Albus Potter and the Prophesied Year

Ch 55 Another year (Twenty-Twenty-Five)

Molly Weasley Hudson took a Floo to the narthex of the main church of the wizard Christians in the Swiss valley. The day was cold, but not blustery, this end of January day of twenty-twenty-five, and she wanted to set the stage for the article she was commissioned to write, so she stepped outside to remember what the building looked like from the outside. Like most buildings in the Swiss valley it was made of stone, and from the front and visible sides it looked very church like, with a bell tower, large windows with stain glass on the sides, large doors three or more meters high in font, more stain glass windows in the front of the church.

Again like most buildings it was built into the mountain, and was much larger on the inside that you could tell it was from the outside.

Molly had not been in very many churches, but she thought the narthex or gathering space was larger than normal. From the outside you could see six windows on each side. Once inside one of the stain glass windows shone down on the narthex on each side, and inside the church there were eleven more windows, something that would have confused Muggles or No-Maj, but that was rather normal in the magical construction of the valley. Molly wasn't sure how six windows outside turned into twelve windows inside, but this sort of thing was so common in magical construction she didn't even notice it.

The church was rectangular, and on the main floor it could seat about a thousand people, with a choir loft and a mezzanine level around the side that could seat maybe five hundred more people, again by the magical use of space. Molly sat down in one of the pews in the back of church, took out her tablet, and started to set the scene. The church was quiet, but she was supposed to meet Cleo here, so she looked around, up at the large pipe organ that Cleo often played, and towards the back (or was it the front) of the church where the altar was. An Elf was coming out of a side door up by the altar, and Molly waved at her.

The Elf Apparated to where Molly was, and asked her, "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Cleo," Molly replied. "I understand she is in a song writing session."

"Oh, that is in the choir room in the basement," The Elf replied. "I can lead you there."

The two beings walked out of the church proper, and towards some stairs that led up to the choir loft. If you went behind the stairs there were more stairs leading down, and they took the stairs to another large space. The room was maybe four meters high, with a floor that seemed to be a commercial carpet. There were doors to rooms off the main room. The room seemed to be lit by natural light, but it was hard to tell where the light was coming from, more magic.

Molly could hear music, then discussion, then a few more notes, coming from one of the rooms. The Elf pointed her towards the room, and Molly opened the door and entered.

"Welcome!" Cleo answered, getting up from the two rank portable keyboard where she had been sitting. There were a dozen beings, seven Magi and five Elf, with musical instruments, staff paper, and some Muggle recording devices scattered around the room.

Also in the room were the inevitable Magi and Elf guards, and Alice Milne, the children's nanny plus Cleo's children playing in a corner.

Cleo proceeded to introduce the other beings in the room to Molly, as she proceeded to take down their names.

The song writing session lasted a couple of hours.

When the session was over Cleo told Molly, "I need to go back to the castle, but you can come with me if you would like."

"I would like that," Molly replied.

There was an underground passageway from the lower level of the church to the first lower level (floor -1 by the strange way the castle floors were numbered) where you could enter the castle, and the group walked to the castle.