Alright, I'm rejuvenated and that minor case of writer's block is gone so back to Harry Potter and the untapped potential that are the Kanker sisters. You know that episode where Ed, Edd and Eddy disappeared for most of the episode because they were trying to find a glove and the writers just focused on the Cul-de-Sac getting paranoid about what they might be doing and we got insight into their characters that normally isn't seen when the Ed's are around? Ever since I've been getting back into E,E and E, I've always thought there should've been an episode focusing on the Kanker sisters with the Ed's only coming in at the end through happenstance, but then again I was too young to be a story writer or a producer, so what do I know, I wasn't in the writing room. So we finally get the wizarding world, or one person from the wizarding world. I know that some of you will be disappointed that it wasn't Hagrid, but I felt that Hagrid going to see Harry was a special case. After all an eight and a half foot giant isn't something you see every day, even if his name is Andre. Besides, she's the deputy headmistress, this is sorta in the job description. I'm going to add Barbra as another important character in the cut backs, mainly because I'm really getting into her character and adding some interaction with a few adults is something I want to work with and I feel is necessary for the full story. And now, onto the show.
The Deputy Headmistress
Marie sent the letter with her reply later that day, the great grey vanishing into the disappearing sun. Since then she's been spending most of her time moping around the junkyard, finding used car parts and broken down engines and trying to make something with them. It wasn't really how she wanted to pass the time before she was carted off to Hogwarts, or as she called it 'The Wizarding Correctional Facility', but staying inside the trailer has gotten rather tense recently. Marie understood why her mother never told her that her father was a wizard and that she was a witch. If she had only a few days a year to spend with her children and they didn't want to relive bad memories, she would do what she did, but that didn't mean that she was happy about it. If anything, the main reason she decided to go to Hogwarts was to have a bit of petty revenge against her mother. Not seeing her on Christmas seemed like a great idea right now.
And that was just her mom. Her relationship was her sisters were even more strained. Lee was bitter about the entire situation. Whether it was because she had the wrong father, that Marie was 'leaving the pack' or because she saw it as another example of their mother's favoritism she didn't know. Lee wouldn't answer whenever she asked and more often than not treated her like she wasn't there, something Marie was not comfortable with. She was actually missing the constant fights they had whenever she tried to make a power grab and her older sister's brash confidence and was hoping that this separation was only temporary. And May, oh sweet naive May. She was now walking on eggshells around her, as if afraid that one wrong word would cause Marie to turn her into a frog. This aggravated her. Just because she was a witch doesn't mean that she had changed, so why the heck was May acting so paranoid around her? So yeah, better to remain as far away from that oppressing atmosphere for as long as possible every day, even if she got bored of trying to make a V6 engine from the seventies work long enough to power a pair of blenders that she'd throw trash into. As long as she kept busy.
This was unfortunately something that she could only do during the day, as once dark came she was back in the purgatory that was her domestic life, dealing with her siblings avoiding her like the plague, trying to read without feeling the need to rip out the pages and trash the living room and lying awake at night bittering cursing her lot in life. At times she felt as if she was the punching bag for the universe. Being illegitimately born into poverty and living most of your life in Englewood before moving to a trailer park in northern Wisconsin tends to cause one to adopt that sort of outlook in life. But throughout all of that she felt that as long as she had her family with her she could bare with it. Now, it seemed as if even that had been taken away from her. And even that she could stand, as she comforted herself with the knowledge that her siblings attitudes and her own anger would be only temporary, if it weren't for her education.
Many people knew her as the 'Smart Kanker' as she was definitely the most devious of her siblings but not many people knew just how smart she was. She didn't like to advertise it because it would completely ruin her tough girl image, but she was actually a honor student that regularly ranked in the top ten of the class and her dream (other than tying the knot with a certain sock hat wearing geek) was to go to college, something nobody in her family had ever done before. Knowing that she didn't have the money needed to pay the tuition, she hoped to get a massive scholarship that would've paid for it. Now however she might as well forget these dreams. From what she saw from the book list they didn't offer any of the subjects she needed to graduate from middle school, let alone high school. If she tried to follow her dream after Hogwarts, she would be lucky to get her GED by the time she was 25. That was what she resented the most, besides exiling her from her Oven mitt.
'My Oven mitt, god it's been two weeks since I've seen him hasn't it?' she thought as she spent a rainy afternoon trying to read a book on Artemisia Gentileschi. Key word being 'try' as she had been staring, lost in thought, at the same paragraph for the last ten minutes. Seen is a broad term though. She had spotted him wandering around the construction sight and the junkyard, sometimes with his friends and sometimes alone, looking for bit parts and reusable junk for whatever scam they were working on at that time, but she left him alone. She just didn't feel like bothering him or, considering that he never took anything during some of his solo expeditions, being bothered by him. She stopped participating in 'Ed hunting' as well, she just didn't feel in the mood right now. She had been starting to miss him though.
'Maybe I should see him before I go.' she thought half-heartedly. She looked over and saw her mom sitting at the table, doing a crossword puzzle. 'If she'll let me.' For some reason her mother hadn't gone into the auto shop today, even though this was one of the days where she didn't need to work at Antonucci's. Her mother had given an excuse of saying that there was no work to be had at the shop on a rainy day but Marie didn't buy that. Her mother never missed work unless it was for something important. Maybe that was why she couldn't concentrate on her book, she was just too tense, as if she were waiting for the other shoe to drop. She looked over at her sisters, who were sitting on the coach on the other side of the room, staring at the tv and watching a monster truck rally. She sighed depressingly. She wanted to be over there watching it with them, but May had flinched when had she started over there, so she instead went to the bookshelf and put as much distance between herself and her siblings as she could. She looked back at her book.
She had finally finished the page when she heard a knock on the door. Her mother jumped up and walked to the door, as if she had been expecting someone. "God I hope she didn't have a hard time getting here. The mailman has a hard enough time as it is." Ms Kanker opened the door and gave an apprehensive smile. "Ah Professor McGonagall, I hope the journey wasn't too difficult?" she asked politely. "For the most part it was alright, but the buses in this country really need to improve their accommodations." came a stern, yet kind voice that had a hint of a Scottish accent to it. "It took four hours to get here from Milwalkee and the sitting arrangements were some of the most uncomfortable I've ever had. Better than the Knight Bus but not up to any other public transportation back home." "Ouch, sorry about that. Why don't you come in Professor and get out of the rain?"
Barbra stepped aside and in stepped a formidable woman. She was about 5'9" and rather thin, with black haired speckled with a few small dashings of gray pulled back in a bun. Her thin lips were pursed together in a stony frown and a pair of square wire frame glasses accentuated her cat like amber eyes. She wore an emerald green pants suit with matching dress shirt and tie and a tartan blood red and gray vest along with a brown tartan overcoat and matching Sherlock Holmes hat that covered her ears. Marie already didn't have a good opinion of her, as she looked like a stereotypical harsh disciplinarian, and a Kanker and following the rules mixed as well together as nitro and glycerin. That opinion only worsened when Professor McGonagoll took off her hat and coat when Barbra offered to hang them up, causing her to look even more business like.
Professor McGonagall stared at her as if she were a curious specimen that she had placed under a microscope and didn't quite know what to make of it. "Would I assume that I addressing Marie Kanker?" she asked tersely. Marie stared up into her eyes, determined not to be the first one to blink. "Yes ma'am." she replied coldly. Professor McGonagall's eyebrows knitted together. "Your mother wrote to me about your reluctance to attend Hogwarts, so I will let this attitude of yours slide right now, but be warned, there are other students that do want to learn magic at our institution and you will not let that your attitude impact their ability to learn and enjoy their time there. If you are unable to follow this rule you will have detention with me for as long as you are unwilling to fix it. Am I clear?"
Marie failed. She blinked and she refused to look into Professor McGonagall's piercing gaze. She reminded her of Grandma Lois whenever they had gone to her house when she was alive. Just, firm and no nonsense, yet caring for young children, the perfect tough grandma. She stared at Professor McGonagall's short heeled shoes in an attempt to hide from her eyes. "Crystal." she said, unable to hide the bitterness from her voice.
Barbra saw that the tension in the room was building and desperately attempted to dissipate it. "Professor, why don't you sit down and I'll make some tea? Would you like a cup?" McGonagall turned toward Ms Kanker, allowing Marie to feel comfortable with looking at her face again. "Sure Barbra, do you have any Earl Grey?" Barbra smiled at McGonagall. 'Good, that worked. I didn't want Maire to be considered a problem child before she even got to England.' "Indeed I do. I tend to keep it for when my daughters get sick. Why don't you and Marie sit down at the table while I get the pot to a boil. Oh, Lee, May! Don't be rude to our guest. Turn off the tv and come join us at the table!" Marie heard her sisters grumble over on the other side of the room, but they turned off they tv and and came over towards the dining table. She looked at them out of the corner of her eyes and saw that May was looking at Professor McGonagall with petrified terror while Lee was glaring suspiciously at her.
This mismatched group sat down at the table in uncomfortable silence, McGonagall sitting primly as if she was back at her office talking to a wayward student, May sitting shakingly and rigidly as if expecting an axe murderer to burst into the house, Marie slouched forward and staring at her hands, refusing to look at McGonagall out of intimidation and Lee glowering at McGonagall as if everything that was going on was her fault. The only sound that was heard was the building whistle of the copper kettle in the other room. The analog clock seemed to tick loudly in Marie's head, the silent dull clunk echoing through her head with the force of a jackhammer. She looked at her fingernails and saw that the red nail polished was chipped and faded. 'I should really fix that, don't want to look too grubby for our guest.' she thought, her mood transitioning from pensive to disdain. Her eyebrows knitted as she glared at her hands and scowl crossed her face.
The whistling of the teapot died down after a moment before her mom reentered living room, carrying a wooden cheese board like a platter with the kettle and four mugs on top of it as well as a container of tea bags and sugar bags. "I'm sorry Professor, I only have tea bags, I know how much you liked tea leaves." McGonagall looked up at Ms Kanker and settled into a neutral mask. "That's fine Barbra, I've fallen out of favor with tea leaves thanks to one of my colleagues. Do you have any sugar?" "Yes, it's the white bags, the yellow one's are just artificial sweetener." McGonagall accepted the black mug that was offered to her and put a bag of Earl Grey in the mug, followed by three bags of sugar. She stirred the crystals into the liquid until it dissolved, tapping the small tea spoon nobly against the edge. She then watched how the rest of the Kanker's had their tea. Barbra had left for the kitchen to get a jar of honey, as McGonagall knew she enjoyed her tea with a spoonful of it. She saw that the ginger haired Lee prefered two bags of artificial sweetener and the blonde May was struggling to put eight bags of sugar into the tea, as her hands were constantly shaking. But Marie concerned her, as she just let her mug sit with no addition to the tea, much like her father did. She covered her frown with her mug, as a sip of scalding tea slipped down her throat.
Barbra soon returned and prepared her mug of tea before sitting down between McGonagall and May, seeing that her youngest daughter was on the verge of having a panic attack. Once everyone was gathered, McGonagall began speaking softly and clipply. "Now Barbra, you have informed me that young daughter, Miss Kanker here, while she has agreed to go to Hogwarts, is doing so under protest." "Yes." Marie responded loathingly, her glare finally returning to McGonagall's face. "Trust me, if it weren't because mom told me that there have been disastrous consequences for not learning magic, I would be going to the local public school right now." If McGonagall was insulted, she didn't show it, apart from the thinning of of her lips. "Indeed Miss Kanker. Wizard children without the proper training struggle to contain their magic, often to destructive and tragic consequences." Marie and her sisters flinched. They didn't want to know just how destructive those consequences were.
Barbra quickly cut in. "You have to understand Professor, see my daughter has always wanted to go to college one day and the main reason she's upset about this is because it will interfere with her dream." McGonagall sat back and rested her chin between the crest between her index finger and her thumb as she pondered this piece of information. While students wanting to wanting to continue their muggle schooling weren't unusual, nobody had wanted to do so in nearly 200 years and these were craftsmen skills, as these students in question needed education to inherit their parents' businesses, basic mathematics, accounting and in some cases literacy, but this is much more complicated. Barbra and by extension Marie were asking Hogwarts to allow her to study complex subjects like biology, ecology, physics, chemistry, calculus, algebra, classic literature and poetry, even political sciences like philosophy and judicial law. In essence they were asking them to let her learn two school curriculums.
"I can not guarantee that we'll be able to allow you to learn muggle subjects Miss Kanker." replied McGonagall, her eyes staring sympathetically at Marie. "Magical education is a complex and strenuous process at the best of times and if we allow you to study these subjects on top of what we teach, I fear that it will have a negative impact on your health. I have seen students who've taken only 9 to 10 subjects at Hogwarts devolve into hysterics and suffer mental breakdowns. I don't want to imagine what would happen to you taking 13 to 15 subjects in your first year, let alone the 15 to 18 subjects that you'll take in your third through fifth years." Marie's glare intensified. It didn't matter to her that McGonagall was showing her that she cared about her students ambitions, their welling being and their success, she saw her as the physical embodiment of a world trying to force her into their mold of what they wanted her to be.
"I can do it." She growled, her eyes blazing with determination and hatred. "I'll pass every subject put in front of me, wizard or otherwise. And I won't just pass, I'll be at the top of the class. Don't you dare underestimate me." Her sisters were looking at her with a sense of trepidation, mainly because they were worried about another bout of accidental magic (they've heard out how Marie committed arson by accident), Barbra was looking at her with a look of concerned pride, and McGonagall lips had pursed again, caught awkwardly between a frown and a thin smile. "Very well Miss Kanker," she spoke stiltedly. "I will talk with Professor Dumbledore to see if arrangements can be made for you. But I expect you to put as much effort into your magic classes as you would in your muggle ones, am I clear?" Marie stared at her with slight surprise. She had thought that she wouldn't have agreed to at least help her and yet she did. 'Maybe I should give her more of a chance. It's not her fault that I have inherited magic from dad.' "Yes ma'am." She said with slight awe.
McGonagall reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope before handing it to Marie. "Now onto business. Professor Dumbledore and I had arranged a series of flights to London, as well as your accommodations once you arrive. Inside that envelope are your plane tickets as well as directions to the inn you'll be staying at." Marie opened the envelope and founding the tickets and a piece of parchment with directions to some place called the Leaky Cauldron as well as something unexpected, a small brass key. "What is this?" she asked. "That is the key to your trust vault at Gringotts, the International Wizard Bank." Marie and her sister stared at the key in stunned silence, as neither of them had ever had a bank account and now Marie had just been given one as easily as if she had been passed a bowl of cereal.
While the Kanker sisters were staring at the key with childlike wonder, Barbra whispered to McGonagall. "Professor, I've never taken her to her father's vault, she doesn't know about what's inside it. I can't even access it. So, just try to be patient with her when she sees it." "I treat all my students fairly Barbra, you don't need to worry about how I'll take her reaction to her finances." "Professor," Barbra whispered nervously. "I can't even give her an allowance. Most of the cash she's gotten was stolen by her or her siblings." McGonagall frowned. "I see. Don't worry, if things go south I'll set things back on course." Ms Kanker nodded gratefully as her daughters broke out of their stupor. McGonagall looked back at the three girls and saw that they were looking neutrally at her.
"The first flight will you from the Austin Straubel International Airport to O'Hare and from there the next one will take you to Heathrow." "Wait, O'Hare?!" Marie exclaimed sethingly. "Are you telling me that I have to get out in Chicago?!" McGonagall looked coldly at Marie. "The airlines we put you down for are United Express and Britiah Airways respectively. The only airport United Express planes go to from Austin Straubel is O'Hare, which is the closest British Airways line there is." "Lady, I spent my formative years in Englewood. I saw fifteen murders before we moved here back when I was eight and I lived in a dilapidated apartment with busted electricity and one bathroom per floor for the entire apartment block. I have plenty of reasons not to go to Chicago." "Well unless you want to have your mother take another two hours just to go Milwaukee Mitchell and take the line to Newark." McGonagall stated strictly, "You're going to have to put your anger behind you." Marie folded her arms and put her head on it. She'd be daft if she said that she would be more willing to go to New Jersey than to Chicago.
Marie looked down at the tickets and found a third ticket there. "And this?" She asked. "That is a ticket for the London Rail system and it will allow you to get to Paddington station and then to King's Cross if you remain in the station. Paddington is connected to Heathrow, so you'll be able to get to Camden easily." Marie put don't the ticket and picked up the instruction sheet. "And the Leaky Cauldron? Why am I staying there and not at a Marriott, or the Berkeley." "Because that is the entrance to the Magical London's shopping district. It is primarily for proximity and safety. The barkeeper Tom, is a friend of Dumbledore's and should be able to keep you from encountering any unsavory characters, unlike muggle hotels which would just ask questions of why an eleven year old girls are staying at a hotel without their parents." 'Well, can't really argue with that logic.' she thought as she put the items back in the envelope.
McGonagall finished her tea before setting it down gently on the table. "That seems to be about it. Your first flight leaves at 2:25 pm on the 27th and your second flight leaves O'Hare leaves the same day at 8:35. I will meet you at the Leaky Cauldron on the 29th to help you buy your supplies and tell you how to get onto the school train." This shocked Marie and her siblings. "Wait, she's going there by train?" Lee gruffly asked. "I thought your kind would have magical transportation or could teleport." McGonagall breathed heavily through her nostrils, looking reminiscent of an angry bull. "We do have ways to travel magically and what you call 'teleporting' is practiced by adult wizards, it is a tradition for students to take the school train to the castle. Are there anymore questions you would like to ask?"
Lee didn't move, as she just glared at McGonagall, but May timidly and quietly asked. "Uh yes. What's a muggle? You keep using that word to describe some of the subjects Marie wants to learn." McGonagall shifted her gaze to May and her eyes softened, putting the timid 10 year old at ease. "A muggle is a term used to describe people that don't have magic, though North American wizards prefer the term nomage Miss Kanker. I was using the term to describe your studies, as while wizarding subjects like Potions and Herbology involve aspects of Chemistry and Horticulture respectively, they are not they primary focus in terms of understanding like it is in the muggle world." McGonagall then took out her pocket watch and looked at the time. "I really must be leaving Barbra. I have other new students I need to meet back in Britain. Thank you for the tea."
McGonagall rose and moved to the coat rack, Ms Kanker following close behind her. "Minerva, it was great to see you again." Ms Kanker said as McGonagall put on her tartan coat and hat. "Do you need a ride to the airport? I don't want you to take the bus again," McGonagall strode towards the door and opened it, the continuous bombardment of the rain pelting the metal step and the mud. "I thank you for the offer but I'll have to decline. I'll just aparate to a small hill I saw outside of Chicago and take the direct flight. It'll take no more than an hour. I hope you have a pleasant evening." And then she left, the only sound besides the rain being the single sound of a crack similar to a bullwhip.
Well that was over. One last chapter before we head to Diagon Alley and more drama. I do intend to give McGonagall more of a role in this, not so much as Marie's mentor but more of a guidance counselor. I just hope I can characterise her right. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next time.
