Chapter 29

Training, Wand Weighing, and Stories

Note from the Authors: Sorry for the delay, it was a long weekend, but there will be another chapter released this weekend. There's also a major change in a character from canon, and it will be important. Hope you enjoy the chapter and the story!

Dobby's find had not disappointed at all. As the group entered the Room of Requirement, Lily was amazed to see that it was larger than it appeared, with what looked like a training course on the far side of the room, bigger than the room looked like from the outside, a library area which she had no doubt contained books on Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and other important subjects, and a comfortable teaching area, with sofas, chairs, and chalkboards.

"Dobby… this is…" Lily started, amazed.

"Incredible. Eet is amazing!" Fleur exclaimed. Dobby grinned.

"Dobby is glad to be of help, Miss," Dobby said. Sirius led the group to the sofas and stood by the blackboard with Remus. Lily took a seat on the couch, with everyone else finding their seat.

"Okay, so we have a perfect place to train. I know I'm going to be asking a lot, but I would like to see you all here every Saturday and Sunday. After the first task, we can take it down to once a week, but we have just over three weeks to prepare you three for something that could be deadly," Sirius said.

Lily was proud to see Sirius in teacher mode; she thought he made a fantastic teacher. He certainly looked at home as a teacher.

"Mr. Diggory, I know your shield charm is decent, but I'll be testing it myself, so we'll start there," Sirius said. "Miss Delacour, I'm sure you know the shield charm, but I want to cover it for Lily, so we'll do this together."

"Now, the shield charm," Remus started, off Sirius's nod, "is a simple spell to cast, but its strength can vary based on the strength of the caster, or the practice the caster has had. All of you, stand please."

With everyone standing, Remus took out his wand (which he had purchased after he had been exonerated) and looked at them. "The incantation is Protego, and the movement must be a swift flick of your wand," Remus said. To demonstrate, he and Sirius both cast a shield charm, which were both bright walls of light. As they vanished, Sirius looked at Lily.

"Lily, show me the motion," Sirius said. Lily flicked her wand, which Sirius tutted at.

"No, like this," he said, showing her the sharp flick. Lily copied his movement, to which he nodded.

"Excellent. Now the rest of you," Sirius said. Once everyone had the wave of the wand down, he moved on. "All of you, cast the shield charm now," Sirius instructed. The gathered group each took a position and cast the charm. Lily noticed how Cedric and Fleur's were brighter than the others.

"Excellent. Now, let's test them," Remus said. He sent a charm at Cedric's, which was deflected easily. Lily saw Cedric grin, but before Cedric could say anything, Sirius sent a charm at Cedric's shield, which burst right through it, and struck Cedric, causing him to begin dancing. Everyone laughed at the sight, except for Remus and Sirius. Remus ended the dancing charm and looked at Cedric.

"Never let down your guard. You must keep focused on your shield at all times," Remus lectured. Cedric nodded as he was gasping for breath.

The next four hours were spent working on shield charms and making them stronger. Lily was, by the end of the session, able to deflect any charm sent by Ron, Fred, George, Lavender, Parvati, and Ginny. Hermione managed to just about break through the shield, with Fleur and Cedric able to shatter it. However, Sirius pointed out that they were stronger than she was, and on her final shield, it had taken both Fleur and Cedric to shatter her shield.

Everyone, except for Remus and Sirius, had collapsed on the floor, panting, and gasping for breath. They had danced, had their legs turned to jelly, their hair and skin turned a variety of colours and even been sent flying.

"That was excellent work, all of you," Sirius smiled at the group proudly. "You've all made excellent progress. Ginny, you should be very proud, I've never known a third year who can cast a shield charm at all, let alone one as good as you did."

"Th… thank you," Ginny gasped for breath, drenched in sweat. Remus flicked his wand, and towels appeared in front of everyone, who grabbed them and started to wipe their brows. In another corner of the room, multiple shower rooms appeared, along with a selection of clothing in different sizes.

"I think that's a signal for you all to have a shower and clean up," Remus said, smiling at them. "Go ahead; we'll start planning some homework for you to study this week."

"And here… I thought… this would be fun," Fred grumbled as they all headed for the showers.

Lily was grateful that each shower was its own little room, which meant she had privacy as she showered, having taken some clothing from the pile that had appeared. As soon as she had finished, dried off, and gotten dressed, she emerged from the shower room, seeing everyone else all sitting down or going to sit down.

"Now that we're all refreshed, I want you to practise the shield charm every day this week, champions especially. This could be one of the most important spells you learn," Sirius said solemnly. "We'll leave it there for today; next week, we'll spend the whole day training. On Saturday, we'll be starting with jinxes and curses, so I'll speak to Professor Moody about what he teaches you, so I don't step on his toes."

"Thanks, Uncle Sirius, for everything," Lily said, hugging him as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Hey, are you okay sweetie?" Sirius asked, looking concerned. Lily nodded.

"It's the Femininus Draught, it's making me… emotional, like, a lot," Lily replied. She felt Fleur's hand on her shoulder.

"Trust me, Miss Potter, eet is only ze beginning of emotions. If you ever wish to talk, I'm always here for you," Fleur promised. Lily hugged Fleur, smiling.

"Thank you. I'm lucky to have so many amazing friends," Lily looked at all of her friends, grateful for all of them being there and helping her.

The week, for Lily, was one of the longest she had ever experienced. Whilst the Gryffindor's who had been against her had stopped verbally attacking her, some of them, primarily Cormac McLaggen, glared at her as they passed her, but said nothing. The Hufflepuff students were mostly kind, with a few hissing things like 'freak' and 'liar' and 'cheater' as she passed. Ravenclaw mostly ignored her, although some did glare at her or walk the other way when they saw her.

The Slytherin students – following Malfoy's lead, Lily figured – were the worst, jeering her, calling her 'freak' or 'Pervy Potty' among other names. However, the worst part of the week came on the Friday, as she, Ron, Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati were heading for potions when they came across Malfoy, who was showing off badges that said 'Support Cedric Diggory – the REAL Hogwarts Champion' boldly but changed to say 'Potter Stinks' when pressed.

"Want one Granger? Just don't touch me, I've washed my robes and don't want any Mudblood stench on them," Malfoy jeered.

"You're brave when Moody isn't around, aren't you, ferret boy?" Ron hissed angrily. Malfoy glared at him.

"Better watch your mouth, traitor," Malfoy retorted.

"Why, your Death Eater dad gonna run away again if he sees his boss's mark?" Lily replied. Malfoy angrily drew his wand, as did Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle. As four curses headed towards the group, all of them quickly flicked their wands, forming their shields.

The curses bounced off the shields and struck each Slytherin in the face. Parkinson's teeth began to grow, Malfoy's nose began to bleed, with Crabbe and Goyle falling to the floor, their legs turned to Jelly, just as Snape came along.

"Fighting in the corridor?" Snape asked, glaring at them.

"They fought, we just used a shield charm," Lily replied calmly. Snape looked at all of them, his face twitching. Lily could tell he wanted to punish them, but for some reason he was holding back, but why? Snape helped Malfoy up from the floor.

"Hospital Wing, and help your friends," Snape said. Malfoy nodded, glaring at Lily before he, Parkinson, Crabbe, and Goyle left the area.

During potions, they were brewing antidotes, with Snape hinting that he would be testing the antidotes by poisoning the students at the end of the lesson. Lily hated potions, and she began to feel overwhelmed as she kept looking at the blackboard at the instructions.

Before the class ended, however, Colin Creevey came in, and asked Snape for Lily, as she was needed for a Champion's meeting. Snape looked at Lily, and then dismissed her from the class. Lily was confused; for a brief moment, she thought he looked almost sorry that she was having to go but dismissed it as him not being able to poison her.

Walking with Colin wasn't terrible, but he kept asking her questions about the tournament, and her transition. She answered as many as she could, but she didn't like the feeling of an interview with him. She was glad when she arrived at the room. Fleur and Cedric were talking with one another, with Krum on his own. Ludo Bagman was there, along with a witch in what looked like a leather jacket, with blonde, curly hair and bright nails, and glasses, with a man holding a camera next to her.

"Ah, here he is, Champion number four! Harry, come on in," Bagman said. Lily glared at him, as did Cedric and Fleur. "Nothing to worry about, the other judges will be along shortly."

"First, my name is Lily, not Harry, and second, I'm a girl, so stop calling me him!" Lily snapped angrily. "Now, what is a wand weighing?"

Bagman glared at Lily bitterly, clearly not liking being corrected. "It's to make sure your wands are working properly, for the tasks. Ollivander will be here shortly; the wands will be checked and then there'll be a photoshoot. This is Rita Skeeter," he introduced the witch. "She'll be doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet."

"Maybe not that small, Ludo," Rita said, smiling at Lily. "Could I have a moment with… Lily, was it? You know, a quick word before we start, the youngest champion and all that," Skeeter said brightly. Bagman nodded as Lily shot a look at Cedric and Fleur, almost begging them to help her, but they couldn't as she was led to a small cupboard.

"Wonderful, nice and cosy," Skeeter said, smiling at Lily as she set up a floating piece of parchment and quill, which Skeeter said was a Quick Notes Quill.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Skeeter," Lily said, forcing a small smile to be polite.

"Oh, so sweet and polite, it's wonderful," Skeeter said. "Now, Lily, can I ask about… well, this, your look and why you're calling yourself Lily and not Harry?"

Lily realised that she had an opportunity now to finally have people learn what it meant to be transgender, so she hoped Skeeter was a good person. She nodded.

"Of course. You see, I'm what the muggles call Transgender. I was born in the body of a boy, but I'm actually a girl," Lily explained. Skeeter looked at her with great interest.

"Really? How do you know?" Skeeter asked.

"How does anyone know? You just do," Lily replied. She thought for a moment. "When I was six, before I knew magic existed, Uncle Sirius and Aunt Minnie had taken me to a circus, which is a muggle form of entertainment. It was brilliant, and Uncle Sirius won me lots of prizes at the games section. Later, when I checked out what I had, and found a dress in there," Lily began.

"I looked at it, and felt a longing to wear it, so I did, and looked in the mirror. I think a part of me knew that I was a girl, because my hair grew, and my voice changed to that of a girl. I think it was my magic, but I didn't know that at the time. My hair went back to normal, as did my voice, and for the longest time, I thought I had been dreaming," Lily continued. She could see Rita almost salivating at the story, which Lily hoped was a good thing.

"In my first year, I came across a mirror called the Mirror of Erised, and saw in it myself as a girl, and over the next two years, I kept realising I was meant to be Lily. After my friends Ron and Hermione meant to play a prank on me last year by having me walk up the stairs towards the girl's dorms, so the stairs would send me flying down, they realised something was wrong when the stairs didn't activate, and then I came out to them," Lily explained.

"How have your friends taken to you being Lily? How has your uncle?" Rita asked.

"They've all been wonderful. Lavender, Parvati, and Hermione helped with my hair and makeup, and everyone immediately helped me learn what I need to learn to change my voice and to stop me looking male. Madam Pomfrey managed to help me with a potion to stop my male puberty, and over the summer, helped develop a potion to help me have a female puberty," Lily explained.

"And how has the rest of the school reacted?" Rita asked.

"Mixed reactions, I guess. The Slytherin's make it a joke, and call me names like pervert and freak, but that's nothing new from them. Most of the Gryffindor's have been amazing, but some have mocked and verbally abused me, and the rest of the school either accept it or just glare at me," Lily explained.

"That must be hard, dealing with the abuse," Rita said, almost kindly as the quill kept scribbling again. Lily nodded.

"A little, but I'm used to being bullied by the Slytherin's," Lily said.

"The potions you're taking now, will they help you develop feminine features? Such as breasts?" Rita asked. "And you said Muggles knew of this?"

"Muggles have known of Transgender people for a while, although in the muggle world, some people are bigoted towards them. As for the potions, yes, they'll develop my breasts," Lily confirmed, blushing as she said it, "and help me with a feminine figure. However, to fully transition, so far, the only solution may be what the muggles call bottom Surgery," Lily said.

"What's that?" Rita asked.

"Well, it's where transgender people have their… umm… their… parts modified to be that of the other gender, so for me, it would be to use muggle surgery to… well, invert my…" Lily blushed furiously again, unable to continue. However, Rita seemed to understand and nodded.

"Of course, and then they do it the other way for transgender men?" Rita asked. Lily nodded, glad to be able to move forward.

"Then there's top surgery. For transgender people like myself, it's to augment breast growth, and for female to male transgender people, it's to remove their breasts," she said.

Rita looked almost horrified as she made a motion to cover her own chest briefly, before taking a deep breath.

"How do you think your parents would feel about this, and about you being in the tournament?" Rita asked. Lily looked at Rita and took a breath.

"From what uncle Sirius tells me, they'd have been proud of me becoming who I am, and I think they would have been happy to help me transition. I wish I remembered them better, but I know they were wonderful people. As for being in the tournament, they'd have been worried, as I am. My friends and I suspect that my name was put into the tournament by someone working for, or supporting, Voldemort," Lily said. Rita grimaced as Lily said the name but looked at her with curiosity.

"How could that be possible?" Rita asked. Lily shrugged.

"I don't know, but given what happened at the Quidditch World Cup, anything's possible, so my friends and I are all being careful," Lily said, as the door opened, revealing a smiling Dumbledore. Rita quickly pocketed her quill and parchment, whilst speaking to Dumbledore about a recent article in which she insulted him, and Lily was taken to the other champions, where Ollivander had now arrived.

Ollivander checked the wands, starting with Fleur's, which had a core from the hair of a Veela, one of Fleur's grandmothers, and then with Cedric's, followed by Krum's. When it came to Lily, he eyed her with great interest.

"You've not had any problems with it since your revelation, have you Miss Potter?" Ollivander asked.

"No, why would I have? I'm still me," Lily replied, knowing what he meant, since she hadn't come out when she had brought her wand. However, she had always been trans, so she knew her wand still recognised her.

"Indeed," Ollivander mused. "Looks in excellent condition. You treat it well?"

"Polish it once a week," Lily replied, something she had started doing since her first Christmas at Hogwarts, when she had gotten a wand cleaning kit from Minerva.

When Ollivander tested it, he declared it in good condition. The group then gathered for a photo, with Rita standing next to Lily in one shot, and as they went to separate, Lily looked at Rita.

"Did you want to continue our interview?" Lily asked. Skeeter looked delighted at the question.

"Oh, I really do, but I can't right now, but chin up, I'll be staying in Hogsmeade, so we'll have plenty of time to talk. There's so much I want to learn," Rita said brightly. Lily nodded as the group left the room, with Cedric and Fleur hanging back with Lily.

"How are you feeling, Lily?" Fleur asked.

"A little anxious, but today's been interesting," Lily said, before explaining what happened with Malfoy. Fleur and Cedric both laughed as they walked together.

"Ah, c'est magnifique," Fleur complimented, patting Lily's shoulder.

"Brilliant, bloody brilliant," Cedric agreed. "What was Skeeter going on about?"

"She wanted an interview, and then asked me about being Transgender. I figured it was a good chance to tell people about it," Lily said, before explaining how the interview had gone. Cedric nodded thoughtfully.

"It might be a good chance, but be careful with Skeeter, she's known for… well, not always being kind with her words. It sounds like she thinks it's a big scoop, so she'll be kind to begin with," Cedric said. "Although she might want to focus on you now, because she'll see you as the real story."

"But the story's about the tournament. Won't she write both stories separate from one another?" Lily asked. Cedric let out a short laugh.

"Lily, you can be so sweet and innocent sometimes. No, she'll want the most exciting story. Don't worry about it; if it gets people knowing about you, then that's a good thing. But please, be careful," Cedric warned. Lily nodded and hugged him.

"I will be, I promise," Lily said, smiling at him. The three of them continued their walk, with Lily enjoying the chance to talk to Fleur and Cedric, enjoying the company of her newest friends. She only hoped Cedric was right, and that Skeeter wouldn't write a bad story, otherwise all her hopes would be completely shot.