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Sorry I couldn't get this chapter out sooner!
The Visitor
That night, at seven o'clock on the dot the doorbell rang. Courtney rushed to answer it.
A man with long black robes and short black hair stood at the door.
"Miss Courtney Barnes, I presume?"
She nodded excitedly. He stuck his hand out for her to shake, "My name is Sirius Black, or Professor Black to you. I teach Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts."
By then Kathryn had approached and spoke, "Mr. Black, please come in. We have quite a few questions for you."
Sirius walked in and caught sight of a man with dark brown hair carrying a tired child with black hair out of the room.
"That was my husband, David, and my six-year-old Michael. David should be down soon. He's just putting Michael to bed. Have a seat"
Sirius nodded amiably and took the proffered seat.
Sure enough, David returned minutes later. However, instead of sitting, he just crossed his arms and addressed Sirius.
"I have no wish for you or your kind to be in my house. I have no wish for my daughter to train her powers. However, I am not in the habit of making decisions like this for my children. If she wishes to attend this…school of yours she may, but I want nothing to do with it. After this little meeting you are going to have is over, I don't want any of you to come to my house again. I don't like the idea of this magic," he spit it out as though it was a foul word, "mark my words, it will bring nothing but grief to this family. I don't want anything to do with it." With that, he left the room.
Sirius looked slightly put out, Kathryn's face showed surprise, that was quickly becoming anger, but Courtney looked like she was about to cry.
"Well," Sirius said uncomfortably.
Kathryn took a deep breath, "I don't know what possessed my husband to act like that, but I do apologize, Mr. Black."
"No need to Mrs. Barnes. There are some Muggles who just don't like the idea of magic and decide they don't want to be involved with it."
"Muggles?" Courtney asked, momentarily forgetting the tears that had been threatening.
"Muggle is what we call people who have no magical powers. You are a muggle-born witch."
With that, all three put Dr. Barnes' strange behavior behind them and talked for two hours about the wizarding world.
Near the end Sirius asked, "You say you are going on vacation? That you won't be back until September 5th?"
They nodded.
"Well, that causes a problem because you have to be at school on September first. Do you know where you will be, say, on August 31st?"
Kathryn got up and went to the kitchen to look at their vacation itinerary. "Dublin, Ireland."
"Okay, I think that we can arrange for someone to pick Courtney up that day, wherever you are in Ireland. Then Courtney can shop for her school supplies that day and get to school on the first. Would that be okay with you?"
Kathryn thought for a moment, "I'm sorry, I'm not comfortable with letting my daughter go off with just anybody."
Sirius smiled, "I can understand that. The woman I have in mind is Hermione Granger. She teaches the history course at Hogwarts. She is married to a man named Ron Weasley, who used to play Quidditch professionally, but now coaches the team he used to play on. She just goes by Granger at the school because it would be too confusing because Bill Weasley, her brother-in-law, teaches Charms. She has a daughter that is Courtney's age who will also be starting at Hogwarts this year. Her name is Angela." Sirius fished in his pocket and brought out a picture, "This is her family," and he handed it to them.
For the first minute, Courtney and Kathryn just stared because the picture was moving and then they really looked at the people.
The woman, obviously Hermione Granger, had wavy brown hair that she had tried to coax back from her face with a hair band, but was not having much success because a small girl with red hair had grabbed it and was attempting to remove it from the woman's head. There were two boys, one with red hair and one with brown hair, who had gotten distracted from the camera and were making faces at each other. The oldest girl, they assumed it was Angela, had brown hair and was scowling at her father, a tall man with red hair, because, in trying to get the two boys to look at the camera, had accidentally elbowed his eldest in the nose.
"The little red-head is named Mariah. The redhead boy is Markus; the brown-haired one is Harry. I've known Ron and Hermione for more than twenty-five years now."
"Okay, Hermione Granger can pick Courtney up on August 31st." Kathryn finally agreed, "How much money will Courtney need for supplies?"
"Well, I don't know the exchange rate between our money and yours, so I couldn't rightly tell you, but Hermione'll know for sure. Just ask her when she comes."
"You use different money?" Courtney asked, wide-eyed, connecting what she had seen during her visit to Diagon Alley at the bank.
This launched Sirius into a ten-minute explanation about the wizarding monetary and economic system. When he finished, he wished them a good evening and disappeared right in front of their faces.
David's resolve to remain completely neutral disappeared as soon as he had stepped into the house. It was all he could do to simply stand there and speak, rather than punching. He grimaced at himself, You shouldn't have let it affect you so easily!
He recalled his words and shook his head at his own lack of control. His statement had certainly not sounded neutral. Well, he had said it, and, he realized, he had meant it. He did not want any of them coming to his house.
He had almost completely refused to allow Courtney to go when he saw him.
He hurriedly got ready for bed to avoid Kathryn's wrath, at least until morning. He pushed aside thoughts of Courtney's hurt expression. He was not rejecting his daughter, he told himself. He mentally berated himself for the small flicker of…love? Friendship? Hope? Happiness?…he couldn't figure out the emotion that…that had flashed through him when he saw Sirius.
Sirius. He hadn't even called him that name in more than twenty-five years. He couldn't think of him as that name anymore. That was the name of the man who had given Harry Potter hope for a better life-hope for a loving home.
It was also the name of the man who betrayed you! He told himself. Busying himself with his task of brushing his teeth, he said firmly in his mind, Mr. Black.
He was a teacher now. He must have been officially pardoned…No! David shook his head and pushed all thoughts of the visitor, and the significance of the visit, out of his mind, and went to bed.
"So, Sirius, how did you like young Miss Barnes?" Albus asked when he found his friend returning.
"Delightful young lady!" Sirius smiled, remembering the ease with which he had explained everything to Courtney.
"And the family? What were they like?"
A shadow crossed Sirius' face and he sighed, "The mother is almost as excited as the girl, but the father is dead set against magic for some reason."
Albus nodded sadly at this, "We get at least one parent like that every year. People just become afraid of what they don't understand. It is sad to see how much the children are hurt by their parent's rejection of what they are. What does Mr. Barnes do for a living?"
"He is a doctor, quite a good one from what I am told, and quite wealthy too. He could have retired years ago, but he likes what he does. His wife told me he had inherited quite a lot of money and was a millionaire before she met him. However, they live in a modest three bedroom house."
"Well, I think I can guess as to why Mr. Barnes doesn't like the idea of magic. He is a man of science. Magic doesn't follow the natural rules of matter and so he rejects it because he is set in his Laws of Nature."
Sirius nodded, "I guess that makes sense. The family is going on vacation though so I …er, volunteered Hermione to pick her up in Dublin Ireland on August 31st."
"I certainly hope you got more detailed information than that. Dublin and vicinity have many inhabitants," Albus smiled.
"Of course I did. I'll just talk to Hermione tomorrow and let her know."
Hermione Granger-Weasley was trying to get her lesson plans in order after Mariah had systematically destroyed her organization by using the desk as a jungle gym. A knock on her office door was a welcome relief.
"Come in!" she called looking at the door, "Oh, hello Sirius. Anything I can do for you?"
The man chuckled at the mess and the curious two-year-old that was opening and closing drawers. "You're lucky you teach history, and not a dangerous subject like Defense, otherwise she might get a few nasty surprises opening things carelessly like that."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Well, if I did teach Defense, you can guarantee I wouldn't let her in my office at all. What did you want?"
"Right. Well, Albus told you about Courtney Barnes, the Muggleborn girl who stumbled upon Diagon Alley?"
"Yes."
"Her family is going on a vacation and they won't be back until September fifth. Her parents won't be able to escort her to get her supplies or to the train station on the first. I told them that you would be able to pick her up on the 31st, take her shopping, and make sure she gets to the school. The mother agreed to the plan."
"Well, thank you for asking me first," Hermione frowned, but became distracted as she noticed Mariah's latest mischief, "No! Mariah, don't play with Mommy's wand!" she plucked the stick out of the child's hand and handed her a toy broom instead, "Honestly, if I didn't know any better I'd think your father was one of the twins!" Mariah smiled and started whacking the broom against the desk. Hermione rolled her eyes and shrugged, turning back to Sirius, "What do you mean, her mother agreed, what about her father?"
Sirius sighed, "Mr. Or doctor, I should say, Barnes almost outright refused to allow Courtney to come to Hogwarts, he wasn't very receptive. He refused to listen to me. After stating, point-blank, that he did not want a witch in his family he said the choice was hers and then left the room. I can't imagine what he'll act like when his son gets a letter in a few years."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "His son is magical too?"
Sirius nodded a little sheepishly, "I peeked at the book this morning."
Hermione sighed, "Why are some people so closed minded? How awful must it be, for that child to know her father rejects a part of her? I just want to curse every parent I hear of that does this," Hermione stopped and then continued more softly, "I used to feel the same way when I heard Harry talking about the Dursleys' rejection of him."
Sirius smiled sadly and quickly changed the subject, "So, can you pick up Courtney the morning of the 31st?"
"I guess so,"
"Good! Here is the hotel they will be at." Sirius pulled a piece of Muggle paper out of his pocket and handed it to Hermione.
She looked at it, "Dublin? It'll probably just be easier to take her back to the house and let her walk up with Angela and I. Angela isn't going to take the train. If we pick up Courtney, at least it will give Angela someone to talk to while we finish up our last minute preparations."
"That should work fine. Do you want me to take this little munchkin off of your hands so you can get your office back in order?" Sirius asked picking up Mariah who protested until Sirius handed her a bauble.
"Would you? Thank you so much! Angela is at a friend's house, so are the boys, but I had nowhere to leave Mariah. Ron's running a practice today."
"I should think so! The European Cup is in three weeks. I was planning on going to see Remus, I can just take her along."
"Thank you, Sirius! You are a lifesaver."
"Am I forgiven for volunteering you with out asking?" Sirius asked grinning as he took the diaper bag from Hermione.
"Yes," Hermione answered emphatically.