Noise. So much noise. America was the source of it - or at least the cause of it. He suggested another one of his half-brained schemes once again. Naturally, none of the other nations agreed with it (save for Japan) and all hell broke loose. England sighed, resting his head on the table. He already felt awful, and he had to deal with the amplified sound from the bickering nations as well? Could his life get any worse than it was at that moment? He knew of course, that it could always get worse, and he thanked God that it wasn't.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" An angry German voice could be heard above all the others.

"Must I take control every time a meeting is held? Mein Gott... America, I think that it has been made clear that no one here agrees with your idea." Germany said impatiently, cutting off any protests that Alfred began to make.

The younger German nation continued to talk for a while longer before handing the floor to Russia. The tall country began to talk politics and other things, and maybe even something about a space program? England wasn't really listening - he didn't have a chance to. For the moment Ivan began to speak, he was struck with a splitting pain in his chest.

He began to cough forcefully, attracting the attention of most in the room. He pushed his chair back from the table and continued to cough into his hand, as to hide any blood that may come up.

"Yo, Iggy, you alright man?" America asked from his end of the table.

"I-m Fi-ne. Get on with the meeting al-read-y." England growled between muffled coughs. Couldn't he learn to mind his own business?

"I'm not so sure about that, Britain. You-"

"I said I AM FINE, JAPAN!" He lashed out at the other island nation, removing his hand from his mouth in the process. All who could see him gasped at the sight before them. He must have been a mess.

"England…?" America trailed off, not sure what to say.

England stood slowly, ignoring any questions that were thrown at him. As he left the room he muttered, "I- am going to go wash up. Shouldn't take long..."

He found himself staring at the disheveled blonde man in the bathroom mirror. He made sure to remove every red splotch he could find, and yet somehow, he still felt...unclean...If that was any way to put it. The tired green orbs staring back at him held anger. Anger and a thirst for revenge. How dare that - that 'man' call himself a lord? He was a murderer. He was killing England's people, and not just England's either. Voldemort was killing whomever he could lay lay his hands on, and he hadn't even returned for a full two months yet.

England straightened with a scowl. He could not allow this to continue.

When he returned to the conference room, he found it in complete and utter chaos. Everyone was running around, yelling to each other about trying to catch something. Before he could comprehend what was going on, America screamed to him,

"It's headed your way, Britain! Get it before it escapes!"
Seemingly out of nowhere, a large bird smacked into his face, knocking him over. He looked up to see an owl standing in front of him with an envelope tied to it's leg. He reached out and untied it. the back had nothing more on it than, 'To Mr. Arthur Kirkland'. Without thinking, he began to read it's contents.

Dear Mr. Kirkland;

I am highly intrigued by your offer and would like to discuss it with you. If you could use the floo network and come to my office on August 30th, that would be most opportune. I look forward to meeting with you.

Sincerely,

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, First Class

England read through the letter once more, and then again for good measure.

"England, vat is the matter?" Germany asked curiously. "Is that bird yours?"

He nodded slowly, before standing rather abruptly, causing his blood to rush from his head. He called for the room to be quiet.

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make!"

"Ohon~ Are you finally getting hitched, Angleterre?" France mocked from a few feet away.

"Shut it, Frog. You see, I may not be coming to many meetings, if any, within the next year. There is some important government business that Greenland and I have to take care of, so I will be away for awhile."

There was silence. England would never miss attending a meeting, if he could help it. So why would he suggest such a thing? As for Greenland…

"Greenland? But Denmark deals with all of her international affairs. I should know - he is the one who set us up as trading partners, aru." China pointed out the strangeness of this part of the his story.

France spoke up again, all humour gone from his voice.

"You 'ave an owl with you, along with a letter. I would know zat method of communication anywhere. Zis 'as something to do with both of your magical governments, does it not?"

England looked at him in surprise before his gaze turned cold. "Yes, as a matter of fact it does. And I advise that none of you go looking into it."


Greenland stood in front of England's house, pounding furiously on the door in the pouring rain. Where the hell was he? The last time they spoke, he told her to meet him on the 30th of August. Here she was..so where was he? She lifted the knocker once more and let it fall. Still no answer. Was he even home? She couldn't tell as he always parked his car in the garage.

"Dang it Arthur, leaving me out in the rain...I ought to leave him outside my house during a blizzard and see how he likes it. He couldn't have forgotten…" She grumbled, folding her arms.

She shuffled uncomfortably in place, wishing that she had more cover from the rain. The wind was blowing in such a way that the rain went right into the covered porch. Of all the days for there to be a storm..She was already feeling jumpy as it was. The moment she apparated inside the country, she could tell something was amiss. A growing tension hung in the air in every street corner and every shop. Despair filled houses in each town, floating through the doors and up and out chimneys.

Greenland was debating on whether or not to leave and come back later when there was a pop behind her. She could have sworn her heart skipped a beat at this sudden sound. She turned to look for the source of the sound and found herself looking at the very person she was waiting for.

"Greenland? What are you doing here?" England stared at her for a moment, taking in her wet figure. His expression changed from surprise to guilt as the realization dawned on his face. "Oh dear...So sorry. You weren't waiting for me long, were you? With the hectic activities at the meeting, I forgot you were coming." He waved a hand at the door, unlocking it, before ushering her inside.

Greenland was lead into the living room and placed on a couch in front of a now burning fireplace. Next thing she knew, she was holding a hot cup of tea. This didn't make her feel any better however, as the moment England finished tending to her, he was rushing about his home, muttering something under his breath. He was rather disheveled, his hair slightly more untidy than usual and his mouth and chin were stained with a shade of pink that stood out against his pale skin.

Greenland sighed, setting the teacup down as lightly as possible. "Hey, England-"

"Not now. Not now." He waved her off, continuing his rush about the house. "Where are they?"

Greenland shook her head. Once he got in his worry zone, no one could stop him. She sat down and waited. After a few minutes, England came and sat next to her, looking utterly exhausted. He was holding a small wooden box.

"Forgive me for my rudeness, Mallina, but I just received word that I am to be meeting with Dumbledore tonight, and I needed to find these before then-" He paused and pulled two necklaces out of the box. One appeared to be a round silver locket while the other was simply a golden chain. England handed her the locket, before slipping the chain over his head. His appearance changed from a 23 year old's to that of a man with at least 45 years.

Greenland blinked multiple times to assure herself that she wasn't dreaming. Was that really England?

"How-what…?"

England chuckled. "An aging spell is contained within the necklaces. Of course, yours will make you look like how you looked when you were mentally 15, not like how you might look if you were forty."

This made sense, as she would be taking the role of a student in order to help look after Harry Potter. What she didn't understand was why England needed to alter his appearance.

Greenland expressed her curiosity as she clasped the necklace around her neck. England raised an eyebrow.

"Very good question. You see, I will most likely arouse suspicion if I looked like a 23 year old. It would make more sense if I looked older, given my position in the government and knowledge of history."

Greenland nodded, understanding now. It would be strange for a 23 year old to have a high government position, muggle or not.

"Now I have a question for you. Why do you look like a boy? I mean, you looked rather boyish before, but now that's what most people will think." England gave her a confused look.

She shrugged. She wasn't worried about this, as it made it easier for her to trick people. "No clue. So, how are we going to see this Dumbledore?"


When a man and a young boy stepped through his fireplace, Dumbledore had to admit that he was surprised. He thought for a moment it was father and son, but that idea was ruled out almost right away. From their eye color and face shape to the way they presented themselves, they were almost nothing alike. While the man was obviously from somewhere in the U.K, the boy looked like he came from somewhere in Asia.

The blonde and slightly graying man stepped up to Dumbledore's desk and held his hand out. Dumbledore stood and shook it.

"Arthur Kirkland. It's a pleasure to meet you, Headmaster."

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Kirkland. Who is this young man over here?" He looked over to the boy who smiled.

"I'm Nanoq, his godson. It's nice to meet you."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

At this, Arthur sighed. "I don't care too much when you do it, Mallina, but please save your tricks for another time."

The boy(?) pouted. "Aw. Arthur, you're no fun." He turned back to Dumbledore. "I'm Mallina Køhler, or Nanoq. Whichever you prefer. I'm Arthur's goddaughter."

This explained the rather feminine voice and the mixed accents of Danish and Greenlandic.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Nanoq." Dumbledore smiled, winking. This brightened her smile slightly. "Well then, why don't you both take a seat and we can begin?"

Kirkland and Mallina sat in front of his desk.

"Very good. Why don't you tell me about yourself, Mr. Kirkland? How are you with kids?"

The man before him nodded.

"Dealing with children and teenagers is part of my everyday life. Aside from having a godso-daughter, I have three older brothers and five younger brothers, not including my adopted brother Leon."

Dumbledore chuckled lightly. Ten kids in a family, and all boys at that. It was worse than the Weasleys.

"That must be difficult."

Kirkland laughed. "You bet it is. All three of my older brothers seem to bear a certain hatred for me, while most of my younger brothers have such clashing ideals that they couldn't get along if the world was ending. But, I love them anyway, and without them I wouldn't be who I am today."

Dumbledore continued smiling. That was much like how he felt when it came to the relationship between him and his brother.

Somehow, the Headmaster was beginning to feel he could trust Arthur the more they spoke.

"Is there anything else before we move on?"

Kirkland's eyes widened as if he was remembering something.

"Once a month, I need to leave the school to take care of government business-Just for a day, of course." He paused, looking to Mallina, who was busy stroking and cooing to Fawkes.

"If it is at all possible, would it be alright if Mallina went to school here? She has had to stay with me while her father sorts of some complicated matters at home. She would normally attend Dumstrang, during the school year, however, I do not want her in a place I could not easily get to if there was an emergency."

Dumbledore nodded. "Of course. Now that we have everything settled, I am going to need you to take a test on how much you know about the subjects you will be teaching."

Arthur made no objections as he continued, "If you don't mind taking these papers to the back room and filling them out, that would be marvelous. Feel free to take your time." He handed a stack of papers to the man, who then left for the room in the back.

As she was coming back from petting Fawkes, Mallina cried out in mock agony, clearly not excited about the size of the paperwork. "Noo! Why did you tell him to take his time? Now he will take forever!"

And 'forever' was what he took. Dumbledore and Mallina didn't exchange many words while Arthur was away. When they did, their short conversations were focused mainly on the paintings of the different headmasters in his office (more specifically the one who looked like he had something shoved up his nose and was on the verge of sneezing.) When Arthur finally finished, approximately two hours had passed. Mallina, who was by now painfully bored, was looking once again at Fawkes, trying to see if he was going to burn any time soon.

Dumbledore stood and took the papers from Arthur, who appeared very pleased with himself.

"Thank you. I will owl the results to you within the next three days. Now why don't you both head home and get some shut eye. You are going to need it."

Arthur smiled and beckoned Mallina to follow him as he headed back for the fireplace. It was then Dumbledore remembered something he meant to ask much earlier but didn't find the right moment.

"One last thing."

The man turned, smiling. "Yes? What is it?"

"You understand that it is not only illegal but highly dangerous to partake in the Dark Arts?"

Arthur's smile faded. He stared back at the Headmaster in confusion at his sudden question.

"Of course."

"Very good. Then you understand that if you get the job and see anyone in the school using this area of magic, you are to tell me immediately? For the safety of the students?"

"I understand. I would be sure to let you know."

Dumbledore gave him a pitying look. "I apologize if I made you uncomfortable, but with Voldemort's return, you can never be too careful."

"No, it's perfectly alright. Well, have a good night, Headmaster." Arthur took Mallina and left through the fire.

It was then that Dumbledore's expression became grim. When he asked Kirkland the question, the girl's eyes flashed over to her guardian with worry written in them. This could only mean two things; She was either confused by his question or she knew that Arthur does exactly what he said he didn't do, and was afraid that he was going to get caught. Whatever it was, he knew that he was going to have to speak with Severus.