Eddrick Lought and the Journal of Degeneracy

Magic is a powerful tool. It can achieve, oh, so many things. It can make dreams come true if used correctly. One young man studying at Hogwarts, a school to teach those 18 and up magic, would stretch the upper limits of just how powerful this magic could be. His name was Eddrick Lought. But we do not start within the walls of Hogwarts Castle; our story begins at the Lought residence. Eddrick is sitting on his bed in his room. The room itself is fairly small, containing a dresser, a desk, and a bed. The walls were mostly empty except for a Quidditch poster featuring the Holyhead Harpies, a team that was Edd’s favorite for reasons other than their Quidditch skill. Edrick watched them zip around the poster with contentment.

Edd was a fairly tall boy with short black hair and deep amber eyes. His eyes were a family trait, passed down from Lought to Lought for generations. It is unknown how or why, but at some point, hundreds of years ago, the members of the Lought family gained an odd magical trait. It is believed to be the result of some manner of blood curse that was cast incorrectly, causing a positive effect to pass down instead of a negative one. Their eyes granted them a few unique magical traits. The first effect is that Loughts are able to see in the dark exceptionally well. They can see with almost perfect clarity in anything other than total and absolute darkness. The second noteworthy thing is that the eyes are very susceptible to magical effects. The downside is that any hexes or curses that affect the eyes are much stronger against Loughts. The upside is that Loughts hit with any spell that enhances the eyes in any way will get a much stronger effect there too. The third and final effect of the curse is that their eyes are able to detect traces of magic on enchanted objects and places, as well as being able to see traces floating in the air shortly after spells are cast. This last one is a bit more iffy, and in places where there is a strong concentration of different magical effects, the eyes often fail to distinguish them from one another.

Edd hears a loud knock on his door, “Eddie, you need to hurry up. Mom is taking us to Diagon Alley, and if you waste any more time jacking off, we’ll be late.” That was his sister, Lillian Lought. She was a tad bit unpleasant, but ultimately nice enough most of the time. Over the years, she'd developed quite the fun hobby of annoying Edd, but what good siblings don’t? He gave a small sigh at his sister before tearing his eyes away from the lovely ladies on his Quidditch poster and exiting his room. His house was two stories, with an attic and basement. It was the average size for a muggle-built house and was nestled between two others that were exactly the same. Muggle cookie-cutter houses like this would have infuriated any pureblood wizard. But Edd’s father came from the Loughts, a pureblood family with very little money, and he ended up marrying a muggle woman. He’d died when both Edd and his sister were quite young. Edd’s dad had loved it here simply because it was where his family was. And Edd loved it for the same reason.

Edd’s dad had worked at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes on the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee. He used to tell the kids stories from work. Ed’s father never would miss a chance to mention how difficult a job his department had of covering up all of the magic mishaps that happened day to day. He would always come home with stories about how he’d had to convince an entire muggle neighborhood that they had simply seen a stray cat rummaging through their garbage and not a sentient waffle maker that a wizard had recently lost. Edd and his sister would also occasionally overhear their dad complaining to their mom about how much trouble dark wizards were causing for the ministry. Dad never mentioned covering up for dark wizards to either of the kids, but they still eavesdropped on stories about **** Eaters while they were still too young to comprehend what the stories were really about. It wasn’t until Edd thought about them later in life that he realized his father had been talking about You Know Who’s servants all those times. One day, his father simply didn’t come home from work. He and his sister had still only been around nine when this happened. Years later, their mother told them that their father had been in a muggle village covering up for something when **** Eaters decided to have a bit of fun with the place. He’d ended up getting killed in the ensuing attack.

Edd made his way downstairs and into the living room, where his mother and sister sat. His mother was brunette with green eyes. She was rather tall, her eyes coming up to Edd’s nose. Edd, of course, had inherited his height from her. His sister had, too. She was only the most unnoticeable fraction shorter than Edd, barely a couple of centimeters, if anything. She had also inherited the family's eyes. Her deep amber orbs held a gentle mocking quality to them: “Finally finished up with yourself, did you?” Their mother rolled her eyes.

“Now come on, you two. We have quite a bit of shopping to do in order to get the both of you set for your first year at Hogwarts. We ought to make sure we get to Diagon Alley before it gets too terribly crowded.” The Lought siblings both nodded their heads in unison before their mother spoke again: “We’ll be taking the floo network. Now come on.” She walked up to the fireplace and grabbed a small tin off the top of it. She took off the lid and held it out to Lillian first. She grabbed a handful, stepped into the fireplace, threw it down, and said, “Diagon Alley.” She disappeared in the green flames, and Edd’s mother held the tin out to him next. He grabbed a handful of powder for himself and repeated what his sister had done, falling into that odd swirling sensation that came with using the floo network.