Chapter IX: The children must go home
The Shapeshifter may seems sage,
But continually he changes his image.
Difficult to train, if he flees, he cannot be found.
So, in childhood show him a mirror,
Order him to keep his reflexion in his memor,
Then, remove any reflective object from his view.
Nearby the time for you to grow a yew.
Adult, order him to see his sass,
And discreetly, blur the mirror-glass.
Instead, show your face with a curse,
And you will get the Metamorphmagus.
Note to the Gifts # 4
On the day of his departure, Tina must have repeated to him four hundred times the recommendations for his safety. To know how to take his potions well, to take care of himself, not to do anything foolish, and other basic rules.
He listened to her with glassy eyes in his bowl of porridge as the sun rose. Theseus was still sleeping and he was sharing breakfast with his two guardians. Somehow it reminded him of his life before Hogwarts, when the three of them were alone on the roads.
"We should go," Newt whispered softly.
Nodding awkwardly, Eddy complied. He took his bag and finished tying his shoes under Tina's worried gaze.
"If there is any problem, you call us," she recommended him one last time. "Don't hesitate, I'll come."
"Come on, Poppy," her husband told her affectionately. "Everything will be alright."
They greeted her and left the house together. They walked along the dunes in silence and then, Newt raised his wand once they got near the road. In a few seconds, there was a loud crack, then the Knight Bus appeared in front of them. The purple double-decker bus hummed its engine, and a short, bald man in round, thick glasses got out to greet them.
"Mr. Scamander, it's been' age since we've seen yeh aroun'. Yeh don't have freaks in the bag, don't yeh?"
"Don't worry, Ernie," Newt reassured him as he climbed up. "Today, I have my hands in my pockets. We are going to St Bristel, south of Cardiff."
Ernie seemed to have a thousand questions to ask them while the driver, a little Asian witch, put her huge glasses back in front of her eyes. The doors closed and the witch clutched:
"Did yeh hear, Sue-Ann? St Bristle! We'll be nearby in twenty minutes."
And violently the bus started. Eddy was almost carried away, it took the quiet grip of his tutor seizing the collar of his shirt to prevent him from flying away. Newt was a regular on the Knight Bus and stood up effortlessly with a quiet smile despite Sue-Ann's unique driving skills.
Eddy bent down to avoid throwing up. Ernie turned to him and handed him a small square of chocolate:
"Is this yer' first time, boy? They're less tough, now. My Sue-Ann is a very lax driver compared to me."
Eddy then wondered what Ernie's conduct could be, but was in no rush to find out. He took the square of chocolate. The landscape was passing at full speed in front of their eyes. At the end of the allotted time, they had arrived.
When they left, Eddy hurriedly opened his bag to let Charm squirt out and vomit up his breakfast. He was not far from doing the same.
They were in St Bristel, a small Muggle town in Wales near the sea, a few dozen miles from Cardiff, where his guardians had found him. His heart raced with excitement as the Knight Bus started up again behind them. The muggles hadn't noticed the presence of the two wizards, nor of the bus before them, they were going about their business in the morning sun.
"As far as I know, Mr. Berry is often in port," Newt said. "It's up to you to find it, I'll let you."
Somehow, it had to be some kind of test to see how resourceful he was, although Newt probably wouldn't have thought of it that way. Careful, as one would with a wild animal to be reintroduced into its natural environment, he let it acclimatize.
Eddy took Charm in his arms and started walking towards the port of St Bristel. He questioned a few Muggles with Newt walking a few feet behind him. After questioning a young girl who was curious to see strangers in her small village, she directed them to an inn on the seafront, The Salted Cod. They went there.
The Salted Cod was a slightly seedy little bar attacked by humidity. Inside the little pub, he smelled a strong smell of seawater mixed with the sweeter ones of alcohol and rotted wood. The morning had begun and a few men were already enjoying a Guiness on the counter. Firming his grip on Charm, he planted himself towards the waiter, a pimply teenager:
"I'm looking for Bill Berry. They told me I could find him there."
Another tall, redheaded, square-jawed man looked up from his pint. He was old, his sun-beaten features didn't look sympathetic.
"What do you want with old Billy, huh?"
He let out an insult in a dialect that Eddy knew well and the teenager answered him in the same language and in the same tone. The Romani's eye seemed to light up. He glanced suspiciously at Newt in the back of the pub that was watching their exchange with a little concern.
"Are you the little chav I was told about? He who seeks the blood of his blood?" he asked in his idiom.
The teenager nodded while the other customers were taken aback by their incomprehensible exchange. Berry darted a look at the still silent Newt:
"You're just a boy with a stuffed fur-thing. I don't want a whiny kid with me. And he, the gadjo, is he coming?"
"No," Eddy snapped. "This is my story, this is my own journey."
The old man's mistrust lessened somewhat. He finished his pint, paid for his drink and stood up.
"I'm taking you to Cardiff, but you better work. I don't want mosquitos."
Eddy nodded. The matter seemed to be settled in this way. Bill Berry left the bar with the teenager on his heels. Newt watched them from a distance. Then, reassured to see that he had managed to get the gruff old man to listen to him, he nodded to him and disappeared between two alleys.
Eddy watched him go a little stunned, this time he was definitely alone.
Bill Berry lived out of town, a red trailer pulled by two tired-looking grey horses. Eddy noticed that he was the only one in his camp. The old man filled his pipe and sat down against the wheel strap of his trailer.
"What's your name, chav? "
"Edward Daniel Lee," the boy whispered.
He didn't quite know what to do with his arms dangling, planted in the middle of this makeshift camp while the old man was smoking. With a gesture he invited him to sit down, Charm went to crawl into his lap.
"The Lees, huh? I've heard of them but there aren't many of them in Wales. 'Hope I can help you little boy."
"I'm not a little boy, I'm fourteen," grumbled the teenager.
"For my people you would be a man, of course, but I don't see my people much anymore. At fourteen, we're still a child no matter what you think. But if you mess up with me, I'll kick you and your cuddly toy."
Berry gave him a slightly toothless smile. He got up after having cracked his pipe one last time and then began to prepare the cart.
"Have you ever driven a varda (caravan)?" he asked as he harnessed his horses.
"I don't think so," Eddy admitted honestly, unable to remember if it was something he had done with his family before his amnesia.
Approaching the two horses, he placed the bite of the loin so naturally between the large teeth of the equine, that he thought he had already done that. A kind of confused nostalgia seized him. Maybe he could remember something? Mr Berry seemed pleased with his reflexes and invited her to come up beside him. Charm then jumped between them, and they left.
.
.
.
Driving a trailer was actually a lot more complicated and gruelling than it looked. In the climbs as in the descents it was necessary to get out of the trailer to guide the horses so that their weight did not hurt the animals or drag them down.
Horses were essential for the Romani communities, it was their only means of transport, and it was therefore with a certain pragmatism that they took care of them. They were moving slowly, the trailer was heavy and Berry was in no hurry. It was two days later that they reached Cardiff and made camp. Bill Berry was a boatman a good part of the year, during the hot season he worked as a scrap metal worker most of the time. In fact, he took the work that passed without worrying about it, happy to be able to eat against his effort.
Berry had put Eddy to work. They would stop by the side of the road and the teenager would collect what might be of value as they moved through the English countryside. Muggles were throwing so many things in their path that he almost felt like he was cleaning up.
The slow pace of their caravan annoyed the Muggles, who honked their horns before overtaking them in their cars. Mr. Berry didn't seem to care and muttered insults at the drivers under his breath.
"There's no point in being in such a hurry," he growled, unconcerned about being understood. "The world doesn't stop spinning because you're late to your brunch."
In the evening, while Eddy lit the fire for their camp, Berry smoked his pipe. They had hardly spoken in recent days. Mr Berry was of a calm temperament and Eddy was not much given to conversations. While the old man was heating a slice of bacon in a pan by the fire, Eddy resolved to ask him more questions.
"You didn't want my tutor to come with us," Eddy said in Romani.
"No. A mutual acquaintance told me about your quest, but I don't like strangers… especially mullers" (wizards).
Eddy gasped as Berry cut the bacon in half with his pocketknife.
"You know Newt is a wizard?"
"Yes, chav. And you too. Among us, Romanis, we often have sorcerers. I am what you call a squib. My mother was a witch but not me."
Eddy picked up the bowl the old man handed him and cut off a piece of greasy meat with his fingertips to offer it to Charm. The animal licked his fingers before grabbing them with a merry purr. "She never went to school," Berry continued. "I know that there is a sort of school to learn how to master and hide your gifts… but with us there is no real need to hide. We are already hiding from the gadje, no need to hide from our people. My mother's mother taught her what she needed to know."
So, thought Eddy, maybe his mother was indeed a witch. But why would she never go looking for him? These questions did not want to interrupt the brouhaha that had invaded his head now. He ate a little as he approached the fire. If the days were hot, the nights remained cool.
"Has… has anyone ever been kicked out of the community?" Eddy asked in a small voice, watching the flames dance before his eyes.
He risked a look at Berry who seemed melancholy:
"It's happened before, yes. But we wouldn't leave one of our children behind. Never."
He returned to his plate, refusing to say more.
.
.
.
The next day, the sky was greyish as the trailer moved between the hills. Eddy got out of the cart to lighten it and observed the surrounding trees and houses. This place meant nothing to him, he would have been quite incapable of remembering these alleys or even the layout of the block. Just as he thought they were going to stop, Berry interrupted him:
"Come up, we're going to the port. We are not welcome here."
Indeed some Muggles were throwing an angry look at their outfit. He ran. After a few minutes they had left the small working-class district for an outlying and miserable little port. There were old barges alongside cars from another age. The harbour like sky was greyish. Eddy had the impression of being transported in an old photo as everything seemed monochromatic. Berry left the trailer.
"Wait here, chav. I will inquire."
The old man walked towards a group of boatmen near a shed. He watched him go with a feverish sense of worry. Charm meowed to get his attention and he gave him a few hugs. The animal purred contentedly.
Not far from the trailer, teenagers around Eddy's age were playing football in old, worn clothes. They looked haves and sad even though they were screaming. The teenager thought that in his misfortunes he had had the chance to come across Newt and Tina.
Berry continued to parley with the boatmen but the tone grew sour. Eddy heard an insult emanating from the old man's mouth. He admonished Charm to guard the trailer and walked uncertainly towards the group.
"I told you to stay in the varda, chav," Berry growled.
The men ogled Eddy before glaring furiously at Berry. Eddy thought they must have a score to settle.
"What is going on?" he asked in Romani.
At this language, the group seemed hardly less suspicious.
"Nash avri, William Berry. You're no longer welcome here." (Go away)
The named spat on the ground while Eddy wondered what he could have done to attract so much contempt. Berry walked angrily back to the trailer, but the teenager didn't hear it that way:
"Wait," he called to them in Romani. "He's trying to help me. I am looking for my family. The Lees. They must have lived in the region seven or eight years ago! They lived in a caravan."
"There hasn't been any Lee in land for a long time," growled one of the men, tossing his cigarette on the grey cobblestones.
"Wait, a caravan?" a man in the group seemed to remember. "Did your varda burn, chav?
"A- Avva" (Yes) he managed to articulate, too happy to finally have an answer.
The group was now talking in Romani so brisk and fast that they could no longer understand them. Behind Eddy, Berry was nonchalantly smoking his pipe near the trailer and Charm was asking him for a hug. When the three men had finished their trade, the oldest that was to be the leader of the group turned to the teenager:
"Yes, there was a caravan at the north of the port. Continue on Fisher Road, you'll come to a small outlying field on the outskirts of town. Since the big burst, we no longer go there. This place has the evil eye.
Then the three men returned to their work while Eddy retraced his steps. He communicated this information to Berry who looked worried. A policeman looked at their caravan with an angry expression and seemed to want to annoyed them.
"What did you do to those men?" Eddy asked in a very small voice.
And the look that the squib gave him was so dry that he didn't try to find out more. They set off quickly.
They arrived in sight of the field indicated by the romanies after barely an hour.
It was a small pasture out of the way of the houses and hidden by a few trees which swayed gently in the distant wind coming from the sea. Approaching, Eddy didn't really know what to expect. The place was empty. He got out of the moving trailer and ran thoughtlessly toward the center of the pasture.
In its center was a small-blackened circle of weeds as if a fire had recently burned there. But the men had assured him that their clan no longer settled in these places. Could it be…
"Did you make that trace, chav? " Berry asked, approaching with a worried gait.
Yes, it must have been here that his Obscurus had woken up and he had killed his father. Sweat trickled down his neck. It was perhaps the worst thing to do to come back here after all. He wanted to run as much as he wanted to know more. Unsure of the decision to make, he brought his hand closer to the burnt grass. After all these years the magic of his Obscurus had left traces that seemed indelible.
When his fingers were exposed to the blackened bits of grass, he cried out and felt himself go.
Mom was gone. She was gone!
She had left her alone with him. And he didn't want to let go. For what ? Why didn't mom take him? Because he was a monster, as Dad said?
"Dirty little bastard! You are alone, she left you here because you are a violent and dangerous creature! She'll come back when I get rid of you."
His father stuck him a monumental slap. Eddy felt his magic activate inside him and managed to free himself. As he reached for the door latch to escape, he heard his father scream and the click of a gun.
"Dirty little bastard!"
His father fired, and it was black.
When he woke up, it was because people were shaking him around. Mr. Berry was leaning over him and looked worried sick.
"How're you, little' guy? You touched the grass and flew before you fainted! By Saint Christopher, that was the craziest thing I've seen in a long time."
He looked worried and devastated. Before he could even protest, the old man with surprising strength, had thrown him over his shoulder to lead him back to the trailer. He put it there like a potato sack and went in the back, grumbling.
Eddy was shaking and feverish. He couldn't stop his fingers from shaking all over the place. As he was going to take the illuminial in his pocket, Berry came back with a flask, which he handed to him:
"Drink me this potion, it's more than effective to loosen the tongue."
He knew he shouldn't accept drinking presents from a stranger, but Tina and Newt, then Berry after them, had taught him that strangers aren't necessarily those with the worst intentions. Sometimes those close to you are capable of doing you much more harm. He swallowed the potion which happened to be a flask of aged alcohol. He half choked as the liquid poured down his throat like an inferno.
It did, however, calm him down enough that he was able to stroke Charm close to him. He stood there sharing his flask with the old man for a while.
He felt his vision become blurry and the onset of a headache invade him.
"What did you see?" the squib finally asked after finishing the old flask.
"Mirro … dade (my father)," he gasped. "He tried to shoot me… so I killed him."
He wasn't sure if he should be happy about that fact or not. He had known for years that his Obscurus had killed his father, Tina and Newt having found his charred body in the trailer. But even knowing he was beaten, horror suddenly descended on him. His father had tried to shoot him in cold blood. Mr Berry, however, seemed unconcerned by his confession. He got up with a crack of vertebrae and left to unsaddle the horses.
The sun was setting and Eddy was too weak even to move from where he was curled up. He tightened his grip on Charm against him and the alcohol helping, he suddenly fell asleep.
.
.
.
He communicated his findings to Tina and Newt half-wordily by mirror. If they had been panicked, he tried to reassure them as best he could. He still had new research to do.
Only since his vision of the blackened circle of grass, no other had come. He had tried for several days to touch this place where he had detonated his magic without his memories or even his Obscurus stumbling. Mr. Berry had grown tired of seeing him curse around the circle of grass. He had offered to keep moving forward to continue their research. Eddy had been reluctant to follow him, leaving the pasture as if a part of him had been torn away again. He didn't take his mind off the rest of the day alongside the old man.
Berry had suggested that he follow the arm of the sea along the coast to get to Bristol outside Wales. Apparently, his people hadn't been in the area for a long time, so why bother? Eddy felt like he had not made much progress in the past few days.
In fact, since these revelations he was always tense and feverish. A rage seized him as soon as he thought of his father.
They made a camp after leaving Newport. Eddy had spent the morning working with the old man sorting through what he had found on the road. In the afternoon, they stopped not far from a small pond. Eddy had happily jumped in with Glamor, delighted to be able to get rid of the dirt and sweat he had accumulated over the past few days.
Eddy wasn't a very good swimmer, but the water was up to his waist, he frolicked a bit with his Kneazle while the old man was dipping his old feet in the water, cutting himself a wedge of apple with his pocketknife.
Again, Eddy noticed that he looked worried. If they had gotten closer over the past week, Bill Berry was not a friend. He was solitary, dry and did not allow anyone to be too curious about him. So that was why the old man glared at him coldly when he saw Eddy watching him.
The teenager plunged back into the water at full speed, but the old man stopped him:
"When we get to Bristol, I'll show you some people. You'll talk to them for me."
Eddy nodded, unable to help but be suspicious. He got out of the water and shook himself like a dog. Almost sure he was a little less dripping, he sat down on a moss-covered rock. Berry didn't want to be in too much contact with other Romanis.
"What happened with your clan?" Eddy asked again.
The man looked even more annoyed. He furiously cut his apple to the core, then this fruit torture finished, he seemed to have lost his aggressiveness:
"The same as you in a way, chav. Mandi marem mirro kinshna. (I killed one of mine). It is for this reason that a Romani is banished. For killing his own kind."
Eddy gasped and felt himself getting even more feverish. Had his mother turned her back on him for that? No sooner had the thought been evoked than it became almost a certainty in his eyes. So to suppress the rising sobs, he looked at Berry who looked nostalgic.
"My brother and I were in love with the same racli (girl). My brother might have powers, but it was with my knife that I stabbed him. 'Lost a lot that day, I was only sixteen. Adult in a sense, but I was just a lost pup' back then."
Eddy looked down not really knowing if he could trust a man who had confessed to having killed his own brother in cold blood.
"It's extremely easy to kill someone," said old Berry. "Magic or no magic. Once it's done, it's done. We can no longer go back. You just have to learn to live with it. You too will come, with time."
Eddy thought that he just might not have much time left, and they set off again for Bristol.
They came within sight of the city the next evening. It escaped from Bristol in full enlargement a polluted and difficult to breathe air. Eddy still didn't feel well, or even worse than before. Berry's revelations had not calmed his apprehensions, quite the contrary.
Berry and he made their camp in an inlet near the cliffs. Behind these was a camp of Irish gypsies and travellers. Berry told him what to say and he went. Close to the sea, the caravans and horses offered a curious picture of shadows cut by the light of a fire. As he approached several heads swivelled towards him.
"I'm not an enemy," he introduced himself valiantly in his own language, clutching Charm. "I want to see your chief."
Two teenagers in overalls looked very suspicious but led him to an out-of-the-way trailer. Only, his arrival had brought a lot of curious people and when they reached the chief's trailer, there were already a dozen of them waiting for their conversation to begin. The leader was a tall, fair-skinned man with long, thick black hair. He glared at him.
"Who are you, chav?"
"My name is Eddy Lee. I am the son of Danny Lee, I seek the blood of my blood."
His surname had raised some heads, some romanies commented among themselves. A Traveller (1) was the chief, but they did not speak the same language at all.
"The Lees aren't here anymore. "Some went back to Dublin, others on the road," said the old chief. "Are you Danny Lee's son? I thought he was dead."
"He is," Eddy said with difficulty, clinging to his Kneazle. "Did you know him?"
"Your dad practiced boxing as a child, he was even known for it. I had seen one of these games years ago. It was the best right hook I've seen. But you won't find anything here."
Eddy felt sorry for not having found more information and refused to budge. Two little girls with a little nasty eyes hissed in shock at his refusal and then scuttled into their mother's petticoats.
"If you know my name, you must know if any other members of my family are alive! Help me please."
The old traveller stood up. The one who was to be his wife by his side dressed in a black stole looked pensive. She growled something at her husband in a dialect derived from Romani and the language travellers that Eddy did not understand. The other replied in a dry voice before turning to him:
"Lee had a sister, I think. Zelda Lee. Now go, chav. Tell Bill Berry we didn't kick him out just because you were with him. If in the morning you are still there, you will be considered as enemies."
Slowly and as the clan watched, Eddy turned away, panting. He had his aunt's name without knowing more about his family. This caused a dull anger in him as he walked away from the bay. He didn't want to go straight back to the cliff that sheltered his caravan and went off angrily into the night. He uttered a cry of rage and Charm in his arms wanted to help him vent his anger by adding a growl to his cry.
He didn't expect to find this information there, but the distrust and suspicion he inspired in these people pained him even more than all the comments he had heard at Hogwarts about his Obscurial status.
He was excluded everywhere he go.
Soddenly, Eddy noticed in terror that his magic began to crackle around him like furious little sparks. He let go of Charm and tried to calm down. He crouched down to recite Tina's nursery rhymes, but it wouldn't stop. He felt overcome by a burning and powerful anger. Maybe Professor Riddle was right? Wasn't that nonsense enough? A powerful ray emanated from him and struck Charm who wanted to give him comfort.
"No! CHARM!"
The animal scampered away with a squeal and disappeared into the darkness. Eddy felt tears well up in his eyes. He had hit Charm! He had hurt him. Soon everything around him was a kind of fog mixed with magic, dust and sand and nothing wanted to stop. He saw old Berry coming towards him, Charm on his heels with the Scamander mirror in his mouth.
Then it was black.
.
.
When he opened his eyes, Eddy knew he had returned to Scamander Cottage. The smell of woodwork mixed with sea salt was so special that he would have recognized it anywhere. Newt and Tina were at his bedside.
"You scared us so much, my boy," Tina sighed, hugging him. "What happened?"
"How long have I been sleeping?" he squealed uncomfortably, trying to free himself.
"Two days," replied his guardian gently. "You had a little crisis, nothing serious. These last few days must have been hard for you."
"But I took my potion correctly. Twice a day on a regular schedule," he cried, wanting to get up.
From the look his guardians gave him, he knew it had nothing to do with his treatment. He blanched and sat back on his bed.
"It seems your Obscurus has grown a lot lately," Newt muttered apologetically. "Mr. Berry was nearly knocked unconscious, if Charm hadn't managed to light the mirror things could have been more serious."
"Charm! Charm, I hurt him, is he okay?"
"That old Kneazle is stronger than he looks. He is fine. He's resting and doesn't blame you. He understood, like all of us."
Eddy didn't think that was a good enough reason. Tina conjured up a hearty breakfast with the tip of her wand, but the boy wasn't hungry. He turned his gaze to the window of his room, refusing to look at them, devoured by shame. Tina tried to talk to him to get him to eat but when he didn't answer, she ended up sighing and leaving.
"You're going to need some rest from now on," Newt whispered. "A little time here will do you good. Albus can come by later to examine you too."
"No. I don't want to see him."
His tone had been so curt that Newt cringed. He got ready to leave, but Eddy judged that he could not dismiss those who had taken care of him for so many years so curtly:
"I'll send a letter to Mr. Berry apologizing… I found the name of an aunt, Zelda Lee. She's my father's sister."
Newt then gave him a soft, reassuring smile.
"Things are progressing then, Eddy. Not as fast as you'd like, but I know you'll find them. Eat a little, Tina finds you too pale."
So, he complied once Newt was gone.
The next two days were quite quiet. Even if he knew the name of a member of his family, it tasted like too little. He now dreamed of going after her and felt cramped in the comfortable Scamander Cottage. He spent all those days staring at the sea in front of him. Charm sometimes came to see him, but fearing that he would not end up attacking him, Eddy was distant. He needed to be alone.
Full of his joy at making friends and rediscovering his past, he had forgotten that he was only on borrowed time. His Obscurus had given him a stinging reminder. It was always there and it would always be there, until it consumed it.
He heard footsteps behind him and saw Tina. She walked forward in her long pastel dress. She had on her head a little hat to protect her from the sun and a delicate little parasol. So, she looked a bit like the young ladies from the Impressionist paintings in the museum where she used to took him when they were in United States.
She sat down quietly beside him.
"Your friend is supposed to come in two days. Do you want to cancel? If we welcome him it's not so that he sees you sulking all day."
He had almost forgotten that Salazar had to come with all this. Eddy shook his head. His situation was complicated but he would feel even more helpless and sad to leave his friend alone.
"Do you trust Dumbledore, Tina?" he asked after half a minute watching the undertow.
He felt the old woman tense beside him.
"In a way, yes, I trust him. However, I do not forget his flaws. Dumbledore was the only one who believed in Newt for a while and he was right. Dumbledore believes in you that way. So if I can't trust him all the time, at least I trust his judgement."
She gave him a wonderful smile and got up quietly despite the hand he offered her.
"Don't treat me like an old owl, young man. But if you really want to help me, come, we have to prepare Salazar's room. Since Theseus returned to MACUSA, I haven't cleaned it."
A little more smiling, he complied.
Salazar arrived on the appointed day with his mother and a house-elf. It was evening and the Scamanders had been waiting for their guest for almost an hour. Eddy thought that this delay was not the most polite, but too happy to see his friend again he didn't care.
Mrs. Riddle remained on the front steps, refusing to enter the illuminated mansion. She was similar to the time he had met her at Hogwarts, still gloomy and sinister with her long black hair flowing around her sunken face. Tina seemed a little surprised when she saw the look of the woman:
"H-Hello, we are Newt and Tina. Glad Salazar could come here. We will take good care of him."
"I don't doubt it," the woman whispered with a hint of accent.
She had a low, deep voice that made all three of them uneasy. Only Salazar and the elf seemed used to it. Eddy noticed that the little creature was terrified. The mother leaned towards her son and grabbed his face.
"Be sage, or I'll know it. Have fun. Good evening."
On these short sentences, she turned around, grabbed the elf's hand roughly and disappeared after him. Salazar, -suitcase in hand-, gave them a small, shy and uncomfortable smile. Seeming to recover a little, Tina greeted him warmly.
"Come Salazar. We were going to start dinner. Do you like fennel pie?"
"I've never eaten it, but I'm sure I like it. Thank you for welcoming me."
Newt and Tina 's heart melt in an instant. They sat down and the two friends gave each other a knowing smile. Their argument before the end of class had been forgotten. Sal seemed so happy to be here, facing Newt Scamander who was his idol that he couldn't take his broad smile off his face.
"Sorry for the delay, Mrs and Mr Scamander. My mother had things to do before sunset."
From the little look he gave him, Eddy that it must be related to her Darkblood's power. Maybe she couldn't move in broad daylight? A vampire wife for their grim teacher seemed like the only logical choice after all.
They ate in a good atmosphere. Newt told stories of his travels to their eager audience. It was one of his ways of working, often telling his adventures aloud before putting them down on paper —to be sure not to forget one of the most captivating details. Anyway, if Newt had forgotten a detail, Salazar would never have cut it so absorbed he was in his stories. They then went to bed. Eddy had a thousand things to tell his friend, but still under the influence of his relapse he could not hold out for long and fell asleep.
They were in Newt 's suitcase feeding a fire crab when Eddy decided to tell him about his trip. Sal listened to him as he knew how to do so well, silent and pensive.
"So you have an aunt maybe living between Dublin and the rest of Britain?"
"That's the idea. It will take me a while to find her, but I already have her name. It's better than nothing."
He gave the firecrab a tickle while Salazar walked ecstatically to another end of the suitcase where there was a small Romanian Longhorn. The animal had been poisoned by poachers and had not been able to spit fire for years. The dragon looked pitiful as Salazar slowly approached.
"And you, your summer?"
"My father had me translate Greek and Runes. Nothing very exciting but he seemed happy."
Eddy wasn't sure what made Mr. Riddle happy about translating those languages, but didn't ask any further questions. Sal did not seem to be in a hurry to say more. He gazed at the old suitcase with delight.
"Is this where you grew up?" Sal asked. "You are so lucky."
Eddy didn't really consider it luck, but the young Slytherin's way of seeing was often a little different from his so he didn't hold it against him.
"On and off," he admitted. "I stayed for several months in the form of an Obscurus. It was Tina and Newt who managed to turn me back to human. I waited until I was ten to finally get out of the suitcase."
That time seemed so distant to him that it felt like an eternity, yet it was only four years earlier that he had nearly died. And he still wasn't out of the woods. Somehow, Sal seemed to realize his confusion because he looked away from the dragon and turned to him.
"You managed to get out of that suitcase, you won't go back there again."
Eddy was less sure of this statement but not to offend Salazar, he forced himself to smile and nod.
Newt carefully descended the ladder leading to the basement of the suitcase.
"Are you there, boys? Tina was looking for you to go shopping."
The two boys smiled innocently; fully aware that they had hidden in the bottom of the suitcase precisely to avoid this chore.
Newt didn't seem to hold it against them. He advanced with a heavy basket to feed the small creatures in his care. After feeding Cassie the Occamy and her baby Didi —named after Eddy who gave birth to her, the old man turned to the Romanian Longhorn.
Newt leaned towards the little dragon trying to stroke its muzzle. He had in his hands a huge haunch of meat that the animal didn't even want to sniff.
"Eat a little, Pascal," whispered Newt sadly. "You still lost weight."
"What happened to him?" Sal asked. "I feel his pain but he won't respond."
"To catch him, poachers made him swallow poison. It was just supposed to put him to sleep but there were side effects. He will be unable to breathe fire for the rest of his life."
Sal seemed so horrified by this observation that he gave Pascal The Longhorn an almost misty look. Newt had about the same amount. They looked a lot alike.
"It's a great torment to be able to feel what they feel," Newt whispered. "When we see how animals see men, I'm often ashamed to be part of this category."
Slowly, Newt landed next to Pascal and caressed him between his long black horns. The dragon emitted a small jolt but seemed happy with this caress because it blew a small pitiful smoke from its nostrils. Moved by a strange instinct, Salazar sat down facing the dragon and put his hands on his long nose. Salazar then began to mutter something and a sweet energy shot out from between his fingers and flowed towards the dragon's nostrils. Newt and Eddy watched this spectacle completely flabbergasted.
The ray of white light stopped. Pascal broke his nose contact with Salazar and suddenly arched his head back as he stood up. The three wizards jumped back. The Longhorn then, took a deep breath and for the first time spat fire towards the ceiling.
The column of flame could have engulfed the suitcase if its interior were not the size of a building. Newt burst into a light laugh that made him look much younger than he was as Salazar followed in his laughter.
Unsure whether to laugh or be shocked, Eddy followed them in their glee.
As Salazar turned away to tend to a family of pixies in another corner of the suitcase, Newt turned to him.
"You told me about this boy's gifts, but it's beyond anything I've seen," Newt breathed, still amazed.
"You haven't seen anything yet, look."
Sal had actually crouched on the floor of the suitcase and was using his gentle magic to appease the creatures around him. A hippogriff and a crup had approached Salazar and wanted many hugs from him. Newt looked even more surprised. He smiles more.
"He reminds me a bit of you," Eddy admitted.
"My magic isn't as strong, but thank you for the compliment," the old man said softly. "Some wizards have abilities to communicate with magical creatures, but he is extremely powerful."
He seemed pensive.
"Don't tell Dumbledore about it," Eddy said. "I know he already knows, but Sal deserves some peace. I don't think that happens to him too often."
Newt had seemed a little suspicious at hearing Dumbledore's name. They were not long in joining the young Riddle who cuddled against him a small bowtruckle and a niffler. So Sal was appeased and somehow Eddy was too.
.
.
Medusa was bored. After her internship, she had spent half the summer working on unbewitching the opal necklace she had stolen. Without much success. Her father had been away most of the summer but had been very amused by the little prank he had played on her with the Vanishing Cabinet.
"Come on," he said without looking up from what he was doing. "Did you need to be angry to get my spell to go off? It's because your magic isn't instinctive enough. You will have to work more."
He had postponed plans to stay after the Derby and fired her. She was furious.
While accompanying her mother at the Derby, she had come across Bellatrix and Rita in the dressing room. The Derby was the place where all the wizards of good society met. Her mother's talents as a breeder had naturally assured them a good place in these places, as had their father's position.
These were gigantic Thestrals or Abraxans races in which half-bloods, mudbloods and squibs squandered all their money.
When her parents went to the Derby, it wasn't to bet, though. There were many mysteries there. Their mother was just greeting Abraxas Malfoy who owned the place as well as her son Lucius who was to start his first year at Hogwarts at the start of the school year.
Her mother and Abraxas slipped away and Medusa was consumed with curiosity. She considered following them.
"Salazar isn't with you?" Rita asked, cutting her off.
"No, he's at Lee's, but not a word. My father doesn't know," she whispered to her comrades, taking a glass of butterbeer in the dressing room.
"Then it would be a shame if he knew about it," Lucius' sly little voice said behind them.
"Go drink your milk and burp, Lucius," snapped Bellatrix. "If I find out that you've blubbered again, I'll use your head as a bludger."
The little boy blanched and left without asking for his rest, so the three friends laughed. Rita left to join her mother Catalina who was watching a race as Bellatrix pulled her to her.
"Don't you feel too lonely? I plan to invite you for the end of the summer. Father will also be absent most of the time. I have a little surprise to show you."
Intrigued, Medusa wanted to know more but Bellatrix turned away giving her an enigmatic little smile.
When her mother returned with Malfoy senior, Medusa asked her to spend some time with her friend. As usual and calmly, her mother did not seem to object. She had Nagini not to be alone and above all, she seemed to need some rest. Medusa did not know what her father had asked her to watch out for but it had tired her.
That was why two days later, she was at Blacks Cottage. The house was not as big as the rest of the Black mansions. Bellatrix's family being rather penniless, this house was even a donation from a distant cousin Lestrange.
"My big cousin Leta bequeathed it to my mother with her elf," Bellatrix, with whom she shared her room, told her.
Narcissa and Andromeda shared the other bedroom at the other end of the corridor while the couple had taken up residence in the Attic. This house was small for Purebloods of their rank and Cygnus, -the girls' father- hoped for many fruitful marriages to ensure the prosperity of his lineage. According to Bella he was in talks for a marriage between Andromeda and Marcus Zabini.
In Bellatrix's emerald green bedroom, Bellatrix was at the window and smirked. Then Medusa moved closer. The room overlooked the sea, and on the coast there were half a dozen other houses, probably witchy because no car or other motor vehicle was parked.
"See that white house in the back? Mother thought she was for sale. It just wasn't occupied by their owners. The Scamanders."
Medusa had the sudden urge to kiss her classmate who was smiling with evil joy:
"Your brother and Lee are here. I saw them go down to the beach before you got there. I warned Rita by fireplace, she is preparing her bag."
They exchanged a malicious look.
It only took a few minutes to convince Druella Black to let them out. Lady Black suffering from a migraine had even ordered that they take Narcissa with them and Andromeda was appointed chaperone. The eldest of the Blacks was walking, holding the plump little blonde girl by her hand. They were going down a little path of pebbles and sand strewn with weeds.
"Mother says Narcissa has gained weight again," Bellatrix whispered, walking beside her. "You agree? She says she can never get married at this rate."
"Nonsense."
If Narcissa still had the curves of childhood, she was only eleven years old. Parents could have such cruel words, she thought while she reached the beach.
Eddy Lee and Salazar were actually there playing ball on the sand. If when they saw them Salazar smiled at them, Eddy Lee froze.
Medusa thought that he had grown well over the past month, he had lost his nervous little sparrow build for something a little more mature and a little darker. He had sunken cheeks and the young girl thought he looked very tired.
Behind them, an old woman was putting her book on her briefcase, surprised at their arrival.
"What are you Gorgons doing here?" Lee asked his ball in his hands.
Andromeda sighed and turned away to take Narcissa to change in an off-centre cabin, but Bellatrix smugly retorted.
"Well, neighbour, have we lost our sense of hospitality? I live in the house on the hill, she sneered", pointing to the house behind her.
Lee became green. Bellatrix had noticed the old woman and didn't seem to mind wanton insulting the young man until she walked away.
"Great," he growled under his breath.
Sal gave Medusa a curious look; they communicated for a few seconds out of legilimency and exchanged news, then her brother left after Lee. He too had changed a lot in the last few days, he had tanned and regained his innocent look. Medusa had never seen his face so serene. Moving her away from the house was a good idea.
The two girls saw Rita arrive in a bathing suit, a big pink straw-hat over her head and huge heart-shaped sunglasses on her eyes, emerging from between the dunes where there was a chimney. She walked towards them, smiling:
"So it's true that Lee is your neighbour, Bella? I didn't think we could have fun with him before Hogwarts", she said carnivorously.
She spread out her many belongings with a contented smile. Andromeda was going swimming with Narcissa. Bellatrix watched them longingly but didn't move from her briefcase.
"Don't you want to go swimming, Bella?" Medusa asked as she lay down on her towel.
"It's not good manners with other boys on the beach," she said in the voice of a little girl who has learned her lesson well. "Andromeda goes there to accompany Cissi , but imagine what mother would say."
"And your mother is not here, given the headache she had, she will not get up from her bed anytime soon," pointed Medusa.
If the argument did not had impact, the ball that crashed near her yes. Fuming, Bellatrix stood up to give a beating to the two boys who ran away, horrified by their mistake. The three went into a kind of silly match where they had to avoid the ball that Bella was throwing at their back. Medusa and Rita snickered.
Medusa was about to dive back into her book to tan but she noticed that the old woman had left her towel to join them. She was a tall, sweet-looking witch in her sixties.
"Are you classmates of my Eddy?" she asked, sitting down next to them.
Both girls nodded innocently as Bella came back to them avenged for Sal and Lee's clumsiness. Faced with this stranger, the brunette froze and then slowly walked towards her towel like a worried animal. Mrs Scamander turned her head to the young Riddle.
"It must be you Medusa, Salazar's sister? My Eddy told me a lot about you," she confessed to him in confidence.
Medusa widened her smile where Rita and Bellatrix giggled a little more. The woman didn't seem to notice, she watched with tenderness her protege running between the dunes with Salazar. Lee ran very fast, he was almost impossible to catch despite the efforts of her younger brother.
"I'm glad he found such good friends so quickly. He deserves it. You seem like really lovely young ladies, all three of you."
"Thank you," the three cooed at the same time.
"If you want to share the snack under our parasol, you are welcome. I made molasses pie."
After this invitation, the old woman quietly returned to her seat and took up her book. Medusa thought that this woman was very gentle and very sensitive to the little she had checked at home. She knew after reading her thesis that she had been an Auror before choosing a life that was probably calmer and gentler. Somehow, that sweetness had brought a bit of anger and resentment to Medusa's heart.
"My Eddy, my Eddy," Rita teased in a small falsetto voice. "My little Eddy has a crush."
"Oh shut up," Medusa whispered amused. "Let me finish my chapter instead."
"Stop reading," Bellatrix cried, snatching the book from her. "For once we're all three in the summer, aren't you going to snub us?"
Medusa agreed to her argument. Andromeda and Narcissa were leaving the water. The little blonde absolutely wanted to make a sandcastle since she immediately dragged her sister into it.
"I'm doing Hogwarts," Narcissa explained very seriously.
Medusa judged that she didn't really have the talent of an Architectmagus but refrained from commenting. Narcissa looked so happy with her plan that even Bellatrix ended up leaving her towel to come and help her.
"The towers are taller, Cissi. This will be Gryffindor Tower. If you want then I will find a big crab so that he destroys it like a monster?"
The little girl seemed enthusiastic about this idea. Andromeda stood up and hurriedly left them. This picked the interest of the three teenagers who pretended nothing while she walked away.
No sooner had the eldest Black passed a high dune than the three girls climbed it and hid.
There were two teenagers behind the dune that they hadn't noticed at first. Andromeda joined one of them, a lanky teenager with brown hair. Medusa recognized him as Ted Tonks, a Muggle-born former Head Boy of Hufflepuff House. Rita's eyes twinkled and Bellatrix's narrowed.
"I understand better why she wanted so much to come when she does not like the sand. The vile little liar."
Bellatrix grimaced unfathomably and Medusa wondered what it could mean.
"Are you going to tell your parents?" inquired Rita who was watching the little couple with some envy.
"Not yet. Even Andy deserves a little respite, if it amuses her to delude herself with her little muggle while waiting to be married, good for her. But with that… I have enough to blackmail her for a while," she resumed in a cruel voice.
She turned away from the dune and went back down to their towel so her two friends followed her. Medusa thought that was a wise move on Bella's part but somehow she was right. Andromeda would surely be married before the end of the year.
Lee, Narcissa and Salazar were eating next to Mrs. Scamander, so, a bit reluctantly the three young girls brought their belongings closer. Narcissa sported a playful face but covered in sand and treacle tart. A far from noble attitude, but here on this beach nobility seemed to be the least of their worries.
"Eat, girls, there are more than enough."
The pie was sweet and really good. Mrs. Scamander had some talent in baking.
"Thank you, Mrs. Scamander. It's very good. Your husband is not here?"
"He is finishing his book at home. My Newt likes to work on his notes too much outside, —he got bad sunstroke yesterday. But thank you for your concern and for the compliment. It's a family recipe."
"Mean little girls are less mean when they don't have an audience," Lee scoffed, finishing his slice of pie.
At the dry look Mrs. Scamander gave him, he hunched his head like a turtle. The three girls giggled. He finished the crust of his pie and stood up abruptly. Sal soon joined him and without a word, they went swimming.
"He's even weirder than before," Bellatrix growled before realizing what she had blurted out in front of Mrs. Scamander.
But she didn't seem to take offense. She settled herself more comfortably on her towel and turned on the magic record player she had brought with her. Only it wasn't wizarding music coming out of that device.
"Muggle music, " Bellatrix gasped. "It's not good."
"Come on, it's just music," growled Mrs. Scamander gently. "There are things that are much worse than a few songs."
Bellatrix took Narcissa's hand to finish their Hogwarts of Sands. The record player continued its melody. It was the voice of several men singing a refrain in unison. Medusa found the lyrics playful and a bit soothing:
"What's the music? she asked.
"The Beatles," Rita told him even before Mrs. Scamander. "They're a hit in Muggle world!"
"Who would call a group: beetle? It's too weird."
"I like it," Rita squeaked in a small voice.
Medusa knew Rita's story. Her mother Catalina Skeeter -Song was Muggle- born and her father Richard Skeeter a former half-blood England Quidditch captain. In their complicated, narrow-minded world, the Skeeters were something of an exception. Their fame had allowed them to be accepted in many ways, —Catalina having opened with her voice the last ball of the ministry. They even participated in a certain way in the segregation of other bloods to make people forget theirs.
But in the eyes of many wizards, the Skeeters were just a small duo of troubadours who had to go quietly back to their dressing room once the curtain was down. They would be tolerated as long as they had things to do to entertain others, but they seemed to make do with this situation, eager to make a place for themselves. It must have been in this state of mind that Rita Skeeter had been brought up. Not knowing how to fly or sing, she had found in her pen a tool to continue climbing the social ladder created by her parents. Medusa knew very well that at first, when Rita met them, she was not looking for friend but for person of interest. They had let him come, and then somewhere they had felt the same old wound in their classmate as in their bosom. And then, Rita despite her blood was intelligent, cunning, gifted, and above all faithful to her dearest friends.
Medusa risked a look at the blonde who wore her most mischievous air. Yes, Rita was going to sparkle, once out of Hogwarts, and she couldn't wait to see that. But what would she do once she graduated? Her father had promised her many things for the future, but she didn't really know what it would be like.
Rita had gotten up and was dancing to another 'beetle' music, swaying her hips. Giggling, Medusa followed her. It had been a long time since she had had so much fun away from her worries. Mrs Scamander watched them from afar with a smile on her face.
"But what's happening to you, Medusa?" Rita scoffed.
"I hope dancing will attract Bella."
Indeed it observed them with a dark look of envy. Bellatrix loved to dance because she approached the stage like her fights, with a lot of confidence. The brunette eventually gets up from her sister to join them.
"If it's out of this beach, I swear to make you my inferi!"
Medusa and Rita giggled as Bella tried to match her dance steps to the new rhythms she was hearing. The young girl followed her comrades for a moment under the afternoon sun. She was hot.
She darted a glance towards the sea. She undressed and ended up joining her brother and Lee who were racing in the water. If Lee was nimble, he was a little less skilful in the water. Sal and he arrived at the same time at the ending point they had set on the beach.
"You built up over the summer, that's not fair," Salazar grumbled.
Medusa thought that indeed in addition to having grown, he had thickened a little and she felt the heat rising a little in her cheeks.
"You too it will happen to you," laughed Eddy. "Everyone has their own pace. So 10 to 0 in the race and tied in swimming."
"And race against me, would you like to?" Medusa whispered as she entered the water.
The slightly flushed teenager darted a glance at his bathing suit, then didn't really know where to look. Medusa's smile stretched as her brother scoffed.
"I'll leave it to you, Med. I have to go get some rest."
He left to join Cissi digging the moat of Hogwarts with her little fingers. Lee gave her a defiant smile and dove into the water. Medusa soon followed him. She was swimming very well and for a long time. Having grown up in the middle of a swamp it was not surprising. It only took him a few fathoms to catch up with him, and a few more fathoms to pass him. When they emerged, Lee looked a little miffed.
"Beat by a girl," she hissed. "It gets boring."
"We get used to it," replied the other, getting out of the water.
Andromeda and Tonks and her friend were. The young Black gave them a fierce look and put her finger to her mouth to urge them not to repeat what they had seen. Medusa rolled her eyes as she thought she had better things to do than broach today. She gave her a quiet gesture to soothe her and passed the couple with Lee.
The teenager had tucked his hands into the blue pockets of his swim shorts. He seemed unsure whether he should stay with her or not.
"Your guardian is really nice," Medusa said finally. "You probably make her life a living hell, poor thing. So your research went well?"
"Are you asking that because it interests you or because it interests your father?"
"My father doesn't care about your research," the young girl admitted frankly, crossing her arms.
He bit his cheek and seemed to admonish himself for more cordiality.
"I went back to where I was found…and found my aunt's name. She would still be alive."
He didn't seem to want to know more. Medusa locked her eyes with his curiously but he immediately turned away.
"No. I don't want you to get into my head!"
He was already climbing a dune to get around it. Medusa continued:
"Wait! Sorry, it was stronger than me."
She grabbed his arm to stop him and managed to do so without too much difficulty. They had gone a little deeper into the dunes and the beach spread out before their eyes. There were Bellatrix and Rita laughing next to Mrs Scamander, Salazar in the water, Narcissa playing ball, and across the dune Andromeda and her two friends.
"At least you said sorry, maybe we can do something with you, Riddle," Lee said cynically.
"No doubt, yes," she retorted in the same tone.
She noticed that behind them there was a strange cabin of worn scrap metal. Under the sun, it shone with a thousand lights. Intrigued, she approached it:
"What is that thing? It's really hideous."
"Phone booth," Lee replied. "Muggles use it to talk to each other."
She opened the cabin, taken aback. It wasn't very big, there was a strange handset and a sort of small wheel darted with holes and numbers.
"But how do they see each other? They put the kind of black banana in front of the face?"
"The black banana is a telephone. They put it on their ear, they can't see each other."
He demonstrated it to her with slow, simple gestures, as one would with a stupid child. She frowned, annoyed at being treated like this. She saw Lee's gaze lingering on her bathing suit; she could not hide her smile.
"Do you like my bikini, Lee? Rita gave it to me for my birthday."
She had moved forward until she cornered the teenager in the telephone booth, her two arms on either side of the entrance. Lee wavered between red and scarlet as he choked on his saliva.
"There's not… a lot of fabric," he finally articulates.
"Finely observed," she scoffed with a smirk.
Medusa then looked at Andromeda and Ted Tonks below. The two were lying on a towel and kissing each other full on the lips. Their friend, tired of holding the candle, had decided to go swimming. Not knowing how to interpret the scene she saw from the top of her dune, Medusa turned to Lee who had not left his telephone cage. She entered, joining the boy, closing the door behind her. They were closer than they had ever been in that little cabin. Lee looked terrified and stared at a graffiti near the handset so as not to look at her.
When their eyes finally met, Medusa read there that he found her very pretty, that he was a little afraid of her but that he didn't want her to go away. These thoughts pleased him very much.
"If it's another one of your tricks… Let me out."
Lee had grown over the summer, he was now a head taller than her, but he was there looking at her with his big brown eyes, topped with a red hair. Looking grumpy and tired, Medusa found him cute.
"I owe you something," she admitted frankly.
"Yes, your ice cream, it was taken from my salary, you-
"No. Remember after the game, at Truth or Dare."
It took him a while to understand and as soon as the flash of understanding passed in his eyes Medusa stood on her tiptoes and pulled the boy into a kiss.
His lips were warm and tasted a little salty. He responded awkwardly by wrapping his arms around her waist. It was the first time someone took her in his arms in this way. She found it was very pleasant. When she pulled away, Lee looked happy but confused. Medusa decided she loved that look and wanted to see it more often.
Soddenly, they jumped as they heard a shrill cry. Below, Narcissa had decided to go swimming alone and was carried away by the waves. Rita, Bella and Mrs. Scamander were devastated. The two teenagers left the phone booth and raced down the dune as Andromeda and her friends arrived. Narcissa was flapping her legs and hands, terrified in the water. She disappeared between two waves.
Bellatrix squealed so shrilly that an elf appeared beside her. The elf seemed to realize the situation and disappeared with a small sound crack before they had even completely descended the dune.
Salazar was the first to dive into the water, he too disappeared. Andromeda close to Medusa and Bellatrix turned to Tonks:
"Otis went to find our father! Go away before he sees you!"
Tonks, pale as death, complied and took his comrade's hand before disappearing. Salazar was out of the water and holding a trembling Narcissa close to him. They all ran towards them. Narcissa seemed to be fine, but she was confused and shocked. Bellatrix turned to Andromeda , surly.
"Did you rather tell your muggle to hide than help your drowning sister, Andy?"
"Bella, I-
"Filthy traitor!"
Violently the youngest of the Blacks slapped her eldest and turned to Cissi. As Mrs. Scamander went to stop Andromeda from responding to the slap, Rita froze.
"Oh -oh…"
Rita left the shore as if it were molten lava and ran to the beach to retrieve her things in a hurry. Mr Black arrived on the beach looking furious. Cygnus Black was one of Medusa's least loved people on this earth. He was cruel, violent and often very stupid. The look he cast at his daughters was so terrifying that the three gasped. Cissi clung to Salazar, suppressing a sob.
"Father,-" Andromeda began softly.
She never managed to finish her sentence because he slapped her violently at the very spot where Bella had struck a few moments earlier. Mrs. Scamander had risen as Rita ran to her fireplace, her things in her bag. No doubt her parents would soon find out about her escapade. Medusa held back a tremor. Their father would also know.
"Aren't you ashamed, little courtesans? On the beach in undress with boys?"
He grabbed Bellatrix and gave her a resounding slap as Narcissa cried more. Medusa looked away in modesty, refusing to see her best friend manhandled in front of her.
"Mr. Black, these girls weren't alone," said Mrs. Scamander harshly. "I chaperoned them, as did Eddy and Salazar. Don't punish them, please."
"Given your chaperonage, Half-Blood, you have no orders to give me."
To close the triad, he slapped a barely recovered Narcissa and pulled her behind him. The Black girls looked miserable and sobbed in terror. No doubt the slaps were just a taste of what was to follow. Mrs Scamander was devastated, as was Eddy, who was pale and seemed shaky.
"Mr. Black! Stop!"
The old woman had drawn her wand, outraged by the violence of the wizard as he returned to his house dragging his crying daughters behind him. Medusa put her hand on Mrs Scamander's, communicating to her with a look that there was no point in acting, the returns might just be even heavier for the three young girls.
Medusa, however, found that Cygnus Black had forgotten about her as he brought his daughters back. She was therefore alone on the beach with the old woman and the two young wizards.
"You were with Narcissa," Eddy whispered to Salazar. "Didn't you see her go into the water?"
"Yes ... but she was thinking of leaving. She was thinking so hard about going away when I picked her up. I didn't understand right away."
Medusa was devastated, and from the look she exchanged with Salazar, so was he. Mrs Scamander tried to collect herself, placing a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder.
"Come home with us, darling. I think we all need a hot chocolate."
It was the last thing in the world she wanted, but she nodded. Mrs Scamander put her things away, as did they. Medusa noticed that in her haste, Rita had unwittingly taken her dress. They left the beach without a word. Their euphoria had passed so quickly that it felt like an icy shower.
Arriving at the Scamander's home, Medusa found the cottage welcoming and almost warm compared to her priory.
The living room was a large room in light stone and with carved wooden eardrums, there reigned a monstrous shambles. Mr. Scamander worked at his coffee table with a niffler on his head and small round glasses at the end of his long nose reddened by nasty sunburn. When he looked up at their foursome, he was surprised for a second before his wife's gaze told him everything he needed to know.
Medusa felt ashamed and dirty, she only had her bathing suit on. No one else should see her in that outfit.
"Mrs. Scamander, could I borrow a dress from you? My things stayed at Bella's..."
The woman nodded and brought up a light blue dress that Medusa put on in the bathroom. When she came out she was feverish and trembling, Eddy and Salazar were seated in the kitchen in front of a cup of chocolate that Mr Scamander was melting with the end of his wand.
"You want some? You're Salazar's twin, right?"
The old man had said his brother's name with so much affection that Medusa felt anger gripping her rather than fear. She had had enough of those nice Scamanders, of their pretty house, of that stupid expression they constantly had, and above, all she was tired of Eddy Lee who was staring at her with a bewildered air like a little puppy.
"No thank you, no chocolate for me. I am no longer a baby girl."
Salazar huffed, annoyed. Mr. Scamander left to join his wife who was outside and upset. Lee drank some of his chocolate, uncomfortably.
"Med, for what happened-"
Before Lee had finished speaking, Medusa gave him a resounding slap and whispered badly:
"Med? Med? Who on this damn planet allowed you to talk to me like that? Go die, Eddy Lee! It won't be long!"
She had screamed so loudly that she was sure the Scamanders had heard her. Salazar rose abruptly to pull her by the arm. Lee looked at her with furious eyes.
"You're crazy!" whispered her twin. "Don't talk to him like that!"
"Stop standing up for him, by Morgana's shadow! You should never have come here, filling your head with the nonsense of these blood traitors was a bad idea!"
The look his brother gave him was the coldest he had ever given him. They then heard Mr and Mrs Scamander gasping. From the window, Medusa saw that her father had just appeared on a dune and was walking towards the driftwood portal. Cygnus Black had therefore warned him well. Their progenitor collided with the protections of the house and was briefly pushed back. Then, with a hiss and a wave of his hand, he destroyed the Scamanders' meagre protections and advanced into the garden. When he got close enough, Medusa noticed that he looked calm but he couldn't help a red sparkle in his eyes from lighting up.
The three teenagers left the house, forgetting their resentment. Mrs Scamander had the unreasonable reflex to stand in front of her and Salazar.
"Mr. Riddle…we can explain the situation to you. It was nothing serious, the children were having fun."
"And the children must go home, right now. Medusa. Salazar."
He had such a chilling tone that the two teenagers complied, lowering their heads. Medusa felt her heart pounding in her chest. The punishment was going to be terrible. Eddy tried to grab her arm, she pulled away worried and furious and hissed at him:
"So you really want to die? I'll help you there if you don't let me go!"
Mrs. Scamander looked so shocked at her insult that she glared at her with an icy expression that her father would not have disdained. Mr Scamander looked confused but their father's aura was enough to shut him up. Tom Riddle put his hands roughly on their shoulders.
"Good evening. Mr. Lee. Mr. and Mrs. Scamander."
He led them through the portal and they Apparated. She and Sal fell back onto the cold living room floor.
"Crucio," their father hissed.
The curse hit Sal, who convulsed on the floor, screaming. Medusa turned to their progenitor, terrified:
"I convinced him to go there!"
"I know," their father hissed. "The next one is for you! Crucio!"
The spell hit her so hard that she couldn't stop a low yelp from escaping her lips. She felt as if she had been thrown into a hot inferno. Over time, she had not been able to better support the unforgivables of their parent. Salazar hadn't gotten up, he was glued to the cold stone, his eyes glazed over as she writhed in pain.
"Are you back?" their mother whispered in parseltongue as she appeared from a corner of the wall.
Their father put an end to the unforgivable, his eyes became even redder. With a wave of his hand, he totally set the room ablaze. Trapped in the flames, Sal and Medusa gasped, their mother terrified. She was looking for a shadow to disappear like a deer facing a hunter. She slipped with difficulty behind the burning sofa.
"You, oh you," hissed their father, turning to their mother. "My back is turned and you do as you please! You're taking the kid to Dumbledore's friends! Are you so stupid you filthy squib!?"
He advanced towards her in the middle of the flames higher and higher and burning. Medusa turned to their brother, he was not moving, preferring to play dead rather than undergo a new spell. Their mother couldn't take off her terrified expression, in the light of the flames her eyes were lit and wide with panic fear. Medusa saw that they were dark blue. She had never seen her mother enlightened long enough to notice it.
"Send them out of these walls again while I'm on travel, and I'll burn you alive! Is that clear? "
Slowly and horrified, their mother nodded. With another movement of the hand the flames died down and disappeared on the order of their father.
"Take them away! Out of my sight all three."
Her mother got up on her stomach, grabbed her and Sal by the arm and plunged them into the darkness. When the freezing cold left her and she emerged from the darkness, her mother released her into a dark dungeon in the basement of their home.
"You'll pay for it, Medusa," their mother whispered, going to lock up their brother in another cell.
She replied with an angry hiss, knocking on the gates.
And she stayed there for a long time.
She had no idea how much time had passed, her father had returned to finish his business trip and her mother hadn't come. She heard him release her brother after what seemed like an eternity but didn't come for her. So, she stood there, shivering with cold in Mrs Scamander's light dress which had turned grey with saltpetre. The anger in her heart had not diminished nor had her intense feeling of humiliation. She hardly ate the trays left by the elves, dazed by fatigue and rage. She was there, curled up in a corner without moving.
She finally heard after what must have been days a creak on the stone steps. Her father came to her in front of the gate. And there, the rage diminished to be replaced by apprehension.
He entered the cell without a word and sat down against the wall where she was. Thus seated it was without doubt the most absurd pose that she could have seen of her father.
"Hogwarts starts tomorrow. You're going out tonight."
She didn't even know if she should be happy about this fact. Nothing made sense anymore in the darkness of this dungeon. Her father put an almost tender hand on her head to bring her to his shoulder. From there, he stroked her hair in a slow, mechanical motion, as he did with Nagini. She suppressed a shiver.
"Do you find me hard on you, Medusa?"
He grabbed her chin sharply for an answer to his questions. She didn't try to pull away. He read everything he needed to know and more because she saw his eyes redden in the darkness.
"I'm harder on you because you deserve it. You can be a powerful witch worthy of our blood if you give yourself the ability. What happened in Selsey will stay in Selsey. I asked you to get closer to the Obscurial, you seem to have exceeded my expectations.
She froze as her father's hand continued to stroke her hair. Was he going to give her a cruciatus for that? Put her under Imperium? She didn't know, and this apprehension sent cold sweat running down her back.
"Stop your childishness," hissed their father, getting up abruptly. "Edward Lee will die soon, and I would ask you to help me destroy him."
He held out his hand to help her up. Trembling, she took it.
(1 ) Travellers are a people originally from Ireland, mostly nomads. These are often confused with the Romanies as a single whole because of this way of life. If travellers, like romanies, suffer from discrimination and racism, they do not have the same history, nor the same origin. However, some Traveller and Romani families have intermarried throughout history.