Reflections.
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Category:
Harry Potter › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
3
Views:
1,456
Reviews:
0
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
The “Harry Potter Universe” belongs to J. K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic Press, Warner Brothers, and others who are not me. This work is unpaid fanfiction, and I make no money from it.
Chapter 3. Interviews and Errands.
Chapter 3. Interviews and Errands.
Danny was closest to the front door by the time the doorbell rang a second time.
---DING-DONG—
After looking through the peephole, he told the room somewhat sarcastically, “The next ring of this circus is on the front porch and sidewalk. Seven guys in college robes; three in red, onein green with a Smokey the Bear hat, the other three are in grey and black.”
David offered, “Two of the three in red robes are Aurors, or ‘wizarding detectives and dark wizard catchers.’ The third will be a uniformed Obliviator, who is a Wizard that erases or changes memories of people who aren’t magical to keep society as a whole from finding out about the Wizarding World. The one in green isthe Magical Law Enforcement Patrol for this region. The three in ‘regular’ robes are anyone’s guess, but at least one will be a plain-clothes Obliviator, since they might think they might need more than one.”
John ordered, “Unless I say otherwise, do not open the door to any of them. If you can, tell them that unless they have clearly describable lawful probable cause to be here that they are trespassing. The signs are ‘discrete’ to match the tone of the neighborhood, but it’s posted.”
Frank stated, “When you egged that ritual on instead of just letting it use your magic, John, you confirmed that House Dvorak is a cadet branch ofHouse Floyd, and has been protected by the Treaty since 1965, even if you haven't erected wards yet. So, your house and property are ‘treaty lands.’ I hope you weren’t just ‘playing around.’”
John replied, “You saw Father’s Cadillac first-hand in ’59. I was still a boy according to many, and they weren’t entirely wrong. Was I playing then? Some twenty-three years later, do you think I’m playing now?
“If I knew beforehand that Rick and David were going to kick off a ‘death ritual’ on the Kopcheks, I’d have encouraged them to wait. Since they were already started before I figured out what they were doing, I fed the spell as much of ‘whatever’ it would take as soon as I felt it ‘pulling.’ The only thing worse than killing your enemy is trying to kill your enemy and failing. If their spell didn’t work, it wasn’t going to be for a lack of power. I will defend my family, my person, and my property to the last drop of my enemy’s blood if they take it there. The Kopchek brothers took it there.”
Danny added, “I didn’t think about it being ‘real’ or not. I ‘pushed’ when I felt the pull. And when David said, ‘Let the Things be Destroyed,’ I said it along with him below my breath.”
“Same here” Michael added.
“Andy and I did too” A.D. told us.
Pixie explained, “So did I. A.D. was in the breezeway smoking, and Andy and I joined him. With the door open, we were able to hear. Since we were supposed to ‘not overwhelm David,’ I didn’t see any problem with listening in. I also got your permission to bring ‘the restof us in’ as soon as I could. I would have done that sooner, but A.D. was smoking, and the rest of us were busy ‘smoking’ the Kopcheks, and probably a few more besides.”
Shaking his head and waving Danny aside with his hand, Uncle Frank first looked through the peephole. After that, he drew his wand and pointed it first at the door, and then at his voice box.
He ‘told the door,’ “Reggie, your friends and you are trespassing on Floyd lands, free and clear; House Dvorak is a cadet house and fully covered under the Treaty. That being said, why are you on a front lawn you shouldn’t be on at all at eight thirty-five in the morning?”
A pleasant medium-tone male voice, that was presumably “Reggie,” replied, “A few odd things happened this morning, Lord Floyd. First, from what our detectors were able to read, some kind of magic attack hit this house a little after five this morning. It wasn’t dark as far as we could tell, but it wasn’t exactly friendly, either. You know anything about that?”
“That’s actually part of why I’m visiting Lord Dvorak this morning. And while I wouldn’t necessarily call what happened an attack, something did happen then that I might need to ask for help from you to deal with. What’s with the company?”
“Reggie”answered, “The trio in ‘civvies’ are a ‘Plain Clothes’ Obliviator and the new New-Maj contact team for this area, since the old team just got fired for fucking off for years. But that’s part of ‘two’ and ‘two and a half.’ The Hedge Obscural who should have been hospitalized years ago was finally hospitalized Monday night. She was also forcibly cured less than half an hour ago. Completely Squibbed, and she’ll need psychotherapy for years to deal with the messed-up stuff she did when she was actually insane, but she should eventually recover. Kankakee called that in this morning, and I just got word of in in my notebook five minutes ago. Too bad her parents are No-Maj and they dumped her. She could really use family right now.”
Frank told him, “Her name is Fiona Emily Stock. Her parents are Joseph Howard Stock senior and Theresa June Stock. They’re retainers of both House Floyd and House Dvorak, and they don’t know about magic yet. Joseph Howard Stock junior, Maxwell Taylor Stock, and Peter Stewart Stock are their other children. Joe and Max are both wizards, and Peter probably is, too. Was the ‘contact team’ looking for them?”
“Them,and a Ms. ‘Holly DeVos, whose son Christopher should have started Ilvermorny three years ago, but was never notified. She one of yours?”
“Not mine, but John Dvorak’s, since he’s head of House Dvorak. Christopher is now legally adopted by his birth-father William James Cash and his wife Cassandra Oleander Cash. They are House Dvorak retainers as well as the in-laws of my niece Patricia. Chris is a wizard, and he’s here along with both older Stock boys.”
A different “voice” from the front yard asked, “Did they have anything to do with the magic atom-bomb that came roaring out of your house and blew up my magic detector half an hour ago?”
Frank told “that” voice, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but the answer is‘no.’”
“Reggie” asked, “So, you didn’t have any kind of ritual half an hour ago?”
Frank answered, “Reggie, I did not lead any kind of dark or explicitly illegal ritual at any time this morning. And you had better already have a warrant for that ‘Foci Revelio’ spell you just cast.”
Reggie replied, “Now who’s accusing who, Frank? We both know that if I had cast the ‘Foci Revelio’ spell without a valid search warrant, which I freely admit I don’t have; or exigent circumstances that I freely admit just aren’t here; that I wouldn’t be able to use what I got or anything I got from what I got to wipe my nose, much less in court.
“Just the same, someone is taking a page out of the ‘Michael Corleone Book of Conflict Resolution,’ and I have Obliviators visiting no fewer than five county jails plus MCC Chicago doing the clean-up. That even includes the bunch that got jailed from the ‘Indian Hill Five’ debacle yesterday. And when silent green lightning bolts come screaming in from the cloudless heavens and randomly splatter-kill people in No-Maj jails in front of witnesses, there’s a lot of cleaning up to do. I’d rather know that it was ‘the devil I know’ even if I can’t do anything about it rather than guessing about a devil I don’t know. And, if it was the ‘unknown devil,’ I’d like to find out for sure before they try going after people who might actually be missed by polite society.”
Frank offered, “I could really use some help ‘fast-tracking’ MaCUSA Passports and US Passports with MaCUSA Stamps on them. While you are doing that, between you and me, we’d also finish telling any ‘No-Maj and New-Maj retainers’ for either House Floyd or House Dvorak about the Wizarding World and so on.”
“How fast?” Reggie asked.
“Today would work. Before you blow your stack,I know that I’m making a really big ask. You’re making a much bigger ask than you realize, too.”
“How big are you talking, Frank? And does it have anything to do with that Sakura Wand?”
Danny barely saw a silver flash out of the corner of his eye, and only because he was paying attention. He clearly heard David’s voice explain from the front yard, “The Voldemort War is only on an armistice. Voldemort is defanged, for now. But somehow, he survived.”
The group of magical visitors were exclaiming over each other before Reggie ordered,“Silence! And yeah, that was exactly what it looked like.”
Speaking to Frank again, Reggie asked, “Where are your under-age retainers going to go to school, if I may ask? And how the fuck did you get a Floyd kid tutored by Albus Dumbledore, much less have them serving in a foreign war? We both know that Dumbledore only teaches that spell to people who are sworn to him.”
Frank replied, “That’s part of what John and I need to figure out. While we reserve the right to teach them ourselves, we might be admitting all of them to Ilvermorny, or even Hogwarts. That’s why we need the passports sorted out today.”
“Will MaCUSA WOMBAT Cards work instead of US Passports?”
“Probably not, Reg. But if you waive testing under special circumstances, we’ll accept WOMBAT Cards in addition to passports.”
“Of course you would” Reggie replied sarcastically.
Reggie told the rest of his party, “Okay, the rest of you can take off. Jim, Bill, Ollie; this is above your boss’s paygrade, so you’ll route your reports directly to me, if you need to file them at all. Wayne, Roger, Dan; you aren’t cleared for any of it. Your report will state that I took over your ‘First Contacts’ with the Stocks and Ms. DeVos dueto the Treaty of Parallel Free Unity. Route your voucher for the destroyed magic detector through DMLE to the Marshal’sOffice. We’ll cover it in full. And Ilvermorny will find out how manystudents they’re getting from the Mokena area when I do.”
One of the “voices” asked, “Marshal Sykes, the Stocks aren’t the only family we need to contact there. Should we just send the Stocks over here?”
Reggie answered him, “Yeah, that’ll work, Wayne; good catch there. Now shake a leg, all of you!”
Six “cracks” of ‘Apparition’ or personal magical teleportation were followed up by a knock at the door.
Frank suggested, “John, you’ll want to let Reg in. His full name is Reginold Sykes, and he’s the Regional MaCUSA Marshal of the MaCUSA Federal Marshal’s Office. He’s on nobody’s payroll except for MaCUSA, but he also understands diplomacy and tact. And, House Floyd is more a nation unto itself on the Wizarding side than just a ‘family.’ We actually have more ‘privileges’ and ‘rights’ under MaCUSA than Indian Nations have under the US Federal Government. The Regional and County Patrols and Aurors have limited authority over Houses Floyd and Dvorak at best. They’re not even allowed on our lands, posted or not, without a warrant from the MaCUSA Federal DMLE. But MaCUSA issues passports andthe like on the Wizarding Side, and the Feds and states issue IDs and stuff onthe No-Maj side, since we are subject to No-Maj law, whether we act like it or not.”
John nodded his permission. Frank let MaCUSA Marshal Reginold Baker “Regie” Sykes in, locking the door behind him. Marshal Sykes was maybe a year older or younger than John and Rick. He was a white man who stood six foot one when he wasn’t wearing his campaign hat, and weighed about one hundred seventy-five pounds or so. His brown hair was worn in a flat-top, and his brown eyes were clear. He was clean shaven. Under his green robe, he was wearing a “law enforcement” type of uniform in various shades of green, with black riding boots. While some of the attachments to his black duty belt were obviously magical, the holstered .45 Colt Automatic, spare magazines, and handcuff holster were at least at first glance entirely non-magical. His badge was identical to a US Marshal’s Badge except for the label on the outside of the circle and the seal in the center of the star. Danny thought that it looked “hazy” enough that he was sure someone who wasn’t magical would see a US Marshal’s badge in its place. He would soon learn that seeing “hints” of such enchantments was something many “blood Floyds” could do naturally but almost no one else could without enchanted items or spells of their own.
He announced “Reggie Sykes, MaCUSA Marshal for the Midwest Region. And John Dvorak, what did you really know in Da Nang in ‘64?” After a quick pause, he also asked, “And will shoe covers be enough?”
John answered, “Shoe covers will be fine unless you’re wearing spurs to go with the boots. And in 1964, I barely believed that magic was real. I also ‘knew’ that you were a ‘No-Maj’ SP4 MP asking about magic, that I was a newly promoted Sergeant First Class who was looking for at least a wartime promotion to Master Sergeant so I could become a Team Chief, and that I was not looking for a Section Eight Discharge from the Army for being nuts. So, I politely invited you to take your Section Eight garbage down the street to find someone who was actually looking for it. You corrected yourself with the excuse that it was some type of new illegal drug, I told you that I knew nothing about it, and we each went about our business. How would an actual wizard end up in the US Army in 1964?”
“I was ‘New-Maj, and I was drafted. Ilvermorny did nothing to teach us how to not be drafted, and my parents made me get my draft card as a condition for staying at home while I looked for a job after Ilvermorny. I was drafted a week after I got my draft card, and I was in Fort McClellan two days after that.
“The Treaty and the changes to the law that it created actually helped me out a lot. When I got out of the Army in 1966,instead of worrying about being arrested for ‘Fraternization,’ I was able to get bonus points for being a US Army combat veteran and MP on my exam for the Marshal’s Service.”
After he put his shoe covers on, he asked, “Who’s carrying the Sakura wand? And who cast the Adfero?”
David answered, “Me on both counts, Marshal. And I’m also the ‘end result’ of your first ‘magical incident’ after five this morning. When I went to bed last night, I was in the UK in a parallel universe. I got ‘swapped’ with the David Dvorak who lived here yesterday. Near as I can tell, he was just as magically powerful as I am, but he also didn’t know about the Wizarding World. What my dad and uncles are hoping for is that he and I were only swapped, and that we can figure out how to swap the other David and me back to where we started.
“I’ve had my wand since the end of last December, and I can already cast all the Hogwarts First Year Charms, Hexes, and Transfigurations; plus several ‘battle-only’ spells. And, I can cast all of that silently while not needing perfect wand movements. I’m actually required to carry my wand at all times, and I’ve got a UK Auror’s Holster to carry it in, to comply with MaCUSA wand law for Sakura and fruit cherry wands.
“I also swore a Blood Oath to defend and protect Harry Potter, and those things don’t necessarily just go away. That’s why we need the passports—just in case my Blood Oath transferred to the Harry Potter here. I won’t be able to go to Harry’s aid alone,and I might not be able to not go. So, we might all be making a short trip to the UK very soon to make surethings are alright. Or, we might be moving there for years. Harry won’t even be two until the end of the month. And, until we know his circumstances, we won’t know if I’m needed, or even might be needed.”
“Do you know how to Apparate?” Marshal Sykes asked.
“Yes, Marshal,but I’ve only practiced it a few times. Since I’m as young as I am, beyond practicing how to Apparate somewhere in an emergency, I don’t do it. Even being a diplomat’s son in ‘where I came from,’ it’s just not worth the trouble it would cause if I made a mistake.”
“Who taught you the Adfero?”
“Remus Lupin. I’m pretty sure you don’t know him. He was taught by Professor Dumbledore directly, and he taught me with Dumbledore’s permission. It wasn’t easy to learn, but it was doable. And no, I can’t teach the spell to you, or even give you hints on how to cast it. Dumbledore is that particular about who knows that spell. He has his reasons, and I agree with them.”
Sykes asked, “What was the ritual?” No one needed to ask what ritual he was talking about.
Once again, David supplied the information. “It was the Cry Unto Heaven Ritual.”
Sykes exclaimed, “But that’s just an old wives’ tale!”
“Not really” David answered. He further explained, “It’s in the Floyd Family Grimoire, but we ended up casting it almost spontaneously. And it’s also classed as legal but forbidden magic. Most people who could actually use the ritual wouldn’t cast it, and most people who would otherwise use the ritual would see it backfire and take them out instead of those who harmed them.
“It’s not even dark magic, just very unforgiving of manipulation or darkness on behalf of those casting it. But we had as many as twelve people actively involved, and none of them had magical indices below a two. So, we got what we got, and so did a lot of other people from how you were acting. I don’t know how many people that was, but I would guess that it was anyone who harmed David Dvorak or any of his siblings in any serious way out of evil, malice, greed, or lust.”
“What about the Fiona kid?” Sykes asked.
David replied, “My guess is that the ‘evil crazy’ was tied up in the ‘Hedge Obscural’ thing, and not Fiona herself. You said that she lost all of her magic, but that she was actually sane and repentant for the harm she caused. So, the ritual took out the ‘evil twisted magic,’ leaving the innocent and beloved human girl behind. She and her family will need psychotherapy from a mind healer or magic-aware psychologist for years, but they might have a decent chance of putting their family the rest of the way back together.”
Changing subjects, David added, “While it wasn’t necessarily a ritual, my Uncle Rick appears to have magically adopted his wife’s three children.”
Rick cut David off by asking Sykes, “How much can you be trusted with actually knowing stuff without turning into Dudley Do-Right?”
Sykes looked at Uncle Rick, Dad, and David; and he burst out laughing. It took him over a minute to recover. After that, he asked, “What’s the ‘official' story?”
Frank answered this one. “Ricardo Cristobal Floyd and Richard Christopher Dvorak were identical twins who were born in 1943 to a concubine Father got pregnant for that purpose. Father’s wife only let him claim one boy, and the other one was quietly ‘foisted off’ onto the orphanage in Bloomington. Father went back to the same concubine and got her pregnant again only weeks before her husband came back from the Pacific in 1945 with his testicles shot off. That man insisted on claiming the son as his own so that people wouldn’t realize that he came back from the war ‘less of a man.’ That child was John Dvorak.
“John’s legal father Abner Dvorak abandoned his family in 1956. Father got the crazy idea that Richard should learn of his ‘family heritage’ and move in with John and John’s mother. Father was crazy like the Red Fox he was, and his idea actually worked. John and Richard both joined the Army in 1962. When Richard was discharged from the army for Asthma, my brother Ricardo hired Rick to work his completely lawful businesses. Rick might have had ‘ideas’ about what Rico was up to beyond what he himself did, but he kept it to himself if he did, and he minded his own business.
“Rick did very well for himself working for Rico. Rico might have ‘opened the doors’ but it was Rick who marched through them. Rico also managed to get‘set up’ by one of Harley Floyd’s crew in 1970. This henchman, Sam Kopchek, drugged both Rick and his own wife up, and somehow managed to have Rick get Stacy Kopchek pregnant with her first child. He filmed it, recorded sound, and everything.
“Kopchek used this blackmail material, and his wife’s opinion on how she got pregnant with Rico Floyd’s son, for years. He was able to raise ‘Samuel Christopher Kopchek Junior’ how he saw fit,including dyeing the kid’s hair brown, making the kid wear brown contact lenses, and generally mistreating the kid until the day Rico got blown up in Effingham. Rico was powerless to stop it, and Rick didn’t even know.”
Rick interrupted, “I knew, but Mr. Ricardo forbid me getting involved. We were identical twins, after all. So, the ‘blackmail material’ would have worked just as easily for me as it would have for him. And until the last year or so there just wasn’t enough evidence of abuse for any stranger taking custody away from the married man and woman who were both legally recognized as ‘Sammy’s’ birth parents. Can you continue, Frank?”
Frank nodded to Uncle Rick and he continued the tale. “Kopchek even started sexually molesting ‘Sammy’ earlier this year, and his wife either didn’t know or turned a blind eye.”
“I didn't know at first” Aunt Stacy interrupted. “And I had become so twisted that other than cutting Kopchek off since he was running around on me once I’d ‘caught’ him, I didn’t even care about the molestation, at least right away. But I was frightened enough of Kopchek that I didn’t dare confront him. I was awakened twice on the 25th of last June to the fact that I had become almost as big of a monster as Kopchek.
“The first awakening was when David had to make Aaron participate in raping him to avoid Sam raping Aaron, too. I saw what I saw when it happened. David told me all the details on what actually happened later that evening. It was beyond horrible to be told that, but Sammy never lied to me ever, not even when I’d wish he would.
“The second awakening happened at a wedding reception here at this house. David snuck enough of some kind of punch…”
John supplied, “It was Lam Son Square Mojo, just like mama-san used to make. David drank half a gallon of it before anyone realized how much he’d drank. It was actually Michael who got it out of David how much he’d drank. Michael managed to get it puked out of him without having to use Ipecac on him, but I was still on the ragged edge of starting an IV line on the kid for half the night.”
Stacy resumed her story. “Anyway, Sam Kopchek came up with the brilliant of ‘spanking’ David. And by ‘spanking,’ I mean stripping him naked, laying him over the Dvorak’s washing machine, and beating him until he passed out. And I was twisted and dead inside on top of being drunk myself, that I actually went along with it.
“John Dvorak ended up persuading me to give permanent custody of Sammy to him before we left the party that night. He set it up so that he would pick Sammy up first thing in the morning, along with the Mokena Police Department. He also set it up that Kopchek would be arrested that next day so I could leave him without risking Kopchek murdering me. So,‘Samuel Christopher Kopchek Junior’ ceased to exist on the 26th of last June,replaced by David Dvorak.
“Do ‘wizarding cops’ watch the ‘No-Maj’ News?” Stacy asked.
Sykes replied, “We do, or at least I do; plus, with all the No-Maj Federal Agents involved with the recent ‘troubles’ with House Floyd, we couldn’t not watch. We certainly didn’t know about the abuse before the news reports came out, and we didn’t know why Ricardo Floyd would sire a child and not claim them, when their House Laws practically demand the exact opposite. And, we couldn’t understand why when our Wizarding First Contact Teams actually did their jobs that we kept coming up with six Floyds when we could only account for five.”
Stacy answered, “That was my fault too, though it wasn’t abuse by itself. I had just given birth to my second son Aaron. Sammy had also watched the delivery itself without anyone realizing he was there the whole time. I was tired, Kopchek was worthless even back then, and I couldn’t think of anything else to get Sammy to behave himself and stay put so I could sleep. So, I gave Aaron to Sammy as his ‘third birthday present,’ since by coincidence Aaron was born exactly three years later down to the second. But I was kind of out of it still and really exhausted from giving birth. So, without realizing it, I actually gave Aaron to Sammy, and Sammy accepted Aaron as his, not just as his brother.
“Aaron was always Sammy’s kid, not Sam’s and he wasn’t always fond of me, either. They were both smarter than Paul and Christina, and Sammy always knew where Aaron was. Aaron also knew where Sammy was most of the time when they weren’t both together, and either one always knew how the other was doing. While I did it in such a way that if Sammy blamed anyone that it would be me, I had to start Sammy in school a year late and Aaron a year early because I couldn’t separate the boys for an entire school day without all hell breaking loose around the apartment. But prior to today, only Sammy, who is now David, had freckles, red hair, and silver eyes.
“The day Aaron’s rape in the Will County Jail made the news, which was the first I’d known about either the rape or Aaron being held in the Will County Jail instead of DCFS child custody, I had to take Aaron from Morris where I was staying with my brother, here to Mokena in the hope that David would be able to patch Aaron back together somehow. When I lost Sammy, I also lost Aaron. I was just ‘allowed’ to keep taking care of him since most eleven-year-olds aren’t granted custody of their kids.
“When we got here, David read me the Riot Act, introduced me to his Uncle Rick who had just reconciled with his adoptive Dad the evening before, and went into the house to take care of helping Aaron. Despite the harsh introduction, Rick and I hit it off quickly. I ended up spending the night at his house since by the time Paul, Christina, and I were ready to leave here, it was too late to attempt to drive to Morris. Rick and I quickly fell in love with each other, and both Paul and Christina ‘fell in love’ with Rick as a potential father figure at least.
“Rick and I got married last Tuesday, since my divorce to Kopchek was already finalized. We were also starting the procedure for Rick to adopt Aaron, Paul, and Christina through the No-Maj courts. We’d already decided that even if Rick and I ended up divorcing that Rick would remain Aaron’s, Paul’s, and Christina’s dad anyway, visitation or shared custody, everything.
“Anyway, that brings us up to today. Your ‘sixth Floyd’ was always Aaron, since I gave Aaron to David at the hospital right after giving birth. Frank was guessing that all the ‘Family Magic’ that was bouncing around finally knocked something loose. Aaron, Paul, and Christina always looked more like me, but just a little bit like Kopchek. Aaron was always smart, just like David, where Paul and Christina were just ‘regular kids.’ And while David would take care of Aaron’s needs even if he was actually hurt by Kopchek or me, he would only take care of Paul and Christina if I was really out of it. David was always the ‘responsible older brother’ to Paul and Christina, but he was only their oldest brother. He was Aaron’s dad, and I just never quite saw it…
“Anyway,the Family Magic kicked things loose. Aaron, who I just found out could always talk to snakes just like David changed over to actually looking like David’s kid. And both Paul and Christina, who had been getting noticeably smarter than they were before Rick and I got married Tuesday also got freckles, red or ‘strawberry blonde’ hair, silver eyes, and snake talk. I’m apparently a ‘witch’ too, so they all had magic from birth. So, I’m guessing that if you checked, you’d now find eleven Floyds counting the one my niece Betty’s carrying by John and the one I’m carrying by Rick.”
Danny quietly took a quick but closer look at David, Aaron, Paul, and Christina. Whatever happened had mostly finished happening. David, Paul, and Christina clearly looked like they were all born as the children of Rick and Stacy Dvorak. Aaron also looked like that, at first. But if you looked closer, he actually looked like the child of David Dvorak, Stacy Dvorak, and Saria Cook.
David had also been looking. When they caught each other’s eye, David remarked, “That’s how the ‘other Aaron’ alwayslooked. Same for Paul…”
“And I’m too ‘pretty’ to tell that the ‘other me’ died, Sammy?” Christina spontaneously interrupted.
Up to that point, Christina talked like an average to slightly below average three-year-old girl. But the ‘Family Magic’ had clearly affected more than her looks. She kept talking.
“The‘other Sammy’ always looks at me first, ‘cause I’m ‘the baby.’ Then he looks at Aaron, ‘cause Aaron’s his baby. Then he looks at Paul, ‘cause Paul’s his little brother. But you looked at me like you’d never seen me before in forever. You knew Aaron and Paul, even though you never seen them looking like we did. But you didn’t know me!”
Before Christina could get more than a start to a full-on melt-down going, David expertly plucked her out of Uncle Rick’s lap and held her to his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried quietly on his shoulder.
David told Christina, “Daddy and Mommy died too, Christina. I only saw your ‘soul glow’ in Mommy’s tummy, so I knew that you were. But I was surprised to meet you and find out you were you. You’re a wonderful and beautiful girl, Christina Julia Rush-Cook Dvorak. Sammy loves you, and I can’t help but love you too.”
For the next minute or so, everyone else in the house was silently transfixed as Christina cried herself down rather quickly, while David comforted her, scat-singing his little lullaby to her.
She started to squirm, and David sat her down on her feet. She announced, “I need to go potty.”
Saria asked, “Do you want me to help you?”
“Guess so, Sammy trusts you.”
Saria collected Christina, Christina’s diaper bag just in case it was needed, and she led Christina by the hand to the family bathroom.
While Christina and David were debating who lived and who died, Sykes had cast several silent magic spells with Dad’s and Uncle Frank’s silent permission.
He announced, “Christina’s a Dvorak, and so are Paul and the two unborn children. David is a Floyd. Aaron is magically a Floyd, and David’s son. The weakest witch or wizard in the room is a 2.2. As for the rest, some are Floyds by magic, and some are not. Does everyone know who is who?”
Everyone in the room stated they did, and introductions all around were quickly made. This allowed Saria the time to help Christina to the bathroom to avoid an “accident,” go to the bathroom, and get cleaned up and back into the living room.
Sykes announced, “Okay, then. All of you who are ‘No-Maj,’ which means that you have no magic at all, are old enough to understand and follow the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, just as if you had magic of your own. It’s just what it sounds like, meaning that you are forbidden by international law from telling anyone who doesn’t know about the Wizarding World about the Wizarding World. So, don’t. People will either think you’re nuts, or they won’t. If they don’t, then we have to send in ‘Obliviators,’ who are witches and wizards trained to remove memories from peoples’ heads without hurting them, and remove the memory of knowing about the Wizarding World. After that, you get arrested, and upon conviction get big fines and go to jail.
“There are, of course, exemptions from the law under certain circumstances, but those exemptions and exceptions are usually taken care of by government or magic-school employees, not regular citizens. Within House Floyd, you take care of that yourselves for your familymembers, but you are also subject to international law. And unlike the No-Maj laws, the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy is enforced everywhere.”
--DING-DONG----DING-DONG—
Rick announced, “It’s probably the Stocks, Cashes, and Holly DeVos. It’s definitely three cars that pulled up…. Yeah, it’s them. The ‘other David’ knows the exhaust notes of their cars, but they’re all talking now.”
Danny had moved back to the front door, John nodded at him, and Danny let the new arrivals in.
William Joseph “BJ” Cash, Vietnam war era former Army Captain, looked like his slightly older relative the famous country and western singer Johnny Cash down to the last inch and ounce. Unlike the famous singer, he had a prosthetic right arm. He wore a shop-floor uniform for the Ford Motor Company’s Torrence Avenue assembly plant, where he worked Quality Assurance when he wasn’t taking off of work for some reason.
Cassandra Oleander “Sandy” Cash was his wife of fifteen years or so. She was brown haired and blue eyed, and she was five foot five and 138 pounds. She was wearing a brown pant-suit that was inexpensive but flattering.
Holly DeVos was in her mid-thirties but clearly ravaged by her liver cancer, that was responding well to the chemotherapy she was taking. Her noticeably thinned but still present hair was dirty blonde. She was five foot three, she weighed around 105 pounds down from 140 the previous month, and her eyes matched those of her only child. Holly was wearing a denim skirt, with a denim shirt worn like a jacket over a paleblue halter top. The padded bandage she was wearing to protect her chemotherapy port was barely visible.
Joseph Howard “Joseph” Stock Senior was thirty-six, five foot ten, and he weighed one hundred fifty pounds. He had a slightly receding hairline of dark brown hair, along with dark brown eyes.
Theresa June “Teri” Stock was still thirty-four, with light brown hair and eyes. She was still five foot seven and weighed one hundred forty pounds. She and her husband both were wearing jeans,with her in a loose but flattering tee shirt, and him in a chambray shirt likehe would normally wear to work.
Peter Stewart “Pete” Stock, their five-year-old youngest son and child, was lightly tanned, with light brown hair and eyes. However, while he was still the same size as he had been, meaning average for a five-year-old boy, he was now a full inch shorter and a few pounds lighter than the “new and improved” Paul Dvorak. He recognized Paul as Paul when they looked at each other, but Peter did have a question or two.
“Hey Paul, is your new dad treating you bad like you said Kopchek did to Sammy? And is it true that Fiona ain’t nuts no more?”
“Hey, Pete. No, this was ‘magic,’ and I wanted it. Daddy didn’t do it to me, it just happened. And if the grown-ups are saying Fiona’s alright now, then I hope they know what they’re talkin’ ‘bout. Did the weirdos in the robes send you guys over?”
“Yeah. Weirdos got cops, too?”
“Guess so, at least this one. Uncle Frank and Uncle John know the guy, and they let him in the house, so he must be alright, I guess.”
Bringing the conversation back to the grown-ups, the Captain announced, “Sergeant; Holly, along with Sandy and I got a pair of trained owls dropping off letters addressed to us, plus one with each owl for Chris that we haven’t shown him yet. Holly said that she knows about it, but that you would be better to explain it?”
John replied, “Sir, it’s part of the ‘Floyd Family Secrets,’ but it’s a lot bigger, and it isn’t just the Floyds. And whether it was an actual attack or not, David got switched around with ‘a David’ from a parallel universe, which is why the rest of us are gathered around here, including the magic version of a US Marshal that I met back in ‘Nam.”
§§§
After about ten minutes or so of getting everyone in the house “caught up” with each other, the conversation started to accomplish new things.
“So, you’re saying that we might all have to move to Massachusetts or the UK in the next few weeks?” Joseph asked. “Cat has a plant in the UK, but I don’t know how I’d get a transfer there even if I wanted one. And what about Ford?”
The Captain answered, “If it comes to that, Ford has plants at Dagenham and Halewood, plus an R&D Center in Dunton. But once again, how would we make that happen? Plus, what about our apartment buildings? I could turn mine over to a property manager and still make a buck or two, but Joseph’s money is a lot tighter with his, and he’s barely made it outside of Joliet’s ‘layoff curve.’”
Frank answered, “We don’t know for sure that we’ll have to have you move anywhere. Ilvermorny is a boarding school, so all the ‘magic kids’ minus Andy will live there. I’ll find a way for John to get Andy trained up on his magic somehow and with him and Rick on it, he should do okay. Ilvermorny pissed Andy off worse than they did me, so unless he decides to go now for spite and to hang out with his brothers and friends, he isn’t going. John and Rick will have to move there if the kids decide to keep going with their band, but they’re both more ‘portable’ as well as being better-off in general. Betty will have to work harder to get her teaching credentials in Massachusetts, but they need good teachers everywhere. John can sell anything anywhere, so he’s good. And Rick has his managers running the day-to-day stuff both at his motorcycle shopin Morris and the helicopter company. He can just fly back here when he needs to for the helicopters, sell the shop in Morris if he doesn’t have the time to run it, and open another shop in Massachusetts if he wants to run one there.
“The problem that might see all of us moving is if David’s Blood Oath‘carried over,’ and he needs to move to the UK. If that happens, then he won’t have a choice, and he won’t be able to go over there alone.”
David offered, “Captain, you’ll want either Dagenham or Dunton, since they’re both inEssex, and much closer to where we might need to move. Halewood’s in Liverpool. But we don’t know if or where yet on that. The magic school there is Hogwarts. They’ll be able to help Andy both with his dyslexia and with catching up with where he should have started‘magic school’ in the first place. Or,they do have a day school in Surrey for the magic stuff. While I’ll have to go to Hogwarts fora lot of reasons, and A.D. will have to go there too, Andy could go either way. And Danny, Michael, and Pixie will probably be better off going to the ‘day school’ than Hogwarts.
“There’s so many things we don’t know. But what we do know is that if I need to protect and train Harry, that all of us will need to go to the UK to live, and live there for years. I also know that the band can make it big, and that if we go for it and do our best that it will make it big, with both the ordinary world and the Wizarding World. As far as that goes, we’ll make it big in both worlds even if I don’t have to run off to the UK to help Harry, so at least Uncle Rick and Dad will have to move somewhere if we want to take care of both our regular and magical educations along with making the band happen.
“The band will make a lot of money. If we grab onto every cent we’re entitled to, and invest it wisely instead of blowing it all living fancy, it will be worth the effort, both ours and yours. It’ll be hard for all of us, but we can do it, and we’ll be very well paid for it if we do.”
Sykes offered, “While I won’t make guarantees for moves that you don’t even know youneed or want to do, the MaCUSA Government does have programs in place to ‘nudge’ multi-national employers such as Caterpillar Tractor and the Ford Motor Company to transfer employees from one country to another. While we generally can’t save you from your own incompetence, and generally won’t try, we will protect you from layoffs that would otherwise see you sent home. And make no mistake here. If David Dvorak has to honor a blood oath to protect Harry Potter, who might be the key to keeping UK Magical Terrorists over there and not over here, we will do a lot more than you’re asking for to make sure David does it.”
Danny asked, “Marshal Sykes, we have two ‘regular’ music teachers, Javier Carlos and Henri Dupris. We still need their services. What can we tell them, if anything?”
“They’re both famous enough in musical circles. Dupris is a Squib, and Carlos got his MaCWOMBAT back in the ‘40s.”
Michael asked, “They helped us find several other music teachers or coaches that we might or might not be able to make use of? Should we just tell Messers Carlos and Dupris that we’re ‘all-in’ on magic and let them handle it?”
Sykes answered, “Good question, and that’s actually how you should handle it. Let them know what’s going on, and that you will probably be moving ‘somewhere.’ If they’re as good as their reputations, they’ll be able to take care of things right.”
Andy offered, “Master Henri can pick up session gigs in either New York or London,so he’s good if he wants to follow us. I don’t know about Mr. Carlos.”
John surprised everyone by adding, “Javier Carlos makes most of his money from session work, plus royalties from stuff he’s written. He teaches guitar because he likes to teach guitar, as well as being very good at it. So, he might be willing to move with us, or at least help us find who we need wherever we end up. But that brings us back to passports, WOMBATs, and anything else we might need. All of mine have their DOD dependent ID cards, as well as Illinois ID cards.”
Michael interrupted, “Wait a minute! What about Greg Dove at CBS? What do we tell him? And while we’re at it, how do we get in touch with the Wizarding recording companies?”
Sykes answered, “Greg Dove ‘went No-Maj’ straight out of Ilvermorny, ‘cause he was nuts about rock and roll music. He got on with CBS Records because he was that good at finding talent and producing records. He does know people on our side of the line, as far as that goes. So, if you’re dealing with Greg Dove, your band must be good.”
After a pause to wait for more interruptions, he added, “We can help with the No-Maj IDs as well as our own. Frank, what about your driver and butler?”
Howard quickly drew and holstered his wand. He told Sykes, “I was schooled by the Floyds. I passed my NEWTS in ’71. My kids were also schooled by the Floyds, so they could keep up in No-Maj School and go to Howard. They’re all No-Maj Doctors,and my oldest is a Wizarding Healer, too. My MaCUSA passport is up to date and good for another five years.”
Uncle Frank added, “My Head Butler, Wilbur Jones, is No-Maj. He’s also fourth generation working for House Floyd. His MaCWOMBAT is good, along with his stamped US Passport. Howard and Wilbur normally travel with me when I go to the UK, so they’re both as good as they get.”
William stated, “I’ll get a MaCWOMBAT just so your ‘flat-foots’ don’t try messing with my head again like they did when Junior told them to fuck off two years ago. But I won’t be needing it for long,and the passport I’ll be needing is one not even your bunch gives out.”
Seeing Chris’s look of confusion, Holly explained, “Chrissie, I went up to the ‘magic hospital’ in Chicago. Witches and wizards are usually ‘tougher’ than people without magic, but liver cancer is still deadly. They’ve given me ‘magical medicine’ that will help the chemo kill off the cancer without killing me with it. But witches and wizards can’t get liver transplants, ‘cause they just don’t work for us. If the chemo gets me ‘well enough’ where I’d have recovered from a liver transplant, it will also get me well enough that magic medicine and my own magic will get rid of it the rest of the way. It’s still too early to tell is the chemo will work ‘good enough’ yet.
“And it’s like I said a few minutes ago. I could do magic, but magic school wasn’t for me. I dropped out after passing my OWLs and I just didn’t use it. I was ‘White Trash from Mississippi’ even in the Wizarding World, so I went with what I was used to. I was sure you’d get a letter when you were eleven. When you didn’t, I just figured that if ‘magic’ didn’t need you, then you didn’t need it. And if they’d have sent the letter before this morning, I’d have found the money to take care of you somehow, like I always have. Ilvermorny itself is free,and it includes uniforms, books, parchment, and your first wand. The rest isn’t really all that expensive, and I would have found it somehow.”
William further explained, “A.D.? Chris?” Seeing both teens nod, he continued, “I checked with Frank when I found out I had liver cancer. Magic might have a lot of stuff, but most ‘magical medicine’ only works on wizards and witches, not ‘regular’ people. If they could help me at all, they’d already be helping me.”
--RING!----RING!—
Michael,who was closest to the phone, answered it. After talking for a moment, he announced, “Dad, it’s Midlothian Music. Andy’s Epiphone is ready to be picked up. How do you want to handle that?”
Frank offered, “Howard drove your Uncle William and me here, and he won’t be needed in Chicago. I can have him pick it up and bring it back here?”
John added, “I can send a check with Howard if we owe them anything.”
After speaking on the phone for a moment, Michael stated, “They say you’ve already paid them for it, and that Howard will need to show them his license, but that it'll be fine.”
John nodded to Michael, who concluded the phone call.
Danny took the phone over, and made a quick call. After hanging up, he told John, “Dad, I just called Jorge Alvarez. Fortunately, he’s over his bronchitis so he can deliver his route this afternoon, along with mine. Since we won’t be sticking around here, I also told him that he was getting both paper routes from us, and that we’d settle and I’d pass the receipt book and money bag over to him. I told him to be here around five thirty this afternoon. Is that going to be enough time?”
John replied, “You should have asked before giving him a time. Marshal Sykes, will that be enough time?”
Chuckling slightly, Sykes replied, “‘Reg’ is fine when we’re not in public if I may call you John? And, unless something really goes South on us, I should have all of you back here with passports and everything well before then.”
Howard suggested, “Mister John, if you would have Mister David send an Adfero to me when you get back, I’ll be able to keep Mister Andy’s guitar in the trunk of Mister Francisco’s car in the mean time?”
John agreed, “That would probably be for the best. I’m not known for personally employing a Black Stable-master, so some nosy neighbors might cause trouble thinking they’re doing the right thingseeing you here alone. It will also allow me to not have to explain anything yet to Jose Rivera when I don’t know what to tell him.”
Finding nothing else needing to be attended to before they left for their errands, Howard left the house to pick up Andy’s guitar and run errands until he was called back. Everyone else gathered around a rope that Marshal Sykes pulled from a pouch on his duty belt that didn’t look nearly large enough to hold a fifteen-foot length of rope. After casting a spell on the rope, Marshal Sykes explained what the rope had become.
“This rope is now what is called a ‘Portkey.’ A Portkey will take anyone, whether they have magic or not, and move them magically from one place to another. When you are holding on to a Portkey, it won’t let you let go until you’ve arrived where the Portkey is taking you. It feels like a combination of flying and being picked up by your navel. It doesn’t hurt to use a Portkey. This one works on commands of my voice. If you have the ability and the right to make Portkeys, you can also make them automatically transport someone at a pre-determined time, or activate on the voice command of someone without magic of their own, or even activate immediately upon being touched. It's this last part, plus working for no-Maj people among other reasons that has Portkey creation highly regulated. Frank is allowed to make Portkeys for Floyds, Dvoraks, and their retainers; even international ones. Stacy, if you would have your daughter touch the portkey itself even while you hold her in your arms, that will work for the best.”
Everyone grabbed onto the Portkey, and Marshal Sykes activated it, leaving the houseempty.