Hogwarts Reimagined

In the reassuring wake of the birthday party, Rhiannon and Dudley settled more easily into the Lovegoods’ unusual little family. For her birthday Rhiannon had received mostly clothes and books as before, along with a much-needed replacement travel crate for Calypso and what turned out to be a beautifully-carved wooden walking cane with room to slot her wand into as the gift from Neville’s grandmother. Her heart hand been warmed by that despite the memory of Mistress Longbottom’s disapproving manner, and she began to understand a little of what Neville had meant about the woman hiding her more nurturing feelings under stiffness.
Xenophilius, on seeing the cane, thought it was a brilliant idea and resolved to get one for Dudley also when he purchased Luna’s school supplies, then apologised for not having thought of it on his own. Both Rhiannon and Dudley had been improving rapidly, but that had peaked at the new moon on the eighth and afterward they gradually began to deteriorate again, suffering renewed stiffness and fatigue.

Initially Xenophilius had been worried, but Hagrid explained that rather than simply transforming every full moon, lycanthropy was a complex physiological experience in constant motion and their bodies gradually readied themselves for the full transformation, the first of which would be on the night of the full moon and continue for four days afterward, following which the effects would gradually ease again and so fall into a cycle.

That was hardly an exciting prospect to look forward to for the rest of Rhiannon’s life and she began to feel quite hopeless. Whether fortunately or not, however, she was not able to remain trapped in a sea of worry and self-loathing, as gradually the Lovegood household began to make preparations for Luna’s first year at Hogwarts.

The idea of Hogwarts brought with it worries and resentment of its’ own for Rhiannon, and fear for Dudley at being left behind. Rhi initially turned Xenophilius’ mild-mannered inquiry down flat and became guarded and withdrawn, avoiding even Hagrid due to the association. She would have remained so for longer had Minerva McGonagall not visited them, carrying with her a missive from the Ministry of Magic’s Care of Unaccompanied Magical Minors office which promised that Headmaster Dumbledore was not to contact her in any way. Xenophilius had been granted legal care of both Rhiannon and Dudley as their foster parent while legal guardianship resided with Minerva herself as she was closest to and best able to keep Rhiannon safe should she return to school.
Additionally, the missive stated, Hagrid would be returned to his post at Hogwarts by order of the Ministry themselves should Rhiannon decide to return, to better be able to assist her during full moons.

While much of that was some token relief, it hinged upon placing her faith in the Ministry and Hogwarts to do the right thing – and that was faith Rhiannon did not have. Begrudgingly she prodded at her studies, assisted by the ever-patient Xenophilius – if nothing else it kept her mind active as her mobility grew more restricted with the full moon encroaching, and Rhiannon hoped vainly that maybe, maybe if she could prove herself, they would allow her to study from the safety of the Rookery instead.

Anyone could have seen that for the stubborn denial it was but no one challenged it, so Rhiannon quietly took over a corner of the living area to study. Being in a magical household she had a greater freedom to do so and gradually eased back into practical work, reacquainting herself with the simple charms and jinxes she had learned over the year before, revising her textbooks for History and Defence, and revising some of the basic potions she already knew before pushing on further into exploring the more complicated ones she had been unable to grasp under Snape’s sneering tutelage.

Study was a common ground Rhiannon found with Luna, and the two of them worked well together with Rhi introducing Luna to some of the concepts the soon-to-be Hogwarts student would be expected to tackle in the rapidly-encroaching school year and Luna providing creative and often-surprising insight where Rhiannon hit walls while exploring new material. The two of them grew quietly closer, leaving Dudley to feel a little adrift and lonely within the walls of the Rookery without them.

So Luna invited him to join in their studies, seeing no harm in him exploring the history of the magical world that he now shared with them and the theories of the magic they worked with even if he was unable to perform it himself. Where the Dudley Rhiannon had grown up with had been resentful, sullen and recalcitrant with regards to book learning, the Dudley of now showed great interest in untangling the elements of the magic Luna and Rhiannon showed him and surprised them both with his suggestions. He was hardly confident in his own knowledge and new curiosity, such things having been deemed unfit for men by Uncle Vernon, but Rhiannon was quietly warmed to see her cousin, as assisted by the quietly encouraging Luna, develop a genuine love of learning that, while unfamiliar to him, was strongly supported by the Lovegoods and something new that Rhiannon was all too eager to share in.

They might have continued like that, but Dudley’s new curiosity refused to be contained to just books – still something he struggled to engage with alone. Seeing no harm in it and with permission from Xenophilius, Rhiannon and Luna collectively shrugged and shared their piecemeal practical equipment with him so that he could attempt to follow along. There wasn’t any particular hope in it, neither wanted to be the one to tell Dudley it simply wouldn’t work and so quietly they just sort of let him putter along adjacent to them and put it to the back of their minds. With luck, Dudley would simply discover on his own that magic wouldn’t work for him and they’d not have to burst his bubble.

Only it never actually did. Rhiannon wasn’t sure who was most surprised when Dudley’s messes started to resolve, culminating in an albeit-imperfect Potion to Cure Boils. Thinking it was a fluke – the potion was really more a medical remedy than any particular sort of magic as far as they knew; Rhiannon and Luna quietly suggested he try another. But when that too – after taking up most of the morning with errors and frustration as Dudley struggled to measure up to a test he wasn’t sure of the boundaries of – worked... they were forced to admit they had run directly into the firm boundaries that marked the ends of their knowledge about magic and the magical world, and took the matter to Luna’s father.

Xenophilius, predictably, was intrigued, and he inspected Dudley’s second healing potion through a pair of peculiarly-runed lenses that he fastened over those of his regular spectacles with a growing air of excitement. Obviously seeing something neither Rhiannon nor Luna could, he straightened up positively vibrating with excitement.

“Ohhhhh, of course – and it fixes everything!” Mr Lovegood exclaimed, bouncing his free hand against his thigh and devolving into a musing tangle that did nothing to enlighten any of the three children. “Let me contact the Ministry – no don’t worry it’s fine, nothing bad’s going to happen, this is perfect – where did I put my quill... Raya!” he reassured them hastily, then sidetracked himself into more muttering. At his exclamation of her name, the family’s fairly elderly snowy owl raised her head and peered at Xenophilius disapprovingly from where she perched on the hat-stand beside the door. Affecting an aggrieved air Raya – the owl - roused herself and with a clamour of feathers far too loud for Rhiannon’s sensitive hearing and the quiet environment indoors, she bestirred herself from her perch and flew across the room to land with a heavy whump on the kitchen table which they stood around. Xenophilius hastily scrawled out a lengthy message in sky-blue ink and blew on it, then rolled it up and passed it to the owl. Raya nipped him affectionately and took the letter, and with another too-loud clamour she took off and winged her way out of an open kitchen window.

Rhiannon, Dudley and Luna all shared a bewildered look, and at a muttered charm from Mr Lovegood that pushed out three chairs from the kitchen table, they sat down and looked to him for an explanation.
Xenophilius paced back and forth, tapping his steepled fingertips together arrythmically. He started to speak several times, stopped and trailed back off into muttering before finally managing to put together what he’d wanted to say.
“Now, Dudley, I apologise to admit that I hoped in studying with Rhiannon and Luna you would run into the limits of your own abilities naturally. It didn’t seem fair to tell you outright you couldn’t do it... arbitrary limits and all that, it seemed better to let you learn for yourself and process in your own time.” said Xenophilius a little shame-facedly, still bouncing his fingers off of eachother as he spoke.

“A-aa-are you saying i-t-ttt-it shouldn’t ha-have worked?” asked Rhiannon, sharing a slightly bewildered look with Luna and Dudley. “A-a- a potion’s just science, right? With magical ingredients?”

Xenophilius had been nodding at Rhiannon’s first question, and quickly shook his head at the second. “In part, certainly. But the magic inherent in the ingredients used is dormant – it has no power independently, and requires sustained passive magic from a witch to be any use in a potion. Even in something as simple as a cure for boils, the science is more complicated than simply combining ingredients – a magical cure for boils relies upon the science of the effects of activated, magical ingredients and the way that magic interacts while also minding chemical combination, as prepared and combined by a mage to work, as opposed to a nonmagical topical boil cure made purely by the combination of ingredients to create certain chemical reactions and -” he stopped his hurried explanation, seeing that Dudley especially but Rhiannon also looked a little overwhelmed by the sudden outflow of information. He apologised profusely and knotted his fingers together, thinking of how to proceed while Luna gasped and their eyes lit up – clearly they understood better what their father meant while Rhi and her cousin did not.

“Home-schooling young magicians of any kind requires Ministry permission. Dudley deserves the chance to explore this. I have a theory, but it requires a Ministry worker to assess Dudley here before we make any longer-term decisions or consider any sort of schooling. I should hear back in -” Xenophilius’ explanation was cut off by a loud and familiar crack, and Rhiannon felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle. An acrid scent flooded her nostrils, one she would come in time to associate with the particular kinds of magic used by the wizarding world to travel instantly from one place to another, and her ears pricked up only half-metaphorically as someone unfamiliar knocked at the door.

Xenophilius Lovegood clapped his hands and rubbed them together excitedly, leaping to his feet and crossing the room to open the front door. He ushered in a tall, neatly put-together woman Rhi guessed to be in her early forties, dressed in gold-trimmed teal blue robes. She seated herself at the table across from Dudley, Rhiannon and Luna. Xenophilius began to pace again until the teal-robed woman pushed out a chair from the table and indicated that he sit. Then she turned her attention to Dudley and by extension Rhiannon and Luna, peering at them over semi-circular gold-rimmed spectacles perched on the end of her nose.

“My name is Ms. June Brooknell, I’m here from the Department for the Care of Unaccompanied Magical Minors at the Ministry of Magic,” the teal-robed woman introduced herself politely. She smiled a little stiffly and looked down at her paper. “We received Xenophilius’ message and I volunteered to come out, since I’m already familiar with your case and have an appropriate skillset, rather than send someone from yet another department. From your message, we’re looking at a clear expression of magic capabilities despite no other previous indication?” she explained further and then inquired, inspecting Rhiannon’s cousin more intently.

Dudley nodded, his expression a little bewildered and more than a little anxious. “Sorry, ma’am, um -” he began to apologise, but she waved a hand and cut him off firmly. “No, no matter. While magic outside of Hogwarts is officially frowned upon, there is leniency given it is so close to the beginning of the school year and the experimentation occurred under the oversight of a qualified magical adult. You will not be punished.” June reassured him in her clipped, formal manner. All of them, including Xenophilius to Rhiannon’s amused surprise, breathed a sigh of relief, which did not go unnoticed by the somewhat severe Ministry worker who looked as if she was repressing a smile.

“Now, Mr. Lovegood, I would prefer you remain but this will go easiest with as few distractions as possible so I can concentrate. I understand your curiosity, but if the both of you -” here Ms. Brooknell looked to Rhiannon and Luna sternly, “- could please leave for the moment. You will find out when I am done.” she finished, laying her hands flat on the table and indicating to Luna and Rhiannon that she did in fact mean now. Any protests Rhiannon might have had were quashed and she retrieved her cane from where it hung on the back of her chair, running her hands over the ridges of the carvings of the snake-headed handle to soothe herself; and she cast a hurried glance back at a sweating Dudley before she limped stiffly from the room behind Luna.

______________________________________________________

Rhiannon and Luna headed to Rhi’s bedroom, Luna bringing a few of Rhiannon’s last-year textbooks with them. Rhiannon sat down on her bed while Luna sat cross-legged on the floor, absentmindedly stroking Calypso who was curled up to one side in a pile of discarded clothes.

Rhiannon cast around for a topic – while she and Luna certainly liked eachother well enough they were still unfamiliar with eachother. It was hard to remember that she had only been with the Lovegoods for a little over two weeks now, time seemed like a sort of nebulous and only semi-relevant to Rhiannon though the full moon loomed ever-closer. Honestly that was probably why time seemed so ill-defined – her mind refused to grasp the reality of what was coming.

Eventually Rhi settled on something she’d been wondering for a while.
“H-hey Luna,” she began cautiously. “I d-did-did-n’t – know how to ask but I kind- kind of got the gist you’re. You know. Like me. And I was w-wh-wondering if there’s a specific way you like to be referred to, or something, I don’t know... um, sorry – that’s probably p-p-personal, sorry,” Rhi stammered, losing confidence and with it the train of her thought. Luna smiled peacefully, meeting Rhiannon’s gaze for a moment before looking down at their hands twisted together in their lap. “I’m just sort of neither – it’s not really important to me to have a word for what I am, I’m Luna Lovegood.” they explained simply. Their smile turned a little sad and reminiscent. “And as for how to refer to me... I know Dad likes to use ze because it sounds fun and I like that. My mum used to mix it up, make a game of it. That was nice. You could do that if you wanted too.”

Rhiannon nodded once, happy to have a concise answer to the question. “S-s-s-ssso-sounds like a fun sort of game,” she agreed, and Luna’s smile brightened somewhat. Rhi hugged her self with her arms and tucked her face into her collar, a little overwhelmed by all the emotions of then and the whole day – the last few weeks had been a rollercoaster for that really. There wasn’t anything else they really needed to talk about, so Luna worked quietly and Rhiannon set about re-reading The Hobbit for something to do. Every so often Luna would look up with a question and they’d talk quietly, but for the most part they waited out their banishment from the main living area in companionable near-silence.

Eventually Rhiannon heard a chair scrape back and Xenophilius’ hurried footsteps sounded in the hallway until he came to the bedroom door and poked his head in, smiling to see the two coexisting happily. “You can come back now, we’re all finished up. Dudley’s got some pretty cool news for you both.” he said, and hurriedly Rhiannon and Luna stood up and crowded out the door behind him, Rhiannon lagging a little behind with her cane.

The three of them returned to the kitchen, where Dudley was bent closely over a piece of parchment, inspecting it. He looked up when Rhiannon and Luna returned with Xenophilius and beamed at them. “I’m a Squib!” he announced gleefully, waving the parchment at them. Ms. Brooknell smiled a wry smile, but her expression was a kind one. “I think you might be the only person ever to be excited about that,” she commented drily. She stood and collected her papers and instruments, returning them all to a neat bag that seemed much too small for the task, and clasped Dudley’s shoulder gently in passing as she made her way to the door with a polite nod to Xenophilius. A sharp crack faded in the wake of her departure, and Rhiannon looked askance to Dudley and Mr Lovegood to explain.

Xenophilius rubbed his hands together excitedly and began to pace again, muttering to himself and probably scripting his words in advance.
“Most wizards think Squibs can’t do magic see, because a wand wouldn’t be any use to them. Squibs can’t cast spells. But they have the innate magical core that enables work with indirect magical forms – runes, potions, alchemy and the like, older forms. It’s why Dudley was never picked up for Hogwarts – Squibs don’t register, most wizarding families consider it a sort of tragedy which is just ridiculous, narrow minded... Anyway,” he explained brightly, tailing off and grumbling darkly before refocusing himself and looking between Rhiannon and Dudley, clearly holding back some big secret,

Dudley beat him to the punch. “Ms. Brooknell said I could go to Hogwarts and start with Luna. It’s not usual for Squibs to go to magic school but she said they could make special allowance for it for... you know, awoof, and... I know you don’t want to go back Rhi but I could come with you and it could be better.” he said, his scarred face almost looking as if it would split with joy.

Rhiannon’s stomach tensed at the mention of Hogwarts and she looked down guiltily. Her cousin was so excited, she didn’t want to take this away from him... and maybe Hogwarts could be safe.

Xenophilius sensed her hesitation and coughed once to get Rhiannon’s attention.
“As your cousin said, it’s not usual for Squibs to attend Hogwarts. I and Minerva think we can modify the curriculum enough and he can participate in pretty much everything excepting Charms and Transfiguration, so we were thinking an incomplete timetable and initially on a trial basis. For a wizarding-born Squib attending a magic school is just cruel and holds what they’re missing out of reach. For Dudley... it could go either way. We have considered it realistically but it would solve a lot of problems if you agreed to attend Hogwarts with Dudley. If his trial does not work out you can both come back and I’ll get out the appropriate paperwork to have you both homeschooled.” he explained, tapping his fingers on the tabletop in time with his speech and clearly keeping his words slow and careful so as not to overwhelm either of them.

Luna and Dudley both beamed, and Rhiannon’s stomach twisted anxiously. She took in Dudley’s elated expression, and knew before she spoke what her answer had to be. Dumbledore couldn’t contact her. McGonagall had the final say on her safety. And she couldn’t take this opportunity away from her cousin. She remembered the missive from the Department for the Care of Unaccompanied Magical Minors, and forced herself to relax. Hagrid would come with them, he’d already agreed, he could keep both her and Dudley safe. It would be alright. She would have her friends.

“Al-al-a-all right. I’ll go back.” whispered Rhiannon, meeting Xenophilius’ eyes as she spoke haltingly. His smile was quiet and proud, and even gripped by her uncertainty Rhiannon couldn’t help but be comforted by it.