The Other Side: A Harry Potter FanFiction

Chapter XIX

Andromeda, who'd been taking a sip of her wine, choked and began to cough and splutter. Snape paused with a fork halfway to his mouth. Remus seemed to have forgotten how to swallow for a moment.

            And everybody was staring as if she'd said something so crazy that she belonged in a mental asylum.

            "Teach you how to use magic?" Sirius repeated incredulously. His eyes were wide with shock.

            "From what you've told me," Lana said slowly, carefully pronouncing every word. "Wizards can come from wizarding families or muggle families... and if a wizard can come from a muggle family, why can't a muggle be a wizard?"

            "Because muggles are muggles," Remus said, "They can't use magic. It's never been done."

            "If it's never been done, how do you know it can't be done?" Lana challenged.

            There was a moment of silence before Cedric muttered, "She has a point."

            "No, she does not," Sirius said, "Muggles cannot learn magic. They simply can't."

            "But why can't they?"

            "Think about it, Sirius," Andromeda said, "Squibs can learn minimal magical spells. It takes years and years of practice, but after awhile it does work."

            "But Lana is not a Squib. Lana is a muggle."

            "What's a Squib?" Lana asked.

            "A person born into a wizard family who has no magical ability whatsoever," Sirius replied, "They have a little bit of magic in them, but they really can't do much of anything. Squibs can learn magic because of that small amount of it inside them. Muggles don't have magic in them, therefore they can't learn magic."

            "But then how does a wizard get born from two muggles?" Lana demanded, "There has to be something genetic with the whole magic thing... if a wizard can be born from two muggles, then the muggles have to have some magic in them. That means I can learn if I really try!"

            "'Trying' isn't enough," Sirius said, "The most you'd be able to learn is a few little tricks. That's not nearly enough to use in a war."     

            "Please," Lana pleaded, "At least give it a shot!"

            Sirius bit his lip. "Who would teach you?"

            "You can be my teacher," she said, "Sirius, I want to do this. I want to help!"

            All eyes were on the two of them. The entire room was silent, waiting for Sirius to say something.

            He turned his light grey eyes to her.

            She mouthed "Please" to him.

            After what felt like an eternity, he let out an exasperated breath and rolled his eyes. "Fine."       

            Lana smiled brightly, restraining herself from throwing her arms around him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

            "You will practice practically nonstop, though," Sirius said, "You'll take breaks to eat, go to the bathroom, those things. That's it. Nothing else. If you are going to go into war, you need to work a lot harder than any Squib would."

            "I promise you, I will!" Lana said, and actually did throw her arms around him. "Thank you, thank you-!"

            "I got it," he muttered, brushing her off. "You're welcome. Now calm down and eat your dinner before it gets cold."

            Trying to hold in her excitement, she sat back in her chair, took her fork, and jabbed it into a piece of steak.

            "You're sure you want to do this?" Cedric asked in a whisper as the adults started up a conversation about who they were going to get involved in the war.

            Lana nodded. "I'm not the kind of person to sit around and let people fight my fight for me."

            "You realize if Voldemort finds out about any of this, you will be killed along with the rest of us," he said.

            "He won't find out."

            "But if he does-"

            "If he does," she interrupted, "Then I'll die with the rest of you."

            His eyebrows rose as if this shocked him, but he went back to his dinner and ate silently the rest of the night.

            It was hard to believe the night had started with something as horrible as the death of Regulus Black, and ended with the ideas of a war running through everyone's mind.

            After dinner, as Andromeda, Regina, and Kreacher all helped clean the dishes, Sirius pulled Lana into the drawing room.

            "I need to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into," he whispered quickly. "People die in these battles. Especially the inexperienced."

            "I understand," Lana said, "I don't care."

            "You would risk your life," he said incredulously, "Leave behind the world you came from. All to fight in a battle that isn't even yours to fight?"

            "This isn't just a wizard battle," she replied, "This is about saving the muggles once and for all."