"Ah, Mr. Carter, come in…" said Jacob.
"Sheriff Carter, actually, just call me Jack. This is my daughter, Zoe," said Jack.
"Ah, very good, you are friends with my daughter. She tells me you took the secret of magic pretty well. You know, we are only allowed to let one person, one friend in on the secret. Anyway, about young Harry, we will have to wait for the inheritance test by the Goblins to put him into the system, but until then, we've given him temporary access. Some informational books and pamphlets have been sent to your home and a wizard will be there later this evening to set up some wards and things like that. Oh, and here is our Sheriff," said Jacob.
In walked a beautiful blond woman. Jack was noticed that she was attractive but didn't give it a second thought.
"Hello Sheriff Carter, my name is Anna Lee Delacour, and I'm Sheriff of Eureka Division-M. Technically, I'm a deputy but this area has its own defined jurisdiction over which I have authority," said the young woman, wearing dark red robes with a Golden Badge on the right side. Jack, who didn't know much about robes, compared those of Jacob with those of Anna Lee, and could tell that Anna Lee's robes were a finer cut, a smoother fabric, and looked like they had a lining of leather. They also looked like they were suited for combat, hand-to-hand or weapon based. From the shape of her arm muscles, he could tell that she sparred regularly and probably was very knowledgeable in the martial arts, most likely a black belt.
"Well, since I've never had to be called over here, and I've never actually heard of Division-M before now, I suppose you are doing a very good job, so I will simply leave you to it. If you need anything, just ask," said Sheriff Carter. He had enough to deal with, with all the eggheads…er scientists in his division of Eureka. If she could handle it on her own, she could have it.
She smiled at him. Unlike the rest of her family in France, Anna Lee was not a Veela. She had almost no Veela traits. She had no aura or allure. Her great-great-grandfather fled France rather than be forced to marry a Veela that he did not love, even if she could make him think that he loved her. Rather, he loved another woman, and they fled to America together. His parents disowned him but he started his own life in the US, and founded the Magical Marshalls and Texas Magical Rangers, which are still in operation today. Ever since then, their family had been either Marshalls, or Rangers, and if a squib was born, they joined the mundane versions.
"Well, if you have no further need of me…" said Anna Lee, starting to turn away to go back to her office.
"Actually, could you go to Sheriff Carter's home and put some wards up. Not just the Standard Ones but the Standard Ones plus the Ones for Living in Division N?" asked Jacob.
"Sure, I'll do that tomorrow, if that's okay with you Sheriff Carter," said Anna Lee.
"Okay, just come to the Sheriff's office tomorrow and I'll let Sarah know that you're coming," said Jack.
"Sarah? Is that Mrs. Carter," asked Jacob.
"No, Sarah is the Smart House's artificial intelligence. She likes to be kept in the loop," said Zoe. Anna Lee and Jacob jumped. Jacob had forgotten that she was there and Anna Lee was not introduced.
"My name is Zoe, and I'm Sheriff Carter's daughter," said Zoe holding out her hand, "And one question, where is the other person, Mrs. Stark?"
"She's sick," said Jacob, "She has the Wizard Goblin Flu, and it's not only contagious but also fatal to Mundanes. There's no potion or cure for mundanes. She'll be fine by tomorrow."
"How fatal is it?" asked Jack. He was a little worried.
"Fatal as in no mundane who has ever contracted it has ever survived. You know it by another name, which I believe is Anthrax, but this is the magically mutated version. Our immune systems are strong enough that this causes nothing more than a flu type illness, but it would kill a mundane within 4 or 5 hours of infection. If you're worried that it's a threat, don't be. The virus cannot survive outside of a host for more than five minutes. For a mundane to get it, they must have prolonged contact greater than 8 hours with an infected person. Anyway, are you two up for a tour of the facilities?"
"Sure," said Jack and Zoe at the same time.
Jack and Zoe found that the layout of the building was the same as Global Dynamics, although the decorations were decidedly more medieval. A series of glowing crystals lined the walls to give light; although, they weren't magical, they were solar. The elevators were levitated by magic, specifically a series of magical crystals that varied their power according to where the user wanted to go. It was ingenious. If you wanted to go higher, then the crystals poured out more power and if you wanted to go lower, they decreased the power output. The crystals themselves used a series of magical wards to draw solar energy and convert it to magical energy. After Jack and Zoe saw the open areas of each lab, Jack then asked about the closed areas. They were areas where active magical experiments were taking place, and no one could enter or exit or it would disturb the magic.
Jack and Zoe were given magical protection amulets. They would neutralize every spell except for the Unforgivables. That was not possible to block with magic yet. Jacob told them that Henry was working with one of their sections to develop a magical powered full protection device but prototypes wouldn't be out for another month. Henry could supply them with a technological device to offer full protection like on the Jeep.
*Begin Flashback*
"Okay Henry, you wanted to see me," said Jack
"Ah yes," said Henry, holding up what looked like a half-sized alternator made from gold, "I have something to install on your Jeep. This is a temporary protection from the magic, so you'll need to leave everything electronic in the Jeep while you are in Division-M. Now, given that the device is temporary, it will only work once, so if you have to go back, you'll be unprotected. Magic doesn't interact with technology very well. That's why we have a shield to protect this side from that side. We've been trying to make them work together, but so far, we've only been able to mimic technology with magic."
"Okay, so can you install a permanent device?" asked Jack.
"Yes, but it would take a couple of hours, so that's why I'm using the temporary device," said Henry as he popped the hood of the Jeep. He pulled the cable from the alternator, plugged it into a small cube, plugged one wire from the cube into the battery and one wire from the cube into the temporary device, which he stuck to the hood, with a magnet, and then put the hood down. He gave Jack a small remote with a single red button. "Don't turn it on until you get to the edge of the Shield, there are signs, because once you do turn it on, you cannot turn it off and it will function for five hours. After that, it will burn out."
"Okay," said Jack.
*End Flashback*
Okay, so here is Jack's meeting with Jacob Winston. Probably not my best work but whatever. Parallel to this will be Allison's scan of Harry while she's babysitting him. After will be the scan from Swordtooth and then I will skip a year or two and introduce Remus and the Longbottoms, who have been searching the USA for Harry. You'll have to wait and see.
Anyway, see you guys next month.