Elektra Black I

Chapter 10 | The Dog and The Wolf

On Tuesday morning, Elektra and Remus had found themselves taking a bit of a stroll (more like a hike to El) through a dense forest a few miles away from Hogwarts. They were going to meet up with Hagrid, who had left them specific instructions on how to find him.

"Once ya' reach tha' stone bridge, make a right past the faireh' communiteh' and ya' should find me." He had wrote down on a piece of paper sent to Remus.

"Why did you invite me?" El asked a slightly shivering Remus. He looked away from his determined pace and his eyes fixated on El, who was busy eating the chocolate Remus and herself had been sharing. "You know why, Elektra." He sighed out, remembering the fight that had taken place a few days before. "No, no, I mean is this just to keep me busy or is there a reason as to why I'm hiking deep into a forest that's full of dark creatures at fifteen years old?" Remus chuckled at her bluntness and reminded her that, "You're stuck with me who so happens to be a Dark Arts Professor and Hagrid who's somewhat good at controlling beasts. You're also top of your year in Care of Magical Creatures, so why wouldn't I invite you?" He looked from her to the rocky path ahead that had a sudden sharp turning. "I've also missed you." He quietly said, smiling to himself, steering El clear of a rock she was about to trip over since she was too invested in her chocolate.

The fairy community were not welcoming, a few of them had flown quietly next to El pulling at her hair. Remus had told her not to attack them and to just let them be, otherwise the others would see it as a threat. El thought that was unfair and kept heavily breathing through the slight twinge of pain every now and then. They seemed to love Remus however, who had found himself chuckling at El's grumpy face. Fairies were cute little things, multicoloured hair, leaves as clothing to cover their tiny bodies, but they were not to be messed with.

Once they had reached the end of the right hand path, Hagrid could be seen at the very bottom of it, trying to fend off a gigantic and quite terrifying green Forest Troll! Elektra stood still in her tracks and quickly grabbed onto Remus' cloak covered arm to try and protect herself since she wasn't allowed to use magic! Remus pulled her gently along, "Don't worry." He reassured her but nothing felt reassuring about it. "You said Hagrid's helping you get creatures for class, THIS IS A TROLL!" Remus chuckled at her panic laced voice and kept pulling her along to where Hagrid was now trying to talk to the Troll. "If I said that I was taking you to meet a Troll in the heart of a forest, you would have told me to go and-"Hagrid's voice had boomed over Remus, "PROFESSOR LUPIN!" Remus turned his head from El and raced over to Hagrid, who was now begging for his help. The troll was swinging its stone hammer at Hagrid who had to keep running from left to right to avoid it. It was more than terrifying! Remus quickly performed a Sleeping Charm, since Hagrid couldn't, and shouted at him to move out of its way as it collapsed to the forest floor in a loud thud. It jostled the trees as it did so, and a few owls took flight. "I hope you don't mind, I brought my assistant along." Remus threw a look at Elektra as if to say, 'go along with it.' Elektra slightly waved at Hagrid who seemed very pleased to see her. "Oh! Hello there, Elektra! Merlin's beard, look at ya'! Lookin' just like your da'" It quickly dawned on El that she hadn't seen Hagrid properly since her second year when she was spotty and her teeth were wonky. She'd seen him within the castle a few times but she never spoke to him. Harry, Ron and Hermione were very close to Hagrid though, so maybe she'd see him more next year. "So, why do you need a Troll?" El naively asked, looking between Remus and Hagrid as they had both gotten closer to the Troll's mouth. Hagrid had pulled out a large jar from his scruffy coat and handed it to Remus. "Dumbledore's orders. The school needs Troll saliva for certain classes." Remus spoke, gently pushing the jar in-between its large green lips, the saliva quickly rolled out in what seemed like litres and it only took a few seconds for Remus to get exactly one jar full. "Just one jar? But the whole school needs it!" Hagrid chuckled, "One drop of Forest Troll saliva can go a long way." Remus agreed, "Yes, this should last until the end of next year." El nodded slowly and took a few steps closer to the Troll. She seemed a bit more excited now since it was asleep! She'd heard that the trio had fought one off in the girl's bathroom in their first year to which El had been extremely jealous of for the rest of that year. But now she had met one on official Hogwarts business, that must have made her somewhat special!