Disclaimer: Harry Potter universe is owned solely by J.K. Rowling, I only play in it for no profit whatsoever.
/
Thank you to anyone who has read this far! ^^ By the way, if anyone is wondering when the ''sex'' part comes in the story - it's soon, in four chapters, and it will be good. I hope. Merlin! _
Warning: erm, bear, meat and an Australian guy?
/
/
/
The school year neared its end and Zarah couldn't be happier about their combined achievements. The fifth, sixth and seventh years were doing splendidly, everyone even handed in all their assignments on time, which she thought to be slightly suspicious. No teacher was ever that lucky.
When the final examinations came, she didn't need to fail anyone and most of the students received well deserved O's. When the woman shared her concern with the Potions professor, he played devil's advocate and asked if she allowed for the possibility that the syllabus was too easy. Zarah had to agree that that did sound plausible and decided to incorporate more intricate case studies into the next years programs. And maybe bring Dark Artifacts into for fifth years too. She would need to consult Julius on this.
/
''It's not an artifacts, it's an artefact, you idiot!'' Zarah yelled over the howling of the tornado. Her wand was raised and pointed at the little box on the ground. It was about thirty feet away and kept on spinning around, almost digging itself deeper into the stone.
Every bloody time Jona asked for her help she ended up with the short stick. Last time it had been cursed gauntlets. Time before that a whole tea set that would bite off anyone's fingers except for their master's. This time it was a 17th's century music box that everyone initially thought to just have accumulated a mass of residual magical energy because it was kept close to some bad tribal juju. Note to self, have the kids learn about proper storage too.
A spell hit the box mid turn. It shuddered, whined and stopped. The tornado tail coming out of it withered like a deflated balloon until only smoke was left. But it had already done the damage to the building.
Sidestepping a massive boulder that had been snapped like a twig, Zarah carefully approached the box, never lowering her wand. It didn't move, which was encouraging, especially since the spell was experimental. ''Right, I need to close the lid on it. Jona, I need you to grab the Seal Chest and bring it as close to the box as you can. Once I grab it there is no telling how long we will have before it activates again, so you'll need to be quick.''
The man disappeared from her view and she heard rummaging around the room. Merlin, she hoped the bag wasn't broken. As the witch kneeled next to the offending artifact, she delicately run her fingers along the underside of the open lid, being mindful not to touch the wood. Her skin prickled with things that felt… chaotic, psychedelic, uneasy, restless… but alive? Well that was new . Everything else about the magic felt as she had expected, tribal, brazent nature. Not dark either. Or light. More… just there. It stirred like an animal when it felt her own magic rise to the surface and Zarah instantly pulled her hand back. You never know what could jump from one magical thing to another. Especially, non-sentient to sentient. Magical folk didn't do so well when afflicted by curses delivered by unliving things. Curses like that clung on akin to leeches, bleeding you dry slowly but surely.
Another thing to mention to the students. Zarah smiled to herself, it was funny how much she looked forward to the new school year, especially thinking about that during a dramatic capture.
''I got it!'' Jona's voice triumphed and he ran over to where she was kneeling while unfolding the wooden origami-like construction.
''OK, we have done this before. Hold the lid open, stand behind it and be ready to close it as soon as I'm not touching the box anymore. Clear?''
''Yes, boss!'' the man grinned toothily and took his position.
The witch took out a gauntlet from her side bag. It was made of dark, worn looking leather with imbedded plait scales running down the upper part of it. The glove covered her arm up to the elbow, which worked nicely for things that tended to want to bite you. It was of her own design, meant to negate if not all then most of the magic in cursed items for a short period of time. So far she was able to bring the time limit up to 25 seconds and that was already pushing it, because some of the metal bits had started to spontaneously corrode.
''Alright, here we go…'' she gingerly took the artifact's lid in two fingers and closed it over the open box, hinges screeching like harpies. Then, wand in one hand, she grabbed the box by its side, pushing the lid shut, lifted it and took three steps to where Jona's was anxiously holding the Chest. Zarah dropped the item in and the wizard instantly slammed the lid shut. The edges melted with into solid, dark wood and, after Zarah touched the symbol on top of the Chest with her wand, the whole thing started to fold in on itself until all that was left was no bigger than a button. Picking it up from the floor, feeling the warmth and residual thrumming, Zarah made eye contact with Jona and they simultaneous exhaled and started to laugh loudly.
''Well, that was eventful.''
''It wouldn't have been if you had listened to me and not opened it.''
''But I thought that the cursed object was inside the box, not the box itself,'' Jonas sounded indignant and pouty, which just looked ridiculous on a burly 6 feet tall Australian guy.
''You will get yourself killed if you are not more careful, Jona,'' she didn't take any of his shenanigans, instead turning serious. The big man just shrugged dismissively and beckoned for her to follow him out.
Later that night they were having cold beers and hot barbecue on the beech, with Jona minding the grill and Zarah waiting impatiently for the food.
''Come on! I'm starving. I'm sure those vegetables are done by now,'' she insisted and reached for one of the metal sticks that had pieces of different veggies stuck on it. Her hand was mercilessly swatted away by the chef.
''Instead of concentrating on the food why don't you tell me how is your new job coming along?''
''It's actually brilliant. And much safer than this bullshit,'' she couldn't help but jank his chain to which Jona gracefully shrugged his massive shoulders. ''The kids are amazing. They are eager, want to know more stuff than I can actually tell them. You know, we do case studies, but I can't go into all the details. Some of the stuff has been fairly… brutal,'' the man nodded in acknowledgement, not taking his eyes off of the barbecue.
''Colleagues nice? How about your boss?''
''Other professors are fine, I mean everyone is always helpful if need be, but I'm minding my own business. The headmaster,'' a sinister smirk quirked her lips as she brought the bottle up for a sip. ''He is devious and has an agenda. And, unfortunately, I happen to be his agenda for some of the things he wants to achieve.''
''That bad, huh?''
''No, not bad, just… you know, I like people plain, uncomplicated, honest.''
''Yeah, I know. Is he trying to get into politics? That is always dirty.''
''Not in a normal sense. He plays them but, as far as I can tell, has no actual political ambitions apart from what he wants to achieve for the school. And that is where my dilemma lies. I hate to be a part of anyone's games, but I also want Hogwarts to be better. For the kids to have opportunities that I never did. And so does he. It's just that he wants me to be a spokesperson for all the misunderstood baddies and overlooked heroes,'' a heavy sigh left her body as she leaned back into the lounger, giving up on trying to steal any food before it was ready.
''So, I'm guessing you will stay there then?''
''Oh, yes, absolutely. As long as he doesn't do something that crosses a line for me. And, if I can believe in his common sense and words, he doesn't want to be on my bad side.''
''Your bad side? What bad side?'' Jonas laughed, flipping over a burger. Zarah stuck out her tongue.
''Apparently, my family is some sort of a boogey man for the middle aged wizarding community.''
''I thought you guys were neutral.''
''Well, I guess that's sort of the point. From the old pure bloods we are one of three that were not ruined by the war and, to mother's utter annoyance, have suddenly gained some kind of a social status nobody asked for.''
''And that headmaster wants your family's backing for whatever plans he has?''
''No, that's the funny part. He wants nothing to do with my family and everything to do with pushing me into the limelight of the new era.''
''Love, your disdain is showing.''
''That's because that is all I feel when I think about having to be publicly scrutinized for things that happened fifteen years ago. I mean, the rest of the world doesn't care. You guys don't care about some island thousands of miles away.''
''Well, that is not entirely true, Zee. Our politics are tightly linked. All the magical ministries over the world are tightly linked, whether they want to admit it or not. It might not be through stuff that goes on in everyday lives, but the big stuff matters,'' she glanced over to her friend, surprised by his sudden seriousness. ''Don't look at me like I just grew a second head. I'm just saying, maybe your headmaster is right and there is something only you can do to help. Imagine this, a thought experiment, as you like to call them...''
''Oh, what is this, a conspiracy?''
''... just imagine, you in your position, with your opinions get to share with the youngsters who did not see the horrors of the war. What would you want them to inherit? A world that was fucked up by their parents and other grownups? Or an ability and ambition to be better?''
She let a long pause draw into a silence between them. What did she want? It felt like people around her were talking about leaving legacies and Zarah just didn't feel like she had anything constructive to contribute. Her whole life was around and about destruction.
''I honestly don't know, Jona. I was raised to be neutral, to stand up for myself and never follow anything I didn't believe in. But I was also raised Dark. I just don't think people are ready to be that open minded.''
''Do you still think you are dark?''
''I don't know anymore,'' and she felt sorrow creep in, making her want to curl up and hibernate until it passed. Did she feel dark? Had she ever really felt dark? ''This could turn out to be a heavier conversation than any of us want to have at the moment,'' Zarah forced a smile on her face to fight against melancholy.
''That might be true. And, the food is ready!'' he dropped the subject as quickly as he had brought it up. Instead, the man piled sticks of grilled vegetables, meats and burgers into a big platter and set it on a makeshift table between their two loungers. Zarah was happy to eat and have a distraction from her own thoughts. At least, for now, because she already knew that the subject Jona brought up wasn't going anywhere and would continue to nag at her until she came to a decision.
