Albus Dumbledore was angry. As soon as the portkey they had used had returned him to his office in the Ministry, he turned to his potions professor and began to speak.

"Severus, I need you to stay available to go and pick up Harry with me after I straighten things out with the Wizengamot and the ICW. I have control of that child and he will do what I say." he said as he stepped toward the door. "If you need anything, just call a house elf or have my secretary get it for you. I will return shortly and we will go and collect my young charge."

He left the room, slamming the door behind himself.

The Department of Magical Beings was busy, half of their staff had left by portkey to attend an emergency meeting of the ICW and to straighten out things with the Wizengamot in London. The Unspeakables that had answered when Harry Potter's guardians had sent a patronus had all gone along to share what they had seen. No one in their department could see how either of the magical bodies could do anything except to keep Albus Dumbledore and the people that would do his bidding away from the child.

At the knock on the office door, Severus Snape jumped up and pulled the door open, Dumbledore's secretary was on the other side. "Mr. Snape, this owl just arrived for you from the Wizengamot." she told him and handed him the rolled up parchment.

He opened and read the small note.

Mr. Severus Snape

Potions Master, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

We have been informed that you accompanied Albus Dumbledore to the residence of Mr. Harry Potter, who resides with his Uncle Robert Singer, in South Dakota, USA. We would like to speak to you about your visit. We have been informed that you are in the Ministry building and we request your presence as soon as possible.

Amelia Bones

Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Temporary Chief Witch of the Wizengamot

He growled and stomped out of the office, heading for the chambers of the Wizengamot.

Travis dropped into one of the chairs in Bobby's kitchen and reached for the glass that had been set in front of him. "He won't be back." he told them. "Both of the magical bodies that he is head of have banned him from contact with Harry, at least until he heads to Hogwarts."

Bobby sighed and dropped his head to the table.

"That's good news, Travis." Remus told him.

"They will consider banning him from contact with him while he is at Hogwarts if the Deputy Headmaster will take over all responsibility for Harry while he attends. They weren't sure that she would do it, but they'll let us know when they get an answer." Travis emptied his glass and pushed it toward the center of the table, then just stared at the laughing men sitting there with him.

"Care to let me in on the joke?" he asked.

Remus smiled and refilled the glass, pushing it toward Travis. "Harry's Aunt Minnie is the Deputy Headmistress, she'll take over for Albus if only to keep him away from Harry."

Travis grinned and swirled the liquid around in his glass.

"Our only problem is keeping him safe from Dumbledore while he's at Hogwarts." Bobby said. "I don't trust that old bastard, or the greasy one he brought with him."

Travis choked on the sip of firewhisky he had just taken. When he stopped coughing he turned toward Bobby. "I spoke on behalf of your family, telling them that Snape had hated Harry's father. They have agreed that someone from my department will attend his class, without the staff being notified and then we can decide what should be done. If his treatment is unfair or hostile in any way, you can be sure that we will take care of it." He smiled at Bobby. "I've already made arrangements to be the one to sit in on the class, our department has a few ways to make me invisible, and I'll be there for all of his first classes."

Bobby let out a sigh. "I just wish that he would go to Salem from the start. He would be home every night, and I wouldn't have to worry about those two wizards bothering him."

"Speaking of Salem," Travis said. "Any idea when John will be here?"

Remus capped the bottle of firewhisky and put it on the counter. "Any minute now, that's why the boys are waiting on the porch." he said. "Any particular reason?"

Travis pulled an envelope out of his pocket. "This is a letter from the Salem Institute of Magic. When I saw the name on the envelope, I dropped in on the Headmistress and asked why it had been sent."

Bobby waved his hand, "Gonna tell us who's name is on the envelope?"

They heard a loud cheer from the porch, and John and the three boys came into the house.

"As soon as John comes in." he told them. A couple of minutes later, he came into the kitchen, leaving the boys watching tv.

"Did everything go alright?" he asked.

Travis smiled and pushed a chair out from the table with his foot. "Yep, but I need to talk to you."

John dropped into the chair and ran a hand through his hair. "Damn, what did I do?" he asked.

Travis laughed and handed him the envelope. John stared at the name written in dark blue ink. "He's not a wizard."

"No, he's not." he answered. "But, the affinity he has for runes has been the talk of my department. The rune master at Salem has read the essays that he's written and seen the runes that he's combined." He looked to make sure that the boys were still watching tv. "My department put a patent on his self repair runes, his imprisoning runes, and his ever full gas tank runes. They had to open an account at Gringotts for Dean, so that he can collect his royalties when the rune configurations are used. All three are under the strict control of my department and can only be put on by one of our certified rune masters. He's brilliant with them, and the Salem rune master is offering him an apprenticeship. He would attend Salem during the day and come home in the afternoon."

John looked at the envelope again. "When would he start?"

"January, when school starts again." Travis told him.

John looked at the letter again and turned toward the living room. "Dean, could you come in here for a minute."

Dean ran into the kitchen, Sam and Harry right behind him. "What's going on, Dad?" he asked.

John handed him the envelope with his name on it. "Open it up."

Dean turned the envelope over and looked at the seal on the back. "This is from Salem, why is Salem sending me a letter? I'm not a wizard."

Travis laughed. "Why don't you open the letter and see." he told the boy.

Dean tore open the envelope and pulled out the pages. He quickly read the letter on the first page and then turned to the second. "It's offering me a place at Salem, with the rune master." he said.

"Well, do you think that you might want to go?" John asked.

Dean looked at the letter again, and then looked at his dad. "You would let me go?"

John nodded his head, "If you want to go and study runes, you go to Salem and study runes. We'll still teach you everything else you need to protect yourself."

Dean threw his arms around John. "I want to go."