"I won't believe he didn't have a hand in it," she says in a soft, low voice. "Nothing happens in Hogwarts without him knowing. Nothing would have entered this place tampered with without him knowing."

Draca's tones are fierce, angry even as she thinks about it. She's really worried about what they would do if they learned she was going to take Cassie away from all of this. And she is. Now that they've had this talk, there's no going back. She won't stop. Not here and now. She's never going to leave Cassie to them. Not again.

"No, I'm glad. I don't want to stay here another moment." Not with her families. Not with Hogwarts and Dumbledore. "But I don't want to make mistakes. I want to plan it out. Make it perfect. Make it they can never find us."