Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling. Anyone whose name you don't recognize from the books is one of mine. Will be rated 'T' for now. Much later chapters will likely be rated 'M.'
Chapter 1: Moving to America
Two years later, March 14th, – Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
"Here you are Miz Stevens," the white-haired attorney placed a stack of papers in front of her. "This is everything you need to know about your uncle's estate. I suggest you read it thoroughly before signing the documents. Everything he had is now yours, including all of his investments."
"Thank you, Mister Carleton," Malina Stevens replied, sliding the papers into a briefcase, "I'll see you next week then." She turned to the small black-haired boy playing with blocks on the floor, "Come, James, it's time to go."
James stood up, green eyes smiling up at her. "Can we get lunch? I'm starving."
She smiled down at him, "Of course we can, would you like McDonald's or Wendy's?"
"Wendy's please, their nuggets taste better. Can I get a frosty too?"
"We'll see, now pick up your blocks so we can go," she reminded him.
"Oh, right." James turned, glancing at the scattered blocks, wishing there was a way to pick them up faster. He gasped as the blocks began to fly into the box of their own accord.
Malina gasped at the sight of the blocks settling themselves neatly back into the box. This wasn't the first strange thing to happen around little James, so she was used to it by now. She'd decided early on that since he never hurt anyone with his little tricks and didn't even seem to realize he was doing them that she didn't mind. Most of the time it was helpful little things anyway, garbage bags vanishing and appearing in the trash can, dishes shelving themselves or loading into the dishwasher on their own, things of that nature. They only seemed to happen when he was anxious to be off doing something else. She wasn't going to complain, especially after he'd somehow managed to teleport them away from a speeding car that if he was a normal boy would have killed the both of them in that cross-walk two weeks before.
She glanced over at the attorney, concerned that he was going to freak out. She was surprised, therefore, to see a pleased smile on his face.
"Well, that changes things. I think I will bring Professor Andrews with me when I come," he said jovially. At her raised eyebrow, he clarified, "I'll explain more next Friday when we meet at Winston's house." Winston Prewitt had been her mother's uncle-by-marriage. He'd moved to America when she was very young. She had almost forgotten about him totally when the Tribal Law Office had contacted her about his estate.
)-HPHPHP-(
"Mum, why do weird things always happen around me?" James asked as he took a bite of his baked potato. It wasn't his favorite food, but his mother had a rule, if he wanted sweets, he had to eat the healthy stuff first, so instead of French fries with his nuggets, he got a baked potato and a green salad. He shoveled another bite into his mouth, eyeing the chocolate frosty with longing. He wished they had peanut-butter flavored ones. That was his favorite, ever since his mom had taken him to Baskin Robbins for his birthday last year.
"I'm not sure son, I think Mister Carleton knows though, he didn't seem at all surprised when the blocks put themselves away. He said something about bringing a professor with him next time. I'm not sure what that's about, though," she replied, stabbing another forkful of salad.
"Does it make me a freak?" James asked, his old insecurities threatening to surface.
"No, it makes you different, but not a freak. You don't do anything to hurt anyone with your powers, and you saved our lives when that drunk driver nearly ran us down. Just remember, I love you and no matter what happens, I will always love you my Jamie," she stroked a gentle hand over his unruly hair. James relaxed, she always knew just what to say to make him feel better. It had been that way ever since he met her in the hospital.
"Do you think the kids at school will like me?" He asked, scraping the last of the potato from its skin.
"Of course they will. They liked you in Britain, even when you turned Professor Morton's hair blue," his mother comforted him.
"I'm still not sure that was me. I wasn't mad about anything. I liked Professor Morton. I think it may have been that frizzy-haired girl that sat at the back of the class, Hermione I think her name was. He was always criticizing her for being a show-off. I thought it was wrong of him, even if she did get a bit irritating at times, but I don't think I turned his hair blue. I didn't feel that funny feeling I get when something happens," James explained. He'd tried to make friends with the girl, but she seemed offended by how smart he was. He was just beginning to break through her shell when she'd moved.
)-HPHP-(
James was on edge as they waited on the steps of the huge mansion. His mother still looked to be in a state of shock at the size of the place. He checked the Ninja Turtles watch he'd gotten for Christmas, Mister Carleton was late. He sat down on the steps, wondering what his new room was going to look like, and remembering the argument they'd gotten into when she had first told him they were moving to America.
"I don't want to move to America. All my friends are here," he'd complained belligerently.
"I'm sorry, but my uncle, Winston, has died, and we have inherited his entire estate. Besides," she sighed, "I can't remain in this house. The memories of your dad are too fresh."
James' thoughts had wondered back to that wintery night when Doctor Stevens had been called out to an emergency; the night he never came home. Doctor Stevens was a veterinary doctor who specialized in livestock. He'd been called out to the country to attend a difficult birthing. Three hours later, the Bobbies were knocking at their door. Doctor William Stevens was dead. The coroner said he'd had a congenital heart defect that had previously gone undiagnosed. The stress of assisting the cow had been too much for his heart. He'd died behind the wheel, his beloved Ferrari wrapped around a brightly decorated tree. It had been a closed-casket affair.
His mother had been devastated. William had been the love of her life. They had met in medical school, and fallen almost instantly in love. They had been married for three years before Malina discovered she had a hereditary defect that made her incapable of conceiving a child. They'd just decided to adopt, she'd told him, when he came into their lives.
The sound of a car pulling into the gravel drive pulled James out of his reminiscing. He stood up and waited beside his mother as Mister Carleton's black Chevy pickup pulled up. A middle-aged woman was sitting in the passenger seat beside him.
Mister Carleton got out of the car and came around to the passenger's side, assisting the woman, who was much shorter than she looked, from the vehicle. She was short, standing only about three-and-a-half feet tall. Her hair was long, frizzy and ruby colored, and her eyes were dark grey. Her skin was a pale coffee color, evidence that she had some African ancestry somewhere along the line.
He and his mother introduced themselves politely to her as Mister Carleton unlocked the door. James learned that Professor Monica Andrews was the headmistress of a special school in Montana. He felt a little nervous about that idea, but was soon distracted from his worry by the lush opulence of the house.
"Holy Mother –" Malina blurted out upon encountering the foyer, "I-I've never seen such…such opulence in my life!" She peered at a large painting on the wall, "Is that a Rembrandt?"
James' eyes followed hers to the large painting of a sail boat with a bunch of men in it that was being tossed about by stormy seas. Mister Carleton, who'd asked to be called Greg, looked at the painting and laughed, "Yeah, that's the original 'Storm on the Sea of Galilee' by Rembrandt."
The tour through the house took over four hours and by the time they were finished, James was exhausted and hungry. His stomach gurgled loudly, disrupting the conversation his mother was having with Greg.
"Oh my, we really lost track of time, didn't we? I'm sorry Jamie, let's go get some food," she looked at the other two, "we really haven't gotten to talk much about why Professor Andrews is here. Why don't I treat the both of you and we can discuss it over dinner."
Dinner turned out to be IHOP. James loved the fact that he could get pancakes for dinner if he chose, and took advantage of this to order a large stack of pancakes, making sure he included sausage, a tall glass of milk, and a bowl of fresh fruit with his order.
"So," Malina started, "Greg here seems to think you can explain some of the strange things that happen around my son." She looked over at Professor Andrews, eyebrow raised in inquiry.
"Oh, yes, well, James is going to be a wizard, you see," Professor Andrews explained in a matter of fact tone.
"A wizard? Are you serious?" Malina asked.
"Perfectly serious, my dear, witches and wizards are just like everyone else, they just have an extra gift. We know how to train it. That is why Greg brought me here. I am the Headmistress of the Montana School of Magical Learning. We'd like to invite young James here to attend our school when he turns nine. I brought brochures with me as well as some books the two of you might want to read that will explain things better. She placed the items on the table in front of them. The pamphlet was a small tri-fold flyer that gave basic information about the school, including attendance fees, dorm information, sports, and academics. On the front was a picture of a beautiful campus. Beneath the pamphlet, there were three books: Welcome to the Wizarding World, A Handbook for Muggleborn Witches and Wizards, Basic Wizarding Laws Every Witch and Wizard Needs to Know, and The History of MSML, What Every Student Should Know Before Attending.
James picked up the first book and started flipping through it as the waitress came to the table with their drinks.
"Oh, The Iliad, I read that in high school, your son must be really smart to be reading that at his age," she said, noticing the book title. Malina just smiled at her as she passed out the drinks, but the moment she left, Malina turned to Professor Andrews.
"What is she talking about?"
"The books have a spell on them so that those without magical blood cannot see them for what they really are. They think they are common historical books. I bespelled these books specifically so that you can read them as long as you are with James. No one else without magical blood can read them. It is part of our way of protecting ourselves from muggles who would fear what they don't understand," Greg explained, "I was muggle-born so I had the same books at his age. Only my father and I could see them for what they were."
"What is a muggle or a muggle-born?" James asked, now more interested in the conversation.
"A muggle is a person without the gene for magic, a muggle-born is someone who has the magic gene, but is born from two parents with no magical capability what so ever. Another term you need to know is squib. A squib is a child born to two magical parents whose own magic gene is dormant or not active. They cannot do magic, but they can see parts of the magical world that people with no magic gene at all cannot see. Through extensive study, we have come to believe that most muggle-born children have had a witch, wizard or squib somewhere in the background. That is one of the reasons why someone like your mother can see around the spells on the books. She may have had an ancestor somewhere in her far past whose carried the magic gene. A witch or wizard is a person who has an active magic gene. A witch or wizard born to two magical parents is considered to be a pureblood if they have at least three generations of magical ancestors on at least one side of their family and two on the other. A half-blood is someone who has one parent who is either a muggle or a muggle-born. A second-generation half-blood is someone whose parents were both magical, but does not have at least 3 generations of magical blood on one side of the family and two on the other. Here in the United States, we don't discriminate against those whose blood is not from pure wizarding lines. The same cannot be said of other countries such as Britain, which in its recent past has had several wars over blood status," Professor Andrews explained.
"Oh. Why isn't there the discrimination in America?" James was curious as to why things would be so different between the two countries.
"Because, for a long time, there were few witches and wizards in America, especially after the witch hunts of the sixteen-hundreds wiped out a large portion of them. The witches and wizards that were left had to marry outside of magical lines, so there are few purebloods left in America and many of those know that it is quite likely their children will have to work with or have friendships or relationships with muggleborns or muggles. We still have a witch or wizard that occasionally turns dark, but the community usually bands together to stamp them out before they can become too powerful," Professor Andrews was using her teaching voice now, but had pitched it low so that it could not be heard beyond the small corner table at which they were sitting.
"Being a witch or wizard doesn't involve invoking the powers of hell does it?" James asked, a little nervous about being labeled a wizard.
"No. We have nothing to do with muggle theology. We have some students who are strictly religious and choose to believe their power comes from their god, but we do not use sacrifices or worship dark beings to attain our power. Read the books, they will explain more. If you have more questions, I placed a bookmark in the bottom book that has my phone number on it. Feel free to call if you have any questions after having read the books."
James and Malina nodded. The rest of the meal passed in relative silence as the two tried to absorb what they had learned so far. At the end of the meal, Malina handed Greg the papers she had signed and asked when she could make an appointment to go over the investments. Everyone departed after setting the next appointment and once again promising to call Professor Andrews if they had any questions.
H++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++P
A/N: NO, before you ask, this is not going to be a Harry/Hermione fic. They will become friends, in fact, they will become as close as siblings like in the book, but their relationship will never go beyond that. Harry will still be with Ginny, you just wait and see what I have planned. (Evil Grin).