Chapter 2: Needles under foot
Over the last millennium all headmasters of hogwarts have guarded what is now called "the tree of peace" it's a tree made of pure crystal but the weird thing is, it's alive and it grows over time it has grown to be over 320 feet tall and has never even been scratch. They have tried and tried but every attempt has failed they used things from a pickaxe to dragon flames.
But nothing worked.
Even Merlin himself couldn't destroy it, much to his dismay.
But on a hot June afternoon when all the students had finished their exams and were lounging outside enjoying the warm spring breeze out of nowhere a lightning bolt suddenly came down from the sky and hit a tree in the forest.
Everybody looked up in shock, a lightning bolt on a cloudless sunny afternoon that was strange even in a magical society, and what made it even more strange that it must have been as thick around as a tree trunk. Steam was coming up from deep in the forest.
Professor McGonagall, Flitwick, and Babbling ran out of the front door and told the students to get inside. Within the forest, there was a similar reaction to the phenomena every beast, monster, or person was in an uproar.
On the floor next to the tree lay a girl, she was extraordinarily pale with dark red hair which went down to the middle of her back, a pair of mismatched eyes, and a simple white nightgown.
Standing up she dusted herself off and looked around. A lot had changed, too much had changed and what shocked me the most is that she couldn't see her mother anywhere. Panic struck her and she looked around frantically. All of a sudden an aching hunger hit she felt her control slipping but held on tighter.
"Mae'n rhaid i mi famu'n gyflym, mae'n brifo cymaint (I have to mother quickly, it hurts so much)" she said staggering in a random direction.
As she stumbled through the forest the feeling of pine needles crushing underfoot and the wind against her face calmed her down.
Suddenly an arrow whizzed past her face and made a small cut which started closing immediately. Tightened the grip on her wand and book she readied herself to run.
"Girl what are you doing at this place humans are forbidden from entering," said a man from the deeper in the forest his voice was deep and commanding.
She looked into the direction of where the voice came from and said clearly "Syr da, a gaf i ymholi ble ydw i? (Good sir, may I inquire as to where I am?)".
The man who shot the arrow at Eleanor was no man but a centaur, a centaur with chestnut skin and long black hair, he was surprised when he first saw the girl and thought that she must be from the school but then he realized that none of the students he had ever seen were as young as her or wore something so revealing her clothes wear but a simple nightgown.
Wary of her he knocked an arrow, pulled back the string and fired trying to narrowly miss her, seeing her face shocked him, it was the girl from the tree. "How is this possible" he mustered to himself "well it doesn't matter now I will have to discuss this with the others." Seeing that she hadn't moved he called out to her experimentally asking "My lady you shouldn't be out here all alone."
She looked in his direction, she had some of the strangest eyes he had ever seen. They were red and blue. Opening her mouth the girl said some gibberish even though he couldn't understand her, the girl's voice was still very soothing and alluring. That's when he was certain he had to take her up to the castle they would know what to do with her.
He strode out of the bushes till he stood next to her. I'll bring her to Hagrid he thought, yes if he remembered correctly his house was at the edge of the forest. Eleanor realizing that it wasn't a man on a horse as she had thought but a centaur.
She was shocked, remembering her mother telling her that they were extremely proud and that it was rare for people to ever see them in their lifetimes. So him calling her 'my lady' was extremely strange.
"My lady, do you know where you are?" asked the centaur. She shook her head, the centaur sighed and placed a smile on his face "Then it would be my honor to bring you up to the castle."
She violently shook her head and started gibbering something again, this confused him, why did she not want to go to the castle?
"I'll just bring you to the groundskeeper then. He's a nice man, now come it's not safe here."
She nodded and stretched out her hand as if asking him to take it, but that's when the sun hit her eyes. It shocked him what he saw, they looked like gemstones you could see the different facets reflecting the light into the pupil. Still pondering the implications of this new discovery he ignored her hand, picking her up and placing her on his back, he slowly walked towards the school.
Thinking that it was common courtesy she asked "Esgusodwch fi am ofyn, ond beth yw eich enw? (Excuse me for asking, but what is your name?)" but she couldn't speak English she could understand it fine.
The only languages she learned were Welsh, French, and Latin so she just spoke welsh. The centaur just looked at her in confusion "I'm sorry but I can't understand you I only know the English language."
After traveling for about five minutes the centaur cleared his throat and asked "May I know your name young one, my name is Magorian leader of the centaurs of this forest." She just said "Eleanor"
"Oh, Eleanor an honorable name, so where are you from?" he asked. "Avalon'' she stated matter of factly. "The name seems familiar but I just can't remember."
Eventually, they saw the edge of the forest and through the trees, they could see a castle. It was huge but it didn't look like it was made for defense, it looked more Akademik with long halls and high towers. As they left the forest Magorian called "Hagrid, Hagrid"
Eleanor could hear loud stomping coming from her right and there jogging towards them was a mountain of a man who she thought was most likely a half-giant, he had a thick black beard, long raged hair, and two black beady eyes but they seemed to have a warm feel to them.
He stopped in front of them and asked "Ey Magorian what can a do for ya"
"Well Hagrid you see I found this little lady walking around deep in the forest," he said while turning so he could see Eleanor. Hagrid's eyes widened for three reasons the first was that this little girl who didn't look a day over six was in the forbidden forest alone second was that she was on Magorian's back he knew that centaurs were very proud and wouldn't allow a human to do something like that. The third was because she was so pale.
"Hey little girl what's 'ur name," he said while admiring her eyes.
"The lady's name is Eleanor, I don't think she can speak English but understanding it is well inside her capabilities so best only ask her, yes and no questions" Magorian commented.
"Right, I'll take her to my hut and get her cleaned up," Hagrid said while taking Eleanor in a princess carry.
As he was walking away Madorian called out "Hagrid it would be better if you take her to Dumbledore as fast as possible."
Looking back Hagrid razed an eyebrow and asked "Why?"
"You better ask Dumbledore" he called while riding off. Turning back towards his hut Hagrid started to walk over.
Eleanor noticed that Hagrids hut looked quite small for his size but kept an open mind she had heard of extension charms from her mother so his hut might be enchanted with it, as they entered she looked around they were in a single-roomed hut with a bed, table and a fireplace it was definitely too small.
Hagrid walked over to the other side of the hut where he took a dark brown jacket that had too many pockets to count and walked back over to her. Putting it around her shoulders, she tried to adjust it a bit to fit her, which was impossible because the jacked was about six times too large for her. After they were finished adjusting it Hagrid picked her back up and started walking towards the castle.
When they reached the Castle doors there stood a tall slender woman with a severe-looking face. She had her long black hair tied up in a bun. With an Emerald robe and hat to match she looked very similar to one of Morgana's friends. Except that this woman had a stern look on her face "what happened Hagrid and who is she?" Asked Professor McGonegal worriedly.
"Ahh Professor, Magorian came out the forest earlier with 'er by 'is side he said 'er name was Eleanor, I think she can't speak English," exclaimed Hagrid.
When she looked at the girl her jaw nearly hit the floor "How-how is this possible I-I-I mean I know who she is but, how." Professor McGonigal said with a shocked look on her face.
"Who is she?" asked Hagrid.
"Hagrid, it's not my place to tell you that, I'm just surprised Magorian doesn't know." She said with a pondering look. "Oh he did he also wouldn't tell me he just said to bring 'er to Dumbledore''
As they walked up to Dumbledore's office, people were staring at them and whispering. "Who's that girl?" " What house is she from?" "She's not from Hogwarts is she"
When they reached the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office Hagrid put Eleanor down and as soon as Professor McGonigal said "Sherbet Lemon" the gargoyle jumped aside.
They went up the spiral staircase and knocked at the door to the office. They heard a voice from inside say "Come in" and Hagrid opened the door.
The students had just finished their exams and their Headmaster was doing some paperwork. Albus Dumbledore was his name, he was tall and thin, with silver hair and beard so long that it could be tucked into his belt. He had a very long and crooked nose that looked as if it had been broken at least twice. On top of said nose rested a pair of half-moon spectacles. His eyes were a brilliant, soul-piercing shade of blue, and twinkled with kindness and mischief. The robes he was wearing were a shade of periwinkle blue with flecks of midnight purple.
Albus Dumbledore wished he could just go back to his experiments but he had some work he had to do as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Fawks chirped in the corner but was interrupted by a loud and sudden "crack" his whole room was lit up, jumping up from his desk he stormed to his balcony to see "the tree of peace" had been hit by lightning and was steaming.
This had never happened in the whole of history he was panicking when he remembered that the tree was indestructible this calmed him down a little so he sat back down. About thirty minutes later when he was feeding Fawks some seeds he heard a knock at the door. He called "come in'' the door opened and Hagrid came in "Hagrid what can I do for you" he exclaimed in a joyful tone.
"Sir…" Hagrid started but was interrupted by Professor McGonigal.
"Albus I think you should sit down before we tell you," she said to him.
"Hohoho I think I'll be okay Minerva just tell me," he said laughing.
"If you say so, Eleanor could you please come here," Minerva said in a soft voice and reached her hand behind Hagrid which was rear for her to do.
From behind Hagrid came a small girl with pale skin, blood-red hair, and mismatched eyes, wearing one of Hagrid's jackets. But it was impossible to mistake her, she was the girl from the tree of peace he almost fell over but caught himself on the table.
Hagrid rushed forward and helped him regain his balance. "Ah, thank you Hagrid'' Dumbledore said trying to steady himself "Ahm Headmaster just thought you should know she can't speak English but if you talk to er' in it she'll understand you perfectly, I think." Hagrid commented, Dumbledore raised an eyebrow and then turned back to Elleanor "So your name is Eleanor correct?" she nodded "Interesting if I remember correctly it originates from Hebrew and means 'God is my light' doesn't it?" He asked her.
When she answered "Ie Arglwydd Dumbledore (Yes Lord Dumbledore)" he laughed "Hahaha my dear kan you speak any other languages I do understand you but it's still quite hard, oh and I would prefer it if you call me professor or headmaster" He chuckled.
Eleanor nodded at this and said "Rwy'n siarad Ffrangeg a Lladin (I speak French and latin)".
"Ohhh excellent, s'il vous plait, il serait préférable que vous parliez français maintenant, je pense que nous devrions nous asseoir avant de continuer. (Ohhh excellent, please it would be preferable if you speak french now I think we should sit down before continuing.)" Said Dumbledore while gesturing towards a couch and two armchairs in the corner.
While sitting down Dumbledore used some legilimency on the girl but he was met by quite a powerful occlumency shield which surprised him not that he couldn't destroy it but she would notice. Very few wizards ever reach this level of occlumency but this was a mere child so he shouldn't judge her by her appearance she might be hundreds of years old.
After making themselves comfortable Dumbledore started with the Questions "Alors, je connais votre prénom mais pas votre nom de famille serait-il possible pour vous de me le dire? (So, I know your first name but not your surname would it be possible for you to tell me?)"
Eleanor pondered for a solid minute then said "Je ne te fais pas confiance. (I don't trust you.)"
"Eh bien, je serais surpris si vous le faisiez. Je pourrais faire un vœu incassable si cela atténue vos inquiétudes. (Well, I would be surprised if you did. I could make an unbreakable vow if it alleviates your worries.)" Dumbledore said.
"Ce serait, merci. (It would, thank you.)" Eleanor stated.
Hagrid and Minerva just looked at Dumbledore for translation but the latter didn't notice or he didn't want to notice. Suddenly a mental prob rammed into his occlumency shield he was so surprised that they slipped through like a hot knife through butter and he was forced to look through all his memories in mere seconds even those he tried to protect himself it didn't work, you see her mother forced her through vigorous occlumency and legilimency training. While going through his memories she stopped at some to look a bit longer but all in all, it took barely a minute.
He sighed in relief, having quite the headache now as the memories stopped speeding past him and he opened his eyes. They were wet like he'd just cried.
"Albus, what happened?" Professor McGonigal asked in a worried tone. But he didn't answer, instead, he rushed forward while saying to one of the portraits "Go fetch Poppy and Severus we need them hear immediately" nodding the person in the portrait ran off. Eleanor just sat there with a blank stare Dumbeldore went down on one knee and cupped her face in his hands with a worried look on his face but that expression changed quickly as he frowned.
"Minerva, could you come over here quickly," he requested, striding over, Minerva sat down next to him "What's wrong with her Albus?" she asked straightforwardly.
"The foolish girl used Legilimency on me. I was so shocked and couldn't get my shields up in time. So she just had an overload of information and if we factor in that she is a couple of hundred years old that would lead to her having a mental breakdown.
I believe it must be hard for her since nobody she knows is still alive. Well at least that's what I suspect." he said in a worried tone "But hear tell me what you feel." placing Minerva's hand on where the carotid artery was. She exclaimed "By Merlin's beard she's cold" her eyes suddenly widened "Oh," she said, surprised. "Exactly my thoughts Minerva," Dumbledore stated. "She's not human or at least not fully. I'm surprised she didn't attack us already, not having drunk a single drop of blood for hundreds of years her self-control must be phenomenal. But we better have some blood ready for when she wakes up."
"When she wakes up? You plan on letting her live? She's a vampire for crying out loud and". "And she has done nothing to deserve such a fate.
Should we kill her just for being what she is? That would make us as bad as Voldemort." Dumbledore stated.
Professor Mcgonigals expression softened "I'll see what I can do I have heard muggle hospitals have it lying around.'' She stated and left the office.
"Hagrid could you please see if something happened in the forest I feel like it won't stay calm much longer." "Of Course sir, I'll be going now"
Now only Eleanor and Dumbledore were left in the office, he led her down on the couch and watched her with a worried expression on his face.
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