The Uncanny Valley of Magic
The team sat on the jet, unwinding from the last case. Each team member was off in their own space. Sometimes a conversation would crop up between some of the agents, but they were short and far between. About halfway through the flight, Reid caught the attention of the rest of the team.
"Hey, everybody" He continued once everyone had looked up at him, "Amaryllis is planning a sort of housewarming, "thank you for helping me move in" party. It will just be a dinner thing this weekend, she said that Henry and Jack could come too."
The whole team was quick to agree to come and the plan was set.
"So, she and Saxony finally settled in?" Morgan teased a bit.
The team had helped Amaryllis move in about a month ago. After Haley's funeral she had quickly found the perfect house for her and Saxony. The fact that is was but a short drive from Reid's apartment was another thing that brought the teasing out of Morgan. Even though the Salem Institute was a boarding school, like Hogwarts, Amaryllis was not required to reside on campus. She did do some house hunting around the city of Salem, but had fallen in love with a house in Virginia. No one knew that it was Garcia who had snuck the house, with several others, into Amaryllis internet search for properties. She could just floo to work every day, so there was no need to worry about the commute. And though they would never admit it to anyone else, both she and Reid were glad to be living in the same city.
Reid replied to Morgan, ignoring the tease "They have actually been settled for awhile now. She wanted to do the party last week but our case got in the way, and she had to go back to England this week."
"What for?" Prentiss asked.
"The last of the Wizengamot elections end...today actually, they include the races for both the Potter and the Black seats. They are actually why it took a bit longer for her to completely settle in the new house, because she kept needing to be back in England."
Everyone perked up at that. Reid had kept them up to date a little on the goings on in the Ministry of Magic reform. None of them are really affected by it, except indirectly through Reid, who is only affected through Amaryllis. But with their experiences in Britain they felt connected and wanted to know at the basics of what was going on. They also knew that since Amaryllis was giving up her seats, she would have no more public responsibilities in England. A few of them, okay the girls, believed that her need to be in England regularly, even after her move to America, had stunted the growth of the Reid/Amaryllis relationship. Now, maybe it could push forward a bit.
"Are the races close or is there a clear winner?" Rossi inquired.
"They don't publicize the races as they go, but they have polling data from the last week. The candidates for the Potter seat are rather close, but Kingsley Shacklebolt is expected to win the Black seat easily."
"Who is running for the Potter seat" Hotch asked.
"Actually, Remus Lupin is running."
Everyone was excited about that. They had met Lupin in England and all really liked him. They spoke for a little bit about how they think he would do, based on the small acquaintance with him.
"I don't the person he is running against. Amaryllis said that it was really close at the last poll. Remus was a major player in the Order, while the other was not. But the opponent has been in the government before, and Amaryllis is worried about leftover prejudice against werewolves."
"What is her opinion?"
"She think they both would be good for the position, but she knows Remus better and trusts him a bit more. But she has tried to stay out of the "guess who" game as much as possible."
The team agreed with the assessments and Reid continued talking.
"Amaryllis gave me a wizard radio a little while ago. It's one of the latest models. For special events you can watch like it like television. They only do it for the most important of things because it takes a lot of magic to make it work. I am hoping that we make it home in time to watch it. Any of you could come over. Gideon is actually at my apartment now."
JJ and Hotch both begged out. They had families to get home to. The other all agreed to come, promising to let JJ and Hotch know if anyone they knew was elected. Thought they honestly wanted to see the election results, for some seeing the 'magic television' was a slight better draw. The rest of the flight passed as it had before the conversation.
They landed, not quite late enough to go directly to their cars, but they had been working longer than usual hours for the last couple weeks so they were allowed to go straight home. Reid's phone rang as they were walking to the parking garage.
"Hey, 'Lis... Yeah we just landed." he glanced at his watch before continuing "We should have just made it right?...Oh, good... Yeah, I am heading straight home...Talk to you afterwards?...Alright, Is breá liom tú, Amaryllis, Slán." Reid hung up the phone and turned to everyone else.
"Hey, we made it. We may miss the beginning but we will be able to watch most of it."
The team, minus JJ and Hotch, quickly gathered in Reid's apartment. Morgan picked up Garcia, Prentiss showed up with some pizzas and Rossi brought drinks. Gideon let them all in while Reid continued to fiddle with dials on an old fashioned looking radio. He sat back for a moment as everyone heard an unfamiliar voice go into an acceptance speech.
"Now, Amaryllis said all we have to do is switch this lever down and..." as Reid pulled the lever a beam of sparkle dust shoot out the top of the radio. The beam enlarged out into a screen type of thing. An image appeared on the screen.
A distinguished looking wizard was standing at a pulpit, giving a very eloquent speech. His face seemed familiar, but none of the agents could name him. They listened a bit, then were half listening as they got their food organized and passed out. This basically set the tone for the rest of the night. Every once in awhile they would see someone they knew. One of which was Neville Longbottom, who held onto his family's historic seat. Gideon knew more people than everyone else. He, and Reid, would describe what he knew about the individual and the politics so the others would understand a bit better.
Probably one of the most interesting parts for them was at the end of each acceptance speech, the new representative would have the option of keeping the old family name on the seat or changing it to their own. The profilers had fun trying to work out ahead of time what each person would do. Some were easy, like the seats formerly held by Death Eaters, which would obviously be changed, or seats of families that were in the Order of the Phoenix, which were kept the same. It was the seats belonging to families in the Grey area that were up in the air. The profilers tried to decide whether or not the newly elected people were narcissistic enough to rename the seat after themselves, even if they were taking a Light families seat. It was good to see that many seats kept the name they had had for centuries.
At the points when they didn't know who was elected they would talk amongst themselves, mostly catching up with Gideon. They had come together to watch the election results, but it turned into a nice relaxing night with coworkers and friends. After an hour to an hour and a half the group could tell that it was almost over. They saw Amelia Bones, Interim Minister of Magic, stand to the pulpit.
"Now we will have the results of the last two elections" The whole group sat forward. Since the winners of Amaryllis' seats were still a mystery, they knew what the last two seats were.
"Currently they are held by the same person but she has declined to run for either of them. Therefore to announce the winners of the Black seat and the Potter seat, Lady Amaryllis Potter."
The applause was deafening as Amaryllis stood and walked to the pulpit. Like the other Head of Houses that were voluntarily giving up their seats, she dressed nicely but was not in the official Wizengamot robes. Her's were elven in cut, with a simple headdress framing her ears, instead of a Bowler hat. Once the enthusiasm of the crowd settled down she was able to begin talking.
"I, Amaryllis Potter, have held the Wizengamot seat for both the Ancient and Noble House of Black and the Ancient and Noble House of Potter since I reached my majority over a decade ago. I voted in favor of the Wizengamot becoming an elected office. And though it has been an honor to serve you far all these years, I determined to not run for one of my seats. I believe there are better people than me who could hold either of these seats and know that you will be in good hands, no matter who has been elected."
There was a small applause, with shouts of support and admiration. Percy Weasley, the Wizengamot Chief Executive Clerk stepped up and handed Amaryllis the first sealed envelope with the results. She quickly broke the seal and unfolded the paper.
"As of January 13, 2010, by free election, the voters of the region designated to the Black family seat have chosen for their representative...Kingsley Shacklebolt!"
Applause once again rang through the hall as Kingsley walked up to the podium. Along the way he shook hands with a man that the team figured was his opponent in the race. Amaryllis stepped up to the amplifier.
"Thank you...thank you. I would also like to thank Mr. Markel for a wonderful honest race. He is a great public servant and I wish him well in his endeavors."
The team listened as he spoke of trust and honesty. They listened while discussing whether he will rename the seat or not.
"The Black family has been Dark for generations. And were rather staunch Death Eaters" Rossi said "I can't see them letting the name Black remain on the seat."
Gideon voiced his opinion "True. Sirius may have been exonerated and honored for his work against Riddle, but that doesn't clear generations of prejudice."
Morgan joined in here "But I don't think he is going to want to spout how great his and give it his name."
"Can they change it to something else?" Garcia wondered. Everyone glanced at Gideon and Reid.
Gideon frowned and said "I am not sure. It hasn't been done before, has it Reid?"
"Not that I know of. But I don't' think it is against the rules. Amaryllis hasn't said much about that aspect of this."
Kingsley's speech was winding down and the agents patiently waited for the renaming at the end.
"Now I know you are all expecting me to present a name change to this seat. And you wouldn't be wrong to do so. The Black family has in the past been major supporters of Voldemort and Grindelwald before him. I also do not see myself being important enough to put my own name on the seat either. I did what I could in the fight against Voldemort, but so did many others. One of those was Sirius Black. He was true to the light all his days even though we thought differently for over two decades. He fought and died for a people who deserted him. This doesn't erase the crimes of his family but it does deserve some sort of recognition."
Kingsley paused here. There was a tiny applause. The Americans could tell that was a bit reluctant but Gideon was the only one who commented on it.
"20 years of distrust and hatred is hard to let go of."
Kingsley started to speak again, knowing everyone watching was incredibly curious as to the new name of the seat.
"Now, Sirius Black had a bit of a reputation as a jokester." There were a couple of small chuckles here at the understatement, both in the hall and from Gideon and Reid, who had heard many stories, before he continued. "He would often call himself the 'white' sheep of the Black Family." There were outright laughs from many people then.
"So in honor of Sirius Black, I rename the Black Family seat the White seat, and I am proud to hold it."
Great laughter and applause followed the end of his speech. The magical camera followed him as he shook hands with Amaryllis and sat down in his new Wizengamot seat. Amaryllis stood back up to the microphone. She was still clapping and had a big, beautiful smile on her face. She didn't begin to speak again until everything had died down.
"Mr. Shacklebolt, I think Sirius would agree with your action 100% and probably even be a bit jealous that he didn't of it himself." She cleared her throat and stood a bit taller as Percy handed her the final envelope of election results.
"As of January 13, 2010, by free election, the voters in the region designated to the Potter family seat have chosen for their representative..." she paused, longer than for the Black seat, she glanced up from the paper with a smile "Remus J Lupin!"
The six American sitting in Reid's apartment burst into cheers along with room of Brits that were witnessing history. The camera swung around and focused on Remus Lupin as he made his way up to the stand. He stood there in the wake of the applause that was granted him. Once it died down he began to speak.
"Thank you. It is humbling to stand here. Mrs. Clapton, you ran a great race and it has been a honor." his head bowed respectfully and the camera turned to see an elegant lady return to head bow.
"Eight months ago it wouldn't have been possible for me to be standing here. Since the end of the Second War many strides have been made to make sure there isn't a Third. I stand here as a result of two. The repealing of the werewolf persecution laws and of course the Wizengamot elections. I promise to keep these good changes and help the continuing effort to make our world a better and safer place for our children." He paused and a polite applause filled the silence.
"I have been blessed to now hold the seat the belonged to the Potter Family. James Potter was my best friend in school. Nothing changed when he learned of my condition. In fact I didn't know that he had found out till months afterward. He and my other friends did all they could to make my life easier. They showed me friendship, sacrifice, and love. And that is how I will act." Another small applause sounded. Remus got a special smile on his face.
"Now as for the name of the seat. The Potter family has always been a just, honorable, and forward-thinking family. The late Lord James and Lady Lily Potter died fighting Voldemort and protecting their child. Their daughter, Lady Amaryllis, has done enough for our society and the world that I could talk for hours. Nothing I have or will do can ever compare, not even being the first werewolf in the Wizengamot. The name Potter will remain on the seat." The hall exploded with clapping and cheering. The group in Reid's apartment all smiled, expecting nothing else.
The camera panned around the hall before pulling out about the crowd. The image stayed there for a few moments before changing to something new.
A man and woman sat behind a desk. They were obviously new anchors.
"Good Evening. I'm Julie Mark." The woman spoke first.
"And I am Matthew Knight, and this is WBN News." After they had both introduced themselves, they switched off speaking to the camera.
"You just watched the last of the results for the first ever elections to the Wizengamot."
"But like everything that deals with politics, the full stories have not been told."
"So we are here to give you some of those stories. We have interviews with the newly elected Wizengamot representatives. But the discussions don't end tonight tomorrow we have an exclusive interview. We have the surprise after the break."
Rossi sat forward and looked towards Reid and Gideon.
"Let me guess…Amaryllis?"
Reid was the one who answered "Yes. She was originally going to be on as soon as the results were over, but she refused to do it, because she wanted the new officials to be the story, not her. So they pushed the interview to the morning."
Garcia looked a bit disappointed. "Is there any way to record it? I want to watch."
Reid shook his head "No, sorry Garcia."
"Don't worry" Gideon cut in "I will make sure you hear all the details. Even the ones Spencer would leave out because of embarrassment."
All laughed at the pouty look on Reid's face.
Morgan got a jab in "Yeah, we all know they are bound to ask about her boyfriend."
Reid had recovered by this time "Yes, the two of us have talked about it, and it will be just fine."
The agents all chuckled again and began to clean up the mess they had made. While they were interested in the coming interviews, it was late and they all needed to get home. They half listened to the advertisements that were playing, one of which was for the Weasley Twins' joke shops. They were almost ready to leave when the news came back on.
"She is the young head of house that decided to not run for the seat that has been in her family since its inception. She is a very private person and has never agreed to give an interview that wasn't about a bill she was supporting in the Wizengamot." Mark started with the introduction, but Julie continued at this point.
"That is right, Amaryllis Potter has agreed to one last interview before she leaves public life. And tomorrow morning we will have the whole thing for you. But right now we have interviews with the newly elected members to the Wizengamot."
The first interview had started by the time the visiting agents were walking out the door. Reid closed the door behind the last one to walk out, then went back into the living room, where Gideon was still watching.
"Hey, Jason, I am going to head to bed. It has been a long day."
"Alright, you don't mind me finishing this do you?"
"No, it is fine. I will be up to watch Amaryllis tomorrow, are you?"
"Plan on it. Goodnight, Spencer."
"Goodnight, Jason."
It was the next morning, Reid and Gideon sat on the couch with their breakfasts, waiting for the interview of Amaryllis to start. They didn't have to wait long.
"Last night, Lady Amaryllis Potter gave up her two seats in the Wizengamot, without a fight. She is preparing to leave public life and we have the exclusive interview before she is gone. We are going to Jenna Dolan, who is there with Lady Potter in the spectator seats of the Wizengamot chamber. Hello Jenna!" An image of a curly haired woman had appeared in the corner of the screen. It quickly expanded to take the whole screen.
"Hey, Julie and Matthew. As you said I am here with Lady Potter, who has just barely given up both of her Wizengamot seats." The camera zoomed out showing both the reporter and Amaryllis.
"Hello, Lady Potter, thank you so much for agreeing to sit down with us. For someone as popular as you, you don't do interviews. At least no any that are about you personally."
Amaryllis smiled "Thank you Jenna. And please call me Amaryllis."
"Of course. Now you had mentioned wanting some ground rules."
"Yes, but it just one. You can ask whatever you want, but I reserve the right not to answer if it too personal."
Jenna chuckled a bit. "Sounds reasonable enough. So to start us off, we should get the obvious question out of the way. Technically you will hold your two family seats for two more weeks, until the new Wizengamot session starts, but you have handed the reins over to two others. How do you feel?"
"Relieved…Grateful…Elated." Amaryllis paused "Can I say anything else without sounding like the worst member of the Wizengamot ever."
The two women shared a laugh before Jenna responded.
"I am not sure there is anything you could say to make people not like you. Except Death Eaters, of course."
"Oh, they are easy."
"Yes, well the next thing our viewers want to know is why? You have worked so hard to get our world to this point. Why leave when things are looking up?"
"Well, the first reason…I hate playing politics. I understand that it is the way it all works. And during my time in the Wizengamot I have tried my best to avoid it. It has been on honor to serve on the Wizengamot but there are so many other people out there that are better suited to the task of bettering the world than me. And two of those were elected to my family seats."
"I am sure there are those that disagree with you, and would see the irony of Amaryllis Potter, Defeater of Voldemort, saying she isn't fit for bettering the world."
"Well many tried to convince me to run for the Potter seat. But that brings me to another reason I didn't."
"And what is that?"
"You remember I said I don't like politics, well I am also not very good at being political. So what I am about to say will sound incredibly selfish." There was a short pause. "I am tired. Like many others, the war against Voldemort took over my life and even afterwards it was a fight to get our world back on its feet. And now things are good. They are in a place where I am not worried anymore. And now that all the hardships are over. I want my life back. It's that simple."
There was a pause, no one moved or talked. Gideon and Reid glanced at each other, not sure what the reaction would be to her answer.
"Wow. I can see how some might view that as selfish, but with everything you have done. I don't blame you."
"Thank you"
"Now you mentioned the two men who won you seats; Kingsley Shacklebolt won the Black seat, now renamed White, and Remus J Lupin won the Potter seat. What do you think of the both of them?"
"I think very highly of both of them. I know Remus better than Kingsley. Remus is, of course a family friend and both men were members of the Order of the Phoenix. They are both fine men who will do all they can to keep our government on the right track."
"What about platform wise? Do you agree with them on their stances on certain issues?"
"In both cases, for the most part, yes. They don't agree with each other on many things, so my differences with one aren't the same as with the other. But my opinion don't matter anymore."
"I suppose that is true, but people still want to know." The two women shared a laugh, though Amaryllis' wasn't was carefree as the reporter's.
There were a couple more political questions, but Amaryllis didn't respond very openly to them. Jenna soon got to the more personal questions.
"With you bowing out of the Wizengamot, you are leaving public life. But you have been very secretive about your plans for the future. Are you still going to teach at Hogwarts? Because there have been rumors of a house bought in America."
"Those rumors are true. I have accepted a post at Salem Institute of Witchcraft and will no longer be teaching at Hogwarts."
Jenna's face was the picture of disappointment, "Why are you leaving us?"
"Oh, well…there are almost thirty years of memories in England for me. Many of them are wonderful. Hogwarts was the first place I called home and will always have a special place in my heart. But along with those good memories, there are a lot bad ones. I want to start over, both Saxony and I deserve it."
"Oh course you do, the last year must have been an ordeal for Saxony."
"That is putting it lightly. She is sad that she won't see her cousins as much but she really likes it in the States."
"That is wonderful. Now, do you mind if I ask you about another rumor?"
"I don't see why not."
"You have explained one reason for you move to America. But another wouldn't happen to be a certain American FBI Agent who came to assist us, would it?"
Amaryllis let out a long cheerful laugh at the question. She spoke after calming down.
"You have been dying to ask that one, haven't you?"
"Yes, I'll admit it. Sorry, with this being your last interview, we want to get as much information out of you as possible."
"Don't worry, I swear I could see the same question on the tip of the tongue of any reporter ever to interview me."
"Is it too personal or do we finally get an answer?"
"I knew it would be asked and so I have prepared myself…Yes, I am in a relationship with Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid."
There was a load commotion heard from off screen. Amaryllis looked away from Jenna and the two Americans watching looked very confused, and a little concerned that something bad has happened.
"What is going on back there?"
It was Jenna who answered her.
"There was a betting pool going around about your answer to that one."
"A betting pool? Seriously?"
"Are you mad?"
"Depends. Do I get a cut of the winnings?" Amaryllis' response and laughter let everyone know that she wasn't angry. Everyone relaxed.
"So, back to you and Spencer Reid. How long have you two been together?"
"We got together when he and his team came to England, but I had met him before then, at a literary conference in the States."
"How serious are the two of you. I mean, you're moving to America. How much weight did your relationship have on that decision?" Amaryllis didn't answer right away. She ran her fingers through her hair a bit.
"You know I knew this would be asked. So I spoke with Spencer about exactly how much of our private lives was going to be told to a countless number of people. But it is still weird talking about it on viewer. I am not sure how to answer that."
"Well, considering you are moving closer to him, are we going to be hearing wedding bells in the near future?"
A chuckle escaped Amaryllis, she simply lifted your hands and showed her unadorned fingers.
"Sorry to disappoint. We have discussed our future, and both of us want one with each other, but there is no engagement. As for whether or not my relationship with Spencer influenced my decision to move to America. Of course, it did. Besides my daughter, he is the most important person in my life. We discussed my moving to Washington DC a lot."
"Did he really push you to move?"
"No. He told me that he wanted me there. So he was on the pro-move on the side of the discussions. But he also made sure that I knew he would be supportive if I decided to stay in England. Knowing all that though, he is a big part of the whole thing. I mentioned how both of us want a future together, and to do ha we need to be in the same place."
Jenna smiled at the sweetness of the answer "I completely agree. How is his relationship with Saxony, your daughter? What does she think of him?"
"Oh, she adores him. Actually…um…well its funny, she actually thought he was a wizard at first."
Gideon looked at Reid with a look that said 'Seriously.' Reid just nodded back and the two men turned back to the screen.
"Really! Why?"
"Well, one of Spencer's hobbies is magic tricks."
"The sleight of hand ones?"
"Yeah, well, when we were first getting to know each other, he started to show her these tricks and she didn't realize that he wasn't using the same magic that you and I use."
"Ahhh, how cute. Does she know better know?"
"Well she says that she understands that they were muggle tricks. But there are times where we catch her starring at Spencer with a weird look in her eye. Like she is trying to catch him doing something…un-muggle like. If that makes sense."
"It does" Both women shared a laugh.
"Now Amaryllis, you mentioned that you discussed this interview with Spencer."
"Yes, I knew you would ask about him and therefore, he deserved some input on what was said."
"Is he watching right now?"
"Yes, as far as I know."
"Is there anything you would like to say to him?"
Reid hadn't expected this question, so he listened very carefully to the answer. Amaryllis sat back and the camera zoomed in on her.
She shrugged "Just, I'm coming home, fy nghariad."
Reid's face brightened with a smile.
"Thank you for talking with us, Amaryllis."
The interview ended and it went back to the normal news. A message flashed, that the video would end soon. Reid reached over and flipped the lever on the radio, making the screen disappear. He and Gideon finished their breakfast, chatting with each other a bit. Gideon offered to take the dishes into the kitchen. He rinsed them off and loaded them into the dish washer. He decided he wanted to go out for a walk; maybe do some people watching as profilers tend to do. He walked back to the living room to tell Reid he was going out. What he saw gave him pause for a second.
Reid was still sitting on couch, but he was leaning forward and fiddling with something on the coffee table in front of the radio. It was a small jewelry box. Reid was spinning it around on the smooth surface, but with a quick motion he snapped the top up. Inside was a gorgeous diamond ring. Gideon smiled widely, could not see it in detail but it was obvious to what it was. He backed up a few steps and made a bit of noise in warning. When Gideon walked back into the room Reid was starring his way, with his hand placing something in his pant's pocket.
AN:/Well, there it is, sorry it took so long. I had a lot to do lately. Plus this one didn't want to get written. I kept having to rewrite it, because I was never happy with it. I know I promised fluff and I tried to put some in, but I had actually a different chapter planned, but then remembered that I should wrap up what happens in England.
I am sure all of you know what is coming up. If you have any suggestions feel free to tell me. I can't promise to use them, but I will consider it.