Waiting on Owls |Draven King|

[Elsa King]

Dear Mr. King,

How are you faring today? The Matron at the orphanage says it is always proper to ask one how they are faring, even though I know you do not like it when I ask. Much has happened at Hogwarts this year, but I suppose you know from the Prophet. Another student died over the holidays. I'm glad I wasn't here. He wasn't much older than me, though I knew him not. I've heard students speaking of it, saying that the ghost of that girl who killed herself last year was responsible for his death. I don't know if it's true. Ministry officials still haven't left the school. I think they're meant to make us feel safer, but I don't at all. I'd rather like to be back at the orphanage or perhaps with you. It's frightening to be here now. Can't you help find the bad people to make it safe again?

Always the same,
Elsa

---

Draven King

[Draven King]

Little Urchin,

I suspect that you wish to annoy me with your formal greetings and constant whining. Do I look like the kind of person to care what happens in your daily life or your school career? Have I not repeatedly stated that you are but an offspring that I did not know of, nor did I wish to know of you. Do you not believe that I have better things to do than to write you? I have no condolences for a dead person, least of all one that you barely knew. You waste precious ink. Do not get any hopes of being welcomed into my home. I have no room for you, nor will I ever. Safety does not exist and you, Little Urchin, should worry less about those who wish to do you harm, and more on continuing school. I am not your protector and I have no desire to help that blasted Ministry of Magic in solving a murder.

~Draven King

[Elsa King]

Dear Mr. King,

I did not mean to annoy you, sir. Women at the orphanage say no one will want a child that is a nuisance. Do you truly believe me to be one? If so, there is no hope that I will find a family. I find that unfortunate, though I won't pity myself. No good can come of it. I'm sure you've a great variety of matters to attend to that are much more important than writing me, but I like writing you. You aren't kind or fatherly, but you're the only blood relation I have. What matters do you have to attend to? I'd like to know very much. Surely you must feel awful for the parents of the dead boy. I try to think of how it would feel myself, to lose a family member, but I don't think I'd feel anything much if you died. If I am wasting ink, it bothers me not, as I didn't purchase it. No loss for me then.

I don't think I should like to live in your home. It is a dark, dull place in my mind. But were it my only option, I should make myself as if I were not there at all. I am small and quiet. You wouldn't even notice me. No one at school does. Are you concerned with my schooling? I'm a good student, in most subjects. How can you not be my protector? Josephine Swarren says her father is her protector, and your my father. Doesn't that mean your my protector? You should want to keep your child safe.

Focusing on schooling,
Elsa

[Draven King]

Little Urchin,

Yes, you are a nuisance, but I suspect that you will be able to find a good home, else you will become a maid. I have doubts that you will enjoy such a job as being a maid, not that it is of my concern. While you take joy in writing me, I find it to a hassle to respond. If you must know Little Urchin, I am the owner of a business. Before you ask, it is called the Coffin House and before you ask, it is located in Knockturn Alley and no, you may not visit.

I feel nothing for the dead. I do however enjoy raising them. Have you ever heard of necromancy? You should read about it, then we can have an actual conversation. and for the record, child, if you were to die, it'd be a weight off my shoulders. Keep that in mind. You are highly ungrateful. You don't care that you have the opportunity to learn and that those supplies are a privilege, not a right. You might be of use one day.

You will never be welcomed into my house. No matter how small and invisible you may be. Now, drop the subject. As stated before, your schooling is a privilege. You are a nobody, poor, useless. Do not compare me to the fathers of your friends. You are not my child. Just a mistake that I wish to have never found. That is that.

Learn the art of necromancy,
-Draven King

[Elsa King]

Dear Mr. King,

I won't be a maid. That's work for girls who don't finish school and I plan to. I'm going to do something brilliant one day. If to be a maid were my only option, I should rather run off to a distant land instead. I think you are lying. If it was such a hassle to respond, then you would choose not to respond at all. Or are you simply trying to present a facade to others? You must be rich, to own a business. But the ladies at the orphanage say Knockturn Alley is a place for the bad sort of people. Are you a bad person?

I've never heard of necromancy before. Is it a kind of magical art? One of those special ones? If it doesn't involve skill in Defense Against the Dark Arts, then I should think I will find it interesting. I'm sure the library has books on it. The library has books on everything. And that's not very kind to say. You must have lived a lonely childhood. You've made wrong assumptions of me. I enjoy learning. It's only that I haven't had to pay for any of my school supplies nor go without, thanks to the Blake family. I'd very much like to find a family with a kind father like Ethan, though his father was also kind.

Not even for a visit? What if you marry and I have a younger sibling? Can I not see the child? Even if you think I'm a nobody, Ethan says I'm not. I'm important, no matter how much others may say the opposite. Perhaps I am your mistake, but what of my mother? Doesn't she want me? You do not mention her. Is she dead? I'd like to see her if she is living. I would hope she does not think me a mistake as well. Being unwanted by both parents would be even worse than not having any. It isn't fair. You had parents, other children here have parents, but you call me a mistake.

Headed to the library,
Elsa

[Draven King]

(This letter arrives a week later)

Little Urchin,

You will be whatever society wishes you to be. A maid, a housewife, a seamstress, whatever suits society best. You are an orphan, and while you believe that you have some say in your future, you are delusional. I am not putting on a facade, child. Nor am I rich. I traveled the seas for a long time, collecting treasures. When I returned, I invested that money into the Coffin House.

You are naive child, believing all that you here from the 'ladies at the orphanage'. What you believe to be good and evil varies from what I find to be good and evil. In the view of others I am a bad person, and I suspect that I would agree, but I do not care. I do as I please. Necromancy, is the art of raising the dead. A difficult task, but interesting all the same. It is a Dark Art that is illegal, but rules are meant to be broken. They are worthless, placed only to quell the fear of those who do not understand it. My childhood is of none of your concern.

I too hope you find a family that will take you in, sooner than later. I have no intentions of marrying and any siblings you may or may not have will never be met under my watch. Your mother does not want you either. It was her idea to get rid of you. I knew nothing or you and I know nothing of your mother. Stop clinging to a false hope. Life is not fair, get over it.


-Draven King

[Elsa King]

(Four days later.)

Dear Mr. King,

I don't like society's options for me. Can't I choose for myself? I'd like to travel the seas. Perhaps, after I graduate, you could take me to sea on a ship. It'd be a grand adventure. I'm not an orphan, not really. Both of my parents are living. It's only that neither of them want me. There must be a different word for that. But you act so cruel and unkind, yet you take time out of your day to write me. Isn't that presenting yourself with a false face? It was smart of you to invest into a shop. Do you get much business? Why name it 'Coffin House'?

I'm not naive. That's only what you believe, because you have different ideas of what is right and wrong. You said so. If you had raised me, I would be like you. But I've been raised by women at the orphanage. I don't agree with everything they say or believe them, but they are my only moral guidance. Doing as you please isn't the makings of a bad person, as long as you don't harm others. And I know what Necromancy is. The library had no books on it, except for in the restricted section. I was almost caught by the librarian before I managed to secure one. I felt like a horrible person for reading on such a dark art, but I couldn't stop. It was fascinating. And I'd like to know more. But I don't want to be a bad person.

When I do find a family, I will still visit you. I won't let you be lonely. You didn't completely abandon me, so I won't abandon you. Do I have any siblings? Couldn't you tell me their names? I'd like to have a brother or sister. Is that what my mother said? That she didn't want me at all? You could be lying. I won't believe it without proof. Why would she have given birth to me if she only meant to abandon me? You may find it a false hope, but I think anyone would wish to believe their mother wanted them and loved them.

You are unkind,
Elsa

[Draven King]

Little Urchin,

Your sniveling and whining is becoming a great annoyance. Every one of your letters are written with very little purpose and have managed to only slow down the progress of my work. You are no longer welcomed to visit in the Summer. Your wants for joining me on my ship at sea are but a fleeting dream and I suspect that you believed it would be enough to please me. I assure you it is not. My business does well and the name is suitable for the service, that is all you need to know.

Almost getting caught is as good as getting caught. You need to learn the art of stealth. That and you should find students who can get said books for you. Clearly you are not cunning and your thought process is weak. If you don't wish to be a bad person then don't read it, child. You make no sense. You want something, but you don't. I find you to be highly confusing.

I am not lonely, I have my shop and my treasures. Find yourself a family and please discontinue these ridiculous letters. I don't know if you have siblings and I'd have appreciated not knowing about you. Your mother wrote a letter stating she abandoned you and hoped you'd die of cold. I too agree, but we were both very unlucky. As stated previously, you are naive.

-Draven King

[Elsa King]

Father,

You had intended to invite me to visit during the summer? I did not know. Please do not take it back. I will be good. And I will not write you, if that is what you wish. It is true that I wish to please you, but I am fascinated by ships. Someday, I should like to visit a foreign shore. I did not mean to seem as if I were disinterested and only claiming to be interested to gain your favor. That is something I shall never have. Isn't that so? I see no need to waste time trying to gain something that is never going to be given to me.

Cunning students go to Slytherin. I'm in Gryffindor. They are meant to be reckless. I suppose I am that. What you find confusing is a great matter to me. Bringing people back to life is not bad if you have good intentions, is it? That's what I've decided. I want to bring Mr. Blake back. He was kind to me and he understood me, unlike Ethan. Ethan thinks that the world is a bright and cheerful place. He is foolish and I pity him. The book did not speak of it specifically, but can Necromancy also be used to harm someone?

She did not want me then. Mothers are not kind. They are selfish creatures. I will never be a mother. And I don't want one. Not now. If I am adopted into a family with a mother, I shall hate her. Rather than find my persistence to live something unlucky for you, can you not see it as divine intervention? I am alive. I am a person. I am your daughter. There has to be a reason.

ELSA BLAKE IS AN ORPHAN! POOR, BABY ELSA! NO ONE CARES ABOUT HER, NOT EVEN HER OWN FATHER!

I have to go now. Be well and happy,
Elsa

[Draven King]

Little Urchin,

I intended no such thing. However, if you are as interested in ships as you claim, I do hope that you find what I have attached interesting. It has been charmed to keep your pesky classmates away. This was the ship I sailed in 1878. I sailed all the way from Great Britain to Austria-Hungary and from there to Germany before I returned to dock in Britain.  And you are correct, you can never win my favor, that would be far too kind of me. The ship was called The Chained Maiden. Not my first ship, but it was beauty.

Bringing back the dead is not such a simple art, Little Urchin. It takes very powerful magic and while you may be a Gryffindor, I doubt you have that will of fire to defy the Ministry. The way you talk reminds me of your dreaded mother and you see where that go her. The world is not all gloom, only if you choose to see it that way. I may be your father and a life lesson is the last thing you wish to hear from a person like me, but stop finding those who actually care for you to be foolish, unless you wish to live a lonely and dreadful life. And yes, it can be used to harm people. Search Inferius.

Again, take your hate somewhere else. You're starting to show how immature you are. It's rather annoying. And I believe not in the divine, therefor this is a batch of rotten luck.

~Draven King
The Chained Maiden