The Marauders and the pilot
Disclaimer: I am sorry, but I have to confess something to you: I don't own the A-Team or Harry Potter. I am born a little too late to create them. :(
Authors note: I figured that Murdock would have been at least 30 in the series, the series running from 1983-1987. To make the gap between him and the marauders, who had attended Hogwarts at 1971 ( wiki/Marauders) I made his year of birth 1957, so we are in the year 1968 now.
At first he was shocked, when he got his letter, he had to read it again, maybe it would become more real if he read it again.
Dear Mr. Murdock,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Term begins on September will send you a teacher to July 31 to inform you about everything you need to know and to help you get your school supplies. You are expected to decide if you want to attend the school till then.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Unsure Murdock scratched his head, was this a joke? His grandparents had thought so, when they saw his letter, they had told him to just throw it away. But somehow he couldn't do that, somehow he just had to believe the letter to be true, he had to believe that he was a wizard. Maybe it was just because he wished to get away from his home town so badly.
His mother died when he was only five, he still missed her. His grandparents couldn't bear to live in their little farmhouse in Texas after that.
Once he used to live their with his mother and his grandparents, they were all together. But now it just hurt too much, it was the house where his mother was born, where he was born, but it was also the house where he had lost his mother to a fire.
Murdock had to gulp down his tears, he still missed her so much.
After that it was only him and his grandparents. His grandfather had to find a job to provide for the family that remained. His family that had lost so much, that didn't even owned a house.
When his Grandfather got a job offer from an old friend, who moved to England some time ago, he happily accepted, so they moved. Away from the sunny, open Texas, to the cloudy, claustrophobic London. Murdock hadn't liked it, but he didn't complain, he never complained, not even when he was taunted at school for his accent. Nor when he was bullied because of his second hand clothes.
There wasn't much he would miss if he would go to that school. He knew his grandparents were doing their best, but it wasn't easy for them, they never had enough money.
Money! How should they get his school supplies? They had planned on getting them second hand, before he got his letter. Going to the local high school, that wouldn't have been a problem, but how do you get second hand stuff for a magic school?!
He would have to worry about it tomorrow, when that teacher would arrive, until then he would just try to keep his hopes low.
It could be a bad joke after all, but on the other hand he had always known that he was different: He never got lost roaming through the endless streets of London. Also he had a way of sensing anger, which was quite practical if you were trying to keep your head low, trying to avoid the bullies.
Lost in thoughts his gaze trailed out of his window. And suddenly he realized that there were things he would miss. He didn't have any friends, sure, he would miss his grandparents. But there was something else. He would miss his almost daily visits of the little airport directly behind their flat.
Soon after arriving in London Murdock had had to look for little jobs to help his grandparents, who were slowly getting old, making it hard for them to earn enough money for their little family.
He cleaned cars, worked in the gardens of the few people who could afford one and he delivered the newspaper, while the other boys played in the streets. He didn't really care, they wouldn't let him take part in their games anyway, but there was only one job he really loved.
Murdock had always been fascinated by all kind of flying vehicles, but he positively loved helicopters. One day he had finally gathered the courage to ask the owner of the little airport, which was not much more than a landing zone, for a job. To his luck he needed someone to clean the choppers for the rich people who owned them.
Since that day Murdock would come to the little airport every day after school.
Soon the engineer of the airport, an old man called Jason, took a special liking in the boy. He enjoyed to watch Murdock spending hours after hours cleaning the choppers, clearly taking pleasure in doing so.
Proving himself quite skilful Murdock soon was taught some of the basics for flying and maintenance of a chopper. And sometimes Jason would take the boy on a flight with his old, rusty chopper, the "Lady Luck". That always was the highlight of the little boys day. He could forget all his worries, he could forget about the narrow streets, he could be free again like he used to be back in Texas.
He would just have to focus on that, Murdock thought, so if it all was just a joke, if he would never leave this place, if he would never get rid of all the bullies, who hid his jacket, who would call him a crazy freak, telling him he deserved nothing else, while beating him up, then maybe he could keep his sanity.
With that he closed his eyes and finally fell asleep, dreaming of big choppers, drawn by huge, winged horses that came to get him and his family out of London.
Thank you for reading, please review :)) I am still new to this, so I need YOUR opinion :)
I have nothing against London, I have to confess that I was never there, so I am trying to be as vague as possible about the location. I just figured that it must be hard for someone who was born and raised in the country to fit in thrown in a big town. With the Diagon Alley being there too, London seemed to be the right choice.