A Complicated Check-Up

Goose hated hospitals, but Jack figured it was better to bring him along than not. To sweeten the deal, she convinced her teenaged neighbor Tomas to let her bring Lise along, as the little girl had become friend to both Goose and Sunny, and so it was with three little hands in hers, only one that even remotely resembled her, that she jumped on the Knight Bus and headed off for St. Mungo's.

She had to use the 'do you know who I am, I'm an Unspeakable, not to mention a prominent member of the community' line to skip all of the bull involved in getting a meeting with Khaat Lupin, director extraordinaire. Jack figured Khaat now had a list of people that could be trusted with her, as her foe list seemed to grow every year, and the fact that she had been allowed to see her at all made Jack wonder whether Michael Tremaine had put her name on that list. It made sense. She had helped save her before.

She had put in a request to meet at the daycare lounge, and Khaat's own brood must have helped convince her that this was a good move. Jack wanted the kids to think she was meeting Khaat for her own reasons and let them play while she asked the questions she needed to. She knew that an exam might end up happening, but at least they could start off with some relaxation.

So Jack watched the ten-going-on-eleven year old roll his eyes as Sunny commanded Lise up and down the little play structures. She just needed to hear that she wasn't going to have to take away all of Goose's dreams. That was all.

@Khaat Lupin

Meeting kids in the playroom wasn't usual procedure, but Khaat had agreed to it. The mom in her knew how important it was for kids to feel at ease. She also knew how sensitive kids could be about their parents. Abbey already, at 6, knew entirely too much about the work that her family did, simply because Abbey wasn't a pushover. She knew the moods and the emotions of her family. She knew when and adult came home from work frightened, rattled, or filthy or wounded that it had indeed been dangerous. Jack's work wasn't stress free or danger free either. Depending on how perceptive the kids were, they might well be anxious about being taken into a new situation and might well be aware that it was being done deliberately.

She had gone to Honeydukes and had gotten some of the things that she and Brian had considered favorites when they were kids. She had put them into a basket and just casually took the basket into the daycare and put it on one of the bookcases of storybooks, as if she hadn't been expecting them. It honestly wasn't unusual to have a basket of candy there, but, frankly, it was usually already gone by this hour of the day.

"Oh, hi," she said casually. "The candy basket gets empty fast in here. Hi, Jack. Good to see you. Introduce me to your crew?"

Khaat was thoughtful as ever, and it was not lost on the three munchkins that it was best to take advantage of a basket full of sweets while only two other parents and their matching children occupied the day center. They halted their play, and glanced between the two women, one familiar and one foreign.

Goose was clever, and felt that the entrance of the woman seemed to be less than casual. So he remained aloof - besides, he was much to mature to care that much about candy. Sunny could have cared less for the sweets because, currently, the troops were in need of training if they were ever going to defeat the royal navy - as she and her two mates were an army of pirates, of course. Lise, however, dropped everything and hurried towards the basket. In her eight years of life, she had gone without many things, and sweets were in short supply when one relied heavily on mum and brother to provide.

Sunny glanced between her ship and the basket and decided. "Pause!" she announced, and she too went after the basket. It was with a heavy sigh that Goose stumbled towards the basket, deciding he would partake if everyone else was.

"Hey, Khaat," Jack said. "This is Sunny, my niece, and Goose, my adopted-whatever." He rolled his eyes at her name for him, as they had agreed upon adoption that he really didn't want a mom or dad, just wanted to not be in the hospital anymore. Of course, there were nights he crawled into her bed after horrific nightmares and tears were wiped off of round cheeks, but she would honor the agreement publicly. If only to make a point. "And this is Lise, a friend of the two- what is it today?"

"We're pirates," Sunny said, swallowing down the last of a chocolate frog. "Which reminds me- back to the ship, you wallyscags." Before Jack could correct her, the little redhead spun around and said, "I changed it. Sounds better."

And she grabbed the hands of both Goose and Lise, the latter reaching desperately and catching up a sugar quill, back to the ship. Goose looked horribly against it all, prompting a "fine, you can be the captain of the navy ship." Being the villain always suited Goose better.

Jack turned towards Khaat. "Thanks for this. Goose hates anything resembling a hospital and he's clever as a whip. He was basically living in a muggle hospital when I met him.

"Nice to meet you all," Khaat said. She listened to Jack tell her about Goose and finding him in a muggle hospital."

"Hm. Nasty places, Muggle hospitals," she said. "I'm so glad we don't have anything like that here." Any kid that ended up in a muggle hospital had certainly been down some rough road to get started in the world. She guessed this was to just assess him in wizarding terms. Fair enough. This didn't have to be hard or messy either one, and hopefully that would make it a bit easier for him.

"How has he been so far since he's been with you?" she asked, not wanting to make him uncomfortable but wanting to know if he had any clue about magic or if it had been actually rather missing from his upbringing so far. And she doubted whether he had any clue about how a wizard healer worked at all. She was hoping Jack had some history on Goose that would be helpful. Not that she always got history information. It didn't always happen.

Jack nodded at Khaat's words, conjuring up images of Goose in his hospital gown and medical bracelet, freckles vivid against his pale, clammy skin, discoloration where there shouldn't be. She didn't know if he would survive the week when she agreed to take him in. She couldn't believe he was here and seemed as normal as he did, to be honest.

The kids were relatively out of earshot, and with Sunny barking orders and Lise singing, Goose was unlikely to hear. Angling herself towards Khaat, Jack let Khaat in on the whole story. "He's magical. I figured that out before I took him in. In the process, I discovered who he was related to." She cleared her throat, a little less willing to reveal this. "He's related to the Krums, somehow. He's actually very... pureblooded, or whatever, but he's shown no signs of magic."

She shook her head, watching Sunny tackle Goose who finally cracked a smile. "The muggles thought it had to be some sort of muscular dystrophy thing. But some magical treatments and potions have helped. I think... I think it's that blood thing," she said, a bit out of her element with all this medical talk. "You know, when a pureblood wizard's blood is almost toxic with magic? I knew a kid in Hogwarts who had that."

Her face was almost pained but she took a breath and looked fine. "He hasn't shown any signs on magic and he has days where he is really, really weak. I think he's expecting his letter. And I'm scared it's not going to come."

"Well, there are a lot of things in the magical system that can look like that," Khaat said. "For purebloods, if the magical system is compromised, it can, more or less, cross contaminate the other systems and cause that sort of deep fatigue and weakness. Sometimes its repairable, and sometimes its compromised for the long term. We should, certainly, be able to bring his energies up so that he feels better, at the very least."

Khaat did understand what Jack was saying though. For a pureblood kid to grow up knowing he was expected to be more and just never measured up was a horrid sort of existence. Khaat hated the way that there was such a bias or a stigma towards "squibs." Goose had something about him already that Khaat liked, just right upon meeting him, and she didn't want this kid to be labeled or blocked from having a real place to belong beyond just Jack. A world that felt like home.

"Let me talk to him and see what I can find out," she said. "Will he be okay for me to just touch him? If it makes him uncomfortable, Archangel is in the owlery today. Maybe Goose would like to meet an eagle since not everybody uses an eagle for an owl. I could take him next door to meet him and I'm sure I could manage to just lay my hand on him without having to be so obvious about it. Whatever you think would work best for him."

As Khaat spoke, Jack knew that was what Goose had. It was that instinct when you knew a child well enough, and she had sat through enough of his episodes to know how debilitating they were. She knew, in her bones, he would always be sickly. That to play Quidditch would leave him bedridden for days after. That even the craze of running between classes and managing studying and a social life would require a whole medicine cabinet of potions to get him through the day.

But what would his life be otherwise? She was not saying not having magic was horrible - she had faced that life, had she not? But he expected it. He had memories of his magical mother, enough to know that he should have it as well. He lived among wizards and witches every day. He read the books. He was ready.

She could not deny him that after everything else.

"That'd be great," Jack said, to the comment on his energy.

Jack considered it and then shook her head. "I try to be pretty open with them. I'm not mom, y'know?" She cleared her throat. "Goose!"

"He's busy attempting to kidnap my first mate-"

"Battle the storm, Sunny. It's a huge hurricane."

"Oh my- First mate, grab the line!"

Goose rolled off one of the structures and approached, trying to look bored again. "Hey, you know your bad days? Where you can't move?" He looked slowly between Khaat and Jack, before nodding. "I want it fixed. Tired of waiting on you hand and foot." She barely smirked but he knew her well enough to know what she was doing. "Think you and I can go with my friend so she can see what she's doing for you? I think Sunny can hold down the ship."

He chewed on it. Then with a sigh, he turned towards this other woman. "I know all the tricks. The needle on 2 instead of the count of 3, the distraction of a toy or candy. But I'm much too clever for that now. Agreed?"

"Agreed," she smiled. "But as long as we're being straight up with it, there won't be any needles on 2 instead of three. I don't use needles. Period. In fact, there aren't any needles in this hospital at all--none.  Wizard medicine is a great deal different from muggle medicine.  I work mostly by touch.  

"Some of our healers work by mainly potions or spells, and that's their choice. There's a place for that. My skills just work differently. I think you'll find that it isn't nearly as gruesome as what you've experienced.

"So, Jack tells me that sometimes energy is an issue for you. I'm thinking we might be able to help with that. I think we should see what's going on first. It's very likely that the reason the hospitals you've been in didn't have the answers you needed is because wizards' bodies don't exactly function in the same way that muggle bodies do.  Muggles don't know that, so they wouldn't have had a clue about what was wrong with you.  Let's see if we can do better. For right now, all I'm going to do is touch your forehead."

She laid her hand on his forehead and just paused, paying attention to what she was feeling.  She could definitely feel that the boy did indeed have a magical system, but it was weak. It had somehow been damaged or compromised. She wondered if he had either had the green itch or been a carrier of it and had ended up with residual damage. Her best guess was that it had been some such thing. Or--depending on his history, perhaps some magical accident that maybe had felt like some quirky thing that just didn't make any sense but had caused some lasting damage.

At any rate, she wasn't going to rule out that he would never have any sort of magic, but if he did heal, he would likely have a magical system that worked differently from the norm. It did happen, not often, but it wasn't impossible.

She moved her hand to the side of his head for a moment, looking for the magical neural pathways to see what might be happening there.  That told her more.

"Goose," she said, removing her hand from him. "Muggles aren't going to ever be able help you with this because you're not a muggle. You're a wizard, but not an ordinary wizard. I do think you're going to have some magical abilities, but I don't think they're going to work like the normal wizard. And that's okay.

"Basically," she said, wanting to make a complex explanation into a simple concept, "a wizard has six senses, not five. In addition to sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch, the wizard has a magical system. Muggles don't have a clue about that one, and it's your magical system that has the issue.

"Your magical system has been damaged somehow, and we may never know how that happened. What I do know is that we can try to make it stronger. I think you'll be able to some things, but not others. I think we should work to increase your strength, not just in your magical system but in the rest of your body as well. Then we'll have a better idea of what's going to happen in the longer term with your magic. It's going to take work on your part, though. I think its time for me to talk to you and Jack both, okay?"

She looked at Jack, wanting to give her the reassurance she needed, but in a way that didn't sound like BS to Goose. "I think Goose needs, primarily, a good trainer for his body and his mind. Not that we shouldn't get him on a reparative potion--that'll be important too. I think, though,  I'll ask my father to develop a multipurpose potion for him so he's not having to take a boatload of different ones. But, more importantly, I would really like him to work with Brian and, maybe, either me or my mother. You should be able to help him practice most of his routine at home, Jack. I think Goose is going to have some gifts, but I want him to be ready when his letter comes. And, when he's ready, I'll introduce him to the Headmaster so that Hogwarts knows how to provide him the right sort of training for him."

"What do you say, Goose?" she asked, "Is it worth a try?"

(ooc: you do realize you have to make him now, right? lol)

Goose squinted up at Khaat, eyebrows knitting together in an expression he certainly inherited from his redheaded guardian. Her honesty was unexpected, as most adults typically tried to sugarcoat everything. Goose considered himself rather intelligent, and the fact that she did not seem to be condescending to explain the situation to him was very welcome.

He had been to Mungo's right after being released from the muggle hospital, but it had been a lot of potions and prickly spells. When Khaat touched him, he felt what felt like warm liquid spread from the point of contact and reached through her limbs. He kept his eyes on her, and Jack felt a smile touch her lips. There was a bravery to all of her wards, each with their own brand. Sunny seemed to fear nothing, for the world was good and no one meant to harm her. Lise was brave in that she had stared into the face of deprivation and survived. And Goose knew that fear was the mind killer... he had read that in a book, but it still applied.

All was said and done and Jack's eyes met Goose's, raising an eyebrow. "What do you think, dude?" Jack asked, settling back a little. Once again, he regarded the women.

"I would like to go to Hogwarts."

Jack nodded. She thought as much. "You can join me on my runs. More Quidditch. And then with Khaat and her folks."

Goose turned and reached out a hand to shake Khaat's. "Thank you."

((Ugh I knoooow))

"You're very welcome," She smiled, shaking his hand. "Now, if we're going to do this potion, I want you to have the best potion I know how to find for you. So, I want your potions maker to make his own assessment if you don't mind. And while he's doing that, I have a couple things I'm going to give you that will help. Wait here a moment. I'll be right back."

She got up and went a couple doors down the hall to her father's office and asked him to prepare the necessary potion for Goose.  He agreed.  Then she went to her own office to get the things she wanted to give the boy.

Robert got up and deliberately took off his suit jacket and his tie ,rolled up his sleeves, and loosened the collar button on his shirt. Casual enough, he decided. He put a small notepad and a pen in his shirt pocket and went over to the daycare.

"Hi," he greeted them all with a smile. "I'm Robert." He went over to the basket, seeing Khaat had refilled it. He picked up two Ice Mice and put them in his pocket for later. "I love ice mice, but its not always a good thing to have my teeth squeaking. " He looked at the boy with Jack.

"And you must be Goose. I'm to be your potions maker," he said. "From what Khaat told me, it sounds like we definitely can help you feel a lot less tired but taking several potions every day is just flat out a pain in the behind. It sounds like I might be able to bind what you need all together in one potion, but I'd like to doublecheck for myself. Do you mind?"  He hadn't intended it to be a rhetorical question, but he realized his hand had automatically gone to touch the boy's forehead before he'd given him a chance to answer.

He removed his hand a moment later, took out the notepad and started making some notes in his own potions shorthand. "Sorry," he said, "I got ahead of myself. Occupational hazard. Anyway, I'm just going to make a few notes. Here's what I'd recommend. First, a healing potion. We need to try to get some repair in the physical bits of your body's magical system. Can't promise how much we'll get, but we definitely can do better than what you've got.  

"Second, your magical energy system has been so weak for so long that your body is trying to rebalance without using it. So, I want to rebalance that. That business will take a bit longer because it won't have its full response until your magical system has done what repairs it can do, but we need to start trying to rebalance now.  

"Third, you need some different nutrition. The muggle world doesn't give you the natural exposure to magical animals and plants that your body does get some benefit from just by natural exposure. So, we need to add some vitamins and such to help you reduce fatigue and increase energy. Hopefully, you'll feel more like doing more things and not feel so bloody tired all the time. I know that's got to be really frustrating for you. Let's try to improve that.

"Fourth--you do have some natural magical strengths, or at least I can feel some. So, let's play to your strengths, shall we? We want you to be ready for your letter when it comes. Let's give some very targetted attention to those systems that already are registering as being stronger. We'll see if we can't nudge them along a bit quicker.

"And, lastly, there are a few small bits that are too small for us to trifle with, but because I'm picky like that, I want to add some other little miscellaneous things that will help with some of the smaller annoyances I think you've probably just learned to live with.  

"Now, that's enough on my part for a start, if that sounds alright to you. Here's where you come in. Most of the time, potions can taste really pretty foul and there's nothing I can do about it. However, in your case, I have to bind the ingredients together anyway, and I can do that with a flavor enhancer.  So, since I need to actually add flavor, I need you to pick whatever flavor you think will actually encourage you to want to take it and not feel like such a hassle. Unless you're completely ridiculous with it, I think I probably can manage just about any flavor you want."  

He wasn't going to mention to Goose the old Scotsman that actually wanted his potion to taste like haggis. That was one Robert couldn't personally wrap his brain around and just couldn't manage. He couldn't see Goose making that choice.

"You're lucky, Goose," Khaat laughed, returning with an envelope in her hand. "Very few of us ever get that choice. I'd take full advantage of that if I were you."