Madam Maxine watches with a smile as her charms students battle it out with the students from Custodia Tarin in Spain. The battlefield? A snooker table.
"Enrique, what do you think of these new sports?"
The Headmaster of the Custodia Tarin school of magic, Enrique, shakes his head, "Honestly, I think that this game is harder for the under 13's than it is for the older students. Have you tried moving the little stick they're allowed to levitate?"
"Oui, I have. Though, I have also seen what the students at 'ogwarts are doing with levitation and it makes using that stick look like a parlour trick. Look over there, the Dark haired student that is refereeing the NEWT matches. The Beauxbatons scarf he has next to him, he is currently knitting that scarf using only levitation."
"You are sure?"
"Oui, watch. 'e is about to set up a new table. See how the he has gathered the balls and placed them in the box? It is quite ingenious design, the referee places the cue ball in the divot on the top and pushes a little magic into the ball. After that, they are the only ones that can use magic or lift the balls without making them glow. Even the cue ball can only be touched for a fraction of a second before it too starts to glow. Now it's finished resetting the balls, see how he just uses levitation to lay the balls out in perfect alignment."
"Where is his wand?"
"'e is a Warlock, he has no need for a wand."
"Dios mío."
"Exactly, we are lucky that 'ogwarts cannot compete in these events as an independent international school."
"Sí."
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Karen laboriously sits down in a comfortable chair in her office in The nest. Sitting in the other chair is the Headmaster of Ilvermorny.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come to visit you."
Agilbert Fontaine waves his hand, "Not at all, we know you must be close to your delivery date, and Healers tend to get touchy if you're too far away at this stage."
"Tell me about it, I swear that Alannah is probably hovering just outside the door, waiting for me to yelp."
"Indeed, it was much the same for my own wife. Thank you for allowing me to visit so close to your due date."
"Not at all, better before than after. In the last Tri-wizard meeting you mentioned wanting to bring your entire 1st year class."
Agilbert nods, "I would. We occasionally get a number of native students at the school, though they normally drop out once it's clear that wand use is mandatory. I have two starting this year, and I am hoping that if I can bring them here we can ensure they get a well rounded magical education going forward."
Karen nods, "I see, and why would they object to wand use?"
Agilbert shakes his head, "We don't know. Most of western North America is unknown to MacUSA, with what magical communities are out there part of the larger cities. Lone magicals that venture outside those communities have a tendency to just disappear. Or worse, sometimes they come back different, and then disappear."
"What of your exams? Do they require wand use?"
Agilbert nods, "They do, however we teach to ICW standards so we can arrange for an examiner to come in for those who wish to use a different focus."
Karen takes a sip of her tea while she thinks, "I believe that we can agree on one condition."
Agilbert looks at Karen curiously, "What condition is that?"
"If any of your 1st year students qualify for Hogwarts house, you personally, and at least one other teacher at your school will not only qualify as Warlocks. You will also ensure that your school has the required facilities needed for your first years to be taught correctly once they have returned to Ilvermorny."
Agilbert thinks for a few minutes while Karen calmly sips her tea and continues with her lace making. Eventually he nods, "I don't see a problem with that, though I will need to talk to the rest of our staff."
Karen nods politely, "You can talk to any of the professors here if you want more information about their experiences doing the same thing."
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Utku Efendi wakes up with a start as he is levitated over a circle, off to one side he spots his wives and children, as well as the other residents of the Harem, surrounded by fierce looking near-humans. As soon as he sees them, he starts to struggle until a woman steps down from a dais in front of him.
"Peace, we look at your history. If no sin, returned to women, otherwise death."
Utku tries to respond, but he finds himself unable to speak before she places a hand on his chest and passes through his occlumency as if it wasn't even there. He sees himself smile woodenly at each of his children as he takes them to do something fun. Just before they get there, he stops and tries to move on in vain, only to crouch down in front of them and make them promise, just as his father did to him.
Then he remembers trying to avoid the next set of oaths for his eldest, but even through the haze of an alcohol induced sleep, he gets up and takes her into his study. There he invokes her first oaths in order to have her take the second set of oaths.
Finally, he remembers trying to ask his first wife to tell him if he ever comes close to forcing her into conflict with her own oaths. Tears stream uncontrollably down his face as he watches the light in her eyes die when her magic turns against her as her oaths conflict. Silently, he oversees the workmen fitting a new suite into the Harem, so that his wife can stay with the family without possibly running into conflict with him and her forgotten oaths. A gasp from the women attracts his attention momentarily before he's forced to remember taking his own oaths.
Then he's taken through the rest of his life quickly, occasionally lingering on different memories. Usually of wrong doing. Though memories of his mother, and the argument she had with his father shortly after he was tricked into giving his own childhood oaths is lingered on for a very long time, along with one of the women in the Harem explaining that she was dead and wouldn't be coming home.
Suddenly the memories stop and there is talking around him while he's trying to gather his wits. Once he's able to focus again, the near-human woman lets him down and pulls him into a hug.
"You found not at fault for your crime, I remove your oaths now and you see your family. They explain what happen."
The woman then pulls him into a hug, and strokes his head. As she does, it feels like she's running her fingers through his magic. As feeling starts to come back to his body, he squirms uncomfortably until she's done, and lets him go.
As Utku tries to get his bearings back, one of the woman from his household runs over, "Utku, I'm so sorry."
As she stops in front of him, Utku blinks a couple of times, "Sabiha?"
Sabiha nods and indicates the woman who hugged him, "Yes, the Titania restored my mind. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you when I was going to overstep my oaths. We were not allowed to talk about them. Thank you for not sending me away."
"I could never do that, I love you. I tried to teach Beyaz about you too."
Titania claps gently, "Please, go to group. More to question."
Utku and Sabiha walk back to stand with the women as Utku's uncle Ilgun is brought out with an iron choker around his neck. Utku watches with disgust as the memories of Ilgun's oaths and actions forced by those oaths are displayed around the man. That disgust turns to horror as those memories are cleared away and new sets of memories are brought out. One of the first shows Ilgun walking up behind Utku's mother and using a severing charm on her neck, before talking to his father. He's only slightly aware that he's fallen to his knees, and started crying, even though he can't hear what's been said. Hesitantly, Sabiha kneels next to him and pulls him into a hug. The fear of the oaths that no longer bind her, clear in her movements.
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Beth and Septima both shuffle uncomfortably in their jeans and t-shirt while a lecturer drones on about the importance of including morals in scientific research. Around the rest of the auditorium are professional scientists taking a refresher course for whatever reason. Septima buries her head in Beth's shoulder when the lecturer brings up a slide of a child that was experimented on without due ethical considerations. It's all Beth can do to sit there stoically as the lecturer explains exactly what the scientists should have done before even starting this experiment.
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Wayne Adham walks into Sir Connolly's office, "Sir Connolly, I have the results of the impromptu blood tests you ordered."
Sir Connolly looks up and takes the offered clipboard before flicking through the names, "What's the summary?"
"We have found 50 men and women who have sufficient magic to work in Little Whinging. One of those is in the diplomatic corps as an interpreter."
"Thank god for small mercies, what languages do they speak?"
"Um, French, Spanish, and Hungarian I think. Theirs is the first profile on the clipboard. We have refurbished one of the small office buildings in the industrial area, and will be moving one manager and 20 staff in next week. I have 300 applications to the various jobs listed at the new school. 73 applicants from around the world for the interpreter positions, and 83 applications for immigration from the Ministry controlled land."
"What about teachers for the magical subjects?"
"None Sir."
"Damn it. Do we at least have lesson and book guides?"
Adham nods, "The ICW got back to us with those last week, along with a list of magical publications we can advertise the positions we need filled."
Sir Connolly nods, "See that it's done. Also, approach the recently qualified warlocks and see if they would be willing to teach wandless magic. If so, give them a standard teachers contract and get them signed up with the union. I think I'd like them to teach the Junior school children to use wandless magic, as their curriculum is more amenable to structured play. And for gods sake, get them into teacher training.
"How are the accommodations coming for the Quidditch World Cup and the Tri-Wizard tournament?"
"We had our first dignitaries arrive yesterday from Persia. They are long term guests, so we have placed them in one of the refurbished houses. The introduction to the mundane rooms could have gone more smoothly, so we have made notes on the things they didn't understand. We are expecting the delegation from Bulgaria to arrive later today, along with the Irish. The Americans should be arriving tomorrow, and then the larger empires are not expected to arrive until the day before the Quidditch Cup."
Sir Connolly rubs his forehead, "This briefing is going far too well, what's the bad news?"
Adham coughs, "Why would you think there's bad news?"
"Adham, you are only ever this organised when there's an absolute doozy of a wrench in the works."
"Yes Sir. Well, Elder Isbeil has made it clear that she will be inspecting all of the dignitaries for childhood oaths. There is an implication that those oaths will be removed, and anyone who the deem to have been enslaved by them will be given a second childhood."
"Right, fine. Contact the ICW and get them to send over a qualified Healer as well as someone with some clout. We can then just drop that in their laps and wash our hands of it."