Lincoln's School of Magic - Lost Treasure

Ancestry

"You know what I read about?" Lucia asks me with a twinkle in her brown eyes.

"What?" I ask as we're walking into the girl's common room after class.

She plops down onto the red sofa by the fireplace and places an open book on her lap. The cover is black and is titled Pure-blood Ancestry by Malnevra Blinkworm.

I sit next to her, curious as to what she's on about. I look down into her lap to find a list of names written into the book.

Her index finger slides down the row of surnames as she reads them out loud.

Abbott
Avery
Black
Bulstrode
Burke
Carrow
Crouch
Cumberback
Gaunt
Greengrass
King
Lestrange
Longbottom
MacMillan
Malfoy
Mitchell
Ollivander
Parkinson
Prewett
Rosier
Rowle
Selwyn
Shacklebolt
Slughorn
     Stutter
Travers
Weasley
Yaxley

"Do any of those sound familiar?" She asks once she catches her breath after reading the list.

"Of course," I respond vaguely. "Our last names are there."

"D'you know why?" She asks quickly.

"We're part of the 'sacred twenty-eight'" I answer. "Those families are pure-blood." I pause for a moment and stare at Lucia's blank expression. I begin to realize that she might not have known this. "Did you not know?" I ask to clarify.

"Of course I knew that," she rolls her eyes. "There aren't many pure-bloods left."

"So what exactly are you on about?"

Lucia turns the page to reveal a large family tree.

"In order to create more pure-bloods, those twenty-eight families have to breed with each other," she begins. "Meaning that we — all pure-bloods — have the same ancestors."

"Are you suggesting that we're related?"

"Yes!" Lucia raises her voice in excitement. "Look here."

She points to the bottom of the family tree to find my parents, who were also second cousins.

"I wonder if they knew?" I ask beneath my breath.

"That they're related?" Lucia responds. "Undoubtedly."

She then slides her finger over to where she is on the tree. She then slides up a couple generations.

"My great-grandmother is Agnes Mitchell, your great-grandfather's sister."

I lean back onto the sofa in shock. I raise my hand to my forehead as I try to comprehend this.

"What about David?" I ask.

"Agnes Mitchell is also David's great-grandmother," Lucia says. "What bothers me is that I didn't realize this sooner. My grandfather's name is literally Froner King."

"How did you not realize?" I ask her.

"I guess I just didn't put the pieces together."

"We're very closely related," I say, still in shock.

"Third cousins. All of us," Lucia mumbles.

"I am definitely going to study my ancestry better. If I end up marrying a pure-blood one day, I want to make sure we're not too closely related," I laugh.

Lucia laughs along with me.

"How are we in this book? Is it new?" I ask once I realize.

"It updates live," Lucia answers. "Every time a pure-blood is born, they automatically appear in the book."

"Brilliant," I mumble as I examine the very large book. "Look here," I continue as I point to my family line. "My great-great-great-grandfather is Adrian's great-great-great-grandmother's brother."

"That makes you, what? Fifth cousins?" Lucia laughs.

"I'm sure that hardly counts as anything," I reply. "Funny, Adrian isn't in the book himself. It ends at his great-grandfather," I wonder.

"Well that's where the purity ended," Lucia responds. "Adrian is a half-blood. He doesn't belong on this tree."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" I say. "Cutting him out of the family?"

"You know how most pure-bloods are," Lucia protests. "Have you heard from him by the way?"

"Adrian?" I confirm.

Lucia nods her head.

"Haven't heard anything. I suppose he's dwelling underground somewhere trying to stay out of trouble," I suggest.

"He's been on my mind lately," Lucia says as she closes the book on her lap. "The Dark Lord vanished for years before remerging."

"That's different," I reassure.

"How?" Lucia asks sternly with a tone of worry cracking in her voice.

I have no answer to that, so I remain silent.

"Exactly," Lucia finishes.

"I know Adrian. I doubt he has a mastermind plan to take over the world," I joke to lighten the mood, but it doesn't seem to help.

"I hate to break it to you Audrey, but, you really don't know him. None of us do. He managed to fool us for months whilst the whole time he was under Voldemort's influence."

"Don't say his name," I whisper.

"Is that all you have to say?" Lucia grows furious.

"How about tonight we try to figure this all out, OK?"

Lucia nods her head and calms back down. Her wavy dirty-blonde hair has nearly gone brown now and she's pale as ever. She must not have been getting much sunlight. It is nearly winter now, but a bit of fresh air never hurt anyone.

"I'm sorry for being so stuck-up lately," Lucia apologizes. "I've just been worried."

"It's all right, Lucy," I comfort her. "I've been worried too."
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Published February 5th, 2022