Dennis Creevey lost his elder brother and decides to turn away from the Magical world, but the magical world still finds him across an ocean.
Over the Wide Water
Magic is not real. If you repeat that often enough, you might believe it.
His big brother died. They had gone into hiding when the Death Eaters took over the Ministry. Oliver Wood's family had a warded holiday cottage in the Hebrides. Wood made sure the Creeveys went there to hide, along with other Gryffindor Muggleborns at risk. They barely made it with Angelina Johnson before some Snatchers blasted their house to bits. The Muggle papers reported it as a gas explosion. Not everyone could be reached. The luckier ones went on the run. Other Muggleborns were captured and imprisoned. It was an unsettling time for the family. Their sons practised what they had learnt in the DA, but when their coins started burning warm…
Johnson sorted through the line of eager would-be fighters, plucking out those clearly underage or not battle-ready. The Floo at the Three Broomsticks was open and clear, otherwise there was a zip across the North Sea to the Highlands skilled flyers could undertake. Colin had pulled him away as Angelina sent a skinny fourth year packing from the fireplace. There was another fireplace in the cottage's spare bedroom they could use… Wouldn't it be great if they could catch a picture of their House mates as they arrive in the village? The fireplace in the spare room had been bricked up.
"Sorry, Dens…" his brother's last words were an apology to him as Dennis was stunned.
It would be one of the left-behind witches in his year who would revive him. They had to wait until the house elf let the cottage's wards down and allowed them to Floo into Hogsmeade. He arrived at Hogwarts to find his brother dead.
After that, nothing was the same. They held the funeral and attended the memorial for the fallen. Mr Creevey had been left a farm in Canada from a distant cousin. Their parents wanted to start anew in a new land, as did Dennis. He declined to return to Hogwarts. He could not bear to walk through the old corridors knowing he would never see his brother again.
Headmistress McGonagall wrote him a letter of recommendation for a transfer to Ilvermorny where he might continue his magical education. It never happened. He was not sure if the decision had been his parents at first or his, but when he stepped out of the airport in Canada, he threw the letter into a wastebin along with his snapped wand. There were owls from his former classmates initially, but he never replied. In time, the owls stopped too.
He went to the local Muggle school, catching up with the lessons he had missed during his years in Hogwarts. If the teachers thought his initial shortcomings in Muggle sciences odd, they blamed it on his British schooling. His parents managed to make the old dairy farm somewhat profitable, enough for him to complete high school. Dennis Creevey then started a small IT start-up with some friends. He might sure to avoid anything magical as far as possible and did most things the Muggle way. Once he encountered a witch working as a barista in Starbucks. He saw her spell the coffee cups clean when they were alone. She gave him a cheeky wink, recognizing him as a wizard. He never went back to that Starbucks again. Some days he had to make a conscious effort not to summon his glass or coffee mug from across the table. The itch was always there under his skin.
In his twenties, he moved to California on the tidy profit he made from the business and ventured into property, becoming an American citizen along the way. His parents emigrated to Australia after they sold the farm in Canada. In San Diego, he met and married his wife Suzy - a Muggle or No-Maj as the Americans called them. They settled in a quiet town in the hills, the perfect place for a young family. Little Colin Creevey II came along soon after. His mother said he looked like his uncle did as a baby when the grandparents flew over for a visit.
"Hon, did you leave the door open?" Suzy called down the stairs as he got ready to attend the local volunteer firefighter meeting. Having amassed a comfortable fortune from his work with computers and houses, he wanted to give back to the community. It felt right somehow. He might even sign up as a regular.
"No…" he tried the screen door. It was locked. On the lawn, three-year-old Colin was happily bouncing on the trampoline.
"How did he get out there?" his wife grumbled as she went to retrieve their son, too annoyed to notice the door was still locked. It was a cold fall day, and no one wanted the baby sick. Dennis watched his toddler more closely after that. For a time, all seemed normal. One July morning he saw his five-year-old summon a storybook from across the living room. His heart sank.
Magic has found him.
"What's up, Dennis?" grizzled old Tommy Weiss asked when he found him sulking in the local fire station. The old military man had been in the volunteers almost forever, according to local gossip. He had been in the Vietnam war and a reputation for shooting at cans in his yard.
"Nothing," Dennis lied.
"Wildfire season… Do not make any plans for dinner," Carrie Lopez muttered dryly as she sucked on her ever-present cigarette. The athletic black woman was also ex-military. Station lore had her dishonourably discharged for shooting her ex when she got tired of his abuse. She had a daughter in the care of a grandmother halfway across the country.
"Don't add more sparks, Carrie…" Wally Lee chided as he literally pinched out the end of her cigarette between his fingertips. The Asian-American dodged a punch from his annoyed colleague. Lee was the youngest in the team. He looked fresh out of college. Dennis tapped on the keyboard, pulling up weather forecasts on the screen.
"The winds will be fierce this weekend. If there is a wildfire in the northwest, we will be sitting ducks…" They had been lucky for the two years Dennis was in the team. Nothing bigger than a kitchen fire and cats stuck up trees. Their luck seemed to be running out.
"Felix Felicis, anyone?" Wally joked as he waved a stuffed cartoon character cat the colour of a shamrock about. Dennis almost dropped his cup of lukewarm coffee. Had Wally just mentioned a potion? He had heard of it from his brother…
"Its name is Felix Felinus, Wally," Carrie snatched the toy from Wally, just as the sirens went off. Carrie stubbed out her relit cigarette on the wall as they trooped over to the engine. Dennis noticed Weiss shooting Wally a glare and Wally replying with a shrug.
It was not the raging wildfire they had feared. A chalet at a holiday camp for special-needs children had caught fire. Lopez was cranking up the hoses. Water was preciously rare with the drought. They only had what the engines could carry and that was not much. Everyone was out, or so they thought.
"Help, I cannot find Zack! He's autistic and he might be still inside!" one of camp counsellors grabbed Dennis' arm. Dennis donned his respirator and rushed into the smoky building. He barely heard his colleagues shouting at him to stop.
Without even thinking, he cast a wandless Clean Air Charm like he had been taught years back. It took two tries to get it right. He managed to clear enough of the smoke to see a child's foot sticking out from under one of the bunk beds.
"Come on, Zack. Let's get you out, buddy…" Dennis coaxed the coughing boy out.
His Clean Air Charm was not holding. He attempted a Bubblehead, but it was impossible without a wand. The fire had spread to the wooden rafters. He must get the boy out. Too late. The roof caved in partially, blocking the doorway. The windows were fitted with screens against the insects. He fumbled with the latches. He ripped off his glove and tried again. They were too unyieldy. He punched the screens. They would not give. He could feel the approaching flames through his gear. He shielded the now unconscious child the best he could. Vaguely, he heard his colleagues' voices.
Someone threw him a wand through the wall of flames.
Aguamenti… The spell occurred to him as he caught the wand. The water bursting out from the wand-tip was a torrent. It doused the flaming rubble blocking their escape, no, blasted the rubble clear. His vision was all blurry from the soot and smoke. A blurry figure took the child from him. Another shouldered his weight. He felt dizzy. They were walking through a hole in the wall. Had his spell done that? The engine was lying on her side and soaking wet.
"A wild goose wizard. Pay up, old man," Wally called out.
"There would be a Obilvator unit up from the Valley," Carrie's voice echoed.
Magic found him after all. Magic had saved him.
"You did well, Dennis. They sent the kid to San Francisco Children's Hospital, but he is doing fine. Now we need to talk, son," old Tony sat down on the edge of his bed. Dennis had been sent in for smoke inhalation and minor burns. The hospital wanted to keep him overnight. Carrie and Wally stood with their arms folded. Carrie had a smouldering cigarette Disillusioned stuck behind her ear.
"You are a wizard trying to live No-Maj, right? A wild goose." Flinty blue eyes stared at him. For a moment, he was reminded of his late headmaster.
"What's a wild goose?" Dennis asked. His head ached.
"Lay off the legilimency, old man. We don't do that on civilians now, including wizards," Carrie scowled. The dull ache in Dennis' head receded.
"A wild goose is a North American wizard who is not certified to hold a wand because he flunked or never took the exams as required by the ICW," Wally explained. "Or had wands confiscated for some reason. Half the wixen here are wild geese. Some emigrated but their folks dropped the ball with Ilvermorny and native home schools. Some never had much use for wands to start with. I'm rubbish with mine," Wally cheekily levitated the water jug with a flick of his hand and poured out a glass of water.
"Brit-born, Hogwarts boy for three years. Never followed up at Ilvery…" Tony recited. "Am I right? They would want a word with us after that stunt you pulled. We always need fire-wizards in the Valley with all the wildfires. Maybe even have you catch up the paperwork and tests for your wand permit…"
Dennis nodded. The wand he had used during the fire had been taken away by the Aurors who turned up. They had spoken with his wizard colleagues and obliviated the No-Majs present. He had not even guessed the trio were wizards.
"Will they put me in wizard prison for using a wand without a permit?" Dennis groaned. His throat and chest felt all scratchy and there were no charms or potions in a No-Maj hospital.
"Of course not! Your actions likely fall under Section 12.3 of Permittable Magic," Carrie reassured him. "I'm a former Auror and my baby girl's finishing up Ilvermorny with an eye on a Mastery in Magical Law."
"The choice is yours, Dennis. If you want, we can recommend some correspondence or short courses to complete your magical education. I have some spare wands in my trailer for practising," Tony offered. "Unregistered wands…" he winked.
"I did not hear that," former Auror Carrie Lopez warned.
"Oh, and don't be too surprised if you get owls in a couple of years. You might want to have a talk with the missus before that happens," Tony added. "Or little Colin turns someone's hair purple. Call us if you need help. Aurors can be a bit slow to respond to accidental magic if there is an adult wizard about. They expect us to clean up after the kiddos."
"Are there any other wizards in town?"
"Not many. About thirty or so after they shut down that magical commune for manufacturing illegal Felix Felicis. We normally hang out in Indian Gully. Just knock twice on the peace-sign graffiti on the wall of that abandoned cannery by the creek and you get access to the only magical cafe for miles. They also run an owl mail order business on the side. Nearest Gringotts' is in San Francisco, a hundred miles by broomstick," Wally explained. "Do think it over, Dennis."
Suzy drove him home the following evening, leaving little Colin home with a local babysitter. They found the living room looking as if a rainbow had exploded inside. When asked where Missy Hawkins was, a wide-eyed Colin pointed at a large purple cartoon dinosaur happily tap-dancing in the kitchen. As his wife started going into hysterics, Dennis pulled out his mobile and dialled his colleagues. Perhaps it was time for him to embrace the magical world again.
Magic is real. It looks like magic was not letting him go that easily.
Author's Notes:
I have used the family names of two of the Original Twelve Aurors in MACUSA to highlight there is a greater magical community outside Britain. My guess is that since the Creeveys were on the run due to being Muggleborn, and Dennis was underage. It is unlikely he would have been allowed to return to fight at Hogwarts.
The Creeveys' response to their loss was to distance themselves from the magical community in this fic but Colin II will be getting his admission letter, not to Hogwarts but her Stateside counterpart.