Link of Hogwarts

Twenty

Link stonily gazed at him, taking out his holly wand and brandished it like a sword. The duelist salute was like fencing so it was easy enough to follow. They stepped back to their ends of the stage and Link barely dodged as Malfoy threw out a curse. It caught the handle tip of his glasses, which flew off his face. Before Link could retaliate, Malfoy threw out several more curses.

At first the Slytherin thought he had the upper hand but then realized that none of his attacks hit. With his glasses off, Link shouldn't have been able to see his surrounding but somehow the boy managed to avoid Malfoy's attack.

When he threw out more curses, Link did something never seen before. He knew the basic 'Protego' charm and had quickly casted it. But the shield was small and wrapped around his wand and hand. He had played around with the spell after the event of last year with Voldemort. He didn't want to feel as hopeless and useless as he did then.

With the charm protecting his hand and wand instead of conjuring a magical shield before him, Link started batting at the spells coming toward him. His friends gaped with the rest of the attending students as Link started using his wand like a sword, batting spell after spell while getting closer to Malfoy. How he managed to see the trajectory of the spells casted at him was beyond them.

Malfoy started to sweat from the pressure coming from Link. He unknowingly started to back away from the closing Gryffindor. In his desperation to keep the boy away, he called out, "Serpensortia!"

A snake flew out of his wand and right at Link's face. Hermione almost screamed when Link simply caught the snake with his left hand. He stared at the confused serpent and then shrugged before simply walk closer to Malfoy. The Slytherin fumbled, "S-s-stay back! Stay back! Ack!"

Then he suddenly fell off the stage, having backed so far from his place that he had stepped right off the edge. Link chuckled and bent over, "Alright there, Malfoy?"

The Malfoy heir blushed a deep shade before scrambling to his feet, "You!"

Link presented the conjured snake still wrapped around his left hand. Malfoy quickly back pedaled with a pale face as the snake hissed at him with an annoyed look. Link tried to hand him the snake, "Here. As a Slytherin, you should know how to handle this, right?"

Link's pointed ears twitched when he heard Ron's trying and failing to stifle his sniggering. He forced his face to remain neutral. Malfoy could almost feel the steams coming out of his ears from the sheer embarrassment he was subjected to. Luckily for him, Lockhart the glory hog couldn't handle the attention being taken from him and decided to step in, "Allow me,"

Link dumbly opened his palm for the professor but instead of taking or vanishing it, he casted a spell that does nothing but threw the annoyed snake into the air which then landed on a poor student's shoulder. The pandemonium that was raised was enough to end the class there and then.

After that disastrous Dueling Club meeting, Link was hounded by interested students regarding his unique take on the shielding charm. But so far, any attempt of recreating the moves he used was met with disappointing failures. When they wondered how he does, Link could only shrug.

Link couldn't possibly tell them that he knew that he wasn't one for sorcery. He knew that using his wand like a sword would serve him better than throwing spells after spells at his enemy. That he has been training himself to move his body as if using a sword. That he just knew how to move, how to swing, how to center so that he wouldn't stumble and hurt himself.

But that aside he's currently troubled by his lack of glasses; after having his glasses repaired, somehow whatever it was that helped him with his dyslexia had disappeared. Now he's struggling to read and write. It didn't take long for his teachers to notice his trouble. He finally confessed about his ocular problem and was given a special spell that could help with his reading and writing. However, recreating his glasses would need a specialist.

Meanwhile, the female (and some male) populace of the student body was rejoicing behind his back. They had found him pleasant before but now that his face was free of his horrendous glasses, Link's true face charmed them left and right. The boy in question acted as though he didn't notice their admiration, still too conscious of his 'freaky' body to really enjoy the attention.

If anything, he reacted to it all by pulling his uniform's hood over his head.

His friends finally found him hiding in small niche in the library. Hermione sighed, "Are you alright, Link?"

Ron rolled his eyes, "Of course he's not. Look at him. The poor thing's scared out of his mind," He started to act as thought coddling Link, "Come on, Link. We'll keep the girl cooties away,"

Link shoved the giggling boy off of him and sighed, "I'm tired of the staring,"

Neville sat beside him, "It's just staring, Link,"

Hermione nodded, "It's not going to hurt you,"

Link flinched before throwing off his hood, an unfamiliar insecurity in his blue gaze. He bit his lip before asking, "Remember last year?" At their confused look, he elaborated, "I'm sure you have seen me..." He gestured at his body, "Under...this..."

The friends finally understood.

Link smiled a bitter smile, "Up here..." He gestured at his face, "It's all alright as long as they didn't notice this," He gestured at the port wine marked skin around his left ears, "They will be...like what you see. I'm sure once they...once they see..." His voice broke and his friends quickly gathered around him, understanding dawning on them like icy water.

Hermione have always been conscious about her large front teeth. It was the first thing people notice about her, beside her unruly and bushy hair. Neville have always been conscious of his pudginess. While Ron...Ron have always been conscious of his slightly crooked teeth and large ears.

Hermione had read up books on growing up and all the insecurities that came with it. She could use products to tame her hair and she has been reassured that she will grow into her teeth, that it will be part of her charm once she's older.

Neville still has some growing to do. If he does some body training, surely his pudginess will go away. Nan has always said how the Longbottom has been the muscular sort when they grow older, so he only needs to train his body and grow up.

Ron barely notice his physical flaw. His family, blessed them, didn't care about it at all. To them, everyone have something about themselves that they'd rather be something else. It wasn't something to be ashamed of.

But how do you hide scars? Especially ones like Link's?

Cosmetic can only hide so much and besides, Link's 'scars' were numerous and covered most of his body. They were large and barely hidden by his long sleeved clothes and high necked shirts that he insisted on wearing even on the hottest day.

The group suddenly felt a strong need to shield Link, to defend him. Ron nodded, "Don't worry. If they saw and said anything, I'll sick the twins on them," Neville nodded his agreement besides him, "I'll sock them right at their noggins!"

Hermione giggled, "Do you think the twins would mind if I give them some ideas?"

Link stared at her, wide eyed, "What?"

Ron gaped, "Bloody hell, we are really bad influence on you, aren't we?"

Neville hid his smile, "A pranking Hermione? Merlin has mercy on their souls,"

Hermione played along with their teasing and pouted. Link suddenly felt his chest warmed by their presence. They understood and if what he's hearing was true, they were ready to defend him should he ever need it.

Somehow, Link knew that he had always been the shield, the sword and never the one protected. Only once, his mind reminded him, had he been protected. And that protection was too late, the cost too high, regret cutting deep within him.

He could still feel the salty cold droplets falling on his cheeks...