The Firebolt

by KnockturnSeller

ollin reached down and picked it up. "Look at this," he said and pointed at the end of the handle. "Read what it says." "Firebolt," Mary said. "So?" Two kids find the missing Firebolt.

The Firebolt

"Come on Mary. It's right over here," Collin said with excitement in his voice. "I found it so it's mine but I'll let you look at it."

The older girl swept an flyaway lock of hair from her face and said, "So what is it you found this time? An old dog bone or something?"

"No," the boy said, "this time it's really cool. Remember all those lights we saw the other night? Dad said it was airy fireworks or something but I don't think it was.
Fireworks don't start way up in the sky like that. Anyway, I was playing with Buster when he stopped and got to barking and there it was, right here."

He stopped and pointed down at the thing half hidden by a hay bale. Mary looked, frowned and made a disgusted face. "It's just an old broom, Collin. You brought me out here to show me an old broom?"

Collin reached down and picked it up. "Look at this," he said and pointed at the end of the handle. "Read what it says."

"Firebolt," Mary said. "So?"

"Here. Hold it. It feels weird in your hand."

Mary hesitated, gave her brother a look and took the handle in her hand, gasped and started to drop it then gripped it tighter. "You're right, it does feel weird."

"Yeah. Give it back. I want to try something," he said.

He took it and said, "Look down here. These metal things, they look like your feet should go there. Remember Kiki's Delivery Service? The movie where she rides a broom and delivers bread around the town? This looks just like the broom she had only this one is better cause it's got stirrups like a saddle."

Collin threw a leg over the handle and said, "Fly!"

Nothing happened. Mary gave a snort and smiled at her brother.

"It's gotta work," Collin said and pulled the handle up close to his body. His eyes got wide and he let out a big breath of air.

"It feels like there's a seat to sit on," he said. "There isn't one but it feels just like a seat. Come on broom, fly.'

Once again nothing happened so he stomped one foot in frustration. As soon as he did the broom pushed against his bottom then settled back down.

"It moved," he said with wide eyes and a big grin. "It moved and I felt it. It wants to fly. How did Kiki do it?"

Mary snorted and said, "That was a cartoon, dummy. She got on and it took off,
but it was a movie. It was pretend. Brooms don't really fly."

"This one will," he returned. He looked at the broom then stomped his foot once more. It rose up, lifting him a couple inches then eased back toward the ground.

"It did it again," he said. "Maybe if I jump up or something."

He planted both feet on the ground, gripped the handle tightly, said, "Fly," then jumped.

It happened faster than he could imagine. He was barely able to hang on,
speeding across the field so fast his eyes were watering. He pulled back like with the reins of a horse and shot upwards, screamed then pushed back down. He slowed but now he was way higher than the trees and leaned to look over the end of the handle and dropped towards the ground. The hay in the field rushed up at him so he leaned back and cringed at the thought of hitting, opened his eyes and found himself coasting across the field about three meters off the ground.

Collin trembled with the rush of fear from what just happened, his fingers held on like his life depended on it. When he got his shaking under control he pulled back just a little and went higher, pushed the handle back down and went lower. When he leaned to one side the broom turned, leaned to the other side and it turned that way. He laughed when he thought of what he was doing then sped off across the field once more, this time feeling like he could make the broom do whatever he wanted it to.
He heard Mary's yell and when he turned his head toward her, the broom obeyed and angled the both of them toward his sister. He grinned at Mary as he passed over her and said, "I told you it would fly. I told you," now flying in a circle while laugh9ing up a storm.

"I think you better come down here." she said, turning to keep eyes on her brother. "It looks dangerous. I don't think Dad would like it."

"Ah, come on, Mary," he said as he floated close to the ground. "You should try it. You'll like it a lot. It's the best thing ever. Kinda scary but still it's way radical, loads more fun than anything else."

He settled down until his feet touched, grinned at his sister and said, "You just gotta jump up and tell it to fly. If you pull up you go higher and if you lean forward it goes faster. Just lean your body back to slow down. It's really easy. I bet you could do it too and I bet you'll like it."

Mary frowned at her brother. "I don't know. It still looks dangerous."

Collin stepped onto the ground and put the handle in Mary's hand. "Just sit on it,
pull it up tight, tell it to fly and jump, then hang on real tight." He gave a soft giggle of anticipation as Mary pulled the broom up.

She got a strange look on her face as she felt the broom mold itself to her like a seat just like Collin had said. She turned to him and said, "So, you jump to fly, pull up to go up, push down to go down, lean back to go slower, right?"

Collin grinned. "Lean to the side you want to go and it'll go there."

"Well, here goes," she said. Her feet thumped the ground and she said, "Fly!"

The girl shrieked as she and the broom zoomed upward then she was rocketing over the field with her voice stuck in a frightened squeal.

Collin yelled at her, "Lean back to slow down. Lean back. Lean back."

Mary was still speeding along through the air but the words shouted up to her finally sank in. She leaned back and slowed but found herself far too high above the hay bales for her comfort, her brother sure looked tiny below her, thought about what Collin had told her and, still leaning back, pushed the broom handle down. Slowly she descended, fingers white as she gripped the handle for dear life until she was but her own height off the ground. When she leaned forward she sped up some so she leaned back a little to keep her speed down.

She looked around for Collin and found him behind and to her right, the action of keeping her eyes on him made her tilt a little and the broom made a wide, curving turn in his direction. It took a few corrections and one good shriek when she panicked and pulled hard on the handle to shoot upwards, but she managed to get the broom and herself under control to land near, well sorta close anyway to where Collin was calling and waving to her.

She was breathing very fast when she touched the ground, looked up to see Collin running toward her as she slipped off the invisible seat, one hand still on the broom. Now she could feel the energy in the broom, almost like it was coming from her hand and the broom at the same time.

"How was it?" Collin said as he skidded to a stop close to her.

Still breathing hard she just grinned, panting hard from the thrill and exertion.
Finally she said, "Very rad, like you said."

"Is it cool or what?" Collin said grinning as wide as his sister.

"I wonder what dad will think," she said, looking at the wondrous thing in her hands.

"Well, I'm not sure I want to tell him about it, not yet anyways," Collin said in a quiet voice. "I guess we'll have to show him but maybe tomorrow or the next day. I want to ride it some more first. I mean, what happens if he doesn't like it? I found it so I should be able to decide what to do with it. Let's ride it some more before we show it to him."

"Sounds okay to me," Mary said. "I want to go for another ride."

She pulled the broom up, said, "Fly," jumped and was off like a shot. She flew around the hayfield and along the fence, keeping close to the ground with her hair flying back from her head and her eyes watering, she rode around the field liked she'd been doing it all her life. She was laughing when she came back around to circle Collin,
giggling up a storm as he tried to reach up to grab the broom. One time she got too close, he caught a foot and pulled.

Mary tumbled off the broom to land hard on the ground, straw digging into her hands and sticking in her hair. When she got up the broom was idly circling above her head as she picked at the bits of dirt and stalks that had poked into her hands. Collin ran over and bent over her.

"You alright?" he asked with worry. "I didn't mean to make you fall."

"I'm okay," she said, looking up with a small tear in one eye as she dug a bit of dirt out of her scratched hand. "We just have to be careful. We better get back for dinner."

Collin took the broom in hand and said, "I'm going to fly it some more first." He took off with a small yelp as the broom rocketed off the ground, pushed down some and was flying along the tree line. He leaned forward and the trees blurred with the speed,
he leaned to one side and pulled up on the handle and grunted a little as his body seemed to gain a huge amount of weight, eased off and continued turning, just not so sharply, and circled the field twice more before slowing to land, grinning wildly, next to his sister.

A quick side trip to the shed and as they both ran into the house their dad looked them over. He saw the dirt and straw in Mary's hair and asked, "What happened to you?"

"Fell off the broom," she said without thinking then covered her mouth. Buster came up close to rub his body against her legs and she reached down to scratch his big head and floppy ears automatically. Her dad's eyes stared at her and she clenched her jaw, hoping he wasn't angry with her and wishing she hadn't said anything.

He gave her a concerned look for a moment then sighed. "You said you fell off the broom," he said. "Let's hear the tale."

"It wasn't her fault," Collin said hurriedly. "She was flying around me and I reached up and accidently grabbed her foot and she fell."

This time his face showed total surprise then softened. "Go wash up for supper and bring the broom back with you. You can tell me all about it then."

They trotted off to the shed to get the broom then went around to the back porch to wash their hands and brush the dirt off their clothes. Collin sounded angry when he asked, "Why'd you have to say that? Now he knows. He'll make us put it away forever,
maybe he'll burn it or something."

"It just slipped out," Mary said. "Sorry. Maybe if we promise to share it and be real good he'll let us keep it."

"I hope so," Collin returned. "I like flying on it. It's the best thing ever."

They trooped into the kitchen and their father looked around. "I thought I asked you to bring the broom in," he said.

"It's by the sink," Collin said. "I guess you want me to get it, huh?" and got a nod.

He brought it in, feeling the smoothness of the handle and admiring the curved,
shiny brass bent to make places for his feet. With a sinking feeling he handed it to his father.

His father took it in his hands, and read the name on the handle. "Firebolt. Must be a new model."

He ran his hands lovingly over the polished handle then down to touch the brass stirrups then over the perfectly spaced and combed twigs at the end. "This is a fine broom. Looks like someone really took care of it. How'd you two get hold of it?"

Collin met his father's gaze and said, "I found it in the field. Buster and me were running around and he found it. Then I brought Mary out to see it and we figured out how to make it work. Can we keep it? Please? It's so cool flying on it."

Their father ran his hand along the handle once again. "Yes, this is as fine a broom as I ever have seen," he said, looking at his two hopeful children. "Before I say yes or no I'm going to have to explain a few things."

The two youngsters looked at each other, making eyes that said they were going to have to sit through another "explanation".

Their father saw it and chuckled. "First off, you're not in trouble. I used to ride a Cleansweep that I thought was the finest broom anywhere. I played Beater with it."

"What's Beater?" Collin asked.

"It's a type of player in a game, a game you've never heard of," he said. "I met your mother on a broom. She was a Chaser for Hufflepuff and we were losing to her team. I decided it was my duty to knock her off her broom so she couldn't score any more goals against us and when I did I flew down close to where she landed. She reached up, grabbed my foot and I tumbled down right next to her. She was pretty angry with me but then we both started laughing, shook hands and got back on our brooms. Have to say I don't remember much of the rest of the game, just that we lost. I had eyes only for Eleanor, riding her broom and looking as pretty as any girl ever had."

He sighed and took a deep breath. "Anyway, we went out together for a couple months, she could always do the best magic, but broke up when we graduated and got jobs. It was a bit later that a bad wizard was coming to power and sent a couple people to get me to join him. I didn't want any part of it, told them I wouldn't join them but they just laughed and called me names. I got angry and figured they'd make me go anyway so I cursed the both of them and ran."

He looked his children over and smiled. "Good thing I did because I ended up going into hiding and met your mother again. Anyway, a lot of things happened after that and we stayed hidden for many years but the most important thing was we fell in love with each other. We decided to stay hidden in the Muggle world. Who would ever look for us on a farm? We went to school, she became a teacher and I worked to support us. We worked hard and eventually decided we liked farming, found this place and bought it. When things seemed to have settled down we decided to start a family.
We had you two and were as happy as we could ever imagine."

He knew what had to come next but he'd never shirked his responsibility to his children. "Then there was the accident and your mother was gone. But I had you two wonderful kids to remind me of her and our love each and every day. The next thing I know you're growing up and going to school and I put magic out of my mind, though every once in a while I was reminded your magic might come out at a bad time but I I told myself I'd talk to you later. Then it got a lot later and hadn't done but now ..."

He looked at the both of them and smiled. "Maybe you can guess with all those clues why you can ride a broom and no-one else you know can," he said.

Mary and Collin looked at each other then Collin said, "Because you did?"

"Yes, but that's not all," he said. "What makes us, just us, able to ride a broom?"

Collin started giggling then said, "Because were related to Kiki?"

That made the father laugh out loud. Between chuckles he managed to say, "No,
Kiki is an animated character and we're not," and chuckled some more. Getting himself under control he asked again, "What makes us able to ride a broom? Think hard. All the clues are there for you if you can put it together."

Both were silent with frowns on their faces as they tried to figure it out. Then Mary got a surprised look and asked, "Don't magicians, don't they ride brooms?"

At her father's smiling nod she went on, "So that means we're magicians?"

He gave them both hugs and said, "I knew you could figure it out. The names are really witch and wizard, though. I'm so proud of you; Collin for going off in the wrong direction which helped your sister go in the right direction. The two of you figured it out."

"So we can really do magic?" Mary asked.

"A little," he said, "but it's better if you don't try until you're trained. When you don't know what you're doing you can make big mistakes, not little ones like when you two argued, but really big ones. Remember when you two were fighting and Mary's hair turned green? And later on you had another fight and Collin's favorite stuffed dinosaur flew up to the ceiling and wouldn't come down? That was magic. Now that you're older you'll have stronger magic and can make much bigger mistakes."

He smiled at their reactions and the looks they had on their faces, reached into his vest and pulled out his wand. Both his kids stared at it like it was part of a fairy tale come to life, which it pretty much was right at that moment. He gave them both a soft,
loving smile, pointed it at a nearby table, gave it a swish and a flick and said the words just like he had his first year with Professor Flitwick.

The table rose off the floor and Collin breathed out a, "Whoa," then giggled a little. Mary just stared at the floating table, turned back to look at her father's hand holding the wand then back to the table. He moved his hand and the table sailed around the room until he brought it back where it started.

He let the table settle back to the floor then grinned at his wide-eyed, open mouthed kids. "Do you believe in magic now?"

Mary tried to shake her head no but stopped, looked at the table again and back to the wand in her father's hand. Then she gave a tiny nod like she didn't want to do it but facts gave her no choice. Collin was grinning wildly, fairly bouncing on his chair.

The boy jumped up and made a grab for the wand then stopped, looking a bit guilty as his father withdrew it an arm's length. "Dad, can we do magic stuff too, then?"

"Of course," his father answered. "You already have. The hair and the dinosaur?
That was accidental magic but it was magic, that's why I don't want you to do any more until you're older. Now I want both of you to promise me, better yet, promise yourselves you won't try any magic. You don't know how to control it and if the neighbors find out it will cause problems. Imagine if they see you doing something that shouldn't be happening and tell their friends and it gets around. Not a good thing to have to explain or to be thought of as weird or strange so it's better if you just don't. Can you do that?"

They both nodded solemnly.

"Good," he said. "Now I'm going to send a letter to your grandfather and grandmother and ask if they would like to come for a visit so we can talk about all this.
Last time I talked to them they said things weren't very good at the moment, the reason we went into hiding may be coming back. If that's true we'll just stay on our farm and not let them know we're here and we'll all be safe. In the meantime I need you to keep to your promise. When things are looking good again we'll decide what to do next."

He got a wistful look on his face and said, "Mary, you should be getting your Hogwarts letter when you turn eleven in March inviting you to go to magic school to learn how to use a wand and other stuff. In a couple years, Collin, you'll get yours. I don't look forward to your leaving to go to school because I'll miss you so much I just don't know what I'll do without you here. But every father has to face up to the day his children leave home for the first time and I guess I'll find a way to live with it but I won't like it."

"I'm not leaving," Collin asserted firmly.

"When you get your letters you'll both go off to Scotland to school," their father said. "It's part of growing up as a witch or wizard."

"Then I don't want to be one," Collin said.

His father rubbed his hand over his son's head and said, "You already are one.
I'll be brave enough to let you get on the train that takes you away to school, and you'll have to be brave enough to leave home. But that's for later. Now, Mary would you help me get dinner off the stove and you, Collin, would you set the table please? We'll talk more later."

A few days later Collin saw an owl pecking on the kitchen window as they were eating breakfast.

He looked to his father and got a nod, went over and opened the window then jumped back as the big brown bird hopped onto the counter and held out its leg. A little frightened, he reached out and untied the small roll of paper and handed it to his father.

"I bet he's hungry after flying from York, Collin. Maybe he'd like a little bacon or part of your biscuit."

Collin backed to the table with his eyes carefully watching the big owl on the countertop to get some food for the bird and held it out warily. The bird nipped the bacon daintily, broke it into small pieces with his powerful beak and swallowed the bits,
looking expectantly for more. Collin held out the biscuit and the owl nipped off a piece and swallowed it down, leaned toward Collin's hand and got another big bite. This time he had to break it up as he ate the bread making Collin stare at it in wonder. He'd never been this close to an owl before and the ones that lived in the barn weren't near as big.

"Is he a tame owl?" he asked.

"Her name is Josephine," his father said as he looked the letter over. "Belongs to your Grandfather and yes, she's tame. He says they'll be coming to visit soon. I better write a note back. Make sure she gets some water too. She must be thirsty."

Mary hopped up to fill a small bowl and set it in front of the owl who proceeded to drink her fill then sat there looking the kitchen over with seeming approval, at least as long as tidbits of food were handed to her.

"Tie this to his leg," Collin's father eventually said. "Just be nice and gentle then tell her to fly home and she'll fly back to Grandfather's house. He must have told her to wait for a reply."

"Grandad can talk to owls?" Collin asked with wonder.

"Magically bred owls that he's had for many, many years, yes," was the reply.

"Now, you two better put your jackets on and get your chores done," he said.
"Please remember, and this is very important, don't talk about that broom or magic or anything we talked about last night to your friends. Keep it inside because it's very special, just for us. When you're done with chores you can ride your bikes to town for swimming lessons but be back for lunch by noon."

All during the morning he thought about what he was going to do next. He'd read of the strange goings on that pointed to the Deatheaters coming back into power, all the more reason to stay on the farm, and worried they'd somehow manage to find him; he was going to have to do some reading to remember the protective charms that would be useful for the house. Then he worried the secret might be a little too much for his kids to handle, at least the first day, was he going to have to home school them? And if the Deatheaters were really going about could he let them go to Muggle school during the day where he couldn't protect them? Eleanor's father, when he came tomorrow, would be a big help. His uncle lived in the States nowadays but maybe he could send a letter to him asking for advice. Maybe he should hide them all in America. But what would happen to his farm and business then?

He was shoveling corn feed into the hopper when he heard two pops from near the barn, looked around the corner of the chicken house to see his in-laws walking toward him. Buster was already running off to greet the visitors as he waved and finished shoveling feed, got back on the tractor and drove over to the barn.

"Richard, so glad to see you again," his father in law called out, holding his hand up to shake.

"Good to see you too, Greg," he said then gave his mother in law a hug. "Looking good, Sarah. How's things going these days?"

"A spot of trouble with the flu last month but everything's fine otherwise," she said.
"How's the chicken business going for you?"

"Give em food, cart the eggs to town, wash the coops and all that rot," he said.
"Let's go inside for a nice pot of tea."

"Don't let us get in the way of your chores, Richard," Greg said. "Matter of fact, do you need any help?" He held up a small pack bag and said, "Brought coveralls and boots. Be glad to do anything I can."

Richard laughed and said, "Actually, I have to get another cart of feed for the other two coops, check on the latest batch of chicks and clean the egg basket. Won't take any time at all with good help."

Sarah smiled when she said, "You two boys go have some fun. I'll get the kettle warmed up. I brought some lunch," and held up her bag sagging with what had to be a stewpot full of food. Then she turned to the dog walking around her legs and said "Come on Buster. I know where he keeps the dog cookies." Buster's ears pricked up and he danced around.

"There's doughnuts in the refer, Sarah," Richard said as Buster excitedly led the way to the house. "We'll only be an hour or so."

True to his word, an hour later he was putting the tractor under cover, his father in law hopped off the cart with a grin and they headed to the house.

The three of them were in the kitchen, Sarah pouring cups and setting saucers in front of the two men when she asked, "How are my grandkids? You said they found a broom, a Firebolt. That model only came out a little while ago. How did you get hold of one?"

Taking a sip, Richard answered, "They found it in the field. We saw a fight of some kind going on overhead a few nights ago. I told the kids it was errant fireworks.
Collin was out with Buster when they found it. I'd guess someone lost it in the fight."

The two older folks exchanged worried glances. "That's one of the reasons we came today," Gramma Sarah said.

Richard looked the two over and said, "You know something, don't you. If it pertains to the broom or the kids better get it out."

Greg pursed his lips and started. "We hear a lot of rumors. You-Know-Who has been back for at least a year, or so the Ministry says. Owned up to it after there was a rukus at the Ministry itself about a year ago. Supposed to have been Deatheaters, even You-Know-Who himself showed up," he said and paused. "Richard, Dumbledore has been killed."

"What?" Richard spouted out.

"Little over a month ago. We heard it was Snape, that strange potions teacher,"
Greg said. "Remember the Potters?"

"Yeah. James was quite a character, heck of a Chaser too." Richard said. "They died but their boy lived was what I heard. Should be in Hogwarts by now I guess."

"That boy came of age this summer," Sarah said. "Had tea with Andromeda Tonks two days ago and she said the Potter boy has gone into hiding after being attacked. She mentioned brooms and portkeys so maybe that fight you saw was them. The Order was supposed to be guarding him but you know how things can go with secrets and all."

"Why's Potter mixed up in this after all this time?"

Sarah and Greg exchanged looks again. "Andromeda didn't exactly say but You-
Know-Who is after him, very seriously after him. You'd best be on your toes. If that madman comes back into power all hell is going to break loose. You charming the house yet?"

"I haven't used much magic of late," Richard said. "I have the books in the attic so I'll be reading up."

Greg nodded and said, "I'll help you get some in place so you'll just have to maintain them. You know, I just thought of something. Potter was supposed to be a Seeker. If he was attacked, maybe, I just wonder if that broom, if it was his. Not very many of them about but for Quidditch teams. If it was his I don't know how he got away without a broom to ride."

Richard sipped his tea and frowned. "I heard some pretty strange noises when it happened, like a motorcycle engine or some such and I swear I saw Dragon Fire being used but it was pretty distant when I saw it. It's little more than speculation, really, but somehow he must have gotten away. The real question is what are we going to do next?"

Sarah looked at the framed picture of her grandkids on the living room wall through the kitchen door. When she turned back she said, "I was wondering if it might be something to consider ... perhaps to offer your place as a bit of a hideout if it's needed.
You can help them then send them on to us and we'll find safe haven for anyone that might need it. With a farm as a waystation you really could be a help to those that must go into hiding. That is if it's safe for you and the kids."

"That is something to think about," Richard said. "My worry is not the safety factor but if some of the old Deatheaters remember me and Eleanor from before, I'd be pretty worried if they did."

"All the more reason to get some protective charms up," Greg said. "I'll send Josephine with a couple Sneakoscopes. No, we'll have charmed the house by then. I'll get you one or two somehow. Can't go wrong with good protection and something to warn you if the charms get violated."

All of them took a good sip of tea with a turmoil of thoughts inside over their discussion. Then Greg said, "So, tell me about this Firebolt. Did Collin or Mary figure out how to ride it? Do we have a Quidditch team in the making?"

They were still talking when Buster perked up and trotted to the door with his tail wagging. Richard got up and said, "Kids are coming," and opened the door for the excited dog. He tore out through the yard and they heard kids' voices calling out to him from the road. They came in, got wide-eyed and ran to their grandparents for hugs.

"Gramma, grandad. Oh, it's nice to see you," Mary said, squeezing her gramma hard.

"I bet you two worked up an appetite," Sarah told her grandkids. "Go get washed up and I'll get lunch heated. First one cleaned up gets to help but I'll be checking for clean hands so don't skimp on the soap." Two kids pounded out of the kitchen.

When they were all seated and eating, Grandad Greg said, "So, Collin, I hear you found a broom."

The two kids looked at each other then Collin said, "We have one over there,
grandad," pointing to the kitchen cupboard. "I used it to sweep the floor this morning."

Richard grinned. "That was a very good answer and I'm proud of you for thinking of it, son. But Gramma and Grandad know all about brooms and wands. Can you guess why?"

Collin and Mary both looked at their grandparents then broke out in big grins.
Mary said, "You've got magic too?"

"Yes we do," her gramma said. "So tell me about this broom you found. Did you make it fly?"

Collin looked to his father and got a nod. "Oh yes. Both of us rode it and it's super fast and the neatest thing ever. Mary fell off it but I sorta made her. I grabbed her foot."

Both grandparents broke out in laughter and turned to the father. "That sounds oddly familiar. Like father like son?"

Richard chuckled and said, "Pretty much the same genes, I'd say."

The kids tried hard to understand the Quidditch they were hearing discussed but it didn't make much sense, only that everyone rode brooms and it was supposed to be a lot of fun. Also, when they got to the Hogwarts school they heard about the night before,
they'd get to see it and try out to play on something Gramma called a House Team. Then a bunch more talk about teachers there and they got really interested when they talked about all the magic they could learn.

Grandad said, "My favorite was Professor McGonagall. I swear she has more magic in her little finger than I have in my whole body. Then there was Marchbanks.
What a nutter. Thought he could read the future from entrails. Total poppycock that was.
Everyone knows it's the bones that really tell you what the future is."

He waited a moment then adult grins went around the table and he burst into laughter. When Mary asked he told her, "It's a joke. I don't think anyone can read the future. It hasn't happened yet, has it?"

Mary frowned as she tried to work that one out which caused her father to chuckle as he rubbed her shoulder. "Nevermind, sweetheart. You'll be able to make your own decisions on what is poppycock and what isn't when you get there."

Lunch was over and the dishes put in the washer, Sarah was always interested in how the thing worked, when they all went outside, Collin fetching the firebolt from his room and showing it off with a beaming smile.

Greg held it and ran his fingers lovingly along the polished handle, turned it and nodded at the condition of the twigs. "That's as fine a broom as I ever laid my eyes on,
Collin. Would you mind if I gave it a try?"

"Gregory Tuscanny," Sarah said with exasperation. "Don't you go haring out across the field like you're a Chaser again, not at your age. You fall and break something you can't find in Diagon Alley and I swear I'll heal you myself and you know I'm totally daft at it. You just be careful."

Greg gazed at his wife of so many years and said, "I know my creaking old bones don't need a good breaking. I'll keep the speed down."

He set the broom on the ground, put his hand out and said, "Up," in a commanding tone. Everyone heard the sharp slap as it snapped into his hand. He grinned and tossed a leg over, carefully positioned his body to center his weight and jumped a couple inches off the ground. He grunted as it took off. Never in his life had he felt a broom accelerate so fast. His eyes were already watering when he leaned forward to plummet toward the barn, pulling up and leaning back then tilting a little to swoop around the barn in a tight circle. As soon as he was back to where everyone was gaping at him he leaned back and slowed, then hovered a meter off the ground before settling down on his feet.

"See?" he said with a huge grin. "Still got it."

Sarah guffawed and said, "So why are your hands still shaking?" She reached over to pull him in close and said, "I hope you got that out of your system now. Was it really as fast as it looked?"

"Faster," he answered. "Dare you to try a round of the field. Out of my system indeed."

"You're on, old man," she said with a mischievous smile. She looked to her son in law and asked, "Any Muggles close by?"

"Most work in Oxford or thereabouts." Richard answered. "Only a few of us are out here in the daytime. Go for it." He'd seen the look in her eye and felt something becoming clear within himself. He wanted to ride that broom more than anything right then. It had been so long. For the first time in years he missed his old Cleansweep, not just a reminiscence but a throbbing desire built within him.

Gramma Sarah perched herself on the Firebolt, grabbed the handle and planted her heels on the stirrups. With a snap and a bubble of dust she was a hundred feet off the ground and accelerating vertically before she pushed the handle down far enough to head back towards the field in a long arch, then swooped right over the heads of her grandkids with cackling laughter. A moment later she was ripping along the hedgerows going so fast she seemed a mere blur to those standing and waiting for her return. They could hear her slacks snapping in the wind as she skimmed the tree line at full tilt, only leaning back and pulling sharply up on the handle as she passed the line of coops.
Straw from the field fluttered in trail behind her.

She got off with as huge a grin as Grandad Greg had, her hair looking like she'd been through a hurricane.

"Now that is some kind of broom!" she said excitedly. "Never felt anything so fast,
and the turns, like it knew where I wanted to go before I did. If I'd had this broom back in my Seeker days Ravenclaw would have taken the Quidditch cup seven years running.
My goodness, what a broom!"

She handed it to Richard but he only held it, admiring the look and feel once again. "No, not yet. I'm not ready for that much of a thrill at the moment. How about we have a bit more tea and talk about things going on. I won't just stand idly by while the rest of the world does its thing. Not this time."

He turned to his kids and said, "Put the broom back in your room. We'll have flying lessons later on. For now I'd appreciate it if you two would put your bikes away then make sure the spare bedroom is clean and the bed's made."

"We were planning ..." grandad Greg said but stopped when he saw a hand raised.

"Get going," he told his kids. "Sooner you're doing it the sooner you'll be making a batch of cookies with Gramma."

They ran off and Richard turned to his in-laws. "If you think I can be of help you tell whoever it is you know, my house is available. Since you're going to Diagon Alley,
stop by Eeylops. An owl to communicate and kneazle to keep Buster on his toes would be nice. If you can think of anything else we can do to help let me know. Seeing you two on that Firebolt brought it all back, how much I've missed being in the Magical world. I've been hiding for twenty years, time to get back into the thick of things. The kids are going to grow up magical and that's the best reason in the world to help out. If there's something I can do that will help bring down that crackpot's return or merely to throw Deatheaters off their feed, I'll do whatever I can."

His eyes burned with a forgotten passion brought to the fore.

Greg held out his hand to his son in law. "I'll let you know. When do you want to get started on the protective charms? The sooner we get them done the sooner we can have a go at my lovely bride's famous chocolate chip, peanut butter cookies."

A/N: You know you always wondered what happened to Harry's Firebolt. Perhaps someone can come up with a tale of retrieving Voldemort's wand in the ruined Potter house.