Hidden Wings - Part I

Chaos coming up

When Mioha awoke, she felt warm beams of sunlight shine on her face. She sniffed as the smell of the Hospital Wing filled her nose and opened her eyes.
The beds lining the wall were empty, except for hers. Looking to the door, Mioha noticed that someone had placed a steaming mug on the nightstand next to her bed. A delicious smell wafted into her direction and Mioha eagerly grabbed the mug to take a big swallow of the hot chocolate.
She closed her eyes in relish as the aroma of the dark chocolate filled her mouth.
"Ah, nothing better than a cup of hot chocolate, yes?"
Mioha startled and choked on a mouthful of her drink, starting to cough violently.
"Oh my, careful", Professor Dumbledore said and patted Mioha softly on the back a few times.
For his age he had a lot of strength in his bones.
"Th-thank you", Mioha coughed and cleared her throat a few times. She hadn't expected him to sneak up on her so stealthily, she usually could hear a fly sneeze from across the room.
She set down the mug on the nightstand while Professor Dumbledore took a seat on a stool next to her bed.
Detangling his beard that now flowed like one long white river down his robes, he looked at her over his spectacles, his eyes glistening proudly.
He reminded her strongly of Gelfram, a Silverwing who had been the oldest in her herd and had assumed some kind of Grandpa-position for her. He had had the strangest humor, always whipping out a joke when no one expected it.
Realizing that she was staring at the headmaster, who seemed to be waiting for an answer, she shook her memories away and asked: "Sorry, what?"
"I wanted to thank you for your work yesterday", Professor Dumbledore repeated.
"I couldn't be there to greet the dragons but according to Mr. Weasley and Professor McGonagall, you have done exceptionally well."
He leaned forward and said in a confidential tone: "Professor McGonagall has allowed me to see her memories in a Pensieve and I must say, I was very impressed by your control of the fire."
Mioha blushed heavily, feeling her entire face turn red.
"Professor McGonagall is a good teacher", she said, not wanting to take all of the credit.
"Indeed she is", said the headmaster thoughtfully, a proud tone in his voice.
Mioha smirked.
"Am I correct in understanding that you will continue with the element air?", asked Professor Dumbledore, twirling a strand of his beard around a finger.
"I think so", Mioha replied.
"Excellent", the wizard muttered before getting up on his feet.
"Rest today, Madam Pomfrey has excused you from all of your classes yesterday and today as well."
"Thank you."
The wizard inclined his head slightly before turning gracefully to leave.

The next day was Saturday the 19th.
The first Hogsmeade weekend of the school year.
Hermione went with Harry, who was under his Invisibility cloak to avoid being stared at, while Ron left with other Gryffindor fourth-years.
Mioha told Hermione she didn't mind staying at Hogwarts, since she had to help Hagrid build a paddock for the Blast-Ended Skrewts.
Thank Merlin Professor Dumbledore had agreed to it because two more skrewts had died while they had tried to get out of their crates. Mioha felt sorry for them and tried to built the paddock as fast as she could, Hagrid helping her of course. It took about three hours until they had a round space of twenty square meters surrounded by a wooden fence. There were about six skrewts left, among them Mioha's male skrewt, so they would have enough space to feel comfortable.
Around noon, there was barely anyone outside. Most students were at Hogsmeade and the rest were warming up inside, for a cold wind had started to howl across the lands.
Which presented Mioha the perfect opportunity to sneak away.
She made her way through the Forbidden Forest, which was starting to look quite bald. Brown leaves and piled at the bottom of the trees, covered in frost that crunched under Mioha's shoes as she stepped in them. Weak beams of sunlight shone through thick, grey clouds, melting the frost in the places they touched it. 
Rubbing her cold hands together, Mioha watched her breath waft through the air like a white cloud as she walked deeper into the forest. The further she got, the less noise there seemed to be. It got eerily quiet, as if no creature dared to make a sound. Or as if somebody had just hit the mute button.
Mioha saw a few birds flying silently through the trees into the direction she had come from, and after that she saw nothing else except trees. Not even an insect. She wasn't heading towards the mountains like she had the time she had run from Hogwarts, this time she had started on the other side of Hogwarts and was now walking away from the mountains.
The forest looked almost dead now, barely any leaves were covered the bare limbs rising into the sky like long, naked fingers. But Mioha could feel it was certainly not dead.
Magic was thrumming through the ground up into the trees, into every twig and branch. The trees were all connected by an underground stream of energy flowing into one direction.
To Nanrek.
Shivering slightly as the wind tugged and pulled at her cloak, Mioha was climbing over a thick tree stem covered in frost that lay horizontally on the ground. She slipped down on the other side and turned around to continue her journey, when she found herself face to face with something sharp.
The tip of an arrow.
Mioha looked slightly crosseyed as she stared at the metal tip, then focused on the person holding the bow and arrow.
It was a centaur, the brown-haired one who had shot an arrow past her face last time she had been near the Sacred Grounds of Nanrek with Firenze.
The brown-haired centaur now angrily stared at her, his dark eyes glittering dangerously as he silently pressed the tip of the arrow forward. Mioha flinched backward and her back connected with the rough stem behind her.
"Uhm, hello?", she croaked shyly, swallowing nervously as the centaur started growling.
"You", he hissed. "Why are you here?"
He didn't look that much older than her, Mioha realized as she stared into his face. He seemed to be about nineteen, but she wasn't sure since centaurs aged differently.
"I need to go to the Sacred Grounds of Nanrek", Mioha repeated the request she had made in the summer holidays before the begin of term.
Now the arrow was cutting into her skin as the centaur pressed it into her cheek.
"You will never see Nanrek", said the centaur coldly.
Mioha swallowed again. She could tell that this centaur would stop her if necessary.
But she really needed to get to the tree. She knew that Nanrek could help her with accepting her human side so her block-issue would disappear. But she couldn't tell the centaurs why exactly she needed to go, to them she was just a human with the weird ability to befriend other creatures.
"I need to go to Nanrek", Mioha whispered hoarsely, fear creeping up inside her as she felt something warm drip down her cheek.
"It is the duty of all centaurs to protect the Sacred Grounds of Nanrek from being soiled by humans", the centaur spat into her face, looming over her dangerously.
"And if you come back again, I will make sure no one will find you."
This he had whispered into her ear, his head so close that she could herself in his dark eyes. His tone was venomous and his eyes showed only pure hate as Mioha stared him.
She nodded slightly, not wanting the arrow to cut deeper into her cheek than it already had.
I will return, she thought firmly as the centaur stepped back.
And next time, I will make it.
Mioha defiantly wiped the warm blood from her cheek and turned around to climb back over the tree stem.
She almost screamed when an arrow shot into the bark next to her, barely missing her shoulder. Half of the shaft was stuck in the wood, the other half protruding into the air, still vibrating slightly.
Mioha bit her lip.
That was a warning.
She didn't want to show any weakness by turning around, so she simply climbed over the tree stem and made her way back to Hogwarts.
The sun was covered by thick clouds as Mioha trudged disappointedly through the Forbidden Forest, only dim light illuminating the shadows. As she left the area close to Nanrek, sounds returned to the forest, among them suspicious rustling in the dark undergrowth. But Mioha was too busy with her thoughts to be afraid.
As she reached the end of the forest, she looked up at the dark clouds.
It was another full moon tonight. Luckily, she had been told by Professor Sprout that the Herbology teacher would be the one watching her tonight.
But before that she had to check the dragons in the afternoon. She had persuaded Mr. Weasley to let the dragon mothers be reunited with their eggs, and she took the dragonesses outside while she was with them so they wouldn't have to be in a cage all day.
Mioha shivered and stuck her cold fingers under her arm pits. She was completely frozen.
First thing to do before going to the dragons: take a hot bath.

At around five p.m. Mioha was in the clearing where the four huge cages stood. The Wyvern was asleep, her long tail curled protectively around her eggs. The poisonous barb had been freed out of its metal box, and it vibrated slightly in the dragoness' sleep. Mioha didn't let the dragoness fool her, she knew the Wyvern would be ready to jump up and protect her clutch of eggs at the sight of the slightest danger.
After talking a bit to Caerinn, Mioha made her way to the next cage containing Leona.
She took the Chinese Fireball outside, and the slim dragoness elegantly twisted through the air with her wings doing minimal movements, one eye always on her crimson-red eggs in the nest inside the cage. Mioha watched the dragoness soar in a large circle above the clearing, the scales shimmering in a dark red in the greyish light.
Mr. Weasley walked up to her, is gaze focused on the Chinese Fireball above him.
"Beautiful, right?", said the wizard amazed.
Mioha nodded in agreement.
"How did you get to work with dragons, Mr. Weasley?", she asked him, noticing for the first time his calloused fingers, covered in burns and blisters.
"I have always found them fascinating", Mr. Weasley replied and followed her gaze to his hands. He laughed quietly.
"That's an occupational hazard, I guess. Anyway, I have nowhere near that talent you have."
Mioha turned red at his compliment and looked up at Leona again.
"Have you ever thought of pursuing a career that involves dragons?", Mr. Weasley inquired.
Shaking her head, the Slytherin answered: "I haven't really thought about that. But I don't know if I could do that everyday, I nearly had a heart attack when the Hungarian Horntail appeared."
Mr. Weasley chuckled.
"I have to say, I was impressed how you handled the other three dragons before, but you performing elemental magic was the icing on the cake. McGonagall told me she had taught you that, although I can't believe a witch your age is capable of controlling fire."
His eyes watched her carefully when Mioha looked at him.
"I had to practice", she said honestly. "A lot."
Mr. Weasley laughed, running a scarred hand through his fiery hair.
"I can barely control a candle flame", he admitted, "although I should practice that more often, considering I'm working with fire-spewing creatures."
Mioha had to snort at that comment.
She looked up at the sky, feeling the pull of the moon getting stronger. This evening it would already rise at eight p.m., and it was already shortly after seven.
"I have to go now", she told the wizard, "otherwise I won't get into my dorm tonight."
"I understand, wouldn't want you to get caught outside after curfew."
Leona, she silently connected with the dragoness, could you come down please? I'm sorry, I know you'd like to fly longer.
Leona snorted in agreement, an hour of flying in the evening was nearly not enough for her. But she felt Mioha was nearing her Silverwing transformation, and having respect for the student's secret, she flew lower without complaining, spreading her large ruby-red wings to slow down. The dragoness landed gracefully on the ground, a small cloud of dust whirling upwards when her talons touched the dirt. Folding her wings onto her sides, the dragoness walked up to her cage, lowering her head to fit through the gate.
Another witch closed it behind the Chinese Fireball and activated the shield that shimmered slightly in a light blue above the gate.
"Bye sir", Mioha said to Mr. Weasley, turning to leave.
"Call me Charlie", the wizard smiled, "my mother practically thinks of you as part of the family from what I've heard."
"Thanks", Mioha grinned back.

Once again, the full moon had risen, covered by thick, grey clouds.
A Silverwing grazed in the dim light at the edge of the forest, glowing in a soft, silver light.
A few meters away sat Professor Sprout in a chair, humming quietly to herself as she read a book about plants growing on mountains.
Mioha felt very comfortable with her Herbology teacher. The short witch was pleasant company, not staring at her all the time, and every once in a while she would ask Mioha a question considering the Silverwing's healing powers. Obviously, these questions had to be yes or no questions, since the older witch did not speak 'Equineish'.
Professor Sprout yawned loudly and turned over a page, blinking several times with her tired eyes.
It was one a.m. and Mioha was thinking of retiring into the woods to find a spot of soft moss to sleep on.
She had only trotted a few steps, when suddenly a bright flash illuminated the Forest Room. Professor Sprout squeaked in surprise and whipped out her wand as a ball of fire appeared in the air in front of Mioha.
Golden feathers formed, two red-glowing eyes appeared in the flames.
"Fawkes?", Mioha snorted in surprise.
"Come with me", the phoenix said urgently. "Hurry, my master needs you."
Without having any time to ask a question, the phoenix rushed forward, surrounded by flames, and grabbed a piece of her mane with his talons.
Mioha whinnied in fear as she saw the forest spin around her, Professor Sprout looking gobsmacked, until everything disappeared.