A dark past

// THIS IS AN OLD CHAPTER. THE NEW CHAPTERS ARE IN VOLUME 2. YOU CAN READ THESE CHAPTERS IF YOU WANT SOME INSIGHT ON WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN LATER BUT SOME EVENTS CAN BE DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW CHAPTERS.

After talking to a few students, Samael takes me to the Quidditch pitch. It's more or less the same as the one I played at Hogwarts before, the only difference is the colors of the banners on the towers and the structure of the pitch is not in wood but in stone. We pass in front of a display case filled with trophies collected by each house. When I look at the most recent of them, I can see Samael's name on the best seeker of the year.

"Are you playing as a seeker?"

"Yeah, it's been two years now. The good thing about living in school is that I can use the field during the holidays to train."

"I have a question, if it's not too intrusive. How did you come to join the integration program?" Samael's eyes show his deep sadness even as he continues to smile. "

"It's not a story with a happy ending, I'm warning you." He takes a deep breath before continuing. "When I was born, my mother was in a cult. Not the weird kind that believes in aliens but more in the mega-creepy style, black mass and demon invocations. She kept telling everyone that I was the child of a demon and that I was going to show them my powers soon, but the truth is that my father was probably a wizard who wanted to have a little fun with her and who did not come back. Then we learned that she had brain cancer. She begged me to finally show my powers and heal her before she died. " A tear begins to run down his cheek. "Then as nothing was happening, she thought violence was going to bring out my inner demon. Something in me broke and a chair flew up to push her away. My last memory of her was when she got dragged out of the room by wizards to have her memory erased, she was screaming my name, begging me to save her. Then I got to Ivelmorny where I gave a hand while waiting to be old enough to take classes. " He pulls himself together and wipes his face. "Did you know that my first name is the real name of the devil himself?"

"I'm so sorry I shouldn't have asked."

"No, that's okay. It feels good to talk about it every now and then. To exteriorize that other than by lifting cast iron or hitting sandbags. Do you want to see our duels room? " Samael seems to have already said too much and it is without regret that I let the conversation shift to duels.

We continue the visit of the castle; the duels room is a large room on which several parallel platforms are separated by glass panels. A scroll recalls the rules of dueling as enacted by the wizard's dueling confederation which organizes tournaments around the world.

"Did you know we have a former Dueling World Champion teaching at Hogwarts?"

"Well, you must be pretty good then."

"That's the funniest part, we don't even have a dueling club."

"But what do you have as an extracurricular activity if you don't even have a dueling club?"

"Nothing at all except Quidditch for those who play it." Samael doesn't seem to believe me.

"So, what do you do in your spare time?"

"Not much to tell the truth. Once in a while, we can go to a village near the school, but that's it." I can see in his eyes that he is in no particular rush to visit Hogwarts someday

Samael then takes me to the wand-making workshop. All kinds of woodworking tools are hung along the walls and the usual desks are replaced by workbenches above which are placed a pair of protective glasses and a pair of gloves.

"This is where I made my wand. When the students come here during their first grade, the first few weeks are spent teaching them how to make a wand for class. The wand merchants here often sell custom products made with exotic materials in which they are specialized in and the more conventional wands are made by the students themselves. "

"What if you ever make a mistake and get the material wrong?"

"It's rare but it can happen, some people make mistakes. Some even choose rarer materials that are not compatible with them on purpose to have a certain form of prestige but in the end, everyone makes the wand that is intended for them."

We end the visit by the headmaster's office, Samael knocks on the door, without answer, we hear music through it. After a few moments, I had enough of waiting and I open the door to find my grandmother and the headmaster dancing a slow to the music of an old record player.

"Ha Sean, you're already back. The headmaster was showing me some dance steps for the autumn ball which he invited me to. "Great, all that was missing was grandmother going out with the headmaster.

"Um um, the visit went well boys."

"Perfectly, I was still telling Samael how impressed I was with your school."

"Excellent! Can I conclude that you will be with us from the next school year?

"Not yet, I have a few things left to do in England. Debts to settle ..."

"I see. It's a shame."

"Don't worry. If everything goes the way I want, you should have me as a final year student."

"Then let me take you home, that's the least I can do."