The Will of the Wands


Chapter 7 – The Teacher


Millie was so scared, she could have (and probably would have, if the circumstances had not been so grave) wet her pants. Less than twelve hours after she and Dakota had made up after their fight, both of them were being taken to the Headmaster's office. For what, she was completely unsure of.

She glanced at Dakota, who, in her blue flannel pajamas, looked like a chastised child at a late-night slumber party. She was hoping that they could communicate silently through their facial expressions, but unfortunately the dark-haired girl wasn't paying attention.

Millie sighed softly, trying not to attract the attention of the obviously distraught headmistress. Somehow, with things looking as bleak as they did, Millie thought it wise not to cause unnecessary havoc. Peeves could take care of that perfectly fine on his own.

Professor McGonagall halted then, interrupting Millie of her thoughts. In front of them was a particularly ugly stone gargoyle, which seemed to be sneering at them with an expression similar to the one Dakota's cousin wore permanently. Without hesitation, Professor McGonagall gave the password, "Jelly slugs."

The gargoyle, as if brought to life, skittered to one side, allowing the trio to walk towards a rotating spiral staircase. McGonagall motioned to them, and the girls obediently hopped on, both scared out of their minds of what was to come.


"Now, while we have no sufficient evidence that you are in immediate danger, both Professors McGonagall and Flitwick agree with me that young Mr. Potter's dream should not be taken lightly," Professor Dumbledore told the four first years. Sitting side by side, Millie, Dakota, Alexis, and Madison were in shock.

"Has he had these dreams before?" blurted Dakota. Realizing how rude she must have sounded, she clapped her hand over her mouth and blushed. She imagined her mother's reaction if she ever found out how skeptical her daughter had been of the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Yes, he has," replied Dumbledore. "Please do not refrain from asking any questions; I usually find that by asking what we wish to know, our minds will go further on the road to understanding."

"So what does this mean?" Alexis demanded. She looked like she was about to cry, but managed to control herself. "What's going to happen? Are we going to be locked up in the common room? Are people going to follow us around wherever we go? Because if that has to happen, I want to make it clear that no one, not even Oliver Wood, is going to follow me into the loos." Professor McGonagall gasped in shock, and Dumbledore smirked in spite of himself.

"I assure you, Miss VanCarte that we will not install proper means of protection without consulting you, and if it comes to the extremity that you must be followed, invisibility cloaks will be used to conceal those doing the following." The headmaster stood, and began to pace back and forth in front of the merrily crackling fire.

"Albus, how safe are they, as of right now?" Professor Flitwick inquired, swinging his feet nervously in front of him. He and McGonagall were seated on either side of Dumbledore's chair, and because of his size, Flitwick was propped up by large feather pillows.

"As of now?" he repeated.

"Yes. Does...You-Know-Who...seem to have immediate plans for them?" Flitwick eyed the girls nervously.

"Um, hello? Right next to you," Madison said disgustedly. Both Flitwick and McGonagall stared at her. "Well, you two're talking like we're not even here, and we don't have a choice in the matter."

"But you don't," McGonagall said slowly.

Madison glared at her. "We may not be able to stop You-Know-Who from planning anything, but can't we...oh, I don't know, get trained up a bit in case of anything happening? Or at least being able to choose our own forms of protection?"

"I really do-" McGonagall began.

"I think that's an excellent idea," Dumbledore interrupted. Everyone in the room stopped, mouths open. Dakota was the first to recover.

"It is?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said, twirling the end of his beard between his thumb and forefinger. "To take a stand and be ready for the unexpected is exactly what we wanted the Will of the Wands to spark in young people like yourselves. I will arrange for you four to train under someone very special, someone who knows exactly how important being able to defend yourself is when facing Voldemort."

"Who?" Alexis and Millie chorused, curious as to whom their 'special teacher' would be. Dakota and Madison nodded emphatically. Dumbledore only shook his head and gave them a secretive smile that rivaled that of the Mona Lisa's.

"You'll see, all in good time."


"I dunno," Madison said as she and Alexis carefully made their way to the library to meet their new teacher. It had been one week since their emergency meeting with Dumbledore in his office. "I 'spect it's a teacher, otherwise we would be meeting them somewhere else. I mean, who really spends time in there, anyway?"

"Well," Alexis said thoughtfully, trying to draw her hair into a ponytail as they walked. "There was that Gryffindor girl that helped us get to the common room, d'you remember her?"

"Oh!" Madison said, "Uh...Holly? No, that's not right...H…something beginning with H...Hermione!" The girl smiled triumphantly.

"Yes!" exclaimed Alexis. "That's it! Boy, you're brilliant, Mad. No wonder you're a Ravenclaw." Madison giggled and took a dramatic, sweeping bow, which sent Alexis into hysterics.

"Thank you, ladies and...well, ladies," she said in a mock-theatrical voice. She turned just in time to walk through Nearly Headless Nick, who looked absolutely shocked at her absurd behavior.

"My dear child, what do you think you are doing?" He adjusted his ornate collar gruffly, taking no notice that he hadn't stopped and spared her the feeling of walking through an ice-cold waterfall. "The nerve of some of you! Honestly!" With that, he glided off in the direction he'd been heading, leaving Madison and Alexis feeling properly reprimanded.

"It's pretty pathetic that we're ashamed of ourselves because of a ghost," Alexis mused a couple of minutes later as they neared the library. Madison laughed, then stopped abruptly. Madam Pince, the elderly woman who resembled a rather large stuffed vulture, was giving them a look so evil it had to have belonged to a former Slytherin.

"There aren't any teachers here," whispered Alexis, "Except for ol' Beady Eyes over there." She motioned to Madam Pince, who, after reassuring herself that the two were not miniature Fred and George Weasleys, had taken to bullying three sixth years from Ravenclaw. Madison started to giggle, and covered her mouth with her hands. "Shut up, stupid! She'll hear you!"

"I'm sorry," Madison gasped, "But just last week I heard Hermione's friend Ron call McGonagall that." Alexis erupted into giggles then, and all hope for being discrete was lost.

Madam Pince swooped down over the two of them, promising them if they didn't keep quiet, they would get a month's worth of detentions that would be sure to stop their constant chattering. "Disrupting the peace of the library, honestly!"

Scared out of their wits, Madison and Alexis backed into a corner and slid into two rather old armchairs that faced the door, ensuring that they wouldn't miss their teacher's entrance. Dakota and Millie soon joined them, and the four thoroughly discussed the postponement of the first Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin on account of the teacher's lack of protection for the students. About ten minutes later, a lone figure walked through the door. After looking around, he shocked the girls by immediately making a beeline for them.

"Hello there," he said. "I suppose we'll be spending a bit of time together, eh?"

Madison and Alexis looked at each other in awe. Harry Potter was their teacher? They both managed a weak smile. "Yeah, I guess," Madison said finally. He stared at them for a minute, then shrugged.

"Wait a minute," Dakota spoke up. "You're our teacher? I thought some doddery old professor like...like..."

"Like?" Harry prompted with a grin. "Sorry, you're all stuck with me. Kind of horrible to be you at the moment, isn't it?"

"Er, no, that's not what I meant," Dakota said quickly. She wrapped a strand of long black hair around her finger.

"I know," Harry grinned. Then he addressed the rest of them by clapping his hands once. "Okay, um, I'm pretty new at this teaching stuff-"

"Oh, give it up, Harry," Hermione said from behind him. She winked at the four dumbstruck girls and said, "They all know you've been running the D.A. since day one."

Harry blushed. "Okay, then. Er, Herm- I mean, my friends Hermione and Ron, who are also Gryffindor prefects, will be helping me out." He paused. "I dunno if I can handle you all at once, you're so unruly and loud."

Silence.

"Erm…it was supposed to be a joke."

"Sorry, " Madison said, looking over her shoulder, "The last time we laughed in this place, which was coincidentally when we were waiting for you to show up, Ol' Beady Eyes over there told us to shut up or we'd get detentions lasting until our hair turned the color of her tongue."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Well then," he said after a very pregnant pause. "Shall we?"

"Shall we what, precisely?" asked Alexis. She starred at the older students, her foot tapping incessantly.

"Er, go to the Room of Requirement to start your training," Hermione supplied nervously. She was greeted by four sets of raised eyebrows. Harry shook his head.

"Never mind. Follow me."

The four girls followed the elder Gryffindors obediently until they were all gasping for breath once they reached the seventh floor corridor. Gripping her knees, Dakota rasped, "Where the bloody hell is this room?"

Hermione whipped her head around, her hair swishing like the Whomping Willow, making funny tutting noises with her tongue. "Please! How old are you, eleven? Ron, I told you you were a bad influence!" She smacked her redheaded boyfriend on the head.

"OY! 'Mione, what the bl-" She held her hand up.

"See what I mean? Don't even think about finishing that sentence, Ronald Weasley-"

"Will you two stop your bloody bickering?" Harry interrupted. When Hermione's angry eyes flashed in his direction, he attempted a Gilderoy Lockart-esque grin. "'Mione, give it up, will you?" Hermione pursed her lips, as if she was considering having another go at the both of them, but Harry stopped her just in time. "C'mon, Hermione, the Room of Requirement is just down the hall-"

"That's exactly what she said forty bloody minutes ago!" Millie, normally the composed one of the group, said adamantly.

"It's just around the corner, come on," Harry prodded. When no one would move, he said, "You only have to play the part of four doddering cows being shepherded to the butcher for three more seconds. I promise."

"Okay," Madison, the leader, said. She had begun to walk down the corridor with a renewed morale when she twirled around. "Did you just call me a cow?"

Ron sniggered. "Yes," he said helpfully. Harry glared at him. "Oh, well. I know that he's wrong, as usual, so there's nothing to worry about, eh?"

Madison considered this, and kept walking. Hiding a bemused grin, Harry strode after her.


Millie's first though after walking into the Room of Requirement was, I wonder if I thought of chocolate chip ice cream hard enough would it appear? As if on cue, an enormous bowl of the named confection, topped with a mountain of whipped cream, presented itself, resting on a table at her elbow.

Harry cleared his throat, and she blushed gracefully. "Sorry," she said, not sounding the least bit apologetic, "I was just trying to see what would happen if I concentrated on it." She picked up the spoon and scooped up some ice cream. "Cheers."

"Ah, well, perhaps she's got a good idea, Harry," Ron said hopefully, elbowing his best mate in the ribs, "Please, can we have food? Please, please, pretty please?" He clasped his hands together and dropped to his knees. "Oh great teacher, may you grant us permission for food, much like the delectable treat clever Millie conjured!"

Hermione clenched her fist in front of her mouth to keep Ron from seeing her laugh. Harry flicked his gaze from Ron at his feet to Dakota, who was lounging on the armrest of a couch, and back to Hermione. He grinned slyly. "Why, Hermione, is there something you wish to share with the rest of the class?"

Hermione glared at him. Upon hearing his girlfriend's name being mentioned, Ron craned his neck around so he was facing her. "What's so funny, 'Mione? Is it me on my knees, pleading with Harry to loosen up and let us have some food? Because," he said, struggling to stand up, "If that's what it is, I'll ask the room not to give you peanut butter pecan."

Hermione's eyes grew wide, and she quickly assured him that it was not him she was laughing at, only the situation. "Please don't take away the peanut butter," she said in a somewhat small voice.

After they had finished their various dishes of ice cream, Ron stretched out on the foot of the couch. "So, what do we do next?" he asked cheerfully.


"I can't get it right!" Dakota snarled, throwing her arms up in frustration. Her wand lay forgotten on the floor, next to her shoes.

"That's fine," Hermione soothed, "It took me a while to get it, too. Remember, you don't have to excel to be good."

"That's easy for you to say," muttered Dakota under her breath. She glared at a spot on the wall above Hermione's head as Harry made his way over to them.

"How's she doing?" she heard Harry ask.

"Fine, except that she's giving up too easily. She wants to get it perfect, and by doing so, she's wearing herself out," Hermione said. Harry smirked. "What?" Hermione demanded.

"Sounds like someone else I know," he said. When Hermione turned red, he said, "Go work with Millie for a while, she seems to have down the theory, but needs work on the wand movements, okay?"

Dakota pretended not to notice Hermione's feet move farther away as she walked off in search of Millie. She screwed up her face and tried to concentrate on the concept of the spell they'd been practicing, a simple Sheild Charm, which, at the moment, didn't seem so simple. She looked up at Harry, feeling extremely pathetic.

"What?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What d'you mean, what?" Dakota said irritably.

"I mean, why do you look like someone just put a barrel full of Dungbombs under your nose? You seem to be getting the hang of it, try it again." Harry gave her what he hoped to be an encouraging smile.

"Are you joking?" Dakota asked. When Harry made no signs of having made a joke, she sighed. "Okay, then, I'll try it, but don't blame me if you're bald for a while or something." Harry jumped back, this time jokingly.

Dakota tossed her thick braid over her shoulder, drew in a deep breath, and raised her wand. "Protego!"

As if shocked by an invisible electric circuit, Dakota was zapped on her hand. "Ow!" she cried, grasping it with the other hand. Harry motioned to her to uncover it, and when she did, he grimaced. From the knuckles down had been turned a crispy-looking black, almost exactly like Seamus Finnigan's eyebrows after his "rum incident".

"Perhaps you should go to the Hospital Wing," he said shakily, trying to recover from the sight of charred skin. "C'mon, I'll walk you." He motioned to Hermione, who was mightily trying to avoid Millie, who was controlling a mouse that had been enlarged five times its natural size. "Hermione, I'm going to bring Dakota to the Hospital Wing!"

"Okay," Hermione said, stepping up on a very high chair. "Ron and I will handle things."

As she and Harry made their way through the silver door, watching the hallways very carefully for signs of Filch, the caretaker, or Mrs. Norris, his mangy cat. When Harry surmised the coast was clear, he motioned to Dakota, and they set off for the other end of the castle.

After a few minutes of silent walking, Dakota spoke. "What was Hermione talking about when she said you ran the D.A.? What's that?"

Harry's mind went blank. He wanted to tell her, because, after all, Voldemort was supposed to be after one of them as well as him, but something made him play stupid. "Er, she was referring to the...er, Gobstones club I founded...uh, when we were in second year." He glanced at her face, making sure she was buying it. She was.

"There's a Gobstones club?" She scowled. "How come nobody told me? I'd like to join. What do I have to do to get in? I'm pretty good-"

"It's a dead club," Harry assured her. Dakota's face fell, and he instantly regretted telling her such a lie. However, the D.A. didn't contain any first years. In the time of Umbridge, they weren't trustworthy. Not that that scum Edgecombe was, but still.

"I told you I'd do something to mess it up," Dakota said as they turned the corner.

"Er, sorry?" Harry said, snapping out of his trance.

"You said to give it another go, and I warned you that I would mess it up somehow," Dakota repeated, referring to the Shield Charm.

Harry didn't say anything, just pushed the door to the Hospital Wing open and held it for the young girl as she cradled her burnt hand in her good one.


"You should have come directly to me!" an annoyed Madam Pomfrey clucked. "Just look at her hand, Mr. Potter! Do you really think that it is wise to teach first years such complicated spells?" She eyed him suspiciously. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Yes," Harry snapped, causing the elderly matron's eyes to widen in surprise. "I do think it's a good idea they know how to cast Shield Charms. Why? Because Lord Voldemort is coming for them. I know. I saw him and his Death Eaters. Professor Dumbledore trusted their training to me, and I sure as hell hope I know what they're capable of."

Madam Pomfrey's eyes narrowed. "Mr. Potter, I do not think that your tone of voice is necessary. I was merely questioning whether you had thought about the risks you would face in teaching these girls."

"Yes, actually," Harry replied sarcastically, "The risk is greater if they don't have anything to defend themselves with, don't you think?" When the matron failed to answer, he smirked. "There you go, then."

Dakota, who had watched their little exchange with an expression bordering on scared, amused, and annoyed, spoke up, startling both of the other occupants. "Are you quite finished yet? I still have forty-five minutes before I have to be back in Gryffindor Tower, and I want to have another go at the charm, if you don't mind."

Madam Pomfrey nodded briskly, while Harry stared at her with wide eyes. He waited until the nurse was done wrapping Dakota's hand and lecturing the both of them about the dangers of complex spells before dragging her out of the wing.

"I can't believe you said that," Harry said in amazement. He ran his calloused fingers through his hair. "Y'know, I've known you for approximately two weeks and you still come up with the most amusing scenes."

"You know what? I don't need to hear it from you, too," Dakota said irritably.

"Sorry?"

"I have two sisters, y'know? And both of them are way more talented than I could ever be, and if learning that stupid charm is what'll bring my parents to be proud of me, so be it." Dakota reached behind her and tugged on her braid, unraveling it with a slightly far-off expression on her face.

"That's not-"

"You know," she said, stopping in front of Harry, "I'm not for people's entertainment. And if that's all you think of me as, perhaps I'll learn things on my own."

Harry looked as though someone had hauled off and slapped him. "I didn't mean- I don't-Dakota..." He leaned up against a nearby wall and sighed. "Doing things on your own isn't the way to go," he said finally.

"Oh, and I suppose you know exactly how that goes?" Dakota said sarcastically, making to pass him.

He stopped her from going any further, and moved to stare directly into her face. "Actually, yes, I do." His eyes grew darker behind the thin frames of his glasses, and he felt a surge of smugness when he saw Dakota's dark eyes widen under his gaze. "My parents died when I was a year old. I bet you already know that, so I'll give you a bit more of what my life is like. The family- if you could call it that- I grew up with ignored me and still managed to make my life miserable for eleven years. Then, my third year, I find out that two of my parents' closest friends are still alive. Then I find out that the third wasn't, in fact, murdered by one of the other two and is still in cahoots with Voldemort. And then, last year, my godfather, the one who supposedly killed the one in with Voldemort, was killed by his cousin. And now I'm standing here, trying to prevent you from being killed as well by going off in a huff and doing things your own way."

"I'm sorry," Dakota said, lowering her eyes. She had a feeling that Harry was wondering exactly why he had agreed to tutor the most distraught of the four, and that made her quite unhappy.

She saw his eyes flicker with contemplation, and he grinned. "C'mon, you still have-" he checked his watch "-forty-three minutes until you're supposed to be back to the Tower."

She grinned back at him. "Yeah, and I believe that I have some catching up to do."

The two Gryffindors walked in companionable silence down the corridors, not noticing a crouched figure behind the statue of Grough the Giggly. His voice squeaked as he spoke to his accomplice, who moved from underneath an Invisibility Cloak.

"All in good time, sir. You'll have her and her friends soon, I promised the Dark Lord." The man, who had folded the cloak neatly in his lap, smirked as he watched the two disappear.

"Yes, I suppose I can wait. Come, Wormtail. We must be going." He laughed. "The Minister is waiting for us at the end of this fortnight. We have a special presentation for him and his daughter."


A/N: Perhaps now would be a good time to explain our...lack of updates. See, we've had the fifth and sixth chapters hanging around for a while, but- Siaryst's in charge of posting. It's her fault. HEY! It's true. (Siaryst blushes) I can't help the fact that I'm...busy! Well, the only thing y'all can hold against me is my lovely case of writer's block, but it's been cured. Yeah. (snickers) Chocolate milk and cookies work wonders, don't they? Actually, if truth be told, it's cranberry bread and water, but whatever fits your fancy. Well, then! I'm SOOOOOO sorry I got confused. Pardon. Good, you should be ashamed. How COULD you? You spend many hours on the phone with my sorry bum, and you can't even remember what food is motivational? What kind of co-author ARE you? Speaking of fanfiction, I hope you all are aware of J-14 magazine's Lifetime Story booklet thing on 'Movie Magic' which contains specific reference to our community of fanfiction. If you weren't, well, go to your nearest bookstore. It's there, hopefully. It's got Dan Radcliffe on the front. (Dufoli sighs with dreamy expression donning face) Be sure to check on the fanfics they mention. Special congrats for being mentioned goes out to Anya for her "Naked Quidditch Match" fic. Verrrrry good. Not found on , but probably somewhere else. Keep your eyes peeled. Tootles, and be sure to review! (wink) Your Ever-Faithful, Still Working Happily and Laughing While Doing So, Quirky, One-of-a-Kind -actually, technically it's two of a kind. Technicalities, technicalities! Continuing...Two-of-a-Kind, Siaryst & Dufoli....Why does your name come first? Er...somehow I think you'll object to 'because I'm better than you,' and 'alphabetical order' doesn't work, so....how about we go with, 'because Siaryst-Dufoli sounds better than Dufoli-Siaryst.' Oh. Okay. (grins stupidly).