Decisions which have to be made
Chapter 3: Norman Large
A/N: I know that Mr. Large doesn't go back to CHERUB until 1996, but I needed him to be there. So please excuse any confusion about that.
"Carl, how is it to be a CHERUB agent?" Harry asked. He had just woken up again and his friend sat at his desk, reading a book. "I mean, how is it different from the life the children have here at St. Martha's Children Home?"
"Hm. It's exciting. Adventurous. You get to do all kinds of stuff you don't get to do here, like driving a car, learning how to shoot with a gun and so on." Carl had answered without looking up from the book in his hand. "You really should consider coming. It's fun, you get the best education you could wish to get and on top of all you help get criminals into jail."
"How about tests? Don't you have to do some kind of test so that they know that you know enough?" Harry questioned further.
"Yeah, of course. Basic training. 100 days. Tough. Very tough. But hey, once you've passed you can kill bad people without getting blamed for it. You can play burglar and rob out houses. You can travel around the world without having to pay one little penny, not even half of it! Believe me, it's more than rewarding if you choose to become a CHERUB agent and pass basic training."
"You're right, but this all comes so sudden. One moment I'm at school, then suddenly at a secret organization, being told that I could start a new life, back here at St. Martha's and now I have to make the decision. It all just goes too fast."
"I know, Harry, I know. It always comes sudden like this. No one expects to get such an invitation as to join a secret organization chasing criminals all over the world. You're lucky. You won't start basic training for another two years. In that time you can get muscles and learn another language. I only had a month to prepare and get fit. I mean, when I went there at the age of eleven I'd been overweight, and now look at me! Nothing except muscles and a good-looking six-pack." Carl patted his chest.
"I guess you're right."
"Harry, listen to me." Carl put the book aside and looked thoroughly at Harry who still sat in bed. "You can come back with me to campus and start a new life, or stay here at this dull home and regret it your whole life. Make a decision now. I don't care what it is. If you come to CHERUB, I'll help you as much as I can. If you want to stay here, then that's OK. We won't be able to keep contact, but maybe we'll see each other again later in life."
Harry thought hard. A new life? That had been what he'd wanted for so long. But was he ready? Was he ready to start the new life he had dreamed of all these years? He looked at Carl. If he would choose to become a CHERUB agent, then they could stay friends. If he didn't then they probably would never meet again. Harry knew that he had to decide between his present life and his friend which also meant a new life. It was the toughest decision he ever had to make. But he knew the answer.
"So, I'm Norman Large," a man, Harry had already seen him the first time he'd been at CHERUB campus, said, crushing Harry's hand in a hand shake. "Your handler. Your name?"
"Harry Potter," Harry said, staring at his handler in fright.
"No, boy, your new name," Large said impatiently. He hated to wait. "Like this little pussy friend of yours, Carl Heinz. He based his last name on Heinze ketchup, which he just loves like a girl loves a boy. So, do you want to be called after some sport person? Musician? Artist?"
"Well..." Harry stammered, not knowing what to say. He hadn't thought about changing his name. He had never thought about that Heinz wasn't Carl's real name.
"I'm waiting. Just say some person you admire, for god's sake!"
"Albert Einstein," Harry said hurriedly, taking the first famous person he could think of that he admired.
"Harry Einstein? Doesn't sound right."
"Amadeus Mozart." Harry thought frantically of names.
"Harry Mozart? Doesn't suit you."
"Leonardo da Vinci."
"Harry da Vinci? Too Italian."
"Pythagoras."
"Are you really sure that you want to be called Harry Pythagoras?" Large asked in doubt, his eyebrows raised. "He was Greek, you're British."
"I'm thinking as hard as I can!" Harry defended himself. "Why do I even have to change my name?"
"Because you have to boy, and try to think of names that suit to your ethnicity more than Pythagoras or da Vinci," Large barked. He had only been to CHERUB again for three months, and already he was the enemy of every single agent. If he was something then not patient.
"Then what about Turing from Alan Turing, the English mathematician whose works explored the possibility of computers and raised fundamental questions about artificial intelligence?" Harry questioned. Alan Turing was his idol. When he was older, he wanted to be just like him.
"How do you know so many famous people?" Large asked somehow stunned. "You're only eight. I didn't expect you to know anything except famous sports men if anything at all."
"Never liked sports that much," Harry shrugged. "I'm reading a lot of books about mathematics, history and so on. I came over these names in these books."
"So, Harry Turing?" Norman Large asked, relieved to have this out of the way.
"Yeah. Best thing I can think of. Harry Turing"
