A/N: Warning: Minor Fantastic Beasts spoilers are present herein. Minor. I wrote this almost immediately after seeing FB after a 5 hour conversation between my co-writer and myself. I was going to wait until she had a chance to approve it, but she's busy. Anywho, enjoy. As always, credit goes in part to RandomMuggle who was a huge influence in writing this chapter. I don't own HP.
Obscurial
Halloween 1991
Third year
The girls sat in their History of Magic class listening to Professor Binns drone on about Witch Hunts in the 14th century. Leili raised her hand and went unnoticed for what felt like eternity.
"Professor Binns," she interrupted, "I know we're discussing witch hunts during the 14th century, but I have a somewhat tangentially related question. During the Witch Hunts, children would suppress their magic to avoid suspicion, thus becoming, um, um-um-um, um," Leili rubbed her hand over her eyes, listening to Professor Binns was always exhausting and mind-numbing. "Oh, shoot! I can never… Jo, what's the name I'm looking for? Not Occamy or Oculus, but…?"
"Obscurial," Jo drawled. For some reason Leili could not remember this one word.
"Yes, Obscurial! Thank you!"
"No problem," Jo grinned. They'd discussed it during their research for their summer homework, a scroll of parchment on how "Witch Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless" and Leili was right, it was completely tangential from the current topic; but Jo was interested to hear Binns' answer.
"These kids would become Obscurials and their magic would spin wildly out of control and usually kill them. My question is this: What would happen if you gave an Obscurial a wand? What if you taught them how to use and control their magic? Would it reverse the process?"
"Your question, young lady, would be better suited to a 'Theory of Magic' class, as I deal in facts, not legends, myths or theories. That being said, there hasn't been a documented case of an Obscurial since New York in 1926, so no one has ever tried what you are suggesting."
"We could try to catch ourselves one, but it would be quite the endeavor," Jo said cheerfully.
"What part of 'not a documented case since 1926', didn't make it through your thick skull, Montgomery?" Someone in class sneered.
"What part of 'documented case' or 'quite the endeavor' didn't make it through yours?" Jo shot back. "Just because nobody's written it down doesn't mean it hasn't happened. I mean, Obscuials were thought to be extinct-for lack of better word-in 1926, weren't they?"
"Not a documented case in over a century, is how I remember it," Leili chimed in.
"Enough! It's never been tried, and Obscurials are so rare as to be non-existent so it's highly unlikely it will ever be tried. Now, back to Witch hunts," Professor Binns cried, truly fed-up with the turn of conversation. The few people who had perked up for Leili's question fell right back to sleep and Jo and Leili went back to scrawling notes to each other in their notebooks.
"Told ya he wouldn't answer," Jo scrawled.
"It was worth a shot," Leili scribbled back with a shrug.