Chapter Text
"I do not wish to imply anything about female nature, but perchance, we should write to Lady Pole and Mrs Strange?"
"Mr Segundus," Childermass said with authority, "I doubt they have any practical knowledge on the matter nor significantly more theoretical than we do. Moreover, this is not an ordinary child."
Segundus nervously glanced at the basket on the kitchen table and at the baby laying in it. It had greyish green skin and entirely black eyes. It was unusually calm for a child of its age and seemed to listen to the magicians with attention and understanding. The blanket in the crib looked like it was made of gold leaf - not of leaves that turned yellow with autumn, but of metal - and as if it provided no warmth at all (but since it was quite a warm September day, it wasn't exactly necessary).
"I don't think I've ever seen children of such age this close," Segundus said in a high voice. "And aren't foundlings supposed to be left instead of a human child taken?"
He then looked at Childermass in hope, because he was the man Who Solved Problems, and despite Segundus's own ability to solve problems (quite a few very serious, over the course of life, even historical), he would definitely prefer to rely on Childermass completely. But of course, it was unfair, to say the least, especially if you take into consideration that the crib, damned it be, was left on the porch of Starecross which wasn't a place of permanent residence of Childermass (but it certainly was one of Segundus).
"I have a premonition that it has everything to do with the fact that we are magicians, or that it is a school of magic," Childermass mused, and Segundus nodded eagerly in agreement and looked at him again with awe, for he was not only the man Who Solved Problems but also the one to Make Quick Hypotheses (the ability that Segundus might have lacked, as he was that type of scholar who needed to give a notion a serious thought for at least two hours to come to any valuable conclusion). “Someone from the village could’ve brought it here, if they trust us enough. We’ll have to ask around.”
"Oh. This is very likely! Hm… I think we should do some research. To begin… Does it have teeth?" asked the professor and cautiously touched the baby's face. Caution was very reasonable, because the child swiftly opened its mouth in a biting movement and snapped its teeth that it indeed had.
"Well, it means we can give it…" Segundus made an even more cautious inquiry under the blanket, "him, for all I know, bread to eat."
"He doesn't seem hungry yet, if we ignore his attempt to taste your fingers," Childermass sighed, and Segundus didn't know whether he should be surprised to hear the same nervousness in it.
They stood silent for a couple of minutes, then Segundus fell into a rudely made chair and exclaimed, "As if I have nothing else to do!"
"You don't have to waste time on the child, I can take care of him," Childermass tried to calm him down, but it didn't quite work.
"I can't leave you alone in this situation!" the professor exclaimed once again and shared his idea about residency.
"You're right, but it happened now, the same day I arrived here, so it could be a part of the fairies' plan."
"I would suggest we toss it away from the premises, but it would definitely just bring more troubles."
Childermass squinted.
"You don't seem to like him even a bit, do you, Mr Segundus?"
"I'm terrified of him, to be honest," the schoolmaster confessed, shuddering under the gaze of the child. "And mostly because he's not even a bit terrified of us nor, as I feel, likes us."
At this, the baby cooed and made a clumsy attempt to sit up, which looked adorable but didn't impress either of the magicians.
"Let's give him something to eat anyway and take him away from the kitchen," Childermass suggested and Segundus pursued the lead.
They decided to put the basket into one of the few empty rooms, and placed it on two chairs for lack of anything better.
“I hope that in a separate room he won’t interfere with anyone’s magic,” contemplated Segundus.
“This is a very important idea!" half-gasped Childermass, and the professor even jumped with surprise, both because of the unusually emotional reaction and of the fact that his suggestion was appreciated (which happened more and more often lately, but he hadn't got used to it yet). Moreover, it was appreciated by Childermass, whose opinion he thought very much of, and it made his heart beat a little faster, but now not with anxiety (brought by the foundling), but with something close to happiness.
"It gives me another idea and I hope it will be useful too, my dear colleague," Childermass continued, "we should postpone classes for the time being, in order to keep the level of magic as low as possible."
"Yes, of course!" Segundus agreed, putting the "my dear colleague" part into his memory to think over later. "And it also will give me enough free time to work on this… current situation."
It was getting quite late already, and it made both magicians think of another thing they had to do.
"We need to keep watch on the child at night. I’ll be the first. You’ve just arrived,” said Segundus. “And don’t argue,” he insisted, raising his finger in a teacher’s manner as soon as Chidermass opened his mouth.
“At least let me help you with the warding spells.”
“I’ve never said no to that,” the schoolmaster smiled.