Rick shook his head as he tried to clear the fog. His vision was blurred for a moment as he tried to get his bearings. When the world stopped spinning and he could once again see everything around him he couldn't believe what he saw. Before Hermione had prompted him to touch that old book that she had produced from nowhere Rick had been standing in a deserted forest in Georgia in the very early hours of the morning. Now it was daylight and...they sure weren't in Georgia anymore. The sounds of children and teenagers laughing and arguing rang through the air. A huge beast of a man was chasing a group of young boys around Carl's age away from the edge of the woods while shouting about said woods being dangerous and forbidden. In the distance, a huge castle rose into the sky. It looked both medieval and welcoming at the same time. The misbehaving children were headed (being chased) right towards it.
“Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” Hermione turned to him and smiled. He was pleased to see that Carl stood beside her, a look of wonder on his face, and she was, for some reason, holding Judith in her arms. “The trip made Beth a bit ill,” she answered the question that he had not asked. As if on cue the sound of Beth retching could be heard coming from somewhere behind him.
“If any of you suddenly find yourselves feeling an urgent need to leave, ignore it, it will pass. You're just passing through the muggle determent charms.” The sour man known as Severus didn't spare Rick's group a passing glance as he walked away.
That explained why, for a couple of seconds, Rick was overcome with the urge to turn around so he could put out a campfire that he knew wasn't burning. “We're in Scotland?”
Hermione nodded in confirmation.
“Walkers can't get in here?” Daryl's eyes were taking in his surroundings. “Because you're so isolated from people?”
“We call them the reanimated her,” Hermione corrected, “and no, they can not get to us here. The magical world left the muggle world centuries ago. It's not only natural for us to live away from muggles, until the outbreak of the virus, but it was also the law. Your leaders know we exist but not average muggles. Witch trials, being burnt at the stake, muggles demanding magical answers to their problems that we can not provide. We only step in when the muggle world is at risk of disappearing. Before this, the last time we intervened was when we stopped the Spanish flu in the early part of the twentieth century. Charms and enchantments protect us from intruders. If muggles cannot enter neither can the reanimated.”
“How do you plan on offering people safety if they can't get in?” Rick felt it a reasonable question to ask. “Judith started to get fussy and Rick was seized by a familiar terror. No matter what Hermione said, he wasn't going to believe they were safe until was proven to him. Hermione began to lightly bounce Judith in her arms. She was obviously used to handling babies. “First and foremost, Hogwarts is a school. We have to keep the safety and comfort of our students as our first priority. We'll scout out survivors, make sure they're safe, before inviting them back here.”
“What if someone turns down this invitation of yours?” Daryl still wasn't sold and, honestly, neither was Rick. This all sounded way too good to be true. “What we wanna leave?”
“We wouldn't force anyone to come that didn't wish to come. And you all are free to leave whenever you like.” Hermione passed Rick his daughter who seemed to be growing a bit irritated. “Just find Professor Snape or myself and we'll portkey you back to where we found you.”
“Look, Hermione, we're not tryin' to seem ungrateful,” Rick explained. “We've just been burned before. Trust's been hard to come by.”
“I understand,” Hermione gave a tired sigh. “It's just...I've got a pressing problem. One that I'm hoping to have your help with.”
“What is it?” Rick noticed that both Carol and Glenn had moved closer to listen.
“There are times when magical children are born to muggle parents – ”
“People like us,” Glenn interrupted.
“Yes,” Hermione tucked a small curl that had escaped its binding behind her ear. “Those witches and wizards are called muggleborns. They live and go to school here from September until June. I'm afraid that we didn't become aware of the virus until it was already too late to save those families. They're all dead or counted as among the missing.”
“How many orphans do you have on your hands?” Rick was starting to catch on.
“Twenty-seven.”
“Have they been told what's happened?” Carol crossed her arms over her chest.
“Of course, as soon as knew we made sure that they were informed.” Hermione started walking, slowly, towards the castle as she spoke. “Our Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, has ordered that our Astronomy Tower be repurposed as housing for both you and our orphaned students during the holidays.”
“What do you want us to do with these kids?” Carol was taking charge of the conversation now.
“We're hoping you'd be willing to give them a sense of family, check in with them during the school year, and treat them like they were one of your own.” Hermione stopped walking and turned to the group. “The magical world is still recovering from a war that ended twelve years ago. Most wizarding foster families are already caring for war orphans. We don't have the numbers needed to cope with the virus' orphans.”
“Is Headmistress McGonagall the one in charge around here?” Rick knew that Hermione wasn't.
“Yes.”
“Than that's who I need to talk to before I go agreeing to anything.”
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