Saturday, 2 September 1922
Right after lunch
Lakeside
Morgan had slept better after the opening feast than she had since leaving Hogwarts for the summer. With everything happening in her life, all of the upheaval, being back made her feel more comfortable. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so hard if they hadn’t also moved, but that had just been the icing on the cake.
She missed breakfast by catching up on sleep. But after she woke up, Morgan showered and made her way to the Great Hall. That is where she ran into Rook. The two shared lunch together, more sweets that hadn’t been eaten the night before, and she took him on a tour of the grounds.
As much as Morgan loved the inside of the castle, the outside is where she truly thrived. “And that,” she pointed towards the lake shore. “That is where I found David.”
She hugged the toad to her chest as they continued walking. “There’s a giant squid in the lake but I haven’t seen him. Apparently the Snakes see him a lot considering they have windows that show the inside of the lake.”
They were both in houses on the top floors of Hogwarts. Which had its own perks. “But there’s also other things living in the lake too. We’re not supposed to swim in it,” she finished and then sat down at the base of a tree by the shore. She set David down on the ground. He regarded the lake with what she could only describe as recognition.
“When I was a firstie, we were crossing the lake to the Opening Feast and hijacked the boats,” she remembered and laughed. “I almost died ‘cause I fell in and couldn’t swim.”
Hogwarts was like a different world. Surrounded by forests and green hills, the lake and the large castle, created a feeling of being surrounded and concealed. Ilvermorny had been impressive in its own right, located on the top peak of a mountain, but Hogwarts grounds were far more impressive.
Not that he would ever admit such things.
“And that… is where I found David.” Morgan pointed to a spot at the edge of the lake. A huge lake, black, daunting. Brooks nodded, not sure what to say.
“There’s a giant squid in the lake but I haven’t seen him. Apparently the Snakes see him a lot considering they have windows that show the inside of the lake.” Wait what?
Sure, they had lakes in America. Really cool lakes. Big even. Did theirs have giant squids? He had no idea. He wanted to talk them up, battle for supremacy, prove that Ilvermorny was better in every way, but to what end?
“Windows? Under the lake? How does THAT work? They can just see everything thats going on down there?” Prior to the end of summer, Brooks had picked up a book about Hogwarts, but never cracked the cover. Maybe it was time to actually read up on the history.
“But there’s also other things living in the lake too. We’re not supposed to swim in it.”
Now, where was the fun in that? He was intrigued. Curious. There were spells that would allow him to swim under water. A plant as well. He had read about it at some point. Why have the ability if you didn’t test it out. “Now, Mysty. You don’t seem the type to just blindly follow stupid rules.”
The smile on his face was filled with mischief. If he had to live here, might as well have a bit of fun.
“When I was a firstie, we were crossing the lake to the Opening Feast and hijacked the boats, I almost died ‘cause I fell in and couldn’t swim.”
Awww… well shit. “Nevermind, maybe not going in is best for you. Unless you want to learn how to swim? I could teach ya, but unless there is a pool hiding in the castle we would need to use the lake.”
Brooks stood at the edge of the water and looked out over the glassy surface. The wind was light, causing the reflection to ripple in certain spots. It was a peaceful spot. Trees dotted the landscape, creating small little private spots where he could picture himself sitting with a book, being transported into another place and time.
“Thanks for showing me around. I like this spot best. Did you know that giant squid have donut-shaped brains that surround their esophagus, they have to chew food into tiny bits to avoid damaging their brain.” Useless facts lived in his head rent free. There were a lot of things floating around in his head, sometimes it felt good to release them into the world.
“Windows? Under the lake? How does THAT work? They can just see everything that's going on down there?”
Raising a brow, Morgan regarded the boy with amusement. “Their common room is in the dungeons, of course. So they… live down there. Right under the lake. With the squid starin’ at them all the time. Probably wanting to eat ‘em,” she added, wondering if that was a true statement. Would the Giant Squid see them as a yummy food? Snakes could be quite… well, if Morgan had to imagine, they’d be tough. And not very tasty.
Her green eyes landed back on the lake; it was so still it looked like a damn mirror.
“Nevermind, maybe not going in is best for you. Unless you want to learn how to swim? I could teach ya, but unless there is a pool hiding in the castle we would need to use the lake.”
“I can swim,” Morgan responded, perhaps a bit too quickly. It wasn’t totally a lie. “I just prefer to keep my feet where they can touch the bottom. It’s a preference, not a problem,” she added matter-of-factly.
No, no she could not swim. But no one had to know that.
Benji knew it. No one else.
Morgan picked up David and set him on her knee. The toad kept his eyes locked on the water, as if he was longing to return to it.
“And just for the record, I do not blindly follow rules. I just don’t fancy drowning more than once,” she added.
“Thanks for showing me around. I like this spot best. Did you know that giant squid have donut-shaped brains that surround their esophagus, they have to chew food into tiny bits to avoid damaging their brain.”
“What?” she said, looking over at him with wide eyes. She had never heard of anything so ridiculous in her life. She laughed and then shook her head, giggling a little. “Squid Brain. That’s what I shall call you from now on.”
Brooks snorted softly under his breath, looking back at her over his shoulder. “Squid Brain? Brutal.” He said with a chuckle.
But the grin pulling at the corner of his mouth ruined his attempt to appear angry. “Could’ve been worse, I guess. At Ilvermorny there was a lad everyone called Pukewudgie for two years after he got sick during flying lessons. Smelled broom polish once and lost his breakfast all over the Headmistress’s shoes.”
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his robe before glancing back out across the lake. “Honestly though, the underwater windows thing is still insane to me. Ilvermorny’s built into a mountain, so we mostly just had stone everywhere. Towers, bridges, stupid amounts of stairs. Felt like if you tripped wrong you’d fall off the side of the mountain.”
His eyes flicked toward her again. Thinking about Ilvermorny compared to Hogwarts, causing a pang of sadness. He missed his school and more than anything, he missed his father.
“Hogwarts feels…” he paused briefly, trying to find the word before shrugging one shoulder. “Older. Almost alive. Like the castle’s watchin’ you. Honestly, gives me the creeps.”
The admission came easier than expected. She was easier to talk to than anyone else he had met.
“So what’s the strangest thing here?” he asked. “Besides the squid with the donut brain.” A beat passed before he added with complete seriousness. “And if you say ghosts, that doesn’t count. We had ghosts too. One of ours used to scream at students for bad posture.”
“Could’ve been worse, I guess. At Ilvermorny there was a lad everyone called Pukewudgie for two years after he got sick during flying lessons. Smelled broom polish once and lost his breakfast all over the Headmistress’s shoes.”
Morgan pulled an amused, disgusted face. The word Pukewudgie was gross enough to add actual throw up into the mix was… gross.
As Rook spoke about Ilvermorny and why he had a hard time reconciling the dungeons and windows and the lake, she could only imagine how long the fall from the top of the mountain would take. Probably longer than the tip top of Hogwarts, if she had to guess.
He looked at her and she noted the sadness in his eyes. Morgan filed it away – like everything else she found interesting about him – to think about later. She wasn’t one to open up to a practical stranger and she didn’t expect anyone else to do that either.
“Hogwarts feels… Older. Almost alive. Like the castle’s watchin’ you. Honestly, gives me the creeps.”
She smirked, thinking about all of the eyes constantly on her. And now she felt like it was worse since Julia was her… other… guardian… and naturally was keeping an eye on her too.
“So what’s the strangest thing here? Besides the squid with the donut brain. And if you say ghosts, that doesn’t count. We had ghosts too. One of ours used to scream at students for bad posture.”
Morgan considered the options to answer with. Of course ghosts took her a while to get the hang of, but now she understood those were common in the wizarding world. “I dunno, I didn’t grow up around any of this, so… everything?”
She then laughed to herself. “In my first year I asked a second year to make me fly,” she admitted. It wasn’t her best idea ever, though at the time she really thought it’d work. “It’s a… long fall from the Gryffindor common room ceiling. ‘Cause of the portraits, my dad was in the wing before I even got out, and I had to stay with him that night in his quarters,” she explained, laughing.
The anger her father had expressed that night was the first she’d seen. Anger and worry. Thank god for magical healing.
Brooks winced, though a small laugh escaped him. “The ceiling? Jeez, Mysty, you really don’t do things by halves, do you? First hijacking boats, then testing gravity in the common room. I’m starting to think you’re a menace to your own health.”
He caught himself on the next part of her sentence, his brow furrowing slightly as his mind worked through the logistics. His quarters. In the wing.
Pulling his hands out of his pockets and turned to face her fully, leaning his hips back against the trunk of the tree she was sitting under. He looked down at her, his lopsided grin returning.
“Hold on a second,” he said, tilting his head. “Your dad has quarters here? What, does he work at the castle? Is he a professor or something? Man, and here I thought I had it rough with my mom checking my school reports. That’s got to ruin your style when you're trying to break the rules.”
He kicked at a tuft of grass near the root of the tree, keeping his voice casual so it didn't sound like he was prying too hard. Not wanting to make it weird, but he was curious about the girl.
“So, if your dad's camped out here at Hogwarts... where’s your mom stay? Back at the new house you mentioned?”
It was weird, wanting to hide his sadness but also wanting to share it. There was no one else he had met that gave him that feeling. Like they would understand. They wouldn’t judge. It might even feel good to talk about.
“The ceiling? Jeez, Mysty, you really don’t do things by halves, do you? First hijacking boats, then testing gravity in the common room. I’m starting to think you’re a menace to your own health.”
Morgan took that as a compliment and smirked at him, proud of herself. It was true; she was a menace to her own health. Now that she was older she was less of one, however there were times she found herself wanting to be a bit more reckless.
As she watched Brooks, she saw something change in his face. He shifted his position, got comfortable, looked down at her, and gave her a lopsided grin. She felt a flutter in her heart, which caused her to look down at David nonchalantly.
“Your dad has quarters here? What, does he work at the castle? Is he a professor or something? Man, and here I thought I had it rough with my mom checking my school reports. That’s got to ruin your style when you're trying to break the rules.”
Morgan nodded a bit. It really did make it hard for her to be totally herself. She didn’t want to disappoint her father – she loved the man more than anything – but she also needed the space to completely let loose sometimes. She’d yet to truly do that, not since first year anyways. Before things got complicated.
Naturally, Brooks then brought up her mother. She frowned, glancing out at the lake. “My mum… she stays nowhere,” she responded. It’d been years now, but the pain of her mom not being around as she went through certain milestones as she got older was rough. She couldn’t blame him for being curious. But she didn’t want to talk about the woman who raised her.
Hell, she didn’t want to talk about the other newer part of her life either, but… Morgan approved of him.
“My dad is head of Gryffindor and the charms professor. Professor Maddox Barlowe. Not to be confused with the other Professor Barlowe…” He’d find out sooner or later. “That other one is your head of house and my new step-mum.”
Just saying the word ‘step-mum’ felt beyond wrong.
“So instead of just having my dad to worry about and the damn portraits, I have her too. And then there’s Benji who I guess is my brother now and Kathryn who is my new sister…”
Morgan frowned a bit. The family was too big and too confusing. “And then there’s the babies…” she sighed.
She mentioned her mom, but her answer didn’t give anything away. He could tell immediately it was a subject she didn’t want to delve into. He could respect that.
“My dad is head of Gryffindor and the charms professor. Professor Maddox Barlowe. Not to be confused with the other Professor Barlowe… That other one is your head of house and my new step-mum.”
Brooks' eyes went large with the new information. And it was a lot. In no world would he want his mother being a professor at the school he was attending. Nope. Talk about his worst nightmare. His mom had the amazing ability to look right through his shit. If he attempted to lie, she knew. If he got in trouble at school, he knew. If he happened to participate in some minor destruction of property, she knew before the cops were knocking on the door.
“So instead of just having my dad to worry about and the damn portraits, I have her too. And then there’s Benji who I guess is my brother now and Kathryn who is my new sister… And then there’s the babies…”
Brooks was laughing by the time she was done. “Jesus Mysty! That’s a lot to unpack! How many babies are we talkin’? My mum just had a baby, it was hard to leave them. A little sister, baby Kinley.” He sighed, rubbing his chest, where it ached something fierce for his Little Kin. She was the cutest.
“My dad passed earlier this year. That’s why we moved. Then we found out about mum, with the baby. She thought it was best to move back here. I guess I can see why, she has her family here, but I miss America something fierce. And my dad. He was the best.”
Looking out over the lake, he could almost hear his dad’s laugh. Low and deep. Rolling through the house. Or his moms giggle as he danced her around their small living room.
“Well, Mysty, I’m here now. So if you need help flying under their radar, I’m your guy.”
“Jesus Mysty! That’s a lot to unpack! How many babies are we talkin’? My mum just had a baby, it was hard to leave them. A little sister, baby Kinley.”
Morgan couldn’t help but to laugh at Rook’s reaction, even though it really wasn’t much of a laughing matter. Not to her. Not yet. She nodded slightly, noting that he was in a somewhat similar situation to where she found herself.
“Two babies. Well, one is three now, so not exactly a baby anymore, but he’ll always be Blobby to me.” Then she paused. “The newer one is Blippy. He’s… well, it’s a lot.”
While she was overwhelmed with the changes, the tone in her voice held the particular affection that she didn’t like to admit to when she thought about her baby brothers.
Then he mentioned his dad.
Morgan went quiet as he spoke, frowning. He had a new baby sister. He had no father now. He didn’t grow up at Hogwarts, but she didn’t know what kind of past he had before that. She imagined that he had grown up around magic, so they weren’t exactly alike. But he was only a year out from his father’s death, compared to her three with her mum.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly, feeling a bit guilty for not being totally forthcoming with her own loss. It was genuine, too, as someone who had been there before.
Her green eyes moved to the lake. She sat in silence for a moment, giving him the privacy that he’d given her at the tea shop.
“Well, Mysty, I’m here now. So if you need help flying under their radar, I’m your guy.”
She smiled slightly, turning her eyes back to him with her head tilted slightly.
“Blobby and Blippy,” she said softly, but warmer now. “Two babies. Two professors. A step-mum, a new brother, a new sister, and the portraits.” The list was absolutely ridiculous. “I’m gonna need a lot of help flying under the radar, Squid Brain.”
“Two babies. Well, one is three now, so not exactly a baby anymore, but he’ll always be Blobby to me. The newer one is Blippy. He’s… well, it’s a lot.”
Brook blinked. Looked at her. Then blinked again. “Blobby and Blippy? Umm…. uhhh. Mysty. I’m concerned.” He said seriously. “Is it possible, by chance, that your siblings are house elves?”
A smirk of a smile crossed his face, happy to be past the discussion of his father. It was out there. She knew about it, but if possible he would like to not dwell on the loss. It was too hard, talking about it making it real again.
Focusing on Mysty and her family was much easier.
“Blobby and Blippy. Two babies. Two professors. A step-mum, a new brother, a new sister, and the portraits. I’m gonna need a lot of help flying under the radar, Squid Brain.”
With the nickname she insisted on calling him, he gave her a glaring look with the pop of his eyebrow. “Really. We’re stickin’ with that then?”
Brooks stretched, tipped his neck left and right, cracking the tension out of his joints. Holding his hand out to Mysty, to pull her to her feet, he waited for her hand to rest in his for a beat longer than probably proper before enclosing her hand in his.
Pulling her to her feet, brought Morgan within inches to his body. “Come on Mysty,” he said, her hand in his for a few seconds longer before pulling his hand back. “Lets go check out more of this place. I read in a book about the history that there were tunnels hidden all over. Ever find one?”
“Blobby and Blippy? Umm…. uhhh. Mysty. I’m concerned. Is it possible, by chance, that your siblings are house elves?”
Morgan’s expression was flat – as if the idea was preposterous. Which, it was. She loved her nicknames for her baby brothers. They’d been well thought out. Whether the boys liked them was beyond her to know.
“They’re not house elves. They’re just unfortunate looking. And squishy. All babies are,” she said with complete sincerity, as if this was a fact that was true for every baby. “I bet your sister is squishy too. She deserves a nickname. Maybe Wiggly.”
The suggestion was just that – a suggestion. He could do with it what he wanted.
“And yes, we –” she lifted up David and looked at Brooks. “ – are absolutely sticking with Squid Brain.” Then she turned her attention to the toad. “Right?” On cue, the toad croaked his agreement.
She held the toad to her as she took his hand without thinking initially but then immediately thought about it. The proximity when she was fully standing – she was aware of it. Briefly and inconveniently aware of it. The delayed dropping of hands also played in her mind. He stepped back, breaking whatever moment there had been, and she followed suit.
“Lets go check out more of this place. I read in a book about the history that there were tunnels hidden all over. Ever find one?”
Morgan nodded, her hand still warm. She replaced it with David, in hopes to push aside any lingering feeling there from his touch.
“Tunnels… I might know about a tunnel.” Morgan glanced up at him sideways. “Or several.”
She turned her attention to the space in front of her when she noticed her stomach doing funny things when she looked at him.
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