.....
Three Days Later
The wind wasn't screaming like it did on Day One.
Just grumbling now - like Scotland had made peace with the [Harry Potter] crew occupying its cliffs while the shoot had slipped into a rhythm.
...though one would question the smoothness, but a rhythm nonetheless.
Scene by scene, line by line, the world of [Harry Potter] was crawling into existence.
Hagrid's hut had been dismantled, the props cart was already rotated out, and today's setup was indoors - safer, warr, and far more focused.
Today was the first proper scene with all three leads together.
Harry. Ron. Hermione.
....
Interior - Set of Gryffindor Common Room. Morning.
Inside Red Studio's insulated indoor soundstage, things were warr, quieter.
Almost normal.
The set of Gryffindor Common Room is being used to shoot for the first ti.
It was a major interior set, warm tapestries, squishy armchairs, candlelit sconces, a fireplace rigged to flicker on cue.
A practical masterpiece built by the art departnt over three exhausting weeks.
It felt lived in, textured.
The kind of place you would believe twelve-year-olds did howork in, or secretly lit fireworks after curfew.
Today's scheduled scene was a crucial early bonding mont between the trio.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione share an awkward silence after their first brush with danger.
Scorch marks on their robes.
Whispers in the hallway.
The kind of quiet that cos not from nothing to say, but from too much.
....
Scene 56B: "We could've been killed—or worse, expelled."
....
It was to be played lightly.
A bit of comic timing and so emotional cracks showing.
The first glimpse of how different they were - and how well they fit, even if they didn't realize it yet.
Matthew was adjusting the primary cara rig, a slow zoom-in on Daniel's face, while the lighting crew ran last checks on flickering gels near the set windows to mimic afternoon sun.
Regal, as usual, stood just behind the monitors, headphones resting loose around his neck, scanning the floor with quiet eyes barking few instructions here and there.
And that is when he noticed Rupert.
Daniel and Lily were already in costu, in place, half-joking and running lines. Lily was poking fun at how over-annunciated Daniel's 'Leviosa' sounded.
He threatened to hex her with his wand, she responded by pretending to transfigure his coffee into a frog. The two of them had settled into a fast, fun rhythm.
But Rupert?
Sothing was off.
He was standing next to props, holding his wand awkwardly in one hand, the other stuffed in his robe pocket.
He nodded when spoken to, gave the occasional grin, but he hadn't opened his mouth once.
Not fully. Not the kind of wide, gap-toothed grin Rupert was known for.
Regal narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Roll rehearsal in two." Mathew called.
"Positions." Rina echoed, voice clipped from the assistant director's tent.
"Dan, Lily, Rupert - final checks, please." Barked makeup.
Regal stepped quietly off his mark and moved toward Rupert.
The redhead flinched, just a little, when Regal approached, like he had been caught sneaking a candy into a set.
"Morning." Regal said casually.
"Hey." Rupert mumbled. The word barely passed his lips.
That was confirmation enough.
"You alright?" Regal asked, voice gentle, but pointed.
"Yeah, all good." Rupert said quickly, smiling tight, head nodding a little too fast.
Regal tilted his head. "Rupert..."
"...Yeah?"
"Open your mouth for ."
Rupert blinked. "What?"
Regal gave a slow, patient look. "Just humor ."
Nearby, Daniel paused mid-sentence, and similarly Lily turned slightly from her mark - which only made a few of the grips look over.
"...." Rupert hesitated. A few heartbeats passed.
Then, reluctantly, he opened his mouth.
Halfway.
"Wider."
And that's when Regal saw it - or rather, didn't.
A clear, shiny gap where a tooth was supposed to be.
"Okay." Regal muttered. "How long's it been like that?"
Rupert looked confused. Then he looked concerned.
"...Wait." He whispered, suddenly blinking hard.
He brought a hand to his mouth, fingers patting the inside of his lip. "It's not..."
He froze.
"...it's not there."
Regal stepped back. "What do you an, it's not there?"
"No—I—I had it. I put it back. I—I think I... I might've..." He swallowed once. Then blinked.
Then he stopped.
Realization landed like a boulder.
"...Oh no."
"Rupert." Regal said, already knowing.
"I swallowed it." He said, voice high, horrified. "I think I actually swallowed it."
The set went still.
For a second, nobody said anything.
Then chaos began.
The dical team sprang into action like they had trained for it.
Samantha was already on the walkie. "Doctor to Stage B. Urgent but non-critical. Child actors may have ingested sothing. No obstruction."
A small wave of startled murmurs spread among the crew, and Mathew stepped back from the dolly track with a sigh, rubbing his temple.
"Tell it's not the teeth." He muttered.
Regal's jaw tightening. "It's the teeth."
Rupert sat stiff on an apple crate now, as the on-site dic gently tilted his chin and looked inside with a tiny flashlight. "No bleeding. Nothing lodged. Breathing's fine. I am guessing it was a milk tooth. If he swallowed it, it will... pass."
"That's not comforting." Rupert muttered.
"At least it's not lodged in your throat." The dic replied calmly, packing away her kit.
"You sure?" Regal asked, arms crossed, not harsh - but not soft either.
She nodded. "Happens more than you would think with kids. Nothing dangerous unless he starts feeling pain. But he is fine."
By then, the entire crew had paused.
The clapperboard rested on a chair.
Makeup was holding a tissue like it was evidence.
Regal stood over Rupert now, hands on his hips - not angry exactly, but weighed. Tired in that specific way only directors could be. He crouched slightly, lowering his voice so it didn't ring out over the set.
"You didn't say anything." He said flatly.
"I didn't want to make a ss of the day." Rupert answered, looking sheepishly. "Thought I could just stick it in and ride it out."
"It's not a fake mustache, Rupert. It's your face." Regal said, exhaling. "You open your mouth for a living."
"I know... I just—sorry.. It just I didn't want to be a problem."
Regal nodded slowly. His voice wasn't raised - but the disappointnt was clear.
"You are not a problem, Rupert." He said. "You are part of a production. aning we are all a team. So, when sothing happens, you tell us. Hiding it causes real problems. For you, for everyone else."
Regal didn't say anything for a second. Then turned to the junior wrangler on standby who had been assigned to assist the kids on call.
"You are supposed to be paying attention to stuff like this. He is twelve. You're twenty-six. Who is the responsible adult here?"
The wrangler flushed red stamr. "I—I didn't think—he looked fine—"
"He didn't." Regal said flatly. "Not to soone paying attention."
And with that, Regal rose, gave the dic a half-nod of thanks, and walked off without another word - headphones on, already calling for lighting adjustnts and a 17-minute delay.
....
Back in the set corner, with Regal gone, the three kids finally exhaled.
Daniel nudged Rupert. "Don't worry, mate. I heard it will co out by morning."
Lily whipped her head around, eyes narrowed. "Hey! That was my line. I was literally about to say that."
"You paused."
"I was being dramatic."
"You were stalling."
"I was setting the punchline!"
Rupert leaned back with an exaggerated groan. "Guys... I just swallowed part of my skull. Can I not be the punchline for like five minutes?"
"No." They said in unison.
Daniel smirked. "Besides, it's not the new one that will co out tomorrow. It's the old one. Probably in the toilet."
"Oh, thank you for that image." Rupert said, pretending to gag.
"Careful." Lily said mock-sweetly. "Don't lose another one."
A crew mber approached then, carrying a small plastic container with dental putty, followed by a technician holding a tray labeled:
[GRINT / UPPER MOLAR #3 — CAST 02.]
"Alright, Ron. Ti to give you your tooth back." The technician said brightly.
Rupert looked over at Daniel and Lily.
"I swear, if this tastes like Play-Doh again..."
"It is Play-Doh." Daniel whispered.
Lily leaned in and whispered theatrically. "They just rebranded it for actors."
"You two are the worst."
"Smile for the cara, Rupert."
"Shut up, Hermione."
Rupert, now sitting back in his spot and feeling about 60% more human, rolled his eyes.
....
Regal returned to set fifteen minutes later.
Beside him Samantha murmured. "Thank god we have backups."
"Yeah..." Regal just nodded his head.
Back when they were preparing for the shoot, Regal had insisted - no, demanded - that every child actor have a cast made of their teeth.
Twenty-sothing kids in the Hogwarts ensemble, all between nine and fourteen. All prone to losing teeth like spare change.
The cost hadn't been cheap. The dental team hadn't been thrilled. But now?
Now it was paying off.
Rupert's duplicate molar was already in a case. And soon enough, they would pop in a temporary prop tooth like it had never gone missing at all.
With that Regal looked at Rupert again walking near him.
"You good?"
Rupert nodded. "Temporary one's going in now."
"Good. Let's pick it up at three."
And as Regal turned back to the monitor, he made a quiet note in his mind:
One tooth down.
A thousand more little fires left to catch.
.
....
[To be continued...]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
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