Low, quiet chattering came from the breakfast hall as Ravenna approached it. Quieter than it had been the previous morning. She suppressed a yawn, thinking perhaps the start of the school year was already taking a toll on the students.

She stepped through the open double doors and scanned the hall. At the end of the nearest table, Headmistress Slughorn looked up and nodded at her in greeting. Not for the first time Ravenna wondered how she did that; making it feel like she noticed every single thing that went on inside the school. Making it feel like every single one of her students was important to her. She nodded back before letting her eyes glide across the room.

It took her all of two seconds to spot Dan sitting one empty spot away from the end of the far table, his nose in a newspaper and absentmindedly taking a bite from his thickly-buttered toast. Opposite him, Ella's eyes were as wide as her smile as she chattered to Ezra and Willem; easily the loudest person in the room. As Ella averted her gaze to scoop some eggs and bacon onto her plate, Ezra exchanged an amused glance with Willem.

Ravenna had made it halfway down the table when Dan noticed her. The frown on his face melted into a smile as he lay the newspaper down.

"Morning," she said to her classmates as she took the seat Dan had saved her.

The boys barely responded, but Ella perked up and waved. "Good morning, Ravenna! Ready for our first charms lesson of the year?"

Charms. Along with transfiguration it was the bane of almost any Morgan le Fay student's existence. There was a reason they hadn't been accepted into Hogwarts; their magic simply wasn't strong enough. So the magic-heavy subjects, like charms and transfiguration, took them much more effort than subjects like magical creatures or potions, which required little wand-waving.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she grumbled, pouring herself a coffee. She had a different reason for hating these subjects. A lot of spell-casting in her case meant a lot of chances for things to go wrong.

"My little brother said, if he wasn't a muggle, if he had magic like me, he'd most look forward to learning charms." Ella giggled. "I told him he'd be the only one in all of Morgan le Fay looking forward to charms class."

"Literally the only one." Ezra nodded.

Dan turned to face her as Ella went back to her conversation with the boys – something about her younger brother and how he'd gotten himself into trouble for stealing some money from his mum's wallet to buy an ice cream.

"Morning," he said, handing her the bowl of sugar cubes.

She accepted it wordlessly, determined not to bring up what happened the night before. Not that it mattered. She knew he would bring it up the first chance he got.

"Sleep well?" He grinned pointedly.

Okay, she thought, raising an annoyed eyebrow in his direction. That was even quicker than I'd expected.

Just when she opened her mouth for a retort, the words "Oh, shut up, will you?" resounded through the hall. Her eyes searched for the source of the commotion, until they landed on a girl jumping up from one of the other tables.

A newspaper crumpled in her fist as she looked down at the boy next to her with unconcealed disgust. "If you're okay with this, you're just as bad as them." The girl threw the newspaper at her friend before storming off, leaving a silent breakfast hall behind. The boy slumped over in his seat, pretending not to notice everyone staring, as his cheeks turned crimson.

Slowly but surely, the morning chatter returned to the hall.

"What was that all about?" Ravenna wondered aloud.

Dan's smile had disappeared and she noticed the concerned look on his face. It sent a spark of worry through her chest. He slid his newspaper across the table towards her.

DEATH EATER TERROR CONTINUES, the headline screamed.

"Another attack," Dan explained as she scanned through the article, her heart clenching with every word she read. "They killed some low-ranked government official, smack in the middle of a muggle street. A dozen muggles got hurt, one even died. Many more watched it happen. The Department of Magical Accidents spent hours wiping memories."

"That's awful..." Ravenna muttered. "Why would these Death Eaters do something like that?"

Dan shrugged. "They must've been after that government guy, as he's the only wizard who was killed, but the article isn't very clear about the why."

"Marnic Mackernell," she read from the article. "Doesn't ring a bell. Maybe he's part of that team that's trying to stop the Death Eaters."

"It doesn't matter," Dan immediately shot back. "Whatever legislation he was working on, they didn't have to kill him for it."

"And the muggle who died, all those that got hurt!" Ella spoke up, her eyes wide with disbelief. She, too, held a newspaper in her hands. "They were just innocent bystanders. I can't believe anyone would do that."

"What if he's the one who's trying to stop us from taking our exams?" Four pairs of eyes turned to Ezra. He shrugged and took another bite from his eggs. "I'm just sayin'. You wouldn't hate them so much then, would you?"

"I would!" Ella protested. "They killed two people. No matter who the victim was, that's still evil."

"I wouldn't." Willem shrunk under Ella's appalled glare, but didn't back down. "The Ministry is ruining our lives. Maybe it's a good thing someone's finally standing up to them."

"At the cost of human lives?" said Dan.

"Whatever it --"

"D'you know what?" Ella spoke up. She made a show of folding up her newspaper and stashing it into her book bag. "It doesn't matter. It probably wasn't him anyway. We've got more important things to talk about."

Willem leaned over his breakfast and got back to his toast with hunched shoulders, while Ezra shot the girl an amused smile. "Is that so?"

A lone owl came swooping down through the open, circular window at the front of the hall.

"Yes. Such as our weekend plans." She turned to Dan and Ravenna, just as the owl dropped a letter onto Ravenna's lap. It hooted and turned back immediately, not even stopping for a quick snack. "We're all going out to Dawnwich this weekend. Do you want to come?"

Ezra's face tensed. Ravenna averted her gaze to focus on the letter, muttering, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Yes!" said Ella. "We'll all be stuck with each other for a whole year, possibly even more. We need to make the best of it."

Ravenna glanced at Dan, who shrugged, as she absentmindedly tore the envelope open.

"Why not?" he said. "It sounds like fun. We'll be there, Ella."

"Yay! Brilliant!"

"Stellar," said Ezra, the sarcasm dripping off his voice. "I'm gunna head to class. You comin'?"

Ravenna frowned as she scanned the contents of the letter. "We'll be right there," she heard Dan say, but it registered only in the back of her mind.

Their three classmates had already left when a nudge in her side shook her out of her thoughts.

"What is it?" Dan asked.

"D'you remember that guy in Diagon Alley? The one who handed me back my wand?"

"Yeah..."

"I think this is from him. Listen to this. I was thoroughly impressed by your power. Your magic is one of a kind. I've never seen anything like it. Wow."

"Look at that," said Dan, peering at the letter over her shoulder. "Have you ever thought about using that magic for bigger things? What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure..." She read on. "As a Morgan le Fay graduate myself, I know what you're going through. What your future looks like. And I want to help. Huh... And here. Me and my associates are working hard to make a change. To make sure everyone is treated equally, whether they graduated at Hogwarts or at Morgan le Fay."

"Wow."

"I know." Ravenna stared at the letter. These people wanted to bring about change, and they came to her for help. Nobody had ever gone to her for help before. Much less regarded her rampart magic as a positive thing. "Do you think I should do it?"

Dan's jaw dropped. "Are you joking?"

"No... Why?"

"He sounds like a... Like a fanatic! Why would you want to join someone like that?"

Ravenna's face fell. "Oh, right, because when someone has something good to say about my magic, it's got to be fishy, is that it?"

"That's not what I'm saying. Think about it, though. If he wants your magic, which he knows is so powerful you can't control it, what do you think he's going to do with it? He'll use you to hurt people. You don't want that, do you?"

Of course not! she wanted to shout, but the words got stuck on her tongue. No, she didn't want to hurt people. But the letter said nothing about violence. Only change. And that was a good thing, surely?

Besides, this man was the very first person who had ever seen her magic as something other than appalling. Destructive. Evil, even. This man saw it as an opportunity, not a threat. What if he was right? Could he help her turn her power into something good?

"He wasn't afraid of me. What if he can help me out?"

"Ravenna..."

"There's no harm in hearing him out."

"There is, Ravenna. This dude is dangerous. Please, stay away from him."

She scoffed, averting her gaze to stare at the letter. Hope and scepticism fought a battle in her heart, and Dan had chosen his side.

He lay a hand on her wrist and looked into her eyes. His own swam with worry. "I'm serious, Ravenna. I don't want you to get in trouble. Stay away from him, okay? For me?"

Something gnawed at her insides, but Dan's anxious face drowned it out. Perhaps her best friend was right. Her magic was malicious, and nothing - nobody - could change that.

Maybe these people could change the world without her help.