Xylia turned on her heels when her ears picked up the squeaking. She originally paid no mind to the trunk that she stood by, but she then realized that she probably should have. In that brief moment, she recognized the trunk as the one that Lupin was using to help Harry with his fear of Dementors.
A black mist exploded from the box before forming into a gargantuan beast. The men around her cowered in fear, grabbing their wands to try and defend themselves. Xylia heard something that sounded like a whiney, probably a horse, behind her. Although she knew that the beast wasn't really what it looked like, she still armed herself with Dawnbreaker.
"Alduin," she said, greeting the fake.
Instead of a proper answer, as the real Alduin normally would have given, the false dragon let out a roar.
Xylia calmed herself. If this wasn't the real Alduin, then there was no way that she was in trouble. She fished into her bag until she pulled out a purple crystal. "Rii Vaaz Zol!" she shouted at the creature. It once again collapsed into black dust, although a stream of blue light travelled from the dust towards her crystal. Once inside, the crystal began to glow.
There was an incredible silence in the air as the dust dissipated. "Did you just kill a Boggart?" Fudge asked her in disbelief.
Xylia looked into the empty trunk. "I suppose I did."
"So that is a dragon shout." Dumbledore deadpanned.
"What have you got in that?" Hagrid said, gesturing towards the crystal in her hand.
"It's the Boggart's soul. Using that particular shout rips the soul from creatures or people. Usually, the reanimated corpse would fight for me. I suppose a Boggart doesn't have a corpse to fight with."
Meanwhile, in the cover of the trees, Draco backed up slowly. He never imagined that she wouldn't even cower from her greatest fear. He'd never even heard of anybody killing a Boggart before.
Thinking back on it, he never would have approached the woman in such a way if he had known that with just those three words, she had the ability to tear his soul from his body. From that moment forward, he vowed that he would never cross her again.
"Miss Xylia-" McGonagall started.
"Sorry, it's Mrs," Xylia corrected the older woman.
McGonagall tilted her head and raised her eyebrow. "You're married, then?"
Xylia smiled. "Yes. I trust that he is looking after my home while I am away, as he has always done. I am certain that my children will be happy upon my return."
"Forgive my surprise, but you seem very young to have children," the transfiguration professor commented.
"They're adopted. Two lovely girls. One was left wandering the streets alone, no home to go back to. I became her mother to give her a home of her own. The other I adopted from an orphanage, so that I could give my daughter a sister."
"How wonderful," McGonagall said with a small smile, although it still felt genuine. "As I was saying, Mrs. Xylia, is there a particular reason that you have decided to observe my classes today?"
The elf took a seat by the front of the room, facing the desks. McGonagall had told her that she could sit there and observe, although she was more than welcome to walk around the room as well. "Because of Lupin's absence recently, I've decided that I should observe other classes besides Defense Against the Dark Arts. I also find transfiguration to be…foreign. I've not seen a magic like it."
"What magic are you used to?"
"I myself specialize in conjuration, but even that seems limited to battle magic. In fact, in my world, I don't know of magic being used for anything besides combat."
McGonagall furrowed her brows and adjusted her robes. "Well, here at Hogwarts, we teach our students practical magic."
Xylia tilted her head. "Practical to you, perhaps. In Tamriel, combat magic is incredibly useful, especially for adventurers like myself."
"My apologizes, I did not mean to offend you. What I mean by practical magic is magic that can be used for more mundane tasks."
Xylia nodded. "I see. I cannot see many magic users learning magic like that. To learn magic in the first place is a dangerous task; it would be a waste to not use it for battle or protection."
"And why may that be?"
"Well…" Xylia started. "Nords don't particularly care for magic. It's highly frowned upon to know it."
McGonagall nodded. "Well, at Hogwarts, magic will never be frowned upon."
Xylia returned the sentiment with a tight smile.
It seemed as though the end of the school year was already drawing near. Xylia, not at all closer to completing her mission, was getting antsy. If these wizards with more adept spells could not find the man who she was after, then how could she?
Xylia wandered the halls. She usually observed the classes, but found that her presence was almost detrimental to their studies.
She looked around her and saw Ron, Hermione, and Harry walk past her. She usually paid little mind to the trio, but she did know that Harry would probably be helpful in discovering the location of this "Voldemort."
Not thirty seconds later, however, Xylia turned to notice Harry and Hermione come from a different way. As the pair passed her, they gave her a strange look. She tilted her head as they made eye contact.
Before she even had the chance to say something, the two of them ran off. Now, Xylia was curious as to what was going on. Silently, she creeped through the halls as she followed them.
Finally, she came out of the castle and followed them down to Hagrid's hut. Ah, yes, Xylia had forgotten. Today was Buckbeak's execution. Xylia carefully observed the pair enter the woods to observe the hut. Eventually, one of the two threw a rock into the window. Soon after, the trio exited the hut through the back.
Xylia startled when she felt a hand on her back. "You look as though you've seen a ghost, Xylia," Dumbledore said with a sparkle in his eyes.
"I'm not sure I haven't," she answered with a small smile.
"It is never too late to save an innocent life, is it?" he asked her offhandedly.
Something in Xylia's mind clicked. Whatever was happening, the intention fell back to Dumbledore. "It seems as though it might be possible."
The two shared a look, a silent understanding between them. Dumbledore walked off, and Xylia decided that she would observe this for as long as possible.
Harry's head was spinning. There were far too many turn of events. Ron offhandedly complained about his ankle, bringing him back to the present. They were leaving the whomping willow, Lupin taking the lead of their group and Sirius taking the rear.
He was, however, feeling strangely giddy. The prospect of living with Sirius instead of the Dursleys…it excited him. He had to admit that this night had only gotten stranger as it had drug on.
And still, the insanity of Harry's life had yet to calm. Quickly, they were once again in danger as Lupin went still.
Hermione had warned them, at the least. Sirius tried his hardest to protect them, pushing the kids behind him and attempting to calm Lupin's transformation. By the end of it, they were face to face with the beast. In the confusion of it all, Peter Pettigrew escaped from them.
Out of nowhere, Xylia suddenly appeared. She seemed out of breath, as though she had ran there. She looked at them and furrowed their brow. "You could have told me to be here sooner," she scolded Hermione and Harry, who both shared confused looks.
Xylia rolled her eyes before looking behind them to make eye contact with Snape, who seemed to be absolutely furious. "Get back with Snape," she ordered the trio.
Normally, they would have been terrified of the elf. However, in that moment, they realized that they didn't seem to have another choice but to trust her.
They watched her as she suddenly crouched and grunted in pain. Much in the same way that they watched Lupin transform, they saw that same from Xylia. Her transformation, however, seemed much more natural than Lupin's. In the end, too, her werewolf form seemed much healthier. She had more muscles and seemed more comfortable compared to Lupin's scrawny werewolf form.
More so, what was most surprising was that Xylia turned towards them, and instead of attacking, she nodded her head towards the castle. Saliva dripped from her long canines, but her yellow eyes maintained their humanity.
Suddenly, Lupin lunged at Xylia. Distracted, she was unable to withstand the blow, which caused the group to split. Harry and Sirius descended into the forest while the rest of the group rushed to the castle. One of the werewolves let out a long howl before they, too, ran off into the forest.
Harry and Hermione ran to the door of the infirmary, but stopped short upon seeing Xylia leaning against the wall. Her arms were crossed against her chest. She looked nearly the same as she did yesterday, save for a nasty looking scratch across her cheek. Otherwise, she seemed to be in perfectly good health.
"Xylia," Hermione greeted, breaking the silence, although Harry could hear her breath catch in her throat. There were so many things about Xylia that scared them, and yet, she hadn't given them a real reason to not trust her. Still, there was no way that any of them could have ever expected her to have been a werewolf. Harry even took the liberty of asking Hermione, who admitted that she had no idea.
The elf smiled at them, but her eyes didn't reflect it. "I wanted to talk with you two about last night," she started.
"About the werewolf thing?" Harry blurted out. Hermione subtly whacked him.
"Well, yes. The werewolf thing. Being a werewolf is something that…back home…if more people knew…would get me killed. Most werewolves are like Lupin; they have no control over their beast forms. Werewolves like me, who maintain their consciousness are far more rare, and therefore we are lumped together with the majority. I wanted to ask of you…do you think badly of me for being a werewolf?"
Harry scratched his head. It was strange to be asked by an adult about such a manner. Harry's opinion had never really mattered before. "Personally, I don't really care too much, I don't think. I still trust Lupin. I just don't know what to think."
"It's hard to form an opinion over the manner when we don't even know that much about you. And you are an elf; certainly this must mean other things besides the ears, right?" Hermione interjected, having formed a better collection of her thoughts.
"I'm not human, I suppose, by many standards. I don't even have a human soul."
"Well, that doesn't much help your case," Harry said offhandedly. If Hermione's looks could kill…
Xylia laughed. It sounded genuine. "Well, no, I suppose it doesn't."
"Out of curiosity, what kind of soul do you have?" Hermione asked, far more confident.
Xylia blinked. "Oh, I suppose I haven't shared much with you students, have I? I feel as though I have told so much about myself to Lupin already. You may know that I am Dovahkiin. Dragon-born. While I may be a high elf in flesh, I am a dragon in soul. It is why I can use my Thu-um."
Although Hermione got her answer, she also gained about ten more questions.
The infirmary door then opened, and Dumbledore entered the corridor. "Sir, we did it," Harry said upon seeing the headmaster.
Dumbledore didn't even show a flicker of recognition. "Did what?" he asked.
Xylia snickered from her spot. "Dumbledore, if you don't mind, I'd like to discuss summer arrangements with you," she said.
Dumbledore turned to her and nodded. "Of course, Xylia. Why don't you follow me to my office?"