Unspeakables; Rule One

Chapter Three: Undeniable Chemistry and Horrific Timing

Countless hours of studying didn't really matter when you were living in the 21st century and planning on going back to the 19th. Celeste knew that none of this was really preparing her to spend a year in the late 1800's. Every historical fact, family tree, every piece of dialogue, tone and inflection, required mastery and yet there was no such thing when you grew up in the modern age.

She loved her job, but she hated this aspect of it. Damn being a perfectionist.

Her story was simple. She'd be a new 7th year, just like the 5th year. She'd pretend she had no clue what the wizarding world looked like, nor the magic she was supposed to mimic and wield. Then she would find whatever the connection was with the prophecy.

Celeste was focused on the material in front of her. The Department of Magical Artifacts had been outfitted with the most beautiful collection of rarities. Sage Bragnam, Head Curator, was well acquainted with Grim. He once tried to recruit Grim into the Department, due to his success in transcribing an insanely difficult tome. Sage said Celeste was allowed to take one object, of little value, that was coursing with ancient magic.

Her eyes skittered over the various pieces on the shelves, some were gorgeous and just her style especially the jewelry she found. That's when she caught a small thing hiding behind a goblet. She picked it up and it was a simple soft blue stone that appeared as though it had been tumbled violently by ocean and sand.

"Ah that one, it was found in the rocks of the Black Lake near Hogwarts in 2003." Sage said.

It was perfect and it felt like something shifted into place as she turned it over in her hand.

"I'll take it."

She had held it all day and now on her garden bench, in the light of the moon, she kept it pressed in her one hand as she rubbed the soft texture; becoming more in tune to the feel of its raw power. She envisioned her hand sucking in the magic and when she felt pins and needles in her palm she watched as a delicate blue light crawled from the stone up into her arm.

She placed the stone in her brassiere, feeling the magic pulse against her heart and then opened her third book of the night. A study of Victorian customs. She then floated two more books of history that were on the ground placing them next to her on the iron bench. She felt the metal digging into the skin of her thighs as she was wearing soft fabric shorts and a baggy, long, faded tshirt that was not hers. She cast another warming charm around her, to fight the cool night air from biting into her skin the way she liked. It would be too distracting.

She just kept reading and reading, taking in every piece of information while scratching her temple with the tip of her wand. She briefly looked at the wand's dark wood, weaving itself together, and the gorgeous amethyst handle that had the gold cording of the time crest wrapped tightly around it.

She remembered walking into the time room, taking the vow, reciting the rules, and the Grand Clock hanging in all of its magnificent glory. She remembered watching the crest's cord slide up the hand of the clock. It declared her number as Unspeakable 444, labeling her for time's sake. She remembered Grim taking the crest from the clock, pressing it to her wand and watching as it laced its way up the handle; sitting at the base.

She was in awe of how the crest moved every assignment she received. Knowing that all Grim had to do what set the Grand Clock for it to move the hand with her number on it, causing the gold cord to snake down the handle of the wand and form a perfectly fitted crest for her time turner to press into. The sound it made, the chiming, telling you to insert the turner and go somewhere new or even better... come home.

Instinctively she reached for her time turner that always stayed stuffed against her chest. It was the only piece of jewelry that meant something to her, because it became the something more she had always been looking for in her life. It turned an Auclair, the girl of the family who hid, into someone braver. Celeste wondered, as a child, why the time turner alone couldn't send the wearer farther back into the past or even into the future. She had always supposed it would be too dangerous, but now knowing it took the Grand Clock trusting you to provide its own mechanism for such a capability, it meant something different to her. It wasn't just dangerous, it was like time was gifting you a knighthood. Blessing you with that beautiful burden of going forward and backwards.