A/N Okay, I know it's been way too long, but I was struck with inspiration for another story and it took all my creative faculties for a while. Also I am pretty near a turning point in this story and I've only recently really decided which direction I want to go.
o0O0o
June 1995
"You wanted to see me before the train left, Professor?" I asked as I stepped into his office.
"Ah, yes Harry, please do come in." Dumbledore was busy shuffling through various papers on his desk, the normally, almost artistically, cluttered office was in disarray with papers almost everywhere.
Dumbledore frowned as Harry settled himself in a seat. "I am terribly sorry, my boy, but I am afraid I must spring a bit of bad news on you. Still, it is not a complete loss. Cornelius refuses to see reason, and has instead turned his efforts to discredit both you and myself. I fear that his efforts will leave Hogwarts as less than the learning institute it should be, most especially for you." Dumbledore shifted uncomfortably and put aside the papers he had been holding. "I am afraid that in order to avoid the interruption to your education and any other damages the ministry may attempt to heap upon you, I have decided that it would be best for you to not return to Hogwarts in the fall."
"What!?" I shouted, unable to contain myself, feeling betrayed and abandoned, that Dumbledore would give up so easily.
Dumbledore raised his hands in supplication, imploring me silently to allow him to continue. I subdued my reaction, but the explanation sure as hell better be good. "I am not giving up, nor should you, however, you must have realized by now that many of the rituals you have performed and will continue to perform are technically illegal. Cornelius is already making moves to bring Hogwarts under ministry control and supervision, and I have little doubt that he will succeed, to a degree, before next fall. If you are caught doing these rituals by the ministry while it is in the mood to demonize you the damage to your reputation and the consequences the ministry would be able to bring down upon us would be catastrophic. Admittedly, it will damage your reputation to be absent from the school to refute the claims of the ministry, however, that will be far less damaging and quickly forgotten once the ministry is brought back in line."
I slumped back in my chair, of course I knew the rituals weren't legal, with the benefits they were capable of giving I had wondered why everyone didn't perform them. My research had revealed that the ministry was actually right to do so as before they did the death toll from incorrectly performed or experimental rituals numbered in the dozens every year. Now, if someone wanted to perform a ritual they had to go through a long process of bureaucratic red tape to even get approval to present their case for why they need the ritual, and only then once approved by a judge and with at least a minority vote of one third the Wizengammot could the wizard even legally begin to prepare the ritual. Once it was prepared everything had to be sent to the ministry for the Unspeakables to review and approve, then the individual had to rent a ritual chamber in the department of mysteries and pay for the supervision of a ministry accredited official to observe the procedure. The entire process could easily take a year for each ritual you wanted to perform.
The fact that I understood the reasons didn't mean I didn't feel that sliver of betrayal.
"However," Dumbledore spoke, "As I said, all is not lost. I have managed to convince an old friend of mine to accept you into his school for the year." Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Your acceptance into The Tower Academy is not an insignificant thing, I assure you. The academy has never before offered so much as guest housing to a wizard with a wand before. The only reason I managed to get you in was because of your rather unique place in the hearts of most wizards and the fact that you were never able to receive the letter of invitation they sent to you five years ago." Dumbledore shifted some of the papers on his desk before removing a single letter, clearly made of expensive parchment, that he handed to me. The parchment envelope was smooth and creamy in my hand and the letter was addressed in finest calligraphy to Mr. H. J. Potter with a stylized A without the horizontal line on the flip side with a circle with a sinuous line through it separating a black and white half, much like a yin-yang symbol but without the dots, directly above it. "You may read through that at your leisure at another time, however, I must warn you of a few things before you depart for the train. firstly The Tower Academy, whilst it teaches wizards and witches no different than those taught at Hogwarts, they are taught a completely different type of magic, that requires no wand or focus. After four years of Hogwarts education you will be at a severe disadvantage, however, that is no reason not to persevere. The Magic taught at the Academy is focused mainly around the elements of nature and has an entirely different basis than the Hogwarts curriculum, while it is significantly different it has its strengths just as wand magic does. I am certain that Voldemort has never studied it, thus if you master even just a small portion of the Academies teachings you will gain an advantage and, perhaps, a greater understanding of just what magic is.
"I will state this bluntly, there are dozens of different ways of practicing magic all over the world, some crude and simplistic, some incredibly complex, some powerful, and some subtle; the average witch or wizard will learn only one method and only that to a mediocre level, very few wizards or witches will master their art and even fewer ever get the opportunity to study more than one, as each of us tend to guard our secrets rather jealously. The opportunity you are being given should not be squandered; in fact, I would likely have willingly given my wand arm for such an opportunity in my youth."
I nodded, understanding. There were legends of the wars that were fought between the European wand wizards and the Asian sorcerers of the Emperor and how the clashing of the different magics had started the plague that wiped out Alexander the Greats army. It was a well known and accepted fact that no one could understand all of magic. "I won't, Professor." I said simply.
"Good." Dumbledore nodded, "On your way out, would you take these down to Madame Pince, They are a few books of my own collection that I feel a younger generation could benefit from." There was a quirk to his lips that told me that the books were for me and not Madame Pince, so I smiled slightly as I picked them up and slid out of the office.
o0O0o
When the boys finally settled down from the surprise of being introduced to a 'warlock' they got to the point of the meeting, which was, apparently, the details of a vampire that had been hunting the resident Queen of Melodrama, Isabella Swan, herself. I was, to put it mildly, rather ticked off when her response to why she hadn't told me before now was that I wouldn't have been able to do anything and I would just be in danger. I hadn't been sure whether to laugh, scowl, or hit the girl for her idiocy. Apparently she was never going to tell me and the only reason she called me at all was because she hoped I would be able to help protect or prevent the wolves – mostly Jacob – from being harmed.
At that point I had taken it upon myself to explain that wizards such as myself were so far above vampires on the food chain as to be laughable. I told her that, while I don't bother to run around faster than the eye can follow and break things with inhuman strength, I could still very easily crush a coven of vampires into ashes on a whim. Bella hadn't seemed to believe me, the wolves, however, whilst being slightly skeptical were much more impressed by my assertion.
It was true too, I could very easily take out a coven of vampires, one simple, or not so simple, flame spell and they would be almost instantaneous ash. That along with my personal wards meant that I was untouchable to magical creatures that fought physically and not magically. The only trouble I would have would be catching up to the damn vampire; whilst I could easily kill one if I set it on fire they were still wickedly fast and, more often than not, intelligent, meaning I either had to catch it by surprise or corner it. A determined and fearful vampire could easily lead me on an unending chase through the country side if it was fast enough.
That being said, there were spells that any witch or wizard could use that were incredibly effective against any non-wizard. Really comparing a wizard to a vampire was like comparing a vampire to a human - just a tad bit ridiculous. Personal wards changed the whole nature of a battle; most people never think of this, but if one of the simplest spells a wizard can cast is a spell that creates a light to illuminate an entire area brightly, then why can't a wizard cast an equally easy spell to focus all that light into a thin laser? The answer is: he can. Even below average witches and wizards have enough power to cast a spell that will create a laser pointer like emitter at the tip of their wand with enough power to literally bisect a person, and seeing as how it is a laser it would travel at the speed of light. However, any other wizard with even the most mediocre of personal wards would be completely immune to such an attack as the ward could deflect, diffract, absorb, or any other number of things to protect the individual within them; because the attack, at the point the wards would contain no magical power the ward would only have to work against the physical photons and no hostile magic. Unfortunately for me, Vampires were magical creatures whose bodies were saturated with all of their magic, meaning that even if I were to use such a spell their bodies and magic would automatically fight back against it; whilst, such an instinctive and natural defense might be less efficient than a refined personal ward, it would still be plenty enough to protect the average vampire from sustaining immediate lethal damage from such a spell.
I don't think many of them believed me when I told them vampires weren't a problem for me, but I didn't feel like giving them any sort of demonstration; whilst it would undoubtedly have impressed the wolves, it would also likely scare the lot of them, and no one's first impression of magic should be a frightening one - there are enough terrifying things hidden in the dark corners of magic already without that being someone's introduction to it.
The meeting quickly devolved after that, helped considerably by the excellent smelling food Emily, Sam's fiancé, made.
I stuck around for the rest of the day, the wolf pack begged for magic demonstrations and I entertained them with innocuous charms and transfigurations. I was surprised to find that I was enjoying myself, despite the packs mature appearance they were still all young enough to experience the awe all children do when first introduced to fun magic. It was an awe that I had long ago lost; I couldn't help regretting that loss as they clamored to see various tricks and displays.
I was invited to join them for dinner and I accepted, despite a few lingering doubts; I felt slightly off kilter in a group as boisterous as this.
Dinner turned into a large but relaxed affair that took place on Billy Black, Jacob's Father's, porch; everyone grabbing a seat where they could, most stuck on the ground with plates in their laps. I was introduced as Bella's friend to a bunch of other people from the reserve and Bella's Father, who gave me a considering look; apparently he hadn't known how much Bella had been bothering me the past months and this was the first he'd ever heard of me from her.
Despite that I was introduced to Harry Clearwater, his wife, Sue, and their children Leah, their daughter just on the cusp of adulthood, and Seth a boy of fourteen who was clearly besotted with Jacob. I didn't think anyone else had realized his adulation for the other boy was more than hero worship, but it was amusing for me to watch him constantly try to worm his way into any conversation Jacob was having.
The meal was noisy and there seemed to be several dozen conversations going at once between the eleven or so attending, but that allowed me to slip quietly into the background and not be the center, something I was grateful for. Eventually the rain interrupted to meal and we all headed off to our own homes; there was a moment of difficulty when they realized I didn't have a car and no one had given me a ride here, but with a few words and a subtle compulsion not to care allowed me to slip into the shadows and Shift back to my own house.
o0O0o
I set up a few wards, mostly weak perimeter wards that wouldn't do any more than alert me to the presence of a vampire, around the Quileute land and around Ms. Swan's house, despite the fact that her house was already within a couple layers of my own wards. I wasn't much concerned with the vampire, partially because I knew I was protected, and partially because I was rather impressed with what the wolves had shown themselves capable of. Time passed in this manner and nothing much happened, I still attended classes and coasted through them with ease born of my skill in occlumency.
In fact things had been going so smoothly that when my wards were finally tripped during spring break it took me almost a minute to realize what was going on - there was a vampire currently in Ms. Swan's house, though she herself wasn't present at the moment.
I always had the Elder Wand on me, so there was no need to go scrambling about for it, instead I wove a dozen spells around myself for concealment so I could hopefully remain undetected to the incredibly senses all vampires posses. With that done it was surprisingly easy to Shift across the street into the Swan's sitting room, the only room I could get a clear view of from my own house.
I arrived invisible, odorless, and silently in the almost pitch dark room I could just barely make out the outline of the vampire in the dark, even with my above average night vision. Whoever it was, was sitting perfectly still, clearly waiting, and had a slim petite build of a girl. I silently wove a shield of air around her - it would stop her for long, if at all, but it would definitely slow her down, hopefully enough for me to hit her with a spell if it became necessary. A second spell that would make certain she wouldn't be able to pinpoint me voice and I spoke. "Don't move."
Perhaps not my most inspirational of threats, but oh well. Of course she immediately disobeyed; had I been fast enough I might have sent a spell, but as it was I barely caught the flicker of movement between sitting and standing. With another flick of thought the room was brightly lit, the light seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere, leaving everything to appear oddly flat.
I sighed, I recognized this vampire, it was Allison or Ally, or something. With a twitch of my wand I became visible, though she still wouldn't be able to hear my heart or smell me. I didn't take down the shield of air just yet, a precaution in case she did anything, it would give me the time I needed to react. "Ms. Cullen," I remembered that name at least. "What, may I ask, are you doing here."
She seemed annoyingly composed for being caught off guard, but it really didn't matter. "I am waiting for Charlie to get home. And you?" I frowned, Charlie? Oh, Mr. Swan, the old one; for all the ease occlumency gave me in remembering things, I was still terrible with names.
"My wards told me there was a vampire in the area, and since you and your family have left the only vampires in the area have been hostile, so I thought it was prudent to check."
It was her turn to be confused. "What other vampires?" She asked.
I shrugged, "Victoria - I think was the name - anyway she and the other member of her coven Lorry - no Lauren, were after Ms. Swan for revenge, or something." Her eyes widened noticeably in surprise, before she shook her head, in exasperation or frustration, I'm not sure which.
"Well they won't have a target here anymore, and you won't have anyone to protect. Bella's dead."
Now I was shocked - I didn't like how we kept trading places - I hadn't felt anything from my wards, even the ones I had placed directly on Bella. Even if, for some reason, the wards failed I still should have felt them collapse when she died.
I twirled my wand slightly and queried the wards - everything seemed in order. A second twitch and a lot more power into the spell flooded me with information about Ms. Swan's health. I blinked, I hadn't actually realized the spell could give me that much information, I'd gotten it out of a book for mothers trying to keep track of their children and their health. "I don't know why you think Ms. Swan is dead, but I can assure you she is perfectly healthy besides a sore throat and a couple bruises."
She stared at me a moment, surprised by the detail, I think. In fact, I was a little weirded out by it as well, I really had no idea the spell could give me the minutiae of her health when I put it on her; it seemed like an invasion of privacy.
She was about to say something when she paused, tilting her head as if listening to something. It took me a moment longer, but soon enough I too could hear the distinctive roar of Bella's fossil of a truck.
It took almost two full minutes for the front door to open, but Ms. Cullen seemed perfectly willing to wait, so I did as well. When Bella stepped into the house she was, unsurprisingly, perfectly alive.
She threw herself at the vampire, embracing her enthusiastically, oblivious to the pained look on the vampires face. It took me a moment to interpret, but when I did I immediately snapped of several spells that would eliminate and conceal Bella's scent and mute the sound of her heart and blood. The vampire sent me a grateful look over Bella's head while the girl remained completely oblivious.
When Bella finally did come back to earth and noticed me her expression became rather confused. "What are you doing here?" She asked me.
I blinked, slightly surprised, A vampire she hasn't seen in months shows up in her house and gets glomped - really there was no other word for it - and I get such a dismissive response; if I had at all actually liked the girl, I might have been hurt.
As it was I shrugged, saying carelessly and sarcastically, "Oh, just visiting the vampire that broke into your house. I assure you, I won't make the mistake of being concerned in the future." She blinked in surprise. I made my way to the front door, pausing to look back. "Oh, Ms. Cullen, you may wish to do something about your hunger soon, the spells will wear off within the hour." She nodded in understanding while Bella remained confused and oblivious. Really if that girl's mind wasn't so interesting I think I would have left the state just to avoid her already.
When I got back to my own house it was to the lovely aroma of burnt dinner; in my rush to check out the Swan residence I'd completely forgotten that I'd had dinner in the oven.
With a grimace of annoyance and several swishes of my wand the smoke and burnt mess in the oven were both gone and a can of baked beans was steaming and pouring itself into a bowl - just because I'm a good cook and enjoy it on occasion, doesn't mean I don't know and love the wonders of canned food.
o0O0o
A/N Okay, I admit I had a bit of fun with the names. (Tell me if you find it amusing as well, or just annoying)
Also, slight bella bashing in this chapter - sorry, but rereading the story to get the timeline has just reminded me of how pathetically sappy she behaves. I'm all for romance, but one has to take pride in themselves as well.
Glomped - to hug (non-sexually) in an exuberant manner... I hadn't actually realized until Word didn't like it, that glomped isn't technically a word (yet).
Part of the reason it's taken me so long to get these out there is the feeling that I shouldn't post until I have enough material to be worth it. So from here on out I think I'll aim for about three to five thousand words per chapter, instead of seven or more. Also one of the reasons it's taking me so long to get these chapters out is 'cus I keep having go back and read the actual story to get the timeline and events correct - something that isn't all that entertaining for me... So if you see events slightly out of order it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the plot. That being said the dinner in this chapter was actually long before here in the story time-line, and I hadn't realized that until I was done writing it - so, oh well.