With Dobby in the house, life became smoother not because Dobby was willing to teach Ophelia to be independent but because he used magic for everything. Standing there, watching as the dust was wiping itself, she sighed and thought back to the Order. It was important to train if they wanted to have any chance to protect each other during a fight with crazy lunatics. So, just like that, a few hours later, she ended up in front of Spinnard's portrait once more. 

"Would the house be able to hide approximately 30 people doing magic illegally?" she asked.

Luce Spinnard looked down at her, already half regretting his decision to remain under any form in the house. But he could understand her, and her need to grow stronger in order to be able to stand straight in front of her father. 

"The Order has to train, some of them still need to protect their minds and their families. Others want revenge, but most of them just want Voldemort gone,"

"Tom," Spinnard added calmly, "His name is Tom. When you begin using his silly nicknames, you elevate him to a villain that must be feared. As long as he remains Tom to you, he will not scare you nor will he be more than a half-blood Slytherin," he repeated with scorn, his expression darkening as he remembered everything he had done for Tom. 

Ophelia couldn't help but smile, happy that Spinnard decided to leave her a piece of himself with whom she could actually interact. But there was also newfound respect for the person that both drew her closer and away from her father.

"You...are a truly complicated man," she said out loud, not thinking twice. Spinnard raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything for a while.

"Why would I agree to have 30 students in my house?"

"Because we must train and there is no better place than a cottage in the middle of nowhere, that could hide us doing magic outside of school,"

"Why don't you just go to school, then?"

"Well, we can't, can we? It's summer break and Hogwarts is far,"

Spinnard seemed deep in thought, considering if these kids would actually be able to train each other. 

"Besides," she started, "This is my house now. I'm just asking if the house is able to hide us using magic. I didn't ask for your approval," she finished, blinking innocently. But Spinnard couldn't believe the words he heard, even as a painting, and he started to laugh.

"My, Ophelia, aren't you just like your father in the most unexpected moments," he said after he calmed down. "The house cannot do that, but there is something you can do. The house will answer to your needs, but not in the way you expect. Look in the basement,"

And she did, she walked down into the damp and dark space that seemed to be bigger in the dim light. There, in the corner just under the light was her former potions working table where her unlucky cauldron looked used. She swore there were blue traces on it, but she hadn't used it ever since Rabastan stopped tutoring her. Her whole expression softened at the memories, at how easy her life appeared back then. She wanted nothing but to learn dark arts and have a family, friends, and be a normal witch. 

"So much happened since then," she mumbled gently grazing her fingers over the table. "And yet I still suck at Potions," she added with a soft chuckle. 

She turned around and looked at how dark the basement truly was if she walked deeper into it. The working table was near the entrance but the further she walked, the longer it seemed to become. Ophelia frowned, feeling as if the basement was stretching right before her eyes. At some point she reached an end, or what felt like one since she was touching around. 

"I wish there was a light around here, somewhere," she muttered, seeing nothing.

But then, beautiful bronze sconces appeared and lit up alongside the walls, contouring a slim corridor that seemed to go infinitely. Ophelia remained staring at one of the sconces and had an idea.

"And I wish there could be a way to train down here," she added confidently.

After a few minutes, she realized that nothing was going to happen. No matter how magical the cottage was, it wasn't the Room of Requirement. She glanced back, at the way she came from and could still vaguely see the stairs if she squinted hard. But then she returned to the labyrinth that formed in front of her and decided to go ahead and see it through.

Time was relative down there. She had been walking for minutes or hours, nobody knew, and yet there seemed to be no end. Ophelia sighed and rubbed her eyes, growing hungry and tired. It felt as if the house was teasing her. Finally, after a bit more time, she came face to face with a gigantic wardrobe, or more like a giant coffin, because it was triangular in shape and seemed like it wouldn't fit any clothes. Moreover, there was nothing else, just that coffin standing there, towering over the Gryffindor. 

"I swear, if I open it, enter it, and something bad happens..." she just pointed her finger at the walls, aware that it looked weird. But the doors opened, inviting the student to step in. Ophelia sighed heavily and thought really hard about her next move. Of course, she wouldn't go back, of course, she was going in, after all, she did enjoy getting in dire situations and terror. 

But once inside, the doors closed and another pair appeared on the opposite side. She opened one of the doors with a loud creak and only stuck out her head, inspecting the new environment. It looked extremely familiar...

"Am I in Hogwarts?" she asked herself, amazed and worried that there were other ways to enter the school grounds. 

But it was true. The house did help her get to a place where the Order could meet and train. During summer, Hogwarts was mostly empty as far as she knew. Her eyes glinted as she realized this was even better than she hoped for. But students still had to come to the cottage in order to get there. 

"Severus will be fuming," she whispered to herself chuckling at a mental image of the boy muttering to himself angrily.

If only such easy thoughts could perturb Severus...there he was one seat away from his lord, standing across from Lucius Malfoy as they were discussing an intriguing move in the ministry. The heads of the Malfoy and Lestrange families were on each side of their Dark Lord, faces in a constant scowl as they listened to a report from another Death Eater. But Snape couldn't help but stare at Lucius, who seemed to be thinking about something else. A bit of legimency wouldn't have hurt if Voldemort wasn't there. But Snape feared that he might make a mistake, and that would cost both his life and Ophelia's. 

"As I already told you before, my contacts in Japan have been very keen to learn of our plans for reconstruction." Voldemort began as soon as the report was finished. "I already instructed Rabastan and Igor to leave as soon as possible..." he stopped and looked around, his eyes sending chills down Snape's spine. "Have they left already?" 

"Igor is on his way, my lord, but Rabastan hasn't been seen these past few days," a Death Eater explained, looking smug as if he had done the world a favour by snitching on one of his colleagues.

"Rabastan was helping Ophelia clean and cook, my lord. I am spending this summer with her and she isn't very good at hiding her magic. She cannot apparate either," Severus explained.

Voldemort hummed and moved his hand, scaring the younger Death Eaters who believed he was going for his wand. But he didn't, he just pat Nagini.

"I see, how interesting. I am pleased to know that my daughter will be with you, but Severus, Ophelia doesn't need to hide her magic. I control the ministry now." Voldemort said, his voice quiet yet still so loud in the room. "I'm sure we can hurry her skills in apparition since Hogwarts doesn't give her the right encouragement," 

Lucius knew what that meant and he couldn't help but shudder at the thought of having Ophelia go through torturous training once more. 

"But Rabastan is leaving, sir. Who else would be apt to teach your daughter in such a short time?"

"I will," Rosier's voice came from a few seats down, "I will be more than happy to take care of Ophelia, my lord," he said, his voice filled with venom but his face seemed so enthusiastic. 

Both Snape and Lucius glanced at each other with worry, knowing that Rosier was most definitely not going to help Ophelia at all. 

When Snape arrived at the cottage, he was surprised to see his best friend waiting for him on the couch, deep in thought. As soon as she saw him, she bit her lip and took a deep breath.

"What is it?" He asked warily, knowing she was a spontaneous person when it came to bad ideas.

"I might have discovered a way to enter Hogwarts from afar," she said as if it wasn't a big deal. "And some people may have to use it this summer." 

Severus' eye was already twitching at the idea of having Potter disturb his peaceful break. But then he remembered another detail.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. The Dark Lord was informed of your poor apparition abilities and he decided that someone else will help you with that," he said in a business tone. "You won't like it."

"Who does he want to send? Bellatrix?"

"Rosier. Actually, he volunteered and your father was more than happy to agree." 

Ophelia's eyes narrowed so much that she looked like a copy of her father, like an angry snake that wanted nothing but to take a bite of his victim. 

"Over my dead body." She said coldly and hurried into her room. 

Although the shadow of Rosier's training loomed over Ophelia, in the following week nothing really happened, which gave her more time to think about her own troubles. The thought of inviting the Order over seemed dangerous after she realized that Death Eaters might find out and hide in the forest in waiting so she had to think of another way to get them into the cottage, or better yet, get the wardrobe some place else. 

Another issue at hand was the mind vault. Even while doing usual house chores, such as washing the dishes, she couldn't help but contemplate the idea of forcing certain memories behind a door and lock them away. 

"Dobby...have you ever heard of someone trying to lock someone else's memories away?" She asked while wiping a bowl and putting it away.

Dobby looked at Ophelia and tried to remember.

"Would it be possible for a wizard to create a vault in a friend's mind and hide endangering memories in there?" She explained hoping the house elf knew something.

"Dobby has only heard once of such magic. A wizard hid his memories in someone else's mind, it is possible. But Miss should know that it can cause insanity. The wizard died and the vault opened and that person's memories mixed up, making him go insane. That's what Dobby heard," 

"But what if there are two wizards? If one of them dies, the other can still keep the vault locked." 

"It is dangerous. Miss needs to be a master of legilimency in order to succeed." Dobby said, his eyes widening at the consequences. 

"I'm alright." Ophelia said, no modesty at all in her behaviour. "I can make a vow without a witness, I'm sure I can create a vault as well."

Dobby frowned, not quite sure this was a good idea.