Chapter 8 - The Foe Glass
Sirius chased after a, now much more mobile, Bambi. Four years had passed and it was Christmas morning, Sirius now regretted the toy broom he had bought for her as she sped off down the corridor. Bambi had woken up to a good amount of gifts at the end of her bed from the likes of himself (which made up most of the pile) and Anto. Ruby and Remus were to come over for Christmas lunch and Sirius was trying to catch up with Bambi to get her dressed ready for the soon to arrive guests. Meanwhile Anto was slaving away in the kitchen over potatoes, carrots, sprouts, broccoli, stuffing and Turkey. It had been agreed 3 years ago that Anto would cook Christmas dinners after Sirius burnt the turkey for the second year in a row.
"Arresto Momentum." Sirius gasped, pointing his wand at Bambi. Suddenly the broomstick significantly slowed down and Sirius rushed forward and picked her up by her underarms, much to her annoyance that she showed through shouts of: "put me down! Didn't you buy me the broomstick so I could have fun?"
Sirius laughed at that but didn't put Bambi down, instead he carried her back into her room and talked her into wearing the Christmas dress that Ruby had knitted for her after Sirius had mentioned that she didn't have anything special to wear on Christmas Day. Sirius waited outside the door whilst Bambi changed and when she said she was changed he came back in and turned the dress the right way around (she had put it on back to front). It was a cute little green knitted dress with a 'H' knitted into the front, she looked particularly adorable with it on though she pulled at the collar as if it were uncomfortable.
"Let's go downstairs Bambi, Uncle Remus is coming over, so is Ruby and I'm sure you are to be spoiled rotten." Sirius told Bambi who was barely listening, distracted by fidgeting with her dress, when she heard the name Ruby however she perked up suddenly.
"Ruby! When was the last time I saw Ruby, Padfoot?" she said, her eyes big, suddenly forgetting about her dress.
"It was on your birthday actually; she can't come here an awful lot as she is very busy at work."
"Hmm, Ruby is a big lady isn't she?" Bambi said, her eyes bearing into Sirius' with curiosity. Sirius quickly realised if he didn't change the subject she would not stop asking questions and decided to take her downstairs where he and Anto could share the burden of endless questions.
As Sirius led Bambi down to the dining room he looked around to make sure everything looked presentable, in the corridor leading to the dining room he made sure his mother's portrait was covered up by its curtains and noted how much better the place looked without the shrunken house elf heads lining the corridor. In the dining room Anto was setting the table, a heavenly smell came from the oven where the turkey was halfway cooked. Anto was wearing a white apron and had his dreadlocks tied back with a scrunchie, Sirius found the look quite amusing but desperately held back a smirk.
"Are you being a nightmare child again, little miss?" Anto asked Bambi who blushed before running over to give him a hug, overwhelming people with cuteness usually worked on getting her out of tricky situations.
"What is for dinner, Anto?" Bambi asked, Sirius and Anto rolled their eyes in sync, she asked the same question every year.
"It's Christmas Lunch Bambi! We have the same thing every year!" Anto said through chuckles, turning his attention back to the stove.
Suddenly there was a knock at the front door and Bambi sped towards it, Sirius rushed forward to stop her and get in front of her, with maybe a little too much force. He would have loved for her to be able to answer it herself as she really wanted to but he also had an intense fear that one day a death eater or worse would find them and snatch her from the doorway as she opened the door.
"Bambi! Opening the door is for grown-ups! I have told you plenty of times sweetheart." Sirius said firmly, as he led the way to the front door - keeping her behind him. The huge silhouette through the window seemed to be a dead giveaway of who was there but nevertheless Sirius still initiated the secret knock code, three knocks, pause, two knocks, pause, three knocks. The silhouette raised a huge hand to the door in return, one knock, three knocks, one knock. The code was correct, and Sirius opened the door to a beaming Ruby Hagrid standing next to Remus who was actually two steps below her due to the space she was taking up.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Ruby boomed, Sirius flinched, and Bambi giggled. "Sorry Sirius, I need to work on my volume around here."
"Its fine." Sirius said, stepping aside to let them indoors, "I just really don't want to draw attention to the house."
"Did you get lots and lots of presents Harriet?" Ruby asked Bambi, Sirius found it a little weird to hear her called by her real name. "I have something for you as well!"
"What is it? Is it what I asked for? A book? An owl? A tiara?" Bambi asked, practically tripping over Ruby's large feet (which were larger than Bambi's entire legs) whilst trying to stay close to her.
Ruby chuckled and took a seat in the dining room on the largest chair in the house that Sirius had set aside just for her. Sirius took his place at the head of the table and Lupin sat beside him whilst Ruby reached into her bag and pulled something out. Its body was covered by her large hands but Sirius recognised the squeaking noises.
Ruby opened her hand and in her palm was what looked like a ball of purple fluff, if one looked closer, however, one would see a tiny head of which quiet squeaking noises were chirping up.
"A PYGMY PUFF!" Bambi cried out, taking it carefully from Ruby's hand. "IT'S SO CUTE!"
Ruby beamed proudly: "I knew you would love it. Now, do you know how to care for it?"
"Um…" Harriet said, by the look on her face she was really trying to think of the right answer, but Sirius was sure she didn't know. "Scraps of food and small insects."
Sirius felt his jaw drop, where was she getting this information? Remus chuckled lightly at his reaction. "So you HAVE been reading the book I gave you for your birthday." He said.
"Yes! I got to wear my special reading glasses to read it! And I know all about looking after a Pygmy Puff!" Bambi announced proudly.
"So you know to keep a tiny dish of water near it?" Ruby asked
"Yes! And to clean and brush its hair, and to make it a little bed, and to play with it all the time so he doesn't get lonely!" Bambi said loudly, barely containing her excitement.
"Well actually." Ruby cut in. "This one is a little girl. I figured you could use some girly company in this house full of men."
"I agree with that." Anto said, not turning around from the stove. "If you don't have any female company soon Bambi, I fear you might sprout a moustache and we'll have to call you Bambo instead!"
Bambi suddenly grabbed her upper lip in fear and cried out: "Is that real Padfoot?"
"Of course not Bambi, Anto is only joking." Sirius chuckled.
"Don't forget me! I have a present for you too." Remus said, immediately gaining Bambi's attention as she zoned in on him like a predator, eyeing his travelling bag.
"What is it Uncle Remus? Another book? I really liked the one you got me for my birthday!"
"Actually, it's something far more useful" Remus said, pulling something from his bag. It was a large circular object wrapped in decorated paper. Bambi made quick work of the paper to reveal what looked like a mirror on a stand.
"I have a mirror in my room Uncle Remus." Harriet said, failing to hide the disappointment in her voice.
"This isn't any old mirror Harriet, this is foe glass! It tells you when danger is near." Remus explained, pointing the mirror at her face - Sirius was relieved to only see Bambi's reflection. "Foe glass is like a mirror but when someone dangerous is nearby it will show them in the mirror too. This way you will know when someone not very nice is nearby and you can tell Anto or Padfoot what you see so that they can catch the dangerous person before they get any closer."
Bambi frowned, "that sounds scary."
Remus smiled kindly at her, "I know it sounds scary but Padfoot and Anto are working very hard to keep you safe and sound, and if you use this foe glass you can help keep them safe too by telling them when danger is near. Do you think you are brave enough?"
"I can do it!" Bambi said, suddenly determined but Sirius could see her glance warily at the glass every so often.
"So how is work Ruby?" Remus asked Ruby, changing the tense atmosphere in the room.
"Oh it's great. Dumbledore actually offered me a place at the teachers table for Christmas but Sirius had already asked me here. I am very happy at the moment, I got a dog back in September and I love the company."
"What kind of dog?" Remus asked, he seemed a little wary, Ruby had a history of loving very big dangerous creatures, the more dangerous they were seemed to make them even cuter to her.
"A boarhound, a big one at that too. I doubt anyone else would be able to handle him. I named him fang. A little first year, Charlie Weasley suggested the name. He seems really interested in the magical creatures - I've had to chase him away from the forest a couple of times." Ruby explained. "I can tell the Weasley boys are going to be trouble - it's just him and his older brother at the moment but apparently there's 7 of them altogether!"
"Where do you work Ruby?" Bambi suddenly chirped up, looking away from the foe glass.
"I work at Hogwarts. Hasn't Sirius told you about Hogwarts?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow at Sirius.
"No - I've never heard of Hogwarts before. Is it a shop?" Bambi said, stroking the hair on her pygmy puff.
"Hogwarts is a school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. No doubt you will be invited to go to school there when you are a little older." Ruby explained - Bambi's eyes widened.
"Are there lots of dogs there like your Fang?" Bambi asked
"There are more than dogs! The school is a big castle in the mountains! When you go there you will learn all about magic and potions and flying." Ruby said, Bambi listened in awe.
"Can I go now?"
Ruby smiled kindly, "unfortunately you have to be ten to get an invitation to go but when you do, I could take you to get all of your school things. Would you like that?"
"Yes please! I would like that very much!" Bambi said, rushing forward to hug Ruby's knee - the only thing she could reach.
"Okay, that's enough excitement for now." Anto said, finally turning away from the stove. With a flick of his wand the serving dishes in the centre of the table were suddenly filled to the brim with delicious, mouth-watering foods.
For the next couple of hours, the five of them shared Christmas lunch together, wore funny novelty hats from their crackers and shared fond memories. Sirius couldn't help but think about his friends that weren't there, but their daughter filled the hole in his heart.
Later that night Sirius had taken it upon himself to put Bambi to bed and give Anto a break. He enjoyed the late-night chats with Bambi who usually asked her most serious questions when she was tired. The foe glass stood on Bambi's bed-side table and her pygmy puff, now named Ruby Junior, was asleep in a box at the end of her bed. One candle lit the room and Bambi seemed to be asleep when suddenly she spoke, not opening her eyes:
"Did you go to Hogwarts, Padfoot?"
Sirius was taken aback by the question. "Yes, I did, I loved it there."
"Did mama and daddy go there too?" she asked, Sirius felt a lump in his throat.
"Yes, they did, daddy and Remus and I were best friends. Mama thought we were a little naughty though."
"Hmm, do your parents come and live with you at Hogwarts?" she asked, her eyes were now open.
"No of course not, as much as I would love to go with you its only for children and the teachers."
"But where do we sleep?" Bambi frowned.
"Well, there are four houses, you get sorted into a house on your first day and you sleep in a bedroom with the students in your house that are the same age as you, girls in one room and boys in another."
"They must be big houses to fit everyone inside."
Sirius chuckled: "by houses I don't mean a house made of bricks, a house is another word for a group of people. At Hogwarts there are four houses and each house has people that are similar to each other."
"What do you mean Padfoot?"
Sirius sighed, "well, I was in Gryffindor house and people in Gryffindor house are known as being brave and outgoing, but Slytherin house is for students that are cunning. Then Hufflepuff house is for loyal people and Ravenclaw is for the wise."
"But what if you are none of those things?"
"Well, that's just a little description there are other things that would make you belong to a house."
"Like what?"
"We'll talk about that another time, little miss." Sirius said, blowing out the candle. "If I don't get you to sleep now Anto is not going to be very happy with me."
Bambi closed her eyes again and Sirius waited until her breathing was steady. The truth was, he hadn't told her about Hogwarts before because he couldn't stand the thought of her leaving his protection. But then again, he guessed there was no place on earth safer than Hogwarts.