"When you say everything….?" Charles was the first one to break the stunned silence.
"Everything, every piece of property, coin in Gringotts, every business contract, everything under the sun, belonging to the family fortune", Dreogan answered.
"That's…how much are we even talking about?" Emerick asked, his voice stuttering.
"I haven't the foggiest…shitloads describes it best. Father's desire to amassing wealth was insatiable…to say the least."
"That means…you'll be filthy rich! That's great!"
Dreogan shook his head. "It is everything but great. It's blood money and I want nothing to do with it."
"I guess you're right…what are you going to do with it?" Charles asked.
"I've no idea, help the families of father's victims as best I can. McCormack and mum will have to be the ones to manage it officially until I come of age, sixteen in the wizarding world. I'll end up donating most of it, all I need is a home for me and mum and then one for me after I "leave home", so she can keep the other one", Dreogan shrugged his shoulders.
"Your brother is not going to be pleased much when he learns of this", Emerick said skeptically.
"Oh, I expect he'll be downright murderous, but it'll be a year or more until it's all done and settled, so I'm hoping he'll be caught before then…somehow…", Dreogan said.
"What happens when you get control of it all? To your siblings I mean", Charles raised an eyebrow.
"They get nothing and unless Dreogan choses to they can't reside in any of…his property either", Claudia replied.
"I intent to lock them out of everything, nowhere to live, no money, nothing", Dreogan said.
"Oh, you are so unbelievably dead! Can you please name me as your heir?" Charles joked, batting his eyelashes. A trick he'd learned from Claudia.
"You ass! Oh, I will. Then Azrail can murder you as well!" Dreogan quipped back, poking his tongue at his cousin.
"Nuuuuu! Okay, better alive and not rich!" They laughed.
"So, do we think the Book of Leaves is still in Hogwarts?" Claudia asked, changing the subject.
"Azrail seems to think so", Dreogan shrugged.
"I guess we'll be visiting the restricted section, again?" Emerick asked.
"Why? If it is still in Hogwarts, it ain't in there, can't be safe and hidden if everyone's aware it's there", Dreogan said.
"We must know, and to learn we must be relentless!" Emerick exclaimed, pointing his right index finger up in the air.
"Ravenclaws…if your brother thinks it is in Hogwarts, and you or Headmistress don't give it to him…do you think he's coming for it? "cause it sounds like it", Claudia wondered, worried.
"He won't dare, not while the Ministry stands, even if weakened by the ongoing war", Emerick tried to assure himself as well as her.
"While it still stands…father's dead and Azrail no longer seems to care for the shadows. The Ministry is in more danger than they realize", Dreogan sat down in one of the chairs provided by the room.
"Emerick's right about one thing though, we must learn. Revise for the term finals. They're getting closer", Claudia said.
"No, they're not! We have a month!" Charles whined.
Claudia snorted. "What's closer, then to you?"
"I don't know…a week?" Charles shrugged.
Claudia rolled her eyes.
"There's more important things to worry about!" Charles exclaimed.
"Let me guess. Quidditch?" Dreogan laughed.
"Yaaass! Three days to Huffs versus ravens!" Charles beamed.
Claudia sighed. "I'm going to the library, anyone want to come with?" She stood up.
"Don't you have Quidditch practice?" Dreogan asked her.
"Later, first I need to get transfiguration homework and revision."
"I'm going to the courtyard to play Gobstones", Charles said. "Dragon breath rules."
"I'll come with you", Emerick said, standing up.
"I have a letter to write to mum, I'll catch up with you later", Dreogan told them, exiting the room of requirement.
He went to his dorm, sat cross-legged on his bed and took out a piece of parchment, his quill and ink.
Mum,
I guess by the time Caladrius arrives, you'll have learned all about how you are my legal guardian and all. Now, I can legally change my name! (Elario) Felix Burton! I can't believe it.
Time passes by quick here, seems only yesterday you were here, and now in a month we have final exams for the year and then I'm coming over! Summer vacations! They are going to be freaking amazing, you, me, Charles, his bros and parents!
How are you? Did you start the therapy thing you mentioned in your last mail? I hope everything's fine! Kiss aunt Helen and the imps for me, please.
Love,
Felix Burton
He walked to the owlery, and attached the letter on Caladrius' claw, gave the Augurey a treat, scratching him under his beak. He croaked a happy croak and left.
Dreogan returned to the castle, through the lush flowered green field and searched for the charms Professor.
He found him returning to his office.
"Sir!" he yelled from across the corridor. The man stopped walking, turning around to see who was yelling.
"Hullo, sir. I think I know how we can stop my brother from opening anymore portals in Hogwarts", he said, catching his breath.
"Follow me, Mr. Gaunt", Professor Rawthorn told him.
They entered his office, some ten minutes later. A small space, with a desk, three chairs and four torches along with some candles on the stone desk.
"How?" The professor asked him.
"I found one of his inventions' notebooks a few years ago, and I have been trying to decode them. It's not exactly been a fast process…" Dreogan explained, before removing a few pages from the pocket inside his robes. "Follow what it says in here, and he should become unable to cast the portal spell in Hogwarts and grounds", He stretched his hand, offering the inked pages to Professor Rawthorn.
"I'll take a look, Mr. Gaunt", Rawthorn took the pages, setting them on his desk.
"Anything else, Dreogan?" Rawthorn asked him, as if he expected something.
"No, sir", Dreogan tried not to shrug, he knew Professor Rawthorn wasn't keen of it.
"And here I was thinking you had questions regarding the upcoming quiz on locking and unlocking spells", Rawthorn replied, smiling under his thick moustache.
"I have no questions, sir."
"I have one. It is obvious to me you are a vastly better student than you have been, yet you never put the required effort in it. Why, when you could, easily, be a constant-outstanding-earning student and barely break a sweat?" Rawthorn asked him, sitting on the edge of the white-polished stone desk.
"Slytherin and my father, sir. I don't want Slytherin doing well because of me and doing bad upsets him greatly", Dreogan replied.
"You are the one hurt the most by this, though, no? How much more would you have learned if you tried?" Rawthorn confronted his strategy.
"Who said I've not been learning, sir? I Just fail where and when I must so that Slytherin and my father don't benefit from my knowledge", Dreogan cracked a grin.
"Interesting, and now you are fatherless, will you want your mother feeling proud of your attained knowledge and progress? You were sorted into Slytherin, I'm guessing the Sorting Hat had a reason for it."
"I'm not sure, sir. This is a hard decision to make, hardest one I've had to make in a good long while". "
"I've not seen such bravery since the twentieth century and such cunning and wit since long before that. You have no ambition for power, yet…Gryffindor, you'd fit nicely in there, but you'd be well placed in Ravenclaw as well and Huf…"
"Yes, that might be it! It was ready to place me in Hufflepuff…"H…" it stuttered just before yelling Slytherin. I am not entirely sure it meant to place me in there, sir. And considering my father was controlling the Headmistress back then…"
"Interesting. You have a good memory. You may go, Mr. G…"
"Burton, sir. Just a matter of time", Dreogan left the office.
He found Claudia and Emerick in the library.
"Owl away?" she asked him, raising an eye from he notes.
Dreogan nodded, getting his things out.
"How is she?" Claudia asked.
Dreogan sighed. "She's okay…and trying too hard."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Emerick sounded surprised.
"No…sometimes I feel like she's not even listening to what I'm saying or tries to control my life", Dreogan whined.
"Oh, that's just being a mum, you get used to it and then you learn how to bend them to your will", Claudia gave a sly smile.
"I'm not laughing! It's not her fault but she can't come into my life after nearly thirteen years and expect to take over, or for me to just open up about everything in a day. Now, she even has demands! Don't ride brooms, don't duel, eat this, drink that…" Dreogan groan-sighed loud enough that a distant "sssshhh" from Mr. Thorson was heard after.
Claudia motioned them to follow her to a further away desk, behind some shelves of books.
"I can imagine it is frustrating but try to see it from her point of view. She just got you back, she's afraid of losing you again, or you getting injured. Not to mention her motherly instincts must be going haywire. Last time she held you, you were a newborn baby and now you're nearly a teenager. And to boot it all y'all are traumatized in more ways than one. You need patience, tolerance and borders", she told him, gently.
"When did you get so wise?" He sighed. "I guess you're right. Borders?"
"Yeah, parents aren't the only ones placing them on us, you know. Talk to her, explain things and where logic won't work…you're a teen. Have temper tantrums, meltdowns and sometimes if done right they work nicely to let parents know to back the heck off", She chuckled self-confidently.
"Or you can let them say whatever they want and then just go and do what you wanted to do in the first place! But you know, Claudia's way is more mature…in the long run", Emerick said.
"I'm talking to her, I'm trying to, but sometimes she just won't listen!" Dreogan exasperated.
"Do you know howlers?" Claudia cracked an evil smirk.
"The screaming-voice letters? Yeah?" Dreogan replied, unsure.
"Send her one and tell her angry-like", she replied.
"That…could work…" Dreogan's mind raced faster than his tongue released speaking sounds.
"Oh, god…I can see the cogs working!" Claudia tried to not laugh loudly in the library.
"I don't know what you mean", Dreogan tried to sound innocent.
"Ha! Well, there's one thing you should know, though. She's not going to sit idly by and accept your howler, or you trying to shove some borders her way. She has an arsenal of choices to wield", Claudia warned him, jokingly.
"Ah yes, my favourites are the guilt trips, emotional blackmails, mock anger and misdirections."
"Oh, my favourite is the "I raised you, fed you, put clothes on your back, and now you won't even help me!" But then, especially with my mum, reminding her or taking dad's place puts her off balance", Claudia blew at her fingers as if a bullet had left them.
"Quiet or get out!" Mr. Thorson's voice sounded above them.
Claudia sniggered. "Sorry, sir. We'll be more quiet. I promise", She batted her eyelids in mock-innocence.
"Kids nowadays…sometimes I wish I could unleash my nephew on you all!" Mr. Thorson said as he walked back to his desk.
"Why is this eyelids-thingy work only for you girls?" Emerick joked.
"It's a centuries old art, you can't expect to do it just like that", she joked back.
"Riiight", Dreogan replied, stifling a laugh.
"Jokes aside, mothers are great and all, but if they're doing something you don't like you must tell them, they're not seers, they can't just know something's bothering you if you don't", Claudia told him.
"Yeah, I guess so. It's just weird, I feel like I…should or must love her but...I don't know if what I feel is it…which just makes me feel guilt."
"I don't have to be a therapist to understand that's, probably, logical. I mean she's your mother, but you've been apart for twelve years. You'll both need time to build on what most of us have had since birth. Can't just magically will it to happen, even in our world", Claudia told him.
"I guess so…thanks!" He gave her a hug.
"Anytime. Now, to finish the damned History of Magic essay!" she said getting lost in her writing, again."
"I'm still on potions homework", Dreogan moaned.
"Want my notes?" Emerick asked him, offering a notepad to him.
"Oh, notes are not the problem, I got notes", Dreogan replied.
"It's strange", Emerick commented.
"What's strange?" Claudia asked.
"I don't know, it feels like there's less light in here", Emerick said.
"Cloudy outside?" Dreogan asked raising his shoulders.
"Plus, we're in a corner away from the torches and the windows", Claudia supplied.
"You're probably right. I'm just having more difficulty to see, than usually", Emerick shrugged it off, returning to his writing.
An hour later Dreogan had finished with his homework.
"Going to find Charles, anyone else hungry?" he said shoving his stuff inside his backpack.
"Famished, but I need to finish up here first", Emerick said.
"I'm not hungry, I'll see you later", Claudia said, not raising her eyes from her notes and parchment rolls.
Dreogan left, with a smile.
He found Charles playing Gobstones with Ethel, a Hufflepuff girl their year.
He was about to greet them, when Harold and two of his cronies appeared from the opposite direction, crossed the distance in a stride or two and kicked the Gobstones, laughing.
"Hey! Fuck off!" Charles looked up, angry.
"Or what? Fartface?" Harold sneered at him.
"That the best you can do? Cillian's lackey", Charles taunted him, trying to stand up.
"Levicorpus!" Harold jinxed him, levitating him upside down by his ankles.
"Leave my friend alone!" Ethel yelled. "Tarantallegra!" she threw at Harold, who concentrated as he was at Charles, had no time to react.
Harold begun to dance wildly.
Dreogan full-body-binded one of his cronies, while Charles hit the other one with stupefy.
"Finite incantatem!" Dreogan dropped Charles on the ground.
"Ha! Got him in the eye!" Charles yelled raising to his knees.
"Ya did!" Ethel cheered him. "Hey, I'm Ethel", she told Dreogan.
"Oh, hey. Nice dance jinx there", he told her.
"Ya, thanks! Me mother showed me some shall we say…creative ways to defend meself against daft morons like these ones."
"Shall we put him out of his misery?" Charles asked them, looking at Harold, who looked almost ready to cry.
"Don't temp me!" Dreogan laughed.
Ethel snorted.
"You know what I mean!" They laughed at Charles' mock-anger.
"Let's leave him like this and go, I'm sure a Professor or other student will release him, sooner or later", Ethel shrugged.
"Finite Incantatem", He waited until Harold, panting, rose to his feet. "It doesn't have to be this way, Harold", He tried to reason with the older boy.
"Your brother's ascension is close, this is exactly the way it's supposed to be. First the corrupt Ministry will fall, then Hogwarts will follow. All shall be cleansed in his fire of the Archangel of Death", Harold replied, spitting at his feet.
"You were always a fool, Harold Nott, but now you're a fanatic to a psychopath as well. I underestimated the magnitude of your stupidity", Dreogan left the courtyard with Charles and Ethel.
"What an ass!" Ethel remarked, in the corridor.
"Dangerous ass, rumours have him learning unforgivable curses", Charles remarked.
"Doubt it, but Azrail's another matter", Dreogan said.
"You really think he'll attack the Ministry? It is the most heavily fortified building in England", Ethel asked him, she looked afraid.
"I don't think he'll go with a frontal attack. He will…I don't know how he will do it but he's not stupid to try and attack them from the front door", Dreogan stipulated.
"My parents work in the Ministry", Ethel said.
"I hope they're okay."
"Yeah, thanks. Dad's aid to the Minister and mum's with the Magical creatures' containment unit", she explained.
"Oh cool! What's the most dangerous animal she's caught?" Charles asked, interested, and looking at her.
"She's in the midlands, mostly. So, nothing too dangerous. I think the usual cases are pets escaped or released by their owners. Like Nifflers, ghouls and the likes", she elaborated.
"I didn't think Nifflers'd require containment", Charles shrugged.
"In the wild? No, but you see, a Niffler loves shiny things and would easily dig through a building's foundations in what? Two days?" Dreogan told his cousin.
"Yeah, more or less. So, a Niffler is found in a muggle environment, it is caught and released in the wild", Ethel concluded. "Maybe now that Cillian's dead the Ministry will catch your siblings."
"They killed him. I'm not sure the Ministry will catch them. They still treat them as unruly children, rather than powerful witch and wizard of the dark arts who live and thrive in causing people pain and death simply because they enjoy it", Dreogan told her.
"The Ministry officials say that his two supporters killed him to seize power, and your siblings managed to kill them in turn, yet the attacks have ceased. So, it is unclear if your siblings survived the experience", Ethel said.
"They could not be more wrong if they tried…" Dreogan shook his head in disbelief of the Ministry's ostrich syndrome ability.
"From what I've seen so far of Azrail and his lieutenants…I agree with my cuz."
"I wish Ministry's correct but…I don't know", she told them, lowering her head.
"Anyone want to grab something to eat?" Charles asked, rubbing his belly.
"You're always hungry!" Ethel remarked, making Dreogan snort.
"Oh shush! You can't talk!" he told Dreogan.
They headed to the Great Hall, to eat.
A week later, Dreogan was asleep. A dream started, as they do in this case. A pair of fiery black wings unfolded out of total darkness, erupting into being. Between them Azrail's face comes into flame-light.
"Give it to me! Or I'll come get it myself."
Pictures of Hogwarts raised to the ground and surrendered to fire flashed in Dreogan's mind.
"You don't want me to kill everyone, do you?" Azrail said, in a deathly, low voice.
"You want the book of leaves, brother? Come and fucking get it!" Dreogan replied, for the first time, in such a dream-that-was-not-a-dream.
Azrail's flamed head recoiled, surprised.
"Thought I couldn't react or reply in these dreams of yours?" Dreogan laughed in his sleep.
"All you have to do is give me that book, and I don't have to hurt anyone at school", Azrail tried to tempt him.
"Lies! You love hurting and killing people", Dreogan refuted him.
"I do, it is true. I just looove seeing pain, causing pain. Is there any pleasure more exquisite than viewing the light, life and soul slowly escape some toy's eyes?" Azrail, replied, hissing at 'looove'.
"You disgust me."
"I! I disgust you!" Azrail's eyes ejected liquid fire in rage. "Only one person dared tell me that before. She's not in a very good shape now, is she!"
"Did my mother express her feelings on just how disgusting you are? She's in…" Dreogan taunted him.
"Your mother? What does she have to do with this? How do you know she yet lives?" Azrail's face flared up in anger and surprise.
"You can do better than that, half-brother, to torture me. You told me where to find her. In Bwana farm, then sent me your…whatever they are to kill us", Dreogan smiled, he knew it would piss Azrail off.
"YOU LIE! Give me the book!" The dream ended, Dreogan woke up.
"Still dark outside, could he not like wait for one or two more hours?" Dreogan wondered, sitting at the edge of his bed, rubbing his eyes.
"He hisses like a snake, yet he can't…ooohh, I know what to do! Now to find the damned book", He smiled, inwardly, to himself.
11