The blond-haired girl stood up while taking her neck with both hands and a choking expression was reflected in her eyes as Calynn and Lily were disturbed, but apparently both teachers already knew what it was. Meryl emitted light sounds as if she needed water at the same moment but immediately she stopped and her legs began to stretch slightly as her characteristic blond hair began to turn dark, her green eyes slowly lightened reaching a bright blue at the same time that Calynn and Lily's former friend had disappeared before her eyes and instead a young woman of no more than thirty years could be seen while blinking, first greeting the principal and Professor McGonagall.

"Justine," Dumbledore said, taking her arm and kissing her cheek.

"Professor Dumbledore, it's nice to see you," the woman commented as she gave the old man a smile. The three children looked astonished at what had just happened, their looks of disbelief were a sign of their confusion about it.

"Glad to see you," said Professor McGonagall this time, hugging her. After the old Meryl finished greeting both of them, silence reigned again in the room while Dumbledore was about to speak, getting up.

"She is Miss Callen," Dumbledore began as he pointed to the woman with the palm of her hand and she only gave them a smile. "Professor McGonagall and I decided at the beginning of the course to place an adult capable enough to protect a student, since we assumed that it was in this generation that we would find the winner of the Moira Curse and we did not want to neglect the indicated one," explained the director while still being watched by those looks of surprise on the part of the three students. "All the time we thought you were the new Death Eater at school, and apparently we weren't wrong," the director concluded, letting the little ones talk.

"But how is it that Meryl is that way now?" Calynn asked trying to express himself as well as possible.

"Polyjuice Potion," Dumbledore replied, "that potion allows you to transform yourself into someone else with just something of the person you want to convert for a period of time," the old man explained as the little girls listened, tried to sort their questions.

"You mean there really is a Meryl Johnson?" Asked the boy seriously.

"That's right, Mr. Snape," he began. "The real Meryl Johnson lived on Spinner's End, some houses further from yours, Miss Evans. In fact, she comes from a family of Muggles, so your parents had a fairly close relationship with the parents of the real Meryl," the director continued. "That relationship lasted until they learned about their daughter's magical powers and lost contact for fear of sharing this and being considered insane," said the old man as he remembered exactly the events that happened. "The day when the real Meryl got her letter from Hogwarts, I went to meet the parents, just as I did with you, Miss Evans, only Miss Johnson was slightly older than you," said the principal while keeping everyone present quite focused on the story. "It was at that moment that the idea came to my mind because I knew that you," he mentioned to Calynn, "and Miss Evans shared a friendship, something that could help me to have a spy inside Spinner's End, something that worked quite well for a few months. Unfortunately, months before you arrived to Hogwarts," he mentioned referring to little Black, "Miss Johnson would go to live with her parents in France, so the change of school was necessary and, one of the proposals I made to her parents to still have the protection that the teacher and I aspired was to ask Miss Johnson for some ingredients for the Multijugos potion," Dumbledore continued, making slight pauses. "Later we managed to make a large portion with the help of Professor Slughorn and we decided to look for the right person to acquire that protection." He paused as he gave a smile to the blue-eyed woman who returned her as friendly. "We found Miss Callen a few days after her participation in the attack of one of the oldest Death Eater settlements where she emerged quite victorious. We sent her this request by an owl and received his approval a couple of days later, saying she would take this opportunity to... to do what, Miss Callen?" Dumbledore finished, looking back at the woman.

"To enjoy Hogwarts once again, not paying attention to classes at least once and missing the scrolls of Transformations, isn't that true Professor McGonagall?" Justine asked as she saw the teacher trying not to laugh.

"Especially in Transformations," said the teacher, unable to suppress a slight smile.

"But professor, the potion that took moments before physically changing, what was it?" Asked Little Black this time, quite curious, remembering that the bottle barely had any liquid.

"Veritaserum, a truly powerful potion that seeks the truth," Dumbledore began as he turned his face toward that little bottle. "A couple of drops make the one who takes it begin to speak with pure truth and, in this case, Miss Callen managed to disappear the effects of the Multijugos potion," the director finished explaining.

"That's why the frequent talks with McGonagall!" Lily exclaimed this time a little stronger than she would have wished.

"Exactly, Miss Evans, I also suppose that you will have noticed some complex spells your partner was able to perform," Dumbledore added, now everything made sense and, although not often she did that in front of them, they could not deny that a couple of occasions had happened where they wondered how Meryl could conjure certain spells.

"Legilimency? ¿Occlumency?" Calynn asked the woman who had previously been her friend, receiving a nod from the woman.

"I don't want you to be offended," Justine began, "you may feel slightly cheated now, but Dumbledore's plan really paid off," the woman continued. "I'm sorry I made false hopes, at first McGonagall insisted that I tell you the truth to avoid what could be a disappointment, but in the end we realized that the best thing was the ignorance of my identity," she continued as she saw the teacher for a moment, "I'm sorry I read your thoughts and mostly lied to you, but in the end there was no better way to protect you," she ended up regretting.

"I think you should not apologize," Lily spoke, "no matter who you really are, you gave us the opportunity to spend unforgettable moments with a friend we really considered and despite this we still consider you that way," said the redhead and then directed a slight look at Calynn.

"And even more important, you took care of us, that's impossible to thank," Calynn commented, giving the woman a smile. It is not that things were going to be the same, because they knew that Meryl was not the same with blond hair, but they knew that behind that new face, her same friend was hiding and even more special now that they know the truth.

"The day the Death Eaters attack," Lily began after a scorching silence. "Where were you?"

"In the school grounds, no one would suspect Meryl if they saw me as Justine that day," the woman explained. "However, the plan went out of our hands, we thought that Voldemort would assume that Dumbledore would be taking care of you," she said, addressing Calynn, "for that same reason we protected Dumbledore twice and tried to mix you with everyone to not raise suspicions," she continued. "We never imagined that Voldemort entrusted such a task to Druella's daughter," she finished with surprise and an expression of fear on her face.

The room was filled with silence while everyone present thought about the newly discovered and everything that had happened so far. Although Calynn and Lily were eternally grateful to Justine, they both couldn't avoid that feeling of surprise at that revelation. Little Black was still watching the floor, deep in thought, when a voice brought her back to reality.

"What will happen now?" Severus asked both professors. "According to the letter we have less than five days left to carry out the plan and be able to explain everything to the Ministry." He finished as he gave a light look at a paper on the principal's table, apparently it was the same letter.

"Now we must plan our attack on the Malfoy Manor," Dumbledore said seriously as he told the three boys to get a little closer to the desk.

"When do you think we can do it?" Justine asked as she moved closer to the table.

"Maybe in two or three days, the expulsion of Miss Black is something that has already been notified, and although we could hide her in the school, I would like to fulfill with the estimated date," said the director, receiving an approving gesture from of the old Meryl. "Mr. Snape and Miss Evans, how prepared are you really considered for a duel against the darkest and most difficult magicians?" He questioned, perhaps for Lily it might seem like a joke, although Severus analyzed his abilities better. It was at that moment that Calynn realized that Snape's secret would be revealed to Lily if Dumbledore escaped, because he knew that, being on the side of the Death Eaters, he should have a better training.

"I suppose that with a little more practice I could rise to it," Snape said, unable to avoid a tone of arrogance, Calynn instinctively turned to the old Meryl waiting for her face in disgust, but instead only saw a woman listening to both children seriously.

"I only know what we've been practicing during classes," the redhead replied with a shrug.

"It's not something we have to worry about," Dumbledore commented, though, deep down, Calynn knew it was. "We will work as follows; Justine and Miss Evans, on the one hand. Miss Callen, you know what you should teach. Meanwhile, Miss Black and Mr. Snape, I suppose you could both challenge to a duel of wands." He was about to move forward when he turned back to them and added. "Just disarm, nothing to use Unforgivable Curses," he finished without looking at Calynn first.

The four of them settled down to begin their training while Dumbledore and McGonagall simply observed memories in the Pensive and among them, they discussed some things of the Ministry of Magic and some details of the Malfoy Manor, apparently, they were planning the attack taking care of every little detail.

"I suppose I shouldn't explain anything to you," Calynn commented as she stood in front of Severus, preparing for that duel of wands, apparently the office looked even bigger without the many tables and chairs inside it, Dumbledore had taken the time to remove them to give them a little more space.

Severus just shook his head while also preparing for that duel.

"Ready?" Severus commented this time waiting for the response of his friend, made a slight bow and waited for the one who attacked first.

"Expelliarmus!" Calynn exclaimed as the spell was easily deflected by Severus.

"Immobulus!" Said Severus while Calynn barely protected herself from the spell.

The duration of the duel was quite a lot. For a moment, without either of them realizing it; Lily, Justine, Dumbledore and Minerva watched in amazement, although the fluidity of spells was greater by Severus, the variety was much more from Calynn.

Although she was amused, she began to exasperate herself, there must be a winner.

"He doesn't deserve to beat you, after everything you've fought and practiced." A voice began to rumble inside her head as she tried not to get too distracted. "You know your wand can give more, not just spells," said the voice dragging the words, "curses!" The voice shouted inside her head trying to endure that duel. "Say it, maybe you can resist them, but you shouldn't resist the temptation to mention them." This time Severus' spell struck little Black, causing her wand to fly through the air as she fell right where Severus was. Calynn seized the moment to cover her ears, trying to get the man out of her mind.

"Are you okay?" Severus asked, his voice could be heard from a distance, so Calynn didn't answer, waited a moment and apparently the voice was gone, although the mark kept burning and moving.

"I think it's close, Voldemort is close," she assured no one in particular.

"What do you mean, Miss Black?" Asked the director who had been watching everything.

"I heard his voice and the mark moves and causes a very strong burning," she said as she took her forearm.

"He will not risk entering the school grounds," the principal added.

"No, but sometimes he gets as close as possible to communicate, I think it is best to plan everything faster, at least from my mind he won't be able to read anything," Calynn said as she approached Severus to take her wand. "I think he feels when I'm in a duel, I think the mark tells him somehow, it feeds the mark," she said melancholy as she returned to position, ready for a new fight.

It was amazing the way Calynn had improved in the wand fights, she couldn't help remembering those days where seeing a wand caused her a tremendous phobia, or that first kind of defense with Severus outside the Malfoy Manor; although none of the two currently taught the other, the difference between them was quite noticeable, it was on more than one occasion that immobilized Severus with great ease.

"I am amazed at the way you have improved," Severus mentioned to his companion as he picked up his wand that was right at his partner's feet. "A few months ago, it was me who taught you how to move the wand." He ended up retracing his steps.

"Dumbledore's classes are exhaustive," Calynn began before returning to the grieving position, "but they give very good results," she ended up concentrating and then bowing.

They practiced about two hours, the night that passed through the windows covered their faces accompanied by yawns and tired looks, especially of Severus and Calynn who had been dueling for a long time without a single rest, apparently the need for a break was so obvious to be perceived by the same director who approached them to congratulate them.

"You have done an excellent job. Miss Callen and Miss Evans, I think you have improved a lot, although I would like to meet you here tomorrow as early as possible to continue practicing the movements to dodge spells, in general I liked the rapid progress," he ended up looking back at Severus and Calynn, "I would also like your presence here tomorrow, we will practice common-use spells, but that does not mean that they cannot save us from certain death, so that is the importance of their knowledge," he ordered before adding one more thing. "We must hurry, tomorrow we will talk about the plan and in these two remaining days we will dedicate ourselves to plan our movements perfectly, nothing can go wrong," he finished, saying goodbye to each one. They were about to leave when McGonagall's voice stopped them.

"Miss Callen, I think you forget this," she said as she showed a slightly different bottle in her hands than she had consumed a couple of hours ago.

"True," said the woman, addressing the teacher in a hurry to reach the jar. "I have the rest in the common room," she said, then take the potion quite quickly. Immediately, the woman's height was diminished, her eyes returned to that emerald glow, her hair again dyed blond as she adjusted Gryffindor's uniform again. Calynn and Lily watched Meryl as they had never done, now that they knew the true identity behind that friendly face, they could not avoid their gestures of confusion by trying to get used to reality.

"Come on! Remove those faces, I'm still the same funny blonde," Meryl commented in the same voice that both little girls remembered, nothing similar to the one she really had in her adult appearance, she was another person altogether.

Calynn and Lily nodded as they said goodbye once again to both teachers and then began to quickly descend the steps of the principal's office.

"It's time to go," Severus announced as he would change direction to reach the common room of the snakes.

"See you tomorrow, after breakfast," Calynn said goodbye while Meryl gave him a slight smile. However, Lily just looked down, it was obvious that she was still quite upset about what happened days ago, that insult had broken the redhead's heart like never before and for her it was a great complication to be with Severus during meetings with Dumbledore, but in the end she knew that Lily did that to protect Calynn, regardless of the presence of Severus.

Calynn, Lily and Meryl went to the common room sleepy, although it was slightly reduced by the curiosity that Lily and Calynn had about Meryl, despite the questions asked in the office, there was still much to discover, too many unanswered questions that would finally make sense.

The corridors were completely empty, which prevented them from emitting a word so that Filch would not discover them and it was not until they passed through the Fat Lady's painting that they began to flood the blonde with words.

"How long does the Polyjuice potion last? Why did Dumbledore let me go to the Malfoy Manor on Christmas holidays? Do you write with the real Meryl? What happens if someone who takes the potion dies in the form of the other person? Isn't it tempting to do what you want by being someone else? Can you become an animal? Or someone of the opposite sex?" Questions like these flooded Meryl's head, who only answered them with a yawn towards her companions.

"It's not that I want to offend you, but the rest I need is inevitable," she said, causing a gesture of disappointment in both girls. "I will gladly answer your questions tomorrow morning, don't worry," she finished as she began to climb the steps to the bedroom, followed by both girls. They all said goodbye quickly lay down, ready to sleep.

Calynn, who was slow to close her eyes, was still quite surprised at what had just happened; However, Meryl's revelations were not the only thing that kept her awake, Dumbledore's plans and the help of her friends was not entirely to her liking, since the last thing she wanted was to lose someone else or not achieve the goal, disappointing Dumbledore. She constantly moved between the sheets trying to avoid thoughts like that until darkness flooded her eyes, although she was still quite conscious, she knew she was entering a dream.

She felt the wind on her face while she was moving her short hair, her eyes were closed and she was held by the waist of a person while she felt that she was slipping more and more, she realized that they were flying on a broom.

Suddenly, the broom braked violently while Calynn lost the little grip she had left and began to fall into the void, her thunderous scream was the only audible as she moved away from the broom. She expected the impact with the ground when, from somewhere, a spell hit her and fell to the ground with a small blow. She tried to get up while she managed to see the people around her; a man, quite wounded, was lying on the grass right next to her, Voldemort stood right in front of the little girl who apparently was about five years old and finally, on her other side, was her mother who dared not move along. Calynn sat quite confused and slightly sore and heard Voldemort's voice penetrate her ears.

"Stupid Death Eater!" Riddle snapped as he saw the man who only begged him to apologize as he tried to forget the pain obtained from his wounds. "You've almost let my daughter die," he said in a whisper as an expression of amazement erased his laments. "Avada Kedavra!" A greenish light came out of Voldemort's wand accompanied by a dry noise that indicated the instant death of that man. Calynn began to cry, inconsolable, at least her gaze had failed to see the last gesture of that man. "Rosier!" He snapped against Druella this time trying to maintain a serious stance. "How could you entrust the life of the girl to that man!" He suppressed her annoyed. "A false move Rosier and you will be the second to die after the girl," he whispered and then added. "Now take away her memory!" He exclaimed so that Druella hurried to approach the small one, to cast a spell to her and to pass out in the past as in the present.

She woke up hours later, the bedroom was still quite quiet while getting out of bed. She noted that it was still quite early and that only a couple of students were already getting ready. She decided not to waste any more time and began dressing and once she was ready, she went down to the Great Hall to taste some waffles and pudding they offered at school, accompanied by the unique flavor of the wallflower. She was at mid-breakfast when Meryl and Lily reached her at the table of the lions.

"Hello, early riser," Meryl said, giving her a smile.

"Now!" Screamed the redhead as soon as she sat at the table. "I start with the questions, how long does the Polyjuice potion last?" Asked Lily without hiding her curiosity.

"One hour, although Slughorn mentioned that we could make it last longer," the blonde replied confidently.

"Can you become an animal?" Asked Calynn this time, taking the opportunity to clarify her doubts.

"No, that conversion would not work out," the blonde replied.

"What happens if you die in the form of another person?" Asked Lily before eating some fruit.

"You keep the figure of the other person, that is, the potion does not end," the girl explained.

"Why Dumbledore let me go to the Malfoy Manor on Christmas holidays?" Asked Calynn quite confused.

"It was complicated, you wouldn't let yourself help and I wasn't smart enough to reveal the secret to you to trust me," Meryl replied, disappointed in herself. "It was obvious that Dumbledore didn't want you to go, but leaving aside that you didn't trust us, Dumbledore had a great fear about what would happen if he didn't let you go, he didn't know what Druella and Cygnus would be able to do as revenge," the blonde explained, regretting. "We are sorry for leaving you at that moment, but we couldn't control the situation," Meryl finished with disappointment.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, I think I should have trusted you a little more, just that I wasn't ready at the time," Calynn said trying not to feel bad.

They continued with breakfast while Meryl still answered some questions that occurred to both girls, although they rushed to the director's office.

They watched the James Potter group enter through the gates of the Great Hall while they merely looked down as they moved around to sit in a more secluded place.

"How could you get along so well with Potter and his friends?" Calynn questioned, quite stunned, Meryl's true identity was too mature to be able to have a good relationship with Potter.

"Being older doesn't mean I can't have fun," said the blonde. "When I really attended Hogwarts as a student," she whispered this time, "I dedicated myself to learn, since I was little I knew that I wanted to overcome evil, but I was also aware of what that meant, that is, I knew the effort I had to make at Hogwarts to achieve it," she commented as she set the silverware aside. "I couldn't miss the opportunity to go back to Hogwarts without doing all the pranks I would have liked to do the first time I was here." She finished as she got up. "It's time to go with Dumbledore, we still have to practice that Stupefy and the wand movement a lot," the blonde finished addressing Lily, who only blushed slightly. They started the march to the principal's office when, halfway down the stairs, a shout caught the attention of the three girls.

"Black!" Called a voice from a floor above. Calynn turned instinctively as she watched Longbottom's face when she felt an impact on her face, the boy had thrown one of his school books while groups of small students came out of other ends to follow Frank's current while Calynn was frequently impacted while Meryl stopped some of the impacts while burning the books before they could get where they were.

"Throwing books is nothing when you have a wand," said a voice behind her, it was Malfoy, "although a duel of wands with you would end in less than five seconds," Lucius said arrogantly as the students stopped throwing books at Little Black. To hear that discussion.

"I suppose, I would take your wand in less than three seconds," Calynn replied as she managed to turn the blond's proud gesture into one of surprise and displeasure.

"How dare you?" Said Malfoy with a vengeful look. "You'll pay for it, Black!" Lucius shouted as he raised his wand, ready to attack. Calynn got his way equally, but Meryl arrived before Malfoy could do something. "You? Mudblood..." the blonde dragged the words arrogantly as he gestured to lower his wand.

"I understand you are afraid," Meryl commented, causing Malfoy to raise his wand more than he could afford and more firmly.

"I'm not afraid," Lucius added, "it was just an opportunity for you to reconsider your decision."

"Not worth it," Lily whispered, taking Meryl by the arm as she let go of her grip and defended herself from the first attack by the blond. The names of various spells and their sounds were heard for almost two minutes while both students moved slightly, approaching the edge of the stairs. However, the students on the upper floor watched in amazement, it was obvious that they worshiped the magician's duels among students. Sometime later, when Meryl was about to corner Lucius and get her wand removed, a rumble coming from a few steps up made both of them lower their wand instantly.

"Enough!" The director exclaimed with an annoying gesture in the face, they knew that their classes with Dumbledore would be more serious than expected, apparently, he expected a little more from Meryl.

The blonde, looking at the director, did not try to refute, simply kept the wand and looked down. "Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Longbottom to Professor McGonagall's office," Dumbledore said, "the rest to my office," he said as the girl group hurried to reach the teacher; a couple of laughs could be audible, coming from the group of students who had observed everything quite attentively. "And you will go to class or you will end up at the Hogwarts Express back home," Dumbledore added before reaching the bird, saying the password and coming up with the three girls following in the footsteps. They entered and, before he allowed anyone to start speaking, he gave a bottle with a potion to Meryl who took it reluctantly, going back through that transformation to that woman, immediately after Dumbledore began to speak. "Don't you think it's disappointing that an auror like you participates in a children's fight?" Dumbledore questioned incredulously.

"I'm sorry, Dumbledore, but Malfoy arrived just at the moment they broke my patience," the woman said seriously, making a gesture of despair.

"In spite of everything, Mr. Malfoy is still a student and that is why he deserves to be respected," the director added.

"Yes, I'm sorry, Dumbledore," Justine said. The director only exhaled before beginning to speak.

"Today both will practice the defense spells you saw yesterday," Dumbledore said, turning his face to Justine and Lily. He was going to add something else when the opening of the office door caught everyone's attention and they managed to see Severus, quite shy. "Mr. Snape, I'm glad to see you," Dumbledore said as he watched the boy enter. "Both of you will practice basic spells today that we may have missed, I will help you in time when Professor McGonagall arrives," the director said as he rose from the desk seat. "So, let's start," Dumbledore hurried as they split into the room so that everyone had enough space to practice. First, they reinforced an enchantment to attract things, reviewed Lumos and learned Lumos Maxima, some others to cause water or fire and to convert objects.

They practiced about an hour with Dumbledore until the teacher arrived, she looked quite busy, apparently, she had delayed and felt quite guilty.

"I'm sorry to be late, Dumbledore," she began, "but Mr. Malfoy came to my office demanding a punishment," she continued to leave some jars on his desk and then addressed Dumbledore. "At least I have arrived, shall we begin?"

The director let Severus and Calynn continue alone to address the teacher and together they would take out that kind of fountain, which was actually the Pensive. Before refocusing, little Black could not help but notice how McGonagall selected one of the dozens bottles she had brought and emptied its contents, it was clear that Dumbledore had thought of everything.

Her training did not last long, Severus and Calynn already had a great ability to be able to delay much with such simple enchantments. Their wondered what the director had planned, the simple act of trying to beat her mother seemed completely impossible, although she knew Dumbledore and knew that he always found a way and, if possible, the safest of all.

They waited a moment without saying a word while observing Lily and Justine practicing, the redhead's progress was quite noticeable.

Both teachers left the Pensive and turned to the boys, they realized that they only waited for their indications. Dumbledore turned his head toward Professor McGonagall, obtaining only a statement with his head and then the old man told them to sit down.

"The plan may be slightly insane for you, but there is no need to worry," Dumbledore began. "You must trust us, you still have time to repent and refuse to collaborate on this," Dumbledore insisted, looking for one of the two boys to add something, but silence reigned after Dumbledore's comment, the decision had already been made, there was no return behind. "Well, it is important that you listen carefully and ask your questions, we still need to clarify a couple of details," explained the director before starting the real talk about the plan. "Andromeda Black has helped us by reading Mr. Malfoy's thoughts during the last few days to discover the reason for staying here at Hogwarts when it was the attack and the plans of Lord Voldemort. Miss Black has found that Lucius did not show up that day for a simple cowardice that he will have to pay dearly, and she has learned that, in the days when Professor McGonagall and I have planned to end the attack, Lord Voldemort will be too busy in others matters outside the Malfoy Manor, so it won't mean any trouble," Dumbledore added with some relief, at least it was a less worry. "Before you begin and if you allow me," Dumbledore began addressing Severus, "do you think it is safe to trust you?" The director questioned with an infinite seriousness.

"Why do you say that?" The child dared to ask with a slight intonation of offense.

"Knowing that you are one of them and that you have that mark on your forearm, it is possible to use you as a threat from inside the mansion," Dumbledore replied, but before he could get an answer, the redhead interrupted Severus with another question.

"Is what he says true, Severus?" The girl questioned with tears in her eyes, it was evident the internal struggle she had to keep them there, however, the boy did not give her an answer, apparently, she did not dare. Lily, slightly more annoyed took the left arm of Severus and rolled it up at high speed before the boy could do something while a gesture of great disappointment formed on the face of the child, the tears were unstoppable.

At that moment, Lily had finally felt that sense of loss because, after those insults by Severus himself, that this belonged to that group of people so dark and cold was the only thing missing. A moment of silence was a sign of the mental analysis that Lily presented at that time and, out of nowhere, the redhead only gave Calynn a look of surprise combined with a slight annoyance, she knew that, if Severus was part of the Death Eaters, her friend knew it perfectly. Lily looked at both of them shaking her head, disappointed, while Dumbledore was only silent, understanding the situation, but also slightly worried.

Despite everything that happened, Lily was still sitting at the desk, apparently had no intention of defeating her participation in the plan.