"Maybe she won't show up..." Aubrey said/hoped as she and the twins peered around the corner to the main gates of Hogwarts. Sadly this was quickly debunked when, illuminated in the moonlight, a stout, pink figure came into view. Her Dad hadn't replied to help her like she'd hoped he would even though Angela assured her it had been sent directly to him rather than through Mary; her owl was good and it would not get into the hands of Mrs Jackson this time. Still, she wasn't about to back out now. Umbridge had followed through and now Aubrey had to do the same.

"You two will be keeping watch the whole time?" Aubrey asked, her fingers still tightly entwined in Fred's, unwilling to let go of him.

"The whole time," Fred promised, kissing her forehead as she finally let him go, stepping back a bit. It was only thanks to Harry that they could, the boy having kindly lent the twins his cloak for the urgent matter. Her feelings with regards Harry Potter had really changed drastically over the past year to say in the least.

"Okay," She took a deep breath, possibly to calm herself down and possibly as procrastination, "I'm going to go now, I'm going to find out all I can ... wish me luck."

This was met by silence, neither of them quite sure what to say. Wishing her 'good luck' in a moment like this would just feel ... stupid. Instead, she merely smiled as they disappeared from sight. Then she straightened herself out a bit before walking over to Professor Umbridge. Usually being out so late at night in the corridors would freak her out but seeing as Umbridge was the one who usually dolled out the punishments she was safe ... in that way anyway.

"Professor?" She whispered loudly, standing strong as Umbridge primly turned herself around. For a moment, the woman's primness suddenly disappeared, her eyes gleaming hungrily before she quickly composed herself once more. 

"Aubrey Jackson. You're a few minutes late, my dear."

"We didn't set a time," Aubrey pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"... come this way," Umbridge ignored what she'd just said, ushering Aubrey to follow as she began to walk along the corridor. As Aubrey walked past the corner where the twins had stood, she was pleased to see no trace of them other than a small shuffle of footsteps which indicated they were hopefully following. She only hoped they could keep up; for such a short-legged woman, Umbridge truly knew how to power walk.

"Professor, where are we - "

"No questions. I'm sure you already know," Umbridge said plainly.

If Fred were here in her place, he'd no doubt had something sassy to say but Aubrey held her tongue, following quietly. At first, she had no idea where they were headed but slowly it became clear. The Astronomy tower. The shuffle of footsteps from the twins occasionally comforted her yet it didn't stop her heart from racing; hopefully, Umbridge wouldn't push her off if she didn't tell her what she wanted to hear.

Umbridge seemed to be invincible, not even tired as she walked up the stairs whilst Aubrey panted behind. Her left ankle was killing her and it was times like this she missed being in Fred's athletic body. Still, she made it, at last, expecting Umbridge to be watching her unsympathetically. Instead, the woman was stood by the edge, looking out across the grounds.

"Professor, why are we at the Astronomy tower?" She asked after a pause.

Umbridge took a moment to reply, her fingers balling into two neat fists. She didn't turn around as she spoke, "You still don't remember this place? Do you have any of your old memories?" At last, she turned, "Are we still going to play this game when I have made it so clear that I know ..." Aubrey returned this with a blank look, "I understand but this feels cruel. But for you, I'll talk ... reality and fantasy did blend you for you, perhaps this will help ground you. Perhaps once I explain the puzzle to you ... you'll come back to me, Gil?"

For a moment, Aubrey merely nodded along before suddenly coming to a stop. She slowly looked up, meeting Umbridge's gaze, "I ... I'm not Gil. I'm Aubrey ... Professor - "

"Like I said before, it's okay! I understand," Umbridge said.

"I ... I don't," Aubrey said before realisation clicked. Somehow in the deluded brain of hers, Umbridge had added everything up wrong, "Professor ... do you think I'm Gillian Lennox?"

Umbridge didn't even need to reply for her to answer, the eerie smile that spread across her face spoke volumes, "I knew you'd realise it eventually ... " She suddenly rushed forward forcing Aubrey to push herself back, against the wall to dodge her, "Gil, why did you chose to take the body of Aubrey Jackson? You knew I'd hate you at first for being Jasper's daughter... perhaps that was why! Perhaps that was why you chose her because you knew I'd take notice! Oh, that was intelligent, Gil, even for you - "

"I'm not Gil, I'm Aubrey - "

"Yes, keep telling everyone else that! Only I can know the truth ... oh, if Jasper could see me now, knowing you returned for me and not for him," Umbridge laughed shrilly, "Well, he'd throw himself off the tower right now - "

"No," Aubrey somehow managed to keep her tone neutral, "I'm not Gil - "

"Yes, you are! You are her!" Umbridge laughed maniacally again, "The decoy was smart, creating a girl who looked just like you? Incredible! It fooled everyone else, Saskia Cyrus was quite the talk of the school Are you proud of me, Gil? I figured out your puzzle even when everyone said I was crazy, was this proof that I was worthy for you to return to? Do you want to know how I did it? See! I talk more now too, that was your influence! I built myself a job from nothing, so when you came back ... now that you've come back, we have somewhere to live! We can be together again!"

"... how did you figure out the puzzle?" Aubrey managed to stammer out.

The prim scariness the Defence teacher usually had was gone, replaced entirely by a childlike enthusiasm which was somehow worse, "I picked up the clues you left long ago, the small things you'd say when we were living together at your house. You didn't think I understood you when you talked about the endless capabilities of ancient magic. I remember you said the other species knew how to use it but we could do limited things such as transferring our consciousness to other bodies. That was the first clue."

"A body swap..." Aubrey murmured, suddenly having a horrible inkling of where this was going.

"I don't know why that stuck with me even more than anything else you said did but now I see. It was a clue. The second clue was when you said your body would be destroyed but your mind would live on yet you'd come back to me somehow," Umbridge's smile widened, "You must have pulled some strings to ensure I'd be coming to Hogwarts this year, didn't you, Gil, my dear? Then you planted the decoy, Saskia, a girl who looked like you, even coming with a few vile phrases from my past but didn't act like you, to ensure I knew you'd returned, to fool the others who didn't care for you like I did. Who is she, Gil? ... not important."

"I ... I don't know," Aubrey replied, "I really don't know - "

"That was just to alert my attention to Jasper's daughter though, wasn't it? Wasn't it, Gil? I don't know when you did it but you took Aubrey's body somehow, didn't you? You transferred your mind into her with ancient magic - I knew you'd do it, I always believed in you," Umbridge said, "I'm right, aren't I? It explains so much, the similar habits to her, Mary's letter claiming you were similar to Gil ... it was all pieces of a puzzle set by a genius ... your genius."

"No, I didn't! I'm not Gil - "

"No, you have to be. You took Aubrey's body - the clues were all there!" Umbridge insisted, a hint of anger entering her previously dreamy tone, "I solved the puzzle, I sacrificed so much for her and now you come back to me, that's how it works."

"You solved it wrong," Aubrey said, standing up and inching back towards the stairs, "Ancient magic is back, Professor, but I'm not Gil - "

"She has to be back, without you I become horrible, the world is horrible but with you, I shine! ... I need you back, Gil, please! Please stop these awful lies and just tell me I'm right! This is cruel now," Umbridge's voice had become shrill and anxious now, "Gil promised me she'd return and Gil ... you never broke a promise. I held up my end of the bargain, I stole those books for h - you, I lived in that house and helped you bring back the ancient magic because I thought you'd come back for me! I've waited 24 years since you gave yourself up for them, everything I did was for you and now ... you are her - "

"Gave my - herself up for them?" Aubrey asked, somehow managing to keep her tone calm even though inside her heart was beating like a drum.

"For the ancient magic! For the ancient creatures that were trapped with it! Please, you must remember!" Umbridge replied shrilly, "Don't you remember the long nights we spent at your house, researching the ancient magic with Jasper nowhere in sight? The day you finally finished the spells to bring back the old magic, spells and runes so powerful only a Lennox could figure it out? The spells were so powerful that you always knew they would kill you but whilst your body would be incinerated you said your mind would linger! It has to be you, please Gil. When you said you'd return I assumed you meant months ... not years but I still waited - "

She was suddenly cut off by the sound of footsteps running up the stairs and Aubrey rushed over to the stairs, gratefully shouting, "Fred!" before she could stop herself.

"Fred?" Umbridge's eyes narrowed, "Oh, Gil, please tell me you ... you haven't grown attached to Aubrey's little boyfriend - "

"I'm not Gil!"

"Yes, you are! You took her body, you are!" Umbridge shook her head, "No, I will not lose you again, not to Fred Weasley ... I can't, please."

Aubrey scrambled up, not wanting to hear any more. She'd found out all she needed to know now, her quest for knowledge had been satisfied. Gillian Lennox had brought back old magic and Umbridge needed help from someone at St Mungo's. That was why she was the second greatest tragedy of Hogwarts, a girl whose name was spoken by so few: A genius spellmaker who had the potential for everything yet vanished without a trace, leaving a broken Dolores in her wake, slowly becoming delusional by a promise made 24 years ago.

To a deluded mind, fixated on a girl she'd given her everything to, Umbridge's theory made sense and she could see how Umbridge might believe that, especially if Gillian had been a brilliant thinker. But she was wrong and now this was starting to scare Aubrey.

"Professor, you're right about old magic. It did bring a new species back of some kind and body swaps are possible ... trust me on that one," She held her hands up as the running footsteps neared, "But I am not Gillian Lennox, I can see why you'd think that - "

"It has to be you ... you even act like her - "

"I was pretending!" Aubrey yelled back, suddenly losing her cool, "It was awful but ... every time you mentioned something she did, I ... I leant into it because I wanted to know who she was. But I'm not her, hon and I'm sorry you think that, I really am but it's not true ..."

Her voice slowly faded away as she became aware of a third presence slowly coming up onto the stairs behind her. Instantly her heart leapt; somehow, perhaps thanks to a lingering psychic connection between her and Fred, he'd realised she needed his help. But either way he was there and she gratefully spun around only to stop dead upon realising it wasn't her boyfriend at all.

"Dad?" 

For a moment, she wasn't sure it was even really him but then again nobody else wore a rainbow coat in quite the same way as him. For the first few moments, she felt a sense of comfort at seeing her father. She figured out within seconds why he'd turned up. Angela's letter had got through to him without Mary censoring it first. Sitting by idly and merely writing a letter with a taunting orange blossom at the top to quell Dolores Umbridge wasn't really his style.

The sense of comfort quickly faded though as she looked up at her usually jovial father and realised he looked so unlike himself. Normally, a small smile was present on his face paired with a cheeky gleam in his eye that didn't fade even when Mary accidentally used arsenic instead of pepper. Even when confronting Fudge, he'd looked angry but not like this; the smile on his face suggesting he was already thinking of ways to tell the story to his many friends.

Yet today, his eyes were gleaming with pure malice as he stared on at Dolly. As she turned to look at Umbridge, the look was reflected back: a look that could only be conjured by people who held more hatred for each other than there were stars in the cosmos.

"Aubrey, get behind me," He said, his voice low.

"Dad, are Fred and George with you?" She asked, wondering why he was here without them. They would have come along, she was sure of it.

"Aubrey, get behind me now," He repeated, raising his wand out as Aubrey, glancing around for even a flutter of the invisibility cloak, stepped behind him, "I am getting you out of here - "

"Jasper," Umbridge said, her voice suddenly shrill and malicious even if the odd madness still filled her eyes, "Have you come to take her again - "

She wasn't even close to done when Jasper took a step forward, "So many years have passed and the message still hasn't rubbed in, has it?" His lips curled into a snarl, as he said the words Saskia had uttered months ago, "Go away, Dolly. You're not wanted here."