Then I heard it – a crash that shattered the night's silence.
Pure dread coursed through my veins like ice water, followed immediately by something else – raw, untamed magic. It surged through my body with such force that my vision blurred, responding to my rage as if it were alive.
I pressed my hand against the door. For a fraction of a second, time seemed to stop. Then –
BOOM!
The door didn't just open – it exploded inward with such force that splinters became shrapnel. What I saw next made my world stop spinning. Louise lay crumpled on the floor, blood pooling beneath her head, spreading across the worn floorboards.
Shards of glass protruded from her skull, glinting in the dim light. Her brown hair, now matted red with blood, spread around her head. She wasn't moving.
Above her stood the woman from my vision – Louise's mother. Her blonde hair hung in greasy strands around her face, which might once have been beautiful before alcohol had ravaged it.
Those sky-blue eyes, glazed and unfocused, stared at me uncomprehendingly. The broken bottle in her hand still dripped with my best friend's blood.
"What are you doing here?" she slurred, swaying on her feet.
Something inside me snapped.
What am I doing? The question echoed in my mind, growing louder, by the second. What am I doing?! What am I DOING?!
Pure unfiltered rage echoed across my being and my magic responded to it. Every object in the room began to vibrate. Picture frames rattled against the walls. Empty bottles rose from the floor, suspended in mid-air.
"YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO QUESTION ANYTHING!"
My voice didn't sound like my own. The suspended bottles shattered simultaneously, sending glass shards flying in every direction. They hung in the air around me, spinning.
The woman's eyes widened in terror. "What... what are you?"
I stepped over Louise's still form. The floorboards cracked beneath my feet, deep fissures spreading outward with each step I took. Furniture began to rise – chairs, tables, even the heavy sofa lifted off the ground as if gravity had lost its hold.
"Please," the woman whimpered, backing away. "I didn't mean to... I was just drunk..."
"BEING DRUNK IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR ANYTHING!!"
The windows imploded, unable to withstand the pressure of my magic. Glass rained down, joining the cloud of debris now orbiting around me.
"SHE WAS YOUR DAUGHTER!"
The wallpaper started peeling off the walls in long strips. Light bulbs exploded one after another, showering sparks that hung suspended in the air. The woman collapsed to her knees, blood beginning to trickle from her nose as my magic pressed down on her.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed, raising her hands in a futile attempt to shield herself. "Please, I'll do better. I'll be better. Don't kill me..."
I raised my hand, and flames burst into existence, joining the maelstrom of floating debris. The heat was so intense that the metal fixtures began to drip, the wooden floor began to catch smoke and even the distant wallpaper began to burn.
"Have you locked her in a shed before," I snarled. The ceiling creaked ominously as my magic pulled at the very structure of the house.
"No!"
I raised my hand sending her flying across the room, se crashed into a wall but I didn't care.
"Don't lie to me. Have you ever put her in a shed."
She looked downcast it seemed that even a drunk could act sober when she wanted.
"Yes," she said her head lowered, I could see tears beginning to form. I willed my magic into her tearducts shutting them, she didn't deserve the right to cry when her own daughter had cried so much.
"How many times?" I questioned, my voice lowering from it's previous rage into unsettling cold.
"I don't remember."
The fireballs floating around me flared again as they moved closer to her.
"I didn't mean to!" she screamed, her voice breaking with terror. "The drinking... it made me... please, I'll stop. I'll get help. Just don't–"
"Don't what?" More furniture rose, smashing against the ceiling before splintering into pieces that joined the whirlwind around me. "Don't hurt you? Like you hurt her?"
The flames grew larger, forming a ring of fire around us. The woman tried to crawl away, but my magic held her in place. Blood now flowed freely from her nose and ears as the pressure increased.
"Please," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the creaking of the house and the roar of the flames. "I'm her mother..."
"You're not a mother," I said, my eyes hollow as I stared at her shivering form. The walls themselves began to buckle. "You're a monster and monsters deserve to burn."
The fire ring constricted, moving closer to her. The spinning debris picked up speed, becoming a blur of wood, glass, and metal. I could feel the house groaning under the strain of my magic, ready to collapse at my command.
"I can change," she sobbed, curling into a ball on the floor. "Please... I'll do anything..."
I raised both hands, ready to bring it all crashing down. The flames reached for her like hungry fingers, the debris cloud tightened like a noose, and the very foundations of the house trembled.
Just then, a voice cut through like a knife.
"Somnus Incantatus!"
The world went black.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Felice Serendipity's POV
I apparated next to my son; he was going haywire, yet as I looked at Louise, I couldn't exactly blame him.
What kind of parent would do this to their child? I quickly cast a sleep charm on Felix, the fireballs and fire ring he was gathering extinguishing themselves while the furniture, glass, and the rest of the debris fell to the floor.
I walked over to Felix, doing the hand movements for wingardium leviosa, making him float at my side.
I looked at the mother, who seemed to have lost consciousness at some point, disgusted at her. I knew I should have acted earlier, but the tea had said otherwise; the tea was always right.
I placed my wand on the mother's temple; I was at least going to help my son and Louise.
A single word escaped my lip, almost in a murmur.
"Obliviate."
The spell made its work; I quickly deleted any and all memories of my son and his magic outburst.
"Falsa memoria."
I began to implant new memories, memories of her as a loving mother. I changed her mental breakdown from a man called Ben; I slowly made my work through, changing the woman.
Once she woke up, she would no longer be herself—she would be a proper mother, a mother that all children deserved.
I then turned to my son's floating body, placing my wand on his temple. I wondered if I should use obliviate on him, to take away this experience of almost killing someone but I decided against it.
If he had gone close enough to almost kill someone he would live with his choices just like a wizard.
Finally, I turned to the poor girl, who was still laying unconscious on the ground.
"Don't worry, dear, I'll fix you right up and give you a life that you deserve," I said, walking closer to the girl.
"Wingardium leviosa."
I pulled out all the broken shards of glass from her head.
"Vulnera Sanentur."
I cast a spell to heal her brain damage and blood loss before moving on to her cranium.
"Brackium Emendo."
Her fractured skull began healing itself, not much more to do.
I looked at the house and how Felix had absolutely demolished everything, so with a simple flick of my wand, I cast Reparo, fixing everything that had been obliterated: doors, shelves, cabinets. I even fixed the torn down wallpaper and scorched floor.
I looked once more at Louise below me.
"I do hope you will live a better life from now on, Falsa Memoria."
I began to change her memories, so that her mother wouldn't appear to hace changed everything else however stayed the same.
All in all, I say that this was well done; I didn't leave any room for anyone to look into this. Seriously, being an Unspeakable was really taxing from time to time, especially in cases like this
I looked at my son, recalling his magic. I didn't think it would be so strong; I knew it was different from normal accidental magic—the stars had told me at least that much—still, it was something beyond what I had ever seen or heard about.
"Sorry Felix, but we are going to have a long talk after this."
If you want to read ten advanced chapters, you can do so at Patreon.com/JoanjudoStories