Chapter 25 –Call Him Teacher
I apologize, everyone, for not updating sooner. I've just been super busy. I got asked, last second, to help out with some things. I then had school stuff to take care of, specifically finals that I needed to study for. I then get into the summer and found myself volunteering to help out with another project. Long story short, I've been a busy bee lately (it feels great, but it leaves little to no time to write). However, here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it!
The first thing Zatora thought as she began to awaken was that her head was pounding. She let out a very soft moan and opened her eyes. Almost immediately she shut them to shield them against the bright sunlight above her. As she laid there on the ground, with her eyes tightly shut, she became distinctly aware of her left hand being held by another hand. Please, she thought while turning her head to the left, please let my hearing be today and that whole Ministry fiasco be a dream. Let Harry rescuing me be only a dream.
She opened her eyes and her heart sank. Lying next to her was Harry, his eyes still closed and his breathing slow and steady. Zatora looked down and found her hand in his, their fingers intertwined together –
Quickly, she pulled her hand out of his and scrambled away from him. She got to her feet, hearing him stir as she moved. Looking around she was able to see that they were in a forest. Just beyond Harry was Hermione, who was already awake and kneeling over a blood soaked Ron.
"Wha-what happened to h-him?" Zatora stammered in absolute shock.
"He got splinched when we apparrated." Hermione answered, starting to take of his shirt to take a better look at the damage. "Hold on Ron – please. This is going to hurt a bit as I take the shirt off."
Ron shuddered as the shirt was removed. Hermione's hand brushed past a wound in his shoulder and a cry escaped his lips. She winced at his outcry but continued to reveal more of the gash. Zatora looked away, feeling sorry that Ron was hurt.
"Harry, I need you to get something out of my bag!" Hermione said shrilly.
Zatora watched as Harry hurried over to her bag. "What – what do you need?"
"Essence of Dittany – as quickly as you can get it!" Hermione said, her hands covered in Ron's blood.
"Right – er," Harry stared into the bag. "Accio Dittany!" He said, pointing his wand it at Hermione's bag. A bottle shot into his hands and he rushed to Ron and Hermione's aide.
Quietly Zatora waited off to the side, fingering her locks of hair as the two tended to Ron. After a while Hermione stood up and walked past Zatora. She raised her wand and began muttering spells. Harry, meanwhile, started working a large object out of Hermione's small bag. To Zatora's astonishment, he pulled out a tent, flicked his wand and the tent began unfolding so as Harry could put it up.
Very hesitantly Zatora went over to Harry. She watched him tentatively for a few seconds before clearing her voice. He looked up at her, "What?"
"I – I was just wondering what we're doing…"
"We're setting up camp." Harry answered, gesturing at the tent.
"I can see that," Zatora said, "what I meant, though, was what are we doing about getting me back with my family?"
Harry looked up at her, "I told you that I would get you to your father if we got out of the Ministry safely."
"We're here so obviously we're safe." Zatora pointed out, trying to remain calm.
"Everyone is going to be looking for me now," Harry told her, placing pegs into the ground. "A lot of people saw us at the Ministry. They won't just be looking for me, they saw Hermione, Ron, and you leaving the Ministry along with me. You're in just as much danger as we are right now."
"What about my family?" Zatora asked as her control of her anger slipped away. "They're now in danger because of me!"
"I'm sure they'll be –"
"Don't tell me that they'll be fine when you don't know that!" Zatora snapped at Harry.
"Look," Harry said standing up, "I'm not happy to have you with us either, but I can't take you anywhere. If I take you to your family, you'll most likely get caught. You would either go straight to Azkaban or be brought to You-Know-Who and, I'm thinking it'll be the last option the Ministry will go with. Didn't you see Yaxley's face? He recognized you; the Death Eaters have been talking about you. You're lucky they hadn't figured out your relation to him much sooner or you wouldn't have had a hearing at all."
"So I'm just stuck here, with you?" Zatora asked furiously.
"Unfortunately, yes." Harry shot back at her. Without another word, he went back to putting up the tent.
Angrily Zatora walked to the far side of the clearing. She stayed where the others could see her and sat down on the ground. This hadn't been her idea of where she'd be after the hearing. In fact, she had fully expected to be in Azkaban and her family safe and sound. Zatora couldn't deny, however, that Harry was right. No matter how angry she was that he had dragged her with him, she knew he couldn't take her home without putting her family in even more danger.
Freddy slithered out of her bag and onto her lap. "What are we going to do?" he asked very softly. "Are we staying or –"
"We can't leave," Zatora said. "We'd get caught faster than you could say 'Hogwarts'. No, Harry's right; we have to stay. I guess we'll just have to make the best of it."
For the next few days Zatora kept to herself and left the trio to themselves. She tried to help out as much as she could, gathering fire wood and keeping their area free of any evidence that they were present. The only time Zatora remotely made contact with the three was in the mornings and evenings when they ate and went to sleep. Even then, she would remain quiet as they talked in whispers amongst themselves. The only one she talked to was Freddy, and their conversations were just as soft. They decided that it was best, for now, that the infamous trio shouldn't know about Freddy. Zatora could sense that it would only start an argument that none of them wanted.
Whenever Zatora was around Harry, Ron, and Hermione they would lower their voices, throwing her hesitant glances before looking quickly away. She wasn't sure what they were talking about but she got the feeling that their conversations sometimes turned to the fact that she was there. It didn't really bother her; she had been an unplanned addition to their expedition. To her, it made perfect sense that they would talk about her presence. Zatora figured she would just leave them alone and let them do their thing without giving them any trouble.
Most days, Zatora spent her time outside, talking to Freddy about things that were bothering her. It was a way to let out her steam, and Freddy was very willing to help her in any way that he could. Zatora was in even more grateful that she had brought her drawing book in her bag. She would sit and sketch her surroundings; to take her mind off of things. Usually she would draw the scenery around her, but other times, if she saw one of the others, she would sketch them down in her book. It was something to do, other than just sitting there. Something to pass her time, time that was so full of silence these days.
Her plans to leave the trio alone were shattered when Hermione came to talk to her. It was another dull morning and Zatora had just finished cleaning their camp area. She has chosen to sit down against a tree, choosing one so she could keep an eye out for when they were planning on leaving. Zatora was just about to lose herself in her thoughts when a soft and hesitant voice asked, "Zatora?"
Zatora looked up to find Hermione Granger gazing down at her. She forced a smile and asked, "Yes?"
"Can we talk?" Hermione asked her.
"Uh – sure, I suppose." Zatora answered taken aback.
"Great!" Hermione said enthusiastically, sitting down on the ground next to her. She smiled, "I'm really sorry that you had to get dragged along on our crazy adventure. It really wasn't our plan at all."
"It's okay," Zatora reassured her, "I understand; really, I do."
"Oh good," Hermione said beaming at her. "The fact still remains that you are going to be with us for a potentially lengthy period of time. Harry and I were discussing this and we're worried about your abilities to defend yourself."
"Okay…." Zatora said slowly, feeling a bit uneasy now.
"Are you any good at defensive spells?"
"Um – well," Zatora said feeling embarrassed, "I –I wouldn't say I'm amazing at it…."
"Would you say fair?"
"Not exactly, no…." Zatora answered. The fact was that their sporadic teachers hadn't exactly given her a lot of skills to walk away with. In fact, she didn't really remember the concepts of Defensive spells and fighting spells. It all seemed fuzzy from fifth to sixth year. She knew the spells, but asked to perform them in a real life situation she was hopeless.
"You're worse than fair?" Hermione asked, her smile faltering. "How bad are you?"
"I wouldn't say hopeless, I'm just not extremely good at it." Zatora said softly. "We had a lot of bad teachers and I didn't really understand that area very well. I managed an Exceeds in my O.W.L.'s only because I studied. I can't do the magic in a practical setting and last year I was failing most of the year with a Dreadful. I only managed to pull it up to an A for the last part of the year and, once again, I had help."
Hermione grimaced, "Maybe all you need is some practice."
"Wh–what?" Zatora asked taken off guard again.
"Yeah, come on. Let's duel right now; I can help you get the concepts down and brush your skills up to par."
"I – I don't know." Zatora said getting to her feet.
"What – are you scared?" Hermione asked getting up as well. She pulled her wand out of her pocket. "Come on, Zatora, you need to practice –"
"Maybe some other –"
"Stupefy!"
Zatora had a split second to dodge out of the way of Hermione's spell. She stared at Hermione, watching her stance carefully. Hesitantly she drew her wand, trying to think of a spell she could use. Her mind went completely blank and she froze, unsure what to do. Hermione, taking Zatora's state to her advantage, shot another spell at her. Quickly Zatora dodged and backed away.
"Okay, Hermione," Zatora said backing further away as she advanced. "I give up – you win."
"That's not going to work in a real duel, Zatora." Hermione explained. "Expelliarmus!"
Zatora's wand flew out of her hand and into Hermione's. "Now," Hermione explained, "you have no wand. What are you going to do in a real duel?"
"Run – seems like a safe bet to me." Zatora said, feeling foolish.
"I can tell you now that running won't get you very far – here." Hermione said tossing Zatora's wand back to her. "Let's keep practicing."
She had no clue how long they practiced. All Zatora knew was that by the time Hermione was forced to stop, she was on the verge of tears. Once again Hermione had disarmed her and she backed away. Her foot found a small hole in the ground and she fell backwards onto the ground. She felt hot tears of humiliation and embarrassment roll down her cheeks. Feeling completely beaten she buried her face in her hands.
"Okay, Hermione, I think that's enough." A voice behind her said firmly.
Oh, why did he have to see this? Zatora asked herself, quickly wiping her eyes and looking around. Harry was standing a few feet behind her, his arms folded as he gazed down at the two of them. "Give Zatora her wand back, Hermione." Harry said calmly. "I think you've beaten her enough."
"Harry," Hermione said, handing over Zatora's wand. "Zatora obviously needs a teacher and I'm not the one to do it."
Harry sighed, "Oh alright! Fine, I'll help her Hermione, but only if it's okay with Zatora."
"I'm okay with it," Zatora said, glad that she wouldn't have to face Hermione in a duel again.
"Okay, we'll begin practice in the morning." Harry said, before walking off.
"Get up, Zatora."
"Wh – what?" Zatora asked sleepily as someone shook her awake.
"It's time for your lesson, remember?" Harry's voice said from above her.
Zatora opened her eyes and groaned as she was met nothing but darkness, "What time is it?"
"Five." Harry said looking satisfied that she was awake.
"In the morning?"
"Yes – keep your voice down; Hermione just got to sleep." Harry hissed at her. "Go get dressed and meet me outside," he added before heading out of the tent.
Zatora got up and walked over to her bag. She pulled out some clothes Hermione was lending to her and changed out of the clothes she had slept in. She shivered and grabbed a jacket. After she was dressed, she pulled her hair into a ponytail, grabbed her wand, and walked outside.
Harry was standing a few feet away from the tent. Mist covered the ground, obscuring the ground and any feet from view in the chilly dawn. A pink glow from the sky was beginning to light up the leaves. Hesitantly, Zatora walked over to Harry; she really didn't want to duel again. One day of horrible humiliation was bad enough.
Harry turned to her as she approached. "Ready to start?"
"Sure, I suppose." Zatora said cautiously.
"Don't worry; we're not going to duel just yet." Harry told her, "I know what you're like with dueling. What I want to start with is finding out what you do know – a quiz. I'll ask you questions and you'll try to answer them; sound good?"
Zatora felt a bit relieved and nodded in agreement.
"Alright, first question: what spell is used to get rid of a boggart?"
"Riddiculus," Zatora said slowly.
"Right," Harry said, nodding at her. "Let's move on to the next question"
For a while all Zatora did was answer questions as Harry quizzed her. Just when she was beginning to feel like the questions would never end, Harry stopped. "Okay, I think you get the concepts well enough. Seems like all you need is some help with brushing up the practical skills. Let's start with a simple spell; Expelliarmus."
"Disarming, right?" Zatora asked, pulling out her wand.
"Yes, disarming. We're going to practice on a target. This way I can help you. We'll start with doing the spell out loud first." Harry instructed, pulling something out of her pocket. He pointed his wand at it and made it enlarge to reveal a fake opponent made out of wood.
"Wow, nice." Zatora said in awe.
"Hermione helped me with this one, so I can't take all the credit." Harry told her, throwing her a quick smile.
"It's still cool," Zatora said, following Harry to stand further away.
"Alright," Harry said folding his arms, "I want you to aim at the target – good – and say the spell on the count of three. You ready?" Zatora nodded, "Okay – three – two – one!"
"Exeplliarmus," Zatora said, aiming for the target. Instead of the fake wand flying towards her, it flew to the side.
Harry's eyebrows raised, "That's the general idea, but the wand's supposed to come to you. Try it again, but this time with a bit more confidence."
"Right," Zatora said nodding to herself, "More confidence; no problem." She waited for Harry to put the wand in the right place before raising her wand. Harry moved to stand behind her, making Zatora feel extremely nervous. She could feel his eyes watching her and she tried, desperately, to get ready and calm her nerves.
"Three – two – one!" Harry said behind her.
"Expelliarmus!"
This time the wand went flying behind the target. They watched as it flew through the air and hit a tree. Zatora winced as some angry chattering arose and a pair of squirrels came running out of the trunk to disappear in the higher branches. A soft laugh came from behind her and she turned to find Harry trying to hide a smile with his hand.
"Well, that sucked," Zatora said, looking away from Harry's face.
"No, it didn't." Harry said quickly. "The general idea is happening, you just need to brush up your wand technique and boost your confidence. Here, let me set up the target again and I'll help you."
Once the wand was put back in place, Harry came back to her once more. He stood next to her right side. His hand found hers and lifted it so her wand was aiming at the target. "When you say the incantation," Harry explained, "the wand movement needs to be precise. Both of the times you did the spell, you were tense but you did the wand movement loosely. Don't be afraid of the spell; you have the movement and incantation down. Let the spell come naturally." He tightened his hold on Zatora's wand hand and guided her through the wand motions a few times.
"Okay, now try the spell again."
Zatora focused on her task and said, "Expelliarmus!"
The wand flew through the air and Zatora caught it in disbelief.
Harry smiled, "I think we'll leave it there for today. I'll come find you tomorrow for our next lesson." He took the wand from her and went to put away the target, leaving Zatora standing there. She stood stunned and amazed, but then a soft smile broke over her face as she thought happily about what she had just achieved.
I hope you all enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Hermione-Hermyown