RE-EDITING

prologue; the last coulter

【o.】

PROLOGUE,
the last coulter.

A bristly whisp of cold air whipped past Albus Dumbledore when apparating upon northern Russian soil, his buckled boots quickly being swallowed up by the soft plumps of snow as he took his first few steps into the wintry forest. For a little moment the old wizard thought he was alone, but when he heard a loud crack from behind him he was abruptly accompanied by one of his fellow peers apparating shortly behind him; the Minister of Magic, Ignatius Tuft. With a gentle smile Albus chuckled softly, watching as the Minister frustratingly wrap his mousy trench coat tightly around himself to prevent anymore shivers to travel sharply up his spine.

"Too cold for your taste, Ignatius?" Albus questioned his blue eyes twinkling with their usual mischief.

"I'd b-bloody c-consider that an understatement, A-Albus," Ignatius said, his pearly white teeth chattering at the biting winter night cold. "I'd be l-lying if I-I didn't say I took our weather b-back home for g-granted!"

Albus nodded in agreement with Ignatius' words, the tender nipping that was brought on his pale skin irked the old wizard greatly, although he chose not to express his discomfort for the foreign temperatures and only wanted to express his feelings on the positives instead of the negatives. "Ah, well, look at it this way Ignatius, we've got quite the scenery."

"M-Merlin, must y-you always be the optimist?" Ignatius mumbled quietly to himself, his arms tightly knitted into a fold before he ushered them into his chest for warmth - noisily trudging his way through the snow to stand by Albus Dumbledore's side. "So, I assume y-you've been informed of the Coulter's fate then?"

The old wizards features undoubtedly changed at the mention of the Coulter's, the twinkling lights in his eyes blue gaze diminishing rather rapidly. The Coulter's were a notable aristocratic family in the wizarding world, and Albus Dumbledore himself knew them greatly for their generosity and kindness.

The House of Coulter was a rather established family in the wizarding community, quite respected and liked by many from all statuses whether it be Pure-bloods, Half-bloods, or even Muggle-borns. However, nobody adored them as much as the neighboring Muggles did. You see, The Coulter's were a family that anyone could feel connected to. For Pure-bloods they respected the family for their noble and powerful heritage and for the Half-bloods and Muggle-borns they found themselves admiring the family for their good-will as they didn't see them as inferior because of their blood-status. But the bond that the Coulter's had with the neighboring Muggles was quite a unique one to say the least.

The Coulter's resided in the village of Glencoe, a pleasant area in the Scottish Highlands as many would say. Nobody could really place a specific date as to when the family came to reside in the village, even the Muggles who lived there for decades didn't - but they were practically natives to everyone who lived there and not a soul questioned it, after all everyone adored them to pieces. The socialising with their Muggle Neighbours, sometimes that's all that they seemed to do, they even went as far as joining their Muggle Neighbours to the events they organised in the village.

They were quite the talk in the village, especially of the arrival of their first-born son, Magnus Coulter. Although, even prior of the boy's birth the Coulter's were still the main talk of the town - both parents, had four beautiful daughters before the birth of their son; Jacqueline, Agathe, Pippa, Polly who were undoubtedly always the apple to everyone's eyes. All three sisters except for Pippa had already attended Hogwarts, all being sorted into their respective houses. Jacqueline Coulter, the wisest out of all the sisters was sorted into Ravenclaw, while the clever Agathe was sorted into Slytherin and Polly into the loyal and hardworking house Hufflepuff.