Shape of Magic 11: Aftermath

[center]<<<Taylor Rose>>>[/center]

The world fuzzed in and out of existence, memories blending with dreams as she swam through the murk. Her bugs felt distant, faint, and the people…

Hearts stopping from fright, a golden man ending the world.

She repressed it, trying to focus on something else, anything else.

“She’s alive, but not unmarked,” It was Dumbledore standing over her, something winged and beautiful hovering over his shoulder. She tried to reach for it but found her arms wouldn’t move. “She needs medical attention, and the students should be in their rooms.”

Why would he be acting like that? She couldn’t…

The day had been going like any other, the thornback she’d acquired was getting too big to keep under her robes, so she was going to feed it one last meal before sending it into the forest…

Where was it now? Her mind reached for it, searching…

Professor Quirrell was there, he’d let a troll in. The spider had been on her chest for easy feeding as she… fought him? Green light mixed with food. She was talking with food in her mouth…

That couldn’t be right, she was always polite when eating. She’d always just spoken through her bugs if it were that important… why couldn’t she…

The blast cut through space, tearing someone apart as though they were made of stone. Alexandria…

Her head shifted, it felt like she was drowning, clawing for awareness, consciousness. The winged being was back, looking into her eyes…

She was losing, her bugs couldn’t see, she couldn’t control them. A tinker was doing something to them. In the midst a faceless man fought Amy, Hera, Lisa… Taylor reached out, trying to reach them…

Something was broken inside of her. Something was wrong. Time was becoming meaningless, cause and events muddled. Someone was lifting her, she struggled but… fluid in her mouth, it was parched, so very parched and she was so thirsty…

The black consumed her.

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Taylor woke with a start, hand reaching for her wand even as her mind reached for her swarm. There were less bugs than there should have been, she felt blind and deaf. “Easy there, Miss Rose,” A grizzled voice she didn’t recognize said, low and almost growling, “You’re in a nursing bed, not under attack.”

“Who?” She said, her voice horse, how long had she been out?

“Your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,” He replied as she was pushed back down into the bed. His face was scarred, a bit of his nose missing, and one of his eyes was prosthetic. It zipped around madly, almost like…

She wondered if she’d had a concussion… but the way that prosthetic moved reminded her of something…

“Are you… Mad-Eye Moody?” She asked, head pounding slightly as she tried to wet parched lips. “How long was I…”

“Dead? A few minutes from what I heard,” He replied, “Unconscious? Bit longer than that, it’s been a week since Halloween. And yes, usually the eye would be a bit more of a clue…” Moody, Professor Moody now, snorted. “Muggleborns and orphans, sometimes what they know and don’t know surprises you…”

“I… died?” She wished she was more surprised, closing her eyes she shook her head and immediately regretted it.

“Hey, easy there,” Professor Moody said before he helped her sit up and give her a cup of something cold, “This should help. Wigenweld potion in water. Dilute enough to not cause you problems and should help with the dehydration and pain, Snape made it.”

Taylor vaguely remembered reading that in passing, so she drank it slowly despite wanting to chug it. It’d be a shame if she spilled it in her hurry to hydrate.

Pain slowly faded, though only slightly, and Professor Moody started to speak again. “You are very lucky to be alive, Ms Rose. You are one of two people to have ever survived that spell. It’s good that you had that magic resistant spider on you, you likely wouldn’t have without it.”

“What happened to him?” Taylor asked as she tried to find the spider once again, honestly she’d been thinking about naming him Devon.

“Dead, alongside two million other bugs you were controlling,” He replied, “Saved your life in doing it. That curse isn’t something survivable when it hits straight on like that from a powerful dark wizard.”

Taylor… didn’t mourn the other bugs, she never did. Though she felt a… twinge that Devon the Thornback died, she wasn’t attached to him like Steve but she was growing fond of the aggressive thing. It reminded her of a chihuahua almost, just a legitimate threat insteading of merely being a loud animal.

“I’ll be teaching more about that curse, and the one that hit Ms Carlson, later,” The professor said, “For now, I need to get a look at that curse mark. Now, it landed just over your heart, and so if you wouldn’t mind pulling your shirt down?”

Taylor would have said something about it being inappropriate but… this was rather serious, so she pulled it down for him to look at. He growled lightly as his wand ghosted over the still healing wound, making it sting and her body twitch away.

“Mm, I can’t do anything for it,” He stated after a moment, “That will leave a scar, probably won’t fade until the caster is dead properly. If it was Quirrell that won’t be long at all, but if it was Voldemort…” Moody sighed and slowly stood up, reaching for a cane by the bed to walk.

His wooden leg clunked down as he stood up, “Your friend is fine, Ms Rose. Just sit and rest.” It was clearly phrased as an order, but he snorted as she stumbled to her own feet anyway. “Scale of one to ten, how much pain are you in right now?” Moody asked as they walked towards Amy’s bed.

Taylor could see Hera in Hagrid’s hut with Hermione and Ron, she was glad for that as she answered, “Maybe a two or three. I think for anyone else it would be a six or seven though…”

Moody laughed, voice as harsh as he looked. “Been cursed before then?” He asked, “Cruciatus or something else?”

“I don’t know what it was called,” She replied with a frown, “I just know that my blood felt like it was on fire, like everything had turned into something that felt nothing but pain.” That was an adequate enough description of Bakuda’s pain bomb, even if remembering it brought back phantom pains.

“Well, now Ms Carlson has something in common with you.” That made Taylor very concerned indeed as they arrived at Amy’s bed, the girl looking tired.

Hobbling over to Amy’s side she sat at the edge of her bed and took her hand in her own, “Ames? How are you doing?” She didn’t feel like she could conjure up her usual dramatics at the moment.

Her cursed scar ached in a way she wasn’t entirely familiar with, and it would take some time before she could just push it down like everything else.

Amy just looked at her tiredly, “Like shit,” She bluntly said, “You scared the hell out of everyone, you know.”

Taylor chuckled lightly, the laughter hurt. “I was stupid,” She acknowledged, “I should have just killed him.”

“You were,” Amy said, “And I and the rest are never going to let you forget just how stupid you are.”

“Mm,” Moody hummed, “A lack of knowledge isn’t being stupid, and from what she knew she was safe. She should have realized that she didn’t know things. Her decisions were stupid, but not because she was stupid. She was arrogant,” He accused. It was fair, she had been.

“Don’t bring logic into this. I want to be mad at my best friend,” Amy said with a snort, though she did nod in acknowledgement.

Taylor just winced, had she really grown that lax? Apparently. She’d just… been enjoying herself, this was her second chance at life! She felt she deserved a chance to actually… act her age, a chance to distance herself from Skitter and Weaver, and definitely Khepri. But she supposed she could bring some of them back.

Just a little.

Moody was waving his wand over her friend now, white light cloaking and surrounding her before he grunted and handed her a potion. “Drink this. It’ll taste like poison, but it’s better than being cursed.”

The fluid was a deep purple as Amy drank, grimacing and coughing after it was all down. “Good, good,” Moody said before raising his wand again, a verdant green light at the tip. The room smelled of fresh cut grass for a moment before it shot forth into Amy, who started coughing and choking as a much darker and more sinister green leaked from her mouth.

Moody captured it with his wand and poured it into the very same bottle the poison came from.

“What was that?” Taylor asked as Amy’s complex began clearing up and becoming more healthy.

“Curses like the one she was struck with sometimes leave remnants behind,” He explained, “For Cruciatus especially, these remnants are attracted to pure and healthy things to distort and cause harm to them. The potion I gave her and the spell I cast were created to exploit that, I’d teach you but it’s… quite advanced magic, NEWT level, I think. Akin to the Patronus Charm.”

Taylor winced, that sounded decidedly nasty. Especially seeing as Amy’s power effectively made her the single healthiest thing alive. Still, she couldn’t deny she had some new things to research when she could, this Patronus sounded particularly interesting as well. She vaguely recalled it being mentioned in passing in some charm books.

His head shook, “How are you feeling now?” He asked Amy, “Still pained?”

“Better,” She answered, “Still sore, but… it’s tolerable now.”

“Good. You, at least, should be able to leave and enjoy the weather before it gets too cold,” He pronounced, “Ms Rose will need a few more days of bed rest on account of her heart having stopped a few days ago.”

Amy nodded and smirked at Taylor, “You heard the professor,” She teased, “Get back in bed. Besides, I know you can still check up on everyone through your bugs,” She added.

Taylor growled a bit before sighing, “Fine, fine,” She conceded before hugging Amy tight and whispering, “Sorry… but how’d you get hit?” She asked, “Kinda seems like I wasn’t the only one that did something stupid…”

Amy grumbled, “I ran over to your dumb ass,” She retorted, “Probably could’ve restarted your heart too, if the prick didn’t hit me with that spell.”

Moody laughed, “Calling him a prick? A little light I think. But when did you have the chance to learn CPR?” He asked, squinting at her, “Mm, no matter, I’ll get it from Dumbledore. I trust him to actually tell the truth, no offense. A question you’ll actually answer then, would you feel uncomfortable if I asked you in class how that curse felt? I was going to teach the Unforgivable Curses, that being one of them, so what happened to you two won’t happen to anyone else in the future.”

“None taken,” Amy said, “And not really, I mean if it could help other people learn to fucking dodge then by all means,” She added a little bit of her snark creeping back in.

“Mm, dodging isn’t something you can do, but you can think of that later,” He replied, “Go, enjoy time with your friends. If anything hurts more than it should, come see me, Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore, Professor Snape, or McGonagall.”

“Yes Professor.” Amy said as she got out of bed with a wince as she stretched before looking at Taylor, “Where are the others?”

“Visiting Hagrid,” Taylor answered.

“Oh yes, and you’ll both be getting a visitor or two soon,” Professor Moody said, “According to Professor Kip, they managed to clear their schedules early once they’d heard what happened. He didn’t tell me what their jobs were or their names, so… be wary of it.”

“Well, you didn’t last this long without being paranoid,” Taylor commented.

“It’s not paranoia if they’re actually out to get you,” Professor Moody said with a snort, “Not that you’d disagree, would you? I see those bugs trying to land on me.”

“I could tell you exactly what Dumbledore is doing right now,” Taylor said without a bit of shame, “Though I think he’s mostly humoring me from the occasional comments he makes.”

“He does that, aye,” Moody replied, “But you’re stalling. Get into bed. If you need help sleeping, the nurse will be happy to help.”

“Yes sir,” Taylor grumbled as she went over and got into bed.

At least she could still play with her bugs and spy, so there was that.

Amy just snickered, “Well be good for the nurse, Tay. See you when you get out!~” She teased before she made her exit.

Taylor grumbled vaguely at her before lying down in her bed again. She didn’t know when she’d closed her eyes but she was so… tired…

Her dreams were filled with stars, bugs, and greens.

[center]<<<Amy Carlson>>>[/center]

Leaving the medical ward and making her way through the castle, mostly using what shortcuts she remembered and ducking into alcoves to avoid attention, Amy found herself thinking over the events of the past week. They were the most she’d been terrified since… ever really.

She kept trying to get up and check on Taylor herself, despite Madam Pomfrey telling her that she was all healed and just resting. Logically, Amy knew the experienced healer was right, all the same she needed to see for herself. She had to make sure there were no nasty little surprises laying in wait.

The older woman humored her and let Amy check Taylor herself, and after ensuring she was alive and well she finally felt relaxed. The rest of the week mostly consisted of their friends coming in to visit them.

Though one of the most memorable visits was from a pair of Slytherin first years, apparently since Taylor was in what was essentially a recovery coma Malfoy and Nott had been getting uppity and trying to establish that they were the leader of the first years.

Between fighting with each other, because of course they would.

Steve had been distraught too, but she’d been with Hermione since the feast and was kept busy as a result.

It turned out Steve was a stress-weaver as well, as the ceiling of the common room was covered in a very elaborate web that honestly looked breathtaking according to Hermione. Even Ron had complimented it and gave Steve a pat, though he was shivering the entire time. But it was the thought that counted.

But now that she was free Amy wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to do, and actually found herself considering her options. And eventually she decided she didn’t want this to happen again.

“Now, where is that large hive she set up again?” She muttered, though there was a good chance that during the week without Taylor managing them they’d probably all cannibalized each other. Or starved.

As the swarm didn’t answer, Amy had to assume the girl had fallen asleep soon after she’d left, so she would have to find where it was herself.

Funny how much she relied on Taylor to navigate this castle.

Not that it was a surprise, the girl could map out a maze a third of a mile away and Amy was pretty sure the castle counted as one. Hopefully she would get better soon.

Still, she wasn’t no quitter!

So she explored the castle herself, using vague memories of the hive’s location as a guide.

“Need a damn map of this place…” Amy muttered, though, given how often the stairwells rearrange themselves and how some rooms disappeared and reappeared in completely different places she wasn’t too sure how valid any map would be.

The door she thought was right clicked open to reveal a, mostly, empty room. Only mostly, though. A portrait hung on one wall, looking quite old, filled with what looked like freshly graduated students. They seemed surprised to see her, though judging by the dust in the room they’d have been surprised to see anyone.

“Uh, sorry, wrong room,” Amy said, though she didn’t close the door and instead stepped inside to get a better look at the portrait.

“Tis no problem! Honestly, we’re surprised anyone would come in. This room has been long forgotten after all,” One of the students said, a Slytherin judging from the silver and green trim on their robe. “We’re the first graduating class of Hogwarts!” He explained with a smile, “Professors Gryffindor and Hufflepuff thought it a good idea to take it… though I don’t think they expected anyone to forget about the room…”

“Professors Gryffindor and Hufflepuff… holy shit,” Amy blinked owlishly, “Wow… ah, I’m Amy Carlson, first year Gryffindor,” She introduced herself.

“Well there’s a bit many of us here to give a good introduction from each of us,” A ravenclaw noted, leaning on the side of the portrait, “Do you think you can’t get someone to take us out of here? We’ve been quite bored for the last… several centuries.” A hufflepuff student coughed next to them, surprised by the bluntness of the request.

“Oh, oh yeah no problem,” Amy said before she thought about it before deciding why not, “Uh, Dipsy?” She asked.

The house elf appeared with a pop, “Yes miss?” She asked in turn, bowing to Amy.

“Yes, but could you bring the Headmaster here? I think he’d be interested in this,” Amy said, gesturing to the portrait filled with curious onlookers.

“Oh, is there only one headmaster now?” One of them asked curiously as Dipsy nodded and vanished to, presumably, get Dumbledore.

“There’s a deputy headmistress, but to the best of my knowledge yeah,” Amy said, “I’m muggleborn so I’m not entirely up to date with the magical world,” She explained.

“In our day, the four founders ruled as one,” A Gryffindor student said, “Though Slytherin was always… more prickly, particularly when it came to muggleborns.” The student next to him, in green and silver, nodded softly and seemed… a bit sad about that.

“Um, if it’s not too forward of me but… I was actually curious about something., Amy said, “But history portrays Slytherin as a big Pureblood supremacist and that he hated muggleborn. So… is that true or is there more to it than that?”

“Absolutely true,” A Slytherin student replied, “He didn’t think they should be taught at all. Even half-bloods he didn’t think deserved it. He only ever taught us purebloods. I thought he had a point too, but I grew out of it before graduating.” He paused for a moment, “Tell me, how is the Abbot family doing? Has it died out or married into another line?”

“Huh, I guess sometimes history does get it right.” Amy muttered thoughtfully, “Oh they’re fine I guess? There’s a Hannah Abbot in Hufflepuff.”

“Oh, how about the Longbottoms?” Asked a student in blue.

“Neville Longbottom is in Gryffindor with me.” Amy answered, “Something of a nervous fellow but rather nice.”

“Well, if he’s in Gryffindor then he must have some hope of overcoming that,” A Slytherin noted, “I’ve never met one that didn’t grow into a hard headed, no good, as-” He was smacked on the back of the head by someone’s hat before he finished, the man smirking as it happened. “See what I mean?”

Amy nodded, honestly she kept an eye on the clumsy boy. Though she did snicker faintly.

“Any Blacks?” An impetuous looking young man in green said, though he was standing quite close to a pretty girl in orange.

“Ah, no Blacks,” Amy said, “But I was there when Sirius Black was reunited with his goddaughter.”

He nodded, “Odd, we were always quite prolific. Must have primarily married into other families then.”

“I… can’t really say one way or the other,” Amy said, “Though from my understanding Sirius was framed for murder and locked away. But recent events have proved his innocence.”

He grimaced, “Unfortunate, being framed for murder can’t be pleasant. Isn’t pleasant, I should say, I inflicted that on rivals more than once in my life…” He trailed off for a moment, “They deserved it, but I could have probably rid myself of them in a different way. Like actually killing them.”

Especially when she got curious and looked up what a Dementor actually was, nasty creatures. And the Ministry just keeps them around to torment prisoners? That had to be some sort of crime against humanity…

“Oh, right, that’s where I read about the Patronus Charm,” Amy thought to herself.

“Am I interrupting something?” The headmaster said as he stepped into the room, smiling gently, “I’ve never seen this portrait before. Not even a day out of bed and you discover something new, the industrious spirit of the young will never cease to amaze.”

“Oh, no Headmaster.” Amy said as she turned to him with a blush, “Ah… I was actually looking for Taylor’s hive but got lost. It’s a good thing, I figure.”

One of the Hufflepuffs in the portrait looked at another and muttered, “Hive?”

“Sometimes, being lost is how we find a great many things,” Dumbledore said, “I imagine you had Dippet fetch me for a reason?” He asked, “I am a rather busy man these days, and a break is always appreciated, but I’m quite unsure…”

“Well, these fellows were hoping to be moved somewhere.” Amy said, “They’ve been there for centuries and are… well, bored, and seeing as their the first graduating class of Hogwarts I’d think you’d be curious, Headmaster.”

He blinked in surprise, “Indeed I am. And if they are bored… perhaps the Great Hall would be a good place for them?” He wondered aloud, stepping towards the painting and waving his wand, lifting the painting with such gentleness that it almost didn’t seem to be moving at all.

All the graduates cheered at that.

“Thanks for coming in, lass!” One of the graduates said, “Perhaps after we’re situated we could visit other portraits!”

“Oh I hope there’s a Potter or a Weasley still around,” A redhead said, standing next to a young man with black hair who was rolling his eyes, “Hearing how they’re doing would be wonderful.”

“There’s a few Wealey’s in Gryffindor.” The Headmaster said, ”And a single Potter, all are actually good friends with Ms Carlson.”

“Wonderful,” She said with a clap, “I had always hoped our penchant for getting into messes wouldn’t get all of us killed.”

“Well, the past few decades have been rather rough on the British wizarding world,” Dumbledore admitted, “The Potters, well they should hopefully start rebuilding in future years.”

“Bah, if the collapse of the Roman Empire couldn’t kill them then I doubt anything else could,” She replied, “Isn’t that right, dear?” Her voice was cheeky as she grinned at the man next to her, who proceeded to sigh and roll his eyes.

“Yes dear,” He said dryly as he pulled the woman into his side with a chuckle.

“Now then,” The headmaster started, “This will feel a bit odd, I’ve been told, so you may wish to sit down for this.” Most of them did, though some seemed to refuse out of stubbornness, before he waved his wand and made the painting vanish with a soft popping noise. “There, the portrait is safe in the Great Hall now. Thank you, Amelia, I shudder to think of how bored I would become after a century doing nothing.”

“Your welcome, Headmaster.” Amy said with a smile, “And, honestly Headmaster? I think you’ll outlive some of the students. And if you did pass, I imagine you’d put a portrait in the Great Hall to mess with every new batch of First years.”

“Oh no, I don’t think I’ll live so long as to do that. I hope not anyway,” He replied, waving it off, “And my portrait will go where all other headmasters since Godrick passed have gone, the headmaster’s office.”

“I can’t help but notice you didn’t deny the ‘messing with First Years’ thing,” Amy commented dryly.

“I cannot deny I find it amusing,” He replied, “But my role would be to advise the next Headmaster how to do it best.”

“Doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with it though,” Amy pointed out with a faint smile, honestly she enjoyed talking to the Headmaster.

It was like having a playful grandfather!

“Now, the hive dear Taylor created has, unfortunately, died,” He said, “It refused to eat anything the house elves provided and instead just… sat and did nothing. It doesn’t help that a large portion of them had died from the curse she was struck by either. But I think, and others would agree with me, that you should go to your friends and inform them that you’re up and walking again.” He looked at her knowingly, as though he’d experienced similar restlessness before.

“Ah, okay Headmaster.” There was a pause, “Uh… which way is the Great Hall?” Amy asked as her face and ears burned red in embarrassment.

“If you follow this light, you’ll find your way there,” He replied, flicking his wand to shoot out a birdlike animal made of light, it looked like his phoenix.

“Thank you,” A still embarrassed Amy squeaked out before she followed the light.

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