Do You Believe in Magic

[Matthias Simpson]

• Matthias did not answer but instead looked around them as they arrived at the petting zoo, searching for the familiar faces of either brother. Goliath, of course, was reasonably short (and so difficult to see in a crowd) but Bernie was a quidditch player, and quidditch players were tall!
  
  The lad’s face, however, fell as it became evident that neither of the other Simpsons were present. He bit his lower lip in an effort not to cry (crying was for girls), his one good idea used up.

  

[Aurelia Wallingford]

Aurelia assumed when the boy didn't go running towards the animals that this might have been a place where his attendants might have been. As his lip began to tremble, Aurelia's brows knitted together again in worry as she gripped the young boy's hand reassuringly. "Oh dear...do not fret darling, we shall find them soon!" she sighed, fanning herself again. Would they ever find the little boy's attendants? Really, she might have a word with them -- who is so careless that they leave a young helpless little boy alone?

Suddenly something caught her eye, and Aurelia had an idea. Hopefully it would make the small boy feel a little bit better. The witch looked to her right, where a small cart selling sweet ice was. A small contraption shaved a block of ice into small little chunks, and the attendant poured sweet syrup over the ice, and distributed it to his customers. "Have you ever had sweet ice before, Mr Simpson?" she asked, her tone light in an attempt to not let the little boy know how worried she was that they wouldn't find his attendants in this crowd.

  

[Matthias Simpson]

• What a bizarre question. He was lost, he was useless, and he wanted to go home—and all she wanted was to know if he had had sweet ice before. Puzzled, Matthias shook his head no, wondering what this had to do with finding his brothers.

  

[Aurelia Wallingford]

Aurelia smiled kindly. "Would you like to get some? It's quite good, and we can continue to search for your attendants." She honestly didn't know who they were looking for, but seeing as multiple questions seemed to stun the boy into confusion, she tried taking it slower this time. Let him answer this question and then she'll ask the important ones. Glancing up at the sky, Aurelia was thankful they still had a little while before the sun set. If they couldn't find his attendants by then, Aurelia wasn't sure what to do....

  

[Matthias Simpson]

• For a moment, it occurred to Matthias that this might be a bribe. His nanny, after all, often used the promise of sweets to get Goliath to stop throwing tantrums, and the little lad hoped that the pretty lady had not made the offer simply because he was being a nuisance! Tentatively, Mattie nodded in answer, echoing his willingness with a shy smile. If it was a bribe, he would be the picture of pleasant company (speech issues aside), and if it was not, then it would have been rude to refuse (especially when the treat looked quite good indeed).

  

[Aurelia Wallingford]

Relieved that the small boy had given her at least a smile, Aurelia clasped her hands together and beamed. "Well then!" she stated, and moved over to the small cart where the attendant smiled kindly. "Cherry, please. And whatever this young man requests too."

The witch looked down at the boy and pointed to the row of bottles that held the flavored sweetener. There were many flavors, like cherry, raspberry, almond, vanilla – the list went on and on. "Point to whichever flavor you'd like!" Aurelia said. "And of course," she added to her companion, "Gwenyth, feel free to choose one as well."

Smiling down at the small boy, Aurelia patted his hand with her gloved one reassuringly. "Not to worry, I swear by it we shall find your attendees no matter what it takes!"

  

[Matthias Simpson]

Hesitantly, Matthias reached to point to the blue substance he suspected was blueberry before smiling shyly up at his new companion. She was so dreadfully nice, like Kathleen or Laoise (in a good mood). Like his mother had been.

And pretty, too. And young—perhaps Father could marry her! She was doing a splendid job of seeing to him already, and Matthias suspected that she could even endure Goliath, which was no mean feat.

“I-I’m sure they must be looking for me,” he replied as the cart attendant handed him the frozen treat. “Bernie, at-at least.”

  

[Aurelia Wallingford]

Surprise registered on Aurelia's face as Mr Simpson spoke, and she beamed at him. He was so adorable when he smiled! And his voice was so quiet, though Aurelia had fairly good hearing, so it wasn't a huge issue. How could someone just leave him in the middle of the blasted carnival like that? Didn't they have any common sense? A voice in Aurelia's head told her probably not.

"Bernie?" she repeated, hoping the boy might give her a tad more to go on. Was he an attendant? Probably not, since he'd called the person by their first name. "Is he your brother?" Aurelia spooned some of the ice into her mouth, enjoying the cool sensation against the hot weather. The cherry taste was delightful – one of her favorites. Putting a hand on the boy's shoulder [instead of taking his hand so he could eat his sweet ice with two], Aurelia steered through the crowd, hoping she might find anyone who resembled the young boy.

  

[Matthias Simpson]

As if each word to leave his mouth cost him a whole galleon, Mattie nodded in response, rather than verbally replying. She hadn’t made fun of him for speaking, so there was that to be pleased with, but that did not ease his shyness very much.

  

[Aurelia Wallingford]

Wonderful! She'd gotten a response. Well they were making progress! Aurelia glanced down at her time piece. It had been almost 20 minutes since she'd found the young boy. Face determined, Aurelia smiled down at him again. "Bernie!" she repeated. "Wonderful, that's certainly something to go off of!"

But how else would they find the boy's attendant? "Does he resemble you, much, Mr Simpson?" she inquired, taking a bit of the sweet ice.