No One Can Order Me Around

"See her? That one, across from Harry Potter."

"The one with black hair and black eyes?"

"Yeah, her! She turned a booger into a bullet and attacked a classmate!"

"Really? But she's so pretty... I mean, she looks kind. Maybe she had a reason?"

"Oh, shut up, you idiot who only cares about looks. I heard the poor guy was just picking his nose, and she decided he was disgusting. He's still in the Hospital Wing. They say she shattered his nose and left two extra holes in the bridge!"

"She's that scary? She won't hit me, will she?"

The two Hufflepuffs pretended to stroll past the Gryffindor table, then crept back around for another look.

Eliana: ...

Harry: ...

Eliana flew into a rage. "When did I ever turn anything into a bullet and attack someone? Do I look like that kind of person? I'm gentle and kind! Keep making things up, and I'll pull out both your teeth!"

The two exchanged a terrified glance and bolted, without even stopping at their own table to grab bread for lunch.

"I told you she was scary!" one shrieked as he ran. "Look, turning things into bullets isn't enough for her anymore!"

The other glanced back reluctantly. "But she really is beautiful. She even looks good angry. If I let her hit me a couple of times to cool off, do you think she'd go on a date with me?"

"Has she already hit you in the head?"

Beside Eliana, Harry was trying so hard not to laugh that his chin nearly touched his chest.

"You could let me beat you to death, and I still wouldn't visit your grave!"

Eliana whipped her wand through the air. A long loaf shot off the table after the pair like a javelin, thwacking each of them three times before ramming straight into the talkative one's mouth.

"If your mouth has that much time on its hands, put some food in it. Your brain's clearly stopped working, so at least give one organ in that ball on your neck a reason to exist!"

She turned a fierce glare on the people around her. "If I hear anyone else spouting nonsense, I'll turn their nose hairs into needles and stab them up their nostrils! I learned how in Transfiguration Class today!"

She gave her wand a sharp flick. A loose thread sticking out of the tablecloth became a needle, standing upright where it had pierced the cloth.

My, what a fascinating lunch, everyone seemed to think as they lowered their heads.

Harry, however, looked up instead, his eyes full of envy as he gazed at Eliana.

Transfiguration was so hard. The whole class had waved their wands for an entire lesson, and only Hermione's match had changed even slightly. Yet Eliana could already turn thread into a needle.

That's amazing.

Eliana's fierce gaze swept toward him.

Harry jolted. He hurriedly wrapped a couple of things from the table in a napkin. "I'm taking Ron some lunch! He's still in the Hospital Wing. He needs to eat plenty to build his strength back up."

He said this while holding up some dry bread.

"Then get going!"

Eliana chewed her steak with a savage crunch, crunch, as though it were someone's flesh.

On the whole, though, life at magic school was pretty good.

After making a fool of herself in Transfiguration, she had resolved to buckle down. She found an empty classroom and practiced alone. Within a few tries, she could turn a match into a needle with ease. Then she tried turning matches black, bending them, and even snapping them before transforming them. Every attempt succeeded.

But Eliana wasn't satisfied. She tried adding engraved details. After several failures, she managed it, though it was only a not-quite-straight line. Still, it gave her a tremendous boost of confidence.

If I can't make a living in the wizarding world, I'll set up a stall among ordinary people and sell needles. I'll call them handmade crafts and charge a fortune!

Come to think of it, when she'd worked odd jobs in Chinatown, she had seen Chinese shops selling miniature carvings: landscapes carved onto tiny walnuts. They were beautiful. When she learned how much one of those little things could sell for, a torrent of astonished drool had streamed from the corner of her mouth.

The shopkeeper had mistaken her for someone craving a walnut and snapped, "You wouldn't know the finer things if they hit you in the face."

If I could carve those patterns onto something as thin as a needle, wouldn't it be worth even more?

Just imagining it filled the hand holding her wand with strength.

It was genuinely difficult, though. She worked all through lunch and managed to add only two even wavy lines to the needle before afternoon Herbology.

She headed to class with a pout.

Herbology was taught by Professor Sprout, the head of Hufflepuff. She was a short, stout witch in plain clothes, with a gentle smile always on her face. Like the lovely plants she introduced to them, she had a warmth that made people want to come closer.

Eliana liked her.

She also liked the mushrooms Professor Sprout showed them in the first lesson. They looked delicious, though Eliana had never tasted them.

Charms was taught by Professor Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw. He had a little Goblin blood and needed to stand on a stack of books to teach. When he reached Harry's name on the roll, he got so excited that he fell off the books and vanished with a yelp. This left Eliana thinking he seemed a bit unreliable.

The incident took a good ten minutes. Perhaps because they were short on time, Professor Flitwick taught no spells in their first lesson. Instead, he covered some theory about the origins and development of charms, then asked the class:

"Has anyone already learned a spell or two?"

Hermione demonstrated Reparo, and Professor Flitwick awarded her five points.

"No one else? If you succeed, I'll award you points too."

Ron hesitantly raised his hand. "Fred taught me a spell."

"Then please show us, Mr. Weasley."

Ron drew his wand. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

The fat rat stared blankly at them, every hair on its body unchanged.

"Oh... I guess it didn't work." Ron's face turned as red as his hair, and he sat down muttering.

"It's perfectly normal for young wizards to have trouble controlling their magic," Professor Flitwick reassured him. "You just need practice. Anyone else?"

Malfoy snickered and lowered his voice. "You couldn't even make a spark, Weasley. Don't tell me you're a Squib?"

Ron glared at Malfoy, his face burning. "If you're so great, why haven't we seen you cast anything?"

Malfoy tipped his nose toward the ceiling and waved his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The quill on his desk rose unsteadily into the air.

"An excellent Levitation Charm! Five points to Slytherin!"

"Did you think everyone was as useless as you, Weasley?" Malfoy's nose was practically pointing straight up.

Ron's face darkened with anger. Breathing heavily, he suddenly turned to Eliana.

"Didn't you say you were sorry and wanted to make it up to me? I don't want anything else. Just cast a spell and show Malfoy up!"

Eliana: ...

I was just being polite. You actually want me to make it up to you?

When she said nothing, Ron assumed she couldn't think of a spell to use and eagerly offered a suggestion. "The one you used to turn my booger into a silver pellet. That would do."

He eyed Malfoy's dark nostrils and said viciously, "Turn Malfoy's boogers into something!"

Malfoy jerked his head back. "Weasley, are you so useless you have to hide behind a girl?"

Even so, he covered his nostrils warily.

"No one can order me around, Ron!"

Eliana pulled out her wand in irritation.

Everyone nearby scattered at once, hands clapped nervously over their noses. In an instant, the crowded space around her became a deserted patch.

"And what's that supposed to mean? Do you look down on girls?"

Eliana turned toward Malfoy. He pressed his hands even tighter over his nose, looking ready to call for the professor at any moment.

But Eliana didn't point her wand at him. She aimed at the feather floating above the classroom and gave her wand a fierce flick.

The feather exploded with a boom. Black ash drifted down from where it had burned.

"An Explosion Charm! That's advanced material. The force wasn't very great, but using it at your age is impressive! Ten points to Gryffindor!"

Eliana's eyes lit up.

As soon as class ended, she darted over to Professor Flitwick. "Professor, could you tell me more about the Explosion Charm?"