The British Ministry of Magic claims that magical blood is dwindling in Pureblood families. This puts some students in awkward positions. Kris Averbach finds himself being dangled like a piece of meat in front of eligible Pureblood young ladies, but...
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Kit loved Hogsmeade weekends. This Saturday was sure to be one of the best yet. He and Julian met in the common room and made their way down together. Julian was, if possible, even more excited than third years who were also attending Hogsmeade for the first time.
"So there will be adult witches and wizards there?" Julian asked him as they walked along the bustling path that led to Hogsmeade, their hands shoved in their pockets and their collars pulled up against the chilly morning air. "And they can all do magic anytime they want?"
Kit laughed a little. "Well, sure. No Muggles around to see. Don't you have anywhere like that in the States?"
Julian shrugged. "Not really, no. There's a street in New York called Coven Cross that wizards and witches can access to shop, and there's MACUSA headquarters, but I've never been to either of those places. We're too afraid we'll draw attention to ourselves if we congregate."
Kit frowned thoughtfully. "Why's that? Wizards here get together all the time. Muggles hardly ever notice."
The American wizard looked over at him, his serious eyebrows furrowed anxiously. "It's not like that in the U.S. The No-Majs don't ignore evidence of our world. They question everything. We have to be really careful. It's... a bit tiresome," he admitted. "It was partly why I was so keen to come here! So much more freedom to just... be yourself. You know?" He gave Kit a hopeful look.
Kit's throat had gone dry. He nodded and said with a cracked voice, "Definitely." He coughed and cleared his throat. "Umm, so why do you think the No-Majs there aren't as thick as Muggles are here?"
"Scourers," Julian said promptly, his jaw tightening.
The image of Mrs. Skowers' Magical Mess Removal label popped into Kit's mind. "Huh?"
"Scourers were wizards during colonial America who hunted down their own kind and turned them over to the Puritans to be hanged. They turned over innocent No-Majs too and passed them off as witches or wizards." Julian's handsome face was a scowl now. Kit wished he hadn't asked. "When the magical community finally formed a government of their own and started rounding them up, a lot of Scourers decided to disappear into the non magical community. They taught their descendants that magic is real, and it's something to be hated and feared. It was their revenge to force us even more underground than any other wizarding community in the world," he said bitterly.
"But..." Kit frowned, feeling there was something obvious missing. "The Scourers were still magical. They would have magical children. What happened to them?"
Julian's expression became darker. "Killed, mostly, by their magical parent, as soon as they saw any sign of magic in the child. The mortality rate of children was still pretty high back in the late 17th century so no one batted an eye. That or the kid would become an Obscurial," he said off-handedly.
"A what?" Kit asked, unable to help himself. He was simultaneously horrified and fascinated by Julian's explanations.
A deep sigh emitted from Julian's lips as he tugged his jacket collar up a little farther. "When a magical child tries to withhold their powers, it can turn inward and create a dark, uncontrollable force called an Obscurus," he said quietly. "The Obscurus is like a parasite. It feeds off the host, the child, and... well.... There have been very few documented cases of an Obscurial surviving past the age of ten." Julian's expression was bleak and Kit, again, wished he hadn't asked.
