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Chapter 8: Sióga
Róisín wrung her hands together. She was in Dumbledore's office for the first time. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she waited for the headmaster to appear. Various glinting instruments whirled and vibrated from every surface in the room. The quiet was decorated by their soft clicking and purring, as if they were curious woodland creatures chattering about the intruder. Life-like oil paintings of stern wizards hung on any inch of wall that was not covered by a bookcase or cabinet holding strange artefacts.
"Good evening, Miss Feral"
The headmaster arrived from the corner of her eye, his long snowy beard bouncing against his knees as he approached her.
"Please"
He gestured to a chair in front of his imposing, and somewhat cluttered, desk. Its golden clawed feet flexed and gripped the ground, as if strained by their burden. Róisín sat and greeted him with an awkward nod. The previous headmasters scrutinized her from inside ornate, golden frames. The brush strokes describing them flickered as they shifted in their seats to get a better view.
Dumbledore regarded her from beneath bushy eyebrows that reached inches away as if trying to escape his face. The apparent hesitation from the normally eloquent professor was unsettling.
Just as Róisín opened her mouth to interrupt the uncomfortable silence, the fireplace roared. She looked around to see Professor Snape step out of the luminous green flames. He walked across the room and deposited a hefty tome in front of her with a thud. Its title read, "Enchanted Life - A Classification of Magical Beings" in spiky cursive. The edges of its pages did not line up as if it had been bound by hand.
"Miss Feral, I understand you have been having some unusual problems this year," Dumbledore stated.
Róisín fidgeted in her seat. Snape stood at the window with his back to them, silhouetted against the shapes of the castle glazed with moonlight.
"I suppose I have," Róisín replied.
"I believe Professor Snape may have found the cause of your problems." Róisín's eyes flicked back to Snape. "He suspects you are a sióg."
The hard front-cover of the book hit the desk as its pages flew open, causing Róisín's hair to flick backwards. It landed open on a page with a scratchy animated sketch of a girl strolling through a meadow, the foxgloves around her blooming as she brushed past them. The drawing was in grey pencil except for bursts of colour in the flowers. At the top of the page was written "Sióga".
Snape turned around.
"Headmaster, I don't think my presence at this meeting is necessary-"
"-Your insight is always valuable, Severus," Dumbledore interrupted.
It was the first time Róisín had heard Snape addressed by his given name. She saw a ripple of irritation darken his features. He murmured,
"Muffliato magna"
Róisín felt as though he had plunged her head into a beehive. Her ears were filled with a loud, incessant buzzing. She watched Snape's pale lips move rapidly as he spoke to the headmaster, as if his normal slow drawl was for the benefit of his dim-witted students. Dumbledore replied stiffly, his expression stern. It was as if both of their personas were discarded during the tense exchange. Róisín felt perturbed. Then the incantation was lifted.
"Read"
Snape's brusque order made Róisín flinch. She reached out a trembling hand to pull the book closer. Out of habit, she rubbed her fingers of one hand together to light a candle beside the book, to see better in the dim light. Instantly, flames shot like whips towards the ceiling from all the candles in the office, illuminating the room like daylight for a second. Then the flames died, leaving the room dark.
Róisín's eyes widened as she turned to look at her hand, still suspended near the candle, an inch away from where a flame had just erupted. Snape lit the candle and its peers with a click of his fingers. Róisín caught him exchange a look with the headmaster.
"Miss Feral, do you normally use wandless magic for day to day tasks?" Dumbledore asked.
Róisín nodded and said,
"Anna says that I must be part goblin, that I wouldn't notice if a gremlin came and stole my wand."
"And is it normal for you to exercise such little control?" Snape asked.
Róisín bit and sucked her bottom lip, trying to ignore the tears swelling in her eyes. You are a seventh year, you should be better than this. She released her lip and gave a steady response,
"I've been having difficulties recently… controlling my magic."
She looked down to avoid her professors' eyes, inwardly admonishing herself for being childish.
"Go ahead and read this entry, and we can begin to understand what's happening to you," Dumbledore said kindly, gesturing towards the book.
Róisín began to read:
A sióg (plural: sióga) is a female who can use magic. In this regard, she is similar to a witch. However, she receives a different classification because of the connection between her magic and her lust.
Róisín's face ripened red as she read that last word. She carried on reading,
Sióg is an Irish word meaning "fairy". Written accounts suggest that sióga come exclusively from Celtic countries, most notably Ireland. There are few recorded cases of sióga. The most famous of which is that of Aoife Ní Drisceoil (1705-1811), whose correspondences were studied by the magical historian Professor Ásbjǫrn Rasmussen (1805 – 1931) after her death. There is evidence to suggest that sióga are a strain of nymph (see pg. 600-658).
Róisín looked at Snape, her face contorted with incredulity.
"You think I'm a different species?" she gasped.
An unrecognizable emotion twisted his face for a heartbeat, then it was gone. He stared back at her with his trademark indifference. Maybe it was a trick of the light.
"The concept of species is largely irrelevant when discussing magical beings. Muggles and wizards are clearly different, yet they can mate with each other," Snape explained slowly, as if such logic were too complex for her.
Dumbledore added,
"Sióga are still human, they just use a different kind of magic to other witches, in the same way that house-elves use a different kind of magic."
"Why do you think I'm a sióg?" Róisín pronounced the word with uncertainty. She had studied Irish when she was a child in Ireland, but those lessons felt ages ago.
"If you continued reading, it would become apparent," Snape said with irritation.
Various Irish myths dating around the 11th and 12th centuries [331- 402] portray sióga as being small in stature, with shapely figures and unruly hair.
Róisín felt hot. She raised her hand to the back of her hair. Throughout the day knots always knitted themselves into her wavy mane, despite how often she brushed it. Today was no exception.
She was acutely aware of her professors watching her. Even sitting down Dumbledore seemed to regard her from a great height. Well I am small, a head shorter than every other girl in my year. She took a shaky breath and read on.
These myths describe sióga as being adept at wandless magic, like goblins or elves, although there are reports of sióga using wands. It is unclear whether this is due to habit, as most sióga are raised as witches, or necessity, as a wand may help a sióg focus when performing complex magic.
The facts surrounding the interaction between a sióg's magic and her lust are unclear. It appears that if a sióg is not fulfilled sexually, she will gradually lose control of her magic and suffer from unsavoury symptoms. According to Rasmussen, Ní Drisceoil was confined by her parents in the year 1724 to prevent her from continuing her illicit affair with the influential wizard Óisín Mac Lochlainn. During that time Ní Drisceoil wrote to a companion complaining of painful menstrual periods, an overwhelming sexual appetite, and erratic displays of powerful magic which she was unable to control. These symptoms hint to a link between the sióg's sex hormones and her magic.
Róisín wasn't usually a sweaty person, but as she realised that these "symptoms" corresponded to the problems she had been having, she felt as sweaty and awkward as if the three of them were sharing a sauna.
"Miss Feral, I realise this information is unsettling, which is understandable, but we'll get heatstroke if you continue to raise the temperature," Dumbledore said gently.
Róisín's face burned. She realised she was magically heating the air around her. She wished she could melt into a puddle and slip under the door.
Dumbledore waved his wand and a cool breeze washed over the room. Róisín continued reading,
Studies of previous sióga state that for a sióg to fulfil herself, she must lie with a wizard or witch (the gender depending on her preference) who has reached magical maturity. If a sióg lays with a wizard whose magic is not sufficiently potent, i.e. who has not reached maturity, the relations may weaken the sióg.
Róisín thought of how she felt sick when she kissed Eóghan. But what does it mean "reached magical maturity"? Eóghan's eighteen. She could ask her professors, but she knew that forming a coherent question would be asking too much of herself, therefore she read on, hoping that she could keep reading forever, so that she wouldn't have to discuss this mortifying situation.
The reasons for this remain unclear. The only explanation to be found in the literature was proposed by Rasmussen [450]. He claimed that by lying with a powerful wizard a sióg's magic is disentangled from her lust, relieving her symptoms of "frustration" and giving her sharper control over her magic. As a consequence, the wizard receives the magical energy that bond the sióg's magic and passion together, making him stronger. However, the magic leaked from the sióg during coupling can only latch onto an able wizard, otherwise it will be lost. The reader should note that this analysis relies on the theory of the quantifiability of magic, which has been largely refuted in recent years [10, 35-60].
There is evidence that sióga were a lot more common in ancient times [451-455]. Some historians have speculated that they are the origin of the archaic use of the verb "to know" to mean "to have intercourse with", since by lying with a sióg a wizard gains some knowledge of her magic which increases his capabilities [456-462].
Sióga have been both scorned and coveted in wizarding society. Historically they have been derided for the symptoms they experience when they are unsatisfied. On the other hand, many dark wizards have sought out sióga to exploit them for their power [200-219].
It was the end of the section on sióga. Róisín hadn't absorbed all the details. She pretended to read over the passage again, but the words were indistinguishable through her tears.