A short week after completing the courtship contract negotiations, Harry began working at his new office in the Ministry. He made his way carefully to the ministry only to be met by a familiar face before stopping at the wad check in desk. His previous professor Julius stopped him gently and waved to the wizard checking in wands as he led Harrison over to a separate entrance which had a rack of probity probes set up similar to a muggle walk-through metal detector like the ones he had seen in airports on the telly. Julius went through the scan first and Harrison followed him through, doing exactly as his ex-professor had.
Once they were through the scan and on their way to the second floor, Harrison began peppering the man with questions.
"Professor Julius! Why are you here to meet me? Weren't you going to try to continue teaching Defense? Why didn't Severus mention that you would be here? Does he know? Please, Professor, what's going on?" Harrison said in a hurried rush.
Julius chuckled lightly, and gestured him down yet another long hallway. Harrison privately wondered how long it would take him to be able to find his way through the maze of corridors by himself without getting lost. Hopefully there was something that he wasn't recognizing that would help him find his way in future.
"Well, that was quite the list of questions, but why don't I just explain the situation, and if you still have questions, you can ask when I'm through, yeah?"
Harrison nodded, tilting his head inquisitively to the side in an effort to prod the man to speak.
"Yes, I wanted to continue at Hogwarts with the Defense position, but as the curse is still in effect, I decided to leave before something detrimental occurred. I saw that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Division of Child Welfare had openings, and decided I might be able to do some good here. Severus and I didn't have the best childhood, and I decided I'd like to be there for other children who might be in similar situations," the dark haired man explained.
"Me, too," Harrison replied.
Julius nodded knowingly, "Many of our colleagues were in similar situations. Seems to be the theme." Harrison nodded as Julius continued. "At any rate, I saw that our newest employee was beginning work today, and decided I would come up and greet you."
"I see," Harrison said neutrally. "Well, it is nice to see you again so soon."
They chatted amiably as Julius led Harrison around the ministry, ensuring his wand had been registered as an employee, his floo and apparition passes were ready for use, and introducing him around their smallish division. It was during their tour of the division they got down to the specifics of Harrison's new job.
"So…" Julius started slowly, deciding where he wanted to begin with orientation for Harrison. "I've been stuck doing lots of paperwork because we had an odd number of employees. As I'm certain you're aware, our group monitors muggle born and muggle raised witches and wizards as soon as we have a record of accidental magic which can be confirmed as being cast by the child."
"Yes, I read all the overview information Madam Bones sent over," Harrison responded. "I am curious though, how early can we detect these children?"
"It depends," Julius replied. "Mainly on the strength and type of accidental magic displayed. Some children have just enough magic to do simple things that are easily overlooked, like summoning blankets or cups. Children with particularly low levels often exhaust their magic before they are discovered, and unfortunately, are left to the muggle world because they never gain enough magic for admission to magical school. It is unfortunate, but there are just too few of us and their magic isn't strong enough for our existing system to pick up."
"That's horrible!" Harrison cried out. "So there are squibs out there who never even knew about magic because there was no one to help them when they were young so they continuously magically exhaust themselves until they can't regenerate magic anymore?"
"That is exactly what happens," Julius confirmed solemnly. "It is a terrible thing, as squibs can be such an asset to the magical world, but ingrained prejudice is difficult to overcome, and as I said, there are too few of us to both monitor what children we do locate, let alone work on improving the means to locate those with lower power levels."
"That is appalling," Harrison muttered. "I understand the issues, Profes- I mean, Julius, but it certainly isn't right."
"I agree, however I've no means to improve it for either group," the man responded calmly. "I merely do what I can to help those I can."
Harrison just nodded, wheels turning in the back of his mind, trying to think of possible solutions to such a horrid situation.
"But now that you're here," he perked up a bit, "You'll be my partner and we will join the field work. We do field work in teams of two so there's always immediate backup on hand. Added to that, everyone who works in this division is required to be able to conjure a patronus and be capable of using it to deliver messages. In the event a situation goes out of control, the DCW employee is able to send a message to the DMLE for immediate assistance." Harrison was nodding as Julius explained. "Of course we try to contain situations before they escalate that badly, but it is nice to have aurors and the obliviators on standby if needed. And they are available. We are required to register before any field work to ensure at least two aurors and an obliviator are available in the ministry to assist."
"That's good," Harrison commented. "I agree we should try to keep things civil, but sometimes…" he trailed off, knowing that had anyone ever come to visit him as a child, it would have been a nightmare. "I know not all muggles are bad or would react badly to knowledge of magic, but there are definitely some who would," he finished wryly. "My aunt and uncle, for example."
"Ah, yes, I followed the story rather avidly when your godfather was on trial," Julius commented, understanding exactly what Harrison wasn't saying. They were both quiet for a few moments before Julius continued.
"Of course," he said slowly, "the hardest cases are those we are alerted to with regards to wizarding-raised half-bloods," continued Julius, wanting to get his new partner up to speed as quickly as possible. "Full wizarding families do not abuse children. They are meticulous in their care for their children, and annual medical exams performed by non-biased parties prove it. This has proven true even when two muggle born parents have children. But in the case of mixed households, the witch or wizard may not have the ability for a number of reasons, to prevent the muggle parent from abusing the child. Most often this occurs in relationships when the female witch is physically weaker than their muggle partner, and is only able to protect themselves magically. Unfortunately magical protection is often not enough to protect from physical attacks, especially on the smaller, less developed bodies and magical cores of children. There are cases of male wizards in similar situations, though that more often manifests as emotional, monetary, or sexual control of the wizard.
Harrison nodded to indicate he understood the information being provided.
Julius smiled at the teen and continued, "The other common occurrence is where the muggle parent hides their treatment of the child around the wizarding parent, but is actively physically, emotionally, or sexually harmful to the child when the wizarding parent is absent. The child is usually conditioned to not speak about the treatment received when the wizarding parent is not present, and hide any physical effects."
"Yes," Harrison replied dryly, "I'm familiar with hiding the effects of one's abuse."
Julius cleared his throat a little uncomfortably, not wanting to bring up bad memories for the teen, but knowing he had to be prepared for seeing other children in situations similar to his own. "Yes, well, that's the overview. I'll turn you over to Stella for the training this afternoon, and you'll be with her for a couple days, seeing pensieve memories and discussing what to do on cases, and what not to do, as well as some of the more common, as well as extreme reactions that have occurred during the types of meetings we are called on to complete. Once she's done with you, you and I will spend the rest of the week with the paperwork, and then next week, we'll likely be able to shadow the other teams on their field work. Once we've had a week or so of shadowing, Amelia will assign someone to shadow us for a minimum of a week, up to a month as an evaluation. Once the evaluation is complete, they'll turn us loose on our own cases. Any questions so far?"
Harrison thought seriously for a moment, before deciding, but then responded, "Not that I can think of right now. I'm sure I'll have more for Stella and whoever we shadow."
"Very well," the older man replied, leading the teen to the training area where Stella was waiting. He handed Harrison off to the lady of indeterminate age, and returned to his paperwork thinking his baby brother had certainly picked a good one.
Several weeks later, Harrison had settled into his new employment very well. Even though he was young, and sometimes - often really - the muggles would underestimate him based on his apparent age, he was very good at talking to them, and keeping confrontations to a minimum. He and Julius had sailed through Harrison's training, the joint shadowing phase, and their evaluation cleanly. Together, they were quite the pair.
Of course, that didn't stop Julius from teasing the teen any time he had a date with the older man's brother and his other suitor. Harrison had nearly swallowed his tongue the first time Julius spoke about Harrison's courter as the Dark Lord. Julius had laughed, explained that he heard all about the situation from Sev, and proceeded to good-naturedly rib the emerald-eyed boy any time he could get away with it. Which was to say rather often considering they were usually in their warded shared office when not out on a call. Harrison put up with the teasing in the spirit it was given, though he had several moaning sessions about it to Severus, who also laughed, and told him that was just how Julius was, always had been, and likely always would be.
One evening the two had been called away urgently around 4 pm to the home of a recently discovered muggleborn witch. The two had grabbed their files, wands, and DCW badges before quickly making their way to the apparition point at the ministry. They apparated as close as they could to their final destination, and could hear the yelling and crying as they approached the muggle house. Harrison had to focus on his occlumency shields because the scene was so very familiar. Rows of similar looking houses, curtains twitching as they walked passed, even though they appeared to be well-dressed muggles.
They walked up to the house number they had been given, and rapped smartly on the door. The ensuing silence was almost unnatural, but footsteps were quickly heard approaching the door. A youngish muggle woman answered the door. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties, was of average height and weight, with nondescript brown hair and eyes. The woman was dressed in a smart pair of tailored trousers with a frilly pastel blouse and matching pale high heels. A blazer that could only finish the look was draped over the bannister of the stairs. The woman smiled, in what was likely supposed to be a kind and polite manner, but the lines of anger and disapproval were still present. A small girl, who looked rather similar to the woman, but with bright blue eyes was peaking through the bannister where it met a solid wall about halfway up the stairs.
"How may I help you?" the woman asked with a fake smile plastered to her face as she answered the summons.
"Good afternoon, my name is Julius Snape and this is my partner Harrison Potter-Black. Is this the Connelly residence?"
The woman's eyes narrowed suspiciously, and she responded very slowly, unsure what these two well-dressed strangers were doing in front of her home. "Yes, it is. I am Mrs. Naomi Connelly."
"Good, good," Julius responded jovially, trying to break the tension. "Harrison and I have come to discuss a somewhat concerning situation with you, Mrs. Connelly. Is your husband home as well?"
"Unfortunately, no. But if I may be of assistance…" she trailed off, not wanting to allow two strange men into her house.
"Ah, we need to speak with both of you, Mrs. Connelly. When will your husband return?" Julius continued in the same open, friendly way. Harrison had remained completely silent the entire time, struggling to contain his emotions behind the blank, though not off-putting, mask he had raised when he first heard the shouting.
Just as the woman was about to respond to the question, a car pulled into the drive. "Ah, that's my husband, Mark, now," she replied with some relief. "Please, do come in." She finally opened the door wide enough for them to enter, stepping to the side in a welcoming gesture.
"Thank you, Mrs. Connelly," Julius and Harrison spoke almost simultaneously. She nodded in an attempt at graciousness, before closing the door carefully.
Turning to join her guests in the living room, she spotted the child half hidden up the stairs and hissed, "Go to your room, Constance, and don't let me hear a peep out of you!" The little girl fled immediately, and Naomi made her way to the sofa just as her husband entered.
"What's this Naomi?" Mark said, indicating the two well-dressed men in their living room.
"This is Mr. Snape and Mr. Potter-Black, and they asked to speak with both of us regarding some concern. They have not yet given any details, but requested to speak with both of us. Since your arrival was so timely, I invited them in," the woman replied, her hostess smile in place. "This is my husband, Mark Connelly."
"Good evening, Mr. Connelly, as your wife said, I am Julius Snape and this is my partner, Harrison Potter-Black. We've come today to discuss with you an issue of some concern. I believe you also have a five-year-old daughter, Constance, correct?" Julius spoke in the somewhat professorial tone he had adopted which seemed to work well on muggles.
"Yes," Mark replied slowly, looking from Julius to Harrison and carefully cataloguing them.
"Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Connelly," Harrison spoke for the first time since being seated, "We've been alerted to a situation regarding your daughter Constance, and were dispatched to verify the reports. We're with the Division of Child Welfare," he continued, smoothly making no mention of the fact it was the magical division of child welfare, rather than the muggle one the original report had been taken from.
"Now see here," Mark stated, abruptly getting angry, "how we choose to discipline the girl is no concern of the government." His skin was turning a rather unpleasant red.
"Yes, well…" Julius began explaining the true division they worked for, the concerned reports both the muggle and wizarding authorities had received, and the available options for the parents and their daughter. The two muggles in front of them started out trying to dissemble, redirect the conversation, and when that didn't work, gave more and more ridiculous excuses for their behavior. Everything from a bad day at work to the girl being dangerously destructive. The two muggles were getting progressively more angry and belligerent during the explanations and questions, until finally the man pulled a muggle gun on them and had to be forcefully subdued. Harrison sent off his patronus to the aurors and obliviator he knew were on standby, and carefully monitored the woman while Julius kept his focus, and his wand, trained on the man.
Several hours later, Julius and Harrison were back in the office, completing the paperwork required to report the situation, the exalted confrontation which resulted in calling the aurors and obliviator, and the subsequent removal of the child, one Constance Ann Connelly, to the British Wizarding Orphanage, opened during Harrison's fifth year, as the newest ward of the Ministry. It was pushing 9 pm and Harrison was exhausted. He and Julius finished up the paperwork, setting it in the appropriate trays to be sent off to the DCW and DMLE files, as well as to the orphanage for little Constance's official file.
Stepping into the lift with Julius, Harrison groaned, and let his head hit the side of the compartment.
"What's wrong, Harrison?" Julius asked, concerned. He knew the call hadn't gone the way any of them had wanted, but he didn't think Harrison was affected.
"I was supposed to be on a date with your brother and Thomas tonight," He whined a bit.
"Ouch," Julius laughed. "Well, it isn't like we could have known things were going to deteriorate like that. Even our worst urgent call before now only took a couple of hours. There's no way you could have known you'd be this late," the man consoled him. Normally he would tease, but he was tired, knew Harrison was wrung out, and really had been looking forward to tonight's date. Sev had told him a bit about their plans for the evening, and he knew Harrison would have loved it. He gave a mental shrug though, it wasn't like they could do anything about it now.
"Yeah...I guess," the new 18 year old replied. They had planned this date for his birthday, but his suitors wouldn't tell him the plans, only that this was the only evening it could be done. And Harrison felt just horrible that he had ruined whatever plans they had because of a work emergency. He supposed he'd have to floo over to Thomas' house and explain. Hopefully they hadn't sent out a missing person's report or anything. That would just take the cake. Then everyone would tease him about his courtship, not just Julius.
The two men said goodnight, and parted ways at the atrium floos. Julius headed home and Harrison quietly hissed out the override password to ensure he could enter Thomas' house via floo.
"He's here!" Harrison heard as he stepped through the grate, brushing the ashes and soot from his robes.
"Harrison!" the potions master was the first to reach him, pulling him into a harsh embrace.
"Harrison, where have you been?" Thomas' sharp question pulled him out of the lull in which Severus' hug had initially deposited him.
"I'm so so so so sorry, Thomas, Severus," Harrison almost pleaded to the two men. He noted their pale skin, paler than usual and the lines of worry around their eyes as they looked him over carefully for any injury. "I know we had plans for my special birthday date, but there was an urgent call and Julius and I got sent out this afternoon. We only just got done with the thing at 8 and then had to complete all the paperwork. We just finished and I came straight here. I'm so sorry I ruined the evening," he said in a small voice.
"What happened?" Severus questioned the teen, pulling him back into his arms.
"An abused five-year-old girl. Muggle parents were...well, they were like my family. When we tried to discuss things calmly, they exploded. The man pulled a gun on us. Had to call the aurors and the obliviator to take care of it."
"You are well?" Thomas calmed enough to ask his intended.
"I'm fine, Thomas. Nothing happened to either of us," Harrison soothed his oldest courter. "As soon as the man pulled the gun, Julius had him immobilized and bound. He stayed on guard until the aurors arrived while I watched the woman. Once her husband was down, she just sat there. I wasn't in danger, love, I promise."
Both dark wizards pinned the teen with sharp gazes. Muggle weaponry still didn't have many magical protection options, and someone pulling a gun on their intended made the two mens' hackles rise. Clearly he was safe now, but they were extremely worried. Relieved that he was with them and safe, the two men enveloped Harrison with hugs while they snuggled him on the couch.