Avenging Fire

She obviously was a better pyrokinetic than she was a psychokinetic. Or perhaps it just came easier. Or maybe it was because of the pleasant and unexpected little side effect of pyrokinesis. Using pyrokinesis for an extended period of time induced a euphoric state caused by the release of endorphins. It felt like the runner’s high she experienced when she went for a long jog or the post coital bliss after sex, although she hadn’t had any of that in well over two years.


Gavin however managed to spoil the discovery by informing her that the euphoria would eventually disappear as she became more acclimated to her foundling abilities.


The rest of the week they spent the first half of the day in simple practice and the latter half focusing on bending her abilities to her will. It took a bit of persuasion on Gavin’s part to convince Helena to grip his hand while she was manifesting pyrokinesis.


“If you don’t want to harm me, you won’t. Remember, you’re the one in control of your abilities, not the other way around. Now, shake my hand.”


Relief flooded over her as Smythe smiled and held up his unburned palm as proof after she reluctantly grasped his outstretched hand.


“It rather tickles actually.” he said.


This didn’t mean that her pyrokinesis was harmless. When she intended for something to burn, it did, leaving behind piles of smoldering ashes.


“I’m not going to wake up one night lying on a pile of ash where a bed once was, am I?” she asked, worried about manifesting fire during sleep.


“There is always that possibility, yes. But with all the pyrokinetics I’ve met, that’s not happened as far as I know. Stop worrying so much.”


On the next to the last day, Gavin informed her that he intended to accompany her to the Ministry of Magic to register despite her protestations that she could manage on her own and that she didn’t want to take up anymore of his time.

Smythe looked at her over the tops of his eyes.

“Have you ever been to see MoM?”


“Just once when we reported Steffen’s and Mary’s disappearance.”


“Yes well that was with the Aurors I imagine. Trust me, the Records and Registration department can substitute as the 5th layer of hell. Besides, they consider us Paranormals to be somewhat of a nuisance and tend to treat us as such.”


“Peachy.”


They finished out Helena’s week of training without incidence except for the last hour or so when Dumbledore ‘just happened to be passing by’ and poked his head inside the classroom they were using. Smythe seemed to take great pride in having her demonstrate her newly found control over her abilities. The old wizard even seemed to take an almost childlike delight when Helena obliged Smythe by manifesting a small, harmless, baseball sized flame and placed it in Dumbledore’s open and cupped hands.

“How delightful!”

“I would like to accompany Dr. Nyx when she goes to register. It tends to get a bit sticky at the Records department.”

“Yes, I imagine so.” Dumbledore said, still watching the fire in his hands as if it were a new species of bird perching there. “I shall leave you to the rest of your day then.” he finished and held his hands out for Helena to extinguish the flame.


The flame disappeared and Dumbledore chuckled softly.


“Remarkable.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Potions master Severus Snape was in a foul mood. He had agreed to take Helena Nyx with him to the Ministry of Magic, but not the bald headed, paranormal midget, Gavin Smythe.

Snape had business at the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore had asked him to aparate Helena to the Ministry as well so that she could register. Snape had agreed, if not a little resentfully. Gavin Smythe was simply inviting himself along. Snape briefly considered telling him to make his own way there, but he knew Dumbledore would just add Smythe on to his babysitting list if the issue was pressed.

“Fine. I am leaving at 10:00 am. Meet us at the front gate. Do not be late.” he growled.

Helena Nyx, after training for a week, was ready to register as a Paranormal with the Ministry of Magic. Dumbledore had called Snape into his office to ask him to take her along since he was going to the Ministry anyway.

“I think it wise that we glamour her as well. We can’t risk her being seen by a Death Eater’s associate who might be present in the corridors of the Ministry. Would you see to it, Severus?”

“Of course, Headmaster.” Snape answered flatly.

He didn’t look up from his desk when he barked, “Enter!” After scribbling some final biting words in the margin of a potions essay, he sat back and looked at Helena. He understood why Dumbledore insisted on a thorough glamour. He had, as of late, only seen her in a hospital gown at first, then St. Mungo’s scrubs, and then borrowed 7th year girl’s clothes. Today she had appeared in black slacks, a brushed cotton lavender shirt tucked neatly inside, and had her long blonde hair pulled back loosely with a simple barrette at the nape of her neck. Her robes that she had explained to the Headmaster functioned as a disguise whenever she was in the magical world, were over all of that.

He imagined this was how she dressed during a standard day at her clinic, sans robes of course. He could picture her with a patient's file in her hand as she stood at the door to a waiting area, inviting her appointment to follow her back to her office.

She was a handsome woman and might draw attention. Precisely what everyone, especially Helena, did not want. He was tempted to send her back to her quarters to change into something a little more frumpy or sloppy, but he didn’t want to risk being late. He would just simply have to glamour her clothing as well.


“Take the robes off.” then added “Please.” when Dr. Nyx looked at him questioningly. He took them from her and laid them across one end of his desk. After looking her up and down, he spoke in a silky but icy voice.


“Dr. Nyx, as you know, you will be accompanying me to the Ministry of Magic. I shall take you to the records department and leave you there while I attend to my business. Do not, under any circumstances, leave the records department until I come for you. The headmaster thinks you should be disguised. I will put a glamour spell on you that will transform your appearance. I will remove it once you are securely in the records department. This is being done for you safety. Are you ready?”

Snape leveled his wand at her after she nodded. She reflexively breathed in. She didn’t like it if a witch or wizard she wasn't familiar with pointed their wand at her. The Potions master mumbled a spell and she felt energy surround her. Snape looked at her, satisfied.


“Let’s go.” he said gruffly.

As they walked through the corridors on their way to the front gate, Helena caught her reflection in some glass.


Snape had glamoured her to look like a short, frumpy, stout hipped, middle aged matron with mousy brown hair, dressed in a clothes that accentuated her artificial hip spread even more. She had to stop and take in the sight, touching her face and arms. Snape stopped when he realized she was lingering at the glass.

“Dr. Nyx! We do not have all day.” he snipped. Helena scurried to catch up to him.

“That was certainly…unexpected.”

“The point is to make you look completely different than your actual appearance.” Snape sighed impatiently.


Helena had to walk quickly to keep up with the professor’s long glides. Students scattered in front of him. At some point, they passed Alexandria’s Slytherin friend, Sage Durand. Sage did not recognize her so the glamour obviously was working well. Snape led her out of the castle and to the gate. He was irritated to see that Gavin Smythe was there. He’d hoped the midget would have been late, giving him an excuse to leave him behind. Snape pushed the gate open and stormed out with Helena and Smythe scrambling to keep up. Smythe practically had to run.

They reached the edge of the grounds. Snape asked if both of them had been apparated before. Smythe had many times over the years and Helena had when the two Order wizards accompanied her to her house.

“Then you know what to do.” he said curtly.

Helena and Gavin got on either side of him. Helena linked her arm with Snape’s but Smythe had to reach up and grip the wizards forearm. With a crack of thunder, they apparated to the Ministry of Magic.

Helena was proud of herself that she didn’t go sprawling when they arrived at the Ministry. She did wobble a bit but refrained from grabbing onto Snape to regain her balance.

“This way, Doctor.” he said as he glided down a corridor.

Helena and Smythe jogged after him. Gavin was huffing and puffing. He was getting quite a workout today keeping up with the snarky Hogwarts professor. The witches and wizards who were milling about in the Ministry’s lobby and corridors barely gave them a second glance. Presently, they arrived at the Records department. Professor Snape pushed on the heavy wood and iron door and motioned for Helena and Smythe to enter.

Helena mused at the interior of the room. Although it looked decidedly wizardy, it still had that governmental bureaucratic feel. Some things are the same no matter where you go.


The large room had rows of wooden chairs and tables with copies of The Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly strewn about. In front of the waiting area, there was a horseshoe shaped counter that spanned the entire length of the room. Witch and wizard employees occupied various stations on the horseshoe. Other witches and wizards sat on the visitor side navigating bureaucratic red tape, several of whom were arguing with a Records department employee. Ministry elves padded to and fro picking up and delivering parchments. Every so often, an owl would swoop in through open arch windows and drop a parcel at a station.

Oh no, Helena groaned to herself. This is going to be painful.


“Finite.” Snape said, pointing his wand at Helena. She felt another swirl of energy as the glamour was removed.


“Remember, do not leave the Records department until I retrieve you.”


After Snape glided out of the Records department, robes billowing behind him, Smythe led Helena to an empty station where a bored acting, balding wizard with thick glasses slouched.

“Yes? May I help you?” he asked indifferently.


“Helena Nyx, newly manifested Paranormal here to register.” Smythe answered for her.



“Take a number.”

Helena and Gavin looked at each other. The wizard didn’t seem to have any other people he was attending to. It didn’t make sense to take a number and wait if he was open but that was government for you.


Helena pulled a piece of parchment out of a flat, round cylinder and looked up at a magical number display. Her number was next but it was obvious the wizard was being typically bureaucratic by making her wait. With a resigned sigh, she and Smythe sat down in the waiting section. Smythe picked over some old Daily Prophet newspapers and an amused Helena picked up an old Witch Weekly that sported captions like ‘20 secrets that wizards don’t want witches to know’ and ‘5 simple spells to drive your wizard crazy in bed.’ An attractive witch in a ‘witch hat’ and designer robes graced the cover.

“Witch Cosmo!” Helena said to Smythe, showing him the cover. Smythe rolled his eyes.


“My wife reads rot like that. I can’t begin to tell you how many relationship quizzes I’ve been subjected to.”

The records department wizard took his time calling Helena’s number. 23 minutes to be exact.

“Number 82.” the wizard said as the magical numeral display changed to 82.

Helena and Smythe walked up to the bored wizard.

“Helena Nyx, newly manifested Paranormal here to register.” Smythe repeated.

The wizard sighed. He swung his office chair around and rolled it over to a magical filing cabinet whose drawers suddenly appeared in the previously blank wall. He stood and began searching through files, looking for blank Paranormal registration forms. He was taking his time too, drawing out the red tape frustration as long as he could.

“Bernard, do you know where the Paranormal registration forms are? I can’t seem to find any.” the wizard asked a rotund co-worker.

“They should be there. Look again.”

The wizard took his time flipping through the files. Helena and Smythe rolled their eyes.

“I can tell you now, Sir, that there aren’t any in there.” Smythe looked at Helena and tapped his head, smirking. ESP. The Records wizard ignored him.

“No. Not here.”

“Send an elf to the storage dungeon to fetch some then.”

The wizard sat down and rolled his chair back over to his station.

“This will take a few minutes.”

Of course it will, she thought, looking at Smythe with a small, long suffering, eye roll.

A Ministry elf winked in and handed the wizard three pages of parchment. Dipping his quill, the wizard began firing off questions.

“Name?”

“Helena Christine Nyx. N. Y. X.”

“Abilities?”

“Psychokinesis. Pyrokinesis.”

“Age?”

“35.”

“Birthdate?”

The questions continued, gathering all her demographic information.

“Please step over to that wall to be photographed.” the Records wizard instructed when he finished recording her information.

Just like getting your id card, she thought. The wizard slowly made his way over to the camera station. He took his time fiddling with it. Helena was beginning to need to use the bathroom. If he didn’t hurry up, she was going to be quite uncomfortable.


“Slowly turn your head from side to side, please.” the wizard instructed as he took the picture. “Thank you.”


“Please have a seat in the waiting area while your registration forms are processed.” the wizard instructed in a monotone.

“Where is the Ladies?”

“Down the hall.”


Damn. Snape had said not to leave the records department. Helena and Smythe sat in the waiting area chairs. She tightly crossed her legs. After a properly bureaucratic long wait, they were called back to the wizard’s station. He handed Helena a thick parchment card that served as her identification while she was in the wizarding world. It was just like any other id, except it was for paranormal abilities and had a moving picture. ‘Non-Citizen’ was in red under her picture. Smythe bristled with indignation.

“One copy will be kept here in the Ministry of Magic. That is your copy. You are to present it on demand. Good day.” the wizard said and busied himself with other paperwork, ignoring her.

They sat in the waiting area waiting for Professor Snape to arrive. Helena needed to use the bathroom very badly at this point. Finally, after another 10 minutes had passed with no appearance from Snape, she decided to risk it. She told Smythe that she was going to run down the hall and if Snape came back, to tell him she would be right back.

She glanced up and down the hallway, seeing no one. Quickly she trotted to the bathroom and slipped inside. A witch was at a mirror applying lipstick. Helena ducked into a stall and gratefully drained her bladder.

She washed and dried her hands and poked her head out of the bathroom door. The witch was gone and the hallway was clear. She hurried back to the Records department and opened the door only to come face to chest with an angry Potions Master. His dark eyes flashed hotly and he was scowling to break glass. Smythe stood behind, looking up at him with a frown and furrowed brow. Snape had apparently not reacted well at all when he returned to the Records department and found her missing

“Dr. Nyx,” he growled slowly, emphasizing each word for effect, “I believe I gave you specific instructions to not leave the Records department. Are you incapable of following simple directions?” he seethed.

“Now see here, Professor…!” Smythe bristled.

The Potions professor glared down at the bald midget. Smythe withered and fell silent.

Oh for fuck’s sake! Helena thought.

She was beginning to suspect that it was his desire to upset people and put them on guard. Well, she wasn’t going to give him what he wanted. The evening when he had made an appearance at her quarter’s door she knew it was to simply establish territory and to put his bluff in, and that was fine. She had expected that. Today however she had been forced to answer the call of nature and there was no reason for him to get nasty. It was now time to establish her own boundaries and one of them was not constantly having her head bitten off.


“I’m terribly sorry, Professor Snape, but I had to use the facilities quite badly. I waited for as long as I could. I apologize for any inconvenience I have inadvertently caused you.” Helena said in her unflappable ‘shrink voice’ while looking him directly in the eye, unintimidated.


Snape stood scowling down at her, flashing his obsidian eyes. To his surprise, she didn’t look away and wasn’t cowed. Usually people subjected to ‘Snaping’ (as Hogwarts students called it) broke eye contact and bowed their heads in an unconscious display of submission to the fierce Potions Master. He held her gaze a few moments longer to make his point. It was the only thing he could do. You can’t intimidate someone who refuses to be intimidated.

“Have you finished here?”

“I believe so.” Helena answered.

Without another word, Snape took out his wand and reapplied the glamour and the three left the Records department to aparate back to Hogwarts.


Helena noticed that this time, he didn’t walk as quickly as before and Smythe was able to keep up without running.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`



Gavin said his goodbyes when they returned to Hogwarts and wrote his address and phone number in the back of the book he gave her.


“Owl me, or call me when you get back to the non-magical world, if you have questions or problems. Remember to practice until you can work your abilities like they’re second nature. Despite the rough landing you had, you’ll grow into your new skin in no time at all, I promise. I’ll owl you in a few weeks to check in on you.”



She was now officially on her own.


=================


A/N: Apologies for the long time between updates. I work in clinical research and I had a study doing an interim lock which roughly translates into a fuck ton of work.


As always, thanks to those who read and review, especially Tambrathegreat.


An update for WIB is coming soon now that the insanity from work has died down. Hopefully my muse, useless though she may be, will kick me in my arse.