Suffolk, England

All Hollow's Night, slightly pass midnight.

2010

Been three years for Cruella. Three years since her revenge against her birth mother, the Baroness, was completed, as well as faking her death of her original persona "Estella" so Cruella could live in the light going forward and claiming the former Hellman Hall, now christened as De Vil Hall. John being her butler now, Jasper and Horace being her Head of Information and Head Taste Tester respectively, while Artie was her loyal business partner in both fashion and chaos, plus Buddy, Wink and the three Dalmatians keeping the place lively. Cruella had gutted the Hall soon after moving in, updating it with modern styles and making the main motif in black and white, along with furs from every corner of the world filled several rooms, including her personal quarters.

In the three years since then, Cruella had made a name for herself in the fashion world, being dubbed the Queen of Fashion by the papers, for her unique styles that always stayed fresh and eye-catching, throwing the occasional music party to liven her shows up, which Artie was a fan favorite for his drag outfits and singing, who like Cruella, was dubbed royalty by the papers as the King of Drag. They were even invited to Buckingham Palace just last year. Cruella and what she likes to call her crazy family had the times of their lives, Cruella being able to see all the old fashions that made royal history up close, Artie flirting with any male that passed his way and even having some special fun with a few bellhops, security detail and two members of British Royalty, while Jasper pocketed small items and Horace enjoyed himself too much with the food made by the Royal Chefs. John elected to stay back to watch over both the Hall and the dogs.

So much had happened for them all, they all agreed that they needed to slow down more. So, for this All-Hollow's Night, they all gathered in the main personal hall where a grand fireplace stood lit, as they all lounged on several Lazy Boy recliners and sofas that Cruella had imported from the States, since most high-class British furniture was made more for looks than comfort. They all enjoy their holiday themed drinks and snacks, while the dogs lay in their dog beds near the fireplace, happily sipping on water from their dish bowels and a bone resting in each bowel. All was peaceful until a rather loud thunder boom followed by a near deafening crack of lightning.

Everyone reacted in shocked surprise, with Horace creating a huge mess of his snacks, Artie throwing his mug into the fireplace by accident, while Jasper was startled awake from his nap on the sofa, Cruella nearly ripping the newspaper she had been enjoying in half and John nearly choked on this pumpkin tea to which Artie came over and lightly thumped his back until he could breathe normally again. The dogs, surprisingly, stayed sleeping.

"What in blue blazes was that?" exclaimed John as he straightened his suit, liking to keep a professional look at all times.

"Well honey, if I had to guess, it was one of those freaky sudden storms you hear about every so often, apparently each season of the year has a least two randoms per season," explained Artie, looking regretfully at the fireplace where he threw his half full mug of hot chocolate and Guinness by mistake, the mug having shattered upon contact with the marble.

"Mmm, the boys and I lived in mostly pure urban areas like London all of our lives, so we aren't used to storms like this, unless you count heavy rains or heavy winds. I can't think of a time I have ever heard lightning or thunder till now," Cruella said as she stood from her seat, sitting the paper down.

"Aye, we second and third that," Jasper and Horace in union.

Artie walked over to a nearby window and pulled the current back slightly so he could glance outside, "Well darlings, seems we have an autumn storm right now on our hands," disappointment in his voice.

"Something wrong?" inquired John.

"Oh nothing, I just feel bad for all the kids and adults who took today seriously, I can imagine their costumes and makeup being destroyed by this weather," Cruella nodded in understanding at Artie's words, having similar experiences as a kid.

"Should we see if any damage has befallen the Hall, my lady," asked John seriously. He had put years of his life into both Hellman Hall and now De Vil Hall and would be terribly heartbroken had any major damage been done by that bolt of lightning.

Cruella shakes her head slightly, "Not much we can see due to the weather and time, but I guess we can check the main areas around the doors for now, since all have overhead protection now. Me and Artie will check the front doors. John, you take the back, Jasper the right and Horace the left. We meet back here when we are all said and done." The men moved to do as they were told, Artie following into step alongside his favorite woman in the world.

"Anything in particular we should keep on eye for, dearest Ella," Artie smirked, knowing Cruella only allowed him to call her that and gaining a sideways bored glance from the lady who is used to his brand of trouble by now.

"Only the motors for now. Once the weather clears, we can check out more than," informed Cruella as she made for the doors.

"Ah yes, the 1980s Zimmer Golden Spirits, modified and the Panther De Villes you collected," Artie said brightly as he remembers meeting Elton John two years back when Elton sold his De Ville for a hefty sum, plus throwing in several of his old original furs to sweeten the deal. Artie was in fashion heaven then. He and Cruella had a wonderful week then of simply trying on all the furs and matching them with all their outfits. At the end of the week, Artie was allowed to pick a few favorites, one of which was an amber mink jacket that Elton was seen to have worn often back in the 70s. Elton John even signed all the furs and the motor for free. He really is one of the greatest ever, also the sweetest and nicest.

"What can I say, I have a love of fast, dangerous and class after all the stunts we pulled with the Baroness," Cruella grinned as she pulled open one of the doors. She and Artie stepped out on the landing, their eyes zooming on the motors, which luckily were not destroyed or damaged in any way. "I should consider a garage for the motors after this weather ends."

Artie nodded his head in approval, about to suggest they go back inside when something caught the corner of his eye. It was a basket that sat near the right pillar, the inside of it being covered with a ruby red black with golden edgings. "Hey Ella," gaining Cruella's attention, "Were you expecting any packages tonight?"

Cruella tapped her finger on her lips as she stared into the distance as she pondered. "John didn't mention anything earlier when the post came today, and I'm not seeing any of our aristocrat clients like the Phantomhives or Hellsings until the Winter Gala held at Buckingham Palace. They usually have their butlers call ahead for any off scheduled deliveries they send me, usually gifts or when confirming an order. It could be a candy bag left by accident when the storm appeared. I would imagine any kid who tried to knock on our door leaving it behind in fear after both the boom and crackle," finished Cruella as she eyed the basket.

"Oh, how delightful, free goodies. I wonder if they had anything we didn't tonight. Unfortunately, it's their loss and fortunately our gain," amused by the subject of free sweets, Artie grabbed the blanket to reveal their surprise bounty. What Artie looked upon left him so shocked that he dropped the blanket as his mind went empty. Cruella, curious now, moved next to Artie to reach for the blanket and see what left her friend so shell shocked. She too discovered a horror that she wasn't expecting.

It was a child, no more than a year old by the looks of it. Holy Mother Night! A boy, with messy black hair that looked like a bird's nest and an odd scar on his forehead. A letter was tucked in the basket that Cruella poked at curiously, which caused the child to open his eyes, revealing eyes so green they rivaled Cruella's own green eyes. One could call his eyes pure emeralds, while Cruella's green resembled more of a dark forest. Cruella recovered from the shock and smacked Artie's arm to gain his attention. "No time to ponder, darling, let's take the boy inside and meet back with the others, then we can discuss it more there." Artie regained his composure and grabbed the blanket while Cruella held the mysterious letter. Hopefully this will answer our questions.

They hurried back inside, Cruella closing the door and locking it tight, turning off the front porch lights and those that lead up the driveway from the front gate. They made their way back to the main personal hall, which was on the second floor, above the main hall where Cruella, Artie or John would greet guests. They entered the room as the boys returned from their own checkups on the many doors that littered the Hall. John reported first, "The back is fine, no seen damage nor any fires from that lightning. Beyond that, we must wait till morning to check for more possible damage, unless the rain continues as it is."

"Same for us," Jasper and Horace replied at the same time.

Cruella nodded as she sat down, Artie standing behind her as he kept the basket and boy out of sight for now. "Well darlings," as Cruella started to tell the short tale, "We checked the front and can report no damage in sight, especially in regard to the motors," the men nodding in union, "however, dear Artie came upon the most shocking discovery. Artie?" Cruella urges her fabulous friend forward.

He nods and moves to the marble coffee table, moving some of the snacks to the side so he could set the basket fully without fear of it tipping over. The three men stared confused until Artie lifted the blanket like he was a magician, making the men jump back in pure horror and shock.

"A child?!"

"What in the seven hells is going on, Cruella?"

The dogs at this point woke up to see what the fuss was about. They noticed the basket and moved to it to have a good sniff. All the humans tensed in case the Dalmatians attacked but at their surprise again, the dogs didn't attack, instead simply laid back down under the table near the child, while Buddy and Wink were too small to reach the basket, so they followed the bigger dogs' lead. The boy was still sleeping despite the noise levels. The men, after getting over their shock, moved closer to the basket to get a better look at the baby boy, the boy in turn looked at each one of them before closing his eyes to fall back asleep.

"Cute kid," noted Jasper.

"His hairstyle is neat," commented Horace.

"His eyes are similar to yours, madam," John announced that little fact.

"Be calm, darlings. The child is not mine. I was as shocked as dear Artie here when we discovered the boy. I did notice a letter within the basket next to said boy," waving the letter around as she explained things. The envelope was addressed to a Petunia Dursley of Little Whinging, Surrey. "Do any of us know a Petunia or anyone by the surname Dursley or anyone in Surrey?"

"None that I can remember in regard to my little store, Second Time Around," responded Artie. "Most of my clients either live in London or are tourists from around the world."

"The names don't ring any bells to me either," stated John, "I basically kept most of the books for the Duchess when she was still around running the show and I'm more than positive that none of those names ever made it into her books. As for Surrey itself, I can't imagine her having any business there, official or not. She usually kept to Suffolk or her businesses in London. She was truly a creature of habit," wrapping up as he took his earlier seat, the other boys following suit quickly to reclaim their spots.

Jasper and Horace glanced at each other in silence before Jasper spoke, "They don't familiar from our street rat days and the network we kind of had before meeting you, Cruella."

Nodding her head to each man as they finished their explanation, Cruella grabbed one of the knives on the coffee table to slit the envelope open, setting the knife aside as she pulled out the letter within. The paper wasn't like anything she had felt before, colored yellow and dry on her hands. She unfolded the letter and read it aloud to her companions.

Dear Petunia Dursley nee. Evans & Vernon Dursley,

It brings me great joy to inform you that your sister and brother-in-law, Lily Anjelica Potter nee Evans and James Fleamont Potter, have died during this wizarding war at the hands of the Dark Lord Voldermant. They died to protect their only child, your nephew, Harry James Potter. It is apparent to keep him there in your home due to certain things and protections I have set up around your home. They will keep all within safe.

I know your stance on magick and our community, therefore I ask you to use that resentment and anger against us on your nephew. As long as he stays alive, feel free to raise him however you see fit. Punish him as you wish. None from my world will bug you or interfere. I have a non magick spy nearby who will help you out as needed. Her name is Arabella Figg and has a great fondness for cats.

I need the boy alive and moldable to my plans. You shall be paid 200,000 Galleons a month, or in Muggle terms, 40,000 pounds from Gringotts. You need not spend any of the money on the boy. Keeping the boy alive is all that is needed. In the event you need to reach me, call on Arabella for aid.

Albus Percial Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot

Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards

P.S. Please avoid damaging the boy's head too much. His scar is important to my plans.

The room was the most silent it's been all day. The only sounds from any of the humans was breathing, while the dogs snored lightly and rain batted at the windows, the fire started to die down. Jasper got up to feed a few pieces of wood to the fire, throwing in five pieces, on the fifth piece he threw it in with a terrible rage unlike anything before. Artie and Horace understand his anger too well due to their own backgrounds, while John had gone so pale one would think he was a corpse. Cruella was set like marble, not moving and not blinking, her eyes seeing beyond anything in the current room.

Artie let out a heavy breath of barely controlled rage and said softly, "So aside from the obviousness of the expected child abuse had Harry been with the Dursleys, there are still many questions to be had, such as how did the kid get here? Also, magick? Dark Lords? Witches and wizards?! A school of magick?! What in the name of Princess Diana is going on?!"

Jasper stayed standing next to the fire, staring at the renewed flames as they danced upon the wood. Horace spoke up, "Back in our street rat days before Cruella, me and Jasper used to see all kinds of things, some of which would haunt the nightmares of even the most kindhearted folks. But we also saw our fair share of some of the strangest things that if we tried to tell anyone, they would have us locked into the looney bin rather fast. Sometimes it was seeing humans becoming what appeared to be animals, other times it was people who vanished into thin air and a few other oddities. Jasper has seen a fair number of people dressed in colorful robes and holding sticks, sometimes seeing a spark come out of the end of said sticks," Jasper grunting in agreement while lifting his shoulders slightly. "For obvious reasons, we never tried to approach any bobbies we saw after these freakish encounters. The abandoned house Cruella found us in was our newest home after we found people in black robes and silver masks in several of our old haunts."

Cruella stayed quite so far, thinking of how inhumane certain humans could be. She remembers how her mother tried to have her killed as a baby, then killed her adopted mother six years later and then tried a few more times before she used the Duchess' final try as the means to erase Estella forever while Cruella took over finally. So she shouldn't be so surprised by the evils that humans will go to, even if they were 'magickal.' Humans are humans, no matter what fancy names they give themselves and humans are by far the evilest of all creatures walking upon this earth.

John was looking torn on what to do. He was holding a major secret that only the previous two Dukes of Hellman knew. He wasn't sure if he was going to tell the last of the Hellman bloodline, but it seems that the Fates had forced his hands due to both the letter and the child. "Cruella, there is something you should be aware of..."