Why Mervy's Tense

Poor little Mervy's a little stressed out. She's starting Hogwarts today, and is worried her new classmates are not going to appreciate her more-than-normal knowledge of the staff. Her family's a much sought-after Wizarding Family Crime Group (think the Mafia with wands)... and her Mum's constantly fighting with her Uncle, the Head of the Family. She meets a little redhead named Lily, who's having an extraordinarily hard time getting onto the Platform and they become friends. Later, she hears that her fifth cousin wants to set her up with some boy named Sirius. So please excuse her if she's an insomniactic crab. It's not really her fault.

Mervy's finally of age and she's allowed to use magic over the summer holidays. This takes her... next to a Dumpster in Knockturn Alley at three o'clock in the morning spying on Underage Dark Wizards. Oy vey. The things that happen when your mother teaches Transfiguration and your whole family has quite a long history of being the "wizard mafia". Mervy sees someone at the Dark Wizard meeting that makes her freak out, everyone in her family is hiding something from everyone else in her family (Mervy's afraid it'll end in all out warfare) and apparently Remus Lupin is hiding something big enough to go to the Church of Exiles.