Levi Drakos | Second Year | Gryffindor

It makes little sense how insistent on a greater purpose and strong standing Levi seems to be; his parents, after all, did not hold themselves to that same standard. Though Evander and Katerina were both born to reputable, distinguished families in their home country, it did not bear the weight of the public’s eye. For, if that eye ever lingered too close to the inner workings of the family—particularly that of Katerina Caras—it was an eye and privilege soon lost. It was rather marvellous, in fact, how talk settled down and scandals faded away, brushed off the shoulders of the aristocrats like a fleck of dust. Suspicious perhaps, but who was the public to question them when they wished to keep those loose tongues?

Nothing was ever proven on the front of how, exactly, the Caras family kept their tangled webs so quiet and made the distasteful look lush. The public could speculate, but it would do no good, for no proof could ever incriminate them. Some say it was the money in the bank account, and some minds flutter to the darker branches of life and death. Regardless, it was of no importance. The end result was the same, and freedom was her corruption, and a vortex she sucked her future husband into. Do what you wish, for no one would know about it for long.

The two were young when they first laid eyes upon the other, and it was as all the storybooks say, love at first sight. While Evander Drakos’ family fell closer to the middle-class, they were locally revered for their contributions to society, and above all else, the two found balance in each other; Katerina discovered patience and Evander took on her bold, courageous spirit. Friends for years, lovers as soon as marriage was an option. Neither Evander nor Katerina ever had the slightest interest in seeing the world beyond what lay within the other, as they shared that comforting scent of home that a wanderer would always find their way back to. At twenty-one, the couple was married, and the world could only celebrate that such old, departed souls could connect in every life they led.

On March 15th, 2009, Levi Drakos was born in the Republic of Cyprus to the newlyweds. Regardless that the island is his birthplace, the boy has no memories of its beauty, of its nirvana, of the sense of life that coursed through every structure. In such a way that the water had a beating heart, that the buildings had a spirit like any other. The family left quickly and suddenly to conceal a secret they could not brush away: Katerina's infidelity and Levi's father, who was not Evander but instead a wizard, Myers Kallis, and one who sincerely missed his son.

Barely a year had passed by when those doubts began to plague and whispers became a song, a song not deriving entirely from the general public, but from the lips of Evander, a bittersweet song. He and his words could not simply be disposed of, so a wool blanket was thrown over the sweltering forest and the family relocated to Glasgow.

Living hundreds of miles away from what Katerina analytically called the problem, Levi grew up in what he fondly calls the perfect childhood. In his eyes, it was a fanciful life: tales told at night to rest his eyes, full meals upon the clock's strike, gentle kisses on the forehead that bred that child-like resentment as the years took their toll. But he would trade their love for nothing, no matter his pouting or flushed face. His parents would nod stiffly but reassuringly behind his awe-inspired words. There are some things you simply don’t tell your eleven-year-old son. A paper trail of money from one account to the next, hushed arguments behind closed doors, what blood really swam through his veins; secrets nurtured his life but what good would it be to know?

It was alright to pretend up until his first instance of magic, a time the couple refers to as the Playpen Incident of ‘12. His guardians—who seldom agree these days—can confirm that this moment set off a chain of events, a domino effect with facets of their lives still collapsing to this day, this wretched day when he is off to school. There is a world of business to attend to while he is away to keep his life so beautiful, so surreal. Only time will tell how much of that goes as planned.