章節 2: The Sullivans
After three days in the hospital, the doctors and the police were stumped. The child refused to speak and say what happened, all he said was his name. Finally the police gave up trying to figure out what happened and were going to send him into an orphanage but the couple that saved him offered to adopt him. After a lot of paperwork and dealings with social workers, the adoption went through.
A man with an army haircut and built body guided the boy out of the hospital. His eyes were sharp and no energy was wasted in his movements. Following him was a beautiful blonde woman with green eyes. She gave a soft and gentle feeling to those around her. Artland walked out of the hospital, looking despondent and lifeless, his golden eyes looked visibly dimmer than before.
Entering a car, the couple and Artland drove away. After a few hours, they arrived at an acreage outside of London. The blonde woman, named Bella, gently guided Artland into the house followed by her husband Tim.
1 year later…
"Eyes forward, always keep your enemy in your sights." Tim said, circling Artland.
Artland had his hands up, in a defensive stance. He was watching Tim carefully, his movements, his eyes, everything. Though the child was only 4 years old, his intelligence and physical strength inspired Tim to teach hand to hand combat. Tim Sullivan was an ex-special forces for England but was dishonourably discharged after a failed mission. He met his wife, who was a nurse, after the mission in the infirmary. She was from France and the two fell in love. After his discharge she followed him to England, where they tried to have kids but were unable.
After training, Tim and Artland went into the house where Bella was cooking dinner.
"Hello Artland, are you hungry?" Bella said in french, causing Art to frown. Bella was teaching Art french and he was having trouble with it.
"Yes… I am hungry." he slowly spat out in choppy french.
"Very good." she smiled, putting food in front of him.
Artland quickly dug in, his appetite larger than most children his age. Bella ruffled his hair and sat down beside him. Tim also sat down, he was a quiet type that didn't say unnecessary words. In the middle of dinner there was a knock at the door, startling everyone. Tim frowned and got up to see who it was, while Bella looked at Artland in worry. Artland fist was clenched tightly around a knife as he stared at the door.
"It's okay sweetheart, no one will hurt you." she said softly, placing her hand over his.
Artland didn't relax, he knew that even though these muggles cared for him that they wouldn't be able to protect him from his world.
Tim returned and looked at Art, "There is someone here for you Artland."
Artland's eyes turned fierce as he slowly stood up with the knife in his hand. Tim saw this and shook his head gently. Behind him was a tall square jaw woman with short cropped grey hair. She wore jeans and large oversized jacket that she didn't look comfortable in. The serious look on her face softened when she saw Artland.
"Artland…" she said softly, her voice slightly breaking.
Artland looked closely at her before saying, "Aunt Amelia?" Artland remembered her coming over as she was a friend of his parents.
Her serious face broke as she approached him and dropped to her knees, cupping his cheeks. Tears filled her eyes before she pulled him into her chest. Artland's eyes turned misty as he buried his face in her neck.
"They're dead… all dead." he softly sobbed into her neck.
Amelia rubbed his back. "I know child, I know." she murmured softly.
Tim and Bella looked at each other surprised. They had tried to get Artland to talk about what happened for the last year. After awhile, Artland stopped crying and pulled away from Amelia.
"Can you tell me what happened?" she asked softly.
Artland nodded his head.
Amelia looked at the couple. "Can we talk in private?" she politely asked the couple.
"They can stay, they will have to find out sooner or later." Artland said, wiping his tears.
Amelia looked at him surprised, "You mean…?"
"Yes, I plan to stay with them." Artland said with a smile.
"Artland you know that you don't belong in this world. These muggles obviously care for you but…" she trailed off.
Bella and Tim frowned at the conversation. It sounded like this woman was going to take away Artland but then she said words like 'muggles' which they didn't understand.
Artland smiled and nodded his head. Seeing this, Amelia let out a defeated sigh before inviting the Sullivan's to sit down. Amelia slowly explained the wizard world and how Artland's family was nobility. She then told them about the war and how the dark wizard and his followers terrorized Europe. Bella covered her mouth in shock while Tim's eyes hardened before standing up and looking fiercely at Amelia.
"March 1st, 1975. My squad met four individuals dressed weirdly that easily stopped our bullets. They then hit us with a red light that made us unable to move. They then tortured us with unknown means. They killed my squad but let me alive. At first I thought they had advanced weapons but hearing what you said…" Tim voice had an edge to it.
This was the first time Artland had heard Tim speak so much at once. Amelia looked at him before letting out another sigh. "This sounds like Death Eaters. We have no record of this encounter." she said quietly.
"When I reported it to my superiors I was called a liar and discharged." he said with anger.
"I will look into this, you have my word." Amelia said, taking out her wand and mumbling a spell. Mist starting coming out her wand and formed pictures of men with skull masked covering their faces. "Did they look like this?"
Tim's fist unconsciously clenched as he nodded his head.
Amelia nodded before putting her wand away. "I think we should here Artland's story now."
They three adults turned towards Artland and he explained what had happened a year ago. He told them how 15 Death Eaters attacked their home and how his parents and uncle fought them bravely, even having the upper hand.
"But then… he showed up." Artland's eyes showed terror.
"The Dark Lord himself showed up…" Amelia said, fear in her voice.
Artland told them how they fought him but how his father and uncle died and how his mother pointed her wand at her chest before exploding.
"She concentrated her magic into a single point, causing her body to explode and buy your house elf time to send you away. House elf magic is still very mysterious and powerful." Amelia said, sadness and admiration in her voice.
"One of that man's curses hit me." Art said, taking off his shirt and showing a nasty scar that started at his right shoulder and ended at his left hip.
Amelia quickly ran over and closely looked at the scar, taking out her wand and muttering some spell. Finding nothing wrong she let out a sigh of relief. She went back to her chair and sat down.
Amelia sat there in silence as she tried to picture her friends fighting against the Dark Lord himself and their child witnessing the entire thing. The Cason family had a high reputation in the wizard world and known for their loyalty and fearlessness.
"I am your magical guardian now Artland. You can come and live with me if you want." she offered to Artland.
Artland shook his head and looked towards Tim and Bella. "I will stay with them. They have treated me well and I hope to be the child they never had." he said with a smile.
Bella had tears in her eyes as Tim tightly grabbed her hand.
Amelia nodded, seeing he wasn't going to change his mind. "I will visit you regularly." she said getting up and giving Artland a hug.
"Can you send over the books from our library? I wish to get a head start before school starts." Artland said in her ear.
"Of course." she said, "But make sure you don't practice actual magic."
"Okay." he said, leaving her embrace.
"He was defeated Art. The Dark Lord is dead and he will never harm you again."
Amelia left shortly after that, promising to look into Tim's situation.
After she left, Bella grabbed Artland and pulled him in her arms. Art didn't fight it and hugged her back. He finally was able to tell them what had happened to him and he felt they had become closer because of it.
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