"Hi! Finished your homework?" said Professor Orbanaz the moment they stepped into his office.
"Yeah, with each other's help, we managed to finish it." Janice said, smiling at the thought of her homework being finished with Landy’s aid.
"Good. That's one of the qualities I want you guys to have. Unity. Trust me. With unity, even the impossible seems possible. I'm very glad to see that you guys are already cultivating such qualities when most kids around your age are crazy over idols or broomsticks." he said, smiling, making him look like a Chesire cat.
"Professor? Actually, the reason we came here today is because we want to know more about The One." Janice said bluntly.
"Why, Janice, I didn't expect you guys to be interested in The One... Hmm...where should I start... Okay... a few months ago, a lunatic at the Department Of Mysteries, Lucius Beckinarz, was creating this "top-secret creature" that could handle Slayers’ duties, thus making their work easier. He created The One by taking several parts from dismembered demons and put them together in a boiling cauldron, which was filled with a strengthening potion and a thinking potion for forty-nine days. He used the dismembered parts because he thought that with all the parts of many demons joined together, it would have a counter effect, but he was wrong. Instead, he created an even more powerful demon with evil powers and a quick mind. Needless to say, Lucius was killed by The One the instant he stepped out of his cauldron. Thus, instead of helping the Slayers, he wrecked havoc for them. As you can guess, Shafina confronted The One herself and paid dearly for it. In fact, from what we heard from her friends, she was about to finish the demon off when her friend accidentally incited a charm that gave The One greater powers. The One immediately charged towards Shafina's friends and was about to attack them with his sharp, knife-like claws when Shafina suddenly darted right in front of her friends, causing The One to stab her instead with his claws." Professor Orbanaz said.
"Oh my gosh." Landy whispered. Tears immediately flowed from Landy's eyes and Janice could feel a lump forming in her throat and her vision blurred. She quickly looked down so that no one would notice that she was about to cry.
"What happened to The One after he killed Shafina?" asked Janice shakily, fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill out of her eyes.
"Fled for his life, we heard. Apparently he didn't realise he killed Shafina. It was only when he saw the blood on his claws that he realised what had happened. He fled instantly, leaving behind Shafina's corpse and her friends." said Professor Orbanaz quietly.
There was a hushed silence among the group as the thought of Shafina’s death. It was Janice who broke the silence. "How many casualties has The One claimed?" she asked softly.
"Well, I don't know. We lost count. Only the Department of Magical Law Enforcement knows, and they are trying their best to gather up all the evidence as the relatives of the victims are pressing charges against him. Even the Minister of Magic has given the Dementors permission to perform the Kiss on The One but the plan is not working at all. The Dementors are usually very unwilling to perform the Kiss on demons, as they feel that they shouldn't kill their own mates." said Professor Orbanaz, shaking his head.
"You mean the Dementors actually cornered The One before?" Zoya asked, her eyes widening.
"Exactly. It was only when they were about to Perform the Kiss that they realised it was sort of their own kind, so they let him go, which greatly annoyed a lot of people from the Ministry. They felt that the Minister of Magic shouldn't give the Dementors permission to perform the Kiss." explained Professor Orbanaz, taking a sip from his coffee.
Janice could feel a surge of anger running through her body like poison. Now, she hated The One to the core, and she silently swore to herself that she would one day avenge for the death of Shafina. "When will my training my start, Professor?" Janice asked.
"I guess it will take a few weeks, as I have to apply for a permit from the Watcher's council, which will take a week. The Queen Of Slayers said we would have to start after the mourning period for Shafina is over, which will be about two weeks time, according to the Slayer tradition. Also, we will only act when the Queen of Slayers has given us the cue." he replied, putting his cup of coffee down. Janice knew immediately from the tone of Professor Orbanaz that their conversation was over. They bade a hasty farewell to him and they quickly made their way to the hall, as it was almost dinnertime.
"Poor Shafina," Zoya said, as she helped herself to some Chicken stew." she confronted that moron and lost her life in the end."
"Yeah, if it wasn't her friend who incanted that spell out, that moron might have been destroyed. On the other hand, if she did kill that moron, you'll never be the youngest Slayer in three hundred years." Landy chipped in. Three hundred years. Janice thought. I'm the youngest Slayer in three hundred years, just like Harry Potter is the youngest Quidditch player in a century. Is this a coincidence?
Before Janice knew it, two weeks had already passed. It was then that she realised it was time for her training. She was actually looking forward to it. Earlier that morning, Professor Orbanaz informed her that her training would start later that night at the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom. That night, together with the gang, they went to the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom beneath Janice's Invisibility cloak, which was huge enough for them to hide. Checking that no one was around outside the classroom, they quickly took of the cloak and went into the classroom, where Professor Orbanaz was waiting. "You don't have to wear that cloak to get in here, Janice." Professor Orbanaz said, smiling.
"How did you know I'm wearing the invisibility cloak?" said Janice, surprised.
"I've got this map here that shows people's whereabouts and from the way you guys are walking, you are wearing an invisibility cloak." replied Professor Orbanaz lightly, waving an extremely dirty piece of parchment.
"The Marauders Map? Where did you get it? Isn't this map supposed to be with Harry Potter now? " Landy whispered.
"What are you guys talking about? What Marauder's Map? Harry Potter has this map?" Professor Orbanaz asked, dazed. With that, Janice and Landy took turns to explain that Harry Potter had a similar map, the Marauder's map, which served the same function as Professor Orbanaz’s. "You mean that Harry Potter actually has a similar map, with almost exactly the same functions as mine? " Professor Orbanaz asked, after Janice and Landy had finished. Janice and Landy nodded vigorously. He was silent for a minute, fumbling with the map.
"So, this means that we have two maps with similar properties in this world, which can get a bit risky." he said gravely.
"What do you mean?" Janice questioned, dying to know what it meant.
"Well, its a bit hard to explain to you now, I'll explain it to you some other time, why don't we get started on our training now? " he added hastily, obviously trying to avoid the topic. Shrugging, they quickly start on their training.
As this was their first training session, they would just have to start from the basics. Janice's training, in particular, was the hardest, as she would have to learn how to handle the stake properly and stab at the right places to kill the Vampires. Also, she would have to master some boxing basics to help her in her Slaying. "No, you have to take the stake and stab it immediately into the Vampire's chest, don't even hesitate, as the Vampire could have grabbed you by then. Just remember this; stab and withdraw. Practice this frequently and you would get used to it." Professor Orbanaz explained, when he saw the way Janice handled the stake. While Janice was practising, the rest of the gang just bummed around, as they did not know what to do. Seeing this, Professor Orbanaz told them that they could do some research on spells to help Janice in her Slaying at Sinister forest in future.
"The Sinister forest? But that place is strictly out of bounds to students! " Landy hissed.
"Yes, that place is indeed out of bounds to you guys, but Professor Lim has given you guys permission to enter the forest to do your Patrolling after Janice has passed the Test." Professor Orbanaz said coolly.
"Test? What test?" Lawrence questioned.
"Didn't I tell you guys about the Test? No? Okay, it's actually for the new Slayers. The new Slayer would have to prove herself worthy of being able to Slay in front of the Ministry of Magic, the Queen of Slayers and the Watcher's council by fighting with an unknown demon in front of them. If she managed to defeat the demon, she would be a licensed Slayer and there would be an official announcement of the new Slayer by the Press. I think the Test takes place in about a month's time, so we would have to hurry up with her training. Don't worry, there will be keepers there to take control of the situation if the demon rages out of control. And usually, in my opinion, the demon is a very simple minded one." Professor Orbanaz explained.
"In a month's time? Gee, that's fast." Amelia said, glancing at Janice, who was still trying to aim the stake properly at a huge dummy doll, but missed. How is she going to Slay a demon at the rate she is going? Amelia thought. The test is a month away, and she is only trying to grasp the basics. How the heck is she going to do it?