The Sleeping Dragon
I do not own Harry Potter. Or J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World for that matter.
Chapter 1: A Life in Secrecy
It's easy to spot magic. That is, if you believe in it.
Otherwise, it's determined to be one conspiracy theory or another. No matter how crazy things got around them, how in-your-face unnatural, Muggles would blame it on aliens, lizard-possessed politicians, Illuminati, manipulation by intelligence services…but they would never once suggest or even consider the possibility of magic being involved. And perhaps this was a good thing, Nolwazi thought as she strode down the street of one of Berlin's suburbs with her superior. In a way Muggles were helping in keep the wizarding world hidden by spreading conspiracy after conspiracy across the internet.
But conspiracies were made for the big stuff. A mere garbage can shooting its contents at pedestrians, like the one they were dealing with today, wasn't worth any alien perpetrators. It only required a police officer. Much to the annoyance of Nolwazi's superior, Kezban Çalışkan: now they might have to wipe more memories than they had anticipated. Even though it was her job, Kezban had always found this idea somewhat disturbing.
"This is the fourth case in a day," remarked Nolwazi, "After the hiccupping toaster, the vomiting coffee machine and the sneezing soap dispenser."
"Don't forget the shrinking chairs at Bundestag Station in the U-Bahn," reminded Kezban as the two women were neared the address in question.
"Yeah, but the rest of them had a clear pattern: they were all spitting out something. I'd say that shouldn't be considered a coincidence."
"You think it's the same person?" Kezban asked as she grabbed Nolwazi's arm stopping the younger woman to better gauge her meaning.
"I think we should consider that." Nolwazi said resuming the walk.
They arrived at the house. A empty police car parked on the side of the road.
"Where are the garbage cans?" Kezban wondered.
"They must have taken them into the garden where they won't disturb that many people," Nolwazi deduced.
"Well," Kezban sighed stepping up the stairs and ringing the bell. "Let's see what we're dealing with here."
For a few minutes nothing happened. Then a man of roughly 30 years answered the door staring at the two women with confusion, particularly at Nolwazi with her colorful outfit and bright make-up, both even more vivid against her brown skin.
"Mr. Eisner?" Kezban asked.
"Look, whatever you're selling, we're in the middle of a situation here," he said.
Kezban flashed a badge.
"Kezban Çalışkan, Federal Ministry of Health," she said. "We know about your little…situation. We're here to contain it."
"Um…" Mr. Eisner seemed confused but stepped aside and let them in while mumbling, "As long as they can stop this mess."
Nolwazi noticed that he stared at her longer than appropriate and frowned. As a natural legilimens, she additionally sensed disturbing thoughts in the man's mind, pornographic ones. To focus herself again, she took in the surroundings. The living room sported the latest model of flat-screen TV. A woman and a young boy were sitting on the sofa. Through the doors leading to the garden, Nolwazi could see the two garbage cans, a grey one and a brown one. Right now, they seemed to be ordinary.
Next to the door leading to the garden a police officer stood shaking his head. As the two women entered he turned. His dark hair was beginning to show some grey spots and he was not exactly what you would call thin.
"Who are you?" the officer asked.
"I am Kezban Çalışkan and this is my assistant, Nolwazi Robinson, we're from the Ministry of Health."
The police officer regarded the two women with a presumptuous gaze.
"How did you know about the incident?" he asked suspiciously.
"This is not the first incident of this kind," Nolwazi explained. "We believe we have found a method to neutralize the danger."
Kezban approached the police officer.
"Perhaps I can explain myself, Officer….?"
"Slowik."
"Officer Slowik," Kezban said blocking the view of the Eisner family and ever so casually slipping her wand out of her sleeve yet so quickly that one wouldn't notice on first glance. A second later Officer Slowik was scratching his head as a Confundus Charm hit him and he missed Nolwazi slipping through the door. Slowly she stepped closer to one of the garbage cans, her wand at the ready. When she was about two meters away from it, the lid of the can opened. With a sound similar to a belch, a bunch of trash came flying in her direction. Nolwazi quickly jumped to the side but the can, while not moving, seemed to sense her movement nonetheless because the next wave of trash almost hit her again.
"Finite!" she whispered aiming her wand straight at the can. It stopped. As with her previous missions, a simple Counter-Spell undid the damage. Now, off to the unpleasant part…
Kezban had finished it up already, thankfully. The Eisner family sat on their sofa with glassy gazes and the police officer was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, Kezban had convinced, or more likely confunded him to leave. Nolwazi and Kezban went into the garden closing the back door via magic as it couldn't be locked from the outside and moved the garbage cans to their original spots at the front of the house.
"Right," said Kezban as everything was back in place again. "Time for our most exciting part of the day…"
"Reports!" both women said in unison straining the word. They laughed and made their way to the end of the street where they could safely disapparate.
The inhabitants of Berlin were used to construction sites, so the one next to the Red City Hall in the Jüdenstraße was not really an exception. It had been here for so long that no one really remembered when they had begun the project. Strangely, not a single sound emanated from the site. Even more confusingly, those who passed it didn't seem to notice or to care.
Behind the barriers of the construction site, Nolwazi and Kezban had just apparated and were swiftly moving towards what looked like the entrance to a U-Bahn station. Nodding to the two guards, they went down the 39 steps to the foyer of the ministry, which was covered with a red carpet and had bronze colored walls. Columns held a splendid ceiling high above their heads and enchanted windows displayed the weather outside. Two rows of fireplaces were lining up the walls. Stairs led to the lower levels but most employees used one of the 35 elevators down the hall in a small chamber. As Nolwazi and Kezban approached the chamber, they passed the giant white marble monument where the names of the Federal Ministers for Magic were engraved as well as the cities where the Federal Ministry had been since 1695: apart from Berlin where the ministry had been between 1848 and 1945 as well as from 2001 onwards, it had been in Regensburg, Nuremberg, Vienna, Frankfurt and Cologne.
When they reached the elevators, they first had to wait for a dozen employees to pass who were lucky to be the first ones to finish the day. Finally, they could enter one alongside a Goblin who was reading a long piece of parchment floating in front of him and, like themselves, remained silent for the entire elevator ride.
"Level 2: Federal Minister for Magic Office," a female voice sounded as they reached the next stop. The elevator doors only remained open for a short time allowing a couple of paper birds to enter which proceeded to soar around under the ceiling.
"Level 3: Department of Magical Security incorporating the Exposure and Misuse of Magic Office, the Office for Protection and Rights of Magical Beasts and Beings, the Office for the Restoration of Grave Magical Damage, the Office of Muggle Relations and the Auror Office."
Nolwazi and Kezban got off the elevator and made their way to the Exposure and Misuse of Magic Office to write their report.
Ever since she turned 18, about two years ago, Nolwazi wondered whether it was considered normal for people to still live with their parents. As wizards came of age one year earlier than Muggle children, she had been both under age and of age which was kind of weird. The Robinson family lived in Lübeck where Nolwazi had grown up. She had been born in San Francisco however as her parents had spent the time on vacation in her father's home country. Michael James Robinson was born in 1967 in Chicago where he had grown up. It was in 1987, when he had just turned 20, that he would meet the woman who would eventually become his wife: Nolwazi's mother Astrid whose last name at the time was Vogel. She had been travelling around the US to explore her own father's American roots. Like Nolwazi, her mother's father had been born in the US, though unlike her he had been the child of German refugees who had fled to the States from the Nazi regime. It was thus that Nolwazi had close ties to America. Everything came twice with her: she had two countries as a heritage, her parents were members of two different ethnicities and, the most stunning thing she had ever found out, she was a child of two worlds: a witch with non-magical origins; a Muggle-born.
She had been very aware of all of those things. She always looked different than most people around her and had a different set of abilities most around her lacked. She remembered practicing magic ever since she was a toddler and her parents had often told her about that very first time when she was just one year old that she first displayed her magical abilities. What was unusual about her as a Muggle-born was that she had a basis of comparison of her skills as a witch because their neighbors happened to be a family of witches and wizards. Mathilda Leitfried had been her bestie since…ever! They had a connection that Nolwazi described as tight as sisters. Virtually inseparable, they went through Kindergarten as well as primary school together and later through the Cirnelius-Agrippa-Schule, a school for witches and wizards hidden in the Toevererhoff Street in downtown Lübeck.
As Nolwazi made herself ready for the day, she was honored by the presence of the self-nominated queen of the house: their cat Ellie. Striding in with the pride of an empress, Ellie made her presence known by declaring that she was going to lie on Nolwazi's bed as if it were her throne. All that was missing were three dragons, Nolwazi thought smiling. Season 2 of Game of Thrones had just aired in April and she wasn't missing one episode!
Having finished, Nolwazi gazed at herself in the mirror to check her appearance: she had colored parts of her hair in purple, the signature wizarding color; her robes flowed freely around her body yet at the same time it wasn't hiding her form, not at all! They had a deep blue color with a green-and-red pattern. After the interesting events with the all those bewitched Muggle items spitting out stuff, Nolwazi was relieved to find weekend before her and longed for the trip to Hamburg with Mathilda for a day of shopping in the city's marvelous wizarding area. She gave Ellie one last pat, which earned her a respectful purr, grabbed her wand and headed downstairs. The street on which they lived was almost exclusively filled by terraced houses and Nolwazi only had to go a few steps before she reached her friend's front door. After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal a girl at Nolwazi's age with light brown hair.
"Morning, Mathilda" Nolwazi said.
"Hello! Come in," Mathilda replied in a friendly yet somewhat stiff tone, opening the door widely.
From the first glance one got of the Leitfried family home, it was clear that this was no ordinary one. Despite being the same size on the outside, the interior of the house seemed to be bigger. The hallway seemed twice as long as in normal houses of this type and there was no electricity to be found here. The picture on the left side of the hall featured an Alpine landscape and several Graphorns. The picture was moving: the creatures roaming all over the place and the trees swaying with the wind. To the right was the entrance to the kitchen which was likewise enlarged and, instead of a modern stove, featured a fireplace for kettles to be placed on. On the left was the staircase which led to the upper floors. Straight ahead was the living room which had been enlarged to be at least twice the size of standard living rooms, possibly a little larger. Nolwazi briefly nodded to at portrait greeting her, one of Mathilda's ancestors, Erna Leitfried who had lived from 1805 to 1926.
"Coffee?" Mathilda asked. Her choice of dress was meant to leave an impression. It was dark green and kind of snake-like. Additionally, she wore an elegant pointed hat.
"Oh, please," Nolwazi said.
Mathilda waved her wand at a set of two coffee cups and one of the cups began to sail towards the seat that Nolwazi had taken.
"You seem to be working on something interesting," Nolwazi mused. "I haven't seen you anymore last night. Have you been working overtime again?"
"You know I can't talk about that," Mathilda reminded her. "But yes, it's really exciting! Did I miss anything in the news?"
Nolwazi shook her head. It had become a sort of custom that Mathilda would come over to Nolwazi and her parents to watch the Muggle news each evening.
"What about you? Any event worth telling?" Mathilda asked.
"Someone is bewitching objects in Berlin and its surrounding areas causing objects to spit out their contents: toasters, coffee machines, soap dispensers and garbage cans…it's a pattern. It's like they're taunting us. One moment we've repaired the damage of one thing, then immediately another incident occurs. Like they're testing out how fast we can react."
"Who would want to do that?" Mathilda asked.
"I don't know…" Nolwazi looked ahead for a moment lost in thought. Then suddenly the air became cold and the room was bathed in an eerie blue light. Mathilda sighed.
"Get away from the fire, Pete!" she said without looking at the figure at the fire.
"And here I was thinking I could enjoy it for once!" said the ghost who was hovering before the fireplace.
"You cannot even feel it, so why bother?" Mathilda said frowning.
The ghost groaned with annoyance and glided away from the fire which returned to normal again.
"Hello, Peter!" Nolwazi greeted the ghost brightly.
"A good morning to you, Miss Nolwazi," Peter said removing his hat to greet her. In his lifetime, he had been the first wizard of the Leitfried family. Descending from a family of earls, Peter zu Leitfried was born in 1711. He had been a curious man who spent a lot of time reading and learning. He travelled to Arabia in the 1730s and continued from there all the way to China and Japan (even though that country had closed itself off from the world, at least for Muggles) recording his voyage in his diaries and his Pensieve. He stayed in Asia for ten years and even travelled south to Borneo and then to Australia. He returned to Europe in 1781 after an extensive stay in South America, particularly Brazil. In 1825, he was chased down by a group of soldiers for helping a group of Muggles staging a riot. Attempting to diapparate, he had splinched himself so severely that he had died from it. This resulted in him losing his right eye as well as a large chunk of flesh in the right side of his torso. You could clearly see his ribs in the wound which still looked fresh. Apart from that though, he was a friendly fellow who only sometimes lamented that he wasn't able to gather more knowledge in his lifetime. Nolwazi had had dozens of discussions with him on that subject.
"I hear you plan to travel to Hamburg this morning," Peter asked with an ever so curious tone in his voice.
"Indeed; long shopping day," said Nolwazi.
"And we are going right now, aren't we, Nolwazi?" Mathilda asked standing up abruptly while she spoke.
Nolwazi sighed and rolled her eyes irritated at Mathilda's dislike towards her ancestor but still followed her friend to the fireplace.
Peter held up his hands.
"Please, don't go because of me!"
Mathilda smiled a smile that didn't extend up to her eyes and reached for a small box on top the fireplace. Grabbing a handful of the powder inside, she threw it directly into the flames which at once turned green.
"After you," Mathilda said to her friend.
"Thanks," said Nolwazi before turning once again to the ghost.
"Bye, Peter!"
"Until next time, Miss Nolwazi." Peter responded bowing politely.
Nolwazi walked straight into the flames which felt warm and cozy.
"Staffstraße!" she shouted.
At ones the flames surrounded her and she felt a jolt similar to the feeling when travelling by Portkey. It was over before she felt like throwing up. With deep breaths, she stepped out of the fireplace into a large building where three other fireplaces had been erected: The Kaminhaus at Staffstraße, one of three wizarding streets in Hamburg, all in the space between the Muggle streets Eppendorfer Baum and Oderfelder Str.
Staffstraße, Ketelwiete and Schwarzweg had been erected in 1732 when this whole area was still outside of Hamburg and uninhabited by Muggles. Along with the three wizarding streets, a school had also been erected which was called Katharina-Hanen-Schule. It had a very Baroque-like architecture on the outside and a Rococo style on the inside which Nolwazi knew because she had visited the school's library once. It was one of dozens of wizarding schools in the German speaking regions and there was no unified curriculum apart maybe from Muggle Studies which had been compulsory since 1945. The schools were vastly different from one another in terms of size and age. The oldest was founded in 1105 and the youngest was a Jewish wizarding school in Prague built in 1851. The biggest schools were large monasteries and castles, mostly in the south and the smallest schools were found in rural areas like the Hunsrück region in Rhineland-Palatinate and the Sauerland region in North Rhine-Westphalia. The east held the largest amount of abandoned wizarding schools some of which had been rebuilt by 1994, a fact which had greatly helped the Frambold Academy in West-Berlin which had grown incredibly during the division of Germany as many wizards who didn't flee to the west relocated here.
"What exactly are you looking for?" Nolwazi asked Mathilda after she had appeared in the fireplace.
"Something new; I wish our journey would never have ended," she replied and sighed referring to their 18-months long journey around the world.
"Well," Nolwazi said, "we still haven't seen every part of the world. Perhaps we should make up for that."
"I don't know," Mathilda mused. "Would they grant us one and a half years of leave?"
"It's been exactly two years, hasn't it?" Nolwazi asked Mathilda as they were strolling through Staffstraße.
"June 16th 2010," Mathilda acknowledged. "What do you want to buy?"
"I think I just found it," Nolwazi said gazing through the window of a book shop.
"Oooh," Mathilda gasped looking in another direction. "So did I!"
And while her friend strode off to a shop specializing on Divination, Nolwazi opened the door to the book shop. A bell rang as she did so. It was a beautiful little shop, two stories high and enchanted to be longer than any building would be because Nolwazi could make out a tiny spot on the other side of the shop. As she examined the books offered on small tables and dozens of shelves, she gently let her hand glide over the edges. This was her element! There was a book on ancient spells she already had read and had given to Mathilda as a birthday present three months ago back in March. The book she was looking for however was of other nature.
The green and purple cover seemed to pierce her eyes as she approached it. The black title was surrounded by a red rectangle:
The Secrecy Question – Thoughts on an Outdated Idea
By Carlotta Pinkstone
"It was on the Daily Prophet's bestseller list for more than a year," the manager commented behind Nolwazi, "And with good reason."
Nolwazi turned to find herself in front of a young man, perhaps thirty years old.
"I've been a fan of her ever since I found out about her," he said smiling.
"Do you believe we should no longer hide?" Nolwazi asked him.
He tilted his head side to side several times while weighing his answer.
"Well, there could be many positive things for both sides if we were to peacefully live together."
"Put an emphasis on if," Nolwazi pointed out continuing in a sarcastic tone: "Why would they trust us? A powerful hidden society who has lived here for three hundred years, basically illegally…yeah, sure, they'd welcome us with open arms."
"Well, haven't they deserved it? As you correctly pointed out, we are very powerful compared to them. We could cure their deadliest diseases, helping them construct all those broken streets and bridges…"
"Well, we're powerful in some areas, not all of them. And despite their sometimes hilarious attempts to justify any supernatural occurrences they come across with such a rationality that they would rather believe in aliens than plain magic in front of them, their technology advances fast."
"Indeed," said the manager holding up the book as if to prove a point. "Ms. Pinkstone already recognized this 70 years ago. This question isn't new; it's not new at all! Just think of Gellert Grindelwald! Or of Jáchym Kovář – did you know that the two of them met in 1955? Boy, what an argument that was! It was the final straw that divided those who wanted to usher a new era of peace with Muggles into those who wanted to do so in cooperation and those who wanted to work towards this era via a revolution."
Nolwazi nodded.
"I've read Kovář's pamphlet. As a Muggle-born, I find myself utterly divided on that question…I mean, there are good reasons to hide, too. Those of us who are not accepted by their Muggle kin can find a safe place here with us…"
"But only if they're wizards themselves," the manager added grimly.
"Do you have Muggle family?" Nolwazi asked.
He shook his head.
"A Squib brother; don't misunderstand me, I know Squibs are allowed to live in our world for decades now but…they still have to fight every day for recognition."
Nolwazi looked down.
"Yeah," she said. "I know the feeling…"
There was a brief silence between them.
"So...d'you wanna buy this book?" he asked her.
She nodded.
"Okay," he said moving to the counter. "That'll be 12 Denars, 60 Bracts and 2 Tovers," he said. She took out her purse and gave him the coins. He had just given her the change when Nolwazi heard the bell ring and saw the face of the manager brighten up.
"Ah, Mr. Chang! Now nice to see you again; with you in a moment."
Nolwazi took the book and turned around to head for the exit. As she did so, she saw the man whom the manager had called out to, Mr. Chang: a respectable looking man of about 50 years; he wore yellow robes and held a walking stick in his right hand. The woman at his side looked equally stunning with her blood red robes and golden jewelry in her hair. As Nolwazi stepped aside to make way for them, she saw that behind them a young woman followed the pair, perhaps a little younger than Nolwazi, eighteen maybe.
She had golden hair and wore simple grey robes. Two long thin scars stretched across her beautiful face and her right eye had a different color than her left: it was a bright blue, almost white and she didn't blink with her right eye. It still moved but the skin around it didn't twitch one bit. It was as if it couldn't show emotions. Her left eye on the other hand was brown and it radiated shyness. As Nolwazi gazed at the young woman, she could feel loneliness and the feeling of not belonging in this world. Nolwazi took in her small cute nose and her fine lips and her big sad eye.
As the woman looked up she noticed Nolwazi staring at her and in return stared at her outlandish, colorful outfit. Nolwazi gave her a cheeky smile which caused the girl to smile back shyly. She quickly looked down again and then joined what Nolwazi assumed were her adopted parents given how unrelated they looked.
Mathilda was waiting when Nolwazi stepped out of the book shop.
"What's going on with you?" Mathilda asked.
"Oh…nothing," Nolwazi said, smiling still. "Look what I've found."
She handed Mathilda the book.
"Hm…intriguing," Mathilda commented flipping through the pages. "But not surprising. Remember Andrew Abbott?"
"The leader of the wizarding maroon community outside of New Orleans? How could I forget him?" Nolwazi said, "His community was amazing!"
"What I mean is that Pinkstone is not the only one…nor is Kovář for that matter. They're all sparks. The question is…will they ignite something?" Mathilda said.
Nolwazi walked alongside her friend silently for a while.
"I don't know. I don't think we're ready…neither us nor them."
"I don't believe being ready matters," Mathilda murmured.
"Have you seen something?" Nolwazi asked even though she didn't believe in divination.
Mathilda slowly shook her head.
I don't know. The signs are…muddy. But something is definitely there."
The two spent their remaining time eating ice cream and looking for other interesting things to buy. It was only after they had returned home that Nolwazi realized she hadn't asked the girl her name! Would they ever meet again? She gulped. Perhaps she could ask the manager of the book store. He clearly knew Mr. Chang.
When Nolwazi reached the Federal Ministry's foyer on Monday, she saw Kezban running towards her.
"Quickly, come!" she said pulling her towards one of the fireplaces.
"What's going on?" Nolwazi asked.
"We're going to Palatinate," her superior said as they stepped into the green fire.
"Neheim Forest!" Kezban called out and the fire rose up above them pulling them into the Floo Network.
They arrived inside a wooden hut which had been magically enlarged on the inside. A dozen Aurors had gathered preparing for what seemed to be an assault. Nolwazi gave her superior a look of confusion, but Kezban didn't see it, already making for a man who seemed to be leading the group.
"Minister," Kezban said, "I'm Kezban Çalışkan. This is my assistant, Nolwazi Robinson. We've been ordered by the Federal Ministry to lead this operation. What's our status?"
The Minister for Magic of Palatinate, Ferdinand von Glockenspieler, pointed towards a window.
"The Centaurs have been moving southeast, out of their designated territory. They're heading for a cleared area of the forest that is used by a Muggle company for mining."
"Weren't the protective enchantments supposed to keep them inside?" Kezban wondered.
"There were erected to keep people out! More specifically: to keep Muggles out."
"Then why are the Centaurs advancing on them?" Kezban mused.
"To protect their home," Nolwazi pointed out. Kezban and the minister turned to her.
"The Centaurs don't distinguish between wizards and Muggles," Nolwazi explained. "They have their own system of honor. To them the humans are a threat and they will do everything to protect their home, their trees and their earth. It's their land."
"Really?" von Glockenspieler sneered approaching Nolwazi to look down on her. "And who gave them that land?"
Kezban stepped between the two.
"Minister, Nolwazi is right. We have to negotiate with the Centaurs to relocate–"
"Negotiate?" Von Glockenspieler scoffed.
"Those nags have to know their place! And we're here to show them just that."
Ignoring Kezban, the minister called out to the Aurors.
"Let's move out!"
But Kezban didn't give up.
"The Federal Minister has instructed me personally to lead this operation, you can't just – Ferdinand! –"
With one pop the minister and his Auror followers had disapparated from the hut.
"Unbelievable!" Kezban cursed. Without further ado, she took Nolwazi's hand and they disapparated as well emerging on the edge of the forest with its lush green leaves and a morning mist which was beautifully illuminated by the orange morning sun. They saw Muggle clearing equipment, dozers and cranes which had been used already to cut a huge chunk of the forest. Further away, Nolwazi could see that the Muggles had dug a vast and deep hole in the ground. The Muggle workers had armed themselves with every kind of tool at their disposal and were facing at least fifteen Centaurs armed with bows and arrows.
Von Glockenspieler had already instructed the Aurors to surround the Centaurs and keep an eye on the Muggles. One of the Centaurs noticed the arriving wizards and turned to aim his bow and arrow towards Kezban.
"Mars was bright this morning," he growled, "It should have been obvious that this was the day!"
"Don't even think about it, Manolis!" von Glockenspieler grunted threateningly but Kezban held up a hand to silence him.
"Please, stand down!" Kezban implored. "Who's in charge here?"
"Who are you?" asked one of the Muggle workers but Kezban ignored him as a female voice called out from the group of Centaurs:
"I am!"
A Centauride stepped forward. As with the other Centaurs, she didn't wear any clothing. Her face was young yet filled with wisdom. Her eyes were bright and her dark brown hair seemed to shine in the sun. Her human torso was muscular and she held herself in a proud pose so that her full breasts could be seen in all their glory. Some of the Muggles seemed to forget the threat for a moment gawking at her bosom with wide eyes. Below her waist, one could see the body of a horse, its fur as brown as the hair on her head.
"I am Toxoneia," she said. "Who are you to invade our forest?"
"I am Kezban Çalışkan from the Federal Ministry of Magic," Kezban declared still ignoring the Muggles who were now exchanging confused looks, "and I am here to negotiate so as to resolve this situation."
Toxoneia tilted her head but didn't lower her weapon. "You speak for these humans here?" she growled.
"As they are non-magical people, they weren't aware that this forest was inhabited by you," Kezban said trying to keep her voice calm. "I can assure you, we will f –"
"We've got company!" one of the Aurors shouted. Everybody turned to see a convoy of Police cars including a water cannon vehicle coming towards them. One of the Muggle workers smirked.
"They've called for reinforcement," Nolwazi groaned.
Several dozen fully armed police officers were deployed wearing protective armor and shields. The Aurors around them became tense as did the Centaurs. Nolwazi glanced at Kezban who shot a wary look back at her that read: One false step…
Hi everyone! This story is intended to be a reboot to "A Child of Two Worlds". It has the same basic concept, the potential end of the Statute of Secrecy, but I focused the story to take place in a specific region rather than the whole world. Please let me know what you think of this new story. :)