Ineffable | Remus Lupin

XIII

Being at Hogwarts was definitely taking a lot of getting used to. More so than Ingrid had anticipated. Sure, there was the whole magic thing - that had been a difficult one to wrap her head around. But she wouldn't have guessed her biggest challenge would be the academic side of this new world.

"Miss Temple." Professor Mcgonagall called out as the class got up and ready to leave at the end of the lesson, "Will you hold on a moment, please?"

Ingrid took a deep breath in as she stopped packing her bag and sat back down at her desk. It took a few minutes for the last stragglers of the class to gather their things and leave the room, and when the did Professor Mcgonagall made her way over to the girl's desk.
"Miss Temple..." The woman began slowly as she adjusted her glasses.
Sighing, Ingrid responded, "I know. I'm rubbish at this, but don't worry."

The light caught the professor's glasses at just the right angle to cause a bright glimmer, that almost distracted from the smile threatening to show across her mouth. "Don't worry?" Mcgonagall asked, "You've got an uphill battle ahead of you if you want to pass your exams."
"Dorcas Meadowes and Remus... Er..." Ingrid frowned as she tried to think of his surname.
"Lupin." Mcgonagall finished.
The teenager nodded, "Yeah. That. They're going to help."

"I'm certain they will - excellent choice in tutors," The professor took her glasses off and pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket to clean the lenses, "That's not what I needed to speak with you about, Miss Temple. Rather, professor Dumbledore has requested your presence in his office."

So that was how, about ten minutes later, Ingrid Temple found herself stood in the centre of the Headmaster's office.

It was a big and rather elegant circular room, full of countless odd little things filling the senses. The were bizarre metal instruments on tables, which spun and whirred and smoked in a peculiar fashion. The walls were lined haphazardly with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses - some of whose were whispering amongst them selves, and others were sleeping and slumped over in their chairs. But what drew Ingrid's attention most, was the claw-footed desk as what stood on a shelf behind it. On one side was the Sorting Hat, which also appeared to be snoozing, and on the other side with a dazzling red bird, like nothing the girl had ever seen before.

"That's Fawkes... The phoenix."

Ingrid lifted her gaze to the far back corner of the room, where Dumbledore was stood.
"I'm not in trouble, am I?" She asked as he stepped towards the centre of the room.

"What could you have done to land in trouble, Miss Temple?" Dumbledore asked as he peered over the top of his spectacles in that knowing way that Ingrid hated.
She shrugged, "I don't know, but that hasn't stopped me from getting in trouble before."

"Professor Flitwick thought it best to allow you some time to settle in at Hogwarts, and I'm told you've made a friend in Miss Meadowes." He thought aloud as he looked up at one of the portraits hung on the wall.
Ingrid frowned and absentmindedly twirled a strand of her light hair around her finger as she questioned, "Allow me time to settle in before what?"
"Before I told you about your parents."

Ingrid gulped. She had been through a lot of hardships in her young life, and certainly more than most people would in a lifter one. The subject of her parents, however, was by far the first and still most raw of the hardships.
"What... Um..." She tried to swallow the lump that had risen in her throat, "What about them?"

"Would you like to know more about them? Of course, I don't presume to know everything, alas-"
"Yes." She interjected, "I-sorry..." She shook her head, "Actually, no I'm not. What do you know?"

One corner of Dumbledore's mouth turned slightly upwards as he paused for a moment, before he spoke again. He explained, "I met your father on several occasions. When he came to England, he was hired as Head of the Auror Office. Quite a remarkable man. On several occasions, he was offered a promotion to Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and he turned it down each time. I'm afraid to say I never met your mother."

Ingrid dug her hands into her pockets and pressed the nail of her thumb harshly into the skin of her pointer finger. Slowly, she took a deep breath in and turned to directly face the Headmaster - their gazes finally locked together. "Professor..." Ingrid bit down on her tongue as she mustered up the courage to utter the question, "What... What were their names?"

Dumbledore's eyes darkened and he lowered his gaze to the floor as he replied, "Lars and Arienne Temple."

And that was a moment Ingrid never forgot. She had grown up as a lost child. Chartered up and down the country - not wanted anywhere, and with nobody to provide any answers about herself. Ingrid Temple had, until very recently, not even existed. But there she stood, tall and beautiful, and so hurt by all of the years of injustice, Not only had she grown up without her parents, she had grown up not even knowing their names. Ingrid had been eight years old when her life had been turned upside down. She'd never learnt her parent's names.
Until that very moment, the concept of Ingrid's mother and father had been an abstract one. She'd had parents, but that was all she knew. They'd had no names or personalities.

All of a sudden, Ingrid's mother and father were real. They were people - humans that she could have connected to. And that made it hurt all the more.

"Lars..." Ingrid whispered, "That's... He came to England?"

Dumbledore nodded solemnly, "Lars Temple was Swedish. He met your mother in 1958. They married a year later, and a year after that, you were born. You were born on their wedding anniversary."
"The first of May." She clarified.

"I wish I had more answers for you... About what happened."
"Ah, well," Ingrid smiled rather sadly, "Perhaps it's best I don't know. I might not like the truth."

Watching her, Dumbledore adjusted his spectacles on the bridge of his nose as he agreed, "That may be wise."

"Also... What was my mum's job?" Ingrid asked.
The Headmaster smiled, "Ah, Arienne Temple worked in the Office for House-Elf Relocation. Apparently she was an incredibly gifted witch, particularly at Charms, and a renowned kind soul."

The girl sighed softly again as she tucked some hair behind both of her ears. "Is, um, is that all?" She mumbled.
Dumbledore nodded again, and wandered around the side of his desk to stand beside Fawkes. "One last thing, Miss Temple," He called out just as she reached the door, "Your mother worked very closely with one Theodore Horowitz - if you're interested."
She frowned at this information, wondering exactly why she would care about it, and turned away again and left the office.

As she wandered the empty corridors for some time after her encounter with the Headmaster, Ingrid kept replaying the conversation over in her head. Things had changed.
When she hadn't known anything about her parents, it was easy to not be curious. She could make up whole entire stories from start to finish that suited her - so why bother thinking about what the truth was? But now she was beginning to learn about who her parents had been... It was impossible to ignore the fact that they had been real people with strengths and weaknesses just like everyone else.

Of course, it wasn't as though she had a learnt a great deal about her parents. But it only took a small amount of information to pique Ingrid's interest. Now she couldn't get the thoughts out of her head - who, exactly, had Lars and Arienne Temple been?

Even the people who thought they'd known, clearly didn't; otherwise someone would have answers for their disappearance.

But then, Ingrid had an idea. "Oh, Dumbledore," She muttered to herself with a smirk, "You are one sly guy indeed."

-

a/n
short chapter - i apologise for that

also, i might need to clarify the final paragraph of this chapter:
• ingrid hadn't thought about learning about her parents
• dumbledore gives her a way of getting to know more about them, without making a big deal of it
• she now has an easy source of information, and this sparks ingrid's interest
• ingrid jokingly calls dumbledore "sly" because of changing her attitude this way