Chapter 30 – Training
Lillian woke up feeling quite disoriented. It took her a moment to adjust to the dimly lit room and realize she had no idea where she was. The last thing she remembered was looking at a red rose in the middle of a snow desert.
She looked around and noticed she was alone. There was a glass of water or what seemed to be water on the bedside table with a red rose beside it and a note stuck to the glass.
"Drink it," was all the note said.
"Like hell I'm going to drink something offered by him," she muttered thinking about the pain she wanted to inflict on Flamel.
The moment the words came out of the mouth the words on the note changed.
"If you don't, your head will start aching after a few minutes because of magical exhaustion."
She scoffed at the poor attempt to make her drink the water but a minute later she felt her head start aching.
The words changed again.
"And then you'll feel nauseous too."
She felt like puking too.
The words changed again.
"If you don't want to feel sick, drink the Potion. It will make you feel better."
She drank it in one gulp and gave a sigh of relief when the headache and nausea disappeared.
"Glad to see you decided to drink my potion," said Nicolas Flamel walking into the light. He was wearing a suit and for some reason had his grey hair pushed back giving him a very mafia look.
"You," growled Lillian. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't burn you to ground?"
"I can give you two," replied Flamel coolly. "One, you're magically exhausted and it will take you a day or two to recover and two, you're absolutely no match for me even at your full strength."
Lillian had no answer so she settled for glaring at him.
Flamel ignored it. "Are you hungry?" he asked her.
"No," she said, ignoring the hunger pangs.
Flamel smiled. "Well if you do make your way to the dining room. Penny and I will be waiting for you."
"Penny? That's your wife?"
"Yes. I'm sure she'd like to meet you."
"I rather not, if she's anything like you," she spat out.
Flamel gave a short laugh.
"Where's Potter?"
"Still asleep," replied the alchemist.
"Did you set a similar trail for him?"
"You knew it was a test?"
"Was he dumped in a fire storm like I was dumped in a blizzard?"
"You should know you passed."
"Who the hell are you!?" burst out Lillian all of a sudden.
"I believe the introductions were done quite some time back."
Lillian threw the glass beside her at him being incapable to use magic at the moment.
Nicolas simply moved aside avoiding it and it smashed into pieces upon contact with the wall.
"Who gave you the right to treat us the way you have!? What do you want from us!?" she screamed, breathing heavily.
Nicolas sighed. "When you're hungry met us in the dinning room," he said and walked out of the room.
Lillian felt her anger spike at the man's indifference.
"Bastard!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
She collapsed on the bed feeling her head spin. She closed her eyes and took deep, slow breaths in an effort to clam down.
Lillian felt her stomach growl again and her anger dissipated. She looked at the door and wanted to go and eat but didn't want to give Flamel the satisfaction of obeying his order.
She stood motionless for a minute before changing her mind and headed out of the room.
"Bloody old man," she grumbled.
She stepped into a plain white well lit corridor. It was straight and about 2 meters wide. She looked up and saw tube lights?
Lillian was mystified. What kind of wizard had tube lights in his house!? She looked left and right and couldn't figure out which way to go.
Sighing she turned left. She truly couldn't understand what kind of game Flamel was trying to play here. Her footsteps kept echoing and there was no way to know where she was going. There were no paintings, no windows… nothing. It felt like walking in a high security wing like in the movies, she thought.
Sometime later, the corridor ended and there was a door at the end of it. She opened it hesitantly wondering what horrors might be behind it. Her mind was filled with images of mutilated bodies and rows of rooms filled with people being experimented on or torture chambers with all sorts of instruments with Flamel laughing evilly while holding them.
She was quite relieved and surprised to see Flamel and another woman sitting at opposite ends of a small table waiting for her.
"Ah, hello there," said Nicolas cheerfully. "I see it didn't take you long to come out of that smelly room."
Lillian frowned and cautiously edged into the room. The room wasn't too large nor was it too small. It had a fire place at one end with a few sofas and chairs. And at the other end there was a simple dining table with four chairs where the two Flamel's were sitting.
"Have a seat Lillian," said Perenelle Flamel.
"So you're his wife, huh?" asked Lillian, not moving from her place next to the door.
"That's right," she said with a smile. "I'm Perenelle Flamel. How are you feeling?"
"Why do you care?"
Perenelle glanced at Nicolas who just shrugged.
"We are not your enemies Lillian. But you should also know we are not your friends either."
"That is so reassuring," said Lillian sarcastically.
"What I am trying to say is, you and your friend Harry are here to train, not to enjoy the comforts of life. Leaving you to fend for yourself in an environment hostile to you was an important test for you both."
"Like hell it was! You could have at least warned us!"
"Then it would defeat the purpose of the test," said Perenelle simply. "The main idea behind the whole test was to see how you react and adapt when in shock and fear. And I can say both of you did very well."
"We could have died!" hissed Lillian but her argument had lost the intensity it had before.
"Do you think we would have let you die? We might have let you push your body to the brink of death but we wouldn't have let you die," she said.
Lillian just glared.
"Why don't you have something to eat," said Nicolas. "I know you're hungry. I can practically hear your stomach crying out for food."
Lillian glared at him too but slowly moved to the table and took a seat.
"Where's Potter?" she asked.
"He's still asleep," replied Nicolas. "He was quite exhausted at the end even more than what you might be feeling."
"I'm feeling fine," muttered Lillian grabbing a boiled egg and a toast and began smearing the toast with marmalade.
"What is this place?" asked Lillian. "It's so depressing. I haven't seen a single window since I've come here and the rooms and corridors are all lighted with muggle stuff!"
Nicolas smiled. "We believe in using everything this world has to offer. And this house is just a temporary place. You won't be staying here after today. Once Harry wakes up and has yelled and screamed just like you did. We'll be moving to a much more open location."
"Oh, well. I see," muttered Lillian. "So what's next?"
"You'll see," said Perenelle mysteriously.
"Oh great," said Lillian with a sigh. "Another torture session."
Suddenly a buzzing sound was heard.
"I guess Potter's awake then," said Nicolas. "Your turn to go eh Penny?"
"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled and stood up and left.
"She's going to talk to Potter?"
"That's right," said Nicolas. "We always take turns doing everything," he said.
"Are we going to be training, like everyday?" asked Lillian slowly. "I mean, we have to spend more than a month here and you're going to be training us everyday?"
"Of course," said Nicolas like it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You're going to wish you never knew us!"
"But why?"
"It's because you're elementals," he said with a grin, "And," his demeanor suddenly became scary and intimidating, "and because you're going to have to fight Lord Voldemort alongside Potter. You're going to fight with the most feared death eaters and you're going to need all the help you can get."
"And how would you know that?" she asked him, while slowly moving away from him.
"Did really think we would have decided to train you if you weren't important?"
"Am I important?"
"More than you know," he whispered.
Lillian looked at him feeling extremely uneasy and scared too. If he was trying to freak her out, he certainly was doing a good job of it.
Harry slowly came out of his dreamless sleep feeling like there was a boulder placed on his head. The last thing he remembered was feeling very alive. He remembered feeling that nothing could touch him and he was invincible before he lost consciousness.
His body was aching. He tried to move and pain shot through every bone in his body. Wincing he laid back trying to figure out where he was. He blinked twice and realized his vision was all hazy and his head was beginning to ache real bad.
He tried to get up again only to feel extremely dizzy and weak.
"Drink this," came a feminine voice beside him. He turned and tried to make out who it was but his vision was too blurry. All he could see was grey hair and knew it was an old woman from her voice.
"Drink," she said again, handing him a glass.
"What is it?" asked Harry hoarsely.
"Potion to get rid of the pain you're suffering right now and to bring back the vision in your eyes."
Harry tried to see what he was drinking but his eye sight and headache was worsening. So closing his eyes he drank the potion which was surprisingly tasteless. The headache immediately began to recede and his eyes sight was fully restored.
He took a good look at the woman in front of him. She was easily into her sixties and had long grey hair and eyes that sparkled with wisdom. It gave the same feeling when he looked into the eyes of Dumbledore.
"How are you feeling now?" the woman asked him.
"You're Nicolas Flamel's wife," stated Harry instead.
She smiled and nodded.
"Where is he?"
"I hope you don't try to pick a fight with dear Nick," she said in a fragile voice.
Harry scowled. "I'm going to make him wish he never met me," he growled.
Perenelle Flamel was silent for a moment before she started laughing.
Harry was perplexed. He didn't know what was so funny!
"Dear child," she said. "You couldn't even lay a scratch on Nicolas or me even if you tried your best."
"Are you sure about that," said Harry coldly.
Perenelle leaned towards him, her eyes narrowed. "Very sure," she whispered and Harry could feel Goosebumps run down his back. This was not a woman to mess around with he thought.
She leaned back, smiling again. "And you don't want to be using magic for a day or too," she said.
"Why?"
"You were physically, mentally and magically exhausted at the end of your obstacle course. If you try using magic, you're head will ache and you'll feel extremely dizzy."
"What happened by the way? At the end?" asked Harry. He couldn't figure out even exactly he had fainted and how had he gotten rid of the fire.
Perenelle frowned. "Your element was fully unleashed," she said. "I have never seen anything quite like it."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
The woman sighed. "The power behind your element was incredible. We thought you were at your limit when you were surrounded with that fire but instead you suddenly became a living breathing blizzard. Or it was rather like the force of a hundred blizzards combined together."
"The wards which we placed around that area were shattered and it took the combined effort of Nick and me to keep your power at bay. You simply breezed through those wards like they weren't there," she said pointing a finger at him. "And those wards are practically unbreakable," she added.
Harry looked up, a slight grin on his face. "Too much power for you to handle?"
She smiled. "Hardly, you just caught us off guard that's all. Don't think you're powerful and all that because I could beat you with both my hands tied back."
Harry snorted. "You seem to think a lot of yourself. You look like a gust of wind would knock you over."
Perenelle chuckled. "You'd do well to remember that your life is in my hands as long as you're here. So mind your manners."
Harry yawned. "I can handle whatever you throw at me," he said. "If I can break through you supposedly unbreakable wards, let's see what more I can do. I'd probably defeat you with a flick of my finger."
Perenelle sighed. "Are you trying to test my patience? Because I must say, your attempts are quite pathetic. You say I think a lot of myself but you seem to have quite an inflated ego."
"Of course not," said Harry airily. "But I think if you had to resort to testing me without me knowing it and me still coming over the top, either I'm just strong or your test was pathetic."
Perenelle just stared at him incredulously. "Okay listen kid," she growled. "Either you shut your mouth right now and come with me or sit here until you beg me to give you something to eat."
"Lead the way, ma'am," he said bowing mockingly.
"Oh you're going to feel pain," she said icily and strode out.
Harry laughed. He had successfully riled her up. He felt that if they could subject him to any sort of test of training, he was well within his rights to insult and irritate them until he was satisfied.
He had to practically run to keep up with her. A fact which Perenelle took great pleasure in mentioning to Harry.
"Do keep up dear," she said. "Don't tell me this old woman is too fast for you?"
Harry growled. "My body is aching," he said.
Perenelle just laughed. "Don't give excuses Harry," she scolded. "Admit it that you're just too slow."
"Never in a million years," muttered Harry under his breath glaring at the woman's back.
"Ah here we are!" she said suddenly.
"Where is here?" asked Harry. "All I've seen till now is walls and more walls."
Perenelle grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him into the dining room.
"Bitch," muttered Harry earning a smack on his head. "Oww! What was that for!?"
"Sit down," she snapped.
Harry sat giving her dirty looks.
"Did I miss something?" asked Nicolas looking amused. Lillian looked at both Harry and Perenelle curiously while munching on her seventh piece of chicken leg.
"No Nicolas, you didn't," she said. "I just took a little time explaining what happened before Harry passed out. Like a light I might add," she said glaring at said boy.
"Uh oh," muttered Nicolas. "Looks like Harry and Penny got off to a bad start."
"What do you mean?" whispered Lillian.
"Harry said something to piss her off and that's not good at all."
"Nicolas!" called out Perenelle suddenly while Harry helped himself to all the food in front of him.
"What?"
"Do you mind if I take over Harry's training?"
Harry choked on his potatoes.
"I thought you wanted to train the fire elemental?" asked Nicolas.
Perenelle glared at Harry and said, "I changed my mind. You train the fire elemental and I'll take care of the water."
"Its water and ice," said Harry politely. "Do your research properly before trying to train a person would you."
Perenelle ignored him though a vein twitched on her forehead.
"What do you say Nick?" she asked, her voice taking a menacing edge.
Nicolas sighed. "He's all yours Penny," he said regretfully, thinking of the number of times he'd have to patch the boy up now.
"What kind of training are you going to start with?" asked Harry.
Perenelle smiled evilly. "You'll see," she said and began to eat her salad.
Harry looked at her warily wondering if it was a good idea to try and test her patience.
"Oh boy am I full!" said Lillian leaning back, patting her stomach.
"Freckles! How come I didn't notice you?" said Harry.
"I don't know how your vision works Potter," she said tiredly.
"Hmmm… right. I suppose you had to go through the same silly test as I did?"
Lillian nodded slowly wondering what he meant by silly test.
"You know, Mrs. Flamel is quite useless at putting up unbreakable wards," he whispered to her which was easily overheard by both Flamel's.
"Err… what do you mean? She asked, glancing at said woman who hadn't reacted.
"Yeah," said Harry. "Apparently she put up unbreakable wards to keep us contained if we lost control of our element but when I lost control the wards just blew apart."
"That's… great?"
"Don't you think it's quite pathetic? I mean, she's supposed to train me but can't even put up decent wards!"
Lillian just nodded glancing at both Flamel's again. Nicolas looked extremely amused while Penny was still eating her salad emotionlessly but it was clear that her temper was on the rise.
"Potter, maybe you should stop talking now," she whispered.
Harry ignored her. "And she's quite ugly too. I mean look at that hair! It looks like a bird nest on her head and her skin! Look at the way it sags! Maybe she ought to have plastic surgery or something."
Lillian was looking horrified and Penny seemed ready to kill Harry when Nicolas quickly stood up and all eyes turned to him.
"I guess we're all done," he said clapping his hands. "Why don't we take you home and show you your new rooms?"
"We aren't staying here?" asked Harry.
"No we're not," he replied. "What do you think Penny? Let's go?"
"Yeah sure," she said indifferently. "We can start training too."
Nicolas looked worried. "Err… I thought we weren't going to start until tomorrow?"
"Oh, It'll be like an introductory lesson for dear Harry," she said with a smile.
"Right," said Nicolas skeptically.
He pulled out his wand and muttered Portus pointing his hand at the goblet in front of him.
The goblet glowed blue before returning to its original color, plain silver.
Nicolas took the portkey and stood beside Penny, who placed a finger on it.
"Come on you two," he said, beckoning the two elementals over.
Harry and Lillian eyed the goblet warily. "This isn't some other test is it?" asked Lillian.
"No, you both cannot use magic for at least a day or two so no tests until then," he said.
Both placed a finger on the portkey not really believing the man. They felt a jerk beneath their navel and were pulled into vortex of color. A few seconds later they landed hard on the ground and miraculously both Harry and Lillian managed to stay on their feet.
They shielded their eyes at the sudden brightness that assaulted them.
Lillian gasped at the sight of the Flamel's home. It was a two storey tall building made entirely of steel!
It looked more like a huge vault in the form of a house. There was a lake in front of the house and apart from that it was just a vast open land with a number of tree's here and there.
"Is that a house made from steel?" said Harry.
"That house young Harry, is not made out of steel but gold," said Nicolas.
Harry and Lillian whipped their heads towards the alchemist.
"Gold!?" they both cried out together.
"Yes, gold," said Flamel calmly.
"But it looks like steel!"
"A temporary illusion," said Perenelle, "Let's walk closer and you might change your mind."
Sure enough, as they grew closer to the house, the color changed from normal metallic to bright gold.
"Where did you get all the gold from," said Lillian her voice filled with amazement and awe.
"The philosopher's stone," muttered Harry. "It produces the elixir of life and can change metal to gold."
"Unreal," whispered Lillian.
"But why build a house of gold?" asked Harry.
"Because we can," replied Nicolas. "What's the point of having all the gold you can possibly get if you don't use it in every way possible?"
"You could sell it," said Harry.
"We have enough money and you forget that the world thinks the stone is destroyed and we are dead."
"So? You could have built this house before the stone was destroyed."
"Our last known address was Paris," replied Nicolas. "You are the only ones who are going to see this house and we are going to make you swear an oath that you will not talk about what you did and where you were from today onwards until you get back to Hogwarts."
"An oath!?"
"Yes, an oath," said Nicolas calmly.
"Why?"
"To protect my wife and I," he said simply.
"And where are we anyway?" asked Harry.
Nicolas smiled. "Don't worry about that. All you need to worry about is food, water and training."
"Yeah," muttered Lillian. "Training."
They reached the house and could help but stare. It was really beautiful. The gold walls were glittering in the sun light giving them a majestic sight.
There was a single door facing the lake made of wood.
"Welcome to our home," said Nicolas smiling.
Harry and Lillian didn't respond. They were too busy admiring the beauty of the house, both outside and inside.
The interior of the house was a decorated to give it a very cozy and homely feel to it. The only thing that made them gasp in surprise was the sight of a huge flat screen television and the presence of very hi tech equipment known to muggles.
"What the hell?" said Lillian.
"I told we like to keep ourselves up to date," said Nicolas with an amused expression.
"You call this up to date!?" said Lillian. "This is awesome!"
"Thank you Lillian," said Perenelle.
"Is all this stuff in our rooms too?" asked Harry.
"No," said Nicolas. "And there are no rooms. There is only one room."
"WHAT!?" shouted Harry and Lillian.
"Just kidding," said Nicolas laughing. "Just wanted to see your expressions."
"Next time try imagining," grumbled Harry. "I nearly had a heart attack."
"Get one and die Potter," said Lillian.
Harry ignored her pointedly making her go red in anger.
"Come one let me show you your rooms," said Nicolas.
Both thirteen year olds followed the old alchemist up the stairs. There were various different portraits hanging on the wall while on their way up with a few pictures of both Flamel's in different places. Like there was one of them standing next to a pyramid, another of them on a boat next to some huge water fall, another very weird one of them was in some deserted alley with dilapidated buildings in the background.
They reached the first floor landing and headed down the corridor.
"Alright, four rooms on this floor. These two are yours," he said pointing to two doors opposite each other. "You can choose whichever room you want. Bathroom is at the end of the corridor."
Both Lillian and Harry grimaced upon hearing there was only one bathroom.
Nicolas opened the door to one of the rooms and led them in.
"What do you think?" he asked.
Harry simply spluttered and then shouted. "It's pink!"
He was right. Everything in the room was pink. From the walls to the bed to the carpet on the floor, the windows, everything was pink. The bedcovers were frilled giving them a very girly look.
"Ah," said Nicolas with a smile. "This might be Penny's doing."
Harry turned red. "I am NOT sleeping here!"
"Me too," said Lillian looking appalled. "If the other room is anything like this I'd rather sleep downstairs with the cool home theatre system."
Nicolas shrugged. "If you want to sleep. This is the only place you got. You can sleep here or in the bathroom but no where else."
"We can use magic here, right?" asked Lillian.
"Yes, but I doubt you'll be able to undo whatever spell Penny has put. She does have more than a thousand years experience after all."
Harry just mumbled something inaudible.
Nicolas was sure it was nothing nice.
"Well, that's, that. Freshen up now. Penny wants you down as soon as you're done Harry," he said.
"What for?" asked Harry.
Nicolas smiled. "You'll see," he said and simply flickered out of view.
Harry just rolled his eyes and muttered, "Show off." He looked at his right hand and observed the sign of the hallows. He wondered if he could summon his wand. He closed his eyes and willed his wand to appear but instead a sudden sharp pain erupted in his head.
"Bad idea," he said wincing. Glancing around the room disgustedly, he decided to check out Lillian's room.
Lillian meanwhile had opened the other room and found it to be perfectly normal. There was no pink at all. It had a white wall, with a brown carpet covering the entire floor and a queen size bed in the center. There was a huge window overlooking the lake and Lillian was most happy with the room. She couldn't wait to see the look on Potter's face when he realized he was stuck with the pink room!
"Hey Potter!" she yelled out. "You can keep that room!"
Harry came out and entered a room and gasped in horror.
"You cannot get this room!" he cried out.
"I can, I just did. Look on the door. My name's engraved on it too," he said with a delighted laugh.
"I can simply throw you out and take over this room Freckles."
Lillian stuck out her tongue. "We can't use magic for a day so you can't do anything!"
Harry simply growled and ran forward and grabbed her by the hip and tried to drag her out.
"Nooo!" shouted Lillian and kicked out hard hitting him on the shin.
"Ouch god dammit! I am not sleeping in a bloody pink room!" he said and dived and grabbed her by the ankles making her fall and tried pulling her out.
"Let me go asshole!" she yelled while being dragged on her back.
Somehow she managed to sit up while being dragged and grab Harry's ankle and trip him.
Harry fell and Lillian immediately pounced on him.
Harry's eyes widened on seeing her jump and quickly rolled out of the way panting and jumped on her back pinning her on the floor. She tried waving her arms in an effort to hit him but Harry quickly caught hold of them and held them behind her back tightly.
"Give up?" he asked smugly.
"Never," breathed Lillian trying her best to break free of his grip.
She tried hitting him with her legs but Harry simply put his legs above them preventing her from moving them.
It was a very funny sight. Harry had his knees on her butt. Both his legs were on her legs and his hands holding her hands behind her back. Her cheek was pressed against the floor and she eyes were alive with fury.
"Argh!" cried out Lillian in anger. "Get off me Potter! You practically weigh a ton!"
"Not until you agree to change rooms!"
"My butt hurts dammit!"
"Like I care."
"Get off!"
"NO!"
Lillian closed her eyes and stopped struggling.
"Give up?" asked Harry.
And then all of a sudden, she began squirming and twisting and Harry almost let her free but managed to hold firm.
"Just agree to change rooms Freckles and I'll let you go."
An idea struck Lillian.
"Hey Potter," she said coolly.
"What?"
"GET OFF!" she yelled and pushed her butt up throwing Harry off balance. It was a like she was a bull trying to get rid of the rider.
Harry fell sideways surprised and let her go. Lillian immediately scrambled up and began kicking him.
"You jerk! What the hell do you think you're doing?" she said furiously.
Harry winced when he felt her leg hit his thigh just missing his jewels.
Lillian again aimed for his leg but Harry caught hold of her leg swiftly and shoved it back making her fall hard.
Both quickly got back on their feet before either could attack.
They stood three feet apart panting and glaring at each other waiting for one of them to make a move.
"Are you crazy Potter!?"
"There is no way in hell I am going to be living in that room! You're a girl; you stay there and let me stay here!"
"No way, I hate pink and you should have checked out this room before assuming both the rooms were the same."
"Dammit Freckles!" said Harry and lunged for her again. He grabbed her around her shoulders and began pulling her towards the door again.
"Let. Me. GO!" she screamed, struggling to get free.
She tried tripping him and resisting his pull but it didn't do much good apart from giving him a few scratches and bruises.
Wincing Harry reached the door and almost managed to throw her out when Lillian jabbed her elbow backwards hitting him on the chin. Harry let go and cried out in pain rubbing his jaws.
Lillian yelled in triumph and shoved him out of the room and slammed the door shut.
"Loser!" she yelled.
She let out a sigh of relief and began laughing. "You lost to a girl, Potter!" she yelled out again and began straightening her clothes. They had gotten terribly rumpled and crumpled during her fight.
Outside Harry was ready to explode in anger. His leg hurt, his jaws were aching and worst of all he had been beaten by a girl.
"This isn't over Freckles," he shouted.
"It is so!" she yelled back.
"It is not," muttered Harry, a plan forming in his mind. He unwillingly entered his pink room. Sighing he opened the cupboard and found that it was filled with clothes of his size. The Flamel's had left no stone unturned, he thought.
He chose a black track pant and a grey shirt and a towel and headed to the bathroom. He'd suffer for a day and when his magic was back Lillian would suffer.
Entering the bathroom he turned on the tap and let the cold water loose. He checked to see if there was any way to regulate the temperature and found a dial beside the bathtub. He turned it all the way to its minimum. His whole body ached. Lillian was surprisingly strong he thought grudgingly. With a sigh he lowered himself into the bathtub feeling extremely relieved and relaxed.
Lillian meanwhile collapsed on her new bed. Her butt was really hurting now after all the abuse it had just endured. Potter had put his full weight on it and she must have fallen hard on her butt once or twice. The rest of her body hurt too. All that struggling was really taxing.
She began laughing again remembering the look on Potter's face when he saw her room.
"What about clothes?" she thought suddenly. She certainly couldn't wear the same thing everyday!
With that thought in mind she quickly went to the cupboard and yanked it open. She gasped in surprise at the amount of clothes and varieties in there. There were skirts, jeans, tights, spaghetti's, t-shirts, shirts, undergarments, party wear... you name it.
Her eyes glowing with excitement she wondered what to wear. She began removing all the clothes and checking what looked good with what and which would suit her best.
It took her twenty minutes just to select a skirt and spaghetti. She collected the clothes and a towel and made her way out of the room before a terrible thought struck her.
What if she went for a bath and Potter high jacked her room!?
She bit her lower lip wondering what to do and it didn't take long. Dumping the clothes she selected on the bed, she hurried back to the cupboard and starting removing all the underwear's and began throwing the randomly. Two minutes later she looked at her handiwork. There was no way he could enter the room without having to touch her underwear's. And if he was like any other guy of his age, he wouldn't dare touch them. She mentally thanked the Flamel's for providing such a large quantity of clothes and left the room.
She hung another underwear on the door handle for good measure. Satisfied she headed to the bathroom only to find it locked.
"Potter are you in there!?" she said exasperatedly.
"Yup," a lazy voice said.
"Well get out! I need to go in."
There was no answer.
"How long are you going to take?"
Again silence.
"I'll break the door down Potter," she threatened.
"Shut it Freckles, I'm relaxing," came Harry's voice.
With a frustrated sigh she sat down beside the door and waited. She knew this was going to be an everyday affair. The war had begun.
Fifteen minutes later Harry came out looking as cool as a cucumber. He had been in for about an hour.
"It's all yours Freckles," he said cheerfully.
"And you better not enter my room Potter," she said and slammed the door shut.
As soon as the door shut Harry ran towards Lillian's room but his hand froze above the handle.
A pink frilly underwear was hanging on the door handle. Harry turned red. His hand kept inching close and then backed it away.
Finally he decided against touching the disgusting pink underwear. "You win this round Freckles," he muttered and went downstairs, his shoulders slouched in defeat. But he had to admit that putting the underwear on the handle was a master stroke.
"Ah, you're finally down!" said Nicolas. "Perenelle has been waiting for quite some time now."
"Waiting for me?" asked Harry.
"For your introductory lesson remember?"
"Oh, yeah, so where is she?"
"Sit down and have some biscuits," he said. "She'll be here in a minute."
Harry sat. "Why did you lie?"
Nicolas frowned. "Lie about what?"
"The rooms! The other one was perfectly fine!"
"Both the rooms are the same Harry," said Perenelle entering the room. "It's only the decorations that are different."
Harry glared at her.
"Where's Lillian?" asked Nicolas.
"Bathing," replied Harry shortly.
"Well come on then," said Perenelle.
"For what?" asked Harry wearily.
"Training," she said cheerfully, tying her hair into a bun.
"What kind of training?" asked Harry, not moving from his place.
"Move it boy," she said sternly. "Either you do what I tell you to do or you can leave and learn nothing.
Harry got up slowly.
"Good. Now follow me," she said. She led him towards the kitchen and through the back door.
Harry followed.
Outside it was just an endless sea of grass and trees. It was like a green carpet spread out as far as a person's eyes could see.
There was a nice breeze blowing and going by the position of the sun Harry figured it was around one in the afternoon.
"So what are we doing?" asked Harry.
"Run," said Perenelle.
"Run?"
"Run unless I tell you to stop. I don't want to hear any arguments. As of now, you're the student and I'm your boss, teacher, etcetera, etcetera."
"Any particular direction?" he asked her.
"Let's see how far away from the house you can go."
So Harry began to run. He ran fast for at least a minute and then slowed down and began to jog at a steady pace.
Five minutes later he began to pant and another ten minutes later he could feel the sweat dripping from his face like a tap left half open.
"How long do I have to keep going?" he asked perenelle in short gasps.
Perenelle was floating beside him on a broom watching him lazily.
"Are you tired already?" she said. "You haven't even gone more than two kilometers away!"
Harry stopped and put his hands on his thighs. He looked up at Perenelle, his face sweaty and red.
"Two!? That's it?"
"That's right."
"It feels like ten."
"That shows what stamina you have," she said grimly. "Basically you have none. It's hardly been more than ten minutes and you're already tired."
"I'd like to see you doing it," he snapped.
Perenelle got of the broom and drew her wand. "Dodge," she said simply and fired a stunner at him.
Harry jumped out of the way. "What are you doing!?" he yelled and dived to his left as another stunner came towards him.
"Come on dodge," she said again. "Let's see those Quidditch reflexes."
She sent two stunners towards him as soon as Harry dived left. Harry was forced to stop himself and dive to the right.
This time she sent three stunners in succession one straight at him and the other two to his left and right.
Harry panicked, unable to decide which side to go was hit by the stunner.
Perenelle sighed and revived him.
Harry awoke groggily.
"Stand," she snapped.
Harry slowly pushed himself up feeling disoriented.
"Tell me Harry, why are you here?"
"Because I can't go back to Hogwarts?"
"No, because you want to train yourself to be good enough to fight grown trained wizards. Because you're an elemental and because you're going to have to face Voldemort himself."
"Yeah," replied Harry dumbly.
"I made you run to see how long you could stay standing in a duel. I made you dodge to see how effectively you could avoid lethal spells which can't be blocked."
"So how'd I do?"
"Terribly," replied Perenelle. "Right now you wouldn't even last a minute in a duel against a well trained wizard."
"Hey, I'm just thirteen! Not thirty."
"You're a thirteen year old wizard who practically has the burden of the world on him," she said harshly. "Maybe you're every good at learning and casting spells."
She walked closer to him. "But what is the point if you physically can't endure?" she whispered.
Harry didn't answer.
"Most wizards simply focus on learning very hard spells and charms and enchantments. But in a duel you must utilize every weapon at your disposal. If you loose you're wand you need to be fast enough to avoid the spells your opponent sends at you. You need to use your surroundings effectively to gain the advantage over him or her."
"What about runes?" asked Harry suddenly "Can they be used in a duel?"
"Of course, but it will take too long to do so. And there are too many disadvantages. You need to position them correctly, you need to say the required words and some complicated runes require you to stay still. Using runes is useless in battle unless you have a team with you. And even then it is hard because you're team mates will be more worried about protecting you rather then fighting. And even worse, you'll need to position your opponent in a particular spot which is impossible unless your enemy is an idiot."
"So using runic magic is not advisable," he said dryly.
"That's right," she said and suddenly threw three stunners at him.
This time Harry was ready and he ducked, letting the stunner pass above him.
He was so pleased that he missed the one she had sent close to the ground and was stunned again.
"Ennervate," said Perenelle with a sigh.
"Do you want me to point out your mistake?"
"I celebrated too early didn't I?"
"You did."
Harry sighed and stood straight. "Okay, I'm ready," he said looking determined.
Penny smiled. "That's more like it," she said and started of with a single stunner which Harry easily dodged. Immediately she sent three followed by a one close to the ground.
Harry managed to duck under the three but fell to the fourth before he could get out of the way.
Penny revived him again. "Again," she said as soon as Harry recovered.
This time Harry didn't duck when she sent the three stunners. Instead he positioned himself in such a way that he was between two of them and let them pass between him. He then managed to jump over the low stunner. He saw another one right behind it targeted at his midriff and stepped aside to avoid it but unfortunately he didn't see the one beside the one he side stepped and was hit again.
When revived he saw Perenelle smiling.
"What did you learn?" she asked.
Harry rubbed his forehead. "Whatever you're trying to teach me," he said tiredly. His head was beginning to ache because of the constant stunning.
"Don't get smart with me kid," she said narrowing her eyes. "But what you should have realized is jumping and diving around like a frog is useless."
"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?"
"You are such a moron!"
Harry glared at her.
"Alright, I'll tell you what your puny brain could not process."
"And what is that?"
"Keep you're eyes focused. Jumping around will make you loose focus. Instead do exactly what you did when I sent the three stunners together. Weave through them!" she said gesturing with her hands. "Watch carefully and side step the curses! Look for tiny gaps and avoid them accurately!"
Harry nodded, processing every thing she said.
"Again!" she shouted raising her wand.
This time she sent two back to back curses in the same line but different levels which Harry easily dodged. Another soon followed right beside it and Harry moved back into his original position as soon as the other two passed.
He saw another coming his way and noticed Perenelle fire two more, no four more. One was to his left and the other to his right and when he moved in between the two to let them pass beside him the other two came crashing into him sending him flying back. They weren't stunners, they were punching hexes and Harry lay prostrate on the ground, groaning in pain.
Penny sighed. "Look's like the end of today's training," she muttered.
Harry tried to get up but Penny stopped him.
"Don't move," she said sharply, moving next to him. "Getting hit by two consecutive punching hexes could give you a concussion and added to that you have been hit more than four to five stunners before that."
"My head hurts," groaned Harry.
Penny pushed him back and made him lie down. "You're head hurts because you fell on it."
"Easy for you to say," muttered Harry.
"It is, isn't it?" she said grinning. "I told you you'll be feeling pain."
Harry looked resigned.
"I bet you're thinking, if only I didn't try to antagonize her," she said.
"No, I'm thinking of ways to torture you when I can use my magic without any problems."
Penny rolled her eyes and summoned her broom. "Get on," she said.
Harry looked at the broom and then looked at her. "I'm not sitting behind you, you probably stink!"
"Stupefy," she said with a sigh and shoved him onto the broom. "Bloody idiot," she said and flew further away from the house.
When the house was like a speck in the distance she stopped, dropped Harry down and woke him.
"Whaa…" began Harry groggily. "Why did you stun me?"
"What have we done for the past hour?"
Harry shrugged. "Dodging and running."
Penny smiled. It was a sinister smile, thought Harry.
"Training's over for now," she said.
"Sooo, why are we here?" he asked looking confused. The house was merely a golden speck far away and they were surrounded by trees.
"Come back Harry," she said and flew back.
"What! WAIT!" he shouted scrambling up.
"Stamina training Harry, stamina training," she said rising in the air.
"Stamina training!?" cried incredulously. "Who makes someone run miles and call it stamina training!?"
He didn't receive any answer. Penny just waved back and flew away.
Harry looked on feeling outraged.
"BITCH!"
Lillian was extremely pleased. Her idea had worked like a charm and Harry hadn't entered her room.
She went downstairs and found Nicolas sleeping.
She quietly tiptoed around him and pulled the remote out of his hand. It had been ages since she had seen a good television show.
She turned in on and VH-1 blaring at full volume.
Wincing, she quickly reduced the volume before the remote was wrenched from her hand and the television turned off.
"Can't you let an old man sleep in peace," grumbled Nicolas.
"Sorry," she said looking guilty.
"Ah, don't look all guilty and all. You'll make me go all soft."
Lillian giggled.
"Well sit down," he said gesturing to the chair in front of him. "How did you like your room?"
Lillian grinned. "It's great. How did you know my dress size and everything?"
"Oh, that was Penny. She set up everything. The clothes, the rooms, the color of the rooms, the house, the location, basically everything."
"And what were you doing?"
"I was busy doing something else," he said cryptically. "Enough discussion about that. Let's discuss you."
"Discuss me?"
"What was your routine in Hogwarts?"
Lillian raised an eyebrow. "Well, get up in the morning, have breakfast, go to class, spend time in the common room and then sleep."
Nicolas frowned, obviously displeased.
"What position do you place yourself in class?"
"Donno," she said with a shrug.
Nicolas sighed. "What classes are you good at?"
"Well I'm decent at everything. I would have liked potions best if it weren't for that old bat, defense I can't say because we've never had a teacher who actually taught us anything, charms I pretty much catch on quick enough and transfiguration is my weakest but I'm working on it."
"So, potions, charms, transfiguration and defense are the order."
"Pretty much," she said with a nod.
"Have you ever practiced any of the spells in your defense text books?" he asked.
"Of course, we had a small dueling club in our second year and I looked up quite a few spells. But they were all useless. I usually spend my time practicing transfiguration and my elemental ability."
Nicolas nodded and looked deep in thought.
"Well," he said finally clapping his hands. "Let me lay down the rules."
"We have rules?"
"Of course you do! Firstly you do exactly what I tell you to do, second- no entering rooms which have a skull on them, and thirdly," said dramatically raising his hands. "Just make sure you follow rule number 1 and 2."
Lillian's shoulders sagged, "Lame," she muttered.
"Harry and Penny have gone off for a light round of training. Do you want to start today?"
"What kind of training are they doing if Potter can't use magic?" she asked.
"Well, I guess she'll be making him run or do some sort of exercise."
"Oh," replied Lillian nodding. "Yeah, okay."
Nicolas smiled. "So shall we do something productive or shall we watch a movie?"
Lillian seemed to be struggling with herself. But in the end her logical side won. "Let's train," she said regretfully.
"Excellent!" said Nicolas. "But you're wearing a skirt and a… sleeveless top, which is not good for what I have in mind."
"Do you want me to change?"
"No, just go and wear some tights or something."
"Tights?"
"And I hope you're wearing a bra or what do you call them trainers... well, you know what I mean," he said uncomfortably.
Lillian turned red.
"Will do," she said slowly and quickly hurried upstairs and came back within a minute.
"You ready?" asked Flamel.
"Absolutely," she said enthusiastically.
Nicolas nodded and led her out the front door. They walked to the edge of the lake when Nicolas pulled out his wand and conjured a boat.
"We're going for a boat ride?" she asked, looking confused.
"Do you know how to swim Lillian?"
She nodded, "My dad taught me when I was six."
"Good," said Nicolas and pointed his wand at her.
Lillian immediately tensed. "What are you doing," she said, her heart rate accelerating.
Nicolas simply waved his wand and she flew into the lake with a scream. Nicolas laughed and got into the boat and moved the boat with magic towards Lillian who was bobbing around looking furious.
"What the hell!?" she cried, spitting water out of her mouth.
"Swim Lillian," he said a grin forming on his old face. "Swim as fast as you can to the other end."
Lillian looked at the other end which was quite far and then looked back at the alchemist.
"Okay," she said pushing her hair back. "Could you at least provide me with something to tie my hair back?"
Nicolas snapped his fingers and her hair was suddenly in a pony.
"Go," he said.
"Okay, let's go Mary," she said taking a deep breath and began to swim as fast as she could.
Nicolas kept up with her watching her carefully. Lillian kept swimming at a steady pace for a good ten minutes before she began to tire.
"Are you tired?" asked Nicolas.
Lillian didn't stop but did manage to spit out a 'no' before her head went back underwater.
Three minutes later she stopped and said, "Okay, yes. I'm tired."
Nicolas had a satisfied smirk on his face. He held out his hand and pulled her into the boat.
Lillian simply lay flat on her back trying to catch her breath.
"I must say, I'm impressed you managed to swim for a good fifteen minutes."
"I could have gone longer if you had told me to wear a swim suit," she snapped.
"Where would be the fun in that!?"
Lillian lifted her head and looked at him like he was crazy. "Do you have any idea how heavy these clothes felt!?"
"Oh, come on kid. You're wearing just a skirt and a sleeveless top! How heavy could that be?"
"It's called a spaghetti."
"What's called a spaghetti?"
"The top!" she said exasperatedly.
Nicolas rolled his eyes. "Now only women would name their clothes after food."
She sat up and looked at him narrowing her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means what it's supposed to mean," he said. "I've been with Penny for more than a thousand years and I still can't understand her at times!"
"Let's just get back to why you made me swim shall we."
"To test your stamina," he said promptly. "It's very important and I must say you have quite a decent stamina. But not good enough."
"What's good enough for you?"
"You'll see what's good enough for me at the end of your stay here.
So are you ready for the next step?"
"Next step!?" exclaimed Lillian. "I'm exhausted!"
"Oh it's not that tiring at all," said Nicolas turning the boat around. "I think you'll like it."
"I don't think I'm going to like it," muttered Lillian.
Nicolas tapped the boat twice with his wand and it suddenly took off into the air and flew to the house and stopped near the back door.
Both of them got off and the boat vanished.
At the same time Penny reached the house too and dismounted.
Nicolas frowned, "Where's Harry?"
Penny pointed away from the house and both Lillian and Nicolas put the hands above their eyes and tried to spot Harry.
"Can't see him," said Lillian.
"Me neither," added Nicolas.
"I told him to walk or run back so maybe you'll be able to see him in an hour or more," she said. "I'm going to rest Nick. These old bones can't keep up with all this activity."
"I'll be joining you in a minute," said Nicolas. "Just going to give Lillian here a job to do."
Penny nodded and walked into the house.
"What are we doing here?"
Nicolas reached within his pockets and pulled out a remote. He pressed a button and the wall beside the back door suddenly began to rise.
"This is my garage," he said walking inside.
It was huge and filled with cars. Aston Martins, Audi's, Ferrari's, Rolls Royce, Convertibles, it was all there and Lillian could only look on in awe.
"You're job is to make sure each and every one of these twenty cars are shining," he said.
Lillian snapped out of her trance. "Excuse me!?"
"The pipe for water is outside along with a bucket, a cloth and car soap."
"You want me to wash all the cars!? What for?"
"Because I feel like it. Now get to work."
"I'm not doing it!"
Nicolas sighed. "Lillian, Lillian, Lillian," he said in a sing song voice. "If you don't do it, you don't get to enter the house and you get no food! So Get. To. Work!"
Lillian dragged her feet outside and grabbed the hose and attached it to the tap.
"That's a good girl," said Nicolas and shimmered out of view.
So Lillian got to work. Cleaning and polishing each and every one of those amazing vehicles.
She was viciously wiping car number nine, which was a Porsche when she saw Harry walking like a zombie towards the house.
He seemed to be dragging his feet forwards, his shirt drenched in sweat. His eyes lit up in relief when he realized he had finally reached the house.
He saw the garage and despite his state of tiredness he decided to investigate and was surprised to see Lillian there... washing a Porsche?
"Hey Potter, you look fresh."
Harry looked at her then looked at the hose and then walked over to her and snatched the hose out of her hands.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Harry then pointed the hose at himself and poured water all over himself.
"That feels so good," he said with a sigh, feeling the water seep into his clothes.
Lillian looked at Harry grinning. "What are you doing Potter?"
"Shut up Freckles," he said and sat down on the ground, keeping the hose above his head.
"Oh for god's sake," said Lillian and snatched the hose back from Harry. "Lie down," she said.
Harry being in no mood to argue laid down.
Lillian then began spraying water on Harry who closed his eyes enjoying the feeling.
"So what did Perenelle make you do?" she asked him, leaning on the car.
"She made me run, then made me dodge stunning curses and then hit me with punching hexes, then stunned me again and dumped me at least 5 miles away from the house and told to come back myself."
Lillian winced. "That sucks."
"Tell me about it," replied Harry. "I don't think I've ever done this much running before. Did you train with the old man?"
"Kind of," she said. "He made me swim in the lake and now my job is to wash all these cars."
Harry opened his eyes and looked around. "They look good."
"Look good!?" said Lillian incredulously. "Potter, people would die to own these cars!"
"They serve the same purpose," said Harry.
Lillian simply shook her head. "Maybe when you sit in one of them and drive them you'll realize their worth."
Harry simply rolled his eyes.
"Tell me something Freckles, how did you feel when you were swimming?" asked Harry suddenly.
Lillian frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Did you feel nice swimming or did you feel kind of uncomfortable?"
"Now that you mention it," she said slowly, "I did feel kind of nauseous and sick, but I didn't think much on it because I had to swim real fast."
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "And Penny made me run in the sun. Something I hate doing."
Lillian's eyes widened in dawning comprehension.
"This was similar to our first test," she said. "But on a much lesser scale."
"Not only that. Penny told me she wanted us to increase our stamina. And making me run in hot weather and you in water makes us weak. But if we manage to sustain ourselves for long periods in those conditions, then we'd be much more efficient in normal conditions."
Lillian gave a low whistle. "They might be unorthodox but they certainly know what they're doing."
Harry nodded.
"Do you want me to stop pouring water on you?" she asked suddenly. "I really got to get this done."
"Washing cars?"
"Ya," she replied with a sigh.
"I'll help you," said Harry surprising her.
"You want to help me?" she asked stunned.
"Yes," said Harry. "There seem to be a lot of cars left and I figured you need some help, unless you don't want it."
"No, of course I want help," she said looking confused. "But coming from you, it's a little unusual."
Harry smiled and got up feeling much better. "Call it a change of heart," he said tearing the cloth into two.
That said and Lillian still looking suspicious Harry began wiping the Porsche.
Slowly Lillian began to work as well while keeping an eye on Harry waiting for him to do something out of the ordinary but it never happened and soon they were chatting and arguing good naturedly.
When they were on the last car Harry looked at Lillian who was spraying water over the car and he felt weird whooping sensation in his stomach.
"What?" asked Lillian with a laugh and he realized he had been staring.
"Nothing," he said quickly wondering what had just happened.
Another ten minutes later the final car was done.
"Finished!" said Lillian victoriously and they exchanged a high five.
Harry looked out and saw that it was already dark outside. No wonder he was feeling so hungry.
"Thanks Harry," said Lillian sincerely.
"You're welcome. Now lets get in, my stomach is practically crying for food."
While going back Harry wondered how the rest of the month was going to go past. He had been almost killed and was now exhausted and it had all happened in less than thirty hours. He shuddered to think what could happen in a month.
But he knew… he knew that at the end of the day, he would be stronger than he ever knew.