A Lion, A Witch, But No Wardrobe, By ShyGryf
Author notes: A big thank you to my Brit-picker the steppy one and to my beta who happens to be my very own gryf daddy.
Disclaimer: If you recognise it, it isn't mine.
Chapter One: Surprises
Henry Astin checked the note in his pocket, hoping that he had written down the address correctly. The letter sent to the muggle post office box had been very polite in asking for assistance in shopping. He thanked Merlin that 6 Mayfair Square wasn't far from The Leaky Cauldron, because although he could get around on the underground in a pinch, as any good Professor of Muggle Studies should, the train schedules were always changing and it had been a while since he had ridden them.
Knocking on the door, Henry thought, Nice neighborhood, but not posh by any means. The town house was brick and stone, well kept up. Not sure what to expect, he thought of his best excuse in case the housekeeper or doorman didn't know about magic.
The door was opened by a stunning woman in a simple but elegant house dress, with short black hair just beginning to turn grey. Not sure who he was addressing he went for a general inquiry. "Excuse me, but I am looking for Mr. or Mrs. Holm, Do I have the right house?" he asked.
"I am Susan Pevensie-Holm, how may I help you?" she replied.
It took him a minute to regain his composure. "I am Professor Henry Astin and I have been sent as an envoy by your daughter's new school."
"I thought you were coming tomorrow on the 15th. Is today the 15th?" she asked absently. "Oh dear, I must have lost track of the day again. Won't you come in Professor? Ari and Em will be home from the shop for tea, and then we can all go." She held the door, took his coat, and led him inside.
Henry was led through a cozy house to what he assumed was a library. It was hard to tell because the main decorative theme for the house seemed to be books. Nearly all the walls were lined from floor to ceiling in books: children's picture books; the latest popular novels; large books with cracked leather covers in languages both familiar and strange. Henry had never seen so many books outside of a library; many libraries would gladly boast of such a collection.
Henry was startled from his reverie by the realization that he should sit. He chose an overlarge red armchair, which sunk in much farther than he expected. Mrs. Pevensie-Holm chose an upholstered chair with ornately carved arms. It seemed a bit throne-like for a library, but oddly it seemed fitting for its occupant.
"Did you say Ari?" Henry asked, "I was told your daughter was named Lucy."
"Her name is Lucy Ariel Pevensie-Holm; she is named after my late sister."
Susan handed Henry an old photograph of two boys and two girls, one of whom was obviously the lady in front of him. The younger boy had dark hair, but the elder boy and the other girl seemed to be more fair haired.
"I am very sorry," he said not knowing quite the correct response. There was a lull in the conversation.
"What is it that you teach at Hogwarts, Professor?" Susan asked, politely changing the subject.
"I teach Muggle studies," he replied, and anticipating the question he saw on her face he continued, "Muggle is the term Wizards use for people who don't know about magic, and can't perform any such as yourself"
Susan smirked. "You assume that I am not familiar with magic."
Henry fought to recover from the shock, "Are you saying that you knew about magic and that your daughter would be a witch before she received her letter?"
Susan arched her brow, "I am not fond of the connotation of the word witch but I am not surprised that she would be magical. It is rather like two people exposed to radiation. Even if they do not show outward signs, it does not mean that differences will not translate to the children."
Henry saw laughter in Susan's eyes. He was exasperated that she found the situation funny. "It is a violation of law in the magical world to reveal such a secret!" he declared.
"You confuse culture with world thereby assuming that I learned about magic from your culture." was all the reply he got.
Luckily, Henry was prevented from having to form a coherent answer by the front door slamming loudly.
"Mummy!" a clear treble voice rang out, "are you in the library?"
"Yes dear," Susan replied trying to cover her mirth.
"Oh mummy," the voice continued, coming closer, "daddy taught me how to use the register, and he let me put the price tags on the books, and I accidentally knocked over the shelving cart and the books went all…."
The riposte was suddenly ended as a young girl entered the room and froze. She quickly went and tried to hide behind Susan, who remained sitting. Fair hair and her mother's honey coloured eyes poked up above Susan's head.
Susan stood up and motioned for her daughter to come out from behind. "Ari," she said gently, "this is Professor Astin, from your new school. Won't you say hello?"
"Hello Professor Astin," Ari mumbled while looking at her toes. She looked up at her mother and promptly hid again.
"A pleasure to meet you Miss Holm… err Pevensie-Holm" he added after a look from Susan.
"Where is your father, Ari?" Susan queried, and pulled her daughter out so that Ari was standing beside her.
Ari mumbled incoherently.
"I didn't catch that, Lucy." Susan firmly stated using Ari's first name for emphasis.
"He is coming," Ari answered, just loud enough to be heard, "he had to lock up the shop."
"And why isn't Bertie watching the shop?"
Ari, after a long pause and promptly turning even more shades of red than she already had, responded, "When I knocked over the cart, one of the books hit Bertie in the back and made him spill his tea. Daddy sent him home to change."
Henry tried his best not to laugh
"You and your husband own a bookstore?" he asked trying to change the subject.
"A chain of them, in fact" she responded, "There are several 'The Mighty Pen' shops throughout the east coast of America, one in Belfast, and one here in London. This store is Em's baby, so he insists on running it himself. He has two clerks to help, but Ernie had some school shopping to do, and as you heard Bertie has had an accident."
Just then the door opened again, but this time it was closed more politely. A few seconds later a man with white-blond hair and grey eyes entered and went over to Susan. "Hello, darling," he said kissing her cheek, "I suppose you have heard of the mishap?"
Finally noticing Henry he said, "Oh hello, didn't see you there, Emrick Holm, and you are?"
"Henry Astin, Hogwarts School."
"Pleasure to meet you; I thought you were coming on Wednesday."
"I seem to have gotten the dates mixed up dear," Susan interrupted, "Why don't we have Ari get the tea while the three of us become acquainted?"
Henry, Susan and Emrick at first made awkward conversation, but eventually warmed to each other when they found they had similar taste in Greek mythology. Henry found Susan's descriptions of centaurs to be quite vivid, almost as if she had real experience.
"There are centaurs in the forest around Hogwarts, "he remarked, "They are more of the star gazing type though."
"Are there dryads too?" an excited voice came from the doorway.
Henry awkwardly rose to help Ari, but Susan waved him down and let Ari set the tray on the table without assistance.
"No," answered Henry, sinking into his chair once again, "there have been accounts from some wizards and witches, but those are generally regarded as overactive imaginings. There is no record of dryads ever having existed." He tried his best to use a kind tone so as not to frighten her.
Although Ari never spoke unless asked a direct question, she sat calmly next to her father on the couch. Henry tried his level best to engage her in conversation. His attempts were met with one word answers and apathy for the most part until he mentioned the school library. Ari's eyes widened more than Henry thought possible, and quite a bit of her shyness was overcome by her curiosity. She peppered him with questions on magical subjects throughout the rest of tea. Some of her thoughts on beasts were quite right but others were strange, such as the assumption unicorns could talk.
Once the tea things were cleared away, the discussion of the plans for the rest of the day were held. Susan was all for Emrick coming along and leaving the shop closed for the rest of the day. Emrick wanted to go back and work in the shop and see the sights another day.
"Where exactly are we going?" Susan asked.
"We are going to Diagon Alley, which is accessed not far from here through a pub on Charring Cross Road."
Emrick smiled, "That is perfect. Our shop is on Charring Cross Road. We can walk there and I can see if Bertie is back yet."
Grateful for the coincidence, the party gathered their coats.
"Shall we stop by the bank?" Susan asked, "I have some cash, but I really am not sure how much we will need."
"Gringotts, the wizard bank, can take care of it. They are quite used to dealing with muggle money," Henry answered.
The walk was quite pleasant once the sun came out. Emrick ended up walking with Henry and Susan with Ari. Henry led them to the Leaky Cauldron, and was just about to ask how much farther on the shop was when he noticed the names of the stores on either side. There was Ritchie's records to the left, and to the right…
The Mighty Pen Bookstore
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