A few days later:

With Lotty's help, I found Max. I needed to speak to him again.

"How's it going?"he asked,"have you thought about that plan?"

"I have thought about it,"I said.

The next thing I knew, I was standing in a different place, feeling slightly confused.

"Did it work?"Max said to me.

"Did what work?"I asked.

"I'll take that as a yes,"Max said.

I looked at him, completely bewildered.

"I obliviated you,"he explained,"about two minutes of our conversation."

"Oh,"I said, realising,"you can do it?"

"Yes, and I can show you how to do it too,"Max said,"you can try it on me."

"But what if I accidentally obliviate too much of your memory?"I asked,"there must be a way to control it?"

"There is,"said Max,"you think hard, and concentrate. You have to think about exactly what it is that you want me to forget. I'll make it easy for you."

He started dancing around and making stupid faces. Then he tried standing on his hands, fell over and said,"wave your wand, think about what I was doing just now, and say 'Obliviate' and while you do so, think about making me forget THAT."

Nervously, I waved my wand,"Obliviate!"

Max sat on the floor.

"What do you remember?"I asked him, hoping I hadn't done something wrong.

"Did you just obliviate me?"Max asked.

I nodded.

"I remember obliviating you,"he said.

"Where's as far as you remember?"I asked.

"I remember saying I'd make it easy for you,"Max said,"I think I can guess what I did next, because I was going to get you to obliviate that."

"You danced around and tried to stand on your hands,"I said, laughing.

"Right,"Max said,"I thought as much."

"I hope I haven't accidentally obliviated anything else?"I said.

"Well, if you did, I won't remember what,"Max responded,"I'm pretty sure you haven't, though. Don't worry so much. If you accidentally obliviate more of Antonius' memory than you intend, at least you know how to brew the Undo Potion."

"I suppose,"I said, slowly.

"There's something else,"Max said,"that fortunately you didn't accidentally obliviate from my memories."

He handed me a glass vial with a clear-coloured liquid inside.

"Is this Veritaserum?"I asked.

"Yes,"he answered.

"Where did you get this?"I asked him.

"Silas tried getting it, after you refused to tell him anything, when he found you in his base,"Max explained.

"I refused to tell him anything, because I didn't know anything,"I said.

"Well, anyway,"Max said,"he tried getting it. Got me to get it actually. Just after I managed to get some, Antonius' trial happened. I still had it, anyway, and here is some of it. This should be enough to get Antonius to tell you everything he knows."

I took it from him and looked at it curiously.

"If you do manage to get him to take it,"he went on,"he'll know what you've done, but he won't be able to stop himself from telling the truth. This means he could try to escape, so you'll have to tie him down somehow."

"Just when I thought this was all starting to work out,"I grumbled.

"Yes, you're just going to have to find some way to do that,"said Max,"I'm sure you'll think of something. You are a Slytherin, after all."

"Max!"I objected.

"It's probably better to get it over with as soon as possible,"Max went on.

"Alright,"I said.

I was thinking through what I was supposed to do, and I realised I had to put it into steps.

Step 1 - get Antonius alone. This should be easy. Step 2 - Somehow get him to take Veritaserum and make sure he can't escape. Step 3 - Get him to tell me what he knows about Silas' plans. Step 4 - Obliviate him.

I realised that, after all that, before I obliviate him, I have to make sure the scene looks innocent enough for him not to suspect he has just been obliviated.

Just thinking about it was giving me a headache.

"It's probably easier to do, than think about,"I was thinking.

Later:

So this is what happened. I was thinking I had to find a place to do it. Then I remembered the Room of Requirement. Now I had this final part of the puzzle, I summoned Antonius. I was already waiting outside the wall where the door appears.

"What do you want?"Antonius asked.

"There's something I want to show you,"I said,"I found out about it recently."

Suddenly a door appeared in the wall. I couldn't help feeling full of dread for what I was about to do.

"The Room of Requirement,"I said.

"I know about this already,"Antonius said.

"You do?"I said,"why didn't you tell me?"

"It was years ago that I last used it,"Antonius said,"I used it to hide from people, when I was in the 1st Year."

"Oh,"I said.

"Not exactly happy memories,"he went on.

"You were bullied a lot in the 1st Year?"I asked.

Antonius nodded.

I wasn't sure what to expect when we went in, but I knew the room would provide what I needed. The question was - would it also provide what Antonius needed? What if it provided a way for me to succeed in my plan, but also provided Antonius a way to escape?

It was my potions laboratory. The penseive was in there too, and the bench I'd suddenly sat on when I'd started to remember my lost memories, but there was nothing new.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Is this where you've been practicing potion-brewing with Priscilla?"Antonius asked, picking up a Jobberknoll feather.

Then he looked over at the penseive.

I just stood there, wondering how I was going to do any of it.

Antonius picked up a book. I noticed it was a book on memory potions.

He turned around and looked at me. He must have read something in the expression on my face, for he suddenly looked worried.

"Catherine,"he said, slowly,"you brewed a memory potion in here?"

"I did,"I said.

"You found out something,"Antonius went on,"you remembered something."

"I did,"I replied.

"So, then you know,"Antonius said, quietly,"you remember."

"I know you're working with Silas,"I said, taking out the vial of Veritaserum.

Antonius sat down on the bench.

"I know the trials were planned on purpose to be used as propaganda,"I continued,"I know the true purpose of the Muggleborn Rebellion, but I need to know exactly what it is that Silas is planning. Do you know what this is?"

"I know what it is,"Antonius answered,"I suppose you want me to drink it?"

"I do,"I said.

He took it from me. I made sure he drank it. Suddenly I felt as though a huge weight was off my mind.

"I don't know everything Silas is planning,"Antonius said,"I only know part of it."

"Tell me all of the parts that you do know,"I said,"when did you first meet Silas? Tell me everything that you know about him."

"In the First Year,"Antonius answered,"it was when I was being bullied. Kenneth Brass, he wasn't so good at magic back then, he used to like resorting to brute force. He had me pinned on the ground, and he was punching me in the face. I didn't think there'd be anything left of me by the time he'd finished. Silas dragged him off me. When Kenneth and his friends were gone, Silas helped fix my injuries. He comforted me, and he told me,'oppression makes us stronger. It makes us try harder, it makes us tougher, it teaches us how to hide, how to fight.' He said his father told him that, before he was killed by Aurors. His mother was murdered by a group of muggles when he was eight. He saw it happen. His father killed them in revenge. That was when the Aurors began hunting him down. Silas had to live a fugitive life with his father, until the day the Aurors finally caught up with them. There was a fight, and his father was killed in front of him, just as his mother had been. The Ministry didn't even care! He was adopted by a couple that were determined to educate the 'darkness' out of him. They used all kinds of physcological torture. But he knew things, powerful magic that his father had taught him. He soon found a way to control them, to stop them from hurting him. That was before he even came to Hogwarts. His mother had been a Hufflepuff, his father a Slytherin. His adoptive parents were both Gryffindor - they were constantly telling him he should get into any house but Slytherin. At first, he hated that. He hoped he would be in Slytherin like his father was, but he remembered some lessons his father had taught him. Lessons about staying secret, about hiding in plain sight. He decided, before he even got to Hogwarts, that he was going to be sorted into Gryffindor."

It was as I had started to suspect.

Antonius went on,"he told me that we were his true people. He told me that he was a friend to all the oppressed and unheard. He said he was going to change society when he grew up. He was going to fix things. He said he needed my help, and the help of others, but that we had to be careful and remain hidden at all times. Hidden allies."

"Did he tell you how he planned on changing society?"I asked.

"No,"Antonius answered,"he just told me to listen to him when the time came. He would tell me to do things at certain times. For a long time, it was just little things. Getting things for him, telling him what the attitudes were of people in Slytherin House. How many would be true to him, if they knew who he really was. How many I could convince to join our side. Mostly it was information; but last summer, he told me things had to accelerate. He believed the season was ripe. That was when he properly formed the Muggleborn Rebellion, and planned the trials. He said our oppression had to be brought out into the open; and what would happen in the trials would just be the physical embodiment of what was already happening to us. Because of people like Professor Livia, because of the way society is. The way terrible things can happen to us, and they will just ignore it. Like they ignored the murder of his mother, like they killed his father. Like they gave him away to be adopted by 'parents' that refused to accept him for who he was, and tried to force him to change."

I listened to all this feeling awful. I could never have guessed Silas had such a horrible, tragic childhood. I had always thought he was spoiled and privileged, and didn't understand how difficult it was for people who had life harder than he did, but I was wrong.

"He made me bring out Dominic's anger,"Antonius continued,"it wasn't difficult. I had to encourage him to do something that would get him into trouble with APS, and it worked."

"That was a horrible thing to do,"I said.

"It was,"Antonius agreed, he went on,"I hated having to do it, but it was necessary. Dominic came straight to me after his trial. He told me what happened. I told him not to report it. I told him this was war - our own war to fight. I told him the teachers wouldn't help us, even if we did report it. I knew I would be put on trial too. Silas warned me before it happened, and he reminded me what I had to do. It was difficult, extremely difficult. The pain was so extreme that I wanted to die. I wanted to give in, so badly; but Silas had told me he would torture me for even longer if I gave in. He told me I could not give in at any point, but I was worried that he wasn't going to stop. I was terrified I was suffering a fate worse than death. I was afraid Silas was going to have me tortured to death and make a real martyr out of me."

I sat down next to Antonius.

"Then Max Castellanos made them stop, and I had not expected that,"he said,"I didn't even know what happened at the end of the trial. I was feeling so ill, I was in so much pain. All I knew, when you took me down from the stake, was that it was finally over. I found out afterwards, that it was Max who stopped it. He apologised to me, even though he was the one that stopped it. It was like when Silas had comforted me after I was beaten up by Kenneth Brass all those years ago; but this time it seemed more pure, more authentic. Max didn't try to get me to do anything for him, or join any 'cause'. He was genuinely sorry for the part he'd played. I started to doubt things. At the May Festival, I saw the scar on your back, and when you told me about your memory problems, I realised instantly that it must have been Silas, and I was suddenly so angry at him! We had a big argument that night. I started to feel like I needed independent strength. I needed a break from Silas and his plans. Maybe there was a different way for things to improve, a way in which we may not need a war, maybe just - something else. Maybe there was a way to get my parents out of prison too. But Silas wasn't just going to sit back and leave me be. After he lost Max, he lost some other members of the Muggleborn Rebellion. Most of them Hufflepuffs, who are supposed to be loyal to the end. Well, they weren't to him. At first, I didn't understand why he was so angry with Max, considering what Max had done for us, because he cared! Silas was so angry before, because it seemed like no one cared when horrible things happened to his family. That everyone was evil and only cared about themselves and looking good in the eyes of society. But Silas was angry now because Max's actions were disrupting his plans. Then I realised Silas doesn't just want to change society, he wants revenge. Revenge for everything that has happened to him, and he wants to take it out on all the people he blames; Muggles and Muggleborns, the Ministry of Magic..."

"So, you started to disagree with him?"I asked.

"Yes,"Antonius answered,"but when I started to argue with him, he threatened you. He reminded me that sacrifices have to be made, and that he is prepared to do anything to achieve the end goal. He told me if I wasn't with him, then I was against him, and he knew exactly how to deal with traitors. I had no choice. I'd gone too far. I still respect him, but I don't agree with him any more. He is really powerful. I know he goes into the Forbidden Forest all the time. He knows all kinds of magic, and he's a master of the Dark Arts. He told me he discovered a ritual that will grant him immense power."

"What ritual?"I asked.

"He said it had to be done at midsummer,"Antonius explained,"he said that this year was the right year, and the only year he would be able to do it."

"Do you know what the ritual involves?"I asked.

"He didn't tell me what the ritual required,"Antonius said,"but he did say that he would need my help at the time, and I had to promise to be there and do whatever he told me. He said if I helped him with that, he would let me be free to do whatever I wanted in peace, if I decided I didn't want to be a part of the action anymore. He also told me to make sure I kept an eye on you until he had done it. He said afterwards it wouldn't matter, he would be able to handle things on his own. But from here until then, it is crucial."

"So, you have been spying on me for Silas,"I said.

"I have, but there was a lot I didn't tell him,"Antonius said,"he wanted me to tell him everything, but I didn't tell him you could speak Parceltongue."

"All those times you were following me around, asking me questions?"I asked.

"I was worried about you after Silas threatened you,"Antonius went on,"I was trying to keep an eye on you, mostly for my own reassurance. I was going to stop you going after Silas. He's too dangerous."

"Did he say where he was planning on carrying out the ritual?"I asked.

"In the Forbidden Forest,"Antonius said,"I think he has a tunnel that leads there."

I wondered if that's where the tunnel leads in the other direction. But he also has a Basilisk. What if the Basilisk lived in that tunnel?

"Is there anything else you can tell me?"I asked.

"That is all I know,"Antonius said, then he added,"what were you planning on doing after I had told you everything? If I had not taken the Veritaserum willingly?"

"I was going to obliviate you,"I said.

"Then, Catherine, can you obliviate me?"Antonius asked.

"Why?"I asked.

"Because everything is too complicated now,"he responded,"Midsummer is less than two weeks away. Silas said he would leave me alone after that. It's better that I don't know. It's hard enough keeping back from him the things I already knew. Please, Catherine, keep out of danger, but I can't know this! Silas will be able to get the information out of me, if he suspects I am holding things back. It will be more simple if you just obliviate me. Take me out of this room to do it, then I won't have seen the Jobberknoll feather and the penseive, and the memory potion books - they're what made me realise you knew. Take me outside of the room, and then ask me to think of my version of it."

"Alright,"I agreed, I hadn't expected things to go this way; Antonius willingly taking the Veritaserum and asking me to obliviate him.