The Footsteps of my Father

The Footsteps of my Father

Chapter Ten

-Portkeys and Pyros -

As the months flew by and spring drew closer, Sindaria kept amazing the professors with the amount of knowledge that she could retain and how intelligent she was. Since she didn't flaunt this ability and was such a nice and pleasant person, she had many friends and no enemies. She quickly grew to become the most popular person in school, but even then, she could be seen hanging around with every sort of person, whether it be the nerdier types or the extremely popular types.

She was the top of her class by far and received many awards. And although she loved her school, she could never stop thinking about Hogwarts and couldn't wait to go. With the help of Gabriel and Sarah, she managed to learn to control her abilities to some extent, but she was going to have to go through extensive training once she arrived at Hogwarts. She continued to write to Dominic and he to her, telling each other about their schools. They were becoming closer and Sindaria felt like she could always confide in him, trusting him completely.

Early April began with warmer days and the arrival of Dominic. Sindaria waited in the entrance hall at the Conner Estate, waiting anxiously.

The door opened and Dominic walked in, dragging his Hogwarts' trunk and cage with Yoddle, his eagle owl. "Dominic!" Sindaria cried and rushed over to him, enveloping him in a huge hug.

"Hiya, Ari," Dominic said, laughing and, after setting down his cage and trunk, returning the hug. They pulled away. "I haven't been gone that long, have I?"

Sindaria grinned. "It's been four months."

"And so it has," Dominic said, smiling. "But there were letters."

Sindaria shrugged. "It's not the same."

"No, I suppose its not."

"So, how much homework did you get dumped on you this time?" Sindaria asked as they walked up the stairs, Dominic carting his trunk and Sindaria carrying Yoddle's cage.

"Oh, the usual amount. Too much for a sane person to handle."

"But you're not sane," Sindaria said, looking at him sideways.

Dominic laughed. "Perhaps not, but it's still a load of work."

Sindaria nodded. "Sounds like it."

"Oh, you just wait till you go to school! Then you won't be able to nag me on all my homework."

Sindaria laughed as they stepped into his room, depositing his things at the foot of his bed. "I also wanted to say 'happy birthday', since you turned thirteen last week. Maria and Terrance both turned five last month, and you should have seen their faces when they opened the presents that you gave them. They were both thrilled that their lunchboxes kept changing colors and that their names would write themselves across the fronts. Of course," Sindaria said, laughing, "it was interesting having to explain to my parents that they were just made that way; nothing too unusual."

Dominic laughed. "Sounds like fun." He paused and then smirked. "Pyro."

"What did you just call me?" Sindaria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Pyro."

She placed her hands on her hips. "Dominic Francis Conner, just because I happen to have a gift with fire does not make me a pryo."

Dominic nodded. "Oh, yes it does. Pyros like fire; you like fire; Pyros play with fire; you play with fire. Therefore, you are a pyro."

"Oohh, you're going to pay for that one, Dominic!" Sindaria cried and quickly grabbed two of the pillows off of Dominic's bed. She threw them at him, hitting him squarely in the face.

"Hey, what was that for?" he asked, trying to act serious, but a laugh escaped his lips.

"You called me a pyro," Sindaria said, holding up two more pillows.

"But you are!" She quickly hit him with the two pillows. "Come on, I don't even get a chance to defend myself?"

"You can anytime."

Dominic grinned wickedly. "Okay." He whipped out his wand and pointed them at the pillows. "Accio pillows!" he yelled and all the pillows flew at him. He snatched them out of the air and began throwing them at Sindaria.

"Not fair! You used magic!" Sindaria cried, but she was laughing.

"You never said I couldn't," Dominic said, smirking.

"Only a Slytherin would do that."

Dominic raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really?"

Sindaria nodded. "Really." Stall, stall, let me think, what were some of those spells that I read about? If I'm really a Swerker, I should be able to just think the spells, or at least be able to say them and have them happen. Of course, I am only ten and I've never done an ounce of magic in my life, so . . . this probably won't work, but it's worth a shot. Oh! Haha! The Tickling Charm!

"Well, that's just not fair. You can't stereotype me just because I'm a Slytherin," Dominic said, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Wanna bet?" She grinned. "Rictusempra!" she yelled, not expecting anything to happen, so imagine her shock when Dominic actually collapsed onto the floor, laughing uncontrollably and clutching his sides.

"Ari!" he gasped through fits of laughter. "Please!"

She stood over him, her arms crossed. "Not till you promise to not call me a pyro."

"I - I promise!" he gasped.

"Swear?" He nodded and she shrugged. "Okay. Finite Incantatem."

Dominic took in several breaths, lying on the floor. Then he stood, giving her an odd look. "How did you manage that?"

"I wrote you that letter explaining what your father had told me about my powers, right?" Dominic nodded. "Well, part of being a Natural and a Trynd is that I can do spells without the use of a wand; of course, I didn't expect anything to happen since I've never done a bit of magic before."

"The Tickling Charm is pretty basic, though, so . . . well, good job, though. Didn't expect that one," Dominic said, smiling. Then he smirked. "Pyro."

"Dominic!" Sindaria cried, trying to give him an angry look but failing.

He held up his hands. "Just kidding. I'm going to go downstairs for food. Coming?"

Sindaria nodded. "Of course; its food."

Dominic walked towards the hall, stopping in the doorway and turning to her. "Pryo."

"You're going to get it, Dominic!" she yelled, running towards him.

"Uh- oh!" Dominic cried, his eyes wide. "Help! Mad pyro after me!" he yelled, sprinting into the hall and towards the stairs. Sindaria chased him after him, finally skidding to a halt in the dining room, ramming into Dominic, who had stopped. He stumbled, but didn't fall. She peered around his shoulder and, since she just came up to his shoulder, he made a good shield.

Gabriel and Sarah were standing in the dinning room, looking at Dominic and Sindaria, their eyebrows raised. Then Gabriel laughed. "You two look like you were having fun." Sarah just shook her head, trying to control her laughter.

Sindaria stepped out from behind Dominic. "He called me a pyro. I was just giving him what he deserved."

Gabriel laughed. "Pyro, huh?"

"Well, shall we eat lunch? Or are we going to stand here all day?" Sarah asked, smiling.

"Food!" Dominic cried and rushed to the table, sitting down. A plate of food appeared in front of him and he began eating rapidly.

Gabriel, Sarah, and Sindaria laughed, taking seats. As her plate appeared in front of her, Sindaria watched as Dominic finished off his plate and another one appeared in place of the empty one. He began eating again, only pausing to take a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"What do they do at Hogwarts, starve you?" Sindaria asked with a laugh.

Dominic shook his head, swallowing. "No, it's just that I slept in this morning, so no breakfast, and all they have on the train is sweets and that doesn't fill me up at all."

"You are going to make yourself sick, Dominic," Sarah said chidingly. "Slow down."

"Once I'm full, Mother," Dominic said with a smile and finished off his plate. Another appeared and, after finishing it, he finally sat back. "Okay, now I'll slow down."

Sindaria just shook her head, laughing. "I swear you have a bottomless pit for a stomach."

Dominic shrugged. "Perhaps."

"Do you have a load of homework again, Dominic?" Gabriel asked.

Dominic nodded. "Of course."

"How as Quidditch been going?" Sarah asked.

"Good, we managed to win our matches against Ravenclaw, but Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw, so now they're in second place. But Harry Potter managed to get a Firebolt," Dominic said with a slight sneer.

"I take it that you don't like Harry Potter?" Sindaria asked.

At looks from his parents, Dominic only shrugged. "It's just that he usually gets a lot of things and it's not very fair to the rest of us. Anyways, we have the final match for the House Cup coming up in a few weeks, so it should be very interesting."

Sindaria nodded. "It sounds like it. Did they manage to capture Sirius Black, yet?" Sindaria asked, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"No, not yet. They've got Dementors crawling all over the place, though," Dominic said, shuddering. "It's really horrible when we go to Hogsmeade, since we have to walk right past them."

"Those are the guards from Azkaban, right?" Sindaria asked.

"Yes," Gabriel said, "they drain any happy thoughts away and they feed on despair."

Sindaria swallowed. "I'm glad I don't ever have to see one."

"Be grateful you don't," Dominic said, still looking uneasy on the subject.

"Well," Sarah said, looking around, "on towards happier thoughts. How have your classes been going?"

Dominic shrugged. "Alright. We've got finals in a month and I have a feeling I'm going to do pretty well in DADA."

"DADA?" Sindaria asked.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Dominic explained.

"Oh," Sindaria said, nodding. "Is the class really good?"

Dominic nodded, smiling. "Our professor, Professor Lupin? He is wicked! He's such a brilliant teacher and DADA is easily my most favorite class. I think all the rest of the students would agree."

"It sounds very interesting," Sindaria said, smiling. "Will I have him for a professor?"

Dominic shrugged. "Can't guarantee that. No one has lasted more than a year in the DADA job. Some people say it's cursed."

"Rubbish, of course," Gabriel put in.

Dominic just shrugged.

"Cursed?" Sindaria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That is just rumors from the other students," Sarah said and gave Dominic a pointed look. "There is no truth to it."

Sindaria nodded, but she wasn't too sure.

* * *

After lunch, Dominic led Sindaria outside, telling her that he wanted to show her something. As they walked through the forest, neither of them said anything.

Finally, they reached a large clearing. Dominic whistled a long, melodious sound. "Now watch," Dominic whispered.

And, to Sindaria's wonder and awe, a beautiful pure-white unicorn came out of the edge of the forest and stopped in front of them. "A unicorn!" Sindaria whispered in shock.

"Yes, she is one of the few that inhabit the woods on the estate," Dominic said. "If she'll let you, you might be able to touch her."

Sindaria nodded. "I remember reading that unicorns are most likely to allow a witch to approach it than a wizard."

"Right," Dominic said, smiling. "Do you remember everything you read?"

Sindaria nodded. "Everything."

"Bloody hell," Dominic whispered. "That's amazing."

Sindaria smiled and shrugged, turning her attention to the unicorn. "Hello," she said softly.

"Hello," the unicorn replied.

Sindaria grinned. It really is true! I can speak to magical creatures as well! This is brilliant! "You're very beautiful."

"Thank you," the unicorn said, dipping her head.

Dominic looked between Sindaria and the unicorn, his eyes wide. "You're actually speaking to it?"

Sindaria nodded. "I told you that I'm an Earth Natural."

"Right," Dominic said, still amazed.

She looked back at the unicorn. "Can I pet you?" Sindaria asked slowly.

"Of course," the unicorn said and Sindaria approached the unicorn cautiously, reaching out to stroke the silky mane.

"It's so soft!"

"Yes," the unicorn said, looking at Sindaria with her left eye. "I sense something about you, child."

"What do you mean?" Sindaria asked, still running her fingers through the silky tresses.

"You are gifted with the ability to speak with animals and you are a Natural, but . . . although you are very happy and carefree, something dark clouds you."

Sindaria looked at the unicorn questioningly. That was the second time one of the creatures has told me that! First the snake . . . then this unicorn. What do they mean? "Dark?" The unicorn bobbed her head in a nod. "But wouldn't I notice?"

"I do not know, child; I just know what I sense. There will come a time where you will have to confront this darkness."

Suddenly something startled the unicorn and she fled. "Wait!" Sindaria yelled, but the unicorn disappeared into the forest. What did she mean?

"What just happened?" Sindaria asked, looking back at Dominic, who shrugged.

"Unicorns spook easily."

"I suppose," Sindaria said, not really believing that, looking at the spot where the unicorn had disappeared into the forest.

* * *

When she finally arrived home, she spent a few hours telling her parents, Maria, and Terrance about her day, excluding all the magic-related things. The next two months flew by and soon it was the beginning of July and she would be leaving the very next day for the World Cup.

After her parents told her to be good and have fun, the Conners arrived to pick her up to take her back to the estate. Since they would be leaving early the next morning, Gabriel felt that it was in all of their best interests to have Sindaria there the night before.

"So, how does everyone get there without all the Muggles noticing?" Sindaria asked as they ate breakfast. She stifled a yawn, from having to wake up at five o'clock that morning.

"Well, you see, about a hundred wizards turn up at the World Cup, and of course, we don't have a magical site big enough to accommodate them all," Gabriel explained. "So we found a nice deserted moor and set up as many anti-Muggle precautions as possible. The Ministry has been working on it for months. The first thing, of course, is to stagger the arrivals. The people with the cheaper tickets arrive two weeks beforehand; a limited amount use Muggle transport, but we cannot be clogging up their buses and trains; after all, we do have wizards arriving from all over the world. Now, some of them Apparate, but of course, we have safe points for them to appear, far away from any Muggles. But, for those who cannot Apparate, we have Portkeys. Portkeys are objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearrange time; sometimes even large groups, depending on the circumstances. They are placed at strategic locations around Britain, so we will be using the one at the abandoned train station."

"Is that how you got to work in New York City?" Sindaria asked.

Gabriel smiled. "Yes, I used a Portkey that transported me to Central Park; in fact, it was to that pavilion that we found you at."

Sindaria thought back to that night when the Conners had found her, and tried to recall if she had seen anything out of the ordinary. The only thing she remembered, however, was that there had been an old shoe lying on the floor of the pavilion, but, of course, that wasn't strange at all.

"What sorts of objects are Portkeys?" Sindaria asked.

"Well, they can be anything," Sarah said. "Unobtrusive things, obviously, for we could not have Muggles picking them up and playing with them. Just think what would happen! So, Portkeys are usually things that Muggles would mistake for litter and just ignore."

"Like old shoes?"

"Yes, that is one that is used more often than not," Sarah said, nodding.

So, that's it! That old shoe was a Portkey! "So, why can't we Apparate?"

"You have to past extensive tests given by the Department of Magical Transportation," Gabriel said. "It is not very easy, and when it is not done properly, it can have nasty complications. There have been incidents in which people have only Apparated half of their bodies, leaving the other half behind."

Sindaria swallowed hard. "That doesn't sound very pleasant."

"Not at all," Sarah said.

They finished the rest of breakfast in silence, Dominic not saying a word the entire time, for he was too busy trying to keep his eyes open.

As they walked down the road that led from the manor to the barrier, Sindaria smoothed the folds out of her T-shirt and shorts. They were all in Muggle clothing, so that they would not look out of place. Stepping through the barrier, Sindaria was still amazed at the process, but didn't have time to think about it, for they had to search for the Portkey.

She glanced up at the clear sky where it was beginning to lighten due to the rising of the sun. A refreshing breeze swept through her long hair, which she had pulled into a ponytail. It was warm already, but pleasantly. Sindaria could feel the excitement leaping in her chest. I can't wait! she thought excitedly.

"Here, Father! I found it!" Dominic called and they walked over to where Dominic was holding a rusty pipe.

A pipe? Interesting. "Oy! Dominic!" They turned to see Malcolm, Alex, a tall boy with dark hair, and two adults, walking towards them.

"Malcolm! Alex! Brandon!" Dominic greeted, becoming more alert.

"So, I see you're using the same Portkey," the tall boy, who must have been Brandon, said. He looked at Sindaria and his eyebrows lifted. He smiled. "And who is this?"

"Oh," Dominic said, "of course, this is Ari; she's going to the World Cup with us. She's been visiting us the past few days."

"A relation?" Brandon asked.

Dominic shrugged. "You could say that."

Thanks, Dominic, Sindaria thought. If they knew I was a Muggle-born, I'd be out of luck. "So, are you ready for the World Cup, Ari?" Malcolm asked.

She grinned. "Of course. It's going to be wicked!"

"Tell me about it," Alex said. "With Krum playing for Bulgaria, it's going to be a tough competition."

Sindaria nodded. "They're playing Ireland, right?"

"Yes," Brandon said, nodding. "And Ireland's going to win!"

Sindaria glanced over at where the adults were speaking. "Is that your parents?" she asked.

"Yep," Alex said. "Brandon and I are brothers."

"Oh," Sindaria said, nodding. "Okay." She looked at Malcolm. "Are your parents coming?"

Malcolm shook his head. "No, they're in Romania with the dragons; that's what they do, study dragons."

"Wicked," Sindaria said, smiling. "I hope I get to see a dragon some time."

Malcolm shrugged. "If we do another family trip to Romania, you're welcome to come with us."

"Brilliant!" she said, grinning.

"Well, everyone, are we ready?" Gabriel asked, holding up the pipe. Everyone nodded and crowded around. "Okay, now, just a finger will do. That's it." He glanced at his pocket-watch. "Three . . . two . . . one . . ."

Immediately, Sindaria felt like she was being jerked upwards and she could feel the others close by. They sped forward in a howl of wind and swirling color. She could feel the pipe pulling her onward and then - she felt her feet slam into the ground. She stumbled, ramming into Dominic, who held her up so that she didn't fall. The Portkey hit the ground with a 'THUD' and Sindaria looked around, her vision slowly coming back into focus. Everyone was still standing, but Alex looked slightly shaken.

"Twelve past six from Franborth Station," a voice said.