As though thisv day needed to become more stressful than it already was,"it was still prowling the lengths of her backyard, causing Maggie to jump with every pass closer to the house. Years had passed since she last had to deal with any unruly beast, and the last time she had Edmund had been the one to deal with it. Briefly, she considered searching for her old Hogwart's textbooks, but such research would take hours - if not days. Besides, it made very little difference what type of beast it was, at least to her. All Maggie cared about was forcing it far from her home.

Victoria had noticed Maggie's panicked look as soon as she and Addy came back inside, and quickly herded the children upstairs. It was a relief to know that should the beast somehow come tearing through her house her kids had another line of defense. Victoria would sooner throw herself between the beast and youngsters than let any harm befall them. All Maggie had to do was remain perched on the cabinet nearest the kitchen window watching the thing. All she had to do was wait for Percy or dawn, whichever came first.

The decision to write to Percy was as instantaneous as Victoria's. Her (former? Maggie still wasn't sure if she could consider him a friend after he shared so little of himself with her) friend dealt with this for a living. Surely, if Percy couldn't handle the hollering beast outside her door he would know someone who could. Maggie only hoped he saw her letter sooner than later. Who knew what his nightly routine currently consisted of? Or if he would even be home this evening?

Another loud holler nearly caused her to fall from the counter. Merlin. If Percy didn't arrive soon Maggie was going to take everyone to her parents' for the night.