"Explain to me one more time how the bloody hell you suckered me into going to a rave," said Harry impatiently. He practically had a saint-like patience, but this was pushing it. He hated crowds on a good day, and raves like this gave him migraines. He could barely tolerate listening to what most of the other kids called 'music' without trying to actively short out their damn Ipods with his magic.

He had found out completely by accident that he could cause a minor EMP burst using nothing more than his magic and a little concentration. His devices were promptly shielded from it once he found that out, but the same wouldn't be said for his classmates.

Needless to say the students were beginning to wonder if there was some sort of poltergeist because their phones always abruptly died during tests...which generally went hand in hand with them LOSING said phone or device to the teacher because they would pull it out in full view and have it confiscated for the rest of the week.

Harry's magical teachers actually approved of his prank, which was why they never told him to stop it.

Back to him being out after dark though.

Maureen had tricked him into going to a rave she heard about, thinking Harry should have some experience as a normal teenager. Which generally meant staying out after curfew and going to parties.

Harry on the other hand was of a different opinion. He prefer peace and quiet and hated getting into trouble. He had had enough trouble to last for one life time without trying to find it! The only reason he wasn't ditching her right now was because unlike Maureen he fully planned to keep her away from trouble.

Meaning he would keep her as far as he could away from any alcohol, drugs, or people who looked more than two years older than they were.

There was a reason why Elliot privately labeled him as a 'good influence' on his daughter.

Five minutes into the rave, and he already had a migraine. Unfortunately he was working overtime keeping his friend from getting drunk. Eventually he convinced her to go upstairs where the DJ was.

It was pretty clear she planned to ditch him the first chance she had to get drunk.

After thirty minutes his patience reached a breaking point. He had his Ipod on him, and it was pretty clear the DJ was using some computer program to do the music and the 'scratching'.

During a small break between the songs, Harry walked up to the DJ and had a quiet word...well, it was less of a word and more of Harry challenging his skills at being a disc jockey. He even wagered a couple hundred to get the man's interest.

A few minutes later the mood abruptly shifted from headache inducing nightmare to a controlled party vibe.

Harry proved to be a better DJ than the idiot who agreed to play the music.

So when the cops busted the place (the crowd got too rowdy and got their attention) Harry managed to remove his Ipod and then proceeded to drag Maureen up and over the roofs. He had noticed before going in that the roof to the next door building was more than close enough to jump across, and it would take time for the cops to get to the upper levels considering how packed the place was.

And since he had gotten a bad feeling when she dragged him to a party she heard about, he had brought his wand just in case, in a reinforced holster to prevent it from breaking.

They managed to make it across the roof to the other building, where Harry quietly unlocks the door. Maureen shivered. This place was creepy.

Because he was so used to the dark, it took little time for his eyes to adjust and lead them outside and past the cops cars.

They managed to make it a block away before Maureen stopped shaking.

"How the hell did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Sneak past all those cops without even attracting their attention!"

Much as she hated to admit it, she had been impressed at how smoothly Harry had lead them out of trouble and away from the cars. He had been so calm through the whole thing that she had followed his lead without being told. None of the guys she had ever dated had been that cool or collected about ditching the cops during a raid on a party!

"Practice. Well that and I've faced scarier things than a bunch of coppers trying to arrest people for underage drinking and an illegal party."

Honestly, escaping over the roofs and past the cars was child's play considering all the sneaking around he did back at Hogwarts, where everything from the portraits to Peeves could rat you out at any moment. And this was without his invisibility cloak with him!

Harry looked at his cell, which he generally kept on silent, and had an evil grin on his face.

Apparently Olivia had realized he was gone and called Elliot, who similarly discovered his daughter wasn't in her bed...and then called them both. Maureen likely hadn't realized her dad had busted her for being out.

"Do you feel up to walking, or do you want to call a cab?" asked Maureen finally.

"I left my wallet at home," lied Harry, before he had an evil idea "But I think I can call one of my friends from school to pick us up. One of them is probably awake and I could pay them later."

Maureen didn't pay attention to who Harry was texting...at least not until a far too familiar car drove up with her rather unhappy father inside.

She stared at him in betrayal.

"What's that saying you American's have? Oh yes... Payback's a bitch."

"I'm soooo going to make you pay for this," she said.

"Not before you end up grounded for a while because you tricked me into an illegal rave. You know I hate crowds."

"You two alright?" asked Elliot, though inwardly he was fuming.

"We're fine, though she should have known dragging me to an illegal rave when I'd rather be reading was going to come back to bite her in the ass."

Elliot believed him. Harry made it very clear he hated crowds and loud noises. He also never actively sought out parties like most kids his age in a big city. He was perfectly happy staying home reading.

The fact he had texted Elliot with their location was probably spite and a little revenge on his daughter.

Olivia was upset, but unlike Maureen, Harry wasn't grounded. He had texted Elliot instead of trying to sneak back in at two in the morning and she knew it wasn't his idea to go to a rave.

Instead he got a minor lecture on the dangers of the less patrolled areas of the city...which was followed by praise because he had kept Maureen from the alcohol and from being preyed on by people looking for a vulnerable girl. Unlike him, she had never taken martial arts classes.

However he would have to do the dishes for the rest of the week.

Maureen was still pissed with him, despite how impressed she was that he had been able to sneak around like that, refused to talk to him for days.

Harry shook his head and could care less. She didn't seem to realize how lucky she was to even have parents that gave a damn about you, let alone having such a nice life.

Huang came prepared for him this time. It was some overly complicated Chinese puzzle, and once he was given permission to try and solve it, he was oblivious to the questions.

Well, perhaps oblivious wasn't the right word. More like he heard them and responded unaware that while his active brain was busy solving the puzzle, his subconscious one was reacting to stimuli he didn't know he had. If there was one thing he hated, it was liars.

When the session ended he had gotten half the puzzle solved. It was more interesting than the Rubik's cube.

Olivia was worried, and it probably didn't help that she spent her days working on cases that involved abused children. Dr. Huang had mentioned it was easier to get answers from her cousin while he was actively distracted solving puzzles. The more difficult and challenging the puzzle, the longer and potentially easier it was to get answers.

Harry was a boy who preferred his privacy. He likely hadn't caught on to his little habit of answering questions he normally wouldn't if his mind wasn't distracted.

Huang told her where to get some of the more complicated Chinese puzzles at a good price. Harry was particularly good at solving logical puzzles, working methodically until something worked.

Once Harry saw the box on the table, he didn't say anything. Olivia waited until after they had eaten before she told him to open it.

Once he was safely enamored with the wooden box (which had something inside of it, usually some stone or another with Chinese symbols as a sort of generic prize, or even carvings of a Zodiac animal like the dragon) Olivia began her interrogation.

Huang hadn't told her anything specific (he was bound by doctor-patient confidentiality, even if they were cousins), but what he could tell her was that she needed to have a long chat with Harry. Preferably before something happened.

So Olivia started with something safe. Namely the school Harry went to before coming here.

"So what school did you go to before you left England?"

"Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. I prefer the ones here though," said Harry, trying to slip another block into the slots.

"Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

"I'm still not sure why they call it witchcraft and wizardry, considering they're one and the same."

"You mean like those books you're always reading."

"Yeah, they're for homework."

Olivia blinked.

"Magic homework."

"Yeah. Found out when I was eleven that I was a wizard. Apparently the reason Aunt Petunia didn't want me in her house was because I inherited the magic gene from my parents."

"Okay, well what was Hogwarts like?" asked Olivia, setting aside the whole 'magic' thing for now.

"It was okay, but honestly I prefer the public schools here. At least here they don't automatically put me on a pedestal and think I'm some evil jerk just because I can talk to snakes, or because of some outdated house system."

"Talk to snakes."

Harry paused in his puzzle-solving, blinked twice, before actually looking at her.

"Oops... well, I suppose I don't really have much reason to hide things from you now..." he mumbled, before heading into his room and bringing a few things out.

The first of which was a photo album Olivia had seen before...but this time he had a strange thirteen inch stake thing in his hand made of polished wood with a few intricate designs. She had seen it before but not given it much thought.

Harry opened up the photo album to a specific page...before he waved the stake thing over it and said clearly "Finite Incantatum."

What happened next would change a lot of things in Olivia's life...because the pictures moved.

"What..."

Harry let her examine the page, but she couldn't find anything to explain it.

"Magicals have this potion that they soak the photo paper in, and once it's printed they move. In Hogwarts they even have these portraits that can talk back to you. I actually paid one of the other students for copies of his pictures of the castle, once I heard what he was doing."

Collin had been more than happy to share the photos, but Harry took one look at the work and felt he deserved to be paid for it. If only so he could buy more film, paper and the potion that made it move.

"I don't believe it," said Olivia. It was kinda hard to believe.

"Well I can give you even more proof, since I know cops like to have a lot of evidence before they can prove something," said Harry.

So the next morning, after Harry reluctantly told Olivia of the truth, he took her to a little side alley that served as the entrance to the magical areas.

And at the end of her day off, Olivia was convinced. Magic was not only real, but her cousin could use it. He also got her a strange sort of ID that she put in with her badge that would allow her to work with some of the 'magical cops' in the event a wizard or witch happened to cross into her department.

Considering she dealt with children under 18 and those who had been sexually assaulted, she sincerely hoped she didn't have to help with a case. The fewer cases she had to deal with, the happier she was.

Even if it did give her a way to help her cousin work through the trauma he had to deal with before he came to live with her.

Now that he had come out and told her about magic, Harry seemed to be slightly more nervous about being around Olivia. Would she be like Hermione's parents, who were okay with it, or like the Dursleys and reject him completely?

Much to his surprise (and open relief) she seemed to be in the middle of the spectrum, falling more along the line of Hermione's parents. She was unsure about it, but she was willing to give it a shot.

Either way she realized she definitely had to find a house, because now that his magic lessons were more out in the open the apartment was slightly cramped. Harry was good about putting his things away, but she had had more than one complaint about the smell from his potions kit.

At this point she was just glad that Harry had opened up more. Even if he was a little annoyed by the trick she had pulled by getting him to talk by having most of his attention on a complicated Chinese puzzle. (One which he completed two days later. Apparently there was a stone carving of what he quickly identified as a phoenix inside.)

"So Liv, how goes the house hunting?" asked Elliot. He had suggested a few places for her to look.

Olivia pulled up three choices. One was close to a nice public park but still within distance of the bus that lead to the one Harry went to, one was a few blocks away from the precinct meaning she could walk to work in less than an hour but was slightly more expensive, and the third was next to the magical alley Harry had taken her to.

In the end it was up to Harry, because it was partially his money they were going to be using to pay for it. There was no way she could afford a house on her paycheck.

They were going to look at two of the houses later, and the third during the weekend.

Harry immediately vetoed the one next to the alley. As nice as it was to be able to access his magical heritage a little easier, he had the distinct suspicion that being that close would increase the risk of his old headmaster or old friends finding him and possibly dragging him back to England.

He had narrowly avoided that fate when he signed a document making Olivia his legal guardian with help from the American equivalent of the Ministry, which apparently was the Department for Magic. Unlike the Ministry there was almost no separation between the mundane government and the magical one. Well, outside of those working in the magical side wearing a special pass that allowed them through a wall. And a year-long assessment to determine whether the president was allowed in the know.

So no, if he knew the English as well as he did, then being that close to a magical alley was just asking for trouble.

The one close to the park was vetoed by Olivia when she caught the tell-tale signs of a fledgling gang. The last thing she needed to worry about was her cousin getting roped into that, even if he was a quiet kid who preferred to stay indoors. Fin confirmed that there was a problem in the area that no one really talked about.

Which left the one close to the precinct.

Aside from some structural issues and a rat problem (which would be solved rather quickly once the rodents realized there was an owl allowed in the house...plus a pet snake Olivia agreed to let Harry have since he did happen to like the reptiles), and the fact that the interior could use some major redecorating, it was the best of the three.

"I like it. It has character," said Harry.

"And a backyard," said the realtor.

"Not much of one, but it's big enough for a garden," said Harry, looking outside the window. The 'backyard' barely had room for the rickety swingset that sat near the fencing which was also in need of repairs. In fact if Harry was any judge, the backyard had about enough space to park a pair of trucks side-by-side, provided you didn't want to open the doors.

It was small, but then a house with a backyard went for almost top dollar depending on the size and the amount of effort needed to fix it up. With how small it was, it had a surprising amount of weeds and the swing would have to go because even he could tell the thing was unsafe to sit on.

"And up here is the second floor," said the realtor, trying to draw attention away from the backyard and the swing.

Harry took one look at the bathroom and grimaced. He recognized the state of the toilet anywhere.

"The last owner was heavy-set weren't they?" he said.

The realtor said nothing but kept up the fake smile.

"I wouldn't know," she said, clearly lying through her teeth.

"Well you don't get structural issues like that under a toilet unless the one sitting on it for long periods was over two hundred pounds," Harry said flatly.

This was the best house he had seen, it was in a great area, and it was close to Olivia's work. However the price was a bit high, which meant he was going to do his very best to point out all the obvious (and easily fixable) flaws to knock the price range down to a much better deal.

Olivia didn't know much about houses, and even less about gardening. She had lived alone for years, and was content to let Harry do most of the talking.

In the end Harry managed to knock off a good fifteen thousand off the asking price. He really liked this house.