Chapter Ten—Classroom Education
Early the next morning, Harry dragged himself out of bed to go to his first class of the new year, Transfiguration. As he dressed, the reasons why he wished it were still Christmas break came to him one by one. No homework… No Malfoy and Snape… He could just spend all day with his friends…
Oh, well. Maybe today would be fun anyway.
Yeah, right.
He went down to breakfast with Ron and Hermione, Link and Zelda still being in bed. When the three of them returned to the common room to retrieve their books, however, they found the Hylians wide awake and waiting for them. Even more bewildering, they were both dressed in Gryffindor robes and uniforms; Zelda still wore her crown and Triforce necklace, and Link still had his sword on his back, the baldric crossing over his shirt and the hilt protruding from his robe, but they had unmistakably raided someone's closets. At the moment, they were fighting over Link's hat.
"Do you know how stupid you will look wearing it with the rest of your outfit?" Zelda insisted angrily, holding it out of his reach.
"Do you know how stupid I already look dressed like this?" Link countered; he looked strange with his hair exposed. "Give it back!"
"No! I didn't let you wear it to our wedding, and you're not wearing it now!"
They continued to glare at each other, without speaking, but Harry had the distinct impression that they conversation was continuing within their minds; after all, they did have telepathy. A moment later, Zelda snapped her fingers and the hat disappeared. Link folded his arms and sighed angrily, looking like a child whose mother had just taken away his favourite toy to punish him for causing trouble.
"Er…something wrong?" asked Hermione, to announce their presence.
"Oh, there you are!" said Zelda, noticing them with a smile. "Hope you don't mind, but we borrowed some of your clothes. We wanted to blend in."
"No, go ahead," said Harry vaguely, trying very hard not to laugh; he could see Ron putting in just as much effort next to him. "Why do you need to blend, though? Everyone knows about you."
"Yes, but we still don't want to be too much of a distraction," Zelda explained. "We're coming to class with you."
"To class?" Ron echoed in disbelief. "But…why? You don't have to."
"Because we want to."
Link coughed noticeably.
"I want to," she amended, shooting him a look. "I want to see what sorts of things you're learning."
"Oh," said Harry, surprised. "Okay, then. We all have Transfiguration first, with Professor McGonagall."
"McGonagall… She's the Head of Gryffindor, isn't she?" asked Link, apparently trying to summon her up in his memory.
"Right."
"She seems tough."
"Yeah, she is," Ron admitted.
"At least she's human, though," Harry muttered. "Not anywhere near as bad as Snape."
"Slytherin?" asked Link and Zelda in unison. They had picked up on the patterns of life at Hogwarts already.
Harry gave a grunt of confirmation.
"He teaches Potions," Hermione elaborated, crossing the room to where her bag sat by her usual chair, to sling her books over her shoulder. "But we don't have him today. Anyway, let's get going."
As they picked up their own backpacks, Ron glanced at the Hylians before muttering to Harry in an undertone, "Why do I have a feeling today's lessons are going to be much more interesting than usual?"
Zelda's theory that she and Link would fit in better while wearing Hogwarts uniforms turned out to be surprisingly accurate; besides the obvious fact that they now matched everyone else in their style of dress, the clothes served to covered their ethereal glow and make them look more solid and existent. The small differences of their appearances were less noticeable now than the similarities. Numerous students that they passed gave them odd glances, but not a negative reaction, and quite a few people also walked by apparently without noticing a thing. Harry thought that what gave the foreigners away most was the way they walked; Zelda carried herself with the complete grace and dignity of the royalty she was, and Link's stride resembled that of a confident alpha male patrolling his territory. Neither one could completely pass for a normal teenager.
While Harry, Ron and Hermione took their usual seats in Transfiguration, Link and Zelda opted to sit at the back, where they would be unobtrusive.
"Good morning, class," Professor McGonagall said to begin the lesson. She paused after this statement, taking a moment to recognize the Hylians, before continuing as if there was nothing abnormal about her class. "Welcome back. I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas. And I trust you all completed your reading assignment, the conclusion of Untransfiguration and beginning of Self-Transfiguration?"
There was a murmur of assent.
"Good. So, just as a quiz, who can tell me what the great French research team of Despatie, Montimony and Boileau discovered?"
As usual, Hermione was the first to put her hand in the air.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
"They were potions researchers by trade, but also performed research into the effects of different atmospheric compositions and chemical interactions on various types of magic, using Transfiguration and Untransfiguration in their experiments. They discovered that some liquids, including most of those that can be safely ingested by humans, are conducive to some types of magic, while others, including the most corrosive acids and bases, reflect it. By coating a target in such substances, it is therefore possible to form either a sort of shield against magic or else to enhance the effects of a spell on oneself, which can make Self-Transfiguration easier."
"Very good. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, Self-Transfiguration is quite possibly the most difficult form of this branch of magic. It does become easier, however, with practice. A wizard who performs the same transformation repeatedly, say, turning himself into a cat, will soon find that it takes little effort at all. That same wizard may also find that alterations which he does not use as often may be much more challenging, even if they seem simpler, such as, say, changing his eye colour.
"For beginners, however, the general rule remains that the less dramatic the change is to be, the simpler it will be to attempt. We will start with basic pigmentation changes today, focusing on the skin, hair and eyes." With a smile, she added, "I'm going to assume that at least one person in this room attempted these spells over the Christmas break, since this happens every year. In fact, in the past some people have become quite proficient without my instruction. So, if anyone in the class falls into that category, would they like to volunteer a demonstration?"
No one did, and the students fell totally silent, though all looked around to see if any of their classmates would speak up. Then, from the back, an ever so slightly translucent hand raised above the crowd. Every head swivelled to see Zelda smirking playfully.
"I'll try," she suggested modestly. Harry saw Link give her a look that very plainly had a telepathic message attached to it which no one but Zelda could hear.
Taken slightly aback, Professor McGonagall said, "Yes, of course…" she hesitated, apparently unsure how to address the young woman. Miss Hyrule? Your Majesty? "Of course," she said again, nodding. "Go right ahead."
Zelda rose to her feet, and every pair of eyes in the room followed her as she walked in her imperial way to the front of the class. Harry couldn't help wondering exactly what she was going to show them, and knew everyone else must have felt the same way, including McGonagall. He hadn't seen either Link or Zelda use their magic yet, and he had never seen magic other than Potions or Animagus transformations that didn't involve a wand. Whatever this was, he had a feeling it was going to be good, and he shifted forward in his seat.
Zelda gave her right hand a shake, as though limbering it up. She extended it straight out to the side, leaning all her weight onto her other leg, then brought up her left arm as well. Her hands met over her head, energy crackling between them. Quickly, she dropped her arms in front of her, crouching slightly as she pulled the magic along her body. For a moment, there was a bright flash of light which originated from her, and everyone had to blink and look away. The glow faded almost instantly, though, and when it was gone, Harry's jaw dropped.
Head to toe in a blue and white bodysuit with a stylized design across the chest of a red eye crying a single tear, with her hands taped for combat, most of her face hidden, and her hair wrapped in a turban, Zelda was unrecognizable as a queen or even a female. Looking closer, Harry saw that she had even changed her fair skin to a bronze tan, and her blue eyes, so like Link's, to a fiery red. It took him a moment to realize how and why she would have the ability to transform herself like this. Then it struck him: this was her alter ego…
"Sheik," Hermione whispered next to him.
"That's right," he said; the voice was that of a man, to match the body. "My name is Sheik, survivor of the Sheikah, ally of the legendary Hero of Time." He nodded to Link, who waved.
"Long time no see," he commented casually, unable to keep his face straight.
"Well," said Professor McGonagall, sounding impressed; the showmanship of this spell was just as remarkable as the result. "Thank you very much for that…noteworthy example."
Inclining his head respectfully, Sheik brought his hands together at his chest before swinging them in a circle to come together over his head as they had done a moment before. There was another blinding flash, and when it faded, Zelda stood there again. Her hair and skirt were momentarily caught in a breeze, but when it died, she looked as she had always done and smiled out at the class.
Someone started a round of applause, and it caught on quickly. Beaming, Zelda gave a slight bow and said, "Thank you," before returning to her seat at the back.
"All right, class," said McGonagall, taking charge of the lesson after the brief interlude. "You have the theories, and you've seen what Self-Transfiguration can do. Let's see your own efforts."
"Wow," Ron muttered, as they got to work attempting to alter their hair colours, "Hermione, you've got competition. Think you can handle being second best?"
"To the most legendary and powerful queen in the prehistory of the world?" Hermione commented dryly, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, actually, I'm okay with that."
Because Zelda's demonstration in Transfiguration class was one of the most exciting things that had happened during a lesson in a long time, the Gryffindors eagerly awaited another display during their next class, Charms.
However, neither Hylian volunteered to show their skills in this discipline as Flitwick taught them all how to control the behaviours of objects that had already been animated with spells. They were both clearly having too much fun learning about magic as it was performed at Hogwarts, Link just as much as Zelda. Both found great amusement in experimenting with Harry, Ron and Hermione's wands in turn to see what they could do; Zelda in particular found the idea of using pieces of carved wood to direct magic an interesting innovation.
"Oh! I made it fly!"
"Hey, let me try that!"
"You already had a turn."
"But all I did was make it spin around in circles! Although that was pretty funny."
"Er… Sorry to interrupt, but we really do have to be getting back to our assignment…"
"Oh, right. Here's your wand back."
Herbology, too, proved fascinating for the two of them. Link was a child of the forest, and as such, anything to do with plants appealed to him personally. The sixth-years also happened to be studying many potentially dangerous plants, which only made him and Zelda more intrigued. When a small Bombsai tree exploded at Zelda's touch, Link was practically on the floor laughing at her, which she did not appreciate.
"That was not funny!"
"Yes, it was! The look on your face, it was priceless!"
"Oh, honestly…"
She got revenge, however, by returning the reaction when a Venomous Tentacula took advantage of his lapse to wind a tendril around his ankle, and nearly pulled his feet out from underneath him.
"Whoa!"
"Behold, the grace and athleticism that is the Hero of Time!"
"Aw, shut up, Zel."
It was a good thing that neither one of them had a tendency to place much value on what others thought of them. Even Professor Sprout couldn't hide how entertaining she found their enthusiasm. Harry and Hermione agreed that Ron would be sorry he had missed it for History of Magic.
As they made their way back up to the castle to wash up before their last class of the day, Link commented, "I've gotta say, going to school isn't nearly as boring as I thought it would be."
"It's definitely fun," Zelda agreed enthusiastically.
Harry had to agree. Everything was much more entertaining when Link and Zelda were part of it.
"It's about to get more 'fun,'" commented Hermione darkly, looking at something just inside the Entrance Hall of the castle, which they had just come into. Harry, Link and Zelda followed her gaze.
"Damn," Harry groaned.
Draco Malfoy, morally supported on either side as usual by Crabbe and Goyle, was making straight across the hall towards them with his usual smirk on his face. Harry stepped forward, ready for whatever his enemy intended to dish out. But he wasn't the target of Malfoy's attention.
Malfoy came to a halt before Link, and they stood face to face. It was only then that Harry realized how much they looked alike, now that they were wearing the same clothes. They both had blond hair, though Malfoy's was silvery pale and Link's was more reddish, and they both had the same sharply defined features, though Link's somehow suited him more, as though he had grown into them. In short, Link could pull off his appearance to look effortlessly handsome, while Malfoy simply looked average.
He looked Link and Zelda up and down critically before letting out a short snort of laughter, which his cronies obediently imitated.
Looking slightly surprised, rather as he would if he had seen a dog attempt a trick that was too difficult for it, Link glanced at Harry and asked curiously, pointing to Malfoy, "Who's this guy?"
Before Harry could answer, Malfoy spoke.
"So," he sneered at them, "you're here to fight the Dark Lord? And you honestly think you can?"
Link's face hardened, but he showed no outward emotion. Zelda, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow beneath her crown and observed in a dangerously icy voice, "You sound doubtful."
"That's because there's no way you can win," Malfoy replied instantly, as if explaining that night followed day, that spring followed winter, or that the world was, in fact, round. "The Dark Lord is the most powerful wizard in the history of the world. Nothing can destroy him. Especially not a couple of ghosts or zombies or something from a civilization that fell centuries ago."
"It was millennia ago, actually," Link corrected him evenly, "and we're not ghosts or zombies. We're souls."
"Just a quick question about this Dark Lord you keep mentioning," Zelda spoke up innocently. "Are you referring to Ganondorf, or Voldemort?"
Harry knew that she was fully aware of the impact of speaking Lord Voldemort's name, and he smirked when Malfoy flinched.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she went on, bringing a hand up to her mouth in a gesture of mock horror. "I forgot you don't like to hear Voldemort's name… Oops, I let it slip again!"
Malfoy fixed a snarl on his face, though Harry could see that it was artificial. "It takes more than that to scare me," he spat. "Just like it'll take more than some princess and her boyfriend to stop the Dark Lord."
Before the words were really out of his mouth, Malfoy was off the ground, having been roughly lifted by the collar by Link. The Hylian was growling murderously at the Slytherin, who let out a choking cry, kicking in the air.
"Show some respect," Link threatened. "She's the Queen of Hyrule, not a princess, and I'm the Supreme Commander of her army, not her boyfriend. Got it?"
Without waiting for an answer, Link dropped Malfoy heavily onto his feet again, where he staggered to regain his balance. Crabbe and Goyle only watched; one fidgeted uneasily, the other stood perfectly still with his mouth hanging open, and both were apparently taken by surprise at this display of sheer strength. While Link certainly looked muscular, he didn't look strong enough to lift Malfoy a clear foot off the ground with one hand and no effort, as he had just done.
"Link," Zelda scolded maternally, "he's just a little kid, he doesn't know any better. Don't hurt him too much."
Again, Harry knew that Zelda said what she did with the intent to insult, and that it would work. Sure enough, Malfoy's pale skin tinted and he glared at her.
"What did you call me?"
"A kid," Zelda repeated. With a maddeningly condescending smile, she added, "And I think it's very cute how much faith you have in your little Dark Lord. Now, we have to go do some grown-up stuff, so why don't you go outside and play? The weather's really nice."
Malfoy was very clearly at a loss for words. He could handle most threats, insults, or any number of aggressive responses to his perpetually abusive attitude, but no one had ever so completely blown him off like that, without the slightest trace of anger or fear. Similarly, no one who had threatened him had ever been so blatantly ready, willing and able to carry through on their words.
"Of course, we could always continued this conversation," Link suggested casually, flexing his fingers. "I wouldn't mind."
Malfoy continued to maintain his façade of confident aggression as he muttered mutinously for his friends to follow him outside, but he gave a small flinch when Link made a sharp move in their direction as they passed him.
"That kid'd get along great with Mido," he muttered, narrowing his eyes after the three Slytherins.
"Bullying little brats," Zelda agreed, dropping her sweet attitude to an irritated grumble. Changing the subject as they continued on their way across the Entrance Hall, she asked, "Do we have more classes to go to now?"
"We only have one class left," Hermione answered, "and we're meeting up with Ron for that one."
"Which one is that?"
"Defence Against the Dark Arts."
"Hi, everybody! Welcome back!"
Tonks had her arms full of books when she entered the room just after all the Gryffindors and wove her way between the desks to the front of the class. She dropped the volumes on her desk heavily (then quickly snatched up the few papers that had fallen and righted the pencil holder she had tipped, sending its contents rolling across her desk) before smiling out at them all.
"Have a good Christmas?"
They muttered that they had.
"Glad to be back at school?"
The murmur that greeted her this time was much more subdued, and she laughed.
"Don't worry about it, I know I wouldn't be. But I promise, this term's gonna be great. Remu—I mean, Professor Lupin and I did a bunch of planning over the break, and we've got some really fun practical lessons coming up, to give you a chance to put the skills you've learned so far together in complex situations. There'll be some team games, some individual challenges, things like that. Lots of free reign to show off what you can do. Sound good?"
It did, and most of the class nodded agreeably to that effect.
"Good! Now, for your first day back, we're going to go outside and have some duelling. Leave your stuff here, you'll just need your wands."
"Duelling," said Ron thoughtfully. "Maybe it'll actually be fun this time, without Lockhart and Snape around to suck anything good out of it."
"And Malfoy," Hermione added.
But Harry was thinking about something else. Another person who could make duelling a very different experience from the one they had had in second year…
Tonks must have been thinking the same thing, because when they arrived outside, Link was at her side grinning, and she said with a wide smile, "Okay, class, slight change of plans. Today's lesson is going to be an adventure into some…different forms of defensive skills than the ones you've used before. Thanks to our very special guests." She nodded to Link, and stepped aside for him to take over.
"Hi," he said, waving at the class. "You all know me, I'm Link. You probably don't really know who I am, though. But back in my world, I'm pretty famous. Let me show you why."
He shrugged off his robe and tossed it aside. The Master Sword, which had been fairly well hidden, was now the most noticeable and striking part of his appearance, and Harry heard more than one surprised gasp.
Without a word, Link drew the shining weapon in his left hand and held it straight out to the side for them all to see. Then he quickly swung his arm in a wide circle in front of him, releasing the blade towards his right; it whipped through the air, glinting as it flipped over, to land in his casually extended right hand. Tossing it behind his own back, he turned around on the spot to catch it again in his left hand over his head. He twirled it lazily between his fingers as he lowered it to speak.
"This is what I do. Fencing. But I also know just about every other form of combat and martial arts. Archery, boxing, wrestling, and of course magic. Sometimes I blend them together. But today, I'm just gonna show you some basic swordplay moves, offensive and defensive. Hey, Zel, spar with me."
Zelda, who was standing with Harry, Ron and Hermione, blinked in surprise. "What? Oh, Link, I'm so out of practice…"
Link snorted. "Come on, I'll go easy on you. It's just a demonstration. I don't even have my shield on me."
For a moment, she simply looked at him doubtfully. The she sighed, "Fine," and threw off her own robe as well.
"Now, even though me and Zelda know pretty much every form of battle skills there are, she fights in a different style than me," Link explained as she stepped forward. "I use the Hylian style, and she uses the Sheikah style. You all saw her other side, shall we say, in Transfiguration class?"
Zelda rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "I'm not going to bother transforming again," she informed Link. "I'll just use Sheik's weapons." With a flick of the wrist, she conjured from thin air into her right hand a short sword, much less decorative than Link's but evidently just as sharp.
"All right," he said, bracing himself in a fighting stance, facing her and smiling. "Let's go."
First, he showed them the proper technique of simple vertical slashes, horizontal swipes, backhanded manoeuvres, and head-on stabs. He showed them how to block these same moves or turn opponents' attacks against them. With each move, he grew more and more enthusiastic, and Zelda, too, couldn't hide the fact that she enjoyed the fight. However, it was very clear why Link was the Hero of Time: because he loved it. He moved swiftly and easily, and though it was obvious that he wasn't really trying to attack Zelda, it was equally obvious that he could have killed her if he had wanted to, though she was apparently no stranger herself to this type of combat herself.
Soon, they had moved from demonstrating individual moves into unscripted, real sparring. Gymnastics came into play as both Link and Zelda used flips, rolls, handsprings and other skills to dodge attacks from each other; they also began using their hands and feet to attack and defend, showing that they did, in fact, know their ways around wrestling and boxing as well. Though it was impressive to see how much Zelda could pull off in a skirt, it was far more impressive to see the things that Link could pull off at all, especially given that he hardly appeared to be trying. This was play for him, not a challenge, and Harry suspected he was getting caught up in it much as Quidditch players did in their matches, forgetting what else was going on.
The match ended when Link performed a light roundhouse kick to bat aside a punch Zelda was trying to land on his face, and immediately followed up with a twisting stab of his own weapon that caught her blade and sent it flying from her grip to land several metres away. With a victorious laugh, he pointed the Master Sword to her throat and informed her happily, "I win."
Harry's suspicion, that he had slipped into a zone of oblivious concentration, was confirmed when he visibly jumped at the round of vigorous applause that followed this display. Grinning sheepishly around at the crowd that he had apparently forgotten was watching, he said, "Thanks."
"Er…Sir Hero…" spoke up Dean Thomas nervously after a moment.
"Just call me Link.
"Okay, then… Link… I mean…that was really, really cool, but… What does it have to do with magic?" he finished sheepishly, almost apologetically.
"I'm glad you asked," Link told him with a nod. "Basically, it can't hurt to know how to kill someone in a more conventional way. Why's that, you ask? Well, I find that sometimes the most effective way to battle magical opponents is through non-magical means. They won't be expecting that, will they, so they won't know what to do. And if you lost your wand or something, you wouldn't have a choice. Plus there's no counter spell for a good kick in the face," he concluded with a sideways smirk.
"Now, I should also point out that this particular sword is magical, and specifically forged to conquer the forces of evil," Link went on, holding up the Master Sword. "It lets me travel through time, it can defeat things that aren't really alive, it identifies people that are destined to save the world, and I can use it against magic." To Zelda, he gave a jerk of his head towards himself and said, "Pass me some electricity, Ganon style."
Zelda nodded and raised one hand over her head, where it surrounded itself with throbbing yellow light. When she had built it up, she flung her arm down as if pitching a ball, and released the electricity towards Link. He didn't move as it came towards him, but at the last second, he slashed the Master Sword in front of him and repelled Zelda's magic. She ducked as it soared over her head.
"See, like that," Link said, smiling at the awed class again. "Not to mention that this sword even has some magical powers of its own. Here, lemme show you."
Zelda must have known what was coming, because she stood back as Link braced himself in a wide lunge, his sword held straight out at shoulder height and a look of fierce concentration on his face. At first, nothing seemed to be happening, but only seconds later, they saw the blade begin to crackle and glow with blue energy. A quiet gasp passed through the class, and they watched as Link continued to hold his position while the aura of power grew.
Then, with an almighty battle cry, Link released the charged energy and whirled in a circle; the Master Sword was a blur of magic that looked like fire, tearing a ring through the air that would certainly destroy anyone or anything that fell within it.
When the burst of energy subsided, Link wiped his brow with his sleeve and leaned on the end of his sword, which was jabbed point down into the sod. The Gryffindors were completely silent in amazement as he looked out at them pleasantly.
"So… Any questions?"
That evening, Link and Zelda's display in Defence Against the Dark Arts, and the explanation of Zelda's remarkably good gender-switching disguise, were the central topics of conversation at Hogwarts. The Gryffindors sixth-years told all their friends what they had seen, and by that evening, the whole school had heard the tale. Some thought it was exaggerated, and though Harry knew from personal experience that events such as this often became so embellished and elaborate that no one could mistake them for reality any longer, he found that not to be the case this time. Fiction couldn't improve on truth.
"…and then they started doing these somersaults and back flips…"
"She got him in a headlock, but he got out of it…"
"…had this huge sword…"
"You wouldn't believe it."
"…so she looked just like a man, you'd never know…"
"…thought someone was gonna get their head cut off."
"It was so cool."
"…sends out a bunch of magic right from the sword…"
"Incredible."
"Amazing."
"Wow."
And as Ron pointed out, the story that spread at mach two through the halls of Hogwarts was sure to be enough to convince Draco Malfoy that "some princess and her boyfriend" were more than a match for his "little Dark Lord."
Fortunately, both Zelda and Link were completely used to being in the spotlight, and didn't notice at all when all eyes fell upon them when they entered the Great Hall for dinner. They were more pleased that they had gotten a chance to use some skills that had been dormant for far too long within them, as well as dabbling in some new areas.
"I wish I could have gone to school like this when I was a kid!" Zelda said keenly as she filled her plate, sitting across from Link and next to Hermione. "I was home schooled by my nursemaid, Impa. Goddesses know I love her, and she taught me a lot of great things, but I never had classes or people my own age or anything like that. This way is so much fun." She grinned before adding, "Plus I got to be Sheik again. Now that was great."
"I can't believe you actually have a class where you get to fight," Link said; he hadn't stopped smiling all afternoon. "Man, I've missed that," he sighed contentedly, "swordplay and everything. It just felt so good to get back to it." For at least the tenth time, he concluded, "Most fun I've had in a long time."
"And I don't know why you complain about homework," Zelda went on. "That assignment of Flitwick's sounds really interesting!"
"Not for people who don't like to spend all their time reading," Link countered darkly.
"Well, forgive me if I enjoy being productive and learning something," Zelda told him haughtily.
Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged furtive smiles when the face Link was making at her as she spoke was interrupted by a piece of potato that flew across the table and struck him between the eyes.