Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 105: I can Train You
"Huff… huff…" Bella was on her knees, breathing with difficulty. "What… what is with that thing… it doesn't get tired?"
Nyxaris merely watched her with no emotion in her eyes. "Do you surrender? Or will you choose to continue?"
James saw that the little fairy was about to blast Bella with another spell and decided it was time to stop.
"That's enough. We should end it here." It had been almost two hours, and Bella was obviously too exhausted to continue.
"Acknowledged, Master." Nyxaris lost interest in Bella and flew towards James. "Does Master wish to continue testing my magical capabilities?"
James shook his head. "That won't be necessary. It doesn't seem like you have any issues using your magic. Is that right?"
"I haven't encountered any problems so far. I will let Master know if that changes."
"Good. Go back to that chamber and make yourself a place to rest. Don't leave without my permission." James pointed to the main chamber where his laboratory was.
"Yes, Master." She went away without complaint.
James then approached Bella and handed her a potion. "It's a Pepper-Up Potion. It will help you recover from the exhaustion for a bit."
"I'm fine…" she huffed, but still took and drank the potion.
"You did very well against her," James commented.
"I lost every time! How can someone that tiny blast spells like that?!" Bella complained. She always considered herself talented in magical combat.
All children in the Black family go through harsh training from a young age. But Bella was pushed even harder than the rest by her own mother.
If she failed to get a spell right, her mother would hit her with some painful curse in response. So she always tried to make sure she learned everything quickly and made as few mistakes as possible.
"Of course, you would lose against that opponent. That was not the point of the exercise in any case. Nyxaris is a being of pure magic, much like a house-elf. For her, using magic is as natural as breathing. Compared to that, humans have to spend a large part of their lives learning how to use magic in the most efficient way possible."
Bella stood up, feeling a bit better thanks to the potion. "I don't like losing… losing in my family is not acceptable."
"Then get better. I could give you a few lessons in that subject too," James suggested.
He had already planned on taking his friends to the Room of Requirement for some combat lectures, especially after what happened with the Lestrange brothers. He didn't want them to be defenseless when a war was approaching.
Not that he wished for them to take any part in it, but one can never be too prepared. Any day now, they could find themselves having to fight for their lives.
His amber eyes looked at Bella. If the Black family refused Voldemort's alliance, then Bella and the rest of the members would also be involved on the same side of the war.
He knew Tom well enough to know that the man was too prideful and arrogant to allow the Black family to walk away unscathed after rejecting his offer to join his side.
"You want to teach me how to fight?" Bella glanced at him. She could not say that the offer wasn't appealing. Even though she had never seen what James could do when he got serious, it was obvious that he knew what he was doing.
"If you want to. But let me warn you that, unlike with the potion lessons, these combat lessons will have more people in them," James said.
A frown appeared on Bella's face. "Who? Please tell me it's not my cousin…"
"Your cousin, as well as Remus and Peter. I also plan on inviting Lily, Alice, and Frank. But I don't know if they will be interested."
"That's a lot of people…"
"Sorry, but I don't have the time for personal lessons. It has to be done this way."
"Mmm… would they agree to have a snake in the lessons?" Bella asked.
James was the only Gryffindor that she got along with. She found it hard to imagine dealing with a group of them.
"If anyone doesn't like it, they will be free to leave." James was sure that his friends would stay in any case.
Bella seemed to be considering something. "And where do you plan to have the lessons… here?" She pointed at the chamber.
"Absolutely not. This is my personal laboratory. Other than you, no one knows where it is, and it will remain that way. Besides, there's no room for everyone in here."
"I'm the only one who knows about this place?" Bella could not help but feel a bit happy to learn that. This meant that James truly trusted her, even after what happened the last time.
"I have a more appropriate location in mind for combat lessons, so don't worry about that." The Room of Requirement would finally be put to good use.
"Is it okay if I bring someone with me?" Bella asked.
"That depends on which one of your sisters it is. Narcissa is an absolute no, as she will inform Malfoy immediately. Andromeda would be fine."
"Wait, how did you know I was thinking about my sisters?" Bella asked.
"No offense, but you don't exactly have a lot of friends." And by that, he meant that she had zero friends outside her family.
"That's just because everyone is insufferable…" Bella huffed. She did try to make friends during her first year, but everyone in her house only cared about political alliances and improving their family's influence.
She didn't find anything wrong with that, but she couldn't become friends with anyone with that mindset.
Before the first trimester ended, she had already decided that she didn't need to have any friends in school. She had her family, and that was all that mattered to her.
"I'll talk to Andromeda then," she finally said.
James nodded. "Good. Now we should go back, it's almost time for dinner."
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