"Mum, Dad, I'm home." Hermione calls from the front door as she makes space for Xingwei to step through.
Jean's voice comes from further in the house, "In the dining room honey!"
Grabbing Xingwei's hand, Hermione fair skips to the dining room. "Mum, Dad, I'd like you to meet Xingwei."
Gene looks up from the paperwork strewn around the table, "Pleased to meet you, do you come from China?"
"Um, I don't know what a China is."
"She's my new familiar Dad. Xingwei, this is my mother Jean with a J, and this is my father Gene with a G. Mum, Dad, Xinwei is a red dragon. I know she doesn't look like it at the moment, but her horns give it away."
"I thought you had a fairy?"
"Oh, Theresa was fine, but between a fairy and a dragon what would you choose? Beside, not only do I have Xingwei as a familiar, I hope that we'll also be bff. That being said, Harry is my bmf. Hey Xingwei, is there anything we need to worry about food wise?"
"Oh no, while in this form I eat the same things as humans do. Though occasionally I'll need a cow or sheep if I'm living on a low meat diet."
"See, and I know we've got a spare room across the hall from my room. Then tomorrow we're off to school, leaving us 9 months to sort out living arrangements. Besides, didn't you always say you wanted another child?"
Gene laughs, "She's got you there, and it's not like we can't afford the room. I suppose we could pay a visit to Smithfield market for a side of beef or two in the summer holidays if necessary. So, Xingwei wasn't it, what's it like where you came from?"
"It was much quieter than it is here. Life was slow, though we had to watch out for raids by blue dragons. There was a lot of magic in my world, here it's very thin. But not as abundant as it was in the Realm of Magic. I lived deep in the mountain with my clan, and I had no real desire to wander. I was going to the nearby human town when I was whelpnapped. However, I don't think I know enough about living here to be able to compare the two yet."
"Are you able to read and write?"
"Oh yes, I took that from Miss Hermione's memories when she couldn't understand me."
"That's what you were doing, it felt like fingers rifling through my brain."
Jean throws her hands in the air, "Oh very well, she can stay. I'll get some fresh sheets for that bed and one of my nighties, I think they'll fit her. In the morning we can take your measurements and then I can buy you some stuff at Marks and Spencer and see if someone can get it delivered to you."
Gene smiles at his wife, "Don't forget you have an owl as a familiar, apparently they use owls to deliver mail. We can also go to the Realm of Magic and visit Petunia. I know her familiar can get it there if nothing else works. We should also see about getting some lessons on magic at the weekends anyway. No point wasting the ability after all."
"Great! Come on, I'll show you where the bedrooms are as well as the bathroom. Then if you have any questions about things here I can do my best to answer them."
The exuberant girl took Xingwei's hand and dragged her upstairs. In good humour, Xingwei followed along obediently and allowed her Mistress to show off her house. All too soon it was time for bed, and the humans found out that she has a tail underneath the skirt and petticoat. The only thing that Jean said about it was, "Well that rules out trousers, what do you do for underwear?" Evidently, the world view shifting revelations had been coming so fast that she was now just rolling with the punches.
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The next morning the family was woken up by a scream of agony from Xingwei. Staggering downstairs, Gene was the first one to discover that Harry and Petunia were standing in the hallway by the front door watching Xingwei arguing with Sunbeam.
Yawning he says, "May I ask what your doing in our front hallway?"
Petunia replies, "Do you remember we said that we'd go to the station together? Well we couldn't exactly arrive outside, so we asked Sunbeam to bring us to the front door so that we could nip outside and ring the doorbell once we got here. I wasn't aware that you had a guest, or that she would be cleaning at this hour of the morning. Though I can't say that I wouldn't be doing the same thing."
"Oh, Xingwei. She's Hermione's new dragon familiar, and our new sort of daughter. Any idea what they're arguing about?"
Harry nods, "Xingwei is telling Sunbeam that she's using to much magic in her teleportation, and Sunbeam is saying that she's using the least she possibly can. Sunbeam, I don't think it would be a good idea to show her what it's like when you use the most you can. We do need to be able to do stuff today. And you also need to be careful about fragile things in the area, like this house. Yes, I know. We're going to Hogwarts, they're sure to have an open space you can show off in."
Sunbeam lifts her head regally and flies to Harry's shoulder.
It doesn't take long after that for the house to get up and ready to go. It turns out that Harry and Petunia weren't early, Xingwei just silenced the alarm clocks when they went off because they were loud. Cue a 10 minute conversation about what a clock is, what an alarm clock is, and why they use them. Jean then decides that as they're travelling by phoenix, they have time to make a trip to Madam Malkins and order a few sets of clothes for Xingwei as well as a trunk to be delivered to Hogwarts. Anything else can just be bought later.
Just before they leave, Sunbeam makes a gesture towards Xingwei that looks like she's sticking her tongue out. Hermione thinks she hears Xingwei mutter something like, "You're only doing it because I've never been there. I'll show my mistress that I'm just as good at teleporting." However apart from the first few words, the rest of it is drowned out by the screams of the unusually busy Leaky Cauldron.
They all quickly hustle into the Alley proper, with Hermione going first so that Petunia doesn't need to wait in the entranceway.
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Harry looks around at the nearly deserted alleyway surprised at just how few people are here considering the number of people in the pub. Spying the Healer cum Optician across the way he quickly pops his head in there.
"Hi, anyone here?"
"Oh, hi. How are your glasses treating you?"
"They're fine, we've just arrived in the cauldron, and we're heading down to get some last minute clothes and a trunk. Would you know why the Alley is so quiet while the Cauldron is so busy?"
"Oh, that would be because it's the nearest floo point to the station, and all the schools are starting today. The Emerys Academy leaves from platform 3 ⅓ at 9:30, Hogwarts from 9 ¾ at 10, and Pendragon pathfinders from 12+1 at 12. Most of the shops close today, I think only Malkin, Flourish and Blott, and the Menagerie are open apart from us. Oh, and the bank, but they're always open."
"OK, thanks. Oh, I think the people in the Leaky might need some help with flash-blindness."
"Why didn't you lead with that? Gertrude, we're needed in the Leaky."
Harry stepped out muttering, "Because you wouldn't have answered my questions if I did."
Rejoining the group he quickly relays what his learnt, "Sunbeam, do you think you can find platform 9 ¾? No I'm not doubting you, I've never been there and you've never been there so I wanted to ask rather than assuming. Sunbeam says she can get us all to the platform, so we don't need to worry about walking."
Jean takes charge, "Petunia, Gene, you two head into Flourish and Blotts and see if they've got anything that would do the job of being a decent replacement for a suitcase. I'll take the three kids to Madam Malkins and order clothes for Xingwei. I'm assuming that you'll be quicker than us, so meet us there."
"But Mum, I wanted to look in the bookshop."
"Hermione, I know you. If I let you in there for five minutes we'd miss the train."
"But Mum!"
"You're a bookworm, I'm sure that Harry is just as bad."
Petunia smiles, "Not yet he isn't, but I can see that your daughter is a bad influence on him."
"I'd say the opposite. But maybe we're both right."
They smile at each other with the twin cry of "Mum/Auntie!"
Taking that as their signal they all split up to do their things. Petunia and Gene head into the bookshop first, where a bored clerk is reading some of their stock while they're waiting for customers.
"Good morning, how can I help you?"
"Morning, we're doing some very last minute shopping, as we have an extra passenger that didn't have a trunk or clothes. My friend Jean is taking the kids up so that the extra can get measured up for clothes, we were hoping that you might have something that would be a suitable substitute for a trunk until we can get back here at Christmas and get them a proper trunk."
"We're a bookshop not a luggage shop. Though I think we might have something. Let me check out back."
They mark their place in the book with a pamphlet and head out to the back of the shop. It takes them 10 minutes, but they come back carrying a dusty leather bookbag.
"Sorry about that, I just remembered that we keep a stock of bottomless bookbags for the decerning customer. They're 20g each, so we keep them in the back."
Gene doesn't even quibble, "I'll take two."
The clerk blinks, "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Do you take card?" he jokes.
"We don't take muggle currency here."
"I know, I know, but if you're going to buy something expensive, you might as well joke about it. And yes I'm serious. Petunia and Harry might have the interface and the accompanying inventory, however my daughter doesn't. So if I'm buying one for her familiar, I might as well buy one for her too." He indicates Petunia as the person standing next to him.
After he counts out the 40g, the clerk heads out back and grabs the other bag. While he's gone Petunia says, "You realise you spent something like £200 on book bags?"
Gene picks up the bag on the counter, "Look at the workmanship on this bag. Yes you could probably buy a cheaper leather book bag in the muggle world, but you'd be looking at around £100 for one of similar quality. On top of that it's enchanted to be 'Bottomless', before the teacher visited in the evening on Hermione's birthday last year we had her down for a private girls school, that was going to set us back around £11,000 a year. She got in by passing the entrance exams, but we're too wealthy for a scholarship. Hogwarts is positively cheap in comparison."
"I believe you, Vernon was going to send Dudley to Smeltings, and it was going to cost £8,000 a year. I didn't even know how much it would cost until I kicked him out and started going over his notes. I've enrolled him in a school near Glimmerstone, and Gemma has kindly agreed to escort him to the school every day."
Their conversation ends as the clerk comes back with another bag of the same quality, but in a darker leather.
"Here you go, two bottomless dragonhide leather bookbags with integrated featherweight charm."
"Thank you very much."
They then left to Madam Malkins, only to find a absolutely distraught Madam Malkin looking at Xingwei. After talking to Jean, they find out that she's upset that Xingwei is going to have to go without underwear, as her tail is stationed in such a position that without wearing something held up by the shoulders, nothing else would actually work without custom tailoring. It takes them till 9:30 to calm the woman down. It's only once they finally leave that Harry let's them all into what was causing the problems. Her three main traits, Proper, Perfectionist, Snob. Hermione is overjoyed at the new bookbag, and it takes both Jean and Gene to stop her from transferring her books straight into the new bag. Xingwei on the other hand, bows deeply and thanks them for the gift. They finally all gather round and disappear in a fulgent flash of light, though there's only one scream of agony to mark their departure.
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Lucius Malfoy is helping Narcissa get Draco's trunk onto the train when it happens. He's just lifted his end of the trunk so that she can pull it into the train when there's a Fulgent flash of light that fills the entire platform. Instinctively he lets go of the trunk and clutches his eyes, at which point gravity takes hold and the trunk falls back to the floor, pulling his wife off balance in the process. This causes the falling trunk to scrape down the shin of his leading leg before landing heavily on his foot. A fresh howl of agony takes hold only to be arrested as Narcissa tumbles over the trunk and knocks him to the ground with her hand square in his solar plexus. Gasping for air, he curls into a ball when she crushes his balls between her palm and the pavement as she shakily gets up off of him.
Similar scenes play out across the platform though with far less painful results. Meanwhile at the new arrivals, Xingwei sticks her tongue out at Sunbeam, "Look, I know you're telling me that this is the effect of you not controlling the amount of magic you put into transporting. I still think that you could be using less than you normally do. No I haven't tried casting anything except the spell to learn to speak English and Simian. Yes I suppose I will see won't I."
Hermione cocks her head, "Xingwei, how is it you can understand Sunbeam?"
Xingwei turns to Hermione, "It's simple, phoenixes all speak a variation on colour tongue that takes place exclusively in the infrared. If you can see the infrared, which I can, it's something that it eminently learnable. Speaking it is difficult though."
As the group help the children get their luggage on the train, across the platform the few healers that have children going to Hogwarts this year start to heal the flash-blindness that's endemic amongst all of those who weren't on the train. This is in addition to the few Aurors, including Madam Bones, that are present, who had to have a refresher on the particular charm because of a suggestion by the head unspeakable.
Jean and Gene both itch to help the afflicted people, but they know that all they can do is get in the way of the actual healers while they provide symptomatic relief. As such the concentrate on helping the children onto the train with their trunks, and then go around helping get the patients to the healers rather than forcing the healers to look for the patients. As it stands, the first unfortunate they help has some injuries they can help with, as through a series of accidents precipitated by the blindness he has some scrapes and bruising. They help him over to one of the few benches to lie down and talk him through the pain of not being able to breath properly. Jean pulls some prescription strength co-codamol that she keeps on hand from the surgery, and has him swallow them with a sip of water while Gene bandages the scraped leg. Petunia hands the woman a cup of tea from her inventory and casts Scruberoo on both of them to help clean them up from their spill before heading off to do the same with other people around the platform. She calls Veild back from his wanderings to assist her, much to the dismay of many of the people that aren't blind, as something about seeing stars in his body is disconcerting.
Eventually, all of the children are boarded, and the train pulls out of the station 15 minutes late for the first time in it's history. The engine drivers push the engine harder much harder than normal so that they can make the various windows where their passage intersects with muggle trains.
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"Lore Keeper Grimtide, what have you found?"
"In 300AD according to the human calendar, the Romans sacrificed 3 covens to forge a direct connection to the theorised plane of magic. This drew the attention of the clans and we felt that they were going to use it to make war on us. When we found out that they were making a portal to the same plane in Londinium. As we didn't want them to have access to the ability to make more Sorcerers easily, the clans joined to attack the ritual. While we were unsuccessful in killing the sorcerer, we did successfully disrupt the ritual. This led to the death of everyone in the area apart from the sorcerer, including his wife who was going to be the first person he gave a connection to. It didn't destroy the portal, though it never finished stabilising.
"The Sorcerer then led a campaign against our clans, wiping out all of the larger clans and leaving Gringotts as the largest clan still remaining in the British isles. As we were the clan that finally managed to kill the Sorcerer, we were lauded amongst our people. However, it was the end of our magical superiority as a species in magical Britain. It was also the end of Roman magical superiority in magical Britain as well, so we recorded it as a win."
"Thank you Lore Keeper, with the reappearance of sorcerers this is now a board level secret. Lore keeper, I want you to find all records from that era of our history and put them under board seal. We do not want them to find out about this just in case our actions had unintended consequences on the other side of the portal."