Bulla Aurea Puerorum

Heinrich Venatthissam

Heinrich Venatthissam

present time

I tripped into my dorm, dripping with melted snow and shivering furiously. The light was fading outside the small circular windows, casting gold shadows across the hardwood floor. I felt elated, like a helium balloon was tethered to my heart. The air was shivering with the happiness I felt and I flopped backwards onto my bed with a sigh, smiling at my ceiling. I closed my eyes and thought the feeling of Ginny's lips on mine, of her hands on my waist. The smell of her hair, a sweet warmth that suited the colour.
It was then, with my eyes closed and half my body hanging off the bed, that I heard the shaky breaths coming from the bed next to me.

"Lucy?" I asked at the ceiling.

A hitching breath came in response. I pulled myself up with a crinkle of bed sheets adjusting and swung my legs over so they were facing her bed.
Pulling back the bed curtains, my eyebrows creased with worry as Lucy came into view.

She wasn't crying like I'd thought, but instead hyperventilating as sudden convulsions wracked her body. Her hands rested a top her torso, clutching something close to her heart.

"Lucy!" I repeated, this time with panic in my voice as I jumped up to try and help her.

Her breathing was shaky and she couldn't stop shivering, inhaling sharply and exhaling deeply. A thin sheen of sweat covered her forehead.
She couldn't speak.

I sank down next to her and just sat. I didn't know what was happening but knew that she needed someone. I rested my hand on her arm until she slowly stopped shaking.
It was 30 minutes before she fully relaxed and thin tears began to fall silently out of the corner of her eyes, rolling down off the side of her head.
Her hands loosened around the object she was clutching to herself and handed it to me.

The crackled edge of a print photo that was well loved met my hand. The sepia colours were laced through with thin scars, the sign of a picture that had been folded time and time again.

It was simple, a scene in a back yard. The sun shone through the tall alder trees that lined the property, and a swing hung from the thick branch of a tree just out of frame.
Sitting on the swing was a young boy, wearing a plain stripped t-shirt and brown shorts, a pair of matching oxford shoes and knee high white socks contrasting against the dark forest background. Light sunrays lit up his hair, a deep golden colour that matched the freckles spattered across his face. Dimples edged the massive smile that spread across his entire being.

It was Charlie Silas.

His pale face arrested in youth. I knew how much pain was behind his wide smile. I'd met him before. When he was in the hospital. He was the strongest soul I knew, exactly as Lucy had described. I remember when Lucy had began to react in a similar way she was now, the shaking, the sweating, the breathing. He was the only person who could calm her down, even with the intense pain he felt at every moment.

I sank onto the bed beside Lucy slowly and placed my hand on her arm. 

I knew what was happening without her needing to tell me. 

I lied down next to her on the bed and wrapped my arms around her. We stayed like that for a long time until Professor Sprout called softly through the door that her father was here.

I watched her pick up her trunk and leave and wondered when I'd see her again. I hoped that when I did, Charlie Silas would still be alive.

*    *    *

That night at dinner it felt like everyone was quiet. At least the Hufflepuff table. We all knew why Lucy had left and the empty seat felt like a pit. Eddie spent almost the entire night just staring at it. I hardly touched my food, feeling sick as I imagined the picture Lucy had been holding and how that smile may never grace the world again. It wasn't fair.

We were interrupted half way through dinner by an announcement. Hogwarts was to be inspected by the ministry.

20 minutes later and the dinner had been cleared away to make room for pudding, and I was in the middle of my treacle fudge when the door just off from the teacher's table opened.

A tall, skeletal man walked through, deep circles under his eyes and long, dark hair. He clutched a briefcase in front of his stomach, long, thin, ghostly white fingers curling over the side.
The way he stared around the room gave me the creeps.

"Do you know this guy?" I whispered across the table to Eddie.

He shook his head. "No idea,"

I frowned.

Something about his stance and face felt deeply familiar although I had no idea from where. His eyes flashed amber in the candlelight as he shook hands with Dumbledore.

The entire hall had fallen silent. The occasional whisper flickered around the room. Whoever this man was, he commanded respect in his perfect posture and deep set face. I was already terrified of him.

"Students of Hogwarts, may I introduce to you," Dumbledore announced. "Head of the Department of Magical Health and Safety, Heinrich Venatthissam. "

*    *    *

"What do you think of this Venthisman guy?" Eddie asked me as we walked back to the common room.

"Venatthissam? He's..." I shivered. "He creeps me out." 

"Same. No one with a name like that is normal." He shook his head.

Who, speak of the devil, had materialized before Eddie and I as we rounded the corner. He had his hands clasped behind his back and seemed to be waiting for us.

"Mr. Black, Ms. Silas." He nodded.

Eddie and I looked at each other.

"I have heard many things about the two of you from Albus." He said. "I wish to speak with you about the Hufflepuff common room, I understand you are heads of the house?"

"Prefects? Oh, Lucy, I supposed you're looking for her. I'm actually Ophelia Porter, sir."

He looked at me with no surprise in his eyes.

"Forgive me, I must have mistaken you." He looked at Eddie. "A word, then, please. In private."

Eddie looked at him and back at me. I shrugged. Eddie agreed.

I watched them go, Eddie walking awkwardly with his hands shoved in his pockets as Venatthissam kept his own clutched firmly behind his back. 

I tried to ignore the dark feeling that creeped it's way up my spine.