Sitting Room

((Nearly Christmas, 2018))

Taddeo sat upon the longer of the two couches, rolling his wand between his hands while poring over a rune translation chart. He wanted to personalize even further the gifts he'd either handmade or purchased for his family. Unfortunately, what he wanted to accomplish was either above his current knowledge of enchanting or not something he did well. Messing up was not an option! Taddeo felt it either had to be done right or not at all, and hence he was a bit nervous on the casting.

'I should've asked Sis how one can apply the lessons learned in class to the everyday... or at least to present-making,' the lad of 16 years mused to himself. True, he could've asked in class, but he hadn't thought of that.

((At Dark Moon Enchantments))

Kiara nervously paced for a moment in front of the floo wondering if she should contact home or not. Finally she made up her mind and throw some floo powder into the fire place.

"Magnus Household!" she declared and put head in the fire place.

________

In inside the sitting room she saw Taddeo from the look of it trying to cast something with a rune chart.

"Ah it brings back memories, all the explosions and smoke clouds... good times" she thought with a smile.

"Hey Tad, mind if I come over for a bit I need to talk to you for minute" she said.

Taddeo started, but not out of fright. On the contrary, he began looking this way and that for his sister, brownish-blond ear-length hair whipping this way and that. Well, technically Kiara was only his half-sister. But, to Tad, she might as well be full-sister. As he once said upon finding out who Kiara's biological father was: 'You'll always be my sister, Ki. I don't go halfsies when it comes to family!'

It was then he spotted his sister's head in the fireplace: a floo call. Tad closed the book he had open with the rune chart on a separate scroll of parchment and strode over to the fire. The teenager had an interesting mode of sitting on the floor: first, still standing, he crossed his legs. Then the knees bent, and arms flung out to catch himself in case he fell. Finally, Taddeo pushed himself backward and voila - instant sitting cross-legged!

"Hiya Kia!" Taddeo greeted his sister now that he was in front of the fire. "And nah, I don't mind at all! This is still your house, too, y'know!" the young man laughed happily. As far as he was concerned: that statement was very true: she could be living in Antarctica with Sevastyan and Tad would always consider the Magnus Household as being Kiara's as well if she ever wanted to drop by. "You guys're comin' over for Christmas, too, right?"

Kiara riased her eye brow and tried to stop the amused smile on her face at her baby brothers antics and crossing his legs.

She smiled happily at her brothers words, "Thank you Tad, you have no Idea how much better that makes me feel at the moment" she said sincerlly, she was convinced at that monent Tad hadn't heard anything he shouldn't have, but she wanted to talk to him just in case.

"Of course we are Tad, Tatiana is excited about giving her favorite uncle is his gift in person" she said with a wink.

"Now scoot outta the way please.. I am coming in" she said as she pulled her head of the fire place.

Afew moments later she walked out of the fire place with practiced ease.

Taddeo grinned at the reply he received, though it faltered slightly. "Something wrong?" he asked quietly, yet worriedly. 'Wrong' was hardly the right word to say around his mother, and he didn't want to upset her by saying the word too loudly and thus getting her all worked up.

However, he was instantly - albeit temporarily - distracted by talk of Christmas. The lad's face lit up at the fact that they would be coming over to visit for the holidays. In hopes to brighten her day, Tad attempted a faux sigh and stated comically, "Grisha's one popular uncle, isn't he?" The laughter that followed proved he knew whom Kiara was really talking about. "I hope my favorite and only niece will like what I have for her, too!"

When asked to scoot, Taddeo did more than that. Though he did scoot at first, seconds after he was out of the way the young man disentangled his legs and watched as his sister walked through the flames with ease. "Floo's so wickedly awesome!" he exclaimed with a lopsided grin.

Kiara inclind her head when he asked if something was wrong and she almost sighed. She wasn't going to tell him the true reason for her visit, no, this was to big big for her little brother to handle by himself at the moment.

Before her spoke she placed two small proximity wards at the door, they would tell her if anyone was in ear shot of there conversation.

"That is what I came over to find out... Tad I need you now to tell me if you hear anything odd going on around here okay? anyone acting unlike them selves alright? It is important, and I am not asking you to spy on anyone, just keep an ear and eye out for anything." she said.

She chuckled at his statment on Uncle "Grisha", " Uncle Grisha his going to adore his bottle of Vodka, Tatiana got him that is for sure" she said with a smirk. She then laughed again when he hoped Tatiana what like the gift he got for her. "She will love anything you give her Tad, not to worry" she said.

After thinking for a moment she asked, " What did you get her anyway Tad?" she asked.

Taddeo immediately became curious - not to mention a bit nervous - when Kiara confirmed something was wrong. At her requested instructions, the lad nodded. "I can do that, Kia. Far as I can tell, though, everyone's been acting same as always here. But if I spot anything amiss, you'll be the first one to know. After me, of course," he replied with a slight resurfacing of his former grin. "Um... think someone might be Imperio'ed or somethin'?" Tad was curious as to why he would need to look for strange signs amongst his own family, and rather unnerved.

A laugh surfaced the moment the name 'Grisha' and 'vodka' were used in the same sentence. It wasn't often they weren't, and Tad knew that. "Bet he'll love that!"

He grinned widely upon hearing that Tatiana would love anything he would give her. "I bought... well, made, really, with a bit of help from Dad - bought the wood though - a toy wand. It doesn't do any grand stuff: just little harmless stuff: bubbles, color-changing... that kind of thing," Tad explained. "...She doesn't already have one does she?" he asked. It certainly wouldn't look the same, but he only had a passing idea of why anyone would want two wands.

And that idea wasn't necessarily a good one. Taddeo had tried to make his own secondary wand after his father helped him with Tatiana's... but it hadn't been quite as successful as the toy one. However, that was a highly secret project.

Kiara bit her lip a old habit she had to show she was a bit worried, "I am not sure yet Tad, I just recieved word my self, so I am unsure, what is fully going on yet. When I am more sure what is going on I will fill you in on it later alright? But for now it is better you are on a need to know basis" she explined.

She chuckled at the gift idea for Tatiana, "Oh she will love that, the hous will look like her little wonderland in no time. That will make her a very happy little girl" she said with a chuckle.

She then laughed a little more at the thought of Sevastyan standing in a rainbow colours room with equally coloured clothes, but too proud of his daughter to undo any of it.

"I will be sure to tell Sevastyan just who gave his daughter a wand when he discovers all his clothes are Pink." she said with a wink and another laugh at the mental picture.

"No she doesn't have her own wand yet, we have been teaching her how to control her magic first without a wand so far" she said.

"Speaking of teaching, were you doing homework or something when I popped in?" she asked looking over at the area Tad had been with the runes book.

Taddeo recognized the old habit of Kiara's and couldn't help but wish he could do more than just be eyes and ears. He listened carefully to what his eldest sister had to say, nodding in acquiescence and then grinning the moment the phrase 'need to know' met his ears.

Espionage term... even though he was a trusted individual, she'd only provide him with input that was central to what she asked him to accomplish. It was a way to keep information secure, but by the sounds of things this condition was meant to keep him safe more than what Kiara knew. But, since she put it the way she had, Tad could live with that.

"Got it, chief," Tad remarked with a laugh. His favorite muggle cartoon character - Inspector Gadget - often called the person he reported to 'Chief'.

The teenager couldn't help but snicker at Kiara's comments on the wand. He laughed slightly nervously at the image of a possible Pink Movement at the Kaminski household. Sevastyan was cool... in an ominously eerie sort of way most of the time when he was around the wizard. But, all in all, his brother-in-law seemed a good sort... an incident some four years or so ago notwithstanding.

"That's cool. I'm still trying to get the hang of wandless magic - definitely not easy! You guys won't mind her getting a toy wand, will you? I wouldn't want to undermine you guys' teaching her to go it wandlessly.

"How's that coming along, anyways?"

Taddeo gave Kiara a countenance of confusion before following her eyes. Almost instantly, enlightenment dawned on his face. "Oh - that! No. I was just looking for an enchantment I could put on Jo's present. I was trying to makes heads or tails of it, but I get the feeling it's rather a bit beyond my skill at the moment," he explained sheepishly.

Kiara laughed and ruffled Tad's hair, "Wonderful, knew I could count on ya"

She smiled, "Not worry Tad, Wandless and wand magic are totally different things, that require a different skills. Wandless need concentration and alot of control, while with a wand you need precision and accuracy." she explained.

"And Tatiana is.. coming along, for her age she is well ahead of other toddlers now magicaly, and her accidental outbursts are becoming much or controlable." she said with note motherly pride in her little girl.

As Tad explained his project he undertook for Jo's present, she immediately smiled and interest shone in her eyes.

"Perhaps I can help you make heads and tails of it. What are you intending for it to do?" she asked.

Taddeo chuckled lightly as his sister ruffled his hair. He actually liked his hair messy when he could get away with it, which wasn't too often.

He nodded when Kiara told him about Tatiana, able to clearly detect the pride in her voice. "That's great. Wow... Well, I'm not that surprised: she's a bright girl for being only three. Bet she'll be flying circles round her peers in no time!" Tad exclaimed, glad to hear things were going well with his niece's magical pre-learning.

"And that'd be great if you could help - wouldja?!" Taddeo asked and approached the book again, taking up seating on the couch but clearly made an empty space available so Kiara could sit beside him.

"I think it's the weave that's getting me confused, because I've tried castings of individual enchantments and they all work fine," he explained, gesturing to a few odds and ends that could easily pass for portkeys: a paper clip, crumpled up bit of parchment, bottle cap. "But when I try to put two enchantments on one object, well..." As if to demonstrate, Taddeo reached for a small teddy bear. When his hand was only inches from the bear it ignited. With a muttered charm, the teen put out the fire.

"Not exactly the fireproof and general protection enchantments I'd intended when experimenting..." he concluded with a nervous chuckle. "Sometimes I think it's a wonder I passed my O.W.L.s with flying colors.

"Anyway, when you popped in I was about to try runes but that's even more confusing than the weave, and I'm taking Ancient Runes at school...

"This is what I'm trying to enchant," he stated, producing a green-and white trinket box after making sure Jocasta was not in the immediate vicinity.



"Umm... d'you think she'll like it? I found it at Gambol and Japes last Hogsmeade trip." Taddeo consulted the parchment that had various scribbles and runes on it. "I'm trying to do: unlimited space, protection charm, and an unbreakable charm... as well as have it play music like a music box when she opens it.

"... Am I trying to put too much magic into it or can it be done?" Curious eyes looked to Kiara for an answer.

Kiara laughed and nodded " If her father has anything thing to say about she will be.. Maybe even literally" she said with amusement.

Smiling she followed Tad to the couch and sat beside him to see the project he was working on. She raised her eye brow slightly when the bear caught fire, Yep that looked familiar.

At his nervous mumble about his owl grades, she smiled and shook her head. "Nonsense Tad, this stuff is way beyond O.W.Ls, and barely touched on in N.E.W.T's. I am not surprised you aced your OWLs. This is advanced stuff, it takes practice, you should have seen the disasters I caused when I was 16..... ah those were the days, it was fun blowing things up" she said with a wink.

Kiara looked at the box Tad got Jo for Christmas, it was a lovely and it seemed it would suit Jo perfectly.

" I think she will love it Tad, it is lovely" she said.

Raising her eye brows at the enchantments Tad wanted to do she smiled in amusement. Of course her little brother decided to pick the most complicated combo of spells there is... The spell for unlimited space was complicated enough as it was never mind adding a protection charm and a unbreakable charm.... I could be done of course, it would take awful lot of work on Tads part to pull it off though.

"Wow Tad you picked quite a project there, no wonder you confused, that is one complicated piece of spell work you are trying to do. But it is more then possible to to do, it just takes practice and concentration" she said as she waved her hand and conjured a plain box.

"Now I will do the spell on this box first, you watch what I do, and at the same time see if you can spot the patterning the runes as I weave them together. Okay? The runes I will use are in pages 30 ,84, and 100 of your runes text book" she said as she took out her wand.

Then she started waving her wand in the complicated pattern of the 3 charms, her concentrated on the box she had previously conjured. After about 3-4 minutes she stopped and smiled.

"Done" as if to prove it she put her arm into the box and she was able to reach all the way in. Then she took out her wand again, and one waved and whispered incantation later the runes on the box were erased.

Turning to Tad she said "Now you try".

"Yeah... blowing things up is fun. Can't argue that," Taddeo laughed. "At least, so long as blowing it up was the goal in the first place." A grin was in place to show that the comment was not inherently negative. Muttered, meek-sounding thanks followed when Kiara confirmed that Jocasta would likely enjoy the gift he selected.

He listened as Kiara explained her thoughts on the problem he was having. After all, she was the family's enchanting expert. And if this was even beyond NEWT-level... he had yet to really find out but trusted Kiara's judgment unconditionally... well, that was probably the problem right there. He didn't know enough. Not for the first time was Taddeo glad to have a sister like Kiara there to help him out! He couldn't exactly tell Jocasta about the trinket box, and he wanted to do this mostly-independently.

The lad nodded at her suggestion of demonstrating how to go about the process. Taddeo blinked, surprised and impressed as she rattled off precise page numbers from his text book. He tried to remember them as he watched her work... 30, 84, 100... 30, 84, 100... 38, 44, 100... wait a minute, no! 30... either 44 or 84... and 100... His mouth dropped open after she'd proven she'd done it, surprised yet not surprised at how well she accomplished what he'd been trying to do for a what seemed like a week.

"Me? What if it blows up again?" Tad asked uncertainly, though he knew the answer would be to simply conjure a new box. He supposed the good news was that they were practicing on a plain box rather than the actual item he wanted to enchant. The bad news was he still wasn't really sure as of what he was doing yet.

The teenager took up box and wand, and then his ancient runes textbook to review the information contained on the three pages his sister had specified. It still baffled him a bit. But, he would try mimicking Kiara and see if that is more the key than the arcane instructions of the book. Everything was going well, his murmurings of the spells in time with his wand... until suddenly....



There was a bright flash of orange as Tad had moved his wand a hair too far to the left, and the top of the box blew right off, the rest of the box having ignited. "Bloody hell... box grenade..." Taddeo laughed lightly, unconcernedly extinguishing the flames he'd created. However, he didn't see the box lid anywhere...

Kiara watched Tad closely as he began is enchantment, and he wasn't all that bad, his concentration was good... perhaps to good.. But she continued to watch him closely taking note of the little mistakes, not big ones and there weren't many, but tiny mistakes like the tended to build up in to a bigger mistake.

Then it happened, a slight slip of the wrist a touch to far on the right. She put up a small shield around the area... just in case, wouldn't want to explain to Mother why her sons eye brows were burnt off...

Though the idea of the conversation made her chuckle.

"Well... that packed quite a blast did it?" she said with a laugh.

A wave of her hand later and the box was fixed like new..

"Not bad Tad, you almost got it..." she paused for a moment to think about how to explain how to correct the problem.

" I think you are trying to hard.. Trying to be to perfect about it.. you know the actual individual runes and you know what they do. Stop worrying about messing up... just relax, close your eyes and focus on the next rune" she said.

"Magic can feel when you are nervous, this how magical out bursts happen, when you are nervous your magic is jumpy as well. Now take a deep breath, close your eyes and cast the spell... you can do it" she said with a smile and nod.

"What on earth!?" Eglantine hurried into the room, eyes wide and her hand against her chest. The bang that had echoed through the house had frightened her nearly to death and she'd immediately rushed to see what had happened. Seeing her son and daughter seated on the couch with a box in front of them, she sighed deeply in relief.

"Were you injured?" she asked, going to Taddeo's side and gently pressing her hand against his forehead. Her worried gaze drifted to Kiara. "What happened?"