Chapter 11: Home Invasion
Saturday Morning started early for the Stephenses and the Cattermoles. All nine of them were having an early breakfast at the Stephenses' kitchen table. It was a simple breakfast that Mary had suggested and prepared when she saw the loafs of bread and the cans of baked beans that Mrs. Martindale brought with her when she made the delivery from the Shmoo Preserve. Janelle suggested adding a mixture of sautéed, diced onion, green pepper, and diced tomatoes to the beans, which were ladled onto slices of toasted bread. This was also served with fresh fruit salad consisting of bananas, strawberries, and blueberries. To top it all off, Janelle made some of her famous N'awlins-style beignets.
"That was great!" said Matt. "Mom, we gotta have beans on toast for breakfast more often!"
"I'm glad that you liked it, Matthew," said Mary. "I wanted to do something to help while we are here."
"Well, if you insist," replied Janelle. "I want to make crawdad gumbo for dinner tonight, and I'd love the help and the company." When the table was cleared, Adam levitated a large, galvanized metal cooler onto the table. Janelle thanked her husband, and said, "I hope that this is enough iced tea to last us until dinner. Everybody help yourselves, and don't be shy about it."
Adam and Reg kissed their wives and kids goodbye as they prepared to go into town to sell Kowalski to her new owner. Sadly, the buyer was a muggle. So while they would be getting a fair price in dollars for their car, the Stephenses would not be getting any Wizarding Specie as part of the price.
"We should be back around noon, Jan," said Adam. "One at the latest."
"Do you have our list?" said Jan. Adam replied by holding up the list that Jan and Mary had written over the past couple of days.
"Anything else you ladies can think of?" said Adam. When Jan and Mary said that there was nothing more they wanted to add, Adam and Reg went out to the garage.
Matt and Maisie then said their goodbyes and started to go outside where Matt's Radio Flyer wagon was waiting with the crawfish traps loaded and ready. But before they could make it to the door, Alfred said, "Can I come too, Matt?"
Before Matt could answer the awkward question, Mary said that she wanted Alfred to stay with the ladies. "We'll need a wizard around to keep us safe until your father and Mr. Stephens get back."
Matt said, "Why don't you set up the Hot Wheels track while I am gone, Alfred! I bet you can set-up a totally awesome layout."
To everyone's relief, Alfred accepted this immediately, and went to Matt's room to get the big, cardboard box with the orange track and other accessories. Then Evie and Ellie got their Barbie Dolls, and planted themselves in front of the television to watch more "Mickey Mouse Club" episodes on the Stephenses' VCR. This left Jan and Mary time for themselves as they began preparing the gumbo.
Once in the kitchen, Mary said, "Do you think that your son can catch enough crawfish for all nine of us, Jan?"
"For all of us and then some," said Jan cheerfully. "Our son knows just where to set the traps.
"You know, Mary, I am so glad that Maisie is warming up to Matt; especially after such an inauspicious start. Oh, and by the way, if you are going to chop the onions, help yourself to a piece of bread to chew on. That should prevent any tears. It's an old muggle trick."
Mary sighed. "I don't think that that will be a problem for me, Jan. I think that I've already cried my lifetime's allotment of tears over the past two weeks after everything that has happened to us."
Janelle said, "Well, you're here, safe and sound, where that horrible Umbridge woman can't get to you or your family, now. And even if she tried, she has to know that she will be going up against an entire community of witches and wizards that don't hold with her point of view."
Mary smiled at her friend. "You know, it's strange. I remember how my parents reacted when we found out that I was a witch. When weird things started to happen around me, mum and dad thought that I might be a mutant. They actually breathed a sigh of relief when we were visited by Professor McGonagall and she told us that I was a witch – an actual broom-riding, house-haunting, cauldron-stirring witch! But they still found it kind of hard to accept. How could I be a witch, they wondered? They were simple greengrocers. How did I get my magical abilities?"
"The same way that I did, Mary," said Janelle as she started on the celery. "We both had ancestors who were squibs that got put up for adoption by their "loving" families. I was more fortunate than most muggle borns because the FBS was able to trace my ancestry straight back to the squib brother of an infamous bokor known as the Shadow Man who was the terror of 1920's Louisiana.
"You know, my parents thought that I might have been born with the "X-Gene" at first, too. I mean, just try telling an astronaut married to a junior high school science teacher that their daughter can do real, Fairy Tale magic." Janelle chuckled ironically. "Of course, coming from a Cajun-Creole background and being born and raised in N'awlins kind of softened the blow a bit. My parents may be scientists, but with our roots firmly planted in Bayou Country, we don't automatically reject the supernatural out-of-hand."
"I'm not able to trace my magical ancestry at all," said Mary. "But I just know that I must be from a family of Dark Mages."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, there is Maisie's . . . you know, ability . . . ." Mary's lips quivered a bit, and she added, "And that does not come from Reg's side of the family . . . ."
Janelle brightened, and said, "So your eldest child is a Parselmouth. I say that is neither good nor bad. If not for Maisie's ability, our son might have been bitten by one or more of those copperheads that he was throwing stuff at because he thought that they were trying to bite him or Evie. In one night, your daughter managed to clear up a misunderstanding that had been going on for years!"
"But what if I am related to someone like . . . like You-Know-Who . . . ?"
"Mary, you are no more "What's-His-Face" than I'm The Shadow Man – or Woman, as the case may be - regardless of whom we may be related to biologically. I mean, sure, the self-proclaimed Dark Lord can talk to snakes – I even heard a rumor that he actually has a pet naga that does his bidding. But, OK, so he can talk to snakes. Big deal; so can the Boy Who Lived!"
Mary was about to say something when both witches heard a knock on the front door. "That can't be Reg and Adam, can it?"
"Not this soon," said Janelle. "They shouldn't be back for another couple of hours . . . ."
Janelle shook her head. Even if the men were somehow finished with the car sale and the shopping, they would not come home so soon; especially when Adam knew that the moment they did get home that their wives would put them both to work getting the house clean for their first real dinner as new neighbors, now that Matt and Maisie were on speaking terms. And there is no way that Matt and Maisie could have set the crawfish traps so quickly - all the more so that they knew that they would be put to work the moment they got home, too.
"Who could it be, then?" said Mary nervously.
"More than likely someone who does not know that we are no longer in business," said Janelle with a touch of sadness. "I guess I should go and tell them the bad news."
Mary followed Janelle to the front door. On the living room floor, Evie, Ellie and Alfred looked up from their play to see who could be visiting. When Janelle opened the door, she saw two kids in their late teens, a boy and a girl. They both looked tired and scared and both wore disheveled Hogwarts uniforms with the yellow and black neckties of Hufflepuff House.
"P-please help us!" said the girl in a British accent. She wiped a tear from her face. "We're muggle-born, and we are running from Snatchers."
"Get inside!" said Janelle, taking out her wand. "How far are they behind you?"
"They lost us in Scotland," said the boy, also in a British accent. "We managed to come here."
The girl added, "We are trying to get to the Woolworth Building in New York to see if your MACUSA can help us!"
Janelle put her wand back in her pocket. "You two are safe now. Please come in. You can get yourselves cleaned up, and then let me get you something to eat. I'll call the FBS while you're eating. Don't worry. When I explain the situation, they'll have an Auror or a Whitelighter here in no time! Now, why don't you two tell us your names?"
The girl introduced herself as Pansy and the boy said his name was Vincent. Then the three playing children came up to say hello, and were introduced by Jan and Mary.
"We had to run from Snatchers, too," said Ellie.
Alfred went over to Vincent, proudly showing him a small, toy car with the front end shaped like a trident. The toy car had been hand-painted white, but judging by all the chips, it had originally been yellow. Also, someone had drawn a rough, red "M" on the bonnet, and the number 5 on each door. "Matt gave me this. He gave me lots of cars from his collection. I had to leave all my Matchbox cars behind when we had to leave. Matt told me that this car is called the Hot Wheels "Second Wind."
Alfred then lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper and added, "Do you want to know a secret, Vincent? Matt says that this is really the "Mach 5" from the "Speed Racer" cartoons! Do you like to watch "Speed Racer" cartoons, Vincent?"
"Can't say that I do," Vincent replied, "And where is your friend Matt, now?"
"Oh, he and our elder sister are out by the creek, setting crawfish traps!"
"My son and Mary's daughter will be back in about an hour, or two," said Janelle. "But the two of you need to rest up and eat something while I call the FBS to come and get you.
"Mary, if you can get Pansy and Vincent some towels and wash cloths and show them where the bathroom is, I'll fix them a quick meal."
Pansy told Vincent to wash up first, as she thought it would take her longer. Then as Vincent followed Mary to the bathroom, Pansy followed Janelle into the kitchen. "I can't thank you enough for your kindness," said Pansy.
"Think nothing of it," said Janelle. "You and your friend have had a horrible experience, but you are safe now.
"When you are both cleaned up, I'll start you on some beignets that I made this morning. Have either you or Vincent ever tried Shmoo Chocolate Milk before?"
Janelle reached for the plate of beignets that were left-over from breakfast. But when she turned around, she saw that Pansy had her wand out, pointing directly at her. Before Janelle could say anything, Pansy said, "Petrificus Totalus," and Janelle, dropping the plate, felt herself pulled together as though she were standing at attention as the ground slipped out from under her.
Janelle had learned about the full-body petrification spell at Hogwarts, but had never experienced it, firsthand. True to Professor McGonagall's description, she was unable to move, but she could still hear and see (straight ahead, at least,) perfectly. Looking up at the ceiling, Janelle could hear heavy footsteps coming for the kitchen. When they stopped, she could hear Vincent saying, "I got the other mudblood bound with an incarcerous spell and the kids locked up in the main bedroom."
"Did you remember to remove all the mirrors and windows and take the telephone before you sealed the door?"
"Too right," said Vincent. "I got all the mirrors. I transfigured the windows into part of the wall, and did the same with the door. But I could not find any telephones in the room at all."
"No telephones?" said Pansy. "That's odd. These people live like muggles. You would think that they would have a telephone in their bedroom . . . ." Pansy pointed to a telephone on the kitchen wall. "Are you absolutely certain that you didn't overlook something like this, Vincent?"
"Positive!" said Vincent. "I followed the instructions that Madame Undersecretary Umbridge gave us to the letter!"
Pansy nodded. The plan had been to wait until at least two of the mudbloods and blood-traitors had left, and then take the house. It was decided to lock the children in the master bedroom, after removing anything that the children might be able to use to call for help, and transfiguring the windows into part of the wall to prevent escape. Since the master bedroom had its own loo, there would be no constant whining to use the bathroom or for some water to drink.
The fact that the older children would have to be taken separately was a complication, though, but not an insurmountable one. Pansy said, "Where is the fugitive mudblood now?"
"In a chair in the living room," said Vincent. He pointed to Janelle's stiff form on the floor. "Petrificus Totalus? Why not incarcerous, Pansy?"
"Don't you know anything about the Wizards and Witches in the Colonies, Vincent? They practice a lot of "wandless magic." If I used incarcerous, she might have still been able to blink, twitch her nose or make some other gesture and overpower us. Now, levitate her into the living room with the other mudblood!"
Vincent said, "levicorpus," and Janelle felt herself being levitated and being moved. Because of the full-body petrification curse, she was unable to speak, which was probably a good thing at the moment. She wanted to reply to the girl's M-B Word slur, but she knew that that would probably make things worse at the moment. A few moments later, Janelle felt herself being leaned against the wall like she was a guitar, only just managing to catch a glimpse of Mary, who was bound by magical ropes to a kitchen chair.
Then Janelle heard a loud "bang," and then saw that she was face-to-face with a short, mean looking woman dressed in a ridiculous looking girly, pink outfit. Her presence filled Janelle with dread as the name Dolores Umbridge came unbidden into her mind. The woman made a noise of satisfaction as she stared into Janelle's eyes. She then turned her attention to Mary, making the same hubristic sound, and said, "Did you two have any trouble?"
"Against a couple of mudbloods, Madame Undersecretary?" said Vincent with as much incredulity as he could muster.
"Are the children safe?"
Pansy said, "Three of them are – the three youngest. We have them in the master bedroom, just where you wanted us to put them."
"And what of the girl that this mudblood," Umbridge glanced contemptuously over at Mary, "claims to be "Maisie Cattermole?"
"She and the "Stephenses' son" are at a nearby creek, Madame Undersecretary" said Vincent. "I should have no problem finding them from the air."
"Then do it," said Umbridge with a touch of impatience. "And remember, they are not to be harmed in any way!" Vincent nodded and left Pansy with Umbridge.
"Now, what of the two blood-traitors?"
"They are away on business in town and are not expected to return for another hour, or so, Madame Undersecretary" said Pansy.
"Right, then," said Umbridge. Umbridge then cocked her head when she heard a low, rumbling noise outside and smiled. "Ah, splendid! The muggle workers are here, right on time!"
Umbridge stepped outside as a large lorry came to a stop and several men in work clothes and hard hats got out and began approaching the house. With a swish and flick of her wand, a plan for a small structure on a parchment appeared. Umbridge met the first man in the group halfway from where they were, and said, "In the back yard, you will see a large, brick barbecue pit. We need you to make it look exactly like this plan. Now get to work, and be quick about it!" Without another word, the workmen, ensorcelled by Umbridge's use of the imperious curse, began to convert the Stephenses barbecue pit into a working Floo Hearth.
Smiling, Umbridge nodded to Vincent, who had his Nimbus 2001 and was ready to begin the search. Again, Umbridge repeated her order that the children were not to be harmed, and then she and Pansy Parkinson went back inside of the Stephenses' home.
Flying at treetop level, Vincent Crabbe flew off in search of the soon-to-be Maisie Umbridge and Maxim Zabini.