Death Eaters... Forever?

The old inn we met at was horrible; it smelled of stale beer and sweat. However, it was off the beaten track, so technically it was the best place to meet.

We were meeting there to see who wanted to join us in learning proper Defence against the Dark Arts. Harry was the teacher, although he’d asked me to teach Occlumency.

I stopped listening after Hermione introduced us; I was searching the room mentally for any suspicious minds.

Once everyone had signed the sheet, at the top of which it proclaimed DUMBLEDORE’S ARMY, I slipped off to the Shrieking Shack, besides which was a pleasant little clearing. It had been snowing – the first snowfall of the year – but I didn’t mind the cold. It was refreshing.

I thought about before my adopted parents – those that had died in the fire – had taken me in. They’d found me nine years ago, when I looked about eight years old. At the time, I’d actually lived through nineteen summers. My growth process was amazingly slow because of my father’s blood (I was a half-elf, the only one). It was the reason I had so many strange abilities. Luckily enough, one of these abilities was to alter the way I looked, which was why I was able to look like a normal fifth year, instead of a child. My real form was that of a twelve year old, unusually tall and slim. Until I was about fifty years old, I wouldn’t look like a teenager in my real form. Stupid Elvin genes.

I’d lived with my father’s clan for most of my life, in which I was told I’d been found by my father in the forest where we lived. However, when my powers manifested – when I turned twenty-one – the clan realised what had really happened. My human mother had died giving birth to me, so my father, Jamon, had taken me in.

Jamon had been Exiled for simply loving a mortal. After that, the clan taught me how to use my powers.

However, the elves disappeared after I was Exiled for the same sin as my father. I’d fallen in love with a mortal man, by the name of Damien. Unfortunately for me, he’d decided to marry a mortal woman, rejecting me. Damn fickle guys.

Severus, having been rejected by Lily for Harry’s father, knew how I felt, so that was the reason we’d become friends.

I had another headache and sighed again. The one thing I couldn’t figure out was why Voldemort would want me when he could simply ask for my old clan’s help. I made a mental note to ask him about that next time he visited me.

The first meeting for Dumbledore’s Army was a week later. We’d found the Room of Requirement, which was perfect for our needs – whatever we needed, it had. And no one else knew about it.

Some people didn’t even know simple spells such as Reducto or Expelliarmus. I wondered what they’d been doing in their previous Dark Arts classes – certainly not learning.
The older students, including Fred and George, were assigned to me. There were six in all – four boys and two girls.

“Ok, well since you all know the spells Harry’s now teaching, I’ll be teaching you Occlumency – how to shield yourselves from mind attacks. So I’ll attempt to get into your mind, and you’ll attempt to block me. Unless you have secrets you don’t want me knowing,” I added. No one moved, so I began with Stephen, a skinny youth that reminded me of a younger Severus.

“First of all, imagine a room – don’t make it too complex for now. Then make the walls around your house impermeable. Are you ready?” I entered his mind, slowly at first to give him a chance to block me. However, he failed miserably on his first try, not surprisingly. I gave each of the others a try and then began to improve on that. At the end of the lesson, they’d all made some progress, although slight.

“You guys did really well for your first try,” I told them as they left happily. In actual fact, they’d done worse than I had at first. But then again, I had Elvin blood, and they didn’t.