Chapter 7: Strong Enough
As I rest against this cold hard wall, will you pass me by?
Will you criticize me as I sit and cry?
I had fought so hard and thought that all my battles had been won
Only to find the war had just begun
Will my weakness fall and now make me suffer for a lifetime?
Is there any way to be made whole again
If I be renewed and find forgiveness by the strength I've never had
Will my scars forever ruin all God's plans?
He took my life into His hands
And turned it all around
In my most desperate circumstance, is where I'm finally found.
"Excuse me, Bella?" I turned around from where I was sitting on the laptop, checking my emails and saw Gianna – the human receptionist standing in my doorway. She was wearing a grey knee-length sleeveless dress; it had a popped collar and was a button down, it also tied around the waist. I hadn't seen her since I had been turned – I rarely saw her wandering around the mansion and I didn't get to go out much.
"Yes?" I asked as I crossed my legs and motioned for her to come further into the room.
"Your spells trainer is here, Aro would like you to go to the throne room." I nodded my head and thanked her, I turned back to the computer screen and finished reading the email that Angela had sent me, telling me about how word had spread that I was now living back with my mom, that she wished I had said goodbye, and that she hopes I will come back and visit her soon.
I made my way out of the room I was staying in and walked – at vampire speed to the Throne Room.
"Hello Isabella" Aro greeted as I walked up to where they were seated, I murmured a hello to all three of them and waiting off to the side for my trainer to arrive.
The large doors to my right opened up and I saw Gianna enter with Professor Dumbledore and Tonks behind her.
"Hello Aro, Marcus, Caius. Nice to see you again Bella" Dumbledore said, Tonks followed suit and greeted everyone.
"I'm sure Nymphadora and Bella have a lot to do today, so we'll all talk later." Aro said and motioned for Tonks and myself to leave the room.
"Okay Bella, today we're going to practice using the spells, instead of dodging them." Tonks told me, I nodded my head and pulled out the wand that Mr Ollivander had given me.
"The first spell you're going to learn is called Stupefy, all you do is point your wand, and say the word stupefy." Tonks demonstrated the spell and shot red sparks at a dummy on the other side of the room, I hadn't noticed the manikin there before, so I decided that Tonks or Professor Dumbledore had set it up for today's training session.
I tried mimicking Tonks' actions while yelling the word and saw red sparks fly out the end of my wand, but before they reached their target; the sparks evaporated.
"That's okay Bella, just this time, kind of jab your wand a bit."
I did as I was told and was pleased to see the manikin fly backwards when my spell hit it, I repeated this a few times until Tonks told me to stop.
"The next spell is a Disarming spell, with this one; you're supposed to flick your wand like this – and say the word Expelliarmus." I nodded my head and got to work on learning the spell.
"That's enough practicing for now," Tonks announced just after there was a knock at the door, with a flick of her wand, the door opened. A girl that looked to be the same about the same age as me, stepped through the threshold. She was wearing a black cloak that I had seen Tonks wearing earlier.
"Bella, this is Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Isabella Swan" Hermione and I exchanged a 'hello' and Tonks began to explain that Hermione was here to duel with me.
"Um, are you sure that's a good idea Tonks? I mean, I only just learnt the spells." I said nervously.
"We don't have any time to spare Bella, Hermione here is one of the brightest witches of her age, and she'll be your tutor, if you can duel fairly well against her then you're far more along than any of us could have imagined." She said, I nodded my head – fully trusting her although I didn't really believe what Tonks had just told me. Hermione took off her cloak revealing that she was wearing dark blue jeans with a light blue sweater, she gave her wand a swish and I watched as her bushy brown hair was carefully plaited and tied in thin air.
"Okay Bella," Hermione started, "please stand on the other side of the room and when I say go, cast the spell stupefy and when I cast them back, dodge them. We'll do this until Tonks tells us to stop"
I nodded my head and walked – at vampire speed, to where Hermione had told me. I turned around to see her recover a shocked look and take her place.
"Stupefy!" I said loudly, red sparks flew out of my wand and travelled towards Hermione, she ducked out of the way.
"Stupefy!" Hermione yelled back, the spell passed by my left arm and I quickly stepped out of the way. This carried on for about 30 minutes before Tonks told us to stop.
"Bella, can you try and cast spell after spell in vampire speed? I want to see if you would have an advantage that way" I nodded and when Hermione said 'go' I started casting spell after spell – it was so fast that it just looked like there was a red stream coming out of my wand, Hermione dodged one but was then quickly hit by the other curses.
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay? I'm so sorry!" I said frantically, running to her side quickly and helping her off the ground.
"Ow, I'm okay, at least we know you have speed on your side" Hermione murmured, and walked a little unevenly to sit on a seat that was placed next to a table with water – obviously for Tonks and Hermione. "Have you taught her the Unforgivable Curses yet?"
"What are the Unforgivable Curses?" I asked, and as I did a chill ran down my spine – they were obviously named Unforgivable Curses for a reason.
"There are three Unforgivable Curses, the Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse and the Killing Curse –"
"Killing Curse…?" I trailed off, shocked. "I can't kill someone!" I was expecting a lecture on how this was a very serious situation and how I have already been through the hardest thing I will have to go through – the transformation. But Tonks just nodded her head – unlike all the other times where Professor Dumbledore had given me speeches on how I was saving a world and it was normal for me to feel a bit of pressure – although he had made it clear that I wasn't going to be 'fighting' alone. For that, I was grateful.
"I understand that Bella, and so does Professor Dumbledore, he didn't like the idea of you having to give up your whole life for a world you don't know but desperate times call for desperate measures. You really are one of a kind Bella. Now, you don't have to use an Unforgivable Curse in the battle, Professor Dumbledore has decided on an alternative curse that you can cast on your attackers, it's a spell that can only be lifted using the wand that cast it." Tonks motioned for Hermione to stand up and walk over to us. "The spell is Petrificus Totalus, all you do is point and utter the words. And to take the curse off the wizard, murmur the words Finite Incantatem."
I nodded my head and watched as Tonks moved a chair to behind where Hermione was standing and pointed her wand at it, with a few words, I watched as the chair turned into a large pillow that was easily larger than any of us.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Tonks yelled, I saw Hermione go white as snow for a brief minute before turning back normal colour and falling back onto the large pillow. Her arms and legs looked like they were being held together by something but as I looked at Hermione's eyes, I saw that she was just patiently watching the ceiling, as if she was just waiting to be released again. "Finite Incantatem"
"See, I'm fine, it won't hurt the person being cursed or anything, I could still breathe and see perfectly fine." Hermione assured me, I murmured an 'okay' and pointed my wand at her, after a reassuring smile from her, I uttered the spell and watched her fall to the pillow again.
"You can let her go now Bella, I think that'll be all for today" Tonks said, when I had taken the curse off Hermione, Tonks turned the pillow back into a chair and set it back down next to the table.
"It was nice to meet you Bella" Hermione said politely as she put her cloak back on, I smiled and said the same to her, when they had both gotten their things, we walked out of the training room and back to where The Throne Room was.
"How was training Bella?" Professor Dumbledore asked as Tonks, Hermione and I entered the room.
"It was fine" I murmured but was cut off by Tonks
"She's going brilliant Professor, she should be up to standard by next week" I didn't like the way she spoke about me, but I chose to keep my mouth shut.
"Excellent excellent," Dumbledore murmured and then spoke directly to me, "We might be requiring you earlier than planned"
"Why?" I asked, when Professor Dumbledore had explained to me that he needed my help, he seemed to be pretty set that it would take me a while to develop my skills properly.
"Lord Voldemort keeps getting stronger and there have been more disappearances… we have sources that have told us Draco Malfoy is in the process of becoming a Death Eater – this must not happen."
I nodded my head, though I wasn't really sure what he was talking about but I hoped it would make more sense when I got there. I felt my stomach jolt with the thought of what I would be doing if I was back in Forks – probably sulking around wandering if they were ever going to come back; or maybe Charlie would have shipped me off to live with Renee, or would I have accepted that they were gone forever and started to move on? I quickly scratched that thought – no, I couldn't see myself ever moving on.
"Isabella?" Aro's voice broke me out of my thoughts, I looked up to where he was seated and waited for him to continue. "It is time for your fight training with Demetri"
I said good-bye to everyone in the room and followed Demetri to the training room.
"Today we are going to practice uneven fighting, so Jane will be here to help today, she should be along soon." Demetri told me, I murmured an okay and waited quietly for Jane to arrive.
"Hello Bella" she said as she walked through the doorway, "have you told her what's happening today?" she continued as she walked over to the benches and set down her hooded cloak that everyone in the guard wore.
"I've only explained what we're doing in physical training." Demetri replied.
"Okay, well because Professor Dumbledore needs you sooner than planned, the first half of training will be physical, the second half will be trying to strengthen your gift." Jane said quickly as she tied up her hair. "Begin"
Without pausing Jane pounced at me and as I dodged her, Demetri came at me and pulled me into a bear hug. I thrashed against him but it was to no avail, I used my newborn strength to stomp on his toe – as he yelled in pain, I elbowed him in the stomach and twirled out of his hold on me.
I spent about an hour of dodging punches and pounces.
I continued to get tips on how to properly fight – in case this Lord Voldemort wizard had recruited Vampires, although Professor Dumbledore had reason to believe that he hasn't. We only stopped training when we were joined by Gianna.
"Excuse me, Bella? Aro would like to see you again in the Throne Room" I nodded and left the room to go see him.
"Ah good, Bella you got my request." I nodded my head slightly and waited for Aro to begin talking again. "As Professor Dumbledore and Nymphadora told you earlier, they may need you sooner than planned. We are just waiting on Professor Dumbledore to get back here; he had to travel to Hogwarts to get Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter." I took a deep breath in and waited for Professor Dumbledore to get back. "Ah Albus, I'm glad you found your way."
"Hello again Aro, I would like you to meet Mister Harry Potter, Miss Hermione Granger and Mister Ronald Weasley" As Professor Dumbledore said this, 3 people who looked about 17 years old stepped forward, one of the boys had glasses and jet black hair – and as he moved his hair out of his eyes, I saw a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt; that must be Harry Potter I decided in my mind. The girl had bushy brown hair which was tied back into a ponytail and she looked about my height. Lastly, the boy – who I assumed was Ronald, had bright orange hair and looked rather gangly, he was also unnaturally pale.
"Nice to meet you, and this is Isabella, she will be helping to protect you while you're at Hogwarts." Aro said, I smiled and said my greeting, Ronald and Harry just stared at me and for a moment I was about to touch my face to check if I had anything there but then remembered what my first reaction had been when I had seen them – I had stared uncontrollably as well. I noticed Hermione looking rather annoyed at Ronald, I knew that look. I'd feel like that whenever I saw girls looking at him although I knew he only had eyes for me; I don't know how true that was from what has happened the last few months.
After 2 hours of talking, Albus, Hermione, Harry, Ronald and I were interrupted by Tonks coming into the room.
"Hello Professor, Watcher Harry, Hermione, Ron. Hello again Bella" Tonks walked to the lounge where we were seated on in the room I was staying in, as she did, Tonks tripped over the rug on the floor but luckily caught herself before she fell over. I heard Ron – as I had been told to call him, stifle a laugh.
"Are you okay?" I asked, knowing full well that she would be embarrassed.
"Yeah… I'm okay" Tonks murmured quietly, I smiled slightly at her, and told her that I used to be clumsy when I was human.
"You used to be human?" Ron blurted out, earning a smack on the shoulder by Hermione, followed by an honestly Ronald.
"Yes, I used to be Human before I was a Vampire" I said quietly, though I made sure it was loud enough for them to hear.
"How long ago was that?" Harry asked
"A month or two ago" all of them gaped at me, I knew they probably expected me to be hundreds of years old, maybe thousands.
"Enough chit chat" Tonks murmured, her English accent strong as she turned to Professor Dumbledore. "It has been confirmed Professor, there has been more murders and another break out from Azkaban."
Professor Dumbledore sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, he turned and looked at me from above his half-moon glasses, very seriously and spoke; "Bella, would you be willing to come back to Hogwarts tonight?"
"T-tonight?" I gasped, "But I'm not ready!"
"Hermione here has offered to help you with your magic, and I have arranged for your physical training sessions to continue with a replacement. You will meet him shortly." Dumbledore explained, I calmed down a bit – Professor Dumbledore had seemed to have thought this out.
"And you believe I can do this?" I asked.
"I have every belief that you will succeed" I looked to Harry, Hermione and Ron – they looked a little nervous but seemed to trust what Professor Dumbledore was saying. I nodded my head in agreement that I would go tonight.
"Very well, I will go and get The Cullen's so you all can meet," I froze and didn't hear the rest of what Professor Dumbledore said, The Cul – No, he didn't say that… Surely there's been a mistake, maybe I'm going crazy. I knew it would happen sometime, don't freak out until you can know for sure. I occupied my time with the internal banter that I had misheard Professor Dumbledore.
Finally after a few long minutes, Dumbledore re-entered the room; I kept my eyes on the floor but quickly looked up when I couldn't feel the presence of anyone new.
"It seems they have gone hunting, no matter, you will meet them on the morning after your arrival." Professor Dumbledore murmured as he went to go sit back down on the lounge. "You will be trained by one of the members, he was trained by the Military before he was turned into a vampire, and I believe that his age has given him a lot of help in perfecting his skills, he will be the one to help you throughout your stay. The whole coven will help you develop your gift – your mental shield. Aro had a member of the guard do some research and we have found out how to project your shield boundaries." I tried to stay as focused as I could but my mind kept slipping back to them – Military trained vampire, the only vampire I could think of was his brother – Jasp – No! I begged myself, don't bring them up.
"Do you have any questions Bella?" Tonks asked, I looked away from the door where I was a little disappointed that they didn't walk through the threshold.
"No, not really" I replied, clasping my hands together and picking nervously at my fingernails.
"Excellent," Professor Dumbledore said, clapping his hands once and standing up, "I will be back to get you at sunset. That should give you about 5 hours to pack."
"Yes sir" I murmured and stood up along with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Tonks.
Everyone left shortly after and I closed the door to the room I was staying in, walking over to the computer, I used the internet to check what time it would be in Phoenix.
It's a little late there, but mom shouldn't be asleep yet. I thought as I walked over to the phone and dialled her home number.
Ring Ring… Ring Ring… Ring Ring… Ring –
"Hello?" I heard Renee's voice say on the other end, I sighed thankful that some things still seemed to be normal – but then remembered how she had lied to me my whole life.
"Hi mom" I said quietly, trying to sound cheery, but it sounded fake.
"Bella, Is that you?"
"Yeah it's me"
"You sound different honey" Renee said cautiously, I paused for a moment, and remembered how I had sounded before I was a vampire, and how different it was now.
"Oh, I think it might just be the connection" I lied, not ready to tell her the truth yet – and definitely not over the phone.
"Oh, fair enough. How are you calling me hun? Phone's don't work at Hogwarts." I cringed, and decided that if I couldn't tell her the whole truth… yet… I could at least just stretch it.
"Well, I haven't actually reached Hogwarts yet, we had to stop off and get some more… students, but I'm arriving tonight." I said, hoping I had fooled her.
"Well I hope you have fun sweetheart. Have you spoken to your father?"
"Not yet, I was going to call him after you." I said, Renee took this as her cue to hang up and we quickly said our goodbyes.
The call to Charlie went similar to Renee's, and soon after I decided to lie down on the bed before I decided to pack my bag; after all, I didn't have much.
[Author Note: Okay im sorry this took me so long, ive been working heaps. But hopefully ill have more time now to finish the chapters ]
