Standing before it felt like a fever dream.
When the trip to Castelobruxo was announced, Fila had thought they would use portkeys or even going by carriage.
And yes, carriage was right. But something about it wasn't right.
Both Fila and June looked up, above the carriage hovered a… balloon.
"Hey Fila, I know you're blind but is that a balloon carriage." She asked in disbelief.
Fila didn't bother answering as it sounded to dumb to even think about. But yes, Infront of them stood the transport of Ilvermorny.
A Wooden carriage, made from some orange type of wood. The Ballon had the same colors as the normal Ilvermorny school uniform, Dark blue with dark cherry red.
"Im starting to regret this…" Fila said to herself, but June heard it.
June let out a nervous little laugh, "At least if it pops, we'll have a great view of the Atlantic on the way down. I hope those leggings of yours are aerodynamic, Fila."
Fila didn't share the humor. She just stepped into the carriage.
Inside wasn't the interior she had expected. With magic the space inside was more like a manor that reminded a lot of the school.
The transition from the chilly morning air to the interior of the carriage was jarring. Stepping through the narrow wooden door felt like crossing a threshold back into the castle itself. The space expanded into a grand hallway lined with dark oak paneling, lit by floating candles that flickered with a steady, warm glow.
Painting on the walls were of students who had traveled before, or won Triwizard tournaments or duels.
"Alright everyone, there are rooms upstairs. Everyone pick one they all look the same." Professor Hale said in a normal toned voice.
Several students go into a sprint to get the best room, even when he just said all of them look the same.
Miles and Fila stood still, and instead started going through the rooms downstairs.
The main entrance had stairs leading up on both left and right. In the middle of the stairs laid a common room, much like the thunderbird common room. Couches, tables and fireplaces were placed here and there creating a comfortable talking space.
If you instead walked to the right at the entrance. A dinner area with a long table, filled with seats and dinner plates. And on the left was a classroom.
During their time away the would still hold some sort of class, due to them being gone for how ever long this event took. They wouldn't want to fall behind. Of course this wasn't an students idea. And when announced the students had all given their best groans collectively.
"I heard that they teach a lot more herbology there, so they will porbably love you as soon as you show them you little kitties." Miles said while looking at a book from one of the book shelfs in the classroom. "Oooh, look a potion book we don't have at the library,"
Fila didn't bother, she knew that potions was a subject she was doomed in.
Fila let out a soft, raspy huff of amusement as she leaned against the doorframe of the classroom. "You enjoy the potions, Miles. I'll stick to things that grow on their own without needing a specific stirring rhythm. I've already accepted that my relationship with cauldrons is strictly 'do not touch' if we want to reach Brazil in one piece."
Miles chuckled, tucking the book under his arm with a gleam in his eye. "Fair enough."
They finally decided to go pick a room for themselves. Since all the rooms closest to the stairs were already taken they would have to settle for the ones at the end of the hallway.
Opening the dark oak door to the bedroom surprised her. More spacious than she thought.
In the far corner of the room stood a bed, with a nightstand. the left wall had a little desk with school material on it, that showed even more that they would still study a lot.
Just when entering the room on the left laid a bathroom with a bath. Nothing fancy but her own bathroom for once definitely gave her a smile.
"My own bath," she rasped, the airy lilt of her voice reflecting a genuine, rare spark of pleasure. "No more waiting for June to finish her hair or listening to fifth years gossip in the stalls. Just silence."
She flopped down on her bed with a uncaring ease, she didn't care if she hit her head on the frame or if the bed wouldn't be soft enough. But to her surprise the bed actually had a soft mattress.
But laying and enjoying the bed wasn't something she even got to do for long.
*Knock Knock*
The door to her room let out two steady knocks from the outside. Fila just sighed and opened it with a magic flick of her finger.
The girl outside didn't wait for anything and just stepped in. "Fila, there is a information meeting in five minutes." Sera said while looking around the room. But she was disappointed to see that all rooms really did look the same.
Fila raised her head to look at her, "More information? How much do they have to say?"
Sera chuckled, "Everyone said the same. come on."
Fila let out a long, weary groan into her pillow, the soft fabric muffling the sound. The allure of her own private bath was already being overshadowed by the relentless bureaucracy of a school trip.
"I'm starting to think the true test of this tournament isn't the dueling, it's surviving the meetings," Fila rasped, pushing herself up from the soft mattress.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, her bare feet finding the plush carpet once more. Hugin and Munin, who had been on the verge of settling into a dormant state, stood up in perfect synchronization, their wooden joints making that familiar, dry clicking sound. Their violet eyes flared slightly, reflecting Fila's own mild annoyance.
But at the order of Fila they both laid down again.
Sera leaned against the doorframe. "See it on the bright side. Its in a flying balloon-carriage." She said with a fake smile, thinking she was so funny.
Fila gave her a "Haha" before heading downstairs to the long table of the, manor carriage? Or whatever you would call this.
Most students had already taken their seats, and even the professors had arrived. Fontaine sat at the far edge of the table, while professor Hale sat on the other. There were around four professors coming with on this trip. Fontaine, David Hale, and Madam Thorne the nurse of Ilvermorny. And Professor Bernard Whitcomb, the head of horned serpent, and the professor for history of magical America.
The dining area was already thick with the scent of roasted meat and something spicy that Fila assumed was a nod to their destination. As she approached the table, her bare feet felt the subtle vibration of the carriage's enchantments through the floorboards. She pulled out a chair next to June, and the poor girl looked down and saw her feet. and with the confusion of everything she looked at Fila.
"Why in the world are you bare feet?" She asked with a deadpan face. June had been through a lot of weird Ophelia things. Moving tree roots in the shape of panthers, looking with flower, and a lot more. But this was the one things she had to ask.
Fila made a little move with her feet, "I forgot them…" Fila said and lowered her head.
June stared at her for a long second, her fork frozen halfway to her mouth. The sheer, domestic normalcy of that excuse, a girl forgetting her shoes amidst the chaos of packing, clashed so violently with the "Champion of the Mountain" persona Fila had been wearing lately that it caused a temporary system malfunction in June's brain.
"You forgot them," June repeated, her voice flat. "The girl who single-handedly reimagined the school's landscaping and currently powers two wooden apex predators with her own nervous system... forgot her shoes."
Fila didn't look up, her toes curling slightly into the plush carpet. "The panthers take up a lot of mental space, June. I have a spare in the room."
June let out a long, dramatic sigh, but her pink aura softened into a shimmer of fond amusement. "I'm not even surprised. I have three pairs of boots in my trunk. One of them might fit you if we use a shrinking charm, but knowing you, you'll probably just grow a pair of bark-soles by the time we hit the Amazon."
"Don't give me ideas," Fila rasped, a tiny, genuine smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.
But in her mind she was actually considering it. and she started playing around with the idea of how to design them, and what the benefits would be. Maybe she could have them and in someway hear better or even feel surrounding better.
Professor Hale tapped his glass with a fork. And stood, "Alright everyone, the trip will take almost a full day. In the meantime, the champions will be going thorugh a bit more training. And the rest of you take this time to study." He simply said.
Filling the room with collected groans from both champions and spectators.
"Ophelia, you will train with the headmaster in training room two, and the rest in room one." He continued with, making Fila think that this might actually be fun.
Fila perked up at the mention of training with Fontaine. Training with the Headmaster was a far cry from sitting through a lecture on the cultural history of wand wood. If Fontaine wanted to see what she could do when the constraints of the school grounds were removed, she was more than happy to oblige.
Ophelia knew she was far from even gracing the headmaster, it would be foolish for a third year to even have the thought about hitting a professor with a spell even. But. Not all students are trained by two of the most feared dark wizard and witch in recent years.
Would she stand a chance with this, no definitely not. But this could also provide her a point of learning from yet another expert wizard.
But here's the thing, Fila loves to challenge herself. So naturally she thinks she could beat him to the ground, and when she doesn't she would get a self-boost to want to grow stronger. Think of it as a way to punish herself.
The information gathering ended with lunch served directly after.
And to everyone's surprise, the food was different from what was served in the school. Some things were the same, like pancakes and mashed potatoes. But the table also held a hint of where they were heading,
The table was a vibrant spread of colors and scents that Fila's sapphire vision picked up as swirling heat signatures. There were bowls of Açaí topped with tropical fruits that smelled tart and refreshing, alongside Pão de Queijo, small, warm cheese breads that emitted a comforting, savory steam. The spice Hale had mentioned was definitely present in the Feijoada, a rich black bean and meat stew that smelled heavy and complex.
Spicy food had never been good for her, but she had to admit that this was good even with the spicy level of an active volcano in her mouth. Fila reached for a glass of water, her tongue tingling from the black bean stew.
"Why did you eat so much, it way too spicy." June complained as her whole head had turned red from the exact same thing.
Fila only looked at her while drinking her water, gulping it down to answer her question through eye contact only. 'because its good'.
"If you're finished with your volcanic beans, Ophelia," Fontaine said, standing up and smoothing the front of his robes, "I believe Training Room Two is waiting. Professor Hale, I'll leave the rest of the schedule in your capable hands."
Fila stood up, the chair scraping softly against the floor. June gave her a supportive, if slightly worried, thumbs-up, while Miles didn't even look up from his new potion book.
Everyone around the table seemed at unease seeing Ophelia walk towards the training room in the very back of the floating manor. None of them would even think about going against the headmaster, or even a professor. But Fila could feel the adrenaline already, and it felt oh so lovely.
Headmaster Fontaine opened one of the doors, with a two edged into it.
And from the doorpost Fila felt just as confused as when she stepped on the carriage. Another pocket dimension inside a pocket dimension.
Fontaine saw the confusion on her. "Magic truly never seize to amaze, does it?" he said with a chuckled.
A forest laid inside the room, as she stepped through the door. She found herself in a clearing that could be in just any forest. Birds, insects, flowers of different kinds. All with lives and functioning ecosystems.
"Professor is this a place in the real world?" she asked while making a sunflower grow a bit bigger than usual.
Fontaine looked around, took a deep breath, "I don't know actually. This carriage is old, made from very deep magic. And I still wonder how it was created." He answered, it seemed not even the headmaster himself knew everything.
Fila looked around, felt the air around her, felt the flowers and trees in this magical place. But it all seemed ordinary to the naked eye, but fila doesn't have eyes and they are definitely not naked.
The trees that she felt aren't really trees, the are like props made from something that she couldn't describe. "It seems you have figured it out already, I'm not surprised." Fontaine said with a slight smile.
"It doesn't feel like an illusion, so it like a fake magical movie set?" she said as she took a fist of dirt from the ground.
Fontaine twirled his wand, and suddenly the vibrant forest disappeared and became a dueling ring. The dirt in her hand simply wasn't there anymore.
Fila didn't think about questions anymore, it wouldn't do her any good knowing anyway. And as he said, he didn't know either.
Fila picked her wand out of her little holster and held it loosely in her right hand, and turned into position. Right shoulder towards him slightly with her head looking towards him.
The headmaster saw her intention and smiled. He had wondered this whole time what made Ophelia click, her drive to go on. But maybe its just simply that she just stands up again. Noone to prove herself to, only for herself.
Fontaine didn't hesitate, throwing spells left and right that tore through the air of the magical stadium.
Seeing the magic arrows coming towards her with speed unlike anything she had seen before, it made her smile.
She spun on her right heel, and leaned her head to the left. Making two of the spells fly right past her, the last spell was blocked with a short Protego spell that seemed to crack by the impact of the spell. Seeing her time to strike she flicked her wand and four spells shot out in a line.
Each of the were flicked away by the headmaster.
But Fila wasn't done, and had a vine sharp as a scalpel sneak up in the headmaster from behind while he was busy playing with her little spells. But as the last spell got flicked into the ceiling her turned and cut the vine like nothing.
"Very good, but not enough." He said with a smile before yet again waving his wand. This time the ground started to shake.
The shaking made her loose balance, and she had to think of something fast.
Her eyes shot towards the ground beside Fontaine. The vine she had sent before still laid there.
During her trails and errors of training with her grandparents she always needed to think one step ahead. And this time she had, giving the vine different seeds that could grow out when she needed them.
One of the seeds popped open and out came a mini version of Munin, aiming directly for the hand of the headmaster. The ground stopped shaking and Fila regained her balance, but before she could do anything she saw a spell coming right for her.
And with a thud she hit the ground behind her.
The pain didn't bother her, but the confusion of what had just happened did. She looked at the headmaster who had the biggest smirk she had ever seen on a professor.
"You know Ophelia, I need to give you and apology." He said while she still sat on the ground.
And she thought she had hit her head or something after she heard what he said. "I'm pretty sure I didn't hit you head professor. So what nonsense are you speaking?"
He chuckled. "For what I've said to you, and treated you." he lowered his wand finally. "I realized during the summer when I heard what happened to you, that I've been so wrong this entire time." his words came out heavy, not only for him but even for Ophelia to hear.
"I realized that the ones hunting you, and trying to hurt you are going to come even if you hide." He said. Before the summer and even early in her school term, he had always told her to basically stay hidden forever. He thought that she could stay low and avoid trouble. "But trouble found you anyway."
He walked slowly towards her now, "I was wrong and you were right. You tried telling me that even if you hid, they would still come. And they did." He said now standing before her. He reached out a hand to help her up.
She didn't take it right away, still replaying the words she had just heard in her head. "Are you telling me that you don't want me to hide anymore?" she asked as she took his hand and stood up with the gentle support of the headmaster.
"I'm saying, that you should do things as you want to do them." he said with a smile.
Fila looked at him. "Isn't that what I've been doing when not listening to your bad advise?"
"HA, get your wand ready. And don't hold back now." He said as he stepped back into his original position.
Fila didn't wait, she aimed her hand at his back, and spells flew towards him.
After an hour, Fila found herself breathing heavily. The spells didn't work, but he didn't say anything about trying to shot him in the back either.
She looked at him, and found herself annoyed by the fact the he still seemed fine. No heavy breathing, no sweat and not a single bruise or cut on him.
The gap between a student and a Headmaster of Fontaine's caliber was a canyon, but Fila wasn't looking at the distance; she was looking at the target. Through her sapphire vision, the Headmaster was still a brilliant, steady sun, his magic unruffled even after an hour of her relentless assault.
"Frustrating, isn't it?" Fontaine said, his voice as smooth as if they were merely sharing tea. "To throw everything you have at a wall and not see a single crack."
Fila bit her lip, "Alright old man, as you wish. I've hit harder walls," Fila rasped, her voice catching that airy, defiant lilt. "I just haven't figured out where the mortar is weak on this one yet."
She aimed her wand yet again.
Fontaine smiled and admired her determination, or is it her ego.
Six bamboo spears shot out of the ground, all aiming for his chest and back. Fontaine casted a Protego that didn't seem like the normal one taught to students. The spears snapped when they came in contact with the shield, spreading splinters all over the floor.
And she did it again, this time they were bigger and more of them.
Fontaine looked around and focused on some of them, cutting them with cutting spells and others he destroyed yet again with the shield charm. After getting rid of the sharp bamboo sticks, he turned back to Ophelia.
Who wasn't there anymore.
A spell hit him from the back, but was blocked yet again by the shield charm he hastily casted. He turned behind him and saw her standing there. Taking deep breaths. "How did you get there so quickly?"
Fila still aimed her wand at the headmaster, half in shock and half astonishment. "I don't know." She finally let out, and relaxing her arm letting it sink down slowly. "I just did this." she said a disappeared and reappeared in another spot to the right.
Fontaine looked at her with surprise, "So you just learnt ancient apparition just like that," he said with a soft laugh. He tucked in wand into his pocket and looked at her. "I know she said you were talented in ancient magic, but not like this."
She blinked. "Who told you?"
Fila stood there, she had never told the old man this. and she didn't know who this 'she' had been. This all made Fila's skin crawl as she thought someone had spied on her.
"Your book" he said simply.
This didn't need further explanation, there could only be one book that he was talking about. The self-writing book that he had given her. "How do you know about what the book has said, and how is it a she?"
Fontaine conjured two chairs for the two of them. he sat down and waited for Fila to do the same.
She took the last of her heavy breaths, feeling her lungs filled again and not so heavy anymore. And she sat down, but with it being a simple chair she felt uncomfortable.
"The book you have is very special, and it has a sister book. Which I have." He started explaining. "The sister book is the same, and I can talk with it just as you. sometime it tells me what you have done and talked about,"
"So, it's not just a diary," she rasped, her voice regaining its usual airy, slightly detached lilt. " You've been reading my progress like a morning newspaper. I hope the grammar was at least passable."
He shook his head. "No, im only reading what she tells me and she dosent tell me a lot, but some parts."
The two sat in silence, mostly on reflecting everything. At least for Fila. She didn't actually know she could do some sort of apparition until now. It had all happened so quickly.
When she attacked Fontaine she used the bamboo as distraction while she would run to his side, and hopefully land a hit while he was occupied with the spear shotting out of the ground. But he made fast work of them, and ones Fila saw him finished she had just wanted to get behind him really badly. And in doing so she used everything she had, including magic.
The silence in the room stretched out, settling over them as the initial surge of adrenaline from the duel began to dissipate. Fila leaned back against the conjured chair, letting the cool air of the simulated arena soothe her.
"I didn't exactly mean to jump," she admitted, her voice dropping some of its sharp edge. "I just didn't want to be where I was standing anymore. It felt like... like the space just gave way."
Fontaine watched her with a calm, patient expression. "That is often how the most potent magic begins. Not with a formula, but with a necessity. You felt the need to move, and the world moved for you. or you moved your world."
Apparition was a difficult spell to master. Getting it right was crucial, injuries were very common when starting to learn the spell. The reality of the danger started to sink in. Most students spent their sixth year sweating over hoops in the Great Hall, terrified of leaving a piece of an eyebrow behind. She had just bypassed the hoops, the classroom, and the safety precautions by sheer force of will in the middle of a high-speed flying carriage.
"Now don't be scared, you did great. Even managing to surprise me, if I hadn't heard you behind me. You would most likely hit me." He said while standing up, the conjured chair creaking slightly as his weight eased. "Now lets go back at it, if you managed to hit me. I will tell you who the book actually is."
The fatigue she had felt all disappeared in an instant as she heard the challenge and the reward. She basically jumped up from her chair, and took her position. "Alright I wont hold back this time old man."
The headmaster huffed. "Calling me an old man, I will have you know I'm at the ripe age of seventy-six."
Fila saw the headmaster get into his position yet again, this time she had a goal and a reward at that. The last matched had proved something, she had found his weakness. Speed. And sure he was plenty fast even with his age, but she had almost got him in the end.
The pouch on her belt opened and seeds flew out with help of her magic, scattering all over the ground. Fontaine looked on with interest, seeing the new tactic unfold.
A smile formed on her face, something that he needed wasn't needed for Fila.
The seeds popped open and small mushrooms bloomed, they looked like small ballons, or golf balls. Fontaine raised an eyebrow. Before the mushrooms themselves popped and released a brown cloud of smoke. Puffballs. Usually they only release a very small amount of dust spores, but with her magic she could enhance them.
As the arena quickly filled with smoke, hindering the vision of the headmaster. He smiled. "Smart girl." He mumbled for himself as Fila disappeared behind the smoke.
Fontaine let out a burst of air from his wand, blowing some of the smoke away. But it quickly formed back, and became even thicker.
Zip he heard on his right, he turned and shot a couple of magic arrows in the direction.
The magic arrows hissed through the thick, brown fog, but they met only air. Fontaine didn't look bothered; he looked engaged. He kept his wand low, his ears attuned to the softest vibration in the simulated arena.
Zip.
Another sound, this time from the left. He flicked his wand, sending a pulse of golden energy that acted like a sonar, rippling through the spores. It caught a silhouette for a fraction of a second, a flicker of grey and white, before it vanished again.
"Using the spores to mask your 'jump' is ingenious, Ophelia," Fontaine called out, his voice calm despite the tactical disadvantage. "But remember, I don't need to see you to know where you aren't."
Fila didn't answer. She was moving with a fluidity she hadn't known she possessed. Every time she "jumped," the world felt like it folded around her for a heartbeat, and then she was simply there.
She could clearly see his magic through the thick smoke, his magic being shot out.
After Zipping out and in a few times here and there she stopped and quickly shot an arrow at her professor before zipping again. and than again, and again. all around him, making him disoriented would be her best bet for even managing to hit him right now.
Fontaine turned and faced the arrows coming out of the smoke towards him with ease. But what he didn't expect was for the girl to Zip out right in front of him, he felt a push of magic into his chest. He slightly lost balance but regained it just as fast.
He stood shocked, he looked down at the traces of magic still on his chest.
"I got you, old man." Ophelia said in front of him, making him raise his head. She had hit him with just a push of ancient magic, almost like a Banishing Charm, or depulso.
Fontaine stayed still for a long moment, the brown spore-mist swirling slowly around his knees as it began to settle. He looked down at the faint, shimmering emerald residue on his dueling robes, the physical proof of the strike, and then back at Fila. A slow, genuine laugh rumbled in his chest, one that lacked any of the professorial weight he usually carried.
"Seventy-six years," he mused, tucking his wand back into his pocket with a definitive click. "And it takes a third-year with no shoes to finally find a gap in my defense. I suppose I'm getting slow in my sunset years."
Fila jumped. "I fucking did it," and then sat down on the ground. Smiling ear to ear. "I can die happy now. No scratch that, I have to kill dark wizards a bit more. But after that I can die happy."
Fontaine laughed, a warm, resonant sound that seemed to chase away the last of the simulated fog. He didn't mind the language; in this moment, the gap between Headmaster and student had shrunk to something much more like two duelists sharing a victory.
"Let's hold off on the dying part for a few more decades, shall we?" he said, walking over to her. He didn't offer a hand this time, sensing she needed a moment to just exist in the victory. "But yes, you 'fucking' did it. You found the rhythm."
Fila leaned back on her elbows, her bare heels digging into the floor. her heart still beat hard behind her ribs, jumping in and out had brought her to the absolute edge of what she had in stamina.
"So," she rasped, her airy lilt a bit breathless but triumphant. "The book. The deal. Spill it, old man. Who is she?"
Fontaine sat back down in his chair, leaning forward with his hands clasped. "The spirit in your book is a fragment of Rionach Steward. She was the daughter of Isolt Sayre, the founder of Ilvermorny. She was a witch who believed that magic wasn't something you memorize from a scroll, but something you live."
Fila blinked, her sapphire vision focusing on him. "I've been writing my complaints to a Sayre? That feels like some sort of academic sacrilege."
"She's enjoyed every word of it," Fontaine chuckled. "Rionach didn't much care for the 'proper' way of doing things. She preferred honesty. That's why the book only writes back when you're being yourself. It's not spying, Ophelia. It's a mirror. She was the one who told me about your summer."
"Did she also mention how bad ass I am, for hitting my headmaster in a duel. Ohhhhh, yeah. Fila one, headmaster eight." A slow burn, but she would catch up.
(ive decided to rename the the story, it will now have the name. Harry Potter and the flower of Ilvermorny. and it will also recive a new cover. so watch out for that. thanks for reading!)