A Giant Problem

Final exams came, and Arista, Mel, Tricia, and Drake received A's in all of their
subjects. Kit also did well, though in Transfiguration he only received a C. But he was
ecstatic. "Hallelujah! A C! It's a beautiful thing," he crowed, waving his Transfiguration exam about excitedly.

Tricia was eyeing him oddly. "You're happy you got a C?"

"Damn right! I passed, didn't I? My dad can't confiscate my Nimbus 2000 or ship me
off to some wizard military academy."

"There really is such a thing?" Tricia asked. "I thought that was a myth."

"Well, if there is one, my father would find it and send me to it." Kit said, then grinned
from ear to ear. "Except now he can't and I don't care! Yeah, I know all you brains think I'm bonkers, getting all excited over a C. If Mel or you got a C you'd be crying and Snape'd have a heart attack right here. But me, I am lovin' life!"

Drake came over to sit with them, carrying a plate of food. "What's up with him?" he
asked, jerking his head at Kit.

"He passed his Transfiguration exam. Got a C." Arista informed him.

"Oh. That's good. For him, I mean. My parents would have a canary if I came home
with less than a B in anything." Drake admitted.

"So would all of ours." Mel laughed. "If I ever came home with a C, my aunt would
keel over right in the middle of her rutabagas. And Lord only knows what Professor Snape would do if you came home with a C, Arista."

"Ground me for life, probably. And I'd never hear the end of it, either."

"My mum would have a fit, that's for sure," Tricia put in. "Even though C's were
probably all she ever earned in school. She was more concerned with her modeling career." Her mother was a former model for wizarding magazines, her parents were divorced, they'd separated when Tricia was two. "Dad couldn't take living with her anymore, I guess. Not many people can. She's very demanding."

From what she had told them, Tricia's mother was very upset that her only daughter
wasn't concerned with fashion and refused to make the most of her looks. She was always nagging her daughter to lose weight. Tricia's one act of rebellion was to eat for comfort. But lately, due to Arista's self-defense lessons and the fact that she was happy at school with friends, Tricia started to lose weight. She was now about half her size and some of the boys were beginning to notice her.

"Now we have to think about what we're going to wear for the Yule Ball," said Tricia
brightly. "Have either of you gotten anything yet?" she asked the two girls.

"With all the studying we've had to do, who has time to shop?" Arista said. And then
I have to think about getting a date. Heaven help me, but what boy is going to ask me out with my father? All he has to do is look at the poor guy and he'll pass out. I might just have to end up going with Comfrey, she thought glumly.

"Not me. Haven't even thought about it, Greenbough. Guess I'll have to hit the folks
up for a loan, though, if I'm to get anything decent," Mel said philosophically.

"How about you gentlemen? Are you going to dance at the Ball or just sit and watch?"
Arista inquired with a mischievous grin.

Kit shrugged. "I'll dance, I don't mind it. Although those dance lessons of McGonagall's were hell on earth."

"That awful music," Drake choked. "It was stuff my parents used to listen to. They'd
better not play any of it at the Ball."

"And will you be dancing with any girl, Mr. Lockwood?" teased Mel gently.

"I will, if the right one asks me," was all Drake replied.

The three girls exchanged glances, mystified.

Suddenly, there came a resounding THUD from somewhere beyond the castle. Several suits of armor fell over with a clatter and Peeves the poltergeist began howling loudly. "Fee Fi Fo Fum, a giant's come!"

Kit frowned. "What's he babbling about?"

"Who knows?" Drake said. "He just likes to yell things."

Peeves continued to sing his giant song while swooping about the tables knocking
things over.

Another huge thud shook the castle. "I don't like the sound of that," whispered Tricia.

"What in blue blazes is that?" asked Mel, glancing uneasily towards the doors.

"Trouble," Arista answered.

Just then the doors to the entrance hall burst open and crowds of students raced in,
screaming and yelling. Arista felt her head throb as the emotions of too many frightened people pressed against her shields.

"Run for your lives!"

"It's gonna eat us!"

"It's insane! Came right up through the woods, carrying a club with huge iron spikes
and all!" panted a boy.

"What is it?" Kit called to a passing student. "A mountain troll?"

"Hell, no! It's a bloody giant!" answered the student.

"A giant? But they live in the mountains, don't they?" Arista asked. "Far away from here."

"Well, this one's decided to move to Hogwarts," gasped Brittany Marsh, her hair falling
all over the side of her face, her robes disheveled.

"It's gone mad!" cried Hathaway, pale and shaking. "It keeps bellowing something
about wizards and killing."

"We were coming from the greenhouse and it took two huge steps and nearly squashed us," sobbed a first-year girl. "I want to go home!"

Arista was sitting quietly with her head in her hands, for all of the fear and panic in the
hall was making her head feel as if it were going to explode. She kept her shields tightly locked down, trying to take some deep breaths and find her center. Then, through all of the extraneous emotions, she heard a silent scream. It was a shriek of mortal peril and it pierced all of her shields, echoing through her mind like the cry of a banshee.

"Damn! Damn!" she swore, springing to her feet. Someone was out there, alone
and terrified, and she could not ignore that desperate mental cry for help. "Let's go!" she called to the S. R.'s.

"Arista! What are you doing?" cried Mel, as she watched her friend racing towards the
entrance hall.

"Hurry up!" Arista shouted over her shoulder.

"Hurry up! Is she mental?" Kit gaped. "There's a giant rampaging out there and she's
running toward it. Will somebody please tell me what's wrong with this picture?"

"Figure it out later!" Drake barked, also getting to his feet. "You aren't g-gonna just
sit here and let her go alone?"

"Yes, I am! I don't want to die at age fourteen," Kit said.

"Move, Ambrosius!" Drake snapped, grabbing Kit by his collar and dragging him off
his chair.

"You're both mental, Lockwood!" Kit was white-faced, but he followed Drake, Mel,
and Tricia after the racing figure of Arista Snape.

"She's trying to save somebody, I think!" panted Tricia.

"Great! Just great! Arista to the rescue! We go save somebody, but who's gonna save
us?" Kit demanded, taking his wand out.

They slid to a stop in the courtyard, transfixed in horror by the huge giant standing just
beyond, a club the size of a bus in its fist. The club had already smashed into several of the stone statues, knocking them over like ninepins. Debris was scattered all over the courtyard.

The giant itself was at least fourteen feet tall, with wild grayish black hair, one huge
bloodshot eye, the other was missing, a crooked nose and a mouth full of yellowed teeth. It had grayish skin which was as tough as mountain stone and it wore a kind of kilt and a leather baldric about its waist with a knife in it the size of a sword.

"WIZARDS! COME OUT! TORAK FIGHT YOU! KILL YOU DEAD!"

"There! You see, definitely crazy!" Kit babbled. "Says he's gonna kill us dead. And he will too, if we keep standing here."

Arista ignored him, instead running towards a large statue of a griffin that had been
knocked over. On the far side of it was little Mercy Hawkins, sobbing hysterically. The statue had fallen just as she was going past it, nearly crushing her. She had been knocked down and hurt her knee when she had fallen. The pain of her wrenched knee and her terror at the approach of the giant had combined to make her freeze, unable to move away to safety. And nobody heard her panicked screams over the giant's repeated challenges.

Nobody except Arista.

She crouched down beside the terrified child. "Are you hurt?"

"M-my knee! I can't walk!" sobbed Mercy. "The giant's gonna kill us!"

"Shhh. It's okay," Arista soothed, projecting a bubble of calm about the little girl. "I
can fix your knee, just give me a minute." She placed her hand on the child's knee, which was already swollen to three times its size. Then she released her healing gift.

White fire flowed through her and into Mercy's knee, repairing the sprained and torn
tendons and cartilage. In a moment it was all over and she picked up Mercy and carried her out from the shadow of the griffin.

"WIZARDS! COME OUT!" the giant rumbled, smashing his club against the ground
for emphasis.

Chips of stone and dirt flew everywhere. Mercy screamed. Arista set the girl down
near the entrance to the castle and said, "Go, run inside where it's safe."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry. Just go!"

Mercy turned and ran away, slipping inside the castle.

"Let's get out of here!" Kit cried.

Before they could move, though, the giant did. Its massive foot extended and nearly
came down on Tricia's head.

Only Kit's quick grab and roll saved her. They rolled to the right, out of the giant's
path.

"Bloody hell, watch where you're walking!" Mel screamed, shaking her fist at the giant.

"Uh, Mel, I don't think it cares if it steps on us. We're like ants." Arista panted.

"H-how do we stop this thing?" asked Drake.

"We Stun it." Kit said, helping Tricia up from the ground. They were both covered in
dust and dirt, and Kit's cheek was bleeding where a sharp stone fragment had cut it.

"Good idea, Ambrosius," Arista said. She took out her wand. Then she let down her
shields just enough to link with her friends.

"This had better work," she heard Mel mutter.

They had practiced the Stunning spell before, but only on trees, and they'd never
Stunned anything the size of the giant.

"Ready? One. Two. Three. STUPEFY!"

Five beams of red light shot out of their wands and combined into one large ray of
blood red force.

It smashed into the giant and knocked it back a pace or two. The red eye glared around, trying to see where the blow had come from. The club smashed down, and more of the courtyard cracked and broke.

The five backed away, trying to avoid being hit by the flying shards of rock.

"Uh, I think we just made it really mad!" cried Mel.

"Again! We hurt it," Arista ordered.

"How can you tell?" screamed Kit.

"I can feel its pain somewhat!" Arista shouted back. "Get ready."

"STUPEFY!"

Once again the combined powers of the five wizards streaked toward the giant. This
time the blow made it stagger backwards, bellowing in fury and pain.

"That's got it!" yelled Drake. He was pale and unsteady on his feet, but he had his
wand ready sooner than any of them.

"Once more." Arista cried.

Five wands pointed towards the behemoth.

"STUPEFY!"

This time the beam of red force knocked it to one knee. The courtyard shook as the
giant landed on the ground. "KILL WIZARDS!"

"Tell us something we don't know!" Kit yelled, gasping for breath.

"Arista, I-I can't keep this up," wept Tricia.

"Me either," panted Mel. Her eyes were rolling up in her head.

Arista looked around at her friends in despair. They were exhausted from casting three magnified Stunning hexes in a row. And the giant was down, but not defeated.

If I don't do something, we'll all die here. And I only have one last card to play. She
turned to her friends, who were staggering with weariness, out on their feet. She felt the exhaustion sweep through her as well, but she forced herself to ignore it. "Cut loose! Go back to the castle. I'll handle it from here."

"You'll WHAT?" Drake screamed.

"Just do as I say!" she howled. Then she reached under her robes for the bronze dragon scale she wore on a chain next to her locket.

The dragon scale had been a parting gift from Fireflash. It had magical properties, like all dragon scales, but this one had been enchanted by Fireflash to hold a special spell called Dragonshape. When held in the wizard's hand and cast properly, the scale would transform the holder into a bronze dragon for short periods of time. Arista had practiced with the scale before she'd come to school, back in the glen under Severus's watchful eye.

He had made her promise on her mother's grave that she would never use the scale
unless it was a dire emergency.

I think this qualifies, Dad! She thought, gripping the scale hard. She tucked her wand
into a pocket and gestured with her free hand, levitating herself up into the air. She would need the height for this transformation.

"Draco familiaris imperialis!"

The scale began to glow a brilliant golden color. She allowed the golden light to
envelop her, changing her, molding her into a creature of air and fire, with wings that could soar to the highest heights and claws sharp as ten swords and breath that was death if she wished it to be.

Arista the Dragon gazed down at the castle below her, her dragon's eyes seeing the four tiny figures running for safety as quickly as they could. She bared her teeth in a dragon's grin. Then she focused on her enemy, who was once more on his feet. From above, the giant didn't look quite so formidable, especially not to a bronze dragon.

Arista flew down lower, to hover just over the giant's lice ridden head. "Hey, Ugly!
Up here!" she called, waving her tufted red tail tauntingly.

The giant looked up. "Huh?" His one eye blinked stupidly.

Then he realized what he was seeing and cried out in anger and terror. He swung his
club at Arista, but she dodged the swipe easily. There were few things more maneuverable in the air than a bronze dragon.

She lashed back with her tail, clubbing the giant on the side of the head. "Go home,
Ugly! The wizards don't want to play today."

The giant was spun halfway around by the force of her blow. "KILL WIZARDS."

"Not on my watch!" the Arista Dragon snorted. Gotta get some altitude for this next
maneuver. Fireflash always said altitude is vital to a dive.

She began to beat her wings hard, climbing rapidly upwards into the sky. When she
judged she was about three hundred feet up, she spun her head down, closed her wings, and extended all of her talons, front and back.

She fell like a fiery comet from the heavens, a thunderbolt of vengeance on dragon
wings.

The wind screamed in her ears in a joyous rush and she focused, like a falcon, on her prey, which was staring about in confusion.

She hit the giant with all the force of her body behind the blow, her talons digging deep into the gray hide, ripping great furrows in its shoulders, neck, and head. Blood spurted from it, and it bellowed in agony.

But it was not mortally wounded, even though it should have been. A strike like that
should have killed it. Why isn't it dead? Then she recalled something she had read in her new Fantastic Beasts compendium.

Some giants still bore some of the old magic in them. They drew strength from the
earth and as long as they were touching it, they would not die.

Of course, this one would HAVE to be one of those Figures. Now what do I do?

The Durmstrang ship bobbed on the waves of the Black Lake.

The lake! Of course! If the giant's in the lake, I can kill it with my talons or my fire. She fastened all of her clawed feet on the giant and began to beat her wings harder. Straining every muscle in her shining body, she picked the giant up from the ground and flew up with it dangling from her claws.

This is harder than I thought! Come on, Arista, you're almost there. Her wings
burning with the effort of hauling some eight hundred pounds of struggling giant across to the lake, she flew slower than she would have liked.

But at last they were over the drop zone and she opened her talons and let the giant fall into the lake.

The resounding tidal wave nearly sunk the Durmstrang ship. The giant plunged into
the water like a rock, but then it started trying to get out, splashing frantically.

Arista hovered, then dove on the giant again. This time her talons scored and the big
creature bled from true wounds. A sudden inspiration hit and she struck the water with her tail. "Amlioranee!" she cried, calling on the mermaid whose life she had saved that stormy night.

The blessings of the sea be upon you, Potion Master's daughter. If ever you have need of me, touch the water and speak my name.
"You called, Arista Snape?"

The mermaid arced out of the water.

"I need your help. I need you to keep this giant in the lake, it's trying to kill us."

Amlioranee cast a contemptuous glance at the giant. "As you wish. I am the Water
Mistress." She began to spin in a circle, singing in some strange liquid tongue.

The water of the Black Lake began to swirl in time to the mermaid's song, coiling
faster and faster, sucking the giant down.

Arista drew back her head and sucked in a great lungful of air. Then she released it in
one quick burst.

Fire spurted from her mouth in one long stream, hotter than any volcano. It coated the
giant with flickering bluish white flames. The giant died soundlessly, its voice burned away by the dragonfire. It sank beneath the waters of the lake, the mermaid's whirlpool dragging it down to the depths.

"Thanks for the assist, Amlioranee."

"Anytime, Arista Snape." The mermaid Water Mistress waved in farewell, then dived
beneath the water.

Arista turned her weary aching wings towards the shore, landing lightly beside the lake. She was too tired to fly back to the castle at the moment, and she quickly released the Dragonshape spell. One minute she was a dragon, the next she was a girl again.

An utterly exhausted girl who could barely manage to keep herself in a sitting position. Her head felt too heavy for her body, and she rested her chin on her chest. She had no idea how long the fight with the giant had taken, but she had a feeling it had not been very long.

Otherwise the adults would have come out to help. She squinted blearily. Yes, here
they came now. She saw Dumbledore in his purple wizard robes, white beard blowing in the wind. And next to him was her father, his face pale with something she thought might be fear or shock. Behind them came Professor McGonagall.

Severus reached her first, throwing himself down beside her. "Arista! Talk to me! Are
you hurt?" his voice was rough with fear.

She blinked, looked up into his face. "No. It never touched me. I used the dragon
scale."

Severus was torn between hugging her and shaking her until her teeth rattled. He did
a combination of both, giving her a slight shake and then drawing her against him. "You used the dragon scale," he repeated. "Good God, are you trying to give me heart failure, young lady? There's absolute pandemonium in the castle and where are you? Safe inside? No, you're out here fighting a creature that could have smashed you flat."

"I had to do something. Mercy Hawkins was trapped in the courtyard, she needed my
healing talent."

"The something you should have been doing was calling for help, not challenging it in
Dragonshape like some bloody comic book hero! D'you want to die before you're sixteen?"

"You're overreacting, Dad. I'm not even scratched."

"You can barely move, so don't give me the I'm fine speech, young lady. Next time
you'll tell me you're fine and half your entrails will be hanging out." He lifted her into his arms and began to walk back towards the castle. "If you keep this up, you're going to make me a raving lunatic by the time I'm thirty-six!"

"Where are we going?"

"You're going to the Hospital Wing, so Poppy can check you out and make sure you
aren't hurt," he answered.

"But I'm fine, Dad! I'm just tired. How about Mel and Drake and Kit and Tricia? Are
they okay?"

"Yes. They went back inside like sensible people," he said cuttingly.

"I can never do anything right, can I?" she said in a small voice. "I save my friends and
everyone and all you do is yell at me."

"You nearly got yourself killed!" he cried. Then he looked down at her and saw tears
trickling down her cheeks. Remorse struck him then. "I'm sorry. Don't cry. You scared me half to death, don't you know that? Don't cry." He held her against him, his cheek resting on her head. "You are so much like your mother, always trying to do the impossible. I lost her because of it, and I don't . . .I can't lose you too, Arista. So please, for the love of heaven, don't do anything like this again. I don't want a dead hero for a daughter."

"Okay, I promise."

He sighed in relief. "Thank you for that." Then he continued walking towards the
Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey pronounced Arista as perfectly healthy except for exhaustion from
overusing her powers. "She'll be right as rain with a few hours of sleep, Severus, so don't fret." She smiled down at Arista fondly. "You just lie here and get some rest, dear."

Arista was already falling asleep, and she dreamed she was flying again in
Dragonshape. When she woke up, she found her bedside table was filled with flowers, candy of all kinds, and several cards. Some of the cards were from her friends, some from other Ravenclaws, but there were a fair number of cards from Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and even some Slytherins.

She felt a familiar weight on her feet and looked down to see Comfrey curled up at the
foot of the bed. The lavender tinged gray cat opened one eye and purred loudly at her mistress.

"Hey, kitten. How'd you get in here? Cats aren't allowed, you know."

Comfrey flicked her tail, as if to say, cats go where they please, don't you know that?

Arista smiled, letting her shields down a bit so she could absorb more of the cat's
peaceful aura. She caught a picture from the cat, of a man in a black robe gently putting her on the bed. "Dad put you here, didn't he? That was sweet of him. Cats are the best medicine."

Comfrey purred in agreement. Then she settled down into the blanket atop Arista's feet and went to sleep.

Arista was still tired, so she fell back asleep too. The next time she woke it was broad
daylight and besides her cat, her friends were also there, sitting around in chairs, talking quietly.

"Hey, look who's awake!" exclaimed Mel. "Have a nice rest, Sleeping Beauty?"

"Wonderful. How long have you been here?"

"Since this morning. We refused to leave until you woke up, told Pomfrey she'd have
to throw us out," Kit said, mischief in his eyes.

"So she let us stay," Drake chuckled.

"How are you feeling?" Tricia asked, a worried frown on her face.

"I'm okay. Just a bit tired."

"Yeah, well fighting a giant will do that to you," Kit laughed.

"And in Dragonshape too," Drake said quietly, a note of admiration in his voice.

"Where'd you ever learn that spell, Snape?" asked Mel.

"From a bronze dragon named Fireflash. He used to be my mother's partner." She
explained about the dragon scale.

"We saw most of the fight from the windows," Drake said. "I'll never forget it."

"Neither will anyone else. We saw your father and Dumbledore and McGonagall run
down to the lake afterwards." Mel continued, sitting on the edge of the bed. "So, has he grounded you for life?"

"Not yet. He's still on the I'm-so-glad-you're-alive stage. But I'm sure he'll get around to it."

"Well, we all think you're incredible," said Tricia. "Actually, so does the whole school.
Even the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang think you're pretty cool."

"Did anybody ever find out why that giant came here?" Arista asked.

"Not really, although Dumbledore thinks it was sent, by followers of You-Know-Who."
Mel said in an undertone.

"Speaking of Dumbledore, he wants to see all of us in his office once you feel up to it," said Kit. "I hope he's not going to expel us or anything."

"Now why would he do a dumb thing like that?" Drake scowled. "She saved all of us
from an insane giant and we helped her. We didn't break any rules, so there's no reason to expel us."

"He probably wants to discuss the way we combined our magic," said Arista. "We
can't keep it a secret anymore, so now we have to tell them everything."

She reached up and took a Chocolate Frog from her nightstand. As she carefully
opened the box, she waved her hand at the myriad of treats sitting there. "Hey, help yourself. I'll never be able to eat all of this, not in a month."

Her friends didn't have to be told twice. All of them grabbed something.

A few hours later, Arista and the rest of the S. R.'s were sitting in the Headmaster's
office, explaining to Dumbledore and Snape how they had cast three Stunning Hexes
magnified to five times their usual power.

"Then you and your friends have practiced this kind of magic before?" Dumbledore
asked, eyeing them with interest over his half-moon glasses.

"Yes, sir. But the first time we did it was an accident. We were trying to see who
could cast the quickest Shield Charm and by accident I linked with everyone and then our magic combined," Arista explained. Her friends had elected her as spokesperson, since she was the unofficial leader of their little group.

"And have you tried other spells besides the few you've mentioned?"

"No, because we didn't have time to experiment too much with our exams and all. And we can only combine our magic with spells we all know very well. We tried it once or twice with spells half of us know and it didn't work."

"I think the empathic link is the key, sir," said Mel quietly, speaking up for the first
time. "Without that, well, we could all try until Doomsday to combine our magic and it
wouldn't work."

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I would say that theory is the correct one, wouldn't you
agree, Severus?"

"Yes. Empaths can do things most of us can't, things that are often thought of as . .
. impossible." He was seated off to the right of the Headmaster, observing the reactions of the five teenagers with something approaching wry amusement. All of them except his daughter were nervous, as if expecting something bad to happen, some unforeseen punishment for learning how to do magic in a new way.

Dumbledore steepled his fingers together on his desk, a sign that Severus knew meant he was thinking hard. He might look like a kindly old wizard, but the Potions Master knew he possessed one of the shrewdest and keenest minds of any wizard in the world.

"This newfound talent of yours to, um, what did you call it—combine magic—is a
wonderful breakthrough for us," the Headmaster said at last, smiling gently at them. "I have always favored cooperation in magic as well as everyday life. This is the ultimate expression of trust and cooperation. You all should be very proud of yourselves. There are not many young wizards your age who would have been able to put aside differences in class and House to work together the way you have done."

The kids brightened beneath the older man's regard, sitting up straighter, pride coming into their eyes as they realized the truth of that statement.

"Well, it wasn't all that hard, considering we all had something in common,
Headmaster," said Kit. Now that he was reasonably sure he wasn't going to be expelled, he felt comfortable enough to talk to Dumbledore.

"Oh? And what was that, Kit?"

"Well, we, uh, all were being targeted by a group of other students. You know, the
popular kids, rich snobs who thought they were better than the rest of us. They would say things to us, do things to us, and well, one day we got tired of it and decided to do something about it."

"It was Arista's idea, really," Tricia continued at Kit's nod. "She said all of us together
could accomplish more than each of us alone. Said that was a lesson she'd learned from her Dark Hunter teachers back in America. And we were all sick and tired of putting up with the popular kids' attitudes. Some of us had it worse than others," here she looked at Drake, who blushed and glanced away. "So we started hanging out together, helping each other, first with schoolwork and later Arista taught us some self-defense techniques she'd learned from Colin Flynn. And we discovered she was right, together we could accomplish anything."

"Once we started working as a team, we found that it was harder for certain people to
do nasty things to us," Mel added. "One of us alone is an easy mark, but five of us all together, that's a different story."

"Most bullies w-will run if you give them a fight, so that's w-what we did," Drake put
in. "And it worked. But we never used our combination magic on them, sir," he added, lest the Headmaster get the wrong idea. "It's too dangerous to use for something like that."

"Quite true, Drake. Quite true. I am pleased you all saw the danger in using such
powerful magic. Most others would have been tempted by the power it represented and not hesitated to use it. You all display maturity beyond your years and restraint worthy of an adult. Indeed many adults would not have acted as wisely as you have. I for one, would like to see you demonstrate this combination magic."

"I would also, Headmaster," Severus said.

"We would be happy to show you," offered Arista. "The one bad thing about using it,
though, is that it exhausts you twice as quickly as using magic normally."

"Does it? I would have thought the cost would be shared equally between you," Severus said.

"Well, maybe it is, because all of us were equally tired after casting the Stunning Hex."

"There is a price for everything, you know," said the Headmaster quietly. "Sometimes
the greater the magic, the greater the sacrifice required. I can see many potential uses for this new magic, that it could be a good thing if used properly. However, I'm afraid that some other wizards might not see it that way. They would regard it as an invasion of privacy, for they would have to allow themselves to be touched by an empath in order to combine magic."

"But I'm not really sensing their emotions when I link with them, sir," Arista hastened
to explain. "I open my mind and I let them touch me. It's kind of like when you hold hands with someone. Your fingers clasp another's, not tight enough to hurt, but just to hold on. That's what I'm doing, I'm not trying to enter their mind or anything. I would never do that without asking first. That's the first thing an empath learns, how not to sense another's emotions. Another person's mind is sacred, you don't just go around entering people's minds whenever you feel like it, or projecting emotions onto them. At least you don't if you're a decent person."

"Most empaths are," Severus interjected. "The very nature of their gift makes them
compassionate and considerate of others. Her mother was an empath of extraordinary talent, and she was the most compassionate woman I ever knew. You could tell her anything. But you're right, Headmaster. Most people would not believe me if I told them that, they are naturally suspicious of one who can see inside another's mind and heart. We have too many secrets inside of us, we lie to ourselves too easily, for most of us to be comfortable with allowing an empath access to our minds. Even for a brief instant, to perform magic that might be beneficial to all."

"I fear you are right, Severus. As I said before that level of trust is all too rare. So I
think it best if we do not advertise the fact that you five can do this combination magic. It would raise too many questions, frighten too many people."

"Does that mean we can't ever use it again?" asked Mel sadly.

"No. In fact, I would like you to practice with it, to see what you can accomplish with
it. I think someday soon it may prove to be very useful. But I want you to report anything you do to me or to Severus if I am unavailable. And you are not to discuss this with any other student, for now it must be kept secret. Are you all willing to do this?"

All five of them agreed.

"But what about the p-people who saw us cast those Stunning spells?" asked Drake.
"How will we explain w-what they saw? Because you can tell that wasn't an ordinary Stunning Hex."

"We will try to avoid discussing it if possible. If necessary I will resort to a Memory
Charm, though I would hope such would not be necessary." Dumbledore said.

"Most of the students were in a state of shock or panic while you were casting those,
so I doubt any of them will remember clearly if they did see an ordinary Stunning Hex or not, Lockwood," commented Snape.

"But you w-would notice, sir."

"Yes, because I am trained to be observant. As is Professor Dumbledore. Others,
however, are not, and they see only what they expect to see. Which is to your advantage. It is always easier to hide in plain sight, as I'm sure you know well," the Potions Master stated, eyeing the Slytherin boy knowingly.

A shared understanding passed between them, and Drake said, "Yes, I do know that,
sir."

"And now, I am sure all of you are hungry and would like something to eat,"
Dumbledore announced. "So might I suggest we all go down to the Great Hall and have dinner? Oh, and one other thing. Because of your extraordinary courage and valor, I am awarding each of you fifty House points. I think you have more than earned them."

"That's for darn sure," Arista heard Mel mutter under her breath.

Then they all thanked the Headmaster and went down to the Great Hall, where the rest of the school was gathered. They were greeted by a resounding cheer and applause. Arista couldn't stop smiling. It would seem Snape's Rejects were no longer outcasts, thanks to the giant's arrival. And yet, she would not change the group's name, since it was a badge of honor, even if no one but she and her friends knew it.

A/N: How was that battle? And no, this isn't the end yet. There's still Sev's first Christmas with Arista and the Yule Ball to come. Who will they end up going with? Only I know for sure. *smirks*