Mr. Wide Eyes

What better way was there to cure panic than to apperate? Surely, if anyone other than Calvin had been involved in such a situation, it would have been common sense to assume that providing an escape from a terrifying predicament would do just the trick.

But Calvin's fear of transportation by wizard means had always thrown him into a state of panic, and when coupled with the fright that had previously been inflicted upon him by the Ministry meeting that he'd fled from, his mind could not be in any worse shape.

Calvin stumbled forward when his feet met with the ground once more, and immediately doubled over. An unidentifiable mass had formed at the back of Calvin's throat when he and his mysterious savior had apperated, and it seemed that landing had been the push that it'd needed to crawl completely from Calvin's stomach. The young lad lurched forward, and vomited on the Leaky Cauldron's recently swept floors.

"Oh golly," Calvin coughed, and wrapped each of his gangly arms around his midsection. "I didn't mean to..." he added, and looked up fro the mess that he'd made with apologetic eyes.

"Well, you're not the first young man to do that, Huck," Michael said with a warm smile, his hand soothingly on Calvin's back. "Tom, would you mind?" The bartender peered over the counter and flicked his wand at the spot on the floor and disapparated it.

"Happens all the time in here for one reason or another, Lad," Tom told Calvin. "Michael there is a good lot. He'll take good care of you. Go sit and get your sealegs back, and I'll bring your drink. It'll do you good. So you've named that one Huck?"

"Seems to fit him," Michael shrugged.

"As in Huck Finn?"

"Well, he has the same potential for adventure and seems to have the same innocence and the same desire to do the right thing. He seems like a Huck to me."

"You'll just have to get over it," Tom told Calvin. "The man nicknames bloody everybody. Consider it a term of endearment, Boy. Otherwise it'll drive you crackers."

"Come along," Michael said, not bothered by Calvin's upset stomach in the least. He felt the need to make sure the young man sat down before he fell down. He took him over to the table near the fire and pulled out a chair for him. "Sit. Before you fall down. Apparating can make your knees a bit unsteady if you're not accustomed to it. We really should do something about that, though. I could teach you how to not lose your lunch like that if you like." He sat down in the chair across from Calvin.

"So," Michael said. "I know who you are but I quite doubt you know me. You're Calvin Ransom. My name is Michael Tremaine. I am sorry we have not met before this. We are, sort of, family--in a way. I am Khaat's godfather. And I know you are the partner of my goddaughter's, well, daughter. I am sorry we met under these circumstances. But I make it my business to look out for my family. And the Lupins are my family--the only family I have, really. And since Chase is family to Khaat, she's family to me. And that makes you family as well, as far as I'm concerned." Tom brought two large tankards with hot buttered rum in them. They smelled divine. Michael picked up his tankard and flicked open the pewter lid and smelled it. "You used top shelf rum in there," Michael smiled approvingly. "Well done, my friend."

"Always the best for the Minister's family," Tom smiled. "Its on the house. Tell me, is...'Ozzy' alright?"

"Very well," Michael said.

"Is he coming back?" Tom asked.

"You know him," Michael said. "What do you think he's doing?"

"'Nuff said," Tom laughed. Tom patted Calvin's shoulder. "You drink that, Boy. It'll settle your stomach and those nerves." Tom walked away from the table.

"Rum works for damned near anything," Michael said. "Now--you hae a million questions, I'm sure. Feel free to ask away." He took a drink of the hot buttered rum and found it to be delightful.

As Calvin took a seat in the chair that he’d been offered, he smiled in regards to the nickname that he’d been given. Calvin had always been rather fond of the character when he'd read of Huck in his younger years, being the muggle enthusiast that he was, and could do nothing to prevent the pride that had overwhelmed him upon being compared to the lad. “I don’t mind it,” Calvin replied a bit too hastily, and thus making his fondness towards the nickname quite evident. “Though, I really don’t like getting in to as much trouble as I have today. That,” Calvin threw his thumb behind himself in a gesture towards their past location, “was not any kind of adventure that I would like. It was scary!” Calvin shivered visibly at the thought of the afternoon’s occurrences, spastically flailing his limbs about where he sat.

“No! Oh, please don’t make me do that again!” Calvin shouted, bringing his hands up in front of himself in a defensive position, though he did not believe the fellow before him to be a threat. “Apperating is dangerous, sir,” Calvin elaborated, so to make certain that his terror was not mistaken for disrespect towards the man who had so kindly assisted him. “You can get splinched by moving around like that. I never learned how to apperate at school, because I am too scared of losing an arm – you know, like that guy from the newspaper did. My father told me about him, so to make sure that I knew how dangerous apperating is. He said that the poor man lost his arm!” Calvin absentmindedly gripped his shoulder, and held it tight in one hand as he spoke of the ghastly accident.

Calvin’s brown orbs lit with excitement as Michael introduced himself. It was always such a pleasant surprise to meet another of Chase’s extensive family. “You are related to Chase?” Calvin’s hand darted forward, so to shake Michael’s. “It’s nice to meet you, sir!” he squeaked excitedly, smiling from ear to ear.

But in the traditional behavior of Calvin’s inconsistent moods, he found himself feeling frightened once more, rather than excited. Calvin had not yet addressed the worries that had plagued him upon witnessing his friend’s arrest, but there was no avoiding the anxiety when he was reminded of the far more serious matters that were yet to be discussed. “They took her, Michael. They took Jack, and they locked her up for talking. All she did was talk, and now she is in prison with those meanie dementores! If they did that to Jack and she was at the meeting, what are they going to do to Chase? They can’t hurt her, Michael. I-I-I,” as Calvin began to stutter, he went quiet once more, taking this as his cue to calm himself down.

After inhaling a few shaky breaths, Calvin parted his lips once more, “What is happening, sir? Why are innocent people being put in Azkaban, and fired? Mr. Potter was nice, but they fired him. And Jack is nice too! I can’t loose Chase, sir. It would kill me,” he admitted. As he finished, Calvin cast the rum that he’d been offered a downwards glance. He had never been as bold as to drink alcohol before, but he could not bring himself to refuse the bartender’s kindness.

Calvin brought the dusty tankard to his lips, and swallowed a large mouthful of the liquid – which he then promptly began to cough up. It seemed that the young lad was no longer capable of preventing himself from spewing his bodily fluids onto the floor every few seconds. His nose scrunched upward in an expression of distaste towards the drink. “Yucky. What is that stuff?” he asked, turning his eyes back towards Michael.

Michael watched Huck sputter on his first taste of rum. "Easy there, Huck. That's not pumpkin juice. That has a kick to it. Its supposed to taste a bit like floor cleaner. If it doesn't burn, its not worth crap. But if you'd rather have some hot spiced cider we can do that. Perhaps its too much of a good thing for you all at once." He ordered a hot spiced cider for Huck instead and Tom brought it right away, with an amused glint in his eye. This wasn't the first time either of them had seen a young man tangle with alcohol and lose.

"I'm not related to Chase biologically. Khaat's father is my best friend. Always has been. Since I met him in our first year in Hogwarts together. And thats been a day or two ago. But lets answer your questions. And lets see if I can remember them in order. Apparating is only dangerous if you don't know how to do it. As dangerous as things are becoming, apparating is far less dangerous than a lot of other things right now. I suggest you learn how to do it. It just might save your life and Chase's.

"What's happening is that some goofball found a way to bring some nutcase back from the dead, where he belonged, with a horcrux. Nasty business, horcruxes. Divides the soul into pieces and keeps part of it behind so someone who is too much of a chickenshit to die can come back from beyond the veil. Mark my words, Huck. Anyone who uses one of those has a massive issue with insecurity beyond most of the rest of mankind. You saw him. Gellert Grindlewald. He was better left dead. He's an insecure egotist who only wants to own the world and thinks he bloody well deserves it. Everything he's said and done is a stinking lie. And he won't hesitate to kill, torture, maime, do whatever it takes to get him what he wants. You saw a taste of that today. He'll even jail his own people. Emof works for him, and Grindlewald is tossing his own people under the proverbial bus. The truth of the matter is that Khaat had triplets and her father took a two week leave of absence--a vacation--to help his daughter with the fact that she has five children in diapers at the same time and had just had a massive C section. The moment he took that leave of absence, Grindlewald took control of our world. Robert had to hide his family--especially his daughter and grandchildren. That's why Chase ended up in St. Mungos for so long. The people Robert and Khaat trusted to take good care of her, well, they didn't. They sent Robert and Khaat daily reports, all of which were lies. Otherwise, Robert would have sent someone to liberate Chase out of there. Now Robert and Khaat are on the top of England's Most Wanted--because they pose a huge threat to Grindlewald.

"Robert is one of the few men with the resources and the allies to pull England together to oust Grindlewald from power. Grindlewald is doing whatever he can to draw Robert out of hiding to try to kill him and eliminate the threat the Lupins bring to him by simply still being alive. They're too well liked for Grindlewald's liking.

"As for Jack, she either made a critical mistake or she has something else in mind. I love Jack like she was my own child. I know her. If I could have helped her I would, but she didn't want help. She stood in open defiance of Grindlewald and his second, Zada Forbes. That's what got her arrested. I don't know if I can help her when she's in Azkaban. I just don't know right now.

"As for Chase, she is most likely safe. Unless Grindlewald does enough digging through files that Robert no doubt has hidden as well as he knew how, that documents Chase's legal connection to Khaat. That is the only reason Grindlewald would have to come after Chase--unless Chase decides to imitate Jack in order to end up her cellmate. And I don't actually foresee her doing that. Chase has too much to lose to do that. That would risk you and her daughter, and I don't see Chase as being willing to put that on the line. I believe you can relax just a wee bit about Chase. I promise you--if I hear that Chase, her child, or you are in any danger, I will come for you or send someone to you. I promise you.

"Jess Potter was also a risk. He is well known for being the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, and they are also a significant threat to Grindlewald. Forbes did him a favor by not killing him outright, and Potter knows it. It was a narrow escape for him. It may well turn out to be a critical error for Forbes and Grindlewald. In the meantime, Huck, you need to train up and gear up. You may well have to defend yourself or your family, and right now, after today, they won't see you as a threat. This could work out very well for you and Chase if you play your cards very wisely from here on out."

A sincere expression of confusion made its way across Calvin’s face, “Why would anyone want to drink floor cleaner? Don’t they know that’ll make them sick?” Calvin turned in his seat, so to meet eyes with the man who had served him the drink. “I have some Mr. Yuck stickers that you could borrow, if you want,” he offered innocently, and smiled. He could not have looked any more like an eight-year-old than he did then.

As Calvin was supplied with another drink- one which smelled familiar, and tasted remarkably less like something that could potentially cause organ failure – he swiveled his head back towards Michael, so to once more grant him his full attention.

With such confidence Michael spoke of the most recent occurrences in the wizard world that Calvin had momentarily forgotten of the danger that stood behind his words; while the twisted nature of the new Minister and their intentions was the subject of the conversation, Calvin could do nothing to prevent the twinkle that danced across his irises. Much like a tike listening intently to a story, Calvin found himself leaning in against the table that he sat before, resting his forearms against its edge.

“Thank you, sir,” Calvin replied gratefully to Michael’s promise of protection. It would certainly do Calvin and his family a world of good to have a loyal friend on their side.

Calvin grazed his bottom lip with the tip of one of his teeth, and slapped each of his hands on either side of his drink. He appeared to have finally come to the realization that he was not being told a fictional tale. And this realization didn't appear to be having the greatest effect on the lad. There was a brief moment of silence as Calvin fought with himself; tackling his fears in an attempt to do what he felt would be in Chase’s best interest.

Alas, Calvin found determination.

“What should I do? I am a part of the Ministry, sir. Chase is a part of the Ministry. If our Minister isn’t worth trusting, what are we supposed to do?" Surely, it was a foolish mistake to trust someone that he had only just met as wholeheartedly as he'd trusted Michael by asking him such a question. But as it were, Michael had been the first person to provide him with an honest answer in regards to the recent chain of events, and that was enough for Calvin.