Nadiera's arrival by Floo Powder into the Hogwart's hospital wing was anything but graceful. She decided silently that she'd much rather ride a horse, as rough for her as that activity was. To her satisfaction, at least, Harry Potter, who must have done this before, didn't fare much better.
"Travelling by Floo Powder isn't ideal, is it?" he grinned as he looked at Nadiera's dishevelled appearance.
"How is the 'dog' going to get here?" she asked him.
"Oh, don't worry, he's got his ways. He'll be around soon enough. Miss him already, do you?" Harry teased.
Nadiera turned her hazel eyes on him and sneered. "I miss no man. I have no use for them."
"Whatever..." Harry sighed, sounding very unconvinced. "I may wear glasses, but I'm not blind," he murmured as an afterthought.
"You may not be blind," a sharp, nasty voice barked behind them, "but you are exceedingly stupid." Harry turned and frowned at the man who had come into the Hospital wing.
"Of all the people I had to meet up with first..." Harry grumbled. "Snape!"
"That's Professor Snape to you! And I want to know what you are here instead of with the Dursleys on Privet Drive where you belong!" Snape demanded.
"Another man who can channel? Are there any women in this tower who can channel?" Nadiera cut in. Snape glared at her.
"Well, if Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout are here, there's two right there," Harry answered for Snape, who was still glaring. Or, maybe not glaring, but staring.
"How is your hip doing after you trip with Floo Powder, dear?" Madame Pomfrey asked Nadiera as she emerged from the fireplace.
"Quite well, Madame Pomfrey. As I said, your Talent with Healing is excellent. I'm sure that any of my Sisters of the Yellow Ajah would be glad to learn from you," Nadiera smiled.
"Ajah?" Snape muttered. But his musings were cut short, because Professor Dumbledore made his entrance, along with a large black dog at his side.
"I understand that you wanted to meet me, young lady." His blue eyes twinkled behind his half-moon spectacles as he introduced himself. "I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he announced, and held out his hand.
Nadiera eyed his hand, and then dubiously shook it. "I am Nadiera Godesin, Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah. Witchcraft, did you say? Do you mean to tell me that you teach people how to channel the One Power here?"
"We teach the Magical Arts here," Dumbledore clarified. "Away from the prying eyes of Muggles, Hogwart's is the place for a young witch or wizard to learn the Craft."
"But, the White Tower in Tar Valon is where young girls go to be trained to channel, if they have the ability. I've never known of anywhere else that it could be tought. What country have I landed in?" She looked at Snape and then rambled, "Saldea? There are a lot of mountains here..."
"This is Scotland, Miss Godesin," Snape cut in.
"Scotland? But I have never heard of Scotland..." Nadiera shook her head as she sat on the edge of one of the beds. Padfoot wagged his tail and settled next to her, putting his chin on her lap. Nadiera idly patted his head, lost in thought.
"What is that mongrel doing here?" Snape spat.
"He came with Harry, Severus," Dumbledore answered.
"Well, both the dog and Harry should not be here!" Snape pointed out.
"I wanted to make sure Nadiera was alright!" Harry protested.
"Well, your strange witch is just fine, so now you can leave. I don't want to see your face back in here until September 1st, Potter! It's bad enough I must see it then, I..." Suddenly, Snape's mouth stopped running. In fact, it hung open, and try as he might, Snape could not close it!
Harry could see thin strands of power flowing from Nadiera's fingers. Unfortunately, Snape seemed to be able to see them also, because he grabbed for them with his hands. Nadiera wove some more flows of Air around Snape, turning the air around him to the feel of thick mud.
"I wonder how it is he can see the flows of Air," Nadiera frowned.
"We all could," Harry reported to her.
"But, men aren't supposed to be able to see flows of saidar, unless..." she trailed off, as Snape broke free of Nadiera's Air flows.
"Unless what?" Snape growled.
"Unless everyone here uses the One Power in a completely different manner than I do," Nadiera concluded.
"I can safely say that you are most likely correct. I've never seen magic done without a wand, nor have I ever seen someone use magic in that manner," Dumbledore told her. "I believe everyone's temper will be more even if we were to go to dinner now. Especially poor Severus. I fear he gets rather nasty if he has an empty stomach, and I also admit that I am very curious about you, Miss Godesin."
"Yes," Snape hissed, "And we'll give some table scraps to the dog too."
At dinner, which included Dumbledore, Harry, Nadiera, Madame Pomfrey, and a sulky Snape, the conversation inevitably turned toward the vast difference between Nadiera's method of doing magic and theirs. Harry was glad; not only was he curious about the Ajah business, but he also didn't really want to talk about his disastrous driving lesson, especially in front of Snape.
"Well, the way I was taught, there are two halves to the One Power, saidar, the female half, and saidin, the male half. I was under the impression that only women could use saidar, and only men could use saidin, but, apparently, I must be mistaken. I think that you people use both saidar and saidin. I never beleived that it was possible for both halves to be merged together like that..." Nadiera sighed. She seemed clearly disturbed about all this.
"Poppy told me that you thought that I surely must have gone mad from using magic for so long. Why did you think that I had gone mad?" Dumbledore asked her. Padfoot peeked over the edge of the table by Harry's side; he remembered Nadiera's fright when she had found men who could use magic. He was eager to hear her explanation.
"Saidin, in my day, at least, has been left with a taint from the Dark One. It was a counterstroke, a move that would eventually lead to the Breaking of the World, because any male Aes Sedai inevitably went mad from using the One Power. They wreaked havoc on the earth, boiled the oceans dry, and tossed the fate of the world to the four winds. By the time the last male Aes Sedai died, the earth was forever altered.
"For this reason, only women could be Aes Sedai after that. Our home is Tar Valon, the city that sits in the shadow of Dragonmount. The White Tower is the headquarters for the Aes Sedai, the center of Tar Valon. I'm sure that means nothing to you; it appears as though the Breaking of the World might never happen here, or won't happen for a thousand years or more. I don't know."
"The White Tower, is that where you teach people, you said?" Harry asked her.
"We seach for girls who can channel; either they are born with the spark, or they can be taught. For instance, I am certain that any girl or woman that is in this building can be taught to channel saidar. We take them to Tar Valon to study in the Tower. Not very many of them ever finish their training. My own mother left the tower while still a Novice. But if a girl perseveres, she becomes a full Aes Sedai. We sometimes call it 'raised to the shawl' because she earns the right to wear a formal shawl representing the Ajah she chooses to join."
"I saw your red-fringed shawl in your knapsack. So, that shawl means you're Red Ajah, right? What's the difference between Ajahs?" Harry asked.
"There are seven Ajahs in the White Tower, societies of Aes Sedai who each have a bit of a different view of how the One Power is best used. Each Ajah is represented by a color. Brown, white, gray, yellow, green, blue, and red. Brown Sisters devote their energies to learning and knowledge. The White Ajah seek truth and philosopy, rather than worldly knowledge. Grey Sisters believe the One Power is best used to mitigate and seek balance between nations. Yellows, as you might have guessed, are the healers of the White Tower. The Green Ajah stand prepared for Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle that is predicted to take place between the Dark One and the Dragon Reborn, who I personally pray never actually gets reborn. The Blue Ajah finds causes to crusade for."
"Oh." Harry finally sounded like he understood it a little better. "But, what about the Red Ajah? What do you do with magic?"
"Ah!" Nadiera smirked, "do you really want to know?"
"Yeah!" answered Harry.
Nadiera's smirk grew wider. "The Red Ajah, which, incidentally, happens to be the largest of the Ajahs, dedicates itself to finding men who can channel--and gentling them."
"What do you mean, gentling?" Snape asked with a priceless look of fright on his face.
"We cut them off from the One Power, so they cannot channel any longer," Nadiera smiled.