Chapter 25
Not knowing that the fetch is still mimicking her to the best of its ability, Marianne repeatedly says, "I forgive you mummy, I forgive you." While she watches her mother remove the helmet and blindfold. Silently, Morgana sits down beside Marianne and pulls her into a hug.
"What's going to happen to my mum?"
Softly Morgana says, "I don't know, that's up to the courts to decide."
On the other side of the portal, one of the police officers says, "She's going to be arrested and interviewed once her back has been treated. After that I don't know, it depends on her testimony."
As soon as its hands are free, the Fetch hugs Kate.
Morgana looks down at Marianne sadly, "Once the fetch is out of the chair, I'm going to have to switch you back. I'll lessen the effect of the magic I'm using to supress your pain, as you need to be able to describe it."
Marianne nods, "I understand."
For Marianne it's an odd sensation going from one place to another, and it causes her to sag in her mother's arms. Only a couple of policemen catching them both stops her from landing back on the chair.
While they're being escorted out, one of the police officers asks, "Is there anything you can tell us that would be useful to our investigation?"
Kate nods, "Yes, there is a hidden bookshelf behind the bookshelf in the vestibule. It has the records of all the trials they've held here. I also hid Marianne's journal under my bra strap so that Shaun wouldn't destroy it."
"How do you know about that bookshelf?"
"I had to clean the basement and the vestibule after they had a trial."
"Why didn't you report this to the police?"
"I didn't want to end up in that chair again."
"Sir, I think she is going to need psychiatric evaluation."
"See to it that it gets noted."
As Marianne and Kate exit the church supporting each other there's a flash of light from a camera. Off to one side there's a camera crew just setting up, and in the field down the hill is a helicopter. The police gently guide the two down to the helicopter, where a paramedic sees to their wounds. The church basement having been deemed to be too dangerous for non-urgent care. Passively, Kate allows them to treat her hands and back at the same time as the police officer reads her her rights and handcuffs her hands together in front of her even as the helicopter takes them to Edinburgh for treatment.
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Ephis flutters out of the mist by Harry, "You'll never guess what I found. There's a massive three headed dog in a classroom on the third floor."
"Ephi," Harry says impatiently, "is Marianne ok?"
Ephis shrugs, "I don't know, The Great Queen looked really angry just before she burst apart into crows."
Harry noticeably relaxes somewhat, though he still keeps an eye on the entrance for some indication of when he can leave. Daphne, on the other hand, furrows her brow, "What was that about a dog?"
Ephis flutters over and sits in the air, "When I got back, the last of the teachers were leaving the great hall. I was about to find Harry when garlic breath got up off the floor and left the great hall. So I thought it was strange and followed him." As she continues, she starts to mime out her actions, "However, he was keeping an eye out around him, so I had to be sneaky. First of all, it was just hiding behind corners, but then he got to the main staircase and I had to hide behind the little pillars. When he got off at the 3rd floor, the stairs moved so I had to jump from the stairs to the corridor. I thought I'd lost him, but then there was a massive growl, bark, bark, Arrrgh! And I hurried down to the sound and saw garlic breath running down the corridor while greasy hair stumbled out of the door, blood dripping from his leg. Quickly I hid in the ceiling, and once he left I looked inside the door. It's soo cute and fluffy, even if it's bigger than an adult."
Megan giggles and asks, "Evie, why didn't you just hide like you do on Harry's head?"
Ephis droops, "I forgot."
It's nearly an hour before Professor Sprout comes to let them know that the troll has been found and dealt with. As soon as she gives the all clear, Harry runs off to the dorm and disappears into the mist as soon as he's out of sight.
Once there, he searches for the stone that Marianne found. After a moment of searching, he fails to find it. Quickly changing tack, he heads for his mother and stumbles out into her round house.
"Mum! Is Marianne..."
Morgana looks up from the portal she's watching, "Marianne is going to be fine, she's almost at the hospital now."
Harry looks at the portal and is only stopped from going to Marianne by his mother, "Harry, you can't. Not yet. I know you want to heal her, but the mortal authorities need to deal with this otherwise she won't be safe in the mortal world. It is as much a battlefield as any I have fought on, even if the weapons are words and deeds, and the enemy wears the cloak of respectability."
"But Mum!"
"Yvor, listen to me. I have dulled the pain of her wounds as much as I dare. Once she reaches hospital I will stop doing even that. If I don't, then the accusations of witchcraft will persist in the minds of those who care. I don't want her to be freed from her father, only to be hunted by some other fanatic who believes that all witches should be killed. Christians are like cockroaches, where you see one there's bound to be more." She raises her hand, "I know that most modern Christians aren't the same as the ones that killed my people. But even then, it was the same. The merchants and travellers that brought the new religion with them were just the same as the Christians we know. They truly believed in the religion they converted to, and they spoke with the same fervour."
Suddenly, Morgana opens another portal and turns on the TV in their living room.
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"Good evening, this is the BBC 9 o'clock news. Breaking news tonight, a young girl was recused from a church basement near Dunblane when a family friend contacted the police. We are going live to Channel 4's Sarah Eyles, who was filming a documentary in the village.
"Sarah."
"Good evening."
"Sarah, what can you tell me about what's happened?"
"When we arrived, a girl and her mother were being led out of the church by police and they have been taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh by helicopter. Just outside the church there are two rings of powder, that you can probably see in the camera behind me. Earlier, we were able to see inside the church, however the police have now cordoned off the entire property as well as the near by vicarage. It appears as though the girl's father thought she was a witch, and decided to question her the way they did in the 17th century."
"What's happening now?"
A police lorry pulls up on the side of the road in the view of the camera, "As you can see, the police are bringing in more people and equipment. I have seen men in white coveralls placing markers around the graveyard, and there is a constant stream of personnel going in and out of the church."
"What of the perpetrators?"
"Two men were arrested at the scene, one of them was screaming that they need to kill his daughter before it's too late and the demon she contracted kills them all. He also stated that a pillar of the local community was responsible for teaching his daughter."
Morgana holds a finger up to Harry's mouth as she steps through into their house and picks up the phone, "Hello? Is this the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh? Oh thank the gods, is Marianne Kincaid there? I'm Dr Morgana Danann, I've been looking after her since she and my son Harry met in playschool. Yes, I reported that to the police. I'll wait. Good evening officer. Yes, she has a room here. Yes, I can bring some of her clothes tomorrow." Genuine surprise enters Morgana's voice, "She does? Why? I had no idea, I'll contact a solicitor tomorrow. Thank you. Goodbye."
Putting the phone down, Morgana beckons to Harry, "That was a police officer, Kate wants to talk to me tomorrow. She also wants to sign over guardianship of Marianne to me before social services get involved."
"Why? What's going on?"
"I don't know. But I do know that Marianne's stone was broken, so she'll need a replacement."
"I'll do that right now."
"But first you need to go back to school and get some sleep."
"But Mum!"
"No Harry, there's nothing you can do to help at the moment, so you need to take care of your own responsibilities."
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Amelia dusts herself off irritatedly as she steps out of the Floo into the DMLE, "What's going on!?"
Mad-eye Moody stumps over, "The magic detectors have just been knocked offline again."
"What do you mean again?"
"Happened back in 82, tomorrow if memory serves."
"What do we know then?"
"Our backup detectors on the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man are showing something big happened in Scotland, but that's about as accurate as we can give you. Whatever it was happened after our detection grid went offline."
"Boss, Boss, you need to see this!" Moody and Amelia look over to the Floo where Scotts, a muggleborn that Amelia personally recruited after the 10 pin bowling in September, trips out of the Floo. Standing up he brushes himself off, "Director, I didn't see you there, you should see this too. My floo address is 'Great Scott'"
Moody roars, "Stop right there lad, we need more information before we tear off to your home."
Scotts gulps and turns around, "Witch finders, in Scotland, it's on the news."
Amelia pins him with a glare, "Where in Scotland?"
"Dunblane ma'am"
Amelia goes white, "Robards, Scrimgeour, take a few Aurors to Dunblane and have a look around. No matter what you see. Do. Not. Interfere."
Moody looks at her, "Bones, what do you know?"
"Harry Danann and his mother Morgana Danann both practice Celtic magic. They also live in Dunblane. I saw Morgana make a gate to the Hufflepuff dorm in Hogwarts."
"We need to speak to her then."
"Then what? The magic detectors didn't even blink when she opened the gate, I checked. Do you know how much magic she had to have used to make that gate? Neither do I because when I idly asked an Unspeakable about it, a few days later they came back and said it was impossible. It would need a ritual with 100 witches and wizards, and the ritual would take at least 6 hours. Now I don't believe that she's more powerful than 100 witches and wizards, but I do know that what ever is going on is throwing around more magic than any of us could. Do you really want to step into that mess and muck up whatever they are doing there?"
"Then what do you suggest?"
"We send her a polite letter, even better we get Scotts to phone her."
"To what now?"
"Phone, use the telephone. Merlin, this is why I hired Scotts and put him to training under you with Tonks. The mundane world has changed so much even if it doesn't look like it. Morgana is right about the word muggle too, it's a slur and it makes us think of them as less than us. I have been bowling twice now, and each time was just as scary as each other. In October I saw the security booth and realised that the little black and white pictures were actually like the screens on the entertainment games. Only they were showing what was happening in and around the building. In September Dr Danann told me that mundane magic is subtle and boring."
Several minutes later Moody is staring at a black box with blinking lights that Scotts had just been fiddling with. On the TV is the 9 o'clock news playing for the 3rd time as that box that seems so innocuous to his magical eye plays it back from the 'tape'.