Always the Victim

After Rose left the scene she'd created, she focused on finding Sally-Anne. One of her friends was already attacked once that day (twice if she counted her own actions), and she didn't want anything to happen to the others.

Rose held Serendipity to her face and cast discern location. The somatic component wasn't strictly necessary, but it always looked so kethé when Sk'lar did it, so Rose wanted to do it too.

"That's not good," Rose said as the results came up inconclusive. "It shouldn't do that unless…"

Rose's eyes grew wide. Fact One: There was a monster on the loose. Fact Two: It was known to target Muggle-born students. Fact Three: Her friend was Muggle-born. Fact Four: The monster killed a girl 50 years ago. Fact Five: The only reason that discern location failed to find a person was if that person was dead.

Conclusion: Sally-Anne had been killed by the Monster of Slytherin.

"Unless I'm too late," Rose breathed.

Rose immediately cast discern location, targeting not Sally-Anne, but her body. She found that her friend's body lay in one of the first-floor bathrooms, then teleported herself there.

On the ground was Sally-Anne. The color had already started to drain from her body, and her eyes were still open. Her face was frozen in a look of horror, as if she were trying to scream but couldn't. In the far corner to her left, Rose could hear whimpering, the source of which was probably Moaning Myrtle.

"Myrtle, is that you?!" she shouted.

"Y-yes!" she stammered.

"Another victim."

Rose knew that voice. It was the voice that moved through the hallways. Following her blindsight, Rose looked up and met the gaze of the Monster of Slytherin.

It was at least 60 feet long and covered in green scales. It was coiled around the ceiling, staring at Rose with its eyes that reminded her just a little too much of dragon's eyes.

"Why isn't it dead?" hissed the snake, flicking its forked tongue in and out of its mouth. "How can it meet my gaze?"

"Good question," Rose said, extending her right arm. "I hate to tell you, but you'll never find out."

She called Crimson Thorn from her glove, and… nothing happened.

Right, he's with Inar.

The snake lunged at Rose, who threw herself at her attacker. She couldn't risk Sally-Anne's body being damaged, but she couldn't let the monster escape her.

Rose and the snake collided, and Rose drove them away from Sally-Anne. She grasped her hands together and slammed the snake into the floor.

The serpent reared up for another attack. It bared its fangs at Rose, then lunged forward towards the Artificer. Rose vanished, appearing a few feet away from her foe. She grabbed the beast with one hand and tossed it a few feet into the air, then spun around and caught it with an uppercut. Carried by her momentum, Rose swept her foot into the belly of the snake.

While Crimson Thorn was being modified, Rose had a few new modifications to her equipment. Her favorite of which was her new schema of hunter's eye. As her uncle had reminded her, it added an additional 6d6 of sneak attack damage whenever sneak attack applied. Since Rose was perpetually blinking, sneak attack always applied.

The snake coiled back, attempting to regain a foothold in the fight, but as it looked for its prey, the red human had vanished. The human appeared again and struck its face, vaulting off the serpent as it did.

Rose brought her elbow down on the snake as she blinked again, temporarily vanishing from sight to keep her opponent off its game. She slid down the side of the beast, landing squarely on her feet.

Rose faced her opponent, as it did the same. It glared at Rose with its cold, yellow eyes, then did the last thing Rose would've expected: It ran away.

The beast fled into one of the stalls. Rose tried to open it, found it was locked, then punched the door off its hinges. When she got inside, she found nothing inside the stall but a toilet.

"Well, at least now I've got information," she muttered, turning around and walking back out of the stall.

Rose went through everything she had just learned as she ran over to Sally-Anne's body. She now knew that the monster was a large snake, and it was capable of killing people without leaving a scratch. That probably meant death gaze, given its surprise that Rose could stare at it. She wasn't sure how it was using toilets for teleportation, but she was sure Hermione or Professor Dumbledore would know the answer.

Rose reached Sally-Anne's body, then triple-checked that she and Myrtle were the only two in the room. She wasn't sure if she could trust Myrtle to keep the secret, but she didn't have much of a choice if she wanted Sally-Anne back.

"Myrtle," Rose said.

"What?" came the weepy reply.

"It's gone, Myrtle. You can come out now."

"It doesn't matter," Myrtle sobbed. "The first friend I've had in 50 years, and now she's dead!"

"Don't worry, Myrtle," Rose said. "I can fix anything."

Myrtle flew over to Rose. "How can you fix her?" sobbed Myrtle, pointing at Sally-Anne. "She's dead!"

"I know," Rose said. "She's my friend, too."

"It's not fair!" Myrtle wailed.

"Neither is life, but that won't stop me from trying to make it fair for people like us."

"Us?"

"People like you, me, Luna, Hermione, and Sally-Anne. People who are different. People out there try to make us feel bad because of it."

"Aren't you the girl that tried to talk to me last week?" Myrtle asked.

"Yup," Rose said, producing Serendipity. "My name's Rose Peta-Lorrum. I'm the Crimson Artificer of Arcrel."

"The what of what?"

<Rose, how are you going to explain this?> Reflectesalon asked her.

"I'll make you a deal," Rose said. "First, you've got to promise not to tell anyone I can do this."

"Do what?"

"Promise."

"Okay, I guess," Myrtle said. "What are you going to do?"

Rose power surged Serendipity. Rose waved her wand over Sally-Anne's body and whispered, "d'so Gretydd alhel."

"Promise me that you'll never tell a soul," Rose said.

"What did–"

Myrtle was cut off by Sally-Anne gasping for breath as life returned to her body. Color returned to her cheeks, and her body began to warm up as blood began to flow through her veins once again.

Before doing anything else, Rose power surged Serendipity again and immediately cast another spell.

"I wish she were petrified."

Sally-Anne's body froze, just like Mrs. Norris's had. Her eyes were frozen open, and she looked liked she had just been attacked. Either that, or she was in the middle of coughing and spluttering because life had just been restored to her body. Rose hoped that no one would pick up on that.

"Promise?" asked Rose.

Myrtle was still too shocked to say anything, but nodded her head to show that she understood.

Reflectesalon was right; Rose would need proof that Sally-Anne had been attacked, and an unconscious girl was no proof. A petrified girl, one that mirrored the state in which they had discovered Mrs. Norris, would scream "Monster of Slytherin".

"You can never tell her," Rose said. "Not ever."

"I won't," Myrtle said.

Uttering a few more words, Rose and Sally-Anne appeared in the Hospital Wing.

"Ms. Peta-Lorrum, I've asked you before not to– WHAT HAPPENED?!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed when she saw Sally-Anne. "What did you do?!"

"Nothing," Rose replied, more than a little offended by the assumption that she was to blame. What had she ever done here to deserve that? "She was attacked by the Monster of Slytherin."

Madame Pomfrey stared at Rose for just a second, then raced to her office.

"Contact Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Babbling, and Snape!" Rose shouted after her.

<Hermione, come to the Hospital Wing as fast as possible. Bring Ron and Harry with you. Sally-Anne's been attacked.>

Rose laid Sally-Anne down on one of the beds.

"Contact Albus, Severus, Bathsheda, and Minerva," Poppy ordered the portraits. "Inform them that there has been another attack! NOW!"

There were over a dozen portraits in the Hospital Wing, and all of them bolted from their canvases to obey the Mediwitch's commands. A few of them even saluted her on their way to find the professors.

Rose sat down on the bed next to Sally-Anne's and smiled as she bounced on it.

<Rose, shouldn't you be acting more concerned right now?> Reflectesalon asked her.

<Right,> Rose replied, turning to Madame Pomfrey. "Haven't you got anything faster than the portraits?"

Madame Pomfrey glared at her.

"I'll take that as a 'No'."

Professor Babbling was the first to arrive at the Hospital Wing. Her eyes grew wide when she saw Sally-Anne frozen in her bed.

"Sally-Anne!" she exclaimed, rushing to the side of her youngest student.

She looked around and spotted Rose.

"What happened?!" she demanded of the crimson-haired girl.

"She was attacked," Rose replied. "I'm not explaining more until we've gathered everyone."

A minute later, Professors McGonagall and Snape arrived, followed by Hermione, Harry, and Ron. Not 30 seconds after they arrived, Professor Dumbledore arrived in a flash of fire, Fawkes perched on his arm.

"That is so kethé!" Rose exclaimed. "It's like stormwalk but with fire!" Rose quickly scribbled down a reminder to ask her brother if he could spellcraft a spell like that for her to use.

<Focus,> Reflectesalon pathed.

"Apologies for my delayed arrival," Professor Dumbledore said. "What happened?"

"She was attacked by the Monster of Slytherin," Rose replied. "Which, by the way, is a giant snake. She was in the first floor bathroom when I found her like this. The monster was also there, although I think it didn't want to be seen, so it ran off." Rose grinned. "Also, I think I nearly beat it to death."

"Why didn't it just kill you?" Professor Snape asked, sceptical as ever of her.

"It tried," Rose scoffed.

"Why not just kill it with Crimson Thorn like you did the… erm…" Hermione's voice trailed off as she realized that the staff members in the room were all staring at her.

"Crimson Thorn isn't on me at the moment," Rose replied. "I'm making some modifications to him, otherwise that thing would've been in pieces by now."

"Circling back to that," Professor McGonagall said to the crimson-haired girl. "What else did you see? Other than a snake, what was it?"

"Giant, green snake," Rose said. "It was confused about how I could look it in the eye, and it killed Myrtle 50 years ago without leaving a scratch on her, so I'm guessing it's got a death gaze."

"Moaning Myrtle?" Ron asked.

"It sounds to me like a basilisk," Professor McGonagall said.

"No, basilisks look completely different," Rose said. "They've got legs, and they don't kill with their gaze, they just petrify. Also, they're not nearly that durable. I must've dealt a good 150 points of damage to that thing, and it was still standing… Sort of."

Everyone in the room stared at Rose, except for Harry, who was trying to avoid eye contact.

"Also, they're not nearly that big," Rose added. "This thing was enormous. A good 50 feet at least."

"Which is about the size of a fully grown basilisk," Professor Dumbledore said.

Rose opened her mouth to argue, but Reflectesalon cut her off.

"Oh," Rose said. "I didn't know they could get that big."

"How did it get away?" Ron asked, drawing attention to himself.

"I'm just saying," he said, noticing the questioning looks he was receiving. "I think we all know by now she can apparate, even inside Hogwarts. How does anyone escape her?"

"That's a good point, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall said. "Ms. Peta-Lorrum, how did that basilisk escape?"

"Good question, Professor McGonagall," Rose replied. She leaned in closer. "I believe it can teleport… using the toilets!"

She waved her hands for effect.

Professors Babbling and McGonagall, along with Hermione, sighed.

"Really?" asked Professor Snape.

"I've got nothing better," Rose said, shrugging. "It fled into one of the stalls, and by the time I got to it, it was gone. The stall was locked, and I didn't realize it was, otherwise I would've slid under it." She grinned. "Just like Carolina would've done."

"Ms. Peta-Lorrum, there is a monster on the loose that attacked one of your friends," Professor McGonagall said. "Please take this seriously."

"If not for us, then for her," Professor Dumbledore added.

"Wait, Professors," Hermione said, a thought suddenly striking her. "I think she's onto something. The toilets here never clog, right?"

"They are enchanted to grow as big as is necessary," Professor McGonagall said. "One less task that Mr. Filch needs to do."

"So, for instance, if a giant snake were to go through them, they would grow to accommodate it?" Hermione asked.

"Very good, Ms. Granger," Professor Dumbledore said with a hint of pride. "Five points each for you and Mr. Weasley."

Rose beamed with pride, delighted that Hermione was still as clever as always.

"So we know what the monster is and how it's been navigating the school," Professor Babbling said. "That doesn't fix Ms. Perks here."

"Nor does that stop any other students from being harmed," Professor McGonagall added. "A fully grown basilisk is dangerous. We should evacuate the school until we've contained it."

"But then what?" Rose asked. "This doesn't change anything. All we know is what it is with what we're dealing, but it's still being controlled by someone. Not to mention, you knew it was capable of killing students before I saw it, and didn't do anything other than tell us to stick together."

"Yes, but there's no way to fight a basilisk, Ms. Peta-Lorrum," Professor Dumbledore said. "It was possible that once we found out about it, we could hold mandatory seminars to train the students. Once a basilisk sees you, you're dead."

"Then how did it petrify Sally-Anne and Mrs. Norris?" Ron asked. "Why didn't they both die?"

"Another good question, Mr. Weasley," Albus said.

Rose was impressed with how much her friends were thinking. She knew even seasoned adventurers stopped asking questions sometimes, so that they were both on their toes was a good sign.

She also noticed that Harry hadn't taken his eyes off Sally-Anne since arriving in the Hospital Wing. Did he feel bad about what happened? Rose hoped he did; it was his fault Sally-Anne was attacked.

"Wait, wasn't there a puddle of water near Mrs. Norris when we found her?" Hermione asked. "What happens if you just see a reflection of the Basilisk?"

Maybe they're too clever, Rose thought.

Rose began to panic as she realized that Sally-Anne might not have been looking down when Rose petrified her. Sally-Anne would need to have been looking down for the Basilisk to have petrified her. That's where the puddles were in the bathroom, after all.

"What about Sally-Anne?" Ron asked, looking at his petrified friend.

"It appears as if poor Sally-Anne was looking straight ahead," Professor Dumbledore said, catching on to the theory Ron was presenting. "Which probably means she saw the reflection in a mirror in the bathroom."

Rose caught herself before she breathed a sigh of relief. Of all the people in that room, mirrors should've occurred to her first. After all, she wore a mirror as jewelry.

"But now what?" Professor Babbling asked. "Now we know what it is, but we can't find it. We don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is, nor do we know who the Heir of Slytherin is."

"I can help you on the first two," Rose said. "I can find the Basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets, but I can't tell you who the Heir is."

"Then why not just do it and be done with it?" Ron asked.

"We don't know what's in there," Hermione said.

"Ms. Granger is right," Professor Dumbledore said. "We could be charging straight into a trap."

"Anything could be down there," Professor Snape added. "The Basilisk, if that is really what it is, may not be the only creature in the Chamber."

"Excellent point, Professor Snape!" Rose exclaimed, beaming.

"What about Sally-Anne?"

Hermione and Ron nearly jumped when they heard Harry's voice. Their friend hadn't spoken since Hermione had received Rose's message that Sally-Anne had been attacked.

Rose smiled. "You lot are forgetting something."

"Oh?" Professor Dumbledore asked. "What would that be?"

"I can fix anything."

Serendipity appeared in Rose's hand, a feat that still surprised some of the staff. Waving her over Sally-Anne's petrified form, Rose muttered her wish, once again in Dwarven.

"D'so Gretydd karel."

As she did, Sally-Anne began to spasm as she regained consciousness and control of her limbs. Her head darted around the room as her surroundings sunk into her foggy mind. She looked around the room at all the people staring at her.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright," Hermione said, hugging her friend.

"Oh sure, you hug her," Rose complained.

"She doesn't compulsively hug me," Hermione shot back.

"What happened?" Sally-Anne asked, rubbing her head after Hermione let her go. "Where am I?"

"You're in the Hospital Wing, Sally-Anne," said Professor Babbling calmly. "You were attacked by the Monster of Slytherin."

"Can you remember what happened to you?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"I was talking to Myrtle, then I heard this hissing sound, and now I'm here."

Sally-Anne furled her brow as she tried to concentrate on what had happened. She remembered running off, then talking to Myrtle. She was just leaving when there was a noise, then… nothing.

"I'm sorry, I really can't remember much more than that."

"It's alright, Dear," Madame Pomfrey said, speaking up now that she was needed. "We'll let you be so you can get some rest." She turned to glare at the professors before they could ask the poor victim any further questions.

"A splendid idea," Professor Dumbledore said cheerfully. "If you remember anything else, please inform one of us, Madame Pomfrey, or Rose."

"Why Rose?" Ron asked.

"Because there seems to be a short delay between informing Rose of something and her informing me."

Rose grinned. "Glad to help!"

"Quite."

Sally-Anne watched as the professors departed the Hospital Wing.

Rose stared at Madame Pomfrey for a minute before the mediwitch retreated to her office.

"How's everyone doing today?" Rose asked, smiling at her friends.

Sally-Anne looked at each of them, but no one wanted to speak. Worst of all was Harry, who wouldn't meet her gaze. When she remembered him screaming at her, she stopped trying.

"So, I think it's sharing time," Rose said. "My name's Rose, and I'm an Artificer. You lot already know that." She turned to Harry. "This is Harry, and he's been hearing voices for the past few weeks."

Sally-Anne looked at Rose, then at Harry. Was that what was bothering him? Why hadn't he said something?

She turned to Hermione. "This is Hermione, and her hair is looking wonderful today." Next was Ron. "This is Ron, and he's… actually honest about stuff. Good work, Cohort." Finally was Sally-Anne. "This is Sally-Anne, and she's got a rune on her hand." Rose grinned. "Ha! That rhymed."

Sally-Anne blushed and hid her hands. There was no denying it anymore, now that Rose had said something, but she still wanted to try. What was Rose doing?

"Alright," Hermione said. "First, thank you for the complement."

"You're welcome!"

"Second: Sally-Anne, why is there a rune on your hand?"

Sally-Anne turned over her left hand so that the others could see the rune. "It's something Professor Babbling's been teaching me. It's called a Shield Rune."

"I've read about those," Ron said. "I… Did I really just say that?!"

"You did," Rose said, grinning.

Hermione laughed. "Welcome to the Dark Side."

"More like the… da… do… I dunno," Ron muttered, failing to devise a clever comeback. "Anyway, that's a little advanced for a second-year."

"Ronald!" Hermione snapped.

"He's right," Sally-Anne said, before another fight could break out. "I still haven't got the hang of it. I'm sorry for keeping it a secret, but Professor Babbling didn't want anyone to know about it."

"Harry, take note," Rose said. "That is a valid reason for not telling one's friends about something important. She was under strict orders to be silent."

An awkward silence fell over the group. Sally-Anne wanted to tell Harry it was okay, but she didn't know if he wanted her to. She just wanted to help him. What was wrong with that?

Rose was starting to glare at Harry. He didn't deserve that. The whole fight was Sally-Anne's fault, after all. She'd done something wrong, and Harry'd lashed out at her for it.

"Why are you doing this?" Harry asked Rose. "Why not just leave us alone?"

"Because people are worried, and a team shouldn't keep secrets."

"Says the pot to the kettle," Ron muttered.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sally-Anne asked Harry.

"I don't want people to think I'm going mad like Rose," Harry replied.

"Hearing voices is bad," Ron said.

"I hear them too!" Rose exclaimed.

"See?" Ron said. "Bad! You should've told someone."

"But that's exactly why I didn't," Harry replied. "Rose said that every time she does, she's nearly expelled. What if they threw me out? I can't leave Hogwarts, it's the only home I've got!"

"They won't throw you out," Rose said. "The only reason they keep trying to get rid of me is because they know I'm different. They're afraid of me, that's all. You're a relatively normal kid. No one will care if you hear a few voices."

"We care," Sally-Anne said, glaring at Rose.

She turned back to Harry and smiled at him. Even after she was attacked, she still wanted to see Harry smile again. Maybe now that she knew, he'd smile again.

"Besides," Hermione said. "Rose doesn't hear imaginary voices. She hears the school."

"I don't think it's the school," Harry said. "I keep hearing someone talking about killing people."

"Oh," Rose said. "That's the Basilisk."

"How is Harry hearing the Basilisk?" Hermione asked.

"The what?" Sally-Anne asked.

"The Monster of Slytherin," Hermione explained.

"The only way he could do that is if he was a parselmouth," Ron scoffed.

"Alright, that one's got to be made up," Rose said.

"What's a parselmouth?" Sally-Anne asked.

"Someone who can communicate with snakes," Hermione replied.

"And I think Harry would know if he could talk to snakes," Ron said, still laughing. "Right, Harry?"

Harry didn't reply. He stared down at his feet.

"That's… er…"

"When?" Rose asked.

"What?!" Ron exclaimed.

"Shh!" Harry hissed.

"It's happened before, hasn't it?" Rose asked.

"I thought Ref wasn't reading our minds anymore," Hermione said accusingly, knowing full well that Rose wasn't observant enough to notice when someone was hiding something.

"He's under orders to read Harry's mind if Harry continues to keep secrets from us," Rose said.

"You keep secrets from us all the time," Harry shot back.

"Yup," Rose said.

"Why don't you tell us something?" Ron asked.

Sally-Anne agreed that she did keep a lot of secrets from them. Why? If Rose was so against people keeping secrets, why did she keep so many?

"Harry talked with a snake when he was a kid," Rose said. "And I don't tell you lot anything because the secrets I keep are mine alone to bear."

"What does that mean?" Ron asked.

"Leave her alone, Ronald," Hermione said.

Sally-Anne figured if anyone knew Rose's secrets, it was Hermione. Which meant if they wanted to know, they didn't need to ask Rose; they could ask Hermione instead.

No, Sally-Anne, that's wrong, she told herself. Ask Rose if you want to know, not Hermione. You wouldn't want people doing that to your friends, would you?

"It was on Dudley's eleventh birthday," Harry said. "My sitter, Mrs. Figg, had broken her leg so the Dursleys had to take me along with them."

"Where?" Sally-Anne asked, smiling at him.

He's talking again! Wait, he's talking. Focus!

"The zoo. I… I accidentally used wandless magic to make the glass in front of the boa constrictor exhibit disappear. It slithered out, and thanked me for letting it go."

"You're a parselmouth," Ron said slowly, still shocked by this new turn of events.

"I guess," Harry said, shrugging. "I–"

"That's passed down in Slytherin's line," Ron said. "Something the Heir of Slytherin would have!"

"The Wizarding World isn't that big, Ronald," Hermione said. "You're probably related to Salazar Slytherin somehow. So are most of the pureblood families in Britain! Anyone could be a parselmouth, but–"

"Stop it," Sally-Anne snapped. "Harry, what were you saying?"

"I… I didn't think anything of it at the time. I mean, sure, that snake talked, but I also made the glass disappear. That made two events I couldn't explain, so… I don't know, I guess I just sort of… I don't know, forgot about it?"

"Bowie says that happens to Spellscales a lot," Rose said. "They've got innate magic, so it manifests occasionally. Some of them don't understand it, so they just try not to think about it."

"That I understood," Hermione said.

"I still can't believe you're–" Ron began, but Hermione's hand flew over his mouth.

Sally-Anne looked around and saw Madame Pomfrey approaching them.

"That's enough for today," she said. "At least three of you need to eat, and Ms. Perks here needs to rest."

Ron counted out the people there. "Three?"

"Four, if Ms. Peta-Lorrum needs to eat," Madame Pomfrey said with just a hint of irritability in her voice. "Now, off with you four. I've been generous enough to let you stay here as long as you have."

"May I please have another few rounds?" Rose asked. "Not them, they don't need to be here for this. I've got something for Sally-Anne."

"A round is six seconds," Hermione whispered to Madame Pomfrey.

"You may have a minute, Ms. Peta-Lorrum. You three may wait outside."

After Hermione, Harry, and Ron left, and Madame Pomfrey returned to her office, Rose pulled something out of her picnic basket.

It was a pendant on an emerald chain. The pendant was a shade of green that matched Sally-Anne's ribbon exactly, with an intricate Celtic knot pattern etched into it.

"I saw the pattern the other day, and thought 'That's kethé'," Rose explained as she handed it to Sally-Anne. "It's an early birthday present."

"Rose, it's beautiful," Sally-Anne said. "Thank you."

Sally-Anne took it, discovering that the piece of jewelry was lighter than it looked. She easily fastened it around her neck, which was when she remembered something Hermione had said.

Everything Rose makes does something.

The second she fastened it into place, Sally-Anne heard voices in her head.

How does she make those? She's such a strange girl, but she's got talent. I thought that pendant around her neck was complicated, but that one would take weeks, even with magic.

"Rose, what's it doing?" Sally-Anne asked.

"Detect thoughts," Rose whispered. "Use it wisely. You've got to concentrate to hear anyone's thoughts, but don't use it on me, you'll only end up with feedback and a headache. Occlumency blocks it, so you can't hear Professor Dumbledore's or Professor Snape's thoughts."

Sally-Anne's mind began to open up to the possibilities. She would be able to know what Malfoy was going to do before he did it, giving her a better opportunity to react to him. Was that how Rose was so good at dealing with him? But even better than that was that she could now hear her friends' thoughts.

"I can find out when something's bothering Harry," she whispered. "I can know how to help him!"

"I'm trusting you with it because I know you won't abuse it," Rose said. "You're nice, like Carolina. It's always handy to have a mind reader, but don't overdo it."

Sally-Anne nodded, flattered that Rose trusted her with such a gift.

"I won't," Sally-Anne said. "And… I'd like to ask a favor."

"What is it?" Rose asked.

"Well, I…" Sally-Anne took a deep breath, then said, "Can you teach me to fight?"

Rose tilted her head. "Why?"

"I don't want to be helpless anymore," Sally-Anne said. "It was actually something Myrtle said. She said she wished that someone would save her from the bullies, and… I want to be that person. I don't want to be the victim, I… I want to be the hero."

Sally-Anne was worried by the look on Rose's face. She wasn't excited, but looked almost uncomfortable. Had Sally-Anne misspoken?

"Alright," Rose said after their minute was nearly up. "We'll see what we can do." She hugged her friend. "Don't worry about Harry. Once he's settled down, he'll apologize."

"Thanks, Rose," Sally-Anne said. "For everything."

Rose lay in bed that night, pondering the events of the day. A Bludger had gone after Harry, then the Monster of Slytherin had gone after Sally-Anne. Rose was afraid to leave Hermione and Luna alone for fear that they would be next.

<What about Ronald?> Reflectesalon asked.

<He's expendable right now,> Rose replied. <He is improving. I'm a little impressed, actually. He might be useful later.>

"Remember, Rose Peta-Lorrum." She was yanked out of her musings by a familiar voice. "You chose the hard way."

At once, it all dawned on Rose. It was going after her friends. It was going after her friends to get at her. Whatever the source of that voice was, it had sent the Bludger after Harry and the Basilisk after Sally-Anne.

At that moment, Rose made a decision regarding the owner of that voice.

It was going to die.

Bab berikutnya