Dawnwich had lost all its appeal for Ravenna. It had always been that quaint little town where nothing ever happened. It had been one of very few safe spaces for Morgan le Fay students, because half the town – the muggles – didn't know what they were, and the other half had gotten so used to seeing them around that they were simply ignored.

But now, as she wandered through town to finalise her Christmas shopping, everything reminded her of the one thing she was trying desperately to forget: Alois. The pet shop had been closed, its windows boarded up, since the day of the raid, weeks ago. On the town square a memorial was placed, with a plaque and a bunch of fresh flowers, for the two people that had been killed that night.

Ravenna soon decided to escape the depressing town and wait in the Fae's Foot for the others, but the pub wasn't any better. From the moment she sat down in one of the booths, Alois' face shot through her mind. His voice, as he convinced her the wizarding world needed change. His smile, as he tried to put her at ease. Now, all it did was make her shiver with disgust.

Luckily, it didn't take long for her friends to join her. Everyone except Ella and Ezra had split up early in the afternoon to get their Christmas presents, but they must've run into each other somewhere, because all four of them entered the pub together. Dan went to the bar for drinks, while the others joined her at the booth.

It took Ravenna all of two seconds to notice the gloomy look on Ella's face. For a second she wondered if she and Ezra had been fighting, but the worried look on the older boy's face told her differently.

"Hey, guys," Ravenna said as her friends sat down. "Everything alright?"

"Absolutely," Ezra answered. "Got all our shopping done."

Ella merely nodded, while Willem shot her a concerned look.

"Five butterbeers coming up!" Dan exclaimed, floating five mugs filled to the brim with butterbeer over to their table. When he reached them, she noticed his smile didn't quite reach his eyes, and she could hold back no longer.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing," said Ella, her voice higher than usual. She grabbed one of the mugs. "It's fine. It's Christmas, how could something possibly be wrong?"

When the silence persisted, Ezra said, "Oh, Ella, I'm so sorry. I should never have brought it up."

Ella opened her mouth to respond, but her lip trembled and she took a sip of her drink instead.

"Brought up what?" came Willem's squeaky voice.

"It's my fault," said Ezra. "I was talking about how nice it was that we all stayed at Morgan le Fay for Christmas this year. How the whole class was complete over the holidays. But... Ella would've gone home if..."

Dan breathed in sharply before turning to their friend. "Oh, Ella..."

Ravenna felt her gut churn. That bastard, Alois, he was the one who had caused this. Him and his ruddy friends.

"It's my first Christmas without them," Ella muttered, tears shining in her eyes as she stared into her butterbeer. "My little brother used to love Christmas. He'd get all excited weeks ahead. My parents always gave him a giant bag of fizz balls, because he loved them so much."

Ravenna's heart constricted as her friend wiped the tears from her eyes, obviously struggling to not break down. She reached out a hand to pat her on the shoulder, but halfway through the movement she decided that was a silly thing to do, so she shoved her hand back into her pocket. How was she supposed to make someone feel better who was grieving the loss of their family?

Dan pulled her in for a hug. "D-Don't worry, Ella. We'll make sure you still have a wonderful Christmas. And we'll eat fizz balls until we're sick, in honour of your brother."

Ella let out something between a laugh and a sob. "That sounds nice."

"It's supposed to snow tomorrow," Ezra added. "We'll build snowmen and have snowball fights all day long."

"And have hot chocolate until our bellies slosh," Willem piped up.

Ella's smiled widened with every suggestion.

"Yeah," Ravenna added. "And then we'll pop Christmas crackers all throughout dinner." Those bloody things were much too noisy for Ravenna's taste, but she knew Ella loved them.

The girl's laugh really sounded like a laugh this time. She wiped her cheek dry with the back of her hand and nodded. "We will. Thanks, guys. I'm glad I still have a family at Morgan le Fay."

Ezra wrapped his arm around her back. "Screw Dawnwich. Let's just go home, shall we?"

Ella nodded. They all took a final swig of their butterbeers and left the half-empty mugs on the table.

The sky had already gone dark when they left the pub. Only the scattered stars and the bright moon lit the way for them. It was the kind of night in which the beautiful pin-pricked sky and the quiet calm would set your mind at ease.

But even a night like this couldn't drown out Dumbledore's overdue warning. Ever since they'd talked, she'd been wondering how he knew. He said her name had been mentioned by Death Eaters. How much trouble was she in? Had she made the right decision to hide the truth?

Even more importantly: Was she putting them in danger? Alois was pissed at her, that much was clear. And attacking her dad might have only been a first step. Would he come after her friends, too? Ironically, Willem was perhaps the only one who was safe, if he decided to do what the Death Eaters wanted.

A wolf howled in the distance, as Ravenna watched her four classmates walk ahead of her.

"I did not!" Ella exclaimed ahead of her. Even from this distance Ravenna could hear the smile within the indignation. The boys laughed. Ella reached out to push Dan away, but he caught her hand and pulled her into another side-hug. Something stirred deep inside Ravenna, but she pushed it down, just like she always pushed the magic down. She had no right to feel... whatever that sting meant.

As she watched her friends, Dan caught her eye over his shoulder. I still haven't told him, she thought as another wolf howled. Not about Dumbledore, not even about who attacked dad...

Dan pulled away from the others and slowed his pace until Ravenna had caught up. In fact, she realised, we haven't talked properly since he told me about the potion.

"Hey," he said. "You okay?"

No. "Yeah," was the word her mouth formed. "I just... feel bad for Ella, you know?"

Ravenna knew she was avoiding the subject she really wanted to talk about. But she had no idea how to approach it. She didn't even know how to forgive him for what he'd done. Even now, the thought of him slipping her a potion without her knowledge, the thought of trying to survive a Death Eater raid while being all groggy from a Drowsiness Draught, infuriated her.

Yet that same anger annoyed her. She didn't want to be angry, she just wanted her best friend back.

"We all do," Dan murmured. "I think the best we can do is just –"

Another howl tore through the night sky, silencing him. To the right, somewhere up in the hills overlooking Morgan le Fay's valley, a tree rustled, sending a whole flock of birds shooting up in all directions. Fleeing from whatever had spooked them. They flew high into the sky, lit up by a dazzling moon which hung like a light bulb in the sky.

Like a light bulb seen from below, Ravenna suddenly realised. It's a full moon.

"Did that seem... closer to anyone?" Ella shivered.

"Yeah. Let's pick up the p-p-pace," said Dan.

Ella grabbed hold of Ezra's arm and they walked on, the others just a step behind them. All of a sudden the Morgan le Fay gates seemed miles away.

"Run." Willem's voice came out like a croak, and for a moment Ravenna wasn't sure she'd heard him right. Then he pointed a trembling finger towards the nearby hills and screeched, "Run!"

Before she had a chance to spot the danger, Dan grabbed her hand and they sprinted off after their classmates. Her feet pounded on the grassy ground at the same rhythm as her heart against her chest. She could hear the beast now, its claws tapping in beats of four against the dirt as it came for them. The school lit up the distance, but even without looking back, she knew they wouldn't make it. They couldn't outrun a beast.

Ravenna heard the scream before she realised what happened. Ahead of her, Ella tripped and fell, landing flat on her face. She pushed herself back up, but her hand slipped in the grass and she barely caught herself.

Ravenna grabbed Ella's arm when she reached her. "Come on!" she screamed. "It's right behind us!"

Precious seconds ticked by as Ella scrambled to her feet. As soon as she had regained her balance, she set off, racing after the boys. Ravenna followed right behind her. The ground seemed to shake with every single one of the wolf's quick steps. Without slowing her pace, she threw a glance over her shoulder.

The beast was right behind her. A vicious, hungry look in its yellow-rimmed eyes. Lips pulled into a snarl, baring rows and rows of sharp fangs. Black fur covering ears that lay flat against its neck.

I'm going to die.

She wasn't sure when she'd stopped running. The world seemed to have slowed to a crawl as she watched every single one of the beast's paw slam against the ground. Its growl reverberated deep inside her.

"Ravenna!" someone screamed behind her. Dan.

No. No one gets to hurt Dan.

The magic awakened like a giant rising from its slumber. Switched on like a light. Within a split second it trembled the air around her, like bubbles in boiling water. Her whole world consisted of the magic. She could feel, hear, and see nothing but power.

The wolf leapt at her, and the magic reacted. It lashed out, invisible tendrils knocking the beast back down like a giant fist. It lay stunned for half a moment, before rolling back to its feet. It snarled angrily, its head lowered so far it almost touched the ground. Then it lunged again.

Ravenna raised a hand as if she could stop it, but the magic had already jumped into action. The tendrils grabbed hold of the wolf, used its own velocity to swing it over Ravenna's head and slammed it into the ground so hard that she felt the tremor of the ground reverberate deep inside her bones, making her shiver.

Too much. It's too much.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice told her to run, but her legs were frozen. The wolf whined in pain. It didn't get back up. Her mother's face, swimming with shock, flashed in front of her.

Not again...

But the magic boiled on. Ravenna stepped back, wrapping her arm around her belly, as if that would make the magical tendrils retreat as well.

"Stop," she breathed. "Enough. Stop."

It didn't listen. It curled around the wolf and lifted it up in the air. Ravenna's heart clenched as she watched it writhe and squirm against an unseen enemy. "No!" she screamed. "Let him go! Stop!"

She gathered all the strength she had and pushed against the magic, but it was like trying to push a thick wall of ice away.

The magic slammed the wolf down into the ground. It barely had time to wail before it was lifted up and slammed down again. And again. And again. Ravenna stumbled backwards. She squeezed her eyes shut. She felt the tremors of the ground every time the wolf hit it, but the wailing had stopped.

Go away, she begged her own magic. Stop. Leave me alone.

Slowly but surely, she felt it pull back. The ice wall was thawing. She pushed and pushed and pushed against it. Until finally there was only silence.

Ravenna opened her eyes. The wolf lay on its side. Motionless. On wobbly legs she took a few steps closer. The moon lit up patches of crimson in its fur.

She jumped back when it stirred. As she watched, the fur seemed to draw back into the beast's skin. The nozzle flattened. The four legs stretched.

She blinked, and all of a sudden it wasn't a wolf lying still on the grass in front of her. It was a human. A man, with his arms in strange angles and blood colouring his skin red. His empty eyes stared past Ravenna into the distance.

He was a werewolf. And he was dead.

"No..."

Ravenna's stomach turned as she stumbled backwards. Bile rose up. She thought she was going to throw up. Her chest heaved as she glanced around for something, anything, to make this go away. To let her know this wasn't real.

Several dozen yards away, from behind the Morgan le Fay fence, her classmates stared at her wide-eyed. Dan grabbed the fence tightly. Ella half-hid behind Ezra.

"No..."

She clutched her stomach with both hands. Bile burned in her throat. It wasn't me! she wanted to scream. I couldn't stop it!

Her eyes darted back and forth, until they landed on the hills to the south. She froze. Right at the top of the hill, stood a man. He was tall and fairly young, with brown hair that curled towards his eye on one side. His face looked pale in the moonlight, especially compared to the black robes beneath.

The man smiled.

Grinned, really. It split his face in half like a jack-o-lantern. He stared down at her. With a shock she realised he must've been there the whole time. Watching it. Seeing it.

This man had watched her kill someone.

The thought jogged her legs into action and she fled towards Morgan le Fay without looking back. Dan opened the fence and caught her when she stumbled into Morgan le Fay grounds.

"He saw it," she rasped. Her voice clawed its way up her throat. "All of it. I killed a man, and someone saw it all."