What is a Pureblood?

What is a Pureblood?

The following days were the happiest that Riana had experienced up until this point in her life. During the daytime, she and Fabian wandered all around Diagon Alley, visiting various shops and retrieving the rest of their school supplies.

*

The afternoon that they got their animals, Riana and Fabian had decided to return to the Leaky Cauldron and save the rest of their shopping for the days left 'til September the first. There was plenty of time, and Riana was completely content to spend the rest of summer vacation in Diagon Alley with Fabian..

What it is, Riana had thought, trailing along the alley, I'm sure I don't know. But everything was so extraordinary and unexpected, she was quite happy to take him at his word. Arriving back at the gateway to the Leaky Cauldron, Riana had reached into her purple purse and was in the process of drawing forth her new wand, when Fabian placed a restraining hand on her arm. She glanced up defensively into his smirking face.

His eyes twinkled. "I wouldn't do that, if I were ya," he muttered, sitting down on a nearby curb and pulling Riana down beside him. "Ya aren't a fully qualified witch yet, so it won't work for ya." He indicated the wall. "Besides, I've already tried." Chuckling, he pulled out his own wand, an eight inch, whippy wand. "Juniper," he told Riana, "with me own fur in it."

He then laughed loudly at Riana's shocked expression and swished his wand lazily. "This wand's been commissioned since I was born; the wood is me Celtic tree, and when I was born, when they discovered I was a werecat,"...another chuckle..."they yanked out, well, 'kay, they cut a lock of me hair and sent it to ol' Ollivander." Fabian smiled, looking at his wand fondly. "Sometimes I love bein' a pureblood."

Confused, Riana opened her mouth to ask what a 'pureblood' was, but Fabian cut her off as he continued his leisurely chatter.

"Anyway, regardless, we can't open the wall 'til..." He was cut off as the red brick wall suddenly formed its doorway, and a pale, willowy witch with tousled brown hair came storming out of it ... murder written plainly on her face.

She swept up to Fabian, who jumped cheekily to his feet. "Mum! How good of ya to open the wall for us. This is Riana, met her today, definitely a future Slytherin." He grinned back at Riana, who tilted her head to the side and glared at him. A future 'What'?

"Anyway, we'll just be goin'," he said, stalling for time as he signaled behind his back for Riana to sneak through the doorway. Riana ignored his unspoken pleas and simply rose to her feet, backbone cracking wearily. She stared at Fabian, standing impudently, feet spread wide, in front of his mother. She felt curious to know what kind of woman his mother was...she soon found out.

"Where were ya?" The witch howled, her Irish brogue thickening in her fury. "Ya father and I woke up this mornin' and ya weren't there ... again! I have told ya time and again, that ya are not allowed to leave your room, the house, anywhere without our permission! Ya are only eleven, son. What did ya think you were doin'? Explain ya self!" Fabian's mother stood, her slipper-clad foot tapping the wet, cobblestone pavement irritably. The fearsome scowl on her face made her petite frame terribly frightening, and her green eyes glittered venomously as her son stepped back and placed a friendly, muscular arm around Riana's thin, bony shoulders.

"Mum," he spoke with careful deliberation, "as I said before, this is Riana, and she's a few rooms down the hall from us. I wanted to get some shoppin' done before ya and dad woke up." Fabian lied with born skill, covering for Riana's sobbing that morning smoothly. He indicated the large, brown, barn owl in the birdcage and informed his mother, "That's Bevil. Bought him this mornin'. Nasty little devil, aren't ya?" This last he directed to the huffy owl.

His mother's eyes narrowed as she glared at the owl and her rebellious son, but suddenly, as if seeing Riana for the first time, Fabian's mother's glittering green eyes swept over her, and obviously meeting with her approval, she approached Riana gracefully, offering her smooth, manicured hand. "I'm so pleased to meet ya, Riana. I don't know if my son has told ya"...this was said with a furious glare in Fabian's direction ... he pretended not to notice..."but our name is Urquhart."

Riana looked toward Fabian, who was now watching his mother and Riana with an impish grin on his tanned face. He bowed with an exceedingly fancy flourish as Riana turned back to Fabian's mother.

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Urquhart." Her thin lips stumbled over forming the strange surname.

"Please. I'm Favel." Fabian's mother's lilting accent was distracted as she released Riana's bone-thin hand. Riana nodded ever so slightly as Favel turned away from her and swirled toward Fabian in a blur of emerald green cloak.

Seizing her son's chin, she tilted up his laughing face, narrowing her glittering green eyes. "Don't ya ever scare us like that again!" she hissed. Thus saying, she cast a final glare back at Fabian and flounced through the doorway back into the Leaky Cauldron.

Riana glanced, wide-eyed, at Fabian and let out a long, relieved, pent-up sigh; she was a little frightened of Favel and this she wasn't ashamed to admit...the tiny witch was forbidding. However, one look at Fabian, who was bent double, laughing raucously, assuaged her fears, and she smiled too.

"Ha, ha, ha! That ... was so..." more laughter, "funny!" Fabian whooped with hilarity and bowed again. "Our name is Urquhart..." he drawled, drawing out the surname pretentiously. "Honestly, ya'd think they ruled the world with the way they go on and on about bein' purebloods. Mind, if I weren't a pureblood, I'd have somethin' to say about it. I like bein' one, but they," he gestured toward the Leaky Cauldron into which his mother had disappeared, "flaunt it like it's the most important thin' in the world." He yawned lazily. "It ain't."

Riana stopped laughing. This expression was one of the many that she did not know; it had popped up before in conversation with Fabian, and Riana seized her chance to discover what it was. "What's a pureblood, Fabian?"

He stopped laughing at once and turned his yellow eyes on her seriously. "Ya don't know?"

Riana shook her head.

"Well," Fabian began, but then he stopped as the wall leading back to the Leaky Cauldron began to close. "Quick!" he shouted, leaping to his feet. "Back through the doorway. We'll talk about it inside," he called over his shoulder as he grabbed the birdcage and ran through the fast-closing wall.

*

The young witch and wizard walked quietly back into the dimly lit Leaky Cauldron, avoiding the pointed, emerald glare from Favel Urquhart who sat sipping a beverage at the bar, and shuffled up the rickety staircase, Bevil's cage bumping along each step accompanied by an indignant squawk from its occupant at each bang. Reaching the top, Fabian scurried down the dusty hallway with Riana close on his heels, her hands supporting the sleeping form of Alvean.

Fabian opened the door to room number three and disappeared inside. Riana was left standing nervously at the door and heard him shouting, "Shut it, ya dumb bird!" in a rather threatening yet jovial voice as several heavy objects crashed to the floor to the cacophony of irate owl hoots and screeches. He emerged from the room seconds later, holding a battered box in his hands.

"What's that?" Riana asked, indicating the box, but Fabian waved her question airily aside, questioning her instead.

"Let's go put Alvean in your room, 'kay?" Riana assented and they walked five doors down as she transferred Alvean to one hand and fished the room key out of her pocket with the other. She unlocked the door and pulled it open as she and Fabian entered the room. He smiled in indulgent humor at the heaps of clothing that lay covering the bed and tumbling messily out of the suitcases.

Alvean was still sleeping soundly, and Riana handed her reluctantly to Fabian, whose yellow eyes glinted mischievously, as she dumped the contents of one suitcase onto her bed and crammed an old bath robe in the bottom of the now-empty suitcase. She held out her skeletal hands for Alvean and gently placed the sleeping kitten in the suitcase with the lid propped open. Looking down at the small animal, Riana felt an odd emotion shining out of her slanted, grey eyes, and she quickly looked away from Alvean in order to stem the unknown feelings. She then walked to the bed, motioning to Fabian, who was standing balanced on one foot, gazing around her room, his mysterious box clutched under his arm.

"So," Riana began, plopping down on the bed, "what's a pureblood?" Fabian followed suit, jumping cat-like onto Riana's pillow before answering.

"A pureblood is a witch or wizard whose ancestors have always been magical. That's like me family, the Urquharts. And that's like the Zabinis and the Malfoys and a few others. Of course, there aren't that many, because we would've all died out a long," he yawned in the middle of his sentence, pointed fangs gleaming, "time ago ... if nobody had married Muggles." He pulled a face. "I couldn't stand bein' related to a Muggle, they're inferior," he grinned wickedly, "and so much fun to scare. But, really, about the pureblood obsession, it's a stupid thing to be proud of. I don't pay much attention to it, anyway." He looked at Riana, his weird eyes sparkling in the gloom of the musty room.

If you don't pay attention to it, why mention it? Riana looked warily at Fabian. Yes, she liked him. But what was he hiding? There had to be so much more to this boy who was so merry and yet so deceitful. She resigned herself to discovering Fabian's nature. Why was he like this?

Riana shifted her eyes to the floor where Alvean's suitcase lay. The kitten was still sleeping peacefully and Riana felt a touch of fear. What if Alvean never wakes up? Realizing, however, that this was entirely ridiculous and, too, that Fabian was waiting for her to comment, she opened her mouth slightly and questioned Fabian further. "Who are the Zabinis and the Malfoys?"

Fabian looked at her, surprised, as if this was the question he least expected her to ask. "They're just some friends of my father...just people. Purebloods, of course. You'll meet them soon enough. They're all right, I guess. Scorpius's not bad, and Hyacinth is a brat, but they're okay." He gave a throaty chuckle. "Just wait three more days and ya can form ya own opinions."

Riana sat, knees propped up under her chin, her mind working rapidly. How much about this world of wizardry did she not understand? How would she know how to conduct herself at Hogwarts? And what if they expected magic on her first day? Her anxious musings were cut short, however, by the sound of Fabian's questioning voice. She looked at him, silver eyes narrowed to slits. "What?"

"I said, how 'bout a game of wizard chess?" With this, he whipped the top of the box he'd brought from his room and scattered chess pieces across the bed. He grinned and removed the chess board from the wooden box. "Well, what about it?"

Riana leaned closer, spellbound. One of the pawns gave an almighty scream as it was rapped smartly on the head by the enemy queen's scepter. Her eyes glistened eagerly. "Absolutely."