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When Professor Eleazar Fig was tasked by the headmaster to escort and mentor a new fifth-year student he had never expected to find himself standing in front of a small tavern and inn in the middle of nowhere. Sure, he'd traveled near and far in his years, tagging along with Miriam on her endeavors. But even he felt something in the air as he triple checked that he had apparated in the correct location. The Sleeping Dragon, read the sign above the door. With a deep breath he pushed the door open, bracing himself for whatever he would encounter.
Whatever he'd expected from the slightly unnerving exterior alone, he was pleasantly surprised to find a much bigger and welcoming space inside. The tavern was decorated with bits and pieces from anywhere and everywhere, yet they all seemed to fit like perfect pieces of a puzzle. There weren't many patrons inside, but those who were there were all either in deep conversation or enjoying a well deserved mug of something or other by the crackling fire. He sighed and made his way to an empty table. No sooner had he sat down when a young man made his way over to him. He greeted him with a bright smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
"Good evening, sir. Welcome, please make yourself at home," said the young man, voice not quite matching his face. "Can I offer you any refreshments? Or perhaps you'd want a room?"
Fig studied the young man. Dark hair cut short and close to his scalp, striking blue eyes, a scar on his chin that ran under his bottom lip, and three scars on his eyebrow, one of which crossed over his eye and he couldn't quite see the entirety of. Could it be?
"A butterbeer if you'd be so kind."
The boy nodded and hurried off, leaving Fig to his own thoughts. Before long, the young man returned with his butterbeer and a plate with a shepherd's pie and a couple of pumpkin pasties. As he placed the food in front of him, Fig looked at him in bewilderment. "But I didn't..."
The young man chuckled. "I know sir, but my aunt insisted I bring these to you. Her specialty, you know? She also says that this and anything else you'd like is all on the house. Please enjoy sir," he said. Fig thanked him and the young man nodded before taking his leave. Truth be told, he was rather hungry and the food looked rather delectable, so he dug in. By the time the last of the patrons had retired for the evening, the young man had returned with two more butterbeers and a few more pumpkin pasties. Fig couldn't remember the last time he had felt as stuffed as he did. But he wasn't complaining.
He leaned back against the wall as he saw a man with graying hair lock up for the night before he, along with who Fig assumed was his wife, and another man all made their way towards him. He stood and gave them a smile. "You're the professor from Hogwarts, I presume?" said the first man with a slight accent coming through, and Fig nodded. "Eleazar Fig, pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said, reaching out to shake all three of their hands.
The first man nodded at him. "Atticus Underwood" he said. "This here is my lovely wife and boss, Julia Evergreen. And the one pretending to look tough over there is my annoyingly smug brother-in-law, Lysander"
"I do hope you enjoyed your meal, Professor," said Julia.
"It was quite delicious," he said with a genuine smile. "I quite enjoyed it. Thank you. I don't think I've had such fine dining in a very long time."
This earned a scoff from Lysander, who eyed him suspiciously. Fig swallowed uneasily. "Come now, sit, sit Professor, we've much to talk about," said Atticus, shooting a pointed glance at the younger man. All four sat down at the table and began their small talk. Before long, however, they finally got around to the topic of conversation that had been looming over them like a shadow. Atticus cleared his throat, clearly unsure of how to proceed with the conversation. Before he could take a breath, however, Fig saw Julia reach over and grab Atticus' hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. The small gesture hit Fig with a pang. It reminded him of all the times Miriam had done the same to him, and the quiet exchange Atticus and Julia shared made him have to look away for a moment.
"Professor Fig, I'm sure you're as anxious as we are to bring up the topic we've all been dying to discuss," she began "But I as I am sure you will understand, the three of us have quite a few questions."
Fig nodded. "And I do hope to have all the answers you are looking for, madam."
Julia chuckled. " Madam? Please Professor, Julia is fine."
"Oh...oh, of course, my apologies."
"Well then professor, the most burning questions we have are ones that I presume must be somewhat obvious. What do you and your school want with our boy? And why now? You are aware he has just turned fifteen, are you not? He waited for four years for an owl to arrive, to no avail."
Professor Fig nodded. "I understand your hesitation, I do. And believe me I too thought this event as rather, well, out of the ordinary. But whatever the case may have been as to why your, er, son never got his letter at eleven...well the ministry itself has been very clear on how they think this situation should be handled. And if they think he should still have the opportunity to go to Hogwarts, I believe he should take this opportunity and embrace it."
Lysander laughed, earning a confused look from Fig. "Apologies...er, professor " he said, voice somewhat rough. "But my nephew shouldn’t be one of your silly little experiments, to see what would happen if a capable young wizard were to go four years without proper education. I know how the ministry works, sir. This reeks of graphorn dung.”
"Now, Mr. Evergreen, I understand your concerns but I assure you-"
"Understand my concerns? Professor, with all due respect, you've got no idea what our concerns may be. That boy has been through hell and back. The last thing any of us need is for that bloody school to give him false hopes for an education that he thought he wasn't worthy of in the first place. So either you tell us right now why you people want him now or so help me-"
"Lysander, that is enough, " Atticus gave Lysander a pointed look, brows furrowed. "Now Kit..." started Julia before Lysander interrupted.
"Don't give me that look Atticus, you of all people should be supporting me in this, not making me look like the enemy-"
"Lysander please..." Julia tried again.
"Oh, shut it sciútrachán. You’re rather daft for a healer, aren’t you? You who can barely do anything for himself except go to bed with a different gash every night, you have quite the nerve-"
"Oh spare me the lecture old man, if it hadn't been for your arse of a brother our boy wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place. But no, you had to wait to take him away from there-"
"As if you could've done any different pup. You know Emilia was the one who wanted us to wait. You would've gotten the boy killed. I got him out in one piece-"
"One piece? One piece? Why you bloody, filthy, half-deaf son of a-" Both men stood, their chairs clattering as they reached for their wands. "Now you've done it pup-"
" Enough! "
Both men froze and turned to Julia. Fig was certain that if looks could kill, both Atticus and Lysander would be motionless on the floor. "If you two don't get yourselves together right this instant, so help me I will send you both to St. Mungo's once I'm done with ya."
Fig was at a loss for words. The two men suddenly seemed out of insults as they quietly picked up their chairs and sat down.
"Now look what you've done, our poor guest probably thinks we're all mad."
Neither Atticus nor Lysander met Professor Fig's eyes. He cleared his throat and attempted to clear the awkward atmosphere between them. "I truly do not know what to say...'' he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's very obvious to me that the three of you care for your boy. And your concerns all mean well. But, as a teacher, I must say that no matter what circumstances brought this rather interesting scenario into play, he deserves to hone his magic. If he were a squib, then I'd understand. But if he can perform magic, he won’t be able to control it. It's not out of the ordinary, given the circumstances. But he can learn and while I can’t promise the road will be easy..." he looked up, above Lysander's head, and met the widened striking blue eyes of the boy in question. Later that night, Fig would ponder as to what impulsed him to say what next came to his mind.
"But I will stand with him every step of the way, no matter what. I can promise you that much."
At this, all three adults met his eyes. In each of their gazes, Fig saw fear, hope and a tinge of suspicion. Before any of them said anything, there was a creak behind them. Atticus, Julia and Lysander all turned as Fig suppressed a chuckle. The boy seemed to curse under his breath as he was beckoned by his aunt. Sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, he approached the table.
“Auntie, uncle, Zander, sir" he said, looking as if he was internally kicking himself while addressing them. "I apologize for the intrusion I was just, um, well..."
"How much did you hear?"
The boy tried to deny he'd heard anything but quickly decided against it. With a sigh he stammered out a response. "Most of it..."
Julia sighed, giving both Atticus and Lysander pointed looks. as if saying "See what you've done?" before reaching out and giving the boy's hand a squeeze. "We'll talk more about this later. Now, grab a chair and introduce yourself to Professor Eleazar Fig." she said, motioning towards him. "He's here to talk about Hogwarts. About what to expect."
The boy nodded before offering his hand to the professor. "I believe we haven't exchanged proper pleasantries, professor. I'm Aidoneus Underwood sir. Pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise, Mr. Underwood" he said, giving him a smile as Aidoneus turned to grab a spare chair before sitting next to Lysander, who grabbed him and in a playful embrace. As he did, Fig finally got a glimpse of the full extent of the scar on his face from earlier. It was much worse than he had first imagined, angrily covering most of his cheek and running down towards his neck. He turned away and met Julia's eyes, offering her a smile and hoping he hadn't been caught staring. He shuffled all his thoughts into a semblance of order and pushed them to the back of his mind.
Once situated, the conversation dealt with everything from supplies to studying and the spells Fig was there to teach him. Aidoneus avoided eye contact for the majority of their talk, until Julia turned to him. "Aidon, you've been awfully quiet sweetheart."
The boy looked up and gave her a small shrug. "I've been listening, promise."
Atticus turned to him. "And? What do ye think?"
Aidoneus opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He shrugged instead. Lysander pushed him gently on the shoulder. "Come now, what's wrong with you, huh?" he teased. Aidoneus shook his head. "Nothing."
Professor Fig cleared his throat. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" he asked, kind eyes searching the sad eyes of the young man. Eyes much too sad for a boy so young. Aidoneus nodded. "It's just..." he sighed. "No offense professor, but you wouldn't understand. It's not that I don't want to go, I do. Perhaps a little too much than what may be considered wise, but...what if my aunt and uncle need me here? Lysander will be leaving soon and school is far from here, they'll have less hands to work with and..." his voice trailed off as Lysander put his hand on his shoulder, making him stop. The quick glance he gave him made Fig realize that there was quite a bit more to the situation at hand than first met the eye.
"Aidon...listen to me. I know you're worried about your family and that's very noble of you, but I promise we'll be fine. We'll make it work, alright? And you can always write to make sure we are doing well. So you needn't worry"
Aidoneus sighed, then nodded. "I'm sorry professor it's just...I don't usually go away from home much. But if all four of you agree that this is for the best...then I don't see why I would turn this down." he gave Professor Fig another smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I look forward to starting professor," he said as he was embraced by all three of his family members.
Professor Fig nodded with a smile. "I cannot wait to begin, Mr. Underwood."
Afterwards, Aidoneus was instructed to show Professor Fig the room he'd stay in for the time he'd be with them. After making sure he was comfortable, Aidoneus stood at the door, seeming to hesitate with something.
"Are you alright?"
Aidoneus turned. "I just..."
"Go ahead, I promise I don't bite," Professor Fig said with a smile, trying to ease the boy.
"I'm sorry if I seemed strange downstairs it's just..." he rubbed the back of his neck before meeting Fig's eyes. "This is just so…different. Different than I thought. It’s not actually, not really. But…my life, it’s not a pretty story. And it’s all just so…"
"Mr. Underwood, you have no reason to divulge any information to me that you do not wish to speak of. I'm here to teach you. You don't have to worry about anything else, yes?"
Aidoneus nodded before stopping at the door again.
"Professor, can I ask you one last question?"
"Of course you can, what is it?"
"Would you call me Aidoneus? Please. Mr. Underwood makes it sound like you're referring to my father." He did not meet Fig’s eyes.
Fig smiled softly and nodded. "Very well, Aidoneus. Thank you for your and your family's hospitality. Now get some sleep, we've got lesson plans to discuss tomorrow."
Aidoneus smiled at him. It was the first genuine smile he’d given him. "Good night professor."
"Good night Aidoneus,"
As the door shut, Fig sighed quietly. It had been a rather eventful day and he was exhausted. And he had so many questions.
He got into bed and put his hands under his head. "Oh Miriam...I wish you were here. You'd know what to do. You always knew what to do." he whispered before closing his eyes. Sleep came slowly for him. And with it, a slew of final nagging thoughts.
How am I supposed to take him away from everything he's known? He may be a powerful wizard in the making, he must be. But something isn’t right. Hell and back? What happened?
Godric's heart, he's just a boy...