Throughout the Blackthorne estate, there are many photographs lining the walls, topping end tables, and filling albums. Luckily, the potion used on the photos to make them move wore off, leaving them still and "boring" according to most wizards. Before finding she was a witch, Grace had asked her mother who a family was she had seen a photo of when they lived in the apartment. All her mother said was "distant family" as if that were too much to say.
Grace thought back to that moment, now lying in her bed in a magical house, owned by those same people she asked her mother about before. Why hadn't she told Grace, she thought. Does she know about the magic of the family, or does she just think they're weird?
Grace puzzled over this for a bit while she heard a click and saw her door open to David, holding his wand and clutching, yet another, book in his arms.
"David! You could at least knock!" Grace yelled at him hotly. "Calm down, will you? Look what I found." He said as he pocketed his wand and steadied the book in his arms.
"It's about flying broomsticks. It's pretty neat actually. It tells how to play Quidditch and all, but that's not what I'm here for. It tells you how to make a flying broomstick!" he enthused. The information lightened Grace's mood a little bit. She sat up and looked at him as if to say I'm listening…
David found the right page and showed it to her. He was right. It told you step by step how to make your own basic broom. It looks simple enough, thought Grace.
"I read through it but I ran into some trouble. We don't have a good broom to use, but I've got an idea." Said David. He then pulled out his wand, pointed it at the wall and flicked it in a bunch of complicated movements while thinking loudly Clandesti Aperto! He was conjuring the door to the Study.
As always, it rippled into reality on Grace's wall, and they both stepped through. By the time grace got in the room, David was magically moving things from their places to clear an area in the room. He then tugged and pulled at the Persian carpet, rolling it up and heaving it under his arm. Thin crimson and gold threads poked out from the carpet. He flicked his wand and everything he moved went back to its position.
"Common, follow me." David suggested as he stepped out of the room and into Grace's.
"You don't think you can use the carpet to fly on do you?" Grace asked bewildered.
"Well….. ya that's pretty much what I think." David answered. Grace shook her head, but followed David. They went to the bathroom. The bathroom's window wasn't too far from a section of roofing, which was David's target to make the flying carpet.
"Flying carpets are out of date, but it's all we have. We're gonna need a head start in the air which the roof provides. So let's do it." he said. David unrolled the carpet and laid it down flat on the black shingles. "Okay, here's the spell. Do you want to try?" he asked Grace. Grace was sitting up against the house, waving her hand at him telling him he could do it. David mimicked her dramatically, laughed and opened the book.
He read over the section carefully, and completely. His eyebrows met at the middle, he shut his eyes in a deep breath, and said the charm. From his wand, a faint vapor washed over the carpet, then…..silence. Nothing happened and all that was there were Grace, David, and a flightless carpet. David frowned a little, and Grace giggled. " Wayda go Dumbledore." She said sarcastically. "Oh, shut up Grace. It'll work, watch." He said. David held both hands out in front of him over the carpet and said "Up!"
The carpet's frilly strings fluttered by some unseen force, and then floated up to his hands. David looked at Grace with an intimidating expression on his face. "You don't think you can use the carpet to fly on do you?" squeaked David in a mock-Grace tone. David carefully climbed on the carpet. At first, he thought it would give way to him and fall because all it looked like was a sheet in the breeze. But when he put his first leg on, it was like climbing onto a slab of cement. He immediately felt safe. But when he fully at on the rug, the air under him made it seem more comfortable, like the whole thing was a super-sturdy hammock.
"Get on Grace." David pressed. She stared at him with a look of attitude, but got up and sat on the carpet. She tried to hide it, but she was secretly excited to ride the carpet. "Okay, so how do I get this thing going?" David asked himself. He tried bouncing where he sat. He tried by saying "Fly!" but all were unsuccessful.
Finally he managed to accidentally make it move by leaning forward slightly. It scared both Grace and David, pumping adrenalin in their blood for an instant. "There we go. I got it!" he said. David leaned forward by the slightest angle making the carpet hover forward at a comfortable speed. Most would think you would have to hold on to the carpet so you wouldn't fall off, but they felt sucked to it by gravity, with every part of the rug at their control by simply leaning.
A gentle breeze roused their hair, and they accelerated. They were going faster now, not only in the yard and around the house, but weaving through the trees, rising and lowering above the canopies. David figured out that to go upward, you have to shift your weight up by raising you arms in a quick punch to the sky.
They were going so far from home, that soon Grace told David to turn around, but he refused. He said there was somewhere he wanted to go. They soared for another couple of minutes and came to a huge break in the trees, revealing a large pond full of water lilies and croaking frogs. They landed a relaxed for awhile before taking off again. "This place is beautiful." Said Grace. The relaxing song of the birds reminded Grace of her patronus, and the distant babble of a brook gently lulled her to sleep.
When Grace awoke, they were back on the carpet, flying home. David must have heard her wake up because he turned around and smiled at her. She smiled back and enjoyed the ride home.
When they arrived home, something happened that awoke Grace instantly: the sound of her mother's voice. She sat up and saw that her mother was screaming at them, telling them that it was dangerous. They were shocked that their mother was not asking things more like "What is that?" or "how are you doing that?" No, she was preaching at how unsafe it was. They landed and walked towards her mother. "Wow. That wasn't exactly what I thought you would say." said David. She looked at him flabbergasted. "Get inside now! We need to talk." She said the last part less fierce than the first.
"I'm sorry." Their mother said to them as they sat around the dining room table. "I should have told you that you were magic, but I just….." she trailed off. She thought for a few seconds and continued. "I knew how much you kids liked the books and I knew you would do well with magic, but I was scared. Your great grandparents, the former owners of this house, they were killed by being magic. It's dangerous. I tried to hide it from you so that you could lead a normal, safe life." she explained. "But what happened to them. Did you learn magic?" David asked.
By now, their mother was close to crying. She cleared her throat and then told her story. "They died because Voldemort wanted them in his inner circle. They were purebloods, skilled in magic, and he knew they would benefit him. Of course, they refused, and Voldemort killed them. By then, their kids, your grandparents, were all grown up with kids of their own. They went into hiding, stopped the use of magic in the family, and saved the Blackthorne's. To answer your second question: no, I did not learn magic. Your grandparents had known about magic before they hid, but never taught any to me. They agreed that I could know about it for my own safety, but I could not learn it. When I had you kids, I panicked. I wished you were squibs so that you would be safe, but you proved not to be. Eventually, David showed signs of his magic as did Grace, and that's when I started making arrangements to move here. The house itself is magic as you probably already know, so I thought that if you ever accidentally did use magic, even without knowing, the Trace would not be able to know that it was you. They would think it was the house. But you are magic. And I'm proud of that. I will let you keep your wands, and yes, I know you have them so you don't have to hide them anymore. You thought you were sneaky didn't you, with cauldrons and things like that. I have powers of my own you know." This shocked David and Grace. Their mother continued. "Don't use magic outside of the property. Then the Trace will know, and they might send the Ministry. And the Study, I know about that too. Where did you think I thought you guys were this whole time? So spill it. Why don't we go outside and you show me what you learned so far." She said. David and Grace agreed, and brought their mother out back.
Charms, spells, curses, jinxes, hexes. Everything they learned over the week they showed their mom. She clapped at things and yelled at some, saying it was too dangerous. But lastly, David and Grace showed their most accomplished skills. First it was Grace who showed her patronus, a swift. The bird swept through the air and brushed around their mother. She marveled at its beauty and was entranced until Grace ended her show. Then David conjured his Timber wolf. It pounced and played around them all, just like a puppy. It licked their mother's face and barked happily before disappearing. "Okay mom. That's it. But we have one more thing that I think you won't be a fan of." said Grace.
Together, they pushed themselves into their animaguses. Their mother screamed at the sight. Grace had gotten good at flying as she did so and landed on her mother's shoulder. David pawed his way to his mom and plopped down beside her as she pet him. She could see them. She could see her children in the eyes of these animals. "But this is so advanced. I was amazed by the Patronuses, let alone the animaguses. Kids how did you?" she asked numbly. David just touched his nose to his cheek. She would have to accept that they are of great talent. It was a part of who they were…. magic.
