#eleazer fig

[najiang]

Let us break for tea.

[helenadurazzo]

Chapter One: An Unusual Mode of Transportation

Welcome to the first part of my new series The Discoveries of Phineas Hearst which is basically a rewrite of Hogwarts Legacy. Before we begin please note that there are significant changes such as Phineas starting as a first year and the goblins playing less of a role to name a few. In this first chapter, Phineas finds himself in a bit of a predicament, yet his Professor swoops in with a solution to his troubles

Phineas ran through the train station past the muggles who strolled on their merry little ways as oblivious as ever. He could not believe he was running so late and that his brother did not bother to check on him via owl until it was too late. Phineas supposed he did always have a habit of delving into his researches without climbing out of them and reentering real life. He supposed he could not blame his brother, who had spent the last week with the Prewetts as Leander wanted him to provide some tips on some advanced spells to impress Professor Hecat. What a way to start his time as a prefect! What an example he was making to the new comers, surely he would hear an earful about this from his head of house and Professor Black, but Phineas tried to push those worries down deep within him.

He had been the screw up of the family for as long as he remembered, and his older brother Cyrus teased him relentlessly for it, especially when it took him so long to master Lumos in his first year. His siblings took to magic very early on but Phineas was late, almost to the point where whispers of if he was a squib started popping up amongst the community but they were soon turned to be false. Now he was finally paving a way forward to which his parents approved of, perhaps he could forge a career as successful as his eldest brother in wizarding law, Cyrus himself working endlessly and tirelessly to officially become an auror, even his sister Gladys who had just graduated a few months ago was finding success in the field of investigation.

Phineas knew everything was going down the drain as he crossed through the barrier just as the train departed the station. He cursed mentally, once that train left the ways to get to the school reduced immensely. Julius would certainly tell him that his prefect badge would be taken and sent to a more diligent student. In fact, sometimes Phineas wondered why someone like Ominis was not made a prefect, certainly his father’s connection to the headmaster could have made it quite a simple task. And Ominis had always been one to stay out of trouble and misfortune unlike himself and Sebastian who’s middle name was trouble.

“Ah there you are Mister Hearst.” A familiar voice spoke from behind him, his Professor of Magical Theory, Eleazar Fig, he confirmed as the voice’s owner once he turned around.

“Professor Fig!” Phineas exclaimed as he hurried over to him, “What in Merlin’s name are you doing here? Shouldn’t you already be at Hogwarts by now?”

“And shouldn’t have you boarded the Hogwarts express before it departed.” Professor Fig looked at him cleverly.

“I guess you got me there.” Phineas chuckled awkwardly. “But in all seriousness why are you here? I sense you wanted to find me?”

“Precisely.” Professor Fig nodded, “I wanted to personally escort you to Hogwarts myself. You see, I am meeting up with an old friend of mine and my wife’s in London in half an hour’s time. I wanted you to accompany me. You see, he wanted to share an item he found with me that he could not unlock. I sense it might be locked by ancient magic and since you have a knack for uncovering hidden runes, perhaps these abilities could be used for other tasks, such as deciphering a lock.”

“I shall do my best sir.” Phineas nodded as he spoke with officially.

“I am glad to hear it.” Professor Fig smiled warmly, “Now follow me, the alleyway is not too far from here.”

~~

“It appears we are almost ready to depart.” Professor Fig confirmed after checking with the carriage and what Phineas assumed were theastrals that would be pulling it, a remarkable wonder of the wizarding world. “Now all we need is-“

Suddenly the sounds of Apparation made Phineas glanced to the left as a man who appeared to be slightly younger than his Professor appeared in clothing one would expect from an employee of the Ministry of Magic. He looked around his surroundings curiously before turning around, his face more confident upon seeing Professor Fig as he walked towards them.

“Eleazar! Good to see you!” Mister Orsic exclaimed cheerfully.

“George.” Professor Fig smiled as he shook his hand, “Glad my cryptic description of the meeting place did not stop you from finding us.”

“Do not worry.” Mister Orsic brushed off and chuckled, “I have apparated to much more vaguely described places than this. Though I must confess I did miscalculate on my first try, gave some theatre goers at West End quite a fright.”

“It’s been much too long.” Professor Fig smiled. “When I received your owl I must say I-“

“Best to continue this discussion in private.” Mister Orsic abruptly interrupted him. “We should not be speaking here.”

“Certainly.” Professor Fig accepted, “We shall speak on route to Hogwarts. We have a start of term feast to get to after all, and I would like to show you some new things I collected in my office as well that could help with this mystery.”

“Wonderful idea!” Mister Orsic cheerfully agreed, “As long as your young charge here does not mind me tagging along. It would be good to see that old pile of rocks, I have not been to the castle in ages.”

“Not at all Sir.” Phineas spoke politely.

“Now, after you.” Professor Fig graciously let Phineas himself and Mister Orsic board the carriage before getting in himself and soon enough they were off. Phineas had flown before on a broom but surprisingly rarely in carriages, so the sight of how the ground and people became smaller and smaller was quite fascinating.

“Glad I caught you before you left for Scotland.” Mister Orsic was the first to speak following the takeoff, “I apologize for it being so last minute.”

“Do not worry yourself about that.” Professor Fig assured him.

“Now, I do not believe you have introduced me to your traveling companion Eleazar.” Mister Orsic looked curiously at Phineas.

“I am Phineas Hearst sir. A fifth year student at Hogwarts.” Phineas politely introduced himself to the man.

“Hearst.” Mr Orsic repeated as he pondered. “Your family mostly has found success in the auror office if I recall correctly, is Phoebus Hearst your father?”

“He’s my uncle.” Phineas confirmed, “and currently mentoring my brother as he becomes an auror. My father works in the Portkey office.”

“Splendid!” Mister Orsic remarked, “Takes talented wizards and witches to craft those.”

“I have taken Phineas under my wing for the past few years.” Professor Fig elaborated, “He possesses an extraordinary ability to see magic that is hidden from most eyes, I have never seen anything quite like it. I figured he could assist in figuring out how to open that item you found that Miriam sent.”

“Nor have I heard of such an ability.” Mister Orsic breathed with wonder. “Besides the point.” He turned to Phineas, “I am sure by now you see that you could not have asked for a better mentor. He is one of the most gifted and intuitive wizards out there.”

“Mister Orsic is rather prone to flattery.” Professor Fig gave a rather humble response “and it certainly one of the reasons he has risen so high up at the Ministry.”

“Well, let’s get back to the matters at hand.” Mister Orsic took to a more serious tone as he turned back to the Professor, “Miriam wrote to me before she died, alerting me about a recently formed group of dark wizards and witches who have been causing trouble in numerous hamlets in Scotland with suspicions they might expand and wondered what the Ministry knew about their activities. Before I could respond I revived this.” He continued, pulling out a cylinder container with cone shapes on both ends and a peculiar symbol on the one part of it that seemed to have a slight blue hue to it, almost glowing. “It was the last thing she sent me, Eleazar. It came to me by her owl but with no correspondence, I can only assume.”

“That she had to get rid of it quickly to keep it safe.” Professor Fig finished as he took the container into his own hands as he observed it intently.

“As I told you.” Mister Orsic reminded him, “I cannot open it no matter what I try, every unlocking charm is useless. It is protected by powerful magic.”

“Looks to be made of goblin metal.” Professor Fig observed, “Perhaps someone at Gringotts could know more about it, and that symbol-“

“It’s glowing.” Phineas commented, observing the blue glow more closely as Professor Fig held the container.

“Glowing?” Professor Fig raised an eyebrow as he rotated the container, “I do not see a glow? Is it the symbol or the entire container.”

“Just the symbol.” Phineas specified as Professor Fig let him hold the container to study for himself, the metal was strangely cold to the touch. Yet once the container was in his hands, the symbol highlighted the ends in the same blue glow and unlocked itself on its own, revealing some sort of key.

“Merlin’s Beard!” Mister Orsic exclaimed as Professor Fig took the container back to look at the key. “How did you-“

Yet before they could continue a large force broke into the carriage, splitting it in two. Phineas could only see a fierce dragon with his terrified eyes as he hung on to dear life, watching as the side of the carriage that Mister Orsic was beginning to fall as it succumbed to the force of gravity, while they only remained in the sky due to the invisible thestrals and sheer luck. Phineas could barely hear Professor Fig amongst the loud wind and the intense roars, watching helplessly at the collared dragon who dove down are gobbled up the other side of the carriage as if it was a small candy from Honeydukes. Phineas watched as the thestrals took form, just as how the pictures in textbooks describe them as black, almost skeletal like figures with bodies similar to that of a horse. Yet as the dragon breathed fire once again, he was forced to jump and hope that somehow his life would be saved miraculously.

“The Key!” Professor Fig called out as he lost his grip Phineas assumed meanwhile he was simply trying to stay conscious. “Give me your hand!” He called out in a hoarse voice to which Phineas hesitantly agreed, yet he did not know what was holding back his actions other than fear, surely some adrenaline would have kicked in by now, “Accio!” He casted wandlessly before apparating away to a much safer locale before they became the dragon’s lunch

[helenadurazzo]

Ancient Magic

In this short story, Phineas Hearst is trying to find his place at Hogwarts. He struggles to do so as he is already falling behind and is struggling to cast a handful of charms as well as his other peers. However, he discovers an ability he never knew he possessed while wandering around Hogwarts and has a run in with the Professor of Magical Theory who is equally fascinated by his discoveries

Phineas never was able to learn magic as quick as other people his age. Especially when it came to new innovations for the magical arts such as recently invented spells. There was just something that never really clicked with him.

Then again, he did not even know what he was thinking. Lumos was far from a recently invented spell considering it was invented over a hundred years ago according to the lectures of Professor Ronen. Yet whereas everyone else was able to light the tips of their wands by the end of the class where it was first taught, there was not even a single spark on Phineas’ wand. He was sure he would hear his brothers’ teasing remarks on it once he returned to the Slytherin dormitory. Gossip traveled around the corridors faster than anyone would like is what he had always heard, and Phineas was sure he would find out the meaning of that saying soon enough.

He recalled the lecture that Professor Ronen energetically turned into an epic tale to prevent people from falling asleep as they did in Professor Binns class. But Phineas had to admit, the story of the spell’s creation was curious regardless. He was surprised that such a simple charm was invented so recently and by an unspeakable nonetheless, using it to find a quill in one of the dark corners of the department of mysteries. Phineas shivered at the thought, the more he heard about the work of unspeakables the more uneasy he felt, yet this seemed so simple in comparison to what their true work must have been

Eventually, after wandering through the halls, he found a dark corridor on the fourth floor where he was sure none of his peers would find him before he could finally get the hang of the wand lighting charm. He simply wished to spare himself of anymore embarrassment. After all, how else could one become a renowned wizard if they could not even learn the spells listed in the first year ciriculum as successfully as their peers, much less an ambitious Slytherin

“Lumos.” He whispered to himself yet his wand didn’t obey his order. Frustrated, knowing that an Ollivander hardly ever sold a customer a wand that didn’t agree with its user he tried again, “Lumos” still nothing, he observed, “LUMOS!”

Suddenly, the corridor was illuminated in a bright light to Phineas’ delight. Perhaps a third try was the charm in this case. If only it could have worked in front of his peers but he tried to ignore that fact. He relished in the warmth the light brought to him before it started dimming. However, just the light was about to distinguish itself without him needing to cast the counter spell, he noticed something that appeared to be writing engraved on the wall.

“Lumos!” He ordered his wand again and his walnut wand obeyed, finally he was getting the hang of magic for once.

When he looked at the wall again, he noticed that they were in fact ancient runes. However, he regretted the fact that he was not fluent in understanding ancient runes. Unfortunately, it was a class he could not take until his third year and besides, what professor would let him take it ahead of schedule?

“Are you lost?” A kind voice of an older man sounded in the corridor.

Phineas jumped from being startled but tried to hide it as he looked at the man. He was an older man with grey hair who was mainly dressed in fabrics of shades of blue and grey which complimented a kind expression on his face. Phineas recalled seeing the man at the welcoming feast but was not quite sure what he taught. If he was a professor he had, he had certainly not had his class yet.

“N-no sir.” Phineas stammered nervously in a foolish attempt to act like he knew what he was doing although did he really? “I was just trying to practice the wand lighting charm and then I found some ancient tunes engraved in the walls. Although I don’t understand them.”

“Fascinating.” The man breathed with great interest rather than rebuke him for why he was not in class or his dormitory. “Do you mind reigniting your wand and showing these runes to me?”

“I could try but my wand hasn’t been agreeing with me today.” Phineas honestly admitted before turning to the wand and trying the spell once again, “Lumos!” Luckily it was successful and the runes appeared on the walls once more. “See, they are right there, engraved in the stone, it is a message of some sort.”

“I don’t see any runes here.” The man mentioned before using his wand to conjure a piece of parchment and a quill, “Do you mind writing down what you see.”

“Not at all sir.” Phineas politely obeyed as he grabbed the materials and carefully recorded the message before hanging it back to the professor.

The old man took some time to observe the contents, “It looks to be a riddle of some kind, if I had to guess it was placed there by the architect of Hogwarts himself. Did you know that he worked alongside Rowena Ravenclaw to create the ever changing floor plan of the castle using ancient magic?”

“I do not believe we got to that part yet in Professor Binns’ class.” Phineas informed the man, “But why can I see the message and you can’t”

“That is a mystery that will need to be solved.” The man informed him vaguely although Phineas couldn’t be frustrated if even the professor did not know the answer. “There have been rumors of past students of Hogwarts with the ability of magic long gone. Perhaps you are one of those individuals.”

“Perhaps.” Phineas repeated, perhaps this was his chance to truly be something he thought. Perhaps he would be more than just the fifth born child of the Hearst Family, something he could put to his name with pride.

“You are a first year I assume.” The professor guessed to which Phineas nodded, “Why don’t you come to my classroom before your magical theory class, which reminds me. I don’t believe I have introduced myself, I am Professor Fig, and what might your name be.”

“Phineas Hearst.”

“Well Phineas,” Professor Fig informed him as he started to make his way down the corridor, “I believe you have quite a bright future ahead of you.”

[helenadurazzo]

Marie and Professor Fig, for the "what does your OC think of them" ask, please.

Thanks for the Ask!

Eleazar Fig and Marie McKay

Professor Fig’s Opinion of Marie

Eleazer always enjoyed having students who were attentive and passionate about their learning. Marie was one of these types of students and he noted her to be a diligent student who took thorough notes during his lectures. He also believed that the interactions that Marie had with one of Eleazer’s other students, Phineas Hearst, was quite similar to the interactions he shared with his late wife, Miriam.

Marie’s Opinion of Professor Fig

Marie didn’t have Professor Fig for any of her classes until her fifth year as Magic Theory didn’t interest her in the ways other electives at the school of magic did. However, both Phineas Hearst and Zsuzsi Schröder, had him for classes and talked very highly about his lectures making Marie want to give magic theory a chance. She enjoyed the lessons and understood why Phineas saw Professor Fig as a great mentor figure for him as not only did he understand the theories behind magic but also was knowledgeable about ancient, long lost, magical techniques. Marie also started to realize how she could connect Magical theory to her historical studies and the memoirs she would go on to write. She supported Phineas after one of their investigations of ancient magic turned bad and resulted in the death of Professor Fig. She and her husband found ways to honor their professor’s legacy with Phineas in particular continuing his analyzation of ancient magic until his unexpected and sudden death in 1953. They even decided to name their youngest son ‘Nicolas Eleazar Hearst’ in honor of him.

[helenadurazzo]

As you mentioned Phineas in the ask about Marie and Professor Fig, I'd like to know how they see each other.

Thanks For The Ask!

For anyone interested, send me an ask with one of my HPHL Characters and a canon HPHL character, and I’ll tell you what they think of each other.

Eleazar Fig and Phineas Hearst

Professor Fig’s Opinion of Phineas

Despite being the professor on magical theory, Eleazar Fig did not know a lot about ancient magic, at least not to the extent he would have liked. One of his colleagues brought his attention to a second year who reportedly had the ability to see traces of ancient magic and had the interest of pursuing knowledge in it. After meeting Phineas and understanding his potential, Professor Fig suggested that he apply for magical theory classes the next year, which the boy accepted. He had taught some of Phineas’ older siblings but noted that Phineas seemed to be much more passionate than any of them when it came to magical theory. He also taught Phineas new information about magical theory outside of the classroom whenever he was curious and he would often admit that Phineas reminded him of a younger version of himself.

Phineas’ Opinion of Professor Fig

After he not only expressed his interest in ancient magic, but also his ability to see traces of ancient magic. Phineas Hearst, who was in the latter part of his second year, was asked to talk with Professor Fig to examine his rare ability and figure out what it could do. After meeting with Professor Fig who hoped to help him explore his rare ability, Phineas decided to take magical theory as an elective, alongside the study of ancient runes. Phineas quickly grew to enjoy his classes with Professor Fig and would often stay afterwards to learn additional information. As the youngest of five children, he wasn’t predicted to do anything outstanding so Phineas enjoyed having someone like Professor Fig who believed in him. He felt guilty when the two of them were examining ancient ruins and an ancient dormant curse resulted in Professor Fig’s death. Phineas honored his mentor’s legacy in a number of ways and even named his youngest son, Nicolas Eleazar Hearst, to remember him.

[helenadurazzo]

If you take professors for the characters bingo, can you please do professor Fig?

Thanks for the ask!