-.-
Chapter Two: Zutharis and Balathar
-.-
Scarlett awoke with a start. She sat up in bed, breathing deeply, her heart racing and she found she was drenched from head to toe in an icy cold sweat. She had been having a dream... no, a nightmare. The most terrifying nightmare she could ever remember having... except as she sat alone in the dark dormitory, she realized she couldn't remember even a single detail of the dream. All she knew was that it had shaken her to her very core and she knew she had never been more scared in her entire life.
She gingerly climbed out of bed and pulled a bathrobe around herself. She walked over to the window and quietly pushed it open. She breathed in deeply, inhaling the cool night air. It was clearly almost dawn, judging by the soft pink tinge that was slowly appearing behind a snowcapped mountain range that rose up far in the distance.
Hogwarts itself was slowly revealed to Scarlett as she stood watching the sunrise. The many turrets and towers of the vast castle rose out of shadow and into dazzling daylight causing Scarlett to realize that the school was much larger and far grander than she had noticed on their short boat trip over the lake. It was clear now that Hogwarts was not just a school, but a fortress as well.
Scarlett had just begun watching as a pair of early risers made their way across the beautiful, sprawling grassy lawns toward the oval Quidditch pitch when she felt someone snake an arm around her waist and rest their chin on her left shoulder. Scarlett didn't need to ask, because in some way she couldn't begin to explain, she already knew who had snuck up behind her.
"What are you doing up so early?" Lilly asked softly, her breath tickling Scarlett's ear.
"Bad dream..." she said vaguely, not wanting to discuss it.
"Tell me," Lilly gently pressed. "Sometimes it helps... you know, to talk about dreams."
"That's the thing," Scarlett replied, now watching the two students soaring along on their broomsticks, circling the pitch at a tremendous speed. "I can't really remember anything about it... but it scared me to death."
"Well, it was just a dream," said Lilly softly. "Whatever it was, it can't hurt you. I'll protect you," Scarlett giggled at that.
"You'll protect me, will you?" she asked quietly, finally turning away from the window and coming face to face with Lilly, who was nodding sincerely. "My brave defender…"
A loud yawn and the creaking of mattress springs drew Scarlett and Lilly's attention to the four-poster bed to their left where a girl with flaming red hair had sat up in bed and was wiping her green eyes with both hands.
"'Morning," said Lilly brightly when the girl looked over at them.
"'Morning," the girl replied sleepily, rubbing her eyes again. "Close the bloody window, will you?" she asked grumpily. "It's too early for that much bright light."
"Sorry," Scarlett said quickly, tugging the window closed and drawing the red and gold curtain over it.
"Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!" said the redheaded girl suddenly. "You're Scarlett Moreau!"
"I am," said Scarlett rather wearily. She was already getting very tired of people's reactions upon learning her name.
"That's so cool!" said the girl excitedly. "I've read all about you, of course! Well, your parents anyway. They were amazing, those two."
"I… I don't really remember them that much," said Scarlett uncomfortably.
"Oh… oh, right, of course," said the girl. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said anything, I just… Wow, this is really awkward now. Let's start over, shall we? My name's Hope, Hope Branson." She turned to Lilly, who seemed to be doing her very best to keep from laughing. "And what's your name?" When Lilly didn't answer, Scarlett gently nudged her with her elbow.
"What?" said Lilly abruptly. "Oh, sorry… I was still on the whole butt buttering thing and wasn't listening…"
"Hope, this is Lilly," said Scarlett, shaking her head exasperatedly. "She's… easily distracted by funny comments and small, shiny objects."
Together, the girls dressed and by the time the other two girls who shared their dormitory, who turned out to be twin sisters named Mandy and Maddy Matthews, finally awoke, the sun had fully risen. Scarlett, Lilly, and Hope descended the spiral staircase, crossed the common room, crawled through the portrait hole and made their way down to the Great Hall.
Jake was already there, sitting by himself at the more than half empty table. He looked up at them as they approached and smiled.
"Morning, ladies," he said brightly. "And who's this?" he asked, his gaze falling onto Hope.
"Jake, this is Hope," said Scarlett. "Hope, this is our friend, Jake."
"Is he as easily distracted as Lilly?" Hope asked playfully as they joined Jake at the table.
"Not quite," said Scarlett in highly amused tones while spooning scrambled eggs onto her plate. "It's easy to fluster him, though."
"Good morning to you too," said Jake. He pushed a sheaf of parchment across the table to them. "Did you get the class schedule yet? Professor Grace was passing them out." Lilly pulled the parchment closer and she and Scarlett leaned closer to read it.
"Ugh," said Lilly grimly. "We've got Potions after lunch. I hate Potions… I practiced a bit at home and I was horrible at it."
"But we've got Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts before that," said Scarlett optimistically. At that exact moment, a hundred owls came soaring into the Great Hall from virtually every direction. The birds flew in wide circles while searching for their owners and then dove down to deliver their letters or parcels.
The girls, all having grown up in magical families, were not surprised by this. Jake, however, recieved the shock of his life when the birds swarmed down all around him. Scarlett's owl, Aura, swooped in as well just to put in a showing on her mistress's first day at school. She landed gingerly atop an already stunned Jake's head and hooted happily.
"Please tell me you know this bird," said Jake trying to look up enough to see the creature without unseating her. Aura suddenly squawked and took flight, cuffing Jake around the head with her wings as she flew across the table and settled onto Scarlett's shoulder. Laughing along with the other girls, Scarlett passed a piece of bread up to Aura and smiled at Jake.
"She doesn't like being called a 'bird'," said Scarlett very seriously. "Her name's Aura,"
"Well, Aura," said Jake nervously. "I... I'm sorry if I offended you, but I... I mean, well... you... You are a bird, but... well; I mean you're a very beautiful bird, of course! You're quite attractive and your feathers are very... evenly colored and smooth… but, you have to admit… I mean, Aura, you are a bird!" Aura stared at him with her wide, amber eyes for a long tense moment. She then fluttered across the table and nipped Jake rather affectionately on the ear.
"She forgives you," said Scarlett giggling. Aura soon took flight again, leaving with the other owls to nest in the Owlery. The four friends finished breakfast and headed off to their first class.
Now, Hogwarts was an old school of magic with many hidden secrets and mysteries… and it also had its own, rather twisted personality. Apart from the Grand Staircase, a massive staircase whose stairs constantly rose, fell, and turned in any number of different directions; there were also corridors that led to the Transfiguration classroom on Wednesday and to the Great Hall on Friday. There were doors that only opened if you answered a riddle they asked you or promised to return within the week and oil their hinges.
Then there were doors that called out, offering shortcuts to classroom only to take you on a long, winding trip through the castle should you go through the door and follow their directions. And then, of course, these same doors often grew tired of opening for people and pretended to be a solid wall so they wouldn't have to open at all. All of this proved to be very confusing even for veterans of Hogwarts School. For first years, it was nigh-impossible to navigate the school.
Luckily, the four young Gryffindors managed to locate the Charms classroom with only a few minutes left until the bell rang. As they queued up with their classmates, Scarlett noticed a pale girl who she remembered being Sorted the night before. She had long, straight black hair and piercing green eyes and was staring at her with what was, in Scarlett's opinion, an expression of intense dislike.
"Can I help you?" Scarlett asked when the girl didn't turn away after several minutes. The girl, who had been leaning against the stone wall further along the queue, stepped forward and approached Scarlett, flanked by twin blonde girls who both stuck to the pale girl as though she were royalty.
"You're Scarlett Moreau," said the pale girl dryly.
"I know I am," Scarlett replied. "But I'm not nearly as interesting as people around here, seem to think I…"
"I don't think you're all that interesting," said the pale girl, cutting Scarlett off. "I've grown up hearing about your parents, but you're certainly not what I expected. A witch like you, a pureblood, consorting with… with riffraff like this," she jerked her head towards Jake, who blanched.
"What's wrong with Jake?" Scarlett demanded.
"Like I can't smell a Mudblood," said the pale girl darkly.
"How dare you!" Hope exclaimed furiously.
"Who are you, anyway?" Scarlett asked angrily.
"Mikayla Carson," said the girl. "Not that…"
"Hold on," said Lilly suddenly. "Carson… any relation to Ghingrich Carson?"
"He's my father," said Mikayla sagely.
"Who's Ghingrich Carson?" asked Hope.
"He works for the Ministry of Magic," said Lilly darkly. "He's responsible for nearly all of the Muggleborn legislation coming about."
"All of which needs to be passed," said Mikayla loudly. "Scum like that ought not even be let into Hogwarts! Not even a single drop of magical blood and we welcome them like family!"
"Anyone should be allowed into Hogwarts," said Scarlett firmly. "Anyone, as long as they can do magic." Mikayla just shook her head.
"Change is coming to the world soon, Moreau," she said warningly. "You'd do well to decide now where your loyalties lie." Mikayla and the blonde twins walked away just as the bell rang, signaling the start of the day's classes. The door to the Charms classroom opened and a tall man appeared before them. He had shoulder-length brown hair that looked dry and quite unhealthy. His left arm was missing from the elbow down and his face was heavily lined, even though Scarlett got the impression that he was not as old as he appeared.
"Well, come in," he said gruffly in a deep, gravelly voice. The first years filed in, taking seat around the classroom. Scarlett, Lilly, Hope, and Jake found seats near the front of the class and waited. The man who had opened the door for them walked to the head of the class and turned to face them.
"Welcome," he said. "I am Professor Mercius Balathar and it is my job to teach you all the basic charms and spells you'll need in your various day-to-day lives." He didn't sound remotely happy about this. "Now, the first spell we'll be learning is a rather interesting one. It is used to make objects fly. It is unlikely that any of you will be successful at first, but with time and practice it can easily be done. Firstly, you must practice the incantation itself. Without wands, please… and repeat after me: Wingardium Leviosa."
"Wingardium Leviosa!" The class chanted back.
"Very good, very good," said Professor Balathar dully. Scarlett had the suspicion that the class could have said something as ridiculous as 'blibbering snorkelhats' and Professor Balathar wouldn't have even noticed. "We'll try it with wands now," Balathar continued. He pointed at a small, mousy Gryffindor boy sitting in the seat next to Jake.
"You," Balathar said loudly. "Name?"
"Er…. Robby," he boy said nervously. "Robby Papperman,"
"Fantastic," said Balathar dryly. "Go over to the cupboard over there and pass out pillows to the rest of the class." Robby did as he was told and passed out the pillows. Taking one last pillow for himself, he returned to his seat. "Good," said Balathar. "Now, you will all raise your wands and perform the following hand motion. A gentle swish and flick… try it now." The students all began swishing and flicking and after a minute or so Balathar stopped them and told them to actually attempt to cast the spell on their pillow.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" said Lilly flicking her wand at her pillow, which didn't move an inch. Jake's pillow on the other hand actually did move when he tried the spell, but it merely wobbled feebly and became still. Hope accidentally prodded her pillow with her wand tip, causing it to begin to smolder slightly around the edges. Scarlett raised her own wand as Robby Papperman's pillow exploded, sending bits of stuffing all over the classroom, and cried;
"Wingardium Leviosa!" To Scarlett's tremendous surprise, her pillow shot several feet into the air and hovered over the class's heads.
"Well, now..." said Balathar, lumbering over to where Scarlett sat, gazing bemusedly up at her pillow. "Well, that is interesting. Have you performed this spell before, Miss...?"
"Moreau, sir," said Scarlett nervously. "Scarlett Moreau, and no... I've never done any spells before today..."
"Hmm... a fluke, perhaps..." said Balathar idly. He snatched the pillow and placed it on the desk before her. "Try it again," Scarlett slowly raised her wand again, half hoping that the pillow wouldn't move at all.
"W... Wingardium Leviosa!" And once again the pillow rocketed into the air to float lazily over their heads. Balathar actually smiled as he reached for the pillow again.
"You're an interesting one, aren't you?" he said with more enthusiasm than Scarlett had heard from him yet. "Yes..." He glared around at the other students, who had stopped their own attempts at working the spell. "Put your eyes back in your heads, you sods!" he roared. "This is what the rest of you ought to aspire to!" He added, pointing at Scarlett.
By the end of the class, only a few other students had managed to successfully levitate their pillows. As the rest of the class collected their books and bags when the bell rang signaling break, Professor Balathar held Scarlett back.
"If I might speak with you a moment," he said briskly.
"Go on," she told Lilly when she looked as though she was going to stay behind as well. "I'll be right there," Lilly nodded and followed Jake and Hope from the classroom. Mikayla and her blonde companions gave Scarlett scathing looks as they passed her on their way out of the room. Scarlett ignored them. When the last student left, Balathar shut the door with a snap and turned to Scarlett, who stood near the teacher's desk, looking apprehensive.
"I want to try something else, my dear," said Balathar quietly. "You... you have a gift, child. I sense great power in you... and it is not because of your famous parents, either. No, you... you are something altogether different... something special." Balathar conjured up a large, thick concrete wall out of thin and hurriedly flipped through a spellbook on his desk until he found what he was looking for. "Here," he said, passing the book to her. "I want you to destroy that wall there. Use the spell in the book."
"But, sir," said Scarlett gently. "This spell... it's very advanced, there's no way that I could..."
"Try it!" Balathar growled. Scarlett sighed, but set the book down and raised her wand.
"Bombarda!" she cried. A blast of energy erupted from the tip of her wand and blew the wall to pieces. Scarlett yelped in surprise and leapt backward as bits of the wall flew in all directions.
"Excellent!" Balathar exclaimed, quite clearly very pleased. "Impressive, Scarlett… Most impressive indeed!" He took the spellbook from her and turned back to his desk. "You have great power in you, very great. Magic comes as easily to you, it seems, as breathing does to the rest of us. You are special, indeed."
"I don't want to be special…" Scarlett said quietly, more to herself than to Professor Balathar, but he heard her nonetheless.
"Being special, having the gift that you do… it is nothing to fear, my child." said Balathar consolingly. "Your ability is a very good thing. You will be a very powerful witch one day… you already are, if the truth be told. Don't fear that power, child. Embrace it!"
"But I… I just want to be… to be normal!" Scarlett exclaimed. "I… I want to… to have to study hard. Stay up late before exams and… and complain because I have to do it. I just want to be… an ordinary witch." Balathar nodded understandably.
"I know," he said warmly. "I know you do. But you've been blessed with an extraordinary gift… one many would kill for. But do not think that you will never have trouble with magic. What we've done here today is, in the grand scheme of things, very simple magic. Yes, you would not normally have attempted a spell like that last one until at least your third year, but it is still well below the Ordinary Wizarding Level. I wouldn't worry, child. You'll be just fine."
-.-
"What kept you? Have you been with Professor Balathar all this time?" Jake asked when Scarlett walked up to him, Lilly, and Hope where the three Gryffindors had gathered in a secluded corner of one of the castle's many courtyards.
"Yeah…" said Scarlett quietly.
"What did he want with you, anyway?" asked Lilly. Scarlett explained what had happened back in the Charms classroom. By the time she had finished, all three of them were looking at her with impressed expressions on their faces.
"I knew you belonged in Ravenclaw," said Jake knowingly. "It was obvious all along!"
"It doesn't have anything to do with intelligence," said Scarlett, shaking her head. "Balathar said that magic as easily to me as breathing does to everyone else. That's not intelligence."
"Then what is it?" asked Hope curiously. Scarlett shrugged.
"I have no idea…" The bell rang seconds later, putting an end to the conversation. Together, they wound their way back through the castle toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom where they would be learning with the Hufflepuffs. They found it with far less trouble than they did the Charms classroom and made it inside well before the bell rang.
Professor Grace was perhaps the complete and polar opposite of Professor Balathar. She entered the classroom after everyone had taken their seats with a smile on her face and greeted them all pleasantly.
"Welcome, first years, to your first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson," she said brightly. "My name, as you will already know, is Professor Charity Grace. In this class, you will learn how to defend yourselves against all forms of dark magic and powerful magical beasts. This is quite possibly the most important class you will attend during your time here at Hogwarts. This is where you will learn defensive and offensive spells that will be essential in preparing you in case you ever find yourself in a position where you need to defend yourself."
Professor Grace began the class by teaching them a simple shield charm called Protego, that would protect the caster from equally simple offensive spells. If the class had found Charms to be difficult, it was nothing compared to the stresses of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Each student would attempt to cast the shield charm while Professor Grace fired low-yield sonic spells in an attempt to shatter the shield.
Most students' shields collapsed upon a single hit. A handful absorbed the magical blast and even a couple managed to repel it completely. But when Grace cast a spell at Scarlett's shield, the spell rebounded with such force that the young teacher was blasted off of her feet and tossed haphazardly into the front of her desk. Scarlett clapped a hand to her mouth as the rest of the class gasped, many of them leaping to their feet. Scarlett rushed to Grace's side as the teacher sat up and leaned back against the desk, holding her head.
"Professor!" Scarlett exclaimed in a horrified voice. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to..." But then she noticed that Grace was smiling. A pained smile, admittedly, but a smile nonetheless.
"You've got nothing to be sorry for, Miss Moreau," said Grace. "That was quite a performance. In fact, twenty points to Gryffindor. I've never seen a first year put up a shield charm of that strength before. I'm impressed."
"Everyone is," said Jake quietly so that only Lilly and Hope could hear him.
-.-
When the bell finally rang indicating the lunch break, Lilly, Jake, and Hope left the classroom with Scarlett, the latter of whom hadn't uttered a single word since the accident with Professor Grace. Lilly had obviously noticed this and put her arm around the girl's shoulders.
"Hey, cheer up," said Lilly brightly. "Look at it this way, sweetie, at this rate you'll graduate by your fourth year!"
"I just don't understand it," said Scarlett exasperatedly. "I mean, magic's not supposed to come this easily! My dad always said how hard he had to work when he was at Hogwarts, and I'm just... I don't know..."
"Maybe you're just special," said Hope idly. Scarlett shrugged.
"Yeah," she said worriedly. "That's what I'm afraid of."
They ate a quick lunch in the Great Hall and set off early in search of the Potions classroom, which they found in one of the castle's many dungeons. Unlike the rest of the castle that they had seen so far, the Potions classroom was damp, cold, and lifeless. There was a light mist floating in the air and their breath rose up in a fog before them.
The students all set up their cauldrons and took out their potions books. Scarlett, Lilly, Jake, and Hope took a table to themselves and Lilly, looking glum, hoisted her cauldron over the fire. The door behind the teacher's desk burst open and a very tall man appeared. He had almost stark white skin and sunken gray eyes. His head was completely bald, but he had a long, pointed goatee on his chin. His dark eyes swept the classroom and the expression on his face clearly showed he wasn't happy to see any of them.
"Potions," he said by way of greeting them all to the class. "Are perhaps far more powerful than any magic you will ever learn. The sheer power of these mixtures is beyond your understanding. They are capable of incredible things… if you have the knowledge to control them. I am Professor Zutharis, the Potions Master of this school. I expect a great deal from the students under my instruction… and I will accept nothing but perfection."
They began with a basic Wiggenweld potion which was typically used to awaken someone from a magically-induced sleep. It was the very first class that Scarlett had trouble with. Potions, it seemed, did not come as easily as other magic. Her Wiggenweld potion was slightly too runny and wasn't quite the right shade of green, but for her first potion, she felt it was pretty good. It was at the very least better than Jake's mixture, which started emitting bright orange sparks, puffs of black smoke and several loud bangs.
By the end of the lesson, Scarlett found she hated Potions quite as much as Lilly did.
This was partly because Professor Zutharis was, in Scarlett's mind at least, an incredibly substandard teacher. He was angry, unhelpful, and rude to the students. He swept around the classroom pointing out the flaws in the student's work, but rarely offered any advice to correct their errors. Lilly said this was because he was Head of Slytherin House and therefore favored them. They had no way to know this for certain, however, because the first year Gryffindors shared Potions with the Ravenclaws, whom Zutharis treated roughly the same.
It was with a great deal of happiness that the four friends left the icy cold dungeons and made their way back up into the sprawling Entrance Hall and through the double doors into the warm, inviting Great Hall for dinner and then up the Marble Staircase, winding through the Grand Staircase and finally to their dormitories for bed.
Lilly fell asleep almost immediately and Hope followed suit soon after. Scarlett, however, lay awake, the events of the day spinning through her mind. She had a gift, she was special... she had a connection to magic that she had never suspected… and one she didn't want. The thing she didn't understand, however, was… why? She should be happy, shouldn't she? She was powerful, or at least had the ability to become quite powerful. Anyone else would be thrilled. Some, as Balathar had said, would kill for her ability. So, why was she so afraid of it? She fell asleep long before she arrived at an answer.
-.-
While the rest of Hogwarts sealed itself away for the night, Professor Phoebus was wide awake. She stood in her office watching the sun setting behind the high mountains in whose shadow Hogwarts lay. A knock at the door turned her attention back to the other two occupants of the office: Professors Balathar and Zutharis.
"Come," Phoebus called toward the door. The door opened and Charity Grace entered, looking perplexed.
"You asked to see me, Headmistress..." she broke off when she noticed the other two professors. "What's going on?"
"All of you, please sit down," said Phoebus, settling into her own chair behind her desk. "I've asked you all here tonight to discuss our newest students,"
"One new student in particular, I would imagine," said Balathar.
"Let me guess," said Grace. "Scarlett Moreau?" Phoebus's eyes narrowed.
"What do you think about Miss Moreau, Charity?" she asked curiously.
"Well, she's powerful," said Grace uncertainly. "She's very powerful. She produced a Shield Charm that knocked me flat on my ass, but…"
"I meant as a person, Charity," Phoebus interrupted. "Not as a witch,"
"Oh, well… I hardly had time to get to know her, but she… she's smart, very smart in fact. She's very beautiful… she seemed very sweet and apologized a number of times after the accident with the Shield Charm. On the whole, I quite liked her. I'm very happy to have her in my class."
"She managed to destroy a concrete wall using a spell three years more advanced that her current level," said Balathar, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, Phoebus, I'm more interested in her ability as a witch than with how pretty she is,"
"Who she is as a person is far more important than how powerfully magical she is, Mercius," said Phoebus dryly. "After all these years, I'd have thought you would have learned that by now."
"I do know that," Balathar countered. "But with this girl… I haven't encountered anyone with her abilities… not a single witch or wizard has her seemingly natural connection to magic. Phoebus… what is she?"
"She's an eleven-year-old girl, Balathar," said Phoebus sharply. "Not a tool to be used."
"I personally saw nothing particularly impressive about the Moreau girl," said Zutharis, speaking for the first time that evening. "Her talent at potion making was mediocre at best. I knew her parents and she doesn't have anywhere close to the talent they had."
"Maybe not, but she's got everything else down with any trouble," said Grace. "She's very…"
"Scared," said Phoebus darkly. "She's undoubtedly very frightened by the events of today. She's only a child, after all." She sighed very deeply. "I don't believe there's anything more to discuss tonight." She bade them all goodnight and the three teachers made to leave the office. Phoebus called Balathar back, however.
"Mercius, a moment please," she said quietly.
"Ma'am?" he asked, pausing at the door.
"Mercius, the girl… Scarlett, she's… she's very important to me," said Phoebus softly. "More seriously, she is in very grave danger."
"What sort of danger?" Balathar asked, closing the door and returning to his seat before the headmistress's desk.
"The kind I may not be able to protect her from," said Phoebus grimly. "I cannot say what shape the threat against her will take, but I do know that one day it will come. I… am not greatly concerned at the moment, but… but you are the only person I know I can trust with this… with her. I need you to help me to keep an eye on her, make sure she's safe." Balathar actually smiled.
"You've known me for many years, Phoebus," he said lightly. "Have I ever let you down?" Phoebus smiled slightly and shook her head. Balathar stood and left the office. Phoebus sighed and stood to her feet. Turning back to the window, she just managed to catch the last glimpse of sunlight as it disappeared behind the snowcapped mountains.
