Wow! Reviews! I suppose I have to finish now, but it might take a while, as school starts tomorrow here. Oh, and I forgot a disclaimer in the last chapter, so here it is:
I don't own Theodore Nott, the Ministry of Magic, or magical headgear.
Owls excited Liza. She couldn't help it, they had been tied to magic in her head since she had seen her visitor send one. For the last few years, all that had carried her through was the hope that one day, an owl would show up and give her a second chance. Something like:
Dear Ms. DiMarco,
I don't know if you remember anything about the wizarding world, and I'm sure you're quite busy with your career, but there's no getting past it- we need your help. Last week, we magicked our special top hat into telling who the most powerful wizard in the world was, the one who could defeat the dark witch Hortense for us. Imagine our surprise when your name came out! Your presence is requested as soon as humanly possible to start Auror training.
Sincerely,
The Minister of Magic
Okay, so that was really, really unlikely. A girl could dream, couldn't she? In any event, she never expected her magical destiny to walk through the door, especially in the form of a man like Jeremy Icklebogg.
He was tall, bald, and covered from head to toe in scarves, coats, and other obscure winter clothing that was entirely inappropriate for the September weather. At first, she couldn't hear exactly what he was saying, but when she took off the muffler in front of his mouth, he gasped, "I don't know how these muggles manage dressed this way. These are the cheapest clothes I could find, as I didn't want anyone aware of my, er, condition. Just trying to stay inconspicuous.
Even if he was purple, he still looked better than he had.
"Please come in, Mr.?"
"Icklebogg, but please, call me Jeremy."
"Jeremy, then. Did you mention muggles?" she asked, trying not to seem too eager.
"Yes, I did. Why don't I start from the beginning?"
"Er, all right."
"It all started a few years after the Dark Lord Voldemort was vanquished for the final time by a boy named Harry Potter. Now most of his minions, known as death eaters, were brought to justice. Some, though, still saw it as their mission to continue his mission to annihilate the muggles. These decided to take a different approach- infiltrating the very heart of the wizarding world- the Ministry of Magic.
Through a clever campaign of propaganda, which gradually made muggles out to the general public as dangerous, they managed to get a member of the Walpurgis party appointed Minister within twenty years."
Liza had to interrupt at this. "Muggles- dangerous? Don't wizards have weapons sophisticated enough to kill them all if they wanted?"
"Of course they do. It's pure bigotry- they're still sore about the Salem witch trials. The average wizard doesn't know that, though. Which brings me to my next point- our only hope is a spy."
"Our? Who is included in this?"
"An organization," said Jeremy dramatically, "known as the Order of the Phoenix, committed to stopping the Walpurgi and all their branches."
"So where do I come into this?"
"I'm getting to that. The ministry has a security rule that all wands must be checked at the door to the ministry. They don't want any assassination attempts, you see. Therefore, our only hope is wandless magic. It's almost impossible to anyone who's learned wand magic, so the untrained are our only hope.
Of course, we can't wait around for an eleven-year-old to grow up and spy for us, which makes you, an untrained adult witch, our best chance."
Liza could have turned a cartwheel. She was finally going to be a witch! "So, where do I start training?"
"Well, in addition to magic, you're also going to have to take a crash course in ten years of wizard culture. We thought it would be best if you could pose as a pureblood. So, you're going to be staying at the house of one of the few purebloods on our side, Theodore Nott. You'll have to take a leave of absence from your career. Sorry if you were about to discover something important."
"Oh, I think I can just quit my 'career', as you put it. It was a dead end anyway," she chuckled. Thinking back to her fantasy letter, she decided this was close enough.
Okay, so I couldn't resist
I promise, no annoying LD/TN romance, unless you ask for it, of course.
