Chapter 24: Terrifying Tragedy 

Lucy woke up the next morning to find herself in bed. Just like someone who had been drunk the previous night, she had no idea how she had ended up in her bed. She had probably dozed off and Matt had brought her back. Snape must have been asleep otherwise Lucy would have heard him yelling at Matt. 

"Good morning, Lucy," Snape sighed as Lucy made her way into Snape's living room. Jessica was sat on one of the chairs avaliable. She looked rather eager about something while Snape busied himself with making tea. 

"Don't sound too enthusiastic, dad," Lucy raised her eyebrows, she was about to leave when Jessica stood up. Her mouth was open as if to say something but she didn't. Lucy stopped herself from leaving, her hand was clamped on the door handle. "Yes?" 

"No, no, it's nothing," Jessica muttered awkwardly before heading towards the door. Lucy leant back against the door, preventing Jessica from exiting. 

"What did you want to say to me?" Lucy asked, her eyes curious. 

"It's nothing," Jessica protested, desperately trying to get past Lucy. 

"No, tell me." 

Snape briefly glanced up from where he was making tea before glancing back down. Lucy swore she saw a flicker of panic in his eyes but couldn't be too certain, when did her father ever panic? Well, excluding all the times Lucy was in danger. 

"OK," Lucy pulled a face. "Both of you, sit down. Something is going on and I want to know exactly what it is," Lucy pointed to the sofa in front of her. Jessica sat down immediately but Snape seemed reluctant. Lucy glared at him. 

"Just remember who's in charge of who, Lucy," Snape pointed out as he set two cups of tea on the table in front of him before sitting down next to Jessica. 

Lucy folded her arms. "I want one of you, I don't care who, to tell me what's going on." 

Snape and Jessica looked awkwardly at each other before looking at the floor. Neither of them wanted to speak to her and Lucy was getting frustrated, she would get the answer out of them even if it killed her. She was just plotting tactics when Jessica stood up and faced her. 

"Y-Your father..." Jessica gulped. "Your father proposed to me." 

Snape looked even more awkward now and was trying to pretend he wasn't there as he gazed into the distance and tried to think of himself being anywhere but here. However, Lucy didn't seem to mind, Lucy did the thing that Snape thought she'd do exactly the opposite of. She smiled. 

"That's really nice," Lucy beamed. "It really is." 

"You think so?" Jessica seemed surprised at Lucy's reaction, she too thought Lucy would take it in bad way. "I-I mean I thought you would — " 

"Thought I'd flip out? Of course not, I'm happy for you both!" 

"You are?" Snape looked at her with a bit of confusion in his eyes as though somebody had replaced his daughter with this girl in front of him. 

"Of course! Why shouldn't I be?" 

"But, Lucy," Jessica looked at her with sad eyes. "Aren't you sad? I mean, I thought you wouldn't want this because it would be like me replacing your mother. I-I don't want to do that!" 

"I didn't even know my mother," Lucy shrugged. "Of course, it would be nice to have her here but you know what, I've got you instead. I've known you for longer and you might not be my biological mother but I didn't know dad was my real father until a couple of years ago and I loved him then. What's the difference?" 

Jessica shook her head, feeling a little guilty. "There's none." 

"Exactly," Lucy nodded. 

Jessica teared up. "Thank you!" She put her arms around Lucy and sobbed into her shoulder because they were both the same height. 

"There's no need to thank me," Lucy shrugged. "You really don't need to." 

"Yes I do!" Jessica sniffed. "In fact as you're the best step daughter I could have ever hoped for, I'll take you shopping tonight for a dress for Slughorn's party." 

Before Lucy could thank Jessica, the door burst open revealing Matt. He saw Lucy and grinned. "There's my favourite girl!" 

"Matt, there's no one — " Lucy began to say, as Jessica let go of her, because her father was in the room. 

"Yes there is," he muttered in her ear before grabbing hold of her. Just then Ellen and the people who worked for the Quick Quills walked in. They all had cameras, notebooks and quills and were ready to get the latest scoop on Lucy and Matt's relationship. 

Ellen walked to the front as her group all took pictures of Lucy and Matt. Matt held her close and smiled boldly as the pictures were taken and Ellen began to ask questions. 

"So, Matt," Ellen faced Matt first as both Jessica and Snape looked on, feeling sorry for the two. "How is it with you and Lucy?" 

"Oh, fantastic," Matt laughed as he began to walk out of Snape's quarters with Lucy, Ellen and her group followed them with hunger in their eyes, like they'd been starved of news for weeks. "I challenge you to find a happier couple in the school." 

"We couldn't," Ellen grinned as they walked down the stairs. As they walked, Lucy and Matt were bombarded with more questions by Ellen. "How did you two get together?" 

"We just found each other and as soon as I laid eyes on him, I knew..." Lucy gazed up at Matt. "That he was the one." 

"That's sweet," Matt looked at her happily. "I could just kiss you." 

"Then do it!" Ellen squeaked as though she was about to explode with excitement, she pulled out her own camera excitedly ready for another front page picture to support her article. 

Before either of them knew what they were doing or could change their minds, Matt kissed her. This time, however, Lucy still knew how much she meant to Matt but it was as though this was forceful. Like he couldn't show her he loved her and was just being told when to tell her he loved her, Lucy felt extremely sad. 

Later that day, Matt and Lucy sat in the usual meeting spot down by the black lake. Despite the fact it was cold, the two didn't mind (well, Lucy didn't mind much but Matt still shivered a bit as he missed the heat in America). Lucy read her book while she lent into Matt, Matt however just sat there with his arm around Lucy and stared at the scenery which he found most interesting. It was much better than what Durmstrang and Collin's academy had to offer. 

They didn't speak, both were too engrossed in their separate activities. Well, it was either that or they were too scared to talk to each other, especially after what had happened earlier. But they had to talk it out. 

"I'm sorry," Matt blurted out all of a sudden, startling Lucy. "This was all my idea, I thought it would be a good idea to announce our relationship...but it's not. We wanted to keep it a secret but I didn't, I went against what you said. I promised that to you and I've broken yet another promise." 

"Matt," Lucy closed her book. "That's not the problem. The problem is when you kissed me it was like we were forced to love each other. I don't want that, I want you to love me like we're in a normal relationship." 

"I appreciate what you're saying, but just think, that kiss will keep the Quick Quills busy for weeks," Matt pointed out wisely but he knew he hadn't satisfied Lucy's disappointment, so he continued. "So what I propose we do is, go to Slug club's party then just lay low for a little while." 

Lucy smiled. "I like that idea." 

"Besides, we've got Christmas to get out of the way first." 

"I know..." 

Lucy suddenly thought about something, she had never been that enthusiastic about Christmas. Sure, she enjoyed the day but for her it had never been official. She assumed this was because of the fact that for ten years of her life she had never been part of the celebration and now she thought herself too old to truly enjoy it. 

Matt noticed her brushing his comment away. "What's that face for?" 

"What face?" Lucy once again brushed his comment away.

"Alright...so what does this Slug club party consist of?" 

"I guess what all parties include," Lucy shrugged. "Dancing, food, drinks and spot the drunk." 

"Spot the drunk?" Matt laughed with a quizzical look. 

"Every party has one and every party could do without one," Lucy snorted. "But quite seriously, if dancing is involved you can count me out." 

"Why? I thought you'd be into that sort of thing?" 

Lucy gave him a look. "You're talking to the girl with two left feet here, do you really think I'm going to dance? It was bad enough that time in the Yule ball where all the Champions had to dance in front of everyone else...that had to be one of the most embarrassing moments of my life." 

"I can teach you how to dance," Matt shrugged. 

"You? Dancing?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. 

"I've been to enough family gatherings to know how to dance. My parents used to force me to dance with my female cousins despite the fact I wanted to sit in a corner next to the food table and entertain myself there." 

"Do you have a big family?" Lucy wondered. 

"A massive family and that was one of the pull factors to staying in Los Angeles because we're all quite close to family. We almost didn't move but then we had to. I almost miss those family gatherings but then I remember the various Aunt's who wanted to kiss you right after they'd applied another coat of red lipstick. I spent hours trying to get it off of my face." 

"I'm surprised you're an only child considering your large family." 

"My parents both had a few siblings and I supposed they were fed up of all of the commotion and wanted a quiet life, so it's not really surprising." 

Lucy sighed and looked at the cover of her book "It must be nice to have a big family, I've only got my dad and could never imagine having a large family."

"Well maybe you could meet my family sometime," Matt suggested. 

Lucy's eyes widened. "Me? At a family gathering? I don't think you understand how much I can't do that. Right now, talking to you is fine but if I'm in front of a bunch of strangers I'll start choking on my own spit." 

Matt laughed and pulled her into a hug. "That's what I love about you! You're the shy English girl who in her spare time likes to kick some Medieval backside." 

"Yes, and you're the loud American boy who in his spare time likes to bother every teacher in existence." 

"That's not entirely true, you know. I've changed, I accepted that detention from Filch without argument." 

"But you still got into a detention," Lucy frowned. 

"He put me in detention for hiding in a broom cupboard! Come on!" 

"Alright that is a little stupid," Lucy admitted. "But I'm glad you're becoming a better person." 

"Me too," Matt nodded. "Me too..."

"MATTHEW SCOTT JARVIN! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!" Matt's mother yelled. "KICKED OUT OF DURMSTRANG! DO YOU REALISE HOW MUCH MONEY IT COST TO MOVE HERE?! YOUR FATHER HAD TO GET A MUGGLE JOB TO GET MUGGLE MONEY TO PAY FOR THIS TRIP!" 

"I DON'T CARE!" Matt yelled. "IT WASN'T MY FAULT, ANYWAY!" 

"We've heard it before, Matthew," his father growled. "Even when you were a young child that's all you used to say 'it wasn't my fault, it wasn't my fault...'" 

"Well it wasn't!" 

"We've had it with you and your stupid behaviour!" His mother yelled. "Now we're going to have to move again! Goodness knows where we're going to go because your father and I have to find another job as well as get you into another Wizarding school..." 

"I don't want to go back to school," Matt said stubbornly, folding his arms. "I don't care if it's back home in America, I won't go." 

"Well you have to! It's the law!" 

"THERE'S NO WHERE ELSE TO GO!" 

"THERE WILL SURE AS HELL BE WIZARDING SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND!" 

"I DON'T CARE IF THERE ARE ONE HUNDRED WIZARDING SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND; I'M NOT GOING!"

His father grabbed hold of his shirt and looked him dead in the eye, Matt was truly scared. There was only one person he was afraid of and that was his father. "Yes you will." 

"Matt!" Lucy called desperately, trying to get his attention. "Matt! Focus! Matthew!" 

"Huh? What?" Matt suddenly snapped back to reality to find Lucy next to him looking rather worried. "What happened?" 

"Nothing happened, you were just worrying me," she admitted. "You just kind of drifted off and didn't move...it's probably what I do when I have a vision."

"I didn't have a vision," Matt shrugged. "I was just...I was just in deep thought, sorry for blanking out like that." 

"There's no need to apologise, I was just worried that's all." 

Lucy glanced back up towards the castle and saw Ben walking down to the black lake towards...them? Lucy tilted her head slightly and tried to define Ben's angry strut towards them, she looked at Matt now even more worried than before. 

"What?" Matt asked, addressing Lucy's worry. She pointed to Ben storming towards them and Matt looked up. "Oh..." 

"What do you think he wants?" Lucy muttered, thinking Matt couldn't hear but he did. 

"I don't know but we'll find out soon enough." 

Both Lucy and Matt were left in suspense as Ben came storming towards them. It wasn't long before he finally approached, Lucy expected him to speak but he did not. Instead he grabbed hold of Matt and lifted him up from the floor with just his strength, he looked him dead in the eye. 

"WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU ARE YOU DOING?!" Ben yelled in his face, Matt tried to flinch away but Ben forced him to look him in eyes. 

"Get off of me," Matt said, showing no emotion but he was trying desperate to keep calm, Lucy could tell. "Just get off of me." 

"Are you trying to back away from this like you do everything else?" 

Matt tried again. "Please get off of me. Just let go of me." 

"SHUT UP," Ben hissed. "YOU'RE GOING TO HURT LUCY LIKE YOU DID TO MY SISTER!" 

His fists clenched. "Don't say I didn't warn you," Matt said in a low voice before punching Ben in the face. Ben recoiled but did not fall. 

Ben felt his face where he had been punched and when he looked at his hand there was blood. He then rounded on Matt. "TWO CAN PLAY THIS GAME!" Ben yelled and launched at Matt, punching him too. Matt didn't even bother to stop to address his wound he just continued to punch Ben, Ben retaliated and the two ended up in a big fight. 

"Matt!" Lucy yelled as she stood up. "Stop!" She had asked him to promise to apologise to Ben but instead he was getting into a fight with him! But to be fair, Ben had been the one who had approached Matt and made him angry. Yet, this was still no way to react. 

Lucy tried to come between the two, she was going to drag Matt back before she was punched in the face. She staggered back and tried to not fall from her dizziness. She grabbed hold of the tree to stabilise herself but she was struggling. 

Lucy wiped the blood off of her face before Matt approached her, his mouth open. "Are you alright?" 

"Of course she's not alright! She's just been punched by one of us!" Ben snarled at Matt. 

"Which one of us was it?" 

"I-I don't know..." Ben admitted then turned to Lucy. "Do you know which one of us it was?" 

Lucy continued to wipe the blood from her face. "I don't know and I don't care right now," she looked at them both. "Why did you start a fight over that?" 

"We've got a bit of bad history between us," Matt snarled in Ben's direction. "Like I told you." 

"Just a bit," Ben growled in Matt's direction. 

"Like Matt said, I know what's gone on between you two but why don't you put that behind you? Sure Matt made a mistake, I'm not denying that but isn't it time to forgive each other? I don't even understand why you just had that fight." 

"Because," Ben looked down at his feet. "You already know the story about my sister and so I don't want Matt to hurt you either and after what happened yesterday I realised I had to save you." 

"I know Matt won't hurt me, we've made an agreement," Lucy said, Ben looked puzzled so she explained. "He said he promised he wouldn't and he also promised to do something else for me." Lucy turned to him and gave him a look. 

Matt understood what Lucy was saying and then turned to Ben. "I'm sorry for what I did to your sister and I'm sorry I punched you half a dozen times." Matt held out his hand. 

Ben shook his hand. "Apology accepted, and I'm sorry for punching you also." 

"Finally," Lucy rolled her eyes and folded her arms. 

"You better be nice to her though, Lucy is a really good friend and I swear if you ever hurt her I'll be straight back here," Ben confirmed and Matt nodded, not shying away from Ben's comment. 

"So will Dean," Lucy laughed, imagining Dean going wild. "Not to mention my dad." 

"What have I gotten myself into?" Matt pretended to groan, they all laughed before Matt turned back to Ben. "Of course I'll treat her well, besides if it's OK with Lucy I'd like to invite her to my house for Christmas." 

Lucy's eyes widened. "Y-You would?" 

"Why not? It'll be fun!" Matt assured. 

A short while ago, Matt had received a letter from his mother asking how he was getting on at Hogwarts. Thinking that Lucy wouldn't mind he stated that he had a girlfriend but did not specify who she was.

He had been standing in the courtyard at night in his coat his hands were in his pockets and he was watching the snow, he was completely immersed in his thoughts about Lucy, when an owl swooped down and gave him a letter. It was from his mother:

Dear Matthew 

Were you tired when you wrote that letter, dear? Are you sure you have a girlfriend? Or is it an imaginary one or one you've cast up with your wand? Is that what they teach you at Hogwarts? I'm only joking, I'm very happy for you. I presume you've been behaving a lot better now, someone has finally seen the light in you! I told you things would get better if you behaved, didn't I? 

I also think this calls for a celebration, invite her round for Christmas! I have to meet her and find out how she puts up with you (I hope you realise I'm joking, but not about the Christmas part! Please invite her!) 

Lots of love

Mother 

P.S) Have you met Lucy Snape yet? I really do admire that girl and it would be an honour to meet her, I mean if that's OK with your girlfriend presuming she doesn't get jealous...you know I'll love her just as much as I love Lucy Snape. 

"Mum and dad are really big fans of you too and really want to meet you," Matt added. "They're not too bad, I promise. They're just a bit...suffocating." 

"Well I suppose it'll only be like a hug from Dean," Lucy smiled, feeling like this would be the best Christmas for her in years. However, her dreams were shattered in an instant. "What will I tell dad?" 

"That you're going to McGuire's, I'm sure she'll play along with it like McGuire does." 

"McGuire?" Ben tilted his head. "As in Shona McGuire?" 

"Who else?" 

"Martyn McGuire," Lucy suggested. 

"Oh...but I was talking about Shona." 

"I'm only joking!" Lucy turned to Ben." But we were talking about Shona McGuire, why do you ask?" 

Ben shrugged. "Just curious." Ben glanced up towards the castle. "I'll see you two later, OK?" 

Lucy and Matt waved goodbye to Ben and as soon as he was out of earshot Lucy turned to Matt with a big grin on her face. She held onto Matt's hands and hopped up and down on one foot excitedly. 

"What? What is it? What has he said?" Matt wondered as Lucy squealed a little. 

"Ben asked after Shona!" 

"Sorry but I don't understand girl code," Matt admitted. "Do you mind speaking English?" 

"Ben asked Shona!" Lucy repeated, Matt was still befuddled and so Lucy explained. "Shona loves Ben and would like to go out with him and now he feels the same way!" 

"He asked after her, so what? I ask after my friends when they're feeling ill but it doesn't mean to say I love them." 

"Oh you're so clueless..." Lucy groaned and then focused for a moment. 'Shona!' She called in her mind. 'Shona!' 

'I hear you but I don't see you!' Shona replied almost automatically. 'Where are you, Rapunzel?' 

'On the grounds!' 

'Well...that explains a lot considering I'm in the library. What do you want?' 

'Ben just asked after you! When he asked why he wouldn't tell us!' 

'Who's 'us'?' 

'Me and Matt, who else?' 

'You and Dean, you and Snape, you and that fan club of yours, you and — ' 

'Yes, alright. Lets focus on the important part here!' 

'BEN ASKED AFTER ME?!' Shona yelled all of a sudden making Lucy jump. 'WHY IS ZUC PLAYING WITH OUR MINDS AGAIN?!' 

'Zuc isn't playing with our minds! It's true, even Matt heard it and he isn't being possessed by Zuc!' 

Shona remained silent for a moment before uttering one last thing. 'Meet me on the Viaduct.'

"Remember you told me not to zone out?" Lucy suddenly heard Matt calling her. "Well you're a hypocrite." 

"I was talking to Shona, I didn't zone out."

"Shona's not here, how are you talking to her?" 

"Mind powers, It's quite simple actually." 

"I've always wanted a super heroine as my girlfriend, mother told me I'd never get one." 

Lucy snorted. "Shut up otherwise I'll put on my cape." 

"Don't you mean your dad's cape?" 

The two of them walked to the viaduct and saw Shona standing there excitedly, as soon as she caught sight of Lucy and Matt she pounced on them. 

"What did he say?!" Shona demanded and grabbed hold of Lucy's tie. 

Lucy held her hands up in defense. "He asked after you!" 

Shona grabbed Matt's tie with her other hand. "I want his words exactly!" 

"Um...'McGuire as in Shona McGuire'?" Matt shrugged, looking at Lucy for confirmation. 

Just when Lucy and Matt thought they were going to be released, Shona pulled their ties more so that they both choked a little. "How did the conversation start!" 

"We'll t-tell you if y-you let go of our t-ties!" Lucy gasped for air desperately as soon as she was released. 

"What in the name of Lucy's great ancestor was that for?" Matt scowled, he looked absolutely repulsed. 

"I wanted information, I knew how to get it." Shona shrugged before Lucy explained how the conversation started. "I wondered why you two were looking a bit beaten up," Shona admitted when Lucy finished. 

"Oh no!" Lucy turned to Matt and saw the bruises appearing on his face. "I didn't realise how bad the brusing was!" Lucy took out her wand and healed him immediately. "I can't have you walking around like that..." 

"So why should I have you walking around like that as well?" Matt asked as he took out his wand and healed the single bruise on Lucy's face. 

"Oh, thank you!" Lucy smiled as Matt held her hand.

"I say we walk to the Great Hall," Matt announced. "I'm starving and I'm looking forward to dinner."

"B-But what about Ben! Tell me more!" Shona was practically begging. 

"There is nothing more to tell," Lucy turned to her friend apologetically. "I've said all that there is to say, I'm sorry Shona, I try to give you as much information as I can." 

"It's fine..." Shona muttered as Lucy and Matt walked ahead feeling extremely happy while Shona trailed along behind feeling rather upset. 

They reached the Great Hall in no time, Matt joined Lucy, Dean and Shona at the Gryffindor table and they began piling their plates with all that there was to offer. There was the usual murmur of voices across the Great Hall, everyone was looking forward to Christmas and there was nothing that could dim their spirits.

"Oh, Severus, I'm so happy for your daughter!" Jessica smiled as she watched Lucy and Matt from where they were sat at the teachers table. 

"Why?" Snape wondered as he too followed her gaze, he recoiled a little when he saw Matt with his daughter. 

"She's doing such a good job involving the press so she can finally have some time alone!"

Snape frowned at his plate. "Jessica?" 

"Yes?" 

"Do you think that she's actually going out with Mr Jarvin?" 

"Of course not! He's only helping her out. Maybe he likes her but she's drawn the line, I know she is sensible." 

"But what if she is going out with him? What if she's too scared to tell me?" 

"Why do you say that?" 

"Well she went out with that Weasley boy without telling me." 

"This is in plain sight though, she's going out with him for the public. She'd just tell you if she really was going out with him and at the same time it would be part of the plan to distract the press — " 

Snape and Jessica's conversation was suddenly interrupted by a first year girl from the Ravenclaw table who was covering her ears and screaming at the top of her lungs. The whole hall fell silent, ceased eating and turned their attention towards her. The teachers looked at each other in unison, trying to figure out what to do.

"Settle please," Dumbledore tried to say but before he could utter anymore commands a fifth year Hufflepuff girl chorused with her screaming and covered her ears at the same time. 

Nobody could work out why they were screaming until Lucy grabbed hold of Matt's hand and with the other held her forehead. It was as though she was going to faint and she couldn't figure out why.

"Lucy?" Matt asked. "Tell us what's going on." 

But Lucy needn't reply because in an instant everyone in the hall could hear what was going on. It was all inside of their heads at the same time as though having a thousand muggle television screens playing in sync in different rooms. 

'Greeting students, I am King Zuc. Do not be alarmed...I am not here to harm you, as long as you listen closely and follow my instructions I will set you all free...' 

Matt's head throbed, it was as though Ben had punched him a hundred times. He now knew exactly what Lucy felt like when she was experiencing a vision or hearing a message conveyed by Zuc. In fact, the whole hall did. 

'As some of you may know, I wish for the orb and Lucy Snape and as Hogwarts is such a protected place I cannot get in even though I have access to the portal of England. Now, if you all took her to a place where I can get hold of her I shall come and fetch her and you shall all be rewarded. I shall call off the war and the Wizarding community can live in harmony again and never fear anything to do with the medieval islands.' 

'However,' Zuc continued, his voice sharper this time. 'If you fail to do so, the war will happen sooner than expected. But before that I will kill all of the gifted, not before interrogating them of course, and I will then kill off everyone who is associated closely with them. Lets name some names shall we? Jessica, Matthew, Dean, Sally...oh the list goes on! But I don't need to mention surnames, do I? You know who you are. As I was saying, once those who protect you are gone I will kill every single one of you. Those who have the power to defeat you will decorate my castle walls, I'm in need of some new decorations. Dare defy the power of King Zuc and you are guaranteed to fail!' 

When Zuc had disappeared from everyone's mind the whole room seemed to be paralysed in shock. Lucy was the first to come to her senses and as she did, everyone else seemed to as well. Dean stared at her sadly, Matt looked pained and Shona was gobsmacked. Lucy shook slightly but kept a brave face on. 

"SOMEBODY THROW HER OUT!" Ellen yelled at the top of her lungs and pointed at Lucy. "SHE'LL KILL US ALL!" 

Everyone else seemed to join in, Lucy had no idea what to do. Dumbledore was trying to get all of the students to calm down but was failing and McGonagall and Flitwick's voices were drowned out by the constant yelling. 

Suddenly someone whistled extremely loud, the whole hall fell silent and they all turned to the Gryffindor table to stare at Matt. He stood on the table so everyone could see and hear him. 

"LISTEN UP YOU LOT OF UNGRATEFUL SWINES!" He yelled. "Nobody is throwing Lucy out of this school! She has as much of the right to be here as you or I. Sure Zuc wants her in his castle ready for slaughter but why would you just throw her out to protect yourselves? That's selfish! I saw better in you all when I came here..." 

Everyone fell silent just like they had when Zuc was speaking. Matt had control over the whole hall and nothing would get in his way. 

"I don't know about you lot but I'm staying right by her side when it comes to this pathetic excuse for a King. Why? No, not because she's my girlfriend but because I believe in her. I believe she has the capability to defeat Zuc and no one in here can bring her down. She's smart, she's strong and she might not always have the confidence to do so but in her eyes I see the person who's here to defeat Zuc single handedly. She's here to save you all and all you do is throw childish comments in her face. If I were you I'd start giving her compliments, I wouldn't want to bully someone who's going to save your lives." 

"I agree!" Dean nodded, scrambling onto the table also. 

"Zuc's still coming to kill us!" Someone yelled out in panic. 

"You heard the man! He can't even get inside Hogwarts!" Shona yelled and joined Matt and Dean. "If we all stay inside Hogwarts nothing can get us! You lot are so unobservant..." 

"What about the war?" Someone else yelled. 

"We'll be ready for it when it comes!" Johnny yelled boldly, Chris, Tyler and Alex agreeing with cheers. 

"Now who's with me in this?" Matt asked. 

"I certainly am." Everyone looked in the direction of the Ravenclaw to see Ben Truman standing up.

"I am too," Hermione agreed with Ginny, Ron and Harry at her side. Soon everyone started to see truth in Matt's words and agreed to them. 

Even the teachers were in favour of Matt's words (for once) all except Snape. He wasn't interested in what they were saying, he couldn't care less for what Matt was saying, he had always believed in his daughter and finally others were seeing sense and he didn't need to hear what he was saying to himself all along. 

"Severus?" Jessica asked, shaking his arm. "What's wrong?" 

"Sally..." he whispered. 

"Who's Sally?" 

"Sally..." he whispered again. "Sally's in danger." 

"Yes, but who is she?" 

"Sally McGuire, I hope you can guess who she is by the surname." 

"Shona's mother?" 

"Yes, Zuc mentioned her. He might not be able to get us but he can certainly get to her." 

"What will you do?"

"Gather up the Resistance, I want them all on the grounds of Hogwarts as soon as possible. We'll go to Cardiff in search of Shona's mother to keep her safe." 

"It's too dangerous, Severus!" 

"I don't care..." Snape shook his head. "I owe Mrs McGuire I big favour."