Amelia, Tonks, and Azaria all arrived at the entrance to hogwarts for the morning that their training was to begin. What she wasn't expecting was to see a bright orange flag by the door. Or for to see someone that looked a lot like the pictures her mother had of Professor McGonagall than the woman that she knew. Standing around were a few older students, and most of the other professors. While they were waiting for anyone else to show up, an owl swooped down and delivered a letter to Professor McGonagall. As she read it her face took on a drawn appearance, and then she handed it to the other professors, who also looked grave. The moment was broken when Karen appeared.
"Why is everyone looking so glum?" Karen asks.
Minerva replies, "I'm sorry to say that we're going to be looking for a new potions professor as well as all of the other positions that you need to fill."
"Oh blast. Amelia, I was going to ask this at the end of the training, but as staffing has come up I would like to offer the position of being the professor teaching Curse Identification and Removal to the 3rd year and above students. We would obviously give her rooms here, which would also enable her to be an onsite Auror, as well as being handy to patrol Hogsmede. However as she's your employee I need your permission to make the offer as I don't want to poach."
"As long as you're willing to pay half her wages I've got no problems with that."
"Great. Azaria, would you be willing to teach basic combat in the school. I'd like the first and second years able to defend themselves with a sword or cudgel, as well as making a basic physical and magical shield and firing a paintball type spell. Once you get to the 3rd years and above you can make it more interesting."
"As my Titania wishes."
"Tonks, would you like the position that I was just talking about?"
"Do you really think that there's enough material to teach that?"
"We are aiming to trade on our excellence rather than being the school for the elite of the British magical community. We're going to be splitting classes up into average and excellent students rather than houses as of this year. The Professors will be allowed to push the upper class as much as they can. The lower class will have the professors pushed to explain their subjects in different ways to try to get the students to above average. So feel free to test and challenge your class."
"Great, we'll arrange your schedule with the DMLE so that you're available for the shifts they want."
"Well with that out of the way, we're going to start the day with an obstacle course, if you could all join me in the library level, I'll give you all the maps that you need. Minerva will then be the first one to do the obstacle course, and she'll be going at a walk so that the rest of you have an achievable time to aim for. By the end of the course I expect you all to be able to be near Azaria's running time."
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They all got to the Library in varying times, during which time Karen had already given Minerva a 2d map. Once everyone arrived she turned to them and began handing out the maps.
"This is a map of your route, as you've just discovered, the school has 3 levels to it. Hogwarts helped me put it together so that it will show you your current location and the direction you're supposed to be going. If you see an arrow on the line then that means that you should be going up or down a set of stairs. If you come to a dead end, you probably need to change which level, Nest, Armoury, or Library that you're in.
"Professor Babbling, would you be able to create some sort of medallion that can record the elapsed time since it started? I know that your time is going to be pretty non-existent over the next 2 weeks, but I only just thought of it. In the meantime, Flitwick, Bones, make a note of the time when I say go."
Minerva walks to the entrance.
"When you're ready. GO!"
"OK, let's go back to the Nest and we can have a Q&A while we're waiting for Minerva to set your first benchmark."
Minerva walked swiftly through the school, only misreading the map a couple of times, where she needed to take some stairs but there were other stairs or a corridor where she was. Overall though it was an easy jaunt through the castle that had her changing layers every few yards. Nearly a mile of walking later she exits the entrance of the school in the Nest.
As she steps out Karen calls, "And Time. Well done Minerva how was it?"
Minerva responds, "Easy enough, I only took a couple of wrong turns so they should watch out for the stairs arrow on the map as there's a couple of places the stairs in front of you are going the wrong way, or there's a corridor where there should be stairs."
Flitwick and Amelia conferred, "You took around 15-16 minutes."
"OK, everyone up to the Library, I'll make a note of the time and then you're off. We'll get your sewing supplies ready for when you get back, after this run, if you're not sewing I'll be pushing you harder."
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Ginny's holiday became much more interesting after they'd found that ward. It turns out that the Egyptian Government had already found it but as it didn't seem to do anything they just put it down to one of the mysteries of the Ancient Egyptians. She'd been in a few of the other tombs that they'd already declared safe, and hadn't found any more of those glyphs. She'd become something of a mascot cum novice to the team. They'd all gone back to the basics of Occlumency and were working on getting better access to their magic. She'd gotten them all to sign a contract saying that they would all seek warlock training if they chose to use the glyphs they found. She described what happened to Lockhart to various people as an object lesson to those that didn't seek the proper training.
Once they found out that both Karen and Minerva were Magi, the goblins sent a letter to Hogwarts asking about the cost of warlock training for their curse breakers. The Egyptian government also sent a letter to the Ottoman government requesting permission for Magi Harry, Hermione and maybe Daphne to come, with guests, to Egypt for a couple of weeks to aid in discovering more of these sites. She was also able to speed things up in some cases simply because she had so much finesse with her levitation even if she struggled with doing things that required multiple things interacting at the same time.
Molly had only ever done knitting with magic, so she went looking in Cairo and found a little stall that sold hand knitted scarves, woven goods, and handicraft supplies, where the stall holder was knitting. After a lot of miming and back and forth with a phrase book she managed to arrange for both her and her mother, because it was unseemly for a girl as young as her to be walking around on her own.
Watching her mother fidget in the unfamiliar muggle Islamic dress and headscarf was eternally amusing, as was watching her curse as she learnt to knit. She did see how this was more complicated than sewing as there were 3 things moving together, while with the sewing, the most she ever needed to deal with was two things, one of which was held stationary. She then cursed when the stall owner knitted a sock in an afternoon while they also tended to customers. At the end of the couple of days she waved off their money, indicating that they'd brought in more business by being English and spending two days there. She still begged her mother to allow her to buy a load of local wool, and even more cheap synthetic wool so that she had plenty of material to work with.
During her breaks she'd found some of the local children playing games and joined in. She'd learnt to skip, individually and with a long rope as a game where people joined in did a dance and then you left, while a couple of children held either end of the rope or two ropes as the case may be if someone had a spare with them. She learnt Hop Scotch too, and how to spin a hula hoop to the laughter of the other children at her many failures.
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Garund addresses Lyasa and Petunia, "To get to our hunting ground I need you to both relax your magic so that it equalises with this realm, don't worry about being felt, we're far enough away that you'd need to be Titania level to be noticed."
"What does being Titania level mean exactly, as I've heard the term mentioned before, but this is the first time I remember anyone talking about it in reference to power."
"The Oberon and Titania are those that lead our courts, and are the most powerful of all of us. They alone have survived the trip to the edge of the Sea of Magic, and returned."
"Is it a problem if I say that I've been there twice?"
"You lie."
"I do not, the first time I went there I was trying to calm my niece or nephew down, that's when I gained my magic. The second time was when I gave magic to my bonded."
"Describe it then."
"There are vast rivers of magic running through the sky like giant veins. As soon as you get there your body starts to evaporate unless you're prepared for it. I don't remember much about the landscape as I was more worried about getting away from there than looking around."
Lyasa bows deeply, "My Titania, I'm sorry that I didn't recognise you for what you were."
"Oh get up, I haven't changed suddenly in the last few minutes. I'm still barely self-trained. Even Harry and Hermione had more training that I have, and they'd only had one and a bit years of schooling when I got kidnapped."
Garund sighs and shakes his head, "I'm still not sure what to believe, but for the moment I'll behave as if it's true and carry you to the world we're going to. If you are truly a Titania, if they knew they'd have never kidnapped you."
"No, they'd have just killed both Karen and myself in our sleep and still kidnapped Ceeley." She says with a heavy dose of sarcasm in her voice.
She reaches up under her hair and pulls Nixie out, "I do have something that may make you believe me, I got Nixie on the way through to the shore, and she's been so happy sitting on the back of my neck I forgot about her."
"Oh triple darkness, you've been feeding one of those the entire time you've been here and suffered no ill effects. Forgive me for doubting you my Titania." He bows low to the ground.
Petunia frowns as she feels something connect to her magic, "What was that?"
With a healthy dose of awe in his voice he replies, "That was my magic recognising you as my leader Titania."
"Oh get up, and don't call me Titania." She says waspishly.
"Why didn't I feel anything when Lyasa said the same thing?"
"Your magic has already bestowed on her a far greater honour, as she is your magical daughter."
Petunia looks at Lyasa who nods.
"Oh merciful Jesus."
"Do you not want me as your daughter?" Lyasa looks distraught at the idea.
"Not at all, I just didn't think that it would be so literal when you told me when I'd just arrived. Even knowing what I do, I'd do it again."
Garund speaks up, "I'll carry both of you to our hunting ground and then teach you, though it will be harder for Lyasa there, it's safer for all of us."
A few minutes later he'd transported both of them a world closer to Earth.
Garund starts his instruction as soon as they arrive, "Be careful while we're here, as there are lesser fae living wild here, and many of them can be quite mean spirited, and lead predators to us.
"Lyasa, I'll do you first as you need to know how to naturalise your magic to this world, it will become easier with practice. This will hurt because of the shackles, but I need you to release your magic."
Lyasa looks inside as Petunia had taught her and pictures her inner world coming to life completely.
"Ok, now I need you to pull it back slightly, do it slowly and when I say stop hold it there."
"She, coaxes her magic to back down, trying to ignore the burning sensation on her wrists."
"That's it, stop."
"Petunia, would you be able to remove her shackles please?"
"Don't worry, I can do it, I've been practicing." She shapes the end of the rivet that she'd painstakingly added impurities to over the last few minor cycles.
"See." She exclaims.
"And when were you going to let your mother and I know that you could do that?"
"Petunia said that I should keep these abilities a secret so that if I was ever in this sort of situation again I had an ace up my sleeve. I still don't know what an ace has to do with sleeves though."
He sighs, "I suppose that's true too, what else has she taught you?"
Lyasa looks to Petunia for permission, who nods while taking her own manacles off. When she throws them on the floor with Lyasa's Garund looks at her in alarm and then surprise.
"Petunia, how are you not falling towards the desert?"
Petunia smiles and indicates Lyasa as she speaks, "We needed to learn how to keep our outer magic supressed while letting our inner magic move as it wills. I needed to teach her how to see what we've both started calling our inner magic world. It took me around 50 years to teach her as she just wanted to explore her inner world."
Garund gaped like a Gillart trying to catch a stray spell.
"It's what we have to do on earth in order to stay on earth during The Dream."
"The dream?"
"Erm, I think you call it the sea of magic, though it's only available for 1 hour a night where I come from."
"Ok, and how long is a year?"
"Around one phase."
"You were complaining that it only took Lyasa less than one major cycle to learn your technique, how long did it take you?"
"About two months, which is about 60 days."
"How do you do it so quickly?"
"Humans are lucky if they live for one minor cycle longer than a major one."
"Ravenous fire, how do you ever learn anything properly?"
Petunia laughs, "Honestly? I'm really not sure now, I was in my early 30's when I was kidnapped, and it's now been what, 3 major cycles and 1 minor cycle?"
"Sounds about right." Lyasa confirms.
"Which is around 200 years."
The vast change that Petunia had adapted to dawned on Garund as he sat down on the ground, "How did you adapt, how did you not go insane?"
"Lyasa taught me as much as I taught her, she taught me to slow down, to take my time and really look at my surroundings. I think I would have burned out if it wasn't for her."
Shaking his head and making a note to come back to this later, Garund decides to start with illusions before he moves on to the techniques for using your full magic on any world.
"Ok, we could probably discuss that for days, but we can't right now. You can both make light yes?"
Both of them nod.
"Ok, I want you to make a light floating just in front of you. What I'm going to do is teach you how to project an illusion. As you already have something you could project, and I want to see them anyway. I want you to visualise your inner world and imprint it on your light, see the light changing shape until it's a miniature version of your inner world.
"Lyasa it shouldn't be perfect at this stage, that's what practice is for. That's why you're using a familiar image. I want you to now expand your image so that instead of standing in this jungle you're instead standing on the floor of your inner world."
He watched as a place that wouldn't look out of place near their clan grounds expanded out, a copse of mushroom trees nestles at the base of three hills, a stream burbling down from each of the hills to form a pool leading to a larger stream heading off into the distance. He recognised bushes of loda berries, ripe and succulent along with other plants and flowers. Somewhere he could hear the sound of bird calls.
"That's good, that's very good, and this is ideal for use near our clan lands, just learn to call it up faster so that you don't need to think about it. Illusions are all about being able to visualise quickly. They can also be used to make your self seem like someone else, and make yourself invisible. If you can get your magic use down to a whisper or less, they can also be used as traps and ambushes, as your prey can't tell what's real and what isn't. I've heard of some of the higher court members in the summer court being able to make an illusion that's so real you can walk on it until they stop it being real and you fall to your death. Even in the winter court you need to at least know how to recognise them and possibly counter them. Though being caught using them could see you tortured as a suspected spy.
"Lyasa, could you drop yours now. And Petunia can you expand yours now."
He again watched as someone produced an illusion of surpassing quality with no previous training or practice. This time it was a clearing in a dense wood of alien looking trees. In the centre of the clearing was a pond that was being fed by a stream, all around him was teaming with life that gradually started moving again as if they'd decided that there was no predator here. As he was watching a bird swooped down and caught an insect in mid-flight. Where Lyasa's illusion had looked like it was shortly before the beginning of the bright season, where life was almost at it's peak, this world looked like it was a major cycle or two sooner than that. He desperately wanted to see what it would look like once she was able to use all of her magic all the time. It would take him cycles just to explore the different animals he could see.
With an act of will he pulled his attention away from the fascinating scene.
"Petunia, would you put your illusion away before I lose myself to exploring it." He says in a strained voice.
The illusion disappears in the blink of an eye and he's left disorientated at the sudden change.
"Merciful fire, I don't care that it looks out of place here, any of the courts that are caught in that are going to believe that you teleported them somewhere else, especially given how little magic you usually seem to have.
"Right, onto what was supposed to be the first lesson, anchoring yourself to a world. Normally I would tell you to pick up one of the stones that are around us and imagine that stone was in the centre of your magic, and had the same resonance as the world that you're in. Then as long as you keep that stone there you'll stay here. If you want to move then just change the stone to match. What I want you to do is slowly find that part of your magic and adjust it slowly so that you can see and feel the effects of changing it."
Petunia is the first to understand what to do, and she changes the state of her pond and easily moves down a world and back given the practice she and Karen had put in so long ago.
"Lyasa, it's easy, it's the same thing we've been doing to protect ourselves from the iron in reverse, so find the central feature and change it's state like I taught you to."
"You know I'm still not good that that."
"You are perfectly capable, you just don't have the absolute perfect control you desire. The more you do it the better you'll get at it though."
Lyasa manages to move from this world to the next one easily enough, though the shock of actually feeling the difference in magic surprises her.
Petunia looks at her with a mischievous smile, "Why don't you show your uncle what happens when you cover your hills with hoarfrost, like you've told me happens in the triple dark."
Garund's head swivels round to look at Lyasa, and reassure himself that she's still there and alive, as her magical presences seem to just wink out so completely that his magic is trying to tell him that she's not there despite what his eyes are saying.
"Don't do that, I thought you'd just died. I mean do do it, just not around me and not that suddenly. Vicious darkness, I thought you'd been taken by a predator."
That was the beginning of their hunting trip where they would learn how to use their magic with the sword and movements that they'd learnt. Garund wasn't sure what was more terrifying, when Petunia moved around with no magic sensable practicing her illusions and trying to blend into the surroundings, or when she let her full magic out to blanket the area when she was practicing how to suppress and disrupt other peoples magic. He didn't know which would be worse to face, as in a couple of Great cycles she'd be an absolute monster on the battlefield or off. She learnt things so quickly, even if she didn't have the perfect mastery that he'd expect from one if his people.
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Albus stood over a squib while fingering a heavy iron necklace around his head. He'd performed the ritual of separation he'd found again. If he'd succeeded then he'd have granted the squib immense power, if not. Well he'd find out in an hour if they returned. They were so eager to sign on for his research just for the chance to have magic. Sending a stinging hex at the squib he watched as they woke up and promptly disappeared. An hour later they still hadn't returned.
Making some notes, he tried to work out what might have gone wrong this time. If he could only get this working then it would be worth all of the sacrifices, as he'd have found a way to grant wizards access to the resources of the dream with none of the risks.