Chapter 66: Grandfather and Grandson Talk (2/2)
George couldn't understand what Quinn was talking about as magic theory wasn't his forte.
But, George did have another question for Quinn.
”Quinn,” he looked at his grandson with a slightly hurt look on his face. ”Why did you think you needed something like this hidden from me or anyone in the family?”
Seeing the hurt look on George's face shook Quinn. He almost lost control over his occlumency. The look of vulnerability was not something he had seen on George's face. The older man always had a stern and stoic exterior. Quinn knew that George was a caring person, but the hurt expression on his face something Quinn had never seen before.
There was a long pause before Quinn replied.
”I didn't tell anyone because I thought you would stop me from using magic.”
Quinn was grateful for the occlumency that kept his magic at bay because it made his voice sound absolutely flat with no emotion in it. If Quinn wasn't using occlumency right now, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to lie to George.
It was a complete lie when Quinn said that he thought they would stop him from using magic.
The real reason was something entirely different.
The five-year-old Quinn didn't consider the Wests as his family.
He didn't trust them even a single bit.
He didn't see George West as his grandfather, nor did he see Lia West as his sister.
He was dropped in this world with no warning. He had suffered from a panic attack within minutes of coming to this world.
Quinn found himself in an unfamiliar body and lived in a house with the original Quinn's family. At that point in time, they were complete strangers to him. And, they weren't any strangers, who were family to the original owner of this body, who was now dead.
He didn't dare to reveal that he could do magic without a magical focus because it scared him that they would somehow know that he wasn't their family and just somebody possessing their family member's body.
If they ever found out, he was sure that he would be dead, with no one ever finding of his death.
It was the reason why he acted as the perfect child so that they won't get suspicious. Quinn did what every child would do and behaved as a well-behaved child so that they won't have any reason to become suspicious.
For the first two years, Quinn wore a permanent mask of a perfectly behaved child. A method actor as he had once called himself.
It was all an act to maintain his life in this world.
It took time before Quinn learned to see them as his family. It took spending years with them to finally see them as his family. To finally look at George West as his grandfather, Lia West as his sister, Elliot Dalton and Ms. Rosey as his all-but-in-blood family, and Polly as the dependable house-elf who completed his family.
It took time to finally consider himself as a genuine member of the West family and not some imposter.
But by the time he finally accepted them, it was already had been years since he started practicing magic. He felt guilty for not telling them and decided to keep it a secret until he got a good chance to reveal that he could do magic without a wand.
Losing control over his magic wasn't the lemon he imagined about, but it was the one that life gave him, so he made lemonade with it.
There was a long silence between George and Quinn as they stared at each other. Neither of the two said a single word.
”I am sorry,” spoke Quinn. He apologized for being so late. ”I am sorry for hiding it this long.”
”I will not lie and say that it didn't hurt me to see that you thought I would stop you from doing something you so clearly loved,” George spoke, his voice softer than Quinn had ever heard from the man. ”But I am glad that you told me about this. And Quinn, I would say this: I would never ever stop you from doing what you love.”
”Thank you,” said Quinn.
”But, this still doesn't explain why you are in this condition,” asked George. While his talk with his grandson had brought them together, it said nothing about the condition Quinn was currently in. ”What happened to you that you lost control of magic.”
Quinn poured himself a glass of water from the slightly deformed pitcher before continuing.
”There exist a few secret mysteries in Hogwarts that not many know about.” Quinn was starting the cursed vaults explanation to his grandfather. ”The castle is a thousand years old with generations of magical humans starting their magical journey with Hogwarts. So, it is not strange that there are unidentified areas in the castle. I just so happened to come across one of those mysteries.”
Quinn reminisced about the day he met Friar and how it changed his life in Hogwarts.
”In my second year at Hogwarts, I found that there are these five vaults hidden across Hogwarts. Only the ghosts remember about them because some of them have been here for centuries. The Hufflepuff ghost, Friar, shared with me the knowledge about these vaults.”
George listened to Quinn, who spoke with a flat tone and blank expression, but George could see how these vaults would have excited Quinn.
”I cleared the first vault last year.” There was a pause in which Quinn thought if he should tell George about how he got hospitalized for ten days because he almost died. Quinn decided that if he was going to tell George about the vaults. Then he should just opt for full disclosure, sort off. ”I got hospitalized for ten days, had to grow most of my skin, all of my hair, heal my bones and plenty of organs.”
”What?!” George screamed. ”Why wasn't I told about this?!”
Quinn expected that reaction. He was just glad that he didn't use the words like death or almost died in his sentence.
”It was nothing to worry about.” Quinn lied to lessen his grandfather's worries. ”Madam Pomfrey fixed me up in no time. Plus, she is a great company.”
”Moving on, I solved the first vault and found what was behind it. No problems, it just took a lot of time and effort.” Quinn looked George in the eyes. ”The problem started this year when I found the second vault, and in my first and only exploration of the vault, I fell unconscious.”
George sharply inhaled. He didn't like where this was going.
Quinn took a deep breath before continuing.
”Something happened to me that day. And whatever happened was undone before this week because I now have no control over my magic.” Quinn's hand shivered as some emotions started leaking. ”I went from feeling on the top of my game to having no control over my magic. It actively tries to escape my body and cause rampage.”
George could feel that Quinn was struggling because he could feel the slight temperature dropping in the room, and there were small glimmers of facial expression on Quinn's face.
He took Quinn's hand in his and spoke.
”But, you just used magic when you disarmed me.”
Quinn shook his head and explained,
”I can still do minor magic that I find easy. My magic is seriously limited right now. Plus, right now, I feel stifled when I use magic. Using magic without a connection to my will feels extremely wrong.”
He pointed to the time just a few minutes ago.
”You remember when I come into this room, I was hiding my face with magic? That was illusion magic, at least a physical illusion, not a mental illusion. I am not in the condition to perform much mental magic, and your occlumency defenses are too much for even the normal me to use a mental illusion.”
Quinn looked at George's face and realized that he had gotten off the point. ”Ah, anyway, I saw your face and noticed that you found something wrong. The current me wasn't able to pull off a physical illusion with my magical capabilities. I am not having a good time with my magic. I don't feel good.”
”It is alright, Quinn,” George spoke in a comforting voice. ”Everything would be alright. I will find a way to fix whatever is wrong with you. So, don't worry. Everyone in the house would help.”
George meant it as he already started to plan to hire the best healers money could buy. He needed to find the best in the fields and provide his grandson with the best healthcare.
”Help! Yes, help.” Quinn's eyes shined, and he gripped George's hands. ”I need help with this, and you can help me with this.”
”Of course, anything you want, Quinn.” George didn't deny any request. While he couldn't see any expression on Quinn's face, he could tell that something was wrong with Quinn. His emotions were all over the place.
”I want you to call someone,” Quinn said. ”I want you to get them to West manor the day I return home.”
The request confused George. He didn't know who his grandson wanted to meet so eagerly.
”Who is it?”
Quinn took another deep breath before speaking in a flat monotone.
”I want you to call Alan D. Baddeley.”
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Quinn West - MC - More stone-faced than a certain blonde.
George West - Grandfather - Extremely worried about his grandson.
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