ARTHUR QUINN

A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 1: The Prodigal Sons Return

The town of Lochjewel was filled with excitement upon Arthur and Casey's return from Hogwarts. People young and old swamping the boys excitedly with questions of their time at Hogwarts. The boys would have been overwhelmed by the crowd were it not for their parents, corralling the crowd away, insisting the boys needed time to readjust and rest.

Throughout this, Arthur noticed Casey being unusually subdued. He would have thought Casey would have lapped up all the attention he was receiving. Instead, Casey was rather quiet, managing only a few smiles and nods before being guided by his parents back to their home.

Finally pushing through the crowd, Arthur and his father, Cillian, finally arrived at their home. Arthur had missed his small but cosy brick house, big enough for just a kitchen, a dining room, and 3 bedrooms, one for Arthur, Cillian and grandfather Lochlan.

Arthur went to unpack his luggage, filling his once sparse room with items and apparel from his time at Hogwarts. By the time he had tidied his room, it was time for dinner, as he made his way to the dining table, joining his father and grandfather.

"How did the meeting go with the Irish Council of Wizards go?" Cillian asked Lochlan.

"Bah, the same rubbish as always. There are many on the council who still believe that Ireland can go it alone and that the Dark Lord was a one-off thing. But there is always the next crisis. It may happen after we're dead, but it'll happen nonetheless" Lochlan stated firmly.

Arthur knew of the politics and power struggles his father and grandfather dealt with daily as the head clan of the Stoneshield Warband, his own attendance at Hogwarts part of a greater scheme at work put into play by Lochlan.

"And what of the Warbands? How are they reacting to this … sudden play date with Britain?" Cillian asked further.

"Some wounds haven't had yet the time to heal unfortunately. Many of the elders still remember a time we were at odds with Britain. But the Warbands respond first to strength, so long as the Stoneshields and our allies remain strong, the rest will fall in line." Lochlan said.

The increase in cooperation between the Wizarding bodies of Ireland and Britain was a tenuous decision, the Irish refusing to completely give up their autonomy to higher powers in Britain. At several times, tensions escalated beyond control, Irish wizards rising up to overthrow their British 'oppressors' and defend the traditions and practices deemed primitive by modern Britain. The Warbands were one such tradition, the British Ministry of Magic wholly uncomfortable with the idea of independent groups of warrior druids for being free to govern themselves as they wished, including rebellion.

Thankfully, through the continuous efforts of the Irish Council of Wizards, tensions were at an all time low, most seeing the need for cooperation but many also still refusing to bend over to the Ministry of Magic.

Cillian sighed, the complications of working as an ambassador between two groups that almost hated each other as much as they hated the Deatheaters taking a great toll on his mental state.

"If only I was having as much success father," Cillian said to Lochlan.

"The British Head of Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch, and that Minister of theirs Cornelius Fudge, the former is a hard man, ruthless even, heard he sent his own son to Azkaban, while the latter is soft as one could get, focused more on popularity than actually getting anything done." Cillian ranted, his displeasure at working with the two obvious.

Arthur continued to listen in silence, the big picture hard for him to grasp at his age, but there was a reason his father and grandfather openly talked about such matters in front of him.

Suddenly an owl flew into the dining room, a letter in its beak. It landed in front of Arthur, indicating it was his to open. Arthur took the letter from its beak, the owl flying off back into the night.

Arthur opened the letter, quickly reading its contents, a sigh escaping him, not sure as to how to address the conundrum placed before him.

"What is it boy?" Cillian asked, curious about his son's slight increase in nervousness.

"A girl I know is asking me to visit her."

Cillian nearly choked on his food, bits of food flying out his mouth as he hammered his chest to dislodge it. Lochlan took a pause, before laughing out loud uproariously.

"You're a Quinn for sure lad!" Lochlan guffawed, his eyes twinkling with amusement as Cillian stared at his son in disbelief.

Arthur went red with embarrassment, wondering if he should've have broken it in a better way before deciding to focus on his meal instead, the details of his arrangement with Hermione would have to be sorted out later.

"It's been barely a day," Arthur sighed as he was sent to tumbling to the ground for the tenth time within the hour.

The elders, believing the two boys have had sufficient time to rest, immediately sent them back to training, to in their words 'toughen them up after having grown soft at Hogwarts'.

But their words did have some merit, the martial skills of those in Arthur and Casey's age group only improving in the year they had gone to Hogwarts, while theirs had very obviously stagnated. The sparring sessions only made this more obvious, Arthur now finding it extraordinarily tougher to defeat his peers, also meaning Casey was not having a good day.

Arthur had noticed it ever since Casey and him had returned, a foul mood following Casey everywhere he went. The tactful boy expertly concealed it from those who did not know him well, but Arthur had spent enough time with him to know when Casey was bothered by something. It all but confirmed it when Casey took an especially hard hit, stumbling to the ground as his smug opponent smirked at the possibility of him beating the top in their age group. Casey didn't let him fantasize for too long, ruthlessly tackling the other boy to the ground, fist after fist flying as the boy struggled to defend himself. It took the senior druid supervising their training to pry Casey off the poor boy, berating him for his lack of control before sending Casey off to be punished for his actions.

Casey stormed off, fearful whispers shared between the children watching as Arthur wondered what could have happened to his rival.

It was after a few days that Chief Lochlan called to meet Arthur and Casey, with intriguing news to share with them. Arthur and Casey stood at attention in front of their Chief, bowing in respect before Lochlan set them at ease.

"Now that you lads have had a proper warm up, I want to introduce you to Ms Erin Lyon." A tall, extremely well-built, middle-aged woman stepped up to Chief Lochlan's side, her brown hair braided neatly into a bun. Arthur reckoned she was probably as tall as his father who himself was tall for a man. But the most striking thing about her was her scars, the marks of hundreds of battles decorating her skin, a nasty burn marking the right side of her face.

"She'll be training you in hand-to-hand combat and defensive spells from today onwards, best of luck," Lochlan smirked, already imagining the hard time the boys were going to have.

Erin brought Arthur and Casey to an empty training ring in their town, curious townsmen taking a break from their chores to watch what was happening.

"What are the two main principles to the Stoneshields' fighting style?" Erin demanded, glaring straight into the souls of the two very much intimidated boys.

"Speed and power, Ms Lyon," Casey answered. "Correct, Whelan," Erin nodded. "Others may find grappling or fancy footwork to be more effective but not the Stoneshields. Our Animagus forms provide us a distinct physical advantage in the use of pure force in battle even whilst still in our human forms, Animagus forms which I believe you two are already proficient in," Erin stated.

Arthur and Casey nodded hesitantly, a small approving look on Erin's face. "Most initiates gain their Animagus forms when they're 14 to 16, these boys are only 12," she thought to herself, "let's see what they can do."

This was how Arthur found himself sprawled on the training floor once again, his lungs gasping for air as he was caught off guard by a nasty shot to the gut.

Erin Lyon's promise to focus mainly on speed and power was well kept as she drilled them continuously with punches and kicks to the straw dummies she had conjured. Weighted push-ups, sandbag squats, crunches and sprints were the boys' bread and butter as she honed their physical conditions, all the while berating their 'pathetic forms and weak minds'. And once the boys were exhausted, she took turns sparring with each of them, the boys swapping out each time one of them either went down or could not continue.

Arthur's brief break on the floor came to an end as Casey was tossed to the ground next to him. Arthur sighed, getting up unwillingly to repeat the cycle once more, unconsciously wishing his visit to Hermione's place would come sooner.

Chapter 2: A Day at the Grangers'

After a week of being pulverised by the relentless Erin Lyon, all while having to keep up with their own non-physical, magical studies, Arthur and Casey were finally given a much-needed weekend break. It was during this time that Arthur had arranged to visit Hermione at her home in London, Hamptead. An anxiousness he didn't know he had building up within him, Arthur quickly got dressed, wearing a simple white linen shirt, brown trousers and a pair of shoes before meeting his father outside their house. His grandfather Lochlan was also there to see him off, whispering into Arthur's ear, "Remember boy, if she asks you into her room-"

"Oh, can it you dirty geezer," Cillian scolded, stopping a chuckling Lochlan from finishing whatever he wanted to say to a confused Arthur. Arthur grabbed Cillian's arm, but not before spotting Casey in the training ring still practicing the drills taught by Erin Lyon. Puzzled, Arthur didn't have much time to think about it before Cillian apparated the two to the front door of Hermione's house, a lump immediately forming in Arthur's throat.

Cillian rang the knocked on the door, a faint shuffling heard inside before Hermione's parents opened the door, a bit taken aback by the tall, good looking, well-built man standing at their door. Quickly recovering from their initial shock, Hermione's parents smiled, greeting Cillian. "Ah, you must be Arthur's father, a pleasure."

"Cillian Quinn. Pleasure," Arthur's father responded firmly, shaking Hermione's parents' hands in greeting.

"Oh, and this must be Arthur! I can see where he gets his good looks from, Hermione has told us all about you," Hermione's mother greeted, shaking Arthur's hand as he awkwardly nodded in acknowledgement.

Inviting them into their home, Arthur took a good look around, his tiny home a far cry from the spacious home that was the Granger's. Most of his life spent in his small, simple town, he hadn't even realised it was apparently normal for people to live in three-storied houses, initially thinking Hermione's parents must have been some sort of baron or baroness.

Arthur's ear perked up as he heard Hermione rush down the steps, a huge smile on her face as she greeted Arthur.

"Arthur you're here!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly, although she quickly restrained her excitement seeing her parents' knowing smiles. Hoping the colour in her cheeks wasn't too obvious, she greeted Cillian with a polite handshake before she pulled Arthur along, offering to show him around the house. Cillian watched his typically clueless son being dragged along by the pushy girl, a reflection of his own past, as bittersweet memories resurfaced.

"And this here is my room," Hermione introduced. Arthur looked around her room, noticing the sheer number of books crammed inside, Hermione's own miniature library. Hermione darted about the room, describing the plethora of books she had read, been reading and will read, her encyclopaedic knowledge being stuffed into Arthur's already dazed head, not that he minded.

Arthur admitted that his knowledge of the world outside his own town was fairly limited, the word vomit from Hermione that most found obnoxious, Arthur found intriguing.

Hermione knew this, that despite Arthur's blank expression, he never seemed to indicate annoyance or complete disinterest, unlike a certain Ron Weasley.

"Oh, you should definitely read this book, I heard that many muggles seemed to take inspiration from it," Hermione handed Arthur a book, 'The Art of War by Sun Tzu'. The booked smelled noticeably different from the other dog-eared, well-used books in Hermione's collection, a fresh smell emitting from it. Arthur briefly flipped through it, his interest piqued by the author's thoughtful consideration of the dynamics of conflict and the greater strategy at play when partaking in it.

"You can have the book if you like it," Hermione offered, slightly nervous. Arthur accepted the book with a small word of thanks, Hermione brightening up at his reply as she succeeded in her ploy to give to Arthur his long overdue Christmas gift.

Meanwhile, Cillian was having an intriguing conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Granger on teeth. Hermione's parents both being muggles admittedly came as a slight surprise to Cillian, but their jobs as dentists was far more fascinating to him. Assured by the Statue of Secrecy, Cillian admitted to the Grangers tooth repair and adjustment to him was just a flick of a wand and the incantations of a few charms, not realising the complicated processes required to achieve the same result in the Muggle World.

This was how the Grangers ended up regaling Cillian with tales of tooth scaling, realignments and wisdom teeth extractions.

After a while, Hermione and Arthur came back down, the tour of the Granger household completed as they proceeded to continue with their next activity, a trip into the city.

When Arthur first came to Wizarding London before the start of his first year at Hogwarts to pick up his school supplies, the familiar magical sights, potions and denizens prevented him from being too overwhelmed by the new experience. London of the Muggle World threw him off completely.

Strange metal carriages filled the streets, powered as if by magic as muggles roamed up and down the sidewalks on their way to fulfil their daily chores. The was even an underground train that Arthur, embarrassingly, had some difficulty figuring out how to even enter. Although, he pungent odour of smoke and coal did somewhat ruin the otherwise magical experience for Arthur, his sensitive nose picking up all sorts of new scents.

The Grangers gave a short tour of the city to the Quinns, Hermione happily explaining the myriad of sights to a dumbfounded Arthur as they headed for lunch.

Cillian sat with Hermione's parents at a small café they had just finished eating lunch at, taking a brief moment to relax and converse further. He watched as Hermione and Arthur stood in front of a telephone booth a bit of a distance away from Cillian, Hermione explaining to a confused Arthur how a telephone worked.

"This all seems to be very new to Arthur," Mr. Granger chuckled, the boy's reactions both entertaining and bemusing.

Cillian felt a pang of guilt, aware of the reason for his son's obliviousness, a fault in the centuries' old tradition of the Stoneshield Warband. Perhaps part of the reason he had allowed his only son to leave for Hogwarts was to give the boy what Cillian himself never really had, the semblance of a childhood.

Cillian wondered if Arthur's mother would approve, smiling when he realised, she would have probably whisked Arthur away, dragging Cillian along with her to live permanently in the Muggle World, far from the troubles of the Warband. Mr. Granger shook Cillian out of his reverie, a gesture to continue the rest of their tour, Cillian wondering if there would be more days like this.

Soon, the day had home to an end, the Grangers leading the Quinns back to their home before sending the Quinns off.

"You'll remember to write this time, right?" Hermione asked, the hidden threat behind her words well conveyed. Arthur nodded firmly, not wanting to experience a wrathful Hermione.

Arthur waved goodbye to the Grangers, holding onto his father's arm before they disapparated from Hampstead, back at their cosy little home in Lochjewel. Stopped from napping the entire day, Arthur scarfed down his dinner, barely chewing, before plonking himself straight into bed, dead to the world. He had enjoyed himself at Hermione's, an exhausting but fulfilling day that made Arthur wistful for something he couldn't place his finger on, nothing but peaceful dreams of strange metal boxes and telay-phones in his mind as he went to sleep.

Chapter 3: Back to Training

The weekend passed faster than Arthur would have wished, having slept through the entire day after his visit to Hermione's. Arthur waited for Erin Lyon at their usual training, feeling much more refreshed after the weekend break. Casey on the other hand, looked dreadful, his eye bags showing as the boy looked as if he didn't get any rest.

When Erin Lyon showed up, she raised an eyebrow at Casey's condition, a glare returned by Casey as he stood up straighter, clearly signalling he was not going to talk about it. Erin slightly growled at the stubborn boy, continuing on with the training as per usual, deciding to let Casey experience his mistake for himself.

Training was good for Arthur, noticing his movements and reflexes were a tiny bit, but noticeably faster, his strikes having slightly more power to them. But Casey was sluggish, his performance poor than even that of the previous week's.

"What's the matter with you Whelan?! That weekend break not enough for you?!" Erin mocked Casey, biting back a curse through gritted teeth as he forced himself to push through the rest of the training.

By the time it was the second day of training after their break, it was obvious Casey had had enough.

Erin knocked Casey to the ground, head shaking in disappointment at his pathetic attempt to spar with her.

"Argh! To hell with this!" Casey shouted, storming out the training ring. Arthur glanced at Casey, unsure whether to follow after him, before glancing back at Erin, a silent nod from her towards where Casey had stormed off helping Arthur make his decision.

Arthur followed after Casey, finding him sitting on a rock at a secluded spot facing the lake the town sat next to.

"Piss off Quinn," Whelan said, sensing Arthur's approach. Arthur walked up to Casey anyway, taking a seat next to Casey.

"What's eating at you Whelan?" Arthur asked plainly, only curiosity on his mind.

"My problem, is you Quinn," Casey hissed, anger in his eyes as he glared at Arthur. "Ever since we got back from Hogwarts you've been the only thing everyone around me talks about."

"Did you hear? Arthur took down a troll in Hogwarts! Arthur's in Gryffindor, the best wizards come from there! Arthur vanquished an ancient evil, what a hero!" Casey imitated mockingly, his anger rising, but a hint of sadness remained in his eyes.

Arthur was shocked, unsure of what he could say to comfort the boy, not used to seeing his rival in such an emotional state.

"Well, all I hear is about you as well," Arthur began, the anger in Casey's eyes extinguishing ever so slightly.

"Because if the second best could do all of that, imagine what the best could do?" Arthur said, awkwardly giving his first compliment to Casey.

"Besides who cares what the others think, you're still the prick I have to beat and I'm the prick you need to keep from beating you, anyone else is a spectator," Arthur ranted, honestly pretty annoyed himself at the constant need for everyone in the Warband, other than his family, to compare him to Casey. Ultimately, they were just boys, boys who had their whole life ahead of them, being free to make mistakes is part of growing up.

A silence fell between the two, leaving Casey time to contemplate on what Arthur said. Casey still hated Arthur's guts, their rivalry persisting for so long because Arthur was too stubborn to give up like so many others their age. But Casey had to admit, he held a smell shred of respect for the boy's persistence.

A small snore emanated from Arthur's direction, Casey realising in disbelief that Arthur had already dozed off, the boy's penchant for dozing off never failing to occur at inopportune moments.

"Idiot," Casey muttered, a small smile escaping him.

It was well into the late afternoon, before Arthur and Casey returned to the training ring, Casey needing the time to collect his thoughts and Arthur having just slept through. The boys were surprised to find Erin Lyon, still standing where they had left her, her arms crossed as she waited for the boys.

"Feeling better now Whelan?" she asked Casey, Casey abashedly nodding his head.

"Right then, off with you then Whelan, come back when you've had enough rest."

Casey smiled, realising that despite her intimidating appearance, Erin Lyon secretly had a soft heart.

"Did you really wait out here all this time?" Arthur asked amusedly, a smirk coming to his face before a punch from Erin sent him flying.

"Quinn. Push ups." Erin punished Arthur, faint shouting of Arthur shirking off training to go to sleep vaguely heard as Casey made his quick exit, not willing to wait around for Erin to change her mind about his extended rest. Casey certainly did not expect how this day would go, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing as went to have his first peaceful sleep in days.

Chapter 4: Back to School

It was the final week of the holidays when Erin decided to finally teach the boys defensive spells. Erin was secretly proud of the boys, their martial training definitely showing marked results. She reckoned that with the rate they were improving, they would even be on par with some of the veteran druids of the Warband once their growth spurts finished.

Because of this, Erin decided it would be appropriate to teach the boys the Warband's own brand of duelling.

As Arthur and Quinn walked into the training ring, Erin sent a ball of light speeding at them, the boys unsurprisingly dodging it with ease.

"Good," Erin said "that was a controlled demonstration, but what did the ball represent?"

"An enemy spell," Casey answered, his confidence having recovered.

"Correct, Whelan," Erin nodded. "All spells have a certain range. Barring those that control the environment around you, most offensive spells have a limited range of travel and impact for them to hit their target. Meaning?"

"You can't get hit if you're fast enough," Whelan smirked, not realising something so simple needed explanation.

"Watch the attitude Whelan," Erin warned, Casey immediately wiping the smirk off his face. "Most modern Wizards, frankly, don't have the reflexes or speed to avoid a spell fire at them at close-range. Obviously, we Stoneshield druids are different." Erin explained, seeing no need to explain why they were different from their modern counterparts.

"Thus, in addition to a few basic defensive spells, I will be teaching you spells you can use offensively and your abilities to dodge them. Remember this, a single spell used creatively and unexpectedly would make more of a difference than a hundred spells used predictably," Erin finished, gesturing the boys to raise their wands, the first time they would be officially training in wand work in a while.

The week passed by quickly, Erin teaching the boys as much as she could in their crash course on duelling before their training with her would end, the boys needing to purchase their school supplies before being sent off for their second year at Hogwarts. Casey joked to Arthur that he swore Erin was going to tear up when she sent them off to Hogwarts, an indication of the two boys' slightly improved relationship. But their chance never came, Erin having disappeared on assignment from Chief Lochlan.

Nevertheless, life goes on, Professor McGonagall picking the boys up to accompany them to purchase their school supplies. Not having seen them in a while, Professor McGonagall appraised the boy, realising they had grown just that bit taller, their bodies increasing slightly in size with more with muscle. She sighed, not wanting to imagine what sort of horrid training the boys had been put through for the holidays before apparating the three to Diagon Alley.

Arthur and Casey were waiting outside Flourish and Blotts to purchase their books, the store completely packed for some unknown reason. Professor McGonagall had left the boys, having to attend to other important tasks, promising to pick up the boys later. As they squeezed their way into the shop, Arthur spotted a familiar trio, their family members accompanying them.

"Oh, look it's Arthur!" Ron pointed out, Harry and Hermione smiling in greeting as they waved him over. Arthur was about to say he was accompanying someone else, not wanting to make Casey feel awkward only to realise Casey had already disappeared. "Nevermind then," Arthur thought, as he made his way over to three fellow troublemakers.

Ron introduced Arthur to his family, his mother praising Arthur for his good looks and muscular build, taking the opportunity to remind Harry to eat more, while Ron's father shook his hand, joking about how it seemed as if all Arthurs were born good looking, Ron hiding his face in embarrassment.

Arthur awkwardly stuttered out a response, casually hiding behind the far more famous Harry to ward off any unnecessary conversation.

Noticing the crowd being predominantly female, Arthur asked Harry if he knew what was happening. Harry was about to answer him before he was abruptly called out by the source of the commotion, Gilderoy Lockhart. The man called Harry over, announcing how it would be an honor to teach him in the coming year as his new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, a camera flashing as the man took a picture with the obviously uncomfortable Harry.

It was during this brief calm in the store that Quinn appeared behind Arthur, having already snuck his way to the front and bought their books. Arthur uttered a surprised thanks, about to follow Casey out the store before an obnoxiously familiar voice called out to Harry.

"Bet you loved that didn't you Potter," Draco Malfoy taunted, "famous Harry Potter, can't even go to a book shop without making the front page."

A small confrontation seemed to break out between Draco and Harry, a girl Arthur guessed was Ron's sister coming to Harry's defense.

"Hey Casey what're you doing over there," Arthur gestured at Draco jokingly, Arthur's joke met with nothing but a glare from Casey.

"Oh Whelan, didn't see you there. Since when did you associate with losers," Draco noticed Casey with Arthur out of the corner of his eye, and by association with Harry.

"I don't. Which is why we're not friends Draco," Casey responded smoothly, a smirk on his face as Harry smiled at Draco being taken down a notch so easily.

Their verbal sparring was interrupted by the appearance of Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, who reined Draco in. He examined Harry's scar, asking about the Dark Lord threateningly, the tension in the air palpable. The situation only seemed worse with the appearance of Arthur Weasley, the hostility between the two men barely concealed under a thin facade of politeness.

"I understand you're in Slytherin as well Mr. Whelan," Lucius turned, his attention now on Casey. "I do hope you decide to ingratiate yourself with people more, befitting, of your noble clan in the future," Lucian purred, Casey's eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Same goes to you Mr. Quinn," Lucian addressed. "Sorry, what? Who are you again?" Arthur jolted awake, having dozed off from what he thought was a very long and unnecessary confrontation. Lucian frowned, ushering his son out the store.

"Arthur did you catch that?" Casey asked, looking over to Arthur only to see his still dazed expression. "Never mind," Casey dismissed, what the elder Malfoy said bothering him but deciding to dismiss it as paranoia.

Arthur and Casey were soon on the train to Hogwarts, another year at the castle awaiting them. Arthur hoped it would turn out more peaceful than the last, but remembering his unsaid promise with Harry at the end of the previous term, he suspected that peace was a bit too much to ask for, his mind finally dozing off into a dreamless sleep.