Muggle Meets Magic (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

TWENTY Beyond The Grave

We were seated in Alberforth's sitting room, and he seemed to be at a loss for words. I wasn't sure how to begin the conversation. I had so many questions that needed answering, but I didn't know how to ask any of them.

"How did you find me?" he asked finally.

"Well..." I trailed off, not sure where to begin. "We talked to the inn keeper lady—"

"No, before that. How did you know who I was?" he interjected.

"Oh," I said. "Um, my grandmother— uh, Katherine— told me about you."

Alberforth's eyes narrowed.

"How does she know? She's not supposed to remember me."

"She doesn't," I confirmed. "She kept a journal. She doesn't remember anything, but she knows of her past. It's nothing more than a story to her, but she knows it's real. She knows you're real. And when she found out I'd been going to Hogwarts she revealed the truth to me."

Alberforth sat down tentatively in an armchair and stared into the flickering fire in the fireplace, which he'd lit upon our arrival.

"Does Arianna know?" he whispered.

"No," I promised. " I mean, she knows about Hogwarts. But that's it. She's never been there. She hasn't been exposed to magic. She's clueless to her heritage."

Alberforth seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He turned his gaze upon me.

"So why did you seek me out?" he asked, looking weary. I guess it had been a bit of a shock for the old man.

"I wanted to ask a few questions. If I may," I replied slowly. He gestured for me to go on. I pulled off my necklace.

"This heirloom... this is the necklace you used to seal my mother's magic, correct?" I asked.

"Correct," Alberforth replied, eying the necklace as I held it up for him to see.

"It killed Brianna Ambleforth. Why did it kill her? Why is it dangerous to other people, but harmless to me?"

"The necklace has a certain protection to it," Alberforth explained. "Only those who descend from our bloodline can harness it's power. If anyone else tried to perform magic while wearing it... it would kill them."

I frowned a little.

"Then how come Lucas was able to? He said it helped him when he was younger..."

"He was probably lying," Will piped up, looking disgusted. "He probably said it to save his own skin."

I didn't know what to think, or to believe. But now that I thought about it properly, a lot of things were strange about Lucas.

His father and family died when he was young, and somehow he was the sole survivor? Why did the vampires spare him? And what happened to his mother? He never mentioned her. For some reason he always referred to his father, as if he was the sole parent.

I began to wonder if I should trust Lucas after all.

The rest of the conversation had gone awkwardly. There were many things I wanted to ask— many things that weren't my place to ask— and I half expected Alberforth to have just as many. But Alberforth was a very, very old man, and it seemed he'd had plenty of time to comes to terms with not knowing his own daughter. Any questions, if he'd had any, were long forgotten.

I didn't feel that it was fair for me to ask if he'd missed my mother, even on behalf of her. It wasn't like I'd be able to tell her. And it wasn't like it would benefit me much anyway. No, the only question that really benefited me at all was the necklace, and once I'd had my answer, our visit had become meaningless.