By that morning, the entire school is whispering about what happened last night. No one has any idea how the rumors started, but they're spreading like wildfire. Julia, Agnes, Maria, Hannah, and Lauren don't talk about it that much, and when asked questions they just say they don't know anything about the subject. Professor Knisely was released from the hospital wing early that day, but the girls haven't seen him. They were too preoccupied with their head of houses to discuss their previous punishments.

Professors McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick sat in an office with the five girls and the students explained the secret potion making, which was the root of their forgetful behavior during the middle of the school year. Professor Sprout is completely shocked when she hears about the group inventing a potion, and she looks to her coworkers. "I have never heard of such a thing for second years to accomplish!"

Lauren takes a small booklet out of the pocket of her robes and hands it to Professor Flitwick. "We wrote the directions down. You can read it over if you don't believe us."

The three professors flip through the book starting at the marked page. Most of it is covered with notes and scribbled out ingredients. Professor Flitwick beams when he gets near the end. "Moonstone gem? Never would have thought. Didn't know those were in second year Potions supplies."

The five students say nothing as the professors continue to read. McGonagall flips to the last written page, her eyes widening when she looks from the booklet to the girls. "The song of a Muggle? How is that possible?"

"We honestly have no idea, but it worked." Hannah thinks back to the time when they were trying to figure it out. "We were stuck on that for months. One day in Potions class, Agnes was brilliant and gained the courage to ask Professor Snape about binding potions."

"And it still didn't even work for awhile. Only until my sister Mary came over and we made her sing to it did the potion finally become stable." Agnes laughs, not believing they actually found the final ingredient to this impossible potion.

"Well," Professor McGonagall hands the book back to Lauren, an impressed look on her face. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say all punishments are being revoked. Any extra work you have done for the year will be added on as bonus points." The students' mouths drop open. "Any detentions you owed will no longer be necessary. As for final exams, well, Professor Dumbledore is handling that. We didn't have them last year, but it looks like exams will be forgotten about again."

Professor Sprout laughs upon seeing the students' shocked faces and shrugs. "Less grading for me is all I have to say on the matter."

The only downside to the wonderful news is they aren't allowed to share it with anyone until Dumbledore announces it to the school. The day drags on, the group hanging out by the lake for most of the time. When it starts to get dark, they head back inside. They planned to meet up with Claudia to explain everything, but Agnes pauses and takes a look at the stairwell once they pass it. "You four can go on ahead. I'm going to... get something I forgot from the common room."

"You're a really bad liar." Maria smiles and calls her out, but shoos her along. "Go see him. We will be in the Hufflepuff common room."

Agnes nods gratefully and heads up the stairs, leaving the other four to meet with Claudia. She is glad that she knows where the office is, and when she gets there she knocks on the door. There is a faint "come in" and Agnes enters the office.

Professor Knisely looks up from his desk and is confused, but happy when he sees the second year. "Ms. Higgins, what a surprise. I hoped you were made aware that your detention was cancelled."

"Yes, I know, but I still wanted to talk." Agnes folds her hands in front of her, and sits in a chair across from the professor after he gestures for her to sit down.

"So, what do you want to know?" Professor Knisely gently places his hands on his desk, sitting upright in his chair.

Agnes thinks for a moment, trying not to become too sad. "First... I wanted to say that I'm sorry for accusing you of murdering Alana. And thanks for protecting her. I also wanted to know more."

"I understand that being a very strict teacher can make enemies and leave a bad impression." Professor Knisely jokes, making Agnes smile at the memories when she was locked out of class for being late. "The part I've always struggled with in storytelling is where to begin, so bear with me." The professor takes a second to gather his thoughts, and then starts talking once again. "I have been Alana's guardian for a long time, ever since her parents gave her to me when she was a child. She was Muggle born, and she was having strange Divination visions right from the start, so her parents entrusted her to me, not feeling they were qualified enough."

"That's strange. I-I mean, I've known her for awhile, it just never occurred to me that I've never met or seen her parents. Did she ever see them after that?" Agnes asks.

"No, she didn't know them enough to think about it. She never even asked about them. I visited them many times, and they felt it was wiser to let her live with me. One day, they officially accepted it, and told me to not come back again, as Alana was my child from that point on." Agnes can tell that Professor Knisely is trying his absolute best to not start crying. He does really well at it, and keeps a calm and steady voice. "I've protected her through every minute, knowing dark wizards would want to use her powers for themselves. During her first year at Ilvermorny, she told me she must be transferred to Hogwarts, and she explained her recent dreams about the dark artifacts."

"Did she ever say what the artifacts did?" Agnes intriguingly leans forward a bit, her hands on her knees.

Professor Knisely shakes his head and sighs. "Never told me or anyone else. Trust me, I've asked her countless times. All I know is they were really hard to find, and even harder to keep secret."

Agnes deflates a bit, wishing he knew more and would tell her. After a few minutes of silence, Agnes looks back up at the professor and asks knowingly, "You aren't coming back next year, are you?"

Professor Knisely is surprised, but gets over his shock after a few moments. "No, I have chosen to resign. You'll have me for the rest of the year, but I must tend to other matters upon Alana's death." He sees that Agnes nods, but her expression becomes even more saddened, so he adds, "It will definitely not be the last you'll see of me, though. I can assure you of that."

Agnes smiles and nods, knowing this is probably for the best. Knisely has to perform a lot of legal things such as Chase's trial and helping with Alana's funeral. Agnes leaves the office that evening feeling a bit better than she had all day.

The rest of the year is a blur. There is no April Ball this year, so the only thing everyone has to look forward to is exams. It comes to a surprise in mid May when Dumbleore finally announces that exams have been cancelled. Then, on the last day of the school year, everyone is gathered at the Great Hall for a feast before departing.

Professor Dumbledore stands at his podium, all eyes paying attention to him. "Wrapping up the year are a few more matters I would like to discuss with you. First, I would like to thank each and every one of you for the amount of respect you have shown the second half of the year. I hope that it continues to show in future years that any memory of second year Alana Carth is a loving, cheerful one."

Everyone looks at each other when he says her name. The students were all told the story at the end of the week when Alana's parents came to visit the school to mourn with Professor Knisely. Dumbledore continues, "The rumors are true that she was killed by a death eater, a follower of Lord Voldemort himself." The students tense up when he says Voldemort's name. "I tell you this so that you know how strong Alana was up until the very end. She sacrificed herself for her friends, and as we all know, her loyalty to those she loved made her the prime example of a Hufflepuff. And, it is only fair that her house would receive the house cup this year."

Yellow banners fall down from the ceiling, the two above the head table showing pictures of Alana and her friends. Dumbledore glances at the five girls and winks at them. The Hufflepuff table roars in cheers, and everyone else claps along. Even some of the Slytherins find the strength to slowly clap and add to the noise. Julia wipes her eyes and stands up as she claps, looking at Alana's banners. Agnes and Hannah follow along, the Gryffindor table quickly standing up and whistling. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws are next, and only a few Slytherins stand up.

After the feast, everyone loads their luggage into the train compartments. The ride is silent as Julia, Maria, Hannah, and Lauren remember when they first met Alana on the train, Agnes remembering how excited she was to see Alana behind the slider door. It is only when they reach the platform 9 ¾ when Agnes breaks through the quietness. "I'll tell you one thing, I only think this is the beginning."

"The map was entrusted to you, and there are other death eaters out there, which means we aren't done yet," Lauren says anxiously, looking at her friends.

"Well, we can get through it. We are the brightest, most skilled group of students at Hogwarts. There's no way we will go down without a fight," Maria says in a confident tone, helping the others smile and gain their own confidence.

"You're right. We can accomplish anything, even making an advanced potion in the middle of the year." Julia slings her arms around Agnes's and Maria's shoulders. "Even keeping my younger brother a secret from most professors."

"Alana chose us to do this for a reason, after all." Hannah takes Lauren's hand and the five walk out of the train.

Everyone greets their families, all of them hugging each other lovingly. After what seems like forever, they break away and leave the platform. Agnes asks Mary for a favor, and Mary is hesitant but agrees. Together, the two take a cab to London and go through the secret passage to enter Diagon Alley.

The sun is just starting to dip over the horizon when the two girls enter the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts. The store owner turns around at the sound of the bell and says, "I apologize, but we are closing for the night."

"Sorry to disturb you, but we have something here that's ours. Someone might have brought it over a few months ago." Agnes explains, hoping that the map is here.

The owner of the shop pauses and nods grimly. "In the broom closet there. Might need to lift a few planks off the floor."

Agnes and Mary look at each other before entering the closet, which Agnes recognizes instantly. This is where she found Professor Knisely's cloak Fabric that they used in the Persequi Potion. They both scan the bottom of the closet and find one board that's a tad more brown than the others. Together, they shift it over and Agnes pulls out a rolled up parchment. When she unravels it, her eyes widen and she reads Alana's neat handwriting. The Seven Artifacts.

She rolls the parchment back up, knowing this isn't the place to study the map. She puts it into her bag and walks back down the alley with her sister. Agnes has all summer to look at the map, and she intends to discover its secrets by the time she's officially a third year at Hogwarts.