Xylia inspected the thin piece of wood. Normally, when she held a staff, she could feel the power within it surge between her fingertips. When she grabbed the wand, however, it felt like nothing more than a stray branch from a tree. "Ten inch, Maple, Dragon Heartstring," Ollivander told her. Without warning, the wand emitted blue and orange lights, not unlike her dragon aspect armor, which then swirled softly around her.
"Yes, yes, that is the one indeed," Ollivander said as he watched the lights, transfixed. "The wand chooses the witch, and my dear, that wand has indeed chosen you."
"Excellent," Hagrid commented before handing the man seven galleons. Dumbledore insisted that she obtain a wand for herself and attempt to learn some of their spells. Xylia agreed, just to satiate her own curiosity. She had no idea if she would be capable of learning even how to properly use the wand, although this seemed to be a good sign.
Xylia smiled up at Hagrid. She certainly wasn't short, but she felt like it next to the half-giant. "I feel like a drink. How about yourself?"
"Oh…I shouldn't do…not while we're on official Hogwarts business," Hagrid reasoned.
"Official Hogwarts business? I do believe that we have no more business left to complete, besides perhaps the hydration of one elf."
Hagrid laughed from deep within his belly. "Well, I suppose just one won't hurt," he reasoned.
They chose, of course, the Leaky Cauldron. The two of them sat down at the bar. Xylia earned stares left and right now that she was still.
"Oi, you that elf that's been livin' at Hogwarts?" the man next to her asked after a few minutes of sitting at the bar. Xylia took a sip of her drink.
"The one and only," she answered. "Unless you count the house elves, although I do believe I am a different kind of elf than they."
The man looked her up and down. "I'd much rather have an elf like you in my house all day."
Xylia gave the man a tight smile. Back in Skyrim, potential partners were only approached if one was wearing an Amulet of Mara. There seemed to be nothing like that in this world. Luckily, although Xylia still had to endure the constant stare of men that didn't interest her, she did have a good excuse. "I'm sure my husband would agree," she said with a tight smile.
The man nodded and turned back to his drink. "Lucky man," he said softly.
Xylia quickly downed the rest of her drink. The air in the bar suddenly became too awkward for her to stand. "I'm ready to go," she told Hagrid.
"Already? We just got here," he said, already on his second drink.
"I should really begin my personal studies," she reasoned, hoping that Hagrid could read the energy in the air.
"Dumbledore's probably wond'ring where we are by now I suppose," Hagrid commented. "We'll get going, then."
"Wingardium Leviosa," Xylia breathed with a swish and flick of her new wand. Miraculously, the feather on the table in front of her began to float upwards. As she moved her wand, the feather followed suit.
Xylia smiled at her accomplishment. However, with a distinct lack of people to even notice, it seemed much less impressive.
It was taking a while, but she was beginning to get used to channeling her Magika through the conduit. Xylia stopped channeling her Magika into the spell, thereby cancelling its effects upon the simple white feather. It drifted down slowly through the air before landing on the desk. She had a few random books splayed out on it along with some parchment and ink. Along with old textbooks that she'd taken with Dumbledore's permission, Xylia was also personally writing her own notes and observations to deliver to Apocrypha. If Mora could experience such an emotion, Xylia imagined that he would be happy with her information. She could not say the same for Sithis, who she had not even had the pleasure of meeting before.
Xylia pursed her lips. If she were capable of learning this world's magic with their devices, she wondered if the same device would be capable of learning spells from her own world. She imagined her conjuration spell for a simple flame atronach, but focused it through the wand instead of through her own body. At the tip of the wand, the same purple orb that she had held in her hands appeared. She released the spell, and in the middle of her bedroom, the flame atronach appeared. With no enemies nearby, it did nothing besides float in the room, gradually raising the temperature.
Xylia grinned as she made note of her discovery. Not only had the spell worked completely fine after being casted through the conduit, it had used far less Magika than if she had used the spell on her own. If she were to need to cast many spells in quick succession, then she could definitely see the use of the wand. However, as it stood, the wand wouldn't be useful in battle. Instead, it would probably become a nuisance, since she usually wielded Dawnbreaker along with her spells. Adding another element to her strategy felt as though it would be far too much to effectively deal with.
Xylia made note of all of this, including her feelings, in a personal journal. Later, she would share this information with Mora.
There was a short rasp on the door. "Come in," Xylia said without looking up. She added her last period before turning around in her seat to greet whoever knocked.
Severus opened the door, and while he first went to greet her, his eyes drifted towards the atronach. "What is that?" he asked, cautiously eyeballing it.
As though she had asked it to, the atronach collapsed into ash onto her floor, but even then, the ash disappeared. "It's a flame atronach. I was testing out my new wand," she said, holding up the wand for proof.
Severus's lips curled. He seemed like the kind of man who would do well in the Dark Brotherhood. Perhaps his hair and outfit was what made her think that, but his general disposition towards her was nothing but cold. He didn't necessarily intimidate her, but she was definitely off put by the idea of spending long periods of time with him. "Dumbledore is hosting a meeting and was hoping that you would join."
"Certainly," Xylia said, standing up.
As she followed the grouchy man through the castle, she started to doubt herself. She'd had a lot of time to think about it and started to wonder whether or not she should be so comfortable with the people in the castle. She'd worked through the past few months to convince them that she was trustworthy, even using her status as Archmage to squirrel her way into the school ranks. But, as far as she was aware, this Voldemort character was very anti-Hogwarts. If he was performing the Black Sacrament, it was entirely likely that she would be tasked with killing someone in that very castle.
She shook the thought from her mind as she entered Dumbledore's office. A large selection of professors were sitting and standing in the room. "Ah, Xylia. Thank you for coming. Now, we may begin. As some of you may know already, this year, we will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament. As such, we must be prepared to share Hogwarts with both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons."
Xylia looked about the room to see the professors nodding along. "I would like to remind everyone that these students should be treated with the utmost respect. And Xylia, I would like to warn you of this event so that you are aware of how many new students will be arriving this year. You may earn even more stares and questions."
She nodded. They were only a few days away from the students moving in, and she was already dreading the loud whispers about her appearance. She didn't care how many people didn't like her in Skyrim because she knew that she wasn't alone. Here, however, she was apparently the only high elf that they had ever seen. She couldn't help but feel as though she were always being examined.
Dumbledore continued to explain more of the Triwizard Tournament. Xylia shook her concerns from her head and forced herself to listen.
Xylia watched the Hogwarts Express pull up to the platform. Dumbledore explained the opening ceremony as a grand feast that involved sorting the students into their houses.
It began to rain. Xylia looked up, rather bothered by this addition. Plus, she assumed that the students would have a better time getting to the castle if not for the rain. "Lok Vah Koor!" she commanded of the sky. After a few moments, the rain clouds dissipated and the sun shined ever so slightly, as it was nearing dusk.
Hagrid watched her. As he explained to her, he was in charge of bringing the first years across the lake in boats. She didn't quite understand why they arrived separately, but she wasn't one to ask those kinds of questions. "Your magic is strange, Xylia," he commented.
Xylia gave him a small smile. "It's not magic," she explained, not unkindly. "It's simply an ability of a dragon."
"Well, it's incredible anyway, isn't it?" he asked, but Xylia soon came to learn that it was rhetorical.
"Thank you, Hagrid," she replied, because she didn't know how else she should.
Xylia turned towards the carriages that were meant for the older students. They were fairly large, and they were attached to strange, horse-like creatures with wings. They reminded her of Arvak. "Hagrid, what are those creatures?" she said without turning towards him.
Hagrid blinked for a moment. "Oh, the thestrals? Strange creatures they are. They can only be seen by those who have witnessed death."
Xylia nodded. "Yes, I have seen quite a lot of that. And the students?"
Hagrid shuffled uncomfortably on his feet. "A few of them can see them, I'm sure. Most students have no idea that they're there."
The students then started stepping off the train. "First years!" Hagrid bellowed, ceasing their conversation. Xylia awkwardly looked about her. She was told that she could find a carriage and travel back with some of the older students, but she wasn't sure exactly how to assert herself. She definitely didn't spend any time the previous year making friends.
"Xylia?" someone drew her out of her thoughts. A bushy haired girl stood in front of her, looking somewhat perplexed. "What are you doing down here?"
"Oh, Hermione," she greeted shortly. "Dumbledore thought I might like to see how the students arrive for the year."
"Are you meant to ride in the carriages? You can share one with us," she said, gesturing back to Harry and Ron. Their hair looked longer than it was last year. She wondered when was the last time that they'd seen a pair of scissors. Or did they just use magic to cut their hair? Xylia wasn't sure.
"That's kind of you, I would appreciate it," she answered, following the group to one of the carriages. She glanced at the thestral, but decided not to bring it up.
Harry and Ron both seemed slightly weary of her, but she supposed that she gave them plenty of reason to. "What have you been doing this summer?" Hermione asked the elf.
Xylia reached inside her boot to remove her new wand. "I've been experimenting with magic using this. Dumbledore suggested that I attempt to learn some of your magic."
"Has it worked?" she asked, genuinely interested. Harry and Ron seemed to be preoccupied with watching the castle.
"Yes, although I've only learned simple spells. However, more interestingly, if I attempt to use my own magic with the wand, it acts as a conduit, and uses far less of my own Magika. Your magic is so simple that I don't even need to use Magika. I suspect that the wand is a buffer and produced the Magika for you."
Hermione tilted her head, clearly interested. "What is Magika?"
"It's magical energy. I have a few potions meant to restore it in the heat of battle, but usually it regenerates naturally. Different people have different amounts of Magika within them. As a high elf, I am far more equipped to do magic than Nords and the like."
"Would it be possible to learn some of your magic?"
Xylia was taken by surprise. She tilted her head towards the girl. "Did you want to?"
Hermione blushed. "I'm not sure if I could, but I would be willing to try."
Xylia leaned back into her seat. "I'm sure I could find some spell tomes for you. I would be interested in seeing the results."