“Witch and wizard?” The ruggedly handsome man with the thick southern drawl stood with his hands on his hips. The look on his face stated clearly that he did not believe her.
“Must be a pharmacy 'round here,” muttered the wild looking muggle man who was aiming what Hermione was pretty sure was a crossbow at them.
Hermione was about to launch into what was sure to be a long-winded explanation of magic and the (mostly safe) world that came along with it. Severus, on the other hand, had other ideas. He waved his right hand and using some rather impressive wand-less magic he relieved the group of their weapons. Guns, knives, the crossbow, and even a sword all ended up stacked in a neat little pile at the base of a tree.
“As Professor Granger said, we're wizards, Rick,” Severus smirked.
“I'm actually a witch, not a wizard,” Hermione glared at her co-worker/friend/royal-pain-in-the-ass/former potions professor. “And you may call me Hermione.” She turned a friendly smiled on the man known as Rick.
“How the hell do you know my name?” Rick was staring daggers at Severus.
“We've been following you for the last day and a half,” Hermione lied. While they had been following the group for a day and a half they hadn't traveled close enough to hear their conversations. Severus had invaded Rick's mind to get that information. She thought it wise not to tell him that though.
“Have you not noticed the distinct lack of the reanimated in that time?” Severus waved his hand and for one brief moment the air around them hummed, the ground lightly vibrated and a light blue glow surrounded them as the protective spells and Muffliato Charm's magic were revealed to the two muggle men.
“What do ya want with us,” the wild-looking man who reminded Hermione of a smaller, muggle version of Hagrid demanded.
“I already told you,” Hermione continued patiently. “We want to offer you safety.”
“Nothin' in this world comes for free...not anymore,” Rick shook his head. “What do you want with us?”
Hermione understood why Rock and his companion were weary of them. Learning that magic was real was always difficult for muggles to come to grips with but with the virus that was quickly destroying their world trust wasn't something that was easy to come by, magic or no magic. Hermione had heard many a twisted tale from the muggle survivors that she had thus far encountered.
“We work at what you would call a boarding school for witches and wizards,” Hermione lowered herself to sit on a large tree stump. “The school is located inside a castle in the highlands of Scotland. The grounds are protected and there is an entirely safe magical village just down the lane. We have room to take in survivors and we need to. Wizards and witches have been marrying muggles for generations. If we were to stop doing that...we'd die out.”
“If we go, you go,” Rick clearly understood what she was saying.
“Exactly,” Hermione confirmed. “If we're going to take in muggle survivors we'll need muggle leaders that are strong, far, and trustworthy. That's why we've been following, watching, to see if what the other muggles are saying about you is true. We're pleased to see that the word of mouth we've heard about your humanity is true.”
“Even if what ya were sayin' wasn't completely fucked in the head...we ain't got no shot at getting to Scotland. We can't even make it out of Georgia.”
“Daryl's right, Dad.” A young boy, roughly the same age as a first year, appeared from inside one of the tents. “It's not like we can book the next flight out of Atlanta.”
“Carl,” Rick rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I told you to stay in the tent with Beth.”
“And yet I'm the only one who still has a weapon.” Carl produced a handgun from the waistband of his pants.
Severus actually, genuinely laughed before taking away the gun.
Hermione pulled out her wand and produced an old worn out textbook that materialized in midair. “Being able to perform magic opens up other modes of transportation.” Because of the size of their group, apparition and broomsticks were not options. They'd be transported to Hogwarts via the use of portkey.
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