Chapter 4:
The medical tests went better than expected, Lucy forced herself not to flinch when they pointed a wand at her, and she didn't lose control and blew them up when she felt their magic wash over her. All in all she felt pretty good about herself, she figured that keeping hold of her magic might not be as hard as she thought.
Days went by, and Lucy no longer felt in pain, just a mild weakness throughout her body. Matron holly assured her that it was just an after effect of the healing . Lucy's room was moved to the fourth floor, and she couldn't help but feel lucky to have a room all for herself. The old matron had come earlier today to talk to her about some visitors that would come for her tomorrow. Lucy nearly had a panic attack thinking it was her extended family. She did not want to put them in danger and she definitely did not want to involve them in a wizarding war, better they think her dead than to suffer the same fate as her parents. She only calmed down when the matron assured her that they were from the ministry of magic and that she would be here for her throughout the meeting. Lucy did not look forward to it. What she looked forwards to however was the promise of Hogwarts,the school of magic. Now that she finally felt somewhat safe, she took time to recall what she knew about the world she now inhabited. Which was not much. She had read the books as had many of the children her age did in her previous life, but that was decades ago . She found herself lost on the details . What she recalled however did not bode well. She had many years of conflict and terror to live through before the protagonist was even born.
She hated feeling weak and helpless, and Hogwarts was her ticket to becoming stronger, a witch and more importantly her first step on the path of revenge.
Her chaotic thoughts did not last however, because that night she had a visitor.
Meredith ,the ghost , came unannounced again. While Lucy did not mind the company, she did not like the current look on her transparent face. "you poor soul" she cried "how are you holding up?"
"What?" responded Lucy confused.
"Poor baby is in shock" she cried again " I would be too if I was in your shoes"
Lucy felt her stomach drop. "I...what?"
"They didn't tell you? How come?"
"Don't ask me." Snapped Lucy "what do you know?"
The ghostly face just held her gaze and she couldn't help but notice how much creepier it looked when it just seriously stared into her eyes.
"I heard them talk about you. There is no known cure to your case. There is no hope. I am sorry. " Declared Meredith.
The shadowy corners of the room seemed to loom ominously and she could faintly hear her heart hammering in her chest.
"But I am feeling fine, my limbs still feel weak but Its not too bad. I don't feel like I have a terminal disease"
"Well to spare you the technical terms. It's neither a disease nor a curse you're suffering from. It's a condition where your magic is overflowing uncontrollably, it's a rare condition witnessed in children who lose control of their magic because of trauma. With every mood swing , with every spike of fear or anger a child with your condition is as likely to kill themselves as those around them."
" But that doesn't mean I will definitely die, I just need to have good control of my feelings"
The ghost snorted "a child having complete control of their emotions is as likely as a troll learning how to dance. Occlumency is a skill that eludes even the most competent of wizards. Besides THAT is not the only reason I said there is no hope. Your biggest issue is that you happen to have an ungodly amount of magic for someone your age. Frankly its quiet disturbing."
"Too much magic? Isn't that a good thing? It means I can be powerful right?"
"True, but like every other child your age, your magic will grow and it will keep on growing until you hit seventeen. That's when your magic changes qualitatively. It's where children become adults when it comes to wizards, And unfortunately, it's also where you will meet your grizzly end. There is no human that can handle that much raw power in their body."
To say Lucy was shell shocked would be an understatement, and uncaring about her state of mind the ghost of the insensitive mediwitch continued "if it makes you feel any better you're more likely to kill yourself in one of your episodes like the one you had than for your body to fail you as you reach adulthood. "
Lucy did not know how she should react to this revelation. She hadn't even fully processed the death of her parents and now she had to deal with her own looming death. She did not fear her end, not after her first brutal demise, but she couldn't help but feel cheated. Why did she get a second chance just for it to crash and burn while she could only watch powerlessly? What did she do to deserve such fate?
Lucy figured that cursing fate would get her nowhere, she would rather curse those who directly caused it . If it wasn't for those death eaters she would still be home in her parents embrace. If it wasn't for their cruelty she would at least still have control of her magic. In her current state there was no revenge to be had. Hogwarts would never accept her. She probably would never step out of this hospital for the reminder of her life.
"You don't have to brood, everyone dies sooner or later. Besides, if you want you could still live on as a ghost . I promise I will take you in as my apprentice"
As weird as Meredith's comforting words were, she appreciated them. She knew the hyperactive ghost meant well even if she was brutally honest.
"Still if I can get my emotions under control, I can at least survive till seventeen right? I mean there is still a chance that my magic won't grow" Lucy knew she was grasping at straws but she wanted hope. Hope that she could at least live a little if only to extract a bit of revenge from those accursed death eaters.
The ghost hanging upside down regarded her for a while before she said "Theoretically, if you learn Occlumency you can at least control your magic. For the bigger problem however... I can see no hope."
"That's good enough for me, How do I learn?" said Lucy eagerly
The ghost just looked at her strangely "I don't think you understand. Occlumency is not something someone your age can learn, it takes years of hard work for the regular adult witch or wizard to master. Years that you don't have. It would cost you less pain to just give up such a foolhardy plan."
" You want me to just roll over and die?"
"I want you to enjoy what's left of your life, rather than see you waste it on false hope"
Strangely enough, Lucy did not feel angry or hurt by her words because behind them she felt her concern. For whatever reason the old ghost cares, and that was enough . After a moment of silence she simply said. " I am not afraid of pain, neither am I afraid of death. I just want to be able to handle a few... things." Then Lucy felt herself smile as she said " And I assure you that nothing would bring me greater joy than dealing with this unfinished business"
Meredith just held her gaze for while before letting a long sigh "You know sometimes I swear you sound like an old muggle gangster "
Lucy just laughed " how do you even know what an old gangster would sound like?"
Meredith just snorted again "Fine. if you want to struggle until the end so be it. I can at least help you with the basics of Occlumency. "
That night Lucy did not enjoy a restful sleep. She was understandably in a foul mood when she was woken up by one of the nurses to prepare for the meeting with the aurors.
Between breakfast and the time it took her to get ready , it was already time for the meeting. But nobody came , and the whole floor was eerily quiet . At first Lucy wondered if she was too nervous, but soon she noticed that things were wrong. The were no nurses running about, No patients or visitors coming up the floor. It was unsettling how things she usually tuned out suddenly disappeared.
Lucy opened the door, she could not stay still in this kind of situation. As she slowly navigated the familiar corridor, she remembered the countless horror movies she watched in her past life and couldn't help but shudder. The thought of the countless horrors that no doubt now existed in this accursed magical world chilled her spine. Thankfully as she got closer to the stairs she heard a commotion. As she crept closer, she overheard the Matron yell in anger
"SHE'S JUST A GIRL"
"SHE'S A PUBLIC DANGER." Responded another voice just as angrily "She blew up a whole residential bloc for merlin's sake, we couldn't even find a complete corpse in all the rubble. She's putting all of you and your patients in danger."
Another voice calmly interjected between the heavy silence that followed the yelling. "We understand your stance as a Medical professional Matron, but we can't risk having such a variable especially not in view of recent events. We will simply escort her out of here. I promise you no harm will come to the girl"
"She is a patient. You can't come in here accompanied by a dozen aurors and unspeakables and tell me she will come to no harm. You're treating her like a criminal."
Lucy did not like what she heard between all the shouting. It did not take a genius to know that they were talking about her, though she did not remember reducing anything to rubble. To be fair she still did not know how she got away from the clutches of that death eater. Did she really cause such a disaster in her desperation?
Unfortunately, she had no time to ponder such questions. She had to run first. Lucy did not want to imagine what they would do if she was caught especially not by those unspeakables. She might not remember the books word for word but she knew that one could not escape easily once inside the department of mysteries. The moment she's caught she would kiss her revenge goodbye.
Lucy could feel the tensions between the mediwizards and the aurors mounting downstairs. She long knew that the windows in all the patient's rooms were enchanted . Jumping from one of them is not feasible , this left only one exit: The crowded stairs.
The angry mob was getting ever so restless. After taking a peek behind the wall she noticed that many of them had their wands at hand . The Aurors and mediwizards gave each other measuring looks as the matron and the would-be leader of the law enforcement were still in a shouting match.
Lucy knew she had to be careful. She could not rush in blindly. If only there was a more chaos, she thought, it would increase her odds of running away successfully, If only there was a spark.
"I am a witch" whispered Lucy to herself "I can be the spark".
She knew that what she was about to do may have far reaching consequences but she did not care. she had to escape .No matter what she could not be caught, even if the nurses and the matron who have been very kind to her were to get hurt. So she bit her lip and concentrated. She needed a spark, a spell, to hit someone preferably an auror . She hated her weak self. She needed to concentrate on the magic. If only she was strong she would have just walked out of here with no one getting hurt . She had concentrate on the magic. But no, she was going to bite the hand that fed her and scurry around like a rat to run . She must concentrate on the magic. She crouched on the floor and focused on one particularly scarred auror. "I need a spark , just one spark" she whispered continuously. She needed strength, strength to fight, strength to change, she needed MAGIC.
Lucy felt a twist in her gut, followed by a rush of strength and euphoria, then for a brief moment, she locked eyes with the scarred auror, but, before he could react an explosion sparked right in front of his face. The situation quickly devolved into chaos as she expected. Curses both magical and verbal were thrown in the clustered corridor.
Lucy kept low and sprinted through the crowd, being, for the first time, grateful for her short stature. Countless spells flew throughout the tight space but by some miracle none hit her. She concentrated solely on working her short legs. She jumped over the few bodies strewn on the ground and made way for the stairs.
The plan was simple enough. Once out of the danger zone she would make her way down to the reception, from there she could work her way out either by the door or floo powder.
Lucy was getting closer to the stairs. She could feel herself getting further and further away from the fighting. Before she could rejoice however, she froze right at the head of the stairs. She was not hit by a spell, but she might as well have been. She felt something coming slowly up the stairs and it terrified her. What she felt was no doubt magic, but there was no way it belonged to a human. She could generally feel magic around the mediwitches and nurses that attended to her, it was like awakening a new sense but it was nothing special. She could not feel anything interesting from the magic around her so she chose to ignore it. This lump of magic headed up these stairs however felt almost as if it had weight, weight that she noticed did not act upon her physically but she felt it all the same
Lucy stayed frozen in her spot not daring to go forward nor could she run back towards the fighting. Slow deliberate footsteps came closer and closer up the stairs accompanied by the weird sensation of gravity. It did not take her long to notice that the fighting had died down and that those who still stood on their feet were looking her way, or more precisely towards the newcomer. Then she heard someone among the crowd whisper through gritted teeth "Dumbledore" .