Chapter 9
The next morning Harry smiled as he headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast, watching as the morning mail arrived. When Alyssa’s owl; a large, grayish brown Eurasian Eagle-Owl by the name of Mimur, flew down to Ron with a long box held in his talons Harry tilted his head.
“What is this, Alyssa?” He asked, watching as he accepted a letter, petting his owl’s head, giving him some treats before the bird flew off.
Alyssa didn’t respond, simply nodding to Ron to open the gift. The boy took the card off the top, reading it quickly before unwrapping it, opening the box lid. His eyes went wide with shock, lifting a snowy white wand out of the gift. It had been whittled down, with a small bark handle, which was a grayish brown.
“What?”
“There should be an info card with it.”
Harry took the box, locating the card as Ron flicked the wand a small flame dancing in the air before snapping into something of a yellow firework. “Silver lime, 14 inches, firm but flexible, unicorn tail hair core.”
“What is this?”
“It’s a wand.” Alyssa responded.
“Yes but…”
“You owe me nothing. Your brother’s wand is wearing out a bit.” Alyssa smiled and Harry gave a nod, taking the letter from the top.
“Good Luck- Alyssa.” He read, turning to his friend. “That was, really nice of you.”
“Of course. We have flying lessons starting next Thursday.” Alyssa nodded. “I’m not actually looking forward to it, glad it’s only required for one year.”
“Don’t like heights?”
“Eh, I’ve never been good with flying. Bad memories.”
“Who got me sent a wand?” Nevil’s call caught Harry off guard, and he held out his hands for Nevil to show him. Taking the box he quickly located the little tag. “Good luck- Alyssa.”
“Al.”
“Alyssa?” Nevil turned to the boy, tilting his head as Alyssa nodded. “Why?”
“Eh, I figured your father’s wand was still loyal to him. Keep it of course, in his memory, but use that one. If it works better that is.” They shrugged. “How dose it feel?”
“It… dose feel more comfortable.”
“I did give Olivander that you said you had always been good with plants, as well as what I witnessed over the week. What did the info card say it was?”
“Chestnut, 13 ½ inches, bendy, Phoenix feather core.”
“Interesting. But I stand, I wish you the best of luck.”
“T-thank you.”
“I’ll also be helping you with potions. I’ll walk you through it, but you’re not to touch things until I’m certain you’re going to be confident in your choice alright?”
“Y-yeah, I guess so.”
“I think I might search the school in a few nights.” They suddenly announced with a clap.
“Why?”
“I want to see if I can’t find the Mirror from my dream.” He said, holding out a picture for Harry, who showed it to Ron and then Nevil. “I feel like there is something to it. The red thing sealed inside it. I have to ask Professor Flitwick about it, but Snape did tell me that there was a set of traps on the third floor. The way he said it- it outright feels like a fucking videogame, but I do want to follow that lead a bit.”
“We’ll keep an eye out for the mirror.” Harry gave a small nod.
“Thank you, Harry.” He smiled. “Talk with Draco at all?”
“Not really.” He shook his head, “But I do want to talk to him; properly, I’ll probably try today. But he needs to be able to think.”
“I know, I get it.” Alyssa nodded.
“Oh, the wands Arrived.” Hermione smiled, sitting next to Alyssa. “Are they good?”
“Yeah, they both seem to be helping them”
“That’s good. I’m happy your better Nevil.”
“Alyssa’s potions helped a lot. They brought something really bitter to help, said that Pomfrey probably had it mostly healed, but a good shock might be a bit fitting for what happened.” He gave a nod. “What are you going to do today?”
“Today. Well it’s Sunday so I am going to talk to Quirrel today about the work load to see if I can’t more or less just work on my own time and hand things in when needed. I can’t get anything from being in his class at this point, and I might as well teat it like a spare at this point. See if I can get a read on things during that conversation.” He clapped. “I got permission to sit in on Flitwick’s class after study on Monday, so I’m going to ask him about things then. I’ve got a few papers I need to finish but that wont take too long to finish. Then I’m going to do my training, and then I’m free until three where I have my extra class with Snape.”
“Wow. You… Have things planned.” Hermione noted, looking up from her book. “I’ll probably have this back to you tomorrow, I’m just taking some notes. I’ll admit the Professor was wrong about a few things, but I still think your reaching.”
“Something is going on. You can’t deny something is going on.”
“But so soon? It’s still really early in the year.” Harry noted, glancing over at Ron who rolled his eyes.
“It depends on what I find out. I’m taking notes on what I have so far and I’m going to go over it again. So, it won’t be for a bit at least. But I do want to try and find that mirror before somebody has the chance to move it. But let’s not worry about that right now, are you trying out for Quiditch Harry?”
“First years aren’t meant to play.” He shook his head. “No reason to make exceptions for me.”
“I guess. But you could go and try. I mean you have the best eye for things, and you took to flying with Sirius like water to a sponge. It would be stupid to not even consider you.”
“Alyssa that’s not how things work, I just said first years aren’t meant to try out. What your suggesting isn’t right.” He shook his head, slightly agitated. “Flying is with Slytherin, I might see if I can talk with Draco.”
“Ugh, I’m not even looking forward to it. I’ve only ever flown once.” Nevil shook his head. “Nan said it was too dangerous, never let me near a broom.”
“Unfortunately, it seems like this is something that you can’t learn from a book and trust me I’ve tried. I’ve read Quidditch through the ages so many times, and I just.” She shook her head, as Nevil sat pulling out a glass ball with red smoke on the inside.
“What is that?” Alyssa asked, eyes sparking with slight amazement. “And where can I get one?”
“It’s a Rememberal, my Nan knows that I always forget things, but-“ He sighed. “I don’t know what I’ve forgotten.”
“You’ll figure it out.” Alyssa said, faltering as Draco headed up to them Crabbe, and Goyal; a slightly larger man, with peach skin, short black hair, and green eyes.
“What is it you’ve got there Longbottom?” Draco didn’t give the boy any time to respond, snagging the ball from Nevil’s hand, tilting his head as it remained red. “What a useless thing.”
“Give, it back Malfoy.” Alyssa hissed, glaring darkly at the blond.
Harry and Ron both hopped up as well, Harry partly wondering if a fight would break out. Worried that he would have to restrain his friend from actually hurting Malfoy. But before things could get any more heated, McGonagall was there in a flash, undoubtedly spotting the trouble.
“What is going on here?”
“Malfoy has my Rememberal Professor.” Nevil admitted.
“I was just looking.” He scoffed, tossing it back. As Alyssa shot him a deadly glare he quickly slinked off.
“He needs to learn he isn’t better than everyone.” Harry shook his head. “It’s not going to be an immediate thing. You threatening him, probably not really helping.”
“I know, but that don’t mean I’m going to be nice about things.”
3:00 Thursday came quickly and Harry found himself eagerly standing in the large fields of the school, on the opposite side of the grounds to the Forbidden Forest. Quickly he headed up to one of the brooms that were laid out on the ground, the other students mostly mingling.
“Well, what are you all waiting for!” Madam Hooch: a strong looking woman with peach, short silver hair, and bright yellow eyes that reminded harry of a Hawk, called heading down the center of the row. “Everyone, stand by a broomstick! Hurry up!”
Glancing down at the one next to him Harry let out a soft sigh. It was in bad shape, and he couldn’t help but believe what Fred and George said about their pour performances. Not only that but he could see that it wasn’t helping Alyssa’s anxiety about the class.
“Stick out your right hand over your brooms and say up.”
“Up!” The shouts echoed a bit, Harry’s broom immediately leaping into his hand. Across from him Hermione’s simply rolled in place, where Nevil’s didn’t move at all. Of course, the boy’s voice was trembling, and Harry wondered if it could tell he would prefer to stay on the ground. A few other’s were responding the same way, and he made a mental note to properly look into things when he had the chance.
His mind didn’t stay on the subject long, as a chill ran up his spoke.
“Up.”
At this point Alyssa sounded genuinely distressed, and Harry quickly turned his attention to them. They were breathing heavily, and as the broom stayed still they full dissociated, eyes glazing over as a thin fog began to fill the field.
Quickly Harry brought two fingers to his mouth, quickly blowing a sharp whistle. Immediately Hooch went to scold him, but fell silent as Alyssa jolted, the fog vanishing quickly.
“Mr. Queen, what was that?”
“Alyssa normally has control over those powers but if they get upset and well… Get to the kind of dissociative bit of shut down, the fog comes in bringing in what is dubbed the fog world. It… Has monsters.”
“Mx. Wayne.”
“I… Get frustrated when things don’t listen when they should. I’m sorry I did mean to cause trouble.”
“Brooms can read hearts Mx. Wayne, you have to be confident.”
“I am confident. It won’t listen.” Alyssa huffed, crossing their arms.
“Are you afraid?”
“The last time I flew I had been transformed into an actual monster, I don’t like flying and I never want to have to fly. They look old and unsafe, and funding for this school should have replaced them many years over. So, I’m sorry, but I don’t want to do this.”
Hooch paused then nodded. “You are against flying?”
“I’m against me flying.”
“Mx. Wayne. Are you Autistic?”
“Yes? Why?”
“I supposed as such. You’re getting rather upset is all. I understand the situation, but this was unexpected.” She smiled softly. “I’ve heard what makes you upset, not a lot gets you like that.”
“That’s not necessarily how it works.”
“I know, and it’s clear you had to be strong. I will get you an exemption-“ Quickly she turned to the others. “-Which is not something the rest of you need. Let’s get on with the lesson people!”
As Alyssa headed off to the side, Madam Hooch quickly demonstrated how to mount the brooms without falling off the end, going up and down the rows, correcting people’s grips, and stances.
As Alyssa stood to leave a sense of horrible dread washed over Harry as he took quick note of their haste. Something was going to happen, and they clearly didn’t want to stick around for it.