Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl Chapter 14: Arcturus Schemes
DISCLAIMER: Daria was created by 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 own neither franchise. I also neither expect nor deserve any sort of financial compensation for this work of fiction.
Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl* Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl* Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl
"A Slytherin without his plotting is like an old Muggle without her knitting. They become restless, irritable, and discontented." That was one of Grandmother Em's favorite sayings. Martha Haddaway had heard it before her first year at Hogwarts and had found it amusing, not that she'd had much to do with wizards or witches from the House of the Serpent at school or afterwards.
Martha Haddaway did not consider herself to be anything special; in truth, she thought of herself to be an ordinary witch from an ordinary wizarding family. Her forebears had mostly been magical for three generations, although there had been some Muggles and Squibs in her family tree. Her parents were neither as spectacularly wealthy as the families of the Sacred Twenty Eight nor so destitute that they lived from meal to meal—both of her parents worked for a living and she expected to do likewise.
The Wizarding War was still going on when she went away to Hogwarts as a first-year. Her family hadn't been affected, although both of her parents and her older siblings had lost friends. It was only later that she realized why her parents were so eager to put her on the train for school: Hogwarts was a fortress and she'd be safe there. Voldemort died on All Hallows that and the school erupted into celebration. Muggleborn, half-bloods, and even Purebloods had shouted and danced with joy. She'd been so giddy with relief that she ignored those students who weren't celebrating.
The rest of her Hogwarts years were far less eventful. She learned the ways of magic: charms, transfiguration, and potion-making. She'd made friends and a few enemies and found it all very exciting. It was only after she came home after her seventh year that she realized how calm and peaceful her school years were compared to those of older students.
Martha did find work after she left school. Her first full-time job was working for a firm that made magical trunks and valises. It was a low-paying, low-status job but it was money she'd made on her own and she was proud of that.
She'd had her first serious love affair while she was working there: Jeremy Dickinson, a Muggle-born wizard born to well-to-do parents, encountered her while she was on Diagon Alley. One thing led to another and they had an affair that lasted the better part of two years. Her affair taught her a lot about Muggles and the Muggle world: the Dickinsons were intelligent, articulate, and sophisticated, at least about Muggle culture, and she was constantly bombarded with different customs and different ways of seeing the world. She loved Jeremy and tried to adapt, but she couldn't. The Dickinsons were kind and understanding, but as her affair with their son went on, she felt more and more like the country mouse dealing with the fancy folk. Finally it was too much for her and their romance broke up in tears.
She had her second affair two years later, to Renly Cairns. Renly Cairns was a wizard two years older than she with a background much like hers: mixed-blooded, some means, but neither poor not wealthy. For a while she was convinced that he was the one and they'd begun to take the steps to change their relationship from a romance to an engagement: meeting each other's families, bringing their friends together, talking of marriage, talking about where and how they'd live after they wed, and even the sort of ceremony they'd have when they got married. They'd exchanged rings, told their friends that they were betrothed, then their romance fell apart when she discovered that Renly had been cheating on her: not once, not twice, not even with the same woman, but with several different partners and one or two men.
Her finances took a turn for the worse while she was being courted. She'd left her old job while she and Renly were courting and had to find new employment. Despite the fact that the Wizarding War had been over for nearly a decade, she was unable to find employment in Britain's wizarding world. As one job offer after another failed to gain her employment, she'd grown desperate enough to seek work in the Muggle world. It was there that she learned a horrible truth: that despite seven years of Hogwarts, she was poorly-educated by Muggle standards and knew little about the ways the larger society did things. She'd been thinking of taking evening classes to bring her formal education up to minimum Muggle standards and wondering how to pay for them when grandmother Astarte sent her a letter by owl.
Even back at Hogwarts Martha had known that her grandmother was having an affair with someone. She'd heard whispers and titters about Gram A. and her lover, although she had no idea as to who Gram's lover might be, although she'd surmised that he was someone from a wealthy old family.
It was a shock to learn that Grandmother Astarte's love was none other than Arcturus Black. The head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black not only possessed far more status than the Haddaways, but it was far wealthier even than the Dickinsons. The Blacks were also notorious for dark magic and for supporting the Dark Lord. The elder Blacks had made no secret of their support for the Dark Lord, Regulus Black had died for the cause, one Black daughter had married Lucius Malfoy while another had married Rodolphus LeStrange. At the end of the war both Sirius Black and Bellatrix Black Lestrange were in Azkaban.
The other Haddaways secretly feared that Grandmother Astarte's affair with Arcturus Black would cause her to turn towards the darkness. It didn't: despite Gram A's relations with Arcturus Black and the Black family's reputation, Gram A. remained much the same as she was before she took up with the old wizard, at least according to Mother and her aunts. So far as she could tell, Lord Black was good to Gram Astarte. Gram Astarte seemed to be happy and so far as she knew, he treated her well.
She wondered what Arcturus Black was like. How did he look? How did he speak? Was he as wicked as tabloids like the Quibbler said he was? Gram A. knew, but she kept her own counsel. Martha doubted that she would ever learn. The most she thought she'd be likely to be able to do was to read Witch Weekly and the gossip columns in The Daily Prophet and hope that there would be some mention of his doings. She doubted that she'd ever meet him, then one evening Grandmother Astarte asked her if she'd like to have dinner with her and Lord Black.
They met at a restaurant a week or two before the Summer Solstice. Hogwarts was still in session and Diagon Alley wasn't overrun with families celebrating the end of term with their offspring. Martha arrived by herself and wondered where her grandmother and her lover were seated. She was intercepted by the maître' d and was told that that Lord Black and her grandmother had already arrived. She wondered if they'd have dinner in the main dining room. They didn't: instead they had a room upstairs.
Lord Black met and confounded her expectations. He was a distinguished-looking, aristocratic man who looked to be in his sixties (although he was actually in his late eighties) He wore a stylish wizarding cloak over a stylish well-tailored suit that would not look out of place among the Dickinsons' circles.
Conversation at the dinner table did not go the way she thought it would. Martha had thought that they would talk about Gram's relations with Arcturus, but the conversation was more about her. Arcturus asked her about her home life, her relations with Gram A, her experiences at Hogwarts, and her life after she graduated. He found the details of her adventures with the Dickinsons interesting and commiserated with her that her relationship with Jeremy hadn't worked out. He didn't condemn the Dickinsons as vermin like she thought: instead he told her that she and they lived in very different worlds.
It was then that she was emboldened enough to ask him what he thought of Muggles. He replied that he'd come to believe that while he thought that Muggles were generally weak and blind to the larger world, he no longer held them in contempt. "They're different," he said. "I don't believe that we ought to marry with them—we're too different. But I no longer believe that they're vermin."
Gram A. did not remain silent. She and Lord Black discussed some of their travels abroad. Martha thought they'd both been adventurous, not only did they use portkeys but sometimes they flew on Muggle aircraft. Gram demurred that she didn't like Muggle airliners: too cramped, too crowded, and too uncomfortable, even in First Class. She and Lord Black preferred to fly on chartered private jets when they could. The dinner ended and Lord Black told her that they must dine again sometime. It was then that she suspected that Lord Black was recruiting her for some sort of job.
-(((O-O)))—
Their second dinner was at Lord Black's townhouse. She'd thought that his place would be in some old and distinguished mansion that had been in the family's possession for centuries but it wasn't. Instead, they ate at a beautiful, airy high-rise apartment overlooking the city of London. Martha had difficulty believing that this apartment was Arcturus' home. This place was too modern and looked too Muggle.
"Excuse me, Sir, but isn't this the family townhouse?" Martha asked diffidently.
"No, it's not," Arcturus replied. "This is my own place. One day I decided that I couldn't stand the townhouse, so I gifted it to my daughter and her husband and moved out. This is my own place. I like this much better." Martha could see why. With the exception of certain paintings and old furniture, Black's house made her think of an eagle's eyrie set on some high cliff overlooking some green valley below.
Dinner was excellent. Lord Black had managed to hide several house elves within his home and the food and service was excellent. Over the course of dinner, he talked more of his own travels over the years, then asked her about hers. She'd traveled some with Jeremy, but little before and after she'd taken up with Renly. He then asked her about her ability to travel the way that Muggles did and about her knowledge of financial transactions in the Muggle World. Martha replied that Jeremy had taught her how to hail cabs and pay fares, how to pay for and ride Muggle trains and buses, and the theory behind credit cards. She'd seen Jeremy use credit cards but was unsure of the processes for obtaining and using them. After dinner, Lord Black invited her to play a game: he asked her to pretend that she was a Muggle and how she would go about booking an airline flight and how she would travel to and from a commercial airport. She wondered if he was trying to humiliate her, but Gram A. watched their play with amusement, even to interject with suggestions.
She had wondered why throughout dinner why Lord Black had invited her back. She didn't think that she was that interesting. She'd wondered about his reasons again when he smiled, put his hand on her arm, and said "I wonder if you'd be interested in performing a service for me." he said.
"Beg pardon, sir," said Martha. "What sort of service?" She took a deep breath. She hoped it wasn't anything dark or dangerous. Despite his pleasant manner, the Blacks did have that sort of reputation.
"I would like you to escort a Muggleborn and her parents from Heathrow to their hotel, and from thence to Diagon Alley," said Lord Black.
"Your pardon, sir," said Martha. "But why do you ask me? Wouldn't someone else be more suitable?"
"I need someone with discretion, someone with family ties," he said. "If I were to greet these people myself, I'd be noticed. it would be too public, and word would spread from the Channel to Land's End by nightfall."
She wondered why Lord Black would want her to do this and not, say, her grandmother. He answered her question before she could voice it. "The same holds with Astarte; more than a few Purebloods and other people know that she's my mistress. So do gossip mongers like that Skeeter woman."
Martha blushed. One of her guilty pleasures was reading Rita Skeeter's column about the doings of Wizarding high society and wizarding celebrities. She hadn't thought of Gram A. being a subject for Rita's column before. She found the thought disturbing.
"But why me?" she asked.
"You are obscure. You're reasonably clever, and you wouldn't fall to pieces in Muggle circumstances. Most things considered, it's unlikely that anyone would associate you with me."
"Is there anything special about the parents or the girl?" Martha asked.
"The girl has been admitted to Hogwarts," said Arcturus. "She'll be a first year and she'll need some showing around."
"Isn't this the sort of thing that a Hogwarts professor does, take new Muggle-borns to the alley and show them around?" said Martha. She'd had a couple of Muggleborn roommates at Hogwarts and remembered them telling her how amazing they found their first introduction to the wizarding world.
"It is, but it's something I'd rather not have done," he said. "And as for the girl's parents, the girl's mother is what Americans call a Wild Squib, although the father has no magic to speak of." Martha knew of those sorts of Squibs. Born to non-magical parents, like their wizard-born counterparts, they could sense magic and see into the magical world, but they lacked the ability to become wizards and witches.
"Both parents have been introduced to some of the witches and wizards who live in their community, but they know nothing of our ways and customs here in Britain."
"I'd be interested," said Martha, "but I remember that Muggle transport costs money and I don't have that much."
"I'd pay you a stipend," said Lord Black.
This sounded fascinating. "I'll do it," she said.
Both Arcturus and Gram A. smiled at her.
"Excellent," said Lord Black.
"So when would I start?" she asked.
"I wouldn't have need of your services until the last week of August," said Lord Black. "But since you aren't as familiar with Muggle travel arrangements as a travel agent or a travel guide would be, I would ask you to spend time familiarizing yourself wit Muggle transport. Ride trains and buses, hail taxi cabs, travel to the international airports, that sort of thing."
This was so exciting, thought Martha. She felt a bit apprehensive at trying something so daring, but she looked forward to starting.
-(((O-O)))—
Highland, Texas
Summer, 1990
Back at Casa Morgendorffer, Jake and Helen were working on their travel plans.
"Jake, I'd like to review our travel plans with Daria sometime before the last week of August," said Helen after they'd turned in for the evening.
"I wish we could just pick a time to discuss them at home, but Princess throws a fit every time Daria or somebody else brings up Hogwarts," Jake replied. "We spend so much time dealing with her fits that we can't sit down and discuss things with Daria."
"I know, Jakey," said Helen. "But Quinn doesn't really understand."
"I know," Jake sighed. "She has to go away to get her Mojo under control."
"What we need is some evening when Quinn goes out with her friends and we're all here at home," said Helen.
"What worries me is when are we going to get it," said Jake. "We're all busy and we don't know Quinn's schedule from day to day."
"Let's sleep on it," said Helen. She preferred to be pro-active rather than reactive, but she was too tired to start planning this evening. Helen and Jake put the problem on the back-burner and turned off the lights.
The next morning Quinn got a phone call at the breakfast table. "Hey Mom, Ray Ann invited me over for a slumber party tomorrow night. Can I go?" said Quinn.
Helen and Jake looked at each other and smiled. This would make things so much easier. If Quinn was at her friend's house she wouldn't be able to let her jealousy interfere with their discussing their London travel plans with Daria.
"Sure, Sweetie," said Helen. "You can go."
"Thanks, Mom!" said Quinn.
"Can I go out too?" asked Daria.
"No," said Helen.
"Too bad, Daria," said Quinn. Daria responded by sticking her tongue out.
"Girls," Helen said mildly. Ronnie watched her older sisters' byplay and giggled.
Helen caught Daria's eye. "Daria, can I speak to you outside?" she said.
Daria nodded. Helen rose from her seat, then Daria did likewise. Helen opened the sliding door to the back porch and stepped outside. Daria followed, then slid the door closed behind her.
"We have things to discuss about your trip and Tuesday night would be a good time to discuss them," said Helen.
"Oh," said Daria. Quinn was jealous of Daria's Hogwarts invitation. Quinn's green-eyed monster rose and occasionally rampaged whenever Hogwarts came up. If Mom and Dad let Quinn spend the night at the Forsters', she wouldn't be there. No scenes, unless she made them beforehand.
Slick, she thought.
Ray Ann and Mrs. Forster came by early Tuesday evening to pick up Quinn. Mrs. Forster and Ray Ann came in to say Hello and to help Quinn carry her stuff to the Forsters' car. Daria decided to play the role of the straight woman, and resisted her desire to needle her younger sister.
"Have a nice evening, girls!" cried Helen. She waited until Mrs. Forster had driven away with Quinn, then went back inside.
"Daria, we didn't make you stay home out of spite," said Helen. "Your father and I have things to discuss with you."
"About the trip," said Daria.
"That's right," said Helen.
"All right," Daria said with a note of resignation.
Helen walked over to Jake's chair, where Jake was watching the sports channel, picked up the remote and turned off the television. "Jake, it's time," she said. Jake rose from his seat and followed Helen and Daria over to the breakfast room table where they sat down.
Ronnie chose not to join them; she was seated on the floor in the living room playing with Legos, although Daria suspected that her younger sister was quietly listening in.
"Daria, the reason we kept you home this evening is because we need to discuss your travel arrangements," said Helen.
"As you know, we'll be leaving Highland several days before your school starts. We have tickets to fly to New York, then catch a connecting flight to Heathrow."
Daria nodded. She already knew about that part.
"We're going to have someone greet us at Heathrow, then accompany us into London," said Helen.
"OK," said Daria.
"Then our guide will help us check into our hotel," Helen continued. Daria wondered why Mom and Dad would need a guide to get from the airport to the hotel. They'd traveled enough that they could probably do that themselves.
"Then the guide will take us to Diagon Alley," said Helen. "That's the main shopping district for Magical Britain." Daria had heard of Diagon Alley. She wasn't exactly sure where it was, but she knew that it It was in London and hidden away from the rest of the city and that Mundies couldn't find it without help.
"They have a bank there and someone to help you with expenses and your tuition and board," said Helen. "After we've exchanged enough, we can see about getting those parts of your wardrobe and school supplies that you weren't able to get here."
Daria already knew that the British wizarding community didn't use Pounds Sterling like the rest of Britain, but used a currency of their own with coins called knuts, sickles, and galleons.
"We'll see about completing your wardrobe first, then the rest of your supplies," Helen completed.
"What then?" asked Daria.
"Well, after we get those things taken care of, we'll have a few days to play tourist until your train leaves for Hogwarts on September 1st," Helen said smugly.
"Cool," said Daria.