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A Magic Beyond All We Do Here	By : NormanCharles Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 4225 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Okay, okay. I'm NOT JK Rowlings, I do not own Harry Potter. I make no money from writing these stories, I do it because it's fun and other people seem to enjoy what I write - the best of whom write review and tell me when I get it right and

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Chapter Nine

Invasion

Mundanes and
Muggles and what constitutes magic

Sinestra and
OMC

Sidra had
only been gone a few minutes when Charles and Amber heard the kitchen door open
downstairs.

�That�s
odd,� he thought, �I didn�t think she�d be back so soon.�

Then he
heard voices, deep male voices, with British accents; they seemed to be arguing
in shouted whispers.

�We�re
supposed to get in, grab the Magus and get out, and no witnesses.�

�Hey, he�s
got a kid!� they must have seen the pictures on the mantelpiece.

Amber
clutched her father in fear.� His mind was racing.� First priority, get Amber
to safety.�

He picked
her up and walked silently over to the closet, then carefully opened the door.�
In the ceiling of the closet was a trap door that allowed access to the
crawl-space between the four townhouses that comprised the building.� He lifted
her up on his shoulder and pointed to the trap door, she indicated that she
understood and quietly pushed open the door and crawled up.

�No matter
what you hear sweetheart you have to be quiet; very very quiet, okay?�

Her eyes
filled with tears, and she nodded and said in a small voice, �I love you
daddy.�

He nodded
and whispered back, �I love you more.�

Charles made
sure the trapdoor was shut before he closed the closet door.�

He
remembered the words of Sergeant Weatherford, his hand to hand combat
instructor at Fort Benning, Georgia, �this ain�t a game of �tag you�re it,�
this is kill him quick.� If you don�t have a weapon you are the weapon,
go for the soft spots, the eyes, the throat, especially the throat!�

He remembered
his training.� He knew that these men had put the icy grip of fear on his only
daughter, that they would hurt her if he didn�t stop them.

Then he
opened the window and yelled, �Run baby, run, and get help!�� Then he ran to
the door flattened against the wall beside it and waited.

He heard the
sound of multiple pairs of feet pounding up the stairs, when a black-robed
figure burst through the door Charles grabbed his face from behind, pulled back
and down with all his strength.� The man�s feet flew out from under him and his
head made a wet �thunk� as it hit the hardwood floor.� Without wasting any
motion Charles brought his hammer fist down on the man�s windpipe, breaking the
hyoid.� He stood and turned quickly catching the next man face first on
wide-spread fingers, the man howled in pain as he too was forced to the ground
where Charles relentlessly gouged into eye sockets forcing the head back - blinding
pain made the man drop his wand but he managed to hold onto his knife, a wicked
looking black stiletto, with his other hand.� Charles had seen the knife and
knelt with all his weight on the man�s elbow, restricting his movement.�
Pressure on the back of the man�s hand bent it down toward his forearm, forcing
the attacker�s fingers open and the wicked looking blade to drop.� He saw the
third man raise his wand from the top of the stair and point it at him, just as
the man yelled �stupefy!� Charles lifted the other goon by the front of his
robes so that the full force of the spell hit the human shield.

He
simultaneously dropped the blinded assailant and fell over so that it looked as
though he had been hit too.� What the standing attacker couldn�t see was
Charles falling on the handle of the knife.

The third and
last attacker couldn�t believe it had gone so wrong so quickly.� This guy was
supposed to be a push-over but he�d fought like a demon.� This elementary
school teacher had killed Smith with his bare hands. The goon used his foot to
turn over the unconscious mage.� Was he dead or just unconscious?� The Dark
Lord wanted him alive, he�d better be sure.� When the dark figure leaned over
to check for a pulse Charles gave out a blood curdling scream and brought the
knife up just below the man�s sternum.� He used the bone as a fulcrum to lever
the stiletto back and forth, neatly severing the man�s ventricles.� With a gasp
and a look of complete surprise the attacker fell over dead.

Charles rose
to his hands and knees, all his senses alert for the sounds of other black
robed invaders.� He waited for what seemed like an age but there were no more
attacks, he saw the bodies on the floor of his beloved music room, the blood on
the floor and on himself and felt his gorge rise.� The adrenalin was no longer
pumping and he wanted desperately to be sick.� He forced it down; he had to be
strong for his daughter.� Amber, oh God, what would she think when she saw
this?� He needed help, he needed it now.� He stood shakily to his feet, he
needed a witch or a wizard and he only knew two.� He couldn�t embrace a warm
loving melody, he needed Valkyries, he needed Don Giovanni, he needed
passionately intense music, he focused on Wagner, then sent out a desperate
plea for the people he knew to be magic.

Sidra was
there instantaneously, apparating directly into the music room, she saw a
figure in the doorway holding a long bloody knife, bodies on the floor, as the
man spun to face the sound of her apparation she shouted �Stupefy!�

He turned to
see her shock as she recognized him just as the spell hit and everything went
black.

He opened
his eyes to see her kneeling over him saying �I�m sorry, I�m sorry, I�m so
sorry!�

There was
another pop and Selene was in the room, wand drawn, quickly assessing the
situation.

�What the
bloody hell happened here?� she demanded, and then nearly dropped her wand when
she saw her sister bent over the bloodied prone figure of Charles crying bitter
tears.

�My Goddess
Sidra, what . . .�

�Its okay
Selene, he�s okay, it�s not his blood.�

Saying that
she leaned him forward letting him get used to sitting up before standing.

�They were
after me, they would�ve hurt Amber, he mumbled.�

�Amber,
where is Amber?�

�Hiding, I
don�t want her to see,� and he motioned at the bodies around the floor.

�We need
aurors now,� Selene said, decisively, �Can you summon them?�

�Here in the
U.S. it�s the Magical Investigative Bureau.�� She answered, and I already
have.

The sounds
of multiple apparations were followed by the command to �Freeze!�

They all
froze, unable to move or to speak.

�Alright,�
the man obviously in charge commanded his troops, �quick sweep of the crime
scene, don�t touch anything, image everything physical and metaphysical.�

�By the
book,� agreed one of the others who then set about his tasks.

The one in
charge walked over to the three people in the room who appeared to be still
breathing.

�I�m going
to release your hand, you will drop the weapon.�

He did and
Charles did as directed.

�Agent
Hayden,� one of the men called, �this one reads as a mundane, but there�s
something magical about him.�

�A curse?�

�No, a
talent, he registers as a magus of some kind.�

�A talent
for violence?� he said looking at the carnage around the room.

�No, wrong
color,� answered the agent, �and the violence is non magical, other than a
stupefying spell put on this one.�� He indicated one of the prone men, then he
looked in surprise and called out, �we need a medic, Pierce! Get up here; we�ve
got a live one!�

The man
named Pierce checked over the �breather� and established that he had been
stunned by someone from behind at fairly close range, and he�d been in a fight
with someone who knew how to fight up-close and dirty.

�He�s stable
Agent Hayden,� said Pierce, �release this one� he said, pointing to Charles
�and let me check him over while I�m here.�

�Okay, bag
the knife and wands as evidence, run a prior on all of the wands.� Hayden
ordered; then asked �Any other magical objects in the room?�

�The funny looking
guitar on the stand registers as magical, looks like North American unicorn
horn on the bridge.�� Another agent answered.

�Run a scan
on the horn material, make sure it�s legit.�

�Anyone else
in the house?� Hayden asked quietly.

�My
daughter,� Charles said; glad to be able to speak again. �She�s hiding in the
space above the closet; I put her there when these goons broke into the house.�
Please agent, I don�t want her to see this.�

�I can put a
glamour on the room, and you� he added, looking at Charles� blood stained
clothes and hands, then he spoke to another of the agents �get a female agent
here to take care of the daughter.�

�Amber�
Charles said.

�To take
care of Amber� Hayden corrected, then said to Charles, �I�m going to put a
glamour on you and this room, but understand this, right now you are a suspect
in a multiple homicide; one false move and you�re a dead man.�

Charles
nodded, �I just want my baby safe.�

Hayden
mumbled an incantation and the blood and bodies disappeared.

Charles opened
the closet door and said �Amber Sweetheart, its Daddy.� You can open the door
now.�

The door
slid open and Amber, face tear-streaked and looking very frightened poked her
head out and said in a small trembling voice, �are they gone?�

�Yes
Sweetie, they�re gone.� Let me help you down, okay?�

She turned
around and slid to the closet shelf where Charles was able to reach up and
gather her into his arms.� She started crying great gasping sobs.

�Oh Daddy, I
was so scared, they were going to take you and I didn�t know what to do or who
to call, and you� she leaned back to stare accusingly at him, �you said not to
move or say anything and I was up there forever!�

She broke
down and cried into his shoulder again.

Special
Agent Hayden of the Magical Investigative Bureau had seen too many crime scenes
involving magic in his long career; he was a good judge of character and not
easily conned.� He also had the ability to replay a scenario with uncanny
accuracy.� What the scene unfolding before him said was that here was a man
who, when faced with unknown forces that threatened his family had faced three
intruders and killed two of them, one with his bare hands.� He could see the
relief in the father�s eyes knowing his little girl was safe.

�Sir,� he
said crisply to Charles, �I�m going to need statements from everyone here.�

�You might
get more out of the ladies if you unfreeze them.�

He did, and
almost immediately regretted it.� The twins were furious at being attacked and
petrified �without so much as a by your leave.�� Worse yet was one of the
sisters was well connected to the British Ministry of Magic and their elite law
enforcement agency known as the DMLE.

�Ladies,�
Hayden held up both his hands, palms forward, in front of himself, �this
glamour will wear off in just a few minutes, can we take this discussion
somewhere else?�

Charles was
directed to clean himself up, but not to try to wash the �stains� out of his
clothing in case it was needed later as evidence.� He excused himself to the
master bathroom while the Sinestra sisters and Amber went downstairs for tea.�
Charles was just a few minutes coming down having grabbed a quick shower.�
Sidra was sitting on the piano bench dictating her statement to one agent;
Selene was on the couch giving her story to another while Amber was talking to
a very pretty lady at the kitchen table.� Agent Hayes crossed the kitchen
having just had a word with Amber�s interviewer.

�Mr.
Norwood,� he said, �please tell me everything you can about today�s events.�

The interviews
took the better part of an hour, the agents were very thorough.� During that
time the agents learned of the nature of Charles� gift and made a list of the
people who cold have known or suspected that he was a Music Mage, the list was
very short.� After the individual interviews they all sat around the kitchen
table, sipping tea or coffee and compared notes.� When they got to the part
where Amber had closed the trapdoor above the closet the lady agent led her out
of the room, for which Charles was very grateful.

�Where did
you learn to kill people with your bare hands Mr. Norwood?� Agent Hayden asked.

�Fort Benning , Georgia.� Advanced Infantry Training, about fifteen years ago; never thought
I�d ever use it.�

�How do you
feel now?� Hayden asked.

�Like I want
to be sick, I ache all over and I feel like I�ve run a marathon.�

�That�s the
adrenalin rush wearing off; you won�t feel better in the morning.� I�d
take the next couple of days off if I were you.�

Special
Agent Hayden was impressed.� This man, an unarmed civilian had just taken down
two terrorists and severely injured a third.� The priori incantatum
spells run on the three assailant�s wands showed a trio of very sick bastards.�
Apparently they all enjoyed torturing mundanes.� He didn�t show Norwood what the surviving assailant�s wand had confessed about his victims; seems he liked
little girls.� Norwood would have ripped the bastard�s throat out and frankly
the career agent didn�t see himself stopping him.� The two witches, twins
apparently, had rushed to his aid as soon as they knew he was in trouble, one
of them had come all the way from Scotland in a matter of minutes.� The priori
spell also indicated a stupefying charm had been the last charm to issue forth
from one of the sister�s wands as well.

�Did you
stupefy the bad guy?� Hayden asked as he returned the ladies� wands.

�No,
actually I stupefied Charles.� I couldn�t see him that well and he had that
wicked big knife and I panicked.�� She was almost in tears as she repeated her
apologies.

�The way I
see it,� Charles said �no harm done.� You couldn�t be sure I wasn�t one of the
bad guys and you reacted before the bad guy could get you too.�

�I have to
agree� Hayden said, �and you used enough force to take the attacker down
without killing him.�

�For which I
will be eternally grateful.�� He smiled for the first time that evening,
lessening the tension in the room.

�What
happens to the Death Eaters?� Selene asked.

�The bodies
are already in the morgue, after the autopsy if no one collects them or
inquires about them for two weeks they will be cremated.� The survivor is
enjoying our maximum security facility even as we speak.� When we�re done
interrogating him we�ll arrange to have him extradited to the U.K.� Frankly I hope he can be tried for the capital crimes I know he committed while still in Great Britain.�

�May I start
cleaning up the music room now?�

�Already
done, we did a thorough wash down after we gathered all the evidence.� You
won�t be able to tell anything happened in there.�

�Thank you
for that, but the images in that room will be hard to forget.�

�Mr.
Norwood, don�t try to forget, believe me when I say that can�t be done.� But
with the help and support of your loved ones you can put it behind you.��

He handed
Charles a card.

�Here�s my
contact information, the prefix is magical and will find me no matter where I
am.� He paused, and then wrote a number on the back of the card.� �Here�s a
number to a psychiatrist friend of mine who specializes in PTSS, post traumatic
stress syndrome.� You should all make an appointment.� Please call him; he�s
helped me more than once.��

He stood and
extended his hand; �Mr. Norwood, I�m sorry I had to petrify you on our first
meeting, but in my line of work you react quickly or you die.� I�m proud to
have met you; I just wish it could have been under different circumstances.�

As he turned
to leave he said, �Mr. Norwood, this �Dark Lord� is probably wondering where
his three goons are right about now, would you like us to install you in a safe
facility for the time being?�

�You mean
like protective custody?�

�No, just a
safe house, you know, just in case.�

�Is there
some way to make my home safe?� he asked.

�We can ward
the house so that no one may enter without your expressed permission.�

�Can we do
that tonight?�

�If these
two ladies will give me a hand, and a wand or two we can knock it out in about
half an hour.�� Turning to the sisters he asked �well?��

They both
drew their wands and nodded.

When it was
time for Amber to go to bed she asked in a very small voice, �can I stay with
you?�

�Of course
Sweetheart.�

Sidra nodded
her understanding and prepared to leave.

�Don�cha
wanna stay too?� Amber pleaded.

She looked
at Charles who looked amazingly child-like himself; his eyes seemed to say
�please stay.��

They all
wore typical night clothes, amber in her pajamas, Charles in a t-shirt and
boxers, Sidra in a knee length night shirt.

Amber got
into bed first and then Charles, she plastered herself along his side hugging
his arm.� Sidra crawled into bed, spooning against the little girl who hummed
contentedly.� Then Charles felt a similar weight on the mattress behind him as
Selene snuggled against his other side.

�Don�t get
excited Charles dear, we�re just sleeping together not sleeping
together.�

Around three
AM the nightmare began, Amber sat bold upright and screamed �Daddy!�

Charles, and
Sidra and Selene all murmured comfort and companionship and deep, deep love for
the child.� No nightmare could survive that.� They all slept dreamlessly the
rest of the night and well into the next morning.

When he
finally woke he felt a dead weight on both sides of his body.� The Sinestra
sisters still framed him and Amber.� He would happily have lain there in the
warmth and comfort of his loved ones except for one thing � hydrostatic
pressure, he needed the bathroom and soon.� He imagined the slow building
arrangement of Shenandoah. He thought first of a mountain brook emptying
into a stream, monophonic then layered with harmonies, then added woodwinds as
the steam entered a river which became a rain swelled torrent accompanied by
brass and percussion, then he enfolded his three sleeping companions and as one
they opened their eyes wide.� They quickly, quietly rolled out of bed in search
of the nearest loo.

Charles
stretched and yawned, reveling in the ability to move his limbs again, and then
got out of bed himself.� He put on his bathrobe and headed downstairs to the
small bathroom, then shuffled into the kitchen to start the kettle, only to find
Selene already there starting the stove.

�Morning,�
he said, with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.� He felt as though he had
a hangover.

�Oh hullo,�
she answered back, �sleep well?�

�Like the
proverbial log.�

�Me too.�

Charles
wanted to say something encouraging or clever or reassuring about their
sleeping arrangements but found he couldn�t think very well, finally he said,
�thank you.�

�What, for
tea?�

�No, thank
you for coming to help last night, flying or flooing or apparating or whatever you
did to get here so quickly.� You came to the defense of my family and I will
never forget that.� And thank you for your help with the MIB, I think they
might have hauled me off to jail last night if you hadn�t been here.� And thank
you for your support and comfort for me and Amber last night.�

Sidra came
downstairs and into the kitchen holding Amber�s hand, when the little girl saw
her father she ran to him and hugged him tight around the waist.� He hugged her
back then enfolded Sidra into his arms as well.� Selene busied herself with the
teapot knowing she didn�t belong in this family picture.

�Selene,�
Charles and Amber said simultaneously as they beckoned her into the group.�
With a look that said �if I must� she joined the embrace and immediately felt
better for it.� She couldn�t explain the tenderness, the reassuring comfort,
the rightness of their sharing this moment.� They only broke the embrace when
the tea kettle whistled insistently.�

Charles made
eggs to order for everyone and julienne potatoes for hash browns, then warmed
over maple sausages.� They served themselves from the stove and kitchen counter
as the little kitchen table wouldn�t hold all the food.� They sat and ate in
companionable silence.

After
breakfast they retired to the family room to talk.

�Charles,�
Sidra said, �and Amber, yesterday your illusion of a safe, secure and
comfortable world was shattered.� You have seen and� she looked at Charles,
�you have been the worst side of humanity; stripped to the bare essentials of
kill or be killed.�

Charles
looked at a spot on the family room rug, wondering if it has been left by the
attackers that previous day, he felt numb and cold and incredibly guilty.

�Charles!�
Sidra�s sharp voice startled him out of his morose reverie, �you are not
responsible in any way for the actions of those men.� They decided to
break into your home, they elected to come after you and in the process
endanger your daughter.� They chose the action, so they chose the
consequences.

�How can you
be so calm about this?� he asked quietly; then added with a hint of anger, �do
you even know what its like?�

�Charles
dear, you forget, I fought in two wars before I ever met you.� When I was
seventeen I was trapped in a cellar with a group of muggle born children that Grindewald�s
followers wanted to slaughter for the crime of being born of non-magical
parents.� I had my wand but precious little training.�

She
remembered only too well as she shared her memory of the dirty, huddled
children whimpering under the stair.
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A Magic Beyond All We Do Here