Chapter Text
Wendell did not sleep well that night. After reassuring his wife that things were okay they went to bed. He woke up at only 7 am and slipped out of bed. After finishing his morning routine he went downstairs to start the kettle for tea.
About an hour later his lovely wife Monica came down and joined him for tea. She started to make breakfast for them, some eggs, sausage, and English muffins with jam.
"Who called so late last night?" Monica asked.
"A couple of agents at an American Federal agency. They asked that we get in contact with one of Hermione's teachers for her friend Harry. Apparently something happened while he was on vacation and they needed a guardian for him." Wendell said, reading the paper he wrote on last night.
"You better get started on the letter then. Hermione will be down soon so she can probably help if you need it." Monica said, spreading jam on the English muffins.
Wendell went to get some paper and a fountain pen. He decided to begin the letter by explaining about the call he got last night. He was just finishing up the letter with the instructions NIS gave him along with the phone number when Hermione came down.
"Morning mummy, morning daddy" she said, kissing both her parents on the cheek. They sat down for breakfast, making some small talk and discussing what they would be doing that day.
"Hermione this morning I need to borrow Hedwig. I got a call last night that even though Harry is fine, something happened to his family while they were on vacation and the agent that called me needs a guardian from your school to represent him. Who should I address the letter to?" Wendell asked his daughter. Making sure she knew her friend was okay or she would be freaking out.
"I would write to Professor McGonagall because she's his head of house. Professor Dumbledore is usually too busy in the summer." Hermione said.
Wendell finished the letter and looked up to ask his daughter to get Hedwig when he saw the beautiful snowy owl sitting perched on the chair next to him. She held out her leg and he finished attaching the letter and watched as she flew away. He always wondered how she knew when she was needed but would never ask the prideful owl that. They loved when she came with a letter from their daughter, always treating her with a couple treats or some bacon.
The family settled in to watch some news before they would really begin their day. Hermione and her mom were going to the grocery store while Wendell went to the office. He was working today while Monica stayed home to spend some time with their daughter before she went back to school.
Minerva McGonagall was sitting in her office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was glad it was summer but her job was never done. As proud as she is for her positions she is overworked. Being the transfiguration teacher, Gryffindor head and Deputy Headmistress leaves little to no time for anything else. She had just finished the first year of her favorite student's child, Harry Potter. It was a crazy year and she felt incredibly guilty about not listening to him and his friends about the stone. Her boss Headmaster Albus Dumbledore had assured her that it was safe.
She was filling out some paperwork, once again asking the board of governors for new school brooms, citing the injury report from that year as proof of danger and need. She heard a tapping on the window and looked up to see a very familiar looking snowy owl. She waved her wand to open the window and took the letter from Hedwig when she landed on the perch next to her desk.
The handwriting is one that looked familiar but was definitely not her students. She opened the letter and read it, only to reread it in shock. She did not know Harry had left the country. She needed some help from someone who can navigate the muggle world better than she can.
She got up and started walking down the stairs all the way to the dungeons. She took some time on the walk to determine how to best approach her colleague about this. She finally got to her colleagues office and knocked. Entered when she heard him bid entrance.
"Severus, good morning. Are you busy?" She asked her friend and colleague. Severus Snape was young, barely older than the students when he started teaching. He was dressed in all black but unlike his usual teaching robes he was wearing black slacks and a black button up with the sleeves rolled up. He stopped hiding his left arm from her a few years ago which was big progress for their relationship of teacher/student to colleagues.
"I was going to do some brewing for the hospital wing today why? Do you need help with something?" Severus asked. He had a deep drawing voice, long silky hair that looked greasy from the protective gel he used when brewing.
"I got a letter this morning from Hermione Granger's father. It says that Harry went to America with his family and something happened. Someone called a Special Agent called them in the middle of the night to ask for them to contact one of us to act as Harry's guardian." Do you know more about what this means?" She asked, handing the letter to her friend. Severus, having grown up in the mingle world, had the most recent and complete education regarding the muggle world. He had even gone ahead and finished his muggle education, doing a remote program where he completed his university degree in chemistry.
"A Special Agent is almost like a Hit Wizard. They are above the police or aurors as well as calling them. Naval Investigative Service is an American military police. I'm not sure what the brat did to get involved with them. What do you need from me?" He said after reading the note. He didn't really hate the boy as much as he showered but he also had to act a certain way to keep his image as a spy.
"Can you come with me to find out what happened and try to get him back here?" Minerva asked. She had a feeling a lot of this would go over her head.
"Of course. Let me pack for a week just in case. Also we are going to have to travel muggle so that they have a record of us entering the country legally, make sure you have a passport." Severus said. He set aside his plans for the week because they needed to find out what happened.
They two met again about an hour later dressed in muggle clothes, holding a suitcase for Minerva and duffle bag for Severus. He decided to head to his house first and call from his landline. They took Minerva's hand and apparated them to his house. It was not a nice place, run down in an abandoned looking neighborhood.
He went and got his landline, he also grabbed some of his old school books from when he did his muggle education to give the boy to read. Some were school subjects but he also brought a couple fiction books. He tried to calculate what time it was there. It was around 11 am in London so it would be about 7am there.
"Good morning, is this Special Agent Mike Franks of the Naval Investigative Service?" Severus asked. He saw his friend walking around looking at the living room, which was just full of bookshelves at this point. He saw no point in anything else as he was barely ever here.
"Yes, who is this?" Mike answered. He was in the office early because he was not sure when the call would come for Harry's guardian.
"My name is Severus Snape, I am one of the professors at Harry Potter's school. My colleague and I received a note this morning about an incident happening in America. I am just calling to tell you that we are going to take the first plane to America from here. My colleague Minerva McGonagall and I are going to be traveling together." Sev said.
"Okay if you are able to use a phone at the airport and tell us which flight you are on that would be great. We are located in Washington DC. Thank you. Have a nice flight. " Mike said.
Severus went to Gringotts and asked for the list of guardians from the Potter's wills. He explained the situation as he knew it to them. They gave him the list of guardians after confirming that Minerva was on the list. He put it in his bag without reading much else.
Severus then apparated Minerva to the airport, there was a room dedicated to widen arrivals. They stepped into the airport and went straight to the ticket counter. Luck must be on their side because there was a flight from London to the Ronald Regan airport in Washington DC that takes off in 30 minutes. He asked the lady at the desk if she could notify NIS in Washington DC that they were on that flight which she agreed to. The flight would take eight and a half hours.
The two colleagues talked and worked for as long as they could. Minerva took a small nap as well, finally able to just relax and not have to work. They had asked their other two heads of houses Pomona Sprout and Filius Flitwick to hold down the fort. Severus was reading about the latest potion advancements. He saw his own work with Wolfsbane, which he hopes to continue until he finds a cure.
The flight landed at around 4 pm Washington DC time. (I'm trying to do math. London is 4 hours ahead so they leave at 11:30 London time which is 7:30 Washington time. Plus 8 hr. 30 min flight is 4 pm. right?) The two were exhausted after the long flight, plus in London it would be around 8pm so they were hungry too. They stopped in the airport and got Subway sandwiches for dinner. They found a black sub waiting for them with their names in a sign. Agent Pride was in charge of picking them up. He helped to load the luggage into the back of the sun and opened the doors for them. Severus decided to sit up front with the agent and get more of the story.
