Gwen's training had intensified. She had mastered the unforgivable curses on spiders and was put through them two years ago when Mad Eye Moody was a teacher. Although it hadn't really been Mad Eye, it didn't really matter. She was prepared for it.
She had dealt with the Crucio. She could throw off the Imperio. The Avada Kedavra was the only one she was worried about. That one had only been survived once before. She felt confident that her fey blood would protect her in this case, but she wasn't sure how. Maybe it was the immortal power the Stag King had lent to her. She felt like she could survive anything.
Weeks flew by, the semester winding down once again, or rather up for some students who were highly strung about their exams. The rumor of an attack had died down, but Gwen was still concerned. She wrote to Gemma regularly in hopes of finding out more information and maintaining good contact with the mound, so that if their help was needed she could easily persuade them to join the cause.
And on the quietest morning of early March Gwen could not sleep. Another slicing pain in her chest had woken her. Someone was in trouble. She quickly shook off the sleepiness, grabbed her wand and cloak and peeked out the window to see if she could see anything.
She was not the least bit surprised to see several death eaters striding out of the Forbidden Forest early in the morning. They were wearing their masks, protecting their identities, hiding behind a mask of fear. They were weak, she thought. They were weak because they didn't dare show their real faces.
It was with these kind of thoughts that she strode out to meet them. It was so early that no one else was awake to intercept them. Gwen had to defend the castle. What kind of DADA teacher would she make if she couldn't do just that?
She wasn't alone. Striding out of the shadows to meet her was the cloaked Graves. He looked at her. "I knew you'd come."
"It's a bit early to wake the whole castle. Besides, I think we can take them by ourselves."
"That's a big group Gwen."
"With all your dark arts experience and my obvious talent for surviving curses, I think we'll get along just fine."
He frowned at her. Was she always so cocky first thing in the morning? "If you say so."They forged ahead to meet the group.