. "Things changed a few years back."

"And then they changed again when you came here," Luna replied. Daphne nodded silently behind me and Hermione's eyes narrowed to slits as she stared between the back of my head and Daphne. "Do not let one bad incident sour the wonders of magic. I didn't. I can still find Heliopaths and Plimpies wherever I search."

I smiled and patted her hand. "I thought they were Gulping Plimpies?"

"Ah, yes, that's right, I must have momentarily confused them with their South American variant."

"I'm sure."

Pomfrey stepped back from Luna's bed, and thrust a potion towards the younger girl. "Well, I've done everything I can for the moment. Make sure to drink one of these each hour for the next three hours and keep that hand soaking in the bowl. The murtlap essence will ensure there's no scarring, the potion is for any lingering pain. Excuse me while I deal with the Weasleys." Luna saluted her as she hurried over to the redheads.

As soon as the woman was out of earshot, Luna leaned forward, her voice pitched low, "Thank you, Taylor."

"You shouldn't have had to see that," I murmured.

"I watched my mother die. I did not mind seeing an evil woman get her comeuppance. If you are melancholy because of that, please believe I have a stronger stomach, and it would be worth it regardless."

I just grunted.

"I must say, I wasn't entirely certain it would work. I'm glad my guess was right!" I arched an eyebrow and she chuckled. "It's been a very long time since I had anyone willing to watch out for me. Daddy was not the same after Mummy passed and Hogwarts has not always lived up to the dreams I had of it as a girl. So I'll say again, Taylor: Thank you."

"Anytime, Luna," I said, forcing the words out through a suddenly clenched throat. "You need me again, just call."

As she laid back down, smiling, I stood and waved for Daphne and Hermione to follow me. One of the twins gave me a small salute behind Madam Pomfrey's back just before we reached the door which I returned with just enough of a head tilt to show acknowledgement, and then we were gone. My tagalongs were silent until I led them into an empty classroom a few doors down. Once we were inside, Daphne and Hermione both started to shoot a multitude of spells around the room, enough that my eyebrows were arched high as they finished.

"I haven't heard of those last few," Hermione said, looking at Daphne. "Family spells?"

"Advanced privacy wards. Most of the bigger families make certain their children can do them as early as possible. It's never too young to start learning how to safeguard a conversation."

"Yes, I can see the appeal. I'll have to get your notes on that later if you don't mind."

"Certainly."

"Ahem," I cleared my throat and both girls turned to me. Spreading my arms wide I asked, "I didn't bring you both here to talk shop. I brought you here because you two looked ready to jump me."

"Yes, well," Daphne said, pulling at her collar. She sighed and her arm dropped to her side. "Before I say anything, why exactly is Hermione here?"

"Because I promised her an explanation…and I had a minor meltdown before I could get around to it."

"Ah." A strange expression flitted across her face that I couldn't remotely begin to place before she schooled herself back to a mask of neutrality. "Anything I should avoid?"

I shrugged. "My mind says yes. My gut says no. I think she'd be a strong ally and it'll be good to have people we can rely on, and who are fully aware of things, to run ideas past. Your parents are pretty far away, and while I love your sister, she's…"

"Not exactly a tactical genius, yes. Very well. Granger, I want to give you the shovel speech that my father has threatened to give my significant others…however I think we are all aware that Taylor is the one more likely to be able to take care of herself in this power dynamic."

Hermione crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure whether to be amused or embarrassed for you. I have several questions, Taylor. First and foremost: didyou attack Umbridge?"

"Yes."

She blinked, her arms dropping and her head cocking to the side. "Well that was blunt. I'm not used to that at all. Dumbledore tends to give confusing, rambling answers that never answer any of the questions asked; most of the other staff will give a full lecture that may somewhat tangentially relate to the topic; and if I'm doing my own research, it takes me days to find the right book, the library here is in a horrific state. So this is refreshing. I'm not sure what to do with myself now, I didn't actually have a followup prepared for an admission…"

"Well I do," Daphne scoffed. "Are you alright? What did she do? What was Pomfrey treating those three for?"

"She was torturing them," I stated. They gasped and I dropped into a chair shaking my head. "She had these quills that were making them write in their own blood and carve the lines into the back of their hands. When I heard Luna asking for help…I just, you know, snapped."

"My word," Hermione whispered. "Even the actual Death Eater didn't resort to corporal punishment, although studies show that verbal abuse can be worse. The Ministry must be willing to do whatever it takes to silence Harry and Dumbledore…This is very bad."

"Taylor," Daphne said, kneeling beside me and cupping my hand. "You didn't answer my question."

"I'm fine."

"Answer my question with some word besides 'fine,' please."

I bit my tongue thinking for a second, finally scowling. "I'm not going to let anyone else go through what I did. If I have to make this school into my personal territory and chase out every corrupt 'teacher', or government official they try to send in, then so be it. No one else gets hurt while I'm here."

"You can't watch us all, you'd run yourself ragged."

"I can and I will. My range covers the entire castle now as long as we're not down in the Chamber."

"Excuse me," Hermione cut in, "range of what? Are you using a spell or is this a natural ability your kind possesses?"

"Natural ability. Each parahuman has a different ability," I stated. "Mine is - was - bug control. Since I've gotten here that has expanded somewhat. I can also communicate and somewhat control smaller familiars as well."

She gasped. "Trevor! That's why he's been so well behaved!"

"Nah, only for a bit the first day. Now I just use his eyes. He sees in color and his vision doesn't hurt like a lot of my bugs do."

"How extensive is your multitasking?"

"Yes," I answered, my expression carefully neutral.

"That's not an answer."

Daphne snorted. "It is. The question was: Multitasking? The answer was: Multitasking, yes. There's no upper limit, Hermione. None that she's bothered to share with my family at least."

"None that I know of," I shrugged.

Hermione shook herself. "Yes, well, setting that aside, I must ask as I grew distracted, did you mean to killUmbridge."

I frowned, squeezing Daphne's incredibly soft hands. "Honestly, I don't know. I sent the doxies after her, but I didn't quite realize they were venomous until after they first started to poison her. I didn't really stop them after that though. I also didn't let them eat her like they wanted to do so…She might survive. I honestly don't care. I…I hope she doesn't. A woman like that shouldn't be walking around free, not when she has the blessing of the people in charge."

"That doesn't give us the right to be executioners. We have laws, we have to follow those laws."

Daphne stood up, glaring at Hermione. "And if those laws are wrong? Are we still expected to follow them then?"

Hermione scowled. "How am I supposed to know?! I follow the laws, and the rules, and the stupid social contract!" Under her breath she added, "Until they are in conflict with my friends, then I protect my friends…"

I nodded. "I do the same. Luna is my friend. I was protecting Luna."

Hermione looked up in surprise that I'd heard the last bit of her rant. "Oh. Well…I suppose that's okay then," she murmured and dropped her gaze rubbing her arm. "You said you can manipulate insects? Does that include anyinsects?"

"So far as I've ever experienced. Why?"

Hermione looked up, meeting my gaze, her smile widening to a frightening degree. "Because, in that case, I believe that we should all take a bit of a field trip into the Forbidden Forest over the weekend. There are some…unique arachnids out there that you would simply adore."

As Daphne and I made our way back to the Slytherin dorm, I checked in on Dumbledore and his people above us, shifting a few more bugs to better listen into his current conversation. It looked like most of the Heads of House were already there, including Hagrid. Only Sprout was missing and she was on her way up. It was disturbingly hard to actually keep track of Dumbledore's office, almost like the whole room kept moving whenever I turned my focus away from it.

"Will she live, Filius?" Dumbledore asked.

"Albus that was, quite a few doxies," Flitwick replied, not shifting from his seat on the chair in front of the headmaster's desk.

Snape snorted. "If the swarm that passed your office was anything like the one that flew outside mine, I can only imagine."

"You didn't make it up there fast enough, Severus," the little man said. "I haven't seen doxy venom poisoning that bad since my dueling tours."

Well, if Umbridge hadn't wanted to be bitten by venomous magical pests, she shouldn't have taken pleasure torturing children.

"Someone was stung by doxies during a duel?" McGonagall asked, her eyes widening. "Who would use that avenue of attack?"

"A rather ingenious Bulgarian who specialized in charms. He claimed relation to Newt Scamander; frankly, I believe him."

Hagrid scratched at his beard. "A swarm big enough ter risk attacking a large predator would stay ter eat. But swarms like tha' don' gather. Not in Hogwarts they don'."

"This wasn't a natural swarm, Hagrid. There were clusters of doxies coming from all over the castle converging on that room." McGonagall shook her head. "In addition to the three that myself, Filius, and Severus saw, there were an additional four swarm groups. I confirmed it with the portraits before this meeting."

Confirmed with the portraits? Was that what Daphne meant when she said that the walls had eyes and ears? That would be incredibly, stupidly, literal. I would have to ask.

"Yes, it's almost as if Hogwarts itself was opposed to the beleaguered Undersecretary." Dumbledore said, his fingers steepled. "Filius?"

"I'd believe it. Even that accursed Bulgarian didn't have the sort of control required for such a swift attack." He paused as Dumbledore still stared at him. "Oh! You meant Umbridge. She was moved to St. Mungo's. I did what I could as the swarm dispersed. I'm not trained for field medicine and that level of toxin was far outside of Poppy's abilities with the tools she had on hand."

"And the physical damage?"

"Nothing a short healing stint wouldn't deal with. It's the poison that's the problem," Snape said, scowling. "Doxies are dangerous in large numbers, Albus."

"I am aware."

Hagrid looked up. "Albus, why are yeh on'y asking abou' Dolores? Sounds ter me like she got wha' the castle felt she deserved. Why aren' yeh asking 'bout the students she was hurting?"

Dumbledore leaned back, sighing. "Messrs. Weasleys and Miss Lovegood are perfectly fine. I was delayed as I was by stopping to ensure that personally. I am more concerned that the Ministry is going to use this opportunity to enforce more rules and regulations onto this school, let alone who they would find for a replacement teacher."

It couldn't be someone worse. And if it was, well, I would deal with them too. If I did it right, I could actually play it off as the castle defending itself.

"There is also…" Dumbledore trailed off as he looked at Snape, then sighed again, seeming to sag into himself. My watching bugs stayed perfectly still as my focus intensified. "This may not have been Hogwarts acting in defense of her students."

"What are you saying, Albus?" McGonagall asked, her eyes narrowed.

"There may be another possibility."

"That - woman - was torturing my lions!" McGonagall snapped. "And one of Filius' ravens! I may find Fred and George infuriating, but never in all my years have I ever considered raising a hand or wand against my students. Corporal punishment was deemed unacceptable forty years ago, Albus! Forty years! If Hogwarts had not seen fit to depose her, then I would have run her out myself."

"As would I," Flitwick stated. "Luna is an odd soul, but she is a gentle one. Ministry appointed or not, Umbridge had no right to do what she did."

"Except, you are both forgetting," Snape interjected, "she did. She had legal power over Hogwarts that we could not fight. We may not like it, but Fudge gave her far-reaching authority. She could do whatever she wanted here and none of us could raise a hand against her. It would only have been a matter of days before we saw laws put in place that would have closed any loopholes we found. Umbridge did nothing illegal in that detention, it was merely disgraceful."

"Severus!" McGonagall gasped.

"No, you need to hear and you need to listen. The Dark Lord worked by similar means: start little, with legal methods, in small degrees and then quickly escalate until you have reached a level that others find too hard to believe or are incapable of responding to in force. Fudge chose his stooge well and he set her path. His next may act more subtle, but their road will be the same. Be prepared and warn your students not to draw their ire." He glanced towards the ceiling and, for just a moment, his eyes centered on my cluster of spiders and flies. "Wecannot protect them."

My bugs shifted, getting a better view of him. He obviously wasn't just talking to the staff…

"Thank you for that insight, Severus," Dumbledore said. "Now, if there are no more interjections?"

The door to the office opened and the final Head of House trotted in. Sprout dropped into the open chair.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Excellent timing, Pomona. I was just about to explain to the others how important it is to be wary moving forward."

Sprout frowned, leaning forward. "About the doxy infestation? I assumed we would be sweeping the castle for the pests. Really, a swarm killing a member of staff? That hasn't happened in…well I honestly can't remember such an incident. Lockhart was the closest we came and even he just received a few bites from the cornish pixies. It really says something about how awful a witch Umbridge was that couldn't even defend herself against a few doxies. But yes, I was just coming up from the greenhouses to check on the stock of hemlock, tormentil, and cowbane. I'm pleased to report that there should be enough on hand to brew a sizable stock of doxycide."

"Oh I assure you, Pomona, it was not 'just a few'. I watched the swarm disperse. Many accomplished witches and wizards would have had trouble against those numbers. That she didn't even try, however, well that is what is disappointing," Flitwick said.

"As I was saying." Dumbledore cleared his throat, the others looking back at him. "As much as I would like to believe this was our beloved castle taking an interest - an interest she has not shown in centuries - you must all be aware that there is another party with a potential investment in this matter who may have been able to act as well."

Snape scowled. "Headmaster…"

"No, they need to be aware. If she can rouse attacks from a distance and in such numbers…they must warn their Houses. I will not have another repeat of prior years. Too often our students have suffered because we have not adequately protected them. Now three could have been permanently scarred - and we still would not have been able to protect them. No. No more."

It was hard to see through the bugs I had in the room, but he didn't look quite as old as before. He was sitting up, his back perfectly straight, his fist clenched on the desk, his lips thin. It was an impressive figure even through my critters, I could only imagine what it was like in person.

"My friends, you have, I trust, all seen Miss Taylor Hebert on the premises by now?"

The staff nodded as one.

"The girl is far more than she appears and she has the potential to be either a dangerous foe or a potent ally. I am uncertain of what abilities she truly possesses, though I am aware that at a minimum she is a conduit for something far greater and far older. She can be in many places, see through many eyes, act through many bodies."

"Albus, are you saying…"

"I don't know for certain, Minerva," he said, shaking his head. "As I stated, I don't know her full capabilities. I have the barest idea and mere extrapolated guesses from a brief instant of contact, compounded by her body language and how she has acted over the past week. I believe it is possible that she could have been responsible for the attack against the Undersecretary. At a minimum, I am certain she was aware of it occurring."

"Well now," Sprout whistled. "That's certainly 'impressive'. We could have used more parahumans in the last war, if all of her race had similar powers. Any idea why she specifically had it out for Umbridge?"

"The portraits reported she was a friend to Miss Lovegood. If she was aware of the events in that room, and if she was indeed able to control the doxies, it would be child's play to have them mass and then disperse with only the single casualty."

McGonagall looked like she was going to be sick. "Umbridge could still die, Albus. If Hebert is responsible…"

"Then we should give her a medal for services to the school," Flitwick snapped. "No one hurts my students! As to Miss Hebert, she displayed similar control of small living creatures while sitting in on my class. Whatever magic she has, the beings under her sway are utterly within her grasp. I'm certain I was the only one to catch her tricks, and she was getting better at hiding them even after just an hour. If she doesn't want us to see her hand in things, we won't. This was a statement, and I for one hear it loud and clear."

Snape scoffed. "That's the goblin in you."

"Yes. It does not make me wrong. The enemy of my enemy is not my enemy."

It took me a second to parse that, but I found myself agreeing with his sentiment. People didn't always need to be allies to work together. The Wards had been helping the Undersiders to find and capture Bakuda after all.

"Be that as it may," Dumbledore said. "I am not telling you all this in order to frighten you. I want you to be informed and I want you to caution your charges. Warn them that Taylor Hebert obtained her position for a reason and that she is to be treated with the respect such an appointment deserves."

"We would be as much as pointing the finger at her that this was her fault, Albus," McGonagall said.

"Not necessarily. So long as no one can confirm any such rumors they would simply remain as such. Besides, I am certain that alternative explanations have already begun, such as those about the Defense position curse being exceptionally active against Miss Umbridge. She ruffled many feathers in her short tenure and those sorry to her exit will be few and far between. Even if we do inadvertently direct some suspicion towards Miss Hebert, all the better. We must avoid her feeling the need to direct her full attention against a student who has wronged her."

"Or her charges. Or friends," Sprout commented. "I passed her and the elder Greengrass on the second floor as I went to the greenhouses. That's half the castle away from Umbridge's office. If I could see half the castle and control little itty bitty critters, in the current political environment, I'd be keeping a close eye on my companions all the time. Severus, you should watch your little Death Eaters or they'll wind up dead."

"How dare you -" Snape started to snarl before Dumbledore cut him off.

"Severus. Pomona is correct. I wish to provide the children of Voldemort's followers another chance, to show them another path. But I recognize I am not in the majority. No matter who was at fault, whether Miss Hebert or Hogwarts, should those children make overt threatening moves, I have little hope they would be found breathing."

"A statement is only good if the message is received," Flitwick said. "I'll bet you ten galleons that if she moves against a student, we will never find the body."

Hagrid stared at the little man. "When did yeh get so bloodthirsty, Filius?"

"When one of my students received corporal punishment and I would have had to smile and nod. Taylor Hebert took retribution in my place. She has my backing and she will continue to have it. Umbridge was a stain on this school that should never have been allowed through the door. Albus, you fix this before Fudge gets a new toad in."

Dumbledore frowned as he met Flitwick's gaze. "I intend to. Just for curiosity's sake, what happens if I don't?"

"Then I will be teaching that girl everything I know about how to hide her activities."

I pulled back from the meeting as they started to move onto other topics and refocused on Daphne. Why she had suddenly decided I needed to learn how to play Exploding Snap of all things was a mystery for the ages.

I smiled and nodded and listened to rules even as I was digesting the implications of that meeting.

It was good to know that I had at least one friend amongst the staff.

Chapter 11: Struggle 03Chapter TextStruggle 03

The Forbidden Forest wasn't really living up to its name. I didn't see why it was forbidden at all. A bit dangerous? Sure. Mildly foreboding? Definitely. Filled to the brim with all sorts of critters? Absolutely.

But straight up deadly enough to be 'Forbidden'? Nah, that I didn't understand.

"This is positively atrocious," Daphne grumbled, from just beside me. "I despise the woods. I used to think I likedthe woods! How did I ever think that?!"

"We are barely a quarter of the way there," Hermione said, a short way ahead. "It gets progressively more gloomy as we proceed. I think."

"You think?"

Hermione looked over her shoulder for just long enough to glare at Daphne. "I was busy being petrified while my friends were chased halfway through the forest by these giant man-eating spiders. Excuse me if my knowledge of the environment is not entirely complete. You two were ones who requested we don't involve Harry or Ron at this time."

"Until either of them figure out my retainer's skill, I'd prefer we keep the knowledge pool as small as possible. What your enemies aren't aware of can only help you surprise them."

"I am not comfortable keeping this sort of secret from them. I'm supposed to tell them things like this. I've gotten in trouble when I've neglected to bring these sorts of things to light before."

"You've had another friend that has had secret insect manipulation powers before that you've been asked to keep secret before?" Daphne asked, arching her eyebrows and visibly holding back a laugh. She was probably lucky that Hermione wasn't looking at her since the brunette would likely have hexed her for her expression alone from what I was coming to understand about wizarding culture.

I was far nicer than that. I wasn't even going to let on that I knew about it and she would probably never even realize it since I was still holding the bushes out of the way for her as she walked just ahead of me.

"Well, okay, yes, not exactly like this. But it was close enough! I was given a Time Turner in our third year to make it to classes and both Ron and Harry were quite perturbed with me when they found out that I had lied to them for the majority of -"

"Hold on, you got a what?! To attend class?!"

"Yes, I did. And I promised my friends I would not lie or conceal such things again. So I would really appreciate your permission to tell them about this. They are going to find out anyway. Harry always finds out about the latest mystery in the term. I'm half-convinced to make his luck my final project in Arithmancy during seventh year. There has to be a deeper meaning to it."

"Hey, do either of you know why this place is called the 'Forbidden' Forest? Why not the 'Dark' Forest or the 'Unwelcoming' Forest, or even the 'Threatening' Forest? There doesn't seem to be anything really horrible in here. Nothing worse than normal at least."

Both of the other girls turned to look at me and I just smiled. "What?"

"Seriously, Taylor? Seriously?" Daphne deadpanned.

"You should stop fighting. We're in the middle of a spooky forest, have neither of you ever seen a horror movie? Fighting leads to splitting the party, and that leads to someone dying horribly. And it's actually a legitimate question."

Hermione groaned. "Taylor, if half of your skills are remotely as good as you claim, we would never get far enough away fast enough that you couldn't call something together to distract our attackers long enough for us to regroup."

"What's a horror movie?" Daphne asked, frowning.

"What's a horror movie?" I repeated, my eyes wide. "Oh my god. We're totally having a movie night. So, tangent aside, I'm repeating my question, why is this place called 'Forbidden'? Any ideas?"

"You said there was a way into the forest from the Chamber of Secrets right?" Hermione commented. "Perhaps this used to be the basilisk's hunting grounds so the Founder's wouldn't have wanted students accidentally wandering into the area."

Daphne nodded. "I was thinking that as well. It does imply the Chamber wasn't quite as secret as it's named however."

"Four friends build a school as intricate as Hogwarts and you truly believe they didn't know all of each other's secrets about their project?"

"I didn't say that," Daphne snorted, rolling her eyes. "I'm actually more curious as to why the rumor about it being a secret chamber started to begin with. Do you think there's a grain of truth? Perhaps the basilisk was a defensive tool of last resort? I don't really know the old history. Was Hogwarts ever under attack?"

Hermione chuckled, her grin close enough to Lisa's vulpine smirk that if her hair had been blonde I would've said they were related. "According to Hogwarts: A History, the school was attacked by Muggle and Wizard raiding parties no less than seven times between its founding in 990 A.D. and the adoption of the Statute of Secrecy in 1692. Two of those incidents occurred while Salazar Slytherin was still part of the governing board for the school and they affected him greatly. I would be very surprised if he didn't tell his friends about the basilisk and how they now had a defense - should they be attacked for a third time!"

"You're really into history," I said.

"Well, it's more of reading in general, but yes."

"I may not know much about the history of the castle," Daphne stated, the corner of her eye twitching, "but I can tell you all about the shifts in power from one class of wizard or magical society to another whether on Britain or the Continent. Over the past four hundred years."

"That's very impressive, Daphne," I hummed.

"I also know how those changes affected artifact trading, both magical and non-magical."

"Did you have to learn that because of your family's business dealings?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "But some of it is actually quite interesting. For example, did you know that the Indian Ministry outlawed brooms for nearly 200 years after Sultan Arun Shrivastava fell off one right into his lion's den? His overreaction changed the face of trade for his entire nation to this very day! Even their culture has been impacted; they still prefer flying carpets and look at broomsticks with suspicion."

I stopped and turned to stare at her, my eyes wide. "Hold on. You're telling me that your society not only has witches on brooms, but you also have literal flying carpets?"

Daphne blinked. "Yes?"

"Jesus, you're actually trying to fit every stereotype non-magicals have, aren't you? I am never eating an apple in the wizarding world. All of them are probably poisonous at the rate we're hitting tropes."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Hermione gasped, her eyes widening. "My goodness, I never realized before, we really do fulfill a good portion of fantasy cliches! Oh I need to research these patterns now. Perhaps it's intentional? Were the writers magical or perhaps Squibs? Could it really be a coincidence? Or is it some sort of larger convergence…" Her murmurings were amusing enough that they almost distracted me, but I would not be deterred. I had a badly neglected friend here in dire need of assistance.

"Definitely a movie night," I muttered. "Horror, Disney, comedy, action, you badly need a pop culture education. Come on, girls, lets keep -"

I stopped mid-sentence, my mouth falling partially open as my scouting critters chanced upon something in a clearing just ahead.

"Taylor?" Hermione was staring at me, her eyes wide. "Are we in danger?"

"We're taking a detour. This way!" I strode forward, brushing past her, moving fast enough I was nearly jogging. The others quickly fell in behind me.

"What's going on? What did you see?" Daphne asked, her head on a swivel as she tried to take in the forest all around us.

"Nothing dangerous. We're just going this way. Short detour. This is going to be awesome!"

Daphne stopped eyeing the trees and started eyeing my back. "Now, I'm even more concerned. Your definition of awesome is frightening."

"Trust me!"

"A bit of context would help," Hermione said.

"I just," I sighed. "I just want to see the unicorns. Okay? Can we stop for like five minutes to pet the unicorns? Every kid dreams of petting a unicorn when they're a toddler, don't they? But then they grow up and realize unicorns aren't real. Except I just found a damn unicornand it's real. And I want to pet it."

Daphne took my hand, squeezing it and meeting my searching gaze with a warm smile. "I'm sorry. Let's go pet a unicorn, Tay."

"Wow…"

I hadn't been a secret hero very long. I had been a real villain for even shorter. I had been a hero for all of one night. My cape career was woefully short and - as far everyone back home was probably concerned - had ended tragically.

I had still seen a lot of amazing things. Dogs the size of cars. A twelve-year-old skipping between buildings with a smile on her face and a flare in her skirt. A grown man literally pinballing between skyscrapers.

There were horrible things too. People turned into literal glass immediately sprang to mind. People melted into a puddle of organic goo. People burned to death. People skewered by metal blades. Horrible though they were, they were all still impressive, if only for the intimidation and horror factors.

None of them compared to seeing a real, fucking, unicorn. To running my fingers through its fur.

"I realize they're beautiful but…" Hermione said. She had a small frown on her face behind me. Daphne shushed her, I just smiled.

"Back home, there are always stories about unicorns, but everyone knows they're just fairy tales, the old types, before Glaistig Uaine corrupted everything. What I mean is that it's something for kids, something you grow out of. If you're really lucky, you believe in unicorns until you learn about Endbringers. Then you stop believing in happy endings. The best you believe in after that is that maybe, just maybe, you can make things a little less dark before the lights go out. Biotinkers could make a unicorn. A few could, at least I assume they could. But it wouldn't be real. It would just be another fake, another…disappointment."

"They're a symbol to you," Daphne stated.

"Maybe the world here isn't so dark. Maybe you guys can actually get that happy ending. You don't have Endbringers, your world isn't filled with compromise and disappointment." I turned back to the beautiful creature in front of me. "You have real unicorns."

It leaned down and nudged my hand with its head. My face felt like it would split from how wide I was grinning as I ran my fingers along its neck. The unicorn neighed, brushed against me one last time and pulled away, trotting off to catch up with the rest of its herd as they moved away from the clearing.

I stepped back towards the girls, the smile not leaving my face and watched the creatures go. My hand lifting in an almost involuntary wave. The unicorn tossed its head in reply and galloped off.

"Worth it, I assume?"

I glanced at them both. "Even if we don't find the giant man-eating spiders, this trip was definitely worth it."

The rest of the trip towards the acromantulas went quickly. We were close enough now that the webs in the forest around us were readily apparent to my scouts. I was losing insects fast to the webs, enough that I actually started to pull more of my swarm back towards us.

Hermione stopped and turned towards us, her grip on her wand tight enough that her knuckles were white.

"Okay, it should be just a little further. In case Taylor isn't able to control them, Daphne, you know the flame whip spell, yes?"

"I do."

"Good. Now, Taylor, some of the larger, older, spiders here are likely to be at least somewhat intelligent. Acromantulas are -"

"As smart as a human," I finished. "I know. I read the bestiary too, Hermione. From what Scamander wrote, they have to be fairly old before they can overcome their instincts, so they're incredibly dangerous to anything nearby. Judging by the extent of the webbing I've seen already, I'm amazed you haven't already had students die from these things."

Daphne shuddered, moving closer to me. "It is the Forbidden Forest. Most of us don't go for pleasant strolls in the woods. Are you really okay controlling something that thinks?"

"More okay than I probably should be," I murmured too softly for them to hear. Shaking my head, I said, louder, "If they're left alone, they will expand and start eating people. The basilisk might have kept them away before; it was their natural predator, per the book, but it's been dead for a few years. They're going to grow and they're going to get to the castle. Probably soon. We need to handle this."

"That's not an answer," she said, taking my hand again.

I squeezed her fingers, flashing her a small smile and using my other hand to tighten my tie. "I've done worse things for less benevolent reasons. If some of them are willing to relocate to the other side of the mountain, I'll let them, but I can pretty much guarantee you, not all of them will want to do that. We're going to be walking away with at least some spiders that I have to either put down or keep on a tight leash. Let's get this over with."

They nodded and fell back, letting me lead the way. My ring was hot on my finger as I strode forward.

The first acromantulas fell into my range, and I nearly gasped as I saw through their eyes. They were staring down at us from high in the trees, their chelicerae moving in anticipation, beads of venom dripping from their fangs.

Just like that, my remaining sympathy for the giant, thinking spiders vanished.

I was somewhat surprised to find that I couldn't get much of a sense of their thoughts as I directed them to follow us through the trees towards the main nest. There was a vague impression of something like 'feelings' or 'preference'…but even that was less developed than what I felt with Trevor the Toad.

Maybe it was because Trevor wasn't in my usual control set so whatever happened with him was fully magic and here it was just a bit of a boost? Hmm, well, I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If I didn't need to be worried about constantly hearing the thoughts of these things that wanted to eat me and my friends, all the better.

"So, good news, girls, I can control acromantulas."

Daphne swallowed hard, her grip on my hand felt close to breaking my fingers. "That's good to hear."

"What's the bad news?" Hermione asked.

"They were going to eat us if I hadn't been able to control them," I stated.

"Oh. Is that all?" Hermione said, her voice nearly as faint as Daphne's.

I ensnared 40 more acromantulas in the span of 4 steps. Wetting my lips, I tried to shrug as nonchalantly as possible. I didn't quite succeed as Daphne shuddered and Hermione's hand clenched even tighter around her wand.

Some of these spiders were big. As big as Bitch's dogs, big.

I had three of the larger ones come down out of their webs to fall in step beside us. "An escort is probably a good idea. Just in case."

"Are you worried?" Hermione asked, her voice cracking.

"She's fine. We're all fine here. Right, Taylor? We're fine," Daphne said.

"Perfectly fine. The big guy is up ahead. We're in the middle of the nest now."

"Oh. Well that's just brilliant," she murmured.

We walked into another clearing, the sky overhead completely blotted out by the plethora of webs, my escort of car sized spiders flanking us, the rest of the spiders under my control high up in their webs. Directly ahead was the largest of the bunch. He was massive, as large as a bus, and he was ancient too. I could feel his body breaking down around him as he slowly padded out of the enclosed area he had built around himself at the edge of the clearing. This acromantula wouldn't be lasting much longer, maybe a few months, a year at the most.

Stopping just in front of us, the spider bent down, its eyes even with our heads.

"Taylor, tell me you're in control here," Daphne whispered.

"With all of the others? Sure."

"Taylor!"

"This is the leader, he's the intelligent one, he's also the only one not immediately jumping to try and eat us. If he wants to talk, he can talk," I said. I nodded at the Fuck-Off giant Spider. I could've taken control of him too, but he hadn't shown any aggression so far and he hadn't been rushing to consume us like every other member of his brood. I could draw the line in the sand. I wasn't a monster. I wouldn't let myself stoop to the trio's level.

"Good evening," I said. "I'm Taylor Hebert."

"You are a Queen, yet you walk on two legs, not eight," the spider said, its voice rumbling, gravelly, deep enough to vibrate my bones. I could barely feel my fingers with how tightly Daphne squeezed my hand.

"Uh, thank you, I think."

The spider lowered itself further, staring directly into my eyes with all eight of its own. "I am Aragog. Named by Hagrid the Giant, friend of the acromantula. Why have you come to my nest, Queen Taylor Hebert?"

"The basilisk," Aragog hissed at my words, the bristles on his legs raising as he just barely resisted stepping back, "was killed just over two years ago. You've been expanding your territory since then, haven't you?"

"My children need room to grow. The death of our nemesis was a great boon. We could not overlook such a gift."

"You realize you're growing towards Hogwarts?"

"The best prey lies in that direction," it stated.

Hermione whimpered and Daphne shifted behind me. I narrowed my eyes. "You mean the students in the castle."

"The expansion will not reach the castle before I expire. I will have kept my promise to my friend. No humans within those walls will be harmed while I preside over my children."

"And what about outside of those walls?!" Hermione yelled. "You let your children try to eat my friends when they came to you for help after being sent by Hagrid!"

"They walked willingly into our den. I could not deny my children such a meal when they were starving."

I shook my head. "That's not even getting into the letter vs. spirit of your promise. You don't have a successor that cares about humans at all do you? They're going to run wild as soon as you're dead and they're going to swarm over Hogwarts."

"I will have kept my promise until my dying day. That is more than most of my kind. We cannot overcome our nature forever, Queen Taylor Hebert. You more than any other should be aware of that."

I frowned. "Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You direct my children with but a thought. All of our Queens died in ages long past, but all commanded the direction of the brood through their might. They were all slaughtered by the Kings, for they could not stop what they were and the Kings were not the same as our children. Our children yearn for direction, while welonged to direct."

"You killed the ones that made you civilized," I said, the spiders under my control swiping at their fangs with their pedipalps and raising up to their full height.

"I know not how you came to be a Queen that walks on two legs, yet the fact remains that you are. The brood is yours now, Queen Taylor Hebert. Do with it what you will. The time of the King has come to an end. I only ask that you allow me what was denied to your forebears: an honorable death. I have no wish to die alone of old age."

My frown deepened. "You know, I don't have to kill you. You could take a few of your children and go across the mountain. If you just expand the other way, they'll never come into conflict with the school, you can keep your promise, everyone lives happily."

Aragog chuckled, the sounds shaking the ground with the vibrations. "Queen Taylor Hebert, we both know that would never happen. My children are aware that Hogwarts exists and its prey are far more appealing than deer or centaurs. Wizards have magic, but wizards are also juicy in ways that centaurs are not. No, it is better this way. It is better that a Queen has arrived to direct them. They will follow you, they will die for you, and perhaps now I can even stay true to the…what did you call it? The spirit of my promise."

"This isn't how I…imagined this conversation going."

"Nor I," it said, chuckling again. "I expected to lose my head the moment I sensed a Queen approaching. Has your curiosity been sated?"

"How likely are they to continue following my orders if I let them leave my range?" I asked.

"Now that my children have heard the call of the Queen? They will follow you until their deaths. That is their nature. That is the curse of the acromantula. That is why we Kings slew them all."

"Important follow-up," I said. "Are there any other Kings nearby?"

"I was removed from my place of birth and transported a very, very far distance, in a very dark container. I smelled the poison water. Hagrid showed me a map once when I was very young. I doubt there is another King on this island, or even the continent besides. Your reign will be uncontested."

"Okay then, that's fine." I nodded. This was not fine. This was disturbing on multiple levels.

Still, it was stopping a very real threat with minimal bloodshed, so all told, I'd chalk it up as a win.

"We're going to go now," I stated. Daphne enthusiastically nodded behind me, Hermione just a second delayed in her own head bob.

"May your webs be strong and large, Queen Taylor Hebert."

"For what it's worth King Aragog, I'm proud of you for keeping your promise for your entire life." I may not necessarily believe that, but as weird as it was, it actually had managed not to eat anybody and seemingly had mostly kept its brood in check. That I was about to kill it by its own request…well I could afford a few pleasant, sympathetic words before it died.

The spider bowed as much as it was able and stepped backwards two paces. I turned around, leading Daphne and Hermione out of the clearing. Most of the brood followed silently in the trees above us.

I left the three in our main escort behind.

They had a reign to end.

Chapter 12: Teacher's Pet 01Chapter TextTeacher's Pet 01

Breakfast was never a quiet affair at Hogwarts. I was slowly coming to realize just how normal people found it to talk while eating. To be honest, I still didn't really get it. Once upon a time I had probably had a great many conversations during meals. Yet, since mom's accident and Emma's poisoning of my school life, I hadn't really had anyone to talk to at lunch in a very long time.

In this magic school of magic, everyone wanted to talk to everyone else. It almost made it hard to keep half an ear on Dumbledore's conversation with Fudge.

Almost.

"Taylor, you're going to have to teach me how you do that one of these days."

I slowly turned my head and stared at Tracey, blinking once. "Do what?"

"Wow, that's even better! You're so broody. I'm jealous."

"I'm not - Daphne, am I brooding?"

The blonde sighed, the corners of her mouth lifting up. "Yeah. You are." She shook her head a moment later and her expression settled back down into careful nonchalance. "Something on your mind?"

"Nothing much. I'm just growing increasingly convinced that your Minister is working for the enemy. He's not exactly subtle about being a racist, cowardly, bigot. It's not much of a jump to see him falling into line if Voldemort told him to jump, is it?"

Wow, I apparently knew how to quiet a table. Go me. It seemed like I had negative charisma… At least that's what Alec would claim.

"Who are you?" Draco murmured.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" I grunted. "It's a sound tactic. Put a planted stooge in a position of power or, failing that, subvert the highest government rep you can and then make your move. I've seen it before. You have to take out the moles to stand a chance against the enemy faction."

Astoria grinned at me. "Taylor, are you planning a coup?"

I rolled my eyes and shook my spoon at her. "Is it really a coup if the guy is already allied with terrorists, knowingly or not, and trying to overthrow himself?"

"Heh. You sure don't do things by half measures." Tracey saluted me. "Show them bigots what's what!"

"Daphne, you okay?" She was looking a little flushed.

"What - I'm fine - I mean - I just - And you - Planning like Morganna - Dastardly - It's very hot in here."

It took a few seconds to come up with an appropriate response to that. I eventually settled on what felt perfectly appropriate. "What?"

Daphne groaned and leaned into her hand. "Nothing. Just ignore me."

"Congratulations, dear sister." Daphne glared at her younger clone through her fingers. Astoria just smirked. Looking at me, she said, "She thinks your justifications for treason are intriguing."

I shrugged. "If I ever go home, remind me to introduce you all to my friend. All she does is talk people into circles and she's really good about playing up the loveable rogue angle. You'd adore her, Daphne."

Daphne groaned and laid her head on the table, her hands running through her hair and clutching her scalp.

"… What did I say?"

Astoria snorted. "Oh, merry Morgana. And here I thought some of my friends were bad."

"Daphne, Daphne, can I tell her? Can I tell her, please !?" Tracey on the other hand, had a grin wide enough to split her face in half and she was poking her friend in the arm while Daphne just glared back.

"I will hurt you," the blonde hissed.

"Right, and on that, I think I'm going to take my leave before I get even more confused. I need to go try and get a meeting with the Headmaster anyway. I'll see you guys later."

I was outside the Great Hall before my bugs picked up Draco shaking his head and sighing. "Merlin, that girl is oblivious. Is that all natural or did you Obliviate her too much?" This set off another round of giggles from Tracey and Astoria.

Daphne picked her head up and scowled. "She could just not be interested."

What the hell were they even talking about? I already said I was looking at Fudge like a particularly annoying cockroach…

"Daphne. I've seen Taylor checking out Sue Li. I've seen how she stares at Susan's chest."

Of course I watched Sue Li. She was so incredibly fit and lithe. I knew she went on a morning run around the lake almost every day, but that couldn't be enough to maintain her shape. I needed to ask her about her exercise routine.

Susan was just unfair . High school girls weren't supposed to be that well developed! Lisa and I had complained about it all the time back home. The only reason I was fairly certain that Susan's figure didn't have anything to do with magic was how embarrassed she got by people mentioning it.

"If she's not a witches' witch, I'll go streaking in Gringotts." Draco turned back to his food as Tracey nearly imploded in giggles.

I frowned as I walked along the corridor. "A witches' witch? What the heck is…" I trailed off, my steps slowing to a stop and my eyes widening.

Daphne collapsed back onto the tabletop. "I'm not sure that helps; because then it's me that's not interesting!"

Oh.

Tracey leaned over and patted Daphne's back while Astoria and Blaise started laughing. 

Oh no.

Blaise was able to get out between chuckles, "Daphne Greengrass not interesting? Perish the thought!"

Oh. No. 

"Fuck."

//\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\ //\(oo)/\\

I glared at the gargoyle, my body utterly still as the bugs throughout the castle started to dance in increasingly intricate patterns.

"I. Just. Want. To. Arrange. A. Meeting. You. Stupid. Piece. Of. Stone."

I was going to start breaking pieces off of this thing soon.

"Parlez-vous français? Sprechen sie Deutsch?" I waited a second in complete silence. "Well good, because I can't speak either of those languages either." Still absolutely nothing. The doxies started fighting each other. "Am I supposed to twist your ear? Poke your eye? Tickle your elbow? Tell me how to wake you up! I'm trying to be civilized here!"

Fuck this.

This day was too frustrating by half and it had barely even started!

With barely a thought, I pulled together all of the bugs in Dumbledore's office assembling a swarm clone a few paces behind the armchair. He noticed it immediately - he'd have to be blind not to see the bugs surging, but I wasn't going to take anything for granted today. The old man's eyes widened to a comical degree before and his face paled. Perhaps I could have moved slower, but really, if he hadn't pieced together my abilities, there wasn't any point in coming up here anyway. Letting him see the scope was tactical.

That his hand was clenched white-knuckled around his wand in the second it took me to call up the clone was good information. It was also encouraging to see him slowly loosen his death-grip and breathe a shaky breath out as my clone solidified its shape.

"Miss Hebert, I presume?" His voice was somewhat steadier than most of the heroes I'd come across who experienced my Swarm. I didn't get it, they were just bugs .

"Your stupid gargoyle won't talk to me and it refuses to take a message or set up an appointment. I was perfectly willing to go about things the normal method but, I'm beginning to think you don't actually want visitors. Or that this godforsaken carving just doesn't work for me. Can I set something up? I think we need to talk about a few things that could affect us both."

Dumbledore licked his lips, his wand vanishing back into his shirt though his posture didn't sag at all. "I do not know why my guardian failed, my apologies. Do come up - in person - Miss Hebert. I was waylaid this morning, so I was about to head down for some breakfast. It's no concern to delay a trifle longer. One moment." He flicked his wand and the next moment the obstinate piece of stone was stepping out of my path.

I continued to glare at the piece of architecture as I sauntered past it and onto the staircase. My bug clone fell apart, the critters flying back to their normal hidey-holes. As I stepped into Dumbledore's office, he was still peering at the edges of the room with a critical eye.

"Ah, Miss Hebert. So good to see you in person! Come in, sit down, sit down. Lemon drop?"

"No thanks, I'm good. I'm too annoyed to eat anything right now." I dropped into the proffered armchair. Fawkes chirped and flew over to his perch on the desk; it was hard to read bird expressions, but I could swear the smug bastard was smirking at me.

"I do hope my gate guardian did not put you off your morning too badly, Miss Hebert."

I shook my head. "I shouldn't be so surprised. It's just got frustrating because of everyone else going on this morning. Have you ever had half your life recontextualized in the span of about 15 seconds?"

"Ah," Dumbledore chuckled. "One of those mornings. If I may hazard a guess, a crush?"

"Apparently I'm gay. Or bi? I think I'm bi. How the fuck am I bi and I didn't even know I was bi? I mean, boys are nice! They are… nice."

"Of course."

I glared at him. "Don't you start too! I stare at boys. I know I stare at boys. I stared at Brian. He had an amazing physique, he was so buff. It's not my fault that you and your wizard school don't encourage people to go to the gym."

"Certainly not."

"Girls can be pretty too. I mean - I was just - Admiring a girl's looks is normal and natural and - How the fuck did I not realize I was bisexual?!"

"It can take quite a long time for people to realize who they fancy. It's nothing to be ashamed about, Miss Hebert."

"I'm not ashamed, I'm embarrassed," I snapped. The doxies were fighting again. I tried in vain to get them to stop, yet the instant my attention wandered, they immediately started trying to stab and bite each other again. Not that most of the other critters were all that much better. Joy. "Someone has been flirting with me for weeks and I only just figured that out. I've been reciprocating without being aware of it. I've been leading her on and not even realizing it! I'm a horrible person!"

Dumbledore shook his head, suddenly every bit the grandfatherly old man that he appeared as. "Miss Hebert, you are hardly the first to be quite dismal at relationships or the intricacies of interpersonal awareness, especially at your age. Take myself for instance. I was quite awful in my youth, it took me years before I realized my friend thought we were more than just friends."

I raised an eyebrow, the deathmatches among my creatures slowing as I stared. "Aren't you supposed to be one of the primary manipulators of people in this day and age? That's what the Slytherins say at least."

"I try to be forthright more often than not, but they are not wrong. I was not always so accomplished however. In my younger years, I was friends with Gellert Grindelwald. I do not know how much history you are aware of Miss Hebert, but this man would later go on to become -"

"Wizard Hitler right?" I had been studying.

Dumbledore winced, his entire frame pulling away from me with the movement. "That is… not entirely inaccurate. I would say he was more of a Wizard Supremacist, but functionally there is little difference. And he did support the regime during the Second Muggle Great War." Dumbledore's shoulders sagged and his head drooped. The man looked all his post-centennial age at that moment and I felt guilty for bringing it up. He had just been saying that the two had been friends. Damn me and my mouth.

"Regardless, that is more evidence to my point. I did not realize until it was nearly too late just what sort of man Gellert was." He straightened and tried to smile. "I like to think I have improved with age! I saw Voldemort when he was but a student at Hogwarts and… Ah, actually… I did not do as quite as much as I could have as I did not fully trust my instincts and… Perhaps I am not the best example."

"I don't think that has much to do with what I was talking about either," I murmured.

"Hmm, true, true. Oh! I have another example of poor relationships that you can take heart from!"

"Please no."

"My old protege was Newt Scamander. He was notoriously invested in his creatures - not unlike yourself. Yet, Newt ended up married to a wonderful woman with a beautiful child that is just as curious and impressive as the both of them." Dumbledore paused, then frowned. "Though, truthfully, Newt would likely have never gotten married had Tina not initiated their courtship, as he was quite hopeless in that regard throughout all of his life. Even now he still regularly vanishes for weeks without telling anyone to search out a particular beast that has caught his fancy and only realizes it's upsetting his loved ones later…"

"Dumbledore, seriously, stop. You're not helping. I don't know what point you're trying to make. I don't even know what point I was trying to make anymore. I kind of appreciate the attempt, but if this is your way of telling me that I'm going to grow up to be a hopeless fool who cannot be trusted to deal with any sort of romance on my own, please stop ."

"Yes, perhaps I'm not the best person to provide relationship advice," the man chuckled. "I was attempting to give you support and show that others have managed things well enough in your shoes! I have failed. Horribly. Instead I will simply say this: talk to the girl who has been flirting with you. It cannot end worse than this conversation has."

I groaned. "You got that right."

"Shall we move on?"

"Yes. Just because I'm going through a crisis doesn't mean that I want to talk about my entire life story with you."

I started to reply further before pausing, taking stock of my quiet swarm and my steady breathing. Eyeing the Headmaster, I cocked my head to the side. "Huh. That's impressive."

He smiled. "I have been a teacher for a very long time, Miss Hebert. You do not have many tells, but you still have some. Are you feeling better now?"

"Actually, yeah."

"Excellent. I believe you had business to discuss before your revelation threw you for a loop?"

Nodding, I leaned forward. "Did you know that you used to have a brood swarm of acromantula expanding towards the school and that they were primed to descend on the students in just a few months?"

Fawkes trilled and Dumbledore's expression darkened. "I was aware of the acromantula presence, however I was informed that the situation was under control. Are you saying that this is not the case?"

I snorted. "Handled? Who told you that?"

"A person that I trust implicitly."