Chapter 105 - The joys of packing (1/2)
The rest of the holiday passed by in a blur as the twins did everything to put the incident out of mind. If Lily noticed that they were oddly quiet at times, she wisely did not comment on the subject. All too soon, it was the day before Hogwarts, and it came time to pack and ensure everything was ready to go. The utter irony was that Lily was the only one of them who would not be stuck packing as everything had already been pre-packed since she would be staying over at the Prince manor for the last two weeks of summer.
At breakfast, Severus had gulped down the breakfast oatmeal before rushing off to pack lest it impedes his time with Lily. Lily much more calmly ate her oatmeal as Rowan sleepily, still in her pajama's appeared in the dining room. Lily almost choked on her oatmeal trying not to giggle at seeing Rowan's messy hair. Too sleepy to care, Rowan yawned and said, ”Pass the molasses over, Lily.”
Lily handed over the melted brown sugar for Rowan to pour into her oatmeal. Just to be sure, Rowan dropped a good spoonful into the bowl, before mixing it together with her spoon. After taking a bite, Rowan narrows her eyes at her grandfather, but specifically at the obituary section on the outside view of the paper. ”Grandfather, do you know a Cygnus Black?” Rowan asked.
”Why?” Reginald asked as he lifted his head over the paper.
Pointing with her spoon at the paper, Rowan says, ”Well, it says, he died of a heart attack.”
”What?!” Georgine exclaimed, suddenly wide awake from her seat. Leaning over Georgine reads the obituary through narrowed eyes. ”That's utter rot! That boy was like a runespoor with three heads. Something like a measly heart attack wouldn't have done him in.”
Luckily Sirsa was not present this morning for breakfast, but still, Reginald gave his sister a warning glance in the direction of the girls. Georgine rolls her eyes and says, ”What I mean to say is that anything short of being eaten by a dragon or having his soul sucked out by a dementor would stop that man.”
”Dementor?” Lily asked.
”You'll learn about them in your third year, Miss Evans,” Georgine murmured as she glanced at her brother as if to ask, ”Reginald, you can't honestly believe that he died of a heart attack.”
Raising an eyebrow, Reginald seems to say, ”No, Georgine but what do you want me to do about it? I didn't like the man much less would have pissed on him even if he was on fire. Besides, it's a tad suspicious that both the father and daughter are now dead.”
Seeing the ongoing unspoken communication between the adults, Rowan confidently concludes that Cygnus Black's death is more than a tad suspicious. And given whom his deceased daughter was, it was quite easy to narrow down the list of potential suspects: Tom Riddle, Rodolphus Lestrange, or any other Death Eater for that matter, excluding the entire list of enemies he had made in his entire lifetime.
Clearing his throat, Reginald shoots his sister one final glare and changes the subject. ”Rowan, dear, there's been a slight change of plans regarding your goblin lessons.”
Rowan's oatmeal splatters on the table in shock as she says, ”Does Professor Dumbledore, not approve of our having a private tutor?”
”Rather the opposite,” Reginald explained as he received puzzled glances from the two girls. ”It seems the suggestion is rather popular as more than one parent was interested in having their children learn Gobbledegook. After a generous donation from my part and the other interested parents, the Board of Governors for Hogwarts has agreed to make the class official.
As such Gobbledegook has been added as an extra-curricular subject to be taught by Professor Flitwick. With the potential to hire another teacher, once there are several years going.
Since it is the first year being taught 1st to 4th years will be allowed to join. However, next year only 2nd years and up will be allowed to take the class. Both of you girls have already been enrolled as well as your brother. The textbook for the course should arrive later this afternoon. Please make sure to properly place it in your trunks.”
”Sev's not going to like this,” Rowan muttered under her breath as Reginald returned to reading the Daily Prophet.
Giving her spoon one last lick, Rowan clears her bowl of oatmeal and gets up. Lily having already finished also got up as she followed behind Rowan. ”Do you want some help packing, Rowan?” Lily offered.
”I already packed most of my clothes, I just need to finish packing some of my books and personal supplies. But if you want, you can help,” Rowan accepted the offer.
Lily smiles in reply as she follows Rowan to her bedroom. Pointing at her desk, Rowan says, ”If you could grab all the books there and fit them into my trunk that would greatly be appreciated.” Before heading into the bathroom to grab a small box with personal hygiene and feminine items.
With ease, Lily grabbed the books and placed them into the open trunk, before moving aside as Rowan carefully placed said box inside. Glancing at the small box, Lily asks, ”What's inside?”