Title: The Moors of Tir Nan Og
Chapter: 1/??
Author: The Wierd Sisters
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer states that we understand that the intellectual property of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, no profit is made from this story.
Summary: In 1981 the world was changed forever with the death of the Dark Lord. Peace had come to the wizarding world. But now, ten years later, shadows are starting to creep out again. Whispers in the dark of power stirring, and the hero of the magical community is starting to learn of his past and come into his powers. Half way around the world, two young girls are experiencing a magical awaking of their own.
The Moors of Tir Nan Og
Chapter One
The Cicada House
~1991-Casco Bay, Maine New England~
Liam Rolan was close to thirty four years old, (just this side thanks very much) and the only instructor within four hundred miles of Casco Bay with the…specific qualifications to teach students of magical ability.
Which was to say that he was the only qualified Wizard who lived within easy portkeying distance to train the only two children of magical ability in the Northeast portion of the United States, most students were usually sent to Salem (of either region of the country) for tutelage, or were trained at home by parents or covens.
America being the only country left on the planet with a singular academy for witchcraft and wizardry, the problem lay in that Americans measured magical ability on a different scale, (as was the case in most American society).
Suffice it to say that when Liam was asked to spend his talents on two rather rambunctious girls in Maine, he was surprised to say the least and a little perturbed.
Private tutelage with an instructor of his skill and ability meant that his two students were required to meet every evening after their regular school day (seeing as American magical society was so closely tied within the Muggle Community, most witches and Wizards of American descent usually carried Muggle jobs, and home lives) it only made sense that they would attend Muggle schools.
He taught in a quaint (if ironic) little cottage, just off the coast (the winters were a nightmare, it got cold!). Magical modification on the home being quite illegal so near to muggles meant midnight runs through the snow to the outhouse…something he vowed he would never do again (and being a man of strong morals he thanked God, Merlin and every other deity he could think of for the invention of indoor plumbing).
The cottage was surrounded around the front by a small copse of Juniper that always blossomed in the spring, and during the summer months was home to a swarm of annoying Cicada, but it was his and it was functional so he made do.
After all, there were worse places to be living.
On the day he was to meet his new students for the first time, he woke up late (as usual) and stumbled into the shower. Then stumbled out the front door, and promptly stumbled into a middle-aged, balding tourist followed by a gaggle of twelve year old Scottish girls. As he fought his way through this horde his left foot became entwined with a boney ankle and he quickly found himself becoming a little too personal with the ground.
The ankle in question belonged to a thin, wiry looking woman of Spanish descent with high cheekbones and a long, hooked nose. She was not classically beautiful but emanated a sort of…raw power that was entrancing all the same.
She was currently struggling to stay on her feet and keep hold of two young girls (at least what Liam assumed were two girls, the red-haired one was rather…husky for a girl) from pummeling one another.
She did not look particularly pleased with this turn of events, as a matter of fact, her general composure gave the impression that she neither liked nor cared to be looking after children.
Especially rambunctious preteen girls.
The three women did not seem to notice to nondescript, brown haired man pushing himself to his feet and dusting himself off, at least until the Spanish woman (who he assumed was the woman commissioning his teaching skills) glanced up and sharp, clear gray eyes took in the sight of him.
She sniffed and made a low, shrill noise and both girls immediately stopped fighting. (She had them well trained by this point in time)
Liam offered an apologetic smile and opened his mouth to offer his apologies when she held up her hand, "Silence! I do not care for excuses, you will dust yourself off and apparate immediately to this location where we will discuss the terms of your contract." A sheaf of paper was pressed into his hand and with an oddly muffled pop, both the woman and the two girls disappeared.
Liam was too distracted by the paper to be suitably impressed at the display of side-along apparition.
Luisa Felipe was the last woman anyone could expect to care for two young children, she was forty five and openly detested small, uncooperative beings prone to temper tantrums and throwing things.
Hence, she never had children. And possessed of an openly hostile personality and dislike of men she had never married. Unfortunately on her forty third birthday she received an Owl informing her that she was the last surviving blood relative of her Great nieces, and would be required to take up guardianship of them until they reached the age of majority.
This was how Luisa, head of the Spanish Ministry of Magic's Auror division came into the possession of two grieving nine year old girls.
She really, really hated children.
This became painfully clear to poor Liam who chose a very awkward moment to finally apparate to the old Victorian manor as he was instructed. As he managed to shuffle up to and through the large stained glass front doors he could hear what sounded like a drill instructor managing the troops.
Before him stood Luisa (as he had gathered from his papers) in a very rigid stance. Lined up in front of her were the two girls, looking both frightened and down cast. To the right was a small, blonde in big black clothes and bigger black boots. To the left was a shorter red head who wore mud stained jeans and a Fitchburg Finches t-shirt. 1
Unfortunately for Liam, as he was observing this he managed to find the only creaky floor board in the entire manor. Luisa immediately rounded on him at this point. "What took you so long, did you get lost?" she scoffed. "I told you to come immediately; it has been six and a half minutes."
Liam blinked and found himself squaring his shoulders (something he had not done since his own schooldays) and cleared his throat, "Pardon my lateness, I was momentarily waylaid by a group of muggles."
Luisa looked unimpressed, "Regardless, I do not tolerate tardiness, be sure you are not…waylaid again."
The redhead choked on a laugh and turned an unattractive shade of puce, it attracted Liam's attention and he momentarily forgot Luisa to crouch in front of her and tilt his head, "Well hello there…and what's your name?"
The redhead smiled bright and pressed her thumb into her chest, "I'm Josann…but nobody but my momma called me that."
Liam blinked, "Then what are you called?"
"Row…and this is my cousin Keelee..." She pointed at the scowling blond girl next to her who rolled her eyes and hooked her arm around Row, "Got a problem with that?"
Liam shook his head, "Hardly I think it's cute…now, how much training have the two of you had so far?"
Keelee shrugged, "A bit to keep us from blowin' more stuff up, daddy hated that."
"Only b'cause you did it on purpose."
"I did not!"
"Did too!"
"Not!"
"Too!"
"Not!"
"Too!"
"I'll show you blowin' up!" Keelee tackled the redhead to the floor and sat on her.
Row shrieked, arms and legs flailing as she tried to get the other girl off her, "Your squishing my spleen!"
"I am not! You dun even know what a spleen is you dummy!"
"I'm not a dummy!"
"Yes you are and a crybaby!"
"I'm not a crybaby!"
"Yes you are...ickle biddy Row's afraid of the daaaark" Came the sing-song reply.
Row shouted and punched Keelee in the arm.
Luisa blew sharply past her lips, whistling shrilly, "That is enough!" She turned to Liam, "They are your problem now…why they were ever put in my custody is beyond me." She turned and stalked out of the sitting room, slamming the doors dramatically as she went.
It was silent for several moments before the two girls began giggling hysterically and Keelee rolled off her cousin, Row straightened and then started laughing in earnest, "Oh that was good Kee- I liked the ickle biddy bit…"
"Y'weren' so bad yourself there Row…" She giggled in response.
Liam sat back on the loveseat, "I take it this is a regular occurrence for the two of you troublemakers?"
Row shrugged and Keelee nodded proudly, "Yeah..it usually doesn't take her that long to storm off though..I think she was puttin' on a show."
Row grinned, "'least this time we didn't have to get to the hair pullin'…" She grimaced and touched her head, "You yanked out my scalp last time."
Liam laughed abruptly, "I don't want to know…keep it to yourselves please."
Keelee snickered, "Awh, what's wrong teach…afraid of gettin' in trouble?"
Liam snorted, "I am hardly afraid of trouble young miss, however I must inform you I do not like troublemakers." He stretched back on the loveseat, "Now tell me what all you have covered in your teaching thus far and I will know where to begin teaching you."
Row plopped down on the floor in front of him, dragging Keelee with her and began to tell him about their education.
***
Their modest education of simple control and meditation techniques plus some basic herbology, chemistry, and little spells had indeed been enough for the two girls to get by. After all, living so close to muggles, there really had been no need to learn more. And they were perfectly content to live as "abnormal" muggles. Until the full moon of the previous month.
On that hot and humid August night the cicadas had been just as loud as ever. Great and beautiful swarms of lightning bugs swam lazily in the sky as the two girls lunged this way and that, trying to catch the insects in jars to string up on the porch.
"I'm gonna catch waaaay more than you, JoJo!" Keelee yelled playfully at her cousin.
"I don't think so!" Row chirped back.
"I will. Just watch this!" Keelee jumped onto a large tree stump and started to call the bugs to her with over exaggerated hand movements. The lightning bugs danced their way to her and willingly flew into the jar she was holding.
"Hey," Row exclaimed indignantly. "That's not fair, you're using magic!"
"So?"
"I'll tell!"
"You're just jealous!" Keelee went red in the face. "I bet you're just jealous 'cause you can't do it!"
Well that was enough for Row. She jumped awkwardly onto a rock adjacent to Keelee and began to make the same movements her cousin had done earlier. All the bugs, however, remained where they were, floating around listlessly.
Keelee cackled and pointed at Row, who turned that awful colour that clashed with her hair. Row made even more exaggerated movements. Nothing. She began to flail wildly and started to sweat from effort and frustration. Keelee only laughed harder.
Suddenly all the lights shining from the house went out. All went dark, save for the full moon shining above. At the same time the lightning bugs began to swirl violently in erratic patterns around the two now terrified girls. They both screamed and ran to each other, hugging tightly. The wind was blowing in a great cone around them. The two looked up to see the fireflies forming strange shapes above them.
A bright light started to glow on each girl's forehead. The lights grew brighter and then white hot. Keelee and Row screamed and were thrown back from the vortex of wind. They landed hard, slamming into the ground. They looked up at the tornado as it glowed a brilliant green and then shot up to the heavens. Slowly all the lights came back on and the bugs resumed their graceful and lazy patterns around the yard.
Keelee and Row stood shakily and stared at each other. Both girls were surrounded by a crackling energy. Luisa came to the front door and looked down her nose at them.
"Well," she snorted. "That was certainly more impressive than my awakening. You'll be worse than ever now. I'm finding you tutor. I refuse to deal with awakened preteens!" She stalked off muttering to herself about show offs.
Though, Luisa had been right about one thing. Keelee and Row's powers had grown substantially and their previous training on control was all but useless for their new energy. So, it was back to square one.
***
"Well," Liam shook his head. "I've never heard of kids coming into their powers quite like that. But there is quite a bit more wild magic here in the Americas. I had no idea wizards developed like that here."
"Think you can handle us, teach?" Keelee cocked a flirty eyebrow at Liam.
"Oh, I'll try my best." Liam smiled.
1 Fitchburg Finches (USA) Known Players: Maximus Brankovitch III (Seeker)Based in Massachusetts. The Finches have won the US League seven times.