Short chapter, but that's because it's the best breaking point between the next chapter and this one.
"New here?" The voice startled him, and Charlie spun around. Behind him was a woman, holding a young girl with reddish, curly hair. "Hi, I'm Marti Edgecombe. This is my daughter, Sarah. She's five."
"Charlie Swan, nice to meet you." He politely shook her hand. "This is my son, Harry-Luke."
"Just moved here?" The short woman brushed her auburn hair to the side.
"Lived down in Forks my whole life. Adopted Harry from Alaska," Charlie lied through his teeth. Luckily, it was missed by the stranger. "Didn't know he had magic until a few weeks ago."
"That's nice." Marti shifted Sarah, who sent a shy grin at Harry. "I'm a squib. Non magical with magical parents?" She shook her head. "Stupid bigots, they were."
Charlie blinked. "Excuse me?"
Marti laughed. "You wouldn't know, would you? I'm from England. They have extremely racist views there. Squibs and Muggleborns find it hard to get high up in their society, and have to work hard to be noticed. My parents were ashamed of me not having magic, so they shipped me to Salem in Denver before anyone even knew I existed. Last time I heard from any of them was to find out I had a niece born almost a year older then Sarah."
Charlie frowned. England? Good thing Harry wasn't there anymore. "Looks like I have a lot to learn about the world of magic," he kidded, trying to pull more out of her.
She grinned. "Then know you should avoid Europe and Russia. The mindset there tends to cultivate a lot of Dark Lords. The Muggle equivalent would be like Hitler, or Osama bin Laden. It's like the Magical Middle East. If I had stayed in England, I might be dead right now. A few months ago they had a real scare with someone named Voldemort. Killed a lot of people who weren't considered pureblood magic."
"So never let Harry travel abroad?" Charlie flashed a shaky grin.
Marti winced. "Hardly. The ADM is a bit restrictive when it comes to traveling outside of America. Paperwork can take months to pass through. I'm a squib, so I don't have to file with ADM if I'm leaving, but taking Sarah is a pain. They almost never let you go abroad, let alone study there."
Harry tugged on Charlie's hand. "Dad, can I go play?" He shot a longing look at the little playground a bit off.
"Sure," replied Charlie, distracted. "So what exactly is the state of the magical world?"
"It's a bit backwards," started Marti. "Electricity does weird things near magic, so you mostly see old fashioned things around, like pumps for water and such. America, Canada, and Australia are a bit ahead. They use Muggle things to construct modern buildings, and then move the magic in. Also, things like goblins, centaurs, and elves are considered second class, which I think is barbaric. They are treated fairly well in the more modern countries, but if there was a more built up base..."
Charlie squinted at her. "Centaurs are real?"
She laughed. "Very. Anyway, Canada and Australia get along well, and they are the magical superpower countries. America isn't third world, but we tend to have a spacey government that keeps to itself. They're more concerned with advancement in technologies then anything else, and try to keep people contained. Don't want any smart brains escaping, you know." She laughed again. "South America is more tribal magic then anything, and Asia does a lot of wandless meditation stuff, or they send their kids to study in Aussieland."
"And Europe is a lot of crackpots," added Charlie, grinning. "What about Africa?"
Marti winced, and set Sarah down. "Go play with the other kids until the bus comes," she said, nudging Sarah away. "Africa's magical community was destroyed when the Dark Wizard Samwell decided they all had sinned and deserved to die. Most of Northern Africa does without any sort of magic, exempting the Nile with its centuries old protective warding. Southern Africa has almost no training areas for magic, and occasionally we head in there and help by taking kids with magic to the States. Canada and Australia often have that part covered."
"One last question; what's up with Alaska?" Charlie scratched his head. "I mean, it's part of Muggle US, but not magic?"
"The culture was a bit too out there for the old government to take, so they denied them citizenship. Kind of wacko if you ask me." Marti grinned. "The bus is here, so we should load up the kids.
Charlie was outside, pruning the trees, when it happened. 4 year old Harry, sitting at the base of the porch, was reading a book.
Suddenly, he yelled, "Dad, do snakes talk?"
Charlie chuckled. "No."
Harry frowned. "They do to me."
New characters! I know how much some hate OCs, so you should be happy to hear that, while important, Marti and Sarah aren't playing major roles other then family figures for Harry.
Also, brownie points if anyone can guess who Marti is related to and how, and also Sarah. (hint: Who's Sarahs father? Mhm. You work with that.)
~Wryder
