The Writer\'s Companion

Author’s Notes:

* Okay so I have really been working on trying to edit and proof read my chapters. I hope I am at least getting better. I am still working on the to/too issue, and I will continue to do so. I am slow on the grasp when it comes to grammar. So please bear with me while I continue to hone my craft.

Response to Reviewers:

Sisterae: I cannot tell you how happy I am that someone gets my weirdo sense of humor. I was trying to get the point across that claming draught can be a liberator despite its lack of inebriating qualities.

Tricky Woo: I can’t thank you enough. That website really is handy! And while I can say that it will take me awhile to recall all of the things my teachers so often tried to teach me that I will continue to try and improve. You’ve been a great help and I thank you most sincerely


Chapter 5: Looking Deep Within


The day dawned bright and clear. The sky was a dainty shade of blue, and cotton ball clouds floated across the horizon. The air was crisp and clean, the grass green and gently misted with dew. The fury animals of the forest scampered to and fro, and the birds sang gaily. It was the perfect beginning for a perfect day and Maddie was perfectly…unhappy.

During the course of one day her whole perception of the world had been shattered. Twenty-nine years she had lived believing that witches and wizards were the stuff of fantasies. They were mere mythical figures that were used to scare people into behaving. Now all of a sudden she was surrounded by people that claimed to be just that. If they had just been a group or commune of weirdo’s Maddie could have handled it, but these people were for real. They could do things that no mere mortal had the ability to do, and it was frightening.

For the first time in Maddie’s life she was questioning everything she had every thought she knew, her perceptions of true and false, real and fake. And, damn it, she couldn’t find her toothbrush! How was a person supposed to concentrate on anything of this magnitude with such a nasty taste in their mouth?

Maddie collected her tube of toothpaste and slammed the lid of her suitcase down. Her toothbrush wasn’t there, she must have forgotten it. She was going to have to use her finger…maybe chew on some toothpaste…anything just to get rid of this dragon’s breathe.

Maddie stalked into the bathroom toothpaste and bath towels in hand. She stared at the ancient looking tub that appeared to be little more than a slab of marble hollowed out. If large was luxurious then this tub was just grand, and maybe Maddie would have enjoyed it more if she could figure out which of the thirteen freaking faucets ran hot and cold water! What was this pink and green crap? Sure it smelled good, but that alone does not a bath make, she needed water.

It took her no less than 15 minutes to locate the hot and cold taps, adjust the water temperature, and even give-in to her feminine instincts and allow some of the purple concoction to dribble in. Okay, so it really did smell nice, and maybe a nice hot soak in the tub is what she needed….but it was still inconvenient as hell.

Allowing the tub to fill Maddie turned to the task of brushing her teeth…with her finger. “Mmmm” Maddie thought and she scrubbed her teeth. “Minty with a hint of salt, now that is what I call refreshing.”

Disrobing she settled into the tub and allowed all her sore muscles to relax into the heat. The previous day’s events continued repeating themselves in an unending loop inside her mind. ‘What am I going to do?’ Maddie thought. ‘I don’t even know if I am safe here. Or what this Albus man really wants from me. And I certainly can’t trust anyone with the ability to alter my emotions. That was exactly what that beak-nosed, black-haired bastard did to me. ‘Calming Draught’ my ass…he drugged me!’

Sighing Maddie sunk further into the soothing scent of lavender and allowed the heat to quiet the rage inside. It was so much easier to be angry than to be afraid, and fear was something Maddie had never dealt with well. Usually if something was bothering her she would just call Emily, but she had no cell-phone access. Hell, she couldn’t even turn the damn thing on.

And perhaps that was a great deal of the problem. Here she was struggling through events that her mind seemed unwilling, or incapable of processing. She was surrounded by men who seemed capable of doing anything and everything. They could freeze the human form, launch a person from one point to another, and quickly knock a being unconscious, and all this with a simple wave of the wand and some muttered Latin.

“What am I going to do?”

______________________________________________________________________

Remus Lupin was on his way up the West Tower stairs. He couldn’t help but be apprehensive about facing Madelyn Lindsey again, but Albus had assured him that she had accepted the current situation. Which Remus sincerely hoped was true because there was no way he was going through a repeat of yesterday.

Then again today’s “mission” should be far easier to accomplish. Lead Miss Lindsey to the Headmaster’s office for a spot of tea and breakfast. It was a task that seemed far less daunting than kidnapping, if one could really call what he did yesterday kidnapping. That sounded so criminal. No, Remus merely procured the unwilling female by devious means in an attempt to ensure the security of the greater wizarding world. Yes, that sounded far better; and really what wouldn’t a Gryffindor do to aid in the cause of right?

‘God if Severus ever heard that,’ Remus thought to himself approaching the door. Straightening his sweater and smoothing his hair he gathered up his courage and knocked on Madelyn’s door. Hearing her muffled bid to “come in”, Remus turned the knob and entered the spacious room, only to stop dead as he took in the sights.

She stood before him, her suitcase resting at her feet, a small sad smile plastered across her face. “Good day,” Remus greeted, his tone more questioning than congenial.

“Yes, Good Morning.” Sighing the young woman lifter her pack and looked at him expectantly. “I have decided that I can’t do this. I don’t need this stress in my life right now. So, if you could just show me to the door I will be out of your hair.”

“The headmaster…wants you to come down for breakfast…”
“I am sure he will understand once you explain to him my reasons for leaving.” She looked down briefly and drew a deep breathe. “Please Mr. Lupin, I won’t tell anyone about anything I have seen. I won’t call the police, or tell the press, just…let me leave.”

“Call the police?” What on Earth was wrong with the girl? Remus wondered. She was so changed from the feisty woman he had encountered last night.

“Well, yes. I mean I was abducted, assaulted, and drugged.” The shock must have flashed across Remus’ face for she hastened to assure him. “But...but…none of that matters. I am prepared to just forget all of that. In return I just want to go home.”

“I think it is best if we went to speak with the headmaster…”

“Yes, and I think it is best if you all just let me go now.”

“I can’t do that,” The fire leaped back in her eyes, and Remus felt himself wanting to shrink into the walls.

“You can’t…or you won’t?”

“I can’t, just please, come with me.” Don’t make this hard for me, Remus thought “I will take you to Albus and you can explain to him everything you have me.”

Her lips pursed in displeasure and just as it seemed she was about to refuse she simply replied “fine”. And Remus felt his entire body relax in relief.

He held the door open as she cruised past him and waited as he secured the doors.

“I just want you to know that I don’t like you. Not one little bit Remus Lupin, and I hope you get what’s coming to you in the end.”

With a haughty toss of her head she preceded him downstairs, making as grand an exit as any actor, even without knowing just where she was going.

__________________________________________________________________


Maddie wiped the bit off egg at the corner of her mouth. She had spent the last hour pleasantly chatting with the old codger across from her. It was the last thing in the world she wanted to be doing, but her mother had always said that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. So Maddie thought that if she acted the calm, polite young lady, the weird old man in charge of the freaky school would just happily let her go.

Okay, breakfast was over, he had swallowed down two cups of the strongest tea Maddie had yet to encounter. It was time to make her move.
“I can’t tell you how…interesting my time here has been, but I have sooo many things to do. I mean I came to Scotland to write a book, and I can’t afford to be spending time here if I plan to make my deadline. So…thank you again, but I’ll just be…popping out.”

Maddie rose and collected her things being sure to avoid making eye-contact with the Headmaster. ‘Please don’t say anything…just let me leave. See I am smiling, nothing to concern yourself with, I wont run screaming to the first cop I see.’

She had almost made it to the door. So was so close she could all but feel the smooth metal of the door knob caressing her clammy skin. But as was her luck in recent days Albus Dumbledore called a halt to her retreat.

“We require all of our third year students to spend one day in muggle London, unescorted.” Maddie turned back, her smile slipping in her annoyance. “It’s a means to aid the students in their acceptance of the diverse society that lives just beyond their doors.”

“That is very interesting,” Maddie assured him the whole time thinking, ‘quack’. “Well, it was a pleasure to…”

“They all have that same look on their faces,” Albus lied smoothly. “A look of pure fear and panic. But once they find themselves out there, immersed among the muggles, the fright they felt before is replaced by an amazing sense of wonder.”

‘Don’t respond Maddie…just smile and leave,’ but she just couldn’t help herself. “What do you mean?”

“At first they don’t want to go, and then they don’t want to be there. But once they surmount their fears they discover a whole experience they would never think of missing. Conquer your fear of us, of this new found reality,” Albus persuaded gently. “You can walk away now and feel safe in an hour only to come to regret your hasty decision later in your life. Or you can stay and handle the difficult emotions you are dealing with now and come to find a happiness that you never dreamed existed.”

Maddie sighed, ‘Smart old man’, she thought. ‘I probably would en up kicking myself if I left now. What is one book in the face of a chance of a lifetime?’

“What do you want from me Headmaster?”

“I want you to stay and learn.” Albus responded a soft, understanding curve to his lips. “And perhaps during the course of things you would allow me to test you for magic? Say around lunch time?”
______________________________________________________________________


Madelyn Lindsey stood surrounded on all sides by wizards. Well, really three wizards and a witch, either way the four magical persons had their wands out and aimed at her face. The cucumber sandwiches she had eaten for her mid-day meal sat heavily in her stomach like a sack of stones.

“So let me get this straight,” the three men sighed again and lowered their wands. The woman smiled tightly but her wand remained up and at the ready. “You want to search my…soul for magic, and it is going to take all four of you? I mean, do we really need all of you casting a spell at me at once?”

“Miss Lindsey, we have been through this already. The human soul is an incredibly complex and powerful entity.” Albus explained for the fifth time. “In order for us to peer past the numerous layers we will need a great amount of power.”

“Kay, first, if you’re going to throw a spell at my face I think we are way past the point of formality, you can just call me Maddie.” She hated being called ‘Miss Lindsey’ it reminded her of her fourth grade teacher Mrs. Hucklebee. “Secondly why do you have to look past the ‘numerous layers’? I mean if I have some kind of hidden magical ability wouldn’t it just…I don’t know…be there?

“Maddie, magic flows through your entire being, yes, and normally a quick scan would be all we required. But you are an anomaly my dear.” It was always nice to have a man in a purple moon-covered robe calling you weird. “You have never produced any sort of magic on your own. This leads us to believe that any magic you may have will be trapped with in the center of your soul. The deepest part, if you will.”

“Which leads us to where we are now,” Maddie said nodding as if she understood which she really didn’t. “But still…four of you?”

“Yes, Miss Lindsey,” The man with a disposition as cheerful and his black frock coat gritted out. “Now if you would just allow us to get on with it?”

“Fine,” Maddie said sounding grounded and calm. It was sheer bravado.

The four gathered once again, raised their wands to eye-level and spoke their spell, ‘In luce tua videmus lucem’. Maddie closed her eyes against the soft glow that seemed to come from everywhere. Warmth began to engulf her body, traveling from the very tips of her toes to the very crown of her head. Her skin began to prickle, almost to vibrate, at the amount of energy being directed at her being.

A sense of lightness began to overcome Maddie, as if she were a balloon being carried on the currents of the wind. Floating ever higher as the light became brighter, a feeling of freedom she had never before faced. Until it all came crashing down on her, tearing her insides up. The pain was so intense as to cause bright bursts of color to explode behind her eyes. She felt her knees start first to shake, and then to buckle, and finally to give out. And in that instant Maddie knew one thing, she was going to faint.


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Okay here is the latest installment of my tale. Maddie is coming to terms, Albus is finding out what she is, Severus is about to become uber involved. Things are starting to look up…or are they.

* In luce tua videmus lucem: In thy light we see light.
Okay, my Latin isn’t great…it’s been years since I have used it. But I do know
that this is some place’s motto. I can’t tell you what or where…just that I
saw it somewhere once and fell in love with it. So if this is your motto,
please don’t sue me!