At Your Service!

“Oh, terrifying they do become. I never thought I’d dislike growing old as much as I do,” she admitted, but she, too, chuckled softly. “And, in all honesty, I don’t mind them being uneventful all that much.”

“Do you?” Filius asks curiously, “I suppose there’s a lot one wouldn’t like to happen on their birthday, but I’m always happy to have a bit of a celebration. A song and a dance, perhaps.”

“Isn’t that the beauty in all family? That in most cases there are people who will always be there for you and have been as long as you’ve been in each others lives? I mean I know twins must have a special bond, but I think that kind of unconditional love you’re describing is something everyone should be lucky enough to have.”

“In an ideal scenario, yes, that is the beauty in family,” Filius nods, “I do think twins are a bit different. They exist throughout your entire life, instead of only staying for a part of it. Or, at least, that’s true most often. For instance, one doesn’t have their parents forever, as awful as that may be, nor do we have our children forever if we have any, as there was a time before our children and will be a day when we are no longer with them.”

“Oh well, when you run out of tea leaves. Although fun is a good reason too.”

“Well,” Filius chuckles, “That’s a good secondary reason to be here. Tea is very important.”

“Thank you, Professor,” Gwenog said sincerely. “I appreciate your understanding and support.” She respected Professor Flitwick a lot, and she knew that perhaps if she’d tried a little harder, she could have been the best at Charms– part of her felt a little guilty for not putting her all into that, too– but having his respect made her feel a little better.

Filius chuckles, “I do try my best to be understanding and supportive at all times,” he grins, “It’s certainly integral to my profession, I believe.”

“They do or at least my cousins did,” he nods. Remus smiles at the mention of the Prewett twins. “I’ve never asked them, but you’re probably right. I can’t imagine what it’s like being a twin, but all the ones I’ve met are very close.”

“You should ask them! Or perhaps I will,” Filius smiles, “It must be quite pleasant, after all, they fill the most basic need for each other. They are always loved, and always have someone to love. Everything cycles back to that, I believe, even in tragic circumstances, that quality alone certainly makes prevailing much less of a struggle.”

Gwenog’s eyes gleamed. “Oh, yes, definitely.” Normally, if someone were to tack on another person to a compliment she was receiving, her pride would be hurt and she’d try to find some way to make it about her. But Ludo was her partner, and she felt perfectly comfortable with their skills being linked as such. When people complimented him, she felt it as an extension of her, and it elicited a burst of pride. “No one’s more dedicated than Ludo or myself,” she declared proudly. Of this, she was certain.

“Oh, certainly not! At least, I would hope not,” Filius chuckles, “I would worry you are putting too much pressure on yourself, but if this is what you would like to do, I understand striving to be outstanding in the field. Pun intended!”

“That’s nice,” Remus struggles to maintain his smile at the story. It makes his mind drift back to his own first display of magic. It was the day after his first transformation. His mother was attempting to change some of Remus’ bandages, but touching the fresh wound was painful and he didn’t want her to touch them. While he cried and tried to hide underneath his blanket he sent the bandages flying out of his mothers hand and into the lit fireplace. 

Filius chuckles brightly, “Oh! I imagine twins much have very amusing first displays,” he says as he shakes his head, “I’ll have to ask those Prewett boys! They’re always stuck together like glue, I can only imagine their first displays must have revolved around each other. That must be such a unique bond.”

“Oh, they are fascinating creatures, though, I must admit most are likely deeply grateful they cannot see them.”

Fabian smiled and waved the group of students he’d been walking with along, “Don’t worry, I’m just stopping in Honeyduke’s to get some sweets — I’ve been craving a chocolate frog.” When he turned back around, he was a bit surprised to be walking into something — or rather, someone.

Filius had been about to enter honeydukes when the boy backed into him, sending him promptly down into the snow. Moving to his feet, he brushes off the snow and chuckles, “Don’t worry, Mister Prewett,” he says before the boy can apologise, quickly brushing his wand over his person to melt the snow, dry his cloak, “Honeydukes, you say?” he notes with a grin, “I would’ve expected Zonko’s!”

“Considering the kinds of things small children do before they learn to control their magic I imagine so,” he chuckles thinking of the chaos his cousins would create whenever things didn’t go their way.

Filius chuckles, “Yes, it can often be dangerous, I’m told. The first time I performed magic, I believe I managed to bring a tree branch lower, so that I could climb up it,” he says with a fond smile, “I believe I was seven. I presume I did something prior to that, but, that’s what I first recall. Magic out of desperation often ends poorly, but childhood magic out of more understandable wants is quite adorable,” he chuckles, “One of my cousin’s children came to visit for Christmas, in the years before I was tenured here. Little Ainsley wanted to wear her blue overalls, but her mother was attempting to force her into a pink dress. And, thus, she set it on fire. You can imagine the damage,” he chuckles, “And also the frustration of my cousin, who had handmade the dress, of course,” he waves a hand vaguely, “Needless to say, she looked very darling in her blue overalls, which she still hadn’t grown into.”

Gwenog’s heart sank a bit as she realized she hadn’t been understood. Still, she cheered up, because at least it meant she could talk about Quidditch. “At least if I had anything to say about it,” she agreed.

“It is quite an asset to have those like you on the team,” Filius chuckles, “Between yourself and Mr. Bagman, I believe we are fairly unstoppable.”

“And this place swimming with students? Best to save it for another day.” He grinned at his colleague, pleased to have company. “What are you down in Hogsmede for?”

“Oh, I’m sure they won’t mind,” Filius chuckles as he turns towards Demetrius, “Fun! Why be anywhere if not for fun, my good fellow?”

“I am glad the Latin lessons my mum made me sit through weren’t in vain,” he laughs. “It really is,” he agrees. “It begs a lot of questions about early magic. The theories are fascinating. Though, I do wish there was a way to get more concrete answers.” 

“Oh, yes,” Filius says, grinning as he nods, “I haven’t found a theory I particularly feel holds, I wonder if perhaps magic was simply extremely erratic before one had the spoken word. It must have been quite a frightful time.”

“I agree,” she said. “I sometimes think that if Gryffindor were Ravenclaw, we wouldn’t have a Quidditch team.” After the words left her mouth, she realized they could have potentially been confusing. She’d meant that if Ravenclaw had such a hive mind as the scarlet and gold house, they’d probably all have their noses in their books every hour of the day. “Though, if Gryffindor were Ravenclaw, it wouldn’t be Ravenclaw, so perhaps that’s a moot point,” she considered.

Filius furrows his brows, trying to suss out her meaning, “Well, that’s certainly true,” he says with a soft laugh, “I expect that we would have a Qudditch team regardless.”

Gwenog’s first instinct was to laugh. Her? Studious? She’d never considered herself to be a particularly academic person. Sure, she competed to get top marks, but that was more because she couldn’t bear to be behind everyone– surely, she was in the second category. Still, he was a professor, so she thought it best to agree with him. “I agree, Professor. What I meant was more that, like the Hat said, we all do seek knowledge in some form or another. You can generally be certain when you meet someone in a blue tie that they would be happy to learn something new.”

“That’s quite true,” Filius nods and smiles, “Still, within that broad category, there are multitudes of differences,” he notes, “I rather enjoy it. I believe this is likely true for the other houses, though I do wonder if perhaps they have quite a bit more of a hive mind mentality occurring,” he chuckles, “The dissonance of Ravenclaw is beautiful.”

“Just some butterbeer today, Rosmerta.” Demetrius sat at the bar. Normally, he avoided Hogsmede on weekends that the students went down, but he’d urgently needed some supplies and couldn’t resist taking a break in the Broomsticks.

“No firewhiskey, Demetrius?” Filius says with a chuckle as he takes his seat beside his co-worker, “I suppose that’s probably for the best,” he grins, “I’ll have one as well, please,” he says brightly to Rosmerta.