Chapter 10: The Son
Monday morning was filled with extra rest rather than the usual rude awakening for class. For the first time all year, Delilah was able to sleep in. Madam Pomfrey requested that Delilah took the day off from classes to recover. This was great in theory, but Delilah also had an immediate deadline she didn't believe she would be able to meet. She had to figure out Talbott's animagus form or else her father would never let her heal.
"M-Madam Pomfrey?" Delilah was slouched in her bed.
"Yes, what is it?" Madam Pomfrey was shuffling around making beds. Delilah was the only patient in the Hospital Wing.
"I really appreciate and understand not going to class today to heal. However, I have many, many books upstairs. I was wondering if I could spend the day in my dormitory to study for my O. W. Ls? I promise to take it easy."
Madam Pomfrey eyed her curiously. "Miss Delilah, how do I know you will be true to your word? After all, you've gotten yourself in this mess by disobeying school rules."
She sat up straighter. "I understand. As Professor Dumbledore said, I need to study for my O. W. Ls. Plus, all of the professors are watching me closely. If they see me anywhere else, they will report me."
"And what will you do about meals? Hm?" Madam Pomfrey replied disapprovingly.
"When Rowan comes back up I'll see if she can bring me some. I had my breakfast late anyway so I don't have much of an appetite."
"I don't know, dear. I really think you're better off here." She turned away to collect some trays.
"Don't you want one day, especially a Monday, where you have absolutely no students? You could take the day off to get more important things done than watch me lay in bed. I truly do just want to study, and this bed would be too cramped for all of my materials," Delilah pleaded.
"Oh, all right. But I'm warning you, you'll be reported and dragged back in here, or even up to Dumbledore's office, if you misstep. Do not make me regret this decision," she said stone-faced.
"Thank you! You absolutely will not regret it. Thank you!" Delilah practically jumped out of bed and stumbled. She forgot how sore she still was.
"Don't. Make. Me. Regret it," stated Madam Pomfrey rolling her eyes.
Delilah slipped out and into the open hall. It was quite empty, for classes were in session. She felt awkward not accompanying her other students in her studies. Peeking around, she spotted a giant clock that read "1:13".
Without thinking, she sped up to the Ravenclaw Common room, answering the eagle knocker's riddle. The moment the door opened, she crashed onto one of the blue couches. She had absolutely no leads to Talbott's animagus form. Nobody to talk to about her current situation. All seemed hopeless.
I guess I'll write father so he at least gets a letter. Maybe he'll somewhat maybe appreciate at least an answer, even if it isn't what he wants. Tears trailed her cheeks.
Delilah got up and pulled out a spare quill and piece of parchment from the Ravenclaw writing desk. The quill barely kissed the page before an idea hit her so hard she dropped the quill back onto the desk.
That's it! Talbott's poetry! I bet he has written some pretty deep clues. He never lets anyone read what he has written. But, he might have them on him, and he's in class... No, I have to try. There's a chance. He may not suspect anyone in the boy's dormitory. In the boy's dormitory...
She turned her head towards the staircase leading to her destination. Never before had she ever entered a boy's only space. Of all the rules she had broken over the years, this was never one to cross her mind. It felt dirty.
I guess I have no choice. If worst case scenario someone is up there, I'll fly up in my animagus form and pretend to be a lost pet.
Delilah looked both ways before transforming. The room was still empty. Nobody was coming. With great agility, her feathered form took flight, making its way up the spiral staircase in seconds. She landed on a bed much like her own in the girl's dormitory. The beds were already made by the house elves, being covered in bronze and sky blue comforters. The only difference was that the boys chose to keep most of their dirty laundry on the ground. Not even the house elves wanted to touch them. This was key into figuring out which bed was Talbott's.
There was a single bed that was surrounded by a completely picked up area. Much like herself, she figured Talbott would be a bit of a neat freak, being careful to pick up all things. Delilah flew to it and landed. The bed held his scent despite having clean sheets. Delilah didn't know why she liked it, but she did.
Next to the bed with the clean space was a maple side table with textbooks in a neat pile. On the side of that was a black cup that contained extra quills of various blacks, whites, and browns, blank parchment, and ink. Nothing was already written on. Delilah transformed and peeked under the bed. She wasn't surprised to find a sleek brown suitcase, one that she recognized as the one Talbott had carried when they first arrived at Hogwarts. She pulled it out and unzipped its cover.
It revealed ordinary piles of folded clothing. Delilah checked underneath the piles at the bottom of the suitcase. Nothing was unusual.
She checked drawers next. Then under his pillow. Next under the mattress. They were empty. Talbott didn't have a whole lot of belongings to show off.
Delilah retrieved her father's wand from her robe pocket. "Revelio." Nothing happened. "Reparifarge." The black cup tipped over as one of the black quills transfigured into a white notebook with gold embroidered borders.
This is it. This has to be. Delilah sat on his bed and opened up the treasure. Inside were paragraphs among paragraphs of not only Talbott's writing, but another's. His handwriting was clearly in the back half of the book, but the first half contained a handwriting style that was very feminine. With quick thinking, she skipped to the back half to see what he wrote down. She skimmed many poems before coming across a title that caught her eye. A Young Eagle Weeps. She read carefully.
Under the stars, under the moon A young eagle weeps
The Wizarding War brought more
Than just a couple murders
All around the tiny town
Were townsfolk and their murmurs
They had a lead, they had to feed
Upon the souls of purity
The demons marched upon the home
Death Eaters no longer in obscurity
Under the stars, under the moon A young eagle weeps
Blasts unwelcomed
But still they fought
To protect their child
From the onslaught
Sacrifice did they
The Death Eaters won
Now to slaughter the child
Their game had just begun
Under the stars, under the moon A young eagle weeps
Parents dead
Child in fright
Under their noses
He took flight
Out the window
They didn't know
The eagle child
Would aglow
Under the stars, under the moon A young eagle weeps
All alone the Winger sworn
Forlorn was his life to be
For they lost theirs
At fault was he
Only her necklace remains Of thee
White feather of the mother swan
Silver chain that was handmade
An Auror he would someday be
But his secret kept from the Ministry
Under the stars, under the moon A young eagle weeps
Under the stars, under the moon A young eagle weeps
Delilah sat very still for a few moments, taking it all in. Tears formed in her eyes but did not fall. She was aghast, and reread the poem a couple more times as if to find more information, despite knowing she understood the whole thing completely.
"Mother..." Delilah whispered. "Mother, I-I need guidance. Poor, poor Talbott. His parents murdered by Death Eaters... He was only saving himself. He is an eagle, just like Rowena Ravenclaw's Patronus. How can I continue this task? How can I take on someone already permanently injured? It is no wonder he prefers to be alone. Mother... Do I- Do I stick to my father's demands? Would you? Or would you protect the son? What do I do?"
Delilah's mind was in such a haze. Unfortunately, she hadn't much time to dawdle. Hastily, she transfigured the white notebook back and arranged the cup of quills. She tucked in the bed covers and stuffed the suitcase under the bed.
Without thinking and without transforming, Delilah skipped steps down the stairs. She couldn't slow down before running into a suit of armor that stood right in the middle of the common room. She bounced back and landed on her bottom while it stood still. This particular suit of armor had a blue party hat on its head.
As if it felt nothing, which was to be expected, the suit of armor turned around. Delilah gasped as she saw it was her prefect, Matilda Collins.
"Well, what are you doing down there?" Her forest green braided pigtails were as much of a distraction as her clothing. She offered Delilah a hand and helped her get to her feet.
"I-I'm sorry for running into you. I guess I'm to be punished?"
"What for?" She cocked her head.
"Um, you didn't see me then?" Delilah was puzzled.
"See you? I heard you before I had a chance to see you leaving the boy's dormitory. Oh well. Did you find anything interesting? There won't be any boys in there during this time. Although, I suppose class is ending soon..."
"Aaaannd you're not going to punish me?" Delilah's mind was swimming enough to momentarily forget about Talbott's poem.
"Nah. In fact, I'm supposed to be meeting Peeves. Hence, why I'm also skipping class. He has this painting he owes me. I was just on my way down," she said proudly.
"Aren't you a prefect?" Delilah was concerned.
"Yeah, but just because my friends told me to do it. Then I can prevent them from getting in trouble too. Sometimes I feel like I'm just destined for certain things no matter what I say...Well, anyway, I'll catch ya later. Hopefully in the girl's dormitory next time." M.C. clunked out.
Delilah collected her thoughts as M.C. exited. I don't have time to think about this. She turned her head towards a clock that read "2:05". She had to get some sort of letter to her father as soon as possible.
Delilah rushed over to the writing desk and wrote down a single word:
Eagle.
Delilah began crying like a geyser. She couldn't control herself. It felt so wrong to tell her father his secret knowing he lost his parents like she lost her mother. Still teary eyed, she ripped up the parchment and discarded it into the trash. She picked up another piece of parchment and began to write:
Father,
His animagus form is a sparrow.
~Delilah
Delilah quickly folded the letter and stuffed it into her pocket. She took flight as she transformed and traveled out of an open window. The Ravenclaw tower was one of the taller towers, allowing her to gain great speed against the wind. The daytime sky swallowed her. She could almost hug the clouds. The breeze that brushed her feathers felt comforting.
Delilah reached the owlery, entering through a window like any other owl. The blackened walls haunted her. She was trembling when she became human again.
With a shaky hand, she collected her letter and gifted it to a great horned owl. "T-to my father, Aibek Tytonidae." The owl nodded and flew off with her letter.
Silence surrounded her. Silence and pity. She wanted to apologize to the owls for the fire. The owls that were actually injured wouldn't be there though, and the remaining owls wouldn't have a clue what Delilah was talking about. She felt like an outsider to both humans and owls alike.
Delilah turned into an owl and winged back to the Ravenclaw common room. When she fluttered into the window again, the common room only had a couple of students. One was the Quidditch seeker, Andre Egwu, who was a tall dark skinned boy in her year. The other was a student she didn't recognize, whom was blond and in a wheelchair.
Neither noticed her, for they were too distracted going through a book called Quidditch Through the Ages and discussing strategies.
Delilah became human and headed down to the girl's dormitory. To her relief, Rowan was sitting on the bed doing homework. Nobody else was in the room.
"Rowan," she gasped for air.
"Delilah! Oh, don't tell me Ben has been chasing you again. Or Talbott... To be honest I'm not sure what to expect anymore." Rowan sighed.
"No, no, I had just been writing to my father. Nothing to worry about. You knew I got let go from the hospital wing, then?" Delilah sat on her own bed.
"Yeah, I came by after class and Madam Pomfrey let me know. Oh, she told me to bring you something." Rowan reached over to her bedside table and grabbed a plate of food.
"Rowan, this is brilliant! Thank you so much." Delilah accepted the various sandwiches and a side of Yorkshire pudding.
"Oh, I forgot the pumpkin juice," Rowan said sadly.
"Don't worry about it. I'll get some water in a bit from the common room. How was class?" Delilah asked with a mouthful.
"Dreadful. Potions especially. I think all of the professors, especially Professor Snape, are drained. I have the homework assignments for you too. I'm going to work on them and finish my sewing before bed tonight." Rowan perked up.
"Your sewing?" Delilah questioned.
"For the Costume Contest. You're the one who gave me the idea for my costume, remember? Well, not directly, but you inspired me to look at famous American people." Rowan beamed.
"Ah, that's right. I need to figure out what I'm wearing as well..."
The week ahead finally felt normal. Delilah went to class. At this point both Ben and Talbott were ignoring her. She was taking a break from the two of them gleefully. The day before she got a package from her father that she didn't dare open until she was alone in the dormitory. It contained a new wand, and a note that said the following:
Deli,
It's about time you figured it out. For obvious purposes, you have a new wand. This one will suit you better.
It is black walnut with a dragon heartstring core. You are to send mine back to me. I will be keeping your old wand.
Practice dueling and go after your target. Preferably, capture and cage him, being he is just a tiny sparrow. However, if he dies, he dies.
-Aibek
The ink faded until it disappeared completely. Delilah replaced the new wand with her father's wand in the box and tied it shut. She would stop by the owlery later that day. The wand had an Irish moss pattern and was black. It felt much heavier than her old wand and was longer. She was going to feel out of place using it. Her father's wand was at least the same length as her old wand. All of this to continue a lie that Dumbledore may or may not have believed.
Bells rang in the distance. Delilah had to hurry in order to get to Herbology class on time. She exited the dormitory.
When she arrived, Rowan and Penny were waiting for her outside of Greenhouse Three.
"There you are, Lilah. I was beginning to worry, " Penny chuckled.
"You should know by now that Delilah isn't ever late," said Rowan. Delilah shrugged her three girls entered the greenhouse.
"Lilah, be my partner today," Penny said cheerfully.
Rowan nodded at them and found a place next to Tonks. She knew Penny just wanted to talk to Delilah about the veritaserum, but she couldn't help but to feel nervous working with Tonks, especially with O. W. L's being this year.
"Penny," Delilah whispered. "Any updates on that truth potion yet?"
Professor Sprout walked in and immediately began giving loud instructions on the Fanged Geranium.
"Lilah, you know it takes a month, right?" She replied in a louder whisper.
"What? A month? Penny, we can't wait that long!"
"Miss Tytonidae, " Professor Sprout exclaimed. "You come up here and demonstrate."
"I have a plan. I'll get it to you before the Costume Contest," Penny whispered quickly.
Delilah nodded and walked up toward the front of the class to handle the Fanged Geranium.