Prodigal The Invisible Truth

At very, very rare circumstances. Sometimes, Vale wished she was invisible. From the eyes of people at times, from her own family. Lately, she wished she was invisible from her own brother.

Vale tried to ignore it for a long time. Of the things going on in the background of her life. But sooner or later, she'd have to accept the looming shadow. The shadow that glares down at her; her own brother.

Her brother, she realized, have been doing some very bad things outside of home. Things even considered callous by her own family's standards.

She folded her arms together, awaiting for a whole chicken to boil at her very home. She went home for the holidays, staring at the pot for three hours unknowingly from her long period of thinking. To the point her mother eventually came by her side, carrying a basketful of potion ingredients from the family garden. Her mother's prized talent was raising such curios.

"Oh? It's been a while since you did your own potion at home." The household always spoke in Swahili unless there was guests. Her mother noted the cauldron; the smell of boiled chicken floated across the house, apparently enough to get her aunt's pet curp to scurry in eagerly to see to the smell. Vale was casual, using a sponge to collect the chicken water and putting it into a bowl on the side. "...How's dad?" Vale spoke up. Her mother frowned, placing the basket down onto the counter nearby. "Busy as ever. We got a bigger order of potions than usual. I guess the world is getting more sicker by the day."

Vale removed the chicken from the water, setting most of it off to the side. She threw a piece down to the crup, who eagerly snatched it and ran off. Vale was quick to turn back with a knife to cut six cherries into coarse pieces on a cutting board. She threw them into the cauldron. "...What about Raydon?" Vale's mother scoffed. "Off who knows where now. I guess that herb gathering really gets him running around so much. Moves around more than your father ever did."

Vale threw the chicken water back into the cauldron using the sponge before stirring the cauldron thrice clockwise. She turned the heat down to allow it to shimmer. She still kept her eyes on the cauldron.

"Does he...say anything much about his...job?" "Bah, not too much. Never enough either. You know how your brother is. Let's everyone else do the talking." Maybe not enough, Vale speculated.

The potion turned purple before her very eyes. She grinded the spider legs next to her in her mortar until they were a fine powder. She threw the powder into the cauldron, stirring once clockwise.

"You never take to prying?" "Vale, do I pry you about your dealings at Hogwarts?" Vale frowned, adding three measures of beetle eyes of the cauldron. It bubbled almost instantly. She added a tincture of demiguise to the potion, allowing it to shimmer for twelve minutes.

"Do you think...he's doing something he's not supposed to?" "Vale," Her mother went through her basket. "I have to bicker at your father constantly to keep his behavior in check in front of guests. And your aunt isn't even allowed to see guests usually. Your grandmother..." She scoffed, "We're always doing something we're not supposed to. It's why we always have fun and quite friendly Ministry visits to our very home so often." She turned back to Vale. "What could your brother be doing in comparison? He's well behaved in comparison."

The potion turned silver, and with a wave of her wand, Vale's potion was finished.

Vale placed the potion into separate dose vials, observing them in the the lighting. "Invisibility potion." Her mother noted. "Ah, that's one of the more advanced potions in your school, isn't it? What got you working ahead like that for? Impatience?"

Vale lowered the vials onto the counter, "Some secrets can't be hidden forever." She only answered, thinking of her brother. Her mother gave Vale a side hug and a kiss on the forehead. "Hm, at this rate, you can apply to potion competitions and get an early internship somewhere." Vale kept her eyes on the vials. "I hope that's what'll be in my future, mama."