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Harry waited nervously for the phone to be answered, he'd checked his email and Spencer hadn't sent him a message not to call so hopefully that meant things were okay with Spencer's mum. Dean and the Finnegans had cleared out to give him some privacy to speak to his friend though Mrs Finnegan was in the garden waiting to be called in to witness Spencer's vassal oath.
"Hello this is Spencer" Spencer answered eagerly, hoping it was the call he'd been waiting for.
"Hi Spencer it's Harry. How are you?" Harry said excitedly.
"Hi Harry I'm great. It's terrific to hear from you. Mom's still sleeping, she had a bad night and I had to medicate her, she should sleep another hour or so but I'll have to go as soon as she wakes up," Spencer said as quietly as his own excitement would allow.
"I'm sorry to hear she was unwell again," Harry replied, honestly.
"This must be costing the Finnegans a fortune. Are you ready for me to give my oath?" Spencer said, not wanting to tell Harry about the nightmare night he'd had and that his mother had harmed him again.
"I'm paying them for the call. I'll just call Mrs Finnegan in to witness it, she wanted to give us some privacy for me to make sure you still want to do this," Harry said before covering the mouthpiece and calling through the open window.
"I'm sure Harry, I want you to know you can trust me and that can only happen if I'm protected," Spencer replied.
Mrs Finnegan came and they held the phone between them. "We're ready. I'm afraid you'll have to speak up a bit for us both to hear."
Spencer knelt on the floor and bowed his head and earnestly recited his vow. "I vow that I will in the future always be honest with my lord Harry James Potter and to never deliberately and willingly act to cause him harm. To never try to deceive him or to hide from him information that he needs to know to make the best decisions for himself and his friends and family." He was familiar with the wording, he and Harry had discussed it extensively when Harry was working out what vows he wanted from his vassals.
"I accept Spencer Tristan Reid as my sworn vassal and take him to be a protected member of the house of Potter. I will protect him as I am able, I will be honest with him always. I dedicate this amulet to the protection of his body and his mind," Harry said his magic swirling around him as he pointed his wand at the amulet.
Harry was relieved when his magic resonated as Spencer recited the oath just as it had when Seamus and Dean had done it in his presence the night before. He'd been prepared to give Spencer the amulet even if it hadn't since nobody had been sure if a Vassal oath could be magically given or accepted when given by a muggle, let alone over the telephone instead of in person, and Spencer's word was enough for him to trust the older boy.
"Did it work?" Spencer asked eagerly after a moment.
"Yeah, it did," Harry said, his voice husky with emotion. "Did you feel it?"
"I felt something. A sense of warmth perhaps and the feeling that these words were more important than anything else I've ever said," Spencer struggled to explain the feelings the vow had caused. "Did you feel it?"
"Yes, my magic reacted just the same as if you were here in front of me. I could feel your honesty and your commitment, and the magic flowed into the amulet the way it should," Harry replied.
"The same as if I was a wizard?" Spencer asked.
"Exactly the same," Harry confirmed. "The amulet will protect you. I'll put it in the post this afternoon. You'll need to be home when the post arrives and keep an eye out for it, I don't think it would harm your mum for touching it but it might if she tried to destroy it or keep it from you, it would protect itself from her actions, and if she's sensitive to magic it might set off her delusions."
"I will," Spencer replied. "Will she be able to see it or feel the protections while I'm wearing it?"
"I don't know. If you were a wizard you'd be able to think it invisible but I'm not sure whether it will work for you or not," Harry replied. "I'll ask Mrs Finnegan." He covered the mouth piece and called out to his friends mother who was leaving the room after witnessing the oath but willingly came back to answer Spencer's questions.
"She won't be able to feel the protections unless she's touching it directly. I could spell it so she couldn't see it but without you blood to key the chain to you, you wouldn't be able to see it either," Mrs Finnegan said.
"No I want to be able to see it," Spencer said immediately.
"It's on a fairly long chain, it should be easy enough to hide under your clothes. The chain is spelled not to break but also not to be able to harm you if someone tries to pull it off or choke you with it, and not to be able to be removed by anyone except you or me once you put it on," Harry said.
"Wouldn't that be a breach of the statute of secrecy if someone nonmagical was trying to steal it and couldn't get it off?" Spencer asked concerned.
"Protection amulets for family members are exempt from the restrictions against muggles possessing magical artifacts," Mrs Finnegan reassured him. "It will treat someone trying to steal it from you as an attack and stun the attacker. It might be a good idea if that happens to punch him in the face so it looks like you've knocked him out if you can do so without anyone realising they were already unconscious. But honestly I can't think anyone would be able to think about stealing it, like I said the amulet will protect itself and it's owner."
"I don't think I could hit anyone that hard," Spencer said faintly.
"And depending how sure you are that you could prove they were attacking you first you could get in trouble with the police for assaulting them, especially as they were the one who ended up unconscious," Harry warned him.
Mrs Finnegan made the universal sign all parents made to hurry their children into completing something.
"I have to go Spencer, it's been really good to talk to you. I'll try to email later," Harry said.
"Bye Harry, it's been good to talk to you too. Thanks for going to all this effort to protect me, I'm not planning on going to the library until after Mom wakes up and I get her to eat something and take her meds so I might not be able to answer you tonight," Spencer replied.
"That's okay, I understand that you need to take care of your mum, I'll still try to email you tonight while things are fresh in my mind and you can reply whenever you can," Harry said.
"Okay Harry, I'll try to get to the library later this afternoon but I should be there at the usual time tomorrow if I can't," Spencer replied.
A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.
Stay safe everyone.