The Black Family in Seven Parts
III. Magic
Marius did not get his letter. He knows this is bad. Pollux and Cassiopeia both got their letters exactly on their eleventh birthdays.
Marius has been eleven for three weeks now and he still hasn't gotten his.
Pollux and Cassie don't look at him anymore and Mother and Father keep whispering together. He also hears them arguing at night when they think he's asleep. Something about him only being eleven and something about being a disgrace and Marius doesn't know what they mean but he knows that he hasn't gotten his letter yet.
And that's not good.
"Marius!" Mother yells again.
Marius just curls into an even smaller ball in the dark corner of the hall closet. Maybe if they can't find him, he thinks desperately, maybe if they don't know where he is, it'll be okay. Everything will work out, because Mother and Father will realize that they can't give him away to anybody else, so they'll talk to the school and they'll make them give Marius a letter and…
Marius knows this won't work.
Not having a letter isn't the problem. The problem is that Marius doesn't have magic either.
He remembers, once, when Cassie was 10, she picked up Pollux's wand and waved it around and she accidentally broke the window. Nothing happened when Marius picked it up.
And Dorea, who's only nine, can make her dolls dance and turned her bedroom walls pink once when Mother and Father refused to paint them for her.
Marius knows he's never done anything like that and he doesn't know how to fix that.
But, maybe, if he stays in the hall closet long enough and if they don't find him, he can make himself have magic.
He isn't really sure how he's supposed to do that, but he thinks he can do it.
He hopes he can.
"Marius?" a little voice whispers as a crack of light filters into his closet.
"Shh! Either come in or stay out!" Marius hisses in reply.
The door opens a little farther and Dorea slips in before closing it behind her.
"Marius, why are you in the closet?" Dorea whispers as she comes and sits down next to Marius. "And why are Pollux and Cassie so quiet and sad? And Mother and Father so scared? And do you know who that strange man out in the hall is? Mother says he's come to take care of you, but I didn't think you were leaving!"
Marius's heart sinks. "I didn't get my letter. I don't think I have magic, Dory."
"What?" Dorea looks absolutely shocked. "What do you mean you don't have magic? Of course you do, you silly! You're a Black, we've all got magic!"
"Well, I don't!" Marius snaps back. "I don't know why, but I haven't got any and Hogwarts didn't send me my letter and now Mother and Father are going to send me away because I'm just like a filthy muggle so they don't want me anymore. So I'm hiding and I'm—just get out, Dory, and leave me alone!"
Marius is trying not to cry, because it's bad enough that he's a Black with no magic—he doesn't want to be a weak little sissy too.
"Marius," Dorea finally says in a small voice, "Is—Pollux was saying that—but it can't be true because—well, I mean—but if it is true—but it's not—but if it is, I just want to say that, you're my brother and—this is going to sound really dumb, because this is has to be some of kind of accident—but I lo—"
The door to the closet is flung open.
Marius winces away from the light. Father is scowling at him.
"Get out here, boy. Don't disgrace us more than you already have," Father growls.
Marius wants to stay in the closet. He wants to hear what Dorea was going to say because he has a feeling that it's really important. But Father is furious and Marius doesn't want to be remembered as a coward or be an embarrassment—even though Marius thinks he already is because he didn't get his letter and—Marius gets out of the closet.
As he stands up, he sees Pollux and Cassie standing stiffly on the staircase. Cassie looks like she might cry and Pollux looks as though he's a statue. Mother is standing next to them, looking rigid and stiff and not meeting his eyes. Behind him, Dory's climbed out of the hall closet too. Across from the stairs is a tall man with dark hair who looks a lot like Father. Only, while Father looks emotionless, this man's fists are clenched and his eyes are flashing.
"Marius, this is Phineas. He's going to be taking care of you now." Father gives Marius a rough shove closer to the tall man.
"You're making a mistake Cygnus," the man, Phineas, says tightly.
"Just take him. You said you would. Now take him." Father's voice is hard.
Marius blinks furiously against his tears. He was right. He is leaving. They don't want him anymore because he didn't get his letter. He stares at the floor, because, that way, even if he does cry, they won't see it.
"I thought you were a better man than this, Cygnus," Phineas says, then sighs. "Marius?"
Marius doesn't looks up and keeps staring at Phineas's shoes.
Suddenly, Marius sees Phineas's knees and feels a gentle finger pushing his head up.
Marius reluctantly raises his eyes.
Phineas is kneeling across from him, looking at him. He doesn't seem angry anymore and Marius suddenly sees that, while his father's eyes are grey, Phineas's are brown, just like his.
"Hi. I'm your Uncle Phineas. You're going to be staying with me for a while, okay? I promise I don't bite." Phineas gives him a small smile and Marius realizes that he also looks kinder than Father does. "I have an apartment in London and it's really nice. You'll get a room to yourself and you'll be able to decorate it anyway you want. And I'll teach you at home for a while, until you get more used to the idea of not going to Hogwarts. How does that sound, hmm?"
"Phineas. Leave," Father orders harshly.
Marius gets ready to walk out because no one ever disobeys Father when he sounds like that, but, only, Phineas does. He stays on his knees and keeps talking.
"And I know that this is going to be really scary, leaving home and going someplace you've never been before. But I promise it'll all be okay and that you can come and talk to me anytime you want, alright? So, do you want to go right now or is there anything you want to get or do before you leave?" Phineas continues, still looking kind and honest and so understanding and Marius—well, he's not really sure, but he think he might like him, even though he's pretty sure that this is the Phineas who got blasted off the family tree—the one that no one ever talks about.
"Phineas," Father says tightly.
"No," Marius tells Uncle Phineas, because if he does anything else, everyone would see the tears coming down his face. And Marius won't let that be his family's last look at him. He won't let them see him crying.
"Alright, then. Are you ready to go?" Uncle Phineas smiles as he gets back to his feet.
Marius nods even though he's not ready to go and doesn't think he ever will be. But Uncle Phineas offers Marius his hand. Marius has never held anyone's hand before but he takes his Uncle's and it's warm and dry and safe. Together, they walk to the door and open it.
Then they leave, neither of them looking back.
