She slipped hastily through one of the tower's wide ogival windows, hurriedly closing the thick curtain behind her to keep out the swirling snowflakes. The room was cold and dark, a smell of dust permeating the air. She could hear the wind howling, making the timber groan with each new gust.
With a wave of her hand, and a spray of blue flames, she lit the candles resting on the old oak desk. It was damp and cold, and in the few months since she'd left for Hogwarts, a good layer of dust had covered the floor and furniture. Her ash heap had scattered, the runes she'd used to contain it having lost their magic, her nest of cushions and blankets was just as moist... the place looked... decrepit.
The anxiety she had felt a few minutes earlier, when, caught in the snowstorm, the wind battering her feathers, a titanic grayish shape moving through the clouds, she had approached her tower. Previously, every time she neared it, she'd felt the welcoming warmth of an invisible barrier gently embracing her, but this time she'd felt almost nothing, as if she'd only brushed against a dying flame.
Something was obviously wrong. Exhausted, soaked to the bone despite her flames, freezing, she hastily dropped her clothes to the ground. Her flames were exhausted, they had faced the cold of the high altitudes, the winds and the snow, during the long journey that had brought her from the perch to her tower, and she felt she shouldn't overdo it. However, this was a matter of necessity, so she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. Her flames were just beneath her skin, faint and tired, like the embers of a fire gently consuming its last charred logs.
She blew metaphorically on the coals, fanning their tired ardour, stirring the will of her flames to burn ever brighter and intensely. Soon, tongues of bluish flame were running across the surfaces of her skin and feathers, then with a roar, a blaze of incandescent flame engulfed her entirely, illuminating the room with an intense bluish light, casting dancing shadows on the walls and in the rafters. She breathed a sigh of relief, as her feathers swelled with warmth, the moisture evaporated from her skin as the heat warmed the room and her bones. She approached the great bookshelf, humming with satisfaction as the dust burned away in the inferno of her flames, restoring the leather binding of her books to their gleam and the shine of her dozens of little treasures.
As if sensing the presence of her fire, the empty sockets of all the skulls she had accumulated on her hunts lit up. She picked up the skull of a young bird that had fallen from its nest and had been set free by her flames all those years ago. She had to know what was wrong with her tower, and she couldn't think of a better way. In her hand, the skull rose a few centimetres into the air, taking on a body of ethereal flames. She smiled, the little firebird watching her curiously. She opened one of the heavy curtains.
"Go on, show me everything you see." she said, before letting the little flame shape fly away and disappear into the storm.
She let the curtain close before collapsing to her knees in the pile of blankets and cushions that served as her nest. She knew she was too tired to do them, but her instincts told her otherwise, the long flight in the storm had severely damaged her plumage and she felt the tower and the earth needed it, but above all she knew she wouldn't be able to rest until it was done.
She set Eldur down on the pile of cushions and began humming softly, smoothing her feathers, giving free rein to her flames, removing those hurting her, straightening the others, restoring their sheen. Her voice grew louder as she abandoned herself to the preening ritual. She now understood the ancient melodious language passing through her lips. She sang of the love of the sky, of infinite blue, of freedom, of flocks past and to come, of the eternal sky, of flame, beginning and end, birth and death, as she applied the feather-care potions she'd packed in her travel bag. Each new word was like a soothing balm on her tired mind.
Finally, after a good hour, the blaze that engulfed her, until then illuminating the room as if in broad daylight, died down, leaving only the flickering flames of the candles casting dancing shadows in the relative darkness, the hum of her flames giving way to the whistle of the wind against the wood and stone. She dropped into her nest, cushions and blankets hugging her tired form. She was exhausted, out of strength, but above all, light and soothed. The dust had disappeared from the room, which was now warm despite the chill of the storm. She felt even better when Eldur's fluffy form pressed into the hollow of her neck and she could let her fingers caress the little phoenix's soft down.
She felt immensely relieved to be alone again, but already missed the hustle and bustle of the perch... It was the strangest thing: she felt as if she longed to be part of the flock, to bathe in the auras of all her sisters, to feel their hearts beating in harmony. But on the other hand, it seemed at once awful, overwhelming, unbearable... what was wrong with her? She asked herself, resting Eldur on her chest before continuing to caress him, resting her forearm on her eyes with a sigh of frustration. All her sisters seemed so happy in the perch, in their environment, but for her, in just a few weeks, it had all become an unbearable weight... and yet... she already missed feeling her sisters close to her.
Thinking about it like this was pointless... she'd have all the time she needed to understand, Fleur had assured her, no one would begrudge her going away and taking care of herself, and Isabelle would soon be back with answers from Hymgaabal. She used the last of her strength to fold the blanket over herself and Eldur, taking care not to wake the little phoenix who had already fallen asleep. She'd missed her tower, her first real home, and coming back to it was a great relief. Perhaps she could invite Luna, Nym and Elvetia... maybe Hermione too, if she agreed to be carried. At these gentle thoughts she sank into a deep, dreamless sleep, her exhausted body and magic accepting nothing less.
...
She emerged from the warm water and snorted, a cloud of water droplets and steam rising from her plumage as small bluish flames wiped away the last traces of dampness. She let out a contented sigh before putting on one of the clean, warm, silky tunics she'd brought from the perch and fastening her talons. She wasn't planning to hunt today, and while she didn't technically need them in her tower, it was just more comfortable to put them on.
The hot springs in the vast cavern below the tower were a blessing; despite her long, exhausting flight through the snowstorm the day before, she felt relaxed and invigorated. She left the bubbling hot springs disappearing into an underground river behind her and headed for the potion laboratory which doubled as her kitchen. She quickly made herself a pot of steaming tea and a basket of bread, butter and honey before exiting and returning to the main room of her tower in a matter of moments. She promptly laid her dues on the desk before heading for the windows. She hadn't taken the time to open the heavy curtains this morning, preferring to start the day by soaking in the hot springs, as she'd been too tired the day before to do so.
She pushed open one of the large curtains and blinked, blinded. A smile soon appeared on her face. The plains surrounding the tower were covered in a thick white mantle shimmering in the silvery glow of the morning sun. Today would be a quiet day, she had enough left in the pantry to last for weeks, and although she had no meat to spare, nothing would stop her from hunting in the coming days. However, before eating and settling into her nest with Eldur and a good book, she had to check something. The state of the place's magic when she arrived yesterday had worried her greatly, and until her little spy returned, it was the only thing she could do. She placed her thick scarf around her neck, blessing Adele for the runes sewn into it, before putting on her coat, trying her best to fasten the buttons on her back without getting any feathers stuck.
She jumped out of the window and circled the tower, admiring the immaculate expanse of snow. She glided inland for a while, until she caught sight of the nearest village, its snow-covered roofs and smoking chimneys, before returning to her home. This time, unlike last night, she felt a gentle, powerful warmth sweep through her, welcoming, which she could almost describe as joyful, relieved. What she suspected were old wards still in use... probably abandoned by the Cleite Luaithre... from what she'd learned, the flock had managed to flee, leaving behind the ruins, the tower and the wards... she could only assume that the wizards who'd led the assault had managed to flatten most of the flock's buildings and that it was only thanks to these old wards that the tower was still standing.
Perhaps having a veela living in the tower helped to strengthen them, she thought as she landed in the room before settling down at the table and buttering herself a slice of toast. However, that didn't explain the weakness of the wards when she arrived last night; it was almost as if they'd been attacked. A shiver ran down her spine, surely it wasn't poachers who had come to raid her retreat? Eldur must have sensed her anxiety, for a wave of calm washed over her when she heard the sweet song of the little phoenix and images of her nest, Fleur, Luna and all those she could count on flashed before her eyes. Eldur was right, she was in no danger, the wards were restored, she was just curious to know what could have caused them to weaken.
She took a spoonful of honey and dipped it into her tea, before stirring and taking a sip of the warm, delicious beverage. She'd never fly in a snowstorm on a winter's night again, she vowed to herself. All the more so as she could already imagine the scolding Isabelle would give her if she knew how hard she was pushing herself just a few weeks after having to spend yet more days unconscious and wounded.
Her gaze was caught by a movement at the window, a small, luminous blue shape approaching. Her little spy was back. She held out one hand, the little blue firebird landing in her palm. She brought her hand close to her face, rested her forehead against the bird's skull and closed her eyes. She'd discovered this little trick while playing with Luna and Leopold. Although her flames currently embodied the shape of a bird based on its skull, her flames were a fraction of herself, of her spirit, of her will. As their foreheads touched, the flames dispersed, returning to her, the bird's lifeless skull falling into her hands as a host of images rushed into her mind. The night, the storm, the howling wind, the raging sea, its huge, icy waves breaking on the cliff below the tower. On a high rocky spur jutting out from the waves, a morbid shape facing the tower, its horse-like body, its two long disproportionate arms dragging in the dark waters, its single burning eye focused towards it. The vision dissipated, giving way to fear mixed with an intense headache. It was the first time she'd absorbed so much vision from one of her flames.
That fateful encounter years before was still fresh in her memory; once at the Tonks, she remembered looking up the name of the abominable creature. A Nucklavee, the thing that had almost surprised her on that beach that day, and which still gave her nightmares from time to time... It had never left, and that was all her bird had found abnormal about the surroundings. It all made more sense now, that evil sea spirit affiliated with darkness, disease, degeneration and death would never look kindly on a veela like her, a creature of fire, air and light, settling in his territory.
Fortunately, he didn't seem inclined to approach the tower, and besides, the ancient wards would protect her. She'd just have to be on her guard when hunting and other excursions outside the tower. She might be able to fly, but that wouldn't entirely protect her from the spirit's poisonous breath. She might also have to find a way to warn someone in the surrounding villages of the danger... From what she'd read, there was bound to be a village mage nearby. In any case, there wasn't much more she could do until she could find a more permanent solution. Perhaps Mélusine would have an idea of what to do…
oOOOo
The parchment of the letter felt heavy in her hands, almost as heavy as its contents. She had all the information she could want, none of the accommodations she had requested posed any problems, and as she had told Marcus that she would not veto if her conditions were met, she had to accept this decision. She let out a long, painful sigh. The very thought of letting her little girl return to a world of magic that had already caused her so much pain was heartbreaking. She put the letter down on the coffee table and sank into the sofa, her gaze fixed on the pastel blue seal of the letter, a swan with its wings crowned under the moon, the heraldry of Beaubâton.
She glanced out of the window, evening was falling, Hermione and Marcus would soon be back from their outing in the park, and she would have to heat up the soup. She got up and walked towards the kitchen, her thoughts entirely occupied by the idea of telling her daughter the news. She would be thrilled. Especially as one of her school friends was supposed to be visiting her for a sleepover this evening. If only Hogwarts and the magical world were a safer and more tolerant place for children like her daughter, she would have been more than happy to see her blossom and finally make friends. It would be a lie to say that she had not shed a tear of joy when, in one of her letters, Hermione had told her about all the friends she had made. It had reassured her deeply, as she had always been worried about Hermione's inability to form lasting friendships with anyone throughout her childhood.
She was so deeply immersed in her thoughts that she was startled when she heard a rhythmic tapping noise coming from the glass door of the kitchen. A small grey owl with big amber eyes was standing on the forecourt, watching her warily. Was it another letter? She opened the door, and the little owl flew in and landed on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. Jean was taken aback; nothing was attached to the little creature's leg... yet its link with the magical world was obvious.
"Hello there. Did you lose your letter on the way in?" She said with a half smile, not sure if the animal understood what she was saying. In the short time she had spent in the magical world, she had been as amazed as she had been worried that the animals sharing the lives of wizards seemed to have intelligence beyond the norm.
"You're a handsome boy", she said, moving her hand closer to the bird. The dark look she received immediately made her realise her mistake. "Oh, sorry, a pretty girl, aren't you?" Judging by the satisfied hoot the adorable little owl gave, she must have been right. Just as she was about to stroke the bird's head, it flew off and landed on the ground a few feet away.
Suddenly, the owl metamorphosed, causing her to cry out in surprise, leaping backwards and ending up with her back to the sink. In the owl's place was now a young girl of small stature, with large grey eyes and long ashen hair tied in an intricate braid resting on her shoulder. Her fine, aristocratic face, thin lips and high, sharp cheekbones gave her a look vaguely reminiscent of the bird she had been less than a second before. Her large dark blue cape embroidered with silver and the obvious quality and refinement of the thick grey woollen blazer dress with its many copper-coloured pockets and buttons that she wore underneath gave her a far too serious appearance for her age.
She froze, blinking, her mouth opening and closing without making a sound. Either an owl had just turned into a young girl in her kitchen, or there was a gas leak and she was delirious. The hallucination, the child, she couldn't tell, came up smiling before holding out her hand. "Hello Mrs Granger, my name is Elvetia Morelle. I'm a friend of Hermione's, she must have told you I was coming."
"Of course, of course, a pleasure to see you." She stammered, shaking his hand. "Would you like something to drink? I've got water, fruit juice, some syrup, I can also make some tea and hot chocolate. You can sit down if you like." She rambled on, trying to work out what had just happened.
"A glass of water will be fine, Mrs Granger." The girl said politely.
She turned towards the sink and closed her eyes for a good three seconds before looking back over her shoulder. Elvetia had sat down at the table and was swinging her legs as she looked at her. Definitely not a hallucination, she decided as she filled a glass. She searched her memory, she had the impression that Hermione had been talking about a professor who could turn into a cat... The magical world seemed really crazy to her at times. The idea of someone transforming into an animal really didn't have the same effect as seeing it for real with her own eyes... She turned and placed a large glass of water in front of her guest.
"Hermione regularly told us about you in her letters, but she never mentioned that you could turn into an owl. It's called being an... animagus, isn't it?"
Elvetia gave her a big, bright smile... a charming young girl she had there. "I asked Hermione not to tell the others, I didn't think she'd go so far as to keep it to herself even in her letters. I'm an animalys, in my clan everyone is born an owl and gains the ability to turn into a human as they grow up."
"The more I learn, the better I understand my daughter's fascination with magic. How did you two meet? Hermione can be very shy and has difficulty making friends."
"Myosotis introduced us. At first we only knew each other through Myo but as we spent time together we became friends, Hermione is really nice when she manages to get her head out of her books. "
Jean chuckled. "Yes, ever since she was a little girl she's preferred to see the world through texts rather than with her eyes. I remember she was a firm believer in the stories of Clara and the flying unicorn."
"Did you know that unicorns exist? "
"Really?
"Yes, you can find some in the forest near Hogwarts. But they don't fly, it's the Pegasi, Abraxan and Thestral that can."
"You spark my curiosity, when I was younger I used to dream of meeting one."
"There's a whole chapter dedicated to them in the book 'Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them' I'm sure Hermione will lend it to you."
"I'll have to ask her..." Their conversation was cut short by the opening of the door to the house, revealing Marcus pushing Hermione's wheelchair, her husband and daughter chatting enthusiastically. Hermione's smile warmed her heart, even if seeing her in a wheelchair was a painful reminder of the recent events.
Elvetia stood up, her glass left on the table, and ran towards Hermione, before bending down to take her in her arms. Marcus, visibly surprised at first, simply closed the door and left the girls to their reunion to enter the kitchen.
"How was your walk?" she asked.
"Quite nice, the weather was good and Hermione managed to walk a little without help. She had a panic attack when she tried to use the public toilet, but the calming potions delivered by the hospital quickly eased her down."
She grimaced before sighing. "We knew she wouldn't recover soon, but she's already made great progress, Mrs Magrit and Mrs Merry are both amazed at how quickly and how willingly she seems to be recovering."
"Hermione is much stronger than we think, my dear. Besides, I suppose it's Mademoiselle Morelle, isn't it? They seem to be getting on well, for most of the walk Hermione kept talking about her and how excited she was about her visit."
"I'm really reassured that Hermione has managed to make such good friends."
"By the way, did you get the letter?"
John grimaced, "Yes."
"Well?"
"Everything is in order, they have everything they need to welcome her, and say they can handle our requests."
"There's no problem then. I think it's time for you to tell her," said Marcus with a big smile. She knew her husband's opinion well, for him, Hermione's future was in the magical world, despite what had happened at Hogwarts. Jean still didn't like the idea of Hermione being in an environment where she had faced this kind of danger, but she was also well aware that her fears and reactions were far from rational. A society which allowed its children to be chopped up by trolls every Thursday could not function, no matter how magical it was.
She passed into the corridor, and approached the two girls who were talking cheerfully to each other. Jean hesitated for a second, but the smile on Hermione's face as she spoke to young Elvetia finally made her give in.
"Hermione? I have an important announcement to make."
Both girls turned towards her, Elvetia with curiosity, Hermione with barely concealed tension.
"After long discussions and many exchanges of letters, your father and I have decided to allow you to continue your studies at Beaubâton next year."
The silence in the corridor lasted a handful of seconds during which Hermione stared at her, dazed, then when she finally seemed to understand, her eyes lit up, and she let out a strangled cry of joy before rising abruptly from her wheelchair and staggering towards her on unsteady legs. Jean rushed forward, catching her daughter before she could fall and holding her close. Hermione didn't wait a moment to reciprocate the embrace, murmuring a steady stream of "thank you "s, her face buried in her chest. No matter what happened, at that moment, she knew she had made the right decision. She wouldn't be able to protect her chick forever, and it was better to accompany her as best she and Marcus could than to tie her wings and hope that she never gets hurt.
oOOOo
Mélusine's wooden sword pierced the shield spell and came down on her with a cracking sound. A sharp pain spread through her arm, causing her to squeal as the force of the blow slammed her to the ground. It was only thanks to some clumsy flapping of her wings that she managed to break her fall and not hurt herself too badly as she crashed into the snow covering the garden behind the Lovegoods' rook.
"That's enough for today, Melusine! You've gone too far." She heard Pandora's voice exclaim as if through a thick fog.
"It's for her own good, Pando!
"Maybe so, but look at the state you've got her in!
"You know very well that's necessary!
"Not at her age! I..."
She couldn't follow the rest of the exchange, she was out of breath, each intake of air burned her throat and lungs, she could already feel cramps invading all her limbs. Her vision was blurred, she was covered in sweat despite the frost. She barely noticed when the cold neck of a gourd was placed against her lips and cool water ran down her throat, soothing the burn of exertion. She felt herself being lifted off the ground, one hand passing underneath her to support her, the other on her back between her wings. Instinctively, she clung to who she guessed is Pandora, groaning in pain as she put pressure on her arm.
She finally began to come to her senses when she was placed on the sofa of the ground floor of the house, Pandora was kneeling in front of her, her hands on her shoulders. Myo blinked, still stunned by what had just happened.
"Myosotis, I've called Andromeda, Isabelle has entrusted her with a stock of medicinal potion for veela, she'll be here soon to look after you. I'm going to have a serious talk with Mélusine, so call me if you need anything. Xeno's here to help in any case."
She merely nodded, her throat too tight, her mind too cottony and exhausted to respond verbally. Xeno had just come out of his printing room and was watching the scene in shock. He came and sat down beside her, casting worried glances between Melusine and Pandora.
"It'll be alright, darling, Andy will be here any moment." She said before standing up and taking Melusine by the shoulder to pull her towards the laboratory. Myo had never seen Pandora with such a stern expression on her face, nor Melusine so visibly uncomfortable, she who was usually so imposing.
"What happened, my little Billubille?" Xeno asked, concern clearly evident on his face. Still unable to make a sound, she showed him her injured arm, assuming that was the reason for Pandora's intervention. A huge blue bruise had formed over the area of impact, and she winced as her arm ached terribly.
Xeno turned pale and swallowed. He glanced at the door behind which Pandora and Mélusine had disappeared. "Did this happen during training with my sister?"
Myo nodded again, still unable to speak. Xeno, who always looked more or less detached and polite, swore. Myo couldn't believe his ears. Xeno visibly gritted his teeth before flashing her a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Pandora will take care of it, but I'll also have a few words to say to my dear sister."
Just then, the fireplace blazed with a large green flame, and Andy's silhouette immediately emerged, closely followed by Luna. Myo felt a little guilty, Luna was supposed to be taking her potion classes with Andy this morning, not being interrupted by her incompetent training with Melusine.
"Xenophilius, I was told something happened to ... oh dear." Andy paused as her eyes fell on her. Myo was beginning to feel dizzy, as if she was gradually losing touch with her surroundings. Andy ran to her side, urging her to drink a vial containing a fizzy red liquid, then another with an indefinable taste and texture. She cast several spells with long, complex incantations on her arm, before applying a strangely icy ointment to the swelling.
Luna pressed herself against her, silent, her blond eyebrows furrowed. She watched her face for a moment and seemed to want to say something before turning to Xeno and asking. "Daddy? What's happened?"
"Your aunt took the training a bit too far." Luna clenched her fists, internal conflict visible on her face. "Andromeda, how's Myo?"
"Her humerus was broken, fragments caused the onset of internal bleeding. Without Isabelle's potions, she would have had to be taken to Flamel. Veela bones are much lighter than human bones, which allows them to fly more easily, but also makes them more susceptible to fractures." She said gloomily.
Myo was starting to feel better, the world around her less hazy, but she didn't really understand, had it been that bad? The blow had been violent, yes, but Melusine was teaching her about real sorcerer's combat and the use of shields as well as the dangers of enchanted weapons. And Myo wanted to learn, her encounter with the poachers and then with the troll had been reason enough for her to want to become strong enough to defend herself and eventually protect Luna and her other friends. The day had started normally, though.
Shortly after returning to her tower, she had visited Luna while Pandora had taken the opportunity to draw up a timetable to replace all the lessons she would not have at Hogwart's this year and prepare her for Beaubâton. Potion and French with Andromeda, charms and transfiguration with Pandora. Defence with Melusina, Astronomy and Herbology with Xenophilius, History and Geography with Ted. Over the last few weeks, Myo had spent her days either at the Lovegoods or the Tonks, taking the classes she should have had at Hogwart. Fortunately, all her 'teachers' were accommodating enough to let her go flying when it became too difficult to hold still. In short, she only returned to her tower at weekends, with Luna invariably asking to accompany her. Nymphadora didn't miss the opportunity to come along either. She didn't mind, she liked having her two best friends with her in her tower playing and cuddling.
All her lessons were exciting, and apart from no longer being able to try and make Severus Snape happy, play with Draco and try and capture Professor Mcgonagall in her feline form again, she didn't really miss Hogwarts... Except that she would like to see Hermione and Elvetia more often. But as Hermione was still recovering and had appointments with doctors and psychiatrists several times a week, disturbing her too much was not a good idea, not to mention the risk of being seen by dursleys. As for Elvetia, she lived far away and Myo simply didn't have the time to go and visit her... although it would be a lie to say that she didn't want to meet her owl friend's family.
That morning, after their charm lesson with Pandora, she and Luna had gone their separate ways, Luna going to the Tonks for potions with Andy while she stayed behind for a special course for which Melusine had judged Luna too young. Despite the difficulty, she'd had a good time until her stupid mistake... and everyone around her was taking it so seriously, it was true that since her return Melusine had been much tougher and more demanding for one reason or another, and getting hurt while training to defend herself was normal... After all, it was better to be hurt now than not to know how to defend yourself against a horde of enraged Vernons. She rested her head on Luna's shoulder, savouring the warmth and presence of her best and oldest friend, unable to concentrate or listen to what the voices around her were saying.
She was brought back to the present by Morgoth's heavy mass sitting on her lap, the big bundle of black fur rolling into a ball and purring. She buried her hand in the thick fur and winced, unable to move her other hand, her arm weak and aching. She felt strange, detached, as if the weight of Morgoth on her lap and the presence of her best friend against her were the only things keeping her more or less rooted in the present. She turned her gaze towards the door behind which Pandora and Mélusine had disappeared. The situation was just... so strange.
...
A few minutes earlier.
The door to the laboratory slammed behind her, the noise and bustle of the living room they had just left giving way to the calm of the laboratory, stills, journals and grimoires overflowing the old shelves and the tables and desks covered with old parchment, quills and inkwells, so many paper things reflecting Pandora's usually calm and collected temperament. But in all her life, Mélusine had never seen Pandora in such a state. She was staring at her, crushing her with a gaze that would be euphemistic to describe as icy. Her hair waved like a silver halo, stirred by an invisible breeze around her frozen face, and she could feel her magic like an iron weight on her shoulders. Pandora's aura gave her an inhuman appearance, almost reminding her of the high fae she had been lucky and unlucky enough to meet in her life. For one of the few times she could remember, a shiver ran down her spine; she had banished dementors, faced demons, some of the worst horrors of this world, but at that moment, none of them seemed more terrifying than a beyond furious Pandora.
"Melusine Clíodhna Medb Lovegood". began her sister-in-law in a strangely calm voice. She winced involuntarily, the use of her full name did not bode well. "I leave you alone with Myosotis for an hour and I find her injured. You'd better have an excellent explanation for what happened."
At least Pandora seemed willing to listen, which was already a small victory in this situation. "Pandora, you know, you were there at the council, Great Britain is becoming more and more dangerous, in addition to poachers, servants of Voldemort's wanting her hide, corruptions and dark spirits have been multiplying for years."
Pandora's silent fury did not abate. "And how does that explain me finding Myosotis on the ground almost unconscious?"
"She needs to be able to defend herself by any means necessary in any situation, now more than ever! I've shown you the memory of what I saw in the forbidden forest. Just today, before we started our lesson, Myosotis told me that a fucking Nucklavee was hanging around her tower and seemed to be attacking the wards! Can you believe it? A Nucklavee bold enough to approach an ancient veela territory while the wards are still in place! The training I'm putting her through is harder after the last news, I know, but it's for her own good! It's normal for a little accident to happen from time to time."
"Mélusine! Myosotis is eleven! I went to visit her adopted flock, and Apolline explained the ins and outs of Myosotis's situation. The fact that she has survived without a flock until now is nothing short of a miracle! She's a child who's had to grow up so fast that she's legally an adult in Veelan civilisation. She's already a lot stronger than she should be."
"Not strong enough to make it on her own!"
"She's not on her own! Our whole family, the Tonks, her whole flock, I'll remind you that her confrontation with a troll almost turned into a serious diplomatic incident involving the ICW!"
"And yet! You just said it, she was confronted by a troll! In a supposedly safe school! She needs better defence training, even if a few accidents happen! You know her, she'll be in danger as long as she continues to live part of her life alone, and forcing her to stay with us or in a flock all the time is unthinkable. She needs to be able to face any threat long enough for someone to come to her aid." Mélusine finished in a softer voice.
Pandora was about to reply, her protective fury still fresh in her eyes, when the door opened, revealing Xéno. He entered the room before closing the door behind him and glowering at her.
"How's Myosotis?" asked her sister-in-law straight away.
"Well, Andromeda took her to Luna's room, where she fell asleep from exhaustion. Morgoth and Luna refused to part with her."
Mélusine breathed a sigh of relief. "You see, Pandora, there was no need to worry so much. She'll be over it in no time. Accidents happen."
"You'd better shut up, Mélusine. Do I have to remind you of the conditions under which you were accepted into this house? Do you want to prove to us by your actions that it's time for you to go back and improve your self-control with Udel?" Her brother said icily.
Melusine turned pale with shame and anger, how dare her brother allude to this? That time was in her past and would remain there, an accident during training was in no way proof of a lack of control of the kind Xenophilius seemed to be suggesting.
"How serious was it?" Pandora asked.
"A broken arm with a nasty internal bleed. If Andromeda hadn't intervened quickly with the right potions and spells, we'd have had to send her to ... " A loud crack sounded in the room, and Melusine brought a hand to her sore cheek, her gaze resting on the fulminating Pandora. "... to Flamel Hospital as a matter of urgency." Xeno finished.
Mélusine swallowed, her anger turning to horror... had she really? Was Xenophilius right? No... impossible, she and Udel had definitely solved this problem.
Frost had formed under Pandora's feet, the tiles cracking in places. Her eyes were like two wells of icy raw magic. "Melusine, you are to leave this house and not return until I allow you to. I can't continue this discussion, not under these conditions. I need to calm down. In the meantime, go clear your head and think about what you've done."
Mélusine nodded and hurried out of the room, grabbing her coat and boots before putting them on in a hurry and leaving the house, letting the cold air clear her head as her footsteps trod on the deep snow. She had screwed up badly, hadn't she? She buried her face in her hands and growled in anger and frustration at herself. The disastrous situation she'd found Britain in and the dangers to Myosotis and Luna had gone to her head... well... she hoped that was all it was. She... she'd never imagined that she could lose control to the point of hurting the person she considered a second little niece so badly.
She whistled through her fingers, scanning the sky for Luccys. Before long, the little white occamy was wrapped around her neck like the most adorable scarf. "I screwed up, Luccys". She said hoarsely. "I have an apology to make. Pandora's right, this time I've gone too far."
Luccys let out a long, melodious, sad whistle before rubbing his head against her cheek affectionately. "You're right, I'll lie low for a while. If I come back too soon, Pandora will skin me."
oOOOo
All five had gathered in the telescope dome at the top of the Lovegood house on this Yuletide evening. Myo didn't really know why, but this year, Xeno and Pandora had wanted to do something big, perhaps to make up for the absence of Melusine, or to try and forget the troll incident. In any case, the Lovegoods had invited their entire group of friends, both close and distant family. Arrangements had been made for Hermione's wheelchair, the dining room had been magically enlarged, and they had even managed to smuggle a few veela (illegally of course) into Great Britain for the occasion - in short, the party was grand.
Myo had been happy to see Fleur, Adèle and Apolline again, to meet Elvetia's family, to see Hermione's family again (even if her mother still scared her a bit. ) to see all the Tonks, to finally meet Emily, the friend Nym had told her so much about, not forgetting the cousins and other aunts, grandparents and uncles of the Lovegood clan.
Towards the middle of the evening, despite the good mood, Myo found herself overwhelmed: too much noise, too many people, the auras of Fleur Adèle and Apolline... she slipped away in what she thought would be a discreet manner. Barely half an hour later, her refuge of solitude had been invaded by Luna, Nym, Elvetia and Hermione. That New Year's Eve, she and her closest friends under a thick blanket watching the projection of what the telescope was offering them to see on that starry night, she felt happy.
She let herself sink against her friends, covering them with her feathers, while Luna pointed the telescope at the Orion nebula, offering its magnificent colours to their eyes. If Mélusine had been there, it would undoubtedly have been the most beautiful yule of her life.
oOOOo
She had been observing the village near her tower since the beginning of March. And it was only a few days into this fresh month of April that she had finally spotted the house of what she was sure were mages. She had studied them at length, and they didn't seem the type to react badly to the proximity of a veela, if the father and son's exchanges with a young selkie visiting the bay were any indication.
Night had long since fallen, and against the night sky, her black plumage would be invisible. She leapt from the roof of the old ruined stone house on which she stood at the top of the hill and glided silently towards the orange lights filtering through the windows of the houses in the soon to be sleeping village. She landed gently in the snow in front of the house of the family of mages and slid against one of their walls before peering in through one of their windows.
The family were sitting around a table having dinner, and she had the strange impression that she recognised one of the teenagers. She shrugged, Melusine's warnings still ringing in her ears: it would indeed be wise to warn the village of Nucklavee's presence near the coast, but the rule about not being seen still applied. Alone, without the supervision of the Tonks or Lovegoods, without the help of any other veela, apart from the relative safety afforded by the walls of Hogwarts, she had no way of knowing how the wizards would react to the presence of what many of the newspapers she had leafed through described as a monster, a public danger.
When in doubt, discretion was her first and best defence, Mélusine insisted. The Dursleys, in whose lair she had lived, had not been wrong about everything. She slid the letter she had written under the door before taking off, her heart pounding, as if she had done something forbidden but which she knew was right, this excitement following her to the safety of her tower where a worried little Eldur was waiting.
...
"Sweetheart? Do you think this is a joke?" He said, after reading aloud, his gaze fixed on the strangest letter he had ever received. A short text in neat handwriting surrounded by various small cute drawings warning in just a few lines of the presence of one of the worst evil coastal spirits he knew of in disturbingly close proximity to the village. It looked like a joke in bad taste, especially as the drawings of clouds, wild flowers and a frighteningly realistic representation of the creature in question gave the whole thing the air of a hoax... However, he didn't know anyone in the village who would indulge in this kind of antics.
"Do you think there's a mythology-loving joker in the village? replied his wife.
He was about to nod and forget the matter when his son's voice caught his attention. "Dad! Look!" He headed for the front door through which his son had exited, looking for any traces left by the prankster.
His son was standing on the forecourt, one finger pointing towards the recent carpet of snow covering the driveway leading to the old road. He swallowed, there in the snow were several large bird's footprints, much larger than those of any bird he had encountered so far. He looked up, searching the grey sky for a dark spot or anything that might have left such footprints, but saw only clouds. He turned to his son. "Do you remember a few years ago? You told me that a bird child had broken into our house to steal food..."
"Yes, black plumage, green eyes, long black hair..."
He hurried back into the house, and began to rummage through the old Daily Prophet publications that he kept and filed for his work. "Darling? What is it?" Ophelia asked.
"I have a suspicion that I absolutely must check out." He said as he quickly scanned each headline. He finally stopped on one of them. Below the headline, a large photo showing the young veela flanked by several adults, holding hands with a little blonde girl who looked happy and dreamy. The bird-child's big green eyes roamed the windows with fearful curiosity, her black plumage puffed out, as if to make herself more intimidating, appear less fragile.
He put the newspaper down and held it out to his son and wife with one hand, massaging the bridge of his nose with the other. "I must send a letter to an acquaintance to be absolutely sure. If Myosotis Potter really does live near the village, she's not safe." He said, clasping in his hand the small letter on whose paper a Nucklavee was drawn with disturbing precision.
oOOOo
Myosotis was sitting on one of the big footstool that Pandora had set up in a corner of her laboratory when their lessons had become a regular occurrence. Beside her stood Pandora, her gaze fixed on her daughter with pride. For about ten lessons now, she had been teaching them how to anchor the most important and useful primary spells that she believed would serve them for the rest of their lives. The theory they should have learnt in first year had already been started before they arrived at Hogwarts and had been entirely finished by the end of January, and now Pandora made it a point of honour for them to know perfectly how to anchor a spell in their magic through the ritual of compartmentalisation and repetitive structuring.
Pandora had been impressed when she had shown her skill with the Magna Fuga spell, but had reprimanded her for using it unsupervised. Myo had felt rather guilty and uncomfortable listening to Pandora explain the various ways in which she could have ended up seriously injured had she failed to master the spell correctly. She'd made her promise ten times over that she wouldn't try any secondary magic unsupervised in the future. The most embarrassing had been when she'd had to admit her break-in at Dumbledore's office to Pandora when the latter had asked her about the circumstances of her use of Magna Fuga. Fortunately, Pandora seemed to dislike Dumbledore enough to only tell her not to try and rob the offices of powerful wizards in the future, if only for her own safety.
Now, however, was Luna's moment to shine. Pandora was planning to have them anchor Lumos, Wingardium Leviosa and Puncta Aquilonis in their magic, a spell that Pandora had decided to insist they anchor, as it would allow them to find north more reliably than a compass. Myo had to admit that it would come in very handy on her longer flights, so that she didn't end up flying over Spain inadvertently, as she had done last month. She had been chased by two "Mago de la Paz" before being captured and sent to a flock in the north-west of Spain nesting in the western Pyrenees where Fleur and Apolline had come to pick her up, crying... It was the first time she had fallen asleep in flight, and it would be the last if she had anything to do with it.
She blinked and concentrated again on Luna, who was staring intently at the small cushion on the floor in front of her, her wand held limply between her fingers. This morning, they had finally completed the ritual of anchoring Wingardium Leviosa, which had taken them weeks of incessant repetition of the spell and meditation to structure part of their magic and fix it before proceeding with the ritual. Myo was looking forward to it, having even one spell anchored at their age would already be exceptional according to Andy and Nym. Nym was also rather jealous that they were being taught by Pandora, who had quite a reputation in the spell world.
Suddenly, Luna flicked her wand upwards and the cushion rose into the air, levitating in the middle of the room. Myo clumsily ejected herself from her footstool and hugged Luna, spinning her around in the air, she let out a high-pitched cry of surprise, and as her concentration broke, the cushion fell back to the floor.
"Luna! You did it!" Myosotis exclaimed. Before hugging her as tightly as she could against her chest, wrapping her wings around her affectionately. Once the surprise wore off, Luna let herself be enveloped in the hug and returned it. It was Myosotis's turn to startle when Pandora hugged them both.
"Luna, I'm so proud of you. You did it." Pandora said with a big smile. "Now it's your turn Myo."
A wave of panic went through her, Luna had succeeded, but there was no guarantee that it would work for her too, what if she hadn't repeated the spell enough? What if the ritual hadn't worked properly? This line of thought was interrupted by Luna whispering in her ear. "You'll get there, just chase those wrackspurts away from around your head." Myo accepted the cushion Luna handed her and nodded, calling up her flames for a moment to scare the wrackspurts away. A rush of dry heat accompanied her blue fire puffing up her feathers, her mind seeming clearer.
Luna smiled at her and, filled with a new confidence, she placed the cushion on the ground a good metre away from her and took out her wand. The dragon's wing bone seemed to vibrate with excitement between her fingers, while her flames almost looked as if they were begging to be released to dance along the ivory white. She squinted, concentrating on the cushion, pointing her wand at the innocent pillow. She took a deep breath, searching for a part of her magic that was already structured within her was really strange, it was as if she was searching through the blaze of her magic to find a frozen, immobile part of herself.
When she felt this fragment of herself metaphorically just beneath the surface of her skin, at the tip of her fingers, she pushed it through the bone and feather of her wand, letting the sensation of the spell pass through her a thousand times over. With a slight flick of her wand, as if to help her magic burn through, everything aligned, as if she'd found a balance she'd always known but had only just discovered, and the cushion rose into the air at her will.
"It works... it floated up, without incantations, without movement!" She exclaimed, first in a breath and then in a full voice as the reality of what she had just done hit her.
"Myo, we did it! Together!" cried Luna, joy shining in her wide eyes.
"I'm so proud of you girls. Tonight, to congratulate you, the meal will be a real banquet! I'm going to put Xeno in the kitchen!" Xeno and Pandora were both exceptional chefs.
Myo squealed with delight at this, Xeno and Pandora were both exceptional chefs, but when they combined their efforts, they were simply unstoppable.
"Well, you've done a great job, plenty for today. Go and enjoy yourselves". Said Pandora. No sooner had she finished her sentence than Luna had already taken her by the hand and was leading her towards the door, the idea of a new game clear in her eyes.
"Myo, there's a Selki in the forest lake, she came up the river here and told me she wanted to play with us. Luna said enthusiastically.
"Do you think she'll show us how she fishes?"
"She might!"
They both opened the door to the house, but stopped in their tracks, face to face with Mélusine, standing motionless on the stoop, her hand ready to pull the cord of the little doorbell. She and Luna froze, blinking. Myo hadn't seen Mélusine since she got hurt in training. She missed Mélusine, but Pandora had explained that she wouldn't see her again until she and Mélusine had had a long talk about what was and wasn't acceptable in their lessons.
"Mélusine?" "Lulu?" she and Luna simultaneously asked.
"Oh, hey, hello Myo, hello Luna, your mother and I have finally come to an agreement. I'm welcome back in this house..."
Her sentence was interrupted by Myo and Luna who had thrown themselves at her in an almost desperate hug. "Girls... you... you don't blame me for what happened?" Myo had never heard Mélusine's voice sound so fragile.
"No, I... Pandora... Xeno... everyone's made such a fuss about it, but I know very well that it was bound to happen. I've got to learn to defend myself better, I don't ever want to find myself defenceless against poachers, or worse, Vernons." Myo stammered.
"I still think that hurting Myo like that during training was a very bad thing, that Mum's reaction was the right one, and that Myo is too nice and should take better care of herself, but being banned from the house for months on end was enough... I missed you Lulu." Luna said in a small voice.
"You... you are adorable. However, I promised Pandora I'd do one thing when I see you both again." She said as she stepped back from the hug and dropped to one knee.
"Myosotis, I ask your forgiveness, I should have kept control, hurting you like that was a terrible mistake on my part. I must teach you to defend yourself, not hurt and traumatise you further. I know you're a big girl in your head and in your magic, but you're eleven years old, treating you like that was a mistake I regret, your wound was serious, and if Andromeda hadn't arrived in time, things could have gone very badly."
"Mélusine, I forgive you, I love you! You saved me, you teach me, you want the best for me, it was an accident!" exclaimed Myo, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Thank you, Myo, you're much too kind... Luna, I owe you an apology too, I apologise for making you worry so much, Andy told me what happened when you were at home studying when I hurt Myo. I would never have wanted to cause you any pain."
"Lulu, you're my best aunt, I love you. Said Luna
Pandora chose this moment to come out onto the stoop in her turn and give Mélusine an icy look. "My daughters may forgive you, but I'm keeping an eye on you, Mélusine" Mélusine grimaced, but Myo couldn't bring herself to care, too busy as she was swimming in the happiness of being with Luna, of finding Mélusine, but above all, of hearing Pandora call her her daughter.
oOOOo
The wind slipped between her feathers, carrying her wings over the grey ocean, her flames dancing against her skin, protecting her from the cold of the Scottish spring better than her thick tunic, made and enchanted by Adèle, ever could. Between her talons was her prey, a large salmon she just caught. Her mouth was already watering as she imagined the fatty flesh sprinkled with wild herbs cooked to perfection by her flames. The creature's skull would soon join the large round stone she had dedicated to the honour of her marine prey at the base of her tower.
She struck out with her wings, beating the wind, propelling herself far above the waves, up the steep, lichen-covered cliffs of grey rock, to hover above the moors still scorched by winter, barely budding thanks to the timid return of the spring sun. A roe deer galloping across the wilderness, a seagull flying over the ocean reflecting the grey sky, two large hare's ears sticking out of a bush below, Eldur nestling in her scarf... It wasn't the first time she'd thought that, but this was her home. Of course, she always missed the flock, the presence of the Lovegoods, the Tonks, and especially Luna, and this felt like a hollow in her chest, but the solitude was also a calm, a serenity, a security that she couldn't do without and which she felt deep down that she sorely needed. People, even those she loved, quickly became an overload on her senses, the only exception being Luna, the girl being the only person she was sure she could be around indefinitely without needing to flee to recuperate.
Her tower was in sight, a tall, solitary stone guardian towering above the tides. She couldn't wait to perch in one of the ruins below and enjoy the salmon squirming weakly in her claws. She could almost smell the ghostly aroma of grilled flesh and roasted wild herbs. She gained altitude, playing with the air currents, already excitedly anticipating the moment when she would dive at dizzying speed before breaking her fall with a flap of her wings.
She frowned as two figures stood still at the entrance of the ruins, next to the large decaying stone gate. This was highly unusual; when Pandora or Andromeda came to visit, they always sent a letter to let her know of their arrival. When it was Fleur or any other veela, the meeting took place at the Lovegoods' since any intrusion by a veela on British territory was forbidden, the only exception being herself and Apolline, who had diplomatic immunity from the French Occitan branch of the Grand Alliance. As for Luna, Nym and her other friends, it was always she who took them to her tower, often to spend the weekend, but more often than not, they gathered at Nym or Luna's house, as Hermione still needed her wheelchair for most of her journeys, despite the speed with which she was recovering.
She climbed even higher into the sky and took out her wand, murmuring "color mutatur et micat, molts et coriis" as she described a nine-pointed star with the tip of her wand. She was proud of this primary spell, a modification of the colour change charm that she and Luna had perfected with Pandora's precious help. Myo was still a long way from being able to use a secondary spell such as desilusion, but the aptly named 'colour mutatio' was a good alternative, being able to blend in with the colour of the sky would make her almost invisible when seen from the ground. There were other camouflage spells, but they were designed to be used on the ground, not to replicate the colours of a turbulent sky. She approached silently, high in the air, peering out to try and see what kind of thing she was dealing with - wizards? Vernons? Some other kind of creatures? Her eyes widened when she was close enough to make out the pairs of wings the intruders had. What were they? Never before had a veela appeared unannounced in front of her tower.
She was about to go down and see them in search of answers to her questions, but her mischievousness got the better of her. These two intruders had turned up unannounced in front of her home, on her territory, so she could have some fun at their expense. She climbed towards the sky, higher and higher, until she entered the mists of the clouds, so high up that she could hardly make out the ground, so high up that her tower was no more than a small grey dot between the moor and the ocean. At such a height, the air was so cold that her flames had to redouble their efforts to keep her warm. Satisfied, she folded her wings into a V, tucked Eldur into her scarf to protect him and swooped down towards the intruders.
The wind whistled in her ears as the ground approached at a speed defying imagination. Her form was perfect, she had watched enough falcons to be able to imitate them. She was infinitely satisfied when she broke her fall just a few metres from the ground with a great flapping of her flaming wings and one of the two intruders jumped so hard she could swear she almost saw her leap a metre into the air.
She landed proudly, grabbing her salmon by the tail with her left hand to free her legs. "Isabelle" she cried out, immediately recognising the startled veela. She had one hand on her chest and was glowering at her, probably surprised by her arrival.
"Myosotis, I swear that if you ever scare me like that again, I'll pluck you out of your..." began Isabelle, her aura full of dismay, worry and (justified) anger, but Myo's attention was fixed on her companion. It was a very large veela with a hard, angular face but so strikingly beautiful that Myosotis couldn't look away, her cerulean blue eyes staring at her with amusement, her aura vibrating with the kind of affection that Myosotis was used to seeing reserved for particularly mischievous or unruly kittens... which was, all in all, rather vexing, but mostly curiosity and sadness. However, this was not the reason for her fascination; what froze her in place was the fact that, in addition to her large wings with their blond plumage, her magnificent tunic with its complex patterns and her numerous bracelets, jewels of gold, silver and glittering stones, her visitor's arms were covered in small feathers, that her legs, like hers, ended in two talons, but above all how similar their auras were, reasoning with each other in a magnificent hypnotic duet, her flames almost begging to mingle with those of the stranger, blazing under her feathers with excitement.
The sound of her salmon hitting the ground heavily did nothing to distract her attention as she mechanically began to walk towards the stranger, drawn by her fascinating aura like a moth by the glow of a lantern. She was barely aware of the moment when her camouflage spell dissipated, or the moment when her flames burst forth, shrouding her in a soft blue fire. All that mattered was that in just a few steps, she found herself in the arms of the stranger, their auras fused together, another blue fire mingling with her own flames. She held the woman close, her cheek against her chest, a song of happiness instinctively humming in her throat as a hand settled in her hair.
Even with another veela, Myosotis had never given herself up like that, fearless and totally vulnerable. But was the comparison even valid? After all, this was the first time she'd met someone really like her. Someone who understood her completely, someone who shared her flames, her aura, another Taïvaalta.
oOOOo
The noise of the cars and the voices of the countless passers-by was dizzying, not to mention the illuminated signs, the overflowing shop windows and the smell of street food giving her a headache. Mélusine walked along the wide pavement of the avenue trying to ignore the heavy London traffic, concentrating on the weight of Luccys wrapped around her waist, under her large coat. She had no problem with small, Muggle towns, and sometimes even enjoyed mingling with non-Mages in a bar, museum, restaurant or library. But the bustle and density of a metropolis like London? Its teeming multitude of human beings lost in a meaningless shapeless mass? It was too much for her, and she would never have put herself through the ordeal of going to such a place if she didn't have an excellent reason to do so.
She narrowly dodged a tall, heavily built man who almost collided with her head-on and muttered an expletive. This place was not for her. She discreetly removed the small device that had brought her to this cursed place from one of the inside pockets of her thick muggle coat. It was a bronze disc encircled by copper, with a rim engraved with runes and delicate mechanisms and cogs that bore a vague resemblance to old pocket watches found in dusty antique shops. The silver hand always pointed in the same direction and the light filtering through some of the runes confirmed her fears. She heaved a deep, exasperated sigh. Her master had chosen to place the door of his dwelling right in the middle of the historic heart of London... a drastic change from his last choices, recently, whether it was an old ruined hovel in the north of the Isles of Skye, a stone archway in an old quiet district of Edinburgh or the garden shed of an abandoned house in Devon...
It was so close... if the matter wasn't so urgent and the pressing issues hadn't piled up to such an extent, she would have postponed this visit and waited until he moved again. She stopped, the hand having just changed direction to indicate something to her right.
Between two tall limestone houses with arched windows, there was a narrow dark alleyway that she didn't seem to have noticed. She looked around to make sure no one was paying any attention to her before entering it, the tarmac giving way to old mossy cobblestones, the well-cut white limestone walls replaced by old, unevenly cut grey stones covered in lichen. She took out her wand, and, with one movement, conjured up a small orb of white light in front of her before putting her wand back in its sheath and moving forward cautiously. The alley became darker and darker, the grey sky far above her, the curve of the alley making the avenue she had just left disappear, the hustle and bustle of the city giving way to an eerie silence. She cast a wry glance at a big grey cat perched on an old, worm-eaten wooden crate, following her with its eyes. Another one of their spies... they must have been aware of her presence for a long time.
At the end of the alley, a few steps up, stood a familiar wooden door surmounted by a half-circle of stained glass windows from which coloured light shone. Hastening to escape the cold and damp of the alleyway, she pulled the cord of the rusty old bell hanging beside the door. A few seconds passed before the door opened silently, with no-one behind. She stepped inside, the door closing and locking by itself... No matter how many times she came, they would never stop paying attention to appearances.
The warmth of the house embracing her like an old friend, she took off her coat and hung it on the coat rack, which almost seemed to be holding out its twisted metal appendages to her. Once free, Luccys unwound herself from her waist and flew through the house whistling happily, no doubt to play with her friends who unfortunately were invisible to her. She took off her shoes to put on the comfortable slippers waiting suspiciously for her on the porch before stepping into the corridor with its floral wallpaper and welcoming carpet. A smile spread across her face as her able-bodied eye fell on several photos of her as a little girl and her master... so much time had passed since those moments... they could be so sentimental for such an ancient creature, she thought with affection.
At the end of the corridor was an old carved wooden staircase which she knew led to the bedrooms, including the one she had occupied for years, to the library, study and laboratory, but knowing them, they must have been waiting for her in the living room, whose double doors of wood and stained glass opened a few metres ahead of her on her right. The smell of fire, fairy grass, tea and gingerbread was further confirmation of her host's presence.
They were in their usual place, sunken into their big armchair, wrapped in their thick, elegant dressing gown, a long-handled pipe in their hands, a novel on their knees, their green scales taking on a pearly sheen in the light of the flames from the fireplace. She remembered with fondness how, when she was a child, they terrified her, their two metre height, four long arms, scaly skin and eight large, yellow-rimmed eyes had haunted her nightmares after their first meeting.
She looked up at the small carved oak coffee table where two mugs were already being prepared, a steaming pot of tea and a large plate with an assortment of biscuits, cookies, slices of cake and gingerbread.
"The moon is shining brightly tonight, it's been a long time since you've visited your old master... I've missed you little lily." They said, turning four of their eyes in her direction, continuing to stare at the dancing flames with the others.
"Udel, if the location of your door didn't change so often I'm sure visiting you would be less of a hassle and would happen more often."
They raised a scaly eyebrow as they took a long puff of fairy weed from their pipe: "Didn't I entrust you with one of my compasses?"
"Yes... but it took me years to repair it, and finding you without one is... impossible." she sighed, waving her hand at the thick mists visible from the small diamond-paned window in the living room before settling into the wide, comfortable armchair waiting for her and pouring herself a cup of tea. Spliced Chai... her favourite... the old devil knew her too well.
"How have you been all this time my little lily?"
"Can you stop calling me that, I've grown up since then." she said with a touch of exasperation.
"As if you could be anything but a child to me, wait a few centuries and we'll see." they laughed.
"As you wish, old lizard. I'm doing just fine. And what about you? Are you doing anything other than rotting in the edges?" She said, hoping that maybe, for once in her life, the creature would react to her jabs.
They gave her a disapproving look. "Is this how you thank me for sparing you my precious time? Anyway, the spirit and fae realms are as always in turmoil, the edges are never quiet and I'm not short of work. However, enough about me, something tells me you didn't come here just for pleasure."
She took a long sip of tea to give herself time to sort out her thoughts before opening her mouth. "Britain is in a bad way..." she began, before being rudely interrupted.
"You're not telling me anything new, little lily, these islands have been the scene of a series of dark lords, massacres and genocides over the last few centuries." They said, nonchalantly forming a circle of smoke and sending it towards the ceiling.
"If my concern were limited to this type of unfortunately all-too-common affair, I wouldn't seek to involve you in it, Udel."
"Oh? You intrigue me..."
"In recent years, there have been increasing signs of corruption on the islands."
Udel leaned forward, all eight of his eyes fixed on her, their hands folded under their chin. "What kind of corruption? Any sign of a demonic incursion?" he asked in alarm.
Mélusine couldn't help feeling proud that she was being taken so seriously, as she did every time Udel the dreamer closed his third eye, just for her. "No, not demons, the signs of breaches and distortions are too weak for that... I think. However, I have observed recent evidence of an attack by what I suspect to be anamalgamorphus on a colony of acromentulae in the Royal Forest of Hogwarts. Other lesser occurrences are multiplying, not to mention at least one Nucklavee strangely approaching an ancient Veelan colony, and other creatures linked to the darkness are also multiplying unusually fast." she finished.
Udel sank back into their seat before extinguishing their pipe, looking thoughtful, their scales turning from green to a creamy grey. "How long have these anomalies been reported?
"Nothing unusual until the fifties, then slowly, more and more of this kind of event occurred, more and more regularly, and on a larger and larger scale. However, this is the first time that such direct traces of anamalgamorphus of such a magnitude have been discovered."
"I can only speculate at this stage, I'm going to have to call on some of my contacts to help you. I'll let you know if I find something."
"Is there anything you can tell me right now? A guess? I need a lead!"
"Even at the risk of me pointing you in the wrong direction?" They asked before gobbling down a cookie.
"It'll be better than nothing."
"At your peril, little lily. What you're describing makes me think of a local imbalance in the polarities of magic, or a potential and very discreet demonic incursion, but my other suppositions have too many implications and are too far-fetched for me to share them with you."
She groaned, if her master was considering the demonic incursion, then the situation was more serious than she imagined. "Thank you very much, I'll do what I can until I hear from you."
"As always, you can count on me, my little Lys."
"Thank you, there was another subject I wanted
to talk to you about, a much lighter one."
"I would have hated to give you the nickname of bird of ill omen."
"It's about my niece, Luna. Her third eye is wide open and her link to the realms is powerful, she can see them, speak to them, touch them..."
Udel lit up, their eight eyes widening, a huge smile spreading across their face, the colour returning to their scales, which took on shades of green and gold. "This is more than excellent news! The moon is shining brightly indeed tonight, and the blood of the Druids is still strong in your veins."
"She needs guidance, this gift is dangerous."
"I'm more than happy to give it to her. She will need to know the ways."
"Thank you, Udel."
"It's nothing, it's been a long time since I've had a pupil and I've missed it."
"I shouldn't linger, I've been imposing on you too much already." She said as she stood up. She hesitated for a moment, but changed her mind, Udel had already helped her enough with this burden and she knew that she would never repay this debt, so there was no need to burden them any further. She was about to grab her coat and call Luccys when the scaly hand that landed on her shoulder startled her.
She turned around, about to express her displeasure at being surprised in this way, but Udel's serious expression stopped her dead in her tracks. "You have something else to tell me, don't you?"
The dam that had held back her emotions for months gave way, and in a hoarse voice she admitted what she hadn't dared admit to anyone else before, not even to herself. "My control is slipping away, I've already seriously injured Myosotis, one of Luna's friends, I'm afraid... 'the incident' mustn't happen again, but I can feel it... I'm losing control faster and faster, more and more often since I've been back in Britain... " Her voice died in her throat, and she remained still, staring at the floor, her heart filled with shame and self-loathing.
"My little Lys, you'll be staying a few days, you need a break, and my help. I haven't touched your room, your old things are waiting for you there, we'll talk more tomorrow morning, it's getting late." They said before returning to the armchair.
A wave of relief ran through her, her family, all her other friends and acquaintances were powerless to help her, but not Udel... Perhaps it was time to stop taking everything on her shoulders, to unburden herself once again.