28 Misfortune comes in three’s

I was quite familiar with death and its signs from my last life.

Specifically, I was familiar with the slow approach to death that occurs in hospital beds. The way that a person slowly wastes away in their bed, the lethargy with which they move and the look they gain in their eyes.

I had learnt it from being in the hospital so many times in my past life, from watching as people I loved slowly expired.

My niece who had gotten leukaemia at the age of ten and had lost all of her joy and cheer when she passed away two years later, little more than skin and bones in the end. My cousin, who I was very close with, had wasted away due to acute rejection after a heart transplant, the hope he'd had after the surgery snuffed. My uncle… well, my uncle had thyroid cancer and he did indeed bite the dust slowly and reluctantly.

The slow helplessness of a person dying as a body goes from being strong and useful, to being helpless and useless. The look they gain as time passes and survival becomes a distant dream.

I knew it well, that face of death, even with how much time has passed since I last saw it. So, the moment when I met sister Agatha at the hospital face to face, I knew that, despite her trying her best to seem normal, she was not okay. I knew, from the pallor of her skin and the way her mahogany hair had lost it's lustre, that she had cancer and, though I may not know what type, I knew it was terminal.

"I am delighted to hear that you're doing well in your studies Noah," she says with a smile while reading muggle specific test results, only managing to highlight how much thinner she's gotten, "it gladdens me that you are working hard for your future, but you cannot get complacent alright?"

What's more is that it was painfully obvious that she had asked the sisters, who had visited her, to bring me to her because she just wanted to look out for me and personally make sure I was fine mentally, physically and academically.

"Yes sister, I know," it was… extremely confusing for me, emotionally that is.

To an extent, I felt like I was watching a family member. Which was understandable, I mean I had been in this world for five years so far and in all those years she had shown me nothing but kindness, even at expense to herself.

Yeah, while I'm sure that normal children wouldn't notice, I understood the significance of the new crutch I got despite the orphanage not having the budget for it, the fact that it was always sister Agatha who rushed to me when I had trouble breathing when I'd first reincarnated, and especially how I somehow got a personal doctors visit from a private doctor when I had suddenly recovered.

She'd been running herself into the ground, both financially and physically, and so it was no surprise that, despite not thinking too much about it or even showing it all that much, I'd gotten attached to her. At moments of significant boredom, I'd even wish that my mother from my last life was like her, before quickly purging my mind of thoughts of my previous life.

So, watching this woman, who I'd actually grown attached to, be on deaths doorstep was an emotional punch to the gut. It made me want to help her, a feeling made stronger by, what was probably, the influence from my premature physical mind and the knowledge that, with magic, I very well could help her.

But that same feeling, of wanting to help her, was brutally dashed from the overwhelmingly demoralising feeling of melancholy and nihilism at the realisation that, while I could indeed help her with magic, it wouldn't be worth it.

Magicals didn't get cancer after all. There was no pre-existing magical cure for it, and it'd take me dedicating all my time to even stand a chance to find one before sister Agatha 'expired'… and a cold, selfish part of me was okay with that. As, while I'd come to become attached to her, she was still just a muggle who just did what she should have for any orphaned cripple. I couldn't afford to, and didn't need to, spend the resources and time to help her for doing what she should have, especially when I was already at wits end with all I had to accomplish already and didn't even know if I could practice overt magic over summer.

At least, that's what the proverbial devil on my shoulder reasoned for not helping her. While the angel, in the form of guilt and duty, insisted I should help her.

So, yes. I was very emotionally conflicted on this topic.

"- and you only need to work hard for these early years of your life, and you will spend the rest of your life in comfort. Do you understand Noah?" sister Agatha asked, her tone saying that she noticed my distraction, snapping me out of my thoughts before they could spiral out of control.

"Yes sister, I understand. I'll work as hard as I can…" I hesitated as I pondered on my question, quickly coming to a decision, "sister, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, you can Noah, you do not need to ask me for permission if you wish to ask something," she answers with a gentle tone, obviously noticing the seriousness of my question.

"I wanted to ask you what you would do in a hypothetical scenario," she nodded slowly, not blinking at the sudden shift to advanced vocabulary, "Let's say that you were to be offered an apprenticeships under… Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Marie Curie and on top of that they'll give you a sizeable grant to do research."

"All at once I'm assuming?" she asks, interrupting me.

"Yes, all at once," I confirm with a nod, taking a moment to think of the proper words to convey the magnitude without revealing magic, "but you also find them to be incredibly irritating and one of them has done something that… offended you greatly."

The moment I utter the last word sister Agatha's eyes, which had previously been filled with hints of tiredness, immediately sharpen and her backs straightens, even while she's reclined in the hospital bed. But she doesn't interrupt me, letting me clarify.

"Obviously, it isn't actually as bad, morally speaking, to anyone else. Technically, it's not even considered bad," the clarification takes a bit of edge out of her eyes, but it doesn't go away fully and her back remains straightened, "it's just that it offended you, personally, a lot. But accepting these apprenticeships would also mean that you would be able to help those close to you. Would you, with those things in mind, accept the offer for the apprenticeships?"

"… you do not need to do things you don't want to just to help people, no matter how close," she softly told me, "especially if you do not want to."

"And if the apprenticeships were to help you as much as they'd help those close to you? If you got a lot of knowledge and experience from them that you'd never get anywhere else? Can you please honestly tell me if you would take the apprenticeships offer then, sister?"

"You have always been very mature for your age Noah," I avoided eye contact with her, "but, yes. I would accept, and I'd always keep in mind that I can go to anyone the second the person who offended you even thinks about doing something. Because in the end my safety is more important than any sort of advantage they could give me."

Once finished she just continued to look at me, her gaze asking me if I understood that.

"I understand sister, thank you for answering me."

"No need to thank me Noah," she just waved it off, "now, I'm assuming that you've had enough talking to an old nun like me, and you must be getting hungry by now, so why don't you go back with sister Lerna for dinner."

I nodded, accepting the request for what it was, and collected the results parchment to get ready to leave the room, but not before some parting words, "thank you for listening to me sister, I hope you get better."

With those final words I left the room, meeting the nun, sister Lerna, sitting in the waiting area right outside the room.

"Ah, Noah! I was just about to come and get you. Is your business with sister Lawrence finished?"

"Yes sister, thank you for bringing me," I responded politely.

"It was no problem Noah, but you're welcome anyways," she looked at the clock on the wall, "now hurry along, if we are quick we should get back in time for the dinner to still be warm."

The dinner was indeed warm when we returned to the orphanage, after taking a twenty minute walk through the cold British street and arriving at the orphanage just as the sun was going down. Of course that was the only good news waiting for me back at the orphanage as, when I went back to my room, I was greeted by an owl carrying a red letter.

'Dear Mr Adams,

We have received intelligence that you performed the Lumos charm at twenty-three minutes past eleven this morning in a Muggle-inhabited area.

Due to the nature of the spell involved and your age this is only considered a minor breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and will only result in an infraction being added to your permanent records. Further violations will accrue more infractions on your permanent record and may result in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

As you have not received an official warning for a previous offence under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy, you will not be required to attend a hearing. However, the following parties have been informed and provided records of your infringement:

- Albus P. W. B. Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Grand Sorcerer, Decorated holder of an Order of Merlin; First Class, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.

- George O. E. Brook, Head of underprivileged Muggleborn integration office, Chief financial officer of the vulnerable children's educational funds.

- Filius Flitwick, Professor of charms and head of Ravenclaw house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Grand Sorcerer of Charms, Champion of the 1964-1980 international duelling competition

Hoping you are well,

Yours sincerely,

Mafalda Hopkirk

Improper Use of Magic Office Ministry of Magic'

It took me a solid few moments to fully digest the large blocks of cursive writings. But when I did, I just slowly put the letter, walked over to the end of my bed and kicked it with enough force that it slid flush against the wall.

"Son of a bitch!" I hissed under my breath, ignoring the throbbing pain in my foot, as I took calming breaths, "those two said that it was only meant to be a warning!"

Honestly, I wasn't even that angry. In fact, the letter was actually the final nail that hardened my resolve on my incoming actions. But, after another stress filled day, I just felt like venting and though I wasn't able to vent for too long, seeing as I still had to do my daily occlumency training, I was still feeling far better.

Even as I watched the confirmation letter teleport to Nicklaus Flamel through the special portkey envelope he'd given me.