If they were an animal, what would they be? What is the first thing they’d do when they learn they’re an animal?
Ed would love to be a dragon, but wouldn’t complain as any type of reptile. He just wants to lay in the sun, flex, and eat.
Lachlan is so suited to life as an otter by every definition. He’s adorable, playful, and loves the water.
Oliver would be a bird, likely a turtle dove. One that sings and absolutely has to have a companion.
Most embarrassing middle school moment?
Ed was picked on a little bit for his endless appetite and flaming red hair.
Lachlan was a happy and popular kid until his accident. He never dealt with embarrassing moments until his second year at school when he got lost on the staircase and threw up from the constant movement.
Embarrassing moments require shame. I’m not sure Oliver has the capacity to feel embarrassed.
Their last nightmare
Ed: He was an egg in Siobhan’s latest experiment.
Lachlan: He forgot his birthday, it came true.
Oli: He lost his ability to tie a tie and had to wear a bolo tie.
Born to unknown parents in a seedy suburb of Glasgow, Lachlan Murray passed through more foster homes by the age of four than he had teeth. Eventually he ended up in a state run orphanage, where he struggled through his school years and made friends nearly as quickly as he lost them. When he was sixteen, a nasty incident caused by his slowly emerging abilities won him legal emancipation and a ferry ticket to Ireland. Ostensibly he was there to take on an apprenticeship and to get some useful skills to support himself financially, but the job lasted less than a month. There was nothing worth going home to in Scotland, so he stayed put and took whatever odd jobs he could find to stay afloat. One of those jobs led him to cross paths with a young, callow Dylan Winchester and they became fast friends, to the chagrin of Dylan’s parents.
They were vastly different people, and yet they seemed drawn to each other. Lachlan, an avowed atheist and juvenile delinquent, quickly became attached to righteous, proper Dylan. Their friendship seemed to steady him. He held onto a job for nearly the whole five years that they knew one another, found an apartment of his own, and was settling in for once in his life. If circumstances had been otherwise, if the depth of his feelings hadn’t outgrown Dylan’s own, maybe he could have kept that life and all of its trappings. As it was, Lachlan left Ireland without saying goodbye after a nasty blow up between them and headed to California, somewhere he thought was ripe with possibility. Even for him.
It wasn’t the golden haven of humanity that he had naively thought that it was; Lachlan found that out early on and the sound smack that revelation gave to his naivete left him mired in cynicism for a time. He worked in fast food restaurants, in sanitation facilities, but it was tales of super-powered vigilantes that set him down a different path. Years of doing solo vigilante work led him into the path of another Winchester, who led him to the Hero Squad. Though it’s not as easy to run missions as it used to be, Lachlan refuses to retire from that line of work until one last op gone wrong leaves him unable to keep up any longer. In the meantime, he’s enjoying himself a tad too much to accept anything close to reality. For now, at least.
POWERS
PLASMA MANIPULATION: User can create, shape and manipulate plasma, a state of matter consisting of fully ionized gas of low density. On Earth, plasma is relatively rare, but it is present in lightning, St. Elmo’s fire and static electricity. Artificially it occurs in low energy light fixtures, neon signs, and Tesla coils. In space, plasma is the most common state for ordinary matter, generally through nuclear fusion.
WEAKNESSES
User is only highly resistant to ability, not entirely immune. Protective gear needed to prevent extensive injury depending on the nature of its use. High energy output leads to user being physically exhausted very quickly. Structural strength of plasma constructs may be limited by the user’s strength of will and focus. User can easily damage or destroy electronics if powers are used in proximity to said objects.
AN: Instead of several posts, I changed the format and have decided to release Lachlan's entire story. Characters mentioned belong to: @whatwouldvalerydo @samshogwarts & @lifeofkaze thanks for giving Lachlan great friends like Jonathan, Phil, & Reva!
The summer sun dimmed through the waves as Lachlan Murray took in his favorite sight for what he accepted would be the last time. There was no strength left in his small body to fight his way through the swell any longer. Though he was without fear of what awaited him at the bottom of the sea, he spent his last thoughts before the darkness of the waters overcame him by making a wish. It was his eleventh birthday, after all.
Through mother’s cries broke his father’s voice, and though his words were distorted, Lachlan was certain he had never heard anything like the sound before. As he lost consciousness, he was surprised to hear his father’s unintelligible wails growing louder. He regretted being unable to hear his father’s last words to him.
He had expected he would feel no pain once his eyes closed to the dark waters and was surprised, perhaps offended, when he felt the blow to his chest as his body crashed into the fiery heat. The water he had taken into his lungs exploded from his mouth and nose into the hot sand on the shore, where he had landed with a skid that embedded the sand into his back. His mother’s cries had turned to stunned silence as his father stood over him, crying tears of joy.
It hadn’t been the first time his father had shed tears that day, for what he had deemed his greatest fear had happened. Until he realized his greatest fears paled in comparison to losing the boy. As he ushered his son indoors for evaluation, rather than cake and gifts as planned, he realized there was, indeed, a place for magic in the boy’s life. An idea he hoped to never come to terms with.
In the darkened bedroom where he would spend the rest of his summer healing, Lachlan lay in the darkness and tried to recall his father’s distorted plea. Still in shock and unable to speak, he gazed at the stack of gifts taken to his room to be discovered upon his full recovery. Though all stacks of gifts contain magic and mystery, something among the boxes caught his eye. It wasn’t the enormous box, or the one he knew was shaped like a new boogie board, but a small envelope in dark parchment with a red wax seal.
“Where?” Lachlan laughed, as he stared at his father in disbelief. Few things had made sense since his birthday, but the nonsensical ramblings about magic had been most confusing of all. He had come to the conclusion that his father had been so impacted by his near-death that he had lost his mind. Places called Hogwarts, and Diagon Alley seemed like the creations of a deranged maniac. Yet, his father grew more enthusiastic in the days leading up to the end of summer.
Pulling his shaggy blonde hair into an elastic band, Lachlan’s father stepped into his shoes and out the door. Worried that he was serious, Lachlan followed. His father beamed with pride all the way to the train station and didn’t stop grinning to himself until they reached London.
London! Of course, the two were off for a fantastic adventure in the city to celebrate his recovery. Physically, he has made a full recovery. In his heart and his mind, he struggled. Memories came and went. Almost nothing stayed with him long-term. Worst of all, he feared the water. The place he felt most at home, at his family’s marina, had nearly become his grave. Perhaps, his father had taken him to London to shop for a gift to replace the boogie board he hadn’t dared touch. Though, as they wound through the streets into a secluded corner of the city, he began to worry that his father’s promises of goblin professors, exploding quills, and magic awaited him.
“Turn around now, son. It wouldn’t be right to teach you any tricks of your own yet!” He heard his father say as he tapped rhythmically at a brick wall. Lachlan had nearly had enough and turned around to ask his father what had changed, what had happened when he was lost in the water. His agitation was silenced by the spectacle before him. “I told you, pal, welcome to Diagon Alley!”
“Please, sir, is there any other way?” Lachlan begged the tallest man he had ever seen for help as the giant ushered droves of children into rowboats that seemed to move of their own accord across a jet-black pond. The image of the waves darkening around him as he sunk seized his weakened memory. Of all the things he had seen since his venture into Diagon Alley, the hefty man’s eyes had been the least frightening.
The giant turned with a smile. “None of that, Sir, business here, I’m Rubeus Hagrid, and it’s a pleasure to know you, Lachlan Murray. Listen, ye wee one. There’s another way. I’ll show it if’n ye like. But, when I speak with students years down the line, this is the moment they remember. Don’t let fear stop you from making memories.”
“I’ve struggled to find my memories for a while now. It’s just that,” he turned to the boats. “I was in a boating accident. Nearly drowned. It was in a boat I trusted. In waters I knew. I don’t know these waters, this castle, or even you. I don’t even know if any of this is real. I know you told me where to go, but really, I feel as lost as ever.”
Offering a grin to his young friend, the giant knelt and rested a massive hand on Lachlan’s shoulder. It was as real to him as the new black robes that shielded him from the early September breeze. “I’m real, you’re real, the boats are real, and my boy, the danger here is real. I reckon your pop told you all about the Battle of Hogwarts?”
Lachlan gulped and shook his head, “Battle? To be frank, Mr. Haggard. I didn’t know magic was real until last month. Except I saw Chris Angel once. That was wicked. He did this thing where he levitated, uh, and I know that’s impossible, but I-” his speech stopped immediately as he felt himself hovering just over the ground. He looked, wide-eyed, at the umbrella in the crook of the giant’s arm. “I’ll definitely remember that! Woah. Ok? So? Boats are that way?”
“Aye,” he groaned, returning to his feet as he allowed Lachlan to do the same. “Boats are that way. Welcome home.”
The breeze blew through the courtyard like a siren song, causing Lachlan’s pace to quicken as he made his way to class. His blunders in potions class were behind him, and it was finally time for the only class he truly enjoyed. More than that, it was the day he would finally be allowed to put the knowledge he had gained in his favorite class to the test. He was going to fly.
“Up, lean forward, and go,” he repeated to himself, certain he had understood the assignment. After everything his memory loss had taken from him, he gained something new in flying class. Trust in his own instinct.
Madame Hooch nodded at him with a thin smile when it was his time to mount his broom, unsure of what the rest of the staff was talking about when they groaned about his poor performance. He had been one of the most talented students in her first-year class. He followed directions well. He had a sense of balance and direction that rivaled the top players on house quidditch teams. It was only when he was given a lesson on the rules of the game that she understood the difficulties he faced. She had liked him as a student and was heartbroken to think that someone with his skill on a broom wouldn’t have the chance to play quidditch for his house.
With a smile returned, Lachlan lifted into the air with ease and flew laps around the training grounds. There was no long potions list, no inflection to give a charm, no concern that he looked like an idiot in the sky. There was only the joy he had gotten from skiing and his beloved boogie board as a child. He was carefree in the air until the moment he caught a glimpse of the horrible sight in the distance. A snidget was shrieking madly as she fought to build her nest in the agitated branches of The Whomping Willow.
Without another thought in his mind, Lachlan leaned forward in a bolt to rescue the rotund bird from the thrashing and gnarled branches. In mere seconds, he dodged the whipping of the leaves and caught the bird in his bare hand without so much as a scratch. Seeing that the nest was empty, he sighed in relief and introduced the golden-bellied bird to a small tree near the pitch. At the sound of his instructor’s whistle blast, he bid goodbye to the creature and returned to his class.
By the time Lachlan touched the ground, Reva Amari and Phill Baker were at the teacher’s side offering pleas in his defense. She held up her hands to silence the two as Lachlan returned. “Murray, I know we talked about your performance on your exam. The playbook might not work for you. However, I’ve been reminded of another professional in the game—one who has never even ridden a broom. You’ll not be able to try out for the house team until next year, of course, but it is possible that there may be a place for you at a quidditch training camp over the summer. I want to write the owners a recommendation to train you as a seeker. Your friends attend camp and have reminded me, rightfully so, that there are several ways to learn. The direction of Murphy McNully and Katriona Cassiopeia may be yours. They say, you know, that quidditch is for everyone.”
“Hey, what the?” Lachlan groaned as the staircase swung with a creak. Every time he thought he had made his way to the right door, the stairs would swing him in another direction, sending him on a nauseating trek through the halls of Hogwarts. Feeling entirely defeated, he sat, waiting to be swung in the right direction.
Just as he had given up, Hazel Woolfe sat at his side on the shifting staircase. “Couldn’t sleep? Needed to be rocked a little?”
“Oh, hey, Iris! No, my transfiguration class was an hour ago. I’ve missed it entirely. I don’t remember how to get anywhere around here and when I finally do, I have the bloody staircase to contend with. I’ve missed a lot, I’m afraid, by sitting here just swinging in every direction,” he huffed.
The Hufflepuff sighed. “Actually, I find my pansexuality prevents me from missing out,” his point lost entirely on the girl as she tried to coax hot gossip from him.
“No, I mean, on the stairs. I hadn’t thought much about girls or boys or anyone since school started. I’d better not start looking for love, or anything else until I can at least find my class,” he shrugged.
Growing bored of literally swinging in every direction, Hazel rose to her feet. There was no story in a lost boy, anyway, at least, not one that would make a juicy read for her column. “Well, good luck then, I guess. It’s Hazel, again, by the way.
Lachlan remained seated as the students passed him by until he heard familiar voices. “Buddy? Are you alright?” He looked up at Phil Baker and Jonathan King. Jonathan sat on the step above Lachlan, and Phil took the step below to prevent a human blockade for the students making their way to class.
“Hey Wil, hey Johnathan. I’m lost again. Transfiguration, this time. I can’t find my way around to save my life,” he whined, tears forming in his big blue eyes.
Phil nudged Jonathan with a laugh. “It’s like you trying to play Warrior’s Revenge! Too bad, there’s not a setting to guide him around the castle like there is in the game.”
“But, why couldn’t there be? When I was lost on the game map, if I stood still long enough, the arrow popped up and told me where to go. Surely, Professor Flitwick can charm his wand or something to do the same. Light up when he is going in the right direction? Something? Let’s go speak with him. I’m certain he will have the answer to help you find your way.”
“Mister Murray, will you see me after class?”
The words he had dreaded finally reached his ears, The final exam was drawing near, and Lachlan knew he was behind in his lessons. He was likely the last in his class. Possibly the worst student the tenured professor had ever seen. He allowed the departing students to clear the room before he turned toward the stack of tomes from which Professor Flitwick taught his lessons and tried to smile. “Yes, professor?”
Climbing down from his perch, the head of Ravenclaw house reached into his robes and retrieved a leather string with an ugly grey stone attached. Like a handmade necklace, if the one who crafted it had never made a necklace by hand. He retrieved his wand. “I’ve found a solution to your troubles. I’ve charmed this stone to change in temperature when you are headed in the right direction. Like the game muggle children play, Warmer or Colder, you will know when you are going in the right direction,” he explained as he climbed onto a desk to place it around his student’s neck. “Well, this will at least solve one of your troubles. I hope Miss Carridan can pull off another miracle in your study group.”
“Rosemary does her best. I’m sure she will get me through with a passing grade. I was afraid you were going to tell me I failed your class.”
Professor Flitwick smiled brightly, “Well, Mr. Murray, you are doing poorly, but nobody fails me. Surely your father told you that.”
“My father has never told me anything about magic. Never performed it in front of me, never talked about it, never ever. He didn’t even come with my mum and me to see Chris Angel,” he muttered. “I don’t have a great memory, I lost a lot of oxygen when I almost drowned, and I still don’t know how I got out of the water. I’m sorry, I think, though, that Mr. Haggard said something about my dad telling me about a Battle?”
Taking a seat on the desk as his little legs could no longer support him, Professor Flitwick, who had turned pale as Professor Binns, muttered to himself. “The poor boy. Oh, Levi.”
Lachlan sat on the ground, allowing him to be face-to-face with the professor. “Yeah! Wait, how do you know him?”
“Your father struggled in my class a long time ago. From day one, he struggled with his very first spell. He worked on it for five years before passing the class. Though, as I said, nobody ever fails me. I fought at his side in the Battle of Hogwarts, and when I saw the debris falling, certain to crush me, I heard his voice. I’ll never forget it. Your dad cast Wingardium Leviosa and saved my life in the process. This is how I knew to never give up on a student, Lachlan. Their power comes in time. Even if it was the only spell he had learned, he did it well enough to lift the rocks and save me. Entry-level magic, dear boy, is still magic.”
“I know this one. Wingardium Leviosa, lifts things up. Makes them rise, or float, or perhaps… if one is under water… a lot of it…” he recalled the words his father had uttered, how they made no sense at the time, how nothing had made sense in the days since.
The professor wiped a small tear from behind his big bespectacled eyes, “perhaps!”
EPILOGUE - August 2022
"Headmistress, it is so good to see you!"
Minerva stood from her desk and stood poker straight. "Mr. Murray. How nice to see you!"
"How is anyone to turn down an invitation from you? I couldn't believe it when I received your owl. I still can't believe it. I even remembered what it said! I was in such shock," Lachlan laughed at his own expense.
Pulling out a chair across from her desk, she offered him a seat. "I couldn't think of anyone I would rather ask for help with our new programme. As a student, you kept going when things were hard. You made friends easily, you came up with all kinds of ways to work around your problems, and when you found out about your legacy, you made it your mission to help your father move past the things we saw in battle together. I want you to do that for our students who struggle. Young people, they get hung up on their past. I want someone who can move past the past. You, Lachlan, were always looking ahead."
"Well, ma'am, I had to. I couldn't remember the past. There was nowhere else to look."
Surpressing a grin into her teacup, she nodded. "Indeed. That is what I want to teach from now on. I want someone to guide the students through their present and into their future. If it's required to send a student to the past, I have my ways, but Hogwarts needs a- I believe muggle students call them Guidance Counselors. I'd like you to be the first."
As doubts swirled around in Lachlan's mind, so did the advice he was given as a student. He may not have remembered the lessons on the blackboard, but the most important bits of his education had been retained. Don’t let fear stop you from making memories. Entry-level magic, dear boy, is still magic. They say, you know, that quidditch is for everyone. You will know when you are going in the right direction!,
"I'll take it, as long as you know, and our students know, I was far from the first."
Growing up at the family’s successful marina off the Scottish Isles was a dream for young Lachlan Murray until he nearly downed the summer before turning eleven. Though he survived the ordeal, his short term memory was severely impacted. When he thought matters couldn’t get worse, a strange letter arrived on his birthday.
Casting spells in her Charms class comes easily to Sage Carridan, so much so that her favorite Professor has paired her with a struggling student who just can’t seem to remember how to pronounce, swish, flick, or do... anything.
If anyone has the patience to get him through with a passing grade, it’s Sage and sometimes, I suspect she gets a little laugh from a small explosion.
