Hans Bricket
Hans Bricket lived in the heart of London. After exiting a safe house, Draco had to walk almost five miles(because he wasn't going to get into one of those Muggle transportation things). He dodge through traffic and Muggles.
Draco was in a good mood simply because he had outsmarted Measly Weasley. The redhead had intended to make Draco squirm trying to find Hans, but Draco was too brilliant for that. As a professor, he had access to the records of all the students. This included those who had yet attended but had been invited. All Draco had was an address, but that's all he needed.
Draco had to climb up three cases of stairs before he reached the level that Hans lived on. He knocked on a door with the number 25. Muffled steps approached and the door was pulled partly open, exposing a tall, dark man.
"Good morning," he greeted Draco.
"Good morning sir, my name is Draco Malfoy, I'm here to speak with the parents of Hans Bricket."
The man curiously tilted his head to the side. "I'm his father, what's this about?"
Draco looked around in the hall where there were other doors to the neighboring homes. He guaranteed they weren't sound proof. "We should speak in private," he considered.
This only grew the man's curiosity. He stepped back, pulling the door open with him. "Come in then."
Draco walked into the home, noticing that it was clean and simple. No one was engrossed with unknown noisy boxes. They didn't appear to be rich, but Draco could appreciate the quietness that the Larson household didn't possess.
"Would you like a drink?" the man offered once the door was shut.
"No thanks."
"Well, I'm Julian Bricket, nice to meet you." the tall man held out his hand, and Draco looked at it for a moment, twitching his lips, trying not to sneer loathingly.
He had never touched a Muggle before.
Hesitantly, and only doing it to avoid being rude, he took the man's hand to shake. Other than the rough, dry calluses that covered his skin, Mr. Bricket's hand wasn't any different than that of a Wizard's. Most hands Draco had shaken were tender, soft and delicate. Draco made the assumption that the Muggle must do a lot of physical labor. Living a life without magic, physical labor probably wasn't an unusual thing though.
"So what about Hans now?" Mr. Bricket inquired.
"Have you noticed any odd occurrences happening around your son? Perhaps things unexplainable by your science?"
Mr. Bricket shifted his eyes, guilt was written all over his face. "I don't know who've you been talking with, but I told Miss Francine that my boy had nothing to do with Monday's episode."
Draco raised an eyebrow, now he was the one curious. "Care to elaborate?"
"Well, according to his teacher, a girl had told Hans that his painting was less than ordinary. He attends an art class, you see, he loves to paint, but anyway, Hans got really upset, and things started flying around all on their own. Tricia— that's her name, the girl who made the terrible remark— had to leave, paint had been poured all over on her. She was a mess. Of course now everyone thinks my son summoned up a demon or something. They've even got an actual exorcist involved!"
"Well, I'll assure you right now that he hasn't summoned up a demon. He's a wizard."
Mr. Bricket's head strained backward, and his eyes narrowed. "A wizard?"
"Yes, I'm a professor from Hogwarts, School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, and if your son doesn't get some education on how to control his magic, he could end up seriously hurting someone, perhaps even himself."
Mr. Bricket stared at him briefly before his lips cracked into a smile. "You're yanking me, aren't you? Did my sister set you up to this? That little sneak! She's always trying to prank me!"
"No, I'm speaking the absolute truth." Draco reached into his bag, pulling out a copy of Hans's Hogwarts Acceptance Letter. "Your son should have gotten one of these already. Recognize it?"
Mr. Bricket stepped forward, taking the letter from Draco, studying the envelope and turning it over in his hands. He chuckled. "Thought it was my dad being silly…"
"Silly?" Draco asked. "What do you mean?"
"He used to tell these stories, about magic and things, about this school for children who could do magic, owls that deliver letters and flying brooms. Hans always loved these stories. When Hans got this letter on his birthday four months ago, we just thought my dad had been trying to bring the magic to life for him."
"Didn't you ask him about it?"
"Well, I would have but…" Mr. Bricket frowned suddenly, hitching his breath. "My father died a week before my son's birthday… And I just thought he had the letter pre-scheduled for delivery. He was a fairly organized man."
"My condolences," Draco said quietly, feeling bad for his loss.
"He lived a happy life— so this is real then?"
"It is. I'm going to make the assumption that your family has been full of Squibs up until now. I don't know how it works, magic is mysterious like that, but your father seemed to have known plenty about the Wizarding World."
"Oh, these stories have been in our family for decades. Each of us usually passes the stories down to our children. I'm actually writing a book about them, the ones my dad told me about— what's a Squib?"
"Someone born to a wizard or witch who lacks a magic core. There used to be a magical family with your surname. The name became Squib in the 1800s."
"And you're positive that Hans has magical abilities?"
"He wouldn't have been delivered that letter if he didn't."
Mr. Bricket smiled widely. His eyes pooled as tears clung to him. "To think my dad's stories were real all this time— he would have been delighted to know! Oh, he just loved the idea of magic! I don't think there was a book about sorcerers he didn't read! He was also a Disney fan."
Draco had no clue what a Disney was, but he approved of this Muggle's reaction over Mrs. Larson's. At least the man was actually delighted with the news that his son was extraordinary.
"Is your son home? I'll need to take him shopping for supplies. He must be fitted for a set of robes, and a wand will need to choose his hand in order for his magic to meet its complete potential."
Mr. Bricket looked at his watch. "He's actually out right now, but he'll be back shortly. If you want to sit for tea and wait, we can."
Draco had never eaten a meal with a Muggle. It appeared that today was going to be the first of many upcoming changes in his life. He reluctantly agreed. Part of his job was being polite to Muggles, after all: Forced Everyday to Report Records Engaged with Tame Muggles.
Mr. Bricket did most of the talking. Draco learned the Muggle had lost his wife when Hans was only four-years-old. He showed Draco a picture of the family before she had died. They looked perfect and happy together. Mrs. Bricket had really long blonde hair, and the young Hans was hanging upside down in his father's arms, laughing as he was being tickled.
"She was beautiful," Draco complimented truthfully, unsure of what else he should say.
"She was a model."
Draco could believe it.
"It's just me and my son now," Mr. Bricket informed quietly. He brushed his fingers along the woman's image, going quiet for the first time in nearly an hour.
The door opened then, and Hans entered the home, taking in the scene, his eyes narrowed at the picture that Mr. Bricket held. He was quite tall for his age, nearly the height of Draco himself! His skin tone was lighter than his father's, besides that though, he looked like a near copy of Mr. Bricket with his overly lengthy limbs, and curly, extremely short black hair.
Mr. Bricket set the photograph down on the end table. "Hello, Hans, how was your lesson?"
Hans shrugged, slipping a pack off his shoulder and letting it slide down his arm. He turned around to open up a coat closet, setting the pack into it. "It went okay, I guess."
"This is Draco Malfoy," Mr. Bricket introduced. "And, Mr. Malfoy, this obviously is my son, Hans."
Hans eyed Draco over. He then looked off behind his father, down a hallway. "Well, sorry for interrupting your visit then. I'll just be in my room."
"Actually, he's here for you." Mr. Bricket was grinning, excitement glowing brightly in his eyes.
Hans sent Draco a scrutinizing look. "What for?"
"Hans," his father started, snatching up the Hogwarts Acceptance Letter. "It's real! All those stories your grandfather told us, they're real! Magic is real! And you're a wizard!"
Hans rolled his eyes. "Sure, Dad," he muttered sarcastically. He went to walk past Mr. Bricket, but his father stopped him.
"That's what this letter is about," Mr. Bricket said holding out the boy's Hogwarts Acceptance Letter to him. "Hogwarts is real, son!"
"It's true," Draco added firmly, standing up from the chair he had been sitting in. "I can prove it to you, if you'd like."
"Oh, yeah, what are you going to do, wave your magic wand and make it rain?"
Draco removed his wand from his suit. "I couldn't make it rain here specifically, but we could all go to a place and I'll do it there."
Hans shifted his eyes from the two men and the wand. "Okay, you've snagged my attention. Let's go then."
"Alright, you'll each want to stand at either side of me. And take a deep breath." They all sucked in a breath. "Ready?" Draco asked, setting a hand to each of their shoulders. Hans was just about matching Draco in height.
Both Mr. Bricket and Hans nodded eagerly. Draco apparated them all into Diagon Alley.
"Blimey!" Hans gasped, not at all affected by the apparition. "We teleported! Dad," he squeaked out. "We teleported!"
Mr. Bricket on the other hand was clutching his gut, groaning out, suffering from nausea. "I'm gonna be sick," the Muggle sputtered weakly.
"I apologize. I have potions for that, but they don't work on Muggles." Draco then had to explain what a Muggle was.
It took a few minutes before Mr. Bricket recovered, and Draco learned that the family didn't have much money to spare, with Mr. Bricket being a single father and all. That was no issue though. Hogwarts had accounts at all the shops in Diagon Alley to cover the cost of school supplies for the poorer students of their community.
And so the shopping began. The robes, the books (once again, Draco sent Toogy to do that chore), and finally the wand (which took Hans more time than it had for Nathaniel) and his companion.
"Do I have to?" Hans asked grimly when Draco announced that it was time to get himself a familiar.
"You'll need one for your classes, so yes."
"I don't really like animals…"
"No?" Draco asked. What a strange thing not to like.
"I don't want to clean up after them… They're messy… and gross… and annoying…"
"Surely there's something here you wouldn't mind having," Mr. Bricket said, poking his finger into a rabbit's cage, clicking his tongue out at it.
"If I must have something, then let's just make sure it doesn't make a huge mess. Which eliminates rodents."
"Rabbits aren't rodents," Draco informed as his eyes flicked around the shop, looking for something that'll satisfy the boy. "They're actually lagomorphs."
"Well, whatever they are, I know rabbits are messy."
"What about a toad?" Draco suggested. "They aren't completely mess free, but they are small, so their messes won't be in abundance."
Hans looked at the toad that Draco had stopped in front of and peered into the cage. He thought about it. "Yeah, I guess he'll do."
"This one is actually a she," Draco corrected him quietly. "Would you prefer a male?"
"Does it matter?"
"Not at all."
"Then she'll do."
"Is she affordable?" Mr. Bricket asked nervously. He didn't mind accepting charity, but he also felt uncomfortable taking advantage of it.
"It comes to about £50, but this toad has been trained by wizards, so she's worth the price."
After purchasing the toad, Hans held the cage up to his face, studying it. "This is my first pet," he announced.
"Got a name for her?" Draco asked to add to the conversion. He was leading them to a sweet shop so that Hans could get a bag of spearmint candies to help him cope with the potions he would have to take when he went to Hogwarts.
"Princess."
His father chuckled, finding it silly. "Why did you pick that name?"
Hans laughed. With a roll of his eyes, he said, "I'm living in a fantasy world now, Dad, maybe if I gather the nerve to kiss her, she will turn into a beautiful princess."