PS - Chapter 2
Lucy 'worked' late every night the following week. She bought a new coat that had a better hood for concealing her identity and started wearing a black bandana around the bottom half of her face. She roamed the streets of London looking for people to help. She had stopped three muggings and an ATM robbery. The news started reporting on the mysterious hero running around the streets of London. She was caught on a few phone cameras and some CCTV cameras. The videos were shared all over YouTube and analyzed on the news. They had dubbed her The Enchantress. Not really the name she would have chosen but still pretty cool. Lucy still worried about Ministry officers showing up to take her away for doing so much magic in front of muggles but they never came. Her magic was different than most wizards, she had know that for a long time, but she had thought that it still worked under the spells they used to detect this kind of thing.
Tonks was still none the wiser. Lucy still hadn't told her. She knew that she probably would have to at some point but right now the working late excuse was working and she didn't want to risk Tonks getting angry at her. She wouldn't like Lucy breaking the law, even if it was to help people. Tonks was a very by the books type of person when it came to things like this and she would not like it if she found out that Lucy wasn't following the rules. Lucy also knew that getting caught might affect Tonks's chances of becoming an Auror and she didn't want to do that. Tonks would want her to stop but Lucy didn't think that she could do that. She felt like she was doing better work. She was saving the world, making it a better place. That's what she wanted when she took over Collins Enterprises and, to be fair, she was. Collins Enterprises did a lot of good work to help save the environment, her father had been very passionate about that, and her charity was doing great work on other societal issues but it was a slow process. There wasn't real, visible change that she could see right away. Her Enchantress work was different. She could see the results of her actions right away. She could see the relief in the victim's eyes when she saved them. She saw the difference she was making in those people's worlds. She caught bad guys and she saved innocents people. How could anyone be against that?
She was like Wonder Woman or Peggy Carter! She was just a person, using the resources and powers she had to help people in need. She was sure that Peggy Carter would be so proud of her. The idea made her very happy and was part of the reason she kept doing what she was doing. She thought about all the women that she looked up to when she was younger. Wonder Woman, Peggy Carter, Dorcas Meadowes. They all put their lives on the line to help everyone else and Lucy wanted to the same. She wanted to be like them. She wanted to be like Dorcas. Dorcas would have thought what she was doing was great. She would have been proud too. Lucy was sure that had Dorcas survived the war she would have not only supported Lucy in this venture, she would join her! Lucy just wanted to be like Dorcas, Peggy and Wonder Woman.
No one seemed to be catching on yet. Tonks didn't know, Anne didn't know, and the Ministry didn't know. Lucy was quite happy, and admittedly a little smug, about this fact so one can only imagine her surprise when one day Nina came up from Rochester for a visit and asked, "Are you Enchantress?"
"What?" Lucy asked with a raised eyebrow, trying to play it cool. How could she have figured it out this fast?
"Lucy, you moved to London two weeks ago and suddenly a mysterious witch who bares an awful lot of resemblance to you and is doing magic also shows up around the same time. You expect me to believe that's just a coincidence?"
"Yes. I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Alright, you want more proof?" Nina asked, reaching under the table and picking up her bag. She opened it, pulled out five newspaper clippings, and shoved them towards Lucy. "September fourth was the first mugging this Enchantress stopped, also the first night you worked late according to Tonks. September seventh, another night you worked late, and another mugging stopped by Enchantress. September ninth, ATM robbery stopped by Enchantress, you don't get home until two in the morning at least. Tonks was already asleep so I don't have the exact timing for that one. September -"
"Okay, I get it. Wow, are you a serial killer? Like what is this? Cutting out newspaper articles, making notes of my comings and goings. You're not going to start pasting them on the wall and connecting them with red string anytime soon are you?"
"Lucy, just tell me. Are you Enchantress?"
"I did tell -"
"No, the truth."
Lucy sighed. "Fine, yes. I'm Enchantress. I thought I would have at least a little bit more time before someone would figure it out though. You haven't told Mum yet have you?"
"I may have sent her the first article. What are you doing, love?"
"I just found a woman getting mugged on my way home from work one night and stopped it. It kind of just went from there. I like helping people. I mean, when you have powers like I do and you see something like that happening, you have to help don't you? You have to do something. You can't just let things like that happen."
"I knew that you were going to somehow find a way to bring magic into your job. I'm really proud of you, love, and I really like what you're doing but be careful, okay? Don't do anything stupid and get yourself hurt."
"I'm careful. I'm always careful," she said with a smile, glad Nina was on her side on this one. "Just don't tell anyone about this. Tonks doesn't know yet and if she found out she would freak out. I also would prefer the Ministry not find out as well."
"Of course. Your secret's safe with me... now, I guess. But I'm sure Min won't tell anyone either."
"Oh no..." Lucy mumbled, putting her hands on her head. She was not looking forward to having that conversation with her mother.
Saturday, September 19th 2009
Lucy walked through the hallways of Hogwarts towards Gryffindor tower to meet her mother. Students were walking around, laughing with their friends and running around. She saw a flash of red hair go by and called, "Hey Ron!"
Ron Weasley turned around and smiled. Lucy hadn't seen any of the younger Weasleys in a very long time. Charlie Weasley had met her and Anne in Austria on his way to the Romanian Dragon Reservation and she saw Bill Weasley when he came up from Egypt for a visit last year but she hadn't seen anyone else since she'd gotten back from her road trip last month. She had just been very busy and with Bill and Charlie gone didn't have the same motivation to go down to the Burrow. Not that she didn't love all the Weasleys, she did. It was just different with those two gone.
Ron waved and ran over to her excitedly. A boy with black hair and green eyes follows after him.
"Hey, Lucy! Guess what! I got into Gryffindor!"
"That's great, Ron. I told you that you would, there was no reason to be nervous. How's everyone else? Fred and George get into any trouble yet?"
"They haven't really done anything yet. I think they might be planning something big."
"Ah, I see. Well, I'd watch out then." Lucy looked over at the little boy standing beside Ron and smiled. "Hi, I'm Lucy."
"Oh, sorry," Ron said, remembering his friend's presence. "Lucy, this is Harry Potter. Harry this is Lucy Collins, McGonagall's daughter."
"McGonagall's daughter?" Harry asked a little shocked. "Wait aren't you the billionaire that took over her dad's company a little while ago?"
"Yep," Lucy said with a smile, sticking out her hand to shake his. He does. "Harry Potter, huh? We've actually met before."
"We have?"
"You have?" Ron asked.
"Yes! I met you when you were born. You were born at Hogwarts, you know. Same as Ron and his sister, Ginny."
"Really?" Harry exclaimed excitedly. "So you knew my parents then?"
"I did. I met them during the war. Your dad was stationed at my house to guard it since Mum had a pretty big target on her back and then after we moved to Hogwarts I would see them around a lot more. You were a very... loud baby. And you pulled my hair!"
"Oh sorry," Harry said while Ron laughed. Harry gave him a look before turning back to Lucy and, with a hopeful look on his face asked, "What were my parents like?"
"Oh they were great. Your dad was really funny and your mom was really nice. Apparently when I was really little Mum would bring me to Hogwarts over Christmas break and your dad and his friends would play with me."
"Really?"
"Yes. They told me and my friends stories of all the crazy things they used to do at Hogwarts to drive my mum crazy. She taught them you know. They also played games with us. They were really great people."
Harry smiled but she could see the sadness in his eyes. She understood that feeling. She had talked to everyone she could about her father and loved hearing about him but it made her sad whenever she did. Harry was probably feeling the same way.
He ended up changing the subject. Looking over at Ron, he asked, "How do you two know each other then?"
"During the war my family came to Hogwarts for safety and Lucy came too," Ron replied. "She and my brothers, Charlie and Bill, became friends. After that she would come over all the time to hang out with them and would play with us too. She and Charlie were the same age."
"How is Charlie doing anyways? Is he liking Romania?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah, he's having a lot of fun. He says he misses England sometimes though but I think the only part of England he misses is you and Tonks."
Lucy laughed. "Well, I'm sure that in a little while he won't even remember our names."
"I doubt it. Have you talked to him recently?"
"Yes, I was writing to him this morning actually. He seems like he's really enjoying it in Romania. I think Bill is going out there next month to visit him."
"Lucy, Charlie, Bill and their friend Nymphadora Tonks have these notebooks that they can use to talk to each other," Ron told Harry. "If one of them write in their notebook then the other three can read it in their own."
"Wow, that's cool," Harry said.
Lucy smiled. "Ah, it's nothing special."
"So, Lucy, you were gone all summer?" Ron asked.
"Yes, my friend, Anne, and I went on a roadtrip through Europe."
"Wow, that's awesome," Harry said. "For how long?"
"About four months. I've been back for about a month now. I'm sorry that I didn't have time to see you guys before you started school. I've just been pretty busy since I became CEO, you know. It's a lot of work."
"No kidding," Harry said with a laugh.
"That's okay," Ron said with a smile. Suddenly he got really excited. "Oh Lucy! Harry also made the Gryffindor quidditch team! He's the youngest seeker like ever!
"Really? That's cool! I thought that first years weren't allowed to try out. A rule I remember Charlie complaining about a lot, very loudly, all through his first year."
"They're not," Ron said with a laugh. "Charlie would be really cranky if he found out but McGonagall caught him flying and put him on the team!"
"My mum rewarded you for breaking the rule!"
"Yeah," Harry said, smiling sheepishly. "A boy named Draco Malfoy stole another kid's remembrall and started flying up when Madame Hooch told us not to. I went after him and he threw the ball across the grounds. I went to go get it and flew by Professor McGonagall's window. She came out and I was... pretty scared, actually."
"It's okay. She's scary, I know."
"Yeah, I thought she was going to cane me," Harry said with a laugh, "but she introduced me to Oliver Wood, the captain of the team, and made me Seeker."
"Wow," Lucy said with a smile.
"She said my dad would have been proud. Apparently he was a great seeker as well!"
"Well, I shall come back to see your first game them," Lucy said with a smile. She looked down at her watch. "Oh man, I better get going. Mum's waiting for me and I'm really late."
Ron laughed. "Good luck."
"She threatened to turn us into a pocket watch and a map when we were late to class," Harry said with a laugh.
"Of course she did." Lucy shook her head. "I'm always late for these meetings... she's going to be mad. I'll see you guys around."
They said their goodbyes and Lucy ran up the stairs towards her mother's office. She burst through the door to find Minerva sitting at her desk doing some marking. Minerva didn't look up from her work when she entered. "You are late."
"I'm sorry, Mum."
"Sit."
Oh no, Lucy thought. She walked in, closing the door behind her, and sat down in front of the desk. She waited for her mother to speak.
Minerva opened her desk drawer and pulled out a newspaper clipping. She held the article out towards Lucy, who took it and read the title. Mysterious woman, dubbed The Enchantress, uses magic to save woman from mugger. Lucy still didn't say anything.
"Nina sent me this last week. Thought I should know. Since then, I've read many articles along the same lines in Muggle newspapers and even one story in the Daily Prophet!"
"Oh, wow," Lucy said, setting the newspaper down and smiling a little bit. "I heard about this. Apparently there is a superhero running around London."
"Yes," Minerva said, looking down her nose at Lucy. "Odd that the same week you move to London a mysterious witch shows up as well."
"What a coincidence."
Minerva shook her head and leaned back in her chair, taking off her glasses and pinching the bridge of her nose. Why couldn't Lucy just keep her head down and do her job? Why must she always find some way to put herself in danger?
"What are you doing, Lucy?"
"Nothing!"
Minerva opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, if someone finds out who this Enchantress is, the Ministry will most likely want to throw her in Azkaban to make a point to others about doing magic in front of muggles. And anyone connected to this woman who may want to join the Ministry, say as an Auror, may have an even tougher time being hired."
Lucy pushed the newspaper clipping back to Minerva. She picked it up and shoved it back into her desk drawer. Lucy sighed and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hands.
"Well, we better hope that she doesn't get caught then. Besides, the Azkaban thing probably wouldn't happen though as she is using her magic in self-defense."
"Is it still self-defense when you are going out seeking danger?"
"She's not going out seeking danger. She's just out and danger finds her."
"She should stop going out."
"She is just trying to help people."
"Well, her mother is probably worried what might happen to her if she for some reason does not see the bullet coming next time."
"She will be fine."
"Does her girlfriend know?"
"Her girlfriend probably does not know. Her girlfriend might be trying to join the Ministry, say as an Auror, so she may be worried that her girlfriend would not be okay with her breaking the law."
"And what about her mother and sister-in-law?"
"I think they both know and so far only the sister-in-law has been very supportive."
Minerva sighed and leaned back in her chair again. "So, you're a superhero now?"
Lucy smiled and uncrossed her arms. She went into the story of how she was walking home from work late one night and heard a woman yelling in an alleyway. She put her hood up and ran in. Saved the woman from the mugger using magic to stop the mugger's bullets from hitting her and pushing him back to chain him to a fire escape until the police could get there.
"Then, I guess, she talked to reporters about me and now they've started calling me Enchantress. I didn't get to pick the name. I'm not really a hundred percent onboard with it but there isn't really much I can do about it."
Minerva shook her head again but smiled. "You are exhausting. I thought, you know, you would start working at Collins Enterprises, find your path and this rule breaking would diminish but apparently it persists into adulthood."
Lucy smiled. "It's not really like that, Mum." She stood up and walked around the desk, taking her mother's hands in hers. "Listen, I'm still exploring the different paths I have before settling into one. I don't know if I'm ready to give up everything and just settle in as just the CEO of Collins Enterprises. It's why I haven't given up dancing yet. It's why I'm still finding ways to use my magic."
"This is why I wanted you to come to Hogwarts."
"It's not my fault I never got a letter."
"Oh, as if Albus wouldn't have let you in if you had wanted to."
"I think Oxford was right for me."
"You picked your father's school over mine. I should have seen that coming."
Lucy smiled. "I'm sorry, Mum."
Minerva put a hand on Lucy's cheek. "Please just be safe, my love."
"I will. Don't worry."
Minerva sighed and pushed Lucy away from her making the girl laugh. Lucy walked back to her chair and said, "Oh, so I met Harry Potter."
"Oh, did you? He's in Gryffindor, you know," Minerva said, her smile returning. "Just like his parents."
"Yes, he told me. Ron was very excited about being put in Gryffindor as well. Just Ginny and then you'll have a complete set."
Minerva laughed and shook her head. "Can already tell those two will just be a pair of troublemakers. I guess it's in their blood, both of them."
"How have Fred and George been?"
"Quiet... too quiet."
Lucy laughed. "I'd watch out then. I heard you put Harry on the Quidditch team. I thought first years weren't allowed to try out. I remember Charlie complaining about that, a lot, very loudly."
"They usually aren't but Albus has made an exception for him. I think he's still trying to get back on my good side in terms of the boy. You should have seen him. He's a natural. With a little training he may be an even better seeker than Charlie! And Charlie was good enough to go pro!"
"Gryffindor hasn't won in how long now?"
Minerva furrowed her brows. "You had to bring that up. How old are you now? Eighteen?"
"I feel so loved."
"Three years now. And that was also after a long dry spell as well. I really need a win. If Slytherin wins one last time I will be forced to kill Severus Snape, just to get that smug look off his face."
"Is that a promise?"
Minerva smiled. "No. Severus is a lot grumpier now that Harry Potter is back in the magical world."
"Grumpier? I didn't think that was even possible."
"It is. I can tell you from first hand experience."
"Why's he grumpier?"
"Why don't you ask him?"
Lucy gave her a look and Minerva laughed.
"Are you still scared of him? I would have thought Enchantress wouldn't be scared of anyone."
"I have never been scared of Severus Snape in my whole entire life," Lucy replied stubbornly, crossing her arms and turning up her nose.
Minerva raised an eyebrow at her. "Never?"
"Never."
"Then go ask him now."
Lucy glared at her mother but Minerva just smiled. "Fine," she said, standing up. "I will leave and I will ask him."
"I'll have them play something nice at your funeral."
"Augh." Lucy flopped back into her chair. "You are terrible."
Minerva laughed. "No worse than you."
"So is that a no then? You're actually not going to tell me?"
Minerva's smile disappeared and she sighed. "It's not my place to tell, Lucy. Severus has his reasons and I am not at liberty to discuss them."
"Stupid. When have you ever respected someone's privacy?"
"It's just your privacy that I don't respect, dearest."
"Evidently."
Minerva smiled. "So, how is Nymphadora's training going?"
"Good, I think. She's been at the Auror Training Centre downtown almost everyday. It's a little hard, though. Work is so busy and makes me really tired and usually there's a lot of homework and she away all the time so we don't see each other much even though we live together."
"I know, love. Just please make sure you're getting your rest, Lucy. I don't want you to get burnt out. You already had so much on your plate and now you've added saving humanity to your to do list."
"I'll be fine, Mum, don't worry. Besides, saving humanity was always on my to do list. I'm just actually starting to get it done now."
"What about ballet? Have you found some time to get out to the studio yet?"
Lucy's smile faded and she sighed. "Ah, no. Still no. It's hard, Mum. I'm still so busy with work and then helping Tonks so I've not really gotten very much of a chance."
"Well, hopefully you'll get a chance to get back into it. I would hate for you to have to give up something you really love because of Collins Enterprises."
Lucy smiled again. "Yeah, I'll find a way to make time. I really don't want to stop dancing. I think once Tonks is done her exam it will be a lot easier."
Minerva nodded. "I'm sure it will. When are you going to tell her about this Enchantress stuff?"
"Probably after she gets the job. I don't want her worrying about me during her exams. I think she may be getting a little worried with how much I work late though."
"You may need to come up with a better excuse. Or, you know, be truthful. I always advocate for that option."
Lucy made a face.
Minerva smiled and shook her head. "Being the mother of a superhero is harder than I realized. I never signed up for this."
Lucy laughed. "I'm very sorry, Ama."
"It's alright, sweetheart. Just... again, be safe. Don't do anything stupid."
"Don't worry, I'll be good. You don't have to worry about me, Mum. I'm like the most powerful witch since -"
"Me?"
"Aunty Amelia."
Minerva gave her a look and Lucy laughed. She shook her head at her daughter and mumbled, "Why did I invite you here?"
"Because you love me!"
"So I keep being told."
Lucy frowned. "Say you love me!"
"You're so needy," Minerva said with a laugh.
Lucy stuck out her tongue at her mother.
"We determined you were eighteen, correct?"
"You're very mean, you know that."
Minerva smiled. "I love you, darling."
"I love you too, Mum," she said with a smile.
Saturday, October 3rd 2009
Lucy was sitting on a bench in the Auror Training Centre in the Ministry of Magic building going through Collins Enterprises papers while Tonks practiced for the Auror exams with some other prospective Aurors. Tonks was the youngest of all the trainees but from what Lucy had seen so far probably one of the strongest competitors. Tonks looked like she was working very hard but also having a lot of fun. Lucy, on the other hand, was working very hard and was not having very much fun at all. She kept flipping through papers looking for certain documents or running her fingers through her hair frustratedly. She had conjured up a table for herself but had to keep enlarging it as her organised scatter of pages seemed to grow.
Suddenly the door opened and Amelia Bones stepped out alongside Alastor Moody. Moody's presence was not a surprise to anyone. The Director of the Auror Office came down to watch the prospective Aurors train every so often to try and find any one promising. No one had shown promise to Moody in a long while. He was credited as the reason only five people had been taken on by the Auror Office in the last ten years since the end of the war but Lucy understood the real reason it was so hard to become an Auror and, though Moody may play a part in it, it wasn't all him. The war had brought an influx of Aurors, the restrictions and qualifications were relaxed and job offers were sent out to the top seventh year students at Hogwarts to join as soon as they graduated. This meant that now they had a lot more Aurors in the Department than was needed or feasible for the government to maintain. Which in turn meant, when the war was over and they needed to downsize, the process for becoming an Auror was intensified. Exams and interviews became more difficult, the training period grew and the starting salary was cut.
So, Alastor Moody wasn't the reason everyone in the training area stopped and looked over at the door. No, Amelia Bones could be credited with that feat. It was very unusual to see the Head of the whole Department of Law Enforcement come down to watch the training. Amelia did make it a habit to come down without warning at least once in an exam period but she was a very busy woman so her visits were very limited. Everyone froze and watched her intently, waiting for her to speak.
"Please continue," Amelia said with a smile. "Don't let my presence interfere with your training."
Slowly people got back to throwing Curses at targets or running on magical treadmills or dueling magical dummies, still watching Amelia curiously from the corners of their eyes. Moody went to walk around and inspect their techniques, glass eye whizzing around menacingly as he sent judgemental looks this way and that. Amelia watched them for a few minutes before she noticed Lucy sitting on the side concentrating very hard. Lucy had not noticed Moody and Amelia come in. Amelia smiled and walked over to her.
"Hello, love."
Lucy jumped and looked up quickly. "Oh, hey, Aunty Amelia. How are you?"
"I'm alright," she said, sitting down on the bench beside Lucy and looking at her papers. "I must say, I've been to the training center a few times and I have never found someone sitting on a side bench doing desk work. Most people come here to work out."
Lucy sighed and turned back to her work. She looked at the paper in front of her and circled a number on the page in red ink. "Tonks dragged me here and I can't afford to lose a day of work."
Amelia nodded. "Minerva told me that you were very overworked recently."
"I have twelve years of papers to go through."
"There's no one else who could help you go through them? You have to do it all yourself?"
"Maria's been helping as much as she can but it's mostly stuff I have to do on my own." Lucy sighed again and threw down her pen. She rubbed under her eyes and shook her head. "Anyways, what brings you here? What's the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement doing all the way down here?"
Amelia smiled as she watched the trainees. A lot of them were shooting Lucy dirty looks for distracting Amelia from seeing their potential. "I like to drop in and see the prospective Aurors every once in awhile. I like seeing how they are outside the exam room when they don't think people are watching. Of course it takes them some time to forget my presence for me to actually watch them in their natural environment."
Lucy smiled a little as she watched Moody walk around. "So do you see any promise now?"
"Well, we haven't had a Metamorphmagus in the Auror Office for a very long time," she said, watching Tonks's hair change colour when she laughed as another applicant got hit in the face by a rogue Bat Bogey curse. "They're very rare. They're very good for undercover work."
"Tonks is really good. Not just in camouflage but in like everything else too. She's great at dueling, an amazing marksmen and very smart. The only thing I would say is she's a bit clumsy but that's all. She makes up for it in every other way."
Amelia smiled. "You're good at campaigning on her behalf."
"I'm not biased at all."
"Of course not. Well, we'll see how Miss Tonks does on her exams. For now, I should probably get going. Don't work to hard, darling." She put a hand on Lucy's shoulder. "You're going to burn yourself out this way. Believe me, I've been there."
"I'll try."
"It's been a long time. We should get lunch sometime," Amelia said, using Lucy's shoulder to push herself up. "I want to hear all about your work and how you're getting on at Collins Enterprises. Raj has told me what he can but I want the first hand perspective."
"Okay," Lucy said with a smile. "I'm free on Tuesday if you want to go down to Rosco's for lunch."
"That sounds perfect. I'll see you then, love."
"Goodbye, Aunty Amelia."
Amelia smiled, glancing back at the Aurors in training one last time, and made her way back out the door. Lucy watched the trainees too for a second. Tonks caught her eye and gave her a smile and a wave. Lucy waved and smiled back.
"Yer not training for the exam?"
Lucy looked over to see Moody wobbling over to her. Lucy shook her head. "No, I have a job."
"I've heard all 'bout yer power and yer wit," Moody grumbled as he plopped himself down on the bench making the wood bend slightly under his weight. "Heard 'bout yer O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. scores as well."
"From my mother, I presume."
"Yer mother, yer Aunt Amelia, yer Uncle Albus."
"Uncle Albus has been bragging about me? Really?"
Lucy didn't think that he would do that. Amelia and Minerva, yes, they were always doing that but not Dumbledore. He had better things to do. It made her really happy to think that Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards in the world, thought she was worth bragging about.
"Yeah, any chance he gets. Could use someone like yeh in the Auror Office. Someone with powers like yours. Yeh and that Metamorphmagus. Yeh would make one hell of a team."
"Are you offering me a job, Director Moody?"
"And if I were?"
"I would have to say no."
She couldn't be an Auror. She couldn't leave Collins Enterprises like that. This was her father's company. How could she ruin all the work he did like that? She needed to stay at Collins Enterprises. She wanted to stay.
"Why don't yeh think about it a bit before yeh give yer answer. Yeh were there during the first war. As much as yer mother tried to shield you from it, you saw the destruction it caused. We can't let something like that happen again. Muggleborn prejudice is still very high in our world and though Voldemort may be gone for now, there is no doubt in my mind that he's not dead. He will return. But this time, we'll be ready. Havin' yeh on our side would give us a huge advantage."
"If Voldemort returns. You will have me on your side, Director Moody. I may not be able to be an Auror right now but I can promise this. If he returns I am going to help fight him."
Moody smiled a gruff little smile. "That's good to hear, Miss Collins. Though, I still urge yeh to reconsider. The exam is in two weeks. I doubt you'll need much preparation."
"I think you should focus on the actual applicants. Particularly Nymphadora Tonks, the Metamorphmagus."
"Yes, I will admit. She shows some potential."
Lucy couldn't wait to tell Tonks he said that. She really hoped that Moody remembered that during her interviews and exams. Moody decided that he had watched the Aurors enough and got up again.
"Well, think over my offer," he grumbled as he started wobbling away. "Maybe I'll see yeh in two weeks."
Tuesday, October 6th 2009
"Something on your mind, love?" Amelia asked. She and Lucy were sitting in a restaurant in London near the Collins Enterprises building getting lunch. Lucy hadn't spoken in a while and Amelia could tell she was a little distracted.
"Ah, no, noth- actually, yes. Aunt Amelia, how did you decide what you wanted to do with your life?" Lucy asked, pushing her salad around with her fork.
"Well, I don't know. I had about three or four jobs that I was interested in and I just kind of narrowed it down from there. I think you have to think about what you're looking for in a job. Like do you prefer working alone or in a team, in an office or in the field, that sort of thing. If you think about that you might be able to figure out a job that is good for you. Why do you ask, sweetheart? I thought you liked working at Collins Enterprises."
"I do, I do a lot. It's just... I don't know. On Saturday, when we were at the Auror Training Centre, Director Moody basically offered me a job at the Auror Office. I would still have to do the exams and stuff but he basically said that I would have the job in the end."
"Wow. He has been talking about you. Ever since he saw you doing magic when you were seven. Not having to rely on a wand is a great advantage. You never have to worry about being disarmed or losing your wand. Your opponent will never see your attack coming. I can understand why he would want power like that on his force."
"I just... I don't know. I like the idea of being an Auror but I also like running my own company. I like the idea of using my magic for good but I also like carrying on my dad's legacy and saving the environment and stuff."
"Have you talked to Tonks about it?"
"No, not yet. I just thought I'd just forget about it unless I decide to actually go for the exam. I mean, it's kind of her thing. I don't want her to think I'm taking it over from her. She's been working so hard for this, I don't want to just walk off the street and just get the job. Especially if it lowers the chances of her getting it."
"I think you should talk to her. I don't think she'd feel that way. She might be able to help you decide. I know it's hard sometimes, Lucy. We all have times where we rethink our job choice. What don't you like about the Aurors? Why wouldn't you want to join?"
"I - I don't know... I just," Lucy thought about it for a second. "Okay, so like my work at Collins Enterprises... the overarching goal is to stop climate change and make a more sustainable world for generations to come. It's to help everybody. Muggle or Magical, everybody. Being an Auror would be great. I love the idea of using magic to help people but they try their best to have nothing to do with the Muggle world! Which I think is really stupid. I think that Aurors have the power to not only protect wizards but to protect Muggles too but they don't do that. Like, did you hear about the police shooting in Baltimore last week?"
Amelia sighed and nodded. "I did."
"Aurors have the power to capture criminals without killing them. If it had been American Aurors instead of American policemen, that man would not have died. They could bring him in for questioning without shooting him and let him go when it turned out he was innocent. There are still other problems around why they were after that man in the first place, of course, but at least he would still be alive. I don't want to just help Wizards. I want to help everybody."
Amelia smiled a little. "Then what's the problem with working at Collins Enterprises? Like you said, there you're helping everybody."
"I miss magic there. I want to be able to do magic. I want to make cars that integrate magic and Muggle technology. Wouldn't that be so cool? I want to save the world but I also want to be able to use my magic too."
"Wow, so you are in quite the predicament then."
"Yeah." Lucy looked back down at her salad and sighed again. "I know why the Wizarding World was supposed to remain a secret back in the dark ages with the Witch Trials and everything but... times have changed since then. Sometimes I feel like it would just be easier to not, you know, live in secret."
Amelia smiled. "I know. The Muggle world has changed since then. The problem is the Wizarding World hasn't. I agree that sometimes I feel the same way. Sometimes I think that it might be time for the Wizarding World to come out of the shadows. I mean, with the way Muggle technology is increasing so rapidly and this witch running around doing magic willy nilly, maybe telling Muggles about magic wouldn't be too bad. Others just don't agree. Some of them are still scared of what Muggles might do, they do outnumber us vastly, others just don't care enough about the Muggle World, and others just don't like change."
"You know how much easier my life would be if magic was just out there."
"I know, darling."
Just then the restaurant door opened and in walked Raj. He saw them sitting there and smile. "I'm sorry I'm so late," he said, as he walked over. "I'm glad you two decided to start without me."
"That's alright, love," Amelia said with a smile as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "We know you are very busy."
"How'd your meeting go?" Lucy asked.
Raj sat down beside Amelia and put his arm around her. "It went well, I think. We'll find out soon when the project proposal winds up on your desk, I'm sure."
Lucy smiled a little. "I hope they make the changes we want. I thought they would listen to you more than me."
"Eh, those guys are idiots but they'll come around, Princess, don't worry."
"What's this about?" Amelia asked.
"Just some assholes not wanting to make the changes to their project that Lucy wants because they just don't want to listen to her," Raj mumbled with a shake of his head. "All her critiques were valid and backed up with hard facts. They just didn't want to listen."
"So, I had Uncle Raj talk to them for me."
Amelia gave her a little smile. She reached out and took her hand. "You know, I was the first woman to head the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in thirty years. When I first started, I ran into the same sorts of people. Raj is right. They are idiots but they will come around."
"I hope so."
A waitress came over and asked Raj if he wanted anything. He ordered some food and a coffee. She also asked Amelia and Lucy if they needed anything else but they were both okay. When she left he turned back to the girls and said, "So, anyways, what were you talking about before I rudely interrupted?"
"About how easier my life would be if magic was just out in the open," Lucy said with a small smile.
"And I was just about to tell Lucy not to do anything stupid," Amelia said with a smile.
"Stupid? Her?" Raj asked with a laugh. "Never."
"I resent that," Lucy said with a glare.
"Of course you do," he said, giving her a flashy smile.
"Well, the Ministry is very on edge right now," Amelia said. "With the election next month and this Enchantress person running around. They are not going to be taking accidentally magic in front of Muggles very lightly right now."
"Enchantress is really giving them the runaround, huh?" Raj said with a laugh. He looked over at Lucy. "Theories?"
"Of who she is? Not really."
"You always have a theory."
"I haven't come up with one yet. I've been far too busy with work to worry about what some idiot running around London is doing."
"Right," he said, not very convinced.
Amelia didn't notice what exactly he was getting at. She just smiled and said, "I think the first case the new Aurors hired will have to take on will probably be finding this person."
"Really?" Lucy asked, trying her best not to smile.
"Yes, you should see Fudge every time he hears that she has done something new. The other Heads of Departments and I are thinking about starting a pool on when the vein in his forehead will finally pop."
"Oh god," Raj said with a laugh. "He must be very fun to work with right now."
"You have no idea," Amelia said, sounding very tired all of a sudden.
Lucy laughed. "How have you guys not found her yet? I thought there was a detection spell that let the Ministry know whenever someone does magic underage or in front of muggles."
"There is. That's what makes this so frustrating. Whoever Enchantress seems to have found a way around the enchantment. I don't know how she's done that but I am very interested to know. This enchantment is very ancient and powerful magic. It was cast by the same wizards that signed the Statute of Secrecy back in the 1600s. I don't know how anyone could get around it."
"Wow, she must be very powerful then," Raj said.
"Yes, quite," Amelia mumbled.
"Are you jealous?" Lucy asked with a laugh.
"Jealous? Me?" Amelia asked dismissively. "That's ridiculous."
"Well, I think you're very powerful too, Aunt Amelia," Lucy said with a smile.
"Yes, very, very powerful," Raj said with a smile, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck and giving her a kiss. "Even if you can't get passed an ancient spell set up in the 1600s."
Amelia rolled her eyes and pushed him off of her while Lucy laughed. "You two are both terrible. I don't know why I talk to either of you."
They laughed. Finally Raj's food arrived and Lucy decided it was time to change the topic away from Enchantress.
"So, election's next month."
"Yes," Amelia said with a nod. "I will be very glad when it's over. It's been a long campaign season."
"They keep getting longer and longer," Raj mumbled. "How's our guy looking?"
"Fudge is up in all the polls," Lucy said. "I think he'll probably win. Lister didn't perform very well in the debate the night before. Fudge definitely won that."
"He's a good performer if nothing else," Raj said.
"He touched on some good points. Lister's lack of experience, uncertainty of his platform, his stupid education reform idea," Amelia said. "Fudge also did a good job fleshing out his own platform a little more."
"I can't believe Fudge's stance is to let Hogwarts run as is," Lucy said with a laugh. "Thought he wanted to get more involved there."
"Privately he would much rather get involved in curriculum building for Hogwarts but Zelda was able to convince him that that was a losing battle. Worried he'd lose big donors like you and Minerva and knows that every Minister in the past that tried to change the way Hogwarts was run did not last very long at all. You can't attack a school almost everyone loves and teachers are a hard group to go up against. The general public respect them too much and wouldn't take a Minister attacking them very well."
"Wow, Zelda is very involved then," Raj said. "Minerva's right. She is the one with the real brains."
"I wish she was running," Lucy said.
"Maybe after Fudge we'll see her run," Amelia said.
"What about you? When are you going to run?" Lucy asked with a smile.
"No time soon," Amelia said with a laugh. "Right now I'm happy where I am at the Ministry."
"I think you'd make a good Minister, Aunt Amelia," Lucy said with a smile. "I'd donate to you way more than I did to Fudge."
"Thank you, Lucy," Amelia said, giving her a smile, "but I'm not running yet."
They talked for a while longer before it was time for them all to head back to work. They paid the bill, put on their coats and left the restaurant. Amelia said goodbye, giving Lucy a hug and Raj a kiss, before heading into the opposite direction so she could apparate back to work. Raj and Lucy started walking down the street back to Collins Enterprises.
"So, this magic spell that detects other magic," Raj said as they walked, "would you say it's the same spell that would detect magic children for Hogwarts?"
"I'm sure it's similar. I think Hogwarts is much older than the Statute of Secrecy though so it probably wouldn't be the same."
"So maybe based on, then."
"Maybe," Lucy said a little cautiously.
"So, a magic child not detected by Hogwarts' spell would probably also not be detected by this spell, don't you think?"
"I don't know."
"You weren't detected by Hogwarts' spell, right?"
Lucy gave him a look. "What are you trying to say, Uncle Raj?"
"Nothing. Just that you're Enchantress, but nothing other than that."
She gave him another look. "I've been far too busy to be running around fighting crimes, don't you think?"
"I'm not sure. You've always been quite good with time management and multitasking."
"So, what? You think I'm doing paperwork while fighting bad guys?"
"Lucy, come off it. I figured it out. It's you. Now stop lying."
"I'm not -"
"You are. Tell me who else knows. Does your mother know? Oh god, does Minerva know?"
Lucy sighed. "Yes, she knows. And Nina too. Nina figured it out first. She sent the article to Mum and she got the idea."
"How was that conversation?"
"Scary."
"I'll bet. So, they're the only ones? And me, of course, now. Tonks doesn't know either?"
"No, she doesn't."
"And what about Amelia? You tell your Aunty Amelia everything! How come you didn't tell her about this at lunch?"
Lucy sighed. "I don't know." She looked up at him. "But you're not allowed to tell her either!"
"Lucy, I -"
"No, you can't. I have to be the one to tell her. Aunt Amelia and Tonks are the same. They believe in helping people but they also believe in following the rules to do so. I have to talk to them about it at the right time and right now is not the right time. I know you guys don't keep secrets from each other but I really need to be the one to tell her when the time is right for me. It's my secret, Uncle Raj. I get to decide who to tell and when to tell them."
"Alright, I can respect that. I won't tell her."
"Thank you."
"So, Enchantress, how did it all start?" Raj asked with a smile.
Lucy rolled her eyes but started telling him the story of her very first Enchantress encounter. He loved every second of it and agreed that yes, she was very badass. Lucy smiled. Finally a reaction she wanted! There were so few people she could talk to about this and of those few Raj was the only one who didn't hold his breath or gasp or scold her for not being careful enough. Finally she had someone she could talk to about it.
Author's Note:
I'm sorry of it's taking me a while to post each chapter. I've been pretty busy lately. Thank you for reading. I hope that you're liking the story so far. Please leave me a review letting me know what you think!