Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl Break-In
DISCLAIMER: Daria is the creation of Glen Eichler and is the property of MTV Viacom. Harry Potter is the creation of JK Rowling and is the property of JK Rowling, Wizarding World, and Warner Brothers. I don't claim to own either franchise or deserve any financial compensation for this work of fiction.
Advisory: This Chapter rated "T" for foul language.
Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl * Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl * Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl
Two weeks after Daria's birthday, Jake and Helen finally found a renter for their old house on Whirlwind Drive. The house had sat empty since the previous renters did a midnight flit after falling behind in their rent for a couple of months, then selling their refrigerator and dishwasher before they disappeared.
It wasn't that Jake and Helen hadn't had offers from would-be renters since then—they had. But neither Jake nor Helen wanted unreliable short-term renters: they wanted reliable, solid long-term renters with stable incomes who would remain put for at least a year and preferably longer.
Mr. Dysart, their property manager, had contacted Jake and told him that he'd found likely a likely candidate, a recent transfer who worked for the oil company that owned the oil refinery on the eastern edge of town and who wanted a house and yard for his wife and children. Mr. Dysart told Jake and Helen that he thought that Jarred Waugh looked like good prospects, and that he thought they'd do.
Jake decided that he'd use a Saturday afternoon to go over to the old house and see what might need to be done before the Waughs could move in. Daria decided to go with him.
Her visits to the old house no longer seemed as strange as they had before. Yes, it had been her old house. Yes, she'd had a lot of memories there. Yes, she still missed the Wises and Mr. Hawley, even though the Wises had moved to Plano and Mr. Hawley remained there. But she'd stopped thinking of it as her house. She lived on River Run Cove, not Whirlwind Drive.
They turned onto Whirlwind Drive, drove down a couple of blocks, pulled into the driveway and parked. Both of them got out.
Mr. Hawley, their former next-door neighbor, had been keeping an eye on their old house's exterior. Spring had caught on in that part of the Permian Basin, and the grass had turned green again. Mr. Hawley was mowing the grass next door, and Daria could hear his lawnmower. "Let's go visit Hawley and see how things are going," said Jake.
Mr. Hawley was hale and hearty and so was Digger, despite his age. Digger wagged his tail to see Jake and Daria. Jake and Mr. Hawley exchanged small talk and Jake told Mr. Hawley that Daria would be going away to school next fall. Mr. Hawley wished her good luck, and sent his best wishes to Helen, Quinn, and Veronica.
Jake asked him about the house. "Everything looks good on the outside and nobody has tried to break in. Jake sighed with relief.
Jake and Helen had keys to the old house, and Jake used his to open the door. The house looked much the same as the last time he'd checked. No signs of plumbing leaks, no sign of a leaky roof, and nobody had broken in since the last time they'd checked. A little scrubbing, another inspection, and the Waughs could move right in.
-((O-O))—
Daria had had another change in her life since her birthday. A new ghost had taken interest in her and was following her around. His name was Asmodeus Sackl; he had been born in Bohemia in the mid-nineteenth century. He had been a wizard in his lifetime and he'd died of an accidental gunshot wound in Odessa over a century before; the Mundie in the next hotel room had been cleaning his pistol and it fired, penetrating the wall and Herr Sackl. Hover the decades following his death, he'd been bored with Odessa and Midland, then made his way eastwards once he'd learned about the magical community centered around Highland. Once he discovered that Daria was a witch she couldn't shake him. (1)
"And from where did your father's family come from?" he asked.
"From Morgendorf," said Daria. "It was a village that used to be in Austria. They came over in the 1880's."
The ghost's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree after she said where her Dad's folks had come from.
"To Morgendorf I have been," he said.
"OK," Daria said dubiously, which set Herr Sackl off on a monologue, during which Daria learned that her Dad's forebears had lived in a village north of Prague and that despite the fact that it was in what was now Czechoslovakia, back in the Nineteenth century it had been a German-speaking community that had been there for centuries. Daria had to tell Herr Sackl that so far as she knew, none of her Dad's family had gone back there to visit in decades, if ever. She also learned that Herr Sackl was a sexist who disapproved of wives working outside the home and thought that Daria should set her thoughts towards learning housekeeping spells and child-rearing.
Herr Sackl's attitude set him up for a confrontation with Helen Morgendorffer. Daria told her Mom about their new visitor and Helen decided that it was time for her to step in. One evening when she heard Daria arguing with someone she opened Daria's bedroom door to find her daughter arguing with a ghostly someone wearing a mid-Victorian sack suit and said "Daria, who is this?"
For years afterwards Daria remembered Herr Sackl's doubletake as he realized that her mother could see and hear him. "Mom, this is Herr Sackl."
"I'm Helen Morgendorffer," said Helen, not waiting for Sackl to introduce himself. "I'm Daria's Mother."
Momentarily speechless, Herr Sackl responded by bowing and clicking his heels. Herr Sackl was unused to what Americans called "Wild Squibs" who could see and hear magical beings as well as wizards and witches. "Frau Morgendorffer, a privilege," he said. "It is an honor to—"
Helen glared at him. "I wish to inform you that your presence here is without my permission and that my daughter will pursue her education as she and her advisors see fit. Am I clear?"
The ghostly wizard was taken aback. It had been decades since any woman had addressed that way, even before he died.
"Yes, Ma'am," said Herr Sackl.
"And I do not appreciate your presence here or your bothering my daughters," Helen added. "If you continue, I shall contact the MACUSA." Despite the fact that Helen Morgendorffer was physically incapable of doing anything to him, Herr Sackl decided that it was best to retreat and glided through Daria's bedroom wall to escape.
Despite his rough encounter with Helen, Herr Sackl did not stay away, although he learned to be more circumspect when he visited Daria. Daria might have ignored him, except that she was learning that the wizarding world might not be as safe as she first thought it was. There were too many things about the wizarding world that she didn't know and Herr Sackl did. She resolved to grit her teeth and put up with him. Maybe she could learn things.
Herr Sackl found many aspects of Daria's magical education disappointing. He was appalled that Daria knew no charms or spells: in his opinion, she should have already been learning them. He also disapproved of the fact that Daria knew no Latin and didn't speak German. He urged her to try and learn some.
Herr Sackl also taught her charms. It was something like ballet class—Herr Sackl would first show her the motions she needed to perform the charm he was teaching and Daria would first try to imitate him, then let him guide her through the motions. Herr Sackl being dead, there was no physical contact, except when Daria missed a motion and encountered his ice-cold ghostly hand or arm.
Herr Sackl was strict but not punitive. When Daria missed a movement, he frowned, then said "We repeat," then Daria repeated her wand movements correctly.
She grew confident enough to perform several charms, then learned that drew the attention of MACUSA's social services, who complimented Daria on her spell work, then told her to cease and desist until she was in school or one of MACUSA's certified tutoring programs. Daria and Herr Sackl modified their approach and started using a dummy wand to practice wand movement.
-((O-O))-
Daria and Jake finished their walk-through. Everything at the house on Whirlwind Drive was in order, although Jake noted the small pile of boxes they'd left in the garage after closing their mini-warehouse space. He and Daria loaded them into Jake's SUV, then returned to River Run Cove.
-(((O-O)))—
Later, when Daria was asked about life on River Run Cove, she ruefully replied that it hadn't really been all that bad. It was still too hot, it was still in Highland, and she still wanted to move, but River Run Cove was a far safer neighborhood than her old one. No gangs, no drive-bys, no drug- or alcohol-fueled freak-outs; at least nothing she could see or hear. Nothing ever happened there—until it did.
It was a Saturday afternoon. Her Dad was out on the golf course, her Mom had taken Quinn and Veronica out shopping and Daria had the house to herself. She knew that most kids her age wouldn't, but her parents recognized that she was responsible and she intended to keep them thinking that way. She'd gone around and made sure that the doors were locked and that she had her wand within arm's reach.
The doorbell rang, and a couple of minutes later Daria heard the rumble of what she guessed was a delivery truck driving away, so she guessed that someone had dropped off a package for her Mom or Dad and that she ought to bring it inside.
She unlocked and opened the door and was bowled over by a girl a little younger than Quinn, then ran inside before Daria could stop her.
"SAVE ME!" she shrieked. The girl ran into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.
Daria's first thought was to expel the craziness and get the girl to leave. Her next thought was that if someone or something was chasing the girl, it was probably bigger than she was and that she couldn't handle it. She closed the front door, locked it, then headed back towards her bedroom, hoping that the girl didn't have a weapon on her.
The girl was still in her bedroom, crouching in the space at the foot of her bed.
"Excuse me," said Daria. "This is my house. What is going on here?"
"MY STEP-DAD IS TRYING TO KILL ME!" shrieked the girl.
SHIT, thought Daria. She didn't know how far away Step-Dad was but suspected that he was all too close.
She wished her Dad and Mom were here but they weren't. She wanted to call the police, and she would call the police, but she didn't think they'd get there in time. The next option was to get the Marshals: what with apparation, they'd get there a lot faster. But they didn't have a 911 system and would they get there in time? She doubted it.
She dialed 911. She was trying to talk to the operator when someone started pounding on the door and bellowed "OPEN UP!"
The shit had hit the fan. Her parents didn't own any guns. She wasn't about to try her chances with knives and a guy who was bigger and stronger than she was. She picked up her wand.
"Fraulein," said a familiar voice. It was Herr Sackl. Daria really hoped that he'd be able to give her some useful advice.
"Herr Sackl," said Daria.
"You looked disturbed," said Sackl.
No kidding, Daria thought angrily. "There's a crazy man prowling around outside and I think he's going to try to break in," she said.
"The police should come," said Herr Sackl.
"They should, but it'll take them a while to get here," said Daria. "I'm afraid that it could be too late by the time they arrive."
"The Aurors then," said Herr Sackl.
They've only come over here when I did some accidental magic and did a couple of spells," said Daria.
"But they came," said Herr Sackl.
Something clicked in Daria's brain. If the Marshals lacked a 911 system like the Mundie cops and only came when Daria was performing underage magic, doing spellwork ought to attract their attention
The girl had calmed down a little, just enough to avoid giving into hysteria. "Who is that man you're talking to?" she asked.
"Herr Sackl," said Daria. "We'll talk about it later."
The nut-case hadn't gone away. She didn't want to play the hero; she'd much rather be unseen. But she didn't think that the house had enough hiding-places and she didn't think the girl had the smarts to use them.
"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" he yelled. 'OPEN THE DAMN DOOR NOW!"
Then he did what Daria feared he might do. He lifted the garage door and started lifting it up.
Hanged for sheep as for goat, thought Daria, hefting her wand. It's showtime. Let's see if the Marshals or the social workers pay attention this time. How to get their attention? She thought about the first time she'd held her wand and saw the blue and silver trail of magic emerging from the tip. Could she still do it?
She could, and a brilliant blue and silver stream of light emerged from her wand tip.
The bastard had gotten into the garage. Daria had locked the side door leading from the garage to the house after her Mom left with Quinn and Ronnie but she didn't think that it would stop the intruder for long.
She turned away from the girl. "Close the door," she told her, just as the door leading into the garage gave way.
"A charm for your room," said Herr Sackl. "Follow my lead."
Daria followed. She didn't learn the name of the spell until later, but the effect was to cause most eyes not to notice her bedroom door.
The mad-man burst through the breakfast room and kitchen and into the living room. He was disheveled, unshaven, with dirty, uncombed hair and clothes that looked like they ought to be run through the washing machine not once but twice and had a crazed expression on his face.
"WHERE IS SHE?" said the wild man.
"Who?" said Daria. Maybe she could talk him into leaving the house.
"Kendra!" said the wild man. "I saw her run in here!"
"Nobody here by that name," said Daria, backing up. "Go away."
"She's here," said the wild man. "All you witches are the same."
The wild man's statement had interesting implications but Daria had no time to deal with them. Things were about to get radical. She raised her wand, not quite pointing at the wild man, but if he moved towards her, she was going to hex him.
"Back off," said Daria.
The wild man stepped towards her.
Shit, thought Daria, and raised her wand. "Remember, Fraulein, it is the will and the intent," said Herr Sackl.
"BOMBARDA!" she shouted, fear and latent anger drove her spell as much as will and intent.
The force of her spell hit the wild man like a Peterbuilt highway truck running along I-20's access road, throwing him back twenty-five feet. The wild man was thrown against the far wall, knocking down pictures and decorations.
Daria demonstrated her wand movements to Professor Flitwick later that year. Professor Flitwick nodded, corrected her wand movement, then told her that the man had been lucky; she might have crushed his rib-cage and organs with her spell.
Daria didn't know that then. The wild man looked thoroughly stunned, if not unconscious. Daria didn't have time to give in to being appalled. She'd also seen too many movies where the bad guy supposedly was down then popped back up like a jack-in-the-box.
"LEVICORPUS!" she said, the wild man's body rose into the air from the floor. She'd seen Outland and read the novelization afterwards and agreed with the author—bad guys had a harder time getting at you if they couldn't get on their feet. The wild man might be able to throw things at her, but he couldn't hit or choke her.
She was still staring at the bad guy when she heard the pop-popping noises of either the Marshals or some MACUSA social worker apparating into her back yard.
-(((O-O)))—
The first wizard through the door was Agent Richards, a DMLE officer she'd never met. He came through her door thinking that Daria decided to ignore previous warnings about performing underage magic, took one look at the man Daria had floating in the living room, and realized that something far more serious had happened.
He saw the shattered door to the garage and was about to repair the damage when they both heard the blip-blip noise that police cruisers made when they arrived at a crime scene with their overhead lights flashing. The Highland Police Department arriving.
"The cops are here," said Daria. Not wanting to deal with his Mundie counterparts, Agent Richards fired a stunner at the wild man, lowered him to the floor, then used a spell to make himself invisible. Daria used the time to put her wand in a drawer.
The police came in and saw the man on the ground. "He broke in," said Daria. "There's a girl in my bedroom."
-(((O-O)))—
The aftermath was messy. The police called for an ambulance to take the intruder to the hospital. Helen arrived home while the police were trying to get Daria to make a statement. The intruder was taken to the hospital, with pending charges for assault, breaking and entering.
The girl, Kendra Cooper, came out of the bedroom while the Highland policemen were questioning Daria. The police contacted social services.
If it hadn't been clear that someone had tried to break into the Morgendorffer house, Daria might have had to be questioned at the DMLE district headquarters in Abilene. As such a Marshal and Agent Richards chose to talk to her at home and found themselves not only dealing with Daria, but Helen, too. The DMLE agents left, but not before telling her that she did good, but that she also needed to learn the Stunner spell.
Daria still thought about Kendra when she went to Los Girasoles the following week. "Someone ought to keep an eye on that girl," she said. "I think she might be one of us."
Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl* Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl* Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl
Author's notes:
(1) The former Austrian provinces of Bohemia and Moravia used to be multi-ethnic and had towns and villages of German-speaking inhabitants as well as Czechs. Both provinces became part of independent Czechoslovakia after World War One. In 1938, many of the German-speaking inhabitants co-operated with Nazi Germany to become part of the German Reich. After World War II ended, the Czech government expelled them and the names of many towns and villages were changed
(2) In the Daria Ravenclaw universe, "Mundie" and "Mundane" has replaced "No-Maj" as a term to describe people who lacked magic in much of North America. "Habanero" and "Habanera" is another term, most commonly used in the Southwestern US.