Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4464 (5142 with footnotes)
Characters: Maggie Lewis (OC), Madeleine Yaxley (OC), Marvola Elfynchyld (OC), Albus Dumbledore, Peter Pettigrew, Special Agent Sam Humphries (OC)

Headmaster Dumbledore raised his eyes from the heavy, leatherbound tome on his desk, and looked gravely at Maggie.

"Do you see what I mean, Headmaster?" Maggie asked nervously. She had never been to see Dumbledore privately in his office, nor had he given her more than a passing word of greeting in her first two years at Hogwarts. It had taken all the nerve she had to go to Professor Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw house, and ask if he could arrange for her to speak with the Headmaster. But she felt she must, before things got any more out of control.

Dumbledore glanced down at the open page before him again, then closed the book with a sigh. "I do see, Miss Lewis," he said. "Though I must confess, I have never made a study of seaux. We've never had one at Hogwarts before. Perhaps I was foolish in allowing myself to remain ignorant on the subject. Do you believe that Miss Elfynchyld might pose a danger to the other students?"

Maggie twisted her fingers together in her lap. "I don't know about 'danger', Sir, but being around her seems to change people. And not for the better. I'm really worried about Maddy. And -- and Remus. The other Gryffindors, I mean. She spends a lot of time with them. It says -- in the book -- about a powerful influence --" Maggie broke off, unsure how to make Dumbledore understand her concerns without getting Madeleine or Remus into trouble.

The Headmaster shook his head. "Influence can be dangerous. Especially influence as powerful as you have described. That she seems completely unaware of the power she wields --" He sighed again. "I had hoped to give Miss Elfynchyld a fair and equal opportunity to make a place for herself at Hogwarts. It is not the first time I have made such an allowance for a student others might consider dangerous. But I do have the safety of the rest of the student body and the staff to consider as well."

"Is there anything I can do to help, Sir?" Maggie asked timidly.

Dumbledore considered for a moment. "Keep a close eye on your friends. If a potentially dangerous situation arises, I believe you are proficient in enough defensive magic to forestall a mishap until help arrives?"

Maggie nodded, gripping her wand through the fabric of her robes. Disarming and stunning were no problem, and would give her the time she needed to summon a teacher.

"You mentioned being particularly worried about your friend Miss Yaxley," Dumbledore continued. "She is not one of Miss Elfynchyld's inner circle, as far as I am aware. Do you have some reason to believe she might be in particular danger?"

"No," Maggie said quickly. It was not precisely a lie. It's Marvola who's in danger from her. But she could not tell the Headmaster that without getting her friend into trouble. Maddy wouldn't really hurt her, she tried to tell herself. But if she could not convince herself of that, how could she convince Dumbledore?

The Headmaster pursed his lips, and Maggie looked away, unable to meet those shrewd blue eyes. At last he spoke.

"There is only one thing I can do, should the situation become critical," he warned her. "I do not like to do it, since it means bringing the Ministry of Magic into Hogwarts affairs. That is a circumstance I prefer to avoid. However, your observations and those of a few of the staff seem to back up the information in this book, in that the only course for dealing with a seau is complete isolation. I cannot manage that here at Hogwarts, but I have contacts at the Ministry who can. I shall keep my eye on Miss Elfynchyld, but I cannot be everywhere at once, so I must ask you to do the same. If a situation arises which is beyond your abilities to defuse, send word to me immediately, and I shall take whatever steps seem necessary."

Maggie attempted a quavering smile. "I will. Thank you, Sir."

If she had not happened to glance out a window into the grounds as she was returning to Ravenclaw tower after her meeting with Dumbledore, things might have turned out very differently. As it was, she did look, and as she looked, she saw two figures strolling across the Hogwarts grounds towards the Forbidden Forest, dark heads bent together in conversation.

The pair looked innocent enough, but Maggie experienced a terrible sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach when she saw them. Her arm shot out to grasp the sleeve of a passing student.

"Go to Dumbledore," she commanded with unusual authority. "Tell him to contact his people right away, and tell them to come to the Forbidden Forest. Do it now."

Peter Pettigrew's brow furrowed as he puzzled at the hand gripping his sleeve, then he raised his head and peered interestedly over her shoulder. "Where's Maddy going with Marvola?" he asked.

"That's what I'm going to find out," she said tersely. "Find Dumbledore. Now." She turned and fled down the corridor.

Maggie reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest at a dead run, panting and clutching at a stitch in her side. She was desperately worried that she would not find Madeleine and Marvola in time, but luck was with her.

Not far beyond the Whomping Willow, Marvola lay panting in a clearing, muttering "omgomgomgomgomg," over and over again. Madeleine stood over her, wand in hand and a look of grim satisfaction on her face.

"What are you doing, Maddy?" Maggie asked warily. Her hand inched covertly toward her own wand pocket.

"Maggie!" Madeleine greeted her in a tone like sweet poison. "How perfectly lovely of you to join us. Not that I need an audience, but it's always nice to have one, isn't it? How would you like to be able to see Thestrals?"

"OMG!!!!!11!!!" squealed the seau, catching sight of Maggie. "MAAKE HER STOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!1!!!!!!56!!!!"

"Shut it, you!" shouted Madeleine. "Crucio!"

Marvola's scream seemed to go on and on, tearing at the air and at Maggie's ears. She was sure she could feel it echoing in her bones as the girl writhed in agony on the ground. Madeleine was laughing.

Maggie whipped out her wand and pointed it at her friend. "Expelliarmus!" she cried.

The wand went flying, but Madeleine Yaxley had reflexes like lightning, and she managed to grab for it before it was out of reach.

"What are you playing at?!" she yelled. "You hate this bitch as much as I do!"

"What am I playing at?" said Maggie in disbelief. "Maddy, that was a bloody Unforgivable Curse you just did! Do you want to go to Azkaban?!"

Madeleine laughed again. "Unforgivable Curses only count if you use them against humans, Miss Magpie, and you know it. That thing isn't human."

"It's still wrong, whatever she is." Maggie tried to sound commanding, but her voice quavered, and she was very afraid she might start crying. "You know the shield charm wears off after a few minutes. Then she'll get away and tell everyone what you've done."

Madeleine gave a nasty smile and tapped at something white strung on a cord about her neck. "I've got all the protection I need."

Maggie swallowed. The amulet looked disconcertingly like the finger bones of a child. She's gone too far, she realised. I'll never be able to reason with her now. I've lost her.

The crunch of hasty footsteps on the first leaves of autumn made both girls turn their heads. Peter Pettigrew appeared at the edge of the clearing, looking uncertain.

"Maggie? I told Dumbledore what you said." Then, "Maddy, what are you doing to Marv?"

"Never you mind, Peter-my-love," she purred, the tip of her tongue flicking past her lips. "I'm just performing a little pest control. Be a good boy and trot back up to the school. You ought to thank me. By tonight there'll be one less Gryffindor to look down on you. If she ever looked at you at all."

Madeleine turned back toward where she had left the seau lying. "Shit! Where's she gone?"

The three looked around nervously. Even Peter had his wand out by now. Marvola was nowhere in sight.

A laugh like the peal of silver bells made them all glance up. The seau was standing on a stout tree limb, high above their heads.

She raised her hands and shouted, "Forcefieldius!" Purple lightning bolts shot from the palms of her hands, and the three students suddenly found themselves trapped inside a giant bubble of shimmering, purple light.

"What kind of spell was that?!" squeaked Maggie.

"It's seau-magic," Peter informed her. "For some reason, even though they could if they wanted to, seaux refuse to use proper Wizarding spell forms."⁽¹⁾

Madeleine stared at him in disbelief. "And you know that how, exactly?"

"What? You guys are the only ones who can do research?" Peter grinned at the two girls, and Maggie realised what a charming smile he had, when he had the confidence to back it up.

Marvola had by now levitated herself back to the ground, and stood, arms folded and eyes narrowed, staring at her captives.

At last, she spoke. "MaDz, I thot we wer bffs!!!1!4!!! U hav btreyd me soooooo bad!!!1!! Y wud U want 2 hang out with ugle, stoopid, boaring trayters wen U cud hang out with me?!?!?!! U R not az kewl az I thot U were!!!1!!!!!!!1! U R going 2 hav 2 werk Xtra hard 2 win back my frendship!!1!!!!1!!!!"

"Who is she calling 'traitors'?" Maggie wondered.

Peter shrugged. "I dunno. She calls me that every time I manage to make her see me.⁽²⁾ But watch this."

He casually turned away and began to move ever-so-slowly toward the wall of the purple bubble. All of Marvola's attention was focussed on Madeleine, and the instant Peter passed out of her field of vision, he was able to duck through the sparkling forcefield. He circled around behind the seau.

"Go back up to the castle, Peter," Madeleine hissed between clenched teeth. "She's too powerful for you to deal with alone."

"Who iz Peeter?!?!?!!??!" asked Marvola.

Peter leaned to whisper in her ear. "I am."

The seau whirled around to face him. It seemed she had no trouble seeing him when he was pointing his wand directly at her face.

"AN WHO TEH H-E-Duble-Hokey-Stix R U?!?!?!?!?!!" she sneered.

Peter's grin turned nasty. "My name is Peter Pettigrew," he spat back at her. "And I am a fucking Marauder! Suethorius!"⁽³⁾

The seau screeched as white light engulfed her, and the two girls shielded their eyes. When their vision cleared, the forcefield which had contained them was gone, and as for Marvola --

"Why," exclaimed Maggie, "she looks perfectly ordinary!"

The girl who stared back at them in terror, hands pressed over her mouth, was a little shorter and a little younger than Madeleine. She had lank, brown hair in a messy ponytail, and gray-blue eyes. Her face sported a number of spots, and her figure was not quite as slim as it had been.

Madeleine laughed. "She's got smaller tits than you, Maggie!"

"And she's not nearly as pretty as either of you ladies," said Peter, giving Maggie a wink.

The seau lowered her hands, revealing teeth bound with metal wires, and whimpered, "wut r u going 2 do with me now r u going 2 kill me i promiss i willl go home if u let me go an dont hurt me i never ment 2 hurt ne1 i just wanted remi 2 luv me an every1 2 think i waz kewl"⁽⁴⁾

"What is she babbling about?" sneered Madeleine. "I can hardly understand her."

Maggie turned to Peter in awe. "Where did you get that spell?" she asked. "I thought there was no known protection against a seau."

The tips of Peter's ears and nose turned pink. "Your book must've been out of date," he demurred.

"That was really, really stupid, Peter," Madeleine said angrily, not taking her eyes or wand off the seau. "You could have been killed. Don't you know these things are dangerous?"

Peter's face fell.

"It's all right, Peter," Maggie said, reassuringly patting his arm. "Maddy was just scared because she really likes --"

"To deal with things myself!" Madeleine cut her off sharply. "I knew you would bollox up my plan. Which you did. And you, Miss Ravenclaw, can just keep your mouth shut about things that aren't your concern!"

"What happens now?" Peter asked nervously.

"Now," Madeleine said firmly, "we kill her."

"nonononononono" cried Marvola, throwing her arms up to shield herself. "plees dont let her kill me just let me go home an i promiss ill leev u alll alone an neva cum back 2 hogwartz agin i just want 2 go home 2 cali an see my frends agin i promiss ill never do ne magick an ill leev remi alone 4eva an eva an ill neva say u r not kewl agin pleespleespleespleespleespleespleespleespleesplees dont kill me"

Maggie ground her teeth at the mention of Remus. "You had sex with him," she accused. "You treated him like some kind of chocolate frog card for your collection, and the fact that he was a virgin was of no more consequence to you than the chocolate frog once you'd had it!" She willed herself not to cry.

Marvola looked surprised. "u think i m a slut" she asked in disbelief. "cuz i m not i neva had sexxx with remi i just lyke 2 get teh boyz alll hot 4 me then tell them no bcuz i hav relly good moralls but i wuz totallly going 2 hav sexx with remi sumday bcuz i think hiz quidich honed mussels r relly hawt"⁽⁵⁾

Peter looked puzzled. "Quidditch-honed muscles?" he said. "Remus doesn't even play Quidditch."

Maggie barely heard him. "Good morals?!" she cried in disbelief. "You're mean to people you don't think are cool enough to be worthy of your notice. You just admitted you intentionally give guys blue balls. Explain to me exactly how these qualify as 'good morals'. You're a bitch and a tease, Marvola. Nobody likes that. And nobody likes you."⁽⁶⁾

At that, the seau collapsed into a sobbing heap on the ground at their feet.

"Now can we kill her?" Madeleine enquired impatiently.

Maggie sighed. With Marvola's collapse, all the anger had gone out of her. She wanted this to be done with, but the seau looked so pathetic that Maggie almost felt sorry for her. "You can't kill her, Maddy."

"And why not?" Madeleine was still glaring at Marvola's whimpering form.

Maggie straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. "Because I won't let you."

At last Madeleine's eyes turned toward her friend. "You won't let me?! And how, pray tell, do you intend to stop me?"

Maggie's hands curled into fists. She would not back down. "I'll -- I'll tell Dumbledore. And the Ministry," she said with more conviction than she felt. "You'll be put on trial for sure. She may not be human, but she's still a being. And my dad works at the Ministry. He helps make new laws and stuff. I'll tell him everything, and I'll get him to make a new law that sends people to Azkaban for life if they kill a being!"

Madeleine stared at her. "You wouldn't."

Maggie folded her arms across her chest and stared right back. "You have no idea what I would or wouldn't do, Madeleine Yaxley."

"This is silly," Peter said, and there was pleading in his voice. "Maddy, Maggie's right; killing Marvola would be a really, really bad idea."

"Fine," said Madeleine with an exasperated sigh. "We don't kill her." And then her sly grin reappeared. "We deliver her to her 'father' and watch while he sorts her out. That ought to be fun."

Maggie shuddered. Any mention of Lord Voldemort always sent a chill down her spine. "Don't even joke about that, Maddy."

"Well, what do you suggest we do?" Madeleine sneered sarcastically. "Give her our best wishes and a bag of Fizzing Whizbees, and send her merrily on her way? Not bloody likely!"

"We wait," Maggie said. "Help is on the way, and she's no threat to us now."

"Until her magic returns," Peter muttered under his breath.

"Until -- what?!" Madeleine cried. "Oh, that's just brilliant, Peter! Are you telling us that this spell isn't permanent?"

Peter looked at her like she was insane. "Of course it's not permanent. You think I have that kind of power? That I could just -- strip someone of their magic with a word?⁽⁷⁾"

"How long does it last?" Maggie asked warily.

"I dunno." Peter's voice was uncertain. "This is the first time I've used it."

"Well, what did the book say that you got it from?" asked Madeleine, exasperated.

"I -- er -- didn't get it from a book." Peter blushed furiously.

"Then where --?" began Maggie.

"Why don't you tell them, son?" inquired a voice at the edge of the clearing.

The three teenagers jumped in surprise and spun around, wands at the ready.

A man was watching them. He had a long face that looked as though it was never surprised by anything anymore. The collar of his light brown robes was turned up, and he wore a brown fedora tilted forward over shrewd, dark eyes which seemed to be weighing and evaluating each of them in turn. Between the fingers of one hand, he casually held a Muggle cigarette. The other hand was in his pocket, but they could see that it gripped a wand.

Peter took a step back. "Who --?" he began, then changed his mind. "Tell them wha-what? Sir?"

"You might as well," the man said, not unkindly. "Chances are, they've already figured it out." He came closer and crouched down to inspect the fallen seau briefly.

The girls both looked curiously at Peter. He blushed again and looked down at his toes.

"I made the spell up myself," he mumbled.

Madeleine's eyebrows shot up and Maggie gasped, but the stranger only nodded.

"That was a swell piece of magic, kid. It's no easy thing to break a seau's glamour, even for a moment. What's your name, son?"

Peter glanced up shyly. "Peter. Peter Pettigrew, Sir."

"Have you given any thought to a career with the Ministry, Pettigrew?" the man asked. "We could use a man of your talents."

Stunned by the unaccustomed praise, Peter stammered, "I -- no! That is -- Sir -- I mean -- thank you!"

The man's smile was somehow more in his eyes than in his mouth, and was only visible for the briefest instant.

Madeleine glared at him. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

The man reached up to touch the brim of his hat. "Special Agent Sam Humphries, D.T.U.C., at your service, Green-Eyes." He turned back to Peter. "I'm 'Boggart' to my friends. Here's my card."

Peter took the small trapezoid of parchment from him, and read, "Department for the Termination of Useless Characters?" He looked back up at Special Agent Humphries. "What do you do? And why do they call you 'Boggart'?"

The smile flashed again briefly. "Because they say I can scare anyone," he said, ignoring the first question. He glanced at Madeleine again. "Even you, Green-Eyes."

"How did you know where to find us?" Madeleine asked tartly, but her eyes were already narrowed suspiciously at Maggie.

"It may be I was already in the area and just happened to drop by," he said offhandedly. "Or it may be that someone told me I might find something of interest here."

"I told Dumbledore to send for you," Peter said proudly.

"Only after I told you to," Maggie reminded him. "You're not going to hurt her, are you, Sir?" she asked Humphries.

"She's not looking at all well," Peter added peering interestedly at the seau.

Madeleine snorted. "You lot are the biggest bunch of pansies I have ever known in all my life. I've had enough. Do whatever you're going to do with that thing, and be done with it. It looks like it might be dead soon, anyway." And with that, she turned and flounced off, back toward the castle.

In fact, Marvola was now curled into a ball on the ground, eyes shut tight. Her face was pale, and had taken on a slightly greenish tinge. Every now and then she would whimper or mutter something unintelligible, but that was all.

"Nah, she's all right," Humphries said. He prodded the seau with his wand. "Seaux need regular doses of sugar to keep them going.⁽⁸⁾ This one looks like she hasn't had any in a while. Watch this."

He drew a small bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from a pocket of his robes and shook it near Marvola's ear. Her eyes popped open and her hand shot up to grab the bag. She sat up and began shoveling the sweets into her mouth without apparently noticing the flavours.

Maggie went slightly green when she saw Marvola pop a fish-flavoured bean and a peppermint one into her mouth at the same time. To distract herself from the spectacle, she turned back to Humphries, who seemed to be securing a forcefield of his own around the oblivious seau.

"What exactly do you do at the Department for the Termination of Useless Characters?" she asked pointedly. "Are you going to kill her? Because if you are, I might as well have left her to Maddy."

"She'll live," he replied curtly. "But she's dangerous. Non-human beings generally are. She'll have to be confined and kept under controlled conditions until she can be 'edited'. She'll be doped up with kanon tonic to control her appearance as well. Mrs Humphries didn't raise any children dippy enough to be fooled by looks."

"Does editing hurt?" asked Maggie, glancing at the seau and then quickly averting her eyes again when the girl poured the last dozen or so beans directly into her mouth and began to chew blissfully.

Humphries furrowed his brow. "It's no ticket to the Quidditch," he admitted. "And it can take a long time. You kids know what a Dementor is? Well, you don't need to hear about that. You won't find 'editing' or 'kanon' in any of your fancy textbooks, either, so don't bother looking."

Maggie and Peter reluctantly agreed to leave the matter in the hands of the Ministry. But before Humphries left with Marvola, he had one more thing to say to them.

"You keep an eye on that friend of yours," he said, inclining his head in the direction in which Madeleine had departed. "She used the Cruciatus curse on this one, didn't she?"

Maggie shrugged, but refused to meet his eyes.

"Well, that's not my department," he continued dismissively. "But I will say this: sometimes, once they try an Unforgivable, they get a taste for it, if you take my meaning. Keep a sharp eye out, and don't be too trusting. You kids understand me?"

Peter turned pale, but Maggie nodded resolutely. "We'll be careful, Sir."

He crooked his finger under her chin, making her look up at him. "You're a good man, sister," he informed her. Then he turned to Peter again. "Look me up next time you're at the Ministry, Pettigrew," he said. "I'll show you around the Department."

Maggie and Peter bade him farewell as he levitated the seau, containment field and all, and headed across the grounds, back towards Hogsmeade. As he disappeared through the school's gates, Maggie sighed wistfully and put a hand to her chin where he had touched her.

"Wow," she said reverently. "I didn't think they made them like that anymore."

It took Maggie a few days to work up the courage to talk to Madeleine again after everything that had happened in the Forbidden Forest. Finally, she steeled herself and ambushed the older girl in the dungeons between classes.

"Maddy!" she greeted her with as pleasant a smile as she could muster. "Want to get together for a brainstorming session after supper tonight?"

In answer, Madeleine grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the now-empty Potions classroom.

"You think I'm just going to forget what you did, Ravenclaw?" she hissed. "I had things well under control, and you had to go barging in, and drag Peter along with you!"

"I'm sorry," said Maggie. "But I couldn't let you --"

"Let me what? Have a little fun for once? You think anyone would have missed her? You can already see that they don't. They barely even remember she was here, and it hasn't been more than three days!"

"But it's wrong, Maddy," Maggie insisted. "You can't just go killing people who annoy --"

"She wasn't people," Madeleine said coldly. "She was seaux. Maybe now you'll understand why it's so important to keep your blood pure and not go spreading your legs for mudbloods and Muggles."

"Maddy!" cried Maggie, shocked.

But Madeleine was not finished yet. "I'm done with sodding stories," she declared. "Why should I write about sex when I can just have it? I'll tell you this, Magpie Lewis; parchment and ink are no substitute for a good, hard cock between your legs!"

Maggie backed away, hands up in front of her in a gesture of surrender. "I've said I'm sorry, Maddy. I'd kind of hoped we could keep --"

Madeleine laughed. "Not a chance, Ravenclaw. You can write your own pathetic stories from now on. The only way you're ever going to have Remus Lupin is at the tip of your quill and in your pitiful little dreams. He's a bloody queer! Haven't you figured that out yet?"

"You're just trying to hurt me," Maggie said, fighting back tears. "Just because you can't admit how you feel about Peter, and because I saw what you did to Marvola."

Madeleine's wand was in her hand before Maggie could blink. She never heard the word her former friend said, but she felt cold, invisible fingers tighten around her throat. She gasped, but no air came into her lungs.

"Now, you listen here." Madeleine's face was very close to hers. "You'll keep your speculations regarding Peter Pettigrew to yourself. You are never to speak to him or to me again. Ever. Understood?"

Maggie tried to nod. Black spots and bright flashes were beginning to appear at the edges of her vision.

"And as for what may or may not have transpired in the Forbidden Forest around the time of the seau's departure, you are never to speak to anyone about that. Or you'll get the same as she did."

When Maggie came to, she was alone in the Potions classroom.⁽⁹⁾

1. Always try to use the spells as they are written in the books, or else make up spells that sound like they could be in the books. This is a challenge which any creative person should be thoroughly equal to. Spells that are just English with "-ius" tacked onto the end always sound silly, and spells that are just random gibberish make people roll their eyes, especially when there is a perfectly good canon spell which does the same thing.

2. It's not good writing if your original character already knows everything about the other characters, including what they will do in the future. Your OC's opinion of someone should be based on what she has observed of that person herself up to that point in the story's timeline. It makes no sense for someone to call teenage Peter a traitor, because he hasn't betrayed anyone yet.

3. However, just because I suggest that you shouldn't be excessively cruel to Peter doesn't mean you can't having him do nasty things every now and then. After all, most of us do.

4. Underuse of punctuation can be just as bad as overuse. Punctuation marks (, . ? ! ; :) are not just handy for making emoticons; they help the reader follow the flow of a sentence by telling them where pauses, breaks, and emphasis occur. Quotation marks (") also show the difference between dialogue (when characters are speaking) and narrative (when they're not). If you don't use punctuation, your readers will have to work very hard to figure out what you are trying to say, and making your readers work hard is always a bad idea if you want people to keep reading. If you're not sure when to use which mark, that is okay. You can learn. In the meantime, using the wrong mark is better than using none at all.

5. The idea of Quidditch-honed muscles is a silly one. How much muscle are you really going to build up, sitting on a broomstick?

6. A lot of teenagers make the mistake of thinking that having sex is the same thing as being a slut, and that not having sex is the same thing as having good morals. Having good morals involves respecting people's boundaries and feelings. It is not nice to get a guy all worked up just for "fun", and then leave him cold. And it's definitely not a good way to get people to like you. Kissing is wonderful, but if do it often, with no true feeling behind it, you are still engaging in slutty behaviour. Alternately, it is possible to have sex without being a slut, if you are with someone you care about a great deal, you both truly respect one another, and you are prepared to take responsibility for any consequences your actions might have, both physical and emotional.

7. Be aware of each character's magical abilities. The whole reason children in the Wizarding world attend Hogwarts is to learn to control and strengthen their magic. Having magic does not mean knowing how to use it or being powerful enough to do anything you want. A lot of people have asked why Hermione keeps fixing Harry's glasses and not his eyes. The Wizarding world seems to be organised so that most things are just as complicated to do with magic as without (though some things can be done a lot faster with). I'd no more want Hermione correcting my vision magically than I would want a Muggle teenager performing laser eye surgery on me.

8. Sugar, like drugs, alcohol, and lack of sleep, may inspire you to write things which seem like really good ideas at the time, but you might want to give them a reread once you are sober and/or well-rested before posting them for a larger audience than your close circle of friends.

9. A good story does not need to end happily for all, or indeed any, of its characters. As long as the conclusion makes sense and satisfies all the important plotlines of the story, that should be enough.

M.A.R.Y.S.U.E. Must Die! © 2007 Skjaere