That Moody man was pointing at her, "what is that?"
Taranis was shocked and maddened at the insult, "I am not a 'what', Mr. Freaky eye, I am a 'who' and my name is Professor Aislin and you will remember that when speaking to me!"
"Harumph! Professor Aislin," said the man walking up to her, "I was not referring to you, but to that thing around you, I don't normally see auras but yours must be particularly strong. I apologize for the misunderstanding," he held out his hand for her and she took it, reluctantly nodding consent. "Wispy tentacle like things they are, Albus mentioned that trick you do, is it something to do with that?"
"Dumbledore?" she said surprised that he had said anything.
The old man nodded his head, "Alistair is an old and dear friend Taranis and I assure you he can be trusted."
Taking a deep breath she turned back to the former, "energy, probably static, it seems to be drawn to me and I assume that is what you take see."
"You can control it?"
"Somewhat." Glancing over to Severus, he was standing with his arms crossed and a blank expression on his face.
"Show me," Alistair said much to her chagrin.
Taranis just stood there for a few moments as if frozen before the head master came over and put his hand on her shoulder. "I would be interested to see this as well child," he said in that calm soothing voice.
"Fine," she said abruptly, "but this is not some silly 'trick' as you put it, and I am not putting on a show for 'your' benefit Mr. Moody."
Severus was amused that she had stood up to Moody, he was fairly intimidating in his appearance and demeanor, but that didn't seem to have any affect at all. He watched as she took a chair and moved it in front of her where she stood for several minutes with closed eyes. She raised her hands to a cupping position at her chest and he began to see small flashes of light as energy started to crackle around her. The hair on his arms stood on end as a ball of light began to form in her upturned hands. Dumbledore stepped in between where he and Moody stood and, putting a hand on each man's chest, gently moved them backwards. A fierce look of concentration fixed on the woman's face as she turned her palms away from her and suddenly pushed the ball forward. The chair exploded as the energy slammed into it, pieces of wood showered the room, causing them to instinctively put their arms up to cover their faces from debris.
The three men stood gaping at her in awe until Alistair clapped his hands, "well, well that is marvelous dear, nice to have that up your sleeve so to speak. Yes," the two men made their way over to her "you could say I'm ecstatic about it, heh heh, get it ecs-tatic.".
"I really don't see much use in it myself, it's not very often I have a need to blow things up," she said blankly, "I'm glad you enjoyed the show."
The man said his goodbyes and left, Severus' silent glare was unsettling as Dumbledore gave them his copy of Merlin's book. "Severus, I trust you will be very careful with this book, and I would suggest you start this task immediately. I'm sure you both are aware of the consequences, should we not be the first to reach that chalice."
"Where are Merlin and the Grail now exactly?" The potions master drawled.
"At the Aisle of Avalon there is a cave, the one where his lover Vivienne supposedly entrapped him. It is well hidden, but a skilled wizard could possibly find it if he knew where to look."
Severus nodded to the old man and, holding the book turned to Taranis, "be in my office at 8:00 tonight," was the sharp demand as he left.
Taranis spent the afternoon in her rooms, thinking about the project that lay ahead of her and planning a course of action. Dinner was a silent affair. She hadn't even noticed that Xiomara was speaking to her until a hand waived in front of her face, "Earth to Professor Aislin." She had wanted to know is Taranis was going to attend the Quiddich match, to which she declined, saying she had too much class work to do.
That evening as she sat in her office going over some papers to show Severus, a knock sounded on the door. She had forgot all about Harry! Oh! "Come on in Harry, sorry I was busy. Can I get you some tea? Go on and have a seat."
Brewing the tea she continued, "I've been told about your experience with Voldemort and how you got that scar."
Harry flinched in response, "I was just a baby so if you're after the details I don't remember," he said sounding angry, obviously he was upset at the thought of being questioned by yet another curious person. He got up and made to leave.
"Sit! Harry, I'm not here to ask for your story, I'm here to tell you mine." His eyes went wide and slowly he sank back into his chair, excepting the offered cup of tea. She was opting for a glass of wine as the occasion definitely called for one. "What I am about to tell you will remain strictly confidential, is that understood?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he said with a nod of his head.
She looked him straight in the eye, "I have also survived the Killing Curse Harry."
"What? How is that possible? They said no one else has ever lived through the Avada Kedavra."
"My story is not, thankfully, as well publicized as yours." Harry sat patiently as he waited for her to continue. "I've debated on where to start and what to tell you, but here it is." She plopped down on the couch. "My grandmother is a faerie, and I am one quarter faerie."
"Little flying pixies?" he blurted out looking confused.
She shook her head, "faerie folk, fey or sidhe they are often called look much the same as you, or I, Harry, they are the oldest magical creatures in the world. Millennia ago the planet was much larger, and it was dying, the sidhe sundered the world creating the solar system as you know it and unfortunately losing much of the great magic they had at that time into the atmosphere. Since then they have lived here controlling all the elements of mother nature herself, molding much of life as we know it. They prefer to live isolated lives for the most part, which is why it is rare that one is ever seen."
Pausing to drink her wine she continued, "wizards' magic comes from that which is expelled by the fey. Certain people attract that magic, draw it to them and that makes them a witch or wizard. Usually it's hereditary but not always. Much of the enormous amount of magic that was expelled long ago has been used, which is why you may hear people talking about how the wizarding community is less powerful now, it's not because of the whole Muggle infiltration thing at all."
Harry sat quietly, trying to absorb the story as she told it. "When a fey has a child with a human, some of that power is passed on, apparently innate, until after marriage when a certain ceremony is performed to draw it out and pass it to both man and wife." Taranis got up and began to pace the room.
"So you don't have any of those powers yet."
"I have, you could say a taste of them. A few odd things here and there, nothing much. These things are not well known Harry, as I said, few have even seen a real faerie. Well, apparently a man discovered what I was and that he wanted those abilities for himself. We actually dated a few times, he seemed nice at first, then I found out what he really was, and what he wanted. I will spare you the details, but suffice to say that if you imagine the worse possible scenario, it would be nothing compared to what I had to endure at his hands."
Taranis shivered as she tried to keep the memory at bay, "for weeks I was tortured, until I managed to draw my strength and blind him in one eye, actually I think I completely destroyed the bastard's eye. In a rage he left me to die, and had my parents not found me, I believe I would have."
She poured another glass of wine and stood leaning against her desk, "I recuperated, laid low for a couple of years, and then one day I was out with my folks and 'pow' out of no where I heard 'Avada Kedavra'."
"The killing curse," whispered Harry, more to himself than her.
"Had I not my grandmother's blood in my veins I would have died. My parents put me to ground to heal."
The boy looked shocked, "like a vampire, buried alive?"
That made her smile, "no, I still need to breathe Harry, but we draw the healing energy from the earth and so I was able to repair my body thus."
"Did they capture him, the man who did that to you?"
"No. No, Harry they did not. He's still out there somewhere." She said, trying not to feel pity for that fact, "that's why I'm here at Hogwarts. My father wanted to protect me and so he thought sending me half way around the world seemed like a good idea." Moving over to pat his shoulder and continuing over to her desk she sat and picked up a quill, examining it, "I hear that curse in my sleep every night and I swear I can still feel the blinding pain wash over me. Harry, you and Dumbledore are the only ones who know about this and I'm only telling you, because, well, now neither one of us has to feel like we're all alone in this. You are the boy who lived Harry and I am the girl."
"So we've both got somebody after us, waiting to kill us."
"Yeah, but they've gotta catch us first, and I happen to think we're smarter than them," she grinned.
They spoke for a few more minutes before her office door slammed open and Professor Snape came storming in looking furious, "you are late!"
Glancing at the clock which read 8:30 she sighed, "so I am, but maybe if you'd ask me when I'd be available instead of telling me, you'll not be disappointed next time." Taranis had no fight left in her after her talk with Harry, Snape was standing at the door fuming and all she noticed how attractive he was. She wanted to run her hands all over those buttons and up to the starched white collar, but instead she walked over to her shelf and grabbed a book taking it to him. She looked up at him apologetically, "look I'm sorry Severus I didn't mean to be late really and I wouldn't intentionally waste your time. Here," she said handing over the fairly large book, "here is some research I've already done why don't you take it down and I promise I'll be there in ten minutes."
His glare at her softened quite a lot, Harry noticed, before Snape took the book and, shooting Harry a dangerous look, turned and stormed out the door.
"Wow," said Harry after he'd left.
"What?"
"You sure stopped his rant. I'm surprised. I'd be spending a week in detention for wasting his time."
"It's called professional respect," she grinned, "besides, I've got to go down to his dungeons yet, a feeling he's a bit more to say before he hangs from the rafters for the night. Don't worry he's not so bad Harry, kind of reminds me of my dad."
Grinning at her reference to the 'vampire' look, "I'd better go, but thanks a lot, I really do feel better, knowing, you know."
"I'm here for you Harry, If you need anything ok."
He grinned, kind of a cute kid she thought, "thanks."
The nerve of the woman! Severus thought as he stormed the halls down to his dungeons, how dare she waste his valuable time conversing with Potter! At least she had apologized, she knew she was wrong, and that was some consolation. I still can't believe no one saw fit to inform me that 'she' was also a Potions Master, it was like a slap in the face! He slammed the door to his office and put the book down on the counter poured a brandy and drank in one swallow. Still fuming he opened the book. What? Leafing through the book his rage turned to dismay, the book was full of incantations and potions. There were pages and pages of notes on the chalice and Merlin, pages of failed trials. His mind was amazingly devoid of emotion, for once Snape didn't know how to react. This was obviously not the first time Professor Aislin had tried to free the chalice . . .