I do not own HP.
Of Childhood Terrors
Valentina's POV
"μητέρα(Mother), we are going to the park!" my foster-brother, Phillippos, in short Philip, shouted at my mother.
"Bien (OK), don't go too far!" My mother shouted back. I guess, you could say that we were quite a multi-cultured family. Pa was Greek and Ma was French. Philip was half Greek - half French. I was adopted from Spain, my home country so that made me Spanish.
Philip opened the door and I ran outside. I take off my shoes and let the grass slide through my toes. Philip grins at me and nods at something tree. "RACE YOU TO THE TREE!" he yells.
"Which tree?" I asked. He touches a tree nearest the merry-go-round. I roll my eyes. He could've at least mentioned which tree! Anyway, I run towards the tree and look forward. There was that place that all the children in my school talk about. It was Grimmauld Place. Scary things usually happen there. We try not to go there or else we'll get lost. I've always wanted to go there and see if the rumours were true.
"Philip!" An arm around my waist interrupted my train of thought. I giggle and hit Philip on the arm. "Let me down!" I yelled, kicking him in the chest. He chuckled.
"Well, if you insist..." he said. Oh no, oh no! Not the fish pond!
"Philip Delis, if you drop me in that pond, I swear I'll - AAAAGH!" The water surrounded me and the fish tickled my feet as it swam away from me. I get out of the pool with my hair sticking to my face and my clothes as well.
"Now I'm going to get trouble from Ma! She's going to kill me first and then you!" I pouted and looked away from Philip.
"Now, now, Tina, don't be such a grump!" He grinned. I suddenly felt like I wasn't wet anymore. I gaped at my clothing. It was dry and looked completely new. I couldn't believe this! I touched my hair and the knotted wet clump was now a knotted dry clump. Philip started spluttering as he looked at me.
"H-how?" he asked. I shook my head. "I don't know!" I replied.
"Maybe the sun is just really energetic today..." Philip said. We both knew that was a lie because it was such a cloudy day. I just nodded and agreed with him. In a matter of time, we forgot about it. I thought that Philip was probably right and just ignored it.
We were playing tag and I was almost near Philip when suddenly I heard a rustle of a branch. I turned around and tried to find Philip, I couldn't see him anywhere.
"Philip?" I walked closer towards the bush. Suddenly a figure came out of there. It was a boy, probably sixteen who was smirking at me. He was twirling some sort of stick. Two more figures came out of there. A girl with curly black hair and dark eyes. There was a maniacal grin on her face. My guess was that she was about fourteen. A boy who had long black hair and grey eyes stared at me. He was around my age and he just stared.
It was starting to scare me.
"What's a dirty muggle like you doing in our territory?" The older guy smirked. Well...um...you called me a muggle, I'll call you a moron! HA, TAKE THAT!
"Um, sorry what?" I raise an eyebrow at him.
"'Um, sorry what?'" the girl mocked me. She was really starting to annoy me. The younger boy next to her was smirking at me. Now he was also annoying.
"Well, I'm sorry. I'll just go back to my brother then..." I said. They were starting to make me feel uneasy. The older boy glared at the other boy and pointed towards me. The boy moved grudgingly and blocked my path. I was really starting to get scared now.
"TINA?" I heard Philip yell.
"PHILIP!" I turn around to find him. I saw his familiar hair. I tried to run away from them but the boy kept a firm grip on my arm.
"Let go of me!" I scream.
"TINA!" Philip's voice was closer now. "You let go of my sister right now!"
"Isn't that adorable, Bella? Such sibling love!" The boy with the stick laughed along with the girl. Philip hit the boy who was holding me and took my hand, ready to run. The boy pointed his stick at the boy, muttered some words and something hit my brother. Philip tripped and hit his head against a rock.
"PHILIP, NO!" I scream. My heart was thudding so fast. What were they doing?
"HOW DARE YOU TOUCH A PUREBLOOD? YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A MUGGLE!" The boy yelled as he kicked Philip in the stomach. Philip let out a loud groan and his features scrunched up in pain.
"STOP, PLEASE, NO!" I yell, then I felt a sort of numb feeling going through my body. I fell down. I couldn't feel anything. I was paralysed. My eyes watched as the boy tortured my brother. Tears were prickling my eyes.
"Maybe...maybe we should stop..." The younger boy said.
"Shut up, Sirius! Don't intrude! This muggle touched you!" He spat at Sirius. The boy, Sirius, glared and stepped back. He then glanced at me with sorry eyes. As Philip tried to stand up, the boy took out his stick and then Philip let out a terrible scream. He started twitching and screaming. Then it happened.
I felt the feeling in my legs and hands. So I stood up and glared at them. I was so angry. Rage was bubbling inside me.
"You will never touch my brother again!" I felt a weird sensation in my stomach and the boy who was torturing my brother was pushed back with such force. He hit a tree and was knocked out. The girl screamed and pointed a stick at me. A force hit her too and she was knocked out as well. I glared at the boy as if daring him to even think of breathing. He looked at me and ran.
I calmed down and looked at Philip.
"Please...no...Philip!" I took his hand and checked the pulse. It was so low. I took my scarf and wrapped it around his bleeding head. I hoisted him up and put his shoulder around my neck. I dragged him all the way home.
I ringed the doorbell at least five times a second. Ma opened the door and looked at me in confusion. Then she laid her eyes on Philip and let out a scream.
"NIKOLAS!" Ma screamed out Pa's name. She took his arm and dragged him to the couch. Pa ran down and then looked at Philip.
"No, no, no! What happened?" Tears were running down Pa's face.
"They-they w-w-were tor-tortur-ing-g him!" I was full out crying. Mother was talking on the phone with the ambulance.
"Who were?" Pa asked.
"These three kids: two boys and one girl. They had some sort of stick that was letting out some power and it was torturing him!" I replied. My father's face became angry.
"Black!" He spat out.
"PA, THIS IS NO TIME TO YELL OUT COLOURS! PHILIP IS DYING!" I scream at his face. I heard the wailing of an ambulance. Ma ran towards the door and opened the door. The ambulance rushed in a put Philip on a stretcher. Pa ran down the stairs with a stick and pointed it at the doctors.
"Confundus." He said. The guys looked confused and stared around.
"You can go back. I think there was some confusion." Pa said. They nodded and left. Ma stared at Pa in anger and fear.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" She yelled.
"There's no time to explain! Our son is dying and he needs to be taken to a hospital that can help him!" He took mine, Philip and Ma's arm. I felt a tug at my navel and my eyesight became fuzzy. We reached some hospital. I looked around and noticed that, well, there were people with...was that a guy with a third arm? Mom was also freaking out.
Dad rushed to the reception. "Please, somebody! Help my son!" The nurse looked at Philip and nodded immediately.
"Healer Thomas! An emergency is here!" The nurse said. I ignored the fact that she said Healer and not Doctor. Philip was slowly dying. The man started yelling for some strange things. He then waved another stick and Philip was floating. I gasped and covered my mouth.
"H-how...I-" Ma started but then stopped.
"I'm sorry but I promise I'll explain later." Pa said but he ran towards the doctor.
I sat there, hugging my knees as I looked around. There were such strange people. Some with pots that were talking on their head! Mom wasn't even looking at the scene. She just stared at her feet.
Half an hour passed and my father came out of a door. He had tear tracks on his face and new ones were formed. I looked up and hopeful expression was on my face but my father shook his head and said the words I dreaded:
"He's dead, Tina..."
I burst out crying. Philip. My brother Philip. Forget that we weren't blood related, he was still my brother. This was all my fault! If I wasn't yelling his name and asking him to help me, he would never come over and try to help me. I should've been the one in the coma, not him. My mother looks up with no tears in her eyes. Her eyes have darkened.
"Get me out of here. Now." She said in a scarily calm voice. Pa runs a hand through his hair and looks at Ma sadly. What was going on?
"Come on, Tina. Let's go." He holds out his arm and with a crack we leave. Ma swoons a bit before grabbing onto a table.
"Tina, go to your room." She doesn't even bother looking at me. I run up my room and open the door. I move my bed a little and it revealed a big vent. I opened it and went down. It was a sort of slide I guess. I reached the vent that was right above a cupboard. I got a clear view of Ma and Pa.
"Angie, I'm sorry I never-" Pa started.
"You're sorry you're a freak?" Ma yelled.
"No Angie, it's nothing like that! παρακαλώ να ακούσετε (Please listen)!" He yelled back. Ma quietened down. Pa took a deep breath and started.
"I'm a wizard."
Silence.
"THIS IS NO TIME TO JOKE, NIKOLAS DELIS! YOU'RE SON IS DEAD AND-" Ma started throwing china plates at him. Pa took out that stick and a silver thing came in front of him. It was like a shield. Ma gaped at him and took a seat.
"It's true..." she said. Pa nodded.
"Why did you never tell me?" Ma asked.
"Because I knew you'll react like this," Pa said, "I was afraid I'll lose you."
"A-and now you think I'm going to come running into your arms?"
"No, not at all. It's not easy for someone to know this."
"Philip..."
"They tortured him with magic. There is a war in the magical world. What you may think is a natural disaster, could be magic." Pa put a comforting arm on Ma. "They used a torturing spell on him because he's non-magical and well filth to them."
"So I guess I'm just filth to you, right?" Ma snapped.
"Of course not! Do you think I spent six years of marriage because I thought you were filth?" Pa asked, "It's because I love you and I'm sorry I never told you this before."
I think my heart broke at how adorable they were.
"What about Valentina?" Ma wiped her tears away.
"I-I got this letter on her 11th birthday."
Well, that's strange.
"What was it about?" Ma asked.
"Angie, magic needs to be controlled so you go to a school to learn. That's why Tina..." Pa didn't bother finishing the sentence. I slapped a hand over my mouth. I couldn't believe it! I was magical!
I didn't want to be magical though. It scared me that magic, which I would dream of when I was younger, could be this dangerous. It killed my brother.
"Tina, our little girl, is magical?" Ma's eyes were as wide as saucers. Pa smiled a little and nodded. I quickly scurried up the vent and climbed out of it.
NO, NO, NO! I didn't want this! What did I do to deserve this?
They explained it to me. Told me everything that they had discussed in the fight. About Philip. THe strange things that would happen to me. Pa showed me the letter. I was so shocked, angry, scared and well, a little happy.
"Where are we going, Pa?" I asked.
"We're going to London to buy your school equipment. Now, take my hand and don't worry!" I took his hand and that strange feeling was felt again. I landed on cold, marble floor. I looked up and saw the scene.
Men, women and children were running around. They were wearing such strange clothes. Was that a lady trying to handle a dragon? Pa dragged me through the crowd. I gaped at everything around me. Magical ice-cream, clothes and etc, etc. WAS THAT A BROOM?
Pa went inside a strange marble building. I looked at those weird creatures! That's not human! Pa walked to one of the desks.
"I would like to open the Delis vault 334." Pa said. The creature looked at us with judging eyes.
"Do you have a key?" he asked. Pa nodded and fished out a key from his pockets. The creature inspected it and nodded. He jumped off the seat and beckoned us to follow him.
"What are they, Pa?" I asked.
"They're goblins. They handle a wizarding bank!" I gaped. They also had a bank? This was too much information. I looked around and sighed sadly. Philip would've loved this place.
"Now, Tina, you must remember. The gold ones are galleons, the silver ones are sickles and the bronze ones are knuts." Pa started explaining about money to me. I just nodded dumbly.
We finally left that bank. We bought our clothes, cauldrons and everything for the school. I also got a cat who's fur was a bright orange and white streaks in it. His eyes were a mixture of green and blue. I called him Cheese.
What? It's a nice name.
Finally, we would get the wand. This was something I was so excited about. We entered a manky looking shop. A bell rang out as we opened the door. An aged man stood behind the counter. He looked up and smiled.
"Ah, Mr. Delis! I was wondering when you will bring one of your children here! Now correct me if I'm wrong, but it was a 13"4, unicorn hair and slightly stiff." The man raised an eyebrow at Pa.
"You got that right, Mr. Ollivander!" Pa let out a little laugh. The man, Ollivander, chuckled and then looked at me.
"And what might your name be?" He asked.
"Um, Valentina Delis." I replied. He nodded at me and beckoned me to come forward. I walked forward and nervously looked around the shop.
"Now, which is your wand arm?"
"Um, right?"
"Good, good." He took out a measuring tape and it started to measure my arm, but then it started measuring my head and foot. I stared at the tape in wonder.
"Now, try this. 12"3, dragon heartstring, slightly bendy." I held it in my arm, but he immediately took it back.
"I think I know the right one for you!" He went back and took out a box. He gave the wand and told me hold it.
"12"5, veela hair, unyielding." I held the wand and felt a warm feeling going through me. I smiled and twirled the wand. "Ah yes, that will be it! 20 galleons only!"
Pa paid for the wand and smiled at me. I put my wand in the box and admired it for a while.
I bumped into someone and looked up only to see grey eyes. I recognised those eyes. I looked up and down and my breath stopped. It was him. It was one of the boy's who killed my brother. Anger bubbled inside me as I stared at him. I narrowed my eyes. I had half the feeling to blast him apart. Pa tugged my arm and gave me a warning look.
If he was going to my school, then he'll pay for what he did.