CHAPTER FIVE
- Firewhisky & Banged Shins -
In the interim months of spring and summer that lay between Fi's interview and her relocation to Hogwarts, the hedge witch wandered the country. She loved Grigor, but the austere lifestyle of the nocturnal creature didn't mesh well with her needs, and she began to see the Masked Ones—as she called them—pacing the length of Knockturn alley with uncomfortable frequency. Each wizard or witch had the same menacing air to them, the same sharpness to their hunting gaze, like falcons circling a field waiting for a mouse to make a wrong move.
So Fi gathered her bag, her bird, and her talking skull and ventured on. She sought out those who owed her small debts, collecting coin or favor to keep her housed or to prepare her for the approaching school year. McGonagall had provided Fi with a list of items she should consider for her move and, when Fi had asked, had also recommended several stores for her selection of texts and basic wizarding needs. The latter had been given with a confused slant to the brow that Fi ignored.
As the days warmed and the snows fled, Fi walked the long paths of England, Wales, and Scotland, visiting Muggle and Wizarding settlements alike, retiring in the parlors of friends and associates to write her lesson plan and to puzzle through Muggle texts on proper teaching methods. All the while she kept a keen eye to her surroundings and too often spotted a shadow or two sniffing about the peripheries, closing in upon her.
In June, she stayed with a werewolf by the name of Calvin Butterman who suggested Fi capture and Imperio one of her lurkers into leading her back to his master. Fi was not as squeamish at the mention of Unforgivables as most witches, but she rather didn't like the idea of stumbling blindly into whatever den of snakes was breeding the Masked Ones. She discussed the idea with Ever over two fingers of Ogden's Old Firewhisky, and the dead witch had stated Fi "should have more sense than to pull the wool over her eyes and whack sleeping dragons."
The general consensus was Fi should avoid her followers and instead keep to herself until interest in her peculiarities faded. If there was anything Delphinia Dullahan had in abundance it was time and patience, so the hedge witch kept herself moving until the day arrived for her to return to Hogwarts.
Fi arrived in Hogsmeade much the way she had the first time, Apparating to one of the cozy lanes near the borders—though this time she came with bird and luggage in tow, a heavy trunk clattering to the cobblestones behind her while the hat box under her arm grumbled.
"Terrible form," Ever said, voice muffled by the box's cushioning. Fi had felt poorly about carting her mentor's skull about without proper care, so she'd procured the box to keep Ever secure and safe from curious eyes or sticky hands. "Sloppy, sloppy work."
"I'm distracted," Fi told her, looking about the summer-clad village with interest. It was much homier than it had been in the winter, warm and welcoming, and the lovely homes reminded Fi of her little house in the highlands. She missed her cottage desperately and hadn't been back since fleeing it earlier in the year. She imagined the Masked Ones had trashed the place by now.
Sighing, Fi retrieved her second-hand wand from her robes and held the instrument in her fist, frowning but pleased it hadn't vomited fire or more toadstools. "Alright, you."
She gave her trunk a deliberate prod and enunciated, "Locomotor."
The trunk lurched—then slammed into her legs.
"Bugger!"
"Watch your language, Delphinia."
Rubbing sore shins, Fi stuffed her wand into her robes. With a furtive glance about the empty lane, she willed her magic into being and flicked her hand, levitating the trunk off the street. Fi set the hat box on the trunk's lid with a satisfied huff. Puck clicked his beak.
"Right? So much easier."
As Fi began her trek to the castle gates, a door leading to a tavern swung outward and emitted two witches and the largest wizard Fi had ever seen. He stood a full head and shoulders taller than either of the witches accompanying him, dressed in a shaggy coat with a beard of wild, bushy brown hair. One of the witches was McGonagall, the other a woman of middling years with thin black hair and a fetching set of scarlet robes.
Their conversation halted mid-sentence when the trio spotted the other witch standing in the lane and McGonagall greeted her. "Ms. Dullahan, how are you? I didn't know you were arriving today. We were expecting you earlier in the summer."
"I'm well, thank you. I had a few things to take care of before moving myself in." Fi shook hands with McGonagall. "Call me Fi, Professor. Or Delphinia, if you wish."
The witch next to McGonagall extended her hand and Fi marveled at the strength of her grip. "Septima Vector. I teach Arithmancy at the school."
"Pleasure to meet you. Delphinia Dullahan, the new Magical Theory instructor."
The large man shuffled forward to shake Fi's hand next, and she noticed he was exceedingly careful with her tiny hand cradled in his. "Hullo. Rubeus Hagrid, but you can just call me Hagrid. I'm the groundskeeper at Hogwarts." He had his beetle-black eyes on Puck, who watched the man with his head cocked. "That there is an Augurey, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is."
"Blimey, he's a beauty."
Fi laughed as Puck preened and a faint flush rose behind Hagrid's beard. "His name is Puck. He's a bit of a trouble-maker, so I'll be keeping him out of the owlery."
McGonagall cleared her throat and Hagrid glanced in her direction, admonished. "Let's get Delphinia up to the castle so she'll have a chance to unpack before lunch."
They fell into step with the Headmistress and headed toward the gates, Fi leading her trunk along with the occasional surreptitious tap of the finger. Hagrid's gait was three times that of the witches so he deliberately slowed himself until he walked by Fi. "I hav' never seen an Augurey as big as this fellow. What do you feed 'im?"
"Oh, he has a rather nasty habit of picking on gnomes and fairies." Puck trilled in dissent, feathers ruffled. Of course, Fi did not tell Hagrid her Augurey was also quite old, almost as old as her, and had shared in her coven's secret for eternal life. "Don't try to deny it, Puck."
Hagrid chuckled. "We got some here in the forests, but you don't want to be going out there, Professor. Lots of creatures in the trees who best like bein' left alone."
Fi assured the man she would keep to her side of the forest bounds, though she inwardly reflected a measure of curiosity as to what dwelt so near the school. Hagrid left them at the gates and instead strolled toward a distant hut located on the grounds. Vector inquired about her time at Ilvermony and Fi redirected the conversation, speaking more upon her desire to experience Hogwarts instead of her fabricated education in America. The conversation gradually turned to the subjects and the school itself, and by the time McGonagall and Vector dropped her off in auxiliary staff quarters, Vector promised to lend her a new text on Arithmancy that Fi expressed interest in.
"Feh," Ever said once the door to her barren quarters shut. "Fluff and nonsense. Arithmancy."
"I think it's rather fascinating," Fi responded as she turned to inspect her room. The space held an armoire with a scrolled top, a skinny bed, and little else. Fi decided much of her things would need to go into the office attached to her classroom, then wondered if she could possibly ask Dumbledore for a workspace of her own, though she would have to find a suitable reason for a Magical Theory instructor to want an area to experiment. "Muggles love numbers, too. They have all kinds of probability matrices that change via the introduction of various numbers."
"Because numbers are just numbers to Muggles. Their probability contains no element of fate."
"Which is why I find Arithmancy fascinating, though I have no talent for numbers myself." Fi went to the window and pried at the latch, letting the glass swing outward. A summer breeze crept inside, and Fi had a rather nice view of the gorge, the bridges, and one of the taller towers. A heady sense of mystique lay upon the castle, thick like an invisible mist Fi couldn't touch but could most certainly feel. She spent more time than necessary gazing outside, listening to babble of water far, far below and the winnowing of the wind. "Out you go to explore, Puck. Behave yourself with the owls, and mind the forest."
The Augurey gave her head an affectionate peck before allowing himself to squeeze through the window's allotted opening. For a moment, when his wings thrust outward, Fi was doused in green sunshine and she marveled at how pretty the light seemed when it rippled in verdant shades. Then Puck flew off, a streak of dark color against a blue sky, his mournful cry rising high in the air.
"Get me out of this insufferable box, Delphinia."
Fi went to retrieve Ever and set the skull atop the box she so disdained, though Fi knew for a fact her mentor was rather pleased with the inner cushioning Fi had hand-stitched runes of protection and peace into. "I'm going to put you in my office when Dumbledore or Minerva shows me where it is."
"You had better. I've no desire to sit in this pitiful little room with nothing else to see. Besides, someone needs to look after you while you're in this den of crackpots."
Fi snorted. Privately she agreed that the room was a bit more spartan than she had expected, but Fi was pleased all the same with her appointments. Her goal in coming here had been safety, of course, over comfort. "Hogwarts is one of the best schools in the world, Ever."
"The old ways are best."
Sighing, Fi ran her hands over the skull's cranium, utilizing the sleeve of her robe to polish a smudge on Ever's gleaming gem. "So they are, Ever. So they are."
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