Chapter 10 – Home Sweet Home?

Vroom Vroom Mother Yuckers!

I was jamming out to one of my favorite anime openings of all time on the way home. What better way to celebrate a major turning point in my life! What song? Oh, I don't know... Just a little diddy called "Tank" from the barely known show, Cowboy Bebop. Yea...I may have held off moving until the, "3, 2, 1, Let's Jam!" at which point I peeled out... Well as much as I could on a battery-operated bicycle would let me. Even though the bike still works fine for normal pedaling, the electronics seem to have failed in the rain. They don't even power on when I try them. Oh well, I like pedaling my bike anyway, so no big loss.

"Oh, I like this!" Grandpa agreed with my choice of music. The journal had shrunk down to the size of a pocket notebook and was tightly held in my jean's pocket. Well, duh! Who doesn't like Cowboy Bebop? Especially the music!

I was coming around the edge of the forest trail, the one that leads to the valley where the castle was, humming the music happily when I heard a "POP!" and a woman suddenly appeared in front of me.

"Shit!" I screamed as I veered off the narrow path and into a bush. Admittedly, I wasn't going very fast as the trail was barely serviceable and had roots and large rocks in it, but it still hurt as I was launched off the bike and into some brambles. My newly cleaned clothes took on that of a modern-day druid in training.

I dusted myself off and stared at my newly ripped jeans where a shallow cut was already starting to bleed, I stood up and muttered a few more curses under my breath. Seeing the woman staring wide-eyed at me, I made my way over to pick up my bike which was, thankfully, fine, just tangled up in the brush.

"What the hell lady!" I politely scream at the weirdo in robes that literally appeared out of nowhere.

"Jordan!? You're alive! Where have you been!?" The woman who just got me hurt demands. She looks to be of Indian descent and is very pretty with her black hair up in a bun and stern, sharp features that many would find attractive. If she were wearing a pencil skirt and blouse, I would think she was a teacher or even the principal of a school. Instead, she wears a dark purple, almost black, robe that covers her up completely.

I was about to answer her, but she turns to ignore me and pulls out a phone from her pocket. It was about the size of most modern phones but was bulky, with a thick outer case on the back. Does that thing have a battery pack...? What year is this!? Are those still even a thing? I reflexively pull out my own phone, a new top of the line model from Korea with a case on it that can withstand being run over by a truck. As I expect, it is not scratched even a bit, but when I try to power it on, the screen stubbornly refuses to light up. I had attempted to use it in the castle, but couldn't due to the same reason.

Lost in my own musings of faulty, overpriced products, I jump at the sudden popping noises all around me. Out of nowhere, again, ten or so robed people pop into existence and now surround me. A chorus of, "Jordan!" and, "Thank Merlin," and even, "About time!" bombard me as I am passed from one set of arms to another, hair mussed and body hugged in equal measure. My stranger danger senses tingle as I start to back away from them. The Indian woman walks to the front of the group and up to me again.

"Alright, enough everyone!" She announces with authority. "Jordan, where were you? We have been looking for you for the last two days!" She looks at me expectantly, but I continue to make my way to my bike, backing up slowly.

"I was...just taking a walk..." I start, "My parents are probably looking for me right now, so I better get going..."

My hesitation and fear must have shown on my face as the woman waves for the others to back off and kneels down with both her hands up. She smiles at me and says, "Sorry Jordan, I should have introduced myself first. I am Prisha Goura from the Ministry of..." she trails off for a second before continuing, "We are part of the search party orchestrated by the Ministry and your parents. We would like nothing more than to get you home to see them."

"Oh...Okay." This might seem like a foolish thing to believe right away, but when you are a rich kid from a rich family it is far more common than you think for several unknown bodyguards to attend to you. Still... "What's with the robes? And did you guys teleport here?" I ask raising an eyebrow.

An awkward moment of silence with all the adults looking at each other helplessly follows. I can see that Miss Goura is biting her bottom lip trying to come up with a plan quickly.

"Oh!" I realize something, "I know about magic. That is where I was for the last two days. I found...something. Anyways, I know so you don't have to lie to me about it."

A collective sigh of relief passes over the crowd as one bulky man in a puke green robe says, "That makes this much easier then. We are Aurors from the Protection of Very Important Persons department from the Ministry of Magic."

Ministry of Magic? That is way less cool than The Magical Mystery Ministry... though I suppose that was a bit far fetched. "You say that," I say with a sigh, "but that doesn't really mean anything to me."

A man from the back of the group wearing a black robe clears his throat and steps forward. "We are like the magical version of the police and are charged with protecting people just as your police would protect an ambassador from another country."

"Ah. That makes more sense! Thanks!" I say as I hear the bulky man grumble something about Muggles.

"Anyway," Miss Goura attempts to continue our original conversation, "Can we take you home now, Jordan?"

"Are you going to teleport with me?" I ask excitedly.

"No...not with your bicycle at least and I doubt you will want to just leave it here."

Mr. Puke Robes nods and says, "I doubt any of us wish to combine partly with your bike on accident. Let's take the scenic route instead."

"Combine?" Grandpa Gryffindor says in my head, "Is that the consequence of casting it at the 3rd circle...?" He trails off and seems to sink deep in thought.

I start making my way down the familiar path walking my bike while surrounded by 11 robbed figures. We must look like a cult or something... Oh well, let's just get home. Miss Goura continues to talk a bit on the way back, mostly about my job and what I do out here all by myself. I avoid mentioning anything about the castle as I am not sure how much I can talk about with strangers anyway.

After an hour or so of a nice, cool walk in the setting sun, we make it to the entrance to the Manor. The group at large waves at me and wishes me well at Hogwarts then Apparates, I learned that is what it is called, away. Only Miss Goura accompanies me as she is the leader of this protection detail. I never asked why she was protecting me, as I was fairly sure it was due to my family's legacy. No need to ask what I already know!

I walk the familiar gravel road to my home but pause when I notice something. Something is...different now. The air feels oddly thicker, but at the same time more comforting. It reminds me a lot of being inside the wards of the castle. I suppose it makes sense that this place is warded as well, but most of them seem to be offline.

"We will need to see about restarting the defenses and wards." Grandpa Gryffindor says, coming to the same conclusion as me. Just then, as I take another step forward, all the statues of lions in the yard and the griffins on the roof turn their heads to me. Like...the very clearly stone statues that have never moved before, move and look at me.

"Oh, my," Miss Goura says as she notices it immediately as well, "That's kind of creepy."

Before I can answer her, I hear the padding of feet on the gravel and look over to see the two massive Lion statues from the back and front of the manor bounding towards us. I am about to scream and Miss Goura has her wand out prepared to cast, as the lions stop just 3 meters in front of me and bow their heads. A voice akin to a deep feline roar comes from the statue on the right.

"Construct 001 reporting for duty, Master Gryffindor."

The second one on the left sounds more like a throaty purr and says, "Liddia reporting for duty, Master Leoren."

The first lion statue turns to the second, whom I am thinking is a lioness stature, and growls, "You will Greet the master correctly Construct 002."

"I did," the lazy purr of the second says, "You were the one that is way too formal. Besides, he may have the Gryffindor blood, but he is a Leoren and not a Gryffindor." Turning to me, she continues, "Not that I mean any disrespect. Just that you will tell us if you want to be referred to differently than your given name. Until that point, I will call you what you have been known as for the last 10 years. Say.." the female construct hedges with a smile in her stony voice, "do you remember playing on me when you were young? You named me Liddia, even though I was a lion and not a lioness. I have taken on that persona ever since that day and wear the name proudly. It doesn't bother you does it?"

"No, not at all! And yes, I remember! I used to pretend to ride my great lion, Liddia, into battle against my evil older sister Grace's army. Seems silly, but I still always considered you Liddia in my mind when I saw you in the back of the manor!" I say with conviction.

A low laugh echos through the courtyard like rocks tumbling down a landslide, "Then whenever you are ready to launch into battle for real, your great mount Liddia the Lioness will be ready. Welcome home, master. It is good that you have unlocked your magic and we can finally speak to one another. Do not worry, 001 and I will protect this place whenever you are gone."

"Constructs don't have genders usually. You deciding one for her years ago seems to have done wonders to her personality," muses Grandpa Gryffindor.

Miss Goura seems completely out of her wits at the talking constructs, but I walk forward to pet Liddia. I am not sure what I was expecting, but my hand was met with solid stone. "Thank you Liddia and..." I pause for a moment considering what little I know of construct 001, then say, "Roger. I name you Roger, protector of the front."

"A great honor master...Leoren. I will do just that. Thank you for the name, I will wear it proudly." Roger the lion construct responds.

"Alright, well I am off to get killed by my mom and share the happy news!" I say a bit morosely. "Miss Goura will you be coming inside?"

"What?" It seems my question pulled Prisha Goura out of whatever thoughts she was having and she focused in on me again. "Oh! Yes. I will be coming in for just a second to show we found you, then I will leave you with your parents to discuss things. I expect the Minister and the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement will want to talk with you tomorrow about all of this. Be sure to cover what you can and cannot say with your parents before then." She says as I wave at the two lion constructs who are padding off to their pedestals. We walk up to the door of the manor and Goura seems to be getting more and more excited. "Oh, man! This is so exciting! To think that the ancient line of Gryffindor will be continuing! We had always hoped, but for it to actually happen...and on my watch too! This is going to make my career for sure!"

While she was going on about how cool this was, I decided to try something. If it worked in the castle, why not here?

"Open." I command the doors in front of me and, as if someone kicked them, they fly open. "This is handy!" I say and am about to step inside when I hear a bang and the emotionally charged voice of my mother.

"Jordan!?" There she is, not 5 meters in front of me. She practically ran out of the parlor at the sound of my voice. She wears light blue pajama sweats with an oversized grey shirt. Her auburn hair is a wild nest and she has massive bags under her greyish-blue eyes. The same color she gave me. My mother looks more disheveled than I have ever seen her and I can see dried tear tracts down her face with the remnants of her makeup. We both just stand there in the entrance hallway as we look at each other.

"Mothe..." I start, emotions clawing at my insides and making my throat constrict. "Mom," I say softly, tears falling down my cheeks. I am not sure why, but I have never felt like I needed her more than I did at this moment. I have been through so much in the last few days and I needed my mom to hug away the bad feelings. To help direct me on what to do. To love me and be there for me. To celebrate the happy news I had to share. Hell, I would be fine with her yelling at me, just so long as she was here and I was close by to hug her. "Mom!" I yell, running as fast as my young legs would take me.

"Jordan!" She makes the short distance shorter by rushing to meet me halfway. I jump into her open arms and cry while hugging her tight. We both devolve into a mess of tears and happiness at being together again. Soon, my dad is there, adding his warmth to the tight hug. Then my sister Grace is there, showing none of her name's meaning as she tackles into us, her eyes and nose running like a faucet. Even Susan, my oldest sister, is there joining in on the group hug with glistening eyes. We slowly move the family pile over to the lounge they had all just left and we sit around the comfy couches, with me still in my mom's arms.

After several minutes of us just enjoying each other's company, I finally get out, "Mom, Dad, I found it. I found Gryffindor's Legacy. I have magic! I am a wizard!"