mt 17

The next day Mika felt as if she were floating on air. The 3000 year old time traveller had not felt this happy in eons. in fact, it had been well over a millennium since she had had any sort of romantic liaison. It hadn't been through lack of opportunities but more from her fear of their loss. She knew very well that death and aging were a normal part of life, but it was something she found the most painful of all her experiences to endure, especially when it involved someone she loved. That is why she had chosen for so long to remain alone and, consequently for one so full of love, utterly miserable. It was perhaps one of the reasons that her good friend Albus Dumbledore had extended his invitation for her to join Hogwart's if even for only one term. It also was no coincidence that he did so the same year that he hired Professor R. J. Lupin to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, even though he knew that if it became known that Lupin was in fact a werewolf that he would probably be forced to leave. His only hope was that he and Mika would form their inevitable relationship before that time came so that she would be there and willing to take care of him. Lupin might not agree that he needed taking care of, but Dumbledore felt it would be best to insure his survival in the dark times to come... and besides, Mika was a natural at it.

Thus it was with great pleasure and a light heart at knowing that a plan had succeeded that Headmaster Dumbledore sat in his office and listened to the caretaker, Argus Filch, basically tattle on what he had witnessed the previous night up in the clock tower. He listened with interest as he expounded on the apparent goings on between two teachers and how it should be outlawed in a school. Albus merely smiled, thanked Argus for his report, then reminded him that there were no rules regarding relationships between teachers, nor indeed teachers and special guest lecturers. In fact, in previous years, Headmasters had employed various members of their families, including their wives or husbands as teachers, gamekeepers and even caretakers. Argus was not pleased with this as he had truly thought that he had uncovered some deep dark conspiracy. He went away disappointed that no one was going to be punished, and in fact, that such obviously outrageous behaviour was not only going to be allowed to continue but even to be encouraged.

After Filch had left, Dumbledore wandered over to the window in his high tower and gazed out at the grounds below. He could just make out the figures of Mika and Miss Granger heading for their favourite haunt amid the branches of the whomping willow, whom he now knew to be called Clarence. He was debating on whether or not to speak to Mika and Lupin together, or separately, or even at all. He thought that perhaps they would feel a little more at ease if they knew that they had the blessing of the Headmaster and wouldn't get into any sort of trouble. He also hoped that Snape, who had been acting very peculiar lately in regards to the pair wouldn't give him any trouble. He had enough on his plate without him adding to it.

"Mika," Hermione said as she trotted beside her down the path to the whomping willow. "I've been meaning to ask you, how did you do that back at the village?"

"Well, I can't. At least not that I am aware of. I was using what we call the 'Force'."

"You see, every living thing in the universe has a living force. There are people who have learned or been trained in the ability to manipulate this living force to do their will. The people I learned from are called Jedi Knights. I am not as knowledgeable in the ways of the Force as they are for they spend their entire lives studying it, much like you do your magic. And of course only certain people with the propensity for the Force are able to use it."

"It sounds a lot like our use of magic," Hermione observed.

"Well, that's what I think too. I think that perhaps magic is just another way of manipulating the Force. The differences being that you lot use wands and potions and spells and can do more diverse things with it. Qui Gon only showed me how to do a few simple things. I am actually quite surprised that my little trick back in the village worked as well as it did." she grinned.

"Do you think perhaps since you can do this Force thing, that you could do magic too?"

"It is a possibility I suppose," Mika said, scratching her chin.

"Let's try it," Hermione announced suddenly. "Take my wand and try a simple spell." She held her wand out for the timelord to take.

Gingerly, as if it might bite, Mika took the wand. She held it like a dead skunk. "Now what?" she asked.

Hermione laughed. "Just relax! It's just a piece of wood really, it won't hurt you. Now, hold it out as if you're going to point to something on a blackboard and say 'lumos'. Be sure to say it with conviction."

Mika grinned nervously and held the wand as instructed. "Lumos!" she commanded quite forcefully. A huge bolt of fire shot out of the end of the wand nearly setting fire to the whomping willow. Hermione yelped and leapt out of the way.

"Bloody hell!" Mika said, nearly dropping the wand. "I don't suppose that was supposed to happen huh?"

"Um, no, Mika. It was just supposed to light the end of the wand so you can see in the dark." She took the wand away from Mika before she did herself a damage.

"So did I do it wrong?"

"No, I don't think so. Perhaps you just need your own wand. Let's go get one of the school wands and see if that helps."

They made their way quickly back up to the Castle and to Mrs. McGonagall's classroom. "She always keeps a few extra wands just in case," Hermione told Mika.

"Don't you think we should ask first?" Mika asked uneasily.

"I'll leave her a note. We don't know where she is do we? And we'll only use if for a an hour or so at most." Mika looked at the wands, trying each one in her hand while Hermione left a note for the Transmogrification teacher. "Find one you like?" she asked when she was done.

"Hmmm," Mika considered them. "This one feels more 'right' than the others." She held it out for Hermione to see.

"That's made of Rowan," she informed the timelord. "Were you born in January?"

"I believe I was," Mika nodded. "Well, what would have been January if I had been 'born' on this planet... or indeed born in the sense that you know it." They both laughed. Sometimes Mika could say things that would confuse even the brightest of people. "Where shall we do this?" she asked.

"Um, judging by the results of the earlier experiment, somewhere fireproof!"

Together they made their way out of the classroom wing and out to the courtyard. They found a quiet corner where a large rose bush shielded them from the view of most of the other students who were milling about before bedtime.

"Right," Hermione said finally. "Try it again. 'Lumos'."

Mika held the wand firmly and repeated the spell. It wasn't quite a fireball like last time, but it was still a lot more than it should have been.

Suddenly a hand wrapped itself around Mika's wrist, guiding her wand. "Try waving it a little more loosely," came the familiar hoarse voice in her ear. "Also, try not to ease your concentration. I think you may be too focused."

Mika jumped and held her other hand to her chest as her hearts raced, partly from being startled and partly from Lupin being so near.

"Go on," urged Hermione, anxious to see if it would work.

"Lumos!" Mika said, this time more softly. The tip of the wand lit up with a bright light that would guide her through the darkest of nights.

"Perfect!" Hermione clapped in triumph. "Professor, I didn't think there was such a thing as concentrating too much."

"Well, apparently whatever powers Mika has been trained in require far more concentration than even the toughest spells." He lowered his voice to a whisper, his smile replaced by a look of serious thought. "Have you any idea what this might mean?"

"No," Mika said hesitantly. "But I don't think I like the looks of this."

The wheels were clearly turning in Hermione's head too. "Do you mean that if she really does have such powerful abilities, that with the proper training..."

"Yes. She could be the most powerful witch of all. Perhaps even more powerful than Voldemort himself!"

Mika looked first at Hermione, then Lupin, then back again. "Aw you guys are putting me on!" she said finally, folding her arms across her chest. "That's probably the only thing I can do and it took me three tries to do it!" she said.

But the looks on their faces were immovable. They were serious!

Mika shook her head slowly. "I don't know about this. It's all just supposition. Besides, I am not supposed to interfere..."

Hermione stood with her hands on her hips. "Interfere? You shouldn't even be here then should you?" she reminded her.

"Well..." Mika grinned sheepishly.

"Just give it some though, Mika, ok? I'll have a talk with Dumbledore and see what he says. Please, don't rule it out. You could be the secret weapon we need to defeat this evil that threatens us all."