Chapter 106

Avoiding Hermione’s eyes proved an impossible feat for Atlas the next morning. The girl’s concerned gaze only averted when she disposed of her clothes and disappeared for a quick shower, after that however she returned to openly staring at Atlas, questions behind those brown eyes of hers. Though she did not ask them and it seemed to take all of her restraint not to, movements quickly growing restless while Atlas remained ignorant, slowly and methodically donning her uniform and greeting Crookshanks when he awoke. Hermione noticed how Atlas refrained from storing her notebook within her bag, noticed how she gave the journal a wide berth and did not approach it even though her Charms homework lay beside it.

Again, she did not comment. Did not speak.

Until she did.

“Are you going to tell me what happened last night?” Hermione asked and Atlas froze, halting her movements before swinging her bag over her shoulder and turning.

“I made a potion for Astoria,” Atlas supplied simply and Hermione grinned, apparently thrilled for her.

“Oh, that’s wonderful news, Atlas! I’m very proud,” she smiled, quickly hugging the girl tight and Atlas reciprocated, albeit gently, with little excitement in her movements. Hermione pulled away at that, slowly frowning when she noticed Atlas’s expression, “you don’t seem very happy about it.”

“No, no, I am,” Atlas rushed, a small but noticeably weary smile on her face, “I’m just very tired, Mi.”

“I see…” Hermione frowned and swiped her hand through Atlas’s damp hair, arranging it neatly and remaining silent for a moment, “that’s understandable, I suppose. You should skip out on homework and get an early night tonight then.”

“I swear I’m the only one you’ll ever say that to,” Atlas commented quietly as she leant to allow Hermione a better view of her rogue strands of hair. Hermione huffed, smiling softly, unseen by Atlas.

“Because I know you’ll get it done regardless,” Hermione said and Atlas shrugged.

“No way, you’ve totally got a soft spot for me,” Atlas replied, standing again when Hermione finished and tilting her head to the side, tired eyes flickered with playfulness, “having such a pretty girl fuss over me is heavenly. You’re making me swoon.”

Hermione shook her head, smiling as she made a noise of contemplation, “it’s been quite a while since you’ve made one of those playful comments of yours. Unfortunately for you, they do not elicit a reaction like they once did, back when we first met. I’m used to it, Atty.”

“I’m not looking for a reaction, I’m simply speaking the truth,” Atlas hummed and rubbed at her eyes, yawning as she glanced at her notebook a small frown forming on her face. The knowledge of what she would have to do today – what she would have to ask swiftly came back to her. She turned away and made for the door, hand on the handle, gaze angled to Hermione. “Shall we go then?”

“We shall,” Hermione grinned, nodding her head as she followed after Atlas and hooked their arms together, apparently quite chipper.

That mood was quickly soiled at the arrival of the morning paper. They were sat, Ron and Harry chatting while Hermione received her Daily Prophet from a Short-eared owl, Atlas had been feeding the little beast some feed when Hermione let out a startled cry, drawing the eyes of everyone near. Even the owl bristled, adopting a very bulbous look, feathers all ruffled before flattening. The owl looked almost indignant before it took off, leaving Atlas put out, a handful of feed still sat in her palm. She frowned and put it away despondently while Ron and Harry enquired as to what had spooked Hermione so badly.

For an answer, she spread her newspaper flat before her, pointing at the twelve black-and-white photos printed upon the front page, all moving, all varying in their motions, ten of them wizards while the other two were witches. Most were manic, mangy looking folks, missing teeth, slick hair, a dirtiness earned through years of confinement. They were inmates of Azkaban, their crimes and names beneath each picture, each worse than the last. It seemed they saved the truly gruesome horrors for the finale.

Atlas read over the descriptors for each, their names ringing several bells, growing more and more alarming the further she read until her eyes fell upon one of the women, with dark long hair that looked unkempt, scraggly in the picture, eyes lidded, arrogance Atlas had never seen toying at the woman’s thin lips. She did not need to read the legend beneath her photograph to know who she was. Bellatrix Lestrange.

A frown pulled at Atlas’s lips as she continued further down. The final two, with a list of crimes so tall they occupied the rest of the page and at least half of the next, looked into the lens, into Atlas’s very soul, calm, eerily so, with a look of nonchalance, absolute sanity upon their faces as those that occupied the space above them writhed and screamed, laughed and jeered. It was jarring, it was sinister — it was almost horrific yet Atlas did not look away, instead, she read along, finding she had not a clue who these offenders were.

Edha Sinha-Shikari, the title beneath the other woman read, she was an older looking lady, hair cropped short and greying, her gaze severe, sharp, darkness to her eye that made Atlas shiver even through the warmth of the crowded hall. She was sat cross-legged in her photograph, bound hands sat neatly in her lap and posture straight, regal and composed no matter how much her grimy appearance screamed the opposite. And though Atlas had never seen the woman, not once in her life, there was a familiarity there, one she did not like. Not one bit.

It was the same for the man, Kushaal Sinha-Shikari, the apparent brother of Edha, he seemed kinder looking, calm just like his sister but in a way that was horrid and his bottomless black eyes made his comforting smile anything but. He had a beard, rough and unkempt and long matted hair, differing from his sister who seemed to have taken up the practice of maintaining her hair at least. 

Their appearance was notable it seemed, as the heading beneath mentioned the fact Edha and Kushaal were not old Death Eaters, contrary to their fellow mentioned inmates and this news was dire. As users of wandless magic, masters in the art, these siblings were cadaverous, calamities incarnate and Atlas could not help but despair, swallowing solidly as she collapsed a little in her seat. 

A mass breakout of Azkaban. Their worst fears come to light. Not only that but Atlas thought – no she knew Voldemort would recruit these siblings. Edha and Kushaal. Wandless magic-users just like Atlas, or rather, they were even better, masters of the branch, far superior to anything Atlas could hope to be. If this is what Voldemort had, if these were the subordinates he held at his disposal as well as Achlys, the students of Hogwarts — even some of the Order members — stood no chance.

“There you are, Harry,” Ron said and Atlas blinked, suddenly amongst the other students within the Great Hall and out of her mind. “That’s why he was happy last night.”

“I don’t believe this,” Harry snapped, “Fudge is blaming the breakout on Sirius?”

“What other options does he have?” Hermione said bitterly, crossing her arms and snarling, “he can hardly say, ‘Sorry everyone, Atlas Magianima, a teenage witch, warned me this might happen, the Azkaban guards have joined Lord Voldemort’ — stop whimpering Ronald — ‘and now Voldemort’s worst supporters have broken out, too.’ I mean, he’s spent a good six months telling everyone you, Atty and Dumbledore are liars, hasn’t he?”

“Bellend,” Ron snarled and Hermione and Harry seemed to mutter in agreement. Atlas however felt rather nauseous, the opportunity presented to her because of such a terrible article was not one she wanted to take. But she knew she would have to, no matter how unwilling. She had made a promise, a deal with Dumbledore in exchange for Astoria’s cure. By using this article as an excuse, her proposition would not look so sudden or shady.

Still, she could not bring herself to do it, not surrounded by so many people, Dumbledore and Umbridge amongst them. Merlin, the thought of what might happen to her when all was said and done made her sick, when Dumbledore’s worries and predictions became true. 

“Atlas?” A hand fell upon her thigh and Atlas blinked again, turning to Hermione. “Are you all right?”

“…no,” Atlas shook her head very quickly and stood, “no, I’m not,” she uttered, “I…I need a minute, just — I’ll be back, I’ll be back,” she rambled, shaking her head again as she swung her leg over the bench and left, her bag forgotten and cloak discarded, a troubled expression upon her face as the corridor beyond the Great Hall greeted her and the chatter of the students dimmed to a muffled murmured.

She paced, unsure of where to go but aware it would be quite some time before lessons started and others started pouring out of the hall, so she simply stayed and took a moment, eyes closed and breathing in through her nose, out through her mouth. Alone until she wasn’t, a figure predictably following after her mere moments later, clearly concerned.

“Atlas, what’s going on?” Hermione asked gently but Atlas shook her head, growing sort of panicked. This made Hermione move forward, hand out and ready to retract if Atlas moved away but she didn’t and so Hermione gently took her arm and guided her down a quite much more secluded hallway. “Breathe Atty, breathe with me…”

And Atlas did, expression pained but breaths eventually even.

“You’re all right,” Hermione assured and Atlas refrained from shaking her head, refrained from telling her all about the deal she made with Dumbledore for it would only upset the girl, it would only make her angry and she did not want that. So instead she swallowed, steeled her nerves and spoke, her proposition falling from her tongue now that neither Dumbledore nor Umbridge was around to witness it.

“Let me teach the DA wandless magic,” she said and Hermione froze, the look of glee she would have once worn leaving not a trace upon her visage, instead she looked a little confused, a little sceptical, a little scared.

“…why are you asking that all of a sudden?” Hermione asked, brows furrowed.

This is where she lied, this is where she would use the terrible news to her advantage, “Isn’t it obvious? Voldemort will have wandless magic users at his disposal, Mi. Masters of the art as well as Achlys. I can teach them all I know about wandless magic.”

“Why didn’t you join and do that in the first place then?” Hermione continued, backing away slightly and crossing her arms, she looked her over.

“You know why…” Atlas urged.

“So what changed? Why are you suddenly unafraid of Umbridge finding out?” Hermione pressed and Atlas swallowed, face paling before she gritted her teeth and shook her head. That wasn’t it, that wasn’t it at all, she was still terrified of Umbridge finding out, now more than ever because it would no longer be the same. 

“I’m not…it still scares me but…Mi, if I don’t teach them, even with Harry’s guidance they won’t stand a chance against a wandless user. That’s…that’s just the truth,” and it was, Atlas knew it was and because of this, the thought of joining the DA, teaching them all she knew was not an unattractive one. It never had been. The part that always deterred her from joining had been both the idea of raising an army of children and the consequences, the punishments they would face should Umbridge find out. But with the choice frankly stripped from her, the knowledge that even if she did not join she would still be forced to take the punishment alone told her she might as well commit the supposed crime she would be sentenced for.

“…fine, ok, all right,” Hermione nodded, sighing heavily through her nose as Atlas watched her quietly. “I’ll talk to Harry about it…Ron too but Atlas,” she began and Atlas straightened, “promise me that if it all goes under — if we’re revealed — you won’t try and take all of the blame.”

Atlas stiffened but maintained her outward composure, smiling slightly, “Mi –“

“Promise me, Atlas.”

“…all right, sure,” she offered eventually, half-heartedly as pain shot right through her at the sight of Hermione’s small and soft smile.

“Good,” Hermione said gently. “I’ll see you later then, Atty.”

“Where are you going?”

“I need to send a letter,” she told and sighed, running a hand through her messy hair, “we’ve just read another article, do you remember Broderick Bode, the man that was in the ward with Gilderoy?” Atlas shook her head no, she had been too engrossed in Lockhart’s decor at the time, “well, he’s been discovered dead, strangled by a Devil’s Snare given to him at Christmas. Ron says he was an Unspeakable.”

“And that’s what you’re sending a letter about?”

“No…honestly, I don’t even know if it’ll work but it’s worth a shot,” Hermione muttered and then pulled Atlas into a hug, mindlessly kissing her cheek before waving goodbye and disappearing down the corridor. Atlas now left to herself and her thoughts, to the churning in her stomach that was not linked to Hermione’s display of affection. Though she dearly wished it was. No, the guilt of lying to Hermione’s pretty smile, her hopeful eyes was gnawing away at her and she felt sick again, unwilling to reenter the Great Hall and face Umbridge anymore than she had to for it would only remind her of what was to come.

“What am I doing?” Atlas whispered and sat, collapsing against a wall, “what am I doing…?”

It passed in a blur, the rest of the day sort of static, the same monologue playing like some broken record at the beginning of every lesson, regarding their OWLs and their homework, but there seemed to be some urgency now, a different kind, laced with an underlying fear of the near future. All of the professors looked solemn, even Minerva who would not spare Atlas a glance, not that Atlas had noticed, she was trapped so deep within her mind nobody could reach her. She simply and mindlessly scrawled unintelligible notes upon some scrap paper, not even attempting any sort of practical spell as she thought only of Hermione’s trusting smile and her nausea would renew.

And in the days following, while the only topic of conversation in the halls concerned the twelve escaped Death Eaters and the possibility that Harry Potter and Atlas Magianima had been telling the truth, Atlas remained the very same, quiet and looking distant. She did not partake in any of these conversations, instead, she patiently waited for news of the next DA meeting from Harry and asked him and Ron questions all about their secret lessons, to which they would eagerly answer. The knowledge that Atlas would be joining them was apparently enough to lighten their soured moods, Harry’s especially as it seemed to ease some of the burden upon him. The boy was frequently fatigued these days, with Snape’s Occlumency lessons draining every bit of energy he had, he often had the likeness of an Undead, so pale he looked constantly spooked.

Atlas did not speak on it to Hermione, however, she would always steer clear of that topic, if only to spare herself of the guilt she felt every time Hermione would even mention the DA with that goddamn smile of hers. Instead, Atlas would distract her with wooden figurines she had whittled, all different, depicting different magical beasts and Hermione would place them on her desk in a neat line and frequently fawn over them.

A week had passed since she had made the proposition and she was sat at her desk, fiddling with her charred lion doll in one hand while she idly examined the other, the French words engraved upon it. She flexed the hand, fist clenching and unclenching, the words shifting with each movement so that they seemed to writhe atop her skin. She turned away some moments later, unwilling to let her mind wander to the thoughts of what injuries she might soon sustain due to her promise with Dumbledore and stood, intent on finding some reading material for the night.

Only, her attention was drawn elsewhere, to the burning of her pocket, the sudden heat pressed against her thigh, she frowned at the uncomfortable sensation and dug her hand into her pocket, finding a Galleon she had not known she possessed. Of course, it wasn’t particularly strange for Atlas to find some loose change in her trousers but she was very sure it hadn’t been there before. Regardless, the coin was not a regular one and Atlas noticed the irregularity of the serial number on its rim. It was a date and time. For what, Atlas did not know for a moment, a flash of confusion on her face before she recalled a certain memory. The number of times she had seen Hermione pull out and check a coin just like this one before announcing she would be back later, it was clearly something to do with the DA.

At least, that was what Atlas supposed. 

The date upon it was that of today’s and the time depicted was nearing, yet Atlas did not move, stuck in place, looking over the coin again and again before tucking it back in her pocket. This was it, if her suspicions were true she would soon be joining the ranks of the DA, she would be taking the plunge and breaking the rule she would certainly be punished for. She sighed and made for the door, descending down into the Common Room where silence greeted her, not a soul in sight. It had been bustling with life before but now they were gone, undoubtedly to the first meeting of the new year.

She was nervous, incredibly so but her fear practically vanished when she neared the hall of the seventh floor, the wall across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teach trolls ballet she knew to house the entrance to the Room of Requirement. It would do no good to appear before the rest of the DA looking pale and sickly, she had to lead by example, that’s what Moody had told her. So as she walked past the wall three times, thinking hard on the DA her face grew cooler and cooler, emotions dulling to a buzz and rampant thoughts of all this implied, all this meant shifting to that of what she might teach today.

And then the large intricately patterned door appeared before her and she let out a quiet breath, running a shaky hand through her hair that eventually stilled before pushing her way inside, the chatter within dying down to that of suffocating silence. All eyes fell upon her, varying degrees of shock and inquiry across their faces, though there were four that looked vastly different from the rest, Harry, Ron, Hermione and most curiously, Luna stared at her with expectant smiles.

“What’s she doing here?” A voice snarked and Atlas did not know whom it had come from, yet she responded anyway before Ron or Harry, the both of them looking suddenly rather defensive, made to retort.

“I’m here to teach you all alongside Harry,” she responded, rolling up her sleeves and loosening her tie. “And while as I understand it, you were all doing just fine under his tutelage alone, after recent events we’ve decided it would be beneficial to have me on the team.”

“Yeah? What do you have to offer then?” A boy, Atlas knew as Zacharias Smith, asked, with an air of snootiness Atlas did not like.

“Atlas is top of almost all of our classes,” Hermione spoke before Atlas could even formulate a sentence. The girl looked indignant, suddenly cross with brows drawn. “She can do magic you could not attempt even in your most foolish of fantasies. She’s the best of us all.”

“Yeah you tosspot,” Ron snapped, looking just as angry.

“I’m hardly the best,” Atlas refused, shaking her head with a frown.

“She’s better than me,” Harry interrupted. “She can do loads of spells wandlessly.”

“And she’s come to teach you all that she knows about them so you should be grateful, Zacharias, rather than arrogant,” Hermione finished, form positively alight. Many of the DA watched the girl, shocked by the display while others, seemed to smile knowingly. Atlas however walked over to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it discretely.

“Thanks, Mi but you didn’t need to rip into him like that,” she whispered and Hermione flushed, crossing her arms and scoffing. Atlas looked at her a long moment, smiling slightly before turning back to the crowd with a frown, “what Hermione says is true, though I don’t expect you to be quite so grateful I am here to teach you wandless magic, as much as I know anyhow. I will even go so far as to teach you to cast certain spells without uttering a word.”

A girl raised her hand, she was ginger with a face vaguely familiar to Atlas but her name was lost on her, she thought she ought to know it considering they seemed to be of the same year but no, she drew a blank. Atlas motioned for her to speak and the girl cleared her throat, looking a little hesitant if a bit sheepish, “If you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you join at the beginning? When the DA was initially founded?”

“Well, first of all, forgive me but what’s your name?”

“Oh, Susan. Susan Bones,” she replied and Atlas froze, throat suddenly dry as she looked upon the girl. That was why she was so familiar.

“Are you related to Amelia Bones?”

“She’s my auntie,” Susan smiled and Atlas nodded, swallowing again. Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, a woman she remembered from her trial, a lady she found herself eternally grateful for. She was there when nobody else was, when Dumbledore left her alone, fighting in her corner and calling Umbridge out for her barbaric proposals.

“…tell her Atlas Magianima is in her debt,” Atlas said after a moment and moved on quickly after, clearing her throat. “As to why I didn’t originally join…it was because of Umbridge, she…I have quite a history with the woman and she takes great pleasure in ensuring I’m as miserable as possible. My fear was that if she were to find out about these arrangements I would be…she would take the chance to punish me to the fullest extent. More so than any of you would endure.”

“So you see, she’s here at great personal risk,” Hermione added, shooting Zacharias a harsh glare.

“Right,” Atlas nodded and looked upon the crowd, “so, what were you all learning?”

“Harry was going to teach us the Shield Charm,” Luna supplied, smiling simply and Atlas made a noise of gratitude.

“Does anyone here know the charm already?” Everyone looked between one another, evidently lost, unknowing, so Atlas turned to Harry, “seems you’re the only one, Harry. Want to do a demonstration before you teach them the fundamentals?”

“Sure, yeah that’s a good idea,” Harry agreed and Atlas handed her wand to Hermione, walking a few paces away as Harry did the same, his wand in hand. The rest of the DA stood on either side of them, creating a wall that left a long strip like a duelling stage, while they watched with attentive eyes, hanging on to every movement.

“Hit me with whatever,” Atlas said, standing quite still, hands at her sides and her face the picture of calm. Harry blinked, looking rather stunned as he hesitated. Of course, he was well aware Atlas was adept in Defense Against the Dark Arts, however, to see her so collected was unnerving, nevertheless, he raised his wand and adjusted his grip and all the while Atlas remained unmoving.

“Stupefy!“

“Protego.“

A large jet of red expelled from his wand and hurtled toward Atlas at a speed not unlike a firebolt, however, the spell did not reach her. As soon as it had left his wand, Atlas had uttered her spell, making one swift and sharp motion with her finger as a dome, transparent but shimmering blue, formed around her. It ricocheted off of the glassy screen and headed back for its sender, where Harry, standing unprepared, received it in his centre, his body hurtling backwards through the air and landing some ways away with a loud grunt.

A few of the class snickered as Harry sat up, dazed and righting his classes while some murmured their astonishment to one another, shooting glances over to Atlas who looked at her godbrother with an amused and crooked grin. She eventually walked over to him and pulled him upright, patting his back and wiping down his front.

“Good man,” Atlas smiled and ushered him forward so that the two of them now stood in front of their class, “now, don’t be disheartened if when you try it, it doesn’t work your first or even your fiftieth try. It’s a very tricky branch of magic to learn, in fact, wordless incantations are perhaps much easier and I do think a few of you will be able to give the two types a very good go,” she then motioned to Harry also, “that is after we’ve taught you to do it out loud and with a wand.”

“Yeah,” Harry nodded, shaking his head about a bit and grinning, “the incantation is Protego and the wand movement is the same as the Stunning Charm we practised a while ago. So pair up or form a group and give it a go, if you need any help, you can ask me or Atlas.”

Slowly, the class dispersed, partnering up with whoever they pleased, perhaps predetermined groups they’d stuck to since the beginning but Atlas wouldn’t know anything about that, this was her first day. So she watched while Harry chatted to certain faces, familiarizing herself with the strengths and weaknesses of the students, what they needed to work on and who they got along with most. She especially noted who produced the quickest results, those that got a grasp on each spell easiest. 

There was Hermione of course, almost succeeding on her sixth try, Ron wasn’t doing terribly either, the Twins were surprisingly determined and Ginny gave it a good go. On the furthest edge of the room where Harry was, Cho managed to create a flicker of a shield on her fifteenth try and Luna did not falter, even when her wand only gave off a plume. Susan Bones looked to be struggling a bit and her partner, Anthony Goldstein was relatively the same, next to them, Katie duelled with her girlfriend Leanne and Angelina was partnered with Alicia, the latter the more successful of the two.

Stood just off to the side, Atlas was surprised to see Neville giving it his absolute all against Hannah Abbott while Padma, Parvati and Lavander watched on, vaguely disturbed. Atlas could see why, Neville had adopted a face unlike his own, his usual round meek look, hard and concentrated, almost glaring. But Atlas knew why and did not stop him, deciding to merely keep a close eye on the boy, ready to step in if his determination proved too unruly and grew to the potential of harming his surprisingly calm duelling partner.

“Hey, Professor Atlas!” Atlas turned to the voice and straightened, crossed arms coming unbound as Ginny waved her over. “Luna needs some help.”

“I think I’m doing rather well,” Luna retorted simply, though there was a tiny hint of defensiveness in her tone. Atlas smiled and nodded, moving over to the girl while Ginny remained a few paces away.

“Have another go, Luna. I’ll see if there’s anything that needs tweaking,” Atlas offered and looked over at Ginny, gesturing for her to continue. Meanwhile, Atlas step slightly to the side and dug her hands into her pockets, keeping her eye on Luna’s posture and the way she held herself. Over time perfection would become unneeded but for a first-time incantation, being as close to the ideal was valuable.

Ginny fired off her spell, words louder than those that surrounded her and Luna made to defend, only for a meagre flicker to appear at her words. Atlas flicked her finger so that her own dome fell over the two of them, sending the red spell back at Ginny who ducked with a short yelp.

“Your form is fine, Luna,” Atlas said while Ginny cussed her out in the background, “wand work as well. Do you worry the spell will ricochet and hit Ginny?”

“Naturally, Ginny is my friend,” Luna replied as if it were the only answer she could ever think of giving. Atlas smiled a little while Ginny grinned, walking over to pull Luna into a side hug.

“Don’t worry about me, just give it your all,” Ginny assured.

“But if you’re not comfortable with it…” Atlas murmured and then looked across the class, “Harry! Do you have any Duelling Dummies in here?”

“What?” He called back over the noise, Atlas sighed going to shout again when another voice stopped her.

“They’re over there, Atty,” Atlas looked to see Hermione walking over to her, Ron staggering after looking very dazed. Maybe he shouldn’t have been the one to partner with Hermione, considering their staggering difference in abilities. That wasn’t to say Ron was a terrible caster, he was more than adequate, Hermione was just in a realm of her own. “Here’s your wand.”

“Oh, right,” Atlas took the stick held out to her, “and where?”

Hermione motioned to a room protruding from the left wall, the door old and detailed the same as the entrance.

“They don’t work though, we tried to use them when we first found this place. The charm on them was worn out we think,” Hermione said. Ron stumbled into his sister and Ginny struggled to keep her much taller brother upright.

“That’s fine, I’ll fix them, give me a hand? Or do you want to train some more?”

“Oh, I’ve successfully cast the charm already,” Hermione beamed.

“Seriously? Good girl, that’s a hard one to get. Took me a while myself,” Atlas smiled and then looked over at Ron, “I take it Ron wasn’t so lucky?”

“Sorry, what? Oh! No…no, he wasn’t,” Hermione chuckled, seemingly nervous but Atlas only shook her head amusedly and turned to Luna.

“I’ll get you a Duelling Dummy Luna, Ginny can partner with Ron,” Atlas said and while Luna nodded readily, Ginny baulked, dropping her brother to the floor.

“What? No way!” She snapped.

“Fine, duel the wall,” Atlas huffed, turning away. 

Hermione followed as they made their way over to the small room that, when opened, seemed to hold inside, countless figures, mannequins, some large, some small, some with many limbs while some simply had two. Atlas could feel no magic within the cupboard, maybe small traces but that was all, she tilted her head to the side and raised her wand, thinking up the incantation she had seen Moody use on many occasions, back during the summer, where duelling occupied most of her days. 

“Duellis Locomotor.” Nothing happened for a moment and Atlas idly thought she might have gotten the spell wrong, slowly frowning at her wand and huffing out a sigh. Though that sigh was cut short, turning to a sort of hiccup when the dummy she had charmed jolted to life. Atlas quickly moved backwards, making room for the large being that seemed to curiously poke its head out of the closet, dust falling in clouds from its head and joints creaking from idleness. “There we go.”

“I didn’t know you could do that…” Hermione whispered, astonished as the wooden being stood at attention, awaiting either an order or a challenge to a duel.

“Moody used to cast this all the time over the summer…” Atlas told and frowned slightly, “I lost to one of these wooden dolls more times than I’d care to admit,” she added a lot quieter but then straightened once again, “plus Minerva taught me a similar spell when I was little, it gets all of the stone guard statues around Hogwarts to come to life. Piertotum Locomotor,” she said in an aged voice, turning to grin at Hermione who was already staring at her, in admiration and something else, Atlas could not discern it.

It was gone just as quickly as it came anyhow so Atlas didn’t question it and cleared her throat, turning back to the dummy. 

“Stunning spells only, all right?” she said and though she did not get a reply nor any indication it had heard and taken note, she knew it had listened and pointed over to Luna, motioning for it to get on its way. It obeyed and left, heavily clunking over to Luna, so loudly it jolted several students from their own practice.

“You honestly continue to astound me,” Hermione huffed, crossing her arms and shaking her head in disbelief. “What else can you do?”

“Telling you would suck the fun out of it,” Atlas said and tucked her wand in its clasp, “but…let’s just say Moody taught me quite a bit outside of training to utilise my weird little habit of spreading that Fear.”

“Did you get far with that?” Hermione asked curiously.

“…no,” Atlas muttered and frowned, “I don’t like it.”

“Why?”

“Because the last time I used it – albeit unconsciously – I felt really good,” Atlas admitted and ran a hand through her hair, “I get that they were Death Eaters…but — I guess I’m afraid that if I accidentally used it on someone and ended up feeling the same joy I did in the graveyard, it’d prove I’m a bit…I don’t know,” she trailed off and did not finish her sentence, sighing again, deeper than ever before and looking at Hermione a moment, long and hard. She smiled after a moment. “How about I teach you Protego wandlessly? Hmm? Nonverbally too if you’d like.”

“…yeah,” Hermione nodded, smiling as well, “yeah, ok, that’d be good. I don’t know how well I’ll do though, it might not go well.”

“You’ll do great, I know it,” Atlas assured, reaching out for the girl’s wrist only for Hermione to move so that their hands fell together instead. They remained still for a moment, Hermione’s smiley expression slowly turning quizzical at Atlas’s blank-faced staring before the girl shook her head and pulled her back over to the larger group.

“Ok then,” Atlas tore her hand reluctantly away from Hermione’s, “first we’ll do this nonverbally – even though I’m here for wandless magic I just want to see how quickly you grasp it.”

“Again, this might go horribly.”

“Again, you’ll do great,” Atlas huffed and rose a brow, “so shut up and find your can-do attitude, honestly, where did Miss Know-It-All go?”

“You know I hate that,” Hermione remarked, crossing her arms as Atlas smiled playfully. “And my can-do attitude has gone on vacation. If it was Harry I’d be fine but I find myself wanting to impress you, Atty.”

“Oh…” Atlas blinked and smiled softly a moment later, “don’t worry about that Mi…you impress me daily.”

“Whatever you say, Atlas,” Hermione muttered and raised her wand, “so, how do I go about this?”

Atlas watched the girl across from her a moment and frowned at the troubled expression suddenly upon her face but she did not say anything, she simply coughed, cleared her throat and swallowed.

“Right, so what you want to do is…”