Healing
When helping a child that has experienced Accidental Magic that has taken them out of extreme situations it is best to give the child a structured environment. Rules and expectations should be clearly laid out to avoid unwarranted misunderstanding that could turn into bouts of Accidental Magic. Accidental Magic takes into account the intent behind what is happening to the child. Should the intent be to cause lasting harm to the child it will activate to defend. Discipline is not the same as Abuse, there is a fine line that has to be tread to not have discipline fall into the category of abuse and then into extreme abuse that is causing a great enough stress or threat of life to activate the magic to defend.
-excerpt from article by Healer Allura Talpin-
After a few weeks of healthy eating from Hadrian, Orion finally got an owl from Cassiopeia's Healer that he thought would be a good fit for a personal healer. They had requested a meeting with Lord Black to discuss what was going on, and to go over anything he thought would be relevant to this case. And if they got the job what could and could not be written about. It was a very thorough letter that sat on Lord Black’s desk.
As he thought about the request he knew that it would mostly depend on if the healer could get a connection to his small ward. He wouldn’t be able to say anything one way or the other if the healer didn’t connect with the child in question. It was hard enough to get him to sit through lessons without him expecting punishments when something came up. He knew that this was all due to his last living environment, and if he ever found out where he had come from he would make sure they faced charges.
Orion wrote out a response for a meeting time and to contact him if it did not work. He would have to tell Hadrian that he would be late to lessons on that day or even that he might be skipping them and could study with Sirius and Regulus after the meeting was over. Orion was not sure exactly how long the meeting with the Healer would truly take, especially if part of it was trying to get Hadrian to trust the stranger.
Soon enough Orion put the issue from his mind and focused on the other paperwork that he was working on. He would not bring trouble right now by worrying over a meeting that was set for a few days later. He did make sure when he went to see Lucretia off that he informed her that Hadrian would possibly be missing lessons on that particular day. She nodded and accepted the change as she left for her own home that evening.
As Orion turned he saw Hadrian standing there nervous clearly having heard that he wouldn’t be in lessons tomorrow. “Am I in trouble?” Hadrian asked as he looked at Orion with big wide eyes. He took a deep breath as he tried to figure out how to explain everything to this young wizard.
“No you are not in trouble, I just wanted to have you see a special healer to make sure you are doing just fine, the hospital suggested I get you a private Healer so that’s what this is, a special meeting to see if you like the healer,” Orion said. As he stood there he watched Hadrian think about it then nod and walk off.
Orion watched the child leave and wondered why he thought he was going to be in trouble. The entire time that Hadrian had been living in Grimmauld place thus far there had not been a reason to punish the boy. He would have to keep an eye on how he interacted after this conversation with Lucretia. He didn’t want to see the happy child that he had been seeing emerge from the quiet boy disappear. Carefully Orion went to check on the children to see what they were up to now. He was really just curious to see if they were all together once more learning together or if Hadrian had decided that he was going to isolate himself today. If he was isolating himself, Orion would bring that up with the healer before Hadrian met the healer since he would need the insight to gauge what to do for Hadrian.
The next morning seemed to be a bit tense as Orion looked at the table after breakfast was cleared off. “Hadrian will not be joining in lessons at the start today. Sirius, Regulus, your Aunt already knows what is going on. I hope you two will help him catch up with his studies later with what he missed or needs to finish if he just gets a later start,” he said addressing the two boys.
Sirius and Regulus looked up shocked at their father. They had not been expecting this it seemed so Hadrian had not shared that he would be missing lessons partially or fully today. That was something surprising for Orion to figure out so he filed that away in his thoughts as he watched his sons nod.
“Of course Father, we won’t let him fall behind, he’s our new brother,” Regulus said, nodding as if it were all facts. Sirius smiled and grinned as he too nodded and added “Besides we wouldn’t want to bring Aunt Lucretia’s wrath down upon us for not keeping up the honor and traditions of House Black,” Sirius laughed as he grinned a bit too wide. Orion’s eyes went to Hadrian which widened when Sirius mentioned anger from Lucretia and as he sat there watching the small boy he seemed to try and make himself as small as possible.
“Sirius don’t talk about your aunt like that, it’s not her wrath you should be worried about but the lines she would make you write in perfect calligraphy for failing to meet her standards,” Orion corrected. “A punishment that would only serve to better your skills might I add,” he smirked at his son as he looked at his father with shock at the words he was saying.
“Father no, don’t tell her please,” Sirius begged as he tried to use his big puppy eyes on him. “Take Regulus and go prepare for your lessons, behave and you won’t have extra lines to write,” Orion said with a light chuckle in his tone as he saw his two sons scramble to get to their study room. Orion’s eyes were glancing at Hadrian who seemed to have relaxed only a bit when he explained what the punishment would be if they insulted Lucretia’s expectations. It still made him uneasy that any child would know the word wrath over anger and recognize the word punishment to be tied to the word wrath so early in life. It worried him so much what could have happened to Hadrian in those few years before his Magic brought him to the House of Black.
“Hadrian, why don’t you go sit in the sunroom, relax for a bit. I will bring the healer to you once they arrive,” Orion said and saw the young small boy nod and carefully walk to the sunroom. He was worried and looked at Kreature. “Watch over him without him seeing you, make sure he stays safe, I worry something could happen to him,” he ordered and saw the house elf bow and disappear to watch over the given charge. Standing, Orion then went to the Floo room. It would be a long day it seemed as he arrived and saw Lucretia.
“Good Morning Lord Black,” Lucretia said, nodding in proper greeting to the head of her family.
“Good Morning Lucretia, Sirius, and Regulus are in the study, Hadrian is waiting in the sunroom for the healer to arrive, if they are going to be late I shall send him on to the study room so he doesn’t miss out on to much instructions and will come to claim him when the healer finally arrived,” he explained to his aunt.
“Of course my Lord, I do hope missing this morning's lesson won’t put the dear too much farther behind, he’s been catching up very quickly, he’s a bright boy and I enjoy teaching him. He wants to learn, I haven’t seen a student that wants to learn as much as he does since I was at Hogwarts, if this boy is not a Ravenclaw I will end up giving you three galleons,” she said smiling “though he does have a bit of growing to do before I would settle on just that house but for now if he stays as studious as he is, Ravens got themselves a new head boy to be,” she said laughing a bit as she headed towards the study room.
Orion shook his head, he had a feeling once Hadrian was fully acclimated to how things were in Grimmauld place he would be less studious and possibly drag Regulus into the adventures that Sirius would always participate in. He shook his head as he looked to the Floo when it flashed a request for admittance. He took a deep breath and checked who was requesting and saw it was Healer Talpin and opened the flooway to the healer. He stood every inch the Lord he was as he received a stranger into Grimmauld place.
When Orion saw the healer step out he was surprised by what he saw. A small, petite woman no taller than 5’3 dressed in the sea foam green that was pediatric healer’s robes trimmed in cream and mauve, the marks of specialty. Mauve for Magic and cream for children’s wild magic, a Magic that was a near perfect clean slate. He took in the clean crisp robes that had a smattering of ash at the hemline now due to the floo network. He really didn’t understand how with magic they could not keep the ash from entering the connections. He looked at the face of the healer and blinked as he saw a young face not much older than their mid-twenties, but within the magical world that could be very deceptive given how much longer those with magic could live. He let himself take in the appearance of the face, bright hazel green eyes framed by a few strands of brown hair that were mostly pulled back into a braid that was spun up into a bun. He noticed that the eyes seemed to be cataloging him as much as he was cataloging the healer before him.
“Lord Black, it is an honor to finally meet you,” said a light voice that seemed to give off a feeling of patience and calm. He hoped that this healer fit in well with Hadrian because she seemed to have a good aura about her.
“It is nice to meet you as well Healer Talpin, Might I have a moment for a few questions before we introduce ourselves..” Orion began when he saw the quick cut of the healers' eyes.
“No, I will meet with the Patient without any discussion beforehand, I won’t have questions or statements about the child in question to cloud my judgment of what happened prior to my arrival. I need to get a clear assessment before I gain more biased opinions of what has happened to warrant my need here,” Healer Talpin said as she looked at Orion who raised a hand in mock surrender.
“I understand Healer Talpin, if you will follow me, the room we have that can most easily be warded for privacy is the Sunroom where the patient is waiting already,” he said and began to take the healer to the waiting child.
When they arrived he saw that Hadrian was busy looking out at the flower garden that was just an illusion glass reflecting the garden at Black Castle Grounds. He saw how the boy seemed to be entranced by the greenery. Maybe when they were a bit older he would take the boys to the Castle to not only meet his father but also to enjoy the grounds and splendor that came from being one of the members of House Black.
Orion noticed that the Healer stood there beside him taking in Hadrian, studying how he seemed at peace right now, possibly finding something to talk about to establish a relationship with the child. At a random moment, it felt like Healer Talpin entered the sunroom with a knock on the door frame. Orion noticed how Hadrian spun around as if caught doing something he shouldn't, which left a bad feeling in Orion’s gut as he too stepped in to watch everything as Hadrian’s guardian.
“Hello little one,” Healer Talpin started “Can I get your name?” The adults watched as the child nodded and tried to keep some way out free.
“Hadrian,” the young one answered but seemed stressed to have said that much.
Orion frowned a bit as he had not seen Hadrian stress about meeting his sons or Lucretia but then realized that they all carried the black family magic and that would have soothed any worry that he would have had once he had felt the calming effect from Orion himself. He would have associated that feeling of warmth and welcome in the family magics with safety thus far. This was the first stranger that was being presented to Hadrian that he was fully aware of and it had sent his anxiety through the roof it felt like.
“Such a strong respectable name, that is, I am Healer Talpin, I am here to make sure you are fully healthy. If you don’t mind, could you sit on the couch for me? I will stay over here if that makes you more comfortable,” the healer offered to soothe Hadrian, and ease his anxiety levels.
Orion watched as Hadrian sat then said “You can sit too, but can Lord Black sit beside me?” his voice was small and trembling with the request.
“Of course, I just needed you to request where he sat. If he makes you feel safe of course he can sit beside you,” she stated and motioned for Lord Black to join his charge on the couch.
Relief seemed to flood Hadrian as he relaxed on the couch finally as Lord Black sat beside him and watched how the Healer handled this case next.
“I am glad you could ask for what you wanted to feel safe. We're going to talk a bit about what happened to bring you here okay?” Healer Talpin said as she looked up at Hadrian who nodded and seemed to move closer to Lord Black.
Healer Talpin could tell that Lord Black and the Black family seemed to be the place of safety for the child so it was something that boded well for this situation.
“Can you tell me about how you came to find Lord Black?” she asked as she watched Hadrian. She noticed the wringing of his hands as he seemed to be clearly distressed by being asked about what happened prior to being in Lord Black's care.
“I was with m…my aunt who didn’t like me,” he said as he looked at no one, “Dudley would push me a lot, he would take my plate too, he would make sure I was always dirty or hurt,” he said then looked to the side as he changed people. “Uncle Vernon didn’t like my special moments, he said I was a freak, I shouldn’t infect his family with it, if I didn’t forget how to be a freak he would leave me for the wild dogs,” he said as he ran a hand over his arm. He seemed fixated on that memory that the motion was causing.
“I am sorry he was so cruel Hadrian, did this uncle ever hit you?” Healer Talpin asked, she noticed how his lips became a thin white line and saw the smallest nod from Hadrian but still no eye contact. “Okay dear, He was wrong with everything he did and said,” she said as she watched him and motioned for Lord Black to soothe him.
Orion felt cold dread fill his body as he heard what was going on before, what the child could remember could have led to the boy’s magic attacking itself, which would have caused the first English Obscurial in centuries. His magic reached out to comfort the child and he could see some of the tension that Hadrian had racked up. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down to keep the family magic calm as well. It wanted to wrap around him and protect him from the world right now.
Healer Talpin could tell the moment the family magic calmed the boy down. She could tell that this was not normal, maybe he had not been in a magical household which had implications due to his active accidental magic. It seemed like the household was not safe for him at all which is why he was removed by said magic.
“Hadrian, did you ever feel safe in your old home?” she asked carefully. She saw Hadrian shake his head no. Stunned was the only way that she could state how she was feeling right now. “Okay well, it's a good thing that magic got you to safety then isn’t it,” she said with a smile which got him nodding and weakly smiling at her.
“Now have you had any moments of magic since you have been here? Either because you are so happy or excited?” she asked to gauge if there have been any other signs of accidental magic since the large show of magic bringing him to Lord Black. Hadrian again shook his head no. It wasn’t a bad thing that he hadn’t had any more bouts of Accidental Magic.
“Do you have any questions for me, Hadrian?” Healer Talpin asked as she looked at the young boy.
Hadrian shook his head and saw the Healer smile softly at him. “Alright then, would you mind if I took a look at you physically and magically? I need to do this so that I can make sure you are as healthy as possible,” Healer Talpin explained when she noticed Hadrian drawback , as if scared.
“Will it hurt?” he asked quietly “No it should not hurt, but if it does will you tell me so that I can see what caused it?” she asked him as she moved to the edge of her seat. Hadrian nodded and moved over towards the healer.
Orion watched as Hadrian moved closer to the healer. He was glad that this had turned out to be a good match of Healer to patient. He was passive as he watched the interactions between the healer and his ward. It seemed that it was going well as she casted a few standard healers diagnostic charms. It was when she started to check his Magical core that it seemed that the healer was worried.
Healer Talpin casted a few charms that were specific for checking growing and fluid cores. Her eyes seemed so expressive as she took in everything that these charms told her. When she finished she cast the final charm to get the detailed parchment about what was going on right now with Hadrian and his core.
She read it over then took a deep breath and handed the report to Orion. When he took the report and read over it he was shocked. He saw that Hadrian’s core was on the larger side for one of his age, possibly due to the constant use of his magic healing him passively through everything that Hadrian had been through already.
“Are we done?” Hadrian asked as he sat up. “Yup, you did very well and now I need to talk to Lord Black,” Healer Talpin said as she looked up to Orion. “Ah yes, Lucretia said you could join the lesson today late due to this meeting. You can go ahead and head to lessons now then Hadrian,” Orion said as he watched the young boy brighten up at the idea of getting to go to his lessons now. He smiled softly at Hadrian as the boy quickly walked out of the sunroom.
“Now Lord Black, the results of the tests I ran on Hadrian’s core,” Healer Talpin said once she was sure that Hadrian was gone. She had also seen Lord Black ward the room against eavesdropping. “These results are abnormal, it seems that his magic has been fighting something all this time as well as protecting his life behind the scenes. It seemed that when his accidental magic activated, it was on a ley line which flooded his core and overflowed into his body. His core is still trying to absorb or release the excess magic right now.
“I see, What can we do to help him?” Orion asked as he looked up at the healer.
“It will just take time, but if he has any bouts of accidental magic, that could help use the excess magic up but could also possibly exhaust his magical core, so we need to monitor any magic use he has before he gains his wand.” Healer Talpin said, looking at Orion.
“ Understood, so best to not let him have any accidents with his magic for his safety, can you tell what would trigger his magic to defend?” Orion asked.
“It will mostly only rise up to defend from life threatening experiences, I am not sure how strong the reaction will have to be for it to react but, I will say if anyone tries to harm him or kidnap him they will not like how his magic comes to defend,” Healer Talpin paused thinking about the next line in the report. “There is a lot of wild ley line magic in his core right now which can influence how his core will change and grow from here on out,” she continued “We might have someone who will not outgrow their accidental magic events, we will have to watch over Hadrian until he reaches his majority to see if they continue or not,” Talpin finished looking up at Orion.
This could be good for Hadrian or bad in the future that Orion could already see. Which way it would fall would depend, he believed, on how Hadrian took everything from here on out. All he knew at this moment was he had a magically strong child in his house growing attached to his sons.
“Would you recommend adding any heir protections to the mix that could help stabilize his young core at this time Healer Talpin?” Orion asked after thinking about what he was going to do for each of the boys.
“I would say it could help at least guide the Ley line magic in how to best defend him, calling for help, or a strong shield would put the magic to the best use in my honest opinion.” she said as she looked up at Lord Black.
“Thank you for your time Healer Talpin, with that suggestion I think when he is more settled in with my family I will take him to claim one of the extra family rings then to give him that protection,” Orion said. He stood as he folded the report into his jacket pocket.
“It was my pleasure Lord Black, as this was establishing the relationship for myself to be Hadrian’s personal healer, we can submit the paperwork to the hospital so that if any incidents happen involving Hadrian, I will get called immediately as his healer. This also means that we can schedule his immunizations that seem to be lacking over the next few months to get him caught up but that can be done after the papers are done. I will go fill them and send them to you for signatures, Standard policies are that I cannot talk about who my patients are or which houses they are from. It also means that I can talk without names about pieces of the cases if I seek consulate, but if they need more information then I have to seek your permissions, is there anything you need changed about that standard agreement?” she asked Lord Black.
“Not that I can think of right now. I will go over the papers once they arrive and if changes need to be made or added to the standard wording, I will send you an owl asking for a meeting to go over the changes,” Orion stated and saw Talpin nod.
So with the basic agreement Orion led Talpin out to the Floo room.