Madam Thorne opened the medical bay door. Early mornings in late February had the amazing sun light that would grace the school grounds, shine through the windows. It was the best start one could have to a day.
But something else caught her eyes as she just stepped through the door.
"Ophelia, I told you to rest in bed." She said with not a stern voice, but like a grandmother kind of voice, gentle but with a little warning.
Fila looked over while gracing her flowers. Her bed area now basically looked like a garden, one that Thorne didn't like much since a medical bay should be sterile from such things. But since no one else were her she had let it go.
It had been a week since she awoke. A week on almost constant visits. Rowan and Elsbeth had come by. And brought some very late Christmas presents.
And even the thunderbird tower had reserved a spot for her presents in the common room.
"You are not meant to be out of bed for extended periods yet," she said automatically, though there was no real reprimand in her voice.
"I have been in bed long enough," Fila answered quietly.
The healer studied her for a long moment, searching for tremors, for imbalance, for that distant emptiness that sometimes followed prolonged trauma. There was tiredness, yes. A deeper shadow behind her eyes.
She would be able to return today. Tough not at full attendance.
Her teachers had reassured her that grades weren't an issue for her. Even during first year she had shown talent and knowledge of even third grade. She did hade trouble with potion but the teacher calmed her that he would figure something out.
And as per her request, the congress of magic. Or Americas Ministry of magic had approved her request for a meeting to discuss what happened and what will happen. Fila ha let Elsbeth and Rowan handle the talking with them, as frankly she didn't want to talk with the congress right now.
No meeting date had been set yet but it would come before summer.
She dressed slowly in her uniform, fingers steady as she fastened each button. The fabric felt slightly unfamiliar at first, like returning to clothes from another season of life.
When she finished, she stood still for a moment.
Thorne looked at her, "do you want me to walk with you?"
Fila shook her head. "No I will walk alone."
Madam Thorne handed her a folded schedule. "Half days for the first week. No dueling yet. Observational participation only."
Fila's eyes flicked up at that.
"Observational," she repeated.
"For now."
She did not protest aloud.
The school wasn't unaware what had happened, the opposite actually. The headmaster had told everyone exactly what happened. These sorts of things shouldn't be hidden. That sort of hidden would only create rumors, and yet this also did.
The door to the infirmary opened slowly.
It was currently Saturday, most students would be asleep still, or just waking up.
She walked the quiet halls with graceful steps, in no hurry as she scanned the school as if something would have changed.
Her shoes made almost no sound against the stone. The castle seemed to recognize her rhythm, staircases holding steady as she approached instead of shifting abruptly. Portraits glanced down at her as she passed. Some whispered quietly.
The banners along the walls had shifted for early spring. Deep blues and golds woven with subtle patterns of thunderbirds in flight. A vase near the landing held fresh flowers, likely placed there by a house elf at dawn.
She paused briefly beside them.
They were ordinary blossoms. Carefully arranged. Beautiful in their simplicity.
When she reached the lower corridors, the castle was beginning to stir. A pair of first years hurried past, nearly colliding with her before recognizing who stood in front of them. They froze, eyes wide.
"Good morning," Fila said calmly.
Their shoulders relaxed instantly.
"Good morning," they echoed, almost in unison, before continuing on with barely contained excitement.
She walked on.
The doors to the Great Hall stood partially open. Inside, a few early risers sat scattered at their house tables. The enchanted ceiling reflected a pale morning sky streaked with soft clouds.
She did not enter.
Not yet.
Instead, she turned toward the courtyard.
The doors opened onto cool air and the faint scent of damp earth. Snow clung only to the far edges near the forest line now. The grass was beginning to push through, green and tentative.
She stepped onto the stone path.
For a moment, she simply stood there.
The sun warmed her face.
Wind tugged gently at the ends of her hair.
This was the same courtyard where she had once screamed too loudly at Theo. The same grounds where she had trained alone. The same sky that had watched her fall.
She closed her eyes briefly.
The hum beneath her skin was steady.
When she opened them again, a small cluster of crocuses had pushed up through the soil near the base of the wall. Pale purple against dark earth.
Then she looked at the rest of the courtyard. "This place needs a touch of… flowers." In a burst flowers erupted from the ground, crocuses everywhere. They filled the ground more then grass now. Vines crawled up the walls, roots formed pillar to support the vines that was starting to form a roof over the yard. The roots later got roses that crawled up and decorated them.
They bloomed along the arching roots gradually, deep red first, then blush pink, then ivory and soft gold. Some vines wrapped around the pillars in spirals, thorns glinting faintly but never encroaching inward. The space they created was enclosed yet open, protected without feeling trapped.
The training ground now looked more like an entombed hall. Sunlight shined through the vines and leaves that formed the roof.
And then she stood the admiring her work.
Behind her, the courtyard doors creaked open.
She did not turn immediately, but she felt the shift in the air when others stepped out and stopped.
"Did you just…" a voice began, trailing off.
She glanced back over her shoulder.
A small group of students stood frozen near the entrance. One of the first years she had passed earlier now stared openly, mouth slightly parted.
Theo stepped out next, clearly having followed her trail, and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Okay," he said after a long moment. "You could have warned me."
June emerged behind him, her eyes widening slowly as she took in the canopy overhead.
Calla's hand rose instinctively to brush against one of the rose covered pillars. "It feels real," she murmured.
"It is," Fila replied quietly.
More students filtered into the courtyard, drawn by the sudden shift in scent and light. Whispers traveled quickly. Someone laughed in disbelief. Someone else reached down to touch the crocuses, as if confirming they were not illusion.
June stepped closer to her side.
"You said you'd ease back into things," she whispered.
"I am," Fila answered calmly.
June looked up at the canopy, then back at her.
"Right."
Somewhere near the courtyard entrance, a professor had stopped mid stride, staring upward at the living roof.
Fila looked at the professor, Elias Thorne gave a approving nod. She didn't return it but she did give him a slight smile.
"I'm hungry." Fila said as she turned and walked out of the yard.
The friends group looked at each other and looked confused.
"You just made a… hall of flowers and your just gonna leave like this?" June tried to get an explanation.
Fila didn't answer she just kept walking to the dinner hall, her craving for bacon and eggs and suddenly emerged.
Fila walked with steady pace toward the Great Hall. The scent reached her before the sound did. Toast. Warm porridge. And yes, bacon.
Her stomach responded immediately, sharp and insistent.
Five months of sleep did strange things to appetite.
The doors to the Great Hall stood wider now. More students had filtered in. Conversation filled the space in low waves. The enchanted ceiling had shifted from pale dawn to brighter morning blue.
She stepped inside.
The sound dipped.
She walked toward the Thunderbird table as if she had never left.
Theo slid into the bench across from her. June and Calla flanked her on either side. Milles began reaching automatically for extra plates.
Plates appeared in front of her almost instantly, responding to proximity. Eggs. Crisp bacon. Toast still steaming.
She picked up a fork.
June watched her carefully. "You're really okay?"
Fila took a bite of egg first.
Around them, the Hall slowly returned to its usual rhythm. Conversations resumed, though quieter near their table. Students stole glances but did not approach.
The group was unsure how to talk to her right now, she was definitely different. Theo took a while to think but settled on just talking to her like normal and maybe things would return after a few days or weeks.
"so you are just going to do half lessons from now on?" Theo asked
Fila nodded with her mouth full of eggs. "I can choose if I do morning or afternoon, I will just choose the one with best lessons." She said and took another bite.
Theo leaned back slightly, studying her while pretending not to.
"That sounds unfair," he said after a moment. "You get a custom schedule because you decided to nap dramatically for half a year."
"I did not decide that," Fila replied calmly, reaching for a piece of toast.
June shot Theo a look. "She didn't decide anything."
"I know," he said quickly. "I'm joking. Mostly."
Fila didn't react sharply. She buttered the toast with slow, precise movements, as if the simple act required quiet focus.
"I will attend what matters," she said. "Defensive magic. Charms. Herbology." A faint pause. "Potions if I must."
A first year approached the end of the table tentatively, clearly building courage. "Um… Ophelia?"
She looked up.
"Yes."
"Is the courtyard… permanent?"
She considered the question seriously.
"Yes. At least if a professor doesn't mind it"
The first year's eyes widened. "It's amazing."
"Thank you."
The student hurried back to their seat, whispering excitedly to their friends.
Elliot looked at the student returning to her seat. "As the person who made it, you are the most unimpressed of it." he said calmly, "I would stand there basking in the compliments."
Fila didn't answer, she didn't really care about the praise. She just made something she wanted to, to see if it was possible. And it was, and she also felt that she could do more than that. Though maybe holding back for now would do her good not to raise too much attention on herself, more than there already were.
The Saturday leapt on, upon returning to the thunderbird tower she were greeted by almost everyone in the house. Stella hugged her warmly and so did the most. The little flower of thunderbird was back, and it was celebrated.
Fila had also gotten to open the Christmas presents that had laid in the room for two months already. The thunderbirds had collected around her and watched as she opened them. the presents this year were many more than last year, that because many of the thunderbirds also gave her presents after what happened.
"Here is from me and Hugo" Stella said with a big smile. Hugo stood beside her, her was in the same year as Stella who were now attending sixth year.
"Thank you both" Fila said with a smile back. But she looked at Stella who had failed to mention that she and Hugo are dating. Stella saw the face and instantly knew what she meant.
Stella just blushed a bit before retreating into the common room.
Fila raised and eye brow towards June and Calla who shrugged.
The rest of the opening was filled with laughter and a lot of catching up to do.
She had talked a lot with the first years as she wanted to know if they got along well in school and with the thunderbirds. And even some gossip of course.
The dorm room looked just liked she had left it, unwillingly.
She sat down in her bed, June and Calla sat down as well.
"Are you sure your okay?" Calla said, she sounded worried. She had always been sort of a mother for them, taking care of them when they were sick.
Fila didn't answer right away and that said something in itself, she didn't feel like herself. Something had been torn open inside her, she had lost something of herself. There wasn't pain but something worse maybe.
Fila stared at the opposite wall for a long moment before answering.
"I don't know," she said finally.
The honesty settled heavily between them.
June did not rush to fill it.
Calla's voice softened further. "What does it feel like?"
Fila searched for the right words and found that they did not come easily anymore.
"Like… something is missing," she said slowly. "Not physically, just… something."
June frowned slightly. "Like happiness?"
"No." She shook her head. "I can feel happiness. I just did downstairs."
"Then what."
She swallowed.
"Before, everything felt loud. Bright. I reacted to things. I got embarrassed. I got angry. I laughed too hard." A faint, almost fond expression touched her face. "Now it feels… quieter. Like there's a layer between me and everything."
Calla reached out and gently took her hand.
"Is that bad?"
"I don't know," Fila repeated.
She looked down at their joined hands.
"When she cast it," she said softly, not needing to say the name of the curse, "it hurt. But that wasn't the worst part."
June's head lifted slightly.
"The worst part was that I trusted her," Fila continued. "I let her close. I leaned into it."
Calla's thumb brushed lightly over her knuckles.
"That doesn't make you foolish."
"It makes me… different now."
She finally looked up at them.
"I don't think I'll ever lean into someone like that again without thinking first."
June's expression tightened, but she nodded. "That's not weakness. That's learning."
"It feels like loss," Fila said quietly.
Silence stretched again, but this time it was shared.
Calla shifted closer. "You were hurt. Deeply. Of course something changed."
June tilted her head. "You don't have to be who you were before."
"I liked who I was before," Fila admitted.
Calla's voice was steady. "You're still her. Just… more."
"More what."
"More careful. More aware. More controlled."
June gave a small, crooked smile. "And still dramatic enough to grow a cathedral out of roses before breakfast."
A faint breath escaped Fila that might have been a laugh.
"That was landscaping," she murmured.
June leaned her head back against the mattress. "You don't have to rush feeling like yourself again."
"What if I never do."
Calla squeezed her hand gently. "Then we'll get to know this version too."
That made her look at them fully.
"You're not scared."
June snorted softly. "Of you? Please. I shared a dorm with you when you tried to cross breed magical moss with firelight."
Fila looked at her with a stern face. "That was research."
"We almost had to evacuate the tower, don't give me the research bs." June said.
Outside, faint laughter drifted up from the common room. Someone dropped something loudly and cursed. The ordinary chaos of house life continued.
Fila leaned back slowly against her pillow. It felt good being back, not in a medical bed. And inside this warm room again. the work she had in front of her felt heavy, but it also was something she had to do. Restoring herself, and not letting what happened stop her from becoming what she wants to be.
The comfort of her own bed made her fall asleep.
"Crucio"
The word did not echo gently.
It cracked across her mind like lightning splitting a sky that had only just begun to clear.
Her body in the dream was back on the training field. The grass beneath her hands. The smell of earth. The sky too bright above her. She could feel the weight of it pressing down.
Amanda's face hovered in front of her again.
No.
Emma.
The softness gone. The apology. The wand raised between them.
"I'm sorry."
The curse hit.
Her spine bowed violently as pain detonated through her nerves. Not heat. Not cold. Something worse. A force that knew exactly where to strike. Every joint locked. Every muscle seized until her fingers dug into the soil hard enough to split skin.
She tried to breathe and inhaled nothing but fire.
In the nightmare, she heard herself scream.
She had not heard that sound in months.
Her eyes flew open.
The dorm ceiling came into focus above her. The carved beams. The faint moonlight slipping through the window.
Her chest rose and fell too quickly.
June was already on her knees beside the bed. "Hey. Hey. You're here."
Calla's hand found hers without hesitation.
Fila blinked, grounding herself in the room.
Tears and cold sweat, everything didn't hurt but it felt so real. The smile, the pain, even the words. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself while sitting on her bed. Calla and June sat beside her unsure of what to do.
"Im going to kill her myself…" she muttered between breaths.
Calla and June didn't hear it.
After that she finally had some good sleep for a couple of hours atleast.
She woke up in the morning, the sun casted its gentle shine directly on her face through the window.
The beds were empty as Calla and June had already left for morning classes. Fila didn't want to go, history wasn't that important. But she did look forward to Herbology in afternoon.
She sat up slowly, letting her feet touch the cool wooden floor. The room felt larger in the morning light. Less heavy. The shadows that had seemed deeper at night were now thin and harmless.
Her gaze drifted to the window.
The courtyard canopy she had grown was visible from here. Vines stretched confidently between pillars of roots. Roses catching the light. Crocuses scattered like spilled paint across the ground.
Students were already gathering beneath it. Some sitting with books. Some simply staring upward in quiet wonder. A professor stood near one of the pillars, examining the structure with careful interest rather than disapproval.
She stepped back from the window and began dressing for the day. The motions were smoother now. Less unfamiliar than yesterday. She braided her hair with steady hands, tying it back firmly.
When she finally left the dorm room, the tower was quieter. Most students already in class. The common room fire crackled softly. A few younger students glanced up at her but did not stare.
She moved through the tower and down into the corridors with unhurried steps.
Since she had missed breakfast, she had to visit the kitchen to ask some of the house elves.
The door to the kitchen opend wide.
Tens of small little house elves walked around washing dishes and preparing dinner.
"Ophelia, can I do something for you?" a voice came from her right.
Fila looked over and saw the house elf Pippy. She had always helped the Thunderbirds.
"I missed breakfast, could you help me get something to eat?"
The house elf nodded and snapped her finger and disappeared. She sat down on a chair that had been placed her for just this purpose. And not even after five minutes food appeared on the small table beside her.
"Thank you Pippy." She said with a warm smile.
It was a simple meal, some bacon and potatoes that had been toasted.
But it was a good meal.
After her meal she headed to the training ground once again.
Her creation still held strong, and it would stay so until she didn't want it to. Her flower and creations didn't wither away like normal flowers as they were created by magic, and fed on magic.
She sat down in the ocean of flower with her legs crossed. She had brought her French book with her.
And only then did she realize that she hadn't told him about what happened. But Elsbeth or Rowan probably had, but she hadn't received any letter from him either. But knowing him and finding out she was safe was enough.
The French language wasn't that difficult for her. Just the grammar.
She traced a line of text with her finger, murmuring the sentence quietly to herself. The sound of the words felt soft in her mouth.
Sunlight filtered through layered leaves, casting moving patterns across the pages of her book. A faint breeze carried the scent of roses and damp earth. Somewhere near the entrance of the courtyard, students passed through in low conversation, but none disturbed her.
"c'est dur" she said to herself, meaning this is hard, or it's hard… yeah grammar sucked.
She closed the book and looked at her flower flowing in the wind.
The feeling of being behind had lingered in her mind all morning, even her testing of ancient magic and her flower had stopped for five months. she knew that she still had more than enough knowledge with it. but it wasn't enough.
Transfiguration could turn a cup into a mouse. A moving living thing. Now what if a flower could turn into something that could move around, sure she could already use her flowers to attack, and defend. But there had to be more things possible, its magic afterall.
She waved her hand and a red rose grew.
Healthy and strong.
The image she had in her head was a walking flower. and ancient magic could probably do it.
She narrowed her eyes slightly.
The rose tipped awkwardly, its new stem arms bending without coordination. One petal dragged along the ground as if unsure whether it belonged upright or sideways. It was not walking.
It was… falling politely.
"That is not correct," she murmured.
The flower wobbled again, then collapsed fully onto the crocuses, still alive but structurally confused.
Again.
She extended her hand and another rose formed, this one deep crimson, stem straight and thorns subtle along its length.
She closed her eyes.
If she wanted motion, she needed support. Joints. Balance. Distribution of weight.
She pictured the diagrams from transfiguration class. The skeletal layout of small animals. The way tendons attached. The way limbs anchored to a central axis.
Her magic responded more carefully this time.
The stem thickened near its base, forming a sturdier core. Smaller branch like offshoots extended evenly from either side. The petals tightened slightly, drawing inward so they would not obstruct movement.
Two lower extensions pressed into the soil and lifted.
The rose rose.
It stood upright for a brief, miraculous second.
Then one side bent too far and it tipped again.
She caught it with a flick of her fingers before it fell.
"Better," she said softly.
She adjusted her vision again.
This time she did not imagine a walking flower.
She imagined a rooted guardian.
The rose's stem thickened further, branching into four smaller supports instead of two. They planted themselves firmly into the earth like stabilizing legs. The upper portion shifted, petals rearranging into a more compact formation. Thorns extended slightly.
The rose shifted.
One support lifted tentatively, then set back down.
Another lifted.
The movement was small.
A faint warmth flickered across her chest.
The rose withered into the soil. It was progress, something she definitely had to keep training on.
Having the plant move was the hardest part, she already could give the plant legs and arms. But having it function the way a human would was a different beast.
Fila looked at the flowers. And an idea came across her mind. The Mandrake, famous for its ear piercing cries moved and even screamed. It was a root, meaning thicker material. Maybe the problem laid in a flowers fragile build.
She looked over at the thick roots that acted as supports for her creatin in the training ground.
"Essayons ceci" she thought about her awful accent. (Let's try this.)
The support root grew thick and heavy arms, the chest widened and legs grew. It moved away from it's place as a support. Wobbly at first, but with some focus it stabilized. She looked at her creation, right now it looked like a tree trunk with arms and legs.
"Lets make you look like something at least."
A proper chest area was formed and on top of it a head. The head looked like that of a knight helmet. Eyes glowed with the same color her threads had, a deep blue.
It looked intimidating as it just stood there.
With a thought it moved forward. Earth crushed as it planted its big feet into the ground.
"good thing no one else is here" she thought.
The guardian turned to her, she almost felt him understanding her, and she understood him. Not through talking but feeling.
"Your doing great." Fila said with a thumbs up.
And the guardian gave her a happy feeling.
The school bell rang across the yard. With a thought the guardian returned to its original support form and place. She didn't want anyone to see that right now.
But not only did she make something she had wanted to try, she also felt good during this time. didn't think about what had happened, just her and her flowers. Calming in a way she needed right now.
"There you are" June's voice called out from the entrance.
"I am." Fila looked up at the incoming friends. They had just finished History and it was lunch time.
Theo looked around at the huge spots where grass and flowers were tramped. "Did an elephant come through here."
The grass and flowers returned. "No I was just testing something, lets go get lunch"
Calla looked upon the field. She knew damn well that was bs.