Who: Cassiopeia Black (narrative) What: After Arcturus plots to harm the council, Cassi seeks guidance Where: Lucilla Emerton's office When: Saturday Warnings: Threats of (magical) violence towards council members
It was easy for Cassiopeia to treat her younger cousin's threats against the muggles as simply that: bluster, a desperate attempt to try to exert some control over what she could see was an increasingly difficult situation. She hadn't taken him seriously, and she doubted that anyone else had, either. Disliking muggles was one thing, and a sentiment she could fully understand, even if she made some effort with the more respectable ones. But actually attacking them? Arcturus wouldn't. He was too young to seriously consider anything so drastic.
It had seemed encouraging to her that over the past week or so, the constant references to his father seemed to have stopped. There was no talk of how close he was to finding Preya, or how soon he would arrive, or what he would think of all the modern things when he got there. Cassi had assumed that Arcturus was, in his own quiet way, accepting the unfortunate reality of his situation. That was, until this morning, when the young wizard had gotten up before dawn with a plan to set out early, and had said a particularly strange goodbye to her. There was something wrong in his manner, something she couldn't place, and so she pressed him for answers. Where was he going? What did he mean to do?
He was going, he said, to find either Tony Stark or the man calling himself Arthur Pendragon, because they were muggles who dared to claim that they had some authority in this place. And he was going to curse them, with the worst curses he knew, until they agreed to send him home. Cassi's indulgent half-smile faded as Arcturus listed off the curses he did know. Did all fourteen-year-olds in his time have such an impressive grasp of illegal spells, she wondered, or was that particular to their family?
She couldn't let him do it, of course. Not because the lives of those specific muggles meant very much to her, but because if he succeeded, it'd be disastrous for the magical community, who would come under attack for what he had done. And if he failed? Cassiopeia suspected that it wouldn't be difficult to Apparate out of a muggle prison, even for Arcturus, but then he'd not only have exactly the same problems as before, but he'd have to stay in hiding as well. That simply wouldn't do. As much as she hated to admit it, she had to take responsibility here, both for stopping him and making things more bearable for him. She was, unfortunately, the eldest of the family here.
That didn't mean that she knew what to do. Cassi briefly wondered if that was how her parents had felt at home. They'd had to deal with situations like this – and far worse. Something was better than nothing, she reasoned. She'd spoken to him, calmed him down. She'd persuaded him to wait, to let her try to resolve the situation first. Arcturus agreed, a little to readily for her liking, and so when she left the house she made a quick adjustment to the security wards so that they wouldn't let him cross over the threshold. If he did as he said he would, and stayed indoors until she got back, he'd never know – and if he didn't? Then her lack of trust was justified, and he could hardly complain about it.
This sequence of events was how Cassi found herself talking to Lucilla Emerton, chosen on the basis that if Cassiopeia Black had to ask for the help of an authority she didn't like very much more than Arcturus did, at the very least she could talk to someone who was magical, and from a magical background. Miss Emerton had donated very generously to Cassiopeia's Christmas charity effort, and if anyone would understood Arcturus' plight, it was her. And so she found herself sitting in an office with just enough magical touches to make it comfortable, talking about how homesick Arcturus was, and how difficult it was for him to cope with a culture that was not only alien to him, but that offended him regularly. Even Cassi herself couldn't keep from ending up on the wrong side of Arcturus' rigid ideas about how society was supposed to be sometimes. She tried to be gentle and sympathetic when that happened, despite her private opinions. Others weren't. Some were downright hostile.
To her surprise, Lucilla seemed genuinely saddened to hear of Arcturus' difficulties. But perhaps the biggest revelation of all came when Cassi asked how it could possibly be justified to take him away from his home and family just because he had wanted to escape from a bad situation. He was too young to know what he was agreeing to, too young to sign a binding magical contract. She recounted the story he had told her, of wizards who were enemies of the Black family trying to kidnap Arcturus, to frighten the family. Terrifying for him, but not permanent. Not like this.
After Cassi had finished her account, Lucilla shook her head slowly. She had been responsible for the committee that had found Arcturus. She knew, from the outsider perspective of Preya, what he did not. The kidnappers hadn't been from a rival pureblood family. They hadn't been the sort to observe some civil code of behaviour even when dealing with their enemies – and Arcturus was naive to think that all purebloods would, but that was understandable, that was what he had been taught.. These people, however, were would-be revolutionaries who had come to Britain after stirring up trouble across Europe. Most of them were half-bloods, agitators, disgruntled and disillusioned. They didn't want money, or political concessions. They had killed pureblood children before, and thought it justified. Lucilla, in short, thought it very probable that intervention had saved Arcturus' life.
Cassiopeia considered this, soberly. It might well be true. It sounded plausible, and it would probably stop Arcturus from plotting to attack the muggles – although this part of the story she had quite sensibly kept to herself. But it wouldn't make him one bit happier here. Couldn't he be sent home? Others had, she knew that, and magic strong enough to move across time, space and realms of magic could certainly return him directly to his home, or to Hogwarts, or anywhere but the moment that he had left.
It was impossible, Lucilla told her. Make one exception simply because it was requested, and others would clamour for the same. That wasn't how Preya worked. Undeterred, Cassi pressed on. Lucilla seemed genuinely concerned for Arcturus, she wanted him to be happy – if he couldn't go home now, then what could they do for him? He missed his family, especially his father. He worried that everyone in his own time would think he was dead and grieve for him. He worried about never seeing his friends again, never completing his schooling, never having the life that he was supposed to – and flatly refused to talk about how he felt, because he 'didn't like fussing' or 'wasn't an infant'. Cassi worried for him.
She knew that she had made the right decision in consulting Lucilla when the other witch seemed to take her very seriously. She couldn't send Arcturus home at once, she said. It wasn't her decision to make, and there were others who simply couldn't understand why others might not enjoy Preya and be happy there as intended. But that didn't mean that nothing could be done. Yes, it was possible to leave Preya, and she could promise them both that someday, when the time was right for the magic to be possible, Arcturus could leave – and not only that, but he could return to a time not very long after he had left. His family wouldn't think they had lost him.
It might not have been what Cassi had hoped for, but it was an answer, and she was grateful. She asked if Arcturus would remember Preya when he left, more for her own purposes than his, but was told that it all depended upon the exact nature of the magic at the time. Then Lucilla was quick to change the subject, asking about Cassi's charity work, and suggesting that Arcturus come to meet her himself, and perhaps join her for a few magic lessons. It would help, she told Cassi, to keep a closer eye on him, and suggest that he keep to Everdale, where there weren't so many troubles with 'muggle technology.'
Cassi readily agreed, although she thought that the news that Arcturus could someday go home would do far more to alleviate his unhappiness. She couldn't wait to get home and tell him!