the secret of Erised {s.b.}

chapter 21: impact

~song recommendation for this chapter: Table for Two by Abel Korzeniowski~

Muggles are an interesting group of people to live amongst. Their lives are much slower than those that live surrounded by magic. They have to do everything themselves, like cooking, cleaning, pouring themselves a glass of water, making their beds in the morning, and watering their plants. Muggles depend on what they call 'technology' to simplify these tasks, but a witch or wizard could do all of those things at the same time with the flick of their wand and a few enchanted objects.

Perla admired the way muggles lived, that's why she stayed in the muggle village even after Esmeralda died. After the funeral, Perla thought that it might be the best idea for her to remain there because she could not bear to be around other witches or wizards that might remind her about the tragic loss of her brother, sister-in-law, and niece.

No one in the village really knew what had happened to Esmeralda, all Perla said was that she had died. The local muggles, being the nice people they were, did not ask for more information regarding the young girl's death. Even if they had asked, Perla had no clue what she would've said. Like the rest of them, she had no idea how her beloved niece had died.

At first, everyone was careful around her. Whenever she would walk down the street, parents would pick up their pace and tell their children to do so as well. They did not want Perla to look at their children because they believed it might trigger memories of Esmeralda. People stopped inviting her to dinner parties or for afternoon tea because all of her friends had children and did not know how to handle a situation like this.

Eventually, all of that became normal. She knew people empathised with her and felt bad with what had happened, but she'd rather be alone than pitied. Perla would go out to the market or store whenever she knew that people were not around. She became known as the 'Lady from the Lonely House' by the children of the village.

Perla would always do everything for two. That was the one habit she could not break. She'd set the table for two and barely touch her food as she stared at the seat across from her. She served food on that plate as well, she would put it in the fridge afterwards and try to eat it another day, but her appetite had decreased a lot in the last couple of years. So now, she did not serve food on that plate anymore, she only placed it where Esmeralda would usually sit. It was her way of remembering her niece.

Esmeralda's room remained untouched. After the funeral, Perla refused to go in there and placed a Colloportus Charm on the door. Of course, the temptation to use Alohomora was always there, but Perla was so determined in never setting foot in there again that she resisted the attractiveness of the counterspell. She'd never open the door, but she'd often sit against the door and cry whenever she couldn't hold her tears in anymore.

She received letters from McGonagall often. Her old Transfiguration teacher and friend would ask how she was doing and if she needed anything. At first, the responses would be parchment after parchment of tear smeared paragraphs about her loss, but as the years went by and the letters kept coming, Perla stopped replying. McGonagall knew it was hard for her to reply and what she was going through, so even though Perla wasn't responding anymore, she kept sending them.

One night, just as Perla was setting the table to have dinner, she heard a knock on her door. It was odd to have someone knock at her door, especially since Halloween had been two weeks before. Even then, she would place the candy on a tray outside so that no one would knock on her door. She finished placing the second set of cutlery on the table and headed towards the door.

A second knock was heard just as she got closer.

"I'm coming !" she called out.

She opened the door and closed it immediately after. Minerva McGonagall was standing outside her door.