4More Letters
The next day, two more letters arrived, for Académie Beauxbâtons and Scoil ag Garrán Draighean. This time guessing enough to glance upward, Harry caught sight of the departing owls.
Harry couldn't read the first page of either of them, though the eighth or fourth page of each respectively seemed to start over again with what appeared to be the same letter in English. With lots of other languages in between.
He decided that might be reason enough not to go.
The third morning started with a letter from Hogwarts, on the first page it was in English. Once he'd read that through, all the other pages seemed to vanish.
Tricky.
Except for the last page which said that his parents had already put his name down, and paid his tuition already.
The way some of it was worded seemed to mean that it was … very full of itself. But the English version of the letter from Académie Beauxbâtons seemed very full of itself too, just … in a different way.
Harry sighed and showed it to Marge.
Marge smiled a not-nice smile and said it seemed like just the place.
"In what way?" said Harry.
"It seems like the sort of place that Vernon would want to send Dudley if he could afford it."
Harry shrugged.
"And your parents already paid for it," she said, "you should go," she shrugged, "Might help you feel closer to them or whatever?"
"Oh," said Harry, "I hadn't thought of that."
Marge nodded and looked away.
Harry sighed.
"What's that?" she said.
"It's a long way away."
"That's true," said Marge.
"I want to …" Harry sighed.
"Then go,"
"No," said Harry, "I want to …" he sighed again, "Umm…"
She turned around and sat down, "you want to what?"
"Not go alone," he said, "I wish I could take Colin or Meredith with me."
"According to Meriweather, Meredith doesn't have magic."
Right. Harry sighed again.
"Why don't you talk to Meriweather and Melissa about … whether staying back a year makes sense. And about whether Colin and Dennis are going to that school or one of the others."
"Oh," said Harry, "Yeah, alright."
Harry called Meriweather, who said staying back a year might make sense, and would make even more sense if he was getting home tutoring, but he wasn't so that didn't make sense.
(Because apparently, Meriweather seemed convinced he was only good at educating sixteen-year-olds, not eleven-year-olds.)
Harry called Melissa. She said she'd stop by after work and look at the new letters with him.
.
Instead, she appeared near noon with her lunch box and sat across from Harry to eat and look at his new letters.
When she finished reading the letter from Hogwarts, she said it did seem ideal in a number of ways, and that yes, barring anything better popping up, she'd be sending Colin and Dennis there next year.
Then she called Meriweather herself, and they talked and argued and play-argued and talked some more, then she hung up and told Harry, to 'man up, and go!' (And when Colin got there, he'd have the joy of showing him around, instead of letting Colin push him around like usual.)
Harry mentally rolled his eyes but didn't show that to Melissa.
Instead, he nodded and took his letters back upstairs.
When he came back down, Marge had joined her with her own lunch, and they were talking about other things, mostly business deals that Melissa was consulting on or whatever. Harry didn't have the stomach to learn silly new business vocabulary while he was so worried about his own future, so he went outside and climbed a tree to think.
After a while, Melissa drove away.
And a while after that, one of her dog chores brought Marge outside, and she asked him what he was looking for.
"Nothing," said Harry, "Just the breeze is nice."
Marge looked at the cloudy sky.
"No it isn't," said Marge, "it hasn't warmed up enough yet for you to be craving breeze, what's really going on?"
"Still thinking about … going to magic school."
"What about it?" said Marge.
"Umm, leaving home, I guess."
"What's there to leave?" said Marge.
"I don't really mean the house," said Harry, "I mean Meredith and Dennis and Colin, and you and Melissa and Meriweather and Lester."
"Got it," said Marge.
.
"What did Meriweather say?"
"That staying here would only make sense if he was tutoring me, and he refuses to tutor me. Which … I don't think he meant, for real, but he did mean something, but I'm not sure what."
Marge sighed, "He meant he wouldn't be a school teacher for you, he'll probably always be happy to offer help with your studies, school or otherwise."
"Oh, ok, yeah."
Marge nodded, "and what did Melissa say?"
"Melissa said to 'man up and go.' Because I shouldn't be following Colin around, he should be following me around."
Marge growled.
Harry sighed, "I'm sure she meant more than that too because she always does."
Marge barked a laugh.
"But since I don't know what she meant, I think she just wants me to obey, but usually when she wants me to obey she does a subtle thing like give me permission for something. I'm not sure if a direct order means a direct order or if it means something else."
"A direct order from Melissa means it's the advice you paid her to research for you. She's a consultant."
"But the question I asked was whether she was planning to send Colin and Dennis to Hogwarts, not which year to go."
Marge snorted, "But only in relation to the other question."
"I guess," said Harry and climbed three limbs lower so that he was only barely above Marge's shoulders.
"Do you want my advice?"
"Sure," said Harry, "as long as you don't get offended by me not agreeing with it and following it instantly."
"Sure," said Marge.
And then she was quiet for a long time.
"You … didn't have the happiest time living with Petunia and them."
"Yeah." Which she won't say is mostly Vernon's fault, because of her baby-brother-loyalty.
"And it makes sense that you'd want to prolong the happiness you feel right now, with the friends you've made since then."
"Yeah,"
Marge sighed, "But we'll still be here when you get back."
"Huh?"
"If you stayed here, you'd only see Meredith or Dennis once a week or whatever, right?"
"Uhh?"
"I'm sure there are summer hols where you're going, probably Christmas and Easter also."
"Oh."
"You're not going away forever, you're going away for 3 months at a time or whatever. If you want to make extra time to spend at Melissa's house or Lester's house, I'm sure that can be arranged."
"Oh," said Harry, "Yeah, that would be fun."
Marge sighed, "This would be a lot easier for you, if you still hated it here, or if you'd had a happy enough time to trust us not to move or whatever while you're away."
"I hadn't even thought to worry about that."
"Yes, you were," said Marge, "you just didn't have the words."
Harry shrugged.
They were silent again for a time.
"You've explained what you think is happening inside my head, you haven't given me any actual advice about what you think I should do."
"Oh," said Marge, and sighed again, "You're still young enough that … your habits aren't set yet."
"Huh?" said Harry, "which habits?"
Marge sighed again, "Do you have any friends of your own? Or is it just that everyone in my family likes you?"
"Umm," said Harry, "Vernon doesn't."
"Vernon isn't what I meant, he's started his own family. I have mine, even if the government hasn't recognised that fact and doesn't plan to."
Oh, that family. "Sure."
She looked at him sharply, then looked across the yard at her dogs again.
"It's like this," she said, "most kids have lots of friends by your age, they've gotten in practice how to deal with those specific friends, and how to let their friends deal with them. Colin and Dennis are used to being brothers. Skylar and Meredith are used to being sisters. You were used to Dudley, but he isn't around anymore."
"Right," said Harry.
"I'm still surprised you haven't made friends at school."
"Dudley trained them all not to be my friend, they all have their own friends now."
"Oh," said Marge and wrinkled her nose, "well that's just another reason to switch to a different school."
"Do you mean Hogwarts, or moving to Lester's house?"
Marge looked at him sharply again, this time she smiled before she rolled her eyes and looked away.
"When we're talking about dogs," said Marge, "we name their habits or strategies of how to be friends after the first three letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha, beta, and gamma, and the last letter, omega."
"Oh?" said Harry.
He'd heard her introduce her dogs with those letters after their names, and sometimes pairs of letters about them being friends with each other, but he'd thought they were some kind of dog zodiac, not … well, maybe they were. Or maybe they were about just names of habits about friendship … strategies.
"Yes, really," said Marge, "Alpha means leader, like I and Lester, and Skylar and Colin."
"Oh," said Harry.
"We are leaders, not because we automatically have somewhere interesting to go, but because we are hard for anyone to influence, when we have nowhere to go, we wander, sometimes we find somewhere interesting that no one knows about yet, then we can go back and lead everyone who wishes to follow."
"Oh, ok," said Harry.
"When you're alone, or with me, you usually also act like an alpha, you do your chores without anyone telling you to. You wander the park, you climb trees, you sit and stew about what the right choice is, you don't just ask your nearest friend and do whatever they say."
"No, of course not," said Harry.
She nodded, "Betas follow alphas, well, first they pick out which alphas they trust to lead them somewhere interesting, and then they follow those alphas, (hmm, no that's not quite true, they'll follow anyone who can guide them where they want to go). But they are competitive, especially with other betas, and even their alphas, they want to be followed, in fact, crave it, but their best strategy is being the first to follow the alpha that is leading where they want to go and find ways to prove themselves useful and best among all the betas and gammas that are going in the same direction."
"Umm?"
"Melissa is a beta, but she's much smarter than I am, and sometimes figures out where I'm leading before I can finish explaining anything. I listen to her advice because she comes up with good advice. I listen for her permission because we're friends and what I do affects her, and it would be rude to just do what I think is best and make her suffer the consequences without her input on the process."
"Sure, I guess," said Harry.
"But they are just habits, you can lead or follow, whatever makes sense at the time, you know? And it's ok to use a different approach, to interact with a particular person, whenever you need to. In school your teachers are in charge, right?"
"Ok," said Harry.
Marge sighed, "Some of us I think, have a main approach that is our favourite, maybe we were born with it. Some of us I think, aren't born with a favourite but the circumstances of the family that we grew up in, or the school we went to, gave us significantly more practice with just one. First children commonly have a lot of opportunities to pick up the alpha habits, second children often have a lot of opportunities to pick up the beta habits. Etc. Same but not as foundational for when in the year you're born, if you're the oldest and biggest in your class, there will be a natural tendency to be pushed into leadership positions, so you get more practice at that. The reverse if you're the youngest in your class."
"So, I don't know any gamma?"
"It's not that simple," said Marge, "around me, and alone, you act like an alpha. Around Melissa you usually act gamma, follow where she's leading, even when she's being cryptic to get you to think for yourself."
"Oh, umm, but what is gamma?"
"Follows anyone, doesn't try to compete."
Harry blinked.
Petunia punished him for competing.
"At your age, gamma is a fairly good and … appropriate approach for you to use for an adult." said Marge, "Or at least for one that you have reason to trust, or don't yet have reason to distrust."
Yeah, ok.
"But you also use it around Colin and Dennis."
Sometimes I compete with them, … usually at Meredith's instigation, so … not sure that counts. "What about Meredith?"
"She's a switch like you, Alpha or omega when she's alone, beta or gamma when she's on the scent of a leader with somewhere interesting to go, or something interesting to teach. Competitive when she cares enough about someone's opinion to exert herself."
"Ok, and what's omega?"
"They are explorers like alphas but want to learn everything for its own sake, not because they care about their group and want to lead them to food or safety or whatever. And like alphas, they only follow when it suits them."
"Ok?"
"Alphas who need to get somewhere fast, but don't have time to explore, can trust omegas to give good advice because they aren't betas, they aren't liable to give bad advice just to get you in trouble and make you look stupid in front of your pack, they don't care about you or your pack one way or another. They just like knowing things, and like having a reputation for knowing things better than other people know those things. I guess … omegas compete with each other if you can even find two who specialise in the same thing. They probably even fight even dirtier than betas, because they don't care about their opponent, and/or they know they are on their own, they don't have a pack to back them up and nurse them back to health if they get hurt. So every fight is a fight for survival, and every opponent is a stranger."
"Um?"
"Rather a bleak picture of the world, isn't it?"
"I guess?" said Harry.
"Meriweather is an omega/gamma switch."
"Which one is gamma again?"
"Trusting, non-competitive follower, he trusts Lester, he'll protect Lester's girls with his life … (probably his boys too, now that he's acknowledging them, but … I'm not used to noticing that.)"
Harry shrugged.
Marge glanced at him and looked away, "You act alpha or omega around Meriweather. Probably depending on whether you notice him acting gamma or omega at you at that moment. And which of you has anywhere to lead or any information worth sharing."
"So, which one is best?"
Marge snorted, "They are all best at something, or they'd have gotten bred out of the gene pool, in both humans and dogs. They are just strategies, and you haven't had enough friends for long enough to get stuck in just one yet."
"Umm, ok?"
"But I'm used to you acting alpha/aloof around me, it's jarring and awkward when you go gamma around Colin and Dennis, I wish you'd get into better practice being alpha/beta switch around Lester's girls, and omega/alpha switch around Meriweather, before you get too attached to acting gamma around Colin and Dennis."
"Hmm," said Harry.
"You doubt me?"
"No," said Harry, "It's just … you think I want to move in with Dennis, when I keep asking to move in with Meredith, well, to Meredith's house, probably share rooms with Pom again."
"No," said Marge, and blinked, "we'll come back to that, remind me to come back to that. But no, I meant," Marge sighed, "If you had said, you didn't think you were ready to go off to magic school alone, and wanted one more year in regular school first to pick up another semester of whatever-you-care-about-more-than-magic. I'd be fine with that. Or to study with Meriweather to find out what the hell is going on with them and being one of their celebrities or whatever so that you don't make terrible mistakes with your first impression. I'd respect that choice, I might think it's stupid, or I might grudgingly admit that it might be necessary if Meriweather was saying that it's necessary, but I'd respect it. But you're not asking for that, you're asking to stay back just long enough to take Colin with you, so as not to be alone."
Harry shrugged.
Marge sighed, then turned and glared, "And that makes me very angry, not at you, but very angry that you have that little trust in the universe to provide you with additional opportunities to make friends, at a school, for children your own age."
"Umm?" said Harry.
"Will Dudley be there to train those children to not be your friend?"
"I … guess not?"
Marge nodded, "And they are all starting at eleven too. There will be plenty of children all looking for new friends, all you have to do is be your usual alpha/gamma/omega switch self until you figure out what they are like, and how far you can trust them."
"Ok?"
"Make friends who can deserve you at your best, make enough friends that none of them can hold your friendship ransom to blackmail you into staying gamma all the time, I really don't think gamma suits you." Marge rolled her eyes, "except to Melissa, it's cute when you're gamma at my beta."
Harry shook his head, "It's her house, I obey her when I'm at her house,"
"Oh, sure," said Marge.
"And I get kind of annoyed when she doesn't obey me at my house."
Marge blinked, "What did she do?"
"She … put her weights in my upstairs without asking permission."
Marge opened her mouth to stare at him, then glared, "Do you want me to move them?"
Harry shrugged.
"Do you want me to find a ribbon and tie a bow, and write your name on them?"
"What?"
"On the weights," said Marge, "there's a lot of them, but I can tie that many bows."
"Uhh," said Harry.
"As long as you don't expect symmetrical pretty bows. Come to think of it, the practice might be good for me, sometimes I have to decorate my show dogs."
"I, umm, no, I don't need bows, I just, wish Melissa talked straighter, and you would … make her not break your promises." At least, it felt like a promise when you said it.
Marge nodded, "I'm serious, do you want me to move her weights back downstairs? Or to remind her that she hasn't admitted that you've passed the required safety training and they're yours now, and she needs to do so."
"Would she admit that?"
Marge rolled her eyes, "Yes, she learned from me, and I taught you also."
"If she admitted that they're mine now, would she ask me for permission before going in there to practice with them?"
"Do you want her to?"
Harry shrugged, "Maybe?"
"Do you want her to ask permission before even going upstairs?"
"Sort of?"
Marge nodded, "It's your house, even if I'm the one paying rent."
"I don't know," said Harry, "but you gave me the upstairs less whichever room I chose."
Marge nodded and crossed her arms, "I'm not telling her to move them out of the house, she probably doesn't want them in dog space, she probably chose somewhere other than my office specifically to not crowd or distract me, she may not have realised that she was crowding you."
Harry shrugged.
"And you didn't tell her."
Harry shrugged.
Marge turned and looked at him, "You didn't feel safe enough to object back then?"
Harry shuddered.
"Do you feel safe enough now?"
Harry shrugged, "If I knew what I wanted, and I knew that it would be best for everyone, I would ask for it, or recommend it or whatever."
"But you don't feel safe to dictate, and you don't trust at least one of us enough to think that opening negotiations would net you anything helpful?"
Harry shrugged.
Marge closed her eyes, "what do you want to be changed?"
"I'm not sure I want anything changed," said Harry.
"Except for an apology from Melissa for not asking permission first, and from me for not noticing?"
"Kind of, yeah."
Marge sniffed.
"First of all, yes, I am sorry that I didn't notice: Both that you interpreted my answer to your request as a promise, rather than how I meant it: as a gift so extravagant that you'd know you had permission to ask for anything and everything you need, because I cannot do anything for you until I know that you'd want it. I can make guesses, but some of them have been … rather bad."
"Uhh?" said Harry, "Huh?"
Marge's eyes rolled back and then her face turned to look up at the sky, "Ok, yeah, that was a horrible apology, let me try again: I'm sorry that I didn't keep my promise, and that I didn't notice Melissa breaking it, and that I didn't stop her from doing so. Can you forgive me? Or can you please let me know what you want me to do to make it up to you?"
"Oh," said Harry.
"If, when Melissa comes tonight, I tell her to get them out of there, will you be thankful to have your room back, or will you be annoyed that she took back the weights she gave you, or left abandoned in your room, or whatever we're calling it."
Harry sighed, "I don't know, I guess, we could … negotiate that, once she's here also and can say whether she really meant to give them to me, or would just buy another set to put in your office if I locked her out of my rooms. Or whatever."
Marge covered her face, "If I tell her to move them because that's your room and she didn't ask permission first, she will move them, and she won't say sorry, she'll probably be sorry, but will also be too mad to say it for a while."
Harry winced.
"Mostly she'll be angry that I didn't tell her the same week she put them there. And slightly she'll be angry or sad that you didn't say anything. And slightly she'll think you don't like her anymore, after she knows you've been borrowing them too, and thinks that letting you borrow her weights is one of the ways that she knows you know she likes you."
Oh, good grief, thought Harry.
"Ok, Yeah," said Harry.
Marge stopped talking and sighed. Several times.
"I guess, that not saying anything about her being there …" But Harry didn't know how he wanted to finish.
Marge turned and stared at him, then nodded, "Is plenty of proof, not necessarily that you liked her, but how much you wanted her to like you."
"Yeah," said Harry.
"You should tell her that," said Marge.
"That I want her to like me?"
"No, that you know she likes you, and that you want her to understand that it's your room, that you never said anything before because you wanted her to like you. But that you're saying something now, because you're over that, and now that you're both sure that you like each other, that you want her to stay."
"Oh," said Harry, "I … guess."
Harry sighed.
"You still deserve an apology," said Marge, "even if you don't want one."
Harry sighed, "Yeah, I guess… I sort of do want one, I just don't want her to be angry, or think I don't like her or whatever."
Marge nodded, "You're alright."
After a long pause, she said, "She knows you use the weights, she asked me if I was using them, and I said no. She made the obvious assumption and asked me whether I'd taught you to be safe with them or if she should."
"Oh, ok," said Harry.
"She doesn't know it's your room, you should tell her before she brings more things over to play with in her spare time waiting for me to wrap up for the day. But you should also tell her about liking her and not wanting her to leave, she'll probably take 20 seconds to understand, not 12 minutes." Marge shrugged.
"Yeah, ok," said Harry.
"She'll probably try to hug you or something," said Marge.
Harry smiled, not at the thought of Melissa hugging him, but at the thought that Marge implied it was a threat, or at least, something requiring a warning.
On the other hand, he kind of did appreciate the warning.
"Good point," said Harry, "I'll have to watch out for which pocket her keys are in."
Marge nodded soberly, "You keep practising with those weights, and keep eating, and someday you won't be so bony."
"I guess," said Harry.
"I'd better take those dogs in," said Marge and wandered away.
.
Melissa came in swinging her keys around her finger, the way she always did when she was having a good day, or having an impatient day.
Marge was by the door, but had a dog out and was brushing him.
"Are you ready to go?"
"I'm ready, but you aren't," said Marge, "put your keys away."
"What's up?" said Melissa and put her keys away.
"You and Harry need to have a talk."
"Hell," said Melissa, "What about?"
"Harry," said Marge, "you have the floor." She went outside and closed the front door behind her. Harry didn't know what she was planning to do with the dog in the front yard, she rarely took them all the way around the block like people without big backyards.
"What?" said Harry.
"'Have the floor,' either means, you're in charge of the meeting, or technically it means you currently are the one in charge of talking, having the floor before the meeting even starts strongly implies that you're in charge of the whole thing," said Melissa, she glanced out the window at Marge, "is this a sitting down meeting or a walking around the block meeting?"
"It's a …" Harry shrugged, "I don't know, maybe not sitting, maybe walking around inside?"
"Unusual?" said Melissa, "this is … sounding like it's not about something I said this morning about the magic school thing."
"Only very slightly," said Harry, "Umm," he sighed, "Yeah, I guess, it's a 'man up' sort of meeting."
"Oh?" said Melissa.
"Melissa Creevey," said Harry, "I'm Harry Potter, and this is my house, the downstairs except for the kitchen I'm letting your friend Marge keep dogs in. You've seen all that. The room on the end upstairs is for her to keep her records in someday, or her dog-sitters sometimes, when she hires those."
"Ok," said Melissa.
"Come upstairs," said Harry, "I want to show you around."
"Ah," said Melissa. She followed him upstairs.
"This is my bedroom," said Harry, "I guess you already know how messy to expect."
Melissa snorted, "You don't yet own nearly enough toys to keep it properly messy."
"Maybe," said Harry.
"Or maybe you're getting old enough to start appreciating it clean, I'm never sure."
"Whatever," said Harry, "Anyway, the room I really wanted to talk to you about is down this way."
"Oh," said Melissa.
"This room," said Harry, "is my parlour, except, I and my friends are less of the talking forever type, and more of the playing with things type, so it's more of a playroom and toy room."
"If you say so?" said Melissa and looked around, "Umm?"
"Some of my friends, feel free to leave their toys laying around, at my house, instead of their own."
Melissa shivered, "is that … Dear god, Harry."
"This is my best room for that," said Harry, "You have permission, I'm giving you permission right now," said Harry, "But you … should have asked."
Melissa sighed, "I didn't know."
"I know," said Harry, "And I should have told you, but…"
"Let me finish apologising before you…"
Harry flinched and stared at her.
"I'm sorry, I had no idea, please forgive me and—"
Harry shook his head, "Marge said you'd be angry and think I didn't like you, and wouldn't apologise, so I'm not letting you talk yet."
Melissa blinked.
"She also said you'd figure it out in 12 seconds instead of 20 minutes, so, you'll get to talk soon after I'm done."
Melissa snickered, "Alright, keep going."
"Marge says, that I didn't say anything, because I was umm 'hungry' for you to like me. And that you already figured out that I'm playing with your weights, that you didn't make me stop, and that you got Marge to teach me how to safely because you do like me."
"Sure," said Melissa.
"And that you know that I knew at least half that, so that means you know that I know that you like me."
Melissa smiled. Harry wasn't sure if it was a friendly smile or an amused smile or both. Probably both, he hoped.
Harry took a deep breath, "Marge also says, that we need to talk about all this, so you can figure out that, me letting you have them here, has stopped being about me wanting you to like me, and switched to knowing that you like me, and now is about me liking you."
Melissa sighed, "Fair enough."
"Now, it's your turn to talk," said Harry.
"Am I allowed to apologise?" said Melissa.
Harry shrugged, "I guess, depends on what about, and I guess you're allowed to go away angry, but I'm not sure why you'd go away mad about me saying, 'did you know that I like you, Marge says that there's even proof.' "
"I'm not going to go away angry about that," said Melissa, "Harry, I'm sorry that I didn't ask permission before bringing my weights over, I had no idea this particular room might not be the best place."
Harry shrugged, "It is the best place, of my places."
"Fair enough, I'll move them if you want."
"Does that mean … asking for permission?"
"Yes," said Melissa, "May I have permission to leave them here, or would you rather I move them elsewhere?"
"I already said permission," said Harry.
"Thank you," said Melissa, "but willing isn't always the same thing as happy, would you be happier if I moved them elsewhere, to one of Marge's rooms, probably I'd need to ask her, just like I should have asked you."
Harry shrugged.
"Alright, back from permission to my apology?"
Harry stared at her.
"I didn't know, I couldn't have known without being told, I'm not sure I should be apologising for not asking permission about specific placement, but I should have asked in general where the best place would be, and that would have been a good time for you to have explained which rooms meant what."
Harry nodded, "Marge offered to take them downstairs, I'm not sure why she didn't offer to just move them to her room on the end, since she still hasn't filled it up with file cabinets like she threatened, but anyway."
"Do you want me to move them there?"
Harry shrugged, "Are they yours or mine or are we sharing them and sharing the room?"
Melissa frowned, "but are we sharing the room? Or have I taken it over, and should I offer you a replacement?"
Harry frowned, "It's my room, and I'm willing to share it with you, are they your weights that you're willing to share with me, or did you abandon them on purpose to see what I'd do with them, like a subtle gift/experiment thingy?"
Melissa smiled, then bit her lip, and then sighed.
"Harry, I'm sorry that I appropriated one of your rooms for months and months without asking."
Harry nodded.
"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
Harry shrugged, "like, permission to use your weights?"
"Like a room at my house that you have permission to borrow whenever you need?"
Harry blinked, "Oh!"
"Well, do you want that?"
"Yes?" said Harry, "But…"
"But … what?" Melissa prompted.
"But, I'd rather … Oh, I was supposed to remind Marge, to 'come back to that, later'."
"Come back to what?"
"That I said I'd rather have a room at Meredith and Meriweather's house."
Melissa blinked, "That might be more complex, but … ok that's an interesting thing to know about you, yes, who else knows that?"
Harry shrugged, "it seems like I've said it a dozen times, but Marge acted surprised when I said it, so maybe I haven't said it in a way that they understood."
"Hmm," said Melissa, "what do you think they understood instead?"
Harry shrugged.
"What do you wish that they had understood?"
"I'm friends with your children, and with Lester's children, but their house is quieter for sleeping in, and Meredith is … less fun, more … easier to … trust."
"Lester's girls are quieter than my boys?"
Harry nodded.
"Plausible," said Melissa, "So you like to be around them more at all, or specifically when it's time to be sleeping."
"Specifically while trying to fall asleep."
"Alright," said Melissa.
"Marge thinks I'm picking up less annoying habits being friends with them than with Colin."
"Habits?"
"Greek dog letters."
"What Greek dog letters?"
"Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Omega."
"Ignore Marge, and her thinking dog behaviours have anything to do with monkey behaviours."
"What?" said Harry.
Melissa sniffed, "I wouldn't worry too much about that if I were you. The question is, are you more comfortable around Lester's kids, or my kids?"
"They're all fun when they … Skylar reads a lot, Meredith does things, often in trees."
"Monkeys, I tell you."
"Colin and Dennis do things also, … often loudly."
"Certainly," said Melissa, "they are at an age when that is appropriate."
Harry shrugged.
"And Lester?"
Harry shrugged, "I don't think his cooking is nearly as bad as everyone teases him. Anyway, Meriweather likes him."
Melissa blinked, "Unlike Meriweather his job is full time, so he hasn't been around as much and you don't know how to relate to him?"
"I guess."
"Alright," said Melissa, "let's go find Marge."
.
"Because," said Marge, "every time he brings it up, everyone assumes that he's complaining about being lonely, and the topic immediately goes either to my relationship via very extended family or to that manners dictate that it is more appropriate for him to share a room with a boy. Whether or not he understands that or not, no one has been listening to him saying that loneliness isn't what he's complaining about, that within the friend group he has, he has a specific preference for Lester's house. He likes us all. But if the question of where he'd feel comfortable, he probably has instincts pulling him towards Meriweather, a relatively friendly adult of his own species."
"Meriweather isn't a separate species, he's obviously breed-fertile with the rest of us."
"He's breed-fertile with you," said Marge, "and we don't know whether that's a him thing or a you thing?"
"Whatever," said Melissa, "It's not like there will ever be an appropriate time to check up on that."
"And who knows whether we should expect hardy crossbreeds or infertile mules."
"Also something it would be inappropriate to check for years, if ever."
Marge shrugged, "My point will still stand, even after you fix it up to your vocabulary."
Melissa sighed, "And two little mages aren't more attractive than one big mage?" asked Melissa.
"Might be specifically less attractive until all 3 of them are confident in their ability to control their talents, and probably exude the right aura of feeling confident and safe about it all."
"Ah," said Melissa, "Humph."
"Anyway," said Marge, "Meriweather told Harry he wouldn't tutor him through school. But he told both you and Harry that he'd teach them what they needed to know to fit in and seem sane when they get there. I think Harry should spend the rest of the summer with Meriweather, and get whatever immersion therapy he can give, whether Meriweather is impressed enough with the quality of instruction to define it as 'tutoring' is hardly the point. Whether he sleeps there or here hardly matters to me, but it might to Harry or to Meriweather."
"Umm," said Harry.
Melissa turned to him, "What's up?"
"Marge said I'm supposed to ask for extravagant things, but not to expect them, I think just to practice asking for things."
Melissa frowned.
"Definitely," said Marge, "no one is promising you the presents you ask for, but you're behind on asking for things. And behind on getting things. Go ahead and ask."
"How much would it cost to add a room to Meriweather's house?"
Melissa shivered.
"Or a little shed with a bed in it, and … maybe a dresser?" said Harry.
Melissa sagged against her car, "Marge?" she said.
"What?" said Marge.
"Remind me why we haven't already forcefully abducted him to my house until he stops saying things like that?"
"What makes you think we haven't?" said Marge.
Harry tried to remember anything like that happening and being erased again. That should have been enough to make his head hurt, but it didn't hurt, he just didn't remember. Instead, he remembered trying to convince Melissa that if they tried too much, the Dursleys would come back, and who knows where the dogs would end up.
"No one has brought the Dursleys back," said Harry, "So I think they haven't been here or brought me back from your house."
"Fine, whatever," said Melissa.
"Probably counts better as proof that you trusted me that it would make things worse and didn't take me, than it is about what specifically will make them go get me and bring me back, and then the Dursleys too."
Marge twitched.
"The other Dursleys," said Harry.
"Anyway, what was wrong with what I said?" said Harry.
Melissa blinked, "Oh! About the shed!" then she shrugged, "Rules about modern humans living in buildings with indoor plumbing. That you aren't asking for that as a minimum, implies that you should be in the company of an adult who can insist on a minimum level of civilisation's luxuries and safety features for you."
"Oh," said Harry.
Melissa glared at Marge for a moment.
"A bathroom and kitchen would be nice," Harry agreed, "But, I was kind of assuming that I would be eating inside with everyone else."
"Sure. But also, no one wants to leave their door unlocked all night so that you can come inside every time you want to use the loo."
"Oh," said Harry.
She nodded, then shivered, "By which I mean, you deserve to be inside the protection of the locks for the whole night, not that they might not want to let you in when you need."
"Of course," said Harry, but then realised that it was a thing he might have worried about once, and it was good of her to clarify, in case he had noticed the discrepancy next time he was in the shower and trying to "figure out all the weird things Melissa had said."
And anyway, yet again they were skimming past him saying how much he was willing to give up to live where he wanted, and instead, they were only thinking about what was fastest, and whether it would be easier for him to share with Dennis, or with Colin.
Harry turned and stared at the house. His house. Number 4 Privet Drive.
He started walking.
Melissa followed him.
He didn't turn back until he was safely inside.
Melissa followed him, but she didn't stop when he stopped, she continued right past him into the kitchen and got on the phone.
That sounded like Lester.
"May I come over this evening, I want to talk to you and Meriweather about several things."
"…"
"About Harry,"
"…"
"About what it would take for a property to be safe and legal for him to move to, without interference from whoever it is that thinks he should live here instead."
"…"
"Sooner would be better, but…"
"…"
"Alright, see you Friday night."
"…"
"Yes, that would be fine, I'm sure they'd like that."
"…"
"Yes, see you."
"…"
She hung up, and turned to stare at Harry, "Do you want to spend the evening at Lester's, on Friday, Colin and Dennis will be there, and I don't know if Lester or I will be the one bringing you back."
"I don't exactly know the whole way back."
She narrowed her eyes, "Meriweather does, apparently, but he rarely drives except for work. Hmm."
Harry shrugged.
"Yes, I'd like to," said Harry, "But…"
"But what?"
"You and Meriweather only ever talk to me when you're alone, when you're in the same room you talk at me, and listen to each other."
She frowned, then rolled her eyes. (Not like her regular eye-roll, something different, maybe some kind of figuring something out.) Then she shrugged, "suit yourself. But everyone else will be there, if you want to play with them instead of watching Meriweather and I talk at each other." She had a silly smile on like he had just called Dennis or Colin cute.
Harry frowned and then shrugged.
.
...-...
Eavesdropping
"Hey little buddy," said Lester.
"Hey big buddy," said Harry.
"What have you gotten up to this time?" said Lester.
Harry shrugged.
"He demanded to have consent about how certain things are arranged at his house," said Marge, "I'm kind of lost as to where things are now."
"We'll get to that as soon as Meriweather is here," said Melissa.
"Is there … legal trouble in the offing?"
"No, and let's keep it that way, within reason." said Melissa, "Harry, are you sticking around, or are you going out to see what everyone else is getting up to?"
Harry shrugged and wandered towards the back of the house. In the sunroom he caught sight of Colin and Dennis already out climbing a tree, intermittently glancing upward, oh, there was Meredith. But what were they doing?
"What are you doing?" said Skylar.
Harry turned to figure out where she was.
He still didn't see her until she turned a page.
She was lounging in Lester's recliner reading a book.
Harry went over to get a better look.
It appeared to be the sequel to one of the chapter books they'd encouraged Harry to read last year. He hadn't gotten around to it, other parts of his life and homework had seemed more pressing. He'd managed to answer two out of 8 questions about it from just listening to the other kids talk about it.
"Is that a school book?"
"It is for Meredith," she said, "looked interesting,"
"It sounded interesting," said Harry, "But I didn't get that far."
She frowned at him, "You … don't read fast yet?"
Harry shrugged, "I'm not sure what you mean."
She rolled her eyes, "Everything takes practice, once you're good at regular reading, you can get faster at it, if you try. Your eyes don't have to travel all the way to the end of the line, they can see farther to the side than the exact centre of where you're pointing them."
"I guess,"
"And sometimes you can notice what words are on the next line and previous lines, figure out whether that means you can figure out two or three lines at a time, or if they distract you, which means, you'll read faster with a bookmark covering up the line above or the line below where you're reading." She picked up a card and waved it around. "Or, sometimes, you can do both, put the card above the line you're on, so the only thing visible to read is the line you're on and the next lines, and it's easier to tell without trying, which words are on your line, and which words are on the next two lines, that's what I'm working towards."
"Oh," said Harry.
"Here," she said, and handed him a card of black paper, "Solid colours with no words are best, darker is better for me than lighter."
"Oh," said Harry, but … reading more than one line at a time … wouldn't that get extra confusing to say?"
"First of all, the goal is to understand the meaning, not to say the words. Being able to say the words is just a way to check how well you are understanding, or rather, prove it to your teacher, but our teachers rarely make us read in class anymore, enunciation doesn't matter anymore, it never did, just understanding." She shrugged, "the faster you read, the more exciting the book gets."
Harry shrugged.
"What do you mean by Meriweather's cult?" exclaimed Lester.
The calmer tone of Meriweather's voice implied that everything was normal, and Melissa was yet again making bad jokes to get people upset.
"What's going on?" said Skylar.
"I have no idea," said Harry, "it sounds like they're arguing about magic."
Skylar raised an eyebrow, "Magic?"
Harry shrugged.
Skylar tilted her head to the side and stared at him, then put her finger over her lips.
Harry nodded, oh, yes, it is supposed to be a secret.
She grinned at him and took his hand and led him back towards where the adults were talking.
When they got close they slowed down, switched to tiptoes, and finished their approach to the mostly closed door.
"In the strictly legal sense," said Meriweather, "the government does not recognise any of our relationships except the biological, and therefore, no, strictly speaking, the exception for family members does not apply."
Lester said a bad word.
"But if Magic Herself had an opinion on the topic, it would side with the symbolic meaning of family and clan, not the legal definition. So far as I'm concerned, you all deserve to know, but strictly speaking, it is illegal for me to tell you, and therefore I haven't. But at the same time, if you're willing to live under the burden of keeping the secret, I'm very willing to explain everything that I am able."
"Give me the elevator pitch," said Lester.
"Magic is real, we've been hiding since the witch hunts, in some parts of the world we've been hiding since before Christianity, religions for a long time have wanted us working for them or not at all. After Christianity did its monopoly takeover, freeing Europe from the various abuses of the priest castes of previous pagan religions, by proving them mostly powerless against even mere confidence. Europe had mostly stopped even believing in magic at all. We won't discuss how monopolies freed from competition end up with an increased chance to abuse their constituency.
"And into that vacuum, The Malleus Maleficarum was published and engendered a moral panic, and mass hysteria. Whether it was aimed at mages or at Romany immigrants is still an open question in my head, and if Jews are more profitable to bully than Romany, then market forces dictate that bullies eventually will. But … well anyway it hasn't been of enough interest for me to dig further. The point is, we've been hiding from priest castes for a long long time, and getting fairly good at it. When the witch hunts swept across Europe in the 1400s, we passed international law regarding how thoroughly we needed to hide, who is responsible for enforcing which parts, and how. We've been hiding ever since. The governments are almost decoupled, and so are the currencies. The educational system is more decoupled than is actually good for us, which is where Harry comes in."
"You suck at elevator pitches," said Melissa.
"Alright," said Lester, "that was why there's a law."
"The International Statute of Secrecy, passed by the International Confederation of Witches, etc." Meriweather provided helpfully, "think Geneva convention."
"Fine," said Lester, "What has this got to do with 'us' and with Harry?"
"Harry and he are witches," said Marge, "Colin and Dennis will be soon, or something."
"Wizards, depending on your technicalities, or mages for the general term," Meriweather corrected.
"Does it only pass in the male line?" said Lester.
"Hell no, passes slightly easier in the female line, everyone here carries at least half the gene print, and there was probably vaguely an 18% chance that each of your daughters would be a witch."
"I'm sure your genetic maths must be off somewhere."
"25% chance of getting the full genetic complement, and within that quarter, a three-quarter chance of it activating from ambient magic levels, that's merely an estimate based on where we live, and that I also lived here while they were toddlers."
"Interesting," whispered Marge.
"So if I had been a mage myself?" said Melissa.
"Perhaps half your children with Lester would have the genetics to activate, and approaching 80% certainty of activation from exposure in the womb, up to another 15% if they lived with you from birth to age seven, or more generally, lived with me while they weren't living with you."
"Alright," said Melissa.
"Chances are not terrible that they will have a few mage children or grandchildren, depending on who they marry, and where in the country they choose to live."
"Alright," said Lester, "So among the eight of us, three of us are mages, the rest of us shouldn't be surprised to have mage grandchildren."
"Yes, exactly," said Meriweather.
Skylar began easing her way to her feet.
"And what about Harry?"
"Harry is also a wizard, do you want to go over his family tree?"
"How did you even get hold of … No, that's not the point, the point is, what is magic good for, and why does Melissa care enough to be having a family conference about it."
Skylar motioned Harry to follow her back towards the sunroom. Harry stood up as quietly as he could, he was normally faster, but maybe his practice sneaking quietly was mostly outside, where there weren't as many walls to make things echo so much.
"I was just trying to answer your question about whether you wanted to be here, or were even allowed to be here."
"Ah," said Lester, "and now since I'm already here?"
"Harry is a minor celebrity, because of the stupid shit his parents got up to, and more generally, the theoretically impossible stunts they pulled off, and their martyrdom for their cause, and more generally the normal kinds of mob insanity."
"When you say celebrity, mob insanity is a given, yes," said Lester, "So not only is he an orphan, he's also a wizard, and a wizard celebrity to boot."
"Yes," said Melissa, "and someone has been trying to turn him into a mushroom."
They tiptoed away, though Harry would have liked to stay now that they were talking about him.
"Do you mean harvesting mind-altering drugs from him, or do you mean, keeping him in the dark and feeding him bullshit?"
"The second; and I, of course, object on both counts," said Melissa, "and using memory-altering magic on him and Marge's brother to manage parts of it. One of their goals seems to be keeping Harry living in his house, along with Marge's brother's family. Currently, they seem unaware that anything has changed, but given how undesirable the world reverting to that state would be, Harry and I both don't want to risk it. If it happens again, the eight of us that he's gotten close to could easily come to their attention. Let's do what we can to avoid that, or avoid it until we are sure we hold both the strategic and legal high ground."
"That sounds like a tall order," said Lester.
"Not impossible," said Meriweather, "but it might be a project that takes several years. Is your end goal bringing Harry inside our protections once we have them in place?"
"Yes," said Marge, "or what's the point."
"Good," said Meriweather, then sighed and shifted his chair, "alright, let's see…"
The sound of the adults' conversation faded into inaudibility behind them, Skylar led him to the far corner of the sunroom and crouched behind the couch, it was probably the most excellent place outside Meriweather's study to hold a private conversation, with plenty of rugs and upholstery to deaden most echoes.
"So, you are magic?" Skylar accused.
Harry shrugged, "Meriweather says so, magic schools are sending me flyers."
"Oh."
"By owl."
Skylar blinked, "oh, my god."
Harry nodded.
"So are you going to catch an owl to train to carry mail?"
Harry shrugged, "I have no idea, maybe they teach that at magic school?"
"Hmm," she said, "What else?"
"Meriweather seemed to think that I would stop getting wish-days by accident, once I started using a wand on purpose. I don't know how to make a wand either."
She nodded, "Lester says most professionals don't know how to make their own tools anymore. Maybe you can just buy them at a shop somewhere."
Harry blinked, "or probably … well in stories, apprentices get to learn on worn-out second-hand tools, until they can afford to buy their own."
"Hmm," she said, "Yeah, sometimes."
They stared at each other.
"Do you want to learn magic?"
Harry shrugged, "I'm kind of just … a lot happier knowing what was causing wish days. I guess I want to learn to make things happen on purpose, so they don't happen on accident and go weird."
"Sure," she said.
"Mostly, I just want to be safe from other mages making me forget things, or moving me around and making me think that was the normal place for me to be."
She frowned at him and shivered, "Yeah, kidnapping sounds really scary."
The problem wasn't kidnapping, the problem was who you ended up with. The idea had seemed somewhat attractive when Melissa threatened it when complaining to Marge about his shed idea.
Marge had always asked him first, (well, usually asked first, since the camera incident,) but it seemed like she'd also assume that Melissa had already asked him, and wouldn't ever think to verify until he complained. Then she would get angry, and quiet, and wouldn't know who to side with, and that would make her more angry and quiet.
"Are we going back to listen some more, or are we going outside to tell the others?"
Harry shrugged, "what is there to tell before they figure out what to do?"
"That you're going to magic school?"
Harry shrugged, he guessed he was going to magic school, actually.
"Where is it anyway?"
"The one Meriweather thinks I want to go to is in Scotland, so far I agree with him, but maybe there will be more flyers?"
"Oh, yeah, sure," said Skylar, "Scotland, though? That's hours away."
"I know," said Harry, "I'm not liking that part."
Skylar nodded.
They stared at each other, then with a couple of glances in the direction of the adults and nods to reach a consensus, they moved back in that direction.
…
Marge grunted.
"I can tell you have a twisty little scheme already forming," said Melissa, "Out with it already."
"Maybe," said Meriweather, "You are all native to the archipelago, How do each of you feel about studying for A2 Levels in the completely baroque subject of what passes for social science and home economics around here on the mage side of things? Because yes, no-maj's really can win their suffrage, by taking a glorified poll test, which is more difficult than what most mages ever bother to take."
"Hell no," exclaimed Marge.
"In what spare time?" said Lester.
"I'll do it," said Melissa.
"Good," said Meriweather, "I'll get you a study guide."
"Are we talking a month or a year?" said Marge.
"A month, for Melissa," said Meriweather, "her brain works that way, or I very much miss my guess."
"Can you pass this test?" said Marge.
"I haven't tried," said Meriweather, "I have all the N.E.W.T.s I wanted, I didn't try for any W.O.M.B.A.T.s"
Skylar and Harry shared a bemused expression.
Lester laughed.
"But that's ok, I have full faith that Melissa will make us an excellent clan matriarch."
"Oh, stop," said Melissa.
"She already does," said Marge, "But it will be interesting to see the paperwork that tries to recognise that fact."
"Oh," said Melissa, "you said that Mage Britain recognises homosexuality as not queer at all?"
"That's not the way I'd say it, but yes, not particularly queer."
"Can we get married?"
"As clan head, you'd be able to issue whatever relationship recognition you would like, to whatever adult members of your clan as you choose."
"Oh, hell," said Melissa, "how … consensual is this power?"
"If we don't like what you arrange, we can emancipate ourselves from the clan."
Marge snorted, "How does the muggle world feel about that?"
"What they cannot even in principle find out, they cannot have an opinion about."
"That is kind of diametrically opposed to legal recognition," said Melissa.
"No doubt," said Meriweather, "also, mage lawyers do a brisk trade in counterfeiting non-magical documents to mirror magical documents, or for that matter, inventing magical documents to give legal recognition to things that mages have managed to do to themselves and their magic with botched rituals."
"Sounds sticky," said Lester, "So we could get married on the magical side and get forged documents to bring back to our side?" said Lester.
"In principle, yes," said Meriweather.
"And is fleeing my tiny dictatorial whatever this is, your main recourse?" Melissa asked.
"It is generally an avenue of last resort, not first threat, but yes? The modern emancipation procedure is significantly saner than at times in the past. You can also banish us from hearth and home, and/or you can separately strike our names from the clan's roster."
"Alright. Now then, what about Harry?"
"Harry is already the heir of his own clan, as soon as he is of age, or reaches whatever age matters for that, it might be thirteen for an orphan. There would be a precedent for you and him to make a clan alliance which might somehow, happen to include taking care of his clan's orphans. And/or standing regent for his clan, or who knows what all, a contract is a contract, you can put in what you both want."
"Alright," said Melissa.
"Come to think of it, Harry being held incommunicado, might imply a political prisoner, or grooming for a child soldier, as we talked about, but it might also imply there's a regent somewhere quietly usurping his clan. I should check on that. And whether his clan even has any other members surviving."
"And if there are?" said Melissa.
A long pause, lots of sounds of cloth movements, maybe shrugs.
"And if there are not?" said Marge.
"If there are no other clan members, and he wishes to do so, it might be very lucrative, and much to his tastes, to dissolve a clan where he's the only member, and reinvest the proceeds in more modern enterprises than whatever it's invested in at the moment."
"Like what?" said Lester.
"A photography company?" said Marge, "Wards for his friend Meredith's house."
"Like hell?" said Lester, "he can just back off."
"He asked me if I could afford to build an addition on this house for him," said Melissa.
"That's precisely what I was getting at: if he's already thinking like a clanned child," said Meriweather, "But it's our clan rather than his own that he's loyal to."
"Makes sense," said Marge, "I've been watching him shrugging off his abuse like a rescued puppy, and reverting to breed, I just had no idea what breed he is."
"Mother of Marvin!" said Meriweather in a weird tone.
"What's up now?" said Lester.
"In the spirit of complete openness, one of my hobbies is writing political and philosophical editorials advocating for the dismantling and defanging the inequality of the clan system, so on the one hand, I'm well versed in how it can be used and abused, on the other, it's going to be a lot more difficult to teach Harry not to abuse his power at the same time as I'm teaching Melissa how to abuse the system to get access to the rights she ought to be entitled to, to start with."
"To get all of us the rights we should be entitled to, to start with?"
"Yes, that."
"All of that is pointless," said Melissa, "until we actually succeed in filing a clan contract."
"'Registering' and 'Patent'," said Meriweather, "but yes."
"Good," said Lester, "go back to Harry and his designs on Meredith?"
"He's eleven," said Melissa, "his—
"Ten and three quarters," said Meriweather, "But, sorry, ignore me."
"His entire goal structure," said Melissa, "is to not lose his friends, it's taking an awful lot of cajoling to get him to admit he wants anything in addition to that, for fear we might be offended or think him greedy. Marge is best at it so far."
Marge snorted.
"So, what does he want?"
"He doesn't want anything," said Marge, "but the moment we tell him that both houses are guaranteed safe places for him to stay overnight without fear of waking up at number 4 with a memory loss headache, and my brother and his family back in charge, also pissed as hell to have been moved back into their older, smaller house, he's going to want to stay here."
"Fine, what's this about Meredith?"
"She's his age," said Melissa, "what else does there need to be."
"She is not," whispered Skylar.
"She listens to him," said Marge, "Unlike the rest of you people."
"What?" said Meriweather.
"You are alright," said Marge, "when you aren't flirting with those two, Melissa is alright, when I remind her to give him turns to talk, Lester, I have no idea, I've barely seen you in the same room with him. Maybe that's by design. I'm not clear."
"I have nothing against him, but I'll start if Meredith—"
"The exact quote," said Melissa, "Was that all of us keep inviting him to move into Dennis's room, or maybe Colin's, (which is backwards from reality in my opinion, but whatever.) but he'd prefer, living at Meredith's house. And he said her house, not her room."
"In fact," said Marge, "He implied that he'd been assuming that the only option was to share a room with Pom. And it was only when Melissa managed to convince him that he deserved a room of his own, that he suggested a shed in the backyard would be sufficient."
"He usually calls this 'Lester's House,'" said Melissa, "and he usually calls my house 'Melissa's house.' But when he's talking about being forced to move, forced to choose, that's when Meredith and Meriweather's names sort to the top."
"Gratifying," said Meriweather, "Because that's when he's thinking about homes, not residences."
"So, he's not even eleven, shouldn't he still think girls have cooties?" said Lester.
"Who would have taught him that?" said Marge, "his first friend ever was Dennis, and he met Dennis exactly twice before he met all the rest of you. The only person in his entire experience that has been untouchable, is himself. He's getting better, being noticed and valued as a human has helped him, yes, that was first by Dennis, then Colin, and Melissa, then Meredith, then Meriweather."
"I haven't, not…" Lester said.
"He was calling himself a freak," said Meriweather, "they othered him so hard, they were getting him to other himself, it's a wonder he's still alive. He's not queer by normal society's standards, but they tried really hard to train him to be self-hating. He's going to assume that everyone he meets is also other-ing him, merely by default, until you go out of your way to prove otherwise, it's not your fault that you didn't break through to him without knowing what it would take. I'm still not sure what it takes, I merely have succeeded a couple of times, and sometimes, when he's in the mood he trusts me enough to test me again."
"Is he queer?"
"To my knowledge, not the way you mean, he might not be old enough yet to notice one way or the other, he is a mage, he was living in a magiphobe home."
"Yeah, alright," muttered Lester, "and now we have him."
"Exactly," said Meriweather.
"Sodding Dad auditions," said Lester.
"Apparently," said Meriweather.
"Apparently what?" said Marge.
"Sounds like we got the part," said Meriweather, "should we choose to accept it."
"How safe is he where he is?" said Lester.
"He's safe as locked doors, two dozen barking dogs, and one loose shepherd/retriever can keep him."
"He thinks," said Melissa, "That he's safer there than anywhere else until Meriweather assures him that we've fortified a place for him against his enemies."
"Then we'll do that so that Meriweather can so assure him," said Lester.
Something clattered hard enough and close enough to make Harry flinch away.
"The hell was that?" said Marge. Skylar grabbed Harry's arm at the same time, she climbed to her feet and started drawing him away.
"What did it sound like?"
"It wasn't a sound, felt like goose-flesh, only less tingly, more sparkly and … dark."
"Dark?" said Meriweather.
"Dark as in ancient choral music, not dark the absence of light," Marge explained.
"Ritual chant?" said Meriweather.
"That might be what I meant, but umm, maybe no, more like blood, when you're not in the right place in your diet to enjoy either the salt, nor the grease, nor the protein.
"So it was a taste?" said Melissa.
"No, no taste, no sight, no sound, just a … smell, like blood, but as sparkles on my skin."
"And it happened right after Lester decided and declared that we will figure out how to protect Harry?"
"We should go check on him," said Melissa.
"Was it magic?" said Marge.
"Probably, perhaps half formed, half intended, ritual magic, but yes, probably."
"There was nothing half intended about it," said Lester.
"No, I guess not," said Meriweather, "but I'd really rather we get legal justification for putting up the wards we want, and not that we have to jury-rig them ourselves."
Harry, now on his feet, let Skylar lead him back towards the backyard, but they were met in the sunroom by the three tree climbers rushing the other way.
.
"What's going on?" said Dennis.
"You felt it too?" asked Skylar.
"Yeah, we all felt it," said Meredith, "is Meriweather making weird smelly noises again?"
"No, they were just talking," said Skylar, "But Dad put his foot down where Meriweather and Harry could hear him. And one of them accidentally did magic about it."
"Magic?" said Meredith.
"It wasn't me, this time," said Harry.
"All the boys except Lester are magic, the rest of us are half magic, Harry's going away to magic school in Scotland, and meanwhile Meriweather is going to help Melissa organise us into a magical clan so she can be baroness/dictator, and make Lester and Meriweather get married. And turn our houses into magic castles or something, so that Harry can live with us until he finishes school, or whatever."
"When are you going away?" said Dennis.
"Just September, I think," said Harry.
"That's not very long," said Colin.
"I think you can start next year," said Harry, "And Dennis … whenever you're umm, my age?"
"How old are you?"
"Almost eleven."
"Two years more," said Dennis, "magic school? What's it like?"
"I haven't been yet," said Harry.
"Right," said Meredith.
"So, take pictures for us," said Colin.
"Good point," said Harry.
"Do we have any proof of any of this?" said Meredith.
"We know that there are other magic people that don't like me or Marge's family moving, and put us back at least twice," said Harry, "And that the magic schools send advertisements by owl, and that Meriweather has an owl, and was expecting me to get invitations from magic schools. And he says he knew about my parents from magic newspapers before I was born."
Meredith stared at Harry, "You're not surprised?"
"Not really," said Harry, "kind of relieved."
"Why?"
"Because," said Skylar, "he was doing magic by accident, which would have been scary enough, without knowing how to do it on purpose. But also magic people were chasing him back to home base all the time, or at least often enough to make him stay there. Now he knows that there are more magic people than just his enemies and that Meriweather thinks he knows how to deal with them, and now Melissa has convinced everyone else to help him."
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Marge grunted from the doorway. Everyone spun around to see that the adults had come to see what they were shouting about.
"Meriweather," said Dennis, "Did you really make one of your weird smelly noises, from just talking this time?"
Meriweather stared, "Weird smelly noises?"
"Like quiet little thunders or earthquakes, except … you feel them in your hair instead of your ears or feet. Usually only when you try cooking in your study, just before you come out swearing…"
"Ah," said Meriweather, "and you can feel those? Fascinating."
"So what's going on?" said Colin, "What did you do, if it wasn't cooking experiments?"
"I didn't do it," said Meriweather.
"Then who did?" said Meredith, "and what was it?"
Meriweather glanced around, then right at Marge, "it wasn't something one of us did, it was something all of us did."
"But what was that?"
"We agreed to protect Harry," said Meriweather, "And, I take it, he heard us, and—
Harry shuddered and tried to figure out who was the stranger now, that was 'trying to come in here,' and where 'here' meant this time, because it felt like—
Everyone else had flinched too and looked around.
"My dogs!" said Marge and turned to trot towards the front of the house.
"I have a vague idea that they'll be fine," said Meriweather, "No, not like that. Everyone who has been to Harry's house, concentrate on the idea that strangers should not be allowed inside to look at or bother the dogs until they get permission from Marge or Harry."
"Umm?" said Dennis.
"Hmm," said Colin.
Melissa scratched her cheek but stared at Harry.
Harry's bout of paranoia came to a peak and then began to recede.
"That's better," said Meriweather, and turned to stare at Harry, "How did you come to have blood wards?"
"What?" said Harry, "What are those?"
Meriweather smiled, "brilliant, dangerous, and somewhat out of fashion. Also, an excellent reason why we should all visit your house, very soon, and make sure we all understand that it belongs to the clan."
"What's a clan?" said Dennis.
"A family of families," said Melissa.
"Our clan is everyone here, and Marge," said Meriweather, "legally it does not include Harry, but bugger the law, magic has its own logic, and just as we have welcomed Harry into our family, Harry's blood wards have adopted us all, so until he moves here, we're going to be spending a bit more time visiting him and familiarising ourselves with where that house is, how it's property line runs, and how Harry likes it kept so that when the wards ask us about letting strangers in, we all can correctly guess whether the answer is, 'it's midnight, no' or 'it's business hours, ask Marge' or 'it's play time, ask Harry'."
"Oh," and "Huh," echoed from several throats.
"And now, I'd best go check on Marge, and help her check on her dogs," he turned and left the room, "wish us tact and clarity."
"Humph," said Melissa, and glanced at Lester, "We're going after them, right?"
Lester shrugged, "neither of them took keys?"
"Meriweather didn't go by car last time."
"Then how?" said Lester.
"Magic, one presumes," said Melissa, "a three-minute commute beats highway traffic, I wonder how far he can share."
"Oh, my," said Lester, "Marge won't be happy waiting for him to come back with a report."
"He did say, 'help her check on'," said Melissa, "Presuming he meant it…
"He really has been holding out on us," said Lester with a faint smile, "I might be starting to change my mind about that social studies curriculum."
Melissa bared her teeth, and her eyes flashed.
"What's going on?" said Meredith.
"There are tests and study books," said Skylar, "for people without magic, that want to know enough about it to be helpful."
Lester turned and stared at her for a moment, then he nodded, "Yes, you may, but don't wander too far, or lose them, hmm?"
"Of course," said Skylar.
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And so, it turned out that no one else could do Meriweather's disapparating trick, but they could all use his fireplace. And once Meriweather bought Harry and Melissa fireplaces of their own, that was almost as good as all living right next door to each other.
And after that, everyone could come over to play with the dogs, or borrow them.
Or visit Colin to borrow a camera.
Or visit Skylar or Meredith to borrow a book to read or a tree to climb.
And no one got lonely enough to suggest that Harry might want to move, nor worried enough about him being all alone, (since the wards could tell everyone, as soon as he was in real trouble.)
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And no one ever knew for sure who had come to investigate when Harry's blood wards rearranged themselves. Though Meriweather nursed some suspicions. And much later Harry nursed other suspicions. And in between Melissa carried a grudge.
...-...
{End Chapter 5}
The End.
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Afterword:
There you go: If you're just here for a fun read stop here. You're done. The above is cannon, what lurks below is not.
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Seriously, stop here and pay no attention to the next chapter, if it ever posts. If there's a chapter after that, it hopefully will be an announcement of another author adopting and continuing this.
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If you're here to adopt/continue this, or like looking at the horror that is what ends up on the cutting room floor, or you find encouragement in evidence that other writers have similar or worse struggles than you do, keep reading, you have been warned.
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A/N:
Alright, that's as far as I could get, and be relatively confident I told the story and structured it correctly.
What happens next?
Harry goes off to Hogwarts, or perhaps another magic school armed with, not just a standard 'two parents,' but a full cabinet of advisers:
Meriweather-(mage history/committed blood traitor startled to find himself both in a clan and loyal to it),
Melissa-Business,
Marge-Street smarts & animal psychology,
Lester-(I'm not really sure, Gryffindor/Hufflepuff?),
And Harry is quickly approaching being fully secure in his identity as a member of a loving & honourable clan, even if it is a clan at odds with both the muggle and magical government because (queer) on the one side and (more than half no-maj) on the other.
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I have a few ideas about where things can go from here, but no overarching direction on how to proceed or what/why to select from among them:
- Meriweather can take Harry school shopping, (I've tried this several different ways, and trashed most of them)
- Hagrid can show up to take Harry shopping, and be surprised when Harry is like, "Sure, shall we take my floo?"
- - and also responds to obviously prejudiced language like 'no dark wizards didn't come out of slytherin' with exactly what is wrong with that sort of thought process, lifted straight from Pride! & Care talking points. (But this only makes sense if they haven't done the decent thing and owled in Harry's acceptance)
Ditto, Ditto for Draco's 'right sort of people,' rhetoric.
Ditto, Ditto for Ron's unthinking hatred for slytherins. Etc.
Ditto, Ditto for e.g. Cedric Diggory's father's anti-creature rights bills. Etc.
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I've had a vague idea that if the story is about Harry's relationship(s) with the Creevey clan, then the portion of the story which takes place away from home ought to be told, not from Harry's perspective (third person omniscient or third person anchored), but from the perspective of 'what the clan knows' e.g., letters & pictures exchanged between Harry and the others.
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Intermittently I've also had the inspiration that Harry, Colin, and Dennis might reasonably end up at The City of London Day School instead of Hogwarts. But that is more world-building than I have time to do currently. (*Sigh*)
Reviewers and PMers have pointed out and built a couple of fairly strong arguments for Harry going/being sent to The City of London Day School, especially if Dumbledore was still there poking around about the wards reconfiguring when Marge and Meriweather arrived to investigate.
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Adopters: feel free to pm me about clarification regarding, any world-building I've already done, or Meriweather's political views or whatever.