Harry Potter and Big Sister
Chapter 5: Trial, in more ways than one.
Aisha's predicament comes true in the next morning, much to Harry's disdain, that once they've finished with their breakfast, Mrs. Weasley instantly drafted them to deal with the cleaning in one of the dirty storage room on the 2nd floor, cutting off any argument he, or Big Sis, might tried to form with a simple word "As all of you're going to live in this place, you should better make it really become 'living place' first." Or something along the line of 'no pain, no gain' which doesn't make any sense at all, by Harry's opinion, that is.
And here they are, back into one storage room that is so messed up that no word could describe what was piling up for all of them to see right now. And to top those mess off, Mrs. Weasley told them that Doxy had made a large nest in that pile, along with the curtain next to it, making clearing those objects out impossible unless Doxy has been dealt with first.
That's why all of them were armed with masks and black spray cans that labeled 'Doxycide' and slowly approaching the pile and curtain which situated closely to each other, ready to storm their 'Stronghold' and put an end to Doxy' reign in this room once and for all, so they can make it into something better.
"All right, everyone" Mrs. Weasley speaks when they're a few meters away from the Doxies' nest that buried beneath the piles, addressing Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and another newcomer who's not Wizardkind. "When I give signal, spray it in their face, beware that their fangs are poisonous too, I had antidote with me, but I hope that no one will need it" She glanced at the bottle in her dress's pocket for some assurance that it still there, then noticed something out of ordinary which warrant her attention immediately.
"Miss Aisha." She called out to the purple haired girl who looks no older than Ron Weasley that was trailing behind everybody else, her eyes seems to flash a small anger at the sight of the girl, and for good reason. "…I appreciate your will to help us, but you don't have Doxiecide with you, how can you protect yourself? I don't want you to get hurt, perhaps you should wait outside."
Aisha only put up a cryptic smile back and said. "Thanks for the concerns, ma'am, but I'm quite sure I've seen… worse… than this…"
Without saying any more words, the girl quickly jumped up front, palms up ahead facing the thumb-sized furry-fairies-like creatures that suddenly swarmed out of cupboards, curtains, and those piles of junks, caught everyone off-guarded, blitzkrieg style. They screams in fury, four little fists on each of them swung around menacingly, fangs bear ready to bite the nearest invaders, particularly the still stunned boys and girls who was too surprised of the sudden attack to respond, thus frozen in place.
Except for one war veteran who get used to such tactic enough to know a sign that this was coming, a few second before those Doxies even left their nests… Aisha… and she's now clearly in the way between them and others, thus all of those Doxies, numbering nearly fifty, quickly rushed on her, thought she would be an easy prey, while a few of them trying to bypass her to the side to get the vulnerable children and one adult who stood stunned behind.
However, such thing do not come to pass, when they're about few feet from the girl in white jacket, Aisha's palms glowed bright blue, her fingers spread out, and then lightning arc forward from them, fanned out into a giant glowing blue net of sparks covering every angles in front of her cutting off any path Doxies could take to reach the panics people behind!
Scream of pain filled the air as the thunder net mercilessly arc through every Doxies' bodies that came in contact with it, their little arms jerking and flaying wildly around without direction, their wings catches fire around the tips buzzing rapidly to put it out by instinct, but that was enough to made the little creature lost their flight and dropped down to the ground with smoke trailing from their furry forms and small sparks flying around them, like a small meteor.
One by one, Doxies slammed down to the dirty wooden floor with a 'thud' sound every second, their bodies stuttering even already lost their consciousness due to the electricity that coursed through, but Aisha didn't stop her lighting yet, she directed it to arc at every places where those creatures came from, namely the cupboards, pile of junks and curtains, and thus scream of pain echoed in that room once more.
It was nearly 2 minutes later that the room was clear of screaming sound, leaving only sparks and lighting arc to dominate the air, that Aisha finally stops her spell. Everyone else slowly peek out from behind her, looking at the charred remains of Doxies that they were sent to eliminate lying on the ground, most of them still alive, or so Harry and his friends thought, judging from the weakly breathing sound emanated from those fifty or so of those Doxies. Smoke trails rising from their burnt out fur and wings, and their nest, particularly the curtains and those junks also turned black from extreme heat of having electricity forcibly ran through and rising the smoke as well.
"That was… brutal…" Mrs. Weasley spoke, her face paled at the display and smells of fried Doxies that threaten to suffocate everyone in the small room, something which everyone feel the same while trying to cover their mouth and nose to not inhale any of those into their body, or rather… try not to vomit their breakfast out…
Aisha still keeps straight face while looking at the carnage she unleashed upon the poor doxies, unconcern about it while answering the older woman. "I don't know how dangerous their poison is, but judging by your concern it probably lethal, so I just better safe than sorry ma'am, is there anything wrong with it?"
Seeing that she looked back at her in question, Mrs. Weasley quickly replies. "No, dear, it was lethal sure, but I told you that we have antidote here hadn't I? But it was your methods that…" She suddenly at a loss of word trying to describe the lightning the girl cast earlier, prompting the Weasley twins to overtake her and praise Aisha.
"That's so cool!"
"Even if it was…"
"A bit disgusting…"
"To smell these…"
"Fried Doxies…"
"Up close…"
"Enough!" Mrs. Weasley regained her wits and barked at the twin, ignoring the snicker of Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny, while looking apologetically at Aisha who started scratching her head, unsure how to react to the twin. "You're making the girl uncomfortable! Now quickly get those doxies into the bag and clear their nest out so we can get this place clean!" She pointed at the giant thick brown bags the size of small cupboard which she left behind at the door which made everyone sighed in resignation.
And thus another hour passed on in silence thanks to tiredness and one matriarch overseeing the cleaning herself prevent any chitchatting by all the 'kids', until after all the cleaning and clearing out garbage in that mess of a room which is surprisingly fast thanks to having more than just 'teens' to do the work (if you count Aisha as 'adult' that is.) and everyone are so dedicated to the tasks, they were able to have some spare time for an hour before lunch, something which all of them seem to be grateful of.
Once backed into the living room which was cleaned a week earlier, the twin quickly excused themselves out, stating there's a 'business' to be done, though for Harry, he knew that they mean the 'Weasley Joke Shop', because he gave them the reward of Triwizard tournament as an 'investment' last semester, but choose to say nothing, because discounting Ron and Ginny, Hermione is sure to not approved of this action, while Big Sis Aisha is impassive about this, considered he told her about it yet she do not comment on it.
Thus the occupants of the room was down to five, Ron and Harry were sitting on old sofa at the center, Hermione and Ginny on the opposite of it, while Aisha simply lean on the wall opposing the door, glancing her watchful eyes around the room for danger, while ignoring Kreacher who slowly sneak away some items behind teens' back who currently staring at her…
But the house-elf's action didn't went on unnoticed by Harry, he too saw him slipped away from the room with something in hands, but chose not to alert his friends about it, not when Aisha's glancing at him, warned him to not do anything rash or breaking promise they made with the house-elf, so he has to get something to distract his friends, however, before he could come up with it, Hermione is the one who spoke first, to Big Sis Aisha. "Miss Aisha, can we continue the conversation we left off yesterday?"
Aisha turned to look at the bushy haired girl with curiosity and tell her. "That depend on what you wanted to know, Miss Granger, some details better left out for you kind because it'll cause… moral issue since it's clear to me that yours and my view in some subjects can be… vastly different, but I'll try to answer it nonetheless." She then gesture a hand, signifying them to asks, something which Hermione took initiative immediately.
"You once mentioned you fought in a war in your homeland… and I've read up a lot in history book, but, what it was like… to be in the war…" Hermione paused, and then look at Aisha in the eyes as if she made up her mind. "…since we're going to get involve in one soon whether we like it or not, so I wish to learn from someone who did… to prepare for it."
Aisha was silence for a while before she replies. "I guess that those adult who lived through the war did not tell you anything, or just mentioned about facts and nothing else, aren't they?" Hermione quickly nodded as well as Ron and Ginny, while Harry who didn't get any news from Wizarding world, or rather, his friends and family, simply shrugged since he was unable to ask any adult about it anyway.
The girl who came from homeland far away sighed, glaring at each teen and asks bluntly "Are you sure you want to know it?" All of them nodded and so she begins, sadly. "At first, nobody, including me, thought that just a small robbery in a small village will lead to a chain of events that will conclude in a great war broken out… and I… was blinded by my personal quest, too blind… too fool… to saw it coming… or even see the error I made during journey, an error that came back to haunt me until this day…"
Aisha's eyes drifting on the ceiling, her voice started to fill with sorrow and shame when she reminded herself that it was her who had parts in escalating the small event into hell on earth through her tales. Part of her mind told her to stop bringing up these memories, but she soldier it though and continue anyway. "I knew you once read about war in your history book, history of wizard, the war between men and giant… men and goblin… yes, I borrow Harry's book and read it." She added when she saw Hermione open her mouth to ask. "But millions of pictures, billions of words inscribed into those books cannot use to describe what horrors await in such thing, even your history chalked it up and told you only whose side won, who took parts, statistic and nothing else…"
Hearing the distress in her voice, Harry asks with concern. "Is it that bad? Big Sis Aisha, the war…?"
Aisha laughed sadly then turns to ask the two redheads in the room. "Your mother went through the first war against Voldermort and his lackey decade ago right?" Ron's and Ginny's face paled at the mention of the dark lord's name, but nodded to confirm her thought nonetheless, she then addresses her 'younger brother'. "If she told me that my lightning spell was brutal, it was clear that she never witnessed what worse beyond 'the unforgivable' in what your Wizardkinds considered 'Dark Arts' at all…"
She pause a bit to let the teens ponder about what she just said, and then continues with a metaphor. "I know not what hell in the afterlife may look like, but the war I fought in is the one closest to it…" she lowered her head. "…if you think the scents of burning doxies in that room was bad, try to smells the human's one, while wherever you're looking at on the battlefield, corpses everywhere, while everyone still fighting, both magic and mundane… it's not matter…"
"As the battle raged on, the fallen, ours or enemies, human or inhuman, flesh or machine, are so many that we could use their corpses as a sandbag, as a cover, because all the natural covers and walls and fences were blown apart from either magic, or cannon or machines… even with these hellish landscapes made by men was in front of everyone, no one was going to stop, their superior shouting across the battlefield, ordering their subordinates to assault enemy's line or defend their own…"
She inhale sharply to calm herself down a bit, ignoring the pure horror on teens faces who used what was told to form an image in their mind, which aren't a good one for sure, before she tell more of her tales. "…I was in both positions, from a small group to leader of an army… I had to decimate my enemies, seeing the destruction I brought forth with my own eyes, and sometime, leading my men to their death just to achieved one objective which will at least end the war sooner…"
"And if you ask about some forbidden arts or magic…" She then looks at Hermione who seems not that much eager to know about her style of magic as much as before anymore. "I assure you, there's no such thing as 'forbidden' on the battlefield, the method which you use not matter as long as it could take your enemies' life, the vilest, and most violent… it doesn't matter there… as long as you survived and your side won… then it's justified enough to use…"
"I was not the only one who experienced this, my friends, my companions, even they survived the war as I was, they too… tainted… broken… all glory in fairy tales disillusioned… all bravery… stained in blood… dreams shattered… so much that even the most hothead in our group vowed to not take up his sword for such petty dream of surpassing his sister again if doing so will lead to such thing in the end…" She told them bitterly.
Aisha closed her eyes, a single drop of tear fell down silently while she brought her hand to cover it, letting out a sigh of depress and look at each teens in their eyes. "I hope in the deepest of my heart, that you'll not repeat the same mistake I did, nor will you be forced to repeat the brutality I did to survive… I hope that your kinds will take preemptive measure to stop this so-called Dark Lord from escalating things into such hell on earth… and as I and my friends has sworn to each other… I'll do everything I can to help you as well…"
A sniffing sound was heard suddenly coming through the door startled the war-veteran magician, she quickly took aggressive stance, her sadness although not vanished completely, is now suppressed to address the more pressing matter, her hands drew out her staff and then she kicked the door opened, revealing a crying Weasley twin with something that look like a stretched-out yellow-brown ropes on their ear reaching down toward the floor and creeping into the room.
Aisha stopped her staff mid-swing, just an inch above one of the twin's head before slowly drawing her weapon back, asking with serious voice. "I thought you two were on business…"
"And that we are…" the one that didn't nearly have his skull crushed by her staff stated while still sniffing "…but we thought that you'll not share such story if we still around."
"That's not an excuse at all, brother!" Ginny is the first to protest, dispelling the ominous atmosphere by accident, making even Aisha, who seem to be brooding about what she had done long ago to survive, to start giggling, not that this was a bad thing, in Harry's perspective, seeing his Big Sister like that make him feel bad for all the eagerness to know about her past, maybe this was for the best to let her forget about it.
And then Mrs. Weasley called them from downstairs for lunch, thus ending the depressing discussion without Mrs. Weasley knowing it, while thanks to the distraction, Kreacher was able to sneaked out another Black's treasure, a set of chess made of silver, without anyone seeing him.
It was at night that the work of the day finally stopped, everyone retreated back to their owns respective bedrooms to sleep, too exhausted to start another session of storytelling or asking anyone questions, or even patrolling the house in case of the adults, but for all teens and minor, they're not doing so because of different reason, considered what Aisha just told them, their motivation were practically shot down enough that they don't wanted to know more about her stories anymore.
And the teller of the cruel story of war, instead of heading back to her room, she's currently leaning against the wall in the empty living room which only source of light was one candle on the table, eyes closed and arms crossed on her chest, only sound of object moving on the opposite ends of the room, which is probably… no… it's definitely Kreacher moving and carrying out some memoirs of Regulus Black passing through this room when everyone is sounded asleep, while she unintentionally became his advance guard, not that she minded it though, at least she is keeping her promise as well as he kept his for not carrying any dangerous or cursed objects to hide.
She suddenly feel lonely, after all, she is far away from her homeland, in a place not familiar to her, and after telling that depressing story to those kids, she felt a nostalgia feeling, alone in the dark night, with no one but herself, she started to sing the song of the soldiers, in ancient language of her land, which somehow closely resemble Russian, never mind the lyrics which strikingly similar… but she doesn't know that in the slightest…
"Расцветали яблони и груши,
Поплыли туманы над рекой.
Выходила на берег Катюша,
На высокий берег на крутой.
Выходила, песню заводила
Про степного, сизого орла,
Про того, которого любила,
Про того, чьи письма берегла.
Ой ты, песня, песенка девичья,
Ты лети за ясным солнцем вслед.
И бойцу на дальнем пограничье
От Катюши передай привет.
Пусть он вспомнит девушку простую,
Пусть услышит, как она поёт,
Пусть он землю бережёт родную,
А любовь Катюша сбережёт." [1]
Once it ended, she suddenly heard a small clapping sound from the door behind her, quickly whirled herself about toward the door, she found herself staring at the raven-hair boy in nightgown, whose emerald eyes stared disbelievingly at her from behind his glasses.
"Big Sis Aisha, I never knew that you know Russian… was your homeland in Russia?"
"What? Russian…?" Aisha asked back in confusion, forgotten the fact that the boy before her should be in bed already but still up and about.
"Your song…" Harry simply replied. "It sung in Russian language, I know not what it means though since I stopped study it after enrolling at Hogwarts, but I pretty sure that it is Russian." He added embarrassingly at the fact that by studying in magic school he had to drop some mundane subjects which don't teach in that place out, and the Dursleys refused to pay for his extra education, muggle or not, it doesn't matter to them as much as it was him who asks them.
"Huh...?" Aisha tilted her head a bit, looking at Harry's form in the shadow, before she slowly explains. "It's the ancient language in my homeland, they always sung by soldiers who went to war, but not many people know about its meaning though, but if you said it was similar to one of the language in this world, then… heh, what a coincidence…" she chuckled at the last sentence.
"So just a coincidence that two different place developed the languages with the same structure, pronunciation and meaning?" Harry pressed on, only to meet with serious purple eyes which practically told him that 'yes, it was.' That he decides to let it drops, and slowly reach for the sofa he sat during the day, never take his eyes off his Big Sis the whole time.
Noticing the glance, Aisha asks "Cannot sleep?"
Harry only grunted back. "Hm…"
"I see…" Aisha lowered her head, speaking sadly "Sorry for bothering you with such disturbing stories."
"No, no, no Sis…" Harry denied. "I know it's not pretty, but it's still better than heading into the something while knowing absolutely nothing about it but only glorified heroic tales adults used to tell us during bedtime, even Professor Binn's history lesson didn't have even half of what you summed up and told us earlier, not even close." Then he finishes solemnly. "I guess we have no chance to prevent such thing from happening?"
Aisha rolled her eyes and answer truthfully, without any emotion as if she was stating the fact. "If your government still ignorant as such, Voldermort probably take over this land of yours before they knew what's going on, and then, no doubt, the country next door will experience such war when he subjugated the entire Britain and finally have more than just a terrorist with magic and a few packs of Giants and whatever supernatural animals he got."
"So we have to stop him before that happened." Harry said, it was the statement, not question.
Aisha nodded before trying to brighten the mood by joking. "Ah, but I forgot that as long as you still alive, then Voldermort probably won't expand his regime beyond British isle, considered he even tried to kill you when you were still baby, kid! And still trying it till this day, that must be some grudge he had there, if you pissed him off more, I've no doubt that this will come to pass, no divination required!"
"Very funny, Sis… very funny…" Harry sarcastically remarked.
But Aisha shook her head before saying with a smile. "Nah, it was both jokes and serious, kid…"
Then before Harry could response, she was next to him in seconds and rubbing her hand on his head, messing his already messy raven hair even more affectionately, while another hand locked on his neck prevent escaping, which he tried without success, until a few moments later when she decided to let him go, he quickly crept away from her the entire sofa length before snorting. "That's not funny Sis."
"Ah, sorry, sorry, just get carried away a little… but when you're way too serious like this, I can't helped but felt the need to stop you from brooding yourself to death…" Aisha answered while still has a small smile on her face.
"Yeah, thanks for that…" Harry muttered, clearly not brought in her explanation one bit.
"Back to the point," Suddenly, Aisha returns to the topic she was discussing. "I really meant it, think about it, Harry, you're the biggest, baddest wizard of this country, can do whatever the hell you wanted and no one could stop you, but then Blam! You can't kill just one baby! How humiliating is it?"
Harry scratched his head, trying to figure out what his Big Sis trying to getting at, before finally replies even when he still uncertain with his own answer. "I don't know, I may find my reputation in ruin? But that's it…"
Aisha nodded. "You should know that some people value their pride more than anything, and considered that Voldermort still hunting you despite you didn't even try to get in his way, he still put your death as his primary goal. Doesn't that mean you're important target that must be eliminating first?"
"If you put it that way… I think so, Sis." Harry reluctantly admitted it, even he doesn't like being the center of attention, but it seem Voldermort do not think that he's some unimportant teenage boy like most of the Wizarding government under Fudge trying to make everyone think, which isn't a good thing at all when Big Sis just reminded him that even with Fudge trying to kick him out of Hogwarts, Voldermort still likely to see him as threat, the same as he saw fifteen years ago.
"You may look like you cannot do anything…" Aisha yawned "But know this, you've done enough, at least you'll send Voldermort on a wild goose chase to hunt you down instead of trying to conquer another country, that way, you'll buy time for other to prepare, and then Voldermort may fall."
Harry thought about it a bit and then agreed with her. "Thanks you, Sis…"
"Don't be…" Aisha waved her hand aimlessly, her eyes looking at the ceiling as if she wished to see the star through it, like she was in trace. "…I still have my fair share to repay for making you all nervous with my story… I shouldn't tell you that…"
"Don't need to repeat that, Sis…" Harry reminded her, which make the girl giggle a bit.
"Feeling well enough?" Aisha asks, but didn't wait for answer before she orders. "Then get back to bed kid, that Weasley matriarch's sure to run us ragged tomorrow, Geez, even with Kreacher taking some workload out…" she glanced at the house-elf in question who came back into the room without anyone notice and trying to move an expensive-looking vase out, the house-elf noticed them too, but not in position to greet his superior, not that Aisha mind it, and she waved her hand as a sign for him to continue whatever he's doing, before turning her attention back to Harry. "…I'm going back to my room too, since I still enjoy a good sleep."
The boy turned and leaves the living room silently, but not before he says. "Good night, Big Sis Aisha…"
Tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and the rest of the week are as the same as yesterday, after Harry and his friends were done with the storage room, Mrs. Weasley did not let them have more than a few hours of free time before she directed them to the next room, and the next after next. And before they knew it, the entire day has passed with them tired, sweated all over, hungry, and wanted nothing more than a hot meal, take a bath and went straight to bed, no more talking, or even eavesdropping on the Order's Members who occasionally visited the house and held meeting no matter how much they're curious about it.
Harry wasn't sure if Mrs. Weasley trying to running him and his friends ragged because she hope that this might ease their hunger for knowledge and curiosity about what Order's doing, or keep them occupied as long as they're here so she don't have to set up defense whenever the meeting took place in the living room, maybe especially against Big Sis Aisha, because they know absolutely nothing about her magic style.
For Harry's, he guessed that Mrs. Weasley hope that this workload will serve another purpose, to ease the worry about trial or not, but truth to be told, he's even more worried than before thanks to not having time to study anything about law or practicing how to presents his evidence that he's acting in self-defense at all.
Although Hermione trying to help him by constantly reminded him that he's acting in self-defense, those confidence in her voice quickly shot down to hell the moment Aisha, who overheard the conversation, pointed out that the Ministry will deny his claim that he has been attacked by Dementors using the facts that they're still under control, and since they don't have the corpse of the creature with them, there's no proof, unless there're more than enough witnesses to testify his claim.
Aisha, however, proved helpful more than spotting weakness in their attempt to justify Harry's action, she also advise him about the trial to comes, something which he, Ron and Hermione never thought about…
"Why don't you just take Veritaserum… the potion that compel you to tell only truth, in front of those juries?" Aisha suddenly asked the day they were clearing the mess of a living room when she's in the middle of levitating garbage and putting it into trash bin, while he was helping Ron moving an old cupboard to the side by Mrs. Weasley's order, which nearly make him drop the thing in question to facepalm himself for not thinking about that before.
"Blimey! That's brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, looking at Hermione who was listening in but did not stop her cleaning of a vase near the entrance of the room before mocking her with a smile. "So, Miss-know-it-all seems to forget this choice huh?"
However, before the girl could answer or retort her friend, Remus Lupin who happened to passed by at that time quickly intervened with a sad face. "It was a good choice, after all, the Ministry put high weight on words came out of those who took the potion to the point that it might let Harry slipped away clean… But unfortunately… that's the option you cannot take, Harry…"
"Why not? Since the potion compels its drinker to tell the truth, and Ministry even approved of it, why Harry can't take it?" Ron quickly asked back, unaware of the acknowledgement expression on the one who purposed this idea in the first place, which means that she now saw the flaw in her plan already and quickly pointing that fact out loud.
"I see…" Aisha said, before turning to address other teens "…I overlooked one thing in the equation… my bad…" she then let out a soft laugh of bitterness, something that made Harry feel depress a little more, and he demand answer immediately.
"Where are we now, Harry? And what's your relationship with headmaster, and him with the current Ministry?" Aisha answered his question with another question which promptly shut him and Ron up with wide eyes of realization for good.
Hermione quickly explained what's left. "If the Ministry somehow asks something about what Professor Dumbledore's doing, or whatever about his follower, he'll doomed everyone here… As the Ministry might think that 'This's it! Dumbledore's personal army to usurp our authority!' and the next instant we will found our face printed on the warrant papers all across Britain."
Harry cringed at her harsh explanation, but it's not finished yet, Sirius choose that moment to join in and spoke, regret evident in his voice. "It might work, but on one condition that Harry either doesn't remembered being here…" Of course, he was referring to the memory charm, which suddenly gained himself a glare from everyone present in the room, so he added further. "…or he haven't been here in the first place and stayed at Dursley's from the beginning thus have no memories about us, or Dumbledore's plans, or Order of Phoenix."
Aisha shook her head, before said jokingly to Harry, which didn't brighten his mood up at all. "Well, that reminded you not to accidentally spill any of their secret out when you're in court right?"
And if Harry thought that was the worst of it, then he was wrong, Kingsley, another active Auror of the Ministry who also happened to be Order's member came to visit the headquarter two days before trial and spare some time to talk with him before he went into the-now restricted living room to hold up meeting with others, just to told him that Big Sis Aisha isn't allowed to come along to the trial as witness.
"What? She saw them didn't she, didn't that qualified her for being a witness that I'm allowed to bring?" Harry argued hotly, face reddens with a sudden newfound rage from all the frustration during this past week, thanks to so many plans, preparation that he could conceived out in spare time, shot down the drain either by Hermione or Big Sis Aisha, not that he blamed them because once he thought about them, if he stubbornly follow those ill-conceived plans, he's doom to fail.
Still, despite the clear outrage on the teen's face, Kingsley didn't even flinch, furthermore, he took a stern look as if he is scolding a misbehave child which made Harry quickly avert his gaze instead.
Of course, Harry thought bitterly, he's the Auror, wizard who trained to fight dark wizard after all, if his anger could scare off him, he doubt that the man will become the Auror at all in the first place, if what he learned about their test was any indication.
After a few seconds of starring, the black man explained to the Boy-Who-Lived. "I know that your 'Sister' was a witness that can help testifying your claim, but the problem is, the Ministry itself doesn't put much trust on the outsiders, let alone Muggle… so her testimony held a paper-thin weight in their eyes."
Aisha who was leaning against the staircase nearby quirked her eyebrow before let out a chuckle "So, you're going to present me as non-magical people isn't it?"
Kingsley shook his head. "It was not limited to just Muggle or some humanoid creature, Miss Aisha, the way they… us view on magic is rather, narrow…" He struggled to find a word to describe the situation and settle for that "…anything that deviated from the teaching of Merlin, to put it more simply, may I ask you one question?"
Aisha saw nothing wrong with it so she nodded as approval, thus he continued. "Your style of magic is self-taught I presume?"
The girl's purple eyes suddenly narrowed down, starring at the Auror questioningly "My teacher only taught me the basic principal, the rest were the fruits of my own hard-work, and yes, that included the lightning that fired those Dementors." She added.
Kingsley nodded and explains further. "That's another troubling part, a magic that use offensively which isn't in any record of Ministry before tended to be branded as 'Dark Arts' whether the users were aware of the law or not."
"So, from your opinion, my magic might be Dark Arts in your government's eyes…" Aisha concluded.
"Yes… especially when you're associated with Harry Potter, and with the Ministry trying its hardest to turn him into an unreliable, attention-seeker in public's eyes, they'll see it as another chance to get a new smear to drop on him." Kingsley added further.
And thus, those explanations, questions and answers were more than enough to made Harry's blood boiled with anger, to think that Fudge will went so far like that is… he doesn't know what to think… and decided to agree to let his Big Sis out of it, after all, he didn't want to see her get thrown into Azkaban right before his eyes, on top of him getting expelled from Hogwarts for associating with the so-called 'Dark Witch' despite the Ministry, or himself, know absolutely nothing about her magic whatsoever.
And the rest of the last two days has passed without any incident, and the day he has to go to trial finally comes…
Mrs. Weasley gave him the best clothing she could scrambled from whatever left in Black's house that hadn't cursed, he could hardly blame her though, as her family's financial status as it was, and Sirius doesn't seem to mind that much, Kreacher as well, so he has nothing to say about it and decided to just accepted her good will, and anything that might improve the opinions of the judges and juries that he'll faced in trial, provided said judge isn't one of Fudge's lackey, or Fudge himself...
At least, good looking doesn't hurt first impression, doesn't it?
Then comes the time he has to leave the stronghold of Order of Phoenix behind, somehow, they choose the safe way of not causing more problem to make him look worse than already had before, they have Arthur accompany him, through normal subway so not to accidentally broke any laws on the way there.
Aisha in her usual attires was on the front gate, wished him luck by her glance, not by word, but it still has the same effect, he'll have to face trial alone, she cannot go with him, cannot help him, but he still waved his hand on her before they headed to the subway a few blocks away from the Grimmauld Place, until the house was out of sight…
The girl from mysterious land headed inside silently, her eyes may filled with worries, but she's still confident that Harry could pull it through, unless the Ministry of Magic resorted to dirty tricks like declaring a new law out of the blue and charged him with it to make him guilty, or Harry couldn't keep composure under stress and suddenly broke out something that he shouldn't, which she thought unlikely as she has spent her free time here drilled it into his head not to be so, even it's a bit rushed, she was sure he'll remembered it and not throw the Order of Phoenix into another crisis.
So, she decided to retreat to her own room, thinking about how to establish contract with her friend at her homeland, which she's quite sure that one of them, or rather, the only one of them in particular, would be able to hear her from this side due to having enough knowledge to make sense of the note she left behind at her workshop in the same town that said friend dwelled on and able to seek her out even said friend not quite capable of using magic, when a hand of Mrs. Weasley landed on her shoulder while she's about to go upstairs.
Turning toward the middle-aged woman, Aisha found herself starring at the serious expression of the face of matriarch of the Weasleys, she didn't avert the stare however, and she asks the older woman politely and straight to the point with a slight edge in her tone to denote that she still not trust the woman completely as Harry did. "Do you want to speak with me, Mrs. Weasley?"
Mrs. Weasley shook her head, smile of comfort on her face as if to ease the tension Aisha displayed "No, dear, it was Professor Dumbledore who wished to have an audience with you… he just arrived after Harry's gone, missed by a second I might add…" She then glanced at the door leading toward the hall which held so many meeting of the Order meaningfully. Then she noticed that other teens, including her sons and daughter now eyeing her curiously, she quickly yell at them "If you have time to stand around eavesdropping then get back to work, the third floor still have garbage need to be dispose of, now go!" she pointed at the stairs, glaring at them.
Those teens do not said anything more but sighed, and then obeyed her orders by moving upstairs with Mrs. Weasley in tow, leaving Aisha alone in the hall, who walked toward the door and quickly flung it open, revealing the same dining table, same kitchenware, with the same clean looking wall and fireplace she saw the entire duration of her stay here…
Except that at the table also sat a figure of old man in purple wizard robe, the one whom she never saw in person before but the description from her little brother Harry…
The headmaster of the only school of magic in Britain was smiling from his seat, eyes behind his crescent-moon shaped glasses looked at her curiously, then his hands claps to garnered her attention, which she actually did, then motioned her to take a seat beside him, and while she was walking toward the table, he greet her first with a cheerful tone. "Greeting, Miss Aisha, this probably be the first time we meet in person, but I've heard a lot about you from Mr. Potter during his education at my school…"
He extended his frail-looking right hand out from his robe once Aisha was about to pull out her chair and sit next to him, making her paused what she was doing for a while, looking warily at the old man's wrinkled face, from his twinkling eyes, his crooked nose, his small pleasant smile, until she decided that he can be trusted… a little… thus she shake hand and greet him back. "Nice to meet you too, you're perhaps Professor Albus Dumbledore, yes?"
"Indeed I am, Miss Aisha… it looks like you have a lot of question to ask me?" Dumbledore replied, his eyes observing the girl whose figure was no taller than Harry Potter with interest.
Then, Aisha crossed her arms after she sat down, eyes narrowed at the old Headmaster, then ask him. "If you're then, Professor, why are you here? Mrs. Weasley told me you should be going to the Ministry to help bail Harry out of that trial aren't you?" of course, she has many, many more questions to asks him regarding Harry's life, but refrain herself for there's more important matter that must be dealt with at the moment, and she'll be damned if Harry get expelled because the lack of defense attorney on his side, which Dumbledore promised he'll cover that spot.
Dumbledore smile widen a little at her word, before he gave her an assuring word as if he knew the reason she asked him. "The trial won't begin until another hour, and I can use floo network to get there in seconds, unlike Harry who has to avoid attention for a time being and resorted to normal mean of transport… but never mind that Miss Aisha, I'm here to talk with you…"
Aisha's face turned neutral in an instant, her body tensed up, inwardly berated herself for leaving her trusty staff in her room instead of brought it along, while asking the headmaster in a suspicion tone. "I've told your associates already that I meant no harm to Harry Potter, he's like younger brother to me. Am I still that untrustworthy?"
The old man nodded, his eyes still twinkle while it stared right into purple orbs of Aisha, and then replies. "Not like what you think, Miss Aisha, I already review with other members who met you before, and I know that you're…"
Aisha scowled at him and cut him mid-sentence, as politely as she could, while her magical power flared up, ready to spring into action at the moment notice. "Please cut the pleasantry, Professor, if you're going to tell me that you trust me, then why not prove that by stop probing my mind and memories first?"
Noticing the edge in her voice, the serious expression marred her face and sensing magical power building up, Dumbledore, although surprised by the fact that this girl somehow know that he was trying to use Legilimency on her and seeing that he couldn't get any information off her at all due to her indomitable will, quickly dismiss his spell and apologize. "I'm sorry for doing this, Miss Aisha, but I'm worry about Harry's safety, after all…"
The girl in front of him sighed tiredly, looks like she doesn't please with that excuse much… but also seem tired of getting this treatment from everyone here… perhaps… "Please, Professor, be reasonable, if I really meant Harry's harm, I wouldn't wait for seven years like this…"
"I know…" Dumbledore assured her, and began to explain. "But I'm still curious after all, this is the first time we come in contact with magic user whose magic style are completely different than Merlin's teaching, and you claimed to be a soldier… which from your reaction to my Legilimency earlier, it seem you're telling the truth…" He trailed off and stared at her in the eyes.
Aisha shook her head and replies in low voice, but still did not drop her guard, even when she brought up her gloved hand in front and look at it sadly as if it reminded her of something. "Not anymore, the war at my homeland was already over, soldier… that word mean nothing to me but a memories of blood from many lives that once stained my hands."
"I see… I'm sorry for bringing back painful topic…" Dumbledore's tone is softer now, then he suddenly remembered something prompt him to asks her quickly "Miss Aisha, this may seem rude for an old man like me to ask this from a lady like you, but how old are you actually? You look like you're the same age as Harry to me."
Aisha seem to lost in thought, or she did not actually care much about people asking her age, so she replies honestly "Now? I'm twenty two."
Dumbledore nearly gasp at the horrifying fact revealed to him, but keep his composure while contemplating about what she just said, which made him feel sick that the girl that sit next to him has been sent to the front line killing and fighting in a war since she was just about the same age as fifth year student in his school, or maybe even earlier than that! He couldn't even imagine what kind of suffering and torture she had went through at such age, no… if it was a war, then it applied to all children alike as well, it nearly make him vomit at the cruelty of whomever in charge of their citizen for such orders to have children take parts.
Now he didn't surprised anymore why she has such a strong mental barrier protecting her mind, if she doesn't had a nerve of steel or indomitable will as she is right now, she would've breakdown and turn insane from the bleak, hopelessness and darkness of war, or died a long time ago.
As if the girl knew what he was thinking, Aisha quickly explains further, guilt ridden in her voice. "Please, Professor, even if you hated people in my homeland for dragging me into this hell called war… but I'm partly at fault as well for escalated the minor incidents too much without knowing it…"
Dumbledore suppressed the urge to correct her that 'minor incident' shouldn't have any impact on the decision to thrown one's country into a conflict of such scale or the decision to send children to fight, but what he saw in her eyes, the seriousness and the guilt convinced him otherwise, still, he tried to consoled her nonetheless, partly because she reminded him of his own past mistakes when he was younger as well. "At your age at that time, people make mistake all the time, still innocent, still inexperienced, so don't blame yourself so much about it…"
Aisha stayed silent for a minute before let out a small smile, looking at Dumbledore. "I see now why young Harry thought highly of you… Professor…" she chuckled a bit, wiping off tear in her eyes before return to the topic at hand, steel in her voice returned once again. "I appreciate your concern with what suffering I've went through, but you still haven't answer my question… why… are… you… here?"
The old headmaster look at Aisha with a mix of relief and worry, he was relief because at least, apart from sadness as the remaining sign of psychological trauma for went through all those horrors at young age, the girl still sane, be herself, no personality disorder, nothing like those shell-shocked veterans he saw in documentaries of Muggle world or records of St. Mungo at all. Furthermore, the silent magical stand-off earlier also confirmed him that she was indeed telling the truth that she was once a soldier, an experienced one, not new meat by any means, a quality matched what he currently seeking.
But the worrying part comes from what he was about to tell her in a few moment. The last few things he needs to confirm first before went through with his plan to let her in, helping him throw a wrench in Cornelius Fudge's schemes to tamper with children's education… something which, as any headmaster who cared for those children in their schools, will surely disapprove of.
Coughing once, Dumbledore asks her directly. "Miss Aisha, do you have any experience teaching before… especially any subjects about magic to defending one's self before?"
Aisha's eyes narrowed down instantly, her hand on the table now balled into a fist, and her tone now carries hostilities and fury born from desire to protect, to protect whom, the old headmaster didn't even need to guess at all. "Don't you dare telling me you're going to recruit children in your school into this Orders and send them to fight this Voldermort…"
"I'll never think about it, Miss Aisha…" Dumbledore replies with conviction, trying to suppress the joy that the person in front of him has all the quality he was looking for the position he has in mind. "But I asked you this because… I want to make sure that I can entrust their education and their welfare on you or not first before I offer you a position as a teacher in my school, which I must admit that you passed every expectations I had in mind for said position." He added with a chuckle.
Hostility atmosphere seem to lift, Aisha's expression turned surprise, evident by her raised eyebrow and her curious response. "Pardon, Professor? You said I qualified for a teacher position in your school? But I don't use or have that many knowledge of your Wizardkind's magic apart from what I read up in Harry's old books you know?"
Dumbledore nodded in understanding. "That's the only thing that you don't qualify, Miss Aisha… but everything else, you passed with a flying grade, and I had to mention that, in my eyes, those qualifications are much more important than the knowledge of our magecraft, in this position I wish you to take that is…"
"You want me to teach children in subjects regarding self-defense…" Aisha stated, not a question.
Dumbledore confirmed her suspicion in his next answer, along with more explanation of the reason he asked her to do it. "You're corrected, the position has been empty this year, and I couldn't find any candidates to take the spot thanks to… I assumed that you've been talking to people in this house already, so I guessed you know the reason… well, anyway, if I couldn't, the Ministry will find their own 'suitable candidate' and posted him or her in that position instead."
"They wanted to tamper with your school to get you fired from that position, and to assured the young that there's nothing to fear outside by turning this 'self-defense classes into a joke of a self-defense with this so-called new teacher they install on position right?" Aisha voiced her opinion which is dangerously close to the truth that headmaster can only confirmed it via small nod.
However, before the conversation could continue, a loud 'pop' sound echoed throughout the room sending Aisha on her feet in an instant before dropping her guard once she detect nothing wrong aside from a paper landed gently on the table next to Dumbledore, which the old wizard picked up to read, his expression change so little, but Aisha has enough experience to notice the change at his eyebrows which seem to signifying that something not very good happened.
The old headmaster of Wizarding School sighed once at the letter and stood up, head toward the fireplace, but stopped halfway through and looked back at Aisha who also stood up as well, before asking. "I wish I do not pressuring you into decision this fast. But it seems time is running out on me…"
"About the trial? Or about this offer?" Aisha inquired, not known to the headmaster however, that her mind already made up answer about his offer, only one confirmation and she'll tell him.
"Both…" replied Dumbledore, tiredness in his voice while he extended his hand toward her, gesturing at the fireplace which is now lit up in purple flame with his wand in another hand then asks her again. "So, will you accept this position of Defense Against the Dark Arts this year?"
Aisha looked at his hand for a second, and then stretched her own out, grabbing his while replies with resolves, steel in her eyes that stared at the headmaster. "I accept it, if only for the safety of those children in your school from whatever this Voldermort might bring in near-future."
"That's all I'll ask… or expect from you… Miss Aisha…" Dumbledore's smile widen "…I'd like to say 'Welcome aboard' but I have to introduce you to the Ministry's official first, and before that…" he take a step while still holding Aisha's hand, causing her to move along with him toward the fireplace and explains. "The trial has changed their schedule to begin in fifteen minutes, I must go there immediately."
Aisha's eyes widen a little, then let out a growl of annoyance and disdainful toward those who caused her younger brother more and more troubles, and steps into the purple flame while still following Dumbledore's instruction about floo network…
The rides to the Ministry of Magic was uneventful, Aisha and Dumbledore arrived in an instant and rushed toward the reception desk, ignoring the witches and wizard walking, talking all around the main hall which they emerged from one of the fireplace, ignoring the beauty of the golden statues in the center of the hall, the ever-changing scenery on the ceiling, and the awe-inspiring architecture of the place itself.
After the security check, which, aside from suspicious look from the security wizard shot at Aisha when she told him that she forget to brought a wand with her (she didn't have one to begin with), they were allowed to passed without incident except curious glance from some officers who saw them, or rather, her and gossiping among themselves, speculating who might she be. But they don't have time to waste as Dumbledore quickly went into an elevator, forcing her to follow him least she lost in the unknown place.
However, they eventually parted way, when the elevator stopped at the level which has one of the sign read 'Department of Magical Education' next to it, the old headmaster quickly gestured her sign as if to say "Wait here." Which made her stepped out of the elevator and be left alone there… while the elevator took Dumbledore downward… to the courtroom…
Aisha leaned against the wall opposite of the elevator shafts, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes gazed aimlessly around the elevator hall as if know not where to go, but her sense was on alert, looking for potential threat that meant her harm should they presents, however, in the end, she received only curious glance from the people who passed by, which somehow, they do not try to approach her or ask her questions at all…
Half an hour passed, while she was contemplating whether it was her unusual hair color, her white sweater or something else on her dress that drove away people from trying to speak with her, the elevator rang out again, and the figures that step out of it make her sighed in relief, but she quickly regain her composure once she notice someone trailing him haughtily behind.
Giant Toad… that was the first thought surfaced in her mind once she laid her eyes on the woman whose figure made Mrs. Weasley look slim in comparison, combined that with her smug face which resemble the amphibian, and that made her impression on the woman dropped below average in an instant, however, before she could ask Dumbledore about her, the Headmaster stopped right next to her and start introduction first.
"Let's get to the point, Ma'am Umbridge, this is my new candidate for a defense post." Dumbledore do not waste any time and get straight to the point quickly, ignoring the surprised look on the Toad lady's face, he turned his attention toward the purple-haired girl and introduce her to the Toad lady "Miss Aisha, this's Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic, Madam Dolores Umbridge…"
Umbridge eyed Aisha curiously, while slowly stepping around the girl, who now stood straight and not leaning against the wall anymore, as if she was inspecting the more younger-looking girl from every directions, and then she asks a question, not to Aisha, but to Dumbledore. "Really? This's your latest candidate? Is she really a witch?... oh sorry, I asked the wrong question…" She chuckled a little while now turned toward Aisha "Your name's Aisha right? What's your family name then?"
Aisha replies calmly and honestly despite noticing the hostility when Umbridge mention family name like it was everything, which in a way it does, if what Harry told her was any indication. "My name is Aisha indeed, ma'am, my family name however not knows or hold any significant for me, because I was orphaned [2] and raised as such, but you'll find me suitable for the job despite my… upbringing…" She then stared coldly at the Toad lady as if to dare her to question her more.
And question she does, but after Umbridge finished scanning the girl in front of her from head to toe. "How old are you, girl? You look no taller than teens, and you're going claim such a responsible task reserves for only experience adults?"
Aisha tried her best to hide her anger, her face neutral, only her fists were shaking out of Umbridge's sight, and replies with calm, albeit with slight edge, tone. "I'm already 22, ma'am."
Umbridge scanning her body once more and noticed that the girl doesn't even have a wand on her person! A small smirk appeared on her face, for whatever the reason, this girl doesn't even know the basic traditions of Wizarding of never leave their own wands out of reach! (Except those that can reliably use wandless casting, which number can be counted on one hand in current Era!) Maybe she is a Muggle, albeit a confident one, judging by her attires. Which means that she probably never know curses or hexes Wizarding world used in the slightest! Nothing she can teach the children of Hogwarts to fight against the Ministry! Even though that cold-calculating looks of hers was unnerving, that's not important as long as she's unable to cast even a single spell! Wizard always better than Muggle, after all…
And so Umbridge was fully convinced that Dumbledore must finally cracked to get someone without any background or competency like this Aisha girl to be a candidate of the Defense Against the Dark Arts! The Ministry will be able to kick Dumbledore out of Hogwarts soon, and she'll gain a lot of Favor and fortune for making Fudge pleased.
It seems that she must overjoy with the whole slew of good news too much, as the young girl Aisha suddenly asks out of curiosity. "Ma'am Umbridge, you looked spaced out, are you alright?"
That snapped the older woman out of her thought, she shook her head a little while answers with a smirk on her face and barely contained laughter. "I'm fine… and you're acceptable for the job, Miss Aisha, I assumed that you'll stay for only a year, right?"
This time, Dumbledore is the one to answer that. "That is our initial agreement, however, if she can prove herself that she suited for the job, then we'll discuss the term later."
"That's acceptable, congratulation Miss Aisha for your new job… I can says that the Ministry will be pleased to hear the news that the children of Wizarding Britain will be able to continue study of Defense Against the Dark Arts instead of getting suspended for lack of teacher." Umbridge giggled with glee when she saw Aisha's raised eyebrows, 'so naïve, as if Ministry accept you because of competency, it's the opposite!' she thought. She then turn to address her former teacher, joy in her voice "I've to get going now, I've more busy matter to attend… have a nice day, Professor Dumbledore… Miss Aisha…"
With that, she moved into the waiting elevator, and went up toward the Minister's office, once alone in there she jumped up with joy, couldn't wait to tell Fudge the good news she just received.
"Well, is that how they interview someone who's going to teach self-defense?" Aisha said once Umbridge is already gone, looking at the entrance of Department of Magic Education suspiciously as if she's debating whether going in to ask for information will be a good idea or not, her faith in this 'Magic Education' seems to dropped down even more after the confrontation with Umbridge.
Dumbledore nonchalantly explain to his new Professor with a chuckle. "The Ministry still has blood discrimination in the organization, any witches or wizards that didn't came from a long-established family line, or have Muggle parents, tends to get mistreatment and underestimated."
"So once I told her that I'm orphan without background… she assumed me to be incompetent is it?"
"Indeed" was all that the headmaster answered, as he couldn't form any better explanation than what she already state anymore.
Both of them silence for a while, looking at dozens of passing Wizards and Witches, before Dumbledore strike another conversation, remind themselves of what needs to be done. "I think we should get going, I still has important matter at my school to attend, and for you, I don't think it's a good idea to left your 'younger brother' scratching his head trying to figure out where you've gone to? Oh, and if you need any books or reference for the upcoming work, you can ask Molly to contact me, and I'll send it to you as soon as possible, there still two more weeks to prepare…"
Aisha's eyes twitched a little, but not saying anything while both of them walk toward the elevator getting to the main hall and ride the floo back to their own respective resident…
Author's Note:
[1] The name of the song is Katyusha. I do not own it, as the disclaimer already said once and will not repeat again.
[2] Since nothing about Aisha's parents is shown in the game, then I assumed she's as this.
Now this has moved to the Crossover sections...
Review as you see fit, my English may be sub-par but I'll try my best to improve it.
So far, Aisha has only used a few spells which originated from Elsword, namely, Lightning Bolt and Cyclone, their portrayal in this fan-fiction maybe somewhat different from what you saw in game, but then again, following game to the letter will make the story awkward and not fun, from my experience reading other's fan-fictions that is...
To be Continued...