Last time...
"Are you okay, Neville?" She asked quietly.
"Y-yeah." The boy replied shakily. "Just wasn't expecting it."
"I've been having nightmares with that green flash of light for years, only I didn't know what it was." Hera admitted.
"It's worse when you know." Neville sighed in agreement.
"The Cruciatus?" Hera hazards a guess.
"It's why Gran raises me. Mum and Dad are at St. Mungo's. They were tortured with that spell till their minds broke." Neville continued quietly. "Some things are worse than death."
No one knew what to say to that.
Chapter 18
There were days when her job was rewarding, where she saw understanding dawn in the eyes of her students, and they were able to appreciate the magic she taught. Today was not one of those days. Hermione Granger had bolted into her classroom, talking a mile a minute, pleading with her to come quick to the DADA classroom. Minerva could only imagine what kind of chaos Alastor had caused this time. She's not even sure what she was expecting when she arrived, she just knows it isn't this.
Hera Potter had Alastor Moody at wand point. The man was currently tied up like a Yule tree, face as red as it could be. Hermione went over a rapid fire explanation of what had happened, and the rest of the students tried to help, resulting in a cacophony of noise that explained nothing. What Minerva really wanted to know was Hera's point of view. If it's what she thinks, it was no wonder the girl had attacked her professor.
"Miss Potter," Minerva began calmly. "Would you mind telling me why you have Professor Moody tied up like a prized hog?"
"Professor Moody showed us the Unforgivables yesterday." Hera replied casually, as if commenting on the weather, not taking her eyes off of the tied up professor in the floor. "Today, he thought it would be a good idea to try them; on us. I disagreed."
If anything, the girl glared harder at Moody, who was still struggling to break out of the bonds.
"Why isn't he talking?" Minerva wondered.
"I may have silenced him. I cast a shield charm to protect us, but he shattered it and went on the offensive. I had to silence him to cut down the strength of his spells, disarm him, and conjure ropes to tie him up. It was the only way to get him to stop without killing him." Hera admitted, her eyes darting to Minerva for only a fraction of a second before returning to Moody. "I warned you, Professor, not to come after my friends. I warned you what would happen if you did. I could peel the very flesh from your body, the very meat from your bones like this, you know. What was it you said when you cast the Imperious Curse on that spider yesterday? Jump out a window? Wouldn't like it if it were you? As it is, I think I'd have the strength to cast at least that one, and it's not like you could stop me."
"No, but I can." Minerva pointed out quietly, gently getting the girl to lower her wand. "I understand you defended your peers with cause, Miss Potter, but perhaps you should leave the threats and disciplinary actions to those of us who get paid for it, hrm? It's the little things in life that really help us enjoy our jobs."
Hera begrudgingly let go, and gave Alastor's wand to Minerva.
"Well, what do you have to say for yourself, Alastor?" Minerva asked, after reversing the silencing charm.
"She got me good!" Alastor cackled happily. "I've never seen anything like it! I'd recommend her for Auror training right now if I thought she'd let me talk her into it!"
"As it is, Alastor, I don't see you talking her back into this classroom!" Minerva scolded. Using his wand, she floated him out of the room. "Class dismissed, I suppose. Follow me, Miss Potter. You get to help me explain this mess to the Headmaster."
After that mess, she began training Neville on how to duel. It was mostly just to build up his confidence to hold his wand without dropping it. His grandmother was a right piece of work, that woman, allowing that great-uncle of his to do all those things in the hopes the boy would produce magic. No wonder Neville had an inferiority complex and low self esteem issues. She'd realized long ago that the Dursleys were child abusers, and that Dudley was just as much a victim as her in his own way; though that didn't mean he wasn't still a bully, or that she forgave him for everything he'd done.
Now she was working on Neville to get him to realize that what his great-uncle had done to him was wrong, that it was wrong for his Gran to have allowed it to happen, and that Trevor the Toad was a sorry arse excuse of an apology gift for it all; beloved Familiar or not. She'd even taken to casting calming charms on him before Potions, so that he wouldn't be so nervous when handling volatile ingredients; Professor Snape almost caught her at it once. He'd taken House points, but she just smiled innocently and cast the charm on Neville again when Snape's back was turned. She was working on Hermione to learn flying; not for the love of Quidditch, but because it was like swimming. People learned to swim just in case it was ever needed. While the girl could see the practicality of her statement, she did not trust her instincts the same way Hera did, but every practice produced progress.
She worked on Ginny to try out for reserve Seeker, should she want. It had not escaped Hera's notice that Ginny had been nicking her brothers' brooms over the summer. She encouraged Colin and Luna to start a school newspaper, though that was still in the works; Dennis was really looking forward to it. On another note, it wasn't looking like Sirius was going to be well enough mentally to take over custody, no matter how much he took his potions or went to mind healers; but the two were getting along much better now. Hera knew that she had tried to push him into something that his mentally scarred mind was not prepared to handle, Sirius having been in Azkaban for a little over a decade, and so had absolved Mr. Malfoy of the Life Debt that he had taken on from Draco; Sirius was free, and working on his mental issues, which was really all she could ask for.
It wasn't long until the delegations were to arrive, and for some odd reason this meant they had to clean the castle. It made Filch happy, at least, which begged the question. Why didn't they help him more often? She'd never seen him do a stitch of magic, so there had to be something. Was that why he was so bitter all the time? Surrounded in a school of magic, unable to do any himself? She'd be bitter too, if that were the case. With that thought in mind, she stopped sweeping the floor, and made to find Filch.
"Mr. Filch?" She called, after knocking on his door, peering in cautiously.
"What are you doing in my office?" Filch demanded with a sneer. "Don't think you're getting out of your cleaning duties just because you're not in detention."
"That's not it, I swear. I want to show you something." Hera insisted, before closing and locking the door behind her. "It's important for privacy. I'm sure you understand."
"Not directly, but go on." Filch grumbled, regarding her with suspicion.
Hera lit a small flame in her hand, and held it out to him. She'd read about this in one of the earliest magic books in Salazar's study.
"It's not for heat, just for light. You can even pass your fingers through it without it hurting you." Hera stated, gently holding it out now. "Would you like to hold it?"
"Nothing fishy? No pranks?" Filch demanded, narrowing his eyes at her.
"No, sir." She insisted. He reached out for it with uncertainty, but held it in his palm nonetheless. When she eventually let go of it with her magic, it sputtered for a second, but held true. "I don't believe it. You can do magic. Why do you never use it, Mr. Filch?"
"What? I can't do magic. I'm a squib." Filch insisted, embittered.
"Mr. Filch, that flame you're holding is relying on your magic to keep it stable. I'm not supporting it anymore, haven't been for the last few seconds." Hera corrected. Filch blinked at her for a moment, and went back to looking at the flame in his hands. "It's a test they used to use to show if a child had magic or not. The flame isn't very big, so you might not have enough to really register for a school; bit of potions, household things, nothing fancy. It might be why you never got a letter, but you can do magic."
"M' too old now." Filch muttered, despondent, letting the flame die out. "'S no use."
"You're never too old to learn something, Mr. Filch. People should make a point to at least learn one new thing every day, no matter how old they get." Hera insisted, causing him to look up at her. "Ask Dumbledore, or Professor McGonagall. See if one of the professors will work with you, and if they won't, I will. I don't know much, what with only three years of schooling and all, but I can at least get you started."
"You…You're serious, aren't you?" He asked, sitting back in his chair. "I can do magic?"
"You saw the proof of it yourself." She insisted, before drawing herself up. "Now, I've got to get back. I imagine the others will wonder where I've gone, and there's a lot of castle to clean even with magic. If they're going to insist one man can clean this castle alone, I'll eat my shoes. You should have a cleaning crew of your own."
"A duel?" Minerva asked with a tired sigh. "Is that really necessary?"
Once again, Alastor was complaining/bragging? about Hera during the staff meeting. Once again, Hera had defended her friends from what Minerva suspected was another one of Alastor's attempts to introduce his students to the Unforgivable Curses. It wasn't just her class either. Hera and some of the older students had taken to training everyone in the Gryffindor Common Room on how to cast shield charms, even the first years; perhaps especially the first years. Upon hearing that Professor Moody wanted to cast Unforgivable Curses on the first years, the other Houses began training in shield charms too. They were lucky Howlers weren't descending upon them all for this.
"The students need to know what the spells feel like. They need to know what's out there. They need to be prepared." Alastor insisted stubbornly. "I can't do that if she's shielding them all!"
"Strangely enough, Alastor, children are supposed to feel safe at school." She snapped coolly, glaring at him.
"Feeling safe won't keep them alive." He countered.
"Now, now, Minerva, Alastor has my utmost faith." Albus stated peaceably, though his expression looked pinched.
"So did Gilderoy." Minerva countered succinctly.
"And Quirinus." Pomona added under her breath.
"At least Lupin didn't attack the students outright…this time." Severus drawled, more than a little bitter.
"Severus, you know my feelings on that matter." Albus warned, eyeing the man.
"I suppose we should bring up Miss Potter then?" Filius inquired, getting them back on track.
"Yes, she and two of her friends are waiting." Albus agreed with a soft smile. In a moment, the three students were cautiously walking up the stairs and into the staff room. "Thank you all for coming."
"We did, however, only request Miss Potter." Minerva pointed out with barely hidden amusement.
"Like we were going to let her come alone." Hermione snorted. "She actually tried to sneak past us to get here."
"I told you I'd be fine." Hera muttered, sounding embarrassed by the situation and fond that her friends cared so much for her. "There are even other adults here and everything."
"Like that matters." Ron pointed out.
"What exactly are you implying?" Severus demanded snidely. "That we would-"
"This man has stalked us through the hallways, attacked us when our backs are turned, and you all have done nothing." Ron snapped back, cutting Severus off. "Why would we think now would be any different?"
"Alastor?" Minerva demanded, unable to believe what she was hearing.
"Dark Wizards don't wait till they're in a classroom setting." He grunted, as if it were obvious. "They need to know."
"Teachers do, or at least they should." Filius scolded. "Albus, you cannot let this continue."
"Now I'm sure we can convince Alastor to ease up on the student populace." Albus insisted, eyeing the man in question. "This is not what we agreed on when I hired you, Alastor."
"Didn't think it mattered much if it kept them alive." Alastor sniffed dismissively.
"It matters, Alastor." Minerva scolded. "We can't have you attacking the students."
"How is it exactly that you think a duel will solve this?" Severus added, arching an eyebrow at the man. Looking at Albus' face, it became clear he hadn't wanted that little detail to get out, having hoped that he could talk Alastor down on his own.
Suddenly from outside the staff room, they hear.
"What do you mean they went in with only three of them?"
"That's what I said. Only three."
"What were they thinking, going in with only three?"
"Completely outnumbered!"
"How unsportsmanlike."
"Couldn't have said it better."
"Well, what are we going to do about it?"
"Only one thing to do."
"I'd stand back if I were you."
Which was the only warning they got right before the door hit the floor with a resounding thud, and the three students were pulled out of there so fast it was as if they had been summoned.
"Can't believe you, Hera."
"Going into a staff meeting like that with only two other people to look after you."
"She was going to go alone."
"ALONE!"
"It wouldn't be the first time."
"Well, that does it."
"Can't trust her with anything."
"Going to have to keep an extra eye on her at all times now."
"I was fine!"
"Oh yes, so fine in fact that Professor Moody was in there discussing challenging her to a duel."
"That's not what I would call fine, Hera."
"Okay, so it wasn't fine exactly."
"Well, then what would you call it?"
"Uh…Tuesday? Today's Tuesday, right? Let's call it that."
"Tuesday, she says."
"Hera, I don't know if you've forgotten, but it has been categorically proven that the adults of this school can not or will not protect you."
"That is, if they aren't actively trying to kill you."
"Therefore, it is up to us."
"No more going to meetings with adults without knowing the number in attendance."
"That way we can bring equal representation."
"Or more."
"Definitely more."
"That wasn't a courtroom!"
"Really, because that's what it was beginning to look like in there."
"Guys, really, I was fine."
"Sure, you were."
"We're coming with next time."
"And the door?"
"Like they can't fix that with magic."
"Or without. It's not like muggles don't know how to repair a door."
"You don't have to protect us all the time, Hera."
"Yeah. Sometimes, like now, we get to protect you."
It struck Minerva all at once that they were right. No matter what she tried to do, or how much she argued with Albus, it wasn't enough. Poppy kept the girl filled to the gills with nutrient potions because she couldn't get her away from her abusive relatives, had raged against Albus to get the girl away from those people, but the man hadn't budged. She knew that when Severus gave the girl detention for things, it always came with a lesson of some kind, though always in his acerbic style; whether it was ingredient prep, equipment maintenance, or potion brewing. Filius, Pomona, along with Minerva herself always tried to give Hera a bit extra instruction when they could, but even they knew it wasn't going to help the way she needed. It just hadn't dawned on her that other students would see it and take action.
The day the delegations arrived, the teachers had everyone lined up to meet them. Things that had never mattered to the teachers before were being called into question now. By the time that everyone was organized enough, the stars were out. Ron was already complaining about food, and Hera couldn't really blame him. She still couldn't believe they hadn't gotten in trouble for the door breaking thing, but she could see that it had had an effect on the entire faculty; she just wasn't sure why.
The delegation from Beauxbatons came in large powder blue carriages hooked to horses the size of elephants; Abraxons, she learned later. Madame Maxime was by far the tallest 'biggest boned' woman Hera had ever seen, and she wandered what it would be like for Hagrid to talk to someone he didn't have to crane his neck down to look at. It was also clear to see that the students, all older teens, had not dressed for the weather. Hera didn't blame them one bit for heading straight into the castle, considering it's exactly where she wanted to be at this moment.
Durmstrang's delegation's arrival was far more interesting, but Hera still had questions. How did it even get in the lake in the first place? It just rose up like some sort of behemoth the giant squid let loose into the world. Water is pouring out from everywhere. When the students exit the ship via plank, Hera just blinks at the absurdity of it all. Every student there is tall, broad shouldered, and stocky. What were they feeding them?! She's vaguely aware of the two headmasters exchanging pleasantries, but didn't realize one of the students had come over to speak with her.
"Potter?" The older boy called her attention to him. "May I haff vord?"
"Krum?" Hera realized.
"Ah, good. Vas not sure you vould remember me." Krum insisted with relief. He also looked distinctly uncomfortable, which may have had something to do with Hogwarts and company staring at them. "Did not get time at Cup, but vanted to congratulate you on catch. Those children are vell because of you."
"Oh! Erm…" Hera struggled to come up with something to say. "Thanks? I'm sure anyone else would have done the same."
"Maybe anyone else vould have tried, but not many could haff been able to make catch like you did." Krum allowed, giving a small bow, quietly adding. "I do not think I could haff."