Return of the Unicorns, Chapter 13
Note: While I jumped around from different points of view in previous chapters, this chapter will be from the point of view of Hope once again. I do, however, reserve the right to jump about in the future!
Ever since Hope had arrived in England and started her work as a statistician for the Ministry of Magic, her life had been lonely. She'd had non-magical friends from Wellesley who were studying abroad in England, and she met with them when she was free, but it was isolating to not be able to tell them about magic. She'd met wizards, too, but she wasn't able to tell them about the nature of her unicorn powers. She'd met unicorns, but they had no interest in her human life. And she was able to tell her parents about all of the above, but without being able to see everything, David and Cristina Marshall didn't quite… understand. At least not in the way that people who'd actually seen the magical world understood it.
In short, she desperately needed a confidant.
When Hope befriended Sirius Black, she felt like she'd finally found a kindred spirit. For one thing, he was an outlaw and a fugitive. And even though Hope hadn't been to Azkaban, she felt the same need as Sirius to hide herself (or, well, parts of herself) from the law. She didn't want to know what the Ministry would do if they found out she was a unicorn and she had no interest in finding out.
And then, Sirius Black had introduced her to Remus Lupin, who was also something of an outcast. So even though all three of them were forced by different reasons to linger in the shadows on the edge of Wizarding society, they could be there for each other.
Plus, Sirius and Remus were two of the smartest people she'd ever met and they were also incredibly kind.
Hope didn't know how she knew that Sirius Black was innocent of the crimes he'd been jailed for, just like she didn't know how she knew that Remus Lupin was a werewolf who used to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. She just knew.
The state of intuition, of just knowing, was new and unfamiliar to her when it first came on, but she was beginning to get used to it.
For instance, she knew how to cast spells, even if she didn't know where she'd learned them. She barely had to practice magic at all to figure out that Transfiguration was her best subject, with Charms being a close second. She had yet to try out defensive magic, but she supposed she could assess her own skill level with that this week.
Another thing that was new to her was her mental state. When she'd been just another muggle student at Wellesley College, Hope had no experience with panic attacks – well, except the one that came on when a vision of a unicorn's death brought her to a panic attack and then left her with magical unicorn powers.
But now that she knew she was a witch, now that she was in England and had met members of the magical community, Hope had to deal with panic attacks and migraines on a disturbingly frequent basis.
Normally, she managed to keep the panic attacks and headaches to herself. If she felt one coming on, she could give an excuse to leave her surroundings and just sit down somewhere dark and quiet until her condition subsided. The sudden and violent episode she'd experienced when she first saw Lucius Malfoy was rare in how greatly it incapacitated her.
Of particular concern was her reaction whenever someone mentioned the tragic accident that'd killed Cedric Diggory, or the idea that Voldemort clearly hadn't actually returned. Whenever she heard things like that being talked about, a sense of panic and anger welled up in her, so vast that it threatened to swallow her whole.
She knew that Voldemort was back, and that he'd murdered Cedric Diggory – even though she didn't know how she knew this. She also had no idea why the lies around this story made her so angry that her hands shook.
She hadn't ever been keen on spending time at the Ministry of Magic, but after the panic attack that'd landed her in Amos Diggory's office, she was determined to make extra efforts to steer clear of the place altogether.
Sirius Black and Remus Lupin had thought that Hope was doing them a colossal favor when she'd gone ahead and used her family's numerous flight/hotel points accounts to book them a trip to Hawaii. But didn't they realize how much of a favor they were doing her by coming along to help her learn lava hexes?
Didn't they realize how happy she was to have their company and to be understood? Having two wonderful new friends to help her right now was the greatest blessing ever.
And besides, her entire extended family was incredibly generous. If you could easily do something nice for someone, you did it. So, if this trip helped give Sirius and Remus a much-needed break from the turmoil of their lives in England, she was happy to provide it.
Similarly, it was shocking to her that Remus Lupin had so few people he could count on to look after him on his full moon transformations. Hope was honored that he trusted her to look after him on the next occasion he turned into a werewolf, and she was determined to be the best friend to him that she could possibly be.
Sirius, Remus, and Hope had an easy enough time clearing customs in Hawaii and checking into their hotel, but the real challenge was to find someone within the Hawaiian ministry who could teach them to do lava hexes.
The Headquarters of the Hawaiian Ministry of Magic – which was a branch of the American Ministry of Magic – was situated in a series of magically enchanted lava bubbles. It had two extra branches: one beneath a coral reef and the other on the rainforest slope of Mauna Loa. The wizards who worked in H Q had enchanted the igneous rock surrounding them to produce glowing crystals in all colors, and shapes. The walls, floors, and ceilings themselves consisted of black pumice adorned with glowing crystalline figures of anything from schools of fish to wavy green palm trees to flocks of exotic birds.
Besides the crystalline structures, there were live palm trees and tropical flowers and numerous tropical magical plants growing everywhere. The set of caves should've been unwelcoming, but it was the exact opposite – it was filled with life and color.
A concierge desk awaited them at the entrance to the Ministry, where wizards in Hawaiian shirts, shorts, sarongs, flip-flops, grass skirts, and generally varying combinations of tropical attire made their way in and out. Hope vastly preferred their dress code to the prim and proper wizard robes worn by Ministry wizards in England.
"Aloha! What can I do for you?" asked one of the receptionists, a handsome man with dark hair and a crooked smile who saw them waiting around in the lobby and anticipated their need for questions.
"Do you know who we can ask about lava hexes, please?" asked Hope, wondering how silly he was going to find her question.
"This way!" replied the receptionist, before leading them down a series of passageways until they reached a sign made of glowing lava that read: "Geology Department."
"Thanks," Hope and Remus replied nervously.
"I'll introduce you to Leilani Wakida. She's one of our best magic-geologists."
The receptionist opened the door to an office and announced, "Leilani! I have some guests here for you."
"I'm BUSY, Aaron," replied a cool female voice from behind an oversized desk chair. To make her point, the voice's owner sent a glob of lava flying over the back of the chair, which landed in the middle of the floor and rapidly transformed into an amethyst.
"They're here to learn lava hexes, your favorite," Aaron enticed.
"Leave 'em here and I'll decide if they're worth my time."
"It's standard procedure," Aaron added for the benefit of Hope and Remus and the big black dog that was with them. "While there are no restrictions placed on the teaching of lava hexes within Hawaii – as long as you don't use them in the presence of Muggles or to create chaos and danger – any lava hex practitioner has the right to decide whether or not it's appropriate to teach you. Good luck." Then, Aaron smiled one last charmingly crooked smile and left Hope and her friends to the mysterious Leilani.
The desk chair turned around, revealing a stunning woman with dark brown hair tinged with red highlights. She lowered her cool brown gaze to the three of them, her lush mouth twisting with disdain.
"What even brings you here? And before you answer, I'll have you know we turn away hundreds of magical tourists who don't have any good reason to learn lava hexes."
Hope looked her square in the eyes, and then transformed into her unicorn self. As a unicorn, she walked up to Leilani and pressed her nose to the woman's forehead. "I need to learn to make the ground melt beneath my feet, so I can save my unicorn herd from a horde of giants in Scotland."
Leilani lazily re-crossed her legs, appearing un-fazed. "Sure, but why are you bringing a werewolf and a doggy animagus along with you?"
Hope turned back into her human self. "They're my friends, and they're here for moral support. What are you going to do, turn your back on someone who's a werewolf when he will have left this island by the time of the full moon?"
"Sure, but what about the animagus?"
"He's an innocent man in disguise."
To back Hope up, Sirius transformed into his human self. "Hi," he said with a casual wave, while Leilani gawked.
"He didn't do any of the crimes they accuse him of back in England," added Hope. "So… are you going to kick me out like all the other obnoxious wizard tourists?"
"Are you kidding me?" she exclaimed, jumping out of her seat, gleefully smacking her hands on her desk, and smiling for the first time since Hope entered the room. "I love it! The three of you can come right this way for lava hex lessons!"
Hope couldn't possibly be more thrilled.
When they were planning their Hawaiian adventure, the three friends thought that a week would be more than long enough to learn lava hexes. Devoting an entire week to the casting of a single spell? Why, it didn't even take that long to learn the Patronus charm!
Oh, how tragically wrong they'd been.
While the varying types of lava hexes – slow dense lava, hot and fast lava, bubbles, blasts – were easy enough on their own, switching between them and/or combining them was incredibly difficult.
Day one – which they spent on learning to conjure different types of lava – went smoothly, but Day two was a disaster.
Leilani met them at a pre-arranged spot on the peak of Mauna Kea with a massive jar in hand.
"What's in the jar?" asked Remus.
"Burn ointment."
"Burn ointment? Why would we need it today if we didn't need it yesterday?" asked Hope with an expression of polite bewilderment.
"Oh, trust me… you'll definitely be needing it today."
Indeed, by the time the day was over, the contents of the jar were half-gone and Hope, Sirius, and Remus all had burn holes in their clothing and even in their sturdiest hiking boots. The reason? When you transitioned from one type of lava to another, it tended to splatter just about everywhere.
Leilani finally called off the lesson at mid-afternoon. "We all need a break. Today's lesson is over!"
"That's a good idea," said Hope. "I could use a dip in the ocean right about now. Anyone else?"
"Why don't I show the three of you to the reef portion of the Ministry? We can spend a while underwater admiring the coral reef."
"Oh hey, I just realized I know how to do the Bubble Head Charm in order to stay underwater for a long period of time. Will that work for our swim?" asked Hope.
"Absolutely," said Leilani, "but why do you not remember where you learned the charm?"
"Memory issues," said Sirius, jerking a thumb in her direction. "It's to do with her reincarnation. Long story."
Leilani nodded. The three of them had explained to her that Hope was a reincarnated unicorn, and also the way she'd died in her past life, but since they genuinely didn't know where Hope learned magic, they couldn't have told Leilani.
The enchanted coral reef was everything Hope had dreamed it would be, and so much more. There was coral in a thousand different colors and configurations – and unlike muggle coral, the reef shifted and flowed, smoothly changing shapes in the most random ways. Rainbows of fishes flitted by them and around them, seeming content to ignore the newcomers. Even compared to a non-magical coral reef, there was so much life! Every part of the place was utterly mesmerizing.
Aside from having to blast away a few saltwater grindlylows and use some specially directed light to get free of some Devil's Snare seaweed, their swim was delightfully unperturbed.
A couple of hours later, they made their way back to shore, chatting happily about the reef and its creatures and how amazing Hawaii was and where should they go get drinks and dinner.
Hope and Remus both noticed Sirius flirting with Leilani as they walked. Hope then turned
"What's up?" she asked him.
"Nothing," Remus replied, schooling his expression.
"That doesn't seem like nothing," Hope said quietly.
Remus rolled his eyes. "It's just typical Padfoot. Flirts with anything that walks on two legs. I s'pose he would've tried to seduce you, too, if you hadn't become his friend first."
Hope could see that the matter was closed for conversation, but she couldn't help but notice the jealous look in Remus's eyes.
After copious coaching from Leilani that lasted all week, Hope was able to transition from any kind of lava to another – even while she was in unicorn form! It was hard work to learn the spells and their idiosyncrasies, but it'd been well with it.
"Hope, I do believe you are ready to use your skills in Scotland," Leilani praised her at the end of Day 7. "And Remus and Sirius, I believe you are ready, too!"
The two friends nodded agreeably.
On their last night in Hawaii, Hope was having dinner with Sirius and Remus in the hotel bar, expecting an uneventful night. She should be pleased – she was prepared to fight giants using lava – even while transformed into a unicorn! She would be able to protect her herd, AND steer clear of the watchful eye of the Ministry of Magic.
So, she cheered herself up and clinked her piña colada glass against Sirius's, Remus's, and Leilani's. Then, she let her first sip of the sweet, coconutty liquid calm her.
Leilani had work tonight so she couldn't join them, but she told them to let her know if their mission was a success, and to come and visit her any time they pleased because they were all friends now.
Hope had gone over her strategy with Remus and Sirius and she was actually feeling pretty confident about what she had to do when she got back to Scotland.
So that left Hope, Remus, and Sirius to enjoy a delicious dinner while Remus and Sirius told Hope all about their adventures at Hogwarts when they'd been the Marauders. Each story about their pranks and hijinks delighted Hope more than the next.
"We should give Hope a Marauder nickname!" proclaimed Sirius.
"A good idea," replied Remus. "What do you suggest?"
"Well, considering her unicorn form, she should obviously go by Horny."
"You remember that time I said we were getting along well?" asked Hope. "I take it back."
Sirius and Remus jointly roared with laughter and toasted Sirius's joke. Idiots.
It was in the midst of rolling her eyes that Hope's gaze fixated on one of the TVs behind the bar. It was reporting on the results of the most recent elections in several states. And it just happened to flash across the screen that Andrew Sigourney had won one of the Senate seats in Georgia, and was also newly engaged to the world-famous supermodel Giselle Felix.
He'd moved on with his life and he was going to be the success his family always dreamed he could be. Hope didn't know why she was so surprised. But before she could explain anything, tears sprang to her eyes and she ran back to their hotel room so she could cry on her own.
"Hope? We know you're in there!" Sirius's voice barked.
"If something's wrong, you can let us in," cajoled Remus.
Hope rubbed her red eyes and coughed. "Come on in, then."
"The deadbolt's done," said Remus.
"And you don't know the spell to open doors?" she asked. She'd been trying to sound playfully sarcastic, but the sentence came out of her throat as a half-hearted croak.
A moment later, Sirius and Remus entered to find Hope hunched over on one of the beds and red-eyed from crying.
"Did something we said bother you?" asked Remus. "It's not like you to get upset over a little good-natured ribbing, but if Sirius and I went too far-"
"No, of course not," she sighed. "The thing that set me off was the news that Andrew Sigourney won one of the Georgia senate seats in the most recent election. And he's engaged to a gorgeous supermodel. And he's probably completely forgotten about me." At this, she flopped onto her stomach and buried her face in one of the bed's many pillows.
Remus and Sirius sat down on opposite sides of the bed, and each put a comforting hand on one of Hope's trembling shoulders.
After several minutes, her sobbing subsided, and she turned around to face both of them.
"Sorry," she hiccupped.
"Who's Andrew Sigourney?" asked Remus.
"We dated for six months at the end of my Senior year of college. It was a really happy relationship. He was even going to ask me to marry him, but…"
"He cheated?" asked Remus.
"No… I got injured and I almost died. And he left me in the hospital by myself for a week like I meant nothing to him. I shouldn't be surprised that I didn't mean anything to him if he could move on from me that fast. I just… it hurts."
"You know you're way too good for him and there's no way in Hell he deserves you, right?" asked Sirius.
"Thanks, Sirius," sighed Hope.
"Is there anything we can do?" asked Remus. "We'll stay with you as long as you need us."
Hope mulled this over for a moment. "No, don't bother. Can you do me a different favor? Can you both take a walk on the beach together and maybe have a nice heart-to-heart about why you, Remus, got so jealous of Sirius every time he and Leilani seemed to be anywhere close to flirting?"
The two friends gave each other a quizzical look.
"Okay. If you're sure," said Sirius.
Hope nodded.
"We'll be here for you anytime you need reminding that you're too good for some scumbag who'd leave you in the hospital all by yourself," said Remus as he gave her an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder. And with that, the two friends left.