The First Muggleborn
Chapter 4
"I understand Lord Atterberry will be joining us," Mrs. Ravenclaw stated in a thick Scottish accent
"Yes," Catherine responded hesitantly. "But, you see, Mistress Ravenclaw, my husband-"
"Shan't ken a thing about magic. Yes, Father Aldrich explained it quite well in his letter." The dark haired woman glanced around the room for a moment before taking a seat that both Catherine and Arabella had forgotten to offer her. "Will the Father be joining us as well?"
"Catherine flushed scarlet as she realized her forgotten manners and nodded her head rigorously to make up for it.
"Yes, My Lady. I've sent word earlier today. We're expecting him shortly."
As fate would have it, at that very moment, Mary scurried into the room to announce Father Aldrich's arrival. He was quickly offered the customary pleasantries and the small party exchanged some conversation over pastries that Mary soon brought out for them.
About a half hour into the meeting, the heavy wooden door slammed against the wall, signaling Richard's arrival. All four heads turned to the source of the sound and found the burly man strolling into the room with his two favorite wolfhounds in tow.
"What do we have here?" He announced, more than asked, as he took in the company before him. "Father, a pleasure, as always. And, My Lady, what a pleasure to have you at our table. Please, sit." They all did as he asked and proceeded with the discussion.
"Richard, dear, Lady Ravenclaw was just telling us of her wonderful institution. Many refined young ladies attend," Catherine began, in an obvious effort to sway her husband into compliance.
"Is this so?"
"Aye, My Lord. Although, our students begin their studies at age eleven, many attain quite advantageous marriages upon completion," Rowena piped in. While this was not untrue, Mistress Ravenclaw left out the fact that those marriages were almost entirely within the magical world and Richard was highly unlikely to have heard of any of them.
"I see..." Lord Atterberry stroked his large beard with one hand and, with the other, stroked the head of a hound seated next to him. "What do you think, my dear?" He asked of the canine beside him. Catherine shrugged off the slight of being ignored in favor of a dog, by focusing her energy on willing her husband to agree to send Arabella to Hogwarts. The man stopped rubbing the dog's head and waited for a response, and received a dissatisfied whine from his companion. He resumed his stroking and turned back to the small group.
"You seem to me an honorable woman, My Lady. If my wife believes your institution to be as reputable as you claim, then I will concede, especially with the commendation of Father Aldrich here."
Everyone else in the room quietly released breaths they had been holding in relief.
"Will that be all then?" He asked while shuffling to the edge of the chair in preparation to stand. "Because, if so, I believe I have a rendezvous with a particularly elusive buck."
"Yes, dear, I'm sure we can make further arrangements on our own," Catherine told her husband, who wasted no time before giving his regards to the guests and making his way out the doorway, trailing behind him. The group sat in a relieved silence for a moment, before resuming their discussion.
"You mentioned the need of a...what was it? A wand?" Catherine inquired of the Deputy Headmistress.
"Aye," Rowena replied, brandishing her own and waving it for Arabella to see. "My wand comes from a Rowan tree and has a unicorn hair core. I'm quite proud of it."
"Unicorn hair?" Bella piped in. "But they're not real!"
"Of course they are, lass. How else would I have gotten a tail hair for my wand? I made my own, but I can accompany you to call on Mr. Ollivander. His family has been making wands since 382 B.C., and very fine ones at that."
Arabella glanced at her mother, who nodded at her to pose any of her own questions, although Bella suspected that she was still too dumbfounded to pose any questions of her own. She turned to Father Aldrich then, with pleading eyes, asking whether she should go with this woman anywhere.
"Gladwyn Ollivander is a good friend. I'm sure he'll pair you with a very fitting wand," he told her. At this time, he showed her his own once more. "I got my own wand from his father, Graeme. Not all of us are as skilled as Rowena that we can make our own."
"Aye, and luckier still that it chose me. Could ye imagine if I made this wand and it chose another? How embarrassing."
"It chose you? What on earth do you mean?" Rowena smiled brightly at the girl before her and told her that Mr. Ollivander would explain all about it when they met him. Bella wasn't satisfied but knew her manners wouldn't allow her to pry further.
"When would you be able to go to Diagon Alley? There are quite a few things you'll be needing for the school year."
"Well, I…I suppose the sooner the better. Where is this 'Diagon Alley'? Is it far?"
"Oh, a wee bit. But dinna fash. We'll Apparate."
"What's appa- never mind. I suppose I'll learn all this when we go. When would be most convenient for you Madam?"
"I have some time tomorrow. I need to take my little Helena too. You'll be starting your first year with her!"
"Helena? You have a daughter?" This time, it was Catherine's turn to ask a question.
"Yes, my darling babe. She turned eleven back in February and has been so excited to start her schooling. Perhaps the two of you will be friends." Mistress Ravenclaw said this, hoping for it to come true, but knowing her daughter's sometimes cold personality might clash with other students.
"Tomorrow would work well, I think/ Mother, there isn't anything I'm forgetting, is there?"
"No I don't believe so," Catherine responded with a small smile of relief that the meeting had gone by so easily. "Mistress Ravenclaw, will you be joining us for dinner?"
"No I don't think I will. I need to get back to Portree. I have a pesky Hebridean who's been stealing snatching up local cattle." The two other ladies in the room had no idea what a Hebridean was and thought it best not to ask, so together, with Father Aldrich, the group made their way to the entrance and bid adieu.
In the distance, the pair could see Christopher playing with some local boys, and called him inside to wash for dinner. Catherine instructed Arabella to track down Alfreda, her baby sister, and then joined the cook in the kitchen to help with food preparation.
"Did I miss anything interesting during your meeting, dear?" Richard asked of Arabella when the family was finally seated at the dinner table. Bella took her time swallowing her meaty stew in order to formulate a sufficient response.
"Mistress Ravenclaw was very informative about this school. In fact, I will be meeting with her again tomorrow."
"What for?" Bella hadn't planned her response well enough to foresee this question and she panicked, even though her father had asked with no hint of suspicion.
"Mistress Ravenclaw has agreed to be something of a mentor to Arabella."
"I don't see why Father Aldrich couldn't do that. You did say he was familiar with the school." The two women glanced at each other, nervousness starting to creep under their skin.
"Yes, but it would be so much nicer for Bella to have a proper Lady to learn from. I certainly respect the Father, but he is so confined to the church, I fear her education may be lacking." The bearded man seemed to mull this information over as he chewed on a thick bite of bread.
"Alright then. So tell me, my love, what will this Ravenclaw woman be doing with you tomorrow?"
"I-I don't know, Father," Arabella could think of no convenient lie to tell her father, and she certainly couldn't tell him that she would be going to a wizarding village. "It is to be a surprise." Fortunately, Richard was not an overly inquisitive man. He smiled at her, wished her an enjoyable time and turned to his son.
"And you, Christopher! What on earth have you been doing all day? Is that mud I spy behind your ear?" Arabella and her mother exchanged a relieved gaze as the dinner conversation was directed away from sensitive topics and instead geared towards Christopher's poor hygiene. The family laughed and continued on as if Bella's world wasn't forever changed.
The following day, Arabella and Catherine sat in the former's bedroom, with Alfreda sitting quietly on her mother's hip. The group awaited word of Rowena Ravenclaw's arrival and passed the time by playing pick-up sticks.
"You're going to get it! Oh dear what's that!" Bella was momentarily distracted from her maneuver by her mother's outburst.
"Where? What?"
"Oh," Catherine sighed. "I believe it was a distraction." It would appear to have been a good one, since the sticks Bella was trying so desperately to avoid moving had all toppled over each other. Swinging a blonde lock of hair away from her face, Bella glared at her mother, but wasn't truly angry with her…well, maybe just a little.
"Cheating isn't fair mother."
"It isn't my fault you're so easy to cheat against," Catherine smirked at her daughter, which turned into a true smile, before picking the sticks up from the table to restart their game.
There was a soft knock at the door and both women turned to face Mary, who had let herself in to announce Rowena Ravenclaw's arrival. Catherine allowed her daughter to take charge of the situation and direct Mary to lead the way out. When they spotted their guests admiring the set of antlers adoring the head of the front door, a new wave of nervousness set in their stomachs.
"Miss Atterberry, how lovely to see you again so soon. This is my daughter, Helena." The young girl beside the Deputy Headmistress stood about a head taller than Arabella, but still possessed a cherubic face. Helena gave a shallow curtsy to the women, and Bella did the same. Catherine acknowledged the pair with a small nod and smile.
"Pleasure to meet you Helena," Bella knew her manners told her to address her new companion by her title, but she was still at a loss for what the title was. She cringed as she was forced to address Helena by her given name, but could think of no other option.
"And you, My Lady."
"Where is it that you will be going today?" Catherine asked of the older woman before her.
"Diagon Alley, Ma'am. It's just in London."
"London? That's a day's ride away! When will you be back?" Catherine mentally kicked herself for not asking this sooner. She would have had Mary pack a bag for Bella if she was to be gone overnight!
"Dinna fash. We'll be gone but a few hours. In time for supper I should think." Catherine was dumbstruck.
"But…how?"
"Magic, dear." The Lady of the house resigned herself to just accept that magic would likely be the most common explanation in the future and simply closed her eyes and nodded her head.
"Shall we be off?" Rowena asked, without waiting for a response. Helena followed her mother out the doorway, leaving Arabella to say her goodbyes to her mother. Catherine made sure her daughter double checked the pouch at her hip for the money she was given for her school supplies and hugged her fiercely.
"If anything happens that scares you, run alright? I'll not have my favorite daughter harmed. I don't know how I feel about this magic nonsense, and I certainly don't want anyone accusing you openly about it. Understand?"
"Yes, mother," Bella replied as she hugged her mother back.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
With that, the two broke apart from each other and Arabella joined the witches who stood outside the doorway. Once all three were holding hands, with Helena in the middle of the small group, Rowena raised the wand that she had shown the Atterberry women. Bella watched her curiously, while Catherine stared, with a sick feeling in her gut.
Crack!
And the three were gone.
Thank you all for reading. As always, please please pleeeease review/like/subscribe. It really boosts my confidence & drive to complete the story.