Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I'm just playing with someone else's toys. May I be forgiven in my next incarnation... (and what you do not recognize is mine, such as the MOSSes -Ministry Officers of State Security). Flamers will be adopted by my family (if you don't believe it's a threat... too bad for you!).

Note: Parseltongue is noted like that: //----//

Readers: Mikee and Stephanie. Thanks a lot! The remaining mistakes are all mine, and I apologize for those.

David Synon is the first Muggle to become part of the wizarding world by coming to live at Hogwarts.

Of course, Muggles married witches or bonded with wizards before, but it's the first time that one is living among a wizarding community.

Unknowingly, David somehow becomes a tester.

First, Minister Arthur Weasley becomes addicted to David, and the Muggle grows fond of the Minister for Magic.

Arthur has found a Muggle with enough patience to decipher the Muggle world, and with the words that Arthur exactly needs to fully grasp the answers.

David is even so successful with Arthur that the Minister stops collecting plugs. Now Arthur can use the telephone, the fax machine and even the internet (to say that the British Prime Minister is relieved to receive an encrypted e-mail instead of a barn owl is the understatement of the week).

After just a handful of months during which David is daily spat out of two fireplaces - much to the delight of his uncle on one side, and of Jules on the other - the Ministry offers a brand new position to their favourite Muggle.

David Synon becomes the first Muggle Liaison Officer, which means that he works closely with Arthur and his Muggle equivalent.

The Ministry tests a "commute Portkey" on David.

In theory, it's to save time and not to lose David in the Floo network between Hogwarts and the Ministry in London.

In fact, there's a wizard somewhere in the Ministry who's delighted to have his idea tested by someone (no witch or wizard agreed to try that new generation of Portkeys).

David's commute Portkey is a wrist chain that activates at regular hours.

That needed adjustments.

The Portkey initially activated when David was supposed to begin or finish work, whether he was ready or not. There were... incidents (when David caught the flu and was examined by Poppy, the Portkey transported him into his office in his pyjama bottoms; there was also the day when he was handing Arthur a parchment and the Portkey sent David back to Hogwarts with a good half of the document still in his hand). The commute Portkey was adjusted, and now it only activates when David places a triggering coin on it.

Helena Vlad and Ginny Malfoy had already got used to meeting Liz Acorn in the kitchen, where the house-elves happily prepare them a huge breakfast. David joins them, and the elves are delighted to have one more person to spoil.

The elves love it when the children brought by the witches begin to walk, and they have to keep an eye on them. It is an elfish treat of some sort.

Some of the elves tried new supposedly Muggle recipes, but David convinced them that he really enjoyed their wizarding recipes.

During breakfast, David read The Oxford Mail before he started working for the Ministry of Magic. David liked the crosswords. When he no longer worked for Muggles, David had to resort to reading The Magical Times. He liked it, because there was an accurate Muggle News page, and he could read things about what was going on in the wizarding community. Yet, David missed his crosswords.

Liz told him that he could owl Matthew to suggest adding such a feature.

Ginny shared that with Draco, who mentioned it to the twins, who contacted Matthew through the Floo with an additional idea to make those crossthings more attractive for wizards.

Matthew and his team adopted the idea, and David - again - was the first to test their idea (though this time it was because he was the first to complete his grid that morning when the newspaper published crosswords for the first time).

The witches had been told what would happen, but they remained quiet until David had completed his grid.

When the poor, innocent Muggle wrote the last letter, which finished his grid with all the correct answers, a spell activated.

A fanfare began to play, and magical fireworks exploded all around David. He was so surprised that he jumped backwards and was caught by five house-elves who had spotted the spell and guessed how David would react.

Liz gave a big box of sweets to Severus and Harry, because David did not swear once even though he was very surprised, and the children who were in the kitchen didn't get to hear words the witches didn't want them to hear (even though they already knew plenty of those). The two wizards had trained her Muggle well.

David is now used to his magical crosswords, and he even owled Matthew, suggesting the spell be changed from time to time. The first day it was done, Matthew owled David in secret, and the Muggle got his revenge on his breakfast companions. David completed his grid, and the witches practically jumped out of their skins when a new music and confetti replaced the prior spell.

They're all used to the changes now, and that original idea has a lot of success in the wizarding community.

David's morning chats with Helena, combined with his summer "baby-sitting" of Harold and Sarina, provide him with some more revenge.

One day, David suggests to Niki that he might find a way to have a television in his classroom.

Niki works with Filius Flitwick and some researchers in the Ministry.

The Muggle Studies classroom is soon equipped with a TV set, a VCR, a DVD player, and access to cable. Niki's students are absolutely thrilled, but this is only secondary.

David is keeping an eye on Harold and Sarina when they meet Albus and Minerva's portraits in a corridor. It's raining cats and dogs, there's a staff meeting, and Irma is cataloguing. The twins are in the mood to play hide and seek, but David shivers at the mere recollection of what happened to him the one and only time he tried that within the castle.

Albus encourages David to lead the twins to Niki's classroom, where they can certainly find a film or something on cable (especially with the number of channels they can watch).

That innocent twin-sitting session becomes a turning point in the lives of Harold and Sarina.

Harold gets to watch sports other than Quidditch.

Sarina sees her first play.

For both children, it's an epiphany.

       

Somehow, Severus and Harry are not out of the wood - but is this a surprise?

To Be Continued...

Return to Archive | next | previous