fighting fire with fire (professor rossi)

[ELIJAH LEONARDO REYES]

It was no secret that Elijah was struggling in his Elemental Magic class. He had little to no problems with handling most of the elements, like air, water and earth, but when it came to fire, he could barely do a thing. In fact, he hadn't been able to create or control a single flame all year. A big part of him was happy about that, because he absolutely hated fire any everything involving it and hated that he was a fire elemental (maybe that was a mistake and he wasn't an elemental at all). During class, when others were learning about fire and such, he tried to go to the bathroom or sit in the very back of the class to avoid it the best he could. Of course though, he always found himself short of breath, shaking, sweating, and having flashbacks to the fire that killed his parents a few years back. Professor Rossi noticed his avoidance and that he struggled with fire, and to Eli's dismay, wanted to work one on one with him to help.

With his arms crossed tightly in front of him, he made his way towards the lawns where Rossi had told him to go for his private lessons. Hopefully it would rain and the lesson would get called off. He opened the doors of Hogwarts and stepped out, squinting and frowning as he looked up and saw nothing but a clear sky. Perhaps he should hope for some spontaneous solar eclipse? Then it would be impossible to practice with fire. Unfortunately, he knew that he was out of luck there, and that there was no way he could avoid it.

Now, all Elijah could do was to hope he could control himself and not freak out and lose his mind in front of Rossi. He didn't have a way to escape or somewhere to hide here, because he was all Rossi needed to focus on. His stomach turned at the thought of the embarrassment he would face if he had one of his episode in front of Rossi. Of course, Hogwarts staff knew of what happened over the summer to his parents and how Elijah has narrowly escaped- there was physical evidence on his hand of how close he was to becoming a crisp. What he tried to hide from them (and everyone) was how he still had nightmares, how he couldn't help but dissolving into a mess of panic and pure terror whenever there were flames near, how almost every loud sound or surprise made him jump nearly out of his seat. Maybe there would be some sort of miracle and this session would go flawlessly? Hopefully. All Elijah could do was wait in the lawns for Professor Rossi to come any minute.

MARCO DURANTE ROSSI

[MARCO DURANTE ROSSI]

Marco Rossi was many things, but he wasn't a person that would give up any of his students with his classes. Marco Durante Rossi half vampire, Deputy Headmaster and he was one that knew his powers of the elements. He had many students that had problems. Problems with one of the elements. He knew that one of these people and students was Elijah. He was a good student with 3 of the 4 elements but his weakness was always going to be fire. The history of what has happened made him shy and try to leave the class as soon as possible. Something that fear would always take over. Knowing this Marco had to do something to stop that. To stop the fear of Fire.

So Marco headed over away from his office to go to the lawns where he was going to meet Elijah. His footsteps hitting the stairs as he walked to the grounds. There he opened the massive wooden doors, as he looked outside. There he saw the sun was strong. Something that would help the students with fire training, but that was not all. He headed over to the lawns as he saw Elijah standing there already. "Welcome Mr. Reyes" Marco Rossi said as he greeted him. This private lessons were needed, and he knew he had to give Elijah the help he needed. While Marco might not be the person that was going to sit there and be all fatherly, he wanted to give the boy a change. To overcome his fears and hoping he would understand what he had to go through.

"Fire has been a problem for you ever since what happened, I want you to show that you can go over your fears Elijah."Marco said. His voice was soft and he knew he had to be that to Elijah. He waved his hand as a fireball appeared. "The basic element of fire is light and the sun. Without that most fires will not stay alive. But more important is here."Marco said touching his heart. "Fire is passion, love, the burning desire that you want so bad."He said.

ELIJAH LEONARDO REYES

[ELIJAH LEONARDO REYES]

His deep brown eyes met the figure of his professor and the Deputy Headmaster of the school approaching him. All hopes for a cancelled session was out the window, so now all he could do was try to be optimistic and hope that it would go smoother than he initially thought. Perhaps he wasn't doomed to have another one of his freak-out episodes in front of professor, but maybe he could somehow conquer his fear. "Thank you for taking the time to help me." Eli responded when Rossi greeted him.

The Hufflepuff shifted on his feet, uncomfortable with the topic of the fire being brought up. It was something he avoided talking about at all costs and prevented his peers from knowing about, despite numerous questions he had been face with for years. His head sunk a little but he kept his eyes on Professor Rossi. He appreciated that there was some sympathy Rossi was showing him. While many people usually hated sympathy because they felt like people were "feeling sorry" for them, Eli liked it because he couldn't handle to roughness and bluntness that would be brought upon the painful subject otherwise.

Elijah's breath got caught in his throat, like there was a blockage in his esophagus that was restricting air flow, and he jumped back a bit because he was startled. He felt his hands begin to shake so he clasped them in front of him tightly and focused on forcing his breaths to be even (but it made him sound like he was wheezing with an irregular rhythm). He tried listening to the professor speaking but he could only hear tidbits like "light and sun" and "passion, love, the desire you want". Elijah did have a lot of live and desire- he loved his mother and continued to do so past her death, and he also loved his aunt dearly. But he had a desire to first conquer his fear, and then to make a difference in the world and help others. He thought of this and held a shaky hand out in front of him and tried to focus on creating a flame. "I can do this." he said to himself, and briefly looked at Rossi for assurance.

A small flicker of a flame jumped up from his scarred palm and let out a crackle. It remained there momentarily before Elijah began to freak out, forgetting that he was in control of this fire and it would not hurt him like fire had done so before. His breath was now coming rapidly and he could only see the flames covering the bodies of his parents. Elijah crouched down onto the ground to avoid falling over because his knees were now trembling, and a layer of cold sweat covered his skin. He had produced a fire- a step into the right direction but that step was a terrifying one.


MARCO DURANTE ROSSI

[MARCO DURANTE ROSSI]

Marco Rossi gave a soft nod in agreement to help Elijah. "Teachers are there to help someone when they need it the most. You are no exception, but still this will do a lot for you to get this under your control."Marco said he looked at the student. Once Marco was there at him too. His basic element was earth. Marco was a calm person and yet can be rocky sometimes. That is why he was a great Earth controller from the elements. Yet he learned to control the 4 elements and became a teacher in them. Teaching the basic lessons to the students and once they had that under control he would learn them much more for every element. Something he knew that would come in handy for either defense or offense.

While looking at what happened Marco gave a grin and a big smile, seeing as the first step was done. He could hear and see what Elijah was doing and even being proud of it. Marco enjoyed these moments but soon the flame jumped away and he could see that Elijah slowly lost the control from it. While that was the first step he knew there was going to be some work done. "First step is under control. Feeling the passion and love. Never use the anger inside to control fire, it will give an extra power that you don't want to mess with."He said. He then headed over to Elijah helping him up. "Lesson 1 complete, now lesson 2, while your image can't be controlled nor put it away, you can be in it. You need to give yourself the change to be the image and not let the image take control over yourself."Marco said hoping Elijah would understand him.

ELIJAH LEONARDO REYES

[ELIJAH LEONARDO REYES]

Somewhere in the middle of the mess Elijah was feeling as he lost control, he found himself feeling rather embarrassed for not being able to keep it together. He'd give anything to react normally, or at the very least, be able to hide these freak-outs and contain them within himself. Luckily, Rossi was being very understanding and gentle with him which was comforting and prevented the attack from getting worse. He helped the Hufflepuff to his feet and Elijah counted in his head. For some reason, counting always helped in catch his breath and steady his breathing.

"No worries, I can't recall a time I got truly angry." he let out a small smile, responding to the professors words of wisdom before listening again. He held his hands in front of him, attempting to stop them from shaking at his sides. At first he was confused about what Professor Rossi was saying about an image, but then he quickly figured it out. The scene that always clouded his senses whenever something set him off- the fire that started this mess. "So...Just imagine I'm there again... and hope I can try to control the flames or something?" he questioned with fear in his voice. Despite him being perfectly safe in the hands of Professor Rossi, he felt like he was the most vulnerable person on earth. "What if I somehow start doing the fire thing with my hands?" his pace of words quickened as he did movements as if he was controlling fire and whipping it away. "I don't want to hurt anyone." he frowned, taking his hands again and then looking down in shame. Elijah felt like he was a failure of a wizard.



MARCO DURANTE ROSSI

[MARCO DURANTE ROSSI]

Marco looked at the process that slowly was getting better at Elijah. While it might not have been the best start, Marco was glad he could help Elijah much more then probably most teachers would. He listened to the words of the young Hufflepuff that was in front of him. "That is a good thing then, something that can't be controlled like anger, can make the smallest fire, into a burning terror."Marco said as he looked once again to the boy. "Memories, nightmares, dreams. All have something in common my young Elijah. It is a game with the mind. And as long as you can't take over your dreams, your mind will keep playing a game with you."Marco said as he gave a smile. The fear was heard in the voice of Elijah as he knew what this was going to mean. Yet Marco stayed calm as he looked at him. Marco saw him staring down, as he headed over to him. Putting a hand on his chin raising him up. "You won't hurt anyone Elijah. I am there for you, and never be scared or think you are nothing. Keep your head high."Marco said. A smile appeared on the face as he saw a young Marco standing there. Afraid of one of the elements he had so much problems with.

"I am there to stop anything that could go wrong. We will keep training until you both learn the fire, but also learn how to be the dream, and not let them take over anything."He said his Italian accent kicking in with a few words. While he was a few years now in England, yet his voice still had the Italian Accent.

ELIJAH LEONARDO REYES

[ELIJAH LEONARDO REYES]

It was a terrifying thought that he would have to work on actually fighting back in his flashbacks and dreams. There was something a little comforting in being the victim for so long and going through the vicious cycle, since Elijah knew it so well. But Rossi was right, he had to move on or else he'd get stuck in the past and he'd never be able to move on and better himself. He nodded to Professor Rossi, understanding what he was saying. "Thank you again for this... This is the most help I've ever gotten from anyone honestly." he smiled a genuine smile, feeling very grateful to have such a wonderful professor. At the start of this session he had been embarrassed and extremely nervous, but now he was feeling much more at ease about the mentoring sessions.

"I think I want to try again." he gulped after Rossi reassured him that he'd be there. "Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke." he joked a bit, regaining his usual optimistic mood back. He took a deep breath and concentrated once again and held out his hand. This time a flame appeared a bit stronger than the tiny one he had created before. He looked at it, feeling very uneasy and images of the house fire shoved themselves into his mind. He closed his eyes, trying his best to keep the fire going in his shaky hand, but followed Rossi's advice with fighting the flashback. He imagined himself in the house that was ablaze, but instead of running, crying and panicking, he was trying to bend the flames, which little by little did what he made them do.

He opened his eyes, and though his hand was shaking once again, the flame stayed alive in his hand. "I did it!" he smiled brightly, surprised that he could do what Rossi had explained. But he felt much weaker both mentally and physically after. "Woah, that was...exhausting. Is that normal?" Elijah asked his professor, closing his fist and extinguishing the flame. His muscles felt like rubber and all he wanted to do was sleep and rest.


MARCO DURANTE ROSSI