Chapter 2: The Laws of Magic
As the Blue Beetle rumbled through Chicago, Harry's gaze was drawn to the tall skyscrapers that rolled past. Soon enough, the tall buildings fell away and Harry found himself rolling through a quiet neighborhood. Eventually, Dresden pulled into a driveway belonging to an old, wooden boarding house.
"Here we are," Dresden declared as he put the Blue Beetle into park, "Home sweet home."
"You live here?" Dudley asked, a note of disgust in his voice.
"You're welcome to sleep in the car if you prefer," Dresden replied as he opened the door and got out.
As Dresden closed the car door behind him, Dudley turned and looked at Harry, who could only shrug in response before he got out of the car as well, prompting Dudley to huff in response and exit the vehicle. After getting their bags out of the car, the boys followed Dresden, who led them to a door at the back of the house, set at the bottom of a concrete staircase. Opening the door, Dresden stepped inside and gestured for the boys to follow him.
Past the door was a large basement room that appeared to function as a combination of kitchen and living room. Most of the floor was covered in a number of overlapping rugs, including a number of colorful, handwoven ones and a black rug with Elvis Presley's face emblazoned upon it. A large bookcase stuffed with paperback books took up most of one of the walls, while the rest of the wallspace was occupied by tapestries of various sizes, colors and makes. An old, beat up couch sat near the center of the room, facing a fireplace set into the wall, with a large, overstuffed chair sitting next to the couch. The kitchen area occupied only a relatively small space, consisting of a simple counter, an icebox and a wood-burning stove. Another door led into a separate room that Harry could not see.
"Alright, just put your stuff wherever, I guess," Dresden said as he took off his duster and hung it on a coat rack by the door.
"Where are we supposed to sleep?" Dudley asked as he looked around the room in confusion.
"Well, my bed's in there," Dresden said as he indicated to the other room, "As for you two, I guess you'll have to decide who gets the couch and who gets the chair."
"You're joking," Dudley replied with a look of disgust.
"Look, I'm sorry, guys," Dresden apologized with a helpless shrug, "I wasn't exactly planning on entertaining when this all started."
Dudley looked at Harry crossley before marching over to the couch and forcefully putting his things on it before sitting down. Sighing, Harry walked over to the chair to put his bags down as well.
Reaching the chair, Harry was surprised to find it already occupied. Sleeping curled up in the chair was the single largest house cat that Harry had ever seen. The cat was dark grey in color and had a small nub instead of a tail. Seemingly noticing Harry's presence, the cat opened its yellow eyes and looked up at the boy.
"Is this your cat?" Harry asked as he looked over at Dresden.
"Oh yeah," Dresden said from his position in the kitchen area, holding a can of Coke he had just retrieved from the icebox, "That's Mister. You're not allergic or something, are you?"
"No," Harry replied as he glanced at Mister before looking back at Dresden, "Is he magic?"
"Oh, uh, I can see why you might think that," Dresden commented with an embarrassed expression as he opened the soda can, "But no. He's just a cat I found."
Harry shrugged at this before putting his things down next to the chair and reaching down to pet Mister, the cat happily purring as the boy scratched behind his ears.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Dudley exclaimed, an edge of panic in his voice, "Where's your telly? Where are your computer and video games!?"
"I, uh, don't have any," Dresden replied with a shrug before he took a sip of his soda.
"What!?" Dudley shouted, clearly shocked, "Why not!?"
"Magic mostly," Dresden explained with another shrug, "You see, magic does things to complex machinery. If you use magic around anything invented after World War Two or so, you can cause it to malfunction. That goes doubly so for electronics. So, no TV."
"Well, what are we supposed to do then?" Dudley questioned as he crossed his arms and glared at Dresden.
Dresden studied Dudley for a moment as he took another sip from his soda and set it down on the counter. Then, wordlessly, Dresden walked over to his bookcase, pulled out one of the paperbacks at random, and tossed it at Dudley, hitting the boy squarely in the chest. Dudley blinked in surprise at this before grabbing the book, throwing it angrily to the side and storming across the room towards Dresden.
"I'm sick of you!" Dudley shouted, pointing one of his fingers up at Dresden as he approached, "I don't have to do anything you say, you know! In fact, from now on, we're doing things my way!"
"Oh, are we?" Dresden questioned as he quirked an eyebrow at Dudley.
"Yes!" Dudley exclaimed, his face turning red, "You're going to let me sleep in the bed! You're going to go out and buy the biggest telly you can find so I can watch it! And you're-"
"Forzare," Dresden interrupted.
As the words left Dresden's lips, there was a ripple in the air between him and Dudley before the boy was knocked off his feet and sent sailing across the room. As Harry watched with wide eyes, Dudley crashed into the couch, the force rocking the piece of furniture back for a moment before it steadied again. As Harry watched, Dudley lay on the couch, his face pale as he gulped for air as if the wind had been knocked out of him.
"Now, listen to me, you little brat," Dresden growled as he stomped over to the couch while Dudley scrambled into a seated position, "I'm not your parents. I'm not your babysitter. And I'm not someone you can boss around. Do you know what I am?"
Dudley shook his head, his face pale as Dresden loomed over him.
"I'm the adult in this situation," Dresden said as he leaned in closer, making a point of not looking the boy in the eye, "And more importantly, I'm a wizard. A full blown wizard, not a mere conjuror of cheap tricks. So don't mess with me."
As Dresden straightened up again, Dudley began to tremble, tears welling up in his eyes as cowered before the wizard. Seeing this, a guilty expression spread over his face and he glanced over at Harry, surprised to find that the boy had interposed the chair between him and Dresden.
"Aw geez, guys," Dresden mumbled, "I didn't mean to-"
He was interrupted by a sudden pounding coming from the front door, causing them all to start in surprise.
"Open up, Dresden!" a gruff voice called from the other side.
"Great," Dresden sighed as his shoulders slumped, "This is just what I need."
Reluctantly, Dresden walked over to the door and opened it, prompting Mister to quickly scurrying out the now open doorway. Standing on the other side of the door was a tall, imposing man with square, Caucasian features. He had long brown hair that he wore in a ponytail, and had started to grey at the temples, matched by a trimmed beard. He wore a black suit with white collared shirt and red tie, over which he wore a long black coat. As the man shifted his weight, Harry could see, to his surprise, the hilt of a large sword strapped to the man's belt. The man glared at Dresden with hard, brown eyes.
"Morgan!" Dresden greeted with forced cheer, "How great it is to….ah who am I kidding, it's terrible to see you."
"Step aside, Dresden," the man, Morgan, all but growled.
"You got a warrant?" Dresden countered with a cocked eyebrow.
Morgan's only response was to glare at Dresden.
"That was a joke, Morgan," Dresden said flatly, "You know, ha ha, ho ho, hee hee?"
Morgan continued to glare.
"Alright, fine, whatever," Dresden sighed as he stepped to the side, "Come on in."
With that, Morgan strode into the apartment. Scanning the room, a look of disgust passed over Morgan's features before his eyes fell on Harry. His expression softening somewhat, Morgan walked over to Harry.
"So," Morgan said as he looked Harry over, "You're the Boy Who Lived."
"What?" Harry asked in confusion.
His brows furrowing, Morgan turned his attention back towards Dresden shrugged in reply.
"The kid's a little in the dark about his own past," Dresden explained, "I explained things to him, but I left out the nickname."
"Yes, Dresden," Morgan sneered, "I'm sure that's all you left out."
A confused expression passed over Harry's face, but neither man elaborated any further.
"Are you well, Harry?" Morgan asked as he turned his attention back towards the boy.
"Y-Yes," Harry replied hesitantly, "Who are you?"
"My name is Donald Morgan," the man replied, "I am a Warden of the Whtie Council."
"What is the White Council?" Harry questioned in confusion.
"My, you are in the dark," Morgan observed with a hollow chuckle, "The White Council is the governing body of….well I suppose you could call it the Wizarding World. I am a Warden, which means I am in charge of enforcing their laws."
"Wait, you're a cop?" Dudley questioned as he hopped to his feet and hurried over to Morgan, "Because I-I want to report a crime."
Morgan looked at Dudley in confusion for a moment before glancing at Harry.
"Who is this child?" Morgan inquired.
"That's uh my cousin, Dudley," Harry explained.
"Ah, yes, the Dursley boy," Morgan replied, nodding in understanding as he turned his attention back towards Dudley, "What crime did you wish to report?"
"He used magic to shove me into the couch!" Dudley exclaimed as he pointed an accusatory finger at Dresden.
"Wow, kid, really?" Dresden said as he gave Dudley an incredulous look, "You know what? I take back my apology."
Morgan glanced between Dresden and Dudley before arching an eyebrow at the boy.
"Is that all?" Morgan questioned in an almost bored tone.
"W-What do you mean, "Is that all?"" Dudley questioned in shock, "That-That's child endangerment, right there!"
"Perhaps," Morgan replied with a shrug, "But it is also outside of my purview."
"But you just said you're a cop!" Dudley exclaimed, his face a picture of confusion.
"I am a Warden," Morgan corrected pointedly, "That means I am an enforcer of magical law. While this "child endangerment" certainly shows that Dresden is a cad, it is hardly any of my concern."
As Dudley stared at Morgan in sheer bafflement, the man turned his attention back towards Dresden.
"Though rest assured, if Dresden were to break any magical law, justice would be swift," Morgan said as he looked at Dresden with an expression that reminded Harry of a hungry wolf eyeing a deer, "After all, the Doom of Damocles hangs above his head."
"The what?" Harry asked in confusion.
"It is a kind of metaphor," Morgan explained with a small smile, "You see, Harry Dresden is already guilty of breaking the laws of magic. The White Council saw fit to grant him a stay of punishment, but if he were to break the laws again, then the punishment would be enforced."
"What is the punishment for breaking the laws of magic?" Harry questioned hesitantly.
"Summary execution," Morgan answered, "To be carried out immediately."
"You mean you're supposed to kill him?" Dudley questioned in surprise.
"As a Warden of the White Council, my most important task is to hunt down dark wizards or warlocks, and deal with them," Morgan replied as he looked back at Dresden, "It is a task I do happily."
"Yeah well, the last time I checked, I haven't actually committed any crimes," Dresden said with an annoyed tone, "So if you're done harassing me and scaring these kids, how about you get out of my apartment?"
"I don't know why Albus Dumbledore has entrusted you with something this important," Morgan said as he walked over to Dresden, his body language aggressive as he leaned closer to the other man, "But I do know that when you inevitably mess this up, I will be there to clean up after you."
With that, Morgan turned on his heel and stalked out of the apartment, closing the door behind him.
A silence fell over the room as Harry looked at Dresden, whose own gaze was focused on the door.
"Who's Albus Dumbledore?" Dudley asked, finally breaking the silence.
"He's one of the wizards on the White Council," Dresden explained with a sigh.
"Why does this big important wizard guy care about you?" Dudley questioned.
"You've got me, kid," Dresden replied with a snort and a shrug.
"He kept talking about the laws of magic," Harry observed, his expression puzzled, "I wouldn't have thought magic had any laws."
"Technically, magic doesn't," Dresden explained, "The White Council's laws are more about the ethical use of magic."
"What are the laws?" Harry asked.
"Well, I might as well tell you, since the White Council isn't great at making this kind of thing widely available," Dresden answered with a shrug before he began ticking off with his fingers, "No killing humans. No turning humans into other things. No messing with people's minds. No enslaving people. No raising the dead. No messing with time. And no dealing with things called Outsiders."
"Those all sound….pretty bad," Harry observed.
"Which one did you do?" Dudley questioned bluntly.
There was an awkward moment as Dresden stared at Dudley, though Harry noticed his gaze seemed to be focused on the boy's chest instead of his face.
"I killed someone," Dresden finally said, his expression neutral, "Self-defense, hence the whole Doom of Damocles thing, but yeah, I broke rule number one. Any other questions?"
"N-No," Dudley replied with wide eyes.
"Good," Dresden replied with a sigh, "Now, if we're done, I need to-"
Dresden was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Stars and stones!" Dresden snarled as he marched over to the door, "Can I go five minutes without someone knocking down my door!?"
Yanking open the door, Dresden glared ahead before he slowly dropped his gaze as he realized the person at his door was much shorter than he had expected. On the other side of the door was a woman roughly the same age as Dresden and almost half his size height wise. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, pale features and an athletic build under the white, button-up shirt, brown slacks, brown boots and a black leather jacket. With her hands firmly inserted into her pockets, Harry was just able to make out the pistol in a holster attached to her belt.
"Lieutenant Murphy!" Dresden exclaimed with a nervous chuckle, "I uh, I didn't realize you knew where I lived."
"I'm a detective, Dresden, don't insult me," the woman, Murphy, replied with a roll of her eyes, "I called but you weren't in your office."
"Right, sorry, I haven't made it in yet, today," Dresden said as he positioned himself so that he blocked Murphy's view of Harry and Dudley, "I had, um, some errands to run."
"Well, if you're done with your errands, I have something I wanted you to come and take a look at," Murphy stated, her eye narrowing in suspicion though she made no effort to look past Dresden.
"Is this the sort of thing that I'd get paid for looking at?" Dresden questioned, a note of hope in his voice.
"Depends on if you'll get off your ass and come look at it," Murphy replied, her tone annoyed.
"Alright, alright," Dresden said as he held his hands up defensively, "Just give me a minute to get ready and I'll meet you there."
"Fine," Murphy agreed with a sigh, "Just get to the Madison downtown as soon as you can."
"The Madison?" Dresden questioned with a smirk, "Sounds like something swanky."
"It's something alright," Murphy mumbled as she turned and began walking away.
With that, Dresden closed the door before grabbing his coat off the coat rack and throwing it on.
"What's going on?" Harry asked in confusion, "Who was that?"
"That was Lieutenant Karrin Murphy of the Chicago Police Department's Special Investigations Unit," Dresden explained as he put on his coat, "And I have a case."
"A case?" Dudley questioned.
"Well, you see, Special Investigation handles all of the weird stuff that happens in Chicago that the rest of the police department doesn't want to deal with," Dresden elaborated, "A lot of the time, it's nothing. But sometimes, actual magic is involved in a crime, so they call me to help deal with it."
"Why you?" Harry questioned.
"Well, mostly because I'm the only wizard in the phone book," Dresden answered with a shrug, "So, when I'm not doing my normal job as a private investigator, I help out Chicago's finest solve crimes as a consultant."
"So you're going to go do that?" Harry asked, "Right now?"
"I thought you were supposed to be watching us?" Dudley pointed out.
"Look guys, this place doesn't pay for itself," Dresden said as he gestured around at his basement apartment, "So, while I'd love to sit around and watch you two pick your noses or whatever, it's just not economically feasible."
"But you're supposed to protect us from that thing that's out to get Harry!" Dudley argued while gesturing at his cousin, "The thing that killed my parents!"
"You guys are perfectly safe here," Dresden reassured him, "My apartment is magically warded and everything. As long as you stay here and don't open the door for anyone, you'll be fine!"
"But-" Harry began to say.
"Sorry, got to go!" Dresden interrupted as he stepped through the door and closed it behind him with a resounding clang. As the sound reverberated through the small, basement apartment and faded away, Harry and Dudley looked at one another, at a loss of what they should do now.
A/N: Short chapter here, more of a connecting piece to introduce a few plot points. Hope you all liked it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!