Professor McGonagall looked at the tall gate. She noticed barb wire on top of the fence and wondered if it was there to keep intruders out or to keep a certain person in. She always found it awkward having to tell parents that their child is a wizard and seeing a barb wire fence with multiple locks made her wonder what this family is like. She noticed a buzzer on the door and pressed it.
"Who is it?" a female voice called out. There was a child crying frantically in the background.
"My name is Professor McGonagall. I'm here to discuss your son Jacob."
Professor McGonagall heard a series of clicks followed by a buzzing sound. She pushed the door and walked up the driveway. There she saw a house with bars and alarms on all the windows. The porch was fenced in and there was a lock on the door. Professor McGonagall was thinking that this house resembled a jail when the door opened, and a tired looking woman stepped out holding hands with a screaming child.
"Come in," Mrs. Frank said. "I'm just about to change Jacob's nappy."
"Jacob wears nappies?" Professor McGonagall asked with a shocked expression on her face.
"Only when he does number two," Mrs. Frank answered over Jacob's persistent wailing.
"Should I wait in a different room?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"If you'd like, you could wait in the kitchen. I'm in the middle of preparing dinner but had to stop to clean Jacob," Mrs. Frank explained.
Professor McGonagall looked around the kitchen. Like the outside of the house, it had its own gate, but the gate was open. There were locks on the fridge, freezer, oven and the knobs to the stove. After a minute, Mrs. Frank returned to the kitchen with a crying Jacob. She sat Jacob down on a chair and gestured toward another chair for Professor McGonagall.
"As soon as I finish preparing dinner, we could speak outside," Mrs. Frank said. "I can't outscream Jacob, and he's upset I made him come inside to prepare dinner."
As she spoke, Mrs. Frank opened a can and poured its contents into the pot on the stove. She put a cutting board and some vegetables on the table and reached for a knife. As she was walking towards the table with the knife, Jacob leapt up from his chair and scratched his mother's arm.
"I'm holding a knife, Jakey," Mrs. Frank said. "You need to be careful."
She started dicing the vegetables as Jacob crawled through her legs and around to Professor McGonagall's chair. He continued crying as Mrs. Frank turned towards the stove to add her vegetables to the pot. As soon as his mother's back was turned, Jacob focused on the stranger sitting at the table. He reached up and grabbed her hair with both hands.
"What are you doing?" Professor McGonagall yelped.
Mrs. Frank ran over and untangled one hand from the professor's head. She asked Professor McGonagall to hold the free hand while she untangled the second hand. As soon as both hands were free, Mrs. Frank told Jacob to do his crying in another room as the kitchen was full. A minute later, Mrs. Frank and Professor McGonagall heard Jacob howling from the next room.
"So, what did you want to discuss about Jacob?" Mrs. Frank asked as she finished preparing dinner.
"Is he always like that?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"No, but he needs to get out," Mrs. Frank said. "Let's continue this conversation outside. Summer holidays is messing up Jacob's schedule."