Three days prior...Hands. They were arguably the most essential of human body parts, and yet the hardest of all for an artist to properly replicate onto a canvas, whether it be by painting, sculpting, or sketching. The youthful looking blonde sat at her desk perched in front of an open window that overlooked the spacious backyard of her home. The wind blowing into the room was gentle but cold enough to raise a pink flush on the girl's pale face. Below her in the yard, a small cat was running freely, chasing some sort of creature back and forth, trampling occasionally in the flowers that were blooming in the garden. In the distance, the light of the sun was slowly starting to fade on the horizon, turning the sky one hundred shades of blue and purple; a sight those who do not look towards the sky hardly get to see. The icy blue eyes belonging to Lystra Scamander weren't gazing at this sight however, as they were focused on the page below her. The large sketchpad took up a majority of her desk space, and it made her small hands look even tinier as they firmly clutched the pencil she was using to sketch.
A frustrated groan escaped her and her lower lip was captured between her teeth, a gesture she did out of habit when she was thinking hard about something. She gently chewed on her plump pink lip as she flipped her pencil over and gently erased a line she'd just made and used the faint indent to adjust her line. At present, she was working on finishing a sketch she'd been slowly working on the past few days to pass the time. Being locked up in her house proved to be less of a pain than she thought, but only because she was able to draw and practice her magic. She did what she could to keep herself from thinking about... what had happened, but in the end she couldn't stop thinking about it. She couldn't avoid it... and so she decided to express her emotions in the way she always had.
Expression through art.
Lystra remembered the hands and the dark form, but everything about the one who'd attacked her was all a blur. At the time, she'd been consumed with fear and the need to survive, the only thing she remembered were the hands that wrapped around her neck... that held the wand that had burned the mark into her shoulder, the hands that tried to end her. With a sigh, Lystra dropped her pencil onto her desk and rubbed the spot on her arm. Whenever she thought about that day, her emotions would get out of control and she would paint or draw something before crumpling it and tossing it in the trash. It was her way of getting rid of those thoughts. And for a while, it had worked.
When she starting trying to draw the hands, she was forced to delve into the parts of the memory that she wanted to bury. She was forced to replay every moment in her mind in an attempt to focus, but it was all shrouded when she remembered how afraid she was. For once in her life, she had doubted her ability as a witch. Lystra had always felt deep inside her, that with her Transfiguration Magic, she could be just as strong as those who excelled in Defense Against the Dark Arts. She was passionate about it. She was determined to prove that powerful witches and wizards didn't always have to flaunt their dueling skills. She thought that her sharp mind and creativity could prove to be her greatest weapon.
Lorcan and Lysander, her two older brothers, were already graduated and off training to be Aurors. Lystra wanted so badly to be like them. Not to be an Auror, but she wanted the same attention and respect that Aurors were given. She didn't want to be dubbed the weaker of the three sibling just because she was small and a girl and didn't excel in the Dark Arts. Now in her last year of school, she was going to finish her studies finally and prove to everyone that they'd underestimated her. She was working on something big. She was working on a masterpiece.
A knock at her bedroom door interrupted her thoughts and she slowly turned to look at the door.
"Lystra? It's dad... your mother and I want to talk to you for a minute. Can we come in?"Hesitantly, Lystra would reach towards her right arm with her left, pulling the handle of her wand out from under her sleeve before waving it towards the door. She didn't need to say anything, as the door would swing open easily, allowing her parents to enter her room. Just as quickly as she'd removed it, Lystra slipped her wand back into her sleeve, the wooden object sliding into
the wand holder she kept hidden there. In the doorway, she saw her parents Luna and Rolf Scamander standing there, looking worried.
She already knew what this talk was going to be about.
"If this is going to be about school then please save your breath. I don't want to talk about it anymore." she said to them as they came in and closed the door behind her.
"We can't keep avoiding this talk. Your father and I are worried for you." her mother said, sitting down on Lystra's bed. Her father did the same, crossing his arms and shaking his head.
"We don't think it's a good idea for you to return to school. Your stubbornness could get you killed." he said, his tone was gentle but firm. Lystra couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"Dad... is it not clear to you yet that I'm capable of handling myself?" she asked, crossing her arms in the same manner that he had.
"Handling yourself? You were almost killed-""You don't think I'm aware of that?" she asked, cutting him off.
"How you managed to escape is beyond me. You got lucky this time, but how can you be sure next time wont be different?""Luck? I'm alive because I'm stronger than you two think." Lystra said, trying to defend herself.
"I'm not some weak little girl. My skills in Transfiguration is what saved me. I-""Lystra..." her mother started, reaching out to place a hand on her daughter's knee.
"It's not about strength. No one is saying you're weak... it's okay if your talents lie in a field that's different from your brothers." she said, knowing Lystra's ambition to be respected like her siblings. What she didn't know... was that Lystra had another reason why she wanted to finish school. She
needed to perfect her skills for her masterpiece.
"You can finish your studies here, under protection, and your mother and I can teach you what's left of you to learn.""I'm not a child and I don't want to be protected!" she said, suddenly shouting as she stood up.
"I have one more year left... one more. I already started Vanishment and Conjuration on my own, but I'm not getting anywhere! You two specialize in a totally different field. I need to learn from an expert. I need to learn from-" "Why are you so fixated on this? You're so smart you can put your mind to anything and be great at it." her dad asked, shaking his head.
"Why? I can't tell you... but I-""You can't tell us?" her mother said, looking worried.
"I just..." Lystra sighed.
"I am... working on something. I'm only a few strokes away from creating a masterpiece. Something that no one's ever seen before." she told them, trying to explain without actually telling them what she was planning.
Her parents looked at each other, sharing some kind of silent communication before her father sighed and stood up from the bed.
"I can't support this. You're putting your life in danger and going against the wishes of myself and your mother.""Dad please. I know you think I'm not strong, but once I finish this, it'll prove to you that I can-""You're not like your brothers Lystra. You never will be and you need to understand that." he said sternly, one octave below yelling.
"Honey-" her mother started, trying to stop him from continuing on.
Lystra frowned and stomped her foot.
"Well excuse me for wanting you to just be proud of me for once in my life!"A silence filled the room as her parents both looked surprised and hurt by her words. Turning away from them, Lystra would sit down and stare at the sketch on her desk.
"Please just go away. I dont want to talk about this anymore." she said, not looking at either of them.
Her mother was the first to leave the room, and her father followed shortly after, closing the door behind them. When she could no longer hear their footsteps, Lystra sighed and stood, going to lay down on her bed.
She was going back to Hogwarts for her final year. She was going to finish her studies and perfect the last of her Transfiguration Magic. She was going to prove to everyone that she could do something no other witch or wizard was capable of doing.
She was going to give her parents the daughter they'd always wanted.
Present Day...Lystra's mother was the only one to see her off to the train station when the time came. She didn't try to discourage Lystra anymore, but kept a small smile on her face the whole trip there. Before she would step through the wall to the platform, her mother checked over her bags once again and placed Valor, her cat companion, in his carrying cage along with Lystra's other things.
When it was time for her to go, her mother captured her in a tight hug and held her for a long moment.
"Please stay safe." she mumbled into her ear. Lystra nodded and broke from the hug, giving her mother her trademark smirk.
"I will. Bye mom." she said, giving a wave and heading to the proper platform.
Lystra's mind wandered the entire time prior to her actually boarding the train and finding a seat. She ignored everyone as usual, and sat alone in one of the train cabins that typically held four people, sitting as close to the window as she could. As she gazed out the window and the train started to move, she was admiring the scenery as it started to flash by, her blue eyes rapidly moving back and forth as she focused of a few things that stood out to her. In the back of her mind, she thought about the sketch still sitting on her desk at home, wondering if she would ever have the capacity to finish drawing those hands.
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