Come Hell or Harsh Magic

Professor Hecat had decided to give them a review in classes. Just to check up on some past material before they moved onto the last leg of the most complicated section of their schooling. This happened to include something Genevieve had never gotten to do in class in person.

Boggarts.

Why anyone thought it was a good idea to display student’s deepest fears to one another was a mystery to her. Hogwarts students were generally kinder than the children she’d grown up with at the orphanage but you still got the occasion Leander Prewett or Sirius Black.

The moment Hecat made the announcement terror filled her the idea of facing something from her nightmares, whether it would end up being the nuns from the orphanage or the disappointed shade of her father and her friends was almost too much to bear.

She was better about letting people into her life, having expanded her circle of friends and even being fairly friendly with other students. But she still only trusted the main few.

Hell, Ominis was the only one who knew about her past in detail.

“What did you do?” she asked him hopelessly figuring that surely he must have had an equally traumatizing boggart he didn’t want to get out. “I mean you can’t exactly make the things we fear funny.”

“Nothing really. Call me a coward but I couldn’t take it down.”

“You aren’t a coward Ominis. You’ve defied your family for me,” argued Genevieve.

“I have good cause,” he replied squeezing her hand. “It’s easier with proper motivation. Though if it helps, I don’t think Hecat explained things properly. She doesn’t make you face the boggart in front of the full class. Hobhouse’s puffskein only got out because Hecat was gone that day. We only got through half the class and Hecat was livid when she found out how the substitute handled it.”

“Oh,” said Genevieve feeling moderately better.

“I’ll be waiting right outside the door.” She leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Thank you.”

HL

The day of the boggart practice came too soon. Genevieve was still desperately attempting to find a way to make her demons funny. Unfortunately, this also meant an uptick in her nightmares. Something Spooky was thankfully willing to help. Cuddling with her to sooth her each time she woke.

So it was a rather stressed Ravenclaw that approached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, escorted by her favorite feline who seemed to sense her mistress’s mounting distress. The students were lined up outside the classroom and Genevieve purposefully put herself last.

One by one people trickled in. Laughter was often heard coming from the room shortly after and Genevieve tried to hide her nerves. Not that any of her close friends were buying it.

“You alright Gen?” asked Evelyn.

“Yeah you look worse than you did when you were about to go down and face a psychotic goblin,” said Sebastian causing Evelyn and Anne to hit him simultaneously.

“Yes, I’m fine. Or…I will be,” she forced herself to say. Ominis slipped his hand into hers.

“You’ll be fine.”

“And you?” she enquired.

“I may actually have a proper plan this time,” he replied. The rest of her friends went in and out. Anne and Evelyn both were unfortunately called away for various reasons after, leaving with regretful words of encouragement, however Sebastian agreed to stick around as well.

Ominis went in right before her and while laughter didn’t exactly result from inside when he came out he didn’t appear too bad.

“Turned my father’s voice into Opera music,” he said with a slight smile and she squeezed his arm.

Taking a deep breath Genevieve walked inside.

“Ready my eagle?” asked Hecat.

“Yes,” she said. “Just glad not to have an audience.” Hecat snorted.

“As if I’d give children the ammunition against each other? You lot can be vicious little things when you want. Not to mention it’s not always mummies and spiders.”

Not it’s not. Genevieve thought to herself. She pulled out her wand and faced the crate in the middle of the room. Hecat stood back and then flicked her wand. The crate opened and out stepped a physical manifestation of her nightmares.

There was the mother superior in all her terrifying glory switch in hand approaching Genevieve with a sadistic smile.

“You deserve punishment wicked child!”

“Riddikulus!” she exclaimed. Trying to imagine the woman in an entertaining outfit.

CRACK!

The Mother Superior disappeared but in her place was now Lodgok a part of his body smashed in his normally kind eyes accusatory.

“Ranrok was right! I shouldn’t have trusted you! It’s your fault!”

“Riddikulus!”

Crack

Now it was her father bloodied and bruised staring scornfully at her. She collapsed to the ground crying out.

“Such a disappointment…”

HL

Dinah had been slightly wary of what Genevieve might face with the boggart. She knew from Eleazar the child’s reoccurring nightmares had, mostly, disappeared aside from times of high stress. So she’d hoped that the creature wouldn’t be a great challenge.

She stood up on the stairs to ensure her presence wouldn’t interfere with the boggart and didn’t interfere with the first appearance of the nun though the way the girl backed away and what the boggart had transformed into in the first place concerned her. She remembered what Eleazar said at the end of Genevieve’s fifth year regarding the scars Noreen had found.

Still, it was part of the test to face your fear. When the second form appeared she began to move down. Evidently this was not going to go as planned however obviously desperate to be rid of the image of the goblin the girl cried the counter spell once more resulting in a disturbingly convincing Eleazar.

Well convincing aside from the fact that Eleazar wouldn’t EVER speak with his daughter like that. As it began a tirade Dinah swooped in front of her charge.

“Riddikulus.”

Eleazar disappeared and in his place was a large hourglass, nearly the height of the room filled with sparkling sand.

“Ridikkulus.”

The boggart turned into a small sand castle. A flick of her wand and the boggart was forced back into the crate.

She turned to Genevieve only to see that Mr. Sallow and Mr. Gaunt had already burst into the room. Gaunt had pulled the collapsed girl into his arms while Sallow knelt nearby.

“Mr. Sallow go get Professor Fig NOW,” she ordered swiftly. The Slytherin didn’t need telling twice and was out of the room before you could say quidditch. Meanwhile Dinah hurried back up her stairs to grab a calming draught from her office.

Moments later she was back down and kneeling next to Genevieve who seemed to be in slightly less of a tizzy though still not entirely aware of herself. Unfortunately, this also made it difficult to get the girl to drink.

The door slammed back open and Eleazar rushed in dropping to the ground with them.

“Genevieve,” he said softly however she began to panic more.

“The boggart turned into a twisted you,” said Dinah with a sigh.

“Breath Genny,” said Ominis. “You’re safe, it’s alright. Listen to my voice.” Slowly the girl began breath normally and Dinah was able to get her to down the potion internally cursing those who’d traumatized her surrogate niece while also feeling slightly guilty for the pain she’d just inflicted.

HL

Genevieve’s mind was a mess. The boggart seemed to have disappeared and she was vaguely aware of people around her but she couldn’t think straight. Then her father’s face came into view again, this time full of kindness and concern. Yet she couldn’t help but feel a stab of fear. What if it was a trick of a boggart?

Suddenly Ominis’s soothing voice rang in her ears.

“Breath Genny. You’re safe, it’s alright. Listen to my voice.” She made herself obey. Focusing on the gentle voice of the Slytherin until at last things around her became clearer and she realized she was lying on the floor. A drink of what some liquid proceeded to speed up the process and she properly observed things. She was primarily in Ominis’s arms though surrounded by Hecat, Sebastian, and her father. All wore looks of intense worry.

Embarrassment filled her and she looked away.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Whatever for?” asked Professor Hecat.

“For making a scene.”

“Oh my child,” said her father. “None of this is your fault.” She felt tears slide down her cheeks as she extricated herself from Ominis and was pulled into the waiting arms of her father. The place she felt safest in the world.

When her sobs subsided, she pulled away and looked around.

“I didn’t finish. Do…do I need to have another go?”

“Merlin’s name no,” said Hecat. “Don’t worry about it for now class, is over for the day. You go get some rest.”

“Mr. Gaunt, Mr. Sallow can you escort Genevieve to my office?” her father asked and Genevieve was relieved he’d guessed she didn’t exactly feel like napping in Ravenclaw tower. She could just transfigure one of the chairs in his office into a settee.

“Certainly,” said Ominis and with him and Sebastian on either side of her she was escorted out.

“Thank you both,” she said softly.

“We’re your friends Veevee. That means we’ll support you come hell or harsh magic,” said Sebastian.

“Sebastian’s right. You’ll always have us by your side. Just as you’ve done the same for us,” replied Ominis. Genevieve took a deep breath still not back to normal but comforted by the companionship of her friends.

HL

“Godric’s heart Di! What happened?” asked Eleazar as soon as the students left the room.

“Boggart gone wrong. First it was an evil nun, then the goblin she failed to save through no fault of her own, then a very disapproving version of you,” Dinah rattled off. Eleazar cursed.

“All her nightmare’s come to life.”

“Did she say anything about being concerned about the boggart lesson?” asked Dinah.

“No. But you know Genevieve. She hates the idea of failing anything she likely was determined to try no matter what.”

“More like the idea of failing you.” Eleazar sighed heavily.

“Yes, likely. Though I’m not sure what more there is I can do to reassure her.”

“You were the first adult to ever give a damn about her from what I can tell of course you matter the most,” said Dinah then shrugged. “And often what we fear isn’t entirely rational. You’d never behave that way and she probably knows that consciously but there’s still that underlying fear. Just as she knows she’ll never go back to those nuns and, I would hope, that Lodgok’s death isn’t her fault.”

“She seems to usually accept Lodgok’s death as Ranrok’s responsibility. It’s mainly been during her sleeping hours she’s shown signs of blaming herself. Though all that was hardly going to disappear like magic in a few years.”

“I fear I may have retraumatized the poor girl,” said Dinah.

“It’s not your fault Di. The fault lies with those damn women for how they tormented her and with Ranrok for the position he forced her into. A position I got her into originally.”

A part of him would always feel some level of guilt for not simply leaving those ruins the day that they’d been whisked away by the portkey. Perhaps it had worked out for the best in the end but a selfish part of him couldn’t help but despise the toll it took on his daughter and the part he’d played in that.

And that wasn’t counting the renewed fury he felt towards her former caretakers. How those women were considered fit to take care of children was beyond him.

“You never forced her into anything El. Had she chosen to turn back at any point you would have supported her.”

“But she didn’t have a choice did she? Once she was seen in that damn vault.”

“She was the only one capable of stopping him. Not to mention Rookwood already saw you both get in the carriage with Osric and the container. He might have tracked her down anyway. Or her magic may have manifested at another time.”

“You think she was “destined” to fight Ranrok?” said Eleazar skeptically and his friend shrugged.

“Things always happen for a reason. We can certainly acknowledge it was anything but fair for her to be stuck in that position. But you can’t take all the blame on yourself. And she wouldn’t want you to. Anymore than Lodgok would want her to blame herself for his death.

It was one of the benefits of Dinah that she was rather excellent when it came to talking sense into people even if she was a ball of chaos herself.

“I suppose so,” he said. “I’m not sure what to do.”

“Go and support her. It’s all you can do. Her grades in this class are high enough the boggart isn’t going to do any real damage. And she wouldn’t be the first person in the world to fail at banishing one.” He gave her a grateful smile and his old friend patted him on the arm.

“You’re a fantastic father El. Don’t let any of this shake your confidence in that. The girl adores you.”

“Thank you, Di. I admit I do often wish Miriam were here to help. She’d never have a moment of doubt.”

“If Miriam were here, you’d have already taken up my offer on that drinking game,” snickered Dinah and he chuckled.

“Perhaps I should see if I can delay my trip on behalf of Black…”

“We both know the old fop won’t budge,” said Dinah. “Don’t worry we’ll take care of the little eagle.”

“Thank you.” The situation had put Eleazar on edge despite the earlier reassurances from Aesop. Yet Dinah had put most of his anxieties to rest. Now it was time to attend to his daughter.

HL

Her father was particularly thorough before he left for London.

“Remember go to Professor Hecat if you have any problems,” he said gently. “And I’m always a letter away.”

“I know Papa,” said Genevieve with a small smile. She knew her episode with the boggart had made him particularly protective. He seemed twice as reluctant as usual to leave which was saying something.

“Forgive me, I simply worry,” he said.

“Nothing to forgive Papa,” she assured him as he pulled her into a hug. She’d take all the care in the world over indifference or Merlin forbid the distain of her boggart. He pressed a last kiss to her forehead and then stepped into the fireplace disappearing in a flash of green flame.

HL

There was one upside to this whole trip to London on Black’s behalf. It gave him a pretext to be there in the first place.

What he was planning to do was…well boarding on illegal but he’d finally come up with a way to more or less dish out some punishment on the nuns who had hurt his dear girl. It had been something he’d been considering for a while. All the most fitting and colorful options unfortunately straight up broke the statute of secrecy.

However, his current plan well, as long as nobody ever found out…could be chalked up to ordinary causes.

So with a dose of Polyjuice and some veritaserum in toe he met the muggle police officer in front of the orphanage. He’d sent in a report of abuse of the children, under a fake name and now they were here to interview the Mother Superior.

“Thank you for meeting me Mr. Smith,” said the Officer who was older and had a kindly face.

“Well, I just want to make sure that the appropriate steps are taken regarding the treatment here,” said Eleazar, who appeared as a red haired man in his thirties.

They knocked on the door and were led inside. The nuns seemed willing to be far more accommodating to the police than they had been Professor Fig on his initial visit. Perhaps guilt making them wish to improve their image.

This included a pot of tea being served to them in the office. Eleazar offered to pour and deftly dropped the veritaserum into it before offering the cup to the Mother Superior who took a sip.

“So what’s this about a report?” she asked with an impressive poker face.

“Well, I got word from one of your former charges about her treatment here,” said Eleazar. “A Miss Genevieve Smith.”

“That dratted girl,” scowled the nun.

“Yes, well she mentioned her hands being burned on multiple occasions, to have the devil burned out of her, locking for hours on end in dark rooms, excessive beatings of various kinds, not to mention the verbal abuses. Is any of it true?” The Mother Superior looked indignant and opened her mouth undoubtably to deny it but instead said.

“Of course it is. The girl deserved it and that’s that.”

“Did all of your fellows take part in this treatment and has it extended to the other children?” asked the constable evidently impressed by the easy confession. Looking furious the nun said.

“Yes, we all doll out discipline. It was not usually as necessary with the other children as it was Miss Smith. But I would do the same again if I thought it required.” Eleazar glanced over to see the horror on the face of the constable who then stood up.

“I think I’ve heard all that’s necessary ma’am. I’ll be back soon.” Eleazar smirked at the Mother Superior who was now blustering and begging the constable to stop and listen but the man had clearly heard enough. Eleazar smirked at the woman and tipped his hat.

Once they were back out on the street the constable turned to him.

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention.”

“What will happen?” asked Eleazar. The constable scowled.

“Oh with a straight out confession like that from the woman herself? I’ll have some people come and shut this place down. The women will also get prosecuted for hurting the children. It is a crime. Mind you if it were just the beatings, they might have gotten away with it but the burning…” he shook his head. “I can’t say for how long but they’ll pay for what they did. At the very least nobody’s going to be calling that lot ‘holy’ any time soon.”

“No indeed.” Said Eleazar smugly. “Thank you for your assistance.” The constable tipped his hat and walked off. Eleazar rounded the corner and disapperated feeling rather pleased.

HL

Several weeks after her father returned from his business trip Genevieve was eating breakfast when she caught sight of Samantha’s muggle newspaper. One of the smaller articles bore the headline.

“St. Mary’s Orphanage in London closing! Abusive Caretakers Unmasked!”

“Samantha? Can I borrow that section of the paper?” she asked. Samantha obliged and she read over the article. It was fairly short.

Recently it was discovered the caretakers of St. Mary’s Orphanage in London have been abusing their charges with overly harsh disciplinary measures including excessive beatings and burnings. The caretaker’s confession was taken by Constable Chris Columbus who then returned with his fellow officers to arrest the nuns and take the children into protective care. The children have since been transferred to other orphanages and the nuns are going to be behind bars for at least a decade. The Church has declined to comment. The building is to be developed into a local library.

Genevieve felt a wave of relief fill her. Of course, she’d known she could never be touched by them since her adoption but at the same time there was something so utterly cathartic about hearing they had finally been punished for what they’d done. True it wasn’t exactly equal to what they did to her but frankly she didn’t see any of her old caretaker’s doing too well in prison.

She jumped up and rushed to her father’s office paper in hand. When she got there, she burst through the door.

“Did you see this?” she asked showing him the clipping. Her father had an oddly “Professor Hecat like” smile on his face as he looked at it.

“Ah yes, rather just desserts I would say,” she noticed a slight twinkle in his blue eyes and her own green ones widened.

“You didn’t…” her father raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sure I’ve NO idea what you mean,” he replied meaningfully. Genevieve covered her mouth in surprise and then launched herself at the aging teacher. As he held her close she heard him whisper.

“I’ll never let anyone hurt you again my child. And damn the soul that dares try.”