Seamus Finnegan was happy. Today was the first day he was allowed outside, after spending nearly a fortnight confined to his room. He had come down with some sort of nasty flu and spent the first four days of his confinement in bed, not even wanting to listen to the stories his mother was so fond of telling him. Her stories were the 'stuff' of Ireland; witches and wizards, foul little beasties and of course, leprechauns. At age eight, Seamus didn't know that the stories his mother told were not really fiction. His mother actually was a witch and many of the stories she told were real. His father, on the other hand, was a normal person, a Muggle. At this point, Seamus didn't care about any of that. All he cared about was getting out the door and into the sunshine.
It was a warm and sunny day, a rarity for this time of year, early spring. He ran out of the house, barely hearing his mother calling after him to keep warm and dry. He hopped the low stone wall that bordered the garden and ran through the field. He hoped to find his friends playing football in the schoolyard, but as he took the short cut through the woods near his house, he stumbled and fell.
Looking down at his feet he noticed that his shoe laces had not come untied, like he expected, but were actually tied together! Frowning he sat down and tried to undo the knot. The knot proved much tougher to untie than he expected. As he worked the knot, he thought he heard faint laughter, coming from under a nearby bush. Glancing around, he didn't spot anyone or anything, so he shrugged and continued to work on the knot.
After struggling for nearly fifteen minutes, he gave up and pulled off his shoes. Taking a small penknife from his pocket (he was the only one of his circle of friends that carried such an item, most of the others were considered too young to have one) and cut the shoe laces, keeping the knot intact. As he was folding the knife to place it back into his pocket, he thought he heard the laughter again. Nervously looking around, he still didn't see anything. Shrugging, he got to his feet and started down the faint trail, again. He didn't go more than a few yards when he stumbled again. Looking down, he saw that once again his shoe laces were knotted. This time, he just pulled out his knife and cut the shoes apart--or at least tried to. No matter how hard he tried, the laces could not be cut.
There was a sound from under a nearby bush. This time Seamus was certain that he heard laughter, but it was cut off by what sounded like someone taking an elbow to stomach followed by what only could be described as a traditional Irish tongue lashing. Cautiously, he approached the bush and peered under it. Seated on the ground was a small boy, it appeared to Seamus, about his own age, but only about a foot tall. He was dressed all in green and sported bright red hair. He was gently rubbing his midsection, a grimmace of pain on his face. Standing in front of him, with her back to Seamus, was a girl, slightly taller than the boy. Her green skirt reached the ground, a white blouse, with heavy embroidery and long flowing red hair completed what Seamus could see of her. She was wagging her finger at the lad on the ground and giving him a thorough tongue lashing, and in perfect Gaelic, no less. Seamus knew a bit of the Old Tongue, as his grandparents spoke it, but not enough to actually be fluent in the language. From what he could tell, the boy on the ground was not supposed to be pulling such tricks on unsuspecting Muggles...that word again...or any of the Big Folk. Seamus also gathered that the girl was in fact the boy's older sister. Seamus winced in sympathy with the boy on the ground every time his sister jabbed him with her finger. Seamus could barely hold in his laughter as after one particularly vicious jab the boy let out a string of words that Seamus remembered his grandfather using after smashing his thumb with a hammer, and then swearing young Seamus never to repeat--especially around his grandmother.
With a gasp, the girl spun around and looked Seamus straight in the the face.
The boy on the ground slowly stood and dusted himself off.
Smiling, Seamus said, "Hi, me name is Seamus and me mum has told me about you."
The boy put out his hand and said, "No harm meant. I was just having a bit of fun. Don't mind me sister here."
"I don't. I've got one too, though mine is still a baby."
At that the girl, her shock forgotten, put her hands on her hips and began to scold both boys, the leprechaun and the human. After a minute or so she turned and stomped off into the woods.
"Me name, at least the one you Big Folk can say, is Brian," said the leprechaun. "That was me sister Molly."
"So, do you live around here and why haven't I ever seen ya before? Me mum is always tellling me stories...at least I thought they were stories, but seeing you I guess some of them are true."
"Aye, we live herabouts. As to why you've never seen us...well, this is the first time I've been caught and that wouldn't have happened if me sister hadna started in on me like that. And what kinda stories?"
Seamus said, "Stories about witches and wizards, leprechauns and the like."
"Aye, they're likely true enough."
The two boys spent the next several hours, huddled under the bush swapping stories, until Mrs. Finegan called Seamus in to eat lunch. As Seamus sat down to eat, his mother noticed his shoes and asked him about it. Remembering what Brian had told him, Seamus didn't say anything other than the laces got caught in some briars and he had to cut them out to free himself. Remembering one of his mother's stories, Seamus ran to his little sister's room and grabbed one of the cups and saucers from her tea set. Taking a couple of biscuits and some milk he made his way back to bush. Brian was nowhere to be found so Seamus left the milk and biscuits under the bush.
That night, as she was preparing the laundry, Mrs. Finnegan found the knotted shoelace in her son's pocket. She knew that the time was coming when she had to tell her family her secret. She no longer had the luxury of waiting until Seamus received his letter to Hogwarts.
It was a warm and sunny day, a rarity for this time of year, early spring. He ran out of the house, barely hearing his mother calling after him to keep warm and dry. He hopped the low stone wall that bordered the garden and ran through the field. He hoped to find his friends playing football in the schoolyard, but as he took the short cut through the woods near his house, he stumbled and fell.
Looking down at his feet he noticed that his shoe laces had not come untied, like he expected, but were actually tied together! Frowning he sat down and tried to undo the knot. The knot proved much tougher to untie than he expected. As he worked the knot, he thought he heard faint laughter, coming from under a nearby bush. Glancing around, he didn't spot anyone or anything, so he shrugged and continued to work on the knot.
After struggling for nearly fifteen minutes, he gave up and pulled off his shoes. Taking a small penknife from his pocket (he was the only one of his circle of friends that carried such an item, most of the others were considered too young to have one) and cut the shoe laces, keeping the knot intact. As he was folding the knife to place it back into his pocket, he thought he heard the laughter again. Nervously looking around, he still didn't see anything. Shrugging, he got to his feet and started down the faint trail, again. He didn't go more than a few yards when he stumbled again. Looking down, he saw that once again his shoe laces were knotted. This time, he just pulled out his knife and cut the shoes apart--or at least tried to. No matter how hard he tried, the laces could not be cut.
There was a sound from under a nearby bush. This time Seamus was certain that he heard laughter, but it was cut off by what sounded like someone taking an elbow to stomach followed by what only could be described as a traditional Irish tongue lashing. Cautiously, he approached the bush and peered under it. Seated on the ground was a small boy, it appeared to Seamus, about his own age, but only about a foot tall. He was dressed all in green and sported bright red hair. He was gently rubbing his midsection, a grimmace of pain on his face. Standing in front of him, with her back to Seamus, was a girl, slightly taller than the boy. Her green skirt reached the ground, a white blouse, with heavy embroidery and long flowing red hair completed what Seamus could see of her. She was wagging her finger at the lad on the ground and giving him a thorough tongue lashing, and in perfect Gaelic, no less. Seamus knew a bit of the Old Tongue, as his grandparents spoke it, but not enough to actually be fluent in the language. From what he could tell, the boy on the ground was not supposed to be pulling such tricks on unsuspecting Muggles...that word again...or any of the Big Folk. Seamus also gathered that the girl was in fact the boy's older sister. Seamus winced in sympathy with the boy on the ground every time his sister jabbed him with her finger. Seamus could barely hold in his laughter as after one particularly vicious jab the boy let out a string of words that Seamus remembered his grandfather using after smashing his thumb with a hammer, and then swearing young Seamus never to repeat--especially around his grandmother.
With a gasp, the girl spun around and looked Seamus straight in the the face.
The boy on the ground slowly stood and dusted himself off.
Smiling, Seamus said, "Hi, me name is Seamus and me mum has told me about you."
The boy put out his hand and said, "No harm meant. I was just having a bit of fun. Don't mind me sister here."
"I don't. I've got one too, though mine is still a baby."
At that the girl, her shock forgotten, put her hands on her hips and began to scold both boys, the leprechaun and the human. After a minute or so she turned and stomped off into the woods.
"Me name, at least the one you Big Folk can say, is Brian," said the leprechaun. "That was me sister Molly."
"So, do you live around here and why haven't I ever seen ya before? Me mum is always tellling me stories...at least I thought they were stories, but seeing you I guess some of them are true."
"Aye, we live herabouts. As to why you've never seen us...well, this is the first time I've been caught and that wouldn't have happened if me sister hadna started in on me like that. And what kinda stories?"
Seamus said, "Stories about witches and wizards, leprechauns and the like."
"Aye, they're likely true enough."
The two boys spent the next several hours, huddled under the bush swapping stories, until Mrs. Finegan called Seamus in to eat lunch. As Seamus sat down to eat, his mother noticed his shoes and asked him about it. Remembering what Brian had told him, Seamus didn't say anything other than the laces got caught in some briars and he had to cut them out to free himself. Remembering one of his mother's stories, Seamus ran to his little sister's room and grabbed one of the cups and saucers from her tea set. Taking a couple of biscuits and some milk he made his way back to bush. Brian was nowhere to be found so Seamus left the milk and biscuits under the bush.
That night, as she was preparing the laundry, Mrs. Finnegan found the knotted shoelace in her son's pocket. She knew that the time was coming when she had to tell her family her secret. She no longer had the luxury of waiting until Seamus received his letter to Hogwarts.