Chapter One: St. John's

Author note: This story is part of the Magical Flashpoint Side Story series. It follows "Will to Act" and comes before "Proving Ground – Auror Academy".

Although all original characters belong to me, I do not own Flashpoint, Harry Potter, Narnia, or Merlin.

The problem with finding a new – tech-side – school for two kids who'd spent most of their lives – and their entire educational career – in the magical world was transferring their school records. Tech-side schools were unlikely to be impressed by O's or EE's in such subjects as Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, or Defense Against the Dark Arts. Nor were tech-side schools likely to accept his assertion that the kids had been in school without the paperwork to back him up. He'd find himself on the wrong end of a Child Services investigation in no time.

Although the Toronto School of Magic did offer tech-side subjects, Greg had no idea how to get a tech-friendly transcript of his nipotes' grades in those subjects. But keeping his nipotes out of school indefinitely wasn't an option, so the Sergeant set about trying to track down information about school transfers.

Giles Onasi waited until Parker was done explaining what he needed. The Auror bit back old regrets and longings as he focused on the situation at hand. "Okay, take this with a grain of salt, Parker, 'cause I don't have school-age kids," he began, earning a slight grin for his successful use of the techie turn of phrase. "But most of the time, transfers only happen when kids have to move."

"Like when Lance and Alanna first came here?" Parker inquired.

Giles nodded. "Exactly like that," he confirmed. "If a Muggleborn leaves the magical world before their OWLs, their wand gets snapped and their entire family gets Obliviated."

"They do?" the Sergeant demanded, stiffening in outrage.

The Auror resisted the urge to hang his head in shame. "Yeah, they do, Parker. It's part of the Statute of Secrecy and it's the same no matter where you go."

New worry entered Parker's eyes. "Then Alanna…"

Onasi snorted. "They'd have to find her first," he opined. "Don't forget, Simmons took the Trace off her, so they don't have a ready way to track her any more. Plus, regardless of public sentiment or the laws against Wild Mages, they're both still purebloods. No one is going to Obliviate an underage pureblood scion of an Ancient and Noble House. They'd get crucified by all the other pureblood families."

For a moment, Parker considered that carefully. "Just another one of the differences between how purebloods are treated versus how tech-borns are treated?"

"Pretty much," Giles acknowledged sadly. "I'm not saying it's fair, but at least this time it works in your favor." He cleared his throat. "Now, Lance is past his OWLs, so none of this applies to him. Once you get past the OWLs, only a criminal conviction results in a snapped wand. That's the same regardless of blood status."

"Copy."

The Auror sighed to himself, running a hand through his hair. "As for transferring records between the worlds? I don't have a clue how'd you go about doing that." He considered for a minute, thinking hard, then tilted his head to the side, ever so slightly. "Maybe…maybe ask Gringotts?"

Parker's expression turned startled. "Why them?"

More sure of himself, Giles warmed to the idea. "Because Gringotts is the link between our worlds, Parker. They handle all the currency conversions and I've heard they invest pretty heavily on your side of things because they're barred from investing in the wizarding world."

"Barred? Why?"

A shrug. "Probably has to do with the Goblin Wars and the typical entitled pureblood Lords running the show over in England. Don't know the details, but those treaties were set centuries ago. Gringotts may not like it, but they follow contracts and treaties to the letter." At the arched, skeptical look, Giles gave the other man a rather limp smile. "As for why, well, welcome to the magical world where we hold grudges until the end of time."

"Now that," Parker muttered resentfully, "is why I'm happy I don't have enough magic to be a wizard."

As he left, Giles blinked after him. Parker had magic? Since when? It never occurred to the half-blood that as a descendant of a magical family, of course the SRU Sergeant had some magic.

As it turned out, Silnok had anticipated Greg's visit, though the goblin was highly amused that it had taken Parker so long to realize that Gringotts could help him with transferring the young Wild Mages to a school well outside the magical world. In addition to techie-friendly school records, Silnok had already assembled a list of public and private schools for Greg's consideration. Each of the schools had already been vetted and were ranked according to the goblin's impression of them.

Once back at home, Greg read through the list as well as the extensive notes. He groaned as he read them…that Silnok was being picky was a severe understatement. In the end, Greg narrowed his final list of schools down to ten of the closest schools – Silnok had neglected to take into account the travel time between Greg's apartment and the schools in question.

It took another week or so of poking around, asking questions, and investigating the schools before Greg was ready to settle on a choice. The Sergeant gave silent thanks for the fact that the Calvin Family vault would pay for all the school expenses – he would never, on his own, be able to afford the small, but elite private school he'd picked out for even one of his kids, never mind both of them.

Greg made his way through the hallways of St. John's School as he walked towards the main office. He'd called ahead and made an appointment with the principal, but his steps were lagging just a bit the closer he got to his destination. Was it fair to make his nipotes start over instead of just 'home schooling' them via Shiloh? Except…he already knew Shiloh couldn't teach his kids non-magical subjects…they didn't have the time or staff for every magical subject, much less the non-magical. But dropping the non-magical subjects wasn't an option, especially in the wake of his nipotes' ostracization in the wizarding world. No, the negotiator decided again, his best option was to enroll them in a tech-side school and have them study magic during the evenings and weekends.

The Sergeant straightened his shoulders, hiding all his remaining doubts and fears behind his well-practiced negotiator mask. Showtime. He picked up his pace and strode into the school office, immediately turning to the secretary's desk. The gray-haired woman looked up from her paperwork with a smile. "Can I help you, sir?"

Parker returned the smile. "I'm here for a meeting with," he double-checked his notes, "Principal Kahl?"

"Oh, yes," the secretary confirmed, glancing down to her appointment book. "Mr. Parker, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," the Sergeant acknowledged.

The slightly plump woman rose, moving around her desk and up to the counter; her guest bit back a smile as she stepped up on a platform behind the counter to be on his level. She leaned out, Greg shifting back to give her room, and pointed to a door in a short hallway on the opposite wall. "Go right in, Mr. Parker; she's expecting you."

Hiding his last-second nerves, Greg moved smoothly to the door and knocked twice before opening it. Inside, a woman with dark gray hair looked up from her own paperwork. At first glance, she looked like a no-nonsense, severe woman; behind her wire-frame glasses, her light gray eyes were stern and her slim face was lined with more frown lines than laugh lines. A closer look revealed a slight hint of humor, one the woman's students likely never would've believed she possessed, and the negotiator had an immediate impression of a woman who was, at her core, fair and unbiased.

"Principal Kahl?" Parker inquired, offering his hand.

She rose from her desk, shaking his hand firmly. "Yes. I assume you're Mr. Parker?"

"I am," Greg agreed, giving her a slight smile.

Principal Kahl returned to her seat, shuffling through her papers and pulling one out to write on. "I understand you're looking to enroll your…" she glanced down at the paper, "…wards in our school?"

"Yes, I am."

"Are they both the same age?"

Greg shook his head. "They're two years apart," he explained. "Lance turned sixteen a few weeks ago and Alanna is fourteen." He sighed, not looking forward to the verbal twist, bob, and weave necessary to keep magic out of his explanation. At the last second, he opted for a simple, straightforward, "It's a long story, but their current school isn't an option anymore, so I need to transfer them before the next school year starts."

Caution entered the principal's eyes. "Expulsion?"

"No," Parker replied firmly. "My kids haven't done anything wrong, Principal Kahl. It's a bad situation and I need to get them out before it gets worse." He considered a moment. "Lance might be somewhat behind in his schoolwork – he had a nasty car accident on his birthday – but overall their grades are good."

"May I?" the principal inquired, reaching forward. Greg handed her the techie-friendly transcripts without a qualm. He waited as the woman read through them, her expression thoughtful. When she was done, she considered a few moments longer. "This looks like they were struggling at one point, although they've gotten much better."

The negotiator inclined his head. "That's correct. When they first moved here, there were a few bumps in the road and a couple subjects they'd never had to take before."

Principal Kahl put the transcripts down and rummaged through her desk for several moments. "Well, we have two options, Mr. Parker. We can have your wards take placement tests and see where they're at right now. Based on their grades, they shouldn't have any trouble testing back into their current grade levels. Or you can choose to enroll them in our summer school and we'll assess them as part of the summer school program. When the school year starts, they'll be placed in their grades according to the summer school results."

It was Greg's turn to consider as the principal handed him the paperwork on the school's summer school program. On the one hand, his nipotes would lose out on a good chunk of their summer…through no fault of their own. On the other…

While the Toronto School of Magic had techie courses, Greg hadn't been all that impressed by the homework he'd had the opportunity to look over. The best he could say was that the courses were out-of-date. He'd collared as many members of his team as he could into giving his nipotes better, more up-to-date information, but there had only been so much he and his team could do. Spike had tracked down some educational computer programs from the 1990s – ironically, the games had been leaps and bounds ahead of anything the kids were learning at the school, a fact that left the Sergeant highly unimpressed.

Here and now, Greg could start fixing the problem. Give his kids a real shot at being able to live tech-side, rather than having the techie world dangled in front of their noses, only to be snatched away because their schooling was mostly magic, coupled with a few rudimentary tech-side lessons. And if it cost his kids a summer…maybe even more than one summer…well, they'd be better off in the long run.

The negotiator looked up at the principal, a gleam in his hazel eyes. "Let's do the summer school."