August 9th, 1991.
England - Cumbria.
Mountain - Scafell Pike.
[Footsteps].
Gradually a black figure appeared in a barren, lifeless place, even though the sun was high in the sky, there was an almost palpable shadow in the place.
The sound of footsteps is muffled by the cold, dry wind, which together with the atmospheric pressure makes the throat close, the fingers freeze and the heart race.
The figure's eyes sharpened into a disconcerted expression, and gradually she moved towards the furthest part of the mountain, as if instinctively, something in that corner was screaming at her to move away.
Then, as if something was playing with her eyes, a wooden house suddenly appeared, a simple one, but very well made, and the woman's eyes didn't waver as she inspected it.
All the elegance and nobility of the woman could not be hidden, her natural combat guard, her firm steps and her perfect posture delivered confidence and experience with every glance.
A few meters from the house the air distorts into black smoke, then a giant shadow on the side of the house moves, the shadow opens its eyes to show a yellow iris with a thin line in the middle.
A gaze full of aggression and intelligence, staring and analyzing the woman, like a predator staring at its prey, all the pressure and aura of the beast invites conflict.
Then, with a swift movement of her hands, she pulls out her wand and waves it in the direction of the beast. From the ground, huge appendages come to life and trap all the members of the shadow, as if it were a spider's cocoon.
The earth changes its color to a metallic shade of silver and gray, trapping and completely immobilizing the shadow, with the second wave of the wand a white spear comes out of the ground towards the shadow.
[Coughs]
"Excuse me, but what are you doing with my dragon?!". A cold, calm voice breaks all the tension and air in the room.
The woman turns her head and notices an 11-year-old boy sitting on the fence surrounding the house, his black hair blending in with the surroundings, making his white skin stand out.
Silence fell over the place, breaking any note or feeling of struggle, like a bucket of water thrown on the fire.
At that moment, the woman realized the strangeness of the situation and quickly resumed her refined and cordial posture, dispelling any sense of combat. "I believe I'm a guest at your residence, Mr. Kokkinos, but can you explain to me the reason for this attack?" The woman defended herself almost automatically.
The woman defended herself almost automatically, speaking the two sentences without taking a breath.
"Well, it's true that I'm expecting a guest at this hour, but I still don't know your name and... are you sure it was Ágata who attacked first?". I said, staring into the woman's eyes.
"I'm the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva Mcgonagall, Mr. Kokkinos." She nodded with a slight smile, ignoring the part about almost killing my dragon.
I smiled slightly and pointed in the direction of the wooden house: "It's nice to meet you, Professor, please come in so we can talk."
I got up from the fence and with calm steps led the teacher to my house. Near the door, I stopped and looked at Ágata, still bound in her silver chains.
Noticing my gaze, the teacher put her hand on her wand to undo the transmutation, but the sound of metal creaking and breaking paralyzed her movement, and she watched with curiosity as Agate's muscles contracted and the metal gave way.
In a few seconds, the dragon freed itself and looked at me with a smug look, followed by a breath through its nostrils. "You almost died and you're still posing like that, you need to train more Ágata". My smile widened when I heard her pointy tail slap the floor in protest.
I led Minerva into the living room of the house, even though it was a small and simple hut from the outside, the inside of the house was very spacious.
The décor is reminiscent of a winter home in the mountains, the carpeting and dark brown wood gives the comfort and warmth of a home, but even with all these layers of protection against the cold, the windows have openings for warmer days, giving it a seaside feel.
This all-weather structure and these antique decorations made the teacher curious, but at the same time her eyes sparkled with a certain illogical nostalgia.
We made some greetings and I offered her a cup of hot tea with some chocolate cookies.
"I'll take the tea without sugar... now Mr. Kokkinos, could you tell me your problem?". She pointed with the cup still in her face.
I don't know why she attacked Agate, but the reason for her visit was a request from me along with my letter of reply to Hogwarts, I didn't specify anything, but I did ask for the help of a teacher.
"I have two problems, but I'm going to talk about the most troublesome one first... my wand." My magic is gradually getting out of control, hurting my body and destroying my house. I urgently need a wand that can channel and control my magical power.
Minerva looked at me with a certain doubt. "I can't understand your problem, it's not just about buying a wand in the store". She looked at my waist and realized that I didn't have a wand.
"Normally yes... but there have been a few problems, every time I try to enter a witch store they won't even let me open the door, while others go off with warning alarms." I spoke in a tired tone, not once, not twice, had I tried that.
"I see... I was curious about your letter and my first impression when I met you wasn't the most enlightening." Her voice now sounded a little amused.
"Can you imagine the cause of this problem?".
I took a deep breath and spoke very slowly. "I think it has something to do with my second problem... I have an obscurial one".
"... Are you sure about that?". She spoke carefully.
I let out another sigh and released some of the chaotic magic trapped in my body.
Waves of magic came out of my body like sound waves, reverberating in space.
In the presence of this magic, anything weaker than wood was torn, bent, broken or even exploded, and shards of glass and plastic flew across the room.
I closed my eyes and drew all the magic into my body, letting only the sound of the shards fill the room.
I opened my eyes and stared deeply into the teacher's face, but before she could say anything, time in the room seemed to rewind, fixing everything that magic had broken.
In a few seconds, everything was back to normal, as if all that destruction had been in our heads.
Minerva looked around with heavy eyes, not from tiredness, but from overload, already imagining the work she would have to do.
"Well, that was certainly a surprise, I understand why you asked for the professor's help, but do you know what an 'obscurial' is?". She spoke slowly and even emphasized the point.
"Vaguely, professor, I only know that it's a creature with high magical power, with the sole intention of destroying and that it usually kills its host before it's 10 years old." I spoke the basic information so as not to commit myself too much.
"Just that...". She emphasized.
I nodded and added. "That's one of the reasons I asked for a teacher's help, I don't know if the students' parents allowed the presence of an obscurial, which at any moment could explode and hurt the students". I finished in a practical tone.
"Well that's not for us to decide, even though I'm the vice-principal I can't make that decision alone, but don't worry Dylan, we never abandon a student who wants to learn at our school." She spoke with pride and confidence, delivering that air of bookish wisdom, I almost let out a smile, almost.
"I appreciate that, but if it's not too much trouble I'd still like to do my shopping, maybe find out why these attacks are happening and how to prevent them." I took a deep breath as if to get a stone off my back, I've been looking forward to this conversation for days, and I'm glad it ended well.
"Of course, one of my tasks this morning is to escort you down the diagonal alley." She stood up and headed for the door.
I waved my hand and the house closed on its own as if it had a life of its own. I looked at Ágata and told her I was going to the market and told her to take care of the house.
"Ready?". She asked, handing me her elbow.
I waited a few moments before answering. "Yes...".
Then I was pulled into the vortex of images and sounds of the apparatus.
First chapter of my novel.
I'm not fluent in English, hence the translation, but the novel is mine.
See you next time.