Once again sorry for the late update! I wrote this chatper to develop Victoire's power a bit more and some of the side story as well. I'm also thinking of maybe writing a short fiction about what happened to Victoire while she was in France (including Teddy's letter and everything). Tell me if it's something you'd like to read about (I would only write it once Ifinish this story though!)
Magical Lesson
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The start of the trimester had come and gone. Students were back at Hogwarts, which for Victoire meant being with her friends, Freya, Nathan, Lucas and the other. No news from Teddy since the 1st of January and she thought that was for the better. One of her new year resolutions was to definitely forget about him. She hadn't quite gotten to it yet, which was to be expected, but she was making progress. Today, she had only thought about him for 5 minutes, when Nathan told her something about the Hufflepuff next Quidditch game. She was now spending some time with Freya in the Great Hall, which was almost empty around this time of the day. They were both just talking about random stuff, Freya knowing not to mention Teddy. Victoire had told her friend and Dominique everything that had happened with Teddy and saying that the two witches were now very angry at Teddy was an understatement.
"Are you planning to come and watch the Slytherin- Hufflepuff Quidditch game next Saturday?" Freya asked Victoire, matter-of-factly.
"Of course, Lucas and Jarred will need my support!" she answered, avoiding any hidden questions.
Lucas was playing as seeker for the Slytherin team and Jarred was one of the two beater. Victoire had played with them enough time to know they both deserved their spot on the team and by far. The fact that they were playing against Hufflepuff only made Victoire want to cheer them on more.
"I'm sure they wouldn't be able to play without your presence," Freya joked "Do you know if Nathan will come with us?" she continued, trying her best to keep her tone equal.
"Probably, he'll be the only one not playing, so he might want to watch with me," she said, trying to understand if it was interest she had heard in Freya's voice. "He won't mind sitting with us even though we won't be rooting for the same team,"
"Cool," was all Freya said.
Neither of them said anything for a minute when Victoire finally couldn't help asking :
"Are you interested in Nathan, Frey?"
And in front of her bewildered eyes, Freya Brownwood, who had done things to give a nun a heart attack, blushed and averted her eyes.
"You do!" Victoire exclaimed, a wide smile spreading across her face.
"I don't know, maybe, I guess," the brown witch mumbled.
"Tell me everything!" Victoire demanded excitedly.
Freya sighed but started talking nonetheless.
"I guess I like how nice he is, especially towards you, he's a great friend unlike Teddy," she spat his name, disgusted "and there is no denying he's handsome, but I hadn't really paid any attention to him before. For me, he was just Teddy's smart friend. But then he asked me to dance at the Halloween ball when you were busy dancing with Jason and we talked a bit. He's quite funny and interesting. Charming," she shrugged, embarrassed "Just listen to me, babbling like an enamored 10-year-old,"
Both she and Victoire laughed at that comment because she did sound like a 10-year-old having her first crush.
"And then during New Year's Eve, when you left to go find Teddy, you left me alone with him and Dominique. And it was almost midnight. We talked for a bit, mostly about you and Teddy actually, and then when everyone around us started shouting the countdown, we just stared at each other and then we kissed," she finished, looking at Victoire expectantly.
"So, he was your New Year's kiss," Victoire said, tilting her head to the side. Freya just nodded.
Victoire couldn't help but find her friend's reaction cute. Seeing Freya embarrassed wasn't something she was used to.
"It probably didn't mean anything for him, it's just a stupid tradition," Freya continued and then looked at Victoire questioningly "It's not weird talking about it with you, is it?"
"You mean because of what happened this summer?" Victoire chuckled, " It's not weird for me, water under the bridge and everything. Anyway, it can't be weirder than you dating Teddy,"
Freya laughed, her spirit lifted.
"I still don't understand how naïve Teddy was. Did he really expect you to stay celibate while he was fucking Alice?" Freya said, back to her crude and direct vocabulary.
"I guess in his mind, I was still the perfect little girl he used to know. And that old version of me was good, always good,"
A shadow of sadness passed in Victoire's eyes but disappeared as quickly.
"Tell me what happened in France," Freya asked, her tone a bit bossy, as usual, which made Victoire smile.
"What do you want to know?" Victoire demanded cautiously.
"Well, even if the whole French lover story seems interesting, I'd much rather know about your Veela training," Freya said "I've always wanted to know what it felt like being a Veela,"
Victoire sighed and looked at her best friend's pleading smile.
"All right. But first you have to understand that I'm not a full Veela, I'm only an eighth,"
"Da, I know that," Freya retorted, rolling her eyes but never losing her bright smile.
"When I arrived at my grandmother's place, I had had plenty of small incidents, you can probably remember some of them," Victoire started and Freya nodded "well, that was the first thing my gran focused on. I learned to control my powers and my anger mostly, but also all other strong emotions that could trigger a possible fire throwing situation.
The thing with Veela is that we feel too much. Our emotions and feelings are amplified. My gran explained that it was because we were more in sync with our emotions, that most humans and wizards just didn't listen to what their heart was telling them 80% of the time, but Veelas on the other hand, heard and recognised every fluctuating feeling, however small. With how diluted my Veela blood is, it shouldn't have been a problem. My mother for example, who is a fourth Veela can't use any fire power and she can't change into a harpy. The only distinct Veela power she has, is enthrallment, and even then it's quite diffused.
As you know, my father was hurt by a werewolf during the 2nd Great War. He hasn't become a werewolf himself, but some of the magic has still leaked into him, making him more sensitive to magic during a full moon or simply making sure he could never become a vegetarian," she joked "My gran thinks that because of his heightened sensibility to wild magic, my Veela power are stronger than my mother's. Wild magic comes from nature and causes the shapeshifting from human to wolf and Veela to harpy, for example," Victoire stopped a moment to catch her breath.
Freya was listening to her every word and seemed genuinely fascinated by the information Victoire was sharing with her.
"So this is the theory of why I have developed firepower. All Veela power are strongly linked to emotions. Therefore to stop throwing fireballs everywhere every time I was upset, I had either to control my emotions or learn to control the fire. And let me tell you that controlling the fire turns out to be way easier than keeping a grip on my feelings! So I learned to recognise the tingle I felt each time my hands were about to catch fire. I'm really good at it now, I practiced a lot," she said, pride in her voice.
"As I started using my Veela power and understanding them, my hair started growing, my skin paled and other small changes occurred. That's when the second phase of the training started. I had to learn how to control the enthrallment power, because with that new alluring body…. ,"
"And that humble personality," Freya joked.
"… I really didn't any more mesmerising effects," Victoire continued, casting a sarcastic look at her friend.
"Once again, enthrallment is linked to my emotions, although it's usually sadness or discomfort that triggers it. For example, one time in France, two of my friends were fighting, my Veela power rose to the surface and before I knew it, they had stopped fighting and were concentrated on me instead because I had enthralled them,"
"This seems pretty useful," Freya commented.
"Maybe. But I'm just not comfortable manipulating the minds of other," Victoire explained, a tint of sadness in her voice "Anyway, like for the firepower, I learned to recognise the tingle of power linked to enthrallment and how to subdue it. It took me longer because it's a more subtle power,"
Victoire stopped talking and looked at the other witch expectantly. To her surprise, Freya didn't look bored at all.
"Can you change into a harpy?" she even asked.
"Thank God no!" Victoire exclaimed loudly, collecting a few looks from the students around them "The only harpy distinction I inherited is a tendency for my eyes to turn yellow when I'm really, really angry. And that's creepy enough for me!"
After a moment of reflection Freya said:
"I think that this summer in France did you a lot of good, not only because you are no longer a danger to other," she teased "But also because it helped you gain confidence in yourself. It made you stronger,"
Victoire smiled and grabbed Freya's hand, thanking her best friend silently for being so great.
"Now, about this French lover …" Freya started, an impish gleam in her eyes.
Both girls' laughter filled the Great Hall, echoing on the walls and spreading friendship and happiness in this cold January evening.
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The Quidditch game between Hufflepuff and Slytherin was taking place the following Saturday and Freya, Victoire, Perseus, Finn and Nathan were gathered together in one of the bleachers waiting for the start of the match expectantly. Nathan was standing on one end of their line, Victoire sitting directly next to him and Freya next to her, effectively forming a barrier between him, and Perseus and Finn. The Slytherin and Victoire were dressed in green and had some flashy green face paint that either read GO-SLYTHERIN or pictured a snake. Nathan wasn't wearing anything Hufflepuff related other than his black and yellow scarf.
"Will you even be cheering for your house?" Victoire asked him playfully 10 minutes before the start of the game.
"I don't really feel like cheering today," he sighed and stared at her, looking conflicted about telling her something "Truth be told, I'm mad at Teddy and Jason,"
"Why is that?" Victoire asked, trying to keep her voice cool. Victoire hadn't told anyone about what happened with Teddy apart from Dominique and Freya. Not because she didn't trust Nathan, just because she didn't want them to fight.
"Teddy told us what happened on New Year, or more exactly what happened on the 1st," he said.
Apparently, Victoire's attempt to leave Nathan and Jason out of her fight with Teddy had failed.
"Jason took more or less his side and I took yours. So now I'm mad at both of them," Nathan continued.
Victoire didn't want to think about the pang of anger she felt at learning that Jason was taking Teddy's side. There weren't supposed to be any sides, Teddy was just supposed to be wrong and a bastard.
"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have to pick a side," she told Nathan instead.
"I know, and I still don't believe that Jason and Teddy can't see it too. For what it's worth I'm sorry. I was the one who told you to go see him. If I hadn't he wouldn't have hurt you," Again. Nathan didn't actually say the word but Victoire heard it nonetheless.
She reached for Nathan's hand and leaned on him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You know sometimes hurt is what you need to get over something," she said, her eyes fixed on the pitch where the players from both teams were making their entry. "Or someone,"
"Does that mean you're over him?" Nathan asked hopefully.
"It means, I'm hoping to be" she answered "one day,"
Freya interrupted them by nudging Victoire gently with her elbow.
"Stop the lamenting, both of you. The game is about to start and Slytherin is counting on your support!" she joked.
Victoire didn't miss the bright smile she cast Nathan before returning her attention toward the players doing their warm-ups. Victoire sat upright and glanced at Nathan. She was surprised to see him fixing Freya with an enigmatic intensity. Maybe her best friend wasn't the only one with a crush. That thought brought a smile on Victoire's face.
The game started and even with all the heaving cheering on Freya and Victoire's part, Hufflepuff took the lead almost immediately. The Hufflepuff chasers, including Teddy and Jason, were just too good for the Slytherin keeper. The yellow and black beaters were just as good and really aggressive but all their attacks were matched and countered by Jared and the other Slytherin beater. Victoire heard Perseus and Finn swear very loudly a couple of times when the bludgers were coming awfully close to some of the players, but Jared was always there on time to hit it. After almost an hour, the score was 180 – 50 for Hufflepuff. Teddy, Jason and their third chaser were just too damn good. In the meantime Lucas and the Hufflepuff seeker had been flying around, looking desperately for the snitch. They dived toward a spot on the pitch every now and then but the blurry gold orb always managed to fly away.
It was just as Teddy scored Hufflepuff's 230's point that Victoire watched Lucas speed up on his broom toward their bleacher, his right hand extended in front of him. She couldn't see the snitch but apparently, it was nearby. She saw the Hufflepuff seeker follow Lucas, but he was too slow. Lucas directed his broom upward and leaned on his broom some more. He flew above Freya's head and closed his hand around something Victoire couldn't see. At once, a whistle was blown and the crowd exploded.
Victoire shouted with the rest of them but she kept her gaze fixed on Lucas who had lowered his broom and was now standing just in front of their little group. He addressed them a little nod from the head before going to the centre of the pitch to meet the rest of his team.
Unfortunately, his catch wasn't enough to allow Slytherin to win, bringing the score to 230-210 for Hufflepuff.
"I can't believe we lost! And we were so close as well!" Freya complained, standing up from her seat.
"Jared and Lucas played very well, it just wasn't their keeper's best performance," Victoire conceded.
Despite Hufflepuff winning the game, Nathan wasn't smiling and rather reluctantly moved along toward the exit of the bleachers.
"Why the sulky face Nate?" Victoire asked, placing one arm on his shoulder "Aren't you happy you won?"
"I am, I'm just not looking forward to the celebration party," he confessed.
It was the tradition in almost all the houses to celebrate a Quidditch victory with a small party in the common room. Only students from the winning house were allowed and the team was often congratulated and celebrated by everyone, making them the centre of attention.
"You can always stay with us you know," Freya offered, walking on his left side "Victoire and I were planning to go to the room for requirements for some magical venting,"
"Magical venting?" Nathan asked.
"Yes, you know, just picturing Teddy's face on some dummies and practicing curses on them," she explained jokingly.
"Freya, …" Victoire warned, not able to contain a smile.
"Okay, okay, I would be picturing them with Teddy's face," she chuckled.
Nathan smiled at their bantering before looking uncomfortably at Victoire.
"Is it just the two of you?" meaning, would Finn and Perseus be there?
"Yes, just us. Finn and Perseus are supposed to meet with Lucas and Jared back in Slytherin common room to discuss the game," she answered, wiggling her eyebrows.
Nathan knew he had no reason to say no. And he really wanted to accept. So, he did.
