Déjà Vu [Harry Potter]

Chapter One : The Owl

There was red and blue smoke coming from the Filch's house, specifically from the first-floor window, which was open to let a most bizarre smell out of the home. The strange color of the smoke should've alerted the muggles living in the Filch family's neighbourhood, but they had grown so accustomed to the weird stuff going around that house that they just let it pass with a sigh.

"That damn kid..." would mutter their old neighbours every time that they passed by their house and that some substance was escaping the building.

They never even suspected that the strange occurrences, odors or lights coming from the Filch's were because of magic. In the eyes of muggles, Elias Filch was simply another drug-addicted teenager that desperately did stupid stuff to get attention when his father left him behind for three quarters of the year.

In reality, Elias was not doing drugs. He was simply having fun brewing another potion, his third of the day. The first two had turned terribly sticky and dark like some kind of resin. He suspected that it had something to do with the quantity of lizard scales and ice cold water used. The young man threw the last few bits of mandrake root inside the small cauldron and let it boil. If he was correct, this time, it would actually stay in a liquid state and taste like cinnamon. Not that his father would mind, as his taste buds seemed to have stopped working long ago.

Argus Filch walked in the room in a slightly awkward manner, helping himself by leaning on the furniture of their living room. He did not seem surprised that his son was brewing a concoction that was emitting fuchsia and cyan smoke in the living room.

He said something that Elias didn't hear. Elias took off his headphones that were blasting music to help him concentrate. He quickly hid the mp3 in his pocket.

"What?" he asked.

"Still working on that damn thing?" the wrinkled man said once again with the frown that rarely left his face. "Just let it go! I won't die from a fever!"

"No, no, I'm almost there!" replied Elias quickly as he started mixing the mixture as it had turned a shade of baby blue and finally stopped creating bright smoke. "This time, it'll work!"

"I swear," muttered Filch under his breath. The man crashed down on the sofa in front of Elias. He was not that old, but his blading head and wrinkled eyes gave him an older look. He most often looked angry or tired, but Elias knew that it was only in appearances. For the older man, it was easier to look mad than happy.

Where Argus had light hair and a small build, Elias had darker hair; dark brown with golden shines when the sun fell on the small waves his hair made towards his shoulders. He had decided a few months back to let his hair grow longer. The young man was stronger and taller than his father, but still kept a lean frame. He had bright green eyes that made him think of Mrs Norris, their cat, every time he saw himself in the mirror.

Elias noted down the result of the change of recipe in his potion notebook. Until now, putting twice as much of lizard scales and less than three tablespoons of water worked. It felt amazing to see that his efforts had not being in vain. What had once been a disgusting, bubbly mess of a healing remedy now was as clear as water and actually smelling kind of fresh. Elias quickly rewrote the correct quantities of ingredients in his notebook in order to leave the grimoire free of ink.

The cauldron had stopped bubbling and the smoke had completely left the room to go out to bother his muggle neighbours. The liquid was now a translucent dark shade of blue, a color perfect for the re-energising and healing drink that Elias had been trying to make all morning.

He sent a look towards his father. He couldn't help but smile when he saw Argus playing with Mrs Norris. He always seemed very happy to be with his cat. Elias wished he'd be just a tad happier to see him most of the time. After all, they'd just spent months away from each other.