Chapter Two
Albus had never received a detention before and he sure didn't want to start going to them now but it seemed as if he might be on his way if he didn't fix this. It was fine to rehearse his spellwork on a plant; it was something entirely different to perform magic on another creature with supernatural abilities. That was one of the very first rules taught to him when he started his magical education and now he had broken it. The only exceptions to it were classroom lessons and the threat of being harmed by the creature. Nothing had attacked him while by the lake and venturing outside early on a Saturday morning was not one his professors' ideas.
Yes, his chances of not receiving a punishment were quite slim. He needed to reverse his spell quickly because sitting on top of the bush he had practiced his magic on was a human-sized fairy. It was a female fairy with curly, short black hair and violet eyes. She was examining her now over-larged body and squeaking wildly.
Albus kept his eyes on her as he pulled his wand from his pocket, ready to cast the appropriate charm. He blinked and when his eyes opened again, she was gone. Panic seized him as he scanned the area in front of him. He spun around eager to find her and came face to face with said fairy. Surprised, they both screamed - well, she squeaked - and Albus found himself sitting on his backside in the dewy grass. A glint of gold flashed in the corner of his eye and looking to his left he saw her flying off towards the Quidditch pitch.
"Oh no, no, no!" he exclaimed scrambling to get up.
Hastily he put his feet into his sneakers, abandoning his socks by the shoreline, and ran after the gigantic fey. He watched her soar through the air, making sure that he stayed on her trail in case she decided to rear of course. Thankfully, though, she flew into the pitch and Albus followed suit on the ground. Once he ran through the hall and out onto the grass, it was hard to see as the sun had risen high enough that its light shone fiercely over the stadium. She had to be in here, he had to return her to her normal size.
Albus shielded his eyes from the sun as he surveyed his surroundings. The stands were void of any bodies and she wasn't on the ground. The anxiety was building in him with each passing moment. The tinkling sound could be heard again and Albus listened closely to where it was coming from. He turned around and looked up; floating in front of the gold hoops was the fairy. As long as she stayed there until he could get a broom and fly up to her, everything would be okay.
He dashed into the Gryffindor team room and ran to the closet to pull out a broom. He ran back outside and checked to see that now she was circling the hoop, examining it from different angles. Albus mounted the broom, kicking off into the air. The exhilaration and adrenaline running through him was amazing. Being in the air was definitely one of his favorite pastimes. He wished he could zoom around the pitch freely but that would have to wait; right now, he was on a mission.
Albus flew up to the hoop slowly as not to scare the fairy away but it seemed, as he got closer, that she was much more interested in her reflection than him. That was good news for him. He pointed his wand at her, opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he realized he hadn't learned how to reverse a growth charm yet. They had only just learned it at the beginning of the week. How silly of him to forget that. Now what was he to do with an overgrown fairy?
A squeak from behind him startled him and he nearly fell sideways off his broom but he caught himself just in time. It didn't stop his heart from beating wildly at the prospect of almost falling over a hundred feet, though. Taking deep breaths, Albus turned his broom around to find the fairy floating before him, a smile on her face. She began squeaking and tinkling again as if she were trying to talk to him. Albus couldn't understand her fairy-tongue.
"I-I'm sorry; I don't know what you're saying," he cut across her apologetically.
She stopped and looked at him curiously before flying a bit closer - Albus leaning back a bit at her near proximity - and began speaking again. She was very lively, her arms moving all over as she whirred excitedly. He wondered what she could possibly be trying to tell him but there was no way for him to know. Besides, it didn't really matter what she said as he had to find the correct spell to shrink her. He needed to get to the Library or back to his dorm to look in his textbooks.
But what was he supposed to do with her while he ventured back to the castle? She would fly off to Merlin knows where and he'd never be able to fix the mess he created. He could chance hiding her in the broom closet until he returned; no, that wouldn't work as he recalled overhearing the Ravenclaw team captain saying he booked the pitch for the morning. She couldn't stay here; Albus would have to take her someplace else. But the danger in doing that...it seemed his only choice at the moment. He returned his attention to her and noticed she had stopped, now looking at him expectantly.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I have no idea what you've just said to me," he told her.
She let out what he thought could be a sigh before descending back to the ground. She sighed. Did that mean...? Albus shot back towards the earth, touching down at the same time as her. His sudden appearance scared her and she started to fly off but he called out to her.
"Wait! Come back!"
She was only about ten feet in the air, so she slowly made her way back down. She stopped a few yards away from him, an apprehensive look in her eyes.
"You can understand me?" he asked cautiously. She nodded, her raven curls bouncing around her head. This was good - very good. If she could understand him, then maybe he could get her to follow him back to the castle so he could get her back to normal.
"Hi. My name is Albus. D-do you have a name?"
She squeaked excitedly and waved her arms around again, a smile plastered on her golden flecked skin. Albus guessed she was happy to meet him and was probably telling him her name.
"Um, well it's nice to meet you…"
He trailed off hoping that maybe she would give him some clue into her name other than her high-pitched squeals. It proved worthless once she opened her mouth again.
"I'm sorry; I don't know what you're saying."
She cheeped several more times and with each chirp it became shriller. Obviously she was angry he couldn't understand but there was nothing he could do about that. He was ready to apologize again and try to get her to follow him but her hand grabbing his arm caught him off guard. Before Albus could react properly, they were rising into the air; he was being pulled off his broom but before it could fall from beneath him, he grabbed it. He sat on it once more and maneuvered it in the direction the fairy was taking him. She was flying back to the bush that he had found her on. Once they were close enough she let go of his arm and gestured towards the flowered shrubbery.
"Your name's Rose!" he exclaimed happy that finally he could refer to her as something other than 'Hey you'.
A shrill chirp escaped her mouth once more and the triumphant smile on Albus' face disappeared. So her name wasn't Rose; what else could it be? She had pointed to the bush where he found her…it was a rose bush…roses were flowers…
He wasn't sure if this was it but he needed to take a chance. "Is your name Flora?"
A giant grin spread across her face and before Albus knew it he was being engulfed by her. He steadied himself on the broom as her arms wrapped around him and her hair tickled his face. He inhaled and was met by the sweet scent of an array of flowers. Flora released him, floating back down to the ground, and Albus followed her on his broom.
"Flora, hey," he started trying to get her attention as she was busy poking in the bush. At the sound of her name she turned around, tilting her head to the side and staring inquisitively at Albus.
"How would you like to go up to the castle with me?" he asked, pointing towards to Hogwarts.
She followed his outstretched hand with her eyes and after several moments shook her head before resuming her prodding of the bush. How was Albus supposed to get her to go with him? She seemed quite content in searching the bush she had previously inhabited.
Though it was still pretty early, the sun's heat could be felt. Albus rolled up his sleeves hoping his exposed skin would cool him down. Suddenly Flora was by his side again – his heart skipped a beat and he felt like this was going to be a characteristic of his day. She grabbed his arm marveling at the silver watch settled on his wrist. She was whirring loudly and her violet eyes were ablaze.
Albus had an idea and he was putting a lot of faith in it…he was going to need it.