LATIBULE - F.WEASLEY

2

"I was seven," Maggie says. "We had attended a Ministry Event, a fundraiser or something, and I had gotten bored and irritable so I had thrown a tantrum. My grandfather said I was tired, I think, and took us back to the house. When we got back I remember him hitting me across the face and a stinging pain that took a while to fade. It worsened over the years"

"When was the worst time?"

"After the Quidditch World Cup," Maggie says. "My grandfather had smuggled my father there, hidden him under a spell. Winky, the Crouch house elf was tasked with monitoring him. He was the one who instigated the attack that day and cast the dark mark"

"What happened when you returned home?"

"I shouted at my grandfather when we got back and told him that I wished he had died. That grandma was lucky because she'd managed to get away from him," Maggie picks at her nails as she talks. "He struck me, hard. Then he left my father to deal with me. That's the first time I ever felt the cruciatus curse"

"The cruciatus curse?" Amelia looks horrified at Maggie's revelation.

"It went on for so long that I have irreversible tremors in my hands," Maggie sniffles. "But not long after I got my escape when I returned to Hogwarts"

"Where you entered the tournament?"

"Yes, he wasn't impressed with that," Maggie shakes her head. "He pulled me to the Great Hall whilst the other staff were trying to understand what happened with Harry and struck me. But something happened on my birthday, my father showed up. Told me he was being a good father by visiting me"

"Did anyone else see him?"

"Yes," Maggie blurts out. "But I don't want them to get in trouble"

"Was it a fellow student?"

"Yes,"

"Their name?"

"Fred Weasley," Maggie can't control the words coming from her mouth due to the potion.

"Mr Weasley will not be in any trouble don't worry Maggie," Amelia says. "What happened after all of that?"

"After the first task was the next time I saw my grandfather." Maggie continues in her story. "By this point, Fred and George both knew what my grandfather was doing. How he was hurting me. So we had formulated a plan, George took a photo when he raised his hand to strike me and I blackmailed him with it"

"Did it work?"

"Yes, his image was too important to him," Maggie nods. "He called off the impending betrothal with the Flint family and left me alone. The next time I saw him was on Christmas Day but we didn't speak. After that-"

"Would you like a moment Maggie?" Professor McGonagall asks the girl who had started crying.

"No," Maggie sniffles, shaking her head. "I need to get through this"

"There's no shame,"

"I can do this," Maggie states. "The next time I saw my grandfather was after the second task when I found him dead in the forest"

"How did you feel?"

"I felt sad," Maggie admits, tears freefalling down her cheeks. "Sad because now the only living family member I had was my father. But I also felt relieved, I could breathe. I was free. Does that make me a bad person?"

"No. It makes you strong and brave Maggie. Something I have always seen in you. Ever since you were a little girl"

As Amelia speaks, Maggie can feel the weight of her guilt lifting off of her shoulders. Tears start to roll down her cheeks as she struggles to keep her composure. At the sight of Maggie's tears, Professor McGonagall pulls Maggie into a warm embrace, holding her tightly as she cries.

"Do you have any more questions for me?" Maggie asks through her tears.

"No. The only thing I have to say to you Miss McKinnon is that you can owl me personally if you need anything. I will support you in whatever way I can and that is a promise. You know I rarely ever make those,"

"Can I visit him?" Maggie asks the woman whose eyes widen in surprise.

"Your father?"

"I need to put him behind me and I can do that without facing him first,"