Ficlet challenge #125: Don't forget Arabella!
Title: Don't forget Arabella!
Summary: James and Lily Potter's death changes the lives of countless people. Starting with Harry, of course, and also Petunia, Vernon, Dudley... Not to forget Arabella Figg!
Characters/Pairings: Arabella Figg, Albus Dumbledore
Genre: Gen
Rating/Warnings: G
Medium: Ficlet
Word Count: 692
Can the Order post to Tumblr?: No
Arabella Figg didn’t hear about the events of October 31st 1981 before the morning of November 1st. She woke up, stretched luxuriously, scratched her cat between the ears, and padded down to the kitchen. An owl was waiting for her on the counter with the latest Daily Prophet-one of her last connections to the wizarding world. She paid it, prepared herself a cup of tea, and settled down in her favourite chair, the newspaper on her knees.
As soon as she read the first line, she almost spat out the gulp of hot water she’d just sipped. A wizarding family murdered, You-Know-Who vanished, and a party from dusk till dawn! How had she missed all that?
Well, that wasn’t really a mystery. Arabella had always been a heavy sleeper, and Little Whinging, to which she’d moved barely a month ago, was a very Muggle-y place. In fact, she wouldn’t have been surprised if she was the only witch-well, Squib-there.
Not that she’d moved here to flee the wizarding world, of course. But after the death of her sister that summer, who had always been her interpreter of a sort when it came to magic, Arabella had decided it was time to embrace her Squibness and try to find a place in the Muggle world, one she’d never quite had among wizards. So she’d packed up her things, told her few friends where she was going, and moved to the most Muggle place she could find, determined to start over on her own terms.
So it really wasn’t a surprise that she hadn’t noticed all the uproar overnight. She read the rest of the articles eagerly, forgetting her cup of tea on the sideboard, thinking the journalists at the Prophet must have been up all night-as had, she then realized, the rest of wizarding London.
As soon as she had finished perusing the paper, the doorbell rang, making her jump a foot in the air. She whispered calming words to her cat, who had also startled at the sound, and crossed the living room. As soon as she opened the door, she recognized the old man standing on her porch, even though she’d never actually seen him before: Albus Dumbledore, professor at Hogwarts. She was suddenly embarrassed to still be wearing her nightgown and slippers, but the wizard just smiled warmly at her, seeming not to notice, and stuck out his hand.
“Ms. Figg, I am Albus Dumbledore. I was wondering if I might have a word.”
Stuttering, Arabella invited him into the kitchen. He sat down across from her, looked at her for a moment with his piercing blue eyes, and took out his wand.
“Do you mind ?” he asked.
Speechless, Arabella shook her head, as with a flick of his wand he summoned the teapot, two cups, and a plate of scones Arabella had forgotten about to the table. With another gesture, the tea poured itself and the cups settled in front of the odd couple. The wizard settled his long hands around his cup and looked straight at Arabella.
“I suppose you have heard about last night’s events ?”
Arabella nodded. The man across from her probably could have told her more about what had happened than she had read, but she was too shy to ask him.
“I will not beat around the bush: the wizards killed left behind a son, a fifteen-month-old boy. His sole remaining relative is his aunt, who lives on Privet Drive.”
At this, Arabella reacted, raising her eyebrows. Privet Drive was the next street over; they were practically neighbours!
“He was placed there immediately after the sad death of his parents, and for security reasons, needs to stay there until he comes of age,” he said. “His mother was Muggle-born; her sister’s family are all Muggles.”
Arabella frowned. She wasn’t sure where Professor Dumbledore was going with this.
“You are the sole representative of the magical community in Little Whinging. I would ask you, if you would accept, to go introduce yourself to the Dursleys. Get to know them. Help them. Be a presence in the boy’s life.”
She sighed inwardly. Well, it seemed that despite her best efforts, the wizarding world was not quite ready to leave her behind.
Elise/Ravenclaw/28 points
Summary: James and Lily Potter's death changes the lives of countless people. Starting with Harry, of course, and also Petunia, Vernon, Dudley... Not to forget Arabella Figg!
Characters/Pairings: Arabella Figg, Albus Dumbledore
Genre: Gen
Rating/Warnings: G
Medium: Ficlet
Word Count: 692
Can the Order post to Tumblr?: No
Arabella Figg didn’t hear about the events of October 31st 1981 before the morning of November 1st. She woke up, stretched luxuriously, scratched her cat between the ears, and padded down to the kitchen. An owl was waiting for her on the counter with the latest Daily Prophet-one of her last connections to the wizarding world. She paid it, prepared herself a cup of tea, and settled down in her favourite chair, the newspaper on her knees.
As soon as she read the first line, she almost spat out the gulp of hot water she’d just sipped. A wizarding family murdered, You-Know-Who vanished, and a party from dusk till dawn! How had she missed all that?
Well, that wasn’t really a mystery. Arabella had always been a heavy sleeper, and Little Whinging, to which she’d moved barely a month ago, was a very Muggle-y place. In fact, she wouldn’t have been surprised if she was the only witch-well, Squib-there.
Not that she’d moved here to flee the wizarding world, of course. But after the death of her sister that summer, who had always been her interpreter of a sort when it came to magic, Arabella had decided it was time to embrace her Squibness and try to find a place in the Muggle world, one she’d never quite had among wizards. So she’d packed up her things, told her few friends where she was going, and moved to the most Muggle place she could find, determined to start over on her own terms.
So it really wasn’t a surprise that she hadn’t noticed all the uproar overnight. She read the rest of the articles eagerly, forgetting her cup of tea on the sideboard, thinking the journalists at the Prophet must have been up all night-as had, she then realized, the rest of wizarding London.
As soon as she had finished perusing the paper, the doorbell rang, making her jump a foot in the air. She whispered calming words to her cat, who had also startled at the sound, and crossed the living room. As soon as she opened the door, she recognized the old man standing on her porch, even though she’d never actually seen him before: Albus Dumbledore, professor at Hogwarts. She was suddenly embarrassed to still be wearing her nightgown and slippers, but the wizard just smiled warmly at her, seeming not to notice, and stuck out his hand.
“Ms. Figg, I am Albus Dumbledore. I was wondering if I might have a word.”
Stuttering, Arabella invited him into the kitchen. He sat down across from her, looked at her for a moment with his piercing blue eyes, and took out his wand.
“Do you mind ?” he asked.
Speechless, Arabella shook her head, as with a flick of his wand he summoned the teapot, two cups, and a plate of scones Arabella had forgotten about to the table. With another gesture, the tea poured itself and the cups settled in front of the odd couple. The wizard settled his long hands around his cup and looked straight at Arabella.
“I suppose you have heard about last night’s events ?”
Arabella nodded. The man across from her probably could have told her more about what had happened than she had read, but she was too shy to ask him.
“I will not beat around the bush: the wizards killed left behind a son, a fifteen-month-old boy. His sole remaining relative is his aunt, who lives on Privet Drive.”
At this, Arabella reacted, raising her eyebrows. Privet Drive was the next street over; they were practically neighbours!
“He was placed there immediately after the sad death of his parents, and for security reasons, needs to stay there until he comes of age,” he said. “His mother was Muggle-born; her sister’s family are all Muggles.”
Arabella frowned. She wasn’t sure where Professor Dumbledore was going with this.
“You are the sole representative of the magical community in Little Whinging. I would ask you, if you would accept, to go introduce yourself to the Dursleys. Get to know them. Help them. Be a presence in the boy’s life.”
She sighed inwardly. Well, it seemed that despite her best efforts, the wizarding world was not quite ready to leave her behind.
Elise/Ravenclaw/28 points