*Edited:31/12/2019*

Start of flashback:

16-year-old Maria had just woken up from a terrible nightmare, a cold bead of sweat lay on her forehead, arms and legs tired from thrashing around in her sleep.

"Something's not right," she thought to herself, rubbing her arms due to the sudden drop in temperature.

Maria quickly put on her dressing gown and made her way out of the dormitory, careful not to wake anyone on her way to the portrait hole. Only one person knew of her particular circumstances, frankly, he was the only one she trusted. The corridors were bare of students but still held an eerie chill to them. Turning the corner down a less used path, she stopped, feeling as though she was followed but continued on anyway. She rounded another corner and travelled deeper into the castle. Suddenly, she was held back by a strong arm.

"Well well well, look what we have here"

"Now where would you be going at this hour Ms Lightly?" The stranger asked Maria in a mocking tone.

"Not now Riddle!" She sneered. "I must go to Professor Dumbledore's office immediately." She began struggling in his grasp and it took some effort for Tom to restrain her.

"What is so urgent that it can't wait until morning?!" Tom asked her incredulously, an agitated edge to his voice.

"None of your business Tom" Maria huffed as she finally managed to loosen his grip on her and was able to escape from him.

"Fine" he snapped "but if you won't tell me, I will just have to accompany you, seeing as I am a prefect." He added smugly, indicating to the shiny green and silver badge pinned proudly upon his chest.

Maria didn't bother to argue as she swiftly turned and strode in the opposite direction; having the need to tell Professor Dumbledore about her recent nightmare. He also happened to be the only person at Hogwarts who knew what she truly was so Maria felt safe with confining her secrets to the wizard.

Once she reached the door, she pounded on the wood as hard as she could, in hopes of alerting Dumbledore quicker.

"For the love of Merlin, if you bang any louder you'll wake the whole castle!" Tom hissed but Maria ignored him. To his ultimate surprise, Dumbledore opened the door rather quickly- only to see a panting fairy and a frustrated Slytherin.

Dumbledore watched the pair bicker back and forth with evident confusion, but also great amusement."Ah, Ms Lightly." He interrupted causing both to simultaneously whip their head towards him. Dumbledore merely smiled. "To what do I owe this pleasure at such an hour?"

Maria scratched the back of her neck sheepishly."Erm... well, I was wondering if I could speak to you in private? she insinuated, casting her eyes briefly towards Tom who merely rolled his eyes and raised his hands up in surrender.

"Fine, but you owe me Lightly." He grumbled before stalking off again- probably on night patrol.

"Come right ahead, Maria" The fairy did as told and soon found herself sitting dejectedly on a wooden chair before Dumbledore's desk. "What's wrong?" He asked her soothingly, trying to comfort the clearly troubled woman.

"I have a strange feeling that Valtor is coming to the castle...Tonight" Maria announced, straightening up in her chair to stare Dumbledore in the eyes. The wizard let loose an inaudible gasp as the twinkle in his eye slowly diminished.

"Are you sure?" He asked dubiously, not believing that such an event could take place. Maria merely nodded in confirmation before solemnly downcasting her eyes to the floor once more.

Dumbledore sighed quietly. If what Maria spoke of was true, she would have to get away from harm and fast. " You must head to the room of requirement. It's the only safe place. I'll go and inform Professor Dippet of the circumstances"

And with that Maria left his office and dashed towards the seventh floor, hoping to seek refuge behind the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

"Wait. Where are you going?" Tom asked panting behind her, only catching up to her now after spotting the familiar mass of curly hair bounce past him.

"Room of Requirement. Hurry up if you're coming" Maria instructed him as she brought them around the corner and stopped.

A small bang sounded around the corner, followed by silence. She put her hand against the wall, listing for any sudden movements.

"Why did we stop," Tom asked but Maria shushed him before he could speak again.

"I thought I heard something," Maria said quietly, stepping back from the wall.

After finding nothing, they started to walk, until they noticed a figure lurking in the shadows, casted by nearby statues

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The stranger said, his voice indicating his person, though he was hidden away.

Maria stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart was racing as she stood, frozen in fear, blood turning ice-cold.

"It can't be," she thought, trying to wrap her head around it, her voice coming out in a whisper.

"Valtor"

"Tom, tell Dumbledore that's he's here. Go and hurry" Maria alerted Tom, who stood there in surprise at their encounter, snapping out of thought and departing after Maria repeatedly shook his arm.

"What do you want?" she asked him, her voice quivering slightly.

"Now, I think we both know what I want," Valtor said, hanging onto every word as he stepped out of the darkness.

He wanted her magic. With the power drained from her and absorbed into himself, he could rule over Magix and the entire magic dimension; the wizarding world included.

"NEVER!" Maria shouted, trying to find an ounce of courage for the new house she represented.

"Well, if you won't give them to me willingly, I guess I'll just have to take them myself. This may hurt a little Lightly" Valtor grinned maliciously, conjuring a large ball of dark energy.

He shot the spell, sending Maria into the wall behind her, black spots dotting her line of sight. Valtor walked slowly up to her, brushing the hair out of her ruble covered face, satisfied at the damage he's done and her attempts to escape.

"Your getting soft Maria. You would've never let someone defeat you so easily in the past" he chided her, taking out the Agador Box he had recently created to trap the magic once he'd depleted it from her.

"I may have gotten soft," she responded back, standing up from the debris, "but I can still defend myself" Maria summoned her own energy, creating a ball of green light and blasting Valtor back to the other side of the corridor, where he landed on the ground with a grunt, surprised at the fairy's powers.

"Your friends have already fallen, and now you are going down too." he threatened, rising up and firing another spell.

Maria scarcely dodged the spell, taking her own stance and sending one back as repayment.

"If you hurt them, I swear to you.." Maria's sentence was cut off with Valtor flying towards her, launching a powerful lightning orb directly at her.

Having only a split second to react, Maria transformed into her fairy form and shouted 'ICE SHIELD' blocking the spell but destroying the shield simultaneously.

They fought aggressively against the other, making their way through the corridor, destroying the decor on the way. Spells and other jinxes flew down each end, Maria building up her stamina, her courage also rising as she sends another orb at Valtor,

"FIRE ORBS" she shouted as balls of fire hit Valtor causing him to fall back, not staying down for long though.

Maria was slowly losing energy, hoping that Tom got the message to Dumbledore, knowing he'd understand and send for back up.

Realising she'd have to stall for a little while longer, Maria gathered up her remaining strength and started to use her earth magic to keep Valtor from escaping the castle. She was fully aware of the fact that the wizard before her was extremely powerful, so underestimating him would not be wise, however, it was in her interest to keep him from moving for as long as possible.

"GREEN IVY" she spoke, determination lacing her voice. Maria was going to prevent him from moving, even if it was the last thing she did.

Ivy started to sprout from the ground and it swiftly wound around Valtor's legs, pulling him down and keeping him in place.

Valtor raised an eyebrow but continued to glare heartedly at the fairy. He smirked once he realised that this was all Maria had in mind to do."It's going to take more than a bit of nature magic to hold me down" he barked out, getting angrier as the vines squeezed tighter around his torso.

He broke out of the vines with a powerful burst of light, sending Maria plummeting to the ground. She covered her head with her arms to avoid incoming rubble, in hopes of protecting herself. Recovering from the blast, Maria quickly extracted her wings and with a swift yet firm flutter and shot down the corridor, hoping to lose Valtor along the way. However, that moment was short-lived, as once she rounded the corner he suddenly materialised from the ground, ultimately blocking her route.

Maria halted in her path and immediately darted in the opposite direction. She flew through more corridors, dodging obstacles, she fired more spells behind her while simultaneously blocking Valtor's as well. Eventually, she reached the grand staircase. The Company of Light was waiting, powers already conjured, ready to defeat Valtor once and for all.

"Looks like you're outnumbered Valtor" Maria declared as she joined the group.

Located to her right were Faragonda and Griffin, with Saladin, positioned to her left. Although Griffin would have usually not been so keen in joining The Company of Light in battle, she saw Valtor a great threat, therefore she agreed to help on this occasion, being one of the most powerful witches in Cloud Tower.

"I can take you all on," Valtor said confidently, ready to attack.

"NOW. MAGIC CONVERGENCE"

All four joined their powers together against Valtor. He fought back but The Company Of Light was much stronger, which resulted in him being banished to the Omega Dimension, where he would spend the remainder of his life; frozen.

End of flashback
~~~~~~~

Wow. That's a long chapter.

Big thanks to my editor/BFF book_absorbed who helped me edit this chapter.

*The_lost_flower*