The Father and the Son
written by Lizzie Scamander
Tiberius Nott's first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has arrived. As the son of the Death Eater Theodore Nott, it will be hard for him to settle in. But maybe he will be able to help others ignore his past and find out, eventually, that the son is not the same as the father. IN PROGRESS
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
14
Reads
855
An Aura of Christmas
Chapter 7
Tiberius found the weeks slipping by with surprising quickness, until they had marked a whole two months at Hogwarts already. December had arrived, and the snow had started to fall, and with the snow the aura of Christmas began to envelope the castle. He didn't know whether he should stay at Hogwarts for Christmas or go home to his parents. But this decision kept getting swept from his mind by the prospect of Quidditch.
Smith had finally (yet grudgingly) accepted him into the Slytherin team, but the cold and wet was terrible weather for a Quidditch match, so none had been planned. However, on the bright side, Tiberius found Maya being a bit more friendly to him over the next few days, though she certainly had not forgotten Brutus's rudeness to her. Finally, during a Potions lesson as he pretended to be immersed with chopping up some valerian roots, he whispered to her, as she sat next to him focused on her potion, "Thanks."
Maya looked around. "What for?" She whispered back.
"For telling Professor Wessex to let me tryout for the Slytherin team," Tiberius replied. "You -" he looked into the bubbling depths of his cauldron - "shouldn't have, after what my brother did."
Maya paused.
"Just because he's vour brother it does not mean vou are like him," she said, shrugging.
Tiberius considered this. "I know," he said. "But it was mean of him to -"
Maya turned to him again, and her eyes seemed to be blazing. "I am proud of my country," she said. "I have more to be proud of than vour brother, so I do not let him hurt me with his words." And she turned her attention back to her potion and that was that.
The next morning a large white-faced owl landed in Tiberius's lap with a letter clamped in its beak. Tiberius, pushing away his bowl of semolina, recognised it as the family owl, Storm, and accepted the letter before giving Storm a bit of toast. Slitting open the envelope, he pulled out the paper within and began to read.
Dear Tiberius,
You have not kept your promise - what have you been doing, not writing to me? I see you are busy with your first year, and I hope you are doing well in your classes. But Christmas is approaching, and I would really like you to come home to see your father and I - Brutus is coming too, and it would be nice to see you as well. Your father has been quite busy lately and hardly ever home - he's just joined this sort of society and I'm often left alone in the house. Anyway, I'll see you on the 21st, that's when the Hogwarts Express will drive back into London.
Mother.
Tiberius finished reading, and sighed. He had kind of been hoping to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, and see how magnificent the castle would be decorated and in a festive air, but he wanted to see his mother too and he supposed he should go home. He looked down the table for Maya - she was reading the Daily Prophet but when she saw him she left her seat to come and sit beside him. Plonking down and stroking Storm, who ruffled his feathers haughtily, she asked, as if she had read his mind, "Are vou staying here for Christmas? I am - obviously I can't go back to Bulgaria."
"Aren't your parents staying in England?" Tiberius asked, trying to distract her from the question she had just asked.
"Well, no, father had several Quidditch matches and mother had to be vere. Anyway, are vou staying?"
Tiberius held up the letter. "No, my mother wants me to come home," he said.
Maya looked a little disappointed. "Oh," she said. "Well, I kind of hoped vou vould be staying, but if vour parents vant vou home that is best."
"Sorry," Tiberius said apologetically. "I'm sure Hogwarts will be -"
"I know," Maya said, shrugging. "It's just I have no other friends and it vould be nice to have company." Then suddenly, her face brightened. "Maybe I could come with vou for Christmas!"
"What?" Tiberius said, startled that she regarded their friendship so close as to come and spend Christmas with him. "I - well - maybe -"
Maya looked disappointed again. "Oh, I don't need to," she said. "Of course I shouldn't expect vou to host me."
"I - I guess you could -" Tiberius said. "But my parents -" he shuddered to think what Brutus would be like, and his father... But Maya's face had brightened again.
"Really?" She said eagerly.
Tiberius was bewildered that she had completely forgotten about Brutus.
"There's my brother though -" he said.
Maya waved a hand dismissively. "I don't mind vour brother," she said. "Only if it's too hard for vour parents."
Tiberius considered. It would be quite nice to have Maya with him - he had discovered she was actually quite a nice friend. And as long as she was Pure-blood his father wouldn't mind to much. Brutus would be annoying, but she had said she wouldn't care about him, and his mother wouldn't really get involved at all.
"Okay, I think you can come," he said slowly. "Except are you sure you want to come?"
"Oh yes!" Maya said excitedly. "Yes, yes, of course!"
"That's settled then," Tiberius said. "We're leaving on the 21st."
Maya's smile had never been wider.
