*deep breath* WE ARE #2 IN THE POTTER TAG!!!!!!! I DID NOT EXPECT THIS TODAY - I DID NOT!!!

was fairly empty and peaceful. It seemed that there were no major accidents that week, apart from the Ravenclaw girl whose face was likely permanently disfigured.

Marietta Edgecombe was sobbing into her pillow nonstop since she had first arrived. It had been over twelve hours since the jinx was activated - in other words, since she had betrayed her best friend, Cho Chang, and the rest of the D.A. - but Madam Pomfrey had been unable to find a cure.

Unbiased as the matron maybe, her behaviour was slightly unusual around Marietta. She distanced herself from the bed, only coming to check up on the girl once in a while and giving her some Calming Draught.

Margaret had an inkling that Pomfrey was not happy about Marietta's betrayal which had ultimately forced Dumbledore to abandon his post as Headmaster and had led to Umbridge becoming the new Head of Hogwarts.

"You know, we need to stop meeting like this."

Taking her eyes off of Marietta's shaking figure on the opposite bed, Margaret looked at the blonde in front of her who was making a note of the potions in a cabinet that could be wheeled.

"In the hospital, you mean? Yeah, I suppose we do," she says, tilting her head in thought, "I didn't know you volunteered for Madam Pomfrey."

Daphne shrugged. "There's a lot you don't know."

"You'd be surprised," Margaret says, smirking slightly. She picked up a bottle of blood-replenishing potion from the side and studied it, before stealing another side-glance at Marietta. Lowering her voice, she asks, "Do you think Madam Pomfrey is going to be able to find a counter-jinx for those spots?"

"I'm not sure, actually," she mutters, staring at notes rather absently. "By the way, have you decided what you want to do after Hogwarts?"

"Not exactly," Margaret answers, making a face. "I'm in no rush to think about the future... trust me."

Daphne gave her a look. "You do realise we have career advice soon, right?"

Margaret frowned to herself for a second before realisation dawned on her face. Career advice! She had forgotten she would also be getting career advice!

"You forgot, didn't you?" states Daphne.

"I didn't forget," Margaret counters, folding her arms. "In Canada, we weren't expected to decide what career we wanted to do for life at the age of fifteen! So I just haven't thought about it."

"Right," she drawls, unconvinced, stalking towards another shelf by the side. "Well, don't forget again."

"I didn't forget anything! And what, may I ask, are you intending to do after Hogwarts?"

"I have my plans, Xenakis," states Daphne, scribbling on her notepad again.

"Which are?" asks Margaret, merely for the sake of it. The last thing she wanted to think at any given moment was thinking about their seventh year.

"Which are of no matter to you," she says. "Make yourself useful and pass that blood-replenishing potion, will you?"

Right, of course. Margaret was the designated assistant.

Huffing, she got up from the bed she was sitting on and brought the medium-sized bottle over to the cabinet where Daphne told her to arrange the cluttered cupboard alphabetically. Rolling her eyes as the blonde turned away, Margaret begrudgingly got to work.

After she had got out of Umbridge's office, Margaret had followed after the Inquisitorial squad members to erase their memories of the moment she had told Umbridge that her parents were Muggles. It was incredibly vital that they had no confirmation of her roots. She knew she would be needed at Hogwarts even in two years time, and she did not want to complicate things for herself.

Thankfully, none of them were too good at Occlumency and her job was done in a few minutes.

Margaret had then decided to come to the hospital wing to get some pepper-up potion from Madam Pomfrey. Using her powers so quickly and so precisely took a toll on her – she felt slightly disoriented and sort of sick. She was there when Daphne had come around and, much to Margaret's surprise, was actually a volunteer for Madam Pomfrey.

Margaret had just began arranging the ingredients that started with 'C', the hospital wing doors suddenly burst open.

"Marietta!"

Startled, both Margaret and Daphne turned to the hysterical woman who was rushing up to Marietta's bed. Following her was Umbridge with a sympathetic look plastered to her face, and Cho Chang whose eyes were red and puffy as though she had been crying for long.

The lady hurtling towards the bed shrieked in horror when Marietta looked up. It was barely any less gruesome than it was yesterday, with a series of close-set purple pimples spread across her nose and cheeks to form the word 'SNEAK'. Marietta wailed loudly at the reaction, and Margaret wondered if tears burned against her cheeks...

"Who is it screaming their head off-?! Oh..."

Madam Pomfrey had appeared from her office, looking at the crowd in her hospital before her eyes fall on Umbridge. She quietly, rather stiffly, stalked towards Marietta's bedside and poured two glasses of water.

"There, there, Madam Edgecombe," says Umbridge. "Madam Pomfrey is looking for a cure. Aren't you?"

"Yes, of course," answers Madam Pomfrey slightly hesitantly. It was not in a Healer's nature to provide false hope even if it sounded desirable. Hence she steeled herself, patting Marietta sympathetically on the shoulder."My dear, it seems the jinx is, let us say, one of a kind," says she kindly, "A new invention, perhaps... I'm afraid it might take a bit longer to find a proper counter-jinx."

Madam Edgecombe sat down next to her trembling daughter and pulled her gently to let her rest her head on her shoulder, shushing her as she cried.

"But not to worry!" adds Madam Pomfrey with a bit of enthusiasm. "I'm sure we will find something to lower its effects very soon." Then turning to Daphne who was stood by the cabinets, she says, "Miss Greengrass, why don't you give Miss Edgecombe and her mother two drops of Calming Draught in the water? Miss Xenakis, you can help-"

"Xenakis?" Marietta's mother speaks up suddenly. "Xenakis?! The same Xenakis with that Potter?! Those brats responsible for this condition of my daughter?!"

Madam Edgecombe had spun around in her place to stare at a wide-eyed Margaret.

"You!" shouts Madam Edgecombe, voice shaking with anger. "You! Why are you here now?! To rub your jinxing abilities in my daughter's face?!"

"Forgive me, Mrs Edgecombe, but I don't think we should rub anything in your daughter's face..."

By some miracle, it was not Margaret who said this. In fact, she was staring at Daphne in shock, whilst the girl herself looked like she couldn't quite believe she had just said that out loud.

"Miss Greengrass...?" Madam Pomfrey breathes.

"Er, I mean!" Daphne exclaims, voice getting higher, "I mean, we- we, we shouldn't... comment on her face- it's a beautiful face! It was! I mean, no! I- I'm sorry, I'm not- I didn't- I don't- mean... That- that was m- mean-"

"What she's trying to say, is that we shouldn't talk about faces in general," Margaret says to the wall before, not knowing what else to do, smiling sheepishly at the shocked expressions of all the ladies – except Marietta, who was now crying so hard that she was completely silent.

"...Out," breathes Madam Edgecombe, turning very red in the face as she grabbed her wand in a shaking grip, "OUT! OUT! BOTH OF YOU! GET OUT!"

The two didn't need to be told twice. They barely managed to grab their bags and scurry out of the large double doors before they were slammed shut behind them; neither daring to look back until they had reached the end of the corridor.

The two girls looked at each other, bewildered at what just happened. Then Margaret burst out laughing, remembering the appalled look on Umbridge's face.

"That- That was brilliant!"

Daphne put her bag on the floor and sat on the window ledge on the side, shaking her head with a half-smile. "You do know that her face is probably never going to be the same, right?"

At this, Margaret calmed down slightly, sitting down as well. She would have to talk to Hermione. Undoubtedly, the jinx was a creation of her own and only she would be able to produce a cure for it.

All in all, Margaret did not feel an ounce of sympathy for Marietta – never had and never will – yet still, it was not right to have someone's face permanently disfigured. Marietta looked like she had learned her lesson.

The hospital doors opened again, and out cam Cho Chang, causing Margaret to straighten up.

"Hey, Cho!"

Getting to her feet, she quickly made her way towards the Ravenclaw, who had paused in her tracks. As soon as she reached her, Margaret pulled Cho into a hug, startling her slightly before she hugged back.

"Are you okay?" she asks softly, patting her shoulder.

Cho sniffled but nodded slightly. "It's just... Marietta... I- I didn't think she would d- do something like that... She's a lovely person, really. She just made a mistake..."

Pulling back, Margaret gave her a small smile. "Hey, it's not your fault," she says earnestly. "You didn't know she would do that, especially when she was not even in the group. No one blames you, Cho, trust me."

"I suppose," Cho mumbles, rubbing under her eyes with her sleeve before her expression turned annoyed. "And Hermione... She should have warned us; said something, anything, about the jinx on that parchment..." she trails off, looking at Margaret dubiously. "Did you know about it? The jinx?"

"No, I didn't," Margaret lies swiftly. "But I'm going to talk to her about it, see if we can find something to cure those... boils."

"That'd be great, yes," Cho says, mustering up a smile. "Are you heading for lunch?"

Margaret checked her watch to see that lunch started in ten minutes, and nodded at Cho, turning around to ask their Slytherin companion if she would like to join them.

"Hey, Daphne, you want to... er, Daphne?"

But Daphne Greengrass was nowhere to be seen in the corridor, having vanished when they were not looking.

"Okay then...." says Margaret, slightly confused, before turning back to Cho with a smile, "Nevermind, let's go."

Margaret asked Cho about career advice and what it was like as they descended the marble staircases, and the girl happily replied.

As a Ravenclaw, it was Professor Flitwick she had received guidance from. Margaret found out that Cho wanted to work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement after her graduation next year. There were many opportunities, she told Margaret, as it was the biggest department in the Ministry. Just as Cho began to ask her what was her choice of career, they heard a commotion just down the corridor on the first floor.

"What's that?" asks Cho as someone, a boy it seemed, yelled loudly for help. Drawing their wands, the two immediately hastened towards the sound. However, they were too late.

"NO-!"

The last thing they saw of the boy was his shoe which fell out. George picked it up and chucked it after him, shutting the door of the broken Vanishing Cabinet, and turned to high-five Fred, both of them laughing.

"What the hell?!" Margaret exclaims, catching the twins' attention.

"Oh, hey, Margie! Where have you-"

Pushing aside a grinning Fred, she wrenched open the cabinet door to find nothing inside. Not even the shoe. Horrified, she shut it quickly and turned to them, wide-eyed.

"Are - you - mad?!"

Fred and George exchanged a confused glance before the former took a step towards her; however, he was immediately met with her wand.

"Margie, calm down," Fred says, looking slightly amused as though he did not take her anger seriously.

"What do you think you're doing pushing a student into a broken Vanishing Cabinet?!" she asks incredulously.

"It was Montague-!" George begins but Margaret cuts him off.

"Oh, I know very well who he was and what he was doing," she sneers, her eyes involuntarily flashing crimson, much to their shock. They had never seen her eyes glow so brightly before, and Margaret, for once, did not care that this was always supposed to happen. "You're really telling me that you just threw him inside because he was taking points from you?!"

"Margaret, calm down," Fred says, more seriously this time, gently taking her wand hand in his and lowering it. "He'll be all right-"

"You don't know that," she grits out; nodding towards the Vanishing Cabinet, "This thing is broken, Fred. For all you know, you just sent him to his death! Or worse!"

"Why do you care so much about a Slytherin student?" George questions. "Might we remind you that he would not have hesitated to do the same to us-!"

"What house he comes from or he could or couldn't have done is not the matter anymore!" she snaps snatching her hand from Fred's. "Tell me, none of this had to do with the fact that he's the Slytherin Team Captain? With Chaser and Captain missing, what a glorious win it would be for Hufflepuff and then Gryffindor, amirite?"

If Margaret was being perfectly honest, she had not meant to blurt that out.

However, she was too angry to care; her head was flying from present and to the future, where this was the same Vanishing Cabinet that the Death Eaters would use to infiltrate Hogwarts. Even though that was supposed to happen, it did not make Fred and George's impulsiveness any less unnecessary.

Speaking of them, Fred and George had never looked so cross with her.

"Oh, ho, ho; so we're the bad guys now, huh?" George says, sounding gobsmacked.

"Are you hearing yourself, Margaret?" Fred adds, looking like he did not recognise her for a moment. "You sound every bit of foolish as those Slytherins."

Margaret narrowed her eyes at him. "Please, Fred. That's just weak. Even for you."

With that, she tried to walk past them, needing some space away from the two. When Fred made a move to stop her, she used her telekinesis, lifting them both off of their feet; causing them to yelp in surprise, staring wide-eyed at the sudden crimson aura that surrounded them. She separated them to create enough space for her to walk between their forms and put them back down a second later, her powers dissipating.

"C'mon, Cho," Margaret murmurs as she walks past her, having forgotten that she was even there.

"Are you okay?" asks Cho concernedly, glancing back at the twins.

"I'm fine," Margaret states vacantly.

Fred and George stared after her as she and Cho disappeared, seemingly astounded at her sudden snappiness and use of powers against them of all people.

"What was that?" asks Fred.

George shrugged, equally clueless, before looking at the Vanishing Cabinet with mild concern. "Hey Freddie, what if we really... I dunno, killed him?"

"Oh, c'mon, he'll be fine," Fred says, rolling his eyes. Though he felt unnerved by Margaret's behaviour, he quickly shook it off. There were more important things to focus on. "Anyway, we've got head off before another person sees this."

They looked down at the crate of fireworks that Montague had caught them carrying and quickly picked it up to bring it to their desired destination.

within the castle seemed to know that Dumbledore had overcome two Aurors, the High Inquisitor, the Minister of Magic, and his Junior Assistant to escape.

Moreover, everybody seemed aware, for instance, that Harry, Margaret and Marietta were the only students to have witnessed the scene in Dumbledore's office. As Marietta was now in the hospital wing, Harry and Margaret both found themselves overwhelmed with requests to give a firsthand account of the happenings wherever they went.

"Dumbledore will be back before long," says Ernie Macmillan confidently after lunch where a lot of people had collectively listened intently the story of Dumbledore's flight.

"The Fat Friar told me..." he drops his voice conspiringly, so that Harry, Ron, Hermione and Margaret had to lean closer to him to hear, "...that Umbridge tried to get back into his office last night after they'd searched the castle and grounds for him. She couldn't get past the gargoyle. The Head's office has sealed itself against her." Ernie smirks. "Apparently she had a right little tantrum."

"Oh, I expect she really fancied herself sitting up there in the Head's office," begins Hermione viciously. "Lording it over all the other teachers, the stupid puffed-up, power-crazy old-"

"Now, do you really want to finish that sentence, Granger?"

Draco had slid out from behind the door of the Great Hall, followed by Crabbe and Goyle, his face alight with malice.

"Afraid I'm going to have to dock a few points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff," he drawls.

"It's only teachers that can dock points from Houses, Malfoy," Ernie tells him at once.

"Yeah, we're prefects too, remember?" Ron snarls.

"I know prefects can't dock points anymore, Weasel King," Draco sneers. "But members of the Inquisitorial Squad-"

"The what?" asks Hermione sharply.

"The Inquisitorial Squad, Granger," Draco repeats, pointing toward the tiny silver 'I' upon his robes just beneath his Prefect's badge; "A select group of students who are supportive of the Ministry of Magic, hand-picked by Professor Umbridge. Anyway, members of the Inquisitorial Squad do have the power to dock points... So, Granger, I'll have five from you for being rude about our new Headmistress... Macmillan, five for contradicting me... Five because I don't like you, Potter... Weasley, your shirt's un-tucked, so I'll have another five for that... Oh yeah, I forgot, you're a Mudblood, Granger, so ten for that..."

Ron pulled out his wand, but Hermione pushed it away, whispering, "Don't!"

"Wise move, Granger," Draco says before catching sight of Margaret glaring at him. "And, who do we have here? Hiding, Xenakis?"

"From you and your cronies?" she counters.

Draco smirked and exchanged a glance with Crabbe, gesturing towards her. Crabbe immediately took off his very large bag and pushed it into her arms. Goyle took the cue and followed.

"Hey, back off, Malfoy-!" Ron exclaims but Margaret cuts him off.

"Nah, it's fine- it's- no, no, it's not fine, it's not fine!" she chokes out, dropping Goyle's bag on the ground. Giving up, she dropped Crabbe's on top of it.

"You filthy mudblood," snarls Crabbe, before looking towards Draco.