Daria Ravenclaw: The Legend of Sporting Joe
Tweenagers In A Muggle Town

DISCLAIMER: Daria was created by Glen Eichler and belongs to MTV Viacom. The town of Highland was created by Mike Judge and also belongs to MTV Viacom. Harry Potter was created by JK Rowling and belongs to JK Rowling, Wizarding World, and Warner Brothers. I don't own them.

I do claim ownership of such original characters such as the Darlings, the Aldrete Sisters, and the various young witches and wizards of Highland, Texas and surrounding areas..

This story was written for my amusement and ego gratification, not for profit. I don't expect or deserve any sort of financial reward for this work of fiction.

Casa Morgendorffer
River Run Cove
Highland, Texas

Daria and Veronica returned home in a good mood. "I like those guys," said Veronica.

"What about Julia?" asked Daria.

Veronica pursed her lips and said "hmmm," causing Daria to chuckle.

"Not sure, eh?" said Daria.

"I don't like her," said Veronica. "She said I didn't have any magic. That made me mad."

Daria looked at Ronnie but couldn't say anything.

"You don't agree with her, do you?" said Veronica.

"She's only a first-year from Hogwarts," said Daria. "She doesn't know everything."

Veronica gave her a look, stopping Daria dead in her tracks.

"I don't agree with her," said Daria. "I know I was doing accidental magic when I was your age. But that's not everybody: if you're a witch your magic could come out later. Several people I know didn't show that they were witches until they were older. You're already a Wild Squib; that's more magic than most people have here in town."

"So what are you saying?" said Veronica.

Damn, Sis isn't just cute, she's sharp, thought Daria.

"I'm saying that we don't know yet," said Daria.

Veronica got up and stalked out of Daria's room.

In the master bedroom, Helen and Jake were having a different conversation.

"Boy howdy, those English people were snobs!" Jake exclaimed indignantly.

"I don't know about the daughter but the mother and her boyfriend certainly are," Helen replied.

"Are all of the students at her school like that?" said Jake.

"I don't think so," said Helen. "Daria does have a circle of friends she says she likes a lot, but most of them are back in Britain. This Julia girl is outside her circle of friends. I've talked with Arcturus and he said that some witches and wizards can be quite snobbish."

"So why is she hanging around Daria?" said Jake.

"Well, she is a foreigner in a strange country and the only person she knows here is Daria," said Helen, "I can relate to that. And having Highland thrown at you isn't easy. I remember Camille Fink-Nottle telling me about some of Cuthbert's mishaps when he got here."

"So is she good for Daria?" asked Jake.

"I don't think she can cause her any great harm," said Helen. "We'll let her continue to talk with Daria, at least for now."

-(((O-O)))—

The Darlings' Room
Hotel Settles
Highland, Texas

"Well that was an interesting evening," said Aurora.

"Bunch of loonies and foreigners," said Derrick.

"Well, we are in a foreign country," Aurora replied. For however long we're filming here, she thought. Highland wasn't the worst location she'd been to, but it was pretty bad.

Her exposure to Highland's magical community was unsettling. The wizards and witches she'd spoken to were provincials, but they weren't the same sort of provincials she'd dealt with in Britain or the Continent. True, they had had magical schooling, but by and large they'd studied at the Instituto, a magical school about which she knew next to nothing, and even with her slight exposure to them she realized that their customs were different. They thought nothing about wearing Muggle clothing or even working in the Muggle world. "We're hiding in plain sight," said one of the matrons she'd talked to, an attitude alien to the ones she'd grown up with.

"What did you think of that Texas girl's parents?" asked Aurora.

"Which ones?" said Derrick.

"The one who goes to Hogwarts," said Aurora.

"Is that the tall red-haired woman and her husband?" said Derrick.

"Nutters, both of them," said Derrick. "The husband is definitely loopy."

That they were, thought Aurora. On the other hand she'd seen loopier adults in positions of power and responsibility in both theater and in the Magical world.

Aurora would have liked to ask Derrick about whether he thought Julia should associate with the Morgendorffers, but knew it was pointless. Derrick had been married and had a child, a girl, but his marriage had blown up years ago and he rarely, if ever, saw her.

Of course there was also Julia's father, but she didn't care to contact him. They'd divorced on bad terms and while she suspected that passions had cooled in the years since they'd split up, she'd rather not talk to him at all. She sighed. She'd have to be the one to decide.

Julia:

Julia, on the other hand, found the get-together more interesting than her mother did. True, the witches her age were strange, but they were strange in interesting ways. The twins were a goldmines of gossip and information about Highland and a couple of the other girls looked like they knew loads of things about the magical world hereabouts, more than Daria probably knew, and definitely more than most of her year-mates back in Slytherin House.

She wasn't that sure about her feelings towards Daria. They weren't really friends: they were more like acquaintances from school. It was clear that Daria was reserved, even here in Highland, but she wasn't unfriendly either. However, Daria knew people she didn't, she knew things that she didn't, and she understood her neighbors far better than she did. Julia decided that if Daria wasn't a friend, she was definitely someone useful she wanted to know.

Author's notes:

Some readers might wonder why I haven't yet sent Daria and Julia off on a great teenaged adventure thus far. My explanation is quite simple: both Daria and Julia are twelve years old, that awkward age where kids are no longer primary school children but lack the freedom of action and movement that late teenagers possess. They can't drive, they have to keep curfews, they're too young to get jobs and have to obey restrictions that older teens can or do ignore.