The Second Strange Tale -- The Muggle Cards
(AN: Oh, please do note that I am an avid player of several muggle TCGs. The first I played was Magic, and I still do play it. That is, if I can find my cards... They're strewn throughout my room, though mostly in various card binders, drawers, and all over the bookshelf. It's very strange to look through my Pokemon cards and find a page with several Lord of the Pit, two Dean Thomas, a Potions exam, and finally a holo Musyamon...)
Let us go forward several years... for the sake of humour, let's skip Felicity's death... A muggle sees her out during a full moon, and ... yeah... I think that explains it enough for now. That tale shall be saved for later... However, let us say that Harcourt is now a young lad with nothing better to do at home that play and be a very slight nusciance. As there is no one to watch Harcourt during the school year, Snape sought and hired the only werewolf he knew to watch Harcourt (as much as Snape hated doing this)-- Remus Lupin.
Snape had hoped so very much that Harcourt would drive Lupin to the very brink of his sanity, but no, the two got along quite well indeed. This, of course, miffed Snape very much so. And one summer day, Snape found even more reason to be miffed with Lupin.
As mentioned, it was a pleasant summer day, as Severus walked through the house, and clucked in disapproval at the horrid mess left in the front room by Harcourt. Severus growled to himself as he picked up the toys, the comics, and then came upon the strangest pile of items yet... They were cards, but they did not seem like ordinary cards. The pictures stood still, and did nothing whatsoever. Below the pictures were bits of text for some, some just giving a quote or information, others with both this and some odd writings such as "|- Add (skull, etc.) to Mana Pool", or "Has Banding, First Strike". Severus then noticed that the cards each had little titles in the top.
"Storm Crow? Lord of the Pit... Ah, he's an ugly one... Mon's Goblin Raiders? Those don't look like any goblins I've seen..." Severus shuffled through the cards quickly, still bothered by the cards' not being animate. "What manner of cards are these...?" Severus then spied the names at the bottom. Wizards of the Coast? He'd never heard of it. Besides, what manner of wizard folk made such silly, non-magical cards that hosted the name "Magic: The Gathering" on them? It was rather confusing. Thus, Severus decided to call Harcourt down.
"HARCOURT!! Downstairs, now!" Severus barked. There was a mad shuffle from the floor above, then the sound of something tumbling and bounding down the steps. A silence, then a loud thud, followed by the sound of Harcourt's socked feet sliding and scuffling over the floor to the front room. The boy's cheery face peered around the wall at Severus.
"Yep? You called?" Harcourt's cheerful attitude could be sickening. As it was, he was smiling ear to ear, toothily, and with stains from grass on his pant's knees, and bits of kneazle hair clinging to his shirt. His slate eyes were bright, and his chin length hair shiny and quite clean. Severus scowled. He held up the cards.
"I found these on the floor with your things. What, pray, are these? Where did you get them?" Snape said shortly. Harcourt looked at the cards, then spoke, with tones of upmost cheer.
"Oh! Those! Lupin got them for me in Muggle London. We went to a store there, and I saw them, and so he got them. See? You play a game with them. Muggles are funny, but they do seem to know something about us, don't they?"
"Ah, I see. Remus purchased these? How do you play the game? As ridiculous as it must be..."
"It is not!" Harcourt suddenly adopted an upset scowl. "It's very easy. You're supposed to be a wizard, or a witch, and you have to kill your enemy by casting spells, and using creatures. But, you can't do anything with out 'Mana', this magical land stuff."
Severus glanced at a few of the cards again. "What is it with muggles and killing each other? I suppose you can kill the creatures, as well?"
Harcourt grinned and nodded.
"I see." Severus looked at some of the drawings and tried to suppress laughter. Instead, he grinned horribly. "Yes, muggles are very amusing. Harcourt, have you ever heard or seen of a dragon that looked like this?" Severus held up a card of Sven Dragon. "Or, here, behold this basilisk!" Severus held up a card of Thicket Basilisk. "That is no basilisk. That is an Iguana with too many legs. Hmmm... Ahh, look. The Goblins are depicted with green, or even blue skin! How dreadful!" Severus then landed upon a Dungeon Shade, and looked faintly a shade more pale. "Euchhh... Harcourt, how do you keep with out nightmares? Frightful things these are..."
Harcourt pouted. He then tried to snatch the cards back with a deft swipe of his hand, but couldn't reach high enough.
"Dad, please, may I have back my cards? Please?" Harcourt pleaded, and tugged on the sleeve of Severus's robes. Severus yanked his arm out of Harcourt's grip and then stalked to the fireplace.
"Harcourt, I'm afraid I shall have to burn these. The pictures of some of these are far too frightening and violent for a young child such as your self--"
"I'M NOT TOO LITTLE!!" Harcourt shrieked, and clung to Severus's robes as he tried to toss the cards away.
"Stop that! Silly boy, seven is far too small! Off, OFF!" Severus held his hand holding the cards far above his head. "Unless you wish to be grounded..."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Harcourt tried to climb up Severus's back to the cards. Severus was forced to toss the cards into the flames to get Harcourt off of him, who was rather a burden to his back. Harcourt stared, shocked, at the cards as they seemed to burn away, then shrieked, and howled. Severus yelped, as his ears were now in great pain, and was about to try to mute Harcourt briefly, when he noticed something very odd. The cards weren't burning. Rather, they were still quite intact, and were suddenly rejected by the fire. They both stood, stunned.
Harcourt recovered, grinned, gathered up the cards, and scurried away to his room. Severus stood, perplexed, and saw a note that had been with the cards that he hadn't bothered to read before.
Severus--
Harcourt begged it of me, so I bought him these cards that were in a muggle shop we saw on our way through London. Owing to how he seems to let things become broken and dirty easily, I put a charm on them to prevent that. Thought I ought to let you know,
Remus
Severus spent the rest of the day quite sour.
(AN: Oh, please do note that I am an avid player of several muggle TCGs. The first I played was Magic, and I still do play it. That is, if I can find my cards... They're strewn throughout my room, though mostly in various card binders, drawers, and all over the bookshelf. It's very strange to look through my Pokemon cards and find a page with several Lord of the Pit, two Dean Thomas, a Potions exam, and finally a holo Musyamon...)
Let us go forward several years... for the sake of humour, let's skip Felicity's death... A muggle sees her out during a full moon, and ... yeah... I think that explains it enough for now. That tale shall be saved for later... However, let us say that Harcourt is now a young lad with nothing better to do at home that play and be a very slight nusciance. As there is no one to watch Harcourt during the school year, Snape sought and hired the only werewolf he knew to watch Harcourt (as much as Snape hated doing this)-- Remus Lupin.
Snape had hoped so very much that Harcourt would drive Lupin to the very brink of his sanity, but no, the two got along quite well indeed. This, of course, miffed Snape very much so. And one summer day, Snape found even more reason to be miffed with Lupin.
As mentioned, it was a pleasant summer day, as Severus walked through the house, and clucked in disapproval at the horrid mess left in the front room by Harcourt. Severus growled to himself as he picked up the toys, the comics, and then came upon the strangest pile of items yet... They were cards, but they did not seem like ordinary cards. The pictures stood still, and did nothing whatsoever. Below the pictures were bits of text for some, some just giving a quote or information, others with both this and some odd writings such as "|- Add (skull, etc.) to Mana Pool", or "Has Banding, First Strike". Severus then noticed that the cards each had little titles in the top.
"Storm Crow? Lord of the Pit... Ah, he's an ugly one... Mon's Goblin Raiders? Those don't look like any goblins I've seen..." Severus shuffled through the cards quickly, still bothered by the cards' not being animate. "What manner of cards are these...?" Severus then spied the names at the bottom. Wizards of the Coast? He'd never heard of it. Besides, what manner of wizard folk made such silly, non-magical cards that hosted the name "Magic: The Gathering" on them? It was rather confusing. Thus, Severus decided to call Harcourt down.
"HARCOURT!! Downstairs, now!" Severus barked. There was a mad shuffle from the floor above, then the sound of something tumbling and bounding down the steps. A silence, then a loud thud, followed by the sound of Harcourt's socked feet sliding and scuffling over the floor to the front room. The boy's cheery face peered around the wall at Severus.
"Yep? You called?" Harcourt's cheerful attitude could be sickening. As it was, he was smiling ear to ear, toothily, and with stains from grass on his pant's knees, and bits of kneazle hair clinging to his shirt. His slate eyes were bright, and his chin length hair shiny and quite clean. Severus scowled. He held up the cards.
"I found these on the floor with your things. What, pray, are these? Where did you get them?" Snape said shortly. Harcourt looked at the cards, then spoke, with tones of upmost cheer.
"Oh! Those! Lupin got them for me in Muggle London. We went to a store there, and I saw them, and so he got them. See? You play a game with them. Muggles are funny, but they do seem to know something about us, don't they?"
"Ah, I see. Remus purchased these? How do you play the game? As ridiculous as it must be..."
"It is not!" Harcourt suddenly adopted an upset scowl. "It's very easy. You're supposed to be a wizard, or a witch, and you have to kill your enemy by casting spells, and using creatures. But, you can't do anything with out 'Mana', this magical land stuff."
Severus glanced at a few of the cards again. "What is it with muggles and killing each other? I suppose you can kill the creatures, as well?"
Harcourt grinned and nodded.
"I see." Severus looked at some of the drawings and tried to suppress laughter. Instead, he grinned horribly. "Yes, muggles are very amusing. Harcourt, have you ever heard or seen of a dragon that looked like this?" Severus held up a card of Sven Dragon. "Or, here, behold this basilisk!" Severus held up a card of Thicket Basilisk. "That is no basilisk. That is an Iguana with too many legs. Hmmm... Ahh, look. The Goblins are depicted with green, or even blue skin! How dreadful!" Severus then landed upon a Dungeon Shade, and looked faintly a shade more pale. "Euchhh... Harcourt, how do you keep with out nightmares? Frightful things these are..."
Harcourt pouted. He then tried to snatch the cards back with a deft swipe of his hand, but couldn't reach high enough.
"Dad, please, may I have back my cards? Please?" Harcourt pleaded, and tugged on the sleeve of Severus's robes. Severus yanked his arm out of Harcourt's grip and then stalked to the fireplace.
"Harcourt, I'm afraid I shall have to burn these. The pictures of some of these are far too frightening and violent for a young child such as your self--"
"I'M NOT TOO LITTLE!!" Harcourt shrieked, and clung to Severus's robes as he tried to toss the cards away.
"Stop that! Silly boy, seven is far too small! Off, OFF!" Severus held his hand holding the cards far above his head. "Unless you wish to be grounded..."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Harcourt tried to climb up Severus's back to the cards. Severus was forced to toss the cards into the flames to get Harcourt off of him, who was rather a burden to his back. Harcourt stared, shocked, at the cards as they seemed to burn away, then shrieked, and howled. Severus yelped, as his ears were now in great pain, and was about to try to mute Harcourt briefly, when he noticed something very odd. The cards weren't burning. Rather, they were still quite intact, and were suddenly rejected by the fire. They both stood, stunned.
Harcourt recovered, grinned, gathered up the cards, and scurried away to his room. Severus stood, perplexed, and saw a note that had been with the cards that he hadn't bothered to read before.
Severus--
Harcourt begged it of me, so I bought him these cards that were in a muggle shop we saw on our way through London. Owing to how he seems to let things become broken and dirty easily, I put a charm on them to prevent that. Thought I ought to let you know,
Remus
Severus spent the rest of the day quite sour.