Home - Charlie Weasley Fanfiction Series

BOOK THREE: CHAPTER THREE

"Let's go, Charlie! We're going to be late!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

"Hurry up!" Veronica giggled as she ran down the hill ahead of him.

It came at no surprise to anyone that the two had chosen Care of Magical Creatures as one of their electives; they both loved animals, and it just so happened the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had it at the same time, so they got to enjoy their new favorite class together.

After their first lesson of the year, Kettleburn had asked Veronica to stay behind so they could talk, and naturally, Charlie stayed too. Kettleburn had emphasized his fascination with her aura and had suggested that they meet up once a week to experiment with it so that she could have a full understanding of everything her aura can do. They had settled on Fridays during lunch before their Care of Magical Creatures class, so the two had powered through a quick lunch before running down to the area near Hagrid's hut where their classes took place.

When they arrived, they noticed Kettleburn was already there, but he wasn't alone. He was accompanied by a little three-headed dog.

"Hello Ms. Singer, Mr. Weasley. I would like to introduce you to our first test subject, Fluffy. We have been graciously given the opportunity to borrow him from Hagrid. He is still a puppy, so he isn't extremely dangerous, but do not be fooled. His teeth are sharp, and he has three sets, so he can definitely harm you if he so wishes. Three heads means three brains, which makes him very unpredictable, which will be fascinating to see if all three brains react the same to your aura, Ms. Singer."

Veronica beamed with excitement and itched to play with the little puppy. "He's adorable!"

"Yes, he is, isn't he?" Kettleburn chuckled. "As we discussed, we will begin with animals that are not very dangerous in order to have a base understanding of your aura, and then we will progressively move on to the more dangerous species' to see if they react the same. Alright, Mr. Weasley, as we agreed, please remain outside the fence to ensure your safety. Ms. Singer, before we get started, I would love to know - did you always have this aura or was it triggered by finding out you were a witch?"

"No, I definitely didn't know what to call it or exactly what it was back then, but it has always been a part of my life. For as long as I can remember, animals have behaved differently around me." Veronica began listing off instances on her fingers. "The neighborhood cats and dogs back home would always follow me around wherever I went. When kids at school would bully me, squirrels and rabbits would come out of the nearby forest and nip at their ankles until they left me alone. I was also at the beach one time with my grandparents, this was before my fear of water, and a shark had come too close to the shore where we were all swimming. It had swum right up to me and nuzzled my legs before my grandparents had noticed. But once I was safely out of the water, the shark had gone on to attack another swimmer. Even though I was young, I remember being confused about why it hadn't attacked me." Oh, and there's all those times my father would come into my room and beat me with his belt... birds and small animals would swarm outside my bedroom window, pecking and scratching at the glass desperately trying to get in, no doubt wanting to help me. Veronica kept that one to herself.

"Fascinating!" Kettleburn clapped excitedly. "And it is clear this little guy is desperate to run to you." Before he could even finish his sentence, Fluffy had escaped his arms and crashed into Veronica as she sat on the floor, licking her face and nuzzling into her lap. "This is perfect, this will let us learn a lot about your aura. With each animal, we will perform a few tests. We will test to see the extent they will go to protect you. We will test to see if they can pick up on your emotions and fears, and also if they will ignore their instincts as long as you are calm, or if they will sense danger and trust their instincts to protect you when you don't realize you need protecting. I would also love to see if they can understand you when you speak to them: will they attack if you ask them to, stop when you tell them to stop, things like that. We will also test to see if you can project your aura onto someone or something else, and finally, we will try to determine how far your aura extends when you are afraid."

Veronica was thrilled to be learning more about her ability, but she really couldn't wait to experiment with the more dangerous animals. That was going to be exciting.