Chapter 2 - The Family Secret Part 1

"Jordan did what!?"

I heard my father yell through his study door after my mother told me to wait in the foyer of our family manor. We had just gotten home and I imagine I will be in trouble for the problems I caused to the asshole photo guy....what was his name again?... Anyway, while we have time, let's talk about our family manor, but first and foremost, I should introduce my family. There is me, Jordan Leoren (10), my father Reynold (Old), my mother Cassandra (I value my life, thank you), my older sister Susan (17), and my youngest sister Grace (13). Big happy family! Susan is off at college because she graduated early by being smart and stuff. Grace used to love me and baby me all the time but now she hates me because I am a boy and all her friends talk about me. So, I am not terribly close to my sisters, you could say, but hey! They are family and I love them! No tragic backstory here, no sir! Well...other than my emotional trauma I have faced all my life, but that was covered already, and I am not one to dwell on things.

Back to the manor! Our family manor was decently sized, at around 4,000 square feet, but, to be honest, I am not an expert on housing sizes. I know my "friends" from school say that it is huge, but we also live in a very small village. Our property starts about a kilometer outside of Godric's Hollow and goes on...well...for a long time. That, even I can admit is absurdly big. As one of the founding families, we own a really, really, large plot of land behind the manor. It is enough to encompass at least 8 kilometers or so of rolling hills, lush and verdant forests, and rocky crags. It is said our family has owned this land since the middle ages! Crazy, right? To be honest, I think my dad just likes to embellish things. My grandfather or his father probably bought this land a few generations ago. I mean, the village doesn't look that old at all. So saying that we are some of the founders of a village as old as the middle ages is a bit...unbelievable to say the least.

Whatever the case, we own it now. The manor itself has many rooms and confusing passageways, but it has apparently burnt down and was rebuilt a few times over the "hundreds of years we have owned it". Let's start outside and work our way in, shall we? The manor is surrounded by a wall about 5 meters high, 2 meters thick, and around 30 meters from the actual manor. It only wraps around the sides and the front...which kinda defeats the point, but you will see why that is in a bit. The wall is in disrepair, not collapsing per se but definitely weathered and looking worse for wear. It is covered in ivy and other foliage, but my father likes the look of it that way, so we leave it that way. Not like anyone is gonna try and siege our house in the 21st century! The wall has a large enclosed gatehouse that is around 7 meters high, 5 meters wide, and 10 meters long with two honest to god portcullises. I am pretty sure they are just for decoration, however, as they never seem to rust and I've never seen them down before.

After the wall, there is a gravel road that takes you to the front of the house through the courtyard. Surrounding the road are fields of grass and flowers. There are several smaller buildings hugging the wall that have been abandoned but seem to be taken care of and restored from time to time as they are always in good shape, even if they are empty. One building that is close to the main manor house is the servant house and our small(?) staff of about 10 live there. They are super nice and give me treats whenever I visit them. I like to go and hear stories about their childhood and any adventures any of them went on, even if they are rather mundane. The captain of the guard served in the military, and I love to hear his war stories! I never knew the British Army had operations in Scotland, but they sounded epic.

Wrapping around the manor on both sides and into the backyard is a massive garden with all kinds of different plants. What's odd to me is that there are empty plots of land here and there for no apparent reason. The garden is immaculate, so it seems weird that there is barren dirt in random spots. We have a dedicated gardener, so I guess they are intentional for whatever reason. The backyard's centerpiece is a gigantic hedge maze....that has no openings. Trust me, I know that sounds stupid, but I have searched for hours and hours, all around the maze which has to be at least a kilometer in length. It is frustrating, but I gave up trying a couple of years ago. This is why the wall stops in the backyard. Where the maze starts, the wall ends. Again, it seems to defeat the purpose if anyone with a weed wacker can break-in, but I am not a defense strategist. The maze is about 5 meters tall, so at least it is somewhat uniform. Small victories. No one else seems to think it is odd, so it must just be me.

Onto the manor's exterior! In a word, Gothic. Made completely of large stone bricks about a meter in height, length, and width, the manor is solid, to say the least. Spires shoot from all four corners symmetrically and large arching windows encompass the house. Everything is pointy and archy. And no, I can't describe the Gothic elements of the house for two reasons: 1) I am not an architect. I am a model and an actor. We are not known for our brains, thank you very much....wait...2) I AM A 10-YEAR-OLD BOY. So yeah, cut me some slack. Honestly, the manor is a bit much for me, but what can I say, it's home. Now, as I mentioned before...supposedly it has been burnt down and destroyed a number of times, but it is always rebuilt as close to the original as possible. This seems most unlikely and is most probably father embellishing things again. Where would they have gotten the blueprint for a 1,000-year-old manor, hmm? Not like it is in the public archive of the town! ...Actually I have never checked, but it is likely not.

Ok, onto the coolest part of the exterior manor, (And also why I excuse its excess gaudiness) it has tons of statues of lions, gargoyles (Well they are griffons, not gargoyles, but you get the point), and stained glass windows that depict battles, adventures, and magic! Freaking awesome right!? The stained glass mostly portrays one man, a mighty brute of a man with an auburn mane of hair and beard combined and wearing regal clothing like a king or prince. He is often found wielding a sword, powerful magic, and...a small stick....but let's ignore that last one. The point is that each one has incredible detail and, I swear, sometimes I can hear them talk to me though they don't seem to be speaking English. I feel the stories play out in my mind and live the adventures as if I was there! My favorite one is actually when he is finished adventuring and exploring the world and settles down to create a school to teach magic to the younger generation with his best friends. Though that green fellow seems a bit sketch... I often dream of being taught by the great auburn man and learning magic and swordsmanship. Imagination is a great thing, no? I even thought I saw them move out of the corner of my eye once, but that was just because I was up way past my bedtime. The man in the stained glass also has a stone statue in our foyer, the very one I am in now contemplating all this, but, unfortunately, it is damaged beyond repair. I asked my father why he didn't have this removed and rebuilt too, but he just laughed it off and said it is our ancestor, how could we do that to him? Whatever. Like a 1,000-year-old ancestor has any ties to us whatsoever at this point. That is just silly. I doubt we are even the same family anymore if we ever were, to begin with!

So yeah, the exterior is amazing. The interior is...well, modern. What, you don't expect us to live in an ancient building without modernizing everything, do you? Fat chance. I need the internet or I would die, that is a fact. What sort of antiquated place doesn't have basic electricity and appliances nowadays? Anyway, the interior is also awesome. The bottom floor consists of the foyer, or lobby if you prefer, which is entered through a massive wrought-iron and wooden door that is easily 5 meters tall. How it can possibly open so easily can only be considered magic....or lots of WD-40. The maids are just badass like that I suppose. Next, we have a long corridor lined with old portraits, suits of armor, random junk items my dad bought from antique stores, and a long elegant rug. Remember when I said it was gaudy? Yeah, it is super gaudy. The hallway has several doors that go off from it to the left to right, I will get to those in a second. The hallway continues to the official foyer. a square room that has 2 circular wooden staircases leading up to the second floor, more ridiculous decorations, the statue of the burnt and nearly destroyed ancestor that we are supposed to respect, and several large comfy couches lining the walls for guests to mingle when we have them over. The center of the foyer is massive and open and can be turned into a ballroom if one desires, which my mother often does. Weird to dance to hip-hop and rap music in an ancient Gothic manor, to be sure.

Onto the rest of the house...

"Jordan, my boy, come here and give dad a hug!" I am wrenched from my productive musings when my father envelops me in a bear hug. "I am so proud of you son. Can you believe it Cass!? It is finally happening!"

"Dad...*cough* can't....breath...." I wheeze into his chest and try tensing my muscles to prevent dislocated or broken bones.

"Reynold, let him down, you are hurting him. But yes, this is everything we have been dreaming of. If only your father were still alive... The Ministry agents will be here any second and we need to speak to them at the door and explain the situation...I can't believe we are going to talk to them again! It's been, what, 22 years?"My mother starts sternly but gets excited towards the end and is nearly jumping in joy.

"Right you are Cassandra, my love. Quick let's head to the front door to wait. Ah! I have to disable the...."

Aaaaaaaaaand they're gone. I watch my excited parents half run, half skip down the hall towards the entranceway and the front door. I shudder as I watch my father skip...have you ever seen a bear skip? It is more frightening than you might imagine. If mother is all soft and warm on the outside and cold and calculating on the inside, father is the opposite. 204 cm tall [6"7'] and 158.76 kg of pure muscle [350 lbs] my father is a beast made real...on the outside. "He is a real romantic and sweetie on the inside," according to mother. As for his appearance, take mine and add height, weight, green eyes, and a goatee. (I am about 140 cm tall [4"6'] and 33 kg in weight [72.8 lbs] in case you were wondering.) Father has blond, shoulder-length hair, a goatee I think is a little too well-manicured, body built like an ox that works out a lot, "eyes like emeralds shining in the sun" (according to mother), and sharp features culminating a defined square chin he could use as a hammer. Oh, and "a cleft that could fit a sizable diamond, eat your heart out Kirk Douglas" (again, according to mother).

Where was I? I lost my train of thought....ah well. I am tired and I finally get a vacation! The next few days will be completely devoted to lazing about and exploring our land! That is honestly my favorite part of our property, all the unexplored land. Adventure awaits!