Rebirth

Rebirth

Chapter 12: The Centaur's Obsession

Geno spent the following day wondering about the black book, which never left Irina's hands. She read it avidly, ignoring the others and even forgetting about meals.

Geno was obviously worried. She was afraid of Elektra and her twisted way of thinking, and she was sure that the centaur had given that book to Irina for some reason. She tried to tell Ventura about it, but the teacher was nowhere to be seen; since it was a Sunday, she had gone to the nearby village of Almaceda to get supplies, and returned only when it was near bedtime, and Geno was too tired to remember her concern.

The following morning, Geno's worries were dissipated, as Ventura approached the Avis table and turned to Irina.

"Miss Petrova, could you accompany me, please?"

Irina, who had strangely arrived at the Great Hall as if nothing had happened, just shrugged her shoulders and followed the Flying Mistress. Everybody's eyes followed the two of them with curiosity and suspicion, except for Geno, who was experiencing an enormous feeling of relief.

Somehow Ventura has found out about the book, she thought. It was probably the bird; it certainly seems to be spying for her sometimes...

***

"Welcome, Miss Petrova," Headmistress Penumbra said as Irina entered her office, followed by Ventura. After receiving an approving gesture, the girl sat, waiting to hear the reason why she was called. Ventura stood behind her like a statue.

"I know this must be very hard for you, Miss Petrova," Penumbra began, after a slight cough, "but we need to discuss your future after the recent events regarding... er, the unfortunate incident with your parents."

Irina sighed so quietly that neither of the teachers noticed.

"As I was saying," the Headmistress continued, "your parents were your only living relatives in this country, and, since you will probably be sent to your aunt's home in Kiev, we have considered the possibility of you transferring to a school closer to your home."

"Possibly Durmstrang," Ventura added.

"Therefore, it is necessary to know your opinion, since you will have three options to choose from. You can choose between being transferred to your new school straight away, for which we will need to try to find a Special Studies teacher for you to be privately trained, or you can remain here until the end of the school year -"

"Please let me stay here," Irina cut off, anxiety in her voice.

"Or," Penumbra continued, "considering how difficult things must be for you right now, perhaps it is better if you go straight to Kiev and take the year off, resuming first year again at your new school next year."

"Please, no," Irina pleaded. "Let me stay here. I need to stay here... Please?"

Both Ventura and Penumbra raised their eyebrows, disguising the strangeness of her anxiety, especially since Irina had always been scared of being in Ingarnal.

"Listen, Miss Petrova," Ventura said, touching the girl's shoulder, "this is a very serious decision. Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes," she replied immediately. The two teachers eyed each other.

"Here's what we're going to do," Penumbra said, staring deeply into Irina's eyes. "We're going to let you think about it calmly and with time, so that you can be sure that you're not going to make a decision that you will regret afterwards."

Irina nodded, but her eyes showed strong resolution.

"I believe your classes will begin soon. What is it, Potions?"

"Yes, Professor," she replied.

"Do you think you are able to go to the class?"

Irina nodded again.

"Very well, then you are excused," Penumbra finished. Irina immediately stood up and left the office, nodding at the two teachers as she left.

"Very strange," Ventura said, still staring at the now closed door. "Petrova is the kind of Muggle-born child that, given the chance, would be perfectly happy to return to the Muggle world and forget magic, even for just one year. I was expecting her to choose that option."

"So was I," Penumbra replied with a sigh. "Who knows, she's probably more afraid of her relatives than of what surrounds her now."

"Maybe..." Ventura mumbled, not entirely convinced of this.

***

In spite of what she had promised to the headmistress, Irina did not go to the Potions classroom straight away. Instead, she ran to the Avis common room and rushed straight to the dormitory, where she picked up the black book. After that, she headed towards the passageway that lead to the Special Studies classroom.

Elektra was there, reading a roll of parchment when the girl entered.

"I came to return the book," she said, flushed.

"I told you to keep it," the centaur replied.

"I know, but I vorry that the teachers might suspect."

"How can they suspect?"

"I don't know, but they asked me if I vanted to leaff the school."

"Who did? Penumbra? Ventura?"

"Both."

"I see." Elektra stood still for some time. "And what did you tell them?"

"That I vant to stay."

"Good. Now listen: it is too early for the spells from the book to be used. If you want to see your parents again, you will have to wait for the right moment."

Irina nodded, her eyes glowing.

"I am your friend, Irina. You know that," Elektra said with obvious insincerity, which Irina didn't notice, as she nodded again with a smile.

"Have you read it?"

"Yes."

"No problems understanding what is required of you?"

"No."

"Very well, I will keep the book until it's the right time," Elektra said. "If you need to check it out again, all you need to do is ask." She smiled again. "Now, I believe your classes are about to begin, so you had better leave."

Irina nodded again and left, mumbling a shy goodbye.

"Stupid girl," Elektra said with a nasty smile, as she touched the book's introduction and the words changed, revealing the real purpose of the spell. "She actually believes this will bring her parents back..."

***

Unaware of what really had happened when Irina was called that morning, Geno assumed that the book had been confiscated and that everything had returned to normal.

The following weeks went by very calmly, as the Avises recovered from the initial shock of the Sertorian issue and began to accept it as something normal. So what they irradiated some strange source of energy? Ventura assured them they would be safe, as long as they were properly trained. Their only worry was Elektra, but she seemed to have completely forgotten about her obsession in training them, and now her sole interest seemed to be to teach them about other results of Sertorius' experiences, like the Dementors and the Oleramas.

This gradual return to normality was apparent even within the Avises. From the tight-knit quintet that they formed after the Christmas holidays, they were again fractured, as Aenor got fed up with the others and began to disassociate himself from them, and Irina hid back in her corner, not talking to anybody else. Dulce, on the other hand, preferred being in the company of Magda and Tulio, where she could forget about being a Sertorian and talk about things typical to an eleven-year-old.

Geno and Half-Pint were the only two Avises who remained close, as they spent most of their free time either wandering near the Quidditch field, or visiting the library, where they unsuccessfully searched for books about the origins of Ingarnal, trying to learn more about the Avis house. After a few days, Ventura had returned Matilde to Half-Pint, which made the small boy extremely happy.

The only thing that was still stirring Geno's curiosity was the fact that she had had no more news about Julia Cassidy. Did she manage to return to normal? How was she? Geno assumed that she was probably trying to recover from the things that had happened to her; Ventura probably had had that conversation about Sertorians, which was something she was probably still trying to adjust to, like they did. However, she thought it was strange that Julia hadn't appeared yet. Things had returned to normal for them, so why not for her?

It was only after Easter that Julia Cassidy entered the Great Hall to have breakfast with the Ingarnal staff, accompanied by Professor Lockhart, who had also been absent since Christmas. Geno was surprised to see how small and frail she looked, and finally realized that she must have been ill all that time.

"Being turned to stone must have been tough," Half-Pint whispered in her ear, as he also acknowledged her condition. Geno nodded.

***

After breakfast, Lockhart and Julia went outside for a walk.

"This is beautiful," she said, looking at the mountains surrounding Ingarnal, as they sat on a stone bench near the greenhouses. "As beautiful as Hogwarts."

"Yeah," he agreed, though beauty was not what came to mind when he thought about that school. The only places he could recall from Hogwarts were the dark place where he woke up after he lost his memory, and the cold walls of the hospital wing.

After a while, she laid her head on his lap, and he began to play with her hair. They sat there for a long time, just enjoying that precious moment together, and wishing it would never end.

"I love you," he said suddenly, surprising himself. "You know that, don't you?"

She straightened up and touched his cheek, smiling. "I love you too," she said, kissing him.

Even though Lockhart's mind had absolutely no recollection of him doing something like this, his body certainly remembered, as he kissed her back in a way he couldn't even imagine possible. Even if he wanted to, he would be unable to let her go, as passion, longing and hunger took over him. He had no idea how far beyond that kiss they would have gone if the sudden sound of giggling nearby hadn't broken the passionate trance they were falling into.

Letting go of each other, Lockhart and Julia looked in the direction where the giggling came from, and saw two girls in turquoise robes, gaping wide-eyed at them.

He felt himself blushing, and turned to Julia again in order to avoid the girls' stare. Unsurprisingly, she was examining her shoes, an embarrassed smile barely visible underneath the curtain of ginger curls she had purposely covered her face with.

"Miss Isidro, Miss Novais," a harsh voice then sounded, "I believe your Herbology class is that way."

Lockhart raised his eyes again and met Coleraine's scowling face.

The girls gasped and took off at a run towards the greenhouses, as Coleraine shouted, "And two points from Goa!"

He then turned to them. "If you are unable to control your hormones," he hissed, "then do it somewhere else. This is a respectable school, not a brothel!"

Lockhart felt the urge to stand up and punch him, but gave up, knowing that Coleraine would hit him back. Julia, however, had a different idea.

"Hello, Snape," she said. "Nice to see you finally decided to wash your hair. Hell froze over?"

Coleraine's scowl increased. "I'm not Snape," he said with gritted teeth.

"Oh, sorry. Then you must be a relative of his, right? Or you've taken Polyjuice, because you really look like him, you know."

Coleraine was fuming. He looked like he would kill her, but a glance at Lockhart's face made him suddenly turn around and move back to the castle.

"What did I say?" Julia asked.

Lockhart shrugged his shoulders, equally confused.

***

Coleraine entered his office, still fuming. How dare that woman compare him with his brother? He was nothing like him, and he refused to accept any kind of association between the two of them.

He was about to pick a book from a shelf, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"So, she has recovered now, has she?"

He turned to face Elektra.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "You know it's not safe for you to be seen wandering around the castle. One of the students could have seen you."

"Don't change the subject, Hector," she snapped. "Julia Cassidy has finally left her chambers and is walking openly."

"Yes."

"Took her long enough."

"In case you have forgotten, even though being immersed in that formula made her become flesh and blood again, the shock of the transformation was still too strong, especially since some of the ingredients aren't exactly harmless. Besides," he added, "you can't forget that she went through an enormous ordeal and needed to prepare herself."

"Nonsense," the centaur replied. "Those who are strong of heart don't need time to recover psychologically. Those things are for weaklings."

"If you say so," he replied, knowing it was useless to answer back.

"I need to train her," Elektra said suddenly. Coleraine arched a brow.

"Why?"

"Do you need to ask, Hector? She is a Sertorian, and she might be the one I'm looking for."

Coleraine looked at her for a few seconds before replying. "No."

"What?"

"I said no. Not if you're going to use the same methods you have used on those children."

"And what is wrong with those methods? That was the way I brought you up."

"Precisely," he said dryly. "Which is why I was happy to see that you had given up on doing the same to them."

"Who said anything about giving up on those children?" she said, her tone of voice menacing.

"Don't tell me you are going to get those children again?" Coleraine was obviously displeased.

"Of course. I still don't know the real worth of any of them. I'll strike only when that wretched Djanira Ventura isn't expecting; she's been meddling too much in my affairs."

"She's looking out for those children - it is her job."

Ventura moved closer to Coleraine.

"No," she said. "Her job is to get out of my way and let me turn those children into gods and goddesses."

"I tried to ignore her words, but she was right," he said, trying not to feel intimidated by Elektra's closeness. "You are mad."

It was then that Elektra's hand moved towards Coleraine's throat and grabbed him in almost the same way that she had done to Aenor before.

"Mad? What do you know about madness?" Her face was dark and terrifying. "Madness is not to acknowledge those children as your path to glory, and being foolish enough not to use them as your tools."

Other men stronger than Coleraine would have felt utter terror with this confrontation, but years of experience had made him immune to her threats. He knew she wasn't going to kill him, that the shadows over her face were just something to impress her opponent. In the back of his mind came the picture of himself as a young boy, being tortured by her demands for glory and her passion for intimidation, and the thought that she was going to do the same to those children, make them live the hell he had grown up with, gave him a strong resolution that he knew was unexpected. He wasn't that frightened boy any longer - he was the result of her experiments to produce the perfect soldier, and he was going to take advantage of it.

"Those methods only result in weaklings," he said with all the breath he could manage from her pressure on his throat. "Kill me if you have the courage. I'm ready - you're not."

Caught completely off-guard by his response, she let go of him, the shadows on her face vanishing.

"That's better," he said, straightening his collar.

"So, will you help me get Julia Cassidy and the children?" Elektra asked, as if nothing had happened.

"Like I said before, no. I will follow Dumbledore's instructions to the end, since he's obviously closer to reason than you are."

"Oh, he is, is he?" Elektra was smirking. "The man who accepted your brother as a teacher in his school. A Death Eater, Hector."

Coleraine's expression hardened again.

"And he allowed another Death Eater to enter Ingarnal," she continued.

Coleraine turned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Edra Penumbra, of course," she said, still smiling. "Why do you think she is always trying to cover up her left arm, and looking around nervously every time she does it?"

Coleraine's eyes were now burning, as he realized what the centaur was trying to do.

"Don't try to manipulate me, Elektra," he said, his voice cold and steely. "It's not working any longer."

He then turned and left the office, leaving her alone.

"Damned traitor," she spat. "If you won't help me, that foolish girl will."

***

The pain was unbearable. It was like his blood was boiling inside him, and his flesh was turning into a paste. Worst of all, he could see his body deforming, and turning into something feral and grotesque, as his clothes ripped to shreds. He growled and closed his eyes as it all became unbearable.

After what seemed like an hour of agony, the pain subdued, and he was able to finally stand still and look at himself. He no longer looked human, but he wasn't as grotesque as he appeared during the transformation; he had turned into something feline and dangerous, something that, if it wasn't for the pain that didn't abandon him, he might even find beautiful. With the absence of a mirror, he touched his face in order to evaluate what had happened to it, and found that it had unsurprisingly changed just like his body.

He stood still for a few minutes, as he tried in vain to find an explanation to what had happened. Then, a piercing scream broke his thoughts.

Her piercing scream.

Instinctively, he began to run towards the origin of the scream, trying to reach her. His thoughts were focused only on his task, otherwise he would have realized that he was running on all fours, faster than he had ever moved before.

Finally, he found her lying on the floor, convulsing as snakes tried to cover her like ropes. As she struggled to set herself free, he saw that her skin was full of cuts, each of them with silver feathers sprouting from it.

He tried to set her free from the snakes, but his clawed hands passed right through, as if she was made of air. He didn't give up, however, and kept trying to get hold of a snake, until frustration began to make his movements so fast and violent that, had he been able to touch her, he would have killed the snakes but also caused her pain.

"What are you doing here?" an angry voice shouted behind him.

He then felt even more agonizing pain, as something sharp touched his shoulder (or at least what was supposed to be his shoulder) and he felt his body contorting and deforming again. He slowly turned to face a raven-haired woman in a silver cloak, who was pointing a sword at him.

"You're not supposed to be here!" she shouted at him, with obvious fury and panic interlined in her voice. "You're not a Sertorian! The potion wasn't meant for you!"

He tried to talk, but a savage growl was the only sound that came from his throat. She brandished the sword at him once more, cutting his shoulder again. He let out a savage howl from the pain and crumbled to the ground, as he felt weaker.

"This is not your dream!" she yelled again. "Get back!"

This time she hit him on his left ankle. She gave him nothing more than superficial cuts, but they hurt as much as if she had been disemboweling him, and made his head spin, as a terrible feeling of nausea rushed over his stomach.

After a few seconds, he dared to look up at her. He was back to his human form, naked and bleeding, but in spite of the mad woman pointing the sword, his only thoughts went to Julia.

"S-she..." he tried to speak.

"What are you doing here?" the woman asked again.

His voice failed once again, and he tried to crawl to Julia's direction, being stopped by the tip of the sword, which didn't impale his hand by a mere inch.

"You're not supposed to be here!" she screeched. It was like these were the only sentences she knew. It was only then that he observed the woman's face carefully.

"I... I know you, don't I?" he asked, receiving only a furious glare in return.

"You're not a Sertorian!" she finally uttered, as she prepared to strike the sword again.

And then Lockhart's eyes opened wide. He was now fully awake, lying on his bed. His stomach turned from the physical agony he was still experiencing, so he ran towards the nearest window, throwing up as soon as he had the chance to open it wide.

He stood there motionless for a while, with the taste of vomit and blood mixed inside his throat and his brain spinning as if a hurricane was inside his head. He was feeling the icy cold coming from the outside and realized that he was naked, just like in the dream, even though he had dressed silk pajamas before going to bed. He tried to look at his bed, as he didn't have time to notice it before he felt sick, but his body rebelled and he felt like he was about to throw up again.

After a few moments, he finally managed to stand up. It was then that he heard Julia's cries. With all his might, he tried to turn towards her bed, and saw with enormous surprise that she was contorting, as if still trying to release herself from the snakes, which obviously were only inside her mind.

Forgetting his nausea, he ran to her, and began to shake her by the shoulders.

"Julia, wake up. Wake up!"

He continued to shake her, screaming in hysterics until she opened her eyes.

"What... Gil...?" she said with a startled voice.

"Shh. It's all right," he said, hugging her. She let go after a while and looked at him with a smile of relief.

"I just had the most bizarre dream," she said. "You wouldn't believe it if I told you."

"I can imag-" He trailed off, as something suddenly caught his eye.

"Gil? What is it?"

Speechless, Lockhart raised his hand and removed a silver feather from her hair. She recognized it and gasped.

"Is... is that...?"

It was then that Lockhart finally glanced at his own bed, only to find it completely destroyed by what seemed the work of a savage animal, the bedsheets and his pajama ripped to shreds.

***

Geno sat up on her bed, grumpily. She was having such a nice dream... why did she have to wake up?

Feeling thirsty, she reached for the water jug by her bedside. It was only after she had drank a glassful that she noticed something strange - the curtains on Irina's bed were not tightly closed as usual. Moving her head closer without leaving her own bed, Geno's still sleepy eyes noticed that, from what could be seen from the gap between the curtains, there was nobody sleeping inside it. The bed was empty.

Irina was gone.

***

Ventura crossed the small passageway between her sleeping quarters and her office, silently cursing the person who was knocking insistently on the door. As she opened it, she was greeted by the anxious face of Gilderoy Lockhart, who was wrapped in a bright pink bathrobe a bit small for his size, and who looked absolutely terrified.

"Professor, I need to speak to you," he said nervously. "It's very important."

"Oh yes, of course," she said, still rubbing her eyes. "What is the problem?"

"Something very strange has just happened. Julia is still in the bedroom, recovering from it."

Ventura finally looked straight at him. "What happened?"

Lockhart removed the feather from his bathrobe's pocket and showed it to her. "I don't know exactly how to say this, but Julia had this dream -"

"No need to explain," she cut him off, as she grabbed the feather, her eyes wide. "Follow me."

She then exited to the corridor, her pace followed with difficulty by Lockhart.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"To talk to the Headmistress," Ventura replied quickly. "She needs to know."

They entered through one of the doors and began to climb the set of stairs presented before them. When they had nearly reaching their destiny, Ventura looked at the feather again, and mumbled, "She's done it again."

"Who's done it again?" Lockhart asked, but received no answer.

By then, they had reached the door to Penumbra's chambers.

"Edra, can we come in?" Ventura asked, as she knocked. As there was no reply, she opened the door.

Lockhart was ready to follow her, but stopped suddenly as he noticed that Ventura was paralyzed.

"Oh no," he heard her speak.

He turned his head to the right so that he could see what had startled her, and saw the Headmistress lying on the floor, a gash of blood on her forehead. He stood there, speechless, until Ventura turned to him and said, "Get Madam Cotovia. Quick."

Lockhart nodded and left, glancing back once again before departing.

Ventura then rushed to Penumbra and looked at her closely. She didn't know the gravity of her injury, so she didn't dare to touch her until the return of Lockhart with the nurse.

"Edra?" she asked. A very low mumble was her only reply, so she approached her head ever closer to Penumbra so that she could understand exactly what she was saying.

"T- the Globe..." were the only words she managed to assimilate.

Instantly, Ventura rose up again and turned to the shelf where she knew Penumbra kept the Sorting Globe, finding only an empty space.

"Oh no..." she gasped.

Instinctively, Ventura approached the fireplace and seized a fistful of powder from a jar near it, throwing it into the flames.

"H-Hector!" she cried, her voice choked. "I'm in Edra's office. You've got to come quick!"