Evangeline's POV
I had arrived a little late due to the long walk, so most people were already in the Great Hall eating. Unfortunately though, the doors were still closed. Fortunately however, I think a grand entrance suits a meeting with the Ministry.
Swallowing any nervousness I had about being so bold in front of so many people, I flicked my hand to pull apart the doors. As they creaked open, I strode forward inside, walking with confidence up to the professor's table. On the far right was an open seat alongside a man I had never seen before, presumably Mr. Shacklebolt.
My heels clicked along the hard floor, my outfit and appearance causing one too many students to look my way and whisper. Well more like boast. I heard scattered mutterings about how smug I seemed and how scantily I was. Finally arriving at the table, Mr. Shacklebolt stood up and held his hand out, "Miss Waters, pleased to meet you finally." He held a clever smile, which he maintained as I shook his hand.
When we both sat down I said, "The pleasure is all mine Mr. Shacklebolt. I hope your trip to Hogwarts wasn't too exhausting."
He shook his head, "No it was quite an endearing trip, reminding me of my time in Hogwarts when I was once a student."
I turned towards Professor McGonagall and said calmly, "Professor McGonagall, I apologize once again for any interruptions I caused in class today. I hope you understand."
She smiled kindly, "I do. However, I heard about that altercation you had with Mr. Avery. He has been given detention."
I nodded, "Thank you professor. I truly wish it hadn't come to such circumstances, but my hand was forced. Hopefully it won't happen again."
Mr. Shacklebolt interrupted, "What is this I hear about an altercation?"
I looked coolly over to him, "Ah- earlier today a boy harassed me and initiated a duel after I wasn't responsive to his bullying. After his poor attempts at spell work, I finished the matter as peacefully as possible."
He looked at me curiously, "Do you get into fights often, Miss Waters?" He was testing me, and I could tell even if he didn't have a notebook on him, that he was memorizing everything I said. I smiled, "No not at all. However, things have changed recently since I have arrived for my seventh year at Hogwarts. I presume it is due to my involvement in business, yet I believe these matters will cease soon."
I picked at the food on my plate, observing Mr. Shacklebolt to read him better. I decided to ask him, "So- was it you who sent the Auror to track me or is it someone above you?"
Some of the professors looked over to us as soon as I said that. Remus narrowed his eyes at the man, but tried his best not to say anything. He said, "I sent him to you."
I chuckled at his response, "You know that's not what I was asking, but I'll take it anyways."
"So how long have you been skilled in Earth magic? That is what you used to restrain Mr. Langley, correct?"
"I suppose. I'm not skilled in Earth magic, I'm still learning. I am a student after all."
He smiled a bit at that, knowing I wasn't going to be as forthcoming either. He continued with another question, "You are skilled in potions though. Otherwise you wouldn't be as successful in your business."
I smiled, "If that's what you would like to presume. I still have much to learn though."
I continued, "By the way, if you're going to have someone follow me, at least find someone competent." I looked down the table to see a hint of a smirk fall on Snape's face. Even Remus seemed a bit surprised at my brashness.
Mr. Shacklebolt remained calm, "Duly noted. Though since you are a student, I expect you won't need to travel as much, would you? So I see no point in having an Auror investigate you if you're just here."
"I still run a business. So I will still be traveling. I doubt sincerely that your Aurors would be able to track me for all my traveling though. I recall Mr. Langley only being around in some circumstances, but absent for most."
He looked at me in question, "Why did you wait so long to confront him?"
I shrugged, "Boredom. I hoped he would get better at his work. I was sorely disappointed."
He looked down at his plate, "You appear very confident in your abilities."
"To an extent. However, I'm simply a student who is still learning."
He turned towards Dumbledore and asked him, "She's what- 22 years old now? Why is she a student here at such an old age?"
Dumbledore glanced towards me as if to ask if he should respond, to which I briefly nodded. Holding a goblet in one of his hands, he said peacefully, "She entered the wizarding world at an older age, she was not born into it. She first experienced schooling for wizardry at the age of 20."
Shacklebolt looked over towards me, "Interesting. You remain such a mystery. It would be of great interest to understand what you have to offer."
I chuckled a bit at his comment, "For what reason? Because I can assure you Mr. Shacklebolt, I have no intention of ever working with the Ministry."
"We are simply curious about you Miss Waters. I hope that you will be more forthcoming about your abilities so that we don't need to send any Aurors to observe you."
"Mr. Shacklebolt, you and I both know that even if I show you my abilities, chances are you or someone else will send an Auror my way just to see if I can discover them again."
He grinned and laughed, "I can't confirm or deny that. However, will you agree to at least providing some explanation?"
An interesting idea came to mind as I thought about his request, "I won't simply tell you or show you, that's no fun. Additionally, I don't trust whoever that information may go to. But, what about a duel? Interested?"
"I am many years your senior, I don't believe that would be fair."
I rolled my eyes, "And my abilities wouldn't make the fight fair either. So it evens out to some degree."
He hesitated a bit, to which I continued, "I'll go easy on you. And won't do anything too damaging. If I do, I'll help you heal."
Finally he nodded, "Alright. After dinner? Outside or inside?"
"We'll need the space, so outside on the grounds will do fine. After dinner works for me." I looked over to the professors, "You all are more than welcome to watch. I don't want students seeing though, it'll just create more rumors about me that I don't wish to hear."
Some of them nodded and said they'd come, interested in whatever would happen. Satisfied, Shacklebolt and I continued eating and making small talk. I was primarily focused on all the fun things I could do in a duel though.
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When all the students finally left to their dorms, with Filch assuring Dumbledore he'll keep an eye out for any misbehaving students, we all walked out to the grounds just outside the castle. I walked alongside Remus, who seemed more worried than ever.
Nudging his side I said, "What makes you so concerned, Remus?" He shook his head lightly, "I know you'll likely have no issue with him, but I'm not sure what to expect. I assume since he's a high level Auror, he'll have a few tricks up his sleeve. I hope you won't get hurt too badly."
I chuckled, "I'll be prepared. Besides even if he does, I can heal myself. If anything, this will just help me improve my abilities."
Arriving in an open space, Shacklebolt observed his surroundings closely. Then turning he said, "Ready?" He held his wand out and walked close to me, us doing a small gesture to signal the beginning of the duel. The rest of the professors were a small distance away, huddled together in observation.
We backed up and finally faced one another, several feet apart. I held my wand down at my side, waiting for him to make the first move. He started by throwing a few spells at me, which I deflected with my wand. He was testing me, playing it quite easy.
Then his moves became a little more fluid, shooting several spells at once, using his speed to try to catch me off guard. While I was able to deflect the first few times, at one point he shot a spell that took me some time to deflect. But just as I shot it away, I was hit with "Expelliarmus." My wand flew up and he caught it.
I said aloud, "Thanks for taking that out of my hands, it was quite the hinderance." He began to throw curses and hexes my way, to which I was able to deflect with just small movements in my hands. I then erected a stone pillar by his side, causing him to take a moment to look at it, which then allowed me to throw a Banishing Charm on his other side. Pushed back, he refocused on me.
He shot out an "Incendio" sending a small jet of fire my way. I grabbed it quickly and tossed it in my hands, morphing it and growing it into a larger fireball, which I threw at him. I noticed he was unable to move in time, so I shot out water to quell the fire before it hit him.
I smiled kindly, "Do be more careful. It's boring having to restrain myself." I couldn't help but be a little smug about my abilities, it was just too exciting.
Taking my challenge, he was much more aggressive with his spells. My hands moved in a flurry of controlled movements to deflect and send jinxes his way. He got knocked back a few times, but managed to land one or two hits on me. This interaction had gone on for tens of minutes, leaving us both slightly out of breath.
Pausing to catch my breath, I said, "Are you still going easy on me Mr. Shacklebolt?"
He paused briefly as well, "As much as I would like to say so, I am not. And you?"
"I've barely tried this entire time. I could've ended this fight within a couple minutes, but I wanted to observe your skills."
He sighed, "Well- if you mean it, go for it."
With a flick of my hand, I encased him in stone. He got himself out with a simple Bombarda , to which I sent several fireballs his way as well as pointed shards of ice. As I distracted him enough to cause him to worry about using protection spells, I focused in on his body and all the components in him. I hadn't tried this before, but I was curious. Pulling my arm out and bringing it to me, I imagined pulling the air from his lungs.
Walking closer for more efficacy, I was quickly aware by the sudden fall of his charms that it was working. I used my own spell to separate him from his wand, and then landed several cuts onto his body. He fell to the ground immediately, to which I returned his air and grabbed his wand along with mine.
Professor McGonagall began to jog over at seeing the sight, but I simply raised my hand up to stop her. I noticed from the corner of my eye that Dumbledore nodded as if to allow me to continue. Bending down to his fallen form, I flipped him over so I could look at the cuts.
He was breathing harshly, attempting to catch his breath. With a small smile I said, "Let me help you with that. I apologize for the harshness of my work." I slowly placed my hands on his body and with a small glow emitting from my hands, I drifted my hands around his body and soon enough he was back to normal. Standing up, I held up my wand and threw some spells his way to straighten up his clothes. He looked just as he did when I first saw him.
I reached my hand out and pulled him up, "How are you feeling Mr. Shacklebolt?"
He remained silent for a moment. I believe he was in shock. Turning to the professors, I walked over and spoke to Dumbledore, "I think Mr. Shacklebolt is in shock from this matter. Shall we take him inside?"
Dumbledore nodded, "Yes. I think we all could use a moments rest inside, I believe a lot of your fellow professors are a bit surprised as well. Will you be joining us?" I turned and saw very stilled expressions on Sprout, Flitwick, McGonagall, and even Hagrid.
I shook my head, "I'll join you all later. I want to spend some time outside. Besides, I suppose you will all want to talk about what you witnessed and it's a bit inappropriate if I'm there."
He hummed in response. I hopped over to Snape and said, "Do you mind hanging back and keeping an eye out? I don't want any students to see." Snape nodded. Remus looked a little confused, so I walked up to him and said quietly, "You'll be best at comforting these people." Remus offered a shy smile and nodded in understanding.
Quite quickly, they all left, giving some distance to Kingsley so he could absorb everything. When they were all out of sight, I excitedly said to Snape, "So, what did you think?"
He looked at me curiously, "About?" I rolled my eyes, "The duel silly! Any notes?"
He sighed and offered a smirk, "You were merciful. But you seem to play with your opponents like they're toys. You're too confident in your abilities."
I laughed, "Probably. I definitely should be a little more humble. However, I'm not sure what's better: End the fight quickly or let it drag out for no reason."
"I see your point. I suppose it should depend on the purpose of the duel. For this instance, it made sense that you were showcasing your talents. However, you toyed with him. With a case such as that Avery boy, it probably would have been better to end the fight quickly."
I nodded, "Duly noted. You're right. I shouldn't be so smug. I've been too lucky and shouldn't take it for granted."
He hummed in response. With that, I backed up and released my wings. Soaring up into the air, I noticed Snape decided to turn around to observe the entrance to the castle. A smile fell on my features at the gesture. My wings flapped around me as I remained still in the air. Tonight went incredibly well, and I have Snape to thank for a lot of that. I need to repay his kindness soon.
Settled, I free fell down to the Great Lake, grazing my fingers along the moonlit surface. Coming back up, I spun around in the air, squealing at the fresh feeling of the air on my skin. I began to laugh, enjoying how fast I moved through the air. Satisfied, I flew to the ground softly and jumped down. I was still laughing when my excitement got the best of me. I ran up to Snape and wrapped my arms around him from behind.
Outside of my laughs, I said, "Thank you for keeping an eye out!" He moved his arm up to see what I was doing. Looking at me curiously, he said, "Must you do this often?"
I pulled away from him and smiled shyly, "Sorry, I'm just really appreciative of you. Shall we go inside?"
He nodded, beginning to walk. As I walked, I hopped a bit so I could pull off my heels. I don't know why it took me this long to take them off. Finally getting both off, I stuck them in my bag and jogged up to Snape.
Giving me a side glace he said, "Barefoot again?"
"Of course. I feel like it's natural at this point. Did Dumbledore tell you where they all were?"
"Yes. The lounge for professors."
I beamed at him, "Ooh! The professors' lounge, how interesting. I've never been there before." We walked in silence for most of the time, however I kept stealing glances at him out of curiosity.
After many hallways, we walked through to see everyone bickering about, with Dumbledore in the corner remaining quiet. Snape walked ahead of me, his quick appearance shocking everyone to look at me.
I awkwardly smiled, "It's alright. I can't say I'm surprised." Remus walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder, "We haven't been talking about anything bad, it's just taken them some time to process."
"Should I leave then? Give you all more time to process?" Kingsley Shacklebolt turned around to look at me, trying to hide the paled expression on his face, "No it's alright Miss Waters. Do sit down, I have more questions for you."
Nodding, I walked over and sat across from him. The rest of the professors moved a bit away from me, pooling themselves together. I sighed and said, "Look- I know that my abilities can be a bit frightening. Concerning. And I know that even though you all now most definitely harbor some fear towards me-"
McGonagall interrupted, "No dear we don't-" I continued, "You do. I can read everyone's minds in this room. Don't worry about that either, I don't do it really ever because I respect people's privacy. I just was curious for a brief moment. Anyways," I paused.
Taking a deep breath, I continued, "I never intend to harm anyone. And even if I do during a duel, I heal them immediately. I won't deny that I've made mistakes in the past. But I'm hoping to be different now. I just request that even though many of you are afraid of what I might do, that you at least attempt to not treat me differently. I'm already an outcast to students, I would prefer to not be an outcast to professors as well."
No one responded but I offered a cheery smile to Shacklebolt, "Now- what are your questions?"
Seeming to settle on a few he had in mind, he said, "Did you show me the full extent of your abilities during the duel?"
"No. Partly due to choice and partly because I don't yet know the limits of my abilities. I am constantly pushing myself and attempting to advance them, and so far have yet to run into anything I can't do- well except for one thing, but I won't get into that."
He hummed in response before continuing, "What else can you do that you are aware of?"
"Many things. But unless I have your word that you won't write any of it down or tell anyone in the Ministry, I won't be sharing anything else."
"Why is that, Miss Waters?"
I shrugged, "Because the more people know about me- the more vulnerable I am. I don't trust the Ministry, not everyone in it can be purely good and of good intentions. Also considering the reaction to what was shown today, I assume that the more people know about me the more people will fear me. Then out of the fear will create hatred and a desire to control me."
He shook his head, "The Ministry would never do harm unto you unless you broke laws."
I rolled my eyes, "Now I haven't been as involved in the wizarding world as others, but even I know that's a lie. You might not, but not everyone in the Ministry is like you. In fact- I could think of one person already who probably wants me locked up."
He looked at me inquisitively, "Who?"
"Lucius Malfoy. We had an altercation a while back, and it resulted in me burning half his face off. It healed though. Don't worry, he initiated the conflict. Like most do. Anyways- he has enough pull that chances are whatever you report about me will get into his hands."
He sighed and nodded in understanding. Then he seemed to make up his mind as he said, "Alright. Anything from here on out will not be told to the Ministry. If it were, you have full permission to kill me."
I looked over to Dumbledore, "Should I trust him? Do you trust his word?"
Dumbledore looked over to me passingly, "Yes." Remus interrupted, "Eva- What do you intend to tell them? Are you sure?"
I smiled at him, "I appreciate your consideration. He won't be told everything. But just more. The professors will know more too but at this point, I think it's obvious that anyone who intends to do more harm will serve their justice."
I stood up, nervous in what I was about to do. Who the hell was I? Just days ago I was afraid of so many people knowing more about me, now I'm willingly doing it? But I do trust them. Even Shacklebolt, oddly. Well Dumbledore would be honest if he didn't think I should tell him. So it means he knows something about Kingsley that he failed to mention. I trust the professors too. They've always been so understanding and considerate of my situation. Besides, I don't want them to fear me. I'd rather them eventually feel they could be protected by me if anything were to happen.
I turned around and said softly, "Please don't be afraid or concerned. What I'm about to show you is a certain state I get in when I'm feeling- not so good. Some of you have seen parts, just not all of it. Some of you have seen it all." I took a deep breath and shut my eyes, breathing in, I focused on willing everything to the surface. I licked the top of my teeth, feeling none other than fangs. I pushed my shoulders back to stretch them, and released my wings.
Turning back to face them, I opened my eyes and looked at everyone. Well, I looked down. I was a bit nervous after all. I muttered to myself, "The wings are a bit of private thing, so if you're gonna hate on anything, don't hate the wings." I could feel the eyes from everyone in the room focused on me. My confidence began to fall. Silence was the only sound in the room. I wanted to crouch down and hug my legs.
But slowly, I looked up and opened my mouth slightly to show my fangs. I spoke a little nervously, "I don't really feel comfortable talking about the theory as to what I am. So I'm just showing you. This used to be a physical representation of the times I lost control. Now it's a bit different."
I finally looked at everyone in the room, and saw a variety of expressions. Snape and Remus both seemed the calmest and kindest, their faces giving me some reassurance. Dumbledore looked a bit closely but was used to seeing me like this. Kingsley was definitely shocked. McGonagall seemed to be putting all the pieces together, seemingly finally understanding all the bits and pieces she picked up on. Sprout seemed shocked and mildly frightened, as did Flitwick. And Hagrid, well Hagrid seemed curious. I could tell by his eyes that I was like another creature to him, and he was the kindest to creatures.
I sat back down in a chair and hugged my legs, speaking calmly, "I can fly with my wings. I was just doing that earlier actually. In terms of other abilities, I can read minds and block my own thoughts. I can also read the minds of animals and creatures too. I also can communicate to people in their minds and share my memories telepathically. I can go invisible. I can invent spells and potions, which most of you know by now. I can speak Parseltongue. Oh I also can bring animals to me at will, don't know what that's about. I also can somehow heal individuals, also don't know what that's about."
I paused a bit, stalling with my final ability, "Hmm I feel like I will regret saying this. But I also have the power to resurrect things. That was what I referring to earlier when I figured I can't do something. The one time I succeeded, the one time I used that power, I only resurrected some animals and was out of commission for months. It seems to destroy my powers for some time, destroy my being, if I use the ability. So I see that as my only limitation thus far."
Speaking my thoughts out loud I cursed, "Fuck! Wow I really just spilled the beans there. Damn." I looked over to Snape, "Did I miss anything?" He nodded, "Teleportation."
I gasped, "Goddamn I use that the most and I forgot! Yeah my teleportation functions like apparition but I have no limits. Hence why I can travel the world and do my business. Dang when I die, the business will end! No one could do what I can. What a shame."
I covered my mouth in surprise, what was going on with me? I awkwardly smiled, "Sorry- bit nervous."
Silence.
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