100quills #4
Title: It wasn't fair
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Ariana D, Aberforth D, Albus D
Prompt: #4 Colourful
Word Count: 758
Rating: G
Summary: Albus returns home from his first term at Hogwarts and shows off everything he's learnt. Deathly Hallows SPOILERS.
Table link: http://airelement.livejournal.com/72127.html
Aberforth looked around Ariana’s bedroom angrily. Yesterday the wallpaper had been pale blue and the carpet had been a deep shade of indigo. Then Albus had arrived home proudly from Hogwarts, shining with the glory he was already becoming accustomed to after only one term of excelling at Hogwarts.
Both Albus and Aberforth knew that no one was allowed to perform magic out of Hogwarts. Once you had your wand and were officially a student of whichever wizarding school your parents decided to send you to - almost always Hogwarts, but a couple of the richest families sent their children to Beauxbatons just to flaunt the fact that their children had had the very best tutors to teach them fluent French - the Trace was put on you so that the Ministry could detect magic being done around you.
It was an unfair, biased rule that Aberforth, at the grand old age of eight, had already discovered a way to get around for when he was older. As long as both your parents weren’t known to be out of the house, the Ministry wouldn’t be able to tell that you were performing underage magic, because they couldn’t distinguish whether the magic was done by you or your parents. It didn’t hurt either that the Ministry really didn’t care and had only created the law to make sure that muggleborns weren’t endangering magical society. None of the pureblood families minded that their children had an unfair advantage, including the Dumbledores, and so Albus had demonstrated every spell he’d learnt that term to an eager audience. The enthusiasm with which they watched and oohed and aahed reminded Aberforth of the time he’d been taken to the circus and the audience had given wild applause to the dancing goat. Aberforth had been too fascinated by the animal’s performance to waste concentration on applauding, but his family had laughed and exclaimed and pointed and - in Ariana’s case - squealed, just like they did when Albus showed off his new skills. The only difference was Aberforth’s disinterest.
Aberforth had been made to sit stiffly on one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs throughout his elder brother’s show, earning stern parental glares and a scolding when he slouched and scowled in utter boredom. And it was boring. Having grown up in a purebood wizarding family, the spells weren’t anything he hadn’t seen before, and Albus had told him in strict confidence before he went off to Hogwarts that he’d already learnt every spell in the first-year Transfiguration textbook, so it wasn’t even new watching Albus cast the spells. And, of course, their parents frequently cast much more complicated magic than first-year studies. It was impressive that Albus had learnt so much, but it certainly hadn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’d ever met the talented boy. And although Aberforth wouldn’t admit it, not even to himself, he was jealous of the attention that Albus and his abilities had always received.
The most sickening part, though, was when Albus whispered something in Ariana’s ear - at least, Aberforth thought somewhat smugly, he’d been scolded because everyone knew whispering was rude - and led them all upstairs to Ariana’s blue bedroom. Ariana had hated that room all her life, because blue was a boy colour. When the Healer looking after Kendra during her pregnancy had cast the spell to determine the unborn baby’s gender, she’d cast it incorrectly and so the south-facing room had been prepared for the arrival of the third Dumbledore son.
Albus had listened to whatever Ariana whispered in his ear - joining her brothers in the ranks of the recently scolded - and nodded. He held out his wand, waved and said an incantation confidently. The carpet turned a dusky rose colour. Albus grinned and basked in the admiring gasps (changing colour was a third-year charm and applying it to large objects wasn’t taught until fourth year) before turning his wand on the walls.
The bright yellow walls and apple-green furniture clashed horribly with each other and with the carpet. Ariana loved it though and ran to bounce happily on the bed, dragging Albus up with her. Aberforth scowled as his parents watched Albus and Ariana indulgently for a moment before leaving the room. He hated being the middle child, the one stuck between the wonder boy and the baby girl. It wasn’t fair that he always got left out. It wasn’t fair that his parents didn’t give him as much attention as his siblings. And it wasn’t fair, either, that he wasn’t special enough to earn more attention.
On to the sequel
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Ariana D, Aberforth D, Albus D
Prompt: #4 Colourful
Word Count: 758
Rating: G
Summary: Albus returns home from his first term at Hogwarts and shows off everything he's learnt. Deathly Hallows SPOILERS.
Table link: http://airelement.livejournal.com/72127.html
Aberforth looked around Ariana’s bedroom angrily. Yesterday the wallpaper had been pale blue and the carpet had been a deep shade of indigo. Then Albus had arrived home proudly from Hogwarts, shining with the glory he was already becoming accustomed to after only one term of excelling at Hogwarts.
Both Albus and Aberforth knew that no one was allowed to perform magic out of Hogwarts. Once you had your wand and were officially a student of whichever wizarding school your parents decided to send you to - almost always Hogwarts, but a couple of the richest families sent their children to Beauxbatons just to flaunt the fact that their children had had the very best tutors to teach them fluent French - the Trace was put on you so that the Ministry could detect magic being done around you.
It was an unfair, biased rule that Aberforth, at the grand old age of eight, had already discovered a way to get around for when he was older. As long as both your parents weren’t known to be out of the house, the Ministry wouldn’t be able to tell that you were performing underage magic, because they couldn’t distinguish whether the magic was done by you or your parents. It didn’t hurt either that the Ministry really didn’t care and had only created the law to make sure that muggleborns weren’t endangering magical society. None of the pureblood families minded that their children had an unfair advantage, including the Dumbledores, and so Albus had demonstrated every spell he’d learnt that term to an eager audience. The enthusiasm with which they watched and oohed and aahed reminded Aberforth of the time he’d been taken to the circus and the audience had given wild applause to the dancing goat. Aberforth had been too fascinated by the animal’s performance to waste concentration on applauding, but his family had laughed and exclaimed and pointed and - in Ariana’s case - squealed, just like they did when Albus showed off his new skills. The only difference was Aberforth’s disinterest.
Aberforth had been made to sit stiffly on one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs throughout his elder brother’s show, earning stern parental glares and a scolding when he slouched and scowled in utter boredom. And it was boring. Having grown up in a purebood wizarding family, the spells weren’t anything he hadn’t seen before, and Albus had told him in strict confidence before he went off to Hogwarts that he’d already learnt every spell in the first-year Transfiguration textbook, so it wasn’t even new watching Albus cast the spells. And, of course, their parents frequently cast much more complicated magic than first-year studies. It was impressive that Albus had learnt so much, but it certainly hadn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’d ever met the talented boy. And although Aberforth wouldn’t admit it, not even to himself, he was jealous of the attention that Albus and his abilities had always received.
The most sickening part, though, was when Albus whispered something in Ariana’s ear - at least, Aberforth thought somewhat smugly, he’d been scolded because everyone knew whispering was rude - and led them all upstairs to Ariana’s blue bedroom. Ariana had hated that room all her life, because blue was a boy colour. When the Healer looking after Kendra during her pregnancy had cast the spell to determine the unborn baby’s gender, she’d cast it incorrectly and so the south-facing room had been prepared for the arrival of the third Dumbledore son.
Albus had listened to whatever Ariana whispered in his ear - joining her brothers in the ranks of the recently scolded - and nodded. He held out his wand, waved and said an incantation confidently. The carpet turned a dusky rose colour. Albus grinned and basked in the admiring gasps (changing colour was a third-year charm and applying it to large objects wasn’t taught until fourth year) before turning his wand on the walls.
The bright yellow walls and apple-green furniture clashed horribly with each other and with the carpet. Ariana loved it though and ran to bounce happily on the bed, dragging Albus up with her. Aberforth scowled as his parents watched Albus and Ariana indulgently for a moment before leaving the room. He hated being the middle child, the one stuck between the wonder boy and the baby girl. It wasn’t fair that he always got left out. It wasn’t fair that his parents didn’t give him as much attention as his siblings. And it wasn’t fair, either, that he wasn’t special enough to earn more attention.
On to the sequel