I woke later than I'd intended.
For a while, I lay looking at the ceiling. There were no footsteps in the corridor, no slamming doors, no Blaise complaining that Draco was up before everyone else again. Outside, the wind whispered past the window.
I checked my watch.
Nine twenty.
Not bad.
At Hogwarts, I would have finished breakfast by now. Here, I could stay in bed a little longer, though my stomach soon reminded me not to overdo it.
I got up and went to the window. A thin layer of snow covered the garden. The edges of the paths showed through the white, with dark hedges beyond. It wasn't snowing at the moment.
Richard had promised me a game of chess. I also wanted to see Joseph and talk to Roland. Frederick would probably ask about my notes.
All of it could wait until after breakfast.
When I entered the dining room, Anunu was setting a pot of tea on the table.
"Good morning, Master Oliver!"
"Morning, Anunu."
He had prepared eggs, toast, bacon, and fruit. As soon as I sat down, he pushed a plate towards me.
"Thank you. How was your night?"
"Very good! Anunu checked the fireplaces and brought in firewood for the next few days."
"I hope you found some time for yourself too."
"Everything is ready, Master Oliver."
That wasn't quite what I'd asked, but he looked so pleased that I let it go.
"Good morning, darling."
Evelyn sat in the portrait beside the door, her knitting in her lap.
"Morning, Grandmother."
"How did you sleep?"
"Brilliantly. I don't even remember falling asleep."
She smiled and returned to her knitting.
"Good. You needed the rest yesterday."
I reached for a slice of toast. For a few minutes, I ate in peace while she told me about the snow that had fallen overnight. Apparently, Anunu had already cleared the steps and part of the path, though no one had asked him to go outside before dawn.
Frederick appeared in the next painting as I poured myself a second cup of tea.
"Good morning, Oliver."
"Morning."
"Any plans for today?"
"Resting."
"Sensible."
I looked at him over my cup.
"Really?"
"Don't sound so surprised. We can look at your notes later."
Evelyn didn't even glance up, but I caught her smile.
I was finishing breakfast when a soft crack announced Anunu's return. He was carrying an envelope.
"Post for Master Oliver."
I held out my hand. The envelope was thick, addressed to me and stamped with the Ministry of Magic's seal.
Well, then.
"Has it just arrived?"
"Yes, Master Oliver. The enchantments brought it in from the postbox."
I turned the envelope over.
"On a Sunday?"
Anunu glanced at it as though he expected to find an answer there.
"Anunu brought it straight away."
"I know. Thank you."
Evelyn put her knitting aside. I broke the seal and unfolded the parchment.
The Ministry crest stood at the top, with a date beneath it.
20 December 1992.
My eyes moved down the page.
MINISTRY OF MAGIC
Office for the Supervision of Underage Wizards
NOTICE OF REFERRAL TO THE WIZENGAMOT
SUMMONS TO ATTEND
Addressee: Oliver Peverell
In view of serious and repeated breaches of the regulations governing the care of underage wizards, in particular the unauthorised departure from an assigned place of residence and residence elsewhere without the supervision of a legally appointed guardian, the Ministry of Magic has decided to refer the matter of Oliver Peverell to the Wizengamot.
Given the recurring nature of these breaches, the absence of settled guardianship arrangements, and the need to establish without delay conditions ensuring the minor's safety, the matter has been designated urgent.
The Wizengamot hearing is scheduled for:
21 December 1992, at 10:00 a.m.
Ministry of Magic, Level Ten, Courtroom Ten.
The hearing will consider the Ministry of Magic's application for appropriate measures concerning the care and place of residence of Oliver Peverell.
Oliver Peverell's attendance is mandatory.
The addressee is entitled to submit documents and present his position on the matter, subject to the rules of procedure of the Wizengamot.
By authority of the Office for the Supervision of Underage Wizards
Signature illegible
I read the letter again, then looked back at the hearing date.
The twenty-first of December.
"Tomorrow?"
Frederick studied me more closely.
"What is it?"
"The Ministry has referred my case to the Wizengamot. I have to be there tomorrow at ten."
Evelyn sat up.
"Show me the date."
I went over to her portrait and held up the parchment. She read the summons, then pressed her lips together.
"Issued today. Hearing tomorrow morning."
"Apparently, they're in a hurry."
Frederick crossed into her painting and stood beside her chair. He read in silence for a moment.
"Serious and repeated," he said.
"I liked that part too."
He didn't respond to the joke. His gaze paused on the second paragraph.
"They've known about the situation since September."
"But apparently, it only became urgent today."
Evelyn turned to Anunu.
"Ask Arthur and Edmund to join us in the drawing room."
"Anunu will find them!"
He vanished, and I looked down at the summons again.
I was supposed to be resting.
So far, that was going splendidly.
Richard was already in his portrait when I entered the drawing room. He put down his book at the sight of the parchment in my hand.
"The Ministry?"
"The Wizengamot. Tomorrow at ten."
For a moment, he simply looked at me.
"Well. At least it isn't Christmas Day."
I smiled despite myself.
"Comforting."
"I do what I can."
I sat down. Frederick and Evelyn joined us through the neighbouring paintings, and a moment later Arthur appeared in one of the frames.
"Anunu mentioned a summons."
I went over and showed him the document. He read slowly, returning to certain sentences.
"So they've referred it after all."
"You don't sound surprised."
"They raised the possibility at the meeting in September."
"I was hoping they'd leave it at that."
Arthur examined the date, then the bottom of the parchment.
"Is this everything? No enclosures?"
I checked the envelope, although I knew it was empty.
"Nothing else."
"I see."
Edmund arrived before Arthur had finished reading it a second time. Anunu returned with him and took the parchment from me so I no longer had to stand in front of the frame.
"A little higher, please," Edmund said.
The elf raised his hands.
For a while, both men read without speaking. Then Edmund stepped back from the edge of the painting.
"Where is the application itself?"
"They haven't sent it," Arthur replied.
"Or a list of the alleged breaches?"
"No."
Edmund looked at me.
"This was the only letter?"
"Yes."
Arthur rested his hands on the arms of his chair.
"Yesterday, you said the official hadn't given you any new decision. Did he even mention a hearing?"
"Not a word. He was there to take me back and confirm I'd arrived."
"Good. I wanted to be certain."
I glanced at the summons in Anunu's hands.
"Do you think they already know I've left again?"
"The letter doesn't tell us when they gathered their information," Arthur said. "They may have been preparing the case before yesterday."
"Or they checked the orphanage."
"Or they checked the orphanage."
I sighed.
Arthur noticed my expression.
"I won't guess, Oliver. We haven't seen the full application."
I settled back in the chair. I didn't like the answer, but at least he wasn't pretending to know more than he did.
Edmund leaned towards the parchment again.
"The wording is vague. Serious breaches, recurring conduct, appropriate measures. Without specific incidents, it's difficult to respond."
"Or assess the urgency," Arthur added.
"They cite the lack of settled care arrangements."
"That explains why they're dealing with the matter. It doesn't explain why they've given him a day to prepare."
Evelyn looked at them from the next frame.
"Can the notice period be challenged?"
"We can raise the fact that it was too short," Arthur replied. "Especially since we haven't received the full application. But we shouldn't assume the hearing will be postponed."
"So I have to go."
"Yes."
"Pity."
Edmund gave me a steady look.
"I wasn't planning to ignore it," I added. "But I could ask."
"And now you have your answer."
Richard shifted in his chair, but kept his comment to himself this time.
Anunu brought tea. Before I could settle down with mine, Arthur asked him to fetch the documents we had prepared for the September meeting.
"First, we need to separate what we know from what we expect," he said.
"I expect they want to send me back."
"Perhaps. The summons refers to measures concerning your care and place of residence. That covers more than simply sending you back."
"How much more?"
"They could seek some form of supervision, the appointment of someone authorised to make decisions on your behalf, or an order concerning your residence here."
I put down my cup.
"I'm not handing someone control over everything I do."
"Then first find out what they're actually asking for," Edmund replied. "Don't argue against an application you haven't seen."
"What about the Founders' Act?"
"It remains in force," Arthur said. "It protects you from an official deciding, on their own authority, to remove you from the family seat. That is precisely why the matter has been referred to the Wizengamot."
I looked at him for a moment.
"So they're using the route that's still open to them."
"Yes."
That was considerably more irritating than another letter telling me to go back.
Edmund moved his chair closer to the frame.
"Your right to reside in the family seat remains one of our arguments. It doesn't settle the question of your care by itself. Tomorrow, they'll be considering both."
"I know."
"Then let's make sure you can explain what your life here actually looks like. In practical terms."
Frederick, who had been listening until now, turned to Arthur.
"What do we need?"
"Proof of ownership and family status, the documents establishing his rights under the Act, and information about his living arrangements."
"We already have most of that."
"Yes. We need to organise it and see what requires updating."
Anunu appeared beside the table with a folder. When he opened it, I saw a familiar stack of parchment.
"All of it?"
"No," Edmund replied. "We'll choose what we need."
That, at least, sounded reasonable.
I pulled a chair up to the table.
At first, we made good progress.
I held up the pages for Arthur and Edmund while Anunu placed the ones they selected in a separate folder. I knew some of the documents almost by heart. With others, Arthur reminded me exactly what they established and why they might be useful.
Richard listened for a while before disappearing into another painting. Evelyn stayed. She didn't interfere with the discussion of the law, but when we came to the conditions in the house, she immediately corrected my rather brief explanation.
"You don't simply have a room here, Oliver. The house is properly maintained. Anunu sees to the heating, meals, and everything you need from day to day."
"That's what I meant."
"Then say it. They shouldn't have to guess."
Arthur nodded.
"Your grandmother is right."
I made a few notes on a separate piece of parchment.
It soon became clear that proving ownership was the easy part. Explaining what living here meant without making it sound like I have a big house and prefer it to the orphanage was much harder.
Even if that was true.
"What about money?" I asked.
Edmund looked at me.
"What about it?"
"If they ask how I support myself, we can show that there are funds set aside for running the house."
"We can," Arthur said. "It doesn't replace care, but it does establish that your material needs are met."
"That's what I mean."
Edmund asked Anunu to find Joseph and bring an up-to-date statement of the estate's running expenses.
Once the elf had gone, Frederick glanced at my list.
"Well thought out."
"At least there's one part I understand."
"Spending?" asked Richard, who had just returned to his frame.
"That food and firewood don't appear for free."
"It's a start."
I didn't take the bait. I added finances to the list and reached for the next page.
After a few more documents, we moved on from what to bring to what I should expect at the hearing.
Arthur explained how to present the papers and why it was best to wait until a question was finished before answering. Edmund added a few points about distinguishing things I had witnessed myself from information someone else had given me.
By the third correction to a single sentence, I was rubbing my forehead.
Frederick noticed first.
"Let's take a break."
Edmund turned towards him.
"We still have—"
"It will keep."
I checked my watch. It was past one.
I had no idea where the time had gone.
Arthur asked Anunu to put down the document he was holding.
"That's enough for now. We'll go through the main questions this evening."
"So we're not finished."
"No. But you don't need to learn the entire procedure in one afternoon."
I closed the folder before anyone decided we ought to add just one more piece of parchment.
Evelyn rose from her chair.
"Anunu has made lunch."
This time, I didn't need persuading.
After lunch, I found Richard in the drawing room. A chessboard was waiting on the small table beside the fire.
He glanced at my empty hands.
"No documents?"
"I'm taking a break."
"Then sit down."
I pulled up a chair.
"If I lose, I have an excuse."
"What excuse?"
"Stress about the Wizengamot."
"And before today?"
"Lack of experience."
My grandfather smiled.
"Stick with that one. It's more convincing."
Anunu helped position the table so Richard could see the board clearly. When my grandfather announced his first move, the elf moved the piece for him.
It wasn't his usual opening.
I looked up at the portrait.
"You listened?"
"You asked me not to open the same way every time."
"I thought you were going to keep proving that I needed to learn it."
"Let's see whether you fare any better with this."
For the first fifteen minutes or so, I did quite well. At least, I thought I did. Richard offered no commentary, and I tried not to take his silence as a good sign.
I was considering a move with my knight when Frederick appeared in the neighbouring portrait.
He studied the board for a moment.
"I'd give that a little more thought."
I looked up.
"What?"
"The square you've been staring at for the last thirty seconds."
Richard sighed.
"Frederick."
"What?"
"Don't help him."
"I haven't told him where to move."
I examined the board again.
The knight. The bishop. My king.
Damn.
I withdrew my hand and started looking for another move.
Richard looked at Frederick.
"Telling him where not to move was quite enough."
Frederick settled into his chair.
"In that case, I won't say another word."
I didn't believe him, but he really did refrain from offering any more advice. Occasionally, he looked at me in a way that made me want to check my move again.
I lost in the end.
Not immediately. I made my grandfather think a few times, and I didn't give away any pieces for nothing. I counted that as progress.
Apparently, so did Richard.
"Better."
"You're not just saying that?"
"No. But you still retreat sometimes when you should be forcing me to respond."
I looked at the final position.
This time, I knew which moment he meant.
"I think I see it."
"I'll show you tomorrow."
Tomorrow.
For a moment, my thoughts returned to the folder at the other end of the room. Richard must have noticed where I was looking, because he didn't suggest another game.
"That's enough for today."
I nodded and began putting the pieces back.
Before dinner, we returned to the preparations.
This time, Arthur didn't ask for any documents. He wanted me to explain why I had left the orphanage and what living at home was like.
My first answer was too long.
The second was apparently too short.
During the third, he stopped me with a raised hand.
"You don't need to make a speech. Answer the questions."
"What if it's a stupid question?"
"Answer it anyway."
"Without commenting?"
"That would be advisable."
I leaned back in my chair.
Arthur studied me more closely.
"And don't try to present yourself as entirely independent of other people."
"Why?"
"Because you aren't. And you don't have to be."
I looked at him.
"You have Anunu," he continued. "You have family who help you manage the house and make decisions. You accept help from your teachers. Don't leave that out simply because you want to show how well you're managing."
"I'm not ashamed of your help."
"I didn't say you were. But just now, you described everything as though you did it yourself."
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
I had just said that I kept track of the documents, the expenses, and the running of the house. Except we were putting the folder together as a group, Joseph oversaw the finances, and Anunu took care of most things before they even occurred to me.
"All right. I understand."
Edmund spoke from the next frame.
"That doesn't mean the question of care is settled. Portraits and a house-elf don't become legal guardians merely by helping you. But you're describing your actual circumstances, not proving that you need no one."
I nodded.
That, I could explain.
"What if they ask something I don't know?"
"Say you don't know."
I looked at Edmund.
"Just like that?"
"You can also ask them to explain the question. Don't try to salvage an answer by guessing."
Frederick, who had been listening throughout, gave a slight nod.
This time, he added nothing.
By evening, the documents were ready.
Anunu arranged them in the folder and took them to my study. He left the summons on top so I wouldn't have to look for it in the morning.
I read the date and time once more.
21 December 1992.
Ten o'clock.
Yesterday, I'd been on a train, wondering how much reading I could get done before Draco started talking about broomsticks again. Today, I'd spent half the day preparing to appear before the Wizengamot.
I went to the window. Fine, thick snow was falling again, covering the tracks Anunu had left on the path.
Answering questions wasn't what frightened me.
At least, it wasn't what frightened me most.
I knew I had the right to live on the estate. I also knew an ordinary official couldn't simply decide that, from tomorrow, I was no longer allowed to return.
But tomorrow, I wouldn't be speaking to an ordinary official.
These people could make a ruling that actually changed things.
I rested a hand on the windowsill.
And yet I was curious.
The Wizengamot. Old benches, formal robes, questions delivered from above. I knew the images and descriptions, but I had no idea what a real hearing would be like.
I would have preferred to find out from the public gallery.
There was a knock.
"Come in."
Anunu peered into the study.
"Everything is ready, Master Oliver."
"I saw. Thank you."
He glanced at the folder.
"Anunu can come with Master."
"I'd like you to."
He straightened at once.
"Anunu will be ready!"
But he didn't leave. For a moment, he ran his fingers along the hem of his clothes.
"Anything else?"
He looked up at me.
"Will Master Oliver come home tomorrow?"
I looked at him.
I could have said of course. That they had no right to keep me there, that it would all end with another conversation. But we'd spent the whole day preparing answers precisely because we didn't know how it would go.
"That's the plan."
Anunu watched me for another moment, then nodded.
"Then Anunu will make dinner."
I smiled.
"All right."
Only then did he vanish.
I turned off the study lamp and headed for my bedroom.
Frederick was waiting near the door. He stood in a small portrait, one hand resting on a chair.
"Finished for today?"
"I hope so."
"Then get some sleep."
I stopped in front of the frame.
"You haven't looked at my notes."
"I'll look at them when you get back."
"You were very keen this morning."
"I still am. That doesn't mean we have to deal with them today."
I smiled faintly.
He was about to leave when I spoke again.
"Do you think it'll be all right?"
He stopped.
He didn't answer straight away.
"I don't know, Oliver."
I nodded. I'd more or less expected that answer.
"But you're prepared," he added. "You have your documents, and you understand your position far better than you did a few months ago. If something comes up tomorrow that we haven't anticipated, we'll work out what to do next."
"Another afternoon buried in paperwork?"
"If necessary."
It didn't sound particularly pleasant.
Even so, I felt a little better.
"Goodnight, Frederick."
"Goodnight."
I went into my room and closed the door. A few minutes later, I was in bed, listening to the wind outside.
For a while, my thoughts kept returning to the summons. To the questions they might ask and the answers I needed to remember.
Eventually, I rolled onto my side.
The folder was ready. Anunu knew when we were leaving. There was nothing more I could do before morning.
I tried to sleep.