I gripped the broom's handle tight, eying the busy world below me with curiosity. The sky seemed to be the only place I could get privacy lately, seeing as I had become one of the most accomplished wizards of the twenty-first century. Often, I would find myself being poked and prodded with, “good on you, mate!”s and “too bad you declined that offer with us, laddie! You could have gone much farther...” Honestly, I was getting quite annoying and hard to keep up with. I found that a light breeze above Malahide Estuary near my old church could clear my boggled mind almost at any time. The soft glow of the setting sun was reflected in the faintly dancing water, pinks and oranges shifting with the autumn breeze. Muggles of all ages strolled around the edges of the waterway, lovers hand in hand, and mothers struggling to keep their children within a safe distance, barking at them to not throw rocks at squirrels and keep away from the water.
The sun's warmth dropped below the horizon after what seemed like a lifetime, and I knew it was about time for me to meet with an interviewer by the name of Larcuris Steedly. He would ask question after question, some I knew I would not be willing to answer. The thought of him scratching at things of my past made my stomach clench, and my mind would race left and right to find suitable answers that could be put in the paper without loosing a few readers. I had met with this Mr.Steedly before, and despite my hatred for interviewers, I would say he would have to be my favorite. My reason for this would most likely be because of the homemade cookies his wife would make just like my mother use to when I was little. I tipped the broom forward and dipped down under the treeline, a good half a mile away from the muggles around the estuary. I landed effortlessly and stuffed the broom into my bag, an extension charm hiding it away, and I swiftly canceled the disillusion spell that had kept my secret from the muggles I had hoovered over.
The Steedlys' house stood near the end of a long driveway on an island (if you could call it that) by the name of Howth. It would take a good half an hour to get there the muggle way from the estuary; however, for the years I had known it, I never took apparation for granted. The house, made from dark bricks stacked into a three story building, stood between a generous amount of trees, slowly changing into the color of fall. Larcurius was already outside, his hands held behind his back and an award-winning smile on his long face. He was tall, dressed in a dark blue muggle suit, and his wavy, shoulder-length black hair was matched with a nicely groomed beard and accented with bright blue eyes.
“Ah, Mister Fencrow! Lovely to see you again,” Steedly said with a thick London accent as he turned to me and bowed his head.
“Good afternoon, Mister Steedly,” I replied as I approched up the driveway. In the corner of my eyes, I spotted a stout, round man with thinning hair and a sour look on his face, waving his wand at some sort of muggle electrical box. “I didn't know you were so attune with muggle culture.”
“Ah yes, well... I'm glad to say Howth is turning more into a wizard community. We are removing the unnecessary items from the house.”
“Excuse me, sir. I wasn't aware that such high-class wizards wanted to be so close around muggles,” I said, almost as a question.
Mr.Steedly gave a soft chuckle, but no reply other than a wave of his hand toward the wizard working away on the electrical box, “well, he will not be in our way! Pay no attention to him. Come in, come in!” I just nodded and followed the man inside his house. The house seemed to be almost completely muggle-looking, and in fact, the layout reminded me a little of my aunt and uncle's house in Swords. The front door opened up into a wide room being used as the living room. The floors were a beautiful polished, dark mahogany, the walls a simple coffee-cream color, and the furniture black leather. A ceiling-to-floor window sat at the back of the room, golden curtains framing it. A huge Persian rug made from basic, pale brown colors lay below a granite coffee table between a long couch adorned with golden pillows and a loveseat to match. The sweet smell of baking chocolate filled the air, making it a bit more homey.
Mr.Steedly motioned for me to take a seat on the larger couch after asking if I would like any tea. After graciously accepting, he called politely to his wife who was working away on cookies, and he sat on the loveseat across from me before crossing one leg over the other and casually holding his hands on his knee. I sat as well and shifted the black tie around my neck to fit more comfortably.
“Mister Fencrow,” Steedly began. I looked to him, my eyebrows raised in a motion for him to continue, “how on Earth have you been? It seems as if it has been ages since we last spoke.”
I nodded and took a glance around the room, spotting another granite table along the wall behind Steedly. On top was a large class enclosure housing a python of sorts. I knew this creature to be named Drizziana, Driz for short.
I looked back to Steedly, a smile now planted on my lips to act more relaxed than I was,“I have been well, and you?”
“Ah, well! Very well!” Steedly went on to tell me how his youngest daughter, Hanna, had received her letter of acceptance to Hogwarts a month or two ago and how excited everyone was to have her be going to school soon. I had met Hanna before, a small blond girl with cunning brown eyes and an ambitious attitude. She was mature for her age, and she was what I figured Liss Crest was like when she was eleven.
After several passing minutes of nothing but chit-chat, Mrs.Steedly, a petite woman with an oval face and deep brown eyes came out with a tray full of cookies and tea for me and Mr.Steedly. She wore a business suit of sorts with a pencil skit and her hair in a tight bun. She gave me a pleasant smile and wandered off to leave me and Mr.Steedly to our discussion.
“You are quite the mysterious one, Mister Fencrow,” the man said with a sip of his tea. My eyes moved to him in question. “After your heroic event with saving that muggle school a few weeks ago, well... How did you know that the place would be going up in flames?”
I felt my heart drop into my stomach. For some reason, I seemed to have shut out most of what had happened that day. I took my teacup in hand and took a small sip before answering, “to be honest, I don't remember much. Something about that day... I guess there's something that I would rather not remember. And... I guess my mind has done quite a good job to erase it.”
Steedly nodded slowly, and he asked in a cautious voice,“what -do- you remember?”
“I uhm...” I sighed and sat my tea down on the sliver platter next to the oh so tempting cookies that were calling my name. But my mind wandered as I stared at the treats, and I rubbed the thickening stubble on my chin. “I remember I was with a few of my Hogwarts friends... We were searching for...” I closed my eyes and thought, “something..”
“A bomb,” Steedly's voice said almost too quickly. I turned to look at him. A bomb? I don't remember a bomb.
“Uh... Yes, right. A bomb,” I said, shifting uncomfortably. Why couldn't I remember this? “I remember we stayed at the school for a while, and we couldn't find anything... We were about to leave, but we got lost. I knew the... event,” whatever this event was, “would take place at a certain time-”
“How did you know such things?”
“I... don't know, sir. I can't remember.”
Steedly nodded and motioned for me to continue as he took another sip of his tea.
“As we were going to leave, we found ourselves lost. The... event was getting closer, and I knew we needed to get out of there to stay safe. We ended up in the courtyard of the school, where I knew the... event would happen, at the exact time I knew it would take place.”
“And yet, here you are,” Steedly pointed out with a smile.
“Yes... Here I am.”
“How did you get out? And how did you save all those muggle students?”
I rubbed the tips of my fingers on my temples and closed my eyes, trying my best to remember things. Unfortunately, all I was getting were details: Ashlee's hair had been let down that day, and she was wearing a lacy blue top and a tight black skirt that reached her knees. It was at 10:34 AM that the event was going to take place, and I remember looking at my pocketwatch at 9:48 AM and 23 seconds as we passed the cafeteria. It was the same moment that Wesley flipped a stray lock of hair from his eyes. I remember a flash of white from my wand, but I couldn't tell you which spell I had used, or where, or why. I remember the horrified look in Ashlee's eyes, accompanied with a bright orange glow of fire.
“Mister Fencrow?” I looked over to see Steedly's eyebrows knitted together in concern. “Are you alright?”
“Yes,” I said with a nod. “I'm sorry, I just don't recall...”
Steedly frowned and nodded faintly, “perhaps you should see a healer?”
“Perhaps.”
“We can meet on another day if it is more convenient,” Steedly uncrossed his leg and leaned forward slightly with narrowed eyes wild with worry.
“If we could, thank you,” I offered him a smile, and the other man stood to walk me out. I pushed myself from the couch and grabbed a couple cookies before following Steedly to the door.
“Well, I will send an owl for you in a few days.”
“Thank you, sir. It's much appreciated. I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help to your report.”
“Oh, no, no! Not at all,” Steedly smiled warmly to me and grasped the handle of the door.
The heat that I felt when the door opened was astounding. For a moment, I knew that this had to be what Hell felt like. A heard a loud pop, whether it was from whatever it was that had caught fire outside, or something in my body collapsing. For a split second, I could see the burning white flames of an explosion, but my body had already become numb from the heat. I couldn't feel myself being pushed back into the house with incredible force of the explosion that had just taken my life.
