Chapter Thirty-Two: A Practical Lesson in Legilimency
Lottie was drowning in snakes. They were everywhere”below her feet, under her arms, winding around her neck. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew this was a dream, but she wasn’t able to escape. She writhed in their grasp, but they only held onto her tighter.
One slithered up her leg and wrapped itself around her waist”its scales were cold and reminded her of”the snakeskin”the snakeskin from the secret chamber and illustrated in the Dark Magic book. She could feel its brittle scales in her fingers. The reptiles coiled around her shoulders; she tossed the skin and it skidded across the sleek, wooden floor.
The snakes paused. They turned, tongues licking the air. And then they left, slithering away from Lottie.
Behind them, they left a book”small and made from leather.
“The diary!” Lottie’s eyes flew open. She sat up and looked around. She could just see the sun emerging above the horizon from the window of the tower dormitory.
“Excuse me?” Andrea’s groggy voice was hardly audible from the opposite bed. “What diary?”
“Oh”er”my diary,” Lottie lied quickly. She hadn’t told Andrea about the diary. “I’d been writing a journal, but I had lost it. And I just remembered where it is.”
“Oh.” Andrea turned over. “Where is it?”
“Er”it’s wrapped in one of my sweaters.”
“Oh. Great. I’m happy for you”but now I’m going back to bed.”
“Mmm. Me too.” Lottie stared at the ceiling and listened as Andrea’s breathing became slow and rhythmic.
How could she have forgotten about the diary? She had originally found it in Grimmauld Place”where was it now? Lottie rolled over, mentally skimming every corner of Alsemore.
Andrea woke an hour later. Lottie, sitting up against the graying wall, watched her roll over and slowly push herself up to sitting. “What time is it?” Andrea asked, pulling her taped glasses off of her bedside table and pushing them up her nose.
“Seven.” Lottie didn’t take her eyes off of the window. “We should go down to breakfast so we can be ready for our duels today. I need to practice more so I can beat him.”
Andrea rubbed her eyes under her glasses. “Beat who? That boy?” A shrewd grin cracked Andrea’s face. “Why do you care so much?”
“Honestly, Andrea, can’t I just have some academic interests?”
Andrea raised her eyebrows. “Not usually, no.”
“Well. I like dueling.” Lottie pushed her covers off and stood up. “And I’m going to beat François by the time we leave whether you approve of the spells I use or not. Now, come on. Let’s go down to breakfast.”
Lottie was early to Dueling Class. She sat cross-legged in one of the dueling courts, running a list of spells through her head. It seemed easy enough. If she could overpower François right at the beginning, she would win before it was over.
“What are you doing ‘ere so early?” asked a familiar voice.
Lottie didn’t turn around to face François, but a smile spread across her face. “Getting ready so I can beat you.”
“Psh.” François’s laughter was loud and booming. “I ‘ave four years more experience zan you. I ‘ave dueled and destroyed Deaz Eaters; do you really zink you can defeat me?”
“Yes.” Lottie stood up and pulled out her wand. “How about starting the duel a bit early?”
François laughed again. “As you wish.” He sauntered to the other side of the court, pulled out his wand and bowed. Lottie inclined her head and”immediately”shouted, “Petrificus Totalus!”
François blocked it easily.
Lottie jabbed her wand toward him again. “Stupefy!”
With the slightest wave of his wand, a shower of sparks shot toward Lottie.
“Shit! Protego!” The shield was strong, but not strong enough to block the entire curse. Sparks flew toward her, burning the edges of her face and creating little holes in her robes.
“Tarentallegra!” she yelled. Blocked. “Stupefy!” Blocked again.
With a running start, François swished his wand. Water”more water than Lottie had ever seen all at once in her life”flew out. It covered the entire floor; Lottie was drenched up to her ankles. “Water?” she asked. “Hah. You think water can hurt me?”
The door opened. Bahorel stood silently in the frame. Panic rose in Lottie as she worried he would get angry; instead, he raised his eyebrows and motioned for them to continue. His feet squelched as he tread through the water. She watched the entire class file inside. Andrea’s eyes were wide behind her he nodded toward François. “Well? Carry on.”
Lottie reacted immediately. “Stupefy!”
“Protego!”
“Stupefy!”
François smiled as he blocked it and sent one more Stunner in her direction. Lottie didn’t react quickly enough; her shield flickered. In a last attempt to avoid the curse, she dodged to the side. She missed the spell successfully, but all of the water caused her to skid across the floor. She slammed against the padded wall and fell onto the damp ground.
“Well done, François,” Bahorel said. “Creative.” He turned to the rest of the class and began addressing them in French. François took the opportunity to trot over to Lottie through the water and offer a hand up.
“Zat was very impressive,” François said.
“I didn’t win.” Lottie stood up and wrung the water out of her robes.
“Still”it was quite good. You ‘ave not been training for long and you still put up a very creative fight. Are you in pain?”
Lottie rubbed her side that had slammed against the wall. “A bit,” she said.
“’Ere, let me take you to zee ‘ospital wing.” François leaned over to Bahorel, muttered a few words in French, and opened the door to the classroom. “’Ow long will you be ‘ere?” he asked as they headed up a flight of stairs.
“Er”about a week and a half only.”
“You will ‘ave to train hard, zen, if you want to beat me before zat.” François boomed with laughter. Lottie smiled shyly. “And quickly too,” François added. “I believe Bahorel will soon begin using distractions to make zee duels more realistic.”
“What kind of distractions?”
“Oh”nozing out of zee ordinary. A… ‘ow you say épouvantard?”
Lottie shrugged as they rounded the corner. She had never heard of one before.
“Or ah… well. Sometimes ‘e uses just physical barriers to make it more realistic, you understand?”
“Oh. Yes.”
“Well.” François stopped walking. “’Ere is zee ‘ospital wing. You can get zat injury looked at.”
Bahorel didn’t mention distractions until their second to last Dueling class. “I assume you are familiar wiz zee ways to protect yourself against Dark creatures?” he asked, rolling the tip of his wand through his graying fingers.
“Er”no,” Andrea said. “Not really.”
“What ‘ave zey been teaching you?” Bahorel flicked his wand; two rolls of parchment appeared and dropped into Lottie and Andrea’s laps. “You will learn zese and perfect zem. Tomorrow, you duel.”
Lottie felt like she had swallowed a live fish. Her stomach churned as she lined outside of the Dueling classroom the next day. She tossed her wand and caught it by the handle, reviewing the list of spells in her head. She knew all of the theories”or she hoped she did; she wasn’t able to find any real way to practice against the Dark creatures, so the best she could do was to memorize the spells.
Bahorel skulked down the corridor. “Bonjour,” he said to the class as he pushed open the door.
“What are those?” Andrea asked, pointing toward trunks piled in the corner.
“Do not open zem. You will see shortly.”
The other students filed in. The oldest man, who could not have been much younger than Bahorel himself, sulked in the corner, muttering to himself in gruff French. A girl with dark eyes and hair, only slightly older than Lottie and Andrea, eyed the trunk warily.
“Do you think he could be hiding distractions in there?” Andrea asked Lottie in an undertone. “Invisibility cloaks and stuff?”
“I dunno,” Lottie said. “Probably.”
The stillness was broken when François, booming with laughter, crossed the threshold of the classroom with his friend. The class glared at him, but before he could say anything, Bahorel clapped his hands together to draw attention. He began addressing them in French. Occasionally, one of the other students would glance at Lottie and Andrea out of the corner of their eye, but would quickly snap back to attention. Bahorel clapped his hands again and they broke off into their partners.
After a quick bow, François and Lottie began dueling so quickly and fiercely that several other pairs dodged out of the way. Lottie sent Stunner after Stunner at him, but he managed to block each other. “Sectumsempra!” she shouted.
This time, François’s shield shattered. Just in time, he dodged to the side, but the curse snagged his leg. Shouting French profanities, he picked himself up and faced her again. Blood gushed down his leg, staining the hem of his robe and leaving a trail of scarlet behind him. Before he could send another curse at her, Bahorel appeared behind him and flicked his wand. The trunk closest to the pair flew open and with a sharp hissing noise, a dead body appeared. The lifeless form of Lottie Rowe stared blankly at the ceiling, creating a barrier between the two duelers.
Lottie’s legs nearly gave out. Fear rushed through her veins, freezing her heart and clogging her throat. Everything around her faded away into nothingness. No class, no Bahorel, no François”only Lottie and the body.
But she wasn't dead -- she was dueling. How could she be there and here? Lottie stared numbly, her wand dropping several inches in her sweaty palm. "A Boggart," she gasped.
What had she read about Boggarts? Laughter killed them”and the incantation to make them go away was”was”“R-ridikkulus,” she said feebly. Nothing happened. She backed up so quickly that she ran into Andrea, who had lowered her wand to watch her fight. “Ridikkulus!” she shouted again. The corpse shuddered. Its arms slapped against the floor and its eyes rolled into the back of its head.
François didn’t take the opportunity to attack, instead watching her battle with the Boggart. Lottie tore her eyes away. François’s eyes were wide”staring. Lottie’s heart beat faster. If she could get the Boggart to turn to him”“Ridikkulus!”
Crack!
The Boggart changed shape. It was a body still, but not hers anymore. A smaller frame with a mop of blond hair lay spread-eagle on the cold floor. It was François’s turn to stumble backwards a foot. He jabbed his wand toward the Boggart.
Lottie looked from the Boggart to him, a sly smile spreading across her face. Now was her chance. “Oppungo!” she shouted. With an explosion like a canon, birds flew out of her wand, pecking at every inch of François they could reach. Lottie chuckled to herself before shouting, “Incendio!”
Flames surrounded François”the birds that had been attacking him caught on fire and, instead of falling to the ground limp, they attacked more ferociously than before.
Cruel laughter erupted from Lottie before she could hold it in. The Boggart shuddered even more violently and, with a crack, it disappeared. François’s cries of pain filled the hall. His robes engulfed him in flames, burned bright red against his pale skin.
“Arretez!” shouted Bahorel. He flicked his wand shot a stream of water, drenching the flames. “Rowe is zee winner,” he said, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening.
Dripping with water, François picked himself up. His face was raw and pink from the burn. “Felicitations,” he said, extending a hand. “You are ruthless.”
“Thanks.” Lottie smiled. “I hope you’re not too hurt.”
“Not very ‘urt, no,” he said. “I should probably go down to zee ‘ospital wing to get zis burn and zis cut looked at.” He began limping toward the door, leaving a trail of blood from his cut leg behind him.
“Here”I’ll walk with you.” Lottie pulled the classroom door open and smiled.
“Lottie?” Andrea asked, lowering her wand in the middle of her duel. “Where are you going?”
“I’ll see you later,” Lottie said. “Don’t worry”oh”and watch out.”
“What”ARGH!” Andrea stumbled back into the wall after her dueling partner’s Blasting Curse hit her square in the chest.
“We ‘ave more in common zan I first zought,” François said as they left the classroom.
“What?”
“Your Boggart””
“Oh.” Lottie’s face burned red. “I think”that”I was just””
“Zat was your sister, no? She looked very much like you.”
Lottie stopped in her tracks. Her sister? He didn’t think it was”“Yeah, my sister,” she said. “Er”Helen.” Lottie felt a plunge of guilt for using Andrea’s sister’s name. “She’s still in the Muggle camps”only nine years old. I’m hoping she turns out to be a witch like me, but I worry about her, you know?”
“I understand completely,” François said as he began limping up the stairs. “Mine is my brozzer. ‘E is about your age, I would say. ‘E is training now, but soon ‘e will fight just like everybody else”I worry zat ‘e will get…” He cast his eyes toward the floor and ran a hand through his hair.
“Yeah…” Lottie stopped in the threshold of the hospital wing door.
François grinned and limped up to the Healer. Lottie leaned against the stone frame and listened to what had happened. The Healer nodded gruffly and retreated into his office to fetch some potions. With a glance behind her, Lottie shuffled inside. “It’s nothing serious, I hope?” A smile inched across her face.
“Non, non.” François waved a hand in the air casually. “’E just will use some potions to fix zees burn.” He sighed and rested his chin in his hands.
Lottie did the same. It was her last day”if she didn’t ask him how he felt about her now, she probably would never know. It was stupid to think he liked her like she did… but he was always so nice to her. If there were a way she could find out…
Lottie sat up; an idea hit her like a Blasting Curse. There was a way she could find out. She wasn’t supposed to use Legilimency except for emergencies, but…
François hissed as the Healer applied a thick, orange paste to the raw burns on his arms. He nodded at the instructions to sit and wait for the paste to heal the burns before leaving. François sighed dramatically and gave Lottie a knowing smile.
Lottie glanced over her shoulder; nobody else was in the hospital wing; nobody would see. François probably wouldn’t even know. She watched him through the corner of her eye until his eyes glazed over. She focused on drawing up the bead of energy. She was a little out of practice, but in a minute, the bead was there.
François, relaxed and unsuspecting, was one of her easiest targets yet. She rushed into his mind. Images and voices she didn’t recognized filled her head. François and his brother dueled side by side; pride swelled inside of her. Sorrow filled her as he filed through a funeral procession, eyes downcast. But the sorrow disappeared as butterflies quickly replaced them. The girl had a swoop of chestnut hair and eyes that glimmered when she spoke to him. Her laugh tinkled as she leaned against him, resting her hand on his knee.
No… Lottie’s stomach plummeted”that wasn’t François’s memories”that was her.
The memory shifted. The girl was close to him”too close. Her dark hair skimmed his arms as she leaned closer and closer…
“You have a girlfriend?” Lottie shouted.
François stood up. “What was zat?” he asked drawing his wand. “What did you do to me?”
“You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend!” Lottie roared.
“What does zat ‘ave to do wiz anyzing?”
“It has to do with everything!” Lottie drew her own wand. “How are you confused about this? How””
François stared at her. He reached a shaky hand to her shoulder. “Lottie””
“Stupefy!”
A shield appeared in front of François, causing the spell to rebound on Lottie. She leapt onto the bed, avoiding the hex by centimeters.
“Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé?” demanded the gruff-looking Healer as he stormed out of his office.
François turned to the Healer and began animatedly describing what had happened. Lottie stumbled off the bed. She could feel tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Before the Healer or François could notice her, she took off”out of the hospital wing, up the stairs and into the tower dormitory.
“Lottie?” Andrea stood up from the bed; her glasses were off and her face was lined with cuts”from an unsuccessful duel, Lottie guessed. “What happened?”
“He has a girlfriend!”
“What?”
“He had a girlfriend all along. He led me on and didn’t tell me about her.”
“Who? Oh.”
Lottie fell onto her bed and slammed a fist into her pillow. “I hate him,” she growled. “I hate every part of him. His”his stupid hair.” A tear tripped from the tip of her nose and fell onto her bedspread. “And his ugly”ugly blue eyes”and his idiotic accent.”
“Er”Lottie””
“What?” Lottie spun around furiously.
Andrea inched toward her. “Lottie, did he tell you that”that he was dating someone?”
“No”aren’t you listening? That’s the point”he didn’t tell me.”
“How did you find out then?”
Lottie’s first dropped to her side. “He”ah”I””
“Lottie,” Andrea began cautiously, “what did you do?”
Guilt swelled up inside of her like boiling honey. “I”I used Legilimency.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.” Lottie pressed her face into her pillow. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. But now he hates me and I’m in trouble for hexing him.”
“You hexed him?” Andrea’s voice raised an octave.
“It didn’t hit him! Besides he deserved it.” Lottie picked up her head, sighed heavily, and let it fall back onto the mattress.
Andrea took a breath and held it for a minute. “Well, the good news is we’re leaving tomorrow morning. And look at the bright side.” She smiled shrewdly. “You completely slaughtered him in your last duel.”
Halfway to Infinity by Eponine
Chapter Notes: Sorry about the absurdly long wait, friends. This was completely my fault. Moving into college is time consuming! As always, thanks to my wonderful beta, TheBird for keeping me on track with this one. I miss you, chica!
This chapter is dedicated to my awesome hall-mates. This place wouldn't be half as fun without you guys!