Chapter Two: Inside the Shrieking Shack

Inside, they were greeted by three people who waved at Gerald eagerly, one of whom gave some sort of recognition to Luhrmalleen and Pearly Puff. All of the three were attired in what could only be described as black robes, and the eldest one (Pearly Puff expected her to be called a witch) was wearing a rather shabby pointed hat. She spoke first, looking mostly at Gerald.

"I expect that you are wondering why you are here…" she started, but was interrupted shortly afterward by Pearly Puff –

"I am actually wondering what being the Heir of Delaware…entails." The elderly witch looked mildly interested for a moment, then continued in her same tone –

"My name is Professor Sprout, and I shall explain what it means to be the Heir of Delaware. But first, I must explain the situation at hand. There are dark forces at work in our magical world – and we, as the forces of good, do not have many weapons on our side…" and was once again interrupted, this time by Luhrmalleen –

"What on earth are you? I mean, we were just uprooted from our home – we're inside a tattered up building – and I don't understand what's going on!"

Sirius and Remus looked at one another as if they had no reason to be there either. Once again, Professor Sprout continued nonchalantly –

"There has always been a struggle between good and evil – but useful creatures are few. The reason is why Delaware is important, is because, the last known quarry of ancient Pegasus eggs are held there."

She paused here, perhaps for emphasis, but received none as everyone just stared at her blankly. Lummy spoke up once more –

"There's no such thing as Pegasus-es. I think the lot of you are completely daft."

Gerald spoke for the first time during the meeting,

"What does this have to with Harold and Lummy?"

Professor Sprout looked somewhat disenchanted for a moment upon hearing their nicknames, and repeated, soundlessly "Harold and Lummy?" before continuing –

"Pearly Puff and Luhrmalleen Delaware are the last in a long line of powerful witches and wizards who have been stewards of the Delaware quarry. It is required that they be informed of their duties when the time arises."

Gerald Afbetoqui, the ventriloquist's son, asked again –

"And then, why are you here?" the light voice of the boy emphasizing the word "you" in reference to Professor Sprout. Astonishingly enough, the elderly witch smiled, replying,

"Because I am their aunt."

It was Pearly Puff's turn to speak, and she turned to Professor Sprout –

"Why then, have we been forced to live as orphans for thirteen years? Why did our beloved aunt never contact us? Are we witches then?" She waited impatiently, expecting a reply from Professor Sprout. Instead, it was Gerald who answered. He smirked for a moment before he began – clearly thinking of Pearly Puff's dismay –

"The stewards, or heirs, as they have been titled, of Delaware, have been the target of a great many evildoers. That was how your father died. After his demise, it was decided that it was too unsafe for you to function as full-time stewards. Nor was it safe for you to attend an ordinary wizard school in America, for then spies could figure out who you were. Furthermore, you were assigned a bodyguard – "

"Who?" asked Luhrmalleen, interrupting the story.

"Me."

Harold widened her eyes in disbelief – how could it be Gerald? But she remembered certain incidents, that just didn't make sense otherwise –

"Harold, you can't stay here right now," whispered Gerald, his hazel eyes shining with worry. Seconds later, a crack of lightening hit the spot where she was standing.

"I would like to go by my given name…Harold." She turned to her right and saw him smirking – Gerald Afbetoqui, the ventriloquist's son.

And then, when she was almost fourteen, Gerald had run into the house when Luhrmalleen was apparently making pancakes, and had dragged her younger sister out – second before the kitchen had gone up in flames.

Harold sighed, that was where most of the money they had been left in the trust had gone – to pay for all these surprise damages that kept happening. She stopped looking dazed, and whispered –

"You changed our names to protect us!" Gerald gave a half smirk at this and explained,

"Well, everyone who knew anything about the heirs of Delaware knew that they were two sisters. But if one of you was called Harold – well, then they assumed that you were a sister and brother. It was much safer."

Lummy looked at him shrewdly, and added,

"You aren't really a ventriloquist's son, are you?"

"Of course not."

"What's your real name?"

"Gerald Potter – like the Harry Potter books." Both Luhrmalleen and Pearly Puff looked at him, utterly confused, as did Sirius, Remus, and Professor Sprout. Gerald hit his head and cursed,

"Damn! They haven't been written yet. It's 1977." Lummy and Harold continued to look oddly at him, and he added,

"Well, I'm a seer. I'm James Potter's cousin, Half Potter and Half Trelawny. Not that the seer bit does much."

Sirius finally looked interested in what was going on, and asked inquisitively,

"How come James never said anything about you?" Gerald gave another half-smirk, and answered –

"Well, I'm not supposed to do what I'm doing, am I? Pretending to be a Muggle for twelve years? The only magic I know is from when I was five years old."

Professor Sprout decided that this tangent had continued long enough, and picked up again,

"But the last, and most important order of business is that Harold and Lummy will be joining Hogwarts this year."

For a moment, it seemed that all the air had left the room. Sirius was a the first to recover –

"As first years? Imagine two seventeen year olds along with forty pre-teens! That's pretty funny Prof, the most interesting thing you've said during this long, incredibly boring meeting, which I don't even know why we're here for."

It was Professor Sprout to give a fake smile, replying sharply to Sirius' comments,

"No, not as first years, as NEWT level seventh years."

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