Miranda likes flying! She isn't clumsy in the air. Wheeeee. Okay, okay, time to put the broom away, she'll live.

Russell looks at his pocket watch, then stops a nearby student, chosen completely at random. "Excuse me, Miss. Do you know where the Potions classroom is?"

"Iiiit's Monday so you can take the shortcut, you go in through there and take your second right and go down all the stairs you see and it'll be on your left."

"Thanks very much, Miss!" Then he blinks and takes another look at her. "Why, you're Miranda Swan, aren't you? "

"...I don't know you," she says.

"I heard about you through the Ministry!" he says cheerfully. (Technically true). "Saved a bunch of your classmates, didn't you?"

"Who are you?"

"Russell Peasegood, at your service! Might be you'd know m'niece? Vicky Peasegood, third year Gryffindor?"

"I don't really have any friends in Gryffindor. Or third year. Um, weren't you going to Potions?"

"Indeed, indeed, but now I've met you, and I'm all curious! However did you learn a Patronus? Even I can't manage one!" he says with a self-deprecating smile.

"There's... books."

Karen catches up. "That's not a reporter, is it? We aren't supposed to talk to reporters."

He chuckles at that. "Quite true, and yet here I am, still Patronus-less." He smiles at Karen as she approaches. "And a g'day to you too, Miss. Name's Russell Peasegood, I'm here visiting m'niece."

"That's nice. We're not your niece."

"Never said y'were! Miss Swan here gave me directions to Potions-" he waves in the direction she had indicated earlier, "but I recognized her, y'see. Heard through the Ministry- such a buzz there was!- and couldn't resist asking about the Patronus. I don't even have one, y'know; quite impressive, really."

"You never did say if you're a reporter," says Miranda.

"An Auror was already here. The Ministry could have sent somebody else with them if they wanted Miranda to talk to Ministry people."

He blinks at her in confusion. "The Ministry didn't send me, why would they do that? Like I said, I'm here t'see m'niece."

"We still aren't your niece. Come on, Miranda, let's go."

"Oh, bloody hell."

"He said he wasn't a reporter! We asked! And we barely talked to him!"

"The stupid author blurb at the end says he's a journalist for the Prophet," Alli says thoughtfully. "Think he's enough of a twit to claim a reporter and a journalist are different?"

"Probably. Ugh, Professor McGonagall's probably going to be mad."

"She's the one who let him on the grounds in the first place!" Alli says indignantly. "And you barely said anything, lots of these quotes are from random students or whatever. You couldn't exactly have stopped him."

"He said he was visiting his niece, who's some other year from us, Gryffindor, that's where the quote about not having Gryffindor friends or older ones came from, we were saying we didn't know his niece."

"That's kind of a stretch..." Emma says dubiously.

"Right?! As though his niece is all of Gryffindor. Arrogant twit!" Jenny declares loyally.

"Well, I mean, I did actually say I don't have friends in Gryffindor or other years, just... I mean, I have friends in all three other houses, it's not like I'm that reserved!"

"So he's a lying, exaggerating twit. Still not your fault."

"Do you think we'd better tell McGonagall ourselves or wait?"

"About the article or the reporter...?"

"Either, both."

"No way does she not already know about the article." She pauses as she thinks about the other half of the question, 'must tell authority figures relevant things' warring with 'authority is scary and should only be necessary when Something Bad occurs.' She decides that something bad has already occurred, authority is relevant, and goes with, "And might as well, she'll want to talk about the article anyway I bet."

"I'll go up to her after we're done eating I guess..."

"Want company? Protection? Something like that?"

Headmistress McGonagall is waiting for her at the entrance of the hall as they exit. "A minute of your time please, Miss Swan?"

"It wasn't her fault! He lied to her about being a reporter!" Alli says immediately, defensive.

"Putting aside the question of blame, I believe a conversation is in order regardless," McGonagall tells her dryly.

"He did lie, though," says Miranda. "All I did was give him directions to Potions - he said he was here to visit his niece, we said we don't know her."

"The school has been receiving no small number of inquiries about your adventures," McGonagall tells her. "Do you have a plan, for your Easter holiday? You may be swamped, if you do not. I believe you are something of a curiosity, at the moment."

"Visiting my dad anyway. I think he'd be harder to find?"

"Possibly," McGonagall allows. "But do consider- at least one managed to get to you at Hogwarts itself, when we were prepared, before you were quite this much a celebrity."

"Wait, your dad?" Jenny blurts out.

"I have a dad, I just don't live with him most of the time and he didn't come to Australia," says Miranda. "At Hogwarts everyone knew where I was. Nobody knows where my dad is, do they, Professor?"

"Perhaps not. It remains to be seen. Ideally, you are correct, of course. Do you require assistance in arriving there?" McGonagall asks. "I confess, I know little about Muggle transportation."

"Muggleborn," Emma corrects automatically. Then, to Miranda, "Is that... why you haven't mentioned him? Did you think we'd care...?"

"I didn't think you'd care after the first while, but I didn't know if you'd gossip," says Miranda. "And I don't want everyone to know. But yes, my dad's a Muggle - not like you, Jenny, you're a Muggleborn, like my mum, which I do tell everyone because it'd be much more inconvenient not to mention and because I don't want anyone to think I would mind it in somebody else and it's complicated and - anyway. He's easy not to mention, I don't see him nearly so often and he's quiet anyway. He's going to pick me up at King's Cross in a car, is the plan, but if necessary Mum can get me and she can Side-Along me to his house."

"I expect you will have some trouble on the platform," McGonagall warns. "If your mother can take you in a rather less traceable fashion, it will be less of a concern for everyone."

"Hah, who would I even tell?" Alli snorts. "I only hang out with you lot. No gossip. Promise."

Jenny-

-and Emma nod in agreement.

"It can be a secret if you want," Karen agrees.

"Not exactly a secret. I haven't been saying he's dead or an untraceable foreign wizard, I just haven't been bringing him up, yeah? Anyway, I'll owl Mum and Dad both and tell them Mum should fetch me."

"He's a po- he's like a Muggle Auror," says Miranda. "I don't know if it would help if he threatened to arrest wix reporters..."

"It... might be best not to try," McGonagall sighs. "What with the remnants of the war. If a wizard thought a Muggle was threatening him..."

"So I guess we just won't... answer the door."

"You can stay with us, if it gets bad," Jenny offers. "My family's not going to be any easier to find, and then your dad could come and not be confused by wizards and stuff. It, er, miiight be sorta crowded though."

"That might be nice," says Miranda. "I think we'll see if they find my dad's house first but we can keep that in mind for if they do."

"Thoooough, as the only person with siblings here, you are duly warned. My family is sorta crazy."

"Like how?"

"I mean, you know how I have a sister and three brothers and they're all younger than me? That just sorta comes with... chaos attached."

"But what do they actually do?"

"There is a lot of running around, or... projects, of various types, cooking or coloring or building. Starting a rock band with pots and pans, or making a pillow fort in the middle of the hall, or trying to climb a tree and getting stuck because apparently they're cats and forget how to get down, or digging up the neighbor's yard to try to find buried treasure... trust me. I have stories."

"Heh. Well, maybe I won't have to come stay with you. At least not for Easter hols, they can get a little older first..."

"You could stay with me too if you want, my parents aren't Muggles either of them but the house has wards on it so if someone found it they couldn't just walk right up to the door if they weren't expected. Mum and Dad wouldn't mind."

Emma will be being silent over here. They have wards as well- rather well done expensive ones, in fact- but she doesn't trust either of her parents not to just let the reporters in, if they thought it would get them a spot in an article. So, she'll be over here being quiet.

"I am a terrible person to stay with," Alli says matter of factly. "I mean, I wish I could help, but- yeah. Go with those two, if you have to. If we have wards, I'd be shocked, and even if we do Mum will have forgotten a step or meet a friendly stranger and decide they must be harmless or something else equally airheaded. For the love of Merlin, do not entrust her with your peace and quiet for the hols. Guaranteed, she will fail."

"Understood. With any luck I won't need two houses and if they track me down at both of those and are too much of a nuisance I will just - see about staying with one of Mum's Australian friends or something."

"Um, if they follow you to Australia wouldn't- whatever Australia calls their Aurors, are they Aurors there- wouldn't they help? That's... a lot." She looks towards McGonagall for confirmation.

It would appear she has returned to her work.

"They're officially called Aurors but they're almost never called that, there's nicknames... anyway, they might have trouble with immigration or something but I don't know what the law about reporters is. In either country."

Alli promptly turns to Emma.

"I do not know all rules ever!"

"Well, hurry it up then!"

Karen giggles.

"But yeah, just let me know you're on your way if you do need a place to crash. That way I will have at least a few minutes to run around crazily picking up Patrick's toys."

"That would be appreciated. I'd absolutely trip."

"That is why Patrick's come first! He has all these... trucks and marbles and little, rolly stuff. Anne's toys are mostly squishy and Thomas' are mostly books. And Michael got 'neat freak' from absolutely nowhere so I can ignore him."

"This is Miranda we're talking about, she could trip on squishy toys too."

"I knooooow, I'll get them tooooo! I am just prioritizing by danger level."

"If I come to your house I will sit down and not get up the entire time. For safety. You can bring me tea and cakes."

"I will absolutely bring you tea and cakes!" She does owe Miranda her life, after all. She can have infinite tea and cakes, as far as Jenny is concerned. "Buuuut I may sometimes delegate. This is what minions are for. And I have four of them!"

"That must be convenient sometimes."

"It will be more when they are older. I mean, Patrick's only three! Not the most effective minion, yet."