Chapter 20: Elemental
Oddly enough, things went back to normal--well, as normal as could be after those events. Malfoy and Dumbledore had created a story of sorts to spread around his Slytherin friends, but Harry didn't hear what exactly was spreading. Whatever it was it must have had the Slytherins scared into not speaking about it. Draco returned to his normal sarcastic self by Tuesday's Potions class, but there seemed to be some spark vacant from Draco's eyes as he snapped something about Harry being rescued by his girlfriend.
With Summer taking over Snape's classes, they were much more enjoyable. She tried her best to continue the same level of Potion-making, but she was not as gifted at teaching potions as Snape was, and several times she had tried to help someone and her help had backfired. Neville and Bailey had both walked out of that class with burnt eyebrows.
Arlé received varied responses to her abilities. Several people had gone up to her and asked her if she could show it to them, and she had obliged with a blush. But others seemed to be afraid of her, almost as if they expected her to combust into flames at any given moment. One first year Ravenclaw had even splashed a cup of water into her face in panic. "As if that would help," she remarked to Harry. "I could burn this whole place down if I had a mind to, whether the lake had been relocated inside Hogwarts or not."
But other than that, nothing had changed.
Professor Bailey hadn't approached him again about bringing him to see Sirius; Harry had the distinct impression that the teachers were hoping that he would forget about wanting to go visit his Godfather...
Harry was thoroughly surprised at lunch on Friday when Professor Dumbledore stood up and made an announcement. "After lunch is over, could all fifth, sixth, and seventh years please report to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom? No need to see your regular teacher for this period; they have all been notified and many of them will be in the Dark Arts classroom with you. First through fourth years will report to the Dark Arts classroom Monday morning, first period. Thank you."
The hall was buzzing; what mysterious things could Bailey be getting ready for this assembly? Fred and George, laughing the entire way, had decided that she was getting together a large colony of Cornish pixies to show them how to properly take care of them; at the next table over, someone was shouting that she was going to have them dueling against large groups. Ron and Hermione were not speculating at all; they were content to listen to the other ideas.
He noticed that Arlé was not at lunch; this came as no surprise since she was probably helping Summer prepare for whatever she was planning for after lunch. She often came to him after and before classes, just to snuggle for one moment before getting on with life. He looked forward to these moments with great anticipation; they had only been late to class once, and that was because they had actually fallen asleep on the hard chairs after his Transfiguration class. McGonogall had not been pleased but had not taken off any points for their transgression.
He walked down to the Defense classroom after lunch and looked around eagerly for any sight of her. He noted with dismay that Draco and his group were already in the classroom and had situated themselves in the back. Hermione pointed out that there were some chairs off to one side that were vacant, and the trio walked over to them and waited for the other students to arrive. Suddenly the lights dimmed; Bailey had shut the shades with a flick of her wand so that the only light was being given off by various candles around the room.
After nearly five minutes of waiting, Bailey closed the door, making sure that all of the students were accounted for. There were six or seven teachers against the wall closest to the door. Flitwick was standing on a pile of books to peer over the heads of the students, and Madame Hooch was standing on the floor beside him.
Professor Bailey calmly walked to the front of the room and grasped a candle; she held it out and up, and the whispers were quickly silenced. Perhaps it was just the lighting, but she seemed to be younger than her age with the candle before her. Her eyes were narrowed as she looked around, and Harry wondered how she could look so calm while her friend was off on a mission that could not have waited for the weekend.
"I have brought you all here to explain something to you." Her voice echoed strangely in the room, and she waited until the last faint echoes had died down before continuing, "This will not be easy for many of you to understand; for many of you, this will merely reinforce your opinions. But a select few will change your minds, and that is all I would wish to do. But all of you have a right to know this regardless."
She motioned to the front of the crowd and four people stood and detached themselves. Harry recognized Arlé, but did not know the other three people.
"May I introduce to you Zara Patterson." The woman immediately beside Arlé waved, stepping forward to accept the recognition. Zara had casual brown eyes, plain brown hair, and light blue robes on. Her hand, which was casually stroking the slender wand at her side, sported long blue nails, and her hair was pushed out of her face by a Muggle bandana, also blue.
"Peter Czewsky." The man directly beside Professor Bailey stepped forward; he was the tallest one up front. He was smiling, showing off two very even rows of teeth, and very clean-shaven. Peter had sparkling hazel eyes and light brown hair.
"Morgan Andrews-Czewsky, Peter's wife." The third witch seemed not much taller than Arlé. Her large blue eyes seemed out of place in her slightly olive face, and as she turned to mutter something to Arlé, her wild hair shifted and Harry saw what looked like gemstones glinting on her left temple. They were light grey, a peculiar color that seemed able to shift from dark grey like storm clouds to near-white, like nimbus clouds.
"And of course, you all know Erif Deerflada," Bailey concluded. Bailey had peaked their interest all right; even the Slytherins were leaning toward her a bit, waiting for an explanation.
Bailey motioned to Arlé, who stepped forward. Her eyes glowed deep red for a moment and then she shot her left hand outward. The candles burst into light, their little flickers morphed into slender swaying columns at the mere motion of her hand. A few people screamed; Ron had grabbed onto Hermione's arm in panic as the Defense classroom was flooded with orangeish light. Harry watched as the light faded from Arlé's eyes, and she blinked a few times before slowly nodding to Bailey. The candles remained at their extended height.
"We have represented here before us the four Elementals: Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind." Harry had to say that Bailey had planned this perfectly; she now had the rapt attention of all people in the room, students and teachers alike.
"Erif is a Fire Elemental; her symbol is on her left forearm and is the easiest to identify." Arlé raised her arm, palm outward, and exposed the red mark. The flames stood still on the soft canvas of her arm, but when she moved her hand they danced, drawing a few gasps from the audience. "Fire, also known as Pyr-psyche, is the rarest of all Elementals. There are fifteen registered Elementals in England right now; one Fire, six Water, four Earth and four Wind. That number is not including the half-psychics--people who don't have as much control over the Element, as these four will show."
A hand was raised from the left side of the room; Hannah Abbot, a Hufflepuff, asked, "How many half psyches are there?"
"Around thirty, but there are only three Fires in that group."
"Professor," Draco drawled, his calm grey eyes staring at Erif as if trying to see through her, "If Erif is the only full Fire Elemental, how did she learn to control all of this?"
"She learned from a half-Elemental."
"But, if this teacher was only a half, how could Erif learn the full potential of what she does?"
Summer looked around and said after a moment's thought, "There are certain instincts that every Elemental has, much as every baby has instincts ingrained into them. It just takes tutoring to master these instincts, and you need the same amount of tutoring to control the instincts whether you are whole or half."
After pausing for a long moment to make sure that Malfoy had no more questions, Bailey continued, "While many witches and wizards believe that there is a stone or piece of jewelry that contains all of an Elemental's power, there is no such item. An Elemental's power is drawn from within and instead of being channeled through their wand, it is channeled directly through their mind."
"Then what is the use of having a mark on your arm?" Malfoy's voice asked from the back of the room.
"It is used to identify yourself to others and sometimes it is used as a ground. Oddly enough, a few Elementals funnel their energy through their symbol, but I've been told that it is painful to do so."
"Does it ever hurt?" A Ravenclaw seventh-year asked.
Summer was about to speak, but Arlé held out her arm and the teacher seceded the floor to her for a moment. "Do you mean the mark or using our psyche?"
"Both," the Ravenclaw responded.
"When I get the mark wet, it stings a like an open cut. But when I use my psyche, the fire will never hurt me."
"Does that mean that you can walk through fire without getting burnt?"
"Not at all. It's rather complicated to explain, but in certain situations I can be burnt by fire." She looked back to Bailey after the Ravenclaw sat down.
"Fire Elementals often have 'side effects' of their Elements. Each Elemental is modeled after an animal. Fire's animal is the phoenix." Hushed whispers chased each other around the room; it appeared that the implication was not lost on the older years. "This gives many, but not all, Fire Elementals the odd ability of being able to speak and comprehend any language. Many other aspects of being a phoenix can be rendered into a fire Elemental, as well. It is even rumored that Rowena Ravenclaw's prodigy could change into a phoenix on command, but he is the only one recorded to do so."
Silence met this last statement as the students processed what she had just stated. Harry noticed that more of them were staring at Arlé with awe rather than horror, an improvement that pleased him immensely.
A few more questions were asked and answered, and once everyone was finished with their questions, the tall man stepped up beside Arlé. He winked at her once and then cocked his head slightly toward Summer, in anticipation of what she was about to say.
Hermione leaned over and whispered, "I think that he's the Earth Elemental; I've heard that most of them are men."
Ron squinted at Peter and stated, "I don't know. He doesn't look like an earthy type to me."
There was a flash as Arlé cupped her hands and lit a small fire within her palms. She glanced toward Summer expectantly and the teacher began speaking again.
"Another specialty that all Elementals possess is the power to Crystallize." She motioned to Peter, who nodded, still grinning brightly, and he formed a rough diamond with his pointer fingers and thumbs. He concentrated within his fingers and something grew, bubbling out of nowhere. It was a beautiful shade of blue, and was nearly transparent.
He opened his hands and the shimmer of blue became a wave of water, which splashed against Arlé's hands and made her fire sizzle wildly for a moment.
"He's a water Elemental!" Hermione said, dismayed that she had guessed wrong.
With a faint pop the Elements froze in place, a splash of water rising up from one side of the fire. Arlé plucked it out of the air and handed this "sculpture" to Peter, who offered it to the nearest Ravenclaw sitting in the front row. She accepted it with gentle hands and gasped, "It's so cold!"
This broke the spell of silence over the students and the Ravenclaws nearest her reached out and touched it. Then a brave Hufflepuff took control of it and it migrated around the room.
"It's light as a feather," Ron said when it got around to the Gryffindors, "but it looks like it should be heavier."
"This is a Crystallization. This happens when two Elements created or controlled by Elementals touch each other. It does not happen very often, but when it does, it happens on a near-cataclysmic scale. The last time this occurred on a large scale was in 1492, right before Columbus sailed to America. The princess of France, who was an elemental, had a temper tantrum on the Santa Maria and delayed his trip nearly a month; of course, this led him to Spain to search for a different source of money."
She waited for the Crystallization to go around the room and then let the two Elementals release it. It unformed in Crabbe's hands, and he nearly dropped it; or would have dropped it, had the elements not retreated back to their creators. The water splashed against Peter's hand and was absorbed by it, and Harry noticed for the first time that something blue was flicking on the man's arm. As the man dropped his arm, the blue light faded from sight beneath his sleeve.
"Peter is a Water Elemental, as you saw before," Bailey began. "The other three Elementals are not as dangerous or as hard to control as Fire Elementals; therefore, they are not as rare."
"You mentioned an animal that each Elemental was modeled after," A Hufflepuff asked carefully. "Which is the Water Elemental's animal?"
"Oddly enough, a dolphin, although you wouldn't think so at first sight. Most Water Elementals have light and cheerful personalities… which can get annoying at times." Bailey looked over at Peter, whose willing smile reflected that this was, indeed, the case. "Peter is a fine swimmer, as well." Peter's hazel eyes danced with some contained joke, and he flicked his eyes to the side to look at Morgan, who rolled her eyes and then lightly shoved him. It was easy to like these two, Harry noted; their light-hearted joking brought life to the room.
"Peter has a Water Symbol on his right forearm; unlike the Fire symbol, this one stays hidden until he actively uses it. He channels his energies through his sign whenever he needs to used them."
There were a few questions and then Peter stepped back. Morgan stepped forward, her head slightly tilted to one side. She rubbed at her temple in a circular motion and then raised her hand. Her fingers glinted with sparkle for a moment and then a wind rose up; it was a warm, balmy wind, much like the last of the summer's breeze. A hint of burning wood was carried on the breeze, and it was obvious that she was creating the wind, as the windows were closed.
She clenched her hand and then snow began to fall. A giggle came from a Ravenclaw girl, and the wind stopped.
Bailey explained, "Morgan is a Wind Elemental, although you could say that she can control any weather conditions. She has three diamond studs in her temple, which are grey and quite cool to the touch. As you probably noticed, she activates her Elemental powers by touching the studs. Her animal design is the falcon… And Morgan is an Animagi." The large blue eyes were the only thing that didn't change as she morphed into a small peregrine falcon. The peregrine floated up to land on her husband's outstretched arm, and wrapped her talons about his wrist carefully.
"Can she still control her Elements while in that form?" Draco was being mighty inquisitive, Harry noted, and turned about to look at the Slytherin. He was leaning on his knee with one elbow, one heel balancing on the seat of the chair beside him. His eyes never left Bailey's face, a fact that bothered Harry. This subtle change in the way he handled himself only reinforced the things that Dumbledore had told them.
"As long as she activated it before she transformed, yes," Bailey answered. As if to prove that she could, Morgan spread her wings and it began to snow. Harry turned back to watch Draco again, and found himself subject to those grey eyes. There was no hatred reflected back at him… just a cold disregard, as if he were admiring something that he could never really understand.
Ron and Hermione were rapt with attention as the bird transfigured back to her original form, but Harry was watching the fourth person's face. Zara was watching with her fingers wrapped around her wand, tapping lightly against the wooden handle. Her brown eyes had a glint of something familiar as she looked across the small crowd, but Harry couldn't place it. As Bailey announced Zara's name, her smile reminded him of someone else yet again.
"Zara is a Earth Elemental; easily the subtlest Element of all. Her mark is a little fern tattooed into the palm of her hand." Zara held out her hand and gave everyone a good look; it appeared more like a squiggle than a fern, but Harry guessed that upon further inspection you might be able to identify it. "Her animal namesakes are the gryphons, who care for their earth even more than humans do. Although many see gryphons up in the sky and characterize them with the Wind Elemental, they prefer to remain firmly on the ground when possible. All Earth Elementals can conjure up sunlight without the use of the wand, and they can easily contain energy within themselves. As with plants, sunlight is the main drive to their energies. Earth Elementals can rapidly speed up the growth of any plant; many of them can slow down the metabolism as well. And Earth Elementals require lots of household plants in their environment."
"Can you transfigure into a gryphon?" asked one hopeful Ravenclaw of the Earth Elemental.
"I wish I could," she sighed. "But I can't." Her hand slid up and down her wand once more and then caught at the tassels of her belt. She was nervous, but of what?
There were a few questions of the Earth Elemental, but Harry didn't hear them because he had leaned over Ron and asked Hermione a question. "Does she look familiar to you?"
Hermione squinted at the Earth Elemental and sighed. "She does look familiar, but I don't think I've ever seen her before."
"Wait, I know," Ron hissed. "She looks like Rita Skeeter!"
They all glanced up at her and then Hermione nodded. "I see the resemblance; she might be a sister or a cousin."
"I'd rather not think about the idea that there are more people like Rita Skeeter running around!" Ron yelped, remembering with some frustration the events of last year.
Rita Skeeter had turned Harry and his two friends' lives into a game of dodgeball; using her unreported Animagi form, a beetle, she managed to learn a great deal more about Harry, Ron, and Hermione than they wanted her to. In fact, she had decided that Harry had a crush on Hermione, and had created an elaborate story about Hermione going out with Krum. That had been a disaster that they were still trying to mop up; Hermione had gotten so many Howlers from Harry's manic fans that she had had to stop all incoming mail before someone decided to cast curses on her.
"Actually," the Earth Elemental was saying, "several of us can control weather or water as well."
"I heard," drawled Draco Malfoy yet again, "that all of the great wandmakers—Ollivander included—are Earth Elementals. Is that true?"
Zara nodded. "Ollivander is a strong Earth Elemental—he'd have to be, to know exactly what goes into each wand that he makes. The official WandMaker for Durmstrang is a strong Elemental, and one I know personally."
"Do you make wands?" Hermione asked, dropping her previous conversation for curiosity.
At this, Zara chuckled. Behind her Peter chortled into his hand, wrinkling his nose a little at the concept.
"Heavens, no!" Zara sighed, still smiling. "If I did, many wizards and witches would be blown up by their own wands. You need the right temperament to create wands… Trust me, I've tried. The wands that you create take on a bit of your personality, so you need to be a calm and laid back person or the wands would be skittish!
"To be perfectly honest, though, I did create my own wand when I graduated from Hogwarts. A bit of a mistake, that was. A lot of unlucky people had odd hexes placed on them by accident…" She trailed off for a moment, her eyes alight with laughter and then continued, "I trust Ollivander's wands much more than I trust my own!"
"And as you should, Zara," Peter stated. "I was one of the 'unlucky' ones, after all!"
There were no more questions, and as Harry sneaked a glance at Malfoy, the Slytherin boy leaned over to lightly touch Pansy on the arm and whisper something to her. She giggled and motioned for Draco to lean in a little closer; he obliged. Harry turned away quickly, not wanting to be caught looking up at them.
Bailey raised her wand and the shades covering the windows each slowly slid up; the students were blinded for a moment by the bright sunlight flooding into the classroom. "If any of you would like to speak further with the Elementals, you may do so at this time. If not, then you are free to go." She then merged back to stand with the Elementals, who were still idly gossiping about the "unlucky ones."
Apparently, all three of the older Elementals had gone to Hogwarts at about the same time, and were now sharing stories of the wonders of returning to Hogwarts after so many years of being away from it. Although Peter looked the eldest of the three, he and Zara were actually the same age. As Harry and his friends approached, along with a few of the Hufflepuffs and some of the Ravenclaws, Arlé reached out and took Harry's hand. Her fingers were warm but oddly dry, and Harry squeezed her fingers gently.
"I can still remember the time you meant to turn me into a frog…" Peter broke off with laughter that did remind Harry of a dolphin.
"And I turned you into a ferret; how could I forget? That was what made me change my mind about my wand."
"I loved it," Morgan tittered, stroking Peter's arm as if consoling him. "The idea of a little creature that could bow down and kiss my feet at any moment was quite appealing!"
"I'm mortified," Peter chuckled, "Entirely mortified, and I daresay it's your fault, Zara, that I'm married to such a controlling monster in the first place!"
"I know what you mean when you say mortifying," a soft voice stated from behind Harry. Harry turned to see Draco, standing alone and apart from the group, with a smile almost touching his mouth. "Becoming a ferret is hardly a fun experience!"
"Ah, here's a young man who understands!" Peter cried, stepping aside so that Draco could join the rough circle. "You seem to know quite a bit. What's your name, son?"
"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." Harry thought that Draco's eyes twitched a little in Ron's direction as he said this proudly.
"Ah, so you're Lucius' kid. That explains it." Draco pulled away from him slightly, one eyebrow cocking in inquiry. "Not that that's a bad thing," Peter quickly said. "I work with him in the Ministry." Harry noted that Peter didn't say anything either for or against Draco's father, something that seemed to surprise Draco.
For a moment—just one moment—Draco let his guard down and Harry could see something in his grey eyes. Then they flicked back to their normal opaque state, making Harry think of a window with its shade being drawn down. The Slytherin boy nodded, his façade plain and uncontorted.
The silence seemed to beckon a change in subject; one Ravenclaw seemed interested in learning how much training they had to go through, and the three elder Elementals jumped readily onto this new path. Arlé looked at Harry and motioned with her head that she wanted to leave. As they left the cluster, Ron made to follow them, but Hermione's gentle hand stayed him. Harry could just barely hear her whisper, "Let them alone, Ron…" and then he was out of hearing range.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked, catching and entwining his fingers in hers.
"I feel like everyone's watching me," she sighed. "I'm just glad this is over." She smiled at him, her eyes bright.
"You'll always feel that way, I suspect. Everyone will be watching you just because you are my girlfriend…"
"I know... It doesn't make it any easier, though." She sighed again and ran a finger along his jawline. "They are a fascinating bunch... I've been spending quite a bit of time with them lately, getting accustomed to them. Zara bothers me, though... Something about her just isn't right."
Harry nodded, and as they turned back to the group, Malfoy stepped up to them. His grey eyes bore into Arlé for a moment, and then he flicked them back to Harry. "Interesting girlfriend, Potter," was all he said, and then he stepped past them without another word. Arlé glared at his retreating back until he left the room, and then rolled her eyes.
"Typical Slytherin. Come on, let's head back to the Common Room," she suggested. Ron and Hermione agreed to return to the Common Room, and Arlé caught Summer's eye with a look that clearly said, "I'll come find you later."
Summer called, "We'll be in my office," and then returned to speaking with the cluster of students and Elementals.
**Author's Notes...** Well, here it is! After five months of severe dyslexia, term paper, and writer's block, I've managed to finish this chapter! I'm amazed at myself!! *Pats herself on back* It was another bear, because it's always hard to define something that I've created to the depth that this chapter required... I had to think up questions that my readers might have, and that the students in Hogwarts might have... Hopefully I answered many of them! Well, I can't make any promises, but I'm aiming to get the next chapter started right now. I need to reorganize my thoughts a little before I can continue, and tie up some loose ends. Any suggestions or things that are unclear, please don't hesitate to ask them.Thank you much for reading!
Oddly enough, things went back to normal--well, as normal as could be after those events. Malfoy and Dumbledore had created a story of sorts to spread around his Slytherin friends, but Harry didn't hear what exactly was spreading. Whatever it was it must have had the Slytherins scared into not speaking about it. Draco returned to his normal sarcastic self by Tuesday's Potions class, but there seemed to be some spark vacant from Draco's eyes as he snapped something about Harry being rescued by his girlfriend.
With Summer taking over Snape's classes, they were much more enjoyable. She tried her best to continue the same level of Potion-making, but she was not as gifted at teaching potions as Snape was, and several times she had tried to help someone and her help had backfired. Neville and Bailey had both walked out of that class with burnt eyebrows.
Arlé received varied responses to her abilities. Several people had gone up to her and asked her if she could show it to them, and she had obliged with a blush. But others seemed to be afraid of her, almost as if they expected her to combust into flames at any given moment. One first year Ravenclaw had even splashed a cup of water into her face in panic. "As if that would help," she remarked to Harry. "I could burn this whole place down if I had a mind to, whether the lake had been relocated inside Hogwarts or not."
But other than that, nothing had changed.
Professor Bailey hadn't approached him again about bringing him to see Sirius; Harry had the distinct impression that the teachers were hoping that he would forget about wanting to go visit his Godfather...
Harry was thoroughly surprised at lunch on Friday when Professor Dumbledore stood up and made an announcement. "After lunch is over, could all fifth, sixth, and seventh years please report to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom? No need to see your regular teacher for this period; they have all been notified and many of them will be in the Dark Arts classroom with you. First through fourth years will report to the Dark Arts classroom Monday morning, first period. Thank you."
The hall was buzzing; what mysterious things could Bailey be getting ready for this assembly? Fred and George, laughing the entire way, had decided that she was getting together a large colony of Cornish pixies to show them how to properly take care of them; at the next table over, someone was shouting that she was going to have them dueling against large groups. Ron and Hermione were not speculating at all; they were content to listen to the other ideas.
He noticed that Arlé was not at lunch; this came as no surprise since she was probably helping Summer prepare for whatever she was planning for after lunch. She often came to him after and before classes, just to snuggle for one moment before getting on with life. He looked forward to these moments with great anticipation; they had only been late to class once, and that was because they had actually fallen asleep on the hard chairs after his Transfiguration class. McGonogall had not been pleased but had not taken off any points for their transgression.
He walked down to the Defense classroom after lunch and looked around eagerly for any sight of her. He noted with dismay that Draco and his group were already in the classroom and had situated themselves in the back. Hermione pointed out that there were some chairs off to one side that were vacant, and the trio walked over to them and waited for the other students to arrive. Suddenly the lights dimmed; Bailey had shut the shades with a flick of her wand so that the only light was being given off by various candles around the room.
After nearly five minutes of waiting, Bailey closed the door, making sure that all of the students were accounted for. There were six or seven teachers against the wall closest to the door. Flitwick was standing on a pile of books to peer over the heads of the students, and Madame Hooch was standing on the floor beside him.
Professor Bailey calmly walked to the front of the room and grasped a candle; she held it out and up, and the whispers were quickly silenced. Perhaps it was just the lighting, but she seemed to be younger than her age with the candle before her. Her eyes were narrowed as she looked around, and Harry wondered how she could look so calm while her friend was off on a mission that could not have waited for the weekend.
"I have brought you all here to explain something to you." Her voice echoed strangely in the room, and she waited until the last faint echoes had died down before continuing, "This will not be easy for many of you to understand; for many of you, this will merely reinforce your opinions. But a select few will change your minds, and that is all I would wish to do. But all of you have a right to know this regardless."
She motioned to the front of the crowd and four people stood and detached themselves. Harry recognized Arlé, but did not know the other three people.
"May I introduce to you Zara Patterson." The woman immediately beside Arlé waved, stepping forward to accept the recognition. Zara had casual brown eyes, plain brown hair, and light blue robes on. Her hand, which was casually stroking the slender wand at her side, sported long blue nails, and her hair was pushed out of her face by a Muggle bandana, also blue.
"Peter Czewsky." The man directly beside Professor Bailey stepped forward; he was the tallest one up front. He was smiling, showing off two very even rows of teeth, and very clean-shaven. Peter had sparkling hazel eyes and light brown hair.
"Morgan Andrews-Czewsky, Peter's wife." The third witch seemed not much taller than Arlé. Her large blue eyes seemed out of place in her slightly olive face, and as she turned to mutter something to Arlé, her wild hair shifted and Harry saw what looked like gemstones glinting on her left temple. They were light grey, a peculiar color that seemed able to shift from dark grey like storm clouds to near-white, like nimbus clouds.
"And of course, you all know Erif Deerflada," Bailey concluded. Bailey had peaked their interest all right; even the Slytherins were leaning toward her a bit, waiting for an explanation.
Bailey motioned to Arlé, who stepped forward. Her eyes glowed deep red for a moment and then she shot her left hand outward. The candles burst into light, their little flickers morphed into slender swaying columns at the mere motion of her hand. A few people screamed; Ron had grabbed onto Hermione's arm in panic as the Defense classroom was flooded with orangeish light. Harry watched as the light faded from Arlé's eyes, and she blinked a few times before slowly nodding to Bailey. The candles remained at their extended height.
"We have represented here before us the four Elementals: Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind." Harry had to say that Bailey had planned this perfectly; she now had the rapt attention of all people in the room, students and teachers alike.
"Erif is a Fire Elemental; her symbol is on her left forearm and is the easiest to identify." Arlé raised her arm, palm outward, and exposed the red mark. The flames stood still on the soft canvas of her arm, but when she moved her hand they danced, drawing a few gasps from the audience. "Fire, also known as Pyr-psyche, is the rarest of all Elementals. There are fifteen registered Elementals in England right now; one Fire, six Water, four Earth and four Wind. That number is not including the half-psychics--people who don't have as much control over the Element, as these four will show."
A hand was raised from the left side of the room; Hannah Abbot, a Hufflepuff, asked, "How many half psyches are there?"
"Around thirty, but there are only three Fires in that group."
"Professor," Draco drawled, his calm grey eyes staring at Erif as if trying to see through her, "If Erif is the only full Fire Elemental, how did she learn to control all of this?"
"She learned from a half-Elemental."
"But, if this teacher was only a half, how could Erif learn the full potential of what she does?"
Summer looked around and said after a moment's thought, "There are certain instincts that every Elemental has, much as every baby has instincts ingrained into them. It just takes tutoring to master these instincts, and you need the same amount of tutoring to control the instincts whether you are whole or half."
After pausing for a long moment to make sure that Malfoy had no more questions, Bailey continued, "While many witches and wizards believe that there is a stone or piece of jewelry that contains all of an Elemental's power, there is no such item. An Elemental's power is drawn from within and instead of being channeled through their wand, it is channeled directly through their mind."
"Then what is the use of having a mark on your arm?" Malfoy's voice asked from the back of the room.
"It is used to identify yourself to others and sometimes it is used as a ground. Oddly enough, a few Elementals funnel their energy through their symbol, but I've been told that it is painful to do so."
"Does it ever hurt?" A Ravenclaw seventh-year asked.
Summer was about to speak, but Arlé held out her arm and the teacher seceded the floor to her for a moment. "Do you mean the mark or using our psyche?"
"Both," the Ravenclaw responded.
"When I get the mark wet, it stings a like an open cut. But when I use my psyche, the fire will never hurt me."
"Does that mean that you can walk through fire without getting burnt?"
"Not at all. It's rather complicated to explain, but in certain situations I can be burnt by fire." She looked back to Bailey after the Ravenclaw sat down.
"Fire Elementals often have 'side effects' of their Elements. Each Elemental is modeled after an animal. Fire's animal is the phoenix." Hushed whispers chased each other around the room; it appeared that the implication was not lost on the older years. "This gives many, but not all, Fire Elementals the odd ability of being able to speak and comprehend any language. Many other aspects of being a phoenix can be rendered into a fire Elemental, as well. It is even rumored that Rowena Ravenclaw's prodigy could change into a phoenix on command, but he is the only one recorded to do so."
Silence met this last statement as the students processed what she had just stated. Harry noticed that more of them were staring at Arlé with awe rather than horror, an improvement that pleased him immensely.
A few more questions were asked and answered, and once everyone was finished with their questions, the tall man stepped up beside Arlé. He winked at her once and then cocked his head slightly toward Summer, in anticipation of what she was about to say.
Hermione leaned over and whispered, "I think that he's the Earth Elemental; I've heard that most of them are men."
Ron squinted at Peter and stated, "I don't know. He doesn't look like an earthy type to me."
There was a flash as Arlé cupped her hands and lit a small fire within her palms. She glanced toward Summer expectantly and the teacher began speaking again.
"Another specialty that all Elementals possess is the power to Crystallize." She motioned to Peter, who nodded, still grinning brightly, and he formed a rough diamond with his pointer fingers and thumbs. He concentrated within his fingers and something grew, bubbling out of nowhere. It was a beautiful shade of blue, and was nearly transparent.
He opened his hands and the shimmer of blue became a wave of water, which splashed against Arlé's hands and made her fire sizzle wildly for a moment.
"He's a water Elemental!" Hermione said, dismayed that she had guessed wrong.
With a faint pop the Elements froze in place, a splash of water rising up from one side of the fire. Arlé plucked it out of the air and handed this "sculpture" to Peter, who offered it to the nearest Ravenclaw sitting in the front row. She accepted it with gentle hands and gasped, "It's so cold!"
This broke the spell of silence over the students and the Ravenclaws nearest her reached out and touched it. Then a brave Hufflepuff took control of it and it migrated around the room.
"It's light as a feather," Ron said when it got around to the Gryffindors, "but it looks like it should be heavier."
"This is a Crystallization. This happens when two Elements created or controlled by Elementals touch each other. It does not happen very often, but when it does, it happens on a near-cataclysmic scale. The last time this occurred on a large scale was in 1492, right before Columbus sailed to America. The princess of France, who was an elemental, had a temper tantrum on the Santa Maria and delayed his trip nearly a month; of course, this led him to Spain to search for a different source of money."
She waited for the Crystallization to go around the room and then let the two Elementals release it. It unformed in Crabbe's hands, and he nearly dropped it; or would have dropped it, had the elements not retreated back to their creators. The water splashed against Peter's hand and was absorbed by it, and Harry noticed for the first time that something blue was flicking on the man's arm. As the man dropped his arm, the blue light faded from sight beneath his sleeve.
"Peter is a Water Elemental, as you saw before," Bailey began. "The other three Elementals are not as dangerous or as hard to control as Fire Elementals; therefore, they are not as rare."
"You mentioned an animal that each Elemental was modeled after," A Hufflepuff asked carefully. "Which is the Water Elemental's animal?"
"Oddly enough, a dolphin, although you wouldn't think so at first sight. Most Water Elementals have light and cheerful personalities… which can get annoying at times." Bailey looked over at Peter, whose willing smile reflected that this was, indeed, the case. "Peter is a fine swimmer, as well." Peter's hazel eyes danced with some contained joke, and he flicked his eyes to the side to look at Morgan, who rolled her eyes and then lightly shoved him. It was easy to like these two, Harry noted; their light-hearted joking brought life to the room.
"Peter has a Water Symbol on his right forearm; unlike the Fire symbol, this one stays hidden until he actively uses it. He channels his energies through his sign whenever he needs to used them."
There were a few questions and then Peter stepped back. Morgan stepped forward, her head slightly tilted to one side. She rubbed at her temple in a circular motion and then raised her hand. Her fingers glinted with sparkle for a moment and then a wind rose up; it was a warm, balmy wind, much like the last of the summer's breeze. A hint of burning wood was carried on the breeze, and it was obvious that she was creating the wind, as the windows were closed.
She clenched her hand and then snow began to fall. A giggle came from a Ravenclaw girl, and the wind stopped.
Bailey explained, "Morgan is a Wind Elemental, although you could say that she can control any weather conditions. She has three diamond studs in her temple, which are grey and quite cool to the touch. As you probably noticed, she activates her Elemental powers by touching the studs. Her animal design is the falcon… And Morgan is an Animagi." The large blue eyes were the only thing that didn't change as she morphed into a small peregrine falcon. The peregrine floated up to land on her husband's outstretched arm, and wrapped her talons about his wrist carefully.
"Can she still control her Elements while in that form?" Draco was being mighty inquisitive, Harry noted, and turned about to look at the Slytherin. He was leaning on his knee with one elbow, one heel balancing on the seat of the chair beside him. His eyes never left Bailey's face, a fact that bothered Harry. This subtle change in the way he handled himself only reinforced the things that Dumbledore had told them.
"As long as she activated it before she transformed, yes," Bailey answered. As if to prove that she could, Morgan spread her wings and it began to snow. Harry turned back to watch Draco again, and found himself subject to those grey eyes. There was no hatred reflected back at him… just a cold disregard, as if he were admiring something that he could never really understand.
Ron and Hermione were rapt with attention as the bird transfigured back to her original form, but Harry was watching the fourth person's face. Zara was watching with her fingers wrapped around her wand, tapping lightly against the wooden handle. Her brown eyes had a glint of something familiar as she looked across the small crowd, but Harry couldn't place it. As Bailey announced Zara's name, her smile reminded him of someone else yet again.
"Zara is a Earth Elemental; easily the subtlest Element of all. Her mark is a little fern tattooed into the palm of her hand." Zara held out her hand and gave everyone a good look; it appeared more like a squiggle than a fern, but Harry guessed that upon further inspection you might be able to identify it. "Her animal namesakes are the gryphons, who care for their earth even more than humans do. Although many see gryphons up in the sky and characterize them with the Wind Elemental, they prefer to remain firmly on the ground when possible. All Earth Elementals can conjure up sunlight without the use of the wand, and they can easily contain energy within themselves. As with plants, sunlight is the main drive to their energies. Earth Elementals can rapidly speed up the growth of any plant; many of them can slow down the metabolism as well. And Earth Elementals require lots of household plants in their environment."
"Can you transfigure into a gryphon?" asked one hopeful Ravenclaw of the Earth Elemental.
"I wish I could," she sighed. "But I can't." Her hand slid up and down her wand once more and then caught at the tassels of her belt. She was nervous, but of what?
There were a few questions of the Earth Elemental, but Harry didn't hear them because he had leaned over Ron and asked Hermione a question. "Does she look familiar to you?"
Hermione squinted at the Earth Elemental and sighed. "She does look familiar, but I don't think I've ever seen her before."
"Wait, I know," Ron hissed. "She looks like Rita Skeeter!"
They all glanced up at her and then Hermione nodded. "I see the resemblance; she might be a sister or a cousin."
"I'd rather not think about the idea that there are more people like Rita Skeeter running around!" Ron yelped, remembering with some frustration the events of last year.
Rita Skeeter had turned Harry and his two friends' lives into a game of dodgeball; using her unreported Animagi form, a beetle, she managed to learn a great deal more about Harry, Ron, and Hermione than they wanted her to. In fact, she had decided that Harry had a crush on Hermione, and had created an elaborate story about Hermione going out with Krum. That had been a disaster that they were still trying to mop up; Hermione had gotten so many Howlers from Harry's manic fans that she had had to stop all incoming mail before someone decided to cast curses on her.
"Actually," the Earth Elemental was saying, "several of us can control weather or water as well."
"I heard," drawled Draco Malfoy yet again, "that all of the great wandmakers—Ollivander included—are Earth Elementals. Is that true?"
Zara nodded. "Ollivander is a strong Earth Elemental—he'd have to be, to know exactly what goes into each wand that he makes. The official WandMaker for Durmstrang is a strong Elemental, and one I know personally."
"Do you make wands?" Hermione asked, dropping her previous conversation for curiosity.
At this, Zara chuckled. Behind her Peter chortled into his hand, wrinkling his nose a little at the concept.
"Heavens, no!" Zara sighed, still smiling. "If I did, many wizards and witches would be blown up by their own wands. You need the right temperament to create wands… Trust me, I've tried. The wands that you create take on a bit of your personality, so you need to be a calm and laid back person or the wands would be skittish!
"To be perfectly honest, though, I did create my own wand when I graduated from Hogwarts. A bit of a mistake, that was. A lot of unlucky people had odd hexes placed on them by accident…" She trailed off for a moment, her eyes alight with laughter and then continued, "I trust Ollivander's wands much more than I trust my own!"
"And as you should, Zara," Peter stated. "I was one of the 'unlucky' ones, after all!"
There were no more questions, and as Harry sneaked a glance at Malfoy, the Slytherin boy leaned over to lightly touch Pansy on the arm and whisper something to her. She giggled and motioned for Draco to lean in a little closer; he obliged. Harry turned away quickly, not wanting to be caught looking up at them.
Bailey raised her wand and the shades covering the windows each slowly slid up; the students were blinded for a moment by the bright sunlight flooding into the classroom. "If any of you would like to speak further with the Elementals, you may do so at this time. If not, then you are free to go." She then merged back to stand with the Elementals, who were still idly gossiping about the "unlucky ones."
Apparently, all three of the older Elementals had gone to Hogwarts at about the same time, and were now sharing stories of the wonders of returning to Hogwarts after so many years of being away from it. Although Peter looked the eldest of the three, he and Zara were actually the same age. As Harry and his friends approached, along with a few of the Hufflepuffs and some of the Ravenclaws, Arlé reached out and took Harry's hand. Her fingers were warm but oddly dry, and Harry squeezed her fingers gently.
"I can still remember the time you meant to turn me into a frog…" Peter broke off with laughter that did remind Harry of a dolphin.
"And I turned you into a ferret; how could I forget? That was what made me change my mind about my wand."
"I loved it," Morgan tittered, stroking Peter's arm as if consoling him. "The idea of a little creature that could bow down and kiss my feet at any moment was quite appealing!"
"I'm mortified," Peter chuckled, "Entirely mortified, and I daresay it's your fault, Zara, that I'm married to such a controlling monster in the first place!"
"I know what you mean when you say mortifying," a soft voice stated from behind Harry. Harry turned to see Draco, standing alone and apart from the group, with a smile almost touching his mouth. "Becoming a ferret is hardly a fun experience!"
"Ah, here's a young man who understands!" Peter cried, stepping aside so that Draco could join the rough circle. "You seem to know quite a bit. What's your name, son?"
"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." Harry thought that Draco's eyes twitched a little in Ron's direction as he said this proudly.
"Ah, so you're Lucius' kid. That explains it." Draco pulled away from him slightly, one eyebrow cocking in inquiry. "Not that that's a bad thing," Peter quickly said. "I work with him in the Ministry." Harry noted that Peter didn't say anything either for or against Draco's father, something that seemed to surprise Draco.
For a moment—just one moment—Draco let his guard down and Harry could see something in his grey eyes. Then they flicked back to their normal opaque state, making Harry think of a window with its shade being drawn down. The Slytherin boy nodded, his façade plain and uncontorted.
The silence seemed to beckon a change in subject; one Ravenclaw seemed interested in learning how much training they had to go through, and the three elder Elementals jumped readily onto this new path. Arlé looked at Harry and motioned with her head that she wanted to leave. As they left the cluster, Ron made to follow them, but Hermione's gentle hand stayed him. Harry could just barely hear her whisper, "Let them alone, Ron…" and then he was out of hearing range.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked, catching and entwining his fingers in hers.
"I feel like everyone's watching me," she sighed. "I'm just glad this is over." She smiled at him, her eyes bright.
"You'll always feel that way, I suspect. Everyone will be watching you just because you are my girlfriend…"
"I know... It doesn't make it any easier, though." She sighed again and ran a finger along his jawline. "They are a fascinating bunch... I've been spending quite a bit of time with them lately, getting accustomed to them. Zara bothers me, though... Something about her just isn't right."
Harry nodded, and as they turned back to the group, Malfoy stepped up to them. His grey eyes bore into Arlé for a moment, and then he flicked them back to Harry. "Interesting girlfriend, Potter," was all he said, and then he stepped past them without another word. Arlé glared at his retreating back until he left the room, and then rolled her eyes.
"Typical Slytherin. Come on, let's head back to the Common Room," she suggested. Ron and Hermione agreed to return to the Common Room, and Arlé caught Summer's eye with a look that clearly said, "I'll come find you later."
Summer called, "We'll be in my office," and then returned to speaking with the cluster of students and Elementals.
**Author's Notes...** Well, here it is! After five months of severe dyslexia, term paper, and writer's block, I've managed to finish this chapter! I'm amazed at myself!! *Pats herself on back* It was another bear, because it's always hard to define something that I've created to the depth that this chapter required... I had to think up questions that my readers might have, and that the students in Hogwarts might have... Hopefully I answered many of them! Well, I can't make any promises, but I'm aiming to get the next chapter started right now. I need to reorganize my thoughts a little before I can continue, and tie up some loose ends. Any suggestions or things that are unclear, please don't hesitate to ask them.Thank you much for reading!