The Lion, The Wolf and The Phoenix ~ Harry Potter

Chapter Twenty-Three | The Last of Her Race

Ariana certainly did not go straight back to her common room. As soon as she was a safe distance of three corridors away, at which point she could no longer smell the horribly sweet perfume of Umbridge's, Ariana all but slammed her back against the cold stone wall behind her and peered at her hand. Instead of her skin being so pale it was nearly translucent, it was an angry red as if protesting the torture it had just endured.

What kind of sadistic, twisted, cold-blooded person does that? Had something terrible happened to Professor Umbridge that she had turned out like that? Or had she been a malicious cow from the beginning?

Now, Ariana's own morals could sometimes dip into a grey area (not that she approved of that or wanted them to), but she put that down to the fact that she had been raised by two people who had very little morals whatsoever... If you gave it thought, it was a wonder Ariana had any sort of moral compass at all; it could easily have gone the other way. So, using her logical, rational mind to think from different perspectives, the white-haired witch wondered if something similar had happened to Umbridge. Right now, she didn't want to give that woman, and she was loathed to call her that, the benefit of the doubt.

The witch's chest was still heaving slightly, her mind racing at one hundred miles per hour, in order to process what had happened. As usual, she wasn't overly bothered by the pain she had endured, no, she was absolute, utterly, pissed when she thought about Harry having to go through the same ordeal, as Ariana believed he had done.

For an hour, Ariana roamed the empty halls of Hogwarts, making sure to avoid running into any Professors. The tip of her wand projected a dull glow, as she was attempting to avoid the hundreds of people sleeping in their paintings when she passed by, casting ghostly shadows when she passed statues or suits of armour. She gazed out of a window, which, like all of the others, was many times bigger than herself. It must have been past midnight, maybe around one o'clock. The sky looked like a sheet of black velvet, punctuated with sparkling diamonds, and a moon that was over half full.

That was yet another reason for Ariana to be anxious. How could she manage to hide the signs of Lycanthropy, which would begin to show any day now, from Professor Umbridge, who could probably spot them from a mile off? While she could use make-up to even out her skin tone, other things such as her fondness for meat so rare it practically mooed would be more... annoying to conceal.

'What if she did find out?' Ariana asked herself, her eyes fixed on the shining orb she had once found so much peace in. 'Would she put me to the entire school? Would she keep it to herself and torture me under the guise of detention? Would she kill me outright? Would she... kill Remus and me?'

The last thought made a violent shiver involuntarily rack through her body. She couldn't even think about that possibility, nevermind say anything of the sort. Every day Remus was away with the Order, every day Ariana has to wonder if he had been killed, made her feel as if she was suffocating. This would be incredibly selfish but sometimes the white-haired with just wished he would stay away from the front lines, make sure he came home at the end of this... even if she didn't.

When Ariana thought about it, her love for Remus scared her, as she had never loved or trusted anyone that much before. On the other hand, she couldn't live without it; her body craved it like oxygen, food or water. She cherished him with all of her soul, with every fibre of her entire body, all of which ached when she didn't know if she was dead or alive.

"Argh, I am going to go insane," Ariana sighed to herself, knowing she would almost certainly go crazy if she didn't know Remus' fate from day-to-day.

"The first sign that one is going insane is the fact that they talk to themselves," said Nearly-Headless Nick, floating down the gloomy corridor.

Ariana got a fright at the sudden noise, as, even with supernaturally enhanced senses, ghosts were incredibly difficult to detect. The witch spun around with reflexes like a cat, her wand trained on his head, which was wobbling slightly on his severed neck.

"Woah," he said, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Oh, sorry," Ariana said in a quiet, dull voice, lowering her wand.

Nick was wearing what he always wore: a doublet, a dashing plumed hat, and a tunic with a ruff to hide the fact that his head was only partially severed, which is a great source of annoyance for him. He had always shown a particular liking for Ariana since her arrival, unlike Ron, who had a tendency to be very blunt about the fact he was dead.

"That is quite all right," he said, floating down to hover beside her, pale grey eyes watching the stars twinkle. "Might I ask what seems to be preventing you from sleeping tonight?"

"I had detention with Professor Umbridge," Ariana said, forcing her tone to lighten up. She subconsciously flexed her injured hand, glancing down at it, then quickly back up to the window.

"Ah, yes. Not a particularly charming woman," said Nick, his transparent body seeming to glow in the pale moonlight.

"That's a severe understatement," Ariana snorted derisively. "How are you, Nick?"

"I'm well, thank you," replied Nick politely. "I must say, I'm not entirely convinced that your detention is the only thing on your mind."

'Damn it,' Ariana groaned inwardly. Ariana had lied about her true feelings for so long, that it had become second nature to tell everyone she was fine and put a convincing smile on her lips. No matter how much she wanted to open up, her body wouldn't allow it. It seemed like an impossible feat. Perhaps it was time to give opening up a chance, however horrible or weak it made the witch feel.

She stood silent for a moment, weighing her options. As far as Hogwarts' ghosts went, Nick was certainly Ariana's favourite. He was always there for his students; once he had convinced someone to break a Vanishing Cabinet just to give Harry an opportunity to escape Filch, who had dragged him to his office for dripping mud on the floor. Maybe he was someone she could talk to, just a little. After all, he was over five hundred years old... maybe his knowledge could come in handy.

"Intuitive, as always," Ariana said, taking a moment to force the words of truth from her mouth. It took a shocking amount of willpower. "I don't know what I am, Nick. I have no idea. All I know is: I am not human."

Nick studied the girl's face, which she kept remarkably straight. After a moment, he spoke, "what, may I ask, gives you that idea?"

"Many things. I wasn't able to be Petrified by the Basilisk -" she chose to ignore Nick's frown, as he had been Petrified "- I can perform magic that, in theory, I shouldn't be able to perform yet; my tears burn my skin; I had some kind of vision about Newt and Celestina Scamander, which felt remarkably like a memory, rather than a dream; and yesterday, what looks like a tattoo appeared on my back, after what I can approximate at an hour of scorching agony. If that isn't abnormal, I don't know what is."

Both participants of the conversation were silent for a minute or two. Those two minutes felt like an eternity to Ariana. She immediately started to regret telling Nick about what had happened; what if she was just crazy? What if he had news about her she didn't like? Or, even worse, what if he had nothing at all?

After what seemed like hours, Nick looked down at Ariana, his face completely serious. "During a conversation with the Bloody Baron many years ago, I recall that he mentioned a 10th-century Greek tribe named Η φυλή Φοίνιξ, which, when translated into English, means 'The Phoenix Race'. It was a small tribe, whose members shared blood with that of a phoenix, truly fascinating. These members were extraordinarily powerful. Little is known about the extent of their magical powers, but I can tell you that they had the ability to dream about their past lives and developed a mark on their backs to symbolise their heritage.

This race was thought to be completely extinct, but you seem to prove that fact incorrect. You may very well be the last of your kind to survive, Ariana."

~~~~~

Question:
When was the first time Ariana laid eyes upon Fiera?

A: In the hospital wing after escaping from the Graveyard.

B: In the imposter Mad-Eye's office after she and Harry had escaped the Graveyard.

C: During her duel with Voldemort.

Congratulations to CaraTQ for answering the previous question correctly.