The Truth About Rudolph

The Truth About Rudolph

Rudolph was a twelve-year-old wizard boy; a very ordinary boy, bright but not exceptionally smart. There was nothing very remarkable about him. His parents were a witch and a wizard of good reputation, but they were not very especially powerful or rich.

Only one member of Rudolph's family was really exceptional: his aunt Greta. Whenever she would come to visit them, she would arrive flying -- not on a broomstick, but on wings, in the shape of an eagle. His parents always said Aunt Greta was just showing off -- it would have been so much simpler to use the Floo Network. But they would never say that when she was around.

Eyes wide with admiration, Rudolph would watch Aunt Greta dive down from the sky into their garden and assume her human shape. He didn't like her; there was still something of the bird of prey about her when she was human. She had a habit of tilting her head sideways and sizing him up as if he were a mouse. Even worse, she would sometimes pinch him on the cheeks with her sharp fingernails. Still, in spite of not being fond of Aunt Greta, Rudolph had to admire her ability to turn into an animal. It was called being an Animagus, she told him.

Rudolph was ten years old when he'd first heard about this. The next day he immediately searched through his parents' books until he found a long essay about Animagi. His parents were pleasantly surprised; he'd never shown interest in learning before that.

The essay said that a wizard couldn't choose the animal he would turn into: for each witch or wizard there was only one possible animal form. Rudolph was somewhat disappointed to learn that. He had hoped his animal form would be a bird, because he wanted to be able to fly like aunt Greta.

It seemed that all he could do was try and perform the transformation, hoping that his destined animal form would turn out to be a bird.

It wasn't easy to perform the magic described in the book. The wizard who wrote it had warned about it: it was very difficult to become an Animagus. Only rare people were able to turn into animals, and those who were already able to do it as children were even more rare. It wasn't a matter of saying the proper incantation and making the proper wand movements; the transformation had to be felt on the inside, with every atom of one's body. It was very difficult to describe it precisely; the book encouraged the reader to be patient and keep trying. Once it was done for the first time, the book said, it would be much easier in the future.

Rudolph tried and tried with great enthusiasm, and his parents were glad to see their child so keen on studying. Nothing happened for more than a year. Then, when he was eleven years old, Rudolph managed to achieve at least a small part of the transformation.

He was standing in his room, his eyes firmly closed, trying to feel his body changing. And then he felt it: a strange sensation in his feet, a feeling that was both painful and tickling.

He opened his eyes and looked at his feet. They weren't there. A pair of hooves was protruding from his trousers and standing on the carpet.

Rudolph felt a strong wave of panic, and the hooves became his feet again. He decided he would never try it again. Feeling his body change had been an unpleasant experience, and besides he now knew for certain that he wasn't meant to become a bird.

He occupied his mind with other things after that -- mostly with Quidditch and flying, and with exchanging nasty hexes with wizard children of his age. But he was still very much interested in Transfiguration. It was the only kind of serious magic he was always willing to practice.

***

Flying on a broomstick was a very enjoyable pastime and the next best thing to being a bird Animagus. Rudolph was fairly good at it, although he'd only ever used a shabby old broom belonging to his parents.

He thought that if he could only have a new broom of his own, a good model, no one would be able to fly as well as he would. Octavian, a rich wizard boy who lived in Rudolph's village, had a Nimbus 1717 and loved to show off with it. This annoyed Rudolph a lot, although he knew that he was better at flying than Octavian and that Octavian was aware of that himself.

Then, one day in December, Rudolph noticed a small article in his parents' copy of the Sunday Visionary. It was about the latest broomstick model: the Nimbus 1722, sleek and perfectly shaped, made out of wood of the highest quality. There was a small drawing of the broom printed below the article; it was zooming left and right, up and down, and Rudolph followed it with his eyes as if he were hypnotised.

He let his parents know he would like the broom as a Christmas present, but didn't dare raise his hopes too high. In the meantime he practised flying on the old broomstick. He was only allowed to fly in the nighttime, so that Muggles wouldn't see him, but that wasn't a problem in the winter. The sun would set very early, long before the time when he had to go to bed.

***

Rudolph took the old broomstick with him shortly after sunset on Christmas Eve and took the path that lead to the woods near his village, where he usually practiced his flying. A heavy snow had fallen the night before, and in the woods it was almost completely intact, reflecting the glow of the moon and silencing all sounds.

He stepped off the path when he reached a clearing with enough space for a good start. He took the broom off his shoulder, levitated it and prepared to mount it, but before he could do it he heard a familiar, hated voice say:

"What are you doing here with this old broom? Are you going to sweep all the snow out of the forest? How awfully nice of you!"

Rudolph let go of the broomstick, grabbed his wand and nervously looked around.

"Because surely no one would want to fly on that thing, not even you, Rudolph!"

The voice was closer this time. Rudolph turned to his left and saw Octavian standing there, lit enough by the moon for Rudolph to see the sneer on his face.

"Get lost, Octavian!" he shouted.

"You don't own the forest, Rudolph," Octavian said. After a short pause he added: "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if my father owned it. It's hard to keep track of these things."

Rudolph thought it best to pretend he hadn't been listening to this. "Go away or I'll hex you!" he said, pointing his wand at the other boy. Octavian grabbed his wand too, and they spoke incantations at the same time. Every single hair on Octavian's head was suddenly standing on end and glowing, while the end of Rudolph's scarf seemed to have come alive and was slapping him in the face.

A short pause followed, during which both boys performed counter-spells on themselves. Then they faced each other again, wands at the ready. This wasn't a real wizard duel -- they were only performing harmless hexes, and there were no witnesses -- but, by some kind of silent agreement, they fought honourably.

They waved their wands at the same time again, and this time Octavian made Rudolph's eyes blink uncontrollably, while Rudolph turned a small part of the snow under Octavian's feet into ice. Octavian turned and looked around nervously, unsure of what it was exactly that Rudolph had done; the movement made him slip on the ice and fall flat into the snow.

Rudolph stopped the hex that was making him blink and, with a triumphant smile, watched the other boy pull himself up. His smile faded when he saw a small red stain on the snow. Octavian had obviously hit his face on something hard hidden under the snow, and his nose was bleeding. He wasn't seriously hurt, but it made no difference; no blood should have been drawn in a magical fight. Now that it happened, it was as if an invisible line had been crossed. This wasn't just a matter of two rivals testing each other's strength anymore; it was turning into something nastier, without strict rules.

Octavian hit him with a spell before he could react. Rudolph saw a strange red light appear in front of his face. The light wouldn't go away; feeling with his hands, Rudolph realised it was coming from his own nose. Octavian had somehow made his nose glow with a bright red light.

This was a hex Rudolph didn't know, so he was unable to perform a counter-curse. Octavian watched him, grinning.

"Oh, don't worry, it will only last four or five hours," Octavian said in a mocking kind voice. Rudolph raised his wand to hex him again, but at that very moment footsteps were heard on the path. Both boys looked to see who was passing by; it was a Muggle girl they knew, Christine, and her mother. The wizard code of secrecy was much more important than their fight, so they both quickly put their wands away and wished the Muggles a good evening, Rudolph holding a hand over his glowing red nose.