Inexcusable Rudeness
Dudley huffed as he finally got both his and Harry's trunks overhead in the train compartment that he and Hermione had claimed for the ride home.
"I have no idea how Harry is so comfortable carrying you around," he muttered as he held his arm such that he could see Najash hiding in his sleeve, "I keep thinking I'm gonna bump you against something and hurt you."
He groaned when he heard Hermione snickering behind him, "I doubt you could do better with two trunks."
"I offered to help." She retorted, Hedwig hooted at him from her cage above them, "See, even she thinks you should have let me."
"Then you can get your own trunk."
"No problem." she answered with a smirk, flicking out her wand and levitating her trunk into position in the overhead with a softly incanted "Wingardium Leviosa." When she looked back, Dudley had a sour look on his face, "Are you a wizard or not?" She chided, "We both know we can still use magic on the train."
Neville and Justin joined them just before the train departed. They had wondered where Neville was since they boarded the carriages to the train platform; but Justin was a surprise to see, as they were sure he wouldn't have been let out of the Hospital Wing yet after magically exhausting himself the night before.
"Sorry I missed you guys at the carriages," Neville explained his tardiness, "Professor Sprout wanted to ask me some questions about my family's gardens after installing that muggle irrigation system, now that it's had some time."
"Oh! How is it?" Hermione asked excitedly, "Aunt Petunia says that the greenhouses on the Isle are doing well."
While the Gryffindors talked about plants, Dudley checked on his own Housemate. Justin still sometimes had issues with certain spells, and he'd totally exhausted himself the previous evening in Defense. "You okay? I was sure Madame Pomphrey was keeping you today."
"Yeah mate, I don't know what it is with that water spell." He answered, "I always have to fight to make it stop, and it looks like I get tired before you guys when I use it."
"Could some people just be better with certain elements and worse at others? Like how Seamus Finnegan makes fire a lot by accident?" Hermione inquired, showing that she was capable of following both conversations at once, "I wonder if he has trouble with water-based spells."
"I'm more interested in how you and Harry were able to get the geyser spell that Professor Quirrel taught us while using the wrong incantation." Neville pressed, he and many others had been annoyed when the Professor glossed over that, no points given or taken, and didn't let anyone ask questions.
Hermione frowned as she thought of how to answer that question in a way that wouldn't insult Neville, while Justin asked Dudley what he was talking about since the 'Puffs had Defense at a different time. They had recently been taught an offensive water spell in Defense class alongside a simple drying spell to get rid of rain or other relatively clean water. Professor Quirrell taught them all a new incantation, as well as a wand movement that was remarkably similar to the one for the regular Aguamenti spell. Harry hadn't been impressed when he practiced it at his desk; and when his turn to demonstrate for the class came he cast Aguamenti instead, resulting in a concentrated jet of water just as strong as any of the ones created by the new spell.
Harry had mouthed the word 'funnel' to Hermione as he sat down, and she quickly understood; the different incantation and wand movement prompted your magic to funnel itself, increasing the strength of the water flow. Or maybe it simply funneled the water, it didn't really matter though; it wasn't really a different spell. Realizing that, Hermione was able to replicate Harry's feat on her second try. She did notice that it was a little more tiring than doing it the Professor's way, though.
Coming back to the present, Hermione began her explanation, "Well, I think that the incantation and wand movements are just meant to guide your magic, I think. So Harry and I just changed how we were visualizing the spell working. I mean, magic has to be older than the Roman Empire, but pretty much every incantation we use is Latin."
"Ooh, Ooh!" Dudley grinned and bounced as he fought to control the volume of his voice, "Harry cast a spell in parseltongue this morning! I can't believe I forgot! Professor Mcgonagall said that you can cast spells in any language, she said countries where the language doesn't come from Latin use other things."
The other three didn't even know what to say to that, until Justin asked, "What did it sound like? Creepy?"
"Yeah," Dudley confirmed, "like always. But wicked awesome, too."
"So the actual language doesn't matter?" Hermione mused aloud, lost in her head, "I wonder why we don't cast spells in English then?"
"The Professor said something about 'Arithmancy' making some spells sound silly," Dudley supplied, earning a slight frown from Hermione when he finished with, "whatever that is."
The four friends spent an amicable time discussing spell language, their fledgling friendship with Draco apparently kept the Slytherins away. But they were visited about halfway to King's Cross by a very apologetic Cedric Diggory.
"Oh, I was really hoping Harry would be here." He said after apologizing for intruding, "I wrote my father again, begging him to drop this thing in the Wizengamot but he hasn't been answering since I started trying to change his mind."
"Harry left the school early with Ms. Acacia, our magical guardian." Dudley answered him, "He wanted to be there for Sirius today. They're gonna meet us at King's Cross unless it runs too late."
"Right, makes sense." Cedric nodded, "Well, as bad as it is, I'm rooting for him. I intend to ask my father over the break why he is so adamant over the werewolf thing. His letters indicated that was the root of it."
"Thanks Cedric," Dudley smiled and shook the boy's hand before he could turn to leave, "I'm glad you stopped by."
Dudley, Hermione, Justin, and Neville waited a couple minutes after the train arrived at the platform before getting their things together; this let them make their way off the train without having to deal with crowds. Upon disembarking, it was easy to pick out Petunia, Ms. Acacia rather, and Remus from the small crowd of people that were standing inexplicably near them, though not so close as to be considered rude enough to be told off.
"Who's that?" Neville asked, indicating Petunia and thereby reminding his friends that they hadn't explained who she was; prompting a quick, quiet, explanation that she was their secret magical guardian to prevent questions that might blow her cover later. Even as they approached, Neville seemed oblivious; but Justin appeared to recognize Petunia under her disguise.
"Did you guys win? Sirius?" Dudley asked as soon as they made it to Harry, Moony, and Ms. Acacia; giving both adults a quick hug to help avoid suspicion.
"We can discuss this after we have gotten the two of you home, and I'm sure that Harry will be happy to tell you all about it over the telephone tonight, Hermione." Ms. Acacia answered, relieved that it was her son who asked. Hermione would have fired a million questions off and be far less likely to accept a 'later,' as the answer, "So, how did you enjoy your trip?"
While the two described their train ride home and what they had learned about spells and language, though without mentioning parseltongue, Remus surreptitiously glanced around at those loitering nearby. The confrontation with Lucius Malfoy hadn't exactly been quiet, nor without its own looky-loos, and he felt he recognized a few of these faces from earlier at the Ministry. In particular, he knew for a fact that the man towards the back was Rita Skeeter's photographer, Bozo.
"Forgive me, Ms. Acacia," Remus interrupted, hamming up his deference to the woman for their audience, "I know you don't get to see the children as often as you would like, but they need to be returned to the Dursleys before they start to worry."
"Yes, of course." She answered, Having recognized Bozo, if not any of the others around them, "You will see your friends soon, I'm sure, but Remus is correct; Hermione, your parents are waiting for you outside the barrier. I daresay the same is true for the young man here as well." Leaning in to give the girl a goodbye hug, she whispered, "Dear, a Prophet photographer is here, have your father go somewhere for a late lunch or early dinner rather than straight home. Warn Justin on your way, please."
"Yes ma'am." Hermione answered, fighting the urge to look around for the man in question as she returned the hug with vigor.
"I don't believe your Grandmother came over from the Wizengamot meeting, Mister Longbottom." Remus said after realizing the boy was still loitering around them, Augusta would have said hello if she were on the platform as well.
"Uh, no sir. My Great Uncle is over by the floo," he answered as he pointed to the person in question, who had a surly look on his face as he, very dramatically, checked the time on his pocket watch. Something he probably had been doing frequently, as the floo attendant rolled her eyes at him behind his back when she saw.
"Well he seems like a lot of fun." Harry muttered, remembering the story Neville had told him of that particular uncle dropping him out of a window on 'accident' to get him to show accidental magic.
When they got to the floo, Remus held Harry and Dudley back for a moment, allowing Ms. Acacia to use it by herself, then sent the pair through after her. His own destination was different from theirs though, his werewolf senses couldn't handle being in Mrs. Figg's home for any length of time and he needed to head by Gringotts before he saw Sirius again anyways.
Behind them, Bozo was wondering what he was supposed to tell his boss. He had followed 'Ms. Acacia' because he was convinced that she was actually Petunia Dursley. He certainly took enough pictures of Potter's muggle family to recognize them, but now he was at a loss. This person had taken the floo out of King's Cross on her own, so she really was a squib!
"Well, did you get anything?" Rita Skeeter, his boss, asked from behind him after he'd walked away from the floo, spooking him into jumping. He hated how she seemed to just appear whenever there was no one else around.
"No," He answered, "It looked like the Acacia woman could have been in disguise, thought I mighta recognized her, but I was wrong. Didn't get many chances for a really good shot after she hugged the kids, either; got that one though. Also got a good one of Acacia right as she entered the floo ahead of Potter and his cousin. Left 'em with the werewolf."
"Yes," She smiled, glad to have something to show for this after having lost the Granger girls vehicle in the mass of muggle automobiles, "an article speculating on the mysterious woman who secretly holds the guardianship of the Boy-Who-Lived while Dumbledore pretends to do so will definitely make the front page."
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"Thank you, I'm sorry to bother you on such short notice." Professor Mcgonagal apologized as she entered the Durlsey residence rather early the next morning. "I also must ask you to excuse the tone of my letter, I was rather distraught when I was writing it."
"Try to avoid mentioning the possibility of death without proper explanation in the future, Professor." Petunia answered with an angry glare, "Vernon and I haven't slept a wink last night wondering what could be wrong. Harry and Dudley didn't have any idea."
"Once again, I'm sorry," she returned, "it isn't about any of yours. I need your help with a new muggleborn family I met yesterday. They are intending to pass on magical schooling for all three of their children! In the past I wouldn't have felt I had any recourse, I can't say I've ever been close enough to a muggle family to be comfortable asking favours, but I was hoping that you would be amenable to speaking with them about this." Seeing Petunia's shocked expression, she elaborated, "They didn't seem put-off by magic in general. But when they learned that all three children were magical they were worried. After looking over some of the literature on the school and supplies they said that it wouldn't be worth the cost."
"You didn't explain to them what it means for a muggleborn to reject magic in Britain?" Petunia asked, aghast.
"I'm afraid that all Hogwarts Staff take an oath that is similar to those given by Ministry officials concerning how we may interact with muggles while performing official duties, even the parents of muggleborn." Mcgonagal sighed dejectedly, "Ostensibly, it is to protect Secrecy, but I am literally compelled not to volunteer anything about how wrong the decision they are making is. Despite that, I tried telling them how wonderful Hogwarts would be for the children, and the young ones seemed most interested; but the parents did not want to hear it."
The Dursley family didn't know how they were supposed to react to that, giving Professor Mcgonagal a chance to continue, "I wasn't even sure if the Oath would let me do this, but it seems that either because you already know, or because you are a squib, I can ask you to intercede."
"Give me a moment to call Remus." Petunia said with fire in her eyes that she was doing her level best to keep out of her voice after clarifying some things with the Professor, "Have you already arranged to meet with the family again?"
"Yes, I informed them that I would be bringing someone by today for one more consultation before accepting their rejections." Mcgonagal answered, missing Petunia's wince when she said she 'informed them', "They are also aware of the fact that their memories will be erased if they refuse. They actually seemed relieved."
"But it wasn't that they were against magic was it?" Vernon asked while his wife stepped into the other room, "If the family is religious or something then it could be impossible to convince them. They can be as adamant about that as some of your pure bloods."
"No, it didn't seem so," the Professor replied as she thought back to the encounter, "they appeared interested until they started looking at the paperwork dealing with things such as supplies."
Petunia called Vernon into the kitchen to speak privately for a moment while the Professor enjoyed tea with Dudley and Harry. Vernon shuddered as he left the family room, his son was asking Mcgonagal if she would help him learn to turn into an animal when he was old enough…
"What are we going to do if Dudley comes home one day and turns into a bull or a horse?" He asked Petunia quietly.
"We will congratulate him and ask him to refrain from changing inside, so as not to break my nice china." She answered with a snicker, "Vernon, I don't like this. What do you think?"
"From what I heard, this family is either strapped for money or they were sorely put off by the Professor's demeanor. Her description made her sound like she probably came off abrasive to them."
"But she said there was assistance for muggleborn families." Petunia shook her head in frustration, "Should I take one of the boys as well? So they can talk to them about the school? I called Remus last night and he was planning to meet us here. I can call him back and ask him to meet us at the Leaky Cauldron, and then ask if one of the boys wants to come."
"You're going to make them feel invaded."
Petunia smirked, "I think I have a way to get their attention, because I agree with you about Minerva."
It was easy for Petunia, once again disguised as Ms. Acacia because her hair was still dyed, to convince Minerva to eat brunch with Harry while she and Remus handled something at Gringotts. On the way there, he filled her in on the specifics of what the goblins had found on Dumbledore; another case of ineptness rather than malice, it seemed. On the way back, she explained why she'd asked him to meet her here with no other warning, as well as her suspicions of the Professor's conduct. The whole trip took almost no time since they only tarried in Gringotts long enough to confirm with Axegut that they would be ready to meet with the Headmaster at the end of the break.
After the four double-side along apparated away, several patrons of the pub began whispering among themselves. Harry Potter and Remus Lupin were easily recognizable, but the woman with them was clearly the one in charge. Many of them were sure they'd seen her in the Alley or Cauldron before, but none of them could place when it was.
They arrived a small distance from the home they were visiting so that the Professor could verify that the family hadn't contacted non magical authorities over yesterday's incident, raising yet another red flag in Petunia's mind. Before they progressed, she asked that their robes be transfigured into something muggle; Remus ended up doing so when the professor asserted that that wouldn't be necessary.
Her first assessment of the home was that it was pleasant, her second was that it was too small for a family of five and located in a less-than-ideal area of town. She wasn't entirely sure what the tuition for muggleborn students was, as all of her wards were given legacy rates for being part of the Potter Family, but she could see how they might be worried. It bothered her, though, that there didn't seem to be adequate safety nets in place considering how important this was. Something else to speak with Andromeda and Sirius about when she got the chance. Harry wasn't oblivious to things either, he had clearly understood the undertones earlier; and his expression soured when his Professor talked so casually about this family not trusting her.
The lack of a vehicle in the driveway annoyed Petunia further, "You did tell them when to expect us, didn't you?"
"I told them I would return today before the afternoon," Minerva answered, "it is a muggle holiday isn't it? I did not think it would be a problem."
Petunia sighed and simply indicated for the witch to knock on the door and start the introductions, she had a feeling this was going to result in a headache.
"I hoped you were only joking about coming back," the woman who answered the door said with a scowl, "no sales pitch or student perk is going to change things. Are these the 'liaisons' you mentioned before vanishing from our kitchen yesterday?"
"Yes, ma'am." Petunia said, stepping forwards to offer her hand, "My name is Peony Acacia. Before we continue, I noticed that the drive is empty; is your husband at work?"
"Er, yes," the woman looked worried, "he couldn't take off work, and this woman didn't stay long enough for us to tell her he didn't have the day off."
"Professor, I am disappointed." Petunia affected the more official tone she invented for Ms. Acacia and turned on the woman, "I expected a misunderstanding after our discussion this morning, but this is beyond the pale."
"But…P-... Ms. Acacia, I…" the witch stuttered, confused by the aggression in the other woman's voice.
"Remus can take Harry and I home when we are finished, assuming this kind woman is willing to speak with us." She fixed the Professor with a glare, "Your services will not be required, I am sure there is some other school matter you could direct your attention to."
Mcgonagal was appalled at being attacked in such a way but, unnoticed by her, the swift dismissal scored points for 'Ms. Acacia' in the mother's eyes. When the Professor left, the remaining three were invited inside.
"I suppose the least I can do is hear what you have to say," the muggleborns' mother said as they entered, "I'm Sarah Creevey. My daughter is taking a nap in the back room at the moment. She has a fever, so if you could keep that in mind I would appreciate it."
"Minerva told us you have three magical children?"
"My sons are at school, it's a half-day today so the bus should be dropping them off in the next hour." Sarah answered.
"Well, let me introduce these two young men as well." Ms. Acacia went on to introduce Remus as her financial steward, and Harry as her ward and nephew. That prompted a round of explanations that they were not representatives of the school and were technically going around the normal channels to be there, which set off visible alarms for Mrs. Creevey. During the explanation, the school bus came by and the Creevey boys, Colin and Dennis, came home extremely excited to be on break.
"We had no desire to intrude," Remus offered when the older children, eleven and nine to their sister's six, returned and began making a small ruckus, "if you'd like, we can come back another time so your husband can be present? Having seen the apparition point that the Professor used, I could bring Ms. Acacia back at a time of your choosing."
"Why would you need to bring her? Couldn't she come herself?" Sarah Creevey asked as her curiosity got the better of her.
"Because I am what is called a 'squib.'" She answered, "Generally considered to be the opposite of your children. I can see magic, but I cannot cast spells. If it helps, I live a non magical life for the most part; telephones and television, my husband drives the family car to work, more or less what you would consider normal outside of when I have to deal with actual witches and wizards."
"Charlie took a short route today because the boys were getting home early." Sarah admitted, "He should be home fairly soon if you wouldn't mind waiting for him. I need to get the boys started on their homework for the break or they'll be rushing at the last minute."
"I could help them if you want." Harry offered, "I need a refresher on non magical stuff anyways, since Hogwarts only has magic classes."
With Harry's help, the boys finished most of their math and science homework before their father got home. Meanwhile, Remus and Petunia told Sarah in simple terms what the Ministry wouldn't about binding her children's magic. Mrs. Creevey was so distraught at the implications that she needed to calm down before she could begin to tell her guests why, exactly, they were looking at skipping Hogwarts. In that time, her husband returned home and was angry to find his wife so emotional.
"Now see here," he began after shushing his wife, "that Mcgonagal woman barely gave us a chance to speak when she was here before! We understand how nice you think your school is, but it isn't for us."
"Charlie hold on." Sarah whispered, "Just listen to them, we have to figure something out!" Turning to the others she added, "I don't know what to do. There's just no way we can afford the school with the way things are now."
"I don't mean to be rude," Ms. Acacia said, "because I genuinely do not know; but isn't there some sort of financial assistance from the Ministry for Magic regarding cases like this?"
"Oh, there is." Mr. Creevey nodded, "But even if it applied for each child, we wouldn't be able to put all three of them through on our budget; and the assistance only goes to the first child per family. The Professor said that Colin wouldn't be allowed to teach his siblings or they would all get in trouble, so we didn't think it would be fair for him to learn and not the others."
"But if they don't go to that school they'll die." Sarah hissed in his ear, prompting a new round of explanation from Remus and Ms. Acacia about magical bindings and the effect they had on young people. "We have to figure something out, maybe I could try to get another part-time job as well! There's a day-care in town."
While the adults were talking, Harry was helping the other two boys finish their math homework. Though he had always been fairly good at arithmetic, the young wizard had a renewed interest due to his new knowledge of how math affected incantations. Colin and Dennis weren't big fans of math, themselves, but the idea that it was magical was keeping them on-task, as it had for their science homework a few minutes before. Colin even commented that they might only have their book reports to do after Harry was done with them.
"Can you show us any magic, Harry?" Dennis asked after finishing one of his final worksheets.
"I'll show you guys some cool stuff I've learned when we finish this subject, how's that sound?"
The pair grinned and turned their noses back to their worksheets, finishing them in record time for the Creevey children. Instead of showing them any magic right away, Harry checked over their quick work for errors while asking them what books they had to read for their reports. The boys didn't seem like they were big readers, Colin in particular was clearly a very visual person and had pictures he had taken all over the walls; but Harry was insistent that Colin actually read the book he had been assigned.
"The Magician's Nephew is great. Narnia is one of my favorite series." He'd said.
After having the boys correct the questions they had gotten wrong in their haste, Harry finally sat them down and prepared to show them some magic.
"Moony and Ms. Acacia are trying to convince your parents to let you come to Hogwarts." He explained, "Hopefully, if they do it, you guys can work on your magic a little before you start Hogwarts as well, though not with wands cause the Ministry can track that. While I'm casting, try and see if you can feel what's happening. Lumos."
The Creevey brothers' eyes grew wide as Harry's hand glowed with a bright white light. While they examined his hand, he focused on increasing the amount of magic he was putting off, trying to get the boys to feel the magic in the room. He couldn't get the boys to feel anything no matter how bright he made the light, nor could they sense anything when he levitated the desk they had been working at. Frustrated, Harry agreed to levitate the boys directly, forcing quite a bit of power into it and setting them to laughing as they said it felt like he was tickling them.
"What is going on in here!" The boys' father shouting from the door to their room drew Harry's attention and he almost lost Dennis. Behind the father, Harry could hear a girl intermittently laughing and coughing as well, they must have woken up the youngest one as well.
Carefully putting the two down, Harry turned and answered, "I helped them finish their science and math homework, sir. They asked if I could show them some magic after they finished. I'm sorry to have worried you, is everything alright?"
"Finished on the first day? All the math?" Mr. Creevey drew up short for a moment, "Son, while I appreciate you helping them with their homework, you shouldn't lead them on. I'm still not sure we'll be able to send them." Harry could see the man wince when he said that. "Why did whatever you were doing with them wake up Rachel?"
"Um, I was making lights earlier," Harry explained, "trying to use enough magic that Colin and Dennis could feel it rather than just see it. That's why I ended up levitating them, I guess I used enough power that she felt it too. They said it felt like I was tickling them when I finally got there."
While Harry was explaining to the confused Creevey parents, Petunia, standing behind them, leaned to Remus and whispered, "I've never been the best at handling money, but I know I've been rather free with it recently. Can we help them?"
"You or Harry could do it, though Ms. Acacia is going to need to find a way to keep her finances up if she keeps with the acts of charity." He answered after a moment to think.
"I wonder how hard that would be to set up?" She mused aloud, drawing a confused expression from her werewolf companion, "To set up some sort of charity for helping those from poorer families afford Hogwarts… Not even just muggleborn, Andromeda explained to me that there are actually some pureblood families that choose to homeschool children after the first because of the cost of Hogwarts, not that muggleborns ever get that option. Of course, only the 'less-pure' pureblood families tend to have multiple children, so the Ministry doesn't care. I have new respect for the Weasleys for making ends meet to put all of their children through so far. I certainly understand how they could have thought that giving Ronald a family wand was an acceptable cut."
In a moment of clarity, Remus' mind returned to his pranking days with the Marauders as he continued her line of thought, "If the charity included some kind of support system for the students outside of school as well it would be excellent." He grinned, "And if that support included seminars or the like to introduce new muggleborn students to Magical society, especially customs and the like, it could even gain some traction with other Light and Neutral families."
"So you think if we started it, we could get support?"
"I think you should explain magical guardianship to the Creeveys." He answered, "At the very least, if they let Ms. Acacia take that roll from Hogwarts; they will have more time before the Ministry gets involved." He glanced back at the family, "We should bring this up with Sirius as well, multiple big Families getting their names involved will make others want to follow just for the PR."
"So we can get all the information the Magical Ministry isn't telling us at this 'Gringotts' place?" Mr. Creevey asked a little later, after hearing Ms. Acacia's offer, "Are you sure you're willing to do this for us? I mean, we've only just met."
"We're sure." Came the response, "I've been rather disenchanted with the magical world since I began interacting with it more frequently. I believe that changes need to be made, and I think Harry agrees with me." Harry nodded sternly when addressed. He really wanted Colin and Dennis to come to Hogwarts; their well being notwithstanding, they both played football!
"Um, pardon me if it's personal," Sarah asked, "but why would you and Harry's opinions matter so much? Who are you in the magical world?"
It was well after lunch time when they left the Creevey household, the family had been starstruck to learn that they were talking to a lord's heir, magical or not. After explaining the nature and prestige of the Potter Family to them, Ms. Acacia had gone on to give quick details of the war against Voldemort and how it ended. Harry wasn't quite as keen on Colin Creevey going to Hogwarts by the time they departed, he had quickly shifted from enthusiastic listening to fanboyish fawning.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Remus had said before they began to depart, "but I need to be at the Lodge soon. I'm really sorry ma'am."
"Hmm?" Ms. Acacia stopped herself from continuing to talk about Harry and Dudley, "Oh dear! I completely forgot! Charlie, Sarah, I'm so sorry but we have to leave you for today." She took a notepad from her purse and scribbled her home phone number, "This is my number, please call after you've gotten a chance to speak with the goblins."
"Is something wrong, why are you in such a hurry?" Charlie Creevey asked.
Deciding that there was no point in hiding it if they were going to become the Creeveys' Magical Guardian, Ms. Acacia answered, "Remus is a werewolf and, unfortunately, it is a full moon tonight. Harry's family has a hunting lodge in the Scottish woodlands where he goes to transform."
"There's a metal kennel there," Remus expounded, "that I transfigured into silver and lock myself in. I promise, I'm completely safe at any other time of the month."
The Creeveys just nodded, after everything else they'd learned in the last two days "also, that nice guy you just met is a werewolf," was nothing. Colin whipped out his camera and snapped another picture of Remus after learning though, despite having been told off for that by his parents multiple times when he'd take surprise shots of Harry.
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"You want to what?" Sirius asked Moony to repeat himself, he had to be joking. That or he was still a little light-in-the-head from his transformation the night before and speaking nonsense.
"Harry and Petunia want to do it, it was just my idea to get you involved." Remus answered, "A charity for underprivileged magicals," he smirked, "Petunia wants to legitimize her 'Magical Guardian for Hire' business."
"You said something about 'introduction to magic' seminars?"
"That was also my idea." Remus admitted, "At first, I thought it would be a good way to get Neutral families, as well as the Light ones that are more anti-muggleborn than most, to pitch in. But with the Black family as one of the founders of the charity? I think some Dark families would donate; either to get on your good side, or out of a false belief that you are pushing their values on the muggleborn. Despite everything that's happened there are still families on both sides that think you're a 'true Black' through-and-through."
"But it isn't just muggleborns this'll be helping." Sirius asserted, "You're also going to be helping poorer magical families as well?"
"We figured there should be an 'introduction to the non magical world' for those students, having a sturdy leg in both societies is probably the best thing for families in that situation anyways, but there's no reason to advertise that until it's set up." Remus grinned, "Wouldn't want to scare away potential donors before they've contributed."
"Would Petunia, er… Ms. Acacia, be the Magical Guardian for all the muggleborn students involved?" Temperance asked, the first input she'd given on the subject, "Or would you be looking for others on a case-by-case basis?"
"Their answer to that was inspired. Vernon came up with it. He said we should look for muggleborn and squibs who had to leave the magical world and get them involved. Petunia wanted to prioritize squibs, as she felt that her not having the ability to cast spells made her less threatening to the Creevey family, but she also wanted to make sure that everyone chosen was involved in both the magical and non magical worlds."
"What's the goal on that front?" Sirius inquired.
"To replace Hogwarts Professors as the default Magical Guardians for muggleborn." Remus answered, only now realizing that that would be the end result if this worked as well as Petunia and Harry wanted it to, "Ideally, all muggleborn would get a Magical Guardian who actually has time to help them and answer questions. Pitching it the right way could get support from both sides of the aisle in the Wizengamot, but we would need to be very careful about who we actually got involved."
"I'll talk to Andi about it next time I see her," Sirius offered, "I like the plan."
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It was four days later that the Creevey family called the number Ms. Acacia had given them to organize meeting again to transfer their children's Magical Guardianship. They met at a cafe near the Creeveys' home without the children so that she could tell them her real identity. Petunia was worried that they would be cross with her for lying about something like that, but they understood the 'why' of it fairly quickly after her explanation of anonymity and safety. At the end of a wonderful lunch, Ms. Peony Acacia had three more Magical Wards; and a new talking point to address with the Headmaster when they met him the day before the children returned to Hogwarts.
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Minerva Mcgonagal winced when she saw the handwriting on the letter on her desk. Peony Acacia, Petunia Dursley; the woman had been furious at her last Friday. She hadn't heard anything else from them since that confrontation, where she had effectively left the lives of three children in the squib's hands. Opening the letter and silently praying to Merlin and Morganna that Petunia had succeeded, Minerva began reading.
"Professor Mcgonagal,
I have taken the Magical Guardianship of the Creevey children, you should receive
confirmation from Gringotts of this soon. I cannot express how disappointed I am in how
you have handled this situation, and I shudder to think how many families were turned
away from magic by such a superiority complex as was shown to Charlie and Sarah.
You may expect Colin to attend in September, and in the interim may I recommend some
'English culture for dummies' books? They might help in future interactions with non
magical parents... "
The letter berated both the professor and the Ministry for almost two sheets of muggle paper. Minerva was indignant at first, angry at the confrontational tone of the other woman; but as she had the specific mistakes she made that day laid bare in writing she was forced to concede that if it her home and she was as dismissive as she had been then she would have thrown herself out.
AN: I have another chapter ready to go for next week, but the current state of the world is making it hard to stay motivated. I'm a very introverted person, I like being alone at home and writing... until I can't do anything else besides that and work... I'm still writing, but it's looking like 1-2 chapters a month for a while may be the pace I'm going until I get proper motivated again. I will still only post new content on Wednesdays.
