My grave will never be filled. It's either kill or be killed.
Hollywood Undead
Being back at school made Rhya feel even more tired. More on the fact that she couldn't have coffee during their meals.
Returning to classes wasn't rough or difficult. History of Magic was boring, yet simple. Ancient Runes, Rhya thought she might have accidently slept through the lesson, but did good on the pop quiz. She made absolutely sure she was awake for Potions. She knew she fell asleep in Umbridge's class, making her receive detention.
Rhya told Umbridge to ask her any question from the book, and if she got it right, she would be able to get out of detention, plus leave class early. If she got it wrong, however, she would take an extra detention. Umbridge was happy to agree.
Umbridge went into a long, unnecessary description of the potion Veratiserum; all to ask a question of ways for it not to work. She told Rhya to give her all three answers.
"That's not fair!" Hermione intervened. "That's a question for Potions, not Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Rhya didn't break her icy glare up at Umbridge.
"One, obviously, the antidote. Rare and hard to come by. Two, Occlumency. Harder to achieve, but possible. And third, a person training to make himself resistant to it all together."
Umbridge appeared rather appalled. Rhya picked up her bag.
"And how," Umbridge continued, "Would an teenager learn such complicated resistances."
Rhya stood up with a smirk, "Sorry, Professor. Our deal was only one question." Umbridge opened her mouth to object, but closed it.
Rhya turned to leave, and paused at the sight of Professor Snape standing by the door. She recovered herself and continued. She past by him, and he followed.
"Interesting," came his soft voice, "How you seemed to know of all the resistances."
"Well, you know, it kind of just came to me."
"You must be doing well in Divination, since I was actually there to dismiss you from class."
"Divination?" She scoffed. "Professor McGonagall got me out of that my third year, so I could take another class. I doubt Umbridge would have let me leave anyway even if you politely asked."
"Quite the clever one, aren't you?"
She stopped and faced him. He paused beside her. "Was that… another compliment?"
He seemed to have become distracted with something down the hallway. "Dumbledore has a message for you."
"What is it?"
"He has given permission for you to take Potter and his friends to see your very special mission, and he will meet you there. He also wanted to remind you of the Centaurs."
"I'm… working on it."
Snape raised one eyebrow. "Was that a lie?"
"No… just, after everything the Ministry has done to them just this year-"
He stopped her by raising his hand. "Spare me the difficulties. I don't care."
Rhya scowled. "Sorry, I just thought you might care since you are in this war just as much as I am."
The look Snape gave her made her think she was going to get double or triple detention and have to clean out his cupboards. Except, no words came from him.
She cleared her throat. "If that's all, I'll be on my way then." She waited for his reply. After several seconds of silence, she turned and walked down the hallway.
She heard light footsteps following her. "Is there something else?" She asked.
"Need to make sure you don't fall over from exhaustion."
"I'm fine."
"You fell asleep in two of your classes today."
"How did-?"
"Minerva just may be able to write you a note."
"For what?" She didn't look at him.
"For Madam Pomfrey to give you sleeping draught."
"I thought we agreed for you to stop pretending like you cared." She replied coldly.
"If I recall," he spoke slowly, "I would if you stopped pretending you are all right."
She stopped. "Fine. I'm not doing all right. Are you happy now?"
"I'm never happy."
Rhya paused and bit her lip. She returned back to walking down the hallway. "I'll go see Professor McGonagall and ask about this sleeping potion. After that, I'm heading to the library."
"You better retire for the day and get rest," he warned. "If I catch your eyes drifting in my class again, there will be… consequences."
"Sleep can wait." She gripped her bag. "We are at war, in case you haven't noticed, or has the Ministry already messed with your head, Professor."
A firm grip on her arm caused her to cease in her steps. She glared at Snape. She knew she crossed the line, and frankly, she didn't care.
"The full moon is this week." He stated softly, yet dangerously. "To be sure you are not infected, Minerva and I will watch you on Thursday night."
She stared up into his eyes and felt rather small. He had a look about him that made her not want to trust him. Well, she rarely trusted anyone. She was the first to look away.
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Rhya followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione down to Hagrid's hut. She did fine with the stairs in the castle, but not sleeping was taking its toll on her. She learned how to brew a simple potion to keep her awake for an hour at a time for her classes, but getting there and leaving were difficult.
Hermione noticed Rhya struggling down the steep hill and walked close beside her. They finally made it all the way down, and most of the class was already present. Rhya went ahead and grabbed the vial from her bag and drunk the whole thing.
She instantly felt the effects and her eyes widened from feeling awake. She glanced over to the Slytherins and noticed Draco staring at her. She quickly looked away.
Hagrid came out of his garden with a giant grin on his face. Rhya at least knew this lesson would be interesting. "Let's go over 'ere, then." He ushered the class closer to the Dark Forest, which wasn't frightening in the least bit when in daylight.
Rhya's feet stopped when she saw the creature. Her mouth parted as she looked up to it. Harry had the same reaction.
"Beautiful, ain't they?" Came Hagrid.
"What is?" Draco asked.
"Thestrals."
"Hagrid," Hermione said gently, "there's nothing there."
"There's definitely something there." Harry stated.
Thestrals stood taller than a regular sized horse and wings similar to bats hung close to their body. They didn't have fur, and looked to be skin and bones.
"Thestrals can only be seen by people who have seen death." Hagrid stated.
Then how can I see them? Rhya thought. She glanced down to her wand and remembered Ollivander stating the new wand had thestral tail hair.
Then she remembered.
The Death Eater. She escaped the room and more than likely burned one of them and pierced the other one's heart with ice. Sadness covered her face. Not only had she seen death, but she was the one who actually committed the act. She didn't care for Death Eaters, especially after what they did to her, but she didn't necessarily want them dead. She would rather they rot in Azkaban.
She jolted when something nudged against her back. She turned quickly and observed that the creature had sharp teeth. He bent his head down toward her and seemed to stare into her eyes.
"He likes ya!" Hargid beamed.
Rhya wasn't so sure. "Um, I don't have any food." The thestral didn't leave. It made a little noise that made all the students near Rhya spread out.
"He wants ya to pet 'im."
Of course he does…
She brought her hand up to his bare skin. She touched him gently and found him to be softer than she thought. The thestral closed his eyes. He seemed to be enjoying it.
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With the start of the new term came another secret meeting for the true Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Rhya was happy about going, but she hated being surrounded by so many people. She normally had this inner turmoil every meeting, but ended up going because of Hermione.
She, Hermione, and Ginny made their way through the hallway. They were allowed to be out at this hour, but Rhya knew how Umbridge was.
When they turned around a corner, Umbridge wasn't who they ran into.
It was Snape.
The three girls stopped as Professor Snape looked down to them. "Evening." He stated.
"Evening, Professor." Came Rhya slowly. She couldn't tell if Hermione and Ginny were too afraid to speak or not.
"Us professors have been given strict orders," he paused and looked to each of them, "to inform of suspicious student activity."
Rhya didn't have anything to say in response; neither did Hermione nor Ginny.
His eyes landed back on Rhya.
"Oh dear me," he said in an unconcerned voice as he looked down the hall the three just came. "I appear to be distracted." He walked away.
Ginny and Hermione watched him in disbelief. When Rhya glanced down the hall, there was nothing that would actually draw Snape's attention.
The three made it to the Room of Requirement easily after the incident with Snape, but most of the members had already shown up. Everyone's attention jolted to the three, but they all stared at Rhya. Harry pushed his way through the people and reached the girls.
"I'm really sorry, Rhya…"
Her voice shook. "About what?"
"Tell us about Pure Magic?" Came a male voice. Rhya glanced in the direction it came from, but had no idea who asked.
"What happened to you?" Asked a female voice. "You were gone for over a month."
Murmurs broke out among the young wizards.
"You didn't tell them, did you?" She whispered to Harry.
"No." He answered.
"Then how do they know?"
"There's been a rumor going around." Neville spoke and broke from the crowd.
Draco, Rhya thought. He had been in the coffee shop when Lucius confronted her.
"Can you teach us how to use it?" Neville continued. "You know, so we can protect ourselves."
She hesitated. They were all looking at her, making her feel uncomfortable. "It's not something to easily teach…"
"But you do know how to do it." Colin beamed in the front.
She looked down to the ground, and realized her mistake.
"She's not denying it!" Shouted a young man.
"But I can't teach you. Harry has a well thought out lesson for all of us to do today." She looked to him for help. He simply grinned as he shook his head. Rhya gave him a look of desperation, but he merely smiled.
"I've been teaching this for a while, and I need a break." He stated.
"We just got back from Christmas Break." She argued.
He forced a yawn, "Ah, but I'm oh so tired."
Her look quickly turned into an icy stare penetrating through his soul, but he didn't back down.
"The rumor is that you were taken by a pack of werewolves." Came a young girl.
"I heard vampires!" An eager boy jumped to the front of the crowd. "Did they drink your blood?"
Looking into the numerous people in the crowd, she released a long sigh. Her attention fell back on Harry, who still had a dumb grin on his face. "Fine. I'll teach them what I know."
Easier said than done; she knew.
She walked forward and the crowd split. She flicked her wand, making a chalkboard skid across the floor. "I will start by saying this: I won't answer any questions about my whereabouts for that month and a half. It's done; it's over."
She paused and waited to see if anyone was going to object. No one spoke. They all appeared rather eager. She cleared her throat, "Right, then. I will go ahead and say that Old Magic is rather difficult to learn. Even with practice, not everyone will be able to use it."
"How do we know if we can?" Came Neville.
She hesitated. This was going to be difficult. "What makes Old Magic unique is that it is the one who chooses if you can use it or not."
More than half the people raised their hands. Rhya felt the blood rush to her face. "Hermione." She pointed knowing that she would ask the best question.
"H-how does it choose us?"
"Pure Magic, in a sense, is its own being." She flicked her wand and a drawing of a wizard, dragon, and elf appeared on the board. "Just like the three examples you see on the board, Pure Magic basically has a conscious."
More hands…
"Colin."
"How does… magic have a conscious? I mean, we can use it, so that should make it like a spell, right?"
"Let's look at it this way." She flicked her wand again and the three drawings disappeared. Now, a dragon was flying through the air with a human on its back. "Look at Old Magic as a living, tangible thing. You and the Pure Magic work together; it's not merely just you fighting an opponent. You have to look at Pure Magic as a reliable friend; you have to respect him."
"Him?" A Ravenclaw sixth year asked. He smirked, "Magic is for our benefit. Saying that we have to… look at this thing as a friend is ridiculous."
"In saying that, you won't be able to use Pure Magic." She replied.
"This is absolutely ridiculous."
"Is it?" She smiled. "Attack me."
The crowd murmured as the man looked at her with doubt. "You're joking."
"Just do it." A few people urged him out of the crowd and he slowly walked to the other side of the room. He turned and observed her carefully. He positioned himself for a dual.
"Stupefy!"
"Pagos!" Ice burst out of the ground with an ear-piercing ting of his spell connecting with hers.
"Fiota!" Fire surrounded her being and burst toward the target.
"Protego!"
His spell had no effect. He coward back with his arms protecting his face from the flames, yet the flames didn't burn him. He stood up straight and observed the fire circling around his being.
Confusion covered his face as he looked up to her. She smirked and addressed the class.
"Pure Magic is essentially part of you, if you are able to use it. It senses your thoughts and emotions better than any relative or best friend. I had no desire for this young man to die, and the Magic felt it."
A younger girl shot her hand in the air. "Yes?" Rhya asked to her.
"What if Death Eaters learned how to do that?"
Rhya straightened and the fire ceased into nothingness. "There is only one book left in existence that explains how to use Pure Magic. It's in a safe place."
"But… doesn't that make you a target? Assuming you know where it is."
Rhya hesitated, and everyone caught it. She glanced to Hermione and Harry, then to Fred and George. All four had sad faces.
She shifted her gaze back to the young girl. "Yes, it could."
"What if… they could get to it?"
"Even if they learned every detail of the Forgotten Arts, they wouldn't be able to manipulate it."
"Why?" Asked Colin.
She hesitated. "Pure Magic understands when it's being manipulated as a tool for revenge or for killing, and since it has a conscious, it will refuse to be controlled by your will. Yes, you can kill with it," she paused as she looked around the room, "…but it only helps you for protection of your own life."
It was incredibly quiet and still in the room. Most of the people looked down to the ground, while others looked at Rhya with concern.
The younger girl spoke again, "Where you captured by Death Eaters?"
Rhya stared at her, considering if she was Ravenclaw. "As I said before, we are not discussing what happened to me."
She turned to the board and flicked her wand. Five words appeared on the board, foreign to all the kids in the room.
"The Forgotten Arts date several centuries back. The language derives from Ancient Greek. First, you must learn these five words.
She flicked her wand again and spoke as the words appeared on the board.
Aeras. "Air."
Nero. "Water."
Gi. "Earth."
Fiota. "Fire."
Pagos. "Ice."
"Learn these words. They will save your life one day."