The Simple House of Duffrey

(22) The Fourth Year

My mother Wenda and her mother, Lucille Wendicker had not been on good terms since Grandpa, Henry Godric Smith had died. Her mother always against magic, had been confined to a wheelchair after refusing magical treatment. Perhaps if Grandpa Henry had been alive he would have just slipped her a potion in her drink. At least I had been told he was certainly daring enough to try. Mom often told me that their marriage had been very push and pull, which is why she had married my Dad Devin straight after his proposal, because he was so agreeable.

He also tolerated her strange aversion to her own magic that Grandma Lucille had bestowed on her. Her time at Hogwarts had instructed her on how to do things but when she had come back to introduce Devin to her parents the house had taken over even less of a pushing presence. Grandpa Henry had been sick since Mary was born. She had lots of memories of him and his affable nature. I on the other hand only remembered his face which I had seen in pictures.

Now at the beginning of July, the two of us daughters found ourselves holding up my mother, still shaking at the news, as we turned the key in the knob of the Smith family house in Bath. It was a four-bed terraced home, rather unassuming like our own modern house. But this was linked on two sides by other flats. With a click of the key, my Mother now entered the wonderland of her youth.

Strangely, though it was my grandmother who had died we had come on a hunt for something of Grandfathers. All his magical things had been locked up by Grandmother Lucille on his death and she had never even considered letting my mother have a peep at them again. "It was bad enough she married a wizard, even if he was well behaved" Grandmother Lucille had once said according to Father. He had been kind enough to make all the funeral arrangements for Mom, since Grandmother had mostly muggle friends and a ceremony was expected.

Inside the house was mostly covered in dust. It appeared that Grandma Lucille had taken up living in the downstairs bedroom nearest to the bathroom to do everything herself. When she was found on the living room couch her heart had appeared to stop on her own. Of course, we had not seen her with our own two eyes. It had been the friendly squib daughter of her neighbor, who also reported to mother who had found her. It seems they had left most everything where she had left it, save for items that might spoil.

Mom went straight through the kitchenette and into the dining room. From a glass cupboard, she pulled out what was obviously an old jar of fire whisky and uncorked it taking a swig. Then after a "gah" of disgust she turned to us with an impish smile.

"I always wanted to do that" she said with a pep in her step. With that we didn't dare get in her way. By the time we got to the stairs mom had draped herself in a shawl, pair of pearls, and sunglasses all while dancing like a little girl sneaking some time to play dress up. Mary and I just looked at each other in some confusion but honestly it was good to see her do more than cry. This was of course, the house which had been not always good to her as a child.

Upstairs on the second floor was the office which Mary said she wasn't sure the state of. It had been Grandpa Henry's but there was no telling if Lucille had used it herself after his death. The walls were pistachio colored and the shelves were painted white. At the center of the room was a heavy oaken desk, much more serious than the rest of the room. It was clear of papers and most trinkets as well save for a large monthly calendar dated from over ten years ago. Still on her curious like a cat streak Wenda took to searching the drawers, something must remain even if Lucille had managed to throw things out without a fuss.

There was a cardboard box on the right hand back corner of the pen drawer. The box was pushed almost out of sight but Wenda still grasped for it, pulling it into view.

"It's his wand" she said opening it quietly and for the first time being unable to touch something. Inside was a rigid 11 and 3/4-inch Maple wand with a Kelpie core, or so Mom would tell us later.