Harold's Lodge
- We are late…
- Nothing new. Where to put luggage?
- Put it in the wardrobe for now, I'll unpack it later. I can hear everyone downstairs. We're last to come.
- Calm down. It's not Christmas yet.
- I promised that we would be earlier to help in the kitchen.
- I couldn't break out faster. Sorrow, as usual, left me all paperwork. I still have a pile on my desk. And besides ... the atmosphere is "quite tense", especially after the Winter Ball failure. Picquery will dry my head for the rest of my life.
- Serafina should pull out the stick from her bott...
- Aunt Aggie! Uncle Percy! Finally!
Eleanor came screaming, throwing herself to aunt's legs, banging painfully against her belly. Agatha moved away too late. Percival picked up the six-year-old girl, giving the wife a worried look, but she smiled and hugged both of them.
- Nothing happened. Did you decor our room?
- Yes! Do you like it?
Agatha laughed, reminding herself of Percival's face as soon as he followed her out of the fireplace. The room was one big bomb of green, red and gold. There were pennants hanging everywhere, napkins lay on all flat surfaces, and even the sheets matched the color of the decorations. A bunch of mistletoe hung under the canopy.
- It's very ... festive.
Again they heard a fuss coming from downstairs. Something broke out, the sound of the glass falling on the floor was heard.
- I should probably go.
Percival nodded, and still with Eleanor in his arms, he stepped out into the corridor, watching his wife. The little one released herself and slid down onto the carpet. She took his warm, large hand and shook it.
- Uncle Percy?
- Yes, Elle?
- Can we go to John? Ma was yelling at him yesterday. He doesn't leave the room.
Percival followed the little girl, turning back to the angry screams coming from the ground floor. Elle put her hands to her ears and walked on.
- Why did she shout at him?
- Because he did not pass the semes ... sems exam ...
- Semester exam?
- Yes. It was scary.
They reached the door at the end of the corridor. Elle knocked as hard as she could.
- Who's there?
- It's me and uncle Percy!
Jonathan opened the door and stuck his head out. Seeing the auror, his face turned red, but eventually he let them in. The room didn't look good. A broken mirror, everywhere feathers from pillows and strange creatures running around the floor. Boxes with legs, teapot with ears and two back paws of a rabbit.
- Oh my! If ma will see it ...
- Elle hush, sit on the armchair or you'll cut your foot with the glass.
Percival pulled out his wand and before the siblings saw it, the glass, wood and feathers were in place. He crouched on the floor, calling to himself all of the boy's unsuccessful experiments. He transmuted them back into objects and arranged in a line on the boards. He nodded to John, who with reddened eyes came up to him. They sat cross-legged and Elle jumped on Percival's lap.
- Can I try it too?!
- If John doesn't mind.
- Let her try.
The man pulled a match from the box and put it on his palm.
- Incantation is Acusignis. Repeat. Aku - sig - nis.
- Aku-sig-nis.
- Well. Now look at this match, look at its shape, the ball at the top. Imagine a needle with an ear just in the place of this ball. And when you see it, say the spell.
Eleanor stared at the match, bringing her face to it. Finally, she pulled back and held out a small hand, speaking aloud: Acusignis! The match for a moment turned into metal, but soon returned to its original state.
- Well. You need to practice a bit. You can't think about something else. You can't think it's a match. It has to be a needle. You see the needle.
- But it's a match.
- I know. Okay, take it and sit in an armchair. I will practice with Jonathan.
The girl curled up in a chair with a match in her hand. Percival moved the teapot and nodded at him.
- Incantation?
- Lapifors.
- I can't tell you anything more than what I said to Elle. Imagine a rabbit and just a rabbit. Think about color of it's fur, how soft it is, how londg ears should be. Will he jump high? When was the last time you saw a rabbit? Find this memory. The easiest way is to choose a coat based on the subject. Remember, you emphasize "LAP".
The boy nodded and lay down in front of the teapot. He closed his eyes, reminding himself that in the summer he was walking with his father, who had day off. They walked along the meadow near the house. They saw a flock of rabbits. One was white like a teapot. He focused on him. He opened his eyes and quietly, but clearly said: Lapifors, pointing with his right hand at the teapot. A green light flashed. The teapot turned into a rabbit. However, when he jumped, the porcelain grated.
- Excellent!
- He didn't change.
- Not quite, no. But he looked like a rabbit. Perfectly!
Percival patted the boy on the shoulder. He restored the teapot to the original look and encouraged John to repeat.
They sat for an hour or less. Percival leaned his head against the bed mattress, soon drifting off to sleep. A gentle plucking of the sleeve awakened him. He rubbed the rest of his nap from eyes with his hand and looked down. The sleeve of his black blazer was plucked by a snow-white, live rabbit. His eyes were miss-matched. Blue and brown. He sank his sharp teeth into his hand, biting through. Percival jumped to his feet and then ...
He banged his head against the leg of the bed. He opened wide eyes, seeing the white rabbit nibbling his sleeve. White rabbit with floral ornament on fur. John sat with Elle, who was already changing the second box of matches into the needle. The first ones, slightly bent and of various sizes, lay neatly arranged on a handkerchief with the monogram P.G.
- Uncle woke up! Look, look! I changed them all. And I took your handkerchief ... you're not angry aren't you?
He shook his head, staring at the worried eyes of a thirteen-year-old who gave him one of the napkins from the table.
- You're bleeding, uncle.
Percival wiped his nose, feeling the metallic taste in his mouth. He put the napkin in his pocket and stood up, taking the rabbit in his hand. Leg muscles and joints protested after staying for so long in one position, so he had to sit on the bed. He examined the animal, pushing it away quickly as it began firing poop.
- Pretty. It has a nice ... pattern. You did well. Try a little more by changing its color. But don't worry. For this result Blackthorn will give you at least 80% on the pass. Show it to your mother.
- You've done great too, Elle. Come on, let's see what's down.
- Apocalypse...
Percival smiled at the girl's sigh. She hid her works in the pocket of her apron and raised her hands so that the man would take her for a piggyback. He met her request, being careful when they passed through the door. He stopped in front of the stairs.
- Look ... don't tell your mom or aunt about it ... - he pointed to his nose. The children looked at each other and nodded gravely.
- Percival - damn Director - Graves!
In the corridor stood a pair of snow-covered travelers, dusting the brooms of snow powder and ice. A tall, lean man with ginger, short-cut hair, raised icy goggles to his forehead. His face was red, though he wore a thick white-gold scarf. Reaching up to his chest, a small figure unwrapped her head with a headscarf and hung her goggles on a hanger, with her hands pulling thick dragon leather gloves with fur stuffed inside.
- Barnaba. Miko. Konnichiwa - Percival bowed deeply in front of the woman who answered him with a bow, smiling. She gave him a hand. He kissed her, bringing a smile to his face. Miko, however, became serious, feeling his touch. She looked him straight in the eye and he was sure she knew. In the end, she was a specialist. But she switch to a smile face again, speaking with melodic voice.
- Percival. I couldn't wait for our meeting again.
- It's wonderful to see you again also.
- Hey, I will have to challenge him for a duel or what? Where's the rest?
- I think they're in the kitchen, to be honest, I was sitting with Jonathan and Elle from our arrival.
- Father in full swing. I heard that you'll need a practice. Congratulations, old man, with all my heart.
Men shook hands and moved, let Miko pass them first. Barnabas slowed down a bit, holding his brother-in-law behind, by a bunny's bitten sleeve.
- How does she feel?
- Well. Everything seems to be fine. She must watch out for herself, so she won't come back to work for now. She already passed ... this period.
- That's good. Damn, I'm glad you'll break Myra's monopoly.
- And you? When will you stand in front of the altar?
- I would like to find a permanent job first. You know, a specialist in magic locks and anti-burglary spells is a niche. Now that it's hot with Grindelwald rising...
- Stop! No more words!
A housewife stood in front of them, red on her face, with a rag in her hand. She looked at both menacingly.
- I don't want any sorcerer's theme or any matters related to your work. Not now and not here. There are four children here who absorb everything. And on Mercy Lewis! Percival, couldn't you teach John to change something other than my only wedding teapot?
- You can restore it to the previous form. Well, John. Show your mother.
- I-I don't know ...
- You can do it. You remember what a teapot looked like.
Jonathan put a rabbit on the table, which froze in the presence of so many people around. The boy closed his eyes and remembered all those moments when the teapot didn't move despite the spell cast on him. He opened his eyes, feeling calm.
- Reparifarge.
The rabbit shuddered and spun around its axis. He stopped, dispelling the white smoke around him. What appeared was a rabbit with the body of a teapot, with a neck instead of a head.
- Percival made a gentle gesture with his hand and transmuted the animal back into the vessel.
- No wonder you didn't pass the semester. As always, everything is half-whistle. Nothing until the end ...
- Stop it Myra. The boy is trying. For the last hour he made more progress than for four months. All you have to do is give him time and encourage him. Let him know, he's doing well.
- Encourage? Give time? I have four children on my head, home and work.
- Forgive me for bringing you down to earth. Three of them permanently live during the school year outside the home. Admit you can't teach him that.
- How dare you! How dare you lecture me! You are forty years old and have not raised a child in your life! For ten years, you tried so hard that my sister started to get too old for a child. And now you don't know if she will be able even to give birth to one!
Hannah and Helen, Myra's daughters sucked in a loud breath. Miko said something in her native language. Agatha felt a purple blush appear on her face. She could see out of the corner of her eye how Barnaba was gripping Percival's hand tightly, but he didn't know it didn'r matter. He didn't need his wand after all. A strong grip, however, probably sobered the man, because he stepped back and together with her brother went out through the kitchen door to the garden.
It was not until the third cigarette, Percival cleared his throat, noting Barnaby, who was sitting silently smoking beside him. He raised his head, staring at the stars in the sky. After the first cigarette, he called coats from the house. After another, Miko looked in, bringing them brandy tea.
- Before I went to Ilvermorny, my father taught me at home. He wanted to be sure that I would represent the Graves family with dignity. He was the last of the first line. His brothers died. So there was I, Cornelius, two years younger than me and Tristan. He was less than three years old then. As his firstborn, I had to match him. Imagine an eight-year-old in whom magic just came and a 32-year-old who, as the youngest, was treated with disdain. He wanted to show everyone that he is worthy of his name and the position of his family. And what's best to show what we can do than the fruits of our work?
- Or the loins ...
Percival nodded and taking a break to light another cigarette and call a bottle of whiskey, wrapped himself in a scarf. Barnaba looked at the lights in the kitchen. Miko and Agatha stood at the sink, talking to each other.
- It's cold in here. Come, I'll show you something.
Graves also looked in the window, but the women were gone. He got up after his brother-in-law and went down the snowy path. The garden began to resemble a winter picture. They reached the tool shed, standing behind her.
- It's a shed.
- Mhm.
- Are you going to weed the garden?
- I assembled it with Steven. Aggie helped with security, camouflage and everything. Sometimes you need to rest from Myra.
At last he waved his wand in an elaborate manner, muttering something under his breath, and the wall behind him disappeared. When they crossed the threshold, it turned into glass. Inside were armchairs, a cast iron stove and a small table. There were also No-Majs books on one of the shelves. About gardening, fishing and DIY. Barnaba lit a fire and drew his armchair closer. He summoned two chipped glasses from a lacework cupboard and poured the liquor.
- Continue. Your father and his great ambitions ...
- Yes. He was very ... sensitive on this point. And the worst part was that he was not the best Auror, although he received a stool of the Head of the Office. He was hurt by the fact that his eldest son, unlike the other two, didn't display any magical skills. Finally, in his frustration, he threw me out of the tower at Graves Manor one day. I remember that my brother saved me. Instinctively. My father did it because he was afraid that I could be like my mother. Previously, no one thought that a woman should wield powerful magic. On the contrary. She was encouraged to be fluent in home spells. And she had a good name. My mother came from an old French line. Not as old as Lestrange, but quite respected and good. Corbeau. It's funny because in French it means the mourner. Graves and Corbeau. A funeral couple. I don't know if they ever loved each other. When I was able to understand some things, I think that they behaved correctly at most. Anyway. My mother's power was really so weak that my father feared the worst. When the first shock passed, I felt a rage. And I tried to find any traces of magic in myself. I knew that at the moment of danger, it was manifested most strongly. So I did so much stupidity that my mother finally noticed. When I was found washed up by the river, with a broken leg and bruised ribs from the bridge jump, she made an argument to my father. One of the two I remembered in my life. So my father started to teach me. It didn't give much. There was something inside me, some spark. But the fire ignited an event not related to my father.
- We went with my brother to an abandoned mill. I was 9 years old, he was seven. He was a very curious child, he came in everywhere, he had to see everything. He went upstairs and started tinkering with the quern. I don't know what he did, he never confessed. I heard only a bang and I saw a ceiling fall on me, my brother followed him and a huge stone is flying on us. I don't know how I did it, but I held my hands up and the ceiling fell apart. Cornelius fell next to me and the stone which flew on us, split in half and fell on both sides. We lay surrounded by my first shield in my life. We promised that we wouldn't tell anyone about it.
- But my father sensed this change. For the next two years he drilled me, acquainting me with every possible spell. It doesn't matter that most were too complex. I had to know them, remember them, be able to do them. I started to run into the forest. Tirelessly run ahead of me until my father finally found me. A year before school, Con joined me. Tristan was four years old.
- Our father's education consisted in punishment and lack of it. If you did something right, you were lucky. Because if you don't ... The whip from the stable was the first one to move. Then he healed us. With time, it became so "natural" to me that I didn't know that it could be different. Tristan saw everything and slowly began to understand. He knew that using magic would mean private lessons. And these mean pain. So he stopped using it. He strangled in himself for as long as he could. Even for me, it was enough when I was in my third year. I came back for a Christmas break. Con was a day later, he corrected an exam. He failed. My father found out somehow about it. He took him when I was with Tristan and my mother at a neighbors' party. We came back faster. The screams were heard from the threshold. A house-elf shivered at the hanger. Together with my mother, we dropped into Con's room. He was kneeling with a smashed hand. My father was yelling that if he couldn't pass a trivial exam, why would he need a hand at all? I took Con. He was 11 years old. Can you imagine it? I fixed my brother's hand. I wrote a letter to MACUSA and to the Director of Ilvermorny. But my owl never came back.
- That's when I heard my mother's scream for the second time. Earlier she came and ordered us to undress. Tristan told her everything. She saw the scars on our back. She added two to two. She told us to pack and go back to school. Our housemaid took us. We stopped coming back in the summer. Only for two weeks, which we spent on practicing in the father's department. I verbally filed a complaint against him, offering memories, but they told me that they would carry out an investigation. The child's word was worth as much as a woman or a house-elf.
- That's why I got mad at Myra. Because I know what it is like, try hard to be the best. And what does it do with a man. With his head. And Jonathan is a good boy. Do not get me wrong, I don't want to compare your sister to my sick father ...
- She does not know about it, right? About everything?
- No. Only Agatha knows. And now you. I don't want anyone to pity a child I haven't been since the age of nine. My father and brothers are long gone. And so is my mother.
Barnaba tried to say something, but nothing occurred to him. No word of comfort. He felt uncomfortable. The man who was like a brother to him for 10 years, thanks to which he stood on his feet and began his career, opened his heart to him and he had a blank in his head.
- Are you smoking a bonfire or something? You can't go through this smoke.
Miko entered through the glazed door, trying to cover eyes and nostrils from the sharp smell of tobacco. Both men stood up, swaying slightly. During the Percival story, they drank two bottles of Ogden's Fire Whiskey. Auror smiled at the small woman and suddenly bent in half. Something splashed on the floor. Barny jumped back, but seeing the almost black color of vomit he shot a warning look to the woman and grabbed his brother-in-law's arm. He did it at the last moment when legs buckled under the man and his head flew backward, revealing a macabre sight.