Fandom The Gathering of Death Eater Children

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"Do you have a lot of homework?" Lily asked Stephan on their way to their common room.

"No." Stephan replied. Is she asking because she's excited to spend more time with me after we finish our homework? He thought hopefully.

"...But I would probably learn better that way, as I need to read a lot before trying to experiment."

"A woman who doesn't have any instincts isn't a good choice." Nova said. "Being able to only make terrible food is a sign of bad instincts." Stephan nodded. It sounds like she's trying really hard. Stephan thought positively.

"That was awesome," Lily smirked.

Huh? Stephan nodded. He was clueless as to what she meant, but didn't want to seem less cool by asking what he'd done. Please explain what I did?

"You earned us house points today, keep it up and we will win the House Cup at the end of this year."

I'm not really into that...but I guess it might seem like a fun game to her...win enough points and you get a prize, right? It's not much different than a video game, I guess. I wouldn't mind helping her play if it helps us get closer... Stephan nodded with a smile. "Okay."

Luna knocked on the door. "May I come in?" She asked Elias.

When permitted, she entered, and greeted Elias formally. "I'd like to discuss an important matter with you."

"The incident yesterday has left me feeling as though I'm unfit to be the Deputy Headmistress. The suspect may not be the suspect, meaning the conclusion I arrived at was incorrect. Furthermore, the fact that the incident even took place suggests a lack of competence-" she put her hand to her chest, placing the responsibility solely on herself "-that I cannot ignore." Her anger increased when she envisaged Elias comforting her. "I'm not seeking solace from you." Don't misunderstand, I'm not asking you to lecture me, either. "Nor am I seeking a lecture. I'm seeking ways to improve. I've wallowed in my insufficiency long enough during this morning's investigation, but now I'm sick of it. Disgusting feelings." She shook her head. "I relied on Raven too much to watch this school, and last night, on the night when I would attack my enemies if I was in their situation, I had Raven watch my house instead. I don't regret my decision, as it allowed me to fully enjoy the party. However, it has come to my attention that we are ill prepared for a more dangerous incident. We were so focused on external threats that we did not consider internal ones...at least, I did not." She sighed. "Do you have any suggestions to improve our security to prevent a similar or larger incident?" She sighed again, trying to calm herself. She hadn't expected her sadness to turn to anger and a will to improve so quickly. She suspected the change took place somewhere between the investigation's conclusion and opening Elias's door. Whatever had caused it didn't matter; she was happy for the chance of mindset.

The Masked Man planned to remain quiet until he was asked a direct question. His silence didn't last long.

"Explain yourself." He demanded.

Direct and to the point. How refreshing. The Masked Man thought genuinely. "Holiday cheer potion. I was too distressed to sleep last night...I needed some piece of mind." The Masked Man answered easily. He pretended to feel slightly embarrassed about this, since only weak people were easily affected by such events. "Regrettably, it wore off too soon." He sounded even more embarrassed about the messing up the room. You fools should've let the house elves clean it. It's your fault in the first place that such an incident could even take place. It was too easy. And with such a short lockdown? What a huge problem.

"...Why did we have to find forty prank items in your trunk today?"

"If I was going to cause trouble, I would be cautious." The Masked Man replied. "I would try my best to hide those items, especially after being warned of an investigation, would I not?" He shrugged. "The Room or Requirement, perhaps?" He listed one example, his tone insinuating that he could probably think of more places if he needed to. "Besides, those are some of the worst prank items in existence. My pranks would be more creative. It's not my style to choose something someone else has already done over and over, and copy. Mediocrity is disgusting." All truths. So now any professor that knows me can agree. "I've made some enemies in my time, what man hasn't?" He shrugged. But for you, Athena, your time will not come now. "I have no idea which enemy it can be." He finished. Your punishment will be far more severe than a slap on the wrist. Besides, in case my beloved secretly cares about the house cup...Athena would most certainly lose the Slytherin house points if her prank was revealed.

Rosaleya explored the kitchen. A beautiful, spacious, and organized gourmet kitchen with large windows on three walls, and ample white birch cabinets. Pots and pans hung from nails above the island in the center, smooth, uncluttered beige countertops shined, and a large white fridge with clear glass double doors with an organized variety of delicious looking foods.

It was the perfect picture, until Jade asked "What is that?" He pointed to the corner of the room, where a small beige dog was curled up, asleep. It nearly blended in with the flooring.

The moment Rosaleya turned to look at it, its nose twitched a few times, and it sat up, looking straight into her eyes. "Darling-" Leigh stood and whispered in her ear "-you really didn't hang him from the ceiling with that noose?" Rosaleya shook her head. How...? "You're wondering if I'm responsible for this-" Claudia held up a moving picture of Chance in his last moments, and then he gradually stopped struggling "-right?" How...? "I told you 'everything is as it should be'." Claudia's sweet smile didn't falter. Rosaleya stared back into Chance's eyes in confusion. "You wanted it dead, and now that it is, you're relieved." Claudia said. "Chance? Nope, it's definitely an illusion."

Chance wagged his tail, and ran over to her with his usual stupid expression. Something about it was a bit different, he seemed more controlled now, as if his movements weren't so random anymore. "Master, I'm so sorry. There is something very important I must tell you."

"If this is an illusion, it might be Claudia." Jade said. "And if it's not..." He pointed to the Pet Collar on 'Chance'. "...it makes sense why you can understand him now."

"Okay, Illusion, go on." Rosaleya turned away, looking through the fridge as the dog continued.

"When I got here...Soren put a pet collar on me and Shiro told me everything I didn't know about a pet's role in a home...." Chance bowed his head to Rosaleya, continuing like that.

Meanwhile, Rosaleya muttered "Uh huh," absent-mindedly, grabbing some eggs and closing the fridge. By the time she was ready to crack them, Jade had found the bowls.

"...So I beg of you to forgive me. I'm so grateful that Claudia gave me a chance to atone for my errors..." Change continued.

She got some fresh cherry tomatoes out of the fridge, and washed them in cupped hands.

"...I love it here..."Chance continued. "...I can understand why you were always so sad at that other place. Sadness...that's another thing Shiro taught me...humans feel it more often than we do...or at least more than Shiro and I...but I felt it when Shiro told me that everything I did increased your sadness. I never knew I was doing so much wrong...Leigh never punished me or showed too much anger, and I regret that. I was acting like a hooligan...an animal..."

Rosaleya snorted. She added some fresh tomato to her sizzling eggs, let them fry for a literal minute, then slid the pan's contents onto a plate in one fluid movement. When she turned to 'Chance' again, he was bowing his head, awaiting her forgiveness.

"...Please forgive me...." He finished. "...I want you to be my master, not that awful dog."

Rosaleya laughed. "Nice job, Claudia." She smiled at 'Chance'. "The dog calling Leigh a dog. Nice. Can you come out now? I'd rather talk to you." She kicked Chance harshly. "Illusions are illusions." She said quietly.

"D-do you think I'm an illusion?" Chance seemed deeply hurt by her words, managing to talk through her kicks. "It isn't Claudia! What would give you that idea?"

"She told me you were dead." Rosaleya replied. Very heavy for an illusion...maybe she just took his real weight into account when she made it. Yes, that's probably it.

"Was that dog around? She was probably saying it so he would believe I was dead. That way I wouldn't have to go back to him." Chance said.

Jade cut in. "Then why wouldn't she tell you as soon as you were alone-alone?" He put his hands on his hips.

"Sure." Rosaleya set her plate down on the kitchen table, poured herself a glass of orange juice, and sat down to eat.

Chance lied down near her feet. "Please believe me." He whined.

"Get away." Rosaleya kicked him away.

Chance curled up into a ball, and whined softly for a bit before quieting down and eventually falling asleep. Meanwhile, Jade mocked his performance.

Rosaleya rose, washed all the dishes she'd used, and wiped the counters.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Claudia smiled, hugging Rosaleya as she was scanning the kitchen for anything she'd missed. Mid-hug, she caught sight of Chance. "Did you talk with Chance, yet?"

"Yeah, nice illusion." Rosaleya replied. "Can you please get it out of here now? I don't want to see it."

"Illusion?" Claudia stopped hugging her, taking a step back. "Why would Chance be an illusion?" She sounded dead serious.

"You" Rosaleya paused slightly "killed him, remember?"

"Who told you that?" She had a concerned look in her eyes. "Sunshine, please tell me."

"You did. Remember?" Rosaleya sighed. "Ok, forget it. It's fine. Just like Santa's real, right?" I know there's no proof that he is or isn't right now, but I'm really frustrated. When is she going to stop treating me like I'm dumb?

"He is." Claudia replied seriously. "And that's the real Chance. Why would I lie to you about that?"

There's no way for me to tell if she's lying...

"Her breathing and heart rate won't tell me. We'll have to serve her some demonic truth serum." Jade said.

"Nevermind." Rosaleya smiled. "Can we do something together today? I wanted to spend some time with you...like a mom and daughter would...without anyone else there." Unrelated to the Chance and Santa incidents. I was going to ask to spend time with you before I thought of this. The truth serum is just an add-on. "Are you busy today?"

 

[Hikari Chan]

Lily took a seat by the fireplace in the Slytherin's common room, prepared to study some recipes so that she could improve in the Cooking with Magic classes.

"I am not that stupid to understand this," She slapped with the back of her left hand at the opened textbook in her lap. "But I always miss something crucial in the process of cooking and baking that I mess up a thing or two. I have been thinking that this is similar to creating potions. I am not an expert and I do not know all ingredients by heart, but I am good enough to create potions by just following my documented instructions and books. But Cooking With Magic seems much harder, so I need to be patient and give this time, don't you think so?" Lily asked Stephan, while she was eyeing the recipe of a chocolate cake. She was in a very good mood.

"Please, do not blame yourself for being incompetent," Elias spoke, clearly not intending to comfort or lecture Luna. "Yes, you did a mistake by underestimating our enemies, but it does not mean you are unfit for being the Deputy Headmistress. I am angry, not with you, but with myself because I feel I am at fault for accepting the enrollment of four strange pupils whose names could not be found in the archived register at the Ministry of Magic. I am also angry with myself for giving the pupils so much freedom that some of them ended up making too much trouble. I question myself why I did not make any restrictions from the beginning to prevent the inevitable from happening. Am I unfit for being the Headmaster? I would probably be if I keep repeating the same mistakes. But let's not dwell on that. What is done cannot be undone. For now, we do not know if the threats are internal or external, or both, and therefore we cannot place the blame on anyone yet, even if one pupil confessed.
It's too good to be true because a real culprit would never confess so quickly and easily. The Ministry of Magic is monitoring the pupils, hence we have the internal covered and can focus on the external. I would only ask you to rely more on yourself and your allies. Remember the time when you did not have Raven for your aid. We were a small number of members and the closest to you, Nagini, but we were powerful enough to trick and overcome our enemies, weren't we? We grew in numbers, but now it seems that we have become too relaxed and you solely rely more and more on Raven. So let's take some steps back before you met Raven and focus on yourself and your team members. Raven will be your trump card whenever the time feels right, just like the time when you saved me and everyone else from Azkaban."

"Of course...as I suspected..." Mulciber nodded to the masked student's explanation. "We know you too well to just punish you because of finding forty prank items of the same sort.
Is there anyone you suspect? Who you strongly believe would do this to you out of jealously or hate? Of course, we won't punish anyone without any solid evidence or if the culprit does not confess by him- or herself, however, I have some leads, knowing that only someone from the same house as you could do this since the incident involved to put something in your trunk. If you do not have any idea who it could be it is fine. We will find out sooner or later."

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"...But Cooking With Magic seems much harder, so I need to be patient and give this time, don't you think so?" Lily asked.

"It is very difficult in the beginning. I thought it would be like a puzzle, where if none of the pieces are missing, and you just try your hardest to figure it out, even if you mess up several times and just keep trying, it'll all look, and taste-" he added "-good." He laughed. "I'm still not anywhere close to where I need to be, yet. I've gotten past the basics, but that's about it." He smiled. "And I was wondering..." Wait, will it sound weird if I ask her if we can learn together? I think I'll hold off on that for now. "...how long have you been learning Cooking with Magic?"

Luna took a moment out to imagine last night, without Raven. She inhaled quietly, and gave Elias a very direct look with a contented smile. "We could've all gone to the party last night, but half of us would've gone in shifts. There was no elaborate show we wished to watch all together. It was just a party; each moment was the same as the last, and we would've missed nothing by removing a few hours from each of our nights. Two shifts would've done nicely, and we all would've gotten a fairly long turn at the party. The statues at the entrance could've been animated to prevent external forces from entering any of the secret passageways, and we could've put up barriers around the school that would've been taken down only when it was time for a shift change." She sighed contentedly. "You never fail to improve my mood." She stood from her chair, and seemed to hesitate for a moment. She didn't feel like asking, and she recalled him reminding her that she didn't have to the last time. Besides, we're going to be married, soon. She walked around his desk, and debated on whether to lean down or...She sat down in his lap with her legs to one side of him, and leaned forward, putting her arms around his chest. She rested her head on his shoulder, leaning her cheek against his. "I'm so happy you're the man I'm going to marry." She closed her eyes.

"If you do not have any idea who it could be it is fine. We will find out sooner or later."

Of course you will. The Masked Man thought, resisting laughing. He pretended to give it some thought. "I have no idea."

 

[Hikari Chan]

"Well, since the start of September. So it has only been a couple of months. I actually graduated last year, though I decided to take an extra year for just Cooking with Magic, hence
I am put in a small class with other graduates and it is really challenging because we have to learn everything from year three to year seven during a year."

"That's a brilliant idea," Elias praised Luna. ...A brilliant idea, my dear, and I am sure you will come up with more brilliant ideas in the future...He thought as he placed his arms around her, returning her embrace.

August was feeling confused about the entire situation at Hogwarts. He was still recovering, both mentally and physically after last night's event. And at the same time, he could not help but brood over the weird test Celeste had put him through. First, he felt ashamed for deriding her master, and then second, he reassured himself that had been under such pressure during a difficult test that would have scared any muggle to death. ...I know he does not care about me lashing out at him, they planned this, after all, to test me if I am worthy to date Celeste. So the most important thing for him is how I treat her. Merlin's beard, it was a rough night, I splinched my arm and in the morning by my bedside I find Adela giving me such a horrid look. As if I asked her to watch me during my sleep, ew. I don't think it was her idea either. Whoever planned this, must have had a deathwish...it is probably Alexis, but I will deal with him later. There are other important things I need to get sorted out...

August left his office, feeling better in shape as if nothing peculiar had happened last night, and made his way over to Mulciber's office, knocking at his door just after Mulciber had owled the last letter.
Just after the masked student had left, Mulciber had been preparing letters, one to each in the Slytherin house, which he had owled at once, except to Mr. Dantes, who had been excluded from the questioning since he had been found innocent regarding the prank items in his trunk. All the letters had the exact same short content and did not reveal anything else than the Slytherins had to gather for a meeting with their head of house in the Great Hall after lunch. Anyone who failed to attend the meeting would face detention. That was to ensure everyone would be there, in case if anyone skipped lunch. Not that they would skip a meal, but Mulciber could not trust pupils like miss Lovett.

"So, what's all the fuss about, searching through trunks of the pupils? I thought we already did that at the start of this semester," was August's first words after he had greeted his friend and colleague.

"It's a long story, where should I even start? Should I start with blaming Elias? But that's not the right thing to do, since we all left Hogwarts at very bad timing. Would you even believe it? A pupil murdering two fellow pupils?"

"What the bloody hell?!! This must be a sick joke?!"

"Unfortunately it is a reality, whether you like it or not. Cattermole, a half-blood wizard, in his sixth year, used muggle items along with poison to murder Goldstein, a fourth-year Gryffindor, and Turpin, a third-year Ravenclaw. The culprit vanished one of the victims and left the second one in the boys' restroom. What's weirder is that he confessed immediately. I never thought we would find the culprit so fast and we already confirmed a couple of facts that make him the culprit but there are still more we need to look into before bringing him to the court."

"Merlin's hairy beard. That's so unexpected. I do not understand that pupils from other houses would attack each other. They are usually on more friendly terms with each other than with Slytherin."

"That's why I think the entire incident is truly odd. Pyrites did not recognize Cattermole during the confession, thinking that the boy probably has a split personality."

"I won't be surprised if Cattermole ended up in Azkaban. Anyway, I am curious about what kind of muggle items he used to commit such a crime. Did he also get the poison from a muggle store?"

"It's complicated. Really complicated and also unexpected. I will tell you the details after dinner today. I am quite busy now as I need to prepare for a private meeting with the Slytherins after lunch. You are welcome to join the meeting, any professor is."

"Could it be that a Slytherin is indirectly involved with the murder incident?"

"No, I highly doubt it. Besides, it's about a smaller incident."

Later that day, when everyone had just finished eating their lunch, the Slytherins remained in the Great Hall for a short meeting with their head of the house. August and some professors stayed as well, curious about what incident the Slytherins had caused that required a private meeting. Even Elias was there.

"I will keep it short to not waste your precious time as I know you have homework," Mulciber began as soon as the other three houses had left Great Hall. "Today, while investigating your trunks, we found forty prank items, of the same kind, in Mr. Dantes' trunk. I know very well that he did not get those himself but that someone placed them in his trunk for today's investigation to frame him so that he would receive detention and probably point deduction. Since only Slytherins can enter their house and since both girls and boys can enter the boys' dorms, every one of you is currently under suspicion. I am not going to use any truth serum or press anyone of you to confess. I will be giving the culprit plenty of time, until the last day of your school year. I am not going to deduct any house points or give you more detentions. Instead, I am going to punish you differently. If the culprit does not confess during the given time frame, Slytherin will lose the house cup, no matter if you have the highest points, the house cup will go to the house that places second-"

Upon hearing this, many of the Slytherins began to protest about how unfair the punishment was and urged their head of the house to use the truth serum or perform legilimency on them. Lily was in deep shock and looked at her brother with pleading eyes, trying to get eye contact with him.

"Silence!" Mulciber scolded them coldly. "I am not done yet. Anyway, as I said, if the culprit does not confess, Slytherin will lose the house cup. You also know that the school is currently put under many restrictions due to another incident. We will also not lift these restrictions from the Slytherin even after we have solved the other incident. So it is not only the house cup you risk losing. The culprit has until June 28th to confess."

"Framing someone who is innocent, is absolutely not acceptable, hence I approve of this kind of punishment," Elias spoke. "I do not like the idea of using legilimency, as I respect each pupil's privacy. Truth serum has a flaw and is therefore out of the question since you suggested it yourself, hence it won't work as we wish it would. You are dismissed." ...I am sorry...He thought when he noticed how crestfallen Lily looked. ...but this is for the best...

...Finally, Shadowwalker has realized he should not be so lenient with the pupils, that they need to be disciplined... August was feeling very satisfied with the outcome of the meeting even if the incident with the prank items was a surprise to him. He had not been expecting a Slytherin trying to frame a fellow house member. ...What if it is Mr. Dantes who fabricated the entire incident? But on the other hand, he is not the kind who would use prank items. He is just a pervert who is interested in perverted stuff...

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"I'm not busy at all today." Claudia replied with a sweet smile. "Are there any places you have in mind?"

"Not yet. Can you decide? At least in the beginning." Rosaleya replied. "There are so many things I want to try here that you'll probably cover a lot of them even if you don't see the list. And there are a lot I don't know, too." I don't know how many cool things there are to do here besides what's available in the wizarding and Muggle areas.

Claudia smiled again. "Alright then, Sunshine. First, let's get ready."

"I am ready." Rosaleya replied, slightly confused as Claudia took her hand, leading her out of the kitchen.

Three minutes later

Claudia revealed a beautiful bedroom behind her wooden tower door, and the scent of honey, sugar cookies, and fresh herbs wafted out. The decor reminded Rosaleya of the inside of a cheerful witch's cottage in a book. Honey-colored walls, a myriad of herbs and lamps hanging from the wooden ceiling, round windows with charming flower print drapes, and a flower and herb garden on the balcony outside the biggest round window. The dark green curtain bars and curved beams twisted like vines, her bookshelves were filled with leather bound books, and a dark green area rug shaped like a giant oak leaf covered most of the maplewood floor. Claudia's dresser, window frames, closet, cabinets, bed frame and headboard were made of maplewood, with tiny, subtle painted rose details. Claudia's comforter and pillow cases had a sky pattern with wispy white clouds, slowly moving across the fabric like a summer day. The sheets were plain white. Claudia's dresser mirror was a rounded square, with a border of tiny hearts carved into the wall around it. Two round doors with a small pink heart window and heart-shaped door handles were on either side of the room. The one they'd just come through had no decorations besides the heart window. The door opposite them had a smurf-themed calendar just below the heart window, with different scenery from the cartoons. Smurfs slowly went about their daily lives in the painting, sometimes stopping to talk in inaudibly low voices. The current day was circled with a heart, with the words 'My daughter and I' in today's box.

"How did she write it down if she hasn't left our sight today?" Jade wondered, pointing this detail out. "Does she have an extension?"

Did she mean it for me or Athena? Rosaleya wondered. I'm going to ask-

"Do you want a cat or a tiger or a fish?" Claudia said in a quirky singsong voice, gesturing for Rosaleya to sit on the chair before the dresser.

"I don't want any pets." Rosaleya replied, getting the feeling that that wasn't quite what Claudia meant.

"I'm going to paint your face, sunshine." Claudia laughed softly. She pulled out a face painting palette from a cabinet, and walked over to Rosaleya. "Well?"

"Those sound pretty lame." Jade said. "What about something really cool, like a dragon?"

"A dragon? Can you do that?" Rosaleya asked.

"Of course." Claudia smiled.

"Your room is really pretty. It's like an upgraded Smurf cottage." Rosaleya said, turning her head towards the bed, entrance, leaf rug, and then towards the ceiling again. Then Jade turned her head towards the calendar.

"Straight, please." Claudia said, gently moving Rosaleya's head to face straight. She ruffled her hair before letting go. She began humming cheerful waltz music as she worked.

"Why does it say that on today's date?" Rosaleya asked. "On your calendar?"

Claudia kept humming for a few moments before replying. "Because I'm going to spend the whole day with you."

"But I didn't-"

"-I was going to ask you if you hadn't." Claudia smiled.

Claudia and Rosaleya sat opposite each other at a charming cafe. Rosaleya had chosen outdoor seating, since it was a surprisingly warm day today despite the warm sky and soft rain drizzling down.

​

Claudia donned a long, fitted, elegant purple dress with subtle details at the neckline and waist, a black cloak with glowing gold stars embroidered onto it, and black pointy-toed ankle boots. An large witch's hat the same dark purple as her dress completed her costume. She wore her usual makeup, with the exception of vivid purple mascara.

Rosaleya wore a headband with two large black dragon horns pointing upwards, and a band the same color as he hair. Her face resembled a purple dragon, with white details. She wore a dragon costume with wings that magically moved slowly behind her, and gloves and shoes that resembled sharp dragon claws. To fully enjoy the meal, she'd taken her gloves off and placed them at the edge of the table.

Claudia had ordered a ginger tea, ginger biscuits, and casear salad. Rosaleya had ordered a crab salad, French fries, crab cakes, and lemon water.

"So they really vote on the weather?" Rosaleya asked in disbelief.

"Yes. Today it seems that the popular vote was for a grey sky with soft drizzling and a generally warm temperature." Claudia smiled.

"What if the majority vote is for snow for...a month, and you don't want it to snow anymore?" Rosaleya asked. "And, and where do you go do vote?"

"If the majority vote is something you dislike, you can contact the weather demons in charge of the demonic city you're in, and request for a certain area you'll be enjoying to be changed for a certain amount of time. You can request anything from a single place to a whole street, excluding large public areas like amusement parks." Claudia smiled, sipping her ginger tea.

Rosaleya allowed her mind to go through a few scenarios for this while she awaited the second answer.

Claudia took two more bites of her Caesar salad before continuing. "You see those light-posts?" She gestured to the French style lamp posts lining the streets. "If you open up a small compartment in the pole, you'll see cards you can fill out for weather requests."

"Right there?" Rosaleya asked, pointing to the nearest lamp post. "For real?"

Claudia nodded with a soft smile. "Mhm."

Rosaleya stood, wondering if it was truly this easy. She closely examined the lamp post, finding a tiny door with a handle the width of a pencil. She pulled it, and it opened easily. The compartment was much wider on the inside than Rosaleya would've thought, with a smooth metal interior, and two elegant, beige, half-moon shaped wicker baskets of rose-scented, round-square beige cards. Beside the baskets was a polished oblong box full of different pens, pencils, and mechanical pencils, all elegantly shaped and brand new. This would also be a good place to go if I ever need a pen or pencil or something. Rosaleya pulled one card from the left basket as Jade whispered "Make it pour cats and dogs!" through his mischevious laughter. He pocketed his favorite pen with a smile. This card was very simple, with two fields; one for your name and one for your reason for voting for that type of weather, the latter marked 'optional', and one area full of check boxes: one for each possible type of weather, with a side note asking to 'only tick one'. Rosaleya slid this back into its box, and chose a card from the right basket. Instead of the heading being 'Weather Vote', this one was 'Weather Request', and it had two more fields; one for the amount of time one wished for the request to remain active, asking for a start and end time, and one for the area the demon wished for the request to be active in.

"Cats and dogs." Jade smiled.

Rosaleya thought about what she wanted to test it on while she closed the little door and took her seat at the table again.

"It was there, wasn't it?" Claudia smiled.

"Yes." Rosaleya replied, giggling.

"I'll go use the restroom while you ponder your request." Claudia smiled, making for the cafe entrance.

Rosaleya nodded absent-mindedly as she read all the tix boxes a second time.

Jade's eyes followed Claudia until she entered the bathroom.

"Hmm..." Rosaleya reread the options again. I forgot to grab a pencil to write with. She chuckled, standing up and making for the lamp post again.

"Rose, did you forget about the truth serum?" Jade reminded.

Rosaleya froze. "I did." She replied, barely moving her lips. "Is there time?"

"She just left. Yes." Jade replied with a laugh.

"Ok. I'll...?" Rosaleya wasn't sure who should add it in.

"You watch, I'll pour." Jade replied, sounding very confident.

Rosaleya nodded, and sat back down in her seat, watching the entrance into the short hallway containing the bathrooms.

Jade finished stirring it in before Claudia returned, retrieved a pencil for her from the lamp post, and returned to stand by her side again while jovially humming stereotypical French cafe music.

Rosaleya crossed off everything she didn't want, until she was left with three weather options. She ticked the 'heavy snow' option, specifying that she only wanted it to last one minute, and stared intently at the card. 'Heavy snow' appeared at the bottom of the card, then all the text glowed a warm orange. Then, more fields appeared, in that same orange color. Fields that asked for details on the color of the snow, the way the snow should taste, whether one wanted realistic or cartoonish snowflakes, what formation one would prefer the snow to fall in, and how long it would take to melt. Each of these fields had a star on it, and Rosaleya read the footnote:

*Snow will be set to default if no special attributes are written.

Rosaleya's eyes widened when she realized how many things she could do with this. "Oooooh." She breathed.

Jade loudly listed off all his ideas while Rosaleya filled out the fields, taking a few of his suggestions.

Claudia took her seat again as Rosaleya finished filling out the final answer on the card.

Nothing happened.

"Do I say 'go' or..." Rosaleya thought "...or 'I'm done' or somethi-"

Claudia smiled as the paper folded itself into a soft orange lucky star in the blink of an eye, and used Rosaleya's hands as a springboard to shoot off into the sky.

"Your tea's cold." Claudia smiled, gesturing to it. It started steaming a few seconds later.

"Thank you." Rosaleya replied, gingerly dipping her little finger in at the edge. "Mmm." She hummed in surprise when she realized that Claudia had heated it to warm instead of boiling hot. "Thank you." She downed it in one gulp.

Claudia did the same.

Jade leaned in, surveying Claudia closely.

Both Claudia and Rosaleya looked to the sky when it started raining bubblegum pink snow in a swirling formation.

"Nice choice." Claudia smiled.

What should I ask first? "It reminds me of Christmas." Rosaleya said. It does. And, I'll segway into that first... "I can almost hear the jingle bells like Santa's sleigh. If he was real." Correct me, or agree. Super easy. And I saw you drink the whole cup without doing anything to it first! There's no way you could've switched it out.

"Well, she could've switched it out, then erased your memory of those few seconds." Jade pointed out.

"He is." Claudia smiled. "Santa is as real as you and I. Absolutely real. A living, breathing being. And he travels all over the world, and gifts presents to all the good children. One time, Soren drank coffee and stayed up all night watching the tree only to find no Santa. He started crying at daybreak, saying "I'm sorry Santa, you couldn't come because I scared you!""

"What happened after that?" Rosaleya asked, chuckling at the event.

"He fell asleep underneath the tree, then I came and scooped him up and tucked him into bed. After I placed the gifts underneath the tree, I told him that Santa came back and said "It's ok, I'm not mad."" Claudia smiled.

"So, you put the gifts under the tree?" Rosaleya and Jade asked, the latter nearly yelling in an accusatory tone.

"Yes. Santa came by my tower and dropped them off. He couldn't wait around, you know, and he didn't want Soren to be there while he worked his magic, so he told me to place them underneath the tree when Soren left." Before Rosaleya could reply, Claudia leaned in with a knowing smile. "Do you believe me now? Oh, and Chance is truly alive. I have no idea who fed you those falsities, but he is healthy and happily living in our house. Is that all you needed to hear me say after drinking truth serum?"

Before Rosaleya or Jade could come up with any replies, the former blurted "Yes."

Claudia continued "The demon waiter that was serving that table at the time-" she pointed behind her to a table three tables away "-is a friend of mine. He tipped me off before I came back."

"I didn't notice that." Rosaleya blurted. "Neither did Jade."

"Did she give you some as well?" Jade said.

"When you left the table to go get a weather card, I returned the favor." Claudia smiled.

"But you didn't know I-" Rosaleya began.

"-I heard you asking Soren for some." Claudia finished. "Based on our conversation earlier today, I guessed what use you had in mind for it."

"Are you mad? I don't want to get you mad at me." Rosaleya blurted, then covered her mouth.

"No. I understand. You have a distrustful nature, and I am speaking near nonsense to your ears." Claudia replied elegantly.

Rosaleya stood up from the table and hugged Claudia.

Claudia smiled.

The Masked Man closed the door behind him. A few steps away from the professor's office, he felt his hubris leave him. He turned back to glare at the office door, wishing he could bring some of that confidence with him. Or the bravery. Or the certainty that he would always win and that everyone else besides his dearest was so far below him that they would break their necks trying to look up at him. He made his way to the bathroom in which he'd hidden his pager, getting on his hands and knees and thanking Lady Luck that it was still there, working, and untouched. He held his breath while waiting for it to turn on so he could check or messages, then his heart leapt when he found 38. He opened one after the other, becoming more and more enraged as he realized one after another had been sent from Athena's second pager. They were all duplicates of the same message, sent a few seconds apart: one smiley face. He received three more before he could finish looking through all of them. He shoved the pager in his pocket, then grabbed the nearest urinal. He pulled it out by its base, and slammed it to the ground with a thundering crash of porcelain and a loud growl. His hands gripped the edges tightly. The knuckles turned white. He jumped out the window, jumping over and over until he found wherever Rosaleya was and hugged her and didn't let go. I shouldn't have to. As long as I don't kill her. As long as I don't hurt her. He wanted to break the entire bathroom and have the professors clean up the mess on their hands and knees. He wanted Athena to beg him for forgiveness as he... "Stop!" Athena yelled through her sobs. "I'm sorry! I'll return her memories back to normal! I'm sorryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" The Masked Man collapsed on the bathroom floor. Rosaleya is untouchable. I'm trapped in this school. Athena's mocking me at every turn. Mother gets her way every time. And I can't use magic. And I can't visit Hell. I have no one and nothing I can take my anger out on. Absolutely nothing. The Masked Man banged his fists against the floor. He noticed some blood, but kept banging. The pain from his fists increased until they went numb, and as the pain faded he became aware that his bangs were echoing through the bathroom, and that the bathroom tiles nearest to him had cracked. He made to pick a shard up, fumbling with it for a minute because he couldn't feel his hands. When he finally picked it up, he held it over the veins of his left hand, fighting himself on making an incision. He neared his wrist with the shard, and for every inch nearer the sharp edge got, his wrist distanced itself. Soon he was scrambling around in circles like a dog chasing its tail, with the shard chasing his wrist. His knees took minor damage from the sharp tiles at first, and soon he began to feel some painful scrapes at his knees as well. I can't even go to the hospital wing because I'll strangle that nurse if I have to stay there overnight. I can't...I just can't right now...My rage is so strong my body's burning up. I can't...I can't...I can't do this! I don't want to be awake right now! The Masked Man slowly stopped chasing his wrist. Did I really just...? Like a dog? LIKE A DOG! I DID! He groaned while clenching his throat, and his throat soon became sore. Both hands were trying to accomplish different things and I REALLY JUST FOUGHT MYSELF! He slowly tilted to the left, eventually settling into a curled-up position on the floor. And here I am, after my fight with myself, on a filthy wizarding bathroom floor. How low have I fallen? I've fallen so low that everyone can look down on me. I'm where I wish everyone was. I'm with them. I share their filth. How can this be, when all I need is one thing to make it all better? One person to make me feel like...no to MAKE me a prince again? One lockdown lifted to give me my freedom? One less person to fight against in this game. His pager hadn't stopped indicating new messages this whole time.

Outside the boys' bathroom, Athena held her hand to her mouth to muffle her laughter. I timed it perfectly!

"Tomorrow, start sending a bunch of pages with just smileys from my other pager at this time. Don't forget, okay?" Athena said.

"I won't." Soren replied with a smirk.

They high fived, and walked their separate ways.

The Masked Man's eyes closed as if something weighed down heavily on his eyelids, but his conscientiousness did not fade. He was stuck there, awake but too tired to move. It felt like an awful limbo of being awake and asleep, with only the worst parts of both to make every moment worse. I have to move...if I don't move...this will only last longer...If have to leave this room...But he remained where he was. He couldn't get his body to do as he wished, and seconds stretched to resemble minutes.

"Yeah..." Stephan replied nervously. "...I had a good time with her."

"It sounds like you're really trying to censor yourself around her. Isn't that annoying?" Athena asked softly.

"It is..." Stephan admitted.

"Then why don't you stop?" Athena smiled. "It's not love if she doesn't like you for who you are."

"...I know." Stephan said quietly. "But..." I love her...at least, I think I do...What else can this feeling be? It's so similar to what I felt about Rosaleya, but...a bit different. Just a bit, though.

"Wouldn't you enjoy it more if you were able to be honest around the person you love?" Athena said.

"Y-I guess-mayb-I don't know." Stephan stood abruptly, walking away. "I'm going to-" He stopped himself before he said 'visit Asmodeus' "-think about stuff."

"See ya later." Athena replied, returning to her book.

"I'll be right back." Claudia smiled.

"Wow!" Rosaleya wasn't sure where to look. This city was even more amazing up close. They'd teleported to the cafe for brunch, and it'd been in a French-style part of the city where everything looked normal for a French city. Rosaleya focused on a huge toy store that was shaped like a brown teddy bear with a huge red ribbon around its neck. A five story building looked even bigger shaped like that.

"I wonder if it's soft?" Jade jumped to it, touched one of the legs and then the torso, then jumped back to Rosaleya 10 seconds later. "Parts of it are soft, and parts are firm like metal, for the main part."

"Ok." Rosaleya nodded.

"Yes, two hours please. Thank you." Claudia paid a bicorn renter for two bicorns for two hours. The bicorn lender's building looked like a two-story tall bicorn head, with a purple mane with orange tips, and grand, shiny, fiery eyes. The lower lower neck was the entrance of the building. Claudia took the reigns of one and led it across the street to where Rosaleya was admiring the bear building. "Here you are. These are quite tame." She smiled, running her fingers through the bicorn's thick mane. It bowed its head to her, eyeing her with a soft expression.

"A uni?-no, it has two horns! Wh-" Rosaleya noticed the saddle

"-and she paid for two-" Jade added

"-we're going to ride them?!" Rosaleya asked, meeting the bicorn's fiery eyes with excitement.

​

The bicorn brought its nose up to Rosaleya's face the moment their eyes met. She felt its surprisingly cool breath on her face, and noticed it smelled like the delicious smelling smoke from a barbeque. Her first instinct was to back away, but she heard Claudia's voice before she could make a move.

"Don't be shy. It's showing you affection." Claudia assured.

Rosaleya copied Claudia's actions from before, running her fingers through its warm, thick mane. "Wow...you're really nice." The bicorn's face blocked whatever movement Claudia made with the reigns, and a moment later the bicorn was on its knees, awaiting its rider. Rosaleya mounted it carefully with a slightly uncertain expression, and Claudia handed her the reigns once she'd found a comfortable position.

"You've ridden a horse before?" Claudia confirmed with a smile.

"Yesssssss-" Rosaleya thought "-the last time wasn't too long ago. We were on a trip to a relatives' farm and I got to ride one, then Dad-"

"-Try riding him across the street." Claudia smiled.

I didn't want to finish the story. Thanks. Rosaleya thought gratefully, gently tapping the reigns against the bicorn's neck.

It rose grandly, and trotted across the crossing alongside Claudia. Rosaleya liked that these demonic streets had arched bridges going across them at crossing points, so one didn't have to worry about pedestrians while driving, or drivers while walking.

"You know where I want you to go?" Rosaleya asked in surprise.

The bicorn nodded its head happily the last few steps to the bicorn renter.

"The reigns, provided the bicorn doesn't despise the rider, will translate your wishes to him." Claudia explained.

"Wow, magic reigns! Does that work with horses and unicorns, too?" Rosaleya asked.

At the mention of unicorns and horses, the bicorn snorted in irritation.

"Oh, I'm sorry for comparing you." Rosaleya replied, stroking its mane with one hand.

The bicorn let out a final snort, then nodded once.

"It does." Claudia replied as her own bicorn kneeled for her. She sat side-saddle, looking so elegant on the horse Jade snapped a few pictures of her.

Rosaleya had been so enchanted by the bicorn she hadn't noticed Jade riding behind her, hugging her waist.

"Yeah...I'm gonna take pictures of everything today. That bear building? Four pictures from different angles, and we haven't even gone inside, yet." Jade smiled.

"Ok." Rosaleya nodded.

"So, let's ride around the city for a bit." Claudia smiled. "Make note of any places you'd like to visit, and don't try to fit them all in one day, dear. Remember you have plenty of days to explore."

"Right." Rosaleya agreed.

"Ride alongside or around where I'm riding, and if you wish to go off and explore a certain area, I'll follow you. Hmm?" Claudia's expression gently asked Rosaleya to reply.

"That makes sense. Alright." Rosaleya nodded.

Claudia raced her bicorn across the crossing again, and up to the bear building. Rosaleya slowly followed her, and Claudia began her explanation as soon as Rosaleya was in hearing range. "Toy stores, grocery stores, etc., don't have names here. There are some exceptions...the businesses owned by Prince Asmodeus or Former King Lucifer for example, but otherwise, you'd say 'The Bear Toy Store, or the Bouncing Ball Toy Store." Claudia pointed to the large bouncy-ball shaped building four streets away.

"Ok." Rosaleya nodded.

"We also don't have street names, but numbers." Claudia pointed to a large French-style street sign, except there was no pole. The signs were floating in mid air, subtly hovering up and down a few inches. Colors faded horizontally from one minute to the next, so while the current colors were a blend of lilac and yellow with black text, a bit of white could be seen at the inner corners fading outward, meaning one of the next colors would be white with black text.

​

"What happens if you spin them?" Rosaleya asked.

"Try." Claudia replied.

Rosaleya neared it, and with the added height of her bicorn, she could easily reach the signs. She spun one, and it spun rapidly, ending up in its prior position a few seconds later as if nothing had happened.

"Now try the other one." Claudia smiled.

This time, Rosaleya was the one who spun around rapidly, almost to the point of painful dizziness, before she returned to her prior position a few seconds later.

Claudia laughed softly. "If Soren was here, he'd joke 'In Mother Russia, the sign spins you'." She said in a Russian accent.

The bicorn didn't seem to mind or notice, so Rosaleya spun the bottom sigh again, but it spun like the top one.

"It's random." Claudia said.
"It's random?" Rosaleya asked at the same time. Once she realized what Claudia had said, she nodded.

Three minutes later

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooookay I'm done." Rosaleya groaned. She waited until her head stopped spinning, then nodded. "Okay, let's move on."

Claudia chuckled, then continued on.

"What happens if a tall truck or something wants to pass through those low crossing arches?" Rosaleya asked, nodding her head to the left while they passed another crossing arch.

"The arch raises to allow the vehicle to pass." Claudia replied. They made a u-turn, and Claudia began her explanation after several 'ooh's and 'wow's from Rosaleya. "...We don't have names for stores, like Safeway or Harrods. We just say 'The Teddy Bear Toy Store' or 'The Shopping Cart Grocery Store'." Claudia gestured to the back of the Teddy Bear Toy Store and a giant Shopping Cart-shaped building respectively.

"That's so awesome!" Rosaleya replied, steering her horse in the direction of the shopping cart building when she saw the cart was full of items one might find at a grocery store. The foods looked so delectable, she had the urge to shrink the building and eat it.

"Soren asked me not to visit any grocery stores without him, if we went out together." Claudia replied. "He wanted to see your 'adorable expressions the first time you saw one', and he wanted to explain how it worked to you, and the differences between a human one, et cetera."

"Oh, ok." Rosaleya replied.

"What if there are two similar buildings in the same city? Like two large shopping carts?" Jade suggested.

Rosaleya looked up at the shopping cart building, and wondered the same thing. She rode back to Claudia's side, and just as she opened her mouth, she saw Claudia begin to reply.

"Before a demon builds a new building, they'll consult the city's building log, which works like a Muggle phone book, but specifically for oddly shaped business buildings. No demonic city contains two of the same building. However, in the next demonic city, it's highly likely to find another like any of these."

"Ok." Rosaleya nodded. I wonder how she knew what I was going to ask. Is that what mother's intuition is?

They rode through several streets filled with many uniquely shaped buildings. Apartment buildings that looked normal, albeit highly polished and pristine, were far more common than in the Demon Realm, but there were still a myriad of uniquely shaped houses as well. They passed car rental businesses and car sellers with huge buildings shaped like different cars; a red car, a pink car, and a silver and blue car. A two story art gallery was a perfect replica of a massive Starry Night. A spaceship dealership was shaped like a simple spaceship. Another grocery store was shaped like a gigantic stack of apples; red, yellow, green, and yellow and red mixed. Three arcades were shaped like a retro Pac-man machine, a DDR machine, and a retro pinball machine. A home improvement store was shaped like a giant level with a bubble. A clothing store was casual wear was shaped like a giant plain blue t-shirt. Two formal ware stores side-by-side were shaped like a posh suit and an elegant evening gown. A four story demonic and wizarding museum looked like a white statue of Merlin. A street of antique stores were shaped like a bunch of anqitues, which looked adorable all lined up. The most notable antiques for Rosaleya were a kettle shaped like Aladdin's magic lamp, and a jade elephant statue. A Disney merchandise store was shaped like a Mickey Mouse head. They passed a pet store shaped like a Cerberus from the neck-up, with all three heads looking in different directions; one angry to the west, one sad to the east, one ecstatic to the north. Two ice cream stores, one shaped like a vanilla soft serve with a waffle cone, one shaped like an oval waffle bowl with wavy edges and a banana split in it. Every restaurant that specialized in a different nationality's food had a building representing that country's national food, or popular foods from that country. Russian food was a huge potato, Chinese food had a Peking Duck, and another Chinese food building had a noodle stir-fry. Two Japanese food restaurants had sushi and curry rice respectively. American food was a huge hamburger with fries, and the fries spilled into the restaurant's parking lot, forming perfect partitions for the vehicles. Then there were different human food brands, like McDonalds and Subway, which had buildings in the shape of their logos, as well as some demonic brands.

"The food is far healthier, of course. The original recipes have been modified to suit demonic tastes, and be far healthier. Although, we got that idea from different Wizarding food business doing the same thing." Claudia explained.

An optician's building was shaped like two pairs of glasses back-to-back; aviator sunglasses, and half-moon spectacles, with a carrying case in between them. A movie theater was shaped like a popcorn box overflowing with caramel popcorn, with a pair of 3D glasses hanging off the side.

"That's the Caramel Corn Movie Theater. In that direction-" Claudia gestured in the direction opposite the theater "-there's the Salted Popcorn Movie Theater."

A large trampoline park looked so tempting, and nearby, a grassy area filled with various ropes, rope ladders, nets, stairs, rock walls, and monkey bars.

"The grass has an enchantment there to make the ground soft." Claudia explained.

"So safe." Rosaleya nodded happily.

They passed more toy stores, shaped like a Luxo Ball, a Rubik's Cube, and a Lego tower of multicolored bricks, respectively. On the street just past the Lego tower was a street of apartment buildings that looked as if they were built completely out of Legos.

"Does the Teddy Bear Toy Store specialize in having the best stuffed animals, and does the Lego Tower Toy Store-" Rosaleya eyed the top of said building "-have the best Lego collection, and stuff like that?" Rosaleya asked.

"Exactly." Claudia replied with a kind smile. "You're so smart."

Different sporting goods stores had shops shaped like their logos, such as Adidas and Puma, as well as some demonic brands. A camping goods store was shaped like a giant tent, which changed from bright red to dark blue while they passed.

"Does that change every day at around this time? Or every hour?" Rosaleya asked.

"Every hour." Claudia replied.

A bowling alley was shaped like a giant bowling ball as it was hitting a perfect strike; many of the pins were either slanting or flat against the ground. A gym was shaped like a hundred kilo free weight. A maid service was resembled a shapely mannequin wearing a black maid's uniform and holding a feather duster. A convenience store was shaped like a large blue slurpee. A maid cafe and butler cafe were side-by-side, with the maid wearing wearing a pink maid's uniform and the butler wearing a sleek black uniform, each proudly extending a hand to support a plate of omurice together. The words 'made with love' were spelled in ketchup on the omurice. Three demonic schools all had buildings shaped like a stack of multicolored books, but the final item atop the stack varied: an apple on top, a graduation hat, and a yellow pencil. Another demonic school was shaped like a huge yellow school bus. A smoothie shop was shaped like two smoothies; strawberry and mango, tapping together with the word 'cheers' spelled in a shared light blue silly straw. Different barbers were shaped like scissors of different length and handle-color. All pools were outdoors, and there were also many water parks. A karaoke bar was shaped like a giant microphone. A costume store was shaped like a huge pumpkin head. A tattoo artist's shop and an acupuncture salon were shaped like their respective needles. A planetarium was shaped like replica of the Milky Way, with a telescope floating above it. A yoga instructor's studio was shaped like a lilac exercise ball. Different music instructors' studios had buildings in the shape of the instruments they taught. One building with multiple instructors who taught a variety of instruments, according to Claudia, had a building shaped like an open music sheet book. Internet cafes were built in the shapes of browser logos, with a few demonic ones as well. Libraries were shaped like a single shelf of different kinds of books; one library had gigantic replicas of all the Bronte sisters' novels on a shelf, one library had a shelf of nonfiction books, one library had a collection of titles from a famous demonic writer who wrote 'choose your own adventure' books.

Then there were areas of the city, like where Rosaleya had discovered weather votes and cards, that resembled the best areas of different human cities. The cafe had been in the 'French' area. There was also a Venice area, China, Japan, and many others.

During the ride, Rosaleya and Jade noticed that besides bicorns, spaceships, and magic cars, there were also many other modes of transportation. Brooms, jumping, hover shoes, hover boards, and skateboards were spotted many times during their ride. Three colorful hot air balloons were spotted as well, used as advertising for a clothing store with a 50% sale going on, the Caramel Corn Movie Theater which was doing a buy-one-get-two-free tickets special, and a notification that Princess Diana had finally named her drink 'Diana' with sarcastic undertones.

"Why did demons start using magical cars?" Rosaleya asked, looking around at all the other alternatives. "And, can spaceships go into space?"

"For cars, the current King of Hell magically enhanced his car, word spread, and gradually, demons began finding other ways to enhance their cars. Now magically enhanced cars are more common than bicorns in the Human Realm."

"Ok." Rosaleya nodded. She was about to ask the spaceship question again but Claudia remembered before she could open her mouth.

"Spaceships can go into space, yes, but not by demonic invention. Someone made a wish to a wish granting demon that demons could traverse space without running out of oxygen in their ships." Claudia replied.

"Oh, ok." Rosaleya nodded. I thought someone really invented a spaceship.

"What about that?" Jade pointed to a huge roller coaster flying freely through the sky without any tracks in sight.

Red sparkles trailed from the last cart's rear like a boat cutting through water, remaining in the air for a few seconds in place of where tracks would be before sprinkling down all the way to the ground.

"Is that another advertisement?" Rosaleya asked Claudia. "It's going too fast I can't tell what it says."

"It's advertising for an amusement park." Claudia replied. "Some rides go all around the city."

"So it's a super cool ride, and it's advertising!" Rosaleya exclaimed. "Can we go there?"

"Of course." Claudia replied with a smile.

Alastair walked through the labyrinth, finding the center quick enough to not wish he could appear there instantly, and long enough to enjoy a short walk.

"And what meals do you like to cook?" Luna smiled.

Alastair managed do stop just before turning the corner into the center. He was shocked to see who Luna was talking to, and his mind raced to why she would be here, talking so casually with Luna.

"I make a lovely potato soup." Malice smiled, sipping the tea Luna had served her. "Alastair tells me you play a lovely violin, too. May I play piano alongside it?"

"My my, what an elegant young lady." Luna replied in surprise. She can cook and play piano, her manners are pristine, and she speaks elegantly as well. Why didn't Alastair tell me about her before? "Excuse me for a moment." She summoned her patronus, and whispered a message to it. "Now, what were you saying about piano? Hmm...what songs can you play?"

"Alastair?" Malice smiled, noticing that the patronus literally turned the corner and waited there, replaying Luna's message.

"I was on my way here. A hilarious coincidence." Alastair replied, walking into the labyrinth's center. "Good afternoon, Malice. Luna."

"Good afternoon." Luna replied with an expectant expression. Answer my question.

"Yes, Malice's words are true. She is a relative." Alastair replied.

"Why haven't you told me about her?" Luna replied plainly. "Is she someone I wouldn't want to interact with?" There is no reason to be so secretive, I will kill her here and now if you say the word. Is she so like the rest of your family that we shouldn't even converse? So much so that she shouldn't be allowed to live? There must be a reason you have let her live up till this point.

"I simply wanted to educate myself to the point that I would be able to hold a sensical conversation with such an eloquent Dark Lord." Malice replied. "I asked him not to tell you about me lest you wished to meet me sooner."

Luna paid no attention to Malice, her eyes locked with Alastair's.

"It's true. I didn't mean to lie to you, Luna." Alastair replied. "I knew you'd want to meet her, and I wasn't sure when Malice would be ready. Although, I did plan to be here when you met her."

"And why didn't you wait?" Luna asked curiously. "Were you simply too excited?"

"Yes." Malice replied with a cheerful smile. "Mmm! This tea is absolutely delici-"

"-Malice, there was something I wanted to speak with you about." Alastair interjected.

"Excuse me." Malice spoke elegantly to Luna, before stepping into a nearby area of the labyrinth with Alastair.

"Why are you here?" Alastair asked. "I specifically ordered all demons to avoid interacting with my sister without my permission or presence. You have obtained neither before-"

"-Ordered?" Malice asked, feigning ignorance.

"Ordered as King of Hell." Alastair replied firmly, his eyes glowing magenta.

"As king? I'm not surprised I don't remember." Malice smiled. "Father says no one acknowledges you as king anymore. He says you are so incapable as ruler you cannot make a single good decision, so you go to him for all your advice. He also handles public relations with other demons through his advice, and he has a better relationship with the other six Princes than you. Hence, he is the true King of Hell. Thus, I don't feel the need to follow your laws anymore. And this next election, I'm going to vote for father instead of you. I stopped caring about you a while ago. I thought you were strong and admirable, but you're just weak."

All of Alastair's senses stopped working. He could hear neither the birds chirping nor the soft classical music in the background. He could feel neither the soft cool wind or the rich grass beneath his feet. He could smell neither the tea and biscuits nor the freshly watered hedges. He could see only Asmodeus's prideful smile every time he asked him if he was certain he wished to take his advice.

Malice walked back to Luna happily and continued their afternoon chatter.

Alastair made his way to Hell post haste.

"It's true, is it not? I told you it wasn't smart to rely on me so much. I think we both knew when it reached the point where you were acting solely as a messenger for political problems. The moment you noticed problems, you'd come straight to me. Before long you stopped thinking at all. And every time you approached me for advice, I brought up several other problems you failed to address. Helping you with those demoted you from messenger to fool, so what was left but a King with nothing but his title?" Asmodeus said smoothly, his hands steepled. He took a sip of his Baileys, and puffed his cigar while Alastair stood there, shocked. "The only problem now is that I have no puppet. I despise being the face of a Kingdom. I'd much rather advise form afar."

"So that you can laugh from the sidelines when the King fails?!" Alastair yelled. "This is your fault!" He pointed a finger at Asmodeus. "You led me astray."

"I never forced anyone to request my advice. And you made all your own decisions, like big boy." Asmodeus tilted his head slightly, so that he was physically looking down on Alastair. "The Kingdom's well being was in your hands. And the soul of that girl you abused, as well as-"

"I never touched her!" Alastair spat, clenching a fist.

"Playing with others' feelings is a disgusting thing." Asmodeus replied calmly.

"What of all the people you 'played with'?!" Alastair retorted.

"They were not people. They were savage beasts." He took another sip of his Baileys. "Now begone. The time I've allocated for speaking with fools has..." He stubbed out his cigar pointedly. "...ended." He returned his full attention to his paperwork, as if Alastair was no longer in the room.

"You're going to ignore me?!" Alastair slammed his hand on the desk. "After you've ruined everything?!" He gestured in the direction of the city, where Celeste was leading protests against the 'Foolish King'. "What about Celeste? Did you advise her as well? Malice? Reign? Is that why he didn't tell me this was coming?! "

Asmodeus continued to pay him no mind.

"You've turned everyone against me!" Alastair yelled.

After a long silence, Alastair stormed out without looking back.

"If you do not act with the decorum of a king, " Asmodeus's calm voice echoed through the halls "-you shall not be acknowledged as one."

Alastair knew, even as he slammed the front doors shut, that those words meant he would not be reentering if he left like this. But at the moment, he didn't care.

"Gun or net?" The vendor asked.

"Go ahead. You get unlimited shots." Claudia smiled, handing Rosaleya the gun.

"Unlimited shots? But the prizes are so close to the shooter." Rosaleya said in confusion. She turned from Claudia to the vendor in charge of the shooting gallery. "Aren't you losing money?" She gestured to the prizes lined up neatly on the front counter.

"No. Even if there's unlimited shots, there's still a time limit." The vendor tapped the 60 second timer with a smile.

"But unlimited shots-" Rosaleya continued.

"-will get you nowhere when you're stressing about the timer." Claudia replied kindly. "Try it. The timer starts at your first shot. And don't leave the white square."

Rosaleya took in the scents of caramel apples, cotton candy, and delicious fried foods shaped like fantasy creatures. She looked from the white square beneath her, to the hand gun's sight, and took aim at the targets two feet away.

"Hang on! Ask if I can have a gun, too!" Jade insisted, meeting her eye through the other side of the gun's sight.

Rosaleya moved her finger off the trigger, and asked the vendor "Is my extension allowed to shoot?"

"No." The vendor replied.

Jade pouted.

Rosaleya took the first shot, aiming for the green Chinese dragon statue she wanted. She had a clear picture in her mind of where she wanted to place it in her room back at the McCunnens' place; she'd be sleeping in her own room tonight.

"Woah!" Jade and Rosaleya exclaimed in sinc.

All the toys in the stand began jumping or flying or running or wriggling about, depending on what type of stuffed animal or statue they were. They all moved so fast Rosaleya could scarcely lock eyes on her target before they were lost in a blur with the others. With no option left in mind and the timer somehow already at forty-five, she began shooting blindly at whatever green glimpses she got.

"Can't you shoot better than that?" A pink teddy bear asked in a high-pitched voice, sticking her tongue out at Rosaleya from behind the front-left corner before diving back into the chaos.

"If I shot like that-" a cowboy statue mocked in a southern drawl "-I'd have died years before my time!" He shot spitballs at Rosaleya, and Jade caught them just before impact.

"Keep trying!" A brown teddy bear said positively in a husky voice from the front-right corner. He quickly switched to a melancholic tone. "You might win before you grow old and die." Then he ducked underneath the counter.

"I'm almost done planning for the next round!" Jade promised. "Just keep messing this one up!"

"Jade!" Rosaleya half wined, half laughed.

"Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadee!" The green dragon mocked Rosaleya in a far more annoying, high pitched voice.

Two plush monkeys hung down from the stand's ceiling, laughing mischievously at Rosaleya.

"Failure." The first monkey laughed.

"Good luck with this!" The second monkey put his behind in Rosaleya's way so the dragon could slip back into the chaos. Once the dragon disappeared, the monkey pulled himself up and hung almost flat against the ceiling.

"I mean it! I need to see how they move! I'm noticing some important things!" Jade insisted.

Claudia giggled somewhere behind Rosaleya. I wonder how long she'll take to notice it? She's so smart. It shouldn't take her long.

"Ok, ok." Rosaleya didn't stop trying to hit the dragon until the timer ran out.

"The timer's up, Ms." The vendor said kindly, and as he spoke all the toys froze, and returned to their prior positions on the front edge of the counter.

Tell me you got the fcking info. Rosaleya thought.

"Got it!" Jade replied with a cheerful thumbs up, coming out from behind the vendor's stand.

"Wh-"

"-ask to go again!" Jade interrupted her. "Come on, come on!" He said excitedly, giving her elbow a small push. "Oh! Hold up." He gently took the gun from her and put it down, healing her fingers. "Now you can restart good as new, with no risk of cramps." He handed the gun back to her.

"That round..." Rosaleya shook her head with a laugh.

"Yes. I wonder if you can even play without an extension?" Jade shrugged. "Now ask."

"Sir-" Rosaleya asked the vendor "-is my guess true that if you shoot the prizes, they stop moving?"

"Yes." The vendor nodded with a smile.

"Thank you." Rosaleya replied. She focused on her gun again. "You were right." She said to Jade.

"Anyway, ROUND TWO!" He boomed in a cheesy commentator voice, somehow giving himself an echo effect.

"Round two!" Rosaleya said, trying to match Jade's enthusiasm.

"Aim where I tell you." Jade changed into a soldier's costume from the American Revolution, complete with a funny hat. His hair was braided, and laid neatly on his shoulder.

Rosaleya laughed in reply, taking aim.

"Aim for the wooden pole the pink teddy bear was standing next to. Shoot at the base like four or five times. You'll know when to stop." Jade advised, aiming the gun away from the dragon. "Don't shoot at the dragon, yet. Now wait." Jade walked around her, and leaned over the stand, glaring at the other pole towards the front. "After you shoot at the front left pole, shoot at the front right."

"Ok." Rosaleya nodded, aiming seriously now.

"There will be forty seconds left. Next, you'll want to..." Jade continued.

Claudia held her hand up to the vendor, signalling for the number 'two' with her index and middle finger extended.

The vendor nodded seriously, and while Rosaleya and Jade were discussing where to shoot next, the timer blinked '5' for a half second; just long enough for Claudia to see it.

Claudia nodded.

"Then, with the remaining thirty seconds, you'll be able to shoot the dragon. See? Plenty of time." Jade grinned.

"That's...perfect!" Rosaleya exclaimed. She added quietly "Looks like the first round wasn't a waste!".

"Right." Jade nodded, standing directly behind her. He put a hand on her left shoulder as she took a deep breath.

Rosaleya started shooting at the base of the pole in the front left corner, and almost immediately, the pink bear jumped on the base to block it. However, the bear was too late to stop Rosaleya from shooting the tiny button at the base. A low buzzing sound and a few sparks were barely distinguishable with all the chaos the prizes were creating. Rosaleya shot the pink bear, and it froze in place.

"Don't break what isn't yours!" A blue two headed dragon plush snapped, both heads talking in sinc. The first head added "It's rude." The second added "Very rude!"

"Next button! Next button!" Jade commanded.

As Rosaleya switched targets, half of the magical partition which had prevented her from hitting any targets disappeared, making the air around it ripple like when a fire was going. The brown teddy bear was clambering over to the front right button, but she shot at the base before he got there. The second half of the partition disappeared as well. A clear partition for the left and right halves that the bears activated by stepping on a button near the right and left front poles. Jade had noticed that besides a few dramatic jumps back into the chaos, the bears had mostly remained by the buttons, which were too small to notice from the white square where the shooter stood. By the time the brown bear finished yelling "You broke the 7⍦(k!n6 buttons!", Rosaleya had shot him. Then she started aiming for the monkeys on the ceiling. The first monkey went down trying to shield the first. The second laughed at the first while moving all around the ceiling, attempting to avoid Rosaleya's shots.

"You can't catch me! You shoot like a girl!" The monkey mocked, laughing an annoying high pitched laugh.

"You hit something else! I didn't see what it was, but it was something blue." Jade observed while it fell.

Eventually, a bullet hit the second monkey's behind. "What a pain in the-" the monkey fell to the floor before he finished his sentence. As if on queue, the green dragon flew near the ceiling. Rosaleya shot at it, and it skillfully maneuvered around her shots.

"You will not defeat a five thousand year old dragon with a gun!" The dragon boomed in a deep voice. His voice sounded old and wise.

"One shot. And one more a bit to the right!" Jade commanded. "It's getting used to you shooting like an idiot! Perfect!"

Rosaleya nodded, and shot at it a few more times.

"Fool!" The dragon prepared to dive, laughing at her attempts.

"It's about to dive back in! Triple shoot where it's doing to dive in one second!" Jade commanded.

Rosaleya shot once more at the dragon's head, then shot three times at where it was about to dive.

Just as Jade had predicted, the dragon dove after the shot at its head, and two of Rosaleya's three hits hit the dragon.

"Score! It hit!" Rosaleya exclaimed in surprise.

"Noooooooooo!" The dragon's 'no' echoed clearly, drowning out all the other noise until it began to fade.

Jade kissed her cheek.

Rosaleya continued shooting at the blue two headed dragon plush, who was ducking in a corner now with the tip of his tail barely visible in all the chaos.

Jade took his hand off Rosaleya's shoulder.

That's the 'five seconds left' signal. Rosaleya thought, doubling her efforts and almost hitting the dragon.

"You did so well!" Claudia smiled. She hugged Rosaleya once she turned around.

"How did you figure it out?" The vendor asked curiously. "You don't have to answer." He added.

"I used my intellect and instincts, and my observation-" Jade began.

"-I won't answer, then." Rosaleya replied.

Jade sighed.

The vendor bent to retrieve something from underneath the counter. By the looks of it, it was heavy. "Your prizes, Miss. And, your tickets." He announced. "Come on, then!" He laughed, levitating the fallen toys onto the counter.

"I get tickets, too?" Rosaleya asked in slight confusion.

"No, those are for Mrs. McCunnen."

"Does he owe you from last time or something?" Rosaleya asked Claudia.

"Yes." Claudia nodded with a cheerful smile.

Rosaleya waited a few more seconds, but it didn't look like Claudia wanted to elaborate. She just kept smiling cheerfully at Rosaleya.

"You shot more than you thought, huh?" Jade laughed, slapping the pink bear a few times.

Rosaleya approached the pile of prizes. The pink bear, brown bear, first and second monkeys, the dragon statue, and a tiny keychain of a vial of candy teardrops.

"I didn't shoot those-" Rosaleya began.

"-you shot them accidentally while you were aiming for the monkeys." Jade corrected. "That must've been the something else."

"Nevermind." Rosaleya said to the vendor. "What are these?"

"They're teardrop candies. Just one can have your eyes watering for minutes." Claudia replied. "Two can make it stop. The effect starts when you swallow it."

"Can I chew it?"

"Yes." Claudia replied.

"Why would an amusement park be giving away a prize for tears?" Jade wondered.

"No idea. But it could be useful, I guess." Rosaleya pocketed it.

Claudia watched carefully as the vendor put Rosaleya's prizes and her tickets in a small coin purse with a wide opening.

"Oooh!" Jade slid his arm in and out of the bag once right before the vendor tied it shut. It looked funny when his arm didn't poke through. "Demonic Undetectable Extension Charm or something."

"Is there a Demonic Undetectable Extension Charm?" Rosaleya asked Claudia.

"No, there's a plant that produces a material which can be used to make items with that effect." Claudia replied with a smile.

"Cool! What's it called? What does it look like?" Rosaleya asked.

"It looks like a huge lily, and it's usually white." Claudia explained as they continued walking past other stalls. "And it smells like-"

"-Did you bet on me?" Rosaleya asked seriously. "I think you did. With that guy at the stand. Why? What did you bet on?"

"What do you sound so concerned?" Claudia asked in surprise, her tone sounding worried.

"Dad says people that like to bet get addicted to betting. Just tell me what happened. Please." Rosaleya tried to ask calmly, but the worry showed in her eyes.

"The vendor bet that you'd win on the fifth try. I bet that you'd win on the second." Claudia replied. "I bet all the tickets he had from yesterday. He bet all your prizes."

"What if I lost the second match and I won a later one? I would've lost my prizes-" Rosaleya said worriedly.

"-I knew you wouldn't lose." Claudia smiled, hugging Rosaleya.

"How?" Rosaleya asked. "How were you so sure?"

"I believe in you. You're smart. That's why your extension is smart, too." Claudia replied gently.

"I still don't like that she bet on you." Jade argued. "Rose, tell her you didn't like it, either."

"But what if I did lose?" Rosaleya argued.

"You wouldn't. That's that. Because you don't lose when you want something." Claudia smiled.

"I lost the first time."

"You would've won if the toys hadn't surprised you." Claudia replied. "But it's against the rules for those who know to inform those who don't."

"The game is about figuring out how the vendor's cheating. That's pretty cool." Jade thought aloud. "But are all of them like that?"

"Are all the games like that? About finding out how the vendor's cheating?" Rosaleya asked.

"No." Claudia replied. "Some are. But some are just shooting galleries with moving toys. Some toys are rude while you're shooting, some stalls' toys give positive affirmations only, and some let your extension join in."

"Can't you watch other demons play and save the five tickets for admiss-...?" Rosaleya trailed off, watching another demon playing at the stall she'd just won at. The game looked completely normal; the toys weren't moving, but the shooter was twice as flustered as Rosaleya had been on her first try.

"Magic so you have to pay tickets to play at least twice?" Jade suggested.

"Probably." Rosaleya met Claudia's eyes again. "Are there demons who've won after one turn?"

"I don't know. I've never met one." Claudia replied.

"Do you want me to change back?" Jade asked, tossing his hat off the side of the roller coaster. It disappeared shortly after it left his hand.

"Nah." Rosaleya replied. Jade looked over the left side, holding on to the back of Rosaleya's chair for support as he hung off the cart's edge. Rosaleya looked over the right side as the roller coaster climbed higher and higher slowly, in preparation for a dip. Claudia sat beside Rosaleya, looking straight ahead at the beautiful sky above them, and holding Rosaleya's hand with a serene expression.

Rosaleya hadn't noticed last night, or during their ride today, but the clouds weren't normal here, either. Some were white and fluffy like normal, but seventy-percent of the clouds a bit further up looked wispy and long, like the strokes of an artist's brush, and they were all different colors. Bright, vibrant reds, rich greens, playful yellows, and many more colors brightened up the sky.

"I was so focused on the buildings!" Rosaleya said in surprise as the cart reached the end of its incline.

"Beautiful." Claudia replied with a smile. She remembered Soren's request, and didn't tell Rosaleya about sky painting, either.

Rosaleya grinned toothily as the cart flew down, twisting around buildings and spiraling upside down like a dragon. Of course the city view roller coaster had excited her the most. Despite the wild way the roller coaster moved, it all felt perfectly controlled and serene, like it was incapable of making a mistake. And yet, it still gave the riders a thrilling feeling.

"Again!" Jade chanted! "Again again again! Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?" He asked.

"Would you like to ride again? We have tickets for it, after all." Claudia smiled.

"Yes." Rosaleya laughed. "Yes, please!"

Claudia turned to the demon in charge of making sure the other demons left their carts safely, and said "We'll be riding ten more times. I'll pay you afterwards."

"We don't have to wait in line again?" Rosaleya asked once the roller coaster was slowly inclining again. "I didn't know you could just pay without getting off the ride. Dad would always say 'I don't want to wait in line again. Let's go. Besides, I've got a headache.'" She imitated in a deep voice that sounded nothing like Leigh's.

"Demonic amusement parks work this way." Claudia replied. "You can pay from the ride, if you have the tickets. That way you can ride as many times as you wish until you're satisfied. Back to back rides without breaks, as well as shorter waiting times, lead to demons spending more time and tickets here."

"That's a good system." Rosaleya nodded. "What about waiting in line? We haven't had to wait in line for a single thing today."

"That's because several duplicates of each ride exist within the same park. You don't feel it as you're walking past the stanchions, but we were transported to an exact duplicate of this ride. And if they're all occupied, you'll find a sign somewhere suggesting you spend your time somewhere else for a certain amount of time, after which the ride would most likely become available once more."

"Wow! That's awesome!" Rosaleya laughed. "Everything here is so cooooool!" She exclaimed as the roller coaster dipped again, flying down and twisting and turning.

The Masked Man's urge to fall asleep and the urge to check his pager finally ended their battle with the latter's eventual victory. Once again, he only found messages from Athena containing smiley faces. He wondered where she'd hidden her second pager. Is that why she easily gave up her first? He thought as he felt a pain in his stomach. He washed his wounds in the nearest sink, then staggered back to the dorms. He dressed his wounds, hoping to make it all the way downstairs in time for lunch.

"You are dismissed."

You thought you were the only one who could get someone to take the fall for you? Athena resisted laughing until her sides were sore as she left the Great Hall. Rewriting memories isn't the only way to get someone to take the blame.

Come on, do what you were paid to do! The boy stood from his seat at the Slytherin table. I promised to do this if she ever got caught. Why am I so nervous now? Oliver thought, adjusting his clothes as he made his way to the Headmaster's office. He knocked, and waited for an answer. He was certain the Headmaster had arrived first, since he'd made sure to take the long way there. When permitted inside, he explained, perfecting his mix of nervous and honest. He'd been the one responsible for all the pranks on the Slytherin dormitory. "The cockroach in the bed, the ejecting beds, the itching powder, the 'blood' coming out of the showers, the wrestling clothes, the self-erasing pencils, and all the other pranks...and...Mr. Dante's 'prank items'. I don't have anything against him personally, he's just always acting so prideful. I don't usually target specific students, but with the inspection coming up I let my imagination get carried away, and next thing I knew, I was framing him. I'm sorry for the trouble I caused. Although, I have to admit, it was all quite fun." He spoke the last part quietly.

Making someone believe you're their friend has its benefits, too, fool. Athena thought. "Did you think you would make me confess by giving me an ultimatum?" She asked. "Oliver's handling it."

"It wasn't my idea." The Masked Man groaned in reply. "I already knew you had a fool waiting around to clean up your mess." I didn't, but hopefully she'll leave me alone if I just say...

"Well..." Athena lied on top of the Masked Man's bed, leaning over to look at him silently crying in the fetal position beneath it. "...it seemed like something you'd come up with. And after all my caution, too. I didn't even tell anyone about Oliver." I wonder how he found out? After a few minutes of silence, Athena smirked. "Do you want me to read you a story, little boy? Maybe you can get some sleep."

The Masked Man groaned again. "No. Go away."

"Once upon a time-"

"-Stop-."

"-there was a little prince who was very lonely," Athena continued.

"-Go awayyyyyyy!-" The Masked Man covered his ears with a long groan, but he could still hear her. He didn't have the energy to move much more, so he simply lied there and tried to ignore her.

"-and this prince would play make believe in his parents' garden all day long. His parents were always too busy to play with him, so he pretended that the plants were alive, and that he was their prince-"

"-How do you even know what I was imagining-" He snapped.

"-and that kept him busy...for a while. One day, a little girl wandered into his garden, and he had so much fun playing with her that he called her The Flower Princess. She had fun, too, so she wandered in again. And again. Now every day was filled with fun for the prince. His least favorite part was when the princess had to leave again. She'd stay for longer and longer, but never past sundown. One day, the prince wouldn't let her leave. He hugged her so sweetly she didn't want to. So they cuddled all night, and in the morning, the prince found that he was hugging a corpse. He'd hugged the princess so hard he'd killed her in his sleep. He looked all around the garden for some sign of the princess in disbelief, and he watched that one crack in the wall she'd always fit through, but he could not find her." Athena smiled. "Suddenly, Mommy had time to help him bury the body in that very garden! The next day, the princess walked the crack in the wall, good as new. 'What happened to you?!' The prince asked. 'You hugged me so tight I slipped away. Don't hug me so tight.' The princess made him promise not to, and the prince was just happy that she'd placed the corpse there as a lesson. He never wanted that to actually happen. So he promised never to hug her too tightly again. Then, the princess wanted to teach him more things, and she wanted the prince to teach her things as well. And he did. The princess taught him sweet things like optimism and how to bake and cook and how to love, and manners. The prince taught her how to misbehave and be sneaky and sadistic. Although they both taught each other completely different things, both were eager to learn, and their friendship grew stronger. Suddenly, the prince's mother was unhappy with the things the princess was teaching him. At the same time, the princess's father grew severely unhappy with the new lessons the princess had received. So Mommy and the princess's father made a wager. If the princess could forget everything about the prince and still love him, they were meant to be friends. So they told the prince 'Try your best to make her your friend again, and she can be your sister forev-'"

The Masked Man slid out from underneath the bed and tackled Athena, growling angrily.

Athena only laughed. "Then...then another prince came along and did a better job of befriending her than the first prince ever did! It made the prince even more angry when he realized that his mom was also the princess's. His half sister was his right all along! Who were they to tell him he couldn't ever even see her when he was younger? To tell him that he had to earn her when he was older?"

"You!-" The Masked Man wanted to hurt her but he was cutting it close as it was.

"-And what about when he realized that he wasn't the only one trying to earn her?" Athena's laughed became so difficult to talk through she gave up. "I think your mom's going to win, if it's going to be one of you. Her dad's already failed. Fear was never a good option."

"I know." The Masked Man growled.

"But your temptation isn't doing much, either." Athena laughed. "You're terrible at it."

"I'll...I'll do something soon." The Masked Man replied. "Something she won't be able to resist."

"After your mom has a turn?" Athena raised an eyebrow. "She's already starting."

"Already?!" The Masked Man gasped in shock.

"Mhm. That's why I told you to take my help. But you keep being mean to me." Athena pouted.

"Because you keep getting in my way."

"Because you keep being mean to-"

"-okay, okay, how do I get you to forgive me?!" The Masked Man demanded.

Athena smiled, and looking pointedly his arms pinning her down.

The Masked Man let go of her immediately, retreating to a spot beside her on the floor, in the dogeza position.

I came in here mocking him and now he's begging. This is priceless! Athena laughed again.

The Masked Man sighed, and his voice softened. "How...do I get you...to help me once more? I don't want either of them to win her."

"Tell me how you guys know when you've won. What is the thing that Rosaleya will do that signals who the winner is? I was kicked out of the meeting room." She glared at him. Prick.

"I'm sorry about that. I thought you'd side with one of them. As long as you were against me-" The Masked Man argued, still trying to sound meek and polite.

"-I will always choose myself to win. They wouldn't share." Athena replied flatly. "Well?" I'll need to know when I've won, after all.

"If Rosaleya says the words 'I love you', followed by the winner's title to her, like 'brother', 'mother', or 'father', and she means it, truthfully, and she associates the winner's face with the title in her mind, that person is the winner. Then we'll all get a signal. We agreed it would be a brief shock right here." He sat up, and tapped his chest where his heart was twice, with his fist. "Nothing painful, just enough to let us know we lost no matter where we are."

"Are other people allowed to play?" Athena asked.

"Yes."

"Who else is playing?" Athena asked. Now I can play easily. This won't take long at all.

"Only two other people." The Masked Man replied. "Claudia McCunnen, and-" He looked to the door, as if he was expecting someone to interrupt them. "AND-" He repeated in a significantly louder voice.

"-I bribed your interruption." Athena replied coldly. "Who the hell is it?"

"Asmodeus." The Masked Man replied quietly, hurt that Athena had been one step ahead of him again.

"How did my mom find out?" Athena asked, sounding slightly concerned.

"Asmodeus told her."

"And Asmodeus knows everything." Athena sighed. "He probably listened to Valerie rant about it."

"Why would he listen to her? I still don't get it." The Masked Man grimaced. "I would never listen to someone who cheated on me. Well, they'd be dead and suffering in the Sinner's District, so they wouldn't get the chance to talk...So, about our deal?" He got back into the dogeza position.

"Let me think about it. I'll need some persuasion first." Athena smirked, leaving. "And if I should get into any trouble, I think the idea of a savior would be very persuasive."

Claudia pulled the covers up to Rosaleya's chin. "There you are, all tucked in." She smiled, ruffling Rosaleya's hair. "Did you have fun today?" She asked softly.

"Yes! I-" Rosaleya covered her mouth with a yawn. "-I loved every minute."

"Arf!" Chance barked from outside Rosaleya's tower door. "Goodnight!"

"Leave!" Rosaleya replied, trying to sound mean.

"F...fine. Sorry." Chance ran away to go hang out in the kitchen again.

"Have you thought about what you want to do tomorrow?" Claudia smiled.

"I want to hang out with Soren tomorrow." Rosaleya replied. "I want to go to a grocery store, and go on another hors-another bicorn ride through the city, and visit some trampoline parks and do some rock climbing."

"Soren loves all of those things. I'm sure you'll have fun." Claudia smiled, running her fingers through Rosaleya's hair.

"When...remember when you said you believed in me earlier?" Rosaleya asked quietly. "Could you say it again?"

"Mhm! Mhm!" Jade nodded, holding the camera close to Claudia's face, preparing to record it.

"Of course." Claudia replied sweetly. She thought for a moment, recalling the conversation, and tried to repeat it as best as her memory would allow her. "I truly believe in you. You're smart. That's why your extension is smart, too."

"And...what if I lost?" Rosaleya replied. I think that's what I said.

"You wouldn't, and that's that, because when you want something, you don't lose." Claudia smiled.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaad CUT!" Jade exclaimed, replaying the video.

"Would you like me to say it again?" Claudia asked with a smile.

"All set!" Jade gave Rosaleya a thumbs-up.

"No thank you, m...mmmm....." Rosaleya tried, but her mouth still didn't want to.

"You don't have to push yourself." Claudia replied. "I don't you to even think about it. One day, I want it to happen naturally, just as you don't think about calling Soren anything else. And one day, I hope that when someone says 'mother', you think of me, smiling, and telling you you're the best." She kissed Rosaleya on her forehead, then made for the door. On her way out, she tapped Rosaleya's dragon costume with a smile. "Are you going to wear that tomorrow?"

"I might." Rosaleya replied with a laugh. Drowsiness was coming so easily, in this lovely warm bed that made her feel like she might never want to wake up. "Oh," She deliberated again on what to call her for a moment before choosing nothing "who decorated this room?" She asked.

"I did. Just for you." Claudia replied, closing the door. "Sweetest dreams, sunshine."

Rosaleya heard her words through the door, followed by her fading footsteps. She fought her eyes on enjoying the comforting sight a bit longer, and falling asleep. The bedroom reminded her so much of her old bedroom, the one before her annoyingly plain one back at Leigh's house, or the one before that. The oldest bedroom in her memory was decorated so similarly to the one she was sleeping in now that it made her feel truly at home again. Her current bedroom had lavender walls, a yellow ceiling with happy yellow and orange suns painted on it, pink teardrop lights, and light yellow crown molding that looked like ripples of delicious frosting. Sheer lace drapes, a big window with a view of the backyard, and soft, fluffy white carpet, that felt like all of this was built on the back of some peaceful great beast. Then, there was a doll house with wooden dolls with flexible wire joints, so that they were easy to position, plenty of beautiful wooden dollhouse furniture, and a small Fairly Odd Parents tent in the corner. There was a rocking zebra with a red saddle near the window, and a fake cooking set beside it. On the white bedside table with two drawers, sat a lamp with a fabric covering that resembled seaweed . It had been something her mother had put there because there'd been no where else for it. She'd wanted to throw it out, buy Rosaleya had liked the way it smelled, so her mother had pretended to throw it out, and gave it to her to her on her next birthday a few weeks later as a surprise.

"Seriously creepy, though. How does she know what...she shouldn't know what this room looks like." Rosaleya mumbled quietly, just as she was falling asleep.

"...'Dad' might've shown her a memory about him when he was younger to brag. She might've seen your room there." Jade suggested.

"Good..." Rosaleya was about to say 'point', but she fell asleep.

 

[Hikari Chan]

"Alright, thank you for telling me," Elias nodded to the seventh-year Slytherin, not having been expecting him of all students to confess. Despite whatever this student had told him, Elias remained calm. "I need to discuss this matter with your head of house before we decide on a punishment. Please remain seated while professor Muliciber arrives." Elias did not have to word it, but he made it clear in the tone of his voice that Oliver was not allowed to leave his office.

"That was quick wasn't it? You must really care so much about your house that you did confess right away, didn't you?" Muliciber smiled mysteriously after he had heard Oliver confessing, repeating the exact same story he had told the headmaster. His records are clean and he was not caught with any prank items when we went through the trunks of the students early this morning...but we have not been here for long and he probably did this to give us professors a headache...is it a coincidence that all the bloody problems began when miss Lovett, miss Fairbrook, Mr. Dantes and Mr. Garnett enrolled here or have the other students been planning something behind my and the other professors' backs in order to take revenge for the previous professors? I only asked for the culprit to confess about the prank items in Mr. Dantes' trunk, so why does this student tell me about past pranks?

"You will be suspended from Hogwarts until further notice," Muliciber spoke firmly. "During your suspension, you cannot enroll in any other wizarding school, since you already are enrolled in Hogwarts. Your parents will be here soon to take you home."

Elias already started to prepare some paperwork regarding the suspension. "Will you be lifting the punishment you gave the Slytherins?" He asked Muliciber while writing a letter to the Ministry of Magic.

"No, not a chance," Muliciber replied to him, not batting an eye, and started to write a letter to Oliver's parents. The professors exchanged looks with each other. Elias wondered why Muliciber refused to comply and wouldn't lift the punishment when a student already confessed, while Muliciber brooded over something quite else.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"No, not a chance."

"But-but I confessed! You gave your w-your word that you...would!" Oliver argued. He used a quiet, shy and nervous voice; he was terrible at confrontations. His gaze shifted nervously to and from different objects in the room, but he didn't meet the professors' eyes. "I confessed because I didn't want everyone innocent to suffer because of me! I already confessed so you know it was me!" If I use Athena's name then I might make them suspicious that I'm taking the blame for her! I'm sorry, Athena! I tried to help you! And after you were so nice to me...I couldn't do anything to change this...I couldn't do anything to help you. "B-but the confession changed nothing! Why did I even c-confess?" He nervously fiddled with the edges of his sleeves. "Y-you lied." Oliver's gaze finally met the headmaster's. "T..." He was panting as if this was taking a lot of effort to say. "Th..that's not fair." He stared at his shoes. "That's not fair..."

 

[Hikari Chan]

"But you think it is fair to lie to your professor and headmaster," Muliciber filled in when Oliver stopped speaking. He had allowed the boy to have his outburst while he finished the letter to his parents and owled it right away, using Elias' owl without asking for permission. Elias did not mind. He was not in hurry to send his letter to the Ministry of Magic and could do it later when Oliver had left with his parents. "I know you are not behind some of these pranks," Muliciber continued speaking. "since a couple of them happened in the girls' dormitory in Slytherin's house and both you and I know, boys cannot enter the girls' dormitory. Since you are lying about one thing, I won't believe your entire confession at all." He finished with a hint of a cruel and merciless tone in his voice.

...but what if this student really framed Mr. Dantes and at the same time he is protecting the one who carried out the pranks. It's probably someone who can enter both boys' and girls' dormitories since the pranks happened at both. Could it be his girlfriend that he is protecting or are they a group of friends who have carried out all the pranks...Merlin knows...but what I do not understand is why Slytherins would prank each other. It's the same bloody situation with the student who murdered two other boys and none of them are from Slytherin. Slytherins are on their own while the three other houses are more friendly with each other. It has always been like that. And I have no idea if the threat or enemy is internal or external. I feel like I am fumbling into the darkness and I am not getting any smarter about what has happened lately and about Ivan's logic. This student could be telling the truth about being the one framing Mr. Dantes even if he lied about the pranks...Just like how Mr. Cattermole lied about stealing potion ingredients from Muliciber, but told the truth about vanishing an entire human body... Elias was thinking and wondered if it was a good idea to force some drops of Veritaserum into Oliver's throat. ....no...I don't like to use violence or I would not be better than Persephone who wants to use Legilimency on the students just to find out the truth about the murder incident...

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"I didn't lie!" Oliver replied nervously. We rehearsed this...I just have to say everything we practiced... "I...I-if you're talking about the cockroach, I levitated the thing into a girl's bed. I used my broom to go up to the window to see what I was doing. I was outside the whole time. And if you're talking about the itching powder, same thing! I levitated the bags over their beds, and it was so difficult to not dump them all in one place on the beds-I had to make sure to do that after they were cleaned...then there was the spell that threw students out of their beds when it was time to wake up-I had to work on my aiming for a while before I could do that one...What other pranks are you talking about?"

 

[Hikari Chan]

"Are you even hearing yourself?" Muliciber sneered. Elias bit his lower lip so hard to avoid laughing out loud. "You used a broom to go up to the windows to levitate a cockroach and itching powder into the girls' beds when your dormitories are literary at the bottom of the castle," Muliciber continued. "Besides being so bad at lying, you are not listening to anything of what I am saying because you are so focused on covering up for the one who pranked the girls in their dorm. I only wanted to know who tried to frame Mr. Dantes. No more or less. But you brought up the subject of pranks that have happened in the Slytherin house during this autumn term. Why? When did I ask about who did those pranks?" He slammed his hand against the desk that Oliver nearly flinched in his chair. "You can sit here and protest all you want, no matter what you say, I won't be lifting the punishment I gave the Slytherins," Muliciber hovered over Oliver like a dark thundercloud. "Perhaps it is better that you keep quiet and speak no more or you might, by mistake, reveal the one you are trying to protect..."

Elias cleared his voice and looked at Muliciber with the face that told Muliciber to continue in his office instead. The former one wished to be left alone now that he had finished his letter to the Ministry of Magic.

"Your parents will be here soon," Muliciber spoke impatiently, tapping on Oliver's shoulder with his wand. "Now get out, take your belongings and don't try anything funny!" He made sure to follow his student tight in the heels all the way down to the dorm to fetch his trunk and then to keep a close eye on him in the Entrance Hall until his parents, not being so happy about the news, arrived to Hogwarts.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

My mind's going crazy! I can't remember a thing! Oliver thought nervously. I don't think I can pull this off!

"Are you even hearing yourself?" Muliciber sneered.

Oliver flinched and met the professor's eyes fearfully.

"You used a broom to go up to the windows to levitate a cockroach and itching powder into the girls' beds when your dormitories are literary at the bottom of the castle," Muliciber continued.

Noooooooooooo! Oliver's inner voice whined in anguish. I was thinking of the Ravenclaw dormitories! The Slytherin dorms are down there just like ours! How could I?!-

"-Besides being so bad at lying, you are not listening to anything of what I am saying because you are so focused on covering up for the one who pranked the girls in their dorm."

No! I don't have anything else to say!

"I only wanted to know who tried to frame Mr. Dantes. No more or less. But you brought up the subject of pranks that have happened in the Slytherin house during this autumn term."

And after Athena was so patient rehearsing everything with me, too, I had to go and ruin all of her hard work! I was having just as fun hearing about her pranks as she was carrying them out! Now she'll think I betrayed her...I'll never convince her...She'll never be my friend again...

"Why? When did I ask about who did those pranks?" He slammed his hand against the desk.

Oliver flinched and shielded his face with his hands as if it was a reflex. Realizing a long second later that the professor had no intention of physically hurting him, he lowered his hands to fiddle with his sleeves again, feeling even more foolish.

"You can sit here and protest all you want, no matter what you say, I won't be lifting the punishment I gave the Slytherins," Muliciber hovered over Oliver like a dark thundercloud.

Oliver stared back into Mulciber's eyes in fear.

"Perhaps it is better that you keep quiet and speak no more or you might, by mistake, reveal the one you are trying to protect...

I got into Slytherin by begging the hat...I'm a disgrace. I can never do anything right.

"Your parents will be here soon," Muliciber spoke impatiently, tapping on Oliver's shoulder with his wand.

Oliver flinched again and shut his eyes tight, unintentionally squeezing a latent tear out.

"Now get out, take your belongings and don't try anything funny!"

Oliver ran all the way to the dorms. Noticing that he was being followed tripled his anxiety. He hurriedly collected his things, and went to wait in the Entrance Hall. His anxiety had reached such a point by now that he was shaking. Variations of the same three thoughts circled in his head. Athena will no longer be my friend because I've failed her. My family will be enraged by my actions. I can never do anything right.

Oliver's mother and father arrived with an air that was the picturesque essence of prideful Slytherins. Both parents walked together, completely ignoring Oliver, to address the professor. They spoke in cold, formal tones, with heads held high as if they were not connected to Oliver's wrongdoing at all. The mother was gaunt and stood completely straight, with her brown hair, streaked with grey, in an elegant, tight bun. She wore fitted black robes, and high heels that clicked as she walked, giving the illusion that she was just as tall her her husband. Her husband had slicked back dirty blonde hair, and a broad, muscular figure. He wore a black Victorian suit, and freshly shined brogues.

"We regret hearing of such news." The mother said after brief formal greetings were exchanged. "Rest assured he will be properly reeducated in the correct behavior of a young Slytherin, and he will repent for his blunders." Then she turned, gave Oliver a calm look, and made for the entrance again.

Oliver followed her with some difficulty; his belongings seemed to have doubled in weight. He wasn't aware that this illusion was due to his nerves.

The father approached the professor calmly. "It's of the utmost importance that I speak with the headmaster on this matter. If I have to return at another time, so be it. I understand he must have many things to do than deal with trivialities."

 

[Hikari Chan]

"It's fine. If you wish to speak with the headmaster now, he is free at the moment," Muliciber reassured Oliver's father and lead the way to the headmaster's office.

...So this must be the student's father...It's fine, I can deal with this...and it would be in our best interest to explain things to his father...Elias thought as he stood up from his seat when Muliciber and a tall wizard with dirty blonde hair entered his office.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"Greetings, Headmaster Shadowwalker." Oliver's father greeted formally, standing beside the seat in front of Elias's office until he was permitted to take his seat. Once seated, he apologized for his son's mischief, then wasted no time in getting to the point. "How many galleons must I repay you, in return for keeping our family name off the news?"

 

[Hikari Chan]

"I appreciate your generosity. Thank you, but you do not have to pay me. The Ministry of Magic owns the Daily Prophet, so do not worry. Your or anyone's family name will never be in the news just because of children pranking each other. If the Quibbler, which is independent, starts to write any nonsense about your son or your family name, the Daily Prophet will defend you," Elias assured Oliver's father. "Everything that your son confessed to only happened here in my office, in front of me and the head of Slytherin, professor Muliciber, and we will keep quiet about the whole incident to be able to find out who the real culprit is. If anything reaches the Quibbler, then it could possibly be anyone else who saw him leaving Hogwarts right now. On a side note, we only suspended your son until further notice, because we understood from his confession that he was trying to protect the one who had been pranking a lot and framing another student for breaking school rules. It could be a bully who threatened him or perhaps a girlfriend who might have begged him to protect her. According to professor Muliciber, your son's records are clean, so we will allow him to return to Hogwarts as soon as we find out the culprit."

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"Your professionalism is most appreciated." Oliver's father replied gratefully, standing to leave.

"And, I won these!" Rosaleya explained. "And then we went on a bunch more roller coasters at the park and stuff-oh, the city one was so cool!-we rode the bicorns back to the renter, and then we walked back here. She asked me if I wanted to carve pumpkins with her or have her read me a bedtime story, but Jade told me I was too tired. He insisted that I'd be feeling really tired as soon as I got to bed, so I got ready, and washed my makeup off-it wasn't water proof, so it was easy,-then I got to bed. And I asked Claudia if she could say it again-near the stalls she said something really nice to me, and she said it again before bed...she's so nice."

"Cute...I guess." Soren shrugged at the prizes. "But this one's awesome. It looks like Shenron. It's good that you had a nice time." He smiled.

"So, I wanted to visit a grocery store, but Claudia said-"

"-Yeah, let's go." Soren smiled, walking to the door and holding it open for her. "We'll visit three of them today. The last one doesn't excite me, and there are only four in this city, so today will be the 'grocery store day'. "

"What do you mean?" Rosaleya asked as she walked out the door. They were now standing outside, just outside the castle.

"I have a bunch of different day plans for us, each named after whatever we spend the most time on. Today is Grocery Store Day. I won't tell you everything I have planned, but if you get bored, let me know." He gave her a thumbs-up.

Rosaleya returned it with a nod, then they walked through the portal Claudia had arranged for them.

"We'll visit Stack of Apples first." Soren said.

"What kind of cart do you want?" Soren smiled. To the left of the entrance were three identical rows of shopping carts, all without wheels. Blocking their path ahead, and the carts, were three stanchions shaped like oak trees, with rich green branches extending and intertwining to connect to one another. Once Soren approached the stanchions, a semi transparent menu appeared at eye-level, two feet tall, and four feet wide. Options were presented in soft squares, and Soren showed her that hovering his hand near them made red text appear that explained what each option meant. "There are a bunch of options for carts. I'll pick mine, and then you'll go next." First, he chose between three pictures, all contained in soft squares: a wristband, a cart handle, and a steering wheel. Soren chose the wristband, punching the air so that his fist went through the soft square. Then, the three options dissolved, fading into three new options. Right, left, or ambidextrous. Soren punched the 'right' square, and a black wristband appeared on his right hand. Then, there were a bunch of smaller soft squares, each containing a different color. He tapped the white square with his index finger, and the menu folded itself into a thin four foot ribbon. The ribbon flew over to the stanchions, and lifted two branches up by the middle, high enough so that Soren could walk underneath easily. As he pushed a cart back through the stanchions, it turned white. He removed his hands from the handles as soon as the ribbon returned the stanchions to normal, and the cart kept pushing itself as he walked to return to Rosaleya's side. "Your turn." Soren smiled.

Rosaleya looked from the wristband to the cart, then approached the carts. The menu appeared for her as well, at her eye-level.

Jade pointed to the wristband picture Soren had chosen. He hovered his hand over it, and nothing happened.

Rosaleya hovered her hand over it, and text appeared near the square. "A wristband for your dominant hand, or both if you'd like. Magic censors connect from your wrist to the cart, translating your thoughts into actions." Rosaleya read quietly.

Jade hovered his hand over the picture of a steering wheel. "Enter the cart, and connect the wheel. You will be able to drive the cart around. Magnets placed at the corners of the carts repel those of other carts and store displays, making it impossible to crash. Magic censors connect from your hands to the cart, adjusting speed and height to suit your preferences and needs-cool!" Rosaleya laughed.

"What's the last one?" Jade asked.

"A cart." Rosaleya laughed. "It just says 'a cart'. It's a normal one, then." She was about to press the steering wheel picture when Soren stopped her, pressing the wristband picture instead. Why?" Rosaleya asked, visibly disappointed.

"We'll race at another one. Not this one." Soren promised.

Rosaleya selected for the wristband to be on her left hand; not her dominant, but she didn't like anything restricting her right hand. Then, she chose a black cart. Once they both approached the stanchions blocking their path ahead, the branches connecting the two stanchions nearest to them smoothly grew, lifting higher to create a tall arch for them to walk through.

Once they passed through it, Rosaleya found that they were standing in the produce area.

"Stack of Apples is known for having the best methods for sorting foods." Soren explained, gesturing to the entirety of the produce section. This grocery store had light oak wood flooring and smooth ceilings, with long wooden beams criss-crossing across it. In most of the squares each criss-cross created, natural light shone through like skylights. Rosaleya figured they were using some sort of enchantment, similar to the windows Claudia had used in the apartment she'd created in Knockturn Alley, because they were on the first floor of three, and natural light wouldn't be shining through normally. Dark brown burnished shelves held every item imaginable, sorted in to categories. Each category, such as dry foods, was horizontally sorted by price with the most expensive items at the end of each isle, then vertically sorted by date, with the freshest items at the top, and the ones nearing expiry at the bottom. Some normally expensive items could be found at the beginning of the isle on the lower shelves, due to a discount in response to a nearing expiry date. Every kind of vegetable and fruit were separated into different wooden bins, also sorted by date. For example, bananas had three bins; one for green, soon to be yellow, one for bright yellow, and one for near browning. Every grocery store had a bakery built beside it, so if, for example, bananas remained on the shelves for too long, they were sent to the bakery next door. Then, the baked goods would be sent to the grocery store for free samples for the customers, nearly eliminating all waste.

"That's an awesome system!" Rosaleya exclaimed before eating a large piece of banana cake from a sample. "Also, we could just come here for all our meals! There are so many samples!"

"Yeah." Soren laughed, taking a bunch of cheese bits from a sample plate. "Wait till you see the cash register lines." After he swallowed, he said. "See these numbers?" He gestured to the numbers above every group of produce. "They count down the days, and hours until something will go bad. 8/12...These apples expire in eight days and twelve hours. And when you pick one up-" He showed her the glowing golden 8/12 on the apple. "The countdown stays with it. If you see something without a timer, it's expired."

Next, Soren explained how aisles were organized. The most expensive items were at the end of the isle, and the freshest items were on the top shelves. The lower shelves contained items nearing expiry, and due to that, they were cheaper than the newer items. Some expensive items were also located near the beginning at the isle, on the lower shelves. Items in the isles had the same timers as well. Nothing on the lower shelves expired in less than a week.

The first floor was a normal grocery store, for demons at least. The second apple, and hence the second floor, sold alcoholic beverages. The third apple sold foods infused with souls. It was identical to the first floor, except every label had the word 'soul' in front of it, there were no free samples of anything, and the expiration dates were the infinity symbol.

"But food can expire." Rosaleya thought for a minute. "Does that mean that mixing it with souls means it'll-"

"-Yes." Soren nodded. "Because souls don't expire."

Rosaleya didn't buy anything from the third floor. Soren added an avocado to his cart.

Five minutes later

At every checkout counter, demons were just walking or driving right up to the cashier with their carts, disappearing for a few moments, then leaving through the exit.

Rosaleya walked up to a counter, her cart pushing itself forwards in front of her. She looked behind her to see Soren following her at the slowest speed imaginable, then turned back to see the cashier scanning her items as they levitated themselves to his hands. Another shopping cart had moved to wait for him at the end of the counter, underneath a wide hoop attached to the counter. After scanning the items, the cashier tossed them through the hoop, and they gently landed in the new cart, organizing themselves accordingly; heavy items at the bottom, and dry items away from the cold ones. Even though the cashier never looked at where he was throwing the items, they always fell through the hoop, and into the cart.

"Are you doing that?" Rosaleya asked, pointing to how the items were organizing themselves in the cart.

"All carts are self-organizing." The cashier replied, surprised that a demon didn't know that. "And you just finished shopping."

"I was organizing items myself." Rosaleya replied with a laugh. "This is my first time at a grocery store, and my guide didn't tell me about the self-organizing function." She handed the cashier the card Claudia had given her. It had the grocery store's symbol on it.

"Thank you! Have a nice day." The cashier smiled.

"Same to you." Rosaleya smiled in return.

She walked away, the new cart following her as if it knew it had been promoted to the old one's job. Rosaleya picked up something that could take a beating; a can of baked beans, and threw it at the inside of the cart. It slowed down right before it hit the cart and fell perfectly in line with the other cans, just like when the cashier had tossed it. "Cool." She smiled. "Thanks again for telling me." She said to the cashier, who gave her a nod as he continued to scan Soren's items. The next person behind Soren was moving forward as slowly as possible, just like Soren had been.

"Did you figure it out, yet?" Soren asked.

Jade explained, at lightning speed. "A magical enchantment surrounds the cash registers, making things move slower everywhere so that cashiers have plenty of time to cash demons out, which is why it appears as though customers are just driving up and leaving without having to wait in line."

Rosaleya repeated this.

"-And!-" Jade added, picking up a bag of frozen peas, which had a thin layer of plastic surrounding it that hadn't been there before.

"-And!-" Rosaleya added, pausing and waiting for Jade to finish.

"-the hoop coats sensitive items in plastic, keeping them hot, or cold, until you get them home." Jade said.

Rosaleya repeated.

"So close!" Soren commended. "See that office over there?" He pointed to a door that said 'Timekeepers Only', near the furthest cash register.

Rosaleya nodded.

"The cash registers are controlled by one or two 'time keepers', depending on the traffic that day. They make it so that time flows normally everywhere except for directly in front and behind the cash registers. So, while you're checking out, time is flowing slower than everywhere else, without the customers or cashiers feeling anything."

"Ok." Rosaleya shrugged. "That's cool, too."

As they left the supermarket, their carts shrank to the size of flies, and followed them around at a close enough distance to not get lost.

"And that's why bags are a stupid Muggle invention." Soren said.

Rosaleya was curious to see how the carts would know to go back to the store afterwards, or if they'd have to return them themselves, or if something else would happen.

One portal later, they stood before The Shopping Cart Grocery Store. This one was different one the inside. Instead of their path ahead being blocked by tree-shaped stanchions, the path ahead was clear. The first one hundred feet of the floor straight ahead was completely cleared. Every inch of the ground had a cartoonish road print, with white lines going down the center. To the right and left were hundreds of grocery carts, all parked in individual parking spaces; a shopping cart parking lot. Attached to the inside of each cart was a steering wheel. The carts were only slightly bigger than normal grocery carts, leading Rosaleya to wonder how their groceries would fit inside. There wasn't an explanation for it at the other grocery store, and I don't see one here. Time to find out.

Soren walked up to a cart, and pulled the side forward, like he was opening a car door. After situating himself inside with his legs bent slightly before him, he 'closed the door', leaned forward, and pulled the steering wheel closer to him as he reclined into a comfortable position. A semi-transparent menu appeared, hovering just above steering wheel, with a bunch of triangles, each filled with a different color. He pushed his finger through the white triangle, and his cart became white. Next, the menu faded from colored triangles to a keyboard. He typed in 'Dragon Ball Original Opening', then hit 'enter'. Then, he backed out of the cart's 'parking space', and drove up to where Rosaleya was watching by the entrance.

Rosaleya copied Soren, but chose sky blue for the cart's color.

"Try the horn." Soren laughed, honking the steering wheel's horn. The original Dragon Ball opening's chorus sounded in beeps, making them both laugh.

"It sounds so cute!" Rosaleya laughed.

"Yeah." Soren laughed.

Soon, they were racing through the bakery section. The isles were much wider here, and the floor's design of roads continued throughout the entire store. The walls had cartoonish murals of different places within the demonic city, which were so realistic one almost felt as if they were looking out a window. The high ceiling appeared to fade into the sky, and since the entire building only had one floor it Rosaleya was certain it was an enchantment similar to that of the Great Hall this time. No matter what, the carts stopped softly whenever Rosaleya tried to crash into other demons' carts, or store displays. Items placed in their carts shrank so that it remained roomy, and whenever they tried to reach for something a bit further away on a shelf, it levitated to them.

"Wrong can." Soren said once, changing his mind from canned pineapple to canned beets. He tossed the pineapple can back at the shelf it had levitated from, and Rosaleya watched it gently set itself beside the other cans as Soren drove away with his beets.

Rosaleya tried it out a bunch of times in different isles after that. She appreciated the lack of wheels on the shopping carts. Floating an inch above the ground made for a much smoother ride. She recalled all the times her pervious shopping carts' wheels had refused to work together, usually with one or two stubbornly insisting on giving her a hard time.

The butcher's section here had a collection of soul meats in a separate display from the normal meats, and a partition with a stop sign blocked another part of the area. When Rosaleya drove past the stop sign, Jade read "Human Meats.". Within that other section was a normal butcher's display of meats, but with categorized, neatly packaged human body parts instead. There were floating expiration dates here as well.

The cash registers here worked similarly to the last one, with a Timekeeper's office, and hoops to preserve food temperatures. The only difference was that the path to the cash registers was like one huge intersection, with traffic lights informing groups of carts from different sides of the store when they could drive up to be cashed out so the 'roads' didn't get clogged.

One portal later, they were back home.

"You were racing again, weren't you?" Claudia guessed with a smile, immediately recognizing the look on Soren's face.

Soren smiled mischievously, his expression giving away his answer.

"It was so much fun!" Rosaleya hugged Claudia. "Hi m......." She sighed, and gave up for now. "Hi!"

"Hello, sunshine!" Claudia smiled.

Five minutes later

"Now say goodbye to the cart." Claudia said, gesturing to Rosaleya's now empty grocery cart.

"Goodbye to the cart." Jade snickered.

"Goodbye to the cart." Rosaleya laughed.

The cart turned towards her slightly, then shrank again, flying out the window and presumably back to the store.

"That's awesome." Rosaleya laughed. "It knew. The enchantments make it like the items are almost alive."

"Yes. It's quite lovely." Claudia agreed with a smile.

Beside the McCunnens' fridge was a pencil holder full of markers. At the side of each marker was a family member's name. Claudia explained, that these were used to mark things that were reserved for a specific family member, displaying a jar of maraschino cherries with Soren's name on them for an example. Claudia tried to pull the jar out of the fridge, then she tried to levitate it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Hmm?" Jade tried to pick it up. "It's like it's glued to the fridge."

Soren walked over and easily pulled the jar of cherries out, ate one, offered one to Rosaleya, then put it back.

Rosaleya laughed. "What if Soren says 'hand me my cherries'?"

"The jar knows." Soren said, gesturing for Rosaleya to see for herself with a grin.

Rosaleya easily picked up the jar, and handed it to Soren. Just before she handed it to him, she pulled it back, and made to open it herself. "But now I can do this and just steal your-hmm?" She was unable to open it.

"The jar knows." Soren laughed.

Next, Claudia explained that the counters were 'magnetic'. She tossed a vase at the counter, missing on purpose, but the vase set itself on the counter gently. Then, she 'accidentally' knocked the vase over, and it 'rewinded time' on itself, so that it reversed the action, and slid itself back onto the counter again. "Just in case young children, novices, or clumsy demons are working in the kitchen. Magnetic Counters are marketed for those demons. A demonic invention." Claudia explained proudly.

"Did you have anything to do with it?" Jade asked.

"Price Asmodeus invented it." Claudia replied when Rosaleya opened her mouth to ask who'd invented it.

Next, Soren pulled a six by three inch clear grey slide off the fridge; it had magnetic corners. "I can't find a red mug." Soren said, looking through the slide and turning this way and that to check all around the kitchen. "Found it. Now you try." He handed Rosaleya the slide.

"I'm looking for...a cute bowl?" Rosaleya said, looking at all the cabinets through the slide. "Oh!" It was glowing gold, the third in one stack of many in a cabinet near the sink. Jade retrieved it, and shower her the bowl. "That is cute!" Rosaleya said.

"The item glows a different color depending on the day. Today's is bright yellow." Claudia explained.

"Cool!" Rosaleya said. "What's it called? The Kitchen Stuff Finder?"

"It's a House Finder." Claudia replied. "You can use it anywhere in the house, but it's most commonly used in the kitchen by guests or demons that aren't here often." She meant Athena.

Claudia left them alone in the kitchen shortly after that. Rosaleya helped Soren make a delicious curry rice. It was an intense session. When they'd cooked together before, Claudia had been the one instructing them as her assistants. This time, Soren was the one in charge. He moved swiftly from one task to another, working efficiently like a robot. Rosaleya would've imagined that he was a robot, had it not been for the passionate look in his eyes and the smooth way he moved. The chopping, the stirring, the tasting...her favorite part was watching him season. He'd taste it, then dramatically sprinkle or shake whatever he needed in before stirring and trying it again, sliding one spice onto the counter and exchanging it for another so swiftly it looked choreographed. Whenever he'd needed something, he spoke concisely, and with a commanding voice, but he wasn't ordering her around, he was making requests. He was very specific, leaving no room for misunderstandings, and he always asked for what he needed ahead of time, so Rosaleya didn't ruin anything by taking her time to use the House Finder.

One portal later, they were eating their curry on a picnic mat in Wisteria Park. After they ate, Soren read to her. He chose a Choose Your Own Adventure book, and cheated through it with her. He adjusted the 'hero''s stamina and attack points so that they could win any battle, then kept a list with him of all the choices they could make; he'd printed it from a website so they could progress through the story faster. Then, he reused items that broke, so their powerful items never ran out. He read with hilarious voices for all the characters, and added lines in for the hero. Often, he'd stop to ask her for her opinion, or to add lines in to make the story more interesting, and she enjoyed doing so. Jade also enjoyed making a bunch of troll-ish suggestions.

Eventually, Soren settled into a position where he was lying down while holding the book above him to continue reading. Rosaleya eventually moved to rest her head on his chest, and by the end of the day, they were asleep together, with the book lying open upside down nearby.

Rosaleya woke up first, siting bolt upright and eyeing the horizon. "It's too late to do any Sky Writing now." She said, watching the last traces of the sun dip below the buildings.

"Tomorrow, then." Soren said drowsily as he sat up. "If we don't go racing again and spend another half day in the supermarket."

They both laughed, and began clearing up their picnic settings to head home.

Claudia tucked Rosaleya in, and she fell asleep easily, with a deep feeling of serenity and love.

 

[Hikari Chan]

"Oh my god! Oh my god! They must be screwed! The British are screwed!" Leslie nearly crumpled the newspaper in her hands whilst hurrying through the halls.

"Keep it down!" Seth was walking much faster, that he almost left Leslie running after him. He nearly slammed the door in Leslie's face when he entered the office, where a pile of mess awaited them.
She entered a couple of seconds later. The office which they shared with two other employees was large and spacious but looked so cramped and small of everything that occupied it. A large wooden desk with four similar chairs was placed in the middle of the room, while cabinets and bookshelves filled with scrolls, paperwork, and other files and materials occupied all the walls. The light was dim because only a couple of candles that hovered above the desk, lit up the office. There were no windows and even if there had been a single window in the office, it would have been hidden behind one of the bookshelves or cabinets. Despite so many items were pressed in the office, there was no single speck of dust. The place was spotless and surprisingly clean.

"You are such a workaholic, Seth! Don't wanna take some rest and allow the lunch to digest in peace," Leslie sat down in front of him, to continue to read the news. She had only time to get her eyes on the headlines just after she had finished her lunch. Her daily subscription to the newspaper arrived later than it usually did.

"We are less than we should be in this division, so we cannot afford too many breaks," Seth was already going through his part of the paperwork, not paying attention to anything else but work. Leslie was half-listening to him as she was being too absorbed by the news. "I cannot believe that so many no-majs are being found dead during several months without any piece of evidence." She shook her head in disbelief. "And the British Ministry of Magic-

The door to the office swung open, interrupting Leslie mid-sentence as a young woman with white-blonde hair entered.

"That was a real quick visit you made to the shop, Ri-Ri. Did you buy me a bag with gummy bears?" Leslie asked, nearly forgetting the newspaper she was reading.

"Of course," Rianne grinned as she held up a 350-gram plastic bag containing colorful gummy bears. "But you are sharing with Zack, so don't finish it up by yourself," She laughed. "By the way,
I bought some cool drinks for us all to try out," She put down four tall metallic cans.

"Eww, not another of those energy drinks that the no-maj has invented," Seth commented with a disgusted look on his face.

"Oh come on, this is a healthy new kind with the taste of green tea and lemon, no sugar or carbs and-"

"Rianne please, that sounds disgusting. You know that I only drink water and black coffee. Zack can have mine if you don't want to have two cans for yourself."

"I can have what?" Zack entered the office, bringing a heavy smell of smoke with him.

"Ewwww Zack, you need to do something about that smell of yours," Leslie wrinkled on her nose. "You're gonna be forever alone if you don't quit smoking!"

"Is anything the matter?" Mulciber asked and took a sip of wine as he glanced at August who seemed to have difficulties processing everything.

The former noticed how the latter was eyeing the syringe mostly, not knowing what was going on in his mind. Why....of everything Cattermole could have used, he went for a syringe? August frowned.
Something crossed his mind for a mere second, making him turning paler than a ghost. ...no, it is impossible, it cannot be...it's just a coincidence that Celeste's master used a syringe when he was testing me. The test I went through happened after the Halloween party while the murder incident happened must have happened when most of us left Hogwarts unattended. I arrived at the party before Celeste, and I know demons are able to enter Hogwarts since her brother has been delivering letters between us. But that cannot mean that they would be behind this incident. What if everything was only a distraction to turn my attention away from the real culprit...or it could be someone who wants to shatter the relationship I have with Celeste. If Celeste's master casually used a muggle item such as a syringe, it means all demons can use muggle items. Any other demon could have entered Hogwarts while we left it unattended, but I cannot suspect a demon just because I saw Celeste's master using a syringe. What if it is another threat, someone who is trying to take revenge because we took over both Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic? But why would they use muggle items, items that are much weaker than magic, to counter-attack us? Merlin's beard, nothing makes sense at all...

"Earth to August Dolohov," Mulciber waved his hand in front of August's face. "Ever since I told you everything you have been quiet and frowning. That's not like you at all."

"I am just confused about the incident," August did not reveal his thoughts but told the truth at least. He drank the entire content in his goblet all at once before continuing: "And I do not understand why we are only focusing on finding out whether Cattermole is innocent or not. Have you never thought that there might be someone out there trying to take revenge on us because we took over Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic. There are probably rebels out there, who are waiting to strike again to take us down."

"Or it could be an internal threat?" Mulciber shrugged. "The reason we are focusing on Cattermole is that he confessed too soon. A real culprit wouldn't give up that easily and turn himself in. Hence most of us are suspicious of his confession. Especially when we found out he was lying about stealing potion ingredients from my storage."

Persephone sighed heavily as she glanced over the spread of tarot cards on her desk. ...If I just could use legilimency on Cattermole...but Elias has strictly forbidden me and his only bloody reason is that I have to respect the privacy of the pupils...She thought bitterly and decided to clean up the spread and put the cards away. The spread had given her a mysterious fortune that made her ponder a lot about the murder incident. At the same time, her thoughts were distracted by the second minor incident. ...As if we are not having enough, the masked student is being framed in the Slytherin. But what if he is making it up about being framed...her eyes fell on the flickering candles as she got lost in her thoughts not really hearing the commotion in the nearby corridor.

"This is not your area, so what the bloody hell are you doing here?" Lily hissed.

"I am patrolling and you ought to respect me since I am a professor here," Flynn replied tiredly, trying to speak as calmly as he could. Inside he was fuming with anger but had no other choice than to meet Lily and any other rebelling student professionally or he had to answer to the headmaster. "You should not be sneaking around in the corridors after the curfew. Especially not after what happened. You are old enough to understand the rules."

"Excuse me, I am not sneaking!" Lily clenched her fits. "If professor Ferydoni has asked me to visit her at her office, then I cannot but comply," She smirked. ...Now move out my way...

...Merlin's beard, this girl is unbelievable...Flynn thought with a sigh. ...Ferydoni may have an office by herself, but she is only a teaching assistant and does not have the same privileges as a professor.

"Fine....fine..." He sighed. "If Ferydoni has requested to see you-" He stepped aside, allowing Lily to walk past. "-then go ahead."

Lily was surprised that professor Flynn let her off so easily but stopped in her tracks as soon as he said: "But on the condition that we discuss this with your brother tomorrow. I will tell him anyway even if you do not show up at his office after dinner tomorrow."

...That sly fox! Lily turned around with fury, her black long hair flying around her face, but Flynn was already gone.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"Thank you for your time." Luna replied, descending the front steps of the Cattermoles' house.

She walked down the street and turned the corner, walking until she was out of sight. Then, she disappeared in a swirl of black smoke, appearing just outside the Hogwarts gates. "Good day." She greeted anyone she passed, her mind on the letters she was about to write. She walked to the lake, pulling a Quick Quotes Quill out of her bag. Before she pulled out the parchment to duplicate, she was interrupted by Raven.

"Can I write them for you?" Raven asked, anxious to do something.

"I suppose there's no harm in that." Luna replied. I could do it myself, but it's fine if she does it instead. I was going to use a Quick Quotes quill anyway.

"Minister Shadowwalker," Luna began, leaning her back against a tree as she admired the lake's surface.

Raven wrote quickly as she talked.

"We've completed our investigations on the Cattermole case. You are invited to a meeting on Friday, November 9th at five p.m sharp, at the same location as our last meeting. Everyone will discuss their findings. And that's all." Luna finished. "Sign my last name at the bottom."

"You're always so concise!" Raven beamed, creating an envelope.

"Now for the staffs' letters." Luna continued with a modest nod.

Raven started on another piece of parchment, writing out on one, while a bunch of other quills and parchments copied her behind her, making the same letter for every staff member Luna wished to contact. "Thank you all for your contribution to the Cattermole investigations. Your presence is requested at a meeting on Friday, November 9th at five p.m sharp, to discuss our findings. We'll be conversing at the same location as our last meeting. I shall see you then." Luna paused briefly. "At the top, put their last names, then a comma,"

"-and skip two lines." Raven finished. "And for Elias, write his full name. I already did that, Mistress. Should I write Aislynn's full name as well?"

"Just her first name will do, thank you." Luna replied, with a tone that said she wished to be left alone now.

"I shall see you later, Mistress." Raven said, bowing her head and walking away to send the letters.

November, Friday 9th, Four thirty p.m.

At four-thirty, Luna walked to Elias's office, and knocked on his door, planning to walk with him to the room behind the staff table in the Great Hall, and wait for the meeting to begin.

Raven waited by the gates to welcome the Minster in and show him to the meeting place.

 

[Hikari Chan]

"Listen, I know it is Friday, but I am not letting this day go to waste resulting in having loads of work and being behind of the several deadlines on Monday. So..." Seth snatched away the fashion magazine, Leslie was browsing through, from her hands. "You can read this later, can't you?"

"Seth, please..." She pouted, trying to look like a cute puppy, but she did not manage to budge him.

"Zack is always one hour late, as usual, so we need to speed up a little more."

...oh no...I just ruined half of my nails...I should have waited with polishing them until after work...where could it have gone wrong...was it when I was changing clothes? And this is supposed to be a magical nail polish with better properties than the nail polishes by the no-majes. Ugh...I wish I could fix my nails now, but I have to take a rain check during lunch instead...
I can't stand my ruined nails...Rianne sighed audibly.

"What?"

"Nothing, Seth, nothing...I am just annoyed that Zack is always late..." Rianne looked down at the pile of parchments in front of her, avoiding the suspicious look Seth was giving her.

...I wonder what they talked about at the first meeting...I guess I will know once we discuss the results of the investigation...Aislinn thought as she finished her hot chocolate. ...well, it is about time, isn't it...She rose from her seat and walked out from Leaky Cauldron. Lately, she had been having a poor appetite and only drank hot chocolate. She just shrugged it off as if was nothing at all, as it was a normal habit of hers. Diagon Alley was less crowded during the Friday afternoon of November and it was colder than usual. Aislinn had only taken a few steps outside when she suddenly stopped in her tracks, feeling too paralyzed to move. She looked around, viewing her surroundings and staring with such intensity into each dark corner. ...why do I have this strange feeling that someone is watching me from the shadows...She wished that she had worn something else with a large black hooded cloak instead of the same clothes as she wore the last time she had been at Hogwarts. ...one can never be less prepared and ready than ever...She drew out her wand and tried to ignore this strange feeling of being watched as she hurried away, walking a little faster than usual, her heels clicking against the cobbled street until she vanished behind a dark corner. A young wizard wearing a raven mask stopped at where Aislinn had been last seen and then turned around and walked back towards Knockturn Alley. He hesitated for one full minute, half looking and half not looking into the dark path that seemed darker than the shadows and narrow corners in Diagon Alley behind him, before taking a deep breath and entering Knockturn Alley. He turned on his head several times, looking behind him as if he was expecting to see Aislinn somewhere in Diagon Alley once more until he vanished into the dark alley. ...there will be a next time...there will always be...

...Should I tell or...August almost pulled his hair in frustration as he walking back and through his office. ...I cannot reveal Celeste...That's one promise I made to her and I am a man of my word, I never break any promise...no matter what....but what if the culprit escapes this all because I am being quiet...He stopped for a moment, gazing at the picture that hung at the wall behind his desk. The picture that he had bought from the art exhibition he had gone to with Celeste. The picture that she had painted. ...Should I talk to her, tell her about the murder incident...but how do I reach her now when her brother is unable to enter Hogwarts to deliver her letters. I could either use an owl or just send her a Patronus...couldn't I? Come to think about it, she uses magic, but differently, so there should not be a problem to send her a message...I will try with a Patronus. I will ask her to meet me in Knockturn Alley this evening, outside the Silvery Serpents...

"What are they whispering about?" Adela frowned at her eldest brother who was talking quietly with Mulciber in the Entrance Hall.

"I don't think it is about us," Aislinn shrugged. "You are not part of the investigation, are you? Why don't you spend the rest of the evening with Vincent, I bet he will be happy about it.
I need to hurry, as the Minister has already arrived and the rest are probably waiting for me!" Aislinn squeezed Adela's hand before leaving her, hurrying after the Minister who vanished through a side door at the end of the Great Hall.

Mulciber was the last one to enter the room where the meeting was taking place. Aislinn was curious about what he could have conversed about with August, but he did not look at her once, no matter how intensely she looked at him. So is that all of us? Elias and his father...professor Quinn and Crystal, my dear friend...I wonder what Crystal contributed to this investigation, I wonder if she has time to speak after this meeting, there are a lot of other things I would love to catch up with her...and then we have one of the Pyrites siblings...Mulciber and...the poor girl Vincent scared away on the torture party...Aislinn snorted, trying not to laugh out loud as it was not the right moment to remember funny things and laugh about.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"Should I still wait?" Celeste asked, trying to appear calm as she sipped her tea. She sat in front of Asmodeus's desk as he worked.

Asmodeus looked to the ceiling directly above him, to a huge clock. Around the borders of the clock were the months and numbers 1 to 31. What was normally the hour hand pointed to the months, and the minute hand pointed to the days of the month. "It hasn't even been a month yet in human time. Give him time to think. There are still the incidents concerning the school that he has to deal with."

Celeste nodded. She already knew, but it was more of a reminder for her to hear it from Asmodeus. Remain patient. After all the time we spent together, he wouldn't just forget about me. I just have to give my prince time to think.

"Goodbye, father!" Malice called cheerfully from the doorway.

"Luna, again?" Asmodeus guessed, looking up at the huge Month Clock embedded in the ceiling directly above him. It had round vibrant midnight blue borders and hands, and the face was black. The writing was white. The months were engraved in the borders, and where the numbers one through twelve would normally be, there were more, going up to thirty-one. The hour hand pointed to the month, and the minute hand pointed to the day of the month.

"Yes, father." Malice smiled.

"Back today?" He guessed.

"Yes, I will be back today." Malice curtsied. "Adieu." Then she left elegantly.

Luna stood at the center of the room, choosing to summarize her findings first. "Cattermole's parents were quite hospitable and kind. I expected stories of a troubled child over tea, but stories of kindness and studiousness were all they had to tell. They didn't mind me searching his room, and I found nothing suspicious. His trunk at Hogwarts was another story." Luna waved her wand, and a folder on a table behind her opened and the twenty pictures flew out, spreading out and floating in front of her for all to see. Cattermole's drawings depicted various places within Hogwarts, all with the artistic talent of a ten-year-old, but despite that, it was easy to see what the artist had in mind. The Quidditch Pitch, Whomping Willow, Bathrooms, Forbidden Forest, a hallway, and other places all looked quite peaceful and normal. "Raven, lights, please." Raven made the lights fade from normal to black lights. Now, the drawings looked quite different. In one drawing, the Whomping Willow had grown to be twice the size of Hogwarts, and with its newfound power it crushed the school and pulled several professors and students apart, strewing their organs over the grass and into the lake. In another, the Quidditch field was burning to the ground mid-match, and players that tried to fly away were second away from being devoured by the gaping jaws of animal-shaped fire. The toilets in the bathrooms were overflowing with rotten multicoloerd potions like they were cauldrons, the potion burning through the floor and leaking through the ceiling on the next floor. Another drawing with Peeves flying by and ripping students' eyes out. Another one with all the monsters in the Forbidden Forest rising up in rebellion and killing the staff and students in a raid. Another was an earthquake, splitting the Earth, and Hogwarts, in two before both halves fell into the crack and never came back. Luna found that the most disturbing one was the one where every staff member's severed head was impaled on the spikes of the Hogwarts front gates as all the original staff from Harry Potter's days of peace marched back into Hogwarts, bearing Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff flags. The Slytherin flags were being trampled on during the march. Many had signs spray painted onto them. "Lights, please." Luna said, and Raven returned the lighting to normal. "And that was the extent of my investigation." Luna said calmly with the wave of her wand. As she took her seat the drawings neatly slid themselves back into their folder.

 

[Hikari Chan]

For each drawing Melody saw in the dark light, she got paler and paler until her face was ash grey and her eyes lifeless when the light was returned to normal in the room. She seemed to have difficulties with breathing.

"Please fetch us some calming draughts, will you?" Quinn ordered Mulciber.

Aislinn, who usually was able to keep her cool, turned as pale as Melody when a forbidden thought crossed her mind all of sudden. ...is someone planning to bring the Phoenix of Order, Dumbledore's Army, and their supporters back to life to get revenge on us? Are our enemies planning to use the same method as we did once to counterattack us? But who could know about what we did in the past...We got rid of Luna's mother before recruiting Crystal and that jerk whose name I don't remember and long before we took over Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic...It was only the four of us, Luna, Blaise, Rosier, and I that were present at the ceremony to awaken Bellatrix from the death. Elias arrived later. Did Bellatrix ever leave Luna's manor after the ceremony? Did a stranger catch a glimpse of her or did Rosier betray us? Aislinn's hands shook as she loosened her small purse from her belt and put it on the table and enlarged it to its original size. She pulled out a small bottle of firewhiskey which she always carried along with vials containing necessary potions that might come in handy in any battle or situation she might face. She even had a vial with the calming draught but she was so absorbed by her thoughts that she hardly noticed who might need to drink some calming draught. ...Nah...Rosier would never betray us. It has been about a year since her retirement and she knows the cost of not keeping a secret. Had she been thinking about betraying us, she would have done so long ago. And whether someone survived our ambush at the ministry, that person would never use dark arts against us...I knew the members of PO and DA too well to believe that they would commit such an act...they are not that evil...that boy who drew these drawings has either gone mad or he was probably too drunk while drawing... Aislinn nearly slammed the bottle against the table when she put it down after she had emptied it in one go.

"I have one request before we proceed with summarising the rest of the investigation," Alexander spoke a soon as Mulciber returned with a couple of vials with calming draughts. The minister was feeling indifferent and did not care about how everyone else reacted to the disturbing drawings while Quinn was ready to knock Aislinn out if she got too drunk and acted out of place. "I request..." He paused momentarily and looked at everyone before locking eyes with Luna. "...that the professor in Magic in Art takes a look at those drawings, please, if you don't mind?"

"Well, Cattermole does not take any classes in Magic in Art," Flynn interrupted. "He does not even take any classes in dark arts. I am the head of his house, hence I know his full schedule.
I have even looked through the previous years' records to check what classes he has taken. So what the Deputy headmistress told and showed us so far strengthens my hypothesis that the boy has a split personality. Further, he managed to vanish a full teenage body into thin air. I put Potter's oldest son into a deep sleep and ordered Cattermole to vanish him."

"Still, I think that the professor in Magic in Art should take a look at the drawings. She might see something that we cannot see. As you said, the boy might have a split personality. He may have one personality who is not interested in taking classes in Magic in Art or Dark Arts and he may have another personality who may practice any of these subjects in secret, just as you suggested that he might have practiced the vanishing spell if you recall our previous meeting?!"

"But we don't have solid proof that Cattermole created those drawings," Mulciber intervened. "The boy confessed he made them and they were found in his trunk. Since he lied about stealing ingredients from my storage room, he could also be lying about the drawings to cover up for the real culprit."

"That's just too farfetched-" Flynn began, but Mulciber did not let him continue and took over the conversation.

"Some of these drawings show that the enemy is suggesting, perhaps planning, to destroy this school and take us down along with the Slytherin House, so why would Cattermole randomly kill Goldstein from Gryffindor and Turpin from Ravenclaw? It would have made more sense if Cattermole had murdered two boys from Slytherin. Let me tell you this, some days ago, a pupil from my house tried to cover up a friend for pranking and breaking some rules. Someone tried to frame Mr. Dantes for hoarding about forty prank items in his trunks. This certain pupil did not only confess for placing those items in Mr. Dantes' trunk but he also confessed to several pranks, which I know he would never commit. Thanks to my pupil being so clumsy in his confession, I know it's a girl who is behind the pranks and the framing since the pranks happened both in the girls' dormitory and the boys' dormitory. Still, I have no idea of who it could be. I have to find out who she exactly is if she does not confess soon. Anyway, with that being said, it could be the same person who probably placed those drawings in Cattermole's trunk or it could be someone else. If a pupil easily could place forty prank items in Mr. Dante's trunk, then the same or another pupil could have placed the drawings in Cattermole's trunk. But it does not have to be any of the pupils, an outsider could have entered Hogwarts while we left it unattended when the majority of the staff, including me, were at the Halloween Party. In conclusion, I strongly believe that Cattermole did not draw such disturbing drawings and that the real culprit placed them in his trunk."

"So you are saying that Cattermole is innocent? But he has already proved to be guilty when vanishing the body of Potter's oldest child," Quinn spoke with a deep frown.

"I'm not saying Cattermole is innocent. How could he be, if he is covering up for the real culprit?"

"What about if he is being manipulated?" Aislinn suggested carefully, avoiding mentioning anything about Rosier and what she did to Sherwood in the past. "Miss Lestrange just told us about what his parents had to say about him and she even searched their house, finding nothing suspicious. I do not believe in any of that bloody crap about Cattermole having a split personality." She commented harshly, making Flynn swallow the words he was about to say bitterly. "Besides, if Cattermole was trying to hide his evil side, he would have done a better job than just tossing some weird drawings in his trunk and I believe there should have been something in his house as well, but there wasn't. Also, there's no solid proof of him practicing magic or drawing during his spare time, is there?"

"That was just my speculations-" Flynn tried to reason with Aislinn, but she did not listen.

"We can't find out the truth with just some bloody speculations," She snapped, literary telling him to keep quiet. "Anyway, I found out that Cattermole's cellphone was magically enchanted, but have you tested if the boy can manipulate a cellphone with magic?"

"Now that you mention it, we should check if he can do that," Elias suggested.

"But whether if Cattermole can magically manipulate a muggle item, I think I have enough of documented investigation to prove him innocent," Mulciber said. "The culprit brewed the Shrinking solution incorrectly to create the orange poison. That's what I found out when I investigated the orange liquid in the syringe. Shrinking Solution is not a hard potion to brew and that's one of the simple potions that I teach the second year. I put Cattermole on a test and I let him brew the Shrinking Solution without the recipe. It went wrong and turned orange. I put him on a second test where I let him use a recipe and it also went wrong. I checked the records of his past grades and I noted that he has done fairly well to pass with at least an E or D, so potion making is not his specialty. You may think that Cattermole may be the culprit now because he may be aware of his lacking skills in potions and knows what he can turn into poison from previous experience. But it was not only ingredients used in the Shrinking Solution that were stolen from the Greenhouses. Knotgrass and fluxweed were also stolen, according to Professor Wilkes' report. These two ingredients are used in making Polyjuice potion and with his lacking skills in potion making, he also failed the third test I put him through. I let him brew Polyjuice potion with the help of a recipe and it was a disaster. Since I always provide everyone with ingredients for potion making during my classes, the pupils don't need to buy any ingredients from Diagon Alley, and thus it was easy to find out that Cattermole has been going on a shopping spree lately to buy the rest of the ingredients which he boasted about stealing from my storage room. The shop owner of the Apothecary in Diagon Alley has many customers, however, he recognizes any pupil in their Hogwarts uniform, hence he could confirm that Cattermole has been buying the following ingredients, caterpillars, rat spleen, leech juice, lacewing flies, leeches, horn of bicorn and boomslang skin. The first three ingredients are used in the Shrinking Solution while the rest are used in the Polyjuice potion. Other customers have also been shopping for Polyjuice potion ingredients as usual before Cattermole's frequent visits to the Apothecary in Diagon Alley, but the shopkeeper doesn't remember them, since random customers nearly buy all kinds of ingredients. Besides, Cattermole is underaged and can only visit Hogsmeade during the weekends. There's no shop selling potion ingredients in Hogsmeade, meaning he could have only gone to Diagon Alley. As far as I know, before the current restrictions, we only allowed pupils who turned seventeen to visit Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley during the school year, though with permission from the head of their houses."

"Cattermole could have been sneaking out to Diagon Alley while we did not pay attention," Flynn suggested. "With the new privilege of freedom the headmaster gave the seventeen-year-old pupils, it would not hold the younger students back or mean that they won't break any rule. I caught two younger boys, from Gryffindor's house, red-handed, during one of my visits to Diagon Alley."

"There are always trouble makers no matter how many rules there are or how strict we are with them," Mulciber agreed. "But do you still think that it was Cattermole who was in Diagon Alley when there are witnesses who spotted him in Hogsmeade at the same time? He is a popular boy who frequently visits Hogsmeade with his friends."

"What if Cattermole is trying to mislead us?" Quinn suggested. "If someone disguised as him with Polyjuice potion, that person must have obtained a strand of hair by him in one or other way. He could have collaborated with someone. He could have visited Diagon Alley, while his disguise visited Hogsmeade at the same time to create an alibi for him."

"Then what's his reason to murder Turpin and Goldstein?" Mulciber argued, still holding on to his stated theories that Cattermole was innocent.

"Well, we all know from the wizarding history that Peter Pettigrew joined forces with the late dark lord before the second wizarding war," Quinn tried to reason. "So we shouldn't be surprised that Cattermole probably joined some kind of forces to take us down."

"If there's someone out there who is planning to take us down because of who we are, why would two random pupils get murdered in the process? Does anyone recognize any family member from the Turpins and Goldsteins as notorious death eaters?" Aislinn made a statement. "Well, I don't," She shrugged. "Hence, I can't find any reasonable connection between the last drawing and the murders of the two boys. I have worked very closely with the Phoenix of Order in the past and I knew the members very well. Let's say there are survivors out there, who were lucky enough to survive our ambush at the Ministry. Even if the survivors are planning a counterattack, they are not that cruel to commit what the last drawing described. The first thing they would do is to give us a life sentence and send us to Azkaban if they don't kill us in a duel." ...there's something I want to tell, but I can only tell Luna and no one else, not even Elias...the most forbidden and dangerous thought...I have not forgotten why we had to take down her mother. She turned against us and we had to fight her and her minions who were past death eaters from the first and second wizarding war. So there might be someone out there who might have brought Lord Voldemort back to life...new dark forces that manipulated Cattermole to mislead us in other to take us down...If past death eaters joined forces with Bellatrix Lestrange against her daughter, then I am not surprised that Lord Voldemort, if someone has brought him back to life, would turn against his daughter as well...but another possibility could be Grindelwald... "Grindelwald is well-known just like Lord Voldemort in the wizarding history. After the global wizarding war, when Grindelwald was defeated and Dumbledore brought him to the wizarding authorities, Grindelwald got imprisoned in the topmost cell of Nurmengard. He received a life sentence. If he is still alive, he is too old to try to overpower us. If he is dead, then he is dead, but Merlin knows if he left an offspring."

"Seriously?!" Flynn gave Aislinn a long questioning look. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

"I think we should take her nonsense quite seriously," Alexander defended Aislinn's theory. "Grindelwald was well known for being the most powerful dark wizard during his time. It is highly possible that he could have left an offspring or supporters who might be behind those disturbing drawings and probably the manipulation of Cattermole."

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"I request..." Minister Shadowwalker paused momentarily and looked at everyone before locking eyes with Luna. "...that the professor in Magic in Art takes a look at those drawings, please, if you don't mind?"

Luna formed her next sentences in her mind as Flynn interrupted.

"Still, I think that the professor in Magic in Art should take a look at the drawings. She might see something that we cannot see. As you said, the boy might have a split personality. He may have one personality who is not interested in taking classes in Magic in Art or Dark Arts and he may have another personality who may practice any of these subjects in secret, just as you suggested that he might have practiced the vanishing spell if you recall our previous meeting?!"

"Despite the boy using childish art styles and a simple Muggle method of creating alternate pictures using lemon juice, leading me to believe that he did not study Magic in Art, I believe that if there is something we can investigate, we should look into it regardless of how frivolous the possible results may seem." Luna replied. She appreciated how her team had grown to include the types of people who would give her so many different intelligent perspectives, ideas, and often say what she'd been thinking.

"I also would like her to examine another painting I found, Luna." Crystal said, speaking to Luna as if she was the only one in the room. "When you asked me to look everywhere, I found a painting that didn't look like a style I've seen before in this place. It kinda reminds me of these-" she nodded in the direction of the folder. "-but I'm not sure. Since she'll be inspecting them, she could tell us."

"Which painting would that be?" Luna replied calmly.

"I found it in August Dolohov's office, behind his desk." Crystal replied.

"Raven-" Luna began, turning to Raven.

"-right away." Raven said as she turned out of the room.

"Seriously?!" Flynn gave Aislinn a long questioning look. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

Luna spoke as Alexander did. "I find no faults in her logic. After all, they are all valid ideas, and possible problems we could encounter. And I don't recall you having the authority to talk so rudely to a superior." Luna reminded Flynn coldly. Aislynn had been disrespected enough in her lifetime, and if Luna needed to remind those of lower rankings that Aislynn was one of her most trusted, she would do so. The fierce look in her cold eyes when she met Flynn's did a good job at conveying that thought.

"Here it is." Raven said, re-entering with August's painting.

"I see what you mean." Luna said to Crystal.

 

[Hikari Chan]

...where did it go...August stopped in his tracks as soon as he entered his office. He stood motionless in the doorway, finding it odd that the painting behind his desk was gone. ...I was just away for a very short time...did someone just waltz inside my office and just steal it? ...no, I must be tired...mustn't I...He closed his eyes and massaged his forehead, but Celeste's painting was still gone. ...Merlin's beard, who the bloody hell dared to take it...I always lock my office, put up protection spells...but I only do that when I am away for a longer time...Did I just let my guard down because there are guards everywhere now... but who would take my painting and why? I am not getting any smarter on this...He pulled his hair in frustration. ...Is someone playing a prank?...

"I apologize for getting ahead of myself," Flynn apologized to both Luna and Aislinn at the same time. "I did not intend to be rude. Sometimes I can get very excited, probably too excited and fierce during an argument." ...I need to calm down, I nearly forgot Monroe is my superior, aside from Thorne and Shadowwalker. I hardly see her, since she is not part of the staff...I suppose there was a fourth one?...

Aislinn did not look at him the slightest. ...I may be superior, but I am not letting this getting to my head to the extent that I would triumph just because I may have suggested some possible threats. My theories may be wrong because the only thing I am a hundred percent sure about is that Cattermole got manipulated...that's the only thing I can really trust from the results of the findings...

"Well...what do you suggest we do first?" Elias asked Luna after everyone had surveyed the painting Raven had brought from Dolohov's office. "Shall we interrogate the owner of the painting first and then ask the professor in Magic in Art to look at the painting and the drawings?

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"I apologize for getting ahead of myself," Flynn apologized to both Luna and Aislinn at the same time. "I did not intend to be rude. Sometimes I can get very excited, probably too excited and fierce during an argument."

Luna nodded elegantly, with a look that it was understandable but shouldn't be repeated. It would be forgiven since he'd apologized. Everyone's on edge with these confusing events.

"Shall we interrogate the owner of the painting first and then ask the professor in Magic in Art to look at the painting and the drawings?"

Luna turned to Raven. "Tell Mr. Dolohov that we need to speak with him immediately. Bring him here post-haste. If he is busy, don't let him out of your sight until he comes here."

Raven nodded, and left.

"We will have him here with us as Ms. Dolohov examines the paintings in the event that any question arise. Since the painting is our only piece of evidence against him, we should ensure that it is truly more than a visual similarity or a feeling one gets from looking at it. And even then, he could've picked it up at an art gallery by chance, or he could've been led to purchase it. Owning something like that is not proof that he in involved."

August heard a knock at his door. "Excuse me." Raven said calmly. "Lestrange has asked me to retrieve you and escort you to the meeting room, poste haste. She wishes for you to be present during something important, in case any questions arise."

 

[Hikari Chan]

"I will come at once," August replied calmly, despite that he was feeling frustrating that Celeste's painting was gone. ...I hope this won't take long...I need to search around in my office and report that one of my belongings is gone...I can't understand how I easily could lose Celeste's painting...He was thinking while following Raven to where the part of the staff was having a meeting with the minister. August got his biggest surprise when he noticed that the deputy headmistress had the painting. As soon as he entered the room, his eyes fell on Celeste's painting. Feeling dumbfounded, he had no idea what this was all about.

"Excuse me, but what are you doing with one of my belongings, speaking of which, I can't believe you just entered my office and took the painting down from my wall without my consent!" He frowned deeply. He was the first one to speak as soon as he had entered. He did not direct his words to one specific person, but to everyone at the same time in the room.

 

[Junko Natsumizaka]

"I authorized the removal of the painting from your wall." Luna replied calmly. "The painting is merely reminiscent of the suspicious drawings I found in Cattermole's trunk, which you are free to view with what Muggles call a 'black light'." She gestured to the folder of drawings and nodded to Raven, who handed August a flashlight that emitted a black light so he could examine the paintings himself until Adela arrived. "It may be linked to the true culprit somehow. I request that you stand by as the artworks are examined by Ms. Dolohov, in case any questions arise."

Luna's patronus slithered up to Adela. "There is a matter concerning Magic in Art that requires the attention of a professional. Please make your way to the meeting room to assist us poste haste, Ms. Dolohov." Luna's calm voice sounded.