May I Talk to You About My Boys

Sam and Victor Donohue had been excused from their 7th year study hall to join their adoptive father, Angus, to meet with Deputy Headmaster Wilson. Angus had with him a large round tin that had one enormous sized cinnamon roll, and on the top was a little letter from Khaat with an affectionate welcome back greeting, saying how very much she had missed him. Her note also said Angus was now the estate manager for Brian and Khaat's huge estate, and she asked Wilson to trust Angus as much as any Lupin. She said she would vouch completely for Angus and asked Wilson if he could render whatever assistance he felt appropriate to give the boys.

As for the pastry he carried, Angus had started making the huge cinnamon rolls with their gooey white icing when he ran was the chef at Khaat's estate. These cinnamon rolls were a full 14" in diameter and met the edge of a dinner charger plate. She had sent this one, still warm, on a platter than she had magically enlarged a little so the cinnamon roll would fit the charger, and she had fit it inside an extra large tin and taped the note on top.

Sam and Victor met Angus in the entrance hall, and they saw the tin and smelled the warm cinnamon roll.

"Oh my god, that smells amazing," Sam said quietly to Angus. "Did you bake that for him to butter him up?"

"No, I did not," Angus laughed, as they walked him upstairs. "I made it, yes, but Khaat just added them to the Sparks menu, so we'll see if anybody's crazier than the folks at home when it comes to these things."

"Cool. We can get them every day, then." Angus cast them slight scowls since the enormous rolls were his signature thing anyway.  

"You could get them almost every day anyway if you asked, you know," Angus replied. The boys were fraternal twins, not identical. They had their biological mother's sandy blonde hair but that was, thankfully, all they had seemed to get from her. She was a barmy old bat anyway. And Angus reserved the right to think that either the sorting hat had buggared the boys up or that they had not been free to truly be themselves until they had gotten with him just a few months ago, just about in November. Sam had been placed in Hufflepuff, and Victor had been placed in Gryffindor. Now, by all Angus could see, Sam had the heart of a Gryffindor, and Victor was much more the Hufflepuff. Oh well, June would be coming, and, if the boys were safe until then, they would graduate.

They just had had a week away from school, spent at home, because of the actions of their biological mother--his soon-to-be mother in law. The boys reached Wilson's office, and Sam knocked on the door.

This was a strange day for him. With everything that had happened, he was happy to be back at Hogwarts in some capacity, at least, but teaching students how to Apparate - which was the Ministry's job - and being Ogden's deputy were tasks he utterly detested. His potential was wasted but what was more important, he could not teach... not like he wanted, at least. A few days ago, he had written to the Ministry that he wanted to leave Hogwarts once more, and he told them explicitly that he would stay under one circumstance - that he got his old chair back. For some reason, the bureaucrats at the Ministry still held Wilson in high regard because of everything he had done for them over the years and a day later, he was called by Ogden into his office and informed, among all the usual political talk how he was sorry that Wilson was unhappy and that he was not aware, but had he been, he would have definitely done something in that aspect - a speech that was filled with too many conditionals and too many lies, as Wilson was explicit on more than one situation that he wanted his old chair back - that he was getting his old chair in a few days time, as well as being reinstated as Head of Gryffindor House and the school's dueling instructor.

Wilson was, of course, overjoyed, but all he managed to show was a cold thank you, a polite bow and a goodbye to a person that didn't really care about it anyway. Ogden was a politician, and he knew that his position was safe as long as the people in the Ministry were satisfied with him, and such people were usually satisfied when with a person when they did as they were told. So, Ogden did what he was told and Wilson was once again back in his old office, which had been significantly altered in the meantime, but he did not have too much trouble getting it back to its old grim and simplistic aesthetic.

Today, he officially moved everything and was finally ready to settle in. To those that did not know about the shift, he left a note on the door of the Deputy Headmaster's office that he was no longer the Deputy Headmaster and that anyone who wishes to speak to Professor Wilson can find him in his office. And he had honestly hoped that there wouldn't be anyone that day, but just a few minutes after he had officially settled in, he heard a knock on the door. He was a bit surprised, but he couldn't really avoid people under such circumstances; this might actually be important. ''Enter'', he said after taking in a deep breath, waiting to see who it was.

"Professor?" Sam poked his head in. "Um...I'm sorry to disturb you but...um...we--that is my brother and my dad and I had an appointment with the deputy headmaster. We were told to come and see you?" He was a bit timid about opening the door, but Angus wasn't easily intimidated by a man who had already bid them to enter. Angus opened the door and entered with Sam and Victor following him a step behind.

"Angus Donohue, Professor," Angus introduced himself. "My apologies for the apparent confusion. Oh, and I brought you a little gift from Khaat. She sends her regards and a note." He handed the large pastry tin to him.

"I presume you may know that my sons have only returned here to school last evening. They've been out for the last week because of a serious threat to their safety while they were actually here in the school. It's a very complicated situation but as I work for Khaat and Robert, they have assured me that this sort of issue is something that you might be in a position to help us with, especially since the boys are due to graduate this year. I think her note makes some mention of that."

Wilson's puzzled look, behind his teashades, shot at the two boys and a grown man who looked more like he was chasing hobgoblins than anything else. Of course, he immediately recognized the two brothers, whose story he was well acquainted with as it was part of his job as Deputy Headmaster to oversee it, but the grown man was a complete mystery to him. The boys reacted as most of his students did when coming to him, which is something he had gotten used to over the years, but the man simply entered like it was his own living room, and he had a sort of Highlander-esque approach which amused Wilson. What he did not expect was the gift of food and notes that he brought with him. He stood up, taller than all those present, his dark and slim figure creeping like a grim shadow behind his desk, and nodded politely. ''James Wilson. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Donohue. I assume that the boys have told you who I was, but I am happy to inform you that as of ten minutes ago, I am officially not the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts anymore, and am now back at my old chair as Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor and Gryffindor Head of House'', he greeted them and offered them a place to sit. ''However, until a replacement has been named, I shall have to do the mandatory tasks in the absence of our dear Headmaster'', he continued, with palpable animosity at the mention of Ogden, ''but regardless of that, young Victor is a student from my House and... well... I would never turn down my dear friends, Khaat and Robert. So, make yourselves at home, gentlemen.''

He then took Donohue's gifts and smiled as he saw the cinnamon roll, which was really more than he could eat. ''She knows I am not that big on food... dear Khaat. Please, help yourselves, I dare not even try to eat this all by myself, while I read the note'', he said, while browsing over the first lines of the note. It was a flood of memories for him at the moment, but he couldn't really allow his melancholy to kick in at the moment, as the content of the note was more than just a stroll down memory lane. There was something afoot in the background and from what Khaat had written, it was something quite sinister. Of course, the Wizarding World has been enjoying a period of relative peace for some time now and as someone who witnessed more clashes than one should in a lifetime, Wilson was aware that it would not last. Something was bound to happen sooner or later, and it seems that sooner was the option in his case. As he finished the note, he neatly enclosed it and put it in front of him on the desk. ''Might I offer you something to drink, gentlemen? This seems like a long-er discussion, so we better have our throats ready'', he suggested.

''Yes, dear Khaat has been as detailed as ever. I know about the boys' situation, I have been kept informed, but I have not had access to all the information, as you might assume. I do not know how much Khaat has told you about me, but while I am loyal to her and Robert, I am not necessarily loyal to the Ministry, and the Ministry has never liked that, which is why I am generally informed, at least officially, on a very superficial level. But, as I have said, a friend of Khaat's is a friend of mine and if Khaat needs my assistance, I shall be happy to lend it to you and the boys. Plus, I do think I am the best person to talk to about any kind of security. I wouldn't really trust the Headmaster with my ink bottle, let alone a person'', he said, shrugging. ''So tell me, Mr. Donohue, how dangerous do you think this is and why do you think that the boys would be targeted... again?''

[These could be a few particularly long posts in this thread in order to provide you some more of the background details we talked about, and it also puts the details in a place where some of the others can read them, if they choose to. I don't normally write them this long anymore. lol]

"You really should try them," Victor said to Wilson, forgetting himself just a little. "These are completely scarfed up straight away at home." Each of the boys tore off a little piece. "Thanks, Professor."

"I don't think I need anything to drink but thank you anyway," Angus said. "Khaat did not say a lot but she did say that she and Robert both consider you to be, in her words, 'completely unimpeachable' and have no doubt that not only would you not be involved in any risk to the boys but you surely would have not allowed them to be abducted from the school in the first place. And I trust their judgment.”

Not that Wilson had asked for the boys’ opinions, but they actually agreed with Wilson about more than he probably realized. They had told Angus that they didn't particularly like the Hogwarts' headmaster either, and because the man was so rarely seen or heard from, the attempts Angus had made in the past week to do his own investigating of how the boys had been abducted from the school, no one that Angus had talked to had any way to vouch for the headmaster or give any opinion at all. Further, because the man was so rarely seen or heard from, the vast majority of the people Angus had talked to had told Angus they doubted whether the elusive Ogden actually existed at all.

Nor had Angus even heard from the school that they gave a tinker’s damn about the fact that a very serious crime had happened actually inside the school itself, except to excuse the boys for the week to recover from the ordeal on the basis of “medical reasons.” Frankly, Angus was actually a bit miffed. They had not told him the boys were gone. They had not, by all he could ascertain, reported it to the aurors, nor did it appear that anyone looked for them. Angus had rescued his own sons, thank you very much. Then, after the boys were safe again, some twelve hours after they'd disappeared, it had been Angus who had reached out to notify the school that the boys were not there and were with him and had been kidnapped by their biological mother. And even after all that, nobody had even asked if the boys were alright, did they need anything, could they help? Not a syllable. Somebody at the school was an arsehat. It had all made Angus very skeptical that he should leave the boys in the school, even though the time the boys had before graduation was now painfully short. Khaat and Robert were iron firm that there was no chance whatsoever that Wilson had been in the loop on any of that.

“I am rather glad that you are not a ministry supporter either,” Angus said. “I am an ex-Auror, and, although there was some effective training there, I can stand my ground for those things in more direct and less political ways. Getting more to the point of my visit, though, I am concerned about my son’s safety. It is a very complicated situation, and although I would like to hope that this was a one-off incident, The risk of some sort or recurrence is exceptionally high. The facts of last week’s incident, in short, are these.

“The boys can definitely give you far more detail than I," Angus continued, aiming to give just a wee bit summation as an initial overview, without starting endwise, as the boys were so prone to do, "but in short, a week ago on Thursday night, the boys tell me they were asked by the alchemy professor to accompany her into the forbidden forest after supper, after classes were through, so they did so. When they got into the woods, the so-called professor's appearance changed to the appearance of a older woman, and what they described to me sounded like an elderly, dark arts crone. They were met in the woods by their biological mother who said she was taking them 'home,' and the boy will be the first to tell you neither of them want anything to do with their mother anymore ever, and their biological father is deceased. He died back in October of this year."

Angus was not a man prone to overreaction. He was an experienced fighter, and his family had been standing against dark arts practitioners for generations. He had been raised by his paternal grandparents, Edward and Caprice Donohue. While Edward was pure Brit and had a small country cottage in the UK, Edward lived most of the year in Tuscany where he owned a villa with a coastal vineyard and olive grove. Edward had made significant sums of money as a highly sought out werewolf slayer. Edward was, even now at 71, still an imposing figure of a man, standing 6'5". He was still called upon far more than he wanted to be these days to go and face off with and eliminate werewolves that were out of control and presenting an unrestrained danger to people. His adventures over the years across the UK and the continent had pushed him, without any intent on his part, into the wizarding history books. Angus accompanied Edward on these extermination tasks when he could free himself to do it. Edward's skills with werewolf far exceeded Angus's but Angus loved Edward more than anyone else in the world, and he wanted Edward to not end up as the one slain because of his increasing age. In fact, it was Angus’s need to be less visible on those moonlight missions in all sorts of weather that had led his black mission wear to the black leather duster coat and the wide brimmed fedora that the protected him from all sorts of weather. Today, when he finished with the boys, he and Edward were taking a "short hop" over to the Italian alps to deal with reports of a young werewolf that was supposedly responsible for the deaths of five people, making it necessary to go to attend the meeting wearing in his mission garb rather than in the suit he had planned on. What a schedule--a parent teacher meeting, followed up by a little casual monster slicing and dicing.

"Our bio dad was not a nice man,” Sam volunteered to Wilson. “He worked for people who were, as he used to say, 'independent enterprisers.' He said he was an 'expediter.'"

"Yeah, some expediter," Victor rolled his eyes. "He 'expedited' his boss's competitors or enemies to the A&E department at St Mungo's or straight across the veil on a regular basis. He was a paid assassin, and we knew it. He never attempted to hide it from us. He didn't care if we knew because he said no one would believe us anyway. And our mother worked for the same guy as an 'entertainer.' She’s a just pitiful excuse for a French…”

“Stop,” Sam said softly to Victor, turning to him and scowling. “Don’t insult the French by comparing them to her. They never did anything to you.” Victor rolled his eyes, this time to the ceiling. His hatred for his mother and dead dad, was transparent as glass. He and Sam both hated Reginald and Suzanne Tyler with a passion.

"Our older sister, Ruby,” Sam continued the tale, not caring that his grammar was particularly correct, letting his sentences run on simply because his brain was racing faster than he could speak “ found out that Mom had been 'entertaining' some werewolf dude, and he wanted to add to his pack, and apparently right then she was sick and tired of being a mom, so she made a deal that we would be turned and then sent to live with the pack. Ruby lives with Angus and she told him, and he got us out before we got turned or sent off. It apparently got ugly, and now Dad's dead, thank Merlin, and Mom's married to some other knucklehead that we've never met. But we read the papers and his pictures are in there. He’s a tosser too. In the meantime, Angus and Ruby got filed for custody, and now they're our legal mom and dad. So far as Sam and I are concerned, Angus didn’t have a choice. We were there, and we saw it. It was clear self-defense. Dad got what he gave to Merlin only knows how many people, and Mom can just dry up and blow away for all we care. She’s a nitwit who couldn’t cast her way out of a paper bag. She needs her wand revoked, I mean, seriously. She’s a right mess. I found her last Hogwarts’report card. Pitiful. P’s and D’s straight across the board. "

"Not very tactful explanation," Angus said, maintaining a touch of a diplomatic tone in his voice, despite the fact that he had been tempted to snicker at part of Sam’s explanation to Professor Wilson, “but the boys' feelings on the whole situation are understandably a little raw yet. It's just been ongoing, complicated craziness since it started in late summer. I ended up, unfortunately having to defend myself against their father--Reginald Tyler, and to say that his widow, Suzanne is put out with me would be a horrendously gross understatement. She is furious for three primary reasons. First, not only because of Reginald’s death but because her boys are now mine, and also her daughter Ruby lives with me and we have a newborn daughter—Suzanne’s first grandchild--that I have no intention of ever letting Suzanne see.

“Do I think she will come again to take her sons? I know she certainly will try. How or when remains to be seen, but it is essential as well that you know that she has indeed already remarried. Reginald Tyler was a two bit thug, to put it bluntly, and Suzanne is a ditz and a moll. She married Reginald’s boss, and It is important for you to know that her new husband is on France’s wizarding most wanted list, heads an aggressive crime family, and employs a wide number of dark arts operatives. I hesitated to bring you this far fetched sounding tale, but it was actually Khaat who reassured me that you are one of the few fellows that has experienced that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. And, so, it is upon her recommendation that I am here today to see what might be done to make sure my sons might finish their school experience here at Hogwarts without further incident.”

''You just make yourselves at home, I shall have my piece, don't worry'', Wilson said to the boys and smiled as sincerely as he could. The boys were back at school, safe and sound, but from what he could deduce from Khaat's letter and Donohue's serious expression, the situation was nowhere near comfortable, and he couldn't really force himself to relax under such circumstances. ''I am glad that the Lupins still trust me so much. With everything that's happened, with all the time gone... it's truly reassuring to hear that someone still has such a high opinion of you'', he remarked with a dose of melancholy, the Fiendfyre with which he destroyed part of the school years ago burning brightly in his eyes. Still, he quickly returned to the present and listened to Angus' reply.

''The Ministry, well... they owe me, sort to say. It's not anything palpable, but there is a mutual agreement that we don't really cross each other's paths. They don't like me that much, but they... um... they really try to avoid me as much as possible, Wilson explained dryly, as the topic of his strained relation with the Ministry was something he avoided, but because he had anything to hide, but because it made him a tad nauseous. He then listened to Donohue's detailed explanation of the issue, along with the boys' emotional interventions. They reacted naturally and Wilson understood that. While he himself was almost always composed, he had grown to understand people's emotions and reactions. Donohue was factual, the boys were - naturally - involved in all of that on a much deeper level, and that was visible. The story itself was a complex one, and it was good that Wilson had been a person who listened carefully and memorised all the relevant details. This case was indeed something up his alley and he knew, even before his guests had finished their elaboration, that he would be taking this mystery on.

There were several points of interest in their story, and Wilson had to get some additional information. ''I assume that the Alchemy professor has absolutely no clue about these events? I must admit that I was, sadly, not informed about the details of this little misadventure and I must apologize to you, as this is certainly not supposed to happen in Hogwarts. This is a horrible mishap and I dare say I am surprised that the defences have been lowered to such a degree. As for our intruder, the boys' description certainly fits that of a Hag, I would agree, but I have never heard of a hag being able to use such magic or brew Polyjuice Potion; it is simply too advanced for them. On the other hand, creating such a complex illusion is, in itself, possible, but also quite complex. Is their mother a skilled witch? I understand that she is dangerous, but is she skilled?'', Wilson inquired. He pondered about this, as it bothered him how this was done. Hags were unable to perform such a magic, he was certain of that, but how on Earth did the impostor enter the castle? The mother obviously couldn't enter, but the only way she could've done it without the assistance of the Alchemy professor was via Transfiguration, but that is why he needed to know how skilled she actually was. ''Also, do the boys attend Alchemy classes? Both of them? And did the impostor say why they were supposed to follow her to the Forbidden Forest?'', he added after some thought.

The principal solution was simple - do not leave the castle, but that was only a partial solution and a thoroughly temporary one. Plus, if she was as skilled as the facts suggested, this would not be enough. ''Mr. Donohue, I can assure you that I will personally watch over the boys and their safety until the end of the year, but this seems like a more pressing matter and something I would like to solve, regardless of the fact that the boys will be kept safe. If there is someone working with a known criminal who is able to breach the castle's defences, then I think that that person should, in the worst case scenario, be sent to Azkaban. Could you tell me a bit about her new... partner and the werewolf connection? I shall need some additional info to make a thorough plan of action'', Wilson said again. ''As for the boys' immediate safety, I shall raise the school's defences immediately after our conversation, which means that no magical being, regardless of how good their disguise is, will not be permitted to enter the school without being accompanied by a staff member from the inside. If something should happen to breach this defence, then we shall at least have a narrower field of potential suspects. As for the boys themselves, I would advise them to contact me if they receive any strange or unusual message from anyone, including you, Mr. Donohue. If their mother is as dangerous as you suggest, then we have to be prepared for everything. And also, until we confirm how the trick was done, we shall have to be ready for everything, including that she could be able to impersonate you or even me. This is why I would like to establish a first-phase detection mechanism. Since the four of us are alone in here, there is a quick way to test this: if you boys see Mr. Donohue or myself, please, ask us what Khaat prepared for me as part of your visit. The four of us should be the only ones who know that it was a cinnamon roll, and if that is not the case, then you should run straight to me. I am almost always here, in my office, and if I am not, I shall be certain to leave a message where you could find me. This is only a light measure, but it will be effective until we know more'', Wilson explained further, while, at the same time, mulling something over. He then turned to the boys with a serious, but friendly look. ''I trust that you boys are familiar with the Revelio charm? But, do you know any form of non-verbal magic?'', he asked.

"The woman that was in class today certainly couldn't have been the old crone because our new dad offed her in the woods," Sam said candidly, glancing briefly at Angus. "Otherwise, we probably would still be with her."

"Self defense," Angus said unemotionally. He hated to have to kill, but if it came to protecting himself or his sons, then he wouldn't hesitate to do that. "She fired at me, and I fired back. She missed, and I didn't. And, as the professor undoubtedly knows, there are any number of people that will always be willing to do dark things for money, so even though the hag is dead, there are more dark people where she came from.” Sam and Victor both shrugged at that point, with a “meh” sort of expression, as if acknowledging that Angus’s point was well taken. Although Angus was sure he heard Sam mutter the word, "Gits," under his breath about Angus's statement, the boys had seen their childhood home almost continuously filled with less than reputable people. They’d become rather numb to it because of basically being children of a gangster and a moll. That much was just part of a normal day in their lives before Angus. Still, somehow the boys had come out of it with a firm commitment that they both wanted to follow in Angus's and their adoptive great grandfather's footsteps and become staunch fighters against the dark arts.

“However,” Angus continued,” I asked myself some of the same questions as you, Professor, about how she managed such an appearance change. I could certainly be wrong, but I can tell you that I discounted Suzanne as being responsible for creating a polyjuice potion because, going by what Sam and Victor and Ruby have said, Suzanne herself is not bright enough for that. However, could she have gotten it from one of her 'guests?' Entirely possible, I think. We’ve seen her, in some of our brushes with her, have various magical devices that give her certain abilities to cast some defensive spells and such that she would not have the ability to do otherwise. Could she have had something constructed for a hag to use? Maybe, but did she? I don’t know.

“Sam and I are both are in alchemy," Victor told Wilson, "and when we went to class, the professor stopped both of us as we were leaving the classroom, and she said she wanted some sort of plant for a class demonstration for Friday's class, a plant that had to be harvested at night, and she asked us to go with her. Something she called a Moonstar Mallow plant and said in the light of the moon the thing blossomed and had some sort of glowing goop that could be used in alchemy. I looked in some of Mr. Lupin's Herbology books at home, and I didn't find any such thing. Figures, doesn't it? She said that, since our grades weren't really the best, she offered us an opportunity to go along, learn to identify the plant and help her gather some, in exchange for extra credit--enough points  that it could have brought our grades up a full level each, so we figured we'd be fools not to go with her."

"And there's no way our mom could have done any of those sorts of spell," Sam told Wilson. "When we tell you she's a dingbat with a wand, we mean it. She bollocks up the simplest spells. Check out her grades for yourself. Suzanne Whitmore—her maiden name. Back in the day, mostly P's and a couple D's and nothing any better than that. I don't know why she'd hang onto a report card like that because it certainly isn't anything to be proud of. I'd have tossed that before the ink dried on the paper, much less preserve it. She 'entertains', makes connections, and weasels favors out of men to get what she wants, and what they don't give her, she uses her new bloke's cash and buys it, I'm sure, because that's what she did with our dad and has never known any other way to get things done. I got the impression she hired this ugly old bat and got her to use some sort of trick to look like the alchemy teacher. I don't know how we'd have known the difference then because we weren't looking for it, but somehow we just shoulda known. I won't be making that mistake again."

Angus reached over and touched Sam's shoulder for just a moment to ground him and reassure him. Sam took a breath, trying to unwind just a wee bit. Of the two of them, Sam was far less introverted and always had more sauce to his words just by nature than his brother, and he was also far more likely to be a bit of a spitfire. If he thought his mother was a dingbat, then he called it as he saw it. Victor was more reserved, more introverted, and he would be the more likely to try to put any diplomacy to his words, but even he had abandoned some of that in Wilson’s office--mostly because, for some reason Victor couldn't put into words, he liked Wilson. He rather felt he had something in common with Wilson, even though he'd never been able to identify just what it was. Angus liked Victor's attempts to look reserved and respectful, and he to had actually come to like Sam’s quick and sassy wit, even if this wasn't probably the place for it.

"Not your fault," Angus told Sam quietly. "That didn't look like any kind of every day magic that I ever saw. You weren't supposed to see anything unusual. That sort of stuff has fooled far more advanced wizards than you.” He turned and looked back at Wilson. “As for the werewolf connection, now you take me out a little from the situation with the boys into information about Suzanne’s new husband. Robert knew this might come up here, and so he has given me permission to take you into his confidence about it and how it connects to the Lupins and the Donohues. Suzanne’s husband’s name is Tom Gelding. He heads a wizarding crime family that has a property here in the UK, but his family’s main estate has been in Paris for the last four decades. Tom has been on France's wizarding most wanted list for the last decade. That doesn't mean they've ever caught him, though. The Gelding family has committed some of the most morally reprehensible crimes that I’ve ever witnessed or come across in my entire lifetime, and they’ve made obscene amounts of money from it. To say that it boils my blood doesn’t cover it.

“Robert's involvement with them started with Tom’s father, Eric, perhaps as early as 40 to 45 years ago. Robert and some others put themselves on a collision course with the Geldings, thinking at first it would be quickly resolved. In fact, it was in one of the battles Robert had with Eric Gelding, about fifteen years ago, that Robert ended up actually killing Eric Gelding, causing the Gelding family business to be handed down to Eric’s son Tom, and we still continue to try to end the family’s enterprise. Should the French and British ministries be doing something about it? Without a single doubt. Do they? No. Robert seems to believe that they have tried, failed, and not been able to get any teeth into them, and so they have left Gelding to us. It hasn’t been the first time we’ve been asked to “assist” in an underground way with things that the normal systems can’t resolve.

“This has a breadth and a complexity to it that, I was certain, would be beyond the interest of a Hogwarts’ professor, but, again, it was Khaat that was sure would keenly interest you. For example, we have proof that Tom Gelding has formed an alliance with mass murdering werewolf James Blood, and she thought you would recall Blood’s insane obsession with her. We believe Gelding uses James and his werewolf pack to do quite a bit of the grunt work that the Gelding family business needs done. It gets the dirty work done, and in return, James has been able to get portkeys that get him not only to Robert and Khaat’s estates but also underneath Robert’s protection grids on those properties, so that James can try again and again to go claim Khaat for his own. And, believe me, he does try. We just kicked his arrogant arse again the night before last for thinking he could try again to come and claim her. And we know James also gets paid, which helps him provide for his pack.

“I apologize for perhaps underestimating you, but she felt that you would be a good ally, so Robert is sending you this.” He reached into his pocket and got out an old key, holding it by the bit, and passed it to Wilson so that he could take it by the bow. “Be careful with it. I wouldn’t grip it by the shaft unless you’re prepared to use it. You can safely grip it by the bow or by the bit.” The bow of the key was designed to look like a ship’s wheel and had overlaid upon it an anchor.” Robert and Khaat had been certain Wilson would immediately be able to figure out that the key was, in fact, a portkey that could be activated by gripping the shaft. It had been a bit of whimsy on Michael’s part when he had chosen a key to be a portkey, and Angus remembered Michael joking, “The key is the key.”  

“Robert has the rest of the tale, and he said I should tell you that if you decide to use it today, you should bring your umbrella because it’s raining there today,” Angus told him. “As for your ideas about how to keep the boys safe, I think those are very wise and reasonable.” He looked at both boys, and they nodded. When Wilson asked them if they knew any nonverbal magic, Sam couldn’t help a broad mischievous grin.

“We know a bunch of jinxes that are nonverbal,” Sam said. Of course, they would, the little devils.

“Yeah, we know Revelio, and a couple other things. We know quite a few spells, but a lot of them we just haven’t tried in a nonverbal way. I don’t see why they wouldn’t work though,” Victor told Wilson.

“Oh, yes," Angus said, remembering something else, "and Khaat suggested that if I needed to communicate with you or the boys, she has no issue with me using her eagle, Archangel. She believes you are familiar with him and that it might ensure some authenticity for us. It isn’t a bad plan, I don't think. Her mother, Kate, has also been training, of all things, a wee little bloke, a pygmy owl named Pip. The advantage at times to Pip is that the little buggar is often far less conspicuous than Archangel, and he slips into and out of places that Archangel is more noticeable because when he's in the air most people presume he's just any other common bird. They seem to miss that he's an owl.”

Wilson nodded after every piece of information he would receive from either Angus or the children. The story was becoming more and more interesting with each sentence, and although he had hoped that he would never again have to think this way, his mind was already prepared for battle. Certainly, the level of threat that these thugs posed wasn't nearly as grave as the ones Khaat, Robert, Jess, and the others had faced years ago - they seemed to lack the logistics for a more grandeur plan, at least at this point in time - but he was also aware that this wasn't a simple protection task. There was much more to it, as he would soon find out during the conversation, and that is what both intrigued him and scared him. How could these people have gone unnoticed? How could they have had the background to penetrate Hogwarts' defences? It was a mystery, but a mystery he would definitely solve sooner rather than later. ''I've considered Polyjuice Potion myself, but that would require something belonging to the Alchemy Professor, but I do not think they've entered the castle; if they had, they would definitely have been stupid to have come up with such a complex plan instead of just taking the children from inside the castle and leaving. No, I do not think it was Polyjuice Potion, plus, as the boys said, the Hag seems to have transformed immediately then they reached their destination, and Polyjuice Potion, while it has a limit, doesn't work like a clock. It would have been too convenient had the effect worn off at that exact moment'', Wilson remarked, still mulling the whole thing over. ''I do know of some spells that can transform someone's appearance, but this was too detailed, too refined. That is why I asked whether their mother was a skilled witch. This definitely means that she had some help and that there is someone else whose interests are aligned with hers in this. Be that as it may, such spells are really complex and only exceptionally talented wizards and those who are skilled with Transfiguration are able to use them this effectively. Personally, I know only a handful of people, myself included, who could do such a thing and while some underground bloke might have slipped my radar, I am doubtful that they... whoever they are... would have such a powerful wizard or witch with them. A magical object, something that creates an illusion, would make complete sense, as you have suggested it, Mr. Donohue. These things come in all shapes and sizes and if you know how to create one illusion, the rest is simply tweaking it to get the desired result and an engineer would probably have no trouble doing it. It could also account for the fact that the 'Professor' appeared in the classroom unnoticed... the real professor might have gone to her office and would not have noticed an impostor, whereas the children would not suspect anything because the real professor could've simply returned to the classroom. They say that the best way to go unnoticed is to do something when everyone can see you. This seems like such a situation. If it really was a device, if I had any piece of it or part of the Hag, I could probably identify what it was, but as things stand now... it is going to remain a mystery for the time being. But, that won't be an issue, not a major one, at least. We have a general idea of how they did it, and that definitely helps'', he finally explained. ''And yes... I do understand your position, Mr. Donohue. Sometimes... you just have to do the proper thing, however deplorable it might be'', Wilson added with a somewhat sympathetic smile, the best he could do, as he did not really know how to smile; the Fiendfyre was, once more, flying in his eyes.

The boys then had another emotional outburst related to their mother, and that brought him back rather quickly. It was obvious that their family history was a troubled one, but from what Wilson could see, the two boys grew up to be healthy young adults that knew how to discern right from wrong, even if the wrong was their own mother. He supposed that Mr. Donohue and their sister, whom they had mentioned earlier, helped with that, but it was still an admirable feat to raise anyone under such conditions, which is why them being so sincere and righteous was even more important. But, then again, Khaat and Robert certainly would not have trusted just about anyone, so their trust in Angus was a guarantee to Wilson that he was dealing with someone whom he could trust and who would definitely take care of the boys in a proper way.

The topic then switched to the more grim part of the story, a direction Wilson had hoped it would not take, but subconsciously knew it would. He, of course, knew of James Blood, and he somehow thought that the psychotic villain would not appear back in his life after so many years, but it seemed that he was definitely a remnant that kept on returning, although no one wanted him back. James Blood had to be taken care of, he was far too dangerous to simply ignore, but from what Angus said, there was an even more pressing matter in front of them. Wilson had heard the name Gelding a couple of times, but he did not really bother much with it. He knew they were criminals, but since, at the time, the Order and his friends and allies had more pressing matters, the underground dealings of everyday criminals, however atrocious they might have been, simply never came into the spotlight. But now, with a little piece here and there, it seemed to Wilson that the time was ripe to do good with those that they had, sadly, left to care for themselves at the time.

''I do remember James Blood... yes. He was someone that I... well... not just me, all of us, simply did not manage to catch. I do not know how much you know about me and my actions in the past, but aside from my academic travels, I have always been an active member of the now-disbanded Order of the Phoenix; that is actually how the Lupins and me became so close. And I do imagine you'd not consider a simple professor being interested in such issues, but Khaat has informed you well by telling you that this is definitely something that interests me. This world has too much darkness in it and while we cannot eliminate it permanently, we can do our best to stop it from spreading'', he replied. He smiled as Angus gave him the (port)key; it was just like the Lupins to come up with such a joke, and it was just like Robert to prepare everything beforehand. Wilson took the (port)key carefully and placed it on the desk, in a lone corner where no one would really come into contact with it. ''I trust Robert has already anticipated my answer, which is just typical him, I suppose. I haven't seen him in a long time, it will be nice to catch up on things. Please inform him that I shall visit today, probably later in the evening, as I still have some classes later today. And tell him I shall bring an umbrella'', he remarked.

He then turned to the boys, who were eagerly listening to the whole conversations. They felt important, and it was sweet in a way. They knew they were the victims here, but they participated in this conversation with such vigour and concentration that you'd never tell they needed any protection. ''Now to get back to you two.'', he said and smiled, again, the best he could, ''You mentioned that you were not able to find the Moonstar Mallow in a Herbology book? I suppose you wouldn't find it there because it doesn't actually exist... but...'', he stopped, flicked his hand and a large book appeared flew over to the desk and opened itself to a certain page. It was an old book on dark creatures and beasts, a book he had bought while he was traveling in Eastern Europe some years ago. It was horribly outdated and unusable in class, but it was a source of numerous fringe information and Wilson considered it, despite a lot of the data from the book being mere fairy tales, a valuable resource for some of the more obscure aspects related to the creatures he taught about. The chapter that the book opened to was about werewolves, and while Wilson was aware that the children would not understand the Russian text, there was an illustration of a silver-blue flower at the bottom of one of the pages. ''The Moonstar Mallow'', he pointed at the sketch with his hand. ''The Moonstar Mallow does not exist, of course, it never has, but it is related to an old legend from Eastern European folklore that one could either become a werewolf or stop being one by means of that specific flower. You had to prepare a potion and do a ritual, and based on how you brewed the potion and how you performed the ritual, you could either become a werewolf, or you could cure yourself of being one. I have tried to find any record of the flower's existence save for this book, but all the Russian wizards and warlocks, some of which were very old werewolves, confirmed to me that it was a centuries-old legend that some Herbologist came up with to earn some money by supposedly 'helping' people become what they wanted. No werewolf will actually tell you that it exists, and the fact that the Hag was told to use this legend as a way to lure you speaks for itself. First of all, the flower, according to this book, bloomed only in the mountain forests of Siberia, the Ural Mountains and the Caucasus, and it was exceptionally hard to find as it supposedly bloomed only when the Moon was full and died instantly the next morning. It had to be picked by then, or else it was completely useless. Of course, conveniently, it also grew among other similarly-looking flowers, which is why people usually missed it. That was, of course, just a hoax, but it is a known legend among the werewolf communities, which definitely proves that our theories about the connection between your mother and James Blood are correct'', Wilson explained as thoroughly as he could and then turned briefly to Angus. ''This is far more grim than I had suspected it could be, Mr. Donohue. This is a serious matter that we have to attend to immediately. My office is, luckily, in one of the towers, so you can, of course, always send Archangel my way. I trust he already knows his way to my old office, and he has always been properly taken care of. I definitely agree that it is a very trustworthy way of communication, and I implore you to use it whenever you need it. Do not hesitate contacting me under any circumstances'', he said, and then looked back at the boys.

''Well, knowing Revelio is not such a big thing for a graduate, is it?'', he remarked and gave them a puzzling look. ''But knowing how to use Revelio without saying the incantation is a thing of interest for you. Since this is a confidential matter, I cannot really send you to the Charms professor, as it would raise too many questions. This means that I shall have to teach you how to use Revelio non-verbally, and we shall start our lessons on Monday, seven in the afternoon. We'll be doing these lessons until you have mastered it. I am fairly certain that they won't see it coming, they won't expect it, which gives you two a tactical advantage. You did say that you would not fall for the same trick again, but I somehow doubt that the mastermind behind such a complex scheme would repeat now that he has attracted attention with it. But, I somehow doubt that they could anticipate you knowing this, as it is not that commonplace. Since you seem to be coming in pairs, one can always simply hide their wand and use the spell non-verbally to see whether anything's amiss. Revelio is useful in that aspect, as it can breach even the best spells and potions. That way, you will always be certain about your surroundings. I trust this is fine with you boys?'', he asked and then turned to Angus, ''And you, too, Mr. Donohue?''

Sam looked at Angus for a moment, while listening to Wilson.

“He's a first time dad. He ended up with us and a baby all at once, so you gotta excuse him trying to be all proper. Maybe next time, he'll just be himself," Sam said to Wilson. Angus looked at Sam wide eyed for a moment for being outted . Then Sam continued to speak to Wilson, "This is why Khaat was thinking of contacting you, isn’t it?” Sam quipped. “I never thought about some of that, but then I haven’t done any tinkering with any polyjuice either, but you obviously know all kinds of this stuff.”

“And you don’t need to start either.  You can read your potions book and follow the lessons, thank you,” Angus said. He looked at Wilson. “Well, you make enormous sense about the polyjuice, and I honestly hadn’t considered that she might have engaged someone else besides the hag, but certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility. It makes perfect sense with what we know about how Gelding has operated. I don’t know what his strengths are in terms of wizardry go, but I do know this. We have seen the results of someone’s work, and it certainly would take more than the every day spellcasting abilities to do it. For example—being able to block someone else’s magical abilities, with the intent of that lasting maybe even forever, except for one or two very specific spells. We have seen that particular trick done on numerous occasions. So it makes sense that there is someone else involved that I don’t know about. Whether Robert knows, I couldn’t say.”

He listened to the professor talk about James and how long James had run rampant. Honestly, Angus was sick of it too. James had been a consistent thorn in their collective behinds since he’d gotten fixated on Khaat, and it hadn’t quit.

“So you’ve run into James before, then," Angus replied. "Well, it may interest you to know that there is an intense hatred between Fenrir Greyback and James, and it has worked rather well to our advantage. Fenrir is one of the few werewolves to live into old age, and he is quite old now. However, it might interest you to know that, even though he is a dark arts practitioner still, James’s off the wall behaviors has actually recruited a pack for Fenrir that he leads now, in relative peace.  He can be as aggressive as he used to be, but he honestly does not seem to have quite the bloodthirst in him that he did back in the Voldemort days, if what I hear from Robert and Michael are not exaggerated. As you might imagine, he is considerably larger than most of the people in his pack, and he keeps a tight rein on them. He believes still that werewolves are superior to humans and that we’d all be better off if we were turned. However, all that being said. He is aware that we hate James every bit as much as he does, so, rather like the old saying that ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend,’ we’ve been able to gain sometimes information from Fenrir and his pack, with the exchange of medicines and things they find difficult to obtain. It’s rather like a tense truce. When we encounter him, we treat him with respect, and in return, he doesn’t attack us or hunt us.”

“He didn’t even try to eat us,” Sam told Wilson. “He’s a big buggar, though. Jeesh.” Angus tried hard to conceal a bit of amusement at Sam's remark.

“It’s one thing to read about someone in the history books, but it is quite another to run into them,” Victor said.

“Fenrir does appear to be perhaps the one thing that James is legitimately afraid of," Angus told Wilson. "I was with the boys and two of my mates not long ago, and we ran into James and his pack quite by accident not long ago, and none of us knew that Fenrir’s pack was within earshot. We were badly outnumbered. When James decided he and his pack were going to overtake the lot of us, I really did rather think we were done for, and to my surprise, Fenrir and his pack came out of the shadows, and James and his pack turned tail and left. It’s an odd arrangement, but I’m neither am I  fool enough to ignore the little blessings that sometimes can come, especially if it saves my skin.”

“Sam and I have told Angus and Robert that we want to be fighters like them,” Victor said to Wilson, “so nonverbal magic, wandless magic or any other kind of magic, we’d appreciate anything you can teach us. We want to learn as much as you can teach us.”

“That’s more than alright with me,” Angus nodded. “My grandfather once said that the most important job any parent has is to teach their children how to think because, then, whether the parent is there or not, the child has a much greater likelihood of being successful. I want them to know as much as they have the capacity and desire to learn. Thank you for helping them. I truly do appreciate it, and I know they do too.”

Angus wasn’t going to tell Wilson that he had taught the boys a defensive spell and a shield that wasn’t necessarily part of the lessons they’d had before to help them protect themselves, and the only reason Angus wasn’t forthcoming with it was because magic wasn’t supposed to be permitted off school grounds. He did not want to compromise Wilson’s position in any way by mentioning a violation of school policy. He got the impression Wilson could or would bend school rules once in a blue moon if it were for a good cause, but he saw no point in pushing the point.

''Oh, do not trouble yourselves with that. We are among friends, I suppose, and there's no need for any... anxiety'', Wilson replied to Sam with a grimace he would've liked to call a smile, whatever it actually was. ''I am... cursed with a lot of knowledge, yes, I suppose. It would probably have been easier for me otherwise, but it is what it is, and I cannot change that, nor would I, even if I could. It would make me quite proud if dear Khaat had considered me because of my expertise'', he added and continued, ''I suppose you'd know better, Mr. Donohue, I really am not acquainted with anyone save for James Blood, but we have excluded his direct participation here. This definitely doesn't seem like a potion or a spell, and I'd wager that it was some magical object, but without any additional data, there is not much I can do. But I have seen all sorts of objects and such an object wouldn't surprise me at all'', he concluded.

The topic quickly shifted to the werewolves once more, and Wilson listened to a new influx of information, some of which proved to be quite interesting. Fenrir Greyback was also a very dangerous individual, but he was someone with so much experience, that he could be reasoned with. James Blood, on the other hand, was a maniac, and he had to be taken care off. The situation back when was chaotic and as it calmed down, James Blood also disappeared. Wilson was not even aware of whether he was alive or not, but the information Angus has provided him with were both reassuring and worrying. ''Fenrir Greyback is a name I haven't heard in a long time, Mr. Donohue. But your story doesn't surprise me. He's been dealing with us for so long that he knows how to maneuver between the various issues, and he knows his way around people. He is as rational as someone of his status can be, so he could be a valuable... well, I wouldn't say ally... but an asset. I do not know if he'll remember me, we haven't really been in contact much, but we have met... on the other hand, James Blood will most assuredly know my name, and I can assure you that it will not bring a smile to his face'', he explained. ''On the other hand, taking down James Blood is a much larger operation and I would rather have us discuss it somewhere outside the castle, without the boys' presence and with Robert and Khaat present. If we are to take him down, it has to be flawless. He has eluded us so many times because we were reckless... or not perfect. This time, it would have to be perfect. I hope you agree, Mr. Donohue...'', he finished, giving him a serious, but sincere look. Wilson was not a person to chat idly and he, however cold and passive he might have looked, was a man of action and if James Blood was to be taken care of, he would lend all he could to that cause.

He then turned to the boys and nodded in agreement with everything that has been said. ''We shall see about the fighter part, gentlemen, that is not something you become, really... sadly, it is something you are forced to be. I think Mr. Donohue will agree with me on that... and it is not something either of us wish for you, but the reality is such that you have to be prepared, and I shall do my best to help you in that aspect'', he said. ''Monday it is, then. We shall see what you're made of and then see how much work there is to be done'', he confirmed.