CHAPTER 4 - THE SCENT AND THE WAND
Professor Lawliet happened to be the number one topic at Hogwarts. After the first two weeks everyone was talking only about him. Younger students were enthusiastic that they have a practical teacher and even older ones were welcoming the change. Lawliet moved all his classes to the tournament arena and when he was explaining something, students were mostly sitting on grass and writing all their notes there. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but luckily the theory part was never long. Lawliet decided to postpone the theory for winter time. He said that they can all sit on their asses when it's cold outside. So every class was happily pacing to the tournament area day by day, full of excitement, what they are going to learn next.
Even the atmosphere during breaks changed rapidly. Because younger students started practicing charms, instead of running around and pranking others. There was something about Lawliet that kept the kids entertained and obviously happy.
It was harder with older students. Especially Light's class. Takada saw Lawliet as an arrogant wizard who is just showing off and Mikami didn't like that about him either. But he at least admitted him to be a good teacher. The rest of the class was impressed with his abilities, but also slightly demotivated, that they can't disarm him. Because after the first class two weeks ago, no one was able to get his wand. Not even Light. Even when they were attacking him tree at once, no one got even close. Fortunately, it was only the first forty minutes of the class. It was a game. Their goal was to disarm him and they were working in groups. Each group was then rating the other, talking about their mistakes and they were learning from each other. And they were learning fast. Light was as thrilled about it as the younger students were. He saw through Lawliet's methods and understood that he was trying to teach them to be independent, thinking for themselves, to be receptive to what others do and also to work in teams. And all of this, while practising magic. In the rest of the class he was teaching them new spells and charms.
Light was a little torn with his feelings about the new teacher. He was good. Great even. And Light was a good student. Until now, he mastered all the new magic Lawliet was showing them. But every time Light finally took his courage to get closer to the teacher and start a conversation with him, he had to back off. Because the man's scent was so damn strong that Light's head was spinning. He was frustrated about it and he was pissed off at the teacher. It was forbidden for teachers, for students even to let out their scents. But this man was obviously not even using suppressant magic. Light couldn't understand how it was possible that no one of the omegas complained about it yet.
Light took a bite of his breakfast and looked into the Daily Prophet. It was Sunday, most of the students were still in beds, but Light was a morning bird. And he loved enjoying his breakfasts in peace. The Prophet was also writing about Lawliet. Some students apparently complained that "professor Lawliet completely pushed the theory of the table and that the students won't have proper basic knowledge of magic". Light rolled his eyes. Those were Kyiomi's thoughts of course. But he also smirked at the fact that the Prophets still didn't print Lawliet's photo. They still didn't have it.
Light got through a few other pages, mostly searching for information about Kira or murders that could be related to the legend. He was doing it every day for the past two weeks. But there was still nothing. Light frowned. He didn't believe that Kyiomi would keep the information for herself. She must have discussed what Mikami said with her mother. But she didn't write a world about it. That was disturbing.
That means that the censorship of the topic goes even to the print…
That was not good. Definitely not good. Light let out a long sigh. He needed to stretch a little. So he took an apple to his hand and headed out of the great hall.
Light was walking through Hogwarts grounds and enjoyed the morning air. It was rather cold that morning. It was only half of September but it was clear that winter will come soon this year. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stooped to take in view. The castle was really beautiful. He could imagine spending his life in this place. It was peaceful, full of joy and knowledge. Amazing place to raise children at.
Light stopped his pace.
His mind was wondering that way again. He shook his head. The older he was the more often these thoughts were appearing in his mind. He always managed to suppress his inner omega and its desire for family but sometimes it was just too hard. Especially in peaceful moments like this.
Light started walking again and in a few minutes got to the tournament arena. He wanted to just walk by, but he heard voices from the inside.
He frowned and took a look at his watch. It was 8 AM. A little too soon for anyone to practise there, so he decided to look what's going on. As he came closer, he saw a small girl figure sitting on the tribunes.
Wait… is that Sayu?!
Light came inside the arena and started climbing to the tribunes where his sister was sitting. He still didn't see who she was looking at, but he saw flashes of light coming from the arena. Someone was definitely training there.
"Come on Mello, you can do better than that!" A low male voice yelled through the noise of magic and Light immediately realized who it was.
Lawliet.
Light finally climbed to the top of the tribunes and took a look down inside the arena. There he was. The legendary auror, fastly waving his wand in the air and repelling attacks of three boys. Against him was Mello, then the redheaded boy from Hufflepuff and Near, a young boy from his own house. They were working together and sending disarming charms against the teacher. But Lawliet was actually fighting them. He was not just using his shield magic like against the seventh years, he was using easier spells and he was giving boys a chance to win.
"Light!" He heard his name and turned to his sister who was waving at him from a few meters away. Light quickly paced towards her and sat down.
"Isn't it a little early for you?" he asked.
Sayu giggled and turned her sight to the arena again. Light rolled his eyes. It was kinda clear that his sister was following Mello again. Or Gryffindor's golden lion… as she was calling him. Sayu presented as an omega not even a month ago. It was a little surprising, because it was later than usual and everyone thought she was going to be a beta. But on the other hand, everyone thought that Light would be an alpha, so it was not that surprising that the predictions failed. Light smirked and decided to mock her a little:
"Have you ever thought about the possibility that Mello might be an omega too?"
Sayu looked at him in shock and then started laughing: "What?! Mello?! An omega?! Were you studying all night again? You are obviously not thinking clearly…"
Light leaned his back against the tribune and folded hands on his chest: "Well he still did not present as an alpha everyone is taking him for so… anything can happen."
Sayu rolled her eyes: "You are being a ridiculous brother. So he will be a beta and what? Doesn't make him any less sexy."
Light almost choked on his own saliva. Hearing something like that from his own 14 years old sister was shocking and he didn't like it a bit.
Then a strange blow echoed through the place and both siblings turned their heads back to the arena.
Professor Lawliet was currently floating in the air in a bubble of water. Everyone gasped and looked at the red headed boy who obviously made the spell, as the water bubbles were still coming from his wand. He quickly shoved his wand down to break a spell. The bubbling from his wand stopped but their professor was still floating there.
"What did you do?" Mello yelled and ran closer to the redhead.
"I.. I don't know!" the boy said and started panicking, because Lawliet was obviously struggling there with the lack of air.
"Break the spell!" Mello yelled.
"I don't know how!"
With that Light and Sayu started running down the tribuness to help.
"Near, can you break the spell?!" Mello yelled on the other boy.
"No, I never saw anything like that." The white headed boy told him.
At that moment Light and Sayu were almost there, Light was ready to send the breaking spell, but before he could, the bubble burst from the inside and the water flooded all of them. The next thing Light knew, was that Lawliet was laying on the ground and he was laughing like a fool.
The boys were soaked through and visibly confused.
"HA-HA-HA…" Lawliet was still laughing: "You should have seen your faces…HA-HA-HA!"
They young boys shared confused glances and then realized, L did it on purpose. He could have broken the bubble everytime but he was just toying with them.
Mello growled and ran towards the lying professor. Other two boys followed his lead and attacked L with their bare hands.
Light was watching the scene with horror in his eyes, but Sayu was laughing. And Lawliet with tree boys as well.
"Tickle him guys! He is crazy ticklish!" Mello yelled and Lawliet's laughing went one octave up within seconds.
Light gave his sister a questioning look, because such proximity between professor and his students was questionable. Sayu didn't seem to mind and she had to wipe her eyes from tears of laughter. Then she saw the look on Light's face and shrugged: "They all grew up at the school orphanage. Mello said that Lawliet was reading them bedtime stories when they were very young."
Lawliet is an orphan? Light stopped at the thought. He realized he doesn't really know a thing about the man.
The laughing stopped and Light turned towards Lawliet again. The man was leaning against his elbow and with the other hand he was holding his wand against the kids. The tree boys were floating in the air and they were spinning in something that looked like small tornados. Lawliet slowly stood up and then let the boys land on the ground. They were still spinning and the redhead lost his balance and fell to the ground. But they were also completely dried.
"How did you do it L? Will you teach us?" Mello was asking enthusiastically when he finally managed to stand on his feet straight.
Lawliet smirked and then his eyes landed on Light and Sayu. They were soaking wet.
"Oh hello, I didn't realize we had a company. Sorry about that." He said and with one elegant movement of the wand he dried both of them. But with a less aggressive spell. The water simply started floating away from their clothes and hair in small droplets and it headed somewhere up to the clouds. It was a nice spell. Light couldn't help but smile.
"No problem professor!" Sayu told him enthusiastically. "It was an amazing spectacle!"
Lawliet made a few steps closer to them and Light got scared that the man might come to close. Fortunately Lawliet stopped a few steps in front of them.
"Thank you, miss Yagami. But the credit goes to Matt this time. He just unleashed he has a gift for water magic."
The boys came closer and the red headed boy looked confused: "I… what?"
Lawliet smiled at him: "Every wizard tends to some element. Your is obviously water."
They kids all exchanged confused looks: "But how did I summon it? I have no idea!"
Lawliet used the spell to dry himself and said nonchalantly: "Oh you didn't… it was your wand."
"My wand?" Matt asked.
"Give it to me…" Lawliet told him and reached out towards Matt. The boy gave him his wand and Lawliet slowly walked towards the tribunes. He sat down at the lowest tribune and the students created a small half circle around him.
"Oh… I see. Cedrus wood and unicorn's hair. A faithful one. You two must have a good relationship." He said and returned the wand to its owner. Matt was smiling shyly.
"Whaaaat?!" Mello said in disbelief: "Are you telling me that wands really have minds and feelings?"
Lawliet pulled his legs towards his body and sat in a very strange position. Light raised an eyebrow. It didn't look good or worthy of a teacher. Actually, he looked like a frog.
"Sure they have… you didnt have wand studies in the second grade?"
"We had but… those opinions are just theories." Mello opposed.
Lawliet brought a thumb to his lower lip and gave him an unreadable look: "Theories or not, it's common knowledge that the wand is picking up a wizard. Not the other way around. And that is only the beginning of it."
Light was thinking about his words. He knew there were wizards who studied magic wands but these researches were usually abruptly stopped with wizards death. No one was able to study this topic for long. And all the textbooks were only covering the very basics of the topic. Light knew some of the unfinished research scrolls were in the school library, but in the restricted department. So it meant Lawliet probably read it or had another source.
"You talk as if you read a lot about the topic, professor." Light told him.
Lawliet looked at him, with piercing eyes: "Yes, in fact. I am continuously reading the progress of Watari's research of this topic."
"Watari's?!" Light gasped: "I thought he died years ago…"
Watari was another legendary wizard. Probably greatest in the last century. But he disappeared around the time Light was born and many thought him dead.
"No, he didn't… he just decided to retire from public life. He is still doing a lot of research actually." Lawliet answered.
Light wanted to ask more about him but Mello was faster:
"Can you tell me something about my wand L?" the boy asked and gave L his wand.
Lawliet took it from him and smirked: "Dragon heartstring. That's not very surprising."
The youngsters laughed at it and L continued: "But in rosewood… that's… awkward combination."
L quickly realized what it meant and knew Mello was not going to be happy about it. But he was not in position to tell him so…: "Ehm… it's a very fitting wand for you." he said, but he knew he is going to have problems with this wand in the future.
Then Lawliet checked Near's and Sayu's wands. Sayu was pleased to hear that her wand is a stable one and can handle even blasts of dark magic. Near's on the other hand was pliable. Unlike the boy himself.
Then Lawliet looked at Light, who was handling his wand to him and raised an eyebrow:
"I thought a student of your abilities will know everything about his wand already, Mr. Yagami."
Light didnt want to admit that he didn't know a thing so he just said: "It is never bad to get confirmation."
L smirked and took his wand. He felt exactly what he expected. The wand was strong, capable of a great magic but also a little unsure of its master. They were not in complete synch.
"Do you have troubles with some kind of magic, Mr. Yagami?" he asked.
"Light doesn't have problems with any magic! He has the best grades!" Sayu told him and looked like a peacock.
Lawliet gave her an amused look: "Yes, well that's what I would expect with a wand like this, but is there any kind of magic you need to put more effort to?" he turned to Light again.
Light was not sure if he should tell him or not. And in front of everyone. Because there was a kind of magic like that. He always managed but he had to practice… a lot. Probably more than he should.
Calm down… just wants to help you. Not to embrasse you.
He bit his tongue and the answer practically strained through his teeth: "Offensive magic…"
"Hm… that's what I thought." Lawliet said.
Light opened and closed his mouth.
What the fuck? How the hell could you know? Light was asking himself and his temper started raising.
"What does it mean professor?" Sayu asked.
"That means, miss Yagami, that your brother's wand doesn't like doing offensive magic and your brother literally has to make it do it." Lawliet said and stood up. As they were standing now, Light realized for the first time they were of the same height. He didn't notice before, because Lawliet was slouched most of the time.
"But why?!" Sayu asked a question, Light was afraid to voice.
"Well… according to Watari's theories, it has something to do with a second gender."
"What?!" Light immediately snapped: "Are you saying that the wand doesn't want to do offensive magic because I am an omega?!"
The atmosphere changed within a second. Light started seeing red, because Lawliet just touched a very sensitive topic. And like it wasn't enough, alpha's scent filled the air around Light again.
"Well.. it's a little bit more complicated than that…but if you simplify it into extreme then… yes." Lawliet said calmly but Light was in the high level of distress already: "That's ridiculous! I always mastered every charm and spell!"
Lawliet shrugged like nothing was going on. Like he was not sending calming pheromones towards Light at all: "Yes, of course. Your wand is extremely strong and you are the most talented wizard at school from what I've heard... but not being in sync with your wand will hold you back."
At that moment Light was seriously pissed off. His inner omega was screaming at him to calm down, the pheromones in the air were practically forcing him to do so, but he was definitely not going to just stand there and listen that omegas have restrictions even from their damn wands.
"Is what I am doing good enough to become an auror?" he asked with an angry voice.
Lawliet tilted his head. He was confused by the sudden change in the boy: "Yes… it is."
"So there is no problem then." Light said and straightened his spine as much as possible.
Lawliet shrugged then and said something that sent Light over the edge: "Sure… if that's good enough for you."
"Yes! That's good enough for me!" Light barked and turned to leave: "Come on Sayu. Let's go!" He caught her hand and was dragging her away with him.
"But I want to stay here…" Sayu protested.
"No, lets go!" he told her and forced her to go with him.
When they were out of the arena Light started cursing out loud: "Damn him! Who does he think he is?! Saying that my wand is revolting against me just because I am an omega!"
Sayu was looking at him a little unsure what to do. Light never had outbursts of anger. Never.
"But Light.. he is a professor… he surely knows something about that!" She told him.
Light rolled his eyes and started walking even faster: "He is what? 25?! What does he know?! If he paid some attention to mastering a suppressant magic we wouldn't have to breathe in his disgusting scent!"
Sayu had to practically run to keep up with him: "What scent?! What are you talking about Light?!"
Light stopped abruptly and turned to his sister in confusion: "You don't smell him?"
Sayu shook her head: "No… of course not. It's forbidden for teachers to move around the school without a suppressant charm on."
Light opened and closed his mouth and blinked for a few times.
How is that possible? Then why do I smell him?
Please kill me… I got obsessed! I have to go and write my Demons story but I am writing this instead! NO NO NO! I knew I shouldn't start another story…. AAA DAMN IT!