A/N: Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Round 8 - Kenmare Kestrels Keeper
Prompt: Write about the new laws put into place in a Voldemort!Wins fic.
The nursery was a simple affair, painted in neutral tones and carpeted with a sort of squishy safety foam that cushioned tiny bottoms and protected against falls. Various bobs and gadgets were kept in tidy trunks against the walls, and a sturdy baby gate kept children from wandering into the hallways beyond. At any given time, between twelve and twenty-four infant-to-toddler age children occupied the nursery, monitored by no fewer than one nurse per five children. It was a matter of maintaining standards, really. A single nurse, on her own, couldn't be expected to tend to more than five children if they all happened to be misbehaving simultaneously.
Today, there were fifteen children in the nursery, and therefore there were three nurses: Margaret, Kalliope, and Andelle. Margaret was the eldest and most experienced nurse on duty. She was a matronly sort of woman with wispy gray hair and a breathless voice like the pages of an old book rubbing together. Kalliope was a tall, blond beauty from a long-standing pureblood family who could have simply married well and never worked a day in her life if she'd chosen to. Finally, Andelle, a slim brunette thing with a round face and rosy cheeks, was the youngest and—bless her—the dimmest of the three. She had been selected for nursery duty because she was good with children and decidedly not because she possessed any more common sense than one.
Of the fifteen children they were tasked with watching that afternoon, four who were not yet old enough to sit up on their own had been positioned on their stomachs facing one another, giggling and burbling gleefully whenever their eyes met. Five others of varying ages were napping in a community crib in the corner. The remaining six were crawling over one another for the best toys while the nurses watched on and chatted amicably amongst themselves.
"They're behaving today," Andelle commented idly. She'd only been assigned to the nursery two weeks before, and this was the calmest she had seen the children.
Next to her, Kalliope just smiled tiredly and stifled a yawn. Even overworked and sleep-deprived, she looked like a model.
"It's easier with the young ones," Margaret told Andelle sagely. She was sitting in a rocking chair, and her eyes were drooping slightly from the back-and-forth movement. "Their magic hasn't manifested yet, so they get into less trouble," she said with a grandmotherly chuckle. "There are brief lulls like this after the older children who show signs of magic usage are placed with families."
Kalliope gave a bit of a laugh. "Next week," she said, "the surrogates are due to give birth to the next former, so enjoy the peace while it lasts. We'll be back to chaos in no time."
"Tosh," Margaret pretended to scold Kalliope with a wave of her hand. "Chaos or no, you love it," she accused.
Kalliope smiled guiltily. "Wouldn't have it any other way," she admitted.
"How old are they when the start to use magic?" Andelle asked.
"Oh, usually between eighteen to twenty-four months after birth," Margaret said. "Some as early as eight or nine, but never later than thirty."
"Never?" Andelle asked, sounding mystified.
Margaret laughed. "Not once in two hundred years," she said. "The birthing facility was designed to optimize the passing on of magical ability to children. All surrogates and donors are from pureblood families, and the placement of the children is randomized."
Before Andelle could ask her next question, a face peeked around the corner to the corridor as a junior aide leaned over the baby gate.
"Matron," she said, addressing Margaret formally, "Exam Room Fourteen is open. I've come to collect August-16B for his appointment."
"Ah, yes, thank you, Maribel," Margaret said, waving the aide into the room. The young girl—probably no older than sixteen—stepped over the baby gate as elegantly as she could in her red-and-white robes and approached.
"Andelle," Margaret said, turning to address the newest nurse. "Why don't you take August-16B down to the exam room. Maribel can fill in for you temporarily."
Andelle smiled graciously and stood. "I'd be happy to," she said, with a slight bow of respect. "Thank you."
Margaret chortled kindly and waved her on. Andelle walked quickly to the large crib area and, careful not to wake him, lifted one of the children out of it. She balanced the babe on her hip to draw her wand, which she waved casually to Vanish the baby gate. Once in the hall, another flick reinstated it, and she began working her way toward the exam wing.
The bouncing movement of Andelle's cheery walk eventually woke the child she carried, but he was thankfully calm to find himself in a new setting.
"Hello, sleepy-head," Andelle said to him, flicking a lock of hair out of his eyes.
August-16B blinked blearily at her, then at his surroundings, then back at her. His eyes shone when he looked at her, and some unpracticed natural instinct to stave off his impending crocodile tears made Andelle reach into her apron to produce a biscuit shaped like an elephant. The boy looked at the cookie for a moment as though wondering if it was worth giving up on the tantrum he'd been planning, but he reached out and took it.
"There we are," Andelle said happily while he deposited the elephant's trunk in his mouth and began to suck on it. "We're friends now, aren't we?"
He made a muffled sound that passed for an affirmative, and Andelle playfully tapped his nose with one finger. The boy grinned at her, flashing a handful of baby teeth digging into the cookie.
Andelle continued to walk (and bounce) while August-16B silently ate his treat. Every few steps, she gave a little skip to draw a giggle out of him, and by the time they were standing in front of Exam Room Fourteen, he was looking much less surly than when he'd awoken.
Inside the exam room, waiting with a clipboard and a small, glass disc on a silver chain around her neck, was a Healer. The Healer was short and squat, and was chewing on the feather tip of a quill thoughtfully when Andelle entered.
"You're not Maribel," she said, looking surprised.
"No, sorry," Andelle said, shifting August-16B in her arms so she could shake the Healer's hand. "I'm Andelle. I'm the newest nurse. Margaret will send Maribel back down after we done. I think she wanted me to have some hands-on experience assisting a Healer."
"Ah, very well," the Healer said with a small smile. "I'm Nadine. This must be August-16B, then," she said, referring to the notes on her clipboard. "You can sit him on the exam table. This shouldn't take too long."
"No?" Andelle asked curiously, doing as Nadine asked.
Nadine shook her head. "No, I won't need to do a full examination. His chart is very thorough," she said. "He's been in for weekly checks ever since he passed twenty-eight months. Fit as any boy his age should be, except…"
Nadine's voice trailed off expectantly, but Andelle was still listening with rapt attention. She had a look on her face that betrayed no guess at what Nadine was implying.
The Healer cleared her throat uncomfortably and finished her thought: "No magic."
Realization blossomed on Andelle's face. "Oh, I see," she said.
"Today will be thirty months exactly," Nadine said, removing her wand from inside her robes, "so it's the final indicator of magical ability."
"Well, I'm rooting for you, big guy," Andelle said confidently, giving the child a thumbs up. He tried to copy her, but couldn't quite figure out how to keep his thumb up and his fingers tucked at the same time and ended up just pointing awkwardly at her.
Andelle then stepped out of the way while Nadine held her wand up in one hand and the glass disc in the other. "Ingenia revelio!" she said, tapping the disc with her wand gently. The disc glowed blue briefly, the light reflecting in the child's wide eyes.
Nadine smiled kindly. "Yes," she said to the boy, "I know you like that one."
"Ga-agah!" he chirped, reaching for the glass disc which Nadine held safely out of his grasp.
"Patience, little one," she told him before putting the disc up to her left eye. She then proceeded to check him over carefully with her spyglass.
She looked into his ears, asked him to say "ahh!" so she could check his mouth, and even asked Andelle to help hold him still while she lifted his eyelids to get a better look behind them. After a few minutes, she took the glass away from her eye and let it fall back down to hang against her robes.
"So?" Andelle asked with anticipation. "Magic or no magic?"
Nadine frowned and shook her head. "I'm afraid the boy hasn't got the gift," she said.
"Oh, dear," Andelle said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "That wasn't at all the outcome I was hoping for."
Nadine nodded in agreement. "Not everyone is meant to be a wizard," she said, scribbling on her clipboard with her quill. She offered the clipboard to Andelle a moment later.
"I'll need your witness signature here," she said, pointing to the line below her own name.
"Of course," Andelle said. She took the clipboard and quill while Nadine drew her wand once more.
Nadine lightly tapped August-16B on the top of the head while steadying him with her free hand and said, "Avada kedavra."
"Here you are," Andelle said, handing back the signed form.
Nadine conjured a white sheet over the exam table before taking the clipboard back from Andelle. "Thank you, dear," she said. "I'll walk you back to the nursery after I clean up in here."
"Don't be silly," Andelle said, already gathering up the sheets and lifting the bundle into her arms. "Post-Exam Processing is on my way back to the nursery. I'll take it."
Nadine nodded in an approving way. "I think you'll do just fine here," she said. "You're very helpful. I appreciate that."
"Not at all," Andelle said with a cheerful grin. "What sort of a world would we be living in if Healers and Death Eaters couldn't rely on one another?"
Nadine chuckled. "Certainly no world I'd want to live in, my girl."