As they were filing back to Emma's room, there was a sharp knock of the front door. They spun to each other in fear. "They already know!" Sheila whispered, her heart thudding and eyes wide! "Let's hide!"
"If they knew about the house," Armanda cut in, "Then they already know how many of us are in here. I will go see who is at the door."
"Be careful!" Emma mouthed the words as her and the rest of the friends vanished into the room.
Armanda did not know who the group was, or why Emma was scared of "them". She did not know why, but all it took her to pick up a fireplace poker before they busted the door down was that they threatened her friends!
It sounded like a man yelled from out of the porch. Armanda heard the door unlock and crouched down at the base of the foyer, in war mode!
The man stepped through, followed by two others, dressed almost like him, all in robes. The first one looked peaceful, tall and balding. "Is this the, uh-" he flipped through an old book, "The Hatboro residence?" He looked up from his work. "You can talk, right?"
"Yes." She said suspiciously. "And no, this is the Schertz residence.'
Shock registered on his face. "May I speak to the head the Schertz house than? I'm Arthur Weasely, with the ministry of magic."
"Ok.' She replied singly. She marched back to the room, thinking. Was it against their rules to do the thing they did with the house? If they did, then they are all up Crap creek.
"Guys, it's a man named Arthur Weasely. He wants to talk to you, Imajica. Do you know what the ministry of magic is?"
"That group in Harry potter!" Sheila cried out. "Art's the father of Ron Weasely! Emma, be careful!" She added as she saw Emma get up from her bed.
"Just put the stuff back, exactly as I hid it before, all of it!" Emma added quickly before she left the room.
"Are you the head of the house?" Mr. Weasely asked kindly when he saw the woman walk into the living area.
"Yes, I am Imajica Schertz." Adding, she replied, "But I encourage everyone to call me Emma."
"Emma, I have some knowledge that there was some powerful magic going on in this area. You see, we happen to have a squib around here near Hogs Meade and they can't use magic, but can feel it."
"And they felt a huge power spike here in woodland country and they thought it was our residence, right?"
"I sense anger, why?" He asked gently.
"Well, we moved from America due to people picking on our family."
"And you thought it was happening again?'
"Yes. I'm sorry."
"How old are you? Not that I'm prying, the underage magic laws, you know."
"21. Today was my birthday."
'What day did you get here?" He was writing all of the pertinent information down on a notepad.
"Yesterday, that means I was 20 when I arrived."
"I see.' He said quietly. "Thank you for your cooperation." He apparated so quick, it didn't register for Emma.
'We ARE up the Crapper!" She yelled when she got back to her room. "He was taking a note that is so not a good thing!"
'We got our Ids.' Sheila offered lamely.
"We are from our reality, not Harry potters!" Gwen retorted.
There was only one thing to do, ride it out and see how it would end for all of them. "The only other one the ministry knows about is Armanda. I feel comfortable with that, so now at least they know there is someone who can vouch for me."
"Not to be rude or anything, but they'll find out that she 'doesn't exist' too, and make sure she forgets stuff since they'll label her as a muggle! And they will lock up in Az-"
"Shut up!" Sheila screeched, launching herself at Gwen, hand balled into fists, "YOU WANT US TO BE CAUGHT! YOU WANT US TO BE SENT THERE!"
"Guys," Emma yelled as she pulled the fighting pair from each other. "No one wants anyone to be caught."
"I would rather be tortured and killed than let any of you get caught." Armanda stated solemnly.
"There you have it," Emma began, watching the two previously fighting girls. "Armanda knows true loyalty. She would be willing to go to AZ to protect us."
"What about protections spell?" Kelley asked timidly. "I know that kind of magic probably wouldn't work here, but al least we could try."
"We have to hold hands and cast a really big circle around our property first. It would not do to only have us protected and they seize our house." Gwen stated while digging through the books once again. She looked surprised as Emma waved her hand dismissively. "Are you sure?"
"Loads sure," Emma began, already getting her winter wear on. "I've learned that the true proficient magic user will do well to memorize the more major spells out of the books."
"But why," Armanda asked as the whole group made their way to the front door.
"If you were face to face with a huge pissed troll, how far do you think you could live while flipping through scores of books?"
They joined in a line at the border of the property, hands joined and Emma began the chant as they walked along the border. They chanted in unison, knowing that this was the only thing from them being potentially sent to Azkaban.
"Around, around, around about, good stays in, bad stays out. We cast this circle, so mote it is, in Earth, Air, Flame and Sea."
After they were done casting the property circle, Emma had a fleeting feeling of being watched. "Let's go in the house and cast the secondary protection spell."
After they took off their winter stuff, they huddled where the literal center of the house was, which was halfway in the hall and the living room.
In one voice they chanted high so it was like they tried to make the whole world listen. "A spell of safety here we cast, a ward might to hold us fast. A shield before us and behind, to right and left protection bind, to us may no ill wight come nigh, but she who's only rede we cry." Gathering energy and then threw out their hands at the ceiling, they yelled together in a cacophony of ending, "SO MOTE IT BE!" At the same time, they, while holding hands, pulled their arms upward, all imagining a blue watery force field shooting from around them, stopping all around their property and forming into a dome.
They looked outside through the glass windows towards the border of their property. They all saw a dome of bluish, watery liquid covering their property! "What is going on, Emma?" Gwen asked in awe. "It's the first time ever we've seen visual magic effects!"
"Get the cam corder." Emma turned around to tell Sheila. Turning back around to Gwen she replied, "This makes it basically unviewable to people with evil intent to our property, our house, or us."
Sheila returned to the windows side with the cam corder. "These windows are filthy. I am going outside to film."
The whole group stepped out onto the front porch, shivering while Sheila moved the cam all over the place. "Emma, wow, this is so cool! Hope the M.O.M doesn't find out about this."
"Why should we worry?" Kelly asked, "We are not muggles, not even Armanda. We all made the magic work for us, to transport the house, the circle, and now this!"
Irritated, Emma spun around to face Kelly. "Weasely took notes. People who take notes do so for future or present reference!" Taking a deep breath, she continued in a calmer tone, "We should all calm down and get some sleep. If they come back to question us, we want to look presentable and think with a clear state of mind."
Agreeing silently, they trooped back to their respective bedrooms. Kelly and Emma had to share a bedroom, with Kelly sitting on the floor. Emma went to sleep, still troubled by why Weasely was taking notes. Something woke her up suddenly. She opened her eyes in alarm. She thought it was Weasely or any other MOM members. Hearing a low whisper near her window, she looked. Emma noticed Kelly at the window, looking up at the stars, whispering something in a low voice. Thinking she was wishing upon a star, Emma yawned deeply, rolled over and fell back asleep.