A couple sat in the waiting room of a small clinic on the second floor of St. Mungo’s. The woman was gripping the man’s hand, her face pale and her eyes swimming with tears. He was staring straight ahead, seemingly lost his own world. Well-worn creases could be seen on his forehead, and though he was only in his late thirties he looked considerably older and positively ancient next to his wife, who was five years his junior and looked even more so.
The tense silence was broken by the opening of a door. A young curly-haired witch emerged and smiled at the couple. –Mr and Mrs Radley, would you like to come back in?â€
They both stood and the woman made a concerted effort to straighten her shoulders and adopt a more neutral expression. They followed the woman into a large room where another, somewhat older woman sat talking to a young boy. As soon as he saw the couple the boy grinned and ran over to them.
–Mummy, Daddy, Healer Catherine has been showing me special spells. She even let me wave her wand a little bit.â€
Mrs Radley’s eyes lit up for the briefest of moments until the child continued. –Nothing happened, but it was so much fun. I want a wand of my own!â€
Those words made Theia’s heart sink. An eight-year-old boy waving a wand about would usually have done something. She remembered the day their older son, Adrian, had found Edward’s wand and had managed to transform the garden into a sea of multi-coloured grass. He had only been six at the time. They’d been a lot more careful with their wands since then.
–Well, darling, you know you’ve got to be a little older before you can get a wand of your own. I hope you said thank you to the Healer for letting you play.â€
–Thank you, Healer Catherine,†the boy mumbled, suddenly shy at his mother’s reproach.
–It was no problem at all,†the Healer replied, smiling at him. –Now, if it’s all right with you, Becky here is going to take you through to the other room and find some more things for you to do, while I have a little chat with your parents.â€
–Come on Samuel,†the younger woman said, holding out her hand. –I do believe I saw a train set in the other room. Perhaps we can make it go round the track.â€
Samuel stood up quickly. Though he sometimes tried to act older than he was, he couldn’t resist the lure of a train set.
Once the door was firmly closed behind the pair of them, Catherine instantly became serious. –Mr and Mrs Radley, as discussed we have spent the last sixty minutes running various tests on Samuel to establish his magical ability. As you may have just gathered from your brief conversation with him, the results have unfortunately not shown what we would have liked. It would seem that Samuel does not possess magical ability.â€
–You mean he’s a squib,†replied Theia flatly.
The Healer’s face was all she needed for confirmation.
–So what happens now?†asked Edward, speaking for the first time.
–Well, there are several options. You can choose to integrate him in the Muggle world and send him to their schools so that he can find work alongside other Muggles.â€
–No,†Theia said sharply. –We won’t be doing that. We are still a wizarding family.â€
–Yes, of course.†Catherine did her best not to frown at this outburst. –It is of course possible to continue to raise Samuel as a wizarding child. He will not be able to go to Hogwarts, but he can learn other things and there certainly are jobs he can do.†She hesitated. It was obvious this family didn’t want to hear about the Muggle options but she wouldn’t be doing her job properly if she didn’t explain the situation fully to them. –The only problem with wizarding careers for a person without magical ability is that there is only so far Samuel will ever be able to advance. If he joined the Muggle world, he could do anything. In the wizarding world, there will always be people who don’t want to give him a chance. It won’t always be easy for him.â€
–We will support him,†Theia said certainly. –It won’t matter if he cannot earn money. We will make sure he knows the value of who he is.â€
–Do you know whether there is still a likelihood of him having magical children?†asked Edward.
–All the evidence thus far is that yes, those from wizarding families but without magical ability can still pass magic to their children, though it is of course beneficial if they marry someone else with magical ability.â€
A look of relief passed over both parents’ faces. Catherine couldn’t help but feel a little sad. She wondered what would become of Samuel. Would he simply be a blip on the Radley family tree - made to live a miserable life in a world in which he would never quite fit just so that they could be sure he would marry a witch and produce wizarding children? Perhaps she wasn’t being fair on the Radleys. They obviously loved their son. But she had seen far too many cases like this and they hardly ever ended well.
–Is there anything else we need to do now?â€
–No. I would be happy to talk to Samuel about this if you like, or you can explain it to him yourselves. He is likely to find it confusing at first and he will of course be upset. It’s especially difficult that we don’t really have any answers for why some children are born without magical ability so there is no explanation you can really give him.â€
–We’ll tell him ourselves,†replied Edward. –That is our responsibility.â€
Catherine nodded. –If you do have any problems or issues you wish to discuss, you can make an appointment to with me at any time.â€
She pressed a button her desk and after a few moments Becky and Samuel returned.
–Do we have to leave, Mummy?â€
In spite of the news they had just learnt, Theia’s face still softened at the sight of her son. –I’m afraid so, darling. The Healer has other people to see.â€
–Goodbye, Samuel. Be a good boy for Mummy and Daddy, won’t you?â€
Samuel nodded. –Bye!†he said to both Becky and Catherine, before grabbing Theia’s hand. Edward took her other and the three of them left the room together. A new family was sitting in the waiting room. From the confused and slightly terrified looks on parents’ faces, as well as their attire, it was painfully obvious that these were Muggles. A young boy, around the same age as Samuel, sat between them, gazing around in wonder. Theia narrowed her eyes at them. Seeing this, Edward gripped her hand tighter. –Come on,†he murmured.
As soon as they were out of earshot, she rounded on her husband. –How is it fair?†she hissed. –Those people, who know nothing of what it takes to survive in the wizarding world, who have done none of the work we have done to maintain our position, get to have a magical child, while poor Samuel has to suffer. They will never be able to give their child what we could have given ours. How does it happen?â€
Aware that Samuel was still nearby, though had fortunately wandered further down the corridor when his parents stopped, Edward could only say, –I know, love.†There were no words that could have made this better for either of them. They were just going to have to learn to live with it. Somehow.
When they arrived home fifteen minutes later, Samuel instantly ran off to continue the game he had been playing that morning before they’d left for the hospital. Theia sank into the sofa and closed her eyes. She was shaken by her outburst at the hospital. She had never really understood Muggle ways and thought that everything was considerably more convenient as a witch, but she had never felt the same hatred that had coursed through her body at the sight of the family in St Mungo’s. The more she thought about it, however, the more is just didn’t seem right. How could a family with no magical blood, no history whatsoever, produce a wizarding child, while the Radleys could not? Surely, it must be the case that there simply wasn’t enough magic to go around. But why would magic choose a Muggle family rather than a pure-blood one? It just didn’t make sense. What had these people done to get for their son what Samuel would never have? How could their claim to magic be stronger than his?
The deeper she sunk into her thoughts, the angrier she became. Samuel would suffer all of his life, she knew, and all she wanted was someone to blame, someone whom she could consider responsible for her son’s misfortune. And at the moment, all she could picture was that family and their child, who was getting to cross from one world to another, while Samuel slipped back the other way.
She could hear voices in the kitchen and so she did her best to drag herself out of her thoughts. It would be Edward, having just returned from picking up Adrian from a friend’s house.
They had decided they would talk to Adrian first. Having just turned eleven years old, he would be starting Hogwarts himself the following September and was full of excitement for his first year. Trying to explain to him that his brother would not be following in his footsteps, therefore dampening his excitement, was horrible, but it was something they would have to deal with as a whole family.
–Adrian, will you come here for a minute,†she called through the kitchen.
A moment later, her older son bounced into the room. He looked so much like his brother, though while Samuel had always been quieter and more reserved, Adrian seemed to simply overflow with energy.
–Did you have a nice time at Dorian’s house?†she asked. Dorian was the son of one of Edward’s friends from the Ministry, who would also be starting September the next year.
–Uh-huh, his Dad took us out with the broomsticks in the huge wood behind their house. Why are we never allowed to fly here?â€
–You know why, Adrian. There isn’t enough space in our garden and there are too many people nearby who might see us.â€
Adrian pouted. They had this argument every time he came home from Dorian’s. The Whitbread family lived in the countryside, in a large house with plenty of land attached. The Radleys, meanwhile, had to make do with a still spacious but very overlooked house, in the North of England, close to the Scottish border. They lived in a small town, where a handful of other wizarding families had settled, but which was predominantly Muggle. Given that they could easily travel to London or Hogsmeade for their shopping and to see other wizards, this location had proven to be good enough for them. It was, anyway, all they could afford.
–Adrian, we have something we need to talk to you about. Why don’t you sit down?â€
Perhaps it was the worn look on her face, but something told him that now he needed to be quiet for once. He sat on one of the squidgy arm chairs and looked at her expectantly.
–We took Samuel to see a Healer this morning.â€
–Why, is he sick? Is it dragon pox? Don’t let him touch my things if he’s sick!â€
–No, it’s nothing like that. You can’t catch anything from him. But the thing is, the Healer says that Samuel isn’t going to be able to use magic.â€
–Does that mean he’s not a wizard?â€
–He is definitely a wizard,†Theia replied. –Just like your Dad and I, and you. He will always be one of us. But unfortunately, he just doesn’t have any magic.â€
–But why?â€
Theia hesitated. –We don’t know, darling. Perhaps there just isn’t enough magic for everyone to have some.â€
Adrian had heard of Squibs of course, but he couldn’t really understand how his brother could not have magic. And his mum said he was still a wizard, so what did that mean? All he knew was that this was not going to be good for Samuel or for his family. His brother wouldn’t be joining him at Hogwarts, wouldn’t be buying his first wand or experiencing the thrill of casting his first spell.
He felt angry. It was so unfair! Hadn’t Mum always said that the Radleys had been wizards for generations? Dad had once shown him a copy of the family tree and told him that while they weren’t as old as others, they were still a powerful magical family who were sure to achieve great things. But without magic, Samuel was not likely to do those things. And there had to be a reason for it, Adrian was sure. These things didn’t just happen, not without any explanation. No matter what anyone said, he knew that Samuel was a Radley and could have been a great wizard. If he didn’t have magic, it wasn’t just a weird accident - it was someone’s fault.
Stolen Magic by coolh5000
Story Notes:
Thanks a lot to the wonderful Kara for betaing :)
Chapter Notes: