Chapter 3
Allegra
Allegra woke before the sun had risen in the sky. Normally, her husband, Casper, was the first to rise. By this time, he could usually be found in his study, unless he had already made his way into the ministry. Their bedroom was large, with a vaulted stone ceiling similar to many other areas of the house and a dark wooded floor. Tall arched windows lined the wall to Allegra’s right. The walls of their room were adorned with wallpaper in a light shade of green which was detailed with delicate vines of gold and black that extended from one corner of the room to the next. Upon the branches sat small blackbirds. Wrapping a cream-colored robe around herself, Allegra made her way to one of the windows.
Outside, Allegra could see the beginnings of a snowfall. A layer of white had begun to cover the grassy fields of the family’s estate and its surrounding trees. The main house was a grand structure, surrounded by larges fields and an even larger forest. Through the west gardens and a short walk down one of the ground’s pathways was the stables, where the family housed their horses and a small assortment of magical creatures.
The estate had been passed on to Casper after he and Allegra were married. A long and ancient line of Black family relatives had resided in within these walls, a fact that people like Walburga Black, Allegra’s sister-in-law, never failed to remind her of.
Allegra sighed happily at the sight of snow on Christmas. The idea of snow was still somewhat enchanting to her, having grown up in Cuba before attending Ilvamorny, the American school of witchcraft and wizardry. Allegra had come from a wealthy family, and though she had spent much of her early years, prior to school, traveling with her family, when she arrived in Massachusetts at 11 years old, it had been the first time she’d ever seen snow in person. The New England climate had taken a great deal of getting used to, but then it had made weather in the UK easy to become accustomed to. Allegra gave one last look at the estate gardens before making her way downstairs.
She walked down a long hallway, decorated with a number of photos of various family members as well as paintings from some of Allegra’s favorite artists. She passed through several more hallways and made her way down the staircase closest to her destination. One of the oldest sets of stairs in the house, they creaked under Allegra’s footsteps. Just a few paces from the landing was a green swinging door and, walking through, she found herself in the manor’s back kitchen. The room was more of a scullery and was not the houses’ main kitchen. Upon entering, Allegra saw her son, Cillian, sitting at the old, black wooden table. He sat with a cup of tea resting between his hands.
“Happy Christmas, Darling”, she said to him. “You’re up early, aren’t you?”
Cillian lifted his head up to look at his mother and give her a smile. “Got up to pack”, he said simply. “Happy Christmas, mum.”
Allegra made her way to the table and, as she sat down, gave a wave of her wand. Allegra watched as a kettle lifted from one of the nearby shelves and settled itself on the stovetop and began to heat. “How are you feeling about the new term”, she asked Cillian.
Her son placed his cup of tea down on the table and walked over to the Dutch door that faced the back grounds of the estate. That morning’s copy of the Daily Prophet rested in a basket that hung on the outside of the door, the owls having already made their early rounds. He was quite tall and lean. He had brown hair and green eyes, the same as her, though his fair skin and pronounced cheekbones were reminiscent of his father Casper. Cillian reached for the paper and carried it back to the table as he spoke to his mother. “I’m looking forward to visiting the lake again. Apollo’s trying to rope me into finding one of those creatures he likes with him”, he said with a slight smile. He opened up the copy of the Prophet and began scanning the first few pages as a spoon flew from a drawer and began scooping coffee grounds into the now boiling kettle. Allegra drew her gaze towards the window, through which she could see the snow continuing to fall. She waited until a cup of coffee had floated over and rested itself on the table in front of her before turning away. She turned back to Cillian who was still engrossed the day’s news.
“What about your classes”, she asked as she took the first sip of her coffee. No matter how long she had lived in England, she would never grow to like the thin, watery tasting tea that others here loved so much, and she always preferred a dark cup of coffee each morning. When it became clear that he was not listening to her, she tapped a finger on the top of the paper, and he lowered it to look at her. He gave her a small smile, but it seemed somewhat forced. “Mm, I’m all caught up”, he said and went back to his reading. Allegra, knowing she wasn’t going to get anything else out of him, stood up from the table and walked over to the window to continue admiring the snow.
“What do you make of these disappearances, mother? It says here several members of the ministry have disappeared over the course of this week”. He flipped to a page and slid the paper across the table towards her. Allegra stepped closer and looked down at a moving Eugenia Jenkins, the Minister of Magic, who was indeed giving an interview on some of her vanished employees. The disappearance of 4 people, including a young woman, and her husband were the most recent on a growing list of various witches and wizards who had gone missing in the last several months.
“Do you reckon it’s related to squib riots? That they’ve anything to do with it”, he asked curiously.
Allegra gazed at the page for a moment longer before sliding it back to him. “No, I don’t think so. It's not really their style of protest”, she said to him. “We’re looking into it at the ministry. You know we are. But at the moment we don’t have any leads”.
Cillian nodded his head in thought. “It doesn’t make sense. There’s how many aurors working for the Ministry, dad and aunt Cassiopeia and uncle Aries included? These people are disappearing right under their noses. How has no one found the one responsible”, he asked, a hint of bewilderment in his tone.
“You suspect they’re all related”, Allegra said. She didn’t phrase it as a question.
“Don’t you” Cillian asked in a calm curiousness. Allegra shrugged as she came back to the table. “I don’t know. It’s definitely possible. It just seems like a lot of disappearances for one person to be responsible. And to not get caught? But it’s possible”. In truth, Allegra was as interested to know the case of these missing persons cases as her son. Especially considering she was about to send her children off to school again. She knew this was something that her husband Casper and his colleagues had spent many hours and late nights at the ministry wondering as well.
“Just don’t mention this in front of your father”, she said to him she said in a slightly cautious tone.
“No, I know”, Cillian said with a nod, still looking at the paper. He took a sip of his tea and began folding up the paper.
Your father should be up soon, Anastasia too. We'll do presents once they’re awake”, said Allegra. She gave Cillian a grin. “Excited?”
Cillian smiled. “I don’t know. Am I going to open a box of new painting supplies”, he asked in a teasing tone. Allegra took a sip of her coffee to hide her amusement. “Looks like you'll have to wait and see”. He smiled a little wider and gave a slight role of his eyes.
They soon heard footsteps descending the stairs and a moment later Casper entered the room, already dressed for the day. He looked mildly surprised to see Cillian in her presence.
“Morning everyone. Cillian, happy Christmas. Happy Christmas, love,” said Casper. He ruffled Cillian’s hair and planted a kiss on the top of Allegra’s head. “Is Anastasia up”, he asked, as he beckoned a cup of tea towards him with a wave of his wand.
“We should be hearing some stomps any minute now,” Allegra joked lightly. Casper took a seat at the table with a cup, and Allegra didn’t attempt to hide her look of distaste at the smell of the fresh tea. Her husband, noticing this, gave an amused look while bringing the cup of tea to his lips.
“What’s got you up so early”, he said to Cillian as he rested an arm across the back of Allegra’s chair.
“Wanted to finish packing”, Cillian repeated. Allegra turned her head to see her husband nod in response. His hand still resting on the back of Allegra’s chair, Casper reached across the table for the folded Daily Prophet, opening it up with his free hand. At that moment, they heard the sound of quick footsteps that seemed to be moving in the direction of the living room. “Right, come on”, said Allegra, beginning to stand. The two men followed her action, and they made their way out of the small kitchen and over to the living room.