that Margaret had cast over the seven of them rippled in the air. It was an added protection, albeit even for a few minutes so that none of them could be caught off-guard.

Harry stepped up next to Margaret, wand in one hand and the orb of prophecy in other.

"Where's Sirius?" he demands.

Several Death Eaters laughed. A woman with frenzied curly hair and rotten yellow teeth strolled up next to Lucius. "The Dark Lord always knows!" she exclaims triumphantly.

"Always," Malfoy agrees. "Now, give me the prophecy, Potter."

"I want to know where Sirius is!"

"I want to know where Sirius is!" mimics the woman. She and her fellow Death Eaters were closing in but seeing the glimmering shield, they paused. "WHO CAST THE SHIELD?!"

"Easy, now, Bella," says Malfoy softly, eyes flickering to Margaret. "Granted, Potter has some capable friends... Nothing to worry about."

"You've got Sirius," Harry repeats, ignoring the rising dread he had been fighting since they first entered the ninety-seventh row. "He's here. I know he is."

"The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo," taunts the woman in a horrible, mock-baby voice. Ron stirred as though he desired nothing else than to hex her.

"Don't do anything," Harry mutters to him warningly. "Not yet-"

The woman let out a shrill scream of laughter. "You hear him? You hear him?! Giving instructions to other children like he thinks of fighting us!"

"I know Sirius is here!" Harry says once more, desperate this time. "I know you've got him!"

More of the Death Eaters laughed, though the woman still laughed loudest of all.

"You know, you should have been able to tell the difference between dreams," Malfoy echoes, smirking once again, "and reality. You saw only what the Dark Lord wanted you to see... Now hand me prophecy... Or we shall start using our wands."

"If you do anything to any of us, I'll break it," Harry threatens daringly.

The woman let out another shrieking laugh, now standing right next to Lucius. "He knows how to play," says she, twirling a strand of her haywire hair with her crooked wand. "Itty – bitty – baby, Potter."

"Bellatrix Lestrange..." mutters Neville from Margaret and Harry's right.

Bellatrix's mad eyes turned into slits as she gazed at him, her yellow, cracked teeth visible as she grinned maniacally. "Neville Longbottom, is it? How's mum and dad?" she mocks.

"Better now that they're about to be avenged," says Neville quickly, lifting his wand with a Stunning spell on the tip of his tongue before Harry pushes him back.

"Let's everybody just calm down, shall we?" articulates Malfoy slowly. "All we want is that prophecy."

"Why did Voldemort need me to come and get this?" questions Harry, for he could not think of what to do but to keep talking.

He shifted so that his elbow brushed Margaret's, hoping she had some sort of plan because his mind was blank. It was then he noticed that her free hand was hidden slightly behind her back and he thought he saw a hint of red.

Harry stole a quick glance at the ground without moving his head and saw that very thin shining red tentacles were slowly streaking out of the shield and wrapping themselves around the Death Eaters' feet, but they had not noticed this yet.

"You dare speak his name?" whispers Bellatrix malevolently, drawing Harry's attention back to her, "You dare besmirch it with your filthy half-blood tongue?!"

"Did you know he's a half-blood too?" Harry goes on recklessly, knowing he had to buy some more time. "Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his father was a muggle – or has he been telling you lot he's a pureblood?"

"STUPEFY!"

"NO!"

Malfoy was too late to deflect the red light that shot out of Bellatrix's wand. It collided with Margaret's shield, causing a bang to echo in the large space. At the same moment, Margaret whispered very lightly in her friends' minds:

"Smash shelves when shield falls..."

Their sharp intakes of breaths and flinches were disguised by the momentary distraction.

"DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THAT PROPHECY!" shouts Malfoy, his calm demeanour thrown to the wind.

"He dared – he dares-!" Bellatrix shrieks incoherently, "-filthy half-blood-!"

"It's all right, he's just a curious lad, isn't he?" says Malfoy impatiently, grey eyes staring hungrily at the orb in Harry's hand.

"You haven't told me what's so special about this prophecy I'm supposed to be handing over," Harry says, sounding unafraid even though panic was causing his chest to constrict.

"Prophecies can only be retrieved by those about whom they are made," Malfoy echoes, drawing closer slowing, hand cupped as though he might attempt to reach through the shield and snatch the prophecy. "Haven't you always wondered, what was the reason for the connection between you and the Dark Lord... hmm? Why he was unable to kill you when you were just an infant? Don't you want to know the secret of your scar...?"

"I – What?" says Harry, and for a moment he quite forgot about the plan. "What about my scar?"

"All the answers are there, Potter, in your hand," says Malfoy, mouth twitching into a sneer-like smirk. "All you have to do... is step out and give it to me. I can show you everything."

Margaret stepped discretely, but painfully, on Harry's toes causing him to snap out of his momentary trance. The shield above and around them rippled, thinning, and the figures of Death Eaters began becoming clearer.

"I've waited fourteen years," says Harry thoughtfully, as though he was considering giving the prophecy to Malfoy.

"I know," Malfoy tuts sympathetically.

The shield rippled once more, for the last time.

"Guess I can wait a little longer – NOW!"

"REDUCTO!"

All together at once, the five around Harry bellowed and their curses flew in six different directions, exploding the shelves they hit. Whilst Margaret took the moment to pull her powers back sharply, causing all Death Eaters to yelp as their feet slipped on their own accord and they crashed back on the floor.

The towering shelves swayed as hundreds of glass spheres burst apart, pearly-white figures unfurled into the air and floated there, weirdly echoing who knew what prophecy. Some spheres dropped on the dark-cloaked figures whilst they began disappearing into black smoke one-by-one.

Thinking quickly Margaret used telekinesis to create a tunnel of red shield on the free side.

"RUN!" she yells, and as the shelves swayed precariously causing a torrent of crashing glass and splintered wood to rain down upon the floor. They were all yelling as the shelves collapsed thunderously upon the tunnel. Margaret was forced down to one knee due to the sheer strength it took to hold up hundreds of falling orbs but she forced herself to hold on.

Harry found a clear way ahead and saw Ron, Ginny, and Luna sprint past him, their arms over their heads. They were now at the end of row 97. As they emerged on the other side, he turned around, still running, and saw the shield fall – Margaret still on the other side and surrounded by Death Eaters.

A heavy hand caught Margaret by the neck, causing her to choke as the managed to non-verbally disarm her. Thinking quickly, she swung her elbow back into their lower rib, causing the person to grunt and their grip to loosen. She summoned her wand back before it clattered on the debris-filled ground and spun around on her knee.

"Stupefy!"

Just at the Death Eater in front of her went flying back, clawing few scratches on her neck, two more appeared out of curling black smoke and raised their wands at her chest. Margaret, however, merely heard the oncoming catastrophe above and smirked.

"Later, boys."

With that she disappeared into thin air, leaving the Death Eaters confused for long enough that they saw the falling shelf behind them at last second; their yelps silenced immediately.

Margaret reappeared in the darkened room with blue flaming candles just as Ron, Luna and Ginny burst out of the door, running so fast that they collided into her and caused all of them to crash to the floor as the walls began spinning around them.

"Get... off!" Margaret wheezes, all breath knocked out of her.

Ron got off first, and helped Ginny whilst Luna rolled off Margaret and sat up; all of them panting.

"Where're... the others?" asks Ron in between breaths, scanning the doors anxiously as the red Xs were fading rapidly.

Margaret struggled up to her feet, touching her neck to find that it was bleeding slightly. She also felt mildly disoriented after hitting her head on the floor, but she ignored it for the time being as she glanced up.

The streak of red that she had made on the accursed door was glowing faintly.

Now that she was with Ron, Luna and Ginny, she did not want any of them to get hurt. It wasn't like she could just push them in a random room and hope for the best while she waited for Harry, Hermione and Neville to show up.

What she could do, however...

"Get in here!" she says decisively, quickly pushing open the door with the streak she had made in panic and waiting outside as the three got in.

The Chamber of Death was a dimly lit large circular room.

The door opened to the topmost tier of what seemed to be stone benches running around the room and descending in steep steps like an amphitheatre. The centre of the room, seemingly twenty feet below where they stood, lifted up in a rocky dais with soft milky light pooling on it from the high ceiling. In the middle of it stood an ancient and cracked stone archway, unsupported by any walls around.

Even though Margaret could only see the archway from her peripheral, she had the undeniable urge, some sort of pull, to go have a closer look. She had to fight against herself to keep her feet rooted to the threshold as she tried to listen to whispers. Surprisingly, she could hear nothing but their laboured breathing...

"Listen to me, keep this door opened an inch; stay away from the archway, no matter what, don't even glimpse at it – Luna!" she exclaims urgently, prompting Ginny to pull the girl back. "I'm going to lock all the other doors and go look for Harry, Hermione and Neville. If they show up before me, close the door after them... There're other doors in there – lock them. All of them."

Ginny nodded and shook Luna firmly, who seemed mesmerised by the archway, and repeating Margaret's words to her. A moment later, the two of them began charming the other eleven doors shut. Ron stood up by the open door and held it slightly to peek through it, his wand at the ready.

Margaret turned back to the room and, hoping that multiple doors could remain open at once, pushed the door to the left that she was sure led to the Room of Time.

"Yes!"

The door opened easily but before she could go in, there was a crash in the room opposite where she stood.

"Come on, come on out and play!" Bellatrix's screeching voice sounds from the other side. "No cheating, children!"

Margaret raised her wand, saying quietly, "Colloportus!"

The door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise and Bellatrix's screeching intensified in anger. Margaret pointed her wand at the other marked doors and did the same, even if to buy a few moments. She was walking on a very thin thread, and she would have to hurry...

"RON? GINNY? LUNA?"

Margaret cursed at Harry's stupidity of giving their position away, although at least it told her where they were.

She shot a glance at where she could see Ron peeking out of the Chamber of Death. He nodded back at her and she stormed inside with her wand raised, the door shutting after her although the darkened room did not spin.

"WE'VE GOT THEM!" a Death Eater's voice sounds from a small door in a side aisle. "IN AN OFFICE OFF-!"

"Silencio!" echoes Hermione's cry.

Margaret made a move to quickly follow the voices, however, she crashed, face-first, into a tall cloaked figure that had emerged out of nowhere. Both of them took several hasty steps back and raised their wands.

"Impedimenta!" she screams, panicked.

"Protego!"

The jet of red light deflected off inches away from his chest, but the force of her spell colliding with his shield knocked him off his feet. He back slipped across the floors back, his silver mask sliding halfway down his face so that his wide, swamp-green eyes became visible, staring at something behind her.

Margaret aimed. "Petrifucus-"

"STUPEFY!"

Margaret's eyes widened as the jet of red light burst out of the Death Eater's wand and tore towards her. She changed her spell midway even though it was too late-

"-PROTEGO!"

But she did not have to – for the light flew over her shoulder and struck a Death Eater behind her who she had not noticed, and who had his wand aimed at her back, the tip glowing a lethal green.

Rather shaken up, Margaret watched as the Death Eater froze, hand still raised as his wand clattered to the ground, and collapsed backwards into a glass-fronted cabinet which promptly crashed on top of him loudly; then, surprisingly mended itself, stood up straight, then crashed back on him again; then mended itself, then fell again-

"Accio wand!"

The Death Eater's wand flew towards her and she caught it midair, turning back quickly to the one who had, probably accidentally, saved her; only to find the space empty.

Slightly perplexed, Margaret raised both the wands in her hands and looked around to find no one there except a bizarre-looking Death Eater with the head of a baby's and body of a man's, flailing his arms around like a wild chicken...

A howl of pain came from the office where Harry, Hermione and Neville were trapped in, springing Margaret into action; not noticing the boy hiding behind a grandfather clock that she ran by. He adjusted his silver mask on his face with trembling hands and asked the forces of nature for the nth time what the hell had they landed themselves into...

Margaret burst into the small and cramped room, shouting, "IMPEDIMENTA!"

The Death Eater who had his wand pointed at Hermione was caught off-guard. The jinx hit him squarely on his back and he flew off his feet, did a sort of somersault in the air, hit the back of his head on the small desk and he landed on his neck in an awkward angle. He moved no more.

"Ma-ga-ret!" exclaims Neville thickly, clutching his bloodied face.

She pointed her wand down at another cloaked figure on the ground to see that he was petrified. She breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Can you stand, Neville?" she asks, concerned as she hurried to Neville's side as he struggled to his feet. She could not help him as she had no experience in healing spells – not even a simple Episkey... She turned to the other two, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," says Harry, the prophecy still in his hand. Hermione nodded, an arm around Harry's shoulders as he helped her up.

They all looked worse for wear – Neville's nose was badly broken and so was his wand, Harry was rubbing the back of his head while cringing and Hermione looked very shaken as she stole fearful glances at the fallen Antonin Dolohov, who had his wand aimed at her only moments before.

But they were mostly all right; still alive, at the very least.

"Here," says Margaret, handing Neville the spare wand she had collected from the Death Eater outside. Neville kicked aside the fragments of his own wand, frowning.

"My gran's going do kill be," he mutters thickly, blood spattering from his nose as he spoke, "dat was by dad's old wand..."

There was a pause where the four of them listened for any more footsteps, but all they could hear were whimpers and crashing of the baby Death Eater in the Time Room outside.

"We aren't far from the exit," says Harry quickly. "Margaret, you could teleport outside and open the correct door... We can get you three out before any more Death Eaters come."

"And what, may I ask, are you going to do?" asks Hermione sharply like she already guessed it.

"I've got to find the others-"

"No need, I've got them waiting outside for us," says Margaret, striding back to the door and peeking out. Just that moment, the baby Death Eater blunders by and she raises her wand, "Petrificus Totalus!"

"It's a baby!" Hermione gasps, looking rather conflicted as he fell and hit his tiny head.

"I really don't care, 'Mione," Margaret mumbles, not arguing the point. Peeking out again, she motioned the three to follow.

Quickly as they could, they made their way into the darkened room. However, just as they stepped out, three out of four doors Margaret had sealed burst open at once and five Death Eaters flooded out of them.

"WE FOUND THEM! IN THE MAIN-!"

The man was quietened by a Stunning spell Hermione shot at him. As the spell collided with his face, a chain-reaction of duels was set off; Ron jumped out at once from the hiding place followed by Ginny; Luna, however, stayed inside and shot jinxes which caught the Death Eaters off-guard for the could not spot the perpetrator.

All the training Margaret had done with Dumbledore, all the things she had learnt in D.A. from Harry, all of it was for that moment. It stayed at the front of her mind as she created shields to protect herself and shot jinxes and hexes at any Death Eater in front of her.

However, soon enough, she started noticing the flaw in her ways – she could not use her wand and telekinesis to attack at the same time... And it was a great disadvantage. Both required her focus to be solely on them. Her telekinesis occasionally jumped out while she used her wand and spells, but it wasn't nearly enough...

"Langlock!" The Death Eater's tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth as Margaret' jinx hit him, causing his hands to fly to his face. "Flipendo!" and he went crashing into his fellow who Ron was battling; she took the opportunity to tie them up together with an:

"Incarcerous!"

"STUBEFY!" shouts Neville, wheeling and waving the spare wand at the oncoming Death Eaters. "STUBEFY, STUBEFY!"

But nothing whatsoever happened as he harshly wiped the blood pouring from his nose before diving sideways as a Death Eater shot a silver lightning-like arrow at him, missing him by inches. When it collided, it left a crater in the wall behind.

Hermione screamed and for a moment, Harry and Margaret were distracted by the worst possible thoughts, only to find her being crushed underneath a bulky Death Eater that Ginny had Stunned.

"Sorry!" exclaims Ginny, shooting a jinx at a Death Eater to throw him off of Hermione. Margaret saw at least two Death Eaters had their heads surrounded by great flapping things, courtesy of Ginny's Bat-Bogey curse.

"HE'S HERE!" Bellatrix Lestrange screams. "POTTER'S HERE! WE'VE FOUND HIM!"

They were seriously outnumbered, despite those they had defeated: nine dark wizards vs. seven children.