Chapter Text
“It doesn't stop being magic just because you know how it works.”
๑ Terry Pratchett ๑
June 20th 1985 - 7:19 p.m.
An owl struck the workshop window. Emilie lifted her brush, letting a drop of ink fall onto the wooden table. With a curse, the woman placed it next to the artifact she was working on to open the window. The old owl presented her with a letter whose seal she immediately recognized. As she was about to grab the letter, the bird's beak bit her hand. She immediately retracted it, not out of pain but more out of fear that the owl would ingest a fragment of the magical ink staining her hand.
"You're hungry Darling ? You had a long fly didn't you ?"
Emily returned to her desk and grabbed some berries from her snack bowl. The inventor had a tendency to stay locked in her workshop all day and thus forget to eat. She returned to the messenger bird and handed it the berries with a smile. She then grabbed the letter as the owl ate quietly. She hadn't received a letter from Hogwarts since leaving Ilvermorny eight years earlier. It was only a congratulatory letter and an invitation to continue her higher education at the British institution. She had refused at the time, knowing full well that Hogwarts couldn't offer her the knowledge she desired.
She finally opened the letter, silencing the old record player with a flick of her hand.
Albus Perceval Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
EnglandEmilea Belleau
Bealleau Greenhouses Complex
America, State of LouisianaSUBJECT: Job Offer as a Professor at Hogwarts
Dear Miss Belleau,
Five years ago, you and your colleagues began a fight to include new subjects in the American school curriculum. Your struggle, though domestic, was heard abroad. On May 27, 1985, after much deliberation, the British Ministry of Education and Research decided to give the new subjects you proposed a chance.
I am not content with this letter to inform you of this; I also wish to personally offer you the position created for this occasion. I would like to welcome you to my school so that you may teach interested students the ancient arts of wandless magic, as well as the creation and manipulation of artifacts......Sincerely,
Emilie slumped into her office chair, stunned. She never thought she'd be offered such a job. Sure, she'd dreamed of it, but she didn't think her dream would come true in England of all places. Sure, she had suggested to the United States Department of Education and Research a few years earlier that wandless magic and Artifact education be included in the school curriculum, but she hadn't expected to receive a positive response, especially not from the department of a completely different country. She'd never been to England, and yet...
She put the letter back on her desk and turned on the lamp. Bending over the magnifying glass attached to the robotic arm, she picked up her brush and dipped it once more into the vial of ink. The small basin of magic ink bore a label indicating its contents, which then read 'Fire Ink: Test 278'. She traced the fire sigil in the center of the small circle and closed the artifact's bell. She pushed a small button on the base that closed the pentacle's circle and watched in silence as the ink glowed red before abruptly bursting into flame. The next moment, the flame extinguished in thick gray smoke that filled the small glass dome. Emilie sighed and leaned back gently in her chair. She closed her eyes and let her mind wander to her failure.
Febuary 17th 1974
"Miss Belleau, your behavior is a disgrace to your house," the headmistress bellowed.
"And your family."
Eileen was Emilie's father's younger sister. 15 years her junior, she was only 11 years older than her niece. Emilie sat in the chair facing the headmistress's desk. Her aunt had refused to sit down since learning the reason for her summons. Emilie had gotten into a fight with a boy from another house. He was seriously injured and currently unconscious in the infirmary. Her aunt sighed in annoyance and pinched her nose, as she usually did when frustrated.
"What am I going to say to Eddie and Rosalie... You'd better have a good excuse, young lady."
Emilie absentmindedly played with the folds of her skirt and whispered.
"Is Kyle okay?"
The headmistress let out an annoyed laugh.
"It wasn't Kyle you sent to the infirmary, Miss."
"I know... Is Kyle Wood okay?"
The old woman sighed and nodded.
"He came looking for us, saying a student needed help. We then found you straddling Elliot, hitting him. Before we punish you, I want to know the reason for this... incident."
Emilie sighed and wiped the blood from her lip with her hand. She looked calmly at the headmistress as she recited the Pukwudgie anthem.
"Like a healer’s hand, I am guided by my heart. Before the face of wrong, I will take my part."
June 21th 1985 - 9:57 a.m.
Emilie woke with a start the next day. She had fallen asleep there after two days of hard work. Her gaze fell on the letter in front of her and she smiled softly. She had succeeded. Someone had listened to her project and someone wanted to make it happen. She had never imagined herself teaching, and yet she knew she would love it. She loved more than anything seeing the faces of her fellow researchers light up when one of them presented a new discovery... so a bunch of children, every day? She would love that. She grabbed her writing utensils and swept the defective artifact off her desk.
Emilea Belleau
Belleau Greenhouses Complex
America, State of LouisianaAlbus Perceval Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
EnglandSUBJECT: Job Offer as a Professor at Hogwarts
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
Eight years ago, you wrote to me asking me to study at your school for the rest of my studies. I unfortunately declined your offer because your school could not have provided me with the knowledge I wanted to acquire in my life. Today, you are asking me to teach your students what you could not offer me eight years earlier. I will not repeat that offer this time.
I accept your offer to become a Professor of Wandless Magic and Artifacts at Hogwarts. I agree to live at the castle for the next few years of my life, and above all, I accept my role and the responsibilities that come with being the first to do so. I await your owl for further information about my new position and the exact timing of my move to the castle.Sincerely,
July 31th 1985 - 6:16 p.m.
Emilie gently squeezes the strap of her bag in the palm of her hand. Minerva offers her a doorknob.
"All you need is to insert it into the wall and your door will open. The caslte will make the perfect room for you. Don't worry."
Slowly, the young woman inspects the wall before sighing and pushing the piece of metal between two bricks. A warmth invades her body, making her shudder. An old wooden door painted with a multitude of flowers appears between the castle's shifting stones. She was speechless: never in her entire career as an inventor had she seen such a sophisticated artifact. This entire castle was a masterpiece of charms and enchanted objects, secrets lost for centuries. She glances at Minerva, who signals her to continue. Emilie finally turns the handle and finally pushes the door open.
The bricks can still be seen shifting to form the rooms of the small apartment. Emilie takes a few steps across the wooden floor, amazed. The first room consists of a small kitchenette against the right wall and a staircase on the opposite side leading to a mezzanine that, from where she stood, resembled a workshop with a library wall. In front of her was a dining table. She slid her hand along the dark, varnished wood as she moved further into the room. Under the stairs, she saw a green-tinted wooden door with a sign reading 'Bathroom' on it. The wall cut into the room just beyond the door, leaving a large opening between the dining room and the bedroom. As Emilie stepped through the curtains that hid the second room, Minerva beckoned to her.
"I have to go. I still have some business to settle with the other teachers. We'll all eat together in the common room at 8 p.m. Don't hesitate to join us."
Emilie let out a small noise to indicate she'd heard and continued to admire her new home. It was certainly smaller than her quarters in the family greenhouse, but she could easily accommodate it. She sat down on her bed and sighed before snuggling under the covers. It had been two days since she'd traveled from home to the distant province of England that housed Hogwarts. She was exhausted, and without even taking the time to change, she dozed off. The door to her quarters closed by itself.