Chapter 3
“Welcome back everybody! Before we broke for commercial we were reading questions from the audience. Here’s one from a Blake James. This one is for the Moody children. Was it ever a secret that your father had issues stemming from his work as an auror?”
“No, absolutely not.”
Said Jr right away, Katie and Rosa just shook their heads. Jr continued.
“Mental health was nothing to be ashamed of in our house. We learned about it early, learned the oncoming signs of it, learned how to take care of ourselves. Our mother even suffers slightly from it.”
Anderson nodded listening.
“It’s a pretty taboo subject in our world.”
Katie nodded agreeing.
“PTSD isn’t something that should be taken lightly. I was four when I experienced one of my fathers outbursts and I remember every little bit of it.”
“Did it scare you?”
Anderson asked Katie.
“Yes, it did. I stayed away from him for weeks, I’d cry if my mother wasn’t in the room. One day he sat down with me with a blow of strawberry ice cream and told me how sorry he was for scaring me. Mum had told him that I had seen it. He had no idea and cried when I hugged him.”
“Your father never abused any of you?”
“Absolutely not!”
Shouted Jr a bit angry about the question, he seemed to have taken over answering the questions. A look from his mother calmed him. Katie patted her brothers hand.
“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Jr only nodded.
“As a wee lad….Da was my hero….”
The audience awed at this.
“I wanted so much to be exactly like him, take after him and achieve goals like him. The day I told him I was accepted into the auror training program he pulled me aside and talked to me. I saw the fear in his eyes.”
“He didn’t want you taking up the job?”
Jr shook his head.
“No…And I think it about killed him the day I was hit.”
Anderson nodded taking this all in. He was a very kind and compassionate host, was a fan of the old auror and was very happy to meet the Moody family. He then shuffled through the cards looking for another question.
“Ah! Rosa, a question for you from an Ashley Thomas. Ashley asks if you’ve ever tried to break through your fathers mind blocks to read his mind.”
Rosa laughed at that and nodded.
“As a child I tried to. He knew when I was doing it too, he’d give me this side smirk and call me a cheeky wee sprite. But as the dementia progressed I found that I had to, just to keep him from hurting himself or hurting others.”
“Did you ever see anything you shouldn’t have?”
Asked Anderson. Rosa only nodded as tears welled up in her eyes.
“Yes….Mainly when he got violent. I was seeing what he was feeling, the fear he had in his child like state wasn’t a childhood fear or something silly children think up. It was real and it happened….What made it worse was when he’d look at you with tears in his eyes not understanding what was wrong or what was happening.”
Anderson handed her a tissue box, she took a tissue from it and dabbed her eyes.
“Daddy was always so strong, but seeing him this way hurt so much.”
Katie said as she held her sisters hand. Anderson also had tears in his eyes, as did Elizabeth. Jr sat there, stoic as ever. Anderson nodded and read another card.
“Another one for Rosa, from a Lance Simons. He asks how did your father feel about you marrying the son of a death eater?”
Jr chuckled at that. Rosa nudged him.
“My father in law was forced into being a death eater, it wasn’t his fault. He’s since made amends with my uncle. As for dad, he didn’t care, he knew Scroup wouldn’t hurt me, he saw that the day he came to see me in the hospital. Didn’t stop him from reluctantly giving me away on my wedding day.”
She giggled, Anderson smiled.
“Can you tell us what you were thinking before you attempted to end your life?”
Rosa raised her eyebrows, took in a deep breath and let it out.
“I just felt hopeless…That I’d never escape the fact that I look like my maternal grandmother. As soon as I took that potion I regretted it, ever single minute of it. Children can be very cruel.”
Jr nodded.
“I’ve never seen him so angry.”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“He made the most…..Heart wrenching scream that I had ever heard.”
Katie closed her eyes remembering. Anderson shot a look at the producer and they took a break.
“Are you alright?”
He asked his guests. Elizabeth wiped her eyes and nodded, she stood and walked to the ladies room. Rosa took a sip of her tea and Katie chatted with Jr.
“Are you alright Rosa?”
Asked Anderson, he knew some of these questions were a bit touchy. She smiled and nodded.
“I’ll be just fine. I’ve healed from my experience and have gone and given talks about it. My father even gave an example as to what should happen if bullying gets to this extent. When they say someone bullies because their having bad experiences at home of something is happening at home really isn’t all that true, again children are cruel. The girl that bullied me had it made, had a wonderful home life, loving parents, everything for a perfect childhood.”
“So why did she do it?”
“Because she was bored.”
Anderson shook his head. He couldn’t wrap his brain around being mean to someone just because you’re board.
“That’s…..Really messed up.”
Rosa nodded agreeing.
“May I ask you something Mrs. Malfoy?”
Rosa smiled.
“Of course.”
Anderson sighed.
“My son is being bullied, he’s handicapped, so he’s a bit slow and there are days when he comes home crying to his mother and myself about it saying that kids call him mean things. What do I do?”
Rosa listened and thought about it.
“Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about having mean things said to you or about you, as I have said, children can be cruel. But you can pull your son aside and tell him to be kind. My father once told me that you have to wear those words and those names like armor and one day that armor will be strong enough to protect you and like anything in life it takes time and patience.”
Anderson listened and nodded.
“He was really a smart man.”
Rosa laughed.
“Scary brilliant.”
Ten minutes later they were back on the air.
“Welcome back everyone! Before we left we were taking questions from the audience. But before that I have a question for Eizabeth, how is your brother doing?
Elizabeth laughed.
“Harry? Oh he’s doing just fine! Still hard at work. I have a photo that my grandson Ian took on his way home from work.”
A photo pops up onto the big screen behind the guests. Harry was now 57, in the photo he wore his usual round glasses, hair still dark brown, a bit of a beard, his scar faded almost invisible, he’s wearing black pants with a black zip up jacket and a white shirt. The audience clapped seeing the hero.
“Can we have a little context behind this photo?”
“Oh Yes! Harry was on his way home from some work out of the country and my grandson Ian saw him , yelled ‘Uncle Harry!’ and took the photo.”
A chuckle came from Anderson and some of the audience.
“Which one is Ian?”
“Ian is my son. Alastor Ian Moody III”
Said Jr proudly as he explained.
“He’s just been accepted into the auror training program.”
The audience clapped and cheered at this.
“I can imagine his grandfather is very proud of him.”
Jr smiled and nodded.
“Oh absolutely! Both Finly and Ian. Spoiled the hell out of my boys, their sister too.”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“He spoiled all of our grandchildren.”
The audience laughed at that. Anderson smiled.
“I’m afraid that that’s all the time we have tonight. Thank you again for joining us for another great episode! Good night and good health!”
The audience clapped and cheered as the camera panned out. After the show, copies of Alastors book, An Aurors tale, were given out. The Moody children smiled and hugged their mother.
Their father would never be forgotten.
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May 4th 2055
Anderson, aged slightly, a little more grey in his hair, his eyes still as bright and happy as they were the day he started 25 years ago. He sat at his desk a bit saddened by news he just received from the Moody family.
“Going live in 5,4,3,2…..”
Called the stage hand as the camera panned in.
“Good evening everyone. Uhh…Before we begin we have some very sad new….Elizabeth Moody, wife of the late Alastor Moody has passed away this morning.”
Gasps and awes came from the audience.
“I was told she passed away peacefully in her sleep. She was 84 years old and had 6 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. She will be remembered in our hearts and minds.”
There was a moment of silence for the family before the show began again.
“We have a great show for you tonight!!”
The End.
((Authers note: I hope everyone enjoyed this short story. Please check out my new story, An Aurors tale, the 4th book in the diary series. Also I am awful at math.Please tell me what you think in the coments!! R&R!!))