During Harry's next private class with Lupin, Xylia seemed far less interested in Harry. That, he considered to be a good thing. He didn't like her watching over him like that. Even though Lupin was there, too, he was still very scared of the woman.

She had gathered a few books, all of which seemed to be older versions of a few textbooks, and shoved them into the bag that she carried. Harry couldn't imagine any of them being useful to anyone.

"I'll be back. Please look after my body," she announced to Lupin.

"Pardon?" he asked as he looked at her. She pulled a book out of her bag, which to Harry, looked like something that belonged in the restricted section. Its creepy black cover almost seemed demonic.

She opened the book to a random page, upon which its pages began to glow slightly green. After that, black tentacles, very similar to the ones that Harry saw the night in Dumbledore's office, came from the pages and wrapped themselves around Xylia. Her eyes rolled back inside her head, but she remained standing with the book in her hands. "Oh, dear," Lupin commented with a grimace. "I suppose we must assume she knows what she is doing…"

Harry spared her one more glance before returning to his practice. He was doing much better than he had the other day, likely because he wasn't under the watch of Xylia.

A few attempts later, and Harry felt fairly confident in himself. "Well done, Harry. I think that's enough from you, you're exhausted."

Harry smiled at Lupin, then prepared himself to say something, but was interrupted from Xylia falling to the floor. The book she held fell to the floor with her, closing shut as it did. The elf, however, was groaning as she clutched her stomach. Lupin rushed over towards her. "Xylia, what's wrong?"

She was breathing heavily. "I'm…okay…" she managed to make out. Harry still didn't quite like her, but even he had to admit, he felt pity for her as she laid on the floor in pain.

Slowly, the elf's breath returned to her, and she removed her shaking hands from her stomach. There was no blood or anything, so neither Harry or Lupin were sure what the matter was.

Lupin offered his hand to her, which she gratefully took. "What happened to you?"

Xylia laughed morbidly. "Those damn Seekers know who I am, and yet they attack me every time. They managed to kill me this time. Luckily, my physical body was still here."

The more that Harry learned about Xylia, the more scared he was of the world that she came from. However, seeing her like this, it started to get him thinking. Maybe it wasn't Xylia herself that scared him.

The sun was bright at this castle, but there was still a biting chill in the air. Xylia discovered this as she sat on the field near Hagrid's hut. He had invited her for tea, but even after visiting, she found that she still desired to stay outside for a while. She was usually under the supervision of one of the professors, but nobody seemed to know whose turn it was to babysit her. She used that to her advantage.

But, as most things in her life, it did not last long. A group of students approached her, led by one blond whom she recognized as being named Draco.

"Enjoying the sun, freak?" he asked her condescendingly.

Xylia still did not move a muscle, or even spare a glance towards him. "You walk up to a woman with weapons, and you insult her?"

"I'm not scared of your bloody sword or your bow. Magic is the only weapon I would ever need to beat you," he spat at her.

Xylia laughed, although she did not mean to. "You do not even know who I am. How bold, yet stupid, you are. I am really quite impressed," she said, finally looking at him. His pale skin started to turn a faint shade of red, which finally gave him a little bit of color.

In the heat of the moment, he grabbed his wand and aimed it at her. At that, Xylia stood up. "Would you like to fight? I must warn you, I will not hold back if you are engaging me."

"I'm not scared of a freak like you!" he told her, heated.

"Very well," she said. Then, unexpectedly, she belted some strange, foreign words. "Mul Qah Diiv!"

On top of Xylia's shrouded armor materialized an orange and blue light, which seemed to wrap itself around her. On top of her head came a set of horns, and the rest of the armor brought the dragon look together.

Xylia watched as even this simple shout changed the look in the boy's eyes. What was once complete arrogance finally showed a hint of fear. Instead of weapons, she summoned flames in one hand and ice in the other. They were simple spells, but she wasn't really hoping to fight the boy. She just wanted to threaten him enough to stand down.

"Do you still wish to fight me? We can both pretend that this altercation never happened," she glowered at him.

Draco took two heavy breaths before putting his wand away. "I won't forget about this," he told her before turning away and walking back to the castle.

Xylia smiled as she let the spells dissipate from her hands. Unfortunately, her dragon aspect shout would last for at least another hour or so, so she would just have to deal with the stares she would receive at dinner. Nonetheless, it was worth it, if only to strike a little fear into the kid.

The students gawked at the woman sitting at the head table. She wasn't inconspicuous in the first place, being a heavily armored elf. But now, she was covered in a strange glowing light. "Are those horns?" Hermione asked nobody in particular. She scrunched her eyebrows up, contemplating the woman.

"First it's the dementors, then it's Sirius Black, and now it's this nut!" Ron complained before shoving a chicken drumstick in his face. As much as he whined, food was ultimately more important to him.

"Ron," Hermione scolded him.

"He's right, Hermione. She's…very strange…" Harry said, his mind drifting to the other day, when the woman claimed that she'd died.

"Yes, she's strange, but we mustn't look down on her for that," Hermione stressed. Harry wanted to say something, but thought better of it. She seemed very passionate about her stance.

"Looks like Draco doesn't like her either," Ron said after glancing over to the Slytherin table.

Hermione and Harry turned around, and sure enough, caught sight of the blond Slytherin glaring at her from his seat. They listened intently, and caught something that sounding like Draco saying he was going to tell his father something. "Is it just me, or is he a bit more pale than usual?" Harry asked.

"He probably tried to duel her," Ron guessed.

"Oh, please. He can't be that stupid, can he?" Hermione disregarded the thought.

Xylia found herself outside with Hagrid. She usually spent her time with Lupin, since his class did seem to be the most interesting, but Lupin had suddenly cancelled his classes for the day. She thought that it seemed like a strange time to cancel, since it was towards the full moon, but she acted like she didn't suspect anything. Besides, she'd rather not ask and be wrong. She was almost positive that the man was a werewolf based upon the distinct smell that they put off, but it was completely possible that she was mistaking the scent for something else.

"It's great to have ye for class, Xylia," Hagrid said, cheerful as usual.

Xylia gave a curt nod. "Of course."

Hagrid's eyes then suddenly looked behind her, focusing instead on something else. Xylia turned around to see what he was entranced with. Coming down the hill towards Hagrid's hut was a group of men, joined by Dumbledore, although it looked as though he was reluctantly following.

The lead man, an older gentleman wearing a hat and a long, dark coat, came up to her. His cheeks were tinted slightly red, but she assumed that was from his brisk walk just to meet her.

"You…you're the elf…Xylia…." he said breathlessly.

Xylia smirked. "Yes, I sure hope I am."

The man extended his hand and Xylia shook it. "Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic."

"Oh, so quite important then. I would like to introduce myself as the Archmage of the College of Winterhold."

"Hmm, yes, so I've heard. I've recently been informed of your time spent at Hogwarts and would like to speak to you myself about it."

"Is there a problem?"

"Well…I trust Dumbledore…but the fact still stands that your presence is dangerous to the students here."

"Dangerous? Forgive me, Minister, but I believe I did introduce myself as Archmage. Would it not be safe to assume that I have my own students?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Then would it not also be safe to assume that I am more than qualified to be around students?"

"Cornelius, she is here for more than just observation…" Dumbledore said with raised eyebrows. Fudge turned to the older gentleman, understanding the unspoken words.

"You mean…?" Fudge started, but never finished. Instead he turned back towards Xylia. "Nonetheless, I would like to speak to you myself. Hagrid, would you mind?" he asked, gesturing towards his hut.

"Certainly, Minister. I'll make some tea."

Draco watched the interaction from a shaded spot just within the trees. Buckbeak, the Hippogriff that injured him earlier in the year, paid him no mind. Draco sneered at him.

He suspected that Fudge would be soft, even with Draco's father's influence. However, he came prepared with a backup. With a quick flick of his wand, he unveiled a trunk that he'd hidden by the hut, then waited.

Draco and Buckbeak shared a few looks during the next half hour. Buckbeak seemed oblivious to who he was and what his particular situation was. Draco almost felt pity for the beast, but quickly remembered his own injury.

Finally, the door opened, and the group of people emerged once more. Xylia followed out last, stopping right in front of the truck that Draco had placed. He couldn't fathom his incredible luck.

With another flick of his wand, the trunk opened.