The letter and (sad) spirit of the law

Someway today i was bitten by the writing bug, that was while driving home from saturday shopping... so i've spent the afternoon reading a little about how U.K, law are formatted and writing this..

Part one: the letter of the law.

Muggle Children Future Protection Act 1904

An Act to make provision for the welfare and future of muggleborn minors and the recognition of the parental authority of their muggle relatives and guardians; to make provision for a complete knowledge of the new society their charges enter and let them make an informed decision about their future; to make provision for the consequences of said decision.

Be it enacted by the King most excellent Majesty and with the advice of the Lords Magical and Spirituals and the Wizengamot, in this present assembled and by the authority of the same, as follows.

1. Muggle parental authority recognition and rationale of the law
   1. The Wizard Society recognizes the parental authority of muggle parents or guardians as legally appointed (from now known as Parental Figures) over muggleborn minors. Until the minor is of age the Parental Figures have the final word in their charges life choices.
   2. The age considered to establish the minor status is the one established by Wizard laws for Wizard and Witches.
   3. To exercise their right Parental Figures need to know not only how the Wizard Society works but, even more, how their charges are adapting and integrating. This body recognize that many muggleborn minors often omit and hide a great part of their experiences from their Parental Figures.
      
      
      
2. Wizard Inspection of Full Experience
   1. A procedure to give a precise and complete knowledge of the current wizard life of muggleborn minors to his or her Parental Figures and let them decide on the Minor stay in Wizard Society is created as stated by the following provisions:
   2. The procedure will be known as “Wizard Inspection of Full Experience”, in short W.I.F.E.
   3. The W.I.F.E. execution shall make use of extreme security procedures and provisions as it will determine the entire future and well being of a minor.
   4. The parties involved in the execution of W.I.F.E. are:
      1. The muggle Parental Figure (or Figures) requiring said W.I.F.E. execution ;
      2. The muggleborn Minor for which the W.I.F.E. execution is required
      3. A Representative for the Ministry of Magic.
      4. A Potion Master qualified for the administration of Veritaserum as mandated by the Veritaserum Act of 1502
   5. Any muggle Parental Figure may require, at any time, the execution of the W.I.F.E. procedure for any muggleborn Minor he or she is in charge of. Said request shall be addressed to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, to the attention of the Underage Affairs Office.
   6. Acknowledging that said Parental Figures may not be proficient with wizard communication means and could find difficulties in reaching the Ministry by wizard means, that request for the execution of W.I.F.E. will be accepted by said office in the widest way as for the medium and wording of the request, being those of wizard or muggle origin.
   7. Any other Ministry department receiving a communication that could be considered a W.I.F.E. procedure request shall reroute said request to the Underage Affairs Office and shall not refuse or discard said it.
   8. The Underage Affairs Office worker in charge of the W.I.F.E. execution shall name a Ministry Representative.
   9. The Representative shall act as go-between between the muggle Parental Figures and the muggleborn Minor to better the understanding by said Parental Figures of the new society the Minor is becoming part of during the execution of the W.I.F.E. procedure.
   10. The Underage Affairs Office worker may name any able adult wizard or witch subject to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland law as Ministry Representative. As in most cases the Minor will be a student at some magical school it is suggested that the Representative should be the Parental Figure of a classmate of said Minor.
   11. The Underage Affair Office worker shall name the Potion Master in charge of the Veritaserum use.
   12. If not already Ministry Officials, the Representative and the Potion Master shall sign a Non Disclosure Agreement to not divulge anything learned during the proceeding of the W.I.F.E execution and to respect any decision the Parental Figures will make.
   13. The Underage Affairs Office shall schedule for the W.I.F.E. execution within 30 (thirty) working days of the reception of the request and shall promptly notify the parties involved.
   14. The notification to the muggle Parental Figures shall be made by muggle means.
   15. The notification to the muggleborn Minor shall be charmed with a compulsion charm keyed to the age of the Minor to ensure the collaboration of said Minor to the execution of the W.I.F.E. procedure.
       
       
       
3. Execution of the W.I.F.E procedure.
   1. The execution of the W.I.F.E. procedure shall be performed in a warded room in the Ministry of Magic in any of its current venues. The ward should bar any magic but potions and any form of physical harm in said room.
   2. Before entering the designated room the Minor shall surrender his or her wand to the Representative for the duration of the W.I.F.E. procedure.
   3. The Representative shall explain to the Minor and to the Parental Figures the nature of the W.I.F.E. procedure and how full disclosure to the Parental Figures will only be in the Minor future and well being interest.
   4. The Potion Master shall examine the Minor to establish and administer the lowest dose of Veritaserum needed by the Minor as for the Veritaserum Act of 1502. During the following questioning the Potion Master shall keep checking the Minor health for any adverse effect by the serum.
   5. The Potion Master shall ask the Minor if he or she is in posses of any potion and shall establish if said potions may pose a threat to the execution of the W.I.F.E procedure. Should dangerous potion be unveiled the Potion Master shall destroy them immediately.
   6. The muggle Parental Figures and only the muggle Parental Figures may proceed to ask questions to the muggleborn Minor. The Representative may suggests questions to the muggle Parental Figures.
   7. Only when the Parental Figures declare to have concluded their questioning the Representative shall ask one question to the Minor, this question being: “Are there any experiences in your stay in Wizard Society that you haven't mentioned to them, today or in any other occasion, that could influence in any way the decision of your Parental Figures ?”. This question may be reworded in any way the Representative believe would be better understood by the Minor. After the Minor answers the Parental Figures may ask more questions.
   8. Due to the potential length of the questioning, but at the undisputed judgment of the Potion Master, supplemental doses of Veritaserum may be administered to the Minor.
   9. Once the questioning is terminated the Potion Master shall administer the Veritaserum Antidote and examine the Minor for any adverse effect.
   10. Once the questioning is terminated the Parental Figures shall be left alone with the Minor in the warded room where they shall come to a decision regarding the future of the Minor stay in Wizard society.
   11. The decision have to be made inside that room to protect the Parental Figures by inconsiderate actions by the Minor were said Minor should not recognize the wisdom of the Parental Figures decision.
   12. Once made their decision the Parental Figures shall inform the Representative of their decision.
       
       
       
4. Conclusion of the W.I.F.E. procedure
1. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to continue his or her life inside the Wizard Society the Minor will be so permitted.
2. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to continue his or her life inside the Wizard Society the Representative shall return the wand to the Minor.
3. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to continue its life inside the Wizard Society the costs of the Veritaserum and its antidote shall be on their account. If the Potion Master is not a Ministry employee his or her honorary shall be on their account.
4. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to continue its life inside the Wizard Society they have the option to ask for the Minor to be obliviated of all the W.I.F.E. execution procedure.
5. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to leave the Wizard society they shall choose how the leaving will be performed as for the Renounce to Magic Law of 1203. The Representative shall help the Parental Figures to choose in the interest of the Minor future. Accounting for the age of minors the suggested solution shall be complete obliviation as for provision 5.3 of the Renounce to Magic Law of 1203.
6. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to leave the Wizard society they may choose to be obliviated of any experience and contact they ever had with the Wizard society as an alternative they may ask to be Imperiused to never reveal the existence of Wizard Society.
7. If the Parental Figures decision is for the Minor to leave the Wizard society any procedure costs will be on Ministry account.
8. The Representative shall report in writing the proceedings of the W.I.F.E. execution to the Underage Affairs Office worker in charge of the procedure within 2 (two) working days.
9. In observance of the “Ministry Worker Regulation Act” of 1644 Representatives are reminded that in the report shall be registered every action any person subject to United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland wizard law that can considered a crime for further investigation.
10. If the decision was for removing the Minor from Wizardry Society minor infractions to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland wizard laws by the Minor shall be condoned in sight of his or her future life long absence from Wizardry Society.
11. If the decision was for removing the Minor from Wizardry Society the Representative shall surrender the Minor's wand to the Underage Affairs Office worker in charge of the procedure for its destruction within 2 (two) working days.

Part two: the (sad) spirit of the law.

Coming home from work in late June Emma and Dan Granger found a quite heavy envelope in their mailbox, Its sender was stated as the "Underage Affair Office".

It was quite an inconspicuous designation but they knew its origin, it came straight out from the Ministry, the Ministry of Magic and it could be the solution of all of their recent concerns about their only daughter.

Already in her first year at Hogwarts, in this incredible and almost unreal Wizardry society they suspected she was lying to them. Just after two months of school, starting around Halloween of that first year, her letters became colder, more guarded and almost standardized. They were sure something big happened but the extraordinary answer they got "I've made two friends, they are great!" would not have been the reason for such changes, or at least not if she just got a couple, ok, her first couple of friends, instead of doing something big, big and wrong with them.

Each month, letter and year was worse and now after her third year at Hogwarts they were absolutely sure that she was hiding something, not just something but a lot and this was driving them crazy and desperate for answers, for the truth!

A couple weeks ago they found themselves reminiscing about a little leaflet, almost hidden in that life changing letter she received three years ago, the letter that changed their life. They went to their home office and found it in Hermione's school related folder: it was a brief explanation, strangely almost in faded black ink while the rest of the letter was bright and colorful explaining about a way to insure that muggle Parental Figures (that would be them) could really know how the life of their charges in Wizardry Society was. They needed to know, they could accept magic, they could accept they daughter not becoming a dentist but they could not accept their daughter becoming a liar!

So they wrote the request for the W.I.F.E. procedures and mailed it to the 64423 PO box, London.

It seemed that the Ministry of Magic worked fast, as the letter was a summon to the Ministry itself, Underage Affair Office, level 5, room 5017 where the W.I.F.E. would be held in a couple days.

"Ok Dan, could you give Hermione her summon, please and tell her the Representative is Lucius Malfoy"

The new ward

After a few silent months of absence silly inspiration struck and so here we have "The New Ward".  Obviously whatever you recognize is owned by JKR ;-)


She wouldn't tolerate this anymore. She already spent hundreds of pounds in repairs in less than a couple years and could not, well, would not face such expenses again, especially as she wasn't the one responsible for the damage. Yes, yes, in the end she was always refunded but it was a matter of pride and principle now.

And this is the reason she is spending another Sunday in her office in the Department of Mysteries, hidden between old books and sheets of parchment full of notes and diagrams.  Harry and Ron already got preoccupied and tried to get her to spend her Sundays in a better way, "Just sleeping them out would be better" was Ron tactful input to that discussion. She assured them that she needed to do it, that she can't let her Dad gift get ruined as she promised she would not repair it by magic and tinkering too much with it the muggle way would ruin it in the end.

But today would probably be the last Sunday she will spend in this project as the results of her test run of last night were finally a success.
She used a mild disillusion charm on herself and tried her new ward while walking up and down some of the darkest and most drunkard laden streets of London (just don't let Harry and Ron knew about this or she would not hear the end of it) and no one ever got in contact with her, even when she started running straight toward the most drunk of them, they just got more alert, looked straight at her and then moved out of her way.

Yes, the new ward was ready, it was a portable ward combining a couple common charms, a little tweaked Notice Me Not (that now could be really called Notice Me Now) and a wide spectrum sobering charm good against most of the attention lowering causes like sleep, alcohol and drugs. The nature of magic itself would take care of the other main attention thief, no cellphone would work when hit by the ward, at least until it would stay in the affected area.

It was good enough she decided, now she could go home and finally apply it on its intended target. No, no one will ever bump on her car anymore. She may even end up publishing something abut her new Wake Up And Look At Me ward.

Declines and fall of the Harry Empire

Another glimpse in my personal Harry Potter universe...

No copyright infringement intended

Declines and fall of the Harry Empire

Three days, i have to endure this madness for only three more days, then this Winter Ball will be over and my life could go back to normal (whatever normal is for Harry Potter, that is )

It all started on Halloween, as most of the bad things that happen to me.  Just a few minutes before the end of the feast Headmistress McGonagall quieted down the hall and announced that there would be a Winter Ball on the 21st of December, the last day of term. She presented it as "a celebration of life and what we fought for", as if i was thinking about winter balls while approaching the forbidden forest, ah!

Here and there i decided i would not go, i never liked these things and with all the mandatory functions i had to go this past summer i promised myself i wound not attend one in the next decade or so.

Luckily this time i don't have to go as i don't have to open the dances, there is no tournament this year, i already got the Order of Merlin and i'm not even Head Boy: i was offered the position but i decided (as Hermione did) to decline it. We would not steal that honour from the rightful 7th year students (even if Ginny spent all summer telling Hermione she would be ok with it).

Now i'm trying to survive a new kind of Harry Hunt, less dangerous than Dudley's or the snatchers' one but still annoying as hell. Most of the witches of Hogwarts, regardless of their age and relationship status are stalking and assaulting me with invitation to the ball. 

I see Dennis coming to me running, he seems a little scared and keep watching his prefect's badge as if it could be cursed, i hope he isn't going to ask me to the ball...

"Harry! Harry! I finally found you. Why are you hiding here ?" then he stops and pants a little. "The Headmistress, the headmistress want to talk to you.  It seemed quite urgent... and with all the time i wasted finding you she may be a little upset by now, you should hurry to her office."

"Oh, ok, Dennis, thank you, I'll tell her i was hard to find and that my lateness isn't your fault, don't worry".  That said i slowly raise from my chair and start my journey to the Headmistress office.

It's over, i just spent another hour explaining to McGonagall that i will not attend the ball, that i will decline every and each invite and that i'm surely not going stag. I'll ever leave the castle a day before the term end not to be around that day, but no, she won't let me. Yes, i know, i'm of age now and could legally leave whenever i want, but that would be harsh, even for Harry Broody Potter.

This time i even had to respond to several accusation of rude behavior toward fellow students! Ah, the nerve of those girls! How one could not become a little rude when they can't get in their thick skulls my 27th refusal ?  And seventeen of those were after i publicly and loudly announced during lunch in the Great Hall that i would decline every and all invitations to the ball after the first couple weeks of the new Harry Hunt.

It's the 21st, the damn ball day and finally even the more insistent girls relented and scurried to grab some of the few boys still going stag, i almost hope they would not find one now. While i don't want to go i'm even helping setting up the last bits of decoration in the Great Hall, after all i don't have to get ready for the ball so at the moment me and Filch are the only two in the great hall putting up flower decoration and preserving charm on them.  I wonder if i can get a smile from George spiking the drinks and sending him some pictures of the results, it could be worth McGonagall and Hermione wrath!

The ball is in full swing by now, and i had to retreat here in the Room of Requirement as the common room became such a gloomy place, its only occupants are the the younger students whining about unfair rules and the older uninvited few whining about unfair fate.

Like a few other times i wondered about going to the ball and about who i could have asked. I'm not against balls and dates per se, but the limelight, the gossip, their becoming state affairs as soon as my name is made is so annoying! I'm even thinking that my absence could even make it better for the others, even if in the absence of The Harry Potter there still are war heroes in attendance, you know, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, McGonagall, Flitwick and many more.

Speaking of Hermione i wonder who is her date, she never told us, i hope he can stand the limelight and the Weasley clan scrutiny, well, mine too. I would have talked a little to this guy and probably this is why she never revealed his name and didn't ask him to come to our common room to get her tonight.

Then a knock on the door startles me from my musings. I haven't told anyone where i would be and no one even asked when i left the common room. Even if there are no more Death Eater around, especially not at Hogwarts, bad habits are hard to break and i find myself behind the couch the Room provided, with my wand in my hand, a curse on my lips and ready to fight.

The doors open and this is strange in itself as i never thought about opening it and the Room, while in use, never opens if nobody inside ask for it. But this will have to wait as something is entering the room, a platter with a couple of glasses on it and something else, treacle tart if i'm right, floats inside followed by someone,  Hermione ?

"Come on Harry come out, i don't think a couple champagne flute and some treacle tarts would attack you".

"Ah ah, very funny Hermione, what are you doing here ?  Why aren't you at the ball ? What would your date say ?" I ask while getting out of my hideout.

"Who told you i have a date, Harry ?"

"Uh, what do you mean Hermione, you don't have a date ? But, but you went to the ball!, You told me you knew with whom you were going to dance the night away!"

"Yes, Harry, i told you that, but i never told you where that would be happening. Now be a good boy, come here and ask the Room for some music, i want to dance".

Going home in winter

Wow, i started just with the first line and the wintery light fog, i had no idea that it would end like that!

It is obviously, at least for me, that the person going home is Hermione Granger. So here we go:

Going home in winter

No copyright infringement intended.

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Maybe it was all the cold young wizards experienced during theirs Hogwarts years or just that subtle laziness undertone that magic had, anyway, most of the purebloods, especially in winter, didn't set foot outside for weeks, if not months. They just apparated, flooed or portkeyed to work, to Diagon Alley (the only place in Britain with a wide area warming charm in place) to friends and back whenever they could. The only thing that would make them stay outside was Quidditch. Ah, surely a worthy cause of discomfort.

Sure, wizarding means of transportation were great and it was nice to sleep that extra half an hour in the morning, but sometimes she also needed the extra time while going home to quiet her mind, to change her mindset from work mode to home mode.
And the winter evenings were quite good at it, with their darkness, their decreasing number of people and cars and the silence.

In the main Ministry hall she would still be surrounded by the end of the day rush and would have to greet and make small talk with some colleagues and friends reaching for the floo, but just in a few strides she would be surrounded mostly by muggles and a few halfbloods and muggleborns reaching for public transports, mainly going, like her, to the tube station. The silence would came after, when she would exit the tube, but even the subway noise was good, it provided a rhythm to follow in alternative to the work thoughts.

The landscape, then, would be completely different, the streets would be narrower, the buildings less imposing and a lot less lights and advertising would distract her. In winter there would be often a little fog, not enough to be an issue but enough to make you wonder if the rumbling noise you heard were the sea instead of the nearby motorway.

At this point she was usually ready to think about the approaching evening at home and would recap their plans for it, but this last days were different and another thought would abruptly jump in the foreground, a thought she carefully constrained all day long to be able to properly work. In just a few months it wouldn't be just the two of them anymore, they were expecting.

Choking to death

It seems that Saturdays are favorable to writing, so here we go again with "Chocking to death".


No copyright infringement intended.


It is all Ron's fault, as usual, i'm chocking to death and it is all his fault!

It all started when we were dating, Molly and my mother became friends, good friends. It's funny to note that it was born from Molly's interest for the muggle world and its working.   After watching her kids spending more and more time there and even having one of them probably going to marry a muggleborn like me she needed to know more, a lot more about us, especially about the practicalities of everyday life. She never asked her husband as she knew that Arthur was more obsessed about muggles than a real expert and wanting a more reliable source she turned to my mother.

They started small, mostly having tea or lunch at my parents' home then visiting muggle London with the excuse of tea or lunch.  After a while Molly was able to venture there alone, using public transport to go where no safe apparition points were available.
Following our breakup they didn't let their friendship die (me and Ron staying friends helped too) and they still love to spend their free time together, something Molly has plenty of now that most of her children left the Burrow.

And that bring me to my current impending death: i'm here in my flat, laying on the floor and chocking to death while on the phone with my mother. She just told me about the last muggle question Molly had for her, it was about some creature muggles get answers for every question they have and for that it should be a magical creature she noted, reminding her about sphinxes, even if only by contrast and wondering how it keeps its nature hidden. I got curious and asked my mother if Molly knew its name and the answer that she know the name but not the species, and the name was Google.


A.N.
Ok, maybe it would work even without the hints about their failed relationship, but i really can't do that ;-)

Rhythms at the eastern fair

It took me more than a year but i wrote my first fanfiction, obviously it is an Harry Potter one and no copyright infringement is intended  nor any money is made from this, The pairing, yes, i'm a shipper, should be quite evident even if no names are involved. So here we are:

Rhythms at the eastern fair

Bollywood dancer Sunny Singh

I've been at this eastern fair for hours, and my feet need rest, that's why i planned to attend some of the exhibitions in the afternoon. Look, a free seat, it's mine now.

A few minutes and a couple artist after a group of three approaches the seats in the row ahead of mine, just a few places on my right. While each one of them seem relaxed the three of them as a group work like a well oiled military unit, the lanky redhead boy in the front guiding them straight to the goal, the wiry dark haired boy in the middle scans the hundreds faces around as if someone would suddenly attack them and the girl is alternating between watching the two boys and scanning the place, more interested in the place itself than the people as if mapping it, looking at the doors and dark hidden places.
Once they sit they look at each other and the redhead whispers something like "We should stop that, you know" and they share a sad smile. They look to be in their late teen or early twenties, clad in faded jeans, light hoodies for the boys and a form fitting red chequered flannel shirt for the girl. They talk to each other when the next exhibit starts, an ayurvedic massage demonstration and then the redhead comments about wanting to learn it if you end up touching half naked hot chicks like the one up in the stage, the other boy grins back, but only when the girl isn't looking.

After that a bollywood dancer approach, he is tall, athletic, dark skinned and with a contagious smile and love for dancing. In just a few minutes he has half the public dancing with him and he even ask few people to join him on stage where he teach them a simple choreography. Most of the public is entranced with a young blond girl of about ten, quite a natural at dancing and enjoying herself very much.

I abruptly come back to my immediate surrounding after someone's camera flash goes straight to my eyes. I see those three standing and dancing, everyone in its own way.
The redhead is the most enthusiastic, trying to follow the choreography and falling miserably but still having a lot of fun, i can see his smile even without seeing his face. The girl just follow the rhythm with her head, shoulder and hips and sometimes she shows just an hint of the moves. The other guy has serious rhythm issues, he just sways at the music but he really can't follow it and as if he knows something bad would happen he never try any of the moves.
And then something like a game starts between him and the girl as they often bump into each other shoulders. The first time it happens the girl is quite surprised and stops for a few seconds watching him then she probably remember his troubles with dancing, as she just smiles and go back to her quiet dancing. The dancing increase its rhythm and energy and so does the shoulders bumping. Lost to the rhythm the girl miss the dark haired guy shoulder and starts falling. But she has no time to react before her (badly) dancing partner reach out and keep her from really falling down. He put her back on her feet and keeping his hand on her shoulder looks at her.
In the following couple of seconds several things happen: they have a silent discussion, they blush, they nod to each other, they take a furtive glance at the oblivious dancing redhead and they both sigh. Then they go back to their light dancing and the girl, maybe just to stop him hitting her shoulder again, grab the boy's hand and try to keep him following the music. After a few more minutes the dance session ends with loud clapping and, as many others, those three slip away, probably in search for something to drink as they are lead away by the now panting redhead.
I meet them again a little later while i'm heading to the exit and i notice that those two are still holding hands and following their own rhythm.


A.N.
This was inspired by a real three guys group, two boys and a girl i saw in a east fair i attended in November 2012. Everything beside the seats approach, the dancing and the hand holding really happened. I thought about making this oneshot while driving home just then, but it take a year to write it down.
The bollywood dancer there was Sunny Singh, the pic is mine and was taken there.