Chapter 5: Nations

Hermione stared at the image of the albino German. This book wasn't a hoax, right? Her eyes narrowed and examined the two pictures. Where there any differences? Was this a vintage photo? That, she didn't know. Hermione looked at the next pair of photos.

In the next pair of photos, it contained a picture of the French judge from last year, Francis Bonnefoy, in a colour photo. In this photo, he had a glass of wine, while he looked down at the city lights. Next to the colour photo, was a black and white photo of Bonnefoy. Bonnefoy stood under the Eiffel tower with Kirkland, (Kirkland looked pretty pissed in this photo). The caption of this photo was; the completion of the Eiffel tower. There was a small date written next to the caption; March 1889.

Hermione stared at the photo. She knew she would have to confront Kirkland now that the evidence was undeniable; something was up with Kirkland, and she was going to get to the bottom of it. After all, if he was a young man in that photo, that would make Kirkland older than Dumbledore! But he still looked as young as ever, and yet, he doesn't have the typical signs of a vampire, so he must be a nation, or something similar.

On Monday, Hermione slid the book into her bag before heading to HoM. Kirkland's lessons were entertaining as usual, more so than Binns had been(though she would never admit it). Hermione started her homework, having already finished the chapter. As she worked, she waited for the bell. She had already told Ron and Harry to head off to break without her, that she was going to talk to Kirkland.

As soon a the bell rung, everyone had started filing out, some stuffing their books into their bags. Hermione approached the professor, who seemed to be doing some sort of paperwork (she guessed that he was grading homework). Kirkland looked up. "Professor," she started.

—

Canada sat on France's couch as he sipped the hot chocolate in his hands. The two members of the FACE family had been discussing the letter England had sent rather recently. "Do… Do you think America could have been taken by that magical terrorist person that went off the radar thirteen years ago?" Canada asked France, who was sitting next to him. France had seen the state of England a few months ago before he headed off to the magical school. It was similar to the state he had been when Voldemort was first rising.

"I'm not sure exactly, but it feels like it all over again," France said in reply. "But Angleterre said Amérique would be nearby his place, so we should try his place next." (Remember, I can't do accents)The nations had already checked around the British Isles, leaving one place for them to search.

Canada glanced over to Kumajiro, who was currently napping peacefully on the rug. "I think… I think we should have someone help England in whatever he's doing… It's probably related to what's happened to America."

—

Dumbledore paced his office, thinking over the new information he had received. What information did he receive you ask? Dumbledore picked up the authentic photo. It was definitely old, older than him by a few years actually… However, the man in the photo had claimed to be decades younger.

"Arthur Kirkland, just what are you exactly?" He knew he needed to speak up about this in the upcoming Order of Phoenix meeting. He paced the room, Fawkes crooning softly. Dumbledore hadn't come across such a mystery in such a long time. Out the window, he could spot Hagrid heading into his hut after a long a treacherous journey back to England. As he looked out the window into the landscape surrounding Hogwarts, he noticed an owl heading for his window. Opening it, the owl proceeded to land on his desk. Taking the letter, Dumbledore read over it.

Dumbledore,

It has come to my attention that you have been doing some very… interesting digging around a certain group of people. Specifically, Mr Arthur Kirkland. If you are interested, please send a reply. I wish to meet you in your office on the first Sunday of October at three o'clock to discuss this sensitive matter.

-Jelle

Dumbledore made sure three was free on that Sunday afternoon.

—

Jamtland sighed as she hauled the sleeping American into the bed. So much trouble to go through to stop a war. After setting the American into the bed, she headed to the kitchen to make some food. "Oh, right…" She warmed some milk and poured it into Hevn's milk bowl.

"Hevn, your milk!" She called out as she started to make some food. A simple breakfast would do. She hummed quietly as she stirred the porridge. Since America was such a sweet-tooth, she threw in some brown sugar into the porridge as well.

Soon, she brought the tray of food up to the room where she had set America in. Unsurprisingly, America was up and awake again. "YOU!" He exclaimed as Jamtland walked in.

"Your breakfast is here." She set the tray on the bedside table. "I'm sure you have questions and suspicions, as anyone else would. But eat first, I'll explain."

America's eyes narrowed. "How do I know you're not trying to poison me?" Jamtland sighed.

"Because I had a bowl earlier."

"You could be lying."

"Shut up and eat your breakfast before you starve to death."

Hesitantly, America picked up the tray and started eating from it. "Hey —this is actually pretty good!" He stuffed the contents of the tray into his mouth. "So —" Munch. "Why did you —mmft —do those things anyway? Oh, and —" Crunch. "Who are —mmn —you?"

"My name is Jamtland, a fellow micronation. Though I don't regret my actions, I must apologise for the brutality of things. It is not how I usually handle business."

"Why —mnnf —do you look so —" Slurp. "—much older than —mmf —a normal micronation?"

"I am technically older than you, but I'm not an official nation, so I appear younger than the age I should be. I guess I was similar to Prussia before my micronation status."

—

Jelle flooed into Dumbledore's office at exactly three o'clock. "Good afternoon, Dumbledore," she greeted.

"Yes, good afternoon, Ms Jelle. Please, take a seat." Jelle complied.

"Let's get down to business. So you want some information on Arthur Kirkland, eh? Well, let me warn you, it would be ugly if you wanted to go against him." Dumbledore absorbed this information with a poker face. "Would you like to start?"

"Of course, go right on ahead."

"For one, I could say Kirkland is the oldest and only family that has survived through the ages. I will have to say, the Kirklands withdrew contact with the wizarding world early on. Most likely since the Romans had taken over. Oldest wizarding family indeed…

"The Kirkland has always used original means of magic. Though, they have been known to also be taught magic with wands. Their wands are rumoured to be passed down from every generation, or at least, the cores have been. The wood has been renewed. All of them were taught by those who came before them. Or so, that's the cover story."

"In honest truth, the Kirklands aren't really many generations of witches and wizards. There will probably forever be only five or six members if you count the one that disowned himself. They're really more like immortals, you could say."

At this, Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "What kind of species are these… Kirklands then?"

"Sorry! My time with you is up… I must attend to matters with the Dark Lord now." Without a second word, Jelle disappeared with a crack. Dumbledore sighed. Informats don't really take sides do they?

~0~0~0~

I have a week off from school, so I should be able to get some more chapters up, look forward to more chapters!

-Mintyleaf727