Family Trip to Romania

Khaat stepped out into the bright morning sun, which made the snow on the ground sparkle like diamonds. That was the only good part of winter, as far as Khaat was concerned, how pretty everything looked. Khaat made sure she reinforced the shield around the house so that Rob was safe while he slept. She looked around, seeing no one at all, but feeling a rising, angry evil in the air. "Don't zip your coat closed, " Khaat said, "You're going to want your wand close." She had left her own coat unfastened, despite the cold. She was definately going to have to dress warmer.

She walked the short distance back to the business district, with Miseria beside her. She saw a few muggles going about their business now, but didn't spot any wizards. It reminded her of her uncle's American cowboy movies that always had all the townspeople hiding when they knew the bad guys were coming into town. This looked the very same.

Khaat walked into the door next to the coffee shop that led to the upper flats. She found the ministry door easily because of the enchantments on the door. She walked in and found a young male clerk on duty. Khaat told him she needed to establish guardianship or adoption for a Transylvanian orphan. The clerk disappeared for a moment and showed them into an official's office. She was surprised at how beautifully it was decorated--deep dark wood paneling, antigue Russian porcelains, antique Russian furniture, red velvet draperies, deep and plush oriental rugs on the elegant hardwood floors. This had to be the office of the head of the ministry. She didn't expect to be dealing with the head of the town's ministry. She silently wondered what they were getting into.

Khaat sat in the chair in front of the desk and invited Miseria to do the same. They were only alone a moment when a British ministry official came in, followed by anothe rman--the local Romanian minister, she presumed.

"Well, Khaat Lupin, " the British man said, " I knew I'd be seeing you some time this morning. Let's get down to it, shall we? I got notice that you intend to adopt this young Romanian. That should be easy enough. You have been cleared. We are familiar with the Lupin family. However, it does seem that this Romanian's family may be sheltering a very dangerous magical object that was stolen from us. We MUST have that object back before it falls into the wrong hands."

"It was empty when I found it yesterday," Khaat lied, "I am sure you know I am a seer. I found it while investigating the death scene."

"Empty!" he frowned, "Are you sure? It can't be empty." Khaat drew the blue velvet bag from her leather one and opened it and withdrew the emplty prophesy ball. The ministry official cursed. "Where is the prophesy?" he demanded. "I have no idea," Khaat repeated. "You have it just as I found it." "Then your young charge may be in grave danger if this information has gotten into the wrong hands, Ms. Lupin."

"I presumed so, or you would not be here, "Khaat said. He handed the prophesy ball back to her. "Useless, "he sighed. "Now," Khaat said, "as to the Mansons. Miseria would like an appropriate burial for her parents."

"Yes, yes, " he waved the matter aside, "They are being prepared as we speak. We have no reason to withhold them from memorials. As to the guardianship--you are pursuing guardianship, correct?"

"No," Khaat said, "Adoption." She produced the wills and handed them to him. "As you can see there is no provision for the deaths of both parents"

Both officials read the wills. The Romanian official looked at Miseria, "You have our condolences, Miss Manson. Your family was well respected here. You do realize, don't you, that adoption requires you to become a British citizen? You will no longer be a Romanian. You will be British."

The Romanian minister used his wand to "Accio!" the appropriate forms into his office. "Ms. Manson, on the top line of the form, please write your full name--first, middle and last--as you wish to be known, with Ms. Lupin's agreement, of course. Then sign at the bottom, and then Ms. Lupin will sign. After that, I will sign and seal to make it official." He levitated the form and a quill to Miseria. "You have 2 choices for your last name. You can become Miseria Mason-Lupin, or you can become Miseria Lupin. It is up to you and Ms. Lupin."

Khaat smiled confidently at Miseria, "It is your choice. I will love you the same, no matter what name you choose."

Khaat smiled at Miseria and took the quill and signed the form. She levitated both back to the Romanian official who signed and stamped the form. "Congratulations, Ms. Lupin and Miseria. You are now a British family. Now as to Manson family estate--you have 2 options. You can keep the property--and whether you live there or rent it is up to you. Or, your second option is that you can sell the property to the Romanian ministry who will sell it at a fair price to some other wizarding family. The property has been owned by a magic family. Therefore it cannot change hands to a muggle family. That is where muggles come up with their odd beliefs that every one of their houses is haunted. It is residual magic from wizarding houses that have been increasingly sold to muggles. If you sell the property, we will guarantee you a fair market price and the money from that and any other family items--particularly magical items--will go into a trust fund that your new mother will hold for you until you are at a responsible age to take your own funds. However, if your mother needs to draw from those funds for clothing or other necessities, it may be used for those purposes as well. If you keep the property, it will be up to you and your mother to find a renter, collect the rent, pay the taxes and insurance, and maintain the property. The choice is yours."

"That's fine, "Khaat smiled reassuringly. "A wise choice, Miseria, " the minister said. He levitated more papers in for Khaat and Miseria to sign, allowing them 30 days to remove whatever property they wanted from the house, or sell whatever they wanted to anybody else they chose. At the end of 30 days, any remaining items in the house would be purchased, along with the house, by the Romanian Ministry of Magic, for resale. He explained that many of the household items would be re-sold to other families or donated to poor wizarding families to make their lives better. The money would be transferred to a trust fund in Gringotts bank for Miseria, that Khaat would be the administrator of until Miseria was of age.

Khaat signed the form, agreeing to sell the property and to administer the trust fund, once she approved of the selling price of the property and whatever remained in it. She wanted Miseria to hear and understand that she would not let Miseria be cheated. Then she gave the pen to Miseria.