Happy Christmas everyone!
Firstly, I have a Christmas gift for you all! I am currently working with THE Alessandro Barbucci (creator and original Disney comic artist for W.I.T.C.H.) on a series of art for this fanfic! The Guardians are going to be drawn by him in their Hogwarts uniforms! Will is the first of our girls to be published, so check out my Pinterest for the full image, and if not it will be posted/embedded directly into this chapter over on AO3. I can't wait to get the others in, stay tuned for more amazing art from him and please feel free to freak out over how amazingly mind-blowing this treat is (because I'm still not over it!).
Moving right along... I wanted to preface this chapter with a little note on Heatherfield for those who might be curious as to my decisions with it. It is never officially determined exactly where Heatherfield is located as per the original W.I.T.C.H. comic series, but my personal belief is that it is somewhere in Britain. The reason I feel this way is because of how distinctly European the city itself is; having grown up in Italy myself (the birthplace of the W.I.T.C.H. comics) I see striking resemblances between Italian cities, such as Genova, and Heatherfield. The later comic issues sort of renege on this, but as my story is set basically right in the middle of the "New Power" arc (the seventh - and I am changing a LOT in regards to that arc, as for me it was when the core story of the Guardians really changed the most) I am disregarding a lot of these little contradictions and going with my gut.
Despite a few things like the fact that they drive on the right (which they do in Italy), I am choosing to make Heatherfield part of the U.K. as there are a lot of English words/names/etc. (example: Susan, Dean Collins, Sheffield Institute, Golden Diner) within the city and they were written as such in the original Italian comics. I remember being extremely interested in that as a child reading these comics in Italian and then seeing these English words cropping up all over the place! Even some of the neighboring cities like Midgale just sound very English. Furthermore, I feel like the girls would fit in better/"blend" with the world of Harry Potter & the Wizarding World if they are already somewhat "locals" so to speak. Having them as transfer students from another country is a much wilder step than just simply transfer students who were homeschooled (as many wizarding children are, at least until Hogwarts age).
As such, I may have to go back to the first few chapters and edit a few minute details in order to reflect this more, but for now I hope that this clears up any misconceptions that may crop up this chapter, as the girls are back in Heatherfield for the holidays!
There is an additional note at the end of the chapter on a couple of other decisions I've made in regards to the comic canon, so please check that once you have finished with the chapter!
To make up for the super long author's notes, I'm giving you a decently sized chapter as well, so ENJOY!
Chapter Warnings: None, unless I have made some heinous grammar errors that I missed! (I've done my best to check over this chapter, and all the previous ones, for any errors but as I have no beta reader I might have missed some things!) My formatting, for one, might need fixing in certain places. Also, gentle reminder that I have in some ways a non-linear storytelling approach, which might get confusing at times...
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling; W.I.T.C.H. was created by Elisabetta Gnone. I do not own either of these works, I'm just having some fun in their worlds for a while.
Chapter Sixteen
The journey back to London on the Hogwarts express was much more subdued than the Guardians had expected it to be, given that Christmas was only five days away. Hay Lin sat the other girls in a compartment accompanied by Harry, Luna, and eventually Hermione once she was done patrolling the corridors as part of her prefect duties. Ginny and Ron had gone to sit with Dean and Lavender, respectively, and Harry had chosen to avoid such a display. However, Hay Lin had to endure quite a while of his hushed speculations about Draco Malfoy (Luna was wearing extremely odd-looking hairy earmuffs which she said loudly were to help keep away the Nargles as there was a shortage of mistletoe, and therefore she did not hear him). During a short pause where Harry seemed deep in thought over something, Will had interjected through the mental link that she had actually spied on Malfoy as well using her own invisibility.
'It was extremely odd, like he was trying to keep Snape out using that Occlumency stuff Harry was telling us about as if it were life or death... He seemed like he was trying to cover something up, and he definitely mentioned Katie Bell, so I don't know... it sounds like Harry's theory about him being a Death Eater has merit,' she said through the link, and Hay Lin fought to keep herself from looking too worried.
'There's a lot more too this, I'm sure,' Cornelia interjected abruptly, recrossing her legs in her seat with Napoleon mewling grumpily as she shifted. 'We can't jump to conclusions.'
'It sounds like it's pretty clear, he's definitely up to something and it's not good,' Irma shot back, frowning at her. Before the conversation in their minds got too heated, however, Taranee stepped in.
'Look, we have a lot to talk about but we can't do it here,' she reasoned, and Hay Lin conceded that her point was valid. Harry was staring out the window, lost in thought as the countryside swept by, but the silence was starting to drag on as they conversed in their minds together.
'Fine. Let's meet in the Golden tomorrow for lunch and talk it all out,' Will suggested. 'We still need to figure out what to tell our families... Like why we don't have any photos to share, or why we weren't ever able to call them, just send them text messages every so often...'
'Thanks for the hookup, by the way, you were like our own personal cell-service tower,' Irma joked, and Will couldn't help but roll her eyes. Hermione returned to the compartment at that moment, however, and interrupted their collective thoughts as they discussed their Christmas plans light-heartedly in a decisive effort to keep Harry off the subject of Draco Malfoy. Cornelia and Taranee both seemed adamant to keep Harry off the subject, pulling him into several games of Exploding Snap to distract him which she found rather odd. It allowed herself, Will, and Irma to come up with a cover story for their families.
They ended up deciding to tell them that the school had strict privacy policies in order to protect their curriculum and activities from other competitor schools, as well as an old-fashioned approach towards technology and so they did not have many opportunities or signal to connect with. Otherwise, they would basically keep most everything else about Hogwarts the same, withholding any magical aspects of course. As for their new pets, well, they were going to say it was one of the school's big projects: keeping and caring for a more exotic style of animal. Hopefully their families didn't ask too many more questions beyond that, but at least they had a foundation to go off of.
They reached King's Cross Station in good time, and unloaded their belongings onto the station. Harry wished them all a happy Christmas before leaving to go find Ron. Ginny caught up with them as they made their way onto the platform and gave them all hugs, letting Hay Lin know that they would come to collect her, Will, and Irma on December twenty-eighth for the remainder of the Christmas holidays.
"Not sure exactly how Dad's going to go about it, but I'll let him know your parents are all Muggles and that they might not be too keen on anything magic-related," she had said, and Hay Lin exchanged nervous looks with the others.
"As long as he shows up in a normal, non-magical way I think it should be fine," she replied, and Ginny waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh, I'm certain he will. He's gone to get Harry once before from the Muggles he lives with over the summer and it was a disaster, I'm sure he's learned his lesson." On that pleasant note, she went to join her mother, who was there to pick up the two youngest Weasleys along with Harry for the holidays. Ron, Hay Lin noticed, was determinately not looking over at their group, and Taranee too was not looking anywhere near them.
"Alright, I'm going to head out to the main area of the station since my parents are out there waiting," Hermione said, hugging each of them in turn. "How are you getting home from here?" she asked, and Hay Lin gave the rest of the girls a horrified look. She hadn't thought this far ahead, forgetting that they'd need to get all the way back to Heatherfield from London. She supposed they could all use their own form of instant teleportation, but they'd have to wait until no Muggles were around...
"We'll take it from here, Hermione, don't you worry," a kind voice interrupted, and Hay Lin saw Remus Lupin and Bill Weasley approaching their group. "We'll be using a portkey into Heatherfield Park once we shrink all these trunks, and then Bill and I will be splitting up and escorting you home," he explained. Hermione took her leave after a final round of goodbyes, and by that time the trunks had been made small and Hay Lin pocketed hers, holding Aeolus' cage aloft.
The portkey turned out to be an old boot, which Lupin produced from inside the pocket of his rather shabby jacket once they were securely nestled away from prying eyes in a back alleyway behind King's Cross station. Hay Lin grabbed onto it with the others, and after a few seconds came the prompt tugging sensation around her navel as they whirled away, banging into each other a bit as the portkey took them home.
They reached Heatherfield Park and found it mercifully deserted; their landing was a bit more graceful this time around, with everyone managing to stay upright. It was chilly, with what looked like lingering snowfall sticking to the trees and icy winds blustering through sending shivers up Hay Lin's spine. Since Heatherfield was a coastal town, however, it was slightly warmer than Hogwarts, and for that she was marginally grateful. Without further ado, they set off; Will, Taranee, and Irma heading home with Bill escorting them, and Hay Lin leaving with Cornelia followed by Lupin.
"Why didn't Tonks want to come this time around? Is she doing okay? Last we saw her she looked, well, awful," Hay Lin asked Lupin as they walked along the sidewalk. Lupin winced.
"She, er- she was a bit busy with work, unfortunately," he replied, but did not offer more. "Bill kindly offered to come with me, as Dumbledore knew you had met him already at the Weasley's home, so it worked out."
Hay Lin wondered about this, but decided that Tonks must be doing reasonably well as Lupin hadn't said anything to the contrary. However, there was something in his voice that Hay Lin picked up on with her Guardian powers, the inflection of his words... He sounded pained, as if he really didn't want to talk about her for some reason. Pondering this slightly, Hay Lin figured there was more to this story but was unable to dwell on it as they had arrived at the Silver Dragon, where her parents were busy at work. Her family had moved to a new home last winter, but she knew her parents wouldn't be there and Lupin had insisted on leaving her with family as he was instructed. She could smell the homey scents of the cuisine coming from within, and she felt a shiver of familiarity course through her.
"Well, this is it," she said a bit lamely, and Lupin chuckled.
"Let's un-shrink your trunk while I'm still here, as you aren't allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts," Lupin said. Hay Lin privately wondered if Guardian magic would count as she pulled her minuscule trunk out of her pocket and held it out to Lupin, who muttered the enlargement charm as the trunk grew back to size.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then, Cornelia," Hay Lin said absently, staring at the front door of the restaurant. As Lupin and Cornelia continued on, Hay Lin looked down at her pet owl, who hooted softly back at her. "Here goes nothing, Aeolus," she whispered, and pushed open the door.
o.O.o.O.o
Christmas morning dawned crisp and cold, and Will found herself burrowing deeper under her pile of blankets, seeking warmth and perhaps another hour or two of sleep. As she did this, however, she felt her foot hit something at the end of her bed that she was certain had not been there before. Eyes opening blearily, she pushed herself up a bit and found what looked to be an enormous stack of gifts piled at the end of her bed. Waking up a bit more fully now, she stared in excitement as she began pulling the packages toward her. As it turned out, all of her new friends from Hogwarts were responsible for the mountain of gifts at the foot of her bed, and she inspected her haul with a large smile on her face.
The Weasleys had sent her a package of mince pies, homemade fudge, and a hand-knitted red and gold jumper with a Gryffindor lion from Mrs. Weasley. Harry had sent her a broom-polishing kit, with a note attached thanking her for coming to the party with him, as well as a tin of treacle fudge. Hermione had gotten her a book on different wizarding Quidditch teams, and Orube had gotten her a Sneakoscope. What surprised her the most, however, was the Christmas card she received from Fred; patterned with what looked like frogs wearing Father Christmas hats on the front, the inside read:
'Happy Christmas, Will!
Hope you have a spectacular day, despite my presence lacking for the occasion. Your actual Christmas gift will be waiting for you at the Burrow when you come to visit in a few days, so never fret! I am not so simple as to only get you this card (though it's rather good, if I say so myself).
Can't wait to see you again soon,
x Fred'
This card was read over and over again until Will had it mostly memorized. Flushing a bit, she now had a horrified notion of not having gotten Fred a gift yet, and making a mental note to text Cornelia about a Boxing Day shopping trip the next afternoon, she bit into a piece of the treacle fudge Harry had sent her as she reread the card one more time. She was extremely touched by all the gifts she had received from her new friends, and was hoping that they'd appreciate whatever sub-par gifts she managed to scrounge together the following day (her allowance was essentially nonexistent, though she had plenty of Wizarding money at her disposal still; perhaps she could borrow Taranee's owl Sparky and place an order to Honeydukes...)
"Will, are you awake yet? It's time for presents!" her mother's voice, muffled slightly from the door, called out to her and she shot out of bed as if shocked. Depositing her new gifts into her Hogwarts trunk, she pulled on the red jumper Mrs. Weasley had sent her and took the mince pies and fudge out to the living room with her. Setting them on the coffee table, she turned to find William wobbling towards her with his little arms outstretched.
"Happy Christmas, William!" she grinned, scooping him up into a hug. He giggled and pointed at the Christmas tree, the sparkling lights reflecting in his wide eyes. Will sat him down on the couch beside her, and looked up as her mother and Dean walked into the room with cups of steaming cocoa in their hands. Dean offered her one, which she took with a smile.
"Nice jumper!" he commented, and she laughed, taking a sip of the warm frothy drink.
"Thank you, it was a gift from Mrs. Weasley! She sent these too, help yourself," Will offered the box of mince pies and fudge to Dean, and he took one of the pies with a curious look on his face.
"She sent all this back with you from school? How kind of her!" he said, biting into the pie with a look of relish; Will didn't bother to correct the assumption that she'd been holding onto everything since coming back from school rather than it magically appearing at the foot of her bed just that morning.
"This is the family who invited you to come stay for the rest of the holiday? And take you back to school?" Susan asked, taking a piece of the fudge. Will nodded, biting into some of it herself and letting out a small moan of delight as it melted in her mouth.
"Well, come on, presents! Let's get to it!" Dean said, bustling over towards the tree and coming back with several packages. Will spent the rest of the day in the pleasant company of her family, not having realized until just then how much she had missed them.
After their rather scrumptious Christmas dinner, Will managed to send a text out to Cornelia about doing some shopping the next day, and she received a prompt reply agreeing. Irma was coming along too, by the looks of it, and soon Will's phone lit up again as Taranee and Hay Lin got wind of the plans and invited themselves along.
"Mom, the girls and I are going out tomorrow to do some shopping, do you need me to pick up anything?" she asked, taking a sip of the hot cidery wassail she had just been handed by her mother.
"Again? Didn't you just go out with them the other day? We haven't seen you this whole semester, and you're leaving again on the twenty-eighth..." Susan began, but Will had anticipated this.
"I need to pick up gifts for people, I hadn't realized they'd be getting me things! I can't be so ungrateful and not get them anything," she reasoned, but her mother still looked a bit put out.
"Now, Susan, dear, it's Christmas! Will is a growing girl, she's about to turn seventeen after all... soon she'll be off to college, and you'll be seeing even less of her after that! Better start getting used to it now," Dean chimed in, earning a good-natured glare from his wife.
"That doesn't exactly make me feel better, Dean," she snapped, but with a small smile gracing her lips after a moment or two. Will grinned, running up to hug her mother.
"Don't worry, we won't stay out long! It's going to be chaos out there, what with the post-Christmas deals... I'll want to come home as soon as possible!" she joked, and Susan seemed mollified by this.
On the day in question, Will awoke leisurely around ten-thirty, stretching lazily before rolling out of bed to get dressed while ignoring the admonishing she was getting from her alarm clock for taking so long. Pulling her new jumper on again over a white turtleneck and shrugging into her winter coat, she went over to feed Saltagilla (or Salty as she had been calling him), feeling extremely thankful that Dean was a teacher and had helped quell her mother's upset over Will's new exotic pet.
"It's part of a school assignment, and this is one of the top schools in the country! Plus it takes way more responsibility to take care of such an animal, so I find it to be extremely constructive!" he had said. Will's mother had also relented as she knew just how much her daughter adored frogs, and therefore the matter had been closed without too much fuss. She remembered how Taranee and Hay Lin had explained that their families had caused a stir initially over their pet owls, but in the end they too had been unable to find too much fault with the birds.
Recalling their meeting at the Golden two days before Christmas, Will frowned a bit. It had not gone as well as she had hoped, and she felt a heavy weight in her chest as if the Heart was trying to tell her something. She, Irma, and Hay Lin seemed to be on the same page about Harry's Malfoy theory after Will had elaborated on her little investigative mission with Orube, but Cornelia and Taranee had teamed up for some reason to attempt to quell these thoughts.
"Listen, there wasn't any real proof, and I don't think we should be stoking Harry's crazy ideas about Malfoy any further," Cornelia had said, taking a dainty sip of her hot chocolate.
"But he basically all but said he was behind Katie's curse!" Irma protested. Taranee pushed her glasses up onto her nose, frowning at her.
"Actually, from what Will said, he was telling Snape to try and prove it was him... Not necessarily that it was him, just sort of goading Snape into it," she reasoned, and Irma huffed angrily.
"Same difference, it was almost a confession!" she said, stuffing a buttercream biscuit into her mouth and chewing hard.
"What I want to know is what he was trying to hide so desperately from Snape," Will muttered thoughtfully, recalling the wild look on Malfoy's normally composed features as Snape had tried breaking into his mind.
"It's his business, and we'd best keep our noses out of it," Cornelia had replied, and Will raised her eyebrows.
"Are you defending him because he's friends with Theodore Nott?" Hay Lin asked shrewdly, and Cornelia flushed a bit.
"No, I just think we have other things to worry about. You lot have your exams coming up, and we only have a few days to check in with Kandor about the magical students we left him to care for, plus spend time with our families before we go back to Hogwarts... Theo has nothing to do with this, honestly," she listed off, but Irma gave her a sly grin.
"Theo, eh? You two are at nickname level now, hmmm? Does he call you Corny?" she joked, and Cornelia sent her a withering look.
"All jokes aside," Taranee said loudly before the two could get into a huge fight, "Irma, didn't you say there was something super important you had to tell us?" At this, Irma had seemed to come back into herself, eyes wide and alight with agitation.
"Oh, right! Can't believe I forgot! Listen, it happened right at the end of term, when I was leaving Divination..." she began, launching into the story of all that the centaur Firenze had said to her about the grave tidings on the horizon, as well as seeming to know about their status as Guardians. Will had felt alarmed at first, but after Taranee had explained a bit more about how she had read that centaurs were a bit more attuned to nature than regular magical beings, she relaxed a bit.
"Well, apart from the ominous warning, which we can't get much out of... He knows about our secret, it seems," Cornelia said a bit irritably, looking worried.
"He did promise he wouldn't say anything, so that's got to count for something. Centaurs don't seem to be the kind of beings that would go blabbing around to others," Hay Lin had said.
"Unless he tells Dumbledore," Will had said quietly, and the girls had sat in silence for a bit, pondering this as they sipped their hot chocolate.
Coming back to the present, Will realized that they had not come to a true conclusion on everything at the end of their meeting at the Golden, as there was no real way for them to know what to do until the other shoe dropped, so to speak. For now, they just had to wait and see.
Grabbing her bag, she paused for a moment, debating on whether or not to bring her wand with her. She ended up throwing it into her backpack along with a small coin pouch filled with wizarding money, just in case she was able to send out an order with Taranee's owl later. She was grateful that her mother and Dean had gifted her with a substantial amount of Christmas money in any case. Eating a hasty breakfast of toast with chocolate spread, she waved goodbye to her mother and William, and hastened out the door.
It had been ages since she had ridden her trusty red bike, and she adored the feeling of the crisp air whizzing past her as she made her way to the shopping center where she was to meet the girls. Now that she had flown on a broomstick, however, she felt that it was unfair to compare it to this, despite wishing for a moment that she was back up in the air playing Quidditch. She was reminded distractedly that she ought to get herself a new broom soon, as she and Hay Lin had both put off ordering those as they were a bit scared to spend so much of their new Wizarding money (they had both ordered Quidditch gear of their own, of course, but were unsure where to even start when it came to getting brooms). As she pulled into the shopping center's parking lot, she went to the bike rack and locked her bike in place, waving as she saw Irma approach her from the sidewalk.
"I have no idea what to get George, and I'm panicking!" she blurted out without preamble. Will snickered at her, then noticed that Irma too was wearing what looked like a matching Weasley jumper under her pink winter coat. Irma followed her gaze, grinning. "You got one too? I've already eaten through almost all of that treacle fudge Harry sent, and my dad's made a right dent in the mince pies!" she said.
It turned out that Irma had also received a similar package of goodies from the Weasleys, as well as a tin of treacle fudge from Harry and a book called Practical Divination: A Guide from Hermione. George had sent her a massive box of various sweets from Honeydukes, with a card stating that he had an even better present to give to her when she visited the Burrow. Will's face must have shown her anxiety, as Irma narrowed her eyes shrewdly.
"Spill." Irma crossed her arms and gave Will a pointed look; Will then told her about the Christmas card from Fred and the implications behind it. Irma let out a triumphant laugh and fist pumped, grinning at her.
"What's all the commotion about?" came Cornelia's voice, and the two of them turned to spot her walking up to them alongside Hay Lin and Taranee.
"Oh nothing, just that Will got a Christmas card from Fred," Irma began, waggling her eyebrows. Hay Lin and Cornelia gave Will pointed looks, causing her to flush, but Taranee seemed a bit confused.
"What happened to you and Harry? It looked like you two were, well... at the party..." she trailed off, and Will turned a deeper shade of scarlet. Irma whipped around to stare at her, eyes wide.
"Yeah, this is the first I'm hearing about it! I thought we discussed that you and I were slated to become in-laws, remember?" she joked, but her face said she looked a bit concerned. Will waved her off, shooting a disparaging look at Taranee.
"It was nothing, he just grabbed my hand to keep hold of me, Slughorn was dragging him all over the place... And then we had to run from McLaggen and such, it was just easier to stay together..." she felt her cheeks heat up again as the others stared at her, smiles playing at the corners of Cornelia's lips. "Honestly! It's completely platonic!" she burst out, exasperated.
"Well, tell that to the rest of Hogwarts, as I'm sure they're already assuming things," Taranee joked.
"Ooh, let's get inside, it's freezing out here! We need to get shopping!" Hay Lin said, and the five of them made their way into the shopping center. Upon shedding their outer layers and draping them over their arms, Will noticed that they all seemed to be on the same wavelength that day, as Cornelia, like Irma, was sporting a red and gold Weasley jumper with a Gryffindor lion upon it. Taranee was wearing a blue and bronze one with the Ravenclaw eagle, while Hay Lin's was black and yellow with the Hufflepuff badger. They proceeded to ask what else they had received for Christmas; besides the Weasley Christmas package and Harry's tins of treacle fudge, Hermione had gotten them each a book pertaining to their interests (Cornelia had gotten Botanical Magic, Taranee had New Theory of Numerology, and Hay Lin received Atlas of Celestial Anomalies due to her love of space). Will was once again struck by how kind their new friends were to get them all anything in the first place.
"And Ernie, Justin, and Susan all pitched in to get me this broom polishing kit, isn't that sweet of them?" Hay Lin was saying, and Will grinned at her.
"Harry got me one too, it was a thank you for going to the party with him... You and I should really sit down and get our brooms sorted out, I think," she said, and it was a mark of their friendship that no one teased her for having gotten this gift from Harry.
"That's really thoughtful of them, I got a pair of Spectrespecs from Luna... Not sure what to do with them, really, because the explanation she wrote me made so little sense, but it was nice of her," Taranee added.
"Did you all get Sneakoscopes from Orube too?" Irma asked, and they all nodded. "Guess she's taking her job as a DADA teacher seriously, then. Alright, Corny, spill, what did Theo get you?" she turned on the blonde, whose cheeks went a bit pink.
"Not that it's any of your business, but I think we should focus on getting your gift for George sorted out since you see him in two days," Cornelia retorted, and Irma effectively went into a panic, darting into the first store she saw (which was an electronics center, as if that would work in the Wizarding world...) earning chuckles from Will and the others. They followed her into the store where she was staring dejectedly at a portable CD player, moping a bit as she clearly had no ideas on what to get him.
"You know," Will began slowly, "We probably could enchant one of these to work around all the magical interference that blocks out electronics..."
"Oh, do you think we could?" Irma latched onto Will's hand feverishly, eyes shining. "It's just, I was thinking of making him a mix CD with all my favorites, like Karmilla and, well, if he couldn't even listen to it, there's no point!"
"And how will you explain to him why it magically works around the typical interference, pardon the pun," Cornelia snarked, and Irma waved a hand at her.
"Oh, he won't care, and if he asks I'll say it's a secret and to not question his present!" Irma said excitedly, and Will grinned at her, seeing how happy this idea was making her. With that, Irma grabbed a blue portable CD player and a matching set of headphones and went to go pay for them while the rest of them pondered their next stop.
By the end of their shopping trip, Will was laden with several shopping bags containing gifts for the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione, though she still hadn't decided on what to get Fred. The others were similarly burdened with shopping bags, but they were enjoying themselves immensely together in a way that they had not been able to in a while. The feeling of contentment Will was basking in surrounded by her friends as they strolled through Heatherfield's shopping center, which was still decorated beautifully for Christmas, was something she cherished greatly. They walked together through the main center of the collective of shops, where a food court was located around a fountain where people often sat along, dropping in coins occasionally for good luck. As she talked and laughed with her friends, discussing their new life at Hogwarts as well as upcoming plans and expectations for the remainder of the year, Will felt a warm glow of happiness blooming through her.
And it all came crashing down in an instant when she looked up across the fountain and her eyes met Matt's.
His brown eyes, which she had used to find herself daydreaming over, looked cold and distant, albeit slightly sad as they met her gaze. He had stopped in his tracks at first, staring at her for a beat before he slowly turned and began walking in her direction. Her breathing shallow, she barely registered that she had stopped walking, rooted to the spot, until Irma had bumped into her.
"Hey! Why'd you stop?" Irma huffed, but then her eyes followed Will's horrified gaze and she glowered. "Oh, hell no!" Irma hissed, and the other girls noticed too what was happening. They closed ranks around her, and for a moment Matt's approaching form was blocked out by Cornelia's tall frame.
"Go away, Matt," Cornelia said coolly.
"Yeah, you really aren't wanted right now," Irma growled at him, fists clenched; she was eyeing the water in the fountain as if she wanted to use it to dunk him.
"I know you want nothing to do with me, but I just wanted to... to talk, for a minute, if you're willing," he said smoothly. Will let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding at the sound of his voice; well, it was more like the wind was knocked out of her, really, but same difference.
"You've done enough damage, she doesn't need this right now," Taranee said with a steely edge in her voice. Hay Lin had placed a comforting hand on Will's arm, and it was this that anchored her back to reality. Matt was trying to talk to her?
"What could you possibly have to say to me right now?" she found the words leaving her lips before she could stop herself, and he seemed to eagerly latch on to this response.
"Please, Will, let's just talk for a few minutes," he asked again. Closing her eyes for a moment, she felt as if the Heart weighed as much as a ton of lead as she moved past Cornelia and followed after him silently, sending them a reassuring look. He led her off towards the edge of the fountain, where the water's rush would drown out whatever they spoke of no doubt.
"What is it, then?" she snapped, wanting to get out of his presence as quickly as possible. Being near him again was too much, especially after how they had parted ways. She nearly winced as the memories came back, unbidden, after she had worked so long to suppress them... The shouting, the crying, the hurt...
"You've been gone these last few months, people were saying the five of you got accepted to a school for gifted students," he began, and Will's eyes snapped over to him, wary. "Is it true?"
"What, you don't know? You're not still taking orders from Kandrakar, then, spying on me and the like?" she snapped, and he had the decency to look a bit guilty.
"Once Yan Lin took up the position, she sort of, well, fired me I guess," he said sheepishly. "You'd have known this if you hadn't thrown a fit and not listened to what I was trying to talk to you about last time."
"Oh, really?" Will began, anger boiling up with a nasty, gut-wrenching sensation within her. "You'd have explained it to me properly then, after insulting my intelligence, after accusing me of cheating on you, after lying to me about who you really are, after rooting around in my soul-"
"I never- I'm still me, Will! I never changed how I felt about you! I told you this, and I meant it, I still do," he cut across her, and tears began to well into her eyes, blurring her vision. He reached out to grab her hands in his, and she felt that leaden sensation deepen within her.
"Right, as if stealing my magic before graciously teaching us how to better use our powers wasn't enough, you lied to me about everything-" she was breathing heavily now.
"It was under Kandrakar's orders that I did all these things," he interrupted, but Will let out a mirthless bout of laughter.
"Oh, so the Oracle told you to think I'd do something with Nash," she snapped. At this, his grip tightened around her hands uncomfortably, clearly he was unsettled by hearing the Runic leader's name. "Right. Sure, well if this is all you have to say for yourself-"
"No! Will, listen to me, I never wanted to be a part of the Oracle's plans, truly... I just wanted to feel like I was doing my part to keep up with you," he tried reasoning, but that only served as to anger her further.
"If you didn't want to be part of their plans, then you shouldn't have accepted in the first place," she snapped. "And a fat lot of good it did, since you decided to pursue your music career instead anyway," she threw in for good measure, and she felt a savage rush of pleasure at the stricken look on his face. Will knew that music was important to him, and that it always had been, even before he was dragged into the mess of Kandrakar's schemes to further their Guardian powers. The whole ordeal was painful for Will to think about, and she was wholeheartedly glad that with the return of the Heart of Kandrakar to her, it seemed like the mystic powers that be among the Center of Infinity seemed to have put their faith back into her fully.
"Will, I-" he tried, but she wrenched her hands free of his.
"When I was discovering the root of my power, you were such a huge part of that... And when you spoke to me about how you felt, it seemed real, but they were just pretty words... I tried getting past the betrayal and the lies, the fact you'd keep something so huge from me... But in the end, your actions spoke much louder than your nice words could," she hissed, feeling the hot tears of pain start dripping down her face as she remembered Matt's heartfelt speech to her. It didn't matter what he had said then, because those hurtful words and accusations about her and Nash, coupled with his decisions to focus on his new job and his music as if his mysterious time working for Kandrakar hadn't happened at all... It was too much for Will to cope with.
"I shouldn't have said those things to you, Will, I should have explained... Oracle be damned," he whispered, moving to gather her into his arms. She stepped back and away from him, shaking her head.
"It's too late for that now," she choked out, her vision of him blurring. "Kandrakar has other plans for us anyway, not that you deserve to know anything... We are back to where we started, what you stole from me has returned to me, and I'm doing a whole lot better now without you," her voice cracked on that last word, but she felt again that savage pleasure in seeing his stricken expression.
"So everything they had me do was... for nothing?" he sounded winded. "Taking their powers... the Heart... and teaching you about your new ones?"
"It doesn't matter anyway," Will replied, shaking slightly as she felt the weight of the Heart pressing upon her. It was no longer painful, however, and instead felt like it was... comforting her, giving her the strength to face this confrontation.
"Will, I can't go on like this, I need to fix things, let me try," Matt said desperately, reaching for her again. "We've been through so much together, it's got to count for something! I can explain everything to you, how they came to me and trained me for what felt like years but turned out to be weeks, how I had to keep myself apart from you at first, it was torture! Because Will, I love-"
"No! Don't," she exclaimed, tears falling freely now and a sob shaking her. She couldn't hear him say it. "If you truly did feel that way, you never would have kept those secrets from me. Love doesn't work like that," she said firmly, and with a huge steadying breath, she turned away from him.
"Will, please-"
"Goodbye, Matt. I hope everything works out for you," she said softly, and walked back over to where her friends were waiting for her with open arms. She barely remembered them leaving the shopping center, and numbly realized that the girls were ushering her away in a huddle, Cornelia having unlocked her bike at the entrance to push it alongside them as they trod through the chilly streets.
It wasn't until they were pushing the door open and walking inside the Ye Olde Bookshop did Will realize where they were, or that the tear streaks had frozen and cracked along her cheeks from the cold. She blinked up at her friends, who hadn't spoken much except amongst each other in soft tones; they had set their many shopping bags down in a corner and were making a bit of a fuss about taking off their outer layers.
"It's been a while since we've checked up on our headquarters, glad we thought to stop by," Hay Lin was saying, already making her way down towards the sitting area.
"I wonder if we can contact Kandor and get him to bring the bus around the back, just get the meeting over with," Irma said, flopping down onto one of the sofas.
"I wouldn't get too comfortable, girls," Taranee said softly, and Will came out of her numb haze to shoot her a questioning look, mere seconds before a familiar warm sensation bloomed across her being and a pink glow overtook her body. The Heart of Kandrakar had emerged, shining brilliantly, from the middle of Will's palm.
"Kandrakar is calling," she said in a hoarse voice, and the girls gathered around her with concern. "I'll be fine, let's just..." she trailed off, some of the fierce leadership returning into her voice as she prepared to transform. Holding the Heart aloft, she called forth the Elements. "Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Energy!"
The magic within them surrounded each of the Guardians, and their true forms were revealed as they transformed. Wings unfurling, they stood and stared at one another for a beat, smiles coming unbidden as they took in their familiar appearances as the protectors of Kandrakar. Will raised her hand and the Heart's light surrounded them as she felt her body enveloped by magic, a magic that sent them hurtling into the Center of Infinity.
"Welcome back, Guardians."
As the light faded, they were met by the smiling face of Yan Lin, the Oracle. Hay Lin spared no propriety and rushed forward to hug her, immediately launching into discussions about Hogwarts and all the new things the Wizarding world had to offer. Yan Lin laughed, hands coming to grasp those of her granddaughter.
"We do not have much time, dear one. And it is of Hogwarts that I wish to speak to you, as your new mission begins to unfurl," Yan Lin said, leading the Guardians through the pearlescent halls of the Fortress.
"Oracle, why did you not come to us sooner about the Wizarding world? Why not speak to us directly about us joining them?" Will asked directly, most of her earlier pain about Matt pushed to the side for now.
"You needed to acclimate naturally to this new world, not as Guardians, but as yourselves. The time is soon approaching for the Guardians to perhaps reveal themselves, but only to the right people... and it is up to you to determine who to trust," Yan Lin said cryptically, earning a soft groan from Irma.
"I hate it when she does that," the Water Guardian mumbled, and Yan Lin sent her a quick wink.
"Dark times are already upon this world, and this threat is one that is extremely connected to your own... As I am sure Orube has told you, I have instructed her to be of assistance where needed, but the time grows nearer for you to begin acting under your own decisions in the name of Kandrakar... You possess the full powers of the Elements, and as such are forces of nature in their purest form. Far be it for me to rein in any decisions you feel that you must make, especially on your own home world!" she paused, smiling at them.
"But, grandma, you also came from our world!" Hay Lin said, and Yan Lin laughed.
"Indeed, I did. I am more than happy to advise you as a grandmother, of course, but as Oracle I will be, as they say, keeping my nose out of things. If matters of other dimensions or worlds arise, then of course I shall call upon you and guide you as it is my duty."
She paused again, and Will realized that she had led them to a room in which several crystalline pools reflected the opalescent walls surrounding them. The Aurameres representing their powers floated serenely over five of the many pools, but Yan Lin led them to the one closest to them, in which nothing reflected back. It was like looking into a void, eternal and blank; it was unsettling.
"Something is coming, however, and it feels twisted and familiar, as if from a recurring nightmare that is instantly forgotten upon waking... I would advise you to stay alert upon your return to Hogwarts, as this darkness threatens ever closer..." Yan Lin continued, a small crease furrowing her aged brow.
"If you mean that Dark Lord guy, Voldemort, we've heard a lot about him from other wizards and he sounds like someone to contend with," Irma said, folding her arms across her chest.
"I expect things will get pretty bad for the Wizarding world soon," Cornelia added, and Yan Lin nodded her head gravely.
"That it may, Guardians... Though there is another threat besides his, I think, though I could be mistaken... The signs have not fully manifested, as they tend never to do until it is too late..." she said, but then turned to smile at them once more. "Know, however, that Kandor is getting things set up with Hogwarts school for your slew of students. He is becoming our official liaison, so to speak, and will be handling the transition of some of the students who are of age to attend the school as well as beginning to prepare the families of the younger ones towards acclimating into the Wizarding world."
"Why were they not sent Hogwarts letters in the first place? What makes their magic different from the other witches and wizards we've met?" asked Taranee curiously. Yan Lin gave them a knowing look.
"Heatherfield and its immediate surrounding areas have always been a hub for the Elemental magic, as you well know now," she began, and Will had to admit that a lot of their adventures as Guardians seemed to be concentrated around Heatherfield, though they knew now it was due to their city being atop a sort of magical nexus of power. "This magic has in a way been guarding its secrets rather jealously, shielding any outside magical force from penetrating it... until you came along, and very recently embraced the deepest parts of it into yourselves. It liberated Heatherfield from this screen separating it from the other magical communities, and so I believe Hogwarts' regular methods of tracking magical students in the near future should sort itself out quite soon."
"So you're saying... We are actually responsible for all these untrained magical people wandering around Heatherfield?" Irma blurted out, earning her an elbow to the ribs from Hay Lin.
"In as many words, yes," Yan Lin said, though she beamed at them.
"Well, I never thought I was really cut out for teaching, so this is a bit of a relief!" Will said lightly, and the girls couldn't help but laugh a bit with her as the mood lightened considerably. Despite wanting to question Yan Lin a bit more, she insisted that their time together was drawing to a close but to keep her words in mind as they proceeded back towards their homes and eventually to Hogwarts.
As Will felt the comforting glow of the Heart transport them back to Heatherfield, she clung to it desperately as she pushed all thoughts of Matt from her mind, determined to now face what was coming with a determination and vigor she had, only for a moment, forgotten she possessed.
Alright everyone, hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know what your thoughts are, as I'd love to hear them.
There are another couple of points I would like to make in regards to the comic books and the storyline of W.I.T.C.H. post-"New Power" arc. I have just re-read all of the comics as I wanted to make sure I had everything fresh in my mind and the later issues do not stick as firmly in my memory unfortunately (which in itself seems telling...) but I digress. To me personally, the New Power arc is when the storyline began to become a bit all over the place and less concise than before (which is totally fine as I still enjoyed each new issue immensely because I will always be a fan of my girls and their adventures!) but specifically once we get into the "100% W.I.T.C.H.! Arc it becomes a bit more filler in regards to the stories presented in each issue. There are some great moments, but as for important plot points we begin to lose track of a concise storyline for the most part. Since I'm setting up the girls with more permanence in the world of Hogwarts, I am doing away with a lot of the inconsistencies we see in the later arcs of the comics in favor of focusing on their adventures in the Wizarding world.
Specifically when we come to their romantic partners from the comics: we completely lose track of what happens to the girls' partners in a way, as for example we never see Nigel (or Luke for that matter) again after he and Taranee part ways in a rather ambiguous manner, and from that point forward she is seen flirting and mooning after random guys from issue to issue. Eric moves away, but for a time it seems like he and Hay Lin are going to keep up a long-distance relationship (and he suddenly vanishes from the storyline too, without explanation). Then we have Irma and Joel, despite getting on rather well and beginning what seems to be a relationship in several of the 'Special Edition' comics that fit into the canon, never really see much of each other again after he drops off the face of the planet it seems; she then rather suddenly gets involved with Stephen, and their relationship is very sweet but he too also vanishes by the time the last arc rolls around. Cornelia and Peter seem to be rather steadily there throughout these later arcs, however their relationship is rather spastic and we see less of it as the arcs dwindle down to the finale.
Finally, Matt: where do I start with him! I remember as a kid reading the reveal that Matt turned out to be behind their New Power change, and that he worked for Kandrakar, and I was extremely skeptical and frustrated by this decision. It was written in a way that was extremely ambiguous and was NEVER fully explored or explained, and it seems like after the New Power and Teach 2B Witch arcs he just reverts back to the classic Matt (who knows their secret now, of course); this latter version of Matt is what I feel like most of us readers were expecting of him after his adventure with the girls in the book, the steadfast boyfriend who supports his magical girlfriend on her endeavors. To have the 'twist' of him working for Kandrakar never really sat well with me, and it was never fully discussed between him and Will in the comics, which is why I provided this scene. I personally like to think I know Will's character the best as she was always my favorite growing up, and I relate to her heavily to this day. If I were in her shoes, the sort of betrayal of trust by both Matt and Kandrakar would have shaken me deeply and caused a rift that I probably wouldn't ever get over.
This is basically my long-winded way of saying that I am picking and choosing aspects of the later arcs post-New Power and incorporating them into my story. I liked the idea of them reaching their "full power" by understanding the root of their element, which I mentioned in passing in a prior chapter, and they were already well on their way to this after the Book of the Elements arc ended in my opinion. Also, I believe I already mentioned this in a much earlier author's note, but I also will definitely be keeping them in their classic Guardian outfits as those are the ones that are much more dear to my heart (pun intended!) and I will be leaving their 'talismans' out of the picture as well, since they have rather enough to be going on with at the moment at Hogwarts (they have their wands now, too, so it would be a bit much to have so many things to keep up with!).
If you are not a comic reader, then I apologize for the rant! But I also highly encourage you all to read them (they are available translated online) and come talk to me about what you think of the later portions of the series! If you have read them, please let me know what you think or if you agree/disagree with some of my commentary on the later arcs; I read them in the original Italian, and I am fluent, but I still feel like a lot of the points I mentioned about the ambiguity of some of the plot decisions are valid... But if there was a translation change that cleared some things up for anyone else, feel free to PM me about it!