It was the most peculiar sensation, riding on the back of a creature that you could not even see. Katie's arms were tightly wrapped around her Thesteral's silky neck, as they had been for what must have been hours as they flew over Great Britain, all the way from Scotland to London. When she glanced down, it appeared that she was gliding freely through thin air, though she did avoid looking down too often because the thought of how high up they were terrified her.

Katie's stomach gave a jolt; the Thesteral's head was suddenly pointing towards the ground. They were descending at last and bright orange lights were glowing larger and rounder on all sides; they could see the tops of buildings, headlights, squares of pale yellow that were windows. With a very gentle thump, the Thesteral touched the ground, and Katie gracefully slid off onto the pavement, as did everyone else.

"That was mad!" Chris exclaimed as he pat what he assumed was the Thesteral's back. He too could not see them.

"Where do we go from here, then?" Luna asked Harry in a politely interested voice. They were in a very run-down back alleyway. Nearby stood an overflowing skip and a short way from that was a vandalised red box with the word 'TELEPHONE' written in bold letters.

"What's a telephone?" Katie whispered to Chris, who shrugged unknowingly and appeared to be just as confused by the red box as she.

"Over here." Harry said and he waved everyone over to the battered red box, opening the door when he got there. Everybody hesitated, unsure of how nine people were going to fit inside. "Come on!"

Ron and Ginny marched in obediently, followed by Katie, Niall andChris; Hermione, Neville and Luna squashed themselves in after them, then Harry forced himself inside the box after Luna.

"Whoever's nearest the receiver, dial six two four four two!" Harry ordered.

Ron did it, his arm bent bizarrely to reach the dial; as it whirred back into place a cool female voice sounded inside the box.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger," Harry said very quickly, "Ginny Weasley, Katerina Blair, Christian Blair, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Niall Murray... we're here to save someone, unless your Ministry can do it first!"

"Thank you," said the cool female voice. "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes."

Nine badges slid out of a metal chute. Hermione scooped them up and handed them mutely to Harry over Ginny's head.

"Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wands for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."

"Fine!" Harry shouted. "Now can we move!"

The floor of the box shuddered and the pavement rose up past it's glass windows, and with a dull grinding noise they sank down to the depths of the Ministry of Magic.

"Does anybody know what a telephone is?" Katie asked to the group at large. Her question was left unanswered because the cool female voice rang through the box once again.

"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening."

The door of the telephone box burst open and everyone tumbled out. Quickly scrambling back to their feet, they found themselves at the end of the Atrium. It was eerily vacant — not a single other person was in sight, not even the security wizard, which Katie thought was a very bad sign indeed. The only sound in the Atrium was the steady rush of water from the golden fountain ahead.

"Come on." Harry whispered and the nine of them sprinted off down the hall, Harry in the lead, past the fountain, towards the deserted security desk and through the golden gates to the lifts. Harry pressed the nearest 'down' button and a lift clattered into sight almost immediately, the golden grilles slid apart with a great, echoing clanking and they dashed inside. Harry stabbed the number nine button, the grilles closed with a bang and the lift began to descend, coming to a halt after no time at all.

"Department of Mysteries." the female voice said and the grilles slid open again. They stepped out into the corridor where there was nothing moving but the flames in the torches that were branched to the polished walls. Katie turned and saw a plain black door. Her breath hitched.

"It's the one from your dream, isn't it?" Harry asked in an undertone. Without taking her fearful eyes from the door, Katie nodded.

"Why did I—?"

"I don't know," Harry answered before Katie could even get her question out. "But we're about to find out."

Harry led the way down the corridor. The door opened ominously without him even having to place a hand on it, and they entered into a large, circular room. Everything in here was black including the ceiling; identical, unmarked handle-less black doors were sat at intervals all around the black walls.

"Where to now?" Ron asked. His voice echoed throughout the silent room, as did their footsteps when they all moved to follow Harry through a door straight ahead.

"This is it." he breathed, pushing the door open. A wave of forbidding shivers ran down Katie's spine as they entered, wands outstretched, into the room that was high as a church and full of nothing but shelves of small, dusty glass orbs that glowed a mystical blue in the sinister light of the torches. The room was chillingly cold.

Then Katie heard it — the horrible, petrifying screams of Leo Blair. Her blood running cold at the sound, she clapped her hands over her ears as usual in an attempt to drown out the sound. Of course, her efforts were pointless.

"What's wrong?" Chris asked quickly, sounding very worried. All heads turned around to face Katie and seven other faces looked just as concerned as Chris, who was gripping his sister's shoulder as a manner of comfort. It was now clear to Katie that no one else could hear Leo. She had thought for a brief moment that his screams had been ringing through the ghostly room, but she understood now that they were just in her head. But why would she be hearing them now? Unless...

"He's here." Katie whispered.

By the spectral light reflecting in the orbs, Katie saw Christian's face pale at an alarmingly fast rate.

"Who's here?" he questioned in a quavering voice, casting his eyes around frantically as though he expected Lord Voldemort to spring from the shadows.

"Leo," Katie panted. She was suddenly quite breathless. "Leo. He's here, Chris, I know it."

Chris' face glowed brighter than the blue torch brackets perched on the wall. He placed both of his hands on Katie's shoulders.

"And Mum?" he asked hopefully. "Is she here too?"

Katie shook her head. "I — I don't know, I just hear Leo."

"Well, with luck, we'll be saving more than one person tonight." Harry said with a hint of smile on his face. He began to move along the shelves, examining them closely, and everybody trailed him.

"Row ninety seven," he told them. "We're looking for row ninety seven."

Katie saw that the shelves were numbered. They all split up while still staying within view of each other and scanned the endless columns of glittering orbs for row ninety seven. As she searched the shelves, Katie saw that labels had been stuck beneath each of the glass spheres on the shelves.

"Ninety seven!" Hermione called nearby.

They stood grouped around the end of the row, gazing down the alley beside it. There was nobody there.

"He's right down the end," Harry said, though he even sounded vaguely uncertain. "You can't see properly from here."

They pursued Harry down the towering row of glass balls, some of which glowed softly as they passed.

"He should be here," Harry whispered determinedly. "Anywhere here... really close..."

They had reached the end of the row and emerged into more dim candlelight. There was nobody there, all was echoing, dusty silence.

"Harry..." Hermione said timidly. "I... I don't think Sirius is here."

Nobody spoke. Katie felt rather cold. Had Voldemort already killed Sirius? Had Sirius given Voldemort the information he needed about how to kill Harry?

Something conspicuous caught Katie's eye. She moved towards one of the shelves to peer at a yellowing label, only to find her mouth growing dry when she read the words that were written in cobwebby letters: S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D - Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter

"Harry, have you seen this?" Katie whispered.

"What?" Harry asked eagerly, probably hoping that she had found a clue that would give them answers as to why Sirius wasn't there, only to frown when he realised that she was merely transfixed by a crystal orb.

"It's — it's got your name on it." she said uncertainly, as if she wasn't really sure that she had read it correctly.

Suddenly just as memerised as Katie had been, Harry reached out to grab the dully swirling orb, despite Hermione and Neville urging him not to. Katie had expected something miraculous to happen when Harry touched the sphere, so she received a large pang of disappointment when nothing did. Still staring, completely entranced by the ball, Harry carefully took it down from the shelf. They all moved around for a closer look as Harry dusted it. And then, from right behind them, a drawling voice spoke.

"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."

Black shapes were emerging from thin air all around them, blocking their way left and right; eyes glinting through slits in hoods, a dozen lit wand tips were pointing at their hearts; Ginny gave a gasp of horror and Chris protectively stepped slightly in front of Katie, but not so much that he obscured her vision. She threw her eyes around and realised, with a jolt of panic, that they were trapped.

"Where's Sirius?" Harry demanded, his wand pointing firmly at the Death Eater that had spoken to them.

"You know, you really should learn to tell the difference between dreams," the Death Eater removed his hood to reveal — Katie stifled a gasp — Lucius Malfoy, "and reality. You saw only what the Dark Lord wanted you to see. Now hand me the prophecy."

"You do anything to us and I'll break it." Harry said defiantly, and not for the first time, Katie was in awe of his bravery.

There was a chilling cackle of maniacal laughter and a woman with a long mane of thick, tangled black hair, maddened eyes and a sunken face emerged from Malfoy's shadow.

"He knows how to play!" she said, her mad eyes staring right at Harry.

Beside Katie, she heard Neville's breath hitch as he shuffled uneasily on his feet.

"Bellatrix Lestrange." he said, trying to sound firm, but his voice quivered. That's when Katie remembered — Bellatrix was the Death Eater who had tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom into madness.

"Longbottom, is it?" Bellatrix asked hungrily, idly twirling her wand around her finger. "How's mum and dad?"

"Better now that they're about to be avenged!" Neville yelled, thrusting his wand out, but Ron and Harry threw their arms out in front of him and held him back.

There was another ringing of cold, female laughter, only it had not come from Bellatrix, instead sounding from somewhere behind Katie. She turned sharply on her heel, her wand stretched out in front of her, ready to cast a Shield Charm if she was attacked by the approaching woman. Like all the Death Eaters there, excluding Lucius and Bellatrix, this woman was wearing a hood that concealed her face from view. She took a few, slow, threatening steps as she cackled, before she paused with a loud click of her shoe against the floor.

"You see him? You see him?" she cried dementedly. "He thinks he can fight us!"

Katie's stomach plummeted. Her hand gripping her wand began to shake violently. She knew that voice. It was so familiar.

Lucius raised his arms steadily. "Now let's everybody just calm down, shall we?" he said. "All we want is that prophecy."

The hooded female laughed coldly once more. "Oh, Lucius, you can't expect us to go without having a bit of fun now, can you?"

Katie's heart was beating very fast. Where on earth had she heard that woman's voice before?

The Death Eaters cackled or murmured their approval of this statement. When Lucius said nothing, she took a few daunting steps closer to the group of Hogwarts students, who were all pointing their wands fixedly at her, Lucius or Bellatrix.

The woman raised one hand, the wandless one, and drew down her hood, revealing thick, glossy dark blonde hair that fell just below her shoulders, a slightly aged face, a little older than Molly Weasley, lined with deep wrinkles, but she was still quite beautiful.

Katie felt her whole world flip. Goosebumps erupted across every inch of her skin and she was certain that her heart had momentarily stopped beating.

"Mum?" she said.

Maria Blair's face twisted into a wicked smile. She looked so familiar yet unrecognisable. What were once motherly blue eyes that glittered when she smiled had been replaced by deranged and empty pools of soulless grey. The warming smile that Katie had once sought comfort in was now a twisted demonic grin that, were she not her mother, would haunt Katie's dreams.

"Hello, Katerina," she said, and Katie realised why she couldn't quite place her voice before, because it was no longer cheery and loving, but malicious and cold. "Oh, and would you look at that, Christian's here too."

Chris, who had seemed to be paralysed in horrified shock, stepped closer to Katie so he was pressed up against her, and whether he was looking to protect her or seek solace, Katie was not sure.

"I've missed you, dear," Maria continued, gazing directly at Katie, whose brain had become jammed with overwhelming shock. Her own mother, a Death Eater? "I came back for you after the Quidditch World Cup but you were gone."

Katie said nothing so Maria continued on.

"When I saw the Dark Mark appear in the sky I took Leo and I left. If the Dark Lord was regaining power I would have to go into hiding until he returned," she launched into her story. "The next morning, however, I went back to our home, hoping that I would find you. I didn't, of course. I only met that stupid Anthony there. He started asking me questions about where I had been and what happened to Leo, and I must say, I took great pleasure in killing him."

Maria's evil smile was so deranged now that she vaguely resembled the snake-like face of Voldemort that often haunted Katerina's nightmares. Katie's stomach lurched horribly. She felt physically sick.

"It — it was you?" she whispered, though her voice traveled clearly through the otherwise silent room. "You killed Dad?"

Maria let out an abrupt burst of laughter. "Of course I did! I couldn't let that fool walk around free after he'd discovered I was a Death Eater, could I?"

"Where's Leo?" Chris demanded in a quivering voice.

"I'm getting there, darling," Maria drawled lazily without taking her eyes off Katie, who could feel tears bubbling up inside of her eyes but was determined to not cry.

"How did you hide it from us?" Katie asked shakily. "All this time you've been a... a... Death Eater, and none of us had a clue."

"Oh, old Anthony got suspicious a few times, all right," Maria replied. "Almost uncovered the truth once or twice and I had to wipe his memory, this time, however, I thought I'd just kill him — it's more fun and I didn't really need him anymore."

"What do you mean you didn't need him anymore?" Chris asked. His wand was still pointing directly at their mother's head.

"After the Potter boy vanquished the Dark Lord," she gestured towards Harry, who looked angry at her but also sympathetic for Katie and Chris, "I was forced to go under cover, and I thought, who would ever suspect that a Death Eater would marry a Muggle-born? So, I married your father, and he was desperate for a child of his own, so we had Leo, and when the Dark Lord returned, I knew he would want you, Katie—"

"Why would he want me?"

Katie's inquiry was ignored.

"—so I decided to use Leo as a means to lure you. You were always quite reckless, you would do anything for those you loved, and I thought you would come searching for Leo and walk right into the Dark Lord's clutches. However, when that plan seemed to be failing, the Dark Lord, who, may I add, is a highly skilled Legilimens, started reigning your dreams. We believed that showing you a vision of your dear little brother being tortured might be enough to sway you to the Dark side."

"That's all very well, Maria," Lucius said coldly, "but need I remind you that this is not a family reunion. The Dark Lord sent us to get the prophecy and—"

"The Dark Lord has wanted this girl far longer than he has wanted the prophecy, and far longer than he has wanted Potter, for that matter!" Maria snapped. Her eyes flashed dangerously but Lucius did not display even the faintest trace of fear. "He knew how powerful she would be before she was even born."

"Powerful?" Lucius laughed dryly. "What power could a fifteen year old student possibly possess?"

Maria glared so hard that her eyes narrowed into slits and were barely visible in the sliver of light. "You know what blood courses through her veins, Malfoy. You know that she could become more powerful than both you and I."

There was a long, tense silence in which Maria and Lucius scowled evilly at each other, and only the sounds of the teenagers' heavy and panicked breathing filled the quietness.

"Where's Leo?" Chris repeated, much firmer than before. For the first time since she removed her hood, Maria Blair focused her hollow eyes, unblinkingly, on her son.

"Will you ever shut up?" she barked. "In case you haven't noticed, you're the irrelevant sibling."

At this, Katie felt a surge of anger pulse violently through her veins. How could she talk to Chris like that? Now it was Katie's turn to push Chris protectively behind her. Maria fixed her heinous eyes back on Katie.

"So I ask you, Katerina, to come with me now and join the Dark Lord," Maria said softly. Katie's heart was beating so hard against her ribcage that she was sure Chris could hear it. "It is your birthright to rise with him."

Terrifying flashes of Voldemort's formidable, thin and ghostly white face flashed through Katie's mind and she heard his spine-chilling voice.

"It is your birthright to rise with me... It is your birthright to rise with me..."

"GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Katie shook her head so vigorously that it began to ache. Maria laughed her same, sinister cackle.

"Ah, he was in your head wasn't he?" she asked. "But you can push him out, can't you?"

Maria took one step closer and Chris grabbed Katie's hand, holding it tightly as they glared hard at their mother. Katie felt someone grip her shoulder and cast a look behind her to find that it was Ron, who was pale with fear but staring at Maria with a look that told her that if she struck Katie with as much as the Tickle Curse he would do something much worse to her.