Membership of Dark Force Defence League

"Good morning, sir. Are you here to register your wand?" I asked the man from Stille.

"Good morning, here."

The wizard took the wand and put it on the dish of the device. When the rumbling stopped, a piece of parchment came out. The man gave the wand back to Stille and read the parchment.

"12 inches, rowan wood, and thestral hair. Unusual wand you have, Mr.?"

"Elding, Stille Elding."

"Mr. Elding. Have a pleasant visit."

"Thank you."

After registering his wand, Stille went to the third floor, where a receptionist from the Dark Force Defense League was waiting for him.

"Mr. Elding? How do you do?"

Shaking the eager girl's hand, Stille greeted her back.

"You are?"

"My name is Jessica, Jessica Clark. I'm so excited to see you. Can I get your autograph, sir?"

"I would be happy, Ms. Clark."

The girl took out a parchment, quill, and ink bottle. Looking at his curious expression, she blushed and explained:

"A habit of a clerk."

He took the parchment and dipped the quill. After thinking for a moment, he wrote these words on the parchment:

"To Jessica, the first person to get my autograph: May she have all the blessings." Signing his name at the bottom, he returned the parchment and the quill.

"Thank you, Mr. Elding. Your handwriting is quite beautiful. Now, let's get going on your trial, shall we?"

 -----------------------

Jessica led him into a big room, which appeared empty as there were no decorations in there. A few tables stood at the far end of the room. There were a few people talking in their seats. When Stille entered, they stopped their chat. The old man in the middle spoke up:

"Mr. Elding, we welcome you to the Dark Force Defence League."As mentioned in the official invitation letter, you are here to take a trial in order to showcase your talent. Do you have anything to say? If not, we will directly proceed with the task."

"Good day to you all, and thank you for the invitation. I have nothing to say; we can proceed as you wish."

"Ok then. The trial is simple. There are three stages to checking your strength. The first task is to create a shield charm. If it can withstand an average attack by an Auror, you'll be qualified for the second task. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"We invited one of the Aurors, Mr. Williamson, for your trial. The Stunning spell will do, Mr. Williamson."

A middle-aged man stood up and cast the spell. Stille wordlessly conjured a transparent shield and deflected the spell. This display of skill raised a few eyebrows among invigilators.

"Well done, Mr. Elding. Now, let's proceed to the second part. For this task, we want you to prove some of your claims in your book. You talked about your use of advanced transfiguration and some high-level spells. We picked the Incarcerous spell and transfiguring rocks into animals."

As he explained the task, a wooden dummy and a large pile of rocks were brought in.

"You can start when you are ready."

Stille nodded at him and pointed his wand towards the dummy. Dozens of ropes materialised in front of him and tightly bound the dummy.

He then pointed at the rocks. They started moving up, like they were alive. A bulky ape formed up, hitting its own chest. These blows produced a deafening sound. Stille lifted his palm up to signal it to end its performance and looked at the invigilators.

The old man started his evaluation with applause.

"You have quite good skills despite being young, Mr. Elding. How old are you?"

"I got my NEWT certificate this year, sir."

"At only 18 years old, you can already manage non-verbal spells. Your transfiguration techniques are also quite good. It's a pleasant surprise. For me, it seems that conducting the last task will be useless. Who is in disagreement?"

The invigilators murmured with each other but ultimately agreed on this proposal.

"If everyone agrees, we will conclude the trial here. Sir Stille Elding, starting today, you have full membership in the Dark Force Defence League. Congratulations."

Then the invigilators came forward, introducing themselves and congratulating him. The old man's name was Henry Miller. He was the head of the league.

"Jessica will introduce you to your rights and obligations as a member of this community. We have some matters to attend to; notify me when you have time. We should have a deep discussion with you, young man, about your remarkable work."

Patting his shoulders, Henry went out. With him, others also left.

Jessica also congratulated him, and they went to her office. After giving him a brief overview of the workings of the organisation, she registered his information. When the formalities were taken care of, Stille bade farewell to her and left the ministry for Diagon Alley.

----------

"Business is booming as usual, Florean."

"Oh, if it's not my richest patron, How are you doing, Stille? Still single?"

Stille exaggeratedly touched his heart, as if he took an arrow to heart.

"You're toxic, old man. I wonder how you make sweet ice cream."

"I give all of my sweetness to my sundae; that's why you are talking to this toxic old man. Come in; I stored the sweetest one for you."

Stille followed him inside.

"He's inside, Stille."

Nodding at the old man, he entered the room through the door concealed by a painting of flowers. Florean closed the door and sat, waiting for him to come out.

 --------------

"Well met, heir Fawley, how do you do?"

"Well met, Lord Elding. Thank you for honouring me with your visit."

Stille went ahead and gave him a bro hug. They sat down in armchairs in front of a burning fireplace.

"How are you doing at Hogwarts?"

"I'm doing alright. Teaching is fun."

"I bet you already have many fans among the students. You were a great teacher, even as a student. I would fail the exams and stay at school if you told me your plan to teach, y'know."

Chuckling at his joke, Stille replied,

"I bet many would. Then how would the organisation function with everyone at school?"

When he mentioned Yggdrazil, Charles became serious.

"I still don't get why you did it. I thought you would run for the position of Minister in a few years. With the projects we have been doing, it is already in your pocket."

Stille gazed at the raging fire, appearing as if he were mesmerised by it.

"Charles, what do you think? How will I justify my action?" He replied with a question of his own.

Thinking for a moment, Fawley said,

"Maybe you think the organisation is still too small, and you want it to be big enough before showing yourself to the world. I think this is the best possible explanation."

"Logically speaking, you are right. But we are humans, not robots or golems. Not every act of ours can be justified with reason. We have emotions, values, the people we love and care about, the bottom lines we will never cross...

My decision to establish Yggdrazil can be reasoned out using logic, but I didn't think about it when I started it. The sole objective was to create a safe haven, a supporter for those who seek to advance magic beyond its boundaries. I had no intention to use it to go against anyone or the ministry.

Teaching at Hogwarts is also just a path I deem necessary, not for my future but for the betterment of the world.

What do you think, Charles? What is power that comes from authority and the status of a person?"

Seeing the confusion of his friend, Stille chuckled. He conjured a piece of wood and asked again, "What will happen if I throw this into the fire?"

It started to burn. He conjured another piece.

"What will happen if I throw it into water and freeze the water?"

Stille conjured a ball of water, threw the wood, and froze it. The wood started to crack.

"What will happen if I let it stay in the water?"

He did so, and the wood became swollen.

"Did you get my point, Charles? The wood is me; all other things are power. Power corrupts, changes, and moulds you. You can only resist that change for this much, then poof. You will lose yourself in that power. You will lose your motivation, your dreams, your original intentions, and your sympathy. You will become just another cog in the system."

Stille sighed deeply.

"I don't want power for myself, Charles. I don't want authority. I just want to protect myself and the ones dear to me; that's why I should have it.

When it comes to me being a professor at Hogwarts, it's the best way to keep myself in check and at the same time influence the system.

Well, I wouldn't deny that I also have a passion for teaching."

"Oh, great. Now let me erase your whole speech from my memory and remember the last part. Then my brain will stop overloading."

Despite giving a joking reply, Charles had a contemplative gaze. Satisfied with giving his friend a potential sleepless night, Stille asked,

"Now, let's finish this little debate. Did you have something to report?"

"Right, the report. We contacted a few mercenary groups in Albania. They started installing anti-apparition and ghost-repelling wards around that forest. Do you mind telling me the purpose of this operation?"

"I need to find something in that forest. Till then, no one should enter or exit from it. When they finish the wards, prolong the contract with a few groups to secure the area around it. I will find a chance to go till Halloween."

"Okay then. Have a good day, Professor Elding."

Stille punched him in the arm.

"Shut it. Say hello to the boys. Now, go."

"Okay, okay, no need to chase me away. I still want to eat some sundae!"

--------------------

Meanwhile, a certain girl with bushy hair was in the library, sighing in frustration.

"Where did the professor find such a story? Even the old tomes don't have a story and aren't as detailed as his version. Should I just ask him, Which book did he get the story from?"

Shaking her head, she collected her things and went to the common room.

In front of the fireplace, Harry and Ron were sitting, engrossed in their homework. They didn't even notice her. She was frankly surprised. During the week, everyone became familiar with each other. She knew Ron was lazy and didn't do any homework until there was only one day before the deadline. Harry wasn't as lazy as Ron, but he stuck to him most of the time.

They were reading a book on beasts that live in marshes. It was the book Professor Stille gave as homework.

She didn't disturb them, and she took the same book from her pile of books. She has already finished the pages given by the professor yesterday. She wanted to finish the whole book before their next class.

Neville saw his housemates studying by the fireplace. He wanted to join them, but remembered he should write a letter to his grandmother.

'I'll join them after finishing the letter.'

He went up to their room, took a parchment and dipped his quill in ink.

"Dear Grandma,

I'm doing good at school. How are you?"

And, he was stuck. What should he write? Should he mention write about everything that happened? Certainly not.

'Let's see. I will write about Harry, Ron, Seamus, and Dean. She will be happy to know about my friends. Let's mention herbology too. After all, Professor Sprout praised him and gave him many points when he did well in the class.

Potions class is better not mentioned.' A shiver ran through his spine when he remembered Snape.

'Should I write about my problems with my wand? It might make her worry. But they are already solved, so it should be alright.'

At this point, he was reminded of the class they had with Professor Stille.

------------

"Your wand is second-hand," the professor said in the illusion they were in during the class.

"It's rejecting you. I assume you have problems with its usage."

Neville nodded.

"Why didn't you buy a new one? A wand that is not complimentary to you not only makes it hard for you to use magic, it'll even affect your well-being. A constant battle of wills with something so personal is not a way to temper it; your intent when using magic becomes weaker.

Why don't we get you a new one?"

"Thi-this wand... belonged to my father. I-I promised myself to use it."

"Won't your father be happier if you are a great wizard?"

Neville just shook his head. Seeing his resolute expression, Stille decided to offer another solution.

"Then, there is another way to tackle the problem. Do you want to subdue it? Do you want it to work for you?"

Neville nodded.

" I heard about your parents, Alice and Frank Longbottom. What they did was admirable." Stille came forward and put his hands around Neville's shoulders.

"If you want this wand to be useful for you, then you should be like your father. Show the wand that you are as brave as your father. Show it that you're worthy to be its master, Neville Longbottom!"

Neville's expression changed from pained and melancholic to one of determination.

"Please teach me, Professor."

"This is the spirit. I'll first teach you a combat spell, the Disarming charm. The incantation is 'Expelliarmus'. Say it forcefully, as if you are grabbing the wand from your enemy. Point your wand before casting it. Wand movement is making a spiral. Let's try the incantation and wand movement."

When Neville got them right, the professor asked him, "Neville, have you ever seen that person who hurt your parents?"

"Yes," he reluctantly answered.

"The best way to increase your self-confidence and courage is to face your fear head-on. Imagine her looks in your mind. I'll create her illusion. Fight her.

Are you ready?"

Neville resolutely nodded his head.

"Prepare yourself."

Professor vanished into white fog. His surroundings changed into an alley. The lights dimmed, and the walls became dark coloured. chill permeated the air. From the dark end of the street, a figure of a woman appeared. She had that crazed expression on her face that haunted his dreams.

Neville pointed his wand at her. She walked towards him unfazed; she even started laughing crazily.

He held his tears in and tried the spell. No matter how much he tried, his wand refused to work. Tears started streaming down his face. Amidst the haunting laugh of the woman, a soft sigh came behind him.

"It's fine, Neville; at least you tried."

The words of the professor had the opposite effect on him. His tears stopped, his posture became straight, and his hands stopped trembling. He shouted out:

"I'm not dumb; I'm not a coward; I'm worthy of being Longbottom. EXPELLIARMUS!"

A powerful red beam came out of his wand tip and slammed into the woman. She was pushed with a force enough to throw her a few metres back. Her wand yanked itself from her hand and flew towards Neville. He caught it and snapped it into two.

When his adrenaline level decreased and he remembered the situation he was in, a dumbfounded expression appeared on his face.

"Congratulations. Now let us move on to the spells you should learn today."

--------------------

"Dear Grandma,

How are you doing? If you ask me, I'm doing great.

I have met with many friends here. Famous Harry Potter is in our House, we're studying together. You know Ron Weasley; he's the youngest son in the Weasley family. There's also Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas. They are really good boys.

Our classes are also good. Teachers help us when we don't understand something; they are really kind.

My favourite class is Herbology. I gained many House points in the lessons. Professor Sprout praises me a lot.

I like the Defence Against the Dark Arts class too. Professor Elding is a great teacher. Some people even said he was on par with Dumbledore.

I actually struggled a bit with my wand in the classes. Just a little. But Professor Elding taught me how to use a second-hand wand. He said he heard about my parents, and they were brave people.

That's all about me. I'll write again next week.

Love, 

Neville."