Side quest

Chapter Nine

When Andrea returned, Thaddeus bombarded her with questions as if she had been away for ages, despite her absence only lasting a week. He inquired about her experience at Hogwarts, whether she encountered any ghosts, which house she belonged to, and whether she participated in quidditch. Initially, his curiosity was sweet and entertaining, but eventually as his incessant inquiries drawled on, it became a source of annoyance. Unfortunately for Andrea, she didn't know how to send him off. Maeve was also quite inquisitive about Andrea's first week, and was thankfully much less overbearing than her youngest. Henry, as was typical, displayed little interest.

Before Andrea's arrival, Cecil had received an owl in possession of several letters from each of Andrea's professors. In these letters, of course, contained a wealth of information that outlined both the positive and negative aspects of Andrea's academic performances, and suggestions to nurture her improvement. While the professors' feedback was not overly critical, it was certainly honest. Cecil had given Andrea the opportunity to read the feedback for herself, but she preferred not to take the risk of becoming discouraged. So, he simply summed it up with "room for growth" which would be fostered through her extracurricular studies while in Bemunth.

The training did not resume right away. Since she had only just gotten back, Andrea was given the remainder of the day to unwind, which she did by assisting Maeve with the remainder of the house work and Thaddeus with his own school assignments. She understood tutoring and chores was hardly considered relaxation, but it always made her a bit anxious to just stand around and do nothing. Possibly because she often got yelled at for it. Regardless, even though she would be spending most of her week at Hogwarts, she still felt responsible for pulling her weight.

The majority of her Saturday was spent completing an array of tasks both inside and outside of the house. During the morning, she undertook a portion of Maeve's morning chores and helped in basic meal preparations. Later in the day, she accompanied Cecil to begin the lessons he had planned for her. Despite having made significant progress since their previous session, her skills still remained unimpressive in comparison to her fellow fifth-year classmates. Although her performance may not have been exceptional, her grasp of the material was impressive. She always had a knack for retaining information.

At the end of the day, Andrea's feelings were conflicted. While she had not set high expectations for herself during their mock duels, she had hoped to achieve more breakthroughs like she had in the past. However, as Cecil had pointed out, though she could manage to defend herself in a fight, she was unlikely to win it. She made an effort to avoid allowing her disappointment to affect her as she proceeded with the remainder of the evening and the following morning. She expected Sunday to be much of the same, but Cecil had other plans.

"I have a friend in the next village over," He begun. Andrea aided him in loading a small, oxen-pulled cart with tools, wood, and several animal products. "We worked together as Aurors years ago, and I still make a point of visiting him and his family from time to time. I thought it would be nice for us to pay them a visit today."

"We're not going to train?" Andrea asked.

"It's important to remember that overworking can be just as harmful as not working at all," He told her, "you're dedicated enough that taking a few breaks won't be detrimental to your progress."

"But am I making enough progress?" She wondered aloud.

Noticing the look of defeat on her face, Cecil gave her back a reassuring pat. "You'll get there. Now let's get going."

After ensuring that their items were safely stowed in the cart, Cecil climbed up onto the narrow wooden platform that scarcely qualified as a seat and took hold of the oxen's reins. Andrea joined him carefully, mindful of the small wagon's rickety and unstable state. Initially, she avoided settling too comfortably into her seat in fear it would collapse unexpectedly, however, as they started on their journey down the long and viciously bumpy road, she realized her caution was pointless.