Chapter Four: Engkanto
The girl straightened up. She had long black hair, was about the same height as Erwin, and had brown intellectual eyes. But what was stranger to Harry was that she was the same age as he. She cricked her neck, as though she had just woken up, smiled, and stared to speak. "Hi everyone! Sorry for the rude interruption, but I was touring Diagon Alley a few minutes ago. So I had to take the quick way back."
There was a commotion in the room. As far as Harry knew, the only way to get to a destination was by Apparition, and, Harry remembered, he was planning to take the Apparition test as soon as possible.
"Ah! Harry Potter!" Mia exclaimed as she laid her eyes on him, though she seemed to forget the usual glance at his scar. "Surprised that I could move from place to place without using Apparition (at this, Harry was shocked) and that I could read your mind? (at this, several students chuckled at him) Well, in the Philippines, we are actually in danger because of forces that are as terrible as that of Voldemort's."
Her statement was greeted with a stunned silence. Then Mia continued, in a grave voice, "Yes, it's true. Everyone in the Philippines is living in a death sentence each day. Each day that passes by is a blessing for most of them," - Colin Creevey gasped - "because we are always threatened by the the espiritu, or te spirits."
Everyone gasped in horror, while she continued. "Not all of them are evil though, but the espiritu are divided in the extremes: the benevolent engkantos, who are like Dumbledore (Harry grinned at the twins) and the malevolent halimaw, who will remind you of Voldemort and his Death Eaters (a shudder ran through the crowd). And the worst part is that they seem to have a permanent enchantment around them so that most spells used for escaping, such as Apparation, Portkeys or Floo fires, are rendered useless in their presence. It's as if the only way out is to fight."
"But, then," asked Cho, "how do you compensate for those...problems?"
"Well, Cho," answered Mia, "there are other forms of magic. We still use wands, but in times of fighting the halimaw, we use magic of the soul. Because of this, even Muggle Filipinos are considered wizards because, with training, they can harness their hidden powers just like experienced wizards. Also, we are going to teach you our magic because of two possibilities: either Voldemort would be caught off guard at the sight of a new kind of magic, or, heaven forbid, he might have already recruited several halimaw into his dark army." At this, everyone was silent, stunned by the two possibilities, as well as the revelation that Muggles aren't what they seemed.
Mia allowed them a few minutes' silence before continuing. "Now, spiritual magic is similar to wandless magic (Harry remembered the book Hermione gave him), except that the spells used are governed by sentient spirits, thus, they aren't limited to one purpose only."
At this, she took an ornately designed katana from a sheath behind her. "The fire conjuring spell in wandless magic is just that: a fire conjuring spell." She held out her hand and a ball of fire appeared. "However, in spiritual magic, the spell could be modified so that it does this." She muttered some words and the ball of fire began to envelope the sword. "See? This way, a sword can be enchanted to burn its opponents with each slash." She waved her hand, and the flames on the sword died down. "One more thing: the wielder of spirit magic also has a unique ability, one that sets him or herself from other spirit wizards.
"Right now, we are going to start with meditation. I have a feeling that most of you would have a hard time doing this, due to the fact that this would be the first time for most of you to harness your inner magic." "How would you know if you have harnessed your inner magic?" asked a boy from the group. "You'll know. You will feel it. It might take some time, but you will."
Three hours had already passed, and the room was silent. Harry tried to concentrate, but images of Cedric, Sirius and his parents kept breaking his concentration. He focused his will on one thing: to save his friends from those terrible fates. Suddenly, he felt a rush; at the same time, Cho gasped. He felt warm iron bands tighten in his heart, and an image of a white skull impaled by a red glowing sword. As suddenly as it happened, it stopped. He opened his eyes, and he saw Erwin looking down at him, positively beaming.
"Mia! Harry did it! His inner magic has awakened!" "I know, Cho here also awakened her power! Let's have a look at them, shall we?" Erwin and Mia gently led the two of them to the front, muttering slightly so that only Harry and Cho could hear, "Mia, I think the two of them make a great couple, don't you think?" At this, Harry and Cho looked at each other, then blushed a fiery red, and looked away, grinning." "Yeah, Erwin, I wish we were like them." Erwin looked at her suddenly (Harry noticed that he blushed suddenly), and Mia responded with a smile.
When they were in front of the class, Mia conjured a table and Erwin left the room, returning moments later with two stone basins with runes and markings etched on them: Pensieves. "Now, all you have to do is to place your wand tips on your head, think about the symbol that you saw in your head." Cho and Harry touched their heads with their wands, and Harry felt the thought of the skull slide of him as if water dripped from his hair. Placing it into the Pensieves, the two symbols rose high enough for all of them to see. Harry saw his symbol float high, reminding him of the Dark Mark, and looking at Cho's, he let out a gasp.
The girl straightened up. She had long black hair, was about the same height as Erwin, and had brown intellectual eyes. But what was stranger to Harry was that she was the same age as he. She cricked her neck, as though she had just woken up, smiled, and stared to speak. "Hi everyone! Sorry for the rude interruption, but I was touring Diagon Alley a few minutes ago. So I had to take the quick way back."
There was a commotion in the room. As far as Harry knew, the only way to get to a destination was by Apparition, and, Harry remembered, he was planning to take the Apparition test as soon as possible.
"Ah! Harry Potter!" Mia exclaimed as she laid her eyes on him, though she seemed to forget the usual glance at his scar. "Surprised that I could move from place to place without using Apparition (at this, Harry was shocked) and that I could read your mind? (at this, several students chuckled at him) Well, in the Philippines, we are actually in danger because of forces that are as terrible as that of Voldemort's."
Her statement was greeted with a stunned silence. Then Mia continued, in a grave voice, "Yes, it's true. Everyone in the Philippines is living in a death sentence each day. Each day that passes by is a blessing for most of them," - Colin Creevey gasped - "because we are always threatened by the the espiritu, or te spirits."
Everyone gasped in horror, while she continued. "Not all of them are evil though, but the espiritu are divided in the extremes: the benevolent engkantos, who are like Dumbledore (Harry grinned at the twins) and the malevolent halimaw, who will remind you of Voldemort and his Death Eaters (a shudder ran through the crowd). And the worst part is that they seem to have a permanent enchantment around them so that most spells used for escaping, such as Apparation, Portkeys or Floo fires, are rendered useless in their presence. It's as if the only way out is to fight."
"But, then," asked Cho, "how do you compensate for those...problems?"
"Well, Cho," answered Mia, "there are other forms of magic. We still use wands, but in times of fighting the halimaw, we use magic of the soul. Because of this, even Muggle Filipinos are considered wizards because, with training, they can harness their hidden powers just like experienced wizards. Also, we are going to teach you our magic because of two possibilities: either Voldemort would be caught off guard at the sight of a new kind of magic, or, heaven forbid, he might have already recruited several halimaw into his dark army." At this, everyone was silent, stunned by the two possibilities, as well as the revelation that Muggles aren't what they seemed.
Mia allowed them a few minutes' silence before continuing. "Now, spiritual magic is similar to wandless magic (Harry remembered the book Hermione gave him), except that the spells used are governed by sentient spirits, thus, they aren't limited to one purpose only."
At this, she took an ornately designed katana from a sheath behind her. "The fire conjuring spell in wandless magic is just that: a fire conjuring spell." She held out her hand and a ball of fire appeared. "However, in spiritual magic, the spell could be modified so that it does this." She muttered some words and the ball of fire began to envelope the sword. "See? This way, a sword can be enchanted to burn its opponents with each slash." She waved her hand, and the flames on the sword died down. "One more thing: the wielder of spirit magic also has a unique ability, one that sets him or herself from other spirit wizards.
"Right now, we are going to start with meditation. I have a feeling that most of you would have a hard time doing this, due to the fact that this would be the first time for most of you to harness your inner magic." "How would you know if you have harnessed your inner magic?" asked a boy from the group. "You'll know. You will feel it. It might take some time, but you will."
Three hours had already passed, and the room was silent. Harry tried to concentrate, but images of Cedric, Sirius and his parents kept breaking his concentration. He focused his will on one thing: to save his friends from those terrible fates. Suddenly, he felt a rush; at the same time, Cho gasped. He felt warm iron bands tighten in his heart, and an image of a white skull impaled by a red glowing sword. As suddenly as it happened, it stopped. He opened his eyes, and he saw Erwin looking down at him, positively beaming.
"Mia! Harry did it! His inner magic has awakened!" "I know, Cho here also awakened her power! Let's have a look at them, shall we?" Erwin and Mia gently led the two of them to the front, muttering slightly so that only Harry and Cho could hear, "Mia, I think the two of them make a great couple, don't you think?" At this, Harry and Cho looked at each other, then blushed a fiery red, and looked away, grinning." "Yeah, Erwin, I wish we were like them." Erwin looked at her suddenly (Harry noticed that he blushed suddenly), and Mia responded with a smile.
When they were in front of the class, Mia conjured a table and Erwin left the room, returning moments later with two stone basins with runes and markings etched on them: Pensieves. "Now, all you have to do is to place your wand tips on your head, think about the symbol that you saw in your head." Cho and Harry touched their heads with their wands, and Harry felt the thought of the skull slide of him as if water dripped from his hair. Placing it into the Pensieves, the two symbols rose high enough for all of them to see. Harry saw his symbol float high, reminding him of the Dark Mark, and looking at Cho's, he let out a gasp.
