Chapter 17 – Redefining normal by Maeryn Lamonte – Copyright © 2021
	I planned to post this earlier, but I came down with some sort of food poisoning or irritable bowel thing and my body insisted I sleep most of the day. Feeling better now, but the last posting – the epilogue – needs a bit of work. I hope to get it done today, but it’ll be late

-oOo-
Saturday was better. Breakfast brought news that Anneka had managed to pester her parents into bringing her back a day early. Lori made use of what remained of the cream Anneka’s mother had sent to make herself well and truly hairless. Her overall shape had improved considerably over the two week break. Unfortunately more masculine, but decidedly less unbalanced. While she didn’t have any control over her shape, she chose to do what she could with what she could alter.

Back in loose fitting clothes to hide most of the oddness about herself, with the curtain of hair hiding the part of her face that didn’t work, she set about her holiday routine one last time. Once she’d fed the thestrals, her special friend among them nudged her away from the clearing. She wasn’t sure why, but it was evidently encouraging her to leave.

She did and found herself drawn to another nearby clearing where a unicorn stallion stood waiting for her. She reached for her brushes, but the great creature shook its head and stooped to its knees.

Accepting the invitation, she climbed onto its back. No sooner had she seated herself than the powerful animal leapt into motion, carrying her at breathtaking speed into the depths of the forest.

Their first stop was a clearing Lori knew better than she wished. Her previous time here, it had been swarming with Dementors with the bloodstone lying to one side.

Lori dismounted and headed straight for the place where the last unicorn she had ridden had given his life for her. All that remained was a soft patch of earth and a few scattered bones. She fell to her knees and burst into tears.

Her present companion followed her over and touched his horn lightly to her shoulder, pointing at the patch where her tears fell, where tiny shoots pushed upwards and burst open into blossoms that spread across the area covered by the remains. It was quite beautiful enough to make Lori laugh, even through her memories of the anguish she’d experienced there.

The unicorn stepped towards the new carpet of flowers, dipped its horn in and separated the horn from the remains. This hw prodded towards Lori.

“I couldn’t,” she said. “It’s… I couldn’t.”

The unicorn insisted, rolling the recovered horn until it touched Lori’s knee. She picked it up and the unicorn nodded its approval.

“I suppose, if it’s your custom. I shall treasure it.”

The unicorn led her away from the clearing and after just a few hundred yards, into another. Yet again Lori was familiar with it. All around her, unicorns of all ages raised their heads and looked at her.

The young stallion led her still further, into the centre of the clearing where he reached with his horn into the earth, rummaging around until he had unearthed a stone. Nothing special, except that it was similar in size to the Bloodstone. It reached forward to touch the horn Lori carried, then eased it onto the stone it had unearthed.

It took Lori a few repetitions to get what was being said. “You want me to take this horn and touch it to the Bloodstone, the stone that was over there?” She gestured and pointed as she spoke, and the great beast nodded its head. “That, I’m sure I can do,” Lori said. “Now will you permit me to groom you.”

The great head nodded just once more and then he stood still while Loris set about her task.

-oOo-

It was one of the mares who brought Lori back to the castle. The return journey had been at a far more sedate pace, and she felt she had a reasonable chance of finding her way back to the unicorn clearing without a guide. Whether she could do so safely was another matter. It was late morning by the time she said goodbye to her mount and made her way back across to the castle and her dormitory.

“Where have you been?” Anneka scolded as she walked into the room. Her friend had continued to grow over the holiday and despite Lori’s own growth spurt, she now stood half a head taller. Lori decided she liked being the shorter one as her friend threw her arms around her.

“With the unicorns,” Lori said matter of factly as she disengaged from her friend and start teasing the stallion’s main and tail hairs out of the curry comb’s stiff bristles. She’d been collecting the unicorn hairs for the whole two weeks since she’d started encountering them in the forest, but these were special. Most of her spoils she’d folded into one of the silk scarves that the Room of Requirement had provided as part of the rack of clothes. The stallion’s hairs went into a fresh scarf along with the horn.

“Is that a…?”

“Unicorn horn. Yes. The new head of the herd insisted I take it. He wants me to touch the Bloodstone with it.”

“And just how are you going to do that?”

“I’m not sure yet, but I about promised I would, so I’m going to have to find a way.”

“Well, it sounds like you’ve had a much more interesting break than me, so spill. What’s been happening.”

Lori went into as much detail as she could recall of her last two weeks. It felt so good to have her friend back, and just to talk. She wanted to hear Anneka’s news too, but when her friend’s turn came, she became evasive and said how it had been boring for the most part. When Lori pressed, she talked a little about Thursday’s trip to the Diagon Alley and showed off some of the things her mum had bought her. Lori didn’t particularly like the sense she had that her friend was keeping something from her, but she’d learned to trust her, so let it go.

Sunday, Lori took her along to see the thestrals, but apparently being unconscious when news of miss Mitchell’s death and that of her fellow students had been announced didn’t qualify her as having witnessed death, so she was unable to see them. What’s more, the unicorns seemed to have concluded their business with Lori, so there were none waiting for them after the visit to the thestral clearing.

Anneka tried to mask her disappointment, but Lori could feel that it bothered her not being able to share even the least part of the experience. For the first time since she’d known her, she felt the smallest hint of a wedge sliding between herself and her friend.

They decided to fetch a picnic from the kitchens and head down to the edge of the lake. The moment Lori appeared, one the house elves approached and bowed.

“What is miss wanting, miss?”

Between Anneka and herself, Lori was able to give a comprehensive list of all the things they would want.

“I is preparing it straight away miss. If you please, Mani is asking if he can be speaking with miss.”

“Of course.”

“I is fetching him.”

He scuttled off and a short while later the larger elf made his way over to them.

“Perhaps miss would follow,” he said. “We is having some difficulty with Winky.”

Lori did so with Anneka in tow. They found Winky lounging on a top shelf with a bottle of butterbeer in her hand. She still had on her Hogwarts tea towel dress, but it was grubby and stained.

“We is trying, miss. Mani is giving her instructions the same as the other elves, but Winky is not liking to be told.”

“Hello mistress,” Winky grinned down on them and reached out a finger. “Is mistress wanting to learn more about elf history?”

“Winky must not be telling these things,” Mani growled.

“Winky is not telling. Winky is showing.”

“I think I learned enough last time Winky. I came to see how you were. I’m so sorry to see you looking like this. What happened?”

“Winky is not liking to be told. Winky is a free elf and is not being told what to do. Winky is not liking it, so she is not doing it.”

“We is trying, miss,” Mani said. We is trying, but Winky is not wanting to try. We is sorry, miss.”

“It’s alright Mani. I’m sorry too.”

Their picnic chose that moment to arrive. Anneka took it and waited for whatever Lori still felt she had to do.

“We is keeping on trying, miss. You is wishing for this, so we is keeping on trying. We is wanting you to know though.”

“Thank you Mani. I’ll try and think of something too.”

She took Anneka’s hand and led her out of the kitchen. Her friend wanted to know what the whole thing had been about, and Lori was forced to limit her response to a half-truth. Anni sensed she was holding something back and the wedge between them pushed in just a little further.

The weather wasn’t great, being cold and grey, though mercifully not raining. Even so, the chill set in rapidly, driving them indoors before they — Lori in particular — had their fill of one another’s embrace.

They decided to plan out their revision and more or less had it sorted with a calendar hung on the wall displaying what they would study and when well before dinner.

An awkward silence descended on the two of them. With nothing to focus their minds, it felt like they hadn’t much to say. It was Lori who eventually broke it.

“Anni, are we okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. It’s felt like you’ve been a bit distant all day.”

“I was going to say the same thing about you.”

“I don’t mean to be. It’s just… Look, can we take this somewhere there aren’t any wards?”

“Where would we go? I mean the common room’s busy, so’s the library and the Great Hall. The only place we’re guaranteed any privacy outside of this is outside the castle, and it’s too cold.”

“Anni, I don’t want to lose you.”

“Nor me you. Look, it’s not going to happen. We’ve had an off day and we’ll get over it.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

“I do say so. Hey, I got something for you.” She reached into her trunk and pulled out a large parcel.

“What’s this?”

“I was going to save it for the day, but we need something to turn today around. Happy Birthday!”

“What? How did you…?”

“I asked Lysander. It’s Tuesday isn’t it?”

“Anni! I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, open it then. You might have figured it out be then.”

“But it’s not my birthday yet.”

“And by Tuesday we’ll be getting back into the grind of school work and homework. I mean why do they even call it homework when we never get to go home? Come on, open it. You’ll have other gifts on Tuesday.”

So Lori tore the paper off what turned out to be quite a posh wizard chess set.

“You can set the level of violence,” Anneka said, “so it’s not so brutal if you prefer. Apparently the top levels are seriously unpleasant, but you’ll have to wait till you’re older to unlock those. Do you fancy a game?”

It turned out to be the right thing to do. It didn’t settle Lori’s disquiet, but it did distract her from it. And the game brought them back together. At it’s lowest level, the pieces played tag and chased each other round the board, wandering off to sulk when then they were caught. Lori and Anneka laughed so hard they almost forgot how to play, and when Anneka managed to take Lori’s queen, something Lori set up just because she wanted to see the queen captured, it threw such a tantrum before storming off the board, the two of them couldn’t bring themselves back to the board for a full five minutes.

-oOo-

Monday came round and they were back to lessons and working. They made a pact to keep ahead of their homework and revision, and stuck with it for the whole first day. Tuesday breakfast saw both Lori and Lysander inundated by a constant stream of owls. Lye’s big present from their parents was a new broom. He’d been hoping to trial for a position on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and this would either help his chances or give him something to cover his disappointment. For Lori there was a note and a small package.

My Dearest Lori,

This doesn’t feel like much of a gift, but your mother and I are very much aware how difficult things must be for you right now, so we’re saving up most of your gift this year for Christmas in the hope and expectation that things will have improved by then. In the meantime, this is how we see you. This is how we will always see you.

Fondest love,

Mum and Dad

The package contained a locket, and in the locket was the image Lori had seen in the Mirror of Erised, smiling and waving. Beside it Luna and Rolf stood arm in arm, beaming out of their own picture.

“How did they…?”

“Your father requested it,” Professor McGonagall said, leaning over the table with a broad smile. “He asked to see the mirror at a time when his fondest desire was to see his daughter as she should be. He took a photograph of it, which no-one has done before, and surprisingly the photo developed to show what he had seen in the mirror. The Ministry has asked to borrow it to investigate further and see whether there might be some uses.”

“Such as?”

“Oh, magical maladies for instance. Say you have a patient who’s unable to communicate for some reason. Putting them in front of the mirror and photographing it might give you clues about what they’re thinking.”

“Are you going to let them have it?”

“I’m not sure. It’s a valuable artefact, and it’s been here at Hogwarts for a great many years.”

“Perhaps you might consider it in return for a favour.”

“And what favour would that be?”

“I was hoping to see the Bloodstone one more time.”

“And why would you want that?”

“Call it a Birthday Wish. I made a promise of sorts, and I’ll need to see the Bloodstone in order to keep that promise.”

“You are being highly mysterious today, Lori. I think we need to have a wee chat. Would you come to my office after your last lesson today please? You’re not in trouble, but I’d like to talk to more about this. There will be cake.”

“Alright.”

The day dragged by after that. In potions they practised making forgetfulness potion, with only Lori’s working out as expected and Anneka’s a close second. In herbology, the repotted mandrakes, which was painful on the ears and required the use of protective gear. In charms they worked on the fire-making charm in which Lori benefited from her twin link and managed it early on, spending the remainder of the lesson helping others. She hoped Lysander was getting the same benefit from her potions work. Lastly, in astronomy, they studied the movement of the sun through the year, focusing on the phases of the moon and their mystic effects.

With classes over, Lori followed Anneka back to the dorm where she picked up the silk scarf that contained the unicorn horn and stallions hairs. “Wish me luck,” she said to her friend, then pointing at the wizard chess board, “We’re playing on level two later.”

Up in McGonagall’s office she was asked to wait a while, which she did fidgeting nervously. Eventually she was invited into McGonagall’s inner sanctum where two pieces of chocolate cake awaited them.

“I did promise,” McGonagall said passing one plate across. “Now shall we eat first, or can you tell me what this is about between mouthfuls?”

“Perhaps you could tell me what’s going to happen to the Bloodstone first.”

“Well, that’s up to the Ministry to decide. As I understand it, they’ve been studying Ekrisdis’ notes.”

“Ekrisdis was mad. If they try to follow anything he says it’ll turn out badly, possibly for all of us.”

“What makes you say Ekrisdis was mad? A genius perhaps, evil definitely, but mad?”

“He appears in the journal of Randolph the Rash. Ekrisdis was the second person Randolph experimented on when he was trying to recreate the original beautification potion. The first one he used on a Muggle who ended up with a name like… what was it? Oh yes, Vlad the Impaler, who stuck the bodies of a thousand warriors he’d defeated on long spears and left them on the battlefield as a warning to his enemies. Randolph learned the hard way that when you get that potion wrong it has horrible effects. He said that Ekrisdis was a gentle, unambitious man before he took the potion, then he turned into the monster who built Azkaban.”

“The new alpha stallion from the unicorn herd approached me on Saturday. I’ve been meeting unicorns almost daily during the holidays and grooming them, but Saturday was different. He took me to the place where his predecessor fell and gave me this.” She unfolded the silk carefully so as not to dislodge the hairs and removed the horn.

“Lori, where did you get that?”

“It’s like I said, the new leader of the unicorn herd took me to the clearing where the Bloodstone was — did you know it was only a couple of hundred yards from the unicorns’ home clearing? He gave me the horn and told me to touch it to the Bloodstone. I said I would.”

“What do you think will happen when you do as you’ve promised?”

“I don’t really know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were trying to destroy it.”

“Are you aware that most powerful dark magic items possess a curse that is released when they are destroyed?”

“I think I’ve heard something like that, yes, but the unicorns have been around for a while too. Surely they know about that sort of thing.”

“Has it not occurred to you that perhaps they are asking you to do it so the curse falls on you?”

“I’m the reason their herd leader is dead. Perhaps I’m the one to take on this curse.”

“Lori, it may not feel like it now, but you have an awful lot more to lose than you already have. Are you really prepared to take on more?”

“Actually, what I’m prepared to do is trust the unicorns. They helped me stop the mist the first time and their leader chose to give up his life for mine. I believe they are noble creatures and yes, I am ready and willing to put my life or whatever on the line and trust that they wouldn’t ask me to do something that was wrong.

“I agree with them, or at least what I think they believe. The Bloodstone has to be destroyed, and if there’s a cost to be paid, then I’m prepared to pay it, because this has to be done.”

“That was very well said,” came a voice from the fireplace. Lori looked across to see Hermione Granger-Weasley’s head sitting in the embers. “For all that you’re very young still, I suspect we think very much alike, Lori. I’m inclined to agree with you over my advisers here at the ministry. Would you trust me to do what’s right with the horn?”

“I would, but I’m not sure I’d feel I’d fulfilled my promise unless it was actually me that did it. For all that I do trust you, I think this is something I have to see through myself.”

“Very well. Minerva, would you bring Lori to Merlin’s Gate, please? I’ll apparate in to collect her myself.”

“You’re absolutely sure about this Lori? No, don’t bother answering, I can see that you are. Alright Hermione, we’ll be with you shortly.”

They made their way down to the front of the school where the head of the Ministry of Magic stood waiting. She took Lori’s hand. “Hold tight,” she said. “I don’t much like this form of travel, but it is quick at least.”

It was a rougher ride than with her mum, but smoother than with Harry or Neville. It ended up with them in the alley next to the phone box that was the Ministry’s front entrance.

“I had the code changed,” Hermione said. “It’s been the same for too long and this is supposed to be a secure entrance.” Lori watched as she typed in seven-six-seven -two-three-seven-nine. “It’s not much better.” The lift began to move. “It spells out sorcery now instead of magic. I suppose it’ll do for the next couple of decades. I just hope no Muggle thinks to type that particular sequence of numbers into a broken telephone just to see what happens.”

Lori followed the minister down into the bowels of the Ministry, to the Department of Mysterious Artefacts. Following the maze was harder without the earring to follow, but eventually they stood in the same room with the same stone sitting in its box.

“You could give me the horn and watch while I do the deed,” Hermione offered, but Lori had already stepped forward. She held the horn like a dagger, pointed edge down and reached forward to touch the stone with its tip.

For a moment nothing happened, then the horn pulled itself out of Lori’s grip, jerking downwards and impaling the Bloodstone. Lori stepped back as an inky blackness began emerging from the stone. The horn flared a brilliant white, consuming the darkness. She stepped back again, outside of the range of the battle progressing in front of her. Light and dark fought silently for minutes with neither gaining the upper hand until, with a suddenly flare of both light and dark, it all ended. Inside the casket lay a fine, grey dust and nothing more.

“Would you allow me to show this to the unicorn who gave me the horn? It will show that I have done as he asked.”

“Where to?”

“Can you take me to the clearing where the Bloodstone was first used in the forbidden forest?”

“Yes, I’ve been there quite a few times, but we’ll have to be in the atrium at least before we can apparate. You take the box, and we’ll go.”

They retraced their steps and disapparated across to the clearing in the forest.

“I should probably go alone from here. They’ve showed me their home, but I’m not sure they’d appreciate me showing it to someone else.”

“Fair enough. I shall wait for you here, but don’t be too long. More than half an hour and I’ll come looking.”

Lori nodded and walked the short distance to the unicorn’s home. The stallion turned its head towards her the moment she arrived, then approached, trotting gently. She held up the box and opened it. The stallion stared at it for a moment, then lowered its horn to touch the dust, just briefly. It snorted and bowed. Lori responded with a low curtsey. Formalities ended, the stallion turned back to his herd and Lori turned back to where Hermione was waiting.

“All done,” she said, handing across the box. “I’d advise you destroy that book as well. I don’t know if it’ll tell you anything useful without the stone, but it won’t tell you anything good.”

“Again I’m inclined to agree with you, but for now, let’s get you back where you belong.” They might have preferred to walk rather than disapparate, but the middle of the forbidden forest was no place for even such an experienced witch as Hermione to wander about. The magic took them back to the front door where McGonagall was still waiting.

“You waited,” Hermione said.

“I had a feeling it wouldn’t take long. Either you’d succeed or you’d be back with some bad news. I’m glad to see that it was the former.”

“Well, Happy Birthday Lori, and do get in touch sometime. I’d love to have a conversation with you about house elves.” With that she was gone leaving McGonagall to guide her young charge back into the castle.

-oOo-

“So that’s it now?” Anneka asked, staring at the chess board. “No more Bloodstone?” There was a hint of peevishness about her regarding Lori’s latest adventure.

“No more Bloodstone. The unicorn horn destroyed it and seemed to negate any curse in it.”

“Good, ‘cos you’ve had me worried.” She waved her wand and advanced a pawn.

“Worried?” Lori had been considering her options, but hadn’t expected the pawn move. She leaned forward to study the board.

“First you charge off into the forest on your own to stop the mist, although to be honest that was a good thing for all the lives you saved.

“But then you chase of to London to steal the stone and give it back to the bad guys…”

“Because my parents had been kidnapped.” Anneka had left a knight unguarded and in the sights of a bishop, but was there a down side to moving the bishop?

“Then you chase after the kidnappers and things get dangerous again.”

“I couldn’t let them have the Bloodstone any more than I could trust them to let my parents go.” She waved her wand to direct the bishop and watched it carefully. “Flipendo,” she said on observing the movement.

“Spongefy,” Anneka responded. Her knight made the appropriate movement with its wand, even as it flew backwards. It landed on a square where, instead of shattering into pieces as previous pieced had, it bounced and landed unharmed before leaving the field of battle.

Level two of the game, they’d discovered, had all the pieces taking out tiny wands and casting spells at each other. It hadn’t been anywhere near as much fun until Anneka had recognised a wand movement.

“I know that spell,” she’d said. “It’s diffindo.”

The moment she’d said it, the piece had repeated the movement with a flourish and the piece it had been attacking split diagonally in two, the top half sliding slowly off before the bits of the defeated piece dragged themselves off to the side.

Anneka had taken the next piece too, calling out ‘lumos’ the moment she’d recognised the wand movement. The unfortunate pawn had started to blister and crack under the light, so on a whim, Lori had called out ‘nox’, saving the pawn from destruction if not disgrace.

They’d experimented after that. There were obvious matches: lumos and nox, alohomora — which opened a hidden door in a piece, allowing gears and springs to fly out — was countered by coloportus, diffindo by reparo and flipendo by spongify. It hadn’t come up yet, but they guessed there had to be a link between incendio and wingardium leviosa. For now they were content to add in the spells as they saw them coming.

“Lastly,” Anneka completed her complaint, “You go off trying to destroy a cursed object. It’s like you have a death wish or something.”

“Not a death wish, no, but you remember the head of the unicorn herd, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Ani was taking her time over her next move.

“He gave his life to save mine, then his successor asked me to take his horn and touch it to the stone. What would you have done?”

Annika waved her wand bringing her other knight forward to the place vacated by her pawn and forking Lori’s bishop and a rook.

“I suppose.”

“It’s all done now, though. The Order of Purity are all behind bars, the Bloodstone is destroyed and that book they were using is useless without it.”

“Good, ‘cos I don’t want to lose you.”

“Not going anywhere.” Lori moved her rook to cover the bishop. “So, tell me what you found out over the hols.”

“Not as much as I’d hoped. I left my friend from the library doing the genealogy research. You remember I said he should be able to get somewhere now we have names, dates and locations?”

Again Lori had a sense that her friend was holding something back. “Why do we need Arabella’s family tree?”

“You remember that bit at the end of the journal? All the bits that started with, ‘my vow compels me.’ There was that one about a nonsense rhyme being sung to children. I’m hoping if we know who their children were, we may find a clue to that.” Anneka moved her knight without really thinking.

“Seems a bit far fetched to me,” Lori said, bringing her queen forward. “And that’s ch… Oh, wingardium leviosa. Check.” Anneka’s king floated a short way off the board.

“Shall we see what check mate looks like?”

“We could, or we could wait until one of us wins.”

“I can’t really concentrate tonight. Let’s end this for now.” She moved her king out of check and onto a square that left Lori open to bring in her rook.

“Check mate. Incendio. Oh! That’s funny!”

The king started running around the board with flames coming from his rear end. Every time he passed one of the remaining pieces on his side, they tried to blow it out but only made the flames bigger. Eventually he ran off the board and found some relief.

“Level three tomorrow, and I promise you a better game. Right now I’m ready for bed.”

Which gave her an excuse not to answer any more of Lori’s questions.

-oOo-

Term went by slowly. There wasn’t much to look forward to except the prospect of the end of year exams being over in June. Lori continued to grow, and by continuing to use the spell professor McGonagall had taught her, her body continued to even out. Every day she looked in the mirror to find her arms and legs more evenly proportioned in diameter as well as length, and her face, though decidedly asymmetrical, no longer looked like a mixture of two people. She didn’t look much like her brother any more, especially since her eyes were no longer the same colour, but she looked good enough that she no longer felt the need to hide part of her face.

That and the cloak were all that was left to remind Lori of Raphael Maledicta. A couple of weeks into the new term, she had been required to travel to London to give evidence in the trial against the Order of Purity, an ordeal that had lasted most of a week. When directed to give evidence against her former school mate, she had asked for a closed session with a minimum number of people present, which turned out to be the full Wizengamot, the councils for defence and prosecution and one stenographer, in addition to Lori and Raphael.

She’d told the court about the locked wardrobe in Raphael’s bedroom and its contents. Raph had turned beetroot red at the revelation, but Lori had pressed on, describing what she had said and done, and how he had responded. When she tried to speculate about what she thought it meant, the prosecutor had objected, at which point Lori had responded that she knew far better than most how wearing a dress might affect a boy. She was able to press on long enough to suggest that the court might look into how years of being forced to do something he found so utterly humiliating might have affected him before being silenced.

There were more questions, mainly relating to the adult members of the Order. She was able to identify Pansy Parkinson easily enough, and could even pick out Septima’s cackle from a dozen others. She spoken at length about what she had overheard Augustus saying on the various occasions she’d been in his presence, and then again with respect to her encounters with Septima, the botched attempt to do away with her disguise, the attempted use of the killing curse, for what other spell began with the word ‘avada’?

She was glad when it was all over and headed back to Hogwarts where she found Anneka had redesigned their revision timetable so they could work together to catch Lori up. It didn’t leave much room for personal time, but she was grateful to her friend for her thoughtfulness and put in all the extra hours needed without complaint.

Some days later, Professor Sprout showed her an article in the Daily Prophet. A photograph of Raphael under a hooded cloak being rushed through a crowd of reporters and a short report stating that the court had found him to be acting under the coercion of his parents, particularly his mother, and as such had released him on probation. He had been adopted by an uncle on his mother’s side, at least until the outcome of the trial was known, and had been offered a place at Durmstrang.

It was a good result, Lori thought. She was glad for Raphael, except Durmstrang was hardly likely to help him with his pure blood supremacy ideas. She didn’t expect him to write and wasn’t disappointed when he didn’t. At least he was gone.

The exams themselves proved to be something of an anti-climax. Ani and Lori sailed through each and every exam, until the last.

“Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,” Professor Mugglewump said from the front of the class. “You have been each been provided with a selection of ingredients from which you should almost be able to to make a potion you have learned this year. Do not attempt to copy what your neighbours are doing as their ingredients and the potion they will be preparing will be different from yours. One ingredient will be missing. It is up to you to identify it and collect it from the stores. You will also have some additional ingredient with instructions on what to do with them. They are to be added to your potion in the manner described.

“This examination is intended to test your memory, your ability perform tasks which by now should be familiar, and your capacity for following new instructions. If brewed correctly, none of these potions will have any adverse effects on you. Should you feel the mark I award at the end of the test is too low, you may choose to drink your potion, your final mark then being decided on the effect it has on you.

“You have one hour. You may begin.”

Lori looked through the ingredients on her table. A sprig of small yellow flowers, a bowl containing what looked like insect wings, a tiny vial of transparent liquid and a rose sitting in a crystal vase. In addition there was a foot long green branch, a few ears of wheat and a plate containing a rolled piece of bark the length of her little finger, three small, black seeds and a piece of fibrous root the size of her thumb nail.

So, she had everything she needed to make a beautification potion except for… It was exam nerves, she knew. This should be so easy. “Let it go.” She heard her mother’s voice all over again and let her mind wander. Unicorn hair! Well she didn’t need Mugglewump’s supplies for that. She reached into the pocket of her robe and pulled out a silk scarf. It was the same one in which she’d carried the unicorn horn, in which she had some of the new herd leader’s main and tail hairs.

She read through the instructions for what to do with the new ingredients. “Cut a full hand’s measure of cane of sugar and leave it to steep in a bowl of steaming water for a half hour. Take three black peppercorns, a finger’s length of cinnamon and piece of ginger root no larger than the nail of your thumb and grind them together. Grind separately seven ears of wheat retrieved from the pattern of a mooncalf’s dance. Add to your potion the solution from the cane of sugar, the ground spices and the ground corn and complete your potion in the usual manner.”

Good thing she’d read through first. Her cauldron had already been prepared with the base solution, so she set it to heating and placed a kettle of water to one side of the flame. While the water heated, she counted out twelve of the insect like wings. Close examination confirmed them to be fairy’s wings, after which it was a moment’s work to crush them. The small vial had to contain dew. The yellow flower looked very much like the lady’s mantle she’d used on previous occasions. She set it to one side since it would be best added immediately after being chopped. She placed as much hair as constituted what she felt was a lock to one side and turned to the new ingredients.

A full hand’s measure meant spreading her hand as wide as it would go. It was tough to cut through, but she allowed herself a little taste of the cut edge from the part she was discarding, and it was indeed sweet. The kettle had boiled so she filled a handy bowl and immersed the sugar cane in it, turning a half hour glass as she did so. Pestle and mortar soon saw the peppercorns, cinnamon and ginger ground to as best she could manage, then in a separate mortar she counted out seven ears from the pile of wheat and ground it to a fine flour.

With the glass two thirds emptied and the cauldron simmering, she started adding ingredients. Ground fairy wings and stir slowly, morning dew and stir vigorously over the heat, seven petals from the rose — she chose the best — also added, then the lady’s mantle chopped and added. Lastly the unicorn hair and another vigorous stir.

She checked the glass just as the last of the sands fell through. She took the bowl of sugar cane and carefully added the water from it to the potion, keeping the cane back. Then the spices and the wheat — with these she dipped the mortar into the cauldron to wash the ingredients out thoroughly. Potion making was all about precision and could be unforgiving of even the slightest variation. She heated the mix one last time and waved her wand over it. The liquid turned a satisfying golden colour.

She took a flask and filled it, placing it on her desk with ten minutes to spare. Mugglewump wandered over to her and gave the flask a thorough examination. “Acceptable, I suppose.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Unless you believe otherwise?”

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to drink potions like this any more,” she replied trying to keep her frustration from showing. “I thought they were likely to cause more harm than good.”

“Well, as I said at the beginning of the exam, none of these potions is much like the ones you’ve been preparing. You have my permission to drink this one, as long as you thing it’s good enough.”

Lori took the flask back and examined it. She couldn’t fault its appearance or its slightly floral, slightly tangy scent. Defiance overrode caution. She put the flask to her lips and drank it all down.

The world expanded around her and her clothes loosened. She looked up at Mugglewump from about a foot lower usual. Her hands had disappeared into her sleeves and she felt different in so many ways.

“What…?” she asked.

A ghost of a smile played about Mugglewump’s face as he leaned in close to examine her face. He nodded and said, “Outstanding then,” before moving on to the next student.

Lori looked around the room until he found Anneka. Her face was split with a delighted smile and she could barely stand still for excitement. Mugglewump made his way over to her and raised her flask of silvery, opalescent liquid up to give it a closer look.

“Acceptable,” he said, returning the flask to the desk.

Anneka’s smile slipped a little. “I don’t care,” she lied. “I’m not about to drink a forgetfulness potion now. I want to remember this moment forever.”

“Do I need to remind everybody?” the professor’s voice rose. “These potions are not the same as the ones you have been practising this year. This is not only an examination but also a lesson, to demonstrate that deviating from a set of ingredients even a small amount can result in dramatic changes to a potion’s effects. Mostly they are overwhelmingly bad, but on rare occasions,” he turned to look at Lori, “they can be good. If you have brewed this potion correctly, miss Peasbottom, you need have no fear of memory loss.”

Anneka also felt defiant enough to drink down the potion. From her expression it wasn’t quite as palatable as Lori’s had been.

Mugglewump nodded absent-mindedly. “Another outstanding, I suppose.” He moved on. “miss Mulrose. Poor, and I’m being generous. May I suggest you don’t try yours. miss Skunk, the same on both counts.”

He carried on around the room, allowing some students to try theirs and suggesting other not. Maddy Pentwhistle refused to accept that her variation of boil-cure potion was, as Mugglewump insisted, dreadful, so drank it down, sprouting feathers all over her body as a result and receiving a modified grade of poor, since the feathers had at least been brightly coloured.

At long last the seemingly interminable process of grading the exam reached its end and the students were given their liberty. Anneka ran over to Lori and caught her up in an exuberant hug. “It worked!” she said. “It worked!” Tears were streaming down her face. “Oh, Lori, I hoped it would, but I couldn’t be sure, I couldn’t get your hopes up in case I was wrong.”

“What are you going on about? What’s happened to me?”

Anneka let go of her friend and rummaged in the depths of her bag, resurfacing a moment later with a compact. She opened it and turned the mirror to Lori. The image was magnified and distorted somewhat, but it belonged to the young girl Lori had seen in the Mirror of Erised. She tried moving at around to get a clearer view until she was interrupted by the sound of something heavy being placed on the table beside her.

“Perhaps this will serve you better,” Mugglewump said.

Lori picked up the hand mirror, thanking the professor as she did so and took a long, hungry look at the face she had hoped to own all year. She touched her cheeks and watched her image do the same. It felt real, but…

“How?”

“Your friend has the details,” Mugglewump said. “Perhaps you’d like to discuss them elsewhere. I have some clearing up to supervise.” With the exception of Maddy Pentwhistle, who had been led off to the infirmary, anyone who’d been awarded poor or lower had been instructed to remain behind and clear up the aftermath of the examination.

“You need to thank Professor Mugglewump though, Lori. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without him.”

“Sir?” Lori turned towards the potions professor.

“Consider it a debt settled, miss Scamander. Gwendolyn Whisp is my niece. I am told she would have died had it not been for your intervention in the dormitory when you visited your friend, and your subsequent actions in the forest.”

“Yes sir. Well, thank you all the same.”

Mugglewump gave her the first genuine smile she’d seen on his face. “You’re welcome. And congratulations to you both on your potion making skills. Do bear in mind that you will only maintain those grades if you continue to work as hard as you have this term.”

“Yes sir.” Lori took her friend’s hand and dragged her out of the dungeon and back to their dormitory. They were free of exams and study at last and the capricious June weather had turned in their favour. Back in the dorm, Lori stepped into the bathroom and stripped out of her oversized uniform. Whatever charm her clothes had on them to alter their size, they weren’t able to do so while she was wearing them.

She gave herself a quick once over. Her body shape was decidedly different, resembling that of a girl far more than a boy. She had budding breasts which itched and the part of her between her legs that she didn’t want had shrunk to be almost unnoticeable. She slipped on a new set of underwear and carried her things back out into their room.

“Oh… my… days!” Anneka exclaimed. “You look gorgeous. Are you…?”

“Nearly but not quite,” Lori said admiring her new figure in the mirror. This called for something to show off a little skin. She picked off a summer dress she been longing to try since finding it on the rack. She had worn it briefly when she and Anneka had gone through everything on that first day, but between the wintry weather and her altered form, she hadn’t dared even look at it until now. Spaghetti straps and a short, mid-thigh skirt hid very little, but for the first time Lori felt she had very little to hide.

She turned to her friend. “Right. Now you’re going to tell me everything.”

Anneka licked her lips and gazed longingly at Lori’s wardrobe.

“Fine! Pick something, then tell me.”

Anneka rummaged through the selection until she found another summer dress that was almost as revealing. “I’ve wanted to for such a long time,” she said, stripping off her own uniform and climbing into the dress. “Here,” she passed across Randolph’s journal. “Open the book and look in the spine.”

Lori was stunned. Why hadn’t she thought of that? ‘I find I have not sufficient spine to reveal any more, and yet perhaps that which may not be found within may yet exist without.’ There was a small slip of parchment stuck in there which she managed to extract. The words on it were very faint and reversed. She held the paper up to the mirror and read.

The shells of three snails, gathered from a thrush’s anvil and ground fine.
Three black pepper corns, a finger’s length of cinnamon and a piece of ginger root no larger than your thumb.
Cuttings of heather, gorse and thistle all gathered under the dark of the Moon.
Three Tiger moth caterpillars.
The syrup formed when one full hand span of sugar’s cane be steeped in steaming water for a full half hour.
Seven ears of barley or wheat that be flattened into a pattern by the dance of a mooncalf during the full Moon.

“What is this?”

“Mugglewump figured that out. Back in Randolph’s day they used to sprinkle a substance called pounce — a fine powder made from ground cuttlefish — over their writing to blot up any excess. If they closed a book on a freshly treated page, some of the pounce would transfer to the opposite page. It looks like someone sprinkle some ash on it to make it stand out.”

“That which has not been written but might still be read. These are the missing ingredients?”

“Yep, and ‘that which has been hidden has not been shown, though it may still be found’ we think refers to that bit of parchment.”

“So how did you figure out which ingredients went with which potion?”

“That was thanks to my friend back home. He came through with Arabella’s family tree and it turns out one of her descendants was a man named Robert Southey.”

“Who?”

“I didn’t really know either, but I Googled it.”

“Whatled it?”

“Oh right, non-Muggle, I keep forgetting. How to explain the Internet to a non-Muggle? Actually, can I leave it for another time? Google is a part of the Internet that allows you to search through an amazing amount of information. Imagine having a library with thousands of times as many books as we have here and a really expert librarian who’s read all of them. Google’s a bit like that. Ask a question about just about anything and it’ll give you an answer.

“Robert Southey was an English poet who lived about two hundred years ago. He’s supposed to have written a poem that goes like this:

“What are little boys made of?
What are little boys made of?
Snips & snails & puppy dogs tails
And such are little boys made of.

“What are little girls made of?
What are little girls made of?
Sugar & spice & all things nice
And such are little girls made of.”

“Well that makes some sense. I can see where most things fit, but what are snips? And where are the puppy dog’s tails and the all things nice from Randolph’s list?”

“You have Mugglewump to thank for those pieces of the puzzle too. It seems being a potion master means reading a lot of old parchments, which means you have to understand how the language has changed over time too.

“Snips are easy, they’re cuttings, in this case of heather, gorse and thistle…”

“The rhyme doesn’t mention anything about gathering them at the dark of the Moon.”

“The rhyme’s only meant to help you sort which of the ingredient is meant for which potion. As long as it points you to the right thing.”

“So, puppy dogs’ tails?”

“Apparently an eighteenth century colloquialism from the Bristol area. Tiger moth caterpillars are kind of long, thin and hairy and used to be called pups’ tails.”

“That makes sense, so, now convince me that grain from a crop circle is ‘all things nice.’”

“Back in the thirteenth century, nice meant silly or foolish, then in the fourteenth century it changed to dainty or delicate, then finally in the seventeen hundreds it changed yet again to agreeable or delightful. There’s definitely a silly element to the Mooncalf dance, and the crop circles they form are both delicate and delightful. All things nice — all definitions of nice, even the one that wouldn’t have been around when Arabella presumably sung the rhyme to her children.”

“That seems a bit of a stretch.”

“Mugglewump didn’t think so. He made up batches of both potions and did all sorts of different tests on them. Don’t ask, he didn’t tell me anything other than he was one hundred percent sure this was the right one for you, only I saw the batch he made up and yours was tons better.”

“Probably the quality of unicorn hair. So what does this mean? How long am I going to be like this?”

“That’s a very good question. Oh my!” McGonagall chose that moment to appear in their doorway, but rather undermined the effect with her response to Lori’s appearance.

“Professor!” Lori smiled and twirled. “What do you think.”

“I think you’ll be better off showing a little less skin if you don’t want the attention of every boy in school.” She couldn’t keep a straight face though and broke into a genuine smile. “I can see why you were so keen for this to work out.

“To answer your question as best I may, we do know from Randolph’s journal, the the different potions were meant to be drunk by the individuals of the correct gender, meaning the correct physical gender, since he experienced the same adverse reaction as his king. We know that the potion is longer lasting when drunk by the opposite sex, and the flask you brewed in your exam seems to be of a similar size to that used by the Laramys, so at the very least I should say you’ll be like this for the coming year.”

“A whole year?”

“Indeed, and possibly longer. Would I be correct in assuming that the change is not quite complete? That it has affected you down there, but not as much as you would like?”

Lori dipped her head and blushed a little.

“That’s to be expected, although we shall see how things progress from here.”

“What do you mean, professor?”

“We’re dealing with a complex combination of powerful magic, Lori. This potion you’ve taken is far more potent than anything we’re used to, so there’s no way of knowing what will happen. We only have Randolph’s writings to give us any clues as to the nature of the effect of misuse, although it does seem from his later writings that he never quite completed his own transformation. Or perhaps I should say she and her since the person who wrote that book was always more Arabella than Randolph.

“Combine that with the unusual change that we’ve noticed in you as a result of your casting Patronus Maxima, which I’ll be the first to admit I don’t fully understand, there is a high likelihood of additional complications.”

“What sort of complications?”

“We’ve noticed that this additional channel within you reacts to your subconscious. It first extended the effects of the spell you used to disguise yourself as Raphael Maledicta, though it did so in a way that made it a physical change rather than simply an illusory one. It maintained some parts of that spell through Septima’s attempt to dispel it and through the past months, despite your evident desires to see it undone, which suggests that the channel needs to direct a flow of magic constantly. While you were under the influences of the less effective modern version of the potion, it made some alterations, though it seemed only those that matched with your deeply felt desires…”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“There were a few changes it maintained after the effects of the potion wore off, Lori, but none that altered you to look more, er, masculine I think we should say.

“Now that you have this potion working for you, and the changes are very much to your liking, it wouldn’t surprise me if your extra magical channel will work towards making these changes permanent, and, depending on how much you really want it, complete.”

“Really?”

“I’m promising nothing. We shan’t know anything for certain until this time next year at least, and then, if the final outcome isn’t as you’d wish it, you at least know how to brew more of the potion.” She turned her eyes towards Anneka, looking deep into her. “You’ve worked really hard to make this happen, miss Peasbottom, and I’m proud of you for the selfless support you have given, very much in the tradition of your house. Enjoy the fruits of your success, because you’ve earned them, but be honest about your feelings. It’ll save heartache in the long run.”

Anneka nodded and McGonagall turned and left.

“What was that about?” Lori asked.

“Can we go somewhere? I don’t want to do this here, and I could do with a little bit of a walk to clear my head.”

They headed out of the Hufflepuff dormitories and down to the boat house. The last time Lori had been down there was when she’d been heading into the mist. She barely recognised the place as they walked along the lakeside in the early summer sunshine. There was enough of a breeze to keep them cool and cover the surface of the lake with tiny ripples. At one point a giant tentacle emerged, glided across across the surface and submerged back under the water.

They walked until they’d crossed the gorge by the covered bridge and climbed up to where their two families had shared breakfast. All the while Anneka seemed lost in her thoughts. Lori left her to them, trusting her friend to talk when she was ready. The sat on the grass and Lori reached for a hand, only to be brushed off.

“I’m not sure where to begin,” Anneka said. “I’m surprised McGonagall noticed it so soon, even before I knew it was there.”

Lori felt a chill pass through her, despite the warmth of the sunshine. She kept her peace and waited.

“I’ve loved you since the moment we met, I hope you know that. I’ve loved the way you always put others first. I loved that you were a boy who wanted to be a girl. It made it so much easier to like you with you being into the same sorts of things as me, and I thought you looked really cute in a dress. You still do, of course, but it’s like something’s changed.”

Lori continued to wait, feeling the chill growing inside.

“It’s like… It’s like you’ve got what you want, and that’s great, that’s amazing. I wouldn’t have it any other way, because all I’ve wanted to do since I met you is help you become who you want to be. It’s just…”

“I’m too much of a girl now?” Lori tried.

“I’m sorry,” Anneka said. “I didn’t expect this. You’re the same person you were when we woke up this morning, but somehow you’re not. You know, I wish I could be someone who wants you in that way, but.”

“You seemed so happy when the potion worked.”

“I was. It’s like I say, I know how much you’ve wanted this, and I’ve wanted it for you just as much. It was so cool taking you through all the things I’ve figured out — I’m really sorry for keeping them from you by the way. I really didn’t want to get your hopes up until I was sure.”

“No, I get that. It was kind of hard though. I mean it felt like you were drifting away from me at a time when I really needed you.”

“Maybe I was. Maybe somewhere deep down I realised what it would mean if this all worked. Maybe my subconscious was working on me too. You’re not mad are you?”

“I could never be mad with you, Anni. This was why we held off on becoming an item, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, but there was what I told you in the infirmary after the thing in the mist. I mean it’s me that’s giving mixed messages.”

“Those were unusual circumstances, don’t you think? I’d nearly lost you, you’d nearly lost me, we were both kind of acting on impulse. Besides, I was still a work in progress then.”

“Is that what you think of me? That I’m a sucker for damaged goods?”

“That’s not what I said, Anni, and it’s definitely not what I meant. Sure, I think part of why you were attracted to me was because I was messed up and trying to figure out how to become me, but that was more because you could see I was trying than because I was messed up. You’ve helped me get to this, even though part of you had a sense it would get in the way of the feelings we have for each other, and to me that’s proof of how much you love me. You did what was right for me no matter what it was likely to cost you. It makes us kind of a bit alike, you know?”

“Well don’t you dare try to undo this.” Tears ran down Anneka’s cheeks.

“I’m not sure I’d know where to start.” Lori felt her eyes prickling as well. “I mean, not that I would even if I could. It’s too precious a gift, and you don’t say thank you for someone’s sacrifice by rejecting what they give you.”

“So how do we go on from here?”

“I don’t intend to lose my best friend over something like this.”

“It’s going to seem weird sharing a bedroom though. I mean so many memories from this year.”

“We’ll figure it out. Do you want a bit of space?”

“I want my best friend.”

“Me too.” Lori lay down and placed her head in Anneka’s lap. “This is just a thing friends do, right?”

Anneka laughed through her tears and stroked her friend’s hair. After all, that was also something friends did, wasn’t it?