A/N- Chaser 2 Prompt: "Now this is exactly why the doctor changed his number on us."- Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Additional Prompts:
4: [quote] "I reserve actual terror for only the most special of occasions."- Monstress, Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
10: [word] Aromatic
12: [quote] "You know what they say about truth and the appearance of truth being opposites."- The Power, Naomi Alderman
Word Count: approximately 1,660
"Albus? Aberforth? Ariana?" Kendra Dumbledore crossed her expansive front lawn, rounding the corner of the house as she continued to call her children's names. The air was surprisingly warm for the fifth of November, but Kendra still didn't see the appeal in playing outside this late in the day. She heard laughter, and the bleating of Tanngnjóstr - Tann - Aberforth's goat. Of course. That should have been the first place she looked.
It had been about 3 months since Aberforth had bought the goat from a muggle farmer, hid him in his room, and then convinced his brother to help him sneak the creature out into the yard the same night so that they could wake their mother up the next morning and tell her that someone had just left a goat for Aberforth. How the goat had been acquired, she'd gotten out of Albus after the fact, but she'd seen the boys leading the goat down the stairs on the night in question.
In the intervening three months Tann had proven himself useful in more ways than one. He kept the lawn so tidy that she hardly had to care for it. He was a bit of a hazard to the hedges and the flower and vegetable gardens, but Aberforth was committed to finding new ways to keep him distracted and well fed so that he found those things less interesting. For Kendra this flaw of sorts was nothing in comparison to the companionship that Tann brought her children, and the peace he especially seemed to bring to her daughter. Kendra wondered sometimes if it was frustrating for Arianna, who did not speak often, to be surrounded by people whose ability to communicate did not extend far beyond speech. She imagined she would have, if she were in Ari's shoes, and she had noticed a contentment in Arianna whenever she and Tann were together that was rare with anyone else. A sense of utter relaxation and safety. Certainly Tann could be quite formidable as a protector of what was his (i.e. the children), but mostly Kendra thought it helped that Arianna wasn't required to be anyone but herself with the goat.
Kendra drew nearer and Tann made another noise, almost as if he was giving a warning to her presence. All three children looked up and smiled at her.
"I'm going up to Bathilda's for tea. I'll be back in time to make supper. Don't leave the grounds, and don't lose track of each other." Here she looked pointedly at her two boys. 'Don't lose track of each other' was usually code for 'Aberforth- don't lose track of Ari, and Albus- don't lose track of Aberforth.' The two boys nodded, Tann made a sort of huffing nose, and Arianna smiled serenely up at her mother. Kendra smiled back, before turning on her heel and walking back the way she had come.
Albus reopened his book. Ariana had a new doll whose dress was charmed with thousands of tiny stars that would fall when brushed against, before disappearing altogether. The falling stars were immediately replaced with new ones, so Ari was having a perfectly lovely time decorating Tann's horns. Aberforth was inspecting Tann's pen with an air of great importance. They had more than an hour till sun down. Albus leaned back into the tree he was sitting under and resumed his perusal. When he looked up again, Aberforth was gone. So was Ariana. And Tann.
Albus leapt to his feet and threw down the book. "Aberforth!" he shouted, as he ran full tilt down the hill. "Ari? Ab where are you?"
"I'm here!" His brother shouted back. Albus nearly ran into Aberforth when reached the top of the path that lead from the front door to the street.
"Where's Ari?"
"I don't know! I had my back turned for half a second, and when I turned back, she and Tann were gone, so I ran after them. What's your excuse?"
"I was reading." Albus let out breathlessly. Aberforth scoffed.
"She'd come if she was in ear shot. She must have left the grounds."
"Mother told us all to stay put."
"She's six Albus, even you didn't do everything Mother told you when you were six. That's why I'm supposed to watch her!" Albus ignored the mounting panci in his brother's and made another sweep of the area. A few feet down the path he saw a glint of something golden, and began walking towards it. Aberforth followed him, still ranting.
"Mother is going to murder us. How can you possibly be this calm?" Aberforth didn't see Albus' jaw tighten.
"You know what they say about truth and the appearance of truth being opposites."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that Ari, and presumably Tann, are leaving us a trail, and I think we should follow it." Albus pointed at the small star on the path, already beginning to melt into the ground. Ahead, Albus could now see several more. He set off at a brisk pace, not bothering to wait for Aberforth, though he came anyway. The stars lead them down the path, across the road, and then to the left. Heading toward the muggle town center adjacent to Godric's Hollow. They could see lights flickering in the distance, and the smell of something not exactly aromatic, but sweet. Wood smoke.
The boys began to jog, picking up the pace as the sun began to set. When they reached the edge of town, the trail became colder. There were bonfires everywhere and the competing luminosity was making it harder to distinguish the sources. Aberforth turned right on a hunch, and they passed an older couple who were arguing furiously.
"I'm telling you that little girl and the goat started the fire. They didn't have any matches or rocks. His horns were glowing, and she touched the logs with her bare hands!"
"Now, this is exactly why the doctor changed his number on us. You come to people with these ridiculous stories-"
"The doctor did not change his number on us Louise, he was run out of town by witches. And for the last time, I really did vomit slugs!" The couple continued walking, paying the boys no attention. Aberforth turned to Albus in alarm.
'"Now she's violated the International Statute of Secrecy! You still want to tell me this is no time to panic?"
"I reserve actual terror for only the most special of occasions." Albus muttered. He had seen another star up ahead, and darted off in its direction.
"This doesn't qualify as a special occasion?' Aberforth hollered after him, struggling to keep up. The road ended at the town square, with the most magnificent fire anyone had ever seen. In the center was a straw man, but he didn't seem to be burning yet, and the flames were taking on a suspiciously pinkish tinge. Ariana, the doll, and Tann were sitting placidly at the base of the bonfire not a care in the world.
Aberforth, who had caught up by this point, reached her first, and gently pressed a hand to her shoulder, crouching to her level as he did so. "Ari," he whispered calmly, "these are lovely, but we have to go home now or Mother will worry." Ariana's eyes narrowed a bit, a sure sign that she was displeased. Aberforth changed tact. Quickly covering Tann's ears he said, "Ari, if you come home with us now, I'll keep helping you with your Christmas scarf for Tann." This was a secret, and Aberforth wasn't supposed to mention it in front of him. Aberforth privately thought that a scarf for a goat was a ridiculous notion, but he wasn't going to tell his sister that.
It worked. Ariana gasped in delight, and leapt to her feet. Grabbing Aberforth's hand, she took off running, leaving Albus and Tann to race after them. Getting back home took much less time now that they knew where they were going, and yet again the muggles seemed to pay them no heed. Despite the non-burning effigy, it appeared they were in the clear, so to speak. They returned to Tann's pen just as the last of the light was leaving the sky. After he was safely tucked away, and Albus had retrieved his book, they slipped in through the back door, and not a moment too soon. Kendra and Bathilda were coming in through the front door at exactly the same moment.
"Ariana, Aberforth, Albus!" Kendra called. All three came running to greet their mother and Bathilda.
"Fires!" Ariana prompted. Kendra and Bathilda looked confused. Aberforth hastened to cover for them.
"We thought we saw fires in the distances, but we weren't sure what for." Bathilda smiled indulgently.
"The muggles are celebrating something known as 'Guy Fox Day'. They burn puppets of this "Guy Fox" though I've only encountered it in passing, and have absolutely no idea what it's for." Aberforth remembered what the muggle man had said about witches running the doctor out of town, and shivered.
"They don't ever burn people do they? I mean people like us?" Bathilda laughed, though Aberforth thought he heard an edge of uncertainty.
"Of course not dear boy, don't you worry."
"Yes, well, how about supper then?" Kendra cut in quickly, and the children understood that to mean the end of the discussion. No one said anything more about it. They enjoyed a lovely meal, including dessert, and mother even let them stay up later than usual to work on Ari's scarf.
Early the next morning, Kendra sat alone in the kitchen, sipping her tea, when she heard the expected knock at the window of the post owl. After paying the requisite amount, she took the newspaper and unfurled the Daily Prophet. On the third page the first headline read 'West Country Muggles Puzzled by Pink Flames and Flame Retardant "Foxes"'
Albus awoke to his mother shouting "Children! Come to the kitchen please!"