The Umber Institute
The next morning when she awoke in the same well she was sure everything had been a dream. She cried and screamed and hit her fists against the stone walls, but still no door appeared and she was faced with the harsh reality that her own mind had tortured her once more. She would never escape this place. Never escape these people. With a new resolve she didn't know she had she picked up a sharp rock and began to dig it into her wrist.
Meanwhile at breakfast in Zabini Manor everyone had gathered but Elianna and Lady Zabini and Lady Malfoy had assumed it was part of Eliannas tantrum from the night before and chose to ignore the absence.
Breakfast was served but the boys hardly ate, and didn't speak. When blaises mother grew annoyed with the silent treatment she snapped, "enough of this! You all slept alone for one night, you act like I tortured the poor girl!" She scoffed, throwing her hands up but her son just glared at the wall behind her. She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, Summoning an elf.
"Tripple, please fetch Ms. Elianna at once and bring her to breakfast. In this family we eat meals together even when we're upset!" She snapped and the elf apparated away with a crack.
"That's a good idea, first you force her to sleep alone after begging not to and then you force her into an uncomfortable situation with strangers after she had a horrible first night and day in the Wizarding world. That'll make her feel at home," Blaise grumbled, voice laced with sarcasm and venom.
His mother glared at her son but said nothing until the elf popped back into the dining room, "madame…I'm terribly sorry but it appears Elianna is no longer here."
All 3 boys jumped to their feet and ran to her door while the two women called after them to stop and eventually marched after them. The wall where the door to her room was bare and the door was gone. "What happened?!" Draco asked frantically. But Blaise was too busy shouting spells at the wall to notice.
When Draco's mother arrived she looked at the wall puzzled and when Lady zabini joined her she summoned her elf again. "Where is the door?" She asked the elf but he only shrugged.
"We elves tried every bit of magic we know, ma'am but it's like the room is gone," he said, confused. "We don't know what happened ma'am."
"This is your fault! She begged not to be left alone!" Blaise yelled, turning back to his mother.
"I convinced her to take you as her guardian because I thought you would be compassionate…but I guess I was wrong."
Before anyone could speak again he stormed off back to the wall and Draco had begun hitting the wall with his hands while Theo tried drawing runes along it but nothing seemed to do anything.
Lady Zabini looked at her son clawing at the wall with his hands, looking frantic, and felt guilt fill her chest. She meant no harm to the girl. She had just never seen her son talk back before and reacted poorly. She tried every curse reversal spell she knew but nothing seemed to work. It wasn't until Blaise cast an overpowered bombarda maxima at the wall that they even begin to understand what had happened. When the wall exploded it revealed stone that didn't match any stone used in the construction of the house.
Lady Zabini was puzzled for a moment when a house elf snapped in and yelled out, "stop!" Everyone froze to look at the house elf. "We house elves used a spell to track all members of the Zabini family and we saws that the newest Zabini girl is indeed still in the mansion. But the magic we used told us this," she handed a piece of parchment to Lady Zabini.
Family member: Elianna Potter Zabini
Location: Inside Zabini Mannor
Exact location: inside the southern wall that stands catty corner to the mural of Ebidaya Zabini inside the Miller well from the St. Agnes Home for Troubled Orphan Girls
"I don't understand," Lady Zabini whispered, handing the note to Blaise. He read it through and looked back at the damaged wall, still confused.
"It appears the young miss' magic took her somewhere familiar," Narcissa said after reading the paper, "a well on the property she grew up on…but she didn't apparate she brought the well to where she was. But bringing her out may be too much of a shock. Her magic may react badly."
Everyone exchanged looks until Blaise said, "I can calm her down." He took a deep breath and met his mom eye before continuing. "I think I should apparate onto the other side of the wall and calm her down and bring her back…"
Everyone seemed tense and nervous but no one spoke at first.
"I can help, it's clear she trusts us both," Draco broke the silence. "I'm better at apparating than you are. I can side along us both in, and you calm her down while I see if I can counter the magic from the inside in case you can't." He finished with determination.
"We should call in mind healers, and curse breakers, and" Lady Zabini began frantically yelling before her son cut in.
"Ma, my sister is in there alone and scared," he said desperate to get her on board. "Anyone but us will rile her up more and we risk her apparating away and we may never see her again."
She listened but shook her head, "we dont know whats in there. Or how to get you out! I could lose you too! You don't understand." The ladies discussed bringing in a healer anyway while Blaise looked to Theo and then back to his parents, Theo nodded and resied his wand.
Blaise looked over and met Dracos eye and nodded. He nodded back and held out his hand. Blaise reached for Dracos hand while Theo shot off a smoke spell and grey smoke filled the room. Both moms cleared the smoke but were too late to reach their sons before they had apparated into the well.
It took a moment for them to let their eyes adjust before they saw Elianna crouched down and in the fetal position in the dirt pressed against the wall. The wall had blood smeared across it and it made Blaises stomach turn but he ignored it and nodded to Draco to start working on a way out and he immediately began shooting off counter spells at the walls.
Blaise approached Elianna slowly and she didn't seem to notice, when he was close enough he whispered to her. "Elli? You okay?" But she didn't react. He cautiously touched her shoulder and her head shot up, bloodshot eyes wild with fear and a raw animalistic glint that scared him.
"Elianna? Me and Draco came to get you…" he said softly.
She laughed, "hah, you're not real. This is my mind torturing me." She said in a singsong voice that turned cold and cruel. "I will never get out of this place. And when I do, they drag me back screaming and kicking. I've accepted it. Just leave me alone…" She ended in a mumble, lowering her head back down.
Blaise looked over to Draco who seemed to be failing to find a way out and crouched down by Elianna to whisper, "I get why you'd think that. I'm sure your mind played tricks on you back when you were there…"
She nodded and whimpered, "sometimes I envisioned my parents came for me. Or my brother came back for me. But it always ends and I always wind up back here. Alone. Until they come to hurt me some more…"
Blaise tried to speak gently and calmly, "but isn't that better… imagining being somewhere nice instead of here? Even if I'm not real… wouldn't you like to go with me? At least for a little while?"
She seemed to puzzle his words but shook her head, "it just makes it hurt more when I realize it was all a lie and I'm still here. I'd rather just stay please…."
Blaise took his time coming up with his next response, "how could I prove that I'm real? Is there any way you usually figure it out? Or something your illusions can't do?"
She pondered for a moment and eventually shrugged, "I dunno. They always seem so real…till they don't."
"But when they don't," Blaise pushes, "what gives them away. What shatters the illusion?"
She sighs sadly, "well they're all made up in my head so sooner or later I guess I realize they're not actin like themselves...they're acting like a cartoon my mind made up. Like a drawing. I draw things how I see um but it isn't the way they are…ya know?"
Blaise tried wracking his brain for how to prove to his sister he was real but couldn't. And Draco wasn't having any better luck. "Okay…so tell me about Blaise in your head. How does he act, what does he do? How do you see him? So I can show you I'm not that image, I'm real!"
She huffed out in a frustrated manner, "fine! And when I realize you're not real you'll go away?"
Blaise nodded so she continued, "well you're acting exactly like Blaise would. He's the best brother I could have asked for. He's sweet and helpful and protective and strong. And he'd always help me in any way he could. And he's there for me. And he cares about me. And he's my best friend…"
Blaise sighed frustrated, how could he prove he wasn't exactly who he was? He stomped off to see how Draco was doing but he'd already given up and was sitting against the wall exhausted.
Blaise told him to keep trying but Draco was out of spells he knew and had come to the disturbing realization he couldn't apparate out.
So they were stuck in there. Blaise snapped at him to keep trying and began to pace. Him, his sister, and his best friend were stuck in a well that his sister used to be tortured in until he can break a spell his mom and aunt count break or convince a mentally ill girl that he wasn't who he was to convince her that he was real and not an illusion.
Frustrated and fed up he walked to the nearest wall and punched it as hard as he could. Over and over. He felt bones shatter but he kept going. Knowing potions could help if they ever got out he punched over and over until he was unable to keep going. Then he slid down the wall to the ground and cried. Draco went over to rub his back and eventually Elianna did too. When he stopped crying he saw her.
"Blaise?" She asked with tears in her eyes. "You're real?" She asked. He nodded, pulling her into a hug and the three of them held each other and Blaise and Elianna cried together. "I didn't know you'd cry over me. So my version of you wouldn't have…I'm sorry. I don't know what's going on." He whimpered out crying.
Blaise and Draco calmed her down and explained what must have happened. She had to calm her breathing down and picture Zabini Manor and everyone was back in her room like nothing had happened.
When Blaise looked down he realized the hand that had been holding her wrist was red with fresh blood and his blood boiled again. Realized his mother and Narcissa would be coming and in a moment and terrified what his mother's poor choices could do to his sister he grabbed Elianna and Draco and told Draco to apparate them somewhere, anywhere! Draco seemed to immediately react and in a snap they were hugging beneath a palm tree on a beautiful beach.
"What happened?" Elianna asked softly.
"Mom doesn't understand. I thought she would but she doesn't. You need to be around people who understand untill we can get you better…and we need you to be stronger. Voldemort will be coming after you. And Dumbledore will come after you too. And right now you're just not ready for all that. I thought mother would help you but i was wrong. But I have an idea." Elianna still looked confused but trusted her brother so she nodded.
"Where are we?" She asked dazed.
"On a little beach off the coast of the Bahamas," draco answered. "Mum brought me when I was a boy but we haven't been back in ages. It's not the first place she'll look, but it isn't the last. We'll have to move, I was just in a panic."
Blaise stood up and dusted sand off his trousers, "it'll do for a bit while we figure the plan."
"I thought you said you had a plan," Draco said a bit accusingly. "My mom wasn't a problem, we didn't have to run. And fathers gonna kill me when we get back," he whined.
"Hey, you wanna go back then go. I'm helping Elianna. You can stay or go back." Blaise argued.
Draco sighed and shook his head. "We need to go get Theo. They're probably grilling him for information right now."
Blaise nodded, "in a few days when they inevitably send him back to his place we'll pop in and grab him. But if we go to mine then mom will just close the wards and we'll be stuck. Should we grab Pansy too? Or Astoria?"
"Astoria might be able to help," Draco pondered, "but Pansy would just annoy us all. And that's if Astoria can sneak out of hogwarts and wants to run away for gods knows how long."
"If my plan works we all disappear for a week, tops, and come back. By then Elianna will be trained up, and we can be too. And this time when the dark lord comes…we're all ready," Blaise said.
"We'll need to get a mind healer, a mediwitch, and someone to teach each of the subjects to Elianna. Well need potions, defense against the dark arts, dark arts, divination, pureblood etiquette, the whole 9 yards," Blaise continued on until Draco stopped him.
"Are you insane?" He asked, seriously scared for his friends mental health.
Blaise scoffed, "every year Voldemort comes after Harry, but everyone had it wrong. It was Elianna he wanted. So this year he's coming after her. And we need her to be ready and we need to be ready to protect and defend her! All our lives we thought Harry was the chosen one and his golden trio were supposed to protect him and lead him to the moment he saves the Wizarding world. But they were wrong."
He shook Draco by the shoulders and continued, "Elianna is the chosen one and she doesn't have a golden trio she has a nest of serpent's. Harry trained his whole life to be the chosen one and trains every summer and every year in extra classes to defeat the dark lord…Elianna doesn't have that kind of time. We talked about doing this for years Draco, the children of the dark stepping out of our parents shadow and stepping up in this war!"
Elianna stood and whispered a tentative, "I don't want anyone to get hurt…I don't even want to be in this war…"
Draco sighed, "its too late for that Eli. He's right, the dark lord will come for you. The only chance you have is being ready and taking him out. But Dumbledore will try to control you, make you his puppet. Best case scenario is taking them both out…"
"Exactly! For years it was light against dark, but neither side represents the views of any of us anymore. So we make our own side. We take out the light and the dark and build this world up with grey leading the helm…we'll embrace the old ways and the new ways. We'll embrace the dark and the light. True power is in embracing both not in fearing one to embrace the other. We can make an actual difference!" Blaise ended triumphantly.
"But how can we do all that in a week?" Draco asked, voice full of sarcasm.
"Leave that to me," Blaise said with a smirk. "you gather up people and Elianna will gather up resources. And at midnight on the full moon we all disappear. When we come back a week later we'll be ready. And so strong that not even my mother can interfere."
The three shared a look and began making lists of supplies and people. Draco, Blaise and Theo had been forming alliances with key people for years, talking in the shadows about forming a 3rd side in the war, but with Harry Potter being practically invincible and hating their guts it was too much of a risk. But they'd gotten people on their sides just in case and now was the time to call in alliances and favors.
Over the next 9 days Elianna gathered supplies and Draco recruited people while Blaise had disappeared entirely. Elianna and Draco spent the nights cuddled up talking about the war and Elianna found herself hating both sides more and more. Draco was nervous that the people he recruited may not show up but Elianna reassured him that they would and he helped her plan out new spots to gather supplies.
She was very good at summoning things once she pictured where they were and meditated until they appeared in front of her. Blaise had them collect enough supplies to feed, house, and train them for years and Draco was sure it was overkill but Elianna was determined to collect every item in every quantity on the list he left her.
When midnight approached on the final day and people started showing up, Draco and Elianna grew anxious. Blaise had not arrived yet but they were sure he would. Elianna saw many familiar faces arrive from the slytherin table and a few from ravenclaw. She had asked about the hufflepuff boy that spoke to her at the sorting but Draco and Blaise said he hadn't been a part of their alliance and was too dangerous to bring in at this point. But Blaise agreed she could approach him when they returned to hogwarts.
Everyone had been given a very in depth explanation about what was happening and Elianna so most spoke in whispers and didn't approach her as to not overwhelm her. Theo did run up and hug her however and gripe and Draco for abandoning him with Draco and Blaises mother to which Draco chuckled and apologized again. Elianna hooked her arm with both boys and waited for her brother.
When Blaise arrived Elianna screeched and ran up to hug him. "Alright everyone," he said with an arm around his sister. "You all know why we're here, we've all been cast aside in this war like it doesn't concern us too. The dark overlooks us and the light thinks we are beneath them. But we will show them that we are a threat. And tonight we begin out training." He pulled out a glowing golden key that looked like it was made of pure light. Everyone heard a resounding tune play once it was in sight and a.few wizards awed at it while others looked confused.
"A fae key?" An older wizard asked from the shadows.
Blaise nodded, "it was my fathers. He hid it so it wouldn't be destroyed by the light when the came to collect so called dark artifacts after the last war. So many family heirlooms snatched from us all that day. But with this we can rewrite the story for the next war." He held the key out towards an invisible door and a marvelous golden door outlined itself and opened to reveal a gorgeous lush garden. "Beyond this door is the feywild. Once you step inside you stay in the feywild for 10 years. When you step back through the door only 7 days will have passed but you'll have lived through 10 whole years. We will study together, train together, and live together for 10 years. If you aren't willing to do that then don't come. The door will not open in between, you can not go back and forth. Its all or nothing. But remember the promise you made. Walking away will automatically wipe your memories of everything we've discussed. You will not betray us."
With that Blaise took his sister's hand and led her inside the lush garden. The adult wizards and witches ran through enthusiastically and began transfiguring shelter and moving supplies into the garden. "The door will only remain open for one hour then it closes for 10 years. We need everything and everyone on this side when it closes." Blaise said over his shoulder and everyone scrambled to get the supplies through the door.
Blaise walked with his sister to a river and sat down beside her, "I never asked If you were okay with all this. It's a lot. And it's too much too soon and I'm sorry for that. But options were limited and…"
Elianna put her hand over his, "dracos told me about the war and both sides. The dark side wants to eradicate muggles and muggle borns and eliminate breeding with muggles. But that promotes inbreeding which has caused a lot of infertile witches and will spill a lot of magical blood. And they want to embrace only the old ways and dark ways and eliminate everything else. But the light wants to wipe out the old ways and invite muggles into our way of life and rewrite our histories. They would have the old ways die and magical creatures slayed…any item too powerful deemed dark and confiscated. Both sides are wrong and broken. And it's my job to fix it. I'm nervous and excited."
Blaise hugged her tightly and they watched the rest of their new family move everything into the feywild door. When it shut there was a resounding crack and the key crumbled in Blaises hands. The rest of the night was spent with everyone helping transfigure shelter for the night and then everyone dozed off, all the teenagers in one large room of cots and the adults in another.
The next week week was spent with the group transfiguring a large school and dorm like a much smaller scale hogwarts with only one house. Everyone was at different levels and in different years but Blaise and the newly appointed professors and decided to test everyone with a written and practical test to determine what level everyone was at in every subject and split them up based on true skill level in each subject regardless of age.
They had children from traditionally light side families who Dumbledore deemed too weak to recruit who would score horribly with dark subjects and children from traditionally dark families that would score just as bad in light subjects. But the point was to train everyone in everything for 4 years to get them as good in each subject as possible, spend 2 years honing specialties, spend 2 years strictly on dueling and battle strategy with our specialties, then spending 2 more years taking all subjects to keep them sharp but spending the most time on specialties, dueling, and war strategy both in books and applied. By the end Blaise wanted them to be dueling their teachers in real war simulations and he expects them to be holding their own if not winning.
In the feywild, death and time were funny things that didn't follow the rules of the outside world. In the feywild when someone dies they come right back to life as long as they had been eating from fruit grown in the feywild. So professors didn't have to hold back, and they wouldn't.
There was no worry of actually killing anyone so everyone could practice all out every time. Lessons could be riskier.
After the school was built and they had a lovely flourishing garden to eat from everyone spent a few days resting before classes began. Once classes began there would be no stopping until the day the doors opened again.
Elianna was sitting between Blaise and Draco on a couch, with Theo sitting to Dracos left and Astoria Green grass cross-legged on the floor in front of Elianna having her hair braided. Blaise had his signature braids he'd worn since meeting Elianna and Draco had a braid down one side of his head in a snake like pattern. The other teenagers were strewn about on couches of all sizes seemingly surrounding Eliannas couch.
"Where do your parents think you are?" Draco asked Astoria.
She giggled, "I told my mum I had a secret assignment from Draco that came directly from the dark lord. And to tell everyone she has no clue where I am in the meantime."
"I thought your family was light aligned," pansy said scandalized.
Blaise shook his head and turned to Elianna to explain, "her family is neutral. They didn't support the dark or the light in the last war."
Astoria snorts, "not for lack of trying. Dumbledore thought our family was too dark and Voldemort thought we were too light. So we had to be neutral. And that's probably the most dangerous because no matter which side wins you have no favor!" She finished, throwing up her hands.
Elianna giggled, "does that mean I'm your new dark lord?"
Everyone laughed and Theo saluted Elianna, "all hail our dark lord, Captain of the misfits who belong to neither side, the dark lord Phoenix."
Everyone cheered and Elianna blushed but continued braiding Astorias hair. When she had a long fishnet braid down her back she moved on to Pansy. The kids laughed well into the night and all fell asleep passed out on top of each other.
The next morning their written exams began, they could start any one when they wanted and once they were finished with their last one they could leave for the day. Some students finished by lunch, most had by supper. Elianna was the last done, taking until 2am to finish her exams and was weeping by the end. She saw a mind healer for a few days before the practical tests began the same way. With these Elianna did much better with but still struggled with the finer details like wand movements and potions but as far as raw power went she was much more powerful than anyone anticipated.
Practical exams took 3 days and Elianna had to see a mind healer at the end of each one. It was decided that she would have regular visits daily until they weren't needed anymore and she agreed. When the end of the first week came everyone was exhausted and spent the day resting while the professors ranked every performance on a scale of 1-5 and that would be the levels they would be taught at in every lesson, 5s being the most skilled and 1s being the least.
Every 3 months they would have another written and practical exam to reevaluate and see who moved up or down a level as new strengths and weaknesses were revealed.
The next year went by slowly, agonizingly slow. Elianna had begun in mostly rank 1 classes, much to her annoyance. And it took daily sessions for 6 months with a mind healer before progress was made at all but she was making progress.
By the end of the first year she was stronger mentally and physically. The healers had put her on a regime of potions and protein amd spent time every night as she slept healing up her body. When exams rolled around for the end of the year she was determined to at least have one class with her brother and Draco.
The written exams shook everyone as they were much harder than previous exams and the practical exams left many students in tears but grades were posted the next day. Elianna scored a grade 2 in most subjects, a grade 4 in dark arts, a grade 4 in offensive spell casting, and a 5 in nonverbal and wandless magic. She would have dark arts and offensive magic casting with her brother and friends. They all spent the night celebrating their sister's progress and success.
Year 2 was harder and easier for everyone. They were used to the workload now, they only took a day off once every 3 months on the day after exams to rest before classes restarted at everyone's new level. Elianna only needed a mind healer once per week now and her mediwitch only saw her monthly to check her progress which was coming along well.
She was almost completely physically healed from her past, most of her scars had faded. A few remained but were easily glamoured away, and Elianna found herself doing that less as she trusted her family more. The teens all lived together and spent their nights studying with each other, there was no homework they were responsible for. Studying and working on any material they needed help with was done on their own time.
Classes were harder than anything any of them had ever done but unlike the schoolwork they were used to, they could see how everything they learned here could be applied to a real world problem. They learned herbology because they had to keep the greenhouse well or they had no plants for potions. They needed transfiguration to keep the school transfigured. They used it in duels. They needed dark arts to be able to defend against them. Everything worked together.
Most nights the friends spent tutoring and helping Elianna with written work and she helped them with wandless and nonverbal magic and practical exams. End of year exams rolled around and everyone was terrified as always. Elianna still struggled a bit with written exams but flew through all practical exams and ended with all 4s and 5s except for pureblood traditions and etiquette in which she received a 2.
The third year moved by quickly, everyone used to their new pace and having fallen into a routine. Elianna only saw a mind healer when she felt like she needed one and her mediwitch had moved her off all potions and was now trying to balance her vitamins and things through diet and teach her what to eat when to be at peak health.
Her friends tutored her in pureblood traditions and etiquette most nights while she worked with them on practical spellcasting. She had taken up permanent residence in Blaises bed but occasionally slept in Draco's if Blaise was up later than her. A small group had formed of Draco, Blaise, Theo, Astoria, her sister Daphne, Elianna, Crabe and Goyle. They all slept in beds pushed together and stayed together whenever they could. All the teens were friends and had grown close but that small circle of them had grown the closest.
Elianna found herself seeking one or all of them out when she was upset or overwhelmed and they learned how best to help her. When exams rolled around everyone was less afraid and more determined. Elianna got her pureblood score up to a 3 but was disappointed that it wasn't higher. She had a problem controlling her temper and her tongue, it always ended with point deductions. But most of her other scores were 4s and 5s.
Fourth year proved to be the most studious. it was decided that anyone who had 5s in all subjects at the end of the year would move on to chose specialties they wanted to study deeper and hone, anyone with anything less than a 5 in any subject would as well but would also take classes in that subject until they reached a 5. Elianna stopped needing a mind healer all together and was now only seeing a therapist and even those visits were beginning fewer and further between. Physically her health was perfect and she was becoming quite an athlete.
She excelled in running, martial arts, and grappling. Physical subjects were added the 3rd and 4th year but not graded the same. They were just to keep everyone in shape and teach them hand to hand combat in case they needed it in battle. Elianna still struggled a bit with written exams but flew through all practical exams and ended with a straight row of 5s in every subject.
Blaise, Draco, Theo, Astoria, and Daphne had as well. Most teens had one or two subjects with 4s and had to retake the course one last time the following year but no one scored less than a 4 so the entire school took a 5 day vacation to rest before the following year.
Fifth year was the most fun for the professors who got to put together customized lessons plans for each student based on their own chosen specialities. Some students chose to focus on one and others choose to focus on multiple but every student focused harder when they were choosing what to study.
Elianna focused on writing dark curses and breaking down how they work to he able to counter them.
Blaise found his specialty in one of his mother's talents, his mother had long been suspected of killing her husband's but it could never be proven. She was a necromancer proficient in blood magic and could snuff out a life force without leaving a trace once she was familiar enough with it. But she always chose criminals or bad people, coincidentally with a lot of money. Blaise took up necromancy and blood magic as his specialties.
Theo of course took ancient runes. Astoria surprisingly was becoming proficient in fighting with magical creatures. Her little sister in herbology and potion crafting but not brewing.
Draco of course took potion brewing and dark arts. Vincent and Greg started in a general study of dark defensive magic and became proficient in shadow magic, choosing to branch off into that. For a year they studied independently on their specialties and without a break the 6th year began.
6th year led to groups forming to work on projects. They weren't graded and professors only helped and gave guidance but the students did all the work and decided the project.
Groups worked on defensive clothing and accessories, offensive spells, defensive maneuvers and spells, integrating magical creatures into battle, offensive and defensive potions, war strategy etc. And everyone's group was focused on winning the war. Against the dark and the light. And anyone else who stood in their way.
6th year ended with an all out battle, professors against students. Each side was given a home base to protect with a glowing flag in green or blue and the side who stole the other's flag and made it back to their home base won. The students had 30 days to put their projects together and strategize, as did their professors.
Once someone dies they are resurrected where the door first appeared where someone intercepted you, and you were out of the game.
The battle lasted 12 days and the professors didn't hold back, but the students managed to win after a long fight that led to all the professors being slain. But only 9 students were left standing.
Everyone would spend the next two years analyzing they battle and preparing for the next. They enjoyed a week off after their 6th year. They had'nt had much time to rest since entering the Feywild and the professors realized the children were technically 18.
They threw a party to celebrate all missed birthdays and celebrations. It ended up lasting 3 days and took another 4 days for everyone to recoup but it was worth it.
On different drunken nights Elianna had managed to kiss Draco, Theo, and Astoria. They all realized no one held any jealousy and had fun flirting around, enjoying being young adults.
Elianna had taken up sleeping in Draco's bed but after a terrifying talk with Blaise everyone agreed they would only lay next to each other and sleep. They kept their word.
The 7th and 8th years were spent in an entire war immersive experience. The professors split into two groups, the dark and the light, and the students put together their own factions. At random times one or both groups would attack and the students would have to defend themselves.
They also needed to plan attacks of their own to take out dark and light bases. Once all bases were taken out they could proceed to taking out the leader of each side to win the war. Then they would be critiqued and restart the exercise. They would also encounter puzzles left by the professors periodically that they had to succeed through.
At the end of 8th year the students were now solders, all with skills honed over years or rigorous training. They all excelled in hand to hand combat, dueling, and every practical course and book course offered in any Wizarding school. They were physically, mentally, and emotionally strong. They fought as a unit with skill that had come to not only rival their professors but frighten them. They moved as one, communicating mentally and silently. They moved like shadows and struck quickly and without mercy but protected their own fiercely.
They minimized civilian casualties with near precision. And their uniforms made them near indistinguishable. Their necromancers prevented their own from dying during battle and revived them before the feywild could even begin to resurrect them. They trusted each other and even when outside of work they always migrated together. An inner circle of Elianna, Draco, Blaise, Theo, and Astoria began to weave together and a hierarchy formed among the others based on skill level and everyone seemed to respect it.
The professors had begun crafting hundreds of golems to play the part of soldiers in the war and their side was forbidden from doing the same to help level the playing field.
Every year up to now built up their group but 9th and 10 year would shape it into what the world would see. The Umber Veil.
The group got another well deserved summer break for 2 weeks before their 9th year began and the group was sitting around drinking fire whiskey and running a necromancer contest to see who could kill and revive a small animal the most times before it stopped working. Elianna had succeeded 13 times and was speaking parselmouth to the snake to get it to focus, Blaise had succeeded on a mouse 14 times but had an unresponsive mouse at the moment, Theo was stuck on 11 times with his bird but couldn't get it to wake back up.
Elianna whispered the killing curse on her snake and tried everything in her to bring him back but his body faded away to be resurrected elsewhere. She hung her head in defeat and Blaise nearly passed out from the raw power that snapped back upon releasing his spell.
Elianna slumped back against Draco and pouted. Draco kissed her cheek but Blaise delivered a swift kick to his leg and he rolled his eyes but moved on.
Blaise was determined to hold off on all relationships until they return home. Aging in the feywild was different than home and they still had the chance of getting a magical inheritance. And if they had soul mates he didn't want anyone to get hurt.
"Have you given anymore thought to it Elli?" Astoria asked, sitting near Eliannas feet. She held up a parchment with a beautiful and intricate drawing of a grim reaper pointing two boney fingers up and two down. As above so below. It was a beautiful drawing Elianna had to admit. "We all agreed on it, and it would be so helpful. And we could make them undetectable until we wanted them to be seen," she was watching Eliannas face but Elianna still looked unsure.
"Tattooing you guys make me feel like Voldemort. How could you guys even want that?" She asked sadly.
"He forces people, yours is a choice we want to make," Astoria argued. "And it comes with so many benefits… Those of us who aren't as skilled in shadows will be able to leech off your power and fade into shadows too. And if anyone really starts dying we can reach out to help and get to them. You're nothing like him, but dark lord doesn't mean evil lord. It means lord who wields dark magic. And dark magic isn't evil."
Elianna looked up at Draco, "what do you think? Seriously?"
He pulled her close and kisses her forehead, "I think you're overthinking it all as usual. If you ignore everything and just picture this…what would you do if you knew of a magical item that could help protect your loved ones in battle, keep you in tune with them, and give them an edge in any fight?" He asked looking at her seriously.
"If it was that easy I'd give it to all of you," she mumbled.
"Even if everyone considered it a dark artifact?" Draco urged.
She nodded softly, "I wouldn't care about that."
"And if it took a bit of blood from its owner to atune to them? But they decide to take that on?" Blaise urged on from beside the couple.
Elianna sighed heavily and threw her hands up, "I wouldn't care about any of that, and I don't. But a magic protection device is different from a dark mark." She ended sternly staring down her brother.
Blaise got down on his knees in front of Elianna and said sadly, "what if they split us up?" Elianna looked away sadly but Draco hugged her tightly and she looked back. Blaise continued, "we planned for my mother's anger when we return. If we need to we have plans in place. But what we can't plan for is actually being split up…" he reached for her hand. "At least I'd be able to feel that you're okay."
Elianna looked at his worried eyes and felt her resolve crumble, "Alright. The last vacation we have planned before the door returns, after our 10th year. I'll mark anyone who wishes to take it." She said with a sigh. It was a bittersweet victory for everyone, knowing the burden it placed on Elianna but also knowing the good it could do.
The group wound up passing out strewn about the couches on the floor with Elianna snuggled into Draco's lap with her legs in Blaises lap.
9th year saw the school transform. Shadow Light Umber Institute grew from the roots that small school started. It spanned about as large as Hogwarts, the feywild shaping around it.
The students found themselves at more advanced levels than all their professors and so the professors had moved on to form a council that helped run the school, but for the most part it was entirely self run. In school, time was a different concept. The students had come up with potions that could provide the complete sleep needed to thrive in a single hour.
There were no schedules, students went to the classes they needed and everything was self paced. The school provided everything needed to become proficient in everything, the only thing needed was to make the time investment to learn it and all the students did. Students all slept together for one hour a day and besides that the school constantly ran.
Food was prepared constantly and served constantly so students could eat whenever and did as often as needed. They worked hard and burned calories at an insane rate. Everyone trained for their 10th year battle which would span across the entire year. The students would separate into 4 teams and battle against each other.
9th year ended with everyone exhausted but excited for the coming year, celebrating their solid 5 record from everyone in the entire school. The school would celebrate together for a week before splitting into their groups for their 10th year. To be fair Elianna had split the most powerful in the school into the 4 leaders: Elianna, Blaise, Astoria and Draco. And they'd begin to pick teams at dawn the morning before the challenge begins after a rigorous magical obstacle course and dueling competition.
To make it more fair the leaders would duel every round to see who chooses first, second, third and last. The end of the week saw Elianna, Draco, and Balise huddled together, spending as much time together as possible before their 10th year began.
Duels completed and teams chosen, 10th year began more suddenly than anyone expected.
Draco had waited until the moment teams were fully chosen and struck, his team attacking the others and the war began.
The battle was messy and 37 students went down but necromancers managed to revive them and get them back in the fight before the Feywild could resurrect them.
Elianna had been furious with Draco for the sneak attack he'd managed but also proud. Dracos team fought dirty and sneaky the next year and managed to catch the others off guard many times.
Blaises team fought strong, marching into enemy territory and striking hard and fast. Intimidating the other two and using mind games as much as strength.
Eliannas team was quiet. They built a home base and made it damn near impenetrable. When it was attacked and they managed to always retreat without losing their flag or taking damage. Their base would be cleared out before the other team set foot inside it, but they never moved against any sides.
Astoria's team was split between smaller teams that all attacked different bases simultaneously, retreating shortly after. She'd move in and out at random intervals, making the others teams nervous and unable to anticipate them.
Draco and Blaise began to worry Ellianna didn't have it in her to attack her friend, or lover or brother. But Elianna had been plotting, not moving was a plot. Draco, Astoria, and Blaise had begun to expect them not to move and that was exactly what Elianna wanted. She left a few obvious weaknesses at strategic times and 11 months into the fight, all 3 armies had a plan to attack Eliannas fort and end the game.
They fought long and hard to wear down her defenses and both sides took casualties. When they finally breached her walls and stormed her base they realized too late it was empty.
Before they could react, everyone on Astoria Draco and Blaise's team was killed, struck from behind with a spell or a blade. No one left standing to resurrect anyone on their team, Elianna had won. And without a single casualty on her own side.
After the last battle the students decided to take a month to prepare to reintegrate into the world and rest. Astoria, Draco and Blaise would analyze their final battle with intense scrutiny.
"I can't believe I won," Elianna said in a dazed voice, walking into the lounge they slept and studied in. It was currently a moss and magic mushroom covered forest floor. She collapsed onto a large mushroom the size of a twin mattress and erupted into a fit of giggles.
"Do you think we'll look like this when we go back and have to use glamors?" Astoria asked, admiring her body in a full length mirror.
"According to the fey," Theo said, summoning a book wandlessly from a nearby bookshelf carved out of a tree, "we'll be a younger version of our current bodies. Well keep the muscle mass and stuff but the years we've aged won't come with us."
"So I guess I lose these," she whined while groping her breasts.
Everyone giggled and Draco plopped down next to Elianna before calling out. "You'll still be a knock out Tori. We all bloody will be, we'll have to beat the other houses off with sticks." He ended in a laugh.
"One things certain, after a year at war with you both…nothing mum does can tear us apart. We'll be fine." Elianna said hugging Draco tight and summoning some fruit for everyone to munch on.
"I'm gonna miss feywild fruit. It tastes better here," Greg pouts eating a kiwi. Everyone giggles and agreed.
"I wish we could come back," Astoia said sadly looking at the plump grapes in her hand.
"I actually have some news," Elianna said with a smirk. Everyone sat up straighter and the room grew quiet as everyone listened. "The fey have been in constant contact with us the last few years and they've seen us train. They are quite impressed with us and have an offer for us. I wanted to run it by everyone."
"What is it?" Blaise asked, excited.
"The fey has offered us a permanent door to the feywild in exchange for services. If anyone should attack the fey we would step in to defend them." She looked at everyone around her and they all looked excited.
"How would that work?" Blaise asked.
"Your key summons a season door. It opens for a season which in fey time is 10 years. But they offered me this," she pulled an ornate key from under her blouse, it was golden and had vines wrapped around it. "It can open a door at any time. Every hour of real world time is about 21 days here. We need to keep up with time ourselves, but we can come whenever we want. Summers, weekends, nights. Just spending a few hours in here could be weeks to do homework or work on studies. I know hogwarts won't actually teach us anymore but we can still teach ourselves." Everyone looked so excited and Draco pulled her into a happy kiss Blaise didn't even interrupt.
"I've figured out how to make the tattoos work like a portkey, if you're in the feywild then we would just appear there. Even if they split us up we can spend every free second alone together," Blaise said hopefully.
Elianna stopped kissing Draco and turned back to everyone, "I have been tweaking that spell too. I'm ready. Anyone who wants to take my mark can kneel whenever they wish to take it."
Before she'd stopped talking everyone in the room began to kneel. Even Draco got down beside her. Elianna felt her magic core vibrate with the energy in the room and she reached out to let it flow through her.
She whispered a cutting spell and everyone felt a line carve into the back or their right shoulder and her own fingers dripped her blood down her wrist. She drew runes down her body and felt the magic around her grow and hum. She felt magic lift her into the air and in a trancelike state she began to chant in draconian and let mother magic and the feywild mold her magic.
When she awoke from her trance her friends were all still kneeling, and she was sitting before them in a throne she doesn't remember summoning. She felt everyone. She could feel their pulse, their magical core, their soul, their health, everything. Their power surged through her and her own power flowed through each of them. They were one.
She realized her friends were chanting and Draco, Blaise, Theo, and Astoria were kneeling closest to her throne while everyone else kneeled far away. She focused hard on what they were saying and realized they were chanting, "hail our dark lord," over and over. She tried to get up but weight pulled her back down. She looked over to the mirror and realized she had large black wings and a metal crown on her head. She tried yelling to her friends that she was not a dark lord but they wouldn't listen.
A small fey flew in and bowed before her, "Hello new lord, your followers will not stop until you acknowledge to them and acknowledge yourself as the dark lord you are. That is the last step."
Elianna shook her head, "but I'm not a dark lord," she argued.
The fey shook her head and snapped her fingers, a glowing golden parchment appearing that read:
Build a loyal group of devout followers
Influence grey souls to embrace dark magic
Influence white souls to embrace dark magic
Embrace dark magic into your soul
Mark your followers as such and bind them all to you
Have a mission statement that you and your followers would fight and die for
Accept and acknowledge that you are a dark lord
"These are the steps ma'am, you are indeed." The fey said softly.
"I don't have a mission statement," Elianna argued but the fey pointed to a plaque that she hung in the school after 3rd year.
Mission Statement:
"Our mission is to embrace the ancient wisdom of the old ways and the innovative potential of the new ways, forging a path that transcends the boundaries of light and dark. We seek to bridge the realms of magic, embracing the power of the grey, to create a Wizarding world that is balanced, harmonious, and better for all.
Through our pursuit of knowledge, understanding, and unity, we strive to unlock the true potential of magic, fostering a society where individuals can explore their abilities without fear or prejudice. Together, we shall embrace the duality within ourselves and the world, weaving a tapestry of magic that embraces both light and shadow, and ultimately, leads us to a future where the Wizarding world flourishes in harmony."
"But that's the point, we aren't dark arts wizards. We're grey arts wizards. We embrace darkness and light." Elianna continued to argue but the fey shook its head.
"Theres no word for a grey lord. There is a lord of light. They denounce the ways of darkness and seek to snuff out the darkness, and a dark lord that spreads darkness. It's how the world stays balanced. You embrace darkness, that makes you a dark lord." The fey finishes with a huff.
"Then I want to create one, a grey lord. First of her kind. Not a follower of dark or light," Elianna argued back, crossing her arms.
The fey tilted it's head and finally said, "we will consider you a dark lord for now. You can spread the word of a grey lord and if people embrace it we will acknowledge the title. For now embrace your title before your friends lose themselves," it waved an arm at her friends and snapped away.
Elianna rolled her eyes and said, "I am your Dark Lord Elianna Potter Zabini." And everyone blacked out.
When everyone came to it was a week later in front of a much larger school with a beautiful sign outside that read the Starlight Umber Institute.
The fey had turned their school into a solid structure so their magic no longer needed to sustain it. And they provided a teacher at every level in every subject that would be available 24/7 as fey didn't sleep. They could come and go as they please and their school would just continually run.
They spent the rest of their time learning to fight with their newfound abilities and unity, and drinking with their friends before returning to the real world.
The morning everyone would return was a sad one, everyone knew they would see each other soon but it would never be the same. It would never be just them for 10 years separated from the world. And no one else would ever understand them.
They'd be 12 year old bodies that had lived 10 years beyond 12. They hugged and cried a few times before the door finally appeared and everyone stepped through to the beach they started on. Everyone looked stronger, leaner, more severe but they looked 12. They all had their cover stories. And their "professors" would be working to help their stories along. The fey had also gifted them a replica of their school for the outer world, it would connect the two worlds like a bridge and their professors needed to help the fey set it all up.
Blaise looked at his sister, afraid but neither of them showing it and held his arm out for her to take. Elianna held his arm and held her other out for Draco and they all apparated to Zabini Manor