Fan Fiction ❯ The Weaver Telarius ❯ Enter Deanne ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

I was finding working with my wand to be a most aggrivating experience. I was used to magic that didn't involve the usage of such things. While I saw the obvious benefits (no physical energy drain), it prooved a difficult learning curve. It was like trying to learn foil when you started with saber. There were some fundamental similarities, but after that, it was a whole different world of technique.

And so I studied. The train went along, and people went back and forth between booths. Excitable, young children were. I had drawn the curtain to my booth shut, with a neat, self-made sign which informed people that I was reading.

Of course, someone was bound to take interest.

She appeared to be relatively the same apparent age as me, with soft brown hair that had a lot of body and some curl to it. She was definitely the studious type, already changed into her robes, with a book across her lap along with her wand. I looked up, allowing the spectacles I had purchased to drop, slightly. I, of course, don't actually need them for reading. They serve another purpose, and that is all you need know for now. She spoke with a british accent, which was quite flattering for her, let me tell you. "Good day."

So she was shy. That's okay. Most people who like books are. I marked my page, put my best smile forth, making sure not to make it a toothy grin (I hadn't had time to check my cuspids yet), and responded, "And to you, young lady. What causes you to ignore the sign? Or is that the purpose of your visit?"

She flushed, immensely. "Young lady? You're about the same age as me. Still... I did see the sign, but I was curious. People were talking about some new additions to our school. I wanted to meet the only third years to be putting on the Sorting Hat tonight."

'Sorting hat?' I thought, 'What the bloody drek...?' but my thoughts were not for her to hear. Let her think I knew exactly what she was talking about, and if she didn't give me any needed information, I'd just look it up in "Hogwarts: A History". "Oh, of course. I've never scorned anyone simply because they were curious. It's a trait I condone, with many practical applications."

I didn't mean to sound as conniving as I most likely did. The accent had it's disadvantages, and still does. Still, she didn't seem to think much of it. Not one to judge by first impressions... or maybe she was just too interested in the collection of books in my booth. "What are you reading?"

"I've been reading up on this year's course material for basic spellworkings and transfigurations," I lied. I had already gotten into the other material, as the texts were written for a much younger mind than my own, and were quite easy to understand, "I always like to be prepared and, since I'm new here, I will doubtless be subjected to questions on the first day, just so that every teacher can get a good impression of my study habits and basic knowledge."

She looked genuinely puzzled. I chuckled inside as Riposte found her way onto my lap and I pet her. I like confusing people. "But if you took the placement exam, won't that tell them what you know?"

I pursed my lips. It wasn't a bad question, actually, for her age. Still, best to make her think that a response required thought on my part. "Yes and no. It will tell them what I knew before I got my materials. Now, though, they'll see how motivated I am to learn, and how quick I can be about it."

"Oh, well, that makes sense," she suddenly looked this side of horrified, "Oh! Dear me! I forgot to introduce myself," she extended a dainty hand and proclaimed, "My name is Hermione. What's yours?"

I was not even going to bother asking her how to spell that. With a few years of age and practice, she might have a much more eloquent introduction. I figured I might as well have some fun. I took her outstretched hand, brought her second knuckle close to my lips while maintaining eye contact, and said, "They call me Telarius, m'dear, and I am simply," I gave a quick, rather dry kiss, as the custom was, "...charmed by your acquaintence."

I honestly thought her legs might turn to water. It was awfully amusing. Still, she held to some of her composure, though her face was now a brighter shade of red than would seem healthy at first. "Well... um... thank you Te...Telarius."

I smiled and gestured for her to have a seat, hoping it would calm her down. If I was going to get any information out of his one, it would have to be when she was not so flustered. I decided to open immediately with a question, but was cut off by the some cart-lady, who asked if we would like anything.

"A cup of hot chocolate would be nice," she said, while fishing into her purse.

"Lady Grey, if you have it," I hoped they did. It is really good tea.

The cart-lady handed us our drinks and went on her way. Hermoine payed, but I simply grinned a bit and the cart-lady realized that I was still being covered by Hogwarts. I hoped they approved of my purchase.

After a sip of the excellence that is Lady Grey, I posed my question to open a conversation. "What was the Sorting Hat like for you?"

It was a wonderfully open-ended question that made me sound merely curious as opposed to grotesquely ignorant. She proceeded to spin a story about how the Sorting Hat placed her in Gryffindor and how happy she was and whatnot. I gleaned from her story that I would be placed in one of four houses, but I couldn't figure out, from what she was describing, which one I would fit into. Hufflepuff was for loyalty, so definitely not that one. I'm loyal to those who deserve my loyalty, but not just any schmuck who follows the same cause as me. I'll live longer that way. Ravenclaw was a definite possibility, due to the keen edge that was my mind. My warrior aspect qualified me for Gryffindor already. One cannot study three combat arts without having courage and quite a bit of it. The last one, House Slytherin, she spoke of with nothing but spite, so I couldn't figure out what it was about. It didn't make any sense for a campus to house an entire quarter of their population in villains, though, so I just made the connection that Gryffindor and Slytherin probably argued a lot or something. Whatever.

That seemed to break the ice quite nicely, and she talked on and on about the school. I almost got a little bored and wanted to go back to my studies when she mentioned a one Harry Potter. My interest piqued at this specific name and the story behind him. I was fascinated to hear about this gentleman's exploits. She spoke quite highly of him, and even alloting for a possible fifty percent exaggeration made him quite an agreeable person.

After a while, she left my booth, and I could tell that she was happy to make my acquaintence. I wondered if she wanted a study partner out of me or something. I mean, she was rather intelligent for her age, and definitely into hitting the books hard. I honestly didn't know how long that would last with me. I learn too quickly just from the teacher's lectures, usually.

The rest of the train ride was rather uneventful, and I got a little more comfortable with this whole wand thing. In a pinch, I probably would just put it away and throw out magic that I was used to, but I might as well become familiar with the typical format. I mean, it used a lot less energy to use the wand then to summon the primal forces of the universe directly. That, and I don't want to play a trump card too soon. It might be useful later.

I could tell we were about to stop soon, so I changed into my robes, which fit quite nicely, put my books away and waited, relaxing a moment. Of course, whenever I try to relax, the world sends me something to remind me that relaxation is one of my unachievable goals. This time, it was in the form of a boy around my apparent age, with platinum blonde hair, a crooked smile, and two others which appeared to be his cronies. I removed my spectacles, placing them in a pocket, and tilted my head to silently inquire about his presence in my booth.

"So, you're one of the strange appearances everyone's been whispering about?" I did not like his tone, but whatever. He was young and I wasn't about to get all riled up over nothing.

"I wasn't aware of the fact that I was the talk of the train, as it were. Thank you for informing me of such. Would you also be so kind as to tell me of the other?"

He shook his head. "Haven't seen her yet, but I've heard she's quite cute. Don't get any ideas, though. I've already got my mind set on her."

I arched an eyebrow. "Before you've even met or spoken with her? That's a little foolish, don't you think?"

I could tell that I hit a sore spot already. I just rub some people the wrong way. His eyes flashed white hot anger in an instant, and I could have sworn he was part Irish if it weren't for the slight British accent and the platinum blonde hair. "Are you calling me a fool?"

His cronies moved up behind him to show their support. Such people, I have found, need support for any action they take, because they have no spine of their own. I saw no reason to lie to someone I had never met before, regardless of how many times I had done it in the past. That, and this boy was a pushover, I could tell. What could he possibly do about this?

"In essence, yes, I am calling you a fool. It's a logical and valid statement, is it not?"

It was quite fun rubbing that sore spot, but he seemed as though he thought he could squash me like a bug. Somehow, I just did not believe that. At any rate, he was pissed. "We're on Wizard territory, and we won't get in trouble for using magic if neither of us tells. Would you like to settle this disagreement over a duel?"

I chuckled. "I wasn't aware that we were disagreeing. It's difficult to dispute a fact."

That about did it for him. His wand was out, but I kept mine carefully concealed in my robes. I didn't feel like fighting, I felt like relaxing. "One more comment like that out of you, and I'll show you who the fool really is."

"Your taunt is as old as your attitude. No, I take that back. I'm certain arrogance predates most anything you will end up saying."

It took him some time to realize that it was a veiled insult. Looking back on it, I should have just kept calm and went on my merry way, ignoring him. On the other hand, I was much younger in appearance and figured I should act the part. I didn't quite catch his incantation, mostly because I was too busy coughing up a gout of blood from it's effects. I have to admit, it was a nicely placed bit of force, directly into the solar plexus. I couldn't have aimed one of my punches better than that spell.

He seemed satisfied with that much and left me to my own devices. I made a mental note to take him more seriously in the future. Snide and arrogant as he was, and as much as he reminded me of an old schoolmate of mine, I could not afford to do that again. Unlike my old schoolmate, this boy knew how to inflict pain, and has been trained in at least one form of combat... magical dueling (I had only just read up on the subject, but I consider it a combat art so far). Obviously he wasn't trained with a typical mindset, or he just ignored it, as the aforementioned schoolmate would have. I decided to stop drawing paralells and look for someone on the train who knew a healing spell or something. Breathing was not ceasing to be labored like the normal result to a shot to the solar plexus.

Staggering into the aisles, which were eeriely deserted, I managed a few steps before I colapsed onto the ground. As I attempted to rouse myself to my feet, my eyes noticed a black figure... and when I say black, I mean that this thing was not only robed in black, but seemed to have void matter underneath the hood. It was a mildly disturbing sight. Had I known what I know now, I still wouldn't have been able to do anything. I had nothing. I was struggling to even breathe. And so, what I now know as a dementor looms over me, and I instantly feel every miserable bleedin' thing I had ever felt before.

I won't elaborate on what I heard, saw, experienced, or what have you. Needless to say, I blacked out for a moment, but hung in there only because my ribs seemed to have found their way off of my lungs long enough for a few quick breaths. I half-considered blasting at the thing, but it would have been a waste to reveal my ability to spellwork without a wand so soon. I was too physically crippled to get my wand, not that it would have done me any good. So I sat there, feeling my happiness, my warmth, and my soul being sucked out of me. It was like being back in high school.

That reminded me of the other things I could do. Certainly I could not throw anything at this creature, since that would give away my abilities, but there were more subtle ways of getting out of there with my soul intact. Hard as it was to do, I used the chaos happening to focus my mind, since that was much easier than fighting it. This is accomplished by taking the chaos and mentally adding even more to it, until the mind reaches such a point that it no longer is thinking about one thing at any given time. If you have no single thought in your mind, at a given moment, then you cannot be distracted by it. With three things at once, one usually has to choose. Instead of choosing one of the three, you choose a fourth. At that point, one reaches focus. Once I had that, I boosted my natural shield, and was surprised to see myself begin to become surrounded in white light. The usual visualizations were making physical manifestations. Of course, this was not enough. I summoned my first tier of shielding, and I was enveloped in magical fire. This seemed to take the creature off guard, and I took the opportunity to fortify my position by activating my second tier, which was the highest level I had ever attained for shielding.

I will not explain the visual effects of this. I don't even understand them myself. At any rate, I fortified myself, and when it came back at me, I fought it tooth and nail. I could tell that I wouldn't win the confrontation, but this would buy me some time.

The second tier was broken, and then the first. Gradually, the natural shield collapsed around me, and I felt the drain once more. I was in better spirits than before, and the shielding definitely helped, but I blew all the energy I had just fighting to keep my shields up. Anymore would cause some serious problems. As it was, I was going to end up in bed for several hours, just recooperating.

As I passed out, I could have sworn I saw a silver light for a moment. I did not care at that point. I was gone, and the world was nothing but a miserable black dot in a universe of despair.

===

I came to with a feeling beyond depression, and a strange hunger for chocolate, staring into a blinding white light. It was the kind of light you only see inside of medical facilities. I attempted to sit up, but while the will did exist in my body, my brain decided it was going to stay right here. This was an unusual twist for me. In a moment, a lady came by and looked at me with pity, handing me a block of chocolate. I didn't even consider how she knew what I wanted at the time. I ate all of it. It was bigger than the biggest chunk of chocolate I had ever consumed in a sitting, and the richest I've ever had as well, but I didn't seem to mind. I kept right on munching until the entire thing was gone. I felt better, at that point.

"I've never heard of anyone standing there and taking a dementor head on before. How did you do it? And why?" the lady's inquiry seemed well founded. Knowing what I know now about those things, I see why that is the case.

I sat up, stretching a bit, then shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it's just because not many people do it, and I wanted to give it a try. As to how... well, a gentleman must have his secrets, no?"

I was beginning to enjoy my accent. It seems as though I could use more sophisticated language and have it be ignored or dismissed as what my parents always use. I was not certain as to why that was the case, but it was neat, regardless.

"As soon as you're feeling better, I have instructions to have you robed and taken into the Great Hall. They're all waiting for you," she said to him, seeming as if this is nothing strange at all.

Wondering where the Great Hall was and who exactly 'they' were, I just grunted and nodded, getting out of my bed. "Best not keep them waiting. Where are my robes?"

She seemed to mind a great deal that I was up and leaving so soon, but she didn't object, either. Soon I was in my robes, armed again with my wand (I had grown rather fond of it by now), and I marched out of the hospital wing, escorted by a man with slick, black hair, dressed in flowing black robes. He didn't look too pleased, but I have a feeling that this particular gentleman rarely looked pleased. Just one of those hunch things. No, you're not allowed to ask me how I know these things. Just listen, and you'll get your turn.

I was brought into a heavily populated area with an enchanted ceiling and five tables, four with students seated along them, paralell with the course I was being led to take, and one ahead at the end of the hall, where what I assumed to be the faculty sat. I was led all the way up to a rather interesting looking woman, who wore spectacles and a pointed black hat. There was a stool to her left with an old looking hat with patches on it. It looked like the description I read of the Sorting Hat. The woman looked around the hall, then at me, and asked, aloud, "Mr. Telarius?"

I gave her a sharp nod, whereby she cleaned her throat and said, "Shade, Telarius"

I took that as my cue to sit on the chair and don the hat. When I did, I heard a voice within my head. For the interests of time and animosity, I will not go into what the hat said to me. At any rate, it's shout to the hall was made clear to all the students, waiting with baited breath. "SLYTHERIN!"

The reaction was mixed. One table paused, then applauded rapidly, and I was given a gentle push in their direction. The other tables took in a sharp breath of shock. I knew that this house had a bad reputation, but how bad could they really be?

I sat with them, and they made motions to talk with me, but stopped when an old man stood from the faculty table to address the room. I had no idea how I knew, but I knew that this was Dumbledore. He looked glorious. "Before we begin, I have a few announcements to make," his voice was rather old, but hadn't lost it's weight yet, "First of all, I would like everyone to greet our newest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin," and a rather interesting looking fellow stood from the table to some applause and bowed, "Secondly," and the crowd was silent again, "The good Professor's student teacher, the first we've had here at Hogwarts in quite a long time, our new Telarius Shade," there were some confused applause, but I stood up and gave a slight bow. I made eye-contact with Professor Lupin, and he smiled at me. I knew it was he who saved me from the dementor. I gave a most gracious smile back at him, then resumed sitting.

Dumbledore was not finished with announcements. "Not to be overshadowed, I would like to annouce our other transfer student, miss Deanne Ember," and more applause followed.

I craned my neck to see through the crowd that applauded, but my view was being blocked by a familiar young blonde, who seemed to be trying to shout over the applause. I caught 'mudblood' in his speech, and a few people from the closest table glared at him. She was sitting at the table for Ravenclaw house, that much was for certain.

Dumbledore's hand was raised once more to silence the crowd. "Now, we have quite a few things going on this term. In addition to the intramural Quidditch competition, I must annouce that the Triwizard Tournament will be held here this year."

Someone, somewhere, shouted, "You're kidding!" I merely frowned, as I had not found any information on either Quidditch or the Triwizard Tournament in my studies.

"For those of you who may not be aware of what the Triwizard Tournament is," Dumbledore continued, "Allow me to give you a brief explanation. Students from the schools of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving tomorrow. One student from each of the three schools, Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and Hogwarts, will be chosen by an arbitrary party to be that school's champion. Each of these three champions will undergo a certain number of tasks, the performance of which will be judged by a panel. Whichever champion scores the most amount of points will win the Triwizard Cup for their school, and one thousand Galleons."

At that, my ears perked up. If I was going to have to attend this school another term, that would do well towards buying future supplies. My interest now thoroughly piqued, I listened on.

"For the sake of safety, and in light of what has happened in the past... those students who are under the age of seventeen are not allowed to submit their names to be a potential champion for the tournament," there was a disgruntled murmur from the crowd. I found myself a bit peeved, as my appearance didn't rate me much past ten, maybe eleven years old. Still, I listened on. "This rule will be strictly adhered to. There will be no exceptions made. Those who are qualified and think that they would make a good school champion are free to enter. More information will be passed on as events proceed. And, with that," Dumbledore waved his arms, "Dinner is served."