" My body is a cage
That keeps me from dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key "
--CHAPTER SEVENTEEN--
January 9, 1978
Monday
1:50 pm
Arabella weaved her way through the forest, feeling the crunchy leaves under her feet. She had finally decided to meet the centaurs, and hopefully, they could clear a few things up for her. She made it to a small clearing about twenty minutes away from the entrance of the forest, where Dumbledore had told her they would be.
While she waited, Arabella took in the scene before her. The mid-January sun did wonders. It was still quite cold, with the snow barely starting to melt, but that didn't halt nature. She could hear the sweet sound of the birds singing and the trees swaying. She could quite literally feel the grass growing. It seemed like her senses were heightened when she was outside. Arabella started to notice that since her meeting with the ancestors, she could feel the magic in everything she came across. It was almost like the earth was calling out to her, and all she needed to do was listen.
"Hello, young one." said a deep voice making Arabella jump out of her skin.
Whirling around to see who spoke, she came face to face with Firenze and Bane, though Bane looked younger than when she first met him.
She quickly composed herself, "Hi," she said shyly, not knowing how to act around them. "Dumbledore said that you wanted to speak with me?"
Firenze nodded, "Yes. What has Albus told you about us?" he asked.
"Just that you would know about my... powers."
Bane regarded the small girl in front of him, "Mhm, that's right. We can give you answers."
Arabella let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding, "Oh good, cause I have a lot. I-" she started, but Firenze cut her off.
"Not here, child, come with us," he said as he outstretched his arms, signaling for her to follow.
Centaurs walked much faster than humans, so Arabella had to jog to keep up with them, "Where are we going?" she asked, slightly out of breath.
"The colony. Many of us want to meet you, young one," said Bane.
Arabella looked confused, "Why?"
Firenze looked ahead, "We haven't seen a protector in centuries. For many of us, you would be the first."
"Protector?" she echoed his words.
"Yes. We refer to elementals as protectors. They are protectors of the earth and its processes." Bane answered.
Firenze saw the confusion cross over Arabella's face, "We will explain once we get to the colony."
After ten minutes of silent walking, they arrived. Arabella had never seen a centaur colony before. Deep in the forbidden forest were undisturbed huts. Hundreds of centaurs were roamed freely, young and old alike. Once they detected her presence, everything stopped. They put down their work and bowed to her. She was extremely uncomfortable and didn't understand why they were bowing to her like some royal. In fact, she felt unworthy of being there. Arabella had always been the one to promote centaur rights because she thought they were disregarded and abused species, where in reality, they were knowledgeable and gentle beings.
Firenze noticed her discomfort and said, "Please rise, brothers and sisters, and go back to your work." and just as he said that, they did.
"Follow me," said Bane to Arabella.
Quickly following the centaurs, they brought her to a large hut, most likely reserved for the colony's chief, Firenze. It had high ceilings and a large fire pit in the middle. There were shelves upon shelves of books and scrolls scattered around the room, most likely star charts.
They offered her a seat and asked if she wanted something to eat, to which she said no. Arabella honestly felt like she was dreaming.
Firenze stood in front of her, "Alright, what's your first question?" he asked her.
Arabella searched her brain for a good one, but all she came up with was, "Why me?"
Firenze and Bane chuckled, "You, young one, are extremely special. Handpicked by the ancestors. I'm sure you are aware that not everyone in the Dubois line gets the powers, yes?" Arabella nodded, "It was said many years ago that the earth was going to be without a protector. There hasn't been a balance of earth magic in centuries. The protectors work as a mediator between humans and the earth." Firenze said.
"Alright..." Arabella started slowly, trying to take in all that information, "but I can't control the elements, I mean, I can, but it happens in stressful situations, almost like accidental magic."
"Right, that's where we come in. We can help you control these powers. The elementals before you also had to learn, but they learned from their elders. Since you don't have elders that are alive to teach you, we will."
"Wait, how do you all know how to do that?" she asked.
"Well, since Marie Dubois was the one that predicted that there wasn't going to be an elemental for years. Before she left for America, she came to us. She told us about the powers and how to control them. She taught us how to teach them to the next elemental. It has been legends since we were small that a protector would return. Our elders, the ones who met Marie, taught their children and so on. Hence how we still know the teachings. She wanted to let us be your guide, though you came a little earlier than when we were expecting you." Firenze said.
Arabella looked at them with wide eyes, "You know?" she whispered.
They both nodded, "We know a lot of things. We know that you are a time traveler."
She fidgeted with her rings, "Um yes, a time traveler. Okay, back to the other thing you said, why couldn't I do these powers to their full extent when I was younger?"
"An elemental's powers don't come into full play until they are of age. I am assuming that you could do more things when you became seventeen?" Bane asked.
Arabella could only nod, her brain connecting the dots. She hadn't started fully taking magic from things until she was seventeen, but everything before that felt like a mishap. That's why the Horcrux hunt became easier because she could determine what objects were dark magic and what wasn't. And it also made sense that she hadn't controlled the elements because she hadn't even attempted to, only ever had seen that magic work when she was upset.
"Okay, right. Another thing. Can you explain these?" Arabella asked as she rolled up her sleeves to reveal the runes.
"Do you remember the night you spoke to your ancestors in December?" Firenze asked.
"Yes"
"Well, that night, you released magic back into the earth. By doing that, the earth took away all your scars, the ones made by dark magic, and replaced them with the runes. Some elementals were born with them, and others, like yourself, got them during their first release. Are these the only ones you have?"
"Um, no," she shook her head, "I have one more on my back. It looks like tree roots."
Bane seemed excited by this answer, "I've never heard of a tree root symbol. Every elemental has one additional symbol, special to themselves. Marie had birds, doves on the palms of her hands. It all depends on the person."
Everything that Arabella was hearing was starting to make more and more sense, how she could take magic, why she had the runes, everything.
I can do this. Right? She asked herself.
"Alright, when do these lessons start?" she asked.
Firenze and Bane looked at each other, "Today."
----
That first day, Arabella trained with them for hours. It was exhausting. She had to channel every emotion, every sense, all her concentration into controlling the elements. The centaurs decided to focus on containing the elements rather than taking and possessing magic because that tended to come naturally to her; she already knew how to do that. They first started with fire since it was the hardest out of all of them. Firenze and Bane said that if she mastered that one first, that the others would come easier.
First, they taught her the logistics of it. Controlling the elements was wandless and nonverbal. There were no enchantments or wand movements; it all came from mind power. Bane said that she should focus on one emotion and visualize the fire. Arabella learned that every element belonged to a feeling. To channel fire, she had to tap into her anger. So that's what she did. After many grueling hours of concentration, Arabella managed to light a tree on fire.
After the first lesson, she called an emergency meeting with Dumbledore, McGonagall, Benji, and the Prewetts. She promised them that she would be open with all of them, and she intended to keep it. They were all shocked to hear what the centaurs told her. They also couldn't believe that they were meeting a real-life elemental since they were all forgotten legends. Dumbledore said to her that she needed to continue her training and make sure that she had complete control of her powers because he knew the dangers of not having control.
----
January 16, 1978
It was days later, the day all the students came back to Hogwarts, and Dumbledore had called a meeting at seven pm. Arabella had no idea what it was about, though she hoped it would be about starting to look for the Horcruxes or at least something helpful in taking down Voldemort.
Arabella would not be able to see her friends or any of the students for that matter until the next day because she had training until very late. At this point, she had only gone for about three days, but in those three days, she had felt something she had never felt; stable.
The centaurs all treated her kindly, not that she expected anything less. Even though she would train with Bane or Firenze most of the time, they gave her free time to roam the colony. In that time, like the true Hufflepuff she was, she had many friends. They would invite her for a drink or even dinner sometimes when she stayed late. They would heal her when she got hurt, or right now, since she was working with fire, they would heal all her burn marks.
----
6:58 pm
That day, her training had gone bad. Arabella felt agitated, and she wasn't having a good day, meaning she couldn't concentrate at all. She ended up burning the bottom of her pants off and her sweater. So all she was left was with one long pant leg and her sleeveless black halter top. Arabella had burn marks all over her body, and she would be fortunate if she didn't run into any student because they would immediately send her to the hospital wing.
Arabella ran like her life depended on it because she was late to the meeting, and she hated being late for anything. Running past some first years, she most likely frightened, she shouted the password to an innocent Thomas and ran up the spiral staircase that led to Dumbledore's office. Without knocking, Arabella let herself in.
"My gods Bella! What happened to you?" shouted a worried Benji, which made everyone's eyes turn to her.
Arabella coughed and gasped, making her realize that she was terribly out of shape.
Gods, I need to work out. She thought.
She fixed her posture and waved her hand dismissively at him, "Calm down Ben. I'm fine. See" she gave him a twirl which made Dumbledore chuckle.
Looking around the room, It was the usual people in the meeting with some new additions. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Benj, and the Prewetts with Lily, Marlene, Alice, Mary, Dorcas, James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus were in the office. Arabella quickly caught on to what this meeting was about: it was recruitment for the order.
Arabella moved into the office, saluting at the students and making her way over to Dumbledore's desk, completely forgetting that her arms and back were uncovered, basically giving the students a great view of her tattoos.
"Uncle Albus!" she said in a cheery voice, "Aunt Minnie," she nodded to the professor.
She turned to the twins, "Boys!" she said with a big smile and moved to hug them both.
"Andy," they said in unison.
"What the hell happened?" questioned Gideon.
Arabella huffed, "Well, training went longer than expected. I destroyed half of my favorite pair of jeans off and burned my sweater in the process. But I ran here because I didn't want to be late."
All they did was laugh at her, which caused the brunette to flick their foreheads.
"Arabella," Dumbledore called her over, "here. For the burns and a calming draught," he said while he handed her two vials of potions.
Without so much as a second thought, she downed the vials. She didn't even notice that he fixed her pants.
"Thanks," she muttered to him, "Hey do you have candy?"
Dumbledore smiled brightly and led her over to his special stash. She thanked the headmaster again and turned her attention to the students who were staring at her with wide eyes.
"Hello! Have a good holiday?" Arabella questioned as she walked over to them and gave them all hugs.
Remus closed his mouth, "Yeah, we did. Bella, are you alright?" She could hear the concern in his voice.
Arabella dismissed his question, "Course I am! See," she showed them her arms, "the burns are gone."
Again, they all gawked at her.
"Close your mouths, or else you'll catch flies." she teased while physically closing Sirius and James's mouths.
Sirius. Just by looking at him, she was given flashbacks moments before they kissed.
That would have been bad. Arabella thought.
Marlene came up to her and grabbed her arm, causing her to look away from Sirius, "Woah, Bella! When did you get tattoos?"
Out of habit, Arabella jerked her arm away and plastered a smile on her face, "Oh, you know... a while ago." she answered vaguely.
She turned around and looked at Dumbledore expectantly, "Sorry, I'm late, by the way."
Dumbledore smiled at the girl, "It's alright, Arabella. Everyone, please take a seat." he waved his hand, and many chairs and a couch appeared. The twins immediately sat down on the couch since it was closest to them, and Arabella sat between them. She yawned and laid her head on Fabian's shoulder, which caused him to put his arm around her.
Sirius watched from afar, feeling jealousy bubble up in his stomach, and the feeling evident on his face. The only one who noticed was Remus and he made a mental note to ask him later.
Dumbledore clapped his hands together and stood up from his desk, "Right! Now that that's settled. We may begin."
Lily innocently raised her hand, "Headmaster, why are we here? Are we in trouble?" she asked.
He shook his head, "I was getting to that, and no, you aren't in trouble," causing Lily to sigh in relief.
"As many of you know, you-know-who is getting more and more powerful every day. He is ruthlessly killing muggles and wizards alike and won't stop till he is done. Every day his ranks are getting bigger, and soon they will be a force to reckon with." He said. "I have gathered you all here today because I believe you are the best and the brightest in this school. I have created a resistance to combat Him. It is called the Order of the Phoenix. I am offering you all a position."
They all had mixed reactions. James and Sirius were instantly in with brave and determined expressions. All the girls and Remus were contemplating the offer, probably listing the pros and cons of the situation. But Arabella was looking at one person, Peter. He looked nervous. The boy was sweating and fidgeting with his hands. She wished she could read his mind to know what he was thinking. Arabella already told Dumbledore to keep Peter on a need-to-know basis, just in case he does end up deflecting from the order. Arabella desperately wanted to help him, but she wondered if some things are just meant to run their course.
"I'm in. I want to help," Said James.
Sirius agreed with him, "Yeah, me too."
Dumbledore sent them a knowing smile, "As much as I appreciate the enthusiasm, I want you all to think about this decision long and hard. This work will take out time from future careers. No one will judge you if you don't join. Please let me know what you decide by the end of the month. Also, this is strictly confidential, so no talking about this is public." He said sternly.
They all nodded.
"Great! You are all free to go now. And please don't ask Arabella why she came to the meeting a little out of sorts. It's work for the order, nothing to worry about."
Arabella had never been more grateful for the headmaster's words. She didn't want to have to answer questions about her training.
After a few words from McGonagall, all the students left the headmaster's office with a life-changing decision on their minds.
----
A/N- vote&comment:)
my body is a cage by the arcade fire