Hey, everyone. I'm sorry I haven't posted a chapter in over a week. School has bombarded me with projects and homework, what free time I had I spent watching TV, reading, or hanging out with my family. I do want to take the time to say thank you so, so much for 1,000 views! It is incredible that the view count has grown so much. I just want to tell you all that I have not disappeared, and I will be continuing this story no matter how long it takes. I will at least get one chapter out a week, maybe two!
After only one week of lessons, it was apparent to everyone in the castle that Elizabeth had a knack for destruction. Fires, floods, and explosions had become surprisingly common in only one week. Pomona, Fillius, Minerva, and Albus had decided to hold a meeting at the end of the first week, after Elizabeth had caused a whole bookshelf in the Charms classroom to disintegrate.
"Well, I think we all know why we are all here. Fillius, would you like to speak first?" Pomona offered. The short wizard nodded. "Elizabeth appeared quite eager to begin lessons at the beginning of the week, but after about three days, I could see she was becoming frustrated. We were trying the Lumos charm again, today, and she was standing in the closet with no light sources. I thought it might be easier for her to do it in darkness. I was standing just outside, and I could hear her getting annoyed. Next thing I knew, there was a loud crack, and Elizabeth emerged head-to-toe in dust. I was able to repair my bookshelf, I think the most damage was done to Elizabeth. She was very disheartened. She felt terrible about the accident." Flitwick told the group. Luckily, she had not been hurt in any of the accidents, aside from a light burn mark on her hand from her wand causing a fire. "Speaking of which, where is Elizabeth?" he asked. "Squirreled away in her room. She says she doesn't need to sleep, so she stays up studying and working. When I left, she was reading from her History of Magic book while pacing back and forth across her room. Says it helps her stay concentrated." Minerva explained.
"She's doing well in that class. No wand work involved." Fillius noted. And he was right, there had been no disasters in that class. Elizabeth actually seemed rather interested. Same for Current Magical Customs, though that one always ended with Elizabeth looking crestfallen at how much of her world was gone.
The teachers discussed various techniques for how to help her: showing her diagrams for how to hold and move a wand, a history lesson on wands, or contacting Ollivander to see if he could sway her opinion on wands. Albus spoke up at the end of the meeting. "Remus Lupin shall be joining our ranks as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor next week. He has agreed to help Elizabeth with her studies, and as I recall, he too had trouble with his wand. Perhaps he can be the one to help her make a breakthrough." After a moment of pondering, the three professors. They were also relieved to have a fourth professor to help her. Three professors with seven courses overall was overwhelming considering the circumstances. None of them wanted to see Elizabeth fail. They were not exactly sure what would happen to the young witch, but feared for her future nonetheless.
Remus Lupin came the following Monday. Hagrid was away, visiting a dragon sanctuary, paid for by the Ministry as an apology for sending him to Azkaban, which was surprising to the werewolf. Hagrid had always been at Hogwarts, it was unusual for him to be away. He walked through the courtyard, and saw three of his former professors standing by the entrance, with one young girl. She had deep, gray, eyes, and was quite small. But she had an aura around her, one of being wise beyond her years. He greeted his new coworkers, and then greeted Elizabeth. She seemed hesitant, and her legs started to move, until she shook her head and just said a quiet "hello"
"What was that?" Lupin asked after Elizabeth excused herself to go study. "Elizabeth has been trying to adjust to modern wizarding culture. It was tradition back then for women to curtsy. It's progress for her." Minerva explained solemnly. Though they all knew it was for the best for her to act like everyone else by the time September first arrived, but felt bad she had to change so much.
Remus was looking over his schedule for teaching Elizabeth that evening, in his private quarters, which were much more luxurious than he was used to. Though he was not thrilled to be spending his break doing his job, which he ordinarily wouldn't do in the summer, he was happy he could finally do something fulfilling with his life.
Elizabeth, too, was reading her schedule for the next day, crossing out names to add 'Remus Lupin' she hoped he would be patient with her, since she was so terrible with a wand. It's not like wanted to be terrible, she wanted to earn her place at Hogwarts. It was where she belonged. She was born here. She was raised here, and it didn't matter if that all happened hundreds of years ago. Hogwarts was her home. And nothing could stand between her and her home. But when she glanced over at her wand, all her confidence dashed away. She couldn't even operate a wand! And from what she had learned, that was something any first year could do.
And she couldn't even do that.
So where did that leave her?
Remus was a bit nervous at what he would experience the next day, his first day of teaching Elizabeth. He knew she had been having difficulty with her wand. Well, difficulty was an understatement.
A new schedule had been worked out: The four teachers would all teach their original subjects, but Ponoma would also continue to teach Elizabeth Potions, since the Herbology professor was quite adept at it, as well. Minerva and Fillius alternated teaching History of Magic depending on the day. Remus first offered to help teach History of Magic, but the two refused, saying Remus was new, and this was an adjustment phase for him. He was, however, going to teach a Modern Culture session once a week. The four agreed to teach one lesson a week, since Elizabeth had it everyday, Minerva agreeing to teach two, since she was Elizabeth's guardian.
Elizabeth handled the workload well. She did not need sleep, because of the enchantment, so she stayed up every night working or studying. She'd complete all her homework, and then try to spend time practicing with her wand. She never could spend a lot of time with it, though. She felt like she was turning her back on her family. On the world she had once lived in. Had loved. And now she was just supposed to change everything about her and somehow be just like everyone else and understand the world like everyone else did. Elizabeth shoved her wand away. Using it instead of her hands, that was just too big of a change.
The next day, Elizabeth was very demure. When Lupin introduced the shield charm, Elizabeth looked nervous. "Could you maybe demonstrate it again? Just a few more times?" She asked. Lupin smiled. "Why don't you give it a try? If you need help after that, I'll show it again." He offered. That didn't faze Elizabeth. "What's wrong?" Remus asked. He was concerned, she had never acted this way before. Of course, he had only known her for a week.
Elizabeth stared at the floor. She mumbled something. "I didn't catch that." Lupin said. "I, I don't want to cause any more disasters. Every time I pick up that wand, I always cause trouble. Fire, explosions, floods, earthquakes." She said. Remus felt a flood of sympathy for her. She had gone through so much…. Of course she'd face trouble. It reminded him of his early days of Hogwarts. Werewolves always had trouble with wands. Those that went to Hogwarts found other ways of performing magic, and would do the bare minimum with wand work. But Remus didn't want that. His parents always encouraged him, always said he was more than a werewolf, he was strong, smart, wise. But as soon as he got to Hogwarts, he could barely perform lumos.
Remus sat down next to Elizabeth, who had taken a seat at a desk by an empty tank. "I had the same trouble, you know." He said. "Really?" Elizabeth asked. He nodded. "Oh, I was terrible at magic when I got here. Ask any of your teachers." He said, chuckling. "I know what is supposed to happen. I've read everything on the shield charm. I know all the theory, I just can't do it." Elizabeth lamented. "I was the same way. You know, I was so excited when I got my Hogwarts letter, I read all the books I could. I knew what my wand was going to do when I performed a spell, I could just never do it." He told Elizabeth. "But you're so good with your wand. What changed?" Elizabeth inquired.
Remus smiled. "I got more confidence. I made friends. They helped me, and always encouraged me. After only a few weeks, I got much better. One of the top students in my class every year, because I knew I could do it. The question is, do you think you can do it?" Remus asked. Elizabeth shook her head. "I don't think so." she said. "Really? You've got so much potential, you know. I've seen what you can do with your hands. Surely, you can do that with a wand. And, it doesn't matter if you don't believe in yourself right now." Remus said. Elizabeth looked surprised. "Really?" she asked. "Yes. Because I believe in you. Let that be the reason you continue, and I promise you, along the way, you will start having faith in yourself. Now, come on. Lets try that shield charm." Elizabeth looked reluctant, but agreed.