Date: October 26th, 1991/ Ministry of Magic
The Ministry was oppressive to Harry- the large, dark building was always seemingly looming over them, leering at them and suppressing their magic. He knew that wasn't the case, but it didn't stop the shiver that went down his spine every time he went there. Harry grimaced in discomfort as they walked inside, swallowing thickly as they were met with witches and wizards and goblins all running around and talking, flooing and apparating in and pushing them to get through. He closed his eyes briefly, to block out the noise, and felt a hand on the nape of his neck. Looking up, he met Draco's eyes and grinned softly.
"Don't focus on them, reign in your magic and focus just on us." Draco whispered to him, pulling Harry into a hug; partially to comfort and partially to hide him. The group circled them loosely, watching and guarding as Harry pulled himself together.
He swallowed again and nodded his thanks. "I'm alright, just a sudden feeling, you know?" Draco nodded and ruffled Harry's head, the beads and metal jingled together.
"What did your mother tell you to do when we got here?" George asked, tossing an arm around Fred and leaning into him. Fred followed suit and wrapped his arm around George's waist.
"We're just supposed to wait for her familiar, Morgen, or one of the D.O.M messenger birds. They're locked down right now, so we can't exactly take the lift or floo without a password." Hadrian replied, smoothing his wild hair back down. Loud wingbeats and gasps from the crowd alerted the small wizard of Morgen's arrival.
Glancing around, he saw that his friends were equally in awe at the sight of the large bird. He put his fingers to his lips and let out a piercing whistle, getting the bird's attention, and held out his hand to allow her to perch on him. Her copper feathers glinted in the low light as she angled them downwards and swooped in on them; Draco moving a couple feet back, so as not to get hit with a large wing.
"I forgot how big she was." He muttered and snorted when she let out a pleased kree, before nipping and grooming Harry. "Such a mother hen."
"That's Morgen?" The twins exclaimed together, hands itching to touch the fierce looking predator.
"A Lamagier, unexpected choice for a familiar." Marcus commented, reaching out cautiously to stroke the feathers at her breast. Morgen preened under the attention and trilled softly.
"Bloody hell, Hadrian, how are you so calm right now?" Ron asked, a scared expression on his face. He could swear that bird was looking into his soul with its creepy red eyes. Blaise rolled his eyes and cuffed him on the shoulder.
"He grew up with him obviously." Theo mentioned quietly, tucking his new book in his side bag.
Harry grinned cheekily and butt heads with the large bird. "Shall we go then?" He asked her knowingly. She let out a soft trill and bobbed her head, lifting her wings slightly to let him know that she was ready to lead them down to his mother.
"Where did your mother ever find such a bird?" Hermione asked, sidling up to his right side. Ron was just on the other side of her, with Draco on his left and Marcus beyond him, the twins, Blaise, and Theo conspiring together behind them. Their own little unit.
"Africa. Morgenstern, or Morgen as we call her, was one of the offspring of her Mother's own familiar. They're notoriously hard to gain trust of, very skittish." Harry answered, stroking the long feathers of the large bird.
"Fascinating." Hermione gushed, looking a bit starry eyed at the bird. Morgen turned to her and chirped, extending her neck to nip at her coily hair.
The further down they went, the darker it seemed to get. Eerie shadows clinging to the walls as they walked towards the large lacquered doors that opened up into the D.O.M's workshop. Hearing his friends gasp at the sight of the large and uniquely engraved doorway, Harry chuckled and lightly pressed a hand against the door, sending a little bit of his magic into it to activate the charms on it. When his mother had taken back her position as the Headmaster, she made sure that he had access to this area as well as her office in case he wanted to visit or if there was an emergency.
With a loud groan they slowly heaved open, causing light to stream into the dark hallway, illuminating them. Morgen let out a kree and flapped her wings, taking off into the workroom, circling high above the bustling Unspeakables. Several tables were lined up in concentric rows, providing a workspace that allowed the Unspeakables to move between spaces to help and ask questions and provide feedback easily; something that Lucian had done in Cecily's wake after a few too many incidents. Speaking of Lucian….
"'Ello Hadrian!" The old man greeted, a wide smile on his face. His multi-focal glasses slipped on the bridge of his nose as he walked over to them, his cane tapping an offbeat rhythm on the ground.
"Master Lucian!" Harry said, giving the man a gentle hug. "Mama in her office?"
Lucian chuckled, patting him on the back. "No, at the moment, your mother is in the Element Room trying out some new runes and such. Now, who're your friends?" He looked up at the group of young wizards and witches- or witch in this case- recognizing a couple of them.
Harry beamed and gestured to them. "These are my friends from Hogwarts, Draco- who you probably already know from Lord Malfoy, George, Fred, and Ron Weasley, Theo Nott, Blaise Zabini, Hermione Granger, and Marcus Flint." Lucian's brows rose into his thinning salt and pepper hair, eyes glancing over each individual with a knowing look.
"Quite a group you've amassed, young Hadrian." Lucian remarked, holding out his hand for them to shake. "I am Lucian Grim, Ma-"
"Master of the Time Room and Master of Arithmancy." Hermione interrupted before she could help herself, immediately blushing bashfully when the older man barked out a laugh.
"Well, it seems someone knows my work." He replied, his eyes crinkling happily as he shook her hand. "I also hold a couple more masteries, but those are my secret." He continued with a wink.
"Mione here is on her way to being the smartest witch in our grade." Ron commented, smirking at the blushing witch. "She's also a big fan of Hadrian's mum."
Hermione elbowed him. "Ronald!" She hissed, blushing even darker.
Lucian chuckled. "I don't think I've ever met someone who wasn't at the very least impressed by Headmaster Graemark. She's accomplished a lot when she first entered and is still doing things that we've never even thought of. In fact, what she's doing right now might interest you all. Would you like to see?" Harry looked up at him wide eyed. He'd never seen his mother in action before.
"Could we?" He asked, clasping his hands together. Lucian nodded, patting his head fondly.
"Will it be safe?" Marcus asked, tilting his head to assess the older man. He didn't quite trust him, there was just something about him that put him off.
Lucian smirked, eyes narrowing just a bit as he met the gaze head on. "We have safety measures in place. Come on, let's go see what she's up to." He turned and gestured for them to follow him, ducking under a mechanical object that seemed to go astray from one of the Unspeakables.
Reaching the Element Room, Lucian proceeded to hand them all a pair of special glasses to protect their eyes before pushing open the door. Inside, Harry felt his breath catch as he took in the sight of what appeared to be his Mother dancing with lightning.
Cecily barely registered the extra bodies in the room with her, as she activated the next rune on the floor, reaching out with her hand to grasp a hold of a single bolt and guiding it across the room at a stationary dummy. The next three bolts to come down ended the same way, with her guiding it where she wanted them to go. She easily dodged the ones that strayed away from her magic, twisting and twirling out of the way when they got a little too close. Her objective was to see if they could harness and use it in battle or to develop a way for them to meld it with magic to use for electricity. There were spells for lightning, but it would be easier if they could harvest it from storm clouds; it would mean they could conserve their magic if she could pull it off.
Focusing, she reached up again, this time with her magic and tugged the faux clouds down, wrapping around the static charged lightning and bending it to her will. She gasped in exertion and reached for the canister at her hip, popping open the lid and maneuvering the erratic bolts into the specially made container. When it was done and she popped the lid back on, she deactivated the runes, letting the clouds disperse in a cool shower of mist; she closed her eyes and hummed at the refreshing feeling. With a wave of her hand, she lit the torches around the room, brightening the place up. Her hair, which had been in such disarray, was swept back up and tied back away from her face with another wave of her hand.
"Merlin, Hadrian, you're mum is something else." Ron stated loudly, making Cecily look up sharply. Her sharp gaze centered on her son immediately, her lips parted in surprise as she clipped the canister back on her belt.
"For once, Weasley, we agree on something." Draco said, knocking shoulders with the red haired boy. Ron rolled his eyes and cuffed the back of his head, snorting when the blonde boy threw him an incredulous look.
"Don't be such a brat, Draco." Blaise commented. Draco sneered at him, rubbing the back of his head. Prats.
"Hello my darling boy, how's your first Hogsmeade?" Cecily asked, wrapping Harry up in her arms and planting a kiss on his head. He blushed and smiled.
"Mum, do you have to do that, all my friends are here." He grumbled softly, pressing his forehead into her stomach. "It's been good though, we've gathered all of our ingredients so far."
Cecily chortled and glanced up at his friends mischievously. "Oh, I see, I guess there's nothing I can do then, except…"
She paused and lifted him up in the air, silently casting a Weightless Charm on him, before she began to shower him in kisses. He giggled and wriggled away, trying to get her to put him down. Cecily sighed happily and placed Harry back on the ground, giving him one last kiss to the forehead.
"Aunt Cecily, we can't take him back if he dies of laughter and we need to return rather shortly." Draco said, amusement heavy in his voice. The woman cocked a brow at him and matched his smirk.
"Well, then you're not going to greet your Auntie either, Draco?" She inquired and rolled her eyes as he marched up and gave her a brief awkward hug. She would accept it, knowing that he would be much more embarrassed if she did the same thing to him that she did to her own son.
"So," She sighed, arms still around her boys. "These are your friends then? Are they all going to be in the rite as well, or are there going to be more?"
Harry nodded at them. "There's going to be a few more, but these are Ron's brothers, Fred and George respectively, they'll try to get you on who's who but I've figured a way to tell them apart, then there's Heir Apparent Blaise Zabini and Heir Apparent Theo Nott, you'd like them I think." The four of them bowed toward her in a formal greeting; Ron settled for a wave of his hand and a grin. He never was one for formalities. Cecily giggled and laughed, nodding her head at them.
"I know their families." She replied, scanning over them inquisitively.
Smiling, Harry moved on. "And then there's Hermione Granger, one of the brightest witches in our grade as well as a fellow Ravenclaw and a First Generation Witch."
Hermione grinned toothily. "I never thought I'd actually meet you in person, Merlin, you're more brilliant than what I imagined! I think I've read most of your earlier published works on Runes and Spell Casting!" She gushed before she stopped and blushed heavily again as she realized that she was going on a tangent. Cecily chuckled humbly.
"I'll have to send Hadrian some of my works from home for you to read then. If you like those old things, then you'll more than likely like some of my newer research thesis." Hermione nodded her head enthusiastically.
"That would be delightful, thank you!" Harry matched her grin when she turned to look at him. He knew just how much it meant to her to meet one of her idols.
"And who's this strapping young wizard?" Cecily asked, curiously meeting Marcus' hard gaze. She couldn't help but smirk mirthly at him as he puffed up a bit and crossed his arms, trying to look intimidating.
"Heir Apparent Marcus Flint, Master Graemark." The boy introduced, bowing slightly at the waist, much like the other boys.
"Pleasure to meet my son's friends. Now, I believe you wanted some insight on your rites and rituals for Samhain, correct?" Cecily asked, squeezing Harry's shoulder. "I have the notes in my office ready for you as well as a few rune stones that your grandmother sent over."
She gave the boys one last hug before leading them out of the room and back into the fray that was the workshop.
"I like her." Theo said as he spoke for the first time since they entered the Ministry. Blaise snorted and shoved him through the door.
"Come on, Theo, don't want to get lost down here." He said, tossing an arm around the slightly younger boy. Theo just rolled his eyes in exasperation and brought his book back out.